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Sunday media stroll: UFC on a Rampage

By Zach Arnold | May 27, 2007

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By Zach Arnold

In the last media post, I mentioned how a newspaper writer in Syracuse tried to lump in dogfighting allegations against NFL QB Michael Vick in comparison to UFC. That was supposed to carry a negative connotation. Today, ESPN interviewed an anonymous source claiming that Vick was involved in dogfighting — and tried to defend Vick by using a reference to UFC. Even worse is this article (spotted by Mikeinformer) in the New York Daily News by sportswriter Filip Bondy, called Cruelty in eye of beholder. Bondy tries to rationalize why people support dog fighting… because American society supports MMA. The author’s e-mail is here if you like to respond in a dignified manner.

Both Sam Caplan and Deadspin were not all that impressed with the UFC 71 show. 100% Injury Rate and The Smittblog did not come away thrilled from watching Rampage vs. Liddell. In a strange sense, I guess I can understand why the casual fan might not be entertained by flash knockouts — because they have been conditioned by watching a knockdown in boxing and then a referee giving a 10-count for the fighter to recover. Would Liddell have recovered if given a 10 count by Big John McCarthy? Perhaps. Jackson would have still likely won the fight if Liddell had gotten back up. The positive trade-off, however, is that we don’t have MMA fighters in comas right now.

Huliq reports that everyone on every search engine is searching for video clips from the UFC 71 event. It is certainly popular on Digg.

In regards to the statement made by Dana White about the PRIDE asset sale deal being finalized, I think it’s very interesting news on several levels.

  1. My opinion is that UFC has made the calculation that it’s a lot easier to just bring PRIDE fighters into the fold in UFC than it is to run a separate promotion. I wouldn’t be surprised if UFC ran a couple of shows under the PRIDE banner in Japan, but I don’t expect a full-fledged operation right now.
  2. UFC’s making the right decision by integrating PRIDE fighters into their company as opposed to running two separate brands. With that stated, it all but closes the door on the Japanese MMA scene in terms of being a national powerhouse. The top Japanese representative in UFC right now is Yushin Okami. Not Kazushi Sakuraba, not Hidehiko Yoshida, and certainly not any of the big-name Japanese fighters. K-1 is the only national player in Japan who has the power to build new Japanese stars, and that is a dicey proposition.
  3. The PRIDE asset sale being finalized certainly provides more attention to the Ed Fishman lawsuit, particularly witness depositions which start in a few days. With UFC publicly coming out and saying that a deal with DSE has been consummated, everyone is fair game for questioning under oath. Plus, it will be interesting to see if any of the Japanese magazines ‘follow the money’ and pay attention to the money transaction between UFC & DSE.
  4. What will happen to PRIDE fighters stuck under PRIDE contracts? Will they capitulate and assign their deals over to UFC or will there be a protracted legal war to become free agents?

For those keeping score, the following people predicted Rampage’s win at UFC 71 on Fight Opinion Radio: Luke Thomas, Steve Sievert, and me. Those who will hold their heads in shame: Jeff Thaler, Erin Bucknell, and Ken Pishna.

Roxanne Modafferi = unstoppable.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. China Combat: Art of War 6: Global thoughts
  2. The San Antonio Express-News: Boxing lacks authentic punch (this is an article from a boxing writer)
  3. The Toronto Star: A new fight game hits Las Vegas
  4. The San Jose Mercury News: Better to give than receive – Johnny Morton
  5. The Baltimore Sun: UFC 71 post-fight press conference
  6. Sprawl ‘n Brawl: Why Rampage is good for the UFC
  7. The Orange County Register: Decision helps Parisyan’s case (Karo says he should get a title shot against Matt Serra)
  8. The Fanhouse: Chuck Liddell loses — where does UFC go from here?
  9. The Globe and Mail (Canada): Despite some stumbles, UFC shows it belongs
  10. The Newark Star-Ledger (NJ): Chuck Liddell wants at Rampage Jackson again

Topics: Boxing, HERO's, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

15 Responses to “Sunday media stroll: UFC on a Rampage”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    I don’t mind Pride as we know it going away. We will see unified champions, only under the UFC banner. I wouldn’t be shocked if they still ran Pride, but more as a secondary show. Like the Japanese version of the WEC, only slightly bigger.

    I will say that I honestly don’t feel the money spent on the company was a waste either. This is for a few reasons:

    1. The footage they had of Rampage beating on Liddell easily got more PPV buys. That countdown show alone created enough hype to get an additional 100,000 to 200,000 PPV buys then was originally intended. Since Zuffa gets half the PPV price, that is $2 Million to $4 Million extra just for one PPV.

    2. That move was to block the competition. Plain and simple. Pro Elite was making a bid at the company. While Zuffa might have not gotten all of the fighters, they had first crack at the majority of them. Enough to make it worth their while.

    This influx of new fighters should really make the UFC interesting for the next 18 months (until the end of 2008). How the sport goes from there is anybodies guess.

  2. Zach Arnold says:

    Japan was the second largest market for MMA. UFC is not going to do a lot to foster major-league headline talent in that country. They are not going to go out of their way to make new Japanese stars. Without the creation of major Japanese stars, Japan’s role in the global MMA scene is in question (outside of smaller shows like Cage Force).

  3. jeff aka whaledog says:

    You messing with me?

    I picked Rampage. Did you edit my change of pick out of the show?

  4. Zach Arnold says:

    No poseurs allowed on Fight Opinion Radio, mister.

  5. jeff aka whaledog says:

    I will go down in history as having called this one right!

  6. klown says:

    The future LHW match-ups are tantalizing. Maybe Shogun vs the winner of Ortiz vs Evans, and the winner of that fight takes the winner of Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva. And the winner of that fight challenges the winner of Henderson vs Rampage for the unified LHW champion. What a ride it will be.

  7. JThue says:

    In the May 23rd Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer notes that Alexander Emelianenko has signed a long-term deal with Bodog, plus that the other big targets right now are Denis Kang and Josh Barnett.

  8. 45 Huddle says:

    Alexander Emelianenko isn’t exactly a huge loss. He has proven that he can’t beat the top guys already. It would be much worse if he was an unproven up and comer.

    Losing Barnett is no suprise. Barnett screwed over Zuffa, and they have never gotten along since.

    I do think if Zuffa lost Kang, it would be a big loss. He is a solid contender at 185 lbs. I think he beats Misaki in a rematch rather easily.

  9. Hey guys. I try not to whore my site her but we cut a special podcast to cover UFC71 and we’d really appreciate it if you took the 30-odd minutes to take a listen and tell me what you think.

  10. grafdog says:

    “My opinion is that UFC has made the calculation that it’s a lot easier to just bring PRIDE fighters into the fold in UFC than it is to run a separate promotion.”

    Your opinion is correct IMO.
    Thats the way it seems to always works when buying the competition.

  11. David says:

    Agreed

  12. Body_Shots says:

    Denis has or had 4 to 5 fights left on his PRIDE contract, if Zuffa did acquire PRIDE’s assets maybe they got him.

  13. Yeah but Kang also had a non-exclusive contract that allowed him to fight in Korea, and White has publically stated that they’re not willing to do anything non-exclusive. So unless Kang signs something new, it’s gonna be a while before we see him again.

  14. Jeff Turner says:

    I picked Rampage because Randy Couture said he believe Rampage would win just as he predicted Gonzales over Cro-Cop. I don’t bet but if I did I’d be placing all decision based on Coutures opinion.

  15. Body_Shots says:

    Yeah but Kang also had a non-exclusive contract that allowed him to fight in Korea, and White has publically stated that they’re not willing to do anything non-exclusive. So unless Kang signs something new, it’s gonna be a while before we see him again.

    It wasn’t really non-exclusive, Denis had to have PRIDE’s consent in order to take those fights.

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