brashleyholland

Just flicked on Raw for the first time in god knows how long...and was instantly reminded why I don't. Video of two guys attacking people with bats after a match. The two guys get arrested. Other guy punches them while they're in cuffs. The two guys press charges for assault. I know they're going for a younger audience than when I was watching as a teen...but I'm pretty sure there are 10 year old scratching their heads at that one...

Man, Jim Carry has hit rock bottom.

He's nearly 41, he's only been doing MMA for a few years and he's basically just a big, heavy handed brawler. They're 10 a penny anywhere in the US, no need to fly a British-based Kiwi halfway across the world every time the want Matt Mitrione to win a fight, lol.

It was just a case of them bringing him in for a prelim on a UK card, him losing and looking useless while doing so, and getting cut. I dunno why, but some guys genuinely think that a three/five fight contract with the UFC actually means three or five fights. I guess he thought he would get another chance and was surprised when he didn't. What they tell guys when they cut them is to go and get a few wins and they'll be invited back; obviously Neil hasn't been..that could have something to do with it as well. Dude is one of the nicest guys I've met in MMA, FYI.

Jones, Kos, Rothwell, Diaz, Browne, Ferguson, Botesch, Assuncao, Mizugaki, Romero. What say you all?

That's just my theory from putting all the pieces together.

GG brokered the deal. UFC doesn't negotiate with fighters, only agents. They only *pay* fighters - as in, the cheque has the fighters name, not the agent/management company's name on it. Overeem will have a management contract with GG which states what kind of % they get from his signing bonus, initial contract etc. He will have to pay them something. This is where it gets confusing...Reem has now left GG after they brokered the deal for him. They claim to have a management contract, and are whispering about settling the matter in court. I don't honestly know any more than that, I just hope it doesn't get messy and distracting for Overeem ahead of the biggest (MMA) fight of his life.

No, because GG did the deal with Zuffa to get Overeem back in the UFC. They also got Jon Olav Einemo back in and by the looks of things, Siyar Bahadurzada will be signing in the next few days - he has a contract but has not signed it yet. My theory, from speaking to some people and reading the statements issued by Reem and Boon, and what I know of how GG runs. Golden Glory pays for their fighters to train etc. They take money from promoters, then pay the fighters. This was great for the fighters with their K-1 deals, as K-1 always paid after the fact - it allowed them to continue to live and train on GG's dime until the money came though. Thing is, K-1 owes Overeem a massive, massive amount of money for fighting in, promoting and winning the GP. We're talking mid-to high six-figures. GG can't pay him that outright, obviously. My guess is this: Overeem asked that GG take a significantly lower cut of his UFC contract in return for them not getting him his K-1 money - as his management, it's their responsibility to get him paid, after all. GG didn't want to change the percentages they always had and that's what has caused the rift: Alistair wants to get paid for the work he's done, GG don't have the ready money and don't want to miss out on a percentage of his UFC contract, which will be worth millions while he's main eventing PPV's against the likes of Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez etc.

Yeah, they've been together for aaaaages. Still don't know if he won't be training with de Jong anymore. GG management and the various gyms are different entities (under the same umbrella of course), so it's possible that he could still train with some, or all, of the same GG guys. Or de Jong and could also jump ship and join him in the states...I'm sure there would be a lot of work for them.

So it looks like Golden Glory is falling to bits. There have been rumblings of discontent for a while now, but most people put it down to the K-1 situation. Today Overeem has confirmed that he's left the GG management team. Saki hasn't confirmed it yet but he's gone too. Expect other names to follow. This is a massive, massive surprise to me. I've been lucky enough to train at each of the GG gyms in Holland over the years when I lived there, and the pro fight team, trainers and management were like a family. Bas Boon, the top man there, has been ill for a while and has stepped back from his duties, which has caused things with K-1 and It's Showtime to progress slower than some would have liked. The original plan was for GG to be involved in some big kickboxing/MMA shows in the US by the end of this year/early next, and many see Boon's absence as the reason those plans have yet to bare fruit. Still a crazy situation though. GG is an institution in the Dutch kickboxing/Free Fight/MMA world...will be crazy seeing it implode What I don't know yet is whether or not Overeem is going to continue working with Martijn de Jong and the other GG coaches. I've reached out to Martijn, hoping to get an answer soon.

