Friend of our site


MMA Headlines


UFC HP


MMA Torch


MMA Weekly


Sherdog (News)


Sherdog (Articles)


Search this site



Latest Articles


News Corner


MMA Rising


Audio Corner


Oddscast


Sherdog Radio


Video Corner


Fight Hub


Special thanks to...

Link Rolodex

Site Index


To access our list of posting topics and archives, click here.

Friend of our site


Buy and sell MMA photos at MMA Prints

Site feedback


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

UFC’s Love/Hate relationship the with First Amendment

By Zach Arnold | November 29, 2011

Congress has passed a lot of hideous laws but none has generated as much fury online from all sides of the political aisle than the Protect IP/Stop Online Piracy Act, which Big Hollywood and companies like the UFC have publicly supported.

This legislation is so bad that it will make you want to rush to aid groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This Constitutional assault on the internet freedoms of Americans is horribly egregious. UFC has been aggressive in their anti-piracy efforts to proverbially use a hammer to kill an ant. That’s what happens when your core business model is based on PPV revenue.

Our friend Robert Joyner (@robnashville) brings up UFC’s support for SOPA/Protect IP as the company’s height of hypocrisy because of their recent New York lawsuit filing to overturn the state’s ban on Mixed Martial Arts based on First Amendment rights.

(View the text of the lawsuit right here.)

That brings us to this commentary by Eddie Goldman:

“I’ve always felt that the ban on combative sports was preposterous and I also think that this lawsuit is preposterous. The ban was preposterous because UFC, under SEG at the time, was more than willing to negotiate with the New York State Athletic Commission over the rules and they would have compromised but it was New York state at the time that didn’t want to compromise. They had Floyd Patterson as the head of the NYSAC, the former great Heavyweight boxing champion, but as it soon came out in the legal documents and in the deposition, Floyd was suffering from dementia and was unfortunately incapable of properly running the NYSAC. You can go back and look at the news articles, he couldn’t remember the Governor who appointed him which of course was George Pataki. He couldn’t remember when he had won his Heavyweight title and all that. It was sad. It was dementia caused from his fighting but he shouldn’t have been put into the position as the head of the commission. In fact, that’s another reason why sports like boxing and MMA should have unions and health care and pension plans and all of that.

“So, the ban went on and still is in effect and as of 2012 it will be 15 years since it has been in place. However, to hope that you’re going to get this changed by a lawsuit talking about the First Amendment is also preposterous. Mixed Martial Arts is subject to government regulation as are boxing and kickboxing and Muay Thai and other sports like that because they are forms of fighting. Fighting is otherwise illegal. It’s different from basketball or hockey or doing a play where you’re simulating fighting or killing or blowing things up or a movie or a TV show or any of that. It’s actual fighting. It’s real fighting. And presumably, anyways, it seems they want to keep it real fighting. If it’s otherwise an illegal activity, if it’s otherwise assault and you want to put it on as a sport, it then has to be regulated because there is no history of promoters having proper regulation in boxing or Mixed Martial Arts or really any other combat sport. That’s the history for the last century and those are the conditions under which boxing was legalized in New York in 1920 and legalized in many, many places as well.

“To try to cover this up and talk about a lot of things which are obviously correct, the relative safety of being regulated and all this, is all beside the point. What you’re going to do to get New York to pass the law that will legalize it, really re-legalize MMA because it was officially legalized in the Fall of ’96 and a few months later the Legislature really illegally overturned that law because they’re really not supposed to overturn a law on that short of a notice unless there was some type of emergency like a war or some major catastrophe, not because Guiliani and the New York Times didn’t like it which was what happened. But, in any case, the way you’re going to overturn that law is fighting against these politicians, particularly Sheldon Silver (the Speaker of the Assembly) and a handful of others is blocking this bill from coming to a vote, from getting through all the committees and coming to a vote on the floor of the Assembly. It’s passed a bunch of times in the Senate and many Assembly members have told us and the Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York that if it came to a vote, an up-or-down vote in the Assembly, it would pass. But Silver doesn’t like it.

“Now, one thing that is complicating this, of course, is the issue of message… But they started talking about the message that is put out by Mixed Martial Arts. Well, the message that’s put out by UFC is very bad and they opened a can worm. The discussion we had last time about the women’s demonstration that was held in front of the UFC HQ about the Forrest Griffin tweet, making a joke about rape. The message that comes out of UFC is anti-social and to promote anti-social behavior from it’s Ultimate Fighter television show, from the fake Good Guy vs. Bad Guy persona which is promoted and all the other negativity that comes out that organization. If they want to raise the issue of message, they’re going to lose. In fact, the way Mixed Martial Arts will win will be by clearly pointing that legalizing MMA in New York will not be synonymous with just legalizing Zuffa. Of course, they’ll run a couple of shows here but I can guarantee you that within a year, maybe two, they’ll be shows virtually every weekend and the commission is going to need more administrative help to regulate those shows and within a year there will be more MMA shows in the state of New York than there will be boxing, maybe even in a shorter period of time. And only, what, one, two, three, whatever will be Zuffa and there will be dozens and dozens of other shows of bigger and smaller sizes. I’m sure Bellator would love to run and there would be many local and new organizations would develop here as well. I can imagine M-1 wanting to run in New York state in maybe the city of New York.

“So, to raise this First Amendment argument is an absolute diversion. It’s preposterous and actually what it implies is that there should not be regulation of Mixed Martial Arts by the government because other First Amendment activity, freedom of expression, are not regulated by the government under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. That’s implicit here. So, it’s absurd and it’s not the way to fight against this ridiculous (MMA) ban.”

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 23 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Full UFC Japan 2012 (2/26 Saitama S.A.) card is Bushido-level at best

By Zach Arnold | November 27, 2011

TV: PPV (10 PM EST/7 PM EST?, meaning 10 AM Japanese start time for first undercard fight after 9 AM doors opening at SSA)

Dark matches

Main card

A couple of points from the UFC press release on this card.

“Japan is the spiritual home of martial arts – the world has learned from the Japanese many aspects of how to compete in hand-to-hand combat with respect and honor,” said Fertitta. “But Japan also has a proud history of modern mixed martial arts and I am excited to bring the Ultimate Fighting Championship back here, and to begin the build-up today to one of the most highly anticipated events of the year — not just for Japanese UFC fans, but for sports fans all over the world.”

UFC wanted a vanity show in Japan approximately five years after they bought the PRIDE assets, so they got it. They got lucky when Shu Hirata says they got a free roll of a few million bucks for a sold show from Dentsu, Japan’s second largest ad agency. So, what did UFC do? They went the Vince McMahon route. Book an Americanized show that, for traditional Japanese fight fans, has no tribute to their past glory days or history. The matchmaking of the show does not touch on any past or present cultural themes. It’s just a straight-up UFC card. Now, in most other countries on this planet, this card is perfectly acceptable for a mid-range show. However, we’re dealing with Japan here and the Japanese are prideful people. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the Japanese want you to do business on their own terms and to cater to their tastes. They want a world-class card and themes promoted that deal with their natives winning on top. Why do you think Antonio Inoki forever and a day was successful at constantly beating random foreigners that he built up at Kuramae Kokugikan or Budokan?

On top of that, that start time. That’s unbelievable. Will that be a reason if the show happens to bomb? Or will it be because “the Japanese fans need to get with the program?” Of all the countries Vince McMahon has conquered with WWE, Japan is one of the very few big markets he has failed to make it work in. In a couple of days, he’s got back-to-back shows at Yokohama Arena that will be extremely telling. Little to no advertising, no Japanese-tailored matchmaking, and not a lot of promotional work. Just like UFC will be doing, WWE uses Kyodo for their ticket sales along with Lawson.

Two further interesting & revealing items. First, Nikkan Sports is going to help promote the show. It’s not uncommon for the sports papers to do this. It happened all the time when the papers got PR in exchange for presenting trophies to winners at the major wrestling events in the ’90s. Nikkan Sports backed the two SWS shows at the Tokyo Dome in 1991. Second, look at that ticket price UFC is charging for the VIP seats. They are falling into the PRIDE/K-1 mold of charging 100,000Y for VIP seats. $1,300 seats. The pricing of the other seats: 34,000Y ($440), 19000Y ($250), 9800Y ($127), and 5800Y ($75). By comparison, WWE has never had any tickets higher than 30000Y for shows. Most are 15,000Y, which is typical of Yokohama Arena pricing. The building costs anywhere from $50,000-$100,000 depending on how often and what days you rent it. I’m sure WWE got a deal for using it on back-to-back weekdays, but they’ll still draw maybe 5,000 a show tops.

I alert you to these ticket prices for a couple of reasons. First, if you believe Shu’s statement of Dentsu putting up a few million dollars in cash for the show (and I do, or at least believe that Dentsu’s acting as a middleman for someone), then it’s hard to see how they will make that up at the gate with this card. This is not a $3 million USD drawing card by Japanese standards, IMO.

OK, so what about TV? UFC in the presser is pushing WOWOW as carrying the show. There’s discussions that they’re trying to explore other TV options. Good luck with that given this card line-up. WOWOW is small fry, it’s meaningless. Dentsu is the ad agency that K-1 & PRIDE worked with for their major shows on network television to make heavy money. There is no money to be made for Dentsu pitching this show outside of broadcast television. If I’m a broadcast network, there’s no way in hell I touch this card and put it on air unless I get a barter or pay-for-play deal. So, the business angle for Dentsu doesn’t make a lot of sense unless they thought they were going to get a better card out of the deal. My opinion: I suspect what they are saying versus how they are feeling may be very different right now.

But back to the ticket prices. Those prices… that’s inviting trouble. You’ll likely see the cheapest tickets sold out and a lot of floor seats struggle to sell. Here’s the problem (and it’s one I’ve elaborated on before) — who has the cash to pay for those expensive seats? Here’s your hint if you haven’t already figured it out. So, if you attract those kinds of people to your show with those seats, how many of them are going because the UFC show is a good status symbol versus those who may be looking for trouble? If the UFC card isn’t worthy of TV, that takes away quite a bit of the value of the show being a status symbol, doesn’t it? What are you left with then?

Believe me, if there is a run on the VIP tickets it will catch the attention of not only the players remaining in the MMA game in Japan on the ground but it also catch attention from Tokyo Metropolitan Police who are ramping up their war against the gangs. I understand why you might have those kinds of “VIP” ticket prices if you’re Dentsu and you paid out that cash for a sold show, but you have to be smarter about what kinds of people will show up. You have to understand that the whole concept of these expensive “VIP seats” is what opened everyone’s eyes (police, included) to the major gangs showing up at big fight events to cause trouble or to try to snooker various people into deals later on. After all, Seiya Kawamata (Kazuyoshi Ishii’s admitted yakuza fixer) had one job at big fight shows and that was to take the gangsters backstage so that they wouldn’t be seen on TV because the police was ready for a crackdown. The gangs used those big fight shows as recruiting tools because if they showed up in the front row on camera on Fuji TV or Tokyo Broadcasting System or Nippon TV, it was a great selling point to recruit new blood into the gangs.

Am I suggesting that there will be sabotage and violence at the UFC show because of these VIP seats and the expensive ticket prices? No, not overtly. However, be careful what you wish for and don’t make the same mistakes that others have in the past because the cops are pissed right now and are in no mood to deal with any more gang warfare. If you haven’t already, read my piece from Friday night about the dire situation in Japan right now. I’ve had Japanese insiders comment on it over the weekend and basically everyone says the same thing — the new gangs are more violent, they are taking bigger risks, and they will screw with anyone because they are desperate for a fight.

I still am sticking with 10,000 as the over/under for attendance to this show, but I don’t know how much will be papered and how much will be paid. That, in and of itself, is another can of worms where the gangs have been trying to get involved in more in Japan as well. Another story for another day. (Involving pyramid schemes, invasion of privacy, and loan sharking tactics, no less.)

The card, the start time, the lack of TV support, and the ticket pricing is relatively speculative for this show. The promotion would be wise to have the prelims on *after* the main card so that fans can see them in the afternoon as opposed to 10 AM in the morning. If you have prelims at 10 AM in the morning, that means you expect the fans to stay the night in Saitama on Saturday. Why? The trains. Is it uncommon for afternoon starts at places like Korakuen Hall for wrestling cards? No. But then again those shows aren’t starting undercards so early. Furthermore, a lot of times seats are empty on the wrestling undercards for the noon start times.

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 62 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Losing face: Enron-style Japanese fight scene scandals

By Zach Arnold | November 26, 2011

It’s been a really bad, bad week if you are a fan of pro-wrestling or MMA in Japan. The bad news keeps getting exponentially worse and, in its own bizarre way, can be connected together in terms of cultural themes.

NOAH has had a terrible week. Mark “Bison” Smith, their top gaijin heavyweight ace, died in Puerto Rico. Finding reliable foreign wrestlers at this point in time is very difficult. On top of that, news just broke that former heavyweight champion Takeshi Rikio will have to retire due to myelopathy (herniated disc). He was somebody that the late Mitsuharu Misawa tried to make into a company ace. The experiment failed. Good heavyweights don’t grow on trees.

Pro-wrestling was the industry that built the native stars that led to the Japanese MMA boom. Without such stars, MMA would not have existed on as grand of a level as it did. Wrestling was the star factory that MMA promoters raided and bought off with cash. Once the MMA boom started to wane, promoters found they didn’t have stars left to poach because the wrestling scene was on the decline.

Today, wrestling promotions struggle to sell out Korakuen Hall (the legendary 2,000-seat venue). JCB Hall, which was supposed to be an upgraded version of Korakuen with 3,000-plus seats, is not often used by event promoters. Without television support and without major financial backing, Japanese promotions are struggling for dear life to survive.

Which brings us to K-1 and Sengoku/World Victory Road.

Without heavy television support financing their MMA shows, I always wondered how these promotions could book buildings like Ariake Colosseum, Yokohama Arena, Ryogoku Kokugikan, and Saitama Super Arena if a TV network wasn’t footing the bill. It’s not like calling up a pizza joint and ordering dinner. You need at least four months lead time, usually six months, and cash up front. Now, juxtapose these advanced building bookings with guys like Ray Sefo saying they were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Peter Aerts & Jerome Le Banner are now working Antonio Inoki cards, for goodness sakes. So is Bob Sapp. Bibiano Fernandes refused to go back to Japan until he got paid for previous fights. Nick Diaz’s camp claimed they had money issues with DREAM. The situation became so comical that DREAM shows had some guys under K-1 contracts and some under contracts to Real Entertainment, Mr. Kato’s company that owns the DREAM entity. So, RE guys were getting paid on time (most were) while K-1 guys weren’t getting paid at all? Remember how Alistair Overeem, after winning the World GP at Ariake Colosseum, was getting ready to focus his energy on becoming a star in Japan with the assistance of Yoshimoto Kogyo? Within two months of that declaration, he had decided to move all his energy to Strikeforce. He admitted (quietly) to ESPN at the time that he hadn’t gotten paid.

The bombshell of all bombshells was dropped by Shu Hirata on Mauro Ranallo’s radio show last October that Kazushi Sakuraba allegedly hasn’t been paid for any of his fights within the last two years. Around this same time period, you had reports from people like the esteemed Dave Walsh who said that K-1 was willing to book guys for their Chinese World GP event if they were willing to accept half of the previous money owed to them and write off the other half. The Chinese GP event never happened, by the way.

By this point, we’ve all figured out what has been happening. You have mid-to-big-sized buildings booked, guys fighting because they want and hope to get paid, and in the end few fighters allegedly getting paid at all other than lip service and threats. Those who do get paid don’t dare say anything to upset the apple cart. Those who didn’t get paid either don’t do anything about it (the statute of limitations in Japan for money disputes is two years) because they still want to keep getting booked or they don’t want to be threatened at gunpoint in hotel rooms. I mean, you can’t possibly make this up.

To say that there’s quite a difference between old school yakuza and new school yakuza that hang around today’s fight game is quite an understatement. Old school yakuza used to always take pride in paying foreigners and they paid top dollar. You got paid well, you socialized well, you were part of a culture. The new school yakuza? They would put a bullet in your head first and go to prison for life before paying off a debt they owe. The fight business always has attracted yakuza because of the social value of being connected to the business image-wise. Now? There’s not so much value, so you end up with shady characters hanging around the business who are itching for a confrontation or a ready-made scam to feast upon innocent people.

