Fight Opinion Weekly: How boxing should respond to the rise of MMA
By Zach Arnold | May 27, 2007
Printable version of article here. Plus, David P. Greisman has an excellent article called “Fighting Words†– Four Crucial Weeks for Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts that I highly recommend everyone to read.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Fight Opinion Weekly, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Possible Sakuraba replacements for K-1 Dynamite
By Zach Arnold | May 27, 2007
While the name Yoshihiro Akiyama has been floated as a potential opponent for Royce Gracie on June 2nd at the LA Coliseum event, Dave Meltzer is reporting tonight that K-1 has made an offer to Ken Shamrock to take the fight against Gracie on short-notice.
Topics: HERO's, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Sunday media stroll: UFC on a Rampage
By Zach Arnold | May 27, 2007
By Zach Arnold
In the last media post, I mentioned how a newspaper writer in Syracuse tried to lump in dogfighting allegations against NFL QB Michael Vick in comparison to UFC. That was supposed to carry a negative connotation. Today, ESPN interviewed an anonymous source claiming that Vick was involved in dogfighting — and tried to defend Vick by using a reference to UFC. Even worse is this article (spotted by Mikeinformer) in the New York Daily News by sportswriter Filip Bondy, called Cruelty in eye of beholder. Bondy tries to rationalize why people support dog fighting… because American society supports MMA. The author’s e-mail is here if you like to respond in a dignified manner.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, HERO's, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Sunday morning headlines: Post-UFC 71 media coverage
By Zach Arnold | May 26, 2007
ESPN covered the Rampage vs. Liddell fight extensively on both SportsCenter and on their MMA section of ESPN.com. There isn’t a video sharing site that doesn’t already have clips of this fight. It truly has gone viral. At 12:30 AM PST on Google News, UFC 71 coverage was the top headline section.
There are some media writers who are not too happy about UFC going mainstream. One writer managed to tie in dogfighting allegations against NFL QB Michael Vick in comparison to UFC.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 27 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC: Liddell vs. Jackson
By Erin | May 26, 2007
Well, well, Dan Henderson is announced as the challenger for whoever wins Liddell vs. Jackson. Which is cool, but having Rogan and Goldberg announce this almost pre-show? Kinda anti-climatic, isn’t it?
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Erin Bucknell, MMA, UFC | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 71 Open Discussion
By Zach Arnold | May 26, 2007
UFC 71 PBP links: Observer | AOL Sports Blog | Sherdog | UFC Junkie
All pre-UFC 71, during-UFC 71, and post-UFC 71 discussion goes here.
Someone claims that Comcast is having trouble handling orders for the UFC 71 event. Is this true?
Dana White claims that the PRIDE asset sale has been finalized.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 29 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Saturday media splash: UFC the hottest topic in US media circles
By Zach Arnold | May 25, 2007
If you haven’t already, make sure to listen to our latest radio show (previewing the UFC 71 event) before watching Rampage vs. Liddell.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Friday chalkboard: ESPN’s wall-to-wall UFC coverage
By Zach Arnold | May 25, 2007
Erin Bucknell reports that the California SAC has granted K-1 a temporary promoter’s license for their Dynamite event next week. The Orange County Register confirms the same information in Erin’s report, but also adds that Lesnar’s opponent could be Kim Min-Soo.
On Thursday in Clark County, Nevada court (for the Fishman Companies vs. DSE Inc. lawsuit), an objection was filed in the case on behalf of Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, and Kirk Hendrick in response to Fishman Companies obtaining a subpoena (‘duces tecum‘) to have them participate in witness depositions on Wednesday, May 30th.
On ESPN Radio Friday, Colin Cowherd said that this weekend is when MMA officially becomes mainstream. Joe Rogan made an appearance on Cowherd’s show and predicted Liddell beating Rampage.
On ESPN TV, Liddell vs. Jackson is getting similar if not larger coverage than De La Hoya vs. Mayweather — including SportsCenter, which is leading with it as their top story. There was a guest square-off with Joe Rogan vs. Lou DiBella about “ultimate fighting vs. boxing.” DiBella called MMA human cockfighting and pitbull fighting. He did not come off well on television. Floyd Mayweather’s negative comments about MMA got video play, side-by-side with Chuck Liddell’s rebuttal.
This was an amazing infomercial for UFC and none of the other MMA promotions.
BodogFight announces their American debut show, set for July 14th at Sovereign Bank Arena.
Luke Thomas is back and better-than-ever on the radio.
