Sengoku 9/23 Saitama Community Arena
By Zach Arnold | September 23, 2009
Event reports: Sherdog | Bloody Elbow
- Lightweights: Tetsuya “Helper” Yamada vs. Maxi(mo Blanco)
- Lightweights: Ryan Schultz vs. Kazunori Yokota
- Sengoku G! Cup (Bantamweights): Ryosuke Komori vs. So Jee Hyun
- Sengoku G! Cup (Featherweights): Shigeki Osawa vs. Kim Ki Hyun
- Sengoku G! Cup (Lightweights): Ikuo Usuda vs. Baek Woo Hyun
- Middleweights: Takenori Sato vs. Joe Doerksen
- Welterweights: Nick Thompson vs. Dan Hornbuckle
- Light Heavyweights: Ryo Kawamura vs. Fabio Silva
- Light Heavyweights: Hiroshi Izumi vs. Antz “Notorius” Nansen
- Heavyweights: Antonio Silva vs. Big Jim York
- Welterweights: Makoto Takimoro vs. Lee Jae Sun
Kevin Randleman, Jorge Santiago, and Michihiro Omigawa were announced today for Sengoku’s 11/7 Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan event.
Update (9/14): Sengoku announced that Satoshi Ishii’s debut will take place on 1/3 against Hidehiko Yoshida. Ishii will not debut at the promotion’s 11/7 Ryogoku Kokugikan show.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
One way to look at NSAC’s response to Big John McCarthy: Go away, you mark
By Zach Arnold | September 23, 2009
Ah, the classic “don’t call us, we’ll call you” blow off.
Jake Rossen at ESPN has long been following Big John McCarthy’s attempt to get into MMA (so has Fightlinker). McCarthy filled out an application to become a referee in Nevada again.
Keith Kizer, head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, reportedly sent McCarthy a form letter back in the negative.
In a mailed letter from Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, McCarthy, who submitted his application Sept. 10, was informed that the state “[does] not anticipate adding any additional referees at this time. We will place your application in the pending file in case the situation changes.”
In theory, an athletic commission’s job is to ensure safety and regulation in the sport they oversee, plus deal with any contractual and financial obligations that arise. (See: IRS asking the NSAC to withhold money for Floyd Mayweather’s tax problems.) Therefore, can Keith Kizer truly say with a straight face that the current referees he uses do a better job of ensuring fighter safety than Big John McCarthy? The answer is an emphatic no.
In the court of public opinion, Kizer’s actions as commissioner vary from the low end of the spectrum (being a lightweight) to neutral (maintaining status quo). Kizer’s track record has plenty of spots: from the on-again, off-again vaunted off-season drug testing program in MMA (Nevada hasn’t caught one fighter and yet California has been more successful) to a batten-down-the-hatches stance when the Antonio Margarito situation blew up in California over how many fights Margarito used illegal hand wraps in, to the varying degrees of suspensions based on what drugs fighters are caught using, and it’s hard to imagine in my opinion that the commissioner wouldn’t get a ‘no confidence‘ vote if a straw poll amongst various MMA power brokers (outside of promoters).
In a time where there has been turmoil amongst various state athletic commissions, Kizer and Nevada have not really stood out ahead of the pack in terms of being consistently progressive or ahead of the curve in relation to boxing or Mixed Martial Arts. It was New Jersey who brought up the use of instant replay well before Nevada.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 28 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Floyd Mayweather jobs to the IRS
By Zach Arnold | September 22, 2009
How bad are things for Mr. Money? How about a $5.6M USD bill from the IRS. That means over half his ‘guarantee’ for the Marquez fight goes to the IRS — before taxes. So, when it’s all said and done, Mayweather better hope the PPV buyrate is high for his fight. The way Mayweather’s tax attorney made it sound today, his client loves the IRS and is the best American tax-payer citizen in the country.
Meanwhile, Marquez wants to fight Ricky Hatton. Why not, I guess…
Speaking of the IRS, one fighter who may not be paying as much as expected to Uncle Sam is Rampage Jackson if he goes through and stops fighting in MMA. Yeah, OK. We know Jackson goes off on tirades and tangents and has made questionable career decisions in the past, but his biggest crime is that he’s a lousy politician in an industry that requires and respects people who are good at it. As I’ve said before, Dana White has every right to be upset at Jackson. Furthermore, I stand by an earlier proclamation that Jackson’s erratic behavior justifies UFC being wary of ever giving him another hard sell after the current push on The Ultimate Fighter.
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 45 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Video: Chuck Liddell does the Foxtrot
By Zach Arnold | September 21, 2009
Chuck Liddell & Anna Trebunskaya on season nine of Dancing with the Stars. The reviews are in.
Topics: Media, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The pitfalls of signing Herschel Walker to an MMA contract
By Zach Arnold | September 21, 2009
The upside is obvious for Strikeforce — they are already getting mentions this morning on ESPN for signing the 47-year old former NFL star.
The downsides are obvious, too — he’s an older fighter who is no Randy Couture. It also comes off as a cheap publicity stunt, even if Walker is a serious athlete who really is into fighting. Furthermore, Walker is known to have health issues and he could suffer some legitimate physical damage in a fight.
There’s more downside than upside to this move. I suppose in the eyes of Strikeforce it’s a low-risk move because if Walker loses, hey, he’s 47 and a rookie. If he wins, then he’s a star and has football credibility to bring to the table. They better hope that he doesn’t get hurt in the cage.
Meanwhile, while Walker is entering MMA, Frank Trigg is making his exit.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 47 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Vitor Belfort becomes a very popular name again
By Zach Arnold | September 20, 2009
Local UFC 103 coverage: Dallas Morning News | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | McKinney Courier-Gazette
There was a healthy amount of stories on the news wires about Vitor Belfort’s win over Rich Franklin. A surprising amount of press, and most of it was on the straight-and-narrow. In fact, dare I say, a lot of it positive. One curious media note is that The LA Times had their core group of writers work the Mayweather show and just ran an AP wire report on UFC 103. Belfort credited part of his win over Franklin due to focusing on karate training. The Canadian Press has a good event report.
As you would imagine, Mayweather’s lopsided win over Juan Manuel Marquez dominated the traditional sports media in terms of coverage. The media coverage of the fight and the aftermath is, at best, mixed. Reuters has a report on Mayweather whining after the fight and playing the ‘no respect’ card. A lot of newspaper writers are focusing on Shane Mosley’s challenge to Mayweather after the fight. Most cheered Shane’s appeal for a match, while Fox Sports said that Mosley ‘ruined’ Mayweather’s win over Marquez.
To top it all off, Manny Pacquiao says he will file a defamation suit against Floyd Mayweather Sr. because Sr. claimed that Pacquiao is a steroid user.
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 74 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 9/19 American Airlines Center in Dallas
By Zach Arnold | September 19, 2009
Event reports: USA Today | Jake Rossen | Sherdog | MMA Torch | Bloody Elbow Yahoo Sports
Dark matches
- Lightweights: Rob Emerson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos
- Light Heavyweights: Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajac
- Light Heavyweights: Eliot Marshall vs. Jason Brilz
- Middleweights: Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal
- Welterweights: Paul “Semtex” Daley vs. Brian Foster
- Lightweights: Dan Lauzon vs. Rafaello Oliveira
- Lightweights: Jim Miller vs. Thiago Tavares
- Lightweights: Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
Main card
- Lightweights: Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca
- Welterweights: Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
- Welterweights: Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann
- Heavyweights: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Junior Dos Santos
- Catch weight (195 pounds): Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 41 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dana White: People who buy Floyd Mayweather’s 9/19 PPV are stupid
By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2009
Some quotes from a recent interview Steve Cofield did with Dana White (video here):
UFC vs. boxing on PPV and buyrates: “Here’s the reality, here’s the reality. Let’s say Floyd does a million buys out there… there’s a million stupid fucking people out there. All right? That has nothing to say, that doesn’t mean, oh God, boxing’s better and bigger than the UFC, that’s not true. The reality is, the UFC is bigger than boxing and the WWE combined. The funny thing about the Floyd Mayweather thing is he runs around and he says, you know, money money is all he’s talking about, you know, they’re paying me [unintelligible], you’re fucking paying him that! You the fans are paying him that money! You talk about how much you fucking hate him and you don’t like the way he fights and you don’t want to see him run around in circles and you’re the ones giving him that money.”
