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

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Will Zuffa address buying out Strikeforce on tomorrow’s Showtime broadcast?

By Zach Arnold | April 8, 2011

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It’s an interesting question to ask because the main event features two fighters who I would not exactly call friendly to the organization. Nick Diaz is busy telling the world that he’s driving a Honda and that he’s the most overworked, over-trained, underpaid fighter in MMA. Paul Daley got booted out of the UFC after sucker punching Josh Koscheck at the end of their Montreal fight last year. He then went online after Scott Coker made the deal and expressed his anger.

How close was he to not signing the fight contract for the bout with Diaz?

“Uh, fairly, initially, because it was a shock to me. I said that I enjoyed the competition, I liked that Strikeforce was the competition. You know, the UFC got rid of me and I was doing my own thing, fighting for various organizations and Strikeforce was the first big one where I made an impact and I did it in, you know, a good fashion that was remembered for all of last year. So, I was generally kind of pissed off that I felt like Scott Coker had sold out and, you know, he e-mailed me and I responded along those lines, I told him the same thing. But having spoke to a few people and thought about it, it’s just, it’s what it is. It’s what it is. I have to fight because I agreed to fight, I signed the contract, so. You know, it’s what it is.”

Scott Coker’s reaction?

“I can’t remember, I’ve got the e-mail in my inbox. It was kind of long. You know, I said to him basically I’m a fan of the martial arts and I don’t want, you know, this form of martial arts and martial competition to be referred to as the UFC when in fact it’s a mixture of martial arts and I think Mixed Martial Arts is more representative of what we’re doing. And he kind of agreed-ish, I can’t really remember the e-mail, so I don’t want to put no heat on him. But he kind of agreed with me and that was that.”

What does he see his future like under the Zuffa umbrella?

“Well, I signed for six fights and this is number two, so… All going well on Saturday, knocking Nick Diaz out, and being champion I’ll have four more fights on that contract. And, if not, we’ll see what happens, see what the people at the top want to do with me. But I can fight anywhere. I enjoy fighting. I don’t mind where it is. I can get paid. I can draw a crowd and, you know, draw press attention. So I’m cool.”

Did he reach out to Dana White?

“Nope, I haven’t. I have no reason to. I released a public apology after the incident and that’s that.”

I know that Zuffa has been largely quiet and has gone in their ‘business as usual’ mode since the deal was made, but this is the first major Strikeforce broadcast since the acquisition and it’s on Showtime. Should they try to ignore the large proverbial elephant in the room?

Speaking of ‘business as usual’, there has been the kerfuffle over Zuffa taking over the media credentials process now for Strikeforce events. I’m surprised that anyone is surprised that they made this move. It’s Zuffa. They want full control over their operations. They like to micromanage. That’s their m.o. and I don’t know why it wouldn’t be.

Is there great irony that Loretta Hunt got denied credentials to cover the show for CBS Sports? Sure. Of course, I do find some irony that CBS Sports won’t cover the show now that access has been denied. However, look at it from Zuffa’s perspective. Showtime is a laughingstock to them. They’re a running punchline. Why do they care what anyone from Showtime or CBS thinks of them? That’s why I found it amusing when many people told me that Showtime should feel grateful that they stumbled into a deal with Zuffa. Are you kidding me? Zuffa’s going to do everything possible to reap the rewards for themselves. Showtime will simply be a media launching point to help build up future PPVs down the road. If Showtime can make them money, they’ll at least bother putting up the front that they care.

Which is the same attitude they have when it comes to media credentials. From their perspective, giving access to shows to the media is a privilege and a favor. They’re making money off of shows without having regular MMA beat writers having access to cover their shows, so why should they care? As I said here earlier, the only way Zuffa will open up access for media writers to get credentialed is when those same writers asking for credentials can prove that they don’t need Zuffa to make career-level money covering the sport. It’s the same behavior exhibited by WWE. So, rather than worry about whether or not Zuffa will give you credentials, worry about making enough money to be perceived to be a threat by them. They may bother to talk to you then.

Do I agree with critics about Zuffa being so closed off in terms of giving access to certain individuals and treating the media landscape as more Entertainment Tonight than Sports Illustrated? Sure. But what are you going to do about it? You have to change the terms of engagement and the landscape first before you can bother changing the way they operate.

UFC finds out that “As Real As It Gets” with Brock Lesnar is not a ratings winner

That 1.0 rating they drew on Wednesday for episode two of The Ultimate Fighter has got to be demoralizing for them and for Spike TV. There are so many problems with the show right now that Dana White issuing the standard boilerplate response of “it’s not going anywhere!” won’t cut it any more.

We know the various problems with the show and we’ve addressed them before on the site. However, it is worth noting what those problems are (again):

  1. The 9 PM time slot is a killer. The show is now treated as a lead-in for “Coal,” which may end up being as big of a failure as “Showgirls” was for Elizabeth Berkley’s career. With no hot lead-in on Spike, TUF has cold starts.
  2. Junior dos Santos is not a star in the eyes of casual and UFC fans. He’s not. I keep bringing up that Sportsnation poll number from ESPN where 83% of the fans think that Brock Lesnar is tougher than JDS. It’s laughable, but perception is reality in terms of selling PPVs and the numbers so far with TUF indicate that the Vancouver fight may be a tougher sell than first thought. Throw in the fact that JDS is just an all-around nice guy with a quiet demeanor and you are left having to rely on Brock’s personality. His real personality is that of a quiet guy who works really, really hard. That’s not a formula for reality TV success.
  3. I’ve had several responses from readers asking me if I think Brock is ‘tanking’ it on the show and playing it boring because he didn’t get the permission he wanted from Zuffa to do a referee spot at Wrestlemania. I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine. The big gamble for Zuffa bringing in Brock for The Ultimate Fighter is that he would show up and be unhappy. They probably didn’t expect him to show up, work hard, and be… boring.
  4. The idea of Brock, MMA newcomer, being a trainer is not credible with the public. What makes this ironic is that Brock’s trainers are really, really great. Erik Paulson is awesome. Comprido is off the charts.
  5. The show is no longer about recruiting the best prospects in MMA. And it’s hurt the core purpose of the show. The show went from recruiting the best talent to building a feud between coaches. After Rashad/Rampage and Kimbo, it’s gone down hill. So, if the coaches feuding doesn’t click, then there isn’t anything to rely upon because the fights are generally tedious and second-rate.
  6. Which leads to a much bigger dilemma for reality TV fans. They want a payoff at the end. They want to be able to emotionally invest into the show and have a payoff. Look at what happened with Rashad and Rampage. Rampage went to go film the A-Team Movie and fans had to wait months for a payoff. If the coaches can’t deliver a payoff at the end of the show, then you need to deliver a big payoff with the recruited fighters. The problem is that too many of the seasonal winners vanish from eyesight after it is over. Court McGee isn’t a big star. Jonathan Brookins… is somewhere. Roy Nelson was the last big winner and he was already an experienced fighter. Plus, fans have smartened up and know that the ‘6-figure contract’ gimmick is just that, a gimmick. If the payoff isn’t enough of a hook and the talent being recruited isn’t top-notch and there isn’t anything to really consistently follow after the season is over, you have a formula for one broken-down, played-out reality TV show format.

Will major changes be on the way for TUF in future seasons? Given the history and the parties involved, the signs point towards ‘no.’

Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 60 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

60 Responses to “Will Zuffa address buying out Strikeforce on tomorrow’s Showtime broadcast?”

  1. Stel says:

    “Do I agree with Zuffa being so closed off in terms of giving access to certain individuals and treating the media landscape as more Entertainment Tonight than Sports Illustrated?
    Sure.
    But what are you going to do about it?”

    are you sure?

  2. Chromium says:

    StrikeForce apparently has a two month break after this that they requested to figure things out.

    I’m very interested to see how they’re going to use that and what sort of product they’ll be going forward starting with the June Grand Prix event.

    Will they be able to get their cards mostly planned out more than three weeks in advance? Will they still be using local filler for most of their undercards? Will they be broadcasting their undercards and will they have direct control over that? Will all their fighters be re-signed to exclusive contracts? Will they be adding any new divisions? Will they be able to arrange any alterations on their contract with Showtime? Will they be doing anymore CBS shows? A PPV? Will they make their Challenger shows more relevant?

    A lot of stuff to be answered…

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    1) Paul Daley is emotionally about 12 years old.

    2) Some MMA “journalists” took sides against the UFC when their was more competition. They dug their own graves. It’s fitting that the very company that Hunt tried to pump up so much, now she can’t even get credentialed for. Hunt writes poorly and has no business covering the UFC.

    3) I do think Zuffa is going overboard with how strict they are being with who they allow to cover their events. But I think it’s the nature of the beast in TODAY’S MMA environment. A lot of people writing were cheerleading their competition. They really were helping to promote their competition more then they should have been based on their talent pools (can anybody say IFL??). A lot of it was unprofessional.

    I think a couple years of no competition and weeding out the biased “journalists” will almost make them go extinct. And when that happens, they can be a little more loose with who they allow to cover their events. I think it’s easier for Dana White to take legit criticism from a journalist who isn’t gunning for his company to be taken over by the competition.

    Also keep in mind they are not MLB or NFL. They are not staples of the American Sports landscape. MLB can take a huge steroid scandel and recover without a problem. Can the UFC? I think this adds to them being so guarded.

    4) I think Brock Lesnar is a naturally boring guy. The show proves it.

    5) Time to end TUF and have enough show that still keeps the UFC in the minds of fans.

    I’ve always said they should do a weekly show…. But perhaps just doing two 12-week stints of live shows would work. Cut out the house concept. Sort of like Bellator actually. Build up the prospects and find a format that works. But it has to have slightly more flexibility then Bellator because their format feels boring too often.

  4. Mr. Roadblock says:

    I have to say as a member of the (mainstream) press, Zuffa has treated me great.

    They go out of their way to help the media and make their events accessible.

    Some kid with a blog (i.e. the page you linked to yesterday) doesn’t deserve access to the media section.

    I have no problem with Zuffa saying Loretta Hunt can’t get access either. She’s shown that she has a big time anti-Zuffa slant and isn’t objective. She can do that from home or buy a ticket.

  5. EJ says:

    I love the spin coming from people now that Brock as a coach against JDS didn’t turn out to be a ratings hit. These were the same people who loved the idea initially, looks like the people like me who wanted Mir on the show were right after all. Now all of a sudden it’s back to TUF is done and it’s time for the UFC to change it, sorry but i’ve heard that one before and it’s always been proven wrong.

    The one good thing about this that as always the UFC will learn that no one cares about these guys just coaching you need heat to generate interest in the show. I fully expect now that Sonnen’s CSAC suspension is up and his court case is clear that Zuffa will put Kizer in his place and set up Bisping vs. Sonnen which will draw the heat and ratings that this season isn’t.

    Far as the crying about Zuffa taking writers access away too freaking bad like 45 said these writers picked a fight and now are paying the piper. You can’t poke the bear and then turn around and cry when it rips your arm off. Just like fighter, agents and other mma orgs have found out when you pick a fight with Zuffa you lose, it’s just amazing to me that some people still haven’t learned that simple lesson.

    • cutch says:

      It helps Dos Santos a lot though, if he gets by Lesnar you have got to think that a Cain-JDS fight gets a much bigger PPV buyrate than it would have if Cain had’nt gotten injured.

      • Chuck says:

        True. And you know what else it would do? Destroy Brock Lesnar’s career. He would probably get cut by Zuffa and will probably be forced back into WWE. Doubtful he would go to TNA, only unless WWE doesn’t accept him back (he would be).

        The buyrate for Dos Santos/Velazquez would probably be in the 450-500,000 area. Not bad but not great. Well, no more than 600,000.

        • cutch says:

          Brock isn’t getting cut even if he does’nt win, losing to the two top guys (in the UFC at least) isn’t that bad, when is the last time Chuck or Tito won a fight?

  6. fd says:

    Diaz made $150k just in disclosed income in his last fight alone. Does anyone actually take his “I’m underpaid, I drive a Honda” bullshit seriously?

    • Chuck says:

      Yeah but I bet most of it goes to his “medical” marijuana and a vast bong collection he probably has. And training fees.

    • cutch says:

      Him and Jake Shields are the highest paid WW’s behind GSP in disclosed pay anyway. Him talking about Pacquaio is laughable as well, he sounds dumber after every interview, I think he’s punchy already.

    • Sundog says:

      He explained it well to Ariel, actually – he knows he gets paid a ton forma fighter, but generally wants fighters to get paid better, along the lines of boxers and other professional athletes.

      • cutch says:

        He explained it well? it was hard to understand what his point was and while Diaz might do a decent rating, GSP & Pacquaio do 600,000 plus buys for every fight.

      • fd says:

        find me a boxer with seven losses and an alphabet trinket who’s making as much money as Diaz.

        • Chuck says:

          Shane Mosley has six losses, and definitely makes more than Diaz. Antonio Margarito has exactly seven losses. Neither guy has a belt, but they make more than Diaz. Zab Judah has six losses and does, indeed, have an alphabet trinket. Bernard Hopkins has five losses. Glencoffe Johnson has FOURTEEN losses, and usually makes more than 150k. Juan Manuel Marquez has five losses and makes more than Diaz, and has belts. Antonio Tarver has six losses and makes more than Diaz. Jhonny Gonzalez has seven losses and makes more than Diaz, as well has a title belt. Rafael Marquez has six losses, makes more than Diaz, and recently fought for a belt.

