Titles Aren't Important

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle... Psalm 144:1

This particular bible verse is one which is surprisingly underutilized as a tattoo among religious fighters, at least fighters in the main stream. Is my use of bible verses becoming silly at this point? It seems mildly sacrilegious to use these verses as a pretext to an expletive laden rant involving all manner of sin. It does not help my case much given that I am not the most religious, or even spiritual person one may meet in their life. However, as a man of the cloth it is important to proselytize; providing a deeper understanding of the good word through my ungodly interpretation. The word spiritual has been ruined by 20 something white girls who consume too much Starbucks and attend seriously overpriced music festivals on their parents' dime. This has nothing to do with what I had set out to write about.

Right now is a great time for combat sports fans. I was originally going to focus upon boxing for this post, but I knew that there would be no way to not bring up the state of mixed martial arts, and grappling as well. I hate to hate on boxing, but it was an easy thing to do for quite some time. Most of the champions played things very safely for quite some time with not only how they fought, but who they fought as well. Padded records have always been criticized by fans, but starting in the early 2000's there just weren't many big names in boxing. The heavyweight division suffered more than any other. The Klitschko brothers reigned supreme atop the heavy division for years with Wladimir utilizing his outstanding jab and the clinch to keep the belt secure for almost ten years.

I am currently writing this at my actual job. At the moment, I'm waiting for a background check to clear so that I can sell a firearm to a grossly obese woman who is openly and viciously berating her son for being "dumb and annoying." I feel like this particular parenting technique is not outstanding; I've been told I have no right to criticize parents or interject my opinion since I have been intelligent enough to not pump more useless brats into the world. I am fairly sure that the older gentleman with her is her father, who is either drunk or recently suffered a catastrophic head injury. His words are not easy to understand, but I am fluent in drunken trash. The man is very insistent upon teaching her to shoot properly. I should be paying closer attention to the fights I am streaming, but instead I'm entertaining the walking embodiment of incest. Thank God, the background check didn't clear. Score one for the leftist gun grabbers. Fuck, Eddie Alvarez versus Dustin Poirier ended in a no contest due to accidental illegal knees. It seemed to be getting damn good from the last little bit that I saw.

This under card for UFC 211 has been solid so far. It almost went four for four with TKOs in each of the televised prelims. That doesn't bode well for the main card. It is almost a joke how often a great main card precedes a lack luster main card for the UFC lately.

Fucking customers man. At least this last one could string together words and form coherent sentences. You can usually tell from the way one speaks whether or not they are a responsible gun owner. The phone call which followed quickly broke that customer winning streak though. When someone wants to buy a firearm, but cannot figure what the ten percent tax would be on it, I can't help but consider the argument for eugenics. These people have caused me to miss another fight almost entirely. At least this one wasn't a barn burner.

I have always enjoyed fighting and combat sports of all kinds. I grew up doing martial arts of all kinds. Karate, and boxing being the staples I adhered to most. After getting the early UFC tapes from my family owned video store and seeing the art of Jiu Jitsu absolutely dominate, I was enamored. Being a preteen in Arkansas hindered my ability to learn this art without watching and imitating the techniques, which I did.  As a young kid in the 90s, boxing was still a lot of fun to watch. Roy Jones Jr.,  Arturo Gotti, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker, Bernard Hopkins, and "Iron" Mike Tyson are some of the names which put boxing's hooks in me. I still enjoyed watching boxing in my teens and early twenties, but something about it just seemed off. Couple the stagnant nature with the explosion of the UFC and MMA in general, and I knew where my heart truly was. Frankie Edgar is smashing Yair Rodriguez right now. It's time to count the guns, and get the hell out of dodge.

I rolled into work with one goal in mind this morning; finish writing this damn post so that it isn't too stale to be enjoyable for my enthusiastic readers. I'd also like to use this morning to re-watch the main event fights I barely paid attention to, or missed entirely. With plenty of caffeine and nicotine coursing through my veins, I am prepared to do just that. This entire event really did turn out to be a good one. The only fight which was really kind of slow was the very first fight on the main card between Krystof Jotko and David Branch. Jotko just couldn't seem to pull the trigger against the returning veteran David Branch. Branch used his very solid grappling to control the fight on the ground and in the clinch. The fight did highlight some issues I do have with MMA and the control that referees can assert over fights. Branch was using the clinch against the cage to his advantage, which is a little odd because strikers like Jotko normally use the clinch and cage to their advantage. My problem is not with the clinch though, my problem was with the referee forcing the break due to a lack of perceived action and Krystof Jotko literally throwing his arms up and complaining in order to get the break. I tend to air on the side of letting the fights progress without interference by the refs unless there is a foul, or a fighter is unable to defend themselves. If a fighter is so good in the clinch, or in top position that the other cannot stop them from imposing their will, that is the fighter's problem to solve. However, the almighty dollar rules and the casual fan is not going to spend their hard earned money to watch two men "grope each other." Violence is what sells.

Frankie Edgar really did destroy Yair Rodriguez. That was a damn mauling. Thank god it was stopped in between rounds.

To get back to boxing for a minute, I was very excited to write about boxing after watching Anthony Joshua come back from being down on the cards and knock out Wladimir Klitschko. That fight really made me remember why I love watching boxing. The skill involved is truly amazing, as with all combat sports. I had been paying attention to Anthony Joshua for quite some time after he turned pro and started cleaning out heavyweight fighters with relative ease. I thought he would make an excellent challenger for the title, especially after seeing Tyson Fury put on a clinic against Klitschko. It was sad to see the baggage which Fury carried come spilling out as well. Fury's personality is truly unique and I looked forward to seeing how long he could hang on to the title with Joshua and Deontay Wilder lurking in the division. I think at this point a new era in heavyweight boxing era is beginning to form. For the fans of the lighter weight divisions, fear not, they have been making their own waves as well.

The lack of customers is nice this morning. It's giving me a chance to actually be productive. We should really get some advertising on this site. I need to get paid for this crap. The Damian Maia, Jorge Masvidal fight is what people hope for in a grappling versus striking match. Maia is super aggressive with his take down attempts and Masvidal does an excellent job of defending. Watching Maia jockey for dominant positions and set up for submissions makes me want to get on a mat and strangle someone. I don't understand how someone can watch a true grappling wizard like Maia and not have an appreciation for Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling. The skillful transitions alone are enough to get me excited. People like fellow contributor, Chad, are barbarians with no appreciation for art. They're likely the same people who advocate burning books, and rally in support of government censorship of music, television, and other prominent forms or art. Move to North Korea you un-American fucks.

I can't help but mention boxing again, as that was originally going to be the main focus of this article. Boxing fans can blame the change on the atrocious performance put on by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. against "Canelo" Alvarez. Alvarez is one of the more prominent reasons to pay attention to boxing at the moment, but the way he picked apart Chavez Jr. was kind of sad to watch, but more than anything, it was just frustrating. Chavez Jr. just seemed to be in there to collect on a fat pay check and get the hell out of there. Fights like those are what drove people away from boxing in the first place. Credit to Chavez Jr. for being able eat some nasty shots and stay awake though. The end of the fight was cheesier than a Wisconsin wedding. I hate myself for writing that.

Having Gennady Golovkin ready to walk out like he's about to interrupt an Alvarez monologue with a chair shot was lame as fuck. I am looking forward to seeing GGG and Canelo fight. They are both considered two of the top pound for pound boxers in the world right now. I am glad that the powers that be in boxing are giving the fans the fight now while they are both at the top of their game and not ten years after everyone wants it. I'm looking at you Pacquiao and Mayweather. That blurring of the lines between combat sports and sports entertainment is one of aspects of MMA I hate the most right now. I enjoy trash talk between fighters, especially when those fighters are the Diaz brothers, but this whole WWE gimmick has got to fucking end. Having CM Punk fight in the UFC was one of the worst things to ever happen in the octagon. I'd personally rank it worse than Joe Son having his dick punched in at UFC 4 before going on to become a convicted sex criminal and murderer. The current trend of pushing fighters without much credibility and experience is making the UFC difficult to watch lately. I want to see two fighters square up because they are deserving of their title shot, or because they really are ready to go to war, not because of their quick wit on the mic, pretty face, or the fact that their garbage ass Reebok kit sells well. I want to see the best compete against one another. If that isn't enough entertainment for you, then go back to watching your grown ass man drama with predetermined outcomes.
I want to see fights like this current war between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade. Joanna has some of the best, most technical striking in MMA hands down. Her fights make me very thankful for Rhonda Rousey opening up the women's divisions in the UFC. Andrade hits very hard, and is insanely tough, but it's like she is walking into a damn buzz saw. Both of these women are warriors. Oh Jesus! Joanna needs an exorcism, because there is a demon growing just under the skin of her forehead. Even with that nasty wound she continues to pick Andrade apart.

I'm also perplexed at the fact that kick boxing and muay thai still haven't gained much popularity in the U.S. I appreciate the effort Bellator is putting into promoting and growing the sport though. While Bellator does put on those have to watch, train wreck fights that one can't help but tune into, they are steadily gaining some great talent in an effort to bridge that gap in between the UFC and everyone else. Don't get me wrong, I fully intend to watch Fedor Emeliananko fight again, but honestly, I'd watch him fight if it were just his reanimated corpse in there with a boombox Weekend at Bernie's style. Those gimmick fights can only go so far though, and Bellator seems to be trying to reconcile with that though by signing fighters like Rory McDonald, Michael Page, Phil Davis, Michael Chandler, and Liam McGeary among others.

I haven't forgotten my readers who do appreciate the finer things in life, such as submission grappling. Submission grappling is truly a combat sport, and there has never been a better time to be a fan either. With the innovations happening in no gi competitions, and the evolution of leg lock specialists, things have never been more exciting. The UFC has even picked up streaming the Eddie Bravo Invitationals, which is a rapidly growing no gi, submission only grappling tournament. Then there are the ever present Pan Americans, Abu Dhabi, and Mundials as well. UFC veteran and Godfather of shit talking, Chael Sonnen has even started his own grappling tournament, Submission Underground, adopting a very similar rule set to the EBIs. Yeah, Jessica Andrade got picked apart. I kind of saw that coming, but crazy KOs happen in fighting all of the time.

Speaking of, lets finally get to the fight everyone is speaking about and has an opinion on lately, Conor McGregor against Floyd Mayweather Jr. This fight isn't about shit but a payday for both of these fighters. To me, it's not even very intriguing. Mayweather is arguably one of the greatest boxers ever, and certainly has the best defense for a boxer ever. I love watching McGregor fight. I think in an MMA, or any other combat situation, Conor would smash Floyd. It has happened to a few boxers over the years who still hold on to the delusion that straight up boxing can stop someone from kicking your legs out from under you, or just getting thrown on their head and choked to sleep like a child. It is what it is. This isn't an MMA fight though. It's a fucking boxing match featuring one of the best to ever lace up gloves, and a very talented mixed martial artist with death in his left hand, and a talent for big talking, but no professional boxing matches. This fight is going to be Mayweather doing whatever he may please in that ring. I can't blame people for wanting to watch though. The masses have been buying fights to see Floyd lose for quite some time, and McGregor has a penchant for shocking the world with his mastery of the Dim Mak. Those things paired with McGregor's skills on the mic make it hard not to pay attention. At this point, with the talk of a multi-million dollar payday for each fighter, I have a feeling we will get to see this spectacle at some point.

Until then though, I will continue to watch the far more exciting fighters, such as Vasyl Lomachenko, whom I contend is probably the most technically sound boxer in the world right now. Some even make the argument that he may be the pound for pound greatest currently fighting. His footwork is something straight out of the matrix. Lomachenko seems to be fighting at a completely different speed than all of his opponents so far. He's come the closest to teleportation I believe any man has so far. If watching Damian Maia makes you want to hit the mat, Lomachenko will make you want to hit the bag for sure. And still! Stipe Miocic with a great performance getting the TKO against Junior Dos Santos. Stipe is a former Golden Gloves champion, and he showed it in this fight against Junior, who is a very solid boxer himself. It seems as though we may have just solidified the Stipe Miocic era in heavyweight MMA at this point. I love watching the heavyweights, knowing that it could be lights out at any moment for either fighter, but it's also nice having a champion who can string together a few defenses. Like I said, now is a great time for combat sports.

I'd like to take a moment to not apologize for shit to my readers. I know I had a bit of a gap in between posts, but I have a damn life. You people expect too much of me. I'll not pander. I don't even get paid for this. Get on that advertising Chad.

Editors Note: This photo is a Creative Commons licensed photo from Wikimedia Commons.