« UFC signs deal to create TV shows in Spanish | Home | Takanori Gomi cancels media interview »
Fuji TV says no MMA programming for NYE
By Zach Arnold | October 31, 2006
Yahoo Japan HP: Fuji TV says “No kakutougi (MMA) on New Year’s Eve”
By Zach Arnold
Daily Sports reports that Fuji TV President Koichi Murakami will not air kakutougi (MMA) programming on the network for New Year’s Eve.
This leaves TV-Asahi as the only network (officially) left for PRIDE programming to possibly air on New Year’s Eve. If TV-Asahi says no to PRIDE, then this means PRIDE will have to produce their Otoko Matsuri event with no television money. SkyPerfecTV PPV only.
In 2005, PRIDE (with the assistance of Fuji TV) promoted the most expensive fight in the history of MMA with Naoya Ogawa vs. Hidehiko Yoshida having an estimated combined fight money package of $5 million USD. PRIDE defeated K-1’s Dynamite!! show for the first time in television ratings on New Year’s Eve in 2005.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
This is nothing late breaking or new or either irrelevant for that matter. First off Fuji TV was the original network that pulled Pride. I don’t know why you writers bring this up to make it look like Pride is in trouble. This is the equivalent of my already divorced wife saying she wont take me back this year. This sounds like a bunch of propaganda trying to fool the casual MMA fans into thinking Pride is in trouble therefore it creates the “wrong” type of spin for DSE and some more negative press. You “Fight Opinion†writers call yourself unbiased well by scrolling your articles looks like your kissing Dana Whites a**. Oh wait maybe if you help spin bad press for DSE Mr. White might sign you as UFC journalist.
Keep in mind that Zach Arnold once tried to get a job with DSE, and failed. This could have something to do with his negative slant on all things Pride.
It was a front page headline on Yahoo Japan. It was a report written by a major daily newspaper.
PRIDE boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara stated that he was negotiating with multiple television networks for a program on NYE and that by 11/10, a decision would be made.
As I reitered in the TV-Asahi post (that is linked on the post up above), Fuji TV was an unlikely option for PRIDE’s NYE show. However, Fuji TV decided to make a public statement today to reiterate that they would not air MMA programming for NYE.
Richard, please illuminate the rest of us with your genius and tell us how PRIDE will survive at its current level without the major network money that made big spectacular PRIDE shows what they are. Where is the money going to come from? Can’t wait to hear this …
Oh and in case you didn’t hear Richard, UFC signed Tyson Griffin and Clay Guida away from PRIDE at the last minute. Now PRIDE can’t even outbid UFC for the lower-level fighters …
Why do you assume that pride would even want tyson griffin or clay guida. They have plenty of talent at that class.
Pride can survive on gate alone if it needs. By the way, I’m still waiting for all the arrests and impending fold under to happen.
I feel ripped off.
I never stated PRIDE was free of obstacles. They do have some hurdles in cementing their foot here in America. But the fact is their are quite a few networks at the moment that are breaking out the bank to land PRIDE. So that being said they are going to do just fine.
For a sport to evolve and to thrive and remain a success, it needs to simply provide and create stars. And that’s exactly what the UFC did in creating The Ultimate Fighter, which ultimately failed. I’m a fighter and that show offended me and anyone else that trains seriously. UFC brought our sport to a low level with that show. If you want to know how I feel just ask a collegiate athlete and ask them what they’d think if the NFL/NBA created a reality show to become a profession player in their league.
In that being said I respect the way PRIDE creates their stars. They don’t exploit their young fighters, they make them prove themselves in epic tournaments every year. They hold world class tournaments to crown their champions and in the process create stars and that process continues every year. I tip my hat to the guys that run that promotion and I hope to fight their 1 day.
Old News here. Why would FujiTV show PRIDE when they already cancelled them? This was unnecessary. Just wait until Nov 11 for Sakikibara’s announcement. Until then just shut up until there is some solid evidence or proof.
BTW- Pride has signed Jacare and Tyrone Spong to big deals. UFC can have griffen and guida. Jacare and Spong will both be mega stars and potential champions. griffen and guida will have 2-3 matches in UFC and then you’ll never see them again.
yeah shut up zach. you should wait for sakakibara to make an official comment. because we only trust what sakakibara says because he is a very honest and sincere person. everyone knows the japanese tv stations and other media are all liars and crooks and cant be trusted. the japanese media made so many “heartless” lies about sakakibara and his yakuza friends and i dont want to hear about any of this anymore
and just dont say anything anymore about pride because it makes me cry
Let’s try to re-write what you wrote.
Better.
I’m sure Ogawa is already starting to lace up his mma gloves to train for the big New Year’s Eve night.
The moment to hustle has come once again!!!
zach great article keep up the good work and i would ignore those pride huggers.btw have you heard anything on how the real deal did in terms of ppv buys that fact that we’ve heard nothing makes me think they didn’t do so good.
“because we only trust what sakakibara says because he is a very honest and sincere person.”
That’s about the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. Sakakibara has a long history of telling half truths and downright lies. Anyways, since when did the comments section of this site turn into a flame-zone like Sherdog forums? Zach, don’t think just because these people are talking shit about you that you aren’t allowed to delete their comments. Opinions are welcome, attacks are not.
And that’s exactly what the UFC did in creating The Ultimate Fighter, which ultimately failed.
I’m a fighter and that show offended me and anyone else that trains seriously.
Why do you assume that pride would even want tyson griffin or clay guida.
Where to start with these comments is almost impossible, but here goes . The ultimate Fighter is in no respect a failure. From a business standpoint it is making money through advertising dollars. From a marketing standpoint it is creating recognizable names for American fans to identify with, thus creating more income for the organization. The only failure here is your failure to recognize the purpose of the show. Also, if you think that show offends anyone who trains seriously, then go train at the AKA and find out how many of them are offended by the show.
There is no assumption that Pride wanted Guida or Griffin. The fact that the fighters themselves have divulged information about Pride contacting them in an effort to negotiate a contract proves it.
If you love Pride and hate the UFC that’s fine. If you would like to present an argument in support of your opinion that is also fine, but please keep personal feelings out of your arguments for the sake of legitimacy.
In all honesty there never seems to be any good press about DSE/PRIDE in the “FIGHT OPINION” articles. This is simply just an internet media tool by ZUFFA and company to spin negative press about DSE. Zack Arnold is a biased writer and belongs in the SHERDOG forums.
Pride was about to sign Guida and Griffin. UFC came in at the last second and signed them both away. If you don’t know this, you don’t have inside knowledge about MMA and are just spouting your opinion.
Why re-write a story that you just had on your front page 2 days ago in different wording?
Man, I want you to give a timetable for the impending demise of DSE, Zach.
If they are still in business(PPVs in english in the US, say) in 6 months will you drop this stupid angle?(and issue an apology)
It’s just getting ridiculous!
Seriously Richard, the only one biased and belonging in the Sherdog forums is you, as you are the archetype of a Pride nuthugger (exactly the type of narrowminded person “japan head” sarcastically portrayed in his post).
“I’m a fighter and that show offended me and anyone else that trains seriously.”
Well, according to your logic then guys like Matt Serra, Travis Lutter, Shonie Carter or Chris Lytle don’t train seriously? Or guys like Nate Quarry and Chris Leben, who have been with Team Quest years before they went on to be a part of the first TUF? Or a man like Joe Stevenson, who had been busting his ass in smaller shows for 6 years (that’s 29 fights) before he became a part of TUF2. And i’m not offended either, even though i’ve been training 5 days a week for the last 21 years now (Judo, Sambo, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Luta Livre). But i guess i’m just not training seriously then, eh?
“If you want to know how I feel just ask a collegiate athlete and ask them what they’d think if the NFL/NBA created a reality show to become a profession player in their league.”
They would probably be like “Hell yeah, i’m in!”. Like every athlete who wants to become a “pro”. What you seem to forget is the fact that the participants in TUF were not a bunch of bums they pulled right off the streets, but professional fighters who have been working on their careers for years and years, hoping to make it to the big time. The NBA and the NFL have dozens if not hundreds of scouts, touring the country, watching games, sorting through tapes to discover a diamond in the rough who could become the next star. But MMA is neither the NBA nor the NFL, there are just a handful of people who actually scout the scene (like the UFCs Joe Silva or Team Extreme’s Monte Cox), so chances are very high that you probably go unnoticed for years to come. And that’s where TUF comes in, as it ‘s more or less the MMA equivalent to a NBA or NFL tryout, only televised. This was the chance many fighters were waiting for, the chance to send in tapes from their fights, and hoping to hear back from the UFC, be invited in and hopefully securing a shot in the series…
cjfighter,preach 100% correct and like i said keep up the good work zach.how much better would mma be without the damn pridehuggers its 1 thing to be a fan but these guys are rediculous
I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s just Pride nuthuggers (though they are the most vocal and narrowminded), but nuthuggers in general who are rediculous and always tend to stir things up and cause trouble. Some people just don’t get that being a fan doesn’t mean being like a sheep following the herd, clinging to every word a promotion says and dismissing every critical voice as bullshit or biased.
Yes, I have my fair share of problems with how Pride operates and what a guy like Sakakibara says, but that’s not too different from how i feel about Dana and the UFC. I’m a fan of the sport and fighters, not a promotion, but that concept seems too hard to grasp for certain individuals.
And all these calls about Zach being biased (yeah, we know he didn’t get a job at Pride USA, you don’t have to write it times and times again) are really starting to get on my nerves too. If the attention span of all those haters wasn’t so damn short, they’d see that Zach has not only been critical of Pride but the UFC as well. But who knows, perhaps these guys just read the posts with Pride in the title…
Seriously, you wonder why Pride’s always getting the bad press? Most probably because they deliver in that department, whereas the UFC doesn’t (at least not in that amount). UFC wasn’t accused of having mob ties in several newspapers, it wasn’t the UFC that lost it’s TV-deal, and it wasn’t the UFC that had two of it’s fighters busted for doping in one show. I’m sure that if something like that happened in the UFC, Zach wouldn’t stay away from reporting about it in a negative way. He’s been in this business for quite some time now (with Puroresu Power), and i honestly can’t remember that he ever dropped a story under the table to favor anyone, contrary to certain other MMA sites…
I’d like to know when I ever got an official rejection letter from PRIDE about applying for a job from them. Seriously. 🙂
“We’re sorry, but you did not fulfill our requirements of interviewing Mauro Ranallo enough on your pro-wrestling site. You only interviewed him eight instead of the required ten times in order to receive consideration from us.”
Wow! Zach, this thread must relly be getting to you! And especially about the being turned down for a job with PRIDE comments. Everyone who knows anything about your site knows you live in the basement with little or no money to run this site. So I give you credit for that, but just because you can’t get a job with DSE doesn’t mean you should be so bitter. I know you feel that you should be running one of these companies like PRIDE or UFC but that takes business sense and from the looks of your sites and your revenue, you don’t have much of that. It relly does seem that you are a bitter probably overweight individusl that feels that the powers that be in MMA haven’t given you your just respect. Well my friend you have to earn it and by consistantly bashing someone sounds like it could be part of your problem. I do really feel sorry for you beacuse you sound like you have some personal issues…
I guess it was redirected to guys like Richard, together with official Pride statements about their 7 figure salaries and the truth behind the Yakuza-allegations 😉
Ugh, another one of those pro-pride trolls. They’re worse than Tribbles.
And why are they all not able to proof-read their posts? I mean, trying to call someone out, yet not being able to write words properly?
The basement joke is about as old as milk after a 3-week expiration date. I don’t know what neck of the woods you come from, but out in my area we don’t have basements in the houses. Nice try.
I don’t recall ever stating that I would want to run PRIDE or UFC, but again — a nice try. The work that the young staffers do for those large companies (being on-call virtually all the time for the little amount of money they get) should be greatly commended for their efforts.
The amazing thing is what a Rorschach test this simply post has become.
Here we had a straight news post that stated simple facts and the avalanche of criticism and personal attacks displayed is something that I wanted all the readers to see.