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Monday media review (6/9/08)

By Zach Arnold | June 8, 2008

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WVR has booked Saitama Super Arena for 8/24. BTW, not a single Japanese media outlet is giving the paid number of fans for the Sengoku III show that happened yesterday in Saitama. I’ve never seen that happen before. Usually at least one outlet will go with a worked number.

  1. Matt Stewart (F4W Online): Kimbo Slice’s uncommon fairy tale
  2. The Dayton Daily News (OH): Retirement isn’t Matt Hughes’ only option
  3. The Sun (UK): Legend Hughes hits crossroads
  4. Sports Illustrated (Josh Gross): MMA legend Matt Hughes fading away
  5. Fox Sports (Steve Cofield): Matt Hughes showing not what he used to be
  6. The Telegraph (UK): Explosive Michael Bisping on course for showdown with Anderson Silva
  7. The Sun (UK): Anderson Silva beckons for Michael Bisping
  8. The Lancashire Telegraph (UK): Michael Bisping on a mission for gold
  9. TSN (Canada): List of challengers for Georges St. Pierre growing
  10. The Honolulu Advertiser: In UFC, nothing is mighter than the Penn – BJ signs over 1,000 autographs in Honolulu
  11. New York Newsday: Kimbo Slice vs. Mike Tyson – could it happen?
  12. Brandweek Magazine: Q & A with Everlast President Adam Geilser
  13. The Sunday Sun (UK): Cage fighter Ian Freeman to battle tax man

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Sengoku, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

15 Responses to “Monday media review (6/9/08)”

  1. David says:

    “Usually at least one outlet will go with a worked number.” God bless you Zach. Ty for reporting 🙂

  2. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    It’ll be interesting to see if Bisping has any answers for Anderson Silva. Two Muay Thai guys, quite a bit of speed.

    One with an ego the size of Soviet Russia and one with an Ego the size of Mother Theresa.

  3. The Gaijin says:

    There’s only one muay thai guy in this fight. What a joke – Bisping batters two entry-to-mid level opponents and people are buying back into the hype for him again.

    He’ll get f#ckin demo’d if they put him in the ring with Silva. He’s got a snowball’s chance in hell, the only interest I have in this fight is seeing this clown get tooled and the Zuffa hype machine get embarrassed again for trying to shove this guy down the fans’ throats.

  4. Matt McEwen says:

    Even in battering his two opponents at 185, Bisping has shown little to no power on his shots. He’s been active and looked it good, but it’s all been combinations to get the stoppages without ever rocking either McCarthy or Day.

    I’d love to see him fight Leben and see what he can do against someone who won’t fold under his combinations and can hit HARD.

    As it stands right now, Silva destroys Bisping in under a round.

  5. Cam says:

    Alves gets a bonus despite failing to make weight.

    What a joke.

  6. DAMN, but I’m sick of all the Kimbio hype! I can’t believe it’s still going just as strong even though James Thompson exposed him.

    I can only wish that Gary Shaw would bring in a true hard Englishman in Ian Freeman to take on “Slice”. Freeman’s best days may be a bit past him , but I guarantee he’d still do a “Frank Mir” on Kimbo & have him tapping for mercy.

  7. cyph says:

    All you fans predicting annihilation so early probably thought Tavares was going to destroy Wiman in one round as well.

    That’s why they fight. If MMA math could predict victories, then there’s no point in fighting at all.

    Just because Bisping may not beat Silva does not mean he’s not any good. If he decisively beat two good fighters in a row, then he has some skills. Neither wins were of the flash KO variety as he dominated from beginning to end. In a win, you can either downplay the loser as a nobody or credit the winner for a great victory. The former just makes you a hater.

  8. Matt McEwen says:

    Actually, I think Day is a pretty tough fighter with some good skills. No hating here as I think Bisping looked fantastic.

    My only concern, like I said, is his seeming lack of power. When he runs into someone with a chin like Leben or the power of Silva, I think he’ll be in trouble as he won’t be able to hurt them with his punches.

    But like you said, MMAth is faulty to say the least. And yes, I’m one of those who though Tavares would destroy Wiman.

  9. The Gaijin says:

    Really?

    Saying that beating a known headcase and unmotivated fighter like McCarthy and a virtually unproven “big league” fighter in Day (who took the fight on very short notice) is hating on Bisping, just because I’m not willing to annoint him the next big thing at 185.

    I think it’s pretty fair to say that Bisping needs a substantial step-up in caliber of his opponents before he even gets a SNIFF of being mentioned as a #1 contender.

  10. Hotspur12 says:

    As things stand now, Sengoku is not a long-term viable national promotion in Japan, especially without a legit television deal. I suspect they didn’t release the numbers because they couldn’t credibly match them with what Dream has drawn for their first three shows (about 20,000 or so).

    Furthermore, WVR has already lost the perception battle to FEG over which promotion can rightfully claim to be a continuation of Pride. Sasahara shrewdly brought in Daisuke Sato and other Pride production people (plus talent like Shimada, Kei Grant and Lenne Hardt) and they’ve helped create a product that more closes mirrors what DSE was putting out. In the minds of Japanese fans and media, this is becoming even more clear as time passes.

    For example, Gonkaku and Kamipro gave Sengoku 2 only a few pages of coverage, while Dream 3 got something like 15-20 pages.

    For a promotion like Sengoku that has few stars, and no network backing, free media is very important. I mean, just look at how little buzz there was for their third show.

    The bottom line is though, that fighters make promotions, and if you compare the draws and guys with potential to draw in the two promotions right now, it’s vividly clear that Dream is in much better shape for both the short and long term.

    Compare: Yoshida, Fujita, Gomi, Barnett, and Misaki

    To: Akiyama, Yamamoto KID, Sakuraba, Tamura, Funaki, Aoki, Uno, Kawajiri, Mirko, Kharitonov, Minowa, Hansen, Tokoro, Manhoef, JZ, Alvarez (who has been getting incredible press after his 2nd win), plus the possibility of using the K-1 crossover guys like Schilt, Hunt, LeBanner, and even Fedor for the occasional special show (NYE). Hell, if FEG was really desperate for ratings, they could even hotshot Masato on a Dream undercard in special attraction match.

    WVR doesn’t have those kinds of options, and without a television deal to try to get some other guys like Kitaoka and Roger Gracie over, it’ll be difficult to succeed in what is a tough climate right now.

  11. spacedog says:

    Ok what does a fellow need to do to get some respect? All you can do is fight the guy in front of you. And Bisping has done that and deliered an absolute shelacking two fights in a row. He broke Capt. Mopys arm for Gods sake.
    Before you say he has no skill don’t you think he should, I don’t knw, get his ass handed to him. If he fights Ace, or Nate, or some other top middle weight and just gets run out the octagon then you can say he’s not ready for prime time yet but in the meantime dudes been doing his job. And yes, perhaps he has been spoon fed some guys and yes Zuffa clearly wants him to be a star but you still have to fight. Plenty of guys have been spoon fed and yet lost at the critical moment. See Chuck v. Jardine. I’m not even that big a fan but I just don’t like the fact that a guy who has won all but one fight, and looked great with back to back first round stops is getting craped all over.

  12. Michael says:

    You can tell the UFC wants a lot of money from Anderson’s next fight. Okami would be the obvious choice but he is a foreign fight with not a lot of attention being shown to him. If Anderson does defend his title again the UFC would pick Bisping over Okami. Since most event have been set before August,the UFC could get one more fight for Bisping. If not the UFC would probably try to convince Anderson to move up to 205 to fight Chuck, than fight Okami.

  13. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    I’m not a Bisping booster, but I do think that at 185, you’ve got two guys to fight Silva and they’re Okami and Bisping.

    Now it’s sounding rather as if Silva’s not going to fight anyone at 185 anymore, which is a pity, because even if he did beat the paste out of Bisping, I’d pay to see it, because:

    1. I like seeing Silva beat people up.
    2. I would like to see Bisping get beat up.
    3. If Bisping managed to beat Silva up, then that would be historic, and I like witnessing history.

  14. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    If Silva moves up, I would be not at all surprised to see him fight Wanderlei as his first fight.

    Classic passing of the baton fight.

  15. The Gaijin says:

    Well I guess my point is he looked good against guys he was put in there to look good against.

    So yes, good on him for not overlooking these guys and performing well…I’m just not jumping on the bandwagon so soon until he fights a top 15 guy.

    Maybe my initial comments were a little harsh, but I guess it’s just backlash for the amount of man-love he’s getting for beating on guys he’s supposed to mop the floor with.

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