Silva vs. Griffin UFC 101 OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

FIGHT FANS THIS IS IT!! The biggest summer event in mixed martial arts has been announced this week: Anderson Silva will face off against Forrest Griffin at 205 lbs. It's set to go down in Philly at UFC 101. Fans, you're in for a real blockbuster. Believe the hype. The idea that Griffin would delay the fight or avoid contact the way Patrick Cote and Thiago Alves did is nonsense. What we have here is the hardest working man in the sport going up against the greatest champion to ever set foot in the Octagon. It's a dream come true. Both fighters stand to be moved up the ladder for belt contention if they win. Not only that, but the fight is a win-win situation for either man, win or lose. Consider the facts: Anderson Silva is the Middleweight Champion with or without a W here; and to think his standings in the light-heavy division would move drastically is out of the question as well. On the other side of this, Forrest Griffin has truly lucked out. If he wins, he's just beaten Anderson Silva and will now stand atop a very thick division. If he loses, he lost to Anderson God Damn Silva. Can't exactly discredit the man for losing, can you? No, you can't. So there, it's a win-win situation. Say otherwise and I think you're just crying "wolf".


As for the result of this fight, the breakdown is fairly simple. If Forrest thinks he can brawl with Silva, he's gonna be counting the lights in no time. Silva is the best striker in the organization and he will not allow Forrest to fight recklessly without making him suffer. As for ground work, Griffin has the upper hand with take down ability, but I'm still not sure if he will be able to get Silva down and produce anything of merit unless he can weaken him early on. Essentially, Griffin must be conservative, but not lacking in point scoring or aggression. Silva's biggest weakness has yet to be exposed, I feel, so it is imperative that Griffin pick him apart the best he can. Control the clinches, keep the man down, and batter him until you can dictate the pace. That's Griffin's best bet.

On the other side, Silva's best plan would be to let Griffin get sloppy. Forget what the critic's might say after the fight, disregard the boo's that might pour from the crowd. It's his ass out there. Forrest Griffin is best known for letting his aggression get the best of him. Let him do it again. Bait him into throwing looping shots. Make him try for take downs that he won't get. Tire him out and work him with the pin point strikes we all know and love. On the ground, Silva has an advantage in submissions, but not in ground control. Griffin is a big boy and will throw his weight around if he gets top position. So Silva must maintain a distance using his butterfly guard and his length. It's the best way to go. Or he could just Bruce Lee the dude.

In the end, I see Anderson Silva winning a huge fight in the second round by KO. If Griffin wins, he'll do it in a decision. Either way, this is a great match up and it deserves all the media attention it can get. Truth.

Best DVD Coming Out This Week - JCVD

On April 28th, 2009 a DVD hits the market that has some pretty interesting value. It's Jean Claude Van Damme's best film to date : JCVD. A semi-self portrait of a star past his prime put into a situation one of his characters from the 80's might have handled with ease. Van Damme plays himself, a 49 year old man way past his prime, making straight to DVD releases that only see the light of the international markets. Stuck in a film the director over-extends, divided by a language barrier and apathetic to the films result, he leaves the set only to get caught in a real-life bank robbery. Cast into a situation fit for a film, the others in the bank, as well as the robbers expect him to be like his film persona and save the day, only to get a hard dose of reality. He's an old man who throws fake kicks for a living. He's no hero. The film is packed with great shots, specifically the opening credit sequence and a soon to be cult classic spotlight soliliquy from Mr. Van Damme where he expresses all of his self-loathing and doubts. A true rarity for an actor who's entire career is based on looking cool thats well worth the viewing. Check it out.

A Week After the Fact or Why Anderson Silva's critics are absolutely without merit and need to eat glass

One week ago today, the UFC held their 97th event. The main event was marking the seventh title defense of the best pound for pound fighter in the world, Anderson Silva. If he were to win the fight, it would be his ninth straight victory, surpassing the mark of eight wins held by only Joyce Gracie and Jon Fitch. For those who did not see the fight, I am about to spoil the results. He won. With nine straight wins, Anderson Silva has officially become the single most dominant fighter to ever step in the Octagon. Consider all of the great fighters to ever step in the Octagon: Couture, Liddell, Henderson, the Gracies, the Shamrocks, Hughes. Anderson is at the top of the sport itself.

But after a week of media coverage, critiques, blogging, discussion forums and whatever other anonymous form of talk possible, there seems to be only one thing I'm hearing out of anyone's mouths : it was boring. Narry a positive word came from a single mouth I was in the proximity of or able to see manifest via type on the internet. His broken record was an afterthought. His unprecedented domination has become so great, so overbearing, so insurmountable, we as a people have actually become jaded to his Reign. It's a simple matter of fact: He's too god damned good. He's so good, the public can not accept anything other than pure brilliance. Add in the not so great, anti-climactic ending to his last bout against Patrick Cote that left his fans salivating with nothing to hold them over and the disdain just multiplies.

I actually read articles on Sherdog.com calling his last two performances "STINKING". Folks, in Anderson Silva's first fight, he landed 100% of his strikes. In his first fight against Rich Franklin, he landed more than 27 consecutive knee strikes. No one has come close to matching his skills in the ring. Against Patrick Cote, Silva did not stink. Silva dominated until Cote's knee blew out. Cote was completely shut down. He had no answer. The same can be said for Laites. The true beauty of being champion is you have to be defeated. You can literally elect to make the choice of allowing the challenger his attempt to beat you. Think of that as a fighter. You are not the one who has to prove anything to yourself. You've been at the top of your game and the sport itself for years. You know what you can do. Can the other guy finally take you down? The only person I heard speak that concept was Joe Rogan. He's time and again the only person involved with the sport that I almost always agree with.

This raises a question: What will the UFC do? Will they back their man? Or will they appease the crowd, the new fans, the new media? Will they cowtown? I hope they don't. For once, I hope that the UFC absolutely and without question defends their Champion. He might not be the best way to market the organization. He might not speak English. But he is the greatest fighter to ever step into your ring. Treat him as such. Do not deny the right to retain the title by any means necessary and within the rules of the sport. The crowds can boo all they want. That's how Bernard Hopkins became the best for so long. This is not to say that Silva is even close to being on the path of a man like Hopkins or Lennox Lewis, who would rather keep his opponents at bay and ride out win after boring win. Not even close. I remember when he was being accused of trying to hurt his opponents intentionally; genuine fear from his peers was rampant.

Now that we're all used to it, we immediately cry foul when his fight ends any other way than KO. Wake up folks, the fight game can be just as unpredictable as anything else. People get injured during fights. Fights end in strange ways. His critics truly do amaze me. It seems as though these idiots have set their standards so high that nothing will be good enough. This last fight marks the first time in his UFC career that ended in a decision. Before that, all fans knew was his list of KO's, TKO's, or submissions. Nothing less than perfection. Now that we can see that Anderson can be pushed to a decision fight, people begin to chip away at his greatness. Finding flaw after non-existent flaw to talk about, more to establish their own voices in the sport and less to say anything of any relevance.

I guess what I mean to say here folks, is to take the talk and set it all aside and look at the facts. Nine straight wins. Seven straight title defenses. He made the transition to 205 lbs and made short work of his prey. He dropped back down and had two fights that end in his first opponent blowing out his knee and the second winning by decision. On paper that does not even register on my radar as to be deserving of criticism. Neither does it register in person. He can't be blamed for anything, as nothing was done except what was supposed to happen. He defended his title and was able to retain it, as the challenger was completely unable to come close to dethroning him. Facts are facts and truth is truth. This is fact. This is truth.

Bill Burr's Summer Atlanta Show Cancelled

After a few weeks of radio silence for Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast due to contractual issues with the podcast hosting company, fans finally got their fix as of 10 days ago. Wasting no time, Bill proceeded to announce that he has canceled three shows for the summer months, including his Atlanta show. His tone indicated he may be filming a project during those weeks where the shows were once slated to go down and this is better news, in my humble opinion, than his coming to Atlanta. While I am a dedicated fan of his, I feel better knowing that the man has a chance of getting his due the same way Patton Oswalt has, David Cross, Brian Posehn...just to name a few. And while he's not considered an alternative comedian like the aforementioned three, he's one of the best comedians to fly under televisions and hollywoods radar. His self proclamed "Howdy Dudey" face makes him a perfect fit for comedy...........I meant that in the nicest way possible. No insult there. For more info, you folks will have to wait untill at least June to hear when he plans on making up for the canceled shows. Untill then, just listen to the Monday Morning Podcast, which is now up and running again.

epic failure

So it seems I can't even maintain something as simple as a daily web log. I think it has something to do with my doubts on my right to be one of these...internet critics, sitting behind a monitor or laptop. On top of that, I've been busting my ass to try and live bill to bill as I attempt rebuild my financial situation to a calm even flow. Add in my general laze about everything, plus my unhealthy fixation on watching movies and we have the perfect formula for failure. I guess the point of this post is to say....here's my second attempt at this.