MMA Uncensored Photo Contest – WIN $500!

Fiveouncesofpain.com is partnering up with MMARated.com to launch the ultimate user-generated mixed martial arts contest entitled “MMA Uncensored.” For the first time ever, MMA fans will get a chance to share their personal MMA-related media with the world and actually win money for it!

Snapped a funny photo of a UFC champion at a bar? Send it in. Shot footage of a a fighter interacting with fans? We want to see it. The user that submits the most intriguing photo OR video will win a $500 cash prize.

Here’s how it works:

* Log onto MMArated.com

* Create a profile

* Upload your photo or video with the title “MMAUncensored”

That’s it.

The deadline to submit your content is May 8th and you can submit as much media as you wish so log onto MMARated.com and start uploading!

ENTER NOW!

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MMARated.com’s Cultural & Media Rankings – 04/08/08

Welcome to week one of the MMARated.com’s cultural and media rankings. Each week we’ll weigh in on who’s hot and who’s not in the world of mixed martial arts. Take a look…

MMARATED CULTURAL RANKINGS – 04/08/08

READ THE REST OF MMARATED.COM’S CULTURAL AND MEDIA RANKINGS HERE

Posted in MMA, MMARated.com, Rankings | 1 Comment »

Listen To Fight Network Radio Today (And Everyday)

I interrupt your day to let you know that I will be a guest during the “Insider” segment on Fight Network Radio today to discuss a little MMA and wrestling.

While my appearance will come at 3:15 p.m. EST, The show airs on Sirius channel 186 or via the Hardcore Sports Radio site from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST. I suggest listening to the whole show – it’s quality fight programming.

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MMARated.com: Catching Up On Some MMA Storylines

MMARated Radio featured an interview with one of the best writers on the MMA beat, Sam Caplan of fiveouncesofpain.com and CBSSports.com. Caplan and I discussed a whole host of MMA topics ranging from YAMMA Pit Fighting’s debut show this weekend to Fedor’s future:

* Is there any reason to watch YAMMA?

* What is YAMMA’s plan for the future?

* Was the Suganuma-Hamman ShoXC fight stopped too soon?

* Marveling at the beauty that was Baszler-Tamai

* Elite XC’s identity crisis

* What does the IFL need to do to get noticed?

* Will they survive 2008?

* Where will Fedor fight next?

* Is there any chance of him ever signing with the UFC?

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW AT MMARATED.COM

Posted in Interview, MMA, Sam Caplan | 2 Comments »

Mornin’ Muesli: Random RAW Thoughts

By BOB BOYER, JarryPark.com Contributor

* Orton, Cena, Triple H & JBL for the WWE Title at Backlash.  Which one doesn’t belong?  Hmmm, I wonder. Why would they build JBL up the entire night, calling him “the longest reigning champ in Smackdown history,” and then make him look like a fool in the main event.  Strange…

* Put the tag straps back on London & Kendrick.  Of the four tag teams featured last night, they were the most impressive.  Although I must say that Santino’s post-match celebration was quite funny.

* Ric Flair was involved in the best segment of the show…..and he wasn’t even at the show!  Great job by WWE’s production team on that package.

* Here’s a tough one: What would you rather watch:  a) paint dry b) the Chavo\Kane contract signing on ECW.  C’mon guys do you really expect people to care about this nonsense?

* The Shawn Michaels\Batista “war of words” has been great thus far because it’s simple.  HBK retired Batista’s mentor.  Batista wants revenge.  Slow build to a match on Pay-Per-View.  TNA take notes…lots of notes.

* You would think they could get a better support structure for the obscenely expensive Jeritron 5000 HD?  I fully expect that thing to drop one of these days…

* The main event was OK, but again, at the end three guys were standing while one was laying not looking too good.  Hopefully JBL gets his heat back in a couple of weeks.

Posted in Muesli, Wrestling, WWE | No Comments »

Your Weekend MMA Report Card

The string of exciting televised MMA events continued this weekend with two action-packed offerings from the IFL and Elite XC. Missed any of it? Here’s who scored well on our report card:

D:
Jared Shaw: No one did anything bad enough to fail but I was none too pleased with Elite XC Live Events Vice President Jared Shaw. I am fully aware that promoters (or in this case their son) like to jump in the cage or ring after a fight but Shaw was way too visible after each ShoXC bout on Saturday night. At first it didn’t bug me too much, but after he gave the referee a look of discontent following the Hamman-Suganama main event it really pissed me off. Who the hell is Jared Shaw to intimidate a licensed MMA referee after a semi-controversial stoppage? Well, he is the Elite XC Live Events Vice President damn it! Doesn’t matter. Those in Shaw’s position need to support the referees while this sport continues to grow. It’s a very difficult gig and they deserve that much. While I didn’t agree with the stoppage, I had no problems with it. One can strongly make a case for the decision and the bottom line is that if the ref thought Hamman could no longer intelligently defend himself it was the right move to make. That should be enough for Shaw too. One last note on Shaw: I’m a young guy, I hate to wear suits and shave every morning. But if I held a job with as much visibility as the one Shaw holds I would make a little more effort to clean up before events. On Saturday night, Shaw was the face of Elite XC and instead of looking like a respectable adult he looked like a punk. The mohawk, sweatshirt and gold chains look so unprofessional it’s not even funny. Shaw is lucky to be fathered by a “successful” boxing promoter. He’s been handed a great opportunity and, from where I sit, he isn’t making the most of it.

Honorable Mention: The Table Mountain Casino crowd. I know most of them came to see Jared Hamman win but there is no excuse for booing Poai Suganuma as much as they did.

C:
Chris Horodecki: No disrespect to Nate Lamotte but I expected a hell of a lot more from Chris Horodecki on Friday night. I thought he would have come out with guns blazing but, alas, that wasn’t the case. Either Lamotte was just too tough or Horodecki hasn’t gotten over his loss to Ryan Schultz last December. I am going with the former as he’s way too young to let a loss like that affect his psyche. That said, another effort like this one may prove that “The Polish Hammer” wasn’t quite as good as we once thought.

Honorable Mention: Jamal Patterson. A solid effort against a much more experienced fighter in Vladimir Matyushenko.

READ THE REST OF THIS POST AT MMARATED.COM

Posted in Elite XC, IFL, MMA | No Comments »

Pollock’s POV: Dissecting Tragedies In And Out Of The Ring

Fight Network Radio and Live Audio Wrestling producer, John Pollock, tackles a couple of heavy duty topics this week.

First off, he weighs in on another “is pro wrestling responsible for this death” story. The incident in question is the death of a two-year-old boy in East St. Louis, IL. It appears as though the boy’s brother was responsible for the killing after strangling his brother with a part of their curtain. Their mother claims that her son learned this maneuver while watching World Wrestling Entertainment programming.

Next, Pollock looks at the Luis Resto- Billy Collings tragedy. Twenty-five years later this story continues to get uglier and remains a highly-debatable topic.

Pollock’s POV: Dissecting Tragedies In And Out Of The Ring

You can hear much more from John Pollock weekdays at 3 p.m. ET on Fight Network Radio on Sirius channel 186 or via Hardcoresportsradio.com not to mention every Sunday evening at 11 p.m. ET on Live Audio Wrestling.

Posted in Boxing, The Fight Network, Wrestling | No Comments »

MMARated.com & JarryPark.com Are WAMMA-Approved

I thought I would share this exciting piece of information with all the loyal residents of The Park…

MMARated.com is proud to announce that it’s editor-in-chief, Ariel Helwani, has been added as a new pollster on the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Rankings Committee. WAMMA’s Ranking Committee Chair, Sam Caplan, publisher of Fiveouncesofpain.com and contributing writer for CBSSports.com, extended an invitation to Helwani late last week.

Established in November 2007, WAMMA’s main goal is to rank MMA fighters by weight division, establish unified rules, ensure the safety and welfare of fighters, and sanction world championship bouts. According to its website, WAMMA will attempt to create a unified legitimacy to the sport as well as increase it’s integrity.

WAMMA does not promote fights, rather, it hopes that its rankings will help MMA promoters decide who the top contenders are in each weight class and, hopefully, have them work together to provide MMA fans with the best fights possible. Helwani joins the likes of The Houston Chronicle‘s Steve Sievert, MMAJunkie.com’s Dan Stupp and The Fight Network’s Mauro Ranallo on the 16-person committee. Each month, the committee will rank the top ten fighters in the heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight and featherweight division.

READ THE REST OF THIS POST AT MMARATED.COM

Posted in MMA, WAMMA | 1 Comment »

A Look At What Made Ric Flair So Special

By BOB BOYER, JarryPark.com contributor

Last week, I watched Ric Flair cry on my television screen for three straight days. He cried at the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony last Saturday night. He wept as Shawn Michaels uttered the now infamous line: “I’m sorry….I love you.” And he shed more tears during Monday Night RAW’s final segment – one of the greatest I have ever seen. In the aftermath of all this drama, I read a lot of articles and listened to various people talk about the dying days of Flair’s career. Many have mentioned that they cried with Naitch throughout those epic three days.

So, why can’t I stop wondering whether Ric Flair was really that special?

You see, most of my recent memories of Flair have come in the “post-kayfabe” era. Sadly, those times saw the Flair aura cheapened some horrendous WCW booking. While Flair was in a mental ward or reincarnating the Horsemen for the 12th time, the likes of Bret Hart, Steve Austin, The Rock, “Hollywood” Hogan and Bill Goldberg were at the center of the wrestling world.

However, if I think a little harder I can remember watching Saturday evening wrestling on TBS as a young child. It feels like just yesterday when I was admiring Ric Flair while he strutting down to the ring in his elaborate robes and that big gold belt around his waist. It would anger my father every time Flair would pull the ropes while torturing somebody in the figure-four leg lock or delivering a low blow behind the referee’s back. I started to look back on all the great emotional rollercoaster rides he led me through while sitting on my living room couch. Fast forward to the present and I can’t recall too many emotional present-day wrestling angles.

It was then that I was reminded of the beauty that is watching Ric Flair perform in front of a live audience.

While Bret Hart may have performed the moves better and Hulk Hogan attracted bigger crowds, no one could get you more emotionally involved in a wrestling match or angle like The Nature Boy. And, wouldn’t you know it, he was able to pull it off on his way out too.

Posted in Ric Flair, Wrestling, WWE | No Comments »

Say It Ain’t So, Anderson

You know what really pisses me off? All this boxing vs. MMA talk. So, you can imagine how I feel about the prospects of UFC Middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, fighting former pound-for-pound boxing king, Roy Jones Jr. Why are we so obsessed with answering this “debate” anyways? I don’t see hockey and figure skating fans arguing over which one of their athletes is more talented than the other and that’s the best comparison I can make as to how idiotic these discussions are. Just because MMA fighters and boxers punch doesn’t mean they should be compared to one another. End of story. Now can we please talk about Silva-Okami II instead?

That said I can understand why everyone is so anxious to pit a boxer against a mixed martial artist. It’s the same reason why Kobayashi once ate hot dogs against a bear on national television and Michael Jordan was (briefly) accepted as a baseball player. We applaud athletes who compete out of their comfort zone and, even more so, encourage it.

But if you REALLY want to see Silva and Jones get it on let me save you the 50 bucks and explain what will happen:

READ THE REST OF THIS POST AT MMARATED.COM 

Posted in Anderson Silva, MMA, UFC | No Comments »