professorpace

[professorpace]

Israel Adesanya: Lucky or Good?

Luck is when preparation meets hard work. Whenever athletes or sports teams are called lucky, I think most would take that as an insult, but not Israel Adesanya. Izzy is a breath of fresh air in the fight game. While most fighters are sensitive and short sided, Izzy is a calculated troll. I love the quote he had after his fight versus Costa when people noticed there was something wrong with his pec. He said, “If I watched me look that good, I would think I was on steroids too.” This is just one example of good one liners, which the fight game is built on. If you want to see more just look at any Izzy interview. But the main reason I am writing this is because that phrase, “Luck is when preparation meets hard work.” The hard work part is pretty obvious. Izzy was a world class kickboxer before converting to mixed martial arts. Next, he spent several years working his all-around game. He even turned down coming to the UFC a few years before he made his debut. He wanted to make sure he was ready. This part of Izzy’s journey is widely known and he is given much credit for this. I want to talk to something else, his preparation. The best way to move up quickly in the UFC is to stay busy. Izzy did this by fighting like 5 times in his first calendar year in the promotion. The last fight in that first year run was against the legend, Anderson Silva. The UFC does this a lot. Put a young up and comer with a legend. They also put him as the co main event to the middleweight title bout that was supposed to happen featuring Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittaker. I guess you could give the UFC a lot of credit, which you should, on this placement and opponent, but give Izzy credit for being willing to take it after fighting 4 times in the calendar year already. This is where the luck comes in. Robert Whittaker has to pull out due to injury, and Izzy gets promoted to the main event. I am unsure if this made a big deal in his popularity at the time, but what I do know is this set up his next two fights, which I feel really catapulted his fame and standing in the UFC. If Robert Whittaker does not pull out, how does this change his journey? It is unclear to me who would have won between Kelvin and Robert, but Izzy would have only fought one of them. If Robert wins, they probably still do the fight in Australia and it breaks the record for the biggest attendance in UFC history. If Kelvin wins, let’s just say their fights goes the same way and he has the fight of the year. Both outcomes are good, but the combination of these fights make his career so much greater. I do not even know which one was more important. On one hand, the Kelvin fight showed he could overcome adversity, which is an important trait for people in the fight game, However, I think most people hold Whitaker in a higher regard than Kelvin. My point is that Izzy was lucky to fight both of them, but this luck was possible because of his preparation. He did not stop his preparation after he won the belt. After every fight, you are pretty sure who Izzy is going to fight next. He called out Paulo Costa after the Whittaker fight and the Romero fight, and then called out Jared Cannonier after the Costa fight. This is where that luck comes into play. Jared lost to Whittaker, who has made a resurgence this year winning two fights. Logically, Whittaker is the most deserving of a title shot in the division. However, Whittaker wants, and deserves, a few months off to spend Christmas with his family. His wife is having their fourth child and I think fighting has gotten in the way of past childbirths. I think in Whittaker’s mind he would like to fight sometime early next summer. Izzy is not a patient guy though. He wants to fight earlier than that, which leads us to his jump up to the light heavyweight division. You could say Izzy is lucky here too. Jon Jones has ruled over the light heavyweight division for a decade, but he relinquished the belt to move up to heavyweight. Both Jan and Jon are good fighters, but I think most people would agree that Jon Jones is the tougher matchup for Izzy

#UFC #MMA

[professorpace]

TUF Idea

The UFC announced that the Ultimate Fighter is coming back for another season. I have never watched a season live but have gone back and watched some of the most talked about seasons. In my opinion, the idea has gotten stale over the years. It made sense to put two fighters who have a fight scheduled to coach against each other, especially when they both can talk a little shit. Maybe seeing the same thing twenty-something times has gotten a little old though. I am proposing something that was recently and frequently brought up in the MMA universe. How about the 2 coaches of the Ultimate Fighter be Daniel Cormier and Khabib? Everybody always jokes that we need a reality show between the two. Their relationship is very fun and the two are extremely competitive. Both fighters are also retired, for now, so it would please UFC fans to get some more screen time with the two. I do not know if this is something Dana would go for because the two are not involved in some fight. I never liked that we annoyed the fighters with this extra work though. Plus, these two are more popular than most UFC fighters so I think it would be good for ratings. Am I crazy? I do not think I am.

#UFC #MMA

[professorpace]

Black Clover Season 1 Review

The first season of Black Clover has reignited my love for anime fights. My main problem with anime fights is the neverending powercreeping that goes on in battles. So why do I like it when it happens in Black Clover? It is the face that they have the grimoir. Maybe it is the pokemon trainer in me that likes it when someone levels up and learns a new move. This concept also fits perfectly with the phrase "surpass your limits", which is what Captain Yami preaches to his squad. I also like that this gimmick is not only for the MC of the show. So far we have seen like 5 characters come up with new spells when they needed it. Also another thing I love is that these moments have not always been in fights. Noelle is a kind of annoying character but it is very satisfying when she learns her new spell to guide the Black Bulls into the Underwater Temple. The other aspect that I really love to Black Clover fights is the choreography. The first one that got me hooked was Yami vs Licht. This fight does a great job to show how powerful both are and there is also a good bit of strategy in it as well. I would have not guessed that Yami was that thought out when it came to his battle strategy. Then the strategy and tension was taken to a whole new level when the Black Bulls had to work together to fight Vetto in the Underwater Temple. Not only did we get multiple combo attacks but also more character development for side characters in Vanessa and spatial boy. I was expecting Asta to pull the typical major power up but no, and I loved it. The back and forth between the Black Bulls and Vetto was beautiful. My love for Vanessa and spatial boy grew so much during this arc and the crazy thing is that they were not the only ones who leveled up. Yami learned a new spell to escape from a spell and finish off Vetto. It was amazing. I am looking forward to future spells but I do want to talk about hypothetical future problems. I think that one anime trope that will come in future season is that people will say they are out of mana and come up with more out of nowhere. I saw that a few times in the first season and guess it will happen more as the fights get more intense. Also I wonder if as the number of new spells are learned, my love for them will decrease. These are really the only two potential problems I may have with Black Clover. I kind of like all the romantic comedic moments, even if they are mixed in with serious moments. It kind of reminds me of one piece the way they are able to transition between them. Speaking of comedic moments, I think the funniest moment for me in Season 1 is the scene where it shows Yami asking to get sent to different places by spatial boy. Yami is definitely my favorite character so far and I do not really hate any characters. I also am excited about the mystery in the show so far. I am looking forward to learning the history between the midnight eye and Clover Kingdom and also learning more about the diamond kingdom as well.

[professorpace]

A comparison in MMA and soccer flaws

I have 2 sports I really love to watch, MMA and soccer. Even though I love both of these sports, there are flaws with both. In soccer, my main problem is with penalty decisions. Most of the time, the games are very close and one goal can turn the tide in a major way. Even with the help of VAR, there are still decisions that I disagree with and I think this will be a problem that will always be there. In MMA, I think that the major problem as a fan is judging. Most fights are either 3 or 5 rounds, and in a close fight 1 round could give the fight to either guy. Even though there is a criteria that judges are taught to follow, it seems as though each judge sees things different. Maybe this is because of where they are sitting or just their own biases. I feel kind of the same way judging as I do penalty decisions in soccer. I think there will always be decisions that I disagree with because there is human error involved. The difference between the two is that one immediately affects the match/fight and one affects it after. Even if I do not agree with a penalty decision, a penalty is either given or not and a goal is either scored or isn't. If the penalty is conceded, the team who conceded now has a chance to respond. In a fight, we do not know who won which rounds until after the fight. We can only guess what we think we saw. The idea of open scoring would change this and give fighters a chance to change strategies. I definitely feel as if this would be better for the fighter's sake. The interesting thing is I think close MMA fights would become a lot like watching close soccer games. Another thing to take into account is that soccer is much older than MMA and soccer just started using VAR. I am hopeful at some point there will be something that will help the problem of MMA judging.

#Soccer #MMA #Sports

[professorpace]

Welcome to my world

Another valentines day, another night cashing in on deals for two people so I can have hella leftovers. While I am eating my weight in Olive Garden, I will probably start thinking about past relationships and what I would like in future ones to come. However, I am faced with a dilemma. I am a male who is 5′5. I feel this puts me at a major disadvantage. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a girl tweet “6′ and over with heart eyes”, maybe I would have enough money for them to not care how tall I am. Because of this, I have spent my life dating short girls. I love short girls.  There is one problem though if I end up with a short girl, and I should probably capitalize if because my messages are pretty dry right now. If I am lucky enough to get married and have kids, what if I have a boy?.  What if he is even shorter than me? I do not want to subject my future son to short life. A life where the only sport he would be perfect for is to be a jockey in horse racing. The problem is I don’t think I have the game to cuff a tall girl, and don’t even know if my insecure self would be okay with being the little spoon for the rest of my life. Welcome to my world.

#valentines day #funny #weird funny