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E. Spencer Kyte

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Joined April 2012

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E. Spencer Kyte is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, ESK is the author of Keyboard Kimura, the MMA blog of The Province, Vancouver's most read newspaper. He is also a regular contributor to UFC Magazine, UFC.com, and Fight Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter: @spencerkyte

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Fighter: Rousey – two first round submission wins in championship fights. If a male fighter did it, we’ve had already built statues in his honour.

Fight: Jung vs. Poirier – four rounds of back-and-forth goodness from two guys who always go hard.

KO: Edson Barboza on Terry Etim – hadn’t seen it before, haven’t seen it since.

Sub: Miesha Tate armbars Julie Kedzie – needed a finish to get the win, found it late in the third.

Story: Rise of WMMA – women are in the UFC and have their own successful stand-alone organization.

Happy New Year, Sam!

2012: The MMA year that was

She’s fighting the best possible opponent out there this weekend in Kaufman, and from speaking to her before her first Strikeforce fight, I can tell you she has the same mindset now as she had back then: be the best, fight the best.

Ronda Rousey key to future growth of women's MMA

The funny thing to me with Yahya – and any specialist – is how many people really don’t like it. It can be bad when you’re up against someone who shuts down your one offensive weapon (see Yahya vs. Chad Mendes), but I still love seeing guys with truly elite skills have success in this day and age, knowing that everyone knows that is the one thing he’s going to try to do.

It’s like great wrestlers – instead of lamenting that they’re taking guys down, embrace that they’re still able to put guys on their butts repeatedly even though everyone knows they’re going to shoot and in 2012, everyone in the UFC should have sound takedown defense.

I too would have liked to see Machida-Rua 3 before Machida vs. Jones/Henderson winner, but what are you gonna do? Made the announcement, he was the most impressive, have to follow through.

UFC on FOX Shogun vs. Vera: The Aftermath

Absolutely – was a great night of fights from start to finish.

Hopefully they’re able to continue having success like this the rest of the year, including this weekend with UFC 150: Henderson-Edgar II. Can’t wait!

UFC on FOX: What's next for Sunday's winners?

I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t recall any instances where a sport is referred to by two different names. Hockey is hockey, baseball is baseball, volleyball is volleyball, etc.

Calling it Pankration isn’t going to change the archaic perception people have about the sport. It might sound more fitting of the Olympics, but opponents of the sport will be the first to point it out (vigorously) as MMA, and condemn it for all the same reasons they already do.

As for the perception of violence – yes, it looks worse, but there are a number of studies that say otherwise. Far easier to forward those to the IOC than get everyone around the world to start calling MMA by a different name.

Olympic MMA: Why it must happen for the sport

MMA is one of the few sports televised around the world, and has massive financial potential for the Olympics. It’s not a sport that is going to only appeal to a narrow percentage of the world’s population – countless countries can be represented, and therefore you’re looking at a potential ratings monster, though probably one that has to be aired later in the evening as others have pointed out.

It’s not that popularity matters – it’s that the sport is based on one that started in the early Greek Olympics AND IS WILDLY POPULAR. Additonally, anything that can bring in money will get a look; that’s why stuff like snow-cross and halfpipe are in the Winter Games now.

Olympic MMA: Why it must happen for the sport

If amateur standards and rules are applied, it’s a combination of the combat sports already involved in the Olympics with Brazilian jiu-jitus tied in. You’re not going to see bloodbaths because you take out elbows or busted up legs because you take out leglocks. You can make this sport even safer with a few minor tweaks, just as the already do for amateur MMA.

Olympic MMA: Why it must happen for the sport

You absolutely have to modify things for it to work in the Olympics, as I said in the piece. You can’t have full contact and expect guys to be able to fight every couple of days, so you adopt amateur rules. I also think you go with two five-minute rounds, not three, or three three-minute rounds to minimize the damage these guys take.

Additionally, ring not cage – easy choice, and one that will be acceptable to a lot of people who dislike the cage because of the image it sends.

That said – it’s not like there aren’t still one-night tournaments (or two fights in a night tournaments) in some places, and the guys on The Ultimate Fighter can fight three or four times in a six week period, so as long as no one gets hurt, executing a 32-man tournament (or whatever) over three weeks is doable.

Olympic MMA: Why it must happen for the sport

Thanks for the great comment!

I would say that MMA in the Olympics could be contested in a ring without many issues. The ability to restart bouts in the center of the ring when competitors are grappling in the ropes is great, plus it offers a less obstructed view than the chain-link cage. Additionally, we’ve watched boxing in a ring for years, so it has far less of a brutally violent stigma attached to it than the cage would.

Should have put that in the original piece (the ring) as I was thinking it at the time. Thanks for the reminder.

How long until you think we see MMA in the Olympics? I say 12 years maximum, but hopefully it happens by the time the 2016 Games roll around.

Olympic MMA: Why it must happen for the sport

If it was strictly about “Hey, look at all the half-naked ladies in great shape being all physical with each other,” the Lingerie Football League would be the most successful organization in the world, and Foxy Boxing wouldn’t be relegated to sleazy clubs.

Is sex part of it? Absolutely, but no part of me believes that more than 300k people tuned in simply to watch women they’ve never heard of punch each other in the face because it turns them on. If I’m wrong, so be it, but your “sex sells” angle falls short when you consider that very few female fights have garnered this kind of interest.

And just a handy, helpful suggestion: turn on the spell-check functionality on your phone or computer or whatever it is you used to leave your error-filled comment. You have more credibility when there are minimal spelling mistakes.

Is Invicta FC doing something the UFC can't?

I don’t think a move to the UFC is on the horizon, at least not yet. Depth is still an issue, but that is part of Shannon Knapp’s mandate with Invicta FC – build the depth that Dana White has said doesn’t exist so that women’s MMA has the potential to grow the way it has on the men’s side of things.

Is Invicta FC doing something the UFC can't?

That “useless” 40-year-old has won three-straight in the UFC, all by stoppage, so I think you might be a little off base with that claim.

Yes, James Te Huna and Mark Hunt have been the best fighters out of that region as of late, but selling Perosh (and other Australian-based fighters) is a mistake.

UFC 149: Aussie influence on show this weekend in Calgary

He’s definitely the type of guy who could get away with something like that, and the UFC seems OK with letting guys have a little fun. TJ Dillashaw is billed as a “Monkey Style Fighter,” so why not let Ebersole go with Parts Unknown.

UFC 149: Aussie influence on show this weekend in Calgary

Doesn’t look like it is online, though the current issue of Inside MMA (Tito Ortiz cover) doesn’t appear to have the Lombard story I’m talking about. I know the Fight! version isn’t online either… sorry; been trying to get them to re-vamp their website, but they’re not listening to me.

I’ve come to learn that reputations in this business come in two forms: the way people who like you speak about you, and the way those who don’t like you speak about you. Some people have more folks on one side than the other, good or bad. I’ve heard rumblings about being a little rougher and harder on the mats than some people like, but I’ve also heard as you have – that he’s just a competitive guy who is actually not bad at all.

Looking forward to seeing how he does in his debut. Any thoughts on how it goes?

UFC 149: Aussie influence on show this weekend in Calgary

He goes hard in the gym, there is no doubt about that, but whether that makes him a bully or a jerk is up for interpretation. Lots of guys like to go hard in the gym; it’s how they feel they train best. Lots of guys also go a little tougher on the newcomers as a way to make sure they have what it takes to be a part of that gym; you see stuff like that in every sport.

T.R. Foley wrote a great feature on Lombard in the last issue of Fight! Magazine – Lombard is on the cover – that gives his account of being on the mats with the former Bellator champion. Not sure if it was featured in Inside MMA, but it should have been.

UFC 149: Aussie influence on show this weekend in Calgary

Ebersole moves around a ton, and where you’re billed out of doesn’t really matter. I know lots of guys who are billed from the wrong cities or locations all the time; they just don’t bother to change it. Not saying Brian was last time, just saying.

He did a bunch of training for his last fight at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, as well as heading home to Illinois for some work too. He trains everywhere and anywhere he can.

UFC 149: Aussie influence on show this weekend in Calgary

Tell us how you really feel?

Here’s the thing I don’t get: you rip on Weidman saying, “The hell has he done to earn a shot?” but then say Michael Bisping is light years ahead of him in terms of being a contender. Who the hell has Michael Bisping beaten that’s meaningful? Years of service don’t earn you a title shot – wins do, and if you stack Weidman’s five-fight run in the UFC up next to Bisping’s, “The Count” comes out looking like a “Court Jester” instead.

Munoz lost to Hamill at LHW in his 6th pro fight. Everyone universally agrees it was too much, too soon for Munoz, except perhaps you.

If Weidman dominating Munoz doesn’t impress you, I don’t know what will. It was one of the most complete performances we’ve seen in the cage this year. You can think otherwise, and you’re entitled to that opinion, but I think you’re underselling Weidman at this point.

Will he beat Silva? Probably not – I’d give him about a 20% chance right now – but that goes for everybody. Like I said above as well, if Lombard wins impressively, that’s the fight I see happening because – and I mentioned this in the article – it is an easier fight to sell.

UFC 149: How one win can put Lombard into title contention

Thanks Sam!

There was a report circulating earlier last week that MacDonald and Penn would be the main, and it drew a number of groans from the fans. While I think it will be a fun little scrap and I’m all for pushing MacDonald – great kid, world of potential – he’s not yet at main event a pay-per-view level.

This, however, is a brilliant choice, and I love that they’ve surrounded this fight with quality bouts as well. Should be a good one. Now if only I can find a way to get myself to Toronto in September…

UFC gets it right with flyweight title main event in Toronto

Devon,

Thanks for the kind words about the content; you’ll be seeing a lot more of it on The Roar these days as we’re working to improve the MMA coverage here.

The thing with Lombard is that his streak makes him easy to market, especially if he’s coming off a brutal knockout win over Boestch. Not sure he’ll get it, but let’s just say he does: he’s 32-years-old with a 21-fight winning streak, and a 25-fight unbeaten streak. He was an Olympian. He was a long-time champion in another organization, and has proven knockout power.

That is a much easier fight to sell than “the unbeaten kid with the well-rounded skill set who just beat Mark Munoz in a fight not that many people (in North America) saw.” Additionally, Weidman is the kind of guy they can build around long-term – he’ll eventually get his shot one way or another – while Lombard is more of a “lightning in a bottle” type deal; make the most of him now before he gets exposed, because he’ll never be as intriguing as right now.

Thanks for the comment – and try to lay off RJ; even you can’t deny Lombard’s run is impressive. If beating 20 guys in a row – regardless of who they are – were easy, we’d have a lot more fighters on lengthy winning streaks, but we don’t because it is very, very hard to do.

UFC: Chris Weidman should face Anderson Silva next

RJ (by the way, I’ve chosen to call you RJ),

What Lombard has done certainly doesn’t go unnoticed by me, but he needs a good win over Boetsch to be validated. Additionally, if we’re just stacking up quality wins, Weidman leads the way with a pair of Top 10 wins, including a nasty finish of a top 5 guy just a couple nights ago.

The other thing with Lombard right now is that he’s relatively unknown to the UFC audience; hardcore fans who followed his exploits in Bellator (and Australia) know he’s a legit knockout threat, but many UFC fans strictly pay attention to the UFC, and only certain people at that, so he needs a very good showing in the UFC to get some traction.

As much as I think Weidman is most deserving, I wholly expect Lombard to get the title shot if he wins impressively next weekend in Calgary.

Thanks for the comment.

UFC: Chris Weidman should face Anderson Silva next

Regardless of how Boetsch beat Okami, he beat Okami, a guy who was widely considered a top 5 middleweight for the last three years and was coming off fighting for the title. Qualifying how he beat him and taking away from the accomplishment because it was late is like saying, “Anderson only beat Chael with a late triangle choke” the first time around.

In the end, the win is all that matters. If he adds Lombard to that run, he’s the #1 guy after Weidman for me.

As for Lombard, he’s beaten 20 guys in a row, including a handful of former low level UFC guys, so if he then stops Boetsch in impressive fashion to push his run to 21, you have to consider him. Additionally, the UFC spent good money to acquire him, and won’t keep him out of the title mix for long.

Bisping is being matched up with Brian Stann at UFC 152 this September in Toronto. Even if he wins that fight, it’s only one win, and if we’re going to make the one win is enough argument, Lombard trumps Bisping because Boetsch is higher up in the rankings than Stann.

UFC: Chris Weidman should face Anderson Silva next

Agreed, but if he beats Boetsch, who has won three straight including most recently finishing former title challenger Yushin Okami, that’s a very good win; better than the victories Bisping has been able to accrue as of late.

Additionally, Lombard is on a 20-fight winning streak and unbeaten in 25 fights. Regardless of who it has been against, those kinds of streaks carry weight.

Regardless of how close it was or whether you think he won, Bisping’s record shows him coming off a loss, and each of the last four men he’s beaten have either retired (Mayhem and Jorge Rivera) or switched divisions (Dan Miller, Akiyama). His best middleweight win (as far as names go) is Chris Leben four years ago, and performance-wise, it’s Denis Kang three years ago.

UFC: Chris Weidman should face Anderson Silva next

But there is no need to put Weidman in that mix right now. Additionally, I don’t know why so many people think Michael Bisping should be in that mix – who has he beaten?

The winner of Lombard-Boetsch is next in line in my eyes, especially if Boetsch gets the win. Lombard should really have to win one more to me, but I don’t see that happening. Vitor only has one win since losing to Anderson, so he needs a couple more good wins too, so a bout with one of the other top 10 guys makes perfect sense.

The thing with Weidman is that there is no one outside of Anderson Silva or Chael Sonnen ahead of him in the rankings, so matching him up with someone lower down the list for the sake of exposure or giving Silva more time off or whatever is a potential waste of an unbeaten prospect coming off one of the most dominant performances of the year.

Thanks for the comment.

UFC: Chris Weidman should face Anderson Silva next

Yes, how I miss Fedor Emelianenko fighting Hong Man Choi or Zuluzinho, and watching professional wrestlers get wrecked by actual MMA fighters.

There were certainly some great fights and great moments during Pride’s run at the top, but let’s not pretend like all the fights were spectacular — there were A LOT of freak show match-ups, strange bookings, and questionable results.

UFC 148 Silva-Sonnen II: The Aftermath

When’s the last time he wore one of those t-shirts? The guy carried the company for a number of years when no one was watching, is one of the biggest stars ever to emerge from the UFC, and you want to deny him a nice send-off because he wore some dick-ish t-shirts a nearly a decade ago?

Dang!

UFC 148 Silva-Sonnen II: The Aftermath

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