Jazz trumpeter Walter “Maynard” Ferguson, best known for the Rocky theme song “Gonna Fly Now” died last week at age 78.

The Iceman visited Jimmy Kimmel last week just before UFC 62. He demonstrates some of his favorite bouncing techniques and continues to amaze me with how relaxed he always is.

Well, it would seem like it’s rather official that Tito and Jenna are laying the smackdown on each others tender vittles as the pair were seen again last night at UFC 62 looking all… couply. Here’s a photo found on Jenna’s MySpace page:

I have to hand it to Tito, he’s got himself quite the catch. Jenna’s one rich woman, thanks to almost every male on the planet and her innate business savvy. And as far as porn stars go, she’s by far the hottest. This might be just a stunt to piss of Dave Navarro, but whatever, it makes for good jokes. I’d like to see Navarro vs Tito. Navarro gets to use his guitar in the octagon. WAR NAVARRO!!!

As an aside, is Tito’s hair looking a bit thin upstairs? WAR HAIR LOSS!!!

I hadn’t realized this before, but Jenna’s got chicken legs too! Awwwww… a match made in heaven. She also has those massive pillows for Tito to lay his giant head on. It’s like they were made for each other out of bleach and silicone.

** SPOILERS **

Chuck Liddell is a COUNTER-PUNCHER so don’t go and chase him across the ring with your chin up in the air. They say everyone has a gift. Chuck’s is punching people really hard in the face.

The Iceman proved once again why he’s the light heavyweight champ, knocking out Renato “Babalu” Sobral in the first round with a heat-seeker right uppercut and following up with a half-dozen gongs to the noggin. I really like Chuck, but I really was hoping to see a closer fight with at least a couple of takedown attempts.

Babalu lost his cool, and after feeling one or two punches barely connect, came charging in with hands out and chin up. And that was pretty much it. Bummer.

Best part of the fight was watching Babalu in a daze attacking Big John McCarthy and getting mounted by the ref. That was just pure awesome. Babalu is going to need a sports shrink after he watches that replay over and over and over.

Once upon a time, I would’ve scoffed at the notion of wearing grappling shorts. I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to training gear, and I prefer to keep things simple. The good (and I mean they are really nice) people at Brazilian Fightwear sent me some grappling shorts to check out, and I don’t think I can train in anything else anymore.

When I pulled them out of the bag, the first thing I noticed was that these shorts were solid. Every detail, from the construction to the screenprinting is noticably well put together, and the fabric felt substantial.

Front

Back

The shorts are constructed from 100% polyester microfiber, and virtually every panel is designed to stretch. This was my main problem with wearing board shorts—nylon doesn’t stretch, and sometimes they get stuck and can tear at the seams. In addition, the sides of the shorts have slits where shorts are most likely to “stick” to your leg. The stretchiness and slits on these shorts do two things: 1) Allows the fighter FULL range of unrestricted motion; 2) Makes these shorts super comfortable.

Slit sides on each leg allow for wider range of motion

All the seams where the shorts are more likely to tear are triple-stitched just in case you’re so ridiculously flexible that you can stretch the material to the limit. If that wasn’t enough, higher-stressed seams are reinforced with additional stitching.

Triple-stitched inseam with reinforcement (white thread)

The velcro front enclosure has a slightly different design from your average boardshort. BFW also uses the usual velcro+tiestring method, but the string is over slightly off-center to the right which makes it less likely to come apart or get caught when you are working from your guard. The string runs through very thin grommets, which I found to be a very nice detail which adds a bit of comfort while you’re rolling.

Front velcro enclosure

Attached to the inside of the waist is a small pocket designed to put your mouthguard in. I’m not too sure how useful this feature is, as I don’t use mouthguards, but it looks like plenty of room for one. I’d imagine that digging in your shorts for them every time you want to put your mouthguard on might be a little annoying, but I guess it’s better than putting them down anywhere in your gym. Some guys I know just stick it on their ear. The pocket can be useful for keeping cash. It’s always fun to buy food after training and see the look on people’s faces when you hand them sweaty money.

Inside pocket for your mouthguard

After wearing them around and training in them, I have to admit I’m hooked. I’ve never owned a pair of shorts that have so much freedom of movement. Brazilian Fightwear has put some serious thought into these shorts, and you can tell they were designed by fighters for fighters. I’ve been told that Paulo Filho will be wearing a pair tomorrow at Pride Bushido, so keep an eye out for them.