With formerly unstoppable brother Fedor losing in the first round to Fabricio Werdum in June, Aleks Emelianenko remained the siblings’ final hope of notching victory before the close of calendar and looked likely to do in lieu of his scheduled fight against 35-year old Australian striker Peter Graham this past weekend in Russia at the “Draka – Governor’s Cup 2010”. However, as Mixed Martial Arts has proven time and time again, no result is guaranteed, and in the end it was the 4-5 Aussie walking away with the win rather than the home-crowd favorite.

The younger Emelianenko was stopped midway through the match-up’s second stanza as a result of leg kicks from the successful kickboxer, marking his first loss of the year in three showings as well as breaking an eight-fight win streak, all of which were finishing performances, dating back to late 2006. Emelianenko’s record fell to 17-4 with the defeat.

It now looks as if the 300 pound colossus with a background in Kyokushin Karate and Boxing may be taking a big jump up in competition in an effort to fast track it to the top of the heavyweight mountain by possibly colliding with the brother to the baddest man on the planet, and a pretty bad man in his own right, Aleksander Emelianenko.

Apparently KSW is currently in talks with M-1 Global in an attempt to co-promote the promotion’s next card during an event that is being targeted for April in Russia according to the Oskar Berezowski/Polska newspaper.

Outside of Emelianenko, it looks like Bob “The Beast” Sapp is also being considered as a possible next opponent for Pudzian according to a recent tip over at mmarocks_pl.

If these early reports of KSW and M-1 Global possibly co-promoting in the future are true, this writer has to wonder whether or not we may see “Super Mario” stateside sometime soon in a similar co-promotion package. While M-1 Global have always welcomed co-promotion with open arms, Strikeforce has long held the same stance.

I don’t know, but how does Pudzianowski vs. say…. Bobby Lashley sound to you guys? Sounds like money in the bank for all involved to me.

Aleksander recently confirmed that he has signed the bout agreement to face Blagoi Ivanov on September 29 for the Fighter Mania Championship (FMC) promotion in Seoul, South Korea. The September 29 show will be the first for the Korean promotion.

Ivanov became internationally famous overnight in the fight world when he outpointed “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko by a score of 8-5 during the semi-finals of the World Combat Sambo Championship. Ivanov went on to win the finals and claim the championship during the tournament.

Fedor held a previous win over Ivanov during a bout that took place at the Russian Presidents Cup in February of 2008. He was a four-time Sambo champion going into the ill-fated bout with Ivanov and hadn’t dropped a bout in years.

Ivanov made news following his Sambo victory over Fedor by expressing his desire to face off with the heavyweight king in an MMA rules bout. A win over Aleksander would make the potential match-up between the two that much more relevant.

Aleksander is currently riding a six fight win streak over the last two years with every victory coming either by way of knockout or submission. His last outing saw him TKO Ibragim Magomedov at a ProFC event held in Russia on March of 2008.

About thirty seconds into the bout the two exchanged right hands following a brief exchange. Aleksander undoubtedly caught the worst end of the exchange as the overhand right thrown by Magomedov clipped the two -time Russian national Sambo champion on his chin and sent him reeling.

Although obviously wobbled, Aleksander was able to compose himself and clinch Magomedov up. During the clinch the referee noticed a nasty gash to the face of Magomedov which caused him to consult with ringside physicians who promptly waved the contest off. The cut had come from a punch Aleksander had thrown during the previous exchange.

Although Aleksander was hurt significantly more during the initial exchange of punches, the punch he had landed caused the end of the bout.

Whether or not questions will be raised about the top heavyweight’s skill level because of him being close to defeat remains to be seen. Regardless of any future criticism the Russian heavyweight may fall under because of the lackluster performance, Aleksander found a way to win, as he usually does.

Aleksander improved his record to 15-3, while Magomedov dropped to 21-6-1 with the defeat.

Emelianenko commented on his site that he was looking forward to the next chapter in his life and that he would defend his name and prove that he was the best. He also added that his first priority was to defend the honor of Russia in international tournaments.

An official statement by M-1 Global has yet to be issued and while Emelianenko’s separation from Red Devil has been confirmed, it is unclear if he is still contractual aligned with M-1.

There was no specific reason given by either site to why he was leaving. However, rumors have persisted that he had been at odds with some of his Red Devil teammates for some time now.

Emelianenko also had been scheduled to fight last July during the inaugural Affliction card but was scratched at the last minute for reasons that still have yet to have been disclosed. Some sources have speculated that he tested positive for Hepatitis B but those reports have never been confirmed.

The younger brother of WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander is 14-3 in his career. The former PRIDE veteran holds victories over Sergei Kharitonov, James Thompson and Assuerio Silva while also having dropped notable fights to Josh Barnett, Mirko Cro Cop and Fabricio Werdum.

I passed the medical board and my license to fight was obtained without any problems. But the fact is that in California the commission is very rigid for admittance. One of the main conditions to let you fight is the ability to pass all of your tests on time. I had to be in America by July 13, the Visa was only good until the fourteenth and my tickets were purchased in advance for the fifteenth. On the whole, I was late. They thought the organizers could agree and settle the problem but they quickly found out they would not be able to get me on the card. Instead they were able to find a suitable replacement for Paul Buentello. The laws in California are so rigid.

The MMA world was afire with rumors regarding Emelianenko’s absence from the Affliction card two weeks ago, with hepatitis being the leading rumor. According to Emelianenko, those rumors are completely false. It’s not hard to believe that California denied him a license due to late medicals as they’ve done this kind of thing before. Armando Garcia doesn’t play around. If you’re late with your medicals then you aren’t fighting in California, period.

If it’s true that Emelianenko was only held off the card because of late medicals then it’s much better news than the rumor that he has hepatitis. I’d love to see him fight on U.S. soil against Affliction’s heavyweights and there would be almost no chance of him fighting if he had hepatitis. Late medicals we can work with. Hepatitis? Not so much.

A source close to the situation spoke to MMANews.com’s Michael Moody on a condition of anonymity and explained that the blood tests came back right before Aleks and Buentello were scheduled to weigh in and that is why there was so much confusion around the stage and why the fighters did not weigh in. Gary Goodridge ended up stepping up on extremely short notice and filling in for the Russian heavyweight.

The tests were positive for Hepatitis B which resulted in the CSAC cancelling the fight. Hep B is the result of transmission from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood.

If this news is true, it’s unfortunate for Aleks. The younger brother of Fedor has so much potential to be one of the best heavyweights in the world but due to this he may never be able to reach his full potential. He almost certainly will be barred from fighting in the United States. As the article points out, it’s also unlikely that anyone will want to step into the ring against him if he has indeed tested positive for Hepatitis B for fear of catching the disease themselves. Aleks has been through some seriously hard times in his life and this is just another unfortunate happening in his life.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC(R)) has added three thrilling bouts to the organization’s next UK super-show. It has been confirmed that Rameau Sokoudjou will collide with Luiz Cane in a battle of light-heavyweight strikers, Japanese submission expert Akihiro Gono will take on on highly-regarded British debutant Dan Hardy and steel-fisted heavyweight Shane Carwin will exchange bombs with England’s own Neil Wain.

There are definitely some quality match-ups in there, however I am slightly disappointed that I might not to get to see Sokoudjou vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua anytime soon. Who knows, maybe if the “African Assassin” comes out of the Cane fight unscathed (which I doubt) we may get to see him take on Shogun in December.

UFC 89 is headlined by a middleweight contest between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben and is set to take place on October 18th at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

The current rumored line-up is as follows:

• Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
• Thiago Alves vs. Diego Sanchez*
• Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Luiz Cane
• Dan Hardy vs. Akihiro Gono
• Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain
• Paul Kelly vs. Marcus Davis*
• Jess Liaudin vs. David Bielkheden*
• Samy Schiavo vs. Per Eklund*
• Sam Stout vs. Terry Etim*

*Indicates rumored bout as foretold by MMA Weekly.com.

Read more UFC 89 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

Sokoudjou burst onto the MMA scene last year with two devastating knockout wins over highly touted fighters, Antonio Rogerio Noguiera and Ricardo Arona in the now defunct Pride FC. However in his recent UFC debut at UFC 79: Nemesis, he was defeated by Lyoto Machida by 2nd round arm-triangle choke.

Kazuhiro Nakamura has fought a who’s who of Pride veterans, which is not a surprise considering that prior to UFC 76 it was the only organization he had fought for. He had mixed results in Pride going 11-6 in his time there. Just like Sokoudjou, Nakamura’s last defeat was at the hands of Machida at the UFC 76: Knockout.

If the rumor is true, UFC 84 is shaping up to be a very interesting and entertaining card. The event will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between UFC lightweight champion, B.J. Penn and former UFC lightweight champion, Sean Sherk.

The rumored fight card is as follows:
• B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk (UFC lightweight title)
• Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
• Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
• Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
• Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
• Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
• Ivan Salaverry vs. Rousimar Palhares
• Jason Tan vs. Dong-hyun Kim
• Terry Etim vs. Jeremy Stephens

Read more UFC 84 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

In the interview, “The African Assassin” covers a lot of topics including, his most recent fight against Lyoto Machida, why he didn’t sign with EliteXC or K-1 and how come his parents don’t know that he’s a mixed martial artist.

It’s especially interesting to hear his thoughts on his fight with Machida where he says he “choked”.

To check out the full interview, click here.

Check out more Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou content right here on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

But the 23-year old’s parents back home in Cameroon thought their son was studying computer science in San Diego.

“Yeah, my parents, they don’t know,” the man dubbed “The African Assassin” said. “They think I’m in college and maybe training in judo on the side, just for fun. My family places a high value on education. All of my brothers went to college. I’m going to get my degree, I’ve just had other things happen.”

One thing’s for sure. If Sokoudjou continues on his hot streak, the news seems destined to filter back to Cameroon. “They’ll find out about it eventually,” a laughing Sokoudjou said. “You can go ahead and write about it, as long as you don’t write it in French. I promise my family I’m going to go back and get my degree as soon as I get a chance.”

That’s pretty wild business. Sokoudjou has a bright future in the sport but it’s still good to hear that he’s going to get his degree as something to fall back on.

First, it was the signing of Brock Lesnar, which is a move that has the potential to pay huge dividends for the UFC from a mainstream perspective.

Soon after that they made hardcore fans very happy by overlooking recent results and signing a long-awaited dream match between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva for UFC 79.

Now comes an official report on UFC.com announcing the addition of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou to the promotion’s roster of contracted fighters along with his debut at UFC 79 on Dec. 29 against Ryoto Machida.

The UFC has been riding a huge wave of momentum but there was reason to believe that their growth could slow for the first time in recent memory. The company has benefited greatly from the introduction of The Ultimate Fighter reality TV concept but the promotion’s biggest revenue producer is pay-per-view. When it comes to PPV, Couture, Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and even Matt Hughes are the company’s most recognizable stars and biggest draws. Unfortunately, the long-term future of all four stars are uncertain. It’s unknown when or if Couture will ever fight under the company’s banner; Liddell is 37 and coming off back-to-back losses; Ortiz is 32 but has a lot of tread on his body and his fighting style is somewhat dated; and Hughes has expressed a personal belief that he only has 2-3 fights left in him.

In short, there was a brief period where a strong case could be made that the UFC’s long-term future was somewhat cloudy because it wasn’t apparent who could step in and replace the likes of Couture, Liddell, Ortiz, and Hughes. However, following the signing of Sokoudjou, one of the hottest young commodities in the fight game, it’s apparent that the UFC definitely has a nice young tier of talent that has the potential to evolve into top drawing cards.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

The fight will happen at UFC 79: Nemesis on 29th of December and will add to an impressive card already featuring Matt Serra and Matt Hughes in a Welterweight title fight and the much anticipated bout between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva.

P.S. If I got Machida’s first name wrong I’m blaming the FiveOuncesOfPain categories…

Read more on Fiveouncesofpain.com

Regarding rumors of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou fighting in UFC, there is no contract signed, but his deal with Hero’s did fall apart and UFC is interested in him and talks have begun. There are talks of a potential fight with Lyoto Machida on 12/29, but it’s nothing more than talk at ths point.

Nothing new, really, but just more confirmation that Sokoudjou looks likely to head to the UFC, especially because of deals with EliteXC and K-1 HERO’s falling through.

He has made a decision, however, to fight for the UFC. Other offers from EliteXC and K-1 were “flaky.” In addition, the Team Quest management team feels that his best long-term interests will be served fighting in the United States.

The site is quick to point out though that Sokoudjou has not officially signed a contract with the UFC as of yet.

Rumors persist that if Sokoudjou does sign with the UFC that his debut for the promotion could come on Dec. 29 at UFC 79 in Las Vegas against Ryoto Machida. It looks like there could be some validity to those rumors, according to MMAmania.com:

Not the case, according to Team Quest officials in Murrieta, Calif. However, the bout is “in the works.”

According to our reliable source, no bout agreements have been signed despite indications that both sides are very close to hammering out a deal. “These things fall through all the time,” he said.

At least, I think he’s still a free agent. His current status has come into question following some comments he made in the interview.

There was a lot of discussion during the interview about fighters currently affiliated with the UFC:

LC- How do you feel you match up with those three fighters starting with Fedor Emelianenko?

RS- He’s a great fighter and I would love to fight him one of these days.

LC- Rampage?

RS- I would love to kick his ass

LC- Randy Couture?

RS- He’s a legend in MMA and it would de a great honor to get in the cage with him.

LC- What are your thoughts on Houston Alexander? He kind of came into the scene similar to you, knocking out a couple of good Light Heavyweights when he was relatively unknown. They weren’t two top five back to back wins as on your resume, but still impressive. Also how do you feel you two match up since we’re on the subject?

RS- He’s a pretty good striker, and I’m looking forward to facing him in a near future.

But those comments are nothing compared to how Sokoudjou ended the interview:

LC- Before I let you go are there any sponsors you want to mention, any websites or anything else to plug, and anything you want to say to your fans anxiously awaiting your return to the ring?

RS- I would like to thank Light Force for all the support. Also fans can reach me at www.africanassassin.com or on myspace at www.myspace.com/african_assassin. And I’ll be back not in the ring but in the cage DEC 29th in Vegas!

Back in the cage on Dec. 29 in Vegas? The only event I know of scheduled to take place on that date in Vegas is UFC 79 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

I this this could be a case where Sokoudjou didn’t communicate something properly because I just don’t see how a deal with the UFC could have been worked out when he had substantially more lucrative offers from other promotions on the table. Regardless, I plan on looking into this more today. Stay tuned.

MMA Madness: Well, ok Mike, now comes the hard question. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou was recently in discussions with UFC. Essentially, he said screw the money, he doesn’t really care what he gets paid — he just wants to fight the best. He didn’t want to call anybody out but he said he asked to fight you. Sokoudjou said UFC essentially told him he must “have been on crack” for asking. Now a lot of people in MMA — and they are going to do this — have accused UFC of protecting you with both of your fights coming against Eric Schafer and Sinosic. What are your thoughts?

Bisping: Well, put it this way. I’ve been training with a guy who took Sokoudjou the distance and I whoop that guy’s [butt]. No offense to [my training partner] — I like him. He’s a good guy, he’s my friend. I would beat him in a fight and he took Sokoudjou the distance. So if Sokoudjou wants to call me out, you know what I mean? If the UFC doesn’t want to sign him, have him come up to my house. I’ll kick his f-ing [butt]. Simple as that. Come and see me, I’ll give him my phone number! Ha! I’ll f-ing bounce his head all over the place, f-ing a-hole.

But, to answer the question, what do I think? Eric Schafer was 9-1 with all submissions in the first round. In his previous fight in the UFC he choked a guy unconscious in under a minute. You know, so how can you say I’m being protected when that was the first fight on my contract? You know, a guy who is 9-1 and it was my debut in the UFC and I took him out. People are going to say what they’re going to say, you know? Elvis Sinosic — not the best record, but a veteran in the sport. He’s been in there with many world champions. This one, with Matt Hamill, people want to see it because of the show. They have their reasons, you know? People are always going to have an excuse to criticize — you will always have your critics. After a fight they will always say this or that, but I just try to ignore the comments and leave the keyboard warriors to the keyboards, you know?

To read the whole interview, just click here.

I’ve been asked a lot of people about Jason “Mayhem” Miller and when he’ll be fighting next for the WEC. A few e-mails I received asked me if he was a free agent. According to Henderson, who trains with Miller on a regular basis at Team Quest in Temecula, Miller has one fight left on his WEC contract. The WEC doesn’t plan on running an event right now in October so the next time we might get to see him fight could be in November or December.

A lot of people asked about Sokoudjou. His contract with K-1 is not finalized yet but Henderson reiterated that Hero’s is where he expects him to end up fighting.

To read the chat in its entirety, just click here.

Arias revealed to Henderson that Rampage spent some time recently training with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. This is very notable because Henderson and Couture used to be teammates at Team Quest. Henderson didn’t sound as though he appreciated the news.

I told Henderson that Rampage spent a few weeks training with Couture. “I guess you find out who your real friends are,” Henderson said.

Also, according to the article, Henderson said Sokoudjou will “probably” end up fighting for K-1 in September.

I asked Henderson about Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, a Team Quest fighter who has stormed onto the MMA scene with first-round KOs over Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira this year. Henderson said Sokoudjou will probably end up on the K-1 HERO’S card in September.

I know I caught your attention with the Tiger Schulman’s Karate teaser.

I’ll get to TSK soon. But first, I want to talk about drugs.

Many pundits have written columns on the major sites discussing steroids and offering their ideas about how the issue should be addressed by the major promotions. Thus far, there seems to be a big push for the promotions to do internal testing.

While I respect all the writers who have expressed their thoughts, I think the idea of internal testing doesn’t make much sense.

Let me preface my next statement by saying all of my dealings with the major promotions have been nothing but positive and I have no reason to question their integrity.

However, which would you rather be responsible for the testing of athletes: the promotions themselves or an outside body?

Major League Baseball has its own testing program. Do you trust it? World Wrestling Entertainment has a “wellness program.” Do you trust it?

Look, I’m not an advocate for our government and I certainly don’t always have a lot of trust in our system at times, but I think they are better suited for the task of testing fighters as opposed to the promotions themselves.

Sure, if the IFL decides to do an internal program they’ll use an independent third party. But doesn’t the term “independent third party” become an oxymoron when you take into account that any testing lab brought in by a promotion will be getting their paycheck signed by the promotion they are working for?

Again, I have no reason to doubt the IFL or any promotion that would step up and decide to do internal testing. But is it necessary?

The commissions in states where MMA is regulated do a good job. Improvements still need to be made and testing needs to be expanded. But instead of instituting internal testing, I’d rather see the promotions work directly with the state athletic commissions and let the commissions be in charge of testing.

At the end of the day, the commissions are accountable to the people while independent third parties will be accountable to the fight promotions.

I’d really like to see the promotions stress to the commissions the importance of testing every fighter that’s slated to appear on a fight card.

Another thing I’d love to see — if it’s not being done already — is blood testing.

To my knowledge, only urine is used for drug screening (I could be wrong about this). While you can test urine for a lot of substances, there are some chemicals that don’t show up in urine such as Human Growth Hormone.

HGH is used by a lot of athletes, which is why the MLB drug testing policy is a joke. They test for steroids but not HGH. Blood tests might be costly but at the very least I think any fighter competing in a title fight should be tested for HGH.

Another thing I wanted to comment on is the assertion by some people that drug usage in MMA has reached “epidemic” proportions. The statement may or not be true because I have no idea whether the fighters who have tested positive recently are just isolated offenders or if the usage is widespread. However, from my own personal myopic perspective, steroids in MMA are relatively non-existent.

