MMA's 3R’s 01.28.10: Hulk Hogan in PRIDE, Brocks Back, Shine’s Big Mistake, More

Posted by Larry Csonka on 01.28.2010

From Hulk Hogan claiming he fought in PRIDE and the return of Brock Lesnar to the premature jump to PPV by Shine MMA and UFC Fight Night 21 heading to Charlotte, 411’s Larry Csonka breaks it all down in the latest edition of the 3R’s of MMA, brother!



*The Column Concept*
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of the column, here it is. The column will look at events and or happenings in the world of MMA. They will be broken down into the three categories, the Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right will be the good and great fights or positive news items of the week. Perhaps even big fight announcements. The wRong will be bad fights, bad booking decisions and the like. Finally, the Ridiculous are the things that were just the worst of the world of MMA. They get grouped in their categories, and for a show, they will get a score from 1-10, based on the 411 ratings scale.

*WELCOME*
Hello all! I am back from my brief hiatus to do the column once again. With the year-end columns running, I took the time off to focus on them and to make sure that they get the proper attention. And now that they are over, I am back on the clock with the R's. I just wanted to quickly thank the staff for all of their hard work they put into the Best of 2009 columns, and also to thank you for taking the time to read them. And with that said, let's get to work!

* And now, the 3R's of…MMA*

THE RIGHT:

THE BEST OF PRIDE!: I don't know about you guys, but so far, I have really been enjoying the "BEST OF PRIDE" series on Spike TV. First of all, it is free MMA, and we all love free MMA. Secondly, for those of us that miss PRIDE, and may not have the shows on DVD, we get to relive some of the fights on a weekly basis. Thirdly, there is a whole new generation of MMA fan, the so-called "TUF" fan that has seen little to none of PRIDE. They have just heard about it, now they can live some of it as we relive it. Finally, the show is great for the UFC, because it is another hour for them to promote the fighters that they have under contract. A perfect example of this is Takanori Gomi. There are tons of people out there that have never seen Gomi fight, but the heard that the UFC signed him. In the first two episodes, we have been treated to two Gomi fights. This is something I suggested and figured that they would do, and am glad that they have done it. I will agree that the show is not perfect. We will likely never get a "BEST OF FEDOR" hour, and that is the right that Zuffa has since they own the footage. Also, why would you promote your competition for free? But what we are getting is great, so sit back and enjoy it.

UFC Fight Night 21 Comes To Charlotte: UFC Fight Night 21 is coming to Charlotte NC, which just happens to be VERY close to where I live. That's right, the event is reportedly set for the Bojangles Coliseum. Truth be told, I love me some Bojangles. Yeah, I've assimilated a bit since moving to the south. But if all goes well, I will be attending the event, which will be my first live UFC event, and I am very excited. It isn't the best card to some people, but honestly, I do not care about that. I just want to be there for the live UFC experience. I have gone to small shows, ad they are fun, but all of the guys that have been to UFC events say that the atmosphere is something you have to experience, and that is why I am excited. For those wondering, here is the card for that show thus far…

- Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi
- Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera
- Lucio Linhares vs. Yushin Okami
- Cole Miller vs. Andre Winner
- Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver
- Gleison Tibau vs. Caol Uno

Joey Villasenor Signs New Strikeforce Deal: According to his Twitter, Joey Villasenor (27-6 MMA, 2-1 SF) has signed a new four-fight deal with Strikeforce. There is no word on his next fight with the company, but Villasenor has said that he would like to fight three times in 2010. I for one an very happy for him, as he is often ignored by many MMA fans. I have become a fan of Villasenor through the now closed down EliteXC. Villasenor has never been in the octagon, which is why some may not know about him, and he has fought mainly for KOTC, 15 of his 32 career bouts for that organization. His record is a good one, 22-6, and since 2005 the man is 11-3, again, a solid record. Lets look at his key wins and losses in his career.

Key Victories:
* Phil Baroni via RD 1 TKO (2008)
* David Loiseau via Decision (2007)
* Jorge Santiago via Decision (2005)

Key Losses:
* Murilo Rua via RD 2 TKO (2007)
* Robbie Lawler via RD 1 KO (2006)
* Ryo Chonan via split decision (2005)

When you look at Villasenor's record, the one thing that sticks out is that there are not a lot of big name fights on his record. Beating Baroni is 2008 unfortunately doesn't mean much, and Loiseau and Santiago are strong fighters, but right around the same level as Villasenor. His losses were a devastating knee KO by Lawler in around 30-seconds, the TKO to Rua, where he controlled the bout rather easily, and the split decision to Chonan, which is no shame that was a close fight. Overall, while I am a fan of Villasenor, he isn't a spectacular fighter or a guy that will shoot to the top as a title contender. He is a guy that will bring his game to the cage, fight hard and would be a sound addition to any roster. Not everyone will be a champion or contender, but there is always room for a good fighter on a roster, and I am glad that Joey got locked up for four more fights.

BROCK IS BACK!: Brock Lesnar is coming back, and I for one am a very happy guy. First of all, I am happy for Brock and his family, because the danger is gone and he can live a normal life. That is the most important thing. Secondly, I am a huge Brock Lesnar fan. I was a fan when he wrestled, I was a fan when he tried to go to the NFL, and I was a fan when he made the transition to MMA. The bottom line is that the man entertains me, and that is the most important thing. I also think that he has a ton of potential in the sport, and want to see him succeed, especially because it pisses people off that "a pro wrestler" has invaded "their sport". Also, I want to see Brock vs. Mir III. The gloriousness of the shit talking will be amazing, and again, that entertains me.

THE WRONG:

STRIKEFORCE FAILS AT BOOKING LASHLEY: Now before I say what I have to say, let it be known that I am a huge fan of Strikeforce, and hope that they have a lot of success, because their success is for the best of the sport. But the bottom line is that their booking of fights, especially the recent Bobby Lashley fight has been a joke. Hell, bush-league even. They waited to find an opponent after the rumored fight with Waterman fell through, and then they had one denied, then they denied one, and then finally, around TWO WEEKS before the fight, they settle on Wes Sims as his opponent. This is not how you run a company. I understand that the pool of heavyweights not under a Zuffa contract is shallow, but they handled this situation poorly. In my opinion they should have scrapped his fight for another card, and added Hieron vs. Riggs to the main card and called it a day. You should strive to be better than this Strikeforce, hell, we need you to be better than this for the betterment of the sport. Competition is a good thing.

THE RIDICULOUS:

HULK HOGAN FOUGHT IN PRIDE!!!!!: That's right kids, I bet you didn't know that! I remember a while back that I told you the story of how Verne and Greg Gagne "supposedly" came up with the original idea for the UFC. That was a fun story and it contained numerous factual errors that were fun to read. Now if you follow wrestling at all, you know that Hulk Hogan is famous for his "stories" and grand exaggerations. From there being a BAJILLION people at WrestleMania III and Andre the Giant being 900lbs to him tearing all of the muscles in his back when he slammed the giant and the fact that he was supposed to be the man behind the George Foreman grill, they are all great stories. But this one, this one actually takes the cake. When Hogan was doing some media a while back, he started telling stories of his days in Japan and went onto talk about having to SHOOT on guys that didn't want to cooperate with you in the ring. But what does this have to do with MMA? Hogan claimed that in his early career that he fine-tuned his SHOOTING while working for PRIDE in Japan. Back in the late 70's and early 80's, before it was known as MMA and the fights were held in secret, he was SHOOT FIGHTING for PRIDE. Apparently no one told Hulk that PRIDE held their first show in 1997. Thanks Hulk, you make my job so easy…

SHINE Fights To PPV: Shine Fights III has been pushed back to April. It has also been confirmed that the event will air as a TV PPV event. As of now, there is no date set for the show. Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs. Falaniko Vitale has already been announced for the show, and there are rumors that former boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga will make his MMA debut against Din Thomas on the show. While I have supported SHINE MMA, and think that it is great that another company is running some shows so that guys have a place to work, this is a VERY bad idea. I do not wish them any ill will, but the simple fact is that in this day and age, an MMA company cannot survive on PPV without a TV product. YAMMA failed, Art of War failed, Affliction failed, and I hate to say that SHINE will fail. I know that this sounds like I am damning the company, but it is just a poor move, financially, in my opinion. History doesn't lie, and I hope that they survive the venture, but it is a bad deal. And for the record, even with their TV deal, I do not think the WEC going to PPV is a good idea either, mainly due to the piss poor promotion that they get. Don't run before you walk.


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KYRA says goodbye…