Women’s MMA has been getting the spotlight more and more, but old habits die hard and it’ll be long before mainstream media and casual fans adopt this as a sport and not a mere novelty. For an introduction, simply read on and be amazed by these fantastic athletes.

Follow these 3 steps in order:

1.  Read Dave Simon’s piece on Sarah Kaufman, “Sarah Kaufman Is The Champ, Not A Challenger” on RingsideReport.net OR listen to Ringside Report Radio’s interview with her.
2.  Watch her fight vs Roxanne Modafferi on the Strikeforce: Challengers card from last Friday, July 23 OR just watch the highlight video:

3.  Take a moment to take in how awesome that powerslam KO was.

Ok, NOW you can listen to my segment from last night.

As always, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, tweet your questions/comments to me on twitter @metricjulie, or send me an email at info@metricjulie.com to talk MMA or whatever.

Click here to listen to the interview!

What it is

Five Hole For Food started as a hockey trip across Canada but then road hockey enthusiast, and pilot of the trip Richard Loat, thought that it could be so much more. The concept of incorporating some sort of charity to benefit local communities led to a discussion with Winnipeg game host Jimmy Mac who coined the phrase “Five Hole for Food”. From there it has evolved into a social media effort of networks and partners to create a cross country food drive where hockey fans play a variation of the game and the local community benefits.

Five Hole For Food kicks off in Montreal with the help of Kyle Roussel of cowhideandrubber.com next week!

Where: Parc des Éperviers outdoor rink – 204 Rue De la Rivelaine

When: June 29th, 2010

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Food Bank Beneficiary: NDG Food Depot

I’ll be there playing some summer ball hockey and I hope you’ll come see us – either to join in, watch or donate food AND perhaps win an amazing prize donated by the Montreal Canadiens…

Donate food for your chance to win this stick signed by the Habs!!!

From RingsideReport.net’s website:

Listen to the June 18, 2010 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Julie V. Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough was on location at Centre Pierre Charbonneau watching Ringside MMA 7: No Escape and phoned in after the event with results and thoughts from the arena.

Thierry Quenneville appeared on the program to talk about his bout on June 19 against John Fraser for the Warrior-1 featherweight championship. W-1 fight correspondent Adam Reid also appeared on the show to talk about Warrior-1: Judgment Day, taking place on Saturday June 19 in Laval, Québec.

Dave and Julie previewed The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 finale and WEC 49. They also talked about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s appearance on The Tonight Show, Miguel Torres’ tweets about Cyborg Santos and much more MMA on this 2 hour episode of Ringside Report Radio.

What’s cool about this episode is:

• We’re back to our regular two-hour programming now that the NHL playoffs are over
• We get live results of Ringside MMA 7: No Escape
• Dave Simon addresses one of the points raised in the blog I wrote earlier in the week, I Wish I Were A Dick. I Mean HAD A Dick. Big, big thanks to Dave for giving some air time to the issues I discussed this week that were important to me.
• Also, it’s just Dave & I which means I get a lot of air time YAY!

That’s all for now! Tonight the Ringside Report Radio team will be at Warrior-1: Judgement Day and it should be a great night of fights. A report of sorts will be up tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Honorable mention

Dave Simon tweeted this a few days ago, YAY.

@davesimonmma

I remember when we were gambling to win
Everybody else said better luck next time
I don’t wanna bend like the bad girls bend
I just wanna be your friend
Is it ever gonna be enough?

Is it ever gonna be enough?

Is it ever gonna be enough?

Why did I post those lyrics? Maybe I’m frustrated. Maybe I’m irritated. Maybe I don’t know what the fuck to do anymore. You see, I’m a little confused as to how I am supposed to act lately. There have been issues this week; “feminist issues”, as they’ve been called. I call it having some form of decency and common sense, but whatever let’s not get technical here.

The context

1. Last week on a show I did, we gave our Top 10 MMA pound-for-pound rankings, for funsies. Just to bring something new to the table and perhaps start a debate/get people thinking, I put Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, a female MMA fighter, in my list at number 10. I was fairly certain no female fighter would get the nod in the others’ lists and I felt like verifying whether female fighters were being considered at all or not. The answer was “NOT”. This then prompted someone to ask me who I thought was hotter between Gina Carano and Sarah Kaufman. A valid question. Because obviously by putting a woman in my list, I am declaring to the world my sexual preferences.
2. Last Tuesday, The Chicago Tribune posted a photoshopped picture of Chris Pronger with the legs of a female figure skater, with the headline reading: “Chrissy Pronger – Looks Like Tarzan, Skates Like Jane.” I brought this up on Game Points and was, to say the least, slammed. “I’d like to see a woman get cross-checked by Pronger, LOLOLOL THAT IS LUDICROUS.” I guess it’s really friggin hilarious and demeaning to call a guy a girl. Because HAHAHAHA GIRLS ARE BAD AT SPORTS, I GET IT I GET IT.
3. Tonight, on Game Points, the host asked the producer for the evening – usually not working on this show/host of another show – why I wasn’t on the Wednesday night show as well as on the Friday night edition, specifying “Is it because she’s not a serious journalist?”

ANYWAY. That’s not the point. Right now, I’m more focused on the bus under which I was thrown all week. It’s a big, ugly bus. It’s a tacky color and it’s loud. Like an elephant. You could call it THE ELEPHANT BUS IN THE ROOM. You know, being a woman in a boys’ club/man’s world has its downsides; I won’t go over these.

Ok maybe I will.

• You are frustrated, you’re PMS-ing.
• You’re sensitive, your boyfriend just broke up with you or you had a fight with him.
• … or you had a fight with your girlfriend, LOLOLOL YOU’RE A LESBIAN.
• If you ever talk about another woman, LOLOLOL YOU’RE A LESBIAN.
• If you’re deemed “acceptable” by social standards, i.e. are not overweight, have no apparent mustache, etc. you’re reduced to being treated like a novelty.

It’s cool; well, it’s not cool. It sucks. But that’s the way it is and I feel I’ve been dealing with it extremely well since stumbling into sports radio last year.

BUT THERE IS A GODDAMN LIMIT.

I’ll admit, I am flustered. Irritated. Tired of feeling like I have to justify why I belong even though I work like a maniac to prove so. I don’t know how to act or what to do anymore. Anything I say can and most definitely will be held against me because I’m a woman. A few months ago I ranted about a female blogger who I thought was being sexist and crazy. This is what I wrote:

Demanding equal rights is one thing, but women are not special because they are women. People are special when they are courageous, inspiring and fearless. Women who continuously single themselves out everywhere they can because they are women are not asking to be treated the same; they are hoping for preferential treatment. I never expect preferential treatment.

I just believe we are past the point where it’s a big deal, and I don’t think that my estrogen should ever be a factor unless we’re talking childbirth or menstruating. I do not consider myself special. I don’t think I am worthy of your admiration. I do my own thing, I am building my reputation, I try to be respected in everything I do and I work just as hard as anyone else.

Not harder because I am a woman.

At the moment, I kind of DO feel I have to work harder to prove myself. I feel like there are already two strikes against me, and everyone is challenging me to prove them wrong. I am 100% NOT trying to single myself out at the moment, but HOLY CRAP what the heck am I supposed to do? The MINUTE I do something that is outside of the boys’ club, I’m labeled.

Feminist.
Burning her bra.
Hates all men.
Is a lesbian.

No matter what I do, it’s tainted by the fact that I’m a woman. Comments or critique directed to me are gender-specific. When and IF it actually pertains to my opinion or something I said on the radio, there’s always some remark that lets you know it’s directed toward a woman. Sometimes it’s my physique (I was told “butterface” the other day and was absolutely horrified when a friend explained what that meant. OW, man.), other times it’s my “sexy voice”. It’s always something.

Anything to bring everything back to me being a woman.

The good news

I’ve somehow built a nice following on Twitter, on my blog and now on the radio. Every time I can, I thank everyone who reads/listens to me. I still do not understand how/why all these people care what I have to say. Or even care about me. It baffles me. My followers are so good to me. SO good to me. The massive outpour this week in response to me flailing like a fish out of water trying to defend myself has been amazing. These people know who they are.

Realizing that A) you have some sort of reach to touch people and B) that you actually DO touch people is incredibly humbling. It makes me want to work a thousand times harder. Which is good, because that’s what I have to do in order to gain credibility and try to prove I belong.

But is it ever gonna be enough?

On Ringside Report Radio’s Friday night episode, Dave Simon, Kevin McKough and I give our picks & predictions for UFC 115. We were also joined by strength and conditioning coach Jonathan Chaimberg. Here’s the write-up on www.ringsidereport.net:

June 11, 2010 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough and featuring weekly contributor, Julie V.

Strength-and-conditioning coach to some of the best in MMA, Jonathan Chaimberg, appeared on this program and talked about Rashad Evans’ win over Rampage, GSP starting the filming of TUF 12 and more.

Dave, Kevin and Julie gave a full preview and their predictions for UFC 115 including David Loiseau’s return to the octagon and the main event bout between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin.

All this and much more MMA on this episode of Ringside Report Radio.

Click here to listen to the episode!

My picks and results for UFC 115

Chuck Liddell vs Rich Franklin

Prediction: Franklin over Liddel

Result: Rich Franklin def. Chuck Liddell via KO (punch)

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic vs Patrick Barry

Prediction: Pat Barry over Cro cop

Result: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Patrick Barry via submission (rear-naked choke)

Paulo Thiago vs Martin Kampmann

Prediction: Thiago over Kampmann

Result: Martin Kampmann def. Paulo Thiago via unanimous decision

Ben Rothwell vs Gilbert Yvel

Prediction: Yvel over Rothwell

Result: Ben Rothwell def. Gilbert Yvel via unanimous decision

Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald

Prediction: Condit over Rory Mac

Result: Carlos Condit def. Rory MacDonald via TKO

Mac Danzig vs Matt Wiman

Prediction: Wiman over Danzig

Result: Matt Wiman def. Mac Danzig via submission (guillotine choke)

Tyson Griffin vs Evan Dunham

Prediction: Dunham over Griffin

Result: Evan Dunham def. Tyson Griffin via split decision

David Loiseau vs Mario Miranda

Prediction: Miranda over Loiseau, grudgingly.

Result: Mario Miranda def. David Loiseau via TKO (strikes), sadly.

James Wilks vs Peter Sobotta

Prediction: Wilks over Sobotta

Result: James Wilks def. Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision

Richardo Funch vs Claude Patrick

Prediction: Patrick over Funch

Result: Claude Patrick def. Ricardo Funch via submission (guillotine choke)

Jesse Lennox vs Mike Pyle

Prediction: Pyle over Lennox

Result: Mike Pyle def. Jesse Lennox via technical submission (triangle choke)

First, I participated in Team 990’s late-night show, Midnight Snack, hosted by Moe Khan and Trexis Griffin, my co-hosts on the Tuesday night edition of Game points. Second, they had me on to chat MMA with them and their special guest, MMA and sports reporter for AOL’s FanHouse and Versus.com, as well as host of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani. Those of you who know me know just how excited I get when I talk MMA, and to exchange briefly on UFC 115 (taking place this Saturday, June 12 in Vancouver, BC) with one of my favorite people ever in MMA was truly a pleasure.

Thanks for your time, Ariel; it was an honor to have you back en territoire Montréalais!

Click here to listen to the interview with Ariel Helwani

THANK YOU!!!

Last month we hosted our Wine to Water Benefit featuring Barefoot Wines. A great time was had by all, we raised close to $1,000 for Wine to Water and more importantly, we all got to taste some fabulous wines……….. FOR CHARITY!

Enjoy the pictures. If you love them like I do, check out photographer Melissa Sullivan’s website.

Watch it, and make sure you check back for more stuff like MMA predictions, sporting event vlogs, MMA event vlogs and the occasional drunk tweet.

Thanks so much for making this a thing I have to update regularly or else people ask me what the heck I’m doing. It’s SO awesome.

Merci.

WEC 48 on PPV thank GOD

WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) is the sister promotion to UFC and focuses on lighter weightclasses:

• Bantamweight (135 lbs)
• Featherweight (145 lbs)
• Lightweight (155 lbs)

The organization is making the jump to Pay-Per-View thank GOD. For the love of MMA, I am thrilled about this decision. I don’t know if $50 is reasonable but it’s a step in the right direction. The card IS stacked though, and I’m excited at the idea of watching an MMA event that won’t unravel worse than the Montreal Canadiens have a history of doing. (UFC 112 with Anderson Silva’s antics, the brawl at the end of the already-lackluster Strikeforce: Nashville event, etc)

Dave, Kevin and I made our picks and predictions on Ringside Report Radio on Friday night. You’ll find my picks below, but you can also listen to the show for our roundtable discussion on the event. As seen on Ringside Report:

Jake Shields was interviewed and discussed his win over Dan Henderson for Strikeforce, the brawl after the fight, going to the UFC and more.

Dave and Kevin talked about David Loiseau returning to the UFC and were joined by weekly contributor Julie V for a preview of WEC 48: Aldo v. Faber. All this and much more MMA on this episode of Ringside Report Radio.

Listen to the full episode here.

My WEC 48 Predictions

Scott Jorgensen over Antonio Banuelos

Anthony Njokuani over Shane Roller

Mike Brown vs Manvel Gamburyan

Ben Henderson over Donald Cerrone

Jose Aldo over Urijah Faber