I turned to the WEC 48 show just after I was done watching the Kessler/Froch boxing contest. Some of you are familiar with my thoughts on boxing v MMA http://www.mybadassitude.com/?p=16 for a true fight lover. Kessler/Froch was a great fight. A solid 12 rounds of badassitude that ended in a Kessler win and the title changing hands.

In the main, the WEC 48 undercard was most mostly disappointing – until the Pickett/Johnson fight. That Pickett has some skills but Johnson had interesting speed that he has yet to learn how to use. If they open a 120 lb division, Johnson will be one of the favorites to own it. Both those boys are going to be something. Also, I think there should be a limit to the number of undercard fights. I don’t care that they can end in seconds. Bring on the main event damn it!!

I was so ready for Faber/Aldo fight well before the undercard fights were done. I like both fighters a lot. Urijah Faber fights with a commitment for the duration of the fight that you do not see with many other fighters. I remember when he broke his hand in a fight against Mike Brown I think it was. And he fought the rest of the fight with one hand, and he only lost it by a hair. Jose Aldo on the other hand is very interesting cat. The guy goes at hyper speed, strikes from the strangest of angles and he is fearless. But the coolest thing about Aldo is his victory dance. You should see it. It is really cool and funny shit if you ask me.

After all the crappy fights though, it was time for the main event. Faber v Aldo, for the bantam weight championship currently held by Aldo. Clearly, Faber had the home court advantage. He had the noise and the fans. Squaring off, before the fight started, one would be forgiven if one thought Faber was the badasser of the two. He had the “I am hunting prey look on his face”. Aldo was avoiding eye contact. For some guys, that works. But who knows? The guys had virtually identical stats except that Faber looked more cut. Not sure at that point that it amounted to anything but we had to wait and see. The fight ref was Josh Rosenthal.

Round one was mostly uneventful. Both fighters kept a very respectful distance in the first minute. Urijah showed a really nice front kick early. I liked it. But I was beginning to like Aldo’s strong leg kicks very quickly. On the whole it was a very cautious first round for both fighters but Aldo had a number of good leg kicks and the big knee. I did not see sustained activity from either side and I did not see either fighter beginning to meaningfully impose their will on the other fighter. Both fighters came into the fight very much aware of each other’s ability to end the fight quickly and early – a fate they both made a serious effort to avoid. There was a rule in the (now defunct?) WCL that you could not just retreat without making an affirmatively offensive move or you would lose a point. That would have been a useful rule in this first round. In fact, it should be a rule in MMA for standup sessions, period.

In the second round, it was getting clear that even though neither fighter could seem to find a persistently effective strategy, Aldo’s persistent leg kicks to Urijah’s left leg were beginning to look like they were taking a toll. They were very powerful kicks. Urijah Faber fights with a very long front left stance. And he sets hard – for his front kicks, power right and jab. It looked like Aldo had figured out that little detail. And every time Faber was set on that side, he went for the leg kick. What he also figured was that apparently when Faber is set on that left front stance, he is not as nimble switching out of it to defend a leg kick. By the end of round 2, Urijah was hurting really bad. He had no plan B. Someone in his corner should have been thinking up strategies to deal with the kicks. They didn’t. A simple one should have been this – close the distance, take away the kicks and change the terms of engagement.

Round 3 started to look very single sided. At this point, the fight was being dominated by Aldo. The fight was being dominated using a single, simple, well executed technique – the leg kick. I kept waiting for Urijah Faber to come up with some mitigation for the damaging strategy adopted by Jose Aldo. It was stunning that for such a good fighter as at least we thought Faber was, there was no other path. In fact, it looked like the entire camp, from Faber to all the trainers and partners, there was a complete failure in performing the appropriate due diligence and coming up with a plan. How could they not have known Aldo’s strength with leg kicks? How could they not have prepared to counter?

By round 4, Urijah was fighting just on the basis on heart. Jose Aldo’s badassitude was so apparent and so complete, a lesser fighter might have quit. But Urijah Faber was ready to take his ass whipping like a man. And boy, did he ever? The barrage of leg kicks continued. He tried to take Aldo down but it was Faber who ended up on his back. And he took a beating when he was on his back. I was actually surprised that Josh Rosenthal did not stop the fight. In hindsight, it was fair not to stop the fight. Faber was still fighting and there was no saying, for those of us who have watched him for while, whether he could not come up with a winner somehow.

But by round 5, it was over. Clearly over. Even to both fighters it looked like they understood it. Aldo stayed away from doing anything stupid, and Faber did not have enough to do anything remarkable. In the end it was a unanimous decision as it should have been. But if you ask me, Urijah needs a new corner, a new trainer who takes the competition seriously, studies what the competition does, and comes up with strategies for winning the fight including plan a, b and even c depending on what the opponent does.

I am watching 24/7 Mayweather/Mosley on HBO. Floyd is running his mouth. I love the guy. Pure badass, pure unadulterated badassitude. Some choice Floyd Mayweather quotes – the guy is a gem:

“Shane Mosley says, I am fighting for money. Hello? I am a prize fighter. That is what I am supposed to be fighting for! Duh“.

“You can’t stop God’s work”.

“Some people say he says he’s better than Mohamed Ali. Yep, I am better than Mohamed Ali. That I am better than Sugar Ray Robinson. Yep, I am better than Sugar Ray Robinson”.

Badass!!!

In the early rounds, Martinez flummoxed Pavlik. He used a ton of speed and movement, scored a ton of points and for a while I thought he was going to run away with the fight. Kelly did not look like he had an answer for Martinez. Around the 4th round though, Kelly started to impose his size and length and actually started to box. I thought for a while that he would find a way to end the fight quickly. There is something about Kelly Pavlik’s size, the way he moves, and the visual comparison with guys in his weight class that makes you think the fight is about to end. You keep thinking that anytime, he will do enough to drop his opponent.

In round seven, Pavlik did enough and caught Martinez with a short inside right. Martinez was off balance, and Pavlik put him on his ass. The fight started to get really interesting in round 8. Martinez came back into the fight and Pavlik fought back. I enjoyed round 8. Badassitude was in evidence. Each guy was trying to get away ahead of the opponent. I thought Martinez won it. The HBO crew called it for Pavlik but that was neither here nor there. But I have seen Pavlik backed into a corner before. This is why I enjoy watching his fights. Anywhere, anytime, he can find the big punch and finish the fight.

Round nine and ten were a wash-out. Martinez won the round cleanly. The punch starts were overwhelmingly one sided. Pavlik looked like a man whose ass had been kicked every which way. He was a bloody mess. But again, I had seen those heavy hands of Pavlik before. They essentially ended Jermaine Taylor’s career. He is a badass but tonight like he has a few times before, he seemed to have run into a badasser fighter. The end of round 11 was tough for Pavlik. He took a ton of punishment and did not do anything in return. In those last rounds, there was something disappointing about Kelly Pavlik. He is a badass. Win or lose, you never doubt his badassitude. In this fight though, in those last rounds where champions are made, he was absent. Bottom line, Martinez was the badasser fighter tonight. If he didn’t win this fight, it would be a travesty.

So I was watching The Ultimate Fighter episode 3 last night. I don’t have much of an interest in what goes on away from the mat and the octagon. Everything for me builds up to the fight so I tend to filter out all the peripheral shit. I am intrigued with the little bit of the actual training that I see. If the producers were true fight guys, training would be the bulk of the show. Side note – Ortiz was training the boys into the night. In the dark, he had them working. I liked that. The message there was this (at least if I was the coach it would be); “It’s big boys time. If you can’t hang, put on your skirt and go home…”

The fight of the night was a middleweight contest between Brad Tavares and James Hammortree. I thought it was good match up. Tavares was badass, I thought. He seemed very athletic, Hammortree seemed tough. In the early part of the 1st round, Tavares looked like he had the kind of shit a good young fighter should have. I liked his high kicks but after throwing a couple, he did not go back there. With time, he will understand what his strengths are. At the same time, Hammortree showed some brilliance with his hands for what amounted to seconds and we did not see those skills again in the fight. They went to the ground and I think if Tavares had had the skills, he would have finished the fight with a rear naked choke. But he couldn’t get his hooks in and he would not do the punishing work to give him the advantage that would allow him to get the advantageous hooks in. He let his opponent off the hook.

Hammortree too was badass. He seemed to have more skill on the ground that Tavares. He defended easily against the attempted rear naked choke although against another fighter with a little more skill, it would have been goodnight and all she wrote. Hammortree went for the takedown early, and he got it. He used his elbows well (though not as much as he could have). He seemed to understand his advantage on the ground. But so often he was so invested in just maintaining his position, he could not see the big chances he could take advantage of to finish the fight. There was a time he had Tavares off the ground but with Tavares head so exposed that had he remembered to use the knee, the fight would have been over. All told though, I thought he won round 1. But apparently the judges thought differently. Who are these judges anyway?

In the 2nd round fatigue began to set in. For a good part of the round, Tavares began to look like very much less of a contender. Hammortree seemed to be winning the round by default, not because he was doing any brilliant fight work but because Tavares was not doing very much. It was a boring round. I was unimpressed across the board. Hammortree must have won that round. He did enough even though he did not impress. At the end of the 2nd round, I thought Hammortree had won the fight. I thought he had enough in the first round to win it, and the 2nd round was definitely his without dispute. I was surprised at the 1 – 1 verdict at that point.

The 3rd round was an entirely lopsided affair in favor of Tavares. He found the mark with a couple of quick jabs early. He seemed to have found his second wind. Conversely, Hammortree seemed to have run out of that little extra umph that he needed. Tavares got him into some kind of silly head lock/kimura that he failed to get out of. Hammortree’s inability to get out of the kimura allowed Tavares to get in enough work and score enough points to win the 3rd round and ultimately the fight, easily.

My View: There was a respectful amount of badassitude in that octagon from both guys. If they fought again, it would be an even money fight. I want to keep an eye on these guys, win or lose. They might amount to something. They were both badass at the end of the day.

Mayweather had been running his mouth. I love Floyd. He talks trash because he is the shit and because without exception, every single time, he backs it up. He is a badass. Here is a quote, “There’s a blueprint on Shane, he has five losses. Nobody has beaten Floyd Mayweather. The ultimate goal is try to build a fight that can beat Mayweather.” The quote is quintessential Floyd. Love the guy. Oh by the way, Sugar Shane has promised to knock Floyd out.

Miguel Cotto is in training for a fight on June 5 against Yuri Foreman. Who the fuck is Yuri Foreman? When a fighter loses big fights and his career is on the blink, there is no saying what his tomato can strewn attempt at a return to glory might look like. More importantly he has now hired legendary trainer Emanuel Steward. Was Emanuel really that legendary or did he train great fighters?

I ran into a news item touting the return of Peter Manfredo. Who?

Oh by the way, while we were away, Evander Holyfield became world champion again at age 47. Evander Holyfield is still fighting?

I only just started paying attention to the latest incarnation of the Ultimate Fighter. UFC always tries to exploit a rivalry between the coaches. Ortiz and Lidell just do not like each other. What is cool is that we knew before TUF 11 that they did not like each other at all – we have seen it before in and out of the octagon. That said, Ortiz is a very good trainer. As long as I have watched TUF, and I have watched all of them, I think he was by far the best coach. One thing I know is this – if coaching and training counts, Team Ortiz will win this thing. Here is the other thing I know – Lidell is a better fighter than Ortiz. Mano a mano, Lidell will kick Ortiz’s ass. I am sure of it.

Back to the last episode (episode 2 I think it was). Obviously, a guy has to believe he is good enough to win it in before entering the tournament. I like to believe that every fighter who signs up to compete in TUF, truly believes that he has the ability to win the whole thing. Over the years though, I have seen some punkass fighters (and I use that term generously for some of those guys) who should never have been allowed even close to the TUF residence zip code. But in episode 2, Clayton guy had nothing! Seriously. He did not throw punch one, and when they went to the ground, he completely punked out. This guy is supposed to have been fighting training in the mixed martial arts for a few years now. And he couldn’t get out of that triangle? Worse, he couldn’t see it coming?

I know this is TUF. Only one or 2 of these guys ever has enough to get anywhere in the sport. But still. And at the end of the fight, the guy was putting more effort into displaying his frustration than he put into either his training or the fight itself. What a punkass!! Ortiz to his credit was very quick to call the boy back and show him what the fuck was up and the mistake he had made in the fight. Like I said, Ortiz is a good coach. I was looking for some badassitude. I didn’t really see any. I am not sure Nokes is a real badass but we had to give it to him on this occasion for the quick work on Clayton.

Every now and then, a peerless athlete dazzles in a manner so complete, so sublime, we can all see what separates him from the rest. The list is a very long one and very special. Pele, Ali, Jesse Owens anchor that very long list. Recently, we might add, Kobe, Ronaldo, Messi, Pac and Bolt.

This afternoon, Messi reminded all of us what it looks like when a supreme talent gets in the zone. Barcelona was hosting Arsenal (a very good team I might add, my favorite team) at Camp Nou in a Champions League quarter final tie. It had to be seen to be believed. Messi was sublime. He made look easy. He scored a hat trick in 21 minutes of the first half. Come on!! On 90 minutes, he had scored 4 goals, leading in Championship League scoring for the season. Magical was what it was. Unbelievable, sublime. It sucks to lose, but there is something about losing to a talent that for that game was so incredibly better, incomparable, great that it must take off some of the sting for Arsenal.

Lionel Messi = Badassitude. Period.

So Duke won the NCAAs. Duke. The team we love to hate. Somehow, more than any other team, they find a way to win. They typically have good players, but there are other teams with better players. This year, I think Syracuse and Kansas had better players. But Duke had the better team.

There is something about the way that Duke team is coached. And the way they play. The coach seems to have a knack for get the absolute best, and then some, out of his players. In fact, I firmly believe that Mike Krzyzewski (you know I had to cut and paste that name and what the hell kind of name is that? And what’s with how it is pronounced?)…. Anyway, I believe that Mike Krzyzewski is a) the best coach in college basketball but, b) he takes so much out of the kids when they are in school that they have nothing left when they get to the NBA. If they have anything left at all, they are so beat up, they can’t stay healthy (Grant Hill comes to mind). That said, Duke is very simply badass. There is not one team in college basketball that has the killer instinct and the total stone cold desire to win like Duke. That, folks, is badassitude!

We took a little time off to decompress and clear the mind a little bit. We are back and we are looking for, thinking about and ready again to discuss our favorite topic: BadaSSitude.

The past few weeks have been great for observers and connoisseurs of badassitude. The NCAA for one, whittled down to the final 2. We watched some of our favorite teams punk out – Georgetown, Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky and on and on. They disappointed and went down – fast. Except for a couple, the top seeds went down like flies. On a side note, I am beginning to think that you could give John Calipari the Dream Team and he would find a way not to win the championship. Duke though were steadfastly badass. And to be fair, so was WVU. Butler was just badass period. In a knockout tournament, your badassitude has to come to the forefront. This is why we love the NCAAs. It is like badassitude central!

For those who never want to let go of football, we watched some interesting off season things happen the NLF changed the overtime rules for some reason. In my mind it should either be sudden death which is what it was, or a full overtime period a la basketball. Those are the only formats that judge badassitude. Anything in between is very simply a bunch of crap. Speaking of football, the big news of the offseason was the trade of D Mac from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Washington Redskins. Those of you who have followed us for a little bit know that we were partial to the Eagles and McNabb. In fact so much so that we don’t want to say anything about this trade except the following: Donovan McNabb has always been a badass and will always be a badass. Enough said.

Also, while we were away, Bernard Hopkins kicked Roy Jones’s ass. Now granted, Roy is no longer the badass he once was but an ass whipping is an ass whipping especially when it is done by a bona fide badass which Bernard still is. Speaking of badassitude, there may be some emerging from England by the name of Hayes who just kicked John Ruiz’s ass soundly. The Pac man made it look easy against Clottey although Clottey might have done better had he decided to throw a few more punches.

And while we were on break, Barack Obama broke out some serious political badassitude and got his healthcare reform package passed. And many had doubted his badassitude. And just yesterday, Apple a company with an incredible amount of badassitude, released the iPad to resounding acclaim everywhere.

Maybe we shouldn’t have taken a break….