How quickly will WWE return to PPV? What does it mean for UFC?
By Zach Arnold | May 21, 2014
The UFC rushed to launch Fight Pass before Vince McMahon could announce the launch of the WWE Network. And WWE proceeded to make that announcement in the UFC’s backyard.
At the time of the announcement, estimable writers like Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report (now the #2 sports site on the Internet) said that the launch of the WWE Network was the equivalent of shooting PPV in the head and leaving it for dead. My opinion was that the WWE Network would certainly be revolutionary and could perhaps help keep WWE’s business going in the future. At the same time, I never believed that PPV was a dying concept. As long as you have compelling stars, you can draw on PPV. And PPV still means something. Appointment-viewing content still means something. PPV still carries a level of unique interest. Both Dave Meltzer and Mauro Ranallo (on Fight Opinion Radio) also agreed with those sentiments.
Three months after the launch of the WWE Network, the only numbers released publicly so far indicate a little under 700,000 promised subscribers. How many of them being paid subscribers versus deadbeats is yet to be determined. At a Monday conference call, Vince McMahon & George Barrios said they would release new subscription numbers next quarter.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Viacom, Bellator PPV debut delivers some bizarrely intriguing moments with a yo-yo consistency
By Zach Arnold | May 17, 2014
A 3 hour PPV with 5 fights and they are going to go past the 1am hour. That's rough by any standard.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) May 18, 2014
Key takeaway here is that if this is just how Chandler fights against other quality fighters, his prime won't last long. Especially at 155.
— Jason (@JasonAmadi) May 18, 2014
And, so Bellatorish, they have a great young fighter emerge, killing their most heavily pushed fighter and sorta Chandler-Alvarez 3. Woof.
— Jordan Breen (@jordanbreen) May 18, 2014
First, a run-down of the main fight results from the card:
- Go Yamauchi (+200) defeated Mike Richman (-200, 2 to 1 favorite) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Fabricio Guerrero (+300) defeated Shahbulat Shamhalaev (-300, 3 to 1 favorite) in R1 in 3’29 by submission.
- Marcin Held defeated Nate Jolly in R1 in 4’20 by submission with an armbar.
- Cheick Kongo defeated Eric Smith in R2 in 4’35 by TKO.
- Michael Page defeated Ricky Rainey in R1 in 4’29 by TKO.
- Heavyweight tournament finals: Alexander Volkov defeated Blagoi Ivanov in R2 in 1’08 by submission with a choke sleeper hold.
- Tito Ortiz (+350) defeated Alexander Shlemenko (-400, 4 to 1 favorite) in R1 in 2’27 by submission with a triangle choke.
- Interim Bellator Lightweight title match: Will Brooks (+800) defeated Michael Chandler (-1000, 10 to 1 favorite) after 5R by split decision.
- Rampage Jackson (-200, 2 to 1 favorite) defeated King Mo (+180) after 3R by unanimous decision. That was wrong.
Wow! 2 judges gave brooks round 5! The round where he was essentially KO'd and just about submitted in the final 2 minutes. That is so bad
— Luca FurysFightPicks (@FurysFightPicks) May 18, 2014
Onto some thoughts from the show:
1. Very rough pacing of fights for the first 90 minutes. They went over the 3 hour time window.
2. Why did Bellator run the show on MS soil rather than Tennessee soil where: a) there’s no state income tax; b) Jeff Mullen and company are quality regulators? Who knows.
3. Frank Shamrock has natural charisma. Just not as an interviewer.
"God put me on this Earth to be a tool." – Tito Ortiz, 5/18/2014. Never forget.
— Jordan Breen (@jordanbreen) May 18, 2014
4. Interesting to see how many people on social media are celebrating the “demise” of Alexander Shlemenko & Michael Chandler. They’re also mocking Bjorn Rebney and Bellator. Long term damages, perhaps, but Tito Ortiz winning is very valuable for the Viacom suits. When I wrote my Sherdog article on how people treat Tito Ortiz as a punchline, the point of the article was to note that a lot of the criticism leveled against him was overly harsh. His career trajectory was the same as Chuck Liddell after their second match but Tito, like Chuck, wasn’t afraid to fight tough guys and embarrass himself in the process. Chuck’s celebrated for delivering punchlines while fans took glee in treating Tito as a punchline.
