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May 18, 2012 – Team Cruz’s Vinc Pichel and Team Faber’s Al Iaquinta have reached the semifinals for this season of TUF: Live.

In the two quarterfinal bouts tonight, Vinc Pichel managed to overcome a game but counterfighting Chris Saunders from Team Faber. Pichel opened hard with an inside leg kick and took center of the Octagon. Pichel, however, punched his way in to a takedown attempt, but couldn’t get it. Again Pichel drove forward with punches and attempted a single, but couldn’t get it. Pichel threw strikes and switched to a double and secured it, but not before Saunders hit an outside switch and reversed it as the round ended.

In the second frame, Pichael started to take over and scored a solid double. With less than a minute left, Saunders took Pichel’s back in another scramble, but with only one hook and loses it. Pichel fired and landed at close range at the end of the second round. It was enough to take the fight, earning a majority decision on the judges score cards 20-28, 20-28, 19-19.

In the other quarterfinal bout of the evening, Team Faber’s Al Iaquinta easily dispatched with fellow teammate Andy Ogle. Iaquinta Took take center of the cage right from the start. Ogle’s right eye appeared to be bothering him immensely, either from an eye poke or contact, but he fought on. Late into the first frame the Brit gets dropped and was immediately in bad shape. He fought through and even attempts to rebound to his feet, but ate an elbow which sent him crashing to the mat. Referee Herb Dean stopped the action at 4:44 of round one.

Pichel will now face Al Iaquinta in semifinal action. In the other semifinal bout, James Vick will face Mike Chiesa.

“We’ve spared the whole time here,” Iaquinta said of facing his teammate Ogle. “I’m ready to go, let’s do it.”

Read More: Al Iaquinta (MMA), Chris Saunders (MMA), Andy Ogle (MMA), James Vick (MMA), Michael Chiesa (MMA), Vinc Pichel (MMA)

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The Experts Are the Best Sources of Wine Info and Recommendations
The tendancy to disparage “wine experts” or “wine elite” grows as the role of social media and peer reviews grow. Yet the fact remains that the experts are the best and most reliable source of information on wine. Folks like Eric Asimov, Robert Parker, Jim Laube, Jancis Robinson, Steve Heimoff, Charles Olken, Dan Berger, Lettie Teague, Jon Bonne and other well known experts are the one’s with the experience to best understand wine and best provide well-founded recommendations and critiques. There is no way around the fact that experience = expertise. It doesn’t matter if you are talkinb about archeology, Rock n Roll, cheese, interior decorating or wine.

Expensive Wine Is Almost Always Better
While I realize that, like beauty, taste is in the palate of the beholder, it is a fact that a more expensive wine is likely to be a higher quality wine. The price of wine is generally dependant upon three things: the cost of production, the supply and the demand. More expensive wines almost always cost more to make because the they use better ingredients (grapes, barrels, winemakers, etc), because the demand for the wines are higher, and the supply is generally limited. I’ve argued in the past that pronouncements of quality are entirely subjective. But within the world of consensus understandings, we will almost always understand that more expensive wines are appreciated in greater degree than less expensive wines.

Few People Know What They are Talking About When It Comes to Terroir
We talk a lot about “terroir” and the taste of the soil in this business and industry. We all submit that translating the terroir into the bottle is paramount to the process. Yet the fact is, 99.9% of folks who talk about this sort of thing could not pick a Russian River Valley Pinot out of a line up that also included a Santa Barbara, New Zealand, and Carneros Pinot. And let’s not even talk about trying to identify a Pinot from one vineyard and a Pinot from another vineyard a mile down the road. The implications of this uncomfortable truth are many, not the least of which is the role that faith plays in the area of wine appreciation.

Natural Wine Isn’t Natural
Lots of talk of “natural” wine these days. More producers, retailers, wine bars and events are dedicated to the stuff. But “natural” is to wine as California Sparkling wine is to Champagne. It isn’t that. “Natural” wine is processed grape juice and the processing and manipulation begins in the vineyard and ends with the marketing.

Ratings Sell LOTS of Wine
Despite the constant din of criticism of ratings and the 100 Point rating system in particular, ratings sell big time. And the 100 Point rating system is a huge driver of sales. If you don’t think so, talk to the winemaker that just got their first 95 point rating from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate or the Wine Spectator. Then ask them, would you rather have a string of tweets about your great wine or a 95 point rating from Robert Parker.

Driving the California Wine Routes Can Be Dangerous To Your Health
Driving along Highway 29 in Napa Valley, Highway 12 in Sonoma Valley or Westside Road in the Russian River Valley around 5pm on a Saturday can be very dangerous to your health. The problem is that so many folks who have just consumed way too much wine are on the roads. They may have been sipping, but in many cases it has been an all day sipping affair that is in reality and all-day drinking affair. This uncomfortable truth has yet to affect the local hospitality industry in substantial ways, but it just could in coming years when the next terrible tradjedy happens.

Too Much Wine Marketing Relies On The Idea That “You Can Be Better Than Them”
If you drink this wine, if you consume wines from this area, if you visit this wine region, you’ll be a better, more sophisticated person than your neighbor. That, in a nutshell, is the basis of a great deal of wine-related marketing: being a “wine person” makes you a “better person”. It is not an unusual marketing message. In fact, it is a message common to most luxury good products. But it is a little distasteful.

 

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May 17, 2012 – There’s no question that Chan Sung Jung was the standout of Tuesday’s UFC on FUEL 3 card. The “Korean Zombie” always manages to come across like a star, and that’s precisely why it wouldn’t come as a great surprise if he was elevated into a title match with the winner of this summer’s Jose Aldo-Erik Koch featherweight championship scrap.

There are those that believe that Jung’s three UFC wins over Leonard Garcia, Mark Hominick and Dustin Poirier aren’t quite enough to vault him over Hatsu Hioki, but Hioki effectively boxed himself into a corner by turning down a proposed title shot with Aldo.

Jung on the other hand, asked for it. If UFC president Dana White has showed anything over time, it’s that when an athlete volunteers for big fights and has some semblance of a resume behind him, he’s willing to consider the request.

Chan Sung Jung
Let’s look into the future, since that’s what we do here, and assume that as most expect, Aldo beats the young upstart Koch. In that case, White and matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby will only have a couple of options. Hioki will face Ricard Lamas about one month before Aldo-Koch, and Hioki will have a solid case with a win. Dennis Siver and Yuri Alcantara are two other possibilities. And then there is Jung. Let’s face it, out of that group, Jung has the highest recognition factor among fans to go with a strong recent stretch. He’s getting the title shot. Book it.
Prediction: He faces the Aldo-Koch winner

Dustin Poirier
For some reason, Poirier thought it necessary to apologize after the fight. This isn’t uncommon, of course. Lots of fighters do it. Yet it was totally unnecessary. Poirier fought bravely and aggressively throughout, and that’s frankly all that he owes the fight game. Because he’s just 23 years old, I’d venture to say his best days are still ahead of him. He seems like the conscientious type who will make sure he takes his lessons from this loss and applies it into his career going forward. On top of that, he’s young enough that he’ll continue to gain strength and improve technique, and within 12-24 months, he’ll back back in the title picture again.
Prediction: He takes a step back and fights the loser of May 26′s Darren Elkins vs. Diego Brandao fight

Donald Cerrone
As usual, after winning, Cerrone had a concrete idea of the timing of his next match. This time around, he’s not asking to fight again in six weeks, but has his eye on the UFC 150 card in Denver (Cerrone is originally from Colorado). If that is to happen, the UFC would have to pair him up with someone who was available, and on some type of streak of their own. There’s one name that makes perfect sense: Anthony Pettis. The only hangup here is that Pettis recently had surgery for an undisclosed injury, and according to his manager, he’s not going to be ready in time. Cerrone vs. Pettis is the idea match. This is going to be a tough call for the UFC, of whether they give Cerrone a match at home, or have him wait a few more weeks to face Pettis.
Prediction: Due to any uncertainty about Pettis, UFC gives the local attraction Cerrone a Denver match against T.J. Grant or Mark Bocek

Igor Pokrajac
According to FightMetric, Pokrajac was out-struck by Fabio Maldonado 166-64 but still was awarded the decision win by the judges. It was certainly not an easy fight to judge, as Pokrajac landed several heavy strikes that hurt his opponent, scored the fight’s only takedown and absorbed most of Maldonado’s offense without looking the worse for wear. Still, given Maldonado’s astounding connect percentage of 77.2%, Pokrajac is going to need to improve his defense to extend his three-fight win streak.
Prediction: He fights the winner of UFC 146′s Kyle Kingsbury vs. Glover Teixeira bout

Tom Lawlor
It was a quick night of work for Lawlor, who needed less than a minute to knock out Jason MacDonald, his first finish by strikes since his pre-UFC days back in 2007. The colorful middleweight has split his last six fights, so still ranks somewhere among the middle of the divisional pack. Next up, finding some consistency.
Prediction: I originally thought of Rafael Natal for Lawlor, but since he’s taken, how about Francis Carmont?

Rafael dos Anjos
dos Anjos has proven to be a maddeningly frustrating fighter, because he seems to look great one fight, then seems to regress the next time out. Tuesday’s edition was the world-beater, scoring a quick submission finish of Kamal Shalorus shortly after a headkick knockdown. In his nine-fight UFC career, dos Anjos is 5-4, and while he seems to show improvements to his striking, it’s his wrestling that has gotten him in trouble in the past. In beating a former international amateur wrestler Shalorus, he didn’t necessarily extinguish that demon, but it’s a start.
Prediction: Evan Dunham seems like a good fit, but his recent injury might make a date between the two impossible, so if he’s not available, let’s slot him in against the recently victorious Michael Johnson.

Read More: Jose Aldo (MMA), Leonard Garcia (MMA), Mark Hominick (MMA), Chan Sung Jung (MMA), Donald Cerrone (MMA), Tom Lawlor (MMA), Anthony Pettis (MMA), Erik Koch (MMA), Dustin Poirier (MMA), Rafael dos Anjos (MMA), Yuri Alcantara (MMA), UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir, UFC 150

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Cope Freeland, thanks for reading The Stew. No, you don’t have to update your RSS Feed. I’ve tested the feed out before and after the transition and the posts continue to come to my e-mail as usual. Should you not receive posts through the RSS Feed, please contact me.

Posted by: bfd | October 21, 2011 at 12:51 AM

If you’re dining out this week, and I certainly hope you are, you might notice a little something extra in your check presenter (you know, that leather-ish thing holding the bill). An appeal for help.

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There have been rumblings over the last couple of months that former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion BJ Penn has the itch to climb back into the cage after just announcing his retirement in October at UFC 137.

The rumblings have apparently turned to contract talks as Josh …

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If you’re dining out this week, and I certainly hope you are, you might notice a little something extra in your check presenter (you know, that leather-ish thing holding the bill). An appeal for help.

Chef/owner of Takashi (1952 N. Damen Ave., 773-772-6170), Takashi Yagihashi, has family in Japan. “Fortunately, my mother and sister are fine,” he said. “But many people need help.”

So he put little notes in his check presenters, asking customers to consider leaving a donation for the victims of the Japan earthquake. Nothing much, just $5.

“If people don’t (give), I won’t be hurt,” Yagihashi said. “But I thought I’d ask.”

A lot of people left $5. Quite a few left considerably more, and Yagihashi figured more people, more help. So late last week he reached out to about 80 of his fellow chefs, asking if they’d put little notes in their check presenters. He’s not keeping track of which restaurants will participate.

All the money is going straight to the Red Cross in Japan.

So if you see a little note in your presenter this week consider putting that extra fiver to good use.

Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune

 

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Seven fighters attended the UFC on FUEL TV post-fight press conference: Chan Sung Jung, Dustin Poirier, Donald Cerrone, Tom Lawlor, Yves Jabouin, Igor Pokrajac and Amir Sadollah. UFC President Dana White missed his first fight in eleven years due to impending surgery, but provided commentary via his Twitter account.

Jung and Poirier earned Fight of the Night for their thrilling main event scrap. After a back-and-forth battle in which the momentum swung in each fighter’s favor, Jung landed an uppercut in the fourth round that sent Poirier retreating toward the fence. Jung pursued, stuffed a Poirier takedown attempt, and secured a fight-ending d’arce choke. For his efforts, “The Korean Zombie” was also awarded Submission of the night.

Knockout of the Night went to Lawlor, who dropped veteran Jason MacDonald early in the first round. Lawlor, who turned 29 tonight, took home his third Fight Night bonus (after earning Fight of the Night for his battle with Aaron Simpson, and Submission of the Night for his victory over CB Dollaway).
Each fighter received $40,000 for their bonuses (with Jung taking home $80,000 for his two bonuses).

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The Experts Are the Best Sources of Wine Info and Recommendations
The tendancy to disparage “wine experts” or “wine elite” grows as the role of social media and peer reviews grow. Yet the fact remains that the experts are the best and most reliable source of information on wine. Folks like Eric Asimov, Robert Parker, Jim Laube, Jancis Robinson, Steve Heimoff, Charles Olken, Dan Berger, Lettie Teague, Jon Bonne and other well known experts are the one’s with the experience to best understand wine and best provide well-founded recommendations and critiques. There is no way around the fact that experience = expertise. It doesn’t matter if you are talkinb about archeology, Rock n Roll, cheese, interior decorating or wine.

Expensive Wine Is Almost Always Better
While I realize that, like beauty, taste is in the palate of the beholder, it is a fact that a more expensive wine is likely to be a higher quality wine. The price of wine is generally dependant upon three things: the cost of production, the supply and the demand. More expensive wines almost always cost more to make because the they use better ingredients (grapes, barrels, winemakers, etc), because the demand for the wines are higher, and the supply is generally limited. I’ve argued in the past that pronouncements of quality are entirely subjective. But within the world of consensus understandings, we will almost always understand that more expensive wines are appreciated in greater degree than less expensive wines.

Few People Know What They are Talking About When It Comes to Terroir
We talk a lot about “terroir” and the taste of the soil in this business and industry. We all submit that translating the terroir into the bottle is paramount to the process. Yet the fact is, 99.9% of folks who talk about this sort of thing could not pick a Russian River Valley Pinot out of a line up that also included a Santa Barbara, New Zealand, and Carneros Pinot. And let’s not even talk about trying to identify a Pinot from one vineyard and a Pinot from another vineyard a mile down the road. The implications of this uncomfortable truth are many, not the least of which is the role that faith plays in the area of wine appreciation.

Natural Wine Isn’t Natural
Lots of talk of “natural” wine these days. More producers, retailers, wine bars and events are dedicated to the stuff. But “natural” is to wine as California Sparkling wine is to Champagne. It isn’t that. “Natural” wine is processed grape juice and the processing and manipulation begins in the vineyard and ends with the marketing.

Ratings Sell LOTS of Wine
Despite the constant din of criticism of ratings and the 100 Point rating system in particular, ratings sell big time. And the 100 Point rating system is a huge driver of sales. If you don’t think so, talk to the winemaker that just got their first 95 point rating from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate or the Wine Spectator. Then ask them, would you rather have a string of tweets about your great wine or a 95 point rating from Robert Parker.

Driving the California Wine Routes Can Be Dangerous To Your Health
Driving along Highway 29 in Napa Valley, Highway 12 in Sonoma Valley or Westside Road in the Russian River Valley around 5pm on a Saturday can be very dangerous to your health. The problem is that so many folks who have just consumed way too much wine are on the roads. They may have been sipping, but in many cases it has been an all day sipping affair that is in reality and all-day drinking affair. This uncomfortable truth has yet to affect the local hospitality industry in substantial ways, but it just could in coming years when the next terrible tradjedy happens.

Too Much Wine Marketing Relies On The Idea That “You Can Be Better Than Them”
If you drink this wine, if you consume wines from this area, if you visit this wine region, you’ll be a better, more sophisticated person than your neighbor. That, in a nutshell, is the basis of a great deal of wine-related marketing: being a “wine person” makes you a “better person”. It is not an unusual marketing message. In fact, it is a message common to most luxury good products. But it is a little distasteful.

 

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May 14, 2012 – James Wilks, a British welterweight who won season nine of the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter just three years ago, has elected to retire after seeing his career set back by a slew of injuries.

The 34-year-old made the announcement on Twitter over the weekend.

Wilks, who is from Leicestershire, England, represented his home country in a 2009 season with international flavor, dubbed TUF: United States vs. United Kingdom.

During the competition, he beat recent UFC 145 co-main event fighter Che Mills, Frank Lester twice and then tapped out DeMarques Johnson with a rear naked choke in the final to win the trophy.

Memorably during the season, Johnson offered Lester money to knock out Wilks’ teeth, and as it turned out, Wilks knocked out four of Lester’s teeth with a knee from the clinch.

He went 2-2 in four official trips in the octagon. Aside from his victory over Johnson — the final is the only TUF bout to be sanctioned as an “official” fight — he won a UFC 115 bout against Peter Sobotta, but lost matches against Matt Brown and Claude Patrick.

Wilks’ last time in the cage was well over one year ago, when he fell to Patrick at UFC 120 in October 2010.

He was supposed to fight against Amir Sadollah last March but was forced out due to a serious knee injury.

Wilks retires with a 7-4 career record.

He has said he will spend his future concentrating on his gym, Lightning MMA in Laguna Hills, California.

Read More: Matt Brown (MMA), James Wilks (MMA), Claude Patrick (MMA), Peter Sobotta (MMA), Che Mills (MMA), UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans

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It happened again.

Nick Diaz no-showed his internet pay-per-view main event BJJ match against Braulio Estima at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo tonight in California.

There had been rumors throughout the evening that Diaz was not in the building, however it wasn’t until just before t…

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