UFC 114: Night of the Underdogs

After the long epic thrash talking, two former UFC light heavyweight champs finally let their fists do the talking.

It started at UFC 96, continued at The Ultimate Fighter and became one of UFC's most anticipated grudge matches. Sugar Rashad Evans and Quinton Rampage Jackson put thrash talk into a different level as they made MMA fans anxious of what will happen if these two beasts are put inside the octagon cage.

I was surprised when Rashad stunned Rampage with a quick jab but Rashad wasn't able to finish the fight giving a chance for Rampage to recover. As expected, Rashad utilized his wrestling skills taking down Rampage and controlling him on the canvass for the first 10 minutes of the grudge match.


Rampage was able to send Rashad on the canvass with a sharp straight, got on top and relentlessly threw vicious punches that almost stopped the fight but Rashad managed to regain his composure and turned the table by a take down and stayed on top dropping punches until the last horn.

Rashad won the fight via unanimous decision granting him a chance for a title shot against Mauricio Shogun Rua while Rampage is asking for a rematch during interview. Well, he have won most of their thrash talks anyway.

The co-main event made a mark before the fight when Michael The Count Bisping crossed the border by leaning his forehead against Dan Miller during the "referee's call" forcing Miller to push Bisping back.

I don't know what was with Bisping when he done that, he's been cocky ever since and yet he wasn't able to finish Miller by knock out or submission.

Miller landed vicious right hands and kicks but those were not enough on the judges eyes resulting to Bisping winning the fight via unanimous decision.

Todd Duffe holds the UFC record for the fastest knockout when he send Tim Hague to the canvass in just seven seconds and with a perfect record of 6-0 everyone was expecting a knockout victory over Pride veteran Mike Russow.

And as the bell rings, everyone was just waiting for that single knockout shot but Russow was as tough as nails and his granite chin enabled him to survive every sharp punch from Duffe and as the fight goes on frustration sets on Duffe as Russow hangs tough with every strike he throws.

Then, another story of a come-from-behind knockout unfolds. Russow unleashed a couple of straights of his own in the third round giving Duffe a dose of his own medicine sending him unconscious to the canvass and the audience surprised of what the supposed to be one-sided match has turned out.

And for a little controversy, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira won a controversial split decision over Jason Brilz. After Little Nog's hand was raised, the crowd was shouting "BULLSHIT" and I can't blame them.

Brilz had several successful take downs, set-up guillotine attempt but and tagged Nogueiria with a hard straight that almost send him on the canvass. Nogueira managed to score points with a couple of sweeps and a backside crucifix, Brilz managed to escape the tight trap but Noguerii's late efforts to make the two judges nod.

While everyone was surprised with the decision and booing the victor, Brilz still showed respect for Nogueria while saying "Don't boo this guy...." And from that, I became an instant fan of Brilz.

And speaking of being a fan, I'm a huge fan of Diego The Nightmare Sanchez, he has few setbacks and a lost from a former UFC lightweight Champion BJ Penn. When he went back to welterweight, I thought, along with thousands of MMA fans, it was a good idea. Maybe it was, if he didn't faced one of the youngest and promising UFC prodigy John Hathaway.

Hathaway unleashed his fury early in the first round with a knee to the head of Sanchez as he attempts a quick take down. And from that, The Nightmare's nightmare began, Hathaway relentless of his ground and pound and utilizing his superb striking earned him the decision and his perfect record unharmed.

I'm still a fan of Diego though, and also of Hathaway now :D

Ufc 114 was a great night. Evans, Russow, Hathaway and also Brilz, many thought that they will be crushed by their opponents because of their size, skills, experience and so on and so forth... But guess what, these underdogs proved them wrong.

Lesson? When you're in the octagon you don't have to think of what the opponent has around his belt, think and wait for that moment, that split-second moment then, unleash everything you got with no hesitations in mind.


Photos courtesy of UFC.com

Jollibee on Glee: Another Reason to Be Proud

Yup, Jollibee became a Pinoy household term throughout the years, we have watched and fancied its commercials, amused by Jollibee mascots when we were in our toddler years and seeing the familiar logo on comdey-musical Glee gives us a little pinch in our hearts.

This clip is from Glee episode 19; "Dream On," aired on May 18, 2010.

This episode, shot in Eagle Rock Plaza in Los Angeles, California, centers on Artie (played by Kevin McHale) being able to stand-up from his wheel chair and dance but at the end it reveals that he was just daydreaming thus the title "Dream On."Although there are other stores or restaurants at the background, Jollibee store is seen clearly that you can even see the "meal board" inside.


