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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

Spike TV goes all-in with a pro-wrestling vision to battle UFC & Fox Sports in the MMA space

By Zach Arnold | September 5, 2014

The visions of Spike considering a joint Bellator/TNA PPV sounded goofy when I wrote an article about this subject last April. Now? The cross-over is starting.

Friday night’s dueling Connecticut events featuring Bellator & UFC exposed the fault lines for what looks to be a rather entertaining battle between Spike & Fox. UFC has the talent. They have their rankings. They have the inferior cable channel. They also have a cold product right now in the ratings.

In contrast, Bellator doesn’t have nearly the roster that Zuffa does in terms of depth. However, they have the stronger cable channel. They have the energy on TV. They also have a plan to combat the UFC/Fox combination.

Spike TV has gone all in with what they know from 2005. Stephan Bonnar? They made him. He’s the guy involved in the greatest fight ever that helped create the MMA boom. Or something like that. Tito Ortiz? He and Ken Shamrock drew big ratings. And how did Spike TV build UFC? They built it off the back of Vince McMahon when RAW was on Spike TV.

I just didn’t imagine how blatant, how transparent, and how all-in Spike TV executives were going to be with their strategy to counter the UFC.

Scott Coker is now a TV figurehead like Bjorn Rebney was a TV star. A commissioner role. Stephan Bonnar and Tito Ortiz had a stare-down. Bonnar dragged Justin McCully under a black mask but forgot to tell the public who he is. They all share the same agent. What ensued was a strangely entertaining back-and-forth that had the Mohegan crowd engaged. Then came the bombshell that the fight is being booked for November 15th in San Diego, running head-to-head against the UFC Mexico City PPV with Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum. Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks will also be on that San Diego card.

Dana White was busy telling people earlier in the week that he didn’t mind giving Bonnar his release to go kick Tito’s ass. I bet he isn’t singing the same tune tonight.

The differences between Bellator & UFC on Friday night

The UFC Foxwoods show had a lot of world-class talent, although hearing Bruce Buffer put over Strikeforce when introducing both Gegard Mousasi & Jacare Souza was something. Bruce never cheats the fans every time he works a show. The guy’s energy level is off the charts.

Jacare completely neutralized & dominated Mousasi. He got what he wanted and won in the right style. Naturally, it felt like he should be given a title shot against Chris Weidman. Instead, he’s taking a back seat to Vitor Belfort. There’s no doubt that Jacare has the charisma and fight style to really draw. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t have known it given the… intimate… setting at Foxwoods. The crowd appeared smallish on television with not a lot of heat. It sounded like a quiet UFC B-level show. Meanwhile, the energy & presentation by Spike with Bellator at Mohegan Sun Arena felt more lively.

Spike went all-in with the Antonio Inoki creative direction by pushing Bobby Lashley hard as TNA champion in hyping up his Bellator fight against Josh Burns. The fight pretty much turned out the way you thought it would. It was a glorified sparring session for Lashley on the mat. Eventually, he got the choke sleeper hold submission win. He looked great. It was the perfect set-up for Bellator. I find it hard to believe that Spike is going to get rid of TNA now that they have an arrangement for Wednesday nights. If anything, the Lashley fight & presentation Friday night demonstrated that TNA isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The pro-wrestling connection is alive and well.

The contrast between Bellator & UFC is very stark now. You’ll see nostalgia a plenty with Spike. You’ll see a pro-wrestling crossover as opposed to the now rankings-based presentation by Fox. It was amazing to see Matt Mitrione, after knocking out his opponent, talking about Top 10 rankings. The rankings are meaningless. Fox has sprung this trap onto UFC. I wish they would get rid of the rankings and in a hurry.

With Spike going all-in to attract disenchanted pro-wrestling fans to watch Bellator, there will be pressure next year on UFC to sign Brock Lesnar. Alistair Overeem had a chance to really build a case for a re-match against Lesnar but managed to fumble it away when he got tagged by self-professed brain-damaged testosterone user Ben Rothwell. Nary a peep from UFC or Fox Sports about either of those guys in regards to their past drug usage. Fox finds itself in a very unusual position where they are the cheer-leading channel for UFC but without any of the credibility of a sports network. Lesnar/Overeem could have drawn a big buy rate, say 700,000 buys, if Ronda Rousey was also fighting on the card. You can forget that now, but there are still plenty of enticing match-ups for Lesnar in UFC should he return. And they don’t have to involve Cain Velasquez, either.

As if the night couldn’t get any stranger, the New York Times published a long-form article about New York City’s biggest marijuana dealer ever busted by the Feds and guess who was one of the guy’s friends? Georges St. Pierre.

Friday night proved to be interesting on a lot of good and awful levels. The UFC decided to pick a fight with Bellator in Connecticut and Spike has decided to push back twice as hard.

Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

The current zeitgeist for UFC, Bellator, and what Sean Wheelock says is missing: fun

By Zach Arnold | September 4, 2014

Friday night will mark the second chapter between the UFC and Scott Coker in MMA competition. No one is better equipped to bring a qualified perspective to the table on what’s about to take place than Bellator MMA TV announcer Sean Wheelock, the man who just co-authored with Art Davie the book on how UFC started in the first place called Is This Legal? Art Davie was a man who came from an advertising background and created a concept that has lived on for over a generation.

For those of us who were around since day one, you know how much the UFC has changed over the years. From freak show to corporate spectacle. Davie promoted it like a fight project. Zuffa has promoted UFC like a sport. While there is still some emotional attachment to fighters like Ronda Rousey, most fans are burnt out on the UFC’s current presentation. Brand-first, volume-heavy has destroyed the UFC’s bottom line through over-saturation.

In contrast to UFC’s precipitous and self-inflicted downfall, Bellator finds itself in a very unusual position. Bjorn Rebney, after all the criticism he had received for the way he operated Bellator, got Bellator into a position where the promotion went on PPV (finally) and beat internal expectations. His reward for exceeding PPV expectations? Getting thrown out the door by Spike officials. And entered Scott Coker.

When we interviewed Sean Wheelock this week for Fight Opinion Radio (the show will be made available in the next day or two), we asked Sean about what Bjorn Rebney did wrong and, more intriguingly, what the guy did right.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

A preview of UFC vs. Bellator in Connecticut and UFC’s busy September schedule

By Zach Arnold | September 1, 2014

Event: UFC Fight Night on Friday, September 5th at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut
TV: Fox Sports 1

And this card goes up against Bellator’s show booking…

Event: Bellator 123 on Friday, September 5th at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut
TV: Spike TV

As for what the rest of UFC’s September calendar looks like…

Event: UFC Fight Night on Saturday, September 13th at Nilson Nelson Gym in Brasilia, Brazil
TV: Internet

Event: UFC Fight Night Japan 2014 on Saturday, September 20th at Saitama Super Arena
TV: Internet

Event: UFC 178 on Saturday, September 27th at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
TV: Fox Sports 1/PPV

Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

TJ Dillashaw shows he’s a true professional while his UFC bosses melt down in California

By Zach Arnold | August 30, 2014

On episode 4 of UFC 177 Embedded, the cursed fight card becomes a Cinderella story as the main event changes on weigh-in day. Title challenger and former champ Renan Barao bows out for medical reasons, creating a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Joe Soto, a former belt-holder in other organizations about to make his UFC debut on the prelim card, until he got the call that would change his life. TJ Dillashaw proves he’s a company man and true champion willing to fight anyone, anytime by accepting a new challenger on one day’s notice. UFC President Dana White lambastes the negative media and implores his fighters to seize the opportunity to prove all the doubters wrong. UFC Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog series focusing on the days leading up to the UFC 177 bantamweight title fight, Saturday, August 30th on Pay-Per-View.

The polish is off the turd.

There was Dana White trying to pump up the fighters on one of the company’s most horrific fight cards ever by using a pedantic “blame the media” strategy. The media says the show sucks. The media is dumping all over you. You mean nothing. It was classic coach spin. It came off pathetic from a guy who was trying to tell the press earlier this week that he wasn’t bothered by the negative mention in GQ Magazine in regards to how (little) he pays his fighters.

And then came Saturday night during the preliminary fights on Fox Sports 1. An all-time meltdown from Dana White with Ariel Helwani under the tag line “Is UFC 177 cursed?” Dana ripped into the GQ mention days after claiming it never bothered him. He ripped into Dave Meltzer for claiming that the Sacramento gate would be $500,000. That turned out to be an old report. Dana ripped “journalists” for telling fans not to buy UFC 177 and for dumping on the fighters. The fact that this even aired on Fox Sports 1 to promote a PPV was amazing. The funny and predictable part is that the anti-Meltzer backlash amongst hardcore UFC fans started right away on Twitter after the “War Dana!” moment on cable television.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

As UFC goes big in Mexico, Bellator needs a battle plan & Stephan Bonnar fighting won’t cut it

By Zach Arnold | August 29, 2014

Next week is the big head-to-head battle in Connecticut between UFC & Bellator. I’m not sure why UFC decided to do this, but what the hell. They are obviously preparing for the Scott Coker era at Bellator. While they seem to be preparing for the competitive intrusion, they are busy selling more than 20,000 tickets for November’s Mexico City fight between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum. Hopefully the fight drums up some interest in the States.

The irony of this is thick when you consider that Bellator started out as a Spanish-language TV proposition on ESPN Deportes and has now completely moved away from attracting Hispanic fans.

While the UFC was doing their thing this week, Bellator was also busy with their own announcements. They announced that King Mo signed a new deal. They also announced that Stephan Bonnar would become an announcer and perhaps also fight Tito Ortiz. And everyone groaned loudly.

In one sense, I understand why Kevin Kay and the Spike crew decided to bring in Stephan Bonnar. It’s always dangerous to try to read the minds of power brokers in combat sports, but I could imagine the logic looking a little like this:

He’s Stephan Bonnar. He had the greatest fight in UFC history with Forrest Griffin. We made UFC. We gave those guys the platform. The guy’s an icon. We long for the days of the 2000s when we made UFC. He still has juice left. Let’s bring in the nostalgia with Tito. It’s our version of cotton candy. Harmless. Only upside. He has name ID. The fight will pop a rating or perhaps draw some PPV buys.

Welcome to Corporate MMA. Spike is an odd ball with a lot of cash. They’ve put up with TNA for a decade and yet only got worked up when TNA lied about bringing Vince Russo back. Spike is always looking for the next big thing, so why does their gut always seem to be centered around guys from a decade ago?

The truth is, Bellator needs a battle plan. I’ve written a five-point battle plan of sorts and it makes a lot of sense. Of course I would say that — I wrote the damn article. But you get the point. Outside of Australia, the UFC is struggling to make big waves in the Asian marketplace. Canada at this point seems to be a lost cause on a big scale without Georges St. Pierre. The UFC is still viewed as a West Coast entity. Most people don’t really know what Bellator represents or what their philosophy is going to be.

We have some clues so far. We know that the women’s division is going to get ramped up and that’s a good thing. We also know that names like Jason “Mayhem” Miller are also being considered. That is a horrific thing. He was popular during the MySpace era. Remember those days?

In boxing, you can establish fighters over a much longer period of time. In MMA, the eras seem to last about every five years. Right now, Ben Askren is this era’s Jake Shields. The guy who has figured out how to build leverage outside of the UFC model on his terms in order to eventually get into the UFC. He’s someone that Bellator can bring back into the fold under the guise of co-promotion with OneFC.

The biggest question that Spike has to answer with Bellator is this: what is the overarching business goal?

We know they are cutting back from 26 shows to 16 shows a year. It’s gone from a cheap weekly TV property that attracts solid, slightly increasing ratings to now… what exactly? Ever since Bellator drew the numbers they did for their Memphis-area PPV, everything has turned upside down. If you’re going to cut down from 26 to 16 shows as a TV network, obviously you either think Bellator can significantly increase the TV ratings for the 16 shows about to be produced or 12 of those shows will draw what Bellator normally draws and 4 of the shows will end up as PPVs.

If the strategy is the former, guys like Stephan Bonnar aren’t going to crack the million viewer mark. If the strategy is the latter, guys like Stephan Bonnar aren’t going to break 100,000 buys on PPV.

I would rather build up new stars on TV shows drawing 700,000 fans than worry about drawing a million viewers to watch a fight like Stephan Bonnar vs. Tito Ortiz that does nothing for the company’s future.

For as tiring as watching 26 episodes of Bellator was on Spike, at least I got the strategy. Budget $60,000 a week to spend, draw some good ratings in key demos, and stay active. I have no clue what Spike wants to do with their new MMA play toy now. Let’s hope they actually have a clue. I think Bellator’s September 19th event at the big Savemart Center in Fresno may give us some positive or negative clues.

Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

What is UFC’s master plan to expand into mainland China?

By Zach Arnold | August 25, 2014

There were lots of interesting stories coming out of UFC’s active weekend in Macau & Tulsa. Talk about two different worlds. There was Michael Bisping doing his best Freddy Krueger impersonation on Cung Le’s face and perhaps putting the guy into retirement. At the Macau event, UFC regulated the whole ball of wax and yanked a judge after the first two fights due to poor performance. Let the hand-wringing commence.

There was the arrest of Jordan Mein’s father, Lee Mein, for sexual battery. UFC barred Lee Mein from being in the building to watch his son fight but Lloyd Irvin was in the corner of James Vick. I’m fully expecting UFC’s political critics to start tagging the sport with the “rape culture” label. And, truthfully, MMA is in a perilous spot on that front right about now.

Then there was Rafael dos Anjos blitzkrieging Ben Henderson and John McCarthy catching hell for his stoppage in that fight. I suspect Jason Herzog probably would have let this fight play out a bit more.

Given these interesting stories, I still find myself asking one over-arching question about what UFC is up to right now and it’s a question that I don’t think the company has done a very good job of answering:

What exactly is UFC’s grand plan into expanding their brand into mainland China?

If there is one thing UFC is brilliant at, it’s corporate sloganeering. World Fucking Domination. Their bravado is unmatched except perhaps with FIFA propaganda material. Ironic given that UFC claims MMA will be as big as soccer in the next 10 years. So why has UFC been strangely silent about their goals & benchmarks for success in the Chinese marketplace?

Zuffa has ran two three Macau events at The Venetian and ran one Fight Pass show in Singapore. Cung Le headlined two of the Macau shows. UFC has Ultimate Fighter China. And that’s about it. Meanwhile, One FC with Victor Cui is setting the table long-term to expand his footprint in the Asian marketplace as a serious arena player. RUFF is the one active MMA promoter right now on the mainland. There’s the proposed M-1 Challenge event this November in Shanghai. Why hasn’t Zuffa been able to buy their way into the marketplace? A lot of it probably has to do with their corporate ideology and the refusal to change their matchmaking to bend to cultural tastes & sensitivities.

Is the plan simply to wait for others to pave the way and then swoop right in with arena shows? If UFC can’t conquer New York politics, how the hell are they going to conquer Beijing?

I understand why Bob Arum is running fights in Macau with Manny Pacquiao. For Manny, it’s about the taxes. For Arum, it’s about the site fee he can command because Manny and big name boxers can attract huge whales to gamble significant cash on fights. Plus, Top Rank has Ryota Murata. Of all the major combat sports right now, MMA is the least likely to attract the big whales. Luca Fury can generate a living as an online handicapper but the casinos want warm bodies in their buildings to blow cash at the tables & at the sportsbooks. MMA simply isn’t attracting that kind of fan given the demographics. Great TV demographics with 18-to-34 year olds but not-so-great casino spending demos.

It’s hard to put into perspective what is happening with UFC’s grand vision of what to do in Asia. They fired Mark Fischer and have inserted Garry Cook into the equation. One colleague of mine described him as an MMA version of Karl Rove, a kind of guy with a gift for gab & strategy that UFC is counting on to transcend cultural boundaries. The problem is that cultural boundaries are everything when it comes to the combat sports business in Asia. I’m amazed that UFC hasn’t bothered hiring Chinese or Japanese business executives who potential sponsors & power brokers can relate to on business matters. Even WWE has their own president for Japanese operations.

Unlike most, I was not critical of UFC’s initial disclosure about plans to run a reality TV show in Japan that’s based on a different format than Ultimate Fighter. As long as they can partner up with some Japanese promoters and get on network television, anything can happen. But they announced those plans when Mark Fischer was around. He’s gone. We’re one month away from the Saitama Super Arena event which has a bizarre card headlined by an even stranger yet intriguing main event of Mark Hunt vs. Roy Nelson. Things have really cooled off for Dentsu since they inked their deal with UFC a few years ago. UFC achieved what they wanted on the first show. What is their goal now in Japan?

Normally, the UFC is very certain and public about their marketing pronouncements. They know what they want and know what their talking points are. Curiously, you aren’t seeing such bravado right now from the world’s only major MMA promoter. Until they come up with a disciplined, smart, adaptable strategy to address the cultural tastes of the various Asian markets, they’re chasing their own tail. They would be better off focusing all their energy on Australia at this point in time.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Rumors that Andre Ward may file a lawsuit against the California State Athletic Commission

By Zach Arnold | August 21, 2014

Nothing has gone right in Andre Ward’s legal fight against promoter Dan Goossen. In fact, the legal battle waged by Ward’s camp against Goossen has backfired in the courts.

Andre Ward asked for arbitration with the California State Athletic Commission in June of 2013 to have his 2011 contract extension with promoter Dan Goossen declared invalid. Andy Foster upheld the contract extension as valid.

In November of 2013, Dan Goossen was notified around the time of the Andre Ward/Edwin Rodriguez HBO fight that Antonio Leonard had sued Goossen in Texas. Leonard is connected to Houston rap boss & Ward manager James Prince.

Leonard alleged that he and Goossen had an oral contract in which Leonard would be a co-promoter of Andre Ward. However, Goossen’s side claimed that Leonard wasn’t supposedly licensed as a promoter with the California State Athletic Commission. In addition, the parties involved in the Ward/Goossen agreement had to obtain approval from the California State Athletic Commission and Leonard allegedly was not a written party in that agreement. Based on this situation, Goossen filed for declaratory relief in Los Angeles Superior Court in order to get a judge to issue a ruling on the matter.

The lawsuit filed by Antonio Leonard in Texas was bumped from the state court system to the Federal court system.

Ward then filed a lawsuit against Goossen in Los Angeles Superior Court. In the December 2013 Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, Ward’s attorney Alan Rader tried to use the “7-year rule” of contract length as a violation of California’s labor code. Juxtaposed to Antonio Leonard’s lawsuit in Texas alleging that he was Ward’s co-promoter, was Andre Ward suing Goossen and his own camp in LA Superior Court without naming Leonard as a defendant?

On Wednesday, a judge in LA Superior Court tossed out the 7-year rule lawsuit that Rader filed. The judge said that Ward lost two arbitration cases in front of the Athletic Commission.

A couple of weeks after Antonio Leonard filed his lawsuit in Texas alleging that he was a co-promoter of Andre Ward, Dan Goossen requested a second California arbitration hearing to resolve a dispute regarding an alleged breach of contract. Goossen asked for his promotional contract with Andre Ward to be extended in length. Goossen won this second arbitration hearing. Andy Foster & the deputy AG wrote that Ward’s attempt to declare the California State Athletic Commission as lacking in jurisdiction to oversee the arbitration hearings was nonsense because Ward didn’t protest CSAC’s jurisdiction in arbitration when Ward himself asked for arbitration in June of 2013.

Additionally, the second arbitration hearing produced a decision extending Ward’s contract with Goossen until November 8, 2016.

Losing various court & arbitration battles, Andre Ward is running out of options. Last week, Ward and company decided to file a lawsuit in the Northern California Federal court system against Dan Goossen. The court filing accuses Goossen of violating the Muhammad Ali Act. By the way, it’s the same court system where the trial involving state senator Leland Yee and Shrimp Boy is taking place. Yee is accused by the Feds of trying to extort individuals who wanted to keep the Athletic Commission alive.

Goossen is now punching back twice as hard against Ward by filing a $10 million dollar defamation suit against Ward & Ward’s lawyer James McCarroll. Dan’s attorney in that defamation case is Bert Fields. According to LA Superior Court records, the case was filed by a court clerk on Monday. The case number is BC554448.

Which brings us to the latest news regarding sabre rattling that we are hearing behind the scenes. A well-placed source contacted me on Wednesday night. The source stated that a person from Andre Ward’s camp wanted to talk to us. We are protecting this person’s name at the moment. The person from Ward’s camp claims that Ward is furious about what happened to him in the two arbitration decisions over the past year from Andy Foster and that Ward allegedly wants to pursue legal action against the California State Athletic Commission. The person claims that Ward is angry about Andy Foster extending the promotional agreement due to injury.

The opinion that I gave the source to relay to Ward’s camp? The same opinion I would say privately and publicly.

If Andre Ward sues the Department of Consumer Affairs & the California State Athletic Commission, he will lose and he will lose badly. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t grab the popcorn and enjoy the legal battle. However, I cannot honestly sit here and present a scenario where I think Ward would beat the Athletic Commission over the two arbitration decisions.

Thankfully, I don’t give legal advice. And thankfully I’m not the one trying to spend my own cash fighting lawyers like Farzad Tabatabai and Bert Fields in the courts. Good luck with that.

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Uncensored: Referee Lou Moret trashes Andy Foster, rips Athletic Commission on money & rules

By Zach Arnold | August 19, 2014


The last 20 minutes of the video is where Dr. Lou Moret inflicts his damage

“Integrity is the only thing in business.” — Marcus Lemonis, The Profit (CNBC)

In his 30 years as a boxing referee in California, Dr. Lou Moret’s image of a cantankerous yet quietly skillful politician is the stuff of legend. He rarely talks, especially in public. Lou knows where the proverbial political skeletons are buried in both the Sacramento Legislature and Los Angeles County.

So, when Lou speaks, it’s an event. But nobody could have ever imagined a scenario where Dr. Moret would open up so candidly in public and let it all hang out. Uncensored. Unfiltered. Unstoppable.

At last week’s California State Athletic Commission meeting in Los Angeles, Lou Moret cut through the palaver on display about cutting the pay for officials and the illogical falsehood that somehow an officials pay scale is responsible for fraud being conspired by promoters & athletic inspectors at box offices. Not only did Dr. Lou destroy the new policy on officials taking a haircut over malice & incompetence, he ripped into Andy Foster over allegedly using unlicensed non-California officials for California events and for creating a climate of horrific boxing mismatches.

I’ve seen plenty of state athletic commission meetings go horribly wrong over the years but last week’s Los Angeles meeting may have truly been an all-time low for incompetence & tolerance of flagrant law breaking. Any fight industry insider or fan watching the meeting would be appalled by the logic on display. These people aren’t just living in another bubble. They’re living on another planet.

Last week, we wrote a detailed article laying out claims made at the August 11th CSAC meeting in Los Angeles in which Andy Foster admitted that box offices are being screwed up by athletic inspectors and that he’s tired of having to call promoters to pay more money for officials or calling promoters to return money that is owed to them.

The officials saw through the carnival barking. They know what’s going on. They’re sick and tired of it. However, no one could ever imagine a scenario where Lou Moret would be the man to call out Andy Foster, Jack Reiss, and John McCarthy over politics.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Could Ronda Rousey become a crossover pioneer like Brock Lesnar & take over WWE?

By Zach Arnold | August 18, 2014


Guest article by Brandon Engel (on Twitter at @brandonengel2)

If Ronda Rousey leaves UFC in the near future, will she be remembered as a pioneer in the Mixed Martial Arts space?

Ronda Rousey is a polarizing — but nevertheless fascinating — figure in contemporary sports. Her fans & supporters laud her as a pioneer for all female athletes; an icon who will take the women’s MMA scene to the next level. Her skeptics question whether or not she’s an opportunist looking to get out of MMA as soon as possible in order to capitalize on her increasing celebrity status.

Sounds a lot like Gina Carano with more talent & aggression. Who knows how much longer she will stick around the MMA scene. What can be said is that she has received more honors, awards, and attention than any other female MMA fighter. She recently won an ESPY for “Best Female Athlete.” The only MMA fighter to win an ESPY, period. She was also nominated for “best fighter” but lost to Floyd Mayweather, which led to a rather regrettable comment of “I don’t know who he is.” It also led to a nonstop month-long stream of “Ronda could beat Floyd” palaver on ESPN & Fox Sports television.

The idea of Floyd hitting a woman? The recent domestic violence incidents with War Machine & Josh Grispi put a stop to the Floyd/Ronda debate, which should have never happened in the first place.

When comparing the opponents she faced in judo to the opponents she has faced so far in the women’s MMA scene, is Ronda Rousey truly a pioneer? Her critics say no, emphatically so. How does Rousey stack up to, say, Billie Jean King? Babe Dickinson Zaharias? Ronda’s in-ring dominance is undeniable. But to call her a pioneer?

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WWE | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Tim Kennedy compares drug usage in today’s MMA scene to the Sosa, McGwire, Bonds MLB era

By Zach Arnold | August 17, 2014

Jeff Thaler had a chance recently to interview Tim Kennedy for Fight Opinion Radio. And it was great. You can listen to our interview right here or by copying this text for the URL:

http://www.fightopinion.com/podcasts/foradio-8-16-2014.mp3

Check out Ranger Up, the clothing line that sponsors Tim along with many other fighters. Tim is on Twitter at @TimKennedyMMA.

With a fight against Yoel Romero on September 27th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Tim feels that one more win will give him a title shot… at either Middleweight against Chris Weidman or at Welterweight against Johny Hendricks. He believes he can make 170 pounds.

As for his fight strategy against Yoel Romero?

“Don’t get taken down? I don’t know. I would be surprised if he tries to take me down. How many times have you seen somebody take me down? If they do try, I think every dude that’s ever tried has lost.”

“I do not think that he will be able to be successfully take me down and keep me down.”

Tim revealed during our interview that he asked the Nevada State Athletic Commission for random drug testing. He’s not holding his breath when it comes to the issue of an increase in random drug testing in MMA.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Fight Opinion Radio, Jeff Thaler, Media, MMA, podcasts, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg has some cynical advice on how sports leagues should handle doping

By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2014

On Tuesday’s edition of Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio, host Mike Greenberg presented a list of five sports which he thinks could bring the most Return On Investment if they were a stock. One of the sports on that list is Mixed Martial Arts.

One of the sports not on his list? Major League Baseball.

Greenberg dished out a list of four suggestions things he would do as MLB Commissioner to help improve interest in baseball. One of those suggestions sounds like advice you would have heard from MMA promoters a few years ago on the issue of doping.

“Make LESS, not more of a big deal about PEDs.

“Baseball has the toughest testing program in all of sports. Stand on that. Stand on that and stop talking about it so much. We get it.

“[Dallas Cowboys player] Orlando Scandrick has been suspended four games [for using Molly].

“The point of it is, baseball… some of it through its own action, has contributed to the subject of PEDs being an overwhelming subject in baseball. We’ve got a testing policy. We’ve got a penalty policy. Let’s move on. Guy gets popped. He’s popped. He’s gone. Let’s go. Let’s not talk about it all the time. Let’s not make a big deal about it all the time. Let’s instruct our players and others not to make such a big deal out of it.

“When a guy gets suspended for 50 games and he comes back and signs a big contract somewhere else, let’s not have a lengthy national debate about it.

“We get it. We had a steroid problem. We’ve addressed it. We’ve addressed it more than all the other leagues have addressed it combined. Let’s get on with our day.”

I’m heavily conflicted about this advice.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Missing money: California officials hit with new pay cut because box offices aren’t calculated right

By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2014

With two lawsuits and a major Federal indictment alleging extortion of individuals trying to keep the California State Athletic Commission alive, you would think that Monday’s CSAC meeting in Los Angeles would have been a quiet affair. Instead, Executive Officer Andy Foster made a startling & troubling admission that has inflamed the core of officials who work as referees, timekeepers, judges, and doctors at Athletic Commission regulated combat sports events.

One of the major changes being proposed by Andy Foster is a change to the current tier system used to pay officials working shows. Roy Englebrecht, a famous California promoter, argued on Monday that the tier system is unfair.

“It’s always amazed me that no other pro sport pays their officials based on the hard work of the owners and the promoters and we’ve had it in year in and year out.”

The current six-tier pay scale for California official is as follows:

The new proposed three-tier pay scale will look like this:

Additionally, changes are coming in the amount paid out to doctors working events. Also, boxing referees assigned to title fights will be working undercard bouts just like MMA referees do.

On the surface, these aren’t earth shattering changes that would provoke major outrage. However, the process in which this this new pay scale was formulated, who was behind it, and the reasons for why it is being implemented has set off the alarm bells.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Brawls at pressers won’t damage UFC but canceled fights will erode trust

By Zach Arnold | August 12, 2014

Last week’s logic: The brawl between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones at the MGM in Las Vegas will be used as a weapon against MMA by critics.

Last week’s worries: “Did the feud peak too soon before the fight on September 27th?”

This week’s worries: The fight got postponed until January 3rd, 2015.

So much for the UFC being able to pad their 2014 PPV numbers. Not so much now. Now the company is scrambling to issue refunds to those who bought tickets but those refunds can only come from where consumers bought their tickets from.

Jon Jones, September, and Nevada do not mix. Jones got injured and so his fight got pushed back. Meanwhile, Alexander Gustafsson is rightfully saying that since the fight got pushed back due to his injury that he should step back in the front of the line. That ain’t happening, but he has a legitimate gripe. And Daniel Cormier is stuck on the sidelines for months. He’s now knocking Jones for backing out of the 9/27 date due to injury because Cormier was going to fight on a busted knee.

It’s been a really lousy year for UFC in Las Vegas outside of the Ronda Rousey fight, which in the end reportedly drew 500,000 buys on PPV. Vitor Belfort already blew up their May event there and he’s one more failed drug test away from blowing up their December show. The UFC will now be running three shows in Las Vegas in the time span of two months. Something has to give. One of those shows isn’t going to draw. Which one will it be?

It’s not the end of the world but having fights get canceled so often can shake the trust of the fans. Make no mistake, however… issues regarding domestic violence involving active fighters is a much bigger problem than any postponed or canceled fight. Domestic violence is a societal problem and not an MMA-exclusive problem but MMA is an ultrahazardous business that cannot afford to have that kind of stigma and crime associated with it in any way. Unacceptable.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

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