Great October sessions

Since I am back from the PWA Slalom final on Sylt I tried to get as much time as possible on the water. The good performance on Sylt, I could finish the season with the best result of the 2010 season with a 35th, gave me a lot of motivation. Most of the sessions on [...]

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California River Awards 2010

It’s that time of year when the luminaries of the California Rafting and watershed scene gather for an evening of celebration, hob-nobbing, and fund-raising–yep, get your engines started for the star-studded Friends of the River California River Awards! This year the awards will be held Friday October 8th at the Presidio Officer’s Club in San [...]

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With Matchmaking, UFC Plays Chess While Others Play Checkers

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce

If you're wondering what's up with Alistair Overeem, allow me to fill you in: He's supposed to fight for Dream on New Year's Eve, except for the pesky little problem that they can't find an opponent for him (maybe it'll be Todd Duffee), and then he's supposed to fight for Strikeforce in the spring, except they've consistently been unable to find opponents for him (one title defense since he won their heavyweight belt more than three years ago).

In case you haven't noticed, finding an opponent is kind of an important part of booking a fight. And the inability to consistently get fighters into the cage with the right opponents is the fundamental reason that Strikeforce, Dream and other MMA promotions consistently lag behind the UFC in generating fan interest and building momentum from one fight card to the next.

The UFC's matchmakers, Joe Silva and (now that the WEC has been absorbed by the UFC) Sean Shelby, are like chess grand masters thinking several moves ahead. Other promotions are like a kid playing checkers, moving ahead one square at a time, without any long-term strategy.

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Scrambling Mt. Temple

This past week in the Canadian Rockies, enough snow has fallen at high elevations and the daytime temperatures have remained cool enough that scrambling season has clearly ended. Sure, any summit is accessible any time of year, if you’re a black-belt mountaineer. But a patina of snow and/or ice makes a long, steep, rough scramble [...]

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UFC audio memories: Liddell and Hughes before UFC 64

Two of the biggest stars in the history of MMA sat down for a long interview in 2006. Liddell was prepping for his UFC 66 showdown with Tito Ortiz. Even back then, Liddell was wary of Tito showing up for a fight.

Hughes was coming off his UFC 63 win over B.J. Penn. He talks about Georges St. Pierre disrespecting him coming into the Octagon after that win. Hughes would go on to loss his belt against GSP at UFC 65.

This was a great interview because Liddell forgot he was on live radio and cursed 15-plus times. 

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Sunny Sunday Morning

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UFC 124: Mac Danzig Knocks Out Joe Stevenson

by Michael David SmithIn a battle of former Ultimate Fighter winners, Mac Danzig knocked Joe Stevenson out with one devastating punch at UFC 124.

For a couple minutes of the first round the two were just feeling each other out, and then all of a sudden, Stevenson left his chin exposed as he tried to get inside, and Danzig landed a perfect left hand to the jaw that sent Stevenson to the canvas, face first. Danzig pounced and landed one more hammerfist on the ground before the referee could pull him off, but Stevenson was out cold before he hit the ground.

 

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