Photo courtesy of Sherdog.

If it's the day after an event, and the MMA world is all abuzz with a crappy decision win, there's a good chance Cecil Peoples was a judge.  His most recent crappy call comes after the Varner vs. Salorus fight, which he scored 28-28, thereby ensuring a draw.  It takes quite a lot to make me feel sorry for Varner, but Peoples was able to do it. Peoples was also part of the group that gave the first Machida vs. Rua fight to Machida (see the quote below for his thoughts on that).  If Peoples does have one talent, it's bringing together MMA fans for a common purpose: Cecil Peoples bashing.  It's nearly impossible to find an MMA forum that doesn't include multiple threads devoted to Peoples hating.  

USA Dojo has this biography of his exploits:

 

In the 70’s Cecil was himself one of the karate’s leading tournament fighters.  As a Kenpo Karate stylist, Cecil squared off against some of the best in the sport, and in the process earned the reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the then fledging sport of point and full contact karate.  In addition to numerous local victories, Cecil won the top Ten National Titles including the International Karate Champion, Rocky Mountain Karate Champion, California Karate Champion, New Mexico State Champion and Guatemala International Champion.

In 1996, the 8th degree black belt was inducted into the USA Karate Hall of Fame and his Van Nuys California School was named School of the Month by Black Belt Magazine.   Cecil was also named The National Black Belt Official of the year in 1998 and in 1999 he was inducted into the International Muay Thai Federation Hall of Fame.

As Chief Instructor of Cecil Peoples Karate, in Van Nuys, California this martial arts master continues to set the standard for excellence as a teacher and as a championship referee.

 

Classic Quotes:

You have to keep in mind we always the favour the fighter who is trying to finish the fight, and leg kicks certainly don't do that."  (Tell that to Urijah Faber).

Now you’re pissed off because it’s my fault that you lost your money. No, it’s not. It’s Machida’s fault. If you don’t like it, you can go to hell."

Jeet Kune Do is a form of martial arts created by one of the most awesome people to ever live, Bruce Lee.  It loosely translates to "The Way of the Intercepting Fist".  Awesome!  So what is it exactly?  Well...kind of hard to find a good answer.  The following quote is from the World Jeet Kune Do website:

The original art itself is a modification of Lee's first martial art style of Wing Chun Kung Fu. So many modifications in fact that it is very hard to see some of the similarities of the two systems. The blocks and hand manoeuvres such as grabbing, sticking, and energy techniques have their roots in Wing Chun but the finished product is pure JKD. JKD has had such an influence in the martial art word the even the core art of Wing Chun has adopted JKD sparring techniques. The second of the three arts in the core of original JKD is French Fencing. Who can deny the speed and agility in the art of fencing? The footwork is a combining and modifying of fencing, Wing Chun, boxing movements, placements and displacements. And the final art of Western or American Boxing for the Muhammad Ali hand manoeuvres and punches.

Well, that clears it right up.  From the same website comes this quote, which makes more sense:

It was born from Lee's idea to take the best of Wing Chun Kung Fu, American Boxing, French Fencing and Grappling to bring them together as the ultimate combat art, from the ultimate combat artist.

According to the Bruce Lee Foundation 

Jeet Kune Do’s stance, footwork, and major strategic points come from fencing.  A key principle in fencing, the stop-hit, is essentially the JKD namesake—the way of the intercepting fist.  The idea that you can set up your opponent so that you will be able to intercept him in his most vulnerable state—on the attack...JKD’s vertical-fist jab, proper alignment, striking surface, hip rotation, and kinetic chain sequence all come from boxing.

So, as you probably know, typical boxing gloves are those big light bulb looking things that completely cover the hands. However these gloves wouldn't work in MMA because of the grappling aspect of the sport.  So they came up with the MMA grappling gloves to give protection while still allowing fighters to grapple.  The issue is that, since the fingers aren't enclosed, they sometimes get in the way when commencing a face bashing, and eye pokes happen.  I've also heard about the edge of the gloves doing some eye damage as well.  Probably the most famous "victim" of an eye poke is Josh Koscheck, who took one in the eye (tee-hee) when fighting Anthony Johnson in 2009.

The gi (pronounced gee, like glee without the "l") is the traditional uniform of many different forms of martial arts.  It's composed of a top and pants, with the top being a wrap type thing with a belt to keep it all together (my descriptive writing skills are off the charts today!).  The belt isn't just used to keep the top closed;  it's color signifies the wearer's training rank.  Perennial UFC poster boy GSP always comes in wearing a gi before his fights, but has to take it off before he enters the Octagon, as it's against the rules to wear a gi in an MMA fight.

In this video, Jon Fitch shows us one of the wrestling takedowns he uses over, and over, and over.  As most of you will probably guess, my favorite part of this video is when Fitch says deep penetration.  Tee-hee.  

A heel hook is a type of submission that works by putting a shit ton of pressure on the ankle.   Ouchy!  Watch the demonstration video below with Joanne and Risha from MMA Girls.

Lorenzo Fertitta, CEO of Zuffa.  Photo courtesy of Sherdog.

So of course you all know the UFC, which is the biggest promotion in MMA.  Well, Zuffa is the company that owns the UFC.  Zuffa was founded by brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in 2001, after they were contacted by Dana White about buying the struggling UFC promotion.   Lorenzo is the company's CEO, while Dana White is the President of the UFC.  Zuffa also owns World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), Pride Fighting Championships, and World Fighting Alliance (WFA).  The purchase of Pride and WFA gave Zuffa access to their fighter contracts.

Oh, and Zuffa is the Italian word for fight.