|
|
By Anthony De Franco  March 18, 2010, at 3:49 pm  After all the talk of who the UFC was going to use to counter Strikeforce’s CBS card, it looks like the answer was no one.
According to MMA Fighting, the San Jose based company will get to run it’s card completely unopposed.
Strikeforce has the spotlight to itself.
The long-rumored UFC event expected to counter the promotion’s April 17 CBS offering will not take place, MMA Fighting has confirmed.
Earlier this month, the UFC explored the option, going so far as to inform likely broadcast partner Spike TV that the show was a go, but the company has apparently reversed course, and a Spike source said the network has been told by the UFC that the show is no longer happening.
At the time, rumors of potential matchups pitting Mike Swick against Matt Serra and Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama were quickly extinguished for various reasons, making finding a headlining act a challenge.
So, what does the mean for Strikeforce? Well, for one, they won’t have to worry about half their audience tuning into Spike TV instead. The other is that they now have no one to blame but themselves if this card bombs in the ratings. They were the ones that couldn’t get Fedor on the card because of his bloodsucking management team. They were the ones who decided having three title fights was more important than have five good ones. They were the ones that decided that Bobby Lashley should be on the undercard.
Personally, I think we are at a pivotal moment in the history of Strikeforce. If they prove they can draw without Fedor, suddenly all the bargaining power is in their hands. If not, then they are going to be faced with a situation where they have to cave to The Last Emperor’s every demand.
Nonethless, every single one of you should watch Gilbert Melendez defend the pride of our country against the Shinya Aoki and his stupid magic pants on April 17th. I’m a firm believer that it could be fight of the year.
By Anthony De Franco March 17, 2010, at 12:58 am Sponsorship is a huge part of Mixed Martial arts. Let’s be honest, your favorite fighter could not sustain himself without help from the brands we know and love in the MMA community. Hell, certain websites even devote whole stores to MMA Brands.
UFC 2009: Undisputed did a decent job of representing this, but a lot of the cooler brands (Silver Star, Dethrone Royalty) were missing, and the menu was buried deep in the Create-a-Fighter. So deep, in fact, that I know people who just completely ignored this facet of the game. THQ has promised to rectify this in the sequel, and has taken the first step by re-launching their website and adding a “partner” list.
Here’s the full list, transcribed by yours truly. I’m sure someone will steal this, so if you do and don’t give us credit…Fuck you, sir.
- UFC
- Affliction
- American Fighter
- And 1
- Bad Boy
- BSN
- Cage Fighter
- Clinch Gear
- Death Clutch
- Dethrone Royalty
- Ecko MMA
- Fairtex
- The Fight! Network
- Fighters Only Magazine
- FYT
- Hayabusa
- Headblade
- Hitman Fight Gear
- Hostility
- Lugz
- Metabolic Adaptation
- MMA Connected
- MMA Elite
- MMA Warehouse
- MMA Fighting
- MusclePharm
- MicroTech
- Nogi
- NuVasive
- One More Round
- OTM Fight Shop
- Pain Inc.
- Punishment Athletics
- Premier Fighter
- RVCA
- Silver Star
- Sinister
- SPIKE TV
- SPRAWL
- Suckerpunch
- Take A Nap
- TapouT
- Throwdown
- Toe 2 Toe
- Tokyo Five
- Venum
- Warrior International
- Xyience
- Yard Barker
- Yuke’s
Wow…that is a list, people. Anything in Bold is new for 2010.
Here’s some interesting things. First off, we share two sponsors with the game, MMA Warehouse and Yard Barker. Speaking of Yard Barker, isn’t it interesting that there are Media sources in there as well. How about MMA Fighting? Any chance we get to see a virtual Ariel Helwani? I sent him a tweet. Waiting to hear back.
Also, Clinch Gear is still in the game, huh? That is interesting because it is owned by Dan Henderson. As everyone knows, Henderson has left the UFC for the “greener” pastures of Strikeforce.
Most importantly, all the awesome MMA brands are there. That means lots of cool logos, T-Shirts, Fight Shorts, and other cool stuff in UFC 2010: Undisputed, and that means a more authentic experience.
By Anthony De Franco March 5, 2010, at 4:44 am Bart Palaszewski vs. Karen Darabedyan
The Fighters: Palaszewski is just 26 years old, but has 44 fights under his belt. Recently, he has gone 2-2 in the WEC. He defeated Anthony Pettis by Split decision in his last fight. He is well rounded, as he has achieved his 31 wins in a variety of ways.
Darabedyan is another of the Armenian judo practitioners that came into the MMA world with Karo Parisyan. Although he is not related to Karo like Manny Gamburyan, he is their training partner. A black belt in Judo, Darabedyan also has a background in Kickboxing and Karate. He is 9-1 in his burgeoning career, and his most recently victory came over the always overrated Razor Rob McCullogh.
The Breakdown: While Palaszewski holds the massive experience edge, he simply doesn’t have a part of his game that really jumps out at you. We’ve seen from Karo that Judo can take you far in MMA, it just won’t ever get you into the elite level. Expect Darabedyan to continue proving his worth.
The Prediction: Darabedyan via unanimous decision
Deividas Taurosevicius vs. LC Davis
The Fighters: Taurosevicius is a pseudo-local for us. He fights out of Copiague, New York, which is like thirty minutes from our hometown. He is 15-3 in his career, with eight of the wins coming by submission. He’s 2-0 in the WEC and is coming off a win against the previously undefeated Mackens Sermerizer.
Davis is a survivor of the former Pat Militech camp with a virtual gaggle of big fight experience. He’s fought in the IFL, for Affliction, and now with the WEC. He’s 15-2 in those fights, and 2-0 in the WEC. He’s coming off consecutive wins against Javier Vasquez and Diego Nunes. And yes, I really wanted to get the world gaggle in there.
The Breakdown: This is a matchup of a wrestler and a BJJ specialist. Naturally, that will probably lead to a boring standup fight. If it does go to the ground, Davis will look to stymie the guard of Taurosevicius and do his damage without getting submitted.
The Prediction: Taurosevicius via submission
Jens Pulver v. Javier Vasquez
The Fighters: Pulver is a legend of the sport and the UFC’s first lightweight champion. He is also a survivor of the Pat Militech camp in Bettendorf, Iowa, but has had harsh words for his former trainer recently. Pulver has lost 8-of-12 and is really fighting on nothing but reputation at this point. Some of the losses are good ones, like the two losses he suffered at the hands of Urijah Faber. However, some of them aren’t so good like the time he was choked out by Josh Grispi. Pulver knows that this is his last chance, and has discussed retiring if he loses.
Vasquez seems to be the place WEC featherweights go when they need a win. He is 0-2 and also likely fighting for his WEC life. He is 17-4 in his career with most of those victories coming by submission.
The Breakdown: I’ve watched a lot of Pulver fights in preparation of this column and I’ve noticed some things. While he’s never had the best boxing technique, it’s almost gotten worse recently. Also, when is the last time that we saw Pulver wrestle? He won’t break that streak against the BJJ skills of Vasquez. The real question is: Does Pulver have anything at all left?
The Prediction: Pulver via TKO
Miguel Angel Torres v. Joseph Benavidez
The Fighters: Until recently, Torres ruled over the bantamweight division with an iron fist. He is well-rounded, and capapable of fighting for an eternity before he gets tired. Unfortantely, that didn’t mean much when he rushed in to finish Brian Bowles and gotten flattened. Now, Torres must climb back into the title picture with a win. He is 37-2, and is still improving his game. He brought in noted Muay Thai trainer Mark DellaGrotte to work with him for this fight.
Benavidez is a pupil of Urijah Faber who is 12-1. His only loss came in a number one contender’s fight against Dominick Cruz. Another energizer bunny of a fighter, his cardio is off the chain. He has won most of his fights by submission, but does have some TKOs to his credit. His last win was over noted BJJ stylist Rani Yahya.
The Breakdown: Torres has taken the “That loss was the best thing that ever happened to me” road and vows to come back stronger than ever. He can win the fight just about anywhere, but I expect his biggest advantage to come on the feet and for his to try and outstrike Benavidez.
The Prediction: Torres via unanimous Decision
Brian Bowles v. Dominick Cruz
The Fighters: Bowles dethroned Torres and shocked the world in his last fight. He also broke his hand on Torres jaw, forcing him out of action. He is 8-0 and looks like just about any middle America wrestler. While he may not look imposing, he is strong as hell for 135, and has imposed his will on his opponents with various skills taught to him by former UFC fighter Rory Singer. In fact, Bowles trains at the gym where Forrest Griffin got his start.
Cruz is 14-1 and 4-0 in the WEC. The majority of his wins have come via decision, but he is a stand up specialist with five T/KOs to his credit. He trains at Alliance MMA alongside UFC light heavyweight Brandon Vera. While he does have some wrestling, don’t expect him to go to it much in this one.
The Breakdown: Bowles is a powerhouse. He is so thick for 135 that I can’t really see anyone in the division taking him down. However, he also packs a powerhouse punch. Just ask Torres. Cruz’s only hope is to stick and move for five rounds.
The Prediction: Bowles via TKO
By Anthony De Franco March 3, 2010, at 7:30 pm The war has been raging on for quite sometime. To boxing fans, there are two kinds of people. There are fight fans, and then there are those idiots that watch two gay dudes roll around on a mat for fifteen minutes and call it fighting.
To us with half a brain, we realize that boxing is an integral part of MMA, and one that has gotten people far in the sport. Well, another Boxer is trying to make the crossover to the octagon, and for once, Dana White and the boys are biting. Today, they signed James Toney to a multi-fight deal, according to Mike Chiapetta of MMA Fighting.com:
After a long period of off-again, on-again courtship, the UFC has pulled the trigger and signed 41-year-old boxing champion James Toney.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the signing to MMA Fighting after it was first reported by FiveOuncesofPain.com.
Toney had actively campaigned for a contract from the UFC, following White around the country to several events and eventually meeting with him in Las Vegas. Toney reportedly turned down at least one contract offer before signing.
Asked when Toney would debut, White said he had “no idea.”
So, Dana White has repeatedly thrown mud towards Strikeforce for the idea of the “freak show” fight. He killed the Herschel Walker fight, and there are those that say that this is the same thing. Toney is out of his prime, seemingly out of shape, and lacks any sort of well-rounded game. He will stand in the middle of the cage and throw bombs, believing that he can knockout just about anyone out. Until he gets in the cage against a wrestler than puts him through the mat.
More than that, this whole courtship has had a bit of a carnival feel to it. From Toney following the UFC around the country, to his rants that you can’t understand, like this one:
Toney has seemingly “publicized” his way into the world’s largest MMA organization.
Is Dana wrong for this signing? Probably not. It’s not like Toney is a professional dancer wanting to fight without proper training. He is a professional boxer and what he lacks on the ground he will inevitably make up for with crisp standup. The problem will be remaining on his feet. Which I don’t believe he can do.
Look for Toney to be 1-2 and out of the UFC sooner than later. If they do keep him, it will be to market the brand to boxing fans.
Side note: Does anyone else really hope that James Toney does one of those videos calling me out and threatening to kick my ass? That would really make my day.
By Anthony De Franco March 2, 2010, at 10:55 am Did not see this one coming, did ya?
We’ve been waiting for quite some time to hear about Fedor’s next fight and many assumed that it was going to be against Fabricio Werdum. However, it appears that Fedor’s people (Read: The Russian Government) are more interested in Josh Barnett. For those who don’t remember, Barnett was supposed to be Fedor’s opponent on the ill-fated Affliction Trilogy card.
From Sports.ru:
“I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two year, which is simply ridiculous. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago.”
“We do not fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Strikeforce are our partner, and any titles whether it is UFC, Strikeforce, WAMMA, Dream… they are just medals. Fedor is above these things. We are interested in the level of our opponent and his popularity among the audience.”
“Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him
Fedor is above titles? Really? We’re going as far as to say that the belt doesn’t really matter? I’m sure Scott Coker and Strikeforce just love that.
So, here we have one of the biggest stars in the world allowing these people to essentially renegade his career. They are making tons of bad decisions that really make me wonder about who’s best interest they have in mind. However, the Barnett-Fedor fight does intrigue me. There are just a lot of problems with making it happen. First off, Barnett has to get re-licensed. He tested positive for Steroids, and didn’t choose to show up for many different hearings. Second, Barnett is not currently under contract with Strikeforce. He could hold them for ransom knowing that Fedor wants him as an opponent.
Third, at some point Fedor is going to have to fight for the belt. Otherwise, the champion is going to end up like Tommy Gunn in Rocky V, or Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa. People will start calling him a paper champion and that doesn’t end well.
Let’s just be honest, Fedor is screwing up Strikeforce.
By Anthony De Franco February 23, 2010, at 3:58 pm I find this fascinating, and thought about it when we were watching the fight, but didn’t say anything beacuse I thought I must be insane. However, more and more people are starting to jump on the idea that the aussie was circumventing the system and wearing grappling pants. From MMA Fighting:
During last weekend’s UFC 110, George Sotiropoulos turned in a star-making performance in a win over Joe Stevenson, but the victory also caused a minor controversy by some who questioned Sotirpoulos’ fight attire as flouting the rules.
Sotiropoulos wore fight shorts, compression shorts, knee sleeves and ankle sleeves that left little of his legs exposed, causing some to think he exposed a loophole in the rule prohibiting grappling pants.
Although the bout took place in Australia, MMA Fighting spoke with Nevada state athletic commission executive director Keith Kizer, who oversaw a previous UFC event in Nov. 2009 during which Sotiropoulos wore the same gear.
“We had a situation where one guy had ankle sleeves, but it was that material, non-slip rubber, so he wasn’t allowed to wear them,” Kizer said. “Equipment can’t give the opponent any kind of abrasion or pain, or allow the fighter wearing it an advantage to slip out of a submission or get one clinched in.”
I mean, really? Look at the picture:
Get more pictures like this from SHERDOG.COM
The dude has about four inches of exposed flesh on his legs. While he doesn’t make the same kind of living on leg locks that Aoki does, you can’t tell me that it wasn’t an advantage.
You know what they say: “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”
|
|
Tags: 
