JarryPark.com – How’s Taste My Website?

Between Rounds With…Tami

Each week, we’ve been talking to another one of The Platinum Agency‘s featured models and getting their perspective on the world of combat sports. I must say it’s really been a great partnership.

Trust me, these girls aren’t just eye candy. They know the difference between jabs and jewelry, got it?

This week we go Between Rounds with…Tami

1. Which sport intrigues you the most: boxing, mixed-martial-arts or wrestling? I love mixed martial arts, the skill and determination it takes to really know your opponent. You just don’t have to worry about them punching you! You have to worry about punching, kicking, or them take your ass down and ground and pounding you!

2. Who is your favorite professional fighter? My favorite professional fighter is Randy Couture, cuz he doesn’t need to talk smack! He just proves it with his actions. But I also loved it when he “spanked” Tito Ortiz!!

3. Have you ever been to a live fight? If so, tell me about your experience. I went to The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale. I loved being that close to the action. Hearing the kicks and punches. But also seeing people in the crowd like Shonie Carter, Dana White, and Joe Riggs!

More from Tami here.

Posted in Between Rounds | 1 Comment »

Yves Edwards Will Fight With A Heavy Heart

MMA veteran Yves Edwards has been forced to overcome a lot of adversity throughout his ten-year fighting career. But nothing will ever compare to fighting less than three weeks after the death of his friend, Sammy Vasquez.

Vasquez (1-2), a 35-year-old mixed martial artist from Houston, Texas, died on November 30, 47 days after suffering a third-round knockout loss to Vince Libardi during a Renegades Extreme Fighting bout in Houston, TX. While the official cause of death has yet to be released his tragic passing is the first official one resulting from a sanctioned MMA fight.

Meanwhile, Edwards, one of the most celebrated fighters to come out of Houston, is forced to prepare for his fight against Alonzo Martinez (20-8) at HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon this Saturday night.

Following three tough loses in a row, the American Top Team member returned to his winning ways with a victory over Nick Gonzalez at the November Elite XC show. He has signed a six-fight deal with the promotion but is free to fight with likes of HDNet Fights if he chooses.

This Saturday night, Edwards will be competing in his backyard of Dallas, TX, and will surely have more on his mind than submissions and striking.

I spoke to Edwards about his association with HDNet Fights, his future with Elite XC and, of course, the passing of his friend.

Yves Edwards – 12/11/07

Posted in HDNet Fights, Interview, MMA, Samuel Vasquez, Yves Edwards | No Comments »

There’s Only One Mayweather, Indeed

I can’t break down Mayweather-Hatton any better than Larz did on No Mas Online (found here and here) so I won’t even try.

Let me just say these four things, though:

1) That was one of the greatest KOs of all-time.

2) Mark Cuban’s face while carrying that belt was one of the highlights of my combat sports year.

3) Hatton needs to go back to fighting at 140 lbs pronto.

4) If Mayweather retires before fighting Miguel Cotto I will be extremely disappointed.

For more, check out my talk with the Sweet Scientist as we relive all the magic that was Mayweather-Hatton and ponder the future of both men.

Larz – 12/10/07

Posted in Boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Interview, No Mas, Ricky Hatton | 1 Comment »

A TUF Review & A WEC Preview

Another busy week for the Zuffa family as Saturday night they held the The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Spike TV and this Wednesday on Versus is another blockbuster World Extreme Cagefighting offering.

Guida vs. Huerta certainly lived up to the hype and while I presume a ton of MMA fans lost some coin as a result of the Guida Huerta victory no one lost more than Ryan Harkness of FightLinker.com. His extreme confidence in Guida failed to pay off as he was forced to live up (or is it live down?) to his highly-publicized bet with Kid Nate of bloodyelbow.com.

I reached out to Ryan to get his thoughts on the now-infamous bet, the TUF Finale and what can be done to revamp The Ultimate Fighter show, in general.

In addition, we also previewed the WEC card which showcases three title fights and one huge debut. I think this card has a solid shot at “show of the year” with Faber vs. Curran for the Featherweight title, Filho vs. Sonnen for the Middleweight belt and Marshall vs. ARIEL(!) Gandulla for the Light Heavyweight crown. Throw in the debuting Jens Pulver vs. Cub Swanson and I know what I’m doing this Wednesday night.

Below is our discussion.

Ryan Harkness – 12/10/07

(Can’t listen to the interview right now? Download this one and all of our great interviews by clicking on the iTunes or Odeo link at the top right of the page.)

Posted in MMA, Ryan Harkness, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC, WEC | 17 Comments »

JarryPark + The Fight Network = One Formidable Tag Team

My first article for The Fight Network is up and can be found here. It covers Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert Melendez (right), as he prepares for his bout against Mitsuhiro Ishida at the Yarennoka! “Can’t We Do It! New Year’s Eve! 2007” event on Monday, Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The show will air live in the United States on HDNet.

Melendez also discusses the health of his right hand (he reinjured it in hist last bout against Tetsuji Kato at the “Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion” show in September) and a rumored bout against Josh Thomson for the Strikeforce lightweight title at Strikeforce 8 on March 29, 2008.

Posted in Gilbert Melendez, MMA, The Fight Network | 1 Comment »

This Week’s Probables – Horodecki, Patry & The Weekend That Was

A look at a big week to come at The Park:

* The International Fight League’s Chris Horodecki will stop to discuss his upcoming fight against Shad Lierley at the IFL GP Finals on 12/29.

* TKO President, Stephane Patry, will break down this Friday’s TKO 31: Young Guns from Montreal, Quebec. We’ll also look back at the history of Canada’s top MMA promotion.

* Larz from No Mas Online will recount the annihilation that was Mayweather-Hatton and explain just how he knew the fight would end with a TKO in 10th.

* FightLinker.com‘s Ryan Harkness will look back on The Ultimate Fighter Finale and explain why he was so confident Clay Guida would defeat Roger Huerta (what a fight!). Perhaps a little too confident.

* We’ll look back at the history of Ring of Honor with PulseWrestling.com‘s ROH Savant – Aaron Glazer.

* HDNet Fights’ Tristan Yunker will preview his upcoming fight against Pete Spratt and what he needs to do to defeat the MMA veteran.

* Speaking of HDNet Fights, I’ll be making the trip to Dallas later this week to cover their upcoming show so if anyone will be out there be sure to say hello (more on this later in the week).

That’s it for now but, trust me, but we expect many more guests from the combat sports world to stop so keep grab a permanent seat at the Coliseum of Combat Sports.

Posted in This Week | No Comments »

Park Prognostication: The Ultimate Fighter Finale

After interviewing Andrei Arlovski’s better half, Patrycja Mikula, last week I realized that this girl really knows her UFC. So, I offered her a lucrative long-term deal to become The Park’s official Swami. I think this was a great move on my part.

Before every UFC show, Patrycja will make her picks and post them on this here site. I will also post mine, too. Who knows maybe the beast will finally outsmart the beauty.

I encourage everyone to write-in their own picks as well. At the end of the year the person with the most correct selections will win a special prize. Post yours in the comments section below. For the full card click here.

Patrycja’s Prognostication:
1. Roger Huerta
2. Tommy Speer
3. Jared Rollins
4. Geore Sotiropoulos
5. John Kolosci
6. Richie Hightower
7. Ben Saunders
8. Dorian Price
9. Paul Georgieff

JarryPark’s Picks:
1. Roger Huerta
2. Mac Danzig
3. Jared Rollins
4. George Sotiropoulos
5. Matt Arroyo
6. Troy Mandaloniz
7. Ben Saunders
8. Roman Mitichyan
9. Jonathan Goulet

Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. Good luck!

Posted in MMA, Patrycja Mikula, Predictions, The Ultimate Fighter, UFC | 7 Comments »

The Fight Network Gets It On

The worst kept secret in combat sports was officially announced earlier today. “Big” John McCarthy, the world’s most recognized mixed martial arts referee, is joining The Fight Network as an on-air personality and strategic advisor.

McCarthy is hanging up his legendary black outfit after 14 years of overseeing MMA matches across the world – most notably for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“As I enter a new chapter in my life, I look forward to demonstrating my love and passion for the MMA world in my new role at The Fight Network,” said McCarthy. “It’s a perfect fit for me and I can’t wait to get started.”

When his career inside the cage is complete, McCarthy will have worked in 535 bouts and 100 championship fights dating back to UFC 2 on March 11, 1994 in Denver, Colorado.

The retired 22-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department had been working as a part-time analyst for The Fight Network on their “After The Bell” MMA recap shows but will now join the network full-time. His first official on-air duty will come next Friday night alongisde Mauro Ranallo as an analyst on The Fight Network’s coverage of TKO 31: Young Guns from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.

“Big John has become a preeminent personality in the game,” said George Burger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Fight Network, “and his presence and depth of knowledge will take our industry leading coverage of the sport to a new level, to everyone’s benefit. It is great to have him on the team.”

Fans will have one last chance to hear McCarthy scream his patented “let’s get it on” tomorrow night at “The Ultimate Fighter Finale” on Spike TV (9 PM/ET).

Posted in John Mccarthy, MMA, The Fight Network | 1 Comment »

A TUF Night To Predict

Sure, it’s no Hatton-Mayweather but if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to fill your appetite of combat sports tomorrow night you must check out the The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Spike TV (9 PM ET/PT). Guida vs. Huerta. Danzig vs. Speer. Some other filler matches include the return of Jonathan Goulet (Is it me or does Goulet seem out of place on this card? In any event, he needs a win ASAP so I guess he’ll take what he can get).

Anyhow, trying to predict Guida-Huerta is tough. I just believe that the UFC has too much invested in Roger “The Latin Sensation” Huerta to let him lose. No, the fight won’t be fixed but I have a feeling who Dana & Co. will be rooting for tomorrow night.

Danzig vs. Speer, on the other hand, seems a little more cut and dry. I haven’t seen anyone predict a Tommy Speer victory but, then again, no one even thought he would make it this far.

The official card:

Roger Huerta Vs. Clay Guida
Tommy Speer vs. Mac Danzig
Jared Rollins Vs. John Koppenhaver
Billy Miles vs. George Sotiropoulos
Matt Arroyo vs. John Kolosci
Troy Mandaloniz Vs. Richie Hightower
Ben Saunders vs. Dan Barrera
Roman Mitichyan Vs. Dorian Price
Paul Georgieff Vs. Jonathan Goulet

Below is audio from yesterday’s press conference which involved the likes of Roger Huerta, Clay Guida, Matt Hughes, Mac Danzig, Tommy Speer and Brian Diamond – Senior Vice President of Sports & Specials for Spike TV. Please excuse the semi-poor audio quality. The problem wasn’t on our end.

TUF 6 Finale Press Conference

Stay Tuned for The Park’s TUF predictions coming tomorrow.

Posted in Clay Guida, Matt Hughes, Press Conference, Roger Huerta, The Ultimate Fighter, Tommy Speer | No Comments »

The Best Ring Entrance Ever

While we’re on the subject of celebrities walking to the ring with boxers I thought I would mention my all-time favorite moment: Matisyahu rapping as he accompanies Dmitriy Salita to the ring on 08/25/05 before challenging Shawn Gallegos for the NABA Light Welterweight title. It gives me chills every time.

Posted in Boxing, Dmitriy Salita, Matisyahu | 2 Comments »