Andy’s Blog

Coming up on UFC 81 this weekend will be a good matchup on the undercard featuring fellow TUF 5 member Rob “Saint” Emerson vs. Keita Nakamura. I think this will be the sleeper match of the evening as everyone is really excited to see the heavyweights go at it, especially Brock Lesnar making his UFC debut.

I first saw Keita up close when he fought my good friend Drew Fickett at the UFC Fight Night in 2007. Going into the fight, we knew he was a good grappler with terrific Judo skills that likes to form the letter “K” with his body after making weight. We felt his strength and striking would be questionable, but he turned out to be a tough, tough competitor and while Drew ended up getting the win, it was by no means easy. “K-taro” proved to be good on the feet and on the ground and able to use his lanky body effectively.

Robert and me were on the same team of the TUF 5 and I’ve got to say one of the coolest dudes you could live with. I didn’t think I’d like him at first, as he seemed really quiet and stand-offish and I wondered if he was going to be a team player or just a guy looking out for himself. He proved to the best teammate you could ask for, being first in the gym and the last to leave. Rob’s known for his striking skills and he’s got a heavy 1-2 combo that if lands, will rock anybody.

The “Saint” didn’t really get to show all of his skills on the TUF 5 series as the matchups he had were both against guys a lot taller than him and it was tough for him to get inside and show his striking.

I do think he’ll be able to do that in this matchup, however, and people will see the kind of power and accuracy he has in his strikes. In practice at the TUF 5 he was easily the best striker on our team and the boxing coach, Rudy, loved his technique and aggresiveness.

Go Rob!

This past weekend I went out to Las Vegas and watched closely what the odds were looking like for the Roy Jones Jr. and Felix Trinidad boxing match.  Growing up a huge boxing fan (actually, like everyone else in the 1980s, I was a fan of Mike Tyson as he was the only thing in boxing then), I was interested in how this match-up would play out.  I’ll always remember when Ralph Gracie called out Roy Jones many years back after winning a fight in Battlecade and thinking how crazy that was; Jones at the time was unbelieveable.

 The odds heavily favored Jones as he was a lot bigger than Trinidad and having fought more recently.  A “friend” put in some money on the fight going past the 10th round, meaning the fight would have to make it into the 11th round for my “friend” to collect on his bet.  The fight was not spectacular in the heavy hitting sense, but it was great to see two legends in the ring at the same time.  As the 10th round came, my “friend” was very happy and excited, as he was only three short minutes away from a winning ticket.  You can understand our hearts hitting the floor, however, when with 10 seconds left Jones knocked Trinidad down and we thought all was lost.  Trinidad, being the man he is, got back up and thanks to him, we were able to enjoy a nice lobster and steak dinner that night!

 I’m not sure what else is in store for Jones or Trinidad, but this might be the right time to pursue other things and if it is, they’ll both have a life long fan in me…two guys who gave it all in the ring win, lose or draw.  Trinidad could have just stopped after the knockdown in the 10th and said, “Hey, he’s 20 lbs. bigger than me and I’ve already made my millions; why risk anything more?”.  But to me, that’s what legends are made of, those moments when they put their reputations aside and throw caution to the wind and just go for it.