I’ve been saying it forever – Cody McKenzie would’ve been an absolute superstar in the old days of MMA. No, not the days of Judo Gene, Mitsu Maeda et al, I’m talking the wild 90’s. His gimmick is himself. A crab fisherman with a guillotine from hell. He’s the type of guy who would’ve lit up a cigarette post-fight and take a deep victory drag as his opponent’s blood smudges the body of the smoldering butt. Hopefully he can still do this, as Oklahoma is hosting Battleground MMA, featuring an 8-man, one-night tournament. Just like the headline says.
Adding further intrigue to this tournament is Dennis Hallman’s involvement. It’s a veritable 209 vs. whatever Miesha Tate’s camp is. Remember when Dennis Hallman was threatening to beat everyone up on TUF: Rousey vs. Tate? Now Cody can exact some revenge that only a one-night, 8-man tournament can deliver. This is great.
Not all participants of the June 27th show have been announced, but we’ve got Luigi Fioravanti (who I remember as a participant on many UFC/Spike broadcasts) and Chris Honeycutt. You know why they call him Honeycutt, right? It’s because he’s so sweet he’s deadly (I don’t know if that’s true).
Let’s all applaud gently for Battleground MMA. One-night tournaments are my absolute favorite part about this sport, and I’m happy to one actually materializing in this year of our Lord, 2014.
Thank you, Oklahoma. You totally ****ed state, you.