Don’t believe me when I say people think of Tito as a chicken and a punchline? Even Bjorn Rebney thought Tito would back out of the Shlemenko fight.
The win over Shlemenko sets up Tito vs. Rampage and that’s what the Viacom suits wanted to happen on PPV in the first place. Unless they play off the Mississippi score-cards and do Mo/Rampage (again).
Lawal: "Bjorn, you know what's up man. Your d*ck riding ass. You know I won that f*cking fight, you smiling and sh*t."
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 18, 2014
5. The Bellator PPV did well in terms of social media traffic, snark and all.
6. Bjorn Rebney said he didn’t know attendance and live gate figures for the event. He also defended the score cards of the Mississippi judges. The announced attendance at the Inglewood Forum for Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Mike Alvarado was 12,090.
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Will WWE fight the California State Athletic Commission over taxation of Wrestlemania?
By Zach Arnold | May 15, 2014
Whenever the document dumps for future California State Athletic Commission meetings are released, I’m a sucker for pouring over the pages and looking at the fine print. There’s always a news story to be found.
The document dump for Friday’s CSAC meeting in Los Angeles is no exception. I want you to take a look at page 35.
In the dullest typewriter font, there is a breakdown of gate taxes that CSAC levies on boxing, kickboxing, MMA, muay thai, and pro-wrestling events. Section 18824 of the state’s Business and Professions Code spells out the following:
(2) A fee of 5 percent, exclusive of any federal taxes paid thereon, of the amount paid for admission to the contest or wrestling exhibition, except that for any one contest, the fee shall not exceed the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). The commission shall report to the Legislature on the fiscal impact of the one-hundred-thousand-dollar ($100,000) limit on fees collected by the commission for admissions revenues during its next sunset review.
According to CSAC’s numbers for their July 2013-June 2014 Fiscal Year, here are the gate taxation numbers so far from live events:
- Boxing – Gate Taxes: $176,151.41
- Wrestling – Gate Taxes: $228,698.09
- Mixed Martial Arts – Gate Taxes: $123,336.08
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio: Herb Dean answers your questions on MMA officiating & fan criticism
By Zach Arnold | May 12, 2014
Herb Dean is a winner in life and on Twitter (@HerbDeanMMA)
Download the show
RIGHT HERE: (http://www.fightopinion.com/podcasts/foradio-5-12-2014.mp3).
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Time length of this week’s show: 39 minutes (18 MB MP3)
Show preview
Herb Dean (official web site here) just finished his yearly referee training camp & worked the main event of the UFC Cincinnati fight between Matt Brown & Erick Silva. The man has a lot going on right now, but he stopped by Fight Opinion Radio to address many questions that fans would ask a famous MMA referee if they had the chance to do so.
How does a referee in an ultrahazardous sport avoid getting severely injured? Big John McCarthy is on the mend after suffering a knee injury from working at UFC’s Orlando card last month. It’s a surprise referees don’t get injured more often during fights.
Does being a former or current MMA fighter automatically make you a better referee? How do you read the poker-faces of fighters who often hide injuries? What is a worse dilemma for a referee: an early stoppage or a late stoppage? What kind of tape study is involved in preparing to officiate a big fight?
How do you avoid suffering from the rabbit ears caused by fan & writer criticism(s)? How do you deal with fighters who try to influence stoppages by egging on referees to stop fights? Why are the standards between referees for standing up fighters for inactivity on the ground so wildly different? How does a famous MMA referee avoid the pitfalls from potential conflicts of interests? How do you avoid playing favorites?
Pretty much everything we could ask, we asked Herb. And it was a great interview. Worth a listen… even for our number one listener.
Contact us
Get a hold of us by messaging Judge Jeff on Twitter (@whaledog) and Zach on Twitter (@fightopinion).
Our e-mail address: [email protected].
Special thanks
To Zack Nelson for his past & present support of Fight Opinion Radio. A mad genius.
Topics: Fight Opinion Radio, Jeff Thaler, Media, MMA, podcasts, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
One week away from Bellator’s under-publicized Memphis-area PPV
By Zach Arnold | May 8, 2014
The stakes: Bellator will continue as-is if the PPV buy rate number isn’t hot, and for expectation purposes let’s use 50,000 as the cut number. Anything over 50,000? Then the lobbying begins to get Viacom cash flowing to ramp up Bellator activity in attracting bigger names. If the number isn’t great, then Bellator stays as-is for Viacom in terms of being an MMA-on-the-cheap property that draws in money but isn’t going to grow.
Here’s how the Saturday, May 17th card from Southaven, Mississippi at the Landers Center stands:
- Lightweight title match:
Eddie AlvarezWill Brooks vs. Michael Chandler - Light Heavyweights: Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo
- Alexander Shlemenko vs. Tito Ortiz
- Welterweights: Ricky Rainey vs. Michael Page
- Heavyweights: Alexander Volkov vs. Blagoi Ivanov
- Heavyweights: Cheick Kongo vs. Eric Smith
- Lightweights:
Patricky Pitbullvs. Marcin Held - Featherweights: Go Yamauchi vs. Mike Richman
This card has been marketed as a two-match PPV show and only one of those fights (Rampage/Mo) has been pushed as the must-see fight in advertising.
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio: Mauro Ranallo on the art & science of promoting a big Floyd Mayweather fight
By Zach Arnold | May 6, 2014
How Mauro Ranallo managed to do play-by-play of Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Marcos Maidana while live-tweeting at the same time, I’ll never know. But the man knows the science behind Showtime’s production of a Floyd Mayweather fight and it’s always an education for our listeners.
How does the atmosphere of a Floyd Mayweather fight compare to some of the bigger MMA fights in history, such as Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko Cro Cop? Mauro has seen it all and shares his candid thoughts on what the differences are.
Plus Jeff Thaler (@whaledog) and I share our thoughts on the ceiling hovering over Jon Jones as a big business draw. He’s a one-of-a-kind talent with a one-of-a-kind personality that isn’t magnetic in attracting fan support. Jim Ross recently had some words of business advice for the UFC and we have our response to that advice. More shows does not equal more stars.
Download the show
RIGHT HERE: (http://www.fightopinion.com/podcasts/foradio-5-06-2014.mp3).
Subscribe automatically to Fight Opinion Radio: http://feeds.feedburner.com/fightopinionradio.
Time length of this week’s show: 30 minutes (14 MB MP3)
Contact us
Get a hold of us by messaging Judge Jeff on Twitter (@whaledog) and Zach on Twitter (@fightopinion).
Our e-mail address: [email protected].
Special thanks
To Zack Nelson for his past & present support of Fight Opinion Radio. A true friend.
Topics: Boxing, Fight Opinion Radio, Jeff Thaler, Media, MMA, podcasts, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Nevada State Athletic Commission member applies for medical marijuana business permit
By Zach Arnold | May 5, 2014
Somewhere, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nick Diaz are wondering what the hell is going on here.
Anthony Marnell III, who was appointed to the Nevada State Athletic Commission by Governor Brian Sandoval, is one of many big business types who reportedly filed an application for a medical marijuana business permit.
Clear River LLC (production, cultivation and dispensary) — Manager Anthony Marnell III is president of the M Resort.
Marnell III is now a member of an athletic commission that is infamous for hammering fighters over testing positive for marijuana metabolites. That isn’t the only conflict of interest, however, for Marnell III at NSAC. NSAC recently approved King of the Cage events that just happened to be booked at Edgewater Casino, one of his properties.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. Take a look at who else is on the list of people who applied for permits in Clark County.
Doctors Dispensary LLC (dispensary, cultivation production) — Managing members include Las Vegas hematologist Dr. Oscar Goodman Jr., son of current Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and former Mayor Oscar Goodman. Other managing members include Dr. Michael Resnick, a Las Vegas dermatologist, former Planet Hollywood Resort president William Feather and Las Vegas attorney Raffi Nahabedian.
