This isn’t the sport of goofballs.

Not even close. Although, there are goofballs who watch and even participate. There are no flying kicks to the groin from 15 paces away. It happens and is against the rules in much the same way that facemasks in the NFL are against the rules and happen.

Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. If you are not a fan, or are simply not up to snuff with what this quickly growing, relatively new sport is all about, you probably have visions of bloody, no holds barred, bar room brawls. Except, that’s not what MMA is at all.

Perhaps, at one time, it was close to the “human cockfighting” that John McCain once proclaimed it to be, but that was in the sport’s dark ages. Today, what you get is an altogether different product. If you like combat sports, it’s often better than boxing because MMA cards – at least UFC, Affliction and the Strike Force brands – can guarantee more than one top-level fight. If one doesn’t pan out to be what fans hoped for, which fights tend to do from time to time, the chances of catching a great fight in a night are still pretty good.

If you are not an MMA fan, hopefully this column will help, through the weeks, to bring you up to speed on the sport. If you are an MMA fan, especially one of the many that have continually asked for more MMA coverage in The T&D, hopefully this column will appeal to you.

This is MMA Monday.

Quinton Jackson out of UFC 98

The stare down. The smack talk. No fight.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) has pulled out of his May 23 UFC 98 matchup against current light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (13-0-1) after revealing that he needed arthroscopic surgery to repair ligaments in his jaw.

Apparently, it was an injury Jackson suffered in training with his partner Hector “Sick Dog” Ramirez, prior to his first round knockout of Wanderlai Silva. Of course, the time off should also be a positive for Jackson who looked decidedly one dimensional in his victory over Keith Jardine at UFC 96.

Jackson’s heavy hands have a tendency to drop the toughest men in their tracks – see Silva – but Evans striking can be scary good at times as well. And, the difference is Evans is decidedly more graceful on his feet. He’s one of the few MMA fighters, I think, that could translate well into a boxing ring. (For the record, I think there are few, if any boxers that could translate well into the world of MMA.) For Jackson to defeat Evans, he would almost certainly need to use his wrestling, take the light heavyweight champ to the ground, and execute some ground and pound. But, for whatever reason, he seemed reluctant to show that against Jardine. Of course, Jackson always has a puncher’s chance, but the advantage would have gone to Evans, especially considering Jackson’s busy fight schedule over the past few months, had the two locked horns.

Instead of Jackson, Evans is now set to fight Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (14-0). That is a very intriguing matchup. Machida is a pretty complete fighter who can probably move with Evans standing and likely has a decent advantage on the ground. I still would give a slight striking edge to Evans, and I think if the fight stays standing, Evans could win.

But, I expect Machida to take him down, and that would likely mean a new light heavyweight champion.

UFC 100

Yahoo.com is reporting that the rumored card for UFC 100, to be held July 11, will be heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar against interim champ Frank Mir, welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre against Thiago Alves and Michael Bisping against Dan Henderson.

That looks like a very strong card.

Shamrock tests positive

Ken Shamrock has reportedly tested positive for three anabolic steroids following a Feb. 13 fight in Fresno, California.

The positive test brings a year suspension for the 45-year-old fighter, who is also reportedly appealing the suspension. Shamrock was scheduled to fight former WWE champion and NCAA wrestler Bobby Lashley on an MMA/Boxing card promoted by Roy Jones Jr. on March 21.

Shamrock has reportedly been replaced by Jason Guida (17-19), the brother of UFC light heavyweight Clay Guida.

RIP Charles “Mask” Lewis

In case you haven’t seen the Tapout show on the Versus network, Charles “Mask” Lewis was … different.

His style alone — he wore face paint, wild hats, and wilder clothes — saw to it that he stood out in a crowd. But, if you watched his reality show, another thing about Lewis came through the screen and that was the feeling that he genuinely cared about MMA and the fighters that he sponsored.

Lewis started his Tapout clothing line out the back of his car, and it’s reported that the company made over $50 million last year. Lewis, 45, was killed in an early morning automobile accident Wednesday.

Since, charges have been filed against Jeffery David Kirby. Kirby, 51, was reportedly charged with a felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated, one felony count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, and sentencing enhancements for fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter and causing great bodily injury to multiple victims.

Police accuse Kirby of losing control of his car due to excessive speed and making contact with Lewis’ vehicle, a red Ferrari, that lost control, hit a sidewalk and went into a light pole where it broke in half. Lewis was reportedly trapped inside the car; a female passenger identified as 23-yeard old Lacy Lynn White, was ejected.

Upcoming events

The UFC will hold Fight Night from the Sommet Center in Tennessee on April 1.

The card will feature Carlos Condit (23-4) against Martin Kampmann (14-2). Other fighters on the card include: Tyson Griffin, Ryan Bader and Junie Browning. On April 18, UFC 98 will take place in Centre Bell, Canada with Anderson Silva (23-4), believed by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, taking on Thales Leites (14-1). Also scheduled for that card is a matchup between Chuck Liddell (21-5) and Mauricio Rua (17-3). Heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo (23-4-1) is also scheduled to take on Antoni Hardonk (8-4).

On April 11, Strike Force presents a solid card headlined by Frank Shamrock (23-9-2) against Nick Diaz (18-7), Josh Thompson (16-2) against Gilbert Melendez (14-2), Jake Shields (22-4-1) against Joe Riggs (29-10) and Scott Smith (14-5) against Benji Radach (19-4). Top women’s competitor Chris “Cyborg” Santos (6-1) will also fight on the card.

n T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.

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