Kimbo is still young and has potential, he is an awesome striker and very athletic but we all know he is not a diversified enough fighter to be making an exciting top notch main event with, unless you are willing to put him in with a real top fighter put him on the under card and let him pay his dues, work his way up through the ranks. The UFC didn’t baby Lesnar, he was baptized by fire, they threw him in with Frank Mir one of the best Heavyweights in MMA. Someone that outmatched him in an area of skill that was going to make for a bad match up for him. That as it was many people felt it could have been a much different outcome had Brock Lesnar fought a little smarter more cautious fight respecting Mir’s jujitsu. But that was what Lesnar wanted rather then starting off at the bottom or middle but Kimbo is put in main events and then put in the cage with questionable opponents.

All that said if Ken Shamrock can take Kimbo down early before he gets too many punches in on him then he may just ground & Pound Kimbo to a ref stoppage. Many that I talk to say Kimbo wins in the second round with a knockout, much like what happened to the Iceman. Whatever happens I hope Ken hangs it up so there are more memories of him during the ass kicken most dangerous man year rather then how he got his ass kicked all the way to the curb because he didn’t know when to call it quits.

So if it is true and Dana is trying to send Randy off with a loss what gives Lesnar a chance of doing that. If you break it down the Brock Lesnar VS Randy Couture match up is not an easy fight for Randy. Lesnar takes away Randy’s wrestling advantage and Lesnar has shown tremendous power in his striking and is freakishly strong so you won’t see Couture man handling him against the cage as he did with Gonzaga. Lesnar has such power that one well placed punch from the stand up position could be lights out.

Randy’s main advantage is his experience with which comes that muscle memory and technique instinct that provides an almost subconscious split second reaction response to opportunities when in the clinch and especially when they are rolling to grab a submission or initiate some dirty boxing strikes.

The bottom line here is that Lesnar is not yet established and a loss to Lesnar would definitely tarnish the hype ability for a super fight against Emelianenko. I don’t know if it would take away from Afflictions PPV profits because people want to watch both Fedor and Randy regardless of the circumstances. However I think Dana would be quite pleased personally if Couture was demolished by Lesnar and it would certainly take away something from the marketability of Afflictions Couture VS Emelianenko fight in 2009. Pay back Randy and kick the competition in the balls at the same time, Dana wouldn’t do that would he??? Hell YES!

Some interesting UFC financial information was revealed recently, I’m sure the source was reliable but understand I’m only sharing what I saw. After I read this I found myself thinking “come on Dana share the love man, the fans are what made the UFC successful give us all 9 fights for the money.”

Here is the UFC rags to riches summary.

Fertittas paid $2 million for UFC in 2001 and it is estimated to be valued at over $1 billion-plus today. UFC estimated 2008 sales are $250 million. The growth in pay-per-view buys in 2001 was 145,000 UFC pay-per-view buys in 2007: 5.1 million and today the average UFC pay-per-view event will draws 3 million male viewers the same as a big college football GAME.

The average ticket price of a live UFC event in 2007 was $250. Typically 10,000 to 14,000 fans will fill the arena, paying an average of $340 for a ticket to witness nine mixed martial arts fights. Another 500,000 fans paid $45 ($55 for high definition) to watch five of the nine fights at home. The total haul from the event: $25 million.

This year UFC is likely to generate $250 million, capturing perhaps 90% of mixed martial arts revenue. The majority of UFC revenues come from the monthly pay-per-view events.

Makes you ask the question why the viewers of the PPV are only getting 5 or 6 fights for their money. The UFC is a great success because of the fans and now it is time to give back to those who made it successful. With the other venues on Showtime and HD Net and free TV entering into the picture how long can the UFC continue to short the Fans and charge $50 for 5 fights.

What’s your thoughts on this?

“Kalib Starnes had the most pitiable showing of any fighter that I have ever seen; I was literally embarrassed for him in front of his home crowd.” This was a quote from one of our MMA fight fans and the general consensus of the emails we received following the UFC 83 event Saturday Night. We tend to want to make excuses for people in these sorts of situations because we are humans and empathetic to the way they must feel after performing so poorly, I heard some say he must have came down with the flu or something, the bottom line is that no matter how ill or just plain ill prepared a fighter is for the event they better be able to shake it off and master that moment of truth, find the heart and courage to overcome their fears, fight to win or get knock out trying. The only one I feel sorry for is the fight fans that paid admission to the event in Montreal and for the PPV fans who paid $45.95 for the fight and also for Nate “The Rock” Quarry for having to chase Starnes for 15 minutes.

Kalib Starnes should have aggressively engaged his opponent and went on the offensive and gave the crowd what they paid money to see, a professional MMA fight, but instead Starnes choose to run around the ring and stay away from danger. He seemed to be scared of getting hit, afraid of being hurt if that is the case he is in the wrong profession. There isn’t an excuse for that type of poor performance; there is not a reasonable strategy that includes running from an opponent for three rounds. I can see that if you are injured and need to buy 30 seconds to shake off the cob webs or to reset for the offensive attack or the big show jitters gets the best of you and you get a slow start I can see losing a minute or in an extreme case a portion of the round, but the obvious display of overwhelming fear, lack of readiness or willingness to engage his opponent was absolutely unacceptable.

Those fighters who perform at the highest level of professional MMA should clearly understand their obligation to fight and there should be zero tolerance for those that demonstrate that they are not ready or deserving of a position with the UFC. I think you have seen the last fight in the UFC for Kalib Starnes and a defining moment in which changes will be instituted in the prefight instructions that say you get two warnings within a fight for failing to engage and then the fight is declared a no contest or forfeiture. There should be a clause in the contracts that states that the opponent gets your paycheck if you fail to perform to an acceptable degree.

As someone else said it was just one of many WTF**k moments in the UFC 83 event.

Chuck Parmelee isn’t the typical good wrestler that can strike and does pretty good in the regional shows, Chuck Parmelee is an extremely talented fighter, well rounded and his cardio and conditioning is off the hook and he has heavy hands.

Chuck Parmelee is a Welterweight who holds a victory over Houston Alexander and has a record of 22-6-0. Chuck is 29 years old and in his prime, he trains 6 days a week and is fighting 2-3 times a month to make a living at the professional MMA fighting circuit. The difference between getting noticed and having time catch up with you is forming a plan and working that plan. Chuck is making the right moves to make it professionally, he has his own web site www.roughchuck.com, he has partnered with an agent who is getting him in articles in MMA Madness, and an upcoming article in Fight Magazine as well as other exposure and Chuck is staying in top shape ready in case the call comes and if it’s tomorrow he’s ready to not just to show up and take the fight but to win decisively and use the opportunity as a catalyst to a successful career.

So if you’re an aspiring fighter or trainer follow Chuck model and have a plan and partner with someone who will do those things you can’t or don’t have time to do and most importantly be ready because most calls from the match makers may only give you a couple weeks to get ready to go. For more information on being a proMMA fighter and sponsorship opportunity and management Guidance inquiry with FTH Fighter Sponsorship program or general inquiry to Rod Hood at rod@fthfightgear.com.

The opportunity to make some big money after college captured Lesnar’s attention and he spent the next six years in professional wrestling here is the US and then in Japan, during that time he even tried out for the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings where he showed promise but ended up being cut do to an injury.

The true Brock Lesnar wanted real competition, something that the fake world of WWE didn’t fulfill within him. He had been thinking for some time about making the career transition over to MMA as the interest in MMA continued to gain popularity and the payday for fighters also began to make it more appealing.

Brock faces his first test in the UFC against a dangerous Frank Mir and by the time you read this that fight may be history and it is on to more exciting opportunities for Lesnar or back to the drawing board. I predict that Lesnar is going to fare very well in this match up and if he keeps the fight standing, which in my opinion will be his strategy then he can make it a long night for Frank Mir. The longer they go the more the fight favors Lesnar as he is known for his outstanding conditioning and Mir is at the opposite end of that rating scale.

The fight is in one day so this post will be out dated by the time most read it but it is only the beginning of the conversations about Brock Lesnar’s UFC career. I’m picking Lesnar to overwhelm Mir and go on to be a force to be reckoned with in the Heavyweight division. If that doesn’t happen he’ll apply the lessons learned and come back hungrier then ever and feel free to tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about and regardless of how it does go down comment on what’s next for Brock Lesnar and who’s next and ultimately what do you predict his career will look like over the next 2 years?

Kimbo is quick to tell you that when you stand in front of him in the Octagon or behind a warehouse to fight for money you stand in the way of him making money to feed his wife and 6 kids, this cat is motiated to take you out and out they usually go.

I’m interested in what others think about this new Mike Tyson of MMA, is he going to make it as a Mixed Martial Arts Fighter or should he get back on the streets and stick to his bare knuckles brawling for bucks in back yards and back alleys. Who do you think he should be matched with nexted and where do you see his career going. Is he a real contender for Mixed Martial Arts and how do you think he will do when someone with great ground skills gets him to the ground?

From The Hood Apparel is fired up to have the “Big Dawg” Roger Middleton on board as a new member of the FTH Team. Roger loves combat sports and like myself is an MMA addict who can’t get enough of this awesome sport. Big Dawg picked up on the company as a result of his visit to the NAMMAE event back in December 2007. Roger reached out to FTH stating he really liked the MMA gear that we offer and was interested in being part of what we are all about. We have been talking since then and have recently invited Roger to become a member of FTH to help with our promotions in the Southern California area.

At 6′3″ and 320LB’s of solid muscle Big Dawg gets noticed, in fact another nickname that befits him that was given to Roger is Jaw Droppa, It’s pretty self explanatory and it is what most people do including myself when they first see him.

Although Roger has an intimidating stature they don’t come any more professional or have a better disposition then him. Please feel free to ask him anything about body building, nutrition, his thoughts on MMA, the FTH clothing line for Big Dawgs like him, or just how damn big are those arms anyway! Roger looks forward to answering your posted comments and questions.

Above although you can’t see much of him is Mayhem Miller giving Big Dawg a bear hug at the NAMMAE show. That’s 320lbs he’s lifting right there, thats pretty good for a Welter Weight! Miller was walking a little crooked after the affectionate greeting.

At 6′3″ and 320LBs Big Dawg or “Jaw Droppa” as some call him knows what the big guys like. Learn more about Big Dawg in our up Coming Feature on him.

The special designation on the web page will be a navigation aid next to the other shopping categories and will allow our customers to quickly access the designs in which we carry their sizes. Give us your feed back and comments on this new feature.

Please tell us what you think about the new Big Dawg Wear search Feature. Or other features that you think would help FTH serve its customers better.

The new Hoody is an example of From The Hoods Philosophy to deliver on the MMA Fans needs and wants. If you have a design idea or wish one of our designs came in a different color or size let us know and you just might get the first one we make for free.