My thoughts on debut edition of ShoXC
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 29-07-2007, 02:38

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: I apologize for being late with my thoughts but I had to get up at 6 a.m. in order to get ready to haul ass to Princeton, NJ so I could do my show for ESPN 920.
If you were looking for a no-frills, meat and potatoes MMA show then I don’t see how you could have an issue with last night’s telecast of ShoXC.
I was thoroughly impressed with last night’s show from top to bottom. Pro Elite did a great job of booking new talent and making strong matchups for them so that they could show their skills. I don’t think there was a bad match on the card.
I thought that the announcing was top notch. It was the first time that Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros had ever worked together but you wouldn’t know it by listening to them. It sounded like they were old friends that had been broadcasting shows together for years. For my money, they are the best announce team out there even after only doing one show. I’m looking forward to them working together more in the future.
I also couldn’t help but notice that Gary Shaw didn’t come into the cage after any of the matches. Not even after the main event, which featured two EliteXC fighters. I applaud him for taking a step back and letting the fighters have their moment.
Here are my thoughts, match-by-match…
Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Lee Gibson - Solid match. It seemed to pick up steam as time went on. The two wanted to feel each other out (Corbbrey more so than Gibson) and perhaps that’s because these guys have been flying under the radar and there simply isn’t much footage out there. Corbbrey is a cerebral* fighter and it appeared that he didn’t like facing a guy he didn’t know much about. It also looked like he was getting frustrated when he couldn’t find a glaring weakness to exploit.
I like Corbbrey’s athleticism and his hand speed. It also looked like he was tough to hit from an extended distance. His boxing was top notch and he was quick enough to use a lot of head fakes and shoulder movement without setting himself to be caught with a kick or a knee. Not everyone can incorporate basic fundamental boxing into their MMA game like that.
Gibson just seemed like a dude that was tough as nails. It was obvious to me early in the fight that Corbbrey wasn’t going to be able to finish him.
I’d love to see both of them brought back for future shows.
Jefferson Silva vs. Aaron Rosa - Wow, did I really call Silva a prospect? It was a good stoppage, as he took some nasty elbows. But even before he ate those elbows it seemed as though Rosa broke his will. Those grimaces when he was getting hit in bottom position were ridiculous. You really can’t show that type of pain to an opponent or a referee.
Rosa was the most impressive fighter of the night, in my eyes. I wasn’t sure about his perfect record because he hasn’t fought any top guys. But he’s a rugged guy who enjoys fighting and at only 24 years of age, I think he has a bright future. EliteXC should sign him to a deal if they haven’t already.
Scott Jorgenson vs. Chris David - David fought with a lot of heart but Jorgenson was just too much for him. Next to Rosa, Jorgenson was the second most impressive fighter. I don’t know what EliteXC has planned for the 135 lbs. division, but whatever plans they have, Jorgenson will obviously need to be a big part of it. He also seems pretty marketable.
Jaime Jara vs. Jeremiah Metcalf - Jara’s standup wasn’t pretty but it was effective. He deserves a lot of credit for taking the fight on such short notice* and cutting weight. He deserves even more credit for agreeing to defend his 185 lbs. title while fighting at 175 lbs.* Middleweight means you fight at 185 lbs. and if I was in his shoes, maybe I would have taken the fight but I would had at least said that if they want the title to be on the line, then Metcalf needs to make my weight in order to compete for my title.* But Jara is 37-years old and I’m sure he realized the value of being about to get exposure as a champion.
It’s really hard to form any kind of solid opinion of Metcalf because the fight didn’t last long. I know he’s a very tactical fighter, so perhaps the fact that he didn’t have time to scout his opponent hurt him. Hopefully we’ll get to see Metcalf vs. Aaron Wetherspoon rescheduled for the next ShoXC in August.
K.J. Noons vs. Edson Berto - I’m not buying all the talk that Berto’s conditioning was off. There’s no way his father would let him get away with that. I think he got hurt in the first round and continued fighting when maybe he shouldn’t have. I think he definitely suffered a concussion early on. Not only was he winded but it looked like he was just out of it in the second and third rounds. He had a hard time focusing on Noons.* He’s just a much better fighter than what he showed.
I got the prediction for the fight wrong (I went 2 out of 5. Man, I suck. I want to stop doing predictions) but I knew Noons was no joke. I had been taking some flak for touting the guy but you saw just how crisp and fluid his boxing and Muay Thai is.
His ground game from a defensive perspective was good, but he needs to learn how to be able to go on the offensive. I think he’s way off base thinking he can train both boxing and MMA and still reach his full potential. Maybe when he’s mastered everything, I might agree with him. However, boxing reinforces a lot of fundamental bad habits when it comes to MMA standup.
I can understand an MMA guy who comes from a ground background trying to train boxing to improve his hand speed, footwork, defensive skills, learn to work angles, and just get used to taking punches. But Noons already has a lot of the standup basics down.
I guess Shaw doesn’t mind it because he’s a boxing and MMA promoter and the moon lighting could pay dividends from a marketing perspective. But do you think Dana White would let a young fighter try and pursue two full-time fighting careers? He doesn’t even want Kurt Angle to wrestle.
Alright, I’m out because I need to head up to North Jersey to see more young MMA fighters who could be breaking big soon. Matt Makowski from Philly MMA and Wilson Reis from Philly MMA/BJJ United are both making their pro debuts for Ed Hsu’s Combat in the Cage/Extreme Challenge show. I’ve trained with both briefly (and I mean I sparred with Matt for a round once last summer and took one of Wilson’s BJJ classes) in the past so I’m looking forward to it.
BTW, I’m going to be going to East Rutherford this Thursday to cover the IFL semifinals for CBS Sportsline. If you’re reading this and will be attending and want to meet up, drop me a line at [email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it [/email .

UFCjunkie.com reveals final two fighters rumored for ?The Ultimate Fighter 6?
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 27-07-2007, 20:48

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http://ufcjunkie.com/2007/07/27/ufcjunkiecom-reveals-the-ultimate-fighter-6-complete-rumored-cast/" UFCjunkie.com has revealed the final two fighters that are rumored to be a part of the cast for the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which is currently being filmed in Las Vegas.[/URL 
According to Junkie, the rumored cast is also believed to include Daniel Barrera and George Sotiropoulos. A total of 17 cast members are now rumored, with the assumption is a late replacement was needed for a fighter who was injured.
Here is the entire rumored cast for TUF 6:

• Daniel Barrera

• George Sotiropoulos

• John Kolosci

• Roman Mitichyan

• Matt Arroyo

• Blake Bowman

• Richie Hightower

• Mac Danzig

• Tom Speer

• Joe Scarola

• Ben Saunders

• Dorian Price

• Jared Rollins

• Billy Miles

• Troy Mandaloniz

• Jon Koppenhaver

• Paul Georgieff

WEC announces more matches for next Sunday
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 27-07-2007, 20:48

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: The WEC will air their second live telecast on the Versus network next Sunday, August 5, at 9 p.m. ET. The card will be headlined by Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson for the WEC welterweight title and Joe Doerksen vs. Paulo Filho for the vacant WEC middleweight title.
Through its official web site, the fight promotion has announced additional matches for the cad.* Bouts between Jeff Curran vs. Stephen Ledbetter (featherweights), Jamie Varner vs. Sherron Legget (lightweights), Hiromitsu Miura vs. Fernando Gonzalez (welterweights), and Antonio Banuelos vs. Justin Robbins (bantamweights) have all been officially added.
The main televised portion of the card will include Larson vs. Condit, Filho vs. Doerksen, Curran vs. Ledbetter, and Varner vs. Legget.
That’s a pretty sweet double main event and I expect the WEC’s rating to be much stronger next Sunday than it was for their first live telecast. During their first live show, they were competing against a lot of programs that appealed to the male 18-34 demographic. But with a lot of shows in reruns, I think the only real competition for them in their time slot next weekend will be ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

my school is competing here
Original Poster: bamboo
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 27-07-2007, 16:28

Orginal Post: bamboo: SportMMA Online

Since true mma is still illegal in ontario, we have this stuff.

-bamboo

Is the UFC going to lose out on Fedor?
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 27-07-2007, 13:18

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: During recent interviews, UFC president Dana White has commented that he expects to have Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko under contract by the end of 2007 or the start of 2008.
However, in a recent interview with Sherdog.com, Fedor’s manager, Vadim Finkelstein, makes it sound as though Fedor in the UFC is far from a sure deal:
[INDENT Sherdog.com: As Fedor’s manager, can you please fill us in on the current state of his contract negotiations.
VF: At the moment we are in negotiations with a number of organizations who have put offers on the table. I’ll be blunt in saying that the UFC offer is the most financially attractive one. However they are very harsh in their terms and are not very flexible in actually negotiating them.
Fedor has now been the PRIDE heavyweight champion for four years and I think we have earned the right to negotiate a contract that suits both parties. Instead we are faced with a blunt “you are either in or you’re out.” This does not really suit us. If the negotiations continue in a similar manner, we’ll prefer to fight for less money but with an organization which is more flexible.
The problem is that Fedor is the face of Combat Sambo in Russia. His popularity is at a level where he is acquainted with president Putin himself, in part because he is so successful and well known for Combat Sambo here.
Combat Sambo is a Russian sport that’s not at a level of difficulty of MMA, but is hugely popular with our public. Fedor must represent Russia in Combat Sambo and at world championships, specifically the ones coming up in September. All we want him to do is compete something like once a year in Combat Sambo. But the UFC is not happy with that.
Their proposal has all kinds of clauses, all kinds of fines etc. that do not suit us. The UFC is not really that eager to communicate and negotiate. The negotiations are still continuing, and we will try very hard to get our demands met, if not Fedor will simply not compete in the UFC, even though that will be unfortunate as they currently have one of the, if not the, strongest, heavyweight divisions in the world.
[/INDENT There’s a whole lot more so you should really check out the Sherdog.com interview by [URL="http://www.sherdog.com/news/interviews.asp?n_id=8422" clicking here[/URL .

Blog within a Blog: Steroid testing, Tiger Schulman?s and MMA, dream match at 160 lbs
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 27-07-2007, 10:29

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: I know I caught your attention with the Tiger Schulman’s Karate teaser.
I’ll get to TSK soon. But first, I want to talk about drugs.
Many pundits have written columns on the major sites discussing steroids and offering their ideas about how the issue should be addressed by the major promotions. Thus far, there seems to be a big push for the promotions to do internal testing.
While I respect all the writers who have expressed their thoughts, I think the idea of internal testing doesn’t make much sense.
Let me preface my next statement by saying all of my dealings with the major promotions have been nothing but positive and I have no reason to question their integrity.
However, which would you rather be responsible for the testing of athletes: the promotions themselves or an outside body?
Major League Baseball has its own testing program. Do you trust it? World Wrestling Entertainment has a “wellness program.” Do you trust it?
Look, I’m not an advocate for our government and I certainly don’t always have a lot of trust in our system at times, but I think they are better suited for the task of testing fighters as opposed to the promotions themselves.
Sure, if the IFL decides to do an internal program they’ll use an independent third party. But doesn’t the term “independent third party” become an oxymoron when you take into account that any testing lab brought in by a promotion will be getting their paycheck signed by the promotion they are working for?
Again, I have no reason to doubt the IFL or any promotion that would step up and decide to do internal testing. But is it necessary?
The commissions in states where MMA is regulated do a good job. Improvements still need to be made and testing needs to be expanded. But instead of instituting internal testing, I’d rather see the promotions work directly with the state athletic commissions and let the commissions be in charge of testing.
At the end of the day, the commissions are accountable to the people while independent third parties will be accountable to the fight promotions.
I’d really like to see the promotions stress to the commissions the importance of testing every fighter that’s slated to appear on a fight card.
Another thing I’d love to see — if it’s not being done already — is blood testing.
To my knowledge, only urine is used for drug screening (I could be wrong about this). While you can test urine for a lot of substances, there are some chemicals that don’t show up in urine such as Human Growth Hormone.
HGH is used by a lot of athletes, which is why the MLB drug testing policy is a joke. They test for steroids but not HGH. Blood tests might be costly but at the very least I think any fighter competing in a title fight should be tested for HGH.
Another thing I wanted to comment on is the assertion by some people that drug usage in MMA has reached “epidemic” proportions. The statement may or not be true because I have no idea whether the fighters who have tested positive recently are just isolated offenders or if the usage is widespread. However, from my own personal myopic perspective, steroids in MMA are relatively non-existent.
When I used to lift weights a lot, I primarily trained at home. However, I would go to gyms sometimes. When training at gyms I was amazed at how rampant and wide open steroid usage was. There was no attempt to hide it in most cases. It was incredulous.
I’ve trained at several martial arts schools that had people involved with competitive martial arts. Supplement use is frequent by many fighters that I know but if they’re on the juice, they are keeping it to themselves. I’ve never been offered any kind of chemical enhancer and have never seen a guy doing anything shady in the locker room or making comments about it during my MMA travels.
I’m making a broad statement here but this is a blog entry so cut me some slack, but I just don’t think steroids are a big issue in MMA at the grass roots level. While I find a lot of people who train MMA are educated, I don’t think many are all that affluent. What does affluence have to do with steroid use? Well, that crap isn’t cheap and a guy who is working multiple jobs so that he can pay down school loans, keep up with his rent or mortgage, and trying to pay training fees doesn’t have the investment capital needed to get in the business of performance enhancers.
My theory is that fighters don’t start using until they get to the higher levels then start making real money and then start feeling the pressure. It isn’t until so much is at stake and they feel like they have something to lose that they start to consider a turn to the dark side. Hermes Franca said in his letter he felt pressured because he was injured and needed the pay day. Whether that’s true in his case remains to be seen but it’s certainly a scenario that could be true for some fighters.
Then you have a guy like Stephan Bonnar. Endorsements aren’t easy to come by in MMA and sometimes your look dictates whether you get a sponsor just as much as your record. After having fought in the smaller shows and not wanting to go back, perhaps Bonnar also felt insecure about his status in the UFC after a couple of disappointing performances and was looking for a boost.
Unfortunately, we may never know precisely why fighters are taking steroids because for the most part, they aren’t talking.
Okay, enough talk about urine and drugs because now I want to discuss something that is almost a big of a threat to MMA’s reputation as steroids.
*[B [B [B [B [B [B [B Tiger[/B [/B [/B [/B [/B [/B  Schulman’s MMA?[/B *
For those of you who don’t live in the Northeastern corridor of the country, Tiger Schulman’s is a franchise of Karate schools that are usually strategically located in strip malls. They fit the description of the quintessential “McDojo.”
I’m not sure if it’s a company-wide transition, but on my way from Philly to Princeton, NJ each Saturday to do my show for ESPN 920, I pass three TSK locations and they are now called “Tiger Schulman’s Mixed Martial Arts.”
My first question is: what the hell has Tiger Schulman ever accomplished in MMA?
But I guess the fact that Tiger Schulman doesn’t come from a MMA background is irrelevant because MMA is what’s hot right now and TSK (hey, all the cool kids chant it at MMA shows!) has to keep enrollment up.
If that’s how they want to run their schools, so be it. However, I’m appalled by rumors (i.e. I’ve seen a few message board posts) that Tiger Schulman’s could be trying to secure a franchise in the IFL.
I have no idea if the talk is even accurate. For all I know, people could be getting things confused with previous speculation that Tiger Schulman’s was going to have a team in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League.
But just the thought of Tiger Schulman’s having anything to do with the IFL is enough to make me throw up in my mouth.
Some of you might feel it’s unfair of me to criticize TSK considering I don’t train there. However, I have an embarrassing admission to make and that is that I once trained there about 10-12 years ago. I only trained there for a month because they couldn’t convince me my street brawling style was ineffective. Quite frankly, a lot of the techniques they tried to teach me would have caused me to get my ass kicked (blocking kicks with forearms!?). I couldn’t believe some of the stuff they tried to teach with a straight face. But hey, they can break boards and I can’t.
I’m sure they’ve changed their curriculum over the years but my experience with McDojos (I sent my son to one at one point) has been that they teach a brand of martial arts that’s just challenging enough so that you don’t quit. The goal of these insidious places with their corporate tactics designed solely to separate you from your money is to make sure you advance through their program so that you keep paying them to move up the ladder.
TSK does have an MMA team that competes in a lot of smaller shows in the Northeast. Some of their fighters are actually pretty good, though none are nationally known. I’m sure they’ve assembled a decent camp with some good trainers but how are they able to teach MMA on a widespread basis? I’d really like to know the credentials of the people teaching MMA at all of their many local schools.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been inside of a Tiger Schulman’s (bow to your Sensei!) and I’m half-tempted to take a week of free lessons just to see what it’s all about. I’ve been to a school where MMA was taught the right way so I think I’d have a good comparative frame of reference.
If there’s any shred of truth that TSK is indeed trying to get an IFL team, I pray the IFL turns them away. No amount of money is worth what it could do to their reputation. The IFL allowing Tiger Schulman to have a team would be like Morton’s Steakhouse allowing McDonald’s to supply them with the meat they use.
Underachievers article on Sportsline
I’ve received a lot of good feedback on my latest Sportsline article regarding the “Ten biggest underachievers in MMA.” I received lots of e-mail and a few responses here on the blog in addition to a few message board threads dedicated to the topic.
It’s a fun topic that has sparked some debate and I’ve been asked about some guys that didn’t make my list. I wanted to comment on a few of them, not to put myself on the defensive but because I think it’s interesting and wanted a chance to comment publicly on some of the names.
One thing I focused on as I compiled my list is whether a guy was truly an underachiever or possibly not just as good as everyone had thought.
Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni both fell into the category of not being as good as first thought.
While I respect Baroni’s boxing skills and feel his wrestling ability is underrated, I don’t consider him a versatile fighter. He just never developed on a rapid level and I think he got as big as he did because he provided the UFC with some big knockouts and a big personality back when they needed stars in the worst way. Simply put, I think he was overrated when he had his run in the UFC.
As for Lawler, he was like a major league hitter who gets called up from the minors and hits four home runs in his first four games because he’s an excellent fastball hitter. But then that hitter struggles once there’s a book on him and pitchers realize he can’t hit a breaking ball. Lawler brought the hit with his standup and big right crosses but wasn’t as well-rounded as you’d expect an MFS fighter to be. Once fighters started taking him off his feet he was exposed.
The ironic thing is that Lawler has really improved in recent years and is a much better fighter than he was during his first run in the UFC. In my mind, he went from being overrated to being underrated.
The name of Andrei Arlovski was brought up. The Pitbull has definitely been a disappointment and I think he’s capable of more. But I don’t think he’s been underachieving long enough to make the list. If things keep up the way they’ve been going, it won’t be long though until he gets added.
Renato Sobral was also a nomination but I think his current status in MMA is correct. His submission wrestling is world class and his striking has improved. But I see him as being nothing more than a guy worthy of fighting in the UFC just outside of title contention and that just happens to be exactly where he’s at right now.
Vernon White was also suggested. Ugh, don’t get me started. Now, if you know Vernon and think he’s a good guy, that’s fine. Just don’t let your personal bias get in the way of your overall perspective of his place in MMA. He’s right where he belongs and I don’t see any potential in him that’s untapped.
Two choices that people didn’t agree with were Frank Mir and Evan Tanner. There are those who actually feel both are overachievers.
Say what?
In regard to Mir, I will concede that with the improved depth in the UFC’s heavyweight division there’s no way he would be in the title picture even if he was in his prime. However, based on his ground ability, he should at least be a middle of the road guy similar to Heath Herring. But Mir isn’t even Heath Herring! Right now, he’s more like Wes Sims.
Tanner may not be a great pure athlete but he’s an incredible fighter who could easily be the UFC middleweight champ right now if he had his act together. Some people will bristle at that statement but I think Anderson Silva is a vulnerable champion and the UFC simply has an abundance of guys who he matches up well with.
The bottom line is that Tanner would be a bad matchup for Silva. Good luck in trying to convince me otherwise.
I know he can’t stand with Silva, but who can in the 185 lbs. division? But Tanner is a far superior wrestler and if the fight got to the ground then Silva would be in a world of shit.
I’m considering doing an overachievers article next week but have only come up with Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Kenny Florian, and Matt Serra.
Anyone else have any ideas?
*A 160 lbs. division sounds good to me!*
I like where EliteXC President of Live Events (what an awkward title) Gary Shaw is going with his idea of possibly creating a 160 lbs. division.
The 161 lbs. division in Pride was pretty exciting and it’s a practical weight class for a lot of fighters. It’s also a good idea on Shaw’s part because it would be a way for EliteXC to differentiate their product from the competition.
It would also be a great way to showcase Nick Diaz.
You could definitely build the division around Diaz, assuming he can put the bong down. He can held his own with anyone at 170 lbs., but Cesar Gracie teammate Jake Shields is a big part of EliteXC’s welterweight division and the two of them won’t fight.
Oh, how I could also forget that at 160 lbs., Diaz is a beast!
The 160 lbs. weight class would also be perfect for a fighter not currently on the EliteXC roster. I think former Bodog welterweight champion Eddie Alvarez is made for 160 lbs.
Alvarez is undersized for 170 lbs. in my opinion. He’s thought about dropping to 155 lbs. but feels comfortable at welterweight and wants to stay there. However, he might be more open to the idea of dropping to 160 lbs. as opposed to 155 lbs.
His boxing is good enough that he can hold his own with anyone at 170 lbs., however, put him at 160 lbs. and like Diaz, he becomes a beast.
Alvarez has two fights left on his contract to Bodog and when I had him on my show on ESPN 920 several weeks back, he expressed nothing but happiness with Bodog.
However, money talks and if Elite makes a strong offer once Alvarez becomes a free agent, then you never know.
Bringing in Alvarez would be a great move for Elite because he’s significant name that could be added for an affordable price. While he wouldn’t come cheap, he wouldn’t require Sokoudjou money ($150,000 per match).
If built up properly, a match between Alvarez and Diaz could headline a pay-per-view.
It would also be one hell of a fight.
*Jeremy Stephens loses match*and possibly UFC contract
A minor story that has gotten buried in the steroid shuffle is the fact that Jeremy Stephens competed outside of his UFC contract over the weekend and lost.
Stephens was knocked out from a kick by Brett Chisum at 1:30 into round one last Friday at Wild Bill’s Fight Night 10.
Man, who knew Wild Bill even had a fight night? Good for him.
You might remember Stephens from his UFC debut during the preliminary portion of the card featuring Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson as the main event of UFC 71.
Stephens got caught in an armbar by Din Thomas and had to tap at 2:44 into round two.
He was competing for Wild Bill outside of his UFC contract. Normally the UFC likes to keep its fighters exclusive but they will make an occasional exception. In most cases, it’s for younger fighters like Stephens who want to stay active. The usual provision that Joe Silva tells the fighters is that if they lose outside of the UFC, they lose their UFC contract.
Whether the UFC has formally dropped Stephens from its roster is unknown, but if past history is any indication, Stephens is going to have to fight his way back into the UFC.
*IFL vs. EliteXC?*
One thing I left out in my conference call notes for the IFL yesterday is that IFL commissioner Kurt Otto once again commented on the possibility of having all the winners from the upcoming IFL World Grand Prix eventually take on another promotion’s top five in a best-of format.
Otto said he’s willing to work with just about any promotion but wouldn’t talk specific names. However, EliteXC seems like a logical partner because thus far, Gary Shaw is the only other executive of a major fight promotion that I know of willing to work with promotions other than his own.
I’d love to see it. Right now EliteXC needs to work on building their heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions but Chris Horodecki vs. Nick Diaz at lightweight, Delson Heleno vs. Jake Shields at welterweight, and Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach at middleweight are intriguing matchups on paper.
But in the end, I think an EliteXC vs. IFL team challenge is unlikely to happen because Shaw has not been extremely keen on the IFL’s team concept when the topic has been brought up during conference calls.
Free agent market ripe in MMA
It’s July 26 as I write this and Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett, Thierry Sokoudjou, Brock Lesnar, Denis Kang, and Gilbert Melendez are all still free agents.
I don’t think the MMA market in North America could handle another new promotion, but there’s enough talent out there that if there was a multi-millionaire who wanted to get involved with MMA and didn’t care about making money right away, they could throw some cash around and become an immediate player.
Tito Ortiz could also become available in the coming months and if you threw in guys like Matt Lindland and Robbie Lawler (who don’t have exclusive contracts), a newcomer to the business could make Dana White’s worst nightmare become reality.
I’m not saying, I’m just saying.*
Rosholt wins MMA debut*
Remember the name Jake Rosholt.
The Team Takedown member, who also trains with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, won his MMA debut this past weekend in Oklahoma. Rosholt tapped Dusty Miller at 3:40 in round one during Masters of the Cage 15 in Oklahoma.
A former top college wrestler, Rosholt is one of four members of Team Takedown, a group started with the intent of recruiting top collegiate wrestlers and assisting them in making the transition to MMA.
Rosholt, Johny Hendricks, Shane Roller, and Eric Bradley all have big futures in this sport.
*Where in the world is Chris Wilson?*
Does anyone know what happened to former Portland Wolfpack welterweight Chris Wilson? I thought the Team Quest member was a legitimate prospect at 170 lbs. but he left the IFL and I haven’t heard about him since besides some rumors that he might be signing with Bodog.
*If you know anything about Wilson’s current status, please drop me a line.

