Last night I joined Frank, Willem and two of Willem’s friends at an Everlast (prior of House of Pain) concert in the Melkweg. Normally this isn’t something that I do a lot – going to concerts – and Everlast had always been on the peripheral of my radar, but I certainly enjoyed his Whitey Ford Sings the Blues album from 1998. Interesting part of the evening was that Frank is a little taller than I am. Willem is quite a bit taller than I am, and his two friends are about as tall as he is. Conclusion, and this is to all those who keep denying this fact; with my 6’2″ I’m really not that tall.
The supporting act was some Coldplay-wannabe duo, which was interesting enough for the five of us to watch the K1 2008 final match between Remy Bonjasky and Badr Hari, which Hari lost due to disqualification as a result of illegal kick to the head of a downed opponent. K1 rules are very clear about downed opponents, unlike MMA, so there is no good reason for him to do what he did. I especially like a post-fight interview with Hari, as well as the incredibly biased English subtitles in that interview. :)
Anyway, the main act was pretty good, I thought. Frank disagreed, saying that his voice was absurd, like he had a cold or something. He disliked it to the point that he left about three-quarters of the way into the show because he couldn’t stand good memories being ruined by a poor performance. Up until that point I hadn’t heard a single song that I knew, but was enjoying the show, unhindered by any knowledge or fandom. The last quarter of the show, especially after the encore, where a few songs I know and like, amongst which What It’s Like and Black Jesus. One thing that was definitely worth mentioning was the drummer of the set, who was incredibly gifted and tremendously energetic, letting it all hang out. Anyway, enjoyable evening.
I think it was the first year I was in college, when I was still living at home, when I woke up one Friday to find my parental home devoid of family members. Since this happened more often, I didn’t think much of it. Several days went by, and it started to dawn on me that I hadn’t seen any family members. It became clear to me when I was hanging out with my cousin Mark (Grifter on this site) and he said; “Oh, didn’t you know? They went to Euro-Disney.” A day or two later they returned. I remember it quite well as I was ironing some clothes when they all walked in, happy to be back. Everyone went on their merry way, everyone except my kid brother, probably no more than five years old at the time, who walked up to me, gave me a present and said “Happy birthday, Dennis.” My sister started to panic, my mother started to cry, and my stepfather laughed his ass off and asked me if he could buy my love (while drawing his wallet.) Gee, I wonder why I’m suffering from abandonment issues. :)
The present I got from my brother was a mug, a really cool one, too. I used it for years until the hot tea I drank from it caused the porcelain to crack and eventually it started leaking. It was a great mug, but it needed replacement, which my brother once again supplied me. Now that mug is cracking, too, so I think I need another mug. Robin, are you on it? :)
Barack Obama hopes things up, and MMA fans hype things up, which is usually what the promotions like to see. The more hype surrounding a fight, the more viewers. The more viewers, the more money comes in. The more money the promotion gets, the more they can pay out to the fighters. Here’s my hype. :)
.: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
When Rampage was first introduced to the UFC, the UFC had just bought up Pride FC and totted him as the best thing since sliced bread. His debut came at UFC 68 where he fought Marvin Eastman, who gave him his first professional loss in King of the Cage 4, back in 2000. He came in with a professional record of 25-6-0, which is pretty good. He went on to knock out Marvin Eastman, followed by a TKO over Chuck Liddell and a decision win over Dan Henderson. His win over Liddell gave him the Light Heavyweight (LHW) belt, which he successfully defended. Then came Forrest Griffin who came in with an excellent gameplan, taking out Rampage’s lead leg with some well placed, brutal low kicks, simultaneously taking out his ability to shoot and nullifying Rampage’s underrated wrestling ability. Forrest Griffin won a controversial decision win and took Rampage’s belt, and then shit started to get weird.
On July 15th, 2008, Rampage was arrested on suspicion of felony reckless driving, several felony hit and runs, and about a dozen traffic violations. He had stepped into his lifted Ford F-350 (with his image splattered all over the side, so that there’s no mistake about it) and basically went on a rampage (no pun intended.) Have you ever seen one of those police car chases? That’s basically what it was, but this one involved a monster truck, the driver of which, it later turned out, hadn’t slept in days, was depressed over losing his LHW title, and hadn’t eaten in days, slipping into a delirium. Bad news for Rampage, which is a shame, because he’s an entertaining fighter, and probably one of the kindest and funniest prominent MMA fighters in the business.
Because he’s such a character, witty and funny in interviews (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on Jimmy Kimmel Live 06-04-2008), he’s definitely a casual fan’s favourite. The hardcore fan probably remembers the way he knocked out Ricardo Arona with a slam in Pride in 2004. (Watch the slam here.) They would also know that Rampage can’t be counted out, certainly now that he’s revitalised his game by switching camps, leaving Juanito Ibera for the Wolf’s Lair. But then, he did already have two previous fights with Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, both of which he lost. To quote an article I read recently, “Silva has beaten Jackson twice, the second time so brutally that Jackson’s camp probably could’ve gotten away with pressing charges.”
.: Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva
Wanderlei Silva came into the UFC with a professional record of 31-7-1, and due to his poor grasp on the English language wasn’t hyped as much as Rampage was. An American fighter was just more marketable than a Brazilian fighter, regardless of their fluency in the English language. Wanderlei was a very popular fighter in Pride FC because of his hyper aggressive style of fighting. The Japanese always seemed to care less about winners and losers and more about exciting fights, and Wanderlei delivered those better than anyone else. The brutality with which he fought, the intensity of his staredowns became legendary, and he became the prow of the Chute Box academy, a famous Brazilian camp that produced other notables like Fabricio Werdum, Mauricio Rua, Murilo Rua and Gabriel Gonzaga. All of those guys are known for their aggressive style, and most of them got in the game by way of Brazilian, bare-knuckle, Vale Tudo matches, where almost everything is allowed. (Barring fish hooking, eye gouging, crotch shots, etc.) The evidence of this Vale Tudo background is evident on Wanderlei’s face; scar-tissue everywhere!
His introduction into the UFC was against Chuck Liddell, which he lost by decision, but it was an interesting fight. He had already come off of two back-to-back losses, so people were starting to wonder if his time had passed. He proved everyone wrong when he dismantled Keith Jardine in 36 seconds in his next fight, proving once again that he might not win them all, but he delivers a damn entertaining fight.
.: Rampage vs The Axe Murderer III BJ Penn vs Georges St. Pierre II might be the next big fight coming up, or perhaps Antonio Nogueira vs Frank Mir, and definitely Andrei Arlovski vs Fedor Emelianenko is going to be a huge fight, but I can’t wait for the Rampage-Wanderlei fight, because you just know that there’s going to be fireworks.
Here’s a hype video I found that, after watching it, made me think that while Rampage might do well at the bookmakers, Wanderlei will go three for three against Rampage.