4 months of summer my ass, it's still not enough! It's never enough......*cries in the corner*

Mannn, it's September already. What the hell guy. Those 4 months fleeted away so quickly, I don't even recall what I've been doing. Good thing I've been blogging to record some of my more major activities. Well there's always a negative and positive to school, it always seems to balance out. The school year passes by fairly quickly, I mean...it still feels like last year when I first stepped foot into my crap campus. So summer should come fast, and then go by fast again. It's just the way it is. Always has been and always will be. Hey, at least it's the month of my birthday, as well as Albert Dani's and Jeff Pendon's.

I usually blog about the results of UFC events, but as you can clearly see, I have not given my thoughts about UFC 102: Couture VS Noguiera. Well here they are, briefly (the one's I looked forward to anyways):

Gonzaga VS Tuchscherer:

Napao is back baby!!! This guys vicious when he's in his A-game. 1st round, 2:27, TKO, Gonzaga.

Munoz VS Catone:

Dude, I know you're my fellow countryman, but damn, that was too close. You were lucky, could have gone either way. 3rd round, 5:00, Split Decision, Munoz. (Better man up like hell in the next fight, you're so close to getting tossed out of the UFC)

Vera VS Soszynski:

Another fellow countrymen who did not do as bad, but his fight was not exciting either. Conservative is the word I guess, which isn't bad, it will win fights....but you just distanced yourself even further from a contender rank, let alone a title shot. 3rd round, 5:00, Unanimous Decision, Vera.

Silva VS Jardine:

I was always a fan of Thiago Silva, who was known for his quick and powerful wins.....his only loss is to the Dragon himself, Lyoto Machida. An amazing fighter...he just happened to run into the Dragon. Need I say more? He busted Jardine up after a knock down with a hook, and just pounded away. 1st round, 1:35, TKO, Silva.

Maia VS Marquardt:

Oh Maia. You were my BJJ hero....and you still are. You're decent at boxing. But are you good with kicks? No. Why did you do it? And why did you do such a risky, rushed in kick that was too close? And why the body? It leaves you sooooo open. If you're not good with kicks, but you still wanna do it, go for a low kick to keep your defenses up....and for God's sake, don't rush in 2 meters into the guy. You did...and you got caught by a vicious punch from Marquardt. One punch, and you flew in the air and hit the canvas face first. Ouch. I still have faith in you though, I still consider you to be one of the top BJJ players in the world...so stick with what you know unless you're absolutely sure with kicks...and even then...use that as a last resort. Remember you're standing up with Nate "The Great" Marquardt, who's known for, as Marcus Santos calls it, street fighter combos. You had no chance with stand up against him. I'm dragging on. 1st round, 0:21, KO, Marquardt.

Couture VS Noguiera:

The main event was this fight. It was hyped. And for a damn good reason. It was an all out war between MMA legends, as they call them. Amazing fight. Noguiera showed amazing skill and improvement (proving that his health at the time he faced off against Frank Mir, did play a very significant factor) and Couture showed admirable heart as he weathered all attempts Noguiera made to finish him. Bravo gentlemen, bravo. In the end though, Minotauro prevailed. 3rd round, 5:00, Unanimous Decision, Noguiera.

So all the fighters that I hoped would win, did end up winning, except for Demian Maia. He'll come back though. All fighters need to be humbled sooner or later, that's how they evolve and mature into better warriors. On that note, Randy seems to still be evolving as a fighter, as he announced in the post conference that he has signed a six fight contract with UFC again, which basically gives the UFC fans another 2 years of The Natural. Lidell soon found out about this and constantly texted Dana White (UFC president) during the event, showing his interest in fighting, even though White has clearly mentioned that he is worried about The Iceman's health. But Chuck is money...and we all know Mr. White's weakness. $$$.

Man, these UFC events just keep getting better and better. Joe Rogan said that fighting continues to evolve greatly each time, it surely is. Royce Gracie would not survive in today's UFC compared to his dominant reign on almost everybody in the early 90's. You gotta love this sport.

Looking forward to the next events....Vitor Belfort's return on 103, free UFC event on UFN, Machida's first defense on 104, showcase of TUF 9 and UK fighters on 105, Lesnar's second title defense as well as Ortiz's return on 106 and the TUF 10 season finale on DECEMBER!

Man, just bring it on already!

Alan

P.S. Disney bought Marvel...looks like we'll soon see Mickey Mouse teaming up with Spiderman to beat up some villains.

Another take on the brilliance of MMA.

"Training in the field of Martial arts has really shaped my life. I have been training since the age of 10 at Universal Defense Systems which covers the arts of Filipino Arnis, Muay Thai kick boxing, Kung-Fu, Judo, Jeet June Do and Savate. For the last 8 years, I have been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I have been fighting professional mixed martial arts since 2003.

Martial art literally means the art of war. Martial Arts is the ancient means of military training whether it is with empty hand or with weapons. Today's warfare has been altered with technological advancements through the use of projectile weapons or missiles. Although modified to fit with the development of human body and mind, the use of ancient martial arts remains necessary. A punch will always be a punch and a kick will always be a kick.

Cross training in the Ancient arts is similar to stepping into the past, into the minds of sword to sword and hand to hand combatants. Therefore, every true martial artist is a historian in there own rite. Martial arts not only has endless history, but it also contains the most precise physics. The body movement for a sweep or punch must be so particular with its angle, timing, distance, and dimensions. Therefore, a true martial artist must have basic knowledge of physics to perform a move successfully.

When the public watches hand to hand combat on television in venues such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship most Americans are unaware of the skills and techniques that require such mastery by the fighters. These fighters are the true Olympians of the world. So much is sacrificed into becoming a champion. So many hard hours of training, studying the history, the techniques, the angles, the strategies, and most of all yourself.

Fighting in the octagon may appear to violent, and some might even view it as barbaric. However, if you appreciate the human body and it's history, you will begin to see that this really is the first and the best sport on earth

— Phillipe Nover"

From his website: http://www.phillipenover.com/

Philippe Nover was the first runner up in The Ultimate Fighter Series during "Noguiera VS Mir" He is a Filipino American who lives in New York and is a registered nurse. Healer by day, fighter by night. His nickname is the Filipino Assassin. Unfortunately his UFC debut suffered an idiotic call made by the notorious referee, Yves Lavigne, who has been known to make early stoppages from past fights. He stopped the fight too early because he "thought" that Nover was KO'd but he instantly rolled into a defensive position on the ground. Lavigne was later seen and heard apologizing to Nover.

Terrible call made by Lavigne:




Don't worry Philippe, Dana White is a reasonable and smart guy, he knew that the call was made much too early.

Keep fighting Nover,

Alan

MMA is not for pussies.

I honestly am pretty annoyed by everyone (people who don't know crap about the sport, which is unfortunately, a whole lot of people) calling this sport a homo-fest. At the most visceral level, humans desire to test out their physical ability to inflict pain on another human to the best of their ability. UFC and its Octagon (and any other organized MMA groups out there) allows for that to happen in a controlled environment with spectators who are paying good money to see how skilled these men are. Each and everyone of them has trained as hard as any athlete for any sport out there and it's about time they get the recognition they deserve. This is their life, this is what they're about, fighting. I can't imagine any other type of athletes that are more dedicated than professional fighters. Fighting, training and discipline is all part of their life. They do it all for several different reasons, none more justifiable than the other and what it comes down to in the end is an extremely visceral and satisfying test of human physical ability. Whether it be strength, speed, mental quickness or spirituality, it all gets tested to their limits when the referee gives you the green light. You wanna call these guys homosexual or gay? Put your money where your damn mouth is. Put up or shutup.

MMA is one of, if not, the greatest sport on Earth and UFC is probably the best orginization out there for the sport. Let this picture speak for all the MMA fans out there,


Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida giving the "dragon punch" in text-book Karate form. Afterall, MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts, and it takes a variety of different fighting disciplines to be a true warrior, that's what true warriors strive for. These are truly the modern day galdiators.

Keep fighting MMA athletes, the day will come when you recognition will be world-wide,
Alan

And the fight is OVER!!! Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida is the new UFC Light Heavy Weight Champion!!

Top left: Machida with a text-book Karate punch landing it perfect on Evan's face!
Top right: Evans goes down, looking limp as hell.
Bottom left: His crew attends to Evans ASAP!
Bottom right: The new Light Heavy Weight UFC Champion, LYOTO MACHIDA!!!! (Doning his Karate Gi no less.) Karate is back with a vengeance!

Wow, what a spectacular fight. Thank God for free online streaming. I was actually scared cuz it kept going on and off, but in the end, I saw that beautiful KO by The Dragon.

First round was about getting a feel for each other's styles, it was obvious Evans had an extremely difficult time figuring out Machida. Machida continues to maintain his "elusiveness", a word that has been so popularized by Joe Rogen due to continuous usage.

Second round, was all Machida. Once Machida knocked him down once, his punches kept coming and coming and he basically did not give Evans a chance to recover. He then finally lands a powerful straight left in Karate form. With Machida's hard rock fist and immovable determination and with the spirit of a true martial artist and a true warrior, he has earned his Light Heavy Weight belt and title of the UFC. I pray that he continues to keep his title and defend it with all he's got. Looking forward to his most likely bout with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, another awesome match waiting to happen.

Kudos to "Sugar" Rashad Evans, even after receiving a loss, he is still an extremely formidable fighter and a force to definitely be reckoned with.

One more thing:

Karate is back in the MMA! Keep it burning Lyoto, you're Karate's role model now!
Alan