Saturday headlines: StrikeForce at the Playboy Mansion
By Zach Arnold | September 29, 2007
K-1 held their World GP 2007 event today at the Olympic Gym in Seoul, South Korea. Bonjasky earned a big win over Stefan Leko. The big news coming out of the show is that the World GP finals will take place on 12/8 at Yokohama Arena and not at the Tokyo Dome.
The Canadian Press reports that the TKO event at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Friday night drew 6,500. More coverage of this event can be read at The Montreal Gazette and MMA on Tap.
Today is the Strikeforce event at the Playboy Mansion. Yahoo is streaming the event live, starting at Midnight EST (9 PM PST). If you want to comment on the event as it is happening, post your comments here. Here is a preview in The Orange County Register and MMA Weekly has a profile article on Bobby Southworth. MMA Madness has an event preview. Here are the weigh-in results from Friday night at the Mansion.
Tonight is the Jermain Taylor/Kelly Pavlik fight in Atlantic City, NJ. The Cleveland Plain Dealer asks if Kelly Pavlik can help boxing fight to stay relevant with the rise of MMA.
The Tuscaloosa News (Alabama): Fighting for fun – Ultimate fighting draws growing following
Fox Sports (video): UFC’s hostile preview
Topics: Boxing, Canada, K-1, Media, MMA, South Korea, Zach Arnold | 45 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: Shane Mosley accused of doping
By Zach Arnold | September 28, 2007
The report comes from Sports Illustrated. Reaction to the story at Eastside Boxing. Mosley is scheduled to fight Miguel Cotto on 11/10.
Update: Golden Boy Promotions responds.
Update II: The tone has changed with Mosley:
“Sugar” Shane Mosley says he is a “health-freak-type of guy” who had no idea that what he took for a few weeks in the fall of 2003 were the BALCO designer steroids “the clear” and “the cream,” which he said he was pressured to take by his former strength and conditioning coach.
In an interview with ESPN.com Friday, the former three-division world champion said: “Unknowingly, yes, some of the substances they are talking about, were being used as part of the workouts. I didn’t know what the hell it was,” Mosley said from Big Bear, Calif., where he is training for a Nov. 10 fight with welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto.
Mosley’s comments on Friday night are contradictory to what his father said Friday afternoon on Fight Network Radio (audio here).
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Friday fight notes: Fedor turns 31
By Zach Arnold | September 28, 2007
Today is Fedor’s 31st birthday.
If you haven’t already listened to this week’s edition of Fight Opinion Radio, go listen now.
Quietly, K-1 is preparing for their World GP event in Seoul, South Korea this weekend.
The latest on Kazuhiro Nakamura:
Though he resisted, Nakamura was taken to a hospital for precautionary measures after complaining of a headache in his locker room following the three-round bout, according to CSAC Director Armando Garcia. That night, an initial assessment was made that Nakamura had suffered a subdoral hematoma, an accumulation of blood on the brain. Nakamura was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit that night. CSAC-appointed physician Paul Wallace joined the facility’s neuro surgery staff the next morning to review Nakamura’s scans.
“They made a determination that it was not a bleed,” says Garcia. The Japanese fighter was notified of the final assessment through a translator.
“We placed him on suspension, gave him some medical requirements prior to be reinstated, and as he said ‘Thank you, I’m going to Disneyland.’”
In its release, J-ROCK requested the CSAC perform a second drug test to confirm the results.
“We’ve tested the sample four times already,” said Garcia. Garcia says neither Nakamura nor any representative have contacted the CSAC’s office since the announcement.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, South Korea, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
J-ROCK comments on Kazuhiro Nakamura drug suspension
By Zach Arnold | September 27, 2007
By Zach Arnold
Update: I made an appearance on Fight Network Radio (audio here) on Thursday to discuss the Nakamura situation and how it’s playing out in Japan.
J-ROCK, the management team of Kazuhiro Nakamura, fired back at the California State Athletic Commission in the Japanese press on Thursday. The company released a statement on behalf of Nakamura, denying that he was guilty of using marijuana and that they are appealing the ruling. They want a drug test re-examination and are considering the current ruling a mistake. (In the statement, J-ROCK claims that they talked to Nakamura after the news of the failed drug test came out. Nakamura stated that he had no motive whatsoever for using marijuana and has not used marijuana.)
J-ROCK claims that Nakamura arrived in Los Angeles on 9/18 and basically stayed at the hotel until the day of the show (while practicing and training). After his fight with Ryoto Machida, Nakamura was taken to a local hospital for a CT scan (which revealed some brain bleeding issues). Nakamura flew back to Japan and went to Kitahara hospital in Hachioji, Tokyo and was examined by a Japanese doctor (CT scan and MRI). The results of the Japanese tests were different than the American hospital’s test results (the Japanese testing did not show bleeding in the brain).
Therefore, J-ROCK’s public stance is that there were mistakes with other medical tests and that there must have been a mistake with the CSAC drug test. They do not accept the current findings from the initial CSAC drug test.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 31 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
New Fedor interview (9/26)
By Zach Arnold | September 27, 2007
There is a new video interview that Fedor did on 9/26. Here is the full translation (thanks to M-1) of the interview.
(Interview performed by Dmitry Kibkalov from M-1 and translated by someone else)
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 38 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Thursday trash talk: How will the Japanese media cover Nakamura’s failed drug test?
By Zach Arnold | September 26, 2007
There are multiple news reports that Kazuhiro Nakamura tested positive for marijuana. By North American standards, this would be just looked upon as stupid. However, by Japanese standards, this will be a story of much larger importance given their cultural standards on marijuana usage (hint: it’s really considered bad in Japan).
There’s two ways this story will play out — either the Japanese media will completely ignore it and no-sell the story (the ostrich method of reporting) or they will go full-tilt and just hammer the hell out of it. Given that J-ROCK’s power has diminished with the death of PRIDE, I expect the media to be less skiddish and will attempt to shame Nakamura. However, if the media no-sells it, then it means that the press thinks J-ROCK still has power in the Japanese MMA business. (My personal opinion is that if the Japanese media covers-up the drug test failure for Nakamura, it’s a sign that J-ROCK and K-1 are going to be working together in the future.) So far, only NHB News (Japanese) has picked up the story.
Update: Sports Navigator (Yahoo Japan) has picked up the Sherdog and MMA Weekly stories. Nick Diaz’s name is mentioned in the Japanese article (in relation to his drug suspension by the NSAC when he fought Takanori Gomi last February).
You’ve heard of MMA companies going public, but now it’s gone a step further. Buy a promotion on EBay for $50,000 USD.
The Strikeforce 9/29 Playboy Mansion show will be streamed on Yahoo. Kevin Iole has a profile piece on Gilbert Melendez. Here’s an audio interview that The Fight Network did with Gilbert on Wednesday. Here’s an interview that Gilbert did with Sam Caplan.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: IFL, Japan, Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio #63: Frank Shamrock
By Zach Arnold | September 26, 2007
A big two-hour radio show this week. First, we are joined by Tomer Chen to talk about the fallout from UFC 76. Our focus is on how the current North American MMA judges could be trained better and what ways could be implemented to improve the effectiveness of the 10-point must system.
Second, we have a lengthy recap of all the major MMA show activity from the month of September. Some questions to ponder… Is Robbie Lawler now in the Top 5 list of 185 pound fighters (Middleweights) in the world? Was the Gina Carano weigh-in issue handled poorly or not? Why is Kenny Florian disliked by a lot of the Internet hardcore MMA fans? (We don’t understand it.)
Third, we have a very entertaining interview with Frank Shamrock. Topics discussed include how rehab is going for his knee injury, his thoughts on the current MMA landscape, his new reality show coming up (Frank Shamrock’s school of hard knocks), philosophy on ‘doing business’ in MMA, his desire to fight Tito Ortiz one more time, why he thinks Renzo Gracie faked the injury in their February Elite XC fight, and why the Vale Tudo Japan ’97 fight against Enson Inoue meant so much to his career and life.
Fourth, we have a true insider hardball MMA segment with special guest Jeremy Goodwin (CPA). Jeremy joins us to break down the BB- credit rating that Standard & Poors received assigned to Zuffa LLC, the parent company of UFC. Why is some financial data of a private company available through public means? What types of loans and lines of credit did Zuffa LLC take out? Plus, discussion about the differences between debt vs. stock financing. We’ll never have access to the financial books of Zuffa LLC, but what information is made available publicly is interesting. Hint: They’re doing really, really well. (Reply to Jeremy’s thoughts here).
We close out the show with the world-famous grab bag, the highest quarter-hour rated segments in all of MMA radio. What kind of drawing power could JZ Calvan develop in Japan? What should we make of Vancouver’s declaration to no longer sanction MMA?
The 63rd edition of Fight Opinion Radio is now online and available to download. Download this week’s show here.
Or you can use the great flash player to listen to it streaming (without having to use an external program). Check it out (down below).
[audio:http://www.fightopinion.com/podcasts/foradio-9-26-2007.mp3]Podcasting: Use http://feeds.feedburner.com/fightopinionradio. This link should work for all RSS programs and podcatching programs. You’ll never miss another show again.
If you have iTunes, do the following:
- In your iTunes program, go to Advanced. Then choose the Subscribe to Podcast option.
- Type in http://feeds.feedburner.com/fightopinionradio.
- The newest edition of Fight Opinion Radio will be automatically downloaded and future editions of FOR will download for you as well, hassle-free.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, Fight Opinion Radio, HERO's, Japan, Jeff Thaler, K-1, Media, MMA, podcasts, Pro Elite, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Wednesday war room: Where’s my PRIDE?
By Zach Arnold | September 25, 2007
The opponent Akihiro Gono will be fighting at UFC 78 is Tamden McCrory.
Information on the next ShoXC card.
How much did it cost Pro Elite to buy out Future Fight Productions, Inc. (Icon Sport) of Hawaii? The data can be found here and here. In total: $350,000 USD in cash, 200,000 restricted PE shares (50% at closing, 50% in equal installments over the next three years), plus covering a portion of FFP’s EBITDA.
Tiger Weekly, the college newspaper of Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, equates MMA to legalized dog fighting. The author’s e-mail is here.
Quinton Jackson is now on TMZ.
Other headlines…
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: IFL, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tuesday turmoil: Mainstream media questions if Liddell was all hype and no substance
By Zach Arnold | September 24, 2007
Does anyone know of alternates to Feedity for creating RSS feeds that does not require creating an account or going through the hassle of registration?
Chuck Liddell = $500,000 USD. Keith Jardine = $14,000 USD. Well. Useless stat of the day – if you combine the listed fight purse money for the main event, Chuck Liddell ended up with 97.2% of the cash.
Akihiro Gono made it official today – he’s fighting on the UFC 78 (11/17 Newark, New Jersey) show. His nickname and gimmick will be “The Japanese Sensation.” Check out the afro today.
Pro Elite completes $22.5 million private funding.
The latest Sports Illustrated column on MMA.
The emotions of Joe Silva and Dana White.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, IFL, Japan, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 87 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Monday madness: Will Chuck Liddell retire?
By Zach Arnold | September 23, 2007
I have a lot of site work to catch up on today, so we’ll go with an unconventional style here on the news update.
USA Today is asking if Chuck Liddell is going to retire.
A fascinating article on UFC’s branding efforts in the marketplace.
“Football is the NFL,” said Paul McGuire, vice president, integrated media at R&R. “The ultimate goal is you don’t say MMA, you say UFC. UFC represents mixed martial arts. It’s kind of like Coke and Kleenex. You don’t say, ‘I want a soda,’ you say, ‘I want a Coke.’ You don’t say, ‘I want a tissue,’ you say you want a Kleenex.”
More steroid scandals are coming to the US sports scene, according to Yahoo Sports (here and here) and USA Today and Steroid Nation.
Yesterday, Kevin Iole wrote a Yahoo News article covering the post-fight UFC 76 press conference. I received an e-mail from someone at the press conference claiming the following: “Jardine called Iole ignorant during one of his answers. There was no humor in it.” One other note from the press conference: Rampage Jackson has a hand injury and won’t be fighting until at least early 2008. Kevin has a new article in which Dana White says that Chuck Liddell is seriously considering retirement. Fightlinker has words for White.
Angry Sam Caplan. That could be a marketable gimmick. Angry Sam is now teaming up with Angry Adam Morgan, whose Cincinnati Bengals predictably lost to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in NFL action. Who dey? Indeed.
An interview with Marcus Davis. Plus, Dave Meltzer writes that UFC’s latest upsets open numerous matchmaking possibilities. Eddie Goldman talked to HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg about whether or not UFC is headed to the network.
Nick Diaz has a staph infection apparently.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 43 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 76 – the aftermath
By Zach Arnold | September 23, 2007
Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports attended the UFC 76 post-fight press conference. Some highlights:
White launched into a tirade against the PRIDE fan boys and the Internet sites he said who encourage them to denigrate the UFC.
“I want to say something and everybody knows how I’ve felt for years about these goofy Internet websites,” White said through gritted teeth. “I hate them. They’re biased, crooked and there are a lot of other bad things I can say, but I don’t want to waste my time.
“They’ve been biased against us for years. Their reporting was always biased against us. They talk about fights that don’t make any sense. Let me tell you what: We’re the best in the business. Our matchmaker (Joe Silva) is the best. We put on the best and the biggest fights.”
Why go on a tirade about the Internet after the show, Dana? Why take a shot at Elite XC and call them Triple-A MMA, Kevin?
UFC 76 show reaction: UFC HP | MMA Junkie | UFC Mania | Sam Caplan | Fox Sports | Irish Whip Fighting | Sprawl ‘n Brawl | Dave Doyle | Steve Sievert | Fight Report | Long Beach Press-Telegram | CBS Sportsline | Orange County Register | The LA Times | The Canadian Press | The Houston Chronicle | Orange County Register 2
Other news:
Lorenzo Fertitta is quoted in the latest edition of GONKAKU (Gong Kakutougi) as stating that he hopes UFC and WOWOW reach a new agreement to start re-airing UFC shows in Japan in 2008.
Also in the latest edition of GONKAKU, Ed Fishman admitted that he was approached by Pancrase to buy the promotion.
The latest edition of Inside the Cage Radio.
The Fightworks Podcast: Luis Heredia and Richie Hightower interviews
MMA on Tap: Turner, Belfort Victorious at Cage Rage 23
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Pancrase, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 72 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 76
By Zach Arnold | September 22, 2007
Event reports: MMA Weekly | Sherdog | MMA Junkie | UFC Mania | MMA on Tap | Sprawl ‘n Brawl | Steve Sievert | Observer | Yahoo Sports | Steve Cofield | F4W Online
Post all comments, spoilers, etc. here.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 123 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Heat-up for UFC 76
By Zach Arnold | September 21, 2007
First, more bad news for boxing fans.
Mark Cuban made an appearance on The Mike Tirico Show Friday to talk about UFC and MMA (starting at the 15 minute mark – audio here).
Here is a report claiming that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter gave Jenna Jameson and Tito Ortiz a tour of The White House.
All the fighters made weight in Anaheim.
The Canadian Press talking about Dana White on Chuck Liddell:
UFC president Dana White reckons Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell fell victim to a “rock-star lifestyle” when he lost his light-heavyweight title to Quinton (Rampage) Jackson in May at UFC 71.
Show previews: Bloody Elbow | Fox Sports (video) | Yahoo Sports | Steve Sievert | MMA Analyst | F4W Online | MMA Madness | The LA Times | The Houston Chronicle | The Washington Post | The Edmonton Sun | The Oregonian
Steve Cofield radio interviews: Chuck Liddell | Forrest Griffin | Kenny Florian | Greg Jackson | Nate Quarry | Keith Jardine
Onto today’s other headlines.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, HDNet, IFL, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 36 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |