Picture comes by way of the UG. He clearly has the increased body fat, gyneomastia, and lack of muscle mass that is shown in men with low testosterone. Todd Duffee was one of two fighters approved for testosterone replacement therapy in Vegas. 

War Machine weighs in on prison, racial politics, and defending himself while inside prison.

http://twitter.com/WarMachine170

What's up guys!? I'm gonna do a weekly blog for this year while I'm locked up. Just want to keep y'all posted and give you some insight on what it's like here for me. When I first got here I was told I was gonna be kept in segregation to pretect myself since I'm a "celebrity." I told them NO WAY! 23 hours a day lockdown? FUCK THAT! So they stuck me in the "mainline." They classified me a 5 on a scale 1-6 so I'm with the big dogs. Everyone here has been to prison. Few guys in my unit are murderers waiting to be shipped out to prison for life. Funny, kinda odd, but they are the most friendly of the bunch... Most intelligent too. Hardest thing about this place is finding people you can have a decent conversation with.

So when you first get here you learn the rules, jail politics. You got the Whites, the Mexicans, and the Blacks + others. Whites and Mex share tables for recreation but you only eat show at your designated race's table. You never sit at the Blacks table and vice-versa, but you can talk to them here in County Jail. If a Mex or White fights a Black, all the Mex and Whites are required to jump in. One on one fights are only allowed against your own race and take place in an empty cell. I think it's dumb. I'm not trying to fight anyone and can care less abotu who fights who. I hope no big rumbles happen... I can't afford more trouble. Buttt if you don't help, you get jumped afterwards. Maybe I'll just throw body shots and leg kicks so I don't hurt anyone... Anyway so far all is well.

I'm bored a lot, just been reading and working out to stay busy. All the guys here are cool to me, I get a lot of questions about fighting. Seems everyone wants to learn some "moves." I wish we could train here, would make it way more fun... lol. So yeah, anyway I don't see anyone fucking with ME... Only way BS goes down is if I get drug into someone elses lame drama. Well that is that! Week 1 in a nut shell. Look forward to keeping you guys updated. Can't wait to get out and fight for all my fans again! Can't wait to open my gym in Austin! Thanks for standing by me. If you go to sdsheriff.net you can e-mail me. Booking # 10754342 Jon Koppenhaver.

-WM

Doesn't sound too bad now does it? Here's hoping he doesn't get beat up in prison and can grow from the experience into a better human being. Who am I kidding?

Weighing In is back to discuss some large questions regarding Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers.

If Brett Rogers defeats Fedor it will spell the doom of Strikeforce on CBS a la EliteXC and Kimbo Slice

E. Spencer Kyte: Short answer: No.

Extended Mix: Fedor is nowhere near the draw in North America that Kimbo Slice was, as horrible as I feel for saying something like that, so expectations, while high, are still tempered somewhat. While everyone hopes this show does exceptionally well and becomes an introduction of Emelianenko into the N/A market, the groundwork has already been laid for rationalizing a poor draw on CBS.

As for the fight itself, as much as an Emelianenko win is what Strikeforce and CBS both want most, a Rogers win could actually be just as great, if not better moving forward, provided they are able to retain his services. Where Fedor is unable and uninterested in being a media figure, Rogers has the star power to have future cards built around him, especially if he becomes "The Fedor Killer" on Saturday night.

He is a much more charismatic and marketable face in North America than Fedor is now and might ever be; where Fedor can't sit down with Letterman, Rogers can and a young heavyweight at 11-0 coming off wins over Andrei Arlovski and Fedor Emelianenko is a major selling point...

Zak Woods: If Fedor loses to Brett Rogers it will be the catalyst of doom for Strikeforce on CBS (not on Showtime). CBS is looking for a cheap alternative sport to grab younger viewers. Without a well established fighter competing in meaningful bouts, CBS will get cold feet and eventually pull the plug.

Strikeforce on CBS will do better ratings than EliteXC CBS

Zak Woods: Nope.

EliteXC rode Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano to break records for the most watched MMA fights in history. The sad fact is Fedor Emelianenko, Brett Rogers, Gegard Mousasi and company have nowhere near the mainstream appeal of Carano and Kimbo.

I mean, Dana Jacobson of ESPN couldn't even say Fedor's last name right and it's her job!

E. Spencer Kyte: Probably not.

As craptacular as EliteXC was for having Kimbo Slice as the headlining act in their circus, there is no denying the drawing power the bearded brawler has. Coupled with Gina Carano and some other decent fights, EliteXC did pretty strong numbers with a portion of that success coming courtesy of casual fans who either wanted to see the hot chick from American Gladiators or that dude from YouTube.

Strikeforce has neither of those things going for them and sadly, that means less people are going to watch, despite the opportunity to see a far superior product.

Continue reading this post »

Sunday morning, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a piece entitled "Cage Rage coming here" discussing the expansion of the UFC to Australia by using the same outdated inaccuracies many critics of the sport continue to belief are true.

Yes, they called Mixed Martial Arts a "bloodsport" and used the antiquated John McCain "human cockfighting" line too.

Zak Woods brought the story to light here on Watch Kalib Run and drew attention to the power of adjectives when describing the sport, as the inclusion of the word "brutal" certainly gives a certain impression when describing combat sports.

Earlier today, we went one step further, reaching out to Australian MMA star Elvis Sinosic to get his thoughts on the article.

The article mentions the brutal combination of Martial Arts, Boxing, Kickboxing and Wrestling. The article forgets to mention that these brutal sports, Martial Arts, Boxing and Wrestling are all Olympic sports. Why are they suddenly brutal sports in a MMA environment and not when they are in the Olympics?

Let's just say that the first Aussie to fight and win in the UFC was none too pleased. More of his Letter to the Editor after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

With the news that Mike Swick is out of UFC 103 WKR is bringing you another edition of "Weighing In" talking about the UFC's welterweight division.

If Martin Kampmann defeats Paul Daley he should receive a title shot.

E. Spencer Kyte: Absolutely; if he was going to get one by beating Swick, things don't change by beating Daley just because it's his UFC debut. While fans stuck in the UFC vacuum may not know who he is, Daley is a tough kid with a great record who has face some quality opponents over the years, including taking on Jake Shields for the EliteXC welterweight belt on the second CBS show. He's only lost twice in the last three years, once to Shields and once to Nick Thompson who is a very talented veteran in his own right.

Zak Woods: I really want to say yes but I am afraid that Daley and Condit (who would be Martin's big two welterweight wins) aren't big enough brands to feed the UFC hype machine for a title shot with Georges St. Pierre. I am not happy about writing this but I think Kampmann would have to win one more fight to achieve a title shot.

A welterweight who fights in September (Josh Koscheck, Frank Trigg, Carlos Condit, Brock Larson, Martin Kampmann) will earn a title shot.

Zak Woods: I think that the fighters with the highest probability of fighting for the title are fighting this month but it all depends upon on St. Pierre's recovery. If Georges isn't ready to go until the middle of 2010 then the chances are reduced for the September welterweights for achieving an immediate title shot. My bet is on the top two winners in September fighting for #1 contender in January.

E. Spencer Kyte: Because Kampmann is on the list I would say yes, but outside of the Kampmann - Daley tilt, the others would need at least one more win in my books. I don't think Trigg will get passed Koscheck and one win isn't going to be enough to get Kos another fight with GSP.

Condit is intriguing because he was the WEC welterweight champ and lost a tight decision to Kampmann in his UFC debut, but again, one win over a debuting UFC fighter isn't going to be enough.

Brock Larsen is the most under appreciated welterweight out there right now; the guy has two career losses and has looked outstanding since returning to the UFC, but he keeps getting preliminary card fights against mediocre competition. He's actually someone I can see giving GSP fits, in as much as anyone can give GSP fits, because he's got great wrestling. Koscheck would fit the bill too, but he's stopped being a wrestler and now relies on his striking too much.

Mike Swick's injury while unfortunate will prevent him from ever fighting for the title.

E. Spencer Kyte: Welcome to Yushin Okami territory! When you miss your chance, you miss your chance, and while that certainly sucks, it's the way things go. While he's on the shelf, someone is going to have a solid performance that gets people talking and leapfrog the injured Swick. People questioned before whether he was a true potential #1 contender and extra time off isn't going to help his cause moving forward.

Zak Woods: Yushin Okami? How about Karo Parisyan. I don't know what type of injury Swick sustained but he really needed this fight. There are simply too many great welterweight fighters in the UFC. How many chances will you have to rise to the top without running into some unfortunate loss like what happened to Karo with Thiago Alves. Simply put the 170lbs. division is the equivalent of running the gauntlet and Swick was right at that finish line but instead of getting to the title shot Mike landed on chance went directly to jail and did not collect $200 for passing Go.

WKR promised you more features and we decided to bring back "Weighing In."

Who should Anderson Silva fight first Dan Henderson or Nate Marquardt?

Nick Becker: I say neither. 

When you've been anointed by Dana White as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, why shouldn't you have a say in who your next opponent is? 

Anderson Silva has made it clear a rematch with either Dan Henderson or Nate Marquardt  isn't something that he's particularly interested in right now and that they should have to fight to determine the true number one contender.  I say put Henderson/Marquardt on UFC 105 as the co-main event and let them (literally) fight it out.

Now, if someone put a gun to my head and made me choose between the two, I would go with Henderson.  He's the only guy to win a round against Silva and has tons of notoriety due to his "TUF" coaching stint.  He then followed that up with an epic K.O. of Bisping on the biggest PPV in company history.  It's also the better business decision for the UFC as a Silva-Henderson card would absolutely crush a Silva-Marquardt card in terms of PPV-buys.

Zak Woods: In my opinion they have both earned title shots and in that situation neither fighter should be thrown to the back of the line. 

Why not grant both fighters title shots. The UFC needs a main event for November, there's one contender. If Silva wins he can probably fight again in early 2010. Hopefully by that time Machida won't hold the belt at 205lbs. so then we can see Anderson make a permanent move.

Continue reading this post »

One of the great things about Mixed Martial Arts is all the speculation and fantasy match-making that goes on. We all talk about who should fight who and what guys we think are bound for greatness or destined to fail.

Like all of you, I'm prone to this kind of activity myself, taking it one step further with an actual list of up and comers at the start of 2009 while I was writing for another site. Hard to believe, I know - someone else was willing to let me schlep it up on the keyboard. Anyway...

Now that we're reached the midway point of the calendar year, I've gone back to that original list and made some revision. Not that I was too far off the mark or anything; actually, I've had a pretty solid year of prospecting. Outside of Jake Rosholt who suffered from the folding of the WEC Middleweight division and a sudden step up in competition, most of the list have done pretty well.

Actually, most of the revision come from guys succeeding and no longer really qualifying as prospects. After all, how can I rightfully call Eddie Alvarez a prospect after the display he put on during the Bellator Fighting Championships or give Brock Lesnar top billing when he has the UFC Heavyweight title around his waist? I still think neither has reached their ceiling, but they're too well-known for prospect status anymore.

Continue reading this post »

In an effort to bring more content to WKR, we are teaming up with Kelvin Hunt  of MMAForReal.com for a new feature called 'Weighing In'.

1.) UFC 95 was a host of early stoppages, especially Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thaigo

Kelvin Hunt: I didn't have a problem with any of the stoppages, and definitely not with Koscheck Thiago stoppage. Koscheck was clearly looking off to space when the referee intervened. There was no sense in him taking more shots to the head at that point. Especially with his mindset of fighting so often lately. He'll probably get a medical suspension anyways, but now it will not be as long as it would have been had he taken more punishment. If he's so mad, maybe he should stay disciplined and not throw wild looping punches leaving himself exposed.

Zak Woods: I think there is a critical fact that most critics are missing. I suspect that Paulo Thiago didn't follow the strikes to for a reason, most likely due to the referee verbally telling him to stop. There isn't a camera angle showing the referee's reaction to the uppercut-left hook combo. Due to the referee being out of position it easy to see why there was a delay, but if he had been closer I believe there wouldn't of been nearly as much of an out cry against the stoppage. 

2.) Demian Maia deserves a title shot against the winner of Anderson Silva - Thales Leites

ZW: Demian Maia has definately risen to the short list of possible title contenders. While I personally think he should be given a title shot -- how sweet would it be to see Maia's Jiu Jistu vs. Silva's -- but there is a certain Brit who may make a title shot an impossibility. Remember Dana White said that if Michael Bisping defeats Dan Henderson then he will be give a shot at the middleweight belt. I hope that Maia receives the title shot first though. 

KH: I just wrote a post about this earlier this morning. Long story short, he needs another win before getting a title shot in my opinion.

3.) Diego Sanchez will have a lightweight title shot by the end of the year

KH: It depends on who they match him up with next. However, with a win over another quality opponent I think he could receive a title shot on the year end show or something. I wouldn't be opposed to it. If Florian beats Penn, I definitely think he'll get the first crack at it, simply because he and Florian have history and it would be easy to build. Plus, it would be a very intriguing match up.   

ZW: Diego Sanchez will secure a title shot by the end of the year. That doesn't mean he will fight for the lightweight title in 2009. No fighter has been able to distinguish themselves from the pack as the number one contender after Kenny Florian. That means that Sanchez is one or two victories away from facing off for the lightweight belt.