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Saturday media slate: A paper trail of tickets

By Zach Arnold | June 8, 2007

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Lance Pugmire in the LA Times has an article about the crowd numbers for the K-1 Dynamite show. During the lead-up to the show at the LA Coliseum, the most prolific pontificator in the press coverage was K-1/Royce Gracie employee Mike Kogan. He made plenty of bluster and was quoted in both in The LA Times and Yahoo Sports (Kevin Iole). Kogan has more to say:

“This is why we went to the Coliseum: to make a statement,” said Mike Kogan, the U.S.-based events director for Fighting and Entertainment Group. “For anyone to then question our numbers is preposterous and ridiculous.”

As if Kogan talking wasn’t bad enough PR for K-1, the CSAC also announced that Tim Persey (who fought on the Dynamite show) tested positive for Meth. Also, here are the fighter salaries for the Dynamite show. The Sakuraba salary figure is laughable. Maybe I can believe $300,000 or even $3,000,000 USD, but $30,000? Maybe one of the 54,000 fans at the Dynamite show can tell me more about this.

The Salt Lake Tribune has an article titled MMA still fights criticism despite its safety record that painfully displays The Zuffa Myth. E-mail the author of the article, Baxter Holmes.

MMA safety has improved since Zuffa LLC bought the UFC in 2002. UFC president Dana White helped create rules that gave the sport more structure. The new rules include no gouging of any kind, butting, biting, clawing, hair pulling, groin attacks or “engaging in any unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.”

Compare and contrast the differences between the NFL and the UFC for their online media policies.

Yet another UFC/dog-fighting reference made in the media by an NFL player, but this time the name is pretty big – LaDainian Tomlinson. “It’s kind of like an (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fight almost, until someone gets hurt, you know what I mean?” Tomlinson said between minicamp workouts at the Chargers’ complex.

Quick results from today’s Cage Force event in Tokyo at Differ Ariake: Kotetsu Boku defeated David Gardner (Team Quest) after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision. Eiji Mitsuoka defeated Takumi in R1 in 3’30 by TKO. Artur Oumakhanov defeated Miki Wataru after 3R by a 2-1 judges’ decision. Tomonari Kanomata defeated Wataru Takahashi after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision.

The Associated Press issued a report based on a report in The Arizona Republic, stating that Tommy Morrison’s former agent Randy Lang is claiming that Morrison tested positive for HIV and alleges that Morrison is misrepresenting test results.

Over at The Fight Game on FoxNews.com, they have several interviews with WEC fighters after the WEC 28 event in Las Vegas. Check it out.

For those of you who like prediction contests and so forth, here is something interesting for you to take a look at.

Boxing writer Charles Jay is now setting his sights on the BWAA (Boxing Writers Association of America). Part one and part two here.

I have not seen any e-mail feedback posted on The Grand Rapids Press web site in regards to all of the MMA fans who wrote in to complain about Brian VanOchten’s inflammatory column. We had a commenter state that he was told by the paper’s sports editor that they would post responses. I don’t see them on that site yet.

Kenny Florian vs. Alvin Robinson booked for UFC 73 on July 7th in Sacramento.

A casual fan’s perspective on Brock Lesnar in MMA.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. Hudson MMA: Thomas and Sims and Berube, Oh My! (read this one for sure)
  2. MMA Fever: Dana White – Tool of the Day
  3. On the Mat: Interview with Tom Murphy
  4. Bloody Elbow: Radio show w/ Frank Shamrock and Tito Ortiz
  5. Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois): MMA event on tap tonight at Interstate Center
  6. KLTV 7 (Tyler, Texas): Rener Gracie makes a visit to East Texas
  7. SLAM! Sports: UFC joker Forrest Griffin has cure for ‘Sick Dog’
  8. The Desert Dispatch (CA): San Jacinto locals compete in King of the Cage
  9. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (Iowa): MMA at Five Sullivan Brothers Center
  10. Tony Loiseleur: Roxanne Modafferi recovering after hospitalization
  11. The Boston Herald (Joe Lauzon): TUF Week 10 – Getting down to the Final 4
  12. CBS Sportsline: Q & A with UFC Heavyweight champion Randy Couture
  13. UFC Junkie: Sean Salmon fighting tomorrow in Cleveland
  14. The Salt Lake Tribune: All rage in the cage – MMA might KO boxing
  15. The Rolla Daily News: Ken Sparks Jr. is a champion in his latest sport: full-contact fighting (who knew there was a division in UFC called Masters of the Cage?)
  16. The Shreveport Times (LA): IFC MMA coming to Marksville on July 14th
  17. IFL PR: Finalized 6/16 Las Vegas card line-up
  18. Frankly Franky: Who is #1? Time for a UFC GP
  19. The Fightworks Podcast: Total Combat 21 in San Diego

Topics: Boxing, HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

18 Responses to “Saturday media slate: A paper trail of tickets”

  1. Jonathan says:

    I am surprised that Tokoro and Sakuraba got so much less when compared to their abilities and prior fights. I am really surprised that Nam Phan, a relative unknown but really awesome fighter got so much money, even though $4500 was from JZ for a failure to make weight. Min Soo Kim never made 30k so easily,

    Also, Sean Salmon is fighting tomorrow…kind of surprising. I am guessing there’s no athletic commission where he is fighting…and I guess he realizes that he can’t hack it in the UFC.,

  2. Zach Arnold says:

    He’s fighting in Ohio, which is where UFC 68 was (Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia). Should Salmon be fighting within 2-3 weeks after losing? Well…

  3. Jonathan says:

    That’s standard practice…at least from what I understand. Didn’t Chuck get 6 months right away after his KO loss to Rampage? Now I know that he got KOed and Salmon got subbed (guillotine choke) and that he is more then likely 100%, but I thought that we played it safe. And I also want to temper my remark about him hacking it in the UFC. I am just not real impressed with this guy and thought that he was overhyped, but I don’t want to come off as bashing. He lost two fights to higher level competition that he is used to face, so I guess it is understandable. And for the record, I couldn’t hack it in the UFC either.

    ((Zach, thanks for the post edit))

  4. liger05 says:

    Saku got paid under the table I guess. $30,000. No way!!!!

  5. Zach Arnold says:

    Liddell got suspended for 45 days.

  6. chairibofjustice says:

    Did you guys see Sean Salmon’s last UFC fight? He got caught in a guillotine and tapped minutes into the first round of his fight. Honestly, I doubt there was any serious damage to either fighter, so it’s not surprising he got another fight so quickly.

    Yeah, there’s going to be some mandatory time off if you get KO’d, that a mandatory under any medical rule. I’d seriously doubt that there is any medical rule for a tapout.

    Any news on Morton?

  7. Mr. Roadblock says:

    Generally you only get suspended for a submission loss if you actually go unconscious, or if you break something. The reason fighters get an automatic suspension on a knockout is because the brain swells when it hits the inside of your skull, which is what causes knockouts. It is believed that you are more susceptible to severe brain damage if your swelled/bruised brain continually takes abuse after a concussion. HBO’s Real Sports has an excellent piece on the topic, if you have On Demand it is still on your cable system.

  8. UFC Junkie says:

    I know a lot of people say Sean Salmon is over-hyped, and I know UFCjunkie.com bears the brunt of the responsibility. The problem isn’t that we claim Sean’s a better fighter than he actually is. Instead, the problem is that he has a platform to write a column, he opens up about training and being a fighter, and that creates the type of publicity a lot of UFC fighters can’t always get.

    I feel bad that fans think he’s being over-hyped, but I don’t feel bad that we run his columns on the site. He’s a very good and very candid writer, and I think he brings a unique perspective to MMA coverage. But any UFC fighter has an invitation to write for our site. It’s just that Sean makes the most of it.

    As far as fighting so quickly after a loss, Sean said he thought long and hard about it — and he discussed the pros and cons with his manager Ken Pavia. From a personal perspective, I think it’s a good idea. He’s still at the peak of his training from UFC 71, he fights close to home and — perhaps most importantly — he has the opportunity to erase a loss. No one wants to carry around back-to-back losses for 9-10 months.

  9. Ditch says:

    I don’t get the Sakuraba number. He could make that kind of money doing pro wrestling in Japan, and I can’t understand why they’d want to lie about the number in a way that makes it look like he got so little.

  10. torgo says:

    I know I should probably give a damn about the perpetuation of “the zuffa myth” but I fail every time I try.

  11. Mr. Roadblock says:

    The U.S. gov’t taxes the hell out of you if you are a foreigner. They gave him $30k here so he could pay taxes on something since it is a professional prize fight and likely they gave him a suitcase of Yen back in Japan.

  12. Mr. Roadblock says:

    30% I believe is the Uncle Sam’s cut of what foreign athletes and performers make here. Then you have to pay taxes when you get back home too.

  13. Mr. Roadblock says:

    Oh and California gets a cut too.

  14. Ivan Trembow says:

    I don’t know whether it’s the most wise move for Sean Salmon to be fighting again this soon after his May 26th fight, but he was not medically suspended by the NSAC for any period of time after that fight, so that’s not an issue.

  15. Xenos says:

    Tomlinson comparing dog fighting to the UFC is surprising to me. He always seemed to me like a pretty smart, squared-away guy.

  16. Jonathan says:

    I know that Sean was just tapped out with a guillotine, just like some of us get tapped everyday. And as I stated earlier, I am more then willing to be that he is 100% ready to go. But after training as hard and as long as he did, in which time he might have injured himself (alot of fighters seem to do that), and given the loss that he just incurred on the biggest stage in MMA, is it right to “let” a guy fight so soon. Every fighter when he loses wants to jump right up from the canvas and go for a rematch…but he isn’t thinking clearly (most times). All I am saying is that a guy who just lost might not be in the right frame of mind to decide that he wants a fight so soon…he might injuries that he does not know about yet, or maybe even one that he does and he doesn’t want to disclose, possibly a neck injury or something like that. Mayne the unified rules and regulations should have a mandatory cooldown period after a fight…regardless of win or lose.

  17. chairibofjustice says:

    “But after training as hard and as long as he did, in which time he might have injured himself (alot of fighters seem to do that), and given the loss that he just incurred on the biggest stage in MMA, is it right to “let” a guy fight so soon.”

    He was fighting on in prelim against a guy who came in as a last minute replacement. I know it’s the UFC and all but you’re making the fight sound a bit larger than it actually was.

    And considering the nature of that loss and how quickly it ended, I think the best idea is get back in the ring as quickly as possible. Waiting another three months for another fight would just be too much, especially when he could go into a smaller show take on someone not as good to get that W.

    That guy needs to get as many wins under his belt as possible right now.

  18. […] the AP wire. In the AP report, notorious pontificator Mike Kogan (Royce Gracie and K-1 employee – you’ll remember his name) is saying that it is not ‘a clear case […]

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