Wow, what a pay-per-view. Top to bottom, this was one of the top 3 shows I've ever seen and was the best show since UFC 65 in Sacramento (Hughes vs. St. Pierre). There's a lot of murmuring about PRIDE's future and whether Dana White and his partners will buy the organization. I hope that's not the case as competition is good for any sport. Hopefully, PRIDE's financial issues will work themselves out and word-of-mouth will continue to spread in the United States after tonight's amazing show.
Here are a few thoughts on the show:

Fight of the night: Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz - This was the Hagler-Hearns of MMA. The main event that followed was an excellent fight and there was lots of excitement on the undercard, but this fight was on another level. The closest fight I can think of was Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama at PRIDE 21 on June 23, 2002.
Diaz and Gomi just let it all hang out and I was exhausted after the first round and all I did was watch it! I was surprised to see how gassed Gomi was midway through the first round (he couldn't even get his hands up above his waist to defend himself). But I think Diaz's size was too much for him to overcome and wore him down. Due to all the safety precautions that MMA has implemented to protect fighters, I've never been too concerned that a fight was going on too long. But near the end of the first round, I was worried that Gomi was going to be seriously injured. Some people are going to read too much into Diaz's win, saying that he was just an above average fighter in UFC, but came in and submitted PRIDE's lightweight champion. I don't buy that for a second. It's all about matchups. Diaz was just too long for Gomi. Put Sean Sherk (UFC's lightweight champ) in with Gomi and, in my opinion, he's KO'd by the second round. But no one knows for sure, right? That's what makes sports great. All I know for sure is, whenever Diaz-Gomi II takes place, I'm going to be watching.

Fighter of the night: Dan Henderson - The guy did something that no other fighter in a major organization has ever done: win a second title in a higher weight class. He fought an excellent fight and really showed how his skills have evolved. He's gone from being a world class wrestler to an all-around fighter with dangerous striking ability. He controlled Silva on the ground and with his fists (that spinning backfist would've made Shonie Carter proud!).

Final thoughts: Sometimes when a fighter is the victim of a vicious knockout, he's never the same. Wanderlei Silva has been a great champion, but tonight was a test to see how well he had recovered from his loss to Mirko Cro Cop on Sept. 10, 2006 during PRIDE's Final Conflict Absolute open-weight tournament. On Saturday, Silva was far from the aggressive fighter he usually is and, the more Henderson hit him, the less confident he looked. Before the fight, Silva continued in his quest to challenge UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in what many considered to be a dream match as of last summer. Now? I don't want to see that fight happen. If Silva is dominated by Henderson's striking, imagine what would happen against Liddell, one of the top 3 strikers in the sport today.

Posted by James Melroy at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There usually isn't a lot of time that goes by that I don't remind myself "I love my job" as a Staff writer/columnist for the Press-Telegram.
Last Monday was one of those days.

About a week earlier, I e-mailed one of my contacts in WWE asking him, since "No Way Out" was in Anaheim that weekend, was there a story he wanted done with one of the "superstars?" He replied fairly quickly, informing me that all was well as far as the pay-per-view went, but asked if I would be interested in interviewing one of the SmackDown superstars, Ashley Massaro, since she was going to be the focus of a major media push in the coming weeks due to her being on the cover of next month's Playboy magazine.
I was a little reluctant because I'm not a huge fan of the Divas ... well, I was reluctant UNTIL I got to the part where he mentioned the interview would be face-to-face, instead of a phone interview. I would estimate it took me about 10 seconds to reply that I would looooove to interview Ashley.
So, on Monday at the Marriott in downtown L.A., I met Ashley and my WWE contact for a lunch/interview. I was actually very impressed by her. Despite being under the weather and having a hectic schedule (she also had an appearance with "The Loose Cannons" radio show on AM-570 later in the day), she was a lot of fun to talk to. She looked you straight in the eye, joked around and really displayed a love for the business I'm not sure all of the Divas have. The interview lasted for about an hour (I tried to think of more questions, but didn't want it to be obvious I was just trying to extend our time together. Ha!)
As I watched her walk away ... and out of my life forever ... two thoughts crossed my mind: 1) The first, I can't share in a public forum; 2) God, I love my job.

Posted by James Melroy at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First off, welcome to "In The Ring."
Originally, this blog was supposed to focus solely on mixed martial arts. However, I wanted to widen the spectrum to include one of my other long-time interests: professional wrestling.

Now, before any MMA fan out there gets their boxers twisted in a knot, I know that MMA is real and pro wrestling is "fake" (I hate calling it "fake" when those athletes really put their bodies on the line during their performances in the ring).
But, it has become quite apparent that there is a big crossover appeal between the two with fans. In fact, a lot of frustrated pro wrestling fans, who have grown tired of Vince McMahon's product, have drifted over to MMA and thrown their support (not to mention dollars) behind UFC and some of the other MMA organizations.

I know there are going to be quite a number of you who aren't going to be interested in half of the postings on this blog. But, I've taken some steps in trying to ensure that anyone who visits this blog on a regular basis will be a satisfied reader. I've opened my blog up to two of my co-workers with the hope of keeping this blog updated on a regular basis with opinions, news bits and insight on MMA and professional wrestling. So, let me introduce you to them:

1) Matt Murray -- Matt is the Lead Page Designer in the Press-Telegram sports department. He has his own blog, which is hockey centric (you can find the link at http://www.presstelegram.com/sports). On this blog, Matt will be contributing to our pro wrestling coverage. Although I'm far from being a hockey fan, Matt's posts on his blogs have been very entertaining and, since we're always talking about pro wrestling in the office, I thought it was a no-brainer to have Matt help me out. Matt and I have a few things planned out as far as columns go that I think you'll find interesting. Plus, he rocks design wise so I'm hoping he'll improve the look of this blog. :)

2) Miguel Lopez -- When I first approached my editor about covering MMA early last year, I had someone else in mind to help me cover what I knew was a fast-growing sport. I quickly learned that Miguel was a fan of the sport, however and wanted to include him as much as possible. His hard work was quickly recognized and, with the departure of my original choice, Miguel quickly joined me officially on the MMA beat. Miguel will bring a vast knowledge of the sport and, he has a lot to offer readers on here. At the risk of blowing our own horn, many other publications are still learning about MMA (it still frustrates me whenever I see newspapers/magazine refer to UFC as a sport), Miguel knows the sport very well and, if you're a true MMA fan, you'll see that.

So, there you have it. I'm hoping to provide you plenty of news, opinions and other fun things to keep you entertained and in the know about MMA and professional wrestling. As for myself, I've worked at the Press-Telegram since 1996. I've been a pro wrestling fan since 1982 and an MMA fan since UFC I in the early 1990s. I'm looking forward to having some fun on this blog. Hopefully, Matt, Miguel and I can keep you entertained and informed.

Thanks for stopping by and, don't forget to leave a comment!

Posted by James Melroy at 03:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (45)