The Ultimate Writer 12.14.08: Interview With Round 5's Damon Lau, Brock Lesnar Sticking With MMA, And Much More
Posted by Dustin James on 12.14.2008
It's Sunday and that means it's time once again for "The Ultimate Writer". Join 411's Dustin James as he sits down with Round 5 MMA's Damon Lau, discusses Brock Lesnar's decision to stick with MMA, and much more.......
Welcome back to "The Ultimate Writer". As always I'm your main man, Dustin James and I'm proud to welcome you back to your favorite Sunday MMA article written by yours truly. What a week it has been eh? We had 3 MMA shows in 4 days. We saw Josh Koscheck knock Yoshiyuki Yoshida back down the UFC's welterweight ladder. We saw Adrenaline MMA put on a show that I had zero interest in. And we saw the crowning of this season's "Ultimate Fighter" champs. All in all, a great week for MMA unless your name is Corey Hill. Seriously, have you SEEN that footage? It's nassttty. But don't worry, I wouldn't subject you to such a gruesome image here on "The Ultimate Writer". After all, we are a family-friendly site!
Now that that's over.............
LET'S GET IT ON!.......
The Week That Was:
This feature is self-explanatory. The biggest news items of the week go here, duh!
Monday:
We started off the week pretty slow actually. We learned that Brock Lesnar had no desire to leave MMA. Well, that's a shocker! The only reason he left the WWE was reportedly because the schedule and traveling sucked ass. He doesn't have that in MMA. He may have to travel once every 4-6 months to fight, and to make guest appearances and that's it. There's no six different cities on five different nights like there is in the WWE. I can see Brock being a force in MMA for years to come.
We also learned that Antonio Silva has pretty much ruined any chance to fight for the UFC or any other United States promotion for some time. He just can't sit on the sidelines and wait for his suspension to end? Oh nooooo, he must fight now! Don't even get me started on how stupid this move is. Who cares if you "didn't" take steroids Silva? Is it really worth fucking up your chances to fight again in the United States because you are pissed over a suspension? This just reeks of douchebaggery.
One good thing came out of Monday however.....the UFC signed up-and-coming lightweight fighter Ronnys Torres. Torres has won like 8 fights in a row in a span of 13 months. Now THAT'S being active. Rich Clementi.....WATCH OUT!
Tuesday:
On Tuesday we started to pick up a little speed. It was revealed that the UFC was considering a possible Thales Leites/Anderson Silva UFC Middleweight Title fight in a "BATTLE OF THE BRAZILIANS~!". Besides Bisping, Okami, or perhaps Marquardt.....Leites does make sense for Silva. There is not a whole slew of challengers in the UFC's middleweight division that Silva hasn't walked through yet. Does Leites really have what it takes to hang with Silva though?
It was also revealed that Roger Huerta had signed an extension with the UFC and will appear in the upcoming video game....oh, and the UFC signed John Howard. Whooooo? Exactly.
Wednesday:
Wednesday was a great day for the troops as the UFC held their "UFC Fights For The Troops" fight card/charity telethon. I'm not sure how much money the UFC raised for the troops, but let's hope it was a huge amount. I mean, hell.....Corey Hill gave his right leg for the troops! But don't worry, I won't post the footage......
Ok......I lied. Seriously though, how gruesome is that? For a second I thought Hill was channeling the powers of the elastic man from the Fantastic Four. That's one guy who would never be submitted in MMA.
As for the rest of the card? Josh Koscheck shocked the hell out of me by knocking the piss out of Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Mike Swick looks to have FINALLY returned to form. Oh, and Corey Hill will miss over a year's worth of action while doctor's try to find out how to feed him so his legs aren't like toothpicks.
We also learned that Diego Sanchez was going down to the UFC's lightweight division in a move that I LOVE. The UFC wanted to put a Sean Sherk/Diego Sanchez main event fight on the February PPV, however Sherk just had knee surgery and can't fight. Now the UFC is struggling to get a main event together for that show.
Dana White also confirmed that either Rich Franklin or Dan Henderson would coach on "The Ultimate Fighter" (c'mon HENDO!) and that Royce Gracie would appear in the upcoming UFC video game. YAY for UFC legends!
Thursday:
Thursday was rather slow. But what do you expect? The majority of the MMA world was still crying over Corey Hill's broken leg. But other than that, we learned that the UFC was likely to release Johnny Rees following his loss to Steve Bruno at the "UFC Fights For The Troops" card.
DREAM also finally confirmed that we would get to see Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki at the "Dynamite!! 2008" show on New Year's Eve. HELL YEAH! I can't express how awesome this fight will be. Two of the top lightweights doing battle in a fight that should have gone down months ago. I just hope I get a chance to see this card.
Friday:
Friday was extremely busy. Affliction announced that Renato "Babalu" Sobral would face fellow UFC veteran Sokoudjou at "Day Of Reckoning". Talk about an awesome fight. Picking up Sokoudjou is an excellent move by Affliction and I'm glad to see the guy get some love on PPV. It should be an excellent fight, and here's to Sokoudjou finally getting off that losing streak.
Also on Friday we learned that Anderson Silva's next fight would be pushed back to April (BUMMER!), and that Frank Mir thinks Brock Lesnar will NEVER be able to defeat him. Well, never say never Mir.......but you can't disagree with Frank on this one. He does hold a convincing win over Brock and until they meet again, he has every right to brag.
Saturday:
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale went down.....duh. Besides that, nothing really happened.
Special Interview With Round 5's Damon Lau:
I recently got the chance to sit down with Damon Lau. He is the founder of the Round 5 MMA collectibe figurines which can be found at www.round5mma.com. Seriously, check them out. They are a great Christmas gift for any MMA fan.
411mania: Thank you for sitting down with 411mania.com today Mr. Lau. Why not tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started Round 5 MMA, the first official MMA collectible figures.
Damon Lau: Before Round 5, I was originally running and still currently own a mid size advertising and creative marketing agency in Canada called Pressure alongside my brother and partner Barron Lau. We have worked with a wide range of clients from Yahoo to Calvin Klein. Having worked with a few various clients within the MMA industry, I had the opportunity to develop a great relationship with Randy Couture. In the spring/summer of 2007, Randy had flown into town for some promotional appearances so we decided to catch up and have dinner together. During that dinner, we were jokingly tossing around funny business ideas that we thought we be great. Randy had mentioned that he'd always thought it'd be funny if someone would create plastic cauliflower ears for fans to wear at the fights. In response to that, I said wouldn't it be cool if someone created figurines of guys in MMA. We both sort of paused for a second and realized that seemed like a pretty great idea. Randy had said to me that night if I ever wanted to pursue that endeavor to let him know. He ended being the first license we signed.
411mania: What gave you the idea to create action figures of the UFC superstars? You know it's a good one considering you beat the UFC to the punch.
Lau: Definitely the inspiration behind the figures came from me being fans of these figurines created during the days of Pride in Japan made by a company called HAO. I always thought they were amazing but could understand that the super cartoon-like appeal may not appeal to fans in the North American market. What we wanted to do was create a hybrid style product, super realistic and detailed with a flair of Marvel comic book style.
411mania: Is there a voting process as to which UFC fighters you select to make?
Lau: We don't have a specific voting process. What we really do is just research all the forums, go through the hundreds of emails we receive on our website everyday and simply pick based on the feedback we get online. The bigger the buzz we hear is the fighters we typically create, the fan favorites.
411mania: How do you feel about the UFC's new line of JAKKS action figures? From my understanding once you guys release a fighter's figure he is under an exclusive contract with you.
Lau: UFC's new line of JAKKS action figures are a completely different product from what we do. Their figures are mimicking exactly the style of the WWE wrestling figurines which are geared towards children. Our target demographic is men, 18-40, who are into collectibles. You don't play with our figurines. You leave them at your desk, on top of your TV or with your other fan memorabilia. We create a product that is geared specifically towards the very same guys who watch the pay per views.
Approximately 90-95% of our licenses are exclusive.
411mania: How much input does each fighter have with his figurine?
Lau: Each fighter has 100% creative control and final approval of his figurine. Everything from the pose, to the facial expression and even to the sponsor logos on their shorts are created under the direction of the fighter. I think it's great from a fan point of view to have an authentic product that is created in the vision of the fighter. What could be better than knowing that the figurine on your desk was art directed by the fighters themselves!
411mania: Do you think the UFC fighters will be harder for you to secure with the UFC now in the action figure game?
Lau: I don't foresee it being an issue. We've been so busy with new licenses we have already scheduled, planned and are in development of Series 3, 4, 5 and 6 which will be launching quarterly next year.
411mania: Do you plan on working with Affliction anytime soon? I'm sure fans would love to see a Round 5 figure of Fedor Emelianenko.
Lau: We don't have any specific plans to work with any specific promotion as we normally work directly with the fighters. Fedor Emelianenko? There is definitely a possibility of seeing him in a Series next year.
411mania: Do you have any plans on releasing any figures for fighters from Japanese promotions such as DREAM or Sengoku?
Lau: We're pretty much open to create figurines of any fighters regardless of which promotion they come from. The bottom line is if it's something that fans want… let us know and we will create it!
411mania: I understand you are a huge MMA fan, when did you become such a huge fan of the sport?
Lau: I've been a die-hard MMA fan for the past 10 years. Everyone has their favorite sport to watch whether it be football or hockey or basketball… it just so happens that MMA is mine. It's pretty much the only sport I truly follow. I was that guy reading play by plays on the Sherdog forums at 3am because you couldn't find it on PAY PER VIEW.
411mania: Who are your personal favorite fighters?
Lau:Randy Couture would be one. I don't think anyone cannot respect what Randy has done for the sport. He has a fantastic career of the great triumphs and defeats and is constantly defying the odds every time he steps into the cage.
Secondly would probably be Wanderlei Silva. Without a doubt, his fights are nothing short of exciting and his brute killer instinct is something all fans can recognize and connect with.
411mania: Thank you very much joining us. Is there anything else you would like to share with your fellow MMA fans?
Lau: I'd like to thank the fans for the support and also to let them know that we are here to create whomever and whatever the fans want. Please visit our website at www.round5mma.com and send us an email to let us know whom we should create next.
Where are they now?
This feature looks at fighters who have been inactive for some time. Where exactly have they gone? I don't know and I'm reaching out to you guys to help us find these missing MMA stars......
MISSING
Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva
MMA fans know Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva as the incredible tall fighter (he stands at 7'2!) who fought for PRIDE over the course of 4 years and compiled a less than impressive 2-6 record. WWE fans from the late-90's may know Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva as just plain old "Giant Silva" from the stable known as "The Oddities". Remember the guy's who came down to the ring with the Insane Clown Posse (UGH!) and waved their hands all crazy like? Ya, those window lickers. This guy was a member of that stable. He probably should have stayed with the WWE (seriously, did this guy even wrestle for the WWE? I remember him wrestling maybe once or twice on TV during his stay) seeing as his only MMA wins came against Henry Miller and Chad Rowan....both via kimura. Basically, just stay out of Silva's kimura and you are golden and will more than likely finish him. I don't lie folks.......Giant Silva......where art thou?
If you know the whereabouts of Paulo Cesar "Giant" Silva, please contact Dustin James at sickboyv1@aol.com, or go to his myspace located here.
Random Top 10 List Time!
Here you will see a random top 10 list put together by yours truly. It may be Top 10 submission fighters, Top 10 stand-up fighters, or hell, even Top 10 ways that Anderson Silva could kill you. Seriously, don't mess with that man. He's dangerous.
Top 10 Things You Did Not Know About ME: (Yes, it's all about me this week in the top 10. It's about time I told you guys some stuff you did not know about ME.....)
ARE YOU READY?
(This list is in no particular order)
10. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has called the cops on me - Once when I was in high school I MIGHT HAVE egged Piper's house. Honestly, I didn't do it but I know who did it.....and still, the cops came to my freaking house. Thanks Piper.
9. I'm a sports nerd - Seriously, I'm that dude driving down the street listening to sports talk radio, checking ESPN.com on my mobile phone, owning 14 fantasy football teams. It's a damn shame I tell ya. I also missed the playoffs in the 411 fantasy football league because Csonka is a cheater.
8. I'm a huge LOST fan - Lovvvvve me some LOST. It's the only show currently on TV that I will sit down and watch when it's actually on. The other ones I will save for DVR, even Heroes.
7. Jobs - In the past I have worked at a movie theater, and Game Crazy. Unfortunately now I have one of those "real world" jobs and it sucks. I wish I still worked at the movie theater, I HIGHLY recommend that job for teenagers and people who hate getting paid alot.
6. I attended Wrestlemania 19 in Seattle - It was on my birthday and it was probably the greatest birthday ever. I was so drunk I only remember half the show. Not to mention I was so hungry that I jumped out of the cab my friends and I were in after the show and went searching for a McDonald's in downtown Seattle. Thank you Space Needle for being the best compass ever.
5. My senior year of high school - My senior year of high school was special because my dad had FINALLY gotten married and was leaving town. He didn't want to force me to find a new school for my senior year so he let me use the house and gave me $250 a week for groceries. That's right. I was in high school and had my own pad. I don't recall much of what happened that year, but I'm sure it was fun.
4. Sports - I'm a huge Oregon Ducks, Portland Trailblazers, and Kansas City Chiefs fan. I totally dislike the Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Broncos, Oregon State Beavers, & the Boston Celtics. That's right...you can go to hell Paul Pierce.
3. Saved a man's life - When I was around 13 years old, I was walking in a Target parking lot with a few friends and I noticed an overweight man crouched over his steering wheel. I curiously walked closer and noticed that something was wrong with his position and we started to try to wake him vocally. He wasn't budging and I could totally tell something was wrong with him so we flagged down this lady who luckily had a cell phone. She called 9-1-1, they came, we saw them revive the man and we bounced. Strange day indeed.
2. Guidance counseling - When I was in 3rd grade I was asked what I wanted to be when I "grow up". Of course I wanted to be a PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER! YA!!!! My school did not agree with my decision and I was forced to see a "special counselor". I shit you not. This guy would force me to toss a ball with him and ask me how I'm doing and stuff. All I really wanted to do was DDT the douche and finish him off with a leg drop.
1. Undefeated in MMA - That's right. I'm undefeated in MMA. I can contribute that to the fact that I have never actually participated in an MMA fight......but still. UNDEFEATED~!
Current Champions:
This feature is pretty self explanatory. I list the current champions in each relevant promotion, and you guys sit and read. Easy enough for ya?
Brock Lesnar - UFC Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Randy Couture back on November 15 at UFC 91.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria - Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
Won the title from Tim Sylvia back on February 2, 2008 at UFC 81
Forrest Griffin - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson back on July 5, 2008 at UFC 86
Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Rich Franklin back on October 14, 2006 at UFC 64
Georges St. Pierre - UFC Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Matt Serra back on April 14, 2008 at UFC 83
BJ Penn - UFC Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Sean Sherk back on May 24, 2008 at UFC 84
Won the title from Bobby Southworth back on November 21 at Strikeforce: Destruction
Cung Le - Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion
Won the title from Frank Shamrock back on March 29, 2008 at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le
Josh Thomson - Strikeforce Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Gilbert Melendez back on June 27, 2008 at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
Gegard Mousasi - DREAM Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza back on September 23, 2008 at DREAM 6
Joachim Hansen - DREAM Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Shinya Aoki back on July 21, 2008 at DREAM 5
Carlos Condit - WEC Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Mike Pyle back on March 24, 2007 at WEC 26
Jamie Varner - WEC Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Rob McCullough back on February 13, 2008 at WEC 32
Mike Brown - WEC Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Urijah Faber back on November 5, 2008 at WEC 36
Miguel Torres - WEC Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Chase Beebe back on February 13, 2008 at WEC 32
Watch Out For This Guy:
In this feature I will showcase a fighter who I believe is on his way up in the MMA world......
Jim Miller
Jim Miller is an up-and-coming UFC lightweight fighter who is on a ROLL right now. The guy is currently 13-1 as a pro and is 2-0 in the UFC with wins over David Baron (via rear naked choke) and Matt Wiman (via decision). Miller is currently on an 8-fight win streak and is looking to become one of the top dogs in the UFC's lightweight division. His only professional loss came at the hands of Frankie Edgar, who is widely considered one of the top lightweight fighters in the UFC. If Miller keeps going at this pace, he will be fighting for the UFC Lightweight Title in either 2009 or 2010........
Upcoming Events:
Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:
UFC 92: Ultimate 2008 - December 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans (UFC Light Heavyweight Title)
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria vs. Frank Mir (UFC Heavyweight Title)
-Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
-CB Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
-Cheick Kongo vs. Mustafa Al-Turk
-Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister
-Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
-Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Mark Burch
-Dan Evensen vs. Pat Berry
FEG FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 - December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
-Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Joachim Hansen (DREAM lightweight title)
-Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
-Mark Hunt vs. Jerome Le Banner
-Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki
-Hiroya vs. Shimada Shota (K-1 Kickboxing bout)
-Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kozo Takeda (K-1 Kickboxing bout)
-Gegard Mousasi vs. Musashi (K-1 Kickboxing bout)
-Kusakabe Ryuya vs. Urabe Koya (K-1 Kickboxing bout)
World Victory Road's "Sengoku 7" - January 4 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
-Takanori Gomi vs. Satoru Kitaoka (Sengoku lightweight title)
-Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki (Sengoku middleweight title)
-Antonio Silva vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
-Dave Herman vs. To Be Announced
-James Thompson vs. To Be Announced
-Roger Gracie vs. To Be Announced
-Sanae Kikuta vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson - January 17 at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland
-Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark Coleman
-Denis Kang vs. Alan Belcher
-Chris Lytle vs. Marcus Davis
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Jeremy Horn
-Martin Kampmann vs. Alexandre Barros
-Andre Gusmao vs. Antonio Mendes
-Thomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
-Nate Mohr vs. Dennis Siver
-John Hathaway vs. Tom Egan
Affliction: Day Of Reckoning - January 24 at The Honda Center in Anaheim, California
-Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski (WAMMA heavyweight title)
-Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
-Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
-Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Sokoudjou
-Dan Lauzon vs. Chris Horodecki
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
-Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
-Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov
-Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios
-Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis
-Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight
MMA Motivational Poster Of The Week:
Next up? Fedor vs. Jaws:
Video Of The Week:
And because you loved it so much the first time.......:
Thank you for joining me again for this wonderful column. I hope you continue to read every week and don't forget to check out the other wonderful columns here on 411mania.com, which is updated daily because that's how we roll.
