The Rawlings UFC

Ron "Foot of Fury" Kappauff set off to become the only "1" seed to make our Elite 8. In his way stood (or should I say posed) Derek "Zoolander" Speicher. This looked, on paper, to be a great matchup. Speicher loves to work it down the runway, but Kappauff has been known to be better at actually closing the deal.

Speicher arrived at the match wearing loose-fitting clothes, which may have barely squeezed through the acceptable Rawlings dress code. He showed up outside Kappauff's cube, set to debut his latest move on Kappauff. Unfortunately for him, his move would have to wait on Kappauff to deliver a quick message. And by message, I mean for Kappauff to grab him with his left hand and throw him over the top of his cube into Ben Schoen's cubicle. (He was finishing up an email with his right hand and did not want to give his full attention so early)

Kappauff then approached Speicher, who was posing outside Zumbach's office (no, Zoomy was not around, this was just a favorite posing ground revisited), debuting what he liked to call the Mizzou Hoops look, where he had a pearly glisten of tears in his eyes as he gazed into any newcomer who might stroll by. The look caught Kappauff completely off-guard, evening up the score at 2-2 as butterflies now fluttered inside Ron.

But no look could steal Kappauff's heart. Kappauff showed his heart in winning the St Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year several years ago. He had also showed an affinity for playing dirty. And that's exactly how he went to work on his opponent.

First, he attacked with what is known as a Bionic Elbow - facing Derek, raising his arm, and then delivering a downward smash to his head with his elbow. Ouch. Kappauff led 6-2, and sent Speicher backwards to fix up his 'do'.

That's when Kappauff went into his soccer repertoire for his next move, the Pay-Lay Kick. It began innocently enough, with Kappauff's back to Speicher. He then performed a standing backflip, hitting Derek in the head with first his right, then his left leg. Kappauff landed on his hands with his feet facing downward. Wow. This one, in fact, is dedicated to the soccer star Pele, who in fact delivered many an overhead kick himself. Kappauff led 10-2.

Just when you wanted this beating to end, it was time for a Facewash. Kappauff attacked and repeatedly rubbed the soles of his Speedcats on Speicher's face.

Kappauff extended the lead to 13-2 before being attacked quickly by a little fella, who came to Derek's aid a bit late. This one goes to Kappauff advances to the Elite 8, where he will meet the winner of our next matchup:

#2 Scott "Tuna" Siebers versus #3 Travis "British Bulldog" Gessley

Email your vote to RawlingsUFC@hotmail.com

And, for the remaining 10 matchups until we crown our title winner:

Siebers vs Gessley Monday 9/18
Kate Ranzini vs Jim O'Connor Tuesday 9/19
Denny Whiteside vs Brian Hoying Wednesday 9/20

ELITE 8
Wendy Mathis vs Bob Tomaszewski Thursday 9/21
Jeff France vs Jeff France Friday 9/22
Ron Kappauff vs Gessley/Siebers winner Monday 9/25
Ranzini/O'Connor winner vs Whiteside/Hoying winner Tuesday 9/26

FINAL 4
Matchup 1 Thursday 9/28
Matchup 2 Friday 9/29

TITLE GAME Tuesday 10/3

Good Luck.