I can’t begin to tell you how unbelievably cool I find this to be. Giant squid aren’t even that rare, and they are the largest invertabrates on the planet, but no one has ever observered one alive in their natural habitat until now. The Japanese team which took this series of photographs estimate the size of this creature to be about 25 feet long, actually on the smaller size, but still not something I’d like to find in the swimming pool.

National Geographic Article on Giant Squid

First of all, I’m wondering how much coverage this is going to get in other MMA sites, seeing as how the UFC will not be issuing any press credentials.

I could write a whole column on that subject, but the fact of the matter is that I really don’t care. I don’t care for two reasons 1) I really only like MMA these days to support my friends (I like grappling tournaments a lot more) and 2) if I wanted too, I was offered corner passes to get to the next UFC shows anyway (I have prior commitments).

I actually have a lot of friends fighting on the Monday fight night UFC however, I’ll be tuning in and maybe writing up something about it before that.

What I wanted to talk about is the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter, which in my opinion was the best episode of a somewhat lame season.

A lot of people are bitchin about the calibur of the fighters that have been selected for this season, but remember that they (UFC, SpikeTV) were only able to consider the ones who actually applied to the show. That being said, Joe Stevenson is far and away the most talented and dangerous middleweight on the show (this is hardly insider information after witnessing the beat down he delivered in his match), and if pressed to guess two heavyweights who will make it to the finals, I’d guess Mike Whitehead (out of the Miletech camp) and Keith Jardine (out of Team Gaido Jackson, along with Diego Sanchez). All of the above mentioned have been active on the grappling circuit by the way.

At any rate, back to this week’s show, minimal drama, and absolute insane challenge and a fun match. I don’t know if any of you have ever done the Scarecrow before in class, but doing it for nearly 2 hours at 200 rotations is simply inhuman. Like I stated above, I think Stevenson and Whitehead are the guys to beat on the show, if Matt Hughes doesn’t wear them into the ground first.

The fight itself wasn’t a technically great fight by any means, but it was nice to see two guys give it their all. I was rooting for Jorge, he’s always been a class time everytime I’ve met him, but I appreciate Jason Von Flue’s (whom I’ve never met) scrappiness. I think Jorge had an uphill battle the entire way this show, as he normally fights at 155 and he came in with a bum wheel. Then again, Kenny Florian normally fights at 155 as well, and he competed at 185! A healthy Jorge at a lighter weight would be far more impressive in my opinion. If the UFC follows the same pattern they did last season, we really haven’t seen the end of anyone anyways.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that a belt promotion was over due, and Ricco is as decorated as anyone in the sport.  Still, he had a long lay off from “pure BJJ” for quite sometime, so the delay in getting his black belt is understandable.

I remember seeing Ricco compete as a blue belt, significantly larger than he was in his UFC hey day, and being amazed at how well he moved for such a big guy.  His battles vs Garth Taylor on the California circuit were definitely something of legend.  Ricco went on to make a name for himself at both ADCC and later on in the UFC, where he was actually the heavyweight champion.  I sort of knew him through the circuit at that point, but didn’t really hang out with him until after he got the title.  I can honestly say I like Ricco a lot, he’s a hell of a fun guy to be around, but something tells me he’s been through a lot in his life and when he was on top he certainly knew how to live it up.

After he lost the title (and was robbed of a decision in Pride in my estimation) he kind of fell of the scene for awhile and took a lot of lumps in both the press and fans eyes.  He made a comeback which has it’s ups and downs, but the fact that the guy was at the very top, then went to the very bottom and continued to try speaks volumes about the type of man Ricco is.  He’s way too talented to keep down, and if he focuses his mind I have no doubt he has the ability to come out on top.

Obviously achieving the black belt was a huge milestone for Ricco, and receiving from none other than Jean Jacques (a man I respect as much as anyone in this sport) speaks volumes for where Ricco is at right now.  Jean Jacques handing Ricco is actually a milestone for both men in a lot of ways, and I know it meant a lot to both of them.

Congrats Ricco and good luck!!

Everyone is doing it, and if you read up on internet trends, blogging is definitely the hottest thing on the web right now. Still, I figured I already had a website, OntheMat.com so what did I need a blog for?

By the way, if you’re coming here from OntheMat, welcome! If you’ve found me some other way, I’m genuinely curious as to how, but welcome none the less, and be sure to visit OntheMat

While OntheMat is a news site and grappling and BJJ portal in a stricter sense and has a certain regiment on how articles get submitted and posted, this blog may tackle a wider range of topics than what is strictly posted on OntheMat, and drops the veil of journalistic impartiality as this is strictly MY OPINION .

Not that I believe there is such a thing as journalistic impartiality in the real world anyway. The media always has a bias. See FoxNews for example.

This blog will allow me to express an opinion and talk about happenings in our sports(s) even if they have not been officially submitted to OntheMat. It also gives me an outlet to post about other subjects of interest to myself that would be wholly inappropriate to OntheMat (I’m not too political, but expect a lot of cryptozoological notes here).

Hopefully what seperates this blog from just another asshole with opinion is that I’ve been around this sport now for close to a decade, and I’ve got a lot of insider information and amusing stories to tell and I still have many travels to go.

So thanks for stopping by and hopefully this blog will be a worthwhile and fun destination for you.

Your friend,
Gumby