March Calender

MMA

Mar. 3rd

UFC 68: Heavyweight Title: Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture

Mar. 17

IFL: Sabres/Condors, Razorclaws/Andacondas

Mar. 24

WEC 2: Bantamweight Title: Eddie Wineland vs. Chase Beebe, Featherweight Title: Uriah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz, Welterweight Title: Carlos Condit vs. John Alessio

Boxing

Mar. 3

WBC: Jr. Featherweight Title: Israel Vasquez vs. Raphael Marquez

IBF: Flyweight Title: Vic Darchinyan vs. Victor Burgos, Super Middleweight Title: Robert Stiegliz vs. Alejandro Berrio

WBA: Welterweight Title: Miguel Cotto vs. Oktay Urkal

Mar. 7

WBA: Super Middleweight Title: Anthony Mudine vs. Sam Soliman

Mar. 10

IBF: Heavyweight Title: Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ray Austin

WBO: Flyweight Title: Omar Narvaez vs. Brahim Asloum

Mar 16

WBA: Jr. Featherweight Title: Celestino Caballero vs. Ricardo Castillo

Mar 17

WBC: Jr Lightweight Title: Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez

WBO: Jr. Featherweight Title: Daniel Ponce De Leon vs. Gerry Penalosa

Mar 24

WBA/WBC: Super Middleweight Title: Mikkel Kessler vs. Librado Andrade

Mar 30

WBO: Bantamweight Title: Jhonny Gonzales vs. Irene Pacheco

Pro Wrestling

Mar 3

ROH: FIP Title: TBA vs. Pac

Mar. 4

ROH: Tag Titles: The Briscoes vs. TBA

Mar 11

TNA: Heavyweight Title: Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage, X Div. Title: Chris Sabin vs. Jerry Lynn.

Mar 30

ROH: TBA

Mar 31

ROH: TBA

PRIDE 33 Results and Notes

Joachim Hansen d Jason Ireland Sub R3.
Frank Trigg d Kazuo Misaki UD
James Lee d Travis Wiuff Sub R1.
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou d Antonio Rogerio Nogueira KO R1.
Hayato Sakurai d Mac Danzig KO R2.
Sergey Kharitonov d Mike Russow Sub R1.
Mauricio Shogun d Alistair Overeem KO R1.
Nick Diaz d Takanori Gomi Sub R2
Middleweight Title Match: Dan Henderson d Vanderlei Silva KO R3.

Notes:

Wow. I don't know what to say.

- Misaki got his ass kicked by, for lack of any better terms, The head of Pride's version of the Spanish announcer's table. He totally got stuffed at the takedown and was just held down. I don't think Misaki's going to show his face in the ring for a while or at least till May. Very embarrassing defeat.

- Poor Rogerio. This was supposed to be an easy fight for him and he ends up getting floored by "Judo Terry". No one, I mean No one saw that knife fist coming. Rogerio has still got to be stinging over the lost. Look on the bright side, some clueless casuals made a total ass load of money.

- Gomi looked gassed after his first round with Diaz. Diaz totally out strike Gomi. it was like once Gomi got hit in the face a couple times, that was it. I think Gomi was to busy aiming for a KO that he put too much of himself in his punches. That really threw him off . Diaz....he fought to survive. His intent was to break something win, lose or draw. The gogo was a nice cherry on the whole situation. Gomi is going to have a hell of a time marketing himself now.

- Really bad night for Silva. Not only does he lose his belt, he loses it to a blown up middleweight. Henderson now is the first to hold two titles in two weight classes. What's up with Silva now is any one's guess. We might see Shogun going after the title next. Who knows.

PRIDE 33 coverage.

Fox Sports

MMA HQ

Gambling 911

Stephen Quadros

Zach Arnold: The Last Coming?

The Five Points of 2007.

I wanted to do this at the beginning of the year, but I didn't get to due to circumstances. So here it is. The five points I think MMA should focus on in 2007.

A Penalty System: If a penalty system is in place, not only will we have great fights ahead in the future, we'll also have fighters who start to appear to be world caliber and possibly have a chance against world caliber opponents. It also can stymie out the "filling out the cards" mentality which is starting to become prevalent within the UFC as well as other groups. Fighting "not to lose" should not be an option. in fact, it should be looked down upon from the fighters all the way to the athletic commission. In fact, being able to hold someone down and baby bopping until the round ends should be an instant sign of stalling.

The Penalty System can also be a great selling point for promotions that really want to make it big. Think of it, instead of having a silly fifteen second "ground clock", why not punish lay and prayers with a multicolored card penalty. Guy on the bottom holding the top guy's arms down? BAM!! Yellow card! Knees to the back of the head? BOOM!! Red Card and loss of 25% of the purse. As long as the system is used with a strict yet even hand, we can get a lot of exciting fights out of it.

An Extensive Mainstream View of MMA: I really think this is my "I can dream, can't I?" topic. There have been talks about ESPN looking into MMA coverage. Let's not kid ourselves people. All their really going to do is give a sideways glance at UFC. I doubt they'll even look at full cards. Maybe a quick thirty secs on the main event. They would probably make NBC (a company at one time, hellbent on shutting down MMA) look like the new Sherdog. If anything worse, ESPN could end up turning into Art Neil, an infamous news personality known around the pro-wrestling community in my area for spoiling the main events of both WWE and WCW shows during the height of the Monday Night Wars.

With maybe a small extensive coverage, the mainstream sports outlets can help the casuals better know the sport as well as the fighters within. Also, promoting other promotions can help develop a healthy competition between them. But until then, we're just the red headed, left handed, freckled step child locked up in the back bedroom.

Community Sponsored Fighters: To be honest, this isn't originally my idea. This was first thought up by Nate Quarry. I'm just running the ball with it. If you really want to get technical, the idea can stretch as far as feudal Japan. At one time, every village had they're own sumo stable. It gave the village something to be proud of. A jewel in their crown if you weel. These days, with the need of some forms of positive morale, a small community interested in the well being and the training of a fighter could be just what the doctor ordered.

Now I'm not saying that we should tax a city for support a fighter and/or stable. I do think the idea of a "booster club" could be beneficial. Small things like gym time, equipment upkeep, maybe going as far as travel expenses can go really far for a fighter and really help bring more focus to his or her game. It also can free up a lot of money in the fighters pocket for bills and necessities. If it works for UFCJunkie, it can definitely be good for Yourtown USA.

Proper Martial Arts Judges: Let's be honest, last year was definitely not the year of the judge. Looking at the numbers, either some judges were looking at something totally different or they really don't want to be there. I don't blame them. They're boxing judges. What the hell do they know about the ground game? They only specialize in judging whether punch #345 was damaging enough or not. This is where the athletic commissions really need to think about investing in judges with actual and credible martial arts backgrounds.

By having martial arts judges, you can make sure that the learning experience is much better at the seminars and that judges desicions will look and feel more clear cut. People who have a game plan on the bottom will be recognized as actually having a plan. what they do in defence and offence will be much better graded. Ground fighting would have an actual worth again.

Shut Down Lofty Goals and Expectations: Two years...doesn't make a sport a success. It doesn't really make anything a success. UFC running on SPIKE for two years just means they've made it longer then Rollerjam. Real success is somewhere between five and ten years. So if your singing the praises of UFC and how it's "blown up", I'd suggest you shut up and look around you.
If we took the energy that we put in to cheerleading, bandwagon jumping, nuthugging and nut dropping and then put it into something creative and beneficial to the sport, legislation that is being built to ban MMA in Louisiana, Utah, Michigan, Kentucky, Hawaii, etc. would be shut down easier and without so much as a whimper. Yes, I'm talking about you, the so-called "MMA community". If this was truly a sport you loved, you would actually stop bitching about how wrong an article is and do something about it to change the opinion. If this was really a sport you loved, instead of slamming every noob who comes in and tries to become part of it, you actually take time to help them out. If none of your actions are of a positive nature for the sport and you're trying to turn it into something of an elitist nature....turn your fan card in and go watch another sport. The sport doesn't need you. There needs to be positive cohesion among people other then the hardkore. You don't like it? Go home. I rather see a helpful open community rather then an elitist murder of pricks trying to keep their precious little clique "pure".

Thank You Fight Opinion.

Fight Opinion just did a segment about Michigan's MMA problem on their recent podcast. They talked to Arron Crossen who writes for Saginaw Valley State Uni.'s student newspaper, The Valley Vanguard. Here is the editorial he did on the subject. Thanks to Fight Opinion for taking our cause to the public.

Also on the Fight Opinion link is a couple of important email addresses. I'll post them here in case the link doesn't work

Robert Swanson

Keith Cooley

These guys are the former and current directors of DLEG in Michigan. Please write nice and articulate letter to them, telling them that you support their decsion in stopping Art Dore from profiting off of MMA fighters and that you want them to regulate the sport in order to protect said fighters. Also add that, if they do not wish to legalize and regulate MMA, they need to look into making sure that traditional martial arts tournaments are protected and that slimeball promoters do not exploit this loop hole to their own advantage. There isn't nothing more despicable then Art Dore trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed and The Konan Judo Association.

I Expect Behavior Like This From My Little Brother.

Taken from the Machine Shop's myspace site. They held an "amateur MMA" card last Friday. The event was run by ADorable Prods. Can you guess who got paid in that picture? (Hint: She's not wearing panties.)


This is kinda old news. I'm sorry I didn't post it sooner, I was hella busy.

If you don't know by now, Art Dore is acting like a child and is ignoring the C&D order to throw his silly ass "Amateur MMA" card at the Dow Event Center next week. Last Friday, he had culled pay at his Flint event and is basically making fighters pay money out of their pocket to fight for free. Just so he can comply with MSAC .

Where is the money going. It can't be going to the venue they fought in. It's easy for Art to pay for. Can be the concessions. The Machine Shop pretty much gets their piece of the action from concessions. I'm pretty sure Dore can get ambulances at the scene too. He owns the Dow and has OHL hockey playing there all the time. So, it's not like a really big problem to get medics over there stat.

Where does the $25 dollars go to, Mr. Dore? I'm having a slight problem understanding this. How is it that the USJF has to charge judokas to pay just so they can afford venue, labor and acceptable medical service, yet you , an ultra rich entrepreneur, instead of doing the right thing and probably ponying up a sizable amount and let these guy fight for free since you don't feel the need to pay them anyway, decide that notion is just crazy-talk and make them pay possibly a part of their money to pay bills just to fight and rank? It's confusing.

As for him ignoring the C&D, this really shows how, excuse my language, fucking childish he is. Honestly, this reminds me of the time me and my brother were taking lessons in sculling. The instructor we studied under had a dog that loved to fetch for things in the water. We were learning to put boats in the water and how to put the oars in the coxing. My brother, totally not interested in learning anything, somehow got his hands on the dog's floating chew toy and was pretty much play fetch. The instructor caught him, told him not to do that and to listen up. My brother stopped and waited for him to be preoccupied, then he started playing with the dog again. Two more times the instructor told him to stop, the last time he shouted at him to knock it off. My brother wouldn't listen. Because I wanted to actually learn how to row as well as make sure I didn't have to listen to shouting all day from my parents, I took the toy away from my brother just before he threw it and gave it back to the instructor.

Now, what am I getting at here. Art Dore is my little brother. He's totally disinterested in learning to do things properly and instead, goes off to the side and does his own thing. The instructor is DLEG. Never mind that what they're trying to do is overlook the safety of fighters, my little brother wants to make money DAMMIT!! Even if it is off the backs of the battered and bruised. The MMA community is me and the chew toy is MMA. We need to take away MMA from Dore and give it to DLEG so that it can be properly shown to the public (the dog) for many years to come.

Kurt Angle: Built To Spill

Kurt Angle A MMA Debut Again.

So the big fight over one of the most notable names in pro-wrestling has now begun. I thought it would have started sooner. Let's face it. Angle's probably going to go fight with Elite XC. They can deliver a nice check as well as the head of his most hated person, Daniel Puder, thanks to being in partnership with STRIKEFORCE. What's UFC gonna offer him? A fight with a C level fighter and a three year deal to sit on his ass at UFC events? No thank you sir! Better luck next time. Thanks for stopping by.

Do we really need Angle in MMA though?

Check this out. Two (technically three) MMA organizations are throwing large amounts of money at a guy whose physically broke down, mentally inflated and possibly stylistically obsolete. Whatever fight is matched up with Angle, it's pretty much going to look like a freak match where nobody wins. Angle is that big bulk can of tomato juice you can get at a good price at a bulk storehouse.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't doubt Angle's wrestling ability. I think he's a great wrestler. I think it takes balls to everybody say it with me, "wrestle with a freaking broken neck." Good Good. I also think it takes balls to take on the degenerative sport of pro-wrestling, especially with the combat game like it was back in the day. What had happened though, was he got "spot fever" and instead of getting his neck fixed properly, he opted for a lesser option and to this day, still nag him. While some may argue that Vince had some part in it by overworking him, Angle still could have said no and at least try to recoup. Besides the neck, I seemed to have read reports (I be glad if anyone can confirm this.) that Angle can't lift his arms up fully as well as having multiple concussions. Even if he is on a limited schedule for MMA and even if he did train hard for six to eight months, he still will not be physically ready. His arms and neck will be targets for chokes or submissions.

Mental focus is another aspect of MMA that I don't think Angle has. You need focus to see and understand what your opponent is going to do and how to proper defend against it. You need focus to control yourself as well. Focus helps control cardio and the power of your punches and kicks. My evidence for this is his interviews he did with Bubba the Love Sponge. Angle went on and on during his whole segment degrading Daniel Puder. Calling him "A piece of shit", 'moron", "limited", and pretty much saying he's a wannabe shootfighter*. Now, in my opinion, if I wanted to beat someone, I'd get under my opponent's skin. By getting under his skin, he begins to lose focus and by losing focus, he'll make mistakes. Clearly, Puder has gotten under Angle's skin and if the fight does get made between the two, training or no training, Angle will definitely lose focus and in turn, lose the fight.

While I did worry about his fight technique and wrestling ability being applied to an actual fight, it's good to hear that Angle is looking to go to a good school to build and augment his game. He's also interested in studying under Couture, which is also a big plus. Even though he is an Olympic wrestler, that was a long time ago. The fight game has evolved and mutated to the point that being "pure" is almost a detriment. I wouldn't mind seeing him train at Legends. Now all we need to know now is how much will he retain from working out and learning and how much of that retention will he actually apply to a fight? Will he be like a Matt Lindland, and almost complete fighter who can control the ground effectively or will he be like Rulon Gardner, a wrestler who just wants to dabble into MMA and never get really far as "filling out the requirements" like he always has. This, will be all up to Angle.

* PW Torch around November of last year.

A Matter of Time.

Nate Carey vs. Chris Hickok. Thanks and love to Pro Karate Weekly.com


First of all, congratulations to Nate Carey. He'll be off to Cleveland next month to challenge Josh "Heavy" Hendricks for his NAAFS Heavyweight Championship. Good luck Nate. You'll need it.

After reading the Muskegon article about the Caged Combat event that happened this weekend, I would like to applaud the DLEG officials for their restraint and for giving the opportunity for this event to happen. Now they have a big choice ahead of them. Do they or do they not allow the sport of MMA in the state of Michigan. Whichever decision they choose, both will yield benefits and consequences.

On one hand, they can still ban the sport from the state. While DLEG is using the very flimsiest of evidence, the true reason behind it's threats is Art Dore and ADorable Prod. To make a sweeping generalization and ban a sport because you believe that all promoters are like Art Dore is silly and preposterous. It also shows the lack of foresight and reasoning behind any logic about the subject. While I do understand that by banning MMA, they are deterring Dore and his ilk from exploiting a loophole in the MSAC rulebook that states that they don't preside over martial arts events, I can't help it but state that by doing so, they will turn into hypocrites and stifle actual economic growth. A whole wealth of fighters that we have in this state will up and leave to train and compete elsewhere and this will further depress the state economy. Millions upon millions in taxable revenue will be gone and the promise of international business will disappear with it as well.

On the other hand, they can legalize the sport, but they need more then legalization to get it's full potential. They need to regulate it as well. By regulating, they can stop Art Dore from profiting off of the sport as well as letting people who actually know how to run an amateur, semi pro, or pro event know that they are securely backed by the state's athletic commission. NAAFS, King of The Cage, TKO, IFL, UFC as well as many other organizations will knock on our door. All willing to give money to display cards. Money that can replenish our economy even just for a little while. I also can guarantee that schools would love to establish themselves up here based on the potential we have in the martial arts. Following them will be stores and shops that specialize in Fight Culture. Not only will these schools and shops add to the ever increasing revenue that will balloon thanks to regulation, but these school will also instill a sense of "community pride" within communities that truly need it. In a couple years, we could see fighters sponsored by the city of Flint, Buena Vista township or even the village of Kalkaska. Moral boosters to areas who feel that they're on their last dime and are forgotten by the state. Remember! Happy people are productive people.

I truly hope the DLEG is thinking long and hard about this. I do hope they take as much time as possible to think this through and ask the necessary questions needed.

Now it's just a matter of time.

Elite XC: Destiny results and notes.

Tim Persey d Bo Cantrell by KO R1
Mike Pyle d Ross Ebanez by RNC R1
Javier Vazquez d Adriano Pereira JD
James Edson Berto d John Shackelford TKO (Punches) R2
Riki Fukuda d Chris Gates TKO (Strikes) R1

Main Card
Charles Bennett d KJ Noons KO R1
Gina Carano d Julie Kedzie UJD
Joey Villasenor d David Loiseau UJD
Antonio Silva d Wesley "Cabbage" Correira TKO (Strikes) R1
Renzo Gracie d Frank Shamrock DQ R2

Notes

- I would like to talk about the undercard matches, but the internet feeds weren't exactly Mac friendly. By the time I got a feed from someone, I got to see Fukuda pummel the crap out of Chris Gates and Gary Shaw's dumbass son bouncing all over the place. Very poor so far Pro Elite. Definitely need to rethink that strategy before trying it again.

-Beautiful counter shot KO from Bennett. Sure "Krazy Horse" is a weird dude who likes to showboat a lot, but when he brings it, he brings it out full force.

- The Girl's match was definitely fight of the night. Even though it was a glorified squash, Gina really showed her great striking skills. Kedzie , even though she lost, really showed everyone what a strong competitor she is. I hope to see more of them pretty soon.

-Loiseau! What happened!? Why did you just stall out with Villasenor!? Honestly, if Loiseau really wants to fight again, he needs to think really hard about his priorities. You want to stick around in MMA, give us a reason why you need to be around...besides being a can.

- What can I say about Jr Silva. Wow! He is here. His might is here. But soon, you will not be here!! You can run, you can hide, but sooner or later, he will have your soooouuuullllll.

- I don't know what to really say about the Shammy/Renzo fight. Besides the DQ, this fight just didn't feel good. You could see Renzo working at something, but the countdown clock ruined a lot of it. Shammy was definitely panicking and hit those knees. Shamrock got exposed. No excuse. He panicked and got the DQ.

MMA At The Balance of A Very Lousy Set of Scales.

picture taken from the MSAC section of the DLEG site. Why they have a screen capture of Tito Ortiz getting hit is anyone's guess. So is actually getting a pdf of the MSAC rulebook it would seem.


Fight Opinion has recently reported that the state of Michigan is thinking about banning all of MMA thanks to the action of Bay City's most beloved citizen, Art Dore.

Here is the AP article

Simply put, because Art Dore runs a show, MMA is evil.

When I heard about this, I had a sinking feeling this would happen. In late January, there were posters for Xtreme Cage Combat here in Bay City. They were stuck up from Marquette to the ol' Midland St. area. All advertising "No Holds Barred Jiu-Jitsu Fighting". Things didn't get better When Muskegon raised a big stink and now...here we are. Under scrutinization from a negligent government department because a has been scumbag promoter was running...let's be honest...a Toughman version of an amateur MMA event.

As you can tell, I'm not on either side of this farce. And I have good reasons why.

From Mr. Millben of the BCS:

"Our position has been that ultimate fighting is illegal in Michigan. In some of the bouts, people just box each other. What they're putting on constitutes an unlicensed professional boxing show."

Mr. Millben is going to be awfully busy next month. There's an illegal boxing show happening in Dearborn disguised as a martial arts tournament. We don't want any boxing unregulated in Michigan, now do we? The point I'm trying to make is that it's Mixed Martial Arts, Mr. Millben. There are other forms of striking. Not everything is boxing. What's even more interesting is that the MSAC doesn't regulate martial arts events. Millben is trying to ban a sport based on the pretense that people use hands to strike each other for a minute to a round, therefore it must be a boxing match.

Mr. Robert Swanson, director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth.:

"The potential injuries to participants in these types of contests or exhibitions are often costly and potentially life-threatening."

I'm...I'm sorry. Are we talking about the same sport? I could have swore he was reading the wrong notes. Seeing as MMA hasn't had a death yet and boxing has had 1,344+ deaths so far in this decade. But then again, We're talking about a sport that frowns on verbal or physical tapout. How dare we provide alternative entertainment other then a guy out of his wits trying to out box the guy who knocked him stupid. THAT'S UNAMERICAN!!!

