« Thursday media notes | Home | Source: Ed Fishman taking legal action against PRIDE »
Friday news flash
By Zach Arnold | March 1, 2007
On the NSAC Agenda List for 3/5 (Monday), the following is listed: Randy Couture is applying for an MMA license and Dana White is applying for a pro-boxing license. Also, Zuffa LLC is applying for a permit for a boxing match (between Dana White & Tito Ortiz) for March 24th at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas.
Video of the UFC 68 weigh-ins.
There is more fallout on the troubles regarding Nippon Sports, the parent publisher of Weekly Gong and Gong Kakutougi magazines.
Publicly, the company is denying reports that they are closing ship. (More on this here.)
Privately, however, I have been told that several writers may get together to start their own publication if Gong falls apart. A lot of the old guard for fight writers are now covering multiple sports (including baseball) in order to maintain the current income they have been accustomed to generating.
For anyone who has been a long-time follower of my past articles on PRIDE, none of the content in this article should surprise you one bit.
Onto today’s headlines.
- The Columbus Dispatch: A smash hit – UFC brings a moneymaker to town (Zuffa Myth alert!)
- The Vernon Morning Star (Canada): Sean Huffman handles the MMA ring
- Fight Report: Rich Franklin sporting a nasty shiner at UFC 68 weigh-in
- The Canadian Press: Will Randy Couture beat Tim Sylvia
- The Cumberland News (UK): Champion Kevin Thompson targets Sky TV Cage Rage fight
- The San Mateo County Times: Ultimate fighter Eric Wray dies unexpectedly
- The Baltimore Sun: UFC 68 preview – return of Couture tops storylines as circuit heads east
- UFC Mania: UFC 68 preview, analysis and predictions
- The Los Angeles Daily News: MMA making moves
- PR Web: UFC fighter Sean Salmon hosting pre-UFC 68 party in Columbus, Ohio
- The North County Times: Win streak gone, UFC’s Jason Lambert refocuses
- The Muncie Star Press: Jason Gilliam earns spot at UFC 68 event
- The Oregonian: MMA Notebook – Questions to be answer for Tim sylvia, Randy Couture
- The Korea Times: Choi Hong-Man opens season against Mighty Mo
- The Canadian Press (via The Ottawa Sun): MMA stars ready to rumble at UFC 68
- The Times Online (UK): Drugs scandal threatening to knock down Evander Holyfield
- Black Athlete: Boxing vs. MMA (this is written by someone from the Boxing Writers Association of America – seriously)
- Fox Sports: UFC legend Randy Couture returns to challenge Tim Sylvia
- WFAA TV: Behind the scenes – My interview fell asleep
- The UNLV Rebel Yell: Silva’s late night meant defeat (check out this writer’s claims about Silva the night before the Henderson fight)
- MMA HQ: UFC 68 show preview
- The Los Angeles Times: MMA Top 10 rankings
- CBS Sportsline: An interview with Dan Henderson
Topics: All Topics, Boxing, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I wouldn’t say that Silva lost BECAUSE of his hospitalization the night before the fight, but just the fact that he was in the hospital the night before the event is not in dispute, and it was reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Also, the UNLV writer is apparently not aware of Fedor’s BodogFight fight in April when he talks about Fedor probably fighting for Pride in April.
Maybew Weekly GONG goes but I heard GONG Kaku will stay.
Challenge that!
(Insert random Zach Arnold attack here)
FD
So, the number of punches thrown in a match has a direct causal relationship with the excitement of said match?
AWESOME.
Please post using a valid e-mail and valid URL.
Never! The annonnim…anniinn…..anoymity of the ‘net must be preserved! I mean, how can one hide behind a keyboard and spout gibberish otherwise?
So no go here. No remember, the Zach Attacks aren’t personal. Just seemed necessary since so many migrate to this site and to pay homage, insult you.
FD
No need to Net Nazi Zach Mac. Just trying to join the convo as a mysterious, yet contributing indivual.
FD
That boxing-MMA article was ridiculously bad. The author argues that MMA has an advantage over boxing because of its circular cage, but that boxing will always have more action because boxing has more punches.
Also, check out the following excerpt:
“Much of a mixed martial match happens on the ground as the artists work their advantages through grappling on the ground. Victory is often happen through submission on the ground as through knock outs punches or kicks.
In the main event of Henri Gracie and Frank Shamrock showed this weakness. Gracie advantage lay in his ability to get Shamrock on the ground. “
Buncha circular logic and horrible grammar in that article.
[quote]The decline of amateur boxing has closed many doors to young athletes to learn boxing and the predominance of dojos in even many rural communities gives mixed martial arts a solid base to draw fans.[/quote]
Pay me and I’ll re-write that article to how it should have been and actually make it entertaining. If you pay me enough, I’ll actually make boxing sound good.
Here’s the title if you pay me the minimum:
MMA KO’s Boxing By Submission Stoppage, Live at 5
Here’s the title if you pay me decently:
MMA and Boxing go 12 Rounds, Decision Forthcoming
and here’s the title if the boxing site actually pays me top dollar:
Boxing Throws More Rabbit Punches than MMA, KO First Round
The LA Times top 10 is surprisingly decent (except for the LWs), although you have to register to look at it.
And this sentence: “Mixed martial arts have been around for at least four decades but boxing is now entering third century. What martial arts have so far avoided is being trapped in sports red light district whereas boxing have resided there for centuries” reads like it was written by a caveman.
Darth Molen u are KING!!!
Ranking Kid at #1 for 155 and Sakurai #7 should be punishable by death. Even worse is that the author uses Sakurai’s fight with Matt Hughes – which took place in 2002 at 170lbs – for justification.
We can all find faults with the LA Times ratings, but overall he did the best job I have seen of balancing various factors and also in not favoring one organization over the other.
Henri Gracie? Ohmygawd, Lay and Pray invades France, run for your lives!!!
Ranking Sakurai at 155 is iffy to start with because he would probably have to cut of an arm to reach that weight, he can barely reach 160 these days.
“Ranking Sakurai at 155 is iffy to start with because he would probably have to cut of an arm to reach that weight, he can barely reach 160 these days.”
I’m truly curious as to how much of this is laziness. The notoriously crotchety Mach began his Shooto career at 154, but moved to 167 for no reason other than he hated cutting weight. He fought at 180 and above in DEEP and PRIDE, just cause he was too lazy to cut weight. While I don’t think Mach is gonna fight at 155 any time in the future, it’d be interesting to know how much of his scale battle is simply due to sloth.
Eh but to be honest cutting weight can be very difficult for some (ive done it a few times and its not so difficult for me to lose 5 but to go 15…shit thats a battle in itself. But there are some of my old wrestling buddies who for the life of them cant cut weight, so maybe its just super diffcult for him more so than lazyiness. Though there are some who just yea could easily cut weight and chose not to.
“so maybe its just super diffcult for him more so than lazyines”
Maybe. But this is a guy who says he never wants to fight in the summer ever again, because the heat upsets him to much.