The Blogboard Jungle

Matt Hawkins is coming to the east coast to join me and the other east coast MMA crew for UFC 230. If you're not able to watch it in New York City you can order it through Amazon Prime at the link below. This card had some trouble getting finalized and we've complained about it, made predictions for one card, then had to re-make them for other variations of the cards. The podcast will be a quick one with Matt making his way east but he sent me his final picks for UFC 230. I'll read them off here:

View from The Hawks Nest An event review from a fan's perspective By Matthew “MMAHAWK” Hawkins Follow @MMAHAWK21 Carano vs Cyborg All photos by Matthew Hawkins The sport of mixed martial arts as we know it has been around for roughly 25 years. For a large portion of that time it was considered mostly a sport for men, but in their shadow women were competing all over the world. In the early years, it consisted of catching an occasional Becki Levi fight on an IFC combat event, U-Japan show, or an all women Hook-n-Shoot card. While these events, for the most part, were few and far between, some promoters were leading the charge. They saw that women not only deserved their spot at the table but could actually sit at the head of it. From the Indian reservations to UFC 219, I have had the privilege to see the evolution of women in this combat sport, but there was one fight that we can point to that really started it all; Gina Carano vs Cris Cyborg. In this write-up...

View from The Hawks Nest An event review from a fan's perspective By Matthew “MMAHAWK” Hawkins Follow @MMAHAWK21 Tito Ortiz All photos by Matthew Hawkins December 11th 1999 at The Cobra Challenge  In May of 1997 I was a senior in high school and already addicted to the sport of no holds barred fighting. A couple years earlier I was introduced to the UFC by a cousin and from that point on I knew this was the sport for me. Whether it  was carrying around my collection of VHS tapes everywhere I went or challenging members of the varsity football team to submission matches in a friend's living room after school, I simply couldn’t get enough o f it. Eventually, I began to reach out to UFC pioneer Mark Hall about training and learning what being a fighter was about. On the night of May 3 0th of the same year, the UFC held UFC 13. The card consisted of two four-man tournaments along wi th a super fight heavyweight bout featuring Vitor Belfort vs Ta...

View from The Hawks Nest An event review from a fan's perspective By Matthew “MMAHAWK” Hawkins 2018 Bellator Heavyweight Championship Tournament  Photos by Matthew Hawkins Follow @MMAHAWK21 In the cookie cutter model of American MMA in 2018, we are often subject to the same experience for every event. For over a decade now the UFC has been the standard that all other organizations aim to be with the majority of the best fighters in the world competing under their banner. However, their events no longer tie together to tell the story of each division or the rise of fighters from prospects to champions. Fights now seem to be made to maximize profits. While from a business standpoint this makes sense, it takes away from the natural progression of the athletes in the sport. In early MMA there were one night tournaments that allowed a story to be told about a particular fighter. In one night you would learn about a fighters skills, heart, toughness, and personality. ...

View from The Hawks Nest An event review from a fan's perspective By Matthew “MMAHAWK” Hawkins Eddie Bravo Invitational 13 The Lightweights All Photos by Matthew Hawkins Follow @MMAHAWK21 On Sunday October 22nd the thirteenth edition of the Eddie Bravo Invitational took place. The site for the action would again be the Orpheum theater in downtown Los Angeles. The show was set to showcase the lightweight division (155lbs) under classic EBI tournament rules. A 16 man elimination tournament as well as a four man tournament in the welterweight division (170lbs) held under the rules of Combat Jiu Jitsu (CJJ). Under those rules palm strikes are allowed to be thrown by competitors when the action hits the mat. As a result those bouts are regulated by CAMO (California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Organization) due to the legal strikes taking place. So the stage was set for a great night of grappling action and this time, we had the ultimate view for the Hawks Nest. ...

View from The Hawks Nest An event review from a fan's perspective By Matthew “MMAHAWK” Hawkins Follow @MMAHawk21 On June 24th Bellator MMA traveled to New York City for the first time. On paper the event was loaded with something for every fight fan; prospects, current champions and a few of the most noticeable legends in fighting history. The event was so stacked even the Big Apple couldn't contain it to just one show. Instead, it was a double header event opening with the classic numbered show on Spike, Bellator 180, which lead into the PPV card, Bellator NYC. It would mark their second move into the pay per view market but the first under long-time promoter Scott Coker. Any fan of the sport that has watched for any decent amount of time knows that MMA events can be very unpredictable. When the lights go down, craziness can start to take place and on this night it sure did! Before I get into a few of the event's highlights, I want to explain the general exper...