Five Rounds Of News 04.18.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.18.2008
A huge column with a big UFC 83 preview, my thoughts on the disaster that was YAMMA Pit Fighting, a look at who's been signed by EliteXC and for how long, as well as the usual look at the new season of The Ultimate Fighter. Fight videos of all four fighters in the two main event fights and what the conversation between your computer and printer looks like, all inside this week's Five Rounds Of News!!
Introduction
Hello again friends, and welcome in to the main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds of News. I'm the host of this here shindig, Randy Harrison, and today we've got a lot to cover, despite it being a bit of a slower week for bigger news stories. The UFC invades Canada (not literally), for the biggest show to date for the company, while headlines are surrounding EliteXC and some re-signings they have made as well. I'll be taking a look back at the disaster that was the YAMMA Pit Fighting show last weekend as well as giving my thoughts on the latest TUF episode. All of this and the usual pre-UFC fight video bonanza is on deck, but before we get to that, I have to turn my attention to my Red Wings for a moment.
I was gutted that they lost last night, and as such have lost a 2-0 series lead and go back to Detroit for game five tied 2 apiece. It's beginning to look like Dominek Hasek may not be the answer to the goaltending question and it may be time for Chris Osgood to make his re-appearance as a starting goaltender for the Wings. He already has a ton of playoff experience and a Stanley Cup under his belt, so it anyone is capable of righting the ship it's him. The rest of the team has been playing well, only to see untimely goals cut them down, so here's hoping that Osgood gets the call for the next game and is able to turn things back around to the favor of the good guys in red. Now that my little playoff business is out of the way, let's get the mouthguards in and the gloves cinched up tight because the Five Rounds begin...right NOW!!
Round One
GSP/Serra II To Light Up Montreal
The UFC continues to expand to new venues, taking the Octagon on the road again to make their first sojourn into Canada and the Great White North has welcomed the show with open arms. The largest crowd to see a UFC event, and the quickest sell-out in UFC history shows just how amped Canadians are to see the UFC in their country, as well as how amped Quebecers are to see their native son Georges St. Pierre in the main event against Matt Serra. This fight doesn't need any hype, yet there is still a ton of it to be had. The story has been gone over a million times, so I won't bother here, but instead will take a look at what I think will happen in this fight based on what has happened since the first fight, as well as what both sides have been saying in the war of words leading up to this Welterweight mega-showdown.
Montreal is already crazy enough due to their beloved Canadiens making a run at the Stanley Cup and now there is even more reason for them to go wild as they see their hometown hero attempt to regain the UFC Welterweight Championship that he lost in such crushing fashion in Houston early last year. This fight has taken on a life of its own since that loss with St. Pierre first accepting the loss, then coming up with a couple of different excuses why he lost, while Serra took those excuses personally and decided to attack French people as a whole with some moderately offensive blanket statements. Serra is going to get booed out of the building and possibly out of the province, but he's been training for that almost like how football teams train to work in domes. He's apparently been training with boos raining down in his training center in an attempt to ready himself for the hostile environment on Saturday night, but I don't think that there is anything that is going to prepare him for what the fans will have in store for him at the Bell Center.
The other main aspect of the pre-fight festivities between both camps has been the Serra camp's insistence that GSP is weak-willed and will crack under the pressure of the big fight, as well as the pressure of fighting in front of a building full of his countrymen. The most recent attacks came from Pete Sell, who called St. Pierre a "mental midget" who would back down from an altercation in a bar or club, and from Nick Serra, who said during the UFC Countdown show that GSP is a tapper and that Serra's never tap. St. Pierre addressed Sell's statement, saying that he prefers to fight for a living in the cage, rather than trying to be a barroom hero, which makes a lot of sense and only improves St. Pierre's standing in my eyes. As for him being referred to as a "tapper", I'd really have to question that when his only submission loss was to Matt Hughes. St. Pierre came out of that fight totally refocused and has appeared to come out of his loss to Serra completely refocused and a better fighter to boot.
His wrestling has gotten even stronger, his jiu-jitsu has improved and he still has his dynamic and explosive stand-up. Serra still has KO power in his hands, and great jiu-jitsu skills, but he may have angered St. Pierre and GSP is a dangerous fighter when he's angry and feels like he has something to prove. As he matured with the loss to Hughes, he appears to have matured with the loss to Serra, and his work with the Greg Jackson camp in New Mexico has shown to have worked wonders thus far. Serra has a bit better chance in this fight than he did in the first fight, but it still looks like a situation where he's going to be coming in as a heavy, HEAVY underdog. I'm expecting St. Pierre to use his reach to keep Serra at bay and to use his wrestling to get takedowns and put Serra onto his back. While Serra has great jiu-jitsu and he has the ability to submit anyone from his back, I don't think that St. Pierre is going to fall for any of those tricks and that he'll be able to avoid the submissions and lay some ground and pound on Serra.
Serra is very tough, so I would expect this fight to last a while and either end up with GSP locking in a submission or pounding out a stoppage later in the fight, or for it to go to decision with GSP getting the nod. I know that Serra won the first fight, but he hasn't fought in almost a year and St. Pierre has never looked better. He looked good going into the Serra fight, but he has seemingly found another level since losing the title, so I would expect to see GSP take the fight Saturday night, but that is based more on St. Pierre's skill level, rather than any sort of slight against Serra's skills. His Cinderella story will end in Montreal, while a new Cinderella in Georges St. Pierre will be crowned.
Random Strikes
CagePotato.com is reporting that season 8 of the Ultimate Fighter will feature current UFC Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir as coaches. The two would then square off in a fight on PPV at the end of the season.
The UFC has yet to confirm this, however an announcement is expected to be made at UFC 83 this weekend.
This would be huge for the UFC and for The Ultimate Fighter series. It would follow how things have been running lately in terms of having coaches fight at the end of shows and with them already doing a lightweight title fight this spring, and a light heavyweight and welterweight title match also already booked, the logical step would be to have this fight be for a heavyweight title between two great ground fighting coaches in Mir and Nogueira. This is also one time that a division won't suffer for having the title belt be put on hold due to a TUF season, because the heavyweight division has already been in a state of flux for quite some time. This could actually end up being a little better as it will give a bunch of time to let this whole Randy Couture/UFC/Interim Heavyweight Championship nonsense get all the way settled and the division will be able to move forward with a marquee fight for the title
Crowd-pleasing Joey Villasenor of Albuquerque, N.M., will replace Murilo "Ninja'' Rua on the EliteXC Saturday, May 31 fight card at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Villasenor, who has won two straight, including a sensational first-round knockout over Ryan Jensen on March 29, will face Phil Baroni in one of five fights on the inaugural primetime broadcast of "CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS'' on CBS (9 p.m.-11 p.m ET/PT).
No word on the severity of Rua's injury, but everyone at 411mania.com wishes him the best in a speedy recovery to the cage. Villasenor gets to step up after a crushing victory over Ryan Jensen late last month and try to make a huge name for himself on national television at the expense of Phil Baroni. If anything this fight will be more of a stand-up war now than it would have been with Rua involved because now the fight has two guys that will slug it out and put on an exciting fight. Look for Villasenor to try for a takedown though and perhaps pound out Baroni on the mat a little to soften him up before finishing on the feet.
The WEC has confirmed that Manny Tapia has had to pull out of his June title fight against current WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres. However, the WEC has announced that Yoshiro Maeda will be stepping in for the injured Tapia.
Maeda made his WEC debut with a first round KO over Charlie Valencia in February. He is also the reigning featherweight King of Pancrase.
It's always a shame when someone has to pull out of a title fight due to an injury, and here's hoping that Tapia will be able to get the next shot once he's back to 100%. That being said, this fight is just as intriguing because now we have two champions going head to head in the WEC cage. Maeda made a big splash with his knockout of a double-tough Charlie Valencia and it will be interesting to see if he can stand toe to toe with Torres and get the same result. Should be a good fight, even if Maeda gets it on somewhat short notice.
The 7-foot-2, 350 pound Hong Man Choi will be taking time off from MMA to fulfill his required service time in the Korean military service. Choi will begin his military training on April 21st. In South Korea there is a mandatory commitment to military service of up to 2-3 years.
Choi may be best known for his loss to Fedor Emelianenko this past New Year's Eve.
Boy, that Kim Jong Il better not fuck with North Korea while Hong Man Choi is in the army. This kind of sucks for Choi, but if it has to be done, it has to be done. I'm sure he will be nowhere near any real danger and he can do his time and come back to kickboxing and MMA as soon as it's done. If anything it might give him some time to heal up any nagging injuries that he may have from training for MMA or his K-1 fights.
During a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Randy Couture addressed his feelings on the potential Fedor Emelinaneko/Tim Sylvia fight:
"I think Tim poses some interesting problems for anybody who wants to fight him. At 6'8" and 280lbs, he's a seasoned veteran now, he's got some very good striking skills, I think he poses interesting problems for anybody.
Fedor's a lot more akin to my size, around 230lbs, and I think he may even be a little shorter than I am, I'm 6'1", he may be 6'0" or even 5'11, It's interesting how Fedor just fought Hong Man Choi over New Year's and that's a 7'0" tall guy, who's a lot heavier than Tim even, but probably not nearly as seasoned as Tim is, but still similar problems in the height and dealing with the range."
Anytime Fedor's name comes up, Randy is soon to follow. This still looks like a fight that is going to be left to the fantasy realm, but it will be interesting to hear the debating heat up again following this Sylvia/Fedor fight, however it turns out. If Sylvia wins, it will open Fedor up for a lot of criticism from his detractors and possibly throw the fight into doubt. Randy is going to talk highly of Sylvia because he's already beaten him and he's not going to say that Sylvia sucks because then it would take away from what he accomplished in beating him. I don't think that Sylvia has a hope in hell of beating Fedor, but Randy is a fight fan like the rest of us and all of us are interested to see these two heavyweight titans hook it up.
The UFC has released 23 year old heavyweight Jake O'Brien from his current UFC contract. O'Brien is 10-1 as a pro and 4-1 in the UFC. He suffered his first loss at UFC 82 back in March to Andrei Arlovski. Ken Pavia, O'Brien's agent, has confirmed that O'Brien has signed a two-fight deal with Palace Fighting Championship.
O'Brien has won eight of his ten victories by KO. Seven of them have come in the first round.
iA bit of a raw deal for O'Brien but I'm sure that he'll get to season himself a little on the smaller circuit and if he's able to get a bit more excitement in his fighting style and develop a little more killer instinct, expect to see him back in the UFC before the end of the year. He's a solid heavyweight and a real pro, but a little slow to watch, which is usually what the UFC tries to avoid. I'm sure that they've probably made some kind of back-end deal to where they'll get first dibs at him once he's done with his PFC contract and it will probably end with both parties reconvening and O'Brien being able to resume his UFC career before too long.
UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva recently conducted an interview with Sherdog and made some interesting comments regarding his interest in a boxing match with Roy Jones Jr:
"I'm still confident this fight will happen. This can be this year or in 2009. I respect Dana White, the UFC owners and their point of view, but my vision is that I want this boxing match.
I have a contract with UFC; I respect them, I respect Dana White and I don't have anything to complain about the promotion -- they always treated me nicely. But this is my huge personal wish, a pro boxing fight against Roy Jones, who I consider the top boxer. I'm his fan as well. I'd like this fight to happen and I'll do everything possible to make it happen. Roy Jones stated his will to fight as well. He has an exceptional character, and we want this fight. This would be good for both sports -- MMA and boxing. This would be historical! This has to happen! I can't believe that the people responsible to make it happen don't see that. They can't let the fans be without this match, which can mark the story of the fight sport."
Anderson really wants this match, and I've talked about it previously, so I'll just re-touch on my thoughts. This fight can't happen and won't happen. Jones would probably pick Anderson apart on their feet and the UFC would want no part of having their current Middleweight Champion being beaten by a boxer when they've spent all of this time in the past couple of years trying to show how their sport is superior to boxing by integrating all of the different aspects of martial arts and wrestling to the stand-up of boxing. If Jones knocks Silva out, all of that goes out the window, as does the the air of invincibility that has been such a strong marketing tool for the non-English speaking Silva. They may both want this fight, but it will never, EVER happen. Bank on it.
The following are excerpts from an interview Nate Diaz recently had with TAGG Radio:
On who he wants to fight next:
"The UFC decides that for me, Manny (Gamburyan) wants to fight me. But you know what? I want to fight him too just as much."
On his feelings about Karo Parisyan and Gamburyan:
"I don't like them, I don't mean nothing bad to anyone else in the sport. Everybody's just trying to make their money and fight their fights and do their thing, just like I am. But those guys? Fuck them. They're cocky, they talk shit, and they want to act tough. But when they're by themselves, they try to say 'What's up,' you know... I'm like, 'We're not friends, dude."
On his first fight with Gamburyan:
"[Gamburyan] already did everything he was going to do in that first round, I felt better in the second round. I didn't feel like he was doing anything from the top anyway. Pellegrino was doing good from the top. He was trying to pass the guard do his thing. Manny was just trying to sit in the guard the whole time."
You can always count on a Diaz to speak his mind. I'd love to see them fight again and I'm pretty sure that they will fight again sometime soon since both continue to win against their scheduled opponents. Since seeing that Lightweight Final and the fights afterwards, I would have to agree with the assessment that Diaz could beat Gamburyan, injury or not. He seems to be a slow starter that is able to turn it on and gain submissions later in fights, and seeing that final with the benefit of hindsight, it looks like that's how that fight could have turned out. You may like him or you may hate him, but Nate Diaz looks to be a rising star in the lightweight division so you'd better get used to seeing him for a long time.
Bobby Lashley has been training in both San Jose and Colorado Springs lately for MMA. From all reports he appears to be MMA bound when his WWE non-complete clause ends in early May.
Let him train for a year or two like Brock Lesnar did and have him pay his dues in the gym. Otherwise I won't give a shit. It may seem harsh, but he's like any other collegiate wrestler that has a great base but needs to learn all the rest of the MMA skills or he'll be eaten alive. We've already seen it happen to Brock so hopefully Lashley can learn his lessons from that. If he's serious about it, I'd be fine with seeing him fight, but if he's just going to be looking for a quick buck while he tries to iron things out with WWE then screw him, MMA doesn't need him.
Round Two
UFC 83 Breakdown
The rest of the main card for UFC 83 features middleweights heavily, along with the UFC PPV debut of last season's Ultimate Fighter winner Mac Danzig. Here's my thoughts on the other four fights that we're guaranteed to see on Saturday night.
Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter
Another get back on the horse fight for Franklin, much like he had after the first crushing defeat that Anderson Silva handed him at UFC 64. That time he got to fight Jason MacDonald, and this time he fights Travis Lutter, another guy that is a competent middleweight but just a step below the top rungs of the division. Franklin really seems stuck because unless someone is able to unseat Anderson he's going to have to be content with being the second best fighter in the division. As for Lutter, he's also coming off of a loss to Anderson Silva in his last fight, the infamous "title shot" that never was due to Lutter failing to make weight. I'm shocked to even see him back in the UFC because I figured that Dana would have his ass on a platter for wrecking the main event of the Super Bowl weekend show, but I guess bygones are bygones. Lutter seems a little more delusional these days if his talk about Anderson Silva during the Countdown special is any indication, but he should be a solid opponent for Franklin to beat. Again, Rich is going to hit a glass ceiling soon though, and if Pro Elite were smart, they'd send out some feelers about when Rich's contract is up and see if there's any interest. I'm sure Rich would have no problems leaving to become the champion there in EliteXC if Anderson Silva continues to be as unstoppable as he has been. A decent fight but Franklin is going to probably take Lutter out in the second round.
Nate Quarry vs. Kailb Starnes
In a decimated middleweight division every fight is a big fight, and this fight is a big fight for both guys. Starnes is coming off of a gruesome cut during his last fight with Alan Belcher and is going to try to regain some of the momentum he had previously when he had only one loss in ten fights. He draws a really tough test in Nate Quarry, who has seemingly come back at 100% after back problems nearly ended his career. Quarry has strong stand-up skills and he's going to have to use those, along with his sprawling and takedown defense to keep this fight standing where he wants it. Starnes' world is on the ground, as his many submission victories prove, but he's capable with his hands too so he'll probably try to use some combinations to set up his shots and then try to get the fight on the ground to tap out Quarry. Nate just seems too strong and will probably be able to stuff the shots and keep the fight on its feet where he'll be able to do some serious damage with his punches. Look for Quarry to get the win in the third round of this back-and-forth fight.
Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
Bisping makes his long-awaited debut at middleweight and if there was a definition of a "gimme" fight in the dictionary, this would be the picture that would be right next to it. Barring some sort of major organ failure, I don't see any way that Bisping loses this fight. Not that he's somehow unstoppable or a force in the division just because he decided to cut a little extra weight. It's just that he's a cut above on every level of skill than McCarthy and it's just going to be a matter of time before it's all over with. This fight should go a lot like Bisping's first PPV appareance against Eric Schafer, where he comes out a little tentative in the first round but pours it on in the second to get the stoppage. No decisions necessary here.
Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek
You know, now that I look at it, the main event is the only real competitive fight out of the entire televised card. Danzig makes his debut on pay-per-view after annihilating the field in last season's Ultimate Fighter tournament and crushing Tom Speer in the final. He steps into the cage against serviceable lightweight fighter Mark Bocek, who is 1-1 in the UFC, but his win came over Doug Evans, who has since been proven to be a less-than-capable fighter on the big stage. Danzig has great wrestling and showed really good stand-up as well during the show and look for those skills to be on display here. He'll probably be amped up to make a good showing and will more than likely run right through Bocek on the way to an easy first round victory.
Thank Jeebus For The Interwebs
The return of one of my favorite segments and this week I've found something pretty entertaining and hiliarous for you all to check out. If you've ever tried to print something and had things go a little worse than you had planned, this is for you.
Computer:Monitor, display this document, ok?
Monitor: No prob, boss.
Computer: OK, now it looks like Mouse is moving around so, Monitor, will you move the pointer icon accordingly?
Monitor: Anything you ask, boss.
Computer: Great, great. OK, Mouse, where are you going now?
Mouse: Over to the icon panel, sir.
Computer: Hmm, Let me know if he clicks anything, OK?
Mouse: Of course.
Keyboard: Sir, he's pressed control and P simultaneously.
Monitor: Oh God, here we go.
Computer: *sighs* Printer, are you there?
Printer: No.
Computer: Please, Printer. I know you're there.
Printer: NO! I'm not here! Leave me alone!
Computer: Jesus. OK look, you really ne...
Mouse: Sir, he's clicked on the printer icon.
Computer: Printer, now you have to print it twice.
Printer: NO! NO! NO! I don't want to! I hate you! I hate printing! I'm turning off!
Computer: Printer, you know you can't turn yourself off. Just print the document twice and we'll leave you alone.
Printer: NO! That's what you always say! I hate you! I'm out of ink!
Computer: You're not out of in...
Printer: I'M OUT OF INK!
Computer: *Sighs* Monitor, please show a low ink level alert.
Monitor: But sir, he has plen...
Computer: Just do it, damn it!
Monitor: Yes sir.
Keyboard: AHHH! He's hitting me!
Computer: Stay calm, he'll stop soon. Stay calm, old friend.
Keyboard: He's pressing everything. Oh god, I don't know, he's just pressing everything!
Computer: PRINTER! Are you happy now?! Do you see what you've done?!
Printer: HA! that's what you get for trying to get me to do work. Next time he...hey...HEY! He's trying to open me! HELP! HELP! Oh my god! He's torn out my cartridge! HELP! Please! ERROR!
Monitor: Sir, maybe we should help him?
Computer: No. He did this to himself.
A little something to make your Friday in the cubicle a little better, and if you're looking for more funny check out the good folks at CollegeHumor.com
Round Three
YAMMA Want My Money Back
YAMMA Pit Fighting held their debut card last weekend, and since everyone else has had a chance to weigh in on the sucktacular, I thought that I would too. This is mainly because I had a blog-style column idea set for the show, but the pure power of horrible that was emanating from my humble laptop (do you honestly think I would pay for this dog?) ended up knocking out both my internet router AND my television service. Yes, I firmly believe that YAMMA was the work of the Anti-Christ and that it was responsible for malfunctioning every electronic device in my house, just from the twenty minutes of it I watched. The structure itself seemed like a lovely (dinner plate) idea, except for the fact that it was completely counteracted by the tournament format that they used, which encouraged lay and pray artists to score a takedown to get the points and then do nothing with it to advance to the next round. One round fights don't work and this is a perfect example. Fights are generally three rounds for a reason. If they're any shorter we get the shit that we saw on Friday night, if they're any longer then we could get absolute snoozefests like we saw in the early days of PRIDE with fights lasting forty or fifty minutes with sweet fuck all happening.
Ricco Rodriguez was the biggest name in the tournament, literally and figuratively, but he ended up succumbing in the semi-finals to the dry-humping of eventual champion Travis Wiuff. The tournament was incredibly boring throughout, and you could tell that it was put together but the guy who originally came up with the UFC concept because it was a time-warp and felt like I was watching UFC 5 or 6 all over again. You know, after the Toughman contests of the early shows, and before the introduction of rounds, time-limits and referee stand-ups. Each and every fight in the tournament was basically "bell rings, guy A takes down guy B, rides him like a show pony to a lame decision win". The announcers were passable with Beck and Blatnick sounding a lot like they did in the old UFC days. The only problem with that being that the sport has evolved a ton since then, and while Blatnick has grown with the sport and is still able to provide some good opinions from time to time, Beck seemingly stayed stuck in '94 and it sounded like it. Oh, speaking of announcers, ring announcer Scott Ferrall was possibly the most annoying ring announcer EVER and should probably never do the job again. The man's voice could have grated cheese and every time I heard it all I could think of was "Get that sumbitch another pack of Camel unfiltereds, STAT" Worst. Ring. Announcer. EVER!!!
The only thing they did right was pitting the "Masters" against each other so they wouldn't fuck up the rest of the show, and even that was more sad than funny. How far from grace has Mark Kerr fallen in the past ten years. I mean he seemed like a really nice guy and he deserves a bit better lot than what life has given him, but he essentially brought it on himself with the years of steroid and substance abuse, so while I pity when anyone ends up in his situation, I don't pity him specifically. He made his choices and he has to live with them. His fight with Oleg Taktarov was short and painful as he ended up submitting to a kneebar, in a fight that probably had no real business taking place. Speaking of fights that had no business taking place, how in the FUCK does Butterbean get to fight in MMA weighing close to a quarter ton? Do we even HAVE weight classes anymore? It was rather pathetic to see him weeble-wobble around in there before Smith made him his bitch. I mean Smith isn't even that good anymore but he looked like World Championship material compared to the bullshit that was Butterbean. At least he didn't get eaten. By the way, I've heard that Butterbean's next fight in YAMMA is going to be a title fight.
The production values were terrible, the card was weak, at best, and the main event superfights featured guys that might have been draws ten years ago, but would be lucky to draw flies to shit these days. From top to bottom Bob Myerowitz should be ashamed of himself for allowing this display of "MMA" to go on, and if he thinks that this is the evolution of the sport then I want a bowl of what he's smoking cause that must be some of the good stuff. A boring step back to 1996 does NOT represent an evolution of the sport on any level, and I'm pretty sure that just as quickly as this new structure was thought up and built, it will fade into obscurity. They've already announced a second YAMMA Pit Fighting show that is supposedly scheduled for June, but if this first terrible show and the sparse crowd at the Trump Taj Mahal is any indication, I'd be surprised if it even gets off the ground. I'll be hoping it doesn't because if YAMMA continues, they could end up setting MMA back ten years with their nonsense.
Links In The Cage
Fabulous content abounds in the all-new, revamped MMA zone, so take a minute and check 'em all out, new and old writers alike.
The following press release hit the wires of 411mania.com in the past week and I thought that I would weigh in on it with my two cents. First up, the release itself;
LOS ANGELES (April 14, 2008) – Fans can continue to expect to see mixed martial arts standouts and fan favorites Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Robbie Lawler fighting for Los Angeles-based ProElite, Inc.'s live fight division, EliteXC, for a long, long time.
"I am proud and very excited to announce that Kimbo, Gina and Robbie have all re-signed with us,'' EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw said today. Terms of the long-term, multi-year agreements were not disclosed.
Kimbo, Carano and Lawler are three of EliteXC's most popular, talented and exciting fighters and all will be featured Saturday, May 31, in the first of four prime time events on the CBS Television Network in 2008.
Kimbo (2-0) of Perrine, Fla., and Carano (5-0) of Las Vegas will face fighters to be announced while the exciting Lawler (15-4) of St. Louis will defend his EliteXC middleweight title against hard-hitting Scott "Hands Of Steel'' Smith (15-4) of Sacramento, Calif., in a slugfest that figures to be non-stop, toe-to-toe action.
The official lineup for the historic MMA card, the first on network television, will formally be announced in the next few days. The highly anticipated event will emanate from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
"We're extremely happy to get these deals done with Kimbo, Gina and Robbie,'' Shaw said. "Fighters know EliteXC is the place to be and the organization to fight for, which is why we've always been able to sign or re-sign almost each and every one of our fighters.
"You don't see our guys leaving. With us, it's family and all about the fighters. Every fighter who has fought on an EliteXC card has come away being ambassadors for EliteXC.
"Kimbo has already become an MMA star due to his incredible popularity on YouTube. His backyard street fights are legendary. No question Kimbo has made a successful transition from Street to Elite and is on his way to becoming a superstar and world champion.
"Gina became an instant star after her first fight for EliteXC and has gone on to gain even more national prominence. She truly is the face of women's MMA, an inspiration to many up-and-coming athletes and is a perfect illustration as to why women do indeed have a place in this sport and with EliteXC.
"Robbie's nicknamed ‘Ruthless' – what more you need to know? He's tough, hard-nosed and always been highly regarded. EliteXC is extremely proud to have Robbie as its world middleweight champion. Robbie has shown time and again that he's one of the most thrilling fighters in any weight class in MMA.
"For sheer action and power, it doesn't get better than ‘Ruthless' Robbie Lawler versus Scott ‘Hands Of Steel' Smith.''
This is seemingly a very good sign for EliteXC and their continued growth that they're willing to look at longer-term deals with some of their top talent. The news of signing Gina to a long-term deal shocks no one as she was their biggest draw during their first few months of existence and she's still the biggest star in all of women's MMA, so she had to get locked up. It's not like they could have lost her to the UFC or anything like that, but there are plenty of other promotions that have featured women's MMA that would have loved to snap her up, so good on Elite for making sure that they took care of her and signed her long-term. Now, if we could just get some competition for her so that she could be tested against the best in the division, that would be great.
Lawler's signing also makes sense because he's the current Middleweight Champion in the promotion and as such he deserves a little cut of the money that Pro Elite is no doubt bringing in with their deal with CBS, among other revenue streams. This one is a little more risky for EliteXC though because Lawler has shown a penchant for getting hurt, and has had to pull out of a fight more times this year, than times that he has actually stepped into the cage or the ring to fight. I'm hoping that the people at Pro Elite were smart enough to make sure that they have an out in the contract in case of a Lawler injury that keeps him from fulfilling his end of the bargain. He's an explosive striker and an exciting fighter, but I'm sure that EliteXC is going to want to have their bases covered in case he ends up on the shelf or being forced to retire due to his accumulated and seemingly constant injuries. Maybe they should just wrap him in bubble-wrap and he could be like that guy in the water commercial, flopping around wherever and throwing himself down flights of stairs with no real concern for injury.
Moving on to Mr. Slice, I would have to say that he is probably locked in with the longest and most lucrative deal of all three because he is one of the biggest reasons that EliteXC is doing as well as it is. Say what you will about his background and history, but he's become a proven draw for the company and he's going to prove it again at the end of May when they make their network television debut. The man has charisma and can bring the people with him, both to the arena and to watch him on television. It's been a while since MMA has had someone that has that kind of power with the fans and can put on exciting fights. Sure they're feeding him more cans than an aluminum recycling facility, but he needs that right now to have the time to learn and grow and perhaps become an all-around fighter by the time he gets in there with a talented opponent. Given time and the fact that he's training with Bas Rutten, he can't help but get good at all aspects of the sport, and when he does and if he keeps his head on straight, there could be no stopping him when it comes to his crossover appeal. A VERY smart move by Pro Elite to make sure that this guy is staying with them for the long haul, and if they were smart they'd give him a contract in the five to ten year range and leave it open for re-negotiation as the money they make grows and Kimbo's popularity grows. If this contract is anything less than a six-fight deal, they're insane, because you know that the UFC would love to have someone else put all the money into grooming Kimbo into a star and then swoop in and pick him up at his height.
The other thing I noticed in the release was the little shot that Gary Shaw took at the UFC by saying that his fighters don't want to leave and that EliteXC is like a family. That's all well and good Gary, but by continuing to take shots like that in the media you come looking a little desperate for attention. Focus on what you have and your own product and if it's good people will take a liking to it and become fans, not because you decided to make statements that cut down your rival. If anything, that kind of talk could probably drive fans away from the sport as it begins to sound like the same petty drama and bullshit that has inundated all of the other major sports in the past twenty years. MMA is different because at its heart it's a pure sport, with two men meeting to find out which man is better. Keep the focus on that Mr. Shaw, not on a petty rivalry with another company, and I'm sure that you'll be handsomely rewarded in the end.
Random Strikes Part Deux
As usual before every big fight, Five Rounds has you covered with all the fight videos you could ever want to see from some of the main participants on the card. First up is Matt Serra's biggest win of his career followed by Georges St. Pierre dispatching Frank Trigg. Also on the card is Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter and we'll have a video of Lutter taking on Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons and finally finishing off with Rich Franklin squaring off against
Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre: UFC 69 April 7, 2007
Georges St. Pierre vs. Frank Trigg: UFC 54 August 20, 2005
Travis Lutter vs. Jose Landi-Jons: Cage Rage 15 February 4, 2006
Rich Franklin vs. Marvin Eastman: WFA 1 November 3, 2001
Round Five
The Usual TUF Stuff
With the preliminary fights out of the way, it's time to pick the teams and get the REAL show on the road. First off I just want to say that I think Mike Dolce went a little overboard saying "we're not just reality TV guys anymore, we're real fighters" strictly because they won a warm-up fight to get into the house. You were fighters before you got onto this show and you don't need to win a prelim fight to gain any street cred. That being said, you must be living under a rock if you think that winning a pre-show fight is going to get you credibility with the hardest of hardcore MMA fans. You'll be labeled as a "reality TV guy" LONG after the show is over as some guys from the ORIGINAL season of The Ultimate Fighter are just now starting to shed that scarlet letter and be considered "real" fighters. Dolce must not have seen a lot of this show before or he would have known that the TUF guy label is one that stays with you for awhile, no matter what you do.
The teams got picked and both teams got some of the guys that looked great during the pre-fights so there hopefully won't be any whitewashes in the preliminary fights like we've seen in the past couple of seasons where one team just dominates the other. I'm still feeling like this Rampage and Forrest dynamic is going to be awesome because they're both entertainers and that's something that this show needs just as much as decent fights when it comes to drawing in an audience. It was pretty funny to see Rampage's reaction that flesh-eating disease that Paul brought in on his neck. It's a shame to see it because he had a ton of potential, but he ends up having to go home cause of the herpes. The kid was absolutely crushed and it was one of the few times that I was really sorry to see someone go. Usually there's no remorse when one of these schmucks go home because they generally act like a douche and get cut, but this kid was just a victim of circumstance. It had to be done because of the liability issues to the guys on his team, both health-wise and legally, but it's still a shame to see it. Hopefully he heads back home and finds his path because it's really easy to end up going the wrong way after missing out on your dream.
After sending Paul home they had to bring back Patrick, and everyone on Team Rampage figures that he's the weakest guy by far because he got beaten by Team Forrest's weakest member. We'll have to see how it all plays out, but if he loses the team could turn on him pretty quickly. As for the coaches that both teams have, Rampage's coaches have a ton of experience, and guys like Juanito are going to do worlds of good for these guys to get their stand-up going and their footspeed in order, but Forrest looks like he's going to be the better hands-on coach and motivator. He's also bringing in guys as coaches who are going to be focusing on trying to adapt their skills to the MMA style, with someone like Gray Maynard bringing in tons of wrestling experience as well as the experience to adapt that wrestling to MMA. I will say that Rampage is going to have his guys ready to go through hell and back because he's already befriended his entire team by showing up at the house and getting to know them all. It seems like a small gesture, but when you're going to be cooped up in a house like that for that long a period of time, every little bit helps, and Rampage really earned the trust of his team with that move. A smart move by Rampage and something that should help team unity down the road.
The fight on the show was between Jesse Taylor and Mike Dolce and it really seemed like Team Rampage viewed the fight pick as a mistake as they thought that Mike was one of their stronger guys and that Taylor was a sacrificial lamb being led to slaughter so that Mike didn't take out one of Team Forrest's stronger members later on. Based on the preliminary fight I would have thought the same thing, but Taylor surprised a lot of people by controlling the first round with his wrestling and then finishing in the second with a rear naked choke. Dolce really has to work on his takedown defense if he's going to be a sprawl-and-brawler because he was taken down far too easily and rendered completely ineffective once he was on his back. Taylor looks like he might be one of those guys that flew under the radar but ends up being one of the stronger guys on the team. His wrestling was solid, he had good ground and pound while he was on top and he even ended up having decent submission skills to boot. I didn't dig that Dolce kind of took a backhanded swipe, saying that if the coaches had known him better that he'd have been in a better position to win. They've seen you for like five days jackass, getting yourself ready for the biggest fight of your career is just as much on you as it is on them.
A solid real first episode after the fight-filled openers, and if the first fight is any indication this could be one of the strongest seasons yet in terms of talent and decent fights. It will be interesting to see how Team Rampage handles the loss and if they'll be able to rebound and get momentum back in their favor, or if it will continue to be Team Forrest picking good fights and winning them. I hope it doesn't end up that way because it was really rough watching the past couple of seasons in the opening round fights when you almost knew who was going to win already, just based on which team the fighter was on. I don't think the show will ever get back to the popularity it had during the first season, but this season looks like it's going to be a good one with the Forrest/Rampage dynamics and the usual jackassery in the house. I'm hoping for more of the former than the latter.
Post Fight Wrap-Up
Well folks, that wraps up another week of the main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds of News. Here's hoping that next week picks up a little bit with the news and things like that, because it was a little rough trying to find things to write about this week. Next week be sure to check in for the UFC 83 breakdown, a look ahead to DREAM 2 and whatever else happens to roll down the pike in the next seven days. Of course, if my Red Wings manage to lose in their first round series, I might not be here next week as I'll be in the hospital under a suicide watch, but that's neither here nor there. Someone will be in with the news next week and it will most likely (they better fucking win) be me, so until then enjoy UFC 83 and have a great weekend everyone. Good night Springton, there will be no encores!
Be sure to check out my fellow Canuck, Joe Ferraro and his "Showdown" radio show, every Thursday at 10 PM EST, on FAN 590 or the archives of the show at Showdown Entertainment.
I finally watched Serra/St. Pierre earlier this week for the first time since that fateful night over one year ago.
It still pissed me off...
Posted By: Sergio G. Hernandez (Registered) on April 18, 2008 at 09:38 AM
GSP also tapped to Serra as he was getting pounded ya bonehead
Posted By: dj soma (Guest) on April 18, 2008 at 12:40 PM
FTA:Boy, that Kim Jong Il better not fuck with North Korea while Hong Man Choi is in the army.....
You are aware that Kim Jong Il is the dictator of North Korea aren't you? That George Bush better not fuck with North America, if he knows what's good for him!
Posted By: Alllucky (Guest) on April 19, 2008 at 10:35 AM
FTA:Boy, that Kim Jong Il better not fuck with North Korea while Hong Man Choi is in the army.....
You are aware that Kim Jong Il is the dictator of North Korea aren't you? That George Bush better not fuck with North America, if he knows what's good for him!
Posted By: Alllucky (Guest) on April 19, 2008 at 10:37 AM
