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« | Home | »

‘Redbelt’ draws mostly positive mainstream media reviews

By Zach Arnold | May 11, 2008

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  1. Total MMA: DREAM 3 live results
  2. The Seattle PI: Ivan Salaverry’s last stand?
  3. BC Local News (Canada): Fighting against MMA
  4. Penn Live (Entertainment): ‘Redbelt’ is an oddly intriguing Mamet mix
  5. The Denton Record-Chronicle (TX): Finding the art of fighting
  6. The Ventura County Star: Meeting Kimbo Slice
  7. The LA Times: On the mat with David Mamet
  8. The Edmonton Sun: Notes from MFC 16 event
  9. TKO Xtreme: MFC 16: Anger Management results
  10. The North County Times (CA): Jesse Taylor has sights on winning UFC contract
  11. The American Chronicle: MMA – trend or fad?
  12. Globe & Mail (Canada): GSP’s love life makes headlines
  13. MVN: Kimbo Slice – the man who is going to kill MMA
  14. MMA Junkie: Matt Hughes wants to prove his time hasn’t passed
  15. 411 Mania: Interview with Jens Pulver
  16. IGN: Randy Couture and David Mamet interview
  17. Bloody Elbow: What would 30% look like?
  18. MMA Analyst: HCF dies; who’s next and why?
  19. MMA Madness: Dan Henderson — what’s next?
  20. Jared Barnes: Interview with Yves Edwards (w/ audio)
  21. Charles Jay: UFC on Forbes is a big deal — but how big a deal is the UFC?
  22. MMA Opinion: Will a documentary steal MMA viewership?

Topics: Canada, DREAM, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 49 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

49 Responses to “‘Redbelt’ draws mostly positive mainstream media reviews”

  1. Michael says:

    Dream 3= Event of the year

  2. cyph says:

    Dreams 3 consisted of tons of mismatches that would never be allowed if the event was here in the states.

    They had big name fighters fighting cans which may give an illusion of quality fights top to bottom, but in reality, it made for a series of ridiculous beat down of over matched fighters.

    The most entertaining fights were also the ones that were competitive. Event of the year? I think not.

  3. George Lucas says:

    Cans?

    Diaz’s opponent was a 2 time King of Pancrase. Manhoef’s opponent was coming off a victory over the best submission grappler in the world. Nakamura’s opponent was a judo medalist who came very close to finishing both Aoki and Ishida.

    Mayhem’s opponent Shibata was a can, I’ll give you that.

    But “illusion of quality”? Please.

  4. IceMuncher says:

    The three LW GP matches were good match-ups, but not great. I don’t have any of those fighters in the top 5, and the ones that were in the top 10 didn’t fight each other. Alvarez and Hansen was still a hell of a fight though.

    The rest of the fights weren’t anything special. They would feel right at home on a UFC undercard.

    So, I definitely wouldn’t label this as the best show of the year. On paper, the next UFC beats it, as does the rumored Affliction card. UFC 82 as well: I’d take a Silva/Hendo caliber superfight over all three LW GP fights and I’m sure I’m not the only one. For entertaining fights, I’d say the last UFN was about the same and UFC 80 delivered more.

  5. Iain says:

    Only Shibata-Mayhem was a dangerous mismatch in my eyes.

    Jung-Nakamura would have probably not been sanctioned in the US due to their relative expereince levels but it was clear to see there’s not a huge disparity between their level of talent.

  6. Ivan Trembow says:

    Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! Congrats to AOL Fanhouse for seeing the big picture in this story: http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/11/tito-ortiz-makes-a-fair-proposal-ufc-should-pay-fighters-30-of/

  7. Ivan Trembow says:

    Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! Congrats to AOL Fanhouse for seeing the big picture in this story… It won’t let me post a link, but the headline is “Tito Ortiz Makes a Fair Proposal: UFC Should Pay Fighters 30% of Revenues”

  8. Rictor says:

    So who is on your Top 5 list, IceMuncher?

  9. Dave says:

    Ok, let me get this straight, a promotion that isn’t the UFC has a really good card, which (for Japan) had minimal in the way of mismatches, had a lot of exciting fights on top of the usual over-the-top presentation and it somehow gets broken down to about as good as a UFN?

    I don’t get that, just like I don’t get the expected Sherdog “Dream >>>> UFC” stuff. I just don’t get the disdain for one side or the other. This show entertained me unlike any other has done this year. There have been UFC cards with great fights on them, but there are always fights on the cards that I have next to no interest in or end up being complete duds.

