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Monday newsmakers: UFC or competitive eating?

By Zach Arnold | July 8, 2007

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On Pedro Fernandez’s Ring Talk radio show on Sunday night, he played audio clips from the UFC 73 show featuring Tito Ortiz, Dana White, and Randy Couture. Ortiz stated that he liked fighting in Las Vegas much better than fighting in California (because he claimed that ‘people’ in Vegas know what they are doing). In the Dana White audio clip, he tried to downplay the yakuza accusations against the old management of PRIDE and brushed aside Pedro’s question. You can listen to the archive of this week’s Ring Talk show here.

One of the interesting questions Pedro asked Dana White on his show is a question that was raised in the comments section of Tim Leidecker’s latest article. That question is why UFC is not pushing or marketing Quinton “Rampage” Jackson since becoming the 205-pound UFC champion.

A fan dies at the UFC 73 event at Arco Arena in Sacramento after falling 30 feet to his death.

Yoshiki Takahashi is leaving Pancrase.

The Fightworks Podcast on The Business Side of BJJ.

Next year, the contract between Spike TV and UFC supposedly expires. Naturally, Spike TV is now focused on outbidding ESPN for the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest.

High School yearbook photos of famous names in the MMA industry.

Over at Fightlinker, they are discussing Sam Stout leaving UFC. In our Friday news update, we covered the fact that Stout along with Mark Hominick are now fighting on the Shootboxing show on July 28th in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. The Dayton Daily News (Dann of UFC Junkie): Saturday’s hyped UFC 73 proves to be unspectacular
  2. The Newark Star-Ledger: Ortiz, Evans look to rematch after hard-fought draw
  3. AOL Fanhouse: Ortiz, Evans will fight again
  4. UFC Junkie: UFC heading to Cincinnati on October 20th
  5. UFC Mania: Franklin vs. Silva II in Cincinnati
  6. Bloody Elbow: UFC 73 afterthoughts
  7. MMA on Tap: Back to the Future – Dana White edition
  8. More than UFC: Time to say goodbye to UFC
  9. Sherdog: Kunioku and Nakao fight to a draw
  10. MMA HQ: UFC 73 Stacked recap
  11. The Canadian Press: UFC says hockey conflict means MMA card in Canada may not happen until 2008
  12. The Eagle Tribune: BJ Penn denies Diego Sanchez fight rumors
  13. MMA Insider: UFC 73 recap and analysis
  14. MMA California: UFC 73 – Stacked report
  15. MMA Weekly: Stop matching up Sean Sherk against BJJ fighters

Topics: Canada, Japan, Media, MMA, Pancrase, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

22 Responses to “Monday newsmakers: UFC or competitive eating?”

  1. Body_Shots says:

    IS Sam Stout leaving UFC? I don’t think a fight in TKO is any indication, he and Hominick have fought for that company plenty while they were under UFC contracts.

  2. Jonathan says:

    Hard to believe that Yoshiki Takahashi is actually leaving Pancrase. He has been around since the very beginning. He has changed alot since then, probably for the worse, but I can’t imagine too many other places for him to go outside of Pancrase. I cannot read what the article said, so I do not know if it is mentioned where he might be headed. Best of luck to him anyways.

  3. Ivan Trembow says:

    lol at this quote about the competitive eating programming rights:

    “We’ve done other competitive eating contests,” said David Berson, an ESPN executive vice president. “But we focus on the hot dog. It’s the marquee event.”

  4. cutch says:

    Im just guessing here but the chances are that Rampage and Henderson’s fight will be on free TV and they will start pushing Rampage after UFC 74 and go all out if he beats Henderson.

  5. […] Fightopinion breaks down the weekend 2022 […]

  6. I don’t think he’s gone for good, but being on the shelf for several months is nuts. Stout should roll with the exposure he got from UFN.

  7. Xenos says:

    Interesting to know that the guy who runs UFCJunkie.com (using the pseudonym UFC Junkie) is Dann Stupp. Dude works for the Cincinnati Reds and has written a few books on baseball. Talented guy.

  8. Zack says:

    Great quote Ivan LOL

  9. Boog says:

    I’m 99% sure that Sam isn’t being “dropped” from the UFC, especially considering he got the fight of the night bonus in the fight with Fisher.

    The Tompkins guys have always been committed to defending their titles in TKO, even as they’ve been in the UFC. After Hominick beat Yves Edwards, for example, his next fight was in TKO against Hatsu Hioki.

  10. klown says:

    I think Dan Henderson should have been brought into the meager Middleweight division rather than the packed Light Heavyweight. He might be the only Middleweight in the world who can beat Anderson Silva.

  11. Jordan Breen says:

    Antonio Carvalho has been added to the Canadian contingent of that Shootboxing card.

    Also, lawlz at “Stop matching Sherk up against BJJ fighters”. If Thiago Tavares keeps winning, is Dana supposed to tell him “Hold on, you’ll fight for the title as soon as Sherk loses.” Moreover, what are the odds that someone who can’t grapple worth a crippled fuck can get into a position to fight for the title at 155? Retarded.

  12. chairibofjustice says:

    Settle down Jordan, Al Yu’s article isn’t something that one should get so worked up about. And do you really need to use the profanity to get your point across?

  13. Jordan Breen says:

    “Settle down Jordan, Al Yu’s article isn’t something that one should get so worked up about. And do you really need to use the profanity to get your point across?”

    Oh, I’m settled. And I’m typically profane. I’m always chill. Just because I curse or call something retarded doesn’t mean I’m rankled, mon frere.

  14. 45 Huddle says:

    Dan Henderson told Dana White that he wanted to compete at Middleweight.

    I actually think Anderson Silva beats Dan Henderson. His striking is better on the feet. And his grappling is good enough now (and he is long enough) to cause Henderson fits on the ground.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    Sorry… I meant to say before that Dan Henderson told Dana White that he wanted to compete at Light Heavyweight. The UFC was actually pushing for him to fight at Middleweight.

  16. 45 Huddle says:

    Right now on FSN (at least in my area), they are showing Best Damn Pride Fighting…. Best of Rampage Jackson…..

  17. Columbia Lou says:

    Stop matching Sherk against BJJ guys? How about stop matching him against 155 lb. guys.

    In a pre-fight interview, Sherk says he would walk into the cage at 175 lbs. A guy who is 175 lbs at fight time should not be fighting for the 155lb title. What is the point of weight classes? That is not a MMA tradition- it is a wrestling tradition that has now become part of MMA.

  18. JOSH says:

    its also been a problem in boxing too.

  19. Zack says:

    Fighters like Dan Henderson, BJ Penn, and Matt Lindland are a dying breed. That’s also why they’re three of my favorites.

  20. chairibofjustice says:

    “That is not a MMA tradition- it is a wrestling tradition that has now become part of MMA.”

    What exactly is a MMA tradition? Mixed Martial Arts as we know it has been around since 1993, so 14 years isn’t really a long time. Being that it’s only been a realitively short time, chances are any traditions we have in this sport came from something else.

    We got people who fight in this sport from a variety of different backgrounds including wrestlers, boxers, Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, etc. And considering that wrestlers and boxers both cut weight it’s really no surprise that they would start doing it in MMA.

    Also the ability to fight in different weight classes will lengthen a fighter’s career. Trust me the world of MMA would have lost something if we couldn’t witness Randy Couture in the LHW and Heavyweight divisions.

  21. GassedOut says:

    Cutting weight to make a more favorable division has been around since before I started Judo 28 years ago.

    If everyone is doing it, and some of the best guys are good at it, is it really a problem? Eventually that perceived advantage is nullified.

    However, I agree with the argument of what are weight-classes all about?

    What was done to prevent or at least minimize this when I was fighting competitively was to make the weigh-ins within a couple hours of the fights. If you deydrated or starved yourself to make weight, it became a real DISadvantage, especially with Judo or Jiu-Jitsu.

    Why? Well, because you…well….GassedOut! No, it’s not how I got the moniker. 😉

  22. Jonathan says:

    I wouldn’t mind seeing the weigh ins a few hours beforhe fights, but I am worried that we would get more fighters looking like Travis Lutter…however, I think that that would then force people to fight at a more natural weight class, which might solve the overall problem.

    I am not sure what to do.

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