People can knock Mo’s competition level, but fighting Travis Wiuff in your debut is pretty ambitious. I mean, the kid has only had four fights. As much as I know he’s willing to step in with anyone, Ryan Parsons is a good manager and wants Mo to develop his overall skills gradually. He’ll be facing top ten contenders in no time flat.

I would like to see people be open minded about Mark. He actually was already in training and reports are that he’s in the best shape he’s been in in quite some time. And if Mo vs. Kerr doesn’t excite you, M-1 and HDNet are giving you a Mousasi vs. Fedor exhibition, Amoussou vs. Thompson, and Zayats vs. Linhares all for FREE. “Breakthrough” is going to have a little something for everyone.

I’m glad you are keeping busy, and doing work you love. I’m not sure if given your position you can comment on this, but I’ll throw it out there anyway.

My negative feedback on M-1 may be a little differn’t then some. While it’s great that Mo Lawal is fighting here, Mark Kerr as an opponent? 2 wins and 6 losses in the last three years? While there is no shame in lossing to Jeff Monson, I think it would be fair to say that some of his opponents during this period are not well know fighters in thier prime. My knock on M-1 is that Mo Lawal should be signing with a bigger organisation, and fighting better opponents.

For the sport of MMA, should we be matching genuine up and coming fighters against fighters that can be viewed as… I don’t want to say washed up, but that is what I keep thinking. I just don’t see that as the best way to grow the sport.

Now, I know I wasn’t there through all this, and I couldn’t possibly imagine the extent of the pain/stress this has caused you guys, but I really think this will have a positive effect on you and your wife..

For starters, I’m willing to guarantee that she’s got an immense amount of rage brewing in her, the likes of which will last throughout her first couple fights.. It’s never really good to fight off anger, but this probably fuels her in training, and makes her hunger THAT MUCH STRONGER..

Secondly, all these things that she’s gone through are trials and tests that are extremely important in a fighter’s career.. These are the tests that build champions.. The fact that Andria has not only survived through these tests, but has kept pushing, and finally reached her goal, shows her tremendous amount of heart and drive.. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s the most important ‘skill’ a fighter can have..

Let’s be honest, how many other up and coming fighters would keep trying after 2 years of opponents backing out, or promotions canceling fights/cards? Honestly, I think most people would lose hope and seek another profession.

“A lot of people really enjoyed the candid writing I did while others just wanted me to shut up and slave away on the phones all day and break stories for their amusement.” that made me lol

we’re not only pulling all of this off but we’re moving forward on some big things for the future. Stay tuned…….can the loyal 5oz users get a little clue about this??

Ozz, thanks for the kind words. I don’t think Mo vs. Rampage is a PR stunt at all. At the same time, both are smart guys who understand how the game works. If someone postures, the other guy knows that it isn’t going to hurt to talk smack back. The reason why I think it is legit is because Mo isn’t under UFC contract. As of now, it makes no sense for them to manufacture a feud that isn’t guaranteed to have a payoff.

Regarding Mo’s contractual status, a lot of that is Ryan Parson’s business and I don’t want to get sideways with Ryan by divulging his personal business info. I will say this, Mo has no long-term contractual commitment to any organization and there isn’t a fight promotion on the planet not talking to him right now. M-1 is lucky to have Mo do his first fight on U.S. soil for us. I can’t say enough good things about him. Long-time readers know I was writing about him before he ever made his MMA debut. I just think he’s going to be one of the biggest stars in this sport.

P.S. Thanks for the email back about the Philly show(sarcasm)…I had an awesome time as well. And I think that fight in the crowd was actually during the Riley- Nelson bout.

Glad to hear from you! It’s been a while. I wish you and the wife the greatest of luck in your future endeavors.

On a side note, what’s the truth between Mo & Rampage? Was is a publicity stunt, or do you see them going at at? What’s Mo’s contract? How much longer till he’s a “free agent?”

Rich, yeah, man. It’s been a long hard road. We have two opponents agree last year to fight my wife and then they backed out. One even came to our gym to spy on her. Then, we finally found an opponent named Shannon Schaide who had the stones to fight my wife. They were supposed to fight in June in Delaware last year and then it got shut down. We re-scheduled it for last August at the Combat Sports Challenge in Virginia but my wife tore he ACL a few weeks before the fight. She still tried to fight, but thankfully, our trainer stepped in and told her no way. She went to the former official surgeon for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dr. Arthur Bartolozzi and she opted to have a cadaver transplant because they said it would be best option for her as an athlete. It’s taken her a long time to come back but she is 100%.

That’s why I have so much respect for Mo. My wife had the same injury as he had and it look her a long time to make her way back. Mo is coming back after only a few short months. Ryan Parsons must have special healing powers because he’s got Mo on a great program right now.

You were posting those articles about her struggles in getting and keeping a fight almost a full year ago now, right? Sheesh.. Well, it looks like things are finally turning out for her and I’m glad.. I’ll wish her luck once again: Here’s to a 1st round knockout!!

Don’t forget the Philadelphia Flyers. The 1970s Flyers (The Broad Street Bullies) were the most violent players in the history of hockey — and the fans idolized them for it.

Wait a second. So does that mean that you ARE still active?

Haha – Just kidding. I don’t normally play grammar-cop, but that sentence was a nice set-up for it.