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Possible Sakuraba replacements for K-1 Dynamite
By Zach Arnold | May 27, 2007
While the name Yoshihiro Akiyama has been floated as a potential opponent for Royce Gracie on June 2nd at the LA Coliseum event, Dave Meltzer is reporting tonight that K-1 has made an offer to Ken Shamrock to take the fight against Gracie on short-notice.
Topics: HERO's, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
When was it announced that Saku is definitely out? This show is such a clusterfuck it is ridiculous. They are going to get 14 ppv buys for this show if they are lucky, assuming the card even happens..
I wonder how much Ken could milk out of this. Shamrock vs Gracie would be a much bigger sell in the US than Sakuraba / Gracie. The question is how asian TV would feel about this. Don’t the japanese hate Shamrock because of all that shit he pulled with Mezger vs Sakuraba?
Brilliant.
Do a big money fight like Shamrock vs. Gracie on short notice and with no promotion.
I’m so bummed if Sakuraba doesn’t fight. That’s the only reason why I bought tickets.
Oh yea, and the US debut of Yoon Dong Sik.
Sakuraba isn’t ‘officially’ off the card yet, he’ll still undergo tests next week.
Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie III, with the UFC’s backing, would do huge business in America. My guess would be close to UFC 66 level, or around 1 Million PPV Buys.
With Pro Elite, and on short notice, I would be shocked if they got 50,000 PPV Buys. And that is a high estimate.
Shamrock, Gracie, & Sakuraba have all fought for Pride and on American PPV. Since they weren’t on a UFC PPV, it never sold well.
As for Akiyama, why would the CSAC even sanction him to fight? He is a known cheater who was suspended by K-1.
Oh the irony if the suspension by K1 is used as the reason why the CSAC won’t license Akiyama for K1’s show.
When will we know if Sakuraba is out or not? This on paper looks like the most expensive mma card ever produced that nobody will see.
We gotta stop being so US-centric. Remember, it’s gonna be on free tv across asia. Sure it’ll be a disaster, but a lot of people are still gonna watch it.
David – there was a report that the estimated budget for fighter salaries on this card is in the $2-3 million USD range.
Supposedly we’ll know by Tuesday or Wednesday regarding Sakuraba’s participation on the show.
How much did Page make?
How much did Page make?
The NSAC payroll had him making 450k.
Akiyama? I thought he was done and K-1 washed there hands with him. Why K-1, why are u doing this show. Its just not worth it.
Again, it’s really not just about how this show will do in America. One thing to consider is the point of no return has already been crossed. A large part of this is the Asian tv deals.
Although one thing I just thought of … this is a football stadium right? What happens if it rains?
zack, this IMO is irresponsible journalism on your part. you complain a lot about japanese media putting the spin on news, but you are no better.
this is what the newsletter said :
There will be no decision made on Kazushi Sakuraba likely until Tuesday. The name Yoshihiro Akiyama has surfaced as a potential new opponent for Royce Gracie.
casual reader like me comes along to your site and reads :
Possible Sakuraba replacements for K-1 Dynamite
what do you think i assume? that i missed some big news where sakuraba was definetely out of the K1 show. what was the first question someone asked in the comments section? i was obviously not the only one confused.
fortunately i did some of your ‘due diligence’.
i love this site because of the news and stories you break, but it has been an ever increasing pain in the buttocks to weed through all your negativity to get to the meat and potatoes.
i used to think you just had a beef with pride, but now i realize you just like spinning things negatively regardless or brand.
be a pro, people read your shit, remember.
Wow, a 3 million dollar payroll!
No one will order this PPV and very few will be going to the event, and K1 is expecting the most successful event held in the U.S..
This is going to be the largest, most monumental failure ever in the history of MMA, by far. It’s like Cal Ripken, Jr.’s consecutive game streak; this record will never be even remotely touched.
Zach, quite a bit of the time the above statement is true. With that said the negativity does stir up controversy. What is the aim of the site? Is it to provide news or to have active banter between US MMA promotions and Japanese promotions?
Zach is trying to be the Matt Drudge of MMA. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to personal opinion. Personally, I think it can be good thing.
There needs to be dissenting voices among the sea of fanboyish MMA blogs and website, and I do think Zach does an extremely good job of that. He culls great stories (especially from Japan) and is clearly an intelligent, articulate guy. He’s created a niche for himself and done it very well overall. The fact that he’s created a forum for intelligent MMA fans is proof in and of itself that he’s been successful.
The only times I object is when, for the sake of sensationalism (that’s the only reason I can gather because he clearly has the intellectual capacity to see otherwise), he comes to bizarre conclusions because of his pre-existing notions of how a particular storyline needs to end in his opinion. Examples:
a) Zach thinking Hustle still promoting outside of DSE offices was anything significant;
b) Zach *still* to this day thinking that the Fishman lawsuit will magically uncover Yakuza ties;
c) Zach promoting the idea of a “New Zuffa Myth” that simply doesn’t exist
d) Zach implying that Sakuraba has already been denied by the CSAC;
etc, etc.
He already has, arguably, the best MMA blog out there; it would be perfect if he just cut some of the fat.
Another good point made by Grape Knee High. I agree that Zach has definately added some panoramic ideas on topics. However, we must all agree, that Zach’s perspective definately has us returning for more reading and discussion.
Didn’t Sakuraba pass his MRI but fail the heart tests and had to be further tested, which is why people are talking about replacements? I thought that was the ear-to-the-ground word on that.
Word. Possible. That would be accurate. So what’s your point? K1 has to be looking for replacements in case Saku can’t make it. Not he hasn’t made, but in case he doesn’t make clearance. It has nothing to do with negativity, just that in (any) promoting biz you need contingencies.
Zach reports on FEG and K1 finally acting professional and you guys say its negativity? He reports on them UFC/PRIDE/etc., acting un-professionally, and a number of readers say its negativity.
You truly cannot please all of the people all of the time.
I do hope it works out for them but there a number of glaring issues that have me a little worried. Being positive or negative towards a certain promotion isn’t really an issue for me here.
Because there are some major red flags here people. Red flags, not only in terms of a realistic audience but looking at the card and the way it’s been handled reeks of negligent and shoddy work. It really feels like they are setting themselves up for failure.
First off, who’s bright idea was it to hold it at Memorial Coliseum? I’ve been to enough USC and LA Raider football games to know that that place is just too large of a venue for a MMA event. That place can hold over 90k easy, and trust me it only gets like that when Pete Carroll is on the sideline with his team.
The UFC had a hard enough time filling up the Staples Center for Gracie/Hughes. That’s the UFC mind you with Royce Gracie on the card and if they couldn’t fill up Staples how on earth did these clowns think the Memorial Coliseum was going to be a viable choice? They’ll be lucky if they get enough paying customers to fill up the floor seats and maybe some customers in the stands.
Also, that place was made for holding people to watch large sporting events like football games and the olympics, not two guys squaring off in a cage in the middle of the field. Trust me the view for people sitting in the stands is going to suck.
And I don’t even want to think how bad it’s going to look with all those empty seats on tv. So unless they just start giving away tickets to groups of people for attendance be prepared for lots and lots of empty seats.
It’s a shame someone didn’t do a little leg work, because the Galen Center is right there, and that would be an awesome venue for a MMA fight.
http://usctrojans.cstv.com/facilities/usc-galen-center.html
But who knows, maybe that large Asian base they are depending on will come through. I understand that’s why they have a Korean guy fighting Lesner. And I guess Sakuraba and Morton would have brought in the others. Maybe.
If you going with a venue that big what are you doing having such a mediocre card, in June no less? A couple of interesting names but the only two guys I wanted to watch was Royce and Sakuraba go at it. But hell lets face it, those two guys are way past their prime. And to the average MMA fan, the retard who didn’t know MMA even existed till last year, those names won’t mean anything.
Brock Lesner and Johnnie Morton were two interesting signings but damn you really couldn’t do any better than a tv personality and a really big Korean guy? They could have done so much more, especially with Lesner, who know that guy could be the next big thing. But let’s get him some credible competition to generate interest in his fight.
Not only did they completely miss on that one, they decide to hold the event during summer break at USC. School’s out, that whole area is dead right now.
And finally, how about all the issues with paperwork, licenses, and physicals? If you can call anything a red flag it’s the way all the paperwork has been handled.
They got their license to hold the event last friday, eight days before the event. Lesner’s original opponent couldn’t pass his physical and Sakuraba, a guy who has had a lot of health concerns coming into this fight is still up in the air. Yet these guys didn’t have a back up plan? Oh and lest we forget Carano and Eastman are both off the card now.
Let’s say Sakuraba can’t fight, what then? Ken Shamrock? I don’t even see how Ken Shamrock could even a realistic answer as a replacement.
Ken’s a guy who fights in the LHW/HW division, what’s the most Royce has ever weighed? 185 maybe, and that’s with a wet Gi on. But let’s be honest, Shamrock is as old and past his prime as Sakuraba and Gracie.
Like I said I hope it works out for these guys but there are some serious issues going on here.
If I had his bank account or his houses in Miami and New York, I’d take that as a compliment. I don’t, however. 🙂
As far as the comments about PRIDE, K-1, etc. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Japanese fight scene has totally collapsed. It’s a combination of many factors (organized crime, stupidity, failure to make many Japanese heavyweight stars, etc.) I don’t know how writing about K-1’s upcoming monumental disaster at the LA Coliseum is supposed to be extraordinary.
Has anyone paid attention to how much UFC coverage has been on this site in the last week, including the insane amount of links I’ve posted to blogs and web sites? The accusation that I focus strictly on the negative and not on the positive is inaccurate, IMO.
Zach Arnold Says:
May 28th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Zach is trying to be the Matt Drudge of MMA. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to personal opinion. Personally, I think it can be good thing.
If I had his bank account or his houses in Miami and New York, I’d take that as a compliment. I don’t, however.
As far as the comments about PRIDE, K-1, etc. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Japanese fight scene has totally collapsed. It’s a combination of many factors (organized crime, stupidity, failure to make many Japanese heavyweight stars, etc.) I don’t know how writing about K-1’s upcoming monumental disaster at the LA Coliseum is supposed to be extraordinary.
Has anyone paid attention to how much UFC coverage has been on this site in the last week, including the insane amount of links I’ve posted to blogs and web sites? The accusation that I focus strictly on the negative and not on the positive is inaccurate, IMO.
Zach, you are correct as that you are not strictly negative, but you do put a negative spin to some issues. Like I have said before though, your view on topics is interesting and sometimes quite entertaining. Keep your chin up and roll with the critics as not everyones view on a topic will be from the same light.
// Word. Possible. That would be accurate. So what’s your point? K1 has to be looking for replacements in case Saku can’t make it. Not he hasn’t made, but in case he doesn’t make clearance. It has nothing to do with negativity, just that in (any) promoting biz you need contingencies. //
If you interpret the headline “Possible Sakuraba replacements for K1 Dynamite” as :
“Possibly Sakuraba may not convent, and if that possibility does occur, here is a list of possible opponents” there is something wrong with you.
First off, Zach is too good of a writer to use “Possible” or its variations that many times in a single idea.
Secondly, look up at the first question asked in the very first comment.
I’m not making this up, I would recommend you need to spend some time with Frank Shamrock, to get your excuse-making abilities to a higher level. Good try though.
// The accusation that I focus strictly on the negative and not on the positive is inaccurate, IMO. //
That was not the accusation, not even close, not even remotely close actually. The accusation was that you spin good news/bad news/pride news/ufc news/paris hilton’s new chihuahua news – negatively.
I understand that may be your niche in the MMA news landscape, and if that is the case I commend you on an excellent job. However from your previous statement I gather that is not your intention, and if it sincerely is not, please take my comments as positive criticism.
I’m not trying to rag on you, I am in fact a fan, and enjoy your columns very much. I enjoy your writing and the information you provide. But if you’re always reporting the worst possible scenario, it makes the entire story untrustworthy.
My two cents.
(How the hell do I quote? Is it [QUOTE]…[/QUOTE]?)