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By Anthony De Franco  March 13, 2010, at 12:45 pm  Is the Iceman coming back sooner than we thought?
According to Fighters only, his return may be roughly a month away. Chuck would forgo his UFC 115 fight with Tito Ortiz to take on former middleweight champion Rich Franklin on April 15th. This, of course, is the same day that Strikeforce will be on CBS, with the main event being Dan Henderson v. Jake Shields.
Chuck Liddell will be fighting Rich Franklin in his next bout and not rival TUF 11 coach Tito Ortiz, Fighters Only has heard from a reliable source. The switch was initially reported to us just under two weeks ago but was only a rumour at that time.
However, the rumour hit message boards late last night and an industry source confirmed that Liddell will indeed be facing former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. The fight is to headline an April 17th Fight Night event which will counter Strikeforce’s show on the same date.
Bloody Elbow (which is just an awesome site) is quick to point out that Fighters only is credentialed by the UFC, which means that this claim probably has some legitimacy to it.
Let’s look at what this does for the UFC. First off, they will lose the UFC 115 main event between Ortiz and Liddell. This fight had a chance to be a big PPV moneymaker, so there are some who will question Zuffa’s logic. Instead, they will put the Iceman on free cable, and some that he draws some eyes over from CBS.
Inside the cage, this should be an interesting fight, and it’s a win-win for Dana White. If Liddell loses, he will likely retire, which Dana publicly said that he would like Chuck to. That would mean that Franklin is back on the map in the light heavyweight division with a win over someone who, at the very least, is still a name.
If Liddell wins, then Chuck will likely be given another fight, and that one would not be free. Even if Liddell isn’t a championship caliber fighter anymore, he is still a name that can make money.
It’s also an interesting test of Liddell’s drawing power. Can Chuck still draw like The Iceman could a couple of years ago or are people going to think of him like they do LaDanian Tomlinson nowadays and react with general apathy?
If this fight goes off, there are a lot of interesting dynamics involved
[Update: (1:37 PM) Okay, maybe not. MMA Junkie is now reporting that Liddell and Franklin will take place as the main event of UFC 115, not on a new card scheduled for April. They also are reporting some other strange news...]
By Anthony De Franco March 5, 2010, at 5:23 pm The new rumor making the rounds is that the previously announced Kimbo Slice-Matt Mitrione fight that was pulled off the UFC 113 will headline the UFC’s event on April 17th. This would serve to hurt the ratings of Strikeforce’s CBS card. According to Brent Brookhouse:
With the announcement of the UFC holding an event on April 17 and now news that the rumored Mike Swick vs. Matt Serra fight is off due to Mike Swick’s injury there has been much speculation on what fights will run on the event.
Despite rumors from Carmichael Dave on The Underground that James Toney would make his MMA debut against Kimbo Slice on the event, I have heard from a solid source that the most likely option right now is to move the scheduled Kimbo Slice / Matt Mitrione fight from UFC 113 up a few weeks to the Spike TV card.
Outside of putting Brock Lesnar on free TV, which will NEVER EVER happen, Slice is probably the biggest ratings draw that the UFC carries right now. People from all walks of life will tune in to see the internet brawler take on the former NFL player and completely forget that the Strikeforce card is on.
The CBS card will outdraw the UFC purely by the fact that it is on CBS, but the if the UFC can do a decent number, they are taking eyes away from Strikeforce.
What will we do? Probably watch the UFC, and make sure to switch over for the only good fight on the Strikeforce card: Gilbert Melendez killing Shinya Aoki’s stupid pants.
By Anthony De Franco March 5, 2010, at 3:27 pm Speaking of things that don’t make sense, It appears that a battle between Matt Serra and Mike Swick is being lined up according to Figure Four Online:
Dana White confirmed today that UFC is running a show on April 17th, head-to-head with the announced Strikeforce show on CBS. The event would air most likely on Spike TV. The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event. The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick [co-main] semifinal fight today.
There had been talk of a possibility that if UFC scheduled a show on that date, CBS may move the Strikeforce show to April 24th, which would go head-to-head with the WEC PPV in Sacramento.
Even though the April 17th show was not announced yesterday, the issue of the Observer that came out yesterday has a lead story analyzing the whys of this head-to-head battle.
Let’s look at the tactics being used here by the UFC. They are counter-programming a Strikeforce card that is on national television, which they could not do when Fedor stepped into the cage on American soil for the first time. That was the height of the injury-plague that the UFC suffered in late 2009.
