The MMA Edition

Another random post involving my new favorite sport on T.V. - Mixed Martial Arts.

1. The Rant

I first want to state that the upcoming UFC fight this Saturday is a little bulls*%t if you ask me. I mean how do you put both Mirko "CropCop" Filipovic and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, arguably two of the most talented fighters in the world, on the undercard?! Though the two battling in the main event, Anderson Silva and Travis Lutter, are no slouches, they haven't accomplished as much and proven themselves like Rampage and CroCop.

To begin with, both CroCop and Rampage have established themselves in possibly the most elite MMA organization in the world - Pride Fighting Championships. Not to knock the uber-popular UFC, but the tenacity, athleticism, and technical displays of the various martial arts in Pride events seem to be at a higher level. Further, the competition that these two fighters face in Pride is TOPS! With the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Hidehiko Yoshida, the Emelianenko brothers, Dan Henderson, "Shogun" Rua and legends such as "The Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba how can you deny that Pride gathers the absolute best fighters from around the globe?!

Moreover, CropCop and Rampage are proven winners who are exciting to watch. Rampage has victories over Kevin Randleman and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell and CroCop has defeated such opponents as Wanderlei Silva and Aleksander Emelianenko. Further, CroCop showed that he was champion material by taking home the 2006 Pride Grand Prix title.

Though tonight's events will nonetheless be exciting to watch it would have been nice to see these Pride fighters get the respect they deserve.

2. Jiu Jitsu

Now to transition back to a more traditional Hip Hapa posting I found some interesting webpages while perusing the various MMA sites for the above rant. One of the first things that caught my attention was the history of the world famous Gracie family and their brand of Jiu Jitsu. In true Hip Hapa fashion I learned that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was born from a mix of fighting cultures when Japanese Jiu Jitsu champ Esai Maeda migrated to Brazil and introduced the art to the Gracie Family. See what great things happen when Asians and Latinos get together (hehehe...)!

Being the tangential fool that I am I was immediately interested in learning more about Helio Gracie and one the most legendary matches that took place with Judo great Masahiko Kimura. Apparently this little rivalry between Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo is older than I had thought. And please take note that Kimura, like some other Japanese bad-asses I know (ehem!), is also from the great prefecture of Kumamoto (JEAH!). I've been saying it for years now, ain't nobody can f*%k with them boys from Kyushu baby!

As always, thank you for staying with me as I ramble about mindless things that excite me throughout the workday. Enjoy the fight tonight!