The Official MMA Discussion Thread

[Daffanka]

I'll let brashley respond to all the other stuff (effort posting is kind of his thing) but I will say that wins and losses are still important in Japanese MMA. Sakuraba became famous because he showed that Japanese people can compete with the Gracies. Yoshida had a win over a very well respected Frye. Even a man like Bob Sapp with all the right qualities to become huge in Japan (really big and really stereotypical) had to have some wins to catch the public eye (and K-1 certainly gave him a hand there.) Ishii losing to Yoshida is pretty bad for him and I'm pretty sure it completely mucked up any plan they had for the guy to become a huge MMA name.

 

I'm kind of divided on whether or not it's good that the days of bounty dried up. On one hand Pride but on the other it means K-1 went back to trying to find out who the best kickboxer is instead of giving me Sapp - Nortje so there's that.

 

I'll also say that pro wrestling is worse off than MMA right now. All the huge mid 90's names are dead or crippled and they've done a terrible job at creating new stars.

[brashleyholland]

...

 

None of what you posted there has anything to do with why they jumped ship in the first place, which was what I thought we were talking about. I'm not trying to argue with you mate, you asked me a question, and I'm taking time out of my working day (as much as sitting in my dressing gown watching K-1 and typing is work, anyway) to answer it

 

I can Google American news site too, but I know enough about the MMA industry in Japan to know that I'm not going to scratch the surface of it by reading MiddleEasy. You need to read newspapers like Gong, Shukan Gendai/Shukan Playboy, or follow a respected Japanese MMA blogger like Gryphon, or someone like Zach Arnold, who is possibly the American MMA writer most 'plugged in' to the Japanese fight game.

 

DQ jumped ship because they balked at the cost of Sengoku's NYE event, at a time when Sengoku was pulling in appalling gates and ratings. WVR was forced to work with Dream on NYE because without DQ, they had no money. Here's the original story, as it broke in Japan, from a Japanese newspaper who actually know what they are taking about. It's in Japanese, unfortunately.

 

http://blog.livedoor.jp/nhbnews/archives/51963356.html

 

Here is Zach Arnold's breakdown of it, in English.

 

However, as all people in the fight business learn soon enough, even rich people hate losing money and have short patience. If there aren’t results right away, then they tend to back out of the business in a hurry. This is why rich people who want a joyride in the fight game are called money marks and for good reason.

 

The Sengoku formula for booking failed miserably at the box office. They booked many foreign fighters and failed to create many Japanese stars. Unlike other fight markets, Japan is heavily dependent on having native stars or else fans won’t show up consistently. That’s the way it always has been and that’s the way it always will be. Attendance at Sengoku events was so poor that the promotion never released attendance numbers, despite the fact that they ran shows at big venues like Saitama Super Arena (40,000 seat capacity) and Ryogoku Kokugikan (11,000 seat capacity) in Tokyo.

 

It was after Sengoku’s November event at Ryogoku that rumors started swirling that the promotion was having problems. The company was trying to work with TV-Tokyo, the smallest of the broadcast networks in Japan. TV-Tokyo’s reputation as a pay-to-play channel meant that if Sengoku was going to be on the air, they were going to pay for the TV time on their own or by bringing sponsors to the table. Shukan Playboy, a weekly tabloid in Japan, reported that Don Quijote chairman Mr. Yasuda was allegedly so upset with the proposed bill for the promotion’s upcoming New Year Event that he backed out of the project and that the show was doomed without money or television. The main event of Sengoku’s New Year’s Eve show was going to be Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Olympic judoka medalist Satoshi Ishii, whose debut a year ago would have been big but by this point is very cold.

 

With K-1 having a lock on the network television pipeline, World Victory Road ended up approaching K-1 to work with them on their annual New Year’s Eve event called Dynamite!!, which has aired this past decade on Tokyo Broadcasting System. The event attracts good, solid ratings and is an event that can be counted upon to draw eyes to television sets. When K-1 made the announcement that Sengoku would be working with them, the theme of K-1 vs. Sengoku was declared and teased in a similar fashion to interpromotional pro-wrestling promotional feuds in past decades. The prospects of filling up an 18 – 19 match card with interpromotional matches became realistic.

