#so looking at 4 dudes in their 40 still grappling and trying and taking years and years to be better and do better | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jess-rewatches-prodigalson · 4 years

Text

Episode 17: Stranger Beside You

SPOILERS and thoughts ahead.

0:13 - How freaking creepy is this? She just pops up from the floor. Did Malcolm not see her there as he was approaching? Why didn’t he acknowledge her presence as he approached? ALSO - he’s excited about muffins? Does that mean muffins are one of the only foods he eats? I find this surprising. ALSO - last episode we learned that Malcolm can’t cook…why does he have a muffin tin? I know this is a dream but still.

0:45 - Ok. Story time. I watched this episode when it premiered. It was the first week I had moved home from university since the whole COVID-19 stuff. My younger brother (20) and my mom (45) who have never seen this show decided to watch it with me. Ugh. Our family dynamic is generally a lot of sarcasm and teasing. I’m the only one in the family interested in crime shows/whump. When Malcolm said “This is when the scary thing usually happens.” both of my family members started cackling like buffoons. For the next week my brother quoted that line to me. They both now tease me for loving this show so much…so that happened.

1:18 - This is kind of sweet. I don’t like Eve but I like seeing Malcolm this happy.

1:56 - This is such a good sibling conversation. Ainsley is setting Malcolm straight. I know Malcolm is right but honestly - Ainsley has a point. Malcolm has a tendency to accidentally sabotage his own relationships because he can’t trust people and he doesn’t believe that he’s worthy of love.

3:15 - Look at this. Just. Look. JT is happy to see Malcolm. They’re bantering like brothers. This relationship has blossomed and I’m so happy…also I google “sip and see” because I really wanted them to be fake. They sound ridiculous, but they’re real. IDK. I don’t have kids but it seems crazy to organize a big fancy party right after you give birth. Invite friends and family over - sure. Order a pizza and a cake. But hang out in something comfy and keep it casual. Maybe that’s just me. IDK.

3:42 - Malcolm’s projecting again. “Perfect can be an allusion.” Honestly. Is he even aware that he does this?! Also, is he projecting about his childhood or his relationship with Eve. Either way, I’m concerned for him….though I do like how happy he’s looking right now.

3:47 - hahaha OMG. “With the stiff!” Gil is so done.

4:30 - I thought this was interesting. 1) Do dead bodies actually do that? Compress? Huh. Cool. 2) I like the way that Edrisa and Malcolm are so totally absorbed in how cool/weird the cause of death was that neither of them notice Edrisa’s hand on Malcolm’s chest. 3) Gil pointing out Edrisa’s hand makes things a little awkward - but honestly I see it as a gentle warning. He knows that Edrisa is socially awkward. She’s not in trouble and he’s not mad. He’s just reminding her that stuff like that isn’t appropriate.

5:04 - Watching this after realizing that Tally is pregnant brings a whole new weight to all of JT’s comments. Every time he mentions babies, baby swag, moms - he looks either scared, stressed (because money), or excited. It’s freaking precious.

6:15 - “It’s a cloud of love. Nothing to be ashamed of.” Again. More proof that Malcolm is an A+ adult male. Who speaks like that?

7:05 - Do I need to be scared about Dani now too? I do not like the way that Martin says her name. Wait. Is Martin going to go after every person that takes Malcolm’s time away from visiting him? I can totally see it. Martin escaping - killing Gil for replacing him as Malcolm’s Dad. Killing Jessica for trying to keep Malcolm from him. Killing JT, Dani, and Edrisa for being his friends. Can’t decide if he’d kill Ainsley…

7:41 - HOW is this show so dark and yet so funny?!?!

8:20 - I know that Malcolm knows that Tally is pregnant…but after the pizza roll comment there’s no way Gil and Dani don’t suspect. Look at their faces!!! And the way JT looks down way too quickly. He’s clearly hiding something.

8:55 - Look at Gil’s face. He’s concerned and a little scared. I am too. What the hell does Malcolm mean by “Mom’s love me”?!?! Is this some weird sex thing?

9:05 - Dani is a queen. We stan. She is the friend Malcolm deserves. I especially love the fact that later we find out that she told JT about this conversation. As though she thought Malcolm needed “guy advice”.

10:00 - Yo. People like this shouldn’t be allowed to have children. Kids are not a fashion statement - they are human beings who need to be nurtured and loved.

11:10 - So, I don’t usually like it when Ainsley snoops around for a story and gets all determined - but this time I do.

12:00 - Does Ainsley really not understand that what she did was a total invasion of privacy?!? She doesn’t look sorry. At all. The fact that Ainsley actually talks to Eve about it is kind of awful too? Like it’s one thing to do a background check on someone - it’s another thing to talk to them, unprovoked, about what you found.

12:12 - Poor Jessica. She looks upset. Between her two “socially bizarre” children ( lol ) she really has a hard time making friends. Although…..I will admit. It’s a little weird that Jessica is making friends with a woman young enough to date her son.

12:32 - Soooo this means that Malcolm has an instagram account (at least a fake one for work anyways). I feel like Malcolm is one of the people who don’t have a personal instagram account. Because a) he has like 3 friends and b) he doesn’t strike me as the type of person to take pictures of food, people, events, or himself.

12:40 - So Malcolm’s sitting at that desk again…..forget about the gitb… I want to solve the desk mystery (and the mystery of JT’s name).

12:57 - Damn it JT! We were about to get a super awesome father/son moment. Ugh. When I said I wanted the writers to give JT more screen time I didn’t mean this.

13:13 - Aww…look at how proud Dani is of herself. Girl made a cool discovery and she’s proud/excited about it. <3

13:22 - ARE YOU KIDDING ME. We finally get a good look at the desk from the front. No name plate in view?!? UGH. This is killing me.

13:33 - hahaha look at these faces! JT looks confused/freaked out that Malcolm knows so much about babies feeding habits. Dani looks so annoyed that she’s been put on Malcolm babysitting duty again. I don’t blame her. Gil is always making her babysit Malcolm. JT never has to take a turn.

13:55 - The most annoying thing about this episode is that we never find out how Alessa cut her arm. It’s a weird place on your arm to get a cut and I’m curious about it.

14:35 - I respect Malcolm a LOT in this scene. He’s asking some tough (but necessary) questions. He’s calm, kind, and respectful. He’s not minimizing Alessa’s stress, her loss, or her devotion to her daughter.

16:30 - Soooo if Christine’s (ex) husband lives in Canada - does that mean he’s Canadian (or dual citizen)? Or does he just have a work permit? I’m curious about what that means for Christine’s citizen status. I find this odd though - even if Christine isn’t Canadian - if she was last seen in Canada and her husband reported her missing - the RCMP would’ve been looking for her. They NYPD would know that. Although - she is using a fake name. Huh. There’s a reason I’m not in law enforcement. People are too crafty. I’ll stick to math.

17:55 - Look how mad JT looks that Christine tried to abduct Nina….he’s going to be such an overprotective, good dad. <3

18:25 - This is a really cool moment. This scene is the first since 1x9 when JT and Malcolm have a heart-to-heart. JT also gives Malcolm some really good relationship advice. Damn. No wonder JT’s been married for 7 years. He gets it.

18:55 - I love how manic Malcolm looks and how concerned JT looks when Malcolm goes off on his little rant about being a suspicious person. I wonder if JT is wondering why Malcolm trusts Gil, Dani, Edrisa, and himself? They are, by all means, good things in Malcolm’s life. Is he suspicious of them?

19:25 - Does Martin know about Malcolm’s sensitive stomach? I’m really curious.

19:44 - This scene is awesome. Malcolm is sad, upset, a little anxious, and angry (at Martin) throughout the scene. Martin, even though he is a crazy serial killer, actually gives Malcolm some good relationship advice. I guess it makes sense. Martin could never have tricked Jessica into marrying him unless he acted like a perfect, good dude with good relationship skills.

20:04 - Martin actually believes he was a perfect father? Nope. I can’t. Any parent who genuinely believes that should have a psych eval. No one is perfect. Parents aren’t excluded from this rule.

20:56 - This is such a powerful moment. You can see how pleased Martin is because he got through the Malcolm. You can see how desperately Malcolm wants to love his father and how painfully aware Malcolm is of who his father is and how much he despises it. Malcolm shouldn’t have to remind himself to hate his father. No one should. Watching Malcolm grapple with that (through his facial expressions) is heart-wrenching. He actually looks close to tears for a moment. ALSO screw Martin for still trying to manipulate Malcolm into loving him.

22:10 - I’ll just say it. We’re all thinking it anyways. Malcolm’s soft voice when he’s confused is so freaking cute.

23:08 - Look at JT’s face during this scene. He just about had a freaking heart attack. I feel soooo bad for him. I can only imagine how bad he feels. Gil gave him one (1) job: protect the baby. JT’s probably thinking, “If I can’t even protect this stranger’s baby - how will I ever protect my baby? Will I be a bad father?” Someone give this man a hug for me.

23:25 - Look at the way JT touches the infant to make sure she’s real. That is a man who is on the verge of a panic attack.

24:00 - AND now JT is worrying about Tally’s health throughout her impending pregnancy. Good Lord. What a rollercoaster he’s on tonight.

25:25 - Concerned!Gil for the win! Gil hasn’t been around Malcolm much this episode. Yes - Malcolm is obviously upset right now, but it makes me wonder if Jessica and/or Ainsley have called Gil because they’re concerned about Malcolm right now. Did they call Gil and ask him to send Malcolm home?

26:25 - Look at that. Malcolm looks crushed. Not surprised just disappointed. He truly believes that he’s not worthy of love. Eve just confirmed it for him. I honestly don’t know how this dude will ever trust any romantic partner ever again. My heart is shattered.

26:43 - Look at how brave he’s being. He’s trying to mask his pain with a smile and a self-deprecating joke as usual. Problem is - his eyes look tortured and he’s trying to lie to the two women who know him best. They see through his mask and they’re concerned for him.

27:00 - Ainsley is such a strange character to me. Right now as she tells Malcolm about Eve, she is looking at Malcolm with dread, concern, and determination. In 1x7/1x10 she publicly embarrassed him and revealed his personal, private details with the world - without remorse. I know that Ainsley is really obsessed with the progression of her career. However, it shouldn’t blind her to the emotions of her big brother. Ainsley needs therapy.

27:08 - soooo Eve has a key to Malcolm’s place? After two(ish) weeks? For a dude who doesn’t trust easily this seems like a stretch. I’m choosing to believe that Malcolm left the door open when he saw Ainsley and Jessica.

27:15 - THIS is so important. Jessica’s “How could you?”. See her face? She’s devastated. The first female friend she’s had in probably 20 years just stabbed her in the back. To make matters worse, this woman also just broke the heart of Jessica’s very emotionally vulnerable son - thereby also breaking Jessica’s heart. Furthermore - Jessica is definitely already paying rent in the self-loathing hotel because she traumatized her children because she married a serial killer. NOW she’s also dealing with the guilt of knowing that she’s the one who brought Eve into Malcolm’s life. That look hurt or devastation on Jessica’s face which later transforms into rage and hatred is haunting. Props to Bellamy Young.

27:26 - This. Look at Malcolm’s face. Eve looks like she’s close to tears. Malcolm is looking at her with compassion. Yes - you can tell that Malcolm is devastated and hurt by Eve. However, he also clearly empathizes with her. Again. Malcolm. Bright. Is. An. A+. Dude. Fight me.

27:40 - Can we all just pause for a second and praise Tom Payne’s acting in this scene? He captured the raw emotion of a trauma induced panic attack perfectly. Look at how utterly broken Malcolm is. Hands shaking on his head. Tears in his eyes. Ragged breathing. Followed by a brief angry outburst which leads to more shaky, anxious breathing and eyes on the verge of tears. The end result is physical and emotional exhaustion.

27:45 - Ainsley looks shocked and a little scared by Malcolm’s outburst. Has she (HIS SISTER) never seen him have a panic attack? They grew up together. I refuse to believe it. Ainsley shouldn’t look shocked - she should look sad and resigned to it.

28:06 - This is heartbreaking. Malcolm genuinely thinks that there is something about him that makes him unlovable. I know he’s already in therapy - but they need to stop focusing on his trauma for a hot second and focus on his self-worth issues. I aM nOt OkAy.

28:22 - Can we all just take a minute to appreciate Dani Powell. She has been such a good friend to Malcolm. Probably the first true friend Malcolm’s had since he was 10 years old. Even in the midst of extreme emotional turmoil a work-related text from Dani makes Malcolm smile. Because Malcolm knows that Dani - a woman who isn’t related to him and has no obvious crush on him - doesn’t hate him. In fact - she likes him enough to be his friend. Right now that’s enough. That’s a big comfort to Malcolm.

28:36 - This is sheer panic on Jessica’s part. Check out those eyes. She just saw pure self-loathing and anger in her son’s eyes. She’s terrified for him. Maybe this look is reminding her of a look he got as a teenager when he became suicidal (it’s my headcanon that Malcolm had a period of active suicidal ideation as a teenager)?

28:40 - “I can’t solve this.” Is Malcolm referring to himself here? I mean - he clearly thinks that he is the problem; despite the fact that Eve came into his family’s life with the intention of getting information on his serial killing father. Ugh. His sad eyes and messy hair (that tends to indicate Malcolm is in severe emotional distress) is breaking my heart.

28:54 - Ok. So - who is this woman? How did Christine find her? Why did Christine go to her? It doesn’t look like a women’s shelter - it looks like a random lady’s residential home.

29:00 - Again. Let’s all praise Queen Dani. The bestest friend this dude has ever had. She just goes out and asks him what’s wrong. She’s concerned about him BECAUSE she knows he’s upset about something.

29:20 - I love that Malcolm is comfortable enough around Dani to be honest with her about the really hard stuff in his life. Look at how sad Malcolm looks here. Look at Dani’s reaction. She isn’t judging him or pitying him. She isn’t pushing him to talk. She’s just supporting him. She’s a little shocked, a lot upset on his behalf, but mostly she’s just concerned. She’s being a good friend and I love her for it.

29:36 - Lucas is a scum. Anyone who abuses a spouse, child, or family member has a special spot reserved in hell.

29:52 - Look at Dani as Christine tells her story. She’s sympathetic, respectful, and concerned. Either this isn’t the first time Dani’s been around a battered woman on the job or Dani has personal experience with abuse. Maybe a friend/family member was abused? Hell - maybe Dani had an abusive boyfriend or something?

30:20 - I really respect Malcolm in this scene. He knows that women who are fresh out of an abusive relationship (or still in one) with a male are weary of men. Usually, when Malcolm gets this type of information about a case he starts speaking quickly, loudly, and intensely. He starts gesturing a lot with his hands. IN THIS SCENE - Malcolm reigns himself in. He stays relatively calm and still as he speaks. He knows that his usual hand-gesturing and loud voice would terrify a woman who was just beaten by a man who was supposed to love her. This. Is. A. Good. Dude.

31:10 - Malcolm just shows Dani his cracked phone screen. I’m curious - does she ever ask about it? I’d like to hear that conversation.

33:05 - I LOVE THIS. Gil is terrified for a) Malcolm but b) Alessa and Nina too. This is a side of Gil I’d like to see more often. ALSO notice that the second that JT realizes that Gil is suffering from a parental panic attack he floors it. JT is going to be a good Dad. <3 He knows how to love and he has a big heart. That’s the most important thing.

34:34 - Again. Malcolm is currently displaying empathy and sympathy for a murderer. This dude has the biggest heart in the world.

35:45 - Alessa is a badass. Nina is a lucky little girl.

36:04 - I love this scene. Gil looks so relieved that Malcolm is in one (mostly unharmed) piece. He’s so proud of Malcolm for keeping Alessa and Nina safe. I’m certain that Jessica and/or Ainsley called Gil about Malcolm’s panic attack which exacerbated Gil’s worry over Malcolm.

37:07 - THE SCENE. The scene. This scene is easily my favourite of the episode. I love watching JT and Malcolm’s friendship in real time. Look right here this is two guys chatting about how cool someone is. <3 Look at how happy and proud JT is of a woman he just met. I promise you he’s thinking about how awesome and badass of a mother his wife is going to be.

37:28 - JT’s scared face coupled with his softly spoken “Dude.” stops my heart. It’s as though talking to someone other than his wife makes the baby seem like more of a scary, real responsibility. You can tell that he’s excited but still terrified about fatherhood. He’s not quite ready to tell people yet.

37:37 - “The thing’s the size of a peanut.” - I googled it: Tally is about 9 weeks pregnant. ALSO how freaking cute is it that JT is so excited about his unborn child that he knows how big it is. <3 I can just see him panic researching about pregnancy and caring for infants in the middle of the night while Tally sleeps. <3

37:44 - He doesn’t want to jinx it? Does that mean he and Tally have had trouble getting pregnant in the past? Miscarriages? Infertility? Or is JT just scared from everything he’s been researching about pregnancy? Either way - if Tally looses this child I will riot.

37:50 - “You don’t do happy.” - Malcolm’s face twists into a look of hurt and sadness. He genuinely believes JT’s words - even though JT meant them as a joke. JT sees that too because he immediately starts teasing Bright. JT is concerned about Malcolm.

38:39 - So Eve does have a key. Nope. Not cool. Not in-line with Malcolm’s trust issues. I refuse to believe it.

39:11 - I hate watching Malcolm be this sad. Look at his nose. It’s just a little red - he’s been crying. His fragile ability to trust has been shattered again and Eve’s apology is quite honestly not very good.

39:45 - Can we all just pause on Malcolm’s shirt? It looks like the orange sweater Gil wore in 1x13. Did they go shopping together? Did Malcolm buy the shirt because it reminded him of Gil? Does he only wear it when he feels sad because the fact that it reminds him of Gil comforts him

40:35 - What’s the story of Eve’s Dad? What’s his deal?

41:40 - I’m really proud of Malcolm for being brave enough to face the truth and have this really difficult conversation with Eve.

43:09 - Ok. I’ll say it. Malcolm is too nice. This woman shattered his heart last night and now he’s hugging her? Bro - you don’t have to do that. You’re allowed to be upset. You’re letting her walk all over you.

Thanks for hanging out Prodigies.

8 notes · View notes

thesportssoundoff · 4 years

Text

“Conor McGregor is back! Excitement may vary. Excitement in this card may vary! Excitement is really yours to have and hold, folks” The UFC 246 Fight Preview

Joey

January 13th, 2020

The UFC kicks off its 2019 schedule after a few long weeks off with a card that will, with very little sarcasm in play, play a hefty part in defining the way 2020 rolls out deep into the year. UFC 246 from Las Vegas, Nevada is a weird card on paper but it's also very significant and significance can sometimes create card quality/card quantity. Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone is a significant fight, one that figures to ask and answer a lot of questions for both men. For better or worse, the future of two divisions could be mapped out in one night depending on the results of one which fight which again parlays to its perceived significance. The PPV main card is "fine" although it clearly lacks a significant co-main event and the televised prelims are actually respectably spiffy as they're essentially four well put together "prospect of note vs proven veteran" fights with some good early ESPN+ prelim action too. Again I don't know if this card is good or bad---just that it's a significant card of fights and by the time Friday comes along, that long term delay in high level MMA is going to be eating at us SO we'll be all in on this one.

2020 Stat-O-Matic:

Debuting Fighters (): Ode Osbourne, Aleksa Camur Main Event Exemption:

Short Notice Fighters (): Main Event Exemption:

Second Fight (): Askar Askarov Main Event Exemption: Vs Debutantes:

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (): Conor McGregor, Brian Kelleher Main Event Exemption: Conor McGregor

Undefeated Fighters (): Aleksa Camur, Maycee Barber Main Event Exemption:

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (): Alexey Oleinik, Justin Ledet Main Event Exemption:

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (): Donald Cerrone, Conor McGregor Main Event Exemption: Conor McGregor, Donald Cerrone

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- So what necessarily is the end game here for Conor McGregor? As has been the case since he broke out onto the scene and KO'd Jose Aldo, much of Conor's "plans" feel less like plans and more like thoughts he forces into existence. The good stuff like being a double champ and finagling a big money Floyd fight and the bad stuff like the Khabib lead up or believing he could just beat Nate Diaz up 15 lbs because it seemed like fun all feel like the decisions of a guy who sort of just decides he's going to do something and then does it regardless of the long term impact. Conor had the chance to fight Justin Gaethje and instead pushed for Frankie Edgar fight, ultimately leading us to the here and now where he'll draw Donald Cerrone up a weight class after a year plus layoff. In the time between Conor's LAST fight and this one, he's been arrested, accused of sexual assault, accused of fathering a child out of his marriage and feel free to fill me in on anything I may have missed. What sort of made Conor McGregor a superstar was that he flirted with the concept of being a character completely in control of everything he did and 2019 at the very exposed him as somebody lacking any semblance of control within his life. Either way, it's hard to say what the future holds for McGregor with a win. We know a loss means it's over as four losses in his last five pro fights (I'm counting Floyd here for completionist sake) would probably kill whatever credibility he had and whatever legitimacy he garnered over the course of three years running through the UFC ranks. A win? It's hard to say with a guy who when he's right has the ability to dictate what he opts to do next. A win? Conor McGregor would fight Jorge Masvidal in a big money fight, a third Diaz fight, a GSP fight where both fighters can cash out or go and chase down Khabib. If one truly wishes to get stupid, I suppose fights with Pacquaio, Floyd or Paulie Malignaggi exist out there as well. The first step isn't so much winning this fight but winning this fight and getting back to what made this whole act work to begin with.

2- This is historically the sort of fight Cerrone doesn't show up for and gets forced out of his element but there's some things here I think that do tilt the scales slightly in his favor. For starters, I DO believe in ring rust and Conor hasn't fought in over a year and has fought just twice since the end of 2016. You can argue that wear and tear means Cerrone is shop worn but I feel as though he fights better the MORE he fights and the more active he is. For a fighter like Conor who lives or dies based upon how sharp his timing is, I think it's fair to wonder if the long layoff is going to shake him. We saw him struggle with his timing vs Khabib and while Khabib is on a whole different galaxy than Cerrone, I'd argue it's worse to be slightly off vs a dude like Cerrone who does have the starch in his strikes to do more than flash KD you. Also Cerrone is probably the first guy since Jose Aldo that Conor's had to be mindful of walking into smoke with the legs. Also Cerrone's been campaigning at 170 lbs on and off since 2016 and so you have to assume if this is about being comfortable at the weight class, he's got the nod over Conor.

3- Under normal circumstances, I'd say "I think Conor's defensive wrestling is somewhat understated and the idea that anybody can take him down and sub him is a fallacy" but I also have ZERO idea if he's actually done any serious grappling training or if he's just hoping Cerrone's going to play nice and strike with him for a bit.

4- Which fight is more undesirable for Amanda Nunes; a Holly Holm rematch where she can't realistically top what she did in the first fight or a Rocky Pennington rematch where she'll be tasked with trying to sell/expand upon one of her most boring fights ever?

5- I wonder who is more broken in theory between Holm and Pennington. Rocky looked to be on the verge of going from solid WMMA fighter to a damn good top 5-ish woman at 135 lbs after dominating Meisha Tate but she broke her leg, took a lot of time off, followed that up with a dud vs Amanda Nunes and then got stalled out by Germaine de Randamie. She rebounded with a win over Irene Aldana which almost felt more about Aldana being a putz and less about any sort of sign of a rebound for Rocky. It's worth remembering that the fight vs Holm was the one that got sort of signified that Rocky was better than people realized but it required her to pressure for fifteen minutes and that's sort of gone away for her recently. As for Holm? She's fought Rousey, Cyborg, Tate, Shevchenko and Nunes. She's pushing 40. She had an extensive boxing history that suggests she's taken plenty of damage. She just got KO'd for the first time in her UFC run the last time out and at this point it's fair to ask if Holm's durability is going to be shot. This fight is why Aspen Ladd figuring shit out is really important for this division.

6- Maurice Green and Alexey Olenik being on this main card is curious until you realize that this main card has two WMMA fights and a fight at lightweight on it. Sometimes beef gets called in to "bulk" up the main card.

7- Anthony Pettis sure picked a fine week to announce a UFC lawsuit, am I right?

8- Let's talk about how great these prelims are for a second. Sodiq Yusuff vs Andre Fili is a battle of exciting prospect and proven veteran with a multitude of ways to win. Nasrat Haqparast vs Drew Dober is a battle of exciting prospect vs proven veteran with a multitude of ways to win. Maycee Barber vs Roxanne Modafferi almost feels like the potential crowning of Maycee as a 125 lb contender by taking on a former title contender who STYLISTICALLY will at least give us a reason to double check her ability to do things such as defend takedowns and deal with pressure. Lastly I REALLY do love this fight between Chas Skelly and Grant Dawson as Dawson has slowly gone from somewhat awkward wrestling savant to a more well rounded pressure fighter while Chas Skelly is one of those ultimate gatekeeper types for young fighters. These are all great fights worthy of going out of your way to see on ESPN.

9- We're four years now into the Alexa Grasso project and I still don't know if she has the fight smarts to ever take the next step in her career. A good test vs a declining Claudia Gadelha who still has something to offer.

10- How much ya wanna bet Maurice Green allows Olenik to pull him down on top of him?

11- Justin Ledet's run at 205 lbs has been weird as his lack of athleticism for the weight class plus what feels like an odd lack of strength (How he was burly enough to fight at HW but gets chucked around at 205 lbs is a mystery to me) has made him go 0-2 in the division. After a lengthy lay off, he's back at 205 lbs against Aleksa Camur. Camus is a training partner of Stipe Miocic and he got in here off the Contenders Series where he had a crazy fight that exposed him to be a) wacky as all hell and b) a bit too raw for my liking in the UFC. This feels pretty winnable for Spirit of Truth lookalike Ledet.

12- Ode Osbourne vs Brian Kelleher is an early FOTY candidate to me.

#MMA #UFC #McGregor #Cerrone #Pettis #CDF #Holm #Pennington #Prospects

3 notes · View notes

sammyhale · 7 years

Text

J2 MinnCon 2017 Main Panel

Jared to first time convention goers: “So, Supernatural is a show about two brothers. Sam and Dean-”

He talks about how Jensen and he have been able to play pretend on the show for 13 years and not sure how many people can say they’ve done the same.

Jared thanks the fans for letting him bring Sam to life. “I love Sam Winchester. I dig him. He’s kind of a nice dude.”

Jared: How many people here are Minnesota natives? We’re surrounded! Let’s run! They’re too cold to chase us! lol

Jared’s back hurts. Jensen: Is your back affecting your brain? Jared: Yes! My back brain.

Salmon Dean jokes.

Jared finds out a fan often has their last name mispronounced. Jared teases: Oh, boo hoo! How do you think I feel?

The weirdest pronunciation of Jensen’s last name is Ake-less. People have pronounced Jared’s last name as Padel-ski.

Jensen tells a story of a news guy who just gave up trying to pronounce Jared’s name lol.

Jared: Chad Michael Murray, who I met 17 years ago on GG. Y’all weren’t born yet. Jensen: I was born, but never heard of it.

Chad gave Jared the nickname Padawhacker lol.

Jared jokes: Don’t watch GG, you’ll see what a real man Dean can be. Jensen: I’m not even sure there was men on the show.

Jensen: If the script says that we eat pizza next week, the prop person asks us in advance for our order.

Jensen hates pickles. Doesn’t like condiments either. He knows when a pickle has been picked off. “Don’t play that with me, I know there was a pickle here.”

Jensen had to film a hot dog scene recently but didn’t want to eat lots of onions, so he had radishes chopped up to look like onions. Jared’s favorite part was food hanging from Jensen’s lip while talking and Alex couldn’t hold it together lol.

If Jensen could change something about Dean he would have them not make him eat as much!

Jared appreciates the differences between him and Sam, like some things that might annoy him.

Jensen: “I wish we used more gadgets. There are so many things in the back of the Impala that we never use. Obviously the big ticket item, the grenade launcher, finally got used. Next on the list is the grappling hook!”

Jensen wants Dean climbing up with a grappling hook and for Sam to be like, the door’s open...

Jared: There have been almost a dozen Supernatural episodes named after Led Zeppelin songs (makes crowd name them).

Jensen: I know I have all of Led Zeppelin’s vinyls at home. Jared: Because he’s old!

There’s a sign in the crowd that is supposed to say “We love Sam and Dean” but the N fell off so it says “We love Sam and Dea” - Jared: I can see this sign in the audience that says...We love Sam and the Drug Enforcement Agency!” lol

Fan asks: If you could relive any day, which day would you relive and why? Fans shout out: Tuesday!

Jensen about his twins being born: My wife is way cooler than me, she was cool as a cucumber. And on a lot of drugs!

During the birth, Arrow didn’t want to turn over. Jensen: She’s stubborn like her mother. They were C-section babies.

Jensen tells the story about how Jared knows him so well that he told him to check to make sure he had his passport when Danneel was about to go into labor with the twins and Jensen really had forgotten it. Jensen to Jared: I don’t know how you knew.

When they made it back to Austin, Jensen’s friend in the police department drove him through 7 stoplights so that he could make it in time for the twins being born.

Jared calls Gen and Danneel badasses :)

The day Jared wants to relive the most hasn’t happened yet. It’ll be the last day of filming Supernatural. Jared: I know after we film the last episode I’ll want to do it all again.

Jared on the last day of filming SPN: It’ll be us and hopefully Collins is there and whoever else, and it’s going to go by so fast.

Jared: The last day of filming is going to be hard and the next day will be sad but hopefully that’s many years from now.

Jared: “If Sam and Dean knew everything that would happen to them over 13 years, would they do it all over again? Yes.”

Jensen about fans who have seen every episode twice: “You complete me.”

Jared: That’s badass. Jensen: You’re badass.

Boys talking about when they knew they’d be good friends and brothers.

Jensen knew instantly that he and Jared would be friends. The first and only time they fought, he realized it would be a solid relationship. They got into a fight once in the early days of SPN and then sat down and said, “That can’t happen again” and it never did <3

Jared: The struggles are the moments in a relationship when you figure out whether it’s worth it to carry on or not. When something is tested is when you’ll see if it’s worth it.

Jared also knew that they had a lasting friendship the first time they got jumped.

Jared: “We got jumped and Ackles came back to make sure his boy was alright.”

The moment where Dean stuffed candies into his pocket was unscripted, Jensen just wanted candy.

Jared: The writers, directors, crew, etc, know that we really understand our characters, we’re not just trying to look cool.

Jensen about being allowed to change scripts. “There is a trust there, and we haven’t broken it, and we wouldn’t break it.” One of Jensen’s favorite parts of the show is the collaboration.

Boys say the best idea wins. Not a lot of room on the set for ego.

On anxiety and depression - Jared: Sometimes love and affection and support isn’t enough. You need someone unbiased. I proudly have therapy twice a week.

Jared: I had a day when I wasn’t sure I’d see the sun rise again. But I haven’t had a day where I feel like I’m tortured in years.

Jared on how to deal with depression and anxiety: Seek professional help, period. “I don’t have bad days anymore. Haven’t in years. Thanks for y’all’s support. Go get professional help. It works.

Jensen: I took a drama class in high school because I had to take an arts elective and didn’t want to sing and couldn’t draw.

Jared: I still have a lot of life to live. Though I do feel old and I have grey hair.

Jared about acting: If it sucks and you want to walk away, then walk away. But if it sucks and you feel like it’s worth it, keep going.

Jared’s oldest son, Tom, just started school this week. Jared: I remember my first day of kindergarten, and I wanted to talk to my son on his, too, so I FaceTimed him. Jared set his alarm for 4:30AM so he could.

Fan: Is there any bad guy or monster you’d like to face off against again? Jared: Ruby!

Jared, imitating his kids watching SPN in the future: “Daddy, why did Uncle Jensen kill Mom?”

Jensen would like to see Death back on SPN.

Jared: The best thing I learned to do in therapy, and am still learning, is to see everything for what it is.

Jared: Stop using the word mistake. You didn’t make a mistake you made a decision. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of great. Jared says that Jensen helps him with his perfectionism.

Jared says that whenever he feels negative about things Jensen lifts him up.

Jared mentioned that he struggles feeling good in his body and will tell Jensen that he feels fat and Jensen will tell him that he looks good.

Jensen: If you make a mistake you’re not losing. You’re either winning or learning.

Fan has a question for Jared. Jared pushes Jensen away. Jared: Every time I push Jensen, take a shot!

It took Jared two years to write his 40 page chapter for FDEWB. He finds writing very anxiety inducing.

Jared: The Padaleckis and the Ackles went to Turks and Caicos together a couple years back. Jared was writing the chapter during that vacation. Jensen was like: You know we are on vacation, right?

Jensen: He kept writing his chapter, so I walked away. Jared: In a little Speedo. And I was like, are those a roll of certs in your front center pocket? The boys are cracking up. Jensen: I have all sorts of sweet treats in my pocket.

Jared says if he writes more, he might just put it on Gen’s blog. He mentioned the blog as a way to continue writing.

Jared: “There’s a certain freedom that I feel when they call action. I’m free to be whoever I am.”

Jensen about getting through hard times: I go to family, friends, and if that doesn’t work I go to the gun range.

Jensen says he tries to be very practical about his expectations, where he is, where he wants to be, and sometimes he’ll make a list.

Jared: Pain is mandatory. Suffering is optional. Pain happens. Get through the pain and be the badass rockstar you are.

Random tweets after the panel: some penis jokes lol and lots of touching between the boys.

Info via: Fangasm, Kelsi, Rose, Zee, Sil’s livetweet list

#j2 #jared padalecki #jensen ackles #minncon #spnminn #panel sum #long post #shpost

1K notes · View notes

ntrending · 5 years

Text

Take soapbox racing to the next level with a motorcycle engine

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/take-soapbox-racing-to-the-next-level-with-a-motorcycle-engine/

Take soapbox racing to the next level with a motorcycle engine

CycleKart Club member Justin Tremain’s second build was inspired by the 1927 Nash Legion Special. (Justin Tremain/)

For the DIY petrol head, the ultimate project is building a kit car. The downside? It takes serious cash and serious time.

Similarly, restoring a classic car means following someone else’s rules, go-karting is fast but so very serious, and soapbox racers are for kids and wind-tunnel-equipped university engineering departments.

So what’s a gearhead with a small garage and $2,000-$3,000 in spending money to do? There is an answer: it’s called a cyclekart.

What the rack-and-pinion is a cyclekart?

When automobiles first went mainstream, every car was essentially a high-end luxury sedan. Huge, heavy, and most of all, expensive. Didn’t have the cash but craved speed and smell of oil and gasoline? Your only other option was to ride a motorcycle.

So entrepreneurs created a new class of four-wheeled conveyance. Cheaper and lighter than a car, more comfortable and stylish than a motorbike, the “cyclecar” was a hit for exactly as long as it took automakers to design lighter cars. That turned out to be about 15 years and a world war. So much for the cyclecar.

Flip forward to the turn of the millennium, when conditions were right for the creation of a new kind of hobbyist racer. Small, four-stroke engines were only a Google search away, you could buy welding gear for hundreds of dollars rather than thousands, and tubular steel was sold by the foot at your local big-box hardware store.

Most of all, though, the internet allowed obsessives to stare at pictures of 1930s Formula 1 racers (like the Mercedes-Benz W125, which many of us today would think of as the Monopoly Car), and decide: “Yes, I think I could build a small one of those.”

Two decades later, all of this has become even cheaper and easier to get into.

In short, a cyclekart is a self-built hobbyist racer that sits somewhere between the hardcore engineering of a go-kart and the bent nails, apple crates, twine, and gravity-assist of a soapbox racer.

It uses a steel frame, open-wheel design, with a rear-mounted 4-stroke engine (usually a 200cc, 6.5-horsepower Honda single-cylinder GX200), simple gearing setup, single drum brake, leaf springs, and eccentric 1930s-inspired bodywork.

Engineer Chuck Kraeuter built his cyclekart, Otis Automotis, with the engine at the front, giving it a unique appearance. (Chuck Kraeuter/)

Top speed is usually around 40-45 mph, which cyclekarters agree is just before the point where responsibility outweighs power. Yeah, you should wear a helmet, but because cyclekarts aren’t road legal or even recognized by regulators at all, you’re certainly free to feel the wind in your hair. At your own risk, of course.

Gee, that all sounds a bit hardcore…

Sure, building the running gear of your cyclekart requires you to dabble in serious engineering, but that’s where the hardcore ends. Because unlike all other forms of karting, the entire purpose of a cyclekart is… messing around with cyclekarts.

Or to put it another way: for cyclekart enthusiasts, the build is so much more than half the fun. It’s not about racing other drivers, teeth bared. It’s about racing other drivers while giggling because you’re in a tiny Bentley. Actually caring who wins the race is the last thing on a cyclekarter’s mind.

And so a true cyclekart enthusiast does not buy a complete vehicle, because that defeats the purpose of the hobby. Cyclekarts are self-built, because cyclekarters seek to reignite the metaphorical spirit of pure invention that started Formula 1 racing in the 1930s. Also the literal spirit of petroleum. These karts go well, sure, but the joy comes from making them look amazing as they rumble along a dirt track.

For a certain kind of DIY enthusiast, the real appeal of a cyclekart is that while everyone takes their projects seriously, nobody takes themselves too seriously. It’s meant to be fun first, and racing second. You start with bits of steel, some old Honda motorbike wheels, a teeny engine, and a vague idea of what you want your car to look like. And after a journey of discovery, you end up with your own little jalopy that really goes. What’s not to love?

Isn’t this just a really fancy soapbox racer?

Technically, soapbox racers and cyclekarts are both examples of go-karts or “karts” in general. What all these machines have in common is an open-wheel design and that they are smaller than regular cars.

If you say “go-kart” or “kart” without qualification, you will be understood to mean a really flat looking little thing with tiny wheels and a ridiculously powerful engine (some specialized two-stroke models develop as much as 48 horsepower), which you rent to drive around a track delineated by stacks of tires that you will crash into at some point.

The humble soapbox racer, meanwhile, is more correctly called a “gravity racer,” and if you drive one long enough, it will take not just the shirt off your back, but plenty of your skin too, as you slide down the local Big Hill upside-down at 38 mph before intersecting Old Man Peterson’s blackberry bush.

There are also Superkarts, which are raced on outdoor circuits and can hit 155 mph. From this, it’s easy to see that the cyclekart, while neither the fastest or most white-knuckle, is clearly the most elegant and civilized form of karting.

So… are there instructions?

The basic “go bits” of each cyclekart are more or less the same. Various forums and community websites detail the so-called Stevenson Formula, which shows how to build the chassis and running gear. It also specifies the dimensions of a cyclekart: 17-by-1.75-inch spoked rims, 2.5-by-17-inch tires, 38-inch track, and a wheelbase of about 66 inches.

After some grappling with MIG welding and trying to figure out where the 1/4-inch wrench went—you had it right there in your hand—the mini-motorist will be left with a wheel at each corner, a pull-start engine, a simple clutch, steering, a basic braking system, and that’s it. Everything else is up to the ingenuity of the builder.

Inspired by a 1937 Austin 7, this cyclekart shows the results you can get, even from a simpler build. (Kelly Wood/)

The general consensus is that the bodywork of a cyclekart should be visually inspired by pre-World War II Formula 1 racing. Indeed, from browsing the build journal page at The CycleKart Club, you’d be forgiven for thinking every new cyclekarter wants to build a Bugatti Type 37 or something based on Mercedes-Benz’s Silver Arrow racers of the 1930s.

But then you panel beat the hood over the jig you made from your kid’s old bunk bed, and it doesn’t quite look like a Type 37. In fact, it reminds you more of an old Fiat of some kind, and those are yellow, and you still have some yellow paint… and so it goes.

When the car looks like you want it to, order stickers and badges from the internet (fake speedometer and tachometer dials are a common in-joke), slap them on, and the results may surprise you.

Cyclekarts aren’t just clever—the best of them are actually beautiful. They look like the kinds of pedal cars driven around in old Hollywood movies by the children of extremely rich people, except a cyclekart weighs 250 pounds and can easily hit 45 mph.

Okay, so I built a 1:4-scale Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio… now what?

Nice. You even computer-matched rosso corsa for the paint—great color! Now it’s time to take your cyclekart out to the closest meet, often called—absolutely tongue-in-cheek—a Grand Prix.

While cyclekarting only has a worldwide community measured in the high thousands, you might be surprised how close the nearest regular meet-up is. YouTube is an excellent resource for figuring out who is out there racing their cyclekarts for fun, and there are community websites and forums that welcome new builders and drivers with open arms.

After a weekend spent hurtling around a dirt track, the average cyclekart usually ends up somewhat the worse for wear, at least mechanically speaking. But that means you get to take the kart home and work on it some more, and that’s the fun part. You get to tweak it, and make it tougher and better.

Also, because the cyclekart platform itself is so standardized, new drivers don’t suffer the demotivational experience of seeing the veterans disappear in a cloud of expertly-tuned V-twin motorcycle engine smoke—everyone uses the same kinda-rubbish 6.5-horsepower single-cylinder. Nobody has four-wheel-drive, amazing suspension setups, or eight-speed double-clutch transmissions. Customized fuel? Pfft.

No, true excellence in cyclekarting comes from turning up with a shiny black Salmson Grand Prix 1927 or bright blue Delage D6 and having everyone go, “Dude, what is THAT?!”

Written By Anthony Fordham

#Animals

0 notes

ecotone99 · 5 years

Text

'[SF] Banshee 7'

The Yellow Jacket dropship cracked through Gaia 76’s atmosphere with speed and ferocity. Its sleek black paint made it a shadow in the night's sky. You could only ever tell it was nearby if you could hear it or get close enough to notice the streamline yellow stripes on the wing’s edges. Even on the quietest of nights, you would be lucky to hear the hum of her engines. She may have been bulky compared to any fighter jet, but she was sleek and quick. Her slightly angled up wings cut through the air. Her revolving engines between the engines and wings continuously shifted slightly every few seconds or so keeping flight steady and calm which is what the crew needed more than anything especially on risky missions like this. The belly of the flying beast was devoted to the cargo/drop bay. Great for storage and throwing out soldiers on insane missions. The flight crew found a strange humour in lowering the back door and forcing people out. It was mostly funny because nine times out ten the soldiers were trained and it was just their pre-mission nerves but there was also that one in ten who died mysteriously. Missions behind enemy lines meant it could be anything. Enemies could’ve spotted them and taken them out in the air or ground, the wildlife might’ve gotten hungry, they might’ve forgotten all their training, panicked too much and just fallen to their deaths or everything could’ve gone perfectly right. The soldier could’ve deployed their chute undetected but then they could not realize that tree is closer than it looks and sharper too.

That’s why the Banshee and Yellow Jacket programs were created. I.S.A.A.C needed a small squad that could get in behind enemy lines without giving themselves away and take on anything they encounter. They put billions into both programs to get seven soldiers in the best armour and jetpacks. (insert acronym for space military here) only need three for this mission. “Banshee 3” Mathias Byrne the heavy.

“Banshee 4” Daphne Archer the sniper.

“Banshee 7” Sora Tanaka the recon guy.

Mathias sat in his seat playing with his gun and his short red beard. He was a large man, a mix of fat and muscle but when he was in that armour it was all power. He looked up at Sora who was still gawking at Gaia 76 below through the X-Ray scanner on his glove.

“Hey boy this planet might look pretty from all the way up here but I’ve been on the ground around here. It gets scary.” Sora turned off his hologram view of the planet and looked up at Mathias’ red face to acknowledge him. He was curious what bullshit he could come up with this time.

“Not the enemy no, it’s the beasts that live there. Our colonists have lived here for only a short decade and they come back with stories that’ll turn your fancy armour brown. Stories of the monsters that live down there. Behemoths and Leviathans. Nature allowed to go rampant without and superior species like us to get in the way until late in their evolution. So that’s why they send badasses like me and you two to make me look bigger.” Mathias laughed in his Scandinavian accent.

“This is Yellow Jacket 0001 we’re approaching the enemy base about 50 clicks out. Better get ready to jump guys.” The pilot said over the comms. The crew could understand even if the comms made his voice unbearably scratchy.

Sora thought of something that made him snort behind his helmet. “Dude I don’t think you need our help to look fat.” Sora laughed back.

Mathias’ smile drained from his face quickly as he thought of something to say. “You’re talking a lot of shit for someone in a smaller crappier armour.” He retorted while flexing his huge arm.

“That’s because I know I can run around you quick and quiet while you run out of breath, kinda like you and Daphne when you think you’re alone on here,” Sora smirked.

Daphne shot away from her locker and gave Mathias a look he would never forget.

The intercom beeped loudly and the trio all looked up to acknowledge the pilot. “Yeah sometimes we’ve been in here doing tests and you guys just sneak onboard. It’s really uncomfortable so can you please go somewhere else?” He said nonchalantly.

Sora was struggling to contain his laughter while he watched Daphne scold Mathias. “I told we should just go to your apartment but nooo,” Daphne yelled. “Baby no-ones here. What if we get a mission call and we’re already on the ship waiting?” She yelled doing her worst impression of his voice.

Sora burst out laughing as Daphne turned back around to her locker. She quickly shot back around for only a second before snapping back to her locker. If you blinked as Sora did you would’ve missed seeing the knife sticking out of the cushion next to his head. Mathias and Sora gawked in shock at Daphne. She turned around in her full blue armour cocking her sniper rifle. She flipped up her visor to address the two.

“What? Your last knife broke I thought you might need a new one.” She smirked she got no response and started playing with the interface on her left gauntlet. “Song choices? I was thinking since Gaia 76 was an ice planet we could play a classic like Cold Cold Cold- cage the elephants. I know it’s no NovaHawx but I gotta soft spot for the classics. What do you guys think?” She asked.

They nodded immediately not wanting to experience her wrath for a second time today. She pressed play on her screen and through their helmets the music hummed.

“You boys should get ready I think we’re about to jump.” She chirped while blowing strands of her purple hair out of the way. Mathias was already sitting in his bulky yellow suit. He pressed a button on his neck plate and the helmet folded around his head perfectly.

Mathias opened his locker to retrieve his favourite gun. A simple LMG with the body crafted out of metal and the stock and grip made from wood. Over the years Mathias had modded the gun to the point where the metal and vinyl wood merged. The metal was spray painted with grey urban camo. The wood was left polished and scratched except for the barrel which had a shark mouth painted around it. Mathias slapped in the heavy oval shaped drum mag and heaved up the heavy weapon in one arm.

Daphne already had her sniper rifle holstered on the back of her jet pack out of the way of her wings or jets. Compared to Mathias’ LMG her gun was sleek and beautiful. The stock body barrel and scope were all apart of the same elongated diamond shape. The only deviations to this shape were the grips, magazine and the back end of the stock.

Sora was making the final checks to his retractable wrist SMG’s. He pressed the buttons on his gloves and opened his hands giving the guns room to stretch out into his grip. He gestured his guns forward as if an enemy was in front of him to check the sights. He let go of the grips and flicked his wrists back forcing the gun to fold back again.

Daphne stood in the middle of the drop bay and displayed a holographic map in front of them. “So Gaia 76 is a friendly colony. Our people have been operating farms in these indoor climates to keep out the wildlife and the cold. Despite the shitty weather, the soil here is some of the best out of all our colonies. If we lose that we lose over 40% of our agriculture resources. We drop, Sora does recon while I provide overwatch. We take them off guard, then Mathias you go in fast and strong, Sora will join you and keep them off balance.” She finished the briefing and shut off the hologram.

The lights inside the drop bay dimmed and shot up green. The pilot's voice came over the intercom.

“Guys just a weather update, there’s a snowstorm so we have to drop early if you wanna miss it, over.” He stated.

Daphne acknowledged the pilot. “Copy that Yellow Jacket.”

They all sealed their visors and switched on their displays as the drop bay door slowly opened at the back of the ship.

Mathias slung his LMG over his shoulder before noticing a blinking red light in the distance.

“What the fuck is that?” He asked getting the attention of Sora and Daphne as the light moved closer. When it only picked up speed Daphne could see the rest of the object. It was a goddamn rocket.

“DEPLOY NOW!! YELLOW JACKET USE YOUR FLARES…” She yelled before being cut off by the loud and powerful explosion. The rocket had hit the left revolving engine. Shrapnel and fire had broken into the hull and the dropship was falling out of the sky and spinning out of control. Sora and Mathias were barely holding on, but Daphne was stuck under debris.

Mathias was closer to the drop bay and couldn’t move. “Sora get to Daphne so we can drop and get help!” He panicked over comms. Sora launched his grappling hook near Daphne and pulled himself towards her. He started digging at the debris while trying to get Daphne to wake up.

All this spinning and moving was giving him vertigo but he pushed through it, his friend needed help and he was there. Until Daphne gave him that look. That look when you know… when you know that the worst is about to happen, but you accept it because there is nothing else you can do. She only needed to smile and hold back her tears to tell Sora what to do. Sora shook his head in defiance. If he wasn’t so dizzy and had the lump in his throat, he’d be yelling at to get her ass up. He’d be telling her no. But he couldn’t there was no time.

Daphne reached for her rifle and fired at Sora’s cable. The cable snapped in an instant and Sora was sucked towards the drop bay door. He crashed into Mathias nearly crushing his right wing on his pack. Mathias lost his grip and was sucked out of the ship with Sora. A second missile went right through the drop bay door once they were out and the Yellow Jacket erupted in flames and debris. After the violent fireball, there was only burnt shrapnel and scraps left. Sora turned over to Mathias who was free falling in far away he had shrapnel sticking out of his belling and blood was spilling out of his side. Sora not realizing his wing was damaged deployed his jetpack. The left wing only deployed while the right wing only twitched and sparked. Folded up on the pack the wings were each comprised of two rectangular sections which would retract into the wings. The top section with a more aerodynamic angular section would be the wing tips. The bottom section would hold two jets where the wing tips would meet the main body. Sora spiralled out of control with only one wing he couldn’t keep stable. He’d need both to survive the drop he thought.

In the panic, he lost sight of Mathias. He couldn’t look in any one direction while spiralling there was nothing he could do. Sora’s altimeter was dropping fast he had to do something. On his suit the mechanical straps had side plates inside were two yellow levers on each strap of his pack he pulled on them violently. A rush of air burst from the pack and both wings were launched away from Sora.

Now he could pivot his body and control his fall. He rolled his body over so his belly was facing towards the ground. Suddenly everything his drill sergeant screamed in his face was perfectly envisioned in his head and he knew exactly what he to do like flexing a muscle. He extended his arms and legs out keeping him stable and somewhat slowing himself down. He had no wings but he still had a fully functioning propulsion pack and state of the art armour. Sora knew his best chance was to slow himself down with his main jet and hope the landing wasn’t as rough as it looked.

Below him, he saw the white snow and large dark brown trunks of the giant tree’s that persevered through the constant harsh cold weather of Gaia 76. He saw the base of the mountain and all the black and white jagged rocks surrounding it. He realized his best option was to aim for the trees. He pivoted his body to the right and slowly angled his body closer to the trees until he cleared the line and was just over them. He swung his body upright with his legs facing down and blasted the small rockets strapped to the sides of his boots and the large one on his back. He began slowing down significantly but it wasn’t enough he was still falling rapidly into the trees.

As he got closer and closer Sora winced in preparation for his landing. He broke through the first branches with no worries but it was the trunks that were problematic. He a large trunk feet first but he was going so fast he only spun out of control into the trees shattering branches and tearing into trunks. His visor was cracked and his armour was gradually getting more and more ruined. When he slammed against the trees he bounced off but still continued down like a ragdoll. Every tree he hit he felt himself slipping away and his engines turned off leaving him to freefall into the cold snow. Everything turned black and Sora slipped away.

