John Snyder's Errant Thoughts

Randy Couture

What a fight!  Randy Couture, at age 43, soundly defeated Tim Sylvia in every facet of the fight.  A unanimous decision, with all judges scoring all five rounds for Couture, this was utter domination.

In the post-fight interview, Couture served up some red meat for the American heartland, dedicating the fight to Jesus, "who stood up and died for our sins," and the American GI, "who stand up and die for our freedom."  The Columbus, Ohio crowd went wild.

Afterward, Sylvia was interviewed, and he cemented his status as the designated villian, drawing a chorus of boos when he mentioned, by way of excuse, that he came into the fight with an injury.

Unfortunately, time is not on Couture's side.  It is likely that Couture's reign as the heavyweight champion will not be a long one.  The next few months will likely see a matchup between Couture and Cro-Cop, who may be too much for Couture.  However, Couture treated us all to a thrilling heavyweight championship fight (which has been in scarce supply since Sylvia brought his brand of lean-and-jab fighting to the UFC).  Perhaps this will clear the way for some fresh faces in the heavyweight division.

UFC 68

The big fight tonight is Tim "The Maniac" Sylvia versus Randy "The Natural" Couture.  A poll of UFC fans have Couture as the favorite by almost a 2-1 margin.  I think the smart money is on Sylvia, but my heart is with Couture -- not only because he is 43 years old and a great story, but because all UFC fans who like action in the heavyweight division are looking forward to the end of the yawn-inducing Tim Sylvia era.

UFC 67

I am so ready for UFC 67, tomorrow night.  Finally, the UFC gets its act together and broadcasts its fights in HDTV.  Now we can see the blood and bruising in the exquisite 1080-I clarity.  Now if I can get my hands on a PS3, my life will be complete.

Double Jointed BJJ?

Every so often you will see a revolutionary new business idea that is so good – so widely relevant – that you wonder how no one thought of it earlier. 

And then there is this idea.

According to a post on Sherdog (the best blog around for mixed martial arts), a guy named “dblejointjohn” is starting a new Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club in New Canaan, Connecticut with a very specific emphasis:

We are a jui jitsu gym that caters only to those who are double jointed. I am a purple belt in BJJ and have been training now for 5 years. A friend of mine who is also double jointed is partnering with me on this. we will be recruiting from all around the world those who are double jointed to train at our faciltiy. We believe that being double jointed we have a huge advantage in grappling over those who are not.

Not surprisingly, the notion of a BJJ business making a go of it while turning away the overwhelming majority of potential customers who are not “double jointed” drew skeptical responses from others.  My favorite snarky response was from a poster who claimed in response:  “im starting a gym for people with a ‘5th limb’ designed specifically for choke outs.”

Still, I am wishing Gumby luck.  New Canaan needs to be known for something – may as well be the world’s double-jointed mecca.  Oh, it also does not help that there is no such thing as being "double jointed."