UFC on HBO?
By Luke | July 2, 2006
According to the Wrestling Observer and MMAWeekly, UFC is close to a TV deal with HBO. I remember years ago, when I was a new fan, and I was posting on the SoundOff Forum, fans would talk about UFC being on a network like this. I used to laugh to myself because it seemed so unrealistic. Now, it’s a very realistic possibility.
The other real possibility is UFC over-reaching during the boom period they’re currently experiencing. Part of what makes UFC special is that it’s not on TV every day. Baseball games are a dime a dozen, as the same for other sports. The meaning of the average baseball, basketball, or hockey game is diminished because there are so many before the real games start at playoff time.
UFC should be careful not to turn off the new fans its winning over by hitting them repeatedly with so much product, they eventually start tuning out.
The positive side to this potential deal is the legitimacy this will bring the promotion in the eyes of the sports community, and sports media. Dana White has long pined for MMA (specifically UFC) to be given its due by the media, and networks that carry & cover just about every other sport thats played in North America.
UFC is going to need to recruit even more talent, and possibly spread there roster even more thin, unless they decide to sign some of PRIDE’s fighters. Guys like Dan Henderson and Phil Baroni are probably the most likely nominees. I would like to see Quinton Jackson in UFC, but that seems unlikely.
It’s going to be an interesting year-and-a-half in MMA, that’s for sure.
Topics: All Topics, Luke Nicholson, MMA, UFC | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Around the net
By Zach Arnold | July 2, 2006
- Whaledog – Are all MMA promoters thugs?
- MMA Weekly – UFC/HBO deal closer to becoming a reality
- Sherdog – Cage Rage draws big at Wembley Arena
- Ivan Trembow – Follow-up on controlling the flow of information (UFC vs. internet media wars)
- Fight Biz – Random UFC thoughts
- Las Vegas Review Journal – UFC’s popularity brings White’s quest to fruition
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
PRIDE 7/1 Saitama Super Arena show results
By Zach Arnold | July 1, 2006
Click on the post link to display the results. DSE claimed an attendance of 44,606.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media links
By Zach Arnold | June 30, 2006
- The Sun (UK newspaper) – Lee Murray’s million-dollar mansion — complete with life-size mural of himself and oyster-shell chairs!
- Whaledog – Sherdog.com spoils TUF 4 finals
- MMA HQ – Who’s next for Rich Franklin?
- The Sweet Science – Don’t blame UFC for boxing’s woes
- Whaledog – Jeff Thaler interviews WFA CEO Jeremy Lappen (MP3)
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
K-1 World MAX World Championship Final
By Zach Arnold | June 30, 2006
Results from today’s event at Yokohama Arena.
- Yodsanklai Fairtex defeated Kamal El Amrani after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (30-26 three times).
- Reserve fight: Artur Kyshenko (Ukraine) defeated Rayen Simson (Holland) after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision.
- Tournament: Masato defeated Takayuki Kohiruimaki after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (30-28 three times).
- Tournament: Andy Souwer defeated Virgil Kalakoda in R3 in 2 minutes, 30 seconds by KO (two knockdown rule).
- Tournament: Drago (IT’S SHOW TIME) defeated Albert Kraus after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (30-28 three times).
- Tournament: Buakaw Por Pramuk defeated Yoshihiro Sato in R2 in 18 seconds by KO from a left hook.
- TATSUJI defeated Yasuhito Shirasu after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (30-28 twice, 30-29)
- Tournament: Andy Souwer defeated Masato after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (30-29, 30-28 twice).
- Tournament: Buakaw Por Pramuk defeated Drago after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (30-27 twice, 30-28).
- Fernando Calleros (American Kempo Karate Academy) defeated Kozo Takeda after 3R by a 3-0 judges’ decision (28-26 twice, 28-27)
- Tournament Finals: Buakaw Por Pramuk defeated Andy Souwer in the 2nd round in 2 minutes, 13 seconds by KO with a straight right.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, K-1, Media, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Latest UFC show draws 1.4 rating
By Zach Arnold | June 29, 2006
By Zach Arnold
Reuters reports that Wednesday’s UFC show draw a 1.4 on Spike TV, with Blade (the show series being promoted throughout the UFC event) doing over a 2.0.
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Lawmaker attempts to stop MMA in Britain
By Zach Arnold | June 29, 2006
By Zach Arnold
24dash.com reports that London Assembly member Bob Blackman (of Wembley, the area which will be hosting Cage Rage this weekend at the Wembley Arena) is attempting to stop “cage fighting” (MMA).
“The ‘sport’ of Cage Fighting offers no protection to its participants and it excites the worst sides of human emotion in those who watch it.
“This medieval human blood sport has no place in modern Britain.”
Here’s Bob Blackman’s contact information. His publicly listed e-mail is [email protected] if you want to contact him, but please – no threats.
Update: Both the BBC and Headway (a brain injury charity) are pushing the story. Here is fan reaction on the UKFF forum.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UK, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
1,000 concerned stockholders
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2006
By Zach Arnold
The first media report (Asahi Shimbun) coming out of the stockholder’s meeting for Fuji TV at the Le Meridien Hotel Grand Pacific on Thursday is that nearly 1,000 stockholders showed up for the meeting at 9 AM. The major issue on the table was how Fuji TV would restructure given the failed Livedoor takeover bid from last year, along with the involvement of the Murakami Fund (producing two scandals). This Nikkei report focused on the hard questioning that stockholders gave to Fuji TV President Hieda over the company’s predicament after Livedoor’s failed takeover attempt.
Update: Both Nikkan Sports and Daily Sports have articles about the stockholder’s meeting. At least four questions about PRIDE were asked, including a question asking whether or not Fuji TV had relations with the boryokudan (yakuza). Fuji TV denied any relationships to crime syndicates, and did not elaborate as to what the “improper event” was that led to the network canceling PRIDE.
TBS also had a stockholder’s meeting, with 371 people (a little over 1/3rd of how many stockholders appeared for the Fuji meeting) appearing to discuss the network’s future.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Ultimate Fight Night review
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2006
By Zach Arnold
Results/reviews: Sherdog | MMA-Snark | Fight Report | MMA Toronto
“Bottom line is that if you’re not winning, you’re not in the UFC. … Maybe he will want to go back to Japan or somewhere where the competition is a little easier.” — Chris Leben, talking about his opponent Anderson Silva on the opening video package for the UFN show.
This was a great promo for various reasons, with “Japan” being code for “PRIDE.” It came off like wrestlers in the 90s in WCW calling WWF “up north” or “New York” rather than by the promotion’s own name.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
War between Sapp & K-1 continues
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2006
By Zach Arnold
On Tuesday, a FAX was sent to the mass media in Japan on behalf of Bob Sapp (through a Japanese lawyer), explaining what happened at the infamous K-1 Amsterdam show and why he didn’t fight Ernesto Hoost. In short, Sapp said that he was threatened. (English summary of Sapp’s argument in the past can be read here.) It garnered major media coverage, and today K-1 management responded back with accusations that a DSE American lawyer (who matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa named Mr. M — likely as in Michael Connette, the lawyer who got involved in the dispute with Royce Gracie a couple of years ago for fighting Akebono in the K-1 ring on New Year’s Eve) was present with Sapp at the time everything fall apart in Amsterdam. K-1 claims that Sapp demanded that his long-term contract with K-1 be annuled after the Hoost fight, but the promotion didn’t back down.
Update: On Friday, DSE boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara stated that DSE did not have any involvement in the dispute between Bob Sapp & K-1 in May at the Amsterdam Arena show.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fuji TV stockholders meeting
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2006
By Zach Arnold
Shareholders of Fuji TV stock will meet at the TV network’s annual shareholder’s meeting at the Le Meridien Hotel Grand Pacific. The stockholder activist groups are preparing to put the heat on Fuji TV management for several issues, and one activist site (Labor Net Japan) has the PRIDE scandal listed as a hot topic for discussion.
This will likely prove to be a very interesting meeting for Fuji TV executives, as the network still has not directly told the public why they canceled PRIDE from their network in the first place. This could provide some uncomfortable moments.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Yakuza, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC to Sherdog: Go away
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2006
By Zach Arnold
More information here. In short, Zuffa told Sherdog to leave their public fighter weigh-ins event. Note the word public.
If you are an MMA fan and not a pro-wrestling fan or historian, I strongly urge you to research just exactly what happened to the American pro-wrestling scene in 1985 when Vince McMahon became the super-power after WrestleMania 1 at MSG in New York. For long-time pro-wrestling fans, what we’re seeing with UFC comes as absolutely zero surprise.
UFC will do business the way they want to on their own terms, and nobody can stop them. Anyone who has delusions of grandeur that Sherdog or other MMA sites can alter the behavior of UFC needs to look at their brethren in the pro-wrestling world to see where the direction is headed.
No one wants to say it, but the current “powers-that-be” for the major MMA web sites need UFC much more than UFC will ever need them. UFC doesn’t financially need the MMA web sites for financial support. The MMA web sites are the ones that need UFC, PRIDE, etc. to support them financially via advertising, merchandising, and other forms of revenue. UFC moving more and more of their operations in-house via WWE is exactly what they should do be business-wise, and while I sympathize with those who value the argument that UFC should treat the MMA media with more respect, UFC has no motivation at this point to do so. As UFC continues to grow, they will need the MMA media less and less as they develop their own media operations (similar to what we have seen with major sports franchises such as the New York Yankees with the YES Network, the New York Knicks with the MSG Network, the NFL with their NFL Network, and the New York Mets with SportsNet NY).
Ivan Trembow comments on UFC telling Sherdog to go away (quote pulled from the MMA Weekly forum thread):
“This is not about the merits of Sherdog.com versus the merits of MMAWeekly, or any other web site. This is about independent MMA journalism. The fact is, MMAWeekly and Full Contact Fighter got their media credentials pulled the exact same way that Sherdog.com did. What’s different now is that while Zuffa has always had the plausible deniability in the past that the independent MMA media could still cover UFC events just the same, they have now prevented members of the independent MMA media from doing thier job at an event that was supposedly ‘open to the public.'”
For those who argue that what UFC is trying to do is control the flow of information to the media, here is what I have to say about it. Comparing the relationship that publications such as Wrestling Observer and The Torch have with WWE versus what Sherdog, FC Fighter, and MMA Weekly (maybe it is unfair to mention them in this paragraph) have with UFC is not an argument I necessarily buy. One example is to look at the financial model of Sherdog. Their financial model is based on the sales of advertising, merchandise, and other products derived from the actual leagues themselves. That’s how money is made, whereas in the case of Meltzer and Keller they make their money by subscriptions for people to pay for their writings. The relationships that the MMA media have with the leagues is different than their pro-wrestling counterparts.
There is the argument that UFC is trying to control the flow of information that gets to the public, not the media itself, and that the method in which they are doing this is questionable. Some media outlets alleged in the past that the UFC is willing to pull media credentials from reporters if they write anything critical about the company. If you are supportive of the MMA media in this story, then I should bring up a recent story about the Kansas City Royals taking away the press credentials of two radio reporters. This action caused Mike Greenberg of the Mike & Mike in the Morning radio show on ESPN Radio to call the action “cowardly.”
If the MMA media sites can eloquently prove that UFC has threatened their credentials due to negative coverage, then two things should happen.
- The case should be made in a written format with evidence (documentation).
- Lawsuits should be filed (by the media sites) if they can provide evidence that UFC’s actions have cost them financially due to not covering events specifically marketed for the general public to attend.
Writer Jason Gatties expresses his thoughts on the situation. Ivan Trembow has more thoughts.
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
It’s 1985 all over, again
By Zach Arnold | June 27, 2006
By Zach Arnold
The Ultimate Fighter 3 finale show on Spike TV last Saturday night drew a 2.04 cable rating, blowing away all expectations. The UF3 show was panned for not having enough “star power” with Kenny Florian vs. Sam Stout in the main event, but all criticism was clearly blown away by the strong ratings numbers.
For those who remember 1985 and what happened with the WWF (along with the other territorial wrestling groups), it’s a little over 20 years later and we’re seeing the same trends happening now that happened then to the wrestling industry in America.
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |