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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

A bad year for Ken Imai

By Zach Arnold | April 24, 2007

By Zach Arnold

Ken Imai is the famous Japanese agent for Mirko Cro Cop. He was the wirepuller who brought Cro Cop from K-1 to PRIDE, essentially getting Cro Cop away from power agent Miro Mijatovic (who had both Mirko and Fedor as clients). Imai became close to DSE (Sakakibara) and with the PRIDE assets being sold to Zuffa, Imai’s power base in Japan has decreased.

Today in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Dana White basically claimed that it was Cro Cop’s ‘guys’ who wanted the fight against Gabriel Gonzaga to ‘milk’ Mirko’s UFC contract.

“Cro Cop’s guys wanted to have a couple fights before they fought Randy Couture. And to be honest with you I think they wanted the fights to milk the contract.”

That statement alludes to Ken Imai, who has played the role as the main contact point between UFC & Mirko. In Japanese circles, Imai’s gimmick has been that he is the only one who can ‘control’ Mirko in terms of doing PR, meetings, etc. With Mirko losing to Gonzaga in Manchester at UFC 70, Imai finds himself in a curious predicament.

PRIDE’s collapse and Mirko losing to Gabriel Gonzaga are not happy events. However, it appears that Imai may have supposedly found more trouble for himself. Japanese MMA writer Motoichiro Takasu wrote a post today claiming the following:

  1. Takasu claims that Ken Imai showed up at the BodogFight event in St. Petersburg, Russia on 4/14. Imai supposedly got backstage at the show without a pass, using his status as Mirko’s agent to get in. However (supposedly in front of some mass media/journalists), a BodogFight staffer told Imai to go buy a ticket like everyone else if he wanted to be at the show. (Ed. BodogFight has a past history of telling snooping Japanese DSE-affiliated agents to go away. See: Sotaro Shinoda.)
  2. Takasu criticized Imai and says that Ken was a major source of trouble between PRIDE & K-1 (Imai was close with Kazuyoshi Ishii but left as Ishii got busted in the corporate tax evasion scandal). He wrote that Imai should be more careful about his movements to avoid serious problems.
  3. Takasu ponders what Imai’s motive for being at the BodogFight event was. He speculates that he was trying to reach Josh Barnett and learn of what his future plans are going to be (suggesting that Mirko would participate in a BodogFight tournament, so wouldn’t Josh be interested?). Takasu says he hopes that Imai’s action don’t cause more problems and he (Takasu) states that BodogFight has flatly denied any insinuation of Mirko working in a tournament for the BodogFight promotion).

One strike I would like to bring up to the Takasu report is that Josh Barnett was in Las Vegas the weekend of the BodogFight event in Russia. Barnett was scheduled to corner Erin Toughill at the TUFF-N-UFF show, but Erin’s fight was canceled. I personally talked to Josh a few days before the Las Vegas show and he was ready to be there in attendance.

It should be fully noted that Mirko Cro Cop has four fights left on his UFC deal. The major question to be asked is if Takasu’s report is true, what is Imai’s motive and purpose?

If Ken Imai is the only point-man that UFC has been dealing with in regards to Mirko, now you can see why there must be frustration on their end. Another question to ask is this: How much does Mirko know about the actions of his agent (Imai)? There is some irony in the gimmick of Imai being the ‘only one’ to control Mirko, yet Mirko isn’t ‘controlling’ Imai from reportedly showing up at BodogFight and supposedly causing a scene.

History

If Takasu’s story is in fact true, let’s put the story into a larger context.

  1. Imai was associated with K-1 and left the company while Kazuyoshi Ishii got busted for corporate tax evasion.
  2. Imai was involved in being a wirepuller to bring Mirko to DSE & Nobuyuki Sakakibara, and DSE ended up selling off the PRIDE assets after losing so much money (and their Fuji TV deal) due to a yakuza scandal that was triggered by a multi-month campaign by Shukan Gendai magazine.
  3. And now we have a report of Imai sniffing around at BodogFight (in front of the mass media, nonetheless).

I am copying the Japanese text of Takasu’s post here (in case his site goes down in the future). This cut-and-paste is simply for reference.

Motoichiro Takasu online posting (4/24/2007)

Mirko KO loss! One week ago at Bodog…

COPYRIGHT OF JAPANESE TEXT BELONGS TO MOTOICHIRO TAKASU, JAPANESE KAKUTOUGI WRITER. VISIT HIS WEB SITE AT http://blog.bodymaker.jp/user/takasu/002/.

ミルコがKO負け！　１週間前にボードッグで・・・。

イギリスで行われたUFC７０で、ミルコがガブリエル・ナパオン・ゴンザガの右ハイキック一閃でKO負けを喫した。日本で活躍し続けたミルコだけに、残念な結果。１R、両者ともに相手の出方を見て、間合いを取り時計回りに動く。じれたミルコが、不用意な単発のミドルキックをうちこんだ際に、その足をひきつけてガブリエルがテイクダン。ガードポジションの展開から、ガブリエルは肘攻撃を連打。（UFCは肘攻撃OK）空間が数センチしか無い状況でも、力強く顎やテンプルを打ち込む肘攻撃には圧巻。ミルコも嫌がる動きを見せていたし、脅威に感じていたに違いない。
的確にミルコにダメージを蓄積させた。その後、スタンディングになっても、どこか精彩を欠く動きが見えたのは、この攻撃があったからだろう。ディフェンスが疎かになり始めた矢先に、ハイキックKO。

ちょうど一週間前に、ミルコのエージェントである今井さんが、ボードッグ・ファイト・ロシア大会へ、ある有名選手の関係者という立場を装って会場に入る。しかしながら、ボードッグのスタッフに、勝手に関係者として入場していることを指摘され、会場外へほっぽりだされた。そして、ボードッグ・スタッフが「チケットを買って、客として入れ！！」と一蹴したそうだ。そりゃーそうだろう。UFCに参戦しているミルコのエージェントが、この会場で関係者パスをぶら下げて会場の裏手を歩いていようものならば、それこそ、マスコミなどが見たら、変な誤解をまねきかねない。

そんな情報も既に日本では飛び交っているのに、今井氏は日本で力を持つ格闘技関係者数名に対して、ボードッグと有意義な話し合いをしているなどと、それこそ混乱をまねく話し方をしている。しかも、ボードッグロシア大会へ、招かれたなどとの表現もしているそうだ。
手のひらを返したように、PRIDEに対する愚痴もこぼしている。（誰に愚痴っているかは、予想がつくと思うが・・・）
このネタを書けば、もちろんミルコ陣営とトラブルになりかねないが、
関係者各位含め、勘違いをしないように真実をブログに書く。ミルコはボードッグと現段階で交渉ごとは何も無い。K-1やPRIDEの関係者が、せっかく歩み寄りを見せているのに、今井氏のこの動きに惑わされて、K→Pへミルコが、数年前に移籍した時と同じようなトラブルが起きないように各団体に警戒してもらいたい。
K-1とPRIDEの関係性が悪くなった要因の一つには、元K-1スタッフであった今井氏の反乱行為があったからなのだから。

さらに問題なのは、今井氏がジョシュ・バーネットに連絡を入れて、「ミルコがボードッグのトーナメントへ出場するから、ジョシュも出場しないか」と唆している。ジョシュ・バーネットは、ボードッグに直接、事実関係の確認のために問い合わせをした。
もちろん、そんな事実はないのだから、ボードッグは一切否定する。

一人のエージェントによって波紋を呼んでいるが、世界トップクラスの選手であるミルコが、政治的な問題に巻き込まて、選手生命を脅かすことだけは避けてもらいたい。

Posted by takasu 19:07:08

Topics: BoDog, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Yakuza, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Tuesday trouble: TBS producer in hot water?

By Zach Arnold | April 23, 2007

A story under the radar right now that could make some major waves is an article in the latest edition of Shukan Post, which claims that “Mr. X” could be in a lot of trouble (my personal guess is that they are referring to Ushio Higuchi, the main producer of K-1 events on Tokyo Broadcasting System). Higuchi also produced the show SASUKE, which is an obstacle course competition show. In the past, Higuchi also was involved in the show Muscle Ranking (Kinniku Banzuke). The teaser claims that “Mr. X” maintained power in TBS due to his close ties to the kakutougi (fight) scene.

Update: I just read the three-page Shukan Post article (pages 44, 45, and 46). It’s a weird deal. I’ll try to break down essentially the theme of the article. The obstacle course game show SASUKE had contestants who supposedly got hurt in accidents while participating on the game show, but these accidents were hidden or not discussed. Sankei Shimbun (a newspaper that is part of the FujiSankei media conglomerate) ‘exposed’ the hidden accidents from the game show. The article’s theme talks about how Ushio Higuchi placed himself in a position to make a lot of money from the game show on TBS (legally) but that the contestant accidents caused trouble for him. (They showed a picture of a person in a wheelchair in the three-page spread.) Shukan Post tries to claim that a reason Higuchi has power in TBS is because of his relationship with K-1 power broker Kazuyoshi Ishii, and because K-1 does good ratings it gives Higuchi a power base to rely on for security. Fuji TV people are quoted in the article.

It’s an article in the sense that while it feels entirely like a rebuttal against TBS/K-1 for what Shukan Gendai did to PRIDE & Kunio Kiyohara, the article is not as heavy or explosive in nature unlike the Gendai articles (which were heavy-duty explosive written pieces). Essentially, the tone of the article is to make Higuchi look like a bad guy who made a lot of money off the misery of contestants who were involved in accidents (expensive office for production company, a ferrari, expensive house, etc.) and that the only reason he has power with TBS is because of his relationship with Ishii and the SASUKE show on the network.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. Scientific Wrestling: Josh Barnett interview
  2. CBS Sportsline: Parity in MMA is good for growth
  3. The Los Angeles Times: Dana White claims he thought Gonzaga would beat Mirko (he then blames Mirko’s ‘guys’ aka Ken Imai for wanting the fight)
  4. MMA California: Former NFL star takes fourth MMA win in Redding, California
  5. Five Ounces of Pain: Mike Swick to fight at welterweight
  6. MMA Insider: Is this the era of parity in the UFC?
  7. Jake Rossen: Boxing in MMA’s Shadow
  8. The Mirror (UK): Kerry Katona in cage war walkout (“I didn’t know it would be violent”)
  9. The Associated Press: Nebraska lawmakers want to regulate MMA
  10. The Hilton Island Packet: Ex pro-wrestler Sean O’Haire charged in island brawl
  11. The Mainichi Daily News: Tochiazuma hospitalized, unlikely to join May sumo tournament
  12. UFC HP: Josh Burkman vs. Karo Parisyan booked for UFC 71
  13. The Orange County Register: Irvine gym hosts its first MMA fight
  14. UFC Junkie: David Heath ‘apologizes’ for boring UFC 70 fight

Topics: Boxing, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Latest IFL news

By Zach Arnold | April 23, 2007

They announced this morning that they are moving their June 16th event from Reno, Nevada (at the nice Reno Events Center) to the Las Vegas Hilton hotel & casino.

I think it’s unfortunate that they are moving the event away from Reno. The IFL could have done steady business from some pretty loyal local fans from the Sacramento area as well. The natural drawing card would have been Ken Shamrock’s team. There have been past events in Reno (King of the Cage I think promoted a few shows there) that drew good houses. Hopefully the IFL draws well in Las Vegas. Keep your eyes open on the IFL stock price.

Topics: IFL, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Monday review: The Gabriel Gonzaga Show

By Zach Arnold | April 22, 2007

By Zach Arnold

I saw a Japanese article at innolife talking about a recent 5 vs. 5 series with South Korean vs. ATT fighters. Is there any more information available about that event?

Gambling 911 on the Dana/Fedor contract dispute, if you want to call it that. Plus, they acknowledge some of the questions we’ve asked about those PRIDE fighter contracts. I’ll have more commentary about this on the next edition of our radio show.

Gryphon at NHB News notes the official broadcasting stoppage of UFC programming on WOWOW. The network had been broadcasting UFC shows since April of 2002. Gryphon has a message in English for Dana White.

There was a significant amount of coverage for Mirko Cro Cop’s loss to Gabriel Gonzaga in the various Japanese newspapers. Sankei Sports played the story straight but covered the significance of the loss, while Sports Nippon buried Mirko and called his KO loss disgraceful. They made sure to point out that Mirko was KO’d by a black belt in BJJ as well. Nikkan Sports did an excellent job in their article, talking about the differences between UFC and PRIDE rules (the cage, the use of elbows, etc.) and how Mirko was facing a new challenge because of it. The paper also pointed out what I did, which is that UFC made ‘a big miscalculation’ in booking Mirko vs. Gonzaga and that Mirko’s name value carrying the PRIDE ‘signboard’ got damaged. Like Nikkan Sports, Daily Sports called Mirko’s loss disgraceful and pointed out that he lost his UFC Heavyweight title shot against Randy Couture.

Mr. Gonzaga is becoming quite the overnight star, as his brutal KO of Mirko was played during the ‘Ultimate Highlight’ video package on ESPN TV’s Sportscenter program. Plus, check out Kuma’s Japanese web page of information on Napao. Great work.

Watching the rise of Gabriel Gonzaga in UFC should be a happy occasion for all of us. He is a legitimately good person. When he made his UFC debut, he had a horrible fight in late 2005 against Kevin Jordan. Gonzaga was touted as someone with heavy hands who could knock out guys out. His fight performance against Jordan was unmercilessly ripped online. However, there was a good reason for why his UFC debut fight performance was sluggish. Here is Gabriel Gonzaga in his own words from November 26, 2005 in a statement he released to me and Brazilian writer Denis Martins.

A statement from Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga

From Napao:

I choose the Editor-in-Chief of PuroresuPower.com (Zach Arnold) and the Brazilian Correspondent of ADCC News (Denis Martins) to publish my letter, because they are the people who looked deeply into the problems I had prior to my UFC 56 fight. They knew that I wasn’t 100% going into the fight, so they gave me the support to translate this letter from Portuguese to English and explain the situation.

I would like to say that debuting in an event such as the great UFC 56 show isn’t an easy task for a fighter, even fighters who have lots of experience in other organizations. The pressure of debuting in an event that is considered by many to be one of the best in the world is huge. It is always good to debut with a victory, and better with a KO like the one I delivered to Kevin “The Shaman” Jordan.

My lack of stamina in the fight against Jordan is something that I want to discuss further and give you an explanation about. People who know me and have seen my previous 5 MMA fights recognize me as a fighter who doesn’t like to stall. I like to trade blows or go for submissions for an entire fight. My only defeat in a fight was against PRIDE fighter Fabricio Werdum at Jungle FC 1. It was a three-round war that the crowd applauded us for. I always do a lot of strong pre-fight training for upcoming matches and I never expect to face a tomato can in fights. I always intend on showing my best game, no matter who the opponent is. I always will dash against who is in front of me with all of my strength.

When my fight partner Marcio showed me the UFC contract, I didn’t hesitate in signing it because UFC was always a dream for me, a dream to participate in this premiere American MMA organization. I signed it and I had two months to prepare, which is enough time to provide an excellent showing for the UFC fans. I moved from my residence of Sao Paulo, Brazil to Massachusetts to participate at the training center where all of my preparation was done for the UFC 56 fight against Jordan. However, destiny conspired against me and gave me some unpleasant surprises which totally put me down. My wife was five months pregnant with twins and these would be our first two kids. We discovered that one of the children nearly died and that the other child was at risk of dying, putting my wife’s life at risk as well. We moved immediately to Rio de Janeiro, where we would have more hospital support and the support of my wife’s parents. The situation was growing more desparate and I couldn’t let my wife be alone in this tough moment. With seven months of pregnancy gone by, we had to make an emergency child birth. God reserved a place on his side to one of my daughters (Leticia) and he gave us the gift of a beautiful girl named Isabela (who stayed in the incubator for a month and five days to gain some weight). Now she is at home with my wife and I thank God for it.

