Thursday news turnover
By Zach Arnold | January 24, 2007
Arona not expected to be at PRIDE 33, Tito Ortiz’s birthday party gets media coverage, and Kevin Randleman speaks.
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Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Wednesday weekly media
By Zach Arnold | January 23, 2007
PRIDE markets Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz as ‘PRIDE vs. top-class UFC fighter.’
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Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Preview UFN 8
By Stephan | January 23, 2007
My “fan” analysis and preview of the upcoming UFN 8 on Thursday Jan 25. Yes, I make mistakes, if I dont know a fighter I go to fightfinder mostly to find info about them. If I know a fighter and remember his fights, I usually go from memory (which is where I get in trouble – I’ll try to double check this time!). This is actually an exciting card with great matchups, and its free! Without further ado, here are my breakdown of the matchups for that card:
Preliminary bouts
Ross Pointon Vs. Rich Clementi
Ross has loss my interest a long time ago, he made for good TV, but thats it. Rich didnt make as good TV, but is better rounded and has more experience. Prediction: Clementi maybe by Submission.
Clay Guida Vs. Din Thomas
Din Thomas is a great fighter, well rounded that came close to be the TUF4 winner. I dont know much about Clay. He participated at UFC 64 and has loads of experience. I still give the edge to Din here.
Ed Herman Vs. Chris Price
As Zach pointed out on the fighopinion radio show this week, Ed Herman is probably fighting for his contract. This would be his third straight loss. He was a fan favorite (much like Chris Leben – coincidentally Lebel and Herman both lost to Jason MacDonald), but has shown weaknesses on the ground. Chris is also in a must win situation, he lost to Kendall Grove in October. I do pick Ed Herman by decision, he did seem better rounded, although was caught last time.
Chad Reiner Vs. Josh Burkman
Burkman is an exciting stand up fighter, he had a great war (and won) against his friend Josh Neer. Chad is making his UFC (or UFN) debut. Chad has a 13-1 record, and his wins seem evenly distributed between KO and submissions. I’m really not sure about Josh’s ground game, but can not doubt his heart, so on this basis I pick Burkman by KO.
Main Card
Dean Lister Vs. Nate Marquardt
Most people think this one will be a snoozer, but this is the fight I’m looking forward to the most. Unfortunately, this match may not on TV. It has been billed as the swing bout (if time permits). Two Brazillian JiuJitsu Black belts duking it out! That should be awesome. Marquardt probably has a slight edge if he can keep it standing up. This one is a real toss-up, but I really like Lister so far, so I’ll pick him, but would not be suprised of any outcome here.
Hermes Franca Vs. Spencer Fisher
Hermes has been a winning streak lately (the last 1 and 1/2 year), hes fantastic on the ground and can also mix it up standing up. “the King” Fisher’s last lost was a questionable split decision to Sam Stout. Spencer has great stand up and does hit very hard. He’s no slouch on the ground but I dont think he can roll as well as Franca. I will pick Franca by submission.
Jake O’Brien Vs. Heath Herring
Is anybody else as excited about Heath coming back as I am? Heath may not win every fight, but he’ll make sure each fight is exciting (sounds opposite of the current belt-holder eh?). Jake has yet to lose, he was at UFN 6 and UFC 65, but I dont remember seeing him, so I believe he must have been an undercard at both. Heath though has faced the best of the best, and would love to come back to the UFC and make a mark now that its exploding. Heath could easily become a fan favorite with his aggresive style. I pick Heath by brutal TKO here.
Rashad Evans Vs. Sean Salmon
Rashad the Heavyweight winner from TUF 2, is now dropping to 205. Rashad’s problem used to be that he only won by decision, but he rectified that at UFC 63 by a KO over Jason Lambert in Round 2. Well Sean is a newcomer to the UFC, he must be good to be the main event at UFN. He sports a record of 9-1, his only loss coming to David Heath, but picking against Rashad has not been wise so far, so Rashad by decision.
Topics: All Topics, MMA, Stephan Marceau, UFC | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
PRIDE 2/24 Las Vegas card line-up
By Zach Arnold | January 22, 2007
- Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz
- Frank Trigg vs. Kazuo Misaki
- Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Travis Wiuff
- Mac Danzig vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
- Middleweight Title match: Vanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 31 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Tuesday media blotter
By Zach Arnold | January 22, 2007
- The Fight Network: Matt Lindland vs. Emelianenko Fedor is now official
- North Jersey Media Group: Martial arts fighter sues former NJ partners (this is about the Wallid Ismail lawsuit we already covered – if anyone has pertinent information pertaining to the case, e-mail me)
- Ground & Pound: An interview with Denis Kang
- PR Inside: Jenna Jameson to host ‘surprise’ birthday party for Tito Ortiz
- Bodog Beat: Randy Couture talks about his return
- Business Wire (PR): Warner Home Video enters the ring as they team up with the IFL
- WBAY TV: Former Green Bay Packer finds a new sport in MMA
- Canadian Press (via The Calgary Sun): The Crow ready to rise on new MMA circuit, putting 2006 behind him
- The Crookston Daily Times: CFC a hit; it’ll return in March
- Ivan Trembow: Salary breakdown for first WEC event
- Vegas Pop: Chuck Liddell parties with Justin Timberlake
- Komikazee: Dana (McMahon) White says UFC is a family-friendly sport
- Jake Rossen: Clanging cajones
- Jordan Breen: Tatsuya Kawajiri vacates the Shooto Welterweight title
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Advice for Dana White
By Zach Arnold | January 22, 2007
Are you really interested in buying PRIDE?
Or are you blowing smoke?
Read my reasons why you shouldn’t touch PRIDE. It’s free, and it’s on-target. Plus, the police will appreciate you listening. 🙂
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Monday morning round-up
By Zach Arnold | January 22, 2007
First, we send our condolences out to Dave Doyle, whose New England Patriots lost to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 38-34.
Stop laughing, right now.
Onto today’s headlines.
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Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Source: CSAC suspends yet another fighter
By Zach Arnold | January 21, 2007
Image credit: IFL.tv
By Zach Arnold
According to a source at the IFL Oakland Arena event on January 19th, fighter Joe Martin has been allegedly suspended indefinitely (the rumor is up to six months) by the California State Athletic Commission for unsportsmanlike conduct after losing to Clint Coronel in a fight on the event.
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Topics: All Topics, IFL, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Sunday media review
By Zach Arnold | January 21, 2007
By Zach Arnold
Before we get into today’s headlines, I wanted to address the rumors regarding WWE’s interest in MMA. According to a well-placed source (that wishes to remain anonymous), WWE is still interested in adding a fourth brand (they have RAW, Smackdown, and ECW) that is MMA-themed. Despite the IFL scoring a new TV deal with MyNetworkTV, WWE is still very interested in having their own MMA operation in 2007.
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Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, WWE, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Guest editorial: Fedor vs. Lindland thoughts
By Zach Arnold | January 20, 2007
Matt Lindland vs. Fedor Emelianenko – sounds a little strange maybe, but I can’t wait for this matchup. This is definitely two of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and should actually make quite a fairly competitive fight. But it does come from out of nowhere seemingly, but I’ve played connect the (imaginary) dots to conclude how this fight came about.
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Topics: All Topics, BoDog, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The importance of weight
By Tomer Chen | January 20, 2007
By: Tomer Chen
Weight, in many combat sports throughout history, was a secondary consideration. Most combat sports began with the very basics, forming a very fundamental set of rules (such as Broughton’s rules in Boxing, which eventually became the London prize ring rules and was the foundation of the Bare-knuckle era from the 1700s to the late 1800s). Fighters in the sports basically fought one another in open weight competition for years, so seeing a Welterweight face a Heavyweight was not that uncommon years ago. Even in the early UFCs (and other MMA events) you could see significant weight differentials between two parties (such as Royce Gracie vs. Kimo), which was allowed primarily because there was no athletic commission to refuse the bouts. Of course, as the combat sports evolved over the years and sought to become recognized and (more) accepted in the mainstream press, the desire to try and protect the fighters as best as possible through setting up reasonable weight ranges that the fighters would have to fall under as of weigh-in time in order to have the contest proceed.
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Topics: All Topics, Boxing, MMA, Tomer Chen | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Saturday media splashing
By Zach Arnold | January 20, 2007
IFL results from Oakland on 1/19 (Friday night): Observer (Meltzer edited out his ‘small crowd’ comment) | The Fight Network | IFL Press Release (they’re claiming 5,000)
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Topics: All Topics, IFL, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 30 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
French star recovers after stabbing
By Mark Pickering | January 19, 2007
Cage Rage and Shooto veteran Matthias ‘The Fire’ Riccio, one of Europe’s most coveted light-heavyweights, who was stabbed a week ago in his native Perpignan, France, is making a steady recovery in hospital.
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Topics: All Topics, Mark Pickering, Media, MMA | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |