The Flog!

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 (TUF10) – Episode 3 screened last night. This episode, highlighting Kimbo Slice, had been promoted extensively for weeks. Coincidentally, The Fight Network announced yesterday that Dana White said Slice would be fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Challenge regardless of the outcome of The Ultimate Fighter. 

Most of the episode revolved around Slice’s training and other people’s opinions of him (he’s humble, hard-working, coachable…). Slice said he wanted to learn jiu jitsu, in fact to learn everything. His training emphasized fighting from his back and getting up from the ground by turning his opponent over. Jackson was very concerned about how Slice would function if he had someone holding him down who had a big belly. While practicing with one of his teammates (with the aforementioned belly), Slice could not get up.

Slice would be fighting Roy “Big Country” Nelson, a very experienced MMA guy, whose specialty is groundwork, who could handle fighting Kimbo and not be intimidated by him.  Nelson’s teammates suggested that he take Slice down, put him in a crucifix hold, and continue ground and pound until the punches were unanswered. Evans stated that Nelson was one of the best guys on the ground, plus “he can bang a bit”.

The coaches once again got into an argument, but this time James McSweeney tried to intervene. Jackson then mocked McSweeney’s English accent further aggravating the situation. Evans stepped between the two men as he thought McSweeney was close to hitting Jackson, which would be cause for expulsion from the show.

At the weigh-ins, Slice came in at 230 with a three inch reach advantage, while Nelson was a huge 264.

When the men came out for the fight, we had a very muscular Kimbo Slice and a rotund Roy Nelson, with the previously mentioned big belly. Round 1 had Slice looking for an opening, throwing a low leg kick, while Nelson tossed out little jabs. Slice was listening to his corner and immediately did what he was told. He attacked with multiple shots while moving forward toward the fence. The men tied up and Nelson pushed Slice against the fence while attempting some knees and a take down. A nice ko soto gake finally worked for the TD with Nelson ending up in full mount.

So the question as to whether Slice could defeat the big belly came up early on. Nelson moved high up on Slice’s torso, trapped Slice’s left arm under his leg and used his left hand to apply many shots to the top of Slice’s head. Slice attempted to maneuver out of the hold, actually helped by Nelson’s moving the two of them such that they were parallel to the fence (allowing Slice to use his feet to push off), but they maintained this position until the buzzer.

Round 2 had Slice using his jabs, applying a huge knee, but again being taken down by Nelson when he got close for the knee. Nelson was in side mount, trapped the arm again, tried ude garami, but ended with shots to the top of the head again, until the referee stopped the match.

White suggested that Slice might fight again during this season. Scenes from the next episode showed Marcus Jones with an injury, implying that Slice might fight in his stead.

Once again this was a fairly terrible fight: Slice couldn’t cope with being held down by a big guy: he needs lots more training on the ground. Nelson is a difficult guy to deal with, mostly a loner who trains himself. This fight may show in his win column, but he couldn’t cope while standing, took his opponent down, and basically squashed him. I wouldn’t be too proud. His first comment after the fight was something about being hungry for a burger.

My thoughts: Heavyweights can be impressive – giant punches and really, heavy kicks – but they are apt to be slow, with the result that many of their fights tend not to be as interesting as those of the lighter men. We have yet to see a good fight this season. When your audience is groaning with boredom and booing at their televisions, your show isn’t very good.

The editing is rudimentary, perhaps due to others’ influences. Why not remove at least some of the repeated conversational fillers, “You know what I’m sayin’?” uttered continually by Slice, Jackson, and even Jones? My answer: “Yes, I know what you’re saying. Stop asking.” Oh, and the fights are boring.  

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Wednesday nights at 10 on Spike.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 1, 2009

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 (TUF10) had a little bit of everything: squabbles between Jackson and Evans (regarding mat time), Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson talking directly to the camera, training sessions and the problems therein, and another fight with another elimination.

The constant arguing behind false smiles between the two coaches must be stressing out both these guys. Their egos leave little room for anything else. In this episode, Evans’s team were five minutes’ late leaving the mat area, causing Jackson’s blood pressure to rise. Stupid stuff.

As a carrot for further episodes, we watched Kimbo Slice train. Jackson and his people extolled Slice’s talents. Roy Nelson talked about how much he wanted to fight Kimbo Slice, but during training sessions he did not follow direction and worked on his own. One of Evans’s coaches took him aside, called him “uncoachable”, said that he didn’t listen, and wanted him to be serious. He then asked Nelson if he wanted to get knocked out again. When in front of the camera, Nelson said it was a matter of “two masters getting together”. He considers himself a master. Even the most accomplished people have teachers and are then students. There’s always more to learn. His ego needs to be deflated, more than a little.

Jackson picked Evans’s James McSweeney to fight Wes Shivers. McSweeney is an English kickboxer with a record of 136-9, who trains with Evans and Greg Jackson. Shivers is one of the biggest guys in this group at 6’7″, about 270, with a 6.5 inch reach advantage. A former NFL player who worked in law enforcement, he now trains with Alan Belcher.

Each man thought the other did not have the skills to win: McSweeney believed that Shivers would “run out of steam” because of his size, whereas Shivers thought McSweeney didn’t have the skills to win against him. Jackson merely wanted Shivers to beat McSweeney.

Round 1 had McSweeney applying very loud, devastating leg kicks mostly to Shivers’s lead leg. McSweeney got taken down and while Shivers was in half guard, Shivers attempted a Kimura (ude garami) on McSweeney. McSweeney had a difficult time determining distance, but eventually got a punch in. Shivers caught one of McSweeney’s kicks as well.

As Shivers threw his punches (slightly bent over) and moving forward, McSweeney backed up and actually turned his back. He looked as though he were running away. In the latter part of the round Shivers was flat-footed and looked exhausted.

During the break, Shivers had his mouth wide open trying to get air. His corner told him to “move forward”. McSweeney’s corner told him to “keep it simple”.

Round 2 was more of the same: McSweeney delivering devastating leg kicks, Shivers throwing a punch, McSweeney throwing a punch. It was almost a non-fight. No combinations. Both guys huffing and puffing. Several times they both stood looking at each other, hands on hips, trying to catch their breaths, and McSweeney’s turning his back and running away.

At one point, after a hook, I believe, and then a head kick, Shivers went down and McSweeney attempted a front guillotine (hadaka jime) while on the bottom, the most interesting part of the round.

The fight went to decision with McSweeney getting the win. It was an ugly fight, and even if McSweeney has great leg kicks, he turned his back several times and obviously was running away from his opponent.

At the end of the show, Evans chose the competitors for the next episode – Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike on Wednesday nights at 10 EST.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

September 24, 2009

When I was first learning judo, not only was I older and shorter than every other adult in the class, I had never done anything remotely like this before. I studied lots of judo books and paid close attention in class, asked lots of questions, practiced everything we were shown and still could not do many things. I became frustrated when I couldn’t accomplish a technique easily, or as easily as others in the class.

As I became more involved in the classes and realized my abilities, I learned to compensate for size differences such as height, weight, and body mass.  Traditional judo throws are taught a certain way; however, if you are five foot two, how can you be expected to hoist that six foot guy onto your shoulders to do kata guruma? If you have arthritis in your fingers, how can you do those chokes which involve grasping the lapels and collars? If you have short legs, how can you do a figure-of-four around your opponent’s torso for do jime (body choke)? If your opponent is barrel-chested, how do you accomplish tate shiho gatame (full mount position) without being tossed to the side?

We all must show proficiency in techniques in order to attain our belts in judo; however, in randori, whether tachi waza or ne waza (standing or ground techniques), when fighting with another person, there are no rules as to which technique you may use. That is when you employ those techniques which suit your body type, body mass, height and weight.

I tend to dwell on those judo techniques which I do well and alter the way I do those techniques which don’t come naturally or, for whatever reason, are difficult to do. For example, my throwing Dave with kata guruma (shoulder throw or fireman’s carry): we do a version in which I have one knee on the ground the whole time. I don’t stand up; I wouldn’t be able to anyway. Rob is so strong that kata guruma is child’s play to him, so it suits him completely.

If you are very tall, throwing a short person with forward throws, such as seoi nage or o goshi, may be extremely difficult; getting low enough to be under uke’s center of gravity may be uncomfortable or impossible. Backward throws may suit far better, such as, o soto gari (major outer reaping), o soto guruma (major outer wheel) and many others. Foot techniques are ideal for those among us with big flippers.

The arthritis means that I can’t choke people with the gi, but hadaka jime (naked choke) and others are fair game.

That short-legged fellow who can’t do the figure-of-four in order to do do jime dwells on his abilities: he’s very strong and agile and despite his short legs has developed little manoeuvres and holds (ankle locks, for instance) when grappling that more than compensate for the techniques which he cannot do and make him extremely dangerous.

Dealing with that barrel-chested guy when applying tate shiho gatame (vertical four quarters lock or hold, also called North-South position) involves posting an arm or leg, even though that may be considered unorthodox. When grappling a guy whose body mass is bigger than yours, you have to modify your moves.

Applying ashi gatame (leg arm lock) may be difficult for the long-legged to apply to someone who has short, stocky arms, but ude garami (entangled arm lock) works just fine. 

Since everyone is different, we must work with the individual to determine which judo techniques best suit him or her. That may involve changing the technique drastically from the traditional judo, but the purpose is to apply the technique, win with it, and to enjoy the class along the way. Perhaps that is one reason we like our classes so much: we can study and alter a technique until we can get it to work in a certain situation against a particular person or position. There are limited rules to follow and almost unlimited variations which can be applied.

ayjay

February 17, 2009