UFC 91 happened last 16 November at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that featured great fight cards. Up and coming fighters and retuning veterans showed how to be the best in the MMA industry. Demian Maia, a BJJ blackbelt, showed athleticism by beating Nate Quarry with 2:13 left in the first round. As expected, Maia brought the game on the ground. After securing a body triangle, which is pretty tight, he patiently waited until Quarry gave his neck. He finished him by a rear-naked choke and improved his record to 10-0.

Jorge Gurgel, who trained under Mark Dellagrotte’s Sidyodtong USA, was defeated by the returning Aaron Wiley in a match that ended in unanimous decision. Gurgel, whose gameplan was to hit and move, was stronger in the first round. He threw vicious body kicks and combos. But he came short in the second and the third round. Riley, who threw great combinations and kicks, also scored while on the ground. Gurgel, a BJJ blackbelt, ate big hammer fists from Riley. Many thought that Gurgel will use his ground game but Riley came out the stronger. Riley handed Gurgel his fifth lost in MMA.

Up and coming welterweight fighter, Dustin Hazelett, defeated Tamdan McCrory in an exciting way. The two young guns traded shots and kicks that pleased the crowd. Hazelett’s eating nasty strikes from the geeky-looking McCrory but still managed to bring out his best when the two were on the ground. Hazelett, the bearded Kentucky native, executed the rubber guard and pulled the omoplata. McCrory tried his best to get out of the tight arm lock but Hazelett tapped him out with a minute and a second left of the first round.

“I want BJ’s belt!” This is the strong words that came from Kenny Florian’s mouth after defeating Joe Stevenson in the first round. Stevenson chased Florian who ran around the octagon. Florian, also a Sidyodtong fighter, showed that he has great footwork and Muay Thai skills. Stevenson scored a takedown but Florian easily escaped. Stevenson, still chasing Florian, caught a nice head kick and the two came back to the ground. Florian, also an effective ground gamer who has a BJJ black belt under Gracie Barra, showed that he’s not just a stiker, but a grappler too. After scoring points, he made a great transition, mounted Stevenson and got his back. Stevenson tapped out with 57 seconds left.

Captain America showed the world that even a “rusty man” can fight a bigger and younger fighter. Randy Couture gave the former NCAA wrestling champ, Brock Lesnar, a pretty good fight. Couture, being the crowd favorite, scored a nice shot while Lesnar tried to score with his humongous knees and pinned down the champion in the fence, taking advantage of his size. When they separated, Lesnar tried his wrestling takedown and successfully brought Couture on the ground but the champ made a reversal. When the two got up, they exchanged vicious knees strikes.

In the second round, the two continued to exchange punches and Lesnar landed a nasty right that made the champion wobbly. They came back to the fence, which is better for the champion, and still landed nice and nasty shots with each other. Couture cut the challenger’s right and returned to the fence. Lesnar scored with his fist which is as same size as his opponent’s face. The challenger hit Couture with a right hand behind the ear that dropped him on the ground. The massive Lesnar gave Couture with crazy and vicious hammerfists that forced the ref to stop the fight. Couture is now 16-9 while the new UFC heavyweight champ improves to 3-1.

photo courtesy of latimesblogs.latimes.com

There are similarities between the Pavlik-Hopkins match and the upcoming Pacquiao-de la Hoya match, also known as The Dream Match—and many predicted that Pacquiao will be the next Pavlik. Kelly “the Ghost” Pavlik suffered his first loss to Bernard “the Executioner” Hopkins in a 12-round boring exchange of blows. Hopkins won by a huge margin against the man who climbed up to the light heavyweight division. Pavlik, a natural middleweight, weighed in at 169 lbs while Hopkins, a natural light heavyweight, scaled in at 170 lbs but fought at 180 lbs.

Pavlik became sluggish and slow due to weight increase and caught “veteran” punches thrown by Hopkins. Hopkins, being the more experienced, stuck to his gameplan—when Pavlik comes close, he’ll throw a counter or clinch. In other words, Hopkins outsmarted Pavlik.

One of the similarities of Pavlik-Hopkins and Pacquiao-de la Hoya fights is the age factor. Pavlik is younger than Hopkins and Pacquiao is younger than de la Hoya. Experience will definitely play an important factor but the game plan will still be the greatest factor. De la Hoya will never outsmart Pacquaio—Manny’s intelligent, he will not go with the Golden Boy’s fight.

Another similarity is the weight factor, Pavlik climbed to a higher division like what Pacquiao did. But I think weight increase will be never be a problem for the versatile Pacman. Freddie Roach trained him to be tough and prepared him to face an opponent like de la Hoya.

Though Pavlik and Hopkins were similar when it comes to height and reach, Pacquaio is shorter (6 inches shorter than de la Hoya) and has shorter reach (5-6 inches shorter). Will it be a factor? Is de la Hoya now prepared to box against the best southpaw in the industry today? Will de la Hoya’s body ready to take the beating? Or is Pacquiao ready to fight against a more experienced and taller opponent. Let’s wait and see.

photo courtesy of aceonsports.com and brickcityboxing.com

Allen Iverson, one of the NBA’s most decorated players, has been traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Chauncey Billups and center Antonio McDyess for a multi-million contract trade. Iverson, the 6-foot erstwhile guard of Georgetown, will receive a $21.9 million this season while Billups, who spent 6 years in Detroit, will receive $36.3 million in a three-year deal. McDyess will receive $6.8 million in the next two seasons and the other center, Cheick Samb will play for the Nuggets in order to match the salaries in the trade.

The trade will serve as a homecoming for Billups and McDyess since the former spent two seasons in the Nuggets (1998-2000) while the latter spent his rookie days in 1995. Iverson will now be playing on his third team in the NBA. He was traded in the second month of the season in 2006 but failed to lift the Nuggets with the rising star Carmelo Anthony.

This is a huge gamble for both teams. Now, Denver will have more experienced players (experience in post season) and Detroit will have younger guns, Rodney Stuckey will assist Allen Iverson in the backcourt. Will Detroit Pistons regain the East Supremacy and bring back the glory to the Motor City? Or will the Denver Nuggets find gold on their re-acquired members. This is a more exciting season for the basketball fans.

Iverson played his first game against the New Jersey Nets but Vince Carter and company spoiled it by defeating the Pistons, 103-96.

photo courtesy of news.yahoo.com

I’ve seen athletes playing with different accessories, accessories that are required and that are just for fashion and beliefs. One of the coolest things I’ve seen is the so-called Titanium bracelets and necklaces available in the market today. Titanium bracelets and necklaces manufacturers claim that their products can help to relieve stress and fatigue from daily activities, although US Food and Drug Authority (FDA) did not approve these products.

The “science” behind these accessories is that when a person’s weak, sick or stressed, the positive and negative ions of the body are not balanced therefore the main role of these accessories is to stabilize the flow of energy—it’s like the equilibrium of the yin and yang.

There are many baseball players who wore these accessories. Randy Johnson bought some while in a tour in Japan; Tom Glavine once wore it and lost his game and swore not to wear it again (ha!); and the first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz also did not like the necklace because it stinks when used for a long time. I think it’s just a placebo effect, if you think that it will work, it will.

Other peculiar things I saw in TV are the green stickers on the NFL players’ helmets. I thought it was just a new helmet and the owner forgot to remove the sticker or the certification mark like the IEC mark of the electrical equipment. But these stickers are markers to determine whose helmets are equipped with speakers to hear the play from the sideline or from the team booth. I’ve noticed that only quarterbacks are the only ones who have the green stickers but there’s also a defender allowed to have a speaker in his helmet. Anyways, the logo on the sticker’s quite cool—NFL logo and a lightning bolt.

photo courtesy of my.detroitmagic.com and redskinblog.com

Have you seen Randy Couture’s ears? Or Matt Hughes’ ears perhaps? Can you recall what vegetable it resembles? Yes, Cauliflower. It’s called cauliflower ears because of its appearance. This is common among contact sport practitioners—wrestler, BJJ players, rugby players and mixed martial artists. That’s the reason why wrestlers wear these so-called funny headgears.

Cauliflower ears are caused when ears are subjected under friction and hard blows. This is a hematoma condition between the cartilage of the ear and the skin. In the world of science and medicine, it is called as hematoma auris—blood clot in the ears. Lumps will develop over the ears and might block the ear canal. I’ve seen some conditions that the ear looks pale due to insufficient blood supply.

There are different ways of removing the fluids; one is by evacuation or draining of fluid that are inside the infected areas. The physician will collect the fluid and then stitch the cartilage to the skin. Also, infusion of steroids is done after the fluid inside the infected areas is drained. Steroids must also be infused immediately and ears must be compressed. Lastly, the grossest treatment, is by leeches. Leeches will collect the fluid inside the infected parts.

Cauliflower ears are considered as a badge of honor by other athletes. This is the result of their dedication to the sport they love and it can also intimidate opponents.

photo courtesy of bigoven.com