Here's an interesting quote I found whilest grazing the intertubes:

"I've made it very clear to Chuck. Very clear. It's not about money, it's not about this, that. Chuck is one of my good friends. Chuck (has) cemented his legacy in the UFC and in the fight game. I'm not even saying if he wins, unless he looks incredibly impressive (in Montreal) - I mean, he's going to have to go out there and dazzle me, for me to want Chuck to still fight. I love him, and I don't want to see what I saw in his last fight ever again."

So what exactly does this all mean?

It's a good piece to read, but at the same time, it is a little vague. "For me to want Chuck to still fight." There are8 letters missing from that line: IN THE UFC. Dana could just be talking as a friend and saying, "Hey, if you get killed out there again, then maybe it's time to hang up the gloves?" This is the equivilent of taking your drunk friend home from the pub before he starts hitting on the fat chick.

Nonetheless, it still spells the possibility of seeing the end of Liddell in the UFC. But fortune is smilling upon our mohawked man, for on this day, he does battle with Shogun "I can't breathe" Rua.

This much is for sure, the loser of this fight, never steps foot in the octagon again.

I realise that this is a few weeks late, but I needed some time to collect my thoughts on this topic. Lets start from the beginning.

The event: UFC 94: Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn, 5 rounds for the Welterweight Title. St. Pierre completely crushes Penn up to the 4th when Penn's corner has the Doctor stop the fight. A day later the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) files a complaint that St. Pierre's cornermen applied vaseline to his shoulders and back. UFC President Dana White even came out and stated that he saw this happen(and without dropping a F-Bomb too). Now as of me writing this no word has been released about what happens with the outcome of the fight, but the NSAC has changed some rules only allowing 1 trainer in the cage between rounds. If this does hold true then the fight would more then likely be ruled a "No Contest".

Now for my thoughts on the matter. I've seen the video of the greasing. GSP's Cornerman applies the vasoline to his face then begins to rub his shoulders and back. What happens after that is some Athletic Officials come over and wipe of the areas. After seeing the videos I don't feel that anything was done on purpose. I don't think any of that would have made a difference. GSP is just naturally more stronger then BJ Penn. He would've just been able to muscle his way out of Penn's guard anyway. What time that was spent on the ground, GSP was in side control using ground and pound on Penn.

I think that St. Pierre is getting unfair criticism on the subject. I've seen some websites calling his victory an "asterisk victory". That is just wrong. St. Pierre is not at fault for any wrong doing that may or may not have taken place. For any other funny business look no further then the influx of fighters that have come out since the scandal claiming that St. Pierre was greased during their fights. Matt Hughes, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, and Matt Serra just to name a few. If Matt Hughes is going to use this as an excuse for his slump, then everyone who has beat him recently must've been greasing. If you saw the Matt Serra rematch then you would know that the only time that fight went to ground was when St. Pierre was savaging him with knees to the side of his body.

I pose this question to you: If there was a problem, then why did these guys wait(for some of them a year or 2) until now to complain?

Excuses, I think. Excuses for being crushed for the new Pound for Pound king, Georges St. Pierre.

In what has to be one of the most shocking moves in the past few months the UFC released Jon Fitch on Wednesday. Reports say that his release is due to his refusal to sign an agreement that states that his likeliness would remain exclusive to the UFC and THQ for the upcoming UFC 2009 Undisputed game. FItch had this to say about the hulabaloo:

"I had two fights left on my contract, but they always put a clause in the contract that if you lose a fight, they're able to release you at any time after a loss, that's pretty standard with any organization, but it's pretty incredible that they'd go to those lengths for something like this, over a video game. The video game agreement that they have that they wanted us to sign was basically we don't get anything for it. We get free publicity and promotion from the game, which is great, no problem. The problem is it's a lifetime exclusive contract. That means we would never ever be able to work with any video game companies other than the one the UFC provides. They basically kicked the door open, guns blazing, pointed it in our face and said, 'Sign this or you're going to pay'".

UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday that the UFC will no longer be doing business with American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, which is where Fitch trains at. Due to this the UFC also cut AKA fighters Cain Velasquez, and Christian Wellisch. Josh Koscheck is rumored to be cut after his December 10th fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. When speaking to Yahoo Sports, White had this family friendly piece to say about the situation:

"We're looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I'm just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it's not even funny, Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let him go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren't partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them."

For anyone that doesn't watch The Ultimate Fighter, yes, the president of a multi-million dollar company talks like that.

Jon Fitch is 8-1 in the UFC. That one blemish on his record is from welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, and that was the first time that St. Pierre had gone a full 5 rounds in a title defense. There's a line in here that troubles me, "...but they always put a clause in the contract that if you lose a fight, they're able to release you at any time after a loss,". Here's what bugs me, they release Jon Fitch after a possible fight of the year fight, yet Brandon Vera, a man who's 1-3 in his last 4 fights, still has a job...

Logic!

[UPDATE]: mmamania.com is reporting that all is well and Jon Fitch(along with the other fighters reportedly on the chopping block listed above) is not only back in the UFC fold, but will fight at UFC 94 reportedly against Akihiro Gono. Fitch told mmarated.com this:

"Communication kind of broke down with Dana (White) so we talked with Lorenzo. (I) just got off the phone with him and we came to an agreement. We're going to move ahead and I'll be back in the UFC. We're going to sign off on the video game and I'm back. It was never even about the agreement or the contract. It was the approach that we felt Dana was being a little bit hot-headed and was threatening us right off the bat. It didn't seem like a professional way of doing things."

Dana White almost single handedly put a gaping hole in the welterweight division. Only time will tell if he'll take his [expletive] foot out of his [expletive] mouth, maybe even learn a thing or two about this [expletive].

One of 2 big UFC events goes down this Saturday, November 15th, and I'm here to break it down for you. Let's see how wrong I am in breaking down the main card.

[NOTE]: I'm not entirely sure which fights are going to be aired along with the main card, so I'm just going to go over the main card.

Middleweight fight: Nate "The Rock" Quarry (10-2-0) vs. Demian Maia (8-0-0)

Maia comes into his 4th UFC fight with 3 submission victories in a row. His most recent being a 3rd round rear naked choke of Jason MacDonald. On the other side of the Octagon we got Nate Quarry, who was last seen jogging with Kalib Starnes. Quarry's a stand-up guy, in every sense of the word. With the exception of the Starnes...thing, and a KO loss to Rich Franklin, his fist have been winning his fights for him. Quarry can win this if he keeps the fight standing.

Winner: Nate Quarry, 3rd round TKO.

Lightweight fight: Kenny "Kenflo" Florian (10-3-0) vs. Joe "Daddy" Stevenson (29-8-0)

What more can be said about Kenny Florian at this point? He completely out worked Roger Huerta in 3 and is looking pretty unstoppable. Joe Stevenson, well, he has alot of blood, as B.J. Penn showed us. I would have to say that the winner of this fight faces B.J. Penn for the Lightweight title, but they may have to go through Sean Sherk first. Stevenson is a good fighter, but he is no where near Florian.

Winner: Kenny Florian, 2nd round submission.

Main Event Heavyweight Championship fight: Brock Lesnar (2-1-0) vs. Randy "The Natural" Couture (16-8-0)

This is it. Clash of the titans, meeting of the superpowers, the unstoppable force vs. the imovable object. Whatever cliche you an think of, this is it. Do I think Lesnar deserves a title shot? No, not yet. Is he being called the number 1 contender? No. The number 1 contender is Frank Mir, and he already has his title chance against one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world in Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. The heavyweight division is one the thinnest(yes I realize the irony) in the UFC. One factor in this fight bothers me the most, Couture hasn't fought in 15 months. He's 45, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. Brock Lesnar is a different beast from Tim Sylvia and especially Gabriel Gonzaga. Lesnar has the the strengh, the speed, and the size to just completely overwhelm Couture. Couture can take him to the ground, Lesnar's gound game is still an unkown at this point. His fight camp claims that his Ju Jitsu is on par with that of a black belt, but anyone can talk. Hell, I can tell you that I can beat Fedor. I really hate to go against him, Couture has been the underdog before, but this is completely different.

Winner: Brock Lesnar, 4th round TKO.

Thats my wrap up of UFC 91. Will the fights go this way? Chance are pretty good that no, they won't.

So did anyone watch the Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell fight this Saturday? Holy crap! Did Chuck get knocked the hell out or what?

Watching that fight made me realize that the sport of MMA is changing around "The Iceman". After a brutal KO like that, Dana White will be hard pressed to bill him as a Main Eventer again. The guy turns 39 in 3 months, unless you're Randy Couture, most Mixed Martial Artists don't get better with age. This loss now makes Liddell 1-3 of his last 4 fights. At this point in his career, he needs to start thinking about the future. He needs to accept the fact that he may never again get his hands on the UFC Light Heavyweight Title.

The 205 lbs Division is just too strong and fighters are smarter now then when he was king of the mountain. If he wants to stay in the game then he needs to adopt a better, less predictable, fight game. One that leaves him less open to counter right hooks. But at his age, that's easier said then done. The best direction for him is to take one last marquee fight and hang up the gloves. A potential rematch with Wanderlei Silva has been talked about, and would work well for both fighters.

The bottom line is Liddell needs to call it quits. The last thing the sport needs is another Ken Shamrock.

Well it's been a little while. I didn't die. It's just been a busy couple of weeks. I'm gonna get right to the point, I, with the help of a few friends have started a new blog. The problem is it's not ready for viewing yet. I got it registered so that the name we had chosen wouldn't be taken when we were ready to start it. It's in soft launch mode right now. Kinda like how Giant Bomb is, except with less content. I will not be giving the URL out right now because of this. I can say that I will be the one to cover the gaming portion of the site. No, I will not be as biased as GS is towards one system. I will be posting more info in the coming weeks as we get set for full launch.

On a personal note: EliteXC: Primetime debuts this Saturday at 9PM PST on CBS. I encorage you to watch it to send a message to Dana White and Zuffa(the owners of UFC) that paying $45.00 for every event sucks out loud. Then Sunday on Vs. is Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver for the WEC Featherweight Title at 6PM PST. That is another free show that I recommend watching.

Take it easy,

Will

"You either die a hero. Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian."

-Harvey Dent

Click Here.

Wow. What more can be said at this point about GTA IV, that hasn't already been said by every game site and publication in the world. At this point every review will have said the same thing. You could practically copy and paste and no one would get upset about plagerism. Why? Cause it's freakin GTA IV! The big question that is going through my mind is "Will this game beat Halo 3's day one sales record?" The short answer: yes. The long answer: Yes. Because I'm pretty sure that the $170 million was not based on games sales alone. Doritos, Pontiac, Mountain Dew, 711. All those companies paid Microsoft to sponser Halo 3. I've been hearing that in 10 hours GTA IV racked up $120 million. It's a safe bet that that alone broke the record.

Now, I thought the thing that Kotaku did was pretty interesting. So I'm gonna try the samething here, only alot less detailed. So without further delay, here are the review numbers(and letters) for GTA IV:

1UP.com A+

Computer and Video Games 9.5/10 (Xbox 360)

Electronic Gaming Monthly A+, A+, A

Eurogamer 10/10

Game Informer 10/10

GameSpot 10.0/10

GameSpy 5/5

GamesRadar 10/10

GameTrailers 9.8/10

IGN 10.0/10 (PS3, 360)

Official Xbox Magazine 9.5/10

Official Xbox Magazine (UK) 10/10

Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) 10/10

Official PlayStation Magazine (Australia) 10/10

TeamXbox 10/10

X-Play 5/5

Empire (UK) 5/5 (Xbox 360)

Xbox World 360 98%

PlayStation World 10/10

UGO A+

Compilations of multiple reviews

Metacritic PS3: 100% (21 revs)
360: 99% (37 revs)

Game Rankings PS3: 99.6% (17 revs)
360: 98.7% (30 revs)

That is something else. This game may have set the bar so high, that we may never see a game of this calibur again. Unless it has the words "Grand Theft Auto" attached to it. I don't feel that I need to write my experiences palying GTA IV. Chances are that if you are playing it you know exactly how I feel about it.

After weeks of waiting the moment we've all been waiting for is here, Metal Gear Online patch version 1.02 is available! Not what you were expecting? Well too bad, It looks like for the time being that about as close to MGO as we're(at least me anyway) gonna get. Supposedly the beta goes live today, I haven't been able to try yet for 2 reasons: 1) The stupid patch and 2) Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Now as much as I love the MGS series, I'm really wondering if this is really worth all the trouble. Chances are pretty good that I'll just login, play for about an hour or two, be either disapointed or super stoked, then go back to playing GTA IV. In that order. I've read on forums that people who have had a chance to play it have come away upset with it. Not because of the game, but because of the people that are playing it that have come over from the first MGO on MGS 3 Subsistance. The MGO Elitists. They could very well be the PSN's answer to the XBox Live community. I'm hoping it isn't as big a deal as I have heard, cause if it is, well, as Solid Snake once said "Damn!".

I still think that "Motivation" would've made a better name for the fight card. Like I said in an earlier blog post, the underlying sbject of this fight is motivation. St. Pierre is motivated to prove to the world that Serra's win was a fluke. Serra is trying to prove that it wasn't, especially in St. Pierre's hometown.

Here are my predictions. I'll be just as surprised as you if any of them are accurate:

Welterweight Title Fight - Matt "The Terra" Serra vs. Georges "Rush" St. Pierre

St. Pierre said that he didn't train completely for the first fight. Like everyone else in the MMA world he wrote off Serra as a bum fighter. But can you blame him? With Losses to the likes of Shonie Carter, B.J. Penn, Din Thomas, and Karo Parysian, his record showed that whenever a big fight came his way, he always fell short. So what should he be worried about? Look for St. Pierre to strike with him in the 1st then take him to the ground for a submission in the 2nd.

Winner: George St. Pierre in Round 2 via Submission

Middleweight Fight - Rich "Ace" Franklin vs. Travis "The Serial Killer" Lutter

It's been pretty well documented that this is Lutter's last hurah. The fans still haven't forgiven him for failing to make weight against Anderson "The Spider" Silva last Feburary. If you want, call this fight "The cure for a Spider bite". Both of these men are coming off losses to Anderson Silva. As good as Lutter's ground game is, I favor Franklin in this one. His record is nothing to scoff at. A regular Who's Who of mixed martial artist, Yushin Okami, Nate Quarry, Evan Tanner, and Ken Shamrock just to name a few. His striking ability is another reason I favor him. Those strikes are why this fight will end in the 1st. By the way Franklin is the former Middleweight Champion, just though I'd let you know.

Winner: Rich "Ace" Franklin in Round 1 via TKO(strikes)

Middleweight Fight(Again!) - Michael "The Count" Bisping vs. Charles "Chainsaw" McCarthy

Bisping's record reads 14-1-0, though anyone(that isn't British) that saw him fight Matt Hamill on the Rampage vs. Henderson card, will tell you that his record should be 13-2-0. The judges gave their hometown boy(The fight was in London) a present that night. The buzz from that fight didn't last long as Rashad Evans's onsalught sent him packing to the Middleweight division down from Ligh Heavyweight. As much as it kills me inside to say this, He wont be needing any judges help on this one. Bisping takes this one via a 1st round KO.

Winner: Michael "The Count" Bisping in Round 1 via KO

Lightweight Fight - Mark Bocek vs. Mac Danzig

UFC seems to favor making Bocek a Gatekeeper to "Ultimate Fighter" champions, this latest offering is no exception. Danzig is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 6 and the latest "Ultimate Fighter" to fight Bocek. Bocek is 5-1-0 with alot of hype surrounding him. Danzig is 17-4-1. This fight goes to the ground and gets nasty, But not in that way. Danzig beats Bocek to a ref stoppage in the 2nd.

Winner: Mac Danzig in Round 2 via TKO(ref stoppage)

There is an undercard but it's hard to say which of those UFC decides to air. I just put up the Main Card, These are the fights that will make it to air. This is my first attempt at a true fight prediction so please, don't put any money on these based on my predictions.