Last night 20/20 had a segment dedicated to kids and their involvement in mixed martial arts. It’s a fairly balanced and typical MMA story with plenty of UFC clips of fighters getting KO’d and the token politician speaking out against the sport. What’s great is to see the next generation of fighter. Imagine the quality of fighters we’ll see in the next decade when we have 20 year old mixed martial artist s with years with 15 years of training under their belt.

Let’s be honest, young children have been taking karate lessons for decades and mixed martial arts is just another form of self defense. For those who have a problem with kids participating in MMA, as 20/20’s John Stossel would say, “give me a break.”

In case you were one of the few MMA fans on the planet that didn’t catch last night’s UFC event, fellow MMA fanatic Michael Hans has provided some guest commentary for The Punch. His thoughts on UFC 84 (FYI, I wholeheartedly agree with points number 1 and 4):

1) Loved the Penn fight. He dominated and I would like to see him rule the lightweights for years to come. I know why he wants to fight GSP, but that’s for personal not professional reasons. He wants to beat the one guy who is a true challenge for him and avenge his lost to George. If he stopped and looked at it from a professional stand point. He should stay at 155 and have three to four title defenses a year. He could be the Matt Hughes of the lightweights and rule the weight class for the next five years. If he goes up and fights GSP what does it do for the sport? If he loses, it devalues the lightweight belt, if he wins, is he going to just stay up and fight at middle weight? The UFC needs marketable champions at every weight class. Dominant fighters that they can bring in multiple guys in to challenge and get their asses handed to them. That’s what made watch Hughes’ title run so fun. I say, let GSP and Penn defend their belts for as long as possible.

2) Jardine went down like I thought that he would. I like the guy, but his chin doesn’t match up well with an aggressive heavy hitter like Silva or Houston Alexander. The only reason he was able to beat Liddell was because Liddell is a counter puncher. He was not aggressive and let Jardine control the fight. If you are fighting Jardine, you need to come at him hard and take a chance, hit him right and you will knock him out.

3) Keep your eyes on Goran Reljic. This Croatian sensation has it and I expect him to be a top contender in a few years. His over 80″ reach is off the charts. He has dynamic power in his kicks and just the right look and fighting style that fans pay to see. Granted he almost got KO’ed last night, but you could also say that he kept his his composer, fought back and had a entertaining fight for his first time in the UFC. How many fighters over the years have you had to hear that fighters have to get use to the lime light and that it takes a couple fights under the pay-per-view lights to get their bearings. This 24 year old kid looked good, and he could have a belt some day.

4) Shocker. Lyoto is boring. My buddy, Backdoor, says, “Lyoto is a strategic fighter.” I say, people pay good money to see a fight not a track meet. Engage or go home! If Machida fought with Silva’s passion he would be a hell of a fighter, but he doesn’t and never will. This guy needs to only fight aggressive risk takers. His next fight, if he even gets one, should be against Silva and then we’ll see if he will engage or run. My bet is that Machida will bring his track shoes.

5) Palhares looks good. Real good. Glad to see Sokoudjou get a TKO. I like the guy and he needs to string some wins together.

6) Shocked to read this morning that Heavyweight, Shane Carwin, was a division II National Wrestling Champion. You throw in his punching power, with what I can only assume is dominate ground game, and you got the makings of a great fighter.

After getting lambasted by the MMA community for his less than spectacular performance against Nate Quarry at UFC 83 Kalib has released an official statement. RawVegas.com has picked up the story and posted the entire release on their site. Here is a snippet:

This sport is as much about losing as it is about winning. There is a winner and a loser in every fight. I tried to win but on that night I couldn’t do it and I lost. Instead of allowing me to lose with dignity I was booed and called names and ridiculed beyond anything which seems reasonable to me. I tried to box with him and I couldn’t find my range, I tried to kickbox with him and I broke my foot, I tried to take him down and grapple with him but I was unable to, I tried to work in the clinch but that didn’t work either, in short, I failed. No excuses.

During the fight I received a broken bone in my right foot and I find out tomorrow if I need to have surgery and get a pin put through it so that it will heal properly. I also have severe bruising on my left thigh, lumps on my head, a fat black eye, a sprained jaw and damage to the nerves in my molars.

Honestly I have no sympathy for Starnes. Kalib has been given the amazing opportunity to fight with biggest organization in the fastest growing sport in the world. So he broke his foot during the fight, boo hoo. This is mixed martial arts and injuries are part of the sport, deal with it. See Kurt Pelligrino as his tooth actually busted a hole through his skin during a fight, leaving a hole just below his bottom lip. Did this slow him down, hell no.

Also, remember the time Kalib quit in the middle of a fight on The Ultimate Fighter due to a rib injury? Dana White should have learned his lesson then. Get this guy out of the UFC and make room for fighters who are truly hungry and will do all they can to put on a good fight.

Check out the full Kalib Starnes release here.

I’ve heard some rumblings recently that Xyience was accused of not paying fighters they sponsor. The details were a bit shotty, but now it looks like someone is digging way deeper into the not-so-reputiable aspects of the company. Rich Bergeron has written an article called The Enron of MMA that really connect a lot of dots and doesn’t paint the UFC’s top sponsors in the best light. The article begins like this.

Because of an email that is now the subject of a $25 million lawsuit against me, and because I followed up on that email, I’m in a position now where I can put all of the intricate puzzle pieces together to prove the greatest fraud in fight industry history.

This story is too huge to keep to myself. It is dubbed the Enron of MMA for a reason, because it really is.

Right under the very noses of the fans who tuned in faithfully for every big show, right behind the backs of the fighters who put their safety on the line for the cash and the bragging rights of fighting in the “octagon”, and right past federal regulators behind the curve, the latest Xyience backers have been feeding a chain of lies to investors and the public, and for a long time they were able to fly under the radar and avoid detection.

All the while, the UFC has found a way of representing themselves as having this great, exclusive sponsor, but it’s not really all that great.

If you want to read the rest of the article (it’s pretty lenghty), check it out here at Unlimited Fighting News.

I was just looking over the card for UFC 80 and was struck by just how lame the name ”Rapid Fire” is. It really makes no sense. I believe the term rapid fire refers to a high rate of rounds fired by a gun. This could make some sense if the main event was between two amazingly fast strikers. But at UFC 80 the main event is BJ Penn vs. Joe Daddy. Humm, not seeing the connection.

All this got me pondering and I decided to take a look back at all of the ridiculous names the UFC has come up with and choose a top 10. Drum roll…..my Top Ten Lamest UFC Event Names:

10. High Voltage/High Impact/High Stakes (I’m Lumping all of the “High” ones together)
9. Boiling Point (212 degrees of excitement at UFC 54)
8. No Way Out (sure there is, just open the cage door or jump the fence)
7. Shootout (the OK Corral at UFC 69)
6. All or Nothing (a bit dramatic for UFC 67)
5. Ortiz vs. Shamrock the Final Chapter (should have ended the book after chapter one)
4. ITS ON (and yes, it was in all caps)
3. Ultimate Field of Dreams (was UFC 26 held at a ball park?)
2. There Can Only Be One Champion (seems a bit obvious)

and number 1… (more…)

I’ve been addicted to MMA fantasy betting for a while now and wanted to share MMAPlayground.com with everyone.

How does it work? Pretty simple, just sign-up for a free account (they also offer premium accounts with added functionality for a small fee) and start making predictions on the UFC and other big MMA events. There is a “MMA Picks Game” section that utilizes a points system to reward correct predictions. Points are awarded based on picking the winner, the round, and the ending details (KO, Submission, Decision, etc.).

You can also partake in the “MMA Wagering Game” where you are giving a fantasy bankroll that allows you to bet on any fighter(s) for a given event. The Game even includes Vegas style odds.

Best part, prizes. Two prizes are given out after each UFC event including $100 to the user who earns the most points from the picks game and another $100 to the user with the largest fantasy bankroll from the UFC wagering game.

In addition to playing the fantasy games you can compete on a more personal level with friends by forming a “fight camp” on the website. Each “fight camp” comes with its own messageboard and scoreboard, enabling friends to have some friendly trash talk while competing head-to-head in a private area of the website.

Get in on the action before The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale and UFC 79. Sign up HERE.