Cain Velasquez batters 2-to-1 favorite Junior dos Santos to win UFC Heavyweight title
By Zach Arnold | December 29, 2012
Event: UFC 155 (12/29 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada)
TV: FX/PPV
- Flyweights: John Moraga defeated Chris Cariaso in R3 in 71 seconds with a choke.
- Featherweights: Max Holloway defeated Leonard Garcia after 3R by split decision.
- Heavyweights: Testosterone Todd Duffee defeated Phil de Fries in R1 in 2’04 by TKO (punches).
- Lightweights: Myles Jury defeated Michael Johnson after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Lightweights: Jamie Varner (+120) defeated Melvin Guillard (-140, 7 to 5 favorite) after 3R by split decision (30-27 twice for Varner, 30-27 once for Guillard).
- Bantamweights: Erik Perez defeated Byron Bloodworth in R1 in 3’50 by TKO (punches).
- Bantamweights: Eddie Wineland (-150, 3 to 2 favorite) defeated Brad Pickett (+130) after 3R by split decision.
- Middleweights: Derek Brunson (+160) defeated Chris Leben (-180, 9 to 5 favorite) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Middleweights: Yushin Okami (-120) defeated Alan Belcher (-110) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Middleweights: Constantinos Philippou (EVEN) defeated Tim Boetsch (-120) in R3 in 2’11 by TKO (punches).
- Lightweights: Jim Miller (-200, 2 to 1 favorite) defeated Joe Lauzon (+180) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- UFC Heavyweight title match: Cain Velasquez (+180) defeated Junior Dos Santos (-200, 2 to 1 favorite) after 5R by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-45) to win the title.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 68 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dana White changes the focus on MMA drug testing to marijuana usage
By Zach Arnold | December 27, 2012
Video courtesy of MMAFighting.com
Give Kevin Iole credit for asking Dana White the right questions when it comes to the issue of drug testing in Mixed Martial Arts. I’ve been begging for more members of the media to get smartened up on what’s real and what’s not regarding Dana’s claims about being ‘regulated by the Government,’ which is preposterous spin that Baghdad Bob would be proud of.
So, naturally, Kevin Iole is getting trashed on social media for pressing Dana appropriately when it comes to the issue of drug usage in MMA.
Dana White fearful that increased drug testing would result in widespread positive marijuana tests
That’s the headline of Kevin’s article on Yahoo talking about White’s comments today. In many respects, the headline writer did Dana a huge favor and fell into Dana’s smart trick by moving the goalposts on the subject. Rather than talking about rampant testosterone usage, Dana is getting away with framing the issue now as a marijuana vs. PED drug usage situation. It’s masterful, on paper, because low-information news consumers (like the ones UFC is targeting with Ronda Rousey’s media stunts & remarks) will go into ‘marijuana should be legal!’ default mode instead of actually examining the real drug usage problems in the sport.
The problem for Dana is that when you actually listen to him try to spin his talking points about drug usage in MMA, he sounds like a fool who is ready to get exposed at any second.
Start at the 10 minute time mark of the embedded video.
“Government is involved in this sport but not other sports.”
Dana then rants and raves about going after veteran/retired athletes for past drug usage instead of busting the current athletes, which he blames on the strength of player unions.
“Don’t go after the old guys. … Everybody knew what they doing in the fucking 80s. … Go after the guys that are playing now.”
“It’s all a crock of shit. You either get serious and go after it or just shut up about it and leave it alone.”
Kevin Iole brought up Victor Conte’s name and Dana went off in a volcanic eruption.
“Fuck Victor Conte. The guy’s a lying, two-faced piece of shit. I can’t stand that guy. You’re the biggest cheater in the history of the fucking sports world and now because you can’t make a living cheating any more, you want to flip to the other side and start calling people out, pointing fingers. … Victor Conte is a two-faced piece of shit. I don’t care what his position is. I don’t care about him. Now he’s trying to flip the script so he can make a living on the other side.”
“We’re regulated by the fucking government!”
“[MMA drug testing procedures are] better than anybody’s else.”
“But it’s better in baseball and football? Oh my God. You think they randomly test? You think they’re going to test some of their big star players? But if that’s want people want to believe…”
Interestingly, when Kevin Iole mentioned Dr. Margaret Goodman’s name… Dana wanted no part in talking about her.
The problem for Dana, as you’ll hear in the video, is that he’s talking about 80% of MMA fighters using marijuana and yet he’s let Nick Diaz blow in the wind and suspended Thiago Silva for six months after a positive test for marijuana metabolites. So, the UFC spin on marijuana doesn’t jive there.
Of course, when you have Che Guevera in California booking a ‘marijuana doctor’ for shows…
The spin on “government regulation” is laughable, especially in Nevada where Keith Kizer relies upon non-endocrinologist Dr. Timothy Trainor to reportedly issue the hall passes for testosterone usage. UFC uses Dr. Jeff Davidson for overseas shows where no commission is regulating them and we know that numerous fighters on past UFC overseas shows have had testosterone hall passes.
For the life of me, I don’t know why Dana White continues to talk about the drug testing issue. He should plead the Fifth every single time a drug testing question comes up and advise the press to go talk to Marc Ratner instead. He would save himself a lot of grief.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dana White gives Sherdog media credentials while Loretta Hunt & Josh Gross continue to live in his head rent-free
By Zach Arnold | December 26, 2012
Ariel Helwani talks with Dana White about this weekend’s PPV from Las Vegas (MMAFighting.com)
I wasn’t sure what to expect in this 25 minute interview. There’s really not a lot of talk about the upcoming PPV this weekend. It just doesn’t have the buzz like the St. Pierre/Condit fight had last month.
Dana claimed that he didn’t know the severity of Cain’s ACL injury before the first fight with JDS, but indicated that fighters can fight with a blown-out ACL.
When Testosterone Todd Duffee was mentioned, Dana White went into “we treat fighters better than any other promotion ever has” mode. He addressed boxing promoters like Golden Boy “copying” the UFC.
“We pay guys money that we don’t owe them. We’re doing something right over here. … They’re all starting to copy us now.”
Dana stated that big fights will remain on PPV and that the PPV revenue avenue will live on. Regarding all the injuries in the top fights that hurt PPV buys this year…
“Was it a horrendous year? No. It was still a good year for us, but it could have been a lot better. … I think we delivered great events all year except for Calgary. … The fight(s) might not stay together but you know we’re going to put together great fights and put on a great show.”
Regarding the future of the UFC/Fox 7-year TV contract: “We couldn’t work together better. … They’re young, smart, aggressive guys.”
When asked about the death of Strikeforce, Dana seemed very relieved about the mess ending. He refused to elaborate on why the relationship with Showtime fell apart, other than to say that “it wasn’t meant to be.”
“I have a lot of respect for all the [fighters] over there who have put up with all the bullshit that’s gone on over the last year.
“A lot of guys were hurt by this deal.”
When asked about Showtime sticking around in MMA in the future… “Who knows? Who gives a shit? Who cares?”
The greatest part of the interview, however, comes at the 14:30 time mark when Ariel Helwani asks Dana White about the MMA media and what he thinks about the quality of the reporting. Dana announced that he’s giving Sherdog their media credentials. No more Loretta Hunt or Josh Gross? No problem, according to Dana.
Words cannot describe Dana’s tone of voice and emotion when he started ranting about how ‘dirty’ Loretta Hunt & Josh Gross are as writers. It’s clear that those two live in the guy’s head rent-free. He’s still obsessed with Loretta about the fact that he got in trouble over using nasty language in that Youtube rant of his. You can read the transcript text of it right here.
“I think she’s a horrible reporter.”
The charm offensive didn’t stop there.
“I just think that they’re bad people. … Those two I’ll never forgive or forget.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
New CSAC documentation: Che Guevara’s political shadow war growing in scope
By Zach Arnold | December 25, 2012
Brand new documents uncovered by Fight Opinion regarding the booking activity of California State Athletic Commission Chief Inspector Che Guevara reveal that Guevara is consolidating his political power to ensure his status as most influential kingmaker in California combat sports regulation. The documents, covering the last couple of years worth of CSAC activity, detail how Guevara has managed to successfully play divide-and-conquer with athletic inspectors, judges, timekeepers, referees, and doctors in order to establish his political dominance at the Department of Consumer Affairs — no matter who the Executive Officer at CSAC is.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fedor wins 2012 Nikkan Sports MMA MVP award
By Zach Arnold | December 21, 2012
Jushin Liger & New Japan wrestlers celebrate Christmas at the Tokyo Dome Hotel
Photo credit: Katsuhiko Kanazawa at Ameblo
While the New Japan boys are throwing a party in celebration of their upcoming 1/4/2013 Tokyo Dome event and the rest of the Japanese public is ready for their traditional KFC bird & wine Christmas dinner combo meal (complete with an in-store visit to a whiskey bar), Nikkan Sports gave us an early Christmas gift. For years, trying to explain the cultural differences in taste & appeal for MMA in Japan versus America has been a challenge. Hey, what draws in America should appeal to the masses in Japan, right?
We now present to you results from the Nikkan Sports 2012 MMA MVP award voting process.
1. Fedor Emelianenko – 21%
2. Anderson Silva – 18%
3. Takanori Gomi – 17%
4. Junior dos Santos – 16%
5. Ben Henderson – 10%
6. Georges St. Pierre – 8%
7. Jon Jones – 7%
I guess Miro Mijatovic really did his job well in helping promote Fedor during the glory days of PRIDE. The nostalgia remains thick. That… or people really relished that beatdown of Satoshi Ishii last NYE.
Merry Christmas.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
JMM vs. Manny drawing 1.15M PPV buys & the great PED debate
By Zach Arnold | December 18, 2012
Here’s the article from ESPN about the estimated buy rate. Here’s Dana White’s response trashing Arum for booking JMM/Manny 4 because Pacquiao should have gotten an easier fight. That sure doesn’t sound like the typical UFC PR line when it comes to matchmaking, does it?
Jim Lampley, on The Fight Game, had plenty to say about JMM’s win over Manny and the issue of doping in boxing.
Unfortunately, because of the presence in Juan Manuel Marquez’s training camp of a man who once admitted under oath to being a world-renowned purveyor of performance enhancing drugs, because of Marquez’s stunning appearance on the scale, followed by his stunning power in the fight, and because there was no drug testing beyond the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s one-time-only post-fight test, it suddenly became the public speculation centerpiece of the year’s most meaningful over-arching story in boxing, which is the sudden emergence of abundant circumstantial evidence that the sport faces a significant performance enhancement problem.
It’s no secret why boxing finds it so difficult to face up squarely and directly to its creeping problem with performance enhancing drugs. Other sports have been flagrantly guilty of that too, even though no other sport pays such a high price for a positive test. Only here does a single positive bring down an entire event, in the case of both Khan-Peterson and Ortiz-Berto earlier this year, a seven-figure event with a television date and advance publicity. But that in no way relieves the responsibility this sprawling, largely ungoverned enterprise has to protect itself and its participants from unwarranted mayhem. As the late Emanuel Steward observed, people aren’t hitting baseballs here; hey are hitting each other in the head. Whatever is the worst thing that can happen as the result of boxers employing modern medical science to strengthen their bodies, it hasn’t happened yet. But if nothing is done to further strengthen testing standards and applications, it surely will. And when it does, we won’t be complaining anymore that boxing can’t find its way into mainstream media. We’ll be there in a big way, and in no way to our credit.
Lampley named Dr. Margaret Goodman as his person of the year in combat sports. Roy Nelson is also in her corner when it comes to increasing the quality of drug testing in combat sports. Lampley said that Nonito Donaire is his fighter of the year because of the fact that he’s willing to go the extra mile to get drug tested. Dan Rafael echos those same sentiments in this posting.
Rory MacDonald called VADA testing annoying and a distraction. Matt Mitrione said the same thing, claiming that there isn’t enough money floating in MMA for fighters to use high-end designer steroids. Mitrione pushed the line that VADA hurt its credibility based on their dealings with Shane Carwin. Brent Brookhouse addressed this smoke screen last October and how the behavior of SEC-investigated Jason Genet is an example of what Brent characterizes as poor MMA fighter management.
Topics: Boxing, Media, UFC, Zach Arnold | 35 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dana White’s no-lose bet with Ronda Rousey as UFC main eventer in Anaheim
By Zach Arnold | December 17, 2012
So, the debate this weekend in media circles was about Dana White’s defense of Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche being booked for the main event slot of the UFC show this February at the Anaheim Pond (Honda Center). There really shouldn’t even be a debate.
Sure, I suppose you could have a debate in a Machiavellian kind of way if you think that Dana wants women’s MMA to tank, ergo Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche in the main event flopping would somehow serve his purposes of saying, “See, I told you women’s MMA in UFC wouldn’t work.”
However, that just doesn’t logically make sense from a current or historical perspective.
When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business? He did pretty well with Gina as one of his top two aces (Kimbo Slice being the other ace). Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure. You can argue that the ceiling could have and should have been higher if Gina was more dedicated to training, but that’s about it.
Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it.
Appealing to the masses on a sleazy level works. It’s why Vince McMahon is still in business and it’s why Chael Sonnen still has PPV appeal.
So, why is there more heat on Dana White for promoting Ronda Rousey the way Gary Shaw would promote Gina Carano? Rousey’s a significantly better fighter & athlete. Combine that with the media buzz that Zuffa’s consumer behaviorologists in Las Vegas are focusing on and you have a pretty fail-safe combination here.
Does the success of Rousey given her tactics mean that I have to embrace her actions? Hell no. I largely find her schtick to be incredibly boring and mundane. However, I’m not the one that UFC is trying to target and get $60 out of to pay for a PPV. I’m going to watch the shows no matter what, anyways.
Other odds and ends from the weekend
The way FX handles the UFC B-level shows makes me scratch my head. Why did they decide to go live in all US time zones for The Smashes TUF Australia Finale but go West Coast delay for the US TUF 16 Finale show? That was a weird move. Plus, it turned out to be a brutal call given that you had two boxing fights going on HBO & Showtime at the same time.
Mike Goldberg’s performance on the TUF 16 Finale show was truly embarrassing. I’m not harsh on him like many other writers are but he should absolutely get called out for … whatever that was on display Saturday night.
Georges St. Pierre is a 4-to-1 favorite to beat Nick Diaz when they fight in Montreal this March. Talk about home cooking. Wonder how UFC feels now spending the capital they did to push GSP/Anderson Silva before GSP/Condit happened and during the PPV itself?
Am I in a bubble here or does it feel like the Junior dos Santos/Cain Velasquez fight coming up in Vegas has less buzz than the media campaign generated for St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit? I couldn’t avoid ads for GSP/Condit, even if I was on Yahoo or watching NBA games on television.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 25 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Consumer Affairs hiring new athletic inspectors for CSAC
By Zach Arnold | December 12, 2012
While DCA is hiring new athletic inspectors, Executive Officer Andy Foster will be holding a training session for inspectors at Big John McCarthy’s gym in Valencia, California (25385 Rye Canyon Road Valencia, CA 91355) this Sunday. Information here (PDF).
Posted online yesterday (printer friendly version here):
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, ATHLETIC COMMISSION
Title: ATHLETIC INSPECTOR
Salary: $20.66 – $22.97
Posted: 12/11/12
Job Description:
PENDING OHR APPROVAL
Under the direction of the Lead Athletic Inspector, Assistant Chief Athletic Inspector, and /or the Chief Athletic Inspector, California State Athletic Commission (Commission) Athletic Inspectors (Athletic Inspector) are responsible for the immediate supervision of Commission regulated combat sporting events; wherein they ensure the health and safety of the competitors and compliance with the laws and rules related to regulated combat sporting events. Duties include, but are not limited to:
Weigh In
- Collect all outstanding medical or other documentation required for licensure
- Assist with documenting, weighing and verifying the weight of each competitor meets contract and legal requirements
- Collect payment and issue receipts/licenses for those at the weigh in
- Assist event supervisor with paperwork associated with event
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
California’s fraudulent audit claiming CSAC misappropriation of $120k
By Zach Arnold | December 11, 2012
The state Athletic Commission overpaid 18 athletic inspectors nearly $119,000 over two years. They were inappropriately paid overtime rates rather than straight-time rates.
That’s the headline coming out of tonight’s report from California’s Bureau of State Audits. The inspectors in question were not named specifically, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out who the inspectors in question are. How can I say this with such confidence?
Just look at the list of inspector salaries we compiled. When we released that salary list, it spooked everyone in Sacramento.
KCRA, the NBC affiliate in Sacramento, led their 6 PM newscast with the story about the BSA report and CSAC.
Nearly $119,000 in improper overtime paid to inspectors from the California State Athletic Commission
Those overpayments to 18 different inspectors included amounts ranging from $666 to $25,257. KCRA 3 asked state officials how they could miss such massive overpayments.
“The understanding that we had was because these individuals are state employees, that we required to pay them premium time, which is time and a half,” said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the State Athletic Commission.
Heimerich said his department asked the auditor to look into the suspicious payments. He told KCRA 3 the inspectors are now required to reimburse the state for the overpayments.
So, reading this summary, you would think that the audit was proper and that the conclusions raised from it actually have merit. As the case with all California politics, you would be wrong in assuming that the opinions & conclusions raised by the audit are accurate and with merit. They’re not.
We’re about to explain to you why the legal opinions stated in the BSA report on CSAC fraud charges are… fraudulent.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
California’s battle over amateur MMA, drug testing, and inspectors
By Zach Arnold | December 6, 2012
I noticed that the one real media storyline for the upcoming Manny Pacquiao/Juan Manuel Marquez 4 fight this week is the battle of words over PED usage from the two camps. Keith Kizer didn’t do random drug testing of either fighter. Combine that with the steroid history of Marquez’s conditioning coach (Angel Heredia) and doping is now a talking point heading into Saturday night’s contest.
The fight is taking place in Las Vegas and the topic of steroids is… well, topical. On Friday at 9 AM, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will be holding a telephone conference call regarding their “Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel. The meeting room will be on the Third Floor of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building (Suit 3018), 555 East Washington Avenue. Unfortunately, the commission isn’t releasing a conference call # for the public to call and listen, which is probably more of a feature for Keith Kizer than a bug. If you’re a member of the media and interested in listening in, the commission’s number is 702-486-2575.
The 9 AM Friday time is ridiculous, but again that’s more of a feature than a bug when it comes to limiting the amount of people who show up for these meetings. The Department of Consumer Affairs is pulling the same stunt and has been having meetings at 9 AM. They held a meeting this past Monday in Los Angeles and there was no multimedia available online for the public. However, we did have some people on the ground who attended the meeting and there were several topics — including California’s ability to handle drug testing — that popped up for public consumption.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Only one match of note signed for any Japanese NYE show…
By Zach Arnold | December 2, 2012
… and that show isn’t the GLORY/DREAM-in-name-only event on 12/31 at Saitama Super Arena.
Dana White’s too busy pretending to be a homeless man to care about what’s going on
Right now, New Year’s Eve in Japan basically has one notable fight signed — and it has nothing to do with the SSA event. Naoya Ogawa vs. Kazuyuki Fujita, a match I’m not sure anyone (including Inoki) can explain to the public why anyone should care. Fujita called Ogawa an amateur, so I guess there’s your reasoning. The fight will happen on 12/31 in Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan. I’ll give Inoki this much credit — the two names are familiar to wrestling & MMA fans. Therefore, it will draw some eyeballs. More importantly, it will draw the eyeballs of the top fight writers & photographers who work for the Japanese publications (newspapers & magazines). Unless Bas Boon can come up with a fight that has more popular appeal than Ogawa/Fujita for his show, he’s going to lose the support of the Japanese press to Inoki’s operation.
The general rule-of-thumb for past NYE events in Japan is that you have a main event ready to go by late September, no later than mid-October. That is the first brick of the foundation for matchmaking that you use to go to television networks, sponsors, and money marks to see who will bite. It takes ad agencies like Dentsu weeks to line up potential clients and send out the proper feelers. You have to do your due diligence. No matter how strong the television network or ad agency is, the event promoter has to be ready to go and fire on all cylinders. Japan is a very difficult place to promote an event and it requires the right muscle to make it work.
I mention this because GLORY was going to have their original Japanese show this past weekend at Makuhari Messe. It’s a nice building but the promotion would have lost their ass financially on the show. So, they canceled the 12/2 date and instead went all-in for NYE on SSA. As of the moment of this writing, there is no main card announced for the SSA show. We are four weeks away from an event taking place at a building that, at its lowest, can be configured for 9,000-10,000 seats. It’s a building that can be configured for 40,000 seats. Saitama Super Arena is not exactly Korakuen Hall. You have to have a card ready to go.
Bas Boon has access to lots of foreign talent. Many of the names are familiar with elements of the fighting fan base in Japan. The problem, however, is that he doesn’t have access to a major Japanese name. Shinya Aoki is not a major name. The fans don’t know who is fighting on the card. That’s a major problem. It’s like promising to open up a restaurant and not having a menu available for the patrons coming in for the grand opening.
If there was a serious television deal on the line for this show, I can guarantee you that the TV network would have not allowed this situation to occur. The producers would have already lined up fighters and had purses ready to go. When K-1 & PRIDE ran their major NYE events, television producers were hands on. They were working alongside the promoters to get the agents to the table to cut the deals and have fights booked. They would get the fighters booked for variety shows to plug upcoming fights. Everything that needed to be done would get done. Right now, I don’t see any of this happening on the ground.
I have no clue what Inoki plans for NYE show outside of one match, but at least he got part of the equation right. And not only that, he’s been telegraphing the fight booking for months. Where’s the money match-ups for the Saitama Super Arena show?
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Jeremy Stephens jury trial in Iowa scheduled for January 9th
By Zach Arnold | November 27, 2012
When we last visited the story regarding Jeremy Stephens getting arrested in Minneapolis, there was a debate as to what UFC knew at the time and how much the public was told about his actual legal circumstances.
Today, the picture is starting to clear up on Mr. Stephens’ legal woes.
A pretrial conference has been set for December 13th in Des Moines. A jury trial is scheduled for January 9th, 2013 in Des Moines. Stephens’ attorney is Alfredo Parrish (of Parrish Kruidenier Dunn Boles Gribble Parrish Gentry & Fisher LLP). The county attorney working the case is Celene Gogerty, the assistant Polk County attorney.
Stephens was charged on three counts, resulting in a $20,000 bond (posted by someone named Ryan Hass) and giving up the passport. Details about the three counts he has been charged for:
Count 1 – WILLFUL INJURY CAUSING SERIOUS INJURY, in violation of Section 804.4(1) of the Code of Iowa; and charges that the above named defendant on or about October 15, 2011, in the County of Polk and State of Iowa, did an act which was not justified and which was intended to cause seriously injury to another, causing serious injury to another, to-wit: Shane Schreck. (Class C Felony)
Count 2 – BURGLARY IN THE FIRST DEGREE, in violation of Section 713.1 and 713.3 of the Code of Iowa; and charges that the above named defendant on or about October 15, 2011, in the County of Polk and State of Iowa, did enter an occupied structure with the intent to commit a felony, assault, or theft therein having no right, license, or privilege to do so, while such structure had one or more persons present and the defendant intentionally or recklessly inflicted bodily injury on any person. (Class B Felony)
Count 3 – ASSAULT CAUSING BODILY INJURY, in violation of Section 708.2(2) and 708.1.(1) of the Code of Iowa; and charges that the above named defendant on or about October 15, 2011, in the County of Polk and State of Iowa, did an act which was intended to cause pain or injury to or which was intended to result in physical contact which would be insulting or offensive to another coupled with the apparent ability to execute the act causing bodily injury, to-wit: Jennifer Schreck. (Serious Misdemeanor).
There are already requests from local & national media to cover the jury trial, including a filing with the court from Amanda Lewis of KCCI-TV.
Stephen is scheduled to fight Yves Edwards on UFC’s December 8th Fox broadcast show from Key Arena in Seattle.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dana White channels his inner Old Man Harrison regarding today’s MMA fighters
By Zach Arnold | November 20, 2012
This video is from last Friday but it’s worth a second look now given the developments from this past weekend’s UFC 154 show in Montreal.
The first part of the video is about Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson, which happens to be a more interesting match for UFC’s big December slate of cards than Roy Nelson vs. Shane Carwin. Few fans cared about either guy on The Ultimate Fighter and even fewer fans wanted to see Nelson/Carwin. So, we now end up with Meathead vs. Big Country.
However, as you see in the interview, Dana basically says that Mitrione was booked because Cheick Kongo didn’t want to fight Roy Nelson. This set off a tangent from Dana about fighters turning down short-notice offers from the UFC office.
ARIEL HELWANI: “Is Matt Mitrione back in your good graces now that he took this fight?”
DANA WHITE: “Well, it’s not that Matt Mtirione wasn’t in my good graces. It’s like, we’re just at this time and place where I’ve been dealing with these guys for the last 10 years… I’ve been doing this for 13 years, there was a 10 year run where guys didn’t turn down fights. I mean the biggest fight that was ever turned down under my first 10 years of the UFC was Tito (Ortiz) not wanting to fight Chuck (Liddell).
“Now like every week, Kongo’s turned down two fights in a row. Just offered Kongo, we offered Kongo the fight with, uh, uh… Roy Nelson and he refused to do it. And we offered him a fight before that and he refused to do it, you know, it’s like, we’re getting into this era now with these guys and, yeah, yeah, it bothers me and, yeah, I don’t like it. And, yeah, I kind of, you know… it turns me off to guys when they don’t want to step up and take big fights.
“It’s like I’ve been doing these interviews all week and everybody, I’m tired, I’m sick and tired of the, uh, the… accusations that Chael Sonnen is getting into things because he talks. Chael Sonnen steps up and he takes big fights on short notice. He’s the kind of guy that I’ve been dealing with since we bought the UFC. Chael Sonnen is that guy, you know, and you got all these bitter babies out there crying like Dan Henderson. Dan Henderson is supposed to be friends with him. What are you crying about? You turned down the (Jon) Jones fight twice. You had to pull out because of your knee. You had the fight. Your knee, you had to pull out. He said, ‘All I need is a couple of weeks.’ I said, all right, let’s see how this knee feels. Then, I offered him the fight in Toronto… and he turned down the Toronto fight, too, because of his knee. So, why is he mad that, what, are we supposed to sit around and wait for Dan Henderson? We’ll wait until Dan Henderson’s knee heals and we’ll just let Jon Jones kick back at home and do nothing. I mean, it’s ridiculous. And, the guys that I called that were in line for that fight that turned down the fight, Chael Sonnen steps up and he takes big fights.”
This diatribe led us to discussion about Ronda Rousey and how it seems unlikely that she will end up fighting Cris Cyborg. UFC wants to promote women’s bouts only at 135 pounds and Cyborg has had plenty of problems making weight in the pass, so 135 pounds doesn’t seem to be in the cards… Whatever the case may be, UFC still wants to do the fight because they think it will attract big money. This is yet another sore spot for Dana.
Dana’s bringing in Ronda (along with 7 or 8 other 135-pounders) to give a one-division women’s MMA scene a try.
ARIEL HELWANI: “When will she make her UFC debut and against who?”
DANA WHITE: “That I don’t know. I don’t know either one of those things. But… it’s become abundantly clear to me that Cyborg does not want to fight her. Umm…. So, I don’t know. Really, if we… this whole women’s thing… I’ve always told you guys that, uh… the divisions aren’t really deep enough to create. I think that the 135 pound division that Ronda’s in and champion of… there’s four or five good fights for her over the next year, year-and-a-half.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “And then what?”
DANA WHITE: “I don’t know. I think that you’ll see a lot more women coming up in that 135 pound division… or they won’t.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “You feel it is deep enough to make it a division in the UFC?”
DANA WHITE: “It’s deep enough to get through a couple of years. And then we’ll see what happens, you know? I’m going to give this thing a shot. We’re going to try it. Um, you know, obviously there’s, you know, I haven’t been shy about saying, uh, I think Ronda Rousey’s going to be a huge star, I think she’s incredibly talented, she’s mean and nasty, she’s a real fighter, um… so, we’ll see how this things play out and see how strong women’s MMA really is.”
As Dave Meltzer put it, “Dana is so great at controlling headlines. Instead of Strikeforce folds, what is going to keep and lose jobs, it’s Rousey signs with UFC.”
However, the biggest challenge now for Dana in terms of getting fighters to agree upon a fight is Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva. He’s spent quite a bit of hype already on the proposition. UFC did the picture-in-picture dealio with Anderson during R5 of GSP/Condit, which rubbed some people the wrong way. St. Pierre chided the media for asking him questions about Anderson Silva in the week leading up to the Condit fight. Ed Soares and crew made sure everyone knew that Anderson would fight at 178 pounds. Firas Zahabi has fired back, stating that the fight should be at Welterweight (170 pounds). Dana wants the fight to happen in May (or in the Summer 2013 months) at Cowboys Stadium. Will he be able to deliver on making the fight happen or will this turn into another of the many headaches with no immediate resolution?
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