The Fightin' Stance News 03.29.08: History In The Making
Posted by Adam Tool on 03.29.2008
What's this? News on a Saturday? It's true, come on in for a preview of tonight's Strikeforce/EliteXC card, the future of a former UFC heavyweight, the latest on EliteXC's network debut, the downfall of a promising young fighter, and Dana vs...Jenna? All this, and more including weirdness from Japan! It's the debut of The Fightin' Stance News!
Hello and welcome to the Fightin' Stance News. You are here on a very special day as this marks the 500th edition of this report. Yes it's been a great run over these last 10 years, but it wouldn't have been possible without the continued support of our millions of loyal fans. For all of us here at the FSN, thanks for reading and here's hoping you're still with us when we break 1000!*
* this is a pathetic lie. This is actually the first edition of the Fightin' Stance News. We apologize for any misunderstanding. The parties responsible have been taken out back and executed, gangland style.
I'm your host Adam Tool. Coming up we've got a preview of tonight's Strikeforce/EliteXC card including all the last minute changes to the lineup, Chael Sonnen calls out a certain Brazilian middleweight, news on EliteXC's broadcast debut featuring the return of everyone's favorite Gladiator, who's bad-mouthing whom in the tangled world of MMA, and which WEC fighter is in very big trouble? But first…
Big News From a Big Man
Earlier this week former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia posted on his website that he would be making a major announcement regarding the future of his career. Now MMA Weekly is reporting that Sylvia will be parting ways with the UFC, despite having one fight left on his contract. A source close to the fighter reported that the divorce was made final earlier this week.
As far as "The Maine-iac" and his future is concerned, speculation is that he will be joining M-1 Global. M-1 is co-owned by Sylvia's manager Monte Cox, and Sylvia has hinted in the past that he may join the organization. No further details were available are available at this time.
UPDATE: Sylvia was on "Inside MMA" last night and announced that he has signed with Adrenaline MMA, which is the company formerly known as M-1 Global. Along with Sylvia, former IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell has also signed with the new promotion, and they are working towards a June 14th show.
Sylvia made his UFC debut in September 2002, and won the heavyweight title at UFC 41 in February 2003. Since then he has remained near the top of the division, including his last fight for the interim heavyweight championship against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 where he was submitted in round 3.
I read this news and responded with an unenthusiastic shrug of my shoulders. It's been a long time since Sylvia was anything near exciting, and his loss to Nogueira shows that the UFC heavyweight division is ready to continue without him. Looking on the bright side, now Sylvia will have some more time to enjoy his girlie drinks.
Crush Me…Anytime
The CBS debut of MMA just got a whole lot cuter. It was announced this week that rising female MMA star Gina Carano will make her return to non-pugilist-stick combat during the premiere of "Saturday Night Fights," when she goes up against Kaitlin Young.
Carano has not fought since submitting Tonya Evinger in September, as her duties on "American Gladiators" kept her too busy to train (she was originally scheduled to be a part of tonight's Strikeforce/EliteXC card). Young is coming off her first loss after being submitted in February against Sara Schneider.
Like most of you reading this, I was already planning to tune into CBS on May 31st. Now with this addition to the card I feel EliteXC is putting together a powerhouse of a first show, one designed to bring in both the casual as well as the hardcore, and keep them coming back. How can any man resist Ms. Carano's charms?
Here's the current lineup:
Kimbo Slice vs. some tomato can and/or washed up veteran EliteXC middleweight title: Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young Murilo Rua vs. Phil Baroni Brett Rogers vs. John Murphy
Bad News Now and Bad Times Ahead
WEC featherweight fighter Leonard Garcia was arrested Thursday as part of an alleged drug-trafficking bust, and has been charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and other substantive counts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Garcia was one of ten people arrested in the raid, which also turned up two kilograms of cocaine, drug trafficking paraphernalia, firearms and an undisclosed sum of money. Apparently the bust was the culmination of a four-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to the report, most of those arrested could face a lifetime prison sentence and a $4 million dollar fine. The report also says that three of those arrested could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million dollar fine. No details are available as to which group Garcia would fall under.
Garcia first got the attention of the MMA world after his 3-round war with Roger Huerta at UFC 69. Last year he dropped down to featherweight and joined the WEC, winning his debut in the division in just 91 seconds.
While it's unfortunate that this will almost certainly be the end of Garcia's promising fighting career, it's hard to feel any sympathy for someone that was this deep in the world of illegal drugs. Nice knowing ya, Leonard. Enjoy your new life as some other guy's girlfriend.
Sonnen‘s got Balls. Brains…eh, Not so Much
WEC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen was on TAGG Radio on Thursday following his complete domination of Bryan Baker at WEC 33. He said that back when he was still scheduled to fight Paulo Filho, he sent an e-mail to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva where he claimed he would beat Filho and then planned to call out UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Silva's reply was this,
"You're wasting your time. We're not going to inter-mingle the two promotions right now. You're not going to get to fight Anderson."
Sonnen claimed that he is the only person that is already under contract with Zuffa that has "the courage to fight (Silva and) the physical ability to beat him." He also said that he still wants his rematch with Filho and will fight him anytime, at any weight.
Seriously Chael? You want to do this? Sure you just HUMBLED Baker, but you couldn't finish him. Do you think you've got the skill to take Silva down and keep him there for five rounds? Did you see what Silva did to Dan Henderson? C'mon man, if Dan friggin Henderson can only win one round against "The Spider," what makes you think you can do any better?
I'd file this one under "believe it when I see it."
Brothers don't Fight, BROTHERS GOTTA HUG!
In between training for his fight with Cung Le, Frank Shamrock took some time out last week and gave an interview to MMA Madness where he said that his (adopted) brother Ken Shamrock has used steroids "his whole life." Now Ken has issued a statement responding to these claims.
"Our sport has policies in place to deter steroid use and to weed out the guys that, as my brother says, "...are taking shortcuts to gain fame." I have been subjected to mandatory steroid testing countless times, and I have never tested positive for steroids, nor have I ever refused a test. Furthermore, my experience has always been that the promoters and fighters willingly comply with the drug testing mandated by the various athletic commissions.
For Frank to state that a majority of fighters use steroids and that the promoters do not care, or that they somehow condone the use of steroids, is unbelievably irresponsible. It tarnishes the image of every fighter and promoter in this industry. The comments Frank made about me and about the industry itself are based purely on his personal opinion, not on facts."
Now, there are some out there that will tell you this is all a work to try and build up the long rumored Shamrock vs. Shamrock fight. To me it sounds like a pair of brothers bickering back and forth, only instead of airing their grievances at the Shamrock family dinner table, they've chosen to give interviews and release statements that amount to nothing more than finger pointing and name calling. From all accounts, these two have never really been close anyways.
Until Ken fails a drug test, I'm inclined to believe him. It's not like there's any reason to think he's ever used steroids.
Let's move on.
Hardly News, But…
The war of words between UFC President Dana White and soon-to-be-ex UFC light heavyweght Tito Ortiz has been well documented all over the place. Now this mano e mano has become a menage a trios.
On her MySpace blog Jenna Jameson defended her man Tito and had some nasty things to say about his employer.
"The most interesting story here, is the silence by the UFC. How do they sit back, silent, and allow their "figure head" to endanger the worth of their empire? Business must be tended to with a level head, or it usually self implodes. It is plainly obvious that it isn't just a coincidence that so many champions have chosen to test the waters beyond the UFC trainwreck. Their defection to greener pastures is no longer just a money issue, but more of a continued lack of disrespect on Dana's part. It troubles me that this could be the downfall of such a ground breaking monumental company, all due to one mans over abundance of testosterone. In closing, maybe the UFC should mandate steroid testing to company presidents, then maybe the company could continue its massive dominance... with a soft hand."
Looking past the thinly veiled accusation of drug use, the woman does have a point here. At what point does the brash personality of one Dana White actually start to hurt the company's bottom line? He couldn't sign Fedor and thus lost his heavyweight champion. Now as a result of that the organization will be in court for who knows how long while they sort out the lawsuits and counter-suits. He's about to lose one of the biggest draws in UFC history in Tito Ortiz, and what would happen if a rising competitor like EliteXC snatched him right up?
By the way, have you seen Jenna lately? Plastic surgery has not been kind…
STRIKEFORCE/ELITEXC: SHAMROCK VS. LE PREVIEWICATION!
You know at the bottom of fight posters where it always says, "card subject to change?" It's a good thing that's there, because this lineup has gone through more change than a Manhattan toll booth. First, visa issues forced Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos off the card and he was replaced by Ryan Jensen. Then the EliteXC welterweight title match was scrapped, after Jake Shields was forced out with a back injury leaving Drew Fickett without an opponent. After all that, it was just announced a few days ago that Nick Diaz was being taken out of his fight with Jae Suk Lim, and Fickett would be stepping in to take his place. Randy Harrison covered the Diaz situation in Five Rounds Of News yesterday, but it basically amounts to the fact that Nick's love of the green sticky-icky has once again caused a conflict with his love of fighting.
Now with all the switches and replacements, is this card still worth your time?
The Facts: This is Shamrock's first title defense after he won the belt by submitting Phil Baroni in June 2006. Cung Le is undefeated in MMA competition. Shamrock has only lost once in the last 10 years (12 fights). Both fighters will be fighting in front of their home crowd in San Jose. This fight will also be aired live "inside the cage" at SHO.com.
The Pick: Shamrock is definitely Le's biggest challenge yet. I would give Le a slight edge in the stand-up but Shamrock will have the advantage if this fight goes to the ground. We also can't underestimate the champion's experience, especially in a big fight situation. I think Frank will try and go toe-to-toe with Le and get caught, so I'm going with Le via TKO in round 2.
The Facts: Melendez is coming off his first loss to Mitsuhiro Ishida at December's Yarennoka! Show. Lemley is another product of the Miletich Fighting Systems. Melendez won the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship from Clay "The Carpenter" Guida in June 2006. Lemley also has a victory over Guida. Melendez's last five fights have gone to a decision. Lemley is on a five-fight win streak, with all five victories via TKO or submission.
