We're Back With Another LineStar Weekly Knockout!

Written by LineStar contributor, combat sports enthusiast, and practitioner, Chris Guy.

Instagram: @therealsethgeko & Twitter: @DadHallOfFamer

Joe Rogan steps into the Octagon looking like a Jet Li movie hitman, clad in all black, the stadium lights projecting a faint halo against his baldpate.  It is just moments after Derrick Lewis’s last-second comeback KO of Alexander Volkov in 2018, and Joe is ready to conduct the post-fight interview.

Momentarily on hold while Derrick puts his fight shorts back on, Joe waits patiently before thoughtfully asking, "Derrick, why did you take your pants off?" 

“My balls was hot,” Derrick replied.

“Understandable,” said Rogan, suppressing a chuckle.

At the time, it went unnoticed, but now we know that was the first sign of a glitch in the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, better known as the T-800.  Overheating.  Although an efficient killing machine, the T-800’s robotic endoskeleton was flawed.  The external layer of living tissue used to disguise the cyborg as a human didn’t provide enough protection from extreme external heat.

The flaw would only take a year to rectify.  In the summer of 2019, Skynet introduced an advanced prototype, the T-1000.  Made from mimetic poly-alloy, the T-1000 was equipped with nanotechnology, enabling it to scan the molecular structure of whatever it touches and become it.  In Layman’s terms, it could shapeshift.  

The T-1000 could take the form of inanimate objects, human beings and change its extremities into deadly metallic weapons.  The development of the advanced android was kept secret under the project code name Ciryl Gane.  

While the old model relied on outlasting its target and sustaining heavy damage before initiating an eliminating sequence, the new model uses agility and quickness, the ability to flow like a liquid between killing styles to achieve its objective.

It was only a matter of time before the two technologies would clash, Skynet’s future meeting its past, ingenuity, and versatility versus durability and toughness.  What’s at stake isn’t just an interim world title but also the future fate of the heavyweight division.  Leaks have floated to the surface, rumors that Skynet's capabilities have advanced beyond the T-X model—project code name Amanda Nunes—and will unveil the T-XV to terminate the prevailing android and usher in a new era of cyber beings.  The T-XV project code name… Francis Ngannou.

Derrick Lewis (+270 ) vs Ciryl Gane(-360)

Lewis: DK: $6.8k | Gane: DK:$9.4k

Derrick Lewis, the T-800, is one of the Great Wonders of the UFC.  He's a fan favorite not only because of his lighthearted nature but also because, in almost every fight, he is the tortoise facing the hare in the classic moral tale, often falling behind early only to pull out wins late in miraculous fashion.  Lewis is 15-5 in the UFC, and his two most recent losses came courtesy of former champions, including a Heavyweight title shot against the former Champ-Champ Daniel Cormier.  He has twelve KO’s in the UFC and has twenty-one finishes in twenty-five total professional victories.

The most underestimated aspect of Lewis’s game is his pace.  He’s a low output striker and often goes long stretches without mounting any offense.  Much of this has to do with Lewis pacing himself for the later rounds, but it also works to his benefit by lulling opponents into false senses of security.  Lewis has deceptive hand speed and attacks in ten to fifteen-second blitzes after lulls of inactivity.  Even when he’s dead tired, it seems Derrick can always find the energy to unleash a flurry you didn’t think he had left in him.  That’s reflected in Lewis having seven career TKO/KO victories in the third round or later.  He’s dangerous until the final bell, fifteen minutes or twenty-five.

The Black Beast’s style makes for an oxymoronic library of fights.  He has some of the most exciting and most boring fights in UFC history.  Francis Ngannou’s last loss was to Derrick Lewis, which is known as the most highly anticipated UFC dud of all time.  Neither fighter was willing to engage for the entire three rounds when their respective styles suggested someone would get KTFO with the quickness.  But Derrick Lewis fights can go from zero to one hundred in a blink, and that’s why there’s always a certain air of tension hovering in the arena until the clock hits all zeros.

I wrote this last month when Ciryl Gane fought Alexander Volkov and it still stands:

Ciryl Gane is the most dynamic striker in the heavyweight division since Cain Velasquez.  He’s a mad scientist’s perfect concoction of technical skill and absurd athletic ability.  Gane is a Frankenstein of sorts, freakishly sewn together with parts and pieces salvaged from recycling bins found in every combat sports discipline, and paraded around the Octagon like a Leatherface victim fashion show.  He has the fight IQ of a Max Holloway, the hands of a Conor McGregor, the kicks of a Wonderboy Thompson and Israel Adesanya, and the MMA wrestling of a Bones Jones in his back pocket.  

Gane moves like a middleweight, light and agile with perpetual lateral movement, and pumps his jab like a boxer to dominate the pocket from the outside.  He mixes in long-range up-the-middle kicks and power round kicks.  Teeps (or footjabs) can be thrown defensively to disrupt timing and manage range and offensively to cause damage.  Ciryl uses stabbing teeps that function as a jab on the outside and are very useful when thrown to the body and can sap a fighter’s energy quickly.  

Ciryl Gane is 6-0 in the UFC and made his debut after only three professional MMA fights. The only knock against Gane is his fifty percent finishing rate and tendency to choose caution over entertainment, fight IQ over brawn.  Gane chooses the path of least resistance rather than the path that will lead to fireworks and setting his roof on fire.  I expect that to remain the same in this fight.  

Derrick Lewis has major holes in his technical ability on the feet, in his takedown defense, and in his cardio.  Gane will look to use his wrestling and clinch control to take advantage of all three and drain Lewis’s cardio and drag him into deep waters.  That sounds like the name of a cologne: Deep Waters.  Anywho, Gane should make Lewis use energy defending takedowns and getting back to his feet.  Although he’s the more versatile and overall better striker, Gane will want to limit how much he tests Lewis’s power.

While Lewis has glaring weaknesses, it appears the MMA Gods dipped Ciryl Gane in the River Styx, and he emerged seemingly invincible.  Lewis will be the tenth man to attempt to reveal Gane’s Achilles heel, and he’ll start with Gane’s chin, which so far in his career has gone relatively untested.  The game plan for Lewis is to go all-in with the mindset of making this a two-round fight.  He has to look to finish Gane early because Gane, the far superior conditioned athlete, will likely dominate the late rounds.  Lewis will have to cut off the cage and box Gane in with wide overhands and hide the power uppercut behind his lead hand to try to catch Gane ducking into a level change.  In the exact manner that he KO’d Curtis Blaydes in his last fight.

The current main-event winning streak now sits at five and fourteen of the last fifteen after Sean Strickland pitched a five-round shutout last weekend against Uriah Hall.  I don’t see the winning streak coming to an end this weekend.  Ciryl Gane via arm triangle, round four.  But, as always, Derrick Lewis remains the most valuable consistent underdog in the sport and is absolutely capable of KO’ing Ciryl Gane.

Winner: Ciryl Gane | Method: Arm Triangle Rd.4

Jose Aldo (-115 ) vs Pedro Munhoz (-105)

Aldo: DK: $8.6k | Munhoz: DK:$7.6k

*Banger Of The Night*

This will be a battle of two Civil War surgeons specializing in leg amputations chasing each other around with hacksaws.  You’re bound to get second-hand compression syndrome in your lower extremities watching this fight.  No legs are safe.  Jose Aldo is one of the best leg kickers in the history of the sport, and often overlooked Pedro Munhoz is as prolific when it comes to attacking the legs.  There’s a good chance both fighters will be hobbling around the Octagon like twin Jimmy Valmers by the end of the first round.  

Jose Aldo is, without a doubt, in the upper echelon, a resident in the pantheon of MMA GOAT’s.  He helped usher the lower weight classes back into the UFC as the WEC-turned-UFC featherweight champion.  He was undefeated for nearly a decade before Conor McGregor ended the streak with one punch.

Since the McGregor fight, Aldo is 4-5 and broke a three-fight losing streak with a decisive win over Marlon Vera in his last outing.  Aldo dominated the stand-up in the first two rounds with vintage Aldo hand speed, body attacks, and leg kicks.  In the third round, he took Vera’s back and held the position for almost the entire five minutes.  Before the Vera fight, Aldo surprised many with how competitive he was in a title fight against the heavy favorite, Petr Yan.  After the second round, Aldo looked like he may once again wear the belt.  But his cardio failed him, and he lost his infamous leg kicks as quickly as he had found them.  

The knock against Aldo for several years has been his reluctance to throw leg kicks.  He either doesn't throw them at all or stops throwing them after a round.  Against Yan, Aldo attacked the legs like 2012 Aldo.  Yan was visibly compromised before he took over the fight in the third round when Aldo inexplicably went away from throwing them.  He did much of the same against Vera, using leg kicks early in the fight but forgetting about them late.  Aldo is still ferocious, aggressive, and changes levels with his attacks like a pro boxer, and is still very dangerous.  Aldo may never win another belt, but he makes for some wild matchups like this one against Pedro Munhoz.

Pedro Munhoz is one of the most underrated bantamweights in the UFC.  He has a 9-5-1 UFC record and has only lost to elite caliber fighters, his last two losses coming to former champ Frankie Edgar (a complete robbery) and current champ Aljamain Sterling.  I say champ loosely when referring to Sterling, whose title is the equivalent of the Lakers bubble tournament participation championship or the Astros Cracker Jack prize world title.

In his most recent bout, Munhoz avenged one of his UFC losses by beating Jimmie Rivera decisively.  By the end of the first round, Rivera’s leg looked like Quato in Total Recall when he grew out of that guy’s stomach.  Rivera’s calf looked like the Hindenburg after it crashed.  Munhoz scored multiple knockdowns throughout the fight with low calf kicks and used them to outwork Rivera to a unanimous decision.

Munhoz loves firefights and will often engage in wild, 50/50 exchanges.  He relies on his chin and Bear Grylls camps in the pocket too long, but that’s also where he tends to deliver the most damage.  Pedro will look down at the floor and throw hooks and use cover-up counters in the pocket to catch the opponent at the end of their combinations.  Munhoz is an adrenaline junky who likes to live on the edge, always putting himself in harm’s way.

Snap kicks, Pedro Munhoz is one of the best when it comes to using them to attack the body.  Munhoz uses stabbing snap kicks that disrupt the opponent’s timing and forward pressure and cause heavy damage.  Pedro is at his best when he consistently uses up the middle kicks because they open up his hands while slowing the opponent down.

Have one of these guys on your roster come Saturday night.  They are both high output fighters and should rack up significant strikes.  Although both are high percentage finishers, I think their skills are very even, and this one will go the distance.  Also, Pedro Munhoz has never been finished in his twenty-four-fight career.  Zero point zero idea who wins this one.  Before I looked at the odds, I decided I’d take the underdog, and Pedro Munhoz has opened as the (+110) dog.  Pedro Munhoz via decision.  Wax on, wax off.

Winner: Pedro Munhoz | Method: Decision

Michael Chiesa (-105) vs. Vicente Luque (-115)

Chiesa: DK: $7.7k | Luque: DK: $8.5k

This here is referred to as a style matchup.  This one is of the classic grappler versus striker variety.  Each fighter has a completely different skillset, and both will be out of their leagues in the other’s area of expertise.  Michael Chiesa is a position over submission pressure grappler with eleven career submission victories, and Vicente Luque is a devastating power kickboxer with eleven career TKO/KO’s.

Michael Chiesa made his way to the UFC the hard way, by winning The Ultimate Fighter reality show.  He won the tournament with dominant grappling, submitting Al Iaquinta in the first round of the finale.  Not much has changed for Chiesa; he’s still a dominant grappler with amateurish striking, but he has compiled an impressive 11-4 record in the UFC.

Let me get this out of the way.  Chiesa’s striking is awkward and stiff, he has a very upright stance that rarely deviates from the centerline, he’s terribly predictable, his arsenal consists entirely of circling with passive jabs from the outside and occasional 1-2’s, he leads with his face, over commits and crowds his punches, doesn’t manage distance well, moves only in straight lines, doesn’t turn his punches over, and he doesn’t A horizontal fighter, Chiesa wants to get the fight to the mat where he can methodically outmaneuver his opponents and hunt for submissions.  He is relentless when he gets hold of you, he’s a grinder, and is fearless on the mat and much like a vice grip that slowly works you into fight-ending positions.  Chiesa doesn’t use much energy with ground and pound and is mostly a position grappler, counting on the opponent to make a mistake during prolonged grappling exchanges.

Vicente Luque is no slouch on the mat, he has seven career submission wins, but if he ends up on his back, he’s going to have a hard time scrambling back to his feet.  For Luque, the fence is lava.  Like when you were a kid hanging from the monkey bars and couldn’t touch the ground because it was lava, Luque can’t let his back touch the cage in the same way.  If he does end up in the clinch with his back against the cage, he has to frame and create space or work underhooks to turn Chiesa into the cage and disengage with urgency.  The center of the Octagon is where Luque needs to keep this fight.

Leg kicks will be the story early.  Luque uses low calf kicks in volume and can take Chiesa out of his game plan early if Luque can hide them behind his hands without Chiesa catching them and using them to take him down.  This is a very tricky matchup for Luque.  He’s not a distance fighter and needs to be in the pocket to land his heavy hooks.  That’s a dangerous place to be with a guy who’s looking to initiate the clinch from the same range.  Luque is a flatfooted, plodding striker who doesn’t use much footwork to create angles and will be standing right in front of Chiesa the entire night where Chiesa can initiate takedowns.

Luque is coming off a first-round TKO win over Tyron Woodley, a fight in which Luque was hurt early and caught Woodley rushing for the finish with a left hook and put Woodley away.  Luque is a sleeper in the division and has won noine of his last ten; his only loss in that span was to Wonderboy Thompson.  Overall in the UFC, Luque is an impressive 13-3 and is a danger to anyone in the top ten.

Flip a coin.  Will Chiesa be able to score takedowns and maintain top control, or will Luque be able to stifle Chiesa’s takedowns with leg kicks and keep the fight standing where he will be at a massive advantage on the feet?  Again, I have no bleepin’ idea.  Vicente Luque via TKO, round three.

Winner: Vicente Luque | Method: TKO Rd.3

Tecia Torres (-140 ) vs Angela Hill (+115 )

Torres: DK: $8.7k | Hill: DK: $7.5k

The judges have robbed no fighters more than Jorge Masvidal and Angela Hill.  Angela Hill became famous when she was held up at gunpoint against Claudia Gadelha at the same Valero gas station as Ryan Lochte and again four months later against Michelle Waterson.

Overkill Hill is just below the elite level in the strawweight division but is a tough-out for anyone.  She has well-rounded skills standing and on the mat.  Angela’s hands are long and fast, and she throws them by the baker’s dozen.  Like her teammate, Dominick Cruz, Hill has excellent perpetual lateral movement and creates angles to initiate strikes.  Hill’s output is nonstop, and the only knocks against her are her lack of power and finishing abilities.

This fight will be a rematch from a bout in 2015, a bout that Tecia Torres won by decision.  When Hill loses, it’s usually because she was taken down and held down for long stretches, which was the case against Torres the first time.  Torres has excellent takedowns and top control, but she has also developed into a formidable striker since the first Hill fight. 

Torres uses a karate style with side kicks to disrupt timing and short blitzes to close the distance and initiate the clinch.  Her striking is a lot like Michelle Waterson’s, but Tecia has better hand speed.  Torres also lacks power on the feet and is the complete opposite of a finisher.  Torrez is merciful and only has two finishes in seventeen career fights.  Torres is riding a two-fight winning streak after losing four straight fights to a list of serial killers.  The list includes Jessica Andrade, Joana Jedrzejkwwh, Weili Zhang, and Marina Rodriguez.

Unfortunately for my fellow San Diegan, Angela Hill, I don’t see this fight ending much differently than the first one.  Tecia Torres via decision.  Both fighters are stingy Fantasy point scorers; tread lightly.

Winner: Tecia Torres | Method: Decision

Song Yadong (-115 ) vs Casey "They Killed" Kenney (-105)

Yadong: DK: $8k | Kenney: DK:$8.2k

*Banger Of The Night Runner Up*

Casey Kenney is a bantamweight Mirko Cro Cop.  Cro Cop famously said, “Right leg, hospital.  Left leg, cemetery.”  For Kenney, it's: Right leg, Minute Clinic.  Left leg, ashes on a beach.  He devastates opponents with left-round kicks, throwing them equal opportunity to the head, body, and legs.  Kenney will throw left kicks over and over and over and… you get the point.  Against Alateng Heili, Kenney landed four thousand body kicks in the fight, and by the second round, Heili’s entire side looked like Hamburger Helper.  

Combine his kicking game with tight, crisp boxing, and Casey Kenney is a nightmare matchup for any striker.  Kenney uses the opponent’s aggression against them by countering punches with leg kicks and firing his hands afterward.  He’s shifty in the pocket and is slick when he retreats by back pivoting while remaining in striking range.  But Kenney is missing half his body like Gus Fring when Gus got blown up in the hospital room.  He is left-side dominant and relies, at times, almost exclusively on left-hand power strikes.

Kenney is 5-2 in the UFC, his to losses, Dominick Cruz and Merab Dvalishvili, two elite-level fighters.  His last bout was against Cruz and was a very competitive fight.  Kenney was just a step behind in the first and third rounds and had a hard time landing on Cruz with any consistency.  Like Kenney, Song Yadong is a highly touted young prospect and will offer another stiff test for Kenney.

Now that I think about it, Song Yadong is also a Gus Fring missing-half-of-his-body type of striker.  Yadong is a right-hand dominant power striker with high-level wrestler striking.  His go-to combination is the 2-3-2 (cross-hook-cross); Yadong uses his right hand to engage ninety percent of the time.  Of course, that’s a completely fictitious stat, but that’s what it seems like when you watch Yadong fight.  Yadong lacks footwork from the outside, so he has to rely on explosive athletic ability to close the distance with his cross.

The lack of a consistent jab makes it difficult for Yadong to fight from the outside, but he has devastating power when he gets inside the pocket.  When Yadong throws the 1-2 instead of the 2-3 and leads with his jab, he has a lot of success setting up second-level strikes; he’s just not consistent enough with the jab.  Also, Yadong likes to lead with the rear-hand uppercut.  That’s the worst strike to lead with and a habit you don’t want to pick up.  You’re highly vulnerable when you throw an uppercut, and it’s best to hide it behind one or two punches before engaging with it.  With an opposite stance fighter like Casey Kenney, Kenney’s overhand left will line up perfectly when Yadong throws the rear-hand uppercut.

The next step in the evolution of Song Yadong is using speed instead of power.  Yadong’s striking is all power, everything he throws is at one hundred percent, and he needs to learn how to use his speed to set up his power.  Focusing on speed allows you to touch the opponent more often and uses less energy.  If Yadong learns to take a little steam off his punches, he’ll develop into a contender.  

Like Dr. Sean McNamara and Dr. Christian Troy operating in Miami, this one should be nip/tuck, a high output back and forth affair until the final bell.  The skill levels are close to even, and I’d be surprised if one of these guys finished the fight.  I’m partial to southpaws; Casey Kenney via decision.

Winner: Casey Kenney | Method: TKO Rd.3

Prelims

Highlighted Matchup

Rafael Fiziev (-285) vs. Bobby Green (+225)

Fiziev: DK: $9.3k | Green: DK: $6.9k 

Safari > Clear History > All History > Clear

Bobby Green, clear your browser history, just in case.

Fiziev is the head trainer at Phuket Top Team in Thailand and is one of the scariest fighters in the world.  Thailand is the Mecca of Muay Thai, and Fiziev has some of the best Muay Thai techniques in MMA.  Pound for pound, he has the most powerful round kicks you’ll see.  I should’ve saved the Cro Cop reference for Mr. Fiziev.  Both of Fiziev’s legs lead to Valhalla.  Thai fighters have a different approach to throwing kicks; they understand that all kicks are significant strikes and cause damage even if the kick is blocked.  The Tong Po’s of the world will keep kicking your arms over and over again until you can’t use them to defend with or attack.  

Fiziev’s lead leg is as powerful as his rear leg, and he throws it without a switch-step, which makes it quicker to the target and provides no tell.  But Fiziev isn’t all kicks, he uses subtle slips and counters, and his left hook is like a mini Tyson’s.  Fighters become so hyper-aware of Fiziev’s kicks they forget about his hands, which are just as deadly.  He’s coming in off a second-round KO win over Renato Moicano.  Jeff Bezos spotted Moicano orbiting the earth two weeks ago after Moicano ate a nasty 2-3 combination.  

Rafael is 3-1 in the UFC.  Someone actually beat this guy.  Magomed Mustafaev TKO’d Fiziev in Fiziev’s debut with a spinning backfist.  Just goes to show anybody can get got at any time in this sport.  Bobby Green will provide Fiziev with an opponent who won’t show him much respect and won’t be afraid to engage.

I love Bobby Green; he’s easily one of my favorite fighters.  His style is impetuous, his defense is impregnable, and he’s just ferocious.  He strikes naturally from both stances and can flow back and forth mid-exchange.  There’s no such thing as a boring Bobby Green fight, and win or lose, he goes out on his shield.  He tends to get into firefights, and the only knock against him is sometimes he gets outworked and loses close rounds. 

Green won’t stand in front of Fiziev and provide an easy target for Fiziev’s massive kicks, and an underrated part of Green’s game is his wrestling.  King Green has excellent offensive and defensive wrestling and the striking to flow into his wrestling naturally without forcing it.  Standing and banging with Fiziev for fifteen minutes is a terrible game plan and terrible for your health.  Bobby should look to use his footwork to create angles to close the distance and work the clinch.  He needs to make this an ugly, grimey fight and try to test Fiziev’s MMA skills and not just his Muay Thai.

The better finisher is by far Rafael Fiziev, who has seven finishes in noine professional wins.  Bobby Green hasn’t finished a fight since 2013, and he has only been stopped once in thirty-eight career fights.  That was a TKO loss to the Jr. Lightweight GOAT, Dustin Poirier.  In the end, Fiziev’s power and technical ability will be too much for Green, but I think Green can cause unique problems for Fiziev with the stance switches he uses and the different angles he strikes from.  Rafael Fiziev via decision.  

Winner: Rafael Fiziev | Method: Decision

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Twenty-Ten-Twen Sleeper

It seems like all the odds on this one are either 50/50 toss-ups or projected blowouts. From the prelims, Anderson Dos Santos has good value at (+170) against Miles Johns. That will be a matchup of power strikers, and I think the gap in skill level isn't as wide as the odds. Then there's Bobby Green. Although I think he'll be at a speed and power disadvantage on the feet, he can cause Fiziev problems if he comes in with a clinch and wrestling-heavy game plan. 

But come Saturday, if I have a Jackson biting a hole in my pocket, I'm slapping him down on the dog who's never out of the fight even when he's getting kicked and beaten with a rolled-up newspaper all over the yard. Derrick Bleepin' Lewis. At (+270), he's in that David Copperfield range I love so much, the range where Jackson's turn into Grants right before your eyes. He's going to behind all night long, but he's going to be tough to finish early, and it only takes one shot from Lewis. Few other fighters have the Dim Mak touch of death like Lewis, and every time you doubt him, he makes a fool out of you. Oh, and he'll be fighting in front of his hometown crowd in Houston, and that has to account for something.

Pick 'Em

Drako Rodriguez (-110 ) vs. Vince Morales (-110 )

            Winner: Vince Morales

 Method: Decision 

Ed Herman (+200 ) vs. Alonzo Menifield (-250 )

            Winner: Alonzo Menifield

 Method: TKO Rd.2

Karolina Kowalkiewcz (-125 ) vs. Jessica Penne (+105)

Winner: Jessica Penne

 Method: Decision

Manel Kape (-210) vs. Ode Osbourne (+170)

    Winner: Manel Kape

 Method: Decision

Miles Johns (-210 ) vs. Anderson Dos Santos (+170 )

    Winner: Miles Johns

 Method: Decision

Victoria Leonardo (-110 ) vs. Melissa Gatto (-110 )

    Winner: Melissa Gatto

 Method: Armbar Rd.2

Johnny Munoz (-265 ) vs. Jamey Simmons (+210 )

    Winner: Johnny Munoz

 Method: Rear-Naked Choke Rd.3

Thanks for reading LineStar Weekly Knockout! We'll be back next Thursday with another one. Until then, good luck and support your local MMA Gym.

About Me

My name is Chris Guy, and I’m an avid combat sports enthusiast and practitioner. I’ve been a fan of MMA since the early 2000s when Limewire was still around, and I downloaded Bas Rutten’s Big Book of Combat. In 2004, I started training Muay Thai at City Boxing in San Diego, CA. I competed as an amateur for many years, and I've also dabbled in Jiu-Jitsu. I follow many different disciplines, such as Combat Ji-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Glory Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA.

I’m equally as enthusiastic about the craft of writing, and in addition to writing about combat sports, I also write short fiction and music. I hope to bring unique prose to sports writing, and along the way, encourage people to not only become Martial Arts fans but to also become Martial Artists themselves. 

In the future, you may see me refer to the Thunderdome; it's an ode to the old Mad Max movie and refers to the world-class training facility I built in my one-car garage. It's complete with throw dummies, wrestling mats, heavy bags, and six months' worth of Chef Boyardee cans from when I thought the world was going to end back in March. I hope you enjoy my work, and if you don’t, the Thunderdome has an open door policy. 

Check out my Podcast The Whiskey (S)ick Podcast on Apple and Spotify. Parental Advisory Warning

🚨 Get 3 Free Months of LineStar Premium 🚨

Get 3-months of LineStar Premium for new users to SuperDraft who deposit/play $10!

Terms: Partnership offers do NOT renew. See SuperDraft landing page for full terms and conditions. Must be a new user to SuperDraft and deposit and play a minimum of $10 to qualify. If you have an existing LineStar Premium subscription you get a Hat/Tee/Pen combo instead of the 3-months.