Secure Your Castle

Taking a break from writing about Finance and the economy this post is going to be about the Strikeforce MMA event I attended over the weekend in Chicago. The main event in the fight matched Fedor Emelianko a Russian heavyweight who has not lost a fight since 2000, against Brett Rogers, a guy from Minnesota who a couple of months ago was changing tires at Sam’s club. The writing was on the wall for a Rocky vs Drago or Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson upset. The event was broadcast live on CBS and the following are my observations. Let me know what you thought of the event.

• The energy in the arena was higher than any UFC I have been to and there is definitely an aura surrounding Fedor that right now, no other fighter has. The arena, while only holding 13,000 seats was sold out. After the lackluster fight between Shields and Miller the large screens showed Fedor in his locker room and the place erupted in cheers.



• There were lots of fighter celebrities in attendance; however none received more of a crowd around them then Andrei Arlovski. Maybe it was because he trains out of Chicago, or maybe it was because he was the only person to fight both Fedor and Rogers, getting knocked unconscious by both of them.



• Outside of Fedor the largest ovation anyone received was when they announced Big John McCarthy as the referee. Maybe he should be renamed Little John as he has shed a few pounds since he started the phrase “Let’s get it on” in UFC 1.
• Jake Shields is dominating on the ground. I don’t think he pushed too hard during his fight against Jayson Miller to finish it though and was content winning a unanimous decision grappling match. I’ll give him a pass because he finished 9 fights in a row prior to this fight, but he also has to work on his standup which seems a little amateurish. The day he meets someone he cannot take down he will be in trouble. Watching Miller’s introduction, I think a fight against Phil Baroni would be as much entertainment one could have before the fight.
• Fedor’s finished the fight by knocking Brett Rogers out in the second round. Fedor mostly dominated the fight however Rogers did have his moments. Right after the opening bell Rogers opened up a cut on Fedor’s nose and potentially broke it. Later in the round Rogers reversed Fedor from the ground and landed 3-4 flush punches to Fedor’s head. After the fight people commented that Fedor was exposed in the fight. I agree that it is just a matter of time before Fedor loses; however part of Fedor’s mystique is that he takes punishment in almost all of his fights; however he recharges like the Terminator to win all of the time.

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• The undercard left a lot to be desired. It was filled with local fighters from Chicago and Indiana with only. The woman’s fight was the best fight on the undercard and I am interested in seeing how the winner will do against Cyborg. I would actually rather have watched Gina Carrano fight again.

If someone tells you that you are too old to do something point them to the accomplishments of MMA fighter Randy Couture. Just last weekend at the age of 46 Randy stepped into the octagon to headline the UFC event in Portland, Oregon.

You might not think that 46 is that old, but you are going to have trouble finding too many world-class athletes that are 46 years old, never mind ones who make their living in a cage against someone trying to knock them unconscious or rip off an arm or leg.

Randy didn’t win his fight, losing a unanimous decision against Rodrigo Nogueira, a 33 year old Brazilian who has a dent in his back from being run over by a truck when he was younger. In the post-fight interview Nogueira called Couture his idol.

Yes, there is the chance that Couture is full of HGH and other performance enhancing drugs, but since he has never failed a drug test and nicknames are “The Natural” and “Captain America” I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

I’m not advocating that senior citizens put on gloves and duke it out, but it is inspiring to see someone defy father time and achieve their goals.

I received the following email comparing the first pitches thrown out by President Bush and President Obama:

1. 2-Seam Fastball. Will cut down-and away. The typical strikeout pitch.
2. Power-T position before the throw. Generates hip drive for max. velocity.
3. Eyes on the target.
4. Pitching hand cocked back so batter can’t see ball during delivery.
5. Business slacks. He ain’t here to play, hes gonna break the catchers hand.

ASSESMENT
Strike three – batter looking. Fastball looked inside coming towards plate then broke away on the inside

1. Palm ball. Comes in slow and doesn’t move.
2. No Power-T. Right hand hanging down towards dirt.
3. Eyes and mouth show fear that a batter will actually be in there to knock it 603 feet..
4. Pitching hand open so batter can see ball during delivery.
5. Blue jeans? When they asked him to throw out the first pitch he wrote a speech.

ASSESMENT
This ball will be hit so far it will need a flight attendant.

The UFC is having it’s biggest event ever this weekend in Las Vegas with UFC 100. The following are my picks:

Lesnar vs. Mir
I’m going with Lesnar here based on the fact that he has had to have learned a lot since the first fight on how to avoid submissions. The first fight proved that he is too big and strong for Mir the question is whether he can avoid being put in a submission. Mir’s only chance is similar to the first fight if Brock comes out like a bucking bronco and puts himself into a leg lock or other submission.

Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves
Alves poses a challenge to St-Pierre that he hasn’t seen before in that Alves is just as big as he is and is a better striker on his feet. Actually it will be interesting to see if Alves makes weight for the fight as he has a history of missing weight. If St-Pierre can avoid the early KO he will impose his will over the length of the fight similar to what he did against BJ Penn. You hear that GSP won’t be able to hold down Alves on the ground, but I’ll believe it when I see it. GSP had little trouble holding down Hughes, Koshcheck, Fitch, and Penn so I’ll be surprised if Alves is able to get back to his feet

Henderson vs. Bisping
I’ve been going back and forth on this one, only because one of these days Henderson is going to show his age and he is going to be half the fighter he was from one fight to the next. That being said I am still picking him because I think Henderson’s wrestling will dictate where the fight will be and I see him landing one of his big straight rights knocking the Brit back to Liverpool

Fitch vs. Silva
An interesting fight as Fitch tries to avenge the loss of his teammate Josh Koscheck. Thiago comes in with an 11-0 record and while he looked lost on his feet he wound up knocking out Koscheck. I think Fitch is a better all-around fighter than Koscheck and grinds his way to a unanimous decision

Coleman vs. Bonnar
Coleman is a pioneer of the sport and I would like to pick him, but I see Coleman gassing and Bonnar taking control midway through the second. Unfortunately that means we’ll have to watch Bonnar fight again. I thought after his dismantling in his last fight Jon Jones that we would not have to see him again.

Akiyama vs. Belcher
Belcher has been improving fight to fight, but he has a serious challenge in Akiyama who has been tearing it up in Japan recently winning fights by both submission and knockouts. A lot of overseas fighters have struggled in their octagon debut, but I see Akiyama pulling out the win in this fight.

Other fights

Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller – Miller (I can’t pick against the guy from Jersey)
Jon Jones vs Jake O’Brien – O’Brien (Everyone is picking Jones as the next best thing, but he has a stiff test in O’Brien who probably has the edge with respect to wrestling
Dong Hyun Kim vs. TJ Grant – Hyun Kim (Should be an exciting fight, but Kim’s experience in bigger fights will prevail
CB Dolloway vs. Tom Lawlor – Dolloway (See what Bader did to Lawlor, I see Dolloway doing the same thing although it may be a more grinding GnP rather than a one punch knockout

After watching Barcelona win the Trifecta (La Liga, Champions League, and Copa del Rey) this year, Spanish soccer powerhouse Real Madrid opened up the checkbook by signing the last two World Players of the Year, Kaka and Christiano Ronaldo. The two signings cost Real Madrid over $200 million. They are not done with the signing of those two. Rumors have them pursuing Valencia striker David Villa and French Superstar Frank Ribery. Unlike sports in the U.S player for player trades are rare so before you can sign a contract with a player you must pay the players current club a transfer fee.

The moves are creating controversy because of the lavish spending of a European soccer team during a global recession. Manchester United, the English team who sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid currently is in debt for over $800 million. You would think that they would use the $180 million they received for Ronaldo to pay down some of that debt, however owner Malcolm Glazer has said that he will give the money to manager Sir Alex Ferguson to replenish the team by purchasing players from other teams. The outcome of the rising player transfer fees can only mean one thing: Rising ticket prices.

Just like the Individual Investor is at the bottom of the totem pole in the financial industry, the fan is always getting squeezed in the sports industry.