Sengoku 1/4 Saitama Super Arena results
By Zach Arnold | January 4, 2009
Event reports: Japan MMA | Sherdog | AOL Fanhouse | USA Today | MMA Junkie | Steve Cofield
What a disastrous showing again from this promotion. Hidehiko Yoshida loses to Sanae Kikuta, Takanori Gomi loses again, Kazuo Misaki loses… the only positive in terms of native business (once again) is King Mo winning.
Ever since Gomi opened up his own gym…
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 29 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Kohaku reaches 40% average rating on NYE 2008
By Zach Arnold | January 1, 2009
Ratings for NYE on Japanese TV…
The NHK event (Red & White Music Festival) reportedly drew a 35.7% rating in the Kanto (Tokyo) area for the first half of the program and a 42.1% rating in the second half, giving the program an overall 40% rating for the third year in a row.
Nippon TV drew a 15.4% rating in the Kanto area for their ‘Downtown’ NYE special show.
The K-1 Dynamite NYE event drew a tepid rating on Tokyo Broadcasting System. Part 1 (7-9 PM) drew an 11.8% rating, Part 2 (9-11 PM) drew a 12.9% rating, and Part 3 (11 PM-11:24 PM) drew an 8.4% rating. Tanigawa commented to the press and said that all things considered, the rating was what it was without having Masato, Kid Yamamoto, Kaoru Uno, and Jerome Le Banner. The boxing fight with Sakata on TBS drew a 9.0% rating. Hustle Mania on TV Tokyo drew a pathetic 3.4% rating (which is absolutely terrible).
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 41 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Why wearing a mask during a fight is a bad idea
By Zach Arnold | January 1, 2009
At least it’s not as bad as when Kazuhiro Nakamura took off his judo jacket during a fight and promptly got KO’d by Wanderlei Silva…
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 25 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Time Warner, Viacom in major dispute – what it may mean to UFC fans
By Zach Arnold | December 31, 2008
Update (12/31): The two sides have now kissed and made up.
If you are a subscriber to Time Warner cable and you are a UFC or TNA fan, you may not be watching either league on your television set in the near future.
According to The LA Times:
Viacom Inc. has threatened to pull its programming in a high-stakes showdown over pricing. Nearly 2 million homes in the Los Angeles area that are customers of Time Warner Cable Inc. could lose such Viacom channels as Nickelodeon, MTV, VH-1, Comedy Central, Spike, TV Land and BET.
“It rarely comes to this,” said television consultant Larry Gerbrandt of Media Valuation Partners in Beverly Hills. “If they go off the air, no one wins. Customers will get upset at Time Warner and they could lose subscribers, and Viacom will lose important advertising revenue.”
The New York Times says that the cable dispute will effect customers in major cities such as New York, LA, and Dallas. Nikki Finke further elaborates.
For a full media round-up of this developing story, check out this Orange County Register post.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Amir Khan’s no-good, very weird Christmas
By Zach Arnold | December 31, 2008
In the only style they possibly know how to, The Sun (UK) has a report claiming that a deranged man smashed his Range Rover and caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the vehicle.
Strangely, his incident brings back memories from several years ago on Ashton Kutcher’s practical joke show Punk’d. During an episode of Punk’d, Kutcher pranked Wilmer Valderrama by having an angry man (Al) smash up a Cadillac Escalade with a hammer and a crowbar. The Escalade that was damaged was not really Valderrama’s customized vehicle, but rather an Escalade that was configured to look exactly like his vehicle.
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC’s big advertisement on TV during NYE
By Zach Arnold | December 31, 2008
If you’ve been watching all of the countdown-to-start-of-2009 programs on US TV with footage from Times Square in New York City, there’s one image that you have seen over and over again without fail — an ad for Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn, which takes place on January 31st in Las Vegas.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
K-1 Dynamite 12/31 Saitama Super Arena
By Zach Arnold | December 31, 2008
All news and notes from today’s event go here.
Of course, who knew that the one interesting story heading into tonight’s event was Hayato “Mach” Sakurai allegedly being involved in amateur sex tapes with three different women.
Event reports: MMA on Tap | MMA Frenzy | Japan MMA | Bloody Elbow
I don’t know if Bob Sapp winning is what Mr. Ishii had in mind tonight…
Notes from after the show
The announced attendance was 25,634 paid. That is… well…
Main card results:
Kiyoshi Tamura defeated Kazushi Sakuraba after two rounds by a 3-0 judges’ decision.
Joachim Hansen and JZ Calvan was canceled.
Shin’ya Aoki defeated Eddie Alvarez in R1 in 1’32 with a heel hold.
Melvin Manhoef defeated Mark Hunt in 18 seconds by KO.
Gegard Mousasi defeated Musaashi in R1 by KO.
Mirko Cro Cop defeated Choi Hong-Man in R1 in 6’32 by KO.
Alistair Overeem defeated Badr Hari in R1 in 2’02 by KO.
Tatsuya Kawajiri defeated Kozo Takeda in R1 in 2’47 by KO.
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai defeated Katsuyori Shibata in R1 by TKO.
Semmy Schilt defeated Mighty Mo in
Bob Sapp defeated Kinniku Mantaro in R1 in 5’22 by TKO (referee stoppage).
How the Japanese media is covering the event the day after
Sports Nippon: Top headline – Mirko wins, out for months after knee surgery. Second headline – Obstructive mask… Kinniku Mantaro’s sage-sage campaign. Third headline – Reality! Sapp crushes hero.
Sankei Sports: Top headline – Sakuraba, decision loss… “One more time.”
Nikkan Sports: Top headlines (all involve boxing). Top Dynamite headline – Kawajiri overwhelms with punches and kicks. Second headline – Tamura confronts Sakuraba for first time in 12 years.
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 43 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Video: Dana White backstage at UFC 92
By Zach Arnold | December 29, 2008
A fascinating look at his meeting with Satoshi Ishii (that looked like Manabu Takashima was acting as the translator there), along with all of the various details heading into the production of the event that the UFC President micro-manages.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC sends K-1 a big ‘screw you’ message with Satoshi Ishii
By Zach Arnold | December 28, 2008
Make no mistake about it — this press release is pure gamesmanship by Zuffa and a warning shot towards Kazuyoshi Ishii:
“Satoshi Ishii has the potential to be very successful in mixed martial arts,” said Dana White, UFC President. “We can’t wait to start working with Mr. Ishii, we look forward to helping him with his training, his career, and his eventual debut in a professional fight.”
It’s hard to take this seriously, considering how much money Ishii would be leaving on the table by going to UFC instead of fighting for K-1. However, this is a very interesting tactic for UFC to take in relation to doing future business in the Japanese marketplace.
One side effect of this kind of strategy is that it will solidify the entire Japanese fight media on the side of Ishii and K-1. The perception of the ‘evil foreigner invading Japan’ will become alive and well. If UFC does indeed run in Japan in 2009 (with the help of a promoter like Total Sports Asia), you will see the same kind of panic from the power brokers in the Japanese fight industry that you saw in 2003 when WWE tried to make a push by running Yokohama Arena events. Eventually, WWE flamed out and has scaled back plans for Japan to more or less ancilliary business (opening an office, merchandising, airing PPVs on a month delay, etc.) What is UFC’s goal exactly in the Japanese marketplace?
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Reports: Justin Eilers murdered in Idaho
By Zach Arnold | December 28, 2008
Originally written on December 26th.
Justin Eilers, long-time MMA veteran from the Idaho area, was murdered by a single gunshot wound at a house in an apparent domestic disturbance. Background on Eilers’ career can be found here.
Local reports on the story can be found at: KTVB, KBCI, Idaho Statesman, KIVI,
A deputy prosecutor said Friday that a family member had said that Malec was “going to kill everyone in the house that night.” It was also learned that Eilers was shot and killed with a .45 pistol. Malec will be arraigned Tuesday in Canyon County court.
TMZ: Another UFC fighter killed
The Idaho Press-Tribune quotes an official stating that alcohol was involved in the incident.
Media information here on the suspect.
JAMES ROBERT MALEC, #148685, arrest on 12/26/2008 at 2:06:00 AM, MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE
Des Moines Register: Ex-Iowa State Cyclones talk about memories of Justin Eilers
New update at KIVI TV and at The Idaho Statesman.
The Idaho Press-Tribune has new details about the incident, based on information from court documents.
Update (12/28): KBCI CBS 2 and The Idaho Press-Tribune have new updates on this incident.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
K-1 12/31/08 Dynamite card line-up
By Zach Arnold | December 28, 2008
12/31 Saitama Super Arena (3 PM start)
- K-1 youngster tournament (reserve fight): Daizo Sasaki vs. Taishi Hiratsuka
- DREAM rules: Minowaman (Ikuhisa Minowaman) vs. Errol Zimmerman
- K-1 youngster tournament: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Koya Urabe
- K-1: HIROYA vs. Shota Shimada
- 71 kg (K-1 rules): Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko
- 68 kg (DREAM rules): Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura
- 75 kg (DREAM rules): Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Andy Ologun
- K-1 youngster tournament finals
- Heavyweights (DREAM rules): Bob Sapp vs. Kinnikuman (Akihito Tanaka)
- Heavyweights (DREAM rules): Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo
- Welterweights (DREAM rules): Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Katsuyori Shibata
- 70 kg (K-1 rules): Kozo Takeda vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
- K-1 rules: Badr Hari vs. Alistair Overeem
- Heavyweights (DREAM rules): Mirko Cro Cop vs. Choi Hong-Man
- K-1 rules: Musashi vs. Gegard Mousasi
- Heavyweights (DREAM rules – 5 rounds): Jerome Le Banner vs. Mark Hunt
- Lightweights (DREAM rules): Eddie Alvarez vs. Shin’ya Aoki
- Lightweights (DREAM rules): Joachim Hansen vs. JZ Calvan
- Middleweights (DREAM rules): Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 92 (12/27 Las Vegas)
By Zach Arnold | December 27, 2008
Results/Reports: Bloody Elbow | AOL Fanhouse | MMA Mania | MMA Junkie | Five Ounces
Sounds like UFC made the right call on the Okami/Lister fight, even if Okami is essentially the #1 contender to Anderson Silva.
I remember making a comment in November on Fight Opinion Radio (does that show still exist?), stating that out of all the possible match-ups involving combinations of Couture, Mir, Lesnar, and Nogueira, that Mir vs. Lesnar would be by far the most appealing, money-making match-up that the promotion could hope for. It’s a re-match that had to happen sometime. How perfect is it for UFC that Mir vs. Lesnar will happen in the Spring of ’09 for the Heavyweight crown? Perfect fight — Lesnar wins, he gets redemption. Mir can go into that fight claiming he’s the real champion and if he wins the re-match, his credibility skyrockets. Remember, in UFC, the fighter who won the first fight wins a re-match around 70% of the time.
As for Nogueira, his ‘fighting age’ may have likely caught up to him. He has taken some vicious beatings throughout his career. He’s enjoyed a long, prosperous MMA run for the most part.
Regarding Evans becoming the new champion… obviously, a match against Quinton Jackson is tailor-made for him. Short-term, UFC booking looks great for the first half of 2009. The one downside, however, is that UFC has two weight classes (185 and 205) with legitimate challengers that the promotion is (my opinion) deathly afraid of booking in title matches — Yushin Okami (against Anderson Silva) and Ryoto Machida (against Evans). You can bury those guys on the undercards all you want, but eventually UFC is going to have to deal with both fighters sooner or later.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 66 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Videos: Heat-up for UFC 92
By Zach Arnold | December 26, 2008
Here is an audio preview for this weekend’s event.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |