Tag Archives: Nick Diaz

mixed martial arts, UFC

UFC thiab Peds: Qhov twg peb mus ntawm no?

Cia ib saib


Yees duab Credit: Esther Lin / MMA Sib ntaus

Feem ntau thaum kuv nug cov lus nug ntawd, Nws yog nyob rau hauv kev xaiv ntawm kev them nyiaj-ib-saib thiab kuv xav tsis thoob rau dab tsi ntxiv rau cov neeg sib tw uas sib tw ntawm nws. Lub sijhawm no ib puag ncig, Kuv hais txog ib yam dab tsi uas cuam tshuam rau txhua tus martic martial cov kws kos duab nyob rau hauv qhov kawg sib tw sib tw.

UFC Tshaj tawm lub lim tiam no Tias nws yuav ua raws li stricter, deb kev tshuaj ntsuam xyuas kev siv tshuaj nyob rau hauv kev tsa ntawm cov neeg sib ntaus sib tua zoo li Anderson Silva thiab Hector Lombard Kev ntsuam xyuas tsis ua haujlwm rau kev ua tau zoo tshuaj-txhim kho yeeb tshuaj (PEDs), thaum lub sij hawm Jon Jones thiab Nick Diaz Ua tsis tiav qhov kev ntsuam xyuas rau cov yeeb dawb thiab tshuaj xas, feem.

Kev sim tshuaj thiab kev nplua ntau kuj tsuas pab tau UFC, thiab sib xyaw sib xyaw ua ke. Tab sis dab tsi coj los ntawm qhov kev nce hauv kev ua tsis tiav? Peds tau yog ib feem ntawm kev ua kis las ntev ua ntej MMA cov neeg sib ntaus sib tua pib coj lawv, thiab lawv tau muaj teeb meem hauv MMA ua ntej lub hli tas los-thiab-ib-nrab.

But more fighters seem to be getting caught. As in most sports, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to perform in MMA and in the UFC. If you don’t perform, you basically don’t get paid. The increased demand for UFC programming by virtue of its deal with FOX could also be a factor. They went from being on Spike TV – where they only broadcast “The Ultimate Fighter” once a year and two or three live fight cards annually – to practically having two live fight cards a month and airing “The Ultimate Fighter” twice a year on the FOX channels.

The increase in programming means a need of more bodies to fill that programming. It also means that more fighters are training for more fights, which can lead to more injuries. PEDs, Ntxiv rau muab rau koj ib qho kev sib tw kom zoo dua koj tus nrog sib ntaus, Cia koj kom rov zoo los ntawm kev raug mob sai dua. Nrog rau qhov kev xav tau rau cov neeg sib tw ntau dua los sau cov npav sib ntaus ntau dua, Kuv xav tias nws muaj peev xwm ua tau pom meej rau hauv kev sim ua tsis tiav yuav tsawg kawg yog ua ib nrab ntaus nqi rau qhov ntawd.

Lub UFC nce kev ntsuas tshuaj-ntsuas kev ntsuas ua haujlwm rau lub Xya Hli 1. Dab tsi peb tuaj yeem cia siab thaum nws ua? Nov yog qee cov lus qhia UFC nthuav tawm.

Txawm tias UFC CEO Lorenzo fertenzo fertitta kev lees paub thaum lub lim tiam no cov rooj sib tham tias yam "yuav ua rau lawv zoo dua" nrog kev kuaj tshiab. Ntau, Nws tseem tau pom ntau npaum li cas ntawm qhov no yuav ua tiag tiag ib zaug Lub Xya Hli 1 qaws ib ncig. UFC yav dhau los txiav txim siab nthuav dav nws cov tshuaj kuaj cov tshuaj ua ntej tab sis rub rov qab, Tus nqi tsim thiab a yav dhau los botched sim ntawm ua li ntawd.

Txawm li cas los, Nrog cov pob xoo ntawm cov hnub qub siab zoo li silva, Jones thiab Diaz tsis muaj kev sim, Tus nqi tsis tuaj yeem suav hais tias yog kev cuam tshuam thiab UFC yuav tsum ceev faj. Browsing kuv Twitter Pub Tom Qab Cov Rooj Sab Laj Xovxwm, nws yog eerily ntsiag to. Yuav luag tsis muaj cov neeg sib ntaus sib tua hnyav nyob rau thaum pib. Nws yog yuav zoo li yog los ntawm kev sib tham ntawm lub rooj sablaj nias coj rau hnub Wednesday tav su, Thaum cov neeg feem coob tab tom ua haujlwm lossis muaj peev xwm muaj lwm yam uas yuav tsum tau ua dua li tom twitter. Tab sis nws tseem yog tus tseem qhia zoo nkauj. Nws zoo li qhov no tau tseb tus neeg sib tua, Raws li nws yuav tsum.

Kuv xav li cas yuav tshwm sim? Yuav muaj kev ua tsis tiav thaum ua tsis tiav ib zaug cov ntsuas tshiab siv lub Xya Hli 1, Kuv muaj kev ntseeg siab. Tab sis muab hais tias UFC yog txhawb kev nplua kev nyuaj siab rau cov neeg uas swb – suav nrog kev txiav tawm txog li plaub xyoos – Kuv cia siab tias cov neeg sib ntaus sib tua qias neeg thaum kawg lawv tus kheej tawm thiab cov uas sib tw huv (uas yog feem ntau ntawm lawv, yam tseem ceeb) coj lub luag haujlwm tseem ceeb tshaj plaws.

Kev sim tshuaj ntau ntxiv nyob rau hauv UFC. Kev ua si nawv ntawm kev sib xyaw ua yeeb yam nws tus kheej tseem nyob hauv nws tus menyuam mos, Qhov tseeb tiag tiag piv rau lwm yam kis las zoo li kev ncaws pob, Ntaus Pob thiab Ntaus Pob. Tab sis ib yam li kev ntaus pob yog tseem rov qab tau los ntawm nws tus kheej kev kub ntxhov nrog peds, Cov kev sim ua tsis ntev los no tau shaken lub hauv paus ntawm UFC thiab tau hnarkened rov qab rau cov hnub thaum nws raug xa mus ua "tib neeg cockfighting."

UFC tau txais cov lus hais "lub sijhawm yog tam sim no" rau 2015, thiab kuv tsis tuaj yeem pom zoo ntau dua. The time is now for them to take the lead in cleaning up the sport of mixed martial arts.

Chris Huntemann sau txog tov martial arts nyob rau hauv lub xeev ntawm Maryland. Nws kuj Shares nws kev xav nyob rau hauv lub UFC, Bellator, thiab lub ntiaj teb no Series ntawm Sib ntaus. Mus saib nws blog, los yog ua raws li nws on Twitter: mmamaryland.

Hma liab kev ua si 1, mixed martial arts, UFC, poj niam lub MMA

UFC 183: Who will show up?

Cia ib saib


Yees duab Credit: UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has hit it out of the park so far in 2015, with its first two major cards of the year living up to the hype of their main events. Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones dominated Daniel Cormier to prove he is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world at UFC 182, and at the UFC’s live card in Boston, Loj., nyob rau hauv Lub ib hlis ntuj, Conor McGregor secured a featherweight title shot against José Aldo and wasted no time getting in his next opponent’s face.

Which brings us to UFC 183 hmo no, and a main event that is considered a dream matchup by many. Anderson Silva returns to the Octagon after suffering a gruesome leg injury in his last fight against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in 2013. Nick Diaz also makes his return to the UFC after losing his last fight against former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in 2013.

Tonight’s card isn’t without its other storylines though. A pair of significant undercard fights are taking place under some controversy, as flyweight John Lineker came in overweight for his fight against Ian McCall, which is expected to determine the next no. 1 contender to the flyweight title. Nyob rau hauv lub co-ntsiab kev tshwm sim, Kelvin Gastelum came in 9 pounds overweight for his fight against Tyron Woodley, which means 30 percent of Gastelum’s fight purse actually goes to Woodley. Talk about insult to injury.

Ntawm chav kawm, there is always the wild card with Diaz too. He plays by his own rules, having no-showed the open workouts earlier this week. Will he actually show up to the cage for tonight’s main event? It remains to be seen, though most everyone thinks he will.

Yog li ntawd, having said all that, who do I think wins tonight?

Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (15-5) vs. Sara McMann (8-1) (Women’s bantamweight – 135 lbs.)

This is actually the main event of the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1. Tate requested to compete on this portion of the card instead of the pay-per-view card, taking a page from Urijah Faber’s playbook. Tate is also eager for a third fight with Ronda Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title. Both of these women suffered Rousey’s wrath, particularly McMann, who was demolished by Rousey in about a minute last year.

McMann is a pure wrestler with very little else to her repertoire, whereas Tate built on her established wrestling skills to become an effective striker. I think she will stuff McMann’s attempts to take this fight to the mat and use her vastly superior striking skills to keep McMann befuddled en route to a dominant victory.

Winner: Tate by unanimous decision

Jordan “Young Gun” Mein (29-9) vs. Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (25-9) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

Alves has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights, while Mein rides a two-fight win streak. Alves is always dangerous with his Muay Thai and striking, while Mein landed a first-round TKO victory in his last fight. This should be an exciting stand-up battle with neither guy willing to give an inch. I think Alves is the more dangerous fighter here, and will land one good shot to knock Mein silly.

Winner: Alves by second round TKO

Thales Leites (24-4) vs. Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (18-7) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)

Leites comes into this fight on a roll, having won his last seven fights, with the last two coming by way of TKO. Boetsch has alternated wins and losses in his last four fights, including a TKO victory in his last fight against Brad Tavares.

Boetsch is a slow, plodding bruiser best known for derailing the Hector Lombard hype train when he first made his UFC debut. Leites is a crafty, dangerous fighter who can finish you with his hands or by submission. I think Leites will avoid Boetsch’s power and wait for Boetsch to make a mistake, where Leits will capitalize.

Winner: Leites by third round submission

Joe Lauzon (24-10) vs. Al “Raging” Iaquinta (10-3-1) (Lightweight – 155 lbs.)

You know what you’re getting with a Joe Lauzon fight. You’re going to see an exciting, action packed bout that will most likely end with him locking in a slick submission or, in the case of his fight against Jim Miller, suffering a gnarly cut that will guarantee a blood battle.

Iaquinta has been on a roll since his time on The Ultimate Fighter Live, having only lost once in his last six fights. A win against Lauzon would be a real feather in his cap and might propel him into title contendership discussion. But Lauzon is one of the best submission specialists in the UFC, and I think the crafty veteran has another submission up his sleeve.

Winner: Lauzon by second round submission

Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley (14-3) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (11-0) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

As mentioned above, Gastelum weighed in 9 pounds over for this fight and will forfeit 30 percent of his purse directly to Woodley. It was reported that Gastelum spent time in the hospital leading up to this fight, which contributed to him coming in overweight.

Woodley will be angry in this fight, and rightly so. It’s not fair that his opponent will have a weight advantage due to his own failure to do what he was supposed to do. Give Woodley credit for wanting to keep fighting when it would have been perfectly understandable to postpone it.

Woodley will channel his rage into a blitzkrieg of offense at Gastelum, and the lethargic and probably still-injured Gastelum will have no response.

Winner: Woodley by second round TKO

Anderson "Lub Kab laug sab" Silva (33-6) vs. Nick Diaz (27-9-1) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)

This is one of the several main events that have fight fans buzzing in 2015. Many didn’t think Silva would ever walk again after his leg injury against Weidman, let alone come back to the UFC to fight. The matchup style of Diaz wanting to push the pace, get in his opponent’s face and sucker him into trading blows against Silva’s unrivaled elusiveness will be interesting to watch.

Diaz said he wouldn’t trash talk Silva during this fight out of respect. But if Silva keeps bobbing and weaving and dodging Diaz’s punches, we’ll see how long Diaz commits to that. I think we’ll see vintage Silva in this fight, making Diaz look silly in some spots while landing well-timed strikes that will confuse and frustrate Diaz, which will allow Silva to land even more.

Diaz is too tough to finish, but this fight will show that Silva still has it and is the vastly superior fighter.

Winner: Silva by unanimous decision

Chris Huntemann sau txog tov martial arts nyob rau hauv lub xeev ntawm Maryland. He also contributes his thoughts to our site on the UFC, Bellator, thiab lub ntiaj teb no Series ntawm Sib ntaus. Mus saib nws blog, los yog ua raws li nws on Twitter: mmamaryland.