PizDoff
5/22/2006 9:43am,
Exerpts:
May 22, 2006, 12:21AM
Ultimate fighting hot property on TV
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
THEY had traded boxing punches, karate kicks and wrestling holds for more than eight minutes, with a wild crowd cheering from the other side of a chain-link fence, when Matt Hughes finally struck the big blow.
With Carlos Newton's legs wrapped tightly around his neck, choking off his airway, Hughes lifted his opponent into the air, maneuvered him up against the fence, then moved back suddenly and slammed downward.
The move, known as "the guillotine" smashed Newton's upper back, neck and head off the mat, leaving him limp as a rag doll, temporarily unconscious.
The sport is ultimate fighting — mixed martial arts that include judo, jujitsu, karate, boxing and wrestling with an air of raw street fighting thrown in — and its popularity is shooting through the roof.
Competitors fight barefoot, wearing shorts, a mouthpiece and cup. The thin,
fingerless gloves used are ostensibly
intended to inflict maximum damage but in truth may limit head blows because there is no padding for the bones of the attacker's hand.
Rules prohibit head-butting, biting, eye-gouging, groin strikes and the bending of fingers and toes and yet the perception is that anything goes inside the octagon-shaped cage.
At a time when the upper echelons of boxing are fragmented and the sport is treading water, when WWE wrestling is more of a cartoon show with live actors, mixed martial arts — and especially the brand Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — is filling a void for sports fans across all age groups.
Mom's advice to fighter
Hughes, 32, is married with two kids and another one on the way. He was a wrestler and coach at Eastern Illinois University who got involved strictly for the competition.
"It was my mom who said, 'This isn't a sport you want to try with just one foot in and one foot out,' " Hughes said. "She said if I was going to do this, I should be serious and make it my profession. So that's what I've done.
"This sport has changed so much from the way it originated. This isn't a bunch of barroom brawlers just looking to beat somebody up. We're athletes. We train seriously. We're real people. I grew up on a small farm in central Illinois and when I'm done fighting, I'll go back there. But for right now, this is, well, the ultimate."
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3878850.html
Save for calling a slam a guillotine, this is a pretty good article. I recommend taking the time to read it over.
May 22, 2006, 12:21AM
Ultimate fighting hot property on TV
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
THEY had traded boxing punches, karate kicks and wrestling holds for more than eight minutes, with a wild crowd cheering from the other side of a chain-link fence, when Matt Hughes finally struck the big blow.
With Carlos Newton's legs wrapped tightly around his neck, choking off his airway, Hughes lifted his opponent into the air, maneuvered him up against the fence, then moved back suddenly and slammed downward.
The move, known as "the guillotine" smashed Newton's upper back, neck and head off the mat, leaving him limp as a rag doll, temporarily unconscious.
The sport is ultimate fighting — mixed martial arts that include judo, jujitsu, karate, boxing and wrestling with an air of raw street fighting thrown in — and its popularity is shooting through the roof.
Competitors fight barefoot, wearing shorts, a mouthpiece and cup. The thin,
fingerless gloves used are ostensibly
intended to inflict maximum damage but in truth may limit head blows because there is no padding for the bones of the attacker's hand.
Rules prohibit head-butting, biting, eye-gouging, groin strikes and the bending of fingers and toes and yet the perception is that anything goes inside the octagon-shaped cage.
At a time when the upper echelons of boxing are fragmented and the sport is treading water, when WWE wrestling is more of a cartoon show with live actors, mixed martial arts — and especially the brand Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — is filling a void for sports fans across all age groups.
Mom's advice to fighter
Hughes, 32, is married with two kids and another one on the way. He was a wrestler and coach at Eastern Illinois University who got involved strictly for the competition.
"It was my mom who said, 'This isn't a sport you want to try with just one foot in and one foot out,' " Hughes said. "She said if I was going to do this, I should be serious and make it my profession. So that's what I've done.
"This sport has changed so much from the way it originated. This isn't a bunch of barroom brawlers just looking to beat somebody up. We're athletes. We train seriously. We're real people. I grew up on a small farm in central Illinois and when I'm done fighting, I'll go back there. But for right now, this is, well, the ultimate."
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3878850.html
Save for calling a slam a guillotine, this is a pretty good article. I recommend taking the time to read it over.