BJ Penn comments on his sore shoulder and whether he needs surgery
By Zach Arnold | May 22, 2011
This is a really good interview. Before the part I transcribed, he and Ron Kruck talk about the legacy of Randy Couture and BJ argues that Randy is the best fighter ever in the history of the UFC. Towards the end of the interview, he talks about the new UFC gym opening up in Waikiki soon and how much input he had in terms of designing the gym.
RON KRUCK: “When you look at Randy Couture, BJ… do you, is that something that, when you finally decide to hang it up, that you would like to go out the way that he did? Because a lot of times, in any sport, athletes really don’t get to pick, OK, I’m ready to go out and go out on their own terms. Do you think he retired the right way and in a way that you would like to finally retire one day?”
BJ PENN: “You know what? A lot of other fighters out there, they probably would have went and picked a fight that they would have known that they would have won and leave on a high note. But, that’s Randy, that’s the only way he would have gone out, like that and I probably would kind of think for myself the same. If Randy would have won, he would be fighting for the title. He wouldn’t have left, you know… We lost so many times over the years, you know, we all know that’s not the first time Randy got knocked but that’s probably what it’s going to, probably going to take a knockout or a bad beating to make someone like Randy or someone like me or a couple other fighters that I know in the UFC say, OK, you know, I can take it, I’ll walk away now.’
RON KRUCK: “Personally, how long would you like to keep fighting?”
BJ PENN: “You know when I was in my 20s I said I’ll fight until 40 and this and that… and I don’t know, everything’s just a blessing now. As long as I keep winning fighting and fans want to see me fight (and) I’m not hurt, I’ll fight as long as I can. I’d love to fight until 40, I don’t know if it’s a reality but I’d love to.”
RON KRUCK: “Your last fight, a draw with Jon Fitch. You know, I never have entered and competed in the Octagon but I played team sports all my life and I don’t think anything was worse than a tie. Is that the same way in MMA with a draw?”
BJ PENN: “I mean, yes, it really is. The first time I got a draw is with (Kaoru) Uno and I didn’t get to collect that belt and, it is, it’s just like it leaves you, what now? It leaves you in a limbo type situation and, you know, then he got hurt, he hurt his shoulder and my shoulder is bothering me, too. It’s turned into an ugly situation. My shoulder was bothering me before Fitch pulled out and, you know, I just was kind of going to go through with it because the whole thing with the draw and everything and I figured Fitch had some injuries, too, you know coming off, we fought off right there and we’re going to go straight into this. And Fitch ended up pulling out and getting hurt. The whole time when I was getting ready to get close to the Fitch fight I was like, how am I going to feel three months out? How am I going to feel three months out? Fitch pulls out, so a week or two week later, three months around comes out and my shoulder’s still sore, you know, and I’m like… you know what, (get) 100% already, let’s do it.”
RON KRUCK: “You don’t need any surgery or anything like that?”
BJ PENN: “You know, I got to take another MRI with the contrast and everything but every time it starts feeling better then I don’t want to take that thing because I don’t want to have surgery, you know, but I better go out and I got to just, for my own peace of mind, I gotta go do that MRI contrast, I’ve been putting it off too long and the only reason why I’m putting it off is because I want to fight, I don’t want to have surgery. I just want to wake up one day and be like, oh, that thing’s great, right on, Dana, let’s go. You know?”
RON KRUCK: “You’ve been in the Octagon with the sport’s best, the top of the top. You don’t have to call any one out or anything like that, but is there a fight that interests you before you retire? Maybe, you know, a rematch with someone or somebody new, maybe an up-and-comer?”
BJ PENN: “You know what? People might think it’s a long shot from this point out, but I really would like to be the world champ again at 170 pounds, you know, and I try to hold out as long as I can and when I get knocked off, because everyone’s going to get knocked off, I’d love to go back to 155 and win one more time. If I could do that, I can go to sleep at night. It would be much easier, you know, I don’t know any specific names or whoever the champion is at that time, you know. … I really want to be world champ again. You know, I was watching Soul Surfer movie the other day, the girl (Bethany Hamilton) who lost her arm… and if she can go out and keep surfing professionally, I can go get another world title.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Murilo Ninja Rua’s declaration of retirement from active MMA competition
By Zach Arnold | May 21, 2011
Statement as released from a few hours ago:
Congrats to my opponent Tom Watson for the win tonight (at BAMMA 6), he was better and deserved it. I would like to announce officially my retirement from PRO MMA fights tonight. It was an amazing run, and its a very tough moment. But there comes a time for all in life, and it’s time to move on. I am proud of all I did in MMA and all experiences I had.
I will continue to work with MMA,doing seminars, teaching classes, training fighters,and doing my share to help our sport that I love so much. Its time now to help others and enjoy my family, my wife, my kids and move one. I want to thank so much all the fans for all the support. Always helping me out and giving me all incentive. Brazil, Japan, USA, England, Canada, Australia. All places I fought, thanks so much!! I want to also thank to all the trainers that helped me from day 1 as a white belt until now.All training partners that pushed me so much. All sponsors that believed and still believe in myself. All my friends in the press.
And mostly, I want to thank my true friends,my family, my mom and dad, my wife that I love so much, my kids who are my joy and my brothers. I want to thank my manager for being my friend, and I want to sincerely thank my brother for all support and making me so proud.
