MMA News and Discussion Thread

[Enter Blue Guy]

NB: As of 3/15/10, use this thread for news and discussion of MMA that isn't UFC - Strikeforce, WEC, Japan, and so on.

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This news broke out earlier in the week.

Fighter Nick Diaz, following his defeat of Takanori Gomi on the February 24, 2007 Pride event in Las Vegas, Nevada, also tested positive for Delta-9-THC. The commission suspended Diaz for 6 months from the date of his fight, which would be August 24, 2007 and fined him $3,000, which was 20 percent of his reported $15,000 purse.

Though Diaz' disciplinary suspension will last six months, Diaz was already serving a six-month NSAC medical suspension due to a broken orbital bone suffered in the Gomi fight.

In addition to the suspension and fine, the NSAC also ruled that the result of the Diaz vs. Gomi contest be changed from a victory for Diaz to a result of no contest.

Apparently, the commission felt that the level for which Diaz tested at, 175, was a considering factor in his performance during the fight. Dr. Tony Alamo, the Commission's Chair, said that a result of 15 is considered positive, but that the NSAC has a threshold of 50 to test positive for THC and that they "feel very comfortable that everyone that tests positive [in Nevada] is truly positive."

Alamo went on to say, "Mr. Diaz was 175. This creates a unique situation. I was there at this fight and believe that you were intoxicated and... that it made you numb to the pain. Did it help you win? I think it did."

In his statements to the commission, Diaz said, "I wasn't under the influence when I was fighting. I don't abuse drugs normally; it was a one-time thing. It was very embarrassing for me to test positive."

- MMA News.com

[Toe]

Bwahahahah! Melvin testing positive sounds so hilarious after hearing him spout so much bullshit before this fight. It's just awesome.

[JoeMimic]

I won $60 on Serra but I'm not betting against Fedor as much as I like Lindland...the fact that I pulled all the money out of my online account doesn't hurt either.

[Blehschmidt]

I don't have nearly the balls to make the bet, but good god I would love to see The Law kill the legend.

As for Melvin..accusing a dude of taking roids while your snorting probably isn't the best idea!!

[Tits McGee]

I don't think Lindland will be on his back too much.. unless he is getting KTFO.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Just ignore the "pictures" beside the fighter names, I C&P'd this from sherdog and those are supposed to be links for fighter galleries.

Dream Stage entertainment, the group which recently ceded control of PRIDE FC to UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, has issued a press release through its official Web site in Japan announcing the postponement of the opening round of the PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix, which was originally scheduled for May 20 at the Saitama Super Arena.

The postponement comes as a result of PRIDE assets not being transferred from DSE to PRIDE FC Worldwide, the recently formed company which will take over control of the Japanese mixed martial arts organization, before the first of May.

With little over three weeks remaining before PRIDE FC Worldwide will begin promoting PRIDE under new president Lorenzo Fertitta, the Station Casinos magnate stated in the official press release:

"As we're in the midst of transferring business assets between both companies, we have decided that only one month to prepare for the 5/20 event is not enough time to organize the production and promote the event in a manner that reflect our first PRIDE event for the fans"

"The new date for the Lightweight GP Opening Round will be announced at another time.

"We deeply apologize to our fans and all parties concerned for the sudden announcement and the trouble we have caused."

In an interesting note, rumors have been circulating about possible candidates for the upcoming PRIDE Grand Prix, with DSE releasing an official promotion poster featuring the likes of Takanori Gomi (Pictures), Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures), Marcos Aurelio, Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures), Joachim Hansen (Pictures), Luiz Azeredo (Pictures), Shinya Aoki (Pictures), Luiz Firmino (Pictures), Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) from the PRIDE FC side, along with UFC representatives Matt Hughes (Pictures) and Diego Sanchez (Pictures).

All PRIDE GP participants are unofficial save for Pancrase and DEEP representative Satoru Kitaoka (Pictures), who secured a spot in an elimination match on Friday at DEEP's 29th Impact held in Tokyo, Japan.

-Sherdog

[Guest The Moxicity]

Well Linland Tapped first round

[Dingle]

I guess Fedor doesn't want in on any of this upsetting bullshit then >_>.

[Enter Blue Guy]

The fight isn't without it's controversy, though. Lindland was going for the takedown on Fedor, when Fedor grabbed the ropes, letting go, then reversing the takedown and landing in Matt's halfguard, where he proceeded to dominate on the ground up until the armbar. The debate is whether or not the grabbing of the ropes actually did play a part in Fedor reversing the takedown.

I watched the fight and clearly Fedor grabs the ropes prior to the takedown. I don't know for sure how big of a role it played in Fedor reversing it, only Fedor really knows what his intentions were when he grabbed it and what it did for him. It was most likely more natural reaction rather than an attempt to cheat, but to me the reversal looked much more like technique rather than using the ropes to his advantage. Fedor is a World champion Sambo practitioner and is known for his superior balance, had he never grabbed the rope in the first place, the reversal would seem right out of his playbook. If the rope grabbing helped Fedor, it would have at least looked like Matt was about to take Fedor down and there would have been some evidence that Fedor grabbing the rope was keeping him up. To me it looks like he grabs it loosely for a second, then lets go, and there is no struggle for Fedor to use the ropes to keep himself up. That's my perspective.

People are making a big deal about his because it's Fedor and he is constantly under the microscope, especially now since people believe it's time for him to step up and take fights that will solidify his top ranking. Top fighters, champions even, grab the ropes and cage all the time and everyone forgets about it quickly, sometimes they don't even acknowledge it at all.

More news on the Lightweight Grand Prix...

With the recent postponement of this year’s highly anticipated Pride Lightweight Grand Prix, fans were uncertain as to when the event would finally take place. They didn’t have to wait long as DSE executive Nobuhiko Takada recently revealed the first round the tournament would happen on July 16th. The second and third rounds are expected to occur sometime in September and November.

The ownership of Pride officially changes over on May 1st. Pride 35 is slated to take place sometime in June and will be the first show under the newly formed Pride FC Worldwide. The event is expected to happen in California at a venue that has yet to be announced.

MMA Weekly.com

Edited April 16, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[Enter Blue Guy]

The official website of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC.com) has confirmed that UFC 72 "Victory" will be broadcast for free on Spike TV on June 16th.

The show will be headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Martin Kampmann and Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez and will emanate from Ireland.

Stick with MMANews.com for updates on UFC 72 "Victory".

MMA News.com

Edited April 17, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[Enter Blue Guy]

Notes from today's conference call stolen from MMA News.com

The following are a few notes from the Dana White/Mirko CroCop conference call held today. These notes are only that of which involves PRIDE's future under the Zuffa ownership:

-Dan Henderson will not be stripped of his titles, but they don't know how they're going to handle him being a champion in two divisions actively, yet.

-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will not be moving over to the UFC side. He will remain a PRIDE fighter.

-There won't be anymore Super Heavyweight matches, freak-show matches or huge mismatches anymore.

-Frank Trigg is gone. He won't be an announcer for PRIDE anymore. They are still looking for a new broadcast team.

-Doesn't know what's going on with Gary (Jerry) Millen or how he will be handled.

-Feels Josh Barnett doesn't like him, as he's alluded to in the media, but still wants him to fight for the new PRIDE.

-UFC and HBO have officially inked a deal and the company will debut on the premium network this summer.

-When asked about the details he skipped around for a while but finally said that HBO will be doing the production. But he also said that he would never have signed a deal that he wasn't comfortable with.

-Dana also Guarantees that Pride will have a huge TV deal for here in the U.S. as well as in Japan.

-Also, the show " Inside the UFC" will be making a return, but it is not known when.

Edited April 17, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[ACCBiggz]

Trigg was decent, hopefully they try to get Mauro back. But I thought Barnett/Trigg did a good job as color men. And why would have Hendo been stripped anyway? That would have been retarded.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Notes from Cro Cop's part of the conference call, again stolen from MMANews.com

-Mirko CroCop will be returning to the special police after he's done in Parliment. That is expected around November.

-CroCop is very excited to fight in the UK for the UFC this Saturday. He claims he is in perfect condition for this fight.

-CroCop's goal is to win the UFC Heavyweight title right now. He's not thinking about Fedor at the moment.

-CroCop thinks he adapted to the cage and rules well.

-CroCop said he wants to continue using the original PRIDE theme song as his ring-walk music in the UFC. He won't be Saturday though, he's returning to his old PRIDE ring-walk music, "Wild Boyz."

-Dana White puts Mirko CroCop over as one of, if not the best striker in MMA today.

-CroCop said he has liked kicking since he was a kid. He has been training kick-strikes on a sand bag since he was 11 or 12 years old.

-He isn't looking to fight anyone specifically in the UFC. Welcomes all challenges.

-He feels comfortable on the ground, but still prefers to fight standing up.

-Feels he has no space to move down the Light Heavyweight division. He said he would like to fight Chuck Liddell, but would prefer Liddell moving up to Heavyweight, as opposed to him moving down to 205 lbs.

-CroCop isn't getting caught up in the hype he's gotten coming to the U.S. and the UFC. His focus right now is simply on beating Gabriel Gonzaga and he doesn't want to look past this fight.

-CroCop said his key to beating Gonzaga will be trying his best and bringing his best game.

Edited April 17, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[NobBe Nobbs]

-Mirko CroCop will be returning to the special police after he's done in Parliment. That is expected around November.

[Enter Blue Guy]

I chuckled at the "special police". I question whether that was a typo or an actual quote from Mirko. His English is good, but his translations aren't always the best. My favorite Mirko quote, "I have legs big."

Still, here's a guy that fights for a living, while being an active member of Parliament with aspirations of not only being UFC Heavyweight champion, but also plans to return to the police special forces.

That's a man's man.

Edited April 17, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[Enter Blue Guy]

All the notes so far, the bolded part is new, any other notes will be posted here to save this from becoming a mess.

-Dan Henderson will not be stripped of his titles, but they don't know how they're going to handle him being a champion in two divisions actively, yet.

-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will not be moving over to the UFC side. He will remain a PRIDE fighter.

-There won't be anymore Super Heavyweight matches, freak-show matches or huge mismatches anymore.

-Frank Trigg is gone. He won't be an announcer for PRIDE anymore. They are still looking for a new broadcast team.

-Doesn't know what's going on with Gary (Jerry) Millen or how he will be handled.

-Feels Josh Barnett doesn't like him, as he's alluded to in the media, but still wants him to fight for the new PRIDE.

-UFC and HBO have officially inked a deal and the company will debut on the premium network this summer.

-When asked about the details he skipped around for a while but finally said that HBO will be doing the production. But he also said that he would never have signed a deal that he wasn't comfortable with.

-Dana also Guarantees that Pride will have a huge TV deal for here in the U.S. as well as in Japan.

-Also, the show " Inside the UFC" will be making a return, but it is not known when.

-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was in limbo, so the UFC signed him. Basically he had no existing deal with PRIDE, so they decided to move him over to the UFC during the acquisition of PRIDE. Doesn't know who he will be fighting first in the UFC as he just signed him a week ago, but said Nogueira will be fighting a top draw. The rumors are Brandon Vera.

-PRIDE will follow the unified rules, weight-classes and rounds. Pretty much adopting UFC's style.

-UFC 72 "Victory" will be broadcast free on Spike TV and will feature Rich Franklin vs. Martin Kampmann and Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez.

-There has been no official decision on the PRIDE LWGP yet. Well, we have that one on the main page already. Dana says rumors of UFC fighters being involved in the tournament (Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez were rumored via a poster) are false. It will only be PRIDE fighters and there will be no UFC vs. PRIDE fights until they do the big supershow.

-When discussing Vanderlei Silva, Dana again mentions how him fighting Chuck Liddell could have been the biggest fight in MMA history until Silva was knocked out by CroCop and Dan Henderson, consecutively.

-Dana doesn't really have anything official on Fedor yet. His contract with PRIDE is not an exclusive deal and Zuffa does not deal with non-exclusive contracts with fighters. Fedor is not a free agent though and they will be working hard to keep him.

-Dana White is still pissed at Tito Ortiz. He sprinkled several insults and choice words throughout the call about him.

-The New Jersey State Athletic Commission is working hard to allow the use of knee strikes in MMA. Dana said that is one rule he would change and they want it added.

-Puts over UFC securing the future of the sport. They are only expanding it and making it bigger, and aren't a flash-in-the-pan like some predict.

-The HBO deal is signed, sealed and delivered. As mentioned before, Dana announced that HBO gained control of the production - so it will be their announcers. It wasn't mentioned, but as a fan of MMA and someone who's about to take over Larry Merchant's position on the boxing broadcasts this year, Max Kellerman would make sense as one of the announcers for the UFC on HBO.

-ESPN will be covering the weigh-ins regularly from now on, and he expects live fight shows to air on that network at some point in the future as well.

Edited April 17, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy

[crazedfan]

Franklin vs. Kampmann? Sexy.

[NobBe Nobbs]

I chuckled at the "special police". I question whether that was a typo or an actual quote from Mirko. His English is good, but his translations aren't always the best. My favorite Mirko quote, "I have legs big."

Still, here's a guy that fights for a living, while being an active member of Parliament with aspirations of not only being UFC Heavyweight champion, but also plans to return to the police special forces.

That's a man's man.

[DeeJam]

All the notes so far, the bolded part is new, any other notes will be posted here to save this from becoming a mess.

ESPN will be covering the weigh-ins regularly from now on, and he expects live fight shows to air on that network at some point in the future as well.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Comments and thoughts about all this

-Dan Henderson will not be stripped of his titles, but they don't know how they're going to handle him being a champion in two divisions actively, yet.

Edited April 18, 2007 by Enter Blue Guy