MMA Mailbag: M1 Nonsense, Penn/Fitch, Couture/Bird, Recent Cuts
Added on Jul 12, 2011 by John Petit in
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After a short break the twitter questions have been piling up so its time for another mailbag. As always, please send your MMA questions to twitter.com/scream13 . Although we are on a Zuffa (UFC/Strikeforce) hiatus at the moment there is still plenty of MMA happening all over the world. Both M-1 and Cage Warriors put on shows this weekend, and all things considered they were both pretty good shows.
Did M1 Global get back to you about the Geronimo de Groot vs Jermaine Voetman fight?
Someone was paying attention. The back story here is that on February 5, 2010 M1 had an “M1 Selection” show in the Netherlands. On the card was an atrocious fight, but not because of the fight itself. The story is that while they were both 1 fight into their MMA careers, de Groot was 16 years old and Voetman was 31. To make matters worse was that Voetman was also a former boxing champion. Although de Groot lost, it doesn’t really matter what happened in the fight. The fact of the matter is that we saw a grown man beat up a teenager.
I was live tweeting during the M1 event on Friday night, and the M1 twitter started responding to me because I was “being overly critical of the production” of the event. When pressed as to why I have always been so harsh on them, I informed them it was hard to take them seriously because they put on this fight. At first they said I didn’t know what I was talking about, and asked why I was bringing this up now. I then pointed out I had blogged about it when it happened, and posted the link which also happened to have the fight video. They then told me they would look into it, but they never have. To be honest I was never expecting one.
I mean really, what were they going to tell me that was going to make this Ok? De Groot did good in the fight, I think he even lasted a round or so, but at the end of the fight we saw a 30 year old beat up a child. Here is the link to my initial reaction of the fight, and it also happens to contain the video if you are interested. What makes matters worse is that the announcers even call him a young boy over and over again. http://showmemma.unfilteredmma.com/2010/02/12/a-brand-new-reason-for-the-ufc-not-to-partner-with-m-1-global/
Is The UFC going to put on the rematch between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch? They have been calling each other out on twitter.
The rematch is inevitable after they fought to a draw at UFC 127, but I am about a 90% certain they won’t be fighting each other next. After speaking with Carlos Condit after his win over Kim on my podcast, and the rumors I have been hearing, I think Condit Vs Penn will be happening some time in October. It is not confirmed yet, but I am hearing from both sides that the fight has been offered and its a matter of due diligence. In my opinion Condit Vs Penn is much more exciting fight.
What is happening with the Kim Couture Vs Sheila Bird fight?
Well first off I am not really sure what the reader is asking because the whole fight was a comedy of errors. You can watch the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-EvZC238R8 and you will notice the terribly late stop by the ref. Couture seems to be out cold from a choke for at least 7-10 seconds before the ref stopped the fight. This is really dangerous, and its how fighters get hurt. Ugly stuff on that front.
As if that wasn’t enough drama, it turns out that fight should have never taken place. Couture lost a fight in New Jersey to Munah Holland, and she was under a medical suspension from the state for what sounded like a facial injury. Turns out she never cleared it up to the satisfaction of New Jersey, and now the commission in Calgary and New Jersey are going back and forth. This could get ugly for both Couture and the Calgary commission. Couture could be facing an even longer suspension and if the Calgary Commission doesn’t get it sorted out it could mean all sorts of nastiness for them. With a 3-5 record, I m not sure how much longer Kim will be in the game anyway.
Was anyone released after UFC 132?
Yes, word came down today that two fighters were cut, and I am pretty sure that will be it. Andre Winner lost to Anthony Njokuani via decision, and that made 3 losses in a row for the Brit. If I had to guess, I would say you could expect to see him fight for Cage Warriors in his next few fights but I am really not sure where he might end up.
Also, John Doomsday Howard was cut, but his third loss came at the hands of Matt Brown at UFC on Versus 5. I am not really sure where he might end up, but I think we could see him back in the Octagon at some point before his career is done.