Honestly, do these guys do any research before opening their mouths? You would think that by doing so, they would at least try to creatively beat around the bush. What is it about boxing where even if a whole murder of doctors can bring mountains of evidence that boxing is dangerous, the commissions would deny it as "opinion"? I guess we'll never know.

Don't think I'm done yet. I still have ABhorable...I mean ADoreable Productions to work on.

To start things off, Art Dore is a hypocrite. During the "dark days" of MMA, Art Dore was the front runner of the anti-MMA colition. All to make sure the government got off the back of his miserable Toughman operations. So while MMA was the "bad boy" of the 90's, his cock fights still went puttering along till 2003. After 14 people dead and 5 people turned into vegetables, Dore decides to stop Toughman...to promote MMA. Think about it. This man operated illegal boxing matches in America, left fourteen corpses and five vegetables...and he's still operating. Now he's trying to promote MMA.

from head henchman Gregory Ahrens:

"Amateur martial arts are exempt from regulation of the state. We intend to comply with the law."

Yes, but there's a difference with you Mr. Ahrens. To me, amateur MMA has amateur fighters who are trained in MMA school. So, if this was a true amateur event, you'd have guys from schools like Eastland Combat Club, Dan Severn gym, Griffin-Rawls, Jorge Gurgel BJJ, Strong Style, Playland, etc. etc. Right? Wrong. You put out an ad for fighters on your posters, asking them if "they got the guts" and give them contact information. What's the matter. Afraid to pay REAL fighters with REAL money? How much were you going to give these guys anyway? $50? You probably were going to give the whole "waiver to medical service" bit on the contract too, weren't you?

Let me put it in focus for you if it hasn't bit you yet Mr. Aherns. Amateur martial artists are TRAINED to fight. Guys on the street with beer muscles aren't.

Mr. Aherns:

"Anytime you get into a fight is life-threatening."

Wait a second. Don't you really mean....

"Anytime you get into an Art Dore fight, it's really life-threatening."

Honestly folks. I can write a book on how an Art Dore MMA will go down. You get your blood pressure and alcohol level checked by a doctor that was recommended to Art by a wino from John's Bar who will do something that has nothing to do with medical assistance during your fight. You'll step into a rickety ass cage with someone 50 pounds overweight and hasn't had a lick of fight experience since 6th grade. The ref hasn't had a lick of experience in MMA fights and will have moments of spacing out. Remember that when your eye gets gouged out with a pointed elbow and your face turns to oatmeal after a minute of ground and pound. "But what if I survive?" you say. Forget it. The judges are two guys who know nothing about MMA and Art Dore. Make that three guys who know nothing about MMA. Forget it kid. It's a lose/lose situation. All you get out of it is $50 anyways.

So...how's the future look for MMA. Right now, pretty bleak. The name "Art Dore" is an instant shut off for any government official. Even if Mr. Aherns was true to his word and even cleans the mats when he's done, it still won't do any good. I don't even think Ratner will be able to crack this state government. It might even get criminal if Ratner does try to clear things up. Dore's been known for giving state reps "a piece of the action".

There needs to be some kind of guarantee that scumbag money marks like Dore are stopped. Something to make sure that amateur events are REAL amateur events. Do I see that happening with our current state government? Not bloody likely.

UFC Card Complete and Notes

UFC: Uprising card.

PPV
Tim Sylvia Vs. Randy Couture
Chris Lytle Vs. Matt Hughes
Drew McFedries Vs. Martin Kampmann
Rich Franklin Vs. Jason MacDonald
Jason Lambert Vs. Renato Sobral

Dark Matches
Rex Holman Vs. Matt Hamill
Jon Fitch Vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Gleison Tibau Vs. Jason Dent
Jason Gilliam Vs. Jamie Varner

Notes:

This feels like another "Superstars" card. For those of the non pro-wrestling variety, Superstars was a show that was syndicated by the WWE. It really just consisted of matches made to make talent look good followed by a small mini-feud match to, y'know, keep you watching the show.

Interesting that Hamill is in the dark. I would have put him on PPV. I mean, yeah, his last match was a bit boring, but it was his second match. It would be understandable if it was his third or fourth match. This might possibly be the swing.

If I were to predict the fight of the night by looking at this card, I'd say it would be a tie between McFedries/Kampmann and Lambert/Babalu. Both look like pretty good match ups and they compliment each other in style.

Old Friends Return

Fight Opinion revealed that Akira Maeda will try to resurect the RINGS promotion later this year. Maeda has hinted that if possible, the headline fight would be Maeda taking on Tsuyoshi Kosaka.

Also reported, Elite XC has signed Jay Glazer and Mauro Ranallo have been added to commentary. Bill Goldberg will color and Mario Lopez will conduct interviews.

I'm Not Sold On Elite XC.

MMA Insider had recently done an article on how Elite XC has a fair shot in becoming an upcoming league the UFC needs to look out for. While the optimism is nice, I just don't buy it as an upcoming league. There are many flaws in it's game plan right now and needs to be addressed. I will do so using Mr. Mohapatra's questions he had asked in his article and maybe add one or two of my own. Now, just to let you all know, I'm not anyway negative with MMA Insider. I'm an avid reader of the site and I hope many good things come it's way. What I am doing is offering the other side of the coin and hopefully spark up an honest debate.

1) Can The League Attract Top-Flight Fighters?

That's a bit of a trick question. Of course any league with deep enough pockets is going to attract top-flight fighters. It's inevitable. If none of you know by now, TATAME reports Murilo "Ninja" Rua has signed a three fight deal with EXC.

The question above shouldn't be "Can they attract top fighters?" The question should be "Can they maintain top fighters?" While it's awesome getting top fighters to fight in your league, you got to keep them in your league to have something to draw with as well as give your up and coming talent something to shoot for. Promotions need to be built on established names and established upstarts who haven't been tested on a professional stage yet. Out of EXC's main event card, I see at least....one to four people being on the next card if there ever is one and depending on who calls the shots. If we're talking about the whole event card, maybe one to six. I don't see Renzo sticking around due to being an IFL coach and I definitely do not see Shamrock sticking around due to STRIKEFORCE. Having four to six people carrying your league just doesn't look right. If there is ten people carrying over to the next two events, then I think it could call itself a league. It's all up in the air right now.

2) Can The League Attract Fans?

First of all, I got to ask. Mr. Mohapatra has said in his post...

"The other part of their approach is to hold the first event in the South. UFC hasn't ventured much to the East Coast or to the South in recent years and there are a lot of fans near the Atlantic Ocean eager to join in on the top-level fun that fans in Nevada and California have been enjoying for the last 18 months or so."

Didn't UFC have a couple events held in Florida? And isn't Florida in the east and the south?


Anyways, the question we're really supposed to be discussing is if EXC is doing anything to promote the league to fans. My answer to that is yes and no. Yes, it is promoting itself to fans. No, it's not promoting itself to all the fans. As up to this writing, I have not seen one ad about the event on at least basic cable. Not even Viacom owned stations which I think is a mistake. If you wanted as many eyeballs as possible, wouldn't you at least try to get one commercial on MTV, BET or even CBS? It seems that all it's promotions are either on Showtime and the internet. Now, don't get me wrong. I think the internet is a wonderful tool in promotion and advertising...just as long as you realize not everyone has the internet. And if they did, the preferable mode would still be dial up. Which brings me to the next point.

While promoting the fact that undercard matchups will be shown on the internet is an interesting idea that deserves to be explored, don't be expecting a tsunami of hits to be flying in. The medium is still to young to catch on to the public and to be honest, it would seem a bit silly to use two mediums to watch one event. Either simulcast next time or choose a medium and stick to it.

3) Does It Have Proper TV Coverage?

No. In fact, it has rather limited TV coverage. While being on Showtime is a rather big deal in the cable world, this means nothing to the common public. When the average person gets satellite/cable, they're going to aim for the cheapest premium package possible. That package almost always has HBO as it's main premium channel(s) (I say almost because I remember a time I had to pay for USA and TNT like they were "premium channels"). Anyone who has Showtime either has money to spend or knows someone in the cable/satellite biz. To expect large numbers to see this event is a bit silly.

4) Will Special Rules Attract Fans?

What attracted me to PRIDE and made me a fan wasn't the round limits, the penalty system or that you could stomp or kick a downed opponent. It was that these three things kept the fight smooth and naturally fluid. The EXC will be instituting a fifteen second "ground clock". If nothing of relevance is happening on the ground, the fight is stood back up. Can this rule work?

