July 19th: UFC Silva vs. Irvin and Affliction Banned on 2 screens hosted by Mac Danzig at the Diesel Playhouse.
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UFC® Fight Night™ Diaz vs Neer
Date Time: Sep-17-2008 7:00 PM ET/PT
Event Type: UFC Fight Night
Location: Omaha Civic Auditorium, NE
Nate Diaz 8-2-0 Vs. Josh Neer 23-6-1
Clay Guida 22-6-0 Vs. Mac Danzig 19-4-1
Houston Alexander 8-1-0 Vs. Eric Schafer 9-3-2
Ed Herman 15-5-0 Vs. Alan Belcher 11-4-0
Joe Lauzon 15-3-0 Vs. Kyle Bradley 13-5-1
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Mac is featured in the new July issue of Men’s Fitness magazine as one of the “25 fittest men in America”
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On April 14, 2002 Mac Danzig defeated Brandon Bledsoe in 56 second in California.
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“I’m Mac DAnzig and I’m a vegan”, says Mac Danzig in a new advertisement for Peta2, the world’s largest youth animal rights organization. Danzig has become one of the spokespersons for the organization.
“Animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses don’t have a fighting chance,” says Danzig. “I don’t eat animals because I don’t want to contribute to their suffering–it’s that simple. Do yourself a favor, do the planet a favor, and help end animal abuse. Go veg.”
The ad–which is available in both print and video versions–can be viewed at peta2.com.
The link also gives info on a chance to win a UFC party–including snacks, Mac’s favorite workout supplement, and the next UFC pay-per-view, compliments of peta2.
For more info Danzig’s vegan lifestyle go to this link.
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Photo: theultimatefighter.tv
Expecting Mac Danzig to be avoiding takedowns and using strikes, Tommy Speer was surprised Saturday night when Danzig shot in on him scored the takedown that would be the beginning of the end in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 6. “I felt like I was prepared. I shot in for a takedown, but Mac blocked it, then got a single-leg (takedown) of his own”, Speer told the Post Bulletin. “I was surprised he took me down. I thought he’d want to stand.”
Speer however is maintaining a positive attitude and his belief in himself is deepened from the feedback of his UFC peers. “I’ve heard nothing but positive things from fans, UFC staff and other fighters. Hopefully that means they were impressed enough, and I’ll be back.”
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Photo: Pride FC.com
For Mac Danzig, 7 years of training and hard work in the sport of MMA came to fruition by winning The Ultimate Fighter last night in The Ultimate Finale. The veteran’s experience, technique and strategy worked masterfully against Tommy Speer. While many expected Speer to try and take Danzig down, the Californian reversed things by taking down Speer. From there Danzig’s superior BJJ skills were very evident against the relative newcomer (Just over 2 years in competition) in Speer. Danzig was able to work to mount and from there land strong strikes and eventually take Speer’s back and win via rear naked choke.
Danzig will step down and began to compete in his natural weight class of 155. Speer, with a load of potential to go far in the sport, will regroup and add many elements to his game, likely with Matt Hughes camp, and return to 170.
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Photo: PrideFC.com
In his blog on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, Mac Danzig gives his impressions of episode 11 of the reality series:
To all my wonderful readers: Sorry if this one is short, but I’m concentrating on full time training and honestly, there’s not really much to say about it. Oh yeah, if I seem like a smart-ass jerk at times, maybe I am, but keep in mind, I’m trying to make this blog entertaining, so here goes …
Well, this episode (entitled “Upper Decker”) revolves almost entirely around the Saunders vs Speer fight, and the toilet incident. Great, episode, eh?
Somehow, in the fight recaps, Richie is again praised for not getting destroyed as bad as everyone expected, disregarding the fact that George had a virtually no-win situation on his hands fighting someone four to five levels below him. It’s like a professional chess player playing against a toddler with an extra chromosome, and when the toddler takes a pawn before losing, everyone praises him for it. In that case: Great job, Richie! You are an inspiration to us all.
Richie would make one hell of a great T-Ball player.
The toilet incident: Up until this point, none of these guys (War, Richie, Troy) really had shown that much blatant disrespect to anybody. We were about one week away from going home when this happened and I was not in the mood for that kind of nonsense.
There really isn’t much to say about it. Richie wasn’t going to get up when I walked towards him. He was hammered and decided to play a fake role of “I’m gonna sit here and laugh, it’s no big deal.” He knew people would hold me back and he wanted no part of it. This guy is hilarious. He says that “my bark is louder than my bite.” I have to laugh at that. This is coming from a guy who submitted by whining like a little girl into George’s anal cavity while kicking his feet like Fay Wray in “King Kong.”
When Billy told me about their little prank, I just told myself; “Don’t do anything that will get you kicked off the show.” And I didn’t. I can understand a lot of pranks out there, but that was pretty nasty. On top of that, a prank should be played on someone who you’re friends with, not your enemies. Otherwise, it’s the difference between something that is silly and laughable, and something that causes huge problems.
I was in my closet thinking about how I should handle the situation when I heard J-Roc kick the door down. I then heard some yelling and I ran out there because I assumed that we were fighting. Once I got to the room, it was just a bunch of guys yelling and holding each other back and basically trampling Bowman who had fallen to the floor in a valiant one-legged attempt at breaking the squabble up.
I don’t know … the whole situation sucked because I don’t associate myself with people who do stuff like this and here I was, forced to be around them. But that’s the formula for the show and that’s what I signed up for, right?
I told them to clean it up, they did, and I wasn’t trying to have anything to do with them anymore.
The fight between Tommy and Ben was pretty boring with the exception of Tommy’s no-quit attitude during the arm bar. I have to admit, that was in really deep. Tommy won’t tap. That’s all there is to it. He’s tough as hell and it’s from his upbringing. If someone is going to beat the guy, it’s gonna have to be with technique and precision. You can’t let the guy hold you down and grind you out. Easier said than done, as we saw here.
Stay tuned for next episode, people. This whole experience is almost finally over and I couldn’t be happier.
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Photo: MacDanzig.blogspot.com
In his blog, Mac Danzig gives his thoughts on last nights episode of TUF 6:
John Kolosci said it right: “When you win, it’s the highest high, and when you lose, it’s the lowest low.”
I’ll tell you what, this is a crazy game we play. Fighting isn’t for everyone, and in my opinion, there isn’t a more emotionally draining sport. Everything you do leads up to that one moment. Fighting isn’t like baseball. You can’t make up for it two days later at a home game.
John decided to get wasted and trash the place after his loss. Some people change drastically when alcohol enters their bloodstream and Mr. Kolosci was no exception. He went from being one of the most reserved and mature members of the house, to howling at the moon and obnoxiously trashing everything in sight.
At least he had a smile on his face while he was doing it. I had mixed feelings about the destruction of personal property (on one hand, it’s kind of entertaining in a “Jackass” sort of way, but otherwise, it’s pointless and stupid) but boys will be boys, and after all, production sort of condoned that kind of activity. Many times, we were told by production: “trash the place, we don’t care.”
I honestly felt like they went a little bit overboard. There’s some kid out there watching the show that would’ve loved to have that particle board foosball table that got thrown into the pool, subsequently deteriorating and clogging all the pool’s filters and making the water unsafe to swim in. Oh well.
During the destruction montage, we get to see a tiny glimpse of two things that were fairly hilarious to me. One was Tommy’s sleeveless “summer lumberjack” flannel, while the other was Blake’s “skullet” haircut. I wish they would have touched on these things in greater detail. Blake had Billy cut his hair into a Nascar style pre-mullet equipped with lightning bolts shaved into the sides. He then proceeded to to grow a beautiful handle-bar mustache to complete the ensemble.
The funny thing about it, was Blake was of course joking around, where as Tommy actually brought an assortment of flannel shirts with the sleeves torn off as a normal part of his wardrobe. What a wonderful melting pot of American culture!
I guess Troy was a little hurt that Serra wasn’t going to corner him. I remember before reality set in and they all realized that they were going to have to fight each other, some of those guys (especially Troy) were writing stuff on their water bottles every day like “Serra 4 Life.” They then got all offended when things went down the way they did.
That’s all good, I guess, but it kinda reminded me of when girls in school would write “I love Johnny” on their notebooks, and then get all upset and cry when they found out that little Johnny kissed a lot of girls in school, and they didn’t feel so special anymore.
All joking aside, it’s definitely an awkward situation when you have to fight your training partner/ roommate. That was a hard situation for them, but that’s the formula for the show and you must always remember, this is an individual sport.
The fight with Troy and Matt went pretty much the way everyone thought it was going to go. No surprises there.
People thought the fight with Richie and George was going to be a massacre, but that‘s not the way it happened. People don’t understand how hard it is to fight a guy with much less skill and nothing to lose. You can even see Richie’s attitude in the pre-fight interviews. He knows he’s not supposed to win and he’s just planning on going in there and doing his best. For someone with no real aspirations of winning the show, that’s a fairly low-pressure situation, and the way he fought reflected that.
All of the footage of Richie thus far would lead the casual viewer to believe that my judgment of him was unfounded. He speaks respectfully of his opponent and acts as a sportsman. Unfortunately, all the actions of Richie that caused me and the others to be so judgmental of him can’t be shown much because they were vile, profanity-laced tyraids about specific people (mostly strippers and prostitutes) he supposedly knew. I’m sure Spike TV has no interest in publishing these moments.
The George vs Richie fight ended after George secured a kimura from the north-south position. Pretty much a sparring match. Sotiropilous showed patience and poise and completed his job like a pro.
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Photo: MacDanzig.blogspot.com
In his blog, Mac Danzig gives his thoughts on last week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 6 where he defeated John Kolosci.
Well, now we see that nothing goes in one person’s (or one team’s) favor for too long with this show. The pendulum swings both ways, and Team Serra’s gift for winning six out of the eight prelims was that they would now have to fight each other in at least two matchups. That’s the way it goes on this show and when it’s all said and done, it’s really only about one fighter. Like Dana said; “only one guy gets the contract.”
Thankfully, Tommy and I didn’t get matched up. That would have been a real let down for us and I distinctly remember Hughes saying sternly to the team that he “wouldn’t let that happen.”
On a side note, I love the little facial shots of Hughes and Serra’s reactions to the picks. On either side, you have Robbie Lawler and Drago. Both of them stone cold. I really liked both those guys. I didn’t get to hang out with Drago too much at all, but Robbie Lawler is one cool kid. He was really one of those guys that you actually looked forward to seeing every day. He has a good heart and it’s easy to make him laugh. I wish they would have shown more of him this season, but he was pretty quiet for the most part. Another priceless facial shot is Richie’s reaction to getting matched up with George. That’s the kind of smile you give when a judge sentences you to ninety hours of community service while your lawyer is elbowing you to keep a happy demeanor.
I notice that a recurring theme in John Kolosci’s interviews and a little bit in Serra’s as well (if I’m not mistaken) is the idea that I like to “go to my back” or that I’m “comfortable falling to guard.” I really have no idea where these guys came up with that notion. Just because I submitted Joey Scarola from my guard doesn’t mean I wanted to be there. I simply take what I can in a fight.
I have a couple decision losses on my record from years ago and the main reason for those losses was takedowns. I learned from that and I am the biggest advocate of staying standing and/or getting top position. It’s way too hard to win a fight off your back these days and although I never wrestled in school, my first real pro training camp in 2002 was RAW with Frank Trigg and Iowa standout & World Cup freestyle wrestling champion Rico Chiapperelli as my coaches. I developed a decent takedown defense if nothing else during my time with those guys. I can’t remember when the last time I pulled guard in a fight was … maybe never.
The sparring situation … I really have no idea why there was so little sparring in our training. It was mostly hitting the bag, grappling and conditioning circuits. A good friend of mine from Season 5 told me that his team only sparred once during the entire six week period. I’m sorry, but that’s just absurd. In my opinion, sparring is at the top of the list when it comes to fight preparation, but any time I would ask about it, the coaches usually skirted the question. I, of course, didn’t pry because anything you complain about will get turned into a huge issue (as we’ve all seen many times).
About the whole ”note on the wall” thing: Yes, I did feel like I was negative, and I did feel like I was going to be portrayed as some grumpy miser on the show and yes, I felt a need to be more positive. I said all those things. But the whole ”writing on the wall” thing was really poking fun at a guy on one of the past seasons, who, in a vain attempt to get more TV time, wrote a bunch of cheesy motivational quotes on the wall that were laughable at best. I was basically making fun of that, but the edge of the story was never told. If there are two things I can always do, they are: make weight, and change my attitude without writing it on the wall to remind myself. That was a joke, more less.
One thing that I wasn’t happy about was how much they jumped around with the time sequence. I try not to harp on this too much, but by the time I fought John Kolosci, Blake and I were already seeing eye to eye again and I was no longer being so disrespectful to him. On this episode, they use some things that were said about Blake (rather condescendingly) by me, that I said right after the few days we were feuding a few weeks earlier. I’m not sure why I feel the need to mention this, but I think I’d like everyone to know that I wasn’t so patronizing to him all the time.
The “coin toss” episode was pretty funny in real life. They edited it down to about one minute, but in all actuality it took about 20 minutes for them to do the entire thing. It was the most unorganized, dysfunctional attempt at achieving a choice that I have ever seen. Our team just sat there as Serra and Dana argued about what exactly would happen when the coin was tossed, and whether the guys would be sent to Hughes’ team if they called it correctly or incorrectly. I remember Ray Longo trying to get them to stop and explain it all again multiple times, while War Machine would chime in sporadically with stuttering gibberish that nobody seemed to listen to. At least 10 times, Drago yelled in his powerful Long Island accent “C’mon! Just DO it!” and Dana had to stop a few times because all the bickering had gotten him confused as to how the whole thing would actually work. And you all thought flipping a coin was easy.
I think I understand the initial idea behind why Richie wanted to talk with Hughes behind closed doors, but come on, how can you take a guy seriously that wears his hat like that, and says the word “awkward” twenty times in every sentence? Hughes wasn’t into it, and I laughed again when I saw Robbie’s facial expression.
The fight with John went well for me. I was in a good mindset from the beginning and I went into work mode. The first knee I hit him with really did alot of damage and everything he tried played into my game. I have a way of wearing people out who try and take me down against the fence and this was a prime example of that. I was simply punching when I saw an opening at first, but thanks to some great coaching by Lawler, Fiore and Hughes, I remembered my elbows and let them loose. To his credit, John hung in there and tried his best, but I could feel him breaking with every failed takedown attempt. I have a lot of respect for John and I was simply the better man that day. I think with the right training, John will be a force among up and coming welterweights.
Team Serra may have had great coaches and a bunch of wins, but they had a few imbeciles on their team too. You think I was grumpy? Just imagine if I had to be around a guy who has two anarchy tattoos, but can’t explain what it means or even spell it correctly.
My corny speech at the end was kind of embarrassing to watch, but I felt it was necessary at the time and I’m glad I said it. Our team had been through so much with all the losses and the negativity, and I was just letting everyone know that I appreciated all the help they gave me in helping prepare, and was happy to be with some solid guys, regardless of the losses.
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