As for this fight, I don’t particularly get it. Swick is coming off two consecutive losses and needs a win badly. Serra is coming off a quick knockout of Frank Trigg, but is late in his career and not really in much of a position to fight for titles. Why do they need to fight?
The crazy thing is this simply isn’t an easy win for Swick. While Swick’s striking is crisper and faster, it doesn’t have the same kind of knockout power that Serra posseses. On the ground, Serra should have a leg-up with his BJJ black belt from Renzo Gracie. However, the long limbs of Mike Swick might cause problems for Serra, who is just 5′6.
Swick should have gotten someone he could have beaten and got back on track, not a fight that is almost a toss-up.
Update (3/5): Swick told the world on his twitter that there was no truth to this rumor.
Not fighting Serra guys. Most likely having surgery soon. @oxphos Any truth to Serra fight 4/17? Seems unlikely unless ur arm is better
So much for that one.
By Anthony De Franco December 16, 2009, at 2:30 pm I am just plain shocked at how many people have bought the Fedor Strikeforce on CBS Walkout Shirt. To be honest, one of my biggest worries was that no one really knew who Fedor was. However, I was wrong and it’s gone on to become our bestseller.
The old adage goes “Give the people what they want.” So, here’s another RVCA Fedor Shirt for your pleasure.
Simple like the man himself. Nothing but a distinctly russian font saying the name of the best heavyweight on the planet. I feel like shirt is good conversation starter. “What does your shirt say?” Then you get to look cool as you introduce your friends to the greatness of a man who lives and trains in Siberia by choice.
MMA Warehouse has it for 31.99.
For more Fedor gear, check out The 3rd String Store.
By Anthony De Franco December 7, 2009, at 12:27 pm Ladies and Gentlemen, the first UFC fighter has chose to leave the MMA paradise of the Zuffa companies and fight for Strikeforce. Former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson has signed with the San Jose based company, according to Ariel Helwani of AOL Fanhouse:
After months of speculation, Dan Henderson has finally agreed to sign with Strikeforce. FanHouse has learned that the 12-year veteran, who was last seen knocking out Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in July, recently came to terms with the San Jose-based organization on a multi-fight agreement.
At this time, it is unknown when and where Henderson will make his debut for Strikeforce.
Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole first reported the possibility of Henderson signing with Strikeforce in October, but at Strikeforce’s CBS event in Chicago last month, the former PRIDE middleweight and light heavyweight champion told FanHouse that he had not come to terms with the organization yet.
Henderson returned to the UFC in September 2007 following Zuffa’s purchase of PRIDE. He lost a light heavyweight title unification bout against Rampage Jackson at UFC 75 and then a middleweight unification match with Anderson Silva at UFC 82. Following those back-to-back losses, he would go on to win his next three UFC fights against Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin and Bisping.
Recently, Henderson had publicly talked about being frustrated with the fact that he didn’t receive a middleweight title shot following his victory over Bisping and that he was hoping for a bump in salary.
Henderson really doesn’t have much to complain about in the money department. For his fight against Bisping at UFC 100, he made 100,000 dollars in addition to another 150,000 in bonuses. How many UFC fighters can walk away from any one event saying that they made 250,000 dollars? Not a whole lot of them that’s for sure.
As far as what this means for the MMA landscape, It’s really nothing but good things. Right now, we are in the teenage years of the sport, and the UFC has dominated those awkward, growing years. However, that doesn’t mean that some legit competition won’t make Dana and the boys all that much better.
As for Strikeforce, I’m happy it exists because it is another place besides the highly politicized UFC for fighters to make money. This signing really makes their explosion onto the UFC’s level. Remember the key thing here is that this isn’t a guy that the UFC didn’t want. Hendo chose to sign with Strikeforce. He turned down an offer from the UFC in order to do so.
Will this lead to an exodus of fighters from the UFC? Probably not. However, it’s good for fighters to know that there is somewhere that they can go even if Dana doesn’t want them.
Possible opponents for Henderson include Gegard Mousasi, Jake Shields, and of course, Fedor. All three of those are good fights, and we’ll breaking them all down coming later today.
One thing is for sure: I wouldn’t want to be working in the UFC headquarters today.
By Anthony De Franco November 4, 2009, at 10:01 am Let me guess: you want to know more about “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko.
The world’s best fighter has long been shrouded in mystery. However, Showtime Sports took an inside look at the man that many people consider the best fighter in the world in their Fight Camp 360 feature. Here it is in it’s entirety.
Oh yea, there’s something in there about Brett Rogers, the guy he’s fighting too.
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