Tim Sylvia vs. Wes Sims will reportedly happen after all — in Canada
By Zach Arnold | February 27, 2010
The theme of this story should be that rural markets never imagined for Mixed Martial Arts are now getting their time to shine.
How does Saint John, New Brunswick province sound to you?
According to local NB promoter Jack Livingston, the destination will be Harbour Station and the seating configuration will be 7,500. Tim Sylvia vs. Wes Sims, a fight that was rejected by the Ohio Athletic Commission for being non-competitive will end up happening in NB. The card will also feature other Monte Cox fighters. Feel the excitement, Mr. Jordan Breen.
Meanwhile, another smaller market that has been working on bringing MMA to their city for a long time (Milwaukee) is ready to make a big push to get MMA events going at the Bradley Center. The belief is that the arena could draw a giant 5-digit crowd for a show given its proximity to Chicago and other major cities.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Manager of Nishonoseki sumo stable found hanged
By Zach Arnold | February 27, 2010
This Mainichi Daily News article doesn’t list the dead person’s name, but other Japanese media reports name the deceased as 51-year old Yoshiyuki Inoguchi, a general affairs manager for the Nishonoseki sumo stable.
Nishonoseki is a legendary stable in Sumo that produced two big names that would go on to be legends in professional wrestling — Rikidozan and Gen’ichiro Tenryu.
The hanging is yet another story to rock the Sumo world. Asashoryu, who recently retired, raised eyebrows when he appeared at Wall Street for what was explained as business meetings. He has reportedly returned back to Japan.
Topics: Japan, Media, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fedor vs. Overeem not happening any time soon
By Zach Arnold | February 26, 2010
I know there are some hints about Fedor working the DREAM 13 show on 3/22 at Yokohama Arena. Unlikely, but who knows? DREAM vs. Strikeforce as an interpromotional feud starts at that event.
Any chance of Fedor vs. Overeem happening in April vanished on Friday when K-1 announced that Overeem would fight on their 4/3 Yokohama Arena card. There will be a K-1 heavyweight title match between Kyotaro and Peter Aerts on the show. Also listed to be booked is Semmy Schilt, Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, Jerome Le Banner, Errol Zimmerman, Ruslan Karaev, and Melvin Manhoef. Musashi will have a retirement ceremony at the show.
Regarding the possibility of Fedor in DREAM… the promotion will have a show in South Korea in April, a country where both Fedor and Bob Sapp are very popular. The event date is open, should DREAM want to book him.
Denis Kang is booked for the J-ROCK MMA show on 4/25 in Tokyo at Nippon Budokan (Yoshida’s retirement event). Booked on the show is Yuya Shirai (DEEP Welterweight champion) vs. Che Mills (listed as M-1 Global representative for Team Trojan).
Topics: Japan, K-1, M-1, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Transcript of Frank Mir on radio saying he wants to murder Brock Lesnar in the Octagon
By Zach Arnold | February 23, 2010
I spent some time transcribing Frank Mir’s comments and you can read the full transcript right here (will be posted shortly). Well worth your time doing so. The transcript contains all sorts of context to Mir’s quotes and Mark Madden’s background (he did the interview for 105.9 The X).
A couple of things. Take note of what Mir says early on the interview about THE CHILDREN and how his final quote in the interview can be juxtaposed to his previous interview thoughts. Also, I am very surprised UFC PR allowed this interview to remain online. Given the company’s prominent behavior in media relations (such as the CNBC special on Ultimate Fighting), I am surprised that this one slipped through the cracks. I know most of the company was in Australia for UFC 110, but this kind of PR situation is one that normally Zuffa jumps all over if it’s something that makes them look bad. (Saying you want to be the first to kill an opponent due to “Octagon-related injuries” is bad, let’s state that clearly.)
With that, here’s the money quote that Mir says to close out his interview with Mark Madden. Madden asks Mir why he is one of the most popular fighters in MMA and why his fan base is so big:
“I like to think that just for the reason that I’m pretty candid when I speak about things. A lot of individuals are so worried about being politically correct and you know a lot of fighters you know we’re all together I hear them, “Oh, don’t say that because you know the fans won’t like you!” I’m like you know what dude, I’ve realized a long time ago you’re going to have fans who love you and fans that hate you and I’d rather go ahead and say what’s on my mind than to sit there and come up with some PC you know “Oh you know the guy’s a great fighter and I have a lot of respect of him!” And if I don’t mean it, then why is it even coming out of my mouth because whose interested in hearing that? You see the same cookie cutter responses. “Oh, who do you want to fight next? Well, whoever the UFC deems me, I just want to fight anybody!” I’m like man, I’ve heard that a thousand times! I want to fight Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person, I want to break his neck in the ring, I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries. That’s what’s going through my mind.”
Update: Dana White and UFC send out official response regarding Mir’s comments.
Jordan Breen completely whiffs here:
If you are even remotely piqued by Mir saying he wants to kill Lesnar, you’re are a mark, an idiot, or a crybaby. Or all three. Seriously.
At a time when UFC is spending big money on lobbyists to get the sport legislated in all the States, plus Melbourne (Australia) and Ontario, the last thing Dana White needs is for Frank Mir to play right into the stereotypes of the “barbaric” charges made by politicians. What Mir said was monumentally stupid. It’s one of those comments that will come back to haunt him later on, much like the ridiculous “human cockfighting” comment MMA fans have had to deal with for over a decade.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 44 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Playing “Where in the world is Josh Barnett?”
By Zach Arnold | February 22, 2010
On the day news broke that Josh Barnett’s appointment with the California SAC has been pushed back for a fourth time, you would have thought that he would have been with his lawyers for the meeting. Instead, he made his scheduled booking for Antonio Inoki’s IGF event in Tokyo at JCB Hall.
The next scheduled date is April 20th. At this point, Barnett will have been out of the loop for nearly a year. In essence, it’s been like a de facto suspension from fighting.
The IGF show drew 2,780 paid today. Main notes from the event:
- Erik Hammer defeated Daniel Puder in 7’09 with a leg lock.
- Minowaman defeated Necro Butcher in 9’56 with a modified ankle hold.
- Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido went to a 15 minute draw with Original Tiger Mask (Sayama) & Yoshiaki Fujiwara.
- Yoshihiro Takayama defeated The Predator (Remy Bonjasky’s favorite wrestler) in 9’54 with the Everest German Suplex Hold.
- Josh Barnett defeated Bob Sapp in 6’29 with a back-drop suplex. (Photos here).
- Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Naoya Ogawa & Atsushi Sawada in 14’26 when Kensuke used a lariat on Sawada.
The next scheduled date for IGF is 5/9 at Osaka Prefectural Gym.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
The storyboard post-UFC 110
By Zach Arnold | February 22, 2010
Before we touch on the Australia show, let’s take a look at the news regarding Strikeforce’s next big event…
One report states that Strikeforce will run an event in Nashville, Tennessee on 4/17 with Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson as the main event, along with Bobby Lashley (and Herschel Walker?) on the fight card. Fedor is not expected to appear at the event.
Henderson vs. Shields should be fine and I don’t see how Fedor on the fight card would have been a huge plus. Sure, it would be nice to see him fight Alistair Overeem, but I’ve always counted on that fight happening in DREAM because of the amount of money that K-1 could put up to make that fight happen. A suggestion perhaps — have the fight happen in Japan on the same day as a Strikeforce CBS event and just air the taped fight on the CBS telecast that same day.
(BTW, please do not have the comments section devolve in how much Strikeforce or Fedor sucks. I may even delete some comments if it devolves into such a commentating state. Thank you in advance.)
Now, onto the UFC show in Australia…
There are good days and then there are bad days. However, I would hardly characterize this as the golden period lately for Greg Jackson. Clay Guida didn’t look so sharp, Joe Stevenson continues his uneven path to nowhere (not sure what can be done with him), and Keith Jardine is Keith Jardine. Rashad Evans and Georges St. Pierre are natural talents and for as much praise as their trainers have received, you either have it or you don’t when it comes to becoming an elite level fighter like those two gentlemen are. The trainers can only help so much.
I remember when George Sotiropoulos last fought in the states and won, people online were cringing at the prospects of him fighting someone like a Joe Stevenson or higher-level competition… and to have it booked in Australia, no less. I’m glad to see George win in dominant fashion and prove his critics wrong. He’s deserved the good things that he has earned in the fight game.
What’s next for Michael Bisping? Unlike elite fighters like Evans and St. Pierre, Bisping desperately needs help with training and he needs to shake things up. I’m not sure where he will end up, but if he keeps his current situation status quo, he will not benefit from it at all. With the UFC running less cards in the UK, Bisping’s value drops significantly. If they run in the UK twice a year, I’m not sure it’s enough to have him and Dan Hardy as the two British “aces.” Yes, Bisping’s opponent was Wanderlei Silva, but Wanderlei is not nearly as aggressive as a fighter as he was during his PRIDE days. How damaging do you view Bisping’s loss?
It’s been a great week for UFC in terms of business and in terms of fights. Of course, the Aussie big broadsheets will highlight articles like “Smell the blood!” The sickening roar for gore and Final blow silences a crowd wired for blood, but you couldn’t ask for much more if you are Zuffa as far as the Australian debut was concerned.
However, it’s been an ugly week for the Fertittas in the American legal system. Ouch.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 65 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 110 2/20 in Australia at Acer Arena
By Zach Arnold | February 20, 2010
Dark matches
- Light Heavyweights: James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
- Middleweights: CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
- Welterweights: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
- Light Heavyweights: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Main card
- Heavyweights: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Anthony Perosh
- Light Heavyweights: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
- Lightweights: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Middleweights: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
- Heavyweights: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Event results: Sherdog | MMA Weekly | MMA Junkie
Comments on the event results START HERE.
About whether or not UFC does well with merchandise…
The show set the Acer Arena’s all-time merchandise record,which means beating numbers for a number of sold out WWE events. The old record was set by an Iron Maiden concert.
UFC, in fact, may have had more fans who bought merchandise than the total amount of cash Strikeforce made in merchandise sales (number: 8,000.)
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 178 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Frank Mir forgot a certain lesson about pro-wrestling interviews
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2010
And that lesson is — never say you want to kill someone. You can get away with saying almost anything else, but once you invoke the “kill” switch in an interview, it’s an interview no-no.
I will be very surprised if this interview makes it online given UFC’s media relations power.
Frank Mir on WXDX radio with Mark Madden a few minutes ago:
“I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries.”
The interview should be up at WXDX.com on Monday.
And speaking of UFC talent gone wild, Rampage Jackson is now in the legal crosshairs of UFC for allegedly wanting to renegotiate his fight contract while filming the A-Team movie. The civil filing was done in the 8th district (Las Vegas) on 11/3 and it’s Zuffa LLC vs. Quinton Jackson & Rampage MMA Inc. The case number is A-09-602923-C.
Bonus legal question: Is the lawsuit between Zuffa/Dream Stage Holdings vs. DSE/Sakakibara really over? Seeing the term “dismissal with prejudice” raised the eyebrows.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 36 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Strikeforce and others find out UFC is the dominant brand; Film at 11
By Zach Arnold | February 16, 2010
Recently, there were reports regarding the lousy business that the Strikeforce event did in Florida on Pro Bowl Weekend. The Observer reported a gate of around $320,000 and only $8,000 of that was on merchandise sales. $8,000. Holy $^%! When you take a look at the payroll for fighters on the show and how much some of the talent cost, it is real hard to see how the math proved to be favorable after this event was over.
The number to focus on is that $8,000 merchandise number. That is atrocious. It’s illuminating on a couple of levels:
1) Strikeforce has no brand power and people don’t watch the Strikeforce shows because it’s Strikeforce. This is a long-term losing strategy. Dave Meltzer in the Observer put it this way:
CBS seems more like MMA is something they are doing but don’t seem to have a strong commitment to it, and Strikeforce is just their current supplier, kind of like boxing promoters who supply HBO and Showtime with fights. If one of them does well or doesn’t do well, if they want regular fights, there will always be a promotion to work with, just like Strikeforce came after Elite XC went down.
The quandary SF is in is that a move to PPV will not likely prove to be a winner if they simply don’t have the brand power to pull it off. You’re left with CBS/Showtime financing and if it requires heavy gimmicks to attract some attention, then you can’t build long-term brand power with constant short-term fixes (see: Herschel Walker). When various sports media outlets covered Walker’s fight and the Rex Ryan middle-finger incident, ESPN commentators and hosts kept calling it “the Miami MMA show.” Strikeforce as a brand was not on anyone’s mind.
The talent pool is already thin enough as it is. The question coming into SF’s national expansion was whether or not they would be able to get talent on their own financial terms or if the price for the talent would be inflated. It appears that the salaries have been inflated (mostly by SF’s own doing and not so much due to UFC raiding talent) and that Dana White’s point about being happy that Dan Henderson signed a huge money contract with the promotion has some validity. He thinks Henderson and Fedor are guys that will bankrupt SF. He may very well be right.
2) I remember doing a long transcription of an interview Dan Henderson did on Sherdog right after he signed with Strikeforce and he mentioned that one of the big attractive points he saw with SF was their ability to let him sell Clinch Gear products at SF shows. Well, if SF is generating $8,000 for merchandise at a show, all I can say is that selling Clinch Gear merchandise will not prove to be a wildly profitable venture for him.
The concept of booking former UFC talent for bigger non-UFC shows has always been dicey. There’s a right way and there’s a wrong way of doing it. In the case of Bellator, they have largely avoided using ex-UFC fighters, but tonight the promotion announced Eddie Alvarez vs. Josh Neer for May. Alvarez is one of the golden boys for Bellator and seeing how Bellator books outside talent against him in future fights.
UFC will have some intrigue for their Saturday show in Australia (not sure how it will do for PPV buys, but I like the show going in) and then onto Versus in March and Abu Dhabi in April. Based on the recent Strikeforce show numbers, UFC has nothing to worry about whatsoever regarding “the competition.”
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 73 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Independent World MMA Rankings – February 12, 2010
By Zach Arnold | February 11, 2010
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
February 12, 2010: The February 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 | 57 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The hullabaloo about Mark Coleman getting cut by UFC after main eventing the last PPV
By Zach Arnold | February 11, 2010
I think the end result is the right call, but the process is a credibility hit for UFC in regards to them promoting Coleman in the main event slot. It’s also a hit to Keith Kizer (Nevada State Athletic Commission) because the commission, on paper, is the one calling the shots in licensing fighters over a certain age. Coleman was always a tough call on that front. I don’t blame Mark Coleman one bit for fighting — you make as much money as you can before you retire in this business.
Other news and notes
The Indianapolis Star has a profile article on Chris Lytle and his training has been like for him leading up to his February 20th fight against Brian Foster. The article is more about the story of Lytle’s current life and how much money he can make before his career is over.
Marty Morgan, who trains Brock Lesnar, says Cole Konrad could become a champion within the next couple of years.
The UFC 111 March event could be shown in movie theaters across the States.
Frank Trigg wonders what is next in his fight career. Matt Serra, who beat Trigg and sent him out of the UFC, will remain in the Welterweight division.
Jake Rosholt will fight in March at the Spirit Bank Event Center in Bixby, Oklahoma.
Michael Bisping has not been talking much trash about Wanderlei Silva in the media, so a lot of the attention on Bisping has been on his training camp for the UFC 110 fight. Despite beating Denis Kang a while back, Bisping is still answering media questions about his loss to Dan Henderson. I swear, that fight out of all the big fights at UFC 100 is the second-most talked about performance outside of Lesnar’s win over Frank Mir. Amazing.
Dan Hardy always seems to pick interesting sponsors. (Remember this growth hormone sponsor in the past?) He’s now aligned with Xyience. Yes, the same Xyience that has a bankruptcy trustee legally questioning the business behavior of Zuffa in the way Xyience assets were handled. Zombie Xyience will never go away, it seems, as a sponsor in UFC.
Stick to fighting, Chael Sonnen. You will be more bruised in politics than in UFC (and you get bruised quite a bit). Ask Matt Lindland.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 82 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Asashoryu invited to appear at Inoki event in Tokyo
By Zach Arnold | February 10, 2010
Yuko Miyato, the former UWF wrestler, is the current booker of Antonio Inoki’s IGF (Inoki Genome Federation) promotion. He has booked the following line-up for the promotion’s February 22nd show in Tokyo at JCB Hall:
– Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Naoya Ogawa & Atsushi Sawada
– Minowaman vs. Necro Butcher
– Erik Hammer vs. Daniel Puder
– Ultimo Dragon vs. TBA
– Plus: Bob Sapp, The Predator, Josh Barnett, & Yoshihiro Takayama
At the WWE Hall of Fame party in Tokyo on Tuesday, Antonio Inoki told the press that he has invited Asashoryu to attend the 2/22 show in Tokyo. Asashoryu will soon receive a retirement payoff from the Japan Sumo Association. He may also face police questioning soon regarding the incident that forced him to retire from Sumo in the first place.
The theme this year for Inoki is that it is his 50th year in the fight business.
Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Antonio Inoki selected for WWE Hall of Fame
By Zach Arnold | February 9, 2010
A fascinating move by Vince McMahon on so many levels (from political to historical). Inoki and New Japan had a long-term business relationship with McMahon’s father and Hisashi Shinma, Inoki’s right-hand man in New Japan, was WWF President for many years. Inoki had long-been rumored as helping support then-WWF when WrestleMania hit the ground and then that was it. The WWF would end up working with the All Japan side in 1990 and then SWS in 1991-1992 before working with WAR in 1994 & 1995 through Wally Yamaguchi to help out Gen’ichiro Tenryu.
The most important footnote historically was the promotion of the Inoki/Ali fight via closed circuit in various big American media markets. Different wrestling promoters had different fight cards going on as a lead-in for the broadcasting of the fight. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime situations that you won’t ever see replicated in modern day pro-wrestling or MMA.
The media spin on Inoki’s entrance into the WWE HOF is that he will be the first Japanese wrestler inducted into it. Inoki met with the press and WWE officials today in Tokyo at a press conference to accept a certificate stating his entrance into the HOF (pictures here and here). The ceremony will take place at the Dodge Theatre on 3/27 in Phoenix.
Given that it’s WWE, I fully expect Yoshi Tatsu (Naofumi Yamamoto) to be Inoki’s presenter.
Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, WWE, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |