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Thursday talking points
By Zach Arnold | January 17, 2007
Fedor vs. Lindland. Enough said.
- The Tecumseh Countywide News: Firelake Grand Casino hosts cage fighting Saturday night
- SLAM! Sports: John Alessio ready for new-look WEC
- The Half-Moon Bay Review: Jiu-jitsu instructor accused of molestation
- The Rome News-Tribune: ‘Battle of Rome’ to bring MMA to Forum
- The Marketplace (both audio & text): Ultimate fighting’s all about blood – and money
- PR.com: Showtime set to enter the MMA game, Royce Gracie BJJ embraces the announcement
- The Fresno Bee: UFC will move all WEC shows to Las Vegas
- The Moberly Monitor Index: UFC champion (Matt Hughes) to speak at Family Life Fellowship
- The News & Star (UK): Men of steel: Alan Murdoch
- The Fight Network: Emelianenko Fedor vs. Matt Lindland now a possibility
- Showtime PR: Elite XC conference call notes
- MMA Weekly: Jeff Monson will fight in the UK in March
- Radio: Eddie Goldman interviews Gary Shaw of Elite XC
- MMA Weekly (via MMA California): CSAC yanks Vernon White from IFL 1/19 Oakland show
- 411 Mania: Why wrestling fans like MMA
- New York Newsday: Versus boxing personality Wally Matthews gets cheap shot on MMA in article about Muhammad Ali (I’m sure he’ll be thrilled that WEC is about to air on the network he works for)
- The Charlotte Observer: Jeff Monson to be at the Budweiser Jiu-Jitsu World Cup 2007 event
- Fightworks Podcast: Nick Diaz signs with Elite XC
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Well, Wally Matthews does bring up a good point. Heavyweight boxers in the 70s faught like they were fighting to the death, IMO (this is probably the reason why people I know that grew up in that era think UFC, without watching it, is barbaric, and pro westling is acting). But if you call that a shot at UFC, IMO, it’s also a shot at everything else known as a sport in this modern society. It’s tough to compare anything in sports to Muhammad Ali’s era of boxing, well unless it’s the the gladiators of ancient Rome :D.
15-second rule explained and all the paranoids can have a rest.
So funny to see Renzo talking about how “we” don’t care about cutting promos or badmouthing eachother – this is a sport and all is said in the cage. A shame(or perhaps no wonder) Frank didn’t answer that same question 😀
Uhm yeah, EliteXC wants fighters from all promotions to come together to prove who is the best…. on Showtime. Good luck with that one. Olympic by 2012? That’s proposterous. Daydreaming. Other than that, it looked pretty good. Dana White has a problem now that he has Shaw to deal with.
GFC (claim they)will run in feb/march, and list Sperry vs. Sims. With Monson fighting in CW, it all makes sense. Not that GFC doesn’t look like it’s falling apart anyway. Diaz eh…
Lindland vs. Fedor sounds SOOOOO weird, but I’d definitely watch.
Zach, any rumors going around for opponents at PRIDE 33? like Gomi, Sakurai, etc…and are Melendez and Aoki possibilities for appearing?
The only confirmed matches for PRIDE 33 are Silva/Henderson and Yvel/ Kharitonov. Rumors are that Cung Le will be on the card and of course now the Fedor rumors. Rumor also that Gomi will face former UFC fighter Josh Neer in a non title fight of course.
“Zach, any rumors going around for opponents at PRIDE 33? like Gomi, Sakurai, etc…and are Melendez and Aoki possibilities for appearing?”
Melendez has stated he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing yet, though I imagine DSE would like to use him. Sakurai is slated to appear, and may face Marcus Aurelio. Aoki will not be fighting, as he is fighting on the February 17 Shooto card BACK TO OUR ROOTS to defend his 167-pound world title.
Melendez vs. Sakurai would be a great matchup.
Why for the love of God would PRIDE put someone who is likely regarded as a TUF “reject” against Gomi?? Are they assuming he’s got name value with the US audience?? If it’s merely a showcase for Gomi, I guess you could see it as a good idea…but come on – you’re supposed to be showing you’re the superior product etc etc…
They’re making it harder and harder to side with them every day.
And for the record: So my comment is not confused in saying that I am a PRIDE “nuthugger”…I am an MMA fan first and foremost, but if it came down to it, PRIDE has had a history of having a superior roster of fighters, putting on exciting blockbuster fights, has imo better rules and has had some of the best events in the history of mma and thus I am a bigger fan of the organization than other org’s.
However, I often times do take issue with the fact that there seems to be a tremendous (and growing) bias and dislike for the organization and I will defend it where I see it proper.
I like the UFC as well…I mean it was my first exposure to MMA and when it first came out when I was 14 years old, it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I just feel (again in my opinion) that it had hosted a multitude of boring fights with an inferior roster of fighters, that at numerous times were shoved (and still are at times) down the fan’s throats. I like that they are headed in the direction of bringing on the best fighter in the world recently, but they’ve had a history (in the Zuffa age) of wanting cheap and/or American talent, that will trashtalk first and bring that attitude into the ring.
I think it would be awesome if in the near future there were a few dominant promotions at the top, who were willing to work together at some points in time to give us dream cards and I for one am completely against the idea of a “UFC monopoly” as the major player in mma in North America. Look at what the up surge in competition (as flimsy as it is at times) has done!!
I think (I dont possess a strong knowledge in this area) the current climate in pro wrestling shows that it’s very short sighted for so many people to be “rooting for PRIDE’s demise” and “dancing on its grave”.
lol at the ignorance of Gary Shaw telling Renzo Gracie that he’s no American:
“Gracie: … it is actually just a feud between athletes and a chance to measure ourselves against each other and test our skills.
Shaw: (Joking) Gracie, do not claim to now suddenly be an American. Shamrock’s the American. You are the Brazilian. You may live and eat here.
Gracie: Just to let you know I was accepted as a citizen a month ago.
Shaw: Welcome as a citizen, but you will be walking into the cage holding a Brazilian flag.”
Does he realize how he comes off with exchanges like this?
Give then “Joking” part and it seeming like they had already previously agreed to do the flag bit on the show, I didn’t take it to mean anything – as per usual when irony/sarcasm is transcribed.
By the way:
http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=18414
“–Reports of a Joe Stevenson vs. Caol Uno match on 3/3 in Columbus, OH are premature…”
Lindland fighting Fedor is a joke. He is moving up 2 weight classes for this fight. Fedor is going to hurt him badly.
For all the talk about these various organizations (Bodog, Showtime, etc….) being true competition for the UFC…. Yet none of them are putting on top fights between two fighters within their own weight classes.
*cough* Couture vs. Sylvia *cough*
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/3877160223
– SYLVESTER TERKAY is out there again. Sakakibara just had a seizure.
You can guarantee that Sylvester will be on a future PRIDE show very soon. Very… soon.
Actaully Terkay isnt a joke he has had MMA experince and wasnt too bad for his K-1 career.
Sylvester pounded Bonjasky very much so (go to the radio archives to listen to the interview about that fight we did with him), so he could definitely be a good pro-MMA fighter.
Absolutely agree, and he is a MUST for PRIDE’s SHW-division, thus the Sakakibara comment 😉
The “David Heath” (Gangrel) who was released…am I mistaken or is that the same “David Heath” that was on a recent UFC card?
Yes, I did notice that it’s ridiculous that I’m using the “.”‘s around his real name and not his wrestling name!
Sylvester Terkay actually looked like he had a lot of potential when he was doing kickboxing matches in K-1. Given his amateur wrestling background, he could also potentially be adept at MMA as well.
But could Terkay lose enough weight to fight in UFC or Pride’s Heavyweight division?
Isn’t Terkay pushing 40?
He’s 36, about the same age as Kurt Angle.
He’s not that far from 265. Even if he is over 265, super heavyweight fights are perfectly legal in the U.S. as long as both fighters weigh in at or above 265 pounds.
Gaijin— that’s a different David Heath. Besides, I don’t think the athletic commissions would let Gangrel drink fake blood to replenish his energy during fights…