Finally getting the exposure she is long overdue, Shayna Baszler will face Cristiane Cyborg on CBS’s next EliteXC card 7/26. Cyborg is the wife of Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. Baszler…er….the winner of this matchup will likely go on to face Gina Carano for the EliteXC women’s title on the next CBS event:

Shayna Baszler vs. Cristiane Cyborg on CBS @ MMA Junkie

Unfortunately, we’ll have to miss the Portland showing of ‘Okie Noodling 2′ to watch Shayna’s devastating first round tapout of Mrs. Cyborg…

CORRECTION: ‘Okie Noodling 2′ plays on 7/27 so we can watch Shayna win *and* watch the toothless hillbillies willingly stick their hands down the mouths of catfish…

The SavSci staff feels much the same way today that we did the first time a girl accepted our request for a prom date (no, we didn’t all go together nor did we all go with the same girl)–Shayna Baszler–aka the next EliteXC women’s champion–gives props to our humble website on her MySpace blog. She’s a submission monster and on a short list of the best female fighters in MMA–and the undisputed coolest.

Shayna gives props to SavSci @ her MySpace blog

Shayna Baszler @ MySpace

Here’s a highlight video someone posted to DailyMotion:

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson–perhaps fueled by the alarming number of ‘Rampage wuz robbed’ noobs on the Intertubes–has done a 180 and now claims he won the fight against Forrest Griffin:

Jackson accepted defeat in humble style in the immediate aftermath to Saturday’s fight, conceding inside The Octagon: “Fair play, Forrest whooped my ass”.

Now it seems the former champ has had time to reconsider his view though, insisting he inflicted the greater damage.

Rampage floored Griffin in round one, and rocked him with a series of combinations throughout, before seemingly stepping off the gas when his corner appeared to tell him he was winning going into the final round.

“I felt like I won the fight. When I think back, he got the second round and maybe the fifth,” stated Jackson.

“But I was the one powerbombing, I was the one doing damage, when I got on top I was hurting him. When he got on top I don’t think he did a lot.

“I’ve got to watch it again but I kind of think you have to beat the champion. But it was unanimous.”

Claiming that you deserved to win a fight because you ‘inflicted greater damage’ is akin to Hillary Clinton suggesting she deserved the Democratic nomination because she was ‘winning the popular vote’: these may be nice things to have working for you, but according to the rules it doesn’t determine the winners and losers. The criteria for judging boxing is as follows:

a) “effective” aggression, b) defense, c) ring generalship, and d) clean and hard punching

For MMA you can substitute ’striking’ for ‘punching’ but its the same deal. Absent from this is ‘doing the most damage’. Granted, you could make a case that it would fall under a couple of the other criteria, but unless you put a guy down for the count or make him tap “doing the most damage” is a phyrric victory. The serious problem of using the same criteria for boxing as for MMA should be readily apparent, but for the moment that’s the way fights are judged.

So lets give Rampage the benefit of the doubt for a moment. Say he did win rounds 1,3 and 4–Griffin decisively won round 2 and earned a 10-8 on two of the three judges scorecards. That would make the final tally:

RAMPAGE: 10-8-10-10-9 = 47
FORREST: 9-10-9-9-10 = 47

So best case scenario for Rampage, it was a draw.

There’s no doubt that the retrofitted-from-boxing 10 point must system isn’t the best judging method for MMA and you can make a case for each fighter in every round but the 2nd. Still, Rampage wasn’t robbed by any stretch of the imagination. To suggest such is an insult to Forrest Griffin. In all fairness to Rampage, he’s being a lot more equivocal than the “Rampage wuz robbed” Internet noobs. Most likely he’s already gone into promotional mode for a rematch, and certainly that seems appropriate in this case.

Rampage changes tune, says he won @ Setanta Sports

Today’s cautionary tale on the dangers of inbreeding is the trailer for ‘Okie Noodling 2′. Nope, ‘Okie Noodling’ isn’t a strangely translated Japanese pro wrestling event–its a, uh…’activity’….enjoyed by those of a more rustic bent that involves gettin’ in the water (apparently fully dressed more often than not), sticking your hand down the throat of a catfish and dragging the critter to shore.

At this point you’re no doubt wondering “aren’t catfish those really nasty lookin’ critters with particularly unpleasant dispositions”? That would be correct…though they taste *real* good. Catfish don’t have teeth as such, but they’ve got spines a-plenty and very strong jaws. Nasty cuts and the occasional dismembered finger are occupational hazards of the ‘Okie noodler’ which considering they’re sticking their arm down the mouth of catfish seems to serve them right.

For you parents out there–if you’re thinking that you’ll forego buying your kids a XBox 360 in hopes that they’ll spend less time inside playing video games and more time outdoors take a look at this clip and then pack up the car for a trip down to Best Buy.

FWIW, you might want to watch “Okie Noodling 1″ first as much like “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Matrix” trillogies it can be kind of hard to pick up the plot intricacies unless you start at the beginning of the series. NOTE: If you’re a Rose City local the Hollywood Theater at 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard will have a screening of ‘Okie Noodling 2′ on July 27th. At least that’s what the SlashFilm.com website says, as there’s no mention of it on the Hollywood Theater website. Hopefully the scheduled showing is legit as this sort of film really deserves to be seen on the big screen :

Impact Wrestling quotes Dave Meltzer who’s reporting that the WWE is putting pressure on arenas not to book MMA events 30 days before or after appearances by the ’sports entertainment’ promotion. At one point Vince McMahon claimed that MMA wasn’t a threat to his business because “they don’t have John Cena”, and is apparently having a change of heart. Here’s a tip to Vinny Mac–you don’t want to play this game with the Fertitta brothers and Dana White. So far the only promotions impacted have been smaller regional outfits but much like Darth Vader challenging Luke Skywalker, McMahon is ‘writing checks his body can’t cash’ in a metaphorical sense if he thinks he can shake down Zuffa in this manner:

WWE prohibits arenas from running MMA @ Impact Wrestling

Fresh off his UFC light heavyweight title win, Forrest Griffin made an appearance at the World Series of Poker. He didn’t fare particularly well, presumably his conditioning wasn’t bad enough and hadn’t inhaled enough cigarette smoke to compete with the other casino lifers. Most significant is the reaction of the crowd to the presence of the new champ–he was clearly the biggest star in a room full of poker luminaries and other celebs:

When cards hit the air Sunday afternoon, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Paul Azinger, Annie Duke, Shannon Elizabeth, Howard Lederer, Antonio Esfandiari and Jen Tilly were among the dozens of well-known players trying to win a bracelet. But for most of the fans, the only person in the room that counted was Forest Griffin.

On Saturday night, Griffin upset light heavyweight UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson with a unanimous decision in a five-round fight. And on Sunday afternoon, Griffin, still sporting a black eye and raw face from the fight, was sitting at table “Blue 40,” just insides the ropes, and just feet from the fans stacked five-deep in the aisle trying to catch a glimpse of their new hero.

Seated at Griffin’s table was another big fan of the newly minted UFC champ — Johnny Chan. And the two-time Main Event champion made it no secret that he was an unabashed Griffin fan.
Griffin

“I was there last night,” Chan told Griffin. “The way you took Jackson down was amazing.”

As the crowd and the TV cameras swarmed Griffin, an All-In Energy representative slipped in and placed a patch on Griffin’s shirt.

Griffin told Casino City that he had never played in a tournament before. “I’ve played in basements for beers and nickels, but that’s about it.”

And his inexperience at the table showed. Griffin played in just about every hand. Once, he called every bet to the river without looking at his cards.

“Is that how Patrik (Antonius) coached you how to play,” Chan asked with the needle out.

“No,” said a smiling Griffin in response. “This is a new style of play.”

Midway through Griffin’s day, the UFC champ rivered a full house, and Chan rushed over to congratulate the fighter and pose for a picture.

Forrest Griffin at World Series of Poker @ Casino City Times

Latest word from the Affliction: Banned front is that Frank Trigg has been added to the broadcast team. According to the most recent press release, however, Mauro Ranallo isn’t listed as the play by play guy in favor of Jay Glazer. Glazer is solid, but Ranallo is likely the best man for the job. Affliction also confirmed the night’s ‘Buffer v. Buffer’ battle with Michael Buffer working at ‘Banned’ and brother Bruce in Las Vegas doing his usual UFC gig:

The debut Affliction event, dubbed “Banned” and featuring a main event between longtime PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianko and former UFC title-holder Tim Sylvia, will feature a broadcasting team of play-by-play man Jay Glazer and color commentators “Big” John McCarthy and Frank Trigg.

Affliction announced the team for the July 19 event, which takes place at Honda Arena in Anaheim, Calif., earlier today.

However, Trigg today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) — while on TAGG Radio (www.mmajunkie.com) — that he hasn’t yet finalized a deal for the event.

However, Trigg, an MMA broadcaster who’s worked aside Glazer for the PRIDE Fighting Championships highlights shows on FSN, confirmed that he was in negotiations with Affliction as recently as last week. He said he wants the gig and is optimistic a contract will be worked out in time for the show.

Veteran MMA broadcaster Mauro Ranallo had been previously announced as a “Banned” broadcaster, but he wasn’t mentioned in today’s press release. However, he’s still expected to be involved in The Fight Network’s Canadian broadcast of the event.

Glazer is a senior writer for FoxSports.com and has been a sideline reporter for NFL on FOX since 2004. Trigg is a veteran fighter of several MMA organizations, including UFC and PRIDE. He currently co-hosts the daily TAGG Radio, the official radio show of MMAjunkie.com.

McCarthy, who has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, refereed 535 fights (from UFC 2 until The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in December 2007) during his 14 years as an MMA official.

Affliction also confirmed that veteran broadcaster Michael Buffer will be the night’s ring announcer.

Affliction taps Glazer, Big John and ‘Twinkle Toes’ @ MMA Junkie

The Baltimore Sun has an interview with Brock Lesnar–his answers to a couple of questions are particularly interesting:

MMA Stomping Grounds: How would you respond to fans of the sport and fighters lower on the totem pole who believe you got a big push because of your popularity in wrestling?

Lesnar: Tough [expletive deleted], buddy. Get in line. That’s just the way it is. This is a business and it’s a sport, it’s entertainment and it’s all three of those words wrapped into one. [UFC president] Dana White and [co-owners] the Fertitta brothers didn’t buy this company to say, ‘Hey let’s see if we can run this thing into the ground and not make a dime.’ They bought it to make millions and make it what it is, and that’s what they are doing. I’m just trying to have fun and get a little piece of the pie. I really enjoy it. I’m proud and honored to be a part of it. And it’s not like I didn’t pay any dues either. I wrestled amateur when I was 5 years old and put more miles in airplanes and working out. I’m 31 this year and I’ve paid dues. If [other fighters] want to be mad I think they should focus on how they can become a big contributor. They are mad because they aren’t making any money.

MMA Stomping Grounds: What was your reaction when Coleman had to pull out of UFC 87?

Lesnar: After looking at Mark, I respect Mark a lot but it worked out for the better. Mark, I believe, is over the hill and had been out of the league and regardless of the injured knee, I don’t think it would’ve made a difference.

MMA Stomping Grounds: What did you think when they proposed Herring instead?

Lesnar: Heath is a younger guy, he definitely has a lot of experience and he’s a tough SOB. He’s a brawler and brings to the plate a whole variety of things that we’re looking at as a fighter. He’s well rounded with hands, feet and it’s a challenge for me, and I accepted the challenge when Mark pulled out. I’m looking at this fight where I’ve got a lot to gain and he has a lot to lose.
My back is against the wall in this fight too, because I said from the beginning I wanted to fight credible opponents and that’s what Dana is handing me in Frank Mir and Heath Herring.

Lesnar’s answer to the first question also applies to the endless whining about Kimbo Slice and his ‘push’ relative to more ‘deserving’ fighters. Regardless of your opinion of Kimbo as a fighter the fact remains that people are willing to pay money to see him fight. That fact alone justifies his ‘push’.

Q&A with Brock Lesnar @ Baltimore Sun

Patrick Cote will get a shot at Anderson Silva later this year, so sayeth the Dana:

“He’s getting a title shot,” UFC president Dana White said.

Cote is expected to meet Anderson Silva for the title but there are some hoops for the champion — considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts — to jump through first. Silva is taking on James (The Sandman) Irvin on July 19 in Las Vegas in a light-heavyweight bout. Then he is slated to defend his middleweight title, probably against Japan’s Yushin Okami, at UFC 88 in Atlanta on Sept. 6.

The Cote fight is expected some two months after that.

The Cote/Almeida fight at UFC 86 was a snooze-fest, but hard to blame the usually entertaining Cote for treading lightly against a third degree BJJ blackbelt. Kudos to the UFC brass for understanding that fact:

Cote had the last laugh on the grappler this time, albeit in a fight that was hardly the stuff of legend. But White acknowledged the style matchup made for a cautious fight with Almeida, another Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, looking to avoid Cote’s heavy hands and Cote trying not to get snared by Almeida’s submissions skills.

“I knew if I made a mistake in this fight, I will lose the fight for sure … If you go on the ground with this guy, you’re dead,” said Cote. “He’s one of the best guys in the world at jiu-jitsu.”

And while there were some boos from the crowd, the fighters paid a price for the bout. Both of Cote’s eyes were slightly blackened and Almeida’s head was lumpy and swollen as they face the media after the fight.

Cote, who also heard his name chanted by the crowd, was riding high.

“It’s a big win for me,” said Cote, who served five years in the Canadian military including time in Bosnia. “This win will change my life.”

Cote served in the Royal 22nd Regiment known as the Van Doos.

There was some drama outside the cage after the fight. Manager Stephane Patry said a UFC official — not White — had berated his fighter for the lacklustre bout. Patry said he promptly complained to UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who assured him Cote would be treated right.

“Obviously it wasn’t the most exciting fight but Lorenzo’s a good guy, he understands,” Patry said.

UFC confirms title shot for Canadian Cote @ Sportsnet.ca

Mirko Cro Cop has withdrawn from DREAM.5 and will have knee surgery. According to the Croatian striking machine, he’ll have minor arthroscopic surgery and be on the shelf for 3 weeks or so. Apparently DREAM was having some difficulty finding an opponent for him, with Jerome LeBanner and Mighty Mo at some point agreeing to fight but eventually not working out. He’s looking toward a September return. More details to follow.