brashleyholland

What he said.

Just stuff that John said about Dana when he was working for The Fight Network (nothing crazy - but you know how Dana is)...I believe he publicly sided with Mark Cuban in the whole Cuban/Couture vs UFC contract issue when they were trying to put together Randy vs Fedor on HDNet as well. Also there is the fact that John worked for Affliction as an on-air analyst when Affliction were 'the enemy'. I guess it's water under the bridge now though, as he's 'back' as it were.

The short answer is no, as John was employed by the State Athletic Commissions in recent years (back in the day, before state regulation he and his wife were employees of the promotion) so Dana couldn't fire him. The long answer is that John 'retired' from reffing a couple of years back to take a job with The Fight Network. During this time he made some...interesting comments about certain state athletic commissions, their policies and employees, specifically Nevada. This basically led to Nevada not licensing him when he came out of retirement a year later. The official line was that there are 'too many referee's already licensed' which was clearly pulled out of the 'big bucket of bulls**t excuses' (available from all irresponsible state athletic commissions for the bargain price of $39.99). John is still not licensed there to my knowledge, but I don't think he's applied again this year. He is licensed in other states, and has refereed UFC fights as recently as UFC 121 and the last UFC on Versus, both of which took place in Cali. There is/was beef between him and Dana - now, Dana can veto an official if he has good reason - however with the beef that existed, the decision was made to simply not throw Big John's name into the hat for UFC cards until recently.

I think getting paid at all might be enough to get some of them out of Japan!

I heard three rumours with regards to the TUF coaching positions for the next series. In the long run, this is by far the best.

The problem is that without the Showtime deal, they're nothing. Showtime pay around $1,000,000 per show to Strikeforce at the moment. That's the only way they can afford to cover the contracts of guys like Diaz, Fedor, Hendo...basically anyone with any value. Take the Showtime deal away, and every Strikeforce will look like the Challengers series. People overstate the importance of the Miller/Scrap Pack brawl in them not being on CBS. The truth is that the rating for MMA on CBS without Kimbo, Fedor or Gina Carano weren't good enough. If Alistair Overeem had walked into the cage after the Fedor/Rogers fight (which had somewhere shy of 6 million viewers) and started a scuffle, it'd be a none issue and they'd have been back on CBS as planned. Point being, a small network deal like the Bellator/FX one would not be able to sustain the kind of events Strikeforce are putting on. They don't have the bargaining power of the UFC in terms of getting a big network deal, because in relative terms, nobody knows who they are.

It already is, that's the scary thing - everything, striking, grappling, aggression and Octagon control is measured in terms of how 'effective' it is. Fights are also scored proportionately as to where they take place, so in that fight (which was 99% contested on the feet) Garcia's takedown wouldn't (or shouldn't) have counted for anything much at all. Those judges were just horrible. Interesting note from Keith Kizer, the head of the Nevada commission that Rogan called out on air. Don't really know what to make of that if it's true, other than that I'm sure this was all arranged before last Saturday's shenanigans, and it would be a political taboo to drop him at short notice. Also in news that I'm sure has Daffanka as excited as me, KAWAJIRI VS THOMSON ON NYE!!!!!

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Dustin" data-cite="Dustin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>F/X is right up there with Spike (UFC's network) and is much, much bigger than Showtime (Strikeforce's network) so how did Bellator pull this deal off? Last I heard they were making no profit and going out of business soon. Though I did read somewhere a while back that said Bellator was the highest rated program on FSN so maybe that's what got F/X interested?<p> </p><p> I'm asking you because you seem to know things such as these.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> What Daffanka said! <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> They were in a situation where they were at death's door. They had a tentative deal with a network (the name escapes me) which collapsed, literally putting the 4th season on ice. </p><p> </p><p> If this F/X deal goes through, they will be paying Bellator for programming - this will take care of the costs that were crippling the promotion. Apparently F/X is in more homes than Spike - so this could be quite big. All the events will be live too, as a cheeky bonus. </p><p> </p><p> Good for them, I say.</p>

Oh for sure, nobody can get it right 100% of the time - that's the nature of the beast. But the UFC's advantage is that if they have a card that bombs, or just isn't great (like tonight's) then you only have to wait 3 weeks for the next one. You know that there will be clearly defined champions who defend their titles as a piority. You know that there will be a steady stream of contenders. And you know that every month there will be at least one card with some 'name' fighters or relevant fights. Stupid matchmaking, barren divisions, a complete lack of respect from the fighters to the promotion, lack of control over their own product, a CEO who is massively, massively out of his depth, no long term strategy...there's a ton of 'not right' stuff about SF. I know it's not cool to be on the UFC bandwagon...but hey, they get it done!

