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Saturday notes: Update on Fishman-DSE lawsuit
By Zach Arnold | May 11, 2007
By Zach Arnold
The MMA World League web site is offering two Internet PPV shows that will be streaming today.
Gryphon notes some financial trouble for Samurai TV, the 24/7 Japanese fight channel that airs on SkyPerfecTV. Here is the quick data (from Gryphon’s Japanese post NHB News) if you care for the particulars and can read Japanese.
Quick update on the Fishman Companies vs. DSE Inc. lawsuit: On Wednesday, Fishman Companies filed a joint case conference report to the court (judge Timothy Williams presiding), and on Thursday the lead attorney for Fishman Companies filed a notice of taking depositions (3 pages in length). The date listed/scheduled for performing the action is for Wednesday, May 30th. The hearing for DSE Inc.’s motion to dismiss the case (or for a summary judgment) was originally scheduled for May 17th, but it has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 31st (due to a request made by the attorney for DSE Inc.)
What the news means: My opinion — barring a settlement between Fishman Companies and DSE Inc., witness depositions are scheduled to take place by the end of the month (whether the PRIDE assets are sold or not by DSE).
Onto today’s headlines.
2ch has picked up the Frank Trigg post here on this site, and what’s intriguing about the pick-up is the response from Japanese fans on that thread (start at post #655). They are on the same wavelength as their American counterparts in regards to the hiccups in the PRIDE asset sale deal. Hint: They’re talking about the Fertitta’s casino license.
- The Washington Times: Combat sports heat up in the DC area
- Yahoo Sports: (Doug) Marshall plan
- MMA HQ: New GSP interview
- MMA on Tap: WEC 27 weigh-in results
- CBS Sportsline: Chuck Liddell is not amused
- Yahoo Sports: MMA notes – Liddell knocks Ortiz
- The Hamilton Spectator (Canada): Meet Samir “The Sandman” Seif
- The Washington Post: Ron Foster, MMA ready for D.C. debuts
- Sherdog: Art of War II event on Friday in Austin, TX. draws 2,854 fans
- The Oregonian: MMA notebook – Mayhem Miller is as wild as ever on eve of debut
- The Killeen Daily Herald (Texas): Jorge Gurgel making Xyience sponsor appearance on Saturday
- The Pueblo Chieftain Online (Colorado): De La Hoya sells Big Bear estate to Tito Ortiz
- The Wilmington News Journal (Delaware): Boxing trainer Leon Tebbs signs deal to be a cutman in UFC
Topics: Canada, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I strongly encourage anyone with a bit of scratch and some time on their hands to plunk down some cheddar on the MMAWL events. It could be further expansion of something great in the form of MMA streaming and Wallid Ismail is good for the sport.
Fight Critic: Should fighters apologize for boring fights?
Yes, they should…. They are there to fight, not to win on points. I don’t mind a strategic fight, but Arlovski/Werdum, Sylvia/Monson, & Koscheck/Sanchez were examples of fighters looking not to engage. It’s like a baseball player going up to bat and never even swinging the bat…..
This is really cool news. Streaming fight will be nice but I would think you need a decent internet connection. But they should lower the price b/c the quality could never be as good as TV yet.
45 Huddle, I totally agree.
A good gameplan, a good strategy is akin to a batter knowing a pitcher’s history and trying to work the count in his favor.
But in every example you mentioned, each fighter was too afraid of his opponents’ respective strength to engage which makes for terribly boring fights.
And with $40 PPV prices and $100+ ticket prices, fighters are their to engage.
Heck, I enjoyed Sherk/Florian. I enjoyed Okami/Swick. Neither were exactly exciting fights. But the fighters came to compete. That shouldn’t be too much to ask for.
And I think that is the stance Dana White and Zuffa have taken. White has said nothing but positive things about Yushin Okami. His style is boring, but he still looks to finish a fight and engage. At the same time, White has been critical of Koscheck/Sanchez and Sylvia/Monson because in those fights, the fighters weren’t actually fighting. There is a fine line between getting the best fighters and giving an entertaining product. So far, Zuffa has walked that line very well.
I would just like to applaud Rashaad Evans, who in my mind took the fan’s complaint’s against him in his boring victory over Stephan Bonner to heart and came out slugging and looking to put on a show the next time he was put in the octagon. I did a complete 180 on my opinion of him because of that.
I have seen fighters who are going to lose do absolutely nothing in the concluding seconds of a fight and it really does make me mad. Dan Henderson looked so bad in his fight against Misaki last summer and had to have known he was going to lose the decision, yet showed nothing in the final minute of the fight to show he wanted to win. It was nauseating. If it’s the final minute of the final round and you have looked like crap for 95 percent of the fight, it’s time to get in Berserker mode and go for the kill.
People like to hate on UFC fans for booing fighters, but I never agreed with that sentiment. Big money spent for an event just to see two guys non-chalantly tap at each other? It would make my blood boil. Watching a fighter with 2.9 percent aggresion on tv it’s just annoying, but at a live event, it makes a lot of sense to let your opinion be heard.
On the last Ultimate Fighter, I had a problem with Corey because he never once tried to kick Emerson’s ass. Not once. And I had a problem with Emerson because he refused to take a chance and get up in Corey’s face and demolish him. That was a big reach advantage Corey had, but he showed during the course of the fight he didn’t have hands of stone. BJ Penn even told Emerson “So you get hit, big deal.”
UFC Countdown,
If you click on the homepage to MMA World League, you will see a video sample. It is small but good quality and played perfect.
Btw, you really should visit the homepage. The fight is Gonzaga v Werdum. Great fight.
Accoring to Meltzer….
K-1 has a plan to reduce the capacity of the stadium to around 30,000, so if you purchase a $10 ticket, there is a god chance your seat will end up being much better.
Also, K-1 tried to give away up to 80,000 tickets (in order to have the taxes waived) and were denied by CA.
This event is going to flop….
Just saw at UFCJunkie.com….
Koscheck announced on his website that a fight with Georges St Pierre is official (minus the signed contracts). It should happen at UFC 74, which is at the end of August. Also on that card is Couture/Gonzaga, Mir/Sylvia 2, & Stevenson/Pellegrino. Another good card.
Also, SpikeTV currently does not have a UFC 72 preview show listed. Sounds like Zuffa is putting this on PPV just in case fans want to see it (at 3pm eastern time), but is not hypng it up as the card isn’t that good.
going through the motions to set up Franklin / Silva 2
The Samurai TV story is something to watch. The ramifications of J-SAT discontinuing Samurai will be fairly large, as a lot of smaller MMA/Pro-Wrestling groups rely heavily on Samurai.
“They are on the same wavelength as their American counterparts in regards to the hiccups in the PRIDE asset sale deal. Hint: They’re talking about the Fertitta’s casino license.”
Zach, if the 2chan kids are correct — and I personally do not think they are — Fishman better run and hide because if anything about PRIDE comes out, his gaming licenses will be the first on the chopping block.
Zuffa has not bought DSE yet, so presumably their licenses would be safe. Fishman is the one that already acted as US President of PRIDE (or whatever his title was). He had an official relationship with DSE, whereas Zuffa has not.
All Yakuza implications have always had more potential for harm to Fishman himself than Zuffa. Which is exactly why Fishman’s lawsuit will reveal exactly *nothing* with regards to organized crimes ties.