Memo to ESPN: Mixed martial arts still exists
By Adam Morgan | June 12, 2007
By Adam Morgan
This blogger seems to be your average UFC fan. He brings up a great question, one I didn’t really even think of. Where is ESPN at with their “mixed martial arts” (read UFC) coverage? The coverage for Ultimate Fight Night tonight is nonexistent. Since UFC 71 and a couple of days following, ESPN’s coverage has steeply fallen off to where it was even before the Mayweather v. De La Hoya fight.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Adam Morgan, Media, MMA, UFC | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC Fight Night in Hollywood
By Zach Arnold | June 12, 2007
All comments and links on the show go here. A stripper mom at UFC Fight Night.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tuesday headlines: UFC Fight Night
By Zach Arnold | June 12, 2007
Yes, there is indeed a UFC event on Spike TV tonight. Time for you to predict the rating. Give us your prediction for the cable TV rating in the comments section (and fight predictions, if interested).
Greg Sirb, the commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, has been sued. The lawsuit alleges that Sirb interfered with a contract between a casino (Casino Del Sol in Tucson) and a promoter (Lion Heart Boxing Productions) in the state of Arizona.
Plaintiff’s lawsuit alleged, among things, that Mr. Sirb, intentionally interfered with their contract with Casino Del Sol, improperly tried to induce the casino to breach its contract, illegally tried to prevent the plaintiffs from promoting the June 21, 2007 fight, defamed plaintiffs and also involved himself in a conspiracy to circumvent plaintiffs contractual rights. Ancillary to the actions related to the June 21, 2007 event, plaintiffs also sued Mr. Sirb for host of improprieties spanning a period of six months.
You’ll recognize the name Greg Sirb because of these articles that Charles Jay wrote about him in 2003. (Related: Charles Jay on Fight Opinion Radio.) Check out CJ’s articles (on the BWAA) here and here.
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Topics: BoDog, Boxing, Canada, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Pro-Wrestling, StrikeForce, UFC, UK, WWE, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Notes on Armando Garcia radio interview
By Zach Arnold | June 12, 2007
By Zach Arnold
On Monday afternoon, California SAC executive director Armando Garcia did an interview on Sherdog radio. The time mark for the interview is between 55:45-1:25:00. Around 30 minutes long. There were some interesting statements made during the interview, and we’ll highlight them in text form in a recap.
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Topics: HERO's, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tommy Morrison fiasco hits ESPN TV
By Zach Arnold | June 11, 2007
By Zach Arnold
Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse on the Tommy Morrison ‘MMA’ front, they do. As predicted by many writers and readers on this site, ESPN discussed Morrison’s ‘MMA’ debut on Around The Horn on Monday afternoon. Host Tony Reali stated that Morrison’s fight was not ‘MMA’ because ‘it was neither Mixed or Martial or Art’ and that “just about everything that makes MMA good was not allowed.” The three panelists (Jay Mariotti, Woody Paige, and J.A. Adande) discussed whether or not Morrison’s ‘MMA’ fight was good for the sport. (Audio here.)
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Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio #52: Dynamite
By Zach Arnold | June 11, 2007
Start your week off the right way by listening to this week’s edition of Fight Opinion Radio. Our guests this week are Dave Doyle of FoxSports.com and John Alessio of World Extreme Cagefighting. Dave relives his experiences at the K-1 Dynamite show at the LA Coliseum. A bigger question is also asked – did K-1 touch upon a new demographic that no other promoter has promoted to before in North America? Also on the show, John Alessio talks about his most recent WEC fight and setting his focus on facing Carlos Condit in the near future.
In addition to our two respective guests, the Fight Opinion Radio crew breaks down all of the dumb statements that Dana White made last week in public. We couldn’t focus our annoyance onto one specific statement, so we criticize them all. Plus, the world-famous grab bag, the highest quarter-hour rated segment in all of MMA radio.
The 52nd 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-6-10-2007.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.
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Topics: Erin Bucknell, Fight Opinion Radio, HERO's, IFL, Japan, Jeff Thaler, K-1, Media, MMA, podcasts, Pro Elite, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Monday media notes: Tommy Morrison storylines
By Zach Arnold | June 11, 2007
Adam Morgan’s article about Tommy Morrison has officially made the rounds. When we mean made the rounds, we’re talking about USA Today’s Sports Scope. To the folks at USA Today — don’t be strangers, come by often.
Norm Frauenheim in The Arizona Republic has a column about Tommy Morrison. He once again claims that Morrison’s ‘fight’ against John Stover was an MMA fight, despite the fact that it clearly was not.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Paper: Ultimate Fighting is about manhood
By Zach Arnold | June 10, 2007
By Zach Arnold
The state of Minnesota, financially-motivated, is on its way to legalizing Mixed Martial Arts. So are other states, including Michigan and Tennessee. So, naturally you would expect that more sports writers who come from the stick-and-ball era would start learning more about the sport and wanting to cover it right.
Instead, we’ve seen newspaper after newspaper trot out non-sports writers to write about the success of MMA. As if MMA fans need some sort of psychoanalysis, these articles use all the baseless stereotypes about who the fans and participants in the sport are. The attacks come from every side of the political spectrum (liberal writers, conservative writers, etc.)
So it should come as no surprise that one of America’s most financially-floundering newspapers, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, would have someone try to psychoanalyze what MMA is and who the fans of it are.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fighter suspended for 16 months
By Zach Arnold | June 10, 2007
Last night at the Asbury Park Convention Center in Asbury Park, New Jersey, agent and promoter Monte Cox (of Ultimate Productions) ran his Extreme Challenge 78 event. The biggest headline coming out of the show is Carlos Eduardo using illegal knees to the head on his opponent, Lewis Pascavage. The fight was stopped in under a minute and Pascavage was taken to the hospital. Eduardo has now received a 16-month suspension for his actions by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board.
An interesting angle to this incident is that Nick Lembo and the NJACB had recently asked for feedback from MMA fans, fighters, promoters, agents, and writers on whether or not knees to the head should be allowed on the ground.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Sunday stupid: Morrison’s definition of ‘MMA’
By Zach Arnold | June 10, 2007
A UFC 72 card in Ireland without “Irish” Jake O’Brien?
The Tommy Morrison ‘fight’ on Saturday night in Arizona is being portrayed as his MMA debut in the media, despite the fact that it was a glorified boxing match. The Arizona Republic is billing this as Morrison’s MMA debut. The writer (Norm Frauenheim) is from boxing circles. The Associated Press also picked up on this ‘fight’ and portrayed it as MMA, which it was not. Michael David Smith at The Fanhouse recognizes the absurdity of the Morrison ‘fight’.
Dana White tells High School graduates what their future should be.
Vernon White is claiming that Chuck Liddell was in rehab before his UFC 71 fight with Quinton Jackson.
Digital Chosun is reporting that Choi Hong-Man’s rival in South Korea (in Ssirum), Kim Young-Hyun, has signed with K-1. I hope I got the name right.
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Topics: Boxing, HERO's, K-1, Media, MMA, South Korea, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Morrison wins, fatal blow to MMA avoided
By Adam Morgan | June 9, 2007
By Adam Morgan
With all the questions looming as to whether or not Tommy Morrison is or is not HIV positive, the sport of mixed martial arts was put at risk Saturday night the moment Morrison stepped into the cage. With MMA just beginning to turn the corner as far as mainstream goes, can you imagine the backlash against the sport if Tommy Morrison would have possibly transmitted the HIV virus to an opponent in an unsanctioned MMA fight? Bye, bye, ESPN. Bye, bye, Sports Illustrated. Make no mistake that mixed martial arts would be the scapegoat that is used if anything like this were to occur in an unsanctioned bout.
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Topics: Adam Morgan, Boxing, Media, MMA | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
IFL’s got it right in some areas
By Adam Morgan | June 9, 2007
By Adam Morgan
The IFL kicks off its relationship with USA Wrestling this weekend at the World Team Trials according to an article at NBC Sports. For all the things wrong with the IFL, aligining itself with USA Wrestling is great for both parties. USA Wrestling gets TV exposure and the IFL will have a talent pool of great wrestlers to draw from. But that’s not the only thing the IFL is doing right. They have the right mindset in terms of educating people about the various facets of the sport. The event this weekend is a demonstration of how wrestling can be translated to the world of MMA.
Read on… Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Adam Morgan, IFL, Media, MMA | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Saturday media slate: A paper trail of tickets
By Zach Arnold | June 8, 2007
Lance Pugmire in the LA Times has an article about the crowd numbers for the K-1 Dynamite show. During the lead-up to the show at the LA Coliseum, the most prolific pontificator in the press coverage was K-1/Royce Gracie employee Mike Kogan. He made plenty of bluster and was quoted in both in The LA Times and Yahoo Sports (Kevin Iole). Kogan has more to say:
“This is why we went to the Coliseum: to make a statement,” said Mike Kogan, the U.S.-based events director for Fighting and Entertainment Group. “For anyone to then question our numbers is preposterous and ridiculous.”
As if Kogan talking wasn’t bad enough PR for K-1, the CSAC also announced that Tim Persey (who fought on the Dynamite show) tested positive for Meth. Also, here are the fighter salaries for the Dynamite show. The Sakuraba salary figure is laughable. Maybe I can believe $300,000 or even $3,000,000 USD, but $30,000? Maybe one of the 54,000 fans at the Dynamite show can tell me more about this.
The Salt Lake Tribune has an article titled MMA still fights criticism despite its safety record that painfully displays The Zuffa Myth. E-mail the author of the article, Baxter Holmes.
MMA safety has improved since Zuffa LLC bought the UFC in 2002. UFC president Dana White helped create rules that gave the sport more structure. The new rules include no gouging of any kind, butting, biting, clawing, hair pulling, groin attacks or “engaging in any unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.”
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Topics: Boxing, HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |