Welcome to THE HAUL

CREEPY JOE LAUZON POLL

2008-03-11T01:06:00.001-04:00

VOTE HERE!!!

Japanese MMA News Translated Daily

2007-11-27T02:13:00.000-05:00

Great new Blog where Suki, a Japanese MMA fan, is translating Japanese MMA news every day! This kind of info has been SORELY lacking and so far she is doing a great job! Check it out!

Supplements & Combat Sports

2007-08-03T00:30:00.000-04:00

I'd like to make a few comments on the questioning of nandrolone testing and the possibility that high exertion training combined with standard, unpolluted supplements can result in a false positive...

How about this?

If it is you PROFESSION to fight in a combat sport and testing positive for elevated levels of nandrolone will DAMAGE THAT CAREER SERIOUSLY................STOP TAKING SUPPLEMENTS!

Your body = your responsibility

If you think your technique and training regiment can't get you the win without taking compounds that: a) Are not approved by the FDA; and b) may or may not contain substances that WILL DAMAGE YOUR CAREER IRREPARABLY or cause a false positive that WILL DAMAGE YOUR CAREER IRREPARABLY then you should rethink your career choice.

That's all.

Next Weight Class Survey?

2007-07-29T18:50:00.001-04:00

Pick the next weight class to survey:

New Weight Classes?

2007-07-29T15:56:00.000-04:00

Now that Gary Shaw has announced that Nick Diaz will be fighting for the 160lbs title there has been a lot of discussion about new weight classes and old ones (which happens to be a subject I have been crowing about for years). It is my firm belief that because most in-shape, adult males weigh less than 200lbs. and most athletes cut considerable weight, a glut has developed around the lower end of the current 170lbs. Welterweight division. I propose new weight classes (and an additional one - 163lbs.) to clear this up:

210+ = Heavyweight
190-210 = Light Heavyweight
175-190 = Crusierweight
163-175 = Middleweight
152-163 = Welterweight
143-152 = Lightweight
135-143 = Featherweight
128-135 = Bantamweight
122-128 = Flyweight

Let me go over my reasons for each:

210+ - For the majority of Top HW's fighting at that weight is a choice. This would not result in any kind of mass exodus to the LHW.
190-210 - Adding an extra five pounds to this division will only make the cut easier for the current participants. Once again it will not result in a loss of HW's
175-190 - Same as above
163-175 - Same as above
152-163 - This new division would give the host of lighter fighters currently competing at 170lbs. a chance to have their own division and not be at such a terrible weight/strength disadvantage that they are at 170. It will also clear out a lot of the much heavier 155lbs. fighters right now making the LW division more competitive. Examples are: Mach Sakurai, Nick Diaz, Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, Takanori Gomi, Joe Stevenson, Tatsuya Kawajiri & Shinya Aoki
143-152 - Lowering the limit to 152 from 155lbs. will give it space from the new 163lbs. division and help keep out a couple of the heavier LW's.
135-143 - Going to 143 from 145lbs. is simply to space it out from the 152lbs. division.
128-135 - no need to change this weight class.
122-128 - a span of 125-135 is too much at this light weight.

Don't Forget to Email NSAC Exec Director Keith Kizer

2007-07-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

We have to keep up the pressure for rules changes. It's going great so far so email Mr. Kizer with your thoughts and read my Open Letter to him on reforming The Unified Rules of MMA.

Light Heavyweight Top 36 Results!

2007-07-25T20:35:00.001-04:00

Well you all won't leave me alone about 'em... so here they are :)

THE Top 36 LHW's in the World according to THE FANS!
(once again I'd like to point out I am THE ONLY mma blogger who has FAN rankings...props? props? anyone?)

	Fighter	Points
1	"Shogun” Rua	880.11
2	Quinton Jackson	858.24
3	Dan Henderson	784.92
4	Chuck Liddell	754.74
5	Wanderlei Silva	670.20
6	Rogerio Nogueira	507.16
7	Rameau Sokoudjou	490.86
8	Ricardo Arona	482.79
9	Tito Ortiz	392.73
10	Ryoto Machida	356.16
11	Rashad Evans	310.20
12	“Babalu” Sobral	222.95
13	Kazuhiro Nakamura	200.00
14	Alistair Overeem	129.89
15	Jason Lambert	87.88
16	Michael Bisping	87.10
17	Forrest Griffin	85.96
18	Vitor Belfort	60.96
19	Keith Jardine	60.03
20	Wilson Gouveia	59.00
21	Houston Alexander	52.00
22	Alessio Sakara	42.00
23	Kevin Randleman	38.99
24	Vladimir Matyushenko	31.04
25	Stephan Bonnar	31.02
26	Cyrille Diabate	20.00
27	James Lee	18.99
28	Marvin Eastman	18.00
29	David Heath	16.00
30	Victor Valimaki	13.00
31	Vernon White	12.00
32	Jamal Patterson	9.99
33	Poai Suganuma	8.00
34	Mike Whitehead	3.00
35	Andre Gusmao	3.00
36	Travis Wiuff	1.00

I do have a few bones to pick with these results though. Amazingly enough Rampage Jackson made it in at number two ahead of the man who beat him like a rented mule TWICE (Wanderlei Silva) and the man who soundly beat Wanderlei (Dan Henderson). Also, Keith Jardine coming in under Forrest Griffin who he just knocked out and ahead of Houston Alexander who launched him into orbit is rather suspect. And of course Rogerio being ahead of Sokoudjou is rather wrong. But hey, we can debate this all day...and that's the point...

LHW Survey is Up!

2007-07-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

We did the Middleweights, now it's on to the Light Heavyweights! Go to the UG to cast your votes!

Steriods & MMA

2007-07-21T04:13:00.000-04:00

Well since no one is really talking about anything besides Sean Sherk's positive steroid test I've been holding off on the next round of the Top Ten Fighter Survey (the LHW's). In the mean time here are my two cents:

It should really be taken into consideration that nearly 90% of all fighters who test positive for steroids claim it is a false positive or usually use the supplement excuse. I find this trend perhaps even more disturbing than the use itself (which is awful and needs to be stopped). The way Stephan Bonnar, Hermes Franca and Tim Sylvia stood up and took their punishment like men and admitted to their use is rather refreshing and they should really get a lot more credit then they do.

We watch a sport that is a Martial Arts competition and yet very few watching and too many fighting in it, don't seem to know what the Martial Arts are all about...

Canadian Trash Talk?

2007-07-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

Looks like Jonathan Goulet is in need of a UFC fight now that he has left his manager and Promoter Stephan Patry.

Calls Out Mike Swick on The Forums

This is not the greatest of ideas, in my opinion, considering Goulet has a history of getting KO'd by good strikers and that's pretty much what Swick is...a good striker.

Royce Gracie's Legacy

2007-07-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

The subject of Sherdog's front page poll today is: "In your eyes, is Royce Gracie's legacy tarnished?" referring to Royce's positive test for anabolic steroids following his fight with Kazushi Sakuraba and his subsequent non-appeal. What is more unfortunate than his positive test is that 52% of the 13,500 fans who took the poll said "yes".

Now, having been a long-time fan I can sit back and remember watching that skinny guy roll around on the mat with men who looked like they were going to do him some REAL harm. But he always had his hand raised in the end. So few were as disappointed as I when he tested positive. The pressure of being man handled by 145lbs. Tokoro in Japan; the embarrassment of the beating Matt Hughes gave him. These things must have gotten to him. And it is a sad, sad thing when a man who has NO NEED to prove anything to anyone feels he has to sink so low.

What so many forget or just don't realize because they are new to the sport was that when Royce came out in those first UFC's no one knew WHAT was going to happen. Every man that stepped into that ring and saw that gate close didn't know if he was ever going to walk out again. And this is NOT an exaggeration. Almost everyone who watched those first UFC's thought in the back of their mind (I'm sure with some trepidation - whether they'd admit it or not), "Am I going to see someone die tonight?"

This is what he walked into. And he won.... and won and won and won. And he did what every master martial artist hopes to do: prove that his Kung Fu was better than everyone else's. He accomplished what Bruce Lee had talked about in the 60's but could never achieve - MIXING Martial Arts. He brought back the art of Pankration from a slumber of nearly 2,000 years from when it left the Olympics. And he forever changed the nature of Martial Arts across the globe.

THAT is Royce Gracie's legacy. And absolutely nothing will ever change that.

Frank Shamrock Casting A Reality Series

2007-07-17T14:12:00.001-04:00

Looks like Frank wants to take Dana White on tit-for-tat with Frank Shamrock's School of Hard Knocks:

MMAWeekly Article

My particular favorite line is "If you are a 150 lb. male with a checkered past and an interest in MMA fighting......"

Yes, yes...I get the pun...

Middleweight Top 28 Results!

2007-07-16T18:56:00.000-04:00

The results are in and here are YOUR top 28 middleweights according to THE FANS. Quite a few surprises here and I'm sure there will be much gnashing of teeth.

Some highlights: Anderson Silva takes the #1 spot with a LANDSLIDE; Rich Franklin a surprise at #3; Frank Shamrock at #6; and NO Jeremy Horn in the Top Ten!

	Fighter	Points
1	Anderson Silva	606.72
2	Matt Lindland	495.81
3	Rich Franklin	409.20
4	Paulo Filho	358.19
5	Denis Kang	291.00
6	Frank Shamrock	176.12
7	Murilo “Ninja” Rua	161.92
8	Nathan Marquardt	146.85
9	Yushin Okami	141.84
10	Robbie Lawler	113.12
11	Kazuo Misaki	78.98
12	Murilo Bustamante	73.95
13	Frank Trigg	71.06
14	Jeremy Horn	71.06
15	Jason Miller	54.00
16	Akihiro Gono	44.01
17	Terry Martin	38.08
18	Ryo Chonan	35.01
19	Trevor Prangley	33.99
20	Travis Lutter	32.00
21	Phil Baroni	30.96
22	Jason MacDonald	27.99
23	Martin Kampmann	24.01
24	Yoshihiro Akiyama	22.98
25	Amar Suloev	19.02
26	Joey Villasenor	8.00
27	Chael Sonnen	7.98
28	Joe Doerksen	1.00

NEXT UP: The LHW's!

Top Ten Lists by the FANS

2007-07-16T03:33:00.000-04:00

I'm going to start rotating surveys of the Top Ten in each weightclass according to the fans. It's a pretty simple set up:

1. Go to the Survey Here
2. Pick your top ten in order
3. Then I'll tally up the numbers and post them for all to see.

It's an easy ranking system. A fighter gets 10 points for a #1 vote, 9 points for a #2 vote, etc. etc. etc.

We'll start off with the Middleweights and see how it goes...

Help Change the Unified Rules!!!

2007-07-16T03:20:00.000-04:00

Mr. Keith Kizer of the Nevada Athletic Commission has been kind enough to request emails and letters regarding the fans suggestions for changes to the Unified Rules that govern MMA. The mods over at Sherdog have been kind enough to sticky my thread over there regarding this and it's been quite successful so far:

My Open Letter to Keith Kizer on the Sherdog forums

He is TRULY taking this seriously (see Loretta Hunt's article on the subject) so PLEASE write the man a letter if you want a change!

Mr. Keith Kizer Executive Director, NSAC kkizer@boxing.nv.gov