Sources at MMANEWS.COM have reported that Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell was planning to step into the octagon and fight Rashad Evans, as scheduled, in spite of his torn hamstring injury. And that it was Dana White who apparently saved Liddell from himself and fans from a match that could've been a snoozefest. The news goes on to state the following:

 "I was going to fight, too," Liddell says. But then White called and said to forget it, to heal up and come back 100 percent."

So first of all, a deserved kudos for Dana and his looking out for something besides the bottom line. And for likely saving us all from watching Chuck lose and then, afterwards going into that mode a lot of fighters in combat sports go into, "I'm not making excuses but...(INSERT EXCUSE HERE ANYWAY)..." - blaming it on his injury. Fighting through a migraine, yes, that's acceptable. Fighting minus an appendage? Come on Chuck!! How long have you been an athlete? It's differences like that which separates the athlete from the tough guy wannabe fighter guy. A distinction that MMA continues to work towards making clear.

	WATCH THIS CHUCK LIDDELL HIGHLIGHT REEL
	CHECK OUT THE CONTROVERSIAL CALLING OUT OF CHUCK LIDDELL, BY ELITEXC'S KIMBO SLICE

Yacman

(VIDEO LINKS BELOW)

Just when you may have been thinking, "Damn. Josh Barnett is fighting again but it's in Japan and I can't go watch live." BAM! He's back, slated to fight on American soil shortly after his bout against Jeff Monson, at the World Victory Road’s Sengoku II event in Japan.

In what is clearly a rematch most MMA fans would welcome, Barnett looks to even the score by grabbing a rematch win over Pedro Rizzo - keeper of a very heavy right hand.

Barnett admitted Rizzo caught him with one of those 'stop a buick' strong shots, but stated he remains willing, since that loss, to mix it up with Rizzo once again. But this time, Josh noted, he (Barnett) will be knocking Rizzo's ass out.

This could prove to be the fight of the night on the difficult to launch "Affliction" fight card, and if you ask Barnett, he is certain it is. Buddies or not, Josh Barnett says he'll be stealing the spotlight from Fedor Emelianenko on this one.

Ok, they've got my attention now. Here's to hoping Josh Barnett demolishes The Snowman so we get a high spirited, super confident Josh Barnett in the rematch with Pedro Rizzo.

	THE YACMAN INTERVIEWS JOSH BARNETT AT SHOXC
	THE YACMAN INTERVIEWS JOSH BARNETT AT FATAL FEMMES FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP: CRYSTAL BRAWL

Yacman

hyp·o·crite  Pronunciation Key - [hip-uh-krit]

Ok, so with the closing in on the first MMA event to hit network TV, there are tons of opinions swirling around about what it should be, could be, might be, etc. I honestly believe EliteXC has paired up some well-matched fighters in some great fights that will be criticized by some mainly out of their still being skeptical of EliteXC as a brand, not because of the fights themselves. The other guys, while absolutely reliable in putting on great events too, have sold some PPV's that made 102 Dalmations seem worth renting - and it received less criticism, again due to the perceived status of that brand.

Another point you see a lot is the impact of MMA amongst the fringe and casual fans who are being exposed to it the first time. Many, such as CBS (Seems to not)shareholder Sumner Redstone criticise the sport of MMA, deeming it such a brutal thing too harsh to be put on TV. A lot of bloggers online responded stating how violence oriented the CBS line of shows like CSI are, shining a light on what they feel is hipocrisy.

Here's an aspect of the hipocrites that I find beyond odd. And in all fairness, most of them don't think things through for consistency that in-depth so...

Ok...so here's my beef with it.

Parents ALL over America, including my own nephew, go to karate class, study various martial arts and NO ONE says, "Hey, hold on! Why are we teaching them to be violent and fight?" - Instead the general consensus is, "It's a great thing that little Billy learns the discipline, physical and moral values instead of getting in with the wrong crowd." They break boards, yell, "Keeyah!" and all is well in Hipocri-City. But then it happens...and things go bad.

That's right, I'm talking about the mix...as in Mixed Martial Arts. No one wants the thousands of little martial artisits to apply and use their skills in an athletically commissioned event, maybe make some money at it. These combat skills are only acceptible if they're segregated from one another and saved for life-threatening moments on the street.

My big question here is: Where did all of the reverence for the discipline and honor that all of these martial arts academy's instill in the students, go? How did it go from that to brutal, cockfighting?  

This is one way MMA creates a path for thousands to avoid a less desirable path in life, whereas normally this 'out' is only available to our youth if they want to box professionally. Boxing, which I love, has Olympic acceptance - as does wrestling - but that's it. No other combat sport has a path to continue it, with the discipline you are taught and thrive financially. Well ok, pro-wrestling somewhat - but even that's not so great an option, is it?

That's not right to me. If fighting full-on is a bad thing for those to practice any martial arts, then why aren't these 'it's too violent' people protesting Hockey - where fights break out a lot and have nothing to do with the sport. Why not fine them? Cancel games? Exile athletes from the sport? - you know, BE CONSISTENT with the same values you preach elsewhere.

I've said it before and will continue to repeat it - the level of respect, sportsmenship and discipline you see in MMA is almost certainly unparalleled in any other sport. And while I do work in the MMA industry, I am not a fan from the start. I came from boxing, got talked into giving it a chance to see what it's about and then saw the excitement, honor and potential it encompasses.

I'll consider changing my feelings on this when I see folks who send their kids to karate class boycotting and protesting it because they break boards...boards that come from trees...trees that we need for our environment and they're killing the Earth by enabling all of this board breaking!

Ah, what a world.

YACMAN