El Niche Cache

April 11, 2020

The Niche Cache

May 11, 2020

Do what you want

All the time

Don’t hurt anyone else

And you’ll be fine

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Scotty’s Word

So UFC 249 went down yesterday, largely without any issues. One fighter tested positive for the rona (Jacare Souza for those who wanna know) prior to the fights, day before I think and it was kinda bonkers to see the reaction to a fighter testing positive, as part of the first organisation to come back with top-tier sports events, at this stage of the pandemic. There were of course the headlines, although losing Souza vs Uriah Hall was pretty much the only negative aspect of Souza’s positive test and things flowed on as per the UFC’s current status-quo.

This felt more a case of ‘we’re doing all these tests, so of course someone will test positive’ than ‘one bloke tested positive, shut it down!’. Remember that this is the UFC and they’re trooping on, at the very least knowing which fighters/trainers on the roster are positive for rona, the UFC can then make the required moves to ensure safety etc.

UFC 249 was epic. No fans and a weird vibe, yet with Justin Gaethje defeating Tony Ferguson, Henry Cejudo defeating Dominick Cruz and among other nifty results, Francis Ngannou destroying Jairzinho Rozenstruik, this was the event that the UFC and fans needed.

My main idea here though goes back to Friday, when MMA journalist Luke Thomas dropped an interview with Aotearoa’s Brad Riddell. Riddell is from Christchruch, trains in Auckland with City Kickboxing and has also done some coaching for flyweight champion Alex Volkanovski. Riddell is also the best #KiwiUFC prospect rising through the ranks right now and while Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker get most of the attention, Riddell’s as skilled as anyone on the CKB roster.

As a lightweight, Riddell’s in the same division as Hooker and this epic list of fighters: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Donald Cerrone, Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, Kevin Lee. That’s as stacked a division as any and Riddell joined Thomas to preview the Ferguson vs Gaethje fight from a striking perspective…

Thomas has previously talked about interviewing CKB folk and coach Eugene Bareman warning them not to share all the secrets, which Riddell tip-toes around throughout this interview. CKB is the best striking team in the world of MMA and this interview will help you understand why as Riddell discusses matters such as foot alignment, hip fakes and small details that create far greater consequences.

Listening to this was a pleasure and it reflects extremely positively on Riddell. Whether you’re an MMA expert or getting into the sport with the #KiwiUFC wave, Thomas’ Youtube channel is a great place to consume MMA content as his breakdowns and explanations are the best. Thomas appears to have a hot-line into the CKB camp, based on respect from both sides and Thomas has made an art out of breaking down Adesanya’s fights…

Aotearoa is a fabulous fighting nation and we are extremely lucky to have the best fighters in the world via CKB, talking about their work with one of the best MMA journos in the world. It’s all out there, for free, for your entertainment and learning.

Wildcard’s Notebook

Marlon Williams premiered his Live At Auckland Town Hall concert film on YouTube yesterday so if you fancy a solid 98 minutes of excellence then feast your ears upon that bad boy. It’s the same show he already released as a live album (last year) only now there are beautiful visuals… damn that town hall looks a treat. You know, people I respect a lot seem to keep talking about how much of a threat that theatres and such are under these days but I kinda feel the opposite about all that. People are banding together to support places of cultural wealth like that everywhere I look. I’ve shared a couple Shakespeare stage plays in here that have gotten views in the millions (I’m working through Antony & Cleopatra with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okenedo at the mo’, it’s very good). Like, it’s tough times for sure. But I’m also pretty confident that when it’s possible there’ll be a huge resurgence for movies and plays and concerts and all that - when we’ve been face to face with darkness, we celebrate the light.

Also, Little Richard died. He was 87 years old and I suspect a lot of people’s reaction to that news would have been: you mean Little Richard was still alive? I mean, I’m reading Easy Riders, Raging Bulls at the moment about the New Hollywood movement in the 70s and it’s kinda striking how those folks are dying off or retiring now so the 1950s rock and rollers have almost been passed over by this stage.

And that’s the thing that annoys me about when a luminary like that dies. It happened with BB King. It happened with Chuck Berry too. When the tributes emerge it’s as if their achievements themselves mean less than the influence they had on others. Little Richard for example, in order to show how important a figure he was they talk about how he inspired the Beatles, how Paul McCartney used to imitate his hoops and hollers. They focus on Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan’s statements as if they’re vindication… which feels hierarchical to me, and completely misses the point of what those fellas are saying. Mick Jagger idolised the man. But the reaction seems to place Little Richard within the context of Mick Jagger’s life, rather than the due respect the other way around.

I love the Rolling Stones but I’ll talk about the Rolling Stones when I talk about the Rolling Stones, you know? Little Richard was a titan amongst mortals. Listen to the untamed wildness of his first couple records and they still feel unhinged more than sixty years later. And as a character he’s absolutely fascinating. People talk about the sexual awakening of the culture because of Elvis’ swinging hips but Little Richard was having orgies in his dressing room while Elvis was on the phone to his momma.

The stakes were high for Little Richard. His sexuality was untethered and his music was often less than wholesome, not least of which because he was a flamboyant black man in make-up performing in the 1950s (and Tutti Frutti might sound seem like a cutesy oldies standard but check out a few of the songfacts). Yet he was also devoted Christian who more than once in his life quit music entirely because of the push and pull between rock and roll and religion. He wasn’t as fire and brimstone about it as Jerry Lee Lewis, for example (who is still alive btw) but it was something that needed reckoning. In 1957 he was touring in Australia when he saw a comet fly through the sky, took it as a sign from God, and renounced secular music (it was actually a satellite, apparently). He’d be back in the saddle within a few years though, so it goes.

This bloke was one of the all-time great talk show guests too. With his camp-before-camp nature, his Macon, Georgia affectations, a preacher’s ability to hold an audience, his rock and roll defiance… it’s been an absolute joy to see some of the clips floating around the internet, you can’t hear him laugh and not join in. You just can’t.

Little Richard probably outlived a lot of his audience. He outlived Prince too, a certified genius no doubt (massive Prince fan, bro) but it’s hard not to see how indebted he was to Little Richard as well. And with that he sorta outlived the impact of his own obituary… hence we have to hear/see/read folks trying to contextualise his career by involving those that followed him.

Might as well chuck some sports in here too, perhaps my favourite niche of footy highlights is early Ronaldo. El Fenomeno. Like his namesake, he grew into a different kind of player after a while but those early days with PSV and Barcelona (a bit with Inter as well) he was this unstoppable force of a player. There’s actually nobody else in history who can combine the skill, power, and speed that he had in those days. He was batting Bradman numbers in all three categories. Bonus points for how often he rounded the keeper before scoring in those days too. The most comprehensive way to score a goal. Just untouchable.