MMA Review

Hey everyone, its time for that MMA Review.

First, as promised, here are the five songs that I would walk out to if I ever entered a fight, with some antidotes in between. The song that a fighter comes out to tells you something about the attitude that they may bring to the table.

Some like to go with the hard rock like Carlos Condit with some Rage, which is solid but done by a lot of guys:



Some like to come out to a chill beat like B.J. Penn. I prefer this type of method. You’re going to hear the rap music, the heavy metal, but I like thinking outside of the box.

Honorable mention: Fedor Emilianenko. Fedor’s traditional walkout song, Era's "Enae Volare Mezzo, fits him perfectly. If I wasn’t accused of copying off of someone, this song would really be my choice.



#5: Fahrenheit and Chanbara by At The Drive-In





These two songs are only about three minutes each, so I would have to loop them. Some of you long time At The Drive-In fans may expect One Armed Scissor, but that’s too easy.

Saw some of UFC 93 and need to first comment on the Shogun Rua vs. Mark Coleman fight. Neither of these guys looked good at all.

I can understand Coleman. He’s just not a good fighter anymore. I respect the heck out of him and his career. He’s an all-time great, UFC Hall of Famer, the whole deal. However, its time for him to move on. I know that he had to cut weight to reach 205 when he’s a natural heavyweight and that probably drained him but still. He was a game fighter and the stoppage was legit. I’m not one to tell a guy that he needs to stop fighting, maybe he needs the money, can’t do anything else or just likes to live his life that way and more power to him. However, if I see a Mark Coleman fight is coming up, I’m going to treat it the same way that I do an Evander Holifield fight, just ignore it and hope the guys makes it through without too many injuries.

#4: Prayer for England by Massive Attack



This down beat track would be perfect to keep me calm when I enter the ring. You can get over hyped, mad and forget to keep your emotions in check. I would hear this, take some deep breaths and become focused on my task.

Plus, if I was fighting in Europe where Massive Attack is huge, this would be a chance to get a nice pop from the audience. Also, this would throw my opponent off who would probably have some hard rock song getting pissed and I come in calm and collected.

On to Shogun, he reminds me of LaDanian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers. When both of them were in their primes, they were the best in their positions, running back and light heavyweight. However, whether its motivation, injuries, age, these guys are a shell of themselves and you have to consider parting from them. For Tomlinson, it’s the Chargers who may have to release him and move on to another running back. For MMA fans, Rua may not be the same fighter ever again. He’s not even fighting like a top-10 light heavy right now and that’s a shame. And now he’s headlinging UFC 97 against Chuck Liddell, which I don’t get at all. I know that Iceman still has box office appeal, but Rua isn’t the same guy. It’s a shame really. He should have taken out Coleman in the first round but got winded and looked slow. Not a good sign.

#3: I’m Broken by Pantera



Walk would be another bad ass choice by Pantera but Rob Van Damm of ECW and WWE fame. Floods is a good choice for this one or Cowboys from Hell or you get the idea.

This is my favorite Pantera song for this situation because its straight to the point, the crowd would get hyped and the riff is sick. RIP Dimebag.

Let’s talk about the Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin fight from UFC 93. It was a good win for Hendo. He gets to become a coach on the Ultimate Fighter, fight Michael Bisping as a middleweight and maybe eventually face Anderson Silva again in a rematch that I would like to see. He outwrestled and truly outpointed Franklin in the win.

I don’t think that Franklin looked that bad in the fight and should stay at light heavy. There are some interesting matchups in that weight that I would like to see him in. He wasn’t even that enthused to return to middleweight, do another season of the Ultimate Fighter and possibly get a third beatdown from Silva. Franklin’s loss was possibly good for his career and good for the fans.

#2: Warning Shots or Sound The Alarm by Thievery Corporation





Thie first one is Warning Shots and the second one is Sound the Alarm by Thievery Corporation. I couldn’t choose one. I guess I would go with Sound the Alarm if forced into one. I like these downbeats because they once again would relax me. So much of fighting is mental and you have to have the right midset and this would make me have that.

Lets talk about UFC Primetime documenting the preparations of B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre. I’m anticipating this fight just as much as everyone else and this program has peaked the interest even more.

I do think that the editing is making it into a good vs. evil battle, even though showing B.J. with his daughter humanized him. They make it look like GSP is focused on fighting and is truly training while B.J. is just going through the motions, hanging out in Hawaii and not preparing properly. I don’t think that’s true at all. Both guys will be in there ready to go.

I can see that GSP may come into this fight tight. I’ll have a prediction for this one next week.

#1: Fade to Black by Metallica



Perfect song to enter to. The first part is melodic and will make you chill out. The rest of the song picks up and gets you pumped to start fighting. I can work with the either the studio version on Ride the Lighting or the live version from Seattle above. Either one would be fine.

OK, lets get to the big Fedor vs. Andrei Arlovski fight tomorrow night. Even though I gave him props for his entrance song, I’m not as big of a Fedor fan as many other people make him out to be. I like his calm demeanor, his lifestyle, the training, the whole package, accept for the choice of opponents he’s fighting.

I know that Fedor is his own business, but I’m tired of him entering damn Sambo tournaments, fighting crappy fighters like Hong Man Choi in freakshow contests. And don’t give me Tim Sylvia, he has a weak chin and is a weak fighter.

Finally, he’s facing a credible top-five heavyweight in Andrei Arlovski. If he gets by Andrei, then I will give him his props and proclaim him the top heavyweight in the world.

However, I’m calling an upset and say that Arlovski will get the win via knockout or ground and pound. I think that the Pitbull can nullify some of Fedor’s takedowns and out strike him.

Furthermore, I think a win by Andrei would be good for the sport. We need some diversity in MMA and this would help.

Your comments are always welcomed below.