Hijinks Inc.

Tag: Jones

  • T.W.I.S.T. for Aug1-7

    I’ve had a crazy week this week, so I didn’t have time to bring you links for most of these stories, and I apologize for that. But the last thing I wanted to do was miss a week, so here’s your biggest sports stories of the week, from my point of view.

    News broke this week about Brett Favre contacting his coaches and teammates via text saying that he was calling it quits. Then Brett Favre said he was ‘undecided, but would probably play as long as his ankle holds up’ the next day. Seriously, who really gives a crap anymore.  And honestly, the Vikings passed on some quality rookie QBs in the draft just to make sure they didn’t upset the almighty Favre, he then turns around and ‘retires’ after the calendar has already turned to August? I’m so sick of this guy. Let’s just wait until the Vikings line up on offense in the first game of the year and see if Favre is under center. Quit giving this diva the attention he so desperately seems to crave.

    The rest after the break. (more…)

  • The MMA Minute – UFC Live 2 Aftermath

    This was a great night of fights for a non-PPV card! I’m not going to waste any of your time on pleasantries, let’s just get into the recaps:

    Jones looked very good against the experience Matyushenko. Once he got Matyushenko to the ground, he was able to get a crucifix position and rain down a bunch of quick, strong elbows, and Matyushenko was unable to defend. I’m not sure Jones really even received any damage in this fight. I don’t think we’ll be seeing much more of him except for on PPV fights, he’s going to be in title contention in the very near future.

    Frankly, I’m surprised any of the judges gave Muñoz a round. Okami clearly came into this fight with the plan to avoid takedowns and keep the fight standing. He controlled the center of the octagon and did a tremendous job sprawling to neutralize Muñoz’s takedown attempts. One of those close fights that really wasn’t that close. Okami just doesn’t lose very often in the UFC, only to Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen, who he now trains with.

    Howard has said that he never throws a set-up punch, and that was clearly the case in this fight. Every punch he threw was a swing for the fences. He tagged Ellenberger with a few good throws, but Ellenberger did an outstanding job avoiding the big damage, and taking Howard down. A few well placed elbows got Howard’s left eye to swell shut (probably some sort of broken orbital bone, it was pretty nasty). This was a good win for Ellenberger to bounce back from a very close loss to Carlos Condit in his last fight.

    Gomi did not look good in his first fight in the UFC against Kenny Florian, but he was very impressive tonight against Griffin. He landed a punch flush on Griffin’s jaw and Griffin landed face down on the ground as the ref stepped in to end it. Solid performance by Gomi.

    So in the end, I again had a disappointing night, going 2-2 on the night with my picks. I have a habit of picking against Japanese fighters in the UFC, many of them just don’t fare very well on US soil (they destroy people over there though), and they both managed to win tonight. I’ve got plenty of chances for redemption this month, with 4 more events coming up. Like I said in the intro, this was a good night of fights considering it wasn’t a PPV event. We’ve got UFC 117 this Saturday, and it might be the best card of the year, I’ll bring you that preview on Friday.

  • The MMA Minute – UFC Live 2: Jones vs. Matyushenko

    The page turns on the calendar tomorrow, and with that we leave the slowest month in recent memory (as far as the MMA world is concerned). August is the complete opposite, with a whopping 5 events to keep us occupied. We waste no time getting started as the first event is tomorrow, the first of the month, as the UFC brings us UFC Live 2: Jones vs. Matyushenko. The event will be the second UFC event to be broadcast on Versus; the first being UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones.

    We’ve got a couple interesting things with this card, the least of which is the return of “Big” John McCarthy. He’ll referee this event, the first time he has refereed at a UFC event in almost 3 years. This will be Matyushenko’s 3rd fight since his return to the UFC, and Jones is a very dynamic opponent, especially compared to his previous 2 fights. I’m also curious about how the 2 wrestlers, Muñoz and Ellenberger, will fare in their matchups. With that said, let’s get to the picks:

    Main card

    As good as Matyushenko has been, Jones’ only setback was when he was disqualified for the use of multiple, illegal, 12-to-6 (striking from top of skull and down) elbows so I like Jones to continue to climb the ladder. I’ll also take Muñoz over Okami, Ellenberger over Howard, and Griffin over Gomi.