If the world of mixed martial arts were a pharmacy, Saturday's Strikeforce card on HDNet would be a bottle of Lunesta taken with three shots of Maker's Mark. To say it without a trace of a sugary coating, the slumber-inducing 10-fight telecast flat-out stunk.

But that's to be expected from time to time because quite frankly not every event under the sun can be as explosive as the last UFC or EliteXC. Strikeforce normally delivers decent to stellar shows, but as the old cliché goes, you can't win them all.

I applaud HDNet for airing various MMA cards across the globe regardless of the size of the promotion. Kudos also goes to the network for televising the entire card and not just what are considered the five featured attractions.

But in doing just that, the decision opened up a box that was going to be rife with criticism. When a bulk of the undercard is littered with fights between men with a handful of pro fights between them, amateurish and cautious showdowns are the norm. For instance, it's frustrating when one fighter has another fully mounted but can't figure out what to do to close out the show.

Most of the men on the card were just starting out their pro careers, and any sort of criticism of their performances is to be thrown out with the bath water. With that said, I'd much rather be able to watch a card like this past weekend's Strikeforce, as tedious as it was, than not be able to watch it.

However, my gripes won't escape the main event, which could have easily been stuffed into a ‘70s model Pinto alongside 30 clowns. Ringling Brothers, you have nothing on Bob Sapp (Pictures).

An End to the MMA Circus

Last week we had the absolutely pathetic "fight" between Kimbo and Tank, a matchup that left even more questions unanswered than there were before the opening bell. Tank collapsed at the first taste of adversity, and though I'm not claiming or stating that he took a dive or that the fight was fixed by any means, to believe that Kimbo cleanly knocked out Tank would be naïve.

So far in his pro career, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson has shown us nothing, save for the fact that he is a menacing and presumed powerhouse. But like his "stunning devastation" of Bo Cantrell (Pictures) and "unbelievable win" over Ray Mercer, the fight with Abbott left me scratching my head in disbelief as to why people are convinced of this guy's invincibility. You should read some of the mail I've received.

With Kimbo, though, it is what it is. EliteXC is doing everything it can to milk his Internet deification for everything its worth, and more power to everybody involved. Like I've said numerous times: Ferguson might wind up being a credible and legitimate heavyweight threat. I just tend to stare at the world through cynical eyes.

However, unlike Ferguson, who could prove me wrong, we were treated to yet another exposé on Saturday of how cartoonish Bob Sapp (Pictures) is. I remember the days of yesteryear when he was clubbing all-time great Ernesto Hoost (Pictures) and stopping the K-1 legend twice. Forget the fact that his too-numerous-to-count illegal punches to the Dutch kickboxer were conveniently ignored by the referees and that he tried the same cheap tactics against then-reigning K-1 World Grand Prix champion Remy Bonjasky. Back then Sapp was still thought of as one of those inhuman fighters who could eventually become a successful monstrosity.

His fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) was memorable, but "The Beast" never lived up to the hype that was ignited around that time. In fact, Sapp started tumbling back down the hill and wound up falling into a ravine. He has won plenty of fights in Japan along the way, obviously, but not once has he toppled anybody near the upper echelon of the sport.

Sapp's a good guy, and he's entertaining to watch. He's powerful, punches hard and is a massive human being. But the time has come to let dissipate the notion that he is some world-class fighter, and the same goes for Tank Abbott, Butterbean, Giant Silva and the rest of the MMA caricatures created by overzealous promoters.

I'll watch Sapp fight again mainly because it's part of my job description. But I've stopped trying to believe that this former NFL player is as bestial as fight companies claim. I've had enough of boxing trying to create some sort of phony sideshow and stopped paying attention to that garbage back in the ‘90s. That sport was harpooned with its ridiculous alphabet gangs, tomato-can warriors, hideous pay-per-views and gross mismatches.

MMA is starting to head down that road more than ever. It has to stop. Please, promoters, stop wasting our time with fights featuring "legendary" combatants named Abbott, Sapp, Esch, Choi and Ken Shamrock (Pictures).

It's time to put the dancing bears to bed.

Misc. Debris

Is it just me or does Bob Sapp (Pictures) remind you of Bald Bull from the NES classic "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out"? If you are confused, get a copy of that game and drop the Turkish boxer with a body shot. Watch Bald Bull when one of his eyes opens wide while the other squints and his face grimaces in agony -- that's the same face Sapp makes whenever he gets hit in the stomach or is trying to run away from Jan Nortje (Pictures). …

It's always a letdown when a fight is stopped due to a fluke injury, as was the case with the Joe Riggs (Pictures)-Cory Devela (Pictures) fight. Hopefully Riggs' injury to his back is not severe and he can resume fighting sooner than later. …

My condolences go out to the family and friends of Rene Ayangma, the young Canadian fighter who died while training last week. …

I've been reading so much nonsense about how poorly Pride fighters have done in the UFC since the merger, and my irritation with this poppycock climaxed when UFC matchmaker Joe Silva told Joe Rogan during a pay-per-view broadcast, "This isn't Japan anymore." Call me crazy, but isn't the "interim" heavyweight champion a former Pride heavyweight king? And also, both the middleweight and light heavyweight champions are former Pride stars. I'm not exactly sure where this complete failure from former Pride fighters is.

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