Jose Canseco came out swinging but didn’t last long in his debut in mixed martial arts.
The former Oakland A’s slugger was defeated by South Korean super heavyweight Hong Man Choi by a knockout just 1 minute, 17 seconds into the first round at Yokohama Arena.
The referee stopped the fight when the 7-foot-2, 330-pound Choi knocked Canseco to the mat and started punching his head.
“That’s a big man,” Canseco said after the fight. “I ran into one of his left jabs and that almost knocked me out. You have no idea how scary it was facing a man that big.”
Canseco did land the first blow with a right to the upper body of Choi but that was all the damage he could inflict on the Korean giant.
Shortly into the fight, Canseco hurt his right knee and was unable to do much after that.
“I hurt my knee back home real bad but I didn’t want to disappoint the fans,” Canseco said. “I knew that at some point during the fight my knee was going to give out and once I was down I knew I wasn’t going to get up. He’s just too heavy to move.”
Canseco came into the arena to “Wild Thing” with a baseball bat on his shoulder. The way things turned out, he probably should have kept the bat.
Super heavyweight Hong Man Cho…
AP - May 26, 6:44 am EDT He took a few swings of the bat after the fight was over and was helped out of the ring by his girlfriend, Heidi Northcott.
Canseco, who hit 462 home runs over 17 seasons in the major leagues, has had several fights inside the ring since leaving baseball but has never taken on professional fighters like Choi, who improved to 2-2 in MMA.
He boxed Danny Bonaduce, a former “Partridge Family” child star, to a draw in a celebrity match in January. The 1988 AL MVP, who named alleged steroid abusers like himself in his two books, lost to former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema in his first foray into celebrity boxing.
By his acknowledgment, the baseball outcast needs the money. It’s one reason why Canseco has accepted a wide variety of offbeat jobs to make ends meet.
He said he will work on getting his knee back in shape before taking on any more fights.
“I have no idea if I’ll do this again,” Canseco said. “I’ve gotta get my knee better before I commit to anything like this.”
It’s true that defense wins championships, and there may be no better defensive fighter in mixed martial arts than Lyoto Machida.
It was his punching power, however, that helped him to claim the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of previously unbeaten Rashad Evans at UFC 98 on Saturday before 12,606 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
And judging by the way Machida performed, fans had better get used to the Brazilian sitting at the top of the heap. After wins over former UFC champions Rich Franklin, B.J. Penn and Tito Ortiz and Saturday’s dominant performance against Evans, it doesn’t seem there is anybody out there now who is going to be able to take that belt from him.
“He’s definitely there,” UFC president Dana White said. “The way he beat Rashad Evans, that was very impressive. He gets better every time he fights. It might be the Machida Era.”
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Former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will get the next shot. Perhaps the one man who might be able to solve the Machida riddle, though, is UFC’s middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who has begun to dabble in the 205-pound division. But Machida and Silva are close friends who are each managed by the same man, Ed Soares. And they insist they will not fight each other.
Other than Silva, it is a stretch to conceive of anyone lifting the belt from Machida any time soon.
“My style is difficult,” Machida said in the night’s biggest understatement. “It’s hard to match with Machida Karate.”
In his last three fights, he’s beaten Ortiz, Thiago Silva and Evans, who came into those bouts with a combined 41-5-2 record.
The increase in his competition level hasn’t mattered at all, though, as Machida has systematically taken his opponents apart.
On Saturday, Evans raced out of his corner but didn’t attack. He spent much of the first round circling Machida, keeping his powerful fists at his side. As a result, Machida became the stalker and the man moving forward making the fight.
The first round was no barnburner, but Machida was measuring the distance with kicks and the occasional punch and was clearly gaining in confidence. He knocked Evans down with a kick and then a short left with about a minute remaining in the first round, but didn’t rush in trying to finish.
That Machida was defensively proficient and exceptionally patient couldn’t have been surprising. It’s been his modus operandi since his days as young boy in Belem, Brazil, when he learned karate from his father, Yoshizo.
There weren’t many, though, who would have predicted Machida’s lightning-fast hands and powerful punches would have been the difference in the fight or that his fists would have ended it so dramatically.
He cracked Evans with a left on the chin that badly hurt the champion and sent him staggering back into the cage.
Perhaps two years ago, Machida would have waded in cautiously, unwilling to risk the possibility that Evans was trying to bait him. This time, though, Machida pounced, fully realizing he had the opportunity to end the fight.
Evans proved with his one-punch knockout of Chuck Liddell in September and his TKO of Forrest Griffin in December that he’s powerful enough to win any fight with a single shot.
Machida, though, went for the kill as soon as the first opportunity presented itself.
“As soon as I hit him and I felt he felt it, I wanted to try to finish the fight,” Machida said.
Machida laughed when he was asked whether it was the best punch he ever landed (it was). Evans’ legs were like spaghetti as he reeled backward, and Machida knew the title was at hand.
He didn’t waste the chance. He attacked, as former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor once famously said, like “a crazed dog.”
He landed a series of shots as they battled along the cage and finished it with a devastating and perfectly placed left. Evans slumped down the cage as referee Mario Yamasaki jumped in to save him and, yes, signal the beginning of the Machida Era.
“He’s good,” said former welterweight champion Matt Hughes, who won a close decision from Matt Serra in the co-main event. “Real good. … He’s kind of the total package.”
The UFC acquired Machida in 2006, when it bought the World Fighting Alliance. White said the only reason for the purchase was to acquire the contracts of Machida and Jackson.
Given that both have now held the light heavyweight belt and will meet in a major bout later this year, it was obviously a terrific investment.
But White had to repeatedly defend Machida in his first few UFC bouts from fan and media criticism. White was steadfast in his belief that Machida’s tentative nature would change once he got comfortable in the UFC.
If he gets any more comfortable than he was on Saturday, they’ll make laws to outlaw him.
Machida said he would go home and try to correct his mistakes. He noted that the real work will begin now that he’s the champion.
That’s undoubtedly true, but it’s hard to imagine Machida being able to be much better than he is now. He’s 15-0 with thunder in both hands, the game’s best defense and a confounding, unusual style.
“I always said he’d be scary when he got comfortable,” White said. “And I think he’s comfortable now.”
Preview of the Countdown Show for UFC 98 - Evans vs. Machida Watch Countdown to UFC 98 - Evans vs. Machida on Thursday, May 21st 2009 on SpikeTV Copyright of UFC® Ultimate Fighting Championship®
When Bobby Lashley made the switch from pro wrestling to mixed martial arts, he was good-natured about the obvious jokes about pulled punches and scripts.
But at some point, Lashley got tired of the routine. Mike Cook failed to get the memo and got the message the hard way, being choked completely out with a guillotine in only 24 seconds in the former three-time NAIA wrestling champion and World Wrestling Entertainment star’s third pro MMA fight on Friday night.
Cook (7-4) came to Thursday’s weigh-ins for the Maximum Fighting Championship show in Edmonton, Alberta, wearing a mask of Lashley’s former cohort Rey Mysterio in an attempt to mock Lashley, and Cook made the statement that Lashley would defecate in his pants when he got hit with a real punch.
Perhaps Cook, a heavyweight out of Frank Shamrock’s camp, should have known better because he had a 2006 defeat against another former pro wrestler, Daniel Puder, and his coach also has dabbled in pro wrestling in Japan.
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Lashley, now significantly smaller than in his pro wrestling days and slightly lighter than in his two previous bouts, took the calm approach. He refused to touch gloves, and like an amateur wrestler, he grabbed a front headlock and sprawled.
When they got to the ground, he quickly turned it into a guillotine, and it was only seconds later that Cook passed out, causing ref John McCarthy to stop the match.
“I just yanked him down and got the vice grip on him and squeezed and felt him go out,” Lashley said.
Lashley (3-0) seemingly atoned for a lackluster performance in his previous fight, a three-round decision over journeyman Jason Guida in which he almost was finished with a guillotine in Round 3 by a late replacement who usually fights at light heavyweight.
“I’m here for business,” said Lashley, who is billed at 6-foot-3 but was slightly shorter than the 6-2 Cook. “I’m here and everyone wants to and tries to make fun of the wrestling thing. I’m real. If they want to play around, I’ll knock them out or choke them out. And that’s what I did. I choked him out and made him pay. Now he can go put the mask back on and have fun with himself.”
Lashley faces 6-foot-4, 345-pound Bob Sapp (10-3-1) in his next fight June 27 on a pay-per-view show from Biloxi, Miss. Sapp has gone into seclusion in the mountains in Japan training at a judo facility. Sapp competes May 26 at the Yokohama Arena in Japan as part of the same freak show tournament that Jose Canseco is in.
“I’m going to keep the competition going and keep the fights going,” Lashley said.
Several former UFC fighters appeared on the show held at The Venue at the River Cree Casino and Resort before a sellout of 1,500 fans, which also included an announcement that Jason MacDonald, just cut from UFC, would return to the promotion in September and attempt to win the group’s middleweight title.
Trevor Prangley, 36, who fought in the UFC from 2004 to 2006, captured the MFC light heavyweight championship in a five-round decision over Emanuel Newton (11-4-1), stopping Newton’s nine-match winning streak.
Prangley (20-5) looked like he was tired, standing still, moving slow and even at times with his hands on his hips, as early as the first round. But he connected with crisper shots. At no point was either fighter in serious danger, but in the final second of the fifth round, Prangley caught Newton in the jaw with a kick, which put down Newton.
Prangley looked to have hurt himself, as he limped badly back to his corner.
“I actually hurt my foot in the second round, but that kick finished it off,” Prangley said. “We’re warriors. I put the pain in the back of my head and would have continued.”
He was awarded the title on scores of 48-46, 49-46 and 49-46 while Newton looked on in disbelief. Yahoo! Sports had it 49-45, even though rounds two through four were close. McCarthy docked Newton a point in the second round for a knee to the groin.
“I feel bad taking the belt in a fight that was that close,” Prangley said. “I think he deserves another chance, but ultimately it’s not up to me.”
David Heath, who fought in UFC from 2006-2008, lost a split decision to Edmonton native Travis Galbraith (17-6) on scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Yahoo! had it 29-28 for Heath (11-5), but neither man established himself as a clear winner.
John Alessio (29-13), whose background includes stints with UFC, PRIDE, WEC and Dream, hurt Calgary’s Andrew Buckland (8-4) with a punch, went to the ground and got his back to finish with a choke in 2:53 of the first round.
Ryan Jimmo (10-1) dominated Mychal Clark (8-6) in winning a three-round decision.
The televised opener saw 39-year-old Marvin Eastman (16-9-1), who holds the distinction of beating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in both men’s pro debut nine years ago, finish Aron Lofton (6-2) with elbows and forearms on the ground at 59 seconds of the second round.
– Dave Meltzer
Strikeforce: Controversial main event; Kaufman shines
The Strikeforce Challenger series on Showtime is designed to be a B-level showcase. But Friday night’s card at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., was as eventful as any major card.
The main event was battle of attrition that finished prematurely, as Billy Evangelista dinged a downed Mike Aina in the head with a running knee and was disqualified at 3:40 of the second round. Replays, however, appeared to show Evangelista may have connected to Aina’s shoulder.
“I took him down, worked some ground and pound, and he looked like was ready to get up,” Evangelista (10-1) said. “I saw an opening, and I timed it and saw he had his arm up so I let it fly. Whatever, it happens.”
Aina, who is best remembered for a 2007 match with Nick Diaz in which he lost a controversial split decision, got the better of the standup and won the first round. But Evangelista was dominant in the second round, scoring a takedown off a single-leg and working Aina over on the ground.
Referee Herb Dean consulted with the cageside physician, who ruled Aina couldn’t continue.
“I don’t know, man,” Aina (12-6-1) said. “I don’t want to take a win like this. If it was up to me I would take this fight off my record.”
In the evening’s semifinal match, Sarah Kaufman and Meisha Tate showed that there is more to women’s MMA than just Gina Carano and Cristiane Santos. Kaufman, a late substitute for Kim Couture, ran her record to 9-0 with a unanimous decision victory.
Kaufman, a Muay Thai specialist from British Columbia who won all her previous fights by knockout, took it to Tate in the standup in the first round. But Tate (6-2) showed great heart in taking the damage and staying standing.
Tate, a champion wrestler from Tacoma, Wash., imposed her game plan in the second round, scoring a takedown early and spending most of the round raining down a ground-and-pound assault.
But Kaufman responded in the third and final round, sprawling out of Tate’s takedown attempts and doing enough standup damage to claim the victory.
“Meisha did a really good job,” Kaufman said. “I hit her with some hard shots. I’m happy I just got a chance to step in here.”
Kaufman also said women should fight five-minute rounds as men do, not three-minute rounds.
“It’s really hard to get something going continuously,” Kaufman said. “Five minutes, all the way. C’mon guys.”
The card featured what could end up the one-punch knockout of the year as heavyweight Lavar Johnson (12-3) dropped Carl Seumanutafa (4-1) in just 18 seconds. The Samoan shot in for a takedown. Johnson sidestepped the attempt and popped Seumanutafa with a bull’s-eye of an uppercut to the jaw as he passed by, knocking him cold.
“I knew he was a big strong dude, and I thought I was in for a rough night,” said Johnson, who has all but one of his career wins via KO. “I was surprised.”
In the broadcast opener, featherweight Bao Quach won a unanimous 29-28 decision over Tito Jones that did not go over well with the audience. The first two rounds were largely action-free, but Quach (16-9-1) landed several effective low kicks and stuffed Jones’ only takedown attempt.
In the third, the Urijah Faber-trained Jones (6-3) nearly finished the fight with a crisp right hook to the jaw, but Quach escaped an attempted choke and got back to his feet. Jones inexplicably backed off at the round’s midpoint and didn’t initiate further action for the remainder of the fight instead of attempting to finish Quach, which clearly cost him a potential 10-8 round and thus a draw.
In a light heavyweight match, Aaron Rosa looked impressive in a first-round submission win over veteran Anthony Ruiz (21-13). San Antonio native Rosa (12-2) withstood a standing series of strikes and responded with an uppercut followed by a slam. Rosa gained side control and worked his way into a rear naked choke for the finish at 4:29.
I'm excited as hell to be representing the USA against the U.K. but not so excited about some of the guys picked to represent the USA. After spending a few days with the team downstairs, I jumped at the opportunity to get into the room upstairs after Kiel Reid and Rob Browning got eliminated. I really like getting some alone time. I'm not the most social guy. Plus everytime I tried to hang around with the U.S. guys it would be nothing but sarcastic comments and remarks.
Even worse was the training, everyone on our team was an expert and wanted to tell you how to do everything better. One guy in particular that was getting under my skin was Cameron Dollar. I was actually nice to the kid for the first few days we were there. There was a day at the UFC training center when he started to cry and said he didn't know if he was gonna be able to make it through. I tried to be a good teammate, give him a pep talk and do what I could to help get him focused. Not even 24 hours after all of this, he started telling all his [expletive] player stories and throwing out all kinds of smack talk. Having 16 guys in one house with no entertainment outlet gets really old, really fast.
The U.K. team on the other hand seemed to be much more mature and polite. Well, with the exception of Michael Bisping, who liked to talk [expletive] trying to mess with our heads. For the most part, I found Bisping funny to be honest. Even though I found the U.K. team more enjoyable to be around, I kind of stuck to myself knowing that we were there to fight them. I didn't want to get to close for comfort.
Dana White said at the beginning this is the best and worst experience of my life. and no truer statement can describe what the Ultimate Fighter was about for me. Being away from my family and my gym was the most difficult thing i've ever had to do. I did love the wish list. We could write down what we wanted and needed, and the next day it would be in our food room.
It was tough to see Santino DiFranco lose to Andre Winner. He looked like he was doing well on the feet landing lots of leg kicks. I think he just got caught with some heavy hits and had he not pulled guard, there could have been a different outcome. DiFranco was our chef for the house. we would have group dinner and I credit him for my being able to cook.
It was a good turnaround to have DaMarques Johnson pull in the first USA win it improved our desire to want to beat the Brits. It was good to be in the house because there was no other distraction. but after a while it makes you restless to want to fight.
Because the sport is constantly evolving and moving in different trends, I think we'e seeing MMA fighters much more well-rounded and technical than in the past. Our pioneers have taught us so many aspects of this sport that the "type fighters" are giving way to more fighters that are well-versed in the "sport" of MMA. The winner and contestants of this season are great examples of that. The great thing about this sport is the constant opportunity to get better and become more informed
Jose Canseco is a 'roided up freak-of-nature who is disliked by pretty much everyone and looks for publicity at every chance. Now if he could only find a freak show fighter to help him jump into the MMA game.
Ahh yes! Hong Man Choi, the 7'2" South Korean who has lost to Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop, is going to fight Canseco at DREAM 9 on May 26 in Tokyo. I'm not sure what Canseco's aim is in trying out MMA -- maybe he's just really broke -- but it should be hilarious. This fight is part of DREAM's open weight tournament, meaning that if he wins, we'll get to see Canseco fight again.
Outside of Fedor and Cro Cop, Choi has just one other pro fight, a win over Bobby Ologun. Canseco's fight experience is limited to celebrity boxing, where he was knocked out by former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema. Apparently, Canseco's stand-up is pretty awful, so he might want to take a crash course in jiu-jitsu in the next few weeks. Then he might have a hope of submitting Choi; otherwise, Choi's astounding reach advantage will overwhelm Canseco.
The rest of the card is actually pretty good. Jacare Souza is fighting Mayhem Miller, Kid Yamamoto is taking on Joe Warren, and Mark Hunt will face Gegard Mousasi. yahoo.com
Why not have a tournament for ALL athletes that have used steroids- that tournament would last for years. OR- a tournament for the few athletes that have never used steroids- wolud probally consist of 2 or 3 matches. guess Kimbo Slice wasn't available for this tournament? I mean if a 'roid freak like Canseco gets on the card, why not a bear like the one Jackie Moon fought? Seriously, this fight is a joke!
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