Tim Sylvia ditches the UFC, fight with Fedor a possibility

Fedor apparently wanted no part of the 6’8” Sylvia, but it now looks like a fight between ‘Timmah’ and Fedor could happen before that of Randy and the Russian. We found it hard to believe that Fedor would lose his bottle and duck Sylvia, and now it looks like they could fight as early as August.

“Adrenaline is a new promotion, but it allows fighters to fight for other organisations. That’s huge,” Sylvia said of his new home, the promotion founded by his manager Monte Cox. “I've got 3 to 4 years left and want to fight as much as possible, so this is the perfect choice for me at this time.”

Canada is crazy for MMA

The Canucks love a scrap. Their two national sports (lacrosse and ice hockey) are basically fighting disguised as team sports involving sticks, so it’s no surprise that MMA is becoming hugely popular there. The UFC’s first event in Montreal was massive, and there are many local shows happening all over the world’s second largest country (except for in Ontario: see this month’s guest editorial for details).

No-one likes the new UFC gloves

The fingers are too tight, and the vaunted XXXL’s are actually the same size as the old extra large Ouanos (so a very well known UFC star told us). The cool-as-a-cucumber fighter rarely gets het up, but we got a five-minute tirade about the build quality of the gloves by a guy who really knows what he’s talking about.

“Everybody was kung-fu fighting”

For most people Cro Cop is still MMA’s head kick king (even after his ironic loss to Gabriel Gonzaga) but a new challenger for the crown of ‘most dangerous kicker in MMA’ has arisen. Cung Le was wisely biding his time beating up cans on Californian MMA promotions before allowing himself to be unleashed on the world in his fight with Frank Shamrock. The former San Shou champion (a type of Chinese kickboxing that allows takedowns: basically ‘real’ kung fu) proved he’s not just a flashy kicker – his left roundhouse broke Shamrock’s arm in three places. Ouch.

Dry ice at events sucks

Promoters take note. Dry ice looks like shit. You think it gives everything a ‘mysterious’ look, adding to your production values. Everyone watching thinks, ‘who the hell is that? I can’t see anything!’ The fact is makes it difficult for fighters to breathe (you’re pumping CO2 into an arena where fighters are already struggling for oxygen), and on top of that cameras don’t work as well (filming and photography simply shows a big white soup). Ditch the dry ice, please.

Commentators plus caffeine equals physical Tourette’s

If you ever catch an EliteXC show live and in the flesh, keep an eye out for bespectacled commentator Muaro Ranello, guaranteed to be sat ringside calling the action for the broadcast. The energetic entertainer spins his pen like a helicopter as he commentates, and the more exciting the fights are, the faster he spins it. We thought he was going to take off at one point.

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