Preview of Friday?s ShoXC card on Showtime
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 27-07-2007, 03:05

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: EliteXC and Showtime will partner for the debut of ShoXC on Friday night live from the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.* at 11 p.m. ET. The five bout card is expected to end sometime around 1 a.m. ET, at which time ProElite.com will telecast five additional fights via the Internet.
ShoXC is patterned after Showtime’s boxing series ShoBox, which has been a springboard for the career of many young boxers. Showtime is hoping that ShoXC will have the same impact on mixed martial arts.
If nothing else, the show has great timing in the sense that it feels like it’s been months since we’ve had live MMA to watch. While the card doesn’t boast any huge names, there are fighters on the card with a lot of potential. On paper, I also think the matchmakers have done a good job as far as styles are concerned.
The show will also feature the debut of Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros as an announce team. The team garnered strong fan support on an individual basis during their broadcast stints with Pride. However, they had never been on the air at the same time until this show.
Here’s my breakdown of what to watch for:
K.J. Noons vs. Edson Berto - This fight could prove to be a sleeper in the mold of Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher. You have two lighter weight guys with strong striking backgrounds.
In the case of Berto, he also has a strong ground game and is notorious for tapping guys with his heel hook. Berto is a true mixed martial artist and it boggles my mind why more people don’t talk about him. If he was in UFC, people would be drooling.
As for Noons, he’s a hell of a boxer who had a buzz surrounding him heading into his fight against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett during EliteXC’s debut show on February 10. Bennett caught Noons and dropped him cold and Noons hasn’t fought in an MMA bout since (he competed in a pro boxing match, and won). This is his chance to regain some of the momentum he lost after losing to Bennett.
If Noons gives up boxing and focuses solely on MMA, he could be a star because his boxing is unreal. We didn’t get a chance to see it vs. Bennett but hopefully we’ll get to see it Friday.
My prediction is that Berto will win in the second round via submission.
Jeremiah Metcalf vs. Jaime Jara - This match was originally supposed to be a rematch between Metcalf and Aaron Wetherspoon in a bout that would unify the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage welterweight titles. However, Wetherspoon is injured and pulled out of the fight yesterday.
Stepping in for Wetherspoon will be Jara, a 37-year old tough as nails fighter who took the fight on next to no notice. Jara is the Gladiator Challenge middleweight champion and has also held the GC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles in the past. He has to cut to fight at 185 lbs. and now is faced with the task of cutting to an agreed upon match weight of 175 lbs. That dude’s life must have sucked the last few days.
Jara is a good wrestler who has worked hard to improve his boxing. He’s fought Rashad Evans (lost), Carter Williams (won), and Anthony Ruiz (holds three wins over him) so he won’t be feeling any pressure fighting for Showtime.
There’s been some talk that the match could be title vs. title but I don’t see how the state of California would allow a 170 lbs. title be on the line against a fighter weighing in at 175 lbs. We’ll have to see how this plays out.
Metcalf is a 26-year old freestyle fighter who trains with Gene Fields out of Team Voodoo. He’s a very well-rounded fighter who has good Greco-Roman wrestling skills. He’s going to be giving up a lot of size to Jara so who knows if he’ll be able to utilize those wrestling skills.
Metcalf has great cardio so his best bet may be to keep the fight standing and try to wear Jara down since he’s coming into the fight on short notice.
I’m going to pick Metcalf by unanimous decision. If Jara had more time to prepare, the outcome would be different.
Aaron Rosa vs. Jefferson Silva - Watch out for Jefferson Silva! He has a K-1 background and trains with Mario Sperry out of Brazilian Top Team. He’s a rangy Muay Thai striker with some Jiu-Jitsu training that has star potential written all over him. The only thing that is holding him back is his conditioning.
That could be a problem for Silva because Rosa has been a sparring partner for Tito Ortiz for Ortiz’s last two fights. His conditioning is excellent and he has a lot of heart.
Rosa likes to stand up but he’s got some ground skills. If Silva has top position and gets sloppy, Rosa will be a threat to triangle him.
These two will stand and trade early and if Silva doesn’t take Rosa out early, we easily could see an upset. In spite of that possibility, I’m still picking Silva to win the fight and come out of the show with a lot of people talking about him.
Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Lee Gibson - Besides Silva, Corbbrey is the other fighter on this card that people need to watch out for. I’m really impressed with him as he’s a smart guy who is extremely competitive.
Corbbrey is a professional boxer who has competed in professionally in Muay Thai as well. Don’t stereotype him though because he’s not just a striker. He also competes in grappling tournaments and has won events such as NAGA and ISCF. He trained Jiu-Jitsu with Lloyd Irvin and now works on his ground game with UFC fighter Din Thomas.
Gibson is a tough dude who is a former Army Ranger and served 16 months in Iraq as a private security contractor. He splits his time between Kansas City and Las Vegas. He works in KC as a fireman and trains MMA in Vegas with Tony Fryklund.
Gibson just recently fought for Richard Steele’s Steele Cage Promotions on July 7, defeating Talon Hoffman via TKO at 2:25 in the second round. He’s a solid fighter and Corbbrey will have to bring his A-game in order to win.
Finishing Gibson won’t be easy, which is why I am picking Corbbrey to win via unanimous decision.
Chris David vs. Scott Jorgenson - David is trained by UFC fighter David Terrell out of the Nor Cal Fighting Alliance. He has a record of 8-5-1 and is a perfect 3-0 when fighting for the Gladiator Challenge promotion.
David has been training in martial arts since the third grade and wrestled during high school. When he first got involved with MMA he was almost exclusively a wrestler, however, he’s made strides in recent years in all other aspects of MMA.
It’s good that his stand up has improved because that’s where he needs to keep the fight in order to win. Jorgenson has much better wrestling credentials, having been a three-time All-Pac 10 selection as a freestyle wrestler while at Boise State.
I expect Jorgenson to win the fight in the first round via ground and pound.

Wetherspoon out of Friday?s match vs. Metcalf
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 26-07-2007, 19:04

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned that the unification match for the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage welterweight titles between Jeremiah Metcalf and Aaron Wetherspoon scheduled for Friday’s debut ShoXC card on Showtime is off.
Wetherspoon is out with an injury and will be replaced by Jaime Jara. Jara is a middleweight but has agreed to fight Metcalf at a catch weight of 175 lbs.
This is the only change to the card that we’re aware of.

Special Announcement: New MMA Internet show to launch soon
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 26-07-2007, 15:36

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [FONT=Arial I am pleased to announce that Matt Cava of UFCTakedown.com and I have decided to partner on a brand new Internet audio show pertaining to MMA that will be called “Inside the Cage Radio.”[/FONT 
[FONT=Arial “Inside the Cage Radio”*will debut next weekend (either 8/4 or 8/5) and will be available at FiveOuncesOfPain.com and UFCTakedown.com.[/FONT 
[FONT=Arial In the future, the show will also be accessible through its own web site. [/FONT 
[FONT=Arial “Inside the Cage” will be taped each Saturday inside the studios of ESPN 920, the local ESPN radio affiliate in Philadelphia. Matt and I plan to use ESPN 920’s vast production resources to bring everyone a professional sounding Internet MMA show.[/FONT 
[FONT=Arial Each week on “Inside the Cage,” Matt and I will*debate the most pressing topics in MMA each week and we’ll interview the biggest guests in MMA.[/FONT 
[FONT=Arial Matt and I have a lot of long-term plans for the show and while we expect to have a strong debut, the show will improve as time goes on. What you hear on the first show will just be the beginning.
[/FONT 
[FONT=Arial Feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions. The show is for all of you so your feedback matters.[/FONT 

Cummo announces his next opponent
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 25-07-2007, 20:46

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: UFC welterweight Luke Cummo has announced via his MySpace page that his next fight will be on September 19 at UFC Fight Night 11 in Las Vegas. According to Cummo, he’ll be fighting Brazilian-born Ediberto Crocota.

IFL press conference notes
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 25-07-2007, 20:46

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: Earlier this afternoon the IFL held its second press conference in as many weeks to promote both their team semifinals on August 2 in East Rutherford, NJ as well as the announcement of the field for their first World Grand Prix that will be taking place in the fall.
Here are some notes from the conference:
- Each Grand Prix winner will be awarded a title belt and will be considered the champion for their respective weight class. Kurt Otto also revealed that during the ‘08 season, Grand Prix champions might find themselves in situations where they will be defending the title.
While they will remain Grand Prix champion until the next Grand Prix, my understanding is that they will lose one of two belts should they lose in a title fight. When a title is defended in ‘08, it will take place during the course of a team competition. So a figthter could find himself in a position where he’s in a match that will decide a title as well as whether his team wins its match.
There will be discretion used as to when a fighter’s title will be on the line. For instance, if Chris Horodecki is the lightweight champ and the Anacondas are fighting the Silverbacks and he’s pitted against Bart Palaszewski, chances are the title will be on the line. If Horodecki is fighting a guy with a 2-3 record from the Chicago Red Devils, the title likely won’t be at stake.
Some reporters had some concerns that incorporating individual titles into the team aspect could blur the team concept but I think it only adds to the drama and for what the IFL is trying to do on TV each week, the concept lends itself personally. Having title matches puts the IFL in a position where they can market title fights as main events and really build towards a big climax during the two-hour telecast on MyNetworkTV. I think IFL commissioner Kurt Otto describe the concept best when he said it will be the best of both worlds.
- The rules and rounds won’t change for title fights that take place as part of the team bouts. So title fights will not be five round of five minutes and will remain three rounds of four minutes. I don’t like that. I think all title fights should be five and five.
- Talks are ongoing as to how best showcase the World Grand Prix. I asked Otto is FSN or MyNetwork had contacted them with the expressed idea of possibly televising the Grand Prix live and Otto commented that FSN executives were at the Las Vegas show and came away very impressed. To me, it sounds like there are some different options on the table. I think if the money is right, there could be a chance we’d get to see some live IFL.
- I’ve been wanting to ask for a long time whether private investors have ever contacted the IFL about owning a franchise. Otto says they are contacted quite often and they’ve explored the idea. He said if they can make it work logistically that it’s something that could be possible. I think that could definitely be a future form of revenue for the IFL. Whether it would be enough revenue to effect their bottom line will depend on how much value the company can build up.
- Otto talked about their desire to start an internal drug testing program. He stressed that it needs to be a drug program and not just a steroids program because fighters are testing positive for recreational drugs. He said the IFL is willing to work with other promotions when it comes to an internal anti-drug program. Otto also talked about how educating fighters about the potential dangers of drugs is important. My idea would be to sit them all in a room and make them watch “The Smashing Machine” documentary about Mark Kerr. Let them see Kerr’s fights from his prime and his recent fights so they see how drug use can spiral out of control and you can lose everything.
- During the World Grand Prix, each card is expected to open with a “Superfight” between two fighters from the IFL who didn’t make the final four of their weight class.
- Otto confirmed that Ian Freeman will be coaching a UK team. A reported asked about talk of a possible Brazilian team and whether teams from Brazil and the UK would be U.S.-based or based in the native homelands. Otto didn’t have a definitive answer.
- Brazil’s version of the IFL was brought up and Otto took the “imitation is the greatest form of flattery” approach. He said that the league in Brazil is basically validation for their belief that the team concept could work. Otto also made sure to mention that several UFC fighters are coaches in Brazil and wondered if the UFC is changing their stance towards the IFL and the team concept? Somehow I don’t think Dana White’s opinion has changed.
- I was curious about how alternates would work after the completion of the first round of the Grand Prix. For example, suppose John Gunderson beat Wagnney Fabiano* in Chicago but was able to fight in the finals in December because of injury. Would Fabiano advance or would Shad Lierley go right into the finals? Otto indicated that it would be Lierley and that in that scenario “he’d be a very lucky guy.”

IFL announces lineups for World Grand Prix
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 25-07-2007, 17:09

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: The IFL has announced the competitors and the first round matchups for their World Grand Prix on November 3 in Chicago.**
Bout order will be determined prior to the Official Weigh-in on November 2.
Lightweight (155 lb.):

• No. 1 Wagnney Fabiano, Dragons (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (3-0 IFL 2007, 3-0 IFL career, 7-1 overall) vs. No. 4 John Gunderson, Lions (Medford, Ore.) (2-1, 2-1, 15-4)

• No. 2 Chris Horodecki, Anacondas (London, Ontario) (3-0, 6-0, 10-0) vs. No. 3 Bart Palaszewski, Silverbacks (Wonder Lake, Ill.) (2-1, 7-1, 27-8)

• Alternate: Shad Lierley, Tiger Sharks (Seattle) (2-1, 2-1, 2-1)

• No. 1 Delson Heleno, Pitbulls (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (3-0, 4-1, 11-2) vs. No. 4 Mark Miller, Red Bears (Chicago) (2-1, 8-2, 2-1)

• No. 2 Antonio McKee, Sabres (Lakewood, Calif.) (3-0, 3-0, 20-3-2) vs. No. 3 Jay Hieron, Anacondas (Las Vegas) (2-1, 4-2, 12-4)

• Alternate: Pat Healy, Lions (St. Louis) (2-1, 2-1. 18-12)

• No. 1 Benji Radach, Anacondas (Coconut Creek, Fla.) (3-0, 3-0, 15-3) vs. No. 4 Brent Beauparlant, Dragons (Ottawa, Ontario) (2-1, 3-3, 6-4)

• No. 2 Matt Horwich, Wolfpack (Portland, Ore.) (2-1, 4-3, 19-9-1) vs. No. 3 Brian Foster, Razorclaws (Moreno Valley, Calif.) (2-1, 3-2, 9-11)

• Alternate: Fabio Leopoldo, Pitbulls (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (2-1, 3-1, 5-2)

• No. 1 Vladimir Matyushenko, Sabres (El Segundo, Calif.) (3-0, 3-0, 18-3) vs. No. 4 Alex Schoenauer, Anacondas (Las Vegas) (2-1, 4-3, 12-7)

• No. 2 Mike Whitehead, Scorpions (Central Point, Ore.) (2-0, 4-0, 19-4) vs. No. 3 Mike Ciesnolevicz, Silverbacks (Williamstown, Pa.) (2-0, 4-2, 12-2)

• Alternate: Jamal Patterson, Pitbulls (Hoboken, N.J.) (1-0, 3-1, 3-1)

• No. 1 Ben Rothwell, Silverbacks (Milwaukee, Wis.) (3-0, 7-0, 22-5) vs. No. 4 Roy Nelson, Lions (Las Vegas) (2-1, 2-1, 8-2)

• No. 2 Antoine Jaoude, Condors (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (3-0, 3-0, 7-2) vs. No. 3 Reese Andy, Tiger Sharks (Billings, Mont.) (3-0, 5-1, 7-1)

• Alternate: Bryan Vetell, Pitbulls (Jamaica, N.Y.) (1-1, 1-2, 2-2)

Ten biggest underachievers in MMA
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 25-07-2007, 11:30

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: My latest Five Ounces of Pain column is now available at CBS Sportsline. This week, I take a look at the ten biggest underachievers in mixed martial arts.
You can read the article [URL="http://cbs.sportsline.com/mmaboxing/story/10267555" by clicking here[/URL .

Conference call notes for debut of ShoXC
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 24-07-2007, 20:13

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: Pro Elite and Showtime conducted a conference call this afternoon in order to promote the launch of ShoXC this Friday night at 11 p.m. ET from the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif. The main event will be a clash of 155 lbs. fighters Edson Berto and K.J. Noons.
EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw, Pro Elite CEO Doug DeLuca, and Showtime’s Senior V.P. of Sports Programming Ken Hershman were all on the call.
Here are some of the most notable developments:
- There will be a total of four ShoXC telecasts this year, including Friday’s show. The next one after Friday is slated to take place in the middle or end of August with the two other shows tentatively planned for October and December.
- The first ShoXC had been planned for December but Showtime is so excited about MMA right now that they asked for the debut show to be moved up.
- The next full-scale EliteXC show is scheduled for September 15 in Honolulu, Hawaii. It will be televised on Showtime. The main event being discussed right now is Murilo “Ninja” Rua taking on Robbie Lawler. However, Shaw made it clear at several points during the call that bout agreements have not been signed. Rua is EliteXC’s middleweight champion while Lawler is Icon Sport’s middleweight title holder. However, only Rua’s title was mentioned as being at stake.
- The rumors of EliteXC possibly buying King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge, and Icon Sport were brought up. Shaw said he couldn’t comment on possible acquisitions because they are a public traded company. There was no flat denial when the question was asked. A reporter also tried to re-phrase the question in a creative fashion by asking what promotions EliteXC was interested in working with. The name of GC, KOTC, and Icon were all brought up by Shaw as companies EliteXC has an interest in working with.
My personal take is that there appears to be a lot of fire to the smoke when it comes to the rumors but I don’t have any hard evidence to support my claim.
- The Internet telecast will take place on ProElite.com but the matches won’t be held until after the Showtime show. If you’re on the West Coast or are an MMA junkie, you’ll be able to watch some early morning MMA.
- Nick Diaz is also being talked about as fighting on the September 15 card.
- In regard to Thierry Sokoudjou, Shaw said they thought they were close to a deal that Jeremy Lappen help put together. They flew Sokoudjou out for the 6/20 show and wined him and dined him. When Sokoudjou returned home he received an offer from another promotion that Shaw wasn’t willing to match. He said any deal with Sokoudjou is “off the table.”
- Shaw talked about his concerns with extreme weight cutting in MMA and hasn’t ruled out the introduction of new weight classes. He said one class they are considering is a 160 lbs. class. I think that would be perfect for Diaz.
- I asked Shaw if there was any interest from EliteXC in Frank Trigg and he said they were indeed interested.
- There are two more shows with Frank Shamrock and Strikeforce left as a part of the agreed upon settlement that allowed EliteXC to keep Shamrock on the card of their debut telecast on Feb. 10.
- Steroids were brought up. Shaw said he is concerned and spoke out against the use of performance enhancers in MMA but said he doesn’t plan to test steroids. He then said fighter safe is a concern and wouldn’t rule out the possibility of implementing testing in the future.
- When the IFL deciding to test its own fighters in ‘08, Shaw sort of took what I considered to be a veiled shot. He said he wants to see how they react when a major star of theirs tests positive — if they ever get a star. Ouch. I’m not sure if Shaw meant that as an insult or if it just came out funny. It sure sounded like a shot to me. If he meant it, he should watch their program because they’ve got a lot of good young fighters on their roster now. I guess he hasn’t seen Chris Horodecki because Shaw would love to have that kid fighting for him if he saw him.

Report: Pro Elite invests in Cage Rage
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 24-07-2007, 20:13

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=4380" The Fight Network is reporting that Pro Elite (parent company of EliteXC) has acquired a significant ownership stake in UK-based MMA fight promotion Cage Rage[/URL .
According to the report, Pro Elite has bought out majority shareholder John Faraday’s stake in the promotion. Cage Rage promoter Andy Greer confirmed that Pro Elite is on board and “investing heavily in different areas.”
EliteXC President of Live Events Gary Shaw would not comment, citing the fact that Pro Elite is a publicly traded company being the primary reason. Shaw made no mention of anything to do with Cage Rage during a conference call held earlier this afternoon to promote Friday’s debut of ShoXC.
Thanks to Brent Colflesh for the heads up.

FIGHT! Magazine on newsstands now!
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 24-07-2007, 11:21

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: Several months back you may recall that I announced that I would be a part of a new MMA magazine called FIGHT! I’m pleased to let you all know that the magazine is officially on newsstands today. Matt Serra is on the cover and there are some great stories including features on Serra, Roger Huerta, and Team Quest.
Yours truly also has two articles in the debut issue of FIGHT! One is an article titled “Five Who Can Beat Fedor,” which is already generating talk on a few message forums out there. The other article is called “Ten Fights That Made MMA.”
So if you’re strolling by a newsstand or a local bookstore today, be sure to check it out and let me know what you think. For subscription info, you can go to the magazine’s web site at[URL="http://www.fightmagazine.com" FightMagazine.com[/URL .

5 Oz. of Pain Feature: The UFC on ESPN
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 23:17

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: Multichannel News’ recent report that the UFC is in talks with ESPN to televise programming in addition to their recent extension with Spike TV comes as no surprise to this writer. Loyal readers of FiveOuncesOfPain.com will recall a column I wrote several months ago chronicling what a possible relationship between ESPN and the UFC might look like.
Based on the topic of the article and the timing of the new reports, I decided to make some edits and re-post the article for the benefit of new viewers to the site.
Whether you’re reading this article for the tenth time or the first, enjoy…
You can read the rest of the article [URL="http://fiveouncesofpain.com/5-oz-of-pain-feature-the-ufc-on-espn/" by clicking here[/URL .

Sean Sherk releases statement about positive test
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 19:23

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk has finally released a statement after it was revealed last week that he had tested positive for steroids leading up to his fight against Hermes Franca at UFC 73.
Sherk’s statement is as follows:
[INDENT “At the present time I cannot explain the positive drug test in Sacramento California. I know I have never used any steroids or any other banned substances, I am investigating possible causes of my positive test with my attorney. I have never cheated, all of my success has come from hard work and dedication to my sport.”
[/INDENT Sherk’s appeal will be heard by the California State Athletic Commission on August 6 at 10 a.m. ET.
If Sherk is proved correct, then many reporters such as myself will be left with a lot of egg on their faces. If Sherk is found innocent, I will gladly apologize for a rush to judgment. However, instead of being angry at reporters, Sherk’s blame should be directed at every athlete who tested positive before him that proclaimed innocence when they were in fact guilty.

Multichannel News report on ESPN and UFC goes public
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 18:34

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: The Multichannel News report we referenced yesterday that indicated the UFC is in talks with ESPN in regard to live programming is now available on the Multichannel web site.
[LEFT The article makes the following claim:

But Spike may not be the only cable network offering UFC content. The organization is in discussions with HBO, and has had preliminary discussions with ESPN, about securing a distribution deal for additional live events and other UFC content, according to executives from both networks. ESPN, for one, has stepped up its coverage of the UFC, televising the weigh-in of the May 26 UFC 71 main event bout between Chuck Lidell and Quinton Jackson, profiling the UFC on the cover of ESPN the Magazine and televising highlights of UFC events on its signature SportsCenter show. UFC executives could not be reached for comment at press time.
Several months back I wrote a feature on what a deal between the UFC and ESPN would look like. If I get time in the next few days I will revise the article and post it here.[/LEFT 

McFedries and Eastman rumored to be fighting at UFC 77
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 16:57

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: The “rumors” section of MMAWeekly.com is now listing a possible middleweight showdown between Drew McFedries and Marvin Eastman at UFC 77 in Cincinnati, Ohio during October.
Both are former light heavyweights who like to throw hands. McFedries, an impressive prospect who trains with MFS out of Iowa, last fought at UFC Fight Night 10 and knocked out wrestler Jordan Radev in the first round.
Eastman returned to the UFC in February and lost to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. He most recently fought for Richard Steele’s Steele Cage Promotions on July 7 in Las Vegas and won the IFO middleweight title by defeating Rob Kimmons by unanimous decision. It’s uncertain if Eastman became a free agent after the fight with Jackson, was released, or was simply allowed to fight outside of his contract.
Eastman had also been scheduled to fight Ray Sefo at USA Dynamtie!! on June 2 before the match was canceled after Sefo pulled out due to injury.
The Wrestling Observer also recently reported that a match between McFedries and Eastman is in the works.

Report: Wiman to fight Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 76
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 16:26

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: href=”http://ufcjunkie.com/2007/07/22/matt-wiman-to-take-on-michihiro-omigawa-at-ufc-76-ufcjunkiecom-exclusive/”>UFCjunkie.com is reporting that Matt Wiman will be fighting Judoka Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 76 on September 22 in Anaheim, California.
Junkie has also confirmed through Ken Pavia that Justin McCully will also be fighting at UFC 76. Tito Ortiz mentioned the possibility in an interview last week.

Cage Fury Fighting Championships announces next card
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 16:26

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: New Jersey-based Cage Fury Fighting Championships have announced matches for their next fight card on October 12 in Atlantic City, NJ.
It’s a fairly interesting card and includes the following matchups:
Main Event: Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott - It’s not a relevant bout on the basis of the title picture in the heavyweight division, but Kimbo has been a lightning rod for news and interest. It’s definitely a circus-style main event, but still one that I find very compelling.
Ricardo Almeida vs. Dennis Hallman - Both are guys who are excellent on the ground (Almeida’s Jiu-Jitsu is superb and Hallman is a former NCAA standout wrestler) who have both competed in the UFC. Almeida was once a big time prospect before injuries hurt his career path. This will be a major comeback attempt for him.
Marcio “Pe De Pano” Cruz vs. Brandon Lee Hinkle - Like Hallman vs. Almeida, this is another matchup between two guys with excellent ground skills. Cruz is the BJJ guy and Hinkle is the wrestler. Both have fought for the UFC with Cruz most recently fighting for the IFL and Hinkle having fought earlier this month for Bodog Fight.* Not a bad undercard match for a regional promotion.
Duke Roufus vs. Derek Panza - Both guys are excellent strikers, with Roufus being one of the top kocboxers in the U.S. This will be his MMA debut and I think the K-1 standout is clearly the favorite. A very intriguing matchup.
Chris Ligouri vs. Devidas Taurosevicius - Don’t know much about either fighter but this will be for the NABC lightweight title. I’m not a big fan of sanctioning bodies for boxing getting involved with MMA and would prefer no MMA promoter did business with the NABC. I also know that Ligouri trains with the Rhino Fight Team in Jersey, which is the same where Frank Edgar is based out of.
Anthony Morrison vs. Malachy Friedman - Morrison is a decent prospect who served a suspension for disciplinary issues early this year. All I know of Friedman is that he’s a pretty good poster on the Underground Forum at MMA.tv.
Jose Rodriguez vs. Mike Littlefield - I know nothing about either guy.
John Doyle vs. Jarrid Palmer - Doyle used to train at Philly MMA (the MFS affiliate in Philadelphia) where I used to train. He’s a rugged guy with heavy hands. I don’t know much about Palmer but it will be good to see Doyle fight again.

Report: Starnes to fight Belcher at UFC 77
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 16:26

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=8366" Sherdog.com is reporting that Kalib Starnes recently stated[/URL  that he’ll be fighting next at UFC 77 in Cincinnati, Ohio this October. His opponent is believed to be Alan Belcher.

More names rumored for TUF 6
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 23-07-2007, 16:26

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http:/www.ufcjunkie.com" UFCjunkie.com reported over the weekend that John Kolosci and Roman Mitichyan[/URL  are both rumored to be involved with current taping of the sixth installment of The Ultimate Fighter for Spike TV.
Kolosci trains in Indiana and has a career MMA record of 8-4. Mitichyan has an interesting back story because he works in Hollywood as a stuntman and actor. In addition to his movie career, he also has a 3-1 MMA record.
The list of rumored contestants for TUF 6 has now reached 15 of 16 total cast members and includes:

• John Kolosci

• Roman Mitichyan

• Matt Arroyo

• Blake Bowman

• Richie Hightower

• Mac Danzig

• Tom Speer

• Joe Scarola

• Ben Saunders

• Dorian Price

• Jared Rollins

• Billy Miles

• Troy Mandaloniz

• Jon Koppenhaver

• Paul Georgieff

Report: ESPN talking to the UFC
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 22-07-2007, 16:10

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http://www.pwinsiderxtra.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=7546&p=1" According to PWInsider.com[/URL , Monday’s print edition of Multichannel News will report that ESPN is talking to the UFC about the possibility of carrying UFC-related programming in the future. According to the web site, the report also acknowledges the UFC’s previously reported renewal with Spike TV.
When I spoke to UFC president Dana White in an interview conducted in the spring for CBS Sportsline, he said that the promotion’s existing deal with Spike did not prevent them from airing the UFC on other networks. If the report from Multichannel News is correct, one would have to assume that the new deal with Spike is somewhat non-exclusive as well.

Exclusive: Tito Ortiz interview
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 22-07-2007, 16:10

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http://cbs.sportsline.com/mmaboxing/story/10263121" Earlier this week my interview with Tito Ortiz appeared on CBS Sportsline[/URL . As always, Tito was a great interview and there was no shortage of material. However, due to Sportsline’s word count, a good portion of it never appeared on the site. With Sportsline’s permission, I can post the portions of the interview that didn’t make the cut here on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.
Without further adieu, enjoy…
FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Following your bout vs. Rashad at UFC 73 you accused him of putting extra Vaseline on his shoulders –
Tito Ortiz: (interrupts) Actually, it was on the wrist — his left wrist. It might have been something that his trainer might have mistakenly put on, or maybe he wiped some of the Vaseline off of his face. I felt it there.
Q: In response to being deducted a point for holding onto the cage in round two, you referenced the old NASCAR phrase “You’re not trying if you’re not cheating.” Don’t you think that sends a bad message?
TO: I don’t know about a bad message. I just did it on instinct (grabbing the cage). It’s not like I’m going to lie and say I didn’t do it. I think the biggest thing is being truthful. I’ve always spoke my mind; I’ve always said the truth; and I’ve never said a lie.
Q: You’re known for your dedication to conditioning but you looked fatigued during the third round. Do you agree with the assessment and if so, is there a specific reason that you can point to as to why you were winded?
TO: Oh, for sure. I felt just — my legs just weren’t 100 percent. The reason why was in that second round I was against the fence and going for a takedown against Rashad and I felt like I kind of pulled something in my back. What ended up happening was that I have a recurring injury to my back; it’s a bulging disk and it happened again.
Q: So the back injury is the reason why you think your conditioning wasn’t where it usually is?
TO: No, my conditioning was fine. I just felt my legs go really, really heavy and the reason why was my back. Anybody that’s had a back injury before — a bulging disk – it’s something that can just walk around no problem on. But that was the problem was me trying to plant my feet and step forward. Due to my back, I just felt really slow.
Q: During the telecast Randy Couture mentioned that you’ve been guilty of overtraining in the past but that you had made modifications. Is what Randy said true and if so, what changes have you made?
TO: I guess it just comes down to as you get older and more mature you have to train smarter. I can’t train the way I used to train when I was 22 or 23-years old — pretty much balls to the wall type training. It’s more of a smarter way the way I do it now. I kind of spread the training times out a little more. I don’t do back-to-back-to-back. And maybe not as much wrestling; we put in shorter hours instead longer hours, I guess you can say.
Q: You complained of having some issues with your back leading up to the fight. Did you get an official diagnosis from the doctor?
TO: Yes, I have. I have a bulging disk between the L4 and L5. Two weeks before I fought I had injections to my lower back between the L4 and L5 and the disk was out three millimeters. So they injected to make the disk smaller and they injected it with an anti-inflammatory. After the fight it’s pretty much exactly the same thing. I go to see my doctor tomorrow to what my next steps will be and the most likely will probably be will be the injections. Injections of anti-inflammatory is what works 100 percent. It worked last year so I’m looking forward to being 100 percent in the next couple of weeks.
Q: I’ve had almost the same injury and went through the injections and they helped in the short-term but not in the long-term. Ultimately I had to undergo surgery so that the damaged areas could be removed. You’re a highly trained professional athlete with quite a few occupational hazards; don’t you think with your style of fighting that you might need surgery at some point?
TO: Yeah, at some point. I’m just really intimidated by just the idea of having surgery to my back. I don’t think anyone who gets surgery to their back looks forward to it. But this is my job; training is not just something I do as a hobby. This is what I do for a living. As great of shape I’m in healing is pretty easy as long as I take care of my lower back and make sure my stomach is strong. I need to rehabilitate (the injury) before I get surgery. Surgery to your lower back is something serious because there’s always the chance of being paralyzed. So that’s why look forward for it to not really have to happen.
Q: It seems like you’ve been battling injuries leading up to your past few fights. Are the frequent injuries a byproduct of your rigorous training routine?
TO: I think it’s a mixture of the rigorous training I do and I’m just getting old. I’ve been doing this stuff for ten years. I’m not a young kid anymore and I don’t recover as quickly as I used to. I’ve been wrestling since I was 15-years old and I’ve been doing MMA for the last ten years and I just think it’s an adding up of everything. I’ve really torn my body up fighting.
Q: You’re still relatively young for the fight game but you’re not as young as you once were. You cut a ton of weight before a fight. Is it possible that maybe your body isn’t recovering as quickly from the cut as in years past and maybe that’s your stamina during a match?
TO: The weight cutting has never been a problem for me. Ever. Not at anytime at all. The only time I’ve missed a weigh-in on the first time was when I fought (Ken) Shamrock the second time. But I made weight in like, five minutes.
I usually walk around at about 215 pounds. It’s not like I’m 230 or 235 cutting down. I cut from 215, 213, around there. But I’m able to get my weight back up to 220 just because of the hard training I put in up in Big Bear in altitude training where the body really gets dehydrated. Your muscles get dehydrated so when you go back down to sea level your muscles re-hydrate so I put the weight on automatically. And that’s something I’ve mastered. I’ve been doing it for ten years so through ten years of trial and error I’ve figured the perfect way to do it so that I don’t burn my body out. My energy is not sucked off and I’m not cutting weight too hard so I have it pretty much mastered because I’ve never thought at all about the weight cut.
Q: Your boxing has improved a little bit the last few years but your style is still hasn’t changed much over the years. Have you given any thought to possibly working outside of Team Punishment in order to advance your game a little more?
TO: Of course. I’m always looking to go out and train with other guys. It’s just I want to make sure I don’t get backstabbed because I’ve gotten my back stabbed so many times in the past; guys who I’ve trained with, guys who I’ve helped out and vice versa. I’ve got to walk lightly around guys that I train with. But the guys I train with now, I’m happy with. My standup game has gotten better but the way I fight is the way I’m always going to fight. It’s not like all of a sudden I’m going to change and turn into a submission master. I fight to beat people down. I fight to hurt people and to entertain them. It seems like I’ve done my job right to this point.

Report: Tavares vs. Griffin at UFC 76
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 22-07-2007, 16:10

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: [URL="http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=4361" The Fight Network is reporting that Thiago Tavares will be fighting Tyson Griffin[/URL  at UFC 76 on Sept. 22 in Anaheim California.
It should be an excellent match, with Griffin already having fought in two match of the year candidates, one against Frank Edgar and another against Clay Guida.
If the UFC doesn’t put the bout on the main telecast then I may actually cry.

Riggs gets back on winning track
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 22-07-2007, 16:10

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: Former UFC fighter Joe Riggs returned to MMA in victorious fashion on Saturday night, defeating Dan Chambers in the first round on a card promoted in Canada.
According to [URL="http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2007/07/22/4359076-sun.html"  the Edmonton Sun[/URL  , Riggs would “have lost his contract” with the UFC had he not defeated Chambers while Chambers would have won a contract with the UFC. Several other media sources reported the same thing leading up to the fight but Zuffa never commented on the reports so it could be a case where the local promoter was trying to sell the match to the public.
When I first heard about Riggs’ involvement on a smaller show, I made several inquiries and was told that he was still under contract to the WEC and that the idea was for him to get a win in a warmup match on a smaller show before finally making his WEC debut.
In spite of his underachieving ways, I’m a Riggs fan and think he could become a key player in the WEC’s burgeoning middleweight division that also features Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Joe Doerksen, and Paulo Filho.
TUF 2 alum Solomon Hutcherson also appeared on the card, defeating Nabil Khalib. WAR Team Dagger! Er… yeah.

Question For Martial-Arts-Blogs
Original Poster: Kyorgi
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 21-07-2007, 22:32

Orginal Post: Kyorgi: What is the purpose of posting every article on sherdog here? I dont mean any disrespect, but its a bit rediculous.

Dana White responds to Josh Gross?
Original Poster: Martial-Arts-Blogs
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 21-07-2007, 10:09

Orginal Post: Martial-Arts-Blogs: Maybe I shouldn’t be posting this because it’s not 100% verified that Dana White actually wrote the below message, but it’s too interesting not to. In an apparent response to an open letter to Sherdog’s Josh Gross, it looks as though UFC president Dana White might have seen the letter and decided to speak out on the Underground forum at MMA.tv. If it’s not Dana White, then whoever typed the letter must be a student of his speech patterns:
[INDENT  From: [URL="http://mma.tv/tuf/index.cfm?ac=ListMessages&PID=1&TID=1096346&FID=1&pc=9" saucylv33[/URL  [URL="http://mma.tv/tuf/mail/index.cfm?ac=Compose&toUID=162748" [IMG http://mma.tv/images/icons/new_mail.gif[/IMG [/URL 
Date: 07/20/07 09:38 PM Member Since: 08/14/2002
8802 Total Posts [URL="http://mma.tv/tuf/MCP.cfm?ac=IgnoreUser&UID=162748" Ignore User[/URL  if (readCookie(’MMATV_USERID’) == 162748) { document.writeln(’[URL="http://www.martialfighter.com/forums/index.cfm?ac=UpdateMessage&MID=18801546&TID=1096346&FID=1&PID=1" Edit[/URL  ’); } My response to idiot Gross: Its funny how when bad things happen, you love to call me out and say that I need to jump in and fix it. All the positive things that Zuffa has done over the past 6 years and you write me an open letter telling me to fix the problem of fighters using steroids? You are the biggest idiot I have ever met in this industry. Josh “holier than now” Gross writes a letter full of insults and sarcasm about what my company and I have accomplished since buying the UFC- like it was some easy chore. This is the same scumbag who released the finalists of TUF season 4 before it even aired. Josh, before you start trying to fix my company, worry about the potential lying, corruptions and inaccuracies at your own shitty website.
To all the fighters out there that fight for me or another promotion: these fan boy websites come kissing your ass when they want to shoot video of you or get an interview so they can make money off you. But when you make a mistake, they will be right there to kick your teeth down your throat. One of the great things that has happened over the past 6 years is that real media covers us now. So when these fan boy self proclaimed MMA websites want to do video interviews or any other kind of interview to make themselves money tell them to stop calling you and leave you alone. They are not doing you any favors- they are making money off of you. I have not let Sherdog into a UFC event in years. And the UFC is doing just fine.
Anyway, back to steroids- every athlete on this planet knows what’s going on with steroids right now and we make it very clear what the athletic commission will do to them if they are caught. In fact, to my knowledge, athletes competing in combative sports are the only ones in the world who get drug tested by the government, that’s a pretty high standard to meet. Imagine if every NBA, MLB or NFL athlete was drug tested by the government every time they competed? That’s a very high standard yet UFC fighters face government drug testing every time they enter the Octagon.
Everyone knows that it hurts me and my company badly when one of my fighters tests positive for steroids. Listen Josh “save the whales” Gross- I can’t save the world by myself. So roll your boss back into the ocean and write a letter “Attention all promoters.” When your product is human beings, there are always going to be problems and nothing is ever going to be perfect.
Gross, you have no clue the stuff I deal with on a daily basis with fighters. Myself and the UFC are adamantly opposed to the use of steroids or any other kind of drugs. Most of these guys that fight in the UFC are my friends and I care about them. My job isn’t to smash them publicly and ruin their lives. Apparently, that’s your job. My job is to help them through whatever problems they might have- professional or personal.
I don’t know if anyone has ever seen Josh Gross but the guy has never done anything athletic in his entire life. And you only have to see Jeff Sherwood and his staff to know the same thing about them. These people don’t know the first thing about the demands and challenges that professional athletes are faced with. I have my own opinion of Sherdog and Gross and how they run their business but I don’t write open letters to the public about it. So for these goofy supposed fan boy clowns to sit around and write letters about what I need to do with my company and my athletes is fucking hilarious.
You guys just keep selling DVDs and chasing my guys around for video interviews so you can make more money and keep eating and I will handle the UFC and it’s fighters.
Dana White
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