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Nevada score cards: 3 more rounds & Guerrero would have had a draw against Mayweather

By Zach Arnold | May 4, 2013

Dan Rafael of ESPN:

It was all Mayweather. All three judges, Jerry Roth, Duane Ford and Julie Lederman, scored it 117-111 for Mayweather. ESPN.com had it 119-109 for Mayweather.

Most of the writers had it 119 to 109 in favor of Mayweather (11 rounds to only 1 for Guerrero). 117 x 111 means that Guerrero could have stole a draw if he had won three more rounds. The judges gave Floyd 9 rounds, Guerrero 3 rounds. That is… something. I point this out because of two reasons: 1) Mayweather admitted to having a re-match clause in the bout contract for this fight. 2) Mayweather made $32M guaranteed while Guerrero made $3M USD. In other words, a draw would have meant an automatic re-match and a lot more cash for Guerrero… as long as he isn’t in jail. Rikers may very well be in his future due to the New York gun charges.

Except Golden Boy & Showtime have Canelo now. Will they set up a match this soon against Mayweather? The Golden Boy/Showtime set-up is basically the closest attempt we’ve seen in the sport of boxing to emulating what the UFC is doing in MMA. And since nobody actually enforces the Ali Act and prosecutes those breaking contract law, it’s a feeding frenzy for boxing promoters right now.

Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Will Eddie Alvarez risk losing his court case by going after Bellator publicly?

By Zach Arnold | May 4, 2013

There’s always two sides to every story. On one hand, Eddie Alvarez’s campaign against Bellator basically puts Bellator in a no-win position. If they win their court case, it’s a pyrrhic victory because other fighters will be scared away from signing with the promotion. On the other hand, Bellator has Viacom’s bankroll to put Eddie’s MMA career in jeopardy by dragging out the legal battle for as long as possible.

Here is what Eddie Alvarez said on Twitter regarding what he will say publicly about his court case in the near future:

Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Joe Rogan says Lloyd Irvin is mad about marketing sales rant

By Zach Arnold | May 2, 2013

For his Monday radio show (4/29/2013), Joe Rogan had some words to say about the now-infamous Lloyd Irvin. For those trying to find articles on why Irvin is a newsworthy subject, Brent Brookhouse at Bloody Elbow gives you all the ammunition you need to know.

After Lloyd Irvin previously apologized for purchasing LloydIrvinRape.com, calling the move “in poor taste,” similar websites were purchased again last month and, again, are now marketing sites for Irvin’s gym and endeavors.

According to Rogan on his Tuesday radio show, Irvin called him up and was pissed about what Rogan had to say.

Here is what Rogan had to say about Irvin’s alleged phone call to him on Tuesday:

JOE ROGAN: “So I got to talk about something because on the podcast yesterday we talked about this web site, um… where, uh… this guy Lloyd Irvin has this, uh, marketing web site and we were making fun of it and so he called up me today. He was upset that we made fun of it, but I told him I said, listen, we can’t make fun of something that’s not stupid. And if something looks ridiculous, I mean like you insult people’s intelligence and that then there becomes humor, you know? And his attitude is very interesting because he’s a very successful marketer and one thing I got to say is like is I don’t know, LIKE the guy’s had some issues I know but I don’t know both sides of the story, I just know all the bullshit and the rumors that you hear on the Internet. But as far as like what he’s been able to do, he’s a phenomenal marketer. Like this guy figured out how to get like way bigger schools than anybody else has ever to do and then teaches people how to do it and it’s super effective.”

STUDIO: “He’s the Whitney of jiu-jitsu.”

JOE ROGAN: “The Whitney Cummings?”

STUDIO: “Yeah.”

JOE ROGAN: “Yeah, you love her, dude, you like bring her up all the time. She’s your example of like a hard worker.”

STUDIO: “Yeah.”

JOE ROGAN: “Well, the dude’s definitely a hard worker. But I think in that style of marketing, it leaves you so open to be criticized and I’m aware of that personally myself because of my involvement with Onnit because there’s been times where the people at Onnit have made like an ad or something or said something that I thought was ridiculous so I made fun of it on the show.”

[discussion about a guy kissing his biceps in ad]

JOE ROGAN: “My point is I make, look, I make fun of myself. I think the only reason why someone would not want to be made fun of is first of all you think it would effect your business which is valid but also because you don’t want to look at the fact that what you’re doing is fucking ridiculous.”

STUDIO: “You don’t want to look foolish, that’s most of it.”

JOE ROGAN: “Yeah.”

STUDIO: “You’re making fun of me. It’s like, well…”

JOE ROGAN: “This is what I told him, this is the other thing I told Lloyd because I like Lloyd, you know, my interactions with him have always been cool even though I think the marketing shit’s insulting. I said you need to do this, if you’re going to do these things, and then give them to somebody to look at, somebody who’s like a critical person, who’s going to go no, no, no, no, no. Send them to me, I’ll tell you what the fuck’s wrong with it. You can’t make people think that you think they’re stupid, you can’t because then you’re funny. Because then you become funny, you become a silly person. When you know you write drafts to yourself, he wrote an e-mail to himself and got busted like writing an e-mail and pretending that it was this expert that was e-mailing him.”

STUDIO: “Uhuh.”

JOE ROGAN: “And the way he looked at it was very different.”

STUDIO: “Yeah but who does he hang out with, like Mr. T?”

JOE ROGAN: “This is how he looked at it, it was very fascinating. He was like, if you saw an ad on TV and a celebrity is endorsing something, do you think they really say those words? Like, they’re reading something that someone wrote.”

STUDIO: “Oh, yeah.”

JOE ROGAN: “So, I thought it was interesting. Like, that’s how he looked at it. So, he looked at it like he’s creating a bit of fiction but ultimately his product is legitimate, that’s how he looked at it. Which is, I kind of, I see that.”

STUDIO: “Kind of a leap, though. Celebrities endorse something…”

JOE ROGAN: “Not really, if the product wasn’t legitimate I would say, yes. But since the product… I know for a fact that that guy has made a lot of people a lot of money with his techniques, like his marketing techniques. He’s made them a lot of fucking money, so it does work. So, it’s interesting that he’s saying. So, what he’s saying is like…”

STUDIO: “That’s like what Disney had. Disney had that with people coming out of a movie and everyone was saying, ‘oh, it was great, it was amazing!’ and then you found out later that they’re all Disney employees. I mean, it’s like…. it’s like you’re making people believe that this person is not this person, you’re misleading them.”

JOE ROGAN: “It’s dishonest. You treat them like they’re fools and then it becomes funny.”

Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Ruben Guerrero really wants you to look at Floyd Mayweather Jr. as a woman beater

By Zach Arnold | May 2, 2013

What a way to promote a fight in a devoutly Christian manner.

There’s a reason the rhetoric can’t hide Robert Guerrero remaining an 8-to-1 underdog against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Did he decide to watch the anti-MMA forces in New York last week accuse UFC of promoting fighters who encourage rape and sexist insults? And why aren’t these forces out in Las Vegas this week to protest the Mayweather/Guerrero fight?

Here’s a pro-Mayweather puff piece from Tim Smith in the New York Daily News about Mayweather being a changed man.

He’s Ruben Guerrero, father of Robert Guerrero, praising Roger Mayweather and dumping on Floyd Mayweather Sr. & Jr.

“Oh, I respect him, he’s one of the best, man! Him, he’s a clown! He’s a clown. Roger’s the best trainer, baby! Roger should be the main guy. I want to fight a real guy that knows what he’s doing, not a loser.”

“He started this shit, he started his crap, he ran his mouth, talking shit, he’s going to do this to me, he’s going to do that. Hey, I’m for real, I don’t hide behind nobody. I go to the death, that’s what we do, we go down to the wire, to the death, baby. They’re going to have to kill us in this fight because we’re going to win, baby.”

“I’m a nice guy right now, before I was worse. I would have dragged his ass right away if I wanted to. I’m calm now, I would have dragged him right away. I would have knocked his ass out, whatever.”

“Look at the way he’s talking about my son, he’s a hypocrite. He don’t talk about his story, right? Hitting his woman, his kids, in front of his wife. Hitting his wife in front of his kids, all this bullshit, you know. I read all that bullshit on the Internet, man, you know, that’s not right when you hit a woman in front your kids, you know? Hey, that’s why man, you know, hey… we’re going to find out when he gets in the ring because he’s going to fight a real man.”

“I’m letting it out with my heart. This is not to get under his skin. We’re ready to go, baby, we’re ready to go.”

Robert may be getting ready to go to Rikers after the fight when New York throws the book at him over gun charges.

In response to Ruben, Floyd Sr. was busy showing off his hand speed to anyone who cared to watch and claimed Ruben wouldn’t last more than a round or two with him in the ring if they had a charity boxing match.

Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Wanted: Name of person who pushed Don King, others at HBO boxing show last Saturday

By Zach Arnold | April 30, 2013

Deadspin posted the video from last Saturday night’s telecast of the Chris Arreola/Bermane Stiverne fight and labeled it as “Don King’s acting like a crazy person again.” The back story on the situation, however, is different.

The fight, promoted by Goossen-Tutor Promotions w/ Don King & Roy Englebrecht, saw an unnamed woman pushing around several people during the show at ringside. We’ve talked with people who were at the show about this person in question and have obtained the following information. The woman, who we have circled in the picture, is believed to be an assistant floor director for HBO — but nobody who is willing to talk can confirm this fact. In the screen capture, you can see Danny Goossen to the left and a security guy who works for the arena in the red jacket on the right. One source near ringside claims that the unnamed woman told security to not let anyone walk down the aisleway that HBO had set-up for Bob Papa and the post-fight interview. The woman in question allegedly ignored California State Athletic Commission authority and was characterized as acting like an authority figure.

At the beginning of the Deadspin video, you can see this woman tugging on Don King and grabbing him repeatedly to try to prevent him from being on camera for the post-fight interview. A reputable source claimed that she was laughing and having a great time while ordering and bullying others around, including Chris Arreola’s manager. The problem with this situation is that members of the Commission only found out about what stunts this woman was pulling after the show was done because the regulators were busy doing their jobs — Mark Relyea (top athletic inspector) completing paperwork, Dr. Paul Wallace tending to Chris Arreola’s battered face, so on and so forth. If members of the commission saw this woman in action, they would have put an immediate stop to her behavior and read her the riot act.

As you can see in the video, the woman gives up on pushing & holding King when Bob Papa and others turn around to watch what she is doing. As King tries to get down from the ring, he takes a turn with a steep drop based on the way the steps are pointing. However, watch the woman’s left hand carefully — she tries to cheap shot King by giving him a push as he’s trying to climb down to the floor. He stumbles. Notice who Don points at after right after he stumbles. He knows what’s up.

There are officials who worked the show who want to know more about this woman and are interested in talking with her.

A big reason why there is interest behind the scenes in identifying who this woman is has to due with concerns regarding liability issues and whether or not this woman will do something down the road that will result in a legal mess.

There are many interested parties involved with the event last Saturday night who are looking for the name of the woman in question and they need your assistance. We have many people inside the fight industry (HBO, Showtime, etc.) who read this site and may possess more knowledge about this person in question. If you know who this woman is and have more information, please e-mail me directly at [email protected]. All communication will be kept confidential. I do not burn sources. Your help in identifying who this person is would be greatly appreciated.

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Eddie Wineland: Honey Badger Don’t Quit

By Zach Arnold | April 29, 2013

Lea Young can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @effenprincess.


Tyrann Mathieu may be football’s Honey Badger, but Eddie Wineland is MMA’s version

The honey badger, known for its thick skin and ferocious defensive abilities, has short and sturdy legs and strong claws that have the potential to rip anyone’s face off. They are notorious for their strength, ferocity and toughness – much like Eddie “the Honey Badger” Wineland, who is up for an interim Bantamweight title shot against Renan Barão at UFC 161 in Canada this June.

Fighting out of New Breed Chicago, Vale Tudo, and Applied Strength and Conditioning, Wineland is coming off a two-win streak in the UFC. He most recently defeated Brad Pickett at UFC 155 in December and took Fight of the Night at UFC on FX after he KO’d Scott Jorgensen at 4:10 of round 2.

While Wineland is no stranger to MMA, previously having a huge presence in the WEC, little is actually really known about the elusive Honey Badger. All we seem to know is that this feisty bantamweight had a rough start upon entering the UFC in March 2011, losing to both Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez, but has since regained his footing and has been on a tear through the division ever since.

On April 12th, it marked Wineland’s 10th anniversary of his first fight. Although he’s been a wrestler pretty much since he could walk, the Honey Badger later began his MMA career right out of high school. After just two months of training, he took his first fight against a guy 10 years his senior and 20 pounds heavier. Wineland ended up mounting and TKOing the “old guy” after he kept bull rushing him. Ten years later, the Honey Badger only wants to fight the best in the UFC and is now up for a title shot.

In a recent interview with Wineland, he talks about his upcoming fight and training camp; his Uncle Creepy-esque mustache; the history of his nickname “the Honey Badger;” and more importantly, what to expect from him on June 15th.

On being the underdog: “I myself don’t (consider being the underdog)… I know wholeheartedly I’m gonna smash him. But if you ask anybody else, apparently I don’t stand a chance. I’m completely fine with that. It’s motivation. Put all your money on Renan… I hope you put your life savings on him because I’m gonna take it. When I go in and I do what I know that I can do, I guarantee that there’s nobody in the world that beats me at 135.”

On his training camp: “We’ve plugging in more grappling, more scrambling cause that’s what he catches people in… the scrambling, the transitions. We brought in some Thai guys. One guy, I sparred with for the first time last week and it’s amazing how he mimics Barão. I mean just naturally he fights identical to Barão. It’s absolutely incredible. So I think that’s gonna be a big advantage by boxing with him… and if I can get the better of him, we’re there.”

On the nickname “the Honey Badger”: “It all stems from Bob Hemmerich and some of the guys at Applied Strength and Conditioning. One guy came in one day to the gym and he had said something about a honey badger. I mean, you could literally see he was terrified. It’s like he watched this video on the honey badger and was like “OMG this animal is ridiculous.” So we all kinda started doing a little bit of research and it started out as a joke and stemmed into something bigger. I don’t think it’s official yet because if Bruce Buffer doesn’t say it, it’s not official. It’s just known amongst friends.”

On the mustache: “It’s turning into something glorious. Me and a buddy from Applied Strength and Conditioning… we grow them once a year. I start mine in December and he always shaves his off at the end of March (cause he grows it through the March Madness). I shaved mine off last year cause I got frustrated with it. Growing one this year, I was kinda on the fence on wanting to keep it. I started Googling handlebar mustaches. I remember reading an article that said that the one thing that compliments a handlebar mustache is a well-groomed haircut. I went to a buddy of mine… and it’s a funny story, cause two nights previous, a buddy of mine had approached me and he saw that my hair was getting a little long and I didn’t really know what to do with it and he goes, “Hey if you ever wanna get your haircut, I’m a barber.” Two days later I went in and got a haircut. I liked what I saw so now we’re gonna see what we can make happen with it.”

What to expect on June 15th: “It’s gonna be the same old Eddie Wineland, you know, going 100 miles and hour and I’m basically gonna tear him apart. That belt is mine and I’m gonna punch him in the face, I’m gonna stop the takedown, I’m gonna punch him in the face again and he’s gonna fall down and I’m gonna win.”

If the Honey Badger proves he’s the best Bantamweight in the UFC on June 15th, you can expect him to keeping moving up from there. Although Wineland wasn’t too picky when asked who he would want to fight next, you can almost guarantee that a match up between him and Dominick Cruz lays on the horizon.

The Honey Badger is out to prove that he is the best bantamweight in the UFC on June 15th. While most will say that he doesn’t stand a chance against Barão, we can almost bet that as each day gets closer to UFC 161, the Honey Badger is continuing to sharpen his claws and prepare for battle. Like the saying goes… “the honey badger don’t quit!”

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |

UFC 159: Chael Sonnen & Alan Belcher thoroughly dominated, night of strange finishes

By Zach Arnold | April 27, 2013

Event: UFC 159 (4/27 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey)
TV: FX/PPV

LATEST COMMENTS TO THIS POST START HERE..

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: CSAC, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 83 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Every time UFC heads to the New York area, they discover negative media attention

By Zach Arnold | April 26, 2013

Nate Diaz wants you to know that Josh Thomson was ‘making woman sounds’ when he fought him last week in San Jose

Regarding the heat for the UFC 159 show this weekend, MMA Supremacy has the following:

UFC 159 this weekend from Newark, NJ had ONLY sold 12,500 tickets for $2.4M through this weekend. So no matter what you think about Jones/Sonnen, TUF build up, & type of match-up it is, selling only 12,500 tixs for $2.4M says something.

Then there are the headlines…

Great White Hoax: Chael Sonnen, Racial Coding, and the UFC

There isn’t a sociology major alive who isn’t well versed in not just how coding works, but how devilishly effective it can be. Sonnen appears to be using his academic understanding of racial coding to make it even more powerful than it already is—and now he’s got a third shot at a title. Lee Atwater would be proud.

And that’s just the tame material headed UFC’s way on Friday.

Phil Davis, who is fighting on this weekend’s UFC 159 card in Newark, finds himself at the end of a piece by TMZ over a custody battle that will take place on May 7th.

UFC Star Phil Davis — Baby Mama Says MMA Makes Him Violent During Sex

UFC star Phil Davis has a huge fight Saturday night in New Jersey, but the bigger fight may be May 7 in San Diego, where his baby mama will accuse him of crazy brutality, including violent sex … and she blames it on martial arts.

Now here’s the hook — Patterson claims Davis’ alleged propensity for violence has escalated because of his involvement in the UFC.

You couldn’t have scripted a better headline if you possibly tried to do a last-minute hit job on the UFC’s prospects of getting MMA Legislation passed in 2013. Remember this quote from Deborah Tucker of the National Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence earlier in the week?

“That there are actually films that include this kind of conduct and how to go about engaging in it. Kind of ‘lessons’ on how to assault a woman.”

Here’s another headline that will grab attention: MMA foe launches bill (in New York state) to create fighters’ health care fund

Brad Hoylman’s bill, which he plans to introduce by the end of the month, would create a mandatory health care fund for the sport’s combatants, modeled on funds established for horse-racing jockeys and taxi drivers.

His bill, if approved, would make New York the first state in the country that would require MMA promoters to contribute to a health care fund.

Hoylman’s proposal is based on the state’s Worker’s Compensation Jockey Fund for horse jockeys, and the Taxi & Limousine Commission’s Health & Disability Fund for taxi drivers.

If you can’t keep stop MMA legislation from passing, then regulate the hell out of it to the point where there’s no activity. That will be the political strategy moving forward. There is now a bill in the New York state senate that would put a two-year moratorium on MMA events in the state in order to conduct a behavioral & health study.

At the same time, there may be adverse public safety and mental health consequences for society as a whole, and particularly children, if we legalize this sport without first adequately accounting for the risks. Due to the violent nature of mixed martial arts and the surprisingly high incidence of unchallenged sexism and misogyny displayed by
certain fighters, commentators, and other public figures associated with this sport, the prospect of legalization in New York State raises legitimate concerns about the increased exposure of our children to this new and potentially very negative influence.

I chuckled at this comment from Sal in Brooklyn:

Zach you are obsessed with California and the CSAC. Whats up with that??

This if the first word you have uttered about NY legalization…and all it is is to say that it will hurt California.

You’ve done a terrible job of actually covering the NY legalization issue…which is infinitely more important and significant than the internal workings of the CSAC and florida commission that barely anyone cares about.

We’ve talked about the New York situation plenty of times, including the attempts by the pollster at Siena to basically push-poll Mixed Martial Arts legislation prospects in a way to get a pro-MMA response.

California has around 150 professional shows a year and many more amateur events under CAMO delegation. The amount of activity in California blows away all the other states combined. And… they’re the big financial loser if New York MMA legislation passes and the politicians get out of the way. The health of California’s commission absolutely matters because it’s where the most activity is in the United States. New York could have plenty of MMA activity but the political class has done everything in its power to stop it. It’s all fun and games when it comes to politics until a fighter gets seriously hurt or killed because the regulators aren’t doing their job right. The same goes for the politicians making the decisions in both states.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

If MMA legislation passes in New York, California will lose. Here’s why.

By Zach Arnold | April 25, 2013

To read all CSAC-related articles, dating back to May 2012, CLICK HERE.

This weekend is UFC 159 in Newark, New Jersey with Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen and Alan Belcher vs. Michael Bisping. However, if you followed the regional press coverage in the New York area this week, you would assume that the UFC’s top priority for being in the area is to focus more on pushing for MMA legislation in New York state than promoting the PPV event in New Jersey.

The New York Times has an article claiming Mixed Martial Arts gets a lift from Andrew Cuomo, the state’s governor. Mr. Cuomo pushed for legislation on the grounds that it would bring money to the state. However, the biggest opponent for MMA legislation in New York is state Assembly leader Sheldon Silver. After indicating that he was softening his stance on the issue, he’s now firming up his opposition again by claiming that the economic estimates for what UFC could bring to New York simply aren’t good enough to justify proceeding with legislation.

Here comes NOW (the National Organization for Women):

The National Organization for Women, and other women’s groups, are calling for the continued ban on mixed martial arts—or what they call “cage fighting” because they claim it could lead to violence and attacks on women.


Click the image to watch the video from WNYT

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Andy Foster’s make-or-break vision for the California State Athletic Commission

By Zach Arnold | April 24, 2013


Andy Foster is busy reading the riot act to officials in California

To read all CSAC-related articles, dating back to May 2012, CLICK HERE.

Since Andy Foster’s arrival on the scene as the new Executive Officer of the California State Athletic Commission, two factors have been very clear when it comes to the job security of officials working for the commission: If you are a full-time state employee and you possess zero fighting or training experience, your days are numbered.

Real fighting experience trumps all. It surpasses any conflict-of-interest scenarios. It surpasses those officials who may be okay at the job but don’t have an extensive background in boxing or MMA. In many respects, this mindset by Andy Foster is similar to an attitude that you see with athletes who question members of the press who criticize them for bad play. It’s usually along the lines of ‘you haven’t played before, so how you are qualified to rip into my performance?’ It’s really no different in this scenario. The Executive Officer believes that you have to have an actual background as a fighter to truly understand what you are seeing in front of you when you are judging or officiating a fight. The same with the athletic inspectors supervising fighters at the show.

And if you don’t have experience as a fighter, then experience in law enforcement will do. If you don’t fall into that category, the job security isn’t there. Whether you disagree with this all-or-nothing philosophy, and many people vehemently do, it is going to be fully implemented.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, now world-famous boxing training terrorist (at an MMA gym)

By Zach Arnold | April 20, 2013


Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Boston Marathon bombing suspect #1

“Suspect #1 was a boxer. Suspect #2 was a wrestler. The media will connect this to MMA somehow before its all said and done.”

Who knew that America’s most-wanted terrorist on Friday was, by mass media standards of portrayal, a prolific boxer who trained at a Mixed Martial Arts gym? Until Friday morning, the name Tamerlan Tsarnaev didn’t exactly register in the minds of the combat sports community. Dare I say, you probably wouldn’t have been able to identify him out of a police line-up.

Except that’s what the FBI essentially asked the public to do on Thursday when they released images of he and his younger brother in a Boston manhunt that saw the entire area locked down in a quasi-martial law scenario.

Given how young the sport of Mixed Martial Arts is, as a fan you get used to the media trying to tie MMA into any kind of horrific or inspirational story if it means generating a polarizing response from general readership.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Four big fights, bigger gates, and even bigger longshots

By Zach Arnold | April 19, 2013

Saturday night promises to be super-great with two major fights — Ben Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez for the UFC Lightweight title (HP Pavilion in San Jose) and Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout (Alamo Dome in San Antonio). Then we have Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen on the 27th in Newark, New Jersey and Zab Judah vs. Danny Garcia in Brooklyn. On May 4th, it’s Floyd Mayweather versus future New York jailbird Robert Guerrero in Las Vegas.

The reality is that the fans have a pretty good ideas as to who will win each of these bouts. However, the odds will not stop them from packing arenas and buying PPVs. Business will be huge. Can’t wait.

The closest fight in terms of odds is Canelo vs. Trout. Canelo is a 2-to-1 favorite (-200) while Trout is the underdog (+170). 2-to-1 sounds pretty dominant but by Vegas standards this is a pretty interesting line. There is family history between Trout and the Canelos and the Dome will be packed like crazy. Private jets vs. Southwest. A big fight for Showtime. Unfortunately, Laurence Cole will be the referee for the fight. Of course. It’s Texas. You win some, you lose some.

UFC’s event for Fox broadcast television on Saturday night is headlined by Ben Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez, a super match-up on a card that is entirely stacked. It is no coincidence that there will be at least 11,000-12,000 fans in attendance for San Jose, which is great to see. Daniel Cormier faces Frank Mir in the semi-main event. Cormier is more than a 4-to-1 favorite to win (-420) and Mir is a big underdog (+320).

The headlining fight should be five rounds of chess between the champion, who’s as flexible as gumby, and the challenger from Strikeforce on home turf. In Vegas speak, Henderson is a 73% favorite (-280) and Melendez is a healthy underdog (+220). According to ESPN viewers, 80% of them feel that Henderson will win the fight.


Image credit: ESPN (SportsNation)

On the 27th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Showtime will air Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah. Garcia is a heavy 6-to-1 favorite while Judah is a +450 dog. KO finish most likely here.

In nearby Newark, New Jersey, Jon Jones will tolerate fighting Chael Sonnen in order to get a quick payday and move onto bigger and better things. At least that’s what he hopes.

In all of the fight preview material UFC has pitched for the bout, Jones has basically treated Chael Sonnen as if he’s MMA’s version of Skip Bayless & Jay Mariotti. We saw that on display last Saturday night. Even UFC can’t hide Jones’ derision for accepting the fight and putting up with having to promote it in a serious fashion.

“Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones believes Chael Sonnen is his weakest opponent to date. At UFC 159, he plans to defeat Sonnen in devastating fashion.”

I suppose Vladimir Matyushenko will be glad to hear this. So will Matt Hamill. The reality is that Vegas agrees with Jones. Jones is a 9-to-1 favorite to win the fight, while Sonnen is a +600 underdog. It’s not the 12-to-1 favorite status Ronda Rousey had over Liz Carmouche or the 13-to-1 favorite status Anderson Silva had over Stephan Bonnar, but it’s in the ball park of St. Pierre being such a huge favorite over Matt Serra.

The lesson to be learned here is that you can be an insanely big underdog and still manage to attract a big PPV buy rate if the fans care about you. Of course, that dynamic worked for Rousey and Anderson because they are fan magnets. Jones is an enigma — he has fan appeal but limits it often with the tone in which he carries himself. Sonnen is doing the heavy lifting in promoting this fight. It’s still odd to see Jones act so disgusted when he was the one who gave into taking the Sonnen fight and going along with The Ultimate Fighter charade, even after his employers purposely humiliated him for not taking a last-second fight against Sonnen last September.

“I’m really not concerned extremely with Chael’s gifts,” Jones said. “He’s an awesome fighter. He’s pretty good at boxing, he loves his wrestling and his been pretty successful in his wrestling. He has pretty good ground and pound and I just familiarized myself with the whole thing and what I’m getting ready to face. I wouldn’t say there’s any one thing that concerns me.”

As goofy as Chael Sonnen can be, I’m not sure it can match the following…

This is Robert Guerrero, a +525 underdog to the 8-to-1 favorite Floyd Mayweather, being blessed by a priest in front of the media. I was half-way expecting Vince McMahon to come out and tell the press that it was all a skit and that he was bringing back the old Tuesday Night Titans show. Friar Ferguson!

In recent fights, Mayweather has been a 4-to-1 or 5-to-1 favorite. To see him as an 8-to-1 favorite here is pretty strong… and I have no doubts that he will win by decision. I still want to see the fight (as does the rest of the world), but I’m more curious to see what happens to Guerrero. If he loses decisively, then it’s the expected outcome… and his troubles will just be beginning, given that he’ll be serving jail time for certain under New York’s new gun laws. If Guerrero pulls off the big upset, he’ll be an even bigger target for New York prosecutors who will go out of their way to make his life a living hell and put him in jail for the maximum amount of time. Even Bay Area defense attorneys believe the book’s going to get thrown at him because of his celebrity status.

As Floyd puts it: I’ve done my time… now it’s Guerrero’s turn. Charming.

It’s going to be an entertaining three weeks of pugilistic pounding.

Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

When 3 minutes isn’t 2: Fact/fiction on California chaos with Martha Salazar vs. Sonya Lamonakis & CSAC officials

By Zach Arnold | April 17, 2013

To read all CSAC-related articles, dating back to May 2012, CLICK HERE.

With the UFC coming to town (San Jose) on Saturday for their Fox broadcast card, you would think the atmosphere would be cheery and that the energy would be positive on the ground in the state. The show will have over 10,000 fans at HP Pavilion and the UFC runs a tight operation. They make the job of the regulators rather easy and painless.

The problem in California is when you talk about all the shows outside of the UFC banner that happen in the state. That is when you hear about various problems from show to show. It is the local circuit right now where you find out how sour the mood is amongst many officials (judges, referees, inspectors, timekeepers). The tension is really thick, the anger is palpable, and the frustration is breeding all kinds of paranoia. I’m not suggesting that this is 100% justified, but it is the reality on the ground right now.

I received messages over the weekend from top sources (on the ground) saying that fighters at various shows throughout the state were voicing their displeasure about Fallon Fox getting licensed and about the quality of regulation in California. A heavy majority of male MMA fighters think that transgenders should not be licensed to fight in women’s MMA. In boxing circles, those who are reluctant to accept MMA as a sport are now labeling MMA as a circus show because of Fallon Fox being allowed to fight women.

None of what was said was uplifting, to say the least. Amongst a majority of officials & fighters in the local scene, there’s a mixture of depression and anger about how a scene like California’s could be so messed up. There are constantly little (proverbial) fires that need to be doused with cold water. And, yet, often times many of these fires go unchecked and the state’s credibility in terms of regulating fights gets flushed down the crapper.

When it comes to fight regulation, one mistake can put a fighter in serious jeopardy of having their health & safety at risk due to neglect from officials who aren’t doing their job right. A possible example of this happened last weekend in Sacramento, California for a local show. The event, promoted under the banner of On-Point Promotions, was called the Bash & Bike Show II. Basically, a mixture of amateur boxing & kickboxing fights along with some pro-boxing fights & a motorcycle show. The man behind On-Point Promotions is named Osric Pratt. The card took place at the Lions Gate Convention Center in Sacramento, California. OPP marketed an online stream of the fight for $11. The online stream was reportedly blocked for purchase for anyone within a 250 mile radius of Sacramento… which means not a lot of people in California, Nevada, or Oregon could watch the live stream if they wanted to pay for it.

On April 22nd, the California State Athletic Commission will have a meeting in Los Angeles and one of the agenda items is whether or not to grant OPP Promotions a permanent license. This would indicate that On-Point Promotions ran their event this past weekend on a temporary promoter’s license.

Also on the CSAC 4/22 agenda is discussion regarding the creation of an officials evaluation policy & inspector evaluation policy. New York female boxer Sonya Lamonakis might want to voice her opinion on this matter. She was booked against 43 year old veteran Martha Salazar on the Sacramento OPP card. Salazar is making a come back after a multi-year layoff.

That’s where the controversy begins.

Continue reading this article here…

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

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