Quote of the Day: J-ROCK’s Kokuho on Shin’ya Aoki
By Zach Arnold | April 30, 2009
Well, the claws are certainly out in the Japanese fight business:
“The problem is that DREAM isn’t really gaining traction beyond their TV shows,” Kokuho said. “If you look at DREAM right now, there’s hardly anyone that people recognize outside of [Norifumi] “Kid” [Yamamoto], [Kazushi] Sakuraba and [Hideo] Tokoro. Ask anyone outside, you won’t even find a hundred people who know who [Shinya] Aoki is.”
Unfortunately, you won’t even find a hundred people who know what Sengoku is, either. (As opposed to say, the hundreds of thousands in Ontario who want to support UFC.) A low-blow comment for sure, but this is a promotion that never releases any attendance figures for Saitama Super Arena events or other shows covered by the Japanese media (not even worked numbers!).
The irony of Kokuho’s comments to Sherdog are thick on so many levels.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Photo Gallery of Fedor vs. Aoki exhibition match
By Zach Arnold | April 29, 2009
There was no word regarding whether or not Fedor will fight at the DREAM 7/20 show at Saitama Super Arena.
Topics: Japan, M-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: New York vote for MMA legislation expected in May
By Zach Arnold | April 26, 2009
From Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle:
Ultimate Fighting Championship representative Julie Wood expects that a proposed bill to lift the ban on MMA competitions in New York state will be put to a vote in the state Assembly’s Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee at the end of this month or in early May.
If the bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Steve Englebright, D-Setauket, Suffolk County, and Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, D-Manhattan, clears the committee, it would mark the first step in the process of legalizing MMA.
The bill would then go to the whole Assembly for a vote, while a companion bill would have to go through the same process in the state Senate. The governor would then have to approve it.
For all the complaints of “East Coast media bias” thrown at various TV networks in the States, once MMA starts gaining steam in New York, Boston, and Toronto (when Ontario legislation eventually passes), then the media outlets will cover it full-bore. A combination of more national companies in MMA combined with an emphasis on the East Coast will equate into big bucks and big-time exposure.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
(Boxing) What to make of Carl Froch?
By Zach Arnold | April 25, 2009
He beat Jermain Taylor in R12 on Saturday night in front of 3,726 at Foxwoods. Ouch. Little Rock this audience was not.
- The Associated Press: Froch defends super middleweight title, re-match with Taylor likely
- Boxing Scene: Carl Froch rescures title from the jaws of defeat
- The Guardian (UK): Froch announces himself to America with Jermain Taylor knockout
- The London Telegraph: Late late KO from Froch the rising marquee star of British boxing
- BBC Sport: Froch produces one of the great comebacks in boxing ever
- Setanta Sports: Froch calls out Joe Calzaghe
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Gina Carano, honesty, and incestuousness in the media
By Zach Arnold | April 23, 2009
I could have commented on Dana White’s new interview with Inside Fighting, but I’m not all that interested in it at this point.
Instead, how about we focus on this Gina Carano interview.
I will focus on one part of the interview that is just too good to skip over:
Let’s just say that you were a real free agent and not tied to any organization. Do you think you would have decided to sign with Zuffa instead of Strikeforce?
I think that I would probably pick Zuffa because that’s the big show, you know? To be a part of that would be amazing, but you know, here comes Strikeforce and they’ve got this CBS and Showtime deal and they are working their way up into being good competition. They have been respectful and haven’t tried to push it too far in terms of being competitors with the UFC. They’ve built their company on some good roots and now they are ready to branch out on Showtime and CBS. But as of right now, the UFC is the big show, and for a female, it would be an amazing opportunity.
It’s an honest answer, but it’s also burying the employer that’s paying your bills.
And speaking of paying the bills, take a look at who did the interview and who reportedly used to pay that person’s bills. Interesting how silent all the MMA web sites are about issues relating to conflict of interest, but yet they still want their MMA show credentials because they should be taken seriously, dammit.
Speaking of the media, Sam Caplan’s the boss at WAMMA now and John Morgan of MMA Junkie fame is chairing the rankings committee. If they keep adding more bloggers to their management structure, there won’t be many sites left with writers.
Update (4/24): For those who don’t get the media angle in this story, here you go.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Hitomi Akano’s camp publicly unloads on Cyborg & Chute Boxe
By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2009
Update (4/21): Shu Hirata talks to MMA Weekly.
Original post date: April 16th
Josh Barnett posted this note on Thursday in English about what took place last week.
However, Josh did not touch upon about 80% of what transpired at the weigh-ins between Cris Cyborg & Hitomi Akano. Shu Hirata and Megumi Fujii, in an exhausting manner, have issued several articles in Japanese talking (in excruciating detail) about what exactly happened all day last Friday and Saturday as far as the behavior of the Chute Boxe camp in San Jose and what Hirata-san called dirty tricks by CB, Rudimar (the boss), and their interpreter.
Adding a unique twist to this story is this Fighter’s Only Magazine report that Rafael Cordeiro has split from Chute Boxe.
All I can say is that if Shu or someone ever translates these posts fully into English and conveys the emotion 100% right, it will provide you with some incredible reading. Simply put, my summaries won’t be able to do the articles justice.
First, let’s address this post by Megumi Fujii. Understand that shame is still a big part of the Japanese culture, so what she says here may not necessarily register any emotion out of an American fight fan but it will with fight fans from other cultures. Fujii talked about the process that Akano had to go through to bulk up and what it’s like for every female fighter to have a responsibility to show pride in their work ethic, both in and out of the ring. The highlight of Fujii’s article revolves around allegations of weigh-in stunts according to Akano’s camp.
A major point of contention from Akano’s camp is that Chute Boxe used dirty tricks with the scale. CB had been contending that they were using a scale from another gym (Frank Shamrock’s gym?) and that when it came time to getting the right measurement, they were upset with how everything went down. The ‘dirty tricks’ portion of the weigh-in situation revolves around a story that Hirata-san tells in great detail, but Fujii skims over… There was a point where Cris Cyborg failed to make weight and according to Akano’s camp, Cyborg and CB were telling them that they needed her to get weighed in naked and that in order to do so, her bikini top needed to come off. This drew a laugh from the Japanese because how could Cyborg’s bikini top really effect whether or not she made weight? The CB camp claimed, according to Fujii & Hirata, that the bikini was wet and that this would impact her weight.
Meanwhile, in order to do this, the removal of clothing would take place in a bathroom. The inspector at the weigh-in was a man, so in order for this to come about a female inspector from the commission was needed. Fujii didn’t specify this (but Hirata does), but the implication is the following — when Cyborg was in the bathroom with the scale, there was a time period in which there was nobody there to examine because the California commission was scrambling to get a female rep and then Akano’s camp would have Shannon Hooper as their rep. Fujii notes that after all of this chicanery and stripping of clothing that Cyborg still failed to even come close to making weight.
“Magic!”
Over the course of several days, Shu Hirata has posted his virtual diary of what happened took place last week in San Jose. Here are the links:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Part 1 – Shu talked about how California had the strictest athletic commission when Armando Garcia was in charge, but now things are more flexible and it’s a calmer atmosphere for the fighters. He pointed out that the CSAC didn’t allow foreign fighters to bring foreign medical test results (unlike Nevada & New Jersey) for validation and that medical tests had to be taken in the state. The CSAC was adamant that any fighter over six pounds in weight could not fight. Shu noted that with Garcia not in power, the commission is more flexible in regards to fighters having drinks and powerbars. When Cris Cyborg failed weight, she ended up failing at 6.6 pounds on the final attempt.
As noted up above, this is when Shu relayed the story about the bathroom stunts involving the stripping of clothing and any sort of potential dirty tricks happening. Even if something did happen, Cyborg was 150.1 pounds.
Part 2 – Shu focused on his accusations of dirty tricks by Chute Boxe and how he classified their behavior as unprofessional and childish. Hitomi Akano was devastated when Cyborg didn’t make weight because she (Akano) spent all tha time training and traveled all the way to San Jose just to end up not fighting? It was a very emotional situation.
Part 3 – Shu says that Chute Boxe was in a dirty tricks mode for the weigh-in re-attempt. Hirata talked about what an idiot and how insulting the Chute Boxe interpreter was, laughing at the concept that removing a wet bikini top would somehow make pounds disappear. “Is there such a bikini that weights more than 3 kg?”
Part 4 – There was discussion over how seriously Chute Boxe actually took the second weigh-in attempt and whether or not Cyborg would cut more weight. According to Shu, CB was pushing the angle that Cyborg was risking dehydrating herself and therefore creating a dangerous situation if it got any further. There was more anger for Chute Boxe’s interpreter.
Part 5 – When the fight was canceled, everyone was surprised. The business dilemma was that this was Strikeforce’s debut with Showtime and there was a focus on Cyborg winning to set up a fight with Gina Carano. Shu discusses his observations about Rudimar and how CB’s camp kept making excuses for Cyborg having woman problems, which promptly brought up the question, “Isn’t Akano a woman, too?” There was a look of embarrassment. Shu noted that the media was told about the situation developing for Akano and that what they were prepared to do was a brave situation, but nobody in the media used the word brave.
Part 6 – Shu said that he doesn’t discuss negotiation details publicly as far as why Akano accepted the fight under the conditions she was put in, but he noted the lack of professionalism and a horrible attitude by Chute Boxe as what should be focused on. The attitude, according to Akano’s camp, is that Cyborg never truly cared about making weight or not and that the attitude was, “Ah, the Japanese fight will never turn down the fight.”
When the fight happened last Saturday in San Jose, Cyborg used her power and predictably overwhelmed Akano’s technical ability. After the fight, Cyborg didn’t check on Akano and didn’t care, showing a low level of class.
Akano’s camp thought it was pathetic that Cyborg and Chute Boxe continued to use the “she had a woman problem” excuse for not making weight when talking to Gus Johnson in the post-fight interview.
Given the reputation and name value of Chute Boxe in Japan, Shu focused on Rudimar and wondered whether or not he understood what kind of shame there should be for the team’s actions and behavior. In other professional sports like MLB and the NFL, this kind of behavior would have not been accepted and MMA is supposed to be a professional sport, after all.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
(Non-MMA): I love this ad campaign
By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2009
Topics: Media, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Is Yoshihiro Akiyama “Mister Hollywood?”
By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2009
This is the question asked by Daily Sports newspaper in Japan today.
The 33-year old Akiyama is preparing for his North American fighting debut at UFC 100 in July against Alan Belcher (in Las Vegas). Akiyama was in attendance at the UFC 97 Montreal even and revealed two nicknames he will be using – “Mister Hollywood” and “Sexyama,” because that’s how he rolls. He sported a black suit with an orange scarf and a green neck tie. Akiyama says that his high-end, unique fashion sense is truly appreciated in foreign countries as opposed to Japan where he is made fun of and booed at. He is happy to be accepted abroad as opposed to being booed in Japan for being “Mr. Slippery.”
He is planning on inviting his friend Kazuhiro Kiyohara to watch his fight at UFC 100. Akiyama is beginning his practice and he noted the boos that fans were showering on Anderson Silva for his ‘tedious’ fight style. Akiyama says that he aims to achieve the American Dream and end up as big of a star as Hulk Hogan, therefore he has chosen the “Mister Hollywood” ring name.
Mayhem Miller is now a member of the Mascaras family
There was Dos Caras and Mil Mascaras. Then there was Dos Caras Jr. in wrestling and MMA. Now, meet new family member Mayhem Mascaras.
Mayhem addresses the recent posts online about whether or not Bully Beatdown is fake.
Topics: Canada, Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Anderson Silva has lost his smile and Roy Jones Jr. is loving it
By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2009
The article of the day comes to us from The Los Angeles Times, discussing Roy Jones Jr. vs Jeff Lacy set for this Summer in Tampa. However, that’s not what has caught everyone’s attention:
Jones maintains he still intends to box Anderson Silva, the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ who successfully defended his title Saturday with a unanimous decision over Thales Leites in Montreal.
“I can’t wait for Anderson to get done with his [UFC] contract, whenever that is — I’ve heard [September] — then let’s get it on,” Jones said.
Is this what everything has ultimately come to? Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match instead of Anderson Silva making money in UFC? If I’m going to use the “losing his smile” reference, I may as well go all the way with the Montreal flashbacks — Anderson Silva is screwing Anderson Silva. Does that mean Anderson’s vaseline usage is the second Montreal Screwjob? (Montreal will live on forever in the fight game. It’s not my fault.)
Chuck Liddell is not retired… just yet
KSBY in San Luis Obispo is reporting that Chuck Liddell will likely sit down with his trainer, John Hackleman, and make a decision about what to do next in his career. According to Hackleman, Liddell has one fight left on his UFC contract. One final payday on the big stage?
Topics: Boxing, Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Chuck Liddell career tributes in the media
By Zach Arnold | April 19, 2009
The first wave of them started to appear Monday morning. Chuck Liddell will be busy discussing future career plans with friends and family, but Liddell’s career as a fighter is all but done in the eyes of well… just about everyone.
Arash Markazi in Sports Illustrated:
It’s ironic that the decline of Liddell’s career coincided with the rise in popularity of the sport he helped usher in. When he fought Quentin “Rampage” Jackson two years ago, he was on the cover of ESPN magazine and ESPNEWS televised the weigh-in for UFC 71 live, both firsts for MMA. It was the first time many mainstream outlets began to cover UFC and MMA regularly although they would never see Liddell in his prime as he was for UFC 66, his last big win, when he beat Tito Ortiz by TKO. The event produced the highest live gate revenue in North American mixed martial arts history and is still the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view success to date with about 1 million buys.
James Brydon of Sportsnet in Canada:
I love Liddell and I certainly think he can fight and be exciting, but when it’s becoming your routine that after a fight you say, “I fought well, I just got caught,” it’s time to hang ’em up.
Sadly, I have to admit the dude is an all-time great. A legend. A sure-fire guaranteed first ballot Hall of Famer. The man who did more to get MMA over with the American public than any other figure in the history of the sport. The face of MMA during its first boom in the States. A fighter whose highlight reel KOs and bouts against Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva will be watched as long as the sport has fans.
But this loss (against Shogun), and all of his previous losses, does not diminish what he has accomplished in mixed martial arts. He ends with 21 wins, 14 of which came from knockouts and submissions. He fought in 22 different UFC events, starting with UFC 17 in 1998. Liddell was the first superstar of MMA, the first household name in the sport.
Thomas Gerbasi on UFC.com:
But let’s not have this be a funeral for a great career. Instead, let’s remember what Liddell has meant to the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts. That is a type of celebration that Liddell would probably do anything to steer clear of, as he was never about the attention, getting pats on the back, magazine covers, or glowing television features. He was always about the fight, and when I asked him a couple years ago how he would like to be remembered a hundred years from now, his answer wasn’t as terse as it usually was, and it spoke volumes.
“As a fighter,” said Liddell. “As someone who didn’t duck anyone, someone who fought everybody that came up, and that always came out there to fight tough. I love to fight, I love the fight game, and I went out there and performed.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 38 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Montreal Gazette sums it up best
By Zach Arnold | April 19, 2009
Canada, UFC a match made in Montreal
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
What in the world is happening at MMA Weekly?
By Zach Arnold | April 19, 2009
As I was reading the various MMA sites covering the UFC 97 show this morning, I caught this article from their main writer Tom Hamlin:
It’s been said that jazz is only enjoyed by the musicians who play it.
Anderson Silva shimmied, danced, and feinted his way through five rounds with Thales Leites, chipping Leites’ façade away with unorthodox striking.
Problem was, the 21,451 fans in attendance wanted heavy metal.
Let’s call this what it is — ass-kissing to the nth degree to UFC. Except, it’s stupid ass-kissing, because UFC is pissed off by Anderson Silva’s UFC 97 display and so are their fans. What a strangely sycophantic opener that was.
And another thing – who is Tom Hamlin and how did this guy end up getting to be their top writer? Nobody had ever heard of him on any of the MMA blogs until he started writing on MMA Weekly.
Topics: Canada, Media, UFC, Zach Arnold | 25 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Anderson Silva is no longer safe as a UFC PPV main eventer
By Zach Arnold | April 18, 2009
The greatest line in the history of UFC PBP (about Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites):
The crowd is absolutely furious as both fighters continue their pattern of non-violence.
Suddenly, I think the public perception of GSP beating Anderson Silva in a fight is going to skyrocket. They should book that fight for Montreal immediately.
And I think the concept of the “yakuza vacation fund” yellow cards may indeed be making a comeback here.
Vaseline redux
Josh Gross of Sports Illustrated notes this about the UFC 97 main event:
The champion enters the cage after a coat of Vaseline is slathered on his face. I’m sorry to say this, but it was pretty obvious that Silva took his hands, wiped down his face and rubbed his chest and arms.
Someone please get me a screen capture of this.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 65 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |