Proponents for MMA legislation need to step up their game and update their playbook
By Zach Arnold | September 8, 2010
KENNY RICE: “Bob Reilly is a very vocal opponent. Next week, we’ll have part two talking about the financial implications as they have found in Europe, they’ve found in Australia and all over the U.S. practically except for New York that MMA and specifically the UFC can bring to a state and a community.”
BAS RUTTEN: “I think it’s crazy. I did a lot of research on the guy and he puts like for instance he says gambling, prostitution, live executions, and MMA, he puts them all in the same sentence, it’s almost like propaganda. If he starts repeating this to people the whole time, they’re going to see it as something violent. I have no clue. The purpose of MMA is to hurt somebody? Ask Mike Tyson what was the purpose for him in boxing, what he does. We always defend ourselves by something that’s really just an 8 count, that is the most dangerous thing there is. Think about it, you know you get hit, you go down, you’re wobbly, your brain is telling your body I don’t want to do it any more, no, no, no, no, no, people pay money yet to watch it. Let’s give you 10 seconds, you’re good to go? Can you see this finger? You see that? Go, go, go! And they go again, they’re going to get knocked down again. This is constantly going. That is brain damage. In Mixed Martial Arts, if you’re on top on somebody on mount and we all saw it, if three clean punches come through before the guy gets knocked out, they’re going to pull him off. They stop the fight. I don’t get it. All the punches are directed to the head in boxing but boxing is OK. Even worse, they say wrestling is OK, somebody else said pro-wrestling, that’s OK. I said pro-wrestling is OK? It’s a bad examples for kids, Mixed Martial Arts, but pro-wrestling is not a bad example? Kids think that is real! That’s why you see guys jumping out of the window on top of somebody else, that kid dies or breaks his back, how many times did we hear that? Kids thinks it’s real. I say cause-and-effect, that’s what you see in Mixed Martial Arts. You hurt somebody, well he goes down so let’s not do that not on the street. I think it’s actually a good example.”
KENNY RICE: “Randy, what do you think about listening to Mr. Reilly?”
RANDY COUTURE: “Well, I just think it’s an uneducated view. He doesn’t understand our sport and I don’t think there’s anything violent about our sport. It’s a contact sport for sure and it’s not for everybody but it’s not about violence, it’s not… he’s obviously uneducated. He’s going back six years to citing PRIDE rules when PRIDE hasn’t existed for quite some time and certainly the rules for PRIDE were you a little more… contact-oriented when you could kick on the ground and a lot of those other things, but even that was relatively safe as combative sports go and sports in general so I think that, you know, we’ve got an education process in place here we’re trying to make these people see that we’re not crazy, we’re not dangerous, this is not violence, it’s a combative sport.”
As Eddie Goldman has pointed out in the past couple of months, the critics of Mixed Martial Arts have been updating their arguments recently and the proponents of MMA legislation are using the same playbook from five years ago. MMA is a violent sport and there’s no way to deny it. So, don’t deny it. That’s why you’re arguing for legislation of the sport in various states in the first place — because it is a dangerous sport.
Second, don’t assume that the loudest critics of MMA are ‘uneducated’ and that they will change their tune after listening to UFC give their sales pitch. Saying the same things you’ve been selling for the last decade and not addressing the current realities that face the sport is disappointing. Furthermore, as we’ve seen with states known for their regulation of Mixed Martial Arts, there’s plenty of scandals that take place (from inadequate drug testing to fighters fighting with staph infections).
As time goes on, the critics of the sport will sharpen their arguments due to having a body of evidence to make their case against allowing the sport to be active in areas like New York (despite whatever pro-financial growth arguments for implementing MMA legislation are made in the first place).
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Shine Fights faces oxidation after Virginia cancellation of Lightweight tournament
By Zach Arnold | September 7, 2010
For those keeping score, Shine Fights was going to have a Lightweight tournament old-school style in Virginia at the Patriot Center (campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia — the Washington D.C. area). Jason Chambers was scheduled to talk about the event on Luke Thomas’s MMA Nation radio show. Instead, the Virginia state athletic commission canceled the Shine event after reportedly claiming that they wouldn’t sanction the show due to ‘fan booking’ of tournament fights. This resulted in Shine issuing a press release in which the league said that they had a verbal agreement with the Virginia commission.
Faced with this dilemma, we have the following two stories to link to:
In short, MMA Rising is reporting that if any of the fighters go through and fight on the Shine card that they will get suspended in all states that sanction MMA. In the case of Marcus Aurelio, he is booked against Shin’ya Aoki on the DREAM card on 9/25 at Nagoya Rainbow Hall and has to figure out what to do — does he fight on a Shine show that is under some pressure, to say the least, or does he fight in Japan for a promotion that has fighters complaining about money problems?
Shine says that they have been the victim of bad and inaccurate press from MMA media members and Tapout Radio conducted an interview last night with one MMA writer singled out in particular, JA Yount. Listen to that interview here (28 MB).
It should be worth repeating from the MMA Rising article — Oklahoma’s commission won’t sanction this event. We’re not talking California or New Jersey here, but rather Oklahoma.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Joe Warren sees his future in MMA at Bantamweight
By Zach Arnold | September 5, 2010
Joe Warren did an interview for RJ Clifford’s MMA radio show on ESPN 710 in Los Angeles a day after winning the Bellator Featherweight title from Joe Soto. Here’s a summary of that interview:
How’s your head feeling? You took a lot of punches.
“Yeah, it’s just, I just watched it actually. I just got home. Yeah, I got hit hard a few times and dazed me in the beginning and his hands were so much better than mine that he was able to keep it on. He had a good game plan but got a little cocky, kept his hands down… I understood that maybe there might be a round or two that might go either way so I was ready for the war and just stayed focused through the period and came out hard in the second, but my face is fine. A little scrape on my lip but besides that I’m fine.”
What sort of advice did your corner give you for the second round?
“Scott Jorgensen in the corner and he said, you know, he yelled at me for not moving my feet, told me that I am not throwing any punches, that the overhand right is there, that I need to drop the hammer he said so I threw it hard and it landed.”
First round you took a lot of damage and you made a comeback in the second round. This isn’t the first time that you’ve had to do this. You’ve been behind in a lot of fights before and yet you always somehow manage to come back. Is that a flaw or a strength? What’s in your head in the beginning of fights during a comeback?
“Well, I’m still a very new fighter, you know, it’s only been a year and a half, I’ve went through seven fights and I’m really learning on the job. It’s not something I plan on doing, it’s just bad. It’s not, it’s just that I’ve been fighting extremely high-level athletes, you know, these are top-of-the-line fighters, we’re fighting for titles and big tournaments so these guys have a lot of fights above me, a lot of wins, they’re just used to fighting more than I am. I got caught in some weird submissions, just had to fight through it you know. I knew, I would war every time I get in there, the weight class is a little big for me and I just try to stay focused and push hard. Understand that maybe it might not go my way all the time but I understand I can win at any point. I know that this sport, like wrestling, you can win at any point if you stay focused so some of the trouble I get in, you know, I don’t think I’ll get in that trouble again. I think I’ve been probably in the worst trouble out of any fighter in the world and gout out of it.”
You and Joe Soto had a war of words on Inside MMA on HDNet. (Audio clip from shows plays. Soto says Warren will just take him down and grind out a win and Soto says Warren can’t knock him out.)
“Yeah, you know, some of these guys are young kids and they haven’t been through the kind of grind that I’ve been through so I get in their head a little bit. You know, these guys are good guys, I don’t mean half the things that I’m telling them. I just let them know that I’m going to rip a hole in them, I don’t give a crap who they are. I don’t care if they’re sitting next to me, I don’t need to talk on the radio in front of them, you know, and some of them they don’t take it well. They get real upset, lose their focus, and I’m able to gain a little bit of advantage but he’s a great opponent, extremely strong, just didn’t start very well and he hit hard in the beginning in the fight, dazed me a little bit and kind of took me a little bit to get back here.”
In the post-fight interview, you were asked ‘walk us through the fight’ and you said it was the first time you knocked someone down with a punch like that. Is that something that you’re focusing on exclusively, is that striking or are you still really trying to sit on your laurels which is your wrestling background?
“Well, I mean, I’m focused on my striking. I’ve now been working with the Grudge Training Center and Trevor Wittman for the last two weeks, it hasn’t been that long so I’m still working with him but I’m real focused on my striking, it’s going to get better. Things are coming along, you know, I’m a Greco-Roman Wrestler, my arms are usually pinned to my side for 10 years. It takes a lot for me to extend my arms in that kind of sport that I did my whole life so it’s taken a little bit of muscle memory to let these hands go and you know I train with the best strikers, I think, Jorgensen, Urijah, Benavidez, and I can throw there, I’m learning every single day but one day at a time here, I’ll get better, I promise.”
Speaking of your Greco-Roman Wrestling, you mentioned you’re going to be leaving MMA soon to pursue your 2012 Olympic goals. What are your goals long-term? Are you leaving MMA for good just to wrestler? Are you still going to take some fights in-between? What’s your schedule?
“Yeah … I’ll fight on the 25th here on DREAM and hopefully New Year’s Eve on DREAM and then defend both of my Bellator and DREAM belts hopefully the first few months of next year and then focus on winning the Olympics, drop down to 35s and maybe fight in Bellator for a little bit while I’m training but I’m focused on maybe six months before focus on strictly training for the World Olympic trials and then the Olympics.”
Topics: Bellator, DREAM, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Joseph Benavidez is happy with his performance in second fight with Dominick Cruz
By Zach Arnold | September 5, 2010
HECTOR CASTRO: “It looked like your game plan early was that you were going to react to his movement, wait for him to come in and then punish him when he came in. Was that part of the game plan? Because towards the end of the fight you were a little more aggressive in coming after him more.”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Yeah, definitely part of the game plan to get him when he comes in because the thing with Dominick (Cruz), I mean it’s basically impossible to go forward and hit him because if you throw a feint, nonetheless throw a punch, he’s gone five feet out of the way, he’s not going to sit there and try to counter. He’s going to get out of the way, you know, and he moves back in a way where it looks like he’s doing something also so you kind of have to wait for him to come in and then even when he does that it’s hard to plug him or change your levels and take him down because he comes in at such an angle, he’s not straight in front of you hitting you but you know I think I did a great job of waiting for him and like I said I was being patient, I was landing high-percentage shots and you know, like I said, it’s just the judges’ saw it takedowns more than punches.”
HECTOR CASTRO: “Now, your fancy footwork, I mean especially like Dominick and guys like Frankie Edgar, they’ve been having a lot of success with it. How hard is it for yourself, I mean you know, a fighter, you’re normally a very aggressive fighter, you know you bring it every fight. Wrestling base, good stand-up as well but how hard is it when you’re facing a guy with great footwork like that?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Hey, I mean obviously it’s hard. It’s hard to fight guys like that. I mean the two guys you named are both world champions so you know it’s definitely hard to fight a guy like that, it’s a strategic fight which I think is hard for some people like me some other guys that just want to go in there and basically take someone’s head off. I mean I have a strategy, too, but yeah it’s hard to fight a guy that’s not necessarily fighting you, you know, or is not you know um… doing the things that most people would do, staying in there in the pocket, catching punches, or turning punches so you know it’s different and like I said, I think I did a good job of figuring it out. I figure I think I’m one of the best fighters in the world and I did a great job of fighting like that, you know just came down to some small things but yeah like I said it’s definitely hard to fight a guy that’s running.”
HECTOR CASTRO: “Now, how is it good for you? I mean your camp is developing, you know obviously Urijah Faber, you have a lot of good fighters, Chad Mendes, but you also got a couple of new guys. I mean how good is that for you guys to add not only other fighters but you know top competition?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “It’s awesome, man, you know you’re only as good as your team and when you first start fighting you need to find a great team to train with, a team that brings out the best in you and I did that a long time ago, three and a half years ago I moved from New Mexico and you know it was me and Faber and a few guys and I was happy with that, I feel like I was getting better and now that we’re just adding guys on it makes it that much more. When you’re in the room fighting with top-quality guys like that, some of the best, toughest, strongest guys in the world, you know it makes the fight that much easier. It gives you a lot of confidence going into the fight to know that you’ve done it for 10 weeks now with the toughest guys and you know you got to go in there for 25 minutes or 15 minutes with another guy so it really helps and everyone just has a great mentality, everyone’s on the same page and that makes it also great to be around.”
HECTOR CASTRO: “Well, what’s next for you, man? I mean, you know, obviously you’re coming off this loss. Where do you go from here?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “The way I look at it, you know, I’m not going to lose a fight to anyone in the division. I feel like, like I said earlier, I feel like I’m the best fighter in the division. One of the best and everyone’s tough so there’s going to be some great fights ahead for me, there’s so many people out there in the 35 division that people don’t even know they’re great fighters and a lot of the other known guys, so I’m looking forward to fighting any of these guys and the way I look at it, you know, I’m not going to lose and Cruz might be at the top for a while so if I don’t lose I mean there’s no choice but to give me a title shot again because I’m just going to beat everyone until they do.”
Topics: Media, MMA, WEC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Welcome to the DREAM world
By Zach Arnold | September 5, 2010
Sherdog’s Tony Loiseleur has play-by-play on Twitter of today’s press conference:
Dream 16 bouts announced: Kazuyuki Miyata – Lion Takeshi Inoue, Joachim Hansen – Hideo Tokoro, Shinya Aoki – Marcus Aurelio. Another fight will be announced later tonight at 9:00 online by Dream, according to Dream EP Sasahara. Aoki, Tokoro, Lion, & Miyata just rolled out. Aoki is wearing the Japanese-made Nick Diaz shirt. Miyata: “I’m not gonna lose at this weight class.” Tokoro says he’s happy to be fighting Hansen. Aoki saying he wanted to fight earlier this month but will do his best. Lion looking forward to rep Shooto. Aoki looks like he’s smirking. Sasahara telling me to ask Tanigawa at the next K-1 presser about paying fighters late and Zuffa’s Asia expansion. He’s passing the buck. Aoki was laughing at my questions while Sasahara looked slightly peeved. Schadenfreude, I guess. Sasahara deflecting my Qs to an absent Tanigawa meant that my asking about their financial state woulda been useless. I’m saddened that the other reporters were sighing at me for hijacking things and taking attn away from D16 to ask real Qs tho’. Tough crowd. Thanks to @usatmma and @thaimmakb for reminding me abt Aurelio in Shine tourney. Sasahara said he sees no problem w/Aurelio doing it b4 D16. Oh, Sasahara says they were in talks to get Sandro & other SRC guys but they seem to have fallen thru. Unlikely now to see SRC reps in D16. Lion talking now about wanting to fight Takaya in Dream. Unfinished biz from the Shooto days, perhaps? Tokoro saying when he heard he was fighting Hansen, everyone around him was like “WAT?” and they’ve been worrying abt him. That said, Tokoro has had to psych himself up for the fight while everyone else just worries about him. Sasahara saying there’ll be 5 fights total announced by tonight, and then they expect 4, 5 more announced in future. Yes! Boutreview just asked “why announce so late?” Good Q Ihara-san! Sasahara pauses for a bit, hesitates b4 saying “there’ve been issues. I’ll explain it as soon as the event is over.” Hmm… okay. Earlier in the presser, Aoki called out Gomi. Take that for what you will, given the current MMA geopolitical situation… Aoki talking now about reporters being indiscreet asking certain Qs at press conferences. Didn’t know he was related to Shane Carwin. Aoki saying he doesn’t like us indiscreet reporters asking negative Qs, so he wants to brighten things in his Nagoya performance.
I have a few comments about what was said here…
Tony mentions that reporters were sighing when he asked “tough” questions. Here’s my true feelings on this — Tony is a brave man to ask the questions he asks (especially given the hostile climate in the entertainment world there these days). Truthfully, what Tony asks is relatively tame and just straight-up questions, but in the Japanese world where a lot of the media are either paid off with favors or long understood not to ask tough questions or else you’re ‘wasting time’, this is why they *sigh* when a gaijin asks a simple question like, “Is your promotion broke? Why is your card late?” Also, it doesn’t help that Tony is an American, so it’s simply chalked up as another ‘here’s the annoying gaijin again’ question. Group-think, don’t rock-the-boat mentality.
As far as DREAM is concerned, take note that these press conferences never have Ishii and that Tanigawa only shows up occasionally and never shows up when the perception of ‘bad news’ is being delivered. In this case, the ‘bad news’ would be that they don’t even have a full card line-up yet to announce.
Regarding Aoki’s attitude, all I can say is that he’s got a combination of a Napoloenic complex mixed in a vibe of thinking that he’s a draw when he really isn’t and doesn’t mean nearly as much to a lot of people as he thinks he’s worth. It seems, more than anything else, that jealousy is what fuels Aoki as opposed to pure ambition or dedication. The problem is that you can only go so far in life when your main source of internal power is feeding off of the anger or irritation of/from others.
With three weeks left to promote the show, it’s another largely pedestrian effort at booking a card.
I would encourage you to give Tony support and follow him on Twitter and also Sherdog.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Will Floyd “Money” Mayweather pay a price at all for his video rant on Manny Pacquiao?
By Zach Arnold | September 3, 2010
I remember recently seeing a list of athletes that made the most money in 2009 and the startling thing about Mayweather’s ranking on the list is that all of his money was generated in the ring — hardly any sponsorship or out-of-the-ring generated cash whatsoever.
- Boxing Scene: Mayweather’s racist video against Pacquiao disgusts fans
- New York Daily News: Boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. releases profanity-laced video rant slamming Manny Pacquiao
- ESPN: Mayweather rips Pacquiao in racist video rant
- Associated Press: Pacquiao focuses on Margarito, not Mayweather rant
- Kevin Blackistone: AFter rant against Pacquiao, Mayweather is in a class of his own — he has none
- Gareth Davies: Mayweather shows mental weakness with abusive rant at Pacquiao
- Kevin Iole: Rant shows Mayweather spinning out of control
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Final book by famous anti-yakuza lawyer will be published; PRIDE rumored to be in book
By Zach Arnold | September 3, 2010
Yesterday, I wrote an article about the curious death of anti-yakuza lawyer Toshiro Igari. Igari, who was a very famous anti-yakuza crime-fighting lawyer and ex-prosecutor, was found dead in Makati City (Manila, Philippines) at the end of August.
In a new article by Yukan Fuji today, Voices of doubt are flying around the ‘suicide’ of Mr. Igari in the Philippines.
The article notes that Igari was recently talking about the need for wearing a bulletproof vest for safety reasons. A friend of Igari’s is quoted as saying that ‘there was no reason found for him to commit suicide.’ According to the police in the Philippines, Igawa fell down on a bed, cut his left wrist with a knife, and that pills were scattered around him. Mr. Igari, who was a frequent traveler, left Japan to go to Manila on 8/11 and was scheduled to come back on 8/22. A friend of his tried to communicate with him and couldn’t reach him, which prompted the friend to contact the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines. Mr. Igari’s body was then discovered by authorities.
Mr. Igari, who was raised in Fukushima, worked his way up as a public prosecutor in the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor’s Office. He soon registered for private practice in 1990. He was very much involved in the social world of lawyers as an anti-yakuza crime fighter (as part of the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations). He gained notoriety by working with police to help fight off yakuza involvement in the scalping of baseball tickets. A couple of months ago when a major Sumo scandal broke out regarding Sumo wrestler Kotomitsuki and his baseball gambling problem, Igari told Sankei Shimbun that the Sumo world’s connections with the yakuza run much deeper than the baseball world’s connections do.
As I noted in yesterday’s article on Mr. Igari’s death, he had just finished writing a new book on investigations and projects related to yakuza cases he was focusing on. The book was set to be published by major publishing house Kodansha, which also happens to publish big-selling magazines like Shukan Gendai (the publication that broke the PRIDE yakuza scandal wide open). In the Yukan Fuji article, someone from Kodansha is quoted as saying that Mr. Igari’s book was scheduled to be published in mid-September and that the book will be published as planned as a ‘posthumous book.’ The source said that Mr. Igari finished writing his book at the end of July before he left to go to Manila.
Yesterday, we noted that a source with knowledge of the book claimed that part of the book would focus on a lawsuit that former MMA power broker Miro Mijatovic was filing against Dream Stage Entertainment. Mr. Igari was heading up a seven-lawyer team on behalf of Mr. Mijatovic to focus on DSE. With Kodansha having a prior history of being the publisher that printed the yakuza scandal stories related to PRIDE, it certainly remains a high possibility that Mr. Igari’s final book will indeed touch upon PRIDE and new details about what exactly happened during the collapse.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Erik Paulson looks back at Lesnar/Carwin fight and previews upcoming Lesnar/Velasquez fight
By Zach Arnold | September 3, 2010
INTERVIEWER: “Erik, we all know that you train Brock Lesnar. Let’s revisit that fight (with Carwin). What do you feel about that fight?”
ERIK PAULSON: “I felt that, uh… the year off for Brock, just like anybody, made him rusty and I think that basically the biggest goal in that fight, getting ready, was for conditioning so he did mostly tons and tons of conditioning. Lots of strength exercises, lots and lots of cardiovascular aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Probably not as much as sparring, more pad work trying to sharpen and crispen stuff. I think we probably could have done more sparring. Sparring makes you more comfortable to use stuff because of the pressure factor and you know a lot of pad work just to get the technique work back and crisp and you know on pads he looked great. There was a little bit of nervousness going into the fight when he stepped there into the beginning because Shane was coming gunning for him and have the intention and he’s a big, strong formidable opponent you know. I think of anybody who’s the most dangerous it would be probably him and now they’re talking Cain Velasquez, but I know that Shane really worked hard and physically is pretty comparable to Brock as far as strength-wise. I don’t know about athleticism but I know strength-wise and definitely power in the punch.”
INTERVIEWER: “We saw Brock get clipped by an uppercut by Shane. In between rounds, what was going on? Let’s move back, when you saw him get hit with that uppercut, what was going through your mind?”
ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… boy, he got caught, and when he crumbled up we’re like, move, grab him or move, and you know it was kind of a blur for me because it was like he got hit and then all of a sudden he kind of crumbled and then hit the fence and then they kind of went to the ground and then Brock fetal’d up which was weird for me because I thought he would try to scramble so I think he really got rocked with that shot and the time on the ground and the defending actually gave him enough time to get his bearings back and kick him off a couple of times. Also allowed Shane to drop a couple of bombs but if you look, a lot of those hits weren’t hitting him, they were hitting the arms and the ref twice if he was OK and he responded and pushed him away, so it was close. I mean we were all nervous.”
INTERVIEWER: “Now, we’re in-between rounds, Lesnar comes to your guys’ corner, what are you guys telling him?”
ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… keep your hands up, you got to go first, you got to him, you got to drop your hands, fire when you’re fired on, stay away from the right hand, keep moving to the right and you know if you get hit, tie-up and get him down, you got to get him on the ground. I have a piece of paper written on the counter that I wrote, it said ‘Brock will win round two/three via shoulder triangle choke.’ And it’s sitting on my desk at home right now. I wrote that as a… because I knew that was only move that Comprido had been working the whole time was one submission that was getting either half-guard or side-control and getting that shoulder triangle and then really surgically putting the head down, getting the hips right, and getting up on the toes and putting your hips forward so I think that was kind of the key and when I saw him do it in practice over and over and over, I just go, ‘Brock’s going to finish Shane with a head and arm triangle.’ Once he got that on, I go this fight’s almost over and then Brock had it tight and then he looked up at the corner and we’re like, head down, put your head under, and then create that angle and try to get that angle on the body and get up on the toes and rotate your head under and you could see Shane at first was like this, he kind of rolled and then he kind of went back and you could see his eyes, he looked up, he was like… it’s on, and he started fighting and turning and boom.”
INTERVIEWER: “What was the mood like after the fight?”
ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… well, everyone was happy and surprised and it was just like… but I think by Brock getting hit and almost losing I think the respect factor in his head, he was a lot more humble I think to the camera and I think the crowd really like did a 180 on him and said, wow, that was good and the fact that he didn’t showboat afterwards is really good and showed some respect, that was very good.”
INTERVIEWER: “It was announced by Dana White that Brock will be facing Cain Velasquez. Cain’s a really tough test for Brock as he possesses good speed, good hands. How do you see that fight going? What do you want to train Brock specifically for Cain?”
ERIK PAULSON: “Well I think what Brock needs, more than anything, is good sparring partners that can kick box and grapple. So he’s got some guys in his camp that actually can throw down with good striking, good takedowns, and good takedown defense so I’m sure the goal for that camp will probably be bringing in some good strikers in.”
INTERVIEWER: “Would you care to give a prediction on that bout? How do you see it coming out to?”
ERIK PAULSON: “Uh… It’s the same as Randy. Randy scientifically formulates game plan strategies and tactics according to a person’s strengths and weaknesses and Brock’s the same way and he’s going to try to bring in quality guys and formulate a game plan. I already know a game plan that would work for him should be like but it’s just word of advice and whether or not he follows through with that, it’s up to him, I don’t know. Marty’s (Marty Morgan) in charge of his camp and he brings a lot of different guys in so you know that’s their choice, all you can do is offer a comment.”
INTERVIEWER: “Now if you can comment about it, what are some weaknesses that you see in Cain Velasquez?”
ERIK PAULSON: “He’s real tough, there’s a big size difference, though, with Brock and him so the power factor but he hits hard, he’s fast, he’s in-and-out, he’s a good wrestler so he can actually stop stuff and get out of stuff. I don’t know if he’s used to going against someone as big and powerful as Brock. I think that’s a big thing. Fighting someone that’s actually equally as aggressive and powerful as Brock.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Luke Rockhold is ready for Matt Lindland, wants title match with Jacare
By Zach Arnold | September 3, 2010
INTERVIEWER: “So you have a big fight coming up with Matt Lindland. How do you feel about the opportunity to fight a veteran like Matt?”
LUKE ROCKHOLD: “Um, Matt’s, you know, it’s a big opportunity. I’m looking forward to it, you know? The only thing I’m not looking forward to is, I heard he really stinks, you know. He doesn’t like shower before a fight. (laughs) So I’m going to try to keep it at a distance with Matt, keep my range. But, nah, you know, it’s a big opportunity. He’s really tough, you know, all-around and I’m going to try to expose his weaknesses. He’s a tough wrestler. I’m really good at, you know, I’m a good wrestler. People underestimate my wrestling even though I wrestle with really tough guys and I’ll be ready for that wrestling. He’s got to be ready for my jiu-jitsu. I’m one of the best guys here in the division and again I think my stand-up’s one of the best, too. I think those two parts of the games are going to be where I’m going to expose him in this fight and nullify the wrestling and come out, come with it on the feet, keep the distance, and try to take him out there and if he wants to get on top of me or gets me down, I’ll implement my jiu-jitsu game and make him work and submit him, get back up and keep working.”
INTERVIEWER: “How much of an advantage do you think it is training at AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) with all the world-class wrestlers you have?”
LUKE ROCKHOLD: “It’s a huge advantage. I get to work with Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez and I’m always caught in the middle so I always, for some reason, get bumped up to the big guys and it pays off, that’s how I’ve gotten so far in my career is you know I’m sitting here working with Cain and Daniel and now we got Mark Ellis in here, too, so I’m going to be working with the biggest, toughest wrestlers in the world and I don’t see Matt giving me anything that they can’t, you know, and if I can hang with them, I’ll think I’ll be just fine so I’m working hard on my wrestling and he better bring some other stuff because I’ll be ready for what I’ve seen and I’m coming hard.”
INTERVIEWER: “Where do you think a win would place you in the Middleweight division?”
LUKE ROCKHOLD: “Um, I mean, I think it should put me right up there into title contention depending on what they want they do and how I end this fight, you know, I figure I’m going to come and do like I always do and come out, come out to finish, and finish strong. I’ll be ready for whatever they give me. If they want to give me a shot after this, I’m more than ready. I see a lot of holes in Jacare’s games and I think I can expose them and I think my jiu-jitsu’s definitely well-enough to keep up with him and my wrestling is better than his, no doubt about it. My stand-up is good and a lot of the stuff on the feet I haven’t shown yet. I can fight from both sides and, yeah, I’m more dynamic than he is in a lot of ways and I’m ready. I see the holes and I can expose them if they want to give me the shot but I’m focused right now and Matt’s real tough competition so I’m grinding every day. … I’m cracking the whip for the next seven weeks and I’ll be ready, I’ll be coming with it.”
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
How Rampage Jackson currently views the state of his MMA career
By Zach Arnold | September 2, 2010
He is in Japan doing PR for the A-Team movie and did an interview with Sports Navigator (Yahoo Japan).
The interview itself was largely tame in terms of content. He talked about how he is very relaxed this time around in Japan as opposed to when he came to Japan as a fighter and was very tense and felt urges of volatility even during interviews as he was mentally getting ready for fights.
Rampage was asked about his future as a fighter and his current movie career. He said that his dream is to be like Oscar De La Hoya and fight once or twice a year and be able to also promote himself through movies. However, he acknowledged that he can’t do both activities at the same time and that there isn’t a case in which a world champion (like himself) could succeed also as an actor at the same time.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Ben Edwards says he’s fighting Alistair Overeem in October in K-1
By Zach Arnold | September 2, 2010
His message on Facebook:
Ben Edwards … “is fighting Alistair Overeem in the K1 top 16 in Korea on Oct 2nd. This is a dream come true, I have nothing to lose. I can’t wait.”
Here’s what Alistair Overeem had to say yesterday about Fedor, Strikeforce, etc.
“@Bigfoot Silva; Everybody is talkin about me and Fedor, it’s not fair to you. Fedor should fight you in December, then problem is solved.
The real reason M-1/Fedor called me out is to distract attention of a possible match with Silva. He wants Fedor but M-1 don’t want Silva.
Topics: K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The curious death of anti-yakuza lawyer Toshiro Igari
By Zach Arnold | September 2, 2010
On Thursday, news broke that NHK will once again broadcast Sumo telecasts live after promises by Sumo’s governing body that they had severed all ties with the yakuza. One person who had not been impressed by what was happening as far as Sumo’s ‘clean-up’ process was concerned was 61-year old former prosecutor Toshiro Igari.
Igari, who became famous for his various television appearances attacking the yakuza along with books that he wrote in the past on the subject, was one of Japan’s most ardent attackers of the way that yakuza did business in the country. At the end of August, he was found dead in a residence in Makati City (the financial district of Manila in the Philippines). Police initially ruled the death a suicide and said that both of his wrists were slit open due to a ‘cutter knife’ and that tablets (pills) were found near his body.
Of course, given his spirits (which were reportedly good) and the amount of powerful enemies he developed over many years, there is great skepticism that the death is a suicide. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that a new book by the late Mr. Igari was set to come out about new yakuza cases that he was working on or investigating. One source with knowledge of the book claims that Mr. Igari was ready to discuss his involvement on a seven-lawyer team that was working on behalf of former MMA power broker Miro Mijatovic, who was suing Dream Stage Entertainment and legally going after parties involved in PRIDE for what had happened to him over the many years in the MMA business. The ghost of PRIDE’s past still lingers. Mr. Mijatovic was the former Japanese agent for Fedor Emelianenko & Mirko Cro Cop.
Mr. Igari was very critical of the police investigation that went on in Japan regarding the main players behind PRIDE. It is unknown if the new book he had been working on will be published.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bellator running show in New Orleans on same night against Saints/Vikings NFL game
By Zach Arnold | September 1, 2010
Last month, a reader on our site (please leave a comment and take a bow for the tip) notified us that Bellator had a Thursday night show planned in New Orleans that would go against the Saints/Vikings game going on at the Super Dome on NBC for the Thursday night NFL season launch. The Bellator event will take place at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts. That will happen next week.
Jamie Penick at MMA Torch has comments from Bjorn Rebney in response to this event booking. Luke Thomas fires back:
I have a lot of respect for Bjorn Rebney, but he completely misses the point saying not all MMA fans are NFL fans. That’s not the point.
The point is that indigenous sports media will have neither the interest nor the manpower to promote, preview or cover the event.
He’s forcing Bellator to rely on MMA media to hype the show, which is not going to help Bellator’s bottom line. Swing and a miss here.
***
As for this week’s show coming up, it’s in San Antonio, Texas at the Majestic Theatre. So, who in the media wants to go after Bellator on drug testing issues like writers went after Strikeforce for with their Houston event? (BTW, Bellator’s ran shows in Texas in past seasons.)
Thursday’s card:
- Bellator Bantamweight tournament: Nick Mamalis vs. Zack Makovsky
- Bellator Bantamweight tournament: Bryan Goldsby vs. Ed West
- Bantamweight tournament: Travis Reddinger vs. Ulysses Gomez
- Bellator Featherweight title match: Joe Soto vs. Joe Warren
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |