Meet the UFC Fighting Brains Behind GSP, Kenny Florian, and Jon Jones

by Stoker MacIntosh… It’s no secret that greatness breeds greatness, or that the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s elite welterweight phenom Georges St-Pierre—with his “lead by example” approach and universal respect—undoubtedly contributes greatly to the people around him.

For example, we can simply note the recent success of the fight camps, or stables, with which St-Pierre is associated.

Not by any means the least of which is a certain Albuquerque, N.M., training camp, run by MMA guru Greg Jackson, a camp which has now virtually become synonymous with top-ranked cage fighting.

The success of the Jackson stable is also largely due to its team of outstanding mixed martial artists, who, not unlike a regiment of soldiers, have become “brothers in arms”  and are “mentored” and also “monitored” closely by legendary trainers such as the great Phil Nurse.

Although the USA camp is arguably the best in all of MMA—and is virtually GSP’s “home away from home”—the actual home of the undisputed UFC 170-pound champion cagefighter is right here in Canada, at Montreal’s Tristar gym.

Formed in 1991, Tristar has quickly become Canada’s best known martial arts center, and it’s also where—as a young apprentice—St-Pierre learned his trade. Now, still in his 20s, he is ultimately headed toward becoming one of the all-time greatest journeymen in the sport.

Due to the success of St-Pierre and his team of specialists, Tristar is now a training gym affiliate—a satellite camp, if you will—which works closely with other fighters from other areas, including the Jackson stable.

Big name fighters, such as Jon “Bones” Jones and Kenny “Ken Flo” Florian are now migrating to Montreal in hopes of honing their already razor-sharp skills at the Tristar.

The UFC lightweight contender and Boston native Florian chose to leave his longtime coach Mark DellaGrotte and put his career in the hands of the trainer whose name is fast becoming almost as recognizable in MMA circles as Jackson and Dellagrotte.

Of course, if it is true that St-Pierre is the byproduct of great training centers, then there somewhere must also exist another great producer of greatness similar to Jackson in Albuquerque.

Meet Firas Zahabi.

If you haven’t yet heard of him, and you are an avid follower of the UFC, please stay tuned, as you soon will.

To get a slight glimpse of the man and his popular gym, please enjoy the video I have posted below.

UFC 107: Diego Sanchez to BJ Penn: “Now We’re Going to War”

by Stoker MacIntosh… Diego Sanchez had fighting words for BJ Penn in his pre-fight conference call for UFC 107:

“There’s going to be pressure in any fight. There was pressure on me when I won a state championship in high school. If you don’t know how to deal with pressure, you’re never going to be champion. This is what I’ve been working for the last eight years…If you want to beat the best, you have to fight the best.

“I suppose I’ve wanted to fight him since back when he beat Matt Hughes for the [welterweight] title. I always wanted to train with BJ, but it never happened. I suppose it was for a reason. It’s a good thing we never got together and trained.

“Now, we’re going to go to war. It’s going to be like chess…I feel like I got a lot stronger. I feel stronger at 165 than I did when I was at 185 on the show…In my two losses, I wished there were more rounds. I’ve always been a five-round fighter. I’ve never gotten tired in a fight…I’m rigged differently.

“In my mind, I’m going to beat whoever I’m in the cage with. You’ve got to believe in yourself. I believe it’s my time. Everything in my career built up to this moment. Everything feels right.”

This weekend live from Memphis, Tenn., the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold its 107th mixed martial arts event.

The featured bout will showcase the elite fighting skills of 155-pound UFC lightweight champion, and one of the world’s top “pound for pound” cagefighters, BJ Penn, who will defend his title against the formidable Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez.

They say if you are going to dream, you may as well dream big.

However, the question in the minds of most fans this Saturday night in Memphis will be whether “The Nightmare” is dreaming big or only dreaming.

When the legendary rock and roll guitarist Jimi Hendrix proclaimed in his classic song “Voodoo Chile” that he would “stand up next to a mountain and chop it down with the edge of his hand,” he wasn’t taken seriously.

Well, I’m sorry to say it, but the same applies here.

If my thoughts are correct, Sanchez, a big talker not unlike the great Hendrix, won’t be turning any “mountains into islands” when he faces his foe this weekend, either.

Although—with his tenacious attitude and highly energetic attack, there is a slight chance he may succeed in stirring up a little sand.

