"Let's get it on!"

What better way could I have chosen to title my first MMA blog post than by channeling referee "Big" John McCarthy's legendary fight starting catch phrase?

"Big" John giving the final instructions to Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski before their Heavyweight clash.

"Big" John is just one of several key figures in the mixed martial arts (MMA) world that I will talk about through the course of this blog.  The name I picked for this entire blog series also references a legend in the sport of MMA. 

"Big Nog" is the nickname given to one of the greatest Heavyweight fighters to ever live, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  Also known as "Minotauro" to his Brazilian fans.  Nogueira holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a ground fighting self-defense system which was derived from Judo and utilizes grappling and submission holds like triangle chokes and armbars to incapacitate an assailant.  Big Nog is known for taking on much larger opponents, some as large as the 340 lb. Bob Sapp, and somehow pulling out the win in spectacular fashion.  His heart, or will to fight, is also one of his greatest assets.  At the age of eleven, "Big Nog" was run over by a truck and was in a coma for four days.  He stayed in the hospital for eleven months and lost part of his liver and a rib.  A large scar on Nogueira's back can still be seen from this incident and is one way to differentiate him from his twin brother, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who is also a very accomplished MMA fighter in his own right.  Nogueira has won several titles including the Pride Fighting Championship Heavyweight title and the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship.

"Big Nog" submitting Tim Sylvia with a guillotine choke to win the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship.

As you can probably tell I love MMA.  I probably think about MMA more than anything else, even more than women and my love life.  Coincidentally enough, if you would like to keep abreast, pun intended, of my love life check out my other blog Late Night with Conebone69.

With so many events scheduled every month, I will have plenty of interesting things to cover.  Just this past weekend, Randy Couture took on UFC newcomer and professional boxing champion, James Toney in the co-main event of UFC 118.  Not to mention there was a UFC Lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn.  I will be covering the UFC 118 event results and any newsworthy items next week.  Thanks for reading.