BEER BETS: HOW LESNAR PAID OFF

by Tim Priester

So my buddy says to me prior to the Lesnar/Carwin fight that he thinks Carwin was going to win and he had a 12 pack on it. Not one to shy away from a bet especially one dealing with beer, unless it was that bet of jumping off my house and using the trampoline to try and clear my neighbor’s house…dude, it was a two story with an 80’s antennae! But back to this bet. He was telling me stories of Carwin’s magnificent first round defeats and how not one lasted more than four minutes. How Carwin, who by the way looks huge, at 6’4 and 265 was evenly matched against the bigger looking Lesnar. He felt Lesnar hadn’t really been tested, how could he in so few MMA fights. And he felt confident; enough to make it that fancy beer.

I took the bet. I thought that other than Mir and Gonzaga, Carwin hadn’t really been tested, and that although Lesnar was returning from a devastating injury that kept him from the ring, Carwin had a year in between victories himself. Lesnar also beat Mir (he may have lost to Mir early on in his career but that was when Lesnar was fresh to the ring), Couture (yes, that legend) and I wouldn’t hold his going to a decision on the Herring fight against him, after all he wasn’t rushing in to lose again like he did against Mir.

So the fight started and man was I confident in my boy Lesnar. That was good for about 10 seconds and then came Carwin’s famous first round. That was brutal. An unbelievable fury that would have killed any normal man, but Brock managed to keep his bearings and held off the blasts as part of his game plan. I thought for a moment, “There goes my free beer!”

Thankfully that moment lasted for about 10 seconds of the second round. Lesnar did what he has done since college, used his size to control the flow of the match, and about half way through the second round he submitted Carwin via the arm triangle.

Now the questions would have to be asked, Did Lesnar show that he was fully recovered from his injury and ready to retain the heavy-weight belt? Was this Carwin’s only chance to take on a less than 100% Lesnar and become champ? Who will face Lesnar next? Frankly I don’t have an answer yet, just drinking in my victory!

Tim Priester is a local MMA fan and a new contributor to Chicago’s MMA.

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CELEBRATING THE FOURTH, MMA STYLE

Looking at the famous 4s in MMA history…

UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors
	UFC 4 was an 8-man tourney back in 1994. No weight classes or weight limits. No time limits, rounds or judges. Royce Gracie beat Dan Severn with a triangle choke to win the tourney. Gracie had to get by local fighter Keith Hackney (Hackney’s Combat Academy) in the semis to get to Severn.
WEC 4: Rumble Under the Sun
	WEC 4 took place in Connecticut in 2002. Jeremy Horn won the main event by subbing Aaron Brink in the 1st round. Kurt Pellegrino (pictured) beat Mac Danzig for the WEC Lightweight Title. Mike Swick won in just his 3rd professional fight, as did local fighter Jeff Curran, who beat Bao Quach by decision.
Pride FC 4
	Pride FC 4 was held back in 1998 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. “The Smashing Machine” Mark Kerr remained undefeated with his 10th straight win, a TKO of Hugo Duarte. Marco Ruas’ corner threw in the towel in his bout, giving Alexander Otsuka his first professional win. Igor Vovchanchyn KO’d Gary Goodridge, and Rickson Gracie beat Nobuhiko Takada by an armbar near the end of the first round.
King of the Cage 4: Gladiators
	King of the Cage 4: Gladiators was held in June of 2000. Co-creator of KOTC Tedd Williams won via keylock in round 1. Marvin Eastman defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by unanimous decision. Duane “Bang” Ludwig beat up Shad Smith, whose corner called it quits for him in round 1. And the late Jeremy Williams needed less than one minute to win by armbar.
Strikeforce: Triple Threat
	Triple Threat was the fourth MMA event held by Strikeforce. Gina Carano beat Elaina Maxwell for her 3rd straight win as a pro. Ruben Villareal’s corner stopped his fight against Paul Buentello in round 2. Cung Le beat Jason Von Flue by TKO after a huge knee opened up a gash over Von Flue’s left eye. Bobby Southworth won the Strikeforce LHW belt by beating Vernon White via unanimous decision.

CHUCK LIDDELL AND TINY CHUCK: BRISK VIRAL VIDEO

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FILM REVIEW: RAMPAGE JACKSON & “The A Team”

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CHICAGO’S MIKE RUSSOW WINS AT UFC 114

Chicago police officer Mike Russow looked as if he was going to lose by decision to Todd Duffee at UFC 114. Duffee had won rounds 1 & 2 with ease, battering Russow with shots while avoiding Russow’s takedown attempts and not receiving any damage. But then out of nowhere at 2:35 of round 3, Russow caught Duffee with a right hand that sent him to the canvas. He would never get up. Russow had pulled off an amazing comeback KO.

“It was an awful fight, I’m not very happy with it”, Russow told Joe Rogan.

Russow has fought in many of the long-running local promotions in the Chicagoland area including Brawl At Bourbon Street, Xtreme Fighting Organization and Combat-Do Fighting Challenge. He also participated in the debut show for Adrenaline MMA at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates.

Competing on a major stage is not new to Russow. He is a veteran of the late Pride Fighting Championships, and he defeated Russian Roman Zentsov in the Yarennoka – New Years Eve 2007 show in Japan. But with his KO victory over Duffee and his UFC 102 win Russow is now 13-1 in his career and undefeated in the UFC.

KIMBO SLICE’S TOP 3 STREET FIGHTS

It’s pretty wild that Kimbo Slice is a fighter on the UFC roster. Fans were told that he would never be in the UFC unless he went through “The Ultimate Fighter” competition. Kimbo did and lost to Roy Nelson, yet he’s still in the UFC and being used to promote pay-per-view events like UFC 113. Before Kimbo the MMA fighter, fans simply knew him from his You Tube street fights. Here are Kimbo’s top 3 street fights. A brief warning that there is some language, so earmuffs if you’re at work or around kids.

Kimbo Destroys Adryan

Click for Kimbo Slice Shirts and MMA Gear

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