          Not all of these guys have a belt or so, but some do, and all make more than Diaz and have comparable records.

        • nottheface says:

          Erik Morales has 6 loses and tonight his purse is $250k base plus a cut of ppv and Mexican TV. He’ll probably make close to $1mil. If one looks at the total payout for Golden Boys Action Heroes:
          Morales $250k +
          Maidana $500K
          Katsidis $200k
          Guerrero $125k
          Malignaggi $75k
          Cotto $30k
          Kirkland $35k
          Ishida $35k
          Garcia $20k
          Campbell $35k
          Chakhkiev $25k
          Jolley $5k
          It compares pretty favorably to an MMA event payout.

  7. Simon says:

    Great article man.

    I love how most of the media is up in arms over other journalist not getting what they want. It’s silly to get pissy at this point. What else did they expect to happen after Zuffa buys out the last big promotion they were allowed to cover without fear of saying the wrong thing?

    As for TUF, either get rid of it all together and put on a weekly show on spike, finally get a TV deal with a major network and then put on a weekly show, or do what they should have been doing and make the coaches fight each other, free on spike. Im not talking about getting coaches who would never had headlined a PPV anyway. Im talking about do a normal season, few changes here and there, then on the same night as the finale, make Lesnar vs Dos Santos. We all know Lesnar would never fight on Spike, but you get my point. Pay off, like Zach said.

    (and that was not supposed to be a reply to anyone in general. Just a reply to the head article.)

  8. The Gaijin says:

    Totally unrelated but did anyone catch the white hot Canuck boxing prospect David Lemieux losing his first fight last night to Rubio?

    Disappointing setback for a really talented guy, thankfully, for once, he had an intelligent trainer that stopped the fight…a lot of guys would have stupidly/desperately tried to see if the fighter could turn it around, but props to Russ Anber for recognizing that he was eating a ton of big shots and that he’s still young and has things to work on. I don’t care if he’s not an “0” anymore I think he’ll learn a lot from this and come back strong.

    • edub says:

      Yep. That’s a lot of hype gone though. Boxing is still stuck in that mindset where one loss destroys paydays.

      Rubio has always been a durable guy. He was a lot more dangerous than anybody thought in the first place IMO. Especially for a guy like Lemieux who’s not that long.

      • The Gaijin says:

        Well in Lemieux’s case he’s lucky that he’s a Montreal based fighter…he’ll have tons of support there, strong fan base and will be able to build himself back up and still at least retain most of his hype and money making when he’s able to get fights booked there. Say what you will, but Mtl is an awesome fight town.

        But you’re right, he’s going to lose his hype in a number of circles, which sucks because that’ll be the “evidence” people point to when they bring a guy along for 36 fights and don’t let him fight anyone of consequence until he’s getting in on a title shot. Bleh.

      • The reason why it “ruins” Lemieux is that this wasn’t supposed to be some sort of make it or break it fight where he was facing a truly dangerous opponent. Rubio has the record of a guy and was, in fact, a guy brought in to lose and, at worst, give Lemieux some rounds. Instead, Lemieux was shown to be entirely one dimensional and then got his jaw shattered.

        Its not like it can’t happen in MMA. Roger Huerta was better than sliced bread up until he fought Kenny Florian and had his heart taken away and his gameplan exposed. Since then he lost 4 of 5.

    • Chuck says:

      Both televised fight cards last night (ESPN2 which is the one with Lemieux and Showtime with Marcus Johnson) had the undefeated prospect losing. Lemieux losing to Marco Antonio Rubio via 7th round TKO and Marcus Johnson losing a ten round decision to Dyah Ali Davis (Howard Davis Jr.s son). That almost never happens.

      Funny enough? Davis won by too wide of margins on the scorecards. The scores were 98-91, 98-91, and 96-93 (Davis scored a knockdown on Johnson). 96-93 is correct, but the fight was much closer than 98-91. Usually it would the favorite to win by too-wide of scores, but it was the underdog that the judges gave a LITTLE bit to much credit. Davis deserved the win (by scores of 96-93 or 95-94) but not 98-91.

  9. Robthom says:

    Daley is burnt IMO.

    And he should be although I wouldn’t put anything pst Dana.

    The sucker punch was probably inexcusable in thye first place, but might be levied against his alleged appeal if he won.

    All the smack talking since then on top of it is just rude and stupid, and now that UFC is law, plain out unlawful.

    If he beat Diaz tomorrow, then he might have a slim argument.

    But that wont happen.

    Diaz has a great chin.

    Thats Daleys only chance,
    which means none.

    Diaz’ only weakness in a strong wrestler (which unfortunately burns any chance for him in the UFC roster), and that is not Daley.

    Daley will probably be left to ply his wares in angland back alleys soon.

    • Chuck says:

      Bellator is still around, so he can go there. But he isn’t going anywhere because he signed a six-fight contract with Strikeforce, and tonight’s fight is fight number two. He has a while yet until he can do whatever he wants.

  10. nottheface says:

    I’m always surprised by the benevolent motivations that many of the fans and commentators have to ascribe to everything to Zuffa does. According to them every action they take is “good for the sport” as if they really have any interest in the sport. I mean, I don’t see a lot of Zuffa’s money going into building up amateur or low-level mma. (And before anyone says ‘sanctioning”, there is some strong motivations based purely on business for Zuffa to do so)
    And this isn’t really a criticism of Zuffa’s practices. I might not like what they do all the time, but I understand why they do it. I mean, if I could get away with it I would to. But I don’t understand the need of fans to tell themselves that whatever move they make that is obviously being made out of self-interest is going to be good for the fans/fighters/sport. I marvel at how they’ve nurtured such a level of fandom for the promoters themselves. Truly amazing.

    • edub says:

      A bit of an overstatement there, to say the least.

    • Michaelthebox says:

      nottheface: In the long run, as long as the UFC continues to grow, the sport benefits. The UFC creates MMA fans, who watch other promotions as well, both small regional and the bigger promotions. (What do you think is the percentage of Bellator watchers who became MMA fans from watching Bellator? 1%? Less?)

      Even anti-competitive things the UFC does that increases the size of the overall market benefits the sport, even if the UFC snaps up most of that excess market. Purchasing Strikeforce might be considered one example: if that enables them to create HW superfights that increase overall fandom, the sport benefits.

      Now, when Zuffa starts to act to squeeze every penny out of current fans, rather than to increase the size of the fanbase, you can make an argument that their self-interest hurts the sport. But as long as their self-interest coincides with developing more MMA fans, Zuffa is good for the sport.

  11. cutch says:

    Looks like it will be Silva Vs Okami in Rio, not surprising if GSP doesn’t want to move up and Okami deserves his shot. I don’t think this does big numbers but they were never going to give Brazil a huge main event anyway.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Brazil will sell out no matter what. And they will have one of the best fighters in the world, who is from that country, headlining that show. It’s a win for Zuffa because that fight is a hard ticket to sell in North America. Heck, it might be a hard ticket to sell in the UK.

  12. 45 Huddle says:

    I just watched most of the Ariel Helwani interviews for this upcoming Strikeforce card. It’s really interesting to see the vibe of the different people.

    Scott Coker seems so relaxed. He was like Theodin at Helm’s Deep getting destroyed and constantly having to retreat. And then the calvary comes (Zuffa) and he has all of this staff to get things done so seemlessly that I’m sure was nearly impossible for him to pull off for each show. He comes across a lot more honest and legit when he doesn’t have so much pressure on his shoulders.

    Gilbert Melendez seemed very happy. He got the best of both worlds. He got the bigger contract and a chance to fight under the Zuffa banner.

    Nick Diaz looks worried. As if he knows his time as a main eventer is ticking away. I think deep down he knows the wrestlers will beat him, which is why he ducked Hieron. And now with Zuffa, they have a ton of wrestlers at Welterweight. Tonight will answer another question. Can his striking style handle the hard punches of Paul Daley. Diaz just didn’t seem as comfortable as previous fights, that is for sure.

  13. RUCeral-ous??? says:

    “Scott Coker seems so relaxed. He was like Theodin at Helm’s Deep getting destroyed and constantly having to retreat. And then the calvary comes (Zuffa…”

    More like a puppet on a string, who knows that he’s earned the animosity of his (soon to be former) staff.

    Zuffa has come to rape and pillage the good parts of strikeforce (overeem, werdum, and fedor) while discarding the same shitty unknown fighters who strikeforce also treated like shit.

    • Steve4192 says:

      “More like a puppet on a string, who knows that he’s earned the animosity of his (soon to be former) staff. “

      Why would Coker’s staff feel any animosity towards him? It’s not like he wanted to sell the company. It got sold out from under him, despite his best efforts to retain control. The might be upset at SVSE, but not with Scott Coker.

  14. 45 Huddle says:

    The biggest FU to Showtime ever. The UFC has a big advertisement for their own show on the mat.

  15. David M says:

    Mousasi-Jardine was a despicable decision. 3 round fights and mma judges tend to bring on such things. Mousasi IMO won all 3 rounds. The only reason 2 (blind) judges scored the first round for KJ is that they think takedowns are more important than damage. Jardine never landed ANYTHING on the ground; Mousasi beat him down all 3 rounds and got totally robbed.

    • Chuck says:

      I agree Mousasi got robbed nice and good. Truth be told I scored the first round 10-9 Jardine after the point deduction, so it would have been 10-10. Jardine showed a ton of heart, but Mousasi was the true winner. They better make a rematch.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        It wasn’t the worst decision. Judges can’t look at the end result and say who won. Jardine winning the first round isn’t the worst score card ever. Is it great? Not really, but it’s not horrible.

        Forget about the scoring…. What I saw from Mousasi shows that he is going to struggle as he moves up against tougher fighters…. Just like he struggled against Lawal.

        He is a super exciting fighter when he is fighting average talent. Not so much when he has to take the step up in competition.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I take my comment back. The judging was horrible. One of the judges gave the 2nd for Jardine….

        • edub says:

          Wasn’t that bad of a decision. The first round could go either way, and with the point deduction the only thing that wins the fight after that for Mousasi is a 10-9 round or a stoppage.

          A poll online would get more people’s opinion on the scoring of the first which should have been the deciding factor. Nobody should have the second for jardine (outside of retards).

          Personally I had Mousasi winning 29-28 with the first being a 10-10 round and the deduction giving it a 10-9 jardine score but i could see people scoring it for jardine 10-8.

        • edub says:

          Either way, I agree with 45 in that Mousasi loses a little bit of steam after this anyway.

  16. 45 Huddle says:

    Del Rosario vs. Cormier for June. Knew this would happen. No more easy fights for Strikeforce fighters. They are going to be tested to find out real quick who is worthy of what level of contracts when they go over to the UFC.

    This is the type of fight that should have happened 6 months ago in strikeforce.

    • Chuck says:

      That is a damn good fight on paper. I wonder if it will be designated as a reserve fight in the GP.

      I will say the main event was absolutely awesome. Fight of the year contender. Fight of the year is still Edgar/Maynard 2, but Daley/Diaz and Kampmann/Sanchez are up there.

  17. bluerosekiller says:

    GSP may be a god up north & to the UFC hardline faithful, but Dana White would give up a limb if it would mean that he were even HALF as exciting to watch as Nick Diaz is.

    • EJ says:

      Excitement doesn’t mean much if you can’t win, there is a reason why Nick Diaz has continually been protected by SF from fighting wrestlers. Hopefully after tonight the steady diet if one dimensional stand up guys is over and he’ll have to face a top wrestler who’ve always been his kryptonite.

      As far as the show goes I only got to watch the ME and after all the talk Paul Daley looks like an even bigger embarrasment. I mean the guy looked like Leonard Garcia winging wild punches that we nowhere near Nick Diaz. Then when he finally hurts him he lets him back up and gets finished. I was laughing my butt off at that, Daley is the only fighter out there that can make me smile when Nick Diaz clowns him he got what he deserved for that pathetic showing.

  18. bluerosekiller says:

    Hey, you’re more than welcome to a steady diet of GSP, Kos & Jon Fitch fights if that’s what floats your boat.
    I mean, yeah, I get it. Wrestling is a huge part of MMA. I get & respect that. But so are boxing & Jiu Jitsu. Both of which Diaz excels at.
    And guess which elements I’d rather watch executed during fights?

    • EJ says:

      That’s fine we all have things we prefer to watch, I prefer to watch guys who don’t have to be protected and actually fight and beat the best fighters in their division.

      Another thing I just finished watching the first couple of SF fights and man Beerbhom looked pathetic. I mean Aoki is good but he made him look like Royce Gracie during the early UFC’s.

      Also Jardine vs. Mousasi was scored correctly it was a draw, the first round was a clear 10-8 for Jardine and Gegard won the last 2 10-9. Jardine impressed me he came in with a smart gameplan and on extremely short notice fought himself to a draw with a tough guy. Gegard on the other hand is still the same guy with a glaring weakness if he was in there with a top wrestler he’d get beat again.

    • Jonathan says:

      I agree with you here Bluerosekiller. If I was in the crowd for the Diaz/Daley fight and the, oh, lets say GSP/Fitch or GSP/Alves or GSP/Hardy fight….I would be more happy to be in the Diaz/Daley crowd. I know that GSP is a better fighter than Diaz, and I know that GSP would look more exciting if he fought some of the same people Diaz has (i.e. Daley, Shamrock, Zaromskis, Sakurai, Santos). But he is not, and thus, we get the fights out of him that we get.

      It seems like we are forced to watch exciting MMA or the kind of fights GSP puts on. I do not know which is “best”, but I know which one I would rather see. I guess there is nothing wrong with watching two guys fight who are NOT the best in the world at what they do.

  19. bluerosekiller says:

    BTW, although there’s no way to tell until we actually see what happens in the cage, I have a distinct feeling that the skinny kid we saw struggle against certain opponents during his run in the UFC is now a bigger, stronger, more experienced fighter with better submission skills & MUCH more power. All of which will very likely benefit greatly in any future match ups against solid wrestlers IMO.
    Obviously there are no guarantees & perhaps he’ll always have trouble with those able to take him down & maintain position on him for 15 minutes or so, but I believe we’ll see a marked improvement in his abilities to deal with such opposition when the time comes.

  20. David M says:

    Jardine did not win the first round against Mousasi. He got lit up and did literally no damage.

    Comparing Paul Daley with Leonard Garcia = fail. Daley is about 1000x more athletic and a much better technical striker.

    For all the idiots who talk shit about Nick Diaz, remember that in 15 minutes, Josh Koscheck did minimal damage against Paul Daley, and basically won the fight by feigning being kneed illegally and by smothering him. Nick Diaz stopped him in under 5 minutes.

    All this talk about how he can’t deal with wrestlers is stupid; what exactly is that based on? The fact that as a 22 year old he lost to Sean Sherk, at the time one of the best fighters in the world, Karo, a world-class judoka, and Diego? That was 5 years ago. He is physically much stronger now, his striking is eons beyond what it was, and he has all the tools to beat anyone.

    I really think he has a shot against GSP; Georges’ strength is his wrestling, but he always sets it up (or at least usually) by being a far superior striker to his opponent. If he strikes with Diaz, he will lose. GSP’s chin is not suspect per say, but it isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring either. Nick would get taken down a lot in that fight, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him stun Georges at one point in the fight with a shot to the temple and to jump all over him and finish him.

    • EJ says:

      Scoring a fight or round on “damage” is silly, fact is Jardine won the round with his multiple takedowns.

      You’re right usually Daley is alot more accurate and effective, but tonight he was basically a WW of Garcia. Winging wild punches that weren’t even close and gassing out half way through 1 round it was embarrasing on all counts.

      We must have watched a different fight Kos won because he’s a great wrestler and exposed Daley’s main weakness. He dominated him and embarrasedh him for the entire fight he was never in trouble and even in the end when Daley finally landed a shot he still didn’t do any damage. Diaz on the other hand was doing the face plant and if Daley had half a brain he wouuld have stayed on top and pounded him out instead of letting him up.

      It’s based on the fact that he’s still the same fighter and has been protected against wrestlers since leaving the UFC. He can improve on every area but it’s meaningless if his takedown defense sucks which it does. Seriously the idea that he would even stand a chance against GSP who’s beaten bigger, better and more talented fighters than Diaz truly really shows how delusional his fans are.

  21. David M says:

    Why is scoring a round based on damage silly? It is a fight, not a grappling contest. Mousasi landed a huge number of shots in the first round, and you want to reward Jardine for diving at Mousasi’s waist and legs to avoid being punched by him? Seriously? I don’t understand that rationale. If on the ground Jardine had beaten him down I could understand it being a close call, but that didn’t happen. Jardine took him down, did nothing, Mousasi immediately got back up and beat the crap out of Keith again. Horrid decision. Even Dana White, your lord and master, thought so (in his twitter).

    Daley dropped Nick twice, so to say he was inaccurate with his punches is incorrect. Nick definitely made him swing and miss some, but that does not mean Daley sucks; rather it is a credit to how far Nick’s boxing has come.

    Let’s be honest about GSP: he is the best fighter in the world, but he doesn’t have the heart for a slugfest. The reason he fights the way he does is because he doesn’t trust his chin and because he doesn’t need to ever stand. Nick would bang him on the feet, believe that. Could GSP take him down to a decision? Of course. GSP would be the favorite and should be the favorite, but your last sentence about GSP having beaten bigger, better, and more talented fighters than Diaz is kind of not true, and kind of empty and devoid of all meaning. One could also honestly say that GSP got knocked the fuck out by a smaller, worse, and less talented fighter than Diaz, and got submitted by smaller, worse, and less talented fighter than Diaz.

    I don’t think GSP’s KO or submission loss means that he is a bad striker or a bad jiu jitsu player, but because Diaz got taken down 5-6 years ago, you assume he is terrible at dealing with takedowns. This is pure speculation on your part. Perhaps the reason Strikeforce hasn’t matched him against a great wrestler is because they know that fans like exciting fights. UFC has the brand name to survive having Sherk and Fitch and guys of that ilk on the roster; Strikeforce can’t put on shitty main events and expect to remain viable.

    In terms of GSP v Diaz, the only way GSP can win the fight is decision; Diaz can KO or submit GSP.

    I can’t wait for the trash talk in that fight; Nick has so much natural hate inside of him and will let it all out at Georges. It will be hilarious to see Nick with his hands by his side calling GSP a bitch when they fight.

    • cutch says:

      I highly doubt that GSP would get subbed by Diaz, when is the last time anybody has threatened him with submissions?

    • EJ says:

      Because it’s incredibly subjective and alot of times doesn’t match up with how a guy looks. Take Silva vs. Sonnen for example one guy who beaten like a punching bag for 23 the other wasn’t but you would never know it by looking at Sonnen’s face. Jardine was able to dictate and control that round with his takedowns, I know that irks a certain section of fans that hate wrestling but it is what it is.

      And Dana is wrong just like I said he was wrong about how he scored the Sherk vs. Dunham fight. Just because I like and support him doesn’t mean I won’t say so when he’s wrong about something.

      Daley was incredibly innacurate lucky for him Diaz decided to brawl and got clipped but the guy was missing alot and badly on a guy who isn’t hard to hit. That is nothing to be proud of and when he sees the footage he’ll say so himself, i’ve never seen him look so sloppy before it looked he just showed up and said screw i’m just going to throw who cares about gameplan.

      What are you even talking about?, seriously GSP doesn’t get into slugfest because he doesn’t have to. He is skilled enough to dominate the best fighters on the planet and make it look easy.

      And anyone who would say that is an idiot, seriously did you just try and compare Nick Diaz to Matt Hughes gtfoh with that nonsense. And last time I checked Matt Serra is not only a much better fighter and more accomplished than KJ Noons ever was.

      Seriously you need to wake up from whatever dream world your living in because it’s embarrasing. Because that’s the only place where Nick Diaz is going to get a title shot anytime soon smfh.

  22. David m says:

    1. Getting stopped on cuts against a pro boxer with takedown defense is a lot more respectable than getting knocked 90% unconscious against a jiujitsu midget and then tapping to his ground and pound.

    2. In dana’s interview before the show, he said nick could be a huge start and get a title shot if he just turned down the craziness some. The entire arena was chanting his name after the fight.how many guys does that happen to?

    3. People like gsp because he looks good and wins; if he were not gsp the star, monogamy would want to watch his boring ass fight. He doesn’t have the heart to brawl and get hit a lot.

    • edub says:

      1. No

      2. Kimbo

      3. Idiotic

      • David M says:

        1. Who else has Matt Serra ever knocked out? He TKO’d a shot Frank Trigg. Somehow you are stupid enough to think that it is harder to get KO’d by a pro boxer than by a jiu jitsu player. Please explain. God you’re fucking stupid.

        2. Kimbo sucked. Diaz does not. Diaz finishes great fighters. Paul Daley ruined Kampmann, who beat Shields in the eyes of most people. You could make an argument that Diaz has become the best striker at 170.

        3. My earlier post was a typo (typing on Droid)–it says monogamy where it is supposed to say nobody.

        St. Pierre hasn’t had an exciting fight in a long time; he doesn’t need to be exciting, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is a star because he looks the part and wins, not because people get any pleasure out of watching him fight.

  23. The Gaijin says:

    Sorry but only a complete fool could score the 1st round for Jardine. Takedowns with no offense (no strikes, no sub attempts), no positional improvement and where the fighter gets back up does not and should not win a fighter a round under any system. Not to mention only one of the judges scored the 1st round for Jardine to begin with.

    Based on CompuStrike stats Mousasi had a 27-4 edge in power strikes landed in round one. Jardine had 4 takedowns, inflicted NO ground damage.

    Fight Metric stats – Mousasi had a 27-8 edge in significant strikes in the first round (48-10 edge overall). Jardine had 4 takedowns, inflicted NO ground damage.

    Agree that this limits my thoughts of Mousasi’s upside, but that decision was terrible. He won 3 rounds easily (before deducting the point).

    • edub says:

      I’ll have to watch it again, but at no time watching the first round did I think he was dominating nor did I think he landed over twenty “power strikes”. I will watch again later.

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