The Ultimate Marine
April 27, 2008 14:33:58  By day, Maj. Brian Stann is a decorated Marine who completed two tours in Iraq. By night, hes a champion fighter. Great little piece done by CNN. - [Read more] |
Trouble With the CSAC, Its Not Just Sean Sherk
April 26, 2008 17:46:01Very in depth three part series at MaxBoxing about various complaints and grievances with California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) Executive Director Armando Garcia. Part 1 and Part 3 are interesting but more focused on boxing than MMA. Part 2: OverKill and Inefficiency" on the other hand shows that a lot more people in MMA are beefing on Armandos regime than just Sean Sherk. The majority of those in attendance seemed to be local MMA promoters and owners of MMA gyms. Only two boxing promoters were in attendance, Ed Holmes and Roy Englebrecht. As the floor was opened up by Garcia, Englebrecht, who is perhaps the states most prolific and respected club promoter, inquired about the, "staffing of the office," in Sacramento. Englebrecht, like many other promoters, had grown increasingly frustrated at the process in which paperwork - which green lights the fighters to appear on a show - is handled by the CSAC. He spoke of dialing up fax machines that had no transmissions and he wondered why each fighters medical paperwork needed to be 20 pages long. Garcia would respond by telling the small audience that they had just, "hired another body in the office," and would be hiring an additional person soon. He also explained that in the process of moving, their fax machines were out of service. But Garcia would point out that, while they did admittedly, "kill a lot of trees," by law, every single one of those papers needed to be there for the weigh-ins and at the fights for the ringside physician and paramedic in case of an emergency. As a show is planned, each promoter must send in what is called a Whos, who, which means on a six-fight card, 12 Fight Fax records of the boxers involved for approval, in addition to the battery of medical examinations that a fighter must be cleared on. Englebrecht wondered if there was a more streamlined process in which to do this in the computer age. As these papers are sent to Sacramento - and they must receive all the pages - if something is missing, Need is put down. But what irks many of the promoters is that when this occurs, or when a red-flag is raised about a particular fighter, that original paperwork, which is usually turned in weeks ahead of time by most responsible promoters, is then returned in many instances so late that a suitable replacement for that fighter or bout cannot be found. HT FightOpinion - [Read more] |
Fed Up With DREAM
April 26, 2008 15:35:21Leland at MMA Analyst has a piece that Im tempted to excerpt in full, but Ill just give you a taste: After being booted from their primetime slot yesterday, I started thinking about some of the other details that surround the promotion as a whole. For a few months, Ive been aggravated by the constant news that comes out of Japan regarding both the lightweight and middleweight tournaments. Rumored fighters are on the card, but nobody has been confirmed while other fighters are asked about the tournament and have no idea that they have been contacted to appear. ... Unlike the UFC, DREAM and other major Japanese promotions really need to get on the ball when it comes to announcing these fights. There is almost always a guarantee of a bigger name fight not happening due to the laziness of K-1. The UFC happens to confirm bouts months in advance, and confirms their cards weeks in advance. The problems he referenced include the is he in the tournament or isnt he" debate with Sakuraba and claiming Frank Trigg was in the tournament without even a verbal agreement, leading to Triggs vehement denial that he was booked. And now apparently theyre holding press conferences in Japan to shit all over Trigg. Heres a very rough summary from the inimitable Gryphon: SASAHARA producer said "Frank said OK about this card" "But He announced out ,this was onside announce" "He demanded fightmoney UP"
So,in japanese fans believe Frank is greed, chickin,and lier........ |
Ian Murphy vs Jacare in DREAM Tourny
April 26, 2008 15:32:01Sherdog has more about the Frank Trigg/DREAM situation and Ian Murphy, whos replacing Trigg on the card: National university freestyle wrestling champion Ian Murphy will fight Ronaldo Jacaré on Tuesday in the Dream middleweight grand prix, promoter Fighting & Entertainment Group has announced. The 22-year-old Californian is a member of Cal State Fullertons wrestling program and was ranked No. 1 in the Pac-10 in 2006. Although Murphy has several hundred wrestling matches under his belt, the fight against Jacaré, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu master, will be his MMA debut. Event producer Keiichi Sasahara said a verbal agreement to participate in the tournament had been reached on the phone with Frank Trigg (Pictures), but then the 35-year-old former Icon Sport middleweight champion "suddenly reconsidered his participation." After being announced as a participant in the middleweight tournament, Trigg told media a visa wasnt secured and communication with the Japanese promotion ended without a deal being completed. I posted a couple videos of Murphys wrestling matches in the full entry. Hes definitely starting his MMA career in the deep end by jumping into the DREAM tournament and Jacare is pretty much a worst case scenario for a wrestlers first MMA opponent. Ian Murphy (CSU Fullerton) vs Yuri Kalika (Cal Poly) 184lbs Ian Murphy (Cal St Fullerton) vs Tyrel Todd (Michigan) - [Read more] |
Looks Like HDNet Got The DREAM Deal
April 26, 2008 14:40:22This diary entry was promoted to the front page by Luke Thomas. Today I received a message on Facebook from HDNet Fights saying to watch out for a huge announcement about a partnership with an org. At first, I thought it was simply confirmation of the Sylvia/Fedor fight with Affliction. I mean, theres no way it could be DREAM. How could a company that just lost its prime time spot in its own country get a deal with HDNet? Wishful thinking but no way it could happen. Too good to be true. Probably something to do with Affliction or the IFL. No need to get my hopes up. Well... Mark Cuban and his HD network are quickly making a mark on the mma scene. Now if only HDNet were available in more areas. - [Read more] |
Fightlinker Calls Out Jon Fitch
April 25, 2008 23:26:03Now this is MMA blogging! I am left kinda wondering why Jon Fitch wasnt the one who answered the call ... hes always talking high and mighty about just wanting the challenges and not giving a shit about belts or title shots. Who knows, perhaps if he beat Hughes it would legitimize his chances against GSP the way a tepid judges decision against some UFC virgin simply cant. So how about we all gang up on Fitch now for ducking Hughes to babysitting his title shot, the same way we bagged on Karo Parisyan for something similar? I think its unfair to Fitch, just like it was unfair to Karo -- as far as we know, the UFC never offered Karo a chance to fight Fitch and equally likely that they never offered Fitch a shot at Hughes. Frankly I think everyone knows that Fitch would crush Hughes like a bug and theres no % in booking that fight. - [Read more] |
Purge and Merge
April 25, 2008 21:43:21The UFC will be cutting a lot of fighters in the upcoming months. They have reached a point where they have so many fighters that even upper-mid level guys like Karo Parisyan fought only twice in 2007. Having that many guys, and only having them fight twice a year also makes it very hard to establish new stars, so Zuffa is going to start cutting guys that either lose a couple in a row or have boring fights. Apparently they are planning on purging the 185 and 205 divisions from the WEC. I suspect they will bring in a few guys from each division over to The UFC (Stann, Marshall, Filho, etc), and cut the rest off. Brian Stann has tremendous marketable potential if hes able to train full time, theres no way theyre going to let him go. I almost wish theyd take the rest of the 205ers in WEC and put them on TUF just so we could see some decent fights next season, but my guess is theyll just be cut. It should be interesting to see who survives this purge. - [Read more] |
American Top Team on Starnes
April 25, 2008 20:38:02From a post on MMA.tvs Underground forum: There has been a lot of talk about Kalibs relationship with ATT since his fight in Montreal. There have also been comments attributed to our head coach, Ricardo Liborio about Kalibs future. We would like to set the record straight on this matter. Obviously there were a lot of people disappointed in Kalibs performance, including fans, UFC personnel, our team and Kalib himself. We respect the opinions of MMA fans and believe that, most of the time, criticism of fighters from fans and media comes when it is deserved. Having said that, ATT takes tremendous pride in creating an environment where our members are treated with loyalty and respect. It is no coincidence that "ATT Family" is a common tattoo on many of our coaches and fighters. Expelling a fighter following a poor performance would not be consistent with this philosophy. Ricardo Liborio did in fact address our fighters following a recent training session regarding what it takes to represent ATT as a professional fighter. The essence of his statements (which were obviously meant to be private) was that ATT sets high standards for its members and it is not possible to reach those standards unless a fighter dedicates himself to the program 100% and participates in all team training sessions. He stressed that anyone deviating from that mandate will not be allowed to train with or represent ATT in the future. Kalibs preparation for this fight was used by Liborio as an example of what he does and does not expect of his fighters in the future. We did not intend for this meeting to become public knowledge and regret that there was an inference of Kalibs dismissal from our team. We believe that Liborios address, coupled with Kalib telling some friends he was contemplating retirement, fueled this speculation. |
UFC 85 Main Event: Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves
April 25, 2008 19:42:47  According to matt-hughes.com:
June 7th, in England, I fight Thiago Alves. The fight is confirmed, it will be the main event for the card. Dana just called me with the news. Chuck got hurt and couldnt fight, so he needed a replacement and called me and I said yes. More news as I get it. No matter what happens in this fight, Ive got Serra next. Interesting fight. - [Read more] |
Are Iron Ring Haters Racist?
April 25, 2008 19:11:17I dunno, lets ask one: Zantetzuken Says: April 25th, 2008 at 8:46 am Stop beating around the bush, the show is full of, on a network full of, and intended for IGNORANT F*CK FACES! Previous installments: - [Read more] |
Quote of the Day: Lindland for President Edition
April 25, 2008 16:14:27
"We believe Lindland could do a very good job at the Legislature. He knows the Sandy area well. He could energize state politics among his fans and young people, providing not a sideshow act at the Capitol, but a unique voice for a much-needed dialogue about the financial and governmental future of this state. Thiemann simply cannot be that kind of figurehead. But in the end, we believe Thiemann has the time, the experience and the Patti Smith-style bipartisan spirit needed to make things happen in the Oregon Legislature as a rookie representative." -- The Sandy Post editorial board formally endorsing Phyllis Thiemann over middleweight fighter Matt Lindland for the Republican primary for Oregons House District 52 seat. - [Read more] |
David Mamet: "[Redbelt] not a martial arts movie"
April 25, 2008 15:58:45 The directors film - which debuts nationally on May 2nd - is less about martial arts and more about the story of one mans difficult predicament and choices. Notable quote:
David Mamet is back. For his upcoming film, the legendary writer/director will tackle a brand new subject, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, using clichéd cinematic genres as his training ground: the classic under-dog fight movie, the samurai film, and the spaghetti western. Sure sounds different, and boy, is it. "Redbelt", opening on May 2nd, follows an honor-bound Jiu-jitsu master sucked into the nasty worlds of Hollywood and mixed martial arts (MMA) prize fighting, simultaneously. Mamet didnt pick these fighting techniques merely because MMA happens to be the fastest growing sport, having eclipsed boxing and spreading like wildfire among the young, male demographic. No, Mamet himself has been practicing the art of jiu-jitsu, a philosophy as well as a fight style, for over 5 years. But the writer/director ("Wag the Dog", "Heist", "Spartan", etc.) stressed that "Redbelt" "is not a martial arts movie". Instead, he insists: "The movie is about a guy who doesnt train fighters to compete, but he trains fighters to prevail... He is forced to participate in a competition and therefore he puts aside that `vow of poverty, or higher calling." Mamets work is generally exceptionable, so one is likely justified in believing this will be a decent movie by critics standards. Certainly it will be a quantam leap ahead of other recent MMA-themed movies weve been treated to this Spring. My only point here is not to judge Mamets film without seeing it, but to suggest that theres still a cinematic middle ground available: I doubt this movie will do much in the way of bringing sophistication and honor to the sport of MMA, although I dont think it will do harm either. That still leaves open the possibility of making a movie about one fighters struggles in and out of the crucible of the sport where the sport is still the focal point of the movie. There is no end to the number of movies which treat the sport the story centers around like this. Mamet likely didnt go out of his way to protect the image of the sport as hes more interested in making a decent flick. Im certainly not suggesting a MMA movie that tries to improve the image of the sport will necessarily be bad, Im just saying that aforementioned protection isnt Mamets chief aim and therefore a third way between "Redbelt" and "Never Back Down" is open. - [Read more] |
Where Is Leonard Garcia?
April 25, 2008 15:21:03 Steve Sievert ponders:
Lastly, there is no official on-the-record word from World Extreme Cagefighting regarding Leonard Garcia. The promising lightweight, who fights out of Lubbock and is part of Greg Jacksons stable of fighters, was arrested late last month in connection with a drug trafficking case in west Texas. Garcia (11-3) was one of 13 people busted and accused of running cocaine, drug paraphernalia and firearms. He proclaimed his innocence to MMAjunkie. WEC will not confirm whether the fighter is still under contract. I checked the WEC website and Garcia is no longer listed on the fight roster. Thats obviously not definitive proof of anything, but its certainly eye raising. Even more intriguing is Garcias situation, which is either the worst case of bad luck or the most normal case of drug trafficking exacted incompetently. Stay tuned. - [Read more] |
Arianny Interviews Roger Huerta
April 25, 2008 14:52:51Roger talks about training with GSP, fighting Florian in August, and more. And for all you rumor fans out there he confirms that he is not dating Arianny. UFC 87 will do some serious business on PPV if it features both Mark Coleman/Brock Lesnar and Kenny Florian/Roger Huerta. I still think that Florian is a worst match-up for Huerta than pretty much anyone else in the UFC (possibly tied with Sherk) but I think Huerta is one of those guys that falls into the "never count him out" category. I think right now Id take Huerta by razor thin decision. Also in the interview Huerta sounds almost a little defeated by the fact that he hasnt been able to spend any time with his family and friends even while taking his current "break." His career has been fast tracked and you have to hope he doesnt hit that same type of "too much, too fast" burnout that weve seen from some other young guys like Paul Daley. - HT: MMA Rated. - [Read more] |
DREAM 2 Betting Odds
April 25, 2008 14:07:24Are up: - Kazushi Sakuraba -750
- Kiyoshi Tamura -145
- Denis Kang -285
- Jz Calvan -250
- Ikuhisa Minowa -325
- Zelg Galesic -225
- Dong Sik Yoon -225
| - Andrews Nakahara +550
- Masakatsu Funaki +115
- Gegard Mousasi +225
- Shinya Aoki +200
- Taiei Kin +265
- Magomed Sultanakhmedov +185
- Shungo Oyama +185
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 Catch DREAM 2 on Apr 29th. Click here for the official site. - [Read more] |
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