By Ron 'The Yacman' Yacovetti

• Waking Dream - "Nightmare" was the original term for the state later known as waking dream
• night·mare (ntmâr) n. - An event or experience that is intensely distressing.
  

So please allow me to begin with the hack lines that I must clear off of my case like years worth of dust, before I make my point about this fight.

"Did Canseco lose a bet?"
"Did a Temp Agency get Jose that gig?"
"Battered Up!"

Ok, now I feel a little better.

Wow!! I cannot even believe I saw that fight. A sighting of Bigfoot himself, seated in my recliner chair, watching "Harry and the Henderson's" would shock me less than that did.

When did MMA become American Idol? Was it open cage night at the Dream Club? It truly boggles my mind. Exactly how does a guy who is just a tough guy, yet has no MMA training, get to walk in at one of the sport's most celebrated venues like that?

Jose Canseco entered the ring with a baseball bat, or as I like to call it, his calling card of relevance. He is an amazing athlete. I had the chance to interview him before and I know he has about twenty years of Tae Kwon Do training under his belt. But it does not and should not come with a free pass into a professional fight.

Not to mention, Canseco does this after he was knocked out in a boxing match against former NFL great, Vai Sikahema.

The ring walk starts it out bad, no question. Then he enters the ring and is wearing what looks to be his pajamas. At least put on MMA shorts, board shorts or even the tight St. Pierre style shorts. The clown theme continued.

Then Jose, a very big man for sure, stands face to face with the behemoth Choi, who looked like the Green Giant of vegetable fame, next to him.

The fight begins and immediately I begin to realize that it may have been better if Jose had kept that bat with him.

What happened next had me thinking that either Dana White passed out from laughter watching this, or he's vacated the planet. No way he would fail to vlog about this!

Canseco circled Choi, slipping inside in spurts, launching a big right hand in the manner which Mighty Mo had when he knocked Hong Man Choi out. Jose however, did not connect clean more than once and clearly does not have the power Mighty Mo does, in one clean shot.

The get in and out quick dance continued, as Jose Canseco used side kicks, front kicks and a few Tae Kwon Do techniques rarely used in MMA. The impact was comparable to that of a fly hitting your windshield at 70 mph.

The big rig that was Choi, kept on a' coming, while Jose Canseco kept on running away.

Finally, Choi connects and send Jose Canseco to the canvas. From this point forward, Canseco turtles up in a quasi-fetal position, showing no desire or ability to defend himself or fight on the ground. He knew the fights can go to the ground in MMA, didn't he?

He seemed to have quit on contact. Choi did what a seasoned professional would do, he pounced in for the finish. Jose Canseco was more than accommodating and surrendered on the spot.

I understand that an American celebrity is also big news in Japan, but this was taking it too far. MMA remains at odds with mainstream America and conventional sports journalists who see it as a barbaric, tough man contest. This fight does everything to bolster that perspective.

I must also say, that to me, anyone who took issue with EliteXC and their touting of Kimbo Slice as a top heavyweight, is a complete hypocrite to not lash out at this bout as well. At least Kimbo tried and trained with a legend like Bas Rutten.

DREAM is doing amazing things. Their branding, their fights, their fighters and the production is reminiscent of the stuff that made PRIDE Fighting Championships a fan favorite. MMA needs DREAM to keep it strong and blossoming.

I am also aware that many of the folks who run DREAM were with PRIDE too. That's a big plus in my opinion. But man, if anyone felt EliteXC may have damaged MMA with its run at the business, then this fight alone should be viewed as a tsunami of mass miscalculation.

I remain a fan of DREAM. I remain a fan of HDNet but the next time someone decides to book a Jose Canseco MMA bout, I don't want it in high definition. I just want a highly defining answer to one question...Why?

- Yacman

Cage-side Commentator for Call to Arms MMA
(www.calltoarmsfights.com)
Correspondent for InsideFights.com; TheBleacherReport.com; TheYacmanSez.blogspot.com
Co-host of MMA with Yac & J
(www.yacandjshow.com)

Watch the fight yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtyULXOZMOk