MMA News and Discussion Thread

[Powerhart]

So they're planning a freakshow? I could see all those five guys switch opponents between them for future cards. Kimbo/Sylvia, Choi/Mariusz, Butterbean/Kimbo... the combinations are endless.

[Rich]

You say freak show like its a bad thing?

Come on we all miss the PRIDE-esque match ups

We all know we would love to see Zuluzinho vs Fedor II

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Their *first* show was a freakshow, Powerhart

[Rich]

Oh come on wwe all know Pudzianowski vs. Sylvia was a valid top ten match up MPH

[Powerhart]

Never inteded it to sound like a bad thing. Honestly, I enjoy freakshows, specially if it involves 'Super Mariusz' and Butterbean.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

In other indie news, a non-title fight between Keith Jardine and Shark Fights LHW Champion Trevor Prangley has been booked for September 11 in Texas.

[Powerhart]

Texas? What city? If it's near the border I'll jump the fence and attend...

[Mountainous Cleavage]

You're probably right.

That is insanely awesome, yet brutal. Ouch.

Goodridge comes in looking like he had it planned, and executed perfectly.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Closed and Moved to Archives

[Powerhart]

Source: 5th Round.com

Team Fedor Emelianenko Lays Out NEW UFC Contract Demands

Fedor Emelianenko is the hottest name on the MMA free agent market. The only problem is, the heavyweight still has one fight remaining on his current Strikeforce deal. Nonetheless, it hasn't stopped M-1 Global figurehead Vadim Finkelchtein from laying all his Octagon cards on the table.

"I think yes, but not on the same terms they offered us before," Finkelchtein told ProSport (translated by Fighters Only) of joining forces with the UFC. "We will not let ourselves to get owned. Fedor became very popular [already] outside the Octagon. So, long story short:

1. We would like to receive guaranteed payments. I know that if we agree for percents, they will cheat us.

2. Maybe not a co-promotion (like we offered before), but at least co-branding.

3. They also will have to permit Fedor participating in Sambo competitions, and during our last negotiations UFC were ready for that term."

Are you reading this, Mr. Dana White???

For years, the primary sticking point between the two parties was M-1 Global's undying insistence on sharing half the profits for all Fedor produced shows. With their meal ticket's abrupt exile from the land of The Invincibles, the Russians now appear willing to play ball – as long as it's on their (modified) terms.

As far as who they would prefer Fedor to face in his next outing, Finkelchtein professed it was a no-brainer.

"We are ready to fight against anyone, but everyone agrees that the most interesting fight right now is the rematch against Fabricio Werdum. We have one fight left on our contract, so if Strikeforce wants to extend it, they should listen to our opinion," Finkelstein said.

"Fedor will fight again sometime between October and November … the only thing fans want to see is Fedor vs. Werdum II. Fabricio himself said that he would like to rematch Fedor."

The reason is clear why M-1 Global is pushing for an immediate mulligan. Werdum not only snapped Emelianenko's 27-fight win streak last month, but quickly dispelled his unparalleled aura of invincibility as well. The best way to recapture that mojo is by violently rectifying the "fluke" defeat – ala what Georges St-Pierre did to Matt Serra in their UFC 83 rematch.

Still no official word on when and where Fedor will finalize his commitment to the San Jose, California based promotion.

So what you guys think? Should Dana White give in to M-1 Global's (new modified) demands and sign Fedor?

[Rich]

Is Fedor worth it?

The guy has neevr been a a massive box office attraction wherever he has fought, even in PRIDE he wasn't the biggest star, he wasn't a massive draw for Affliction and his Strikeforce fights haven't exactly set the ratings world on fire...

Its not a case of giving in to Fedor in Dana White/UFC's mind, its about getting the right deal for everyone involved. The problem is that once you give in to certain demands from some individualsyour hard line stance of "This is not the way we do business" lacks the strength it once did, what will there be to stop other UFC stars asking for more co-branding if they had something to push? You can't have one set of rules for one fighter and another for everybody else, and now Fedor has lost what does he have that'll interest the UFC? He isn't the box office draw of a Lesnar and outside of MMA's hardcore fan base a lot of UFC fans will not have much of an idea who is. Granted a matchup against Lesnar would do huge numbers, but anybody against Lesnar does huge numbers, he IS the draw.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

UFC doesn't need Fedor to make big money nearly as much as Fedor needs UFC to make big money. Don't see why UFC should go out of their way to offer a contract that is way far beyond what they do for everybody else.

[DavidMarrio]

I can't see it happening. The only thing Fedor could use was the fact that he was undefeated and now he got beat by Werdum who no disrespect while a tough guy and a good heavyweight isn't on par with quite a few of the heavyweights in the UFC. I still wanna see it but M1 is just bad mojo.

Also been seeing reports of Strikeforce wanting to put Batista/Lashley on PPV.....that's Strikeforce for you

[Powerhart]

On PPV, should they use that fight for their last broadcast on CBS?

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Yeah at this point Strikeforce shouldn't even be thinking of PPV unless they badly need a cash injection. And they really shouldn't be thinking of PPV for Batista/Lashley unless they want to be known as the company that puts pro wrestlers in MMA fights on PPV.

[Gene Kiniski]

I don't care about Fedor at this point. Right now in the Heavyweight division I care about guys like Carwin, JDS, Cain - people that are fighting who they are given and accepting how the game works. No offense, Fedor is great, but is aura is pretty tarnished and he is not known casually at all.

[Powerhart]

Here's the reasoning regarding Strikeforce opting for a Championship bout instead of a one-night 4-man Tournament for the Middleweight belt. Source: MMA Junkie.

With Strikeforce booking a Middleweight Title bout between Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for their August 21 show, it appears Strikeforce's plans for a tournament in the division have been scrapped.

But apparently it's not for a lack of trying.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, Strikeforce initially planned to put on a four man, one-night tournament on the show, coming to the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Slated to feature Kennedy, Souza, Robbie Lawler and Matt Lindland, the tournament Champion would have then been crowned the new Middleweight Champion.

But the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees MMA in the state, put the kibosh on those plans.

Per Greg Alvarez, the administrator of the department, said "They asked if it was possible and I told them that when Tough Man was outlawed, the state also did away with tournaments back in 2001."

So with tournaments not allowed in the state, Strikeforce opted for the single title fight. That will take place on Showtime as the co-main event under a Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante.

Strikeforce is planning on running a four woman one-night-only tournament in Pheonix in August on the August 13 Challengers card, as Arizona does not have a provision banning tournaments.

[Gabriel]

Good article to have up here, as no one's posted it yet. However, Scott Coker has already shot down the rumors about that. The reason it's not happening for the title, is that they want to have a Champion decided immediately. Coker doesn't want the 185 pound division to have a vacant title for an extended period of time.

Had the tournament happened in Texas, it still would only have been for contendership.

The reasoning for this is so that the division has a champion as soon as possible, but more importantly, because the names rumored to be involved, for the most part, haven't put out championship calibre performances in their most recent fights. Lawler got his ass handed to him before scoring a flash KO. Manhoef couldn't finish and ate canvas. Cung Le and Scott Smith hardly seem like championship contenders right now. Lindland was completely dominated by Jacare, and despite not allowing himself to be finished, showed very little offense of his own in the fight.

So basically, the top two contenders will fight for the belt, and the rest of the names in the Middleweight division will be given an opportunity to shine and earn a title fight against the new champion.

[Powerhart]

Yeah, I'm not against the idea of having the Title bout between the top two contenders. I prefer it actually, and according to some reports I've read on MMATorch and some other sites, Coker is planning a No. 1 Contendership Tournament for a December show.

[Rich]

Interesting article on DREAM and Japanese MMA from MMA Junkie

DREAM's American representative says the Japanese promotion's prosperity depends not only on new capital, but a plan to spend it well.

And when that happens, DREAM hopes more fans will part with their cash.

Mike Kogan, Director of FEG USA, on Friday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the lucrative new deal between DREAM's parent company, Fighting and Entertainment Group, and Shanghai-based investment bank PUJI Capital is an important step in regaining MMA's foothold in Japan and the rest of the world.

But for DREAM to thrive, Kogan said it's crucial that the company converts some of its fanbase to "a paying public."

FEG, which also heads the preeminent kickboxing promotion K-1, recently announced that PUJI will stake the fight promotion company in an aggressive worldwide expansion effort – to the tune of up to $230 million U.S. dollars, according to the investment bank.

While the shape of the expansion is not entirely clear, FEG president Sadaharu Tanikawa said the effort will begin in 2011.

Tanikawa said the expansion is a "declaration of war against the WWE and UFC," though the company plans specifically to avoid the U.S. market, where he feels they are outgunned by the pay-per-view giants. The company has not promoted a show in the mainland U.S. since August 2007 for the K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas.

Tanikawa admitted the company has lost a huge portion of its market share in the martial arts business and that its business model needs to change.

"From Asia, we will take the world," Tanikawa said.

Kogan, who's worked with FEG since 2006, maintains that the Japanese MMA market is bigger than the U.S. even amid an overall decline in attendance and television ratings. The problem, he said, is that FEG is not poised to capitalize on its audience.

He claims an average primetime DREAM broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) draws 11 to 12 million people, while a late-night broadcast garners around 3 million.

Kogan said the massive viewership of the primetime shows perfectly illustrates the potential for Japanese MMA to continue to thrive.

"Imagine if Strikeforce received 12 million viewers (on CBS)," Kogan said. "(CBS executive) Les Moonves would be doing cartwheels all the way down into the cage. Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz could beat the [expletive] out of the whole crew; they could have melees every other day and nobody would give a [expletive]."

But while those numbers are strong, the revenue that's generated from FEG's TV deals and event attendance are not enough to drive growth.

And without growth, the promotion fights an uphill battle in building stars who could convert some of those television watchers into pay-per-view customers. Kogan said that was an essential part of what kept PRIDE Fighting Championships afloat during the heydey of Japanese MMA – an average of 50,000 people bought the promotion's broadcasts before it was brought down in 2007 by a Yazuka scandal.

In the wake of PRIDE's collapse, several of its stars migrated to the UFC, which took away much of the casual fanbase that paved the way to stellar TV ratings (and the sponsorship dollars that came with them).

Kogan said the UFC has done well to leverage its talent into a lucrative customer base, and DREAM needs to catch up. In other words, DREAM needs to get back into the pay-per-view business.

"The (Japanese) audience was brought up watching it for free on TBS and Fuji," he said. "Well, they're not a paying public. The UFC has a hardcore fanbase that's ready to lash out $50 for whatever the [expletive] they put on TV, with at least an average of 300,000 (pay-per-view) buys. So the UFC knows that they will receive at least $15 million dollars in revenue.

"Put that in perspective with Japanese MMA. Imagine if out of those 12 million people, half a million were ready to cough up $50 each time DREAM was on?"

Kogan said the new infusion of cash could go toward developing new talent and ways to get DREAM's product to consumers in Japan and around the world – hopefully, at a premium. But he is at heart a realist and says that money alone is not the solution to DREAM's problems.

In line with Tanikawa, Kogan said FEG's goal is to get strong in Japan before it branches out in Europe and other markets.

"Just funds alone are not enough," he said. "That's one of the biggest reasons why all these MMA organizations that come out in the U.S., [such as] EliteXC, IFL and all these other places – even Bellator, I think Bellator is on their way out pretty soon – they think that you go get venture capital money, and you're like, 'OK, I've got 100 million dollars, I'm going to get all these people to fight each other and life will be good.' Obviously, as its shown, that's not true.

"The focus (for DREAM) right now is on lightweights and featherweights just because there's a bigger talent pool, especially in Japan. But realistically speaking, if you want to get big, you need big guys. That was the biggest thing that PRIDE had was the heavyweights and light heavyweights that drove the organization."

Meanwhile, DREAM.16 is set to take place Sept. 25 in Nagoya, Japan and may feature its lightweight champion Shinya Aoki as well as a light heavyweight title match between former Strikeforce and DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi and Tatsuya Mizuno.

If FEG can convince 50,000 fans to pay see that on TV, things will look a lot rosier for Japanese MMA.

[Enter Blue Guy]

All the money in the world won't help MMA in Japan from staying as anything more than a niche product. What it needs is homegrown heroes for people to care about. Even with that, the Japanese scene has become so obscure that it would take something monumental for DREAM or any promotion to get back to the level PRIDE was at. PRIDE bottled lighting with pro wrestler Nobohiko Takada vs. Rickson Gracie and were able to ride it with Sakuraba vs. the Gracies. IMO, I highly doubt they can garner that kind of interest in Japan unless something miraculous happens.

EDIT: Niche isn't the right word, but you get what I'm saying. Obscure and, sadly, irrelevant.

Edited July 17, 2010 by Enter Blue Guy