With all of this taking place, I arrived in Massachusetts 12 days prior to the UFC 56 fight and I didn’t have the time to prepare properly. I couldn’t tell the organizers and promoters of UFC (who trusted my potential) that I would have to cancel 10 days before the show. I couldn’t let this opportunity of showing my talent to the UFC fans slip away.

I went into the fight against Jordan that night thinking that I had a good first round because I took him down, got the mount, and nearly submitted him by choke. Plus, I had some hits that landed and connected. However, I really gassed out in the second and third rounds, but I ended the fight with a beautiful KO.

I would like to thank all of you who supported me and gave me enough strength after the fight. To those who criticized me during and after the fight, I can tell you all that I am not displeased with that. All the fans have their reasons for criticism because they expected more from me and I didn’t show it. I will talk from the bottom of my heart and the next opportunity I get, I will show 100% of my technique and will-power to erase the bad image that I showed from the UFC 56 fight. I am sure that the UFC fans will applaud me after I provide them a show that they deserve to see. I will show technique on the ground and on the feet. And a lot of heart!

I will be prepared for a war the next time and fight with my strength, whether it is 3 rounds or 5 rounds if necessary. I do not have any fear of talking about my desire to win a UFC belt and I will show it for the fans in my next fight. Be sure of my words above — you can see it in me the next time I fight.

Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga

He’s living up to his words and his expectations. And if UFC is smart, they’ll realize that Napao has an interesting life story to tell as well.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. Radio: WO Live 4/22 (Dave Meltzer compared Gonzaga’s win to Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson, said it was sad and that it was damaging to UFC — claims it could cost UFC $8-10 million USD and Gonzaga doesn’t have ‘star power’)
  2. Deadspin: I’ll post anything that gets Joe Rogan this excited (the Gonzaga KO – plus revelations of UFC parties, which gives me flashbacks to WCW Nitro parties – stop me now…)
  3. UFC Mania: UFC 70 – Karma is a twist for Cro Cop
  4. Fox Sports: Revisiting PRIDE vs. UFC
  5. MMA HQ: UFC 70 – Nations Collide recap
  6. The Independent (UK): Ultimate fighting – New kind of fight club acclaims Bisping, the local hero
  7. The Manchester Evening News (UK): UFC at M.E.N. Arena (the newspaper who sponsors the arena that the UFC event was in publishes a negative article)
  8. The Green Valley News: Is cage fighting going mainstream?
  9. The Daily Breeze: Gabriel Gonzaga shocks Cro Cop with a KO
  10. The Daily Star (UK): Man Utd. Bloody Fight Shock
  11. The Lancashire Telegraph (UK): Bisping targets title gold
  12. British Boxing: A review of Cage Rage 21 by a MMA virgin
  13. Komikazee: UFC 70 show review
  14. The Vernon Morning Star (Canada): Jason St. Louis relishes cage fights
  15. UFC Junkie: UFC considering U.K. edition of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

Topics: BoDog, Canada, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

A quick note on Fight Opinion Radio

By Zach Arnold | April 22, 2007

I realize that the podcasting feed was popular, but not as popular as I first thought. As you know, the original podcasting feed on our site has been off-and-on, iffy at times to work with. Since we upgraded the software on our server side to update things, it’s basically flaked out and went kaput. iTunes users – try this feed link out (by subscribing to it – or use this link) and let me know if it works. Beta testing here. If you use another service, try using a link from the right side of the main site page.

Topics: Fight Opinion Radio, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Sunday slam: Mirko’s loss and the PRIDE name

By Zach Arnold | April 22, 2007

By Zach Arnold

Our latest site poll results for the following question: Which league do you see surviving the longest?

A new poll has been added to the right side of the page.

On all of the major international news wire services, Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga is now a star name. A plethora of news articles profiling his big upset win over Mirko Cro Cop. Here are some snapshots of the fight by famed Japanese photographer Susumu Nagao. It even made the top story on the front page of the AOL Sports Blog.

However, the story slant in Japan is different. The story of the UFC 70 main event fight was about Mirko. More importantly, in the eyes of the remaining hardcore PRIDE fans left in Japan who watched the UFC telecast on WOWOW, the bigger issue was how Mirko’s loss would damage the legacy of PRIDE. The killer from the star-studded 2006 Open-Weight GP tournament (Mirko beat Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva, and Josh Barnett) lost.

Mirko’s loss was devastating in more ways than one in the eyes of the Japanese fans. To those remaining PRIDE fans, Mirko was the one who carried the PRIDE ‘signboard’ on his back in UFC. The comparisons of Mirko/Gonzaga to Mirko/Randleman are already being made. (I don’t think the comparison to the Randleman fight is accurate because Randleman caught Mirko with a punch, whereas Gonzaga dominated this entire fight on the ground and standing up.)

Black Eye 2 took note that this unofficially makes it 3-0 in the PRIDE vs. UFC war (which is something the PRIDE hardcores do take stock in). Those three fights: Jeff Monson over Kazuyuki Fujita, Andrei Arlovski over Fabricio Werdum, and Gabriel Gonzaga over Mirko Cro Cop. Plus, throw in Frank Trigg over Kazuo Misaki, Kenny Florian over Dokonjonosuke Mishima, and Nick Diaz over Takanori Gomi for good measure. Gryphon points this out as well.

Except Gryphon makes a larger analogy that will be lost on non-professional wrestling fans. He compared the number of PRIDE fighters losing against UFC fighters in a similar vein to what happened in 1995-1996 during the UWF International (the precursor to PRIDE) vs. New Japan feud. Except for UWF-International’s ace Nobuhiko Takada, everyone else on the UWF-Inter squad lost when they competed in the New Japan ring. The same is happening with PRIDE fighters in the UFC octagon now.

Image damage to the PRIDE name has been done. Just ask Mirko’s Japanese agent, Ken Imai.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. AOL Sports Blog: UFC 70 – Gabriel Gonzaga knocks out Mirko Cro Cop
  2. The Sun Journal (Maine): Ultimate fighting (article about Amanda Buckner)
  3. Fox Sports: Gabriel Gonzaga stuns Mirko
  4. Fight Report: Belfort wins, Tank loses at Cage Rage 21
  5. The Los Angeles Times: Gonzaga knocks out Mirko Cro Cop – heavy favorite is KO’d, ruining potential heavyweight title match with Randy Couture
  6. The Washington Post: Gonazaga upsets Filipovic – fight for title looms next
  7. The Las Vegas Sun: Q & A w/ Lorenzo Fertitta & Dana White
  8. The Republican (MA): Gonzaga pulls upset
  9. The Minot Daily News (South Dakota): The Beast (Dan Severn) runs wild
  10. The Canadian Press: Dana White speaks out as MMA-boxing feud heats up
  11. UFC HP: ‘Napao’ stuns Cro Cop, earns shot at Couture
  12. Gambling 911: MMA underdogs keep paying out big in UFC betting with Gonzaga UFC 70 win
  13. The Boston Herald: UFC Gonzaga’s kicks into gear
  14. The Fightworks Podcast: Pablo Popovitch and Evan Shoman interviews
  15. Virtual Manchester: UFC draws capacity crowd in Manchester
  16. The Nashua Telegraph (New Hampshire): Health-conscious cook by day straps on the gloves at night
  17. The Honolulu Advertiser: Kane’ohe fighter has tall task in K-1 World GP
  18. The Clitheroe Today (UK): Bisping hits big in Manchester

Topics: BoDog, Boxing, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 54 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

UFC 70 recap

By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2007

By Zach Arnold

We start with the annoying gladiator video opener. Listening to Michael Bisping talk, it’s amazing that Spike TV actually put subtitles on the screen whenever he talked during The Ultimate Fighter. Even when he loses, I always love watching Elvis Sinosic. He’s a great character.

“Everyone always has a plan until they get hit.” — Mirko Cro Cop

Truer words never spoken.

It’s interesting to note that the Arlovski/Werdum fight was not publicized at all whatsoever in hype specials leading to the event. They spent the whole time on Gonzaga vs. Mirko. Maybe that’s a good thing.

The crowd at M.E.N. Arena looks very impressive. Also, Spike TV is using standard video shooting as opposed to the European-ish slower motion video editing/shooting. Joe Rogan calls Gabriel Gonzaga “a top 20 heavyweight in the world.” Not exactly doing the hard-sell there. Now they’re spending time putting over Arlovski.

Cheick Kongo vs. Assuerio Silva (206-265 pounds – Heavyweights

France vs. Brazil. No English spoken in the pre-fight promos. The two fight clips they showed of Silva were of him in fights he lost (against Tim Sylvia & Brandon Vera). Silva gets a good pop coming to the ring. Referee Herb Dean is outside the ring checking over Assuerio. On the TV side, they mentioned Kongo fighting the late Gilbert Aldana in the past (but didn’t mention Aldana’s drowning death). Rogan is saying that Kongo’s only ‘hole’ in his game is on the ground (mat work).

UFC sure does take its time during ring introductions and pre-fight introductions. At least compared to the late PRIDE organization.

Bruce Buffer is doing the ring introductions, including the weights of each fighter in stones. Kongo draws a bigger pop than Silva in the introductions.

Round one

The fight starts at the 23 minute mark into the TV broadcast.

The two men trade shots and Kongo looks very comfortable in stand-up. Silva gets a takedown (using a single leg grab) and Kongo holds on, only to get it back standing and back down once again (Kongo tries to apply a front neck lock but fails). Silva gets full mount. Rogan put over Silva as being formerly of the Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil. Not a lot of action. The fans are getting impatient after two minutes of little action. Kongo manages a reverse and a stand-up, which the crowd cheers. The fans start getting behind Kongo. Silva gets a clinch and can’t manage a takedown. Kongo starts laying some bombs on Silva against the cage. Silva is determined to take this fight to the mat. He got a great slam to the ground and it drew a pop from the crowd. Silva has side control and Kongo is offering no real aggressive defense. Yamasaki warns both men to start fighting. 30 seconds left. Kongo tries to get on top and Silva grabs an arm, but the end of round one. The fans politely cheer.

Round two

On the Spike TV broadcast, they are going in three minute commercial intervals during each round. Kongo tries some left low-kicks. Rogan pontificates that if Kongo concentrated on wrestling for two years that ‘he would be a killer.’ Kongo catches Silva against the cage with a flurry of stiff punches. Kongo is tagging him hard. Silva goes a takedown and manages to get on top of Kongo on the mat. Side control. Rogan says Kongo would do great if he went to The Pit (Liddell’s camp) to learn how to avoid the takedown. Kongo is holding onto Silva’s neck with his left arm, but is doing nothing else. The fans are restless and start booing. Half-way done with round two. Silva starts hitting Kongo in the ribs. A few more body shots. Kongo is tiring here. The referee (Mario Yamasaki) stands both men up. Silva needs some tape cut off of Silva’s wrist. Silva goes for a single-leg takedown and gets it, but Kongo stands it up only for Silva to do another slam back down to the ground. “Someone needs to kidnap Kongo and take him to a wrestling camp. No more kickboxing for six months.” — Rogan. “It’s an even fight, but a boring fight.” Rogan is earning his paycheck here for sure. End of round two.

Round three

Kongo went for a quick knee, then some kicks. He’s looking for the knockout. Kongo caught Silva with some stiff shots, but he’s still standing. Silva went for a telegraphed takedown and managed to once again slam Kongo. The crowd gives respect. Side control. Rogan puts over Gonzaga by saying that if Gabriel had this position, he would have finished the fight already. Yamasaki stands both men up. Kongo throws more middle kicks and punches. He’s an impressive striker. Silva tries to push Kongo to the mat but manages to get him against the cage. Silva tried for a pulldown and Kongo ended up getting top position. Kongo stands up over Silva and ends up getting caught in the guard. Kongo’s trying some ground-and-pound, but nothing effective. Rogan is begging for Kongo to get out of Silva’s guard. Kongo ended up cutting Silva’s forehead with shots. The fans applaud politely after the fight is over.

Winner: Cheick Kongo by majority decision (29-28 twice, 28-28)

Michael Bisping and Elvis Sinosic are shown backstage in their locker rooms. Then, a promo for UFC 71 (Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson).

The pacing of the Spike TV broadcast dragged throughout the night.

Terry Etim vs. Matt Grice (155 pounds – Lightweights)

Grice is pushed in a video package as a top wrestler from the University of Oklahoma. Etim is from Liverpool, so he’s the local boy. He’s put over as a fighter who wants to finish fights quickly.

This is a dark match airing on the main card broadcast. Etim receives a good pop from the crowd during his ring introduction.

Round one

The referee is Steve Mazzagatti, who looks like he is enjoying himself. Etim starts with a low-kick and caught Grice with a shot, only for Grice to catch himself with a takedown. Etim is very lanky (6’1″ at 155 pounds) with long legs. Grice works the ground-and-pound and is aggressive. Grice is laying some heavy leather here. Etim is taking a beating. Grice is now using some elbows. Grice stood up over Etim but went back into the guard. Some pretty heavy striking by Grice. Etim goes for a body scissors. The fans are restless and start booing. Etim’s bleeding from the nose. Grice stands up and allows Etim to stand up, which draws a big pop from the crowd. Etim has Grice in a front neck lock standing up against the cage. Grice manages to work his way out of the neck lock, but Etim applies it on the ground with leg scissors. Grice went out. Very exciting fight.

Winner: Terry Etim (R1 by front neck lock)

Etim got a superstar reaction in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

There were a ton of commercial breaks during this broadcast.

Joe Rogan interviewed Dana White in the crowd at the M.E.N. Arena. Dana White announced that Matt Serra and Matt Hughes would be the coaches for season six of The Ultimate Fighter. Rogan then turned to Serra and interviewed him. Rogan asks Serra about his thoughts on fighting Matt Hughes soon. Serra put over The Ultimate Fighter very well, including says Chris Lytle and GSP are great guys but that Matt Hughes “is a dick… a talented dick.”

Even more commercials…

A video package aired for the Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic fight. Sinosic says the pressure is all on Bisping to win since the fight is on home turf. Sinosic also says that if the fight hits the ground, it could be trouble for Bisping. Bisping predicts another KO in the first round.

Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic (186-205 pounds – Light Heavyweights)

The crowd jeers at Sinosic during his ring introduction. Bisping received a fantastic reaction from the home crowd during his ring introduction. Bisping is incredibly amped up and excited to fight.

Round one

Sinosic goes for a couple of leg kicks. Bisping is looking to strike. Elvis lands a couple of knees to the body. Bisping manages to take Elvis down to the ground. Ground and pound action. Elvis has the guard applied and is looking for submissions. Bisping really caught Elvis clean with some punches on the ground. Bisping stands up over Elvis and goes back into his guard. A ton of hammer fists. Half-way through the first round. Bisping is landing a lot of strikes but not extremely heavy punches – yet. Sinosic has a cut on his face already. He’s juicing (bleeding) pretty good here. One minute left in round one. Bisping continues throwing punches and elbows. More ground-and-pound to end the round. The crowd cheers uproariously.

Round two

More strikes by Bisping standing up. Bisping is a little tired but very accurate on his punches. Elvis caught Bisping with a right knee and Bisping tried to wrap his legs around Elvis. Elvis went for an armlock on Bisping and the crowd was stunned. Bisping managed to get out of the predicament. Elvis is on top of Bisping and is going for a submission. Rogan put Elvis over as a black belt in BJJ. Bisping reversed position and got on top to lay more bombs in ground-and-pound action. Referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight.

Winner: Michael Bisping (early R2 by referee stoppage)

Bisping held a Xyience can when he had his hand raised by the referee and also during the post-fight interview. Bisping held his son in his left arm during the conversation with Joe Rogan. Bisping said “fuck” in front of his son on accident. Dana White came into the octagon to say a word to Bisping. Dana was one happy man.

A promo package aired putting over UFC 71.

A video package aired for the Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum fight. Joe Rogan put over Werdum’s wins against Tom Erikson and Roman Zentsov in PRIDE. Some British officials were giving Werdum’s corner a hard time when he got into the cage. Mr. CondomDepot.com himself (Arlovski) walked to the cage and got a pretty good pop from the crowd. Herb Dean got a mixed reaction from the crowd.

According to a Canadian Press report, M.E.N. Arena security wouldn’t allow Andrei to bring in an American flag. I wonder if this is what those British officials were barking about with Werdum’s corner (they had a big flag with both the Brazilian and Spanish flags on it).

Arlovski said arena security took away the U.S. flag he wanted to walk into the arena with. Arlovski wanted to come in with both the American and Belarus flag. “I was very disappointed,” Arlovski said.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum (206-265 pounds – Heavyweights)

Round one

A few strikes traded, but both men tentative in stand-up mode. A lot of shadowing and dancing from both men. Werdum nailed a couple of shots on Andrei, then a clinch against the cage. He caught Andrei with a good shot against the cage. The crowd chants for Andrei. A low-kick from Andrei. Andrei caught Werdum with a shot and he invited Andrei to get into his guard. Andrei refused the invitation. Both men back standing. Werdum caught Andrei with a flurry of punches and hit him hard. Werdum has him in the clinch against the cage. Andrei tries to throw a couple of knees and the crowd cheers him on. Very interesting first round. A low-kick from Andrei, along with a good counter right punch. The crowd chants for Andrei once again. End of the first round.

Round two

Both men tentative to strike. The crowd is anxious and restless. Werdum tried for a telegraphed takedown and Andrei just sidestepped it. Andrei tried for a low-kick and Werdum caught his leg for a second. Werdum tried a capoeira kick. Werdum tried a right middle kick. The crowd starts clapping, hoping Andrei connects. A right kick to the thigh by Werdum. Half-way through round two and not much action. Werdum caught Andrei with a few shots but Arlovski managed to stop the flurry. Werdum has not taken this fight to the ground yet. The fans start booing. Andrei with a low kick again. A few shots from Andrei to end the round, as Werdum starts jawing with Andrei after the round.

Round three

Herb Dean told the fighters to not retreat in round three. Werdum went for a jumping kick but failed to connect. Really not much action at all going on in this round. Nothing connecting for either man. The fans try to cheer to get more action going in the fight. The fans seem distracted and are cheering at something happening outside of the ring. Werdum went for a leg grab to get a takedown but he couldn’t get Andrei down. Rogan scolds the tentative fight style and says that UFC won’t invite fighters back who are boring. The fans try to cheer once again, then start booing at the inactivity. 30 seconds left. Werdum starts laying the leather, but Andrei knocked him down. During the fight, they made sure to push Werdum as a star in PRIDE. The fight ends. The fans boo.

Andrei waved the Belarus flag around the octagon. Werdum draped himself with his big flag.

Winner: Andrei Arlovski (after 3R by unanimous decision)

The fans start booing Andrei during the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. Arlovski apologized to the fans for the fight and the fans cheered. His English is certainly improving.

A video promo for UFC 71.

Footage of Mirko Cro Cop and Gabriel Gonzaga in their locker rooms is shown.

Randy “The Natural” Couture joins Mike Goldberg & Joe Rogan at ringside. Randy agrees with Goldberg that Gonzaga should approach Mirko the same way he (Randy) approached Tim Sylvia in their March 3rd fight. Rogan started doing the hard sell for Gonzaga, but pulled back and said that Gonzaga hasn’t faced world-class competition yet. Randy said that style-wise he would rather face Mirko than face Gonzaga in a UFC Heavyweight Title fight. Randy picked Gonzaga to win the fight.

A video package for Mirko Cro Cop aired with many of his legendary kicks in the PRIDE ring. They are putting him over big as a PRIDE star. Then footage of Gabriel Gonzaga’s past UFC wins is shown. Gonzaga says he is prepared to fight standing up against Mirko.

The lights go out and the ring introductions start. Gonzaga comes to the ring first. Little reaction. The crowd was very much into Mirko, however, and Rogan said, “That is the most intimidating man to ever come out to Duran Duran music.”

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonazaga (206-265 pounds – Heavyweights)

Round one

Mirko chants in the crowd. Gonzaga throws a couple of shots. All stand-up so far. Gonzaga missed a right low-kick. He misses another one. Mirko went for a left kick, Gabriel caught it, and took Mirko down. Mirko has the guard applied. Gonzaga throws a couple of elbows. Mirko tries to grabs Gabriel’s arms to stop the punches. Randy says half-way through round one, Gabriel is winning. Dominant so far for Gonzaga. Two minutes left. More elbows from Gonzaga. Very methodical. More elbows. Now some punches. One minute left in the round. Couture says that Mirko not training in the cage (but in a ring) is a mistake before fights. The fighters are stood up with 30 seconds left. Gonzaga caught Mirko with a devastating right high-kick that just crumpled Mirko and finished the fight. It was over.

Winner: Gabriel Gonzaga (late R1 by right high-kick for the KO)

A beautiful finish to a one-sided fight. On the replays, you can see major twisting of Mirko’s leg and ankle after the KO. That was as nasty as the high-kick. The fans cheer Mirko as he tries to recover from the KO to sit on a stool in the cage. Gonzaga got a very good pop from the crowd for the result announcement. Gabriel cut a promo in portuguese after the fight. Gabriel tried to speak some English to Rogan’s second question. Randy Couture put over Gonzaga after the fight. Randy got a great reaction from the crowd.

Rogan tried to interview Mirko after the fight. He was very disappointed, but the fans gave him a good response. A good fight audience tonight for the event.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

UFC 70 open discussion

By Zach Arnold | April 21, 2007

Pre-show thoughts, during-show thoughts, and post-show thoughts go here. I’m setting this post up as I will watch the show on TV and do a recap later for the site.

UFC 70 event results.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 51 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Saturday splash: No love for Fabricio Werdum

By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2007

One Randy Couture says that he thinks Mirko Cro Cop will lose to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70. I suggested the same thing a couple of weeks ago and drew surprise. I expect to be laughed at soon. Randy also picked Arlovski over Werdum, whereas I think Werdum has a real good shot here to win.

WordPress users – we’re looking for new spam filters. Make suggestions in the comments section, please!

Psygone – post your comment again. It got eaten up by the filters.

Josh Barnett responds to Dana White’s comments about him earlier in the week. Plus an interview with Calvin Ayre with an evasive answer on pursuing PRIDE fighters.

Onto today’s headlines.

  1. The Mirror (UK): A bluffer’s guide to the new craze
  2. The Houston Chronicle: Heavyweights headline UFC 70
  3. Fox Sports: UFC 70 takes the show on the road
  4. The Fightworks Podcast: More great grappling content in iTunes
  5. MMA California: CSAC news – Sakuraba vs. Royce
  6. The Independent (UK): UFC – British crowds wooed by the ultimate in combat
  7. The Canton Repository: Americans can stop epidemic of violence, corrupting influences (UFC gets some blame)
  8. The Canadian Press: As MMA popularity grows, so does both the good and the bad of the sport
  9. The Baltimore Sun: Judgment Day – UFC 70 collides with Cage Rage 21
  10. UFC Mania: UFC 72 – Rory Singer vs. Jason MacDonald
  11. UFC Junkie: Exclusive – Marcus Davis announces UFC 72 fight

Topics: BoDog, HERO's, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Report: UFC not to air on WOWOW in May

By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2007

Gryphon picked up on a hot lead, and I decided to go ahead and do a quick translation (paraphasing some of what was said) of the post he alluded to.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Update on Ed Fishman lawsuit

By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2007

By Zach Arnold

Last Monday, the next court-approved meeting for the Fishman Companies vs. DSE Inc. was originally set for May 17th at 9 AM PST in Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada. However, there is a new hearing scheduled for Wednesday, April 25th at 9:30 AM PST.

For the 4/25 hearing, the lawyer for the hearing on behalf of Fishman Companies will be Lawrence Semenza III (replacing Todd Bice as the lawyer for Fishman Companies). The 4/25 date is for the plaintiff’s motion for a hearing on waiving compliance.

The motion for a hearing was filed on Thursday. The name Bonnie Bulla is listed for overseeing the 4/25 meeting. It should be noted that she is the commissioner of the Civil Discovery Office in charge of resolving problems in pre-trial disputes regarding the discovery process in civil lawsuits.

Topics: Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Sapp fight canceled from Cage Rage 21

By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2007

By Mark Pickering

Cage Rage has announced the withdrawal of Bob ‘The Beast’ Sapp from Saturday’s ‘Judgement Day’ Card at the Wembley Arena.

Sapp, who was due to return to action after a one-year absence against fellow K-1 veteran Gary ‘The Smiler’ Turner, cited personal reasons for his late exit.

“He is unlikely to be available in London in time to enter the cage,” said Cage Rage officials.

Ever-ready veteran Tank Abbott has replaced the former NFL lineman and will match skills against England’s kickboxing specialist Turner.

The 42-year old former UFC heavyweight contender was due to make his Cage Rage debut last July against Amokrane “Kiane” Sabet but the bout was eventually postponed when the latter was forced out after picking up an injury while training at London Shoot Fighters.

Tank is riding a two-fight losing streak, last tasting victory in 2005 against Wesley Correira at Rumble on the Rock 7.

Meanwhile, Turner will make his first major foray into mixed martial arts having previously sampled the sport domestically in 1999 and registering a 1-0-1 record.

Cage Rage 21 Fight Card:

Main Event
Gary Turner vs. Tank Abbott

Light Heavyweight
Ivan Serati vs. Vitor Belfort

World Light Heavyweight Title
Cyborg vs. James Zikic

Heavyweight Cage Kick Boxing
James McSweeney vs. Michael McDonald

Middleweight
Daijiro Matsui vs. Mark Weir

Middleweight
Murilo Rua vs. Alex Reid

Light Heavyweight
Roman Webber vs. Mark Epstein

British Welterweight Title
Paul Kelly vs. Paul Daley

Welterweight
Ross Pointon vs. Abdul Mohammed

Light Heavyweight
Cyrille Diabate vs. Ryan Robinson

Featherweight
Alex Owen vs. Brad Pickett

Middleweight
Xavier Foupa Pokam vs. Tom Watson

Middleweight
James E Nicoll vs. Damien Riccio

Topics: Mark Pickering, Media, MMA, UK | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Friday media flash: The heat-up for UFC 70

By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2007

There is a report that UFC has signed a major advertising deal with Feather Brooksbank in the UK.

On Thursday, officials from the anti-yakuza task force of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police had a JBC-sanctioned meeting with 56 people associated with boxing gyms in Tokyo. The meeting was the first in a series of lectures of how to keep the boryokudan (yakuza) out of the boxing scene. Tokyo Metro says that they will send plain-clothed officers to boxing events to root out yakuza members from watching events. (JBC = Japan Boxing Commission).

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, IFL, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, UK, Yakuza, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

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