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Thursday media link-o-rama
By Zach Arnold | October 12, 2006
Time to take a deep breath (hopefully the news cycle slows down). If you have any MMA news-related media links you would like to contribute to this article, post them in the comments section. We’re definitely looking for fresh links, especially from the various blogs.
You can see all of today’s links in full-post view.
- UFC HP: Kenny Florian article/interview
- Sports Navigator: DSE announces Yosuke Nishijima vs. Phil Baroni for 10/21 Las Vegas card
- Ivan Trembow: Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock shatters all UFC ratings records
- Ringside Report: The biggest money draws in boxing
- CBS Sportsline: Fast action helps UFC outpace boxing
- On the Mat: Super Challenge 10/7 Brazil event results
- Knockout Zone: Big WEC event on Thursday
- Worcester Telegram: Butterbean already scheduling fights for 2007
- Odoroku TV: Watch PRIDE 9/10 Saitama GP matches online (broadband users) from 10/13-10/26
- MMA Weekly: The Real Deal or PRIDE’s Freudian Slip?
- Ground & Pound: Gilbert Melendez interview (no discussion of K-1 legal issues)
- Swimming Eye: PRIDE will do a “public viewing” of Las Vegas event at Japanese movie theaters (closed circuit) for 5,000Y/person
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I liked the #9 MMA Weekly article “The Real Deal or PRIDE’s Freudian Slip?”… Some good thoughts in there, although I don’t necessarily agree with all of them.
The general point of the article being that Japanese just want to see Japanese fighers fight and dont care if they lose whilst the same doesnt apply to US fans. The article suggests that Pride FC does not understand that.
I agree with that point to a degree… However, I don’t agree with certain parts.
“Sustained excitement in the States is built around the prospect of great fights, not on the back of blind patriotism.”
I’m not sure if there is a (significantly) more blindly patriotic nation on the planet than the US. Whatever the event, whatever the sport, a significant percentage of US citizens will expect their team / fighter to win, for no reason other than blind patriotism. On a Fox Sports poll before the Football World Cup, 25% of people thought the US would win the whole thing…
Fight connaisseurs might prefer the ‘quality fight’ over the ‘patriotic fight’, but that does not represent the nation as a whole, nor does it represent the views of the average MMA crowd in the current day and age. At the end of the day, Pride DO need to put Americans on the card for the average Joe to attend. Hell, even the hardcore Pride nuthuggers would be a bit pissed off if there weren’t any Americans on the card. This is a show in America afterall.
So who could they realisically put on the card who are better than Baroni, Coleman, Randleman, Lawler, Villasenor, Henderson, Barnett and *cough* Butterbean and Eastman…? OK forget the last two but really, that’s a decent list of American fighters and given the general gist of the article is “the US public don’t like seeing their fighters lose”… Well that’s fine because they ARENT all going to lose. In essence, the article is creating a problem where there isnt one.
Back to the ‘I agree’ mindset though; obviously the US public dont like seeing their home fighters lose (who does)?. No doubt people will say “ah, Coleman isnt that great after all” but by definition, that DOES mean they will at least have a moderately higher opinion of Fedor. NEXT TIME they will hold Fedor in higher esteem and with time (and a couple more events) will build a more accurate view of the Pride fighter’s skills.
I think MMA weekly have also underestimated the appeal of “freak show fights” to the US market. Sure, not all fans will appreciate it but you have to have a little something for everyone and you can guarantee that BB vs Hunt will be one of the most talked about fights the next day.
All in all, it’s a great analysis on the potential problems the show will face but at the end of the day it is still going to be a success, largely because of the VOLUME of good / interesting fighters on the card… Sure, some of the fights might be snoozefests / freakshows and some might have unsatisfactory endings (i.e. American fighters losing) but at the end of the day there are so many potentially GOOD fights that there will be something for everyone to remember.
Even if some of the fights arent that evenly matched, that still provides the opportunity for some big KO’s and flashy finishes… You could EASILY argue that that is a better business model for a first show in a new teritory than having lots of highly competitive matches which have the potential to be stalemates. It might not be as interesting for the people who are already hooked, but as shown by the 3.1 rating for Shamrock vs Ortiz, the people that MMA promoters are trying to target (the NEW fans), don’t really give a crap about competitive fights, they want a spectacle.
Pride will most likely give them that on the 21st.
One point you didn’t entirely raise is that PRIDE (as Gracie Mag reported) may be dealing with a lot of visa issues in bringing in foreign talent.
If that’s the case, then PRIDE may have to run with a separate or modified American crew to avoid the hassles of paperwork. Immigration laws and laws involving work visas in America are a mixed bag (it continues to get more aggravating every year). I don’t envy some of the challenges PRIDE is facing here.
Villasenor/Lawler is a good fight. I don’t know if it will attract much mainstream appeal, but a good fight nonetheless.
Yeah, for sure that’s a big issue… I know we’ve disagreed previously about how much of a success this first show is going to be. I don’t think we’re going to disagree about future problems.
Recruiting for this show would not have been a problem, I wouldnt imagine.
Pride – “Would you like to fight on the first ever Pride show in the US?”
Fighter A – “Sure, great!”
In the future though it will be a lot harder to convince people to fight in the US due to visas, US tax, general hassle of travelling (if they arent from the US)… Maybe they’ll have to work some deal out like K1 where they get paid a nominal fee for US shows then double the fee for Japanese ones, so they dont have to pay US taxes.
However, none of these are problems which will cause them to fail (imho).
They wont run that many shows in the US, meaning that ‘people’ (whoever that is… mma fans in general, pride nuthuggers, whatever) will be able to afford to attend / purchase all the US shows. That opposed to the UFC who hold events all the flippin time, so people pick and choose more if they are strapped for cash.
The infrequency will also mean each show will have more of a buzz in general and be able to command more media interest each time.
Re: Villasenor/Lawler creating mainstream interest… that doesnt matter… that’s what i was saying before. The mainstream bouts create the interest, they may well bomb or have unsatisfactory endings (the problem raised by that article) but the rest of the VOLUME of good fights, like the Villasenor v Lawler fight, will save the card… It may not be that fight specifically but there are enough fights for some of them to be crackers.
there is an interesting stroyline unfolding in the news section at mmauniverse.com about the feud thathas errupted between the UK’s two major promotions Cage Rage and Cage Warriors. If there are readers into UK MMA then it makes for interesting reading. Enjoy!