Quotes of the year – Rampage & Henderson
By Zach Arnold | August 22, 2007
From the Orange County Register… let the media firestorm begin.
I asked Juanito about the recent additions of Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to the UFC. Silva beat Rampage twice and Rua also holds a victory over him. Those fights were held in the PRIDE ring in Japan. Juanito said he believes Silva and Rua had “extra help” when they fought Rampage. He didn’t spell out exactly what that extra help was. But our conversation quickly turned to the fact there was no athletic commission or steroid testing when they fought in Japan. Juanito said the outcome will be much different when they meet in the U.S.
Juanito said he won’t allow any of his fighters to use supplements, creatine or any other concoctions even if they are sold over the counter. He wants his fighters to be clean. If anybody brings any strange supplements into his camp, he said he will kick them off the mountain. He even monitors everything they eat.
Huh. Wonder if anyone will ask Dana White about this? Naturally, the Sherdoggers are on the side of the Chute Boxe fighters.
This is a stressful time for the Henderson family. Henderson’s wife, Alison, is pregnant with their third child. She is due to have a c-section next week, then Henderson will leave for England a day later on Sept. 3. The Henderson’s moved Alison’s c-section up a week, so Dan could be there for his wife.
Henderson said he had asked for the fight to be held in November or even the Sept. 22 date at the Honda Center, but he said UFC president Dana White insisted the fight would have to be on Sept. 8.
I can only imagine the comments that Dana has for Henderson’s soon-to-be third child right about now.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 55 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tuesday headlines: Jens Pulver injured, WEC debut postponed
By Zach Arnold | August 21, 2007
Unfortunate news coming out today regarding Jens Pulver getting injured. His WEC debut against Cub Swanson is now put on hold.
Luke Thomas has a preview of the upcoming UFC 74 event in audio form.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Clay Guida is available for free to watch online.
Kevin Iole is defending himself against charges that he hates Georges St. Pierre. Iole calls his critics “keyboard warriors.”
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Monday maintenance: Lots of activity in the UK
By Zach Arnold | August 20, 2007
K-1 announced Masato vs. Buakaw Por Pramuk for their 10/3 K-1 World MAX tournament show in Tokyo at Nippon Budokan.
Just an embarassing article in Advertising Age parroting The Zuffa Myth. The author’s e-mail address is here.
Here is the Cage Rage 23 card line-up, set for 9/22 in London.
IFL TV is coming to Sweden.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, WEC, Zach Arnold | 42 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Images of the day – Shayna Baszler
By Zach Arnold | August 19, 2007
If a picture if worth a thousand words, then three are worth… something.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Sunday news review: Shooto lands in Orange County
By Zach Arnold | August 18, 2007
In the next couple of days, we will be launching a new site design. I expect a mixture of both positive and negative feedback to the re-design, but I feel that the new look will help our readers gather more information quickly on a daily basis. Because the new site format will be pulling links and data from various web sites, expect the site to load slowly sometimes. That’s the trade-off (at least until we can figure out a way to program the design to cache the feeds that we are linking to) for what I expect will be a vast improvement in the news-gathering experience. Plus, we will have more anti-spam measures on the site. Be forewarned – if you post using an invalid e-mail address in the future on this site in the comments section, it may or may not pass through any sort of validation system. Try using a valid e-mail address.
And you thought pro-wrestling’s drug culture was bad.
Shooto held an event on Saturday night at The No Limits Event Center in Orange County, CA. PBP of the show here. Jordan Breen reports on yet another referee denied his license by the California SAC:
Taro Wakabayashi, who has refereed hundreds of amateur and professional Shooto bouts over his 13-plus years as a Shooto official, was denied his license as a referee by the CSAC.
“Yeah, his résumé looked pretty good, but he’ll need to take a refereeing course in September they said,” Manly snickered.
Boxing news and notes… David Tua demolishes Saul Montana and Arthur Abraham brutally KO’s Khoren Gevor.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Canada, HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, UK, WEC, Zach Arnold | 27 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio #59: Andy Wang
By Zach Arnold | August 18, 2007
Long before Andy Wang appeared on UFC’s reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter, he was fighting on the independent scene in California and was a previous guest on our radio show. On this week’s edition of Fight Opinion Radio, we catch up with Andy and talk to him about how his life has changed since his appearance on UFC TV. Was his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter a positive or negative for his career? How did his family react to him appearing on the show? This is a very fun and entertaining interview to listen to. Check out Andy Wang on the web at andywang.tv and at Taiwan BJJ.
In addition to our interview with Andy, we also have lots of red meat radio material for you to digest including analysis of the latest financial reports from both Pro Elite and the IFL. What are the futures for both of these organizations?
