Shamil Zavurov vs Yasubey Enomoto - M-1 Challenge XXV

Shamil Zavurov (left) vs Yasubey Enomoto

Let's start with the obvious - the Unanimous Decision was a robbery.
All Zavurov did in this fight was lay on top of his opponent and that was it. And this was strange to watch because Shamil is a banger and loves the top position, has vicious ground and pound and so on... But this time he did zero damage from his "dominant position" and it looked like all he was trying to do is to score points from the takedowns. He really looked like a "GSP meets Jake Shields meets John Fitch" hybrid.
Even more - Shamil Zavurov was getting caught in submission hold after submission hold with every move he tried to do on the mat.
I guess initially Zavurov genuinely wanted to try to do something on the ground but Enomoto was shutting him down completely with every new attempt and Zavurov was unable to do anything from the top.
So, at one point it became obvious that Zavurov's takedowns were not gaining him anything.
Still, he kept taking Enomoto down and laying on top of him him while getting almost subbed in slick octopus grips every 30 seconds or so.
I'm watching the fight again and I don't see how even a super-biased-red-mafia-bribed Russian judge can score this fight for Zavurov.
That's insane!!!
Enomoto was totally dominating this fight from the bottom *AND* in the standup.
Oh!
And let's talk about the referee restarting the fight after Enomoto had Zavurov in a guillotine but got tangled in the ropes. The ref restarts the fight in the center of the ring but doesn't allow Enomoto to put Zavurov back in the guillotine choke.
Enomoto starts protesting - he wants his guillotine choke hold back.
The Russian referee thinks for a second, sees that he can't handle the situation and goes like: "You know what, I guess it would be best for all of us if I just stand you up, guys". And indeed - he fucking stands them up and restarts the fight from the standup!
I was outraged. Didn't know whether to laugh or to punch my monitor.
Fucking bush league reffing there.

The good news is there will be a rematch soon. And I welcome the idea. I'm sure everybody who saw this fight would do too.

Georges St. Pierre vs Jake Shields - Boring As Fuck Or Quite Banging?

 

The UFC WW champion GSP (left)
and the contender Jake Shields

I don't know what to think of the upcoming bout between GSP and Jake Shields plus I hate to comment on fights before they have happened. To me it makes no sense to do that.
That being said, I guess I'll try to do a little analysis of the situation.
What we have here is two super fucking boring fighters going at it. We have two guys who rely entirely on taking people down and then laying on top of them for 5 fucking rounds. We have two fighters who never take any chances and who put safety above everything else. I can almost hear both GSP and Shields yelling in a sweet harmony: "Fuck the fans, we are not here to entertain them. We are here for the Unanimous Decision."
So, what does this mean? That 55,000 Canadians in the hall and millions of PPV buyers are going to get a boring fight? I would not put the house on that.
Look at the Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard fight. On paper it looked like the most bring matchup ever but in reality it turned out to be one of the most entertaining fights in recent MMA history. So I wouldn't be surprised if GSP vs Shields actually delivers.

Shields has to be hungry to prove himself in the UFC, especially now, when he was given a title shot just like that. And just after a super shitty split decision performance against Martin Kampmann on top of two consecutive UDs in Strikeforce...
Yes, Shields simply must be hungry to put on a spectacle.

GSP, on the other hand, claims that he hears all the criticism on his LnP tactics. He also knows that to be remembered as a great fighter, he must start finishing guys again. What better time to start doing that than now? Three consecutive UDs do not get you any near close to Anderson Silva, pal. And you know it. So you'd better start fighting for real, Georges.

Well, I guess this is all I think about this fight - it is about time for both guys to bring it. They just HAVE to.
But will they?... We will find out Saturday night.

Fedor's Sweater Is Back!

Fedor Emelianenko sporting the legendary sweater.

Few things in MMA have reached cult status. Fedor's legendary sweater is definitely one of them. And guess what: The Sweater is back and it is being worn by no oher but Fedor, of course.
It is great news that the cult piece of clothing is still in the possession of The Last Emperor.
For fuck's sake, Fedor, do NOT give the sweater to Ariel Shillwa... err, Helwani, like you promised in your last interview. The sneaky, big-nosed Zuffa shill should never be allowed to even touch The Sweater, let alone have it on his wall.
I wonder what happened to the promised release of fan shirts emulating Fedor's sweater pattern... wonder if they're out already.
I would fucking buy three of those and would wear them only on special occasions. Hurry up, Evgeni Kogan, the legend is back - just fucking print those shirts.

Fedor Knocks Out A Movie Stuntman

It looks like some funny shit happened at the set of  Fedor Emelianenko's first movie - "The Salamander Key".
In this video interview Fedor tells the story and I took my time to translate it for you, you MMA weirdos. Next time learn Russian just like I learned English, you punks. Transcription is below the video:

Fedor:
You know, I actually liked acting in a movie - it was interesting, but I feel that at this stage I should not be doing this because I am a sportsman and I have to compete. 

Fedor:
There was a curious and not very pleasant situation involving me and a stuntman. The scene didn't go the way we rehearsed it.

Journaist:
What happened?
Fedor (smiles):
He suffered a light knockout.

Fedor:
I wish that people started thinking a little bit more and always tried to do good things, it doesn't matter whether in a movie or in real life.

Dana White / Zuffa refuse to renew Fedor Emelianenko's contract?

Fedor Emelianenko

I was browsing the internet a second ago when I saw this fucking news. Let me start by saying that this most probably is a bullshit rumor but one that is worth analyzing.
It was posted on somebody's Facebook wall  - a link to a Russian sports web portal: http://lifesports.ru/news/54627

Basically, what the news says is that a "source" close to Fedor told the Russian news agency that the Zuffa guys have refused to renew Fedor's contract.
The source's commentary was that Fedor's price has dropped down dramatically after his latest back-to-back losses in Strikeforce. The Russian article says that Fedor was offered two options: to serve as a stepping stone to young fighters or to leave.
Hmmm.. That sounds pretty fucking phony, if you ask me.

I really don't know if this fucking news is true or not, but if it is true, let's analyze the reasons why Zuffa wouldn't want the former Pride FC heavyweight champion's contract to be continued. They may be more complex than it seems.
And before all you nutcases start ripping on Dana White & Co. for being a bunch of Fedor "haters", please be aware that Dana never takes things personally - he doesn't give a flying fuck about what a person or a manager has to say about him. Dana only cares about Zuffa's market, Zuffa's business and about the money this or that fighter can generate for Zuffa.

So, one reasonable explanation may be that Zuffa sees M1 as the new competition on the MMA market. Especially now, when M1 have a Showtime deal. So why resign and build up M1's most prominent fighter? Why not kill M1's cash cow and thus make them die off? Why not erase Fedor from history and in this way solve a whole bunch of potential problems in the future?
Sounds like a good business plan to me.

Or maybe it is that Dana made a market research and it showed that Fedor is not that big of a draw as the fans think that he is and therefore is not worth the money his management is asking?

Maybe all of sudden Dana cares about fighters' legacies and Fedor's 1:2 record in Strikeforce is the reason? Haha, not likely, I know...

We have a lot of "maybe's" going on here but whatever the real reason is, I am sure that it is not a personal thing. It is something money-related. As it has always been the case - business as usual.
Dana's dirty business.

One more time: let's not forget that this whole shit is not confirmed yet. It could be just a fucked up-rumor. And most probably it is.

So stay tuned for confirmation or disapproval of this shit.