Your MMA News, My Views 6.01.07
Posted by Larry Csonka on 06.01.2007
Rampage runs wild over the universe as Brock Lesnar looks to make an impact and much more!
INTRODUCTION~!
Welcome once again to another edition of Your MMA News, My Views! There is tons of stuff happening here in the MMA world and right here at 411. The zone is growing, lots of stuff to cover this month, lots of stuff for you to read and that will continue over the weeks and months. This week we have news on the fallout of the UFC 71 show, tons of news of the on again off again on again K1 Dynamite show and more! We'll hit some quick talking points and then dive into the news!
Talking Points~!
UFC 71 - Rip Off?: There's been something of a buzz going around, mostly from the uneducated "new MMA media" that Liddell vs. Jackson ended up being a rip off. This is being said due to the fact that Chuck got knocked out in under 2-minutes. Get a grip people. There were plenty of matches on the card, plenty of good stuff and well if you hadn't noticed, this isn't exactly pro wrestling. No pre-determined endings. Basically, shit happens. Some times you get Couture vs. Silvia, sometimes you get Liddel vs. Rampage. It's the nature of fight sports and some people have to really understand that.
UFC and Boxing Not a battle for fans: A funny argument I have been having with my boxing friends as of late. They hate MMA because they think that it is taking away long time boxing fans, thus hurting their sport. Well, I informed them that their sport was hurting because for the most part their sport has been sucking. Crappy heavyweights, no stars outside of Mayweather and De la Hoya. Boxing is an older man's sport. MMA is a younger man's sport, the demographics support this, so boxing fans, chill, MMA is not your enemy. If anyone is concerned it is pro wrestling, and they should be.
Brock: Brock Lesnar makes his MMA debut this weekend on the crazy K1 show. With Choi out of the show, Brock's first match appears to be much simpler. After bantering around several names, the 2-5 Min Soo Kim has been chosen to replace Choi. Probably because of the huge Korean demo they were expecting. If Brock's conditioning is good, I feel he could outlast Kim and get his first win, and from there, his contract is full filled and unless they throw INSANE money at him, he's probably UFC bound. Oh, and
Appreciate dancing Brock people.
UFC stories, scuttlebutt and rumors:
Your News: Dana White confirmed at the press conference after UFC's PPV that Lorenzo & Frank Fertitta's purchase of the Pride Fighting Championships officially went through late Thursday.
White, who had been out of the country the past several weeks, said working on getting the top fighters from Pride into the UFC mix and how things would be handled would be his major priority in between the various shows over the next ten days.
He said to expect major announcements at that time. Originally, when the press conference was held in Japan, it was announced Pride and UFC would be kept as separate entities with their own basic flavor, Pride in the ring and UFC in the cage. They would maintain their individual champions but once a year there would be Super Bowl matches.
My Views: And there it is. The big thing is that with Dana spending time in Japan and seeing how everything worked and all of that, the plans have changed big time. White is now working on bringing all of the Pride major names to the U.S. as part of UFC. Besides the Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson match, he also talked about finally making the Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva match, which we will discuss below. No date is scheduled for either match but preliminary talk was that one or the other could take place in September in London, England or Anaheim, California. Now they still have designs on getting PRIDE on TV in Japan and running them in Japan, but the Super Bowl concept and running as two complete, and separate countries is apparently off as he will use the promotion to strengthen the UFC brand. At first I was down on this, but the reality is to the majority of US fans, PRIDE doesn't mean anything. They never did good on PPV here, so this isn't a WWE/WCW deal per say. The bottom line is that with the PRIDE talent on hand, and the talent they already have as well as possible WEC guys, they could have YEARS of fight cards roughly planned. This should be very interesting to follow and to see exactly what they do.
Your News: Following Liddell's knock out loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Dana White has suggested former PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva could be next in line for Liddell. This has been a dream match for years in the MMA community, though a small losing streak by Silva cast the possibility of the fight-taking place in doubt. With Liddell's loss the table could be set for the long awaited match up, albeit under different circumstances than many had hoped.
My Views: While it may be different circumstances, it is still a big fight that people have been waiting for. With UFC having all of the PRIDE footage and their ability to hype fights, along with the new mainstream coverage they are getting, they could again build this fight into another huge PPV sale. I am all for this.
Your News: Spike TV just sent out a press release announcing Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas would settle their grudge match on The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale taking place June 23 on Spike TV. The two were kicked off the show by UFC President Dana White following their bloody battle.
My Views: I don't like this at all. They were kicked off of the show for making the sport look bad. Now, they are getting rewarded with a "legit fight" on TV and will get paid. While Dana's speech was sending the right message, I feel that adding this fight to the show is sending the WRONG message to new fans, as well as the media that still views this sport as "human cock fighting."
Your News: The Fight Network is reporting Mirko Cro Cop will retire following the final four fights on his UFC contract. In a press conference with media prior to UFC 70, Cro Cop stated his desire to return to his duties with the Croatian special police force. Mirko is scheduled to fight at UFC 75 in London. His opponent for the English event is currently unknown
My Views: We had discussed that him waiting until 75 is a good idea, he can hopefully get his head in the game and full recover from his injuries. If he plans on retiring to go back home and return to his duties with the Croatian special police force then this is what is best for him. I'll miss the high kick madness, but the thing is we have had him now in UFC and provided some fun for us.
Your News: In the post UFC 71 Press Conference Dana had the following to say:
-They plan to run Chicago and New York in the next year.
-They are thinking about running an outdoor stadium show in Hawaii.
-They were working on an international version of Ultimate Fighter, the first one would likely take place from the UK.
My Views: We discussed New York and Chicago already, and I have supported that idea because they are great cities for fighting and wrestling. An outdoor show in Hawaii sounds like a blast, and with the right promotion could be a huge spectacle to see. Finally, as for an International version of TUF, I think that this would be a great change up to the format. Have Bisping be a coach and use his popularity and go from there. These are all good plans I feel.
Your News: Matt Serra said he'd be bringing in Ray Longo, his conditioning trainer, as well as Pete Sell to assist him for TUF VI. He said he probably wouldn't be able to bring in Renzo Gracie since he was off doing IFL.
My Views: Sounds like he has his team all assembled, and that is a good thing. I think having Renzo Gracie would have been cool, but that while IFL deal got in the way. Hell, with the IFL money situation, maybe by the time they start filming, which is soon, they will fold and he can do it.
Great Moments in Rampage History:
Other MMA News
Your News: The California State Athletic Commission granted FEG (K-1 Hero's) a temporary license late yesterday so the show is going on as scheduled.
My Views: Obviously not having the show would have been a major disaster, especially because it's scheduled as a two-hour network prime time show in Japan. If they had turned down, they would have lost a monumental amount of money. This is also why the line-up is Japan-centric in a lot of ways. Many people were wondering why they had so many problems, and in the end it comes down to how much different the business is in the US as opposed to Japan. So here is the basic deal:
-In order to run this K-1 show, FEG needed a promoter's license, which they never needed in Japan.
-They had to be honest in advertising, which they never had to be in Japan (something that in Japan is commonplace, the false and grandiose advertising.)
-They had to provide paperwork for all of the fighters on the show, which they never had to do in Japan
-Also to supply financial paperwork for the company, which they never had to do in Japan
-And finally to provide a bond to cover all of the fighter's salaries, which they never needed in Japan.
Your News: Brock Lesnar's opponent has been picked and approved as Kim Min-soo. Min-soo will be in Los Angeles on Tuesday to go through all his medicals. As noted earlier, the show is on and will be ten fights. Ray Sefo vs. Marvin Eastman is off the card due to problems with Sefo. A new opponent will not be added for Eastman.
My Views: Brock's conditioning is good, I feel he could outlast Kim and get his first win, and from there, his contract is full filled and unless they throw INSANE money at him, he's probably UFC bound. As for the Eastman fight, I was actually looking forward to it to see how he would bounce back from the Rampage loss. Oh well.
Your News: There will be no decision made on Kazushi Sakuraba likely until Tuesday. Kazushi Sakuraba failed two EKG's and his participation in the LA Coliseum show is in grave danger.
My Views: Well the drama is OVER as Kazushi Sakuraba has passed his medicals and is a go for tomorrow's show. Gracie has also been cleared, so the rematch of their epic first encounter is on. Seeing this and Brock's debut is what is selling this show for me.
Your News: Spike TV TUF fighter, Gabe Ruediger, has been barred from fighting in this Saturday's K-1/Pro Elite show. Ruediger was released from his UFC contract to pursue fighting elsewhere. He recently signed with the K-1 where he was to face Katsuhiko Nagata (2-1). California State Athletic Commissioner, Armando Garcia, dropped Ruediger from fighting on the card. Garcia, who had recently watched Ruediger on The Ultimate Fighter TV show. Garcia cited the show in determining that Ruediger was "mentally unfit to fight". On the show Ruediger seemed to have suffered a mental breakdown after unsuccessfully making the 155lbs. weight limit. This fight would have been at 161lbs. It is unclear if Ruediger will be able to fight in California if he is not cleared by a mental health specialist.
My Views: Damn this dude is screwed. He burned his bridges with UFC and now, cannot get sanctioned to fight in California. The big hurdle is that this is a mental thing, you just can't get a quick second opinion. Depending on how this goes, it could be a long time before he fights in California.
EDIT: Dave Meltzer is reporting that CSAC officials made it clear today that Ruediger was not denied a license, nor suspended, and they expect he will fight in California as soon as possible. His being pulled from the show had to do with testing they wanted him to undergo that wasn't going to be able to be done in time to clear him for a fight Saturday night.
Your News: Hong-Man Choi, in doing his medicals, was deemed unfit to compete. The story in Japan is that he was discovered to have a tumor in his head and the California State Athletic Commission determined that it would not be safe for him to fight. Choi claimed that all giants have a similar tumor and that it had never caused him any problems and never prevented him from fighting in Japan or Korea.
My Views: It's a shame that the main event of this show had to be changed, but this show had no luck since day one it seemed. While he had no problems in Japan or Korea getting cleared, from what we discussed above things are very different there, so it is not surprising. But that isn't the end of the drama here. Choi has said he went to two other doctors in California and the results came back clean, and the CSAC refused to look at these. Brock Lesnar, he said, had gotten clearance from a non-CSAC-approved hospital and was being allowed to fight, and therefore this was discrimination. He is reportedly threatening to file a lawsuit. If that is the case, he may have some grounds for said lawsuit. In the end, it is just more drama for this show, which if anything, they have delivered on in spades.
K1 Dynamite PICKZ~!
Well after all of the drama we finally have a card for this weekend's show. Let's look at it and I will do my best to give predictions.
K-1 on Pay Per View
Brock Lesnar vs. Min Soo Kim Lesnar via Rd 3 TKO
Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba Gracie via Decision
Melvin Manhoef vs. Yoon Dong Sik Sik via Rd 2 submission
"Mighty" Mo Siliga vs. Ruben Villareal Mighty Mo, Rd 1 TKO
Johnnie Morton vs. Bernard Ackah May not happen, but I will go Morton via decision
EliteXC on Showtime
Jake Shields vs. Ido Pariente Shields via Rd 1 TKO
Tim Persey vs. Jonathan Wiezorek Wiezorek via Rd 2 Submission
Nam Phan vs. Gesias Calvancanti - Phan via submisson
Non-televised
Brad Pickett vs. Hideo Tokoro Pickett via decision
READER FEEDBACK~!
From Sarah regarding some comments I made on UFC 71 -
Hey - Interesting article, but Starnes vs. Leben worst fight??? Just so you know - Dana White gave that fight the fight of the night at the post press conference. It was back and forth and very close with striking and grappling. Both guys were almost out at different times of the fight, and Kalib did a great job sweeping Chris and getting on top for some G&P at the end of the third round. This fight was WAY better than say - Martin/Salaverry. Just my opinion.
And that's the deal, it is all opinion. I didn't enjoy that fight at all. Leben is slow and does nothing to impress me. Add his after match lack of class and that's all I needed to lock it as worst of the night when it came time to make the decision.
From Jason -
So are you one of the so called "wrestling writers" that is becoming a "so called MMA writer?"
Well that was a bit condescending. I am a writer for this site, I run this site and basically am qualified to write in several areas. This is what I am choosing to do in addition to wrestling. We have a big staff, if you don't like me, go read someone else.
For more interesting information on wrestling and MMA, check out Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly Online!
