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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

Wednesday war room: What’s in a name?

By Zach Arnold | August 29, 2007

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It is not a good day in the world of Bodog.

You, too, can buy Mike Tyson’s poop.

If Kevin Iole called his critics last week “keyboard warriors,” I can only imagine what he is going to say after reading this. Luke Thomas has some words for Iole. Both Frank Trigg and Joe Stevenson think Babalu’s days in the UFC could be finished. Plus, Don Frye gives advice to someone who lives with their sister.

I feel your pain, Sam. Believe me.

There are brand new videos over at the Fox News web site of their Fight Game video series. That link is to the RSS feed of the videos.

Some new photos of the Couture/Gonzaga fight from UFC 74.

The ever-brilliant Dana White discusses steroids (again):

“There are a lot of things you can’t do, it’s illegal, everybody knows it and there’s no sport out there right now, where the penalty is harsher, than in the combat sports. When these guys get busted for steroids, you lose the ability to make a living for a year,” he added.

I’m sure the athletes competiting in cycling and the Olympics would like to issue to a rebuttal to White on this matter.

Speaking of the topic of steroids, Jeff Monson appeared on Jordan Breen’s radio show on Tuesday (starts at the 23 minute time mark). Monson stated that steroids should be legal for fighters to take because the playing field is currently uneven and that the current situation allows fighters with a lot of money to obtain high-end performance-enhancers while those who follow the rules and are drug-free get punished for being on good behavior. “It’s hard to get to this level without using something” and “I’ve used things before, but it’s been quite a while.”

Josh Barnett’s recent comments about the UFC Heavyweight title are drawing heat with UFC Mania readers. I should remind those readers that Barnett has long-been stating this position and he did so a while ago on Fight Opinion Radio. I do find it interesting how many of those UFC Mania commentators think that Couture could beat Barnett in a fight in 2007. Sam Caplan also thinks that Barnett’s comments are mainly a gimmick. They’re not. The fact that people are getting so upset about Barnett’s comments makes me laugh. BTW, using the “A > B > C” logic like in the SnB post is silly. Just because Gonzaga beat Mirko, who beat Barnett, does not mean that Gonzaga would beat Barnett. Styles makes fights, and Mirko’s style is kyrptonite to Josh.

Luke Thomas talks about the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. He’s right, as usual.

Here’s an easy-to-understand financial sheet of the IFL’s business this year. All you need to know is that numbers in () mean deficits. In the IFL’s case, they are spending $3-4 dollars for every dollar they make. Not a good ratio to have. Also, here is some new filing information relating to a ‘statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities.’

Here is the 10Q report of Entremetrix, the company that bought out Gladiator Challenge. The company has $31,000 in cash-on-hand.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. Five Ounces of Pain: Cub Swanson vs. Jens Pulver now set for November 3rd?
  2. 411 Mania: Interview with Bart Palaszewski
  3. Yahoo Sports (Kevin Iole): The readers get Randy
  4. The Houston Chronicle (Steve Sievert): Long live PRIDE? Hardly
  5. MMA Madness: One-on-one with Din Thomas
  6. MMA HQ: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Andrei Arlovski
  7. The Canadian Press: Montreal Alouettes linebacker Diamond Ferri mixes football and MMA
  8. The Los Angeles Times: Randy Couture breaks bone in title win
  9. Fox Sports (Alex Marvez): How to handle Brock Lesnar’s UFC introduction
  10. The Orlando Sentinel: Randy Couture’s victory bolsters UFC heavyweights
  11. Bodog Beat: Complete results for BodogFight Vancouver
  12. ESPN the Magazine: Seven things we learned from UFC 74 (the article claims Roger Huerta is overrated)
  13. MMA Weekly: New fighter rankings
  14. The Fight Network: The latest information on UFC 75 in England
  15. MMA News: One week w/ Jorge Masvidal before becoming a BodogFight star
  16. The Red Bluff Daily News (CA): R.B. fighter Kenji Alejandre has promise ahead
  17. The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle (TN): More on John Renken and what he’s up to
  18. Hawk Central (Iowa City): Former Iowa wrestler Eric Juergens to fight at Extreme Challenge 83 event

Topics: BoDog, Boxing, Canada, IFL, Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

32 Responses to “Wednesday war room: What’s in a name?”

  1. JThue says:

    The Fight Network article also mentions that Chonan vs. Daley is not happening at CR23, since Mark Weir is back in training and will face Daley as originally planned.

    If the Chonan/Zuffa rumors are true, I guess this means he could fight on WEC’s November card. No way would I put him straight into the UFC if I’m Dana White.

  2. Lynchman says:

    I am asuming that Barnett was cutting a wrestling promo. If that is not the case, then he sounds like an idiot.

    He talks about still having the title…yes, the title that he won while taking steroids. The championship that he was stripped of for taking steroids.

    If the statement was simply that he felt he could/would beat Couture, then it would not be as stupid. But his piousness is a little much because he did indeed win the title while cheating.

  3. Zach Arnold says:

    What do people expect him to say? Every top-level athlete has to have a lot of confidence and some arrogance to reach the pinnacle of their sport.

  4. Stephan says:

    Josh is one of my favorite, I was always disappointed that he never got to fight Fedor.

    And as much as I love Randy, I dont think he has much to stop Josh. Still this would be a great matchup to see!

  5. Sam Caplan says:

    Zach, you don’t think one of Barnett’s motives for making his thoughts known is to get a little publicity? As you know, Barnett has a great mind for business. I find it hard to believe he’s not trying to do a little business in how he’s expressing his thoughts.

  6. Luke Thomas says:

    “Zach, you don’t think one of Barnett’s motives for making his thoughts known is to get a little publicity? As you know, Barnett has a great mind for business. I find it hard to believe he’s not trying to do a little business in how he’s expressing his thoughts.”

    Agreed. If Barnett is anything, he’s an entertainer. Part of this push has got to be marketing.

  7. Adam Morgan says:

    In defense of Euthyphro’s post on SnB, I don’t think he’s saying Gonzaga could beat Barnett right now. We’d only know if they actually fight.

    However, it seemed as if Barnett was blowing off Gonzaga as legit competition, so Euthyphro provided us with a little bit of WHY he’s top competition and took a jab at Barnett at the same time.

    Even most pundits picked Gonzaga to dethrone Randy, so he’s obviously legitimate competition. I don’t think Euthyphro’s logic is A>B>C logic at all. Nowhere in the post does he say that because Josh was beaten by Mirko and Mirko was beaten by Gonzaga that somewhow Randy could now beat Josh.

  8. liger05 says:

    Why is barnett drawing hit. His just cutting a promo. No big deal.

    As for Dana White. Every day he seems to say stupid things

  9. Euthyphro says:

    Zach, at no point in my post do I suggest or imply that Gonzaga would beat Barnett. Nor do I imply that a win over Gonzaga means Randy would beat Josh. There’s no MMA-math stated or implied. Instead, I said that he’s jealous that Gonzaga handily beat someone who he couldn’t handle time and time again. As I said in my intro, “But still, I’m going to take the bait and dive in to why he’s absolutely wrong – and probably a little bit jealous – here.” His bashing of Gonzaga just comes off a juvenile.

    You go after Dana when he makes ridiculous statements, but nothing here when your acquaintance conveniently ignores the fact that he was on steroids when he beat Randy for the belt? Seems like a double standard.

    I agree with Sam (and myself, as I wrote in the post) that this is all about publicity for Josh. He stood up at the post-fight press conference, and now is posting ridiculous statements on his website. I think Josh is a bit jealous that Brock stole away the “unsigned heavyweight free agent” hype last week with his pro wrestling promo on the UFC heavyweight division, so he decided to post one of his own.

    At the same time, do I think Josh is a great fighter? Absolutely. Do I think he’s entertaining? More often than not. But the US fight environment is much different from the Japanese fight environment. We try to separate our pro wrestling from our MMA in the modern days (as opposed to when the UFC & Spike used RAW as a lead-in to TUF), and Barnett’s trash talk is more reminiscent of something that belongs in the mouth of Triple H. (Incidentally, another guy with a history of steroid use and injuries during fights. Hmm…)

    Just an aside here:

    Styles makes fights, and Mirko’s style is [kryptonite] to Josh.

    Reminds me an awful lot of what Ken Shamrock says about him vs. Tito Ortiz.

    (Haha, now I’m just messing with you. 🙂 )

  10. Monson comes out and admits past steroid use – interesting news, all things considering. I wonder how many other fighters out there would have the honesty to come forward and admit that they too use without having been caught first?

  11. Big respect to monson for being the first guy to say “Yeah everyone juices” and then doesn’t tack on a lame “uuh except me”

  12. LR says:

    Barnett’s entire intent was to get publicity. If he truly thinks what he said, why would he just suddenly blurt it out? Because he wants to get back into the limelight, maybe get a bigger contract offer from the UFC if they come to the table. Much like the Lesnar hype.

  13. The Gaijin says:

    “…and has been thoroughly dominated several times by the man that Randy’s challenger crushed a few months ago.”

    I pretty much 100% with you up until this Sherdog-ian comment.

  14. Euthyphro says:

    Did Gonzaga crush Cro Cop? Yes.
    Did Cro Cop beat on Barnett multiple times? Yes.

    Am I saying that means Gonzaga would beat Barnett? No.

    That would be an entirely separate fight, so nowhere in the post do I make that claim. I’m saying there’s no reason to contend that Gonzaga is an unworthy opponent after a dominating performance over a certified top-10 heavyweight, one who happens to have beaten the man doing the writing here several times. No need for me to defend the post. I think it should be clear from here on out.

  15. K. Fabe says:

    Hey Zach, you always rip on mainstream writers, and casually toss around notions like they lack integrity, and only toe the party line, and are afraid to ask tough questions out of fear of losing access.

    How about you put your money where your mouth is? You have access to Josh Barnett. Put your principles into practice and ask him where he gets off bragging about not losing the heavyweight title when he knows he used artificial means to win the belt. Because you are a crusader against steroids in MMA, right? So go ahead and ask him the tough question.

  16. Zach Arnold says:

    If I get a hold of him and bring him on the show next time, I don’t mind asking a tough question. Of course, it took me several months to get a hold of him last time to talk.

    I’ve asked plenty of guests plenty of tough questions. Some are easier to access than others, however. It took me two years to get in touch with Mauro Ranallo, as he was working with PRIDE and obviously it would have been very uncomfortable for him during that time period to sit down and answer questions such as, “So, how does it feel working for a company that’s allegedly tied to a hardcore yakuza group?” I’m glad to ask provocative questions, but ultimately it’s up to the guest as to whether or not they want to appear or feel comfortable doing so.

  17. Jonathan says:

    Is this what our once majestic sport has come to?

    Maybe MMA doesn’t need to go mainstream.

  18. Billy Gamble says:

    I think Josh’s recent comments are a little of both. Anytime you drum enough media about a fight you will get paid more. SEE Tito Ortiz

    However Josh did beat him once and is a force to be reckoned with. I think he beat a different Randy at this point, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a part II.

  19. Preach says:

    Again on the subject of doping, the overall tone (at least over here in Germany) is getting a lot harsher. A few weeks back when we were in part discussing the doping scandals on the Tour de France over here, i mentioned that professional football (soccer for you yanks) would be tested even more with the beginning of the new season. Today the DFL (German Football League), DFB (German Football Association) and NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) shed a bit of light on their new testing scheme. Each matchday there will be 2 random players of every competing team tested (that’s 32 players for the premier league, another 32 for Division 2), which means that over the course of the season (consisting of 34 matchdays) 68 players for each team will have been tested – which in itself is very much, since most clubs only have between 22 and 30 people on their roster (so everyone will be at least tested twice). And on top of that they will be conducting 480 (!!!) random tests throughout the season as well as off-season. I honestly don’t think there’s any other pro-league out there right now that has such a strict and thorough testing regimen.

    Perhaps MLB, NBA, NFL and of course all the various MMA promotions should think about this too.

    And is NewBodog something like New Coke? 😉

  20. Ivan Trembow says:

    I don’t believe that Barnett’s comments are 100% a pro wrestling promo. I think he actually believes that garbage. Never mind his positive steroids test after the fight in question, which he conveniently doesn’t mention in the quoted passage.

  21. Rollo the Cat says:

    First, it is Barnett himself who is playing a sort of MMAath. He is constantly harping on this linear champion concept. Well, he lost the linear championship to Mirko, who lost it to Gonzaga, who lost it to Randy. Whether Randy can beat him or not is a question, but Randy’s status as champion shouldn’t be questioned, according to Josh’s own criteria.

    Second, what kind of promo is Josh cutting? Is he a heel or a babyface? This sounds like a bitter guy who is stuck on the outside looking in. This isn’t the kind of promo that builds him up in the eyes of the public, imo.

    How exactly is Mirko’s style “poison” for Josh? I would think he matches up fairly well with him. He just lost, twice.

    I would put money on Randy over Josh at this point. Randy is by far the superior wrestler, more seasoned compeitor, mentally stronger (imo), smarter, and if he can control a bull in Gonzaga, he can control Josh. I might even put money on Gonzaga over Josh. Nog beat Barnett, and I see no reason why a BJJ HW like Gabriel couldn’t either. What does Josh have for him that he hasn’t seen? Submissions?

  22. Mr. Roadblock says:

    Curious to me that Barnett would disparage Gonzaga’s record when Gonzaga demolished Crocop and not once, not twice, but three times Crocop defeated Barnett. The third time being a humiliating ass kicking, where Barnett tapped due to strikes.

  23. Tomer Chen says:

    Well, he lost the linear championship to Mirko, who lost it to Gonzaga, who lost it to Randy.

    Actually, he lost it to Mirko, who lost it to Fedor.

  24. Grape Knee High says:

    Gotta be a slow news day when intelligent MMA fans sit around talking like yentas about the completely irrelavant issue of something Barnett said on his blog.

  25. grafdog says:

    1st fight between Mirko and Josh… Mirko caught Josh’s arm with the back of his knee after a missed high kick attempt.
    Josh’s arm was dis located by the fact that Mirko was hanging by his leg from Josh’s arm like a 230 lb x-mas tree ornament.
    Mirko wins #1 by total fluke.

    2nd fight was close. Had an out off shape josh not made a couple huge mistakes he could have eeked out a win.
    Mirko wins by close descision

    3rd fight Mirko wins by poking Josh in the eye with his finger.

    Granted Mirko faught well against Josh twice, but it seems like Mirko got lucky on all these wins, unless hooking an arm with the crook of your knee and then falling to the floor, is something Mirko trains on.

  26. Zack says:

    “First, it is Barnett himself who is playing a sort of MMAath. He is constantly harping on this linear champion concept. Well, he lost the linear championship to Mirko, who lost it to Gonzaga, who lost it to Randy.”

    If you’re going on linear stuff, he never even had the belt.

    Coleman –> Maurice –> Randy –> Inoue –> Kerr –> Fujita –> Coleman* –> Nog –> Fedor

    Even if you wanted to count Colemans win over Fujita as a no contest, it would go:

    Fujita –> Cro Cop –> Nog –> Fedor

    Barnett is just eluding to the fact that Randy left UFC as champ, then when he came back, Barnett was his first lost. You can’t have it both ways on the linear stuff though.

    That said, Barnett handles Randy again.

  27. just another MMA mark says:

    why in the world would a publicly traded company like Entremetrix get involved with Gladiator Challenge, of all promotions?

    or are they just Tedd Williams’ new money marks?

  28. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    MMA mark:

    Entremetrix has no business. It’s ostensibly a venture capital firm, but in reality, it’s a publicly traded shell company that had no holdings.

    There are plenty of these ghost companies out there, that have sold off all of their original businesses, or never really had one at all.

    The deal is this:

    1. Shell company “merges” with or “purchases” MMA organization.
    2. In the process, the shell company’s investors receive additional shares, warrants, or options.
    3. Company uses the popularity of MMA and the perceived value of MMA to raise capital by selling shares either on the open market, or by trading shares on the private market to entities that the MMA entity owes money to.
    4. Shell company’s investor/officers receive a healthy golden parachute package now that the MMA entity is flush with cash.
    5. The former investor/officers exercise their warrants or options while the stock is running high on the merger announcements and immediately turn around to sell their shares to fools.

    So, the MMA entity is able to become “publicly traded” without going through the scrutiny of an IPO, and is able to use paper that ostensibly represents ownership of the company to pay off it’s debts. The shell company’s management is able to get a nice payday.

    Works out great for everyone except the people who are holding worthless shares in a company that will go bankrupt within five years.

  29. […] is a fantastic comment about what is happening now when you see various MMA companies becoming […]

  30. just another MMA mark says:

    wow, interesting

    thanks!

  31. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Since my comment made the news thread, I should point out that, technically, Entremetrix is not a shell company under SEC definitions.

    I’m using shell company to mean that it’s essentially an empty company with no line of business. Technically, they have one entity that they have sufficient ownership of to require consolidation (a payroll and HR outsourcing company (bookkeepers)). That very small company (four employees) accounts for all of the revenue and most likely all of the “operating expenses” of Entremetrix.

    There is no way to determine whether that small company itself has a profit or loss (I’d guess they make a small profit). Entremetrix shows a loss in it’s consolidated statements because it adds it’s own expenses to those of the bookkeeping company.

    You can see the shell game at work though if you read the quarterlies posted. “Entremetrix” was formerly a private company that “purchased” a large number of shares in the publicly traded company “Missouri River and Gold Germ Corp” (whatever they did, if anything). The purchase was just an exchange of MRGG stock for all the stock of the old Entremetrix. Voila, Entremetrix is suddenly a publicly traded company.

  32. David says:

    ty mma mark

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