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Monday evening update (11/12)
By Zach Arnold | November 12, 2007
Mike Sawyer and Oliver Copp are back with a new edition of their MMA radio show.
Video of Joachim Hansen vs. Eiji Mitsuoka.
The folks at Fightmetric want your feedback.
Notes from today’s UFC 78 conference call. Dana White’s decided that if Sherk loses his appeal with the CSAC, he’ll strip him of the title. Huh…
Vancouver stops the upcoming HCF event from happening.
Alex Marvez goes to the UK to interview Michael Bisping. Really.
Mike Pyle is a real man of genius.
Dave Meltzer reflects on the first UFC event in 1993.
Changes to the IFL GP tournament.
Emanuel Steward is no longer going to be Jermain Taylor’s trainer.
Topics: Boxing, Canada, IFL, Japan, MMA, Media, Pro Elite, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
Color me surprised… *roll eyes*
The stripping of Sean Sherk’s title is the right decision. Actually, it is a necessary decision, because if the UFC did not do it… It would cause so many issues in the future.
However, it basically changes nothing. BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson is still taking place. The winner of that fight will likely fight Sean Sherk next (unless he gets a 1 year suspension). So by mid-2008, we have a unified Lightweight Champion anyways. Any the champion after everything is said and done will at least have consideration for the #1 Ranking in the world, along with JZ, and perhaps one other fighter.
Does this mean that Penn/Stevenson will not fight the interim title, but for the main kahuna one? Cause I think that is what needs to happen.
The definition of “getting the Zuffa shaft”:
Paulo Filho and Joe Doerksen both sign with the WEC via the PRIDE acquisition. Filho kicks Doerksen’s ass. Doerksen gets promoted to the UFC.
No Paulo Fihlo get’s promoted with a championship belt. Joe Doerksen will get more exposure from UFC 78.
On second thought you are right Joe Doerksen doe’s win! sad very sad….
Jonathan: Only if Sherk loses the appeal. If he beats it then they fight in a #1 contender match.
Grape: Doerksen never fought in Pride. Also, I wouldn’t call it a promotion or the “Zuffa Shaft”. Is being the champ at WEC and making more money
It cut off the rest of my post. Guess you can’t use “less than” signs. Anyway, point is that Doerksen is a Zuffa journeyman, they pull him in when they need a fighter. So yes, Doerksen is fighting in the UFC, just like he has a half dozen times (not literally, I don’t know how many exactly).
Ed. — Comments use standard HTML coding. > or < should not be a problem unless you try a hyperlink with them.
Is Meltzer working for Zuffa’s PR department? His descriptions of the competitors in UFC 1 plays right into the myths about the early UFCs being streetfights and the competitors being unskilled brawlers.
Gerard Gordeau was a kyokushin champion and internationally known kickboxer who had fought people like Rob Kaman. He did in fact compete in Savate, though it wasn’t his main focus.
Zane Frasier was a well known Karate fighter Kenpo stylist who competed on the highest levels of that sport as well as doing kickboxing.
Pat Smith did a little more than enter a local martial arts tournamnet as a mediocre boxer. I believ he won that tournament, the well respected Sabaki challenge, with a headkick. That isn’t an orthodox boxing move.
Filho isn’t getting shafted by not going to the UFC. He and Anderson Silva have both said they don’t want to fight each other since they trained together.
There is no point in having Filho knock off everyone @ 185 in the UFC if he won’t fight the champ.
Yeah, I totally understand the business reasons why Zuffa is leaving Filho in the WEC. Makes sense, even the part about bringing Doerksen up (since the fans already know who he is).
Just doesn’t seem right is all, especially since Filho is one of the few PRIDE guys whose game is better suited to a cage.
Well, think of it this way, Doerksen loses after taking a fight on short notice against Herman, no big deal. Filho loses, and there goes another big investment.
It’s best to leave Filho a while to marinate in WEC to get used to the cage and the fans IMO. Especially considering the recent performances by Pride guys coming into the UFC. Filho may have beaten Doerksen, but he didn’t look very good in doing so. I think Filho himself has said something to the same effect.
I think that the early UFC shows overplayed the “qualifications” of the fighters appearing in those tournaments, and few of those guys, were they to travel forward in time to the current day, would last more than a minute on a UFN card.
Most of them wouldn’t last 30 seconds against today’s Ken Shamrock for that matter. Including Ken Shamrock.