 

However, an interesting bombshell has been dropped. Whether it is real or a double cross is yet-to-be-determined, but Kami no Puroresu magazine in Japan is reporting that Mr. Kokuho, the power source behind J-ROCK, quit Sengoku. J-ROCK is the management team of Hidehiko Yoshida and many of the Japanese fighters that got pushed on Sengoku cards. Without Kokuho in power, J-ROCK is reportedly free of Sengoku commitments. Kokuho played hardball as a manager during the PRIDE days when Yoshida was a big star. Being an agent/manager always suited his skills best. Without Kokuho on board with Sengoku, the prospects of World Victory Road being able to deliver a match between Yoshida and Ishii for K-1 show are now in question. The reason Kokuho’s departure from Sengoku is hard to read is because the Japanese fight scene is extremely political. It’s entirely possible to believe that he was forced out by Don Qujiote, the major money backers of Sengoku. It’s also possible to believe that it could be a swerve and that WVR is playing hardball. Whatever the truth is, the fact remains that K-1 has all the political leverage in the world. They will be promoting a main event fight featuring the retirement of famous kickboxer, Masato, who draws an extraordinary amount of female fans. He pulls in gigantic ratings and his retirement fight will generate enormous buzz. The K-1 Dynamite show does not critically need the Yoshida/Ishii fight – it simply would be a luxury to add that fight to the show.

 

 

You simply cannot get a feel for the Japanese fight game from American, British or any other news sources outside of Japan. This is why I put a lot of stock in Zach, because he has over a decade's experience in Japan, writing about Japanese MMA and wrestling, and a network of sources in the Japanese fight game. Most of what you see reported on western MMA sites is regurgitated from Dream/K-1/Sengoku press releases. It's like only believing what you read on UFC.com. If you want to know what is really happening in Japanese MMA, you need to be Japanese, or at the very least speak Japanese and have Japanese connections. Otherwise, you'll always be an outsider and be told what they want to to hear. A good example - Sengoku's official repose to the cancellation of their Ariake Colosseum show? A amateur wrestling event double booked it!

 

Four excellent sources or a guy on a forum who comes from a website that no one has ever heard of (no offense)? Tough one.

 

None taken. We're the biggest MMA site in the UK by an absolute country mile and our US-podcast (formerly ProFightNetwork Radio) was the most downloaded MMA podcast in the states last year, or thereabouts. We've been credited as a source on multiple episodes of ESPN's MMA Live. We run the Wolfslair's online presence, Rampage's website and we're partners with Xtreme Couture. The sad fact is, there's no money to be made in MMA journalism alone. We've spent the past year focusing on building up the business side of our operation rather than trying to go head to head with MMAWeekly etc for news. Between us we have various other (MMA and non-MMA) jobs/businesses to run as we all have bills to pay. Now that things are coming together on that front, you'll be hearing alot more from us

 

...at least you will when we get bored of Go-Karting with Rampage :-p

 

http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2010/05/18/quinton-%E2%80%9Crampage%E2%80%9D-jackson-hits-the-go-karts-with-mmabay-for-may-video-blog/

 

This may be true. However, it is not hard for me to believe that a young national hero making his debut against a legend (also a national hero) would be able to do that. Even you said they were like Tiger Woods over there.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Ishii-Yoshida didn't contribute in a big way. Whichever way you slice it, it was either the 1st or second most watched fight in Japan that year!

 

There's a theory in Japan called the 'Grandma Tanaka' theory. Grandma Tanaka is a term used to describe the matriarchal Grandmother of Japanese families, the old lady who all the family visits at the weekend who, despite being older than your average Picasso, is still very much in charge...in her own home at least...particularly, for the purposes of this analogy, of what is on TV after dinner.

 

Grandma Tanaka does not like Minowa. She doesn't like brash, ****y characters like Aoki. She doesn't like thuggish-looking guys like Kawajiri grinding out decisions. Grandma Tanaka likes hard working, fresh-faced, handsome young fighters who are rolemodels for her Grandchildren. In Japan, Grandma Tanaka is a really important demographic, especially on days like NYE, because families tend to congregate at her house. Guys like Ishii, Yoshida, Sakuraba etc are popular with men and sports/wrestling fans. Your Masato's, Uno's Tokoro's, Sudo's etc are popular with women, especially Grandma Tanaka.