It's evident that Jollibee established its reputation in the US Market widening our channel to global recognition, something that Filipinos can be proud of. Currently, there are 26 Jollibee stores in the US.


I will not be surprised if one day I would watch Jollibee himself dancing with the characters of Glee or see him in other US TV series.

Not impossible, right?

The Beatles and Their Juniors

The world witnessed how the Beatles rise to the peak of stardom and dominated the 60's music scene and how they fall into drugs and controversies.

The world was shocked with the band's break-up followed by John Lennon's sudden death 10 years after and then George Harrison died of cancer.

But Beatlemania lives on, and fans would find a way to keep the Beatles alive. They would find medium to put the pieces together as if the "We are more popular than Jesus now" statement never happened.

And all that is left, are their juniors.

"So, I'm singing songs of love, Julia"-- Julia, Lennon/McCartney

It's easy to know that this song is for John Lennon's mother named Julia who was hit and killed by a car when he was 17 years old but many suggests that this song is also for John's first son Julian, named after Julia.

Julian is the only child to John's first wife Cynthia Powell. The fear that the Beatles will loss a lot of female teen fans forced John to hide the fact that he is married and has a son.

But when the media discovered John's real status, it didn't affect their popularity at all.

Julian became part of the Beatles' career, he attended the set of Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour and his watercolor painting of his classmate named Lucy O'Donell surrounded by stars inspired the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."


And when his parents divorced when he was 5, another Julian-inspired Beatles song composed by Paul McCartney made a mark -- "Hey Jude." The original title was "Hey Jules" but he thought that the name Jude was an easier name to sing.

Julian's first instrument was a Gibson Les Paul but in his musical debut at age 11, he was playing drums on the song "Ya-Ya" from the album Walls and Bridges.

Julian's first album entitled Valotte was nominated for Gammy Award for Best New Artist in 1985. His second album entitled "The Secret Value of Daydreaming" reached number 32 on the Billboard Magazines' album chart.

Born in New York City, Sean Lennon is the only child of John Lennon and his second wife Yoko Ono.

Unlike his half-brother Julian, his parents intentionally hid their musical lives from their son.

But at the age of 5, he made his musical debut by reciting a story on his mother's 1981 album Season of Glass. He continued collaborating with his mother until at sixteen he co-wrote the song "All I Ever Wanted" with Lenny Kravitz for his 1991 album Mama Said.

Of the two brothers, Sean is more "hooked" with the Beatles as he performes some Beatles songs such as "This Boy", "Across The Universe" and his memorable rendition of "Julia" for Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music. He was singing the song not only as a tribute to his father but also to his grandmother Julia, mother Yoko and his brother Julian.

Many would say that he has a great resemblance to his father and he also sounds like him when he sings.

Next is James McCartney, son of Paul McCartney.

James is named after his father James Paul McCartney, he is the only son of Paul and his wife Linda McCartney.

Little is known about James as he kept his life private unlike his sisters who prospered from their father's fame; Stella McCartney, a well-known fashion designer and Mary McCartney, a noted photographer like her mother.

He was about 21 when his mother died of breast cancer. Later that year, James graduated from Bexhill College, and pursued studies in A Level Art.

It is said that James would refuse to tell his friends his surname and worked as a waiter in his early years.

He is noted in the music industry not for playing the bass like his father but for playing guitar and drums. He co-wrote few songs on some of his father's solo albums such as Flaming Pipe and Driving Rain while keeping his status under the radar.

But he could not hide his noticeable resemblance to his father that at age 30, he finally entered the limelight by making his US debut; performing at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, during the 4th Annual David Lynch Weekend for World Peace and Meditation in Fairfield, Iowa.

James is now on was on tour in February to March and working on his solo album.

"Olivia said that with Dhani up on stage, it looks like George stayed young and we all got old"-- Paul McCartney, Concert for George

When George Harrison died of cancer in November 2001, Dhani Harrison entered the music industry as he completes George's final album Brainwashed.

His name came from the two notes of the Indian music scale; 'dha' and 'ni'. Although it can be pronounced as Danny, the traditional pronunciation is "Dhaa-Knee."

Dhani's first music lesson would have been from Ringo Starr at the age of 6, but when Ringo started to play the drums, Dhani got frightened by the loud noise sending him to his room screaming and never touched the drum kit again.

Dhani pursued a career as an aerodynamicist just to find out that it never suited him as he expected it would be.

And then he realized that he was actually following his father's footsteps as a musician.

One year after his father's death, Concert for George, organized by Eric Clapton gathered artists including Eric himself, Ravi Shankar a well-known Indian Sitar player, Jeff Lyne, Tom Petty, Jim Keltner, Joe Brown and band mates Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.

Dhani played acoustic guitar for most of the concert and everyone was mesmerized as if it was George on stage playing the guitar because of their great resemblance.

Like Sean, Dhani also performs Beatles' classic songs and he plays lead guitar for the band thenewno2.

Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), is widely known as the third drummer of Oasis and unofficial drummer of The Who.

Ironically, Ringo didn't want Zak to follow his footsteps as a drummer he wanted him to be a doctor or a lawyer and taught him how to play the drums only once at the age of 10.

But when his godfather, Keith Moon, drummer of The Who and one of Ringo's closest friends, came into the picture and saw the overwhelming talent in Zak, he gave him his first professional drum kit and became Zak's drum teacher.

At the age of 12, he was already performing in pubs. After quitting school, he worked at Hard Rock Cafe and became a sought-after session musician.

Although it's no surprise that he got his drummer hands from his father, many considered Zak's style more similar to his godfather and mentor - Keith Moon.

He is more energetic, more dynamic than his father way back in the 60's.

The world have never seen Julian, Sean, James, Dhani and Zak perform on one stage. They have separate paths and we wonder how and what could have been if they have formed a band together.

And as long as we see them perform we are crying, waiting, hoping that one day in their lives, they will come together on one stage and relive their father's legacy and we will be glad all over.

Oh let it be.

Coheed and Cambria in Manila: It Will Be a Rockin' July

They've been rockin' the world for 15 years, following the footsteps of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Police, Misfits, Queen and Thin Lizzy.

Their hits such as "Faint of Hearts","The Suffering","Welcome Home" and many more (some titles are too long to type :D) hit the air waves giving prog-rock a new picture.

They were once considered the future of progressive rock and have been touring all around the world and finally, Philippines is now on their tour list.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA IN MANILA! YEAH!

I'm a big fan of Coheed and Cambria, back in college I was hungry for a genre that sounds like Led Zep or Pink Floyd and CoC came to my rescue. Me and my band have covered most of their songs and I like the them of their music.

The lyrics of their songs are actually based on the graphic novel with the same name; Coheed and Cambria written by Claudio Sanchez himself, the vocalist/ guitar player of the band. And many times I wished that they should have a concert here in the Philippines.


And when I saw this post, I was surprised and excited! I thought I'll be watching them perform only in DVDs!

The date is probably on 30th July 2010, don't would be Friday. The venue is would be at A-Venue Events Hall in Makati.

They'll be promoting their new album entitled "Year of the Black Rainbow"


I'll be in the concert no matter what! But for the meantime I think I need to buy a cool shirt for the long-awaited concert.

Can't wait to watch them live! I wish they'll perform "Wake Up" just like how they perform it many concerts before.

See you there! Rock on!

UFC 113: Shogun avenges his loss, Daley, Slice to leave UFC

When Mauricio "Shogun" Rua left the octagon in UFC 104, everyone knew that he deserve a rematch against, that time Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. Even Dana White was somehow disgraced at the judges decision and after the long-awaited rematch in UFC 113; Shogun left the octagon, this time, with the belt on his shoulder.

When Yves Lavigne said "touch gloves" the two warriors were still stably looking at each other perhaps they didn't understand what Yves has just said or they were not paying attention at all, it was funny but when the bell rang everyone was thinking; "Will it be a knock out, submission or another decision." Watching Shogun chase Machida, his message was clear - he will not leave it to the judges.

And when Shogun threw a sharp overhead right hook, everyone saw an unfamiliar view; The Dragon was on the canvass committing his first career loss while Shogun relentlessly throwing heavy punches forcing Yves Lavigne to stop the bout making Mauricio "Shogun" Rua the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

Following the disgrace at UFC 112 (Anderson Silva's awkward "show" ) the co-main event bout between Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley was not that spectacular. The whole story of the bout was Koscheck's take downs but the highlight was when Daley threw an illegal punch at the Koscheck's face right after the fight.

Daley was one of the promising welterweights and his illegal move cost him his UFC career, that was maybe out of frustration but there's no excuse.

Kimbo Slice after the TKO loss from Matt Mitrione is now at the edge of losing his UFC run.

Watching the fight, Slice put the pressure on Mitrione in the first round but when the bell rang in the second round, it was a different story.

I was looking at Slice's right leg, it was wrapped up with bandages and Mitrione took advantage by throwing lethal kicks making Slice hit the canvass eating punches from Mitrione.

Although Slice lost in the bout I still believe that he deserve to be in the UFC. When Joe Rogan was interviewing Mitrione, Slice grabbed the mic saying thank you. It was delightful to see a man like Kimbo saying thank you to the fans.

Kimbo deserves another bout.