When I used to lift weights a lot, I primarily trained at home. However, I would go to gyms sometimes. When training at gyms I was amazed at how rampant and wide open steroid usage was. There was no attempt to hide it in most cases. It was incredulous.

I’ve trained at several martial arts schools that had people involved with competitive martial arts. Supplement use is frequent by many fighters that I know but if they’re on the juice, they are keeping it to themselves. I’ve never been offered any kind of chemical enhancer and have never seen a guy doing anything shady in the locker room or making comments about it during my MMA travels.

I’m making a broad statement here but this is a blog entry so cut me some slack, but I just don’t think steroids are a big issue in MMA at the grass roots level. While I find a lot of people who train MMA are educated, I don’t think many are all that affluent. What does affluence have to do with steroid use? Well, that crap isn’t cheap and a guy who is working multiple jobs so that he can pay down school loans, keep up with his rent or mortgage, and trying to pay training fees doesn’t have the investment capital needed to get in the business of performance enhancers.

My theory is that fighters don’t start using until they get to the higher levels then start making real money and then start feeling the pressure. It isn’t until so much is at stake and they feel like they have something to lose that they start to consider a turn to the dark side. Hermes Franca said in his letter he felt pressured because he was injured and needed the pay day. Whether that’s true in his case remains to be seen but it’s certainly a scenario that could be true for some fighters.

Then you have a guy like Stephan Bonnar. Endorsements aren’t easy to come by in MMA and sometimes your look dictates whether you get a sponsor just as much as your record. After having fought in the smaller shows and not wanting to go back, perhaps Bonnar also felt insecure about his status in the UFC after a couple of disappointing performances and was looking for a boost.

Unfortunately, we may never know precisely why fighters are taking steroids because for the most part, they aren’t talking.

Okay, enough talk about urine and drugs because now I want to discuss something that is almost a big of a threat to MMA’s reputation as steroids.

Tiger Schulman’s MMA?

For those of you who don’t live in the Northeastern corridor of the country, Tiger Schulman’s is a franchise of Karate schools that are usually strategically located in strip malls. They fit the description of the quintessential “McDojo.”

I’m not sure if it’s a company-wide transition, but on my way from Philly to Princeton, NJ each Saturday to do my show for ESPN 920, I pass three TSK locations and they are now called “Tiger Schulman’s Mixed Martial Arts.”

My first question is: what the hell has Tiger Schulman ever accomplished in MMA?

But I guess the fact that Tiger Schulman doesn’t come from a MMA background is irrelevant because MMA is what’s hot right now and TSK (hey, all the cool kids chant it at MMA shows!) has to keep enrollment up.

If that’s how they want to run their schools, so be it. However, I’m appalled by rumors (i.e. I’ve seen a few message board posts) that Tiger Schulman’s could be trying to secure a franchise in the IFL.

I have no idea if the talk is even accurate. For all I know, people could be getting things confused with previous speculation that Tiger Schulman’s was going to have a team in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League.

But just the thought of Tiger Schulman’s having anything to do with the IFL is enough to make me throw up in my mouth.

Some of you might feel it’s unfair of me to criticize TSK considering I don’t train there. However, I have an embarrassing admission to make and that is that I once trained there about 10-12 years ago. I only trained there for a month because they couldn’t convince me my street brawling style was ineffective. Quite frankly, a lot of the techniques they tried to teach me would have caused me to get my ass kicked (blocking kicks with forearms!?). I couldn’t believe some of the stuff they tried to teach with a straight face. But hey, they can break boards and I can’t.

I’m sure they’ve changed their curriculum over the years but my experience with McDojos (I sent my son to one at one point) has been that they teach a brand of martial arts that’s just challenging enough so that you don’t quit. The goal of these insidious places with their corporate tactics designed solely to separate you from your money is to make sure you advance through their program so that you keep paying them to move up the ladder.

TSK does have an MMA team that competes in a lot of smaller shows in the Northeast. Some of their fighters are actually pretty good, though none are nationally known. I’m sure they’ve assembled a decent camp with some good trainers but how are they able to teach MMA on a widespread basis? I’d really like to know the credentials of the people teaching MMA at all of their many local schools.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been inside of a Tiger Schulman’s (bow to your Sensei!) and I’m half-tempted to take a week of free lessons just to see what it’s all about. I’ve been to a school where MMA was taught the right way so I think I’d have a good comparative frame of reference.

If there’s any shred of truth that TSK is indeed trying to get an IFL team, I pray the IFL turns them away. No amount of money is worth what it could do to their reputation. The IFL allowing Tiger Schulman to have a team would be like Morton’s Steakhouse allowing McDonald’s to supply them with the meat they use.

Underachievers article on Sportsline

I’ve received a lot of good feedback on my latest Sportsline article regarding the “Ten biggest underachievers in MMA.” I received lots of e-mail and a few responses here on the blog in addition to a few message board threads dedicated to the topic.

It’s a fun topic that has sparked some debate and I’ve been asked about some guys that didn’t make my list. I wanted to comment on a few of them, not to put myself on the defensive but because I think it’s interesting and wanted a chance to comment publicly on some of the names.

One thing I focused on as I compiled my list is whether a guy was truly an underachiever or possibly not just as good as everyone had thought.

Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni both fell into the category of not being as good as first thought.

While I respect Baroni’s boxing skills and feel his wrestling ability is underrated, I don’t consider him a versatile fighter. He just never developed on a rapid level and I think he got as big as he did because he provided the UFC with some big knockouts and a big personality back when they needed stars in the worst way. Simply put, I think he was overrated when he had his run in the UFC.

As for Lawler, he was like a major league hitter who gets called up from the minors and hits four home runs in his first four games because he’s an excellent fastball hitter. But then that hitter struggles once there’s a book on him and pitchers realize he can’t hit a breaking ball. Lawler brought the hit with his standup and big right crosses but wasn’t as well-rounded as you’d expect an MFS fighter to be. Once fighters started taking him off his feet he was exposed.

The ironic thing is that Lawler has really improved in recent years and is a much better fighter than he was during his first run in the UFC. In my mind, he went from being overrated to being underrated.

The name of Andrei Arlovski was brought up. The Pitbull has definitely been a disappointment and I think he’s capable of more. But I don’t think he’s been underachieving long enough to make the list. If things keep up the way they’ve been going, it won’t be long though until he gets added.

Renato Sobral was also a nomination but I think his current status in MMA is correct. His submission wrestling is world class and his striking has improved. But I see him as being nothing more than a guy worthy of fighting in the UFC just outside of title contention and that just happens to be exactly where he’s at right now.

Vernon White was also suggested. Ugh, don’t get me started. Now, if you know Vernon and think he’s a good guy, that’s fine. Just don’t let your personal bias get in the way of your overall perspective of his place in MMA. He’s right where he belongs and I don’t see any potential in him that’s untapped.

Two choices that people didn’t agree with were Frank Mir and Evan Tanner. There are those who actually feel both are overachievers.

Say what?

In regard to Mir, I will concede that with the improved depth in the UFC’s heavyweight division there’s no way he would be in the title picture even if he was in his prime. However, based on his ground ability, he should at least be a middle of the road guy similar to Heath Herring. But Mir isn’t even Heath Herring! Right now, he’s more like Wes Sims.

Tanner may not be a great pure athlete but he’s an incredible fighter who could easily be the UFC middleweight champ right now if he had his act together. Some people will bristle at that statement but I think Anderson Silva is a vulnerable champion and the UFC simply has an abundance of guys who he matches up well with.

The bottom line is that Tanner would be a bad matchup for Silva. Good luck in trying to convince me otherwise.

I know he can’t stand with Silva, but who can in the 185 lbs. division? But Tanner is a far superior wrestler and if the fight got to the ground then Silva would be in a world of shit.

I’m considering doing an overachievers article next week but have only come up with Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Kenny Florian, and Matt Serra.

Anyone else have any ideas?

A 160 lbs. division sounds good to me!

I like where EliteXC President of Live Events (what an awkward title) Gary Shaw is going with his idea of possibly creating a 160 lbs. division.

The 161 lbs. division in Pride was pretty exciting and it’s a practical weight class for a lot of fighters. It’s also a good idea on Shaw’s part because it would be a way for EliteXC to differentiate their product from the competition.

It would also be a great way to showcase Nick Diaz.

You could definitely build the division around Diaz, assuming he can put the bong down. He can held his own with anyone at 170 lbs., but Cesar Gracie teammate Jake Shields is a big part of EliteXC’s welterweight division and the two of them won’t fight.

Oh, how I could also forget that at 160 lbs., Diaz is a beast!

The 160 lbs. weight class would also be perfect for a fighter not currently on the EliteXC roster. I think former Bodog welterweight champion Eddie Alvarez is made for 160 lbs.

Alvarez is undersized for 170 lbs. in my opinion. He’s thought about dropping to 155 lbs. but feels comfortable at welterweight and wants to stay there. However, he might be more open to the idea of dropping to 160 lbs. as opposed to 155 lbs.

His boxing is good enough that he can hold his own with anyone at 170 lbs., however, put him at 160 lbs. and like Diaz, he becomes a beast.

Alvarez has two fights left on his contract to Bodog and when I had him on my show on ESPN 920 several weeks back, he expressed nothing but happiness with Bodog.

However, money talks and if Elite makes a strong offer once Alvarez becomes a free agent, then you never know.

Bringing in Alvarez would be a great move for Elite because he’s significant name that could be added for an affordable price. While he wouldn’t come cheap, he wouldn’t require Sokoudjou money ($150,000 per match).

If built up properly, a match between Alvarez and Diaz could headline a pay-per-view.

It would also be one hell of a fight.

IFL vs. EliteXC?

One thing I left out in my conference call notes for the IFL yesterday is that IFL commissioner Kurt Otto once again commented on the possibility of having all the winners from the upcoming IFL World Grand Prix eventually take on another promotion’s top five in a best-of format.

Otto said he’s willing to work with just about any promotion but wouldn’t talk specific names. However, EliteXC seems like a logical partner because thus far, Gary Shaw is the only other executive of a major fight promotion that I know of willing to work with promotions other than his own.

I’d love to see it. Right now EliteXC needs to work on building their heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions but Chris Horodecki vs. Nick Diaz at lightweight, Delson Heleno vs. Jake Shields at welterweight, and Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach at middleweight are intriguing matchups on paper.

But in the end, I think an EliteXC vs. IFL team challenge is unlikely to happen because Shaw has not been extremely keen on the IFL’s team concept when the topic has been brought up during conference calls.

Free agent market ripe in MMA

It’s July 26 as I write this and Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett, Thierry Sokoudjou, Brock Lesnar, Denis Kang, and Gilbert Melendez are all still free agents.

I don’t think the MMA market in North America could handle another new promotion, but there’s enough talent out there that if there was a multi-millionaire who wanted to get involved with MMA and didn’t care about making money right away, they could throw some cash around and become an immediate player.

Tito Ortiz could also become available in the coming months and if you threw in guys like Matt Lindland and Robbie Lawler (who don’t have exclusive contracts), a newcomer to the business could make Dana White’s worst nightmare become reality.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

Rosholt wins MMA debut

Remember the name Jake Rosholt.

The Team Takedown member, who also trains with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, won his MMA debut this past weekend in Oklahoma. Rosholt tapped Dusty Miller at 3:40 in round one during Masters of the Cage 15 in Oklahoma.

A former top college wrestler, Rosholt is one of four members of Team Takedown, a group started with the intent of recruiting top collegiate wrestlers and assisting them in making the transition to MMA.

Rosholt, Johny Hendricks, Shane Roller, and Eric Bradley all have big futures in this sport.

Where in the world is Chris Wilson?

Does anyone know what happened to former Portland Wolfpack welterweight Chris Wilson? I thought the Team Quest member was a legitimate prospect at 170 lbs. but he left the IFL and I haven’t heard about him since besides some rumors that he might be signing with Bodog.

If you know anything about Wilson’s current status, please drop me a line.