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« | Home | »

Monday media notes: The MMA world outside of UFC

By Zach Arnold | November 11, 2007

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Today is the 14th anniversary of the first UFC show produced.

Jess Liaudin says that he will KO Marcus Davis at UFC 80.

Another reason for Mike Pyle to be upset – ABC News has an article about the role of women in MMA.

The San Antonio MMA event (promoted by Jesse James Leija) drew 4,000 paid Saturday night.

The latest happenings in the Cage Force lightweight tournament.

An interview with Dan Barrera of Ultimate Fighter fame.

A big poker event with MMA stars is coming up in Wales on December 2nd.

Steve Sievert has some audio clips from the EXC show.

Another card change for the IFL.

Bas Rutten talks about Kimbo’s EXC debut:

“I am happy for Kimbo, but he needs an opponent that is going to push him a little,” Rutten said. “I think he can handle it, but I want to see how he does when he has to face some adversity and go a full round or two. Really, Kimbo got nothing out of this fight tonight except for a nice payday.”

Some positive news about Randy Couture’s charity for wounded GI’s.

Results from the Freestyle Combat Challenge 31 event in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The latest from Ron Borges on ESPN. Looks like his career didn’t get hurt much at all by the plagiarism scandal…

There will be a big MMA event in Australia on 12/8 called ‘XPLOSION.’ The event will feature Nathan Corbett, Ian Schaffa, Daniel Dawson, and several Japanese fighters at the Gold Coast Convention Center.

MARS will have a show at Differ Ariake in Tokyo on 12/9 featuring Kim Min-Soo.

A preview article for this weekend’s StrikeForce event.

Topics: Boxing, IFL, Japan, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, StrikeForce, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

22 Responses to “Monday media notes: The MMA world outside of UFC”

  1. JP says:

    Kimbo > Can is a no brainer

    Kimbo + Abbott will get ratings.

    Kimbo + Josh Barnett = Death of a legend

  2. robnashville says:

    about the strikeforce tourney

    “A national broadcast partner is expected to be announced this week.”

    I’m guessing Yahoo, again. You think they would get this stuff lined up earlier so they could promo it better, maybe get yahoo behind it more.

  3. schz says:

    i kinda feel bad when people keep making fun of mike pyle. hes forever going to be labeled as a sexist, and im not sure he is, i think hes stupid enough to say some really stupid things on the record.

  4. Jonathan says:

    I think that Mike Pyle is a prick and he got just what he deserved. He seems to think that the is this big awesome fighter, but I ask you, who has he beaten? Anyone…

  5. Jonathan says:

    After doing some research, I see that he (Pyle) beat a young Jon Fitch in his first fight….I’ll bet everything that I own that Fitch would totally kick his ass today.

    Mike Pyle sucks.

  6. Dedwyre says:

    So now we all hate Mike Kyle and Mike Pyle. Any Mike Lyles out there?

  7. Columbia Lou says:

    Mike Pyle is correct. Gina should not be promoted ahead of him.

    Dedwyre, we don’t all hate Mike Pyle. You speak for yourself.

    “he’s forever going to be labeled as a sexist”- The word sexist is a made up word. It is used to attack people who don’t believe in the feminist ideology. Feminism is simply Marxist ideology applied to the sexes. For example- housewives are oppressed, but career women are liberated. And teenage females should play sports just like males. And the family is an oppressive institution for women.

    After hearing Mike Pyle’s comments, I respect him more than ever.

  8. Zack says:

    WO reported that Tank & James Thompson turned down the fight with Kimbo.

  9. spacedog says:

    Columbia, please tell me you are joking. really, I can’t tell, you could be making fun of the stupid things people say or could just be dumb as a box of rocks. All your details and comparisons are wrong. You have no idea what Marxism or feminism are and are basically making things up to support your backwards ideology.

  10. Jonathan says:

    Columbia, I to do not like Mike Pyle…so I guess someone is speaking for me as well.

  11. RL Dookie says:

    No, Mike Pyle feeling that he should be promoted before someone of the opposite sex because they’re from the opposite sex is pretty much the dictionary definition of sexist.

  12. Dedwyre says:

    Apparently, Columbia Lou hasn’t been reading the comments sections since the Pyle quotes first appeared here.

  13. klown says:

    Columbia Lou,

    Thankfully people like you are an endangered species in the civilized world. Hopefully the last remnants of your kind will also disappear soon.

    You will happily find a home for yourself in Saudi Arabia or some similarly medieval society that hasn’t yet been afflicted with Marxist ideologies like anti-sexism.

  14. mose says:

    I find all this Pyle talk hilarious because so many are reacted in such a knee-jerk, typical PC fashion.

    Pyle’s complaint that Carrano, basically being used as a sideshow attraction, is being pushed ahead of male MMA fighters has merit. It is typical Gary Shaw promotion.

    The above comments by Columbia Lou have merit as well. Social ideals are like a pendulum that swings back and forth until it settles at ‘just about right’. In a reaction to millennia of truly horrible treatment women, the pendulum has swung far over to the other side. Too far, in fact, but it will move back to the center eventually.

    The slams of Columbia Lou that I am reading above are what I would expect to hear: emotional, rash, and without much rational thought. Decrying someone as sexist, racist, etc. is an easy way to attempt to marginalize points of view you don’t like or haven’t taken the time or effort to understand, all through the glorious power of demagoguery.

  15. Peter H. says:

    Is Columbia Lou really Mike Pyle in disguise?

  16. klown says:

    Mose,

    Why Gina Carano gets promoted as a star is a fair topic for discussion. Nobody here objects to that, in fact, discussions happen all the time, debating why companies promote certain fighters and not others. So, again, it’s perfectly fair to debate why Carano gets promoted over fighters like Mike Pyle. And there is plenty of merit to the argument that her stardom is a sexist strategy by Elite XC to sexually exploit her for male consumption.

    (Unfortunately, disgusting jokes by people like Maura Ranallo support the theory. I like the guy and I was genuinely disappointed by his juvenile sexism. I hope he’s sorry because comments like that really set back the cause of female fighters trying to gain respect and acceptance in this sport.)

    What’s not acceptable is the blatant sexism of Pyle’s statement, for which he deserves all the ridicule he’s gotten and more. He doesn’t make a reasoned argument about promotional strategies, he just comes off as an ape whose macho ego is hurt because a woman is above him.

    Then you have guys like Columbia Lou who is far worse than Pyle. Maybe Pyle is uneducated or too dumb to understand the sexism of his own remarks; and maybe we can cut him some slack for being emotional because he is personally invested in the situation. Lou, in contrast, is a pure sexist, who is clearly educated enough to understand the issue (even if his understanding is warped) and is actively promoting sexism. He didn’t say “Cut Pyle some slack” – he said Pyle’s remarks actually increased his respect for the guy. And he prefaced it by objecting to the concept of sexism itself.

    Hey Lou, let’s hear your objection to the concept of racism – isn’t it just Marxism applied to races? Wouldn’t you love to take us back to an era before we had an awareness of sexism and racism? *spit*

  17. Zack says:

    I don’t see what’s wrong with promoting Gina. She’s exciting, beautiful, and represents a niche that the UFC hasn’t showed interest in, so its easy for Showtime to try to capitalize on that. It’s really no different than UFC pushing Roger Huerta so hard on their undercards where he continually fights dudes with no UFC experience.

    In both cases they’re just added attractions on cards, both which have provided pretty entertaining fights. Pyle was someone who was heavily touted prior to his IFL losses. With this loss to Shields, and his 3-3 record in his last 6 fights, does he really expect a promotion is going to push him to the moon?

    Regardless of his record, he was still put into a title shot. If he would’ve beaten Shields, EXC would’ve had no choice but to build part of their promotion around him.

  18. Kev says:

    There’s nothing wrong with promoting Gina, that’s not the issue. bodog’s efforts in women’s MMA is respectable, and does womens sport justice. Gina is a piece of ass in EliteXC.

  19. 45 Huddle says:

    I am not a big fan of Women’s MMA to begin with. But if EliteXC really cared about the SPORT of Women’s MMA, they would have chosen a very different fighter as their face of women’s MMA. Perhaps one of the many women who are considered one of the best in the world…. A woman with actually a lot of MMA experience.

  20. Zack says:

    They care about making money. At the end of the day, that’s what every org is trying to do.

  21. The Gaijin says:

    Gimme a break – UFC promoted the hell out of Shamrock vs. Ortiz as a catalyst for the org grabbing mainstream interest. Hardly the height of pursuit of competition or anything other than a hot marketing tool.

    Gina Carano is no different, so to criticize them for this when it’s merely one of the many things they’re pushing is retarded.

  22. The Gaijin says:

    “they would have chosen a very different fighter as their face of women’s MMA. Perhaps one of the many women who are considered one of the best in the world…. A woman with actually a lot of MMA experience.”

    So like UFC is attempting to do with Brock Lesnar or EXC with Kimbo Slice? Like that?

    There’s a certain something to be said about marketability of fighters and the ability to make a profit in the mma business.

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