JarryPark.com – How’s Taste My Website?

Money May Has A Lot Of Money

You need to stop what your doing right now and check out the video below, courtesy of WWE.com. It’s mesmerizing.

The basic gist is it’s a clip of Floyd Mayweather showing us that he has a million dollars in his bedroom. All he is really doing is counting it but for some reason I have watched it three times in a row.

I still can’t figure out if this makes Floyd a heel or a face though. Should I hate the fact that he will make more in one night than I have made in the last three years (fine maybe four)? Or should I love him for not believing in the concept of banks?

Regardless, it’s still a highly entertaining two minutes and the only footage WWE has aired that has sort of resembled the brilliance that is HBO Sports’ 24/7.

Posted in Floyd Mayweather Jr., Wrestlemania, Wrestling, WWE | 5 Comments »

The Chainsaw Is About To Rev Up Again

Time to put UFC 82 to bed and focus our attention on the promotion’s 83rd pay-per-view offering – Serra-St.Pierre II from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For obvious reasons, we’ll have extensive coverage of the UFC’s first foray into the great white north starting with today’s featured interview.

It’s been close to sixteen months since Charles “Chainsaw” McCarthy competed in the Octagon and on April 19th he will help introduce Michael Bisping to the the middleweight division.

Of course, McCarthy-Bisping marks The Count’s first UFC fight at 185 lbs and while some are considering McCarthy as a sacrificial lamb to get Bisping back on track, the American Top Team member has other plans in mind.

Some of the topics we discussed included:

* His time away from the UFC

* Thoughts on Michael Bisping the fighter

* His take on Hammill-Bisping

* The state of the Middleweight division

* How he would attempt to defeat Anderson Silva

Charles McCarthy – 03/05/08

Posted in Charles McCarthy, Interview, MMA, UFC | 3 Comments »

Somewhere Chris Eubank And Nigel Benn Are Getting Warmed Up

If you’re a wrestling fan you know all about the term “cruiserweight.” It’s basically a glorified jobber (aka loser for the non-wrestling folks out there). Coincidentally enough, it kind of has the same connotation in boxing.

Basically, Cruiserweights have always been known as plumpy Light Heavyweights or tiny Heavyweights. You know, guys who just don’t belong in one particular weight class. But all that is beginning to change and a good example of this cruiser-revolution comes in the form of Saturday night’s David Haye-Enzo Maccarinelli tilt from the O2 Arena in jolly ol’ London, England.

Forget the fact that the WBA, WBO and WBC Cruiserweight titles are on the line. Forget that both men have only lost once in 20+ fights and are not big fans of going the distance. No, the real reason to watch this tilt is that it’s the most important boxing match in Britain history’s since Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank fought to a draw in their famous 1993 rematch on the hollowed grounds of Old Trafford in Manchester.

It’s hard to say whether this battle of Britain will come close to generating the kind of interest Benn-Eubank II did because, after all, 18 million people watched it in Britain alone. However, something tells me that, given their history, Haye and Maccarinelli will put on a great show come Saturday night. Considering the lackluster state of the Heavyweight division (and, yes, I am aware Peter and Maskaev will also be fighting on Saturday – more on them later) who says this can’t be the Cruiserweights time to shine? At least for the time being of course – Haye does plan on moving up to Heavyweight in the near future.

Anyhow, to get you pumped up for Saturday’s fight, have a look at this tremendous video previewing Benn-Eubank I. I love hearing people trash-talk in British accents especially when they break out lines from Shakespeare.

Posted in Boxing, Chris Eubank, David Haye, Enzo Maccarinelli, Nigel Benn | 2 Comments »

Welcome To The New JarryPark.com

In the Spring of 1977, the Montreal Expos left Jarry Park and moved into the dreaded Olympic Stadium. This came after eight seasons of playing ball at le Parc Jarry.

Well, after six months of transforming Jarry Park into The Coliseum of Combat Sports, I felt that it was finally time to revamp this place. I wasn’t going to abandon it like the Expos but, you know, I had to clean up for the likes of Chuck Liddell and company.

So, here it is – the brand new JarryPark.com. The brilliant soul who re-designed the Park, Trevor Delamorandiere, tells me that you may need to refresh the page a couple of times upon your first visit to make everything work. Something about caches…or something.

Other than that we should be good to go. If you happen to stumble upon any bugs please let me know. This is a Park so naturally there will be some bugs (get it?) but we’ll do our best to fix it.

In the past couple of days we have experienced record amounts of traffic (for JarryPark.com – not in the history of the Internet) so I would like to thank all those that continue to visit the site and spread the good word about us.

Now that the new Park is up we have some other exciting features to roll out (hint: video interviews are a comin’) so please do stick around.

Much thanks to my main tag team partner, DW, as well. He is the silent brains behind the site and played a large role in the new setup. He’s kind of like my Kim Chee.

Posted in Welcome | 6 Comments »

The Iceman Cometh With A Lot On His Mind

Joey Sports Fan: Yo, Chuck, what do you think about Shogun’s injury?

Chuck Liddell: It’s sucks man…Really sucks.

Joey Sports Fan: Yeah.

Chuck Liddell: Ya.

Joey Sports Fan: You know what? You should go to this cool-ass site called JarryPark.com and talk about having no opponent for UFC 85 and who you want to fight next.

Chuck Liddell: What’s JarryPark.com?

Joey Sports Fan: Well, it’s this…

Chuck Liddell: Just kidding. I know what it is. Duh. I go there everyday to hear all their great interviews. Great idea! I’ll call that Canadian dude who runs the site and we’ll talk a little Shogun, my future and other MMA news like the CBS/Elite XC deal.

Joey Sports Fan: Awesome! You should also talk about all your exploits outside the Octagon – if you know what I mean. I hear you’re the next Wilt Chamberlain.

Chuck Liddell: Ha. Not quite but another great idea! I’ll talk about the time I had sex four hours before a fight and the time I did an interview while actually doing it!

Joey Sports Fan: Really? That’s amazing!

Chuck Liddell: Yup, but for all the juicy info you’ll have to check out the interview…gotta run.

Chuck Liddell – 03/04/08

(P.S. That convo never happened but I sort of dreamed it would all go down like that at some point. I called him – he certainly didn’t call me – but, still, a really fun interview.)

Posted in Chuck Liddell, Interview, MMA, UFC | 24 Comments »

Patrycja Mikula Plays A Good Ol’ Fashioned Game of ‘True Or False’

It’s a question that has been on the minds of MMA fans for several months: Will Andrei Arlovski re-sign with the UFC or choose to fight elsewhere?

Obviously, “the Pitbull” has kept his lips sealed so I decided to bypass him and go straight for the person closest to the former Heavyweight champ – girlfriend Patrycja Mikula (photo courtesy of her tremendous MySpace page).

If you are fan of Playboy Magazine you might be familiar with Patrycja’s work. She’s the girl who tends to not be wearing much.

More importantly, she is also a full-time resident of Jarry Park and was kind enough to talk about her beau’s future and even play a special game “True or False.”

Some of the questions she answered in the game were:

* Was this Arlovski’s last fight in the UFC?

* Does Arlovski abstain from any kind of sexual relation before a bout?

* What’s his groupie situation like?

That’s just a taste. Plenty more fun from Patrycja down below.

Patrycja Mikula – 03/04/08

By the way, hope everyone enjoys the fruits of our improved audio system as well as the new JP.com intro.

Posted in Andrei Arlovski, Interview, MMA, Patrycja Mikula, UFC | 5 Comments »

Mornin’ Muesli: RAW, Mayweather, Coleman, Heyman…

Random thoughts while dreaming of a fourth installment of Marquez-Vazquez…

* Nice to see MMA finally make it’s way to Monday Night Raw…except what was up with the boxing gloves? Does this mean we’re getting a Money-Show MMA match at ‘Mania? You know, of all the options out there, that would actually make the most sense because it would allow Show to use wrestling moves in the match. I fear that if it’s a straight boxing or wrestling bout it will surely bomb.

* Speaking of Mayweather, didn’t he sound like one of those dolls that repeats the same thing over and over again when you pull on a string in that first segment. If he really is making 20 million dollars I don’t understand why he’s not appearing in front of the live audience. The second one was a bit better but, still, where’s this Money May?

* Loved the ending. Orton definitely needs to be booked the strongest leading up to ‘Mania.

* I’ve been meaning to mention how much I hate the WWE title. Am I the only one who thinks the spinning belt gimmick cheapens the title? It just doesn’t seem prestigious enough with all that bling on it.

* I’ve always felt that three hours of RAW was a bit much (and that goes for Nitro as well) but next week’s super-sized edition sounds pretty cool. Wrestlemania Rewind? I vote for ‘Taker vs. Giant Gonzalez.

* Far be it for me to tell the editors of WWE.com how to run their site but, seriously now, what the heck is up with that Industry News feature?

* An update on Mark Coleman thanks to John Pollock of The Fight Network: The former UFC Heavyweight champion has signed a four-fight deal with the UFC. Zuffa does have an option to end the deal after two fights, though. All things considered, it’s a great deal for both parties. If Coleman goes on a winning streak they have him locked up and, if not, they can send him back into retirement.

* I keep forgetting that tomorrow marks World Victory Road‘s debut show. Shame it’s not on HDNet but, nevertheless, plenty of interesting bouts in the form of Gomi-Ludwig, Yoshida-Barnett and Misaki-Bahadurzada. Although, I can’t help but think of a bad TNA pay-per-view when I hear that name.

* Anyone out there have any thoughts on the Heyman Hustle? I’ve always enjoyed Heyman’s work but something seems a bit off with these videos. I think it has something to do with the fact that I would much rather see him interviewing Balls Mahoney than Joumana Kidd.

* When you’re done spending time at the Park today here’s a couple of solid articles to check out: NY Times article on pro wrestling and an ESPN.com article on the history of boxers in wrestling. Always interesting to read the mainstream media’s views on the industry (thanks to Park resident B-Sei for the tip).

Posted in Muesli | 6 Comments »

Pollock’s POV: “I Survived UFC 82”

I’m sure most of the residents of Jarry Park have attended at least one UFC event at some point in their lives.

Not so for our weekly ranter, John Pollock. The producer of Fight Network Radio and Live Audio Wrestling popped his UFC cherry this weekend when he made a last-minute decision to drive down to Columbus, OH, to watch UFC 82.

You may be thinking: “Ugh, not another blow-by-blow diary of a UFC weekend!”

Au contraire, mes amis. Take a listen as Pollock recounts his memorable drive down to the Buckeye State in the midst of a snow storm and, most importantly, breaks down his top 5 observations from attending his first MMA event.

If you’ve ever been to a show I think you’ll agree that Pollock’s POV is dead on.

Pollock’s POV – 03/03/08

You can hear more from John Pollock (who is thankfully not shown above) 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 John Pollock, The Fight Network, UFC | 6 Comments »

Arianny Celeste Brings “Peace” To The Park

Remember our last fireside chat with the lovely Ms. Arianny Celeste? Well, of course you do because it just reeked of awesomeness! Team ECK 4 Life.

Ahem, anyhow, one of the highlights of the interview was when Arianny promised she would show the millions upon millions of the Jarry Park faithful how much she loved our site by flashing the ever-classic Peace sign during UFC 82.

Truthfully, the interview was several weeks back and I actually forgot about our “deal.” However, loyal reader Xad reminded me of it yesterday and was even kind enough to send me some screen grabs of these historic moments – yes, she did it multiple times.

Part of me feels bad because the Peace sign may be deemed passe so, rest assured, the next time an opportunity like this comes up I’ll think of something a little more innovative.

It might not be as cool as bumping into Matt Serra at a 7/11 but it’s pretty damn cool if I may say so myself.

More peace, love and happiness from AC after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Arianny Celeste, MMA, UFC | 4 Comments »

A Few Precious Minutes With Mark Cuban

You’ll never guess who I bumped into in cyberspace over the weekend. No, it wasn’t “To Catch A Predator”‘s Chris Hansen. It was super-owner Mark Cuban! It’s strange meeting a billionaire in cyberspace and, as you can imagine, he doesn’t have much time for shenanigans. However, I was able to ask him a few interesting questions…

Ariel Helwani: What do you think of Floyd Mayweather’s involvement with World Wrestling Entertainment?

Mark Cuban: Love it. Floyd knows how to build a fan base he can take with him to
anything he does.

Ariel Helwani: Have you seen the clips of his work in the ring thus far? If so, what did you think of it?

Mark Cuban: Hysterical. (Ed. note: I told you he didn’t have much time.)

Ariel Helwani: Are you still talking with Floyd about competing for HDNet Fights? If so, how have the talks been going?

Mark Cuban: Yep. We have ongoing talks. He is talking to a couple of our partners about working on cross-training. He would teach striking/boxing skills and learn more about the sport of MMA.

Ariel Helwani: Has the WWE ever contacted you about doing a wrestling angle? If not, would you ever be interested in that?

Mark Cuban: We have talked about various things.

Ariel Helwani: Can you elaborate on that?

Mark Cuban: Can’t…sorry.

Ariel Helwani: In his blog, WWE announcer Jim Ross mentioned a rumor that there may be “a partnering of resources” between you and the McMahons? Any truth to this and if so can you explain?

Mark Cuban: See above (Ed. note: Damn.)

Ariel Helwani: Are you happy with the progression “Inside MMA” has made as well as the production of the HDNet Fights live events?

Mark Cuban: Yes. Inside MMA is unquestionably the leading show on MMA. And the combination of Inside MMA and our fight cards confirms that HDNet is the leading TV network for MMA. I do want to thank everyone who has been calling their cable and satellite providers to sign up for and ask for HDNet and to ask them to continue. Its definitely being noticed!

And just like that he disappeared…

Posted in HDNet Fights, Interview, Mark Cuban | 3 Comments »