Lei Tong

As I said elsewhere: "... man, was I wrong. Complete and utter dominance by Randy. I mean, he took Tito's back , what, 3 times? Unreal. I think Tito may have had 30 seconds of semi-effective offense with some knees to the body, and nothing more. All props go to the #1 LHW in the world, Randy "The Natual" Couture. Well, at least Andrei is bringing my dream of dual Russian (or, at least of formerly Soviet countries) HW champs to fruition. But I still shed a tear for Tito... and Uno. FUCK."

The straight leg is suppsoed to be the target. In theory, the opponent's folded leg is used as a fulcrum with which to help hyperextend the opponent's straight leg.

Did anybody happen to see Tito on Jay Leno last night? Seems the UFC is really marketing all out this week preceeding the bout. Personally, I would've prefered they do a long, steady stream of TV appearences (as they did for Ortiz/Shamrock), as this seems kind of last minute. But in the end, it's great to have MMA and it's fighter's get any national TV exposure, especially on a show like Leno. Here's the schedule of appearences this week from the two main event fighters (from MMAWeekly.com): Friday, Sept. 19 - Tito Ortiz on Jay Leno Monday, Sept. 22 - Randy & Tito on ABC (Los Angeles) Sports Zone Show, immediately following Monday Night Football Tuesday, Sept. 23 - Randy & Tito on Best Damn Sports Show Period. Fox Sports Network, check your local listings. Wednesday, Sept. 24 - Tito on Carson Daly Show That is 1:30 am on technically Wednesday morning but it's Tuesday night.

Assuming they mean Shinsuke Nakamura, here's my early predictions: Carlos Newton def. Renzo Gracie (Renzo has struggle quite a bit in the past couple of years, and although Newton has had his share of losses as well, he's balanced it out with some wins) Ryan Gracie def. Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Although he has a chance for an upset due to his wrestling, Hamanaka's stand-up looked pitiful against Antonio "Windmill Slaps of Fury" Schembri. Ryan may not be the best stand-up guy around, but his agressiveness standing and skill on the ground should be enough to overcome the inexperienced Hamanaka) Rodrigo Gracie def. Daiju Takase (Takase may have finally found the skills everyone's said he's had, but Rodrigo, with awesome grappling & improving striking will probably prove too much) Daniel Gracie def. Shinsuke Nakamura ( Although Nakamura put up a game fight, we're still not even a year removed from his 2nd round armbar loss to Semoes (SP?). With having to split time between his pro wrestling and MMA training, I don't think he's improved enough to take this one) Dokonjonosuke Mishima def. Ralph Gracie ( Despite a recent loss to Takanori Gomi, Mishima has been a conisistent Top 10 LW for the past year. Ralph looked awesome in his heyday at Extreme Fighting, but is nearly seven years removed from MMA competition, in which time the sport has changed immensly. Ralph's ring rust & Mishima's aggressive style will be the deciding factors here)

He may have been talking out of his ass, but my brother once told me that suplexes never involve grabbing below the waist, which, considering the techniques' origin in Greco Roman wrestling, would make sense. Of course, there are some exceptions in the pro wrestling world (IE- caputre suplex, fisherman suplex).

My picks: - Tito Ortiz over Randy Couture via TKO, Rd. 4 ( Ortiz takes some lumps early, but survives through his underrated ground game and adaptability. He eventually turns it up against the tiring Coture, putting him away with elbows from side mount) - Gan McGee over Tim Sylvia via TKO, Rd.2 ( Gan takes some nasty shots standing, but evntually wades his way through to land some shots of his own, before eventually getting his fellow giant to the ground. From there, he'll hurt him enough with G&P enough to tire Sylvia out for the 2nd, and finishes Tim from mounted strikes) - Vladimir Matyushenko over Andrei Arlovski via Judges Decision ( Vladimir takes this to the ground early and often, bloodying up Andrei on the ground with sporadic G&P. However Arlovski stages a comeback in the 3rd, as Vladimir tries to coast for the JD as usual, giving Matyushenko a few scares on the feet. However, with two rounds under his belt, Matyushenko holds on for the Unanimous Decision) - Rich Franklin over Edwin Dewees via submission, Rd.1 (Franklin shows of his stand-up skills by schooling Dewees with slick punches and kicks. Edwin eventually decides to bring it the ground, but, ending up in Franklin's guard, he ends up getting subbed in his flustered state) - David Louiseau over Jorge Rivera via KO, Rd.1 ( "The Crow" shows he's ready for the top fighters at 185 by doing what he does best: splitting the overmatched Rivera's wig before KO'ing in the middle of the round) - Karo Parisyan over Dave Strasser via JD ( Haven't seen much of Karo, but if he's as crafty as they say, I imagine he pulls off the upset against a Strasser who'll underestimate him) - Nick Diaz over Jeremy Jackson via JD ( Jeremy comes in less overconfident than in the rematch between the two, and wins a few striking exchanges. However, in the end, the Cesar Gracie's students ground skills will allow him to control enough of the match and get off enough G&P to get the JD) - Caol Uno over Hermes Franca via TKO, Rd.3 ( The veteren Uno overcomes the upstart Franca's early barrage of submission attempts to wear him down with G&P, before pulling ahead in the stand-up striking as well before finishing off the ATT member late in the fight) - Josh Thomspon over Gerald Strebendt via TKO ( Thompson makes good in his long awaiated [and much delayed] UFC debut, TKO'ing a game yet overmatched Gerald)

One of my few complaints about the DVD is that it covers the era of KOTC before some of their best and most exciting fighters came into their own. Ex: Javier Vasquez has a single fight against a TKD fighter who quits before the match is well underway, and Dean Lister (2003 ADCC Absolute Division Champ) only has one match to show off his ground skills.

Oh, and so much for RIcco getting "outclassed."

Remember Sapp at the K-1 GP: He wins his opening match, but is "injured" in the process and withdraws from the torunament. Thusly, he remains unbeaten and stays strong in the minds of the Japanese fans. My prediction: The Gracies get their wish as they get a family member to replace Yoshida in the 2nd round.