FanHouse Mma

During a scene in his movie Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen succeeded in making an arena full of rodeo enthusiasts very, very angry at him. It appears that he pulled the same trick twice more in Arkansas in April for his next movie and, once again, succeeded in getting the desired reaction.

The film, about his gay Austrian character Bruno, filmed at two arenas full of fans who came for a night of MMA action and $1 beers. What they got was two actors who put on a display a little different than what you get when you purchase a UFC pay-per-view. From The Smoking Gun, via Deadspin:

Both cards ended with two male grapplers (one was identified as "Straight Dave" and wore camouflage) tearing each other's clothes off and, while in underwear, kissing down their opponent's chest.

The crowd was less than thrilled by the turn of events.

"It set the crowd off lobbing beers," Holland said. "They had beers in plastic cups. Those things can get some distance on them actually." Holland said it took officers about 45 minutes to clear the convention center, as the two actors sprinted away through a specially set-aside tunnel.

Whether their reaction was caused by the cheap suds, homophobia or false advertising of a MMA show, I'm guessing it was exactly what Cohen wanted for his film.

The following guest post was written by Rami Genauer, contributor at FightMetric.

FightMetric tracked every second of UFC 86's main event fight between Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. How did the new UFC light-heavyweight champ stack up in this bout? We've pored over the numbers to make sense of this extremely close battle. You can check out the full stats from the fight here, but below are the numbers that matter:

First Round: One

The number of knockdowns in the round.

Make no mistake, it is certainly possible to win a round in which your opponent has knocked you down ... but it's hard. You really have to do a lot of damage to counteract the knockdown, which is the single-largest contributor to fight endings in MMA. Griffin led the round for all but the last 90 seconds. But the minimal effectiveness of those three-and-a-half minutes pales in comparison to Rampage's knockdown and those last 90 seconds, which represented the closest either fighter ever came to ending the fight. The round simply has to go to Rampage. Pity that only one of the judges (Nelson Hamilton) felt the same way.

Watching the UFC 86 weigh-in, the most striking thing is what an amazing body undercard fighter Corey Hill has:

Hill weighed in at the lightweight limit of 155 pounds. He's 6-foot-4 and he's 29 years old. That's just not normal.

Hill was a high school wrestler, but he got into mixed martial arts relatively late in life, getting his big break when he was a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 5. He's 2-0 as a pro, so he obviously has a long way to go, but I think he'd be a threat to just about any lightweight, because lightweights don't have experience fighting opponents with that kind of reach advantage. Hill is a fighter to keep an eye on.

The following guest post was written by Rami Genauer, contributor at FightMetric.

Let's say you wake up one day and find yourself standing across the Octagon from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. And it's not the jovial, wise-cracking Rampage either; it's the sneering, howling, intense Rampage who is ready to slam you into next Tuesday. Assuming that running away is not an option, what do you do?

To figure out what you'd be facing, FightMetric tracked all 20 of Rampage's fights in Pride and the UFC (and that one WFA show no one likes to talk about). Making some observations based on the statistical record, below are some things you might want to keep in mind. Forrest Griffin ought to study up before Saturday night's UFC light heavyweight title fight.

Be careful relying on the clinch

Many people have watched Rampage fall prey to the Muay Thai clinch of Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and figured that the clinch is where Rampage's game is weakest. That would be a big mistake.

Statistically, the clinch is actually the strongest part of Rampage's game.

The state of New York, despite much talk, hasn't moved any closer to legalizing mixed martial arts. Earlier today, MDS told you that Delaware, a small state but still a state, looks like it is moving toward an outright ban on the sport. Happily, not all states are still stuck on the outdated and incorrect "human cockfighting" label that detractors use against the sport.

A law legalizing and regulating MMA will become law in Tennessee tomorrow.

Another measure that takes effect Tuesday will legalize and regulate mixed martial arts fights in Tennessee through the creation of a Tennessee Athletic Commission.

Gov. Phil Bredesen's approval came despite concerns over a provision to require half of any money beyond that needed to operate the commission go toward grants to NCAA Division I wrestling programs.

I'll admit to not having followed the Tennessee legislature all that closely but I'm not sure why that last bit is such a bad thing. Wrestling programs tend to be strapped for cash at most universities because they don't generate much revenue, a helping hand doesn't seem like the worst thing.

Good for Tennessee. There's revenue to be gained from states willing to play host to MMA events and absolutely no sense being made by states that regulate and allow boxing while turning up their noses at it.

(H/T Bloody Elbow)

Although mixed martial arts has made great strides this decade in achieving mainstream acceptance, the sport still has a long way to go. Here's what Delaware state Rep. Robert J. Valihura Jr. told the Delaware News Journal after he introduced legislation that would ban "combative fighting" in Delaware.

"The safety of the individual is the concern," said Valihura, the bill's primary sponsor. "We intended to outlaw bare-knuckle boxing matches at the turn of the [20th] century. This seems a reincarnation [of that]."

Safety of the individual is a valid concern, but this legislation, which lumps MMA in with Toughman contests, seems misguided. As the Delaware News Journal article notes, studies have shown that boxing is actually more dangerous than MMA. Delaware should regulate MMA, not ban it.

Via Fight Opinion.

David A Avila of NBC Sports has a story about a book written by a pair of college professors who spent two years studying mixed martial arts. This part is particularly noteworthy:

Another interesting topic hit by the authors is the safety issue. Is MMA still too dangerous?

The two writers delve into that issue with both hands and do a great job of comparing MMA to sports like boxing, football, rugby, and other sports where there is physical contact.

"Football is much more violent. ...There's a former female gymnast who is now in MMA and she says gymnastics is much more brutal."

Many people have such a visceral reaction to the blood in MMA that they're incapable of any real examination of the safety of the sport. But there's no doubt that it's less dangerous than football, and I'm not at all surprised to hear that gymnastics -- which leaves thousands of girls with permanent back and joint injuries -- is viewed as more brutal by someone who has participated in both.

What opponents of MMA really have a problem with isn't that MMA is dangerous, it's that it looks dangerous. It's too bad so many people fail to make that distinction.

Over the weekend, MDS opined that it looked like Elite XC's second show on CBS would be better than the first. They released the particulars of that card, set for July 26 in Stockton, California, and it is indeed a good show.

As expected it will be headlined by a rematch for the middleweight title between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. The first fight, on the initial CBS telecast, ended too early when doctors ruled Smith couldn't continue after Lawler's thumb found its way into his eye. Lawler looked like the better fighter last time but Smith was holding his own and, hopefully, this time we'll get a satisfying finish.

Interestingly, Elite XC chose not to pit Nick Diaz against K.J. Noons in a lightweight title fight. Diaz, who is from Stockton, will fight Thomas Denny instead and one would hope the match is intended to wet whistles for a card centered on a title fight down the road.

There will be two other title fights, however. Jake Shields will meet Nick Thompson for the vacant welterweight title and Antonio Silva will meet someone for the vacant heavyweight belt. It's a shame that none of the fine heavyweights fighting for Affliction the week before will be an opponent for Silva as the best that Elite can offer aren't really worthy of a title fight.

It will be interesting to see how the show fares in the ratings without Kimbo Slice. There's better MMA but no crossover star to anchor the affair.

UFC's decision to run a live show on Spike opposite Affliciton's PPV debut on July 19th has nothing to do with Affliction. That's Dana White's spin on things, anyway. He told SI.com that he's simply giving the fans what they want and that Anderson Silva wants to fight more and that it is in no way, shape or form counter-programming.

He's also got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. UFC isn't giving away a Silva fight for free because they love their fans so much. The first light heavyweight fight for Silva, one of the biggest names in MMA, would be a draw for a future PPV and the choice to put it on Spike is clearly meant to drive a dagger into the heart of Affliction. Tom Atencio, Affliction's VP, spoke to MMARated and sees it the same way.

"It's just an example of how they want to control everything but at the same time it's flattering as well. I guess they do view us as threat...absolutely."

It's damn hard to see it any other way. UFC ran their own offerings against Elite XC's first CBS show and are now doing the same thing against Affliction. It didn't hurt Elite's ratings but that was free against free. When you're choosing to spend $50 or not, the decision is much different. Flattered as Atencio may be, he can't be thrilled about the hit his company is going to take because UFC feels threatened by them.

Earlier this month, MDS wondered if Chuck Liddell's return to the Octagon would be against Anderson Silva in a dream matchup for fans of mixed martial arts. We'll have to wait for that one, though. MMAjunkie reports that it was discussed but Liddell will be meeting Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC's first trip to Atlanta instead.

Liddell was supposed to meet Evans, replacing Shogun Rua, at UFC 85 in London but the Iceman's hamstring wasn't fit enough to allow him to fight. The fight will take place on September 9th, more than nine months after Liddell's victory over Wanderlei Silva. The combination of Liddell's injury, layoff and age is troublesome but Evans has been idle even longer.

He beat Michael Bisping last November in a battle of Ultimate Fighter winners to remain undefeated but hasn't fought since then. After Liddell had to be scratched, James Irvin replaced him but he too went down to injury. That's halted the rapid rise of Evans to the light heavyweight elite but a win over Liddell would have him right back on track.

Liddell-Evans is a fine fight but Liddell-Silva would have been one of the biggest fights ever. Here's hoping that Silva makes the move up in class sooner rather than later. He's beaten every top contender in UFC's middleweight division and beaten them badly. There are a bunch of tasty fights among light heavyweights, though, so let's cross our fingers that he'll be there soon.