Attn: Fletch Blog
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Attn: Fletch Blog
by Bloodstain Lane Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:43 am
You should stick your Fletch Blogs to this section of the forum...just a suggestion
Bloodstain Lane- Tapping Jaw's Since 1981
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Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:48 am
Will do mate. I'll sticky a thread for articles, videos and such. You already did the yt chan, vids can go on there I guess unless they're rubbish. Which they probably will be 
EDIT: stickied this thread instead, so as not to appear like an attention whore faggot.
EDIT: stickied this thread instead, so as not to appear like an attention whore faggot.
Last edited by 1fletch on Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
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Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Bloodstain Lane Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:54 am
I gotta get the password for the TT youtube channel...my brother is actually the one who runs it...when I get home from work ill ask him....but for now sticky the thread....I think its excellent work on your part...and I'm thinking about putting a chat box...not for a lounge like they do at KTT...but just to have meetings discussing the board...maybe you can try to figure it out since you have access to the administration Panel
Bloodstain Lane- Tapping Jaw's Since 1981
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Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 42
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Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:24 pm
Thread now stickied - THE FLETCH BLOG
* V-log videos
* Blogs @ IronForgesIron.com
* Previous blogs at lowkick.com, mma-japan.com, and mmafletch.blogspot.com
Here is a rare UFC related Fletch Blog, written after UFC 101:
---------------------------
Anderson Silva can surpass the Gracie's, Shamrock's, Coleman's and Ortiz's of UFC history
With a jaw dropping, rip-roaring performance at UFC 101, Anderson Silva placed himself in a pantheon of sporting greats whose finest performances in their era of dominance wowed and amazed the world. It was spectacularly magnificent.
Only 224 days had passed since Forrest Griffin held the UFC Light-Heavyweight championship of the world. While Silva himself is a belt holder, he was coming up a weight division to face a world champion calibre athlete who reportedly cuts from heavyweight proportions. Yet despite sound logic pointing to a close and even fight, given Anderson’s pedigree and Griffin’s lack of vicious knockout power, The Spider delivered an artistic and humbling display that included three knockdowns, a hands down Silva stance, disdainful punch evasion bordering on poetry in motion, and climaxed with the outclassed Forrest slumping to the mat unconscious after a deft counter punch, a right handed jab by the back-peddling Brazilian. Yes, he was moving backwards.
As a writer, it is hard to avoid grandiloquence when discussing Anderson Silva in the second half of his career. Even more so, given that I was not personally a fan until his display at the one hundred and first numbered Ultimate Fighting Championship event. As an unashamed Frank Shamrock super-fan, I was dismayed when the new kid on the block surpassed ‘The Legend’s’ record five UFC Middleweight title fight victories in April, with his lacklustre defence against Thales Leites at UFC 97. What was worse was the tepid pace of the fight; in winning to a chorus of boos, Anderson merely gave supporters of the imperious Fedor Emelianenko or the king of the welterweights, Georges St. Pierre, more wood to throw on the ever burning fire of The Great Lb 4 Lb Debate. But in his humiliating destruction of an elite fighter who competes at a weight twenty pounds heavier, The Spider arguably silenced all doubters among those who see lb 4 lb as a legitimate exercise in judging fighters of the time. It would be the equivalent of seeing GSP go up to middleweight and not only beat, but also clown Dan Henderson or Rich Franklin and knock out one of the former UFC and Pride champions respectively within three and a half minutes. It was the equivalent of Lyoto Machida facing former Heavyweight king and recent Interim Champion Frank Mir at a 235lbs catchweight, and doing the same. It is frightening to think what Anderson Silva can further achieve in the Octagon.
Anderson broke another record against Leites at UFC 97. He won his ninth consecutive UFC fight, an unmatched feat, which he followed up with his outstanding dissection of Forrest for a 10-0 record of perfection. It made me remember Frank Shamrock, in the wake of his own glorious victory over Tito Ortiz in a defence of the old 199lbs title. Back then in 1999, Frank claimed that monetary rewards in MMA were not enough for the risks they take, and he told UFC to call him when they had a middleweight (now Light-Heavyweight) who could beat him. Sadly, Frank never did return, but that was an occurring theme with dominant fighters, or those on the verge of dominance. I realised that Anderson alone has the potential to truly make a decade his own, so that nostalgic fans look back and remember a years-long period as ‘The Silva Era.’
In this, it is true Anderson has his rivals in that capacity. Friend and sparring partner Lyoto Machida looks truly daunting at the top of the light-heavyweight pile, he himself on a 7-0 UFC tear, and of course GSP at welterweight is carving his own legend. With Machida the only impediment in Anderson Being All That He Can Be at 205lbs, one wishes that the two fall out bitterly in order to see a dream fight to make fight fans salivate. But while the other two are, like Silva, head and shoulders above the rest of their weight class, of the three only Anderson has stepped up a weight and made an elite fighter and consensus top 4 warrior who recently held the big belt, look like an amateurish tomato can in comparison. The Spider is surely only a few more similar displays from surpassing the fighters from UFC history who have looked poised to make a whole era truly theirs, unshared and exclusive, only to fall at the final hurdle.
The first ever was Royce Gracie. In beating Art Jimmerson, a green Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau to win the UFC 1 tournament, he cemented his legend. He followed it up by handily winning UFC’s 2 and 4. But after meeting former foe, rival Ken Shamrock who was now reigning King of Pancrase and MMA tournament winner in his own right, and surviving a 36 minute time limit to earn a ‘draw’, Royce left the UFC with an 11-1-1 slate. He would not return for eleven years, for a one-off match with welterweight ruler Matt Hughes. Though Royce was the undoubted king of UFC in 1993 and 1994, his abrupt departure left unanswered questions (does Shamrock have his number? Are fighters learning how to beat him?), and Gracie sacrificed the chance to maybe establish himself forevermore as the most dominant fighter the UFC will ever know. As fantastic as his record and achievements are, the latter plaudit will now probably never be the case.
The second was Ken Shamrock. After going 1-1 at UFC 1, and being introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the harshest way, Ken fought a further 8 times in UFC in the 90s, matches that carved his legend. His form on paper in that post-UFC 1 period would be 5-1-2, but only on paper, effectively 7-1 in reality. The two ‘draws’ were due to special time limits introduced, and with no judges to award him his win, Ken’s winning record suffered. And the sole loss was ironically by split judges’ decision, in an incredibly even and equally boring rematch with Dan Severn, whom Ken had defeated to become champion.
Out of the men who had best chance to make an era their own, Ken perhaps had the best chance, which he arguably squandered. The single loss from eight high profile fights, including five title fights, should have been followed up on. He won two fights at the crazy, infamous UFC 3, but after Gracie forfeited his own semi-final, Ken refused to fight in the final and risk worsening his knee injury with no loss to avenge. He won a tournament and became a reigning champion in Japanese org Pancrase, which came in useful as a bargaining chip for a special UFC ‘Superfight’ with Royce. After that inconclusive outcome (which Ken saw as a moral victory, a win on all but paper) Ken remained in the Superfight slot, which became a means of having a reigning UFC openweight champion that the one-night tournament winners could face. Ken faced UFC 5 champion Dan Severn, whom he guillotine choked to submission in two minutes. He defended the belt in his second Superfight ‘draw’ against UFC 6 tournament winner and stable-mate Oleg Taktarov, and then beat Kimo Leopoldo more conclusively with a kneebar at UFC 8. Then in his fifth Superfight, things went wrong for Shamrock. After a thirty minute circling staredown, Severn was given the newly instated judges’ nod in his hometown. Ken fought once more in early UFC, giving his most explosive performance in a Ground and Pound massacre of Brian Johnston, but unfortunately broke his hand and had to withdraw from the tournament. With his contract in both UFC and Pancrase at an end, and the need to find a more lucrative career to fund his Lion’s Den fight team; given that MMA was increasingly being forced under the radar by politicians, Ken left the sport at his physical and fighting peak. Despite his later return, Shamrock could not compete with the younger champions of the day, and to date his record since 2000 is 4 wins and 8 losses.
Mark Coleman trained with Ken and the Lion’s Den, and later joined him in the UFC Hall of Fame. He burst onto the scene winning the UFC 10 and 11 tournaments using wrestling and formidable Ground and Pound, and as weight classes were introduced to the UFC, kept Shamrock’s title lineage going with a Superfight victory over Dan Severn that passed the torch to the official first UFC Heavyweight champion. In only six consecutive fights, The Hammer had claimed three separate UFC championship honours.
Yet that was as good as it got, at least in the UFC for Coleman. Losing to Maurice Smith (another Lion’s Den fighter) in his first defence, he went on to another three successive losses, including becoming a famous highlight reel KO to Pete Williams (yet another Lion’s Den fighter). Though Coleman went to Pride FC in Japan to win their openweight Grand Prix in 2000, his early UFC dominance was truly shattered as his suspect cardio was brought to harsh light.
Frank Shamrock left Pancrase for unified rules MMA, and after a debut loss to John Lober in Hawaii, he would post an undefeated 11-0-1 in a decade. More impressively, that included a 5-0 streak in UFC Middleweight (199lbs) title fights from 97-99, and he is credited with continuing his brothers’ noble work and becoming the prototypical Mixed Martial Artist that we know today. Frank defeated Olympic gold medallist and UFC tournament winner Kevin Jackson by submission in 14 seconds to win the belt, avenged his loss to Lober, beat Extreme Fighting champion Igor Zinoviev with a career ending slam, defeated MMA legend Jeremy Horn, and then capped it all off with a win over future 205lbs champion Tito Ortiz in what is the consensus greatest UFC title fight of all time. Then… he left the sport. Sporadic comeback matches eventually led to a return to the now mainstream MMA with Strikeforce, but a late career ledger of 1 win and 3 losses has tarnished somewhat his near flawless record. Worse, including Pancrase his career totals 23-10-2, an impressive yet somewhat mixed fight history that is less telling than the unified rules breakdown of 11-1-1 and 1-3 is to his overall contribution to and greatness in modern unified rules Mixed Martial Arts.
Tito Ortiz rebounded from the Frank Shamrock loss to defeat future legend Wanderlei Silva for the middleweight strap in 2000. Renamed the Light-Heavyweight title during his tenure, Tito’s five successful defences have yet to be matched, and his reign was MMA’s biggest trump card during the ‘dark ages’, when the sport was forced underground. His huge win over Ken Shamrock at UFC 40 galvanised the sport and put it back on the map, to the point where it now has boxing on the back foot after seven years riding the crest of a huge wave of popularity. However, the ‘mainstream era’ post Tito/Ken saw Ortiz lose his beloved strap to Randy Couture in 2003, then get TKO’d savagely by Chuck Liddell. Though he was a dominant champion for a time, with six successive championship victories, the American masses and new-age fans saw him gradually relegated from champion, to consensus top 3, to gatekeeper status. Randy and Chuck dished out humbling defeats that Tito never recovered from, and save for two more pointless wins over the shell of Kenneth Wayne Shamrock, and a fine defeat of Vitor Belfort, Ortiz never came close to recovering the belt that defined his career. His only shot at it came in 2006 against the formidable Chuck, himself a reigning champion, and once again he suffered a TKO defeat. His final two UFC fights after this saw him as a true gatekeeper, a mere obstacle in the respective paths of Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida to the 205lbs crown. Evans escaped with a draw after Tito was deducted a point for fence grabbing, and went on to win the belt anyway. Lyoto Machida earned a unanimous decision over the fallen former king, though Tito almost locked in a triangle choke in the final round. Tito’s contract expired directly after this, and though he would return to the UFC after a year on the sidelines, the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ does not look like he can reclaim the title he once held dear.
And so to Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva. Only four days after Ortiz recorded his last win to date, a useless UFC farewell to a shadow of Ken Shamrock, Silva won the UFC Middleweight Championship. It took him only three minutes to defeat the capable Rich Franklin, a feat he repeated at UFC 77 earning Knockout of the Night honours to boot. Nate Marquardt, Travis Lutter, Chris Leben, Patrick Côté, Thales Leites, James Irvin, two-weight Pride FC champion Dan Henderson and UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin would join his list of victims, a list that looks to keep growing. After three dominant years, Silva is the longest reigning current champion, has the record for most consecutive UFC wins, the most middleweight title victories, and will soon be the longest reigning UFC champion ever.
As fight fans reminisce, they will talk about the Gracie days of 93-94, the Shamrock superfights of 95-96, the legendary late 96 that Mark Coleman had, the 5-0 forged by Frank Shamrock that gave a glimpse to the archetypal fighter of the future, and the 2000-2003 Tito title reign that carried the UFC through Mixed Martial Arts’ darkest days. But with his ten victories, athletic pedigree and the potentially unrivalled fighting ability that the current pride of Brazil has, how much longer can Anderson reign at middleweight for? Will he ever make a run for the Light-Heavyweight title? What more can he achieve? Will rumours of a match with former heavyweight king Mir come to fruition? And will this supremely gifted gladiator be the first fighter to actually grab an entire time period within fight-sport exclusively, so that from October 14th 2006 to whenever Silva decides to hang up his gloves will forever be known as The Spider’s Era. I lived through the Anderson years.
* V-log videos
* Blogs @ IronForgesIron.com
* Previous blogs at lowkick.com, mma-japan.com, and mmafletch.blogspot.com
Here is a rare UFC related Fletch Blog, written after UFC 101:
---------------------------
Anderson Silva can surpass the Gracie's, Shamrock's, Coleman's and Ortiz's of UFC history
With a jaw dropping, rip-roaring performance at UFC 101, Anderson Silva placed himself in a pantheon of sporting greats whose finest performances in their era of dominance wowed and amazed the world. It was spectacularly magnificent.
Only 224 days had passed since Forrest Griffin held the UFC Light-Heavyweight championship of the world. While Silva himself is a belt holder, he was coming up a weight division to face a world champion calibre athlete who reportedly cuts from heavyweight proportions. Yet despite sound logic pointing to a close and even fight, given Anderson’s pedigree and Griffin’s lack of vicious knockout power, The Spider delivered an artistic and humbling display that included three knockdowns, a hands down Silva stance, disdainful punch evasion bordering on poetry in motion, and climaxed with the outclassed Forrest slumping to the mat unconscious after a deft counter punch, a right handed jab by the back-peddling Brazilian. Yes, he was moving backwards.
As a writer, it is hard to avoid grandiloquence when discussing Anderson Silva in the second half of his career. Even more so, given that I was not personally a fan until his display at the one hundred and first numbered Ultimate Fighting Championship event. As an unashamed Frank Shamrock super-fan, I was dismayed when the new kid on the block surpassed ‘The Legend’s’ record five UFC Middleweight title fight victories in April, with his lacklustre defence against Thales Leites at UFC 97. What was worse was the tepid pace of the fight; in winning to a chorus of boos, Anderson merely gave supporters of the imperious Fedor Emelianenko or the king of the welterweights, Georges St. Pierre, more wood to throw on the ever burning fire of The Great Lb 4 Lb Debate. But in his humiliating destruction of an elite fighter who competes at a weight twenty pounds heavier, The Spider arguably silenced all doubters among those who see lb 4 lb as a legitimate exercise in judging fighters of the time. It would be the equivalent of seeing GSP go up to middleweight and not only beat, but also clown Dan Henderson or Rich Franklin and knock out one of the former UFC and Pride champions respectively within three and a half minutes. It was the equivalent of Lyoto Machida facing former Heavyweight king and recent Interim Champion Frank Mir at a 235lbs catchweight, and doing the same. It is frightening to think what Anderson Silva can further achieve in the Octagon.
Anderson broke another record against Leites at UFC 97. He won his ninth consecutive UFC fight, an unmatched feat, which he followed up with his outstanding dissection of Forrest for a 10-0 record of perfection. It made me remember Frank Shamrock, in the wake of his own glorious victory over Tito Ortiz in a defence of the old 199lbs title. Back then in 1999, Frank claimed that monetary rewards in MMA were not enough for the risks they take, and he told UFC to call him when they had a middleweight (now Light-Heavyweight) who could beat him. Sadly, Frank never did return, but that was an occurring theme with dominant fighters, or those on the verge of dominance. I realised that Anderson alone has the potential to truly make a decade his own, so that nostalgic fans look back and remember a years-long period as ‘The Silva Era.’
In this, it is true Anderson has his rivals in that capacity. Friend and sparring partner Lyoto Machida looks truly daunting at the top of the light-heavyweight pile, he himself on a 7-0 UFC tear, and of course GSP at welterweight is carving his own legend. With Machida the only impediment in Anderson Being All That He Can Be at 205lbs, one wishes that the two fall out bitterly in order to see a dream fight to make fight fans salivate. But while the other two are, like Silva, head and shoulders above the rest of their weight class, of the three only Anderson has stepped up a weight and made an elite fighter and consensus top 4 warrior who recently held the big belt, look like an amateurish tomato can in comparison. The Spider is surely only a few more similar displays from surpassing the fighters from UFC history who have looked poised to make a whole era truly theirs, unshared and exclusive, only to fall at the final hurdle.
The first ever was Royce Gracie. In beating Art Jimmerson, a green Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau to win the UFC 1 tournament, he cemented his legend. He followed it up by handily winning UFC’s 2 and 4. But after meeting former foe, rival Ken Shamrock who was now reigning King of Pancrase and MMA tournament winner in his own right, and surviving a 36 minute time limit to earn a ‘draw’, Royce left the UFC with an 11-1-1 slate. He would not return for eleven years, for a one-off match with welterweight ruler Matt Hughes. Though Royce was the undoubted king of UFC in 1993 and 1994, his abrupt departure left unanswered questions (does Shamrock have his number? Are fighters learning how to beat him?), and Gracie sacrificed the chance to maybe establish himself forevermore as the most dominant fighter the UFC will ever know. As fantastic as his record and achievements are, the latter plaudit will now probably never be the case.
The second was Ken Shamrock. After going 1-1 at UFC 1, and being introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the harshest way, Ken fought a further 8 times in UFC in the 90s, matches that carved his legend. His form on paper in that post-UFC 1 period would be 5-1-2, but only on paper, effectively 7-1 in reality. The two ‘draws’ were due to special time limits introduced, and with no judges to award him his win, Ken’s winning record suffered. And the sole loss was ironically by split judges’ decision, in an incredibly even and equally boring rematch with Dan Severn, whom Ken had defeated to become champion.
Out of the men who had best chance to make an era their own, Ken perhaps had the best chance, which he arguably squandered. The single loss from eight high profile fights, including five title fights, should have been followed up on. He won two fights at the crazy, infamous UFC 3, but after Gracie forfeited his own semi-final, Ken refused to fight in the final and risk worsening his knee injury with no loss to avenge. He won a tournament and became a reigning champion in Japanese org Pancrase, which came in useful as a bargaining chip for a special UFC ‘Superfight’ with Royce. After that inconclusive outcome (which Ken saw as a moral victory, a win on all but paper) Ken remained in the Superfight slot, which became a means of having a reigning UFC openweight champion that the one-night tournament winners could face. Ken faced UFC 5 champion Dan Severn, whom he guillotine choked to submission in two minutes. He defended the belt in his second Superfight ‘draw’ against UFC 6 tournament winner and stable-mate Oleg Taktarov, and then beat Kimo Leopoldo more conclusively with a kneebar at UFC 8. Then in his fifth Superfight, things went wrong for Shamrock. After a thirty minute circling staredown, Severn was given the newly instated judges’ nod in his hometown. Ken fought once more in early UFC, giving his most explosive performance in a Ground and Pound massacre of Brian Johnston, but unfortunately broke his hand and had to withdraw from the tournament. With his contract in both UFC and Pancrase at an end, and the need to find a more lucrative career to fund his Lion’s Den fight team; given that MMA was increasingly being forced under the radar by politicians, Ken left the sport at his physical and fighting peak. Despite his later return, Shamrock could not compete with the younger champions of the day, and to date his record since 2000 is 4 wins and 8 losses.
Mark Coleman trained with Ken and the Lion’s Den, and later joined him in the UFC Hall of Fame. He burst onto the scene winning the UFC 10 and 11 tournaments using wrestling and formidable Ground and Pound, and as weight classes were introduced to the UFC, kept Shamrock’s title lineage going with a Superfight victory over Dan Severn that passed the torch to the official first UFC Heavyweight champion. In only six consecutive fights, The Hammer had claimed three separate UFC championship honours.
Yet that was as good as it got, at least in the UFC for Coleman. Losing to Maurice Smith (another Lion’s Den fighter) in his first defence, he went on to another three successive losses, including becoming a famous highlight reel KO to Pete Williams (yet another Lion’s Den fighter). Though Coleman went to Pride FC in Japan to win their openweight Grand Prix in 2000, his early UFC dominance was truly shattered as his suspect cardio was brought to harsh light.
Frank Shamrock left Pancrase for unified rules MMA, and after a debut loss to John Lober in Hawaii, he would post an undefeated 11-0-1 in a decade. More impressively, that included a 5-0 streak in UFC Middleweight (199lbs) title fights from 97-99, and he is credited with continuing his brothers’ noble work and becoming the prototypical Mixed Martial Artist that we know today. Frank defeated Olympic gold medallist and UFC tournament winner Kevin Jackson by submission in 14 seconds to win the belt, avenged his loss to Lober, beat Extreme Fighting champion Igor Zinoviev with a career ending slam, defeated MMA legend Jeremy Horn, and then capped it all off with a win over future 205lbs champion Tito Ortiz in what is the consensus greatest UFC title fight of all time. Then… he left the sport. Sporadic comeback matches eventually led to a return to the now mainstream MMA with Strikeforce, but a late career ledger of 1 win and 3 losses has tarnished somewhat his near flawless record. Worse, including Pancrase his career totals 23-10-2, an impressive yet somewhat mixed fight history that is less telling than the unified rules breakdown of 11-1-1 and 1-3 is to his overall contribution to and greatness in modern unified rules Mixed Martial Arts.
Tito Ortiz rebounded from the Frank Shamrock loss to defeat future legend Wanderlei Silva for the middleweight strap in 2000. Renamed the Light-Heavyweight title during his tenure, Tito’s five successful defences have yet to be matched, and his reign was MMA’s biggest trump card during the ‘dark ages’, when the sport was forced underground. His huge win over Ken Shamrock at UFC 40 galvanised the sport and put it back on the map, to the point where it now has boxing on the back foot after seven years riding the crest of a huge wave of popularity. However, the ‘mainstream era’ post Tito/Ken saw Ortiz lose his beloved strap to Randy Couture in 2003, then get TKO’d savagely by Chuck Liddell. Though he was a dominant champion for a time, with six successive championship victories, the American masses and new-age fans saw him gradually relegated from champion, to consensus top 3, to gatekeeper status. Randy and Chuck dished out humbling defeats that Tito never recovered from, and save for two more pointless wins over the shell of Kenneth Wayne Shamrock, and a fine defeat of Vitor Belfort, Ortiz never came close to recovering the belt that defined his career. His only shot at it came in 2006 against the formidable Chuck, himself a reigning champion, and once again he suffered a TKO defeat. His final two UFC fights after this saw him as a true gatekeeper, a mere obstacle in the respective paths of Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida to the 205lbs crown. Evans escaped with a draw after Tito was deducted a point for fence grabbing, and went on to win the belt anyway. Lyoto Machida earned a unanimous decision over the fallen former king, though Tito almost locked in a triangle choke in the final round. Tito’s contract expired directly after this, and though he would return to the UFC after a year on the sidelines, the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ does not look like he can reclaim the title he once held dear.
And so to Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva. Only four days after Ortiz recorded his last win to date, a useless UFC farewell to a shadow of Ken Shamrock, Silva won the UFC Middleweight Championship. It took him only three minutes to defeat the capable Rich Franklin, a feat he repeated at UFC 77 earning Knockout of the Night honours to boot. Nate Marquardt, Travis Lutter, Chris Leben, Patrick Côté, Thales Leites, James Irvin, two-weight Pride FC champion Dan Henderson and UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin would join his list of victims, a list that looks to keep growing. After three dominant years, Silva is the longest reigning current champion, has the record for most consecutive UFC wins, the most middleweight title victories, and will soon be the longest reigning UFC champion ever.
As fight fans reminisce, they will talk about the Gracie days of 93-94, the Shamrock superfights of 95-96, the legendary late 96 that Mark Coleman had, the 5-0 forged by Frank Shamrock that gave a glimpse to the archetypal fighter of the future, and the 2000-2003 Tito title reign that carried the UFC through Mixed Martial Arts’ darkest days. But with his ten victories, athletic pedigree and the potentially unrivalled fighting ability that the current pride of Brazil has, how much longer can Anderson reign at middleweight for? Will he ever make a run for the Light-Heavyweight title? What more can he achieve? Will rumours of a match with former heavyweight king Mir come to fruition? And will this supremely gifted gladiator be the first fighter to actually grab an entire time period within fight-sport exclusively, so that from October 14th 2006 to whenever Silva decides to hang up his gloves will forever be known as The Spider’s Era. I lived through the Anderson years.
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Bloodstain Lane Fri Jun 25, 2010 6:34 pm
wow thats fucking excellent stuff bro...very talented...even tho I cant stand Charlottes Web...your bound for bigger and better things
Bloodstain Lane- Tapping Jaw's Since 1981
- Posts : 4821
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 42
Location : Ozone Park,Queens,NY
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by London Calling Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:33 am
Just read this
I think you should stay away from words like 'grandiloquence' but apart from that well done my man
I think you should stay away from words like 'grandiloquence' but apart from that well done my man
London Calling- London Calling
- Posts : 6262
Join date : 2010-07-02
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:59 am
cheers guys
Here is an article I wrote in March about my favourite current Mixed Martial Arts org, DREAM.... under which are the last 2 videos I did re: the youtube "Fletch Blog" stu and lane were referring to
Will be put on www.mma-japan.com, & IronForgesIron
----------
By Daniel Fletcher
My intent with this piece is not to create some pathetic, stale anti-zuffa fight tha powah anti-establishment complaint - despite my undying hatred for the modus operandi of Zuffa LLC - but is simply an honest expression that I am genuinely never quite as excited for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts event as I am for DREAM.
This stems, at least in part, from not being privileged to enjoy Pride live, given that it was tragically not broadcast in England. While Dream certainly cannot claim to boast the same depth of quality in each division as Pride did - nor do they boast the world's indisputably finest fighter in most of their weight divisions - what Dream certainly does have is an extremely solid, and highly underrated roster of fighters, complete with ageing legends, future stars, and some disputedly #1 or #2 ranked guys that we, as fans, love to speculate about in dream matchups with talent from the UFC and other major organisations - similar to the heyday of the Pride vs UFC war: the fight for the mantle of heavyweight king, Fedor vs Sylvia, light-heavyweight legends Kazushi Sakuraba vs Frank Shamrock, and of course the Super-fight that SHOULD have been for undisputed divisional dominance, Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell. The current situation is at least comparable; in Bibiano Fernandez, Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mariusz Zaromskis and Hayato Sakurai, Gegard Mousasi, Paulo Filho and King Mo Lawal, it is clear that Dream can lay claim to boasting top 3 fighters in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions - a proud achievement for ANY Mixed Martial Arts organisation not called the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Despite their obvious roster discrepancy with the incomparable Pride, I am hyped for many of the fighters currently contracted to Dream. Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa and fellow catch wrestling J-MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba are obvious picks, as are former K-1 and Pride superstar Mirko Filipovic, and the fearsome Alistair "Ubereem", K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 champion Mark Hunt, the warrior Sergei Kharitonov, and more besides. Shinya "The Tobikan Judan" Aoki is the rightful #1 lightweight in my honest opinion, and I love watching him fight win or lose - he brings a unique, flashy and lethal style of submission grappling never before seen in MMA. Mariusz "The Whitemare" Zaromskis is one of the most exciting strikers in the sport, and despite his loss to Diaz is still the Dream Welterweight champion and Grand Prix winner... it is clear he has a great future in the sport. Both men have a host of prospective talent to square off against, not to mention the available talent courtesy of the Strikeforce alliance. "Pound for pound" list entrants Gegard "The Dreamcatcher" Mousasi and "King" Mo Lawal are great fighters and assets to Dream, as are Thierry Sokodjou, Grand Prix champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen, Featherweight Grand Prix winner and divisional champion Bibiano Fernandez, the uber exciting Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro, the aforementioned Shinya Aoki, slick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion and MMA middleweight Jacare Souza, dangerous lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri, Masakazu Imanari, Ryo Chonan, Chute Boxe's Murilo "Ninja" Rua, K-1 all time great Semmy "High Tower" Schilt, former UFC and Pancrase champion Josh Barnett, lethal K-1 striker Melvin Manhoef, J-MMA O.G. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, his fellow O.G. and legend Masakatsu Funaki, and the plethora of promising talent at featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, and the potential for the remaining light-heavyweight and heavyweight Grand Prix's.
Such is the talent Dream provides its fans with. Furthermore, if I listed all the aforementioned names, added more, then included the potential Strikeforce talent available from the friendly alliance, it is clear to see that Dream is actually much more stacked with high class, elite level Mixed Martial Artists than most casual fans of the sport would probably believe.
The featherweight and lightweight Grand Prix's were undoubtedly awesome, and the Super Hluk was unashamedly exciting and compelling - which is what the sport should be about, no matter the means nor the format. And if the Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight Grand Prix's transpire with a sufficient depth of talent (consider the potential Strikeforce participants) and the building of more stars, then it is possible to see light at the end of the tunnel that so many of us Pride fanboys have been travelling down for so long.
I love watching Dream, more so than any other form of Mixed Martial Arts competition, with its glitz and glamour, the exciting roster of talent on show, and of equal importance; the gladiatorial martial arts extravaganza feel it has to it... as opposed to the highly americanised youth target market 'Face the Pain' devil horn gesturing dickhead cuntbags that the UFC seems to provide for and appeal to. The Japanese know how to do it. Let us hope that the purported financial difficulties that Fighting Entertainment Group are supposedly suffering come to nothing, that they survive and thrive - they and Sengoku alike - to revive the flagging scene of MMA in the home of traditional martial arts, such as karate, jiu jitsu, judo and sumo wrestling. Let us hope. Let us dare to Dream that their organisation, the premier promotion of Mixed Martial Arts in Japan, can achieve its ambitions of world domination from their Asian shores, and that the finest fighters on the planet once more flock to Japan to ply their trade with passion, pride and hunger under the glare of the Rising Sun.
Pride is Dead - Long Live the Dream!
