Article of the Day: Sam Caplan on how to build an MMA promotion
By Zach Arnold | September 26, 2008
Reading material that will generate a good amount of reaction.
Runner up AOTD: Rampage thinks Michael Bisping can beat Dan Henderson and eventually beat Anderson Silva.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Illegal MMA fight club broken up in New York
By Zach Arnold | September 25, 2008
In Cortland, New York (reported by Syracuse media).
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Kimbo Slice interview on 9/25 edition of PTI (ESPN)
By Zach Arnold | September 25, 2008
This was not a good interview at the beginning, even with Dan Le Batard asking most of the questions. It improved a little bit towards the middle with Kimbo doing his best Dusty Rhodes impersonation as a common man.
“James Thompson fought in Pancrase over in Japan.” “He has a good chin.” This was in response to the question, “Did your aura take a hit?”
If the point of this interview was to promote the upcoming fight with Ken Shamrock, it was not good at all. In fact, it was the complete opposite of the kind of job that Ken Shamrock does in media interviews when he is busy putting over a fight he’s involved with. If the purpose of today’s interview, however, was to put Kimbo Slice over in hopes that he alone will attract ratings on CBS, then the jury will be out on that. I would not be very happy if I was an Elite XC official as far as how this interview went. They probably are wishing that Ken was the one who had the PTI spot, instead, after seeing today’s interview performance.
Update: Luke Thomas has a strong opinion about this interview. I completely disagree with his assessment and the assessment of others about the interview.
1) You knew going into the interview what Tony Kornheiser thought of MMA. Just like any politician walking into an interview with certain US TV personalities, you have to know what you are getting into ahead of time.
2) You have to act professional and represent yourself in the right manner at all times. That includes not swearing during a 10-minute sit-down interview that’s edited for television.
3) Your job, as a fighter, is to put over the fight you are involved in and put over the promotion you are working for. That’s called doing business. Kimbo Slice did a lousy job of hyping his fight against Ken Shamrock in Florida. Yes, the scenario presented to him involved a wide array of questions that had nothing to do with his fight. Therefore, you have to stay on message as a fighter and be able to take what is given to you and be able to center everything back to what your motive is for doing the interview in the first place. The irony is that Ken Shamrock, who Kimbo is facing in Florida, is the absolute master of handling PR for a fight.
4) Elite XC, if they are going to set up PR for their fighters, needs to have their handlers (if they have any) do a significantly better job of smartening up their employees on how to promote fights rather than having the fighters simply promote themselves. Besides the Kimbo PTI interview, you also had a media flood of Gina Carano interviews and very little about her upcoming fight against Kelly Kobold-Gavin was discussed. Again, a totally missed opportunity to put over a) their upcoming Florida show and b) to actually promote a fight on the card.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Gina Carano’s weighty issues
By Zach Arnold | September 25, 2008
She’s mad as hell and isn’t going to take it any more!
Carano said she has hired a nutritionist and added, “I’ve got really high expectations for this weigh-in.”
When’s the last time you heard a fighter say, “I’ve got really high expectations” for a weigh-in?
In an interview with UGO, Carano addressed the topic of her critics:
I think that anybody that has ever met me, or trained with me hasn’t really had anything negative to say. I don’t hide myself. I haven’t bullsh*tted anybody about me. If they want to believe in what somebody else is using as a marketing tool, instead of seeing the person as a whole, that’s their own problem. Sometimes people hate because of ignorance. They don’t really know any better and they listen to what the majority of people are saying.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
HDNet makes $650,000 USD offer for IFL assets
By Zach Arnold | September 25, 2008
Form 8-K filing. In addition to $650,000 for the assets, the filing claims HDNet’s offer includes accepting some of the IFL’s liabilities.
Topics: HDNet, IFL, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Josh Barnett statement on CBS rumors
By Zach Arnold | September 24, 2008
In response to a report on Bloody Elbow tonight, Josh Barnett has released the following statement:
I read somewhere that I had declined the fight because I would have had to take a pay cut. I suppose others may also formulate some story about me declining the fight for other reasons.
I never decelned to take this fight. I was never told that I would have any part of my pay reduced since working with Affliction. To my knowledge, no one has been asked to take a pay cut that fights for Affliction.
I did not turn down this fight.
Topics: Affliction, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Updated EXC 10/4 Florida card line-up
By Zach Arnold | September 24, 2008
- Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock (Heavyweights)
- Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley (for EliteXC Welterweight title)
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson (Heavyweights)
- Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold (Women’s 140-Pound Weight Class)
- Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach (Middleweights)
I expect a lot of the hardcore fans to be jacked up for Arlovski vs. Nelson. It’s a good fight on paper, certainly. The motive for booking the fight by EXC, however, was not for match quality. The fight was booked strictly for TV ratings and box office reasons. In terms of Arlovski as a major box office attraction, the jury is out on that right now. He got a great reception last July in Anaheim, but didn’t move the needle as the headliner for Affliction’s Las Vegas event. As far as being a draw on television, Arlovski’s probably the best ‘free agent’ outside of Tito Ortiz that they could have picked up right now.
The one problem EXC has revealed with this move is that hot-shotting in terms of matchmaking does not make up for a lack of ground game. One of the big issues regarding the financial problems EXC has had is that, unlike UFC, the company does not have a major infrastructure in terms of promoting local events. This problem was supposed to be solved by buying out all of the B-level promotions they put money into. Instead, that strategy backfired and those B-level promotions bled the main company dry. EXC’s biggest problem, besides not drawing a strong TV rating for their second show, is a lack of development in regards to building a legitimate promotional machine. I’m not talking about spending $1.3 million USD for a web site, either.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Just asking…
By Zach Arnold | September 24, 2008
Every MMA site went out of their way to cover the DREAM 6 event as if it was a big deal, and yet when the bad TV ratings predictably were released, none of these sites are talking about the fallout. I am curious as to why…
Topics: DREAM, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 55 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Match order for Sengoku 9/28 Tokyo event
By Zach Arnold | September 24, 2008
- Lightweights: Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Schultz
- Lightweights: Kiuma Kunioku vs. A Sol Kwon
- Middleweight GP Series 2008: Evangelista Cyborg vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
- Middleweight GP Series 2008: Jorge Santiago vs. Logan Clark
- Middleweight GP Series 2008: Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Paul Cahoon
- Middleweight GP Series 2008: Yuki Kondo vs. Yuki Sasaki
- Heavyweights: Travis Wiuff vs. TBA (not Roger Gracie)
- Light Heavyweights: Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) vs. Xande Ribeiro
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
DREAM 6 event fallout
By Zach Arnold | September 23, 2008
The claimed attendance for the DREAM 9/23 Saitama show was 20,929.
Update: Sports Navigator is reporting that DREAM 6 drew a 9.0% rating on TBS, with the high QH (quarter-hour) mark showing Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Masanori Tonooka drawing a 13.4% rating. Bad numbers, as expected.
Personal commentary: If you had to ask me what the odds of Fedor fighting on NYE are as opposed to working for Affliction, I give it an 80% chance that we’ll see him on NYE in Japan as opposed to fighting in the States.
Additionally speaking, it’s becoming clear that K-1 (Ishii) wants all the major MMA players in Japan working through him or his intermediaries. The prospects of Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Hidehiko Yoshida happening makes a lot of sense, as you can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel where WVR, Pancrase, etc. end up cooperating with whatever consolidation business move Ishii wants to happen.
I still stick by my prediction that DREAM as an MMA concept is on its last legs, if not dead, because it’s not something that Ishii built on his own accord (he was in prison, after all). I do believe K-1 will modify the DREAM concept and reshape it into an MMA promotion with Ishii’s vision and creative direction.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
DREAM 9/23 Saitama Super Arena
By Zach Arnold | September 22, 2008
Play-by-play here. Post your comments if you watch the show live…
Of note from the BE report: Fedor comes to the ring in between fights and briefly addresses the fans. According to HDNet’s translator, Fedor says that he’d like to face Ishii but “unfortunately that hasn’t been decided yet,” and that he hopes to return to Japan to fight on New Year’s Eve.
What about that Affliction booking for January? Hmm.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
CBS airing ads during NFL games for EXC 10/4 Florida show
By Zach Arnold | September 21, 2008
It’s basically a 5-second spot with Kimbo Slice’s mug and a graphic in gold letters for “Saturday Night Fights.” The network’s not exactly doing the hard-sell here.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 46 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Strikeforce 9/20 Playboy Mansion event results
By Zach Arnold | September 20, 2008
- Jesse Gillespie def. Dave Martin (3R split decision)
- Brandon Magana def. Brandon Thatch (3R split decision)
- Eric Lawson def. Kenneth Seegrist (R1 3’07 submission)
- Luke Stewart def. Jesse Juarez (R1 4’55 submission)
- Trevor Prangley def. Anthony Ruiz (3R unanimous decision)
- Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Justin Wilcox (R1 1’21 submission)
- Terry Martin def. Corey Devela (R3 TKO)
- Josh Thomson def. Ashe Bowman (R1 TKO)
- Kazuo Misaki def. Joe Riggs (R2 2’29 TKO)
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |