tristy Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Fuck, I've fallen into the MMA trap. I've been watching the DREAM events on HDNet. Did Shibata get better since his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama, or does he still kind of suck? I know Heel Turn was a big Shibata fan, but I don't see why. He was impressive, yes, and from what I remember, dominated most of the fight until Shibata got cocky. Akiyama's missed spin kick was a "jump up in my seat" moment. Does DREAM employ any well known fighters? The only ones I ever heard of on that card was Shibata and Mark Hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enter Blue Guy Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) Depends what you mean by well known. If you mean well known by casual fan standards, then not a whole lot. Cro Cop is their biggest name. I don't know 100% why he hasn't fought in the last few months. He was supposed to fight K-1 legend Jerome Le Banner, but had injury trouble. Other big names like Overeem, Hunt, Sakuraba, Melvin Manhoef... Er... Denis Kang? Not overly impressive. Nick Diaz is employed by EXC, but he's fought there before and is potentially fighting Mach Sakurai sometime soon. I can see a guy like Gilbert Melendez taking a few fights down there. Mayhem Miller is getting into the groove in Japan too now. No idea what is going on NYE and where Fedor is planning to fight, but he fought on Yarennoka last year, which was a precursor to the DREAM promoted events. Akiyama is a big deal for the sport in Japan and the most marketable fighter they have. I say that because KID Yamamoto hasn't debuted yet. He was supposed to fight the Urijah Faber trained Joseph Benavidez, but had to pull out. Which would have been really interesting since Faber himself wants KID sooo fucking bad. The biggest selling point for me is the lightweights. Kawajiri, Aoki, Hansen, Ishida, Alvarez, with the prospect of guys like Melendez, Diaz, and possibly others coming from the States to a fight or two or more. Hopefully more will come up, preferably ones that I know already. I think Sakurai is too fat to make lightweight. Edited July 24, 2008 by Enter Blue Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Fuck, I've fallen into the MMA trap. I've been watching the DREAM events on HDNet. Did Shibata get better since his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama, or does he still kind of suck? I know Heel Turn was a big Shibata fan, but I don't see why. He was impressive, yes, and from what I remember, dominated most of the fight until Shibata got cocky. Akiyama's missed spin kick was a "jump up in my seat" moment. Heel Turn liked Shibata when he wrestled in various Japanese promotions, not so much as an MMA fighter, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr. Potato Head Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Apparently Fedor vs. Arlovski is official for October 11.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAceI Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Who were the Affliction: Banned commentators? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enter Blue Guy Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) Frank Trigg, Jay Glazer from FSN, and Big John McCarthy. Edited July 24, 2008 by Enter Blue Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAceI Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 It really seemed to me that in the first round of the Andrei/Ben match they could have been at opposite ends of the arena just commentating on their own. Then in the second round they seemed to start trying to compete against each other and then the conversation between them came a little too much. I'm not digging to be honest. I may get used to them, but I guess when I see two half naked men beating each other up I'm used the familiarity of Goldberg and Rogan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enter Blue Guy Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Yeah, like I said when talking about Joe and Mike. Most other announce teams, MMA or boxing, have the three headed monster deal going on where everybody is trying to play the lead and there is nobody left for a supporting role. Which is what makes a good announce team flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAceI Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Just a two headed monster with me, I had no Big John with that fight. Then again hearing Big John say anything other than "Are you ready? You ready? LETS GET IT ON" is going to be weird as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enter Blue Guy Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) You know who I liked? Kenny Rice. He was doing the DREAM commentary with Bas and I thought they made a pretty good team. Rice as the straight forward play by play and Bas being the informative color man. It is that easy. It wasn't the greatest, but it was better than everybody else besides Joe and Mike. People say they were overrated as an announce team, but nobody was better and had more chemistry between them than Quadros and Bas when they were doing Pride. Plus they were both great at interviewing fighters and their opening skits were pretty good too. Bas trying to get an apple on Quadros' head so he could slice it in half with a samurai sword = classic. Also, Bill Goldberg is by far the worst. I swear to God before the Diaz vs. Aina fight last year, when the focused on some of the ring girls, he yelled out "let's see some tits!" I had shitty audio of it, so it sounded a bit muffled, but that's all I could make of it. Edited July 24, 2008 by Enter Blue Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazedfan Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Did Shibata get better since his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama, or does he still kind of suck? I know Heel Turn was a big Shibata fan, but I don't see why. He was impressive, yes, and from what I remember, dominated most of the fight until Shibata got cocky. Akiyama's missed spin kick was a "jump up in my seat" moment. Well, his fight with Akiyama just happened, it wasn't an old fight or anything, so, he still kind of sucks. He's sort of shown improvement... but not much. He's super popular with the fans, but he's basically a jobber. He's okay standing up, but once it gets to the ground, he's clueless. Just watch his fight with Jason Miller, Miller just dominates him, and even has time to mug for the camera. It's awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enter Blue Guy Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) Just watch his fight with Jason Miller, Miller just dominates him, and even has time to mug for the camera. It's awesome. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5dtuk_dr...s-shibata_sport Edited July 24, 2008 by Enter Blue Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr. Potato Head Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 According to the latest Observer, Tito Ortiz has said he'll be announcing his next fight "later this week" (which I believe means next-week because the weird Observer timewarp). I'm thinking Affliction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 According to the latest Observer, Tito Ortiz has said he'll be announcing his next fight "later this week" (which I believe means next-week because the weird Observer timewarp). I'm thinking Affliction. It's the only place that can give him the money and the competition he would want, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to Affliction. A fight with Mike Whitehead might be a good way to go, but then again, Whitehead's style might snuff out Ortiz's ability to take him down and ground and pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr. Potato Head Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 And if that's not enough, Meltzer's also reporting that 10/4 is likely the next EliteXC on CBS show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzy Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) Horodecki vs. Gomi is not happening. Instead it is Gomi vs. Sung Hwan Pang. Edited July 24, 2008 by Fitzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzy Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) Horodecki vs. Gomi is not happeningh. Instead it is Gomi vs. Sung Hwan Pang. Also, from MMAJunkie about EliteXC on CBS: When EliteXC returns to CBS on Saturday for a show from Stockton, Calif., the broadcast will have a decidedly different feel. There will be more fights and less talk. Downtime will be minimized. You won't see any of the embarrassing moments such as when Phil Baroni ambled slowly to the cage and had women disrobe him. And the all-too-numerous cheerleader shots will be minimized greatly, if not eliminated. "To be perfectly honest, I think there was more of a wrestling element to that show and I didn't like it," said Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president of CBS Primetime. "I'd much rather present them as great athletes and warriors, which they are, but it got a bit clownish and that didn't do us any favors." Good news all around. No need for the flashiness or the dancing women. Edited July 24, 2008 by Fitzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazedfan Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Good, the production for their first CBS show was an absolute joke. Just like the V.P. said, it felt and looked like pro wrestling. And also regarding the next Sengoku show with Gomi, the card is an abomination. Frank Trigg's fight is the only one that is even slightly interesting. DREAM has World Victory Road beat in every facet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCC Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Well, this isn't necessarily the best thing for the show. If there aren't segments showing the fighter's personalities and background, then no one but the hardcores will care and, therefore, the ratings will sink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzy Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 You don't waste time on a fight card with "get to know the fighter" segments. People are not going to turn in for that, they just want the fights. UFC doesn't do it and they don't have trouble drawing in fans. The only place they do it is the "countdown" shows. If EliteXC wants to showcase personality and getting to know their fights, that really is the only way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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