I Need To Get This Off My Chest

I'm double-dipping today because an afternoon of writing and talking MMA after last night's UFC 100 has got me fired up...

Let me start with this: Brock Lesnar's post-fight antics and comments were horrible. Nothing funny, entertaining, or appreciable in what he said and what he did. Kudos to Dana White for immediately acknowledging that Lesnar was out of line and telling the big man just that once he got into the dressing room.

Now, what the hell is with the masses of people who would much rather fire baseless accusations at people and pray one of very few negative elements from an otherwise outstanding evening instead of celebrating the achievements and giving a person his due?

Since I'm sure a lot of people are out in left field right now, here we go.

I've read countless accusations today of Brock Lesnar being a 'roid-raging meathead and causing the UFC and MMA as a whole to lose any footing they had in regards to becoming more mainstream.

The first part of that statement sickens me and not because I like Brock Lesnar as a fighter. During the course of his athletic career, Brock Lesnar has been submitted to steroid tests more time than these keyboard jockeys have gone to the dentist, resulting in zero positive test and not even a shred of evidence to the contrary.

Now, either he has the most intricate masking system in the world and has been made away of each random test he's taken over the last ten years far enough in advance that he's never gotten caught or... he isn't the 'roid-raging meathead some people would rather he be.

How someone can have zero knowledge, proof or evidence to support a statement like that - one that is making it's rounds today amongst the anti-Lesnar contingent - is sickening to me, but sadly, it has become all too commonplace in society these days.

Secondly, just because some members of the media want to make Brock Lesnar the current poster boy for Mixed Martial Arts and use him as an example of all that is wrong with MMA doesn't mean it is accurate.

Those of us who love the sport - we follow it with dedication, write about it with passion and integrity and work to educate people about the beauty and artistry and respect involved at the highest levels - would never point to Lesnar as our Chosen One. He wouldn't be our Chosen 47 to be honest.

His antics last night were reprehensible, but his were the only unprofessional antics of the entire night. The rest of the way before that fight and in the one match afterwards, nothing but the highest levels of respect, sportsmanship and integrity were shown.

Our real poster boy is a guy like Georges St-Pierre, who routinely spends a few minutes after each fight huddled up with his opponent, thanking them for a great fight and showing nothing but the utmost respect and appreciation for a hard-fought battle.

The truth is that the vast majority of Mixed Martial Artists operate on that same level of respect, integrity and sportsmanship - the ancient idea of Bushido - as GSP, with very few taking the same path Lesnar chose to take last night.

Yet here we are this morning and across the Internet today, with countless people using Brock Lesnar as the basis for their continued dislike of Mixed Martial Arts and launching unfounded attacks against a guy who has time and again came up clean against the mud these people are throwing.

Too bad our society has become a place where scandals and failures, unfounded allegations and trying to tear something down has replaced good news and success, evidence and building people up.

Continue reading ...

Can't Wait Until Saturday Night

So I'm watching Dana White's UFC 94 video blog on YouTube earlier and he's asking everyone he runs into who wins this weekend's GSP vs. BJ Penn fight and I'm shocked.

Robbie Lawler says BJ Penn.
"Little Evil" says BJ Penn.
Jamie Varner and Urijah Faber say BJ Penn.
Even Japanese dudes who can't speak English (Caol Uno and Kid Yamamoto) are picking BJ Penn.

Thankfully, WEC featherweight champ Mike Thomas Brown was last on and gave GSP some love.

Now, I'm going to be covering this bad boy big time in the next couple days over at TLOS and you have to check it out, but seeing fighter after fighter stand there and say BJ is going to beat GSP has me worried. What if they're right?

I've had GSP at the top of my Pound for Pound Rankings since he beat Jon Fitch and while BJ has been sitting at #4 this whole time, I just can't see him winning this fight. What is it that these guys know that I don't?

I mean, I could see Little Evil and Caol Uno picking BJ because he beat both of them, but what is everyone else's excuse?

Regardless, I know who I'm picking and I can't wait until Saturday night...

Continue reading ...