Plus, the highest quarter-hour-rated segment in all of MMA radio, the world-famous grab bag. As a bonus, both Jeff Thaler and Erin Bucknell give road reports on local shows they attended this past weekend. Jeff also reminisces about appearing at an MMA event in which bikers crashed the event and there was a riot. We smell ratings.
The 59th 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-8-18-2007.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: Erin Bucknell, Fight Opinion Radio, IFL, Jeff Thaler, Media, MMA, podcasts, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Saturday headlines: K-1 is still confused
By Zach Arnold | August 17, 2007
On the K-1 web site, you can vote on two all-star fighters advancing to their 9/29 Seoul, South Korea World GP event. Guess what is option five on the voting list? Zabit Samedov, who just got busted in Nevada for failing a drug test due to taking stanozolol. Brilliant timing. Then again, it’s K-1. Do they give a damn? (Hat tip: Gryphon.)
A tame interview with Linda McMahon in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.
An MMA show gone bad. Every promoter’s worst nightmare come true.
Wanderlei Silva signs a UFC contract. Dana White marks out. Fightlinker notes the hypocrisy on display with Dana White marking out for signing Wanderlei Silva. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports asks which Wanderlei Silva is going to show up to fight in UFC.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: BoDog, Boxing, Canada, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 30 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Friday fight notes: A bad week just got worse for K-1
By Zach Arnold | August 16, 2007
Two more drug test failures, this time coming out of K-1’s Las Vegas show over the weekend. Check out the T/E ratio for Nordstand – 21:1. This has been a disastrous week of PR for K-1. First, the failed drug tests. Second, the allegations that they falsified the MRIs of Choi Hong-Man so he could fight in Nevada. Third, the rumors of Denis Kang vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (a terrible match to book in terms of Sakuraba’s safety). Fourth, the Las Vegas show aired in Japan on Fuji TV after Midnight (which, for K-1, is a shocker because they are usually always on prime-time slots).
Failed drug tests are sure a fun topic to write about, Dana White.
Randy Couture questions why there are so many positive drug tests in California:
“It’s odd to me that a lot of these positive tests are happening in the state of California. So I’m curious to see how Sean Sherk’s appeal comes out and what exactly are the testing procedures in California that so many of these guys in California are coming up positive. I don’t know if their protocol is different, or what the deal is going on in California, but something seems to be up there.”
First, California and Nevada use similar drug tests (with a generous T/E ratio of 6:1 as compared to a higher standard like 4:1) and supposedly the same drug lab for getting the test results. Second, California tests all fighters on all big MMA shows (unlike Nevada which does random drug testing at big MMA events).
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: BoDog, Canada, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 27 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Thursday trash talk: Say no, Sakuraba-san…
By Zach Arnold | August 16, 2007
A message to the guys at Komikazee – send me the files today that you tried to send earlier in the week (but didn’t work due to broken links).
We’re opening up the mailbox for this week’s radio show. Any MMA-related topic on your mind that you want us to talk about during our mailbag segment, e-mail Jeff Thaler at [email protected] with your responses. Make sure to label your e-mail as “Mailbag: Fight Opinion Radio.”
I have a new column at Bloody Elbow elaborating more about the MMA media and what needs to be done to improve the current scene. I have absolutely no idea what kind of feedback I will receive for that post.
Shu Hirata has some interesting notes today (in Japanese) about the latest happenings with BodogFight. There’s a possibility that the rumored sponsorship of four Cage Rage events by BodogFight has fallen through, which could influence whether or not Roger Gracie has his second MMA match in a Cage Ring ring or not. If you can read Japanese, check out what Shu has to say.
On 9/28, there is an MMA show taking place at the Coca-Cola Bricktown Event Center in Oklahoma City called the “Ultimate Night of Champions.” One of the big names appearing at that show is OSU wrestler Jake Rosholt, who got a fair amount of press for his first MMA fight. Oh yeah, some old guy used to wrestle at OSU… his name slips my mind… Randy Couture I think.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: BoDog, Boxing, Canada, HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Pro Elite, Pro-Wrestling, UK | 47 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Wednesday war room: More red ink for the IFL
By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2007
The IFL filed it’s 10-Q report with the SEC (links here and here). The numbers don’t lie. Pay attention to the comments section of this post, as I expect a lot of our smart financial readers to chomp into the data here. Here’s the first thing that stands out from the latest 10-Q:
For the three months ended June 30, 2007, we incurred a net loss of $6.9 million, or $0.13 per share, as compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.10 per share during the comparable period in 2006. For the six months ended June 30, 2007, we incurred a net loss of $13.8 million, or $0.26 per share, as compared to a net loss of $2.4 million, or $0.14 per share, during the comparable period in 2006.
Revenues for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007 were $2.7 million and $4.2 million, respectively. During 2006, revenues for the comparable periods were $738,000.
Regarding the IFL’s cash reserves:
Based upon management’s current forecast of future revenues and expenses, the Company believes its cash resources will likely be sufficient to fund operations into the second quarter of 2008. The Company is also evaluating the profitability of other revenue sources, such as franchise or team sales, digital rights and pay-per-view broadcasts.
Now you see why they like the team concept — they’re hoping to reel in some money marks who would pony up cash to ‘own’ a team.
The 10Q states that on 12/31/06, the IFL had $16.6 million USD in cash and cash equivalents. As of 6/30/07, they have $2.5 million USD in cash and cash equivalents. The most damning number is their accumulated deficit figure, which was $9.6 million USD on 12/31/06 and is now nearly $23.5 million USD as of 6/30/07. The IFL’s current outstanding liabilities are at $1.9 million USD as of 6/30/07.
It actually gets worse. Their 2007 house show revenues are $1.4 million USD as of 6/30/07. The cost to make that money at the gate? $12 million USD. Now throw in the figures they made from TV. The revenues would be $4.2 million USD, with only $141,224 USD of that coming from sponsorships (not good). The cost of that $4.2 million in revenues is $13.8 million USD. Even though the IFL made nearly double off of TV rights as they did on house shows, they still are massively hemorrhaging cash to produce events. The current operating loss for the IFL in 2007 is $14 million USD and the net loss is $13.8 million USD.
The end result is that the numbers look real bleak for the IFL. There’s no sugercoating the bad financials. I’m not as nice about it as Steve Sievert is. I’ve got a fantastic idea – let’s have an MMA version of an “I Quit” match between the IFL and Pro Elite, except it’s really a Loser Leaves Town match.
Plus, more bad news for the IFL – Rory Markham will be out of the IFL team finals on 9/20 in Florida.
Onto more news items…
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: BoDog, Boxing, HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
More stupid human tricks with Dana White
By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2007
By Zach Arnold
Related links: Criticism of White’s ESPN interview on steroids and Fightlinker on White’s absurd nandrolone claims
When it comes to the issue of MMA’s drug culture, there are plenty of smart people who work for Zuffa LLC (the parent company of UFC) who understand how big the problem really is. Marc Ratner and Dr. Margaret Goodman are two names that come to mind. There’s no question that both are respected individuals on the issue of drugs in combat sports. Eddie Goldman recently interviewed Dr. Goodman about this very subject.
So, to see someone like Dana White continue to play defense instead of offense in the mainstream media about MMA fighters failing drug tests is pretty pathetic. As I’ve stated before on past episodes of Fight Opinion Radio, White is starting to become a public liability in terms of UFC’s credibility — especially on the issue of drugs in MMA. Instead of forwarding all drug-related questions to Ratner or Goodman, he manages to screw things up by opening his mouth and making uneducated statements that will come back to haunt him one day.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 31 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Latest quarterly report from Pro Elite Inc.
By Zach Arnold | August 14, 2007
Here are the links:
Form 10QSB for Pro Elite, Inc.
Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2007 was $3,953,778. Additionally, on July 12, 2007, we received net proceeds of $20.2 million from a private placement of our common stock. Our cash and cash equivalents are expected to be sufficient to execute the next 18 months of our three year business plan. As such, we continue to seek additional financing. If we are unable to raise sufficient additional financing, our growth may be limited. There can be no assurances that we will be able to raise sufficient financing on favorable terms and conditions. Management believes that we currently have sufficient cash and cash equivalents to finance our current operations for the next twelve months.
I’ll let those smarter on the financial side of things analyze these reports in the comments section. One thing – read the part about bad accounting practices at hand. Unbelievable.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tuesday news and notes: Bringing the heat against Karo Parisyan
By Zach Arnold | August 13, 2007
K-1 just announced that Minowaman will face Ralek Gracie at the HERO’s 9/17 Yokohama Arena show. Also on the 9/17 Yokohama card is JZ Calvan vs. Vitor “Shaolin” Ribiero and Black Mamba vs. Kaoru Uno in Middleweight tournament matches.
I have a new post at Bloody Elbow talking about a topic that an advertising geek at heart (like me) would care about. I’d prefer comments for that post to be placed at Bloody Elbow, but I will also read comments about that post if they are submitted here as well.
MMA Madness now has an RSS feed for content on their site. Now, here’s a challenge for both 411 Mania and The Fight Network – GET SOME RSS feeds for your MMA content. There’s no reason in this day and age not to do so. It will only increase traffic to your site. I also wish MMA Weekly would publicize their RSS feed as well (it’s here). I also wish that other major sports site with MMA content (CBS Sportsline, Fox Sports) would have MMA-dedicated RSS feeds for content as well. I’d like to see Yahoo Sports publicize their MMA RSS feeds more.
Joe Lauzon talks some trash about Karo Parisyan. Plus, Jason MacDonald vs. Yushin Okami coming up soon.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Canada, HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |