So after the reception, I get to watch the fights. I was very surprised with the Kenflo/Stevenson fight. I think Kenny’s take down defense really surprised Joe. On the Brock/Couture fight I think Randy had a great gameplan. I think he was doing good trying to wear Brock down. I think what surprised Randy so much was Brock’s athleticism and quick hands. So, all in all, I’m sure it was a great fight to watch live. I know I had a good time watching through the TV.

Here are a couple of videos from a show that Patrick and I did in the past. Patrick edited them and I thought they were kind of interesting in that you get to see what we do at these shows:

Another video I want to put up is about a car I’m getting from One More Round. Mark Zacher, the owner of One More Round and BC Ethic, is giving me his car in return for all the stuff I’ve done for them. I was very surprised to hear this, because I know he loves his vehicles. Click on the link below to watch part one, then you can watch parts 2 and 3 as well:
Video: BC Ethic Build - Part I

-matt

Kenflo vs. Stevenson is interesting. I think Kenny will have the advantage standing, but Joe will have the wrestling advantage. And I also think Joe will have the advantage on the ground. With that being said, I think Joe has more ways to win. If it goes into the third round, though, I think Kenny will have more gas. So if it ends in the first two rounds, I think Joe will get his hand raised and if it ends in the third round, I think it will be because Kenny finished him. I think a judge’s decision could go either way, no pick on that.

Randy vs. Brock: I think this is young versus old and this could be the fight where Randy passes the torch. Brock is younger, stronger, more athletic, and the better wrestler. And with that being said, I think Brock has a lot more ways to win. The only way I really see Randy winning, is if it goes late in the fight and Brock gets tired. I don’t see Randy knocking him out, I don’t see Randy submitting him, I don’t see Randy out-wrestling him. I think Randy’s got to wear on him and try and tire that animal out.

It seems I’m wrong more than I am right on these picks so don’t go out and mortgage your house and let it ride. Talk to you after the fight. -matt

Last Wednesday, I went to Vegas to the SEMA Show and sat with Rolling Big Power. Then Thursday morning, got up and flew to Reno because on Saturday I was going to sit with Century and do a signing at a store for them. Since I had some time between the two, I scheduled in a coyote hunt with Chad Belding and his brother, Clay, with the help of Legacy Sports. Well, Chad and his brother are the funniest guys and the best coyote callers out there. All you have to do is ask them and they’ll tell you. (If you didn’t figure it out, the last two sentences were sarcastic.) But had a great time and even learned a little bit. I found Reno to be a pretty fun place to hang out. It seems I ran into a lot of fight fans and I think the UFC or some organization needs to have a fight there. Here are some photos from this weekend:

Tomorrow I leave for San Antonio for the UFC. Going down there to a military hospital with Rich Franklin to meet some soldiers getting back from the war. So I’ll have more on that next week.

My church does some good studies, this is something I picked up from one of the groups. I think it’s a great read on love. I’m going to post this in the forums since it’s a few pages long. You can read it by clicking HERE.

Recently a photo popped up with me holding a shirt. Let me explain a little bit, I went down to Dale’s Harley-Davidson and did an autograph signing for them. I was asked to sign a shirt then hold that shirt up for a picture. As I glanced at the shirt, I didn’t think it was inappropriate at all, I just thought it was a bikers’ club shirt. Turns out it wasn’t quite that innocent. So I just want you all to know that I don’t support that group whatsoever. I’ve gotten some emails with people saying they are disappointed with me, I think the people that know me would not be so easily swayed. I’m a little disappointed with some of the people out there who have sent emails and been so quick to assume the worst when I think it’s pretty apparent what I believe in.

I’ll be back next week with some pictures from Yale and then a short story about how the hospital appearance went. -matt

I now pray for my country, I also pray for President-Elect Obama to have an experienced cabinet to help him make his decisions. -matt

“A people that expects to be ignorant and free, expects what never was and never will be.” -T. Jefferson

We are engaged in a great struggle, not simply for an election but for a people. A people who are in the midst of a battle for freedom, which many thought won only to realize that freedom is paid for in installments, and every generation decides what part of that installment they are willing to pay. There are so many issues (1) Life/care of the disabled and elderly v. slaughter of the unborn/inconvenience of those unable to care for themselves; (2) Property rights/personal sovereignty v. oppressive taxation/redistribution; (3) 2nd amendment rights v. disarmed police state; (4) Holy marriage v. careless attitudes concerning marriage/alternative lifestyles; (5) faith of our founders v. secularization of government; and the question begs, can both sides be right?

There are so many issues, but there may be one that bridges many of the issues. It stems from a word that we hear from preschool throughout our lives. The word is fairness. Webster’s 1828 defines fairness as “equality of terms; equity; as the fairness of a contract.” However, we have replaced the word today to mean, “I want what he/she has” or “I have a right to…” I believe we have confused fairness with the word covet. Coveting is defined as “earnestly desiring or wishing for; desiring inordinately to obtain or possess.” It is a violation of the tenth commandment and is simply called idolatry. Our biggest issue today… is the idolatry of covetousness; an altar upon which sits self and his cousins selfishness, self-absorbed, self-consumed, self-focused, me, mine, and in Latin “Iwani” — hence referred to as IWANI!

IWANI! is easily fooled by speeches that simply include the word you, yours, and “help for you” because it constantly holds a mirror in front of it’s face, it cannot see past today (although it can look at itself constantly). It aborts children because they distract IWANI! and demand that IWANI! make sacrifices. It also has no care of the elderly or disabled because they consume IWANI! resources. IWANI! cares not for the sacrifices others have made in accumulating wealth through overtime work, a second job, or ability because it’s not mine — uh, I mean fair. IWANI! wants a police state that holds absolute power so that when IWANI! shouts, “Not fair! You must tolerate my choices!” we will either conform or cease to exist. Finally, IWANI! demands that all vestiges of faith never be allowed to impose their views, because IWANI! has replaced and objective/eternal/outside of self truth. In fact, we must immediately move to strike the declaration that “all men are created equal… endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights… Life, Liberty, and Property.” Nothing is inalienable/untouchable with IWANI!

I’ve heard of this state of nirvana in some of our elementary schools. On the first day of school, children come and bring all of their paper, pencils, and crayons. They go to the front of the room and deposit all of them in the classroom “resource barrel”. The police state — I mean teacher, then redistributes the materials as the children have need. It’s really neat because the students who tear up their paper and break their crayons are then issued new ones. It is absolutely fair, and IWANI! is thriving. Somewhere the common sense of Thomas Paine whisper’s “what is lightly obstained, is too lightly esteemed.”

Never fear, IWANI! is present in our churches, our homes, and yes in our government. Which now looks more like Barnum’s circus… just give the people what they want — Wealthcare (healthcare, welfare — I mean $850 tax credit, etc.). The question, can both sides be right is not nearly as important as “Will someone pass the crayons?” IWANI!

-matt

Next I’ll show a picture of the kids at Halloween. Joey is a Clonetrooper and Hanna is Chewbacca, even though I think she looks more like an Ewok.

So Happy Halloween to all!

So, now on to more important things. I’ve been asked a lot about this election and I’ve decided to go ahead and answer. I vote this way for my kids just as much as myself. First I think experience is an important factor. McCain has plenty, with over 20 years of experience as a Senator. Senator Obama has been there for around 4 years, but you have to subtract a year because he’s spent that running for the Presidency. One thing I dislike about Obama is he’s never shown that he loves this country. Whether it’s not putting his hand over his heart when he says the Pledge of Allegiance, or his wife’s comment about this being the first time she’s been proud of her country (when her husband was nominated as the Democrat candidate).

This is also going to be a big election because this President could get to pick three Supreme Court justices. I’m pro-life, against gay marriages, pro-gun and I want to keep our borders tight and I am in support of the war. I would not withdraw right now, I think we are well on our way towards what we wanted to do over there. I was told that these are not things that should determine the Presidency. I totally disagree. With the President going to nominate maybe three justices, I think it is a huge factor in this election. Another thing, I want the President to be a good role model, Senator McCain always addresses Barack Obama as Mr. or Senator Obama. Barack always addresses Mr. McCain as John McCain. I like the respect value that Mr. McCain always shows. I dislike that Barack seems to show no respect for Mr. McCain. Barack not putting his hand over his heart during the Pledge also falls under the respect factor.

If Obama’s tax plan is what I’ve heard it is, then if you make over $250,000 a year, he is going to take 65 cents for every dollar you make and redistribute that. I’m all for helping people who need help, what I dislike is the government giving money to people who just want to sit around and be lazy and would rather soak up taxpayers’ money instead of going out and getting a job. I think we have enough of that already and those people don’t need anymore help. I would rather choose for myself who my money goes to.

Of course, everybody knows that I’m a born-again Christian, I know the McCain/Palin ticket share my views a lot closer than Obama/Biden. I don’t know for sure whether McCain is a Christian or not, however I do know that he sacrificed years of his life defending our freedoms which include freedom of religion. So he has proven that he is willing to sacrifice of himself to protect our Constitutional rights.

I do agree with Biden when he said that, if Obama gets elected, then somebody will test him within 6 months. The whole world is looking at this election and all those countries out there that hate us and want to do harm to us are hoping that Obama gets elected.

I can look past the fact that McCain was against my sport. I’m not taking that personally, I’m doing what I think is best for my kids and my country.

So, I hope people go out and use their best judgement and not look at who they can relate to the most, but who is going to do the best job out there.

www.JohnMcCain.com

-matt

Last week was my birthday, on Monday. I always give a present to myself, so Monday night I left on a 4-day deer hunt. More news on that in the middle of the week. I’ve got some information to get before I want to publish a big blog; but I do have some pictures of the deer I got with my first bow hunt in the forums.

Last Saturday, my good buddy Brian got married. He runs the online store for the website. It was a nice quick wedding, about 20 minutes (he’s got nothing on me, mine only lasted 7 minutes). So, congratulations Brian and Heather, I hope you have happy life together! Here are some pictures from the wedding:

I’m going to come back on Thursday and post my picks for the upcoming fight this weekend. -matt

So moving on, last weekend, I went to some fights in St. Joseph, Missouri. The fights went great, I actually had a really good time. We left the venue at 11:00 and went to a smokehouse for the afterfight party. The place was called Pinzino’s Smokehouse. It was some of the best food I’ve had in a very long time. I definitely consider myself a barbecuer, but this guy had some really good food. I met the owner, Chris, at the fights and told him that I was going to judge his food that night, so when I got to the restaurant, at around 11:15, I had a big sampler platter waiting for me. Some of the items were ribs, briskets, turkey, pulled pork and they were all delicious. Another thing he had there was a New York Strip steak (I’m not a fan of the New York Strip cut) and it was the best strip steak I’ve ever had. What he did was he threw it in the smoker for about an hour and then cooked it regular after that. He did the same thing with the chicken wings. So, very good food. I definitely think if you are around the area or driving through you should stop by and visit Pinzino’s Smokehouse. No, I’m not getting paid to say this, just a fan of good food. The phone number is 816-749-4035.

Right now I am driving to the airport, I’m heading up to Minnesota to go on a deer hunt this week. So wish me luck and you’ll hear all about it on next week’s blog.

Sports Illustrated’s website posted a list of the UFC’s 10 Greatest Fights a few days ago. An interesting list and I’m kind of surprised to be on it and to be on it twice. They have my second fight with Frank Trigg (from UFC 52) as #4 and my second fight with BJ Penn (from UFC 63) at #1. If it was me, however, I would probably flip-flop those and put the Trigg fight as number one.

Thanks for all the phone calls and texts from my forum friends and family.

Last but not least, I got my truck home and here are some pictures Nate shot so you can see it and we’ll put some more up sometime.

-matt