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
The youtube blog
May 2010
June 2010 (Fedor aftermath) - please bear in mind I was fucked and had not slept, was stoned and generally on a downer in the park
Here is an article I wrote in March about my favourite current Mixed Martial Arts org, DREAM.... under which are the last 2 videos I did re: the youtube "Fletch Blog" stu and lane were referring to
Will be put on www.mma-japan.com, & IronForgesIron
----------
By Daniel Fletcher
My intent with this piece is not to create some pathetic, stale anti-zuffa fight tha powah anti-establishment complaint - despite my undying hatred for the modus operandi of Zuffa LLC - but is simply an honest expression that I am genuinely never quite as excited for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts event as I am for DREAM.
This stems, at least in part, from not being privileged to enjoy Pride live, given that it was tragically not broadcast in England. While Dream certainly cannot claim to boast the same depth of quality in each division as Pride did - nor do they boast the world's indisputably finest fighter in most of their weight divisions - what Dream certainly does have is an extremely solid, and highly underrated roster of fighters, complete with ageing legends, future stars, and some disputedly #1 or #2 ranked guys that we, as fans, love to speculate about in dream matchups with talent from the UFC and other major organisations - similar to the heyday of the Pride vs UFC war: the fight for the mantle of heavyweight king, Fedor vs Sylvia, light-heavyweight legends Kazushi Sakuraba vs Frank Shamrock, and of course the Super-fight that SHOULD have been for undisputed divisional dominance, Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell. The current situation is at least comparable; in Bibiano Fernandez, Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mariusz Zaromskis and Hayato Sakurai, Gegard Mousasi, Paulo Filho and King Mo Lawal, it is clear that Dream can lay claim to boasting top 3 fighters in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions - a proud achievement for ANY Mixed Martial Arts organisation not called the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Despite their obvious roster discrepancy with the incomparable Pride, I am hyped for many of the fighters currently contracted to Dream. Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa and fellow catch wrestling J-MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba are obvious picks, as are former K-1 and Pride superstar Mirko Filipovic, and the fearsome Alistair "Ubereem", K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 champion Mark Hunt, the warrior Sergei Kharitonov, and more besides. Shinya "The Tobikan Judan" Aoki is the rightful #1 lightweight in my honest opinion, and I love watching him fight win or lose - he brings a unique, flashy and lethal style of submission grappling never before seen in MMA. Mariusz "The Whitemare" Zaromskis is one of the most exciting strikers in the sport, and despite his loss to Diaz is still the Dream Welterweight champion and Grand Prix winner... it is clear he has a great future in the sport. Both men have a host of prospective talent to square off against, not to mention the available talent courtesy of the Strikeforce alliance. "Pound for pound" list entrants Gegard "The Dreamcatcher" Mousasi and "King" Mo Lawal are great fighters and assets to Dream, as are Thierry Sokodjou, Grand Prix champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen, Featherweight Grand Prix winner and divisional champion Bibiano Fernandez, the uber exciting Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro, the aforementioned Shinya Aoki, slick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion and MMA middleweight Jacare Souza, dangerous lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri, Masakazu Imanari, Ryo Chonan, Chute Boxe's Murilo "Ninja" Rua, K-1 all time great Semmy "High Tower" Schilt, former UFC and Pancrase champion Josh Barnett, lethal K-1 striker Melvin Manhoef, J-MMA O.G. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, his fellow O.G. and legend Masakatsu Funaki, and the plethora of promising talent at featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, and the potential for the remaining light-heavyweight and heavyweight Grand Prix's.
Such is the talent Dream provides its fans with. Furthermore, if I listed all the aforementioned names, added more, then included the potential Strikeforce talent available from the friendly alliance, it is clear to see that Dream is actually much more stacked with high class, elite level Mixed Martial Artists than most casual fans of the sport would probably believe.
The featherweight and lightweight Grand Prix's were undoubtedly awesome, and the Super Hluk was unashamedly exciting and compelling - which is what the sport should be about, no matter the means nor the format. And if the Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight Grand Prix's transpire with a sufficient depth of talent (consider the potential Strikeforce participants) and the building of more stars, then it is possible to see light at the end of the tunnel that so many of us Pride fanboys have been travelling down for so long.
I love watching Dream, more so than any other form of Mixed Martial Arts competition, with its glitz and glamour, the exciting roster of talent on show, and of equal importance; the gladiatorial martial arts extravaganza feel it has to it... as opposed to the highly americanised youth target market 'Face the Pain' devil horn gesturing dickhead cuntbags that the UFC seems to provide for and appeal to. The Japanese know how to do it. Let us hope that the purported financial difficulties that Fighting Entertainment Group are supposedly suffering come to nothing, that they survive and thrive - they and Sengoku alike - to revive the flagging scene of MMA in the home of traditional martial arts, such as karate, jiu jitsu, judo and sumo wrestling. Let us hope. Let us dare to Dream that their organisation, the premier promotion of Mixed Martial Arts in Japan, can achieve its ambitions of world domination from their Asian shores, and that the finest fighters on the planet once more flock to Japan to ply their trade with passion, pride and hunger under the glare of the Rising Sun.
Pride is Dead - Long Live the Dream!
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
The youtube blog
May 2010
June 2010 (Fedor aftermath) - please bear in mind I was fucked and had not slept, was stoned and generally on a downer in the park
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Stu3ufc Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:50 am
no love for sengoku fletch?
they dont have the big names but the fights are evenly matched up unlike dream sometimes
they dont have the big names but the fights are evenly matched up unlike dream sometimes
Stu3ufc- Bang Out Of Order
- Posts : 18173
Join date : 2010-06-02
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:33 am
I love Sengoku, Stu.... I just feel that Dream are untouchable - which is the very reason FEG runs them, to prevent another rival challenging them like Pride did. Plus I LOVE Dream events! And speaking of Dream:
An article I've sent away to Fighters Only mag:
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
JMMA fans can once more dare to DREAM.
Daniel Fletcher.
After several years in the comparative doldrums, the Japanese Mixed Martial Arts scene looked to have scored a major coup on the road to recovery, as Dream and K1 parent company Fighting Entertainment Group announced a lucrative partnership with Shanghai based investment bank Puji capital; a deal that is reportedly worth over 20 billion yen – over £151m. And sure enough, world domination has duly been announced as the goal.
Sadaharu Tanikawa is the K1 president, and he did not mine his words subsequent to the best news to hit Japanese fightsports since Yarennokka showed the world that while the JMMA scene was down, Bushido was far from dead. Tanikawa was characteristically blunt. “This is a declaration of war on the UFC and WWE. From Asia, we will take over the world”. While K1 is, and always has been the apple of FEG’s eye – and rightly so – there is no doubt that the cash boost and partnership will be a huge resuscitation to the allegedly ailing Dream.
If ever Dream needed this boost, this is the time. Its reputation has been weakened; its stars inconsistent, even waning. While Shinya Aoki has arguably the deepest recent resume in the entire sport with multiple top ten wins in the last three years, his lopsided loss in America to Gilbert Melendez damaged the perception of Japanese MMA, as Aoki was seen as a standard bearer and even a saviour. The fact that Gil earned his stripes, and put himself on the pound for pound list while fighting in JMMA has been ignored – the black and white to many was that Japan’s best lightweight was soundly defeated in America. Dream Middleweight champion and Grand Prix winner Gegard Mousasi dropped off the aforementioned p4p list with a decision loss to “King” Mo Lawal – again, that Lawal fights in Japan too in Sengoku was largely ignored by large sections of the MMA media and internet based hardcore community alike. Add to that Dream Welterweight Grand Prix and divisional king Mariusz “The Whitemare” Zaromskis losing twice in Strikeforce, JMMA legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai dropping a bout to the incomparable Nick Diaz, the shadow of “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba losing to a Gracie, K1 savage Melvin Manhoef falling to Robbie Lawler, Dream/Hero*s superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama being submitted by Chris Leben at UFC 116, Caol Uno being cut after an unsuccessful second UFC tenure, and Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa stuck firmly in the gimmick of fighting in open-weight freak show fights against giants… all of which has a drastic cumulative effect. Put it on paper, and even the marquee fighters of Japan’s largest current MMA organisation are not having the best time of it.
Japanese MMA predates the American version by a decade – Shooto were running events in the 1980’s, and even modern MMA got a jumpstart when the first Pancrase show was held a full month before UFC 1 (interesting note: Ken Shamrock fought on both shows – he defeated the legend Masakatsu Funaki at Pancrase and went 1-1 in the UFC 1 tournament). And while Brazilians essentially just imported Vale Tudo, or “anything goes” fighting to American shores, the Japanese style had its roots in puro resu, or professional wrestling. It should therefore be no surprise that Japanese MMA events such as Pride, Hero*s, Sengoku and Dream have such production values and pageantry, flamboyance and style… not to mention that catch-as-catch-can style submission wrestlers often become headlining stars – home-grown and gaijin alike – such as Funaki, Shamrock, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazushi Sakuraba and Josh Barnett. For years they enjoyed a golden era. But the Yakuza scandals and the death of Pride was a drastic blow that for three years, JMMA seemed utterly unable to recover from.
This Puji deal could change the situation in even more drastic fashion. With serious backing, Japan can once more look to conquer the Asian market – even with rising prospective super-org Art of War in China. Could this herald the third Sino-Japanese war? And oh, the irony, that the company who tried so desperately to put Pride out of business for years, the great rivals of Japan’s biggest ever Mixed Martial Arts promotion, may not lead the charge into the next decade carrying Pride’s old parent company name as its MMA banner; Dream. What this may mean with regards to Sengoku, it is unclear, though the smaller orgs such as Deep and Pancrase will undoubtedly soldier on – as feeder leagues to Dream and a showcase for Japanese talent, if nothing else. One hopes that Sengoku can survive this – co-promotion at New Years Eve did not bode well for them – it revealed a weakness in the wake of losing a main sponsor, and they lost their lightweight champion to boot; courtesy of yet another of Aoki’s limb snapping submission holds. But the selfish fan in me wants Dream to become all powerful, even if it means talents such as Sandro, Kanehara, King Mo and Santiago defect in the way that so many did during Pride’s heyday – one only has to remember Shooto champions Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi and Hayato Sakurai headlining the Bushido events, and Pancrase veteran Minowaman taking on all comers in Pride. This may come to be the case with the revitalised Dream.
So with a war cry sounded and one hundred and fifty million in the coffers, FEG are looking to expand globally and grow both stand-up branch K1 and Dream, Japan’s representative on the MMA world stage. With the Asian market conquered, FEG even mentioned expanding into Europe, something a certain Vadim Finklestein would probably not appreciate. Could he ever compete with a financially well off Japanese promotion? In the land of Bushido, samurai spirit, karate, Jiu Jitsu and judo, one had to feel the Martial Arts extravaganzas could never die out. While Pride’s absence still stings, Japanophiles the world over can start to dust off the old Rising Sun flags; Dream are here to stay, and they have some serious intentions to go with it. Japanese MMA has been in hibernation since 2007; now it has awakened from its slumber, it is time to readopt the imperialistic nature and put itself back where it belongs; atop the MMA world. Banzai!
---------------------------------------------
And here is my most recent vid blog
An article I've sent away to Fighters Only mag:
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
JMMA fans can once more dare to DREAM.
Daniel Fletcher.
After several years in the comparative doldrums, the Japanese Mixed Martial Arts scene looked to have scored a major coup on the road to recovery, as Dream and K1 parent company Fighting Entertainment Group announced a lucrative partnership with Shanghai based investment bank Puji capital; a deal that is reportedly worth over 20 billion yen – over £151m. And sure enough, world domination has duly been announced as the goal.
Sadaharu Tanikawa is the K1 president, and he did not mine his words subsequent to the best news to hit Japanese fightsports since Yarennokka showed the world that while the JMMA scene was down, Bushido was far from dead. Tanikawa was characteristically blunt. “This is a declaration of war on the UFC and WWE. From Asia, we will take over the world”. While K1 is, and always has been the apple of FEG’s eye – and rightly so – there is no doubt that the cash boost and partnership will be a huge resuscitation to the allegedly ailing Dream.
If ever Dream needed this boost, this is the time. Its reputation has been weakened; its stars inconsistent, even waning. While Shinya Aoki has arguably the deepest recent resume in the entire sport with multiple top ten wins in the last three years, his lopsided loss in America to Gilbert Melendez damaged the perception of Japanese MMA, as Aoki was seen as a standard bearer and even a saviour. The fact that Gil earned his stripes, and put himself on the pound for pound list while fighting in JMMA has been ignored – the black and white to many was that Japan’s best lightweight was soundly defeated in America. Dream Middleweight champion and Grand Prix winner Gegard Mousasi dropped off the aforementioned p4p list with a decision loss to “King” Mo Lawal – again, that Lawal fights in Japan too in Sengoku was largely ignored by large sections of the MMA media and internet based hardcore community alike. Add to that Dream Welterweight Grand Prix and divisional king Mariusz “The Whitemare” Zaromskis losing twice in Strikeforce, JMMA legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai dropping a bout to the incomparable Nick Diaz, the shadow of “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba losing to a Gracie, K1 savage Melvin Manhoef falling to Robbie Lawler, Dream/Hero*s superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama being submitted by Chris Leben at UFC 116, Caol Uno being cut after an unsuccessful second UFC tenure, and Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa stuck firmly in the gimmick of fighting in open-weight freak show fights against giants… all of which has a drastic cumulative effect. Put it on paper, and even the marquee fighters of Japan’s largest current MMA organisation are not having the best time of it.
Japanese MMA predates the American version by a decade – Shooto were running events in the 1980’s, and even modern MMA got a jumpstart when the first Pancrase show was held a full month before UFC 1 (interesting note: Ken Shamrock fought on both shows – he defeated the legend Masakatsu Funaki at Pancrase and went 1-1 in the UFC 1 tournament). And while Brazilians essentially just imported Vale Tudo, or “anything goes” fighting to American shores, the Japanese style had its roots in puro resu, or professional wrestling. It should therefore be no surprise that Japanese MMA events such as Pride, Hero*s, Sengoku and Dream have such production values and pageantry, flamboyance and style… not to mention that catch-as-catch-can style submission wrestlers often become headlining stars – home-grown and gaijin alike – such as Funaki, Shamrock, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazushi Sakuraba and Josh Barnett. For years they enjoyed a golden era. But the Yakuza scandals and the death of Pride was a drastic blow that for three years, JMMA seemed utterly unable to recover from.
This Puji deal could change the situation in even more drastic fashion. With serious backing, Japan can once more look to conquer the Asian market – even with rising prospective super-org Art of War in China. Could this herald the third Sino-Japanese war? And oh, the irony, that the company who tried so desperately to put Pride out of business for years, the great rivals of Japan’s biggest ever Mixed Martial Arts promotion, may not lead the charge into the next decade carrying Pride’s old parent company name as its MMA banner; Dream. What this may mean with regards to Sengoku, it is unclear, though the smaller orgs such as Deep and Pancrase will undoubtedly soldier on – as feeder leagues to Dream and a showcase for Japanese talent, if nothing else. One hopes that Sengoku can survive this – co-promotion at New Years Eve did not bode well for them – it revealed a weakness in the wake of losing a main sponsor, and they lost their lightweight champion to boot; courtesy of yet another of Aoki’s limb snapping submission holds. But the selfish fan in me wants Dream to become all powerful, even if it means talents such as Sandro, Kanehara, King Mo and Santiago defect in the way that so many did during Pride’s heyday – one only has to remember Shooto champions Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi and Hayato Sakurai headlining the Bushido events, and Pancrase veteran Minowaman taking on all comers in Pride. This may come to be the case with the revitalised Dream.
So with a war cry sounded and one hundred and fifty million in the coffers, FEG are looking to expand globally and grow both stand-up branch K1 and Dream, Japan’s representative on the MMA world stage. With the Asian market conquered, FEG even mentioned expanding into Europe, something a certain Vadim Finklestein would probably not appreciate. Could he ever compete with a financially well off Japanese promotion? In the land of Bushido, samurai spirit, karate, Jiu Jitsu and judo, one had to feel the Martial Arts extravaganzas could never die out. While Pride’s absence still stings, Japanophiles the world over can start to dust off the old Rising Sun flags; Dream are here to stay, and they have some serious intentions to go with it. Japanese MMA has been in hibernation since 2007; now it has awakened from its slumber, it is time to readopt the imperialistic nature and put itself back where it belongs; atop the MMA world. Banzai!
---------------------------------------------
And here is my most recent vid blog
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Guest Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:08 pm
Trouble at mill!
Fletchster:
a) your singing at the end was both atrocious and offensive; akin to Vic Reeves singing in the club style on Shooting Stars, only less funny
b) it's "banzai", not "bonzai" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_thousand_years)
c) a yankee-doodle Coca-Cola t-shirt does not represent Japan in any shape of form
d) your Imperial Japanese flag and use of "banzai" offend my WW2-era sensibilities and are the Japanese equivalent of the National Front making sick love to the EDL; bonfire please
e) stop jerking around and jutting your chin out like Liam Gallagher; you're an Englishman sir, and a gentleman
Apart from those minor points, I enjoyed watching you squirm and mince like a good 'un. Can you shoot in 1080p next time and with better audio?
Your loyal friend with high standards and expectations,
RPM
Fletchster:
a) your singing at the end was both atrocious and offensive; akin to Vic Reeves singing in the club style on Shooting Stars, only less funny
b) it's "banzai", not "bonzai" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_thousand_years)
c) a yankee-doodle Coca-Cola t-shirt does not represent Japan in any shape of form
d) your Imperial Japanese flag and use of "banzai" offend my WW2-era sensibilities and are the Japanese equivalent of the National Front making sick love to the EDL; bonfire please
e) stop jerking around and jutting your chin out like Liam Gallagher; you're an Englishman sir, and a gentleman
Apart from those minor points, I enjoyed watching you squirm and mince like a good 'un. Can you shoot in 1080p next time and with better audio?
Your loyal friend with high standards and expectations,
RPM
Guest- Guest
Stu3ufc- Bang Out Of Order
- Posts : 18173
Join date : 2010-06-02
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:36 pm
Article at ww.lowkick.com
http://www.lowkick.com/UFC/Fletch-Blog-Fedor-The-Ultimate-FaceThePain-Championship-and-the-New-Breed-of-Heavyweights-9754
Also mma-japan.com, ironforgesiron.com, and it got 5 figure hits in less than 3 days at lowkick
-------------------------------
Fletch Blog: Fedor, The Ultimate FaceThePain Championship and The "New Breed of Heavyweights"
Good morning, sports fans. Open your knees and feel the breeze, sit back and smoke your pipe, cos I’m here to attack the propaganda with Team Takeover at my back, tweaking the nipples of the MMA world…
It seems only fitting that in my first lyrical rampage at lowkick – bastion of MMA news and features – I should start with the Great One. The big cheese, the dog’s bollocks, the crème de la crème of the sport. Yes, I am referring to a pudgy, prematurely bald Russian man. Why waste article uno on some snivelling mediocrity? Why be content with anything less than the best? Better than all the rest? Better than anyone? Anyone I’ve ever met…
*Tina Turner need not apply for royalties. I’m penniless, sweetheart…*
OK, the introductions are made, the pipe is laden with Drum tobacco, so let the festivities begin. This is the point where the posters of Axis-dog, mma-stinker and all the other Mixed Martial Arts cesspools of stupidity need to remain silent, while the adults speak. Because the subject I plan to spit my prose all lyrical like upon, is the very subject that these thousands of dribbling fucking infants have been whining over across every large MMA forum for the past two years: Fedor and the UFC.
Yes, Fedor, his legacy, and the looming, sinister presence of the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship – our beloved Yankee doodle organisation that supposedly has the best interests of the sport’s worldwide growth in mind, with every event, every press release and every new conquest… yet, despite their well-being and benevolence for all things MMA, they (for some strange reason) make it their modus operandi to downgrade and attack the legacy of the finest professional fighter to ever lace up the gloves in mixed grappling and striking combat; Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.
And that is criminal.
UFC President and The Baldfather, Dana White, continually makes ludicrous claims that Fedor is NOT p4p material, nor is he a top 5 heavyweight. Worse, he mindlessly spat out this misinformation PRIOR to Fedor’s first ever loss, after a decade of dominance! When his own “top heavyweights” have not faced each other to prove their greatness, and nor have they beaten dangerous fighters that by consensus are sufficiently skilled enough to make a legitimate challenge to Fedor, yet they STILL make absurd public statements downplaying Fedor, the UFC and Dana come off like jealous, jilted lovers. It is sad that the President of the world’s (sadly) largest MMA organisation is such an immature man, that in the interests of public relations and UFC propaganda, he will not only insult Fedor personally on ESPN radio, but will also happily tarnish the career and legacy of this sport’s best fighter…
Sadder still, my friends; there are tens of thousands of fucking idiots who happily ingest and swallow all this misinformation, then spread it like truth. It’s like a retard-friendly game of Chinese whispers.
Allow me, dear reader, to review the logic and context of the claim – made by Zuffa LLC, and duly repeated by an entire generation of brainwashed American idiots who “train UFC” – the claim that Fedor Emelianenko, the man who imperiously stood atop the heavyweight mountain for seven long years… is “ducking” the UFC.
(ps – if you have EVER even suggested that this claim is feasible, fuck your life…)
Lets take a look at Fedor’s career, where he is now, and what exactly it is that he is “ducking” compared to the men he has already fought, could potentially fight, and will definitely wage war against in the cage.
Pride Fighting Championships are considered by many to be the very pinnacle of Mixed Martial Arts (read my history of the org at http://teamtakeover.forum-express.com/mma-f1/pride-fc-in-remembrance-of-the-finest-org-1997-2007-t180.htm) Emelianenko entered the Japanese promotion after a successful introduction to MMA with Rings, as an undersized heavyweight but with a lethal combination of outstanding throws and clinch, dangerous hands and a tremendous overall submission game. He duly triumphed over the future GOAT of K-1, Semmy “High Tower” Schilt; the most lethal lanky striker to live. If only Pride knew at the time they were essentially promoting a fight between the #1 All Time Greats of two different combat sports…
Soon into his Pride career, he earned a Heavyweight title shot against the consensus Second Greatest Of All Time: Rodrigo Nogueira. Nog is a Brazilian man who not only boasts a wealth of BJJ and submission grappling wizardry, he is a man who survived having a truck run over his chest as a kid, to become a Vale Tudo world heavyweight champion. That makes Nogueira tougher than Dan Quinn believes HIMSELF to be!
Fedor spent most of the fight either throwing Nog like a rag doll, pounding his face into the mat, or even Ground’n’Pounding him from within Nogueira’s guard. At the time, it was hands down THE most dangerous guard in the sport. That is what Fedor achieved, to become the Pride HW champion. No one would ever claim that title again.
Fedor defeated Nogueira again. He blew through a procession of former and future champions, from a variety of orgs. He took on and defeated K1 World Grand Prix champions, and ADCC submission grappling masters, Olympic Gold Medallist judoka’s and MMA champions of Pride and the UFC. He beat the other feared heavyweight Pride had to offer, the former K-1 terminator who ran the gauntlet of fire just to earn his Superfight with Fedor; Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, the deadliest striker as yet seen in the sport. Fedor beat him in his own domain; out-striking him, forcing him onto the backfoot, and controlling the pace of the fight.
Fedor, quite simply, could not be touched.
I could be pedantic, and run through the rest of Fedor’s Pride career, but we all know it by heart; thanks to the dribbling, socially incapable retards on sherdog… excuse me, Axis-dog forums, who posted their “expert analysis” of that career across the forums, explaining to each and every one of us exactly why each and every single win of Fedor’s was “overrated”.
Fedor defeating Nogueira again = overrated.
Fedor beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic = overrated.
Fedor being 7-0 (currently) against UFC champions = overrated.
Fedor having defeated UFC champions, Olympians, Pride champs, K-1 champions, Grand Prix winners in both K-1 and MMA (Pride), ADCC champs, Rings champs, top 10 opponents and badass motherfuckers alike = vastly, vastly overrated.
All that is overrated! Because we all know – Fedor is scared of the post-2008 UFC “New Breed of Heavyweight!!” It’s a fact, sons!
Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Todd Duffee, Junior Dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez are the names that were thrown at each and every fan that – obviously, in their right mind – happened to support the Greatest of all Time. But hold on… tell me, these are the guys that happened to usurp the top dogs of the UFC circa 2009, yes? Well, when Fedor was first accused of avoiding the UFC after the demise of Pride (mid 2007) the three top heavyweights were Tim Sylvia (champion), Randy Couture (who then beat Tim), and Andrei Arlovski (had been champion previously).
Fedor faced TWO of that three – Sylvia and Arlovski – and – as ever, vastly undersized – he destroyed them both in a combined 3 minutes and 50 seconds. He signed to fight the third (Couture) but the fight was cancelled, due to Randy resigning with the UFC.
Ducking? The elites of the UFC are what Fedor fears? The men at the top when Pride collapsed and Fedor was left without a home, are precisely the men who LEFT the UFC willingly to prove themselves against HIM, the men whom he respectively choked into submission, and scud missiled into unconsciousness in a matter of minutes…
So, that takes care of 2007 and 2008. Roll on 2009, and lo and behold, UFC fanboys have found more reasons to ooze slime. Step aside, UFC elite and Fedor victims, because the New Breed are coming through. But are they really anything special that Fedor has not faced before? Fedor, the man who beat K-1 guys on the feet, BJJ world champions from within their own guard… he should fear the NEW BREED?
Prior to the PR fiasco that even Dr Josef Goebbels could not pretend was a fight between the world’s best heavyweights – Carwin vs. Lesnar – none of the New Breed had even fought each other! None had barely any top 10 wins between them! Brock was 4-1 win/loss, with his two shining triumphs being a 45yr old current light heavyweight, and a Frank Mir who last wore UFC gold proper in 2004. Carwin had more fights, but was little better; his best wins leading up to Brock were a Gonzaga whose stock is falling fast, and the aforementioned Mir.
As for Carwin vs. Brock itself, don’t make me laugh. Round 1 saw the sad spectacle of Brock turning and running from his opponent’s punches, cowering into a ball and praying that the referee would not stop the fight (he IS a cash cow, after all…) until Carwin prematurely gassed, and Brock managed to secure a submission on him in round 2 that resembled my 14yr old brother submitting a giant, inanimate teddy bear. Only the teddy would have been more of a challenge to secure a hold on, probably…
Best heavyweights in the world? UFC champion vs. UFC “interim heavyweight champion”? (Don’t get me started on THAT can of worms…
Yes… clearly, Fedor Emelianenko – with his pinpoint accuracy striking and knockout power, his great throws, top-notch submission game, indomitable will and ceaseless endurance, is ducking the top 2 fighters of the UFC – Shane and Brock.
Only now of course, there is no “interim champ” in Shane. So now there is, theoretically, a NEW second best HW in the UFC. Great. That basically means now that the old guard is discredited, their weaknesses and flaws highlighted, there is a NEW guy that Fedor is obviously ducking! Now it’s Cain! Now, while Cain is superior to the rest of the “new breed”, he is hardly a monster. “Pillow hands” is one criticism he is stuck with… and I fail to see in what area of fighting he is superior to not only Fedor, but to the hulking Alistair Overeem; Strikeforce champion, and the REAL new breed of heavyweight to my mind. 6’5 of solid muscle, speed and strength, not to mention K-1 striking and ADCC level grappling. THAT is new breed.
Nogueira and “CroCop” being picked up by the hungry, greedy animal that is UFC was the worst thing to happen to Fedor’s career. After both men – far past their primes, both – were cannibalised by younger fighters who’d never fought under the glare of the Rising Sun – both Zuffa and the zuffa zombies a.k.a the dribbling, stupid New Age forum fanboys, were able to discredit Fedor’s consensus biggest wins. But lets think in terms of context:
Is Nogueira, after such a punishing career, even 50% of the fighter he was from 2002-2006?
Is CroCop, after an even more punishing fighting life consisting of over 100 matches in K-1, amateur boxing and MMA, even 70% of what he was in 2003? Mirko is a striker; his reflexes, as with anyone else’s, dull over time.
I can safely say; both men in their primes were a hell of a lot more impressive – and well rounded – than Brock Lesnar, and Shane Carwin.
Because from what Brock/Shane taught me, the UFC term “New Breed of Heavyweight” is codeword for “huge wrestlers with no cardio”. And to me, that’s not new breed – we had Mark Kerr in 1997.
Only Kerr also had success in ADCC too. He had legit submission skills.
I’ll take a BJJ wizard with great boxing (Nogueira) and a K-1 killing machine with exceptional takedown defence, reflexes and sprawls (Mirko) any day of the week, over this fantastic, mythical new breed of heavyweight that the Zuffa UFC hype machine blathers on about… absolutely pathetic, transparent garbage, and it’s a fucking tragedy that so many morons fall for it. I’d take prime Nogueira with his insane skillset, and prime Filipovic, Pride’s Croatian Sensation, any day of the week.
I’d also prefer to have those names (circa 2002-2006) on my resume, in my wins column.
Lets look at some more fun facts; for all the New Breed propaganda, does the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship even have the best selection of heavyweights out there? Let’s compare the current UFC heavyweight roster to Strikeforce, the org that the dastardly UFC-ducking-coward Fedor actually signed to…
UFC:
Lesnar – huge wrestler, has proved to be vulnerable both to punches and submissions.
Carwin – huge wrestler, immense KO power, but slow and zero cardio.
Mir – hugely talented BJJ artist, not the sturdiest chin, far inferior overall to Fedor
Duffee – huge, unproven, could not finish Mike Russow before being KO’d
JDS – great striker (not quite prime CroCop, though) not proven on the ground
Cain – best of the bunch so far. Personally, I doubt he could KO or decision Fedor though…
Strikeforce:
Fedor
Overeem – the REAL new breed; 6’5, 250+lbs of K-1 striking, ADCC level grappling
Werdum – exceptional BJJ, most dangerous heavyweight submission artist fulltime in MMA
Silva – huge, talented striker, good grappling, well rounded
Rogers – the least well rounded of the bunch, but huge KO power, decent brawler
Kharitonov – completely well rounded; great chin, tremendous boxing, excellent throws, good submission game.
Barnett – one of the deepest HW resumes in history; great catch/submission wrestler
Arlovski – went 3-0 in UFC before leaving to face Fedor – went 0-3 afterwards
Gracie – if he stays in MMA full time, we will be treated to the current king of BJJ
So you decide. Did Fedor REALLY duck “top competition” when he chose to decline the dictator’s UFC contract, and sign with Strikeforce?
In my opinion – and that’s all it is – he chose to add a huge weight to the swollen ranks of the best heavyweight roster in Mixed Martial Arts right now.
Wow, this ended up being a fact-laden voyage. Perhaps if I slow down my typing, next time…
In closing, compadrés, I bid you adieu. This feature is solely the opinions of myself, and – I’m pretty sure – those of the guys at my forum! But don’t take the word of anyone professing to be an MMA writer as gospel; not Helwani, not those shit arse clowns at Axis-dog such as Rossen, Rios and the girls, not anyone here… hell, don’t even believe me.
Just do the research, and make up your own minds.
This article is dedicated to Team Takeover, and to the Greatest Professional Fighter in the short history of Mixed Martial Arts… Fedor Emelianenko.
Teamtakeover.forum-express.com – join some REAL fans, in legit debate about MMA without all the useless human waste that you find at the large, shithole forums like Axis-dog and mma-stinker.
The one who doesn’t fall, doesn’t stand up.
It’s been emotional.
Fletch.
http://www.lowkick.com/UFC/Fletch-Blog-Fedor-The-Ultimate-FaceThePain-Championship-and-the-New-Breed-of-Heavyweights-9754
Also mma-japan.com, ironforgesiron.com, and it got 5 figure hits in less than 3 days at lowkick
-------------------------------
Fletch Blog: Fedor, The Ultimate FaceThePain Championship and The "New Breed of Heavyweights"
Good morning, sports fans. Open your knees and feel the breeze, sit back and smoke your pipe, cos I’m here to attack the propaganda with Team Takeover at my back, tweaking the nipples of the MMA world…
It seems only fitting that in my first lyrical rampage at lowkick – bastion of MMA news and features – I should start with the Great One. The big cheese, the dog’s bollocks, the crème de la crème of the sport. Yes, I am referring to a pudgy, prematurely bald Russian man. Why waste article uno on some snivelling mediocrity? Why be content with anything less than the best? Better than all the rest? Better than anyone? Anyone I’ve ever met…
*Tina Turner need not apply for royalties. I’m penniless, sweetheart…*
OK, the introductions are made, the pipe is laden with Drum tobacco, so let the festivities begin. This is the point where the posters of Axis-dog, mma-stinker and all the other Mixed Martial Arts cesspools of stupidity need to remain silent, while the adults speak. Because the subject I plan to spit my prose all lyrical like upon, is the very subject that these thousands of dribbling fucking infants have been whining over across every large MMA forum for the past two years: Fedor and the UFC.
Yes, Fedor, his legacy, and the looming, sinister presence of the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship – our beloved Yankee doodle organisation that supposedly has the best interests of the sport’s worldwide growth in mind, with every event, every press release and every new conquest… yet, despite their well-being and benevolence for all things MMA, they (for some strange reason) make it their modus operandi to downgrade and attack the legacy of the finest professional fighter to ever lace up the gloves in mixed grappling and striking combat; Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.
And that is criminal.
UFC President and The Baldfather, Dana White, continually makes ludicrous claims that Fedor is NOT p4p material, nor is he a top 5 heavyweight. Worse, he mindlessly spat out this misinformation PRIOR to Fedor’s first ever loss, after a decade of dominance! When his own “top heavyweights” have not faced each other to prove their greatness, and nor have they beaten dangerous fighters that by consensus are sufficiently skilled enough to make a legitimate challenge to Fedor, yet they STILL make absurd public statements downplaying Fedor, the UFC and Dana come off like jealous, jilted lovers. It is sad that the President of the world’s (sadly) largest MMA organisation is such an immature man, that in the interests of public relations and UFC propaganda, he will not only insult Fedor personally on ESPN radio, but will also happily tarnish the career and legacy of this sport’s best fighter…
Sadder still, my friends; there are tens of thousands of fucking idiots who happily ingest and swallow all this misinformation, then spread it like truth. It’s like a retard-friendly game of Chinese whispers.
Allow me, dear reader, to review the logic and context of the claim – made by Zuffa LLC, and duly repeated by an entire generation of brainwashed American idiots who “train UFC” – the claim that Fedor Emelianenko, the man who imperiously stood atop the heavyweight mountain for seven long years… is “ducking” the UFC.
(ps – if you have EVER even suggested that this claim is feasible, fuck your life…)
Lets take a look at Fedor’s career, where he is now, and what exactly it is that he is “ducking” compared to the men he has already fought, could potentially fight, and will definitely wage war against in the cage.
Pride Fighting Championships are considered by many to be the very pinnacle of Mixed Martial Arts (read my history of the org at http://teamtakeover.forum-express.com/mma-f1/pride-fc-in-remembrance-of-the-finest-org-1997-2007-t180.htm) Emelianenko entered the Japanese promotion after a successful introduction to MMA with Rings, as an undersized heavyweight but with a lethal combination of outstanding throws and clinch, dangerous hands and a tremendous overall submission game. He duly triumphed over the future GOAT of K-1, Semmy “High Tower” Schilt; the most lethal lanky striker to live. If only Pride knew at the time they were essentially promoting a fight between the #1 All Time Greats of two different combat sports…
Soon into his Pride career, he earned a Heavyweight title shot against the consensus Second Greatest Of All Time: Rodrigo Nogueira. Nog is a Brazilian man who not only boasts a wealth of BJJ and submission grappling wizardry, he is a man who survived having a truck run over his chest as a kid, to become a Vale Tudo world heavyweight champion. That makes Nogueira tougher than Dan Quinn believes HIMSELF to be!
Fedor spent most of the fight either throwing Nog like a rag doll, pounding his face into the mat, or even Ground’n’Pounding him from within Nogueira’s guard. At the time, it was hands down THE most dangerous guard in the sport. That is what Fedor achieved, to become the Pride HW champion. No one would ever claim that title again.
Fedor defeated Nogueira again. He blew through a procession of former and future champions, from a variety of orgs. He took on and defeated K1 World Grand Prix champions, and ADCC submission grappling masters, Olympic Gold Medallist judoka’s and MMA champions of Pride and the UFC. He beat the other feared heavyweight Pride had to offer, the former K-1 terminator who ran the gauntlet of fire just to earn his Superfight with Fedor; Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, the deadliest striker as yet seen in the sport. Fedor beat him in his own domain; out-striking him, forcing him onto the backfoot, and controlling the pace of the fight.
Fedor, quite simply, could not be touched.
I could be pedantic, and run through the rest of Fedor’s Pride career, but we all know it by heart; thanks to the dribbling, socially incapable retards on sherdog… excuse me, Axis-dog forums, who posted their “expert analysis” of that career across the forums, explaining to each and every one of us exactly why each and every single win of Fedor’s was “overrated”.
Fedor defeating Nogueira again = overrated.
Fedor beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic = overrated.
Fedor being 7-0 (currently) against UFC champions = overrated.
Fedor having defeated UFC champions, Olympians, Pride champs, K-1 champions, Grand Prix winners in both K-1 and MMA (Pride), ADCC champs, Rings champs, top 10 opponents and badass motherfuckers alike = vastly, vastly overrated.
All that is overrated! Because we all know – Fedor is scared of the post-2008 UFC “New Breed of Heavyweight!!” It’s a fact, sons!
Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Todd Duffee, Junior Dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez are the names that were thrown at each and every fan that – obviously, in their right mind – happened to support the Greatest of all Time. But hold on… tell me, these are the guys that happened to usurp the top dogs of the UFC circa 2009, yes? Well, when Fedor was first accused of avoiding the UFC after the demise of Pride (mid 2007) the three top heavyweights were Tim Sylvia (champion), Randy Couture (who then beat Tim), and Andrei Arlovski (had been champion previously).
Fedor faced TWO of that three – Sylvia and Arlovski – and – as ever, vastly undersized – he destroyed them both in a combined 3 minutes and 50 seconds. He signed to fight the third (Couture) but the fight was cancelled, due to Randy resigning with the UFC.
Ducking? The elites of the UFC are what Fedor fears? The men at the top when Pride collapsed and Fedor was left without a home, are precisely the men who LEFT the UFC willingly to prove themselves against HIM, the men whom he respectively choked into submission, and scud missiled into unconsciousness in a matter of minutes…
So, that takes care of 2007 and 2008. Roll on 2009, and lo and behold, UFC fanboys have found more reasons to ooze slime. Step aside, UFC elite and Fedor victims, because the New Breed are coming through. But are they really anything special that Fedor has not faced before? Fedor, the man who beat K-1 guys on the feet, BJJ world champions from within their own guard… he should fear the NEW BREED?
Prior to the PR fiasco that even Dr Josef Goebbels could not pretend was a fight between the world’s best heavyweights – Carwin vs. Lesnar – none of the New Breed had even fought each other! None had barely any top 10 wins between them! Brock was 4-1 win/loss, with his two shining triumphs being a 45yr old current light heavyweight, and a Frank Mir who last wore UFC gold proper in 2004. Carwin had more fights, but was little better; his best wins leading up to Brock were a Gonzaga whose stock is falling fast, and the aforementioned Mir.
As for Carwin vs. Brock itself, don’t make me laugh. Round 1 saw the sad spectacle of Brock turning and running from his opponent’s punches, cowering into a ball and praying that the referee would not stop the fight (he IS a cash cow, after all…) until Carwin prematurely gassed, and Brock managed to secure a submission on him in round 2 that resembled my 14yr old brother submitting a giant, inanimate teddy bear. Only the teddy would have been more of a challenge to secure a hold on, probably…
Best heavyweights in the world? UFC champion vs. UFC “interim heavyweight champion”? (Don’t get me started on THAT can of worms…
Yes… clearly, Fedor Emelianenko – with his pinpoint accuracy striking and knockout power, his great throws, top-notch submission game, indomitable will and ceaseless endurance, is ducking the top 2 fighters of the UFC – Shane and Brock.
Only now of course, there is no “interim champ” in Shane. So now there is, theoretically, a NEW second best HW in the UFC. Great. That basically means now that the old guard is discredited, their weaknesses and flaws highlighted, there is a NEW guy that Fedor is obviously ducking! Now it’s Cain! Now, while Cain is superior to the rest of the “new breed”, he is hardly a monster. “Pillow hands” is one criticism he is stuck with… and I fail to see in what area of fighting he is superior to not only Fedor, but to the hulking Alistair Overeem; Strikeforce champion, and the REAL new breed of heavyweight to my mind. 6’5 of solid muscle, speed and strength, not to mention K-1 striking and ADCC level grappling. THAT is new breed.
Nogueira and “CroCop” being picked up by the hungry, greedy animal that is UFC was the worst thing to happen to Fedor’s career. After both men – far past their primes, both – were cannibalised by younger fighters who’d never fought under the glare of the Rising Sun – both Zuffa and the zuffa zombies a.k.a the dribbling, stupid New Age forum fanboys, were able to discredit Fedor’s consensus biggest wins. But lets think in terms of context:
Is Nogueira, after such a punishing career, even 50% of the fighter he was from 2002-2006?
Is CroCop, after an even more punishing fighting life consisting of over 100 matches in K-1, amateur boxing and MMA, even 70% of what he was in 2003? Mirko is a striker; his reflexes, as with anyone else’s, dull over time.
I can safely say; both men in their primes were a hell of a lot more impressive – and well rounded – than Brock Lesnar, and Shane Carwin.
Because from what Brock/Shane taught me, the UFC term “New Breed of Heavyweight” is codeword for “huge wrestlers with no cardio”. And to me, that’s not new breed – we had Mark Kerr in 1997.
Only Kerr also had success in ADCC too. He had legit submission skills.
I’ll take a BJJ wizard with great boxing (Nogueira) and a K-1 killing machine with exceptional takedown defence, reflexes and sprawls (Mirko) any day of the week, over this fantastic, mythical new breed of heavyweight that the Zuffa UFC hype machine blathers on about… absolutely pathetic, transparent garbage, and it’s a fucking tragedy that so many morons fall for it. I’d take prime Nogueira with his insane skillset, and prime Filipovic, Pride’s Croatian Sensation, any day of the week.
I’d also prefer to have those names (circa 2002-2006) on my resume, in my wins column.
Lets look at some more fun facts; for all the New Breed propaganda, does the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship even have the best selection of heavyweights out there? Let’s compare the current UFC heavyweight roster to Strikeforce, the org that the dastardly UFC-ducking-coward Fedor actually signed to…
UFC:
Lesnar – huge wrestler, has proved to be vulnerable both to punches and submissions.
Carwin – huge wrestler, immense KO power, but slow and zero cardio.
Mir – hugely talented BJJ artist, not the sturdiest chin, far inferior overall to Fedor
Duffee – huge, unproven, could not finish Mike Russow before being KO’d
JDS – great striker (not quite prime CroCop, though) not proven on the ground
Cain – best of the bunch so far. Personally, I doubt he could KO or decision Fedor though…
Strikeforce:
Fedor
Overeem – the REAL new breed; 6’5, 250+lbs of K-1 striking, ADCC level grappling
Werdum – exceptional BJJ, most dangerous heavyweight submission artist fulltime in MMA
Silva – huge, talented striker, good grappling, well rounded
Rogers – the least well rounded of the bunch, but huge KO power, decent brawler
Kharitonov – completely well rounded; great chin, tremendous boxing, excellent throws, good submission game.
Barnett – one of the deepest HW resumes in history; great catch/submission wrestler
Arlovski – went 3-0 in UFC before leaving to face Fedor – went 0-3 afterwards
Gracie – if he stays in MMA full time, we will be treated to the current king of BJJ
So you decide. Did Fedor REALLY duck “top competition” when he chose to decline the dictator’s UFC contract, and sign with Strikeforce?
In my opinion – and that’s all it is – he chose to add a huge weight to the swollen ranks of the best heavyweight roster in Mixed Martial Arts right now.
Wow, this ended up being a fact-laden voyage. Perhaps if I slow down my typing, next time…
In closing, compadrés, I bid you adieu. This feature is solely the opinions of myself, and – I’m pretty sure – those of the guys at my forum! But don’t take the word of anyone professing to be an MMA writer as gospel; not Helwani, not those shit arse clowns at Axis-dog such as Rossen, Rios and the girls, not anyone here… hell, don’t even believe me.
Just do the research, and make up your own minds.
This article is dedicated to Team Takeover, and to the Greatest Professional Fighter in the short history of Mixed Martial Arts… Fedor Emelianenko.
Teamtakeover.forum-express.com – join some REAL fans, in legit debate about MMA without all the useless human waste that you find at the large, shithole forums like Axis-dog and mma-stinker.
The one who doesn’t fall, doesn’t stand up.
It’s been emotional.
Fletch.
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Jride- Business As Usual
- Posts : 7523
Join date : 2010-07-02
Age : 32
Location : Stockton
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by blueyedsamurai Thu Sep 02, 2010 3:35 pm
fletch, i know u might get an extreme hate for writing a story on dana white but it would be good to educate the scrubs who think dana is god.
The guy went from humble to a loud mouth peice of shit once ufc started to get popular. Also that Dana white vs tito ortiz thing was like something from the WWE. He is just a attention seeking whore who puts his face over everything ufc.
The guy went from humble to a loud mouth peice of shit once ufc started to get popular. Also that Dana white vs tito ortiz thing was like something from the WWE. He is just a attention seeking whore who puts his face over everything ufc.
blueyedsamurai- Posts : 4599
Join date : 2010-08-31
Location : Australia, Goldcoast
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:13 am
ATTN: from now on, all articles will go to www.IronForgesIron.com
Previous stuff will be posted from mma-japan.com, lowkick.com & my own blog, mmafletch.blogspot.com
Previous stuff will be posted from mma-japan.com, lowkick.com & my own blog, mmafletch.blogspot.com
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by blueyedsamurai Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:21 am
alright fletch, just as long as u dont become a sherdog writer
blueyedsamurai- Posts : 4599
Join date : 2010-08-31
Location : Australia, Goldcoast
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:38 am
New article about Shinya Aoki on www.lowkick.com - check it out fellas.
Fletch Blog: Shinya Aoki, Lightweight Greatness and The Deepest Recent Resume In The Sport
http://mmafletch.blogspot.com - unedited
http://www.lowkick.com/Dream/Fletch-Blog-Shinya-Aoki-Lightweight-Greatness-and-The-Deepest-Recent-Resume-In-The-Sport-9857
Fletch Blog: Shinya Aoki, Lightweight Greatness and The Deepest Recent Resume In The Sport
http://mmafletch.blogspot.com - unedited
http://www.lowkick.com/Dream/Fletch-Blog-Shinya-Aoki-Lightweight-Greatness-and-The-Deepest-Recent-Resume-In-The-Sport-9857
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Jride- Business As Usual
- Posts : 7523
Join date : 2010-07-02
Age : 32
Location : Stockton
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by shimeixiaoxiao Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:19 pm
Anderson broke another record against Leites at UFC 97. He won his ninth consecutive UFC fight, an unmatched feat, which he followed up with his outstanding dissection of Forrest for a 10-0 record of perfection. It made me remember Frank Shamrock, in the wake of his own glorious victory over Tito Ortiz in a defence of the old 199lbs title. Back then in 1999, Frank claimed that monetary rewards in MMA were not enough for the risks they take, and he told UFC to call him when they had a middleweight (now Light-Heavyweight) who could beat him. Sadly, Frank never did return, but that was an occurring theme with dominant fighters, or those on the verge of dominance. I realised that Anderson alone has the potential to truly make a decade his own, so that nostalgic fans look back and remember a years-long period as ‘The Silva Era.’
shimeixiaoxiao- Posts : 1
Join date : 2010-10-28
Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Fletch Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:34 pm
Recent articles: IFI, lowkick and mma-japan.com
Fletch Blog: London Shootfighters; Camp in the Making?
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/fletch-blog-london-shootfighters-camp-in-the-making/
UFC 123 Countdown & Preview
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/ufc-123-countdown-preview/
Fletch Blog: 14yrs on, UFC's Detroit Return Sees Another Main Event Robbery
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/14-years-on-ufcs-detroit-return-sees-yet-another-main-event-robbery/
Where Now For Machida?
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/ufc-123-aftermath-where-now-for-machida/
"Mirko CroCop vs Frank Mir" (lowkick.com)
http://www.lowkick.com/UFC/The-Fletch-Blog-Why-CroCop-Should-Beat-Mir-
"Horrendous decision mars another great Sengoku card" (ironforgesiron.com & mma-japan.com)
http://ironforgesiron.com/2010/10/31/horrendous-decision-mars-another-great-sengoku-card/
http://mma-japan.com/?p=100
----------------
Vlogs:
UFC 120 London Fletch Vlog:
"How To Get Into A Nightclub"
"Drunken Boxing vlog, pissing onto traffic & club sneak"
Fletch Blog: London Shootfighters; Camp in the Making?
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/fletch-blog-london-shootfighters-camp-in-the-making/
UFC 123 Countdown & Preview
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/ufc-123-countdown-preview/
Fletch Blog: 14yrs on, UFC's Detroit Return Sees Another Main Event Robbery
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/14-years-on-ufcs-detroit-return-sees-yet-another-main-event-robbery/
Where Now For Machida?
http://ironforgesiron.com/index.php/2010/11/ufc-123-aftermath-where-now-for-machida/
"Mirko CroCop vs Frank Mir" (lowkick.com)
http://www.lowkick.com/UFC/The-Fletch-Blog-Why-CroCop-Should-Beat-Mir-
"Horrendous decision mars another great Sengoku card" (ironforgesiron.com & mma-japan.com)
http://ironforgesiron.com/2010/10/31/horrendous-decision-mars-another-great-sengoku-card/
http://mma-japan.com/?p=100
----------------
Vlogs:
UFC 120 London Fletch Vlog:
"How To Get Into A Nightclub"
"Drunken Boxing vlog, pissing onto traffic & club sneak"
Fletch- Champagne Supernova
- Posts : 13846
Join date : 2010-06-01
Age : 35
Location : Phuket, Thailand
Stu3ufc- Bang Out Of Order
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Re: Attn: Fletch Blog
by Azzaroth Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:18 pm
japanophilic masturbation always feels like a race to the finish
Azzaroth- Posts : 451
Join date : 2010-08-06
Age : 113
Location : Metal Manor
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