 

That, plus the fact that Masato's retirement was the biggest talking point in mainstream Japanese newspapers/TV news before and after Dynamite, leads me to believe that they edged it.

 

Minowa, etc.

 

The best way I can describe Minowa is as the Shark Boy of Japanese MMA. He gets a big reaction from crowds, but outside of that, he's not popular in the sense that Ishii is popular, or Sakuraba was popular.

 

Even Sakuraba is suffering these days after a few high profile losses. His fight with Gracie is being promoted as an afterthought to Diaz/Sakurai. I've been lucky enough to attend some of Saku's biggest fights over the years, and the reactions he got were incredible. I attended GSP's rematch with Serra in Canada and some of Randy Couture's biggest fights...what they get was nothing compared to the Saku love I experienced in Japan. The muted reaction's he's been getting recently since he was destroyed by Arona, Monhoef, Akiyama and handled by Tamura are pretty depressing.

 

 

He is signed to Sengoku and they didn't have an event this month. I'm sure they sent him over there to get some confidence, shake the jitters, etc.

 

There have been plenty of events in Japan this year, big and small, that they could have booked Ishii on. You're probably spot on about the confidence side of it...but I'd question what fighting infront of a couple of hundred people would do for his confidence, when he's used to being infront of millions on Japanese TV and in the Olympics just two years ago.

 

I'm not familiar with any but there is bound to be some.

 

Other than Shibata and the guy he fought at the last Dream cage show...I can't think of any. Point being, there is certainly nobody with the popularity of Takada or Funaki in the 90's who would give Ishii a popularity boost for beating them. If they're looking for non-MMA opponents, they should be trying to get him fights with K-1 guys, Judo guys or whoever the world heavyweight Karate champion is these days.

 

I think their best bet (if they can find the money) is to try and get Ogawa out of retirement...He's 42 and unlike Yoshida hasn't fought at all in the past five years (plus he was never any good to begin with)...I have no idea what he's up to or if he's in the market for a fight without a HUGE payday.

[brashleyholland]

 

I'll also say that pro wrestling is worse off than MMA right now. All the huge mid 90's names are dead or crippled and they've done a terrible job at creating new stars.

 

I don't know much of anything about Japanese wrestling as such, but I do know that MMA's popularity over there is intrinsically linked to it. The first Pride show had a couple of wrestling matches on it, and was originally going to showcase both. My prediction is that when wrestling in Japan picks up again, so will MMA.

 

Interestingly, for the first time in well, ever...the UFC are getting a lot of coverage in Japanese sports rags.

[brashleyholland]

Picture of the week: Nate Diaz has a little something special for Marcus Davis...

 

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/454743/photo-731127.jpg

[Daffanka]

brashley, use your contacts to relay a message to Couture. Tell him to hit some sweet pro wrestling moves on Toney because it's not like he'll have any trouble doing it.

 

I would prefer a powerbomb or a backdrop but just a normal vertical suplex or a spinebuster or something would be fine.

 

(tell him to finish it with a heel hook)

[brashleyholland]

brashley, use your contacts to relay a message to Couture. Tell him to hit some sweet pro wrestling moves on Toney because it's not like he'll have any trouble doing it.

 

I would prefer a powerbomb or a backdrop but just a normal vertical suplex or a spinebuster or something would be fine.

 

(tell him to finish it with a heel hook)

 

A powerbomb like this? :-p

 

http://i43.tinypic.com/2cgeupu.jpg

 

We'd hoped to get Randy on the radio show/podcast in the run up to the fight, but apparently he's doing a press tour for The Expendables and training away from home. Hopefully we can get him on the phone, but we record early Sunday morning US time, so we'll have to wait and see...

 

I tell you what, regardless of everything else, I'm going to be seriously nervous until that fight hits the ground

[Dustin]

OK, I stand corrected then (even the website is pretty great).

