Hijinks Inc.

Category: Dave Sack

  • The MMA Minute – UFC 117 Aftermath

    On paper, this was a fantastic night of fights. Looking back at it, it more than delivered on all the anticipation, plus some. Here’s your recaps.

    Quick Recaps

    “We discussed yesterday about how annoying Sonnen had gotten with all of his trash talking. But… he totally dominated Silva for the entire fight. This wasn’t catching the guy in a mistake like Werdum over Fedor, Sonnen used his strengths to exploit Silva’s weaknesses and completely dominated him for the entire fight. I’ve never seen Silva go after someone like he did tonight, in beginning of the 1st and 2nd round he really attacked Sonnen instead of feeling him out for 3-4 minutes, but in the end Silva’s cocky fighting style finally caught up with him in this fight, and Sonnen backed up all of his trash talking with a very dominating performance.”

    …that was what I HAD written up before the miraculous finish by Silva. What an amazing fight! I can’t even put into words how unbelievable that finish was considering how the fight had gone. That’s why Silva is the best fighter in the world.

    All 3 rounds went as almost every Jon Fitch fight goes, Fitch trades some punches, gets a hold of the opposing fighter, takes them to the ground and goes to work. It’s not exciting, but it’s incredibly impressive. Now he’s next in line to get GSP or his own teammate, Josh Koscheck, fighting for the title.

    Guida was high octane energy the entire fight, like usual. Rafael dos Anjos posed his greatest threats whenever the fight was on the ground, continually trying to lock in the omaplata. Guida got dos Anjos up against the cage and got him to tap due to the broken jaw.

    • Welterweight bout: United States Matt Hughes vs. Brazil Ricardo Almeida – Hughes wins by technical submission (anaconda choke) at 3:15 of the 1st round.

    Hughes has looked really good in the last couple fights. I wasn’t sure he had anything left in the tank, but he’s really put together a few good performances in a row. This is his first fight after being inducted into the UFC hall of fame, and he knocked Almeida down with a strong punch, and then pounced on him to get the submission.

    I’m not sure I’ve seen a first round when more punches were thrown to knock the opponents head off… by both fighters! Roy Nelson spent most of the fight trying to defend the furious attacks from dos Santos, but quite a few got through. At one point, dos Santos front kicked Nelson straight to the jaw. Nelson took a lot of abuse, but just kept coming. I really didn’t think much of Nelson before this fight, but anybody that can take that much abuse and keep on coming forward, deserves some respect.

    I finally got back on the right track with my picks, going a perfect 5-0 on the main card thanks to the amazing finale comeback by Silva. This was the best night of fights I’ve seen in a very long time. Our next MMA event is WEC 50 on the 18th.

  • Saturday Shenanigans: Recent Entertainment News

    It’s that time of the week again, here’s your entertainment news:

    The teaser trailer they showed at Comic-Con for The Avengers is now online, click here to check it out. It’s not much, but you’ve gotta start somewhere.

    Zachary Levi addressed those rumors we told you about in the last Entry Level Geek, about him auditioning for the new Superman movie. In a recent interview with IGN he said:

    “It’s complete fiction. A bummer that it’s complete fiction!” Levi recounted how he himself began hearing about it. “I start getting these text messages from my friends, saying, ‘What is going on? You didn’t tell us any of this!’ And I’m asking, ‘What are you talking about?’ I get this link emailed to me from my publicist. She goes, ‘Just so you know…’ I go check it out, and of course, on the bottom of that article there’s all these comments, and every other article that spawned off of that and all the comments on those sites.”

    “I guess one of the things that I fear is that people pigeonhole me in the nerd role,” Levi told me. “Because a lot them say, ‘Well, I can see him as Clark Kent, but I can’t see me as Supes.’” Levi laughed, adding, “I’m an actor! Just give me six months and a gym. Give me something! I guess one of the upsides is that people are going, ‘I can believe him as Wally West. Make him The Flash! I can believe that!’ Which would be amazing.”

    More news along with this week’s New In Theaters after the jump. (more…)

  • The MMA Minute – UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen

    The pound for pound best fighter in the world (when he chooses to actually fight) is up against an elite wrestler who’s been calling him out since day 1. It should be noted that in the past, Anderson Silva has had the most trouble against the top wrestlers he’s faced. Silva has faced a lot of scrutiny lately because of his recent lackluster matches against Demian Maia and Thales Leites, when he spent more time playing matador, and less time as the bull. Meanwhile Chael Sonnen has been spouting off so much trash talk to try and get under Silva’s skin, it’s been unbearable. I’ve got a video with a ‘best of’ Sonnen’s yapping after the jump if you want to check it out.

    As if anything was needed to ramp up the intensity of this fight after all this talking, Dana White has threatened to cut Silva from the UFC if he fights the same way he did in his last bout in Abu Dhabi. “I’m telling you right now, if he acts like that again in the ring, I will cut him,” said White. “I don’t care if he’s the pound for pound best fighter in the world. I don’t care if he’s the middleweight champion.” Now, keep in mind that Dana White is a big talker in  his own right, so I have a hard time seeing him cutting Silva, but it definitely adds an interesting angle to this fight. I wouldn’t miss this fight for anything and I expect fireworks from the main event, but regardless, the winner will face Vitor Belfort in a matchup currently targeted for November.

    The rest of the card is made up with very solid matchups as well. We’ve finally got a long delayed re-match between Fitch and Alves. They originally met back in June of 2006 and this fight has been rescheduled 3 different time. Fitch has torn through everybody he’s faced in the UFC except for his title fight against GSP. The always entertaining Clay Guida and new UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes will also appear on this card, not facing each other of course, but they should be good fights.

    Dana White also confirmed that the winner of the Nelson/dos Santos fight will get a UFC Heavyweight title shot against the Lesnar/Velasquez winner. Here’s a rundown of the fights:

    Main card

    And of course, here’s my picks: Silva takes Sonnen seriously and finishes him off (you really can’t pick against someone as established as Silva until they show a drop-off in their game, Silva hasn’t, so I’m sticking with him), Fitch to take down Alves for the 2nd time, Guida over dos Anjos, I think Hughes will outpoint Almeida for a decision victory, and dos Santos over Nelson. It should be a good card! Again, if you’re interested, the Sonnen video is after the jump.

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  • Hijinks TV Reviews: Louie

    Ahh, Louis C.K. I’ve watched a few of his specials, but until recently I really didn’t know too much about him. In the last few weeks I’ve gone back and listened to more of his stuff and I’ve come to this conclusion. This is a guy with a completely twisted viewpoint on the world, totally morose and morbid… and it’s hysterical all at the same time. The only reason he’s not one of my favorite comedians is only because of his prevailing use of profanity. I can get by with a few curse words, but I don’t personally really care for the level he chooses to use on stage. Having said that, he’s a great comedian, and I think he comes across as a guy with a thick outer shell and a very soft inside. He loves his kids, and those are some of my favorite bits that he does, about being a dad. But does his comedy translate to a television series? Find out after the jump. (more…)

  • Hijinks Reviews: UFC Undisputed 2010

    UFC Undisputed 2010 is the 2nd edition of the THQ line of UFC games and, as expected, it makes some improvements over last years game. Here’s the big changes that they touted:

    • Encourage camaraderie by forming fight camps and leagues to participate in ranking and champion tracking systems. Join forces, train like real-life UFC fighters and go online to compete against other camps in the virtual UFC world.
    • Navigate a roster of more than 100 prolific UFC fighters, each fully rendered to convey a photorealistic appearance. Prominent UFC personalities, including the commentary team of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.
    • A new Sway System with full upper body and head movement allows for the dodging of attacks, while on the ground and a new Posture System delivers fight-ending strikes from every position.
    • Choose from an array of moves from all available disciplines, including newly added Sambo, Karate and Greco-Roman Wrestling, to become a true mixed martial artist.
    • The “Game Is Watching You” system tracks every action and uses this information to dictate in-game commentary and career progression. Enhance the Career Mode experience through online co-op sparring sessions.

    I can tell you that they really delivered on most of those promises. However, this game has been plagued with a number of problems on the online side, so I didn’t mess with that at all. For my thoughts on that parts I did play though, follow me after the jump. (more…)