sitnspin

1. Did you guys notice the sponsors? Both were pretty interesting. First of all, BURGER KING! That's amazing. Not that I give a s**t about Burger King itself, but they're a huge corporate sponsor who normally do tie-ins with stuff like baseball and Disney -- the big cornerstones of mainstream America. And here they are sponsoring the UFC. That's pretty major, and it sure wouldn't have happened a couple of years ago. The other one was The Condemned, which is the new WWE film. Vince McMahon! He's had bad blood with both the UFC and Spike, and here he is buying ad time on their broadcast. Seems like little case of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em", and an admission that Spike and the UFC have the attention of the kind of people that Vince is trying to reach.

2. Did you guys notice Buffer adding a 1 in front of McCully's recorded wins? He was 7 and 3 going into last night's fight, and Bruce says "With 17 wins and 3 losses..." I wonder what that does to you psychologically when you're already nervous about your first UFC fight? Does it make you feel even tougher because the room and your opponent think you've got 17 wins, or does it throw you off because you think, "I'm not as good as he says I am, I've only got 7 wins." You can bet if Buffer said "With 7 wins and 13 losses", McCully would have screamed at him. And what does it do to Hardonk? I guess he probably knew McCully's record going in, because that's something you'd take the time to find out. So he probably knew it was a mistake (if he was even listening).

3. Someone said recently (I forget who -- Nick Diaz, I think) that a Gracie blue belt is like a black belt under anyone else because the Gracies are so stingy with their promotions. If that's the case, how exactly did Hardonk get a Gracie blue belt with the way he handled himself on the ground last night? So many missed opportunities, and when he actually had the armbar sunk, he didn't seem to know how to finish it.

4. Did anyone see Minotauro? I heard he was there and sitting with Dana, but if it ever showed them I must have been in the can.

5. Joe Stevenson is funnier and more charismatic and a better talker than I remember. They should give him more opportunities to talk on other shows and the internet, the way they do with Swick and Forrest. The guy's hilarious.

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