[Zoloftjunkie]

So yeah. In an attempt to clean up their image and bring respectability back to the cage strikeforce has set up the much anticipated rematch of

KJ Noons vs Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett!?! I mean I for one think that Krazy could be the one to teach the Diaz brothers about respect and to be humble. I am sure this well rounded fighter has matured past thinking the ground game is nothing more then two man making love.

[brashleyholland]

So yeah. In an attempt to clean up their image and bring respectability back to the cage strikeforce has set up the much anticipated rematch of

KJ Noons vs Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett!?! I mean I for one think that Krazy could be the one to teach the Diaz brothers about respect and to be humble. I am sure this well rounded fighter has matured past thinking the ground game is nothing more then two man making love.

 

Nothing surprises me with them anymore. Hopefully it's a precursor to another Noons-Diaz fight, but you never know with SF.

 

Still, any man who cites...a'hem...self gratification as his key training method (because it's a workout AND pleasure) is OK by me. Seriously though, the only decent thing to come out of this is Bennett getting a payday after he was stiffed by Shine fights last weekend. I'd laugh (at Strikeforce) if KH derailed Noons again.

[Daffanka]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2cgeupu.jpg

 

Jesus christ, is this Rampage in high school/college?

 

Because... I mean that other kid was on his knees. how do you do that

 

e: gryphon's twitter is currently updating about DREAM 14/15

 

"MINOWAMAN vs Kimbo slice...in next event,it is impossible but Kimbo is good rival of MINOWAMAN" (#FEG live at http://ustre.am/a1Yd ) 28 minutes ago via Ustream

 

YES

 

Also apparently DREAM 15 will feature Aoki, Kawajiri, Kikuno, Alistair, Manhoef and Mousasi so Kawajiri might finally get to beat the snot out of Aoki for the LHW belt. And then get his revenge on Melendez for being robbed and take the SF belt as well. Then he'll beat Frankie/BJ/Maynard/Florian for the UFC belt. Crusher represent.

[Daffanka]

Well Moosin was certainly... something.

[RingofHonorGuard]

Well Moosin was certainly... something.

 

It was right up there with the YAMMA. Pretty good battle from the women, was kind of surprised to see LaRosa lose, but she is getting a bit older.

 

The rest of the fights were kind of uneventful. Pudz should ignore the critics mocking him for tapping to strikes, and then venture into Japan and take advantage of their freak show appeal.

 

I'd like to see Tim Sylvia fight Gilbert Yvel next. Yvel is pretty much the exact same kind of fighter that Sylvia is. Pretty exciting when they're motivated, absolute garbage when they aren't. Think if Yvel gets past Rothwell, it would set up even more of a grudge match considering Rothwell and Tim trained(or may still train) together. I just think it's inevitable that we'll see Big Tim back in the UFC, especially if he gets back into shape. UFC might as well put themselves in a position to gain something from it either way.

 

Also apparently DREAM 15 will feature Aoki, Kawajiri, Kikuno, Alistair, Manhoef and Mousasi so Kawajiri might finally get to beat the snot out of Aoki for the LHW belt. And then get his revenge on Melendez for being robbed and take the SF belt as well. Then he'll beat Frankie/BJ/Maynard/Florian for the UFC belt. Crusher represent.

 

Kawajiri should wreck Aoki. If this fight was 3 or 4 years ago, I might have snagged Aoki as the winner, but Kawajiri's stand up has improved to the point I would probably top 5 him. I wonder who Alistair is fighting... I hope it's Minowaman... I mean if you're gonna be Super Hulk you might as well go all out.

[Synticha]

Just bought ringside tickets to M-1 Selection in Helsinki . 79€ is a high price but I'm almost rich so whatever. I hope the fights are good and end fast

[Synticha]

Hey! Does anyone know that how long the M-1 event should take?

[brashleyholland]

Hey! Does anyone know that how long the M-1 event should take?

 

The last one I went to was pretty quick, even though there were about 15 fights on the card. About four hours I think.

[Synticha]

Thanks! That what I expected. It's hard to time the buses as the last one leaves at 1AM and the show begins at 7PM so I need to make sure that I'm there in time (At the bus that leaves Helsinki I mean).

[brashleyholland]

It was right up there with the YAMMA.

 

I wouldn't go that far personally. YAMMA was a whole new kind of awful. There were a couple of fun fights at Moosin at least. Pretty much what you'd expect from a low-rent MMA show with a bit of cash to throw around.

 

Good lord, all I can think about now is Butterbeen flailing around on the floor in front of Pat Smith at YAMMA.

 

I just think it's inevitable that we'll see Big Tim back in the UFC, especially if he gets back into shape. UFC might as well put themselves in a position to gain something from it either way.

 

I really don't. The only way I see him getting back in is if get beats Fedor or Overeem...neither of which are fights I see happening any time soon in the first place, let alone Timmeh winning.

 

He's just atrocious to watch...nobody wants to see him fight, much less pay for the privilage. The UFC couldn't even use him in main events when he was defending champion, unless he was fighting Couture or they had Tito vs Ken on the undercard. He also has stupid contractual demands that have stood in the way of him getting fights over the past year.

 

It's funny, I was reading his interview on Sherdog today where he went off on one about how he didn't care if the fans hated him. He said that it's maybe because he's a jerk to people when he's training before a fight; he apparently can be very stand-off-ish with fans when he's in the zone...How wrong he is.

 

I think what Timmeh fails to realise is that fans don't hate him...they just don't care about him. Fans will pay to see someone they don't like get their ass kicked (just ask Tito)...but nobody is putting their hand in their pocket to see Tim.

 

There are a ton of guys the UFC could bring in for their HW division that would cost a tenth of what Timmeh is asking for, and are ten times more enjoyable to watch.

 

 

Kawajiri should wreck Aoki. If this fight was 3 or 4 years ago, I might have snagged Aoki as the winner, but Kawajiri's stand up has improved to the point I would probably top 5 him. I wonder who Alistair is fighting... I hope it's Minowaman... I mean if you're gonna be Super Hulk you might as well go all out.

 

Agreed...I think it's be an action replay of the Melendez fight...although the ring may work in Aoki's advantage. Kawajiri is missing a trick by not fighting in a cage if you ask me.

 

Is Minowa crazy enought to fight AO...lol, I wouldn't put it past him!

[brashleyholland]

<p>Dana White's response to being asked if he saw Tim Sylvia beat Mariusz Pudzianowski:</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><em>“Who cares? Know what I mean? Nobody cares about Tim Sylvia and he beat up some big muscle guy from somewhere.”</em><p><em> </em></p><p><em> (A host chimes in and says, “He said he was back. I don’t know back from where. Back from McDonalds, but he said he was back.”)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> “True! Back from McDonalds beating up some big muscle dude. I mean, c’mon. Come on.”</em></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Timmeh's post-fight comments:</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><em>"I consider myself something of a </em><em><strong>legend</strong></em><em> in MMA"</em></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Pardon me? </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><em>“I’d like to think (by) 2011...I’d like to be with Strikeforce or </em><em><strong>UFC</strong></em><em>.”</em></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Yeah, good luck with that...</p>

[brashleyholland]

<p>Awesome video of the day (audio is NSFW due to some colourful language from the nice lady filming): </p><p> </p><p>

 

</p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="150" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iprgu2B3eRg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="39 SECOND MMA SUPERHEAVYWEIGHT FLYING TRIANGLE ( Jared Carle )"></iframe></div></div><p> </p><p>

Awesome because: It's not very often that you see a flying triangle in a super heavyweight bout. </p><p> </p><p>

Also awesome because: It appears to be WWE's Shamus. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[justtxyank]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="brashleyholland" data-cite="brashleyholland" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Dana White's response to being asked if he saw Tim Sylvia beat Mariusz Pudzianowski:<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Timmeh's post-fight comments:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Pardon me? </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Yeah, good luck with that...</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I could definitely see him with Strikeforce.</p>

[jesterx7769]

<p>Sylvia's big thing is money like you said BH. I'm sure Dana would let him back in the UFC for the standard TUF contract guys (10K base and 10K bonus) but he would want like 100K a fight. </p><p> </p><p>

Strikeforce I can see if he gets some solid wins, but who is going to fight that would mean something to get those solid wins? The only fight I could really see him doing is a Barnett one possibly? But if Barnett wins in Australia (that is set right?) we will probably see him go to Strikeforce (if all is clear and well) I guess we could see Timmy vs. Kimbo but once again, who cares?</p>

[jesterx7769]

didnt want to post this in the same post about Timmy but I am loving Bellator. Getting to see some great young studs and they seem like a down to earth promotion since theyre not all "were gonna take on the UFC and draw big ratings on network tv!", gonna make the drive up to Tampa if they come again next season or w/e they call it.

[brashleyholland]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="justtxyank" data-cite="justtxyank" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I could definitely see him with Strikeforce.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> From what I've heard, Monte Cox will need to lower Timmeh's asking price for big promotions if he wants any of them to actually sign him. Strikeforce and Bellator have both asked about him since Affliction collapsed, but he is apparently asking for Affliction level money from 'big' MMA promotions. He got something like $850,000 to lose to Fedor in 30-odd seconds...even if he's asking for a fifth of that at this point, he's pushing his luck IMO. </p><p> </p><p> He's supposed to be fighting Wes Simms in Canada soon (although I've heard that the bout is off due to an extreme lack of ticket sales); a bout which Ohio refused to sanction because it wasn't competitive, despite Timmeh losing four of his last six at the time. </p><p> </p><p> There's also a rumour that he'll be fighting Pedro Rizzo (if The Rock doesn't break something while smashing Ken Shamrock into an early grave) in August. That's actually a decent match-up for the big fella.</p>

[brashleyholland]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="jesterx7769" data-cite="jesterx7769" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Sylvia's big thing is money like you said BH. I'm sure Dana would let him back in the UFC for the standard TUF contract guys (10K base and 10K bonus) but he would want like 100K a fight. </div></blockquote><p> </p><p> After the harsh comments he's made about Tim recently, I doubt he'd have him fight for free. </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Strikeforce I can see if he gets some solid wins, but who is going to fight that would mean something to get those solid wins? The only fight I could really see him doing is a Barnett one possibly? But if Barnett wins in Australia (that is set right?) we will probably see him go to Strikeforce (if all is clear and well) I guess we could see Timmy vs. Kimbo but once again, who cares?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Barnett and a ton of other 'name' guys are supposedly set to fight for Impact FC. It's a new promotion and it's hosting three events on consecutive weekends, full of 'name' fighters. Either A) They have a ton of $$$ and are willing to risk losing it all or B) the three events wont happen with the advertised cards. Not saying that they can't make money, just that the whole three weeks, three events (with some guys booked to fight on two or three of them) seems like a big undertaking/risk. </p><p> </p><p> Barnett is supposedly holding out for a series of bouts featuring him, Fedor and Overeem that Dream are planning to showcase later this year/NYE. Sylvia was offered a fight with Barnett in Dream on two weeks notice, but he declined it. He said it was only due to the lack of notice, but every manager/fighter knows that you only get a couple of weeks in Japan. Personally, I don't think Timmeh wants anything to do with Barnett, or anyone of that ilk, because a high-profile loss at this stage in his career will likely be the end of him as a serious MMA-ist. </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="jesterx7769" data-cite="jesterx7769" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>didnt want to post this in the same post about Timmy but I am loving Bellator. Getting to see some great young studs and they seem like a down to earth promotion since theyre not all "were gonna take on the UFC and draw big ratings on network tv!", gonna make the drive up to Tampa if they come again next season or w/e they call it.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm right with you. Some of the opening rounds were weak, but that's to be expected with the level of guys they have. Really looking forward to Pitbull-Warren and Hornbuckle-Askren.</p>

[Zoloftjunkie]

Just watched a interview espn did with Jackson and wow if looks could kill. I know fighters talk up fights and there is trash talk to hype up fights but the look in his eyes.....he means it. I think he is going to try and hurt evans this weekend.

 

I am also loveing Bellator and was excited as soon as I head Dan Hornbuckle was in it. His head kick on Gono was nasty. I also think Warren has made a lot of new fans. He is like a mini Couter jacked up on speed.