UFC pushes forward with Versus deal and politicks in Ontario for MMA legislation
By Zach Arnold | March 24, 2010
The 1.1 cable rating for UFC on Versus is kind of ugly. While I didn’t predict the ratings number, I did sense that UFC would have trouble carrying the Versus brand as a platform. The next UFC show on Versus will air on 8/1 in Oakland, California.
Dana White did some politicking in Toronto on Tuesday, answering fan questions and drumming up support for UFC. (Not a hard thing to do in Ontario.) The Globe & Mail also did an article on White’s visit to Toronto. More articles on the situation with getting MMA legislation in Toronto: The Hamilton Spectator | The Canadian Press | Global BC | CTV
An interesting discussion in today’s New York Times about the closed circuit event at Radio City Music Hall in New York for Saturday’s UFC PPV event and how Madison Square Garden is interested in bringing in MMA events.
The cesspool that is Xyience’s past keeps surfacing.
King of the Cage is coming to Reno this weekend… with Mike Kyle fighting on the card. Ugh.
Joe Benavidez talks about how life has changed since his win over Miguel Torres.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 33 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The launch of M-1 Global Japan
By Zach Arnold | March 23, 2010
A press conference was held today in Tokyo (photo here). The theme of the event was “aiming at the globalization of MMA.” The press conference was to announce a small show on 4/16 at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo called “M-1 Selection ASIA EDITION 2010 Japan.” Heading up M-1 Global Japan is former AtoZ Japanese pro-wrestling women’s wrestling ring announcer Mr. Tsuruga (he’s in the middle of the photo linked above). There will be M-1 events throughout Asia (including South Korea).
At the DREAM show yesterday at Yokohama Arena, the Strikeforce side denied the rumors of Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Fedor for J-ROCK’s 4/25 Nippon Budokan event in Tokyo. The goal of Fedor vs. Werdum still seems likely. Scott Coker addressed the Japanese media at the DREAM event (photo linked).
As for how the DREAM event played out in media coverage in Japan… sparse coverage, but Barnett was the only “big name” that generated headlines in what ended up being largely a quiet show. The claimed attendance was 13,712 (no idea how was much paid versus papered).
Topics: DREAM, Japan, M-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
DREAM 13 (3/22 Yokohama Arena)
By Zach Arnold | March 22, 2010
- Open-weight fight: Minowaman vs. Jimmy Ambriz
- Welterweights: Ryo Chonan vs. Andrews Nakahara
- Lightweights: KJ Noons vs. Andre Dida
- Lightweights: Katsunori Kikuno vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
- Featherweights: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Cole Escovedo
- DREAM Featherweight Title match: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joachim Hansen
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 3/21 Broomfield, Colorado (1stBank Center)
By Zach Arnold | March 21, 2010
Note from 3/15: Because Versus is owned by Comcast, Comcast Sportsnet channels aired the “Countdown to UFC” preview show on Sunday night. I watched it and came away impressed with Jon Jones. I came away with the same impression of Brandon Vera that I always have — he talks better than he fights. I am most interested in watching JDS vs. Gabriel Gonzaga and I thought the preview show did a good job of highlighting that fight.
TV: Versus
TV start time: 9 PM EST
Dark matches
- Light Heavyweights: Eric Schafer vs. Jason Brilz
- Welterweights: Mike Pierce vs. Julio Paulino
- Heavyweights: Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley
- Welterweights: John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts
- Light Heavyweights: Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
- Lightweights: Clay Guida vs. Shannon Gugerty
- Middleweights: Alessio Sakara vs. James Irvin
Main card
- Heavyweights: Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello
- Heavyweights: Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
- Light Heavyweights: Brandon Vera vs. Jon “Bones” Jones
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 77 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Women – Independent World MMA Rankings (March 19, 2010)
By Zach Arnold | March 19, 2010
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
March 19, 2010: We are proud to announce the launch of the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.
Much like the Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings, which were launched last June, the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.
The rankings will be tabulated and published on a monthly basis, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.
According to the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, the official names of the weight classes in women’s MMA are Middleweight for the 145-pound division, Welterweight for the 135-pound division, Lightweight for the 125-pound division, and Featherweight for the 115-pound division.
The members of our voting panel are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win hypothetical match-ups.
Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.
Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.
Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that she is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until she has her first fight in the new weight class.
Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.
The members of the voting panel for the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are, in alphabetical order: Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Yael Grauer (MMA HQ); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); and Ivan Trembow (Freelance).
Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Joshua Stein, and Yael Grauer for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.
