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For those of you who don’t know me over the past year I have become a big fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), what some of you here in Amerika only know as UFC. The MMA organization that got me into MMA was a Japanese company called Pride Fighting Championships. There is a big debate in the MMA world which organization was the better of the 2. Each has their premier fighters and fans of both swear they could kick the shit out of the other. Me, I was a fan of MMA so I like elements of each company but the feud was fun read about in MMA blogs and forums.

Just after I got into MMA the rumors started appearing that Pride was in financial trouble and then last month they sold their assets to the owners of the UFC. The merger was predicted to finally create 2 stable companies with great rosters of fighters to square off in super fights. The marketing spin was comparing this to the merger of the AFC and the NFC into the NFL and all MMA fans were stoked.

The reality of the situation is that many of Pride’s top fighters left pride to sign big contracts with the UFC during the negotiation phase. Recently an ex Pride fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson kicked the shit out of their reigning light heavyweight (LWH) champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell a few minutes into the first round. Up until that point Pride fighters fighting in the UFC had not fared so well. A specific example is the complete KTFO of Mirko “Crocop” Filopovic, an ex Pride heavyweight and total bad ass kickboxer from Croatia, by a Brazilian nobody. The irony of this KO is that Crocop was brutally taken out by his own most fearsome weapon, a head kick.

Well the deal has finally been completed and Pride is now the property of the UFC owners and they can now work on signing new contracts with Pride stars and getting Pride rolling again and the UFC/Pride super fights scheduled. One of them is coming up in October when new UFC LWH champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson takes on Pride LWH and Welterweight champ (yes 2 belts) Dan Henderson for the unification of the LHW belts. I can’t wait. If you would like to learn more about some of the MMA fighters that got me into this sport here is a top 10 favorite list to check out.

1. Feder Emelianenko
2. Maurico “Shogun: Rua
3. Mirco “Crocop” Filopovic
4. Wanderlie “The Axe Murderer” Silva
5. Dennis Kang
6. Paulo Filho
7. Takanori Gomi
8. Shinya Aoki
9. Josh Barnett
10. Mark Hunt

This is just a sample of the many MMA fighters out there. They come in all shapes and sizes and they have many different styles. I look forward to the battles between Pride and UFC that are sure to come now that both companies are owned by the same people.

As my friends are well aware my wife and I are big movie nerds. I am not a big horror movie fan but we recently went to see 28 weeks later and it was perhaps the best film I have seen since Pans Labrinthe. If you have no seen either of these films check them out.

In the coming weeks I am looking forward to several more films especially Shrek the Third. The first 2 Shrek films have been filled with some of the best pop culture references of any film I have ever seen and I expect the 3rd one will not let me down. On the summer blockbuster list I want to see the Transformers movie. I know it is a Michael Bay film and that it is going to be crap but it should be some marvelous eye candy. Finally I want to see the latest installment of the Bourne series. These have been some of the best action films made in the past 10 years and Matt Damon pulls it off well. The last one on my list is sure to be another stinker but my comic book nerd fanboy side is played like a puppet when you mention the Silver Surfer and it just so happens the 2nd Fantastic Four film (the 1st was terrible) is all about my man and his cosmic surfboard. Perhaps we may see a trace of Galactus? We shall find out soon enough.

After 3 weeks off from running I picked it up again today with a short 2.5 mile run over the bridges. I am primarily wanting to focus my training on cycling over the next few months while working on my running pace (I hope to get my miles per minute time down to below 10 minute miles) and keeping my distance in the 10k range.

I have decided I will ride my first linear century this year as my next big goal by entering the Sequatchie Valley Century sponsored by the Chattanooga Bike Club. After work tomorrow I plan on joining the bike club for the Tuesday ride through Red Bank if I can get there in time and if my friend Bill does not want to ride some other route.

There are some other things I need as well. First is a good tree removal company to drop a big dead oak in my backyard as well as some other trees that I want gone. Another skilled laborer I am looking for is a mason who can build me a nice wall in front of my house and give me some ideas for a wall behind my house. If anybody knows any of the above laborers please have them contact me.

It is also getting close to the time when I will have my house paid off. I expect in a few months I should be sending in my final payment and I will be free and clear of any debt other than local taxes. I expect that I will be putting in a new bathroom and kitchen very soon with the money I am saving with no house payment so if you know any reliable and skilled general contractors that are looking for some work please have them contact me as I am in the market for some quotes.