Combat Chronicles

November update!

My home office is NEARLY complete so I’ll hold off on doing a new episode until then, but I will 100% be ready to talk ALL about UFC 295 this coming weekend. I also want to talk about the excellent year that Jonathan Haggerty is having, as well as the very weird clash between Buakaw and Saenchai. There’s also an excellent boxing match from two weeks ago I still want to matter about as well. It’s all coming, just bear with me as—like me—I’m sure you’re all tired of the echoey aco...

Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou...WTF?!

Yes, indeed it's a what the fuck moment as Francis Ngannou did the unthinkable and competed with Tyson Fury on a technical level. That's what was most impressive about this fight, and in this podcast I look into how he did it, what it tells us about his prospects in boxing's heavyweight division going forward, and what it tells us for the entirety of boxing's heavyweight division going forward. Topics touched on include: Why Francis was able to transition so seamles...

UFC 294

Yes, really! I reacted to UFC 294 from the opening prelims to the main event. Pre-fight predictions. Yep. Post-fight reactions. You betcha. Round-by-round analysis. Sure. Live commentary. You got it. Loads of tangents. Of course! Hope you enjoy this one and I'll be back on this here Patreon feed (hopefully fully recovered from covid!) to talk all about Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou.

Covid…

I have covid so no Guide to Pride this week as my voice is all raspy. Will hopefully bounce back in time for podcast this coming weekend. I hear there are some fights worth talking about…

Found something whilst moving house (Muay Thai & Boxing history)

Yo! Whilst unpacking some of my boxes from moving, I found a single A4 print-out tucked into a big art book. 

It’s an article I remember paying for (can you believe that!) from The New Yorker. It’s the June 4th, 1949 edition, and I can see why I was so eager to get hold of it!

Not only is it a Western account of a Muay Thai card (here called ‘Siamese Style’ given the time it was written) it was relevant to a project I was working on at the time, a book about the histo...

Sorry in advance!

Bonus Episode: Canelo schools Charlo

And some chatter about Fury vs. Usyk apparently being signed, sealed, but not quite delivered! Also some other big lads threw down this past weekend and Floyd Mayweather made a bit of a twat of himself. 

Bonus Episode: A whole week of combat

So yeah, thanks for bearing with me the last two weeks! I understand it's been barren for content whilst the word of combat sports has been anything but, so I hope this look at some of the highlights from the past week or so makes up for me needing to take a week off!

Some of the fights mentioned: Joe Joyce getting splattered by Zhilei Zhang, Superlek and Rodtang throwing down at Lumpinee Stadium, Tenshin moving to 2-0 as a pro boxer and the superb Kenshiro defending his world titles ag...

Bonus Episode: K-1 ReBIRTH / UFC 293

What a bizarre weekend for combat sports. K-1 shit the bed again, Israel Adesanya shit the bed again (and Sean Strickland pissed all over it as well) and Fabricio Werdum nearly lost an eyelid!

Bonus Episode: UFC Paris Part Deux / Francis & Tyson (Mike, that is) / K-1 international broadcast deal?? / Eubank-Smith II

Lengthy title...guess I should've just called it 'Lots of news and a couple of fights' but whatever.

If your preferred podcast platform doesn't like that title for whatever reason, a summary of just some of the discussion points  in this episode:

~K-1 having an apparent international broadcast deal with DAZN (and why, as per usual with K-1 it doesn't appear to be straightforward!)

~UFC LEGEND CM PUNK and his dismissal from AEW

~Francis Ngannou working wit...

Bonus Episode: Usyk vs. Dubois (but really Usyk vs. Fury)

Before I get to Oleksandr Usyk's 9th-round stoppage of Daniel Dubois (with special guest HaXxorIzed) I take a gander at the UFC Singapore card from this weekend. Then it's all about Usyk, the big lads, and the man you cannot think about when thinking of Usyk: Tyson Fury. Will 'The Cat' (absolute bollocks, I'm never calling Usyk that) and 'The Gypsy King' ever square off and is this the only time sports washing is okay? Tha...

Bonus Episode: UFC 292

There were a fair amount of people picking Sean O'Malley to dethrone Aljamain Sterling, but I wasn't one of them. But how did O'Malley do it and what does his performance tell us about not just him, but the division going forward?

As for the greater bantamweight division, Marlon 'Chito' Vera and Pedro Munhoz put on a lovely scrap to open the show, and Ian Garry really impressed me too! All of that, plus a look back at the career of Chris Weidman, exclusively for you lovely, lovely patro...

Bonus Episode: Wilder is going to decapitate Joshua, isn't he?

This week, I dissect the three big heavyweight fights from DAZN's shambles of a boxing card, and look into what they might mean for the division going forward. Then a bit of a sad section as I talk about wrestling with my potential enjoyment of Luque versus RDA. Then ending the podcast on a high note as a patron asks me for my thoughts on one of the most enjoyable gunslingers in combat sports today. 

Bonus Episode: A proper dangerous c***

Bad language warning for this one if you dare listen to this on the school run!

Fights covered: Anthony Joshua versus Dillia--wait, a sec', versus Robert Helenius? Okay then...

Also, Jake Paul versus Nate Diaz (yes, really) and the main event of the weekend Chingiz Allazov versus Marat Grigorian. Very brief thoughts on the UFC card which brought plenty of fun, an out-of-character main event and overall didn't feel significant enough for me to devote much time to when I'm ...

Bonus Episode: Crawford dominates Spence / UFC 291

'Bud' Crawford made the strongest case yet for his sitting atop the pound-for-pound rankings but just how was he able to dismantle Errol Spence in this way?

Justin Gaethje overcome some ol' demons in his sparking of Dustin Poirier. What does it mean for the future of the lightweight division?

And of course more thoughts on the weekends action including 'Po Atan' getting back in the win column. 

Naoya Inoue vs Stephen Fulton preview and prediction

Boxing superstar Naoya 'Monster' Inoue has won world titles at 108, 115 and 118 pounds and is seen by many as not just the biggest puncher in the sport but its best fighter pound-for-pound. But is the Japanese sniper (24-0, 21 KOs) aiming on too tough a target when he moves up to challenge two-belt super bantamweight champ Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) of Philadelphia.

In this episode I look at the careers and styles of both fighters and try best to guess how the fight will go down. ...

Coming this week!

Yo, hope everyone’s good? Thanks for your new & continued support, much appreciated as always.

Going to drop a preview for Inoue-Fulton tomorrow on this here Patreon feed. Then I am going to drop a review of the fight on Tuesday/Wednesday coupled with an extensive preview of the Spence-Crawford fight with special guest Rob Tebbutt (the head honcho over at Boxing News) that I think you’re all gonna’ love. That will be on the main podcast feed. 

As for Spence-Crawford...

Thank you Robbie Lawler (and the rest of UFC 290!)

...and another title fight too!

LOADS to talk about as UFC 290 was a bloody nice card overall, even if one of my all-time faves retired and another of my all-time faves suffered a bad loss. 

Combat, Chronicled: How to Catch a Spider

Ten years ago today! I can't believe I'm typing that, but it's true (depending on when you're reading this of course) and it's always strange when a fight you watched at the time becomes a historic fight. 

But this is one that felt momentous at the time! In the second episode of the 'Combat, Chronicled' series I look back at one of the craziest moments in MMA history, the night Chris Weidman dethroned the great Anderson Silva.

Much was said in the immediate ...

‘How to Catch a Spider’ is coming tomorrow!

Just as an update in precisely (because why not?) 12hr33min after I post this (so 06:01 U.K. time and 01:01 EST) the new episode of ‘Combat, Chronicled’ will drop!

In case you hadn't figured it out from the title, it is a deep-dive into the first fight between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. A 1-hr+ audio documentary, dropped on the 10th anniversary of that great night, that I hope will do it justice and that you will all enjoy!

Coming later this week!

Hello to all of you! Just as an update there will be a BRAND NEW audio documentary coming to the Patreon later this week. Featuring contributions from Kenny Florian and Luke Thomas (who I interviewed for this episode) ‘Combat, Chronicled: How To Catch A Spider’ will premiere in the next seven days! I hope to have it out by this coming weekend, so keep your eyes peeled! This is the second episode in this particular series, the first being ‘The First Great Bantamweight’ about Miguel Tor...

Bonus Episode: This week in MMA plus the 100th Anniversary of Villa vs. Wilde

A mixed bag this one as I look at ACA, Bellator and UFC, before pivoting to a thorough look back at a lower-weight clash between two legendary boxers which turned 100 this week. It's a fight and topic close to my heart so even to the MMA fans who aren't into boxing, I hope you stick around to hear that segment!

Podcast will be up tonight (and here's why)

I decided to write many thousands of words about the 100 year anniversary of Pancho Villa versus Jimmy Wilde. One of the most significant lower-weight title fights in history featuring two bona fide all-time greats, and I hope this segment of the podcast will illuminate why it was so huge at the time. Other fights covered: Eduard Vartanyan winning the ACA lightweight tournament, the two Bellator title fights, and the co-main and main event from this past weekend's UFC card. 

Coming this week

Interviewing a special guest tomorrow for an upcoming project, and then will get out a bonus episode for you all. There are five fights I want to look at (all MMA, all from the past couple of days) and I want to do a little history section as well, so six in total. So expect that by midweek. 

Bonus Episode: Lopez tames Taylor and Chucky slashes Benny!

Covering all of the three 'main' combat sports we tend to talk about this week, as what should've been a super-fight (but ended up a weird one) took place in the world of boxing, and two fan-favourites bounced back in both kickboxing and MMA. There's a little bit on the GWOAT as well. 

June updates!

Yo, yo, yo how's it going? Good I hope?!

To any new patrons WELCOME and thanks very much for signing up. For any existing patrons as always, much appreciated and much love to you all.

Just thought I'd dish out my plans for June: I continue to work on The Guide to Pride 1, and mercifully I only have a handful of fights left to write about! In fact the writing has gotten to the point (almost 30,000 words) where I'm considering releasing it as an e-book further down the line! If I wa...

Right? Or Robbery? Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks

UFC 167 was the card, MGM Grand was the venue, and November 16th, 2013 was the date for the 170lb clash between defending champ GSP and future champ 'Bigg Rigg'.

But was the decision right? Or was it a robbery? Take a trip down memory lane as I first recall what I felt about the fight at the time, and then see if my opinions have changed after a decade has (nearly) passed.

Watch along on UFC Fight Pass and let me know your scorecards either in the comment section below or over on ...

Bonus Episode: Boxing, Boxing, BOXING

More thoughts on Haney-Lomachenko (technical breakdown can be found on this week's episode of Heavy Hands) followed by my thoughts on a new Japanese prodigy emerging in Junto Nakatani and then taking a look at what transpired in the Katie Taylor-Chantelle Cameron 'super fight'. Then, to wrap things up some quick thoughts on the 'Bud' vs. Spence mega-clash which appears to be on the horizon for the umpteenth time. 

Too Slick To Fight: The George Benton Story

This is the first ‘proper’ article I ever wrote, after a couple of years writing forum posts that had featured more and more detail over time! 

Now, to say I’m dismayed at the prose and what I considered good research back then would be an understatement! But as I couldn’t find this at its original home (The Cyber Boxing Zone) and I managed to find a PDF copy I’d sent to a boxing historian I respected in my sent items box, I thought it might be worth letting you guys take...

Bonus Episode: DJ-Moraes III / RIZIN 42 / Is Canelo past his best?

Three different combat sports take the stage for this week's bonus episode, as I look at the rubber match between Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson and Adriano Moraes, before looking at a really fun kickboxing bout between Buakaw and Rukiya Anpo at RIZIN 42. 

The second half of the episode covers boxing and looks at the hysteria that has been floating around in the wake of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez's one-sided win over John Ryder, and my thoughts as to where I see the pound-for-pounder...