What's Up With Kevin Iole?

Seriously, I understand the UFC is looking for a mainstream reporter who can talk on camera, but this is a bit much.  Yesterday afternoon I caught him confusing the kimura as a type of arm bar.  That's a pretty bad mistake, but like anyone, we're all prone to errors both large and small.  I grilled him for it, but all was forgiven.  Until...

Last's night Countdown to UFC 72 on Spike.  In breaking down the Franklin vs. Okami fight, Iole said Okami might be looking to clinch with Franklin to control him as Anderson Silva effectively did at UFC 64.  Um, what?

Okami, who's never effectively applied a Thai clinch to anyone in MMA, is going to mimic Anderson Silva - a man whose Thai boxing is arguably the best in the sport - to beat Rich Franklin?  Kevin, how long have you been watching this sport, exactly?

Best case scenario Iole is confusing the Thai clinch with the Greco clinch.  They both use the word "clinch", so it's easy to think they are all the same thing.  But the Greco clinch isn't as much as about controlling and off-balancing an opponent for (generally lower body) strikes as the Thai clinch.  Hell, the grips aren't even the same.

It's easy to nit pick.  And as aforementioned, no one is perfect.  I'm also glad Yahoo! Sports is covering MMA, particularly since Iole is an excellent writer.  But come on, guys.  You've got to do your homework a little more than that.

I know when my commentating work finally airs I'll probably notice a thousand things I got wrong and take all of this back.  But for now, I'd really appreciate it if the mainstream press learned about the sport by doing actual research and not simply watching fights.  You can learn a lot from observing, but that will only take you so far.