So, Kid Nate and Brent Brookhouse left the keys with me tonight. “Take care of our baby,” they said. “Just make sure to write up a little recap of the day when you’re done.” Here’s the thing: I don’t read anything on this site that isn’t authored by “Mike Fagan”. So, uh, here you go. The best of Bloody Elbow for April 19th, 2011.
- Randy Couture told Josh Gross that he plans on retiring after fighting Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. Randy reiterated the sentiment on the UFC 129 conference call in the afternoon. It’s tough to believe a man who’s gone through retirements like he’s gone through wives, but at 47 years of age, I trust that this one is “for keeps.”
- Staying on Randy, Matt Bishop began part one of his series on the “magic” of Randy Couture. The initial installment details Couture winning the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament in his MMA debut, his upset victory over Vitor Belfort, and taking the UFC heavyweight championship from Maurice Smith in Yokohama, Japan. I don’t know about you, but I spell “magic” t-e-s-t-o-s-t-e-r-o-n-e.
- In non-Couture news, KJ Gould brought us an interview with Neil Melanson. Oh wait, Melanson is Couture’s grappling coach. I hope you like Randy Couture, kiddos, because we’re gonna shove it down your throats over the next two weeks.
- While Randy Couture is announcing his last fight, Royce Gracie is looking for one more. Jonathan Snowden believes that Royce, and I’ll quote our resident pot stirrer here, “belongs nowhere near the UFC Octagon.” A few of our commenters want to see Royce fight Kazushi Sakuraba in Brazil. And while the idea of a Japan-USA-Brazil trilogy tickles my romantic fantasy, let’s be real. Did you see the last time Royce and Sakuraba met? Sakuraba just sort of stood around for awhile, and Royce pissed hot for ‘roids. No thanks.
- No-talent hack Brent Brookhouse brought us word of Mark Pavelich’s war against “celebrity referees.” Pavelich claimed that certain referees were charging promoters “anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 just to show up.” John McCarthy, a celebrity referee if there ever was one, offered his defense on the Underground. Basically, McCarthy said that he only charges a fee in cases where a promoter uses his name and likeness to sell ticket. Also, Mark Pavelich is an idiot.
- Leland Roling discussed how the WEC lightweights have done in the UFC. (They’re 3-3 so far.) Ben Henderson looks to bring them above .500 against Mark Bocek at UFC 129. Leland describes the matchup as “tough.” The offshore books like Henderson as a slight favorite.
- Another no-talent hack talked the UFC’s failed deal with Full Tilt Poker, and then he deconstructed comments made by Chuck Wolfe, one of the judges in Saturday’s Bellator main event between Joe Warren and Marcos Galvao.
- Couple of fight announcements: Brian Bowles will meet Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132, and Edson Barboza will fight Ross Pearson, not Takanori Gomi, at UFC: Rio in August.