March 2010 Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on March 16, 2010
Middleweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (9-1)
2. Erin Toughill (10-2-1)
3. Marloes Coenen (17-4)
4. Gina Carano (7-1)
5. Yuko “Hiroko” Yamanaka (7-1-1)
6. Shana Olsen (3-0)
7. Cindy Dandois (2-0)
8. Malissa Sherwood (3-1)
9. Amanda Nunes (5-1)
10. Jamie Seaton (2-1)
Welterweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Sarah Kaufman (11-0)
2. Tara LaRosa (18-1)
3. Roxanne Modafferi (14-5)
4. Takayo Hashi (12-2)
5. Hitomi Akano (15-6)
6. Shayna Baszler (10-6)
7. Miesha Tate (8-2)
8. Adrienna “AJ” Jenkins (17-2)
9. Vanessa Porto (10-4)
10. Jennifer Tate (6-1)
Lightweight Rankings (116 to 125 lbs.)
1. Rosi Sexton (10-1)
2. Aisling Daly (9-0)
3. Tara LaRosa (18-1)
4. Emi Fujino (8-3)
5. Sally Krumdiack (7-3)
6. Lynn Alvarez (5-1)
7. Rin Nakai (6-0)
8. Lena Ovchynnikova (6-0)
9. Monica Lovato (4-1)
10. Matsumi Kasai (4-0)
Featherweight Rankings (106 to 115 lbs.)
1. Megumi Fujii (19-0)
2. Yuka Tsuji (22-2)
3. Lisa Ward (12-5)
4. Mei “V Hajime” Yamaguchi (6-2)
5. Jessica Pene (7-0)
6. Jessica Aguilar (7-3)
7. Kyoko Takabayashi (10-4)
8. Angela Magana (8-4)
9. Elena Reid (4-0)
10. Saori Ishioka (8-4)
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Satoshi Ishii reportedly to fight on X-1 card in Hawaii
By Zach Arnold | March 19, 2010
Various Japanese wire reports (we’ll link to this one here) note that he will fight on the X-1 “Champions II” event in an “exhibition match.” The event takes place at Blaisdell Center in Honolulu on Saturday.
The Associated Press…
Dana White is doing a fine job as a promoter here, but reading this press release (I mean article) by the Associated Press on the upcoming Versus show is just unbelievable. The Denver Post didn’t fare much better, either.
Other news and notes
Unbelievable — Strikeforce put Jake Shields in the main event slot of their April 17th event in Nashville knowing that he will become a free agent after the fight. No wonder this will become the main media storyline going into the fight and after the fight. With a rival like this, no wonder the UFC won’t bother running a live show in Nashville and will instead counter-program on Spike TV.
An update on where Tim Hague goes after recently getting cut by UFC.
Has the public cooled to the idea of seeing Rampage vs. Rashad Evans or will it be as in demand as it was during the airing of last season’s Ultimate Fighter?
The estimated PPV buy rate for Manny Pacquiao vs. Josh Clottey last weekend in Dallas as Cowboys Stadium — 650,000-700,000 PPV buys. Perhaps I am in the minority, but my initial reaction was — that many?
The Minnesota Star-Tribune has an article about MMA training mats and who makes them (along with how profitable it is).
MTV will reportedly launch a new MMA show based on a local New Mexico MMA radio show.
The Arizona state senate has a new amendment to state Senate bill #1076, which changes the name of the athletic commission to the Arizona State Boxing & MMA athletic commission. The new legislation (read the PDF file here) will also give the commission powers to enter into agreements with various Native American tribes to regulate MMA events on reservations/casinos.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 44 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I’m not buying the Dan Hardy koolaid UFC is selling me
By Zach Arnold | March 18, 2010
I didn’t last week after watching the first UFC hype show on Spike TV to promote Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy for the Welterweight belt on 3/27 in New Jersey, and I sure didn’t after watching last night’s hype special.
Do not get me wrong – I am very interested in the March 27th show and will be watching. My enthusiasm for the event has not dwindled one bit and I don’t think it has for anyone else, either. That said, if there wasn’t a Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin semi-main event match, I’m not sure how into the show I would really be.
Yes, I know Dan Hardy (+500 or more) is only half the underdog that Matt Serra (+1100) was going into their respective fights against St. Pierre (-700 versus Hardy), but I’ve yet to see anything on the hype specials or any argument online that can convince me that Hardy even has a puncher’s chance. If the purpose of the Spike hype specials is to convince you that Hardy has a puncher’s chance in the fight, then I think UFC has failed in accomplishing that.
So why are the ratings so good for the GSP hype specials on Spike TV? Because the man is the #2 ace in the company (behind Brock Lesnar) and unlike some other accomplished MMA fighters, people really love and respect the man. Sometimes fans take a legendary fighter for granted, but not with St. Pierre. He’s super-popular with both men and women and watching one of his fights is an “event” — not in the sense of a “Mike Tyson is going to destroy this guy” kind of feeling, but more of a feeling that “this man is a superstar and we have to watch him no matter what.”
I’m more interested in Mir (-150) vs. Carwin (+110) because it will have big implications for the heavyweight division, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t enjoy watching St. Pierre just pummel another man into oblivion. I’m just not sure if UFC has been able to convince anyone that Hardy is a real threat, yet.
Exit question: Thiago Alves is the favorite going into his fight against Jon Fitch. If Fitch loses, does he get demoted permanently to undercard status like Yushin Okami?
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 36 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: MMA fighter had a heart attack while weight-cutting
By Zach Arnold | March 16, 2010
Jordan Breen doesn’t want to hear any anti-weight cutting arguments from anyone. That’s OK. I don’t need to say much after this story:
Word is that Sengoku vet “Shin Ramen” Yoon Young Kim had a mild heart attack while cutting weight for his 3/14 bout with Yoshitaro Niimi.
Only details so far are from Alive’s Yoichi Suzuki. Thank God this is so obscure it can’t fuel idiot anti-cutting folk.
The long and short of it is that Kim reportedly had a heart attack while he was in a sauna doing weight-cutting and was taken to a hospital via ambulance after collapsing.
Smoogy has an update on the story.
Another Jeremy Lappen scandal brewing?
Surprise, surprise, trouble already with amateur MMA regulation in California?
Other news and notes
Are we supposed to believe that Brandon Vera’s alleged new-found attitude is really going to help him beat Jon “Bones” Jones? OK.
Roger Huerta signs with Bellator in hopes of getting a chance to fight Eddie Alvarez. He will lose to Eddie Alvarez should that fight happen. I give Bellator credit for making the right signing.
The Tim Sylvia/Wes Sims fight that was proposed for Saint John has now been moved to Jordan Breen’s home territory in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The news about Comcast and DirecTV reaching a deal to have Versus on the dish is good for UFC and WEC. I still have questions as to whether or not UFC can really help the network out in the long-run.
Frank Mir says he ‘likes everything about (Shane) Carwin’.
Interested in Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman for Strikeforce in May?
Iowa is about to pass legislation to regulate amateur Mixed Martial Arts in the state. (Stories here, here, and here). Complete text of the bill can be read here (Iowa Senate File 2286).
Andre Ward had to postpone his boxing match against Allan Green on 4/24 (part of the Showtime Super Six tournament). No make-up date has been announced, yet.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Independent World MMA Rankings – March 12, 2010
By Zach Arnold | March 12, 2010
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
March 12, 2010: The March 2010 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.
In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.
Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Head Kick Legend).
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 30 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Why did UFC 110 reportedly not draw big on PPV?
By Zach Arnold | March 12, 2010
I’m actually asking this question for real — because the main event was great on paper. It had meaning and significance, too. Plus the news about the show being a sell-out in Australia was known for a couple months. And… the show aired live on PPV (Sunday afternoon Australian time = Saturday night American time), so it wasn’t taped and there weren’t spoilers on the Internet beforehand.
- What does this mean about where Cain Velasquez ranks as a (non) drawing card?
- Did UFC 109 with Coleman vs. Couture really hurt the buyrate this badly? (That would be scary.)
- Has the core PPV buying audience shrunk significantly? (As opposed to just being more selective.)
From the latest edition of The Observer (go subscribe to it if you can):
I don’t have a number of buys, but based on trending data which has historically been pretty accurate, it could be in the 215,000 to 240,000 range, basically along the lines of the tape-delayed foreign shows. This was foreign, but wasn’t tape delayed. One cable industry source gave an estimate of 215,000.
(Update 3/12): UFC’s hype show, part one, for Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy, drew a rating somewhere in the 0.8 range. In other words, it was comparable to the rating that Hogan vs. Flair drew in the final quarter-hour of TNA’s Monday Night show. A hype show did better than anything TNA could ever produce on Spike. No surprise, really, but just more affirmation of how smoking hot the UFC New Jersey event will be.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 48 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: Asashoryu involved in new pro-wrestling promotion
By Zach Arnold | March 10, 2010
I’ll give him this — he always is up to something interesting and pro-wrestling is in his family’s DNA. The group he will reportedly be involved in is called MAP (Mongol Asashoryu Pro-wrestling) and the debut show will take place on 3/21 in Tokyo at Shinjuku FACE (smallish building). The Daily Sports report notes that Asashoryu will not wrestle, but is cooperating as the face of the project with business manager Akihiro Ichinomiya (age 31). Ichinomiya’s older brother happens to be Shoichi Ichinomiya, who is a comedy wrestler in Japan.
Apparently, the plan is to recruit local Mongol talent and bring them into the fight game. It’s interesting that Asashoryu is deciding to build up political connections this way in the Japanese fighting landscape. Essentially, he is putting himself in position to become a fixer/producer for bringing in foreign talent from the Sumo world into pro-wrestling and perhaps down the road in MMA.
The Daily Sports report discusses the idea of the Ichinomiya brothers teaming up versus a Mongol army of wrestlers on the 3/21 Shinjuku show. The report also claims that Asashoryu & Ichinomiya are currently in Mongolia (Ulan Bator).
The news is currently on the front page of several Japanese news portals including Yahoo’s main page.
Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
WEC’s poor ratings show that Strikeforce should not waste their time going after them
By Zach Arnold | March 10, 2010
The news coming out regarding WEC 47 drawing a 0.46 cable rating on Versus is bad news for Zuffa and informational news for CBS & Strikeforce.
First, the piss-poor rating should be cause for concern with UFC’s upcoming March 21st rally with Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones. America is all about branding and despite years and years of Comcast trying to push Versus as a major network, American viewers simply aren’t buying into it. ESPN and its family of networks continue its dominance and Spike TV had long track records and programming that built those brands over many years. Versus has tried desperately with WEC and the NHL to try to boost ratings, but it simply hasn’t worked. UFC is a strong brand but it’s unlikely that they are going to build up Versus long-term like WWE helped build up Spike TV in the late 90s and early 00’s.
Second, WEC’s poor ratings not only indicate that the company is in a slide, but it also shows that Strikeforce has won a small battle amongst the hardcore fans. When Strikeforce on Showtime, a pay channel, is outdrawing Zuffa’s child on a semi-non-premium cable channel. So, the idea that Strikeforce should move their 4/17 Nashville event to 4/24 to try to screw with the buyrate for the WEC debut PPV would be a reactionary one and one that wouldn’t be productive for Scott Coker. Strikeforce needs to worry about expanding their base instead of fighting with Zuffa’s Jr. company over hardcore fans. Running on 4/17 instead of 4/24 also avoids competition against the Super Six boxing series on Showtime.
Regarding the paid attendance for WEC’s event in Columbus, Ohio being over 8,000 — that’s a great number for the company, but WEC’s main purpose is that as a television property first and a live gate property second. In many ways, WEC serves the same function for UFC as DREAM does for K-1 — draw ratings, make money, and control the television pipeline away from the competition. WEC drawing low ratings on all non-Urijah Faber cards will ultimately defeat the purpose (and the push) that existed for being on Versus in the first place. It just adds more pressure onto Zuffa’s junior company to pop a good number on PPV or else face the realities at hand.
The big question at hand — will the move to PPV essentially cannibalize the deal with Versus? If WEC fails on PPV and continues to draw low ratings on Versus, will it force UFC to essentially merge WEC into their fold and run shows on Versus as UFC (along with the gluttonous amount of programming already on Spike TV)?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC press conference today in Japan
By Zach Arnold | March 10, 2010
The promotion held a presser today in Tokyo with Jamie Pollack (photo), counsel for Zuffa, leading the announcement of the fight card for their 3/31 event at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pollack’s last time in Japan wasn’t so great — he was sent by Zuffa to try to head-up the shinsei (newborn) PRIDE resurrection attempt after the asset sale with Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
At today’s press conference at Wald 9 in Shinjuku (Tokyo), it was announced that the UFC Charlotte event would air on TV Tokyo, the smallest of the free-to-air broadcast networks in Japan. In other words, UFC will not make much of a dent in the Japanese marketplace. TV Tokyo is a pay-for-play station. You bring the sponsors and pay for the time, you get it. The 3/31 show will air on TV Tokyo on 4/8 in a one-hour slot from 10 PM to 10:54 PM JST.
Pollack at today’s presser (photo) said that UFC was aiming to expand into Japan and that signing “big names” like Gomi, Okami, and Uno were part of the marketing plan. OK. In usual grandstanding bluster, the TV Tokyo sports executive at the presser said he hopes the UFC show will draw a double-digit rating. (A realistic rating would be in the 4-to-6 % range.)
A taped video by Dana White was played at the press conference, saying that the three Japanese fighters (Gomi, Okami, and Uno) are “Japanese legend fighters.” Which means those fighters will all fight in the top 3 slots on the card, right? Nope — Okami fights 3rd and Uno 4th, both dark matches in America.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |