| Rage In The Cage XI Johnny "Wildfire" Rage |
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| Best fights of 2008 preview, my thoughts on Skippy McMannis, UFC 79 review, MMA Steroid Controversy, and much more. Let’s find out who “Wildfire” is burning for. Before I get on the topic of my best fights of ‘08 preview, I want to touch base on a person named Skippy McMannis. I’m sure that 98% of you readers aren’t familiar with him outside of his usual pick ’em contests with yours truly. Well, apparently Skippy is going to call me out in his next article and that’s fine by me. I mean, he did beat me twice in a contest but still managed to lose to me in overall points for the season. In fact, Skippy only finished in front of me in points on 4 out of 10 events. 40% might be good enough for Skippy to pass home school but in the real world that’s worse than seeing Marion Jones naked. I realize that Skippy needs someone to make him famous and that’s cool. Just remember what I did to Drew Hall when he wanted to tangle. He hasn’t posted anything since the beatdown I gave him. Moving on to more important things: 2008 will bring MMA fans some amazing matchups. Here’s my list of 10 fights that must take place for ‘08 to be a success. 1.) Fedor vs. Couture 2.) Rampage vs. Forrest Griffin 3.) GSP vs. Matt Serra 4.) Tito Ortiz vs. Wanderlei Silva II 5.) Gomi vs. Nick Diaz II 6.) Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami 7.) Kimbo vs. Big Foot Silva 8.) Liddell vs. Jardine II 9.) Machida vs. Shogun Rua 10.) Frank Mir vs. Tim Sylvia Whether you agree or disagree with the list doesn’t really matter to me but I always welcome reader feedback. E-mail wildfire@scrubsports.com UFC 79 closed out ‘07 with a huge bang. GSP dominated Matt Hughes, Liddell finally got to show his superior abilities over Wanderlei and Machida proved that we weren’t in Japan anymore. There isn’t a whole lot to say about the event that hasn’t already been said. The UFC booking staff did a tremendous job with the matchups and I’m going out on a limb and actually saying THANKS! In this week’s “Spreading Wildfire” segment, I’m tackling the subject of how MMA fans respond to steroid use. While many fighters have kept clean and not tested positive for steroids, a select few have; some have been forgotten and some have become the poster boys for steroids use in MMA. Sean Sherk is the devil. Well, I don’t think so, but if you read Sherdog’s message board you would be inclined to believe that. It all stems from Sherk testing positive last July and the absolute debacle of a steroid hearing that occurred. Most of the posters there are “Keyboard Warriors,” which is fine, but to crucify someone who was neither the first nor the last to test positive for steroid use is completely wrong. Before Sherk there was Tim Sylvia, who wasn’t and still isn’t liked by anyone in the MMA community. Josh Barnett is regarded by most to be a top 5 MMA Fighter but no one ever speaks about his positive steroid test. In fact, if you were new to the sport, you wouldn’t hear mention it. Royce Gracie is the same way. He was loaded up on steroids before his last fight and no one mentions anything about it. My whole point in this article is that apparently the popularity of a fighter is affecting the perception of these fighters who test positive for steroids. I firmly believe in the hearings and suspensions and in people doing their time, but I also think that every time Sherk or Sylvia’s names are brought up in steroid conversations, you should mention Barnett & Gracie as well. It’s the little steps that we as MMA fans must take to make sure that our beloved sport finds the correct ways to rid itself of performance enhancing drugs. Add us to your friend’s list on myspace at myspace.com/scrubsportsdotcom |