My Take On MMA 1.22.07: Akiyama Cheats, Terkay Back to MMA, Inside the UFC and More
Posted by Larry Csonka on 01.22.2007
The Japanese Lotion Scandal, Inside the UFC rules and will the “Man Bear” return to MMA?
The Introduction:
Welcome back to another edition of my latest venture, My Take on MMA! I have to tell you that while I am a huge MMA fan, it was odd to step out of my comfort zone of wrestling and go into this new realm. But I have to say that it was a fun one to write and the feedback was positive, so I will continue on and hopefully you will enjoy these columns. That all being said this time we have four subjects to discuss: Terkay back to MMA, Sakuraba vs. Akiyama, UFC on NBC.com, Joe Rogan and Inside the UFC. That's what is on the plate, time serve it up. Enjoy!
The Topics:
Sylvester Terkay Back to MMA?: On January 18th WWE had what is known to wrestling fans as another "Black Thursday." WWE tends to do these once a year, where they release a large number of talent all at once. On Thursday it was 11 members of the roster, one that may be a bit familiar to MMA fans. Sylvester Terkay was this man, and now he is looking for employment. While in WWE they played off of his background in MMA and made him into the "Man Bear." He wrestled a style that was like faux MMA style, and did it rather poorly. Sometimes a real fighter just can't adapt the same style to a "scripted" sport. His time was short in WWE, and with his release the natural question is, "Will he return to MMA?" Terkay's MMA record is 3-1, all for the K1 promotion. His only loss was a TKO to Gary Goodrigde in a one round TKO from punches. His three wins include a 1st round TKO, a 1st round submission and a unanimous decision. In some circles Terkay was seen as rather dangerous and he had trouble getting fights. He wasn't perceived as a high level fighter, but dangerous enough that he could beat a man and hurt their career. I don't see UFC running to get him or even K1 wanting him back, but I am sure an upstart like IFL or Bodog would snag him up considering he has experience and was just a star on US TV through WWE. That would probably be his best bet, and he may even find small time success in one of these environments
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama: The fight from New Year's Eve has now been ruled a No Contest by officials. During the fight Sakuraba complained to the official several times that Akiyama had in some way oiled up his legs, which led to Sakuraba saying he couldn't get a takedown. The official largely ignored the pleas of Sakuraba and the match continued, and Sakuraba was destroyed rather handily. After the match Sakuraba continued with his protest and later on, Akiyama admitted to using "lotion" on his legs, and get this, for a "dry skin condition." Akiyama will now have to relinquish his entire fight purse and the official will also lose half of his purse for the night. Two bad things about the whole thing are the fact that many figured a win would throw Akiyama over the top as the next big star, but with the allegations and appearance of cheating, which is Japan especially can kill you, he could be doomed. Also, the worst part about all of this is that we will probably get a rematch of the fight. This is bad because in my opinion, and the opinion of many others Sakuraba doesn't need to be fighting anymore. When I hear that Sakuraba is signed to a fight I actually wonder if this is the night that the man will die; and that isn't a good thing.
NBC.com Opens Up UFC Sub-Section: In what has to be seen as a huge positive for UFC, NBC.com opened up a special subsection of their website for UFC. This is a big deal because "major media" isn't exactly swarming to cover MMA as a whole, let alone UFC. ESPN still has mindless idiots that call it "organized cock fighting" and show no intellect when discussing it. They live to dog the sport as a whole while they glorify boxing. UFC has been growing so much and accumulating amazing PPV numbers, but these uninformed idiots won't lift a finger to order a show or read up to learn more. But now NBC has opened up this subsection and it is a step in the right direction. The page as a whole, albeit in it's infancy is a well-designed page and very informative. They have videos and interviews with Dana White, news and rumors, recaps of fights like Tito vs. Chuck and a rankings part by divisions. Judging from fan response they don't like the rankings they have, but are overall happy with the page and are thankful to NBC launching it. The page is fin for long time MMA fans, yet informative and easy to understand for newer fans. All in all this is a very good thing for the UFC and MMA as a whole. Hopefully more "major media" coverage will follow and the "myths" about MMA as a whole can be properly discredited.
Joe Rogan and Inside the UFC: And our final topic of the day is the "Inside the UFC" show and its host Joe Rogan. As many know Rogan is the usual "color" type commentator for the UFC PPV's. Rogan is both loved and hated by UFC fans simultaneously. In the end it comes down to the personal like of Rogan's style, personality and humor. I personally enjoy Rogan's work on PPV and the TV shows. First of all he comes off as a fan, first and most importantly I feel. People can relate to him because he is like their loud buddy that they go back and forth all week on whether to invite him to the PPV party, but in the end you are usually glad you did. Secondly, while he comes off as a big fan, he comes off as a big fan that knows his shit and respects the fighters. To me this is what makes him an asset to UFC. Which brings us to the "Inside the UFC" magazine style show. I like the use of this format, and think that UFC uses it well. Rogan is a good host, who gets to let his personality out full force on the show. They have good interviews, have made major announcements (Couture coming out of retirement,) clips of fights and interesting specials like the one of the UFC Cut Man and his importance in a fight. It's a fun show for informed fans of the product, yet also an informative one for new fans. I feel that this is yet another good thing that UFC is doing right now.
My Take On:
There we have it, another edition in the books. I am sorry for the briefness of the column this week, but these are some topics I wanted to discuss before the Ultimate Fight Night Special this Thursday evening. Speaking of that, stay tuned for later this week (Friday Morning I hope) when I return with my take on the UFC Fight Night special! Until then take care and you have just read My Take on MMA.
