RavishingRickRudo

I am bound by law to like all Canadian fighters.

How DARE you.

You know, unless you can prove that I don't know why Joey turned down the previous offers*, then your argument cannot be proven. (*one offer in 1995 but he turned down because it meant leaving his job at News Corp, another in 2001 because "they couldn't come to terms on a full time deal", but Joey was willing to work part-time because it meant he could keep his full-time marketing job. According to Joey Styles' interview on WWE.com, which I didn't read, because -according to Y2Jerk- I don't know why he turned down the offer) - WOL - Pro Wrestling Chronicle

I don't? Really? Wow.

I think I may dropkick someone at this event.

Why did Styles turn down the job when they offered it to him before?

And at UFC 40 I was cheering for Tito and you were cheering for Shamrock to spite me, IIRC.

Non-believer. Graciest.

Chris Elliot Katharine Taylor Paris Kellie I just want Taylor to do some Joe Cocker. Don't kick him off till then, 'merica.

I love it when Taylor goes nuts. He needs to do a song which allows him to just go crazy-go-nuts.

God, who the hell is saying "Yeah Kellie, you should really do this song" SELA WARD~!

Yeah, it's amazing how Elliot gets better and better and better every week.

Elliot is very good. Paula melting.

Idol Commandment #1: Thou Shalt Not Do Whitney or Mariah.

Oh my, she's moving around a lil too much for that dress. Not that I mind. Yowza.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBIES! A fine, fine dress.

Hmm, seems like the list was wrong.

An interview with the highly overrated and clearly shitty Joachim Hansen. INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK: JOACHIM HANSEN With his most recent win at Bushido 10 Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen continues to show why he is one of the world’s top lightweight fighters. In that evening’s most exciting fight Hansen went toe to toe with Luiz Azeredo standing and on the ground before ending the fight with a KO kick. Now currently awaiting his next call to action Joachim took time out to speak to MMAWeekly from his native Norway to discuss the win over Azeredo, his Shooto fight with Tatsuya Kawajiri, and his goals for the remainder of 2006. MMAWeekly: First off Joachim congratulations on your win at Bushido 10. Tell us how you are feeling after the fight. Joachim Hansen: It was a very tough fight. It was also important to win that fight because I want to climb the ladder and hopefully get a chance to fight (Takanori) Gomi soon. He lost, so I don’t know what’s going to happen now with the future. I think Gomi has to have another fight with Aurelio and stuff first. MMAWeekly: Did the fight itself go as you expected? Joachim Hansen: Yeah it did. I’ve seen some fights of him and he was as I expected, pretty wild style and throws everything. It can end in a knockout like that when you fight a guy that kind of unpredictable style. Suddenly they can duck into something if you kick or something like that. MMAWeekly: During the fight you were exchanging punches with Azeredo while on the ground. Is that a reaction type situation or was it purposeful? Joachim Hansen: It’s a little bit of mental game, trying to break his will. I know that a lot of people are watching and they like that stuff, but it’s because I want to break his will, I’ve done it before also in Finnfight [laughs]. MMAWeekly: After the fight on the American PPV you said that he thought he was crazy but you are also. Is Joachim Hansen the craziest fighter in MMA? Joachim Hansen: I won’t say that [laughs]. Probably you have to be a little crazy to do this sport, so probably a couple more guys (are crazier). MMAWeekly: As you mentioned Takanori Gomi lost to Marcus Aurelio later in the evening. After the fight there was a shot of you in the crowd and you had a very disparaged look on your face. Joachim Hansen: I wasn’t disappointed because Marcus Aurelio deserved to win because he beat him. But after my fight in the interviews and also before the fight they were asking me all the time if I wanted to fight Gomi, so everyone expected him to win. I think he has a lot of pressure on himself but you never know, Marcus Aurelio is a great fighter, but when I was standing there I think everyone thinks when someone wins a lot that they think they are unbeatable. So it was a strange atmosphere in the whole place. MMAWeekly: Were you disappointed it wasn’t you who beat Gomi first in Pride? Joachim Hansen: Of course, I was kind of thinking, “that should be me.” But I’m not the only fighter, there’s a lot of great fighters and you have no guarantee to win. If you prepare good and stuff like that you can always have a good chance to win, but the other guy is doing the same so you have no guarantee to win. MMAWeekly: That fight was a non-title fight, so Gomi and Aurelio have to fight again to determine the Champion, which will delay your shot at the title for a bit. What do you think about those non-title rules? Joachim Hansen: I think it’s kind of strange because I think a loss is a loss. They (Pride) may want to have the title fight on a bigger show and maybe make it a bigger spectacle with more audience and stuff. I don’t know why, but it’s kind of strange, I would feel like that if I had a belt and were beaten that in spirit he took my belt or something. MMAWeekly: Okay let’s talk about your fight earlier this year against Tatsuya Kawajiri in Shooto. That was a title fight but ended just a few seconds in after a low blow to Kawajiri. Do you feel that’s a fight you need to rematch? Joachim Hansen: I think I have to fight him again because that fight was so…that fight was a strange feeling I felt. I tried to kick him with an inside low kick and he’s shorter than me and I think he stepped forward or to the side or something. At first I didn’t realize it happened, it was totally silent in the hall, it was pretty not fun. We were talking after the fight and he was okay and stuff. I feel like we have unfinished business, but not in a bad way. MMAWeekly: Would you rather that fight be in Pride or in Shooto for the title again? Joachim Hansen: I think they want to make it a title fight in Shooto. I think, I don’t know, but I have a feeling I have a feeling that I have to fight Kawajiri before I fight Gomi. We’ll see what happens because I think Gomi has to fight Aurelio again. MMAWeekly: It may be a while before Gomi and Aurelio get their situation worked out, so will you take fights between now and then or will you wait for them before you get your shot? Joachim Hansen: I really don’t know. I think I’ll take some fights also. I also have to win because I want to feel like I deserve to fight for the belt. It’s kind of a strange situation. I think the fans in Japan want to see me and Gomi fight, but for me I want to feel like I deserve it. MMAWeekly: You’ve been fighting pretty much non-stop for over a year, has all that training and fighting had any effect on you? Joachim Hansen: I think that it is like that in all sports that if you want to be on top you have to take a way a something else. So I feel sometimes that I don’t have a very active social life because I’m always in the gym on top of other men [laughs]. I’ve been more between the legs of men than I have been between the legs of women [laughs]. I kind of feel that sometimes that I get rusty in the social part of my life. You know right after Christmas I started preparations for the Kawajiri fight, I was disqualified and I didn’t know what happened so I just continued training hard. I had two boxing fights and then I had the Azeredo fight. So I’ve had all this hard training since Christmas, but right now with Easter happening, I’ve just been training normal training, so I feel like I’ve loaded up the batteries a little bit. It’s also important to have rest and get your body healed up because you get lots of small injuries when you’re training hard. I’m not half-dead when I come home from training and I feel that I’m getting better. I think I also learn how to prepare better, because it’s not how much you train, it’s how good you train. You don’t have to train hard all of the time. You can have training, eating, and resting. I’m best at one thing, that’s training, I learn, so I think I’m going to be better. MMAWeekly: All right, before we head out I wanted to mention that you’re a very popular fighter in America and I know fans would love to see you fight over here again. Are there any chances we could see you in the States anytime soon? Joachim Hansen: I’ve been thinking about it and I hope to fight there. I fought there one time in Euphoria, but right now I don’t know what’s going to happen. My contract is not finished with Pride, I want to fight Gomi and all that stuff, but I want to fight in America. I’m also checking out websites like MMAWeekly and the other major ones and I see I have good support from the Americans, so thank you for that. MMAWeekly: Good stuff Joachim, thank you as always for your time. Is there anything you want to say in conclusion? Joachim Hansen: I hope to be victorious this year. I have to stay in shape, stay away from injuries and continue to be brutal to my enemies up in the ring. For the supporters and fans of MMA, I think fighters should think about them more, because they have helped us to make this sport where it is today. Of course you have to have the fighters that go up and fight and I think it’s so big and still growing because of the fans that keep pushing it. Again I would like to say a big thank you to the fans around the world. By: Mick Hammond MMA WEEKLY POSTED -- 04/25/06

ULTIMATE FIGHTER REBOUNDS IN WEEK THREE RATINGS After an alarming ratings drop the previous week, The Ultimate Fighter 3 rebounded to a strong 1.9 overall rating with its third episode on April 20th. The show had previously drawn a 2.0 rating in its season premiere, and then fell off drastically to an overall rating of 1.3 for Episode Two. The increase to 1.9 for Episode Three must come as a huge sigh of relief to Zuffa and Spike TV just one week after the biggest week-to-week ratings drop-off in the history of the series. In the key demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males, Episode Three drew a 3.0 rating, which is a big improvement from the 2.3 rating that Episode Two drew in that demographic. However, it still falls far short of the 3.7 rating that the show's season premiere drew in that demographic. One Big Reason for the Ratings Increase: Boosts from Specific Age Groups When a TV show's ratings go down gradually over time, the reasons are usually fairly simple. People tend to lose interest in TV series as time passes, or they get turned off by certain things in the series and don't want to watch it anymore. It is much less common for a TV show's ratings to go down drastically one week and then go back up drastically the next week. In examining why the ratings for Episode Three rebounded in such a manner, one of the first things to jump out is the fact that the show's ratings in two specific age demographics went up in Episode Three, to the point that they were actually higher than Episode One's ratings in the same demographics. In the 35-to-49-year-old male demographic, Episode One drew a 1.7 rating, Episode Two was down to a 1.1 rating, and Episode Three was up to a season-high 2.0 rating. Similarly, in the 18-to-24-year-old male demographic, Episode One drew a 1.9 rating, Episode Two was down to a 1.7 rating, and Episode Three was up to a season-high 2.3 rating. If it weren't for these two specific age groups, the overall rating for Episode Three would not have been much higher than the disappointing rating that was drawn by Episode Two. It was these two specific demographics that figuratively carried the show on their back to bring the overall rating back up to the high 1s. In the specific age group that has supported UFC programming on Spike TV more than any other age group, which is 25-to-34-year-old males, the ratings for Episode Three are still nowhere near what they were for Episode One. Episode Three drew a 3.4 rating in that demographic, which is still far short of the record-breaking 5.0 rating that Episode One drew in that demo. Another Reason for the Increase: Huge Lead-In Rating for Royce Gracie Retrospective The most simple and direct reason for Episode Three's ratings increase is the fact that the most recent episode of UFC Unleashed gave TUF a much bigger lead-in audience than it had the week before. The April 20th episode of UFC Unleashed, which was a look back at the career of Royce Gracie, drew an overall rating of 1.4, which is huge for UFC Unleashed and may very well be a testament to the drawing power of Royce Gracie. To put into perspective how big of a deal it is for UFC Unleashed to have drawn a 1.4 overall rating, that actually equals the 1.4 overall rating that The Ultimate Fighter 2 averaged over the course of its twelve-episode run. An overall rating of 1.4 is actually higher than the 1.3 overall rating that TUF 3 drew with its second episode. An overall rating of 1.4 is barely lower than the 1.6 overall rating that the UFC drew with a two-hour live fight special on April 6th. It's a little bit crazy for hour-long retrospective shows to be drawing ratings similar to those drawn by first-run TUF episodes or even live UFC fight broadcasts. The apparent TV viewer interest in Royce Gracie has to be seen as a positive by Zuffa when it comes to what kind of PPV buy-rate UFC 60 is going to draw, especially since ticket sales for the event have been slow (at least compared to the last several UFC PPV events). Positive or Negative Word of Mouth, and Audience Growth Throughout Episode Three Unlike the first two episodes of TUF 3, the third episode showed significant growth in its ratings throughout the episode. Episode One back on April 6th remained steady in its ratings throughout the 90-minute broadcast, with quarter-hour ratings of 1.9 or 2.0 for all six quarter-hours. Episode Two only had mild growth in its audience as the show went on, with a 1.2 overall rating for the first half-hour and a 1.4 overall rating for the second half-hour. On the other hand, the ratings for Episode Three went up significantly as the show went on, with the first 15 minutes drawing a 1.6 rating, the second quarter-hour drawing a 1.7 rating, the third quarter-hour drawing a 2.0 rating, and the final 15 minutes of the show drawing a 2.3 rating. This is most likely due to the fact that the scheduled fight was established early in the episode, and the rest of the episode was focused on building towards that fight. The vast majority of the people who were watching at 10:00 PM stuck around for the entire episode, and when you combine that with the fact that new viewers are typically tuning in at various times throughout any given episode of a TV show, that's what leads to the aforementioned quarter-hour ratings growth during the course of an episode. However, even with the audience growth during the course of Episode Three, it is still the case for this series (and the vast majority of TV series) that the buzz from episode to episode actually centers on the previous episode of the series. This is a notion that holds up when one examines the week-to-week ratings changes during the first two seasons of TUF. If a significant percentage of the people who watched Episode One of TUF 3 were disappointed with what they saw, that would likely not be reflected in the ratings for the first episode. It would be far more likely to be reflected in the ratings for the following week's episode, since the people who were disappointed by the first episode would be far less likely to tune in for Episode Two. On the same token, if the people who watched Episode Two liked what they saw for the most part, that would probably not be reflected in the ratings of Episode Two. It would be far more likely to be reflected in the ratings for the following week's episode, as the people who enjoyed the show talk about it at the proverbial water-cooler the next day (or the next week), and positive word of mouth spreads in the days leading up to the debut of the next episode. With that in mind, it has to be considered a strong possibility that many of the people who watched Episode One of this season were disappointed with what they saw (perhaps by the drunkenness of what is supposed to be a group of professional athletes, or perhaps by the first episode's constant refrain of, "Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock really, really hate each other! No, I mean it! They really do!" or perhaps by any number of other factors), and therefore many of those people didn't come back to watch Episode Two. It also has to be considered a strong possibility that many of the people who watched Episode Two liked what they saw enough to tell their friends or co-workers about it in the subsequent days, and many of those friends and co-workers tuned in to see part or all of Episode Three. As with any episode of TUF or any television series in general, the ratings for Episode Four of this season of TUF will be determined in part by which group of people is greater in size--- the group that was disappointed enough in Episode Three to have lost some or all of their interest in the series, or the group that enjoyed Episode Three enough to talk about the show with their friends or co-workers. Network TV Competition Not Likely to Have Stolen Many Viewers from TUF's Third Episode Episode Three of TUF 3 went head-to-head with a fairly weak night of network TV competition. In the 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM hour on April 20th, CBS' Without a Trace led the way with an overall rating of 11.5, which is much lower than usual due to the fact that the show's CSI lead-in was a repeat. ABC's Commander in Chief continued to struggle on its road towards a possible cancellation with an overall rating of just 5.2, which is down drastically from the 10+ overall ratings that the show was drawing in its first several weeks on the air. Finally, a repeat of ER on NBC drew an overall rating of just 4.3, which is less than half of what ER normally draws with its new episodes (ER repeats generally don't hold up well in the ratings). Either side of the argument could easily be made on whether the network TV competition has any significant effect on TUF's ratings. It's true that TUF draws from different viewer demographics than Without a Trace or Commander in Chief, but TUF certainly does draw from many of the same age demographics as ER. ER is supported primarily by 18-to-49-year-old viewers, which is also the general age demographic that Spike TV targets with The Ultimate Fighter. The pro wrestling show TNA Impact, which airs Thursday nights at 11:00 PM on Spike TV and is now relying on TUF to provide it with a big lead-in audience, drew an overall rating of 0.9 on April 20th, which was down from the April 13th episode's overall rating of 1.1. While TNA certainly can't put on the kind of risky, high-impact match every week that they had at the beginning of the April 13th show, the April 20th rating still has to be considered hugely disappointing for TNA because its lead-in audience was actually much bigger on April 20th. In just one week, TNA Impact went from retaining a strong 85% of TUF's overall rating (1.1 compared to TUF's 1.3), to retaining just 47% of TUF's overall rating (0.9 compared to TUF's 1.9). By: Ivan Trembow MMA WEEKLY

Judo has subs. Lots of subs. Is it not reasonable to believe that a guy who has trained for years in Judo would be good at subs? Esp a guy who wins lots of his fights via subs? Hunt was able to beat Bobish after getting taken down and laid on. Silva took him down too.

Paris. "At Last" Elliot." Unchained Melody" Righteous Brothers Kellie."Because You Loved Me" Celine Dion Kat. "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston Taylor. "You Are So Beautiful"/ Georgia On My Mind.Ray Charles Chris." I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Via DVDVR

I dunno why I keep going to these shows... but SHELLY vs. SABIN~! MDOGG vs. HERO~! WELLINGTON vs. PAYSAN~! DARKSTONE vs. SWEENEY!

No. I suppose not. I mean, Gold Medals in Judo? That's a laff. Judo isn't a real martial art anyways. It's just Hasidic bread before it gets put in the oven.

At the time, Royce Gracie was near-god. After seeing UFC 2 over a decade ago, me and my buddies stopped trying to do sharpshooters and camel clutches on each other and started doing guillotine chokes and armbars. The sense of "no one can beat this man", that we may get with Fedor or Liddell today, was the feeling every time Gracie stepped into the octagon times 10. The mystique that the UFC put on the Gracies was just, I've never seen anything like it (even if it was pretty much all fictional). Basing his fights just on Unleashed is a bit unfair. You have to see the whole events to get the aura and importance of Gracie. And BJJ is still one of, if not thee, most important martial art to study. For offense, but more importantly, for defense.

I was watching the Unleashed special last week and for the first time it really dawned on me "ROYCE GRACIE IS FIGHTING IN THE UFC". That's fucking amazing.