What impact will the UFC-WEC merger have on creating a Flyweight division?
By Zach Arnold | November 1, 2010
From Jordan Breen’s radio show last Thursday, first a passage about the impact of the UFC-WEC merger on the proposed 125-pound Flyweight division:
“Well, obviously, I think you’re still probably looking, you know, a year away or something like that. Before you add another division, because let’s say, OK, how many events has Zuffa had this year? OK, let’s say, OK, let’s say hypothetically next year Zuffa’s going to run 35 events. That seems too ambitious. Let’s just say 30. 30’s really round, I can do math with that better. Let’s say that they’re going to do 30 events and all of them are going to have 12 fights. So, that’s what, 360 fights? 360 fights, yeah, so 360 fights divided over, you know, the 7 weight classes, that’s about 50, 52 things per fight and then you add in another weight class entirely and you divide it by 8 instead and you’re dealing with, you know, you’re basically dropping 7-8 fights per weight class per year and that’s not too, too great.
So, um… I think it’ll be a little while longer and really it can be because the really smart thing that I think happened for 125 is Zuffa gets to kind of make everyone else do their bidding because simply by announcing, hey, at some point in the future we’re going to have a 125-pound division, now people care about 125. You see it all the time. I see people look at events and go, ‘hey like these guys are fighting at 125, could these guys fight in WEC or UFC?’ And I go, yeah, and they go, ‘well, I’m going to watch!” knowing that these are the kind of guys that you’re going to see in the near future. So, they have much more robust opportunity to allow regional promoters to do their work and, you know, put the elbow grease in there while basically they kind of promote the division by going, hey, eventually we’ll have these guys so, in the mean time, go watch them in other promotions. So, that kind of helps and we get to now see the cream start to the rise to the top. We haven’t had a whole lot of international crossover at 125, we’re starting to get a little bit of it, so I think it’ll be a while yet especially with this [moment] not necessarily having another platform to accommodate the amount of fights that they will now be putting on, so I think it’ll delay it a bit more but, um… I don’t necessarily think that it’s a bad thing.
I know people want 125’ers RIGHT THIS SECOND and want them all to be able to make great money, and I would too, but I think at this point in time it makes a bit more sense for Zuffa to stand away, let these regional promoters do their thing, put together match-ups, and get a sense of who the better guys are. Of course it’s difficult, too, because we know there are guys already in WEC who could be more competitive at 125 than 135. Joseph Benavidez, Charlie Valencia, Demetrius Johnson… but they will get their moment in the sun as well.”
Next, a passage about what the merger means for more fights being shifted towards pay television:
“Not all is rosy. Brent from Rhode Island writes in: ‘Now the 125 pound division will be delayed even further. Also, the chances of seeing fighters like Jose Aldo on free cards, NO CHANCE, piracy aside.’
And, yeah, that’s sad. But then again, that’s the point. That’s part of why it was done. They know that if the casual public gets to see a guy like Jose Aldo go all the time and turn in the kind of performances he did against Cub Swanson, against Urijah Faber, against Manny Gamburyan, people are going to pay to see it. No question about that. People crave that level of excitement that 135 pounders and 145 pounders routinely turn in. Why would they ever not want that on PPV? So, yeah. It does kind of stink that, you know, if you’re someone who is on a bit of a budget, maybe you’re not going to be able to see absolutely every single card that you would have seen from WEC, but again, that’s kind of the point.
They want to turn guys like Aldo into moneymaking commodities, which they aren’t now. Jose Aldo, if he puts together a strong of really great title defenses, with the UFC machine working, the UFC tag, getting UFC-level media to come and cover him, who knows how big of a star he becomes? Is he ever going to be Brock Lesnar? No. But what’s to say he can’t be a guy who draws 500,000 PPV buys rock-solid every three or four months?”
Here’s a video of Urijah Faber on CSN Bay Area last Friday talking about his upcoming fight with Takeya Mizugaki and the UFC-WEC merger.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dave Meltzer: People who want Strikeforce to work with Bellator are naive about the business
By Zach Arnold | November 1, 2010
From the Observer radio show late last night:
“Bjorn Rebney’s idea is to put together a card where you have champions vs. champions, the Bellator champions against the Strikeforce champions in all the weight classes and so he has, um… he said he’s been texting Scott Coker and Scott Coker has not gotten back to him and then Scott Coker was on Sherdog radio saying he never got any of these texts and then [Bellator’s] PR department actually showed that, in fact, that he had sent the texts. I don’t know if Scott Coker got ’em or not but I know Scott Coker, as of today, said that it’s absolutely not viable [to make] these matches and from his standpoint, you know, it would be stupid to do them, you know…
Champion vs. Champion, what if your guys lose? You’re the stronger promotion, what’s the upside to that? I mean, granted, you know, like I say Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez could be a fantastic fight but it’s not, you know… There’s just no upside for Strikeforce for that fight, so that’s kind of where that stands right now and, you know, it puts, you know it’s kind of like the deal where people were clamoring for Dana White to co-promote and bring Fedor into UFC and, you know, you and I were both like, this is ridiculous, but people are very naive about the business of this business and this is the same thing. It’s like, you know, Coker’s looking bad to some people because they’re naive about the business of the business, ‘like we could see these great fights!’ that quite frankly, you know, it’s not like anyone’s clamoring for these fights in the real world. Not that anyone’s clamoring for any fights from Strikeforce in the real world but the point is that, you know, what if the Bellator guys win? Then you’ve got paper champions in Strikeforce, you know, you have your guys lose on your own, it’s absolutely ridiculous business-wise to do this.
But, you know, again, people really don’t understand that aspect of business and, you know, they’re going, ‘Oh, he’s a pussy, he won’t let his guys fight,’ so that’s kind of like where that’s at right now.”
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 50 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bjorn Rebney wants Bellator vs. Strikeforce 3-on-3 series on PPV
By Zach Arnold | October 29, 2010
From our friends at The Fight Nerd web site starting around the 5 minute time mark, notes about what Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney would like to do for an interpromotional feud with Strikeforce and being on PPV.
INTERVIEWER: “I’m not even going to say a question here, I’m just going to say a phrase. You can respond… Bellator vs. Strikeforce.”
BJORN REBNEY: “I love it. I keep talking about it. I’m hopeful that it could occur. I’m hopeful that it could occur beyond just Eddie Alvarez vs. Gilbert (Melendez). I would love to set up a Welterweight fight, a big super fight at Welterweight. I would, you know, I would do anything to set up a Middleweight fight. I can only imagine that if there’s hesitancy on their part in terms of taking a Lightweight fight that they’re probably going to be very, very hesitant to take on a Middleweight fight as well. We would do it. We would do it without problem.”
INTERVIEWER: “Co-promoting is not a problem?”
BJORN REBNEY: “No! Not only is it not a problem, but we wouldn’t even have to do a typical orchestration of a co-promotional event where everybody argues and fights and scratches and claws. We would go to San Jose, I know some… I married a woman in my first marriage from San Jose, there’s some spectacular restaurants and great hotels, we would make ourselves at home, we would come in and we would take three fights. It would be great. From a fan perspective, with the CEO hat off, I mean can you see Ben Askren fighting Nick Diaz? Can you see Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez? Jacare versus Hector Lombard?”
INTERVIEWER: “Bjorn Rebney vs. Scott Coker could happen.”
BJORN REBNEY: “Scott’s great. I love talking to Scott. He’s a good dude. I can understand his hesitancy, but I like him a lot. I’d love to do that. Would love to do that.”
(clipped — moving to questions about original TV deal and the current deal.)
INTERVIEWER: “Back then, you guys were talking more of the Latino audience. Now it seems like you moved away from that, kind of evolved in your formatting on how you put a show on TV, your target audiences. What’s going to be the next step in the evolution of Bellator?”
BJORN REBNEY: “Well, I mean, the evolution over to the general market audience is based on Fox Sports Net coupled with NBC. between the two of them you’re talking about 200 million homes. So, the show went from being an ESPN Deportes to being a Fox Sports Network/NBC show, everything turning, our signage, all the bumps, all the teases, all the interplay of the announcer play, it turned into that show which is great because that’s where you got to be from a crossover perspective in MMA so, um, you know, the next step in the evolution will be to do away with some of the issues and problems we faced on the delay basis with FSN and that will be the next stage in the evolution. The production will keep getting better, we’ll keep recruiting world-class fighters, we’ll keep bringing in the next Ben Askren, the next Joe Warren, the next Dan Hornbuckle, the next Hector Lombard, the next Eddie Alvarez, on and on and on. .. We’re just going to keep recruiting and creating through our television vehicle and through the frequency of our events new stars that are underneath the Bellator banner. The evolution of a brand like ours is about consistently taking steps forward and we’re going to be in position to take another pretty good step forward in the very near future and I think that step forward will eliminate some of the last remaining issues with our distribution platforms, so, um, you know we’re going to keep moving forward but can’t announce it right here.”
INTERVIEWER: “What are your thoughts about a Bellator PPV?”
BJORN REBNEY: “I mean, I don’t mean to keep going back to it, but you know, in and around New Year’s and the kind of fights we’re talking about in terms of the potential for co-promotion with Strikeforce, I think that would make for a spectacular PPV. I always look at stuff, I separate myself and I say, would I buy that? Would I pay for that? And there are some shows that I look at and go, ‘ehhhhh, probably not. And then are some shows that I look at and go, whoa, I would stay at home for that, you know, and I would irritate the kids, etc. and I would buy it and I would watch every piece of it. That’s the kind of show that I would buy. So, that might have the makings of a PPV but it’s going to take, it’s just like a marriage, you know, you can’t get into without the acquiescence of both parties so they need to say yes.”
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 37 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Are there any negatives to the WEC-UFC merger?
By Zach Arnold | October 29, 2010
From the crew at Cagewriter/Yahoo Sports, a discussion about some of the potential drawbacks to this merger taking place.
STEVE COFIELD: “It was not the network TV deal that was… I think speculated on more than fact-checked. It was a merge between the WEC and the UFC and it looks like a huge positive. You’ve now got a chance to get all these WEC stars who I think have been a little under-covered now get the full attention from the casual MMA fan.”
KEVIN IOLE: “Steve, I think overall very good news for the industry, for the fighters, for fans. I think overall good news. You know, there are some negatives to it. I mean, the good thing is now you’re going to take these top WEC fighters and put ’em on UFC PPV cards and they’re going to make those cards that much stronger. You think back to say, UFC 119, where a lot of fans were complaining about, you know, there wasn’t much there beyond the main event of Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop. You know, if you could have put, you know, a Jose Aldo or a Urijah Faber in a good fight on that undercard, you know people have less to complain. I think that’s going to, you know, be fixed. The fact that there are going to be more title fights, on the conference call one of the reporters said, well, yeah, there’s going to be a title fight on every card now. I mean, that’s ridiculous, that’s not going to happen. But there are going to be, you know, there’s two more championships now. There are going to be more championship fights, so I think that we’ll see more championship fights on the PPV cards. People seem to like that. And guys are going to be fighting for their jobs, especially in the Lightweight division. You know you’re going to merge the WEC Lightweights who weren’t as good overall top-to-bottom as the UFC and those guys now as they come into the UFC, they know they can’t afford a slip so they’re really going to fight. So I think, you know, that’s going to create a positive. The negative, of course, is you know we’re going to have people losing their jobs. Some of these fighters are just not going to be in the UFC or WEC any more. There’s not as big of a margin.
“The other thing I don’t think maybe a lot of people are thinking of that could end up being a problem is developing young talent because if we have so many fight cards and only so many spots to put these fighters, then I think it’s going to be incumbent upon the matchmakers, you know, to get rid of guys if they lose a fight whereas, you know, in the past, you know, both Sean Shelby with the WEC and Joe Silva with the UFC, they had a little bit of flexibility. If somebody lost that they liked and they thought, you know, had potential and could give them a second or a third fight, doesn’t happen too often but, you know, they did have that flexibility with people they like but, you know, they’re going to lose that to a certain degree now. You know if you’re a young fighter, you know, the UFC is going to be a pretty harsh place to be and, you know, it’s going to be tough on the matchmakers to develop fighters. That may be one of the down sides.”
STEVE COFIELD: “You know, I think what looks like a net loss now in terms of, you know, free fights and areas to develop guys in Zuffa eventually 6 or 8 months from now could turn back into a gain because I still feel like with the Spike deal up and the aggressive nature they’re approaching of the worldwide scene that I think by the second half of 2011 they’re going to wind up having more shows and you’re going to have more opportunities out there but, you’re right, for the next 6-to-8 months it is going to be an uncertain time especially on these upcoming WEC cards, I’ll tell ya what — next two cards you are fighting for your life to get in because if you don’t win and you’re not on the televised portion, there’s a good chance you ain’t coming over.”