On Mayweather’s comments about HBO and Steward as “Uncle Tom”: “Listen, I heard the numbers that Mandalay put out but I was hearing that thing wasn’t selling jack shit, they weren’t selling anything. And you better believe, you better believe if there’s fans in there, they’re all going to be Mexican, you know what I mean, it’s all going to be people supporting him, Marquez, and not Floyd.”
Arum calls MMA fans stupid, is Dana doing the same to boxing fans? “No no, I’m not taking a shot at (boxing) fans. I’m a fan! I’m a fan! I’m not here going, those guys that watch boxing are… yeah, I am a boxing fan, but I’m talking about reality, as a boxing fan the fight that I want to see is Pacquiao and Mayweather. Is there anybody that will fucking disagree with that? That’s the fight people want to see. That’s also a big money fight, but it’s the same bullshit that you got in boxing right now, in that interview with Arum Arum’s saying, man, this fight’s not going to happen because he doesn’t fucking like Floyd, he doesn’t want to deal with Floyd and he doesn’t want to negotiate with Floyd. See, I’m different than that. My opinion is, my fucking job is to make these fights. Dude, there’s plenty of fucking people that I don’t like that we put fights on with. It’s not up to me whether I like ’em or dislike ’em, it’s up to what the fans want to see. You know? I don’t think Fedor’s the best fucking heavyweight, he’s definitely not anywhere in the Top 10 in the fucking pound-for-pound, but if you fucking guys want to see that fight then I want to see that fight and I did everything I could to try to make it happen. You know, you’re not going to hear me fucking say, ‘yeah, we’re not going to go after Fedor, we’re not going to try, probably not going to happen’, I want it to happen, I want to see it, to be honest as a fan I want to see it if he can beat Brock, so…
But yeah my point is as a boxing fan, the way that we when I was putting this whole thing together is I used to so many times I’d be so fucking pumped up for the fights, man, it’s Saturday night, call your buddies, come over to the house, you know you put down your 55, 60 bucks, you go lay your bets, whatever you do, all the exciting shit that you do the week of a fight, you’re reading all the fucking articles, all the stories on stuff that’s happening and then you sit down and watch you the fight, and at the end of the fight you go, MOTHERFUCKER! That sucked! He fucking didn’t fight again! The fight sucked, you thought it was going to be great, and the last one for me was Floyd and Oscar, you know I was so pumped up for tha fight, they talk about all the shit they’re going to do to each other and they avoid fighting so that they can move to the next one and make another fucking 77 million dollars. That’s where the fight business went, you know, and that’s what’s wrong with boxing.”
—
If you are one of the many ‘stupid’ people who want to watch the Mayweather/Marquez fight and want to watch it at a local movie theater instead, here’s the PR on that sent out by the indefatigable Gillian Grefé:
NCM Fathom, in association with Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, will bring live world championship boxing to the big screen in high definition for the first time ever with the showing of the highly anticipated 12-round welterweight fight between six-time world champion in five weight divisions Floyd “Money” Mayweather and five-time world champion in three weight divisions Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez and televised undercard on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30 p.m. PT in select movie theaters nationwide.
Tickets for Mayweather vs. Marquez: “Number One/Numero Uno” Fight LIVE are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit www.FathomEvents.com (theaters and participants are subject to change).
This is the first boxing match widely shown in movie theaters since Sugar Ray Leonard’s victory over Roberto “Fists of Stone” Duran in the famous “No Mas” fight on Nov. 25, 1980. Providing an up-close and personal, high-definition experience, fans will get a ringside view of every jab and hook from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Seeing the event at your local movie theater is the ultimate virtual experience and the next best thing to being there. To see the event trailer, visit www.FathomEvents.com.
For a complete list of theater locations, prices and to purchase tickets, please visit www.FathomEvents.com. (theaters and participants are subject to change). Tickets are also available at participating theater box offices.
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 29 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Floyd Mayweather uniting all fans against him with various remarks
By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2009
A couple of days ago, Junior was crying in the media that if he was white he would be a bigger star — a comment that was roundly dismissed by sportswriters of all colors. That’s a rare feat.
“If you’re rich, you’re a rich n—–,” Mayweather said. “If you’re poor, you’re a poor n—–. If you’re smart, you’re a smart n—–. At the end of the day, they still look at me as a n—–.”
Mayweather went on a real tirade. He accused the media of covering up Oscar De La Hoya’s misdeeds — namely De La Hoya’s two children out of wedlock, and the lawsuit he settled with an 18-year-old who accused him of rape. Mayweather said he’d be more beloved if he were from a different country, and, having not embarrassed himself enough, he called famed trainer and HBO boxing analyst Emanuel Steward an “Uncle Tom.”
Now, Mayweather has stepped up his ‘black hero’ persona by going after other Black people in boxing — including Emanuel Steward, who he called an Uncle Tom. Avoid Floyd if you want meaningful dialogue on race in America, wrote CBS Sports.
What a way to hype up a fight. Steward has taken the high road and praised Mayweather going into his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dana White sounds off on Showtime and Strikeforce on CBS 11/7 show
By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2009
Some quotes from Steve Cofield’s interview with Dana White (video here):
“Let me tell ya, like I said, I’ve got no beef with Strikeforce. The reality is, they’re a small regional fucking company, you know, they’re a small little promotion company, they’ve been putting on these little fights up in San Jose where they make money. They put on these fights, Scott (Coker) throws some money into his pocket, he’s got a good little business going, he’s not you know Strikeforce is not competition for us. They’re not our competitor. You know? I don’t like Showtime. I don’t like ’em. That’s the only reason I even fuck around with them and do what I do because I want to kick them in their balls.”
“It doesn’t matter, no. Dude, how many fucking how many shows have to come and go before you guys are going to go, ‘yeah’?”
Network TV for Strikeforce? “IFL was on network TV. Elite XC was on network TV. Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.”
“Before I was dealing with all these idiots coming up left and right and everything else, now if you look at all the competition that has tried to come after us in the last five years, do you think Strikeforce and Showtime are the ones that are going to fucking make a difference? Showtime has been second-rate at everything they’ve ever done. When you talk to these guys who are the executives of Showtime, they are the most cocky, arrogant, pompous dicks you’ve ever met in your life, OK? Now, if they were like that and had something to be cocky and arrogant about, that would be one thing. They’re second-rate in television, they’ve been second-rate in sports, boxing and whatever, and they’re going to be second-rate at Mixed Martial Arts, too. We’re going to kick Showtime’s ass. OK? Period.”
Why CBS back in MMA? “I think CBS wants to be in the business. I think they want to be in the business and we haven’t been able to come to a deal, so.”
“With the right deal, we’d do it. We haven’t had the right deal, yet.”
“You think Strikeforce is getting the right deal with CBS? You think they’re making money, you know? And do you think people, fucking Fedor, Fedor’s not even fighting the best guys in the world. You know? Fans want to see this guy fight the best guys in the world and he’s not doing it. Who gives a shit?”
“See, everybody wants to think that it’s, c’mon, I’ve done deals with all the best fighters in the world, you know, the biggest names, Brock Lesnar from the WWE, huge star, I mean I’ve done deals with all these guys but we couldn’t come to a deal with this guy? When I walked in wanting to do that deal…”
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Some initial thoughts on The Ultimate Fighter: Kimbo Slice series debut
By Zach Arnold | September 17, 2009
Nate Quarry, former TUF contestant, gets the win in Oklahoma City against Tim Credeur (image courtesy UFC.com video)
As I’m finishing up a recap of gathering quotes from the winners of last night’s Oklahoma City show for a new article…
The Very Good
The interaction between Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson is tremendous. It has the potential for A-grade level television in terms of creating hype for their upcoming fight. The differences between the two men make the time fly by when watching the show, which is a feat considering how many times I’ve watched The Ultimate Fighter and absolutely dreaded doing so.
The Good
It’s clear that Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson will end up being the two ‘legitimate’ fighters in the eyes of fans after this show. The first 30 minutes was all about rehabilitating Slice’s image as someone who is legitimate and Jackson did a great job in the promos to try to erase the memories of Seth Petruzelli out of the brains of fans. It is kind of amusing to see UFC in the first 30 minutes make Slice out to be this incredibly dangerous monster despite the fact that Slice was entirely exposed on CBS. It’s a real stretch what they’re doing here, but it’s also the only promotional move they could do. The right course in terms of marketing. As for Nelson, it was interesting to see that Nelson got picked ‘in the middle’ of the team selection process and that the storyline for him on the show is that Rashad Evans and Greg Jackson are going to get on Nelson for not ‘being serious enough’ and too much of a jokester. Will the public buy into it? Who knows.
The Bad
Watching The Very Good and realizing that after making the commitment for the Memphis fight that Jackson decided to do the A-Team movie instead. I realize that Dana White & Lorenzo Fertitta play good cop, bad cop all the time with talent, but White has every right to be pissed off about Jackson — especially seeing the dynamic between Jackson and Evans on this show last night. White is entirely right in saying that the Memphis fight would have drawn huge money for Jackson and instead he went to the movies. Irritating.
The Ugly
The roster of heavyweights. Outside of Kimbo Slice (the superstar) and Roy Nelson (the professional), it feels like Spike TV decided to take a page out of the WWE talent playbook and recruit people who look like fighters (but really aren’t) instead of actually bringing in raw talent for the show. Outside of the excessive blood on display by Abe Wagner in the opening fight, it seems pretty obvious that Rampage picked the bigger fighters but Evans recruited the better fighters. That doesn’t exactly predicate good fights to come, but we’ll see. The first fight was not a good harbinger of things to come.
Sidenote: Season 9 of TUF just launched on WOWOW in Japan.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 61 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 9/16 Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City
By Zach Arnold | September 16, 2009
Event results: Observer | Sherdog | MMA Torch | AOL Fanhouse | Bloody Elbow
Dark matches
- Middleweights: Ryan Jensen vs. Steve Steinbeiss
- Welterweights: Brock Larson vs. Mike Pierce
- Lightweights: Jeremy Stephens vs. Justin Buchholz
- Lightweights: Sam Stout vs. Kyle Bradley
- Middleweights: CB Dollaway vs. Dan Miller
- Welterweights: Chris Wilson vs. Mike Pyle
- Light Heavyweights: Steve Cantwell vs. Brian Stann
Main card
- Middleweights: Nate Quarry vs. Tim Credeur
- Lightweights: Gray Maynard vs. Roger Huerta
- Lightweights: Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 35 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Heat-up week for The Ultimate Fighter with Kimbo Slice
By Zach Arnold | September 14, 2009
Bloody Elbow (Randy Couture central) says we should expect Couture vs. Brandon Vera at UFC 105 (Manchester). Speaking of Couture, he will be in a new movie called The Expendables with… Governator Arnold, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and Jet Li.
Kimbo Slice is on a major promotional tour to hype up the launch of The Ultimate Fighter, which starts this week. Now that it’s football season in the States, the hype for ex-NFL players on TUF this season is picking up. TUF contestant Marcus Jones says UFC is tougher than the NFL.
Speaking of the new season of TUF, there will be an Ultimate Fight Night event preceeding the show on Spike TV. Meet the company sponsoring UFC’s event in Oklahoma City.
An interview with Cole Miller.
Boxing Scene hires UFC.com editor Thomas Gerbasi.
According to MMA Unlimited, Dan Hardy has dumped his management team. MMA Unlimited also has an interview with Frank Trigg.
Lyle Beerbohm wants a title match in Strikeforce.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |