Diego Sanchez would beat BJ Penn at many things:

• Biblical trivia
• A foot race (over 100 meters)
• Reading comprehension in Spanish
• A body building contest
• Mainland America Geography Bee

Unfortunately, Diego Sanchez will be fighting against BJ Penn tonight. His only chance is to push the pace, survive, go hyphy (see Urban Dictionary), and push the pace some more.

Our prediction: BJ Penn by submission in Round 4.

Enjoy the fights, kids.

As was noted last May, Affliction and TapOut shirts are now as ubiquitous as Yankees caps. That alone should suffice as evidence that the sport has, finally, gone mainstream.

This video offers even more corroboration, and does so in rather humorous fashion. How popular is MMA? So popular that even the Black Israelites, when standing on a street corner in New York City, spouting their oft-repeated rant about America being consumed in a forthcoming race war, cannot help but segue into a discussion on the effectiveness of gogoplatas, or Kimbo Slice’s chances on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Declaring Kimbo a “Jake” (a neologism from the Black Israelite lexicon, with etymological roots in the Biblical name Jacob, which designates a descendant of the patriarch), the street-corner prophets throw their endorsement behind the man with a proclivity for facial hair similar to their own. One wonders if the rational foundations of their faith will suffer any damage if Roy Nelson dispatches Kimbo in easy fashion.

Our prediction: Nelson by decision.

But we’ll see who has the last laugh when Black Jesus returns to Earth and casts “Big Country” into the Lake of Fire.

]]> http://www.mmadailyscrap.com/2009/09/29/black-israelites-herald-the-rise-of-kimbo-slice/feed/ 3 http://www.mmadailyscrap.com/2009/09/16/nate-diaz-uf/ http://www.mmadailyscrap.com/2009/09/16/nate-diaz-uf/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:16:42 +0000 brett http://www.mmadailyscrap.com/?p=438

Tonight on Spike TV, Nate Diaz will battle Melvin Guillard, in what many are calling an “elimination match.”

Diaz is coming off two losses in a row, to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson.

So what? MMA isn’t baseball.

Diaz is still in his mid-20s. He needs time to develop, sure, but he’s an exciting fighter with a big ground game and an even bigger personality.

He’s headlining the fight night card, for the love of God, so people obviously like watching the kid, right?

I think he’ll submit Guillard late in the second round, but even if he loses a decision, or gets knocked out (no lightweight can submit Diaz who is not named BJ Penn), let’s keep him around. We already suffered the tragedy of losing one Diaz brother. Okay, “tragedy” is a strong word, but hey, I’d sure like to see elder Diaz thrown into the welterweight mix.

Let’s just admit it. We MMA fans can be pretty fickle.

I seem to remember many people calling Anderson Silva “overrated” before his UFC 101 match with Forrest Griffin. After just 3 minutes in the cage, those same people declared him the “undisputed” pound for pound champion.

We all deserve second, and third, and fourth chances in life. Just ask Scott Baio, or your girlfriend.

Good luck Nate….but not good night.

The main event of Saturday night’s UFC 101 lightweight title fight between champion, BJ Penn, and top-ranked contender, Kenny Florian, has been deconstructed on MMA blogs all across the internet.

A number of experts are predicting that Florian will pull off the upset, but the emerging consensus is that BJ will win -  via decision or ref stoppage.

People point to BJ’s flexibility, his technique, his experience. I think that the real factor in this fight will be his strength.

Last weekend, I re-watched the first Penn-GSP fight. I was stunned at how evenly they grappled on their feet. GSP has never had so much trouble taking a man to the ground – neither before nor since. Penn even took down GSP at one point! How many guys have done that? Josh Koscheck got one takedown (I think?).  Matt Hughes got another, but still – that’s a pretty exclusive club.

While we’re on the topic of BJ Penn’s past fights…

How many people have seen BJ’s “absolute-style” matchup against Lytoto Machida?

Yes, the same Lyoto who now sits atop the UFC’s light-heavyweight division. The fight took place – where else? – in Japan a few years back. Machida won by decision, but BJ held his own, even chasing Machida around the ring at certain points.

Penn and Florian have two recent common opponents – Joe Stevenson being one, who doesn’t help us, because they both steam-rolled him.

But what about Sean Sherk? Florian has greatly improved since his last fight with Sherk; I’m the first to admit that – but even if they fought tomorrow, the outcome would be the same, I think, simply because of Sherk’s strength advantage. Couple this with that happened when BJ fought the Muscle Shark! Penn steered him all around the cage before knocking him out at the end of Round 3.

Let me be clear. I’m a big fan of Kenny Florian. He genuinely seems like a nice guy, for one, and I think he’s easily one of the top five lightweight fighters in the world. The problem is, he’s fighting BJ Penn, who I just don’t see being stopped at lightweight – not until he retires or simply eats himself out of the division.

Whatever happens, it will be a privilege to watch these two men do battle. I mean that. A true privilege. This has fight of the year written all over it.

Floyd Mayweather says that MMA is for white boys.

In a recent interview, boxing’s pound-for-pound best goes on a RANT – talking about everything from economics to the dangers of cohabitation with a woman. Buried in the middle, he says that MMA was created by white dudes who don’t have the skills (or the balls?) to stand and strike with black and Hispanic fighters.

“In boxing, we know who’s dominating. Black fighters and Hispanic fighers is dominating in this sport. And this is not a racial statement but there’s no white fighters in boxing that’s dominating, so they had to go to something else and start something new.”

I don’t know, maybe he has a point?

Who are the most deadly strikers in MMA today?

Quick, make a list. Anderson Silva, Cheick Kongo, Melvin Manhoef, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Oh, shit – what about Lyoto Machida? His father is Japanese. His mom is native Brazilian….that’s still Latin, right?

There is an interesting sociological question to raise here: do the black and hispanic communities look at ground-fighting as something, well, for pussies?

How else do you explain Nick Diaz’s reluctance to showcase his Jiu-Jitsu? The guy is one of the best ground-fighters in the world, but the way he’s been fighting lately, you’d think there was a pit of alligators circling in the middle of the mat. Not that I’m complaining. I love watching Diaz knock people out. He’s Mexican, so it must be in his blood, right, Floyd Mayweather?

I’m just joking around here.

I do think, however, that Mayweather started a relevant dialogue.

Does MMA somehow cater to a white audience and white fighters?

What do you think?

And I promise – no more Michael Jackson references. I’ll let the man rest in peace.

We had several members of the Daily Scrap team posted on 33rd St and 8th Avenue in NYC to catch a glimpse of Gina Carano outside, under the summer sun, in a steel cage. [we took the high quality pic above with our handy MMA Daily Scrap camera phone; what can we say? we're writers, not photojournalists]

Her opponent was there, too, but whatever.

Gina has the potential to raise female MMA at least to the dizzying heights of roller derby in its hey-day, probably much higher.

I heard somewhere that “girl fight” is the second most popular term typed into YouTube’s search engine, surpassed only by……nah, we can’t print it here.

Gina isn’t just hot, though. She’s an awesome physical specimen, even more impressive in person than on TV.

C’mon, folks! Let’s support female MMA (and MMA in NYC)!

Or at least Gina.

She’s so pretty.

We’re all still high after UFC 100.

It was a great show, with plenty of drama and even more dominance.

Lesnar looked unstoppable. George St-Pierre is unstoppable.

I don’t wanna spoil the party, but….the UFC belts seem pretty secure, right? I mean, I think we can all agree that GSP cannot be beaten at welterweight. Same goes for Anderson Silva at middleweight. Ditto for Machida at light-heavyweight.

Now, I personally think BJ Penn is the most unstoppable fighter within his weight class. I know, I know, most of you haven’t written off Kenny Florian just yet, but if Penn blows him away, he might as well just retire from the division.

As far as Lesnar goes, well, Dana White says he’s determined to lure Fedor into the UFC, but short of that – let’s face it – Lesnar can’t be stopped. Homeboy held Frank Mir in place with one hand and beat him with the other.  To quote Adrian Balboa from Rocky IV: “You’ve seen him! You know how strong he is! You can’t win!”

We’ve got plenty of great fights coming up this summer, not just in the UFC, but all over the MMA map, so I’m not saying the sport is about to enter a static period, far from it. There are enough talented guys in mixed martial arts to fill another hundred cards.

What I am saying, however, is that the UFC champions are not likely to change any time soon.

Maybe that’s a good thing, but maybe not.

Continuing with our nostalgia week in honor of UFC 100, the Daily Scrap is proud to present “Top 3 Greatest Quotes in UFC History”.

This was a tough one, folks.

Here are the top three, in reverse order, plus context.

(3) The bronze goes to UFC President, Dana White. In his latest video blog, White is asked by a reporter to explain the UFC’s ascendence. White proceeds to give a Quentin Tarantino-esque monologue. About the nature of humanity, about the origin of fighting, its intrinsic scaffolding in the architecture of man, all capped off with the zinger, “As soon as man was put on this earth, a punch was thrown.”

Awesome line, Dana.

(2) The silver medal goes to Mark, the Hammer, Coleman. At UFC 14, he was interviewed by Joe Rogan about his upcoming fight with Maurice Smith, who at the time was considered the most dangerous striker in MMA. When Rogan pressed him on his ability to trade hands with Smith, Coleman responded with a barrage of expletives unparalleled on live television before or since. I’m paraphrasing here: “Maurice Smith needs to learn how to fucking wrestle. I’m gonna take him to the ground and pound the shit out of him. I’m gonna fucking….prove something to the world about free-style wrestlers. Fuck.” Rogan had to literally bite his lip to quell the giggles.

And the gold medal winner is…..

(1) Ben Perry, announcer of UFC 2 in Denver, Colorado. Perry had a tough job that night. He didn’t just have to call the fights; he had to break down the fighter’s styles (and backgrounds). Remember, the UFC was in its infancy, without an identity, but rather a cacophony of avatars. The concept of an MMA fighter simply did not exist. The early UFC’s were about styles vs. styles. Trap fighters vs Pit fighters, that kind of thing.

Enter Scott Morris.

Apparently, Mr. Morris failed to provide the UFC with an extensive biography, only that he practiced Ninjitsu and preferred to fight in a sleeveless t-shirt. When he came out of the dressing room to make his long walk toward the octagon, announcer Ben Perry was reaching – I mean, really reaching – to tell the pay-per-view audience something, anything, about Morris. This is what he came up with: “We don’t know much about Scott Morris, because he is a Ninja.”

Holy shit that’s funny.

Congratulations, Ben Perry. You were there at the beginning, buddy, and you’re not forgotten.

Let’s face it, throughout the UFC’s 16 year history, plenty of fighters have been dicked over – bad calls by the ref, bad decisions by the judges, bad advice from their corner – the list goes on.

We could spend countless hours debating who really won Sanchez vs. Guida, or Bonnar vs. Griffin I…

But I don’t wanna talk about Diego Sanchez or Stephan Bonnar. I don’t wanna talk about Clay Guida or Forrest Griffin, or anyone, for that matter, with a recognizable name.

I wanna talk about Moti Horenstein. AKA: the Hebrew Hammer.

You guys remember this dude? For those of you who are new to MMA, let me give you the Cliffs Notes.

Moti Horenstein, master of Krav Maga, former Israeli commando and all around gentlemen, made his octagon debut back in July of 1996 at UFC 10, against another rookie, another hammer, in fact: NCAA wrestling standout Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.

This wasn’t good a match-up for Moti – neither on paper nor in three dimensions. Krav Maga, or “Survival,” as Horenstein called it, is effective for disarming Palestinian terrorists, not stopping double leg takedowns from drugged up freestyle wrestlers.

Horenstein got his ass kicked. I won’t go into the gory details. Let’s just say he would’ve done better with his full IDF arsenal, including knives, guns, and possibly a tank.

Moti was a good sport, though. He fought hard, took his beating like a man, plus he had a certain look – clean cut, handsome, articulate – that the sport was lacking, back then. Think GSP with more hair and a lot less skill.

Moti was invited back for UFC 14 in Birmingham, Alabama. Now, given what happened in his first fight, any matchmaker with a head (not to mention a heart) would’ve thrown him into the cage with a fellow striker. Maybe a ninja or a dance-fighter, whatever – anything other than a wrestler.

Who did the Hebrew Hammer draw? Mark Kerr.

Yes, you read right. Mark “The Smashing Machine” Kerr, who was basically just a bigger, meaner, more talented version of Mark Coleman. This was the worst case of a Jew being led to slaughter, since, well… Jesus!

Moti got punked!

Was Art Davie in cahoots with Yasser Arafat back then?

Needless to say, Moti got his ass kicked. Again. He never returned to the octagon. He did, however, earn the title of Most Dicked Over Fighter in UFC History.

With UFC 100 just days away, the MMA blogosphere is getting nostalgic.

From Bleacher Report to CagePotato, lists are all the rage: Greatest Fights. Greatest Comebacks. Greatest Submissions. Greatest Events.

Prepare yourselves, fight fans! The Daily Scrap is ready to throw our hat into the ring, with “The Most Ironic Ending in the History of the UFC“.

Now, before I describe the fight, I’m gonna preemptively strike all of you linguist fascists out there. I mean, why not? We are all still basking in a post-July 4th weekend in America.

Hipster cult author Dave Eggers, who recently penned the film, Away We Go, now playing nation wide, wrote a famous riff on abusers of the word “irony” in his seminal memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” After reading this piece, you might think I chose the wrong title, and I’d probably agree with you, okay?

But before you talk shit, read Dave Eggers, or watch Reality Bites, or listen to any popular grunge band from the 90s. Everyone abuses the word “irony,” so there’s no reason to single me out if you think my usage is inappropriate.

That said: the most ironic ending to a fight in the history of the UFC is…….drum roll please…..Paul Varelans vs. Cal Worsham at UFC 6!

Take a look a the video clip, folks. The fight ends 4 separate times in a matter of seconds! First, Varelans appears to knock out Worsham with a series of vicious elbows. Worsham goes limp, falls, hits the canvass and wakes up, then immediately taps the canvass! There’s two for you! But wait, there’s more.

A second later, referee Big John McCarthy, who was pretty laissez-faire back in the day, rushes in to stop the fight, while at the same time Worsham’s corner throws in the towel! YES! Remember the days of towel throwing? Anyway, that’s either four separate endings, or just one big, ironic cluster-fuck!

Or maybe it’s just unfortunate for Cal Worsham.