Posts filed under 'Mixed Martial Arts'
Continue Reading July 3rd, 2007
Man i’ve been a slacker with this blog thing haven’t i? Well honestly Google AdSense demotivated me a bit, after having screwed me out of a fat check twice. But that’s no reason to stop posting.
What is there to say about things in MMA lately?
Well FINALLY, i don’t have to hear people say “Oh you don’t watch Pride? It’s way better than UFC.”
First of all, i do watch Pride. i got FSN just for that purpose. The problem is most of the fights suck. Yes, the GOOD fighters in Pride are way better than most of those in UFC, but the sucky fighters (of which each organization had many), were way more fun to watch in UFC than the sucky fighters in Pride.
Now, thankfully, all the sucky fighters and the good ones alike are united. i couldn’t give a shit less what the organization is called. It’s good to see the champions in UFC get some real competition (whether from Pride or elsewhere); ala Rampage vs. Liddell.
Beyond that, i’ve had a change of heart lately - which i’ll post about no doubt - regarding ol’ Joe Rogan. i’m sorry Joe; you have earned my respect.
Continue Reading June 4th, 2007
If you want full results, check out the following URL:
http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=ee4c64a3-d16a-44b0-a916-35c127712153&k=22813
Keep in mind, they will still be spoilers in this post so if you’re waiting to watch one of the replays, turn away now.
Let me start out by saying that I am now officially a WEC nuthugger (eloquently stated, huh?).
When I first started hearing about the new WEC from people that worked for the company they hyped it up a lot to me, talking about how the action was going to be fast paced, that the production was going to be great, and that some of the fighters could easily compete in the UFC. When I heard some of those statements, I rolled my eyes at times and took it with a grain of salt. After all, how impartial could they be? But my hats off to the WEC because the product came off exactly the way they said it would.
I started out watching the WrekCage show at 8 p.m. ET and didn’t have high expectations. I thought it would just be a highlights show. But the production was so slick and the editing was so well done that it actually came off like a live broadcast. The graphics packages were too small to read, but that’s the biggest complaint about the show that I have. The show had a distinct look and didn’t come off as UFC-lite. The WrekCage show gave the WEC its own identity. Yes, they used an Octagon but it still had unique production qualities. The lighting was good and I even liked some of the newer camera angles (like the overhead shot). To be honest, I actually thought the presentation for WrekCage was much better than UFC Unleashed. UFC Unleashed comes across as stale and out of sync, while WrekCage came off seamless.
When they said the action would be faster paced, they weren’t kidding. The fighters seemed much more aggressive. Perhaps it’s because these guys aren’t major stars yet and don’t have much to lose like certain UFC fighters who fight conservatively (i.e. Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia). But I think the biggest factor is the 25 foot diameter cage. I’ve fought in different sized cages as an amateur (hey, I’m not trying to be like Bill Goldberg and put myself over, I freely admit that I suck as a fighter) and I can say from personal experience that when you’re in a small cage, there is nowhere to hide. Your opponent is always on top of you, in your face. There’s nowhere to run and once you get hit, there really isn’t much room to disengage and compose yourself.
While watching WrekCage I started thinking to myself, why couldn’t IFL Battleground be like this? I’ve been watching the show for months and they still can’t find a direction to go in. The shows come off sloppy with fighters fighting multiple times on each show, different announcers for different matches, and multiple venues being shown in a two-hour broadcast. They do a great job with the editing of the matches (you can’t even tell most of the time they are chopped up). As I said earlier, WrekCage came off like a live show and that’s the direction IFL Battleground show go in. The WEC comes right out of the gate and hits a home run with their first show and the IFL is paying tons of TV people for a show that still hasn’t found itself. I hate to beat up on the IFL because I’d like to see it suceed. I am a huge fan of a lot of their coaches and I think the owners, Kurt Otto and Gareb Shamus, truly care about MMA and are passionate about the sport. However, it doesn’t look good when the WEC comes out with its debut show and blows them out of the water when they’ve had a year now.
As for the live show, I was also impressed. There were some sound issues in the post-fight interviews, but that’s to be expected. The action was great and I really was impressed by a lot of the fighters. Brian Stann is more than just a good human interest story, he can fight. Also, Rani Yahya is no joke. Faber told me about him during the interview I did last week but I still expected Mark Hominick to walk through him. Brock Larson also looks like a beast. I can’t wait until we get to finally see Larson vs. Condit for the welterweight title.
Speaking of Condit, I was really impressed by his match on WrekCage. I really liked how active he was when his opponent had top position. Too many fighters lay on the ground like a dead fish when they are on the bottom. Condit really was in good shape and I want to see more of him.
Another thing that stood out about the WEC show was the ground fighting. I come from a standup background and I’m not always the biggest fan of ground fighting. I actually enjoy it though when both fighters are pushing the action. When fights went to the ground, the fighters were very active. The Faber vs. Chance Farrar match had awesome chain wrestling and it was a lot of fun to watch.
As for Faber, it was my first time watching him live. The only other times I’ve seen him fight was on YouTube. The kid is the real deal and the UFC missed out by not building a 145 pound division around him (just like they missed out by not building a woman’s division around Gina Carano). Apparently a lot of people didn’t want to accept a bout with Faber before Farrar finally stepped up. I hope we get to see Yahya vs. Faber and I’d love it if we eventually got to see Kid Yamamoto from K-1 against Faber.
Another pleasant surprise was the announcing. I always thought Frank Mir did a solid job on UFC telecasts a few years back. His energy level was kind of low at the start of the WrekCage show but he picked it up. He was on point once the live broadcast started. He did a good job of breaking down what was going on and his technical knowledge was strong. There were a few delivery issues and his post-fight interview skills need to improve (but I really can’t think of any strong post-fight interviewers in MMA anyway… these guys need to watch some tapes of Larry Merchant and ask some pertinent questions). Todd Harris was nothing special on play-by-play but he meshed well with Mir by deferring to his expertise a lot. I really liked how Harris would ask Mir questions during the fight. He played the role of the novice fan very well.
I’m really bullish on the WEC following last night’s show and can’t wait to see more. I think it was the first time I watched the Versus network for more than five minutes and I don’t think I’m alone in that regard. After watching the show I came away feeling that the WEC is actually too good for Versus and that they should be on a higher-profile network. It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what we see happen in the years to come.
All in all, it looks like the rich just got richer. And with that statement, I’m referring to Zuffa. With Pride in limbo, the UFC is clearly the number one MMA promotion in the world. With MMA so hot right now, there’s a clear opening for a strong number two. It looks like Zuffa may have created their own competition and they’ll they own the top two active MMA promotions in the world. Disagree if you will, but Pride is MIA, the IFL is fading fast, and EliteXC really hasn’t created its own identity as of yet.
I think the WEC talent roster is already solid (we didn’t even get to see “Razor” Rob McCullough, who is the man) but look for the level of talent to improve. It looks like Paulo Filho is indeed coming to the WEC and other former Pride fighters might be on the way.
Also, another random thought. I saw the video of the J.Z. Calvancanti vs. Nam Phan match from Dynamite USA. I thought that it would be a war but it was over before it started. It was the first time I’ve seen Calvancanti and from what little I saw of him, I was impressed. Nam Phan is no joke and Calvancanti wrecked him. If he’s not signed to another promotion, the WEC should sign him for their lightweight division. I also think Phan would be a good fit for the WEC. He is a much better fighter than he showed on Saturday. He’s simply not a 155 pound fighter. He would be a great addition to the WEC’s 145 pound or 135 pound divisions.
BTW, I got an e-mail from someone last night saying Five Ounces of Pain was mentioned when they were hyping Faber up earlier in the show? I completely missed that. Did anyone else hear or see anything?
I’m real interested in hearing everyone else’s thoughts about the WEC show. Am I the only one digging it thus far?
Continue Reading June 3rd, 2007
The Chute Boxe USA website is becoming quite the source for breaking news. In a recent post, the site’s operators have announced that Evan Tanner will be making his UFC return and will likely be fighting in September.
You can check out the post at the following URL:
http://www.chuteboxe-usa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=81
Tanner is a former UFC middleweight champ who has been missing in action, so to speak, due to some personal demons he’s been dealing with. He most recently decided to return to fighting and decided to train with the Chute Boxe USA camp. Tanner was once a mainstay with Team Quest.
It’s hard to say how much he has left in the tank at this age, but if the old Evan Tanner can make his way back than the UFC middleweight division will have even greater depth and a future title contender.
Continue Reading June 3rd, 2007
Someone posting under the official American Top Team account on the Underground forum at MMA.TV is claiming that ATT fighter Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio has signed a four fight contract with the UFC. Official accounts are certified by the moderator on the UG so I’m fairly confident that the source is accurate.
Aurelio is 14-4 and most recently appeared on several Pride Bushido cards. He has excellent Jiu-Jitsu and holds wins over Rich Clementi, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, and Takanori Gomi (although Gomi defeated Aurelio in the rematch the last time he fought in November).
I believe Aurelio has competed at 161 pounds in Pride but is more likely to cut to 155 pounds in the UFC as opposed to going up to 170. This isn’t a major signing, but it’s a good one and adds depth to an already deep UFC lightweight division.
Continue Reading June 3rd, 2007
I have not seen the entire show but I have had an opportunity to watch the Brock Lesnar and Johnnie Morton fights from last night’s Dynamite USA show.
First, I will give my thoughts on Lesnar. What else is there to say than he absolutely destroyed Min Soo-kim? Lesnar showed good technique and tremendous strength. Kim had no business being in the ring with Lesnar, considering he was just 2-5. Kim’s background is in Judo but throwing someone the size and strength of Lesnar would have been next to impossible. CSAC is so heavy-handed when it comes to licensing and match making yet they somehow allowed that match to be approved?
The fight was so short and his opponent was so poor that it’s really hard to evaluate Lesnar. Some people are saying in message forums that he’s a threat to Fedor, while others are saying they aren’t impressed. My feeling is, how can you really form a true opinion? I really don’t feel like we have many answers to the questions about Lesnar and his conversion to MMA. I will say though that his debut last night went as well as it possibly could have gone.
Lesnar, now a free agent, certainly helped his market value. There was a lot of talk that whether the Dynamite USA show was a financial success or failure would fall on the shoulders of Lesnar and affect the money offers he’d receive from fight promotions. But FEG did such a poor job in putting on the event that I think any fight promoter or executive of a major fight promotion will give Lesnar a free pass. His dominating performance in the ring will also make other fight promotions a lot more comfortable about offering big money for a commodity that is still relatively unproven.
I think the sky is the limit for Lesnar when it comes to MMA and I can’t wait to see him fight again, but this time against legitimate competition. I expect Lesnar to sign with a promotion sooner rather than later, because the sooner he signs, the sooner he gets paid. His representatives will most likely be getting calls starting Monday (if they aren’t already calling).
As for Morton, man, did that knockout look bad. He had no business fighting on a major show. Yes, he’s a tremendous athlete and football is a contact sport, but he had no combat sports background going into the fight. He hadn’t even competed on a high-level amateur event. CSAC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing that match to happen. Someone really needs to do an investigation in regard to that commission.
As if Morton’s performance in the ring wasn’t embarassing enough, he further humiliated himself by refusing to submit a sample for a post-fight anti-doping test (reports indicate that he did provide a sample for a pre-fight drug screening). CSAC suspended Morton on the spot. I’m not sure if they will withhold his purse or not, but Morton was scheduled to make $100,000 for the fight.
Morton’s refusal to submit to testing likely signals an end to his career in MMA. It’s likely he had no desire to step in the ring again so he probably saw no reason to submit to further testing. FEG did have long-term plans for Morton though, as they felt he might be able to become some sort of a draw in Japan because he is half-Japanese. Those plans are likely out the window.
He had been saying that following the fight he wanted to pursue getting back into the NFL. The outcome of his fight will have no bearing on whether he resumes playing football or not, but his performance on the field in his final season makes it unlikely he’ll get another shot. Morton, a possession-style receiver, was not very productive towards the end of his career. He lacks the speed needed in the NFL to achieve separation from defenders and I don’t think there is an NFL team desperate enough to want to bring him back.
In a strange twist of irony, Dennis Rodman was at the Dynamite USA show. While playing for the Lions, Morton at one point had tried to market himself at the NFL’s version of Rodman by going out and getting a lot of tatoos and trying to act quirky. It never went anywhere.
Continue Reading June 3rd, 2007
As some of you will recall, UFC middleweight fighter Chris Leben is no longer with Team Quest (he actually had been splitting time at another camp even before he left) and has accepted a head trainer’s position at the ICON Sport training center in Hawaii.
In recent weeks Leben has been vocal about his current pay scale in the UFC and has talked about fighting for ICON Sports’ MMA promotion in the future. ICON Sports is the same promotion where Robbie Lawler, Frank Trigg, and Jason Miller have fought.
During my UFC 71 preview on CBS Sportsline last week I incorrectly stated that Leben’s match vs. Kalib Starnes might be his last in the UFC. As it turns out, Leben is still under contract to the UFC and I believe he has a year left on his current contract.
Leben has lost three out of his last four bouts but don’t look for the UFC to give him an early release. UFC president Dana White is a big fan of Leben’s fighting style and with so many card to promote, someone with Leben’s name recognition isn’t going to just be tossed onto the scrap heap.
Continue Reading June 3rd, 2007
It appears that the rumored rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir which had been talked about for UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas is off.
MMAWeekly.com had listed a Sylvia vs. Mir match in its rumors section for the UFC 74 card but recently made an alteration, with Sylvia listed to fight an opponent to be announced at a later date.
According to the Wrestling Observers, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer, had no intentions of approving a match between Mir and Sylvia. Mir looked terrible at UFC 65 when he was TKO’d by Brandon Vera after just 1:09 into the round. Apparently Kizer wants to see Mir’s next fight be against an opponent that isn’t the caliber of Sylvia, so that he can prove himself again.
Mir apparently is still in good standing with Zuffa though, as he’ll be the color commentator for tonight’s debut of the WEC on the Versus network.
As for Sylvia, I’m not 100 percent sure he’ll he ready for UFC 74. Recent reports indicate that he has indeed undergone back surgery. I do not know the extent of the damage to his back or the nature of the surgery, but whether he’ll have enough time to rehab from the surgery and then get himself in fighting shape before August 25 is a huge question mark.
Continue Reading June 3rd, 2007
I posted this yesterday but am re-posting it because I think it’s more relevent now that Brock Lesnar has won his MMA debut and is officially a free agent.
————————————————————————————————
The Race for Brock Lesnar
By Sam Caplan
One of the most anticipated debuts in mixed martial arts is scheduled for this weekend when former NCAA heavyweight and WWE champion Brock Lesnar fights Min Soo-kim.
Kim represented South Korea in the Olympics and won a silver medal in Judo. Despite his strong amateur credentials, Kim’s conversion to MMA has not been a smooth one. Fighting exclusively for K-1, he is just 2-5 in seven lifetime bouts with his wins coming against Yoshihisa Yamamoto and Sean O’Haire.
His two wins can hardly be considered quality ones, as Yamamoto is just 6-16. As for O’Haire, the name may be familiar to wrestling fans as he formerly wrestled in WCW and then the WWE before leaving to try his hand at MMA and kickboxing. The expirement was a total failure and O’Haire has already retired from combat sports.
Kim’s losses have come against top kickboxer Semmy Schlit, Siala “Might Mo” Siliga (who will also be fighting on Saturday’s card), Ray Sefo, MMA legend Don Frye, and former Chicago Bears offensive lineman Bob Sapp.
For lack of a better term, Kim is a tomato can. He’s not much different than the “jobbers” the WWE used in order to build up Lesnar’s reputation as a monster when he first started wrestling for the Vince McMahon-owned promotion.
While Saturday will mark Lesnar’s first MMA bout, he’s been training dilligently for nearly a year. Working under the watchful eye of Greg Nelson in Lesnar’s home state of Minnesota, the former amateur wrestling champ has been receiving world class training. Nelson’s camp is home to some of the top mixed martial artists in the world, including UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk.
In addition to working with Nelson, Lesnar spent some time early in his training with Pat Miletich at the Miletich Fighting Systems main training center in Davenport, Iowa. Nelson is good friends with Miletich and the ciriculum taught by both camps are very similiar.
I had a chance to speak with Miletich about Lesnar on two separate occasions and his appraisals of Lesnar’s ability were glowing. At one point, Miletich referred to Lesnar as “Matt Hughes at 265 pounds.” Lesnar’s wrestling ability is unquestioned and he apparently picked up submissions with ease. The only question is his standup, although Miletich said that from what he saw of Lesnar, he looked light on his feet for such a big man and has a lot of potential in that regard. He’s apparently made major strides in his standup game while working with Nelson.
Lesnar’s match this weekend will actually be the third time his debut has been scheduled. He was originally supposed to fight last fall but it was then re-scheduled for December before ultimately being re-scheduled once again for Saturday. His match was almost scratched once again after his original opponent Hong Man-Choi was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission. In addition to Choi being denied a license, the card itself was in doubt until FEG (the parent company of K-1) was granted a temporary promoter’s license just late last week.
In this day and age, it’s not easy to predict the outcome of a match. However, Kim is not a strong opponent and there seems to be little doubt within the industry that Lesnar will defeat him with ease. I would expect Lesnar to keep things simple by going for a takedown early and trying to win the match via ground and pound.
Lesnar is contracted to FEG for just one fight so he will become a free agent at the conclusion of his bout against Kim. Once his match is over, he will become one of the most coveted free agents in mixed martial arts.
It’s unknown what Lesnar will make for Saturday’s bout but he will be in line for a huge payday should he look impressive against Kim. How much he attracts on the open market was believed to be tied to just how well Dynamite USA!! did at the box office and on pay-per-view. However, due to FEG’s mismanagement, Dynamite USA!! is bound to be a dud when it comes to revenue generated. Fortunately for Lesnar, FEG’s troubles have been so transparent that Lesnar won’t be held accountable for bad ticket sales and a poor PPV buyrate.
His suitors will be numerous, with EliteXC president Gary Shaw saying in the past that they have strong interest and UFC president Dana White recently claiming publicly that he is interested as well. Due to financial issues, the IFL will not be able to bid on Lesnar’s services but there have been rumors that Bodog Fight is interested in signing Lesnar with an eye towards a main event match against fellow former WWE wrestler and amateur wrestling standout, Kurt Angle.
Let’s break down the field of potential suitors that will be pining for Lesnar after his match Saturday:
FEG/K-1: Lesnar has a lot of market value to the Japanese audience. Japanese MMA fans place a great importance on amateur fighting credentials and there is also a fascination with size. Lesnar already is known very well in Japan based on his stint with New Japan pro wrestling, in which he held the much coveted IWGP heavyweight title. One could make the argument that Lesnar has more drawing power in Japan than he does in the States. However, the complete lack of organization exhibited by FEG in putting Dynamite USA!! has to be a turnoff to Lesnar. With his confidence in the company likely shaken, FEG would probably have to pay twice as much for Lesnar than the second highest bidder.
IFL: As alluded to earlier, this has no chance of happening. In a recent SEC filing, the IFL acknowledged that right now they don’t have enough money to make it through the fourth quarter. They will probably offer a second round of stock in order to raise some more capital, but it won’t be enough to land Lesnar. Plus, he’s not a good fit for their business model. You couldn’t have Lesnar wrestle as a heavyweight for a team, leaving him as a “Superfight” attraction. But aside from Ben Rothwell, the IFL doesn’t have very many high-profile heavyweights on their current roster that could matchup well with Lesnar. Not to mention, with no PPV deals in place, it would be hard for the IFL to make their investment back.
Bodog Fight: This company no doubt has plenty of money to spend, but I think even Calvin Ayre has a threshold he isn’t willing to cross. Bodog is not as financially strong as it once was. Ayre’s MMA promotion has been a huge money loser and his own personal wealth has dropped greatly in the last year because their core business, the online sportsbook, has suffered following a bill that was passed last fall in the United States making it illegal to place bets over the Internet. Bodog also paid a ton of money to Fedor Emelianenko to headline a PPV in St. Petersburg, Russia this past April and the buyrate was dreadful. With the promotion’s television ratings on the Ion network also doing poorly, will Bodog be willing to put all their chips on the table one last time?
And in order to maximize Lesnar’s drawing potential they can’t just put him in with no-name cans. They will have to go out and sign other high-profile heavyweights that can be booked in marquee main events with Lesnar. Even if Bodog offers the most money, I don’t see Lesnar signing with Bodog on a long-term basis due to the promotion’s suspect image. Why go with a company that isn’t considered legitimate (yes, I know they treat their fighters great, but fighting for Bodog doesn’t carry the prestige that fighting for the UFC does) when you can sign with a promotion that has a better reputation and has more staying power? I could see Lesnar signing on for one match in order to increase his market value further, but there would still be risk involved in pursuing such a course of action. If he signs and headlines a PPV and it does a bad buyrate, his market value could actually decrease if he’s perceived as not being a big draw.
EliteXC: EliteXC, with the backing of Showtime, certainly has the resources needed to meet Lesnar’s demands. I expect them to pursue Lesnar with tremendous vigor to not only enhance their talent roster, but to also block to UFC from enhancing their’s. One issue with EliteXC is that they don’t have an established heavyweight division. However, the company has made contact with Josh Barnett in the past and have also had brief talks with Kurt Angle, so while the potential opponents aren’t on the roster now, the company could definitely go out and get them.
UFC: When Dana White said he intended to sign every big name fighter, he apparently wasn’t kidding. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua have all been signed away from Pride in recent months. Even though the acquisition of Pride has been completed, there is still uncertainty as to whether all of the Pride fighter contracts are transferrable. Leaving nothing to chance, the UFC is believed to be close to signing Wanderlei Silva to a new deal and negotiations with Fedor are ongoing.
While the UFC just spent a lot of money to close the Pride deal and will be taking heavy losses by promoting cards in England, they are still strong financially and can afford to outbid any major MMA promotion for Lesnar’s services. The question though is value. Lesnar has unlimited potential and I believe he could one day emerge as the top heavyweight fighter in the world. His wrestling skills are tremendous and he has the athleticism needed to become a respectable striker. However, he won’t become the best overnight. It will take time and any promotion that signs him will have to initially protect their investment. The UFC couldn’t sign him and immediately throw him in the Octagon against Mirko Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovski, or Randy Couture. They’d have to protect him by putting him against other fighters with a wrestling background who aren’t on the same level as Lesnar. They could try putting him against strikers with no ground games such as Antoni Hardonk or Cheick Kongo, but there will still be risk in doing so because if Lesnar doesn’t get the fight to the ground, there’s the chance he could be knocked out. So the problem is that the UFC will initially be paying Lesnar large sums of money to fight in one-sided matches against inferior competition.
Despite concerns about growing pains, the financial upside of Lesnar will be too strong for Zuffa to ignore. Not only could they build towards major money matchups against the likes of Cro Cop, Couture, and possibly Fedor, but by signing Lesnar they also hurt their competition in the process. If Lesnar were to sign with a company like EliteXC, which has good distribution and exposure in the U.S., the gap between the UFC and EliteXC could potentially tighten.
Lesnar also has a lot of potential value to the UFC if they decide to rebuild Pride and run cards in Japan. As mentioned earlier, Lesnar is a big name in Japan and he’d be a huge drawing card.
With all that in mind, I think the UFC is the odds on favorite to sign Lesnar with EliteXC the only other viable candidate at this point.
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