Thursday, May 28 4:20 pm PT: ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- “What are you eating that for?” asks Voronov, Fedor Emelianenko’s wrestling coach, as I walk back into the office at the headquarters of M-1 Challenge.
I guiltily look at the processed lattice fruit thing in my hand, executing an elegant parabola on a collision course with my mouth. Then I eat it anyway. I’m hungry, it’s 10 p.m. and the six teams of fighters, from all over Russia, staying at the M-1 training complex have rendered the fridge as empty as deep Siberia in December.
“There are ‘pelmeni’ (Russian meat dumplings) in the freezer,” says Mikhail Vladimirovich [Voronov]. “So go and make some for yourself and stop eating that rubbish!”
When Fedor’s coach tells you to do something, you listen.
"Joe came down here and trained with us for about a week and a half, and he was pretty raw when he came down here," Faber told Smith. "But people are forgetting that he's been doing some of the most difficult training for pretty much his whole life. … I wasn't that surprised he won.”
Faber appears to be pretty cool about the whole thing despite the fact that a fight with Yamamoto had been tagged for years as the sport’s most potentially lucrative 145-pound clash; Warren and WEC champion Mike Thomas Brown have extinguished those dreams nicely.
Thursday, May 28 1:50 pm PT: Sometimes things smell a little rank and you can’t quite articulate why. That was my initial impression of an alleged Mark Coleman interview from balsa-wood site LatestMMANewsNow, which indicated the UFC Hall of Famer would welcome a fight with Lyoto Machida.
“I’ve been training hard with ‘the Cat’ and I feel confident that I know what his weaknesses are, and how I can exploit them should we meet in the cage,” Coleman was quoted as saying. “I don’t think Machida has faced a wrestler of my caliber before and I think stylistically I match up with him perfectly.”
(The “Cat” in question is Ernest Miller, a former WCW wrestler with a traditional martial arts background who also appeared as the antagonist in “The Wrestler” opposite Mickey Rourke.)
When asked to confirm the quotes, Coleman told ESPN.com via e-mail that the comments “must be a joke. I know the ‘Cat’ but have never trained with him. I personally thought Machida was great. I didn’t see any holes. He will be difficult to beat by anyone. But I sure would give it a try.”
LatestMMA also hosts some rather incendiary quotes from Matt Hughes (“I’ve got one more big fight in me and it’s going to have to be against the winner of St. Pierre/Alves”) and comedian Dave Chappelle (“…I would probably do [MMA] for maybe one or two fights”) that probably warrant further attribution. Just saying.
Thursday, May 28 12:20 pm PT: MMA might be a statistically defensible activity in terms of injury, but “safe in sports” is a relative term. Any physical activity carries risk.
Two unfortunate reminders: female MMA athlete Jessica Bednark and Iowa’s Zach Kirk, both of whom sustained serious fight-related injuries this past weekend.
Bednark was training in a St. Cloud, Minn., facility on Saturday when she suddenly complained of a strange sensation in her legs. A CAT scan revealed a ruptured artery in her brain. Having had a piece of her skull removed to relieve cranial pressure, she’s now in a medically induced coma. Doctors hope to revive her this week.
That same day, Kirk was scrambling for position after a takedown attempt in an Iowa MMA event when his opponent landed on his head, breaking Kirk’s neck. Physicians are unsure whether he’ll regain use of his legs. Video is available on the KETV news site, but that’s not something that begs to be seen.
A shame if either athlete is used to push some agenda, particularly by the sport’s most cancerous critics. Two people were critically damaged doing something they consented to participate in, knowing full well the risks involved. I’m optimistic anyone aware of the incidents will have only personal sympathy for two broken people, not view them as pawns for some political jockeying on either side of the argument.
As Gus Garcia-Roberts tells it, he was scheduled to celebrity-box Lohan -- father of Lindsay -- on the undercard of a Canseco-headlining June event in South Florida. Then promoter Damon Feldman told him the whole show might do a belly-flop on account of Canseco’s date with the acromegalic monstrosity.