Saying that Sanchez has his work cut out for him this Saturday night, however, would be a very true statement.

Most folks who follow the rapidly growing sport of cage fighting know full well that there are merely a handful of fighters in today’s UFC who can be called “the elite pound-for-pound few.”

They are incredibly well rounded—and also virtually unbeatable.

It’s also no secret that resting comfortably among them, behind Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre in the UFC’s 155 lb lightweight division, is the third-best overall—BJ Penn.

And although the Hilo, Hawaii, native has also failed to chop down mountains when scaling the peaks of heavier divisions, at his home turf of 155 pounds, he has remained unbeatable for nearly eight years.

Known as “The Prodigy,” Penn has risen to the summit by defeating such notables as Matt Hughes, Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, and, most recently, tough lightweight contender Kenny “Ken Flo” Florian.

“Nightmare” Sanchez has supposedly reinvented himself as a lightweight after losing to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch at the welterweight level.

So far so good—he has beaten potential gatekeeper Joe Stevenson and stopped the pitty-pat-punching-yet-relentless Clay “The Carpenter” Guida.

Unfortunately, neither of those two fighters pose any danger at the top of the division, so in terms of the man he will face this weekend, his victories over them—no matter how impressive—”don’t amount to a hill of beans.”

Although anything can happen, it seems to this writer that Sanchez may be in too far over his head, and so, unfortunately for him, it won’t matter how hard he paddles for the shore, as the skill and speed of Penn will drag him under, eventually drowning him.

UFC 107: Frank Mir Vs Cheick Kongo: Mir,” Kongo Is Going Down. “

by Stoker MacIntosh… The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 107th event is scheduled for this weekend and it will be Coming to us live, this time from the FedEx Forum in the beautiful and picturesque city of Memphis, Tenn.

The event promises to be an action packed affair starring the unstoppable skills of undeniably one of the greatest cage fighters on the planet, BJ Penn; who will face former Television reality show champion, ” Diego ” Nightmare ” Sanchez.

Once the fights begins, “Reality” will undoubtedly be a factor in the mind of Sanchez; I’m betting he will find out quickly what it’s like to be ” in tough ” against a superior and truly “elite” champion at the 155 level.

The other match-up—which also promises us thrilling entertainment, and one to be sure and keep your eye on—involves the former two time UFC heavyweight champion Francisco “Frank” Mir.

Mir is the only man so far to have beaten—the seemingly unstoppable current UFC heavyweight champion—Brock Lesnar

This time it seems that he is matched up perfectly against a physically gifted, yet somewhat limited fighter.

The 6′ 4,” 230lb kickboxer, and French-born stand-up-fighting-specialist, Cheick Kongo, is is limited in his ground defensive skills, however, if he seizes the window of opportunity he most certainly has the striking ability to pull off an upset.

In this writers opinion, if he can keep the fight standing, he should use his long reach to jab, kick, and thus create distance; then throw heavy hands, and look to test Mir’s jaw.

It’s a cagefight, both men have equal weapons, two hands, and two feet, therefore anything, even the unexpected can happen, and sometimes does.

As for Mir, many of his detractors have accused him of cockiness, and of having a overabundance of arrogance and ego. Yet in the following video—which I have posted here for my friends to critique and discuss, you will hear a very humble Mir.

A fighter who gives props to his opponents , and credits 170 lb UFC welterweight superstar Georges St. Pierre for having the greatest take downs in the game.

Mir also discusses his game plan for this weekend, a simple one, which will include a stand up exchange followed by a single, or double leg take down.

Once on the canvas, Mir being one of the greatest Heavyweight submission specialists in the history of the sport, expects to finish the fight from top position.

If he succeeds, let’s hope Kongo leaves Memphis with all his faculties still in working order; unlike some other past opponents of Mir, such as Tim Sylvia, Lesnar, and even Antonio “Minotauro” Nogeuira.

Anyhow here is the video, enjoy.

Jon Bones Jones Destruction Of Matt Hammill Moves Him Onward To Greatness

by Stoker MacIntosh… Congratulations Mr. Jon Jones, in the court of public opinion, not only did you win your fight against a worthy, and extremely tough opponent—Matt Hamill, last night at the The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale—but you also showed the UFC fans of the world what true sportsmanship is all about.

The fight wasn’t even close, you totally destroyed a popular well known fighter who in reality, if you’ll  pardon the pun, was merely an outgunned mid-level offal product of a reality TV show.

Who also clearly didn’t belong in the same cage with you.

I raise a glass to you soldier, you are an extraordinary fighter, and with a few more devastating performances such-as last nights, you are undoubtedly soon to join the chosen few at the “elite” cage-fighting level.

Speaking of which, reminds me of another fighter with a similar style, who also lost as you did, and who was almost equally as honorable in defeat.

In January 2006, as part of a 175 lb cage-fighting tournament held by “Rumble on the Rock” promotion in Hawaii, UFC 185 lb elite champion Anderson ” The Spider ” Silva faced off against Yushin Okami.

Early in the fight Okami wrestled Silva to the ground, once there he immediately looked to pass the guard of “The Spider” and rain down heavy bombs from the top position.

From out of nowhere however, Silva unleashed a deadly accurate up-kick which  knocked Okami backwards and momentarily unconscious, ending the fight.

Silva was then stunned to learn that because Okami’s knees were on the mat, his strike was ruled a foul, for kicking a downed opponent.

So what initially seemed to fans as a thrilling win, suddenly transpired into a highly unfortunate disqualification loss.

And as was also the case in the controversial first heavyweight match between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar, at UFC 81, referee Steve Mazzagatti, is once again at the center of it.

The Loss to Hamill, and the subsequent, “professional self disciplined attitude” which you showed post fight, nevertheless is a sign of greatness, and will be looked upon as one more link in the chain of destiny for a talented young cage fighter.

So no worries my friend, the wheels are still in motion, and putting our ears to the ground they can be heard from 100 ’s of miles away. Like the rumblings of a distant train.

I don’t know where or when, or against who, but I do know it’s coming.

The illusive title shot.

“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities…because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” —Winston Churchill

Kimbo Slice Vs. Houston Alexander: TUF 10 Finale—Las Vegas Desert Storm

by Stoker MacIntosh… A famous chapter in the greatest book ever written tells us the story of a simple man.

The man’s name is Job, and in the Bible he is described as a blessed man, a hard worker who lives righteously and is thus rewarded with the best things in life.

Satan, however, decides to challenge Job.

He argues that Job only serves God due to his wealthy state, and if the circumstances were different and he had nothing, he would curse God and become one of Mephistopheles’ greatest followers.

To prove his point, he then proceeds to test Job by taking his wealth, his children, and everything else that the man had worked hard his entire life to possess.

Job, however—even at the point when all was gone—still stands firm.

For remaining steadfast and for his great loyalty to God, Job is rewarded with many riches and subsequently lives to the ripe old age of 140 years.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson is a man who has also faced down many of life’s worst adversities, and he will make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against Houston Alexander tomorrow night in the scheduled cage-fighting event known as The Ultimate Fighter Finale, which will be televised on Spike TV for the 10th straight season live from The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Alexander, in case you are wondering, is the powerful stand-up striker who took the cage-fighting world by storm by knocking out the established UFC 205-pound mainstay Keith Jardine in 48 seconds at the promotion’s 71st event in May 2007.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending upon which way you would like to look at it —Alexander is strictly a one-dimensional stand-up fighter.

Yet fortunately for him, so is Slice.

So here is a classic case of “styles make fights,” and here we also have two “bangers” with knockout power in either hand.

As a likely consequence of this “perfect storm” scenario, a full-out war is expected to erupt in the center of the octagon, which should see neither man taking a backward step.

Speaking of storms, Slice—not unlike the Biblical character of Job—had everything swept away from him in the “act of god” known as Hurricane Andrew, which bashed into the coast of Florida in 1992, rendering Slice completely homeless.

Slice remained strong, however, taking any job he could find, including a “chauffeur” and a “doorman” for a well-known “porn” studio company; well, he had to eat!

This previous TV season, Slice finally got his “big break” when he became a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter, a UFC-owned, reality cage-fighting contract competition.

Slice, after losing an early match on the show, demonstrated to fans “The Patience of Job” as he stood by and watched as other TUF fighters such as Brendan Schaub and Roy Nelson leaped over him to ultimately grab the spotlight.

Alexander also went through his personal losses.

His Hurricane came at UFC 78, in the form of a new Brazilian brick-throwing knockout artist—who was at that time was an undefeated contender—Thiago Silva.

Silva wasted no time in demolishing Alexander.

He won by TKO in the very first round; he had the floundering Alexander on his back, mounted, and was raining down heavy power-punches and hammer-fists that were right on target, causing a referee stoppage.

This was the beginning of the end for Alexander, and after another quick loss to “The Sandman” James Irvin in April of ‘08 and a submission stoppage to Eric “Red” Schafer on a Spike-televised UFC Fight Night show, Alexander then quickly disappeared off the cage-fighting radar.

He has since surfaced once again, however, scoring a recent first-round TKO win, albeit in a subpar promotion against no-name opponent Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline MMA last month.

Slice tipped the scales at 230 pounds for his fight on The Ultimate Fighter show, which was filmed over the summer, yet this weekend’s fight is at a pre-approved 215-lb. “catchweight” limit.

After the loss on the show—which was televised on Spike for millions to witness—it still remains a mystery to this writer just how the UFC will justify the upcoming matchup, when it will obviously be focusing on a loser of the reality show.

Maybe the good folks at Spike TV will simply hold it on the basis that fans are clamoring for it, which—depending who you ask—may or may not be true.

In any case, don’t blink, because these two are both stand-up slugger-style fighters. As a result, something similar to a bare-knuckle boxing match should likely ensue, and thus the fight may not extend past the 30-second mark before one of the two is knocked out cold.

Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy Is Now Official for UFC 111

by Stoker MacIntosh… According to this newly released article on SBNation.com, The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 111th event is now official, and this time it will make an East Coast North American appearance at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on March 27, 2010.

The main event will feature my fellow French-Canadian countryman, and elite 170-pound UFC mainstay Georges St-Pierre, 19-2-8 KOs, who will defend his welterweight title against British-born Dan Hardy, 23-6-11 KOs.

Hardy is soaring with confidence after his recent win over No. 1 contender Mike “Quick” Swick on his home soil, at England’s famous Manchester MEN stadium earlier this month.

However, most experts don’t give the British slugger much of a chance at winning this upcoming battle against the Canadian champion, and rightfully so.

St-Pierre is not only a formidable opponent, he is also undoubtedly “head and shoulders” above most, if not all, of the nearest competitors in his weight class.

Yet—as we learned from witnessing the Matt Serra vs. GSP fight—a puncher with a great “opening blitz attack” can be extremely successful against the elite cage-fighting champion.

And as you can judge from this recent YouTube.com interview, the “banger from Britain” believes he can do just that.

Good luck, Monsieur Hardy—you will need it.

UFC 107: Does Frank Mir “Have a Prayer in Memphis” Against Cheick Kongo?

by Stoker MacIntosh… The Ultimate Fighting Championship is scheduled to entertain and enlighten us with its 107th event next month, and this time it will illuminate from the FedEx Forum in the beautiful and picturesque city of Memphis, Tenn.

I’ve never visited the American city, yet whenever I hear someone speak of Memphis, I immediately envision the portrait brilliantly painted in the lyrics of the classic song “Walking in Memphis.”

The song was written by American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, from his self-titled 1991 album, and he walked us through Memphis as surely as if we had been there.

I don’t know whether the former UFC heavyweight cagefighting champion Frank Mir ever owned a pair of “Blue Suede Shoes” or not. However, what I do know is that he will undoubtedly have to board a plane next month and “touch down in the land of the Delta Blues” for what will undoubtedly be another tough UFC Octagonal battle.

It may not be “in the middle of the pouring rain,” either, but he is sure to encounter foul weather in the middle of the cage from the 6′4″, 240-pound French kickboxer known as Cheick Kongo.

Mir has been very outspoken recently, regarding his desire to get revenge on the now-sidelined UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, but “first thing’s first,” Mir needs to get past this next huge hurdle.

Kongo is an amazingly conditioned athlete, yet, luckily for Mir, he is a kickboxer with very little experience in submissions. However, he does possess the size, power, and certainly the reach advantage to give Mir trouble should Mir get cocky and try to keep the fight standing.

In a recent YouTube.com video, Mir decides to take a test drive in a bright yellow Lamborghini, and he jokingly refers to Kongo as a great “groin striker,” saying he plans to wear “family jewel protection” with a spike implanted on the surface, just in case.

We sportswriters, most times, try to be as unbiased as possible, but I will admit that I’ve been a fan of Mir since watching his amazing standing arm-bar submission over Tim Sylvia at UFC 48, a move that visually snapped the large bone in Sylvia’s forearm.

Sylvia, another huge fighter at 6′8″, 250 pounds, not unlike Lesnar, was also a dominant UFC champion at the time, but he had recently been stripped of the title for failing a random drug test.

This was the first evidence that Mir was nobody to mess with from the BJJ guard position, and if it weren’t for his career being interrupted by a potentially crippling motorcycle accident, he would have undoubtedly been a dominant champion even back then.

To borrow a line from the greatest heavyweight boxer who ever lived, Muhammad Ali, “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision.”

The greatest heavyweight boxer of all time could have easily been describing a former mixed martial arts champion, such as Mir, who has certainly demonstrated rare human qualities—not only in his career, but also in his life.

Life skills which are extremely hard to come by, such as honor, integrity, courage, and a tremendous amount of pride.

His passion for the sport is clearly evident also in his on-air commentating for the lightweight fight promotion known as World Extreme Cagefighting.

I am thoroughly impressed with the detailed job he does, especially during a recent featherweight championship event.

Mir took the time to explain each transition in detail, which is appreciated by laymen such as me who have no formal training in regard to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu side of MMA.

Understandably, Mir is extremely proud of his accomplishments so far. And from watching his fights throughout his career, it seems Mir not only believes he is a winner and a survivor, he has also proven it and lived through it.

As we know—from watching the most recent UFC event—trilogies in fight sports are extremely popular, so, if Mir beats Kongo impressively, he may just find himself in another rubber-match of sorts between him and the behemoth Lesnar.

Or perhaps Mir will face off against a new interim heavyweight champion.

In any event, Mir may not have had a prayer last time out against Lesnar, but that was then, and this is now, and to borrow line from Cohn and his famous song: Mir, “boy you’ve got a prayer in Memphis.”

Josh Koscheck Should Shut Up: GSP Could Take Him and Dan Hardy on the Same Night

by Stoker MacIntosh… One of the most truly bizarre cage fights ever witnessed took place from the Mandalay Bay Events Center this weekend, at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 106th event.

The match was fought at 170 pounds, and it was between welterweight contender/pretender Josh Koscheck and up-and-comer Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

Koscheck—after losing most of the standup battle—decided to take the fight to the ground and was then accidentally fouled by Johnson while attempting a wrestling maneuver known as a double-leg takedown.

Depending on who you ask, the foul was an illegal knee strike to the arm or shoulder area. Nevertheless, the behavior displayed by Koscheck following the foul was nothing short of Oscar-winning.

He cried, wailed, moaned, and seemingly wanted three weeks of recovery time for a foul that, in all honesty, other fighters would have shaken off in a matter of seconds.

Yet, in the end, he presumably decided to do the right thing; he started acting like a true professional cage-fighter, sucked it up, and went back to work.

However, for a guy who was supposedly injured, mortally wounded, or in severe agony, he displayed no outward signs whatsoever.

In fact, Johnson seemed to be the one affected; in a fight which he was once dominating, he seemed to now be mentally and physically absent, no longer able to hold his own.

As a result, he quickly gave up his back to the revitalized Koscheck, who wasted no time sinking in a sloppy-looking choke submission for the win.

Koscheck presumably also won the equivalent of the UFC presidential lottery, which is $140,000 for both the submission and Fight of Night honors, given out by commander in chief Dana White.

The award to Koscheck seemed to be more along the lines of a gratuitous gift, for hanging in there, finishing the fight, thus satisfying the blood-thirsty crowd instead of leaving them in an unhappy and riotous booing frenzy.

If that’s not enough, during the post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, the 170-pound “pretender” Koscheck—who is nothing more than a pumped-up offal from The Ultimate Fighter reality show—decided to take advantage of his TV time and call out British MMA head-hunter Dan Hardy.

He stated, in effect, that he—and not Hardy—should be entitled to the upcoming title shot at the elite French Canadian fighter, and UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre.

Hardy, who was seated at cage-side, basically laughed it off, gesturing that Koscheck should cry him a river.

My advice to Koscheck, who has already lost decisively to St-Pierre once and has two other losses to much more skilled contenders—Brazilians Thiago Alves and Paulo Thiago—is that maybe he should prove himself worthy of a title shot first.

Certainly beating a rookie such as Johnson or “tomato cans” like Yoshiyuki Yoshida or Frank Trigg doesn’t “fill the bill.”

And, finally, that he should also be very careful what he wishes for, because he just might get it.

My feeling is that St-Pierre would easily devour both Koscheck and Hardy on the same night and still have room left over for a large Montreal smoked meat sandwich.

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin 2: Much Ado ‘Bout Nothing

by Stoker MacIntosh… Please don’t everyone stand and cheer at once, but Tito Ortiz is scheduled to make his incredible, yet laughable, return debut to the Octagon this weekend against Forrest “Gump” Griffin, at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 106th event.

Correct me if I’m wrong, and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, yet—for the sake of the fans, and everyone else involved—some of these once-great retired fighters should just stay retired.

For one thing, even though 2006 wasn’t that Long ago, the UFC has grown by leaps and bounds since the days when Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, and Ken Shamrock were top contenders.

Ortiz’s best days have come and gone, and no matter what he—or his die-hard fans—may attempt to sell you, don’t buy it; he cannot possibly return and be the fighter he once was.

And the other thing is this: I don’t remember him being that good to begin with.

Wasn’t he more of a flamboyant wrestler-type showman with the flags, T-shirts, and whatnot?

Once, during a fight with Wanderlei Silva, didn’t Ortiz actually turn his back at one point and start to jog the other way?

Didn’t he actually steal his charismatic nickname from his friend and sparring partner, Tank Abbott, who was the true “Huntington Beach Bad Boy”?

New Brazilian brick-throwers now inhabit the UFC 205 light-heavyweight division.

Young men such as knockout slugger Thiago Silva and former Pride FC star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who - by the way - also looked great his last time out.

These top contenders are also extremely well rounded, and with hands of stone, would definitely make short work of a one-dimensional wrestler such as Ortiz.

The Ortiz-type fighter is from another era, an era when acquiring just one basic skill could win you a UFC title; those days are now thankfully, gone forever.

Fighters from that aforementioned era—such as Ortiz, Hughes, Shamrock, and Liddell—have starved and stagnated themselves by becoming slaves of their personal favorite style.

As a result, some of them continue to die a long and painful death, hanging on tightly to the exposed threads of what was once was an unbeatable formula.

Once upon a time, those simple wrestling—or the Gracie’s BJJ techniques—were a basis for everything else; however, today’s UFC fighters need to be equipped with much more diverse tools.

Stand-up striking with a slick boxing style is now one of the most powerful weapons in a cage-fighter’s arsenal.

To borrow the words of Joe Rogan, “they need to not only be great at one style, they need to be great, or very good, at all styles of combat.”

With all due respect to Ortiz, he is approaching his 35th year of life; most pro fighters who are going to do it have done it by age 35, and those who haven’t will inevitably become gatekeepers or has-beens.

That factoid—along with undergoing extensive back surgery, which required long layoffs—undoubtedly would spell disaster should he enter the Octagon against any of the top contenders at 205 pounds.

Furthermore, there are fighters at 185 who would love to use the name Ortiz as a stepping stone for bigger paydays down the road.

Nate Marquardt, I’m sure, would have no problem moving up to 205, if nothing else than for the sole purpose of kicking sand in the face of the Huntington Beach has-been and adding Ortiz’s name to his recent list of victims.

Ortiz once used his win and near-win over Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin, respectively, as justifiable reasoning behind his claim that he can still compete at the highest level.

Those two dogs, however, no longer hunt.

Evans and Griffin are still somewhere in the running, but they’re not nearly as relevant as they once were.

He would be facing a fire-breathing dragon in Lyoto Machida—an undefeated fighter whom Ortiz has already once lost to at 205—and a deadly spider in Anderson Silva at 185, if he should foolishly decide to try his luck at fighting lighter and smaller men.

His chances of winning a championship title from those two cage-fighting predators are slim and none.

So even with his new-found top boxing trainer—Freddie Roach—in his corner, winning a Griffin rematch may be the best that Ortiz can accomplish at this late stage of his career.

The expiration date on the relevancy of this rematch with Griffin has also long passed, and it’s my opinion that it also has snooze-fest written all over it.

Yet no matter how thrilling, it still won’t be enough, I’m afraid, to catapult the Huntington Beach native back into the 205 mix.

The reason Ortiz is back escapes me, but I have a hunch it may have something to do with the return to the UFC of Vitor Belfort, whom Ortiz has a decision win against in 2005 at UFC 51.

Or maybe UFC president Dana White needs a former highly touted big-name fighter with a Mexican-American heritage in order to promote his latest quest. Which is to gain as many Latino fans as possible for his future shows near the Mexican border—possibly the loyal boxing followers who never miss a fight from the LA Staples Center.

For Ortiz, who has been around seemingly forever, fighting after 35 can also be a huge health gamble. After the long layoff, and surgery, I would be extremely surprised if Ortiz’s once-prominent skill set hasn’t now diminished to the point of no return.

Because, let’s face it, it matters not whether you are the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” the “Iceman,” “Iron-Man,” or “World’s Most Dangerous Man”—if one is truly past his fighting prime, his well-known name recognition will only get him so far.

The famous Ortiz name may get him a few last quick paychecks before he retires, or he may end up like Muhammad Ali with irreversible heath damages from sticking around too long, chasing those quick paychecks.

Or, sadly—like the once-great Mike Tyson—at age 43, he may find that he can still make the front-page headlines, if only for being awarded a first-round knockout over a defenseless photographer.

And the venue being nothing more than a nearby Airport Terminal.

Mike Tyson, Fedor Emelianenko, Tito Otiz: The Power of Name Recognition

by Stoker MacIntosh… The former heavyweight champion of the world and self-proclaimed baddest man on the planet, Mike Tyson, hasn’t fought inside the ropes since June of 2005, when a “Tomato Can” named Kevin McBride literally pushed him over during the end of the sixth round.

The Iron in Tyson was clearly rusted, and at that point in his long and storied career, the “has been” had been, and he simply was no more.

Tyson—in this, his very last fight—was fighting on his name recognition alone, and he merely rolled over, attempted to get up, staggered to his stool, and quit.

He was defeated, not by anything McBride had done, but by his own oxygen-starved body, which is a sad and pathetic byproduct of being past your prime, having diminished skills, and lacking the proper training and conditioning.

Still, these old and courageous pugilists fight on, like war-wounded soldiers from some distant and ancient battlefield.

Or jilted lovers who have long ago worn out their welcome yet feel they need just one more chance to get back in the good graces of their women.

A top prizefighter with name recognition, and specifically the money in which it brings, is insanely convinced he can push forward after the sport and the fans have long since divorced him.

For a great example which demonstrates my point that Tyson’s “name brand” power is still alive and well, albeit in a not-so glamorous way, we need look no further than last week.

Tyson, now 43 and tremendously overweight and out of shape, was arrested again recently after getting into a scuffle and punching a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport.

Although he hadn’t won any boxing titles or awards that day, he unquestionably would have garnered far less press coverage if that had been the case. The above mentioned scuffle was a top news item and was plastered on every news and sports Web site on the Internet.

A recently held cage-fighting event—aired on CBS during prime time—known as Strikeforce is another example of the power of name recognition.

Fedor Emelianenko is the Tyson of mixed martial arts, or cage fighting; people will pay big money to see him fight no matter where, but therein lies the problem.

Twice now, against Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers, Emelianenko’s fights have ended in somewhat thrilling fashion—he gets beat up in the early minutes but then comes right back and ends it all with one haymaker-style punch.

The guy has great name-brand recognition, but so far he has had no supporting actors and continues to insist on performing in one man shows; as a result, I’m doubtful he will survive while debuting “off Broadway.”

The former Huntington Beach, Calif., cage-fighting bad-boy Tito Ortiz will return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 106th event this weekend, following an 18-month layoff due to contract issues and back surgery.

It’s unfortunate for us fans, but in the opinion of this writer, Ortiz’s career was over long ago.

He was pummeled twice by semi-retired Chuck Liddell and was showing signs of declining cardio and punching power in his original matchup with another name-recognition fighter—Forrest “Gump” Griffin.

Maybe it’s just me being me, but it boggles my mind as to why these two “soup cans” are scheduled to demonstrate to us, in an unjustifiable rematch this Saturday, just why we couldn’t care less about them.

There is only one answer which fits the equation.

Name recognition—it’s a powerful and hungry pay-per-view, money-grabbing beast, and it will undoubtedly trick you into thinking you are going to see something special.

But I will be the first to inform you that—if the fight is anything like the first one—you will be far better off to enter your local pub and punch the biggest guy in there in the back of the head, then blame it on the guy seated next to you.

A much more skilled and entertaining fight will erupt, and it will cost you far less in the long run.

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