KEVIN IOLE: “Probably won’t be a UFC fighter, yeah, no doubt. You know if they have a net loss of 5, you know, maybe 6 if you want to look at it that way, Steve, because there were 7 WEC fights on Versus this year and 2 UFC fights and when I say 7 that’s counting November and December coming up, so that would make 9 fights and then, of course, WEC 48 was a PPV and that was their first PPV, historically that had been a WEC fight on Versus. So depending on how you want to look at it, annually there were 8 or 9 shows that we’re looking at. You know, now you’re talking going back to 4 with the UFC shows on Versus so that’s a net loss of five or six, you know that’s going to be tough, you know, and it’s going to hurt the fans, it’s going to hurt some of these fighters. But I agree with you, I think at some point the UFC will come up with another deal and another vehicle to get some of these fights on TV. You know, Dana’s always working the angles and he’s been out looking and beating the streets, you know, for some other deals. The Spike deal being up, I mean I think you could see something come about where, you know, maybe they end up on NBC, maybe they end up on Fox, you know, maybe even on some kind of Disney combination.”
STEVE COFIELD: “I think The Ultimate Fighter angle is kind of interesting now. They’re going to hold tryouts within the next couple of weeks for the next season. I would love them to change their mind a little bit, bump up what they’re going to do. I think that the natural match for the first thing you come out with is a Miguel Torres-Urijah Faber season.”
KEVIN IOLE: “I mean that would certainly be really good and both of them have great personalities, so they would be tremendous coaches on the show. I think that would really, really be good. And, you know, one of the problems, you know, that they would have with that is that the coaches themselves maybe aren’t as well-known to the massive audience that, you know, the UFC fighters are, you know, so maybe they do that with the second one but I agree with you, I mean I think that, you know, it would be very good television because Urijah and Miguel both have good personalities, you know they’re both really talented guys with something to prove. You know they both were champions, lost their belts, you know, kind of on the comeback trail right now. They happen both to be fighting at 135. I think that would be a terrific way to go. I also think, you know, maybe now with these extra fighters that they may come up with some other, you know, in addition to just The Ultimate Fighter everybody wants to say, well The Ultimate Fighter Canada, the Ultimate Fighter Mexico, maybe they’ll come up with a different concept that they can do but still incorporate fights onto another, you know, TV organization so, you know, I think this [is worth] watching.”
STEVE COFIELD: “And the reason I mention those two guys, I think that division is the biggest winner out of all of them. I think it’s a great division, 135 pound division. They automatically as they move over to UFC have five guys basically that are all in the same area who I think are just going to kind of round-robin against each other unless they get locked up in a reality show but between the champ (Dominick) Cruz, (Joseph) Benavidez, Torres, Faber, and don’t forget about Brian Bowles, too.”
KEVIN IOLE: “Yeah, no, I mean Brian Bowles has been injured but when he comes back I certainly think, you know, he’s a legitimate guy in there. He knocked out Miguel Torres, so, you know, you knock Miguel Torres and you’re telling me that you’re a good fighter, I agree with you. I think there’s a lot of good fights to be made, you know, in that weight class. You know, I think as they introduce these guys, you know, I think you’re going to see Faber and Torres be, you know, kind of at the head of the pack just because they are among the most well-known but they’re going to bring the other fighters with them.”
STEVE COFIELD: “And most important point we have to address, since the press conference we did get confirmation that the key person in this whole deal who will be retained is, she’s not an Octagon girl, I guess she’s a cage girl, Brittney Palmer will be coming over.”
KEVIN IOLE: “Yeah, Brittney Palmer! I couldn’t believe it on Twitter I’m getting more questions about ‘is Brittney Palmer going to go over to the UFC?’ than I am about the implications of the fights but we have confirmed for anybody who was worried, Brittney will be with the UFC so she’s going to be an Octagon girl, I’m assuming at UFC 122. Haven’t confirmed that but look for her pretty soon.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC President Dana White says the WEC/UFC merger is effective ‘immediately’
By Zach Arnold | October 28, 2010
From MMAFighting.com. Transcript available in full-page mode.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Zoila Frausto ends the 22-fight winning streak of Megumi Fujii
By Zach Arnold | October 28, 2010
Call me stunned, but actually I’m not. Going into the fight, Frausto was by far the better striker and she had a huge size advantage. The question was whether or not Fujii would be able to get her on the ground and submit her. Against Lisa Ward that was possible. Against Zoila Frausto, who is almost 30 pounds heavier and taller, that was a tall order to ask for.
Here’s how the Florida judges scored the fight:
Hector Gomez – 48-47 for Frausto
John Rupert – 48-47 for Fujii
Rich Green – 49-46 for Frausto
Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith scored it 49-46 for Fujii. I scored it 48-47 in favor of Frausto. The big attribute, if you want to call it that, for Fujii in the stand-up war was ‘cage control.’ However, it was very clear from the get-go that in the stand-up battle, Frausto was a much more accurate and powerful striker. Fujii let her hands drop several times and as Mr. Smith himself pointed out, once Frausto applied pressure to Fujii you could see her striking angles disappear. Apply pressure by moving forward and you win. That’s what happened.
Fujii didn’t try for a takedown in the first three rounds, something which shocked just about everyone. When she did try for a takedown in round four, Frausto simply stood tall and used her size and balance to stuff it. With about 30 seconds left in round five, Fujii finally got Frausto on the ground and the crowd cheered very loudly. However, it was too late to do much and the Frausto already won the fight. Jorge Gurgel told Frausto that she had won all four rounds heading into round five and Jimmy Smith didn’t think that was a good thing to say. Little did he know that Gurgel was right about the way the judges scored the fight.
Watching the fight was interesting for the tactical war, but I fully understand that in Strikeforce or UFC the fans would have unmercilessly booed watching this for 25 minutes. I give credit to the Bellator audience in Florida — they were booing a little in round three but by the end of the fight they were very respectful and applauded both women.
Should Fujii have went for takedowns earlier in the fight? Probably so, but it seemed clear from the get-go that the size advantage was simply too much for her to overcome. This definitely seemed to be on her mind throughout the fight. Fujii walks around at 118 pounds and fights at 115. Frausto walks around at 145-150 and makes the cut to 115 pounds. Physically impossible to overcome that size advantage.
The story of Frausto winning the tournament is nothing short of remarkable. She was brought in to basically put on a good fight and make Rosi Sexton look good. Instead, she blasted Sexton and KO’d her. Sexton was being groomed as one of the top fighters for the 115-pound tournament. Frausto’s win catapulted her into the tournament and from there she did what she needed to do to win. (I still think she lost to Jessica Aguilar, and that seems to be the natural title fight coming up.)
As for the main event on tonight’s Bellator show between Hector Lombard and Alexander Shlemenko, the less said the better. Eddie Alvarez vs. Roger Huerta this fight was not. When the fight started, Lombard was heavily cheered. By round three, the fans were booing. By the end of the fifth round, the fans were annoyed. Lombard dominated and controlled the fight but Shlemenko showed enough heart and defense to stall Lombard in order to go the distance. Lombard did not show the explosiveness that he has in past fights against weaker opponents. All three judges scored 49-46 in favor of Hector Lombard. Lombard said after the fight that he didn’t make excuses but “I don’t feel 100%.” Afterwards, Lombard grabbed the microphone and said, “Jacare, I want your belt.” Yes, the Bellator 185-pound champion called out the Strikeforce 185-pound champion.
At the end of tonight’s Bellator telecast, the announcers noted that the next season will start in 2011 with Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, and Middleweight tournaments for season four.
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
MMA critic Bob Reilly draws media attention; Dana White and his ‘big announcement’
By Zach Arnold | October 28, 2010
There’s the good and the bad as far as PR goes for Bob Reilly. The good (for him) is that The Albany Times-Union has endorsed him for his re-election campaign. The bad (for him) starts with blowback to this.
I won’t be around initially when Dana White makes his ‘major announcement’ at 1 PM EST, so I’m sure you will be commenting on what it is here to this post. If the announcement has to do with a “UFC Network,” all I can say is good luck. The only way to make that play viable long-term is if Comcast has a major stake in ownership. Even with those kinds of business circumstances, I don’t know what kind of appetite there is for a 24/7 UFC-themed channel. I already thought we had one in Spike.
Last night’s Ultimate Fighter show was brutal television.
Tonight on Fox Sports Net/Comcast Sportsnet from Hollywood, Florida, Bellator has the finals of their 115-pound women’s tournament featuring Megumi Fujii vs. Zoila Frausto. Hector Lombard also fights on the card.
Did Cain Velasquez use an illegal strike to beat Brock Lesnar? Morgan Campbell of The Toronto Star says that Cain’s win over Brock is impressive, but not historic.
Jake Shields has an honest assessment of how his fight with Martin Kampmann. Meanwhile, Jake Ellenberger is trying to troll him on Twitter.
Marcus Davis says he is heading to 155 pounds (Lightweight) and will retire soon.
Someone in the San Jose Mercury News did a review of the EA Sports MMA game (mixed) and, given where Strikeforce is headquartered (SJ), ironically blasted the game for being a ‘Strikeforce MMA’ game. Here’s a more positive review of the video game. This review says it’s a solid entry-level game.
Why Digg is like Brock Lesnar.
Patrick Cote has been released by the UFC.
Mayhem Miller loves watching Brock Lesnar fight.
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 46 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
K-1 gives Satoshi Ishii a call for their 11/8 Tokyo event
By Zach Arnold | October 27, 2010
He will fight Antz Nansen in an MMA fight under DREAM rules at the promotion’s 11/8 Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan event. Clearly the promotion needs an attraction for TV ratings and here you go.
The rest of the K-1 World MAX card:
- Shunsuke Oishi vs. Makoto Nishiyama
- Fabiano Da Silva vs. Jan Kaszuba (Canada)
- Yuta Kubo vs. HIROYA
- Yuya Yamamoto vs. Seichi Ikemoto
- Reserve tournament fight: Hinata vs. Andre Dida
World MAX 2010 70 kg tournament
- Mike Zambidis vs. Yuichiro Nagashima
- Albert Kraus vs. Giorgio Petrosyan
- Winner of these two matches face each other
- Drago vs. Mohamed Khamal
- Michal Glogowski vs. Yoshihiro Sato
- Winner of these two matches face each other
- Winner of #3 vs. #6 face off in the finals
Topics: DREAM, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Why is there such big interest in Brock Lesnar/Undertaker?
By Zach Arnold | October 26, 2010
I cannot believe how much momentum the Undertaker/Brock Lesnar deal is getting. Dana White fed the media beast yesterday when he said that Lesnar is under an exclusive contract to UFC and that the match won’t happen.
Dana White says UFC may have a broadcast TV deal in 2011 along with their own TV network. Wonder how much having their own network would influence the media coverage they currently get…
Matt Hughes says that it is time to have a third announcer in the UFC commentary unit and that the third person should be a fighter.
Todd Martin says that we have a ways to go to see how UFC’s Cain Velasquez experiment works in making in-roads with new fans.
Quick thought on Brock Lesnar’s ability to take a punch… In a sense, when he gets hit, he reminds me a bit of Bob Sapp. Bull rush, tire out, get hit. The difference is that Lesnar tries to get to a corner whereas Sapp just goes into the fetal position. Josh Gross takes note of how bad of a tactical error Lesnar made to bull-rush Velasquez early in the fight. Jamie Penick at MMA Torch labeled the fight strategy as ‘baffling’. A what-if question: What if Greg Nelson was still with Brock’s camp? Would the game plan be any different?
Josh Koscheck had his own message to the fans who loudly booed him at UFC 121 in Anaheim.
Roger Hollett won his return fight last night in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Kotaku gives a mixed review on the new EA Sports MMA video game. Pasta Padre says that there is a future for the EA Sports MMA video game despite having an initially slow sales period.
A new man in charge of the Minneasota Combative Sports Commission.
Here’s a profile article on Little Patricia Vidonic, who recently was involved in the taping of the new Ultimate Women Challenge reality show series that will air in a few months through syndication.
At Sunday’s DEEP 50th show in Tokyo at JCB Hall, Shinya Aoki made short work of Yokthai Sithoar in one minute with an arm-lock. Nice work when you can get it. Minowaman defeated Chang Hee Kim in 2’07 with an arm bar. Sanae Kikuta TKO’d Lee Sak Kim in 81 seconds. Ryo Chonan had to use three rounds to dispose of Jun Hee Moon by TKO. Masakazu Imanari defeated DJ taiki after 3R by a 2-0 decision. Yuya Shirai defeated Shigetoshi Iwase after 3R to retain the DEEP Welterweight title. In the main event, Katsunori Kikuno retained his DEEP Lightweight title by defeating Nobuhiro Obiya after 3R by decision. On the undercard, Yoshiro Maeda defeated Takafumi Otsuka by decision and Katsuyori Shibata lost to Yoshiyuki Nakanishi. More notes here.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 39 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
About that Undertaker/Brock Lesnar ‘tiff’ around Ariel Helwani…
By Zach Arnold | October 25, 2010
For someone who supposedly hates Brock Lesnar, Undertaker is sure respectful of him in other post-UFC 121 media interviews that have come out. It should be noted that Dave Meltzer is backing up the rumors that WWE is interested in booking Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker for Wrestlemania 2011. What’s old is new again, I suppose.
As for the Fight! Magazine interview, ‘Taker talks about Velasquez as UFC Heavyweight champion in the interview, along with Jake Shields’ prospects against Georges St. Pierre, and…
DANNY ACOSTA: “You’re obviously a huge Mixed Martial Arts fan. You use a variation of the gogoplata in your pro-wrestling performances. Will you ever get involved in MMA? Not so much as a fighter, but you know, trying to be in a promotion or commentating or something like Bill Goldberg did?”
THE UNDERTAKER: “Well, I don’t know, you know. Yeah, it’s way too late in the game for me to switch over and… you know, I uh… I don’t know. I kind of enjoy being a fan. But who’s to say, you know, somewhere down the road I might, you know, I might try and manage a few fighters but, uh, I don’t really have any, you know once I get out from in front of the camera I want to be, you know, behind the cameras. It’s, uh… I like to be a fan and nights like [UFC 121], I had a really good time… I work all the time, so, you know, it’s unusual when I get a night off, so, you know…”
DANNY ACOSTA: “This is Brock’s first loss in a while. How do you feel he’ll rebound from this going forward?”
THE UNDERTAKER: “I think he showed how he rebounds after he loses a fight. You know, you learn, you know this is what, Brock’s sixth fight, something like that. You know, I mean, what he’s accomplished with six fights is remarkable. That goes back to his incredible strength and his wrestling background, you know every loss you know it should make you better, you know, you study your film, you study your tape, you figure out what you did wrong, and you work on those things and, you know, you get back in the gym and, you know, you get after it and you make your corrections. I think Brock will be a better fighter, you know. He was, you know, things happen, you know. Everybody gets caught. So, uh, you know, I figure he’ll go back and look at this fight and, you know, make some tweaks to his game plan and I can’t wait to see it again.”
The night after these comments, he was ‘buried alive’ at the Bragging Rights PPV by Kane.
Topics: Media, MMA, WWE, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
SF Chronicle inexplicably publishes PR touting UFC 121 online stream
By Zach Arnold | October 24, 2010
With an opportunity to win their first World Series since moving to San Francisco, the Giants have everyone’s attention in the Bay Area sports market. (The Niners being one of the worst teams has helped contribute to the growing fandom.) In other words, it’s kind of a big deal and anything relating to the Giants drew monster web traffic online Saturday night.
On a Saturday night where the Bay Area is going insanely crazy over the Giants going to the World Series, what was the #1 most-viewed link on the SF Chronicle web site? A press release from PR Web touting how you can watch a live stream of the UFC 121 PPV online ‘for free.’
Here’s the screen capture of how popular this press release was:
I was able to grab the page info and it was created at 7:41 PM on Saturday night. 12 hours after it was ranked as the most popular item on the Chronicle page, it remained ranked as the second most-popular item on the web page. In other words, it drew a lot of eye balls.
Now, here’s the link to the press release on the Chronicle site and the text of what was written:
Press Releases
UFC 121 Live Stream! Watch UFC 121 Online Free Lesnar vs Velasquez with Satellite Direct
New York, NY (PRWEB) October 23, 2010
Watch UFC 121 live Stream including Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez, Kampmann vs Shields, Hamill vs Ortiz, Sanchez vs Thiago, Gonzaga vs Schaub.
Are you a huge fan of UFC 121? Want to know how to watch UFC 121 live online free? Simply download the new award-winning TV software, Satellite Direct, and watch UFC 121 on your PC. UFC 121 will take place at 10:00 PM EDT at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. Over 660,000 fans have been using the software to watch UFC 121 online. So get connected and watch the entire UFC 121 MMA event, including the pre and post show, and all UFC 121 fight cards!
Click here to watch UFC 121 live stream online now.
Tonight UFC 121 Live Stream features a Heavyweight Championship bout between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.. Lesnar, the current UFC heavyweight champion will try to defend his title against Cain Velasquez. Lesnar proved it in hit fight against Shane Carwin that he is almost impossible to knock out, and that when it’s time, he can bring the pain with devastating ground attacks and solid wrestling. While Velasquez will give his all for the chance to be the new champion, bringing his powerful strikes and his positional grappling into the game. So who will win tonight? Just download the software and watch UFC 121 online now. No matter the UFC 121 results, it is going to be so intense and exciting to watch UFC 121 streaming. Enjoy the entire UFC 121 live stream online!
Click here to watch UFC 121 live stream online now.
Never miss a single fight of UFC 121 fight card anymore. Thanks to the award-winning TV system, Satellite Direct, which lets UFC fans to watch UFC 121 live online in perfect HD quality without paying PPV fee. plus over 3500 HD channels including Pay Per View shows, movie, sports, etc. All with no extra charge and hardware required.
By using the software, not only can fans watch the entire UFC 121 fight card live online, also watch all sporting events anywhere in High Definition, live online. Yes – Watch NCAA Football, MLB, NFL, NBA, etc online!
BONUS — A built-in recorder can record any sports events including UFC 121 and watch it again later. Plus, you can enjoy the games with friends by connecting the PC or laptop to the big TV screen. Easy.
Don’t delay – watch UFC 121 online for free tonight and never pay another PPV fee to watch a UFC live again. Download our TV software to watch UFC 121 live now.
###
For the original version on PRWeb visit:
www.prweb.com/releases/prwebfreewatchufc121livestream/lesnarvsvelasquezonlinehd/prweb4688154.htm
Here’s a screen capture of what it looked like on PR Web Saturday. I grabbed the page info and it was put on PR Web at 11 AM that morning.
Given Zuffa’s aggressiveness in going after pirate sites who stream UFC PPV feeds, this right here is about as fat of a target as you could possibly get.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | Comments Off on SF Chronicle inexplicably publishes PR touting UFC 121 online stream | Permalink | Trackback |
New Tapout boss Jamie Salter: Wherever the UFC goes, we go
By Zach Arnold | October 24, 2010
If you’re looking at what the future for Tapout is, this interview is the best insight into the mind of Jamie Salter. It doesn’t seem as though he’s done yet with his shopping spree in the ‘MMA space’ as he likes to call it.
If you’re rushed for time, start at the 3 minute mark. The interviewer asks him about future plans with the UFC and Mr. Salter basically says whatever the UFC does is what Tapout will do. If UFC goes to China, Tapout goes to China. It’s clear that Tapout is looking for an exclusive deal with UFC and that’s that. When he was asked about working with fighters in DREAM, Strikeforce, and so on his response was blunt — we will not work with ‘secondary’ organizations or fighters. So, in short, the brands he purchased are intended to be tied to UFC and UFC fighters only.
If that response isn’t indicative of where Tapout’s philosophy is morphing from its original days, I don’t know what else to say.
Flashback: What has and hasn’t been said yet about Tapout’s new deal with ABG
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Cain Velasquez’s really legendary night at UFC 121
By Zach Arnold | October 23, 2010
That was about as great of a showing as you could have to make a statement that you are the best heavyweight in Mixed Martial Arts. He totally blew me away in how thorough he finished off Brock Lesnar. That was a man-sized beating and for casual fans who didn’t know who Cain Velasquez was before the fight, their jaws just dropped.
Now, with that stated, I don’t want to hear anything about Cain Velasquez winning because of his race/ethnicity like I unfortunately expect to hear in some media circles soon. No, the man won because he’s a really, really good fighter and he’s the face of a new generation of MMA Heavyweights that is starting to take over from the old guard of last decade. He faces Junior Dos Santos next Spring and I am so looking forward to that fight.
As for Brock Lesnar, he gets Frank Mir in a trilogy match. As the Japanese would term it, this will be a ‘survival match’ where the winner stays afloat and the loser starts wondering how much longer they have to stay around in the sport.
Jake Shields looked painfully tired from a bad weight cutting experience and did himself no favors in his fight against Martin Kampmann. Kampmann exposed some chinks in the armor tonight. I cannot stress how many angry notes I’ve gotten from readers not only about Shields winning but about the variance of the judges’ scores for that fight. There was a line of thinking in media circles that Shields would be a much more interesting fighter without that Strikeforce elbow-ban-on-ground rule. Well… Jake can now join Jon Fitch in Dana’s Doghouse. Who will end up as the challenger to St. Pierre/Koscheck? UFC cannot be happy with the way things played out here tonight.
Speaking of Koscheck, as you probably heard during the UFC 121 prelims on Spike he absolutely got booed out of the building. Had a few people at the show say that Koscheck was as hated as anyone else at the show.
No surprises in Tito Ortiz losing to Matt Hamill.
Court McGee was outclassed in every way against Ryan Jensen except when it came to guts and heart. He took a beating and then Jensen did what he is wont to do and that was allow his opponent to come back and finish him off.
Patrick Cote laid a huge egg against Tom Lawlor. Diego Sanchez was able to revive his prospects, though I don’t like him talking about shifting back and forth between 155 and 170.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 36 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |