From Dan Rafael’s update today on ESPN.com:

Top-level live boxing on Versus looks to be about done. Other than two more club shows that the network will air before the end of the year under a deal with Golden Boy, Versus will burn off the remaining live card it owes Tournament of Contenders from its deal to broadcast “The Contender” reality series. The Sept. 17 show will be headlined by a decent junior middleweight main event featuring former titlist Verno Phillips against former welterweight titlist Carlos Quintana, according to DiBella, who is doing the show with TOC’s Jeff Wald. The co-feature will pit “Contender” runner-up Ehinomen Ehikhamenor against ticket-seller Dewey Cooper in a cruiserweight fight in Primm, Nev. Decent show, but certainly nothing to get too excited about. Versus could have been a huge player in boxing but bungled it from the beginning with a misguided exclusive contract with Top Rank. If this is the way it’s going to end, what a shame.

Any time an outlet for combat sports decides to step out of the running, its sad. Versus though has had a number of truly awful fight cards over the years that they vastly overpaid for. There was a market for better fights out there and Top Rank (and the Contenders series) effectively killed it. Just another sad reminder of boxing’s propensity to eat itself.

After weeks of idle speculation about fights that are or aren’t happening, we’ve all lost track of a grand weekend that we’re closing in on: Two huge fights in Philly plus perhaps the best bantams in the world going at it. Enough talk about Fedor, damnit; Let’s talk about fights. And these are good ones.

Obviously, there focus should be on the main event first and foremost of UFC 101: BJ Penn makes his first defense of his title in almost one year by fighting former challenger Kenny Florian. Florian’s made a name for himself rolling through much of the lightweight midcard and has now arrived (sans needing to avenge the Sherk defeat) at the door step to greatness. The problem is the gatekeeper: BJ Penn is still among the best pound for pound fighters alive. Period. While Florian has been able to overcome previous athletic fighters with his excellent technique, many are betting on Penn underestimating Florian following his loss at 170 to George St. Pierre and subsequent firestorm. Just don’t bet on a guy to lose due to another’s mental errors unless you’ve got nothing physical riding on it. While Florian could catch BJ early, he’s not really an elite striker and BJ is so far and above everyone at 155 on the mat, its barely worth discussing.

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Alan and I discuss Ultimate Chaos, the UFC’s shady business, a boxing slugfest, and much more

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Alan Conceicao and I discuss UFC 99 and how the biggest winner of all might have been Mirko Cro Cop.

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Alan and I discuss Kimbo, why Lyoyo isn’t leading a revolution, and disagree about the results of the weekend’s two big main events.

Thanks to our friends at angrymarks.com

This is a test run. In the weeks to come look for exclusive interviews, timely commentary, improved production, and more tomfoolery.

Fighting Words Podcast

You may have noticed a lack of Ultimate Fighter content. To be honest, I started work on a preview of this season and then gave up. You know why? Because this season is bad. Listen, I get that there is resistance to calling this a bad season of the show from a lot of people on the internet, but the truth is this season sucks. I’ve barely bothered to keep up with it and neither have any of the other contributers here. Two guys look like the dominant forces early on: Jeff Lawson and Jason Dent. If you know anything about MMA beyond the UFC, or hell, if all you know is the UFC, you know that Jason Dent isn’t an elite level guy. And that makes the fact that there’s about 14 guys worse than him on this show so amazing.

The ugly truth is that guys like Mushin Corbbrey and John Gunderson (who tried out) were turned down for this show for Ray Elbe and Waylon Rowe. The only reason that you would turn down a guy who’s fought on Showtime for guys that lost to guys that lost on Showtime is obvious: You’re intentionally looking for weak fighters. TUF 9 is not about building new American talent. It is completely about building new talent for the UK. Its about finding another Bisping to sell tickets over there when the live gates have been dropping with each show put on. You don’t just have to believe me that these fighters suck: Look at the TUF 9 Finale! There’s already 7 non TUF fights booked; more than any other Finale in history. Mix that with a tired setup of house and riled up young fighters and we’re all finding something else to do with out Wednesday nights. Since the ratings were down to a 1.1 in week 2 and…well, I can’t find a rating for week 3. But I’m gonna go on a limb and say it wasn’t record breaking in a good way. But it doesn’t look like we’re alone either.

In the 24 months since PRIDE was finally announced to be ending as we knew it, many things have changed in the MMA landscape, though perhaps not to the level that was often argued it would be. In retrospect. PRIDE’s collapse and the subsequent reconstitution of the Japanese MMA scene is seen today as a mixed bag. Do not let the arguments that it was any sort of success sway you: The purchase of PRIDE and the subsequent activity has been nothing less than an unmitigated failure, one given a pass on account of “difficulty” with varying factions, something the companies that have followed in its wake rarely get from English language media.

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Just a day or so ago, Frank Shamrock revealed to the world something that, well, most of us were pretty aware of: Ken Shamrock is broke. The immediate reaction from the few people who cared to reply over at BE.com (where, incidentally, our ratings are now used as part of their USA Today contribution) was one of general laughter. Its a bit of a far cry from the reaction to Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman’s fights that took place earlier in 2009. Perhaps even more comically, strong rumor holds that Coleman will fight Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night marked the first PPV entry of a mixed card here on this side of the Atlantic. While the biggest events in Japanese history are almost universally events mixing kickboxing and MMA, stateside the attitudes have been different regarding the use of both sports on the same stage. While there were lots of criticisms among hardcore fans on both sides of the spectrum about the combination of the fights, really, it was up to the casual fans to decide whether or not the show was a success. And their ultimate reaction displated the uncomfortable truth so many, particularly on the MMA side, were often willing to admit. MMA here was not the primary story, nor was it ever. No one was going to buy tickets to see Nelson/Monson, no matter how well matched they were on paper. The show was an exhibition in Roy Jones’ ego, and at least inside the arena, it sure looked like it was a success.

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As some MMA fans are aware, there’s a PPV show coming up in just a couple days featuring what was a dream matchup about 3 years ago. Its not necessarily the strongest card the UFC has ever put together, but given how many people who read this site will actually be paying $45 to watch, does it matter? Jonathan Snowden (now a regular at Five Ounces) and I go over this weekend’s bouts.

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