 |
Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida has been announced as the main event of UFC on FX 4 on June 22. Both guys are coming off of losses so they'll be hungry to regain their winning ways. I think this should be a great fight. I've never seen anyone with the cardio that Guida has, the guy seems superhuman; he does more before the fight than a lot of fighters do in their fights. Even after that, Guida still maintains a relentless pace in the cage. I'm a Guida fan, but I think I'd have to give Maynard a slight edge in this one. It should be entertaining regardless of who wins, though. Gray vs. Clay 2012.
*************
Ronda Rousey was a guest on the ESPN2 show Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable the other day. The sweaty one, LeBatard, was stuck on the story of Rousey supposedly beating up several men in a movie theater once upon a time. As Rousey told the story it changed a few times. At first it started with her being in a position where only one man at a time could get to her due to the seats and Rousey having her back to the wall, but then it morphed into one of the men grabbing her from behind and pulling her back while she continued to rain down on the other man.
It was your typical fisherman story in which the size of the fish caught grows and grows with each retelling. It's just like that infamous hospital brawl between Joe Riggs and Nick Diaz in 2006 after UFC 57. I don't doubt that there was some sort of physical confrontation between the two, but I highly doubt that it played out the way that either man said it did.
I don't have a problem with these types of exaggerations, mainly because of the nature of MMA. They have to back it up, or else your whoppers get exposed pretty damn quick. However, to go on a short tangent, I don't like it when a pro wrestler or football player or the like make these types of statements. It's very rare when an athlete in a non-fighting sport has to back up their tough talk. One of the funniest examples I can think of off the top of my head was when Larry Johnson of the New York Knicks and Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat had their little catfight. The image of Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy hanging onto Mourning's leg like a little kid is an all-time classic. Another example is when Shaquille O'Neal was hard-fouled by Brad Miller of the Chicago Bulls. O'Neal was upset and threw this wild looping swing at Miller that missed. The problem was that Miller had turned his back already. Shaq managed to swing and miss at a dude who wasn't even trying to avoid the punch.
When MMA fighters (or boxers or other fighting sport athletes) talk big, they have to back it up. That means you see a lot less crazy talk. I don't mind the occasional whopper from a MMA fighter, much the same way that I don't mind a basketball player telling an exaggerated story involving his dunking prowess.
Back to Rousey, the interview with LeBatard wasn't very long, but she came off pretty well. LeBatard asked her about whether she tries to hurt people and if she feels bad if she does hurt someone. For the record, her answers were that she wants to win, not hurt someone. However, she doesn't feel bad if someone gets hurt. She said, accurately I might add, that Meisha Tate could have tapped out at any time, and that she knew the consequences for not doing so.
All in all, the interview was your basic fare, but this always helps to raise your profile. I would think that people who had never heard of Ronda Rousey would come away from this interview wanting to see more of her and would have a favorable impression of her.
*************
Mark Munoz recently said that he thinks he should get a title shot. I wouldn't say he deserves a title shot, but he should be given a chance to earn one. Whether that means winning his next two fights, or just his next, is up to the UFC. I would say the safe bet would be that Munoz would have to win his next two at least to get a title shot. Anderson Silva will defend his UFC Middleweight title against Chael Sonnen in Brazil at UFC 147. That's in June; who knows what could happen after that. Munoz doesn't have the track record to get a title shot just yet, and he'll need another big win, possibly two.
Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com
Ryan Gracie Peter Graham Forrest Griffin Tyson Griffin Karn Grigorian
No comments:
Post a Comment