Raffi has been an attorney for MMA fighters Chael Sonnen & BJ Penn. But he’s not the big name that stands out.
Deep Roots Medical LLC (dispensary) — Manager Branan Allison runs Source One Events, a Henderson equipment rental and event planning company for the entertainment industry. Manager Gary Primm is a casino developer who developed the Primadonna resort and and helped develop the New York New York resort. Another manager is Roger Primm, who is related to Gary and was a fellow co-owner of Primadonna Resorts. The registered agent is Las Vegas attorney Lori Rogich, wife of power broker Sig Rogich. Sig Rogich claims a 5 percent share of Deep Roots through another company, Blakely Island Holdings LLC.
One of the many projects Rogich is involved in happens to be the Lou Ruvo Cleveland Clinic center. Guess who’s on the permit applicant list?
Integral Associates LLC (cultivation, production and dispensary) — One manager, Armen Yemenidjian, is vice president of casino operations at the Tropicana resort. Another manager is Camille Ruvo, co-founder of the Keep Memory Alive nonprofit organization that supports the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health downtown. She is the wife of Southern Wines and Spirits partner Larry Ruvo.
So the fighters are evil, bad people when they use marijuana and test positive for it. But those who have the money and are in positions of authority are more than happy to profit from the same substance they fine & suspend athletes for getting caught using.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Business takeaways from UFC’s booking of Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum for Mexico City
By Zach Arnold | April 30, 2014
The announcement in Mexico City of Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum at Arena Ciudad on November 15th is not a surprise. If you listened to Mike Mersch at the Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting last week, it was very clear that UFC and their television partner have extremely high hopes for the three new Ultimate Fighter series they are launching. The crown jewel of the bunch is TUF Latin America. The UFC and Fox are pinning their hopes, with the relationship involving Televisa, that they can become a major player in the Mexican TV market. This is no different than the hopes/fears that people had many years ago when WWE was taking Mexico by storm and there were concerns about whether or not the two major players in Lucha (AAA & CMLL) would be able to withstand the invasion.
7 of Canelo's last 8 fights were in U.S. Julio Cesar Chavez fought 10 of 11 in the U.S. in his prime. Mexico =/= big money in combat sports
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) April 29, 2014
If you listened to our recent interview with Jimmy Lennon Jr. on Fight Opinion Radio, you know that the desire of fight promoters to run major events in Mexico City is nothing new. Jimmy was there for the Julio Cesar Chavez/Greg Haugen fight in front of 130,000 people at Azteca Stadium in 1993.
(Ironically I bring this date up given that Dana used Haugen last week to somewhat justify racist talk in the fight game.)
I’m not surprised at the UFC is trying to make major in-roads into the Mexican market. A big part of their strategy in marketing Cain Velasquez is to convince everyone that he’s a hero to Latino fight fans. They pushed him hard in California and got, at best, mixed results. Then they booked him for Texas. And now it’s onto Mexico City.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The UFC begins two-a-day events starting with their busy May schedule
By Zach Arnold | April 29, 2014
Event: UFC Fight Night on Saturday, May 10th at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports 1 & 2
- Welterweights: Anthony Lapsley vs. Albert Tumenov
- Lightweights: Justin Salas vs. Ben Wall
- Featherweights: Manny Gamburyan vs. Nik Lentz
- Bantamweights: Eddie Wineland vs. Johnny Eduardo
- Welterweights: Yan Cabral vs. Zak Cummings
- Flyweights: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Darrell Montague
- Middleweights: Ed Herman vs. Rafael Natal
- Flyweights: Chris Cariaso vs. Louis Smolka
- Heavyweights: Soa “The Hulk” Palelei vs. Ruan Potts
- Welterweights: Neil Magny vs. Tim Means
- Lightweights: Erik Koch vs. Daron Cruickshank
- Middleweights: Costa Philippou vs. Lorenz Larkin
- Welterweights: Erick Silva vs. Matt Brown
Event: UFC 173 on Saturday, May 24th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
TV: Fox Sports 1/PPV
- Welterweights: Danny Mitchell vs. Li Jingliang
- Featherweights: Sam Sicilia vs. Doo Ho Choi
- Lightweights: Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel
- Lightweights: Al Iaquinta vs. Mitch Clarke
- Bantamweights: Chris Holdsworth vs. Chico Camus
- Lightweights: Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
- Lightweights: Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
- Lightweights: Jamie Varner vs. James Krause
- Bantamweights: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera
- Welterweights: Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Ellenberger
- Light Heavyweights: Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
- UFC Bantamweight title match: Renan Barao vs. TJ Dillashaw
Event: UFC Fight Night on Saturday, May 31st at the O2 World Berlin Arena in Germany
TV: Internet
- Heavyweights: Viktor Pesta vs. Ruslan Magomedov
- Featherweights: Andy Ogle vs. Maximo Blanco
- Welterweights: Peter Sobotta vs. Pawel Pawlak
- Bantamweights: Yuri Alcantara vs. Vaughan Lee
- Middleweights: Magnus Cedenblad vs. Kryzsztof Jotko
- Lightweights: Nick Hein vs. Drew Dober
- Featherweights: Thiago Tavares vs. Tom Niinimaki
- Middleweights: Luke Barnatt vs. Sean Strickland
- Middleweights: Francis Carmont vs. CB Dollaway
- Middleweights: Mark Munoz vs. Gegard Mousasi
Event: The Ultimate Fighter Brazil finale on Saturday, May 31st at Ibirapuera Gym in Sao Paulo, Brazil
TV: Fox Sports 1
- Bantamweights: Pedro Munhoz vs. Matt Hobar
- Lightweights: Rodrigo Damm vs. Rashid Magomedov
- Featherweights: Kevin Souza vs. Mark Eddiva
- Welterweights: Paulo Thiago vs. Gasan Umalatov
- Lightweights: Elias Silverio vs. Ernest Chavez
- Featherweights: Diego Brandao vs. Brian Ortega
- Featherweights: Rony Jason vs. Robert Peralta
- Welterweights: Demian Maia vs. Alexander Yakovlev
- Heavyweights: Junior Dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
So much for the UFC’s ham-handed attempt of prodding Phil Davis to trash Jon Jones
By Zach Arnold | April 26, 2014
A good idea for promoting Jones' fights going forward is to promote his fights. Not fantasy fights between WMMA fighters and male boxers
— Brent Brookhouse (@brentbrookhouse) April 27, 2014
Event: UFC 172 (Saturday, April 26th at the Baltimore Arena)
TV: Fox Sports 1/PPV
- Bantamweights: Chris Beal defeated Patrick Williams in R2 in 1’51 with a flying knee for the KO.
- Lightweights: Danny Castillo defeated Charlie Brenneman in R2 in 21 seconds by KO.
- Ladies 135 pounds: Bethe Correia defeated Jessamyn Duke after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Lightweights: Takanori Gomi defeated Isaac Vallie-Flagg after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Flyweights: Joe Benavidez defeated Tim Elliott in R1 in 4’08 by submission.
- Featherweights: Max Holloway defeated Andre Fili in R3 in 3’39 by submission (choke).
- Lightweights: Jim Miller defeated Yancy Medeiros in R1 in 3’18 by submission (choke).
- Middleweights: Luke Rockhold defeated Tim Boetsch in R1 in 2’08 by submission (kimura).
- Light Heavyweights: Anthony Johnson defeated Phil Davis after 3R by unanimous decision.
- UFC Light Heavyweight title match: Jon Jones defeated Glover Teixeira after 5R by unanimous decision.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The press (like ESPN & Dan Le Batard) is bumping into some uncomfortable trends for the UFC
By Zach Arnold | April 25, 2014
Members of MMAWC, LLC, one of the various LLCs associated with the WSOF
The World Series of Fighting: unofficial bastard child of the UFC? Stalking horse promotion to sign fighters who might have otherwise signed with Bellator? Why have so many writers stayed quiet on this topic or have been quick to chastise the few of us pointing out the obvious?
