Sooo… I decided to upload a vlog. Just a few thoughts I had regarding the commenting that was made during Strikeforce: Miami female lightweight championship fight between Cris Cyborg Santos and Marloes Coenen. I had a bit  of a reaction to some of the comments that were made, and figured since I was on tilt, it would make a “great” video.

DISCLAIMER: The video is basically just me talking for 3 minutes, one take, uncut. I get flustered, I hit my laptop repeatedly near the end and it’s really annoying and loud, and I appear to trail off/lose my train of thought at one point, but I am deliriously tired and wanted to get this off my chest.

So if anything sounds stupid, it’s because I’m tired; if I somehow manage to articulate my thoughts in a manner that is coherent and relevant to, well, ANYTHING, then my job here is done.

Thanks and sorry for putting you through it.

I just got the pictures we took at Christmas this year at home, and I love my family so much, I felt like posting some here.

That’s all this post is about.

k thanks bye.

Vincent (22, musician, troubled artist) and I

Raphaël (15, future engineer extraordinaire) and I

My mom, Colette! My mom is awesome. All moms are awesome.

Big sister is a little drunk. But happy! I love my brothers

I love my family.

Little known fact about me: I love UFC

If anyone, besides my mom, wants to hear me talk MMA for 30 minutes, read on.

I was recently interviewed by Tyler Conium for his weekly interview segment of The Swamp:

This week my guest is Montreal native Julie Veilleux. Julie is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fan as well as an avid follower of the Montreal Canadiens. She is currently blogging, writing, and being heard on the radio on these topics and it was a true pleasure to talk to her. This girl really knows her stuff.

It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I could have gone on for five more hours on the subject. I’m not saying it would have been interesting for anyone else but me; I’m just saying. I could talk about mixed martial arts until I’m blue in the face. Incidentally, that could be a good vlogging idea. Yes/No?

Anyway, here is the link to either stream or download the interview. I hope you have as much fun listening to it as I had doing it. But probably not.

Interview with Julie Veilleux

So I’ve decided I’ll post the links and topics I mention during my MMA segment on Game Points With Matthew Ross on The Team 990 here, so if anyone wants more info or wants to catch up on what they missed, they can read it here.

• Patrick Côté’s return to UFC against Alan Belcher at UFC 113 in Montreal. Patrick was sidelined with a torn ACL and dislocated right knee following his fight against middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 90, and is slated to fight in May at UFC 113 in Montreal.
• Fight set to co-headline UFC 113: Josh Koscheck vs Paul Daley. Let the overstated trashtalking and eye-gouging begin!
• Update on UFC 109 Relentless: people still don’t care. UFC posted a poll on their website for readers to vote on their pick between Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, and a whopping 94% of over 8,000 answers were in favor of The Natural. Doesn’t really matter that these two fighters are hall-of-famers; their last fights were disappointing and unimpressive. Time to retire the gloves already.

• Possible date change for UFC 113. Because of the Mayweather fight that was just scheduled for May 1, 2010, UFC will probably postpone the fights for UFC 113 to May 8, 2010. Always thinking ahead and ever the savvy businessman, UFC president Dana White had apparently booked the Montreal Bell Centre for every Saturday night in the month of May in the event that his PPV event would have to compete with the Mayweather fight.
• Georges St-Pierre considering moving up to middleweight. GSP stated in this video that he could be working to make the move up to middleweight division (171 lbs to 185 lbs). He currently weights 193 lbs – 8 lbs of muscle mass heavier than when he fought Thiago Alves at UFC 100. He states the move would be permanent and would not move up and down between weight classes like BJ Penn or Anderson Silva. He is however hesitant to make the move, as he refuses to fight his friends, many of which are in that weight division (Patrick Côté, David Loiseau, Nate Marquardt). Watch the video:

• Update on Brock Lesnar. The heavyweight champion is expected to appear on ESPN on Wednesday, January 20 to discuss his situation with diverticulitis and his future in UFC.

Thanks for listening, clicking, linking and following me on twitter! I am on Game Points on Sundays from 8 to 10 pm and Tuesdays from 11 pm to 1 am. À la semaine prochaine!

The UFC 113: Machida vs Shogun promo has to be the single greatest video out there on the internet right now. Yes, even better than surprised kitty. Yes, even better than Man Getting Hit By Football.

Check it out and thank me later.

If my 4 readers + my mom are interested in hearing my voice, head on over to Eklund’s Hockey Buzzcast.

(EPISODE360 – LIVE FROM THE TWEETUP at the WINTER CLASSIC)

We co-hosted a podcast live from the NHL Winter Classic Tweetup on January 1, 2010 and it was really fun. I hope you enjoy the first of hopefully many more opportunities for me to voice my thoughts and opinions to the world of sports.

Thanks for reading (and listening)!

Tonight, the remaining healthy and uninjured fighters in UFC go head to head in UFC 108: Evans vs Silva. The ridiculous number of injuries and fighters being forced to withdraw left this fight card a little hollow, but as we saw in UFC 107, replacement fighters can put on one heck of a show. Here’s hoping the first UFC event of 2010 is just as riveting.

Indeed, in a span of 2-3 months, there have been many injuries among UFC fighters. The fact that they were all at one point scheduled to fight in UFC 108 is a pretty big coincidence, as evidenced by this list:

• Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort canceled due to Silva’s recovery from elbow surgery
• Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin postponed from UFC 106 to UFC 108 and subsequently canceled due to Lesnar’s recovery from surgery for diverticulitis (Lesnar’s fighting career remains uncertain at this time)
• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez canceled due to Nogueira contracting a staph infection
• Rory Markham vs Martin Kampmann canceled due to Markham suffering a knee injury
• Tyson Griffin vs Jim Miller canceled due to Griffin suffering from an undisclosed injury
• Stepping in to replace Griffin against Jim Miller, Sean Sherk was forced to withdraw due to a cut over his right eye requiring multiple stitches
• Carlos Condit vs Paul Daley canceled due to Condit suffering from a hand injury
• Gabriel Gonzaga vs Junior Dos Santos canceled due to Gonzaga contracting a staph infection
• Steve Cantwell vs Vladimir Matyushenko canceled due to Cantwell suffering from an undisclosed injury

We wish a speedy recovery to all these fighters. Meanwhile, the official fight card for UFC 108 looks like this:

• Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
• Paul Daley vs. Dustin Hazelett
• Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout
• Duane Ludwig vs. Jim Miller
• Junior Dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

• Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann
• Dan Lauzon vs. Cole Miller

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-aired)

• Ryan Jensen vs. Mark Munoz
• Jake Ellenberger vs. Mike Pyle
• Rafaello Oliveira vs. John Gunderson

Most people who know me know I love MMA. That would be quite the understatement, actually. Only thing I love almost as much as MMA is meeting other MMA fans and bloggers so I can gush about upcoming fights and stuff. I was recently introduced to a fellow blogger, Jameson, who writes at http://fightwrite.tumblr.com.  Jameson and I are both passionate and have a lot to say about a lot of things, so we thought it might be cool to go head to head and debate over a few fights happening tonight. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t as rowdy and the debate not as heated as I would have hoped, so I am only posting 3 of our predictions for the night. Enjoy and make sure you check out Fight Write!

Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva

Jameson: I hated Rashad at first, loved his fight with Griffin and he proved he’s a great coach, humble personality, and likeable guy on (the worst season of) The Ultimate Fighter with Rampage messing up their fight, only to come back and say he’ll do it after the movie, means Rashad winning gives him some more steam rolling into their fight. Winner of that probably gets the winner of Rua/Machida II. Silva is a great striker and solid jiu-jitsu, but I think Rashad gets a decision.

Julie: I think Rashad is quick and elusive enough not to get knocked out by Silva, and Silva is tough and smart enough not to go to the ground with Silva. I think I have to go with Rashad via decision too here.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel

Jameson: I think Yvel doesn’t belong. Now can he hit? HELL yes. Does he hit referees? HELL yes. Does he have any semblance of a ground game? Hell NO. I say Dos Santos, round 1, TKO.

Julie: Dos Santos is the superior strategist in this fight. Yvel’s fighting and conditioning are outdated. I say JDS by TKO in round 2. Yvel is gritty enough to withstand JDS in the 1st round and JDS is smart enough to pace himself.

Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann

Jameson: Kampmann is the favorite,  but I’ll bet a decision upset on Volkmann. Kampmann is a striker, but he’s lost to Daley & Marquardt trying to trade. Volkmann took Thiago the distance.  He is not gonna try and trade with Kampmann; he’s a wrestler with a ground game. If he takes this fight to the ground, he can pull it off.

Julie: I think Kampmann is the well-rounded fighter and if it goes to decision, Kampmann would win. Volkmann can’t rely on the judges. I have Kampmann by TKO in round 3.

If the debate had been heated and we had clashed on our predictions, a bet would have been in order, but we will simply high-five if we are right with our almost-identical picks and be back at UFC 109 with more UFC goodness.

What do YOU think? And who are you most excited to see fight in 2010?

Submissions!! Blood! Bad blood! Rear-naked chokes! UFC 107 was easily one of the best fight cards of 2009. It’s right up there with UFC 100 featuring Georges St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar. A quick review of what went down this past December 12, 2009. As always, I posted my predictions before the fights, and here they are.

Welterweight bout

Jon Fitch vs Mike Pierce

metricjulie’s prediction: Fitch by unanimous decision.

Result: Fitch by unanimous decision.

I don’t have much to say except that I was positive this fight would go into a decision, because Fitch’s last 5 fights had gone to decision and I know he has a hell of a chin since he survived 5 five-minute rounds with a fighter of which you may have heard pounding on him, something St-Pierre. To this day, GSP says Fitch was his toughest opponent and most difficult fight, mainly because of his strong chin and the fact that GSP was unable to knock him out. Indeed, Fitch resisted 25 minutes of GSP treatment and looked like this after the fight he lost by unanimous decision to the welterweight champion. He has been flying under the radar in the welterweight division, and maybe his inability to finish fights is one of the reasons. In any event, his fight against Mike Pierce, a relatively unknown wrestler, was a little boring and somewhat sloppy. However, the guerrilla jiu-jitsu black belt was able to secure the win

Fun fact about Jon Fitch: He has degree in Physical Education with a minor in History.

Lightweight bout

Kenny Florian vs Clay Guida

Kenny "KenFlo" Florian vs Clay "The Carpenter" Guida

metricjulie’s prediction: Florian by submission in the second round.

Result: Florian by submission in the second round.

What a crazy cat Guida is. He is solid, has great endurance and is quite explosive with all that energy he has. He trains with Greg Jackson, a trainer I have admired for years (GSP’s trainer). I was excited to see him battle the poised and intelligent fighter that is Kenny Florian. I have been a huge fan of Florian’s for years and was especially stoked to see him in Philadelphia this summer at UFC 101. He lost devastatingly to BJ Penn and I was excited to see him come back stronger. Luckily for me, he did not disappoint and inflicted much damage with his dangerous knees and elbows. Florian knocked Guida to the ground in the second round and was able to secure his favorite move (and MY favorite move), the rear-naked choke. It was a pretty bloody fight, as you can here following an elbow by Florian:

Fun fact about Kenny Florian: He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts & Sciences from Boston College, majored in Communications and worked in a translation company. Remind you of anyone you know?!

Heavyweight bout

Frank Mir vs Cheick Kongo

metricjulie’s prediction: Mir by TKO in the first round

Result: Mir by submission in the first round

This was the trashtalk fight. I LOVE some good trash talking. In fact, it got so heated between these 2 fighters that they did not even have a proper staredown; Kongo presented Mir his back, and Mir mimicked a choking movement in his direction. Then in the octagon, they didn’t touch gloves. The only way this fight could be more entertaining would be a lightning-fast KO or submission. How about a left hook followed by a guillotine choke in 1m12s? How about if the fighter had to tell the ref that the other fighter was out and the ref had to lift his arm to confirm that it was limp and that he was out cold? Since Kongo was fine shortly after the choke, we are allowed to say that the fight was AWESOME. Didn’t Mir call the choke when Kongo turned his back to him during the weigh in? Tsk, tsk, Kongo.

Fun fact about Mir: He is a color commentator for World Extreme Cagefighting.

Lightweight championship bout

BJ Penn vs Diego Sanchez

metricjulie’s prediction: BJ Penn by submission in the second round

Result: BJ Penn by TKO in the fifth round

BJ Penn was truly a god out there in the octagon against Diego Sanchez. Poor Sanchez never really stood a chance, despite all the heart he put into it. Penn completely dominated Sanchez throughout the entire fight, as Sanchez was clearly unable to adapt his gameplan to Penn’s strategy and kept going for the same takedown attempt time and time again, while it never worked. Penn maintained the pace at a relatively low level, but perhaps that was part of his plan – to wear Sanchez out with a long and grueling fight? A kick to the head (the forehead) cut Sanchez up pretty badly and the doctor said enough was enough and stopped the fight at 2m32s of the fifth round.

Photo by Dave Mandel http://www.sherdog.com/

Honorable mention

Stefan “The Skyscraper” Struve, the 21-year-old, 6′11 (that’s six-foot-eleven) UFC newcomer fighting out of the Netherlands, wins by decision over Paul Buentello. The kid looked good. It was a little slow and sloppy at times, but a baby newcomer vs an old-timer = not the most exciting fight ever. Still, as I mentioned in the GSP vs Hughes 2 fight, a show of class between 2 fighters is always an amazing moment, and Struve and Buentello shared such a moment during their fight. (I wanted to find a screen capture, a picture or the link to the fight, but none of it is available on the interwebs at the moment). They exchanged punches in such a fluid motion, one after the other, it was almost like their hits were choreographed for our viewing pleasure. After they executed their respective combos, they smiled, laughed and if I’m not mistaken, either shook hands or high-fived. I really want to find a screen shot or picture to show you. It was such an amusing moment.

Dishonorable mention

Three fighters did not make weight for UFC 107 and 2 fighters agreed to a catchweight bout (195 lbs)  in lieu of their scheduled middleweight bout (at 186 lbs) because of one’s apparent inability to cut below 190 lbs. I don’t know about you, but when you are fighting at a professional level with the big boys & top dogs, there is really no excuse for not making weight. That is just my opinion, further backed up by my fifteen year-old brother who trains in an MMA school. So there.

Despite all the switched up fight cards and injuries, 2009 ended on a fairly high note in the world of mixed martial arts and UFC. UFC 108 is scheduled to take place on January 2, 2010.

GSP: Sportsnet Canadian Athlete Of The Year

As if there weren’t enough reasons to love Georges St-Pierre, he has gone ahead and won for the second year in a row Sportsnet’s Canadian Athlete of The Year award, beating out Sydney Crosby yet again, who was the winner two years ago in 2007. The year 2008 marked the first time in Sportsnet history that a mixed martial arts fighter was named Canadian Athlete of the Year.

GSP received more than 60% of the fans’ votes on Sportsnet.ca during the week-long voting process. (I would like to state for the record that I did not vote for this, nor did I stuff any ballot boxes)

GSP told Sportsnet about beating fellow Canadian Sydney Crosby: “Congratulations to Sidney Crosby, it is a great honour to be nominated with him. Crosby is a great hockey player and in a country where hockey is king it says a lot about the growth of MMA for me to win this award again.”

Needless to say this fan finie is ecstatic about the news and will put a rush on the order of that life-size cardboard cutout of GSP she asked Santa for Christmas before they are sold out.

Read Sportsnet’s story here.

It will come as no surprise to those who know me even a little bit that my favorite fight is a Georges St-Pierre fight. Of course, this current entry is being written with all heart, but it remains a fantastic fight that I think everyone should see. So far, no one has been able to resist my passion and excitement when it comes to watching UFC/MMA and I am capable of converting anyone into at least an occasional fan. I hope to get at least one person hooked with this entry.

I  have been a fan of mixed martial arts for about 20 years. I started at taekwondo with my dad when I was five years old and watching wrestling and other combat sports with him. I started following UFC pretty religiously many years ago and it eventually became sacred when Georges St-Pierre made his entry onto the international fighting scene. I have been following his career in awe for years. GSP is our local hero; he is a gentleman, a great athlete and a wonderful role model. Watching GSP fight is like watching your brother fight: part of your own heart and soul is in it.

My favorite GSP fight and all-time favorite UFC fight, that took place on November 18, 2006 at UFC 65 – Bad Intentions, Matt Hughes vs GSP 2.

Click here to watch the video

Here you will find random thoughts on the fight and the reasons for which I think this is an amazing fight.

Give me five
At 1m42s of the first round, GSP lands a spinning back kick on Hughes. That alone is pretty amazing, but the 2 fighters actually take a second out of the fight to high five each other after that exquisite hit. This is one of the most beautiful moments in UFC history in my opinion.

On the side
The blow that knocks Hughes out: a kick to the side of the head. At 1m16s of the second round, Hughes appears to be going for a takedown attempt which sets up GSP perfectly to land a powerful kick to the head. When GSP goes in for the kill and starts with the elbows in the ground and pound, referee Big Joe McCarthy stops the fight and at 1m25s, GSP is declared the new Welterweight Champion of the world.

Down low
In this fight, GSP uncharacteristically lands 2 back-to-back illegal blows to the groin of Hughes. At 2m22 of the first round, GSP catches Hughes in the cup with a leg kick that slides up Hughes’ thigh. There is a time out to allow Hughes to regain his composure, the fight resumes and 8 seconds after the first illegal blow, GSP catches Hughes in the groin AGAIN! GSP looks completely baffled or desperate, I’m not quite sure. The first kick looks like his foot grazes Hughes but the second kick appears to do some damage, even though Hughes went on to say during the post-fight press conference: “The second time I went down, it wasn’t really because of my groin, but it affected my legs more than my groin. I don’t know if it’s a nerve thing or what happened.” While it was not an intentional foul, GSP is at risk of losing a point on the scorecard if he isn’t careful.

Too slow
With only a few seconds left in the round, GSP lands a huge superman punch and Hughes goes down but GSP cannot finish him before the bell rings, announcing the end of the round. The irony in that would have been amazing, as Hughes submitted GSP with 1 second remaining in the first round in their first fight.

GSP’s confidence
As soon as the fight starts, it is easy to see that GSP is setting the momentum. He is clearly the aggressor and the more skilled and well-rounded athlete in this fight. His strength and confidence are so much greater than in their first matchup during which he did not even look Hughes in the face during the staredown:

Support from the fans
The crowd quickly goes from chants of USA to GSP, and at this point he was not even champion yet. Once, during an Anderson Silva fight that most people found boring because of its intellectual reach and less striking, the crowd started chanting GSP! GSP!… although I thought it wasn’t super classy, it was also AWESOME.

All smiles
Throughout the entire first round, Hughes keeps smiling at GSP; not smiling like I smile when I daydream about GSP, no — it’s a hybrid half mocking/half patronizing smile almost. Every time GSP lands a shot on Hughes, Hughes smirks at GSP. The gamemanship by Hughes in this fight is superb and goes to show you that the former champion was probably more concerned about losing than in the first bout.

GSP doesn’t go down, but Hughes does
The most impressive part of this fight is not only that GSP manages to take Hughes down at 3m49s of the first round and pass into half guard, but at 4m30s of the first round, Hughes attempts to take down GSP and GSP scrambles and manages to get out of it. During Hughes’ reign as welterweight champion, this has not happened often, as his strengths are takedowns, wrestling ability, physical strength and his favorite technique is “any type of grappling“. For GSP to be able to take him down, pass into half guard AND have great takedown defense against him is amazing and is a wonderful testament to the athleticism and hard work of GSP.

To this day, watching this fight still gives me goosebumps. I know the fight by heart; I could recite what the commentators say in my sleep. It is my feel-good UFC video and the one I watch before every new fight night to get pumped about the fight card. When the fight is stopped and GSP gets up, throws out his mouthpiece and collapses to the ground, overcome with emotion, I, too, am overwhelmed with emotion as I watch this epic fight in awe for the millionth time. GSP is truly the greatest champion the UFC ever had, has or will have.

Well, that, plus he’s really hot.

Georges St-Pierre : un grand champion dans l'âme