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James Toney’s unofficial web site, Fight Hype (I kid), has a new interview online with Toney today talking about his UFC aspirations. It’s a hilarious interview. Toney is complaining about not being recognized as the IBA Heavyweight champion in boxing. I don’t think the IBA Heavyweight title is as prestigious as say the ICWICWA Texarkana television title. Toney also rants about boxing promoter Dan Goossen and how he (Toney) can’t get booked on a PPV main event. However, the highlight of the interview is not an answer from Toney but a question asked by Fight Hype:

PC: It’s funny because a lot of MMA fans will give a decorated wrestler, who has no boxing or jiu-jitsu training, a chance to be successful in MMA, but they won’t give an established boxer a shot in MMA even though the fights start in your comfort zone: standing.

Toney says in the interview that he won’t be fighting until June or July. June would be in Vancouver, July would be in Las Vegas (on the same show that Brock Lesnar will likely return on). Given that Vancouver is still a little squeamish about sanctioning MMA (right now), I would doubt that we would see Toney on the Vancouver card. Given Keith Kizer’s record in Nevada, it would almost seem certain that getting licensed in Nevada would be the friendlier option.

Sportswriter alleges that CB Dollaway had a relationship with Jaimee Grubbs, reportedly a mistress for Tiger Woods.
Oakland Raiders OLB Thomas Howard was busy working out at the UFC gym in Concord on Thursday.
The Birmingham Business Journal has an article about Alabama grappling for “cage fighting” dollars.
About Strikeforce and M-1… just asking, but why are things “in the final stages of buttoning everything up” when the promotion last year signed him to a multi-fight contract?
Jason MacDonald will replace Denis Kang on the W-1 3/20 Montreal MMA show and take on Vernon White in the main event.
Here are some updates on former UFC fighters Dan Cramer and Kalib Starnes.
I keep seeing articles about cities in states like Wisconsin and Utah that are trying to promote bans on MMA.
I have to laugh at this political article talking about the Republican Party having a social event for political donors at a UFC show in Las Vegas.
Frank Mir is off the WEC 47 show this weekend and has been replaced by Stephan Bonnar.
An update on Ross Pearson.
The Hollywood Reporter has an article talking about the new relationship between the CBC and Heavy.com. Heavy has moved more into MMA coverage, but the overall goal for where the MMA coverage is heading long-term is still unknown.

Topics: Boxing, M-1, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

The motivations behind UFC’s move to sign James Toney

By Zach Arnold | March 4, 2010

Two articles that you should read on the subject. The first one talks about the shotgun marriage between UFC and Toney. Regarding the end-game here for both parties:

“White was quoted by Yahoo Sports writer Kevin Iole as saying that he had been told that Strikeforce was negotiating with Toney for a fight against Herschel Walker. No matter how many times White buries Showtime and Strikeforce as minor-league MMA promoters, the natural reflexive motion for UFC is to try to stop whatever Strikeforce is attempting to do. Call it the Vince McMahon business principle of paranoia.

If Toney was indeed negotiating with Strikeforce, suddenly he found leverage to get UFC to allow him to box while booking him in MMA fights. The alleged contract between the two parties is a five-fight deal. Most people understand that if Toney does not succeed in MMA that he will get cut by Zuffa after a couple of fights. However, if Toney somehow manages to not look bad in the cage, then Zuffa will be able to book him relatively cheaply.”

Ironically, as I linked to that first article, a quote appeared on the MMA Memories site:

“But look, at the moment, this thing we have is still really pure. It’s not all fucking dirty like boxing. I know that day is coming. And when it does, I’m gone. “- Dana White

The second article has quotes from Dave Meltzer about why White was motivated to sign Toney and how Strikeforce is considering a move to the 4/24 date instead:

“Strikeforce was negotiating or at least Dana (White) was under the impression that Strikeforce was negotiating a Herschel Walker/James Toney fight for CBS most likely, perhaps for PPV. And so he decided that I will outbid them and ruin that fight. So I think that’s what that’s all about because the key to me is that they’re letting [Toney] box. I mean, like if [UFC] had any you know thoughts that this guy was really valuable to them, they weren’t going to sign him to a non-exclusive contract. They’ve never signed anyone to a non-exclusive contract and they signed him to a non-exclusive contract.”

I encourage you to read both articles for the full quotes and context.

Regarding Toney’s health heading into the cage, Alan Conceicao notes that the Kimbo Slice/Matt Mitrione fight has been yanked from UFC’s web site. That fight was set for 5/8 in Montreal. A signal of Kimbo vs. Toney on 5/8 in Montreal? In actuality, Toney will be able to fight wherever he wants geographically-speaking because UFC is promoting him and none of the state athletic commissions is going to put up much of a fuss about it.

Which, of course, doesn’t excuse what Alan points out here:

The last time James Toney won a major title in boxing that wasn’t stripped from him a few days later for a positive steroids test was 2003. Toney started boxing and just over the MMA lightweight limit. Toney has been out of shape and chasing paydays for years, showing zero regard for his own performances in his own given sport. Toney hasn’t won a deserved decision in boxing (outside his fight with the scrubby Matt Greer) since 2005. James Toney was on ESPN Outside the Lines on January 21, 2007, where he essentially admitted that he was using hormone therapy (the reason he tested positive for roids against Ruiz) because repeated traumatic brain injury had led to Hormone Deficiency Syndrome.

Toney is no longer a top 50 heavyweight, has brain damage, doesn’t train, has pointed guns at his managers, torn up gyms, assaulted numerous people, and abuses steroids. In short, this is a freak show, every bit the freak show Mercer/Sylvia was. At least in that case, Mercer was a legitimate heavyweight.

Toney sounds like he’s a perfect fit to pass the standards of Keith Kizer’s administration in Nevada. If Evander “Evan Fields” Holyfield can make it…

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 25 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

UFC’s James Toney ploy

By Zach Arnold | March 3, 2010

A week after Toney was complaining to Fight Hype about UFC offering a low-ball contract that excluded him from fighting and complaining about Dan Goossen not getting the job done for him in terms of booking him in boxing fights, Toney has signed the contract UFC offered him for five fights. No more boxing for Toney? If UFC did waive the “no boxing” clause in Toney’s contract, how will they explain to Anderson Silva that he can’t go box Roy Jones?

As for why UFC signed Toney, Kevin Iole’s article on Yahoo quotes White as saying that Toney was talking with Strikeforce about signing to fight Herschel Walker.

In the UFC press release about Toney’s signing, White says the following:

“A lot of pro boxers have made a lot of noise about how they would do in mixed martial arts, but nobody on the level of a James Toney has been willing to back up his talk,” said White. “He’s a legend whose boxing record speaks for itself, and he’s a guy who I’ve got a lot of respect for. Now he’s got every intention of matching that success in MMA, and I think he’s got the right attitude – let’s see if he can do it.”

Kermit Cintron was one of those boxers who had an actual background that could have translated. But I guess he wasn’t one of boxing’s biggest stars in the last 25 years, so that wouldn’t qualify him for UFC.

Steve Cofield appropriately calls it for what it is — the UFC gets into the freak show biz. AOL Fanhouse takes a look at Toney’s possible opponents. If he does fight Rampage Jackson, the irony of all ironies will happen — Juanito Ibarra will be back in the picture.

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Dana White comments on Chuck Liddell’s body

By Zach Arnold | March 3, 2010

His latest message for all of us:

http://twitpic.com/169u7o As usual an mma” news site” said chucks belly was back. Wrong again idiot websites! Stop reading shit sites people.

He is in fight shape already.

I’d like to know what MMA sites are actually on his bookmark list. I always seem to miss the articles that he’s commenting on.

Speaking of staring at bodies in MMA, here’s an article discussing Marcus Davis’s online blow-up and how photoshopped pictures of him on a “Gay Times” magazine cover last year irritated him to the point of making his now infamous AIDS remark:

Yes, Mixed Martial Arts is a sport. It’s also a sport with ungodly amounts of testosterone levels that blow away any T/E ratio you’ve ever seen in your life. If the average human has a T/E ratio of 1:1, then that level is blown off its hinges in Mixed Martial Arts. In the most macho of all macho sports, testosterone is the fuel that breeds world champions and also breeds unbelievable stupidity. In a business that has macho heels like Phil Baroni and behemoths like Bob Sapp, it’s impossible to avoid some of the taboos that come with a sport so fueled by testosterone.

One of those taboos is homophobia.

Read the full article.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

A look at potential problems for the Strikeforce 4/17 Nashville event

By Zach Arnold | March 3, 2010

Let’s state the obvious: Having three title fights (5 minutes per round, 5 rounds) is going to be a scheduling nightmare if the fights go the distance. Two of the three could very easily do so — Aoki/Melendez and Shields/Henderson (most likely). It’s unlikely Mousasi vs. King Mo would go the distance, but you never know. If the time frame for the CBS telecast is two hours long, Strikeforce is going to have to haul ass and rush fighters in and out of the cage in order to make it on time or have a small over-run. If the show goes over time by a half-hour or longer, there’s going to be a lot of pissed off network affiliates across the country.

The second problem is the sheer amount of MMA and boxing content in April. The April 17th date is going to prove to be busy.

I hope that Holyfield vs. Botha isn’t on PPV or on free TV, but it might be. For reference: Botha and Holyfield were originally scheduled to fight on February 20th… in Uganda. Crown Boxing will be promoting the fight. One report claims the venue will the Orleans Hotel & Casino, where Crown has promoted boxing cards in the past.
~~Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler (in Denmark) and Allan Green vs. Andre Ward (in Oakland) as part of their Super Six tournament on Showtime.~~ (The matches have been moved to April 24th as a friendly commentor pointed out).
HBO will have Edison Miranda vs. Lucian Bute (in Montreal) and Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martinez (in Atlantic City).
~~On PPV, we will have Roy Jones Jr. vs. Bernard Hopkins (in Las Vegas).~~ (That fight will happen on April 3rd. Don’t rely on Boxing Scene’s calendar!

In other words, if you’re looking for a good fight on TV on April 17th, you got a ton of options to pick from. As for MMA content in April, you have the UFC show in Abu Dhabi and then the WEC 4/24 Sacramento PPV.

Without Herschel Walker, it’s going to be tough to see Strikeforce pulling a big ratings number on CBS. For certain, Dan Henderson is a huge star after his win over Michael Bisping, but if we end up getting the same Jake Shields as the one that showed up for the Mayhem Miller fight on the last CBS broadcast, this could be an ugly fight to watch. Plus, Strikeforce will not have Fedor on this card and they spent a lot of capital on their last CBS event to build their telecast around him. He dispatched of Brett Rogers in a tough fight. And now, there’s not going to be any follow-up. Kelly Kahl admitting on radio to Mauro Ranallo yesterday that there is a dispute between M-1 and Strikeforce should sound alarm bells for Scott Coker.

A lot of boxing insiders like to say that there isn’t a heavy cross-over between boxing and MMA, but April 17th is going to be so loaded with shows that if the CBS show gets boring in a hurry, an MMA fan will have a lot of options in terms of channel surfing for a good fight.

A final note — we’re only a month away from the actual event date for Strikeforce and we’re just getting a card now. It’s also a card that hasn’t received much media attention. It’s going to be tough to fill so many seats in such a short amount of time without papering the crowd. One of the very solid things UFC does is get fight cards lined up in advance and get the structure in place. As unpredictable as MMA can be with all the booking cancellations and injuries, UFC management generally does a good job of having structure in place to be able to promote events and get tickets sold for shows in advance. They blow the hinges off Strikeforce/Showtime in this regard.

Jordan Breen raised the question about fan interest in Strikeforce:

Surprisingly low amount of email over all things Strikeforce. In the past, days half this major meant major volume. Wonder if fans are tired.

Answer: Fans are never tired of good fight cards or fight cards with big stars. March 27th in New Jersey with Georges St. Pierre and Frank Mir will prove this. There is no substitute for star power and there is no substitute for PR infrastructure. Comparing the infrastructure of UFC vis-à-vis Strikeforce is night and day.

Jonathan Snowden asks if Aoki can be the savior.

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 31 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

The legacy of Keith Kizer is cemented thanks to Evander Holyfield

By Zach Arnold | March 3, 2010

We have long discussed Keith Kizer’s “business as usual” performance on this site as head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As duly noted on a few boxing web sites, Kizer’s administration has approved more fighters over the age of 35 (a cut-off range for state approval) than anyone could have possibly imagined. In February, we had a UFC PPV headlined by Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman which resulted in Coleman getting cut by UFC a few days later due to safety concerns.

And now we get Keith Kizer approving Evander “Evan Fields” Holyfield for a boxing license to fight Francois Botha in Nevada reportedly on April 17th. Seriously. According to quotes Kizer gave publicly, he stated that Holyfield’s recent fight performances have proven that he is deserving of a one-fight license.

The criticisms I have leveled against Kizer in the past have all been fair charges — from the impotent “out-of-season” drug testing of MMA fighters, to the situation involving Antonio Margarito and an unwillingness to apply harsh scrutiny to past Margarito fights in Nevada (due to the hand-wrap controversy), to the situation regarding his long-standing stand-off with Big John McCarthy, and to the situation regarding urine tests being an acceptable and accurate standard for drug testing when negotiations were happening for Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. And yet, the criticism and heat towards Kizer has never been that strong in regards to those past issues. However, when news broke today about Holyfield being approved by Kizer’s administration in Nevada for a license, I suspected that public reaction would turn very sour very quickly.

The public reaction has been, so far, consisting of disgust, anguish, and contempt. The only memeber of the Nevada State Athletic Commission that voted against Holyfield’s license request was Skip Avansino, who expressed the same concerns that most American boxing fans have about Holyfield in regards to his health and whether or not he is even competent to continue fighting. Will Avansino end up getting the Flip Homansky treatment and get asked to leave the commission soon?

The Las Vegas Review-Journal highlights the licensing controversy.

Holyfield may be cleared to fight in Nevada, but asking him to speak clearly in daily life without slurring his words may be a different matter altogether.

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

MMA notebook: The debate over free speech in relation to UFC’s Mir & Davis

By Zach Arnold | March 2, 2010

Jeremy Botter over at Heavy has a profile article on Cain Velasquez post-Nogueira victory.

Dan Hardy’s game plan against Georges St. Pierre on 3/27 in New Jersey? Extend the fight out as long as possible and frustate the champion.

A defense of Frank Mir and free speech for MMA fighters. You can have free speech and also suffer the consequences from any stupidity that arises from such free speech. For every action, there’s a reaction. Mir’s comments were dumb because UFC didn’t need to give critics ammunition to keep them out of markets such as Ontario province and Melbourne. Yes, money ultimately talks with politicians, but the UFC has invested significant money into lobbyists all around the world to get legislation of the sport passed in countries. Comments like the one Frank Mir and Marcus Davis made only make things a little bit more difficult.

First it’s Tim Sylvia vs. Wes Sims and now New Brunswick will have it’s first amateur MMA event at the Moncton Lions Centre on March 20th.

When I saw this headline — KO, broken face don’t stop local MMA fighter — I figured it would be as ugly as The Des Moines Register articles were yesterday. It is.

MMA regulation in Wisconsin coming as soon as September 1st?

Josh Barnett fighting in DREAM surprises no one.

A web site called Responsibility Project has bought key words on Google’s search engine so that when you type in “Mixed Martial Arts” and similar terms on Google News, a link to their web site appears.

Meet the MMA fighter who got a 3-second knockout win in a fight.

The casting line-up for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

UFC fighters gone wild: Marcus Davis says something even stupider than Frank Mir

By Zach Arnold | March 1, 2010

Cage Potato has the screen capture of Marcus Davis, on his Twitter account, wishing that Dan Hardy would die of AIDS.

The difference between Marcus Davis and Frank Mir in terms of UFC job security is wider than the Grand Canyon. Marcus Davis is begging to get cut from UFC for his comments on Hardy.

And Davis’s response to the backlash (after he deleted his tweet with the AIDS remark)?

Dark&Bad taste-thought it was fitting aftr he did the gay photos towards me which is worse IMO this was words those pics are up for life

Would it have been better if I said hit by a car?

Congratulations to Marcus Davis for now permanently ensuring that whenever someone searches his name on the Internet that the phrase “AIDS” will pop up next to it on most of the top search entries in Google.

Also, congratulations to Davis for jeopardizing his job security in UFC, the one major promotion right now in MMA. So, in the time span of two weeks, we have two well-known UFC fighters who have a) wished to inflict Octagon-related fatal injuries and b) wished AIDS on their respective rivals. This is the kind of stupid dynamite that gives critics of the sport years worth of ammunition.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Top matches for Strikeforce 4/17 Nashville event

By Zach Arnold | March 1, 2010

Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson, and now Gilbert Melendez vs. Shin’ya Aoki. Aoki, who is under contract to Real Entertainment (the parent company of DREAM), will reportedly not be putting his DREAM title on the line. Gegard Mousasi vs. King Mo is also reportedly on the table, along with Dave Meltzer reporting that there is a push to get Herschel Walker to fight on the Nashville card.

Strikeforce, which reportedly did $8,000USD in merchandise sales for their January event in Florida, might want to step it up a little based on the news that UFC reportedly did $540,000USD in merchandise sales at their Australia event.

Josh Gross regarding why Fedor is not on the April card:

At this pt, expect Fedor to get a new deal with SF. This is akin to a major leaguer holding out for more money.

I’ve long said that Fedor will likely fight in DREAM because there’s more money there than there is in the States. Plus his management knows Japan and what the tea leaves are there. Fedor’s management wants to fight Josh Barnett and that fight in terms of the amount of money needed to book it can only happen in Japan. If it happens in America, not a lot of MMA fans will care and it will lose significant cash. The irony is thick when it comes to Fedor’s management saying that Alistair Overeem is a steroid bully and yet they want to fight Barnett. Amazing how truly scared people are of fighting Overeem at this point.

Andrei Arlovski will reportedly fight in Strikeforce in May. His expected opponent? The incredibly shrinking Bigfoot Silva. On that same proposed May event, Alistair Overeem will fight Brett Rogers. That’s a great match-up for Alistair and a lousy one for Rogers. It’s also a fight that Alistair will take approximately one month after working the K-1 Yokohama Arena event on 4/3.

Topics: DREAM, Japan, M-1, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

A lesson in unregulated MMA and why the issue matters

By Zach Arnold | March 1, 2010

Just asking: Is the Fedor camp afraid of Alistair Overeem? Here is article profiling how Fedor & M-1 are working with Strikeforce. I was asking some questions myself when I saw M-1 suddenly show up this week on Comcast Sportsnet/Fox Sports Net airing TV shows with random matches.

The Des Moines Register in Iowa has an article highlighting the dark side of unregulated MMA. Remember this article the next time you hear Marc Ratner talking about UFC wanting to do business in markets with regulation in place already. The paper did a multiple-article series on this very topic. Do you have sympathy for a 17-year old kid who allegedly lied about his age so he could fight?

The San Diego Union-Tribune has an article about NuVasive, the spinal-specialist company that did the major back surgeries of Nate Quarry and Tito Ortiz.

WEC champion Brian Bowles, who fights this upcoming weekend in Columbus, Ohio, was profiled in a newspaper article recently. WEC will be a big part of this weekend’s Arnold Classic event which keeps getting bigger and bigger…

Brock Lesnar’s pal, Cole Konrad, signs with Bellator. Give him a couple of years of seasoning and he’ll be off to UFC.

We talked about Tim Sylvia vs. Wes Sims happening in Saint John’s on the site a couple of days ago. Now there’s talk about Tim Sylvia vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski on 4/23 in Worcester, MA. The promoters are Butterbean and Corey Fischer. Recognize the name Corey Fischer? We sure do. From our April 12th, 2007 news update:

Ohio event promoter Corey Fischer is promoting Cliff “Twin Tyson” Couser for an upcoming MMA event. Couser fought in the past for K-1. If you recognize the name Corey Fischer, it’s because he used to be associated with Toughman boss Art Dore. Fischer also was named by an Ohio Athletic Commission watchdog group a few years ago for using professional fighters in amateur Toughman events (including MMA fighter Forrest Petz).

Petz, Fischer, and Dan Hardy (of all people) were involved in a bizarre situation a few years ago during and after a fight.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |

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Sengoku 3/7 Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan

WEC 3/6 Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena

Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield III coming soon?

James Toney: My first MMA fight will happen in June or July

The motivations behind UFC’s move to sign James Toney

UFC’s James Toney ploy

Dana White comments on Chuck Liddell’s body

A look at potential problems for the Strikeforce 4/17 Nashville event

The legacy of Keith Kizer is cemented thanks to Evander Holyfield

MMA notebook: The debate over free speech in relation to UFC’s Mir & Davis

UFC fighters gone wild: Marcus Davis says something even stupider than Frank Mir

Top matches for Strikeforce 4/17 Nashville event

A lesson in unregulated MMA and why the issue matters