Life goes on, memories will stay forever, and MMA will still be my life forever. Thank you so much you all!
Murilo “Ninja” Rua.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Another chapter in the directionless, curious UFC feud between Rashad Evans & Jon Jones
By Zach Arnold | May 21, 2011
KENNY RICE: “First off, let’s clear the air, that’s what we do here. No innuendos, no Internet gossip. What happened? Rashad Evans, Jon Jones meet up in a night club in Las Vegas, a few words were exchanged. What were those words? What really happened?”
RASHAD EVANS: “What really happened was just that, you know, me and Jon was in the same area, we’re at the same table with a bunch of other fighters and, you know, he said, ‘can I speak to you privately?’ So, we stepped to the side and we spoke privately and, you know, privately first thing he says is like, ‘Listen, I want to clear the air,’ and I’m thinking like, ah, you know, this is cool, young guy’s being very mature about the whole thing. And then he starts off by saying, ‘You know, I think things are going too far, but I want to be the first to tell you that I’m going to destroy you, I’m going to show that you’re washed up in the sport, I’m going to show that I am the best Light Heavyweight ever and I’m going to show what the new breed of fighting is and you’re going to be my first highlight knockout.’ And I was just… I like, at first I was like, did he just really say this? So I could nothing but just like laugh and then I’m just like, heh heh, I was like, ‘How do you figure so?’ And he said, ‘Well, because when were training you know I would catch you with elbows and I would catch with knees here and there,’ and I’m like, ‘dude, I was hoping you’d get ready for Ryan Bader, I wasn’t trying to beat you, I wasn’t trying to really go at you, I was just trying to help you.’ And I said, ‘but you do remember when I went with you and I held you down and I slapped you and punched in the face and I was beating you in practice and you begged me, can you get up, and then I said if you quit now you’ll quit in the fight, so I made you work back up to your feet, you remember that?’ and he’s like, ‘yeah.’ So, I mean, we just went back and forth for a while. But the whole thing I said to him is like this, I said Jon, ‘you know, I know you believe what you believe and that’s great that you believe it, but given the opportunity that you had to fight me you chose not to and that’s the bottom line, you chose not to fight me. I was there to fight you, I said I’ll fight you, you chose not to fight me. So, it kind of like ended there.”
KENNY RICE: “That was it, but no pushing? No screaming?”
RASHAD EVANS: “No, it was actually a pretty controlled conversation like neither one of us got to the point where it was like any blows were going to be fired or anything like that. When it came down to that, he just ended up leaving the table area and going home or going wherever, but it was never to the point where we were going to fight each other.”
KENNY RICE: “Okay, we did by the way try to get in touch with Jon Jones and asked if he would like to comment on the situation. He has decline at this time, so we got Rashad’s side of the story.”
RASHAD EVANS: “Yeah, I mean…”
KENNY RICE: “Nothing broken? No lamps knocked down, no waitresses thrown through a window, so everything is good.”
RASHAD EVANS: “Yeah, I mean with Jon, it’s this right here: Jon is a young guy and, you know, he’s on top of the world right now and everybody’s telling him he’s as great as this and great as that… and it’s hard to not to let that seep in for anybody, you know. You try to be humble but at the same time when you’re told that you’re this and you’re that and how great you are, it’ll seep in (even) the most humble person’s body.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Marika Taylor accuses Josh Gross of journalistic malfeasance & Keith Kizer of interfering in Chael Sonnen’s California suspension
By Zach Arnold | May 20, 2011
Marika Taylor, who spoke in support of Chael Sonnen this past week at a special California State Athletic Commission hearing in Los Angeles, came out guns a blazin’ on Mauro Ranallo’s radio show yesterday.
“What was it like? If you’ve ever… a circus. You know, I’ve been to court before, I’ve you know watched television, you know, I mean, normally there’s such thing as due process, um, you know, some of sort formality, something. This was the most incredible, um, uh, misuse of power and miscarriage of justice that I have ever witnessed. It’s unbelievable that this thing, you know, things like this are happening in a democratic society. Basically, if you had been there, your jaw would have dropped. Anybody with half a brain, even coming off the street, would see that this was an absolute fiasco, that these… There’s one commissioner, I believe he is new, he was the one that voted against it. He’s the only one with any sense at all. Everybody else had their mind made up already.”
A big issue raised was whether or not Chael Sonnen (or then-manager Matt Lindland) contacted Nevada State Athletic Commission figurehead Keith Kizer about Testosterone Replacement Therapy. This issue has been covered extensively by writers like Josh Gross and the crew at Cageside Seats.
Marika Taylor yesterday accused Gross of stirring the pot and instigating what came next with Mr. Kizer.
“Well, actually, you know, have you read any of the transcripts from the hearing from December 2nd? On many occasions, he clarified his statements on so many occasions to the point where at the very end at the 2 1/2 hour mark, one of the commissioners asked him point blank, ‘Was it you or was it Matt Lindland who spoke to (Keith) Kizer at some point in 2008 regarding Testosterone Replacement Therapy?’ and Chael said it was Matt Lindland. OK? So that was totally clear, there was no issue. Unfortunately, a man by the name of Josh Gross who calls himself a journalist who, up until you know last September, I considered a friend, you know until I realized just how misplaced his uh… I don’t know how to describe it, but… getting back to that, basically what he did was halfway through, just like 30 minutes into the hearing, well before the end of the hearing, he texts the private cell phone of Kizer and asks him point blank, ‘Have you ever spoken to Chael Sonnen about or his management about Testosterone Replacement Therapy?’ of course he replied, ‘Uh, no.’ Well, okay…
“This is what happened on Wednesday. We had Kizer there who then, you know, under oath explained that, yes, indeed, Matt Lindland, he did have a conversation with Matt Lindland in 2008 regarding, you know, Testosterone Replacement Therapy and that’s it.”
- David Bixenspan (November 17, 2010): NSAC rebuts Sonnen’s expected claims of approved testosterone use
- David Bixenspan (December 2, 2010): Keith Kizer — Sonnen’s claims at CSAC hearing could cost him
- David Bixenspan (January 5, 2011): Chael Sonnen lied about Keith Kizer yet again
In regards to why she is speaking out on behalf of Chael Sonnen, the explanation was presented this way.
“You know what? At the very end, okay? Believe it or not, I had no idea in advance that this was going to happen, but at the very end one of the commissioners just went, ‘OK, now it’s time for the public, does the public have anything to say?’ and I just stood up and I said, ‘Where do I begin?’ and I just, you know, pointed out the true facts… I taped the entire thing included what I stated at this hearing. It’s much more involved that anybody really knows. Most people are just going on conjecture, hearsay, just ridiculous things. When you get down to the facts and they’re all written in plain English, they’ve all been documented, the facts are so incredibly clear.”
- Keith Harris (April 3, 2011): Will Keith Kizer let UFC’s Chael Sonnen coach the next season of TUF?
- Kaleb Kirchner (April 13, 2011): Chael Sonnen: “My focus is making things right with Director Kizer”
- David Bixenspan (May 11, 2011): UFC’s Chael Sonnen suspended in CA for perjury & money laundering
In essence, she is claiming that writers like Josh Gross and the crew at MMA Junkie aren’t telling the full story. As for why Ms. Taylor thinks the whole thing is a witch hunt, she states that Sonnen is being excessively punished by bureaucrats with big egos.
“Six weeks ago, six weeks ago I believe it was, whenever it was, he was done! I mean, he was, you know, in the last couple of weeks he was, you know, in negotiations to do The Ultimate Fighter with (Michael) Bisping, right, and to do a fight with them and then ultimately the winner of that would fight Anderson Silva. And all of a suddenly, out of the blue, arbitrarily with no inquiry, with nothing, just you know obviously he satisfied they needed from him back in December, you know? They originally gave him a one-year suspension, obviously when they looked at everything and they could not prove in any way that he had indeed taken anything illegal, right? The test results were completely inconclusive, so they were forced to because they had to, um, um, you know take back the year’s suspension. … So they’re going to keep it to six months, so that should have been the end of it. Well, Kizer makes one phone call to the California commission and because of him, all of a sudden, they not only just change their mind but just arbitrarily brand new decision decide with anyone inquiry, without anything at all whatsoever, they just decide that Chael is now indefinitely suspended.
“But I have to say, you know, thank God, thank God there were witnesses to what happened yesterday. Thank God it’s just blatantly ridiculous, illegal, unfair on every single level, You know, I would like people, if you want to follow what’s going on I’m going to spend the next days, weeks, and months getting to the bottom of this. I will be fully accessible to anybody that actually wants to know what’s going on, I’m going to do complete due diligence and make sure that I have transcripts from yesterday, from the Oregon, and from December 2nd to make sure that everybody gets their facts straight.”
Interestingly enough, Mauro Ranallo chimed in with support of what comments at the end of their interview.
“The big problem I have is the fact that, yes, (Sonnen has) already paid his debt to society regarding the real estate issues, the money laundering. What does that have to do with his career as a professional Mixed Martial Artist? And if they’ve already, like they’ve said, suspended him for the year , he paid the fine and now all of a sudden, because of what may have been said or not said to Keith Kizer, this meeting yesterday was held. It… it does speak to a greater issue…”
Marika Taylor issued more comments on her Twitter account regarding this week’s CSAC hearing.
“I went to Chael’s hearing today. It was extremely revealing. Four out of the 5 members of the Athletic Commission are insane. They grossly abused their power and must be held accountable. I have never seen such blatant disregard for human rights, the circus today was so spectacularly against the law. I will see to it that a formal inquiry is made and that these members are removed from their positions so help me God.
“I have kept silent these past several months, but now I have to do everything in my power to get to the bottom of this fiasco. I spoke at the hearing, I pointed out the evidence, I recorded everything. In the coming days, weeks and months. I will show just how dangerous and flawed the commission is and I will have it dismantled. This is a free country and I have to believe that justice will be served. Right now, I’m trying to wrap my head around the most appalling and blatant miscarriage of justice. Anyone with half a brain could see right thru these guys. They were a lynch mob the best way I can describe it. They are unqualified imbeciles that have no concept of impartiality, common sense, presumption of innocence, or due process.
“Today was worse than a joke. It was a scary display of what can happen when a system is place where people who are not judges or lawyers, people who as so blatantly unqualified to judge so much as a hot dog eating contest, let alone be given the absolute power to be judge, jury and executioner in an institution paid for by tax payers, who assume these people are upholding the law. These people are making up their own rules, have no concept of the law, basic human rights, common sense or fairness. They are not being supervised or overseen by any legal authority. Yet they are free to play God. They judge, and make rulings at whim.
“Since when can a commission arbitrarily suspend someone’s license unabashedly from contempt prior to investigation? Ever since we gave them that power and permission to use it. It’s so bizarre this kind of thing can happen in a democratic society. Thankfully we do have a system that can correct itself when power is abused and things go terribly wrong.”
****
She issued the following comment on Friday: “Josh and I spoke today and cleared the air. I respect him a lot and will call him directly if I ever feel he is being unfair.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The elephant in the room no one is addressing in regards to Chael Sonnen
By Zach Arnold | May 19, 2011
Without testosterone shots, will he physically be anywhere near the same fighter as he previously was in the UFC before he got suspended by the California State Athletic Commission?
That simple question is often overlooked in all of the melodrama surrounding the hearings Mr. Sonnen has had with the California State Athletic Commission. We know about the back-and-forth in regards to his claim that he needs TRT for ‘survival’. We know Keith Kizer disputes what Sonnen claims in regards to asking for TRT approval. In the grand scheme of things (as Josh Gross pointed out), the CSAC looks pretty bad for not doing their own investigative work as opposed to simply taking Chael Sonnen’s testimony at face value. Of course, we all know what happened once last December’s hearing took place. There was the mortgage fraud situation in Portland.
- Cageside Seats: Does Chael Sonnen deserve your sympathy?
Whether Chael’s license in California is revoked or not, in the bigger picture he can still fight down the road. All this talk about heading into retirement is that — talk. It certainly provides an interesting test case in regards to UFC. If the promotion wants to book him on foreign soil or book him in a state with a commission that isn’t so strict, it can be done. Keith Kizer, who I have long criticized as a do-nothing athletic commissioner, has had no problems watching what has taken place in California because someone else is making a decision for him. He just sits back, waits, and reacts to whatever the fallout is from another jurisdiction. In the past, I discussed the idea of Keith Kizer getting into a PR Battle with UFC and just how untenable of a situation that is given that Zuffa is the whole MMA business on a major-league scale at this point in time.
Many will argue on Twitter, on FB, on web sites that Mr. Sonnen has ‘paid his dues’ and should return to action shortly. OK, if you believe that, then you believe it. Ultimately, the call on what Chael Sonnen’s fate is happens to be in the hands of Zuffa management. Most people are now at the stage of debate as to whether or not Chael Sonnen can make Zuffa enough money to justify all of the hassles he has put the organization through. Well, we will find out shortly what Zuffa thinks. If they want to push the envelope and push the issue, they will book him. Simple as that. If they do, then it means they’ve made the calculation that he can generate good revenue for them.
- Sergio Hernandez: Justice is served, why Chael Sonnen’s suspension is a good thing
However, what if the company decides to wash their hands of him? Will it be in part because they don’t want to deal with the headache any more? Or will it be in part because they are afraid of what he will become as a fighter if he isn’t using testosterone? Without testosterone, would he still be a Middleweight? Would he balloon up in size or shrivel to a lighter weight class? What would his physical condition be as a fighter now that he’s on a short leash with major American athletic commissions?
- Todd Martin: Chael Sonnen’s fighting future in doubt
My mailbox and media accounts were flooded with very angry Chael Sonnen supporters who think that what has happened to him is a travesty and that it’s become a witch hunt. Even Michael Bisping thinks that is the case. Of course he would, given that he and Sonnen would have been paired against each other on The Ultimate Fighter. In the end, perhaps Mr. Bisping should take this as a blessing in disguise given how bad the show has become on a lot of levels.
I do think it is amazing how much martyrdom there seems to be in the eyes of many MMA fans when it comes to Chael Sonnen. He has been lionized to an amazing degree after his performance against Anderson Silva. It’s as if many have forgotten that he lost that fight. He gave Anderson everything he could, but he did lose that fight. One unique phenomenon about Chael that I’ve noticed is how dichotomous the rationale is amongst his most ardent supporters, a mixture of humanization and dehumanization. Humanization in that he claims he suffers from hypogonadism, has had personal problems in regards to mortgage fraud, and should be able to earn a living. Dehumanization in the sense that people should somehow not take what he has to say seriously because he’s an entertainer, MMA is as much show-business as it is a sport, a large amount of fighters are supposedly doping as well, so on and so forth.
You can have your own opinion on Chael Sonnen, love him or hate him. While everyone is caught up in the moment, the most important question to ask is whether or not the man will have a functioning career if he isn’t able to use testosterone like he previously was.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 38 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Obstacles facing MMA/UFC: CTE/concussions & legitimacy of sport
By Zach Arnold | May 18, 2011
A couple of items I wanted to bring up here and you can pick & choose what you would like to comment on.
First, a new article that I would recommend you read titled Sports Television Ratings See Huge Growth; UFC Left Out Of The Party. A lot of the points raised in the article are points that my old friend Zack Nelson mentioned a couple of years ago when he told me that MMA had jumped the shark and that things were only going to go downhill.
In essence, the article addresses whether or not Zuffa is experiencing a growth in ratings & legitimacy or if things are stuck in neutral.
Second, Eddie Goldman produced a new episode of his radio show talking about the issue of CTE, concussions, and combat sports. This is an important topic because what he brings up on the radio show (which I encourage you to listen to in full) is something that boxing & MMA will have to address in regards to head trauma. As more scientific research is done on the brains of deceased athletes, we are learning more and more about important issues that folks like Ivan Trembow & Dr. Margaret Goodman have addressed in the past. However, the media spotlight is growing on this matter because across sports like football & hockey, concussions are being scrutinized.
“The lessons of this really have to be considered by those in combat sports. Boxing isn’t going to consider anything, it’s a pretty amoral and corrupt culture and it’s willing to go to its death as a sport rather than change. I don’t see much of a different culture in MMA and since that’s been growing and more money has been coming into it, people haven’t been considering this. But wait until the effects of MMA, which has a more lot striking now than it used to, start to become public and wait until the issue of CTE and brain trauma starts to be considered by the Internet-savvy people around MMA. Hasn’t happened, yet, but I think it’s going to happen at some point in the near future.
“I think what’s likelier to happen rather than banning with these sports is that those that can change will try to change a little bit and they’ll lose viewership, they’ll lose sponsors, they’ll lose networks along the way and they’ll hope to hang on as smaller niche sports. We’ve seen a lot of sports decline: boxing, baseball, horse racing, and so forth. We’ve even seen the WWE decline to a certain extent where so many people have died in that, although the mainstream media refuses to honestly really look at how dangerous that type of acting really is.”
The truth is that most people who want to watch boxing & MMA currently are not clamoring about the issue of concussions in combat sports. Drug usage is also not considered an important topic because many fans assume that fighters, like football players, are going to use whatever they have to in order to deliver superhuman-type performances for fans paying their salary. I wish fans did care more about CTE, concussions, and drug usage (steroids, HGH, EPO, etc.) but I cannot turn a blind eye to the current fan atmosphere in combat sports.
Eddie argues that if promoters and power players in the respective combat sports don’t address the CTE issue soon, there may be significant damage to financial bottom lines & scope of their respective sports.
“What this could mean for MMA is that it’s elevator ride to the top may stop, may get stuck somewhere midway. Because the mainstream media gives MMA a pass to a certain degree but not when prominent people start turning out to be vegetables, when top athletes start showing the signs of CTE, of the dementia pugilistica that we see in boxing, and if and when and I think a lot of people believe it’s more of a when than an if, some prominent fighter dies live in a nationally or internationally televised Mixed Martial Arts card. Remember, it’s only a short period of time that MMA has gotten any legitimacy and that legitimacy is only in most of North America. It’s still illegal in New York, it’s still illegal in France, it’s not accepted in Germany, in Japan it’s been tainted of course by the yakuza scandals, and it is growing in many, many different countries but it’s far from being a part of the culture, it’s far from being entrenched in the economic and political institutions, it’s still has a rather tenuous existence including on television in the United States where major networks do not want to show Mixed Martial Arts events.
“So, what is this going to mean for the combat sports? Because people in the combat sports see the need to promote this warrior culture, promote these kind of macho events. There’s certainly a large fan base for it and if MMA’s growth starts to become stunted to one degree or another, where are people going to go? What’s going to potentially take its place? Now, there are a lot of different scenarios that you could come up with but one of those scenarios involves getting legitimacy from the Olympic games and also particularly in the MMA world, which again doesn’t seem to understand how things go on in the world in general particularly in the so-called MMA media, there’s not much understanding of how you would get MMA or some limited form of it because you’re not going to have full MMA in the Olympic games or grappling in the Olympics. And I think it’s important to look at the process of how sports get into the Olympics because there’s talk, well, you’re going to have the 2016 Olympics in Rio so let’s get Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in there and all this, there’s a lot of naiveté about how this goes on, about how this process works.”
Eddie went on to discussion how FILA is working on pushing for Pankration in the Olympics and what it will take for MMA & BJJ & other forms of grappling currently not in the Olympic games to break in politically with the IOC. The idea is that having a sport associated with the Olympics will bring enough legitimacy to establish a line of equity of credibility.
Will CTE & concussions become major health & business issues for Mixed Martial Arts in the future and, if so, how much damage will the sport take in the eyes of the public?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
With no new UFC live events in the UK, BAMMA steps up: BAMMA 6 5/21 London card (Wembley Arena)
By Zach Arnold | May 16, 2011
British Association of Mixed Martial Arts.
Fights for BAMMA.tv site
- Light Heavyweights: Ryan White vs. Fraser Opie
- Welterweights: Jeremy Bailey vs. Laurens-Jan Thijssen
- Welterweights: Lee Taylor vs. Kenny Moyston
- Lightweights: Costas Doru vs. Jeremy Petley
- Welterweights: Sam Watling vs. Leigh Cohoon
- Lightweights: Shane Omer vs. Aaron Wilkinson
- Heavyweights: Catalin Zmarandescu vs. Sharif Mohammed Ali
Facebook (facebook.com/bammauk)
- Lightweights: Scott Jansen vs. Craig Chesters
BAMMA.tv stream (2 PM EST/11 AM PST)
- Heavyweights: Neil Wain vs. Marcin Barkiewicz
- Welterweights: Che Mills vs. Marcio Cesar
- Lightweight eliminator: Jason Ball vs. Leonardo Santos
- Middleweights: Valentino Petrescu vs. Joao Paulo De Souza
SyFy UK main card (4 PM EST/1 PM PST), also on The Fight Network & BAMMA.tv
- Middleweights: Ivan Salaverry vs. Matt Ewin
- Middleweights: Frank Trigg vs. John Phillips
- BAMMA Middleweight title match: Tom “Kong” Watson vs. Murilo Ninja Rua
Topics: Media, MMA, UK, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
RSS lists for video, audio, and MMA news sites needed
By Zach Arnold | May 15, 2011
We’re doing some Spring cleaning around here. We need to get rid of older feeds on the site and replace them with new sites that produce content you want to see headlines of generated on this page.
So, if you don’t mind, I’d greatly appreciate some RSS feed lists for the three categories I listed in the title of this post. Help me to help you out and I will gladly make the appropriate changes. Thanks.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
DREAM 5/29 Saitama Super Arena (2011 Bantamweight Japan GP series)
By Zach Arnold | May 15, 2011
- Bantamweight tournament: Darren Uyenoyama vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
- Bantamweight tournament: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hideo Tokoro
- Bantamweight tournament: Masakazu Imanari vs. Keisuke Fujiwara
- Bantamweight tournament: Kenji Osawa vs. Takafumi Otsuka
- Featherweights: Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Joachim Hansen
- Featherweights: Lion Takeshi vs. Koichiro Matsumoto
- Featherweights: Kaoru Uno vs. Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura
- Lightweights: Katsunori Kikuno vs. Daisuke Nakamura
- Lightweights: Shinya Aoki vs. Antonio McKee
- Bantamweight tournament semi-final #1 (winner of fight #1 vs. fight #2)
- Bantamweight tournament semi-final #2 (winner of fight #3 vs. fight #4)
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Another dose of reality for The Ultimate Fighter; dos Santos a 70% favorite over Carwin in Vegas
By Zach Arnold | May 13, 2011
So, yesterday an alert was sent out to various members of the MMA media that the UFC deems fit to be kept in the loop on conference call notices. (And here I thought I would be on their list since I’ve been on their payroll all these years.) Nevertheless, an emergency conference call was issued by Zuffa and the call started out like this from Dana White.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a good call. It’s a bad call. Former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has diverticulitis again. He spent all day yesterday over at The Mayo Clinic, has gone through a bumper-to-bumper I guess we’ll call it of tests and, uh, you know, this thing acted up on him again. He’s got some serious, uh… choices to make in the next couple of weeks whether to fight this thing or to take, uh, the surgery.”
At that point, you had to be thinking a million different things. Is Brock’s illness career-threatening? Is he backing out because ratings have tanked so far for this season of The Ultimate Fighter?
You should have been on Twitter & Facebook yesterday. The venom spewed towards Brock Lesnar once this news broke was unreal. You can never mix up an online reaction with the reaction of mainstream fans, but the online reaction was so anti-Lesnar that one could have mistaken him for being some sort of terrorist. Tons of cracks about diarrhea, steroids, cowardice, and ‘he’s taking his ball and going back to pro-wrestling’ were flying by the second. There were definitely some fans who showed support for Brock in terms of wanting to see him recover and get back into good health, but the majority of the online response was really harsh.
On the Thursday conference call, Brock answered all questions thrown at him and went out of his way to be open about the situation.
“I’ve been dealing with some symptoms for the last, I would say, three months. I felt a little bit while I was filming The Ultimate Fighter and the only way to treat the symptoms is by getting on antibiotics and allowing the antibiotics to take its course and to fight the infection and during the course of this training camp, I felt another infection, got another CT scan done on my stomach where there was visible inflammation.
“What it does to you, it didn’t allow me to train to my full capabilities and I was forced to make a decsion to go back down to the doctor this week to figure out how far this thing’s along and what it does is it drains my entire body down. Basically you’ve got an infection in your stomach and all my resources went to fight this problem instead of rebuilding what I tore down in the gym so it’s not as serious as last time. It just didn’t allow me to train the way I needed to train for a #1 contender’s bout. I am forced with the decision to either have surgery or do deal with this for the rest of my life, so obviously I’m fighting a different fight here, you know, than having to give up the fight on June 11th so a lot of things go through your mind as an athlete, especially myself, you know. This is something that has been wearing on me for about a month now and different thoughts come to your mind.”
He proceeded to say it wouldn’t be fair to himself, Junior, or Spike TV to keep going with the scheduled June 11th bout in Vancouver if he was sick. For fans of The Ultimate Fighter, it was the third ‘blown payoff’ that the show has recently produced. Facing a dwindling audience base for the television program, UFC has every right to be concerned.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Zuffa’s Twitter policy is a matter of playing with fire
By Zach Arnold | May 12, 2011
When the news broke yesterday that Zuffa (UFC/Strikeforce) would start giving out bonuses to fighters if they increase their social media footprint, my initial reaction was a mixed one. Then I thought about ESPN’s infamous Twitter policy and how derided it was by various sports writers/bloggers.
After further review, I think Zuffa’s encouragement of fighters increasing their social media footprint has more negatives than positives.
I realize what the realpolitik is as far as Zuffa’s business calculation goes. Have a bunch of fighters go from being nobodies to somebodies and from somebodies to stars by using the tools at their disposal. And, should a fighter pull a Rashad Mendenhall or a Reggie Bush and say something stupid, you can cut them.
However, in order for that justification to work, you have to rely on the following. You have to admit to yourself that fighters, in a business full of testosterone, are willing & able to filter themselves before pushing the ‘send’ button on a Tweet. You are relying on fighters to use their best judgment. In a business full of horrific examples of really bad judgment, that is a gamble. Second, let’s say a fighter says something really stupid and reprehensible. What if it costs UFC a sponsor or some sort of business deal? UFC can’t turn around and cut a guy while saying they have no responsibility in the matter because the fighter isn’t an employee. Well, by implementing this new social media policy, Zuffa is encouraging their fighters to use the power of the UFC/Strikeforce brands to build an online footprint. Lorenzo Fertitta always talks about how it’s most important to focus on brand-building as opposed to building certain individuals because fighters come and go quickly.
In order for Zuffa’s social media policy not to back fire, they have to hope that the status quo remains. That MMA remains a niche sport that’s popular but well enough below the mainstream media’s radar that, should a fighter say something that’s a slur or worse, anything negative flies under the radar. Remember what Marcus Davis said about Dan Hardy and HIV/AIDS? Fighters have a proclivity of saying really dumb things at times.
Predictions: A lot more fighters are going to say dumb things on Twitter that will cost them money as opposed to saying things that will make them money. (In other words, I expect more fighters to get cut because of the dumb remarks they say than those who get bonuses for increasing the amount of followers they have.)
Do I think Zuffa is dumb in the calculation they’ve made here? No, but it is a risk and you cannot deny it. I understand that Dana White says outrageous things all the time online and gets away with it. Furthermore, because he says the things he says, it’s almost as if people just get so immune to it that they tune it out as white noise whereas if another major sports figure had said the same remarks that he has in the past, they’d be in hot water. If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t bet on the ‘immunization logic’ as sound logic for the long haul.
People want MMA to get mainstream media coverage. There are others who love to get mainstream-level type of coverage without having to endure any sort of scrutiny. You have to be careful what you wish for. Look at some of the headlines lately being generated: UFC’s Chael Sonnen suspended in CA for perjury & money laundering , Matt Lindland getting sued over marijuana claims and now another lawsuit involving a fight over the Team Quest name with Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes allegedly getting into an altercation at a bar, and TMZ running with the headline of “you JACKED my brother’s remains!’
Don’t get me wrong — I think Zuffa’s intentions with this new social media policy are well-meaning. However, history and human nature in this industry suggest that the company is asking for trouble here.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 44 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
(Updated) The current zeitgeist regarding New York MMA legislation
By Zach Arnold | May 11, 2011
(Update at bottom of post)
From Eddie Goldman’s Sunday night radio show.
“Here in New York, where I’m located, the image of Mixed Martial Arts is still so bad and so terrible that even though Zuffa has thrown thousands and thousands of dollars into the coffers of these politicians that we have here, who of course are always up for sale, they still cannot get Mixed Martial Arts legalized in the state of New York. And this is a growing topic of debate and in a recent news conference (and this was put on Youtube) and unfortunately included in an otherwise very good film which was the film about The Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York which Kahleem Poole did which will be premiering for the public at The Bronx Week Film Festival starting on Monday, May 16. Good film, check it out…
“But, one bad part of that film is they decided to include a quote by Dana White, thinking, ‘well, a lot of people know him and that’s going to help the cause.’ If anything, it complicates the cause because the quote that they put in there is of White saying, “Well, this is much bigger. MMA is not legalized in New York, there’s something bigger going on.’ And in the Youtube video, he talks specifically where he attacks unions and he said that it’s because of unions that MMA is not in New York. And he points out how the Fertittas, of course they the principal owners of Zuffa, that their Station Casinos are the largest non-union gaming operation in Las Vegas. What he doesn’t talk about, of course, is the huge battle that the workers have been having against Station Casinos and in some ways the fact that White raised this … helps the worker’s struggle because, now, more people want to know, ‘what’s really going on?’ New York is a big union, what’s really happening with the unions?”
“(In) 2008, The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, part of the umbrella organization, the umbrella union Unite Here, did start a corporate campaign against MMA in New York which was ill-advised and I’ve said so publicly and privately many, many times because whatever Station Casinos does and whatever the Fertittas do, really the sport of MMA is a legitimate sport (and) stands on its own merit. And MMA in New York would not only be UFC, would not only be the Zuffa organizations, but you would see a tremendous growth, a tremendous springing up of new organizations all over the state from local, indigenous New Yorkers. So, it’s not just a question of bringing in this Nevada gaming organization that’s on trial at the NLRB. It was very ill-advised and they stopped it. They really haven’t done anything in a few years on this issue. But people like Bob Reilly and the people in the New York state legislature that are opposed to MMA are not doing so because they got some union contributions. They’ve gotten union contributions all along, for decades. The trade union bureaucracies and the Democratic Party have been tight-in-bed for decades, this is absolutely nothing new. But, these people like Reilly are against fighting sports, they’re against combat sports and there are a number of other ones, primarily liberal Democrats and primarily from New York City and downstate, although Reilly is from upstate New York, who do not want people to have that warrior culture, do not want people to compete in pretty much any sport & particularly in combat sports. That’s what has to be battled and the image that’s being put out by most of the MMA organizations today does not really help at all in that battle because it’s not positioning itself as a sport. It’s being positioned as ‘I want to mess you up,’ with the cursing, with the skull t-shirts, all the racist & homophobic rhetoric that’s throwing around all the time. And, of course, boxing is not exempt from this at all — boxing is almost as guilty, but MMA is guiltier on all these fronts. These are the kind of issues that have to be addressed in the grass roots struggle that we do have in New York, such as in The Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York. And this cause is not going to be helped by associating ourselves with Zuffa, with the Fertittas, with Dana White, with Station Casinos, and with everything that they do.
“So, there’s a lot of education, there are a lot of battles that go on and what we’re hearing this year is so far not very good for MMA. Some people think it might be brought up in the next few months while the budget has been finalized but we don’t see a lot of movement on the bill to legalize MMA. We hope that there will be. By the way, on the issue of unions, Keith Wright who is the head of the Assembly Labor Committee, is one of the big supporters of the bill to legalize MMA. He’s publicly spoken out on this issue and he’s a guy very much tied into the unions. So, if the unions are the problem, why is Keith Wright actively supporting this? It’s more nonsense put out by Dana White…”
(Update 5/11): Ariel Helwani has a new article titled Union memo reveals its arguments against MMA in New York. Read it and respond here.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The obligatory ‘Skip Bayless goes Skip Bayless on ESPN’ about Pacquiao & Mayweather
By Zach Arnold | May 10, 2011
You want mainstream media coverage of your favorite fighting sport? Here’s a taste of it. I actually pulled out the best discussion (from Monday on ESPN) of last Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao/Shane Mosley fight. The discussion participants are Skip Bayless (a man who has 162,000 more followers than me — let’s change this) & NBA writer Chris Broussard.
Here’s the audio of Monday’s discussion. The question: “Do you feel any better or worse about Mayweather’s chances if he were actually to agree to fight Pacquiao, which is the fight that everybody’s been dying for, for what, like two years?”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Now I feel much worse than Floyd should feel, much, much worse. Now, you saw that he Tweeted just before the fight that everybody should watch his network, HBO, featuring Lady Gaga. But I will bet you a dinner that Floyd closely, closely watched this fight, hoping against hope that he would see an aging Pacquiao who’s now more interested in being a Congressman in his home country. That is not what we saw because what I saw at the end of the fight was Mosley’s red, swollen face that looked a heck of a lot worse than what Floyd did to him when they fought. … So, the point is that Mosley was the one who volunteered that he has never felt that much power from an opponent and volunteered that he has never fought a faster fighter than Pacquiao, which should not be music to the ears of one Floyd Mayweather. Who, I remind you, he remains two older than Pacquiao and he hasn’t fought in the longest time and he’s got legal issues and I just thin he’s sitting back saying, I’m still in trouble.”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “I didn’t think Pacquiao was that impressive ,though. I mean, you had a 39-year old guy in front of you and I’m not saying Pacquiao’s not faster than Floyd, I’m not sure, I thought for a while he may be, but at 39 you’re not as fast and so it may feel like you think this guy’s a lot faster than he is. When he fought Floyd, he was in better condition. And you got a 39-year old guy who’s afraid of you, right? After he got knocked down in the third round, he said he didn’t really want any. This guy… Shane threw, what, six, seven combinations the whole fight? He wasn’t throwing the right hook to the head, threw it a couple of times to the body, and you still couldn’t take him out? And I know Shane has never been knocked out, but he didn’t do that much damage to Shane.”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Oh, C’MON! His face looked like raw hamburger meat!”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “Did he punish Shane?”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Oh, yes he did!”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “He did not punish him.”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Did you see his face?! It was pathetic for a guy who was trying to protect himself.”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “He could not solve Shane Mosley, so how in the world is he going to solve Mayweather?”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Wait a second…”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “Pacquiao has beat on older guys, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, or guys that come right up in his face and want to fight. Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton. Floyd is going to be deceptive, he’s going to be moving, he’s going to be picking him apart…”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Oh c’mon, he’s not fast enough!”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “If he couldn’t get into Shane Mosley, how’s he going to hit (Floyd)? Now, Floyd can’t knock him out…”
SKIP BAYLESS: “Timeout! Shane Mosley is much bigger and stronger than Pacquiao. That’s why he was covering up and he was still getting punished!”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “He wasn’t getting punished. He really didn’t hit him that much! He didn’t hit Shane as much as he should have. 39 years old, in your face…”
SKIP BAYLESS: “And then, Pacquiao did say he had some leg issue, I had no idea what is was but he said and his corner said…”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “Well, everybody’s got (issues). I mean, Floyd, how many fights has he had hand issues? Everybody’s got an ailment.”
SKIP BAYLESS: “I’m going to say it again. Floyd would get hit for the first time in his career and he would get cut for the first time in his career.”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “I think Pacquiao would have trouble catching Floyd. Now, I don’t doubt that he’s more powerful, Floyd’s not a knockout puncher at this weight, he couldn’t knock him out. I think he would win by decision.”
SKIP BAYLESS: “He’s afraid. Floyd is afraid.”
CHRIS BROUSSARD: “You shouldn’t be, Floyd, get out there and fight!”
For a more in-depth, detailed discussion about this past weekend and where things are heading, I would highly recommend you check out Josh Gross’ 75-minute radio show this week with Kieran Mulvaney. Excellent!
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 36 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |