The name comes from my high school nickname: Charles ‘Sky’ Walker, of course a play on the Star Wars name and plus I’m 6’ 6" so to many I’m pretty tall. And this week has definitely not been a slow one in the world of MMA, I hope to bring you some thoughts and commentary each week, maybe with a little humor as well, on the on goings of MMA, and this’ll be my first crack at it:
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First off, congratulations to new President-elect Barack Obama, this was truly a historic week for the United States of America. We hope this will lead to positive changes in our country as we move forward.
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Speaking of the presidential election, who knew MMA, would cross paths with our 44th President. In a blog, former UFC welterweight king Matt Hughes decided to weigh in his two cents on the Democratic nominee by questioning his respect toward GOP nominee John McCain. While most would think that would go unseen by the commander-in-chief, he left a statement to the aging welterweight, stating that he has always respected the senator and that by no means shows disrespect to him. Wow, even on the net Matt can’t withstand a good counter puncher.
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Denis Kang, PRIDE and global veteran, has finally found his way to North American soils again. The highly respected Middleweight will no doubt bring some new dynamics to an already exciting division. It’ll be interesting to see who Joe Silva decides to match him up with first, as I’m not sure how much stock the UFC plans on putting into the formerly ranked Kang since he’s been hit or miss in his last few bouts. I’d like to see a match with Martin Kampmann, just to gauge where the Korean Canadian is at as far as the UFC’s class of fighters.
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Chris Leben, fresh off his unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping will be riding the pine for at least nine months after being suspended for failing a drug test after UFC 89. It looked as though Leben had turned his career around and finally gotten into the shape needed to be a future contender but now being busted for steroids sets him back once again. I wish Chris luck, as he’s not the most well rounded type of fighters but always comes to fight.
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UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland is completely sold out. That’s huge news for the UFC as it lets them know that their foreign markets are just as promising as the U.S. Not to mention it has a pretty damn good line up of fights with the dream match between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson as well as the return of Shogun taking on UFC hall of famer, Mark Coleman. Also added is a welterweight war between Chris Lytle and Marcus Davis, which is sure to bring plenty of fireworks in Ireland. I think Zuffa has my $44.95 in the bank for this one.
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WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown hit the airwaves Wednesday night on VERSUS and while I was disappointed in not being able to see the Cerrone/McCullough fight we were treated to five fights and plenty of excitement. I’m sure you’ve seen the results by now and if you haven’t, scroll down the page and find the WEC 36 thoughts from Kelvin himself. While it was the usual good showing from the Zuffa owned WEC, it had its bizarre moments to make you want to scratch you head in wonderment. Was Paulo Filho high or was one of the ring girls showing a little too much skin, because the former undefeated middleweight king couldn’t keep his eyes on the fight itself. Maybe it was a slight at Chael Sonnen’s power and he was simply letting the Team Quest fighter know that he could take his punches even while daydreaming. Maybe the dehydrating caught up with him and he was seeing doubles of Sonnen. Maybe he was looking for the exit, since that’s most likely where Zuffa will send him packing after missing weight by 7 pounds for a title fight. Whatever it may have been, it was a disgraceful performance from a guy that was given a lot of hype by the WEC and Zuffa. If you check MMA4Real, you’ll find an interview with him discussing his intentions for a rematch with Sonnen (please spare us!) as well as his plans to move up to the light heavyweight division. Which one? EliteXC’s, because shadowboxing non-existent 205’rs would probably be his best bet until he gets his head on straight. But the big story out of WEC 36 was the dethroning of the California Kid by the Big Serious Looking No Name guy. While I work on a nickname for Mike Brown, I’d like to congratulate him on a well put together game plan and a speedy recovery. During the fight, Brown’s power seemed to be way too much for Faber, who was even given the Raggedy Anne doll treatment when he was tossed head over heels to the mat at one point. The always flashy Faber, attempted to use his quickness and unorthodox shots to drop the featherweight giant (oxymoron?) but in his attempt at a spinning back elbow, he left himself wide open for a great short right that sent him California Dreaming and back down the featherweight ladder to try and climb back up and regain his supremacy. It happens to the best of them. When you’re on top of the world one day and then come crashing down the next. Lets hope Faber, who is no doubt the poster boy for WEC, deals with this loss as a positive and comes back to form in his next bout. Much like his fellow pound for pounder Georges St. Pierre, this setback should be an opportunity to prove his dominance of the featherweight division as he has even more to work for and that’s regaining the belt many thought he wasn’t supposed to lose.
Well, that’s the first installment of The Sky Report, please feel free to leave feedback and give me your thoughts on this week in MMA (especially if I missed something).
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