Sneak Peek of Next Release

It's taking longer than expected, but we're still working on our next release. Here is the sneak peek we've been promising.

Don't forget to follow us on twitter.com/theflyingknee to be notified of additional sneak peek postings!

Twitter

Find out what we're up to on twitter.com/theflyingknee

Downtime

Okay, so hopefully we're done with downtime for awhile. That was an unnecessary wrench in our overall plans.

Downtime Part Deux

So we switched back to our previous webhost (webhost4life.com) but quickly remembered why we switched from them in the first place - their webhosting sucks unless you're only dealing with static html. Web sessions were quickly terminated because they recycle their application pools, and this basically renders any site that requires authentication and/or logins useless. In addition, the site eventually went down. Ugh.

Friday night we signed up with a new webhost and have switched over. As luck would have it, they did not provision the site correctly, so they are currently working to get it configured correctly. It is now Saturday, and it's just a waiting game at this point. I believe they will have the site correctly configured within the next couple of hours, after which we can deploy our code and be up and running flawlessly once again.

I can assure you that we are more frustrated with this downtime than you are.

Recent Downtime

We apologize for the recent downtime but our webhost (hostmysite.com aka hosting.com) pulled the rug out from under us by implementing changes that rendered our site inoperable. It took us some time, but eventually got the site back up and running with another host. We will never go with hostmysite or hosting.com ever again! Anyone thinking of doing so, should take take our advice and look elsewhere.

User Interface Improvements

It's been awhile since our last release, but we finally deployed long-awaited enhancements to the user interface. The WFC is now fully integrated with the design of theflyingknee.com.

The enhancements went well beyond aesthetics, however. For example, team pages have improved significantly, showing more information regarding the team, as well as pictures and information on each member of the team. The fighter page has also improved significantly, including easier access to the fighters calling you out, as well as a list of teams inviting your fighters to join. Administration menus for each of these entities are also better positioned on the left margin, rather than on the bottom of the page.

The home page has been significantly improved as well. The home page now has real-time ajax updates so you don't have to refresh the screen to see updates. Real-time MMA news is also integrated and delivered to the home page via ajax updates.

Although this was a significant release, it is not the "huge" release we wrote about earlier. Initially planned to roll out by the end of July, the release has been postponed until September. This upcoming release will be the biggest release thus far for theflyingknee.com, and we're sure you will be pleased. Check back in a couple of weeks which is when we plan to give you a sneak peek!

Major Release in September

There will be a major release in September. Check back for a sneak peak around the end of August.

Browser versions

Note that theflyingknee.com runs best using the latest version of Internet Explorer (IE 8) and Firefox. Note also that there is NO need to run the site in compatibility mode. As a matter of fact, compatibility mode may cause the site to render improperly.

Rear Naked Choke

We just implemented the good ol' reliable RNC... the Rear Naked Choke.

Enjoy.

Code Name: Sold-Out

We are planning a major release in the month of July. Although we can't give out any details at this time, we strongly suggest you train your fighters so that you'll be at the top of the food chain when newbies join the ranks of the WFC in July.

Scrolling issue with Internet Explorer 8

With IE 8, the real-time fight playback does not scroll correctly. Clicking the "Compatibility View" within IE 8 resolves this issue. Please use this mode until further notice.

Training Beta 3: Gassed

Okay folks, here is some important information with regard to Training Beta 3, which has just been released.

Up until now, a fighter's endurance had no significant impact on his performance. With Beta 3, that has changed. If you haven't been training for endurance (and training for the right type of MMA endurance), your fighter will gas, and his performance will be severely impacted.

Basically, at some point your fighter's health will begin to drop substantially. Once this begins to happen, your fighter will become more defensive, have less success attacking and defending, and become more susceptible to knockdowns and KO's.

That's all the information for now. Now get to training.

Training Beta 2

We will be releasing an update to the training engine during the week of May 3. More info to come.

Training Session Modifications

There was a bug in the training session, which allowed you to setup more than 10 activities per session. This bug has been fixed, and anything over 10 per session has been deleted. Please adjust your training plan accordingly. Note that this has no effect on your training, as it was highly... highly... unlikely that your fighter would be able to train more than the 10 per session. Right now, I believe it is configured to a recommended value of 6.

WFC Enhancements

Okay, it's been awhile, but we've deployed a few enhancements to the WFC. Most of the enhancements could be considered "under the hood" at this time. If you look closely, you will now see that your fighters have some physical characteristics. Height, weight, and reach to be exact. These are not yet tied to the fight engine, nor to any weight class, but you now have a glimpse as to where your fighter will fall once weight classes have been implemented, as well as whether or not your fighter will have a reach advantage. Short reach? No problem, you'll just have to close the distance.

We've also released a "Beta" version of training. Why Beta? Well, we're still working on it, but it gives you enough to generate stats in a variety of categories. The catch is that this is a Beta. Should there be some sort of major bug, we may be forced to reset the stats. However, we've done quite a bit of testing, and we should not have to reset stats.

That said, here's a little bit of how training works. One "real-life day" is the equivalent to a week for your fighter. Thus, you set up a training plan for the fighter's week, but you execute the training plan every day. Miss a real-life day, and your fighter misses a week's worth of training. There are a number of training activities, each of which has it's pros and cons. Some activities are more worthwhile than others. Some take up more time than others. Some are so intense, you can't do more than once a week, and certainly no more than once per session. The activities have a certain number of "blocks" required. At this time, I believe the number of blocks recommended per session is 6. You can go beyond 6, but chances are that your fighter will refuse to do the extra work. Right now, we don't have injuries, but should you constantly train your fighter beyond the recommended blocks, the chance of injuries will increase.

The key to training will be establishing a balanced approach. You'll need to balance training in all areas (power, technique, etc). Neglect one area long enough, and your stats will fall. You could train BJJ every day, but be a weak mofo and get KTFOd before you can even pull guard. In addition, there will be "consistency" bonuses. Thus, if you train for a certain number of consecutive days, you will likely receive a bonus. Train like a part-time fighter, and you won't gain as much as a full-time fighter.

There's lots more to it, but you'll have to figure it out on your own. In addition, we'll be tweaking the parameters as we move along to adjust the results.

Upcoming Release

It's been awhile, but we're about ready to deploy our latest enhancements to the WFC. The main enhancement is a portion of the training module. This will be released as a Beta. The next change will be to make the fighter directory faster. It is currently bogged down with real-time calculation of fighter rankings. Instead of doing it real-time, we will have it calculated every 5 minutes or so.

We are tentatively scheduling this release for the weekend of April 11. The site will be taken down for a period of time in order to implement the enhancements. More information will be forthcoming.

WFC Tournament

This week we had a problem filling all 128 slots by the time the tournament rolled around. Thus, we have changed it to a 64-fighter tournament. All 30 or so fighters left out of this tournament will automatically be entered into the next tournament.

WFC's First Ever "Loser Leave Town" Tournament!

The WFC announces its first ever "Loser Leave Town" Tournament! This tournament will be strictly between stable owners JC and AXE MURDA, who have been at each other's throats for the past few months.

With the Administrator unable to end the feud, it has come down to this: A four-fighter, "Loser Leave Town" tournament, with each stable owner entering their top two fighters into the tournament. The owner with the last fighter standing will remain on the site. The other will be bannished to the IFL, or some other organization that no longer exists!

AXE MURDA has selected the following fighters to represent him:

• #5 Ranked Alex "The Undefeated Phenom" Fugon (294-70-5)
• #50 Ranked Julian "The Hitman" Fugon (39-20-0)

JC has selected the following fighters to represent him:

• #8 Ranked Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone (141-54-9)
• #125 Ranked Matt "Farmboy" Hughes (120-94-3)

We talked to JC to get some insight into the feud. "The Kid has issues" explained JC. "I'm a 3-time champ, and he's all talk. And by the way, there's no way in hell I'm losing to a Kid who can't spell!"

When we talked to AXE MURDA to get his take on things, he replied "The guy's a bum and he's a cry baby. He may have been champ, but he's not a champ anymore. My guy is ranked in the top 5. JC get ready to get rocked!"

The "Loser Leave Town" tournament will be held on Sunday, March 15, at 7pm Pacific. Tune in to see who will be staying, and who will be packing their bags! With everything, including ego at stake, it should be exciting!

Down Goes Cowboy!

The latest WFC Tournament marked the end of the Cowboy's Reign as the WFC Openweight Champ, as he was KO'd by Roger "El Matador" Huerta in the second round of the tournament. Unfortunately for "El Matador", he found himself on the other end of the KO, being KO'd by Black Star in the third round of the tournament. Black Star worked his way through the tournament knocking out 4, advancing via Majority Draw, and winning the title via Unanimous Decision against "50 Cent" Curtis Jackson. "50" had an impressive showing, knocking out 5 on his way to the final. Unfortunately, he was not able to put away the new WFC Champion, Black Star!

Tune in for Saturday's 128-Fighter tournament to see if Black Star can retain his title!

Can Anyone Stop the "Cowboy"?

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone has arrived. After winning the WFC Title for the first time, "Cowboy" successfully defended his title two times in a row, becoming the first repeat and three-peat WFC Champion! Now the question has to be asked: Can anyone stop the "Cowboy"?

We spoke with Bas Rutten about the possibility of anyone dethrowning "Cowboy". "You know, it's going to be tough, but nothing is impossible. He's obviously a good striker as he managed to KO every one of his opponents in the last tournament." said Rutten. "If you want to beat him, you need to take him to the mat, and try to submit him or ground and pound him."

So can anyone stop the "Cowboy"? Tune in for this Sunday's tournament and find out!

First Ever Repeat WFC Champion!

Congratulations to Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone for not only winning Sunday's 128-Fighter Championship Tournament, but for becoming the first ever WFC Champion to successfully defend his title in a tournament! It wasn't easy as the tournament was a huge 128-Fighter tournament. "Cowboy" worked his way through the tournament, putting away 4 by KO, 1 by submission, and 2 via hard-fought decisions. "Cowboy" was pitted against Chung Le "The Asian Destroyer" in the final, and the two fought a stand-up battle for all three rounds. In the end, the "Cowboy" won via unanimous decision!

Fighter Physical Traits

Currently, fighters in the WFC do not have any physical traits. However, that will change with the upcoming release. In addition to the introduction of fighter training, fighters will also be issued physical traits, such as height, weight, and reach. Although weight classes will not be introduced in this upcoming release, it will be in the release after that. Your fighter's physical traits will eventually determine what weight class your fighter will be able to fight in. Note that the weight generated will be the weight that the fighter normally walks around in; not his fighting weight. Thus, a fighter who is 175 can cut weight down to fight in the 155 division.

Much more to come so stay tuned!

WFC Championship Tournament Recap

Congratulations to Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone for FINALLY winning the title! "Cowboy" had entered numerous tournaments, working his way through several opponents before being ousted one way or another. Although he had always been a tough competitor, he fell short on all previous occassions. Now the newly crowned WFC Openweight Champion, "Cowboy" will have an opportunity to defend the prestigious title!

Website Problems

We apologize for the recent website connectivity issues. This has caused our site to go down from time to time, as well as the fight engine to go down from time to time. This is a direct result of our crappy webhost vendor (webhost4life.com), which we will NEVER deal with again. Not only have they been unable to meet their uptime guarantee, but their quality of service is severely lacking, and their tech support staff is unable to resolve issues. We will be switching to a new host in the coming week, which will likely resolve these issues.

Thank you for your patience!

WFC Championship Tournaments

As mentioned in a previous post, Will "The Skill" Sweitzer had an opportunity to make WFC history by becoming both the first 3-time WFC champion, as well as becoming the first champion to successfully defend his belt. So would "The Skill" seize the opportunity? As it turns out, "The Skill" had a tough road to the championship match and wasthisclosetomakinghistory! Unfortunately for "The Skill", he fell short, tapping out to an armbar, courtesy of the new WFC Champ, Bj Styles Kay!

Bj Styles Kay made his way through the tournament in exciting fashion, finishing off each of his opponents with KOs or submissions. Bj looks like a tough competitor - will he be the first to repeat as champion? Check back this Saturday and find out!

WFC Championship Tournaments

Congratulations to previous champs, "Forrest Griffin." and "Rich No , Love Clementi" for winning the title. However, the new champion is Will "The Skill" Sweitzer! "The Skill" went into the record books as one of the few two-time WFC champions.

Although there have been a few two-time WFC champions, there has never been a three-time champion. In addition, there has never been a champ to successfully defend his belt for a second consecutive tournament. Should "The Skill" win this next tournament. he will be in the record books for both of those distinctions.

As much as possible, we will be targeting championship tournaments on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so be sure to sign up!

WFC Fighter Training

We have completed the specifications for Fighter Training and development is underway! Realistically, it will be available early March, but it should be worth the wait. This won't be as simple as clicking a "Train Strength" button to increase your strength. Instead, you will have to come up with a training schedule for your fighter, selecting from numerous training activities. Certain activities may be more productive than others, and your fighter's work ethic will also play a role in how productive training is. You could have a tough fighter, but if he's not going to train like a champ, he won't reach his full potential. In addition, fighters who train like full-time fighters will generally become better than fighters who train like part-timers.

In general, there are many aspects to fighter training, and we won't provide you with the underlying details. That, you will have to figure out for yourself.

Training is right around the corner. Bear with us!

WFC Championship Tournament Results

Congratulations to Griff Teague for winning the WFC Openweight Championship! The road to the championship proved to be a difficult one for Teague. Not only did he defeat the previous champ, Ryan "nightmare" McCarthy, he went the distance in three other matches. In the final, Teague was faced off against rapper turned MMA sensation, "50 cent" Curtis Jackson. "50" Submitted 1, KO'd 3, and decisioned Kenshiro, on his way to the championship match. Unfortunately he was stopped short when he was KTFO'd by Teague in 3:02 of round 2.

Congratulations again to Griff Teague!

The next tournament is scheduled for Saturday, January 31, 2009 so sign up ASAP!

Analysis: Tito Ortiz's Commentary on Affliction's "Day of Reckoning"

Tito Ortiz joined the broadcast team in Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" event. He provided color commentary, and conducted post-fight interviews with the winning fighters. So how did he do?

Well, let's start with what I've seen of Tito Ortiz in previous stints outside the ring. I've watched Tito on The Apprentice and have also seen him on Inside MMA. Clearly, Tito treats each of his stints as a business opportunity, dressing the part and doing his homework. However, if you've watched him on The Apprentice, and to a lesser extent, Inside MMA, you know his presentation/oral communication skills are lacking.

His performance as a broadcast team member in Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" was no different. Tito dressed the part, wearing a dark brown suit, came prepared with stats and background information on each fighter, and provided decent commentary. However, his presentation/oral communication skills were still lacking, especially in the post-fight interviews. There were many slips of the tongue, where Tito said things that just didn't make sense. Here are just a few examples:

"Here we go, we got Josh Barnett with a dominating fashion..." - Tito Ortiz, trying to indicate that Barnett won in dominating fashion, and not actually complementing him on his MMA tights.

"Let's give a hand to Renato Babalu, one of the greatest Lightweights of the night!" - Tito Ortiz, asking the crowd to give Babalu some props.

"Let me tell you how you're feeling right now." - Tito Ortiz, asking Fedor Emelianenko how he's feeling after defeating two former UFC Heavyweight Champions.

Nevertheless, I give Tito credit for stepping up and taking the big challenge. He is a fighter, not a communications expert, and I'm sure he will do much better the next time around. I remember seeing Jimmy Kimmel's first episode on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and it was pretty bad. But Kimmel kept working at it, and now he flows just as well as any late night talk show host. I think Tito will do the same, as he continues to gain experience, and prepares himself for life after fighting.

Go Tito!

WFC Championship Tournament Results

Congratulations to Ryan "nightmare" McCarthy for winning Saturday's WFC 128-Fighter Championship Tournament! "nightmare" worked his way through the tournament KO'ing 4, submitting 2, and decisioning 1. Previous champion, Antonio Minotauro Nogueria, worked his way to the final in similar fashion, and looked to be the first fighter to retain the title, but was met with a brutal Overhand Right, courtesy of Ryan "nightmare" McCarthy.

We will have two 64-Fighter tournaments this week - One on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, and another on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

Sign up now!

Resetting of Fighter Records

In a past poll, we surveyed WFC Owners to see if they would like to have fighter records erased when training is implemented. 60% indicated they would like to see fighter records erased so that we can start from scratch, while 40% did not want the records to be erased. Thus, we are still leaning towards erasing records when training is implemented.

UFC 96 - Jardine vs. Jackson

I must say that I've never been a Jardine fan, but I have to give the guy credit for stepping up and fighting the big-name fighters. Obviously, he's had mixed results, but considering that he's fought the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Wilson Gouveia, Forrest Griffin, Houston Alexander, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Brandon Vera, and now Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, you have to give the boy props.

That list consists of four former champions, and arguably four top contenders.

My gut tells me he'll take Rampage the distance and come away with a decision victory.

UFC 94 - St-Pierre vs. Penn II

I'm really looking forward to UFC 94. Aside from the main event, I'm looking forward to the Machida/Silva fight, mainly because I like Silva and dislike Machida's style. I see Machida trying to frustrate Silva with his typical "hit and run" strategy, but after the Machida/Ortiz fight, I think future Machida opponents, Silva included, will be prepared for it. Silva will work his way inside and have his way with Machida, pulling off a TKO via GNP in the second round.

As for the main event, it's a tough one to call. I think St-Pierre's strategy will be to take BJ to the canvas and beat the hell out of him. However, BJ will be prepared for this, and with an outstanding takedown defense, will be able to thwart most of St-Pierre's takedowns. After failed takedown attempts, St-Pierre will be forced to stand more than he'd like with Penn, taking some major damage. I see this going to the 4th round, where BJ will win via TKO by ref or doctor (cut) stoppage.