Sunday, April 27, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Teh whole ppv
I like these Affliction guys...
From the UFC 83 post-fight presser:
Asked about GSP’s trunks and why there were no sponsors, he said “my sponsor paid me to wear shorts without a sponsor” ie … it’s Affliction
Says “it’s affliction and they are banned now” and Dana laughs and says “He got his plug in!” with a laugh.
Asked about GSP’s trunks and why there were no sponsors, he said “my sponsor paid me to wear shorts without a sponsor” ie … it’s Affliction
Says “it’s affliction and they are banned now” and Dana laughs and says “He got his plug in!” with a laugh.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Next Strikeforce: June 27th?
Gilbert Melendez was a recent guest on HDNet's Inside MMA and dropped a few hints on his next fight and dates. He said that Strikeforce are looking at Josh Thomson and Jorge Masvidal as his next opponents. When asked what was up next for him, he stated he was training and dropped the date June 27th..... Is this the next date for Strikforce? Will Cung Le be on this card? Developing........
Friday, April 18, 2008
Quote of the Day: Krondawg
"i wonder if Dana will give him press credentials now....interesting."
-UG poster Krondawg, reacting to the news that Sherdog's Josh Gross will now be covering MMA for Sports Illustrated.
-UG poster Krondawg, reacting to the news that Sherdog's Josh Gross will now be covering MMA for Sports Illustrated.
Four more for Dream 2
JapanMMA is reporting that four more matches have been announced for the Middleweight GP that begins April 29th.
Annouced today (all tournament fights):
Ikuhisa Minowa 39-27-8 vs. 2-2-0 Taiei Kin
Magomed Sultanakhmadov 4-1-0 vs. 7-3-0 Zelg "Benkei" Galesic
Yoon Dong Sik 3-4-0 vs. 7-10-0 Shungo Oyama
Ronaldo Jacare vs. 16-6-0 Frank Trigg
Previously announced:
Tournament fights
Kazushi Sakuraba 23-10-1 vs. Andrews Nakahara
Kiyoshi Tamura 28-14-0 vs. 38-12-1 Masakatsu Funaki
Denis Kang 29-9-1 vs. 20-2-1 Gegard Mousasi
Frank Trigg and Zelg Galesic are the main surprises here, as there hadn't been much mention of them in the chatter about them leading up to the announcement. Trigg, a Top 10 middleweight by some folks estimation, most recently fought with HDNet Fights. Trigg is paired with BJJ phenom Jacare Souza and will look to use his wrestling to counter his opponent's sub skills.
Zelg Galesic was also listed for the tourney. Zelg is Croat striker who has history in K-1 Heroes. Galesic tends to have problems once the fight hits the ground, as evidenced by his losses in K-1 to Yoon Dong Sik and Takimoto.
There should be one other fight announced for the GP as there are only 14 participants as of now. If no other fights are announced, they may give someone a bye through to the second round, as was done with Caol Uno in the Lightweight Grand Prix. Noticeable by his omission so far is Middleweight Superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama. With Dream 1 drawing mediocre television ratings, one would think that they are looking to make a match-up for Akiyama, a controversial figure in Japanese MMA who will draw eyeballs. Possible opponents are Chute Boxe fighter Daniel Acacio and Chechen fighter Mamed Khalidov, both of whom have been mentioned as possible GP entrants.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Nice Interview with Jim Miller
MMAFighting.com has a nice interview with Northeast prospect and IFL fighter JIm Miller. A few little tidbits from the piece: Miller may be fighting on May 16th for Team BombSquad on the IFL show, he also gives a little more info on the nixed Marcus Arelio fight.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Dream Scouting Report: Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa
Minowa-man
And now for the sideshow portion of the card..... Minowa's his main duties seem to be freak show fights (Zulu Jr, Giant Silva, That fat ass on the last Dream card), fights against top caliber heavyweights or 205er's that will beat the living daylights out of him (Wanderlei, Mirko, Saku), and facing the occasional 185'er that is miles ahead of him, talent-wise. Most of his wins over the past 3 to 4 years come against mainly no name guys. Despite all that Minowa isn't without talent, and has the skills to win this fight. He is quite good on the ground and should be able to get the fight there if he wants. He has to decide if his gameplan is Baroni 1, stand and bang the whole fight with a striker, entertain the crowd, and lose, or Baroni 2 where uses a smarter gameplan and is able to work the decision.
Dream Scouting Report: Taiei Kin
Taiei Kin
Beat Tamura and Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Lost to Akiyama by arm bar and Zelg Galesic by Dr Stoppage on Cut
Mainly a K-1 Fighter
* K-1: 27 Fights 21 Wins 6 KOs 5 Losses 1 Draw
* Professional MMA: 4 Fights 2 Wins 1 KO 2 Losses
A bit long in the tooth at 36....Nice hands and kicks, owing to over a decade in K-1....seemed lost on the ground vs Akiyama, but seemed to evolve a bit, with good grappling in his match with Ishizawa...
Dream Scouting Report: Dong Sik Yoon
Dong Sik Yoon AKA The Donger
Biggest Wins: Melvin Manhoef, Zelg Galesic, Fabio Silva
Losses: Rampage, Sakuraba, Murilo Bustamante
Korean Judoka.... Like most Judo guys, thrown to the wolves in his first few match ups....They've put him in with some strikers his past few fights and he seems to have gotten a lot better at closing the distance, getting into the clinch and getting the fight to the ground, where he can use his Judo ground skills.... Could Advance a round or two depending on match-ups, but lacks the well-rounded game to take the tourney.
Odds of Winning the GP: 25 to 1
Dream Scouting Report: Denis Kang
Denis Kang
Veteran of SpiritMC, Pride, K-1 Heroes
Biggest Wins: Andre Semenov, Amar Suloev, Ninja Rua, Akihiro Gono
Key Losses: Kazuo Misaki, Akiyama, Mayhem Miller
Very Good Sprawl, Heavy Hands, Good Wrestling.....Suspect chin if the Akiyama is any indicator.... Is hailed as a Top Middleweight but his big wins don't seem so big...
Dream Scouting Report: Gegard Mousasi
Gegard Mousasi
Has fought in Deep, HCF, BodogFight, Pride Bushido...
Biggest Wins: Cyborg Santos, Takimoto, Hector Lombard
Losses: Akihiro Gono, Petras Morkevicious
Amateur Boxing Background....Has good wrestling, greco skills, seems to avoid the opponents takedown well while getting the takedown....good top control, question mark working from his back,.......check out the clip above for some of his grappling work, pretty decent with grappling.... I think he matches up well with Kang, could pull the upset....
Old School Armenian, none of this americanized Karo shit...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Dream 2
with two weeks to Dream 2, a look at the possible card, couretsy of nightmare of battle....
OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP 2008 1st Round
Date: April 29th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
My Analysis: Saku against some MMA noob is clown shoes booking at it's finest, Is this what it has come to with Sakuraba? Tamura vs Funaki.....let's hope someone doesn't break a hip in this match-up of Japan's mma geritol set. Kang vs Mousasi should be a great fight....Kang is looking to get back on track after a KO loss to Akiyama, but his chin will be put to the test again with heavy hitting Mousasi. Kang needs to avoid the chin-checks and get this to the floor ASAP.
Lightweight GP 1st Round:
Shinya Aoki vs. J.Z. Calvan
Middleweight GP Participants:
Yoon Dong Sik
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shungo Oyama
Kin Taiei
Minowaman
Possible GP Participants:
Dae Won Kim
Mamed Khalidov
Daniel Acacio
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
My Analysis: If the usual trends continue.... they will hopelessly overmatch Yoon, probably throwing him in with BJJ phenom Souza. Minowa is usually booked in fights against freakshows (Butterbean, Zulu, that fatass at the last Dream) or fights where he will get massacred (Rampage, CroCop anyone?) so i see them either matching him up for a beating with Akiyama but more than likely they will find some way to have Bobby Ologun or Bernard Ackah to make 185.
Possible Participants:
Marcelo Garcia
Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (either this card or the May card)
while i'm at it....
HEIWA DREAM.3 Lightweight GP 2008 2nd Round
Date: May 11th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Lightweight GP 2nd Round:
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Buscape
Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Aoki/Calvan
Possible Participants:
Melvin Manhoef
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP 2008 1st Round
Date: April 29th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
My Analysis: Saku against some MMA noob is clown shoes booking at it's finest, Is this what it has come to with Sakuraba? Tamura vs Funaki.....let's hope someone doesn't break a hip in this match-up of Japan's mma geritol set. Kang vs Mousasi should be a great fight....Kang is looking to get back on track after a KO loss to Akiyama, but his chin will be put to the test again with heavy hitting Mousasi. Kang needs to avoid the chin-checks and get this to the floor ASAP.
Lightweight GP 1st Round:
Shinya Aoki vs. J.Z. Calvan
Middleweight GP Participants:
Yoon Dong Sik
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shungo Oyama
Kin Taiei
Minowaman
Possible GP Participants:
Dae Won Kim
Mamed Khalidov
Daniel Acacio
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
My Analysis: If the usual trends continue.... they will hopelessly overmatch Yoon, probably throwing him in with BJJ phenom Souza. Minowa is usually booked in fights against freakshows (Butterbean, Zulu, that fatass at the last Dream) or fights where he will get massacred (Rampage, CroCop anyone?) so i see them either matching him up for a beating with Akiyama but more than likely they will find some way to have Bobby Ologun or Bernard Ackah to make 185.
Possible Participants:
Marcelo Garcia
Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (either this card or the May card)
while i'm at it....
HEIWA DREAM.3 Lightweight GP 2008 2nd Round
Date: May 11th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Lightweight GP 2nd Round:
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Buscape
Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Aoki/Calvan
Possible Participants:
Melvin Manhoef
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
The best thing about yamma...
thnks, rmcc316....
...gotta say i enjoyed Scott Ferral's announcing...... he's out there having fun, some of the folks that blog on MMA just take this stuff too seriously....
Strikeforce on NBC fights
scrolling="no">
I like the commentating team of Lon McEachern and Ken Shamrock...Lon is always smooth on the mic while Ken does a good job with the technical aspects of the game. If EliteXC were to use one or both for the CBS show, either would do a more than serviceable job. I know Frank Shamrock has been mentioned as a possibility for May 31st, but I have always thought Ken was much better on color.
The production of the show seemed solid, intro was slick. This was a good foot in the door for Strikeforce with NBC. Who knows, maybe in the future they can work a deal to fill in for Saturday Night Live when the show is off for a week or possibly in that slot during the summer months. Watching the shows, they are branded specifically for NBC, which is kinda of a questionable decision. If they are paying for the time to put this show on, Strikeforce should be looking for ways to re-brand and re-purpose the show to recoup some costs. IF the IFL is able to syndicate their show internationally, then this could also be an avenue for Strikeforce. Slapping the NBC logo on everything on the show kinda makes it difficult to re-edit or re-package.
I like the commentating team of Lon McEachern and Ken Shamrock...Lon is always smooth on the mic while Ken does a good job with the technical aspects of the game. If EliteXC were to use one or both for the CBS show, either would do a more than serviceable job. I know Frank Shamrock has been mentioned as a possibility for May 31st, but I have always thought Ken was much better on color.
The production of the show seemed solid, intro was slick. This was a good foot in the door for Strikeforce with NBC. Who knows, maybe in the future they can work a deal to fill in for Saturday Night Live when the show is off for a week or possibly in that slot during the summer months. Watching the shows, they are branded specifically for NBC, which is kinda of a questionable decision. If they are paying for the time to put this show on, Strikeforce should be looking for ways to re-brand and re-purpose the show to recoup some costs. IF the IFL is able to syndicate their show internationally, then this could also be an avenue for Strikeforce. Slapping the NBC logo on everything on the show kinda makes it difficult to re-edit or re-package.
Thoughts on Fedor vs Sylvia
The Payroll
With the proposed names they are looking at for this card.... they are gonna take a financial bath on this thing. We're talking WFA proportions here. I'm assuming Fedor is getting north of a million bucks, but maybe not the 2 mil he is asking around for. Sylvia is probably making 150k to 250k.....talk of arlovski, rothwell, lindland, barnett.....all those guys would want six figures.....
Event Production
Mark Cuban will be hosting the event in Dallas at American Airlines Arena, which he owns. I imagine this would cut out one cost, location rental. Having Cuban running the show will also make it easier to market the fight. Cuban has a pre-exisitng customer base for the Mavericks that he can market the fight to. He also has relationships with Local Dallas- Ft Worth metro area and Greater Texas media that will make it much easier and cheaper to market the fight and ensure a decent gate for the card.
Since Cuban is hosting the fight he might also be the one handling the event production, which could get interesting. In the past Cuban has been in discussion with the folks at WWE, with WWE insider Jim Ross that there had been some talk of a sharing of resources between a Cuban HDNEt's production and WWE. Cuban seems to be enamored of the big event style of WWE events and also of the Yarennoka and Pride shows, with the big video boards, introduction pieces, in arena fireworks, etc. I could see the WWE being hired on to do the in house event management.
PPV
If they decide to go with PPV then there are three options as i see it. do the product in house with his hdnet staff, hire out some one like the WWE to handle the television end of live event, or go with with an HBO that will the full service deal but also take a portion of profits.
HBO: HBO would be a viable option if they are willing to fully embrace the MMA concept and make a commitment to the sport. This would entail building a 24/7 concept around the event that would resemble the super successful Mayweather-De La Hoya build up. The odds of this happening seem to bee small since Golden Boy Productions bowed out of a possible promotional alliance with the Affliction crew.
WWE: It wouldn't be too far-fetched to have them handle the PPV production if they decide to put this card PPV. WWE have been doing live event production for PPV since the dawn of the industry and would ensure a smoothly run show. Cut the WWE in on the profits and you could have them market the PPV to their database of past PPV purchasers and have them hype it on their weekly programs.
HDNets: Cuban could decide to use his in-house production facitlties to put on the PPV. His crew have put on excellent show in the past with their HDNets fights and IFL shows and would be able to do a serviceable job of producing the show. Unlike the two other options mentioned, this option would tend to limit a bit of the marketing angles you could use for the PPV.
With the proposed names they are looking at for this card.... they are gonna take a financial bath on this thing. We're talking WFA proportions here. I'm assuming Fedor is getting north of a million bucks, but maybe not the 2 mil he is asking around for. Sylvia is probably making 150k to 250k.....talk of arlovski, rothwell, lindland, barnett.....all those guys would want six figures.....
Event Production
Mark Cuban will be hosting the event in Dallas at American Airlines Arena, which he owns. I imagine this would cut out one cost, location rental. Having Cuban running the show will also make it easier to market the fight. Cuban has a pre-exisitng customer base for the Mavericks that he can market the fight to. He also has relationships with Local Dallas- Ft Worth metro area and Greater Texas media that will make it much easier and cheaper to market the fight and ensure a decent gate for the card.
Since Cuban is hosting the fight he might also be the one handling the event production, which could get interesting. In the past Cuban has been in discussion with the folks at WWE, with WWE insider Jim Ross that there had been some talk of a sharing of resources between a Cuban HDNEt's production and WWE. Cuban seems to be enamored of the big event style of WWE events and also of the Yarennoka and Pride shows, with the big video boards, introduction pieces, in arena fireworks, etc. I could see the WWE being hired on to do the in house event management.
PPV
If they decide to go with PPV then there are three options as i see it. do the product in house with his hdnet staff, hire out some one like the WWE to handle the television end of live event, or go with with an HBO that will the full service deal but also take a portion of profits.
HBO: HBO would be a viable option if they are willing to fully embrace the MMA concept and make a commitment to the sport. This would entail building a 24/7 concept around the event that would resemble the super successful Mayweather-De La Hoya build up. The odds of this happening seem to bee small since Golden Boy Productions bowed out of a possible promotional alliance with the Affliction crew.
WWE: It wouldn't be too far-fetched to have them handle the PPV production if they decide to put this card PPV. WWE have been doing live event production for PPV since the dawn of the industry and would ensure a smoothly run show. Cut the WWE in on the profits and you could have them market the PPV to their database of past PPV purchasers and have them hype it on their weekly programs.
HDNets: Cuban could decide to use his in-house production facitlties to put on the PPV. His crew have put on excellent show in the past with their HDNets fights and IFL shows and would be able to do a serviceable job of producing the show. Unlike the two other options mentioned, this option would tend to limit a bit of the marketing angles you could use for the PPV.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)