"Reunited and it feels so good"- Peaches and Herb

Hands up if you know the song I am referring to up above? The rest of you go and google it. It really is a delectable slice of schmaltzy cheese from the late 70's. Anyway,it is also apropos since this past weekend I found myself in the wonderful country of Holland, a place so nice they had to name it twice. It's also known as the Netherlands. It just so happens to be the homeland for one "El Guapo" Bas Rutten, Mixed Martial Arts legend as well as my original Pride broadcast partner (and twin brother, think the Danny Devito/Arnold Schwarzenegger flick). Rutten arranged for a reunion (hence the reference to the syrupy song!) in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the country. It turned 2003 this year! (almost as old as most of my comedy material) And remember this little nugget of trivia the next time you want to impress your friends when you're at a classic rock night at your favorite watering hole. Nijmegen is the birthplace of guitar virtuoso Eddie and his drum playing brother Alex Van Halen. Oh by the way, you know how London is full of double decker buses? Nijmegen uses Cannibuses (groan, I dare you!) Ok,that takes care of the public service announcement for the city's chamber of commerce. The reason I found myself in the land of krokets (the delicious dutch epicurean delight not the stuffy lawn game) was to commentate on a combat sports event put on by one of Europe's leading promotions, GLORY. Promoter Martin De Jong (trainer of mma stars like Strikeforce Heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem) put together a very impressive card comprising Shooto (MMA) and K-1 rules contests. Shooto is the oldest of the modern mma organizations having been created in 1985 by Japanese pro-wrestling superstar Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama whose series of matches with Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington) in the early 80's revolutionized the in ring aspect of the business). K-1 is a stand up fighting organization originating in Japan in 1993.I thought the concept of alternating between mma and stand up contests worked well and both styles of competititon were enthusiastically received by the good crowd on hand at the local ice hockey rink,the Triavium. By the way,Gary Bettman and his NHL cronies better be careful. I was told the Dutch hockey league now features five teams! The event attracted an all star aggregation of Dutch fighting talent including the aforementioned Overeem and his older brother Valentijn (also an mma fighter whose career highlight was a submission win over UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at a RINGS event in 2001 in Tokyo.) Muay Thai luminary Ramon Dekkers and the only man to win the K-1 World Grand Prix three years in a row , Semmy Schilt, were also on hand.The evening's action culminated with a K-1 battle between K-1 Max veteran William Diender and rising star Nicky Holzken. Holzken closed the show with a second round knock-out,putting the talented Diender down for the count with a crushing left hand to the liver which, of course put a smile as big as Amsterdam on the face of Mr. Rutten. It proved to be a banner weekend for Holzken as it was also announced that he had signed a deal to fight with K-1 Max in Japan.You can catch all the action of Glory 8 (the promotion used to be called Ultimate Glory but a certain fighting group out of Las Vegas wasn't too pleased with that and "ultimately" got them to change it).Hey UFC why don't you go and pick on someone your own sizeWb! Ummm, never mind.You can catch all the action of the event online at www.sbs6.nl. Dank je wel to De Jong and everyone associated with the promotion for their first class treatment. Also a great big thanks to the unofficial mayor of Nijmegen (he knows who he is) for being my unofficial tour guide.

While I'm in the mood to thank people, I want to sincerely thank Sirius radio star Bubba the Love Sponge for promoting Fight Network radio on his program. If there's anything I can ever do to return the favor Mr.Sponge let me know. Sponge is very tight with Hulk Hogan and I think the numbers Hogan is most worried about this week are those pertaining to his family's public exposure and how it will affect their future:14:56, 14:57,14:58...

Speaking of numbers,check these figures out: :13,:32,1:01. The first refers to the first time Ricardo Torres knocked down Kendall Holt in the opening round of their WBO light welterweight title tilt last Saturday night in Las Vegas.The second indicates the second time Torres put Holt on the canvas while the third signifys the end of the fight. Now, I know what you're thinking, Torres retained his championship in lightning quick fashion right? Well, in what is a sure fire candidate for round and knock out of the year, Holt came back and hit Torres so hard he starved to death rolling.Ok ok, he actually just crumpled to the canvas along the ropes but it's my blog and I can write what I want to, write what I want to! Man,what's with my predilection for golden oldies this week. I'm having flashbacks to my days as an AM radio disc jockey. Believe it or not, I used to spin 45's (ask your parents). Anyway, Holt avenged his 11th round tko loss in Torres' hometown in Columbia back in September,2007 in spectacular fashion to become a " "Rated R" world champion. Hmm, does WWE's Edge know about that sobriquet?

Oh, for you enquiring minds out there, the reason I am not going to be announcing the Affliction: Banned pay per view on Saturday,July 19th in Anaheim is due to my contractual obligations to Elite XC. I am looking forward to anchoring the Fight Network's extensive coverage of the Affliction event and I know that Jay Glazer,Frank Trigg and the Fight Network's own "Big" John McCarthy will do a superlative job of calling the action.Don't forget the Fight Network will be airing a one hour undercard presentation live beginning at 8pm eastern.

For those who care, I scored last Saturday's UFC Light Heavyweight title fight 48-47 Griffin.
And did anyone else hear Joe Rogan describe the cut Marvin Eastman suffered against Vitor Belfort at UFC 43 in June,2003 as a "goat's vagina"? I'm not gonna touch that with a 25cm pole.