Not sorry for the long delay in writing, I'm a busy man. But now that I've got my things in order and no work pending for a bit, I have time to sit and write about my favorite sport.
Well, for the first order of business...something extremely crazy happened the other day. Zuffa LLC., the corporation that owns the UFC bought out Strikeforce.
This isn't the first time that the UFC flexed it's check book to control more and more of mainstream MMA. Back in 2007, the UFC purchased PRIDE FC from it's Japanese owners, as well as the WFA and WEC. All these promotions became merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in time, and all their fighters were signed over. Elite XC and the IFL, other big promotions caved on their own, and weren't worth the money that the UFC could have easily used to buy them.
This left Strikeforce the sole competitor in the mixed martial arts market. Broadcasting their fights on Showtime and CBS and also competing female fighters made up for their supposed lack of talent. However, in recent months Strikeforce has been putting on blow out fights, and has had stacked talents, especially in the heavyweight division. Fighters such as Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, not to mention former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett. Welterweight champion Nick Diaz, contenders Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos and Tyron Woodley also make strong arguments for talent within the promotion, as well as a few others.
TL;DR ---> Strikeforce is legitimate.
With the new Grand Prix tournament format, it began to look like the Strikeforce brand was about to take off. Swift action by the Ulitmate Fighting Championship shows their business savy as well as their dominion over the sport. In time it may look like Mixed Martial Arts may rival major sport leagues like the NFL and NBA in revenue and fan following.
I also can't wait to see Fedor Emelianenko fight Randy Couture, or Gilbert Melendez throw down with Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard.
Just waiting for the day that the UFC buys Bellator FC.
In other news, I got this.
My coach Jose calls me a telemarketers wet dream, but hey. Haters gonna hate. In the 2 weeks or so I've been working out in it, I feel like my cardio has made as much progress as you can hope to in a short period of time. It feels like I'm working out with a plastic bag over my head, and the energy it saps from my body and the subsequent recovery have been pretty intense.
Grappling at MMA practice has become a lot easier, and that whole "Control your breathing" mantra has been manifested for me by way of ridiculous looking training gear. Thanks, Sean Sherk!
That leads me to my next musing, which is MMA fighting in my personal experience.
Since my last writing, I've taken up extreme interest in stand up fighting. By no means would I say I'm a legit badass, but lots of pad work as well as tons of video watching have led me to the ability to move my head and feet around well enough that I feel confident in the starting position of all MMA fights: Standing Up.
So this week I'll get an appointment made to get my medical checks done, and then after that I hope I will be deemed worthy to set foot in a steel cage to fight another dude for fame, because fortune only comes after going pro, and I can't do that until my 6th fight in the great state of Arizona.
kthxbai bruh bruhs!
