Matt asked me to post this on the various forums
for him today -- this is his response to Inside
Fighting's recent article on him:
Dear Mr. Caiazzo:
I have taken the time to read your article
concerning me. I have then taken some time to
consider the points you made, and re-read your
article. I believe there are two possible scenarios
that could be considered to explain it.
A) Phil Baroni is an electrifying performer, whose
brash personality and extraordinary skills, both as
a fighter and as a self-promoter, have galvanized
you to write this article, heralding the arrival of a
brilliant new voice in the arena of Mixed-Martial-Arts
journalism, or;
B) Phil Baroni is a crass bore, and you are an idiot.
I believe, if you read my riposte', and give it some
thought, you will come to agree with me that the
correct answer is B.
I could go over your article sentence by sentence,
and point out every contradiction, inconsistency,
and unsupported claim, but it would be like beating
up a helpless drunk at the county fair. So allow me
to mention a few things that will stand as
representative of why I believe (and you will
doubtless come to believe) that you are an idiot.
In the second paragraph of your article, you claim,
"any follower of the UFC knows the fallacy "
that "rests" in the "reasoning" that "a win is a win".
The fallacy in that statement is yours. You do not
speak for the followers of the UFC. You speak only
for yourself. Do not imagine for a second that you
represent the "voice of the people". It is insulting to
the fans who have their own opinions, and do not
need you to supply them with opinions based upon
your skewered concepts. Additionally, I wonder if
you would consider two decision wins quite as
much of a "fallacy" if Baroni had them over me,
instead of the way things stand.
You then go on to trumpet your dismissal of Lee
Murray for the balance of your article, and follow
that up by mentioning him relentlessly, and
including a picture of him. Quite a dismissal. The
reason you could not dismiss him is because, like
Baroni, he enthralls you by his antics, and like the
simpleton you are, you are incapable of turning
away. Which is pitiful.
You then go on to not mention Murray (Ha!) with the
following statements: "There are few who doubt
Lindland would defeat Murray" and "There are also
few who would pay to see it happen".
Have you done any research to support this
unwarranted claim? If so, why didn't you provide a
quote, from a UFC fan? I'll be happy to tell you
why....but I have a feeling you're probably starting to
catch on. You are again arrogantly speaking for the
fans.
In that same paragraph, you then say, in response
to my laying waste to Phil in our verbal war before
our second fight, "fans like seeing that kind of
stuff.." So do fans like seeing me, or not? You have
taken both sides of the argument, and made an
incoherent mess of yourself, and you're not even
off page 2.
You say that it's a "Numbers game." That "people
want to see Phil fight." Why didn't you provide some
of the PPV buy-in figures for Phil's fights, and
compare them with the numbers for events he
doesn't appear in? Do the PPV buys shoot through
the roof with people wanting to see Phil perform,
with his Martial Arts skills, or more usually, his
mouth? Why didn't you support your claim with
statistics, gathered through research?
I could go on, but the rest of page 3 is the same
muddled ranting, unworthy of refutation, and I
crumpled the page up and threw it across the
room like the trash it is.
You go on, and parrot the "Lindland is boring" line
that was old hat and disproved long before you
decided to take one hand out of your boxer shorts
and the other out of a bag of stale Cheez Doodles
and start tapping away on a keyboard in a vain
attempt to increase your own prestige by writing
inane, meaningless drivel. But because I am a
charitable person, and would like to instruct you,
although it is you and you alone and not the
MMA/UFC fans who you fraudulently claim
to represent, by making a few simple points. Even
you should be able to understand them.
I have worked hard to expand my repertoire
to become a more well-rounded fighter.
I have traveled at my own expense, without the
benefit of sponsors who pay my travel, living, and
training expenses (unlike your fancy man Phil
Baroni).
I have trained with numerous Martial Artists to
better myself. You may, if you care to re-watch my
second fight with Phil (if you can stand
watching your hero getting pummeled), that a
substantial percentage of that fight takes place
standing, where Phil's deadly hands should have
carried the day rather easily by your reckoning.
Also, if you watch the second Vitale fight, I
attempted numerous kicks (including some head
kicks!), which resulted in me flat on my back
(where we Wrestlers are in uncharted territory, blah
blah blah), where I........and brace yourself for
this........started an offense, and reversed position,
from the bottom. When was the last time Phil "Mr.
Excitement" Baroni gave that a try?
As far as I can tell, based upon my observations,
Phil's game plan, the one "people pay to see",
consists of him coming out, throwing two or three
minutes worth of barroom haymakers, gassing,
getting dumped and mounted like a cross-eyed
white belt rolling with Rickson Gracie in his heyday,
and either hanging on for dear life and hoping the
bell rings, or flailing away and eating punches,
elbows and then slugging the referee. The more I
think about it, I've spent more time riding Phil in
one fight Than Lane Frost spent riding bulls in his
entire career. And what happened in the Tanner
fight? Where was your great "finisher" when Evan
got caught? I'll tell you where. He was panting like
a hunting dog on a hot summer day, dragging
himself across the ring so slowly his own shadow
was pushing him. And there you were, I'm sure,
with your "N.Y. Badass" t-shirt on, desperately
exhorting your hero on, to justify your pathetic,
small-minded worship of him. I can only hope you
got some small measure of satisfaction by
watching him hit the referee, but if you watch the
replay again, you'll see that even those
punches, thrown at an unsuspecting man who
was focused on ensuring Phil's safety, didn't land
either.
2. You do not speak for the fans of the UFC, or
Mixed-Martial-Arts in general By imagining that you
do, you make a classic chump's mistake, and
you render your article, and in fact, your credibility
from now on, a worthless shambles, unfit to be
taken seriously by anyone. The PPV buy-in
numbers do not support your claims. Had you
done any research, you would have discovered this
for yourself. Here's an even easier test, one even
someone as sloppy and lazy as yourself could
have done on the way to the 7-Eleven for more
Cheez Doodles; how many skate-punks do you
see in Phil Baroni shirts? How many people at the
gas station are talking about the "NY BADASS"
while they fill their cars up? If you mention your
interest in the UFC to someone with a casual or
limited interest, how many of them mention Phil?
You know the answers to these questions as well
as I do, you poor fool.
More people remember Royce Gracie, and he
hasn't fought in at least 5 years in the UFC. And
why do you think that is? Because Royce Gracie
was a professional athlete, who carried himself
with dignity, in and out of the ring. And people
remember him for that, and will remember him
long after the Phil Baronis of the world, the Football
player who pulls his helmet off and does his
carefully-rehearsed boogaloo dance after he
catches a 12-yard pass over the middle even
though his team is down 24 points with a minute to
go, the basketball player who pounds his chest
and conducts an on-court audition for his
upcoming sneaker commercial after scoring a
basket, even as the other team races down the
court and scores an easy lay-up on the 5-on-4
mismatch his antics have created, the boob with
the $4,000 paint-job and the earth-shattering
sound system in his car, which has a hanging
muffler and is leaking oil all over his mother's
driveway, are forgotten. People, in short, like you.
Should you decide to try your hand at journalism
again, I will be waiting. And I will be neither this
gentle nor this patient with you next time. This is
my profession and, how I put food on the table for
my family.
-Matt Lindland
*LMFAO* Man, can he talk shit!
OWN3D
lindland is the man....he now owns both baroni and caiazzo...lol!!
That was awesome.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
After reading that post I suddenly feel very dumb. That has to be the most well written post in the history of this forum. Awesome Matt, simply awesome.
ttt for reading later.
soo good...i have to lol again
"...you decided to take one hand out of your boxer shorts and the other out of a bag of stale Cheez Doodles and start tapping away on a keyboard..."
Okay, that's damn funny.
Tremendous stuff! TTT!
yeah...but he's still boring
I always said that Matt was not only funny but extremely witty (and intelligent)
Zuffa should give him a new contract AND have him commentate whenever he is not fighting.
It simply isnt fair when Baroni tries to trash talk with him.
LMFAO
woah
best....thread...ever.
Atta boy Matt. Way to come strong.
TTT