Anderson Silva: You’re Bad for the Sport of MMA

If you haven’t already watched UFC 112, stop reading this post right now.


First, a disclaimer: I try not to be too much of an “armchair fighter” – with no background in fighting myself, I really have no idea what professional MMA fighters go through in and out of the ring, and I think there’s a limit to the amount of criticism one can dish out when one hasn’t experienced anything remotely similar to what these fighters face. Just stepping in the ring earns my basic respect, but I’m so ticked off about this, I just have to write about it…

On Sunday, I watched UFC 112 with a friend of mine. It’s one of the first times I recall watching an event and feeling utter disgust and contempt for one of the fighters. That fighter is Anderson Silva. If you haven’t heard what happened, read this article first. What Silva did was beyond disrespectful; I think by now we’re used to seeing him dance around when he fights (he’s a prototypical counter-puncher if there ever was one), but he used to finish the fight. He used to knock guys out. He’s had some tremendous highlight reels, and he’s truly a gifted athlete. The way he moves and strikes makes him one of the best fighters on the planet. But the past few fights he’s lost his aggression, instead choosing to dance around his opponent. On Saturday at UFC 112, he crossed the boundary from being a bit of a showboat into the realm of being bad for the sport of MMA. Every fighter is an ambassador for the sport, whether they like it or not, and the sense of honour and respect that 95% of the fighters show in the ring is one of the reasons I enjoy the sport.

Anderson Silva spent the first three rounds of the fight toying with Damian Maya, putting on a ridiculous show that looked more like Cirque du Soleil performance than an MMA fight. He could have, and should have, knocked Damian Maya out. The next two rounds he danced around Maya, hardly throwing a punch – it got so bad that the referee threatened to take a point away from Silva for a lack of aggression. At the end of the fight, Dana White didn’t even put the belt around the waist of Anderson Silva – White gave it to Anderson’s trainer and walked away. Joe Rogan asked Anderson Silva one question, then ended the interview. The disgust from everyone who watched that fight was palpable.

Anderson Silva needs to re-think why he’s in the sport of MMA and change the way he fights the next time he steps into the ring.

UPDATE: This video below is quite interesting in light of what happened in the Silva fight. Irritating buzzing throughout the whole video though…

John Mayer Live in Calgary

On April 3rd I had the pleasure of seeing John Mayer rock out live in Calgary, and I captured a bunch of video, assembling it into a mini-concert, and I also took a bunch of pictures. I was shooting with my little Panasonic ZS3, so the quality isn’t great when you look at the full-sized images – but it sure was good to have the 12x zoom! We were in row 24, so anything less than 12x wouldn’t have cut it. The opening band was Michael Franti & Spearhead.

John Mayer Live Calgary

The Story Behind My Epic Photo Book Review

PHOTO-BOOK-REVIEW-IMAGE-FINAL

I spent nearly my whole day on Tuesday promoting – via email, Twitter, forum posts, etc. – the longest article I’ve ever published. The topic? A 12-way photo book review. It weighs in at more than 15,000 words, has 87 images on it, and 12 videos. It’s the result of 7 months of work, and took every ounce of effort and willpower for me to complete. I’m one of those people who finds it easy to start projects, but sometimes finds it hard to finish them – and when you’ve got a project this big, with this many spinning plates, pushing through to the end can be a real challenge. One of the unfortunate themes for me in 2008/2009 was “review overload” – I took on too many things to review, said yes too many times, and as a result had far too many things on my reviewer’s to do list…and with this photo book review, I didn’t want to be the guy who requested samples from 12 different companies then doesn’t finish the review. Real artists ship, so I gritted my teeth and pushed through to completion. It was hard – really hard – but I’m glad that I made it through to the end. Continue reading The Story Behind My Epic Photo Book Review

Michael Franti & Spearhead, Live in Calgary

I shot this at the John Mayer concert last night; this was the opening band, Michael Franti & Spearhead. Not really my style of music, but really tight musicians. Good stuff. Be sure to look at the girl on stage using her phone – likely texting – while the fun is going on all around her. If there was ever an indicator of the problems some people in our society have of disconnecting and living in the moment, this is it.

The Haiku of a Dog Owner in Spring

The white snow it melts
Hidden “treasures” are revealed
Should have bought a cat

Kijiji Needs an IQ Test Filter

This is literally the entire ad that was posted. This person thinks they’re going to sell a computer for $150 without mentioning anything about it other than the price not being final…that’s some funny stuff. 😉

A Dog’s Purpose, According to a Six Year Old

I received this in my email today – I did a bit of research to try and find the original source, but couldn’t discover it. Maybe you’ve read this before, but as a life-long dog owner, I was deeply touched when I read it.

puppy-keiko-dog

“Being a veterinarian, I had  been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish  Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron,  his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were  all very attached to Belker, and they were  hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker  and found he was dying of cancer. I told the  family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and  offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for  the old dog in their home.

As we made  arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought  it would be good for six-year-old Shane to  observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane  might learn something from the  experience. The next day, I felt the  familiar catch in my throat as Belker ‘s family  surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting  the old dog for the last time, that I wondered  if he understood what was going on. Within a few  minutes, Belker slipped peacefully  away.

The little boy seemed to accept  Belker’s transition without any difficulty or  confusion. We sat together for a while after  Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad  fact that animal lives are shorter than human  lives.
Shane, who had been  listening quietly, piped up, ”I know  why.” Startled, we all turned to him.  What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d  never heard a more comforting explanation. It  has changed the way I try and live.

He  said,”People are born so that they can learn  how to live a good life — like loving everybody  all the time and being nice, right?” The  Six-year-old continued,

”Well,  dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t  have to stay as long.”

Live  simply.

Love generously.

Care  deeply.

Speak  kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the  teacher you would learn things  like:

When loved ones come home,  always run to greet them.

Never pass  up the opportunity to go for a  joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh  air and the wind in your face to be pure  Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before  rising.

Run, romp, and play  daily.

Thrive on attention and let people  touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple  growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie  on your back on the grass.

On hot days,  drink lots of water and lie under a shady  tree.

When you’re happy, dance around and  wag your entire body.

Delight in the  simple joy of a long walk.

Be  loyal.

Never pretend to be something  you’re not.

If what you want lies buried,  dig until you find it.

When someone is  having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and  nuzzle them gently.

Enjoy every moment of every day.”

The Secret to Not Being Late Any More

“Time denial isn’t just specific to chronic latecomers, most everyone falls prey to this mentality at one point or another.  Yup, even you my friend.  So stop judging the dude in the next cubicle. You know the drill… You’re right in the middle of something that has your complete attention, all the while your next commitment is creeping up on you.  You glance at the clock, trying to squeeze in another few minutes to finish that email – or frag that alien with your rocket launcher – thinking that no matter what, you have time because it “only takes” 15 minutes to get to the office.”

One of the blogs I follow regularly via RSS to email updates is called Refocuser – it’s a great blog written by a guy I admire.  He wrote up a great post this week about the struggle that some people have with being on time – and one of those people would be me. I’m one of those people who’s always “just” in time – and my definition of that is within 5 minutes of the given meeting time, but I know for some people that’s unacceptable. The Refocuser blog entry focuses on time denial; the fact that most people who are habitually racing against the clock do so because they underestimate how long it takes them to get places.

In addition to that, I think there’s a certain amount of self-centeredness that those of us who are always late have to take ownership of. When we’re late, it’s usually because of one thing: we place a higher value on whatever we’re doing than the meeting we’re supposed to be going to. That means that when I’m working on an article, doing email, or even sleeping, I’m placing my own desire to do my own “stuff” ahead of being on time for an appointment. That’s been something I’ve tried to be cognoscente of since learning that a few years back (from an episode of Opera of all things), but it’s not an easy thing to conquer.