Youth N Asia

Then go see it already. You can find the fancam

I think the IC title held more weight than the WCW title did in 2000-2001. The belt seemed to change hands every week. It's easy to be a five or six time champ like Booker or Jarrett when the title traded on every other tv show and every ppv

Awesome entered through the crowd. There was a lockerroom brawl just before and everyone had cleared to the back. Tazz's WWF music hit, walked out to the ring, then they had their match. Awesome left through the crowd as well.

Interview with Leben, ripped from Observer. http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com/wo/news/...t.asp?aID=12783 Note: The UFC released that Chris Leben will be fighting Jason Thacker on April 9 during the "The Ultimate Fighter" finale, shortly after this interview was conducted. Ever since the debut of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV, the name circulating around the Mixed Martial Arts community has been Chris Leben. Equally loved and despised, Leben's controversial personality has proven to be a television ratings draw. Over 2 million viewers tuned in for his much anticipated grudge match against Josh Koscheck, making it the most watched fight in UFC history. Leben, a 24 year old native of Portland, Oregon, has opened alot of eyes to the fact that MMA is indeed a character driven sport. Leben seems to have a firm grasp on his new found fame. "People notice me a little bit more. I still have the same friends. I'm not trying to make new friends or play off my popularity. I get free beer more but other than that, not much has changed for me." How did this journey begin for him? "At first I heard about the show from a couple of guys who saw something about it online. So I asked Randy (Couture) and he said that he might end up being one of the host and that I should send in a video tape. I got someone to to help me make a highlight video and I sent it in to them." Chris is a member of the famous Team Quest fight team. He was not the only member of the team to be represented on the show. Randy Couture was made one of the two head coaches and Nate Quarry competed along side him for the prize of a UFC contract. "We all got on the same team but I was ready if I had to end up competing against them. That possibility ran through my head." During the first week of training, Leben found himself on the cutting block due to his behavior while drinking and interacting with the other fighters. "I was a little worried. Randy doesn't stand for alot of bullshit so it did run through my mind." When Coach Couture chose to cut Chris Sanford instead, many felt favoritism may have come into play. "I think Randy was tougher on me and Nate if anything rather than being bias. In all actuality, comparing me to Chris Sanford and why he got cut instead of me is a joke. A fool can see I deserved to be there alot more than he did. He came in out of shape and was slacking through every workout. I was there training and pushing it hard. No one can say I wasn't doing that." Upon entering the competition, Chris was already sizing the fighters up. "I knew Koscheck and Diego Sanchez were going to be tough. I think alot of the guys in the house are ready to be in the UFC. Myself, Nate, Diego, Forest, Stephen, Bobby, Swick. Alot of those guys are top skilled fighters who have made their mark in the world of MMA. They just haven't been signed to a big show." As far as his thoughts on Josh Koscheck in the beginning "I challenged him first because I just didn't like him. Right away, I didn't like his attitude. I did not think that he had made that big of a mark in MMA to be acting as tough as he was." One fighter who Leben appeared to go out of his way to haze was Jason Thacker. When asked in particular about the bed spritzing incident, he said "I had nothing against Jason. Alot of that was me joking around and was supposed to be in good fun. Alot of it was me being a little tipsy as well." During the course of the show, Leben ended up on the loosing end of two highly debated fights. His first loss was by judges decision to Josh Koscheck. "I think if it went to a 3rd round, I would have beat him. I don't think he beat me in that fight. He out wrestled me. I kind of fault the judges. If they want to see someone like that in the UFC, if that's the kind of fighter they want to have, then we'll see how many people tune in to watch the show when they have two guys wrestling going at it. I wanted to get in there to fight. He did not want to fight me. He just wanted to lay on top of me." We all know by now the story surrounding the problems Leben has had with Koscheck and Bobby Southworth. Rumors were going around that Randy Couture may not be too fond of either one as as well. "I don't think Randy has bad blood with anybody. I can tell you that I don't like either one of them. I can't speak for Randy but I'm glad I don't have to listen to Bobby whining all the time or Josh's squeaky voice either." Koscheck and Southworth along with Mike Swick are all affiliated with the American Kickboxing Academy. Leben handed Swick his only career loss by knocking him out in a fight last year. During the show, Swick had said he wanted a rematch in order to avenge the loss. "I like Mike Swick. He and Alex Schoenauer actually came up and trained with us a few months after the show and we got along real well. At first we got into that little spat but after we got that out of the way, we got along just fine. Would I fight him? Yeah, if the money was right. We are professionals that get paid to fight and that's what we do. I wouldn't say I would like to fight him. I am not gunning for him. I have no reason to be." After his elimination loss to Koscheck, Chris was given a second chance in the competition when Nate Quarry's injured ankle caused him to withdrawal. He suddenly found himself in the semifinals facing off against Kenny Florian. Chris was the heavy favorite going in and appeared to be well on his way to victory. Near the end of the 2nd round though, Florian caught him with an elbow which opened up a cut over his eye and causing the fight to be medically stopped. "Kenny definitely surprised me. I looked at him as being a smaller jiu jitsu guy. Just looking at him, he doesn't look like a real tough individual. Obviously by watching our fight and seeing some of the shots I hit him with and how he weathered the storm and fought through that was very impressive. I would not have done anything different in that fight though. I do not see where I did too much wrong. The majority of the fight looked like a highlight real for me. Kenny did real good at staying in there but I did one small mistake by letting him get a inside bicep tie up on me when in the clinch. There are so many elements in Mixed Martial Arts where one small little detail can change the whole outcome of a fight and that's what happened." How does Leben compare his two opponents from the show along side some of the other tough fighters he has faced such as UFC veterans Joe Doerkson & Benji Radach? "Koscheck did not have the skills to hurt me. I wasn't afraid of that at all. He didn't do any damage to me and I knew he wouldn't be able to. He is a great wrestler but sooner or later I would have caught him. Kenny is a tough guy but I have definitely been in there with guys who were equally as skilled along with being bigger and stronger. I felt like I was doing real good against him until I got caught with that elbow." If given the choice, would he have picked Florian as his semifinal opponent or would Koscheck or Diego been chosen? "I really wanted to fight Diego Sanchez. I like Diego but I thought that would be a good win for me to have since he did so good on the show and won those couple of fights but at the same time my pride would have made me fight Josh. I think I would have had to right that wrong. I know that I am the better fighter and it was a bullshit decision. I think I would have picked Josh." Has Dana White acknowledged the fact that Leben is a strong ratings draw and will that open the door for him into the UFC? "I think they knew that I was a big part of the ratings success. Alot of people tuned in to watch what I was going to do next, to see if I was going to do something crazy or whatever. So I definitely say they have acknowledged that. I hope some doors will be open because if they want me on their PPV, that means I can make more money and in the long run I think it would make everyone more money." If Chris were to be offered a spot on an upcoming PPV, who would be his dream opponent at this stage in his career? "Oh man, there are so many guys out there who I would like to fight. One would be Joe "Diesel" Riggs. I don't think it would be an easy fight but I think our styles and the way we matchup would prove to be an explosive fight?" How does Chris respond to the personality comparisons made between himself and Tito Ortiz? "I don't know. Maybe I haven't followed Tito's story all that much. I have met him before and he seemed like a nice enough guy. I don't know what's so bad about him. I don't know exactly what he does. I mean, if I win a fight I am not going to jump on top of the cage and say that I am the greatest in the world or anything along those lines. I might get a little wreckless and have some fun but I don't know if that is the same as what he does in any way." Evan Tanner is the current UFC Middleweight Champion. Leben and Tanner used to be teammates. "I don't really know why Evan and Team Quest parted ways. The best I can tell was that it had something to do with contract issues. I know they still talk. I saw him the other day. I think it was more business reasons than anything." Leben was very honest when asked if he felt ready to challenge Tanner for the title. "No! You know he is the world champ where I have been training as a pro for just a little over three years. That is the stage where I am at right now. Evan has probably beat me up over a thousand times. That is why I am the fighter I am today. Because of people like Evan Tanner and Matt Lindland who have worked with me. I would like to fight some guys who are lower on the totem pole before I challenge for a UFC title." Finally, I asked for his predictions concerning some upcoming fights. He picked Ken Shamrock over Rich Franklin so Kenny now leads 2-1 in the TUF interview series. Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg? "I know Hughes beat him last time with a choke. I dont know why Trigg tried to take him down in that fight. I am going with Trigg though. I know he is the underdog but I think he can do it." Last but not least, Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell? "That's an easy one. Randy is looking ridiculously tough right now. Nobody is stopping him." Here is a funny story to close things out. I asked Chris how he felt fellow team member, Heath Simms would fare in his upcoming figh? "What? Do I care? I hope they both lose!" Leben replied. Did I hear this right? Is there dissension in the ranks of Team Quest? I better ask him again as a responsible journalist. "You two are teammates, right?" I asked. "Oh, you said Heath Simms? I thought you said WES SIMMS!!!" Come on Leben, give me some credit! Everybody knows what the outcome of any match involving Wes "The Project" Simms would be. I would like to thank Chris Leben (www.chrisleben.com), Dave Meltzer, David Schwarz, Spike TV, and everyone who emailed me questions this week. I am sorry if I did not get to ask some of your questions. The volume of email was huge when I announced that I would be interviewing Leben. If it were Wes Simms, I could have fit them all in but "The Cat Smasher" is just on a whole other level! I will be back next week with The Ultimate Fighter Report and then a few days later, I guess I will be interviewing either Diego Sanchez or Josh Koscheck. You can email questions to [email protected].

The Tazz Awesome match is like 2 minutes long. Taz comes to the ring, trades punches with Awesome, spill to the outside, Taz punches, Awesome rolls Taz into the ring, Dreamer comes in and hits Awesome with the DDT, Taz chokes out Awesome

Any face more over than Jarrett will turn heel.

Very annoying commercials, but it only takes about a second to change the channel

Good match, stupid ending

Some personal favs Corino vs Tajiri, Hardcore Heaven 00 Whipwreck vs Candido, November to Remember 96 Sabu vs Van Dam, Hostile City Showdown 96 Credible vs Douglas, Cyberslam 99 Mahoney and Tanaka always had good matches together. Same with Tanaka and Awesome. Beh, can't think now. I've made too many ECW lists and my mind is warped from it. When it comes to New Jack, I'd rather see a couple minutes worth of highlights. Not entire matches. Unless the DVD came with great extras I'd pass. I have all of the vids ECW released and a ton of fancams.

Truth be told, it hadn't even hit me that it was good Friday untill someone mentioned it on TV an hour or so ago. That means no mail running today...THANKS A LOT, JESUS.

Well, he's only at half speed from where he was 2 years ago...2 years from now I can only imagine how he's moving

Looks like Ducth threw Vic's wife a look in the last ep.

Fun Fact: WHOOO!!!

Best Male Performance: JBL; A Few Good Men Best Female Performance: Christy Hemme, When Harry Met Sally -I didn't care for any of the female parts...while Stacy's was hot, I just hate seeing pretty girls smoke Best On Screen Tag Team: Ric Flair and Donkey; Braveheart Best Punch Line: "I love you." Christian; Basic Instinct Favorite Trailor: Basic Instinct NC-17 Award (Most Shocking Moment): Michael Cole gets tough; Taxi Driver "You Talking to Me?" Award: Gene Snitsky Best Hair: Booker T; Pulp Fiction Most Promising Movie Star: Batista

From Gabe at the ROH message boaed: Unfortunately, Dan Maff has been forced to pull off future ROH events and is now out of ROH. We will have an announcement on the Tag Title situation early next week in the Newswire. We wish Dan Maff the best in his future endeavors.

$8 million less than he thought he could

I always see them around the end of March

At the Target I work at this morning we had a big display thinking there was going to be an 8am rush like there was with Halo 2. But the time I left at 9:30 we'd sold 1. I wouldn't mind owning one, but I'm not big on handhelds.

The two things believed to be in the briefcase are either the bosses soul or the diamonds from Res Dogs. But Quintin has come out and said he never planned for what's the in the case...so while it's something special, it's really nothing.

Lem's working with troubled kids somehow now. And Shane was straight and narrow just like Vic in the Day One episode. I think he commented at the end of the ep that getting away with the stuff they did was too easy

The movie starts with Vinnie and Jules going to the apartment where Marvin's at...then the do the bit at Jimmy's house with the car clean up...then the scene at the resturant...then where they get back to see Marsallus...that's pretty much where Jules ends...then it's the date...then the fight...then it's Vinnie getting gunned down. That's pretty much Vincent's story...I think that's right

Just saw a commercial, they rename it on the 28th...which is completly stupid

Kidman/Akio vs Nunzio/Funaki This sucks. Any matches I want to watch from this brand are on Velocity, and I never remember to tune it in.

It just gets better and better