Which brings me to a development that you are starting to see in Japan that never used to exist when old school yakuza were in charge of things. Because of the actions of the new breed of yakuza (shoot first, consequences later), victims are starting to sue the bad guys now. You never used to sue the yakuza in court because you’d end up dead more than likely for your troubles. However, with violence & thievery escalating, people are running out of options. So, victims are taking a page out of the American playbook and going after the gangs in court. The yakuza does not want anything to do with the court system. They don’t deal with contracts; they deal with guns.

Miro Mijatovic, who is now out of the fight business, went to court to go after admitted yakuza-fixer Seiya Kawamata. It’s one thing for a native to go after a yakuza guy in court but when it’s a foreigner who’s filing the lawsuit, that’s the rarest of birds. Kawamata, of course, was a K-1 fixer whose word printed in various articles in Shukan Gendai’s negative campaign against PRIDE destroyed the organization. Taking an admitted yakuza fixer to court is a brave thing to do. Don’t believe me? A person who was instrumental to Miro’s lawsuit, Toshiro Igari, lost his life because he took on powerful people who didn’t want to do anything about corruption. He lost his life but in the process got the last laugh from beyond the grave when his book got published. In that book, he dealt with all the major scandals happening in regards to how the yakuza threaten both police & district attorneys in order to prevent charges from being filed in important corruption cases. Mr. Igari died in the Philippines right around the time the sport of Sumo was imploding due to a match fixing & betting scandal in which elements of the boryokudan were hanging around the scene.

With this as your back drop, I bring attention to a new scandal book that recently was published that you might be interested in (if you can read Japanese). The book claims that Kazuyuki Fujita, who had worked for Sengoku, went to court to battle with Sengoku over unpaid fight money (breach of contract). The claim? That his contract was a four or fight deal worth about 200 million yen ($2.6 million USD). The idea that he was asking and promised $500,000USD a fight is, on the surface, incredible. The book claims that Sengoku had their own arguments as to why the contract wasn’t honored and that there was a settlement.

The one thing you used to always be able to say about Japanese promoters & bookers in the fight game was that their word was their bond. If they made you an offer, the offer stood and you got paid. Today? There is no more ‘golden word’ in the business. That credibility has been destroyed. How do you ever get your good word back?

Appropriately, the section(s) of the book talking about FEG & Sengoku troubles is called “Kakutougi Crisis.” On the cover of the book, there’s a screaming font headline talking about the assault involving TARU beating up on Nobukazu Hirai and putting him in the hospital for good. This past week, TARU was arrested by the authorities after Hirai’s mother filed an official complaint. Hirai is still in the hospital months after the assault and reportedly suffers from permanent memory loss.

It seems a lot of people have lost their minds and their memories on how to behave honorably in the Japanese fight industry.

*****

Updated UFC Japan 2012 (Saitama Super Arena, 2/27 10 AM local JST, 2/26 evening American time):

Despite the starting time issues, I still have the over/under at 10,000 for attendance because UFC will be a shiny new toy to watch. That said, I’m not overly confident and I would go with the ‘under.’ TV Tokyo, the smallest of the over-the-air broadcast TV networks in Japan, is now airing a “UFC World” program. If UFC does hit broadcast TV, it likely will be this channel and that would mean a very minimal impact in the country. The network has little-to-no penetration outside the Kanto region (Tokyo/Yokohama). Not in the same league as Fuji TV, Nippon TV, Tokyo Broadcasting, or TV-Asahi.

Michihiro Omigawa has been booked for UFC’s return to Brazil in January. He will not fight on the Japan 2012 card.

Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Yakuza, Zach Arnold | 19 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

MMA Link Club: Dealing with a bunch of turkeys in the fight game

By Zach Arnold | November 24, 2011

200,000 views and counting. If you missed it last Saturday night because you were watching UFC 139, now is your chance to watch one great fight featuring two guys with a lot of heart. Get to it.

For those not in the loop, Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area is supposedly going to have post-fight UFC event recaps after every major show on the channel. Frank Shamrock was on the channel’s first post-fight show after UFC 139 in San Jose. They are promising a recap show after UFC 140 in Toronto.

Member sites of the MMA Link Club

This week’s MMA Link Club featured stories

Five Ounces of Pain: Fedor’s camp pushing for fight with Cain Velasquez

To which Dana White responded with a ‘hell no.’ Fedor’s people weren’t asking for that fight before Cain lost to JDS, were they? Who can blame them for asking for a fight with Cain when you’re likely stuck having to fight Ishii on New Year’s Eve in Japan on a non-broadcast network TV event.

MMA Fighting: Michael Landsberg explains own confusion with strange Chael Sonnen interview

“I was really confused. I didn’t know if he was mad or I didn’t know if he was joking,” Landsberg said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I didn’t know if he was getting the whole thing.”

I know what I got out of that interview. Michael Landsberg acted like an execrable fool during the interview against the one-trick gimmick. Turkey.

Fightline: Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz set to headline UFC’s second show on Fox

Nothing sends a message of promoting a clean sport like having Chael Sonnen headline a network MMA broadcast show. First, Texas, and now Chicago. When is he going to fight in California again?

Cage Potato: Photo gallery of Fedor loving his kitteh

We’ve gone from Fedor licking ice cream cones to pics of his ex-wife during his PRIDE days shopping luxuriously to now a bug-eyed cat photo for a sympathy pop. A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, apparently.

MMA Mania: Bellator 59 preview for Saturday’s event on MTV2

Don’t be a turkey and miss this show. Eric Prindle’s fighting on the card and ready to knock someone out. Alexis Vila, who pulverized Joe Warren, faces stiff competition with Eduardo Dantas. Plus, Patricky Pitbull versus Kurt Pellegrino. Seriously, DVR this show if you can’t watch it live. Last Saturday’s Bellator show was terrific and got totally lost in the fog of UFC 139, which was an off-the-charts show.

5th Round: Dan Henderson doing his part for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Here’s a man who put his money where his mouth is and delivered in a unique way. That’s the American spirit.

Bleacher Report: Mark Munoz says Chael Sonnen was dirty in their college match

What’s next, a revelation that Sonnen is an admitted criminal?

Middle Easy: Jens Pulver’s 2011 video game Christmas buyer’s guide

OK, so Easy didn’t use the word “Christmas” and instead used the generic term “Holiday” like everyone else in Corporate America that’s afraid to say the word Christmas on TV & radio even in a secular, commercialized kind of way. Nonetheless, Jens’ guide is great. Talk about Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Witcher 2, Dragon Age II, and more.

Low Kick: Dana White would like to see Wanderlei Silva walk away on a win

So would I. Want to know how to do it? Book his retirement fight at UFC Japan 2012 and give him a tomato can to squash. Better yet, a tomato can wearing a cartoon mask. There’s always Yoshihiro Takayama available to take a beating.

The Fight Nerd: Up against it — the evolution of fence tactics in MMA

But, as tool using mammals, the best human warriors have always been defined by the ability to turn the presence or absence of anything into a weapon. And there is no more obvious presence than the wall. There are the, now, obvious tactics. The fence, once used to enhance the chances of takedowns, now just as commonly defeats them. Squatting up while pressing alternating shoulders against the fence, or wall-walking, is now a standard way for a fighter to regain his feet and the complete antithesis of what the cage was originally designed for. But turn-about is just the beginning of what can be done with the wall.

I’ve never been a big fan of the cage.

MMA Convert: Jim Genia’s list of things to be thankful for (and he didn’t even shill his book on the list)

Ronda Rousey – Let’s face it, without Gina Carano smiling coyly at the camera, women’s MMA barely has a pulse. Which is sad, because 145-pound champ Cris “Cyborg” Santos is a viable and deadly fighter who’s more than deserving of accolades. But now we’ve got Rousey to liven things up, and with her Olympic-caliber judo and penchant for amputating arms in under a minute, woo-wee, women’s MMA is going to be fun again. It’s going to be sweet watching Rousey crush Meisha Tate, and it’s going to be even sweeter watching her dismantle Cyborg bit by Brazilian bit.

Now, wait a second, didn’t Zuffa call Gina Carano ‘the face of women’s MMA’ in their New York lawsuit filing?

MMA Payout: Ratings numbers continue to decrease for UFC PPV prelims on Spike

That’s what happens when you have a fatigued fan base and a network not interested in promoting your product. Judging by the empty seats on camera during the San Jose prelims, I’d say the paying customers took their time getting to the show as well.

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

When Fedor met Satoshi Ishii on NYE; card will not air on broadcast TV

By Zach Arnold | November 24, 2011

On NYE at Saitama Super Arena:

The scuttlebutt coming out of Fedor’s decision win over Jeff Monson in Russia is that he will fight on the Inoki NYE card at Saitama Super Arena against Inoki-managed/owned-in-Japan fighter Satoshi Ishii. On paper, the fight makes sense for both parties. Fedor sees it as a chance to get a win, as ugly as it may be, over a relatively green fighter and an easy payday plus TV rights in Russia. Inoki’s camp views it as a chance to get Fedor back in Japan (where he’s the most valued, still) and that Ishii can somehow make the match ugly enough to get a decision win as long as Fedor doesn’t tag him early and knock his ass out.

So, what’s the problem with the fight? First, it’s likely going to be an ugly one to watch. Second, Ishii is not a draw in Japan. The Overton window on fans converting into Ishii supporters is done. It’s dead. This is a guy who in the time span of a year got booed out of SSA on NYE last year when he fought Jerome Le Banner. Japanese fans were backing a Frenchman over the Olympic medal hero. Since that time span, Ishii fled Japan, came back to get a divorce after 9 months with his (now) former wife who was 19 or 20 years old, had media reports surface that he wanted to become an American citizen so he could compete in the Olympics, traveled to Kings MMA in So. Cal to train so he could fight Paulo Filho in Brazil, to now ending up in the same location where the tumultuous cycle started a year ago? Nobody is as impulsive & reckless of a decision maker as this guy is right now. He had everything to gain in his MMA career when he first entered the business and totally squandered his golden ticket.

Remember all the talk about Ishii wanting to be in the UFC? He could have fit into the plans of UFC Japan and actually had a chance to grow up as a fighter. Instead, he’s back to do the business of Inoki by fighting a fading, yet accomplished & decorated veteran who is likely going to produce a fan reaction that will resemble the Le Banner fight. Of course, if Ishii beats Fedor on NYE (even if he gets booed out of the building), I definitely could see Dana marking out and paying Ishii a lot of money to appear on the SSA card. It still wouldn’t change the fact that Ishii isn’t much of a draw, but it would be a great ‘screw you’ to send to the PRIDE fans for a vanity show.

Speaking of UFC Japan, here’s the updated card line-up:

Think the fans will get up at 6 AM to watch the main card at SSA at 10 AM if guys like Rampage aren’t on the card?

If you’ve been following MMA Supremacy on Twitter, you might have heard that the second Fox network show on January 28th in Chicago will feature Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (why?) and Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz. If Mark had trouble with Okami, I wonder how the fight with Chael will turn out?

Topics: Japan, M-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

A tribute to Mark “Bison” Smith, dead at age 38

By Zach Arnold | November 22, 2011


Headline of Bison Smith’s death on Sports Navigator/Yahoo Japan, Nov. 23rd, 2011

Throughout the many years I’ve covered both the pro-wrestling & MMA scenes in Japan, I’ve had the honor and privilege of being friends with two men who unfortunately died way too young — Gary Albright and, now, Mark Smith. Gary was the big, scary gaijin giant in All Japan after he left UWF-International. He and Steve Williams (along with Jim Steele) were the Triangle of Power, the top foreign group in Giant Baba’s organization. Gary was a great man who loved, in no particular order: fantasy hockey, hockey, beer, food, his family, and fighting. It was fascinating to talk to Gary during his tenure in All Japan because he lived through a period of time in the Japanese fight game where PRIDE was starting to take off and the two major wrestling organizations (New Japan & All Japan) were facing a squeeze. Yes, they were still popular, but the money was decreasing and so was the network television support. He and I had a few conversations as to whether or not he should leave All Japan to go to the UFC. His reasoning was solid. Strong amateur wrestling background, good size, and this was in the pre-Zuffa days. He was scared about his job stability in All Japan and felt that touring every-other-tour was going to be a demotion. In the end, he didn’t make the jump to UFC. However, he died way too young when he had a heart attack in January of 2000. It was later discovered that he had an enlarged heart (with blockages) and was also diabetic. I’ll never forget reading about his death online because it seemed so surreal to be able to talk to someone directly and then, poof, vanish before you know it.

That’s how I happened to find out about the death of my old friend Mark “Bison” Smith tonight as well. He died at the age of 38 in Carolina, Puerto Rico due to complications from a heart attack.

I knew of Mark when All Pro Wrestling in the Bay Area had their famous “King of Indies” tournament. During this time period, there was a split amongst the top APW wrestlers (Mike Modest, Donovan Morgan, Mark, etc.) who had gotten a look from NOAH and got their Japanese ticket punched. Eventually, a split happened and you had APW (still around today) and Pro Wrestling Iron, the offshoot group with Morgan, Modest, Smith, and others. I first met Mark in 2001 at a spot show and then later met him at another event when Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa worked the same show in Northern California. (He, like I, was perplexed as to why Misawa & Ogawa wanted their appearance at the Iron show to be announced as a last-minute surprise.) Nonetheless, I had a great time talking to Mark and became fast friends. It was hard not to like him. Kenta Kobashi saw something in him as a talent. With the Japanese scene struggling and talent signing with other promotions, I thought Mark would become a natural fit in NOAH.

Over the years, Mark appeared on our radio show (which covered both wrestling & MMA). We had lots of funny & insightful conversations about life and the business. Mark had been based in the Bay Area, working as a security guard at a local Target while off tour from NOAH. Suffice to say, a couple of shoplifters got the surprise of their life when they encountered him. Not a smart choice by those individuals.

Mark soon relocated back home to Colorado. He had moved from Colorado to the Bay Area to become a wrestler with APW, so it was fitting that he would go back home to be closer to his family. He also was working for Victor Quinones and his promotion, IWA Puerto Rico, based in Carolina. Mark told me a funny story about the reaction he got from the NOAH office to this development. In Japanese wrestling lore, Puerto Rico will forever be viewed as the place where Bruiser Brody got murdered, therefore it’s a forbidden place for anyone to go. Much of NOAH management consisted of All Japan employees who lived through that period of time in the 80s when Brody died. So, there were a lot of ‘be careful’ messages sent to Mark by NOAH staffers.

Mark loved Puerto Rico. He loved the people and the country’s climate. It was exactly what he wanted. He had seriously considered moving to Puerto Rico full time. Mark wrestled for Quinones during a boom period of sorts in Puerto Rico when IWA PR & WWC, Carlos Colon’s promotion, were feuding hot-and-heavy. Mark was getting paid $750 a week and lived in one of Victor’s houses with a couple of roommates. Mark never had a bad word to say about Victor at all. Given Victor’s experience and tenure in Japan, NOAH management was OK with the arrangement.

Then, Victor died in April of 2006. Once Victor died, IWA Puerto Rico fell apart. The scene in Puerto Rico struggled. Savio Vega and others tried to get IWA PR back in the swing of things and Mark decided later on to head back to PR to help out management. He loved the Puerto Rican fans a lot. He loved Puerto Rico as a whole. I’m convinced that he would have retired on the island. Guaranteed.

I talked with Mark off-and-on during the post-Quinones period in Puerto Rico. However, I’ll never forget my conversations with Mark after Mitsuharu Misawa died in June of 2009. Mark was tagging with Akitoshi Saito versus Misawa and Kenta Kobashi’s protégé, Go Shiozaki. I remember Mark telling me that Misawa was in really rough shape physically but that Misawa faced a tough challenge. When Nippon TV cut their network broadcasting deal with NOAH, it financially decimated the company from being able to run big arenas on a routine scale. This meant that in order to run spot shows in the rural areas outside of Tokyo, NOAH needed the backing of local promoters. The local promoters wanted the big names (Misawa, Akiyama, Taue) to wrestle on shows even if they physically weren’t in condition to do so. Because there was so much pressure to make money and keep things going, Misawa wrestled. Mark & Saito worked a fairly competitive match with Shiozaki & Misawa when Saito back-dropped Misawa. Misawa died in the ring. I will never forget seeing the video broadcast on Nippon TV the next morning showing Misawa with his wrestling boots on his feet while attempts to revive him with an AED failed. Akiyama and Kobashi were both physically hurt to the point that they couldn’t witness what was going on. Misawa was stretchered out and pronounced dead at a local Hiroshima hospital. Mark & Akitoshi were devastated beyond belief.

Because NOAH was out West in Japan, the company chose to go through with its event at Hakata star Lanes in Fukuoka. All the wrestlers were emotionally spent. After wrestling on the show, a funeral was held in Tokyo. The conversations I had with Mark during this time period were startling. He had been through the death of a leader (Quinones) but Misawa was in another class altogether. He was the face of NOAH, he was a trainer, he was a businessman, and he was the glue that kept things together politically. When he died, things became factionalized between the Kobashi unit (he wanted everyone kept around, old-school Japanese mentality) and Ryu Nakata (who wanted to operate the company as a business and keep things streamlined). In the end, Akira Taue & Naomichi Marufuji took over as bad-cop, good-cop but things were never the same. It was crushing for all the wrestlers to have Misawa, Japan’s super hero, die in the ring. He had taken so much punishment over the course of a few decades.

When Misawa died, Mark struggled to figure out where he fit into the grand scheme of things. He ended up having a couple of nice runs as a wrestler in NOAH. He worked the promotion’s current tour of the Global League tournament, a Champion Carnival-type format. On November 14th at Korakuen Hall, Mark teamed up with Kensuke Sasaki-allied wrestler Kento Miyohara to defeat Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa (Mitsuharu Misawa’s right-hand man). Mark won in 8’01 with his trademark finisher, the Bisontennial, on Ogawa. Ogawa landed at an awkward angle and needled to be taken out on a ‘tanker’ (stretcher).

In his last singles matches, he beat his tag partner Akitoshi Saito and lost to KENTA. Of all the guys on the NOAH roster, Mark said KENTA was ‘a tough little bastard’ who constantly blurred the lines in the ring.

Mark’s final NOAH match ever saw him team up with Shuhei Taniguchi in a loss to Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama. This was November 20th in Sapporo. If Mark knew that his last match would have Takayama involved, he would have been a very happy man.

Of all the Japanese wrestlers that Mark had a chance to meet and be friendly with, Takayama was by far his favorite. He often told me stories about how Takayama wanted to tour all 50 States in a Corvette and basically go Southern Wild Boy while seeing America. I’ve had numerous wrestlers tell me the same thing about Takayama but every time I heard it in conversation, I couldn’t help but laugh. Mark had plenty of stories to share about the boys and he loved socializing after the matches in Japan. Mark genuinely loved being friends with guys like Samoa Joe and Eddie Edwards. He had plenty of kind things to say about Kenta Kobashi, as well, even if it involved bizarre stories like Kobashi practicing his machine chopping routine on blocks of butter or against inanimate objects as practice before matches. Mark was always along for the ride and he loved to travel.

Guys like Gary Albright and Mark “Bison” Smith come along maybe once a decade, maybe once a generation as far as finding someone with the combination of their personality types and physical presence. Mark, like Gary, was not overtly political and was someone who didn’t get involved in political warfare — on purpose. They just wanted to wrestle, put on good matches, have fun, make some money, and support their families. From the bottom of my heart, I am honored to have known both men and am extremely grateful for their honesty & true friendship in a business where the climate is to act the total opposite. We lost another one of the good guys tonight and the world is worse off for it. Rest in peace, Mark. Oyasumi nasai.

When approached by the media for a comment, Kenta Kobashi had nothing but good things to say about Mark and is still in a state of shock. Kobashi admitted that he was ready to consider Mark to be his tag team partner for future matches.

Yoshihiro Takayama: So long, brother!

Topics: Japan, Media, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Victor Conte: Time for commissions to use Carbon Isotope Ratio testing

By Zach Arnold | November 21, 2011

After watching Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Shogun at UFC 139 on Saturday night, I was reminded of this recent video where Rich Franklin & Bas Rutten are talking about all the injuries they’ve suffered in their fighting careers. The most basic of life tasks are painful for them now and it’s a wonder they’re still standing. The training is brutal and the punishment during fights can be quite traumatic.

There’s no way you can give enough praise to both Henderson and Shogun for the guts, heart, and iron will they displayed in San Jose. They paid a physical price, that’s for sure. Shogun’s knees are as bad as Keiji Mutoh’s & Kenta Kobashi’s. Despite the punishment both men endured in that fight, it’s clear that there is no stopping either man any time soon because the financial & competitive rewards are still great. In the case of Dan Henderson, however, one factor that we cannot dismiss in regards to his physical ability to still hang around in the sport is his reported usage of Testosterone Replacement Therapy. After Dan beat Fedor last Summer, I stated the following about the impact of TRT on the sport of MMA:

Whether you support the allowance of TRT by MMA fighters or not, the truth is that it has the capability of altering the MMA landscape in both good and bad ways. For fighters like Dan Henderson, TRT has a positive impact because it allows older fighters to not only hang around and not retire early but to also maintain physical strength that simply would not happen if someone was not on Testosterone. The longer someone is on TRT, the more experience they gain if they are able to fight more frequently. This will most certainly alter the way we look at veteran MMA fighters in the near future.

Dan Henderson is doing nothing out of the ordinary for top-level athletes. You give an athlete a loophole and they are going to exploit it for all that it’s worth. By the standards set forth of the current & various state athletic commissions, he’s not doing anything wrong.

It is interesting, however, that no one says much about the issue of TRT & doping in MMA when fighters aren’t getting caught. Fighters passing tests doesn’t mean that they aren’t using performance-enhancing drugs and, yet, MMA promotions run shows in states with toothless drug testing policies (Texas) and nobody says a word. It seems we only talk about the issue when someone gets caught and more people get angry at a fighter for actually getting caught due to a sloppy cover-up rather than the actual drug usage. Plus, it seems fans & media only relish talking about the issue of doping in the fight game when the person who gets caught is hated or despised as opposed to a person who is anointed as a babyface.

(How many people think less of Royce Gracie today after the nandrolone test situation in California? I hear crickets.)

Victor Conte, whose word on issues relating to PED usage in sports is always valuable to listen to, has done a couple of great interviews in the past that have largely gone under the radar. His interview with Eddie Goldman was outstanding. Victor advanced the debate about what athletic commissions should be looking for in regards to basic blood testing analysis. Remember his discussion about hematocrit levels?

“One thing I would like to say is that in the world of boxing, I would like to see like they have in cycling as well as in Nordic sporting events, if you have a hematocrit (which is the percentage of red blood cells total whole blood volume) that is 50% of over, they suspend you. Your blood is too thick and for what they call health & safety concerns they just do not let you compete. So, whether you’re dehydrated or you’re using EPO or old-fashioned blood doping, whatever reason you have a hematocrit of 50% or above, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to compete. So, whether they’re finding the drugs or not, I think if your red blood cell count is too high then, you know, you get in a fight and you become more dehydrated and there’s a chance of some serious adverse health effect. So, I would like to see {suspensions].”

Unfortunately, we have not seen athletic commissions take a pro-active stance and focus on these kinds of metrics for blood testing. What about improving the analysis of the current drug testing set-up involving urine testing? In a recent interview with Jack Encarnacao, Victor proposed a new metric for urine testing analysis that could done cheaply.

“The T/E ratio, testosterone to epitestosterone ratio, used to be 6:1 and now they have reduced it down to 4:1 but athletes can still very easily use fast-acting testosterone creams and gels and water-based testosterone and you do microdosing and keep it below the 4:1 ratio. So, it’s relatively easy for an MMA fighter or any other athlete to circumvent the testing if all they’re doing is the T/E ratio test.

“Which, let me put this in perspective. There’s a complete panel of steroids that they do that includes the T/E ratio test and back in the BALCO days I used to pay $80 for this and I’m sure in volume that some of these organizations are paying as little $50 for it. But there’s another test called the CIR or Carbon Isotope Ratio test that can differentiate between a natural testosterone that’s produced in your body and synthetic testosterone and there are cases, Justin Gatlin who won the Olympic gold metal in the 100m in 2004 is a specific example. They got a tip that he was using testosterone, so they went and tested him at a meet and even though his epitestosterone was actually higher than his testosterone level and it came out that he had an injection about two weeks previous to when the sample was collected, they still found that he was positive for testosterone based upon this CIR test and they banned him!

“And, so, what I’m saying is [athletic commissions] need to incorporate this sort of test which is much more effective. My understanding is that even now in boxing with Floyd Mayweather in the last couple of fights against Mosley and Ortiz that they had Olympic-style testing which I don’t think that’s what it is because I believe Olympic-style testing is 24/7, 365, that’s simply random testing for a given period of time, 8 to 10 weeks or whatever it is before the fight. So, I think that, you know, they need to start utilizing this CIR testing and then they’ll be catching a lot more of these athletes that are using fast-acting gels and creams and water-based testosterone because, at the moment, it’s fairly easy to circumvent the testing.”

Victor also put into perspective why the current drug testing programs amongst the various state athletic commissions is so flawed and ineffective. Testosterone Replacement Therapy is one area is concern that he sees right now in terms of who should get a TUE (therapeutic use exemption) and who shouldn’t.

“What people don’t realize is that in terms of the letter of the law with these commissions, the way it reads is opposite of what goes on with WADA & USADA. It is unless you have clearance from us to use a drug, then it’s prohibited. So, unless you’ve submitted a request and then they’ve approved, then it’s considered to be something that they don’t allow and if they test and find for it, so it’s actually broader instead of having extensive lists like WADA does. The problem is they just don’t do the test. So, yes, once in a blue moon they’ll catch somebody two weeks out from a fight or they’ll do a random test and I think this is more, you know, propaganda and for public relations than it is a genuine effort to catch people. So, I think there needs to be change.

“If there is a genuine interest in reducing the use of drugs and I think in MMA it’s the hurt game, it’s the harm game, that’s what it is and it’s not like the advantages are running faster than the guy in the lane next to you as it is in track & field. It’s to hurt this guy. At some point, they’re going to have to take a more serious look at what they can do to level the playing field because now it has everything to do with who’s got the smart chemists and the people that understand how to get around this and, you know, this whole idea of using Testosterone Replacement Therapy and I think, for the most part, what these MMA fighters have been doing is they use steroids, it suppresses their own production of testosterone, they go to a doctor and show the test that they have low testosterone and then they get a prediction and then they’re using i in a way that enhances performance.

“So, I think it’s something that certainly deserves to be debated and discussed and I’m glad the issue is out there and on the table. I just don’t know if there’s going to be any real genuine change in terms of the reduction of the use of drugs…”

Going back to where we started at the top of this post talking about the various rigors of training that top-level MMA fighters go through, Mr. Conte addressed the idea of training specifically at high altitude in order to improve endurance. He says the technique is counterproductive.

“In my opinion specifically regarding MMA fighters and boxers is that this is just a horrible idea. I know that Tito Ortiz and others like Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya have trained at Big Bear. The reason I think this is bad is because you don’t get a deep and restful sleep, your heart rate will be 10, 15, 20 beats a minute higher sleeping at elevation because of the low oxygen. This is really when you really heal, recover, regenerate, repair, and grow is when you sleep. This is when the anabolic hormones are produced, about 90 minutes after you go to sleep in a single burst over 70% of your daily output of growth hormone is produced in a single mass. The second four hours of sleep is when testosterone is produced. So, I just think it’s a bad idea. It may be okay for endurance athletes and that’s the benefit that MMA fighters and boxers are trying to achieve is to enhance oxygen uptake and utilization capacity, but at the same time you sacrifice size and speed and power.”

Want to know how meticulous and measured fighters can be when it comes to figuring out what they ingest and how calculating they are to try to get maximum benefit?

“A study came out in Europe in 2010 where they looked at about 100 elite sportsmen, 43% had low [iron]. So, training causes significant bodily losses of micronutrients and you don’t want to put these backs in megadoses because you have competitive and antagonistic interactions. So, in other words, you can’t take zinc and copper together or zinc & iron together or calcium together with zinc because they significantly reduce the absorption of each other. So, certain ones, let’s just say chromium and copper, you take in the morning. Those both enhance and regulate energy and metabolism, you take those in the morning. Others like zinc and magnesium, which help with healing and relaxation and sleep, you take at night before you go to bed and then others that have competitive interactions then you would take those at a different time in the afternoon.”

The more we learn about the nutritional & supplemental aspects of athletes who compete in this sport, the less likely we are to make excuses when someone tests positive for a drug and uses the “I didn’t know what was going on” explanation for public forgiveness. If athletic commissions can use inexpensive tests to measure correct metrics such as hematocrit levels & carbon isotope ratios, then I don’t see what kind of political cover there is to not use these testing methods.

Then again, is the issue of drug testing for MMA fans treated the same way sports fans want to eat ballpark hot food but not know what the actual ingredients & ongoing contamination may be because it’s happier to be ignorant about the health consequences of everyone involved?

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

UFC 139 (11/19 San Jose Arena): Faber, Wanderlei, Henderson, Shogun put on all-time classic displays of greatness

By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2011

Venue: HP Pavilion (San Jose Arena)
TV: PPV (9 PM EST/6 PM PST)

Dark matches

Main card

*****

Venue: Honda Center (The Pond) in Anaheim, California
TV: Fox (all broadcast networks)

Dark matches

Main event (TV)

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 97 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

MMA Link Club: The matchmaking direction of UFC Japan 2012

By Zach Arnold | November 18, 2011

Here’s the card line-up so far for UFC Japan 2012 at Saitama Super Arena:

I can already picture the conversation that is going to take place with more frequency as we get closer to the show. I’ve already gotten a taste of it online and it goes something like this:

“This card is great on paper but the Japanese aren’t going to care about it.”

“Who cares? If the Japanese fans can’t get with the program and like what the rest of the world likes, then that’s their problem. It’s their fault if the card doesn’t draw.”

“That’s not the point. Matchmaking in Japan has always been about themes, emotion, and cultural significance.”

“What do you want UFC to do? They got paid to bring a sold show to Japan and they’re bringing a great UFC card. This is who they are. Why should we dumb down our product for the Japanese fans?”

“If you’re not going to produce a card tailored for Japanese fans who have to wake up at 6 in the morning and hit the arena by 10 AM in order to see the show take place…”

“Listen, they’re bringing a great card to Japan and once the Japanese fans see it, they will like it. The UFC bug will spread like a virus and it will sweep the country.”

“An American company with an American face with an American philosophy on matchmaking and there is no substantive broadcast TV deal, so none of the fans know who the people fight on this card are.”

“When WWE went to Japan, they did well at Yokohama Arena in 2003.”

“That’s because they had a television deal with Fuji TV to air on broadcast TV. Once Fuji TV ended the deal, WWE’s drawing power in Japan for live shows evaporated.”

“When Mariah Carey has a concert in Japan, do the Japanese fans expect her to sing in Japanese?”

“Well, no, but fighting is a whole different ball of wax here…”

This kind of dialog is going to be building up in the coming months. By the way, give Shu Hirata all the credit in the world for exposing the fact that UFC got a sold show deal for UFC Japan from Dentsu, Japan’s second largest ad agency. The whole media theme about UFC Japan is how brave and courageous Dana White is going back into the lion’s den after PRIDE has died and how UFC is going to conquer the holy grail of Japan. The reality, of course, is that Dana’s basically on a free roll here for a vanity show.

Let me tell you, if Dana White and UFC had any sort of financial risk heading into this show, there’s no way in hell they would book the card they currently have for Saitama Super Arena. When I say this remark, I know that it comes across horribly as far as agents, trainers, and fighters thinking that I’m not disrespecting them. I’m not doing that at all. In fact, if this card was presented for a US show, I’d be very excited to watch it. However, through experience and through the filter I see things through in regards to what the Japanese care about, this card line-up is not going to be red hot for appeal and, in my opinion, Dentsu’s probably having second thoughts about what they just got themselves into.

Member sites of the MMA Link Club

This week’s MMA Link Club featured stories

Five Ounces of Pain: UFC 139 press conference highlights

I always get the feeling that whenever Dan Henderson talks, he thoroughly enjoys needling Dana White. Good.

MMA Fighting: UFC on Fox peaks with 8.8 million viewers, but there’s a lesson to be learned

Still, if the UFC can pull 8.8 million viewers on network TV for a fight that barely lasted long enough for fans to compose a decent text message to their friends, imagine what it will pull once the deal begins in earnest and it can put together a show that’s more than just a teaser. If your biggest problem is that you leave your audience wanting more after your network debut, maybe you don’t have that many problems.

That’s pretty much my line of thinking coming out of the Fox show. That said, the first show had months and months of hype on lots of platforms including NFL games. If UFC can draw 6-8 million viewers per show, I count that as a success. It’s always about bringing in new fans and replacing fans that may fade away.

Fightline: BJ Penn’s pound-for-pound legacy

I agree that his career has been maddening to a certain extent but I think history will be pretty kind to him in the end.

Cage Potato: 8 roles that fighters play to entertain us

Easily my favorite article of the week. The pictures alone make it worth the page view. Plus, the tone and presentation reminds me so much of when I watched The Joe Schmo Show on Spike many years ago and the cast was introduced by their gimmicks (“Hutch the asshole, Molly the virgin, Gina the schemer.”)

MMA Mania: Predictions and preview for Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler on November 19th in Hollywood, Florida

In my opinion, Chandler has the tools to beat Alvarez, but this match-up is taking place a little early in his career. I wouldn’t be floored if he pulled off the upset, but this is a fight that Alvarez should win at this point.

That sounds about right but I still think it’s going to be above-average in terms of quality. As long as it doesn’t turn into a 5-round snoozefest war-of-attrition…

5th Round: Countdown to UFC 139 (complete episode)

If you missed the video this week, here’s a last-minute chance to watch it. I like the card and I think it will be entertaining, but I don’t think the buy rate is going to be very good. I could be pleasantly surprised, you never know, but it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of steam heading into this event. Does the loser of the fight face Rampage at UFC Japan?

Bleacher Report: Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le beatdown breakdown

Everyone’s on the Cung Le bandwagon here. Chris Leben’s quick KO of Wanderlei has lots of people scared.

Middle Easy: Mark Coleman finds out he’s in UFC 3, then we ask him a bunch of questions

I still think his career-defining moment was the fight in Las Vegas with his family watching him take some unbelievable punishment and showing his intestinal fortitude.

Lowkick: Alex Soto believes he can finish Michael McDonald at UFC 139 (interview)

We match up just fine man. I think it’s going to be fireworks in this fight. McDonald is a very professional kid, he’s young, he’s 20-years-old. For being as young as he is, he has a great head on his shoulders. He’s a very worthy opponent. This guy is legit and he’s in the UFC for a reason. I think it’s going to be a great fight.

The Fight Nerd: Review of Shock Doctor Ultra Carbon Flex Cup and Power Gel Ultra Mouthguard

Is the medical science able to keep up with the increasingly brutal amount of punishment and trauma inflicted during fights?

MMA Payout: UFC on Fox network debut — payout perspective

As comprehensive and complete of a business breakdown of UFC’s major milestone event last Saturday event as you will find online. Red meat all the way.

MMA Convert: Preview of Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Shogun

Dan says that if he wins, he wants to face Jon Jones and that he’d rather fight Jon Jones than Anderson Silva. How would shogun vs. Anderson Silva look if they fought at 205 pounds?

Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Chael Sonnen calls Anderson Silva a ‘fruity boy’ on TSN

By Zach Arnold | November 16, 2011

In one of the most execrable, wretched, content-free MMA interviews you could possibly watch, Michael Landsberg did his best to be insufferable, pretentious, ignorant, and obnoxious while talking to one-trick gimmick pony Chael Sonnen. As mind-numbing of a 10-minute interview as you will ever endure in your life, this transcript does not do it justice. Sonnen once again drops a gay slur during an interview, this time on national television in Canada and somehow manages to look like a babyface compared to the atrocious showing here by Landsberg.

If you read the transcript alone and don’t watch the video, you won’t understand where I’m coming from with my comments. It’s one thing to read the transcript (below) but … the interview tone … I can’t emphasize just how stupid and smarmy it is.

Like the Forrest Griffin tweet controversy, I don’t expect fighters to be MENSA members. However, now that UFC has signed a deal with Fox, don’t think that there will won’t be consequences for the behavior of their ‘independent contractors’ for the language & expressions they use to describe other people. Great timing, too, given UFC’s PR blitz to attempt to gin up positive attention by filing their lawsuit in New York.

The interview started with boilerplate Sonnen shtick where he claims he’s the Middleweight champion and that he defended ‘his title’ against Brian Stann in Houston. Sonnen challenged Anderson Silva after the fight and then went on Twitter to give ‘Andy’ a deadline to accept his fight offer. Landsberg starts off by basically insinuating that Sonnen is backing down from the fight now.

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “I just I want to make sure that I have it correct…”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Well, you know what I said but you tell me that I backed down.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “I heard you backed down.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “That’s garbage. HOW? How do you just say things like ‘I hear you backed down.’ Here I am looking to pick a fight with Anderson (Silva). I backed down? I stood there big and tall and he covered his mouth like a little fruity boy and you’re going to come on ESPN and say that I backed down while I give you a free interview? He’s the one who backed down. How could you even say something so stupid? Why don’t you go try to get a free interview with Anderson Silva, see how that works out for you.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Hold onto that, I like that.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “You’re going to tell me that I backed down? What do you want to do?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Does the offer stand?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “If I tell you I’ll sell you my car for $10,000, you think I can just call you back a year from now and say, hey, I’ll take that $10,000 for the car. That’s not how offers work. Is that how you guys do business in Canada?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Yeah, that’s it.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Because in my country that created business, offers expire. I made him an offer. Apparently, it didn’t work. He didn’t accept it. So, it’s not that I backed down but apparently I need to present him with a new offer.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Okay.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “You guys probably don’t do that in socialism but in America in a capitalistic society, that’s how things work.”

**

A minute later, Landsberg brings up the moment in the Oakland fight where Sonnen got submitted by Anderson in the fifth round.

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Have you worked on your jiu-jitsu since then? You certainly looked like you had against Brian Stann.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I mean, I work on skills every day.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Would you agree that your jiu-jitsu at that point was probably deficient?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “No.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “No? So, how did you let a guy after you dominated him for four rounds submit you in the fifth round?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Well, look, it’s a two-man sport, it’s not a matter of letting somebody do something. I’ve been doing stuff my whole life… you know, guy walks his whole life, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t stumble every now and then.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Right. And, if you fight him again… how do you prevent that from happening, the stumble?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Oh, I… who cares if it does happen. Who cares?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Who cares if it does happen? I don’t get that.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I’m sure you don’t.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “No, but what do you mean?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “You don’t. That’s why you’re a commentator and you don’t get locked in the Octagon. I think you chose the right career path.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “So, you don’t care if you lose to Anderson Silva?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Is this like gotcha questions? Let’s just move (on). This is turning confrontational here while I’ve given up my time to come and give you an interview. Do you have anything pertinent to ask or are we just going around and around here?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Well, I thought that was a pertinent question. I asked you about jiu-jitsu.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Well, it’s not! It’s a stupid question. So, read the little palm of your hand that you wrote your points down on and move (on) to the next one. Let’s see if we can actually do something here today, give the people something to watch.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Is the A in MMA the Art, is that dead?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I don’t even know what Mixed Martial Arts stands for, OK? I mean, I don’t know where that came from. Mixed Martial Arts is a legal term that can date back to the 2001 Nevada State legislature. I don’t work for the Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Championship. I’m not a martial artist. I am a fighter. I work for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and I don’t care about art or their little gis or their little cotton belts.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “And would that describe, for instance, the Nogueira Brothers?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “… no, I… WHAT?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “You’re talking about the little gis and you’re talking about Anderson Silva, who’s a black belt, right? And he got it from the brothers and I’m asking you whether your description of the way Mixed Martial Arts shouldn’t be describes those guys.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “We’re talking about Anderson Silva? Since when? You just said… when are we talking about Anderson Silva?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “I was asking you. See, are you, are you playing with me now or are you being serious? Because people are watching this and going, what’s he talking about?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I am truly confused. Here, do you have a question for me? Let’s do that. I’m not trying to be a jerk here but I am truly flabbergasted by this. Are we doing an interview or what are we doing here? What is it that you want to talk about? You’re bringing up a fight from two years ago?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “OH, C’MON!”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I’d be happy to talk about it but certainly if you follow this sport at all you know that these questions have all been covered. So, I mean, if this your first day in MMA, I guess… I mean, I guess. Do you know what the Octagon is? Have you heard of that before? I’m sorry, let me calm down, I don’t want to give you nightmares tonight.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “And why would I possibly have nightmares? OK.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Watching a guy out of control, just losing control over here.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “So, you think you’re totally in control at this point?”

(pause)

CHAEL SONNEN: “Control of WHAT?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Of yourself!”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Of my domain? Sure.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “It seems like Anderson Silva is a humble guy. How has he gotten you so riled up? Is that a legitimate question?”

(pause)

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “IS THAT A LEGITIMATE QUESTION?”

(snoring)

CHAEL SONNEN: “What?”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “GSP, then. You like him as a fighter?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Right! Grease St. Pierre.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Grease St. Pierre. Insinuating that…”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I do like him as a fighter.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “You do?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I think he’s pretty good.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Right.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I think he’s excellent. I think he’s great.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “So, you said you stopped watching because you like to watch hockey and rugby and any place where a fight will break out, implying that he doesn’t really fight. Is that correct?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “Yes.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “But you just said you like him as a fighter? I don’t understand. I must be missing something here.”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I… you got that right.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “SO, do you like his style of fighting or not?”

(pause)

CHAEL SONNEN: “Yes.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “Would you beat him if you fought him?”

CHAEL SONNEN: “I would do my best.”

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “I would make the assumption you would do your best any time in the Octagon, would you not? So that doesn’t really tell me much.”

*removing microphone*

MICHAEL LANDSBERG: “So, you’re leaving now because of what reason? This kind of has this Mike Tyson feel back in the day. Perhaps, you should do a few sit-ups as well. Apparently, that is the end of… a man that we were actually really looking forward to talking to. Chael Sonnen, who is getting up, could do a little play-by-play now and watch him as he apparently is going to depart and I have to say 3,000 shows after we started, it’s the first time…”

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

Searchable text of UFC’s lawsuit against New York

By Zach Arnold | November 15, 2011

Judge Wood, November 15th, 2011

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Plaintiffs: Jon Jones, Gina Carano, Frankie Edgar, Matt Hamill, Brian Stann, Zuffa LLC d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship, Danielle Hobeika, Beth Hurrle, Donna Hurrle, Steve Kardian, Joseph Lozito, Erik Owings, Chris Reitz, and Jennifer Santiago

-against-

Defendants: Eric T. Schneiderman, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of New York, and Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. in his official capacity as District Attorney for the County of New York

Plaintiffs, on knowledge with respect to their own acts, and on information and belief with respect to all other matters, challenge the constitutionality of New York’s ban on the performance of professional mixed martial arts before live audiences.

Continue reading this article here…

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

Shane Carwin will be out 10 weeks after back surgery

By Zach Arnold | November 14, 2011

KENNY RICE: “How are you doing right now? Getting ready for this surgery, what kind of surgery is this going to be on your back?”

SHANE CARWIN: “You know, right now I’m doing all right. I’ve got to get up early, I’ve got to get up about 3:30 AM in the morning to go have surgery. But it’s T-10 through T-12, so it’s basically the middle of my back. I’ve got a disc that’s pressing into my spinal cord and it’s basically removed all the spinal fluid around the area, so the first time something really happened bad I was doing a seminar and just drilling takedowns and I got taken down and both of my legs froze up and I actually thought I was paralyzed and it lasted about 10 or 15 seconds and I wasn’t able to move. Finally, I was able to recover after that, you know, your spinal cord gets rid of that initial impact. I also noticed that when I started jumping and stuff, I’d get a tremendous amount of pain throughout my legs. So, I’m going to go in and have that done and what they’re going to do is actually drill out the bone in my spine to give that spinal cord some room in there.”

RICH FRANKLIN: “What’s your down time, Shane?”

SHANE CARWIN: “I think I’m probably only looking at about 10 weeks with that, similar to the neck injury that I had. … This is the third time my back’s been operated on.”

(later on…)

“I love to fight and I’m passionate about it and, you know, any time you’re passionate about something and you love to do it it’s easy to go to work and that’s what I love to do. So, the doctor told me that I could either have this surgery and be able to train and do all the things that I need to do be, you know, a complete athlete or we could fore-go the surgery and I could quit, I would be done because I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the athletic moves and stuff like that but probably would be looking at surgery down the road, any way.”

(On when he lost feeling in his legs temporarily…)

“It was tremendously scary. I still remember the guy looking at my eyes when it happened and they got extremely big.”

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

Media/insider fallout from UFC’s debut on Fox

By Zach Arnold | November 13, 2011

Kevin Haggarty (MMA Mania): Why UFC was a big winner on Saturday night

As an organization, this was a HUGE night. The coverage was sensational. If you have Fuel TV, you were privileged to enjoy insightful and entertaining pre- and post-fight shows, which were unlike anything we’ve really ever seen before as fans. Anybody who is anybody in Hollywood was in attendance. Many new fans tuned in to see just what the UFC is all about and they were treated to a thrilling heavyweight knockout. By most methods of measurement, this was a massive success for an organization that has come a long way since its inaugural foray just a short 18 years ago.

Bruce Dowbiggin (The Globe and Mail): Saturday night showed that UFC proves it’s here to stay

Saturday night was the end-game made real for White as Fox, never a network to let questionable taste get in the way of a good time, brought mixed martial arts out of the fringes and into the network spotlight. Still, Fox Sports president Eric Shanks was taking no chances on making the sport too cool for the room when he told USA Today that “We have to make sure it’s being produced for Martians.”

Richard Sandomir (NY Times): Fox’s UFC broadcast a hit with viewers (5.7 million), especially in 18-34 demographic

Tom Jones (St. Petersburg Times): UFC’s Fox debut was decent on Saturday night

Fox had a decent night Saturday with its first prime-time broadcast of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It seemed like a risk to have only one fight, and as it turned out, the heavyweight title bout lasted less than one round. But at least the fight ended in a knockout, which is better than watching two guys exchange boring holds for a half-hour.

In the end, however, I still think UFC is going to have a difficult time going mainstream, simply because too many folks think it’s just too violent.

Michael Nunez (IBT): UFC was never meant for network television

The flaws of the extreme nature of the sport are only compounded by the quick turnover of UFC champions. The most prominent fighters in the sport haven’t been able to defend their championships more than just a few times. Of course, there are a few exceptions to the rule, such as Anderson Silva or George St. Pierre, but for the most part, flash knockdowns and the unpredictable nature of mixed-martial arts make it hard for any fan to keep up. Look at Velasquez, who had won his UFC Heavyweight Championship just one fight before losing it to Dos Santos in 64 seconds.

Gary Poole (Esquire): At the Tropicana in Las Vegas, nobody paid attention to UFC on Fox

It should be said that when Dana White convinced Fox to pay him $100 million a year to put his badass jujitsu on national television for the next seven years, boxing people noticed. It should also be said that Manny Pacquiao did not knock anyone out in the first round on Saturday, nor did he look like the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, or even the 10-to-1 favorite. No one dropped to the canvas, and the 38-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez was the one landing the heavy punches. But they were beautiful punches, and even the jabs looked years in the making. This was not Jon Jones, the UFC light-heavyweight who played his badass jujitsu for four months and then signed up for Dana White’s badass jujitsu parade and then became its youngest champion. This was not fucking Rampage Jackson.

Josh Gross (ESPN): After 18 years, MMA reaches adulthood

The notion that a 64-second knockout is somehow bad reeks of a mentality that for so long permeated thinking among this sport’s inner circles. It’s the kind of thought process that prompted workers to step in the Octagon and spray paint over bloodstains prior to the start of the network broadcast on Saturday. It’s this idea that while nothing will satisfy the detractors, every effort must be made to try. That the innumerable reasons so many people love the sport aren’t good enough for those who don’t yet.

So, wait a second — when PRIDE was drawing 20 million viewers on Fuji TV and getting paid a lot a money last decade, that didn’t qualify MMA reaching ‘adulthood’ status because it happened in Japan instead of America? Don’t get me wrong — I’m not someone who thinks that UFC ‘failed’ with the Fox showing on Saturday night. However, it really is incredible to see how major financial MMA benchmarks were accomplished long ago in Japan and it’s not even viewed on the same level as what we’re slowing starting to see develop now outside Asia.

TV By the Numbers: Biggest markets for UFC on Fox debut were Las Vegas, Dallas, Phoenix

Fascinating takeaway is that the biggest markets in support were not New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Tampa/Orlando, or Chicago. A heavy amount of UFC’s support remains on the West Coast and Midwest. It’s still “a West Coast sport” in the eyes of people in the Eastern part of the States.

Take note in that TBTN release about the impact of college football on TV ratings in America. I’ve been stating this year that college football is proving to be a formidable challenge for anyone trying to push a PPV or a show on TV against that sport, especially if it involves SEC football.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

« Previous Entries Next Entries »