Boy Meets Fist

While millions this weekend were anxiously awaiting Sunday's Superbowl Championship Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Seattle Seahawks, celebrating all the American goodness that comes with it- overeating, gambling, drinking, watching corporate America piss away $2.5 million faster than you can chew and swallow a mouthful of potato salad- I was just as excited for another battle- one that involves arm locks, kimuras, rear naked chokes, and lots o' fists in the face. This past Saturday, Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay hosted the highly anticipated UFC bout between two of the most dangerous, bad ass mofos in the mixed martial arts world- Chuck 'The Iceman" Liddell and Randy 'The Natural' Couture. With Couture taking the first fight in a dominating full-mounted ground and pound fashion (that's UFC fight speak, not a catchy lewd term -i.e. 'rusty trombone'), and Liddell striking his way to victory in the re-match, this finale was going to guarantee one thing- someone was going to get seriously f-ed up.

In the end, Couture wound up eating one too many of The Iceman's fists in round 2, and the fight was stopped to prevent any permanent damage to an already mashed up mug. Not long after the announcer formally declare Liddell the victor did Couture shockingly announce his retirement from beating the ever living piss out of people within an eight sided chainlink fence.
Here's the full recap.

If you've never seen one of these fights, don't knock its legitimacy as a sport. This is as technical as it is brutal, and believe it or not, it's actually safer in many ways than boxing. For one, the bouts are shorter- between 3-5 five min. rounds, so the number of blows to the head are less. Less blows to the head = less chance of brain damage. Good, yes? Also, a UFC referee will stop the fight immediately as soon as a fighter appears defenseless. A boxer on the other hand, can get his clock cleaned and drop multiple times each round, but as long as he can stand back on his feet and show the ref they can still lift his gloves within 10 seconds, off he goes on another visit to hamburger face city, which can last up to 12 rounds.

Here's a recent LA Times article on the growing sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), and the big business juggernaut the UFC is becoming.