This is a Risky Night for the UFC

Ryan isn't a fan of combat sports, but I'm a mild UFC fan, and tonight, if you haven't been following the sport, is a very risky night for the UFC and mixed martial arts in general. Former boxing heavyweight champion James Toney is stepping into the octagon for the first time in his career against 47-year old MMA legend Randy Couture, who still is very competitive at his age. If Couture wins, its not really that big of a deal. A boxer tried out a different sport for the first time and failed. But if Toney wins, I think it really hurts mixed martial arts as a legitimate sport as far as the "these guys are the best fighters in the world" point of view. My guess is that Couture, who has a boatload of experience, will dominate and win this fight easily, but if Toney does win, and then goes on to dominate and defeat, younger, more in their prime fighters over the next few months, MMA might become a 3-5 year fad and disappear from its growing spotlight.

UPDATE: Well, Couture made short work of Toney, taking him down before he could even throw a punch, then dominating him with the ground and pound until eventually submitting him. I think if anything we learned (more like reinforced an ongoing trend) that you just can't walk into a mixed martial arts ring and expect to dominate just because you are a "tough guy" or very good at boxing. It takes years of training to be an elite MMA fighter, and it shows it matches like this.

I have a problem

Gambling is typically a ruinous endeavor that typically falls under the category of "vice". Across the board, people will tell you gambling, like with sports betting, is "bad". I would generally agree. Except when it's awesome. Let me introduce you to Cent Sports, a free, legal sports betting site. Odds are, unless you are a truly gifted gambler, you will never see a dime from this adventure. Of course, you never have to pay a dime either. Everyone wins!
Cent Sports makes their money off of advertising, and it gives you free loose change to gamble with. You start with a dime, provided by Cent Sports, and should you ever drop below the dime, they will give you a new one. If you ever win enough (20 dollars) you can cash out, but that's damn near impossible, frankly. I have one friend who is at $1.98, and he's had an amazing run so far.
Anyways, I am not here to promote Cent Sports (though if you do sign up, be sure to add me as a friend!). I am here to admit that I spend way too much time on it. Last night, I wagered 5 cents on a lightweight boxing match from Japan between Takeharo Shimada and Jose Alfaro. I know nothing about boxing. In fact, the internet apparently knows nothing of Takeharo Shimada. I don't know what happens. I've been frantically looking for results to the Shimada-Alfaro bout. Again, I bet $.05 on it. I've parlayed tennis with second flight British Soccer. I've bet several times on the Sun Belt conference. I can't stop. I can't stop gambling.
And it's awesome. I haven't lost any money, even though I'm terrible at it. I'm trying to find out more abnout all these other sports I would otherwise be uninterested in, like the NBA, Argentine Soccer or, of course, boxing matches from Japan that are apparently phantoms.
So yeah, if you know who won the Shimada-Alfaro bout, could you let me know?

Teddy Atlas is furious

One of the things I have come to appreciate with the Olympics is the 2AM boxing on CNBC. I have no idea why, but it's been on every night. I'm taken in every time. I think it's a combination of two factors. First, the live scoring is easier on fans who don't like things simply "judged" like figure skating (although, admittedly, I've come to dislike gymnastics a lot less) and the fact that many countries we're not used to seeing, like the Congo, or Mauritius (I ain't callin' no grown man Mauritius!)
The fun part too, is that the sport is so inherently flawed, and it amuses me to no end how worked up Teddy Atlas gets about this. First, the boxing is terrible. There's a lot of grabbing and flailing, and frankly, it's very clear that most of these guys are never going pro. Teddy keeps discussing what the boxer needs to do strategically, then the two lunge at each other and slap furiously. It's great.
Second, the tournaments are completely unseeded. This has the Big Lead up in arms to the point they are using MatLab. It means that many otf the top fighters are having to face each other, which in turn is preventing some of the better fighters from getting to medal rounds. If this was a winner take all tournament, sure, things would be OK. But it isn't, so it's not.
Lastly, the scoring is ridciulous! Points are awarded when three out of five judges agree that the white part of the boxers glove has connected with the head or body of a boxer. Right. Try to get three people to instantaneously agree on something like that. It just doesn't work out so well. It's led to what may typically be deemed the weaker fighter to win, just because his solid hits were more noticeable than the punches of a stronger fighter. Talk about shenanigans. That being said, I just watched Somjit Jongjohur of Thailand absolutely dominate in a bout with Samir Mammadov of Azerbaijan. It wasn't because Jongjohur was necessarily a a better fighter, rather because he was older and understood what types of blows had a better chance of being scored.
Perhaps it's time for Americans to realize that perhaps these games aren't exactly what we play in the States. In the meantime, however, I'm all for Teddy Atlas continuing his nightly diatribes.