Pro wrestling fans love comparisons to that pseudo sport, and Sengoku offers a great one. While sliding (but still solid) ratings continue to bury the WWE with each passing day, the one refrain they can constantly pronounce is that at least they aren’t TNA, a promotion who has generally operated like a retarded stepbrother. The same goes for Japan: DREAM is all ready to go in 2009 with a slate of shows, despite endless talk of that not going to be the case over here, and their “competition” in the market is a promotion that essentially does retarded versions of everything they’ve gone, right down to copying which weight classes they ran tournaments in. Last night, Sengoku fufilled the promises of this entire calendar year with another generally forgettable show with some bizarre highlights.

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After a weekend that saw the biggest night in heavyweight kickboxing (and argurably the sport in general) and the biggest night in boxing for 2008, its hard to believe it may be topped without a single PPV card on the bill. But with 5 boxing cards and 3 MMA events scheduled for national television, it’s hardly a ridiculous notion. In our first of two parts, we detail the 3 MMA cards promised for the next 6 days.

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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 »

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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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 »

News is out all over the net that Jon Fitch (and others) have been released from their UFC contract for not signing over the rights to their identities to the UFC. The reaction, judging by posts on various message boards, is one of shock and horror. Believe it or not, people are aghast that a fight promoter is operating like a fight promoter. 

Logically, this might lead to some sort of fallout, but it probably won’t, since those most likely to have their complaints heard are already solidly in the back pocket of Zuffa (see: Iole, Kevin). In fact, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see articles in the coming days from a variety of sources detailing the selfish motives of such disrespective employees when it comes to an offer to make them money forever. Times are tough - Why shouldn’t they want money from their identity in a UFC video game? 

While I was never a great fan of Jon Fitch, nor did I believe he was capable of beating GSP this past summer, he’s clearly a top 10 fighter significantly better than the overwhelming majority of bodies laying around in the UFC. That we’re losing him over blatant greed is truly an unfortunate news story, but its also one that should hardly be a heart stopper to anyone really paying attention.

edit: It only gets better. Apparently Cain Velasquez is likely to go too and Koscheck’s last bout will be at UFC’s Fight For The Troops. He was only saved due to coming in last minute to fight Alves. 

There’s a lot of hyperbole this morning about the title win last night at UFC 91. Is it a paradigm shift in the UFC heavyweight division? Can we safely say that Brock has become the “next big thing”? How many questions do we still have to ask?

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We’re back! Alan and myself discuss the death of EliteXC, Anderson “The Dragon” Silva, dos Santos in hockey brawls, Eric Pele, the possibility of Urijah Faber using a superkick at the upcoming WEC, it is exactly what you expect from us. That means it is awesome.

 

 Total MMA Radio Post-UFC 90 [36:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The fallout from EXC’s demise has struck an un-nerving tone for many:

As a writer, if you have information that not only can advance a story in the media with new details but also impact a current, on-going investigation, then start talking. By admitting this news item in the manner in which it was stated, it comes off as if you’re saying, “Well, if Elite XC hadn’t closed its doors, I might have not said anything about this.”

This is not the first time in the week that Zach Arnold has said something to this extent. Included along in his editorial was this post by Fightlinker, citing similar issues with the fashion in which MMA’s best journalists are conducting business. Alternately, he makes sure to give high fives to opinion/link based websites who made sure to “put the heat on” for an investigation that ultimately lead to EXC’s deal with Showtime Networks collapsing. Its an interesting dichotomy: Sources and Journalists bad, those republishing aspects of their stories for opinions good. 

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After a few days of shock, surprise, and then apparent rage, it seems that to review the event virtually everyone on the internet who would read this has already watched would seem to be senseless. However, the reaction to the event and the aftermath are clearly very strong and omnipresent. Maybe that will change after yet another “world changing” episode of TUF tonight, who knows? But for now, its worth noting what’s happened in the aftermath.

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