Monday, August 17 6:51 pm PT: ISLAND LAKE, Ill. -- Jeff Curran said Friday of his younger cousin, Pat, “If he gets a hold of him, he’s gonna maul him.”
Taking over in the main event for the injured Bart Palaszewski, Pat Curran made short work of journeyman Lucas Gwaltney, landing the first blow and following it up with a takedown. From there, he worked from Gwaltney’s guard to side control and began landing blows. After being kicked off, he again jumped into the guard and landed a series of lightning-quick punches, opening a deep gash above Gwaltney’s left eye.
Monday, August 17 4:35 pm PT: Reported by Tatame and ran through a translator at BloodyElbow, 185-pound Bellator tournament champion Hector Lombard says that he’s unsure of his future following the conclusion of his three-fights-remaining contract with the Bellator Fighting Championships.
“I don’t know about UFC,” he told the magazine. What he does know: “I want two more fights before the end of the year.”
That could be problematic: Five Ounces of Pain reported on Aug. 14 that Bellator, which premiered to a strong reception and ratings in the spring, is currently shopping for a TV deal and has postponed a second season until January of 2010.
Lombard looked good in early outings in Japan, but tended to shrivel late in the fight. He’s been a wrecking ball in Bellator, but the competition isn’t nearly at the UFC’s level. Watching him against another middleweight judoka in Yoshihiro Akiyama would be fun for the whole family.
Monday, August 17 2:05 pm PT: In a Monday editorial, Yahoo’s Steve Cofield took Gina Carano to task for exiting the ring in haste following her definitive loss to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos during Saturday’s Strikeforce card. Citing a lack of professionalism for not agreeing to an interview, Cofield drew comparisons to Forrest Griffin’s arena-is-on-fire exit back on Aug. 8 following a loss to Anderson Silva. (In either case, bending to serial killers like Santos or Silva is hardly the stuff of embarrassment.)
Do athletes “owe” us an explanation immediately following their losses? There’s clearly a morbid thrill in watching someone freshly-mauled try to articulate themselves; Carano in particular had the weight of a sport subculture on her shoulders.
But has anything truly profound been said when someone is hopped up on adrenaline and choking on their own blood and snot? I’m anxious to hear both Griffin and Carano verbalize their nights, but having some distance and reduction of blood pressure is probably good for a more comprehensible recollection. Being made to stand at attention and re-assemble neurons two minutes after a beating isn’t going to result in any motivational speaking offers.
Monday, August 17 12:10 pm PT: What, Kalib Starnes wasn’t returning phone calls? ABC has circulated word that this season’s cast of recurring ratings machine “Dancing with the Stars” will feature former UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. Liddell will join fifteen other contestants hoofing it up -- frequently awkwardly -- in ballroom competition, which premieres Sept. 21.
It was not long ago that NBC’s “Fear Factor” shunned any notion of an all-MMA show because the sport was too fringe for mass audiences; now Liddell is front and center on a program that attracted 22.5 million viewers for its last season premiere. His is likely to be the most famous Mohawk in the world in a matter of weeks. (I would’ve opted for Brock Lesnar for the cringe factor, but no one asked me.)
I’d wager the UFC didn’t book Liddell, since it makes more sense to get an active fighter for this kind of exposure. (ABC, less interested in the UFC’s bottom line, just wants a name brand personality.) Still, the UFC’s banner is likely to get a workout. And if Tapout never considered threading a three-piece suit before, they sure as heck are now.
Randy Couture and EA Sports' Peter Moore. Photo by Dave Mandel.
Cornering Xtreme Couture affiliated fighter Gina Carano Saturday, Randy Couture found the time to confirm his participation in Electronic Arts’ creatively-titled “MMA” video game title, currently scheduled for a 2010 release. The news also coincided with Couture’s appearance on-camera during Showtime’s Strikeforce telecast.
A UFC-affiliated athlete blaring trumpet for competing product isn’t exactly an ideal situation for a company as notoriously ornery as Zuffa, but Couture’s pixel likeness was negotiated prior to his re-signing with the UFC in 2008.
Of interest: how heavily EA will use Couture’s brand image to promote the product, and if he’ll even be an active athlete by the time the software rolls out. (Couture has two bouts left on his current paperwork with the UFC: the second, against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, takes place August 29.)
Monday, August 17 1:15 am PT: Crave Online sister-site Wrestle Zone chimed in on a report from the Dayton Daily News on the possibility of Kim Couture fighting former WWE diva Lisa Marie Varon.
According to the report, the 38-year-old -- best known as “Victoria” from her stint in the WWE -- is being aided in her transition to MMA by J.T. Stewart, a business partner of former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin.
The San Bernardino native is currently signed with Total Nonstop Action Wresting.
Couture (1-1) last took to the cage in November when she scored a first-round technical knockout of Lina Kvokov. The 33-year-old Las Vegas resident is the former wife of UFC hall of famer Randy Couture.
Monday, August 17 12:00 am PT: Debated pound-for-pound pummel artist Fedor Emelianenko -- who hasn’t competed since sending Andrei Arlovski into previously-undiscovered stage-six sleep last January -- is now being considered for a November Strikeforce debut, according to comments made by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker to various media outlets over the weekend.
That would seat the Russian’s appearance comfortably between an October 24 UFC event in Los Angeles and any end-of-year programs they have slated. Coker also shot down reports the promotion was considering former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez as an opponent, which should do wonders to instantly restore whatever credibility was lost when that rumor made the rounds.
Rodriguez himself either heard that drum or started beating it on his own, telling the UK’s Fighter’s Only that “I've had my ups and downs, but right now I am 240 and in five weeks I'll be 220 competing at Abu Dhabi…I'm in great shape and I would last longer than Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski combined.”
Maybe so. But fighting is -- or should be -- a hierarchy. Allowing Rodriguez to stroll in and contend for Emelianenko’s unofficial toughest-guy-ever title when he hasn’t beat a ranked opponent in seven years isn’t matchmaking. It’s charity.
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