Mayweather VS McGregor Wrap-up

WHAT A FIGHT!!! Let's be honest, McGregor did more than what people thought he would, it was surprising to see everything being landed the way it did. I was excited to watch, and I think a lot of people have turned and looked at McGregor like:

But let's be honest there is a reason why Floyd is considered to be "The Best Ever", Floyd played the game just like you need to. The one thing that always sticks out to me about McGregor is he fights at a pace his body could not handle. In the first round we saw some great strikes, where Floyd did not know what to do at first:

Conor was standing awkwardly, and throwing punches at angles Floyd was not ready for. Sure Floyd is the man and has seen a lot different fighters, but Conor is not a normal boxer/fighter. Floyd and his corner had continually pushed the tempo for Conor, and once Conor started to gas out...that was all she wrote:

Floyd showed McGregor how boxers do in a boxing ring, he took the young shark in McGregor to deep waters and watched him drown. He peppered him with lots of shots and eventually a tired McGregor could not keep up with Floyd. Floyd landed so many shots in bunches and it was amazing to see Conor eat a couple of those shots.

I have to say the turning point for me in this fight was when Conor threw a punch, and Floyd walked through the punch and landed his own. The stage was set from that point on, and the crowd could feel the momentum change in the fight world.

The rest of the fight card was good as well. Team Mayweather definitely showed up and made their money, there is no doubt that Floyd easily clears $300 million with the promotions, sponsorship, and PPV buys.

If there is one thing to be said about Boxing vs MMA, fans in the MMA world want to show up for the prelim fights just as much as the main card fight. It was pretty obvious when Cunningham and Tabiti fought, the arena was empty. There were four great fights in that arena and fans only showed up to watch the Floyd fight (yes I know that was the biggest reason to be there). Sure boxing has been on the decline, but I really think this fight may have been the fight to put boxing back on the map. Hopefully it inspires more generation of combat athletes whether in MMA or Boxing to show up.

What did you think of the fight? Leave a comment and let me know. Also Listen to the podcast later tonight and let me know what you thought about everything. Follow me on Snapchat, Twitter, and IG @cm_miller85. 

Cocked, Locked, and Blocked

I have to admit, when I thought of this title I knew I could get some reactions. Let's be honest for a little bit, there is a huge epidemic going on in the UFC and a lot of people do not realize it. More and more fighters are getting in trouble for using PEDs. One who recently popped up was Junior Dos Santos, it was unusual because Dos Santos has been a huge advocate for stricter blood testing in the MMA world. Now as I am writing this he is asking to have his "B sample" tested, but he is pulled from UFC 215 until further notice. 

There has been many fighters who have been in trouble with United States Anti-Doping Associates (USADA). Just recently we saw Jon Jones come back from his one year ban after being flagged by USADA:

In the same year we watched Brock Lesnar also be flagged for using PEDs at the same event last year as Jon Jones:

Cris Cyborg has also been in trouble with USADA using PEDs to keep the advantage (let's be honest, she did not need PEDs she is a bad enough fighter without them):

So what is the big deal with using PEDs?

Well for starters, you can kill another fighter! You are unnaturally strong because you are introducing a drug to make you stronger and faster. You are literally hitting another person and potentially ending their life or leaving them permanently damaging them, now we add a drug to you and make you more lethal. Does anyone remember what happened to Apollo Creed? Rocky?

If a fighter is able to continue introducing PEDs in their body, we will eventually see the first fighter die in the UFC. The list is crazy to see which fighers have been banned for a year because they are using, so far every fighters I have shown here has been in trouble in using PEDs. Former champions, title contenders, and fan favorites have all fallen victim. One person I was surprised about was Anderson Silva, who was using Cialis and he did not think it would be tested before his fight.

A lot of fighters have made the mistake and taken things they could buy over the counter. Nate Marquardt was a prime example, he was buying over the counter protein at Max Muscle and was banned for a second time.

Gilbert has fallen victim as well, still trying to gain an advantage in the sport of MMA. I'm sure there will be harsher punishment for those who continue to use and eventually being banned from the sport needs to be in place for second time offenders. That way people will take the punishments seriously, and yes I think a year ban is light. Stopping a fighter from making a living through fighting is tough, but the first fighter to hold a two year ban will rock the sport.

Also fighters are eventually going to hurt their own bodies by continuing to force it to do something it naturally can not do. Introducing more synthetic chemicals will eventually cause your body to stop producing it.

Someone like Alistair Overeem, who was the K-1 Heavyweight Champion, StrikeForce Heavyweight Champion, and Dream Heavyweight Champion started his career at 185 pounds. If you did not think Overeem was using PEDs to get his advantage in the heavyweight competition you are sadly mistaken. Here is a before and after photo of what he looked like after being suspended for a year:

I am not saying every fighter here has used PEDs but every fighter pictured has been associated and rumored to have been using in the sport. To read more about it here is an article with athletes who have been in trouble during their time in the UFC:

http://www.cagepotato.com/mma-steroid-busts-definitive-timeline/

Tell me what you think about it and leave a comment, I would love to hear what you all think. Next week I will be wrapping up coverage of the Mayweather Vs McGregor coverage. You can all hear today 8/20/17 on the podcast our predictions for the fights coming up this weekend. Also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat @ cm_miller85. See you soon fight fans!

UFC Favorite Knock-Outs Part I

What's going on fight fans, and welcome to GET THE KO! There are no fights to cover this week, nor are there any coming up next week. We do however have the biggest fight coming up when Conor McGregor will be fighting Floyd Mayweather, but today we are going to be talking about my favorite Knocks-Outs in UFC history. This is part one eventually I will add part 2 but I wanted to talk about my five favorites in no particular order.

So let's begin:

Edson Barboza is posed to have an amazing career in the UFC. It goes without saying he has the fastest feet in the UFC. He has picked apart his opponents and dominated the match-ups. We could be looking at a future champion in the making. No one else found this out more than Terry Etmin (oh Terry never saw this coming). Edson was able to land some big shots in this match up but none bigger than the KO that ended Terry's night early, and put Edson on the map:

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture said he had figured out the puzzle called Lyoto Machida. He asked Dana for the fight and was nearing the best shape of his life. He got in the ring with Machida and looked to pressure the young fighter for the win. Lyoto being fast on his feet was able to strike and get out before Randy could make his move. Looking a little puzzled in the fight Randy decided it was time to play the distance game. Lyoto would see his mark and take advantage turning Randy Couture into Johnny from the Karate Kid:

Stefan Struve is the tallest fighter in the UFC. It shows in the Octagon when he fights everyone, standing at almost seven feet tall you would think he would have the advantage in every fight using his jab. For some reason the UFC likes to keep in the in program, sure he has beaten the current UFC Heavyweight Stipe in a previous fight. But for the most part he winds up on the receiving end of a KO. No better way to show off that fight then when he fought Travis Browne. Travis was getting in and out able to land shots. Finally in the first round Travis went for a Superman punch which connected and ended Stefan's night. It was the first time I had seen a Superman punch end the night and I thought it was awesome:

Rashad Evans (who I spoke about last week) was not known for throwing kicks in his fight. He was known as a boxer who had a solid wrestling game. He could take down opponents at will and was landing some nasty shots on people to win his fights. Sean Salmon was 9-1 heading into his first fight in the UFC. He was known for having a good wrestling and solid BJJ behind him. However one thing that was lacking in Sean's game, was the ability to block high kicks:

It would not be complete without having another big fighter with a huge Knockout. Rampage Jackson was fighting for Pride FC at the time (prior to UFC buying it). While in his fight, Ricardo would attempt a triangle choke on Rampage. This would be a huge mistake for the young man as Rampage is the type of individual to not care about another person's well being. Ultimately it would end that man's night and Rampage would go on to another huge win in his MMA career:

These are a few of my favorite KOs and only Part 1. Part 2 will probably come along in the next few weeks, as there will be a lot of to cover for the future MMA events, as well as boxing. Write your comments in or send me a message on your favorite social media sites: Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram: cm_miller85. I hope to hear from you and turn in next week.

Maybe It's Time

On August 5, 2017 we were treated to a UFC Event that overall was a great card. It will be a topic covered on tonight's podcast. But I want to talk about something I noticed and maybe it needs to be said.

At one time "Sugar" Rashad Evans could do no wrong. He was undefeated had just won the Ultimate Fighter Season 2 at Heavyweight, and was rocketing towards stardom. He was a great competitor and loved fighting. But as Father Time has shown us, he will always win and eventually you have to think about hanging up the gloves.

Sure, he fought some of the greats and won: Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Tito Ortiz, Phil Davis, Stephan Bonner, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, and Dan Henderson, and Chuck Liddell:

and Chael Sonnen:

Evans also has one of my favorite knockouts of all time, say goodnight to Sean Salmon:

However, one fight changed all the noise for Evans. He was defending his championship at Light Heavyweight against Lyoto Machida in Las Vegas. It was the second round in a five round fight and suddenly Evans could not solve the Machida puzzle and this happened:

He went on a four fight win streak after this lose, in which Lyoto lost his title to Shogun Rua. Who then lost the title to Jon "Bones" Jones. Evans came back to fight Jones, only to lose in a decision. I had the opportunity to meet Evans, a couple months after he beat "Rampage" Jackson:

Watching him fight and move in and out of the pocket this man was destined to be a beast for a long time:

But let's get back to reality, Evans does like to fight in a complacent state. What I mean, is Evans tends to think he is winning the fight and eases off the gas pedal. He thinks he is constantly in the lead of the fight and has yet to actually end a fight early. He is 2-6 in his last eight fights and is currently on a 4 fight losing streak. This also coming from him dropping from 205 to 186 (which I agree with Joe Rogan, he probably should have been there the whole time).

He has trouble fighting people who and box Southpaw, he left Greg Jackson after Jon Jones arrived, and loves to take rounds off. It was the same thing I said to him after his win against "Rampage", now Evans has to find it within himself to pull himself out of the dark.

However I think it maybe too late and needs to consider hanging up the gloves, yes guys are not landing a lot of strikes on Evans. Yes, he can still move in and out of the pocket fairly well, but Evans does not do enough anymore to say he can fully win the fight. Nor do I think there is another shot for him at a title, Bisping is holding on strong and Evans is having trouble with Mid-card guys let alone fighting a Yoel Romero type.

Evans no doubt will be in the UFC Hall of Fame, but I think it is time for him to honestly consider retiring and moving on to trainer type role.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments of your favorite social media sites or even right here. Also do not forget to catch the latest podcast of "GET THE KO" later tonight on Google Play or iTunes. Thank you guys again for all the support and have a great day.