The Pick: Melendez likes to go right after his opponent, while Lemley is more of a counter-striker. This may favor Gabe, but Gilbert's been in quite a few wars and has shown he can take the punishment. I will go with Melendez via decision.
Drew "The Master" Fickett vs. Jae "Korean Icepick" Suk Lim
The Facts: As we discussed above, both fighters were training to face completely different opponents. Fickett is on a three-fight win streak, while Suk Lim has won his last five fights. The winner of this fight will meet Jake Shields in June for the EliteXC welterweight championship.
The Pick: To be honest, I'd never heard of Jae Suk Lim before this fight. So I'll go ahead and take Fickett via submission in round 1.
Also on the card:
Joey "Dream Smasher" Villasenor vs. Ryan Jensen The Pick: Villasenor via decision
Luke Stewart vs. Tiki Ghosn The Pick: Stewart via TKO in round 1
Mike Kyle vs. Wayne Cole The Pick: Kyle via TKO in round 3
-A welterweight showdown between Marcus Davis and Mike Swick has been announced for UFC 85.
-In addition to the headlining bout between Diego Sanchez and Luigi Fioravanti, it's being reported that Josh Burkman will take on Dustin Hazelett at the Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.
-UFC 86 will be headlined by the Rampage Jackson/Forrest Griffin light heavyweight title match, and the rumored sub-main event will be a middleweight contest between Patrick Cote and Ricardo Almeida. The winner of this fight could then face Anderson Silva later on this year.
-Ultimate Fighter 1 standout Josh Koscheck has resigned with the UFC and is rumored to be facing Chris Lytle at UFC 86.
-One last UFC 86 rumor: "TUF" 5 alum (and 6-foot-5 lightweight) Corey Hill will be facing Justin Buchholz.
-NBC and Strikeforce have officially announced their partnership, and their new half-hour anthology series will debut following "Poker After Dark" at 2 am ET on Saturday, April 12th. This means that Strikeforce will beat EliteXC to network television, but CBS will still be the first to air live fights.
-Collegiate wrestler Paul Bradley, who was picked to compete on the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter," has now signed a deal with EliteXC. All reports indicate that he is not leaving the UFC on good terms. Further details are unavailable since nobody is allowed to spoil the upcoming season.
-Mark Cuban has announced that HDNet will carry the Kurt Angle-Randy Couture submission match…if it ever happens. Which it probably won't.
-In somewhat related news, UFC welterweight Marcus Davis and former UFC contender Frank Trigg appeared on TNA Impact! this past week to help promote the upcoming contest between Angle and Samoa Joe. This wrestling match is going to be in a cage, with an MMA style. Good for them. I know Kurt's been itching to do some actual MMA, but at this stage in his career this is probably the closest he'll get.
Tonight - Strikeforce/EliteXC: Shamrock vs. Le
Live on Showtime at 9 pm ET
4/2 - UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon
Live on Spike at 7 pm ET
4/2 - The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest - Season Premiere
On Spike at 10 pm ET
4/5 - EliteXC presents ShowXC
Live on Showtime at 11 pm ET
4/19 - UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET
4/19 - IFL Fight Night - Season Premiere
On Fox Sports Net at 12 m ET
4/29 - DREAM 2 - Middleweight Grand Prix
On HDNet (time TBA)
5/24 - UFC 84: Ill Will - Penn vs. Sherk
Live on PPV at 10 pm ET
5/31 - EliteXC Saturday Night Fights - Premiere
Live on CBS at 9 pm ET
6/1 - WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver
Live on VS. (time TBA)
From Japan, it's SLIDING DOOR BATTLE!
If I was a fighter, this would be my entrance music.
"Wolf Like Me" by TV On The Radio
And because I feel bad about posting that awful picture of her earlier…
That's all for this edition of the Fightin' Stance News. Thanks for reading. Check back tonight as 411mania will have LIVE coverage of the Strikeforce/EliteXC event (I think. I‘m new so nobody‘s really told me). Bren Oliver is in on Monday. Until next time…
Credit: MMAJunkie.com, Sherdog.com, Fiveouncesofpain.com, MMAWeekly.com, TAGG Radio
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on March 29, 2008 at 12:33 AM
i like that idea. she speaks better then dana as well
Posted By: jebus (Guest) on March 29, 2008 at 01:14 AM
The more I head Dana's comments, the more it's starting to sound like he wants to make-believe he's just as tough as the fighters on UFC payroll - while he, they and more or less everyone knows he wouldn´t make it out of round 1 against any UFC fighter. So all he can do is talk the talk, knowing he will never be able to walk the walk.
I've actually been waiting for someone to say this - that Dana's personality will end up hurting the company´s bottom line. Too bad it turned out to be someone associated with a guy like Ortiz, who Dana can't stand and will therefore just dismiss the comment even quicker than he would have otherwise.
The situation with both Randy and Fedor isn´t of Dana's making, but I don't see how his expletive-laden tirades have helped the situation. Unless the man learns to keep his volatility in check, sooner or later it's going to hurt UFC bad.
Posted By: woody (Guest) on March 29, 2008 at 07:17 AM
