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Debating the impact of Chuck Liddell’s injury
By Zach Arnold | April 23, 2008
- AOL Fanhouse: Without Chuck Liddell, UFC 85 won’t sell on PPV
- Fox Sports: Rich Clementi will take Rob Emerson’s place at UFC 84
- MMA Junkie: Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel at UFC 86
- The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star (VA): Ultimate Warrior Challenge brings MMA to the Patriot Center this weekend
- The Daily Egyptian (Southern Illinois): Battle at the Blast III features UFC veteran’s students
- The Lafayette Advertiser (LA): TUF enough? Tim Credeur advances on The Ultimate Fighter
- Bloody Elbow: Funny, I like Iron Ring
- Todd Martin (CBS Sports): HDNet targets growing MMA television audience
- KSBY 6 Action News: AS Exclusive – Chuck Liddell comments on his hamstring injury
- Press release: Royce Gracie to appear at Log Cabin-Delaney house wedding and banquet with CT Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt Jim Hughes
- ESPN’s Page 2: Dave Mamet brings MMA to the big screen
- The Sandy Post (OR): Matt Lindland – ‘we all have the same values’
- MMA Memories: Talking MMA with Ed Fishman (always an interesting interview)
- TKO Xtreme: Video of Dana White on Off The Record
- MMA Analyst: Network television, the critics, and the rise of MMA
Topics: HDNet, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I was already looking forward to Penn vs. Sherk. I didn’t need the commercial to tell me that the fight will determine who is “THE BEST LIGHTWEIGHT EVER!”
Similarly, I was already looking forward to Franklin vs. Lutter, and I didn’t need the Countdown show on Spike TV to tell me that Franklin and Lutter are the #2 and #3 middleweights in the world.
Interesting quotes from Ed Fishman regarding the Pride buy-out in that article on MMA Memories. Kind of helps explain how it is that the Fertittas bought Pride without ever having background checks done (which is indeed the case based on the Fertittas’ own lawsuit against Sakakibara, in which it states that the background checks were to be completed AFTER the purchase):
“I told him [Sakakibara] I’d be very interested in acquiring Pride but that I’d have to do my due diligence on what I was buying, exactly what I was getting and what people would still be involved and complete background checks on the staff.
Due to my involvement in gaming I told him it would take approximately three months. He informed me the UFC, the Fertitta brothers, directly said they’d acquire Pride much faster then that and they would keep the Pride organization and production in tact in regards to the quality that it was known for.
I had agreed to keep the quality of the Pride organization and to build and develop it in other countries. But a thorough due diligence could not be done that fast. Nobu decided to sell it to Zuffa or UFC.”
I like Ed Fishman, but his idea that MMA needs to be tied to a casino and Japanese high rollers is quickly being disproved. He didn’t directly state this in the interview listed above, but the interviewer made mention of his prior comment on this.
The UFC two biggest shows – UFC 68 in Columbus and UFC 83 in Montreal had a combined attendance of 43,000+ fans, and there were NO casinos nearyby.
Fishman does hit the nail on the head that you need TV to expose the fighters and their stories for an MMA org. to have success. How Pride would have done that, I don’t know.
I wish Fishman would hook up with Monte Cox – they seem a like a really good mix – Monte in charge of talent relations and the fighters and Ed as the back room guy, landing the TV deals and financing.
To hell with Monte Cox I say.
Dukes,
I thought that Fishman’s idea of tying MMA to the casinos and high rollers was more of his “mode of entry” than a long-term business plan.
I think he was trying to say that in order to have the company get established without bleeding massive amounts of red for the “start-up” years, any new company (i.e. PRIDE at the time) would greatly benefit from entering the scene in that manner.
However, that’s just my interpretation of it…not sure if that’s actually what he meant.
Just giving my props to Tim Credeur. He’s my bb instructor. keep it up all the way to the top
Well, aside from Casino de Montreal.
Ohio doesn’t have state blessed gaming yet.
UFC most likely can and might well put 85 on PPV.
It might not sell well, but it already had multiple strikes against it. I mean, come on, Liddell vs Evans? Really? And people were bitching about the Montreal card. Add to that the fact that it’s in the UK again, and you’ve got that awful time zones problem…
But I wonder if it’s really a worse card than UFC 80 was. I like BJ Penn, but he was basically carrying that entire card on his back.
People complained about Liddell/Jardine, and Jardine came out on top.
UFC 85 will be on SpikeTV. I think that was the plan from the beginning anyways.
People weren’t complaining about Liddell-Jardine because they perceived it to be a mismatch. They were complaining because it was a $40 PPV whose main event consisted of two fighters who had both been knocked out in their most recent fight.
“I was already looking forward to Penn vs. Sherk. I didn’t need the commercial to tell me that the fight will determine who is “THE BEST LIGHTWEIGHT EVER!”
Similarly, I was already looking forward to Franklin vs. Lutter, and I didn’t need the Countdown show on Spike TV to tell me that Franklin and Lutter are the #2 and #3 middleweights in the world.”
Um, the commercial and Countdown show are designed to appeal to the casual fans. If these things upset you, I can honestly say I would hate to look at the world through your eyes.
You might want to watch HBO’s Emmy-winning “Countdown” and “24/7” shows for some examples on how it’s possible to hype something to the moon without resorting to cheap, carnival-barker-style hyperbole.