Pleasant Surprise of the Day: David Loiseau won by TKO this past June.

Loiseau, who many considered effectively ruined after a thrashing at the hands of Rich Franklin, knocked out the now 5-2-0 Andrew Buckland last June at a relatively small Canadian show. This is the first time Loiseau has been able to string together two consecutive wins in almost 3 years. Buckland might not be considered huge game (especially for someone who was at one time a UFC top contender) but isn't bad competition for a fighter on the mend like Loiseau.

I was a little surprised that it hadn't been reported any earlier that Loiseau was fighting. He was appearing on a card populated with other big show veterans (Dan Hornbuckle, Carlo Prater, Travis Galbraith), and he himself still has a pretty decently sized fan base. Sometimes I wonder if this, and similar news bits, are purposefully not covered by sites like Sherdog.com as an attempt at showing impartiality to the UFC (and, by extension, its stable of fighters). That is, a fighter like Loiseau (or Dave Menne, or Anthony Perosh, or any number of TUF castaways) isn't newsworthy simply because he fought in the UFC.

I certainly hope this isn't the case. While such a policy initially seems like a step towards a less UFC-centric view of mixed martial arts, all this really does is hurt fighters. The UFC cut them anyway, and their infamously (and perhaps mythically) cold, bottom-line-focused relations with fighters leaves little room for sentiment--it's doubtful that Dana White is feeling slighted that some news site or another isn't covering UFC veteran David Loiseau. But I bet David Loiseau sure would appreciate some publicity.

And why not give it to him? Fighters like these, who at one point put their body and mind on the line in order to fill a money-making card for the UFC, deserve a little recognition. And in a relatively inexpensive medium like online journalism, websites like Sherdog.com (with an increasingly burgeoning set of ad banners) can afford to keep up with David Loiseau, (or Ricco Rodriguez, or Gideon Ray) even if he is only rebuilding his record in smaller shows. Certainly the fan interest would justify at least a small blurb.

Altruism and potential fan service aside, such reports would also serve to contextualize, and re-contextualize, the sport, where it was, and where it's going. It's interesting to see that at one point a fighter like Junior Assuncao, with a bit of momentum behind him, was considered good enough to compete for the world's premier mixed martial arts promoter, whereas now he is having trouble in the smaller shows. These details hint at the growth of the sport, and the evolution of its fighters.

It's a hard enough business without getting your UFC contract (which was probably underpaying you anyway) abruptly terminated, and certainly hard enough without what should have been a blessing (greater exposure) becoming a source of resentment among the MMA community. And honestly, instead of reading a bunch of pre-fight hype out of Michael Bisping, I'd rather keep up with David Loiseau, or Mark Kerr.

Speaking of Mark Kerr...


Absolutely Unpleasant, Depressing Surprise of the Day: Mark Kerr has fought twice since his loss to Oleg Taktarov in the YAMMA, and lost both fights.

Dear God, no.

I'm a huge fan of Mark Kerr, and I love to see him win. Though his best days are behind him, I had hoped that "The Smashing Machine" would be able to find a rhythm and continue winning against less notable opposition so long as he wished to keep fighting. However, Kerr has already suffered two losses this summer--one to a then 2-0-0 Tracy Willis, and the second to a then 3-4-0 Ralph Kelly.

Ultimately, one has to respect the fighter's decision to compete or not, but these losses seriously put in doubt the efficacy of any further in-ring contests. I've been hoping for a while now that Mark Kerr will make the physical and psychological adjustments necessary to compete successfully, but at this point, I'm not sure if that will ever happen.

My heart is broken. A piece of it lies in Mark Kerr's mutant pectorals of yesteryear. Unbreak my heart, Mark Kerr!