Given all the hype leading up to this fight, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather put on a pretty good show last night in a bout that had some very interesting moments.

McGregor came out and seemed liked he was controlling the action in the early rounds. Of course, Mayweather was sizing up his unpredictable opponent, but he was extremely cautious and didn’t seem to be quite up to his championship form. Perhaps age and size would be a factor?

The early rounds added some excitement for the large number of betters that placed their money on the underdog. Who knows what motivation drove all these bets. Many of course love the underdog – it’s always more fun in Vegas to hope for the big payout, versus the approach of pro betters who carefully weigh the odds. Also, you had the Irish fans who love Conor and the fans hoping to embarrass the boxing world. All that led to a ridiculous amount of money coming in on Conor, and the Vegas sportsbooks looking at a debacle if somehow Conor could pull out a victory.

But then reality started to set in. As Conor started to tire, Floyd started to force the action. Despite all the talk of Conor being a big puncher, it became clear that Floyd didn’t fear those punches at all. Floyd started to do some damage with his own punches, and then the length of the boxing match format started to wear on the MMA hero. By the late rounds, it became clear that Conor had little left, other than his big heart.

Some say the fight was stopped too soon, and that is understandable given Conor’s MMA background, but this fight was over. It was just a matter of how much more punishment Conor could endure. Had he fought a younger Floyd or a younger contender, this boxing rookie would have suffered an epic beating.

Still, the fighter put on a pretty good show. Bob Ley of ESPN called it a “long con” as he dismissed the fight, but the fight delivered an interesting battle between two fighters from completely different worlds. I’ve seen much worse . . .

Does Conor McGregor have a real shot against Floyd Mayweather?

Who knows, but this is certainly a spectacle garnering plenty of attention. Mayweather will get richer, and McGregor has a shot to make history. The word out of Vegas is that plenty of money is flowing to the underdog, setting up a potential bloodbath for the casinos if Conor shocks everyone with a win.

we’ll all be watching . . .

Although efforts have been made to expand its reach, with events now being held in every corner of the globe, UFC remains most relevant and accessible to an American audience – the members of which invariably crave entertainment and spontaneous action. As such, eastern styles such as judo and Muay Thai have always been under-appreciated in the octagon. Yet, the history of UFC is awash with famous knockouts that have combined both to great effect.

Here is a retrospective look at three memorable Muay Thai-style knockouts… Read the rest of this entry »

GLORY is the premiere kickboxing organization in the world. And even if you aren’t familiar with it yet, Spike TV is betting it will take off. Similar to the way Spike popularized the UFC with an unprecedented TV deal in 2005, the network is betting on the crossover appeal of kickboxing, featuring GLORY kickboxing events on a monthly basis.

“We really like this sport,” said Jon Slusser, Spike’s senior Vice President of Sports. “If you talk to people who like MMA, they love kickboxing. With the growth of MMA and the growth of combat sports over the last decade, a reintroduction of the sport is what we think will give this sport the boost it needs to really climb into the spotlight,” says Slusser.

Middleweight Wayne Barrett finds himself in the perfect place at the perfect time. On the mat is where his opponents have found themselves since the former Golden Gloves boxing champ turned pro.

As an amateur, Barrett compiled a 19-1 kickboxing and Muay Thai record. Barrett’s GLORY debut came in a September when he knocked out Robby Plotkin in the first round. In his second GLORY fight, he toyed with and then knocked out previously undefeated Mike Lemaire in round two. In a total of 23 fights, he has amassed 18 knockouts.

Saturday November 23rd on Spike TV, Barrett faces Schilling at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the inaugural GLORY Middleweight Championship.

Read the full article here.

Anderson Silva has been getting away with this crap for years, and now he’s finally paid for it with his title.

Somebody other than Anderson Silva possesses the UFC middleweight belt for the first time since 2006.

And Silva has only himself to blame.

Chris Weidman took advantage of some of Silva’s usual showboating early in the second round to knock out the longtime champ. A left hook to the chin of a lackadaisical Silva dropped him and a few moments (and a few more Weidman punches later), the fight was halted.

“We expected him to do things like that,” Weidman said. “He’s done it plenty of times in a lot of fights. I don’t see him as being cocky. He’s trying to mentally defeat you in there. It got to the point when he was doing it, ‘You know what? Screw this. I’m hitting him.’”

Silva’s never shied away from showboating, especially as he ruled the middleweight division where he successfully defended the belt a UFC record 10 times.

You have to respect these MMA fighters, but you also have to wonder how much damage a real boxer could do to these guys if he could learn to handle the other fight aspects. Silva’s sloppiness is shocking and it was just a matter of time before someone clocked him good.