Quick UFC recap

Fun show. Not a great show by any stretch of the imagination but a fun show.

Like the result or not, the Hendo KO was top notch and I was legit concerned for Bisping for a while there.

Like the result or not (and I don't), you've gotta be impressed by yet another dominant GSP performance. Alves survived five rounds... which is about all I can give him. All throughout the fight, I just couldn't figure out who in the world would be next if GSP wins and to find out it's Mike Swick... I like Mike Swick but I can't imagine he has anything more than a puncher's chance against GSP. The postmatch promo makes me wonder if my Silva/GSP "dream match" has a chance of going down after all.

Like the result or not, Brock was probably the most entertaining fighter of the night. Just absolutely brutal work on the ground leading to the stoppage but the best part of it all was the post-fight promo. The man is a natural heel who realizes how much money there is in it just like Tito did. Now all we need is for Dana to find a face to make the box office blow up.

Like I said, a fun show... but next month's looks just as fun with Penn/Florian [two of my favs] and Silva/Forrest [another two of my favs.] For the first time in a long, long while, the UFC has managed to put together back to back shows that I have great interest in seeing.

Return Of Top Five Friday: Top Five Favorite MMA Fighters

It's the "long-awaited" return of Top Five Friday tonight here at the B-Spot as I celebrate the happening that is UFC 100 with a MMA-themed list...

My Top Five Favorite MMA Fighters!

5. Wanderlei Silva

One of the most dangerous strikers in MMA, the "Axe Murderer" takes the #5 spot in this one. He may not be as dangerous as he once was as he seems to have lost a bit in the move from Pride to the UFC [you can speculate all you want as to why] but he's still one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. The man will throw down from Minute One and not stop until someone is laid out. I have to admit though, I DO miss the head kicks and stomps from Pride Silva.

4. Brock Lesnar

The current UFC World Heavyweight Champion

come a long way from his days throwing around

the WWE's finest. One of my favorite things about

Brock in MMA is that the so-called "purists"

absolutely despise him being there, let alone him

being the champ. It's a beautiful thing to see. To

me, the only thing that would be better is if Brock

used his natural arrogance to the fullest and

embraced his pro wrestling roots while running

down the UFC guys as being "not as tough" as the

WWE folks. It'd make for amazing television as

fighter after fighter stepped up to "protect the

honor of MMA." Vince McMahon is obviously a

huge influence on Dana White - you'd think Dana

would pick up on some of the storyline aspects of

the biz too.

3. BJ Penn

This is a weird one for me because I have a really difficult time explaining why I like BJ Penn so much. There's just something about a guy who talks a ton of trash about people who looks like there's no fucking way he can back it up inside a cage... and then goes in there and does it. Plus, you toss in things like licking the blood off his fists after a fight and well... it's just kinda cool. I'm still pissed he lost to GSP. Fucking Frenchy.

2. Mirko Cro Cop

Fuck yes! CroCop is coming back to the UFC for more! I was so disappointed when I thought he was jumping back to Japan because ever since I stumbled upon MMA, Cro Cop has been one of my favorites. From the Pro Wrestler Hunter gimmick to the "the right leg sends them to the hospital, the left to the morgue" quote - this man oozes badassedness. Plus, he's in Croatian Special Forces so he really could fuck up someone's world. I still think Brock vs Cro Cop in Japan would be a golden ticket for the UFC to do whatever the fuck they want in the Land of the Rising Sun.

And my #1 favorite fighter in MMA...

ANDERSON SILVA

I still remember the first time I saw Anderson Silva fight in Pride. He seemed... interesting. There was nothing amazing about him but I found the spider guard to be pretty impressive as no one else was able to do something like it. When he jumped to UFC, I wasn't excited because all I could remember was the guard. Then he took on Chris Leben - who was one of my favorites at the time... and absolutely KEEEEELED HIM DEAD! It was a beatdown of epic proportions that cemented Anderson Silva as a rising star. The two fights with Rich Franklin put him over the top as someone who was potentially MMA's version of Mike Tyson in the late 80s/early 90s - the guy you would pay big money to see because you wanted to see how badly he'd knock someone the fuck out. Sadly, the shine has come off him a bit with a few unimpressive showings but to me, Silva remains the top dog in MMA.

Chasing Amy

Watched the end of Shaft when I got home tonight. Started wondering why they never made more of them. I really dig that movie.

Now Chasing Amy is on - which is easily my favorite Kevin Smith movie - and I'm bummed that I'm going to sleep soon and am gonna miss the end of it.

It also made me realize that I'm pretty sure I don't own this movie on DVD.

Which continued a thought I had a few days ago that it seems far more likely that you may not own a movie that you really like as opposed to owning a song that you really like. That may be a matter of pure economics but I found it kinda interesting. That whole thought process popped up while I continued my work on my Top 25 Songs Of All Time list. At some point, I wondered if it was possible that I didn't have a song or two that I might want to consider for the list - mostly oldies, I'd imagine. But as I thought more about it, I figured it was very implausible that I wouldn't have dropped the $1.29 to buy almost every song I mildly enjoy - although I do run across a few from time to time.

But movies on the other hand. I can name quite a few movies - starting with Chasing Amy and including Casino which I also saw most of it recently (two of my favorite movies, by the by) that I don't own on DVD. Of course, I hardly ever watch anything on DVD anymore so...

...but that's a story for another time.

So, think about it, kids, and you tell me... is it harder to own every movie you love on DVD or to own every song you love on

Are You Ready?

Just finished watching the UFC 100 Countdown special

and I'm pretty stoked about this weekend's event. I'm

fairly sure I'm going to drop the cash for it whcih'll make

it the first UFC PPV I've bought since the first Lesnar/Mir

fight.

This is actually the first MMA fight in quite some time that

I'm excited for so here's hoping it's a good one.

Oh, and if the MMA gods are smiling, GSP will get stomped

into oblivion too!

Wasn't There A Carl's Jr Commercial Like This?

No, this really isn't just an excuse to post a picture of Megan Fox.  I truly adore this story.

In the ongoing saga of the "he said, she said" between the lovely Ms. Fox and director Michael Bay, Page Six revealed today that apparently the audition process between the two for the first Transformers movie involved her washing his Ferrari while Michael Bay videotaped it.

Yep, you read that right.  Michael Bay shot his own "Cheerleader Car Wash" scene from Bring It On at his house - with Megan Fox.

Now, I'll let you write your own erotic fiction about what happened from there - which I'm sure is actually all over the Internet by now (I'll let you Google it and find out.)  But the story gets a little better as when reached for comment, Megan confirmed the existence of such a tape but remarked that she wasn't sure where it had gone.  When Bay was reached for comment, he said the same.

Uh huh.

I know if I had video of a young and desperate Megan Fox washing my car, I'd probably misplace it as well.  Wouldn't you?

Asthma! I Knew It!

Without a doubt, this is the coolest thing you'll see all day.

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Game Over

I hate being the depressing guy but I read this story from the LA Times today during my lunch break and it made me feel pretty sad for someone that I didn't think I could possibly manage to feel sorry for.

Everyone knows the story. Eric Gagne was the hero of Dodger Stadium at a time when we didn't have many heroes. It was such a fairytale story, really. The mediocre starting pitcher turned into a reliever out of necessity that quickly became a closer when it became obvious that his hockey player mentality was better suited for it. Then the real magic began. He turned from a starter-turned-closer into the best closer in baseball. His fastballs exploded with velocity and movement. His changeup seemed almost unfair to the people who were forced to stand at the plate and have their knees buckled by it. The blaring sound of "Welcome To The Jungle" and the idea of "Game Over" flashing across the Diamond Vision kept Dodger fans in their seats all the way through the ninth inning, completely destroying the "Ha ha - Dodger fans show up in the 3rd and leave in the 7th" that has haunted us for so all.

It all seemed so perfect. Too perfect. It was a too good to be true scenario and in the end, it turned out to be exactly that.

Gagne signed a big contract after three huge years... and then physically collapsed. No one wanted to even whisper the thought at the time but as the physical downfall dovetailed with baseball's new drug testing policy, the thought crossed everyone's minds.

The contract came and went with little fanfare as he was barely able to throw a pitch for the team during it. Everyone was convinced he'd take a paycut to "make it up to the team" during contract negotiations and when he didn't, he quickly became the object of much scorn throughout Southern California.

Fast forward a bit to the arrival of the Mitchell Report and the news that Dodger fans had dreaded all along. Evidence that Gagne had received shipments of HGH. And even worse, fellow Cindarella story teammate Paul LoDuca seemed to be the man who started him on that path. We even got salt rubbed in the wounds with an e-mail from a Boston scout clearly stating that "steroids is the problem."

Sigh.

And so it goes. After reading that, I never thought I could feel pity for Gagne's career again however when he was released during spring training, I thought that a pity signing might be in order. What could it hurt after all?

Occasionally, you'd hear a whisper about him rehabbing his latest injury but this is the first full-length story I've seen on him in a while. It really is a sad story and while part of me still has a lot of bitterness towards him, this story goes a long way towards soothing old wounds.

Here are a couple excerpts that I found most interesting...

On the day Manny Ramirez would make his comeback before tens of thousands of adoring fans -- in enemy territory, no less -- Gagne sat at a table for two at a riverfront cafe, in this weathered city more than 400 years old, and more than 400 miles from the nearest big league outpost.

He wore a black Ed Hardy T-shirt. He ate his poutine -- the Quebec delicacy of fries topped with gravy and cheese -- in peace. No one asked him for an autograph.

This is a long way to go to get away from the Mitchell Report and start over.

This is home. These are the people who nurtured him, who dropped coins into a bucket to help pay his way to college, who packed the stadium here and gave him a standing ovation just for coming home to pitch, for the Quebec Capitales of the independent Can-Am League.

L.A. was home too, once upon a time. We wore goggles and goatees, sweat-stained caps and "Game Over" shirts. We went nuts for the record-setting 84 consecutive saves and for the Cy Young Award, for "Welcome to the Jungle" and for the best show in town.

"The electricity was unreal," Gagne said. "I never thought that was possible in baseball.

"Those were the best days of my life. I think about them every day."

Or this one...

The details might be sparse, but the remorse is genuine.

"I've been straightforward about everything. It [stinks] that I can't be about this," he said. "I'm not looking for sympathy anyway.

"I have to live with this the rest of my life. I'm going to have to explain this to my kids. It's going to be on my resume the rest of my life."

He volunteers that he is a role model for kids -- and not just his four kids, none older than 8. He is a model for what not to do, whatever that might have been.

"I hope I serve as an example," Gagne said. "You don't want to be in my shoes.

"This is hell. I've still got to talk about it."

His three best seasons, the ones in which he recorded the 84 consecutive saves, were the last three before baseball instituted a drug policy and initiated mandatory suspensions for first offenders.

Did Dodgers fans -- the ones that paid good money for tickets and "Game Over" memorabilia -- get an honest performance in return?

"To me, yes," Gagne said. "I can guarantee I worked harder than anybody.

Or one last one...

Gagne is in Quebec to revive his career. He is trying to work his way back from a partially torn rotator cuff, with four appearances so far and a fastball Laplante put at 84-87 mph. He should get stronger, and presumably better, and if so he could get a minor league contract in August, or a spring training invitation next year.

He is in baseball limbo here, not because of the Mitchell Report, but because of his shoulder. What was once a national outrage over baseball's steroid era has evolved into a national fatigue.

If Ramirez hits, Dodgers fans cheer.

"Everybody makes mistakes," Gagne said. "You keep going. You do what you do. What Manny does best is hit balls. Manny is an entertainer. That's not just in L.A. It's anywhere. If you're a fan . . . you want to see something special."

There was no better entertainer in L.A. than Gagne, back in the day.

"That's why I keep going to the ballpark," he said. "I'm searching for that again."

Gagne relives it every day. His 5-year-old son scampers about in a Dodgers cap. His 3-year-old daughter is named Bluu -- yes, he said, for Dodger blue.

Like I said, a sad story. I might be alone in my pity for the man who once thrilled us all but... well, if Mr. Ramirez gets a second chance...