Jump to content

UFC News and Discussion Thread


Recommended Posts

The Ultimate Fighter," A 13-Episode Series Goes Behind-The-Scenes of the Exciting World of UFC, To Premiere January '05

Craig Piligian (Co-Executive Producer Survivor I, II and III) To Produce New Series

NEW YORK, NY, June 28, 2004 -- Spike TV and Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today a partnership to develop and produce a one-hour, 13-part reality series that will provide an inside look at the process to locate, develop and train the professional Ultimate Fighters™ of the future. The new show, The Ultimate Fighter™, will premiere in January, 2005. The series will be shot in Las Vegas at the UFC Training Center this summer and fall. Sixteen athletes from all around the country will be selected to participate. Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television (Survivor I, II, and III, American Chopper, American Hot Rod and American Casino) is the show's creator and executive producer. Robert Riesenberg, (executive producer of NBC's The Restaurant) of Full Circle Entertainment serves as executive producer as well.

"The Ultimate Fighter will reveal the passions, dedication and training it takes to break into UFC® events, and it will go behind the scenes into the business world of professional combat sports. This show will be the absolute in fighting reality TV," said Piligian.

"The dedicated, fearless athletes competing in The Ultimate Fighter will set this show apart from other reality series." said Jim Burns, Senior Vice President, Sports and Specials, Spike TV. "The behind-the-scenes look at their lifestyles and intense training regimen will resonate with our audience and fits in with our brand identity."

With new rules and regulations, the UFC®, is licensed in various states including Nevada, Florida, and New Jersey. Along with growing the business, the UFC is focused on protecting the combatants, and are proud that there has never been a serious injury or death in the history of the franchise.

It is of interest to note all UFC athletes are highly-trained and many are college-educated. Sports pedigrees include the Olympics, the Pan American Games and NCAA Division I All-Americans.

Robert Riesenberg is president and CEO of Full Circle Entertainment, a New York Company. Full Circle Entertainment is an independent production company specializing in developing and producing programming that service the marketing needs of advertisers. Full Circle Entertainment is a wholly owned unit Omnicom Media Group, which is part of the Omnicom Group.

Fans are being asked to check with www.ufc.tv for more information about The Ultimate Fighter.

Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 87 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.cool.gif, owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand of mixed martial arts is the world's premier series of MMA events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® fight programs feature six live pay-per-view events annually through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFCa fight shows are distributed internationally through WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat in Brazil, Sky Network in New Zealand and Premiere Network in Germany. Zuffa, LLC licenses the distribution of UFC video games through Take 2 Interactive and its fight show DVDs through Studioworks Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution company. "Ultimate Fighting Championship," "Ultimate Fighting," "Ultimate Fighter," "UFC," "Submission," "As Real As It Gets" and the Octagon cage design are registered trademarks or trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the U.S., Japan and other jurisdictions. All other marks that may be referenced herein belong to their respective holders.

Source:www.mmanews.com

Didn't see this posted anywhere. Seeing has how I've never seen UFC before, this has grabbed my attention. I'll definitely check out the first couple of shows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if this'll have an effect on some of the WWE's fanbase who haven't seen UFC yet.

Eh, probably not. WWE fans are used to non stop action (ok, maybe not) and are known to get antsy when the fight goes to the ground or there is stalling. But a minority of the fans might see some appeal in it. Plus, wrestling fans are used to larger then life characters on TV, there aren't too many well known "characters" so to speak in UFC. The only ones with some established sense are guys like Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, and to a lesser extent Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Phil Baroni, Randy Couture, Genki Sudo, and BJ Penn, (I say "lesser" because usually only people who watch UFC at least on a time to time basis know who they are). PRIDE, on the other hand, has more of a larger than life arsenal of fighters who are often draped in fanfare, some type charactization, or have well built repuation, Kazushi Sakuraba, Quinton Jackson, Naoya Ogawa, Mirko Cro Cop, Heath Herring, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor, Nog, and so on.

Edited by Enter Blue Guy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Caol Uno does rock all kinds of awesome, but he wishes he was Genki Sudo. That guy...is the man. I love Uno, but Sudo is something else. He brings the Japanese atmosphere and what-have-you to UFC, his entrances are second to none, he is entertaining as hell, AND he fights for the power of peace and love...or so he says. It was pretty hard to tell how much love he had when he was pounding Royler Gracie's face in. And how great is it when he stands over his fallen opponent and prays for them after the fight is done?

genkiroyler6_jpg.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Guest Vince Russo

I am somewhat surprised that none of the usual MMA fans on here didn’t make a thread about UFC 49, or even the PRIDE GP, so, even though it’s a couple of weeks late, I thought I would make one on UFC 49: Unfinished Business, and hopefully spark some MMA discussion.

Right from the first shot of the arena, the atmosphere was electric, and reached a level that WWE almost never hits. I’d also like to state right now that, for the record, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are the best announcing duo in MMA/Wresting, bar none. They totally and utterly smoke JR/Lawler, Cole/Tazz, Rutten/that other guy, and any other combination out there.

Mike Kyle v Justin Eilers: Not a bad fight to open with. Nice exchanges, as well as a couple of ‘inadvertent’ lowblows from Kyle. The finish was great, with Eilers hitting a left hand punch literally out of nowhere, which dropped Kyle like a sack of potatoes.

Matt Lindland v David Terrell: Talk about shocking. After a little circling of each other, they exchanged a few tentative strikes, and then Terrell nailed Lindland with a left that had Lindland flat on his back. A few more strikes from Terrell, and the fight was over in just 23 seconds. Didn’t see that one coming.

Josh Thompson v Yves Edwards: Somewhat unremarkable, until the finish, which will be on the UFC highlight reel for years to come. Yves had Josh in a clinch from behind, and Josh struggled out of it and began to move forward. Yves then hit an incredible enzugiri, knocking Josh Thompson silly, and that was all she wrote. Just crazy man.

Chuck Liddell v Vernon White: This was FOTY caliber. White just took a vicious beating, getting knocked down repeatedly, but he just would not stop coming. The crowd was going insane for this, and White was really getting cheered. Sadly, though, reality set in, and a stunning right hand from Liddell knocked White senseless, and this excellent fight was over, just before the end of the first round.

Joe Riggs v Joe Doerkson: Some nice wrestling here, with the crowd still coming down off of the previous fight. It was enjoyable stuff, if unspectacular. The end came late in the second, with Riggs mounting Doerkson, and peppering him with hard forearm blows. Doerkson was busted open, and bleed like crazy, and he quickly tapped out.

Chris Lytle v Ronald Juhn: I didn’t like this fight, and it bored me. Not sure why, but it might have been because the groundwork wasn’t as good as what had gone down previously in the night. Lytle won after his repeated attempts at a guillotine choke paid off.

Vitor Belfort v Randy Couture: This was a tremendous spectacle, with Couture making Vitor his personal bitch. Couture shut Vitor off completely, and it clearly got to Vitor, has he made a number of attempts to poke Couture in the eye while he was pressed against the side of the octagon. Within seconds of the second round, an accidental headbutt busted Vitor open, and he bled buckets. It was so bad, that when Vitor was pressed against the octagon, while Couture made him his bitch, Vitor’s blood splattered on to the camera, and even flew onto the notebook of Mike Goldberg at the commentary table. By the end of Round Two, Couture’s white trunks were a delightful shade of pink. Couture controlled Vitor again, keeping him grounded, and cutting off any attempt at offence. It might have been in this round, though it could have been the previous one, where Vitor tried kicking up at Couture, which earned a caution from Big John McCarthy. At the end of this round, the doctor took another look at the cut, and just as Rogan was getting hyped for the start of Round Four, the fight was ended, and Randy Couture regained his Light-Heavyweight Championship. While not the best fight of the night, this was a tremendous spectacle, seeing Randy own Vitor in the same way he owned Tito.

While Couture was being interviewed in the octagon by Joe Rogan, who happened to be at ringside but Wanderlei Silva, the PRIDE Middleweight Champion. Silva was called into the octagon, and, through an interpreter, expressed an interest in facing Couture to unify the belts. Couture expressed a similar interest, and the stage was set for a true interpromotional dream match where, believe it or not, negotiations haven’t even fully developed yet. Which means Dana White is either going to wind up with egg on his face, or we’ll actually see what could be the biggest drawing UFC fight since Ortiz v Shamrock.

Karo Parisyan v Nick Diaz: This was badly handled, because they showed the first two rounds, and, despite having more than enough time to show Round Three, just showed clips, and announced that Parisyan won. Strange.

Overall: This was a great night of action. It might not have been the best UFC ever, but it more than delivered when it came to action, excitement and drama. Unfinished Business gets an easy thumbs up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And UFC continues to put together more and more exciting shows.

Kyle loses. Terrell continues to steam roll. Edwards amazes yet again. Liddell KO's Tiger and earns a shot at the LHW championship. The only thing that upset me is Belfort losing. I respect Couture, he is one of the all time greats, but Vitor was one of my first true favorite fighters and I'm upset he lost.

All in all, one of the better shows all year. PRIDE bandwagoners take notice, UFC is for real. The HW GP was awesome, but 3 Bushido events? I'd rather take a loooong nap than watch an event in which most of the fights are snoozefests. And a note to PRIDE higher ups...STOP SIGNING THE SIDESHOWS! Sure they are entertaing at times and we all shared a laugh when Giant Silva made a extremely gassed out sumo wrestler tap, but I'd much rather see Yves Edwards, Genki Sudo, or David Terrell fight.

Edited by Enter Blue Guy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Vince Russo

And a note to PRIDE higher ups...STOP SIGNING THE SIDESHOWS! Sure they are entertaing at times and we all shared a laugh when Giant Silva made a extremely gassed out sumo wrestler tap, but I'd much rather see Yves Edwards, Genki Sudo, or David Terrell  fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Vince Russo

Also, I don't have a problem with sideshows or mismatches being on the card, it's more that I have a problem with them being in a high profile spot. For example, Giant Silva and Henry Miller had no reason to be the PRIDE GP. Sure people love Silva, I love Silva, but he is far far FAAAAR from being a top Heavyweight. Don't even get me started with Henry. I'll give both men credit for having heart, I'm sure they gave 110%, and I respect them incredibly for that, but they really didn't belong in the GP. But you're right, a high profile sideshow or mismatch can draw money, like Takayama or Sapp, but I don't I'd call Giant Silva a money drawer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been meaning to see both UFC 49 and Pride GP Finals but I've been having problems with my satellite dish. I do hope to see it by the end of the week. Luckily I managed to avoid the results from UFC 49 from VR's post but from the lineup I'm looking at a solid card.

I already know the card from the Pride GP finals so I'm looking forward to that.

I saw a preview for Bushido 4, what's the skinny on that exactly?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked this UFC, usualy UFC showes suffer wen they come straigt after a Pride event but the end of the GP Finales hase been so boring that i forgot that that show was pritty good so i had my fun.

I´ed pick pride over UFC annyday . . . and wen it comes to bushido, i refused to whatch anny of them showes from the beginning because i was pritty shure what i would ahve gotten me into, so overall i am not realy talking about Bushido wen i am Praising pride while i am not saing that that division might not become something good in the far future, so it´s good to see them investing in a new kind of fighter and keeping their future more secure in the long run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not really fuck you Ogawa, it's more like fuck PRIDE....ok, that was harsh. But seriously, Ogawa was given the easiest path to the semi finals. PRIDE was determined to have a home grown hero make it far. He beat Leko in the first round, a man who had no MMA experience, then Giant Silva, who has little MMA experience and is slow as fuck. Sure, he had a power and strength advantage, but really...he had little chance. And I'm sure if Fedor and Nog didn't advance to the semis, Ogawa would been given the easiest opponent again. Thankfully, PRIDE knew the real money was in a Fedor/Nog rematch and Ogawa was fed to the Cyborg.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PRIDE's gonna have Sideshows for a long time now, because Japan loves the Freaks, that simple,look at Bob Fucking Sapp and what he's done to K-1.

I am very sad that Belfort lost, as Belfort behind Shamrock with me were my two favourites, I like Couture, but Belfort is the man in my mind(I loved it when he beat Tank Abbott way back when, I'm sure that was Belfort.), and Chcuk Lidell sounds like he is on a destruction path, and desperately wants to fight Couture to take the strap.

Coture Vs.Silva could be interesting, also,I haven't kept up with alot of UFC lately,but I might get back into it, as to me it's getting beter and better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. To learn more, see our Privacy Policy