UFC Questions

            First off, thanks for getting me into UFC. I never cared for it for the longest time, just saw it as a three round hugging match. I used to love wrestling, still do I guess I just can't watch the current product. I actually haven't been a regular viewer since 2002 but after I read your Benoit book, it got me back into wrestling full force. This probably wasn't your intention seeing as the book had such a negative vibe towards the business. So then I went to Amazon and purchased your other four books, and have read them all twice. Something about the breezy shooting the shit way you write really reminds me of me and my cousin watching wrestling and heckling/commentating on it. But, as I stated before I just can't watch the current product, so my DVD wrestling collection has become huge as the only way I get my fix is by watching the classic matches. Reading the retro rants are also a lot of fun, which brings me to my UFC questions.

I decided one day to read through some of your Rants on UFC starting at number one. After having read the first ten I went on Amazon and ordered the first eight UFC's and enjoyed them immensely. I love how in the early ones you could have a good fight or a one sided fight and they were both entertaining as hell. Maybe i'm just mean but I love watching fighters like Paul Varelans get to the rounds to be lambs to the slaughter for a Tank Abbott or worse a Don Frye. Like watching a crash test dummy, and knowing it's about to have a really bad day. Man I miss those old shows, wish they would have gone on longer. First question.

1. Are you going to rant some more UFC? Either taking off from where you stopped or doing some of the big shows in UFC's history?

I enjoyed doing them well enough, but it was the kind of writing where I needed to be paid for proper motivation.  I found UFC a lot harder to be self-sustaining as a writer, whereas wrestling tends to give me endless stupid shit to go off on during slow spots. 

2. Who's your favorite fighter of all time?

Brock Lesnar.  Watching him fight was the kind of emotional connection for me as a fan that I imagine people had watching Hulk Hogan in the 80s.  Second place goes to Mirko Cro Cop for knocking dudes the fuck out. 

3. Who's your favorite current fighter?

Jon Jones.  He’s gonna dominate forever and I was on the love train from the Matt Hamill DQ loss onwards. 

4. Have you watched any Pride? and if so any chance a rant on some of those matches? (I got the Pride open weight GP from 2000 for Xmas and it was pretty epic.)

Oh yeah, Pride was a big favorite among the wrestling crowd I hung with.  I was around for the whole Cro Cop / Fedor / Nog three-way feud that dominated the heavyweight title and it was great stuff. 

Last but not least, how awsome is the new Swamp Thing right now? I consider myself a pretty big cape and tights guy, but goddamn I love that comic like I love my children.

It is indeed pretty awesome and he’s not even Swamp Thing yet.  Scott Snyder is a demented genius and I wish to subscribe to his newsletter. 

Also you need to get the new WWE 12 game. They haven't fixed everything in univerese mode but they have fixed a lot of it. Do you download the CAW's for your WWE 11 game? That's pretty much the way I play it, I don't like most of the current crop of guys so I bring in all the classic guys from the 80's and 90's. We'll I have bothered you enough for one email, take care man.

Once it gets reasonably priced, like $20 used at Gamestop or $30 on Xbox Live on Demand, I’ll pick it up, fear not.