Chuck Liddell has a torn right hamstring
By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2008
The injury is no joke.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Josh Barnett booked for next WVR show
By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2008
May 18th in Tokyo at Ariake Colosseum. More details coming soon.
Update: While it is only a rumor, we’ve heard a name listed (strangely) as Barnett’s possible opponent… Jeff Monson. Is there a possibility that two Washington guys will be going at it against each other?
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 83 in Montreal
By Zach Arnold | April 19, 2008
PBP: Sherdog | The Fight Network | MMA Junkie | Observer | AOL Fanhouse
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 89 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Friday media frenzy – round one
By Zach Arnold | April 17, 2008
Expect an amazing amount of MMA-related articles to be published today. I’ll try my very best to keep up with all of the action.
On Saturday, we’ll have a brand new edition of Fight Opinion Radio — this time, with a twist. Josh Barnett and Shayna Baszler will be the co-hosts. Speaking of The Babyface Assassin, here is his latest online posting regarding working out in the gym the right way.
Two interesting US state-related articles on MMA regulation – the first regarding Arizona legislation and the second regarding Rhode Island legislation.
Danny Sheridan in USA Today has his odds on this weekend’s UFC fights taking place in Montreal.
- Fight Critic: Iain Liddle and Total MMA lose their credibility (for the record, Iain posts his own articles on this site)
- Sportsnet (Canada): GSP vs. Serra – the calm before the storm
- Dave Meltzer: GSP’s time to shine
- The Canadian Press: Matt Serra puts on a charm offensive ahead of UFC 83 showdown with GSP
- Canwest News Service: Supportive Montreal crowd expected to greet UFC’s travelling road show
- Jason MacDonald: Pay me some respect, Joe Doerksen
- Joe Doerksen: Can Jason MacDonald repeat the magic?
- Gauntlet Sports (Calgary): Jason MacDonald — going from fan to fighter
- Sportsnet (Canada): Travis Lutter vs. Rich Franklin is about respect
- The Dayton Daily News (OH): UFC’s Rich Franklin is not looking past Travis Lutter
- The Toronto Star (Canada): Montreal has severe case of fight fever
- AOL Fanhouse: GSP vs. Serra is no Anderson Silva vs. Daiju Takase
- Eurosport (UK): Matt Serra plays down GSP row
- Sherdog: Michael Bisping on Charles McCarthy, move to 185
- The Canadian Press: UFC & Dana White celebrate Canadian debut in style
- The Edmonton Sun (Canada): GSP, Serra turn up hostilities against each other
- The Edmonton Sun: Veteran Alberta MMA fighter Jason MacDonald fasting for fight day
- Arnold Lim: UFC 83 is taking Canada by storm and Canada’s MMA scene will change forever
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
IFL 10k report (4/15/08)
By Zach Arnold | April 17, 2008
Quietly, the IFL filed their 10k SEC report on tax day. Of note, the following items in the report:
- Since the company’s inception, they have suffered a net loss of $31 million USD. Revenues are currently insufficient to run operations past Q3 if things do not change.
- Costs to promote events in 2007 were $15.9 million USD. The companie received $1.6 million USD from MyNetworkTV for 2007 programming.
- There will be no IFL PPVs in 2008.
- The company generated $498,000 USD in sponsorship revenue and $117,544 USD in branded merchandise sales for 2007.
Here’s a paragraph from the 10k filing:
As a result of our continued losses, our independent auditors have included an explanatory paragraph in our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, expressing doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern. The inclusion of a going concern explanatory paragraph in the report of our independent auditors could make it more difficult for us to secure additional financing or enter into strategic relationships with distributors on terms acceptable to us, if at all, and may materially and adversely affect the terms of any financing that we may obtain. If revenues grow slower than we anticipate, or if operating expenses exceed our expectations or cannot be adjusted accordingly, we may not achieve profitability and the value of your investment could decline significantly.
Topics: IFL, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Thursday trash talk: Way too much media coverage
By Zach Arnold | April 17, 2008
- The Vaughan Today (Canada): Mark Bocek set for UFC 83
- Yahoo Sports: ‘Ace’ plays the cards he’s been dealt
- WEYI NBC25: Fedor to fight on July 19th
- TSN (Canada): GSP determined to regain title at UFC 83
- Business Wire (press release): Chuck Liddell signs ‘potential’ multi-million dollar deal with Iceman Rx Inc.
- Setanta Sports (UK): GSP – I could take on an army
- The Toledo Blade (OH): Growing by leaps, bounds – the sport claims Ohio as one of its largest markets
- The Winnipeg Sun: Matt Serra’s French kiss-off
- The Johnston Tribune-Democrat (PA): Carlton Haselrig tackling new challenge
- MMA Weekly: Nick Diaz draws Muhsin Corbbrey at EXC in Hawaii
- Five Ounces of Pain: Interview with Paul Bradley from TUF
- MMA Junkie: Paul Bradley discusses his TUF departure
- Fightlinker: F*@& you, Ken Imai
- MMA Payout: Quick UFC 83 preview
- Fightmetric: An alternate reality for Matt Serra
- Bloody Elbow: UFC 83 preview – Cain Velasquez
- MMA Opinion: Believe in upsets? Bet on UFC 83!
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bisping vs. McCarthy continues to draw huge press coverage
By Zach Arnold | April 16, 2008
- Forbes: Ultimate Cash Machines (article includes a claim that there have been billion-dollar offers to buy the company)
- MMA Payout: Ken Shamrock sues Zuffa LLC
- The Canadian Press: Players respect MMA fighters
- The Globe & Mail (Canada): Montreal mayhem promises to be big hit
- The Telegraph (UK): Michael Bisping set for Charles McCarthy UFC clash
- The Daily Star (UK): Bisping bites back
- Kevin Iole: Move to middleweight provides Bisping with a fresh start
- Sportsnet (Canada): UFC Day 1 in Montreal
- Fox Sports: Charles McCarthy says he’s ready for Michael Bisping at UFC 83
- The Daily Egyptian (Southern Illinois): Matt Hughes sends the H.I.T. squad to Carbondale – Hughes student Jeff Engelhardt to fight
- The Canadian Press: Matt Hughes rooting for GSP at UFC 83
- Ask Men: 5 things you didn’t know about Matt Serra
- The Canadian Press: Matt Serra playing role of bad guy
- Inside the Octagon: Mike Dolce’s TUF 7 blog — week 3
- Bloody Elbow: The Anderson Silva-Roy Jones Jr. story isn’t over
- CBS Sports: Q & A with former UFC lightweight contender Hermes Franca
- MMA Junkie: Rich Franklin ready for a different type of fight
- Frank Deford (SI): Has boxing been quashed for blood sport? Can’t say I’m surprised
- ESPN: There’s no room for football in Michael Westbrook’s heart
Topics: Boxing, Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 83 prediction contest
By Zach Arnold | April 16, 2008
Justin at the MMA Betting Blog is running a contest for everyone to participate in regarding predictions for the upcoming UFC 83 event. There is no entry free and $500 in cash is being awarded (1st – $250, 2nd – $150, 3rd – $50) to the top three winners.
I wish everyone who participates in the contest the best of luck. Remember, you can access more details regarding the contest right here.
Stephen Quadros has a new preview online for the UFC 83 show.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Today’s chalkboard (4/16/08)
By Zach Arnold | April 16, 2008
Before we head to today’s news links, I wanted to give a tip of the cap to Michael David Smith over at AOL Fanhouse. MDS has been spearheading a big effort over at that web site to increase the volume of MMA coverage, feeling that there was clearly an underserved need for legitimate MMA writing in the US sports media. I give him credit for sticking to his guns and making it work. I know that there are more and more mainstream media outlets trying to cover MMA now since it’s the ‘hot thing’, but AOL Fanhouse’s coverage of UFC and MMA lately has been very good overall. No complaints.
Onto today’s headlines.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, DREAM, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tax day stack ‘o stuff (4/15/08)
By Zach Arnold | April 15, 2008
Eddie Goldman has a new radio show, reviewing the recent YAMMA Pit Fighting event. A preview:
This show was well-received by the fans in attendance, who cheered the victors in the two Masters’ Superfights, Oleg Taktarov and Pat Smith, and the one-night, eight-man single elimination heavyweight tournament, Travis Wiuff.
Onto today’s headlines.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, UK, WEC, YAMMA, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Reports: Choi Hong-Man out of the fight game for three years
By Zach Arnold | April 14, 2008
From Yeo Jong-Hoon
News story and interview.
It appears that Choi Hong-Man will head to the Korean army training center on April 21st. He decided to head to the army and not postpone because he could have been in trouble with South Korea’s military laws. It is very difficult to get a visa for him. Hong-Man ended up canceling his role in the casting of “Transporter 3.” After four weeks of basic army training, Choi will work for the national service conscript instead of being a soldier because he is too big. He may do traffic tickets, parking tickets, speeding tickets, or copy papers at a district office. What comedy.
Topics: K-1, Media, MMA, South Korea, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC loses both Jake O’Brien and its credibility
By Iain Liddle | April 14, 2008
Buried amongst the YAMMA headlines on Saturday morning came the news that the UFC have released Jake O’Brien from his UFC contract with Palace Fighting Championships likely to be his next destination.
The 10-1 heavyweight who is fresh off a loss to Andrei Arlovski had two fights remaining on his contract and was widely considered one of the best heavyweight prospects in world MMA. The reported reasoning for the decision is that the company simply had too many athletes under contract and he was purely one of the unlucky few chosen for the chop.
Until this news broke, and even now, I have no strong opinion on O’Brien as a fighter. I have seen maybe one non-UFC fight of his and have never interviewed him. I can’t even say that based on what I have witnessed that I could class him as a particular favourite of mine. His style is often derided as boring (sometimes unfairly) and there is no apparent charisma radiating from him to instantly grab a viewer’s attention.
Despite this however the news of his release was greatly disappointing without being too much of a shock. In fact it serves as a perfect microcosmic example of an issue that plagues the entire company. Quite simply, they aren’t a sporting league or entity and no longer can they have any claim to be so.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Iain Liddle, UFC | 83 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Matt Serra starting to gain some more media traction
By Zach Arnold | April 14, 2008
We have a lot to get to today, so let’s waste no time.
- Marketwire: Aussie Soles signs a deal with Matt Serra
- The Canadian Press: Mark Bocek used to school UFC owners
- The Rochester Post-Bulletin (MN): It was a big night for Travis Wiuff in Atlantic City
- Jake Rossen: YAMMA Pit Fighting — the latest in a long line of not-for-profit MMA charities
- Five Ounces of Pain: Photos from YAMMA Pit Fighting debut event
- Fightlinker: Preliminary research suggests that YAMMA might, in fact, suck
- MMA Opinion: I survived YAMMA!
- Fightmetric: What did the YAMMA really mean?
- The Columbus Dispatch (OH): It’s all about a whuppin’ — hundreds of Ohioans mix it up in the cage, pursuing the ultimate fight
- The Dayton Daily News (OH): Ohioan Matt Brown a surprise winner on ‘TUF’
- The Winnipeg Sun: ‘El Dirte’ Joe Doerksen dishes dirt
- The Record-Journal (CT): MMA team member Parker Porter is on brink of big time
- AOL Fanhouse: Analysis of Liddell-Jardine raises question of favoritism toward Liddell
- Steve Sievert: Strikeforce on NBC – much ado about not much
- Bloody Elbow: Video of Strikeforce on NBC
- UFC HP: New blood for the heavies – Cain Velasquez makes his UFC debut
- MMA Weekly: Travis Lutter’s game plan is simple for Rich Franklin
- MMA Payout: Anatomy of the Affliction ban
- F4W Online: Frank Trigg was fantastic at last night’s TNA PPV
- Charles Jay: Nick Diaz creates his own bad ‘pot’ luck
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Pro-Wrestling, StrikeForce, TNA, UFC, YAMMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |