Posted by Alan Conceicao on 30th November 2008
I, for one, enjoy looking over the links provided on fightopinion.com because there are lots of stories and opinions that are either interesting or laughable. Hearing that the UFC is releasing guys like Sokoujou and Werdum and is replacing them with folks such as Ray Steinbeiss is really funny in how transparent the reasoning is. No offense to Steinbeiss, but he is not a world class fighter. Hasn’t beaten a world class fighter. Probably belongs on MFC undercards. Maybe headlining an ICE show in the midwest. He’s in the UFC because he is cheap and because people who watch the UFC do not really care who is fighting in the UFC outside of the main event.
Now wait, I know what you’re thinking: Stacked cards! Not like boxing! After all, Nate Quarry was really a top end fighter when he fought Maia, right? Well, he wasn’t really, and you didn’t need to be any sort of genius to realize that. The UFC 91 undercard was amongst the weakest ever done by the organization, however the number of “clean finishes” (read as KOs and submissions) allowed lots of fights on the air with the “action” hardcore fans crave. That few of the fights featured guys who were very good was brushed away easily. Its easy to pretend that Jorge Gurgel in a bad kickboxing match was meaningful, but much tougher to make the authentic argument that it really was.
UFC 91 has since been lauded by more than a few internet pundits to be perhaps the best show of the year. I naturally disagree and think it wasn’t even as good as UFC 81, but then again what has my opinion ever mattered? Instead, it is reiterated repeatedly as to the value of branding over stars (even when there’s a 550,000 buy difference in the course of 4 weeks) and undercard bouts that are the comparative equal of some undercard NJPW juniors match done 15 years ago between some roided up guys that are now dead. It should be no shock then that the burst of interest in MMA mimics that of pro wrestling circa 1997, with tons of poorly coded websites bursting with ridiculous rumors from unconfirmed sources, in large part because many of the writers (thanks chiefly to the puro and Meltzer connections) are people who lived through that very era. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Alan Conceicao, MMA, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Posted by Alan Conceicao on 29th November 2008
The magic of cable and satellite TV is to have literally hundreds of viable options at any time to view in all genres. I have spanish channels pumping in strange sporting events and game shows 24/7 from all corners of the Americas, along with the full array of FSN affiliates and other assorted sports channels. This leads me to a vast amount of TV watching, generally after the woman of the house has gone off to sleep.
All is well though. My DVR fills to the brim with the sublime and the absurd. Recently being viewed:
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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by MMA Curmudgeon on 27th November 2008
It may not be very curmudgeonly, but there are a number of things to be thankful for as an MMA fan. The sport as a whole is struggling, but the UFC is bigger and better than ever. While the Japanese Indy scene (Pancrase, SHOOTO, DEEP) has reached an all-time low, the WEC acts as a reasonable American proxy. It’s a good time to be an MMA fan. Here’s why:
- Dana White: Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that White keeps things interesting. Whether he’s cursing fans, agents, and fighters (all in one lovely interview!), posting his wacky blogs, or bringing back his nemesis Randy Couture for a fight he can’t win, White is always endlessly entertaining. I’m happy he’s in my life, making sure the UFC is populated by people who want to be “fucking fighters.”
- Torrents: You know where and why.
- WinAmp: You know the place.
- UFC DVDS in stores: I’m old enough to have lived through a time when UFC events weren’t widely available. It was the dark ages, when the PPV’s were only on Direct TV and the videos weren’t even released commercially. Having UFC events on beautiful, beautiful digital video, just months after the event airs, is something to be thankful for.
- Foolish MMA bloggers: Is it wrong that I enjoy reading a bad column more than a good one? Most MMA “journalists” are horrible. They are generally bizarelly partisan (either rabidly pro or against Zuffa) and not afraid to insert wild speculation in place of fact. Sometimes they label this wild speculation as EXCLUSIVE! Even when the speculation was first reported elsewhere. And isn’t even true!
- Great books that put MMA history in its proper perspective. Our former editor Jonathan Snowden’s new book is the best I’ve read about MMA. It covers the sport worldwide and offers more than just a synopsis of fights or obviously biased views. Buy it on Black Friday at your local bookstore or online.
- Brock Lesnar: Cocky attitude to go with a cock shaped tatoo. The world’s greatest man!
- Great fights: Sakuraba v. Tamura, Silva v. Jackson III, and Griffin v. Evans to round out the year. And Penn v. GSP II on the horizon. It’s been a good year to be a fan.
Posted in MMA Curmudgeon, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Alan Conceicao on 26th November 2008
It seems like just a couple days ago that I railed on the fact that Couture/Liddell IV will exist and be a #1 contender’s fight. Well, okay, it was. However, the madness with rematches hardly ended there. Sam Caplan broke the story yesterday that another rematch is forthcoming. The logic is there, I suppose. The first fight these guys had shattered all the WEC records for television audience and live gate. Of course, what’s happened since has hardly helped matters. Both men suffered KO losses and did so in front of a TV audience back to the typical .5s they had gotten before. The title belt they contended for? Gone. Theoretically, this will be a #1 contender fight of sorts, but for god sakes, its obvious Pulver doesn’t belong in one.
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Posted in Alan Conceicao, Urijah Faber, WEC | 2 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 25th November 2008
The big questions right now seem to revolve around Affliction; will this second show finally happen? Will it draw?
Can Fedor vs. Arlovski break 20,000 buys? The first time they attempted to run this show it was with Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski headlining, and apparently ticket sales and interest was so sluggish that the show was scrapped altogether. The second time, it was due to a possible Goldenboy deal that things fell through.
Of course, instead of talking about the fight itself, the focus seems to be on
Affliction’s ability to sell tickets and PPV buys. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski is a big, big fight. Many people have simply written Arlovski out as, well, Fedor is Fedor, but I think people are forgetting exactly what Arlovski is capable of. This year alone we have seen him dismantle the best that IFL’s heavyweight division had to offer, once on Affliction PPV, the other time on national television in front of millions of viewers.
Posted in Andrei Arlovski, Dave Walsh, Fedor Emelianenko | 3 Comments »
Posted by Alan Conceicao on 25th November 2008
Ever since UFC 91, the rumors of Couture/Liddell IV being made for a German debut have been rampant. To many, it is a “megafight” pitting the two biggest names in the UFC’s recent history once again doing battle, this time to determine a challenger to the heavyweight crown. And yet, the question must be asked: So? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Alan Conceicao, UFC | 5 Comments »
Posted by Tommy Hackett on 23rd November 2008
This was reported last week in Slobdana Dalmacija in Croatia and has since been picked up by FightTicker and the UFC Official Site. It’s the only thing in MMA this week that I enjoyed more Al Stankie’s interview at CagePotato.com (I love that name).
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Posted in Tommy Hackett | No Comments »
Posted by Wallace on 22nd November 2008
Last time I went to Strikeforce, I didn’t have a good time. Bobby Southworth and Anthony Ruiz fought an interminable battle of who could lay on someone else the longest, a woman peed herself, and a degenerate moron tried to fight me in the urine soaked restroom of the Shark Tank. But lately it has been good to be Andrew Wallace: an auspicious beginning to the judo competition season, a promotion in spite of the financial kristallnacht, my studies go well.
And now I am back at Strikeforce. Oh Strikeforce, how I missed you. Did you miss me, my darling? You have been cruel to me in the past but I have come back for more because I have seen the real you, the you that loves me when you’re sober and haven’t had a hard day down at the plant. This event is subtitled “Destruction” and no doubt that is accurate for many of the delicate maxillofacial bones and intricate neurological motor pathways of the competitors. But they’re all Brazilian or college wrestlers and so no one liked them for their looks or brains to begin with anyway. Let’s go, Cali! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Andrew Wallace, Strikeforce | 5 Comments »
Posted by Kendall Shields on 21st November 2008
Well friends, after what can only be described as an incomparably glorious nine-episode run at the estimable UGO.com, The Ultimate Fighter reviews return to Total MMA. To their spiritual home, you might say. Which is now also their literal home. There is at last . . . accord. There is also . . . Junie? Maybe? Let us watch some show. And see.
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Posted in TUF, UFC | 2 Comments »
