Steppin' Razor

Hey guys. Sorry for the long lull in action. It's been mostly a busy month for me and couldn't get to post as much as I wanted. So now that I have some time now, I finally am going to unload a huge load of MMA and Pro Wrestling angst right NOW!

- The big thing going around the water cooler right now is the Bisping/Hamill match and how we need to fix the ten point must system. I say thee Nay! Nay I say! It is the incompetence of judges that needs to be addressed in that fight. As well in other fights. Don't get me wrong, I too wish to see the ten point must system retooled to be more concise, but even if we let quantum physicists fix the system, Cecil Peoples and The Three Stooges will still find a way to muck it all up. We're supposed to have clean, clear cut judging in MMA. How is it that these yahoos still judging events when they have showed total signs of incompetence? Hold judges accountable somehow or risk a major title fight being held in total scrutiny from the main stream media when these knuckleheads automatically score the other way the second round in a close fight just because they didn't want to think about it.

- Speaking of Yahoos, Fightlinker was always on the bandwagon and "The Jedi" Luke Thomas is starting to show his true colors as well. Kevin Iole...you fucking suck. You don't know moves and technique. You know fuck all about strategy. You make shit up and then when there is polite debate and decent, you go and call those who wasted time and effort "keyboard warriors" and then just after you that you turn into a keyboard warrior and called a fighter nothing short of a criminal even though the one you should be blaming is the ref who let the fight go too long in the first place.

And then...this is good...and then you have the audacity to call yourself a "MMA expert". That's like calling an asshat traveling tourist a "train conductor" because he rode a lot of trains and likes to piss on the baggage men. What makes you qualified Kevin? What? You're in good with Dana. What's that make you? Good? You're not good. You just know how to hide. How to lie. Me? I always give facts. Even if I don't know the answer.

In the end Kevin, you might be on your fourth volume of your autobio in your nice mansion as you get lauded over by the sports media as one of the biggest named reporters in combat sports and I'll still be here, working my 9 to 5 still praying to the gods Art Dore doesn't kill anyone still over a cold plate of Italian poutine. But I will have something that you will never have or understand. I will be able to look people in the eye and tell them with a straight face that I have educated and gotten more people in to the sport with a better understanding then you even will.

So say goodnight to the Bad Guy.

- Gary Shaw is the worst thing to happen to MMA. Hey Gary. Yes, Mr. Shaw. Over here! Yes thank you. You say you want more weight classes. Yeah, um.....not going to happen. Well how many does Boxing have? 17? 17 weight classes? Wow. You know what 17 weight classes tell me? That it's easy not to make a commitment to Boxing. That dedication has no place. Sure, I know they're great fighters. What's gonna stop them from gaining a couple pounds just to duck fighters though? I can be the greatest fighter in my weight class, but I wouldn't have the gold to prove it because the ding dong who really has the belt is too busy trying to conquer the weight classes around the one he actually won gold in the first place. That's why MMA doesn't have 17 weight classes.

- Pavlik will not save boxing.

- Bob Arum is delusional.

- So Mark Cuban wants to work with Vince MacMahon. Yeah umm.....are you that eager to flush your reputation down the drain Cuban? They just did a global steroid bust, do you want the consequences filtering into you business? If so, you're a bigger fool then you look dude

- Free Vancouver! Support CMMAA!

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.

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.

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.

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.