MMAFrenzy.com presents its latest podcast, where host Steve ?bsbiz? Barnes is joined by writers Chris Leslie and Bryan Robison providing analysis of this week?s MMA news including a post-fight breakdown of the UFC on Fox 2, a preview of UFC 143, Dana White's rant about hackers, and more.
I have had a few days away from climbing - in fact, my last session was 3 weekends ago at Froggatt - and so I got back to the gym this week. My local gym has an auto-belay setup so I was able to do some indoor routes without company.
And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]
LAS VEGAS -- The crowds, money, adulation, safety precautions are all dynamite for 23-year-old Alex Cacares as he fights for the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, but the Miami native misses the days of what appears to be a much more barbaric mode of fighting - the backyard brawl.
Those types of fights have been going down since the beginning of time. They recently became headliners again with the growth of YouTube and exposure for guys like Kimbo Slice in the Miami area.
As a hulking stack of muscle and intimidation, Slice fit the part. Cacares is slender and appears to be non-threatening, but when you hear him talk about his teenage experience with those pit fights you realize the kid loves to fight anywhere, anytime.
"I got into it because I was underage to get into professional fighting, "Cacares told Cagewriter just a few days before his 11 pro fight at UFC 143. "I was doing amateur fights at the time. I really wanted to get into a professional fighting, minimize the hand protection, no shin guards and really see what I could do."
The UFC currently uses four ounce gloves which are tiny compared to boxing's eight and 10 ounce models. Cacares still prefers the more primitive style of using bare-knuckles. "I believe bare knuckle hurts less than wearing these UFC gloves. I've been hit by both and I'd rather be hit by the bare knuckle," Cacares said the gloves increase the surface area of the fist and seem to make the punches stick more. "The bare knuckle slides off more. When you get hit by the whole glove it gives you that little ringing sound."
Cacares did his first backyard brawl at 17, making between $300 and $600 per fight. If he won, he'd get spiffed by the winning bettors. He'd take home as much as $800 on some nights.
"It's a crazy experience. The crowd might not be as big as UFC crowd, but man they sound really loud because they're literally two feet away from you and we're fighting in a chicken cage. It's kind of like a pit fight, a dog fight. But it was a good experience," said Cacares.
He's clearly fearless. There were no structured weight classes, no rounds, no time limits, no doctor to look at cuts and the fights went to the finish. You win when your opponent quits, can't continue or you submit him.
Things are different now in many ways. Most importantly, Cacares is actually fighting guys his size. He fought on Season 12 of "The Ultimate Fighter" at 155 pounds, but he barely walks around above 150. Now he's more comfortable down at 135 and can be a bully in the division.
Cacares was excellent in his UFC bantamweight debut against Cole Escovedo. On Saturday, Cacares (6-4, 1-2 UFC) takes a good step up against Edwin Figueroa. The shorter Figueroa is the only guy recently who's given phenom Michael McDonald a fight, going the distance in losing a decision. The promotion is so high on MacDonald that he's been throw in there with former bantamweight champ Miguel Torres in February. If Cacares takes out Figueroa, that's a big notch on his belt.
Weigh-ins for tomorrow's UFC 143 event took place today in Las Vegas, where headliners Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz both weighed in at 169 pounds to make their interim welterweight title fight official.
The rest of the UFC 143 card also made weight, including heavyweight co-headliners Roy Nelson and Fabricio Werdum.
Wear Trekking Gloves When you use trekking poles, your hands are constantly exposed. Wind, cold, sun, mosquitos, sandflies, midges… They used to torment my hands, until I began wearing trekking gloves. That?s when I discovered gloves also make trekking poles more comfortable. Yes, even Leki trekking poles. Leki?s Aergon grips are excellent, but I find [...]
A light heavyweight rematch between Thiago Silva and Brandon Vera has been booked for UFC on FX 3 on May 15 in Fairfax, Virginia, the UFC announced today.
Silva dominated Vera for a unanimous decision win at UFC 125, but Silva was stripped of his win and suspended for one year after submitting fake urine for his drug test.
You got the wrong Dana White, says the real Dana White and a poor woman on the eastside of Las Vegas. The UFC president's battle with online hackers resulted in Julie Breeler getting hundreds of phone calls the last few days.
FOX5 Las Vegas covered the story of the woman getting harassed by haters of Dana White and even those calling him for a job. There is no Dana White at the address and it certainly isn't the home of the fight-promoting millionaire.
The UFC boss heard about the woman's plight and actually showed up at her house on Monday.
"[I] went over and apologized for all the trouble caused by the online terrorists," White told FOX5's Claudine Grant.
Breeler wasn't exactly greeting folks at her front door with open arms.
"I get my gun before answering the door," Breeler told FOX5 Monday. "I crack the door and say 'Yes?' He says 'Julie Breeler?' and I'm like 'Yes.' He says 'Hi, I'm Dana White!'"
UFC.com was hacked and re-directed back Jan. 22. Shortly after the "UFC on Fox 2" press conference on Thursday, an angry White launched into an attack on the hackers calling them terrorists.
