Greg Sirb’s Pennsylvania commission and how he behaves in MMA circles
By Zach Arnold | July 1, 2009
I’ve illustrated in the past on this web site discussions about Greg Sirb and his affairs previously in boxing. Sirb’s got quite a background.
It’s a background that MMA blogs need to stop ignoring and start paying close attention to. Want some details? Read Charles Jay’s series on Sirb right here. Read the companion transcript about Greg Page at ESPN. Read it all.
Sirb has already quite a reputation, especially if you were an wrestling fan in the 90s and saw the Pennsylvania athletic commission up close and personal.
So, Mike Chiappetta’s report today, Is Cops vs. Cons MMA event a good idea in newly regulated state?, should raise some eyebrows.
This clearly isn’t the best way to market a still-growing sport in a state that just recently ratified it. Pennsylvania is one of the most recent states to regulate MMA, so this is going to be one of the first sanctioned local cards its residents hear about. There are still so many misconceptions about MMA and the supposed “bloodlust” of its fans. As a growing sport, MMA still needs to put its best foot forward as often as possible.
In June, it was Sirb and the ABC that issued a press release titled: Association of Boxing Commissions, Greg Sirb prevent a possible tragedy in the ring. It was about Sirb getting the Tim Sylvia/Ray Mercer boxing match cancelled in favor of an MMA fight where both men stood up.
So, Greg Sirb’s pounding his chest in a press release about stopping ‘a tragedy’ but a “Cops vs. Cons” MMA show gets the green light?
Here’s another headline Greg probably isn’t too thrilled with: Pennsylvania boxing commissioner Greg Sirb sued for malfeasance
Want a recent article about Sirb and his antics in MMA circles? Read this and cringe.
In a small, dimly-lit room backstage at Wisehaven, Sirb sat at a table with all his paperwork. He called in the first fighter. After that, it was his voice booming, “Next fighter!” Each fighter heard the same line, “Take off your hat, sit down!”
When fighter Kevin Flinchbaugh gave Sirb his MMA identification, Sirb took a look at it, looked at Kevin and said, “You look just like your picture, ugly as sin.”
Fighter Keith McDonald didn’t have a copy of his ID, but Sirb did. Sirb gave the paper to McDonald to make a copy from, and told him to bring the original back, “If you don’t, you’ll have a fight before you have a fight.”
The more the general public learns of Greg Sirb’s behavior, the more they will start having flashbacks to Armando Garcia and how he acted as a commissioner with certain rules and antics in California. Coincidentally, Armando Garcia was also aligned in the past with the Association of Boxing Commissions.
Let’s see if some MMA writers have the gumption to criticize Sirb like some in the boxing writing community have in the past.
There’s Greg Sirb and then there’s Nick Lembo. Quite a difference.
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC gauging how far they can push the envelope
By Zach Arnold | June 30, 2009
1) Their new magazine
MMA Payout notes that UFC’s mailing list, combined with Men’s Fitness customer database, will be the backbone for launching and developing a customer list for their own magazine.
Prediction: UFC will develop a magazine that is oriented for the general public, not for hardcore fans. The company won’t go after other magazines who interview fighters since UFC would likely consider it free PR. As far as whether the magazine makes a profit, I don’t think it matters — as long as UFC can generate enough press coverage through their own means without spending too much money, it’s a win-win situation for them.
2) Dana White’s on-again, off-again infatuation with Vitor Belfort
He said on YouTube the day after he got Kimbo at the TUF 10 tapings that he was in Los Angeles for a meeting that would change the world. Then he said on the UFC web site that he wanted Vitor Belfort, despite Belfort being under contract. Tampering charges? How reckless was this? White’s now saying publicly that he has no interest in Belfort.
Prediction: If Affliction 3 bombs, my opinion is that Atencio considers filing a lawsuit and ending up with a settlement. This story also illustrates that not only is White still unfiltered (think: Youtube incident, Vitor issues, the whole issues with the video game), but that the company’s legal team doesn’t give a damn. They don’t exactly have Jerry McDevitt in their corner, however.
The mood with UFC, as demonstrated with the Jon Fitch video game situation, does seem reflective on how Lorenzo Fertitta operates — good and bad — as we’ve seen with the way Station Casinos was handled when it went from private to public and now back to private, along with the various union fights that have existed with SC.
3) Continuing fights against sponsors
It’s insanity. No other major league sport has gotten into as many fights so quickly (as I can recall) than UFC has with sponsors. As I stated before, all of this reeks of divide-and-conquer politics at its worst. Why is this penny-wise and pound foolish? What’s attracting new talent to MMA is money. Fighters are coming in because they sense they can make a career in this sport. If you start taking money directly away from fighters because you’re cheap or because you want 100% control over the athletes, then guess what will start happening? People will start leaving the business or not consider getting into it. As we’ve seen in Japan, when the money dries up so does the big-league talent pool.
Prediction: UFC will continue to push away or blacklist sponsors at an alarming rate. It will not catch up with them right now, but in a couple of years the organization will find itself developing so many enemies that UFC will find the people they shunned aligning with opposition groups. I also predict that if a slowdown in sponsorship money continues that there will not be as many blue-chip prospects coming down the road, despite the fact that the reason most people want to fight in UFC has more to do with fame than money.
UFC already has the best of all worlds — they have fighters as independent contractors and not employees, they don’t pay fighters outside of whenever the athlete fights, and they approve/disapprove of sponsors. It’s not a crime to make a profit, but it’s bad business when you become too cheap and it starts to negatively impact who wants to be in MMA and who doesn’t. If you assume people make rational economic decisions in terms of employment, then drying up how much money a fighter can make certainly will impact who stays and who goes.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 38 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
MMA Live (June 25th, 2009) show recap
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2009
Hosts this week: Jon Anik, Franklin McNeil & Rich Franklin in a dapper suit & tie
The show opened up with talk about Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida. Rich said we wouldn’t expect anything less and that Clay showed the tenacity he always does. FM said that he did not expect the fight to be as good as it turned out to be. Was it fight of the year? Rich said yes, because the fighters moved from wrestling to the stand-up game to the ground game and displayed all facets of MMA. FM said that other than Miguel Torres vs. Mizugaki, this was the best fight of the year. (They quickly forget about Faber vs. Brown II!)
The discussion transitioned into the 10-point must system. Changes needed? Rich said that it’s tough for fighters because you don’t know what judges are awarding points for – cuts? Most damage? He noted that the amount of damage Clay got in his fight against Diego certainly impacted scoring. Franklin M said the Clay/Diego fight was not tough to score with the 10-pt must system and that Diego won R1 10-8. FM said that no one has a viable alternative right now for the current scoring system, but that it’s tougher in MMA because in boxing you have 10 rounds for eliminator bouts and 12 rounds for championship fights, whereas you have 3 rounds in MMA for non-title fights and 5 rounds for title bouts.
Is Diego Sanchez now the automatic #1 contender in the UFC Lightweight division? FM says no and that Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard can make cases for the next title shot.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The winding down of the Bob Sapp era
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2009
And what a bizarre career it has been:
In this day and age where you have smart marks on message boards, bloggers, and critics all over the place, Bob Sapp played a unique and interesting marketing game. In an era where UFC fighters are serious and talk about winning only, Sapp played off of fans and their perception of him, of professional wrestlers, and of fighters in general. Sapp is one of the few fighters in MMA who plays a coy, subtle game of sucking in fans by telling them that he’s an entertainer, that he’s going to do this and no matter what happens win or lose he will continue on, and so forth. The way Sapp does it, however, was cunning in the past because he could convince people that all of his showmanship, all of his flash, was just an act, so therefore support him and join him for the ride.
However, that act becomes thin when the general public doesn’t think you are serious in actually training and competing to win. Bob Sapp is finding this out now.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
About that Indiana MMA regulation legislation…
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2009
… it includes regulation of professional wrestling.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bobby Lashley easily beats Bob Sapp
By Zach Arnold | June 27, 2009
Lashley one of the ten-most searched items on Google News Saturday night
Press release
BILOXI, Miss. (June 27, 2009) – Popular Bobby Lashley took super heavyweight Bob “The Beast Sapp to the mat right off the opening bell and used his improved ground-and-pound game to win by first-round submission in the main event on the “Ultimate Chaos” pay-per-view event, presented by Prize Fight Promotions and Fight Force International, last night at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
“Going up against Bob,” Lashley said after the fight, “you always expect the big bulls. I had to take him down, cover and pound. The first thing is to win: ground-and-pound to wear the big man down. He has a big punch. I used my ground-and-pound and got out of there.”
“I got a good shot in the eye and was unable to see,” Sapp explained the ending. “He got me in the eye. No excuses, He got me down today and controlled it. Give it up to Bobby Lashley.”
In a devastating display of power striking, Dutch heavyweight Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel (36-13-3) registered his 31st knockout with five lethal rights on a fallen Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (16-9-0) at 2:10 of the first round in the co-feature. “I want to move up to (fight) the champions because I want a belt,” Yvel explained his next move. “I’m learning the ground game. What I did tonight was be patient, relax, and kick-off.”
Veteran Javier “Showtime” Vazquez (13-2-0) took pro debuting Mark Kergosian (0-1-0), who was a late replacement for Din “Dinyero” Thomas, to school with a first-round submission by Guillotine choke only 59-seconds into the opening frame. “I want to thank Mark or I wouldn’t have had a chance to fight tonight,” featherweight Vazquez remarked. “I was looking forward to fighting Din. It’s unfortunate. I’m back! This is my weight class. Very few guys can touch me at 145. That was just a tip of the iceberg.”
Hot 21-year-old lightweight prospect Chris “The Polish” Horodecki (13-1-0) won by submission for the first time, using a rear naked choke to force William “The Bull” Sryyapai (12-5-0) into a tap-out in round one.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC’s latest targets for sponsorship bans
By Zach Arnold | June 24, 2009
UFC is now reportedly asking for $100,000 rights fees just for a company to even be ‘eligible’ to sponsor fighters. A company generating strong PPV revenue is this hard up for cash? Hardly. This comes off, in my opinion, more like petty politics every day in terms of controlling what fighters can make with sponsorships and also going after anyone they don’t have great relations with (think about past dealings with groups like American Kickboxing Academy) by going after their sponsors instead of going after the fighters directly.
One of the companies reportedly on the banned list is One More Round, which happens to the clothing company associated with Jacob “Stitch” Duran. Why is Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, and others going after a cut man?
I know and understand that sports leagues like MLB and the NFL have certain sponsorship deals with companies for uniforms and so forth. However, athletes in these sports are paid full time (seasonal), have benefits, insurance, etc. By going after so many sponsors in the manner that UFC is doing, this is pure divide-and-conquer politics at its worst in terms of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Josh Stein further elaborates:
It would be unfair to accuse the UFC of intentionally damaging our access to an improving quality of MMA, but it is not entirely unfair to assert that they are depriving fighters of their right to negotiate personal contracts with sponsoring companies. Whether the fighters choose to address this with open complaints, or whether it is simply fans discussing the issue, it is important to recognize that Zuffa LLC may be toeing the line, if they have not already stepped well over, with respect to their privledge as broadcasters.
The timing of this is interesting, given how much hype and media attention there will be for UFC 100. The company has a patch of red hot shows, from UFC 100 in LV to the Philadelphia event to the upcoming Portland event.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 75 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: Satoshi Ishii debut postponed
By Zach Arnold | June 24, 2009
So sayeth Daily Sports newspaper, which says that Ishii’s MMA debut will likely happen on November 7th in Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Ishii reportedly had a minor hernia-related surgical procedure and had moved back a trip to Holland to train.
Plus, a new article on this topic in general: Problems for Satoshi Ishii and Sengoku in Japan
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
The end of Setanta Sports in the UK and what it means for UFC
By Zach Arnold | June 23, 2009
- Reuters: Broadcaster Setanta in administration
- The London Times: It’s game over for Setanta as investors count £450m cost of broadcasting failure
- The Daily Mail: The lights go out at Setanta as administrators move in
- The Financial Times: Setanta switched off in the UK
UFC is likely left with the option of heading to Bravo, which would probably be a step down for the MMA organization in terms of TV exposure and rights fees. There is pressure to get a deal done soon, given how Michael Bisping is being pushed in the media for his upcoming fight against Dan Henderson.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bill O’Reilly discusses Mrs. Cyborg on Fox News Channel
By Zach Arnold | June 22, 2009
“What are they, in Lithuania or something?”
Is this what Mike Straka has to put up with at Fox News?
A clip of Cyborg choking out a reporter in a cage was shown during O’Reilly’s “reality check” segment on Monday. She told the reporter it would take 3 seconds to put him to sleep. She lived up to her promise. Afterwards, you can see others from Chute Boxe wake the reporter up and he says, “What happened?”
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bob Sapp, Bobby Lashley, and Satoshi Ishii
By Zach Arnold | June 21, 2009
Lot of star power there, right? Well, Sapp and Lashley square off next weekend and I haven’t much heard much discussion at all. If all things are equal, Lashley should win that fight and relatively easily.
As for Mr. Ishii, Sengoku recently held a fan poll to gauge interest on who Ishii’s debut opponent should be on August 2nd at Saitama Super Arena. If you guessed that Hidehiko Yoshida won the poll, you’re wrong. The winner? Kazuyuki Fujita, which would be a horrible first-match opponent for Ishii.
Ishii held a press photo-op today at Takada Dojo. This is fascinating on many levels. Notice the Hustle logo on the backdrop there? Plus, Takada and the “Takada dojo” which was once aligned in the PRIDE world? Funny how many people are associated or trying to get themselves associated with Ishii. Ishii, of course, has been affiliated with the Inoki side of things for a while A match against Fujita would make sense on that level, but that’s about it. Sengoku, Hustle, lots of bizarreness these days in Japan.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Video: Ricardo Arona talks about returning to MMA competition
By Zach Arnold | June 21, 2009
Ricardo Arona has not fought since 2007, but every time he appears there is a lot of talk about when he will return to the ring. Olivar Leite of In The Guard met “The Brazilian Tiger” Arona at the Nogueira Bros. Training Center. Arona comments on when he expects to return back to active competition.
One side note – it’s in Portuguese.
Topics: Brazil, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 6/20 TUF 9 Finale (Las Vegas)
By Zach Arnold | June 20, 2009
Event results: Sherdog | MMA Weekly | Jake Rossen | AOL Fanhouse | Bloody Elbow
Dark matches
- Light Heavyweights (205 pounds): Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Tomasz Drwal
- Welterweights (170 pounds): Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia
- Lightweights (155 pounds): Melvin Guillard vs. Gleison Tibau
Main card
- Lightweights (155 pounds): Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner
- Welterweights (170 pounds): Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
- Lightweights (155 pounds): Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz
- Lightweights (155 pounds): Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 42 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |