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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 | »

Strange, ugly heavyweight match-ups arising in 2008

By Zach Arnold | January 22, 2008

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According to The Sun in the UK, Brock Lesnar will headline UFC’s June event at the 02 Arena in London. The Sun has a ton of MMA articles, but no RSS feed. If someone can find or produce an RSS feed of Sun MMA articles, please let me know.

Bob Sapp vs. Jan “The Giant” Nortje booked for StrikeForce’s Tacoma Dome event? What a useless match. Sounds like a Kazuyoshi Ishii special.

Meanwhile, details about M-1’s first event in the States. If Fedor vs. Schilt happens, that would certainly indicate a mending of fences between Apy Echteld and Bas Boon. More thoughts here.

Mike Sawyer and Oliver Copp have an interview with Phil Baroni. Eddie Goldman has audio clips of an interview with Fedor.

An update on what Matt Hamill is up to.

Tito Ortiz vs. Ryoto Machida appears to be set.

Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett has been arrested again.

Here is an article discussing UFC’s recent problems. Plus, Dave Meltzer has an article about UFC’s big gamble on Brock Lesnar. Read this before betting on Lesnar to win.

Information about the upcoming Cage Combat event on February 16th at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in California.

Fight Metric has a performance rating round-up for UFC 80 fighters. MMA Opinion did find someone who actually paid to watch UFC 80.

The IFL’s new logo. Some thoughts here.

Bodog Fight will apparently have a show on February 1st in Las Vegas. The promoter is Barry Meyer, who has promoted Tuff ‘n Uff events in the past in Vegas (and has done well).

Other articles

Here is a main card preview for this Wednesday’s UFC event. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that tickets are still available for the Ultimate Fight Night live event at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Michael Bisping will be fighting on 4/18 in Montreal.

  1. Yahoo (Eurosport): ‘Torture porn’ – a guide to cutting weight
  2. The Dothan Eagle: Hermes Franca presenting a free workshop on January 26th at Premier Martial Arts
  3. The Honolulu Advertiser: Niko Vitale seeks X-1 Middleweight title
  4. Pramit Mohapatra: Interview with Mark Cuban
  5. Jarry Park: Interview with Steve Mazzagatti

Topics: BoDog, HDNet, IFL, K-1, M-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, StrikeForce, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

20 Responses to “Strange, ugly heavyweight match-ups arising in 2008”

  1. Ivan Trembow says:

    Why is Krazy Horse still employed by EliteXC? How many times can he get arrested without Gary Shaw finally saying, “You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t be using this guy on our events.” Even putting aside the fact that was completely dominated in his ShoXC fight and showed embarrassingly poor behavior afterwards, I’d think there would be some sort of “arrest limit” on his employment with EliteXC.

    (it’s appropriate that the anti-spam word that I have to type in for this particular post is “carny,” because that’s what the level EliteXC’s promotional effort is increasingly becoming, with Krazy Horse continuing to get booked and with Kimbo vs. Tank as a main event fight)

  2. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    I paid for it.

    It was worth it.

  3. klown says:

    Zach, please exercise your editorial powers re: the comment above by Sean F.

    Ed. — I deleted the comment.

  4. RussianMMA says:

    I actually very much doubt that Fedor will be fighting Schilt in the first American event. Schilt is a huge star in Japan (Asia) and Netherlands (Europe) and M-1 Global can make a huge bucks organizing a fight there (for a “huge show”, mentioned in the article). They need American fighter for an American market. Someone big, muscular and scary. And to be honest, Bob Sapp is one of the best alternatives out there… 🙂

    Fedor has to fight “not the best fighters” to put some momentum in M-1 Global, so the Couture fight would become possible and successful.

  5. ttt says:

    schilt is not a big star… after he won the K-1 World GP 2007, there was silence. almost everybody wanted anyone but him (and choi) to win

  6. Jarred says:

    Too bad Fedor already beat Schilt at PRIDE.21.

  7. ilostmydog says:

    Just because the Japanese public has grown cold to Semmy’s domination and relatively boring style does not mean that he’s not a big star.

  8. GassedOut says:

    Semmy Schilt lucked out. Both Jerome LeBanner and Peter Aerts were taking the fight to him but succumbed to previous battle damage. In fact, LeBanner looked absolutely livid when his corner threw in the towel on him (rightfully so, he could barely stand).

    Fedor will once again eat him for breakfast assuming this fight happens.

  9. ilostmydog says:

    JLB didn’t succumb to battle damage, Vin Diesel mentally snapped his knee in half again.

  10. ilostmydog says:

    Ricco Rodriguez is now fighting Antonio Silva on the 2/16 Elite XC show.

    There\’s a bit of controversy here because Gary \’Smiler\’ Turner was actually given the fight against Antonio, but was apparently dropped from it without being told a thing. He found out about it on the internet. He\’s not happy. More details in an open letter he typed here:

    http://www.cagewarriors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20344

  11. The Gaijin says:

    Whether or not Smiler is happy about being dropped (the circumstances surrounding him being dropped notwithstanding – that’s a whole discussion on its own), I’m far happier that Antonio Silva is fighting Ricco.

    I think it will give us a better idea of exactly where Silva stands. I see Ricco as a big step up and more of a gatekeeper towards the upper echelon of the HW division.

  12. The Gaijin says:

    “Lesnar knows the knee-jerk reaction is to say a WWE champion would get destroyed in an MMA match. He’s heard all the wise cracks: No scripts. No dance partners allowing you to do your moves. With his big muscles, he’ll gas out in a minute of real fighting. But what makes this match different from a Kimbo Slice-type of freak show is that those on the inside are even more intrigued than those on the outside.” (Da Meltz – as swiped from Luke Thomas’ editorial comments):

    Since when did Meltzer become a UFC lackey? That’s pretty unforgivable bias on his part – there’s really no difference b/w the Kimbo Slice and Lesnar situations.

    Kimbo Slice played NCAA Div I football, so I mean his athletic credentials are not THAT much beneath those of Lesnar. While obviously Lesnar has shown he was an awesome wrestler at the NCAA level almost 8 years ago – I think all of that is a pretty giant reach as we’ve seen lots of NCAA champs flop. One thing we know Kimbo can throw and take a punch, do we know that much about Lesnar?

    And finally are we really to believe that Lesnar would be in the position he is (i.e. headlining a UFC card in his 2nd fight) but for his infamy as a WWE wrestler? I don’t really see how dissimilar the situations really are.

  13. D. Capitated says:

    [quote]Kimbo Slice played NCAA Div I football, so I mean his athletic credentials are not THAT much beneath those of Lesnar.[/quote]

    The pertinence of wrestling versus football as a skill set in MMA should be plainly obvious.

    And finally are we really to believe that Lesnar would be in the position he is (i.e. headlining a UFC card in his 2nd fight) but for his infamy as a WWE wrestler? I don’t really see how dissimilar the situations really are.

    By the same token, Lesnar wouldn’t be in the UFC at all, WWE or not, if he didn’t have the amateur background.

  14. Dave2 says:

    “Why is Krazy Horse still employed by EliteXC? How many times can he get arrested without Gary Shaw finally saying, “You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t be using this guy on our events.” Even putting aside the fact that was completely dominated in his ShoXC fight and showed embarrassingly poor behavior afterwards, I’d think there would be some sort of “arrest limit” on his employment with EliteXC.

    (it’s appropriate that the anti-spam word that I have to type in for this particular post is “carny,” because that’s what the level EliteXC’s promotional effort is increasingly becoming, with Krazy Horse continuing to get booked and with Kimbo vs. Tank as a main event fight)”

    I would imagine that EliteXC is keeping Krazy Horse around because he’s known to be an exciting fighter. This is also why Krazy Horse was featured somewhat regularly in PRIDE. In Japan, they bring back fighters who can either draw or are exciting, even if they have an unimpressive record. EliteXC seems to be going for that same thing considering the push they give to Krazy Horse, Gina Carano, Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott.

    I know that this is America and not Japan so what works in Japan won’t work here. But the casual MMA fan in America would find Krazy Horse’s style exciting and that’s why they are keeping him around. Like Zach, I believe that the industry is entertainment 1st, sportive 2nd. Though I can also see it from your perspective to an extent as well. If MMA is to go more mainstream and be looked upon as more of a sport rather than a cagefighting spectacle, than the Krazy Horses, Kimbo Slices and Tank Abbotts of the sport will have to go and probably take a one-way ticket to Japan, where freakshow matches are a lot more accepted by the mainstream. But right now, it appears as if the average MMA fan would rather watch a low-life, unskilled but exciting brawler like Krazy Horse rather than a very talented but “boring” Sean Sherk.

  15. The Gaijin says:

    Yes, yes – I realize the obvious there. But so many people are claiming “well Lesnar is a genetic freak with awesome athletic ability” (which I take as meaning beyond just wrestling) so he’ll be able to make the leap to MMA.

    I just think that to call one a “freak show” and attempt to play off the other as completely legitimate is pretty transparent.

  16. D. Capitated says:

    Yes, yes – I realize the obvious there. But so many people are claiming “well Lesnar is a genetic freak with awesome athletic ability” (which I take as meaning beyond just wrestling) so he’ll be able to make the leap to MMA.

    Well, his combine stats were pretty insane and he’s a 4 time national All American in wrestling. Saying he’s a freak of nature in terms of his physical abilities isn’t some mystical thing that people intuned from OVW shooting star presses. There’s legitimate backing for it. Not only that, there’s legitimate backing that has been vital to numerous fighters careers in the form of the wrestling background.

    I just think that to call one a “freak show” and attempt to play off the other as completely legitimate is pretty transparent.

    Lesnar’s a guy who didn’t play football until his mid 20s and could have been on a NFL practice squad or CFL/NFL Europe/AFL level team. He has a background in a form of competition that’s birthed many of the best MMA fighters alive today; collegiate/amateur wrestling. Kimbo Slice is a dude who played no semi-pro football after college and his sole combat experience prior to training are some Youtube videos of bareknuckle boxing in backyards. Backyard fighting vs. 4 time All American wrestler. Which is closer to a freak show than the other?

  17. The Gaijin says:

    Fair enough, I can see your point.

  18. The Gaijin says:

    “Lesnar’s a guy who didn’t play football until his mid 20s and could have been on a NFL practice squad or CFL/NFL Europe/AFL level team. He has a background in a form of competition that’s birthed many of the best MMA fighters alive today; collegiate/amateur wrestling. Kimbo Slice is a dude who played no semi-pro football after college and his sole combat experience prior to training are some Youtube videos of bareknuckle boxing in backyards…”

    Just saw when i was doing some browsing around the ‘net that Kimbo Slice actually spent some time on the Tampa Bay Bucaneers practice squad.

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