Yeah, sorry about that For what it's worth, when the viewing figures come out, anyone touting this card as some kind of victory for SF is going to look pretty stupid. They had more exciting fights on the night, nothing more, nothing less. But if I had to write tonight's action up the headline would probably be "Strikeforce 1, UFC 0". I'm not going to start screaming about a changing of the guard any time soon though :-p SF knew exactly what they were doing putting Lindland in with Lawler and doing Daley vs Smith. But what happens on the next show? And the one after that? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Strikeforce...but I enjoy them as a bit of fun. It's where I want to watch fights like Frank Shamrock vs Cung Le, Lindland vs Lawler and 'up and comers' like Tyron Woodley. But for consistent, quality MMA shows, the UFC will always, always be king.

Bellator will be on F/X next year, according to Bjorn Rebney.

I'm watching it straight after TUF. Phone off, landline unplugged, no FB or twitter. It's rare that I don't watch a 'big' MMA event live, and whenever I don't it usually always ends up getting spoiled. Gonna stay out of this thread now just in case! :-p

I'm really tired and ill, just got out of bed to watch tonight's fights and I figured that I must have drifted off and missed something in the Nam/Garcia bout. Horrible decision.

I don't think he'll finish either. I dunno what it is, but he's just not looked that 'into it' recently. I dunno if he was phoning it in because of who he was fighting (after Kos) or if they were just bad fights for him or what. Smith is a great opponent though and this should be a great fight. Smith loves to soak them up then come back with big bombs, and Daley loves to stand and engage. Good matchmaking. 50% isn't too bad at all you know with picking MMA fights. Professional odds-makers are at about 68% on MMA apparently. In a sport where legit world champs can have less than 15 fights, I'd be pretty happy getting half of my picks right!

Just caught the season finale of Sons of Anarchy. Amazing. So glad it's been picked up for a 4th season - there's definitely some mileage left in the show and the characters. Speaking of season endings - Season 2 of The Shield had a particularly epic one. I've just finished season 4 (watching them all back to back), but two has the best ending so far. When the cash from the money train is all stacked up and the Strike Team realise what they've done as 'I Am Overcome' by Live playing over it - that was a 'Damn, this is good' moment. On to season 5...

Ohhhh, he does. He's got a nasty left hook to the body that he throws, usually when he's backed a guy up on the cage/ropes, which is where Smith usually ends up in his fights. I was front row when he finished this dude with it. Sounded sick. 6:20 for the beginning of the end, but the whole fight is pretty good. EDIT: Also, I've head that Smith is having a bad cut. Could have an impact on his chin if it's really that bad. Daley was at 178 a couple of days ago, despite all the travel issues he's had this week.

So it's the last episode of TUF tomorrow (technically tonight I suppose) and there's two hours featuring two fights for our viewing pleasure before Saturday's live finale. Who does everyone have winning the Semi's and the competition overall? And can anyone help me figure out why Bonnar vs Pokra-face is headlining a Spike TV card that has Kendal Grove vs Damian Maia on the undercard? Anyway, predictions: Maia - Submission, 2nd round, probably an armbar Bonnar - Submission, 2nd round, probably a choke Hendricks - TKO, 2nd round. Can't say enough good things about this guy. I'm not giving a prediction for the TUF final, because I know who win's the semi's so it wouldn't be fair :-p Oooh, and Strikeforce. Babalu, decision Lawler, KO, 1st round Daley, decision - I made this prediction on the radio this weekend and people jumped all over it. It really depends on how the cut affects Smith's chin, but I can see him dragging Paul to an exciting decision. Plus, Daley's final preparations have been seriously messed up after he couldn't get on his flight to the states until yesterday. St Preux, decision - I'm high on this kid - he fought two weeks ago on Challengers, but Radach is coming off a looong lay-off, some serious injuries and is a former welterweight fighting at 205. Can't bet on that.

Shu is a good guy with his finger right on the pulse of MMA. He's also one of the few Japanese MMA 'insiders' with a realistic view of Japanese MMA and it's place in the grand scheme of things. Regarding the above - It just goes to show how far Japanese MMA has fallen. When you consider that just five years ago, 50% of the TV-viewing public were watching MMA on NYE...the fact that the biggest MMA promotion in the country can't even get a slot now is insane.

Possibly missing both. I'm at a party, so if I manage to leave before 3am I'll catch a live stream of TUF, followed by a stream of Strikeforce if I can stay awake. Otherwise I'll just catch em in the morning. Nothing I'm really bothered about missing to be honest, apart from Hendricks

Sakuraba vs Akebono on NYE. I don't think there is anything more that needs to be said about that.

Well that cheered me right up! ...and damn, that Sapp/Kimo fight was a sorry, sorry mess. I can't even remember what was fishy about it off the top of my head....something along the lines of Sapp being done at the end of a round, then getting a five minute break for a doctor's check on a cut the size of a midget's eyelash. Wasn't that the fight where he called out Tyson afterwards? Tyson: "Sign the contract big boy!" Sapp: "I'll sign it....IN BLOOD!!!!" Why that man never had a successful US wrestling career is beyond me.

Also, Badr Hari won't be fighting at the WGP finals for definite now. He's a free man, but feels it's too soon to come back to the ring, and is still 'reflecting' on his epic douchbaggery in the Gerges fight earlier this year. Boo. Still, it's one step further to Overeem being crowned GP champ! All we need now is for Schilt to be involved in some kind of 'low-ceiling vs giant' related accident in his hotel prior to the WGP finals...

I think it was just after the dust had settled on 2009's NYE events that I posted something about Sengoku being up Poo Creek without a paddle and Japanese MMA dying on it's arse. One of the points I made was that Sengoku couldn't find a TV network to air the Ishii vs Yoshida fight, or a sponsor to foot the bill for it (hence why we got the Sengoku vs DREAM thing last NYE). Basically, their only option was to buy TV time like an infomercial...pretty much a death knell. Well.... ...guess who might be in the same boat this year? Apparently this isn't 100% as negotiations are ongoing...but if true, this is really, really bad news for K-1/MMA in Japan. 2011 could be a bleak year. EDIT: Head Kick Legend has now picked this up - http://www.headkicklegend.com/2010/11/25/1836618/feg-negotiating-contract-with-tokyo-broadcasting-system-for-dynamite?

Ha! Quality!! http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/brashleyholland/motivatord5b6a243e2f6f48b7c9d5134c72c0bf61a773eb6.jpg

Whatever is in Toby Imada's water bottle, I want some. I'm gonna spoil the Shootboxing S-Cup here, as it seems highly unlikely that there will be any full video of the event available in the near future. So yeah, Toby Imada - journeyman MMA fighter who came out of knowhere last year to get to the finals of Bellator's lightweight GP, pulling off one of the sickest submissions ever seen in MMA in the process. Then he came back in 2010 and got to the finals again. Anyway, after getting into the S-Cup as a late replacement, he scored a 3rd round KO of the current Japanese 'ace' Takaaki Umeno in the quarter final. Then he beat Andy Freaking Souwer. Just to give that some context, Imada is a grappler and Souwer is one of the top stand-up fighters in the world at that weight. He used Judo throws and grappling to shut the striker down and take a 2-1 decision. Not to break with his tradition, he lost in the final His legs had already taken a kicking, and Buakaw finished the job in the second round. Veteran or not, your legs just can't stand up to that kind of abuse without years of getting used to it. Still, Imada in the finals, Souwer getting outpointed...pretty amazing to a geek like me! EDIT: It seems like Souwer had a severe back injury (suspected to be a herniated disk) going into his semi-final fight. If true, that's insane!