First Couture impression…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Getting closer and closer to the Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture fight. Plans aren’t finalized, but I believe I’m going to the Warren Theatre in Moore to watch this bad boy.
Yesterday, I recalled the first time I saw Brock and what an awesome sight he was. The same cannot be said for Couture.
Couture’s first UFC fight was against another professional wrestling, Tony Halme. Long time WWF fans would remember him as Ludvig Borga. A man who was evil because, hmm, he was from Finland?
Anyway, Couture dispatched of him with ease in May 1997.
But the first time I remember Couture was when he knocked out one of my boys, Brazilian Vitor Belfort at UFC 15 in October 1997.
Belfort was the future of the sport. He had the look and better yet, he had substance to go with that style.
And here came Couture. Just a normal looking dude with a receding hairline. Really, this guy is supposed to be beat Vitor?
Sure enough, he did. I remember being crushed by it. But that’s the beauty of boxing and MMA. You know, if someone knocks out your boy, not much you can do except give them their kudos and move on to the next fight.
It’s absolutely amazing that 11 years later Couture is still the top dog. His legacy is secure. He’s got nothing left to prove. But if he can beat Lesnar, well, no better way to go out.
I’ve learned to appreciate Couture through the years, and it appeared so has Lesnar. Brock was totally respectful of Randy on the conference call. He realizes he can’t out-psyche Randy.
It’s going to be one great fight. UFC 91 Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Wednesday: The stage is set for the biggest UFC fight in history. What is the best case scenario? What’s the worst?
Edit at 2 p.m.: Just got this nugget. See, UFC is close to perfection on getting the big names against each other.
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – In March 2006, top welterweights Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn fought for the division’s No. 1 contender’s spot. St-Pierre earned a razor-thin split decision and went on to win the Ultimate Fighting Championship® welterweight title. Penn dropped to the lightweight division and won the organization’s 155-pound title.
Now they’re about to do it again. But this time, there’s much more at stake.
UFC® lightweight champion BJ Penn looks to be the first fighter in history to hold two UFC championships at the same time when he faces Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 94: ST-PIERRE VS. PENN 2, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 31, 2009.
Two champions, two of the best in the world, pound-for-pound, and this time – two more rounds for the welterweight championship.
First Brock impresssion…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
I’ve waited two months for this fight, so what’s another five days? This is the biggest difference between MMA and boxing.
The best, most logical boxing fights, never mean they’re going to happen. MMA fans don’t really tolerate the best fighters not fighting the best.
So Saturday’s Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight championship is just the latest instance where UFC gets it right.
You can debate whether or not Lesnar deserves this shot, but it’s definitely the most intriguing fight that could have been made.
I actually don’t remember Lesnar from his days at the University of Minnesota. I was in high school at the time and didn’t really pay attention.
But when Brock burst onto the scene of World Wrestling Entertainment, I noticed. He was a beast. I can see why WWE owner Vince McMahon fell in love with the guy. His size, his strength and above all, his agility, total package.
Brock was the first big guy I had ever seen who could go a strong 25 minutes with the likes of pro wrestling studs like Kurt Angle, The Rock and the late great Eddie Guererro.
He had the engine and speed of a lightweight with the power of
Brock’s run in the WWE is a lot like his run in the UFC. He just commands attention. He has an aura that makes a viewer say “I want to see more of this guy.”
Wrestling’s loss was MMA’s gain. Lesnar said his heart just wasn’t it wrestling. And if your heart is not in it, you can’t cut it. The world tours, the constant traveling, it’s rough.
In fact, that’s one of the things Lesnar said in the conference call. He feels at peace. Will peace translate to a win in the biggest fight of his life? We’ll see.
Lesnar has probably always been the biggest and the baddest. But to beat Couture, he’s going to need to have some intelligence.
We’re five days and counting. Tuesday: my first impressions of Randy Couture.
Calzaghe batters, bloodies Jones in easy win…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
As you know, I’m the OKC Blazers beat writer as well. And when OKC took total control of its home game last night, I was just looking at the clock.
Could I finish my story in time to see Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr.? The answer: yes.
But I don’t know what I was rushing for as Calzaghe absolutely destroyed the Pensacola legend.
It was weird as I walked in right as RJJ knocked Calzaghe down with a nice right uppercut in the first round.
Jones needed to attack him right then and there as Joe was admittedly hurt. He let him off the hook (TM Dennis Green) and Calzaghe, wow.
That was another masterful performance. Another fight that was supposed to be a toss-up and turned into a rout.
Jones’ left eye started swelling around the third round, and Calzaghe busted that bad boy open in the seventh. And Jones’ corner had NO IDEA how to stop the bleeding.
But cornerman Alton Merkerson made sure the HBO PPV team knew this was the first time Roy had been cut in a fight. Well, thanks for that tidbit, but how about you actually attend to the cut instead? We’ll worry about semantics later.
I was thoroughly disappointed in Jones and pleased with Calzaghe. That type of performance from the Welshman was exactly what I expected when he fought Bernard Hopkins in April. He kills you with volume and so much volume and pressure just normally saps your will.
I feel swindled once again by Jones. This is pure speculation, but I feel around rounds four or five, RJJ had to realize it was the beginning of a LONG night. Calzaghe taunted Jones like I’ve never seen before. Heck, like nobody’s ever seen before.
The win puts Joe at 46-0 and four away from passing Rocky Marciano. I hope he goes for it. He can go after Chad Dawson, Glen Johnson and a couple of other people.
I’m in a weird spot with Calzaghe because he has a style I truly enjoy watching, but I’m a bias American who just wants to see him lose. I would get pumped for both Dawson and Johnson and be disappointed when Calzaghe takes them apart.
I’ll appreciate Calzaghe when he’s gone, but right now, I want to see him lose. It’s almost identical to the way I felt about Lennox Lewis in the waning years of his career. It hurts thinking Americans aren’t the best fighters anymore.
As for Jones, hey man, call it a night. 52-5 is nothing to be ashamed of. Go watch your son, Roy-J, become one of the best football players (I’m kidding or am I?). He didn’t have a game plan once Calzaghe started to attack him. His natural gifts just won’t cut it anymore. I thought he would adapt a little, but he didn’t. However, I would for Jones to get committed to announcing as I enjoyed him on HBO.
Boxing’s fall of great fights is almost over. For this week, it’s all Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture all the time. Expect at least one blog entry a day surrounding this fight.
Episode 3: 24/7 Jones-Calzaghe
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Maybe I watched this a little too late at night or something, but it didn’t feel like the inspirational show it normally does.
It was great getting the Roy Jones reaction to Barack Obama being elected president, but other than than, not much news.
You know I love boxing, but if I saw Joe Calzaghe on the street, I wouldn’t recognize him. That’s not a good thing or a bad thing, I’m just sayin’.
It is interesting that Roy Sr. won’t be there. That’s a relationship that is probably the most interesting of anything with these two fighters, but I’m sure that’s not where they wanted the focus to be.
The other interesting thing is Joe saying he picked Roy and picked MSG in New York. Ten years ago, would have called him crazy. But now? He’s onto something. Have you ever watched a card in Europe or Canada? Boxing is not dying, not even close. But it is in the U.S. The atmosphere is electric in the other places. We need to find a way to recreate that magic again. Any ideas?
It was actually a pretty short show as they were already going into the credits at about 24 minutes in. But it still had the credits song, so I was still digging it.
I reserve the right to change my prediction until after the weigh-in. Right now, blinded by pride, I like RJJ by unanimous decision. There’s no logic at all in that pick, pure pick by the heart.
Received a couple of e-mails about my love of Rocky. Put it bluntly, some just want my rankings. So here ya go…
1) Rocky: Timeless classic. I can watch this like once a month and not get bored or sick of it. Any coincidence the best movie is the one with the least amount of fighting in it?
2) Rocky II: Some people give it a bad rap, I don’t see why. Seeing Rocky fail in trying to be an everyday guy is tough to watch. He’s trying to leave the fight game, but man, that’s all he knows. Add in the drama with Adrian going in a coma while giving birth, it’s still a special flick.
3) Rocky Balboa: Only No. 3 because it’s a little too short for me. I like seeing Rocky unable to let go of the past. I liked the development of his son in the movie. And there are a couple of speeches worth repeating in everyday life.
4) (tie) Rocky III and IV): Seriously, I can’t pick between them. They’re both pure entertainment with great fight scenes and music. But of course in IV, I refuse to EVER watch Apollo Creed die again. I turn the channel or something. I won’t watch it. And as I brought up to my brother the other day, what happened to the Creed family? We know he was married with two kids. What happened? See, these are the things you think about when you’ve seen each movie too many times.
6) Rocky V: Eh, I don’t think it’s a horrible, but I don’t clamor to see it. Rocky the trainer had some possibilities, but not the way it went down. And the Don King-like character, ugh.
Be back tomorrow with RJJ-Calzaghe thoughts and then we switch gears to the Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture UFC fight next week.
Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar thoughts…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, you might know that there happens to be a pretty big UFC fight next weekend b/w UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture and No. 1 contender, Brock Lesnar.
Thursday was the conference call with the two superstars. I won’t go in-depth with just quote after quote, but here were some of the interesting things I found from the hour-plus call.
- Brock was not nearly as angry/tense as he’s been in the past. This is a good thing. In the first conference call in September when this fight was announced, he came off not cocky as much as ignorant and arrogant.
This time around, much more respect from Brock but still painted with that bravado. He got things rolling when the first question was what concerns he had about The Natural: “I have none.” Brock can say things like that and no one bats an eye.
- Randy spent a good time talking about how many big guys he brought in to help train, and how he has fought other big guys before. He wanted to make sure people realize he feels rust won’t be an issue.
It’s weird because even he answered the question, I don’t feel he did. To me, the answer is obvious: there is no one in the world like Brock Lesnar. You just train as hard as you can, but you can’t really prepare for the athletic freak Brock is.
- Couture gave some love to boxing legend Bernard Hopkins. B-Hop, 43, had that magical performance a couple weeks ago against a young pup like Kelly Pavlik. Couture, 45, is actually older than Hopkins. He’s met Bernard a couple of times.
Interesting thing Couture said is as the science of sports evolves, guys are getting more out of their bodies for a lot longer time than in the past. So true and that doesn’t mean they’re doing it illegally.
- Some thoughts from Brock on professional wrestling: He is not representing the WWE in this fight. He represents amateur wrestling. He said right now, no pro wrestlers could make the transition he has made right now.
On the other hand, he said being in the WWE has helped him for the big stage. He’s wrestled in front of 70,000 fans before. It may just only be entertainment, but you learn what it’s like being the man on the marquee for a huge event. You sink or swim fast.
- Brock put himself over pretty good. He said Randy may have fought big guys before, but none that know how to wrestle. “I know how to wrestle. The guys he’s fought that are big aren’t half the athlete I am.”
He’s right, I’m not arguing this point. Even in WWE, I was amazed at how such a big man could do the things he was doing. It was nuts. He had the stamina to go a strong 20-25 minutes like nobody else who was that big.
- Randy is not bulking up at all for this fight. I found that interesting and a little refreshing. Nothing like seeing some tiny guy trying to work his way up to being the sort of big guy. Couture is a natural at 225, let him be it. He said he would try to find a way to make his size an advantage, not a disadvantage. He also said he wants to test Lesnar’s chin. Now that would be a first.
- Both are itching to fight, duh. Both were pretty respectful today. I thought it might get a little hostile, but it was very cool. Both men gave respect without coming off weak or arrogant.
- While Brock is at peace, he still gave the line of the call: “Speed + mass = Destruction.” We’ll find out in nine days.
Rocky Week on AMC (and other thoughts)
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Update late Wednesday: All credit goes to Bloody Elbow on this one as I was busy at work. Jake Rosholt, former OSU wrestling stud, is working his way up. Another local name to keep an eye on.
Nissen Osterneck vs. Jake Rosholt
Round 1: Osterneck charges forward with a flurry, a 5- or 6-shot combo, some of which connect to the face of Rosholt but don’t appear to do much damage. Rosholt immediately clinches and goes for the takedown… and gets it. The wrestler momentarily takes Osterneck’s back, but Osterneck rolls out of it and then they’re back to the feet. Osterneck with more heavy shots, more combinations, connecting hard now. Now knees from the clinch, but Rosholt ties up and uses a hip toss which I’m sure Nate will have a gif of soon. Rosholt pummeling from the top. Osterneck turtling up with Rosholt in side mount, and just as Troy Waugh warns not to knee to the head on the ground, Rosholt… knees Osterneck in the head, on the ground. It may have been accidental, Waugh restarts them on the ground with no penalty as Osterneck appears no worse for wear. Rosholt in side control, Osterneck turns and gives up his back where Jake gets hooks in and begins raining down hard shots with :30 remaining. Osterneck manages to flip and survive the frame. Close round as Osterneck did damage on the feet, but Rosholt dominated on the floor. BloodyElbow.com scores the round 10-9 Rosholt.
Round 2: Rosholt takes it back to the floor immediately but Osterneck looks to lock up a triangle! Rosholt escapes and moves to side control – both guys looking winded already. Some sharp elbows and hammerfists from side control, but Rosholt is clearly gassing and Osterneck stands right up now. Now Osterneck brutalizing the winded Jake Rosholt (hands at his side) with winging strikes, knees and kicks. Looking for a KO left head kick, Osterneck slips and is mounted by Rosholt. Osterneck either injured himself, has totally shot his wad, or both – he’s conscious but merely laying and barely covering up as Rosholt pummels his head from back mount. Troy Waugh is screaming “Improve your position!” for 15-20 seconds before he’s forced to end it. Wild, wild fight.
Jake Rosholt def. Nissen Osterneck via TKO (Strikes) at 3:48 of Round 2
Original post…
Monday night football was on. Election coverage glittered the airwaves last night. And what am I watching? Yep, movies I’ve seen at least 20 times.
It’s Rocky week on AMC (American Movie Classics). I’ve seen I through IV at least 20 times apiece. Rocky V, yeah, only seen that one about five times. And the newest one, Rocky Balboa, that’s already in the double digits as well.
There’s just something about Rocky that keeps me coming back. When I was younger, it was all about the fights. I can’t tell you how many times I would just fast forward to the fights with Clubber Lang (Mr. T in Rocky III) or Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV).
The dramatic music, the ridiculous slugfests, it was great. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve strayed away from the fights and more about the stories. The first two movies are legit classics. III and IV, well, they’re entertaining if nothing else. And V, I still like the ending montage of Measure of a Man by Elton John.
I don’t know what that says about me that 30 years later, I still would rather watch Rocky than 90 percent of anything else that’s out there.
Rocky Balboa was incredibly underrated as a movie. I loved it. I’ve reached a point with that character that I no longer care if he ever fights again. I would just watch a movie about Rocky doing ordinary everyday things. See, told ya I have problems.
In other news…
Elite XC said it had not closed its doors, rather reduced its staff. However, after this little nugget, I don’t know what else Elite XC can do to avoid the inevitable.
Showtime, which owns a 20 percent stake in the company, has authorized the sale of ProElite’s assets. Showtime and CBS made the announcement Tuesday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing outlined Showtime’s intention to sell ProElite’s “tangible and intangible assets” to the highest bidder at a public auction on Nov. 17. The sale will include contracts with a number of EliteXC fighters, including Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, Gina Carano, Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Frank Shamrock and many others.
Tonight is World Extreme Cagefighting 36 with one of my faves, Urijah Faber taking on Mike Brown. WEC is definitely something I would show to people to try to increase interest in the sport.
Former Missouri and US Olympian wrestler Ben Askren is in the news as he is getting prepared to enter MMA. I was in awe of him back in his days as a Tiger. He had crazy flexibility. He was really something to watch. That kind of flexibility will be a huge asset, and I don’t see him having any trouble catching on to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Back in boxing, Hasim Rahman is going to fight Wladimir Klitschko in December. I’ve long been a dumb believer in The Rock. I will be again for this fight. If Rahman can get one good shot in, I do believe he can win. And of course, all the talk this week is about Roy Jones Jr. and Joe Calzaghe. One more episode to get people pumped up about it.
Busy week at the Blog. Tomorrow: reaction/quotes from the MMA conference call with Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar. Friday: review of the final episode of HBO’s 24/7 with RJJ and Calzaghe. And then sometime during the weekend, a fight review as we turn our heads toward Couture and Lesnar next Saturday. Finally.
Episode 2: 24/7 Jones-Calzaghe
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
I really should start taking notes when watching this show, but I think that defeats the whole purpose. Watching 24/7 is supposed to be fun, not work.
Besides, this is in no way supposed to be an analytical TV review. This is just a fight fan’s perspective on the best concept in boxing today.
So for episode two, we dive more into the family life of both Roy Jones Jr. and Joe Calzaghe. As I’ve said before, that’s what I love most.
If you’re an avid fight fan, you don’t really need to go down memory lane with either guy to know why they’re so good. I remember the James Toney, Reggie Johnson, John Ruiz fights for Jones just like the Jeff Lacy, Mikel Kessler and Bernard Hopkins battles with Calzaghe. I could just pop in my DVDs if that’s what I wanted.
I liked how they went into the strained relationship Jones has with his father. If that’s true about some of the training techniques (hitting Roy with a pipe while running, placing a board with nails sticking out in bob and weave drills), that’s messed up.
And it’s nice to know there is some peace between the two now even if all they have in common is their love of animals.
Interesting analogy by Enzo Calzaghe about boxing and music. The verse is the jab. It gets you into the fight/song and leaves you wanting more.
Joe is so likeable that he is almost boring. Being a great fighter doesn’t mean you have the most interesting life. This series is designed to help me cheer for RJJ and right now, eh, not really doing it. I think they’re both coming off well, and there is no obvious face/heel concept here.
Most interesting thing of the show: there was a PA announcer for Roy Jones III’s football game. He’s 8 years old, why is there a PA guy? I give Roy J (as RJ III is called) credit though. He had some moves for an 8 year old.
Also of note is RJJ saying he needed to get home so he wouldn’t overtrain. That happens. You know, you can get so amped up for a fight, you put too much into the camp. I figure nobody knows his body as well as Jones so I liked the honesty there.
So as we head into Thursday night’s finale, Joe is in NYC while Roy is on his way there. The final episode can be seen on HBO at 10 p.m. CST on Thursday and of course, the fight is next Saturday.
Whoops, got that Vic Darchinyan fight wrong. Of course, I’m not accepting blame. It looked like Cristian Mijares did not take the Armenian seriously. Darchinyan has freakish power at 115 and Mijares felt it early, late and when he was down for the count in round nine. Mijares is a fighter, but he didn’t look like he had a fighter’s mentality all throughout the fight last night.
And in MMA news, Patrick Cote will be out 6-8 months with a knee injury he suffered last week vs. Anderson Silva. Hope everything works out for him, and he can get back when he’s 100 percent.