That Edmonton Sun article calling MMA a flash-in-the-pan has not gone over well.
Onto this afternoon’s headlines.
- Yahoo Sports: Ready to Rampage
- The Los Angeles Times: Does UFC have boxing’s number?
- The Las Vegas Business Press: Going to extremes – Fertitta brothers consolidate control of cagefighting competitors
- The Las Vegas Business Press: The sweet Xyience of cagefighting
- The Rochester Post-Bulletin (Minnesota): Logan Clark to fight in August WEC event
- The Chicago Sun-Times: Terry Martin finds his ultimate challenge
- Marketwire (PR): Art of War to have MMA show at Ultimate Resorts Project in Las Vegas
- Press Release: IFL 6/1 Seattle card line-up
- Bloody Elbow: UFC 71 event predictions
- UFC Junkie: Live UFC 71 weigh-in results
- The Canadian Press: Keith Jardine looks to avoid meeting close friend in UFC cage
- The Fanhouse: Johnnie Morton thinks Priest Holmes should try MMA
- The Canadian Press: Iceman hopes to add to his MMA legacy
- ESPN: Four years since the fury
- Yahoo Sports: Liddell vs. Jackson – Keys to victory
- MediaPost Publications: MMA keeps getting bigger
- Las Vegas Sun: Take five – UFC 71, Liddell vs. Jackson
- SLAM! Sports: UFC 71 predictions
- SLAM! Sports: Iceman guarantees knock out
- The Fanhouse: Lou DiBella plays the ‘human cockfighting’ card
- The Muslim News (UK): MMA explosion rocks the foundations
- The Tallahassee Democrat (Florida): Boxing faces its ‘Ultimate’ challenge
Topics: BoDog, Boxing, HERO's, IFL, K-1, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Friday headlines: The heat-up for UFC 71
By Zach Arnold | May 24, 2007
If you would like to help us out and donate to the site, use this link. Any donation would be much appreciated.
On Friday, DSE announced that the PRIDE Lightweight GP tournament show for July in Nagoya was officially canceled and that ticket refunds would be available. The notice also asks fans to remain patient for new management coming into the organization.
Today’s Edmonton Sun newspaper says MMA just a flash in the pan.
New Japan announced that their kakutougi training camp, New Japan Factory, will tie-up with AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) of San Jose. NJF will be led by Masayuki Kono (formerly of All Japan).
Mauro Ranallo interviewed Canadian Press writer Neil Davidson on Thursday, discussing the upcoming UFC 71 event. Joey Karate gives his picks.
Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa will celebrate his 10th anniversary in the fight game on July 23rd at the CMA Festival 2 event in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall. DEEP is the event promoter. When asked about the situation with PRIDE, Minowa stated that he could do nothing but wait now.
The Sacramento Bee writes that James Toney was ‘unimpressive’ in his split-decision win over Danny Batchelder in San Jose. Finding media coverage of the Toney fight outside of the boxing web sites was difficult.
On Google News, I saw an actual subsection for UFC coverage in the Sports section — something I had never seen before on that news aggregator. It starts with this piece in the New York Times. Notwithstanding Sherdog’s report yesterday about the PRIDE asset sale deal being possibly finalized, I complained several days ago about a new ‘Zuffa myth’ being perpetuated in the media in which the PRIDE asset sale has been a done deal since March 27th (the infamous Roppongi Hills Arena press conference). This myth is evident in both NYT & Canadian Press articles today, plus numerous other articles in the past two months. The MMA blogs & sites are ahead of the curve on this story.
Bob Arum discussed UFC on Thursday in a conference call:
All I know is the UFC has done a great job presenting their product, but their product is not good. The athletic competition is horrible. It is horrible to watch, and the fighters are not nearly as efficient as professional boxers.
Onto today’s headlines.
- The Boston Herald: Ultimate exposure – as boxing dims, spotlight shines on UFC
- The Winnipeg Free Press: Joe Doerksen sees MMA Winnipeg bout as end of an era
- The Detroit News: Johnny Morton tests out second career
- USA Today: UFC superstar Chuck Liddell looks to avenge loss to Quinton Jackson
- Yahoo Sports: Larry Merchant and HBO working a deal
- Yahoo Sports: Opportunity knocks for Houston Alexander
- The Canadian Press: Dana White questions GSP’s mental game in wake of Serra loss
- F4W Online: Countdown to UFC 71 – Liddell vs. Rampage report
- Royal Burnell: A new dawn fades
- The St. Petersburg Times: Rampage – ‘I am the outside’
- The Maryland Coast Dispatch: Ultimate fighting leads to assault arrest
- Fox Sports: Can the Iceman stop a Rampaging Jackson?
- The Canadian Press: UFC boss says Diego Sanchez almost retired on eve of UFC 69 in Houston
- Boxing Scene: Mike Tyson gets permission to leave Arizona
- MSNBC: MMA notebook – Iceman, Rampage ready for long-awaited bout
- The Sweet Science: UFC nabs covers; can Chuck beat jinx?
- The Star-Ledger (New Jersey): Chuck Liddell faces ultimate test
- The Philadelphia Daily News: Chuck Liddell’s score to settle, wants revenge for one of his losses vs. Jackson
- Maxboxing: Really Mixed Martial Arts
- The Oregonian: MMA notebook – UFC cover boys prepare for biggest event
- The UNLV Rebel Yell: Setting the record straight – boxing and MMA can co-exist
- The Long Beach Press-Telegram: Dana White – a big surprise set for Saturday
- Yahoo Sports: Bar room to brawling
- The Shreveport Times: UFC eyes return to Big Easy
- USA Today: UFC title bouts go mainstream
- The Boston Herald (Joe Lauzon): TUF Week 8 -Fighting inside and outside the Octagon
- The Bonner County Daily Bee (Idaho): Three-time NCAA champion wrestler Jake Rosholt looks to conquer new challenge – UFC
- UFC HP: Rampage and the Iceman – big fight breakdown
Topics: Boxing, Canada, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Ultimate Fighter Season 5, Episode 8
By Erin | May 24, 2007
Dana brings the coaches into the gym to discuss the upcoming matches. Oh, this is a good plan, let’s stick Jens and BJ in a small room together for a long period of time and get them to agree on things. Yeah, good thinking there.
Predictably Jens and BJ start squabbling with each other over their fight.
Quarterfinal fights are announced: Lauzon vs. Miller, Maynard vs. Melendez, Diaz vs. Hill, and Wiman vs. Gamburyan. Jens is not pleased about Nate fighting Corey.
The guys celebrate as always by getting shit faced drunk. Marlon and Noah more or less call each other out. Marlon points out that he will never tap. This, while “manly†is also rather stupid.
Marlon and Noah get ready to backyard brawl with Alan reffing. Oh yes, this is going to turn out well. Being drunken fighters, while it starts out rather friendly, it gets serious rather quickly. They break off for a second and then proceed to go again over the concrete. I love a good REGULATED fight, but I’m not cool with other shit that could easily get out of hand.
Nate, “Lord of the Flies†is NOT a good comparison to make here (Roommate Jen: but that doesn’t necessarily make it inaccurate).
Dana shows up the next morning looking pissed. Well Dana, I’m not going to defend this shit, but what the hell do you expect to happen when you give guys nothing to do but booze it up!? Did we learn nothing from the Leben/Koscheck incident?
Dana kicks Marlon, Alan and Noah out of the house. It’s good to see some consequences, but how about some fucking preventative measures next time, ok?
During the stare down after the weigh-ins Lauzon and Miller get dork-tastic wiggling very facial parts. It’s actually kinda cute.
Joe Lauzon vs. Cole Miller
Round 1: Miller goes for a side kick which Joe catches and they end up rolling to the floor with Miller on top. Lauzon grabs an ankle, but Miller slides out. Lauzon grabs it again and ends up in Miller’s guard. Lauzon starts working Miller over to his side of the cage while Miller works for a triangle. Lauzon gets a couple of nasty punches from standing and eventually gets around to Miller’s back. Miller gets Lauzon back into guard as the round ends.
Round 2: Lauzon gets a takedown and lands in Miller’s guard. Pretty much the same as before with Lauzon staying in the dominant position and Miller grabbing for arms. Lauzon inadvertently whacks Miller in the back of the head with an elbow. Miller gets a timeout to make sure he can continue to fight. Miller says he’s fine and the fight continues. Lauzon comes out swinging and then gets the takedown and moves to Miller’s back where Miller pretty much turtles up. He almost gets the fight back up but Lauzon gets him back down where he pounds on his until the ref calls the fight.
Winner: Joe Lauzon via TKO.
Miller gets carted off in the ambulance for treatment afterwards.
Topics: Erin Bucknell, MMA, UFC | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio #50: Big UFC 71 event preview
By Zach Arnold | May 24, 2007
Major UFC 71 Rampage vs. Liddell preview show this week on Fight Opinion Radio. Our special guests this week are: Ken Pishna of MMAWeekly.com, Steve Sievert of The Houston Chronicle, and Luke Thomas of BloodyElbow.com. All six show personalities this week are split 50/50 across the board on who will win the big UFC 71 main event. This week’s show is brought to you by Monster Wrestling Rings and Kakuto Store.
The 50th edition of Fight Opinion Radio is now online and available to download. Here are your options for listening to the show:
Broadband (MP3) | Dial-up/Streaming
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.puroresupower.com/powerhour/shows/foradio-5-24-2007.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, HERO's, Japan, Jeff Thaler, K-1, Media, MMA, podcasts, PRIDE, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Thursday night notes: UFC floods the media zone
By Zach Arnold | May 24, 2007
Dear Don has more advice for you, the reader at home.
Are we going to see some PRIDE fighters wrestle for Hustle in June?
The Fight Network reports that Brock Lesnar is still the only fighter scheduled for the K-1 Dynamite show with his paperwork cleared with the California SAC.
Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio dismisses arguments being made on sports talk radio comparing UFC to dog fighting (which has been an issue raised in the media in relation to Michael Vick).
Dana White on the record. Sherdog is reporting that the PRIDE asset deal has been finalized, although UFC has not made an official statement.
Frank Trigg commented on the radio on Thursday morning in regards to PRIDE fighters suing DSE Inc. Trigg said that he is not part of the lawsuit and is not sure of who is involved, but he supports the fighters 100% and believes that what is happening is unfair. Time mark – 40:45-45:00.
Onto tonight’s headlines.
- Bloody Elbow: Japanese MMA
- Fox Sports: UFC 71 undercard preview
- The Fightworks Podcast: Top seven BJJ tournament pet peeves
- Sports Illustrated: Football writer Dr. Z on MMA
- The Guam Pacific Daily News: Jason Palacios wants to put Guam on the map
- The Fanhouse: Kid’s fighting? Blame UFC!
- Hometown Life (Michigan): Jeweler Scott Ward defies age limitations, wins MMA fight at Cobo Hall
- Yahoo Sports: MMA’s main man, Chuck Liddell
- The Shreveport Times (LA): Combat fighting coming with Massacre at the Municipal
- The Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX): Former WWE star to debut in MMA
- Jordan Breen: Shooto’s finest flyweights mix it up at Battle Mix Tokyo
- Sportsnet (Canada): RJ Broadhead – why I train in MMA
- The San Jose Mercury News: Mark Purdy – San JOse fight scene remains full of life
- MMA HQ: UFC 71 – Liddell vs. Jackson preview
- The Guam Pacific Daily News: Geran Haga fighters to tussle Monday at Paseo Stadium
- UFC Junkie: Dana White – New Jersey to host a UFC show as soon as October
- The Canadian Press (via CBC Sports): Rampage Jackson looks to administer a second ass-whuppin on The Iceman
- Sam Caplan: UFC 71 preview
- NBC Sports: Cool, calm and collected at UFC 71
- NBC Sports: UFC breaks through the glass ceiling
Topics: HERO's, IFL, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
K-1 in Japanese media: Everything is fine for Dynamite
By Zach Arnold | May 24, 2007
By Zach Arnold
If you want to see an article full of spin (I can’t do it justice unless you read Japanese), check out this Yomiuri Hochi article on the upcoming K-1 Dynamite show. Remember, this is the kind of information that Japanese fans are reading and not North American fans. The article claims the following:
- K-1 has spent 360 million yen in advertising to attract 100,000 fans at the LA Coliseum. FEG has spent $3 million USD, which rivals what they would spend for a Tokyo Dome show.
- The aim is to attract many fans from the large Korean population in Southern California, including outsourcing advertising to a local Korean PR firm. The advertising strategy? Use ‘rapping tracks.’
- There is no mention whatsoever of any K-1 problems with the California State Athletic Commission, including zero mention of Choi Hong-Man failing his medical test. K-1 is aiming to draw significantly more than what PRIDE drew at the Thomas & Mack Center.
A shorter version of this spin was also written by Sports Nippon newspaper. So, clearly, this is the PR that K-1 is pumping out in the Japanese media regarding the event. The longer K-1 delays in telling the reality of the situation on the ground, the stronger the reaction will be from both Japanese fans and Tokyo Broadcasting System.
Update: Nikkan Sports is even worse with the spin doctoring, as they are bringing up WrestleMania 3 (March 1987 with Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at the Pontiac Silverdome) as a benchmark for K-1 to aim for with the LA Coliseum event.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: HERO's, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |