K-1 World GP Final 8 (12/5 Yokohama Arena)
By Zach Arnold | November 6, 2009
- Reserve Fight: Peter Aerts vs. Gokhan Saki
- Reserve Fight: Daniel Ghita vs. Chalid “Die Faust” Arrab
- Super fight: Kyotaro vs. Tyrone Spong
- Opening Fight: Jan Soukup vs. Tsutomu Takahagi
- Opening Fight: Kei’ichi Samukawa vs. Ryuji Kajiwara
- World GP Fight #1: Ruslan Karaev vs. Badr Hari
- World GP Fight #2: Alistair Overeem vs. Ewerton Teixeira
- World GP Fight #3: Jerome Le Banner vs. Semmy Schilt
- World GP Fight #3: Errol Zimmerman vs. Remy Bonjasky
- World GP Semi-Finals: Winner of Fight #1 vs. Winner of Fight #2
- World GP Semi-Finals: Winner of Fight #3 vs. Winner of Fight #4
- World GP Finals
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Transcript of Jason “Mayhem” Miller interview on AOL Fanhouse
By Zach Arnold | November 5, 2009
INTERVIEWER: “Now, let’s talk about that. Obviously you have a huge fight on Saturday fight and I’ve heard you say in interviews that you know you want to be more than just the Bully Beatdown guy and a lot of fans are getting to see you now on that show and they don’t even know that you fight really. How much does that weigh on you?’
MAYHEM MILLER: “I think you’re misquoting me, man, I do not really care that they know, I never said that I want them to know more but they are going to see that I’m a world-class fighter on Saturday night. You know? I think that of course most people know me as the wacky guy on the TV show, cool with me! I don’t care how you know me as long as you know me. So, uh, you know, I’m going to go in there and show everybody that not just the wacky guy on Bully Beatdown, but also the wacky guy who kicks people in the head.”
INTERVIEWER: “Just to clarify, I wasn’t saying that was uh an issue for you, it just you know to show more people what you’re all about. All right, well you got this shot against Jake Shields and obviously you’ve fought in the UFC before but this, I mean, let’s be honest, this is the biggest fight of your career. Do you view it that way just because it’s on CBS for a title?”
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Transcript of Gegard Mousasi interview with Fanhouse
By Zach Arnold | November 5, 2009
INTERVIEWER: “There’s a lot to talk to you about because uh you were supposed to fight on the DREAM card (Yokohama Arena) and mysteriously you pulled out. Can you shed some light as to why you didn’t fight on that card?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Uh, I was injured and now I’m fighting in the CBS show.”
INTERVIEWER: “What kind of injury did you sustain?”
GEGARD MOUSASI: “Shoulder injury.”
INTERVIEWER: “All right, well what do you think about this fight against Sokoudjou, because you were supposed to fight him in that bout, it’s not going to be for a title but he’s shocked some people in the past. What are you expecting to see from him?”
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Shane Carwin: Brock Lesnar won’t be fighting me any time soon
By Zach Arnold | November 4, 2009
His manager says that UFC is claiming Lesnar has mono, which is why the fight won’t happen in January.
Brock Lesnar is a very tough man and obviously given his wrestling background I have a lot of respect for his raw talent and skills. However, I’ve also publicly made the argument before that when he made his UFC debut that short-term, it would be blockbuster business and that long-term he would flake out one way or another and burn the bridge just like he has burned bridges everywhere else. If the man is legitimately sick, then he’s legitimately sick and deserves the benefit of the doubt. If he’s not and he doesn’t want to face Carwin, then shame on him.
It has been confirmed that Brock Lesnar is suffering from mononucleosis. He informed Dana White earlier today of the diagnosis that he received this week. He was ordered not to do any training for at least one month and the Jan. 2 date is out of the question.
The history of Lesnar is a pretty clear one. He left the WWE on bad terms, then he tried to become a football player and he gave up on that when it was clear he wouldn’t make the Minnesota Vikings right away, and then he got a mega-push by Antonio Inoki in Japan — to the point that he was IWGP champion and when it was time for him to lose to Hiroshi Tanahashi in Sapporo a few years ago, he simply didn’t show up in Japan and forced the promotion to strip him of the belt. Lesnar’s Japanese performances were also disappointing because he’d show up the day before a show, work the same formulaic 8-minute wrestling match, and then go home. So, the idea that Lesnar wouldn’t flake out because he’s UFC champion doesn’t hold water. That possibility has always existed with Brock Lesnar. He’s a promoter’s dream and their worst nightmare as well.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez for the #1 contendership will happen on the January show. Cain’s manager, “Crazy” Bob Cook, says the fight has not been officially signed yet.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 23 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Text of lawsuit filing between Fedor & M-1 versus Affliction
By Zach Arnold | November 4, 2009
Filed 10/28/2009
Marc S. Hines (SBN 140065) – [email protected]
Michelle L. Carder (SBN 174481) – [email protected]
Christine M. Emanuelson (SBN 221269) – [email protected]
Hines Smith Carder Leasure Dincel – 3080 Bristol Street, Suite 540, Costa Mesa, CA. 92626
Tel: (714) 513-1122
FAX: (714) 513-1123
Attorneys for Plantiffs, Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Nederland b.v.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
FEDOR EMELIANENKO, an individual; M-1 NEDERLAND b.v., a Dutch Limited Liability Company (Plaintiffs) vs. AFFLICTION CLOTHING, a California business entity, form unknown; AFFLICTION ENTERTAINMENT, LLC, a California limited liability company; and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive (defendants)
CASE NO.: CV09-07865 MMM (MLGx)
PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR:
1. Breach of Fight Agreement
2. Breach of Implied Convenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing – Fight Agreement
3. Breach of Consulting Agreement
4. Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing – Consulting Agreement
5. Breach of Letter Agreement
6. Declaratory Relief – Fight Agreement
7. Declaratory Relief – Consulting Agreement and Letter Agreement
AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Affliction, All Topics, M-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 51 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
WEC sends a message to the rest of its roster…
By Zach Arnold | November 3, 2009
…and that message is that Urijah Faber is our business ace and you’re not.
The match between Jamie Varner and Ben Henderson for the Lightweight title, which had been discussed for a while to take place in Arizona, ends up getting booked in Sacramento at Arco Arena on January 10th with Urijah Faber in the semi-main event slot against Raphael Assuncao.
Business is business and Faber’s the one major star in the company, so they will run Sacramento. However, Arizona should not be that hard of a place to market a good fight between two locals. Hell, WEC ran Albuquerque and San Antonio but they can’t run Arizona where a ton of MMA fighters are?
Running in Sacramento with Faber should be shooting fish in a barrel, but it’s interesting how the company is picking its spots in turns of new markets to run shows at or not run shows at.
Topics: Media, MMA, WEC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Mail issues
By Zach Arnold | November 3, 2009
Over the last month, I’ve noticed that Hotmail is flaking out with other Hotmail and gmail accounts when writing messages. Lots of coding garbage included in each message, something I don’t get with other mail accounts.
If you have encountered a similar problem, let me know here and what the fix is.
Topics: Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Showtime’s attempt at PR for next week’s Strikeforce event
By Zach Arnold | November 1, 2009
Today, CBS & Showtime had Fedor & Brett Rogers at the Chicago Bears/Cleveland Browns game at Soldier Field in Chicago. Dave Meltzer said that doing the PR for that fight amongst football fans is the best audience possible to do cross-promoting. While I agree with the basic premise, I don’t agree with how Showtime is promoting this fight at all.
Strikeforce is in a real tough spot right now. They are trying to do their best to do the hard sell to get people locally to go to the event next week. In Chicago, that’s an expensive task. On top of that, besides the local promotion you also have CBS & Showtime needing to promote the show on a national level so that the casual sports fan will tune in and watch.
Out of all the NFL games this week to watch, Chicago/Cleveland was probably one of the worst games to choose in terms of viewership. (The worst game for viewership this week, no doubt, was Carolina/Arizona because the game only aired in those two local markets and not nationally.) Outside of those two local markets, there is only one major reason why any fan outside of those geographical areas is watching that game — gambling. You only cared about that game (if you aren’t a fan of either team) because the spread was 12 1/2 points and the over/under was 40 1/2. That’s it. That’s the only reason you cared about that game. If CBS was truly serious about promoting the Strikeforce event, we would have seen a torrent of advertising for the show on the other marquee games that the network had (including Denver/Baltimore, Miami/Jets, SD/Oakland, Houston/Buffalo, so on and so forth). 10 seconds ads ain’t going to cut it.
So, is it nice to see photos of Fedor and Rogers at a Bears game? Sure. It’s better than nothing. Does it do anything in the grand scheme of things to promote the show nationally? Not really. Will it help with local ticket sales? Perhaps, but on a minor level. The fact that Showtime hasn’t even promoted any other fights on the card (unlike UFC) is annoying as well.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
PR: MMA Bootcamp Now At R1 Training Center
By Zach Arnold | October 30, 2009
Start of press release
L.A.’s original MMA training center, R1, has extended its innovative MMA Bootcamp Program to run on a weekly basis. Well known for developing many of today’s MMA champions the R1 gym now has another focus, bring MMA style training to those interested in realizing its overall benefits. After three successful month long MMA bootcamps where members trained utilizing the same methods that our pros were schooled in, we have decided to extend our MMA Bootcamp program to Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings from 6AM – & 7AM.
That’s correct 6AM, as one of our members told us “the AM training works out best for my lifestyle. I haven’t been able to do this kind of consistent training for over 15 years.”
Our cutting edge MMA Bootcamp was designed by our world renowned trainers to build stamina & lean body mass, increase focus & awareness, teach you MMA & self defense skills. Get acquainted with the world’s fastest growing sport in a safe & clean environment with real MMA professionals. Our MMA Bootcamp will teach you the complete game from standing to ground, striking to submission and everything in between. We also take great care in preparing the mind for a clean performance with breathing, focus and body movement drills. There will be no sparring whatsoever as the MMA Bootcamp is designed to enhance basic MMA skills, drills and overall conditioning.
“I could do this class for a year and would keep improving on my basics & conditioning” is another comment that we have been hearing, so the R1 management decided to give it a try.
If you would like to try it out but are s bit skeptical please hit the link below for a short video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg86pGoOVVg&feature=player_profilepage
About R1 Training Center
R1, Los Angeles’ original MMA gym, has developed champions in every major MMA organization around the world. Established in 2000,
R1 is known as a Mecca for champion MMA fighters and Martial Artists who come to train with our staff and members. R1 is a complete training facility dedicated to helping those in search of a way to improve their performance.
For additional information please got www.r1gym.com or call us at 310.322.5552.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Vale Tudo Japan 2009
By Zach Arnold | October 30, 2009
Update (10/30): Event results here.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Random thoughts heading in the November MMA schedule
By Zach Arnold | October 30, 2009
I want to apologize to everyone for not updating more this week — I spent a lot of time in a courtroom, so… as you can imagine, thankfully I’m done. Not having other writers on hand for the site is a problem, but it’s been a problem for years and you continue to read Fight Opinion. I’m thankful for that fact.
Onto some news topics heading into November:
- I am not feeling the love for the Strikeforce show on November 7th. I don’t care if you run 10 second spots during SEC football games on CBS, the network has done a miserable job of promoting the show. Dana White was absolutely right in a recent Fanhouse interview when he said that Showtime runs Strikeforce now and not Scott Coker. What a horrible build-up for the Fedor/Rogers fight. Sending out a few e-mails a day to the press is not going to get the job done. I understand the point that my friend Rob Maysey makes about MMA being such a press-driven property, but even on that level CBS is doing a terrible job of hyping the main event let alone what else is on the fight card in Chicago. Bjorn Rebney, the CEO of Bellator FC, recently was asked about how CBS was promoting the Strikeforce show (read his comments here). Fanhouse has a Q & A with Fedor right here.
- I’m done watching The Ultimate Fighter for this season. Unlike the past few seasons, I was able to last seven shows in before I lost all interest and decided to tune out. The biggest crime you can commit when producing a reality show is making a boring, formulaic show and that’s exactly what this season has been. It’s one thing to be trashy, but when you’re boring trashy that’s even worse. Granted, the ratings are still good (in the 1.9 range), but the audience is tapering off as the chances of Kimbo Slice coming back to fight on the show remain shaky. The fake heat between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson is at a mind-numbing level and I think the biggest thing I’ve taken away from the show (besides the fact that the heavyweight prospects outside of Roy Nelson stink) is that Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta really have used an incredible amount of spin just to make the predictable and mundane even palatable. UFC management telling The LA Times before the Kimbo/Nelson fight that it was going to be exciting… and then it flopped… and then Dana said, yeah the fight sucked, but the fights get better on the show!… only for Dana, on camera, to pick Wes Sims to actually win a fight… and now White is calling the heavyweights on the show the biggest bunch of crybabies he’s ever seen… eventually, the act gets old and for Dana White it’s gotten real stale and moldy on that show. Everything about that show needs a dramatic face lift if it is going to continue for a couple more seasons (tryouts were recently held in Los Angeles for TUF 11). Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander, huh?
- The DREAM shows didn’t do great business in Japan in October, but I was more interested in watching some of their fights than I was with the UFC event. At least I get a mix of different fighters and flashes of brilliance from DREAM (think: Eddie Alvarez) than I do with other promotions right now. The big failure for this promotion remains the fact that they don’t do a good job of building up future Japanese stars that have mainstream crossover appeal. What’s scarier is that DREAM does a better job for exposure than Sengoku, which is a total … I don’t know what adjective to use, but the way they’ve rolled out Satoshi Ishii’s debut (along with Ishii’s management team) is about as textbook in not-how-to-do-something as you can get. Enjoy the Japanese promotions in terms of the gaijin fighters they book while it lasts.
- Jon Fitch is a really cursed man.
Topics: DREAM, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Options limited for UFC 11/21 Las Vegas show with Lesnar out
By Zach Arnold | October 26, 2009
Now that Yahoo Sports reported that Brock Lesnar has canceled his booking on the November 21st card due to illness, it didn’t leave the company with many options as far as booking a replacement fight.
On paper, booking Shogun vs. Machida in the re-match here would have made sense because both men last trained for each other and there’s a desire for a re-match… but there’s no way either could fight due to medical suspensions by the California State Athletic Commission. Same case with Cain Velasquez, as you could have naturally booked him and Shane Carwin for the November 21st show in a #1 contender’s match (but not with the standard medical suspensions).
Which leaves us with Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin, a perfectly acceptable fight for business. I would anticipate it drawing better numbers than previous UFC shows over the last few months, but certainly the card could use a boost. Dan Henderson getting a new deal here would make a lot of sense, as a fight with him and Marquardt would really legitimize the card and get the attention of both casual and hardcore fans.
As for Carwin/Lesnar happening on January 2nd in Las Vegas, I wonder if that means Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort becomes the semi-main event or if Silva’s camp backs off of taking that booking. You would think that with Lesnar’s name attached to the PPV that it would increase the chances of Silva’s camp taking the fight because of the bigger buyrate, which in turn means bigger $$$$.
Lesnar’s training partner spoke out about the fight cancellation today in The Las Vegas Sun.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 84 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Will DREAM keep the cage?
By Zach Arnold | October 26, 2009
The one top story coming out of the show in the various Japanese newspapers was Sakuraba surviving for 100 seconds in the cage to beat Zelg “Benkei” Galesic and pull off the win.
No attendance was listed in any of the papers regarding the DREAM 12 at Osaka Castle Hall, a building the promotion really should have not booked — especially coming off of a Yokohama Arena show a couple of weeks ago.
Nevertheless, everyone involved in the event seemed very happy with the cage. The fans, fighters, and event promoters. One thing that stuck out to me in listening to the various top foreign fighters (Overeem, Alvarez, Beebe, etc.) is that while they prefer the ring, they thought that the cage DREAM used was good. DREAM is an interesting position — they are pushing talent that UFC and WEC aren’t and it’s good to have some fresh faces. The problem is that long-term the promotion can’t book super elite talent because they don’t have the financial resources that UFC has. Much like the pro-wrestling boom in Japan in the early 90s, once the cash starts drying up so does the amount of foreign talent being brought in.
However, I think the cage format is an interesting way for DREAM to appeal to some big name foreign fighters to perhaps come and fight for the promotion in the future. It’s an ironic situation, given that Dana White has long argued publicly that he wants to see MMA leagues around the globe use the same rules and structure (a cage and the Unified rules). In this case, DREAM shifted towards that model a bit with the Osaka show and the experiment worked. The question now is whether or not DREAM in the long term will use the cage more often and how it will effect the outcome differently for certain match-ups.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 39 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |