"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz and "The Voice" Michael Schiavello

“The Voice Vs Tito Ortiz” is the third installment of the series hosted by “The Voice” Michael Schiavello which airs Friday on HDNet.  The first episode of “The Voice Vs” featured UFC color commentator and stand up comedian Joe Rogan. The episode reached legendary proportions when these two men got together for the first time on television. It worked so well that HDNet ordered more shows which led to the second episode featuring the always colorful Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Strikeforce fighter, stand up comedian and color commentator.  Now we are graced with the third installment starring “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz who is never short on words and often controversial.  The gettin’ is good as Michael once again works magic going one on one with some of the most notable people in the world of mixed martial arts.

We face two major predicaments in the MMA world today.  Both of these problems reared their ugly heads during the action packed WEC 50 fight card and, luckily, did no damage.  Yet the what ifs of WEC 50 brought to light again the two things that keep fighters up at night in a cold sweat: bad judging and bad refereeing.  On WEC 50, everyone who should have won, won but ask this: What if judge Nelson Hamilton, who scored the main event between champ Dominick Cruz (15-1) and Joseph Benavidez (9-2) a 48-47 for the challenger, had passed whatever he had smoked prior to the bout to his fellow judges?  Even the judge who scored the bout 48-47 Cruz was far from on point as Cruz clearly won no less than four of the five rounds with the only round in question being realistically more a draw than a round for Benavidez.  The second issue, involving the officiating of the bouts themselves, came in the form of Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage of the Zachary Micklewright (10-2) “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (34-13) fight.  This stoppage was a good stoppage, Micklewright was done; but even with Zach mechanically working his guard against an imaginary opponent while ordering a happy meal from the ring doctor, some people in the MMA community still felt the need to cry foul about the fight being stopped early.  Had Micklewright still been coherent, this stoppage would have been a disaster.   Unfortunately, it is more likely that this stoppage was a just one by luck rather than design.  Let’s explore these issues one at a time.

With Quake in the Cage 2 coming up on August 29 in Arcadia,California I figured it was time to learn more about the owners of the promotion. As it turned out the guys responsible for these shows are pioneers who were the first to bring live MMA shows to the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. They even have an award winning documentary based on their early events. Their names are Vince Duchetta and his partner/professional cage fighter Daniel Hernandez of The Vault MMA in Monrovia California.

WEC Cruz vs. Benavidez takes place tomorrow night at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada and airs live in Versus. The official weigh-ins take place today and you can view the live stream right here at MMAGospel.com starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The live stream is available after the jump.

Thanks to “The Voice” Michael Schiavello MMA Gospel is once again proud to bring you a sneak peak of the next installation of “The Voice Vs” from HDNet. This episode The Voice sits down with “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz who is never shy when it comes to speaking his mind. This sneak peak Michael asks Tito about the MMA myth that during a London street fight he was knocked about by Lee Murray. Lee Murray is now serving a ten year sentence in Morocco for his part in the £53m Securitas robbery in Kent in February 2006. “The Voice vs Tito Ortiz” premieres this Friday August 20 on HDNET at 10pm ET / 930pm PT.

After the break you will find the photo gallery for the MMASF Team USA vs The World event attended by the MMA Gospel staff. If you fought on this card or want to use the photos provided here just remember to credit Mallory Mejia and MMA Gospel.

Meisha Tate Tournament Champion (Photo: Strikeforce)

“UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World….!” When Bruce Buffer says these words, every fan in the arena as well as those watching around the world knows that the best heavyweight fighter in the world is being introduced. There is never a doubt that the man who holds a UFC title is the best because the UFC ensures that this is the case, ordering instant rematches when there is an argument about who won a title bout and placing their champions at the top of the most prestigious UFC Pay-Per-View cards. If Jesus himself were slated to appear on a UFC card, he would co-main for the champ at best. Also, belt or not, you would never see Brock Lesnar (5-1) on a Fight Night. This is because the UFC understands the importance of proper promotion. Dana White and company follow the two most sacred of promotional laws: never devalue your own company’s titles and if you have a unique attraction, maximize it. These rules not only carried the UFC through the ban era of the mid to late nineties, but built the UFC into the financial powerhouse it is today. Following these rules cost a promotion nothing and even the smallest of amateur promotions follow them. Why can’t Strikeforce seem to get on board?

Hector Lombard Victorious at Bellator 24 (Photo: http://www.tomhillphotos.com)

Last night at Bellator 24 we witnessed the current welterweight champion Hector Lombard (24-2-1) win via knock out in just 38 seconds over former NFL running back Whisper Goodman (16-9). Hector is an impressive fighter with only two defeats both coming by way of decision. A champion of his caliber should not be fighting a Whisper Goodman and it leads me to wonder if the best years of his career are being wasted.

Ground and Pound is a method that has been used since the early days of MMA. It was used in many victories by Mark Coleman, and some could argue that it was perfected by Tito Ortiz who added the submission defense factor in order to combat against the occasional tricky Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist. Today the ground and pound has evolved into something that has to be used in a lot more calculating manner than it ever has before. Today’s ground and pound has been combined with not only submission defense but with technical grappling, fighters that use this style are typically described as using a “grinding pace” or “willing to grind it out”. This style has pros and cons.

Tim Kennedy is no stranger to the readers of this site and those that tune in regularly to MMA Gospel Radio. He has been a guest on the show twice and each time there was never a dull moment. From signing Culture Club to talking about the Navy SEALS and why they suck. Now thanks to Ranger Up we get introduced to Tim Kennedy through this video which shows a slightly different side of Tim. I will warn you now, those that always talk about fighters “going to war” will probably never use that term again after watching this and seeing the look in Tim’s eyes.