The Couch Pirates

Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #2

This issue starts off with a couple of police officers finding a burning body in Central Park. It’s Wolverine’s body and he seems really dead this time, nothing is left but an Adamantium skeleton sans the middle claw on his right hand.  While back at the mansion we find out the X-Men were attacked mentally by someone or something at the end of last issue and Jean took the brute of the force herself, but the attack still knocked out several X-Men and  power at the mansion. So now the X-Men are injured and in the dark. Fury suspects someone is in the mansion and he is right. Storm heads down to the power generators to jump start them back on. Before she accomplishes her goal she is attacked by Sabretooth. They talk and fight for a couple of pages and Storm leads Sabretooth into the Danger Room to fight in a more open space so she may use her powers better. Before they fight further the rest of the X-Men run in and help Storm. The battle continues on with Sabretooth getting the best of the X-Men until Storm strikes. She uses her weather based powers to create a lightning strike which blinds Sabretooth. The X-Men look shocked at the extreme force Storm uses to stop Sabretooth. As they talk Sabretooth gets up and assures the X-Men that this fight is not over yet.  

A simple breakdown of the issue would be as follows:

Page 1-2: Police find Wolverine’s body

Page 3-8: X-Men recover from the mental attack. Power is out on the mansion.

Page 9-10: S.H.I.E.L.D. investigates Wolverine’s body.

Pages 11-12: Fury gets a feeling the X-Men aren’t alone in the mansion.

Pages 13-16: Storm goes to turn the power on, Sabretooth attacks Storm.

Pages 17-21: X-Men run in to save Storm and attacks Sabretooth. Storm blinds Sabretooth.

Page 22: A blind Sabretooth vows this fight isn’t over, continued next issue.

Overall this issue was heads above the last issue. Tom Grummett’s art seemed to improve a lot since the last issue. I’m sure that comes from getting more and more familiar with the characters and starting to morph the characters into his own drawing style instead of mimicking a style similar to what they where doing in the 1990’s. I thought the cover of X-Men Forever #2 was very nice (also by Grummett) and at first glance reminds me of an Alan Davis penciled cover.

The writing seemed less wordy for the sake of being wordy, so that is good. The story is still up in the air.  I mean we have had two issues and nothing but unexplained fighting scenes have happened. Cortez shows up and fights for no reason in issue #1 and now in this issue Sabretooth does the same thing. Both issues also had the X-Men getting blindly attacked. Issue #1 saw the Blackbird jet get blown away, and this issue we learn Jean prevented a blind attack between issue #1 and issue #2. I will assume we will eventually find out who is behind these attacks but for a comic that is $3.99 you had better hook readers in within the first couple of issues.

If you read the above it almost sounds like I am saying this issue was good, make no mistake I am not saying that at all, I am simply saying it seemed better than the last pile of crap Claremont gave us.

And for those other reviewers and fans that think I am picking on Chris Claremont go back and re-read X-Men #1 - #3. Go dig them out and re-read them. While the dialogue is still wordy the story itself is great. Jean wasn’t running around during those issues getting all hot and bothered by Wolverine like she was in X-Men Forever #1. In fact the Scott Summers/Jean Grey/Wolverine love triangle that Claremont decided to shove down our throats in X-Men Forever #1 was only mentioned in one sentence in all three of those issues of X-Men #1 - #3.

If I could make a complaint about those issues it wouldn’t be the story but the art, and that was because it just felt outdated but then again it was 18 years ago. So before you bitch about me being mean to Chris Claremont go re-read X-Men #1 - #3 then read X-Men Forever #1 and then you will see what a hunk of crap that comic is. 

See you in two weeks for Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #3

Below are some brief reviews for books from the week of June 17^th 2009.

Dark Avengers #6 (Marvel)

The Dark Illuminati gather, Norman Osborn and Namor butt heads.  Atlantean terrorists attack Melrose, California. Iron Patriot (Osborn) sends in the Sentry to take care of the problem and he does. At the end of the issue, Norman is shown breaking down from the stress of everything and talking to another voice in his head. Could the Green Goblin be coming back soon?  I hate to tell people they need to be reading at comic that is $3.99 but this is one that delivers each month.

Secret Warriors #5 (Marvel)

The return of Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos! The Secret Warriors and Fury’s boys have had enough and strike Hydra head on. Great Issue! This series is great and still only $2.99.

Sonic Universe #5 (Archie Comics)

30 Years Later Part 1 of 4 starts here! Sonic is now King and everyone is happy, right? The Dark Presence led by Lein-Da wants to assassinate Sonic and they almost succeed. But just as a missile is about to hit Sonic and family they are saved by Silver the Hedgehog. Silver is a time-travelling hedgehog that has come back in time to save his future. More to come next issue! Yes it’s goofy and made for kids but for only $2.50 it was a good fun read.   

Thunderbolts #133 (Marvel)

We find out who Yelena Belova (Black Widow II) is really working for in this issue.   Ant-Man wants to quit the team but realizes he might have to kill Norman Osborn to do it. At the end we are introduced to what looks to be a new character named Scourge who Osborn assigns to the team. Songbird also returns!!!

Popularity: 42% [?]

About Me:

I’m not looking for a man on here at all, I have a man that I am married to. I’m actually looking for a woman…so if your interested, and you are a woman, message me!! Old men need to stop looking at my profile…I DO NOT WANT MEN ON HERE!!!

Just because I say I’m looking for a woman, does not mean that I want to meet a woman just to have sex, being friends first and having that connection first is a must, and I’m not talking about meeting women and getting to know them that way, I’m talking about getting to know women on here. If you disagree with that, don’t read any further, you’ll just be wasting your time.

I’m 28 years old, I have two kids, a two year old and a four month old. I’m married to the best man in the world.

My husband and I are looking for a third person in our life, to be friends with at first, but if more than friendship happens, that’s cool, too. I am bisexual (so is my husband). We are looking for a women, not men.

I love rock music, mainly the new stuff. I think drag clubs are freakin awesome. My favorite band is Green Day…they rock! I can’t stand most rap music, country and R&B.

I love the outdoors, I hate being cooped up all of the time.

I like to read, (you’ll see my favorite Authors when you get to that section).

I love warm weather, I hate being cold.

I do smoke cigarettes, and drink very rarely.

I do NOT believe in god, I consider my self Atheist. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to talk to me, it really wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all. I do believe in Reincarnation and past lives.

I’ve lived in Illinois and New Jersey. I loved New Jersey, but lived there for only four months. I lived in Illinois for seven years.

I’m glad Barak Obama is the President, the other guy that was running for office was just a fucking moron. Excuse my language…I cuss a lot lol. But I do know when not to cuss.

My favorite TV show in the whole wide world is Lost…I’m so addicted to that and can not wait until the new season is on next year, which is supposed to be the very last season.

I love animals, mainly cats, but don’t own one.

I’m not on here looking for men to hook up with or anything like that, I already have a husband that I love with all my heart and soul.

My interests are reading Stephen King books, writing poetry about anything I am thinking about at the time, having fun with my family, I love music…mainly rock, I’m also interested in finding friends on here.

Like I said a few times now probably, I’m not looking for guys…and I won’t answer back to IMs unless I have previously talked to you through IM on here. So if you’re a guy, DO NOT IM ME!!!

Six Things I Can’t Do Without

My kids,
My Husband,
Rock music,
Cigarettes,
Mountain Dew,
& sex, of course.

Pump found this one and sent it to me… I think he deserves credit!

Popularity: 42% [?]

Its Finally Safe to let the kids play in the front yard again…

Popularity: 25% [?]

I found this little gem I saved from about 4 years back…

And no, none of the Kristal/Crytsals I’m currently friends with are any of the parties in question.

See if you can guess which one I am!

maladroit2: i miss you
Kristal: lol
maladroit2: *sniff*
Kristal: how have you been?
maladroit2: busy
maladroit2: and lazy
maladroit2: all at the same time
Kristal: well… now that’s a feat… lol
maladroit2: busy last week
maladroit2: lazy this weekend
maladroit2: also
Kristal: i’ve been busy all week, and all day yesterday… i’m going to stay in today
maladroit2: I’ve decided that wanting to marry you was maybe a bad idea
maladroit2: and that we should definitely reconsider
Kristal: lol
Kristal: okay… i’ll have to think about that and get back to you
maladroit2: please
maladroit2: cook me something
maladroit2: I want some breakfast
Kristal: it might be faster for you to run down to McD’s
maladroit2: well, I’d let you deliver
maladroit2: it would be fine
maladroit2: we can make out, then you can take off when football starts
Kristal: nope… i’m not going out today
maladroit2: hahahahaha
Kristal: good luck finding another girl to ‘meet your needs’… lol
maladroit2: no
maladroit2: you can do it
maladroit2: I believe in you
Kristal: yeah… but i don’t want to… i think you are going to have to find a very young girl that will take whatever she can get… lol
maladroit2: nah
maladroit2: ones with kids work too
maladroit2: all about desperation
maladroit2: hehe
Kristal: yeah… but you aren’t offering much… you might need a girl that’s desperate
maladroit2: i’m not offering anything
Kristal: exactly
Kristal: LOL
maladroit2: that’s the whole plan
Kristal: silly
maladroit2: wish it were legal to rent women…
maladroit2: that would end marriage in the US
Kristal: hmmm
maladroit2: except for Mormons maybe
maladroit2: but no other guy would do it
Kristal: i don’t agree with you
maladroit2: why?
maladroit2: why would a man want to get married if he could rent with no commitment?
maladroit2: maybe crazy religious people
maladroit2: but not a regular guy for sure
Kristal: i just don’t agree… there are men out there that actually love a woman and what to spend their life with them
maladroit2: haha
maladroit2: yes, Mormons
maladroit2: I know
maladroit2: I could see dating perhaps continuing
maladroit2: but when they see that renting and dating are the same price
maladroit2: that would end that too
maladroit2: women could rent too, not only men renting women
Kristal: damn… that’s a really shitty thing to say…
maladroit2: I want it to be fair
maladroit2: men shouldn’t be the only ones
Kristal: whatever… i’m not enjoying this conversation
maladroit2: it’s ok
maladroit2: I’m a progressive thinker
maladroit2: k then
maladroit2: I’m gonna eat some ham and watch a little porno
maladroit2: check you later
Kristal: bye
maladroit2: bye babe

Popularity: 23% [?]

Saturday, June 20th, another season of the hit Spike TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, ends with what will hopefully be a bang. I wanted to run down the fights on the show that I had not covered and then what all the fighters will need to do to make it to the UFC and stay.



Jason Dent vs Jeff Lawson 155-Lightweight
Lawson appeared to be one of the better grapplers on the United Kingdom team but unfortunately we did not get to see a lot of his skills. He had a chest infection and was not able to work out real heavy. It showed in the fight. He gassed hard but we got some comedy out of it. At one point, he leans down on knees in the middle of the fight and as Dent approached he tries a flying knee. It did not connect and ultimately Dent prevailed. Somehow, Dent was even less impressive. He had the most exhausted opponent I have ever seen and he could not finish him. You constantly got the feeling that Lawson could win this fight if he had not had the chest infection.



Frank Lester vs David Faulkner 170-Middleweight
Well, Jason Pierce pussed out of pretty much the whole season. So Dana asked either Mark Miller or Frank Lester to come back and fight Faulkner in the last elimination fight. Miller’s nose was broken and he had not been able to train correctly the whole season. So back to “Crazy” Frank “The Tank” Lester. By the way, this guy is awesome, a coach’s dream. So the fight was pretty simple. These two guys pounded the crap out of each other and the fight was about to go to 3rd round. Faulkner decided he was done and refused to come out for the final round. Therefore, Lester literally out-hearted the guy.



Jason Dent vs Ross Pearson 155-Lightweight
This was one of the Lightweight Semifinals and really a disappointing fight in a lot of ways. Jason had two terrible fights leading up to this and you got the feeling Dana White would like to fire him. He claimed he was holding back so he would be fresh in the Semis. Even though this reeks of revisionist history as a weak attempt to counter even weaker performances, to Dent’s credit he was a lot more active in this fight. However, Pearson looked a lot less impressive than was expected. Maybe Dent had just gotten that much better training in the house but from what Henderson advertised he was very difficult to coach. For some reason, Pearson was just not able to finish Dent at any point and had his hands full for the duration of the bout. Though, he was able to pick up the win and move on to the finals.



Cameron Dollar vs Andre Winner 155-Lightweight
In the second Lightweight Semifinal, Winner actually finished Dollar quite easily. Though, Cameron did show a lot of improvement in his striking, he got a little overaggressive and Winner finished him. As goofy as Cameron has seemed at times, he did seem to progress a lot on the show. Also, he has a great wrestling base to build from.



Damarques Johnson vs Nick Osipczak 170-Middleweight
In the first of the Middleweight Semifinals, Damarques dominates most of the fight because he can just manhandle Osipczak on the ground. It was a very active fight and both men showed they deserved to be there. I think both of them can have good careers in MMA.



Frank Lester vs James Wilks 170-Middleweight
Frank Lester is a freaking beast, but he just could not pull out another fight. He was obviously exhausted by the third round and could just not last. To his credit, Wilks looked even more improved from his first fight with Lester. Wilks shook off several bug shots, but really escaped the fight unscathed.



Here I am going to rundown what each fight might want to do if they want to keep working on getting in the UFC, Brits first. We will try our best, but it is difficult to evaluate fighters with such little data.

1. Andre Winner: As a Lightweight finalist, Winner has a great chance of making it in, regardless. In his fights, he has shown a broad display of skills. Like a lot of Team UK, he could learn some better wrestling techniques.
2. Jeff Lawson: One of the better grapplers on Team UK, we did not get to see a lot of him because of his conditioning problems due to illness. He has a ton of finishes by Armbar and the bit we got to see he had decent striking ability. I do not know if he wants to continue to seriously pursue an MMA career, but I would definitely like to see more.
3. Martin Stapleton: Well, all the British fighters were extra impressed with this guy, but we saw very little of him when Cameron Dollar dominated him. He needs to work on his takedown defense but he seems tough enough and voracious enough to continue his career.
4. Ross Pearson: The other Lightweight finalist has a lot to prove after allowing Dent to stick around so long. I liked him a lot starting from his preliminary fight and I think he has a lot of potential. Like many of the other Brits, he needs to work on wrestling.
5. James Wilks: Wilks looked like a very well rounded fighter. He is a Jui Jitsu specialist but unfortunately we did not get to see a lot of that since he did so well on his feet. He showed especially refined skills in his second fight with Lester. Also, almost all the film we have on him is against Lester so it is hard to evaluate that sample size.
6. Nick Osipczak: Nick has very good striking skills but almost no grappling ability. He needs to really focus on some takedown defense and submission skills. I think because of his length and brains he could have a very strong future.
7. Dean Amasinger: In his preliminary, Dean looked like one of the show favorites but he has a very serious weakness to a Triangle Choke. He has one assignment to progress as a fighter: defend against the Triangle Choke.
8. David Faulkner: Wow. He really looked like the most promising fighter on the show. But as Bisping said in the prelims, he is kid of mental. He has to get his mental problems under control and learn how to keep a mouthpiece in, but maybe he just does not have the brain to be a fighter.
9. Ritchie Whitson: I think he got a tough draw in his elimination fight and he has a lot more to offer than what we saw on the show. He showed some very creative striking and might want to work on counter striking techniques.
10. Santino Defranco: He is a very good submission fighter but you have some sort of striking to threaten your opponents with. He came back from ridiculous medical problems to appear on the show, so he definitely has the heart to continue.
11. Cameron Dollar: “The Kid” seemed like a real tool from the beginning of the show. He has a look and a mouth that is marketable though. Also, he has amazing wrestling skills and actually enjoys training wrestling. Of course, he needs to continue improving his stand up and get some basic submission skills.
12. Jason Dent: I do not know about this guy. Henderson seemed to think he was difficult to coach. But he showed some much better skills in his Semifinal fight. Looking at his physique I still thing he could drop down to 145 or 135 and make a go of it in the WEC.
13. Mark Miller: He got his nose broke in the very first fight of the season, so we saw almost nothing after that. He looked good in his two fights and wanted to get back in to fight Wilks. I think he needs to figure out how to work in some knees and kicks into his repertoire.
14. Jason Pierce: He was a wuss from the beginning, he was not into being on the show, and Dana did not like him. He is never making it in the UFC.
15. Damarques Johnson: He really seemed like one of the most complete fighters on the show. He has a little better ground skills that Wilks, but Wilks may have better submissions. I am really looking forward to their fight. I was always impressed with his leadership skills on the team.
16. Frank Lester: Frank is crazy and awesome. I have never seen a fighter that impressed everyone more. I liked him, everyone on the show liked him, the coaches liked him, and Dana White liked him. If he wants to and he focuses on his training, he will get every chance to fight in the UFC for while. I don’t think he is as smart a fighter as Forrest Griffin, but he has that kind of toughness. Frank is awesome.

Can’t wait to watch the Finale on Spike and review it. We will have Pearson vs Winner, Johnson vs Wilks, Dent vs Dollar, and Lester vs Osipczak from the show. Lots of other fights too, including Sanchez vs Guida and Stevenson vs Diaz.

Popularity: 96% [?]

I have been sick, so I did not make it down to the Warren for this one. Public health safety and all. This card was hit and miss. There a lot of guys on here I am not real sure about and a few I am positive will not be in the UFC for long. There are a lot of fights definitely worth seeing though, so if you get a chance Netflix it or something.






Terry Etim vs Justin Buchholz 155-Lightweight
Buchholz rocks Etim early in the first round and almost sends him limp. Etim is able to recover and go for an armbar, scrambles to the top and takes Buchholz’ back. He tries to sink in a Rear Naked Choke but gets flipped. This does not phase him as he switches to heel hook. At this point, you can see that Buchholz’ striking has absolutley smashed Etim’s nose. In the 2nd round they trade a bit and Etim gets Buchholz in a Muay Thai clinch, blasting him with knees to the face. This allows Etim to pull Buchholz to the ground and he sinks in a Darce Choke for the win. Etim displayed good chin, some nice Muay Thai ability, and a great chain of Jiu Jitsu submissions.



Etim: Stay Tuned Buchholz: Look Away






John Hathaway vs Rick Story 170-Welterweight
There is lots of grappling in the first round. Story gets most of the takedowns. Hathaway gets a Kimura in the last seconds but the position is bad for him to finish with Story doing such a good job to protect against it. In the 2nd round they stand up and strike a bit until Hathaway gets a takedown and pounds Story on the ground for around three minutes. The 3rd round is much the same but Story is able to use a Kimura to get top postion. However, Hathaway then throws on a Triangle Choke. Hathaway gets the Unanimous Decision in his second UFC fight for a record of 11-0. This was only Story’s second loss but it was his first fight in the UFC.



Hathaway: Stay tuned Story: Stay Tuned






Paul Kelly vs Rolando Delgado 155-Lightweight
I did not expect much out of Rolando coming into this fight because I was never impressed with him on TUF 8. Paul Kelly has a fair amount of good wins, his only loss was to Marcus Davis and he trains at the grammatically incorrect but increasingly renown Wolfslair in England. In the 1st round, Delgado has a good time of grappling, getting Kelly to the ground, locking in a body triangle and then attempting a Triangle Choke. Kelly gets a Guillotine early in the 2nd round but Delgado gets out pretty easily, takes Kelly’s back tries to lock on a Rear Naked Choke. Kelly gets back to top and avoids an Armbar and then a Knee Lock. The 3rd round is all Kelly. He gets Delgado to the ground and really hurts him; he is able to ground and pound most of the round. The fight goes to Kelly in a Unanimous Decision but I really think Delgado had him the first two rounds.



Kelly: Stay Tuned Delgado: Look Away






Dennis Siver vs Dale Hartt 155-Lightweight
Siver is the hometown boy from Germany in this fight. He has the striking advantage early but Hartt takes him to the ground. Hartt has to quickly escape an Armbar and the fighters scramble. Siver ends up on top, slamming Hartt to the ground. He gets to Hartt’s back and sinks in the Rear Naked Choke for the submission. After the fight, it appears the slam or the Armbar probably hurt Hartt’s shoulder. Siver has some experience in the UFC and has a nice string of wins. One more and against the right guy and he should be in Lightweight title contention. Hartt has lost two of his three UFC fights and his only win was a TKO over Corey Hill in one of the most vicious MMA injuries…ever. Watch at your own peril. Corey Hill



Siver: Look Out Hartt: Look Away






Denis Stojnic vs Stefan Struve 265-Heavyweight
Ok, if you see this fight, the first thing that pops in your head will be, “6 f-ing 11, that guys is freaking tall.” Struve isn’t called the Skyscraper for nothing. Let’s just say this, his reach is sick. However, Stojnic took him to the ground like a sack of rocks. Struve goes for a Kimura, fails, and then epic fails as Stojnic seriously opens up his face. They have to call a temporary stoppage to clean up all the blood and make for sure Struve’s face has enough skin left to stay on his skull. In the 2nd round, Struve goes down easy again, but this time goes for a Heel Hook. This allows him to take Stojnic’s back and work on a Rear Naked Choke. However, his blood is now spurting out of his head, and his own blood is lubricating the choke hold. Stojnic finally taps, but it is kind of out of nowhere. Struve looks to have a pretty weak Rear Naked Choke, but Stojnic may have just given up due to the pain of the Body Triangle Struve had locked in. For Stojnic, thats two lossed in the UFC, both to up and comers, but he will not have many more chances. For Struve, he showed a lot of Jui Jitsu skills and great heart with those cuts. He has a lot of experience and is supposed to be an excellent kickboxer, though we did not see that in this fight. There are a lot of good wrestlers in the Heavyweight class, so that could be a real weakness for him.



Stojnic: Look Away Struve: Stay Tuned






Paul Taylor vs Peter Sobotta 170-Welterweight
This was a pretty lackluster fight. They trade some strikes and low blows in the 1st round. Taylor gets a takedown and does very little. In the 2nd round, Sobotta gets a takedown immediately but Taylor spends the rest of the round pushing him around, throwing him to the mat thrice. The 3rd starts out and finishes the same way. Sobotta gets a quick takedown, but then Taylor gets up and takes him back down directly into side control. Taylor does close to nothing and slides back into half guard. They stay in that position for most of the round, get up and trade some blows for the last few seconds. Sobotta is pretty gased and the decision goes to Taylor. Taylor’s UFC career is peppered with losses, and this was Sobotta’s first UFC fight. Don’t expect to many more out of either.



Taylor: Look Away Sobotta: Look Away






Dan Hardy vs Marcus Davis 170-Welterweight
There was a lot of drama going into this fight. Evidently, the American Marcus Davis was upset that the British Dan Hardy said he was not Irish. Not sure why Davis would have a problem with reality but he is from Maine. It is a little ridiculous that Davis only fights overseas. Most of his fights have been in the United Kingdom and this one is in Germany. The first round was mostly controlled by Davis. He took Hardy to the ground early, right into full guard. Dan Hardy was able to advance his position but did not get off the ground until there was a minute left. He almost immediately connects with strikes and rocks Davis. Had Hardy been able to get up a little earlier, he may have done some real damage. The second round begins with each man trading punches and counter punches. A little over a minute and half in, Hardy catches Davis in the Muay Thai clinch and blasts him with knee to the face, sending him to the canvas. Davis recovers quickly and starts to throw submissions until the action stalls. Once the action is back standing up, Davis starts to tighten the round like Hardy did in the first. He connects with strong strikes and takes Hardy to the ground. Davis starts the third round with a straight jab that drops Hardy, but he is able to recover as Davis drops into guard. Marcus Davis goes for a heel hook, and scrambling Hardy is able to reverse positions. Hardy opens Davis up with an elbow that stops the fight so that the doctor can check the cut. The fight restarts with Hardy in full guard on top of Davis. Hardy works the cut area a bit, but the fighters are stood up. After that because of the swelling and blood, Hardy is able to control the last minute of the fight with strikes. Dan Hardy gets the split decision and then talks about working him psychologically before the fight. The decision was correct but it was a very close fight. The damage to Davis’ face was the difference on judges card.



Hardy: Stay Tuned Davis: Stay Tuned






Spencer Fisher vs Caol Uno 155-Lightweight
These are two very experienced fighters, each man considered title contenders at points in their careers. Most of the fight was a chess match, Fisher sprawling against Uno’s takedowns and Uno scrambling and reversing when Spencer got him down. The first round, Fisher controlled most of the action from the clinch and on the ground. The second round was very similar but Uno was able to out grapple Fisher. The third was still a battle of grappling strategy with Davis inflicting most of the damage through the middle of the round. However, in the last minutes Uno got the mount and was able to inflict more damage than either fighter had in the previous rounds. In the end, Spencer Fisher got the Unanimous Decision. I can’t say I agree with the judges but the fight was very closely contested.



Fisher: Stay Tuned Uno: Stay Tuned






Ben Saunders vs Mike Swick 170-Welterweight
Swick pretty much consumed Saunders with his ground game and before the TKO he was definitely winning the fight on paper. Saunders did a good job keeping Swick in his guard but the only offense he offered from the ground was a body triangle. Typically, the body triangle is a defensive move applied to rob the top fighter of their oxygen so they gas later. This was far from the case with Swick. He looked very fresh even after the fight. For Saunders, he simply ran into someone who was not overwhelmed by his leg strikes and in fact was acutely prepared for them. Saunders is an excellent striker but he had a real problem telegraphing his kicks. In fact, it was a predictable body kick that ended the fight. Swick saw it coming for the twentieth time in much the same way and nailed Saunders, then unloading with a flurry until the fight was called. Saunders needs to vary his striking and with his length I would love for him to develop a submission game. Mike Swick is there. He looked good in a lot of ways and has the conditioning to go five rounds. Alves, Hughes, or GSP should be next.



Saunders: Stay Tuned Swick: Look Out






Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs Mostapha Al-turk 265-Heavyweight
Cro Cop was impressive his UFC return but still a little disappointing in a lot of ways. First off, the technical knock out was not clean. His finger caught the eye of Al-turk and then strikes led to the stoppage. But Cro Cop did have Al-turk rocked in an exchange before that. In Cro Cop’s previous UFC fights he was flat on his feet, plodded forward, and showed very little movement. These were his weaknesses before and it doesn’t look that anything has changed. For Al-turk, that is two fights and two losses in the UFC. He has had two very good opponents in Kongo and Cro Cop, but probably only has one more chance.



Filipovic: Stay Tuned Al-turk: Look Away






Cheick Kongo vs Cain Velasquez 265-Heavyweight
Kongo took this fight on only three weeks notice but it still revealed a lot of fundamental weaknesses in his fight game. Kongo was able to completely rock Velasquez in each of the first two rounds, dropping in two shots right to the chin in the first and on the temple in second. But all that showed was Velasquez’ ridiculous chin and excellent recovery time. I am going to nickname him “the Anvil” because he took some of the hardest shots in all of fighting and just shook it off. Velasquez came into this fight with wrestling conditioning and even though he spent the entire fight riding an extremely strong Kongo, he was not really that tired in the end. Even showing such a dominant performance, Velasquez did not show the finishing ability he needs to be a top heavyweight. He had ample opportunities for Rear Naked Chokes or just should have been able to finish Kongo with strikes. All that being said, Lesnar should be next for Velasquez, no matter what happens at UFC 100. There is no other Heavyweight that deserves the fight and the UFC already set a precedent with giving Lesnar himself such an early title shot. Velasquez is very similar to Brock and it should be a very good fight. They were both very good amateur wrestlers; Velasquez was a 2-time Pac 10 Champion at ASU. And Velasquez just beat the fighter, Kongo, who would have been next in line to face Lesnar. In the minds of Dana White and Joe Silva, Velasquez was a prep fight for Lesnar in a couple months and with Velasquez winning, they now have another young, undefeated Heavyweight to promote for title contention.



Kongo: Stay tuned Velasquez: Look Out






Rich Franklin vs Wanderlei Silva 195-Catchweight
The idea behind this fight was interesting in several ways. The initial obvious reaction is holy shit. This is one of those super-fights between two legends of the sport. Rich Franklin was the baddest Middleweight on the planet, pre-Anderson Silva, and Wanerlei Silva was the most dominant Pride fighter of all time. So the scale of the fight is a little awe-inspiring, but there was also a bit of an ulterior motive. Franklin had moved up to 205 because he wants a belt and he had already lost to Anderson Silva twice. Wanderlei was on his way down to Middleweight, so they decided to meet at 195 for a Catchweight bout. Maybe, just maybe, this was a test fight for a possible new division in the UFC. There are enough name Middleweight and Light Heavyweight fighters to easily fill out a division in the middle. Dana White would not mind having another three to four title fights to promote a year. Just don’t be surprised to see a lot more 195 fights in the UFC. On to the actual fight. Franklin got the Unanimous Decision but it was a much closer fight than the result. Wanderlei had Rich rocked once but most of the fight was Franklin controlling the pace and location. Franklin did a good job of keeping Wanderlei outside of his game and never really let him penetrate his defenses. Franklin was so impressive between rounds, lucidly going through the fight strategy with his corner; he was easily the most calm and collected mid-bout fighter I have ever seen. Wanderlei was gassed from cutting weight and you could tell. Had he been used to cutting maybe this fight would have had a different result. The Axe Murderer may be beyond fighting for titles but he will be selling out huge fights for a while to come.



Franklin: Look Out Silva: Stay Tuned



Well, I am looking forward to the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale on Saturday, June 20. I will desperately try to get my review of the rest of the season up by then and run down all the fighters on the show. We will try to see what they need to do to get on the UFC roster and stay there. I am also going to get up some rundowns of the Strikeforce: Lawler v Shields and WEC 41: Brown v Faber 2 events. Nothing spectacular happened. After all that, the big day is coming up July 11, UFC 100. Can’t wait for that one, there should be a ton of good fights.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #1

It’s 1991. Professor Xavier had just lost the use of his legs (again). The X-Men teams were just divided up into two teams, X-Men Blue which is led by Cyclops (Scott Summers) and X-Men Gold led by Storm(Ororo). The comic titled X-Men (not to be confused with the comic Uncanny X-Men) was fresh out of the gates and just saw the death of Magneto in issue #3. Jim Lee was the artist of this book and helped make it such a hit, selling over eight million copies of issue #1, the best selling comic of all time (still holding that record today). Chris Claremont was the writer of those first 3 issues. Claremont left the book after issue #3 and Marvel altogether over what was deemed “a series of clashes with editor Bob Harras”.

Cover to X-Men Forever #1 by Marvel Comics

After Claremont, the book “X-Men” continued on and ran ten years before becoming “New X-Men” by Grant Morrison with issue #114. Once Morrison departed the book it dropped the “New” back to just “X-Men” in issue #155. The book was then renamed again with issue #208 being called “X-Men: Legacy” and is still in that current form today.

Make sense so far? Here’s where Claremont and chaos join together. Now some 18 years later, Chris Claremont is back and wants to pick up where he last left the “X-Men” at the end of issue #3. So this series “X-Men Forever” is like “What If? Chris Claremont never left the X-Men in 1991… the Series”. This creates a new tangent X-Men continuity all for ole Chris himself to play with.

Right off the bat you can see this is the “X-Men” book Claremont wanted to do back in 1991. On the opening page you get a little back story explaining that these events happen after X-Men#3, etc. etc. etc., with a head-shot of all the characters on the team with their respective names underneath. Most X-Men fans will notice right away that the card throwing, Cajun mutant known as Gambit has had his name changed from Remy LeBeau to Remy Picard. Since we know that Gambit’s real name didn’t surface until after Claremont left the book, one can assume Claremont had the “Picard” name for Gambit long before those writers after him. Great job Chris; way to establish immediately that this comic is yours and your vision only. Finally after 18 years I got to see Gambit’s true name as it was always meant to be, Remy Picard.

Remy Picard? 1991? Sounds familiar? I think someone was a Star Trek: Next Generation fan. Enough back story let’s get to the comic.

The book opens up with the X-Men playing softball and having a picnic, just joking! The book opens up with Jean Grey (yes it is 1991 so she is there) and Logan making out on a beach. We find out on the next page Jean is just daydreaming while her and her fellow X-Men; Wolverine (Logan), Cyclops, Nightcrawler Kurt Wagner), Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), and Gambit are all on the Blackbird (X-Men Jet) tracking down Fabian Cortez after the events of X-Men#3. Fellow X-Men flyers Storm and Rogue are seen outside the plane.

Over the next few pages we see that Nick Fury is at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters working with Professor X and the X-Men to help track down Cortez. During the exchange of words between Fury and Xavier, we go back to the X-Men and all of them have at least one panel or more dedicated to a lot of long boring thoughts. The characters seem to talk or say something just for the sake of speaking or filling up the panel with words. During these pages I am reminded that sometimes less is more, Claremont seems to be on the more words means more important, which is not the case.

By the forth page you can tell Claremont is really making sure the readers haven’t forgot the whole Cyclops, Jean and Wolverine love triangle thing. Now it’s been nearly 20 years ago, but I remember Cyclops and Jean being in love, and Wolverine being the bad boy that wants his girl. Claremont writes Jean Grey as this girl that has moist panties for Wolverine all the time, but must keep dating Scott Summers so she can be crowned the Queen-at -Senior-Prom. All of this is poorly executed, maybe this love triangle has always been written this bad, and thankfully my mind has chosen not to remember those times.

On page 5 is when the action begins “BOOM!” an explosion happens and the Blackbird is coming down. Over the next 2 pages we the readers get to see the characters fall, and talk and fall some more. Of course they all make it to the ground safe and sound, like good X-Men would. Storm and Rogue think they can track down the person that caused this and fly off.

By page 8, the infamous Fabian Cortez is shown attacking the X-Men and the story claims they all just stumble upon each other. So at least for now we know the Blackbird was shot down by someone else. Cortez battles the first wave of X-Men with ease, and finally Storm and Rogue come back to engage him it battle. Cortez seems much more powerful than I ever remember him being, but again this is X-Men #4 in Claremont eyes so maybe this was the Cortez to be.

For the next 11 pages there is a long drawn out fight with the X-Men finally beating Cortez. After the battle Wolverine wants to kill Cortez and be done with it, Cyclops steps in and tells them they are taking him prisoner and turning him over to the proper authorities.

The next couple of pages have the X-Men thinking and dealing with their different experiences while battling Cortez. Shadowcat is shaken up by the thought that Wolverine wanted to kill Cortez. Rogue is haunted by what she saw when her and Storm make contact accidently during the battle. Storm wants to talk to Rogue about what she saw. Gambit doesn’t know what is wrong with Rogue, but knows she isn’t right. Then of course there is the ole stand by Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine love triangle that Claremont loves to write about.

During these pages we also find out that Nick Fury will start working with and watching over the X-Men to help them, since everyone in the world still hates them despite them saving people from evil mutants time and time again. Wolverine is worried the Government will decide to eventually stop watching and working with them and will eventually betray them so he quits the team on the spot.

The last page is of course a cliffhanger ending. The setting is Xavier’s office with him, Fury, Cyclops and Jean talking. Jean’s mind is of course wandering off to talk to Logan, and he being the tough guy, he tells her to butt out. While talking to Logan she tells him something is wrong where he is, and he admits the same thing and asks her to look through his eyes to tell him what she sees and of course she sees something horrible and tells him to get out of there. While doing this she yells out “LOGAN?”, Fury, Professor X , and Scott Summers are all shown in shock. End of issue #1 of X-Men Forever, or X-Men #4, whatever you want to call it.

A simple breakdown of the issue would be as follows:

Page 1: Jean has a wet dream about Logan.

Page 2-4: Talking and thinking, while flying.

Page 5: BOOM! Jet blows up.

Pages 6-7: Falling and talking.

Pages 8-18: Fighting Cortez, lots of talking.

Pages 19-20: Dealing with Cortez and injuries, find out about working with Fury.

Page 21: Wolverine quits, more talking

Page 22: More talking, something happens to Wolverine.

Overall this is a very bad comic, Claremont must have nude pictures or something of Joe Quesada (Marvel’s Editor in Chief) to get him to agree to publish this. This ranks up there with John Byrne’s “Blood of the Demon” series by DC years ago. That series was so bad I couldn’t stop reading it, and like that series I will continue to read this just for the sheer crap this book is. This folks is the car wreck you can’t pull your eyes away from.

See you in two weeks for Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #2

Popularity: 51% [?]

David Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok hotel. He was filming a movie in Thailand and officials report he was found hanging from a rope, presumably from the curtains. His agent is reporting he died of natural causes. I think a hooker or a gang pimping the hooker probably hanged him. He was 72. Looks like he will not appear in Kill Bill 3 or 4 that Tarantino and Thurman are planning. If they wanted Bill in any capacity, they will have to do one of those anime scenes.

Popularity: 38% [?]