Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Even in the 60’s these ladies knew how to walk it out! Of course when you go with the original music, the original dance just isn’t as impressive. Rock on or at least walk on, ZONERS.
Alright, let’s take a look at the results of last night’s UFC 73: Stacked.
The first fight of the night was Heath Herring Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. I thought that this would be one of the easiest picks of the night. Although I was correct that Nogueira would win, it wasn’t easy. From the start Nogueira had his way, taking Herrring down and peppering him with blows. Herring managed to get to his feet, but it appeared to be just a matter of time since Nogueira was stalking him and landing punches and knees at will. Suddenly Herring landed a wicked head kick and Nogueira was down and nearly out. Herring was too cautious about going to the mat after Nogueira and this gave Nog additional time to slowly stand up. Time ran out before Herring could close the deal.
Round Two started and Nog was still wobbly. Herring, perhaps fearing that Nog was trying to lure him in, elected to stay back and it wasn’t until Nog regained composure and started pressing the fight that any real exchanges took place. Nog takes Herring down and lands some punches. Herring gets to his feet and Nog starts stalking him again.
Round Three is more of the same. Nog takes down Herring who escapes and then is stalked by Nog. The fight ends and Noguiera wins a decision. Herring did much better than I would have guessed. In fact he could have won the fight in the first round had he not been overly cautious. That will probably haunt him for quite a while. I do think that Herring’s showing was good enough to get him another top fight in the UFC.
Hermes Franca Vs. Sean Sherk was the best fight of the night. It went five full rounds and although Sherk dominated throughout the fight, Franca was never out of it. From the opening it was action with Sherk going in for a takedown and Franca countering with a guillotine choke. Sherk escapes and the fight is on. Each round went pretty much the same way, Sherk would shoot in, Franca would land a huge knee [that would have knocked out most fighters] and Sherk would shake it off and dominate from the top position. Sherk wins a unanimous decision and looks amazing doing it.
Rashad Evans Vs. Tito Ortiz was probably the most anticipated fight of the night. Tito begins with a quick takedown but is unable to do any real damage. Rashad gets up and the two exchange blows without either gaining much. Tito does get cut, but it appears that it’s from a fingernail. Round one ends with the nod to Tito.
Round Two is more of them going at each other without either gaining the upperhand. Near the end of the fight Rashad goes in for a takedown and Tito grabs the fence [for the second time] to avoid going down. Tito is penalized a point as Rashad finally gets Tito to the mat. Tito reverses and gets Rashad in a guillotine choke. Although Rashad is in trouble, time runs out. Since Tito lost a point, I call the round even [and later I learn the judges do as well].
Round Three starts and although Tito begins to press the fight, it appears that he’s gassed! Late in the round it is obvious that Rashad is in much better condition and he begins to take the fight to Tito. Rashad gets a big takedown and begins raining huge elbows on Tito. Luckily for Tito the bell sounds to end the round which goes to Rashad.
According to my scorecard the fight should end in a draw. I’m wondering if the judges feel the same… but they do and the fight ends in a draw. I’m sure that this will lead to a Ortiz vs Evans II.
Nate Marquardt was a huge underdog against Anderson Silva. I felt that if Marquardt could avoid Silva’s knees he would win. I was wrong. Marquardt was able to take Silva down, but couldn’t gain enough of an advantage to do much. After they were stood up, Silva clocks Marquardt who immediately tries for a takedown. Silva cracks him again with a right and Marquardt goes down to the mat and the fight is stopped. Silva wins via technical knockout.
UFC 73 provided us with 4 good fights. I don’t know who is out there that will beat Sherk or Silva. Herring isn’t done in the UFC and Nogueira isn’t the invincible warrior that we were led to believe. Neither Tito nor Rashad convinced me that they’re ready for a title shot.
Next up is UFC 74 which pits Randy Couture against Gabriel Gonzogna and George St. Piere facing Josh Koscheck on August 25th. You just know we’ll be talking about that as the fight date gets closer!
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane is a novel on my “to read” list. The only other Lehane novels that I’ve read are Shutter Island and Mystic River and I loved both. Now this trailer starring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman comes along and Gone, Baby, Gone is on my “to see” movie list.
That’s my buddy, Jim Ivey, between me and my oldest son, Mike. The photo was taken at Jim’s 81st birthday celebration. I just learned today that Jim has gone up to Washington, DC where he [along with Hy Rosen and Jim Lange] were honored at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists 50th-anniversary convention. Jim was quoted as saying, “I’m delighted the AAEC is still going.” Jim also noted that the organization could also be called the AAPC [American Association of Political Cartoonists] and that he hopes those initials never mean the “American Association of the Politically Correct.” Yeah, that’s definitely something that Jim would say!
Saturday’s pay-per-view, UFC 73, is called Stacked for a good reason. It features four fights that all [well, at least three for sure] that could headline any MMA card. Of the four main fights, three are tough to call, but I’ve given it my best shot. “X” marks my predicted winner.
Heath Herring Vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is the easiest prediction of the night. Herring has lost to Noguerira twice before and I don’t think Saturday will be any different. Nogueira will get the win and maybe by knockout.
Hermes Franca Vs. Sean Sherk should be a very good fight… maybe the best of the night. Franca is on an eight fight winning streak and has wicked jiu-jitsu skills. Sherk’s conditioning is unmatched… maybe his strength too [pound-for-pound]. Will Sherk’s wrestling skills, conditioning and strength be enough to defeat Franca? I think so. I see Sherk retaining his lightweight title by decision win.
Rashad Evans Vs. Tito Ortiz is perhaps the most anticipated fight of the night. It means the world to both fighters. Evans needs a win to keep his undefeated streak alive and to earn him a title shot. Ortiz has to have a victory to show everyone his best days aren’t behind him. This is a tough one to call. Evans is undefeated, has excellent wrestling skills and has knocked out his last two opponents. Ortiz is bigger. He’s been in the spotlight before. He knows what he needs to do to win. If he can take Evans down, Ortiz could win by stoppage. If he can’t Ortiz is in for a long night. I’m going to give the nod [a slight nod] to Ortiz.
Nate Marquardt Vs. Anderson Silva. Another tough one to call. This one’s for the middleweight title. Silva destroyed Rich Franklin to win the title when Franklin elected to stand and trade shots. I don’t think that Marquardt will follow that example. I’m going to pick an upset here and say Marquardt by decision.
I know that many of you follow UFC and MMA... so have I called it right?
Happy 4th of July!
When I was a little kid, the 4th of July was for family and friends to get together for trips to the park [or each others houses] and cookouts. Fireworks were always the capper.
Then when my boys were small we always had family over. My boys would play with their cousins [water fights in the yard, basketball and video games]. We’d grill or BBQ something. And then at night I’d bring out the fireworks. I’d get one of the huge sets from Sam’s Club and the kids from the neighborhood would come down to watch the festivities. Once we’d exploded or launched or sparkled everything we’d head in and catch some episodes of The Twilight Zone marathon running on the SciFi channel.
A few years ago, I could tell my fireworks were no longer the highlight of the evening. My niece, nephew and sons were getting older and while they enjoyed getting together Roman candles and sparklers just weren’t cutting it. Ah, how time moves on.
At least I still have the Twilight Zone Marathon to look forward to! In fact starting at 7:30pm tonight you can catch six excellent episodes in a row [“The Shelter”, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, “The Fear”, “To Serve Man”, “The Invaders” and “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up”.]
Have a relaxing day, don’t eat to much BBQ and be careful with those fireworks!
On Sunday, July 22nd from 10am – 5pm, the Collector’s ComicCon is going to be the place to be in Fort Pierce, Florida. Not only will my best bud, John Beatty be a guest, but he’ll be joined by Bill Black [artist, writer, publisher of AC comics, writer, director and producer of “GARGANTARAMA” ] and Brenna Berry star of “GARGANTARAMA”.
It’s a fun little one day show. Click HERE for all the details. Hope to see you there!
They say, or at least I do in this post, that great news comes in pairs. Well, I have some great news for art fans everywhere. John Beatty and Kelsey Shannon have both started posting to their blogs again. Ah, life is good.
TVGuide.com posted a list of the All Time Top Cult Shows. And while I’ve got to admit that there were many on the list that I’ve never watched, there were more than a few that brought back fond memories. So, using just their choices, here’s my list of my top ten favorite “cult” shows:
I’ve enjoyed the entire “Die Hard” series. Don’t get me wrong, the first was a classic and created a whole new sub-genre of action movies. I also enjoyed both of the sequels. “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” wasn’t as good as the original, but it was still a whole lot of fun. “Die Hard with a Vengeance” again wasn’t as good as the original, but still entertained. I figured that “Live Free or Die Hard” would be about as good as the two sequels.“Die Hard” Rating: 5 out of 5
“Die Hard 2: Die Harder” Rating: 4 out of 5
“Die Hard with a Vengeance” Rating: 4 out of 5
“Live Free or Die Hard” Rating: 4 out of 5
The Latino Review scored three new posters for “Shoot ‘Em Up” which premieres September 7th at a theater near year. Click HERE to cop a look.
I never got into MySpace or FaceBook or any of those other sites, so it surprises me that I jumped on board at ComicSpace.com. It’s a site for folks that are interested in comic books, comic book art and just about anything else related to the art form. I’ve only been on it a couple of weeks, but I’m really enjoying it. If you have any interest in comics, you should check it out.
Actually my survival odds are better than I would have guessed! (Sadly the quiz is no longer available.)
Last week The American Film Institute updated it’s list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. I tried to avoid weighing in since everything except my top two choices are subject to change, but the temptation was too great not to at least sort out my top 25. Everything after my first and second choices are in alphabetical order. There are other films that would make my top 25, but I limited myself to the AFI’s Top 100, so here it is…
