Okay, so I want to touch base on a few things in this post, Judo class, as well as my thought on the lat UFC, and where MMA is headed.

Judo class this weekend was great.  We drilled a bit on the moves I will be testing on soon (going for my green belt, woo-hoo.)  I’m not sure though… I think I prefer to be a white belt so people will underestimate me .

Then we got into some Randori.  The Randori felt good.  I was calm and controlled, and working to see what my opponent would do wrong.  I think I need to be a bit more aggressive on the standup though.  Specifically, I need to work my left sided Head and arm throw, as well as a left side Makikomi.  I love those moves onthe right, but if my opponent leads wit their left side I don’t feel comfortable going for them.

I was a bit frustrated with myself on the ground though…. Although I really did okay, and didn’t get beat up or anything, It wasn’t until after class that I thought back on things and realized how determined I was to try to get someone on their back once we were on the ground.  I had their back, but rather than taking it I started trying to roll them.  Stupid!  Similarly, I was giving my back when I was on the ground, rather than rolling into guard.  Again, stupid!  I have to unlearn wrestling dangit!  It’s hard to reprogram yourself that way.

Now on to the UFC… I watched the fights this weekend, and was disappointed.  The card was a bit weak overall, but specifically the Bisping fight.  Good grief, they just fed him some poor guy he could turn into kibble in order to impress the UK crowd.  Very unfortunate.  I understand that Leiben was supposed to be fighting, but didn’t for some reason.  My question on that is this:  UFC penalizes a fighter if they cannot make weight (like Thiago this last time.)  Basically, they know what is expected, and they lose some money if they don’t deliver.  So why don’t I get a discount on my PPV if the fighters promised can’t fight?  Not fair in my book.

I ahve to say though, tat Thiago is seriously nasty.  A very, very tough fighter.  Unfortunately for Matt Hughes, Matt jsut has no finishing ability.  No standup game to speak of, and his ground and pound and submissions are just not strong enough.  You have to hand it to him though, he was able to take Thiago down several times, which is more than can be said for Karo (who I have huge respect for.)  Matt has always been really great at that.

But on to a thought on MMA:  Early stops suck.  In the early days of the UFC it went until you tapped, were knocked out, or your corner threw in the towel.  Not anymore.  If someone looks like the got hit real hard, or is falling down, or might be slightly dizzy, depressed, or maybe just mopey a little, you risk the fight being stopped.  This is true of all of the clubs now, UFC, WEC, Elite XC, etc.  It sucks.  Almost every fight is controversial.  My personal opinion is that MMA needs to stop ending fights so quickly or they will begin to lose some of the viewers they have so recently gained.

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