Friend of our site


MMA Headlines


UFC HP


Bleacher Report


MMA Fighting


MMA Torch


MMA Weekly


Sherdog (News)


Sherdog (Articles)


Liver Kick


MMA Junkie


MMA Mania


MMA Ratings


Rating Fights


Yahoo MMA Blog


MMA Betting


Search this site



Latest Articles


News Corner


MMA Rising


Audio Corner


Oddscast


Sherdog Radio


Video Corner


Fight Hub


Special thanks to...

Link Rolodex

Site Index


To access our list of posting topics and archives, click here.

Friend of our site


Buy and sell MMA photos at MMA Prints

Site feedback


Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

Strikeforce/UFC news & notes plus thoughts on Pacquiao vs. Margarito

By Zach Arnold | July 24, 2010

Print Friendly and PDF

Congratulations go out to Sarah Kaufman, who powerbombed the hell out of Roxy Modafferi to retain her 135-pound women’s title last night at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington. The commentary during this fight, however, was insanely annoying and Miletich bickering about calling the finish a ‘power bomb’ was tedious.

As for the upcoming four-woman one-night tournament on 8/13 in Phoenix, I hate the format. I dislike the set-up with a passion, especially the concept of not having matches determined until the day before the actual tournament takes place. Instead of training for one opponent specifically, all four women involved will have to prepare for three fighters mentally before finding out who they will fight against. Furthermore, the winner of this tournament will have to sit on the sidelines and wait for Marloes Coenen to get her title shot against Kaufman. Gee, wonder if the winner of the women’s tournament will get a ‘title’ so that we can get the champion’s clause?

Here’s a note that Roxy posted on her Facebook account this morning:

I lost and it sucked. It helped that I really like Sarah as a person.

The worst thing is feeling that she was better than me. Much physically stronger and a crisp striker, right? I hope for a rematch one day, but I have to improve my skills.

Yes, I cried….one time. That time was when I got out of the shuttle bus at the hotel and was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of people, congratulating me and shaking my hand and telling me how well I did.

They were Sarah’s Zuma people. They were so nice to me! I know they were happy because their girl beat me….but they were so nice and telling me that I had a nice fight even though they were rooting against me…and just…I cried. I was so touched.

Thank you. Thank you everybody who supported me, and us, and…I won’t be like “I let you down” because I know I’m not going to lose any fans over this. I wish I had come out the victor, but you know. Stuff happens….like getting DROPPED ON YOUR HEAD……………

yeah. I had a lot of fun on this trip. I met a lot of people.

and But I still love MMA.

The Myrtle Beach Sun News says Michael Kirkham’s death won’t stop MMA fights from happening tonight in Myrtle Beach (South Carolina). The promoter is Jay Dennis, who is established in the area. You’ll recognize some of the names fighting on his card tonight. Most interesting aspect of the article is the ISKA defending South Carolina’s regulation standards as being “in the middle of what is required” amongst regulation passed in various states. I didn’t find the ISKA’s comments to be remarkably persuasive.

Tim Leidecker hew a new article profiling German standout Pascal Krauss.

Not sure how to classify this article, but check out theorizing violence in sport – the case of MMA.

Josh Gross steps up and defends CAMO, which is Jeremy Lappen’s amateur MMA sanctioning body project in California. I know actions speak louder than words, but please consider the track record of who’s involved in this deal.

Bob Arum announces Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito for November 13th

A total waste of time. That’s my first thought when I heard the news that Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito is set for November 13th. The LA Times reports that Margarito is looking for a one-night license to fight in Nevada again. Who knows if that will happen (since Nevada told Margarito the last time to go back to California first to get their reinstatement), but given the money involved I’m sure Keith Kizer and the NSAC will feel some pressure to reconsider. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the parties involved want the fight to happen at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

And if that falls through…

Monterrey, Mexico is being considered as a possible location for the fight, along with Abu Dhabi (where Bob Arum really would like the fight to happen) and Cowboys (Texas) Stadium in Dallas. In fact, it seems pretty evident that Abu Dhabi is the favorite target right now to host the fight.

This is going to be a tough sell for fight fans to swallow. Margarito lost to Shane Mosley and got suspended for his actions when the California State Athletic Commission found his handwraps with a hardening substance on them. Plus, Mosley soundly beat Margarito and Mayweather soundly beat Mosley. So, why would fans want to pay to watch Margarito fight Pacquiao?

(Which reminds me, every time I watch Broadway Boxing by Lou DiBella on SNY/Comcast Sportsnet I must end up seeing 10 ad spots for “Assault in the Ring” about Luis Resto using the illegal hand-wraps. Every time I see that, I always think about Margarito now.)

Arum’s been trying to get Margarito back in the states but hasn’t been able to do so and now he’s stuck trying to kill two birds with one stone, but it’s simply not a fight with a lot of strong demand. Just like the Josh Clottey fight, this fight with Margarito will do OK but not spectacular numbers on PPV.

The most interesting question now — why didn’t Top Rank want to book Tim Bradley against Pacquiao?

As for Mayweather, I still expect him to stay on the sidelines and watch what happens in November. There have been some media leaks claiming that Arum’s squad supposedly never directly negotiated with Mayweather for a fight to happen (this time around)…

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

22 Responses to “Strikeforce/UFC news & notes plus thoughts on Pacquiao vs. Margarito”

  1. Fluyid says:

    I don’t think Bradley is anywhere near competitive with Pacquiao. There is some intrigue with Margarito. I think he’d blow Bradley out….. badly.

    Bradley/badly – did you see what I did there?

  2. robthom says:

    I never cared for Militech’s commentary very much.

    I didn’t even know it was him the first time he was in the SF booth but I kept wondering who this awful new commentator was.

    Definitely not the worst, but oddly over complimented IMO.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Rutten and Miletich are the 2 most overrated commentators in MMA.

      Rutten talks like it’s 2000 and he has no clue what is currently going on with the sport. Not to mention his weird obsessions with liver kicks.

      And Miletich doesn’t have the voice for it. And he is really hit or miss. Sometimes he says some really good things. Other times, it’s shake your head sort of badness.

      • Jonathan says:

        I don’t think Miletich is over-rated because I do not think that he was rated highly to begin with.

        And yes, Rutten can be very annoying.I always hate it when says “what he should do now is….” like the guy is a robot or something. Plus, there are a ton of things that are going on in a fight that makes it really hard to do one thing or another. I mean, if that was not the case, then everyone would be pulling off armbars, triangles, and super-man punches.

      • Zheroen says:

        “What should he do right here, Joe?”

        “HE GOT ROCKED!!!!!” (in response to a punch that cleanly connects, despite not actually displaying visible damage to the affected fighter)

        “SUPERMAN PUNCH!!!”

        “Nice inside leg kick!” (Has Rogan ever even seen a leg kick that wasn’t nice, by his standards?)

        THE GREATEST EVENT/FIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UFC

        • edub says:

          Who was talking about Rogan or the UFC?…

        • Mark says:

          lol Zheroen. Don’t forget about how 80% of the roster is a K-1 LEVEL STRIKER!!!!!

          I know Bas has sucked since he stopped giving a shit about announcing in 2005. But you want to complain about weird obsessions, let’s talk about Rogan’s heterosexual life partner Eddie Bravo’s constant mentions. You would think the guy invented Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

          IMO all MMA announcers are horrible. Kenny Florian is the most tolerable IMO. He doesn’t need to scream, he is very knowledgeable, he doesn’t distract from the fight by putting himself over the whole time like Rutten, Mir or Trigg (even when he’s calling the fight of someone he beat he doesn’t draw attention to it), he isn’t some crappy comedian or failed sports radio host, he doesn’t make a point to out-do himself in horrible puns. That’s what MMA needs more of.

      • robthom says:

        Rutten is a catalog of weird obsessions as far as I can tell.

        🙂

        He’s so bizarre that its pretty much worth it.

        He’s unintentionally funnier than Mauro is on purpose.

      • SixT-4 says:

        I think Mauro and Trigg were actually one of the best commentary teams. Mauro is terrible now. He’s gotten worse and a 3 man booth doesn’t suit him.

        But back in the day with Trigg, he was like a knowledgeable Goldie. He had the “announcing voice” and could present the event, but actually knew stuff about MMA and could do decent play by play.

        Trigg is just as knowledgeable as Rogan, if not more so being a fighter himself. He was also better spoken and wasn’t crazy so we didn’t get random “rape chokes” and “goat’s vaginas”.

        • Bryan says:

          I’d rather hear Miletich or Bas over Rogan if only because they have actually fought and know what it’s like. Sure Rogan rolls at a pretty high level but he’s never been in there for real.

  3. edub says:

    Panama : “Those are the gloves they gave us!”

  4. BuddyRowe says:

    I think even by pro-wrestling standards Kaufman’s slam wasn’t a powerbomb. The legs were under Kaufman’s shoulders not over, it was more of a spinebuster by pro-wrestling nomenclature. So regardless Militich should have corrected Mauro.

  5. david m says:

    I liked Mir’s commentary a lot in the WEC.

  6. first edition says:

    Here’s how to categorize that “theorizing violence” piece: “From Bleacher Report, and therefore useless.”

  7. liger05 says:

    Arum wants to keep everything with Top Rank. Remember he backed Margarito after his cheating tactics. PBF v Manny for November was never going to happen. Floyd wont fight till he knows whats happening with his uncle Roger. His court case is nect month so it depends on what happens with that.

  8. Mark says:

    Margarito will get reinstated. There’s too much money in that fight since he’s one of boxing biggest villains now and he’d go up against the most beloved boxer of his generation Manny Pacquiao. It’s the kind of good versus evil fight the public eats up, so at a minimum I’d say it does 800K if sold correctly.

    And if he isn’t they can always hold it out of America and play dumb about the suspension limits and get no repercussions ala Big Foot Silva.

    • Tomer Chen says:

      Given that the NSAC actually voted 4-1 that Margarito needs to get re-licensed in CA (whom he’s in the midst of litigation right now), that limits his US options to maybe TX, if they feel it’s a good idea to basically ignore the command on the NSAC (which is one of de facto leading commissions in the country). Given the limited nature of the TX commission, I can see it happening but at the same time there’s a good chance it won’t and, if not, it’ll probably end up in Monterrey (after all, Margarito got licensed to fight Garcia down there before getting any license renewed); not sure if they’ll attract that many people to the fight down there as I’ve been informed by a Mexican resident that it’s one of the hotbeds of the whole cartel drug war.

      Also, I’m hoping that they load up the undercard with 1-2 good, quality fights (like the 7/31 JMM-Diaz II card) to convince me and my room mates to actually buy the card or we might end up passing on the fight (which would be a first for a Pacquiao fight).

      • Fluyid says:

        Texas denied Margarito a license earlier this year.

        • Tomer Chen says:

          Actually, they wanted a formal hearing and Arum basically went ‘Fuck it’ and took the Margarito-Garcia fight to Mexico because they’d easily rubber stamp his license.

  9. sammyscaff says:

    Trigg is the WORST announcer of all time.. Whenever anything big happens in the ring he goes “Oh my god! Oh my god!” and he never has anything to say. Plus he is always talking about himself “When I fought {insert fighter}…”

    I dont mind Miletich nearly as much as Trigg.

Comments

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-spam image