Sora reawoke slowly to the blaring sound of the several alarms warning him of extreme cold, armour breach, helmet breach, altitude and the lack of wings. He took off his helmet and switched them all off. He felt a quick chill carry from his neck all the way down his spine leaving a cold feeling all around his body. This shocked his nerves making his whole-body shudder. Sora was covered in snow and the sunrise was glowing in the distance. “Oh, fuck it’s morning already?” he thought to himself.

Sora grunted and groaned in pain as he tried to lift himself up, it was no use, he was freezing cold, tired and beat up. Every single joint in his body ached with stiffness. He could lie down and wallow in sadness all he wanted but he would die if he didn’t move. Daphne’s words from his early days in training echoed in his head. “Get up kid and move kid or your dead. You gotta run to make a last stand.”

Before he lifted himself from the small pile of snow, he was buried under he received a hail from I.S.A.A.C.C (The International Space And Astronomical Command Centre. Or as Sora simply knew them as the military.

“Banshee 7 do you read? This is Echo base. Over.” The deep static voice repeated while Sora tried to fix up the signal. When he could finally hear the man’s voice clearly, he jumped to answer.

“Sorry mom I know I said I’d be back by 10 but I got wasted and had to stay the night.” He weakly laughed.

The man on the other side joined in Sora’s laughter.

“It’s okay kiddo we’re just glad to hear your voice. What’s your status? Over.

Sora could only think about the Yellow Jacket and Mathias and Daphne. He choked on his words because he couldn’t think of a formal way to give them the news. They were his only friends. It took him a moment, but he mustered what little strength he had and delivered the news.

“Banshee’s 3 and 4 are K.I.A. The pilots of our Yellow Jacket died when the aircraft was shot down. Banshee 4 also died in the aircraft. Me and Banshee 3 managed to jump in the chaos but when the shuttle exploded shrapnel pierced the weak spot in Banshee 3’s armour killing him.”

Sora paused again. He was a soldier; he was tough, and he had friends die before but this still rattled him. He never wanted to say what happened out loud, but he had to. To get it out quick so he could focus on himself. Focus on his life and how he was going to keep it.

“My wingsuit was damaged, and I had to eject my wings and use only my propulsion systems to stick the landing I crashed down in the forest at the base of the mountain. My suit is ruined, I think my pack and other propulsion systems are still operational, but I’ll have to ditch and destroy the armour.”

He heard the heavy breathing over the radio. This was a lot to take in even for someone who didn’t even know Sora or the others. “Are you in need of any medical assistance? Over.” The voice asked quickly.

“Mostly I think I’m fine, just bruised up to shit I think,” Sora answered as he tried to get up his left arm got caught on part of the tree he was resting against. He could it wasn’t his arm getting caught it was something on his arm. When he looked over he finally realized that a large amount of the aching feeling was the large stick protruding from his bicep. The pain only began kicking in as he noticed it and he groaned in severe pain. Sora gripped the stick and ripped it out fiercely. Bloodshot out from the wound and flew through the air following the stick. He quickly applied medigel to the wound sealing it and stopping the pain quickly.

“Banshee 7 are you okay?” The voice asked.

“Well aside from the aching bones and a splitting headache, and possible future therapy sessions I thought I was doing great. I just pulled a foreign plant out of my arm.” He grunted.

“Banshee 7 can you describe the plant? Over?”

“It’s a brown stick with large red thorns all and it’s sap is green. Can I please have some good news?” Sora said while sinking back against the tree trunk.

“Hold on let me just run this by someone… Oh, shit...” He muttered.

Sora became quickly distressed and agitated.

“You gonna finish that sentence or leave me hanging?” He asked aggressively.

“It’s called Deadman’s barb… It’s extremely poisonous and common around these parts. You’ll experience light burning around the wound and a headache but it’ll kill you.” The radio voice responded with a swell in his throat.

Sora leaned back against the trunk and started throwing his head back and forth into the trunk in a fit of rage. “FUUUCKK!” He yelled. He calmed down as he heard his voice echo across the forest and mountains.

“What a fuckin day amirite?” Sora said trying to hold back any more outbursts.

“It’s okay, its pretty common around here we got an antidote at the base. You got 2 hours to get here before it’s irreversible. You’d have 10 minutes to spare from where you are. That’s if you use your pack for short jumps and boosts. We’ll be waiting here for you with the antidote prepped.” The voice said.

Sora calmed down to recollect himself. “So if I use my pack to boost myself there I can make it? Where’s your base?” He calmly asked.

“Your heading is North. We’re just on the other side of the valley your in. You get out of the valley you can’t miss us.”

“See you soon,” Sora said before switching his helmet comms off.

Sora moved past his aching bones, he needed to get moving. The mission was a bust, all he needed to do now was move. Sora stripped off his armour. It was either damaged or just unusable and too heavy. The armour plating had tears and scrapes all around. Its funny Sora thought “2 million dollars for an impenetrable flying suit and it falls out of the sky and breaks.”

All Sora was left standing in was his flight jacket. A black jacket with shoulder and elbow pads. It included tight-fitting straps for the jet pack he so desperately needed. His urban camo combat pants kept him surprisingly warm despite spending a night resting in the snow.

His black combat boots had some extra weight on them with the extra boosters on the outside of each heel but Sora didn’t mind they would help him move faster.

The last thing to check was his SMG’s. He didn’t even know if they survived the crash or not. He kneeled down and started fishing through the scattered pieces of scrap metal for his gauntlets. He wished he had full finger gloves instead of the fingerless, then maybe his fingers wouldn’t feel so numb. He put that behind him on the list of other medical worries he had this morning alone. He found the gauntlets and stripped the guns from them. He then strapped them to his Jacket arms which were already lightly padded. He tested the guns flicking them in and out over and over till he could be sure that they were reliable. Sora had no other supplies nothing else to carry and no other burdens but himself now was the time to move.

Sora was already trudging quickly through the snow, he wasn’t nearly out of breath, his rigorous training had made sure of that. Every now and then would he jump up into the air and let his boots and pack carry him forward. The snow was cold and fierce. The harsh winds had finally slowed down from a wail to a breeze. Sora could finally calm down and keep his mind clear. The leaves of the trees sora broke through with every jump were as white as the pure untouched snow making the forest floor. Sora almost felt sad for disrupting the calm piles of unaltered snow and breaking the branches of the trees he jumped through but he had one thing to focus on. Everything had to be blocked out. Every instinct in his body had to be programmed to one goal. Get out of here and get help.

Even in this rush, Sora was still aware of his surroundings, his mind was more focused than ever despite being on a one track mind he could still notice the slightest change in detail. Being on recon and using a scope had taught Sora there wasn’t much difference between a sniper and a painter. Able to notice and observe the slightest change in the scenery. Able to see when something has moved or when a new colour appears. Able to be still and patient and be fully absorbed in the work in front of them, whether it’s canvas or whatever's on the other end of the scope.

That’s why Sora came to a violent halt and swung his body into cover behind a tree when he heard the small cracking sound of a twig breaking.

He didn’t panic, despite his heart rate and body temperature rising, he kept his cool, he knew what he had to do if he wasn’t as alone as he thought. He tapped the buttons on his gloves with his thumbs and his guns retracted from his wrists and felt good in his grip. He turned his gaze over his shoulder and behind the tree and saw the distinct black body armour of the enemy and the glowing red eyes on their helmets. Sora turned back and began preparing himself for a fight. He counted two but he knew there could always be more. He figured stealth didn’t matter since they were moving closer to his tree.

“You boys ready for this? Cause I sure as hell am.” He called out angrily.

Sora was surprised when he heard them jump at the sound of his voice. It wasn’t him they were looking for. They were clearly on edge and Sora wasn’t the one they were looking for so what? Sora thought to himself not knowing his answer would come sooner than expected. He also wished he never got his answer. Mostly because it came roaring and charging through the trees crushing a man under its paw and ripping the other in half with its razor sharp teeth and powerful jaws. The snow in the surrounding area was dampened under blood and the insides spilling from the lower half of the enemy soldiers corpse.

Sora was already on the ground staring at the beast, it was truly a monster. It was like a large white bear. Its fur was thick but despite this, its defined muscles could still be seen. Its bones were so thick and strong some were growing outside of it. It had thick, grey spikes around its neck and head. Its paws, however, were entirely external bone like armour. They looked tough too, judging by the small chunks and scratches on the bone armour it looked like it had seen some action. They seemed closer to concrete than bones. Sora was horrified by the sight of the giant primitive, bear-like creature before him, especially since it was almost triple the size of any bear he had seen before.

“Mathias was not fucking around. That thing is a Behemoth.” He said to himself quietly. Sora was surprised he wasn’t discovered sooner but as soon as his last word left his mouth the Behemoth jerked it’s head around and set it’s deep, dark, red eyes on Sora and let out an aggressive low growl. The Behemoth stepped out slowly into the clearing it had created. Sora stepped out from his cover behind the tree knowing the creature could easily crush him behind it anyway. He began looking for ways he could escape, anyway he could jump over the Behemoth and just keep moving. The beast was too damn big and it was clearly a hunter, he could never lose it in the forest and one small slip up and it could swallow him up. He’d run out of breath running from it before he even got close to the base. If he did nothing he’d die, if he ran, he’d die. He had to stop thinking of how to run, he had to think like a soldier, he had to think about how to fight.

The Behemoth continued its low growl while it stared Sora down, Sora only looked right back at it knowing what he had to do. He looked down at the counter on his gauntlet. The seconds dripped away. 0h/59min/40sec.

“You going to wait for me to die or are you gonna show me how tough you really are?” He asked gritting his teeth.

He flicked out his SMG’s and quickly flung his arms in the general directions of the Behemoth’s eyes and opened fire. The bullets splattered and splintered across the Behemoth’s face never once breaking the skin. The small pieces of shrapnel, however, were as simple as dust to a creature like this. Now Sora knew where he could hurt it. Go for the eyes he repeated in his head.

The Behemoth roared in fury charging in Sora’s direction, or just wherever the pain was coming from. Sora lowered his left arm so he could dash towards the left just to avoid the enormous beast. He kept his right arm gun trained on the beast’s eyes, anything he could do to hurt this thing was a welcome opportunity. The Behemoth crashed into a fallen and splintered stump of an old strong tree. Sora noticed giant splinters and spikes of wood no protruding from the shoulder of the now wounded monster. “The only thing that can take it down is its own home.” Sora thought aloud as he quickly looked at his guns realising, they were only good for pissing the monster off.

Sora was collecting himself before he even realised the bear was in motion again. It lifted its tall muscular body and wrapped its sharp, jagged paws around one a giant, thick tree. The Behemoth began forcing down all its weight down on the tree cracking and splitting it at the base. Almost like it was tearing it up from the roots. But the Behemoth wasn’t lifting it was pushing, forcing the tree to splinter and break under its humungous weight the tree began to fall it was only now Sora realised what it was doing. The tree was going to crush him. He watched as the once tall powerful trunk fell to the power of the bear and gravity as it came crashing towards him. First branches and twigs all over began snapping and falling to the earth. The fall began slow but the closer it got the faster it moved. The woods creaking followed the movement of the tree only getting faster. Sora had to be quicker. He used his pack to dash narrowly out of the way of the black and brown trunk that shattered the very rock that was once beneath his feet with a surprising ear-shattering crack.

Sora had to catch his breath. He was still wrapping his mind around how the beast could possibly force this thick powerful tree down to the snow-ridden forest floor. But as he would quickly learn there was no time for that on Gaia 76 because the bear was furious its cunning plan didn’t work. Giant splinters remained of the old tree, scattered across the snow. They were already pointed and still very strong some of them. Sora had a plan. He dove to quickly grasp one in his hand.

As he did the beast had regathered its strength despite the blood flowing from its shoulder staining its marble white fur in a light red. It roared furiously bearing its jagged yellow teeth. It dropped to all four of its powerful legs leaving a large echo in the mountains and charged towards Sora. It raised its enormous paw and slammed it back down to the ground attempting for a second time to crush Sora. But again, he was too quick. With his pack, he jumped out of the way before the paw even fell. With the large splinter in his hand, Sora boosted his way through the air holding the splinter like a large dagger over his head. With all his might he forced the splinter into the Behemoth’s eye bursting it like a watermelon. The bear was roaring in agony and violently shook its head trying to get Sora off it. Sora pressed his boot against the large splinter and launched off the splinter forcing it deeper into the bear's skull. Sora came into a crashing roll against the snow. He was maybe a little more bruised but overall the adrenaline was making him feel great.

He looked over his shoulder to see the bear standing stiff not dissimilar to a statue only before crashing its mighty weight down to the snow.

“Choke on that Hugh Glass.” Sora laughed once he was able to catch his breath.

Sora began his journey again, with the adrenaline pumping through his veins he was only going faster, using the jet pack as a booster to momentarily launch him through the air only helped greater. He checked his guns to see he had completely run out of ammo without noticing. “Fuck,” he thought but he hoped he wouldn’t need them again. Sora was finally approaching the end of the valley. It would only be a short climb now before he could finally be free of this nightmare. But all that would have to wait. Because he heard someone call his name through the trees.

“Sora…Sora… Banshee 7… Kid, I’m over here for fuck's sake.” The gravelled voice weakly called out. Sora slowly broke through the shrubbery masking the man’s voice. His high hopes were met. When he found a weak bloodied, red-bearded man lying against a tree, loosely gripping his LMG in his left hand.

“Mathias, holy fuck your alive!” Sora rushed to his aid.

He groaned in response still trying to wake up and respond.

“It’s okay man, your lucky… we’re near the base so if you can get up now it’s just up that hill.” Sora quickly said trying to unstrap Mathias’ broken armour. Mathias instead took his own helmet off despite not much of it being left. He forced Sora’s hands away from him trying to make him stop. His face was pale and sunken in, his lips were dry and cracked, despite this he spoke.

“Kid I can’t go anywhere in case you forgot.” He gestured to the shrapnel visibly forcing its way through the side of his rib cage. “It went through my spine; I can’t walk, and I’ve already lost too much blood. Don’t fuss about me just sit here with me, just slow down for a minute.” He said calmly.

Sora again had to force tears back today and for the same reasons.

“I thought I lost you guys this morning.” He said.

“I know this is the single most fucked up mission I think I’ve ever had. Most boring too. I have been stuck here the whole fuckin time.”

That word “Mission” Sora had completely forgotten the mission. His only goal was to get himself fixed up so he wouldn’t have to die like his friends.

“What makes it worse is I think the missions scrubbed. I got poisoned by some plant now my orders are to get my ass to the nearest friendly base for treatment. I maybe got a half hour now.” Sora said as he sat across from Mathias.

Mathias was about to speak before he was interrupted by the booming sound of enemy dropships moving towards what looked like a colony. Alarms were blaring and the dropships were following a convoy of more troops. Mathias looked away at Sora’s face and looked at his gun, he allowed himself to a moment, because of what he was about to do to his friend. He gripped his gun tightly.

“Way I see it kid is you got two options. The first is you get to the base and get patched up and go on to fight for the cause another day. Or, you take this here prized possession ‘o’ mine and show those fuckers how we play rough. Those farmers and colonists aren’t fighters like us. This isn’t their fight; they don’t deserve this.” Mathias finished while using what strength he had left to raise his gun up and lay it into Sora’s hands.

Sora took the gun in his hands and looked into the dying eyes of his friend. “Those colonists can rest easy tonight because they sent a badass like me to deal with it,” Sora said confidently

Mathias laughed at this. “That’s why I always liked you kid. Make them remember you.”

Sora stood up with tears in his eyes. “I’ll make them remember all of us.”

Mathias felt like he could finally rest. He closed his eyes and leaned back with a smile on his face. It took a moment, but Sora almost felt it, the exact moment that Mathias wouldn’t wake up again. The moment he could finally rest. Sora didn’t feel like he had to mourn this time. This was a good thing; his friend didn’t have to suffer alone anymore. His time was up and he was at peace with that.

The gunfire grew rampant as the enemy troops scattered out across the small town and opened fire on the colonists within. The soldiers were gathering families and forcing them into crowds while they slaughtered the men who fought back. One father was gripping his son and daughter while his wife was in front of him searching for a safe way out of this mess. She peered from her front door only for a soldier to slam the stock of his rifle against her head throwing her to the veranda floor. The children cried but the father knew he had to force his children away to maybe even have a chance of saving his wife.

They screamed for him, but he told them to run and that he would find them. He turned to face the soldier who struck his wife, but he was no fighter and was thrown through the railing of his veranda. He tried to get up, but the soldier kept kicking him down. He could still see his wife trying to force herself up, but she had no chance. Her head was badly damaged and more soldiers were watching her struggle. She began weeping as they yelled at her and pointed guns in her face. She saw her children being pulled by the scruffs of their necks towards trucks where they might never be seen again. They were crying for their parents. She was crying for her husband and her children. Just when the soldier was getting tired of beating the farmer, he raised his weapon at him and was about to open fire.

Just before they heard an unfamiliar sound, it wasn’t a drop ship, all of theirs had been deployed and sounded different. This was smaller. He turned behind him to see Sora dropping from the sky to meet him. Sora landed on the soldier with heavy metallic boots he took from Mathia, his pack and gauntlets too. He raised up the LMG quickly and began firing at the other soldiers in the surrounding area with ease. Large amounts of the gunfire aimed at Sora either missed him or hit Mathias’ scrapped armour.

Sora dispatched the enemy soldiers with furious ease mowing them down all around him. When the immediate threat was gone, he helped the injured farmer to his legs and took him to his wife.

“I’ll get them,” Sora said before jumping in the air.

Sora flew up high to see the large colony, once silver and green, lush with life and now burning and bloodstained. Sora was looking for one thing, the trucks other civilians were being taken away too he had to find them otherwise he’d be dying for nothing.

He spotted the trucks and rushed his way there. Between him and the trucks, however, was a heavily armed anti-air turret ready to fire. Sora weaved and rolled his body out of the way of any shots. Sora found the body of a dead soldier he had killed previously; this would have been of no interest to him before had this man not had a loaded grenade launcher still in his hands. Sora dropped to the rooftop and retrieved the launcher before dodging another shot from the turret taking the roof in an explosion. Sora knew he could fire grenade this close to the trucks and civilians. He was stumped for ideas until he saw a silo next to the soldiers that were weakened on one side. “A small explosion and the whole thing would take them to shit creek.” He thought to himself.

Sora flew as close as he could to the silo and fired 3 grenades at the base of it just as he planned the silo fell towards the soldiers and turret. They all screamed and panicked but it was too late the silo cleaved right through them. Sora threw away the grenade launcher and began using Mathias’ LMG to cut his way through the enemy. He dashed across rooftops and rammed into unsuspecting enemy soldiers sending some flying off the rooftops and leaving others for him to gun down before they could hurt anyone else.

Suddenly one truck began moving, still attempting to get away from Sora’s wrath. He wasn’t going to let it. He jumped over the truck and crushed the front engine when he landed on it. The driver was already dead from the crash. Sora was ready to keep fighting but to his joy, the enemy had already begun retreating. The Calvary was finally arriving. Sora was tired and beat up, he walked slowly towards what was the old town square, now an old battlefield. He laid down as he watched the same children run to their injured parents and embrace them with all the pure love, they had for them. Sora was grateful. He didn’t waste his death because he finally felt the poison overcome him and put him to sleep. Other soldiers quickly ran to his side but as with Mathias, he was already at peace with his death.

submitted by /u/The_Barbaric [link] [comments] via Blogger http://bit.ly/2L0I350

#Blogger #Story

0 notes

scottadcox · 7 years

Link

TLDR Version

Got up early.

One kid went 1-2 for a first and a second.

Other kid went 2-1 against a single opponent for a first place.

I went 2-1 with a first and a second.

Had a lot of fun. Learned a lot.

Long Version

We headed out for Jacksonville at 5:30 am the morning of the event, stopping by to pick up Coach Frank and The Hurricane along the way. Parking and check in went really smoothly, and man…UNF is a really beautiful campus! I was competing in my very first competition, as were the two oldest girls, and all of us were right on the cusp of a weight class, so we went for a quick urination break and came back to have our weight right on.

All I’d had that morning was a half cup of coffee and a boiled egg, so I was ready to eat. Luckily, I wasn’t competing until the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to get food and water in me.

Bug was first up in no-gi, and the girl she went against was awesome! I was glad we’d entered her into the Novice bracket with no submissions. She’s been exposed to BJJ for 10 months or so, but she really hasn’t shown any kind of spark until the first of this year. I think her opponent’s aggression was a little bit of a wake-up call for her. Bug would escape mount, but end up getting swept every time and was unable to pass the girl’s guard. On one hand, it was tough to watch. On the other, it was awesome to see her continue to fight (and fight and fight) a losing battle.

Her next match was against the same girl, and we were really proud of her for going back out there knowing what was coming. She showed more aggression this time and scored a few points herself, but the result was the same.

Second Place Novice No-Gi

After those first two matches and the podium pic, we found out she still had another match. This one was a different story–the little boy she was grappling with seemed to be much more on her level. She did a great job of listening to Coach Frank throughout the match and executing the moves he was calling out. She ended up winning, and to our surprise was awarded first place in that division (a sword). I’m not sure how NAGA brackets for kids, but we thought maybe her first two matches with the more experienced girl were just to give her opponent some matches in a bracket that was empty…maybe? Dunno, but she was really happy with the experience (and getting to pick the color of her sword), and we were really proud of her for not giving up in the first match and being brave enough to go out for another whoopin’ in the second.

I hope she found a switch inside herself she didn’t know was there before. What a great confidence builder to know you can fight through and survive difficult situations and come back for some more!

First Place Novice No-Gi

There were a couple of other kids competing on our team, and they did great as well. It was awesome to see the kids cheer for, console, and congratulate their teammates. This is the first time any of our kids have ever competed in a sport, and I loved seeing and feeling the nervous energy, excitement, and comradely come out of them. It was palpable.

Pea was up next in the gi division. While we had a good idea going in how Bug was going to respond, Pea was more of a wildcard in my eyes. She is really focused and serious in training, but she hasn’t really felt that feeling of being dominated by an opponent before. How would she respond if she was put in the same situation Bug was in during her first two matches?

She was pretty evenly matched with her opponent, and won the match with a take down, sweep, and mount points. But it was a really good fight and a challenge for her. She ended the match stretched out on the mat and tired. They were the only two girls in their division, and in order for them to get two matches they had a second with each other. Different story this time around–flipped script. They ended up needing a rubber match to decide the winner of the division.

Pea was ahead on points with about a minute left and was controlling her opponent’s posture from guard really well. The other little girl started crying, but she didn’t quit. It was hard to watch, but I was so proud of that little girl for hanging in there and fighting, fighting, fighting to break that guard. I was even cheering for her a little bit when Pea went for a sweep and the girl defended it.

I was proud of Pea for not letting up while the match was going on, but I was even more proud of her when the match ended. She let her empathy for her opponent come out and started crying as well, hugging her and telling her she was sorry and hoped she was okay. They got up on the first place podium together for the awards photo, which I think was appropriate for their three hard fought matches.

First Place Beginner Gi

Plenty of downtime between the kids competition and mine. I’d heard lots about anxiety and nervousness for your first competition, but I didn’t think it would be a huge deal for me. True, I’ve never competed in wrestling, judo, or any sort of combat-type sport, but I have enough experience competing in general that I didn’t expect to be very rattled. I’ve put my body in harm’s way against guys who were out for blood countless times, and it’s not like these guys were going to be punching me in the face or anything.

It’s the gentle art.

The last time I was truly nervous before an event was in 2006 when I was ill-prepared for a triathlon, didn’t believe I could do the distance, and didn’t even want to be there. I’m usually pretty good about believing in the work I’ve put in during training, having a game plan in mind, and feeling comfortable tweaking it midstream if I feel the need.

Honestly, watching the kids was much more nerve wracking that competing myself.

My plan was to get on top and stay on top–passing if I’m in the guard, and taking any submissions that were presented to me without trying to force my way into them. I think I was pretty well prepared for the most part, realistic about my ability in the take down game (average at best), and confident of my ability to maintain a dominant position once I got there.

I was not prepared for the difference in competition and training in the gym. Yes, the intensity is definitely amped up, but I was ready for that; even counting on it. I felt that my conditioning would probably be better than most people in my divisions, and my “calm-before-the-storm” level head would keep me from adrenaline dumping the way others might.

The difference I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of time white belt matches spend in closed guard. I very seldom use closed guard in training for any extended period of time,mostly because it just isn’t very fun. We play King of the Mat a lot, and I always choose open guard because it’s more dynamic and energetic. If I could change one thing about my training, I’d have drilled the crap out of three or four options from my back and been able to cycle through them on auto-pilot. I had a definite plan for passing closed guard from the top, but should have spent more time thinking about the bottom.

More about this in summary of my last match.

My first match was no-gi against the only other competitor in my division. He carried a lot of his weight in his upper body–shoulders and neck, not gut. More of my weight is in my lower body. Pre-match pep talk from Coach Frank was, “Get in a dominant position and get heavy, squeeze, and start looking for submissions.”

Exactly what I’d been planning.

I’m not very confident in my take downs, but I attempted a double leg. I wouldn’t call it a “shot”, just a half-assed attempt. My lack of confidence was probably apparent. I was, however, confident in my ability to defend and my cardio. He had his arms near a guillotine, so I thought he may go for it, and as I was thinking that and grabbing his arm to defend it he pulled guard and attempted it. One point for him and encouraging for me–at least I didn’t lose the take down, I’m on top, and am ready to start working a pass to take the point lead.

I got my head out and started to build my posture, getting mentally prepared to work my higher percentage passes.

Credit to my opponent for this–40-49 year old beginner weighing ~190 pounds immediately goes for a gogoplata!!! Dude was game!!!

Luckily for me, The Missus also trains and is super flexible. She loves that gogoplata type stuff, and I’ve had lots of practice with her trying to get it on me. My hand instinctively came up and defended my neck. Another point for him for the submission attempt, but I was able to push his leg away and create a scramble situation, settling in half guard.

I’ve been working on half guard a lot, from the top and the bottom, so I went into auto-pilot mode here–established cross face and the under hook on the open-leg side and put his back to the mat. As I flattened him out and glanced up at the time to see there was ~2:30 left. This is where I wanted to be–on top with lots of time to work. I knew I was down by two points, but also knew all I had to do was pass this half guard and we’d be back to even. Then I’d be a submission attempt away from the win.

I know it’s boring to watch and probably more boring to roll with, but I pretty much just grind. The difference between training and competition is that in training I try to adjust my pressure to the opponent–just enough to make them give up something to work with. In competition, the plan is all the pressure the whole time. I was a little concerned that the matches would only be 4:00 long, but there was plenty of time left in this one, and I liked my chances and told myself to be patient, conservative, and methodical.

He went for the lock down on my trapped leg (exactly what I would have done without the under hook), which was an issue for working my preferred pass. Bells went off, but it wasn’t a ton of pressure on my knee, so I doubled down on the commitment to pressure and started trying to work my leg free. He bailed on lock down and I could feel that I may have an advantage in leg strength, remembering how we sized up before the match. I decided to go for a more conservative pass than my original plan, which would put me into mount instead of side control.

As I started working my leg out I felt some wiggle room there. Maybe I should have exploded through and gotten mount earlier, but I just kept inching until my leg was clearly through and flopped down to the mat. Then I squeezed.

And I heard Coach Frank yelling, “SQUEEZE!!!!”.

I sprawled my legs to the closest I could get to a grapevine and squeezed harder. I was thinking that I’d go for an Ezekiel choke first and get a point, hoping an arm presented itself. I like that option because I wouldn’t have to give up a ton of pressure to go for it, and if he were to try to bump out I could just bail and post–pretty conservative.

I never got to attempt it though. I guess I had a pretty good amount of pressure and squeeze because he tapped. I was a little surprised because I didn’t think I was in a submission position–hard to know what was going on.. Not really the way I’d have chosen to win. I’d much rather have been able to do something more technical, but I guess I’ll take it either way. I have a feeling if I rolled with this guy regularly we’d have a lot of fun.

[EDIT]: Todd left a comment on Facebook that the tap was due to a smother. Ugh. Very unsatisfied with that. That’s one of those that you want your partner to tell you about in training because it’s just inadvertent and brutish. Yeah…it’s a competition, and you’re supposed to be trying to submit however you can, but if I’m going to win with a smother I’d at least want it to be intentional.

First Place No-Gi Directors Beginner Light-Heavyweight

In the gi division, I was bumped up a weight class, but it was cool–the other two guys only weighed in at ~194, and I was probably close to that after eating and hydrating, so there wasn’t a huge weight discrepancy. They went the full four minutes, and I got the loser. If I win, I get the winner of their match, if I lose, I’m third place.

Pre-match advice was, “Just like the last match–position and control!”

I didn’t get to see their match, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I set up my “insurance policy” as soon as the match started and we both worked gi grips. I got the sense that his stand up game was about on par with mine, so this would be 50/50. Somehow, I ended up standing belly to back and controlling him. The first thing that popped into my head was, “No suplexes!” I didn’t want to risk being DQ’d, so I sort of drug him to the ground.

Two points for me and a good position.

He was in a loose turtle so I attempted to jump on him without getting too high and get my hooks in for the back take. He threw his legs up to defend the hooks and sort of rolled to his right side. I landed on my right side with my left leg over this shoulders and neck and both hands on his right arm. I had an arm and could control his posture!

I started looking for a way to an arm bar.

Coach Frank was giving me directions, but I didn’t do a good job listening here. Not exactly sure what he was even telling me to do, but I solved the riddle by sliding my right knee behind his elbow and using both hands to keep his wrist in place as I pressed my knee in for the tap. I kind of wish this one could have lasted longer because this guy was bigger than me and we never got a chance for any sort of back and forth.

Next up was the championship gi match. I learned a lot in these four minutes.

I expected this opponent to be technically better than the guy I’d just faced since he seemed a little smaller, but had earned the victory. When we locked up, he immediately went for a throw, which I defended. That should have been a cue for me to pull guard–that his take down game was going to be better than mine. If I’d pulled guard I could have locked up closed guard without losing any points and gotten an advantage point at least for attempting submissions. Again, I’m confident enough in my strength and cardio to think I could hold a closed guard against most people at my skill level for four minutes without much of a problem, but I haven’t practiced this as a competition tactic.

As I type this, I’m thinking about one of the biggest lessons I learned in competing–the SPORT of jiu jitsu and the ART of jiu jitsu are entirely different things. I have another post swirling in my head about this matter, but here’s the spoiler: I much prefer the art.

Long story short, he went for another throw and got it, and passed to side control for a total of five points. I didn’t have a lot of trouble working my way from side control to half guard. That was the good news–I’m pretty comfortable in working my way to the top from half guard, and I work on it a lot. The bad news was that I had half guard on my stupid side. I established the under hook and tried to work my way up using my favorite move to the top from half guard. He was able to fight that off, but I moved on to plan B. This move is even weaker on my stupid side, and he was able to base out and stop it pretty easily.

This should have set off another alarm in my brain–this guy had a solid base and was not going to be easy to sweep.

From there we got into an under hook pummeling contest, which I thought he’d be happy to do for the rest of the match since he was ahead. I felt like I could keep him from smashing me no matter what, so I started setting up a baseball bat choke we’ve worked on from half guard. There’s some risk here, because I’d have to let him pass to get it. Maybe I didn’t commit to it as a should have because of this risk. I actually heard his coach yelling, “Watch the baseball bat choke he’s setting up!”

It didn’t work, but I was able to re-establish my guard before giving up any points. Is the reason it didn’t work because I didn’t fully commit to it…worried about points? I’m not sure, but I don’t get it a lot in training either. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot. My thought from here was to get to closed guard (still plenty of time left), sweep to mount for six points, and grind like I’d done in my no-gi match.

But, duh, this guy wouldn’t be easily swept.

Once I’d made the decision, I got to closed guard pretty easily. I felt like he was being conservative and was happy to take that position knowing he didn’t have to pass, just hang on. I’m sure if he’d been down on points it would have been tougher to get. Replaying the match in my head, this guys definitely made good decisions.

There was some grip fighting, and I almost caught his arm once, but he got it pulled back. We were pretty even on the posture fight as I remember it, but we were playing two different games because of the points. I was finally able to get my knee in to attempt a scissor sweep. At this point I had “sweep and mount” on the brain, and that’s what Coach Frank was yelling for too. My first attempt at the scissor sweep was not very good technically, but it ended up being as close as I was going to get. I could hear Coach Frank yelling for me to focus on the knee with the sweep, and I thought I did a better job with that on my next two attempts. But he based out even harder and I know after talking to Coach and The Missus after that I was missing a key detail–something to work on this week!!!

Time was ticking down, and all he had to do was keep a solid base and hang on for the win. Coach Frank was yelling out the time left, and I knew I was going to have change tactics. I was able to get into position for a triangle attempt with 20 seconds or so left. My best shot at it was in the first few seconds, but I wasn’t able to get a full figure four with my legs, and I couldn’t move his arm across. Something else to work on. I heard his coach yell, “TEN SECONDS….YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TAP TO THAT!!!”

Haha…that didn’t mentally defeat me, and I kept trying my hardest, but it crossed my mind that if I heard my coach yell that at me, I’d get choked out before I tapped, and it takes about 6 seconds to get choked out when it’s in tight.

This one wasn’t in tight.

Time ran out and I stood up with a huge grin on my face. Even though I lost, that was, by far, the most fun match of the day, and I’d love to have the opportunity to train with this guy day in and day out. Tough guy who played hard, played smart, and was friendly both before and after the match. He could definitely help me get better, and seemed like the kind of guy who’d be happy to do so.

2nd Place Directors Gi Cruiser Weight

A pretty good haul for our family at our first competition–three first places and two second places. Having been involved in running MUCH smaller rugby tournaments, I think the organization of the competition seemed to go pretty smoothly, especially when you consider the dynamic situations with that many divisions being run.

We all had a great time and learned a lot, but it was a long day for a whole family to compete.

0 notes

thesportssoundoff · 5 years

Text

“Singapore with a singaBORE main” UFC Fight Night: Askren vs Maia preview

Joey

October 20th, 2019

When the UFC signed up to do a multi million dollar stretch of shows in Singapore, I have to imagine this wasn't QUITE on the menu. This show isn't awful but compared to what's coming down the pike with the MSG card, the Vegas PPV, a really solid card in South Korea and such, this card is only worth discussing due to its early start time. Still there's good stuff to discuss here! It's a nifty 11 fight card starting early in the morning with some good HW fights on it and an "intriguing" main event. Let's see what happens.

Fights: 11

Debuts: Loma Lookboonmee, Don'tale Mayes

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Karol Rosa vs Julia Avila CANCELLED/Jarjis Danho vs Greg Hardy CANCELLED/Yan Xionan OUT, Randa Markos IN vs Ashley Yoder/Brad Tavares vs Ian Heinisch CANCELLED)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 6 (Demian Maia, Stevie Ray, Michael Johnson, Beneil Dariush, Sergey Pavlovich, Randa Markos)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC:

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 7 (Demian Maia, Muslim Salikhov, Laureano Staropoli, Beneil Dariush, Maurice Green, Ashley Yoder, Sergey Pavlovich)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 17-19-1

Ben Askren- 1-1 Demian Maia- 3-3 Michael Johnson- 2-3 Stevie Ray- 2-3 Muslim Salikhov- 2-1 Laureano Staropoli- 2-0 Beneil Dariush- 2-2-1 Frank Camacho- 2-3 Cyril Gane- 1-0 Don'Tale Mayes- 0-0

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Lightweight- 3 (69) Heavyweight- 3 (34) Welterweight- 2 (64) Women’s Strawweight- 2 (28) Featherweight- 1 (53)

Women’s Flyweight- (31) Middleweight- (40) Light Heavyweight- (39) Bantamweight- (53) Flyweight- (15) Women’s Featherweight- (8) Women’s Bantamweight- (18)

2019 Number Tracker

Debuting Fighters (37-58-1)- Loma Lookboonmee, Don'tale Mayes

Short Notice Fighters (28-36)- Randa Markos

Second Fight (52-35)- Movsar Evloev, Raphael Pessoa, Ciryl Gane, Rafael Fiziev

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (22-38-1)-

Undefeated Fighters (38-37-2)- Ciryl Gane, Movsar Evloev

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (11-8)- Frank Camacho, Stevie Ray

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (29-22)- Michael Johnson

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I've seen some folks who take the Askren vs Maia booking as some sort of punishment for Askren because it's an early morning show overseas BUT let's be 100% fair and point out that Askren spent the better part of the last 4-5 years fighting in Asia and SHOULD have some semblance of name recognition. In this case he probably serves more good as the main eventer on a random Asian show than he does as the 3rd or 4th fight in MSG or what have you. I mean if he doesn't then why did you even sign him?

2- Who is this main event appealing to? I can understand SOME genuine appeal in this fight for the grappling purists out there I suppose but even that feels limited. I just think if you took 100 MMA fans and brought them into a room and said "Would you like five rounds of Askren vs Maia?", the slimmest of slim percentage of them would say "Oh man, love it. Bring me all of that." It's a fine main event pitting name value vs name value and I guess style vs style but the appeal feels so limited. I really hope this isn't what that group in Singapore expected to be paying for when they made this multi-million dollar deal with the UFC for the next five years or so.

3- Even with a win, is Askren officially "done" in terms of flirtations as a #1 contender? Usually a win over Demian Maia takes you right to #1 contender status. In this instance, it feels like Askren is sort of kind of in the Vitor range where anything short of a string of stoppages will keep him firmly from the title picture.

4- Is Michael Johnson vs Stevie Ray the most random co-main of 2019? I can't imagine it's got a lot of competition for the spot.

5- Laureano Staropoli vs Muslim Salikhov is a really interesting fight for a variety of reasons. For starters, Staropoli has real potential to become yet another solid Argentinian fighter in the UFC's fold. He's 2-0 and coming off a decision win over Thiago Alves in Brazil. He's a balanced striker who seems to excel in those back and forth firefights where he can outlast his opposition. Thats going to be a problem against Muslim Salikhov who is beginning to find his groove in the UFC. Every second this fight stays standing and at a pace befitting of Muslim is a second closer to losing in a most brutal fashion. Can Staropoli wrestle more than we've seen him do so far?

6- If I had a fighter like Frank Camacho, I'm not sure that I'd put him up against a guy who is primarily coming to wrestle with Beneil Dariush. Dariush is going to try to Drew Dobert it except he can't strike as good as Dober so we're setting up for a lot of wall and stall. Thumbs down.

7- If you're not hot on heavyweights, lemme chit chat with you a bit about how some of these HW fights are pretty good:

With the UFC talking about doing a show in France in 2020, Ciryl Gane figures to be an impressive dude to follow. The muay thai stud/Ngannou sparring buddy won his UFC debut without much issue and the French born fighter will be given ample opportunities to show out. Dontale Mayes is the rare THREE time DWCS talent who lost his first fight but won the next two by stoppage. Mayes' upside may be in a role like this as a hard hitting prospect tester. One thing which stood out was how much weight he lost between all three Contenders Series fights.

Sergey Pavlovich vs Maurice Greene is a REALLY interesting fight. Mo Greene was a bit of a gimmick who got the villain edit on TUF but he's fought three times while the winner of the show has pretty much disappeared. Greene hits really hard, attacks from awkward angles, doesn't have good wrestling but has some wacky BJJ off of his back and so far his cardio hasn't been awfl. On the other hand, Sergey Pavlovich has gone from Russian prospect du jour to "maybe he's good?" UFC fighter. Pavlovich's first win was against Junior Albini and Mo Greene's best win as of right now is Junior Albini so here we are. Good evenly matched fight on paper.

Raphael Pessoa vs Jeff Hughes kicks off the show and Huges was considered to be one of the top HW prospects prior to getting into the UFC. To this point he was upset by Maurice Greene (who he had beaten on the regional circuit) and looked to be potentially en route to getting slop stopped by Todd Duffee prior to an eye poke no contest. This is like the bottom of the barrel in terms of opposition and if Hughes loses this one, his career is in deep doo doo.

8- Speaking of Maurice Greene, can we just pretend that he won the TUF season if he wins this fight vs Pavlovich?

9- Enrique Barzola vs Mosvar Evloev is an interesting fight because it pits arguably the most exciting Russian prospect in the UFC under 155 lbs against a really solid featherweight who can do some stuff to challenge Evloev. Barzola's a superb wrestler who has endless pressure and cardio while Evloev has excelled thus far in the UFC as a slower paced grappling machine despite showing more on Russia's regional circuit. We haven't seen Barzola do much counter wrestling and Evloev figures to test that in spades IF he fights like he did in his debut.

10- Randa Markos is still relevant at 115 lbs which feels like a credit to her but also a knock on the speed (or lack thereof) by which this division is advancing.

11- Who has the cardio advantage between Maia and Askreen going into the championship rounds? Gotta be Ben, right?

12- Is this the most irrelevant card of the year?

#MMA #UFC #Askren #Maia

8 notes · View notes

thesportssoundoff · 4 years

Text

“A bittersweet ESPN Fight Night” UFC Rozenstruik vs Overeem Preview

Joey

December 1st

It's been an "interesting" experience on ESPN, one with plenty of ups and downs and roundabouts but we come to an end on December 7th withwith a finale card for ESPN from DC. It's a good card on paper but one that a) has been besieged by injuries and b) overshadowed by some truly heartbreaking circumstances. It's headlined by a heavyweight fight pitting Alistair Overeem in the midst of his 3rd (fourth?) renaissance run taking on rising HW Jair Rozenstruik. Underneath that we have a bevy of solid women's fights that have also been somewhat shaken by injuries as Cynthia Calvillo faces solid Brazilian striker Marina Rodriguez in the co-main event with Aspen Ladd vs Yana Kunitskaya settled in underneath that. After that we've got some great fights at bantamweight, a few fights at HW and MW and then some action filler. It's not the worst card in the world and it's got some merit especially if you're in the midst of this rather gross MMA drought we got goin' on.

Fights: 12

Debuts: Billy Quarantillo, Jacob Kilburn, Joe Solecki

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: (Claudia Gadelha OUT, Mariana Rodriguez IN vs Cynthia Calvillo/Walt Harris OUT, Jair Rozenstruik IN vs Alistair Overeem/Courtney Casey OUT, Mallory Martin IN vs Virna Jandiroba/Carlos Condit vs Mickey Gall CANCELLED/Chris Fishgold OUT, Jacob Kilburn IN vs Billy Quarantillo/Alonzo Menifield OUT, Makhmud Muradov IN vs Trevor Smith)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 8 (Alistair Overeem, Cynthia Calvillo, Ben Rothwell, Aspen Ladd, Yana Kunitskaya, Stefan Struve, Ricky Simon, Thiago Alves)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: Ben Rothwell, Trevor Smith

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: Alistair Overeem, Cynthia Calvillo, Marina Rodriguez,Yana Kunitskaya, Song Yadong, Bryce Mitchell, Jair Rozenstruik

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 34-15-1

Alistair Overeem- 4-2 Jair Rozenstruik- 3-0 Cynthia Calvillo- 5-1 Marina Rodriguez- 2-0-1 Aspen Ladd- 3-1 Yana Kunitskaya- 2-1 Stefan Struve- 1-3 Ben Rothwell- 0-2 Rob Font- 3-2 Ricky Simon- 3-1 Cody Stamman- 4-1 Song Yadong- 4-0

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Women’s Strawweight- 2 (30) Heavyweight- 2 (39) Bantamweight- 2 (57) Featherweight- 2 (59) Women’s Bantamweight- 1 (21) Middleweight- 1 (47) Welterweight- 1 (73) Lightweight- 1 (75)

Light Heavyweight- (44) Women’s Flyweight- (33) Flyweight- (15) Women’s Featherweight- (8)

2019 Number Tracker

Debuting Fighters (40-62-1)- Billy Quarantillo, Jacob Kilburn, Joe Solecki

Short Notice Fighters (32-41-1)- Marina Rodriguez, Jair Rozenstruik, Mallory Martin, Jacob Kilburn, Makhmud Muradov, Virna Jandiroba

Second Fight (56-40)- Makhmud Muradov, Virna Jandiroba

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (23-40-1)-

Undefeated Fighters (42-40-2)- Bryce Mitchell, Marina Rodriguez, Jair Rozenstruik

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (12-9)- Tim Means, Matt Wiman, Trevor Smith

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (33-26)-

Twelve Precious Ponderings

1- First and foremost, this is the saddest main event in UFC history. Jair Rozenstruik is fighting in place of Walt Harris who right at the peak of his UFC run was forced to step away and endure a situation you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. As much fun as we may poke at Walt Harris the fighter for some of the sillier moments in MMA that are attached to his name (a six fight non fight series with Mark Godbeer, fighting Werdum on two hours notice, his first UFC run), professionally speaking he had finally begun to put everything together and was on a 5-1 run that really should've been a 5-0 streak if you remove a fight vs Fabricio Werdum that he took on a days notice to help save the card. That doesn't even account for his other loss being a silly DQ loss where he clearly fouled Mark Godbeer during a break in rather controversial fashion. It's sad on a professional level but heartbreaking on a personal one as Harris pulled out of this fight due to the then disappearance (now confirmed murder) of his stepdaughter. What Walt Harris and his family are going through currently pales in comparison to anything fight related and is truly one of the worst things a human being has to endure. Walt Harris put his fighting career on hold as his personal life crumbled around him through no fault of his own and that is tragic. As intrigued as I am by this main event, it's the epitome of "With a heavy heart" because in a just, fair and loving world this is Walt Harris going for the biggest win of his career. Rest in peace Aniah Blanchard and may the Harris family find the strength to get through this trying time.

2- Is Alistair Overeem essentially blocked off from the title picture? Let's say Overeem beats Jair Rozenstruik and does it impressively. That's now three wins in a row. Normally three wins in a row at HW gets you a title fight but ahead of him in terms of contenders you have Curtis Blaydes (beat Overeem), Ngannou (almost killed Overeem), Volkov (likely fighting Ngannou) and DC (this would've been a hell of a fight 2-3 years ago). Derrick Lewis is about to be tied up in an utterly meaningless fight and OVereem probably beats or HAS beaten everybody behind him. As such---what's really his place in the division? Is he the official Keith Jardine/Kenny Florian/Mark Munoz gatekeeper to the title shot who never gets the title shot?

3- Had this discussion a few weeks ago but is Alistair Overeem a top 5 HW of all time?

4- Why are allowing Aspen Ladd to fight at 135 lbs? It just feels needless.

5- A lot has been made about the lack of contenders for Amanda Nunes but I think we can have a genuine conversation about Yana Kunitskaya taking none of those spots if she can beat Aspen Ladd. Kunitskaya with three straight wins over the likes of Lina Lansberg, Marion Reneau and Aspen Ladd would probably at worst put her in a #1 contender fight if not directly into being Nunes' next opponent. With Amanda Nunes basically being a better Mighty Mouse in terms of name value, it's not like you need to be a big name to get a fight.

6- Tim Means vs Thiago Alves in 2019, eh? Fine. You guys do you.

7- The same should be said for this rather blegh Ben Rothwell vs Stefan Struve fight. Rothwell has not been the same guy since coming back from his USADA suspension and Stefan Struve really should've gone through with his retirement.

8- Is this too much too soon for Song Yadong? To this point, Yadong's fought guys ranging from fun but limited (Bharat Kandare) to established quality veterans lacking a defining trait (Felipe Arantes and Alejandro Perez). Alejandro Perez was a fine but safe step up since Perez's defining traits (consistent workrate, a solid kicking game at range) weren't going to do much against Yadong unless we were all wrong about him. Outside of a blip here or there, Yadong has passed every test but Stamman is IMO a genuine top 10 bantamweight who brings high level strength with him. We've seen that Yadong does some of his best work in tight but we've never seen him have to wrestle with a strong compact wrestler type. Stamman is also probably the most polished fighter Yadong has ever faced in his time in the UFC with experience against elite dudes like Aljamain Sterling. This is a really good fight and perhaps a bridge too far for China's best male fighter in the UFC.

9- Matt Wiman's long awaited return to the UFC was about what you'd expect for a dude who basically missed out on the rise of the athlete/real sports era of the UFC. Wiman looked woefully out of his depth vs Luis Pena and while he didn't humiliate himself in terms of heart, it was certainly not one of the highlight reels. Wiman is back and taking on debuting fighter Joe Salecki in yet another "old school UFC LW vs DWCS guy" fight. Perhaps Wiman can get some good vibes after Joe Lauzon boxed up Jonathan Pearce and had one of the cooler moments of 2019 in his out of nowhere win. Remember debuting fighters have bad numbers in 2019!

10- Cynthia Calvillo vs Claudia Gadelha was on paper a tremendous fight with plenty to discuss but Marina Rodriguez vs Cynthia Calvillo feels like one of those weird throwback style clashes. Rodriguez is a fantastic muay thai striker with good movement who cuts a frenetic pace. On the other hand, Cynthia Calvillo eats up this kind of fighter with her grappling and quick takedowns. Rodriguez allowed Randa Markos to spend 10 minutes taking her down at will. As such, I get the feeling things are about to go real bad for Rodriguez unless her takedown defense has grown overnight.

11- Ricky Simon is subjecting us to more Urijah Faber fights so let's just say that I hope he has a great performance to make up for that.

12- Should there be a limit to the number of DWCS guys on one sole card?

#MMA #UFC #Rozenstruik #Overeem #fights #Rothwell #Struve

2 notes · View notes

scottadcox · 7 years

Link

TLDR Version

Got up early.

One kid went 1-2 for a first and a second.

Other kid went 2-1 against a single opponent for a first place.

I went 2-1 with a first and a second.

Had a lot of fun. Learned a lot.

Long Version

All I’d had that morning was a half cup of coffee and a boiled egg, so I was ready to eat. Luckily, I wasn’t competing until the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to get food and water in me.

Second Place Novice No-Gi

First Place Novice No-Gi

Pea was up next in the gi division. While we had a good idea going in how Bug was going to respond. Pea was more of a wildcard in my eyes. She is really focused and serious in training, but she hasn’t really felt that feeling of being dominated by an opponent before. How would she respond if she was put in the same situation Bug was in during her first two matches?

First Place Beginner Gi

It’s the gentle art.

Honestly, watching the kids was much more nerve wracking that competing myself.

More about this in summary of my last match.

Exactly what I’d been planning.

I got my head out and started to build my posture, getting mentally prepared to work my higher percentage passes.

Credit to my opponent for this–40-49 year old beginner weighing ~190 pounds immediately goes for a gogoplata!!! Dude was game!!!

And I heard Coach Frank yelling, “SQUEEZE!!!!”.

First Place No-Gi Directors Beginner Light-Heavyweight

Pre-match advice was, “Just like the last match–position and control!”

Two points for me and a good position.

I started looking for a way to an arm bar.

Next up was the championship gi match. I learned a lot in these four minutes.

This should have set off another alarm in my brain–this guy had a solid base and was not going to be easy to sweep.

From there we got into an under hook pummeling contest, which I thought he’d be happy to do for the rest of the match since he was ahead. I felt like I could keep him from smashing me know matter what, so I started setting up a baseball bat choke we’ve worked on from half guard. There’s some risk here, because I’d have to let him pass to get it. Maybe I didn’t commit to it as a should have because of this risk. I actually heard his coach yelling, “Watch the baseball bat choke he’s setting up!”

But, duh, this guy wouldn’t be easily swept.

This one wasn’t in tight.

2nd Place Directors Gi Cruiser Weight

We all had a great time and learned a lot, but it was a long day for a whole family to compete.

0 notes