Should Glory (Kickboxing) Abandon The Tournament Format?

I've been watching Glory kickboxing and while I am rather impressed with this new promotion, both in terms of the calibre of fighters in their roster and the quality of the shows they put on at such an early stage in their existence I think that the single day tournament format they employ might need to be reconsidered, the unique excitement and drama it brings notwithstanding. The tournament format is one of the reasons that I love Bellator MMA so much (although it's not a single day tournament) so I definitely do understand the reasoning behind Glory's use of it but after watching several of their events I am starting to question the wisdom behind the single day tournament format.

One of the things that has become clear is that a single day tournament is often times simply unfair. In almost every case, the fighters who made it to the final fight had totally different experiences along the way which invariably left one fighter in a much better position to fight than the other. Even the very best fighter in the roster could be in an underdog position, at least informally, in a fight against the last ranked fighter simply because his first fight went the distance (or close to it) while his opponent's fight ended within two minutes and as such he is undamaged and has a full gas tank while his opponent is battered and exhausted (or at least much further along the path to exhaustion than is his opponent). Clearly this would mean that the lower ranked guy will have a huge advantage over his opponent in the finals; isn't that statement alone enough to convince you that something is amiss? In this system a fresh fighter fighting a guy who is three quarters of the way to exhaustion right from the opening bell isn't a freak occurrence but a regularity. It's remarkably unfair.

The Recent Nevada State Athletic Commission Ruling on TRT Makes No Sense

So the NSAC has just banned testosterone replacement therapy for fighters in the state and they are encouraging other commissions to follow suit. Essentially, a precedent has been set and knowing the way people/bureaucracies work they will. The response to this in the mma community seems to be, at least so far, overwhelmingly supportive. The consensus seems to be that trt is somehow cheating, and it allows fighters to use steroids with reckless abandon as if they damage their hypothalamic pituitary testicular axis (HPTA), the areas that regulate hormonal levels in men, they can simply use testpsterone replacement therapy later on as compensation, bringing their now unnaturally low levels up to par. 

Is it me or is everyone completely missing the point here? 

There are defined levels of testosterone allowable in the sport. As long as the fighter is within them, why exactly does it matter where it comes from and why they might need it in the first place? People might say "oh, so we're going to allow people to use steroids and then rely on trt later on?" Uh...no one's allowing anything, and steroid use will happen regardless. All you're doing is limiting a fighter's career when science/medicine has perfectly safe ways of extending/enhancing it. And some cases of low T are NOT related to prior use, so what about them? If two fighters have equal test levels, there is NO ADVANTAGE to said levels being from trt. The only thing that matters is the levels of the hormone in the blood and that is already regulated. All this does is punish fighters and limit their careers. This is terrible, especially in a sport where they don't make a lot of money as it is yet need to dedicate their lives to it in order to succeed. 

It seems pretty fucking simple to me: Here are the testosterone limits, stay within them. Everything else is just noise. Am I missing something here?

MMA Weekend Roundup (Just a Few Thoughts)

UFC

Guillard vs Pearson no contest controversy:  I think it was the right call as it was the second knee that opened that cut, but that fucking downed opponent rule is a) fucking stupid and b) obviously being exploited by fighters. Use your hand to block the knee, not touch the ground and try and be saved by some arbitrary bullshit rule. That rule really needs to go. You could tell Rogan was trying very hard to watch what he said while still getting the point across. On his podcast he's been much more open about it (he fuckin hates it). I don't even get what the rationale is. Kneeing someone in the head is okay when they are crouched or standing but when they are on the ground it's not okay because.......? What, it "just looks brutal?" What actual EFFECT does it have.....oh ya, the SAME as it does anywhere else. Just let them fucking fight, fuck. Guillard got robbed of a win because of this shit. I just hope this doesn't take the wind out of his sails, cause we all know he's been spotty but you could tell he was on yesterday. He wanted to win that fight and clearly trained hard. Only for a no contest? Fuck.

Machida: Looked great at 185lbs. I hope this weight class becomes his new home. Of course, we don't know if the weight cut depleted his reserves or not as the fight didn't even enter the second round, so there's always the possibility that a guy like Weidman could wear him out ("take him into deep waters and drown him" as so many fighters are fond of saying) but for now I am impressed. I was so scared he was going to lose and was ecstatic when he won. I would love to see him and Silva fight at some point. Wow that would be a dream. War Machida!

Bellator

Have you heard the news, people? I'm assuming you have but if you haven't for w/e reason, the PPV is off. 106 is now a free card on Spike. Why, you ask? Tito is injured. lol What else is new. I'm going to take what they have said as the truth but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if there was some fuckery afoot. Bellator PR fuckery from the get go or some fuckery from the Ortiz camp....I dunno. Nice message to send the rest of the guys on that card though. You ain't sellin shit, mofuckas. We need washed up ex UFC vets to sell shit. Nice....Btw, that card is absolutely fucking stacked. Bellator 106 might be the best card this year.  STACKED. I cannot wait. The casual mma fan that may (and I mean may) have purchased the PPV to see Ortiz vs Jackson would have been treated some potentially insane fights before witnessing whatever shit show the two washed up UFC veterans would have put on. My only hope is they somehow tune in to the card on Spike because the guys still on that card deserve the viewership. 

Add Tiger Sarnavskiy to the list of those Russian fighters who are really impressing me as of late. Both in Bellator and the UFC. I'm excited to see what they can do in 2014.

Desmond Green vs Angelo Sanchez: Um....that was hard to watch. The cut sustained by Sanchez was easily the nastiest I have ever seen and I never want to see something like that again. If you want to see, and I don't blame you for the curiosity but be forewarned.....it's horrible, here you go:

See the doctor opening it up at the end there? He did it multiple times and each time I was like NO STOP PLEASE. He just kept.fucking.doing.it. I literally had to look away and keep looking away until it was over. Even Jimmy Smith said on air "I really wish that doctor would stop opening and closing that thing."

GROSS. 

WSOF 6

Haven't seen it (yet). I did however, have the Miguel Torres fight spoiled for me, since I never learn my lesson and still visit mma sites the day after events I have not seen. I need to stop doing that!