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By In Mixed Martial Arts

What I Talk About When I Talk About MMA

“This weekend served as a reminder of why this sport is great. Better yet, it was a representation of what makes MMA great. With one 25-minute-long exception, UFC 214 was a gift from the violence gods. By the end of the card on Saturday, even the most cynical onlookers were forced into begrudging applause.

It wasn’t just the main card that was great, either. The prelims had a little bit of everything. There were quick, brutal knockouts for Drew Dober and Ricardo Lamas. There were several entertaining back-and-forth battles: Jarred Brooks-Eric Shelton, Aleksandra Albu-Kailin Curran and the Brian Ortega-Renato Carneiro donnybrook that rightfully won “Fight of the Night” — no small feat considering the rest of the card. Finally, there was a coming out party/passing of the guard when Aljamain Sterling put a beatdown on former champion Renan Barao. None of the fights were less than good.

For the most part, it only got better on the main card…”

 

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By In Mixed Martial Arts

The Dumb, Dizzying Depths of The Money Fight

“…At this point, everyone knows the match is a shameless spectacle. The winner is all but decided, the narratives already written, while we all just sit back and watch and enjoy. It is a lot closer to professional wrestling than either boxing or MMA, which explains why the MMA crowd has been eating it up with more fervor than the boxing folk. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; everyone has their shallow indulgences in life. Some can detail all the regional differences in the “Real Housewives” series, while others can detail all the storylines from Monday Night Raw. Tomato, tomotto.

Yet at the same time, the appeal of “The Money Fight” is undeniable: boxing’s biggest star vs. MMA’s biggest star. It has all the glitz of celebrity boxing, only with better technique and higher stakes. It’s gossipy nonsense, but the kind of gossipy nonsense that feels big and important, not unlike the 45th president’s Twitter feed. In a world where a reality TV star can become the most powerful man on the planet, it is perfectly congruous for a type of reality TV show to become the biggest sporting event on the planet…”

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By In Mixed Martial Arts

A Half Empty Look at International Fight Week

“International Fight Week came and went, and with it there was much cause for rejoicing.

“The Ultimate Fighter 25” Finale main card on Friday was surprisingly good. Jared Cannonier laid a dynamic beatdown on a remarkably tough Nick Roehrick in an entertaining brawl; Drakkar Klose provided Marc Diakiese some much-needed adversity in a battle of two promising prospects; Jesse Taylor finally earned the opportunity to aggressively scream “I’m a UFC fighter” around Las Vegas and presumably fought the urge to kick out limousine windows in celebration of his “Ultimate Fighter” victory; and Justin Gaethje brought his beautiful brand of violence to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Michael Johnson.

UFC 213 on Saturday brought its fair share of action, as well. Anthony Pettis once again looked like the Anthony Pettis we all imagine him to be; there were zero butt scoots in the rubber match between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum; and Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero went back and forth in a heck of a fight for the interim middleweight title. All things considered, the UFC double-feature delivered. What’s there to complain about?

Unfortunately, plenty…”

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By In Mixed Martial Arts

The Final Tragic Stage of a Fighter’s Career

“Remember the good ol’ days of MMA, when guys like Fedor Emelianenko, Takanori Gomi, B.J. Penn and Andrei Arlovski were tearing up the scene in their respective promotions? There was nothing like those glory years of the early 2000s, when mixed martial arts was permeated with excitement from the original guard of the sport passing the torch to the next generation. Those four were among the trailblazers that pushed the heavyweight and lightweight divisions in Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship to the next level of the fight game.

Fast forward a decade or so, and all four of them are continuing to compete, much to the chagrin of fans who were there in those early years. Penn and Emelianenko suffered demoralizing losses at Bellator 180 and UFC Fight Night 112, and the week before that, Arlovski and Gomi put some additional losses on their losing streaks at UFC Fight Night 111. To see these legends fade so drastically this late in their careers is tough to bear. When you’re pushing 40 in the fight game, Father Time starts to push back mercilessly…”

 

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By In book review

Book Review: “The Gustav Sonata” by Rose Tremain

On his first day in his new kindergarten class in small-town Switzerland, Anton Zwiebel can do nothing but weep uncontrollably. The teacher tries to console him, but Anton is helpless, carried off by the inertia of his emotions. She pairs him off with a friendless boy, Gustav Perle, whose first words to Anton are: “My mother says it’s better not to cry. She says you have to master yourself.” Anton immediately stops crying. This exchange, where the ever-caring Gustav stabilizes the torrentially emotional Anton, will come to define their relationship.

The story of Gustav and Anton as children in the years immediately following World War II composes the first of three movements in Rose Tremain’s The Gustav Sonata. Part Two traces the pre- and mid-war relationship of Gustav’s parents, while Part Three moves fifty years into the future to see the final crescendo of Gustav and Anton. Despite the different times and historical contexts, Tremain, winner of numerous awards, including the Whitbread Award, the Orange Prize, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, skillfully investigates the philosophical implications and human costs of neutrality…”

 

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