This past weekend at the Houston Arena Theater, Legacy Fighting Championships held their “Lonestar Beatdown” event featuring Jonathon “the Mack Truck” Mack vs. Jason David Frank (a.k.a. The Green Ranger from the early 90′s TV show “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers).

Even if you’re not a fan of the Power Rangers, you won’t believe how Frank won.  After rocking JDF with a left hook, Mack suddenly grew to be the size of a large building due to the evil Rita throwing her magic wand into the cage and uttering the words “Let my fighter GROW!”  Panicked, JDF called upon his mighty Dragonzord, which emerged out of the (relatively) nearby waters of the Willowisp Country Club.  Mack = successfully got the takedown on the Dragonzord.  However, JDF commanded the Zord to whip his tail at Mack and backed him up enough to fire multiple missiles from his robotic fingers to seal the victory.

Winner: Jason David Frank, Round 1 via Dragonzord destruction

Ok, that’s not actually what happened.  Mack did soften Frank up with a left hook early on (time: 0:44), but after securing the take down, Frank pulled guard and was able to lock in an omoplata (shoulder lock) for the submission victory (time: 1:12).  Video below. Enjoy…and may the power protect you:

Green Ranger victorious in MMA debut

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The traditions and pageantry of bullfighting are far from being universally loved in the sports native country. Take these people for example…

That was a anti-bullfighting protest that took place in Las Ventas in May that was staged by the animal rights group, Equanimal. The participants stripped down to their ropa interior and covered themselves in fake blood and picadores – which are the spears that matadors use to stab the bull during the bull fight.

The people of San Sebastien, a small town in Central Spain which is best known as a great place to go on a country jaunt if you’re living in a Hemingway novel, have come up with their own alternative to Bullfighting that they feel is more humane. It’s called bull dallying – as in dillydallying? – and involves no swords and certainly no killing of the bull. You just bait the bull into running at you, then hope that your range of joint motion doesn’t fail you now.

According to Google translator, the word dally does not exist in the Spanish language. However, in English, it can mean to waste time or to play mockingly. One of these guys is definitely dallying. The other has murder/death/kill in mind.

Check out some more photos via Xinhua

Spain Invents New Style of Bull Fight (Oddity Central)

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With her next big fight a month away, Gina Carano is jet-setting this week. Tuesday, she was in NYC for a press conference for her upcoming fight against Cris Cyborg on Aug. 15 in San Jose, the first ever female MMA headlining fight. Yesterday, she was back out in L.A. for last night’s ESPY Awards (“We’ve got dresses, high heels – it’s kind of a different scene. It’s a nice thing to do every once and awhile”). Somehow she found a few minutes to chat, and after I informed her that FOX was rehashing her Bruce Lee impression during the All-Star game on Tuesday (the Pepsi commercial…that wouldn’t stop recurring), she filled me in on her upcoming fight and her brief stopover in NYC…



This will be your eighth pro fight, making you for all intents and purposes a seasoned vet. Without giving away any secrets, what’s the weirdest thing you do to get ready for a fight?

I just turn into this crazy, focused, healthy person which is not at all what I’m like normally – I’m all over the place usually. I also stay by myself alot when I train. I become sort of a hermit.

Where does Gina Carano go in NYC? Do you roll with bodyguards, or is that unnecessary?

I was only in NYC for 48-hours, but we got to go out a little one night. I roll by myself a lot. It’s funny, everyone always expects me to have an entourage. The fans are usually pretty cool – come up to me and tell me they admire what I’m doing.

This being the first time a women’s match will headline a fight card makes this an unparalleled landmark in the history of MMA. Looking back, is there a moment in sports history you can remember watching that stands out as particularly memorable to you personally?

I’ve always been more of player and would rather be out there competing. And with MMA there were no real established female fighters to look up to, so I had to kind of make my own way. My dad did play for the Dallas Cowboys, so I remember watching them growing up.

As you know, the other night was the Major League Baseball All-Star game. We know that you have a pretty extensive background in a few different sports (volleyball, softball, basketball). Were you ever an All-star, and what was your greatest All-star achievement?

My fondest memory as a player was definitely leading my high school basketball team to state and winning the state championship. I was the point guard and got the MVP!

Cris Cyborg, Cyborg Santos – sounds more like a comic book villian. Have you ever thought about fighting under an alias?

Well, Conviction is my ring name, but I’d never go by anything but my real name. When I’m in the ring, it’s purely me in there.

Lastly, prediction for the fight? (Don’t just say “pain”)

I don’t usually make predictions, but I don’t think it’s going to go the distance.

Check out Gina’s blog on Yardbarker.com as she prepares to face Cris Cyborg for the 145 lb. Female World Title, Saturday, Aug. 15.



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In case you had forgotten how greed works, Don King provided a little refresher this week. His production company, KingVision, sued an American Legion Post in Chino, CA, alleging that they broke the rules when they only purchased the residential pay-per-view package for one his fights instead of the commercial package. Because, when you think American Legion, you think bustling merchantry. The Chino war vets settled with King for a cool 20 Gs, because they can’t afford the cost to go up against a pay-per-view provider’s legal arsenal, not to mention whatever scumbags King keeps as counsel.

Fantastic, we’ve got war vets making a relatively miniscule drop in the bucket of an ex-con’s fortune. Only in America.

One blogger lashed out quite nicely…

I’m a pretty big fight fan who rarely misses a good match on pay-per-view. So, it is with some pain that I make the following pledge: I swear before God that I will never watch a boxing match promoted by Don King until he (a) releases American Legion Post 299 from any obligation in this matter to him and his equally shameful partners, J&J Sports Productions, and (b) grants a free and continuous license to each and every American Legion Post in America for every single fight he ever promotes. And by that I mean that any American Legion Post would not even have to pay even the amount charged for watching a fight in one’s living room. (Rick Ungar of True/Slant)

I like it, I’m on the bus. Plus, personally I can’t remember a good fight that didn’t have the Golden Boy Productions stamp on it. Someone want to enlighten me as to the last time I cared about a Don King fight? (Hector Camacho vs. Julio Cesar-Chavez, maybe?)

Don King Productions Sues American Legion Post Over Pay-Per-View (Fanhouse)

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Not quite sure where this is from. The YouTube info is sort of cryptic (chick gets smashed)

The title is Walpole hit. So maybe this is out of Walpole, Mass?

Anyway, less wasting time with worthless deductive reasoning, more watching two girls ice jousting – with both losing to the boards.

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Shaq’s MMA trainer went on First Take to discuss the rumors that The Big Cactus (I honestly never heard this nickname before, anyone else?) wants to fight Chuck Liddell…

Wait, how many levels is your academy?

If this guy didn’t pump the six levels six bazillion times, and Shaq-fu wasn’t such a class clown, maybe I’d buy Diesel vs. Liddell. However, is this the dude that tracked down Shaq on twitter and took him on in the octagon?

In other @The_Real_Shaq news, this tweet is hilarious…

Just got dat underwater ipod adaption device jammy so I can hear music unda water, I b aqua jammin, Waaaa Waaa Shaq-mu The quilla …(8:52 PM May 4th from TwitterBerry)

H/T to FastActionNews.com for the video posting.

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Ricky Hatton laid there on the mat for a good three minutes looking like he was in another world on Saturday. And anyone with even a cursory knowledge of boxing (and the effects of a Manny Pacquiao uncontested left hook) knows that could be it for the Hitman.

What lies in store for Hatton remains to be seen, but according to The Guardian, it didn’t take long for Floyd Mayweather Sr. to find another Brit to take under his wing should Hatton retire. Chris Eubank Jr., whose senior is a former World Champion fighter, will reportedly start training under Mayweather at his Las Vegas-based gym.

“Let’s not dilly-dally with this, let’s get him to the right guy. I’m getting him to the right man,” said [Eubank Sr.] the former middleweight and super-middleweight world champion. “I’m sending him out there. I’ve watched this man [Mayweather], I’ve watched him train him. Christopher is no good to him without heart, he’s got fight, so now, what Floyd will do is teach him the tools.”

Eubank Sr. versus Joe Calzaghe

19-year old Eubank initially broke into boxing against his father’s wishes when he started training in 2006 in Las Vegas. In a short period of time, he’s amassed six amateur victories and recently won the title of Nevada Golden Gloves Champion at the 165 lbs. According to the Guardian, Eubank is in no rush to go pro and has a strong desire to compete for the UK at the London 2012 Olympics.

Check out Junior dishing out some punishment in one of his amateur fights.

(Additional info from Chris Eubank’s Wikipedia page)

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Dwight Howard was suspended for last night’s game six of the Magic/Sixers series – giving Celtics and Bulls fans a glimmer of hope that should one of those teams emerge still standing from that series they wouldn’t have to see Superman. That dream is, of course, dead. Orlando romped Philly last night to advance to the second round. Howard, who wasn’t allowed to be in the stadium, was back at the hotel with his family.

And as Sports By Brooks pointed out this morning, providing his own commentary via Twitter.

His twittering is a sobering example that just because you’re a supreme athlete not all pros are going to be The_Real_Shaq (and yeah, of course I’m going to start following him). For example,

“aaaaaahh got yall i cant tell yall. its real bad real bad michael jackson lol. see if yall can get thatabout”

Personally, I can’t get that. In fact, he didn’t communicate much that I think most of the outside World found discernible. I did find this one intriguing:

“someone asked have i played shaq 1on1. how we gonna do that.”

Is that how we gonna do that – let’s set it up? Or how we gonna do that – surely you jest.

Hugging Harold Reynolds found Dwight’s fascination with the Ivan “Polish Hammer” Putski to be engaging puzzling as well.

Check out the rest of Dwight’s twitter feed and become a fan of him on Facebook.

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When I say abuse, I’m not talking about having to ask Piniella to “lay off the water works, Lou.”

I’m talking about the business end of Hank Blaylock’s broken bat last night….

As well as taking an uncontested 96 mph fast ball from Brad Penny to the dome last year.

Like.A.Ton.Of.Bricks.

Sports By Brooks posted this morning that Danley was taken to the hospital for a possible concussion after that bat whack last night. Here’s hoping he makes a speedy recovery.

Not a glutton for punishment personally, but, if I had to suffer umpire abuse, I would rather go this route:

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In the DVR era, you have to show restraint. You cannot watch it all, or you will die…while lying prostrate on the sofa.

Frankly, I’d love to see ex-NFL linebacker Dhani Jones gets decidedly mangled doing all sorts of goofball sporty stunts. But certain shows just can’t be squeezed in lest I resign myself to certain, imminent death by loafing.

Anyway, how has Dhani been fairing? Based on this preview, not well.

It’s kind of understated, but is he or isn’t he about to get BULLDOZED by that horse?

H/T to Your Scrumhalf Connection for posting the preview. Check back tomorrow for possibly some intelligently crafted thoughts on a show I actually watched – like the Teen Wolf episode of How I Met Your Mother.

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