Latest update on UFC vs. Couture lawsuit
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2008
An attorney has been finally named on behalf of Randy Couture — Joseph S. Peek. Findlaw search on Peek.
Peek filed a motion to dismiss the case and a court date has been set for the hearing on March 25th.
Meanwhile, the court date for Zuffa’s motion of a preliminary injunction against Couture has been moved up a full week and will take place on 2/26 (next week).
Update on Xyience Inc. vs. Rich Bergeron court case
Rich Bergeron has posted a PDF of his counterclaim in court against Xyience (direct PDF document link here). It’s a 90-page document that outlines many of the statements that Bergeron recently made on Fightlinker’s radio show.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Mauro Ranallo’s response to EXC Miami event critics
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2008
Got a problem with the production values of the Showtime event? Have a problem with the dancers and the rap music? Irritated by the quality of the commentating by Showtime’s broadcast team?
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Kintaro Kanemura sexual harassment scandal
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2008
Update: Here’s a scan of Tokyo Sports today that Kakutolog has posted. The big question raised now is whether or not Big Japan tried to cover-up the incident. The newspaper speculates on whether criminal charges will be filed.
Update II: Kanemura’s bookings on two upcoming LOCK-UP shows (2/24 Korakuen Hall & 2/29 Osaka, IMP Hall) have been canceled.
If there is one guarantee that you can count on in the world of Japanese professional wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts, it’s that there always seems to be a scandal right around the corner.
A quick summary of what is already starting to erupt into a big story…
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Quote of the Day – Israel Gutierrez
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2008
In today’s Miami Herald newspaper:
Instead, I watched the boxing match between Jermaine Taylor and Kelly Pavlik, a fight in which cuts were treated, consciousness was encouraged and the only time you considered someone would die was when ”guest judge” Harold Lederman got a little too excited while giving his round-by-round scoring.
And that’s where the hesitation to embrace Slice comes in. It’s not in the man himself. It’s in the mixed martial arts events where rules and safety are something of an afterthought, and too often referees step in five or six punches after a fighter’s brain has clearly surrendered.
Based on accounts from folks actually at the Elite XC event, there were cringe-worthy moments during the undercard where it appeared a fighter’s life was seriously at risk.
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 43 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tuesday reading material (2/19/08)
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2008
- MMA Predictions (radio): The rumors of WWE purchasing the UFC
- MMA Fight Weekly (MSNBC): Tito Ortiz done with UFC
- The Hurricane Online (Miami): Kimbo slices up opponent, rallies passionate fans
- Black Athlete: Kimbo ‘Slices up’ Abbott
- The Miami Herald: Kimbo ‘Slice of life’
- MMA Madness: The Beard & The Rapture – what’s next for Kimbo Slice?
- MMA Opinion: King Kimbo
- The Big Lead: Kimbo Slice vs. Brock Lesnar – who wins?
- KXAS (Dallas): Bond of brothers – two tough guys, one tough story for Pat Smith
- Jarry Park: Audio interview of MGM Grand Employee providing an inside look at fighters & promoters
- Seconds Out: Wayne McCullough – ‘If people in boxing see UFC as a threat they should do something about boxing’
- The Tacoma News Tribune (WA): Bloody good business – MMA is taking the sports world by storm
- Sherdog: The downfall of BTT and Chute Boxe
Topics: Brazil, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
More media headaches for the Fertittas
By Zach Arnold | February 19, 2008
First, John G. Edwards has a lengthy article in the Las Vegas Business Press about last week’s Xyience bankruptcy court hearing. It’s a longer version of John’s article last week in the Review-Journal, with more details about the opposition against the Fertitta Brothers in the Xyience Chapter 11 proceedings. The article touches upon the role of Russell Pike in Xyience, which coincidentally plays off of what Charles Jay wrote on Sunday at MMA Memories.
Second, the Las Vegas Business Press has an article talking about three ex-Station Casino employees claiming payroll abuses in regards to allegations that employees were not sufficiently paid for overtime work.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Floyd Mayweather heading to WrestleMania
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2008
That was the obvious conclusion after watching tonight’s angle on RAW with The Big Show. If the rumor is true that Mayweather broke Big Show’s nose yesterday in Las Vegas, then I have to give credit to Show for putting up with that physical abuse.
I chuckled at the fact that WWE crowds in both Las Vegas and Anaheim booed Mayweather unmercilessly when he’s supposed to be a babyface. Watching Mayweather standing next to Big Show was great comedy. It was even better when the crowd started cheering Big Show for ripping into Mayweather.
Here is a write-up in The Canadian Press. Additional reports at Boxing Scene, Las Vegas Sun, and The Grand Rapids Press.
Topics: Boxing, Media, Pro-Wrestling, WWE, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media tunnelvision on Kimbo Slice
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2008
Talk about being out of touch with what American MMA fans want.
Franklin McNeil, whose work for The Newark Star-Ledger is usually pretty solid, veers into hardcore MMA purist territory with these comments in his new ESPN article about Kimbo Slice’s win over Tank Abbott:
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
HDNet & Couture vs. UFC
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2008
Start with this article by Dave Meltzer. Then, matriculate your way to this column by Adam Swift and response to the column at Bloody Elbow.
Topics: HDNet, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Monday news review (2/18/08)
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2008
I’m surprised that there isn’t a lot of angry boxing fans ranting and raving on various web sites about Floyd Mayweather Jr. doing an angle with Big Show at last night’s WWE PPV in Las Vegas.
- TKO Xtreme: Vancouver fighter shot in leg
- The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle (TN): Backyard MMA brawls pose controversy – unsanctioned, illegal fights put kids in danger
- The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Alaska): Fight Club – local MMA bouts are more than just bar brawls (long article)
- Shu Hirata: DREAM – the ‘grand coalition’ was just a rehab plan for HERO’s
- Charles Jay: Background checks for UFC? They’ve got it down to a ‘Xyience’
- Five Ounces of Pain: The phenomenon of Kimbo Slice
- Bryan Alvarez: The lessons to be learned from the Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott fight
- Any Given Saturday: Audio recap of Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott EXC Miami event
- Sherdog: Jake Rossen channels Norman Mailer to talk about Kimbo
- The Dayton Daily News: EXC’s 3-ring circus a hit
- Conde Nast Portfolio: Smacked down – ‘ultimate fighting’ has boxing and pro-wrestling on the ropes (this article claims that UFC’s 2007 PPV revenue was the same as 2006, meaning over $200 million USD)
- The Houston Chronicle: Training harder gives Chuck Liddell a major boost
- MMA Predictions: Who is the most popular MMA fighter?
- The Sheboygan Press (WI): Meet Sam Alvey (who is heading to Russia to train soon)
- Japan MMA: Cage Force Featherweight tournament update
- Total MMA: Elite XC – what’s in an image anyways?
Topics: Boxing, Canada, DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Quote of the Day – Mike Sloan
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2008
Today in his latest Sherdog article:
In keeping with new organizations popping up at every turn, how great is it that Pride is basically being resurrected? The new Dream organization will hopefully pick up right where Pride left off and rekindle the classic rivalry between UFC and Pride. Hopefully, though, the company doesn’t hemorrhage money to the point where Zuffa buys it and then demolishes everything in sight. We’ve already seen that happen.
- He forgot to tell his readers why DSE suddenly lost money after making money hand-over-fist for several years in Japan.
- He forgot the part about the grandmaster of this new project sitting behind a jail cell.
- I don’t know about you, but I just couldn’t get enough of those UFC vs. PRIDE threads on Sherdog and MMA Fighting.
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Is Kimbo Slice the American MMA version of Bob Sapp?
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2008
I’ll throw the question out there with some context and then watch the online powder keg explode.
Bob Sapp’s meteoric rise in the world of Japanese MMA & K-1 in the earlier part of this decade was remarkable to watch. Kazuyoshi Ishii did a brilliant job of marketing Sapp and playing off of Japanese stereotypes on foreigners, particularly black people. (Sapp disputes some of this thinking in a recent Total MMA interview).
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Yuji Nagata to undergo medical tests for stroke-like symptoms
By Zach Arnold | February 17, 2008
Update: More details added to the post.
For most hardcore MMA fans who don’t follow professional wrestling, Yuji Nagata is known as the poor guy who got his clock cleaned by Mirko Cro Cop on NYE 2001 at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye show in Saitama and by Fedor on NYE 2003 at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event at Kobe Wing Stadium.
There is no shame in losing to two of the scariest MMA fighters in the world. While those losses have defined Nagata’s career with hardcore MMA fans, most pro-wrestling fans understand what a legitimately tough individual Nagata is. If there is one word to define Nagata, that word would be ‘professional.’
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |