No Holds Barred: John Perretti on Cyborg-Carano, Fighter Safety in MMA, and More

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with the legendary former UFC and Extreme Fighting matchmaker, promoter, announcer, and martial artist, and our senior correspondent on this show, John Perretti.In a landmark discussion, a critical look at the level of technique in the Cris "Cyborg" Santos-Gina Carano mixed martial arts fight on the August 15 Strikeforce card is offered. Cyborg dominated that fight and scored a TKO victory at 4:59 of the first round.But there are deeper issues as well, as John explains what the role of a matchmaker should be, both in evaluating fighters and finding new ones. We discuss what happens to fighters as they age, both in mixed martial arts and boxing, and the effect on them of the accumulation of blows.We also reopen a longstanding controversy by revisiting the question of which sport is safer for its fighters, mixed martial arts or boxing. Most people in mixed martial arts have long argued that it is safer...