The Tuesday Leg Lock Report 04.01.08
Posted by Justin Thomas on 04.01.2008
My thoughts on Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le and the huge main event, WAMMA, Fedor's negotiations with EliteXC, Frank Shamrock's comments about his brother, Tim Sylvia's new contract, EliteXC CBS event and much more! Come here and read the first ever edition of The Tuesday Leg Lock report!
Hello and welcome to the first ever edition of "The Tuesday Leg Lock Report". My name is Justin Thomas and I am YOUR new Tuesday MMA news reporter. I'll try to provide a unique opinion about happenings in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. I watch almost all of the UFC events, but I'm a big fan of Japanese MMA. I love watching PRIDE events and hopefully I will provide you with previews and analysis of DREAM events. My column won't be that much different from others, here in 411mania, but I'll try not to steal their thoughts and don't analyze the same news. For now, I plan to have these sections: "The Big news", "Other news", "Event preview/analysis" and "Readers thoughts". In "The Big news" section, I'll try to write about news, which I have something to say about. Let's say that "FEDOR SIGNED WITH THE UFC~!!! WOOT! ZOMFG~!!!" – that is of course huge, but if other reporters have already covered it or if I don't have much to say about it, I'll mention it in "Other news" section. Other sections are self-explanatory. And, sorry, but I'll not preview UFC Fight Night 13 or TUF7. Almost all the other news reporters have already done that and I feel like I have nothing to add. Instead, I'll give you my analysis of the Strikeforce event, which featured Shamrock vs. Le.
^^ I really dislike that banner, but I'm too lazy to make a new one, so this will stay here for some time.
Wait… I forgot something… ah yeah it's April 1st isn't it? Well hopefully you have been fooled already so I won't have to do it. Instead, I suggest you to watch how Mirko Cro Cop, Bas Rutten and others fool PRIDE announcer Mauro Ranallo:
That was kinda old, but still funny as hell. Now Let's Get it On!
"STRIKEFORCE: SHAMROCK vs. LE" thoughts
-It's very sad, that both Jake Shields and Nick Diaz are not on the card. The main event was, of course, the main attraction of the event, but those were two guys that I wanted to see fight.
-Man, Quaddros, looks much older than in his PRIDE days. And he dyed his hair!
-I liked the video packages, liked the interviews and from the get go we know that this event is all about Le vs. Shamrock. And that's a good thing.
-Ryan Jenson vs. Joey Villasenor. Nice first fight. It started out slow with Joey looking for a takedown and getting one. But after they got up, it was awesome. Joey hit Ryan and knocked him down, but it seemed like that punch angered Ryan and he started throwing bombs. And he was actually hitting. It looked like Joey was rocked a couple of times, but at the very last seconds of the first round, he countered with a left jab, right hook combination and knocked Ryan out. Impressive performance by Villasenor. Ryan didn't look bad, but to me it seems like he has a weak chin, because he was hit like 4 times in the fight and two of those hits hurt him badly. Oh, by the way, have you seen the awesomeness of Joey's coach Greg Jackson? If not, then check this out:
-Mike Kyle vs. Wayne Cole. Well this one was quick. Kyle is 10 years younger, but he's coming off a DQ loss and a suspension. Cole just shoots for a takedown and then he outsmarts Kyle and locks in a quick armbar. Good performance by Wayne. And you know what I like so far about the event - quick endings. These fighters aren't top level talent, but at least we get exciting fights. It'd be very boring to watch some no-names do nothing the whole fight and that could turn away viewers. So, yeah, for now the fights are good, as we're getting ready for the huge main event.
-Kimbo Slice is here! He basically says nothing and really what could he have said? The guy just wants to bang, not to give interviews. Anyways, I'm looking forward to his fight. With Bas Rutten in his corner, he certainly could become a great heavyweight fighter.
-Gilbert Melendez vs. Gabe Lemley. Geez, the fans show no love for Lemley. Complete domination by Melendez in the first round. Gilbert just took Gabe down and punished him with his GnP. Outside of some submission attempts, Lemley did nothing. So in the second round we saw that Gilbert's striking is good too. He did well there, but decided to take Gabe down. There he continued to land hammer fists from guard and half guard positions, so Herb Dean decides that he saw enough punishment and stops the fight. Awesome performance by Melendez and it's nice to see him get back on the winning side. El Nino~! And we have another exciting match in this event.
-Drew Fickett vs. Jae Suk Lim. Wow, another short match. It was all Fickett as he reversed a takedown and then locked in a guillotine for the win. Nice win and he's indeed ready for that title shot. I don't really have much thoughts on this match. So we'll go to our next one...
-Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le. Man, I've been waiting so long for this. I've waited for this alot more than I waited for Wrestlemania (and, yes, I'm a PW fan). Frank Shamrock is one of my favorite fighters. He's very entertaining, not only when hyping it, but DURING the fight. And you gotta love his interviews. Cung Le has fought a bunch of no names and one could argue, that Frank, after his return, hasn't faced serious competition either. But these two guys are definitely the best middleweights Strikeforce has and I'm looking forward to seeing the winner fight against the likes of Robbie Lawler, Kazuo Misaki or Murilo Rua. The first round was good. Le, unsurprisingly, attacked Frank with his unhortodox kicks, but it didn't seem like Shamrock was hurt. He tried to close the distance and attack with punches, but unsuccesfully. So the first round goes to Le, he definitely did some damage there. Second round is more of the same, with Le clearly dominating. He hurt Shamrock with his kicks and Frank looked impressed. Goldberg said that Frank has a bad knee and maybe that's why he doesn't try to shoot for a takedown. The third round started again with Cung dominating, but Frank needed only one shot to rock Cung and the second part of the round was controlled by Shamrock. And here comes the sad part. Frank is unable to continue, because his arm is broken... He is probably a sad panda now, because I think he knew, he could've won this. The flurry at the end of the third round just showed, that Shamrock should've been more aggresive. Frank loves gameplans and he probably didn't take Le's kicks seriously enough - he thought, that he'll rebound in the 4th or 5th rounds. Oh well. I just hope we'll see Frank back and maybe a possible rematch. Talking about Le, I'm still not impressed with him. Sure, his striking skills are good, but his shots didn't seem to hurt Frank that much and he should use his hands more. His ground game is probably the weakest point and if Cung meets a real wrestler with submission skills, he's gonna lose.
So that's that, Strikeforce delivers a really good event. All matches were exciting and the main event delivered. What more could you ask? This event wasn't any worse than UFC events and another proof that ProElite can deliver.
THE BIG NEWS
WAMMA Time!
So who the hell is WAMMA? It's not YAMMA. It is "World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts" or something like that. Their goal is to evolve the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and make it more like boxing, where top fighters can fight each other without any problems. WAMMA has already made their Top 10 of each weight class and it is, in their own words, "the one that is the most objective and also crosses promotions lines." I don't know how their rankings are more objective than 411's. Everyone has their opinion about the Top 10 fighters and you can't really tell which website or person has the best rankings. Anyways you can check WAMMA rankings out at www.gowamma.com.
So I guess they started out quite well. They got a lot of attention on "Inside MMA" and Pat Miletich is with them too. Reportedly, they've already spoken to EliteXC, M-1 and IFL and these promotions like WAMMA's project. However, this is quite funny. Why? Because those three organizations have a total of FOUR fighters (Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Melendez & Kazuo Misaki), currently ranked in Top 10 by WAMMA. I know these are just baby steps, but at the moment, this WAMMA is nothing and shouldn't be taken seriously.
What could they do to succeed? UFC. They have the top fighters in the world and every MMA fan knows this. The CEO of WAMMA, Michael B. Lynch, said that he is negotiating with Lorenzo Fertita. But having said that, what does UFC have to gain? They could lose their fighters. Their fighters could fight in other organizations and that means UFC will lose money. Sure, UFC could have Fedor fight in their organization, but what exactly is Fedor in USA? No one, except big MMA fans, knows him. UFC would have to put a lot of hype behind him and if that's only for one fight, it's not worth it. Because in the end, it's all about making money and so far, in 2008, UFC 81 was the most bought PPV. And only because of Brock Lesnar, who is definitely not in Top 10. My point is, UFC needs some Top 10 guys to look credible as the top MMA organization. But they are not necessarily needed to get good PPV buys.
Now then, WAMMA could still try and communicate with DREAM or WVR. DREAM has the top lightweights, some middleweights and WVR has Barnett and Gomi. So if WAMMA could successfully work with these organizations, it might not be a failure. It wouldn't be that bad, if a fighter would have to decide whether he prefers to fight in the UFC or anywhere else, excluding UFC and WEC. I'd like it. So that means I wish WAMMA all the best. MMA is a growing sport and it's very interesting to see how it will evolve during the next five or ten years.
ELITEXC OFFERS FEDOR A CONTRACT
So, recently, it was confirmed by Monte Cox, that Fedor Emelianenko (28-1 MMA) has left M-1. It is not currently known which organizations are in negotiations with the former PRIDE champion. However, we know that Gary Shaw's EliteXC offered him a contract. Reportedly, it's four fight, 18 month contract with base pay between $300,000 and $500,000. In my opinion, EliteXC should do whatever they can to bring in Fedor. Surely, he's not a big name in US, but, hell, he's the Number 1 P4P fighter in the world. Ok, ok, I know about Anderson Silvas and GSPs of the world, but EliteXC could easily hype him as the No. 1 P4P fighter. Emelianenko would bring much needed credibility to EXC. Also, signing of Emelianenko could easen possible negotiations with other fighters, who don't want to fight in the UFC (Tito, Arlovksi, Barnett) because they would see EXC as an organization with A level fighters. If EliteXC takes a lesson out of UFC hype book, then they could possibly make Fedor into a big star with the exposure CBS gets. Well, yeah, Emelianenko is not very marketable, but, hey, everyone would know that EXC has an unbeatable heavyweight Russian.
Now, if Fedor does indeed sign with EliteXC, then we could finally see Emelianenko vs. Couture, when Randy frees himself out of the UFC empire. That would be huge for us, internet marks and could potentialy be huge for everyone, if promoted properly. But and there is still a big BUT, even if Fedor signs with EliteXC that the fight would happen. I'm not sure, but Couture could possibly have some kind of commitment with HDNet Fights and they would want the fight to happen on their channel, not CBS. So it's still a little early to talk about the fight. I think it won't happen in 2008, but time will tell.
On the other hand, I don't really know if Fedor would want to sign with EliteXC. Sure, the money is good, it would give him exposure, but there aren't a lot opponents in EXC, besides Couture, who Fedor could probably face.
Kimbo Slice? Armbar or kimura in round 1.
Ricco Rodriguez? Decision or TKO.
Antonio Silva? Well, that would be more interesting.
Of course, Ricco or Silva would be better choices then Kimbo, because they have an opportunity to make Kimbo a big star and, perhaps, if both fighters could go on a winning streak, EliteXC could make big ratings or money by putting those two in a fight. Antonio Silva would be the toughest opponent that EXC could offer Fedor, but he would still be a big underdog in my eyes. So, as I said before, signing of Fedor would be huge for EliteXC, but not so big for Fedor himself or Internet MMA Community, who wants to see Emelianenko fight Top 10 guys. That would still be possible if EliteXC could grab Couture, Barnett or Arlovski, but those fighters could very well end up signing with other organizations.
FRANK SHAMROCK ACCUSES HIS BROTHER OF USING
STEROIDS
Recently, Frank Shamrock (22-9-1 MMA) made some funny comments about his adoptive brother Ken Shamrock (26-13-2 MMA). He said that "Ken was on steroids his whole life". Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is 90% hype. I don‘t know if brothers actually feel animosity to each other, but some bad blood certainly won‘t hurt to promote the fight. Frank was "surprised" of how the comments were accepted and he thought, that "everyone knew Ken was on steroids". I don‘t really understand how anyone could have known about that, because I don‘t remember Ken Shamrock failing a steroid test. Frank Shamrock is a smart man and he‘ll do anything to promote or hype a fight and get inside other fighter‘s head. Let me remind you, that just 3 days ago, Frank fought Cung Le, so these "bad" comments didn‘t hurt to promote the fight with Le either. Pure logic.
Ken Shamrock, however, wasn‘t offended by Frank‘s comments, but he denied them. He reminded his brother that there are drug policies in MMA and that he never failed or refused to give a test. Ken didn‘t attack his brother, but said that the comments are irresponsible and based on an opinion, not fact. This was an unsurprising statement. Rarely anyone admits using steroids and Ken shouldn‘t do that too, even if he did use steroids in PRIDE, Pancrase or elsewhere. If you don‘t get caught, you aren‘t guilty.
So all in all, I don‘t see how Frank, who, in his own words, didn‘t have a serious conversation with Ken in seven or eight years, could know whether Ken uses steroids or not. Of course, maybe there is some truth to that, as fighters are known to use steroids in PRIDE, but to say that Ken Shamrock used steroids "his whole life" is certainly an over-the-top statement and I‘m sure it will be used to hype the possible fight between brothers.
OTHER NEWS
Nick Diaz loves marijuana. Diaz was pulled off of last Saturday's Strikeforce event. Apparently, Nick used marijuana for medical purposes and he had a medical card, which lets him use marijuana. CSAC executive officer Armando Garcia didn't let Diaz compete. He refused to comment why, but of course Diaz and Gary Shaw aren't happy about that. I guess this will result in another MMA lawsuit. Oh well, I just wish to see Diaz fight again.
EliteXC CBS card starting to take shape. This week, it has been announced, that Murilo Rua will face Phil Baroni and Gina Carano will take on Kaitling Young. Now these fights are awesome. Baroni is always exciting and it doesn't matter if he wins or loses. Rua is also an aggressive Chute Boxe fighter and a PRIDE veteran. I think Rua is a favorite in this fight and if he wins, I see him as #1 contender for Lawler's title. Carano vs. Young is even more awesome. Women fights are something you won't see in the UFC and it could attract some fans. Carano vs. Kedzie was certainly a show stealer and EliteXC is certainly hoping for an exciting fight here. Kimbo Slice's opponent is still unknown, but possible names are Ron Waterman and James Thompson. In my opinion, Kimbo would crush both guys. Anyways, I'm already looking forward to seeing this event.
Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti official for TUF7 finale. So the rebuilding of Diego Sanchez (18-2 MMA) continues... Luigi (12-3 MMA) is 3-3 in UFC and hasn‘t really beaten any notable fighters. I like Diego, he‘s exciting and he‘s beaten some tough opponents, but UFC feeds him too much with little known opponents... Well, The Nightmare isn‘t really getting a title shot soon so Dana might want to rebuild Sanchez‘s winning streak and make him a credible #1 contender in casual fans‘ eyes.
Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Jr. Possible in the future. Reportedly, both fighters want the fight and it would be a boxing fight. I really doubt Dana is glad about this idea, because he doesn‘t want UFC talent outside of UFC. But this could be a rare exception. There really aren‘t any credible opponents to Anderson‘s belt and if Silva could somehow win – that would be huge for MMA. UFC would hype the shit out of that and finally prove that MMA fighters aren‘t B level boxers or wrestlers.
Tim Sylvia signs with Adrenaline MMA So Monte Cox lets go of Fedor and signs Tim Sylvia (24-4 MMA). I don‘t really get what M-1 Global really was. An MMA organization or only a myth? It is known, that there seemed to be different opinions between Cox and "SOME OTHER GUYS WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED". Well, now that M-1 Global is officially dead, Monte Cox really needs to organize things better this time. As for Tim Sylvia, this might not be a bad career move. However, if M-1 or Monte Cox thought Fedor was too expensive, then it‘s unlikely that Monte would want to sign another big name, besides Sylvia. So... Tim is going to be lonely there. The good news is that the contract is non-exclusive, so there are possibilities of Sylvia fighting in DREAM, maybe against Fedor or Cro Cop. I would definitely like to see those fights. But what about UFC? UFC needs heavyweights badly and let's hope, that sooner or later, both Cro Cop and Sylvia resign. I‘m not a fan of Tim by any means, but at least he‘s a Top 10 Heavyweight and UFC really needs those.
UFC 85: Swick vs. Davis. Well both of these fighters have yet to establish their names in the UFC. Davis (14-3 MMA) has a nice winning streak and is undefeated in UFC. Swick (11-2 MMA) wants to reestablish himself after a very bland fight at UFC Fight Night 12. The losing fighter here would go back to the bottom of UFC Welterweight division and the winner would perhaps be 2-3 fights away from a title shot.
Josh Koscheck resigns with the UFC. And in my opinion it‘s great for both Josh (10-2 MMA) and UFC. Koscheck is well known to the fans, he‘s charismatic, some like to hate him, but that‘s ok. Kos improved a lot in his striking and with the wrestling skills that he has, Josh could very well be the welterweight champion one day. There are some rumors, that his next fight will be against Chris Lytle (25-15 MMA) at UFC 86 and if Koscheck wins, he‘ll likely be 1 fight away from getting a title shot. That‘s if his teammate Jon Fitch doesn‘t win it...
BYE BYE!
And that wraps up the first ever edition of The Tuesday Leg Lock report. Thank you for reading and please leave some comments. I accept all suggestions or criticism and I will try to reply. See you all next week!
