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Monday news review (2/11/08)

By Zach Arnold | February 11, 2008

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There was a media announcement on Monday night that there will be a press conference at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont in Tokyo (Chiyoda district). At the press conference, PRIDE staff members and FEG/K-1 staff members will unite together to announce the name of their new MMA promotion (focusing on the ‘large coalition’ philosophy).

  1. Nightmare of Battle: Kevin Randleman signs with World Victory Road
  2. Setanta Sports (UK): An interview with Dana White
  3. The Montreal Gazette: Ultimate fighting bad news for NHL (this is a Fightlinker special)
  4. The Houston Chronicle: Carlo Prater finds spotlight in second Condit bout
  5. Bloody Elbow: MMA and marijuana – some answers
  6. MMA Payout: ‘Overworked’ – potential impact of year-round drug testing
  7. Dayton Daily News (OH): UFC 82 event in Columbus nearing sellout
  8. The Boston Herald: MMA’s growing appeal in Massachusetts
  9. The Fight Network: Patrick Cote off UFC 83 card
  10. ADCC News: Interview with JZ Calvan
  11. Steve Sievert: IFL TV – addition by subtraction?
  12. Total MMA: Discussing Liddell vs. Shogun
  13. MMA Opinion: Evan Tanner – from the depths of hell to the UFC
  14. K-1 HP: Results from mystery event in Budapest, Hungary
  15. Shu Hirata: Cage Force 2/11 Differ Ariake event results
  16. MMA Analyst: The war between BodogFight and M-1

Topics: BoDog, Canada, HERO's, Japan, K-1, M-1, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, WEC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

21 Responses to “Monday news review (2/11/08)”

  1. Grape Knee High says:

    Dave Meltzer says that a large number of UFC fighters — possibly as high as 50% in the one camp he was investigating — use steroids in between fights?

    Poor 45 Huddle. He must be crying himself to bed.

  2. Samscaff says:

    Oh no. Dana “God” White would never allow that to happen.

  3. ttt says:

    “UFC 82 event in Columbus nearing sellout”

    just goes to show how crazy that UFC 83 in Montreal is soldout

  4. The Gaijin says:

    Stupid Meltzer!!!!! Doesn’t he know that it’s PRIDE/K-1 that were full of all the no good cheaters (other than the exceptions like all the guys who do well in the UFC) and the clearly all the North American fighters are honourable (and dumb enough) to not use steroids even though the current testing is no more than an IQ test.

  5. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    UFC 83 tickets are going for 3 to 4 times what tickets in Columbus are right now.

    I paid less for my 32″ HDTV than I would pay for a single D-Row 400 Level ticket (as high and as far back as it gets).

    Row six or nearer ringside seats are showing up on Stubhub for up to $22,000 each. Delahoya Mayweather tickets maxed out at about $10,000 (this is uncited, just heard it from a friend)…

    So, yeah, it’s fucking insane.

    An IQ test is better than no test at all, but proper testing is a good thing. If a bunch of fighters fail and get suspended, so be it. You have to break some fucking eggs sometimes.

  6. The Gaijin says:

    This is true, as its been shown in the past that some people can’t even pass the IQ test!

    I just cross my fingers this doesn’t end up in a fiasco like when the WWE instituted drug testing and half their active roster ended up suspended. That was disastrous and they only suspended guys for 30 days!!

  7. Grape Knee High says:

    If a bunch of fighters fail and get suspended, so be it. You have to break some fucking eggs sometimes.

    I can’t wait until Sherk gets caught again.

  8. 45 Huddle says:

    I won’t be crying myself to sleep, that is for sure!! But it does show that year round tesing is a necessity.

    What I am more interested in is the WEC undercard on Wednesday. I wish there was a way for us to see all the fights. With a UFC card, we have the option of UFC On Demand. For EliteXC, they show the fights for free online.

    Yet for the WEC, unless the fight is shown on TV, we are left with perhaps seeing it during the next few months during Wrekage. I actually would rather have the option of combining it with UFC On Demand, and for like an extra $10 per 6-months, to have access to those fights. Either that, or stream them online for free after the event.

  9. Fight Dude says:

    “I won’t be crying myself to sleep, that is for sure!! But it does show that year round tesing is a necessity.”

    Since when should the fans decide how athletes should train and prepare themselves for their sport? Fans pay to see sports but now it seems as thought they want to control the athletes as well and that is BS.

    If fighter X uses steroids, so what? Why is it so important for you as fan to know all that happens in being a pro athlete and feel the need to dictate what they should be able to do with their own bodies?

    I thought you wanted to watch some fights not play GOD.

  10. Ivan Trembow says:

    Fight Dude— That sounds a lot like the kind of logic that Josh Barnett tried to use in an interview on Fight Opinion Radio.

  11. Ivan Trembow says:

    Regarding the Cro Cop situation, I believe this stems from the UFC trying to force Cro Cop to take a pay cut — below the amount gauranteed in his contract — and perhaps even saying, “We’d rather release you, or just not book you, than pay you that much anymore.” That could mean that they are currently negotiating the terms— ie, whether he’s going to take a pay cut; if so, how much of a pay cut and who is his next opponent going to be; if not, does that mean he’s getting released or just frozen out like Vera, Arlovski, and others before him. A lot of things to work out, which would explain why it’s taking longer than expected and why you’ve heard such drastically conflicting public statements from the two sides.

  12. The Gaijin says:

    Funny that they have absolutely no qualms with re-negotiating pay of a fighter UNDER CONTRACT when they feel like they’re paying them TOO MUCH.

    Of course they’re not “freezing him out” either, that’s a silly idea. They weren’t doing it with Arlovski and they certainly wouldn’t to it with Cro Cop! I’d laugh pretty hard if Cro Cop brought a lawsuit against them, just to add to the clusterf*ck.

  13. The Gaijin says:

    And just to be clear – I realize they may be fully within their right to try and renegotiate from a contractual standpoint, but this in the face of the constant belly aching and whining about “honour the contract you signed” etc. etc. just makes the words ring all the more hollow.

    It’s like they’re blatantly attempting to alienate every HW they’ve got.

  14. Gabe says:

    “If fighter X uses steroids, so what? Why is it so important for you as fan to know all that happens in being a pro athlete and feel the need to dictate what they should be able to do with their own bodies?”

    It’s important for me as a fan to feel confident that I’m paying good money to see a contest in which no competitor has gained a chemically-induced physical advantage. I spend my time and money because I want to know who the most skilled fighter is and I enjoy seeing it proved in competition. In my eyes, that competition is tainted when one of the fighters secretly pumps drugs into his blood to gain an edge. I just want to see two athletes test their fighting spirit against each other.

  15. IceMuncher says:

    From the mma-analyst article:

    “Semenov is featured on a Russian TV series that is equivalent to the U.S.’s Prison Break, according to the article. Semenov was thrown off the Red Devil Team for the decision to fight with Bodog instead of M-1”

    Ah, so is this how non-exclusive contracts work? We’ll let you fight for the competition, but if you choose to do their show instead of our show you’ll get kicked out of the gym you’ve trained at for your entire career.

    Where’s the utopian MMA scene I’ve been hearing about? You know, the one with all the organizations co-promoting in perfect harmony, featuring happier, wealthier, non-exclusive fighters that always bring us the greatest matches possible. Quite frankly, I’m not seeing it. The UFC is coming out of this looking smarter and smarter as time goes by.

    According to Meltzer, Monte Cox is looking for investors to buyout the Russians’ $15 million share of M-1, due to continued disagreements between the American owners and the (crazy) Russian owners. If true, and combined with the competition with Bodog in Russia and the UFC’s supreme dominance in America, M-1’s future is in horrible shape.

  16. Ivan Trembow says:

    IceMuncher— I don’t think anyone ever said that co-promotion in general doesn’t have its own set of potential business problems, or that M-1 Global in particular has any kind of profitable business model set up at this point.

  17. Chuck says:

    “I just want to see two athletes test their fighting spirit against each other.”

    Who are you, Antonio Inoki? Just kidding. But seriously, you won’t always see “fighting spirit” in MMA, boxing, etc. everything else sport related. When it comes to fighting (to the fighters) it’s about winning and making money, so many times you won’t see fighting spirit. Just ask Arturo Gatti what fighting spirit did to him. Did you see the awesome Clay Guida vs. Roger Huerta fight? Remember the point when Huerta dropped to one knee when Guida threw a kick at him, and Guida got reprimanded for it? Would you call that fighting spirit? I don’t think so. I would rather hold my breath on seeing technique and skills than fighting spirit. There will always be fighting spirit in combat sports (you have to have it to even fight at all), but fighters won’t test it against eachother for the sake of their health and wanting to WIN matches. They are sporting matches, not dick measuring contests, if you get what I am saying.

  18. Gabe says:

    “But seriously, you won’t always see “fighting spirit” in MMA, boxing, etc. everything else sport related.”

    “There will always be fighting spirit in combat sports (you have to have it to even fight at all)”

    I’m not sure you grasped my original point, which was simply that I’d prefer to see a contest of skill and will minus the juice.

  19. The Gaijin says:

    I think the main problems with the whole, “why do we care about fighters using performance enhancing drugs” is:

    1. You shouldn’t make it so that fighters who wouldn’t use them feel basically compelled to use them in order to level the playing field with all the other cheaters;

    2. The long term health implications involved with those who use the PEDs (See pro wrestling);

    3. We’d like it so that there isn’t a culture of PED use created by “looking the other way and saying, ‘who cares?!?'”; and

    4. What kind of example does this set for young people who want to get into the sport of mma?

    I’m sure these are just a small fraction of the concerns, but those jump out at me as being very realistic concerns.

  20. cyphron says:

    Stupid Meltzer!!!!! Doesn’t he know that it’s PRIDE/K-1 that were full of all the no good cheaters (other than the exceptions like all the guys who do well in the UFC) and the clearly all the North American fighters are honourable (and dumb enough) to not use steroids even though the current testing is no more than an IQ test.

    So what’s worse:

    a bunch of fighters juicing up, but are known to be off of it by fight time so that they pass the test(UFC)

    or

    a bunch of fighters juicing up during training and up to and during fight time (Pride, Japanese MMA)

    Hey, I think they’re both bad, but some testing is better than no testing.

  21. The Gaijin says:

    You’re right…I’m just playing off the idea that people seem to try and pawn off. People act so disgusted and dismissive of the PRIDE-era fights b/c of the “taint of cheating”, when it’s pretty much on the same level with current AC testing protocols.

    But yes – something is better than nothing. And this is a lot better than either option.

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