The most highly anticipated lightweight fight of the year was scraped just hours before the bout when Khabib Nurmagomedov was deemed unfit to compete due to complications from his weight cut. When news first broke of Khabib’s hospitalization it quickly went viral and set the internet on fire. MMA fans could not believe that this was really happening. We were all so close to witnessing one of the best lightweight fights of all time. Everyone was not surprised though, believe it or not, a few months ago, when this fight was first being put together I said it would never happen. I was making an appearance as the MMA analyst on ‘The Final Third’ podcast when I was asked what I thought of this fight; I very clearly stated that I had a feeling this fight would never actually come to fruition. This is one of those times I wish I was wrong. I would be lying if I told you I had any factual reason for thinking that, it was just a gut feeling. Now I have a different feeling in my gut, only this time I’m sick to my stomach. When will the unifying body of MMA realize that more weight classes are desperately needed? In some instances, these athletes are causing irreparable damage to their bodies just so they can compete at a more ideal weight. But is nearly killing yourself more ideal? This will not be the last fight cancelled due to a weight cutting issue, and the UFC has implemented some changes to address this, most notably, banning IV rehydration and the early weigh ins. But that is just a start, the UFC needs to add more weight classes, possibly one every 10lbs, i.e. 155lb, 165lb, 175lb, etc. You can bet your bottom dollar if the UFC went in this direction, every other MMA promotion would follow suit. Not only would fewer fights get scrapped due to weight cutting issues if this was the case, it would be much safer, and I wholeheartedly believe we would see these athletes competing at an even higher and more efficient level due to better conditioning.

Saturday February 18 San Jose California, all eyes will be on “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko as he makes his return to state side MMA competition. Fedor has not competed in the United States since he suffered his third straight loss at the hands of Dan Henderson in 2011 at a Strikeforce event. Once the unquestioned king of MMA, many have wondered, are Fedor’s dominate days behind him? His opponent Matt Mitrione is a bit of a wild card. Mitrione is a former NFL player and UFC journeymen that never quite lived up to his expectations. Meathead was a featured fighter on “The Ultimate Fighter:” Heavyweights, the same season that the late Kimbo Slice appeared on. 

The co-main event of the evening has tremendous lightweight title implications. Patricky Pitbull squares off against home town favorite Josh Thompson. Pitbull is looking to rebound from a devastating knock out loss at the hands of current lightweight champ “Iron” Michael Chandler. Thompson is looking to win his third straight contest inside the Bellator cage and set himself up with a title shot later in the year. 

Don’t forget the heavyweights. Oli Thompson and Cheick Kongo go head to head in what is sure to be a slugfest. Oli is a middle tier UK fighter that has by far his biggest test in Kongo on Saturday night. Kongo at times looks fantastic and other times your left scratching your head. All indications are that Kongo has had a good camp so this fight should be entertaining. Bellator 172 has something for everyone. A very intriguing women’s flyweight fight between newcomer Brooke Mayo and Veta Arteaga is slated to be the second fight on the main card. The women bring it, every time they step into the Bellator cage there are fireworks. 

Kicking off the main card is Josh Koscheck making his long awaited Bellator debut against Mauricio Alonso. It’s been almost two years since Koscheck signed a multi-year deal with the Viacom owned company, and finally after some setbacks we get to see if Koscheck is still relevant in the welterweight division. That being said, Alonso is a much bigger fighter than Kos. At 6’2 Alonso is one of the largest fighters in the welterweight division, and his size could pose a big problem for Kos who relies heavily on his wrestling. There is a total of twelve fights on the prelims before the main card on Spike gets going. I’m very excited to see Anatoly Tokov vs Francisco France, I must say I am a bit surprised this fight did not make the main card. The main card begins at 8pm (cst) live and free on Spike TV, and of course the prelims start the evening of fights off at 5pm (cst).

I am a huge mixed martial arts fan. I am not one of these bandwagon fans that decided the sport of MMA was cool because Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey. I have been a diehard fan since the very first UFC event in 1993, I have also practiced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu reaching the level of blue belt. This is all fine and dandy, but the point I want to make here is that the new owners of the UFC are destroying something I love. No different than watching someone slowly ruin your favorite band or television show. The new owners of the UFC are WME-IMG, that stands for William Morris Endeavor. They are a massive media conglomerate that paid 4 billion dollars for the premier MMA organization. They obviously know how to run an entertainment and media corporation, but they are quickly showing they know absolutely nothing about running a MMA company. From the moment WME-IMG purchased the UFC they began making suspect moves, they fired long time employees Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell, they starting creating these “fake” interim titles, and they have been releasing fighters on their rosters to reduce their overhead. That’s fine, but when you start releasing fighters that are relevant and are top fighters in their respected weight classes so you can keep other fighters around that are not as talented but draw more PPV buys; then there is a credibility issue that needs to be addressed. Look, I’m not trying to tell anyone how to run their organization, but when your interest is no longer putting on the best fights and the fights that fans want to see, but instead is solely to make money, then yes there is a problem. The days of Zuffa llc are gone and I know I’m not the only one who wishes the Fertitta brothers to get back in the MMA game. The bright side of this WME debacle is that this opens the door even further for other MMA promotions like Bellator to jump in and capitalize on their mistakes.

More or less this blog post is going to be a rant. I can’t, for the life of me understand why people feel the need to be followers. Is it too much to ask of someone to take a stand, have an opinion, and be a leader? Maybe I’m a bitter middle-aged man, no that’s not it either because I’ve always felt this way. Then what is it? Why does it seem that more and more people take the easier, less fulfilling route in life? Me personally, I have always been a natural leader, and that’s something that I have always drawn strength and comfort in knowing. Listen, there’s nothing wrong with sticking up for what you believe in and having a voice. It does seem as if certain people would prefer everyone to just fall in line and not have any differing opinions. That’s ok, as long as there’s a power structure in place we are always going to have people who fear others, in particular others who have a voice, others who are not sheep, others we call leaders. So, stop following, it will get you nowhere in life. Start being a leader, stand for something, and the more people you rub the wrong way, the more you know you’re doing the right thing.

Fight Pass Prelims 

Daniel Jolly VS Khalil Roundtree Jr. – It only took Roundtree 52 seconds to end the night of the home town favorite Jolly. Two perfectly placed knee strikes, one to Jolly’s head, the other to his upper chest. 

Alex Morono VS Niko Price – Morono had a lot of hype coming in, he won his first two fights in the UFC and this fight would be in his own backyard of Houston. Price made his debut in Dec against Brandon Thatch and arm triangle choked him out. The 1st round Morono got his striking off before Price and won the round easily. The 2nd round more of the same but about half way through the round Price picked it up and just as the bell sounded Price put Morono to sleep. Scary KO. 

FS1 Prelims 

Tecia Torres VS Bec Rawlings – This was a rematch from their time on The Ultimate Fighter were Torres got the decision on that night. More of the same on this night in Houston where she scored a unanimous decision win against Rawlings. The most exciting part of this fight was in round 3, were Rawlings threw the bird to the fans in attendance. 

Ricardo Ramos VS Michinori Tanaka – Ramos is a Brazilian fighter making his UFC debut, and Tanaka is a veteran of 4 UFC fights. Ramos comes out striking effective in round 1 almost gets the finish. Round 2 Ramos showing his BJJ off, switching positions and chaining submissions up with ease. As round 3 starts Tanaka looks like the fresher fighter. Tanaka starts to land some good strikes, in this, the last round of the fight. The fight ends with Tanaka on top of Ramos dropping big punches. Unanimous decision win for Ramos. 

Chas Skelly VS Chris Gruetzemacher – The first round was a boring wrestling match with Skelly on top most the round. This was the fight to take a bathroom break during. Skelly landed some nice punches before taking the back of Gritz and choking him out in round 2. 

Adam Milstead VS Curtis Blaydes – Who doesn’t love the heavyweights? Blaydes suplexed Milstead multiple times and rode his back in the early part of round 1. Blaydes stayed heavy on Milstead the entire round all the time peppering Milstead with punches and knees. Milstead completely blows his knee out in round 2 the fight is stopped via a verbal submission. Milstead tweaked his knee in round 1, but his corner let him go out and compete in round 2. Not a good decision, it’s an unfortunate part of the sport. 

FS1 Main Card 

Jessica Andrade VS Angela Hill – Andrade is the biggest betting favorite on the card tonight, I picked Hill to win the fight though. Andrade has some heavy hands, catching Hill against the cage several times in round 1. It looks like Hill has nothing in her arsenal that can hurt Andrade. Round 2 Hill changing things up, going low with kicks, working in some clinch work and footwork. Hill has a hell of a chin. Some good elbows by Hill at the end of round 2. The first minute of round 3 both fighters open with crazy wild striking. Great fight, could be fight of the night. Round 3 was back and forth, Andrade doing more damage but Hill was game and fought back till the end of round 3. Andrade takes a unanimous decision victory. 

Anthony Hamilton VS Marcel Fortuna – Big gash opens over the right eye of Fortuna in the first minute of round 1. (Gash caused by accidental head clash) Fortuna looks comfortable in his UFC debut and lands a huge overhand right on the button of Hamilton. That’s all she wrote, walk off KO by Fortuna. 

Ovince Saint Preux VS Volkan Oezdemir – Oezdemir comes out firing away with punches and kicks to the head of OSP. These guys are trading shots. Oezdemir is finding a home for his overhand right. Oezdemir showing no signs of UFC jitters, clinching OSP against the cage for a large part of the opening round. OSP landing some shots at the start of round 2, neither guy can take the other down. Output slows from both fighters and the crowd lets them hear it with a chorus of boos. The fighters trade body kicks at the 2:00 mark of round 2. Again, both fighters appear to be gassing out and still a round to go. Half way through round 3 and neither fighter throwing any significant combinations, more of single punches and kicks. The crowd letting them have it again. Both guys throwing till the end. I picked Oezdemir to win this fight, let’s see what the judges think. Oezdemir by split decision, I agree. 

James Vick VS Abel Trujillo – The first two minutes of round 1 was a case of too much respect, both fighters not throwing any real punches. Trujillo with a takedown and right away Vick grabs Trujillo’s neck for a guillotine. Both fighters back on their feet, Vick throwing very nice combinations. Round 2 Trujillo having to deal with the reach advantage of Vick, he is doing so by rushing Vick and clipping him a few times. There is such a height advantage that it looks like there in different weight classes. Round 3 starts and Vick blasts Trujillo with a flying knee, Trujillo hurt bad, fights off Vick for a few moments but Vick locks in another darce choke. Trujillo taps out fight over. 

Alexa Grasso VS Felice Herrig – Both women starting a bit slow, trying to find their rhythm and range. Herrig landing a huge punch that drops Grasso, a quick scramble on the ground and Grasso almost locked in a heel hook. Herrig getting the better of Grasso throughout round 1 on the feet. Herrig’s standup looks much improved, she has always had decent hands, but she has taken it to the next level here. Round 2 more of the same. Both women exchanging on their feet. Neither women really landing any significant damage, Herrig is repeatedly landing her overhand right however. Through two rounds Grasso’s best weapon has been her outside leg kicks, welts now visible all over Herrig’s thighs. Round 3 Perhaps feeling that she is down on the score cards, Grasso comes out with an assortment of switch kicks, spinning kicks, and high kicks. Herrig continues to be the cleaner striker on the feet. Grasso feeling the urgency now with 2:00 minutes left in the fight. Herrig fighting smart at the end of this fight. Perhaps the best fight of Herrig’s career. Hopefully the judges get this right. I scored this fight 30/27 for Herrig. I can see someone scoring it 29/28 for Herrig, but no more than that. The judges got it right unanimous decision win for Herrig. Not a lot of people saw this happening, she was a huge underdog. Good for her. 

[MAIN EVENT] 

Dennis Bermudez VS Chan Sung Jung – Both fighters landing their jab early in round 1. Neither fighter able to take the other down. From out of nowhere Jung (Zombie) slips Bermudez’s jab and delivers a fight ending uppercut that sends the referee in immediately to stop the fight. Wow, that’s was quick, after a three and a half year layoff, the Korean Zombie KO’s the number 9 ranked featherweight in the UFC. -Mike Straus

Saturday, January 21 2017 will go down in history as the last time MMA legend Tito Ortiz competed in a mixed martial arts contest. Was it a true athletic competition or was it more like Pro Wrestling with a pre-determined outcome? I, like millions of people around the world tuned in to Spike tv to watch Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen engage in pugilistic combat, or at least I thought I did. Early in the fight Sonnen had Ortiz in a front choke and later changed his grip to what is called a darce choke. Everything seemed fine and on the up and up as I watched Ortiz reverse the choke and mount Sonnen. Ortiz had just started delivering his signature “punishment” ground & pound when Sonnen gave up his back to Ortiz. Quickly and effortlessly Ortiz took Sonnen’s back and applied a rear naked choke or “RNC”. Normally you need to have your arm under your opponent’s neck to successfully finish a fight with this choke technique. However, since Ortiz is so strong it was believable that he could finish off Sonnen by squeezing his chin tight enough to stop the blood flowing to Sonnen’s head. As Sonnen’s head turned purple he began to fade and just before he lost consciousness he tapped out and conceded defeat. Everything seemed storybook, this MMA pioneer and legend just won his last fight in front of his hometown fans. False, nothing could be further from the truth. After re-watching the moment when Ortiz reversed Sonnen’s darce choke you can clearly see where Ortiz taps Sonnen’s hand and at that exact second Sonnen inexplicably let’s go of the darce choke and Ortiz mounts him. This is called Pro Wrestling not MMA, and if I want to watch wrestling I will tune in Monday night to watch WWE Raw. Needless to say, this is devastating for the sport that I love MMA. See for yourself. Link below. 
http://smackhisface.com/2017/01/22/footage-was-tito-ortiz-vs-chael-sonnen-a-fixed-fight/

Art: The skill in conducting any human activity, or aesthetic principles containing beauty and appeal. The definition of art seems a bit vague, however I’m confident that each and every person reading this has their own idea of what art is. That being said, who is anyone to tell you what art is or isn’t. Furthermore is Meryl Streep qualified to get on stage in front of millions of people around the world and say that football and mixed martial arts are indeed not arts. Streep should stick to what she knows and clearly she doesn’t know anything about sports. As a mater of fact if you’ve seen any of her movies lately it would be difficult to classify her acting as art. I cannot stand when celebrities use their platform to express their personal vendettas. I could see if Meryl was being interviewed and she was asked a direct question about Football or MMA, and she replied “they are not arts”. Fine, I could live with that; and I think this is a non-issue then. However, she walked on stage to receive a lifetime achievement award and instead of doing what every other award recipient does (which is thank their family, friends, and anyone who helped them get there) she thought it would be a good idea to bash the president elect and discredit football and MMA as a valid art form. First off like him or not, Donald Trump is the next president of the United States of America so get over it. Secondly, her exact words were and I quote “If we kick outsiders and foreigners out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts- which are not the arts”. This statement is full of non- truths. To somehow suggest that Americans are incapable of creating art without outsiders or foreigners is beyond me. Are Americans really that talentless? football and MMA are not for everyone, and that’s fine you don’t need to be a fan of something to respect the beauty and art in it. I personally think “Momma Mia” was a complete waste of money and needless to say far from art but that’s just me Straus21.

Tito Ortiz is a busy man. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen at Bellator 170 on January 21st. Tito always the opportunist, found some time in between training and promoting his upcoming fight to place a $50,000 bet on Amanda Nunes or really against Ronda Rousey. Either way Tito's gamble paid off in the form of a whopping $127,500 pay day. Considering Ortiz has gone on record many times as of late to state that his upcoming fight against Sonnen would be his last; perhaps Tito will squirrel away some of the winnings. It appears that Tito is already thinking about how he plans on making a living after MMA. -Mike Straus

Every now and then you're reminded of lessons that you have already learned. More often than not these are unpleasant realities, nevertheless you need to remember how to deal with these situations. In my experience, one characteristic is usually the culprit of these life lessons learned and so forgotten. Ego, no it's not a frozen waffle, dictionary.com defines it as "self-esteem or self-image, feeling, i.e. your ego grows unbearable each day. This is tricky because on one hand of course you need to have some ego, a healthy self-esteem is necessary in life for success. On the other hand, having too much ego or thinking too highly of oneself is not only delusional but is often the cause of conflict between people. As a matter of fact can you think of any conflict that at its core is not related to ego? When a life lesson is learned subconsciously its filed away in our being as not to be repeated. However, it seems, where ego is concerned we are all a bit insane; meaning that we all seem to repeat this lesson time and time again. The funny thing about ego is that even when you think you are being selfless you're usually not. When you recognize this or someone points this out to you it can be a bit of a reality check. So I guess the key here is to at least be aware of your ego because can you ever really be free of it?-Mike Straus

I waited for the last event of the 2016 calendar year to end before making my decision on fighter of the year especially considering that two of the fighters in the running were competing at that event. When all was said and done I was left with five fighters, all of which you can make a compelling argument for fighter of the year. You have the two fighters that just competed and won at UFC 207, Cody Garbrant the new bantamweight champion, and the reining defending women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. Then you have Michael Bisping, who most people myself included, thought was nothing more than a gatekeeper at this point in his hall of fame career win the middleweight title in stunning fashion back in June. Of course you have the one and only Conor McGregor who became the first ever UFC fighter to hold two different titles in two different weight classes simultaneously. Any one of those fighters would be an amazing choice for fighter of the year. However I decided to go with the biggest guy, well at least from a physical standpoint that is. Stipe Miocic who shocked the world and to be a bit more specific silenced 40,000 screaming Brazilian fans in Curitba Brazil. With one counter right punch that landed on the chin of Fabricio Werdum a new star and champion was born. Not only did Stipe catch Werdum with a picture perfect counter he did so while backpedaling away from Werdum, causing many people to wonder is Fabricio's chin not as solid as it used to be or is Stipe just that dam strong. Many so called MMA experts were still not sold on Miocic, so when September rolled around and Alistair Overeem came knocking, oh yee have little faith. Miocic disposed of Overeem, who many consider the best and most dangerous striker in the heavyweight division, in less than one round. So Stipe started 2016 as a relative unknown, beats the best heavyweight on the planet in three minutes in his home country, goes on to defend the heavyweight crown against a perennial top 5 fighter in less than one round; leaving everyone saying hey this guy Stipe is pretty good. Yes he is. -Mike Straus