If it was in Japan, maybe. I don't see it working in America. With athletic commissions putting boxing judges in the judging and ref positions, this rule is going to hurt instead of help. Unless the ref knows what he's looking for in terms of grappling, I see a lot of stand ups happening. This is going to lose a good chunk of the hardcore base that your after. It doesn't help the rule either when it's given weight by a boxing promoter either.

As of right now, Elite XC looks like a one (possibly two) and done promotion in my eyes. There is very little mainstream promotion and the leagues foundations are shaky at best. While I understand Gary Shaw is trying new things, his reputation scares many a hardcore fan. This card needs and further actions from Shaw need to show that it is all about the sport and not all business. Until that time, we watch and wait for this Saturday.

Word On The Street: Pro-Wrestling

I heard that WWE is trying real hard to get Mistico and Shocker to a couple dates in March. Now, I know these guys are talented and god bless them for coming over. They'll definatly get a lot of eyeballs on to them. C'mon though. You guys know what's really going to happen. And you're gonna start hating Vince and The WWE all over again. Thus, starts the vicious cycle all over again.

Over in Japan, Hiroshi Tanahashi resigned with New Japan. One of the conditions in his contract is that he wrestle more dates with TNA. I don't think Tanahashi knows what he's getting into by doing that. As a friend points out, He best not get thirsty over there.

Fight Radio

Beatdown: Trainer and Manager Juanito Ibarra and Joey Villasenor

Savage Dog: Javier Vazquez and Elite XC's Mario Lopez

MMA News: Georges St. Pierre

Eddie Goldman: Shane Mosley, Luis Collazo and wrestler Mo Lawal

Fight Opinion: Mac Danzig, Sean Salmon, Blogger UFC Junkie, Sherdog journalist Jordan Breen and a look at comments made about MMA/pro-wrestling by Mr. Eddie Goldman.

Fight Calender: Feburary

Boxing:

Feb. 10

WBC WW Title: "Sugar" Shane Mosley vs. Luis Collazo

MMA:

Feb. 10

Elite XC: Shamrock vs. Gracie

Feb. 23

IFL: Toronto Dragons/Portland Wolfpack, Chicago Red Bears/NY Pitbulls, Robbie Lawler vs. Eduardo Pamplona

Feb. 24

PRIDE 33: PRIDE MW Championship: Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson

Pro-Wrestling:

Feb. 11

TNA: TNA Title: Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle

Feb. 16

ROH: ROH Title: Homicide vs. Jimmy Rave

Feb. 17

ROH: ROH Title: TBA vs. Takeshi Morishima, ROH Tag Titles: Christopher Daniels/Matt Sydal vs. Jack Evans/Shingo

Feb. 18

WWE*: John Cena/Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker/David Batista

NJPW: IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Koji Kanemoto, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Minoru vs. Wataru Inoue, Kurt Angle/Yuji Nagata vs. Travis (Tyson) Tomko/Giant Bernard

Feb. 23

ROH: ROH Title: TBA vs. BJ Whitmer

Feb. 24

ROH: ROH Tag Titles: TBA vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe, Samoa Joe/Homicide vs. Takeshi Morishima/Nigel McGuinness

Feb. 25

NWA: Super Porky vs. Colt Cobana

*While The Smackdown Tag Titles are defended, it will be in a gimmick match and has not been added.

Hi All

Hello. My name is Royal Burnell. I am the owner of Kakutogi-Gumi. Everyone is asking, what is Kakutogi-Gumi. Well, in Japanese, Kakutogi means “Fighting” and Gumi sorta slang for “gang or group”.

What is going to be covered in this blog is the worlds of combat fighting and pro wrestling. The in and outs of both the biz and how they are connected. MMA, Boxing, Sports Entertainment and Pro-Wrestling. What sparked my interest in making this blog is the disdain I see from MMA fans for Pro-wrestling fans regardless of the reasons why pro-wrestling fans are tuning into MMA in the first place. Likewise, I’ve seen several pro-wrestling fans throw up there arms in disgust every time they try to explain why they enjoy pro-wrestling to MMA fans. Through news posts video and commentary here in this blog, I hope to strike up and somewhat germinate honest discussion between the two groups as well as others in the Kakutogi community.

This blog isn’t all about MMA and Pro-Wrestling. I’ll also talk about boxing, wrestling and even the impact kakutogi has on society.

So grab yourself a drink, sit back, relax and enjoy!!