    At least in a case of a mismatch here we had Mayhem goofing on Shibata.

    Speaking of Shibata, you’d think the guy would actually train for MMA a little bit harder. Its not like he hasn’t been giving it a shot for years now.

  10. Grape Knee High says:

    Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! Congrats to AOL Fanhouse for seeing the big picture in this story… It won’t let me post a link, but the headline is “Tito Ortiz Makes a Fair Proposal: UFC Should Pay Fighters 30% of Revenues”

    Then maybe the UFC should also disallow fighters from making in-the-ring individual sponsorship deals and take it all for themselves. (Like they do in most other sporting leagues.)

  11. cyph says:

    Cans?

    Shibata 2-3.

    Dae Won Kim 4-3.

    Inoue 16-5-3. Okay, this guy has a decent record. But from the way that Diaz demolished him until his corner threw in the towel, it makes me question the quality of opponents that he had. Furthermore, Diaz looked like he was an entire weight class higher than him. Can we say WTF?

    To be fair, Shibata and Kim both have promise. However, Japan doesn’t want to build future stars slowly, but rather they prefer to build supermen by throwing inexperienced fighters to their stars for a beat down. It’s a shame. Pawel Nastula had alot of promise as well, but Pride wrecked his career by throwing him up against Barnett, A Emelieneko, and Noguiera. It looks like Dream is continuing in that tradition.

  12. Gabe says:

    I got to watch the Dream show. I enjoyed it. Know why? Because I don’t expect every MMA show I see to be the best ever, and I don’t compare every MMA show I see to other promotions based on pre-existing biased. Likewise, if I go to the bar and end up watching a UFC, I don’t sit there with a sour look on my face telling people that Pride was better or Dream is better or Elite is better.

    The way some people argue over which promotion puts on the better show is really frustrating. You’d think that some of these people own stock in the companies and their financial future depends directly on how many people on the internet they can convince to see things their way.

    When I watch a show, I simply DON’T CARE if someone else put on a better one 2 months ago or if some future card looks better on paper. What I care about when I watch a show is whether or not I had a good time watching it. That’s all that should matter, right?

    For example, I’m a fan of soccer. I’ll watch any game that’s on TV because I enjoy watching it. When I watch an MLS game, I don’t sit there telling people, “English Premier is way better, better teams on paper, the grass on the field is nicer, and the fans are smarter and more appreciative!” I enjoy things for what they are and what they do for me. No need to compare.

    This site is full of really knowledgeable and intelligent people, who in my opinion waste their time and intellect arguing over irrelevant nonsense. It’s like watching two gangs fight over turf that nobody even owns. I could probably write on this topic for an hour, but I have to get going and I doubt anyone has read down this far anyway 🙂 Cheers to you all, enjoy your Monday.

  13. Dave says:

    Gabe is a good, good man.

    [quote]To be fair, Shibata and Kim both have promise. However, Japan doesn’t want to build future stars slowly, but rather they prefer to build supermen by throwing inexperienced fighters to their stars for a beat down. It’s a shame. Pawel Nastula had alot of promise as well, but Pride wrecked his career by throwing him up against Barnett, A Emelieneko, and Noguiera. It looks like Dream is continuing in that tradition.[/quote]

    This is way too true and way too sad. I think Shibata could possibly be a pretty good fighter, and really, he should be facing fighters of his same skill level as opposed to experienced guys like Mayhem Miller.

  14. Donny says:

    the dream 3 card is extremly overated by pride fanboys

    Mismatch after mismatch and they call it the best eva

    Manhof vs can
    Diaz vs can
    Miller vs Can
    Kawajiri vs can

    the hansen fight was good, ill give you that but its not FOTY, no where near as good as Danzig vs Bocek

    The gp doesnt have any ranked fighters. i dont see how its so great?

    if they put somebody like joe stevenson or ken flo in their to be the favorite then i would be interested.

    hope the next show picks up the slack

    japanese mma is all but dead, if a guy like Nick Diaz who was .500 in the UFC can go tool the life out of Japans best fighter in their history then its a sad day…………….

  15. Grape Knee High says:

    cyph, why does everything have to turn into UFC vs Japan with you?

    As Gabe said above, just enjoy the fights.

  16. cyph says:

    GKH,

    Never once did I mention UFC in my posts. What’s wrong with you?

  17. Grape Knee High says:

    So sorry, I guess I just inferred “UFC” when you were talking about the States.

    Why does everything have to turn into US vs Japan with you?

  18. cyph says:

    GKH,

    You’re a certified loon. I criticized Dreams on its own merit. If you have nothing to add, then move along.

    If this thread turns into a Pride VS UFC flame fest, then you are the instigator.

  19. Grape Knee High says:

    No flamewar here. I agree the matches could have been better, but what’s the point of you people constantly comparing these to UFC/US events and matches?

    Just enjoy the friggin fights already.

  20. cyph says:

    By your reasoning, I should have enjoyed the Kalib Starnes fight? If there is ridiculous mismatches that doesn’t serve the health of fighters or the spirit of competitiveness, the fans should call them out. Why should we be blinded by fanboyism and let the promotions pull stunts like these?

    Dreams had some great fights but the majority of their fights were gross mismatches. There’s no changing that fact.

  21. Donny says:

    dont worry bro

    dream wont last through the end of the year.

    tv ratings r tanking badly and they cant even fill an arena

    I wouldnt be suprised if Dana White buys them out

    remember u heard it here first.

  22. Grape Knee High says:

    Like I said, I agree with the quality of matchups. Dunno if you saw my comment after DREAM 2, but it started off with, “Now that the cans are out of the way…”

    I just don’t get the constant hate. All the other minor leagues have the same problem as DREAM. Right now all the major talent is consolidated in the UFC. There really aren’t that many competitive matchups left for the likes of Diaz and Miller to fight on a regular basis.

    (I’m also amazed that people don’t think Manhoef is a can. He’s just a Dutch version of Houston Alexander.)

    So here’s a followup. Who would you have had Diaz and Mayhem fight that is not already signed with someone else?

  23. D. Capitated says:

    Who would you have had Diaz and Mayhem fight that is not already signed with someone else?

    Diaz: Jake Shields

    Miller: Trigg (again) or Lawler (again)

  24. Thomas says:

    jake sheilds is his training partner and signed to exc, not dream.

    trigg signed with strikeforce to fight cyborg.

  25. Grape Knee High says:

    Isn’t Shields injured? Besides, Elite would never allow a money fights like Shields/Diaz and Miller/Lawler happen solely under the DREAM banner (all working agreements notwithstanding). They’d want those fights for themselves.

    Also, didn’t DREAM already try to sign Trigg and it didn’t work out?

    Any Japanese fighters you guys can think of? I wish I could think of some, but I can’t off the top of my head that aren’t already in the GP.

    We’ll see better matchups next round in both GPs.

  26. Dnneoks says:

    lol @ donny

    DREAM is only going to get stronger with time. People are acting like they should be the best organization EVAR after three shows, which they just won’t be.

    For it’s third show DREAM.3 was pretty fucking stellar, if you ask me.

    So why don’t people relax with all of the negative rhetoric and allow DREAM to grow into the fantastic organization it has the potential to be.

    It’s like shooting your baby in the head because it can’t walk yet, so it must be a waste of your time.

  27. The Gaijin says:

    Anyone else think that the Silva vs. Jardine might be the first fight in the UFC since the PRIDE acquisition where Dana et al are clearly far more interested in a non-home grown guy winning the fight?

    Not withstanding that Dana seems to have a high school man-crush on Silva, it seems like a Silva win sets up far more interesting fights at the top end of the LHW division (i.e. Silva-Rampage III, Silva-Griffin, Liddell-Silva II, Liddell-Rampage III or Liddell-Griffin) than anything that can be on the table should Jardine win. You’d think a Jardine win would all but require him to be next in line for the title shot, which they can’t be too high on.

  28. Grape Knee High says:

    Win or lose, I think Wandy should drop to MW. Thankfully, the myth has finally been broken that he’s a “big LHW”. Never was, even during his suspected roid years.

    Didn’t Dana say in the Iole article that Wandy should drop to MW as well?

  29. D. Capitated says:

    jake sheilds is his training partner and signed to exc, not dream.

    They’re all signed to EXC. If you want better fights, Mayhem/Manhoef would interest me way more without them needing to beat up cans first. Or what about another EXC signed fighter under the Spirit banner in Dennis Kang? Kang/Miller is better.

    trigg signed with strikeforce to fight cyborg.

    And Strikeforce and EXC never, ever work together.

  30. thomas says:

    mayhem is signed with dream not exc

    u see?

    lol

    kang just lost in the 1st round of the gp, he cant fight in the 1st round twice can he?

    mayhems fight was r1 of gp

    Mayhem vs manhoef was not possible because mayhem is in the gp and manhoef is seriously injured so he was a reserve bout

  31. IceMuncher says:

    “So who is on your Top 5 list, IceMuncher?”

    In no particular order (other than BJ at #1) here’s the top 6:

    Penn
    Sherk
    JZ
    Gomi
    Aoki
    Stevenson

    Kawajiri and Ishida come in somewhere in the #7-#10 range. I don’t put much effort into it, and guys can switch one or two spots and I don’t mind, but I wouldn’t put either in the top 5.

    “Ok, let me get this straight, a promotion that isn’t the UFC has a really good card, which (for Japan) had minimal in the way of mismatches, had a lot of exciting fights on top of the usual over-the-top presentation and it somehow gets broken down to about as good as a UFN?” – Dave

    For clarification, I liked Dream3. It was good. I was just countering the first post that said it was the best show of the year.

    The fact that a UFN comparison bothers you shows a bias. If you can’t recall, UFN 13 was a great show, in fact it was better than a lot of UFC PPV’s. The hype it was getting was through the roof. It aired Alves/Karo, Boestch/Hammill, Diaz/Pelligrino, Irvin/Alexander, Maynard/Edgar, Johnson/Speer and Florian/J-Lau, all of which turned out to be pretty good fights. Stating that Dream3 was on the same level is a fairly big compliment imo.

  32. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    GKN, Dana may just be attempting to head off the damage that a loss to Jardine might do to Silva as a property. I don’t know how Silva would feel about it, because it’s kind of along the line of what UFC did when it talked about Couture being the underdog in so many cases.

    Jardine/Silva is kind of a no-lose. If Jardine wins, then you’ve got a guy coming off some quality wins who you can put against Rampage or Forrest (Rematch, two TUF winners as a title fight? You’ve got to be kidding me, UFC would love that!).

    If Silva wins, then he’s one fight closer to “getting healthy” and you can put him up against another guy in a number one contender battle maybe.

    I doubt that Zuffa would be interested in buying Dream. Even if they were willing to go into another deal with the same guys that they’re busy suing, there’s not much there to acquire. There’s no significant contracts (some of the fights that they have in terms of US headline appeal are loaned fighters from US promotions), and there’s no tape library (sounds like HDNet probably has the PPV, broadcast, and tape distribution rights for the US, like they did with Yarenoka, that’s kind of how they do business).

  33. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Is Miller signed with Dream, or is he signed with HDNet Fights?

  34. Ivan Trembow says:

    “Then maybe the UFC should also disallow fighters from making in-the-ring individual sponsorship deals and take it all for themselves. (Like they do in most other sporting leagues.)”

    I’m sure they’d have no problem with that if, in exchange, the fighters’ collective percentage of revenue-into-pay was even one-third of what it is in other sports, because that would result overall in a significant pay raise.

  35. D. Capitated says:

    mayhem is signed with dream not exc

    Bullshit. He’s there on copromotion. Mayhem has an enormously long contract with Icon Sport, who is now owned by, you guessed it, Elite XC. Diaz is under their contract too.

    kang just lost in the 1st round of the gp, he cant fight in the 1st round twice can he?

    The quest was “who would you like to see fight Diaz or Mayhem instead?” and I’m giving answers.

    Mayhem vs manhoef was not possible because mayhem is in the gp and manhoef is seriously injured so he was a reserve bout

    Manhoef fought the same night as Miller. That’s a crap excuse.

  36. The Gaijin says:

    Ugh…can we stop putting division champs and challengers as TUF coaches. What a way to snarl the division by tying up the belt for 6-8 months. UFC is getting pretty ridiculous having like 2 title fights per year max in each division.

    I feel like the rub of having someone other than the champ and #1 contender as coaches would be better served on giving other fighters better exposure. Plus the TUF format is getting super stale and ratings are dropping to the point that I really don’t think it justifies putting the belt on hold for so long, especially when you have Hughes-Serra situations arise.

  37. Grape Knee High says:

    D.Cap, be reasonable and work within the framework of the GP. If Miller and Manhoef fight each other, then the two cans they faced would be fighting each other and making it into the next round, where people would be complaining.

    So far you’ve mentioned Kang (who already knocked himself out of the GP), Trigg (who DREAM tried to sign but couldn’t come to an agreement), Manhoef (who is alrady in the GP himself), and Lawler.

    I think my point is valid that there just aren’t many solid MWs out there available for DREAM to sign right now.

    The next round will be much more interesting.

  38. Zack says:

    Wow even this site is getting over run by trolls & n00bz.

  39. Grape Knee High says:

    I think Miller is signed with HDNet, and if I recall correctly, HDNet doesn’t have a non-compete clause but does have right of refusal if a proposed bout is within 30 days (or was it 60?) of an upcoming HDNet bout.

  40. ttt says:

    donny
    you’re the first person to mention the Danzig fight as FOTY, i think you’re in the minority on that one. i even tried to google Danzig and FOTY or “Fight of the Year” and the only post i could find was this one

    just because you haven’t heard of fighters doesn’t make them cans

  41. ilostmydog says:

    @GKH: Manhoef is not in the GP. He is the reserve fighter. There is really no reason that he should be in the reserve fight while Shibata fights Mayhem for an actual spot in the GP.

  42. The Gaijin says:

    I’m pretty sure the issue with Manhoef is that he just fought Remy Bonjansky in a K-1 match two weeks before the Dream.3 card.

    I don’t think he would have accepted a fight against a top flight opponent with a two week turn around. Not to mention he never should have been allowed to fight in the first place, b/c I’m 99% certain he lost via (t)KO.

  43. ttt says:

    D. Capitated
    why did Manhoef not fight someone of higher standing like Miller? probably not enough MWs but i think the bigger reason was the beating he took from Remy Bonjasky 2 weeks ago. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x58dun_remy-bonjasky-vs-melvin-manhoef-k1_sport

  44. 45 Huddle says:

    I was decently entertained by Dream 3… but lets be realistic… If Dream 3 was renamed: UFC 84….

    1. Fans would be complaining that there was no true main event.

    2. Fans would be complaining about how the tournament format is broken and that there is too much manipulation from the company.

    3. How Eddie Alvarz is overhyped because he beat a fighter who was 4-4 in his last 8 fights going into that fight.

    4. Manhoef is on roids.

    5. The company is putting on fighters who sell tickets and not fighters who are the best in the world.

    Once again, solid card… but there is such a double standard by you fans. It is no wonder that Dana White does not cater to you. Impossible to please.

  45. The Gaijin says:

    45,

    I think you’re pretty bang on with your criticisms of the card – I personally haven’t had a chance to watch the whole thing yet – though I will when I have some free time, then I can fairly comment on the event.

    But I think the difference is that people should expect MORE from the UFC since it’s the pre-eminent mma promotion in the world that has the resources, production ability and most importantly the insanely deep roster to put on a card “stacked” with highly skilled fighters in competitive bouts. They simply have the luxuries that cannot and should not (at this point) be expected from other less established promotions.

    One objection I will take with you is that I think the criticism of Hansen is pretty unfair. He was 4-4 in his last 8 going into the fight with Alvarez but 12-4 in his last 16 fights as well. It’s not like he’s fighting chumps either – he’s 4-4 fighting Kawajiri, Azeredo, Sakurai, Aoki, Miyata, Boku etc. – his resume of opponents is pretty stellar and and outside the lackluster loss to Mitsuoka, it’s not like he hasn’t looked good in his fights either.

    Alvarez may be overrated, but I don’t think he’s anymore overrated than say Roger Huerta.

  46. Fan Futbol says:

    I’m not so happy about the Silva-Jardine fight. Wandy should have been given an easier fight, to build him up for the casual fans. Jardine’s gonna try to stay away and tag him with kicks all night — and it might work.

    FF

  47. The Gaijin says:

    Even as a huge Silva fan, I think I disagree. He doesn’t need tune up fights at this point in his career – he needs to fight the guys at the top and sort out his place in the mix. He’s getting up there in “dog years” so to speak – he’s 31 with 180,000 miles on the odometer. I don’t want to see him wasting time fighting “easier guys” at this point in his career.

    If Wandy takes this fight in his usual fashion and Rampage wins, I think that sets up Rampage-Silva III and you could absolutely hype the bejeezus out of that fight. Otherwise, send Wandy down to 185 and churn up some excitement in a division that seems to be chasing its collective tail.

  48. Zack says:

    “If Dream 3 was renamed: UFC 84….”

    Uhhh..no one in America had to plunk down $45 for Dream. Try comparing it to the last UFN card instead, which no one said anything negative about before or after. Both cards delivered on paper and in real life.

    Manhoef tested clean @ K-1 Dynamite!! USA. You are a douchebag for saying he’s on roids. You are Fight Opinion’s resident male body observer…how about a comparison between his K-1 Dynamite!! USA body and his Dream 3 body?

  49. BigJohn says:

    manhoefs an exciting fighter but anyone how thinks he doesnt roid is a fool.

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