My semi-solution to that is HDMI'ing a lappy to my TV. The BT exchange is right outside my front door, so my net is fast as...well, y'know...so I get a really good quality picture even on a 32" or 42" screen. Can't pause it on FB, although you can on the UFC.tv prelims if I remember right, but it beats getting a room full of drunkards huddled around a single lappy/PC :-p Worse than watching a few hours of fights infront of a computer = Watching a few hours of fights next to a 370lb doorman at a UFC event in really small seats. You've met me Fantab, I was a bit chunkier at the time but I'm hardly the biggest fella in the world...every time the dude moved I thought he was going to crush me. Floor seats or press only from that point on :-p

Is it Fuel TV or something, the little one they own that's smaller than FX? It'll probably go there. Dunno what that means for the UK/rest of the world mind. I guess we'll either get them on facebook with a GeoIP block, or they'll maybe stick em on FX? I can't see them getting 3 hours of TV time in the UK to be honest, but stranger things have happened...

The numbers that are banded about are not official, they usually come from Dave Meltzer from his sources within the PPV companies. From what I'm told, they're based on domestic, home purchases in the US and Canada. The truth is that nobody knows for sure because neither the UFC or the PPV people release the numbers. Some credible sources have claimed that the 1.7 million number for UFC 100 was infact a combination of homes, bars and international PPV's/views. No way to prove/disprove it either way. I'd assume that It's Showtime (not to be confused with Showtime) have been paid upfront, or will be paid in advance, of any WGP they provide fighters for after all K-1's money troubles. Simon Rutz (owner of It's Showtime) isn't stupid, and he cancelled a huge Amsterdam end of year show until next year so that he could send his guys to the WGP. Doubt he'd have done that for nothing.

Hendo has never done over 350-375 I believe. Shogun has averaged about 500 for the three UFC's he's main evented (against Jones and Machida x2 when the UFC hype train was at it's peak for both), but that was before he got wrecked by Jones and UFC PPV buys slumped. Hendo just never clicked with the UFC PPV buying audience, and with good reason. Yes, there's a chance that he'll 'Bisping' somebody, but there's an equal chance that you'll drop $55 on a dull, grinding main event. And now it's five rounds, so you'll really get your money's worth, or not. It'll break 350, but I'd be shocked if it did anymore than 400. Fewer people are buying UFC PPV's at the moment, and that's a fact.

I say give him Kos after he put Hughes to sleep next weekend. If he can beat the Fraggle, he deserves a shot. How mad would it be to see Condit beat GSP and make his first defence against Ellenberger? Talk about a changing of the guard...

Also, FINALLY we're gonna see Shogun vs Hendo. Been waiting for this one for about 7 years :-p It's going to be the main event of UFC 139, with Belfort vs Le as co-main. The show was originally going to be headlined by Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos. Smart move, IMO. Le vs Belfort would have sold out the arena, but it'd have tanked on PPV. This wont do massive numbers, but it should break 350k now.

I sat with Paul at UCMMA this past weekend. He wasn't saying too much, but it looks like its a simple case of Zuffa red-lighting BAMMA fights for him from now on. The friction he had with BAMMA seems to be squashed. Basically Zuffa only want him taking 'keep busy' fights outside of Strikeforce. It makes sense...if they want to use him in either December or early 2012 on what will likely be their last big card, he's of little value to them coming off a loss. Also the UFC don't want a Daley/Marquardt bout in December soaking up last-minute ticket sales from people in two minds about going to UFC 138. Again, makes sense. The RUMOUR that I heard from a lot of people at UCMMA on Saturday is that Daley will fight at UCMMA in December. I interviewed the promoter and he was uncharacteristically quiet on the opponent for John Maguire, except to say that Jamaine Facey, the guy who was promoted as being in the number 1 contenders spot, would likely be fighter overseas next. Maguire and Daley have trained together in the past, but I doubt either would be bothered about taking the fight.

Danny Trejo is really good at playing Danny Trejo I've found :-p Little known fact: The move Machete was originally supposed to be a fly on the wall documentary called Trejo: A day in the life of a bad ass Mexican. They just dubbed every utterance of the word 'Trejo' with 'Machete' and marketed it as an action movie. 100% fact. I have my theories on how SoA will end, and it won't be with Clay and Jax getting out. I reckon we're gonna see at least one more season, purely because it's doing well commercially, and I can't see them stretching the 'Jax wanting out' storyline out for essentially two more seasons (4&5). I think that we're gonna see the death of Gemma (Jax's Mom, Clay's wife) at the end of season 4. I think it'll be Clay's fault; he'll end up doing something that puts Gemma and or the club in danger (either intentionally or otherwise) and it'll result in him being removed from the throne. Jax will want revenge for his Mom's death, and Tara will make him chose revenge and the club, or her. Jax will chose the former, and end up fulfilling his 'destiny' by filling Clay's boots. That'd set up a 5th season with Clay on the outside, possibly drinking himself into an early grave in remorse, but still pulling strings on the outside. Jax would be a much darker character, having seeming lost everything but the club, and there would be an ongoing theme of him going close to the edge...like a more wildcard, bitter version of Clay. Opie would take the role Jax had in seasons one and two; the level-headed second in command trying to keep Jax on the straight and narrow. Jax would finally be 'saved' by Tara and Opie at the end, maybe with the help of a repentant Clay, and could finally ride off into the sunset with this family, leaving the club to Opie. You could end the show there with closure for all the main characters having some form of closure, or move on to a sixth season without Gemma, Clay, Jax and Tara, bringing some new cast members in until the rating crash and it gets cancelled :-p

So Sons of Anarchy is back, and still rocking my socks off after great seasons. The ending to the first episode of season four was great, and the second episode kept up the pace. Really like the US Attorney guy with his retro bike and leathers, and the regular cast are all on form. No spoilers, but Eli Roosevelt is gonna pay for what he did in the clubhouse...you knows it!!

They owe Golden Glory to the tune of millions. Problem is, they are going to be very reluctant to release that money (if they even have it) now that there is zero chance of them getting Overeem. Saki, Schilt, Zimmerman and Miller (a Roufus guy who just signed with GG) are going to be affected by that. Aerts...does he still event want to fight? Maybe with a weakened field he might have one more pop at it, especially if Schilt and Saki aren't in. Same goes for LeBanner, but there are issues there too. No Kyotaro announced either....although I'm sure that'll be a matter of time.

Aww, that's a shame, thought this one had passed with no crowd trouble. Noon looked not too far short of a heavyweight from the waist up, wasn't surprised to see him gas like that at all. He needs to either stop lifting weights, or have a serious think about 205. My voice still isn't right today...I'd remained professional all night up until that point, but I had most of press row out of their seats screaming in that second round. Impartiality of the press was thrown firmly out of the window :-p When you're on press row for the UFC, you have to sign a contract...one of the points is that you're not allowed to shout, cheer or boo any fighter. Thank god BAMMA are more chilled out BAMMA 7: Sponsored by IKEA.

Yeah, nobody should have to go through that. The dude soaks booze up like a sponge though. We introduced him to Cider and blackcurrent on the Wednesday, he was sinking them like crazy all week :-p

Michael had another commitment I believe. They tried to get Mauro Renallo and Bas, but they were both doing Strikeforce. Stephen is great, but he had no prep time for this and didn't have info on a lot of the fighters. It was a very last-minute thing for him. I sat with him while waiting on the bus to the afterparty, he was genuinely upset at the screw-ups he's made. Great guy though - the many knows EVERYTHING about MMA.

I literally cannot speak today after screaming my way through the Marshman/Noon fight. My voice sounds like gravel on all the interviews we did for Whoa TV after that one. Great to see my boy get the win but damn, he face was a right mess afterwards. There was nearly another fight backstage between Mark Goddard and Frank Trigg's coach. Trigg's coach made an accusation at the end of the first that Jimmy was greased, and was taking Goddard to task about it. Jimmy was NOT greased. I dunno how it came across on TV, but it certainly seemed that Trigg's coach spilled the ice bucket on purpose between the first and second to give Frank some more recovery time. Anyway the guy was really tearing into Mark and getting right in his face about it. Mark has the patience of a saint, but he was getting to the end of his rope. Couple of us stepped in and Jude, BAMMA's matchmaker, took them both somewhere more private. Worth saying that Trigg wasn't there and had nothing to do with it, was just his coach being a prat. Frank is awesome, had a beer with him at the afterparty. Nate Marquardt is not awesome. EVERY time I got a bottle of Corona, he came and bottle-tapped me (where you bang the bottom of your bottle on the top of someone elses, and the beer foams up and overflows). Damn you Nate Marquardt. Got him back by forcing him to do shots of AfterShock :-p Fights were really good. Loved Jack Marshman's comeback, he's a paratrooper and his regiment were all there going nuts. The Daley fight was sick too, props to Radev for hanging in there. Paul told me afterwards that he most likely wont fight Luigi Fioravante next month now...he hurt his knee and hand in the fight and wants to focus on BAMMA 8, as it's in his hometown. Loved the main event, Jimmy is a pal of mine so was good to see him get the biggest win of his career. If Tom Watson's back heals, he'll defend against Jimmy if Bellator allow BAMMA to make the fight. Here's the interview we did post-fight. All the other interviews should be there on the right on WhoaTV's channel. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLgOjduZQxls%26feature%3Drelmfu&h=kAQB2HOD8 All in all a great weekend. Epic, epic hangover though.

Tinfoil hat brigade were always gonna be out with this one. Personally I don't buy that it was all a set up, even though I'm a massive cynic when it comes to MMA having seen/heard some of the things I've seen/heard over the past few years. With that said, they got a lot more publicity out of this whole shebang through Diaz not showing... *puts on tinfoil hat* My guess is that is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I think Diaz's no-show was legit. In fact I pretty much know it was, having spoken to some people close to him. I think that Dana was all for giving him the boot, but a combination of Lorenzo saying 'no' (Lorenzo loves Nick) and the HUGE amount of publicity Diaz was getting prompted them to go with Diaz-Penn. As for him still being in a big promo spot...he's not, really. They'll send cameras to him, all he really has to do otherwise is the pre-fight presser and he'll be in Vegas by then anyway, so they'll have someone with him at all times. From the UFC's point of view, putting him in the co-main event mitigates a huge amount of the risk when it comes to losing late ticket sales/PPVs buys if he goes AWOL compared to if he was the main event. See Lesnar/UFC 106. If he wins, then yeah, I guess they give him the shot. The alternative is giving it to Fitch, or having Fitch fight Diaz and giving Ellenberger/Sheilds the nod. I doubt that very much though. Trust me, Cesar Gracie has done a lot of work to smooth this over, and both he and Nick will be made fully aware that if he messes this up, Nick is finished. He won't make UFC money boxing, or from another MMA org, simple as. I hope people will just chill out and enjoy this after a while though. I'm as gutted as the next man about GSP-Diaz falling apart, but c'mon, Diaz vs Penn? Yes please! And Condit might drag an entertaining fight out of GSP too. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.