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Wednesday weekly media notes
By Zach Arnold | January 9, 2007
All the radio show links should be working now.
Results from our last poll: Which story coming out of the major NYE events will have the most long-term impact?
- Chuck Liddell suffers a torn ACL and torn tendons in hand, out of action for a year – 72%
- Kazushi Sakuraba accuses Yoshihiro Akiyama of cheating, stirring up anti-Korean sentiments in Japan – 21%
- Hidehiko Yoshida loses face with Japanese fans after being beat by James Thompson – 8%
Ultimately, the correct answer is #2. And it’s the scandal that will never die.
- Hot Air: Vince McMahon parody of Donald Trump vs. Rosie O’Donnell draws media attention
- Fox Sports: The return of The Natural?
- UFC HP: Randy Couture to make an announcement that will send ‘shockwaves’ through MMA
- PR Newswire: UFC’s undefeated Rashad Evans looks to hook a tough ‘Salmon’ on Spike TV
- The Davis Enterprise: Ex-UC Davis wrestler ‘Kid California’ to be featured on MSNBC
- The Houston Chronicle: The IFL yet to become a hot ticket in Houston (this is very bad news for the IFL)
- PRIDE: Dan Henderson vs. Vanderlei Silva for the Middleweight title headlining their 2/24 Las Vegas event.
- UFC Mania: TUF 5 – Clay Guida didn’t make the cut
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 49 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Hendo vs. Silva seems like a good bet to me to get the American audience in…
Henderson is not a big name at all in America with casual fans. He may be the least appealing option they had to choose from. If they wanted a name-value play from WW to jump to 205, Baroni would have been the guy.
The story from the “Hot Air” web site is all about Rosie’s alleged encounter with Barbara Walters, plus a video clip of the Rosie-Donald segment from Raw (it’s always nice when a segment is so bad that it causes the audience to chant the competition’s initials). If you go to Google News and type in “donald trump wwe” the only mainstream coverage is from TMZ.com… there are a few links to wrestling web sites, but no mainstream coverage other than TMZ.com.
Zach, I didn’t know that. Perhaps the bigwigs at Pride just assume Hendo = American therefore Americans like him.
The Fox Sports blog says that Randy might be coming back to challenge Sylvia for the Heavyweight title.
If Randy would come back at Heavyweight, I think Cro Cop / Couture could be a ridiculous mega money splonger of an event.
I’m as big a fan of Randy Couture as anyone else, but can he really compete at a competitive level anymore? His track record against bigger guys isn’t especially stellar either.
Is the Akiyama/Sakuraba controversy *really* taking a Japan vs. Korea turn or are you just trying to stir things up?
Maybe Baroni would be a more ‘name value’ name, but could PRIDE guarantee he’d pass the wellness issue being in the main event?
And let’s just say Mirko gets Nogueira’d or even worse Randleman’d, maybe Jackson doesn’t reclaim his form? Then Chuck being out does become more of a concern. I can certainly see why Dana doesn’t dissaprove of Randy coming out of retirement.
MMAWeekly’s Ken Pishna has the full story on Randy Couture coming out of retirement and fighting Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Title at http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3251
Hendo vs. Silva is not interesting at all. The matchup also is a lose-lose situation for Pride. Has anyone anticipated this rematch… anyone. Even in the wastelands of the mma forums, there has been no talk of this match (prior to the recent rumors of it).
Champ vs. Champ – how can Pride benefit from either losing right now. Silva has been built as a mythical legend, unbeatable nearly, in the promotion; if he loses (and I believe he will) they have shot down their most marketable fighter, the Yang to cash cow Liddell’s Yin. If Dan loses, another marketable American fighter for an American audience has been knocked down the ladder.
This fight doesn’t make sense. This further proves why UFC will continue to dominate the US market; they understand what the public want and know how to sell it. I’ll watch it, but it’s one of the biggest missteps I’ve ever seen at this level of promotion.
Don’t take my word on it – ask Gryphon or other Japanese MMA fans online who have been following it. There’s a reason that Gryphon has basically posted new information on it every day. The Sakuraba supporters on the various mark boards (fight-related) are attacking Akiyama for being a cheater and tying his race (he’s part-Korean) into it. Given the politics right now in Japan (with North Korea), this has become a headache for K-1.
why did everyone jump the gun on the Chuck injury? he hurt his MCL
Jason – it’s as if PRIDE totally forgot about Kazuo Misaki beating Henderson on 8/26 in Nagoya and then winning the now-mysteriously-not-talked-about Bushido 11/5 Yokohama Arena show (as Misaki won that tournament by replacing Paulo Filho if I’m not mistaken). We should have seen Misaki vs. Henderson on NYE or 2/24 for the Welterweight belt. Now it’s Silva vs. Henderson, which screams of the old Japanese “native vs. foreigner” formula with Henderson as the American native vs. Silva as the killer “foreigner” despite the fact that I think Silva will certainly get more of a babyface reaction.
Because directly coming out of the presser after the UFC 66 show, it was noted that Liddell tore the ACL. Then a couple of days later on the Nevada State Athletic Commission site, they had a medical suspensions report listing Liddell as having torn the ACL and needing doctor’s clearance to come back or he would be out until at least 6/30 by medical suspension.
This was hardly a ‘made-up’ story at all as far as the torn ACL concerns.
Atcually lots of people are talking about Silva/Henderson in the “wasteland of MMA forum” (ie Sherdog). Imacutally going to the show and looking forwardto the matchup (i loved the first fight). I think lil Nog/Silva would have been more logicall but HELL at least its not Arona/Silva III, i would have demanded my money back.
As for the Sakuraba/Akiyama controversy, yea its getting so bad even my dad is talking to me about it becuase he’s been reading about it in the newspaper.
Oh and Couture coming back is not a smart move at all.
Yep Henderson/Silva is a very dumb matchup … about as smart as Coleman vs Fedor. Pride execs need to get out of their head that Americans only care about American fighters. They’re supposed to be the better company because they don’t get sucked into that mindset. The match simply makes no sense from a practical point of view.
Couture coming back is a pretty big deal, definately makes 68 worth watching. I think the interesting story under this story is Vera being stuffed for getting greedy. According to MMAWeekly, not only is Vera not getting resigned, but they’re going to sit him for 8 months and then stick him in an unaired prelim fight.
Hmm… there was someone late in 2006 on Fight Opinion Radio who suggested that UFC would bring back Randy Couture as a heavyweight. Who was that mystery guy who said it?
Nah… couldn’t have been… that guy never predicts the future in MMA right. Never. 🙂
Two bad ideas:
1.) Henderson vs. Silva – no implications whatsoever on the PRIDE MW picture and Silva totally dominated Henderson last time they fought. Not to mention the fact that Hendo looks like he’s lost a step in the past few years…Silva is going to destroy him this time around.
2.) Any idea of Couture vs. Cro Cop. He’s also shown that he’s lost a step or two in the last couple Liddell fights. If he had troubles with Chuck’s takedown D and striking…he’s going to get it worse than Silva did at the OWGP finals.
We’ll see if Silva can draw in the hardcores like Fedor did. At least Coleman had some juice as an ex-UFC star. Henderson has zero buzz and name-value in America right now. None. He’s a very nice guy to interview and a good fighter, but there’s no name recognition in America for him.
Yea but can u say the same about Lil Nog or Arona (which are the two top names people want to see Silva fight)? I dont think tixs sales would go any faster to see Lil Nog Vs Silva. Silva ALONE is going to be the draw (like Cooper said) not only for PPV buys but for tixs sales alone. Also I dont think too many tix buyers are going to care about Misaki/Henderson, best to le4ave that one for Japan (whcih according to Henderson’s camp has already been signed to be Henderson’s next fight in Japan).
it does matter who Silva fights. I was in Vegas for the first show, and while everyone was geeking out for Fedor, lots of people wished it was a better opponent (I heard “I hope Wanderlei fights someone good” tons of times on the way out). people from all over the world won’t go to Vegas to see Silva fight a can, despite how over he was with that live crowd. all PRIDE needed to do was find someone respectable (who I guess they figured Silva could beat).
Then out of the choices who would have worked? Because I guarantee u BOTh Arona and Lil Nog would have been lost on an Vegas crowd with “Boring” chants echoing in the Thomas/Mack Center. Other than Baroni (who would ahve to bulk up) I dont see any LHW willing to trade with Silva and make an exciting fight.
The NSAC report said nothing about Liddell’s ACL. It said he needed to get his knee cleared by June 30th, but it mentioned nothing about ligaments of any kind. Meanwhile, the item posted here along with the poll erroneously suggested that Liddell was out for all of 2007. And as I recall, the FO writer said his “source†for the news about Liddell’s ACL tear was a Sherdog story that, in fact, never mentioned a problem with Liddell’s ACL.
All of above = not up to FO’s usual high standards. I think the site and the show are great. I think you guys just flubbed this one.
The sources of the ACL tear reports initially came from the Observer and then relayed onto other news platforms. I was the writer of the post.
As far as the Nevada report (which I also had linked to), if it was an MCL sprain or slight tear, they wouldn’t have listed a date of 6/30 for the minimum medical suspension (without doctor’s clearance). MCL is less serious than an ACL for certain. Whether or not Liddell is telling the entire truth about the knee injury is unknown, but what is known for certain is that he’s downplaying what everyone else was taking very seriously.
It would appear that Pride is setting up Hendo to be the first fighter to be champion in two different divisions. There’s little upside to Silva defeating Hendo and it was reported that he’s not getting the ww title. Both guys like to throw bombs so it should be an entertaining fight. I can’t speak for everyone else, but this is a rematch I’ve been waiting for forever. Hendo was the only guy that gave Silva problems during the height of his reign.
As for Couture vs Silvia, I think UFC would like nothing more than Silvia to lose the belt and will try anything and I mean anything! I’m sure UFC doesn’t think Couture has much of a chance, but either way, Couture who is probably the second more popular fighter behind Liddell, will draw big-time and create some interesting drama for a sagging division. If only Silvia would turn heel, then there would be some serious heat for this fight.
I would assume with stupid comments like “Who wants a picture with the champ?” and selling signed PS3s on ebay…that would make Sylvia a heel.
I would simply like to point out that the first Henderson/Silva encounter is probably by and large the most overrated MMA fight in history. Fans recount it as some gruesome war, and continously parrot the fact that Silva said years ago it was his “toughest fight”.
The truth of the matter is that Henderson landed one big punch that put the golf ball in Silva’s eyelid, and the ONLY reason Silva said he found the fight tough was that he was afraid of the fight being stopped because of his eye. Outside of that one punch and the ensuing eye swelling, Silva whipped Henderson from pillar to post, stomping on him while grabbing and shaking the ropes on some Hellwig shit.
Also, yes, many Japanese fans are painting Akiyama as a “Korean cheater”, and PRIDE getting buys from “hardcore fans” isn’t really going to help them. That same lot buy the pay per views even when they’re on a 48 hour tape delay. Cracking the pay per view market is about getting casual people who know very little about MMA, but are eager to see Fighter X or Fight Y for whatever reason. When the UFC does 500,000+ PPV buys, the people buying them aren’t people who can give you the history of the King of Pancrase.
I find it hilarious that some people are counting Couture out because he lost to Chuck Liddell. I’m happy to see Silvia vs Couture no matter which way it goes … now THAT is a main event.
Great post by Jordan Breen.
Im still trying to figure out why people keep spelling SYLVIA as Silvia….?
To the casual/new US fans PRIDE are trying to attract, Barbaric Brazilian champ versus All American Underdog surely is a better hook than Barbaric Brazilian Champ vs. Other… Brazilian… Dude.
Yeah Hendo vs Silva is weird decision but other people have come up with good points. Hendo Misaki is a fight best left for Japan and the other 205ers wouldn’t really trade. Silva vs Hendo 1 was a crazy fight and they are banking on another barnburner to show north american fans what “pride” is “all about”. So from a biz point of vue we can criticize but as fans of MMA we should be kinda happy for this rematch.
Couture coming back kinda breaks my heart. He will have trouble against a 6.8 ft guy. If this was pride bringing someone out of retirement it would get bashed crazy. That being said WAR RANDY but man, I am not looking forward to this 🙁
Having seen the saku akiyama fight the refs in K1 are officially the worst in the world. Read about WW2 in asia (which started in the early 30s) and you can see why there is a boatload of racism. I dunno, it could be Saku being done but he is as much a vet of the sport as one can get and never complained about this kind of stuff which makes me wonder. That being said I still kind of doubt cheating.
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=eventdetail.fightCard&eid=378
Couple more fights added to FN8. And interestingly, Lister vs. Marquardt is now no longer scheduled to air live, meaning 3-5 in fights to air-not air. Another TV match yet to be announced then. Who? :S
PROBABLY another TV-fight yet to be announced. They may just be playing it big time safe coming off of the rushed FN7.
Lister/Marquardt will air on TV. It is being promoted as the Co-Main Event. I think that is a mistake on their website.
The fight that might not air and I want to see is Din Thomas vs. Clayton Guida. That should be a good fight
I agree wih Critic (wow) I would want to see Thomas/Guida…sadly with this being UFN they wont even be able to sneak it in unless all the fights last like 30 secs (but with Rashad being a main event u know that one is going the full 15 at least). Its probably a typo.
“it could be Saku being done but he is as much a vet of the sport as one can get and never complained about this kind of stuff ”
Why do people act like Sakuraba is above complaining? This is the same guy who implied Silva was a roid-fueled Cheater McGee and wanted the weigh ins for their third fight to be on the day of the event.
Hey Arnold: Remember to criticize UFC 67 using most of the prefabrication from your criticism of Pride: The Real Deal. UFC 67, as I’m sure you know (even as you tell yourself otherwise), is a terrible card (the match-ups) designed to make “stars” look magical.
And didn’t Sakuraba refuse to leave the ringside area in the UFC Japan – Ultimate Japan 1 fight against “Conan” Silveira (first attempt) until the stoppage call was reversed?
That’s sure how I’d book UFC 67; you’ve got Liddell out for a few months, and not many marketable opponents left, a heavyweight champion they don’t want as champion, and his number 1 opponent out of favour with the company. It only makes common sense to introduce Mirko Cro Cop and Quinton Jackson in this manner. Just lok at Scott Steiner in WWE with his twenty minute snorefest in WWE that killed his name value, should Mirko be booked against an opponent to neutralize him for 15 minutes? Remember, the concept behind any business is making money, and that’s something that the Fertita’s are currently doing very well…
mmaweekly interviewed Liddell and he said that he has a MCL tear, not an ACL tear, so it isn’t serious (according to him). However, if he had in fact torn his ACL, that most certainly would have been the biggest NYE weekend story.
Nobody in America cares about Sakuraba or Akiyama, and considering that America is a much bigger market than Japan, and that UFC is at the point where they have been thinking about buying Pride, a story involving their biggest star (and the most famous mma fighter in America) is much more important than a story involving anything coming out of Japan. Do Japanese and Koreans hate each other? Yes. Did they hate each other before this incident? Yes. I don’t think this will affect things too much. I doubt that the Koreans thinking of buying or televising Pride in Korea will abandon their interest because of this, so it is really not that big of a deal. If anything, it could help set up a money feud between Korean and Japanese fighters..
Whoa, watch that ufc japan fight again. He protested a bullshit flash knockout and they only redid the fight once Tank got injured. It was also his FIRST mma fight(depending on whether you count the Kimo one as a fight). The fact that he finished the rematch also kind of proved his point.
And the pride bashers bitch about roids all the time, shouldn’t you be happy saku was bringing it up?
All I am saying is that he got a lot of serious beat downs where he fought through them or lost. I have never seen him bitch during a fight like that in a similar situation. I doubt that a seasoned vet of the game(winning amazingly and losing baldy) would start complaining about shit like that. Like I said I doubt Akiyama cheated but it’s still weird.
Zach…can you translate this? Did Akiyama really get DQ’d?
http://gbring.com/sokuho/news/2007_01/0111_k-1.htm
The only time I’ve seen Saku act like that in a fight before was when he had to tell the ref he broke Renzo’s arm. By all accounts he is an honorable performer in the ring, and not some Coleman hot-head. Regardless of what Akiyama did or did not do, a rematch is pretty uninteresting, but at least the situation itself is a fascinating news story, and K-1 will book a rematch regardless.
“badape Says:
January 10th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Hey Arnold: Remember to criticize UFC 67 using most of the prefabrication from your criticism of Pride: The Real Deal. UFC 67, as I’m sure you know (even as you tell yourself otherwise), is a terrible card (the match-ups) designed to make “stars†look magical.”
—————-
Oh please. First of all, the show is three weeks away, so yould at least wait and see what is written or not about it. Second, the UFC with 67 is in a so ridiculiously different situation as a company running an MMA event in the US from what PRIDE was in October that there’s not really grounds for a direct comparison anyway.
Zack…yipes, my machine translation tells me Akiyama is playing the “Me got dry skin” card…
And it’s clear as day that he used a different right glove to everyone in the whole event…
Unless I’ve really missed the point, he’s had his money held back and the match is a no contest.
Looking forward to Zach’s sure-to-be-coming post…
The bout has been ruled a no contest. Akiyama said that he used a moisturizer for dry skin, and said that while he knew vaseline and Thai oil were not allowed, he didn’t know moisturizers of that nature were also prohibited. His fight purse has been withheld, as well.
“Whoa, watch that ufc japan fight again. He protested a bullshit flash knockout and they only redid the fight once Tank got injured.”
Yes, the stoppage was bad (since he was going for an ankle pick), but the fact of the matter was that Sakuraba was incredibly pissed off and basically had a sit-in protest until McCarthy and the officials reviewed the footage and reversed it right there. That is a temper tantrum, even if I like the guy in general. He could have filed a protest and gotten it reversed into a NC later on, but instead he forced McCarthy and the officials to change it right there and then.
“iain Says:
Whoa, watch that ufc japan fight again. He protested a bullshit flash knockout”
It wasn’t no flash knockout, he dropped for a quick single-leg, Big John f*cked up.
Tomer: Thank goodness he did, otherwise we may not have got to see the legend we did.