The Rant has been online for nearly three and a half years; with one hundred posts now published, let's take a look at the site's greatest hits
Way back in the fall 2019, not long before COVID-hysteria swept across the western world and plunged our society further along its path of self-destruction than many thought possible, I took it upon myself to create the website you see before you.
This site was created not for fame or financial gain - instead, it was simply a place for someone like myself, who enjoys writing, to publish my thoughts to the world, writing about whatever my heart so desires at my own leisure.
Typically what I post is therefore centered around my interests, mainly mixed martial arts and videogames, alongside political pieces that many would consider "controversial" given that they don't conform with cookie-cutter narratives and the illogical discourse that permeates most news sources and social media.
With the advent of the "coronapocalypse" and the astounding levels of bullshit people have been subjected to over the last few years, it's also become a place where I can do my best to share the truth about "the science" and current events to anyone willing to listen and break down disinformation with facts and logic, fighting propaganda in the way that purveyors of freedom of speech always intended.
Going forward this site will of course continue to be the home for the kind of articles that you've seen for the past three-plus years, but with this post reaching the milestone of one hundred articles posted on the site, I believe a brief highlight reel of past pieces is in order.
Below you'll find brief summaries that highlight various categories of articles that have been posted over the years, along with links and short descriptions to various posts - whether it's a piece that may interest you that you missed the first time around, or you're new to the site and are interested in checking it out, this page is a good place to start.
Let's Get Political
If you're here for politics and uncensored, no-bullshit views on topics like "political correctness", corruption, and the downward trajectory of our society, then look no further.
From tackling fake news and cancel culture to hot-button topics like "Islamophobia" and "Black Lives Matter", there's plenty to digest and potentially get outraged by. If you are someone who gets "triggered", you best close this window and forget this site exists.
A Brief History of Fake News - a look at just how much propaganda and clear disinformation is consumed today, and a glimpse of the bullshit that was accepted in years past which may surprise you
Islamophobia: A Disingenuous Word to Protect A Barbaric Religion - the title sums it up quite nicely, as this piece dives into the "religion of peace" and the reality behind its inception and its teachings, quite literally straight from its text
Who's Watching the Watchmen: The Real Failures of Law Enforcement - at a time when farcicial groups like "BLM" were wreaking havoc across the United States, this article explored the real issues that plague law enforcement that have largely been ignored while the likes of George Floyd were (and still are) ridiculously celebrated as martyrs
The Most Disturbing Projects in CIA History (that we know of) - if you are somehow still unaware, the CIA (along with virtually all of the United States' alphabet agencies) is nothing but a hive of scum and villainy. What has been revealed over the years shows just how decrepit and disgusting the minds of the agency's elites are and always have been, and unfortunately, we have only scraped the surface of what they have done over the years
Cancel Culture: The Hypocrisy of Disney and the Modern Left - a scathing piece that puts Disney and the woke mob on blast for "cancelling" a great woman in Gina Carano, who was fired and swarmed online for sharing a post that stated facts which were then grossly misrepresented by the media
Who to Blame for Russia-Ukraine - from the beginning of the "Russian invasion" of Ukraine the western war propaganda machines were churning out white-hot nonsense at a breakneck pace. Though the bullshit news cycles have continued incessantly, their continued outlandishness and sea of contradictory narratives have worn many people's patience and gullibility thin as instead of garnering widespread support, many people are simply ignoring the news surrounding the conflict entirely; if you are one of the ones that think Russia needlessly invaded innocent Ukraine, or that the Russians are the ones that have been committing atrocities while the "democratic" Ukrainian patriots fend off their invaders, you may want to check out this piece and start looking into it yourself
The Woman King: Woke Revisionism at its Finest - more aptly named "The Queen", The Woman King was an attempt by "woke" Hollywood at redefining history and sidestepping inconvenient facts with a blockbuster movie that, shockingly, didn't light up the box office even with its historically inaccurate narrative. It must have failed because of just how racist everyone is...
How the West Was Done - if you've been asleep for the past five years, you may have missed the self-induced death spiral that western society as a whole has been trapped in. Unfortunately, the circling of the drain shows no signs of slowing down and this piece from just a few months ago highlights some of the many false narratives and ridiculous trajectories that our society is currently determined to stay on, from its increasingly totalitarian governments to their docile populations and collapsing economies
Smacking Down "The Science"
Staying on the topic of politics, one of the major problems in modern times is the continued blurring of the lines between the scientific community and political and commercial agendas.
From horrifically inept studies being propped up by "mainstream scientists" thanks to corporate funding, incestuous relationships between major food and pharmaceutical companies and government regulatory agencies, to completely broken theories that continue to be built upon because it's far easier than starting from scratch, modern science is a bastardization of the scientific method and an insult to the entire purpose of academia.
As someone who has always been skeptical of the government and mass media but understood from a young age the importance of science and the scientific method, it's been quite astounding to see just how corrupt and broken mainstream "science" has become, and just how decrepit virtually every major institution has revealed itself to be.
If the entire COVID-19 saga didn't hammer the point home, virtually every major talking point in our society that is related to science is filled with wild conjecture, complete disinformation, and incredibly poor logic that spits in the face of the scientific method and basic reasoning, with most of it coming about purely to push political agendas.
From the ridiculous doomsday climate "science" and failed models to the many completely false narratives and the blatant propaganda disseminated about COVID-19, lockdowns, the "vaccines", and actual effective treatments, every facet of modern science appears to be filled with bullshit; once you start digging into studies and actually looking at the data that is released instead of relying on an "expert" to interpret it for you, reality begins to set in.
From day one I have been a staunch opposer of the entire COVID narrative, from its supposed plague-like lethality to the lockdowns and the experimental "vaccines" that followed; their mandates as well as fraudulent claims and covered up effects to this day have gone unpunished despite being recognized as crimes against humanity by virtually every western nation's laws (as virtually every nation adopted their own version of the Nuremberg Code following WWII, and signed a UN resolution recognizing the Nuremberg code with violations of this code being deemed by international law as crimes against humanity).
There have been plenty of articles posted here about COVID, the vaccines, and the insanity surrounding the entire government and pharma swindle, as well as a few putting other "scientific" narratives on blast in recent years:
Modern Mass Hysteria: Coronavirus Edition - from the beginning of the "coronapocalypse", this site has opposed the narratives being spun by the mainstream media and "the science". The first piece to come out on the "pandemic" was posted way back in March 2020 as the hysteria first gained traction, and unfortunately it wouldn't be the last as the insanity seen in the early days was just the tip of the iceberg
The Coronapocalypse: Gaslighting the Globe - another hit in the middle of COVIDmania, this piece takes apart the so-called "scientific" approach that fueled lockdowns and C-19 policies and torches the ridiculous models and theories that were shoved down people's throats
The Coronapocalypse: Why Dana White's Fight Island Needs to Happen - in a crossover between politics, "the science", and MMA, this piece delves into the UFC's plans to restart major sporting events at a time when countries were ridiculously locked down at the behest of tyrants, and why people defying the narrative is vital to society
The Truth About COVID-19: Killing Hysteria with Science and Logic - with COVID dominating western society to the point of near collapse, it's no surprise there was plenty to write about, and here is another piece showcasing the flawed logic and flimsy "science" being disseminated at the time
The Cult of Science: Climate, Covid, and a Coup - another piece that unravels the ridiculous narratives and agitprop that continued (and still does) to harm our society early in 2021, with continued junk science being published about covid and the climate being peddled alongside ridiculous notions of a "safe and secure" US election and the so-called "insurrection" that followed
Welcome to the Scientocracy - the spiral of madness continued as this piece late in 2021 illustrates, and highlights strong parallels between modern narratives and events and those of the not-so-distant past that are ironically still rightly deemed evil today
The Climate Hoax - this piece pokes holes into some of the many ridiculous notions surrounding climate change and humanity's influence on said climate, as well as just how poorly "expert" predictions have aged over recent decades
A Quick Look at the Australia Bushfires - another piece regarding "climate science", this time a quick one highlighting the ridiculous claims and ignorant messaging surrounding the Australian wildfires that ravaged the country early in 2020
PRIDE Celebrations
After reading even just the summaries of some of the articles above, I'm sure there's at least one of you out there that wishes that I and this site were removed and banned from existing on the internet - but wait, you wouldn't cancel a proud supporter of the LGBT2+BBQ movement would you?
That's right, here at The Rant we celebrate PRIDE Month every year, with a throwback article to everyone's favourite defunct MMA promotion "coming out" during PRIDE Month. Of course, there will be a new PRIDE article in just a few short months, so stay tuned!
The Best Fighter Transitions to the UFC - the inaugural PRIDE celebration article took a look at fighters who made a name for themselves under the bright lights in Japan and then found great success later on inside the Octagon
The Worst Fighter Transitions to the UFC - not every transition is sunshine and rainbows, and indeed some of PRIDE's top talent underwhelmed when they made the trip to the UFC
Fight Corner
If you're an MMA fan, there's plenty of content here to choose from (and if you're newer to the sport or interested in checking it out, there's even an entire comprehensive online Guide to MMA to help you get started), and plenty of opinion pieces that may inform you of a different viewpoint or align with your own.
Remembering Rumble - Anthony Rumble Johnson tragically passed away this past November at the age of just 38; this tribute remembers the man we called Rumble and takes readers through his entire career, from his early days of fighting as a ridiculously large welterweight to his maturity into a proper title contender and one of the most respected (and feared) knockout artists in the sport's history
The GOAT Report - mixed martial arts may be a relatively new sport, but that hasn't stopped fans from arguing constantly about who the "Greatest of all Time" is. This piece turned to statistics in an attempt to provide a definitive answer to the highly subjective status back in May of 2020
Why the UFC's Fight Stats Need an Overhaul - this is a piece that remains extremely relevant to this day, as the stats the UFC uses during their broadcasts, in promotional packages, on social media, and even for their own records can be extremely inaccurate and misleading. For example, their ridiculous determination that any strike that makes contact with an opponent at range, even if that contact is grazing or is blocked, is declared a significant strike in the history books, meaning a blocked leg kick is counted the same as a knockout head kick
Ngannou vs. Jones: Superfight or One-Sided Beatdown? - this look at the potential superfight between then-UFC champion Francis Ngannou and former light heavyweight king Jon Jones is made particularly relevant again given Jones will finally make his heavyweight debut in a matter of days, albeit against French striker Ciryl Gane, a much more favourable match-up given his grappling defense as Ngannou looks for greener pastures in the world of boxing
eSports Boxing Club: The Definitive Roster Wish List - speaking of boxing, eSBC, now dubbed simply "Undisputed" and in early access, is the first major boxing game to come in over a decade and excited fans when it announced an impressive roster of boxing talent both modern and historical; though the game is clearly rough around the edges and doesn't seem to be delivering what was hoped for yet, it did inspire this article which takes an extensive look at boxing history to highlight fighters that have earned a spot in any boxing game, from well-known legends to overlooked talents and underrappreciated champions from ages past
Legends Only League and Five Legends Fights to Make Next - back when Mike Tyson returned to the ring in a surprisingly fun and impressive exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr., he floated the idea of a Legends Only League for elder legends to face off against one another - this piece examines the feasibility of it and offers five legends fights that made sense to make (at the time)
Triller Trash: Boxing's Latest Circus Act - Jake Paul may still be around in the boxing sphere, but the hilariously ridiculous Triller promotion which paired musical acts with freakshow boxing matches has thankfully imploded, as predicted in this piece
MMA Playlists for Fight Fans - during the height of lockdown fever, fight fans were left without major combat sports events for months on end until the UFC spearheaded the return of sports to the masses. During the drought, this list gave fight fans some fun fights, finishes, and memories to check out on Fight Pass in the absense of live events and still makes for plenty of entertainment now
Best / Worst Of MMA Lists
As a fan of ranking things, it's no surprise to see plenty of "top ten" style lists make up past articles, with the majority of course being MMA-related and often looking at unique situations rather than general "top ten fights or fighters" rankings that permeate other fan sites.
Top Fifteen Best Left Hook KOs in MMA History - left hooks are so great, a top ten list simply couldn't handle them
Top Ten Most Brutal Knockouts in Women's UFC History - if you're a fan of MMA and/or knockouts, and like seeing Ronda Rousey get her ass kicked, this list is for you
Top Five Glass Cannons in MMA History - a look at the biggest glass cannons (deadly knockout artists that are also prone to being knocked out themselves) in the sport
Top Five Trilogy Fights That Shouldn't Have Happened - everyone loves a good trilogy, from an epic set of movies to a trio of blockbuster fights; unfortunately in MMA, sometimes there are trilogy fights booked when they have no business happening, ending up being nothing more than depressing for fight fans
The Best (and Worst) Stacked Cards in UFC History - this special top five highlighted five stacked UFC events that more than lived up to the hype they garnered, and also shed light on five instances where fight fans left disappointed when a major slate of bouts failed to deliver
Top Ten Worst Corner Non-Stoppages in UFC History - at a certain point when a fight becomes a lopsided beatdown, a fighter's corner is supposed to step in and protect their fighter; for these ten warriors, their corners failed to do their duty and instead let them continue to get battered inside the Octagon longer than necessary
Top Fifteen Feel Good Moments in UFC History - if you're an MMA fan and want to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, this piece is for you, as it highlights moments in the sport that, regardless of how one feels about the fighter(s) involved, all fans of the sport couldn't help but feel genuinely happy for witnessing
Top Fifteen Saddest Moments in MMA History - if the last piece left you feeling a little too happy, you can balance things out by having your heart wrenched from your chest courtesy of the saddest moments in MMA history (strictly speaking about moments that occurred in competition, not outside the cage/ring such as a fighter passing)
Top Ten Most Disappointing Fights in UFC History - if you weren't depressed enough after the last piece, this article highlights the most disappointing fights in UFC history. Prepare to be disappointed
Top Five Underappreciated Boxing Movies for Fight Fans - a rare piece focusing on boxing rather than MMA, this list provides fans with some highly entertaining boxing movies that didn't get the same level of fanfare as mass hits like the Rocky franchise or The Fighter. Perhaps one day there will actually be a few decent MMA flicks to make a list for...probably not soon, but one day...maybe...
Annual MMA Awards/Roundup
If you, like many other sports fans, like to go back and relive the best (and worst) moments in your chosen sport at the end of every calendar year, The Rant has got you covered. Assuming you're an MMA fan of course, we don't give a shit about other sports here.
Started in 2019, the annual MMA Awards at The Rant featured picks for both the best and worst achievements in the sport, including some unique categories like "biggest cheater", " Most Disappointing Fighter", and "Dumbest Gameplan".
Thanks to illness, 2021 didn't feature an awards article, but instead introduced the Yearly Roundup - a thorough summary of all the biggest news and fights that occurred in major promotions throughout the last year, as well as an extensive listing of clips/gifs of all the best knockouts that occurred in the sport.
This last awards season saw the return of a revamped MMA Awards article, which replaced all of the typical MMA award categories with unique ones such as "Best Left Hook KO", "Best Spinning Shit KO", "Most Unique Submission", "Biggest Robbery", and "Worst Fighter in the UFC".
It also saw the return of the Yearly Roundup, which featured even more in-depth coverage of the action and drama that unfolded over the last calendar year alongside an even more extensive listing of video clips and gifs of every knockout that occurred in the sport's major promotions, alongside plenty of regional KO's to boot.
2022's Yearly Roundup - an extensive look at the all of the biggest news and action from 2022 in the sport, this report includes a month-by-month summary of the top stories and fights that happened in the sport alongside an exhaustive list of knockouts and violent finishes from across every MMA promotion, with links to gifs/video clips of every finish
2022 MMA Awards - the revamped 2022 awards feature entirely unique categories that highlight the best and worst of MMA over the past calendar year, from the best left hook knockout to the dumbest gameplan and biggest robbery of the year
2021 in MMA: A Most Violent Year - the first yearly roundup was released late in January of 2022, with the traditional awards article being cancelled thanks to illness
Inaugural 2019 MMA Awards - the first ever awards issued by The Rant, categories included all the typical fare but also included a "worst of" section with categories like Most Disappointing Fighter, Biggest Cheater, and Worst Official UFC Poster amongst others that made these awards stand out from the crowd
Gaming Views
If you're into videogames you may be interested in a variety of pieces talking about specific franchises, or top five/ten lists that I've constructed over the years:
2022 Game Awards - with the year's rightful winner getting snubbed by an overrated trash pile that's praised for so-called street cred (as if that's a real thing for videogames), The Rant sets things right by rewarding the deserving winners of the last year in gaming
Top Five PlayStation Games Xbox Players Should Experience - despite being a longtime Xbox gamer, I can still appreciate great games even if they're not on my preferred console, and this piece takes a look at the five best exclusives that gamers of all stripes should experience
Five Underappreciated Games That Need to Return - from oft-forgotten titles in major franchises like Star Wars and Mortal Kombat to surprise cult-classics and an esteemed boxing franchise, these are five of my favourite games that beg to return either in the form of a reboot or a remake
Top Ten Underappreciated Games of this Generation - of course we are now in a new generation of gaming with the advent of the Xbox Series S/X and the PS5, but this piece highlights some of the most underappreciated games that graced the last console generation and why gamers should check them out
Making Star Wars Games Great Again - after a surprising hit in Jedi: Fallen Order, I wrote about how EA could turn things around and really make Star Wars a massive gaming empire once more, including five projects they should take on...unfortunately, they have yet to listen
Three Star Wars Games to Make - sticking with the Star Wars theme, I present three pitches for unique games set in the Star Wars universe that would be surefire hits. Unfortunately, once again EA has failed to listen...
Top Five 90's Shooters That Should Make a Comeback - the 90's were a time that saw First Person Shooters dominate the gaming world, and while some of those beloved classics like Doom have continued to delight modern FPS fans with newer installments, these classics have been collecting dust
Top Five Forza Horizon 5 Expansions to Add Next - despite it being well over a year since the game released, the second highly anticipated expansion for FH5 is set to be revealed within the next week; here were five of the best ideas for an expansion back then, only time will tell if one of them was chosen by the team at Playground Games
Why EA's UFC Games Suck and How to Fix Them - in a crossover between MMA and videogames, this piece explains just how poor the EA UFC games are and how they could quite easily turn things around...although since it's EA, they likely won't listen
Halo
If you've been to the site more than a few times, you probably know I'm a huge Halo fan. Hence, there's quite a few articles pertaining to everyone's favourite sci-fi FPS franchise. If you don't like it, you're free to go jump off a bridge.
Halo Infinite Preview - an excited first-look at Halo Infinite following its beta phase shortly before it was released in November of 2021
Halo Infinite Review - though the lack of co-op and forge certainly hurt it on release, and the lacking support post-launch nearly killed the game in the months after (thankfully this has been righted in recent months, with an incredible Forge suite being released alongside co-op and various other improvements), Halo Infinite brought Microsoft's beloved franchise back to form and delivered an epic campaign with some of the best FPS mechanics you can find to date
Halo Infinite Season Two - in the middle of Infinite's content drought, the underwhelming season two review delves into the good, the bad, and the ugly of 343's mixed bag of updates and additions
An Alternative to a Halo Battle Royale - as an avid Halo fan, you'd think a Halo Battle Royale being in development would be exciting news, but there's a far more fun mode that could be added to Halo Infinite instead, and this piece illustrates how and why
How the Halo TV Series Has Already Failed - I'm not saying I'm a prophet, but I predicted the absolute failure that was the Halo TV show from day one, and if you've tried watching any of the trash that passes for "Halo" on Paramount+, you'd know what a waste of time the entire project was. Somehow, the failing Paramount+ called it a success and is filming another overpriced season of horrendously written and brutally acted C-movie schlock, as if the Halo fans that were willing to give it a chance will waste any more time on the dumpster fire Showtime and their incompetent showrunners created
Game Reviews
Reviews for various games were a common sight here in the early days, but given the fact that most reviews are published before or on the date a game ships given professional reviewers receive early copies, not to mention the ample time it takes simply to play through most modern games before forming my thoughts, you're unlikely to see these pop up very often in the future.
If you have any interest in a game listed below that you haven't gotten to play yet or is currently sitting in your backlog however, these reviews may still be of use to you, so here are some of my favourites:
Forza Horizon 5 - a glowing review of the greatest racing game ever released, which managed to narrowly outdo the previous racing GOAT, Forza Horizon 4
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) - a brilliant shooter that issues the massive franchise a soft reboot and returned the juggernaut to the top of the FPS mountain
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - the first great Star Wars game since EA took over the Star Wars license, and one that no action/adventure fan should miss
Rage 2 - a fun shooter with excellent mechanics and surprisingly good vehicular mayhem, Rage 2 was a flawed but exciting return to id Software's colourful wasteland
Control - Remedy delivered a gaming masterpiece with its atmospheric third person action/adventure that boasted an incredibly intriguing sci-fi world and rich characters paired with a satisfying gameplay loop and excellent level design
Ghost Recon: Breakpoint - a blistering rant on the mess that was Breakpoint, a game that effectively killed the Ghost Recon franchise
Gears 5 - another excellent third-person action-shooter from Microsoft that fixes and improves on the fourth entry's foundations
Doom Eternal - the pinnacle of single-player FPS games, the latest Doom game united classical design with modern features to create something wonderful
EA UFC 4 - if you want to see EA getting shit on for their incompetence and stupidity, this review is for you
Splitgate - a surprise hit that blends Halo with Portal to make a light yet exhilarating free-to-play shooter
That concludes this overview of what this site has offered in its roughly three-and-a-half year lifespan; thank you for visiting the site and I hope you found something you enjoyed, and will join me again in the future. Happy ranting!