My man Don Abato is back with the latest installment of “The MMA Ten”. In this edition, he lets loose on BJ, talks GSP and the Spider and wonders about Jens Pulver.

10. Greason, I mean reason 1: BJ Penn’s camp may file a complaint GSP greased w/ Vaseline during the fight.   Vaseline wasn’t the reason BJ barely landed any punches Georges’ face.

9. Is BJ Even Interested? BJ sure talked a lot of trash before the fight, only to eat his words.  Now SI.com reports BJ could be retiring from competition, and the UFC lightweight champ was considering this before meeting St. Pierre in the Octagon.  Makes us wonder exactly when BJ lost his heart for the sport. Especially when he recently said he would fight for another 10 years.

8. Greason, I mean reason 2: Forget hours rolling on the mat at the gym, Vaseline gave GSP the technical skill to pass BJ’s guard at will to side/scarf control.

7. Another Retirement: Jens Pulver took another opportunity to bless the mat in defeat, this time against Urijah Faber.  He didn’t want to say it in his post fight, but I know it, you know it and he knows it.  Nothing else really needs to be said.  The results speak for themselves.  It’s time!

6. Greason, I mean reason 3: When GSP got Vaselined up BJ’s cardio must’ve immediately went out the window.

5. Still Alive: Tom Atencio keeps denying all the Affliction MMA going under rumors.  I keep believing him. Sometimes, all we have is faith.  Too bad faith doesn’t make up for bad bottom lines.

4. Everything is Fly: Zuffa announces the WW division of WEC is gone, but instead we’re getting a new division: 125 pound flyweights.  But I’m left wondering if they’re ever going to open a division for the fly girls?  Slowly but surely a fanbase is growing for women’s MMA.

3.  Eye Hope Not: WEC lightweight champ Jaime Varner, is recovering after his first successful title defense.  The most serious injury is a potentially detached retina which threatens the future of his fighting career.  What’s really upsetting is it may have been caused by the illegal knee Donald Cerrone gave him.  If Varner has to hang up the four ounce gloves Cerrone has to be held accountable somehow.  I realize this is the chance combat athletes take, but this is almost unacceptable to me.

2.  Eye On The Spider: GSP vs. Anderson Silva.  The next epic showdown.  As they say in the chatrooms: Zuffa Make It Happen.

1. Respect: Never forget the great contributions of Helio Gracie to the martial arts world.  A true innovator for the ages.  As revered as Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee are today, it’s safe to say Helio has directly or indirectly had the most impact on modern martial arts.  Sure, Bruce Lee preached totality in martial arts skills.  But it was Helio’s Gracie Jiu Jitsu methods sought out by practioners of the various disciplines around the world to compliment or round out their personal styles.  Gracie Jiu Jitsu has transcended style to become an important element of today’s complete hand-to-hand warrior.  Rest in Peace.

[tags]BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, UFC, Jens Pulver, WEC, Helio Gracie[/tags]

The legendary Don Abato is back with “The MMA Ten”. This week, Don cracks wise and brings the knowledge. Just like every edition…

10. First Let’s Clear This Up: KJ Noons, one of the top guys in the now defunct EliteXC, says he is NOT signing with the UFC. Internet reports of such are rumor according the former 160 pound champion.

9. Let’s Be Clear On This Too: It should be obvious either KJ or his management team likely put the rumor out there in the first place. It’s an old Hollywood/Sports trick to get your name in the arena when the masses aren’t talking about you much.

8. Do You Care?: Serra vs. Hughes at UFC 98 in May. Grudge match between two evenly matched elders? Actually, yes I do.

7. Prime Numbers: UFC Primetime, the 3-part documentary previewing GSP vs. Penn II did really good ratings in its debut. The fight is already sold out. If the show continues to be as engaging as episode one we could see new PPV records being set. Believe the hype.

6. “The Fedor Show” Isn’t Catchy Enough: Affliction and WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor stars in his own documentary on Fox Sports Net in advance of his Affliction fight with Andrei Arlovski. The title pretty much sums it up: Fedor – The Baddest Man on the Planet. It matches the champ’s style: No nonsense.

5. Do You Care Pt.2?: Liddell vs Rua in Montreal at UFC 97. After seeing Rua struggle against Coleman, I don’t.

4. What’s Your Excuse?: Coleman says lack of money was the reason he faltered against Shogun. Oh, I thought it was lack of cardio and age.

3. What’s Your Excuse Pt.2?: Dennis Kang’s UFC debut was looking good early as he seemed to handle Alan Belcher. But then he got caught in a guillotine choke. Kang has now lost 3 of his last 5 fights. For the superstitious is this a case of the supposed PrideFC curse?

2. Silva Awaits: Hendo’s win over Ace cements his place as a coach in TUF 9. UFC lucks out, because as we saw with Mir/Noguiera, the buildup for Bisping vs. Henderson from the reality show will be tremendous. Keep on eye on the card featuring that main event, it could be another big one.

1. Spinning Up To The Moment: The Affliction PR machine will be busy up to the first bell. Regardless of what we hear regarding ticket and PPV sales before Saturday, once the result of Arlovski/Fedor is announced we’ll know if this promotion will survive. Not that there’s any added pressure or anything.

[tags]UFC, Fedor, Arlovski, Michael Bisping, Dan Henderson, TUF, KJ Noons, Pride[/tags]

10. Shamrock Legacy: Frankie called out his half-bro Ken for tainting the Shamrock Legacy.  Is that the legacy where you are a self-titled elite fighter who successfully avoids fighting the top middleweights of the world?  Or is it something else?

9. Gina’s Weigh-In: The MMA message boards lit up when word got out Gina Carano had to get naked for her weigh in.  I’ve never seen a bigger or more desperate cry from fans than the one heard for pics or vid of the occurrence.  Big thinkers see the potential of commerce and community in the internet, but let us not forget the web’s biggest strength: meeting the nekkid celeb demands of its users.

8. Bad Call: So I whiffed on predicting Ben Nelson over Arlovski.  But the real bad call was the  bad standup by the ref in in the 1st round.  While it didn’t affect the direct outcome of the fight, it was a ridiculous call.  Who stands up a fighter working from side control?  One of the worst standups I’ve ever seen.

7. Kimblown: Finally exposed.  You know what I’m talking about.  Kevin Ferguson.  Now you know.

6. Hardcore Tactics: Dana White Announces UFC 93 for January 17, 2009 in Ireland.  There’s something else big going on that same day.  What is it?

5. Aww shhhhiiiiii……: I mean shhhh, help keep a secret.  January 17 was supposed to be the same day for the next scheduled Affliction event. Aggressive move b Zuffa to hold UFC 93 on the same date.  Dana Dub and Lorenzo Fertitta are confident it’ll outdraw Tom Atencio’s show.  Now Affliction is keeping the date of its next show on the hush-hush.  Wow, Zuffa’s swingin’ some big ones, yeah?

4. If That’s Not Enough: UFC also re-broadcasted UFC 86 on SpikeTV hoping to sway some ratings away from EliteXC’s CBS broadcast.  This practice of offering counter programming on SpikeTV to compete with EliteXC and Afflication is now SOP by Dana and the crew.

3. GSP and CAA: What does Georges St. Pierre have in common w/Derek Jeter and David Beckham?  He’s now a client of CAA Sports, a gorilla in sports representation/marketing.  Forget whatever it is Georgie has been endorsing (no offense to FCFighter and the others) but now he’ll be pushing some real brands and bringing home more bread.  Most importantly, he’ll get better exposure.  He has the qualities that made Jeter and Beck A-listers: Championship prowess, chiseled good looks and likable personality.  It’s great to see fighters break beyond the UFC and become their own face, not the promotions.  Hopefully others follow soon.

2.  Seeing Pink: Seth Petruzell’s pink hairdo is likely the last thing K-Feg remembers from the cage.  But as happy as hardcore fans are with Kimbo’s loss, the pink haired party crasher also may have helped the execs for the Tiffany’s Network to send the pink slip to EliteXC right off the network.  Promotions built on a one trick pony don’t last.  Network success may be real short-lived.

1.   Do This: It’s obvious how UFC is going to play its cards when a player like EliteXC or Affliction is going to put on a show.  So why order a future PPV when you can watch the event for free a couple months later when they rebroadcast it against anything the competition does?  I say hold off on paying the money and wait.  Knowing how UFC does things, I know that’s what I’m doing from here on out.  Let’s see how long Zuffa can deal with reduced buys on future events.  Be a “strong” consumer and make your spending decisions send a message.

[tags]EliteXC, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Georges St. Pierre, Kimbo Slice, Dana White, UFC, Andrei Arlovski[/tags]

10. 5 Wasted Minutes: Kimbo appeared on the popular ESPN talker Pardon the Interuption in the “5 Good Minutes” segment and it was obvious host Tony Kornheiser was dis-interested. Kimbo gets a laugh trying to suggest anyone out there really believes James Thompson is a top rated heavyweight.

9. Crocop’s Nuts: Overeem’s nut shots were not cool and I wince just at the thought of those knees being so hard they slammed one of Crocop’s nuts up into his gut. Instead of looking for a knockout, Crocop is waiting for a fall out, as in the little bugger dropping back into his sack.

8. Xan-tastic: After finishting Takashi Sugiura at Sengoku V, Xande Ribeiro joins his good friend Jacare as another elite BJJer into MMA. It’s great to see them making the transition and look forward to seeing others from the Jits world make the jump.

7. Look Out Tom Emansky: Shonie Carter is putting on a clinic to help aspiring TUFers prepare for the Ultimate Fighter tryouts in Chicago. Mr. International does have a lengthy resume. The obvious punchline would be are banana hammocks, chalices and pimp suits required? Guess…

6. Look Out Morgan Spurlock: Shonie is also filming a docu-drama at these training sessions. The production is called “How To Build MMA Fighters.” Again, being a pimp like Mr. International isn’t a prerequisite, cuz just like the song says “it ain’t easy.”

5. “I”-conomy: HDNet’s bid for the remaining assessts of the IFL was $650,000. Compare that to its value in 2006 which stood around the figure of $160 million. I don’t know what to say.

4. Pitbull in a Big Country: UFC fans still have Andre Arlovski in their memories and former IFL heavyweight champ Roy Nelson is the title holder they don’t know about. They’ll face each other at this week’s EliteXC. Andre is expected to win impressively. But despite a Sambo background and working with BJJ whiz Dino Costeas, Andre isn’t so confident on the ground. I’m sticking it out and calling Nelson for the upset via decision.

3. Look Up: That upkick Mousasi used to beat Jacare for the Dreams Middleweight Grand Prix was pretty sweet. Made me think of another upkick KO that happend in Japan but was never called so you don’t know about it. “Look up” the Rampage Jackson vs. Arona fight where the former UFC Champion used a powerbomb for the ages to defeat the BTT player. Earlier in the match Ricardo caught Quentin with an upkick while playing guard. Jackson admitted he was dazed, but the ref never stopped it and ‘Page was allowed to regain his senses. Too bad for Arona…

2. Dreams Ratings: We’re close to a nightmare. Damn, it doesn’t look good for the future of the Japanese MMA promotion. Shame. Although it’s not quite Pride it provides another needed outlet for professional MMA athletes to earn a legit paycheck. The necessity for competing MMA organizations/promotions is best left for another discussion.

1. Keep It To Yourself, Craig: Gina Carano appeared on Craig Ferguson’s CBS show to promote her upcoming fight in EliteXC later this week. Ferguson isn’t an MMA fan but found himself intrigued and “troubled” over finding “Conviction” so attractive despite her KO abilities. It’s not a fetish dude, she’s just that sexy. He says he’s going to do some investigation about this sexual curiousity and report back. Craig, it’s cool man no need to share whatever “investigation” you’re going to do. We get it.

3. MMAers Battle Wu-Tang Clan: This is not about skillz on the M-I-C, but rather chess.  Rich Franklin and Jeff Monson will take on RZA and GZA on the chess board. I’m gonna pop the first WuTang CD and listen to “Mystery of Chessboxin’.”  In case you didn’t know, chessboxing is a real sport and WuTang are really fans of it.

2. Officially Finished: The IFL finally filed for Chapter 11 last week.  But I knew it was over cuz we saw cutaway shots of IFL ring girls Emily Miller and Lori Tyler during UFN 15.  We know they never show folks from competing organizations, regardless of how poor they are performing.

1. Stick To Your Guns: KJ Noons wouldn’t budge on his frstrations with EliteXC and Jeremy Lappen took the belt away.  The MMA message boards are flooded with the arguments for and against each side.  Are we ready to label his agent Mark Dion the Drew Rosenhaus of MMA?  After all, he’s the one giving him advice and handling negotiation.

10. Postponed I Reckon’: Affliction’s 2nd show, “Day of Reckoning”, had to be postponed to January. Assume Vegas heavyweight UFC had a big role in making sure Tom Atencio and Co. weren’t going to have a successful go in Zuffa’s hometown.

9. But Before You Say They’re Finished: There’s word of a possible teamup with Oscar De la Hoya and his prmotion team. So don’t write Affliction’s death certificate yet. Don’t expect them to overtake UFC if they do join forces either.

8. M.I.A.: As long as were talking about MMA promotions struggling to put on a second show, where the heck is Adrenaline MMA? Is the show still alive?

7. This RNC Ain’t a Choke: Heavyweight fighter Jeff Monson was among the sea of anarchists doing what they do best at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota. It’s safe to say the McCain/Palin ticket won’t be getting Jeff’s vote.

6. Rashad title shot: A highlight reel KO, his first quality win over a current 205er since Jason Lambert back in 2006 gets him an immediate title shot. Dana White cares more about spectacular finishes than win streaks.

5. Lyoto Still Waiting: Machida, still “running” for that title shot, huh? You could be “running” for a long time. Refer to #6.

4. Konichiwa Bunnies: Strikeforce signs another topnotch Japanese talent for its show at the Playboy Mansion. Mitsuhiro Ishida joins Kazuio Misaki. Good to see Strikeforce working to get top fighters from Japan onto US soil because they usually put on an exciting effort.

3. Together Again: This is sooo MTV(think Real World reunion show) but SpikeTV features an Ultimate Fighter marathon this weekend, featuring cast members from season one discussing the shows impact and sharing behind the scenes stories. It’ll be interesting to hear them all share how the show has impacted their careers. Plus I wanna see Joe Rogan put the Matt Lauers and Charlie Gibsons of the world to shame by asking how much being the show has helped them score “tail.”

2. UFC Fight Night: Speaking of TUF, two TUF winners are in the spotlight next week on UFN 15. Nate Diaz faces Josh Neer, and Mac Danzig faces Clay Guida. Danzig/Guida has early favorite for fight of the night. We’ll also see if Houston Alexander polished those anemic ground skills. If not, Eric Schafer’s gonna tie him in a box and mail him home. Don’t worry, it’ll be a short trip since the fight is already in Nebraska.

1. Evan Tanner: It was good to see Evan back in the UFC after his personal problems with drugs and alcohol. The former UFC MIddleweight Champion will be missed. He’s truly a figure from the old school and a solid example of the evolution of the current MMA fighter. In the beginning he was self taught, proceeded to develop his ground game over the years, then his Muay Thai (ask Phil Baroni about those skip knees). Even after winning the belt he sought to improve his boxing, knowing he’d need to improve his hands against Rich Franklin. And in his comeback Tanner was an evolving fighter. He was proof that no matter how bad things in life get, you can always work to get yourself back on track. Rest in peace.