Our own Jesse Holland stopped in to chat with Ariel Helwani at JarryPark.com to recap UFC 80: “Rapid Fire,” preview UFC Fight Night 12 and ramble on about all things mixed martial arts (MMA).
Here are some specific discussion points:
- BJ Penn’s victory over Joe Stevenson
- What to expect from a Penn-Sherk match up
- The way the Sherk situation was handled on the UFC 80 telecast
- Fabricio Werdum’s place in the heavyweight division
- The rise and fall of Kendall Grove
- Mike Swick vs. Josh Burkman, Patrick Côté vs. Drew McFedries and the rest of the UFC Fight Night 12 card tonight
- Andrei Arlovski, Mirko Cro Cop and Evan Tanner’s UFC future
Check it out when you have some time right here (there’s also an audio player included at the bottom of this post). It turned out to be a solid discussion.
Thanks again to Ariel for inviting Jesse to “The Park.” He’s alienated most if not all of his friends at this point in his life so it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
That’s what he said, anyway.
January 23rd, 2008
21 Comments »
Despite the ribbing it was well done. Surprised there were no pot shots at me.
Quick question: do you always say eXspecially?
Great interview.
[quote comment=”277911″]Despite the ribbing it was well done. Surprised there were no pot shots at me.
Quick question: do you always say eXspecially?[/quote]
Why would you aks him a question like that?
[quote comment=”278013″][quote comment=”277911″]Despite the ribbing it was well done. Surprised there were no pot shots at me.
Quick question: do you always say eXspecially?[/quote]
Why would you aks him a question like that?[/quote]
Breaking balls, pw.
[quote comment=”278026″][quote comment=”278013″][quote comment=”277911″]Despite the ribbing it was well done. Surprised there were no pot shots at me.
Quick question: do you always say eXspecially?[/quote]
Why would you aks him a question like that?[/quote]
Breaking balls, pw.[/quote]
You missed the joke. I deliberately misspelled ask in my first response. Damn, it’s not funny now.
[quote comment=”278031″][quote comment=”278026″][quote comment=”278013″][quote comment=”277911″]Despite the ribbing it was well done. Surprised there were no pot shots at me.
Quick question: do you always say eXspecially?[/quote]
Why would you aks him a question like that?[/quote]
Breaking balls, pw.[/quote]
You missed the joke. I deliberately misspelled ask in my first response. Damn, it’s not funny now.[/quote]
Aha … should have written “axe”
http://www.unlimitedfightnews.com/xyiencewow.htm
more news on xyience
I gotta say that even with the UFC’s apparent disregard for Arlovski (which is completely ludicrous for numerous reasons, but No. 1 among them is he did what he was supposed to do as a fighter — he won the F’n fight! Why would he play to his opponent’s strengths? It was Werdum’s fault for not pressing the action!), if Arlovski comes in and dismantles O’Brien which I see no reason for not happening, then I don’t see anyway that the UFC can let him walk no matter what he asks for. They’re so intent on not letting Couture fight outside the organization against Fedor, I just can’t see them letting an organization like M-1 sign a top talent like Arlovski to fight Fedor. That’s going to sell major PPV buys and tickets, I for one would gladly pay to see that fight over any of the future UFC events save 82 which is looking sick. With as much money as they gave Cro Cop who’s much older and now looking like a complete disaster, Arlovski will have all the bargaining power on his side, because what does he owe the UFC? If anything they owe him for his 8 years of loyalty and after they have just treated him. No matter what they have to pay, the UFC should, and hopefully, will pay it to keep Arlovski around.
WAR PITBULL! Go get it done!
[quote comment=”278035″][quote comment=”278031″][quote comment=”278026″][quote comment=”278013″][quote comment=”277911″]Despite the ribbing it was well done. Surprised there were no pot shots at me.
Quick question: do you always say eXspecially?[/quote]
Why would you aks him a question like that?[/quote]
Breaking balls, pw.[/quote]
You missed the joke. I deliberately misspelled ask in my first response. Damn, it’s not funny now.[/quote]
Aha … should have written “axe”[/quote]
I had it as axe, then changed it.
I sort of wish the UFC would stop trying to do the trash talk thing in the ring. It’s so stupid and devalidates it for me. Even the ring girls I find a silly attempt at trying to grab for the lowest common denominator (granted, they’re really hot). It feels too much like contrived drama. Life WWE etc. Just let the stories and drama play out the way they should. We’re all intelligent people. You don’t have to march people out in the ring to create it. I like how BJ sort of diffused the situation and said “it’ll be a great fight”. I like BJ in this one.
[quote comment=”278049″]http://www.unlimitedfightnews.com/xyiencewow.htm
more news on xyience[/quote]
this is old news. the ufc has harley davidson and budwieser now as national sponsers. that means they will probably fold in about 6 months.
Good Interview,
HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH GLANCING ELBOWS CAUSING POTENTIAL FIGHT ENDING CUTS. am I the only mma fan that feels elboWs need to be removed immediately, and knees in all positions and kicks be allowed. UFC 80 perfect example of this its rediculous
You here it time and time again No fighter wants to win by cut stoppage and 90% of cuts are from elbows, then you have kenny florian bragging about his bony elbows causing cuts can you imagine if florian opened up seark more than he did in thier title fight and the doctors had to stop the bout causing florian to be light wieght champion ITS COMPLETE BULL SHIT.
Was hoping Jesse would start cussing like Dana because of that Dana White comparison a while ago.
I wouldn’t necessarily get rid of all kinds of elbows. I would keep elbows while standing since it encourages more aspects of Muy Thai. I would love nothing better than to have knees to the head while on the ground. This would give more offensive weapons when having side control so it give more incentive to stop saying in the FREAKING guarding and doing virtually nothing for the whole round. It would also make people think twice about shooting because you can knee them after sprawling your opponent
[quote post=”4662″]HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH GLANCING ELBOWS CAUSING POTENTIAL FIGHT ENDING CUTS. am I the only mma fan that feels elboWs need to be removed immediately, and knees in all positions and kicks be allowed. UFC 80 perfect example of this its rediculous
You here it time and time again No fighter wants to win by cut stoppage and 90% of cuts are from elbows, then you have kenny florian bragging about his bony elbows causing cuts can you imagine if florian opened up seark more than he did in thier title fight and the doctors had to stop the bout causing florian to be light wieght champion ITS COMPLETE BULL SHIT.[/quote]
The fact of the matter is elbows are an effective strike that make the sport more entertaining and anyone can use them. Fighters say they don’t want to win by a cut but thats bullshit, fighters just want to get the ‘W’ and if they can bust open their opponent with any sort of strike then they’re going to be fine with that. Period.
if you don’t want to lose by a cut then a) toughen your ass up b) stop the fight before that has a chance of happening or c) create a cut of your own on your opponent. Simple as that. If one fighter is able to bust open another fighter severely that’s part of the game and has always been and should stay part of the game. That’s fighting. You can’t control whether someone gets cut or doesn’t! Shit this is a combat sport. Quit crying
[quote comment=”278267″]Was hoping Jesse would start cussing like Dana because of that Dana White comparison a while ago.
I wouldn’t necessarily get rid of all kinds of elbows. I would keep elbows while standing since it encourages more aspects of Muy Thai. I would love nothing better than to have knees to the head while on the ground. This would give more offensive weapons when having side control so it give more incentive to stop saying in the FREAKING guarding and doing virtually nothing for the whole round. It would also make people think twice about shooting because you can knee them after sprawling your opponent[/quote]
well imo think they should dig back to their roots…3 rules no eye gouging,no fish hooks and no groin strikes.everything else goes.[quote comment=”278084″]I gotta say that even with the UFC’s apparent disregard for Arlovski (which is completely ludicrous for numerous reasons, but No. 1 among them is he did what he was supposed to do as a fighter — he won the F’n fight! Why would he play to his opponent’s strengths? It was Werdum’s fault for not pressing the action!), if Arlovski comes in and dismantles O’Brien which I see no reason for not happening, then I don’t see anyway that the UFC can let him walk no matter what he asks for. They’re so intent on not letting Couture fight outside the organization against Fedor, I just can’t see them letting an organization like M-1 sign a top talent like Arlovski to fight Fedor. That’s going to sell major PPV buys and tickets, I for one would gladly pay to see that fight over any of the future UFC events save 82 which is looking sick. With as much money as they gave Cro Cop who’s much older and now looking like a complete disaster, Arlovski will have all the bargaining power on his side, because what does he owe the UFC? If anything they owe him for his 8 years of loyalty and after they have just treated him. No matter what they have to pay, the UFC should, and hopefully, will pay it to keep Arlovski around.
WAR PITBULL! Go get it done![/quote]
i agreed 1000000000%.Dana need to come out his wallet and pay AA.he is a huge draw and put asses in seats.and like you said has been loyal and faithful to the ufc
[quote post=”4662″]well imo think they should dig back to their roots…3 rules no eye gouging,no fish hooks and no groin strikes.everything else goes.[/quote]
We have to think of the fighter’s safety first. If those are the only 3 rules. Everyone would strike their opponents back or the back of their heads, which would cause a lot of injuries. We wouldn’t be able to see our favorite fighters fight as often and it would be harder for them to make a living. If I had it my way, I would have PRIDE rules with elbows. I know soccer kicks and stomps are brutal, but they make it damn exciting. Unfortunately, soccer kicks and stomps are a thing of the past. Even the latest K-1/Yarrenoka event did away with them.
[quote comment=”278616″][quote post=”4662″]well imo think they should dig back to their roots…3 rules no eye gouging,no fish hooks and no groin strikes.everything else goes.[/quote]
We have to think of the fighter’s safety first. If those are the only 3 rules. Everyone would strike their opponents back or the back of their heads, which would cause a lot of injuries. We wouldn’t be able to see our favorite fighters fight as often and it would be harder for them to make a living. If I had it my way, I would have PRIDE rules with elbows. I know soccer kicks and stomps are brutal, but they make it damn exciting. Unfortunately, soccer kicks and stomps are a thing of the past. Even the latest K-1/Yarrenoka event did away with them.[/quote]
aww man i was’nt being serious.sarcasm!!!! but that would mos def seperate the men from the boys.old ufc rules!
I never imagined Jesse Holland’s voice to sound like that. He sounds like a professional. I always imagined he would have a high voice.
[quote comment=”278766″]I never imagined Jesse Holland’s voice to sound like that. He sounds like a professional. I always imagined he would have a high voice.[/quote]
That was cold brother…ice cold…
[quote comment=”280163″][quote comment=”278766″]I never imagined Jesse Holland’s voice to sound like that. He sounds like a professional. I always imagined he would have a high voice.[/quote]
That was cold brother…ice cold…[/quote]
Sorry Jesse..I didn’t mean to be a dick.