If you didn’t hear the latest news, the UFC has signed Andrei Arlovski after WSOF released him. And Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is fighting Phil Davis in the semi-main event of Saturday’s PPV from Baltimore. The WSOF has, in turn, signed Jake Shields, Yushin Okami, Jon Fitch, Josh Burkman, Tyson Griffin, Jacob Volkmann, and others who were released by the UFC.
WSOF is a promotion founded by Sig Rogich, Nevada’s top political fixer. A top ally to Senators Harry Reid & John McCain. A top family friend to Marc Ratner (lifelong friend) and Lorenzo Fertitta. Ratner was Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission when Lorenzo was a commission member before buying the UFC. Rogich is the former Chairman of the NSAC. Rogich was the one who was front-and-center at a presser in Washington D.C. to tout the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo brain study for fighters. While attending that presser, John McCain and others were parroting that there isn’t need for federal oversight & regulation of MMA. No Ali Act required, huh?
@FightOpinion Surprised you didn’t mention Ali Abdelaziz: TUF Coach.
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) April 25, 2014
And yet if you point out the obvious personal & past/current business/political connections between Rogich, Ratner, and Lorenzo you are labeled a conspiracy theorist by those who bother to speak up. Meanwhile, the majority of writers who could be discussing the obvious won’t. There’s no upside to doing so. Not only would it piss off allies in Zuffa and WSOF to start blathering about Rogich, it would also require an admission that I’m right. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned — from the testosterone issue to the PRIDE yakuza scandal to athletic commission scandals — it’s that many media writers would rather pass a kidney stone than admit that I’m on the right side of a touchy subject in the fight business.
The only thing more amusing than watching the writers purposely avoid touching this subject is watching fighters sign with pseudo semi-major UFC-friendly promotion WSOF and immediately start talking trash about their former employer (UFC) afterwards. Newsflash to fighters: people are laughing at you when you say that WSOF is treating you so much better than you were treated while fighting for the UFC. The only fighter who figured this whole thing out was Ben Askren.
What I want to know is what exactly the harm would be by admitting the full scope of the relationship between WSOF & UFC. Unless there’s some top-secret dealings that, if disclosed, would explode the business… then there’s no harm in actually admitting the truth and playing it straight.
There are some issues where playing it straight and professional is the only move to make.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Notebook: Dana White’s new stance on (cleaning up) drug usage; Texas commission job opening (now confirmed)
By Zach Arnold | April 24, 2014
Lots of little odds & ends but no real in-depth news item, so here we go:
"PEDs have been cleaned up in the UFC." — Dana to Beadle on SportsNation. "The TRT was a nightmare thing for me." Points to less test fails
— FightOpinion (@FightOpinion) April 24, 2014
I noticed that the new public relations line from the UFC is that they don’t have a massive drug problem because there are now less drug test failures than in the past. In other words, less fighters are failing the IQ test. When in doubt on fighters failing that IQ test, predicting dumb over smart is the safe bet.
The doomsday (to compel arbitration) hearing between Darin Harvey and Ronda Rousey happens next Wednesday (4/30) in Los Angeles Superior Court. The fight portion of the talent agreement has already been severed thanks to the recent California State Athletic Commission arbitration decision.
I know Dana White likes to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but there is a certain gleam in his eye when he talks about Ronda Rousey that you don’t see when he talks about other fighters currently on the UFC roster. I can only imagine he’ll feel the same way once Marina Shafir gives him a reason to sign her for the 145 pound women’s division.
Speaking of Marina, here’s hoping you listened to our interview with her on the latest edition of Fight Opinion Radio. On that same show, we had a discussion about whether or not Georges St. Pierre was underpaid at an alleged $5 million USD per fight (thanks Joe Rogan). When you compare what GSP made on top versus what Manny Pacquiao got paid for the Tim Bradley re-match ($20 million dollars), they’re not even in the same stratosphere. Does the UFC’s argument that the money they spend on undercard fighters (more money than boxing cards) hold up?
Keep your eyes open on what is happening with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Is Austin about to send out an invite to a current state athletic commission boss?
Interesting that an 8 AM conference call for today Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting would have well over 20 callers on the line. The Mayweather effect. Interesting how Francisco Aguilar, who is the Chairman and not the Executive Director, is the dominant voice at the meetings. Eric Gomez of Golden Boy & Leonard Ellerbe were on the phone to approve NSAC’s selection of officials. Tony Weeks will be the referee for the Mayweather/Maidana fight. He will get paid $8,150. The three judges for the main event will get paid $5,150 each. Kenny Bayless & Jay Nady passed over. Dr. Vicki Mazzorana got booked for the PPV show.
What event would draw better ratings for a non-PPV TV network spending $100 million on one sporting event: one NFL playoff game on ESPN or a Mayweather/Pacquiao fight on CBS?
Mike Mersch from UFC stated will be producing three new series of The Ultimate Fighter in Las Vegas. He was at the Nevada commission meeting Thursday morning for a limited waiver of regulations.
Update (4/25): Yesterday we noted that Austin was considering posting job openings at the Texas DLR (athletic commission). This morning, a new job listing for a top director position has been posted. $40,000 a year, bilingual, and a lot of travel.
@FightOpinion @TheTanyaAttack Thanks for sharing this job posting. FYI, this is not a “top assistant director” position though.
— Texas Fights (@TexasFights) April 25, 2014
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio: A chat with the uniquely skilled, colorful, and ruthlessly efficient Marina Shafir
By Zach Arnold | April 22, 2014
Click the image to find out more details about the May 4th event in Glendale, CA
If you mention The 4 Horsewomen to an online MMA fan, chances are you are going to elicit a strong reaction (one way or the other). And that’s the way the all-female MMA family likes it. Teams come and go in Mixed Martial Arts and some of them do strike an emotional connection with the fans. In the case of The 4 Horsewomen, their fan support is organic and growing by the day. Variety is the spice of life and it’s more important than ever to stand out in a sport that is flooded with many fighters who look & talk alike.
Marina Shafir is the rookie of the group but her fight performances demonstrate professional polish. Watch any of her past amateur fights and it’s hard not to walk away convinced that she’s dominant and will continue to smother the competition. Her professional debut earlier this month at Hollywood Park went the same way as her past amateur fights, only this time she got paid, fought in a ring, and had Big John McCarthy referee her fight. Welcome to the big stage.
We had a chance to interview Marina about her background in Judo beyond what you’ve read in the press clippings. If you listened to our recent radio interview with Judo Gene LeBell, you heard Uncle Gene talk about the financial challenges Ronda Rousey faced and why her career evolved the way it did. For Marina Shafir, she found herself in similar circumstances. Once the UFC decides to book 145 pound female fighters, Marina will more than likely be a superstar for a company that really needs to build as many new stars as possible.
With that level of pressure to perform at a high level amidst growing expectations, it is going to be an interesting path as far as watching Marina’s learning curve and who will want to fight her. Her goal is to fight Cyborg in a couple of years. Will the dream be realized?
We had a chance to delve into the personal dynamics of Marina Shafir’s relationship with Ronda Rousey and why it is so strong. We also got a chance to ask her a question based on our recent interview with Eddie Bravo about the usefulness (or uselessness) of training with a gi and whether or not it’s a waste of time. Let’s just say her opinion is quite different than Eddie’s.
If you want to stalk check out Marina on social media like she stalks Cyborg, you can follow her on Twitter (@marinashafir) and on Instagram.
Download the show
RIGHT HERE: (http://www.fightopinion.com/podcasts/foradio-4-22-2014.mp3).
Subscribe automatically to Fight Opinion Radio: http://feeds.feedburner.com/fightopinionradio.
Time length of this week’s show: 37 minutes (17 MB MP3)
Contact us
Armbar Nation, let us know your thoughts on the interview by messaging Judge Jeff on Twitter (@whaledog) and Zach on Twitter (@fightopinion).
Our e-mail address: [email protected].
Special thanks
To Zack Nelson for his past & present support of Fight Opinion Radio. A true friend.
Topics: Fight Opinion Radio, Jeff Thaler, Media, MMA, podcasts, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |