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Sunday morning headlines: Post-UFC 71 media coverage
By Zach Arnold | May 26, 2007
ESPN covered the Rampage vs. Liddell fight extensively on both SportsCenter and on their MMA section of ESPN.com. There isn’t a video sharing site that doesn’t already have clips of this fight. It truly has gone viral. At 12:30 AM PST on Google News, UFC 71 coverage was the top headline section.
There are some media writers who are not too happy about UFC going mainstream. One writer managed to tie in dogfighting allegations against NFL QB Michael Vick in comparison to UFC.
On this week’s Fightworks Podcast show, an interview with Kyra Gracie.
Results from our last site poll question: Will the PRIDE asset sale between UFC and DSE happen?
No – 57%
Yes – 43%
A new poll has been added on the right side of the main page. Go vote.
Onto today’s headlines.
- The Scotsman (UK): ‘Barbaric’ sport rattles MSP’s cage, Scotland’s first cage fighting show could be cancelled
- Bryan Burwell (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch): Ultimate fighting lacks sweetness
- The Syracuse Post-Standard: UFC makes Mike Vick look like Albert Schweitzer
- The Los Angeles Times: Jackson busts through opening left by Liddell (Rampage got paid $450,000 USD, Liddell $500,000 USD)
- The Baltimore Sun: Tickets were readily available to buy at UFC 71
- The Houston Chronicle: Jackson stuns Liddell with TKO
- The Canadian Press: Jackson upsets Liddell at UFC 71
- The Associated Press (via USA Today): Jackson goes on rampage, KO’s Liddell in first round
- The Sweet Science: Rampage stuns Liddell, MGM crowd with KO
- Gambling 911: UFC 71 results have MMA bettors hungry for more
- Fight Report: Quinton Jackson Ices Liddell at UFC 71! (some great animated GIFs here)
- UFC Junkie: UFC 71 Rampaged by Quick Victories, Stunning Upsets
- Komikazee: “Year of the Upset” strikes again at UFC 71
- Yahoo Sports: Rampage ices Liddell
- New York Newsday: Rampage TKOs Liddell at UFC 71
- The London Free Press (Canada): Tim Baines gets some answers from Randy Couture
- The Long Beach Press-Telegram: Jackson KOs the champ for title
- The Globe and Mail (Canada): Jackson takes light heavyweight title from Liddell
- Fox Sports: Rampage fits the bill, drops Liddell in first
- Yahoo Sports: Anything’s possible in MMA (UFC 71 gate was $4.5 million USD)
- UFC HP: Next in Line – Hendo’s back
- NBC Sports: Rampage’s right hand melts the Iceman
- The Orange County Register: Jackson goes on rampage
- The Chicago Daily Herald: UFC’s popularity no surprise
- CBS Sportsline: Rampage doesn’t just have Liddell’s number — he has his belt
- The Washington Post: Jackson scores stunning first-round KO to take Liddell’s UFC title
- The San Luis Obispo Tribune: ‘Iceman’ stopped cold – Liddell is knocked out by Jackson in the first round
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 27 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Does anybody think any MMA org running in the UFC will get this type coverage for their shows?
We’ve got Dynamite and Strikeforce coming up, it’ll be interesting to see how much coverage they get.
Outside of the Southern California and Japanese newspapers, no other coverage.
I wonder if these sportswriters that bash mma just know how silly and delusional they sound. For example, a direct quote from the Vick-Albert Schweitzer article:
“…I immediately longed for those innocent days when sensibilities were challenged not by elbows to throats and knees to jaws, but by $100 million NFL quarterbacks trafficking in dog-fighting…â€
If you are going to bash mixed martial arts (something has to be done about the “ultimate fighting†moniker), do not state that a grossly overpaid athlete whom, outside of one year, has not yet lived up to the expectations of his absurd contract and also has a penchant for watching beaten, suffering animals fight to the death is somehow a more civil story then what happens in a mma fight. If you want to bash mma by comparing it to other sports, talk about the greatness of Tim Duncan, or the resurging Cleveland Indians, but not the deplorable act of dogfighting. MMA is a sanctioned event, with doctors in attendance, and highly skilled athletes competing, not a illegal felon that results in one of the combatants dying. Did I forget to mentiong that 80% of mma athletes are college educated? Wonder if Vick attended the same classes as some of these “barbaric mma types? Maybe if he did, he would have taken Animal Care and Treatment 114.
Freudian slip? I meant US not UFC.
Outside of the Southern California and Japanese newspapers, no other coverage.
If that’s case, then there’s nobody that will be able to compete them, period. Unless network tv or a popular cable station REALLY gets behind another promotion. They are MMA in the United States and it seems they have a monopoly on most of world’s greatest fighters as well.
How hard did that punch that knocked Liddell down look at different angles?
I haven’t seen a lot of anger at the MMA boards. To me, that is one of the most pathetic fights I have ever seen. That was great for Rampage, but I am very glad I did not waste money on this. I found it really hard to be a Liddell fan after that goofy Texas tv show interview he did anyway.
The card as a whole was worth it. The undercard fights were very good, especially Starnes/Leben & Parisyan/Burkman. And this one of the main reasons why the UFC is getting all of the attention and boxing isn’t.
Even though the main event was a little short, fans got their money’s worth at UFC 71.
As for the Baltimore Sun article about tickets being easily available. That just isn’t true. They might have discounted tickets near the end, but the overall gate was still over $3.5 Million.
I think this may have been the Baltimore Sun guy’s first UFC. Hes’ judging attendance by who is there for the prelims. Gimme a break. I was in the building and the place was packed to the rafters. A live crowd too. I was surprised people booed Quentin post fight. I guess some people just really buy into the UFC hype machine. Pre-fight I had predicted all the people booing Rampage would be his fans after he KTFO’d Chuck. I guess I was wrong on that.
Looking ahead at future title fights….
July – Anderson Silva vs. Nathan Marquardt (MW) & Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca (LW)
Aug – Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (HW)
Sept – My guess would be Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson (LHW). It makes the most sense.
Oct – Middleweight Title Fight. If Franklin beats Okami, the card will probably be in Cincinnati.
Nov – Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes. Melzter confirmed that this event will probably be in New Jersey
Then December will probably be some type of Heavyweight Title fight, with possibly Liddell on the card as a co-main event. Plus, the Lightweight Title will be a co-main event probably for Oct or Nov events. It really is a good second half the year, especially after not having as many title fights in the first half.
45Huddle the only problem with the September fixture of Rampage vs Hendo is that this will probably be a unification bout for the pride and ufc title and I doubt they will put this on in England which is where UFC 75 in sept is booked to take place.
Cro-cop and Bisping already going to have fights so headliners sorted for that event. Think at the moment UFC will keep main title fights in L.A and the USA
Check out these quotes from the “knowledgeable” writer from the L.A. Times:
“Parisyan (25-4) made the most of the fight’s long upright-fighting periods, continually scoring hard rights, lefts, counterpunches and judo punches.”
Judo punches?
“Burkman (19-4) got Parisyan to the mat with a takedown slam early in the third round, but he couldn’t wrestle into position for a submission hold, and Parisyan pounced up to land more blows.”
Takedown slam?
I wish the Times could get someone who knows at least a little about MMA to cover it,
There are 2 UFC’s in September. one in London, England near the beginning of the month. And one near the end of the month which is rumored to be in Anaheim, CA. That is where the Light Heavyweight Title Fight would take place.
Whaledog,
It’s even better listening to radio hosts talk about it. I cringe at the way they talk about it. The guy from ESPN radio to is put up on the podcasts….. Keeps on referring to it as “The MMA”. It is kind of annoying. However even stupid press like that is better then no press at all. But i do agree. in the long run, they need to get educated writers. You can tell they watched the PPV, heard the guy was a judo expert, and then tried to write based on around that fact.
Wait until you hear about the BJJ Right Jab…. Those are legendary!!!
WHY is every website saying Rampage was “defying the odds” or the win was a “huge upset”????
I made $1000 off this fight and it was pretty much free money. Actual fans of MMA and not insane UFC/Iceman nuthuggers didn’t expect Liddell to win did they?? He got exposed (much like Franklin) as being a product of the Zuffa marketing machine. Did no one else notice he’s been fed a steady diet of grapplers with ZERO stand up skill which goes well with his great takedown defence?? It was a lather, rinse, repeat performance every time and their matchmaking was awesome at making him look good, but the fact of the matter was he got fed sub-par competition that the UFC brainwashed people into thinking was world class.
Im sorry but there was no doubt in my mind that Rampage (and about 5 other PRIDE LHWs) would walk in and take Liddell out. He showed again that he’s not that great of a stand up guy against someone else with even an inkling of striking ability. At least in my mind we’ll get to see the Silva vs. Liddell dream match – and if Silva is smart enough to let himself fully recover from the KO (unlike when he went and fought Hendo with PCS) he will wipe the floor with Liddell and we’ll see Silva – Rampage III at some point down the road.
I think it could just be a typo. He probably meant “counter punches and judo throws”.
2 PPV’s in September sorts it all out and proves you right. Good man 45 Huddle.
That, for a change was a good event. Goldy and Rogan on their best behavior still working for that HBO spot — Karo Parisian delivered, the Hip – Hop dj Houston Alexander spinning the hits and making a goofy Dean of Mean look like a cream puff — plus with cocky Din, and Terry Martin having good shows, I really enjoyed this pay per view for once. A beautiful hook by Rampage — for all you boxers out there take heed! Never seen Chuck swing wild body shots like that — age has caught up to the Iceman. Hendo versus Rampage? WTF? Look like Pride in the UFC. Now bring in Fedor and Shogun and we can really get this party started.
Judu and sumu IMO
Did anyone else think that the Din Thomas fight was entertaining? I know Din’s competition was not Gilbert Melendez, but he did look very slick.
I was entertained. It was a good fight.
Another question to ask is….
Is anybody else very happy that Chuck Liddell is no longer the champion? I never disliked him, but I always hated his style. It was very one dimensional. While he dominated a few fighters very well, it also didn’t make for interesting fights. I want to see Light Heavyweight Title fights that are won both on the feet and the ground. As a fight fan, that is just so much more interesting.
I was absolutely SICK of seeing Zuffa parade out people for rematches and re-rematches against Liddell or guys that were tailor made to make Liddell look like a monster. No doubt Liddell is a great fighter, but his “next to godliness” aura the Zuffa and the TUF mutants perpetuated was getting really old, really fast.
“He said to expect major announcements at that time. Originally, when the press conference was held in Japan, it was announced Pride and UFC would be kept as separate entities with their own basic flavor, Pride in the ring and UFC in the cage. They would maintain their individual champions but once a year there would be Super Bowl matches.
That plan has changed, as White is working on bringing all of the Pride major names to the U.S. as part of UFC.”
btw, the quote part was from here:
http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=19680
– So… Dana White and Shane McMahon appear to be about the same age. Is there any chance they were switched at birth? Because this is getting eerie now.
45 Huddle: Agreed, I’ve never liked watching Liddell fight. I remember the rematch with Horn, everybody going crazy, and being bored out of my mind.
I totally concur with The Gaijin on this point. I hope that this fight quells any more notions that Chuck Liddel would even stand a chance with Mirko CRO COP. The question now for Dana White would be what does he do with Chuck? If Chuck continues to fight strikers, his legacy will go down in flames, If Chuck continues to fight non strikers, he will not ever be champion again as the talent at 205 that have come in from Pride are world class strikers that Liddell does match up well with?
It’s interesting. Liddell matches up poorly with multiple Pride Light Heavyweights. At the same time Silva matched up poorly with many of the UFC Light Heavyweights.
The funny thing is that Dana White tore PRIDE a new asshole for having Wanderlei fight Henderson, saying it blew Wanderlei’s credibility to shit. Now all of a sudden it’s a good idea for the winner of Jackson/Liddell to fight Henderson? Whaddafuck!
Yeesh calm down Gaijin. The reason why it’s an upset is because of the main stream casual MMA media who doesn’t know shit about PRIDE considers it a big upset. And to be honest, I think some MMA hardcore fans consider it an upset as well. Like you see Rampage in his last PRIDE fights? He couldn’t put away Yoon Dong Sik and PRIDE got rid of him cause they thought he was past his prime. If he didn’t get a proper gym in time for the fight and he was the same fighter that couldn’t put away Sik, then Liddell could of beaten him.
Gaijin – as usual, you speak the truth.
I’ve always been more impressed with someone like Wanderlei Silva, who fights the best LHW fighters in the world, and even HW fighters…yes, he loses, but goes down knowing he’s facing the best.
Lidell beats three guys in 2006 (ALL of whom he’d already beaten, none in their prime) – and they call him a LEGEND.
I’m sick of the UFC hype-machine – the effect of hearing so much of Dana’s bullplop is not unlike riding a rollercoaster after eating too much cotton candy. It makes me tired. And barfy.
My opinions on the next fights. Randy Couture, what’s your opinion?
Rampage beats Henderson
Silva beats Liddell
Couture beats Gonzales