"He's getting six figures [for Choi],” Feldman told him. “We have to wait to see how it goes. If he gets cut up too bad, he's not going to want to fight very soon."
Canseco did not get cut up, but he also didn’t look anything resembling healthy as he exited the ring. Feldman may yet box Lohan in September -- mark those calendars -- but the real story is that Canseco apparently pocketed a minimum $100,000 for the oddity.
2-3 in the promotion from 2003-05, Trigg was beaten by Matt Hughes (twice) and Georges St. Pierre (once). He’s had much better results outside the Octagon, going 6-1 in his last seven bouts.
One asterisk: Trigg’s recent success has come primarily as a middleweight, but he’ll be a welterweight attraction -- same as before -- in the UFC. His odds against St. Pierre, particularly at age 37, do not appear to make for a good underdog bet. Maybe the weight cut saps him; maybe he’s just more in tune with a 185er’s speed. Either way, I’d be more excited to see him a class up. He seems to operate best after a carbo-load.
Thursday, May 28 12:20 am PT: Who’s ready for his close-up?
For one reason or another, it might not be Lyoto Machida, who unwittingly tossed his name into the hat for “The Ultimate Fighter” coaching duties after putting former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans to sleep last Saturday in the second round of their title tilt at UFC 98 in Las Vegas.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White fielded a variety of questions on the impending season of the still-chugging Spike reality series, but said all would be answered on June 2, with an official announcement.
Thanks to some overzealous teammates, we already know Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been offered one of the coaching gigs. It was rumored Evans was going to be named Jackson’s foil during the pay-per-view as well. Of course, that’s before Evans collided with Machida’s left fist.
So, should Machida be priming catchy retorts to the fork-tongued Jackson’s impending deluge? Not necessarily.
“I don’t think he’s going to be coaching [TUF],” Machida’s manager Ed Soares told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show Wednesday. “There’s a lot of things in the works to be honest with you and things are already set in stone.”
Soares wouldn’t elaborate further, though one doesn’t have to look much farther than Machida’s post-fight comments to know his English is a work in progress.
Which leaves Evans, who already volleyed verbal venom with Jackson to explosive effect after Rampage’s decision nod over Keith Jardine at UFC 96 in March.
Word is Evans could be interested, but hasn’t been approached for the job as of Wednesday.
If Evans does join Rampage in front of the TV cameras, the potentially combustible pair will be out of circulation until they square off in December if the usual schedule persists. Season ten could be angled as a “Road to the Champion” scenario, as the winner would have fair claim to the title shot.
In the interim, I’d hope the champ would be expected to defend his title. Machida’s camp is certainly hoping it.
“We’re definitely looking to fight again by the end of the year, for sure,” said Soares. “I think by October, November, [Machida] should be fighting.”
And what lucky ducky will get that seemingly insurmountable assignment?
Of the lineup offered by fellow scribe Tomas Rios, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is intriguing (Even during the dark days, I never lost hope that Shogun would return to Pride-demolition form.)
And if neither Evans nor Machida is destined for reality TV stardom, I nominate Rua. Charming, respectful, and most importantly, the owner of a brutal technical knockout win over Jackson from Pride’s 2005 grand prix, Rua could be the UFC’s man.
Thursday, May 28 12:07 am PT: Fresh off of his hard-earned decision victory over Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante, Sherdog.com was finally able to present Tatsuya Kawajiri with his 2008 Fight of the Year award, recognizing his epic battle with Eddie Alvarez at July 2008’s Dream 5.
“Wow! Are you serious? I didn't know about this at all,” said a surprised Crusher when presented with the award.
“I was recognized by Sherdog for Fight of the Year?” asked Kawajiri, apparently in disbelief.
We assured him that the fight was indeed a great one, and that no matter who won or lost, it was only fair that we recognize both fighters since it takes two to make such a memorable match.
“I feel honored to be recognized like this, overseas, even though I lost the fight,” said the humble and always classy lightweight. “I am very happy. Thank you very much Sherdog. I appreciate your recognition.”
