Hidehiko Yoshida will retire on 4/25
By Zach Arnold | February 8, 2010
He will have a retirement show on 4/25 in Tokyo at Nippon Budokan (show title = ASTRA). J-ROCK, the agency that backs Yoshida and was in charge of Sengoku, is promoting the event. The current plan is for the show to air on SkyPerfecTV as opposed to a free-TV network. It was noted that the reason Yoshida wanted the event at Budokan is because that is the same building that hosts judo championships and major judo events.
With Yoshida retiring in April, it eliminates the possibility of him getting booked against Asashoryu should K-1 sign him. (Unless, of course, Asashoryu and Yoshida do some sort of “exhibition” match.)
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 109 (2/6 Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Events Center)
By Zach Arnold | February 6, 2010
Dark matches
- Heavyweights: Joey Beltran vs. Rolles Gracie
- Heavyweights: Tim Hague vs. Chris Tuchscherer
- Light Heavyweights: Brian Stann vs. Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis (he better watch out for Paul Orndorff)
- Lightweights: Phillipe Nover vs. Rob Emerson
- Lightweights: Melvin Guillard vs. Ronnys Torres
- Lightweights: Mac Danzig vs. Justin Buchholz
Main card
- Welterweights: Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg
- Middleweights: Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller
- Welterweights: Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago
- Middleweights: Nathan Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen
- Light Heavyweights (#1 contender’s match): Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 63 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The countdown for Asashoryu fighting in K-1 begins now
By Zach Arnold | February 4, 2010
With Asashoryu’s exit from the Sumo world official, K-1’s long-awaited dream of bringing him into the fold is now a mere formality. The question is how much will TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) or Fuji TV be willing to pony up to finance a couple of fights in the promotion? He’s a lock for a NYE date, but the question is if K-1 can get him sooner.
PRIDE desperately wanted him when they still around as a promotion but didn’t have the money to pull it off. In business terms, PRIDE saw Asashoryu the same way UFC saw Brock Lesnar — a sure-fire, can’t-miss, giant business acquisition. K-1 sees him the same way. Once they likely get him under contract, a lot of things will suddenly change for Japanese MMA.
If K-1 can sign Asashoryu, this will be a significantly bigger deal than when Sengoku signed Satoshi Ishii. If you thought Yoshida/Ishii did well in the NYE ratings, then imagine how big business will be on NYE for Asashoryu’s debut fight. They could easily book him against Bob Sapp, which would be funny because Sapp faced Akebono. It would be a natural opponent to book.
As recently as 15 years ago, Asashoryu would have been a prime target to enter Japanese pro-wrestling. No longer.
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Zuffa knows best – WEC PPVs at $45. Everybody has a price…
By Zach Arnold | February 4, 2010
…but I don’t think $45 will generate more than 25,000 PPV buys for the April 24th event with Urijah Faber vs. Jose Aldo.
Then again, Affliction did decent PPV buyrates (not enough to stay in business, however). To Affliction’s credit, they built their deal around the best Heavyweight in the world who had a name from the PRIDE days. Yes, WEC has the best talent at 145, but it’s America and the heavyweights still draw more interest.
Even if Zuffa gets a 50% cut of the PPV profits at $45 a clip, it becomes an issue of math regarding whether or not the move to PPV becomes more profitable. We’ve seen UFC do some ridiculous business in terms of converting cable viewers to PPV customers (UFC 100 will forever be the peak example of this), but it’s hard to see how a largely “I won’t pay a dime” audience on Versus TV converts a lot of the TV viewers into PPV customers. If WEC draws on a good day 500,000 viewers, 25,000 PPV buys would be about 5% of the audience. Sounds about right? Over or under 25,000?
I don’t have a large issue with the $45 price point in the following sense… If they charged $30 for the show, would they really entice more people to buy the show? It’s hard to believe that a drop off in price point would generate any more buys than will happen. Just like with WWE, if you want to pay to watch the show, you will pay to watch the show. If it was $70 or $80, OK, that’s one thing, but $50 right now seems to be the price point range for most PPV events. Let’s say you do drop the price point from $45 to $30 — that means you would need 3 people to buy the show at the lower price to match the 2 people you counted on to buy it at $45. Do you think that there would be enough fans to make up for the 50% slack to buy the show? Doubtful.
Many fighters in WEC said they wanted to be on PPV. Well, here you go. Their wish has been granted. But it’s not under very good circumstances. The 4/24 date opens up Zuffa to get hammered by Strikeforce on CBS (should CBS choose to run that date). We already know that Strikeforce’s show last December from San Jose matched the same amount of viewers as the WEC show from LV did on Versus (Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff). By opening themselves up to Strikeforce on CBS, it will no doubt create the urge in Zuffa circles to run UFC programming on Spike against the CBS show. By doing that, Zuffa would be essentially cannibalizing the WEC show and would also give Strikeforce a bump up in media coverage because of the easy storyline that the media would bite on.
Which may be the point of Zuffa’s experiment here. They accomplished keeping off competition from Versus by having WEC as the vehicle to do it. Anything else WEC-related is gravy for them. If the PPV experiment works, great, they make money and the fighters stay happy. If the PPV experiment fails (most likely), then they can turn around and say hey, the marketplace has a verdict, and it’s they don’t want to pay to see you fight. Of course, as alluded to up above, UFC’s brand is so strong (it’s not a meme) for bigger shows that without the UFC label, it’s going to be really difficult for Faber and company to get the PPV buys.
It’s not as if you can tell Faber, Torres, etc. that they need to go out and sell the tickets and PPV buys. They’ve done everything they can already to put on the most exciting fights possible. They had their chance to go to Strikeforce and they decided to stay with WEC. Will it prove to be a mistake for the fighters?
The odds are likely that WEC on PPV will struggle, but it doesn’t mean that I am rooting against the fighters. Far from it — I’d love to see the shows do really well, but the tea leaves suggest otherwise. Which leads us to the long-ball question — if a PPV bombs or you have a couple of WEC PPVs that fail to meet standards internally in Zuffa, then what? WEC keeps saying that they are in it for the long haul and are starting to expand worldwide through various TV contracts, but if the league stagnates business-wise then what? Will a vaunted talent exodus happen with WEC guys demanding to fight on UFC shows?
One thing is for sure — the WEC PPV announcement got zero air time on American sports media. When I saw the “MMA” tab on ESPN’s news ticker yesterday, I thought the WEC PPV announcement would be covered. Nope. What was ESPN’s MMA story? That Jose Canseco wrote on his Twitter account that he wanted to fight Herschel Walker.
I guess I may have to show Herschel Walker who the real bad Boy of the Sports industry is. If the powers that be are reading, I want in.
My people spoke with Cesar Gracie today. Looks like things are moving at a fast pace. Dan Black and Cesar seem to have a plan together.
The irony of Canseco mentioning Cesar Gracie’s name is that Cesar can’t get any media ink for his boy Nick Diaz’s win over Marius Zaromskis at last weekend’s Strikeforce event. The two big stories coming out of that event: 47-year old Herschel Walker beating a jaybrone and Rex Ryan getting fined $50,000USD for flipping the bird. I got a kick out of how many times the general US sports media called Strikeforce’s event “the Miami MMA show” on ESPN, about 8 million times.
As for Herschel’s response to Canseco…
“Jose wants to do this for money,” Walker said. “My thing is, if he wants to fight me and he thinks it’s going to be a circus, I will hurt him. This is not a joke, I will hurt him, because I don’t do things as a joke. I don’t do this as entertainment. If we go out and play a flag football game, that’s entertainment. We’re having fun. But this MMA fighting, is real. You can get hurt, and he doesn’t understand it. I do this as an MMA fighter, not as a joke.”
Jose Canseco vs. Herschel Walker is getting more sports media attention than the WEC… and we’re in 2010. Ugh.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 37 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bellator gets Joe Warren, DREAM left to wonder what to do
By Zach Arnold | February 2, 2010
The news for DREAM is getting ugly. Marius Zaromskis gets clocked by Nick Diaz, then Hayato Sakurai is more than likely next in line for ND, and now Joe Warren is off to Bellator for their upcoming Featherweight tournament. If Warren isn’t back in DREAM soon, it will be a blow for DREAM given how much credibility Warren earned by beating Kid Yamamoto last year.
Warren was supposed to fight on the Vale Tudo Japan card last October but pulled out. Warren stated to Yahoo Sports that he can still fight in Japan, but given his wrestling aspirations along with Bellator’s upcoming schedule, it might be difficult to see Warren getting consistent bookings in Japan due to scheduling conflicts. DREAM put some PR effort behing pushing Warren and it will be interesting to see what they do next…
Topics: DREAM, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 23 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Japanese press: This KOTC show is really…
By Zach Arnold | February 1, 2010
…like an MMA show in America with an American audience. That’s mostly the takeaway that the media came away with from this weekend’s King of the Cage event in Okinawa at the Convention Center. The show was a success in terms of attendance (even though an official number was not given) based on first-hand accounts.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Strikeforce 1/30 Sunrise, Florida
By Zach Arnold | January 30, 2010
- Strikeforce vs. DREAM – Welterweights: Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis
- Women’s Title match (145 pounds): Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen
- Heavyweights: Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims
- Middleweights: Melvin Manhoefvs. Robbie Lawler
- Heavyweights: Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy
- Welterweights: Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs (Streamed at EASportsMMA.com)
A lot of NFL stars were in attendance at tonight’s Strikeforce event, including New York Jets HC Rex Ryan. Jay Glazer brought several Pro Bowl players to the event in Sunrise.
Thoughts on the show
Go to full-page view if you don’t want spoilers.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 117 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Kansas State basketball fans commit gimmick infringement
By Zach Arnold | January 29, 2010
Quick, where are those Cease & Desist notices from Zuffa lawyers?
The backstory – Kansas and Kansas State have a renewed basketball rivalry. Kansas State fans have renamed their home court arena as the Octagon of Doom. If you search for that phrase, you will see it used on all the major sports news wire services. The name is picking up steam on ESPN Radio.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
DREAM 3/22 Yokohama Arena
By Zach Arnold | January 28, 2010
The news regarding the show is that Bibiano Fernandes will face Joachim Hansen for the DREAM Featherweight title. Also booked on the card is Ryo Chonan.
There was also a press conference featuring comments from K-1/DREAM management. They were asked about what kind of punishment Shin’ya Aoki will face? The answer: He’s been punished enough. No further punishment is coming his way.
Regarding the DREAM schedule for 2010 – 3/22 Yokohama Arena, April date (South Korea), May, July, September, October, and then Dynamite. The focus will be on a DREAM Light Heavyweight GP tournament with either 8 or 16 fighters. Plus, hope for Aoki vs. Kawajiri along with focusing on booking Alistair Overeem in high-profile fights.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC Abu Dhabi presser
By Zach Arnold | January 27, 2010
No surprises regarding the announcement — BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar and Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort. Plus, Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie at 170 pounds.
It’ll be interesting to see how this open-air event takes place as far as the set-up. Remember, it was only last week where there was grandiose talk of a coliseum-like feel with fans “on top of each other.” MMA Unlimited notes that the venue is Concert Arena, Ferrari World, Yas Island where a lot of, well, concerts (like Aerosmith and Rihanna) have taken place. Information and graphics on Yas Island here.
Given the fact that both Penn and Silva are on the card, the PPV buyrate should be really good.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
(Boxing) Wonderful: David Haye and John Ruiz heat-up their 4/3 fight by debating who is more boring
By Zach Arnold | January 27, 2010
What a last couple of weeks it has been for boxing. First, the news that Allan Green would replace Jermain Taylor in the Super Six. Now, the announcement that John Ruiz will face David Haye on April 3rd in Manchester, United Kingdom. I should have known it was coming when I saw an article last week in the Boston Herald talking about Ruiz waiting around for a big booking to come.
The press conference on Tuesday for the fight got off to a roaring start when Ruiz no-showed. Ruiz, meanwhile, was spotted in Las Vegas. He told Sky Sports that British fans persuaded judges to give Haye a decision win over Nikolai Valuev. Haye called Ruiz “the cure for insomnia.” Haye’s trainer hyped up Ruiz to the British press this way: “John Ruiz has been at world level for a long time and he is the master at making talented fighters look less than ordinary,” he said.
The plan, on paper, is for Haye to beat Ruiz and then get a fight against one of the Klitschko brothers. Wladimir Klitschko will fight Eddie Chambers on 3/20 in Dusseldorf, Germany at Esprit Arena.
Well, I guess on the bright side of boxing news, there’s always Victor Conte of BALCO fame offering his services to Keith Kizer to catch drug cheats in boxing (and MMA). Pick up the phone, commissioner.
Bonus question: Any thoughts on Amir Khan leaving Frank Warren and signing with Golden Boy?
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
(Business) A buzzkill for implementing an online subscription model
By Zach Arnold | January 26, 2010
Over the last couple of years, there has been debate amongst publishers in the MMA media as to what the best financial model would be to support good sites and the ability to generate content worth everyone’s time and trouble. The two most-popular ideas dealt with ad-based sites and subscription-based sites.
Most people have already had an inkling about the damage putting site content behind a firewall can do in terms of pushing visitors away. The New York Times is proof positive of this. However, the ultimate proof of the flawed nature of the subscription-based model comes to us from New York Newsday, which according to this report has gained 35 paid online subscribers since putting up a firework on their site. If there was any questions about the long-term viability of the subscription-model, those have largely been put to rest. That’s not to say that a site like the Observer won’t make it, but that’s because they largely are the only game in town for certain information. Even with that advantage, the pickings can be slim when you have 8 million copy and paste sites online.
I am a believer in the ad-based business model, which is what Brandt DeLorenzo is pushing with his Fight Ad Network. You can also go the route of BlogAds, but you have to give up a 30% cut of the money. Plus a lot of Firefox add-ons can easily block the BlogAd javascript code.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the most successful business model online is not always the most feasible or most popular, which is selling actual goods and bringing in traffic. Sherdog has done this for years and On the Mat has been successful as well at what they do. It’s hard enough for writers in broad topic ranges like politics or sports to make a living, but it’s even harder to manage to make ends meet if you are trying to give the MMA writing career a go. I would love to see as many MMA sites thrive as possible because the more money that is put into developing and cultivating media resources, the better the content will be and the more time writers in this field will be able to really put their energy into doing the best job they possibly can.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
As many as four fights left for UFC legend Chuck Liddell?
By Zach Arnold | January 26, 2010
I was reading this Las Vegas Review-Journal article on Chuck Liddell starting as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter yesterday and he’s talking about fighting at least a couple more times, if not four more fights in his mind.
Understandably, Liddell wants to continue fighting. He has money troubles (a recent lawsuit filed in court against a real estate mover-and-shaker) and he also still believes he can make things work out in the cage. Liddell told The Las Vegas Sun that nobody is going to force him into retirement — he will make his own decision when the time comes.
Also on the comeback trail is Mike Swick, who talked to USA Today in a recent interview about his upcoming fight against Paulo Thiago.
Misc. news and notes
The Newark Star-Ledger has a profile article on the American Martial Arts Fight Club in Whippany, New Jersey. It’s home base for Jim & Dan Miller of UFC fame.
A new update on whether or not UFC should be allowed in Toronto. The fact that the topic of UFC is becoming of media interest in regards to politicians on the ground is a good indication of things to come in the next few months. How UFC does in Vancouver this Summer seemingly will determine whether or not Ottawa and Ontario politicians are ready to regulate MMA. It’s only a matter of time, now.
Ron Frazier talks about Randy Couture and also the future of Xtreme Couture given the departure of Shawn Tompkins to the Tapout gym.
A big MMA show will take place on April 24th at the Target Center in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
Here is video of a news clip in Boise featuring Jens Pulver at a local Boys & Girls Club talking to youngsters about bullying.
The M-1 vs. Affliction lawsuit is not going away any time soon.
The Arizona Republic has an interview with Ben Henderson.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |