Cage Rage 25 ‘Bring It On!’ Preview
By Zach Arnold | February 25, 2008
Guest preview written by Adam Underhill
Only thirteen days away on Saturday March 8th 2008, in conjunction with the Los Angeles-based entertainment and media brand ProElite Inc, British promoters Andy Geer and Dave O’Donnell present to the mixed martial arts world Cage Rage 25: ‘Bring It On!’ from the Wembley Arena in London, England. An interesting looking card with both veterans and newcomers booked for the night’s action; ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ Ken Shamrock will take on Robert “Buzz” Berry in the night’s main attraction, while Japanese submission specialist Masakazu Imanari will be defending his Featherweight title against Jean “White Bear” Silva in what could be one of most entertaining fights of the night.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Adam Underhill, Media, MMA, UK | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Meet Mini Hong-Man
By Zach Arnold | February 24, 2008
The Japanese press calls him “nise Hong-Man,” but his real name is Masayuki Okude and he won his main event fight today on the ZST 16 show in Tokyo at Shinjuku FACE. The swooning is already commencing.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio #77: Court is back in session
By Zach Arnold | February 24, 2008
Kimbo Slice proved to be a huge success at the box office and for Showtime’s television ratings. What exactly is driving the Kimbo phenomenon? Is race as big of a factor as it is being made out to be by certain individuals in the MMA community?
Court is back in session this week with the return of Judge Jeff Thaler, the only MMA court judge sanctioned by Fight Opinion management. This week’s case on the docket: Mark Cuban enters into the legal fray between Randy Couture & Zuffa LLC. What is Cuban trying to accomplish with this latest tactic and what impact will it have on the MMA scene? Judge Jeff breaks down the legal mumbo jumbo into plain English for our audience to understand. Plus: Just how big of a mistake, from our vantage point, was it for Xyience to sue Rich Bergeron? We discuss what kind of a hornet’s nest Xyience has opened up by suing Bergeron and how it could create some PR headaches for the Fertitta family.
Plus, the world-famous grab bag is back. It’s the highest quarter-hour rated segment in all of MMA radio for a very good reason. On previous editions of Fight Opinion Radio, we have made some very bold MMA business predictions in the past that come true. What’s our latest (and boldest) prediction this time around? Hint: It’s about the future of UFC.
The 77th edition of Fight Opinion Radio is now online and available to download. Download this week’s show here.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Fight Opinion Radio, HDNet, Jeff Thaler, Media, MMA, podcasts, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Sunday news review (2/24/08)
By Zach Arnold | February 24, 2008
Chuck Liddell’s book, Iceman, has slipped to #16 on the NYT Best-Sellers list, but it is the third week in a row that the book has made it onto the list.
- The Fightworks Podcast: Interview with Robert Drysdale
- Fightlinker: Who’s the Yoko Ono of MMA? Kim Couture?
- Steve Cofield: UFC needs to voice stance on Jon Koppenhaver
- The Oregonian: Portland well-represented in MMA events
- The Canadian Press: Ryan Ford chokes out veteran Pete Spratt in MFC 15 main event
- CBS Sports: Crossover cash cows
- Press Release: Dan Severn vs. Colin Robinson booked for Belfast MMA event on 3/9
- CBC News (Canada): Young athlete Rene Ayangma died of natural causes
- Five Ounces of Pain: Interview with Jon Fitch
- Adam Morgan: Hermes Franca is now a free agent
- The St. Petersburg Times (FL): Big Dreams, son inspiration for short wrestler (Midget MMA?)
- The South-Florida Sun-Sentinel: Grappling rapidly gaining acceptance with rise of MMA
- The Boston Herald: Dan Henderson down for it
- Shu Hirata: DEEP 34 event recap
- The Macon Telegraph (GA): Cole Miller climbing up UFC ranks
- The Macon Telegraph (GA): MMA scene growing in Middle Georgia
Topics: Canada, Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Trouble in Tacoma
By Zach Arnold | February 23, 2008
Jan “The Giant” Nortje just about finished Bob Sapp’s fighting career tonight.
Sapp reportedly was scheduled to fight for the DREAM debut event on 3/15 at Saitama Super Arena. K-1 and DSE cannot be happy about this outcome.
I’m starting to regret the fact that I brought up a possible analogy between Bob Sapp and Kimbo Slice.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma): Sapp loses quickly in MMA main event
- The Seattle Times: Sapp’s cage match has abrupt ending
- Dave Meltzer: Ruinous homecoming for Sapp
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Results of Yuji Nagata’s medical tests
By Zach Arnold | February 22, 2008
As it reportedly stands:
- CT scan – negative
- MRI – negative
- MRA (angiography) – showed some slight hemorrhaging of blood on the right side of his brain due to cumulative head trauma over many years of wrestling matches
The good news is that doctors don’t think Nagata will need surgery, but it’s unknown when he’ll come back to pro-wrestling.
Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Friday fight headlines (2/22/08)
By Zach Arnold | February 22, 2008
Another possible UFC lawsuit?
According to our friends at Pro Fight Store, there’s discussion that Zuffa may file a lawsuit against Croatian fighter Goran Reljic. The reason? He participated recently at the BJJ Bristol Open. Reljic won both the heavyweight and absolute divisions.
Update: In the comments section, claims that the rumor is false.
One UFC legal rumor that is true is that counsel for PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings has set a service date for a summons to be issued to DSE for that upcoming lawsuit. The defendants in the case are Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Ubon Inc. (his production company), Dream Stage Holdings Inc., and DSE Inc.
From the desk of the CSAC…
Anthony Rubalcava, who last competed for Cage Combat on February 16, 2008, has been suspended for adulterating his test for drugs of abuse. The suspension is in effect from the conclusion of the bout on February 16, 2008 through August 14, 2008. He has been fined $1,000.
The Cage Combat event was tested randomly for drugs of abuse only.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, HDNet, IFL, Japan, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, StrikeForce, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Yahoo-UFC mega-deal
By Zach Arnold | February 21, 2008
So there was a press release on Thursday announcing that Yahoo will stream UFC PPvs online for $44.95 USD/show. (Good luck with that, boys.)
Naturally, UFC pushed this deal hard on their conference call.
Reaction to the news has been mixed. Fightlinker is cautiously optimistic, while Luke Thomas is sounding the alarm bells.
I’ll have further thoughts about this deal on the next edition of Fight Opinion Radio, a truly perfect radio show that does not fall victim to any of these criticisms. UNLEASH A MONSTER… TODAY.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
TV time set for DREAM debut event
By Zach Arnold | February 21, 2008
It will air on Tokyo Broadcasting System on the same day (3/15) from 7:00-8:54 PM JST. The event takes place at Saitama Super Arena and is the start of the 2008 Lightweight GP tournament (start time is 3 PM JST).
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
PRIDE, Xyience, Zuffa, and you
By Zach Arnold | February 21, 2008
Special guest opinion/editorial by Leland Roling of MMA-Analyst.com
One of the bigger stories so far this year has been the emergence of two scandals that have earned the attention of hardcore fans and the MMA community as a whole. The purchase of PRIDE from Dream Stage Entertainment in the early part of last year sent waves of bliss to the fans who wanted to see the dream matchups that they’ve always discussed with fellow fans for many years. It also managed to bring on the present lawsuit that was filed by Zuffa against the former Dream Stage Entertainment management. Taking a backseat to the DSE lawsuit, Xyience, the UFC’s main sponsor for years, has come under fire for its sudden bankruptcy and subsequent infusion of capital from the Fertittas. Why should the casual fanbase care about the inner workings of Zuffa and the related scandals? The end product may eventually be a victim of the consequences.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Yakuza | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Is there a difference between Frank Shamrock & Kimbo Slice?
By Zach Arnold | February 20, 2008
In a round-about way, that’s the question Mauro Ranallo and Bryan Alvarez discussed today in regards to marketing in MMA (audio here).
Speaking of marketing, I made an appearance on MMA Predictions radio a few days ago to talk about the possibility of WWE buying UFC and how WWE would market MMA differently than Zuffa currently is. The fear amongst most of the MMA hardcores is that you’d end up with a product like this:
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Wednesday war room: Iceman heats up book sales
By Zach Arnold | February 20, 2008
Chuck Liddell’s new book, Iceman, is listed #9 this week on The New York Times Best-Seller’s list for hardcover nonfiction books. This is the second week that Liddell’s book has made the list at #9.
Pro Fight Store sent us two links regarding a possible M-1 event happening soon in France (links here and here).
- MMA Mania: Kimbo Slice paid $175,000 USD for win over Tank Abbott
- MMA Payout: New details on Zuffa’s $325 million USD loan
- Adam Swift: HDNet Fights has contract with Randy Couture; question is when it begins
- CBS Sports: Q & A with UFC heavyweight Frank Mir
- The Las Vegas Sun: Couture club
- Setanta Sports (UK): Michael Bisping ready to go on the Rampage
- Bloody Elbow: Tito Ortiz wants to drag MMA down
- MMA California: Female fighters needed for upcoming Fatal Femmes show
- MMA Opinion: Can video games help MMA?
- Steve Cofield: UFC may be on the verge of mass fighter exodus
- Mainichi Daily News: Sumo association may appoint outsiders to its board
- The Livingstons Daily Press & Argus (MI): Fighters mix it up in the cage at Gladiator MMA gym
Topics: HDNet, Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Pancrase 3/26 Korakuen Hall card
By Zach Arnold | February 20, 2008
- #1 contender’s match (Featherweights): Miki Shida vs. Marlon Sandro (Nova Uniao)
- Middleweights: Izuru Takeuchi vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
- Middleweights: Alavutdin Gadzhiev (Russia) vs. Hikaru Sato
- Lightweights: Takafumi Ito vs. Hacran Dias (Nova Uniao)
- Lightweights: Kenji Arai vs. Shinsuke Shoji (Krazy Bee)
- Bantamweights: Michihisa Asano vs. Yukito (U-FILE camp)
- Middleweights: Ichiro Kanai vs. Takenori Sato
- Welterweights: Asaki Honda vs. Tomoyoshi Iwamiya
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Pancrase, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |