Posted by Dave Walsh on 9th September 2009
In case you haven’t been following the world of MMA lately, Alistair Overeem is basically a large area of confusion. Overeem is the current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. What is funny about Overeem; Strikeforce Champion is that he hasn’t fought in the promotion, nay, the United States, since November 2007. So, of course, the internet is getting up in arms over it. Overeem as champion wasn’t a big deal until Strikeforce moved into the obligatory #2 spot in the United States. Then the questions started coming; why wasn’t Overeem fighting in the US? Why won’t he defend his title? Is he on the roids and afraid of drug tests? Overeem claims its a contract thing;
My contract with Strikeforce was only made about three months before the incident, I think they let me fight against (Vitor)Belfort and Paul (Buentello) to lose, but I won. Normally in a contract it says you have to defend your title within a certain period. But my contract just ended there. As I had a long term contract with FEG, I kept fighting for Dream and K-1. It’s ironic that we finally got an offer from Strikeforce and reached an agreement, and I get in some stupid brawl and cut my hand. In jail it got infected and it took longer than expected.
He has been fighting for FEG for quite a while, and is scheduled to fight for Golden Glory on October 17. Of course, he is also taking part in the K-1 World Grand Prix. Overeem and Strikeforce will collide eventually, but honestly, don’t hold your breath.
Posted in Dave Walsh, K-1, MMA, Strikeforce | 2 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 21st August 2009
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
August 21, 2009: The August 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.
Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel.
These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (FightOpinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Houston Chronicle); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Author of “Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting”); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion), Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA).
Joachim Hansen is not currently eligible to be ranked due to the fact that he has been inactive for 12 months; and Josh Barnett is not currently eligible to be ranked due to his recent positive drug test.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Dave Walsh, Jonathan Snowden, Rankings | 3 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 17th August 2009
Gina Carano was handed her first loss in Mixed Martial Arts. We all saw it, and if you didn’t see it live, chances are you’ve read countless articles condemning women’s MMA and Carano. With some of the hype leading up to this fight seeing such a fickle reaction isn’t exactly shocking, some of the people it is coming from is. The world needs a hero and women’s MMA is no different. The truth is, Gina Carano wasn’t able to be that hero at this point in her career, but a lot was riding on her shoulders, all of which she handled with grace and dignity, even in defeat.
Today we are hearing how
Gina relates to Kimbo Slice; all hype and no substance, being fed lower-ranked competitors in hopes of propelling her to stardom due to her looks and personality, not her ability. Yes, they were both the creation of Gary Shaw’s hype machine, one that has worked for countless boxers throughout history, and they were both beaten by game opponents. There is a difference though, that a lot of people seem to be overlooing; Gina wanted this fight and wanted this challenge.
Kimbo went into the last EliteXC show ever expecting Ken Shamrock, an old, beaten down shell of a former top fighter who needs painkillers to get out of bed in the morning. Shamrock’s name value and limited skillset was going to help build up the Kimbo legend and EliteXC brand name on national broadcast television. It is hard to really blame Kimbo or his management, as for a business decision the Shamrock fight was golden; there was money to be made, he has name value and a legend of his own.
Carano was treated much in the same way by Shaw and EliteXC; she was given game but inexperienced opponents and pushed as an elite women’s MMA fighter, while she was still a bit fresh into her career as a fighter. Women’s MMA in the United States is still in its infancy, so it is hard to look down on her or her opponents for not having a wealth of experience. The big difference between Carano and Kimbo was attitude and outlook; while Kimbo’s camp was looking for money fights and to keep the Kimbo brand alive, Carano was looking to prove herself and take on a challenge.
Posted in Dave Walsh, Gina Carano, Strikeforce | 4 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 11th August 2009
Melvin Manhoef once against disappoints, this time due to injury from apparently leg kicking Ramazanov a little too hard. Young up-and-comer Daniel Ghita leg kicked his way to a tournament victory and a promise of more to come for him this year for him. There was some hype in the UK around John Love making his K1 debut, and, well, Ghita kicked his legs out from him until he was limping around, then leveled him with a left hook to seal it.
Peter Aerts showed why it was a rather awful idea to wear shoes in a K-1 matchup and not be allowed to throw kicks. You’d think fighters would look into K-1 history and see that this has never worked out for anybody and not do it, but Yosuke Nishijma; not that guy, apparently.
Full report at K-1 LEGEND:
Final: Daniel Ghita (1R – 2:19 KO – Right Low Kick) Sergeii Lashchenko
Superfight: Peter Aerts (3R – 1:24 KO – Right Low Kick) Yosuke Nishijima
Superfight: KYOTARO (3R – 1:20 KO – Right Hook) Jan Soukup
Semi-Final: Sergeii Lashchenko (2R – 0:24 KO – Right Straight) Brice Guidon
Semi-Final: Daniel Ghita (1R – 1:28 – Right Low Kick) YUKI (Manhoef injured)
Quarterfinal: Brice Guidon (3R Decision – 3-0) Rico Verhoeven
Quarterfinal: Sergeii Lashchenko (3R Decision – 3-0) Sebastian Ciobanu
Quarterfinal: Daniel Ghita (1R – 1:28 KO – Left Hook) John Love
Quarterfinal: Melvin Manhoef (1R – 2:16 KO – Punch) Ramazan Ramazanov
Reserve Fight: YUKI (3R – 2:00 KO – Punch) Prince Ali
Opening Fight: Yuto Watanabe (3R Decision – 3-0) Nobuhiro Ko
Opening Fight: Kengo Shimizu (1R – 0:34 KO) Shinkuyu Kawano
Opening Fight: Kazuo Doi (1R – 1:02 TKO – Towel) Katsuhara Ebisawa
Posted in Dave Walsh, K-1 | No Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 29th July 2009
If you were a sucker, like me, you would have just called in to Fedor’s conference call this afternoon in an attempt to hear what the big news was going to be from Fedor and his camp. Instead, we were treated to the delight of Jerry Millen, Vadim the Fink and a woman translating for Fedor ducking any and all questions of substance. MMAHQ has a pretty intensive list of what went down, which is more than I could tolerate.
The only real news that came out of this call could have easily been gathered if you are an avid Twitter follower and have the EA SPORTS MMA account on your follow list. This post summed everything you’d need to know up;
First three fighters announced for EA SPORTS MMA are Fedor Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi and Babalu Sobral
Boom. Right there is all you need to know. There is talk of Fedor being on the cover, but until you see a mock-up, like everything else having to do with Mr. Emelianenko, don’t buy it. Other things to note is that Vadim and Co. are still not saying anything all that positive about a possible offer with the UFC. Vadim went on to say that the offer extended to them yesterday might of sold them two years ago, which of course is evasive. It does not answer the question of if Vadim will allow Fedor to fight in the UFC.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Dave Walsh, Fedor Emelianenko, M-1, UFC, Video Games | 4 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 17th July 2009
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
July 17, 2009: The July 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites. Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel.
These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (FightOpinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Houston Chronicle); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (MMA Payout); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Author of “Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting”); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion), Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA).
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Dave Walsh, Jonathan Snowden, Rankings | 8 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 12th July 2009
Let’s face facts here, the discussion of Sport of Spectacle is one that has raged when it comes to the UFC for years now, and as we saw last night at UFC 100, it shows no signs of slowing down. Dana White has long been an advocate of Mixed Martial Arts being promoted as a “sport.” Scathing critiques of K-1 and formerly PRIDE for their affliction for freakshow fights to fill up cards, attract media attention and fill up arenas. Unleashing a beast in the theater only meant it would soon go berserk and nobody would love it anymore, or love the carny promoter. The shine wears off.
Dana White, as much as I’m not a fan, is not a stupid man. He has gone on record saying that freakshows are not how you build a brand or a sport. They are short term solutions that just end up hurting in the long run. The growth that you see out of freakshow interest is not sustainable growth. The people that tune in to see a freakshow are not going to purchase your t-shirts, they aren’t going to travel to your basic shows, they aren’t going to order your lesser cards and spread the word to their friends.
So then the real question is, has the UFC lost sight of this very simple concept with freakshow fights? The signing of Brock Lesnar was the first sign that UFC was starting to really reach with their big draws like Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock no longer in the mix and the crop of stars that they built during the TUF explosion were starting to lose their luster; Chuck Liddell was looking like a shell of himself, Randy Couture was holding their title ransom, Rich Franklin was decimated by Anderson Silva whose non-company-man attitude wasn’t doing them any favors.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Brock Lesnar, Dave Walsh, UFC | 6 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 25th June 2009
When the buzz started over Bellator Fighting Championships it all seemed sort of like a bad joke. A promotion run by businessman Bjorn Rebney and Hollywood producer Brad Epstein being broadcast on ESPN Deportes in Spanish that was buying up younger talent, notably Hispanic and relatively fresh fighters into exclusive contracts it seemed doomed from the start. First of all, the concept of a fight company running in Spanish on a premium cable Hispanic leg of ESPN seemed strange. The demographics that the UFC pulls in tends to be the 18 - 34 white male demographic, not the 18 - 34 Hispanic demographic. Building a new promotion from the start with no name value, no major hype and no major players seemed like something we’d be joking about right now after a few failed shows; we aren’t actually laughing right now, though.
Bellator just finished up their first successful season, crowning champions and running some extremely fun cards in front of some extremely energetic crowds and apparently drawing above 1.2 ratings on the obscure ESPN Deportes. Crowning Joe Soto at 145lbs, Eddie Alvarez at 155lbs, Lyman Good at 170lbs and Hector Lombard at 185lbs Bellator as quickly established that they have quality fighters and are already creating stars. The big winners in the initial season of Bellator were easily Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard, whose domination through their respective divisions have made them the posterboys for Bellator over the course of the first season. On top of that, they have made some decent money. Tournament wins were $25,000, winning the tournament netted $125,000. While this isn’t Rampage or Chuck money, for young fighters whose name value isn’t that of your average UFC fighter, this money is incredible in a world where your average TUF contestant signs a contract for $8,000 to show and an additional $8,000 to win.
Posted in Bellator, Dave Walsh | 2 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 19th June 2009
June 19, 2009: We are proud to announce the launch of the Independent World MMA Rankings. Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel.
These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (FightOpinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Houston Chronicle); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (MMA Payout); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA; Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Author of “Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting”); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion), Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA).
These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.
The rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.
The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.
The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.
Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Dave Walsh, Jonathan Snowden, MMA | No Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 15th June 2009
Wrestling is fucked. Excuse the language, but it is true. Also excuse me making a post on this, a blog about MMA and everything legitimate in the fighting world, but this goes unsaid. Mitsuharu Misawa, one of Japan’s living legends in the pro wrestling world is dead and it raises a lot of questions. A lot of legitimate questions. What it also provides for combat sports fans, is a clear line between safety and dangerous when it comes to competing.
What Misawa did for a living was fake fight, essentially. He went out and put on a show that was based loosely on the world of combat. Part showman, part athlete, part fighter and part idiot is how you can explain most people who choose to do what Misawa did for a living. Misawa helped pioneer, along with his peers in All Japan and later Pro Wrestling NOAH a dangerous, high-risk, blurred-reality version of pro wrestling. While still staged, the name of the game was one-up-man-ship and “fighting spirit.” This wasn’t new to Japan, but the way that they went about it was different. Instead of using legitimate strikes and submission holds like wrestlers like Inoki, Maeda and Takada, they opted to toss each other on their head and necks repeatedly to get the crowd excited. Instead of the occasional high risk move where one of the wrestlers lands on their head, matches broke down to what at times felt like an endless cycle of being planted directly on their heads.
It came about during a time when this “real fighting” stuff (the stuff this site is about) was starting to gain steam across the world and leave wrestling behind like the fad that it was. To keep the fans’ fickle interest, wrestlers had to prove how tough they are. What needs to be said and why this is important is that Mitsuharu Misawa was not only the posterboy for this style, but one of the innovators of this style, and this style essentially murdered him while performing. Think about that. Thousands of wrestlers have been inspired by Misawa and his style and adopted it as their own, fighting through the pain and injuries because that was what the fans wanted. The rude awakening is this; it is incredibly dangerous.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Dave Walsh, MMA, Wrestling | 8 Comments »
