Summaries
Despite having obvious physical gifts, don’t look for Brock to hold the belt for long. His big advantage in his UFC fights so far has been his size, and the fact that the UFC heavyweight division is relatively thin. When he faces someone with a wrestling background who is also a striker, then we’ll find out what Brock is made out of. Sure, Frank Mir ain’t exactly tiny, but he doesn’t have that wrestling background to cope with Brock on the ground. I think Gabriel Gonzaga would fare better against Brock than Mir did. I’m by no means a Gonzaga fan, but he has shown he can dominate on the ground, and he’s not coming back from a devastating leg injury like Mir.
I’d like to see Gonzaga unleash one of those wicked leg kicks onto Brock’s head. Shane Carwin is another one waiting in the wings who would give Brock fits. Huge size, KO power, and a wrestler to boot. I’d expect the UFC to keep him far away from Brock until at least a few more lucrative PPVs.
Cain Velasquez would be an interesting match-up for Brock, being a dominant wrestler, and a better striker, though giving up about 40lbs in size to Lesnar. I’d expect him to get the next shot at Brock. After this coming season of TUF, I’d expect to see a few more quality heavyweights join the ranks of the UFC. Brock’s reign will be short-lived, one way or another.
The fight many mma fans have been waiting a long time to see has been made a reality thanks to Strikeforce!
GINA CARANO IS BACK!
LONG-AWAITED STRIKEFORCE CHAMPIONSHIP SHOWDOWN
WITH CRIS “CYBORG” MARKS BIGGEST WOMEN’S FIGHT IN HISTORY
Saturday, August 15, Live on SHOWTIME at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT
From HP Pavilion, San Jose, Calif.;
Tickets Go On Sale Monday
NEW YORK (June 9, 2009)–-After an eight-month hiatus, mixed martial arts’ (MMA) leading lady, the undefeated and extremely popular Gina “Conviction” Carano (7-0) will compete in the first fight of her multi-fight agreement with STRIKEFORCE and is set to square off with rival powerhouse Cris “Cyborg” (7-1) in what is one of the most eagerly anticipated battles of all time, Saturday, August 15, live on SHOWTIME® at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
Carano and Cyborg, the consensus two best female fighters in the world, will be the first women in MMA history to headline a major MMA fight card. In addition, they will fight for the first STRIKEFORCE 145-pound Female Championship.
“I’m really excited to be coming back and to have a new home with STRIKEFORCE,” said the 27-year-old Carano, whose combination of stunning looks and athleticism have cemented her role as the face of women’s MMA. In a Yahoo! online poll that named the “Top 10 Influential Women of 2008,” Carano ranked fifth, placing ahead of First Lady Michelle Obama and famed journalists Katie Couric and Barbara Walters.
“I’ve wanted this fight with Cyborg for a long time and so have the fans so it was important to me that it happen in my first fight back. I’ve been training hard the last few months and come Aug. 15, I will be in the best shape of my life. This fight will absolutely deliver on all the hype.”
The live SHOWTIME telecast of STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg” will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (tape delayed on the west coast) and will include up to five bouts.
Tickets for STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg,” priced from $30, go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. PT at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and the official STRIKEFORCE website (www.strikeforce.com).
Carano has soared to superstardom over the last two years while dominating opponents live on CBS and SHOWTIME. She raised her profile further during a stint as “Crush” on NBC’s athletic competition series American Gladiators. Carano is represented by Wasserman Media Group
The matchup with Cyborg will be the second start of Carano’s career under the STRIKEFORCE banner. On Dec. 8, 2006, she turned the tides on a determined Elaina Maxwell, a protégé of Cung Le, and pulled out a unanimous judges’ decision at STRIKEFORCE: “Triple Threat.”
The media has emphatically shown its appreciation for Carano’s individuality. She has been prominently featured in a number of national magazines including Muscle And Fitness and Maxim. Big Biz Magazine voted her “The Hottest Woman In America” in its Spring 2008 issue and Maxim ranked her No. 16 in its Hot 100 list published in May 2009. Carano has also been profiled in the popular ESPN documentary series E:60.
The 23-year-old Cyborg, who hails from Brazil, has established herself as Carano’s top rival by leveraging her superior strength and striking skills to pummel opponents. In her last start, also her STRIKEFORCE debut, Cyborg manhandled Hitomi Akano on April 11, stalking and battering the Japanese fighter before finishing Akano at the 35 second mark of the third round.
Cyborg is a member of Brazil’s famed Chute Boxe fight squad and trains alongside her husband and fellow Strikeforce competitor, Evangelista “Cyborg.”
It’s being reported all over… Kimbo Slice will be on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). The coaches are set to be Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans.
Kimbo Slice is arguably the biggest attention getter for any network and would easily boost Spike’s ratings to levels never seen before. Not to mention the PPV buys that would be brought in. Kimbo Slice has not won a fight in quite some time. His last fight coming from a surprising loss from Seth Petruzelli with a “weak” knockout.
Kimbo was known for his street fights and for fighting on national stations like CBS. He will now be placed in the octagon with some of the best upcoming fighters and I for one don’t think he’ll come out alive. Dana White has said plenty of things about Slice in the past.
White has called him a “joke,” a “bum” and “not a real fighter,” among other less than kind descriptions. He said that Slice would “get murdered if he fought in the UFC” and suggested that his lightweight champion, 155-pound B.J. Penn, would “annihilate” the 230-pound Slice.
“It should be interesting, given some of the things I’ve said about him,” White said.
Nonetheless, this will be fun to watch. Maybe Slice will prove me wrong but I have a gut feeling that the fighters will be out to get Kimbo and want to fight him.
Fights are leaking but nothing has been confirmed. This will all be changed Monday June 1st when Atencio and company have their press release for Affliction 3 giving us the scoop on the fight card… who, when, and where.
There are sites all over stating fights from their sources but we will no longer have to rumor about them come next week. In a text message I received from Tom just a moment ago, he advised on June 1st they will be confirming or negating the rumors of fights over the past couple weeks.
MMA Junkie has these fights rumored so far:
- Champ Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett (for WAMMA heavyweight title)*
- Vitor Belfort vs. Gegard Mousasi*
- Paul Buentello vs. Tim Sylvia*
- Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron*
- Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon*
To go with the rumors, the date has been discussed as August 1st in the Honda Center once again.
UFC 98 Bonuses
Matt Serra – Fight of the Night – $60,000
Matt Hughes – Fight of the Night – $60,000
Lyoto Machida – Knockout of the Night – $60,000
Brock Larson – Submission of the Night – $60,000
UFC 98 Fighter Payouts
-Lyoto Machida: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus)
-Rashad Evans: $200,000
-Matt Hughes: $200,000 ($100,000 win bonus)
-Matt Serra: $75,000
-Drew McFedries: $34,000 ($17,000 win bonus)
-Xavier Foupa-Pokam: $6,000
-Chael Sonnen: $50,000 ($25,000 win bonus)
-Dan Miller: $15,000
-Frankie Edgar: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus)
-Sean Sherk: $40,000
-Brock Larson: $42,000 ($21,000 win bonus)
-Mike Pyle: $15,000
-Tim Hague: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
-Pat Barry: $7,000
-Kyle Bradley: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus)
-Phillipe Nover: $10,000
-Krzysztof Soszynski: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
-Andre Gusmao: $5,000
-Yoshiyuki Yoshida: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
-Brandon Wolff: $3,000
-George Roop: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
-David Kaplan: $8,000
UFC 98 has been completed and there’s a new sherriff in town for the Light Heavyweights. The Machida Era is now upon us. When we will see a new title holder? Will Lyoto ever lose? Is Lyoto’s style to perfect to strategize against?
There is no doubt that Lyoto’s style poses a unique threat against every fighter that steps in the octagon against him. His stance is so straight up due to his Karate background that it gives him an edge against opponents. It allows his legs to reach his opponent without leaving his head exposed. This was clear in tonights fight against Rashad. Rashad wasn’t able to land anything worth while on Machida.
I can’t see anyone in the Light Heavyweight division besides Anderson Silva that would be able to take Lyoto out and we know this won’t happen as Anderson Silva said he will not fight Machida so there goes that dream fight.
As said the other day, I do have a huge man crush on Evans and would like him to fight Rampage Jackson next and rebound and get him back in against Lyoto. The style that these two (Machida and Evans) take is always very tactical and planned out depending on their opponent. I think Rashad has the best chance in defeating Machida but for now, the Machida Era is upon us and he said he’ll stick his hand in the “Sugar” bowl whenever he wants.
In what looks to be a well rounded UFC fight card, UFC 98 is set to take place this Saturday on the 23rd. The event has Rashad Evans vs Lyoto Machida, two UFC undefeateds going at it for the belt. The questions that is on my mind is if Evans beats Machida, would this change Anderson Silva’s opinion on going for the Light Heavyweight Belt. This blog will be looking at the main card only…
MAIN CARD
- Champ Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida (for light-heavyweight title)
- Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
- Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Drew McFedries
- Dan Miller vs. Chael Sonnen
- Frank Edgar vs. Sean Sherk
UFC 98 Frank Edgar vs Sean Sherk
Frankie’s UFC record is not too shabby at 4-1 in the UFC and 8-1 in his MMA career. His loss was to Gray Maynard at UFN 13 where he lost a decision. Most of his wins have come via decision so for him to win this fight it might have to be a boring fight. Sean Sherk has a very impressive MMA record of 33-3-1 with his 3 losses to UFC greats GSP, Matt Hughes, and BJ Penn. His most recent win was over Tyson Griffin via decision. I have to give the edge to Sherk on this one. Sherk by Submission Round 2.
UFC 98 Dan Miller vs. Chael Sonnen
Dan Miller with an 11-1-0(1 NC) hasn ‘t really fought anyone worth naming so his record should be taken with a grain of salt. Chael Sonnen has not had the best results while fighting in the UFC. His recent loss coming from Demian Maia. His only win worth mentioning is Paulo Filho and Paulo didn’t look like himself. However, in this circumstance Dan Miller doesn’t look to pose enough of a threat. Sonnen by KO Round 3.
UFC 98 Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Drew McFedries
This may sound bad but I’m not really sure who Foupa-Pokam is but I did notice he had 3 DQ’s which is rather interesting. McFedries hasn’t had the best UFC record and this fight to me is a toss up and I see it going the distance. McFedries via Decision.
UFC 98 Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra
First of all, does anyone even care any more? This fight was supposed to happen so long ago that I’ve lost the lust for this legendary matchup. As you’re aware, Hughes had a knee injury last year that ended up not needing surgery. This is a big fight to come back to after not fighting for nearly a year. I for one think Matt Serra is overrated and his win over GSP was nothing but a huge fluke. Hughes has some very impressive wins and his losses weren’t to chumps either. Hughes by Submission Round 2
UFC 98 Rashad Evans vs Lyoto Machida
I’m torn here because I have a man crush on Rashad Evans and have jumped on his bandwagon (before he beat Chuck at least). Lyoto is no light threat either. Both pose a great deal of complexity to each other. These fighters both seem to fight a fight that they need to in order to win. If that means dancing around with takedowns here and there to win it in a decision, they will do it. If it means slugging it out, consider it done. So which tactical expert has the advantage? Well I’m siding with my man crush, Rashad Evans. I see this one going down in the 4th round. Evans by KO in Round 4.
So say what you will about my picks but take a look at my track record before you judge me. You can see current UFC 98 Odds here.
In what started as what would have been a monsterous event, UFC 100 is settling down to be just another event. BUT it is an event that will have GSP in possibly one of his toughest matches yet. Now that we are passed “Greasegate” we can all move on. The controversey with GSP and the BJ Penn fight doesn’t seem to be on the mind of Thiago Alves, he has tunnel vision and has some thoughs of shocking UFC and MMA fans everywhere.
“I’m going to enjoy my time,” Alves told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after a recent training session. “I have 25 minutes to have fun and whatever happens, it happens.”
Enjoy his time might be putting it lightly as he went on to say:
“I’m not just going to win,” Alves said. “I’m going to knock him out. I’m going to shock the world.
“You have to do this for a reason. I want to make history. At (UFC) 100 I have a chance to make history, and I will make history. I promise you that. I’ve been asking for it, and you get in life what you ask for.”
For those of you that recall, it was clear to me that Thiago was GSP’s next oppenent after his quick work of Josh Koscheck. In the blog, I made my opinion that Thiago was not ready for GSP. I still maintain this opinion as Thiago has not fought anyone else yet. I think it would have been in the best interest of Thiago to take on one more fight before GSP.
This could be that I’m just a GSP homer but I think the only one that can beat GSP right now is Anderson Silva and I would LOVE to see that fight.
Bobby Lashley, another former wrestler turned cage fighter, is definitely out to prove he’s no joke. While outside of the cage, Lashley carries a smile and is an all around genuinely good guy. However, inside the cage, the animal instinct just kicks in and it’s 100% focus on his opponent.
Lashley, refusing to touch gloves with Cook who wore a ridiculous mask on his way to the cage, was all business when the fight started. Cook dropped his head early and gave Lashley an edge and was not shy in taking full advantage.
Lashley took the guillotine opportunity and flattened out his opponent and it was just seconds before John McCarthy stepped in to end it. In the video above, you’ll notice Cook’s legs quiver a little while in the guillotine.
Bobby Lashley is done with WWE but occassionally will be seen in the TNA arena (which is a bit ironic due to the fact that Kurt Angle was told he couldn’t do that but that’s another blog post. Lashley is a big heavyweight and will be a force to reckon with in any fight due to his size alone and he will gain a lot of experience along the way and who knows where we will see him next.
That’s right, there’s no error. Jose Canseco has made it onto a MMA blog. Most of you say, “But he’s already fought before”. Yes he has fought before and the results were not very good. We did a quick search and what do you know! The fight is on YouTube.
Jose, who is better known for his baseball career and his book about his steroid use while playing baseball, will be squaring off against Hong Man Choi in a Dream fight. Canseco’s lawyer had this to say:
“I think they have (jumped the gun) and I don’t have any problems with them doing that because I don’t anticipate any problems but it’s just not confirmed yet,” Holahan said.
“It probably won’t be a sure thing for another week or 10 days,” he added.
So while it’s not set in stone yet at this time, the bout is iminent and looks to take place at Dream 9. If his fight is anything like his previous bouts, he’s going to be in rough shape as Choi is a real MMA fighter and is HUGE!
Dana White had a discussion with MMA Junkie and gave some insight to Chuck Liddell’s future with MMA and more so the UFC.
“He’s not just going to get a paycheck,” White said. “I want him to play a role in this [company] and actually come in and work and do something. I’m going to give him a real job.”
This is great. This to me is a nice big slap in Tito’s punk ass face. This is exactly what TIto wanted to do with UFC and Affliction and has failed to do so. I think it’s great that Chuck has the chance to become part of this organization and go further with a real career.
Dana also went to mention that Chuck’s induction to the UFC Hall of Fame would probably be sooner than later.
You can read the full story over at MMA Junkie
“He’s a huge superstar, and we could still sell lots of tickets (with Liddell),” White said. “But I don’t care about that. I care about him. I care about his health, and it’s over, man. It’s over.”
Whether or not Chuck agrees has yet been discussed in detail. Before the fight Chuck had said win or lose there was no retirement coming after the fight. However, he did make it pretty certain retirement was coming:
“Yeah, that’s probably the case,” Liddell said. “I’m not going to make any decisions until I go home to talk to everybody, talk to my people and my friends. … But it’s probably safe to say (I’m retired).”
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UFC 96 Results
Preliminary Card
Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson
Nelson defeated Riley via TKO (Punches) at 1:44 of round 1.
Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt
Vera defeated Patt via TKO (Leg Kicks) at 1:27 of round 2.
Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
Brilz defeated Boetsch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day
Grove defeated Day via TKO (Strikes) at 1:32 of round 1.
Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan
McCrory defeated Madigan via submission (Punches) at 3:35 of round 1.
Main Card
Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller
Maynard defeated Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz
Hamill defeated Munoz via KO (Head Kick) at 3:53 of round 1.
Pete Sell vs. Matt Brown
Brown defeated Sell via TKO (Punches) at 1:32 of round 1.
Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Carwin defeated Gonzaga via TKO (Punches) at 1:09 of round 1.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine
Jackson defeated Jardine via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Then Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans talking some trash in the Octagon:
It’s true, I neglected to watch the recent fights televised on Spike and chose to spend my evening doing everything that I probably shouldn’t have been doing. There’s a couple things that I don’t like about the free televised cards and there’s also a psychologically proven explanation that when something is given to you at no cost you tend to downplay it and do not involve yourself as if you were to pay for it. The Fight Nights are great, don’t get me wrong, but only the one with Silva fighting did I feel the need to tune in. Much like the WEC always for free (tons of reruns too), I just can’t get into it. Maybe I’m the chump, I don’t know. Does anyone else have this problem? With the world of the internet and streaming video and being able to watch something the next day on your computer I figured I would just watch them sometime today, but I still have yet to do anything but come on here to MMAChump. I’m not the biggest fan in the world, but there is only 4 names that I can even recognize on the card. Looking at the results that Mat just recently posted though it seems as if I missed out since nothing went to the judges. I understand that the UFC doesn’t make as much for these televised events on national TV but I do believe that Dana should at least beef up the card a little bit instead of making us watch “the maybe up-and-comers”. Oh well, I’ll just have to Google the fights and watch them for free.
Britney Spears is still a certified hottie.
QUESTIONS:
Do you plan to continue to cross promote?
SCOTT COKER:
We haven’t had the sit down with Ken and the guys at SHOWTIME, but my thought is that the co-promotion fights that we did together with EliteXC and Gary Shaw were probably two of the best fights we’ve ever done. When organizations get together and have compelling matchups that make sense and are relevant that work out in the end for both fighters and all parties, I feel why wouldn’t we? I think if it’s good for business that I will support it. But it’s something we still have to iron out.
On fighting Ken Shamrock.
FRANK SHAMROCK:
I do plan to fight more often. I had a program which was kind of fighting twice a year, but think I need to tie them a little closer so I don’t get out of shape.
In reference to fighting Ken, it’s a fight I’d always want to do. I think it’s a very compelling story. Ken’s going through some personal and emotional problems right now and we’re letting him do that. But this fight is something that is very personal for me. I think it’s very important that we tell the story of the sport and the Shamrock family and what type of influence the family has had on the sport. I think it’s important that I kick his butt, but right now we’re putting it on the back burner.
What went into Shamrock-Diaz?
KEN HERSHMAN:
Everything I’ve seen from Frank is there is never a dull moment. With Nick, you know what you’re getting from him. He’s just going to come at you and not stop.
When I program boxing I’m much more involved in the matchmaking. I look for styles that will make compelling contests and will make compelling fights. When we talked to Scott about this matchup this was one of those that was like three seconds. Do it. These guys are going to go at it. It’s going to be fun. Who knows who wins? Frank has to lose some weight and that’s a challenge for him and Nick has to fight a guy that is a legend. So come April 11 all I can say is I won’t miss it.
Has there been Kimbo Slice contact?
HERSHMAN:
Well there is a lot of reasons why (there hasn’t been contact with Kimbo Slice yet). We had to work through the whole EliteXC thing and unwind that transaction. It was a big bit complicated and a bit cumbersome. My hat goes off to Scott and his team for hanging in there. It was a long road, but we got there. And now we just closed this deal a few days back. We’ve already put together an event. Scott’s already matched up the main event and a couple of other cards. Now we’re going to go to the next step, which is to secure those fighters that we want and Kimbo is one that we think we have a future with. We’re going to make every effort to get him done. But there are only so many hours in a day. He’s an important part of where we’re going and we’re going to see if we can line that up with him in the coming weeks.
SCOTT COKER:
We have been in touch with I think half of the fighter roster. Yesterday, I did talk to Kimbo Slice’s lawyer, just to say hello and let him know we will be in touch shortly and that we are very excited to have Kimbo fighting with Strikeforce and getting him back into the cage as soon as possible. My goal is to get these guys back working and back fighting as soon as possible.
We will have reached out to everybody by the end of day tomorrow. And then we’ll start putting the matches together and move forward.
KEN HERSHMAN:
I think that we are going to have at least five major events this year and hopefully at least five of our up-and-comer series which was so successful before. As Scott said, we are going to sit down and go through the calendar and try and space these things out. But you know SHOWTIME hasn’t had MMA on the air with live, new events since September of last year, so we’re chomping at the bit. We can’t wait to get going and we’re looking forward to this April show to kick it off. You’re going to see a number of events in pretty rapid succession thereafter.
CHRIS DEBLASIO:
Just to clarify, there will be the championship level events and the up-and-comer series which is similar to our boxing series ShoBox, which showcases young fighters who are up and coming and trying to make their way to the big time championship fights.
Plans for women’s MMA:
SCOTT COKER:
Being from a martial arts background, we’ve always looked forward to women’s fights. At the end of the day, this is a martial arts contest. I’ve always supported women’s martial arts competitions. MMA is just taking it to the next level. We’ve had some compelling matchups. When you look back at the history of the women’s fights in Strikeforce there are a couple fights that are right up there with the big boys as far as exciting matchups. They can bring it. There’s no difference. A kick is a kick. A punch is a punch. An arm-bar is an arm-bar. If a girl is 125 pounds doing it, it’s still effective.
We’re going to continue supporting women’s MMA and we’re going to be inviting Gina (Carano) to come fight on April 11. And we’ve already got confirmation from (Cris) Cyborg that she is available if we can put that match together. And if not maybe we’ll put Cris Santos-Cyborg on the April 11 card. But those matchups are still to be determined and nothing is confirmed on that end. But we will be supporting women’s MMA in Strikeforce.
What’s the status of Cung Le?
SCOTT COKER:
Cung has been doing his movie star career. He’s had some success with it, he’s doing very well and we’re all happy for him. I talked to him about a week ago and he is itching to get back in the cage. He does have an injury on his elbow right now which is stopping him from fighting in this show. Otherwise, he would be fighting on this show because his schedule is open. He’s just injured. You will see Cung Le back in the cage on Strikeforce at least two times before the end of the year. I haven’t say down and talked to Frank about it, but the fight between Cung and Frank number two is a fight that actually should happen before the end of 2009. We are planning on having Gilbert (Melendez) fight (on April 11).
What is solidified for April 11?
SCOTT COKER:
Frank and Nick are going to be the main event. The other fight that we have matched is Benji Radich, who is an amazing fighter and great striker. He will be fighting Scott Smith, who in the last Strikeforce event knocked out Terry Martin in the first round. Those two guys will probably go right to the center of the cage and start throwing as hard as they can because that’s how they work.
The fighter that we are looking to match is Gilbert Melendez.
What’s the status of Josh Thompson?
SCOTT COKER:
I haven’t sat down with Josh yet, but we would like Josh to fight and the opponent we are going to invite to fight Josh, who is not confirmed, is KJ Noons.
Question on EliteXC Titles:
We should give them the ability to come fight and unify the titles at some point in ’09. We’re offering it to KJ because KJ was the EliteXC champion and Josh Thompson is our champion. That would be an amazing fight and that’s why we’re trying to put that together so we can unify the belt. But to get through all the weight classes that we have and they have, I think it is going to take the remainder of the year.
Announcers and start times:
KEN HERSHMAN:
I think we are going to stick with it the same way we did with EliteXC, which is mostly a 10 p.m. start time, east coast. The announce team we are putting in place as we speak. We haven’t figured out a way to have Frank Shamrock fight and announce at the same time, but I’m sure he’ll figure that out. I think we would like very much to bring Gus Johnson back, who did the CBS shows and is now our main commentator for boxing, and then we’ll round out the crew from there.
Title ramification for catchweight fight between Shamrock and Diaz:
SCOTT COKER:
This fight works because Nick Diaz fights traditionally between as low as 150 and up to 180. He goes back and forth depending on the matchup. He was fighting at a lower rate and I talked to Cesar Gracie (Nick’s trainer) and he said ‘we can’t make that weight anymore so we want to fight at 170.’ That’s were he would like to go back and fight and make his match. As you know, Frank is in the 185-pound weight class.
Putting those two fights together, it just made a lot of sense to me because of the history behind Cesar, the Gracie’s and the Shamrocks. I thought it was a compelling story. And it would be a fantastic matchup because of the styles. That’s why we put that fight together.
We’ve had a few fights at a catchweight, not that many. But once in a while to put one on that’s very special together like we are able to do for the launch with SHOWTIME and do it here, at our home, with Frank and Nick it just made a lot of sense and we’re very excited to do it.
In terms of exclusive fights:
SCOTT COKER:
If we had a fighter under contract but we couldn’t keep them busy then we would let him fight here or there. But based on the schedule, I think we are going to be very busy and we’re going to need the athletes to come participate because we are going to have so many fights. For right now we’re going to need athletes to fill these slots.
Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce heavyweight champion) will be fighting for Strikeforce. The question is when? I’m hoping to get him back before the end of the year. He’s just had a very busy schedule in Japan and fighting in Europe. One of my top priorities is trying to work out his next fight with us.
Kimbo against Bob Sapp?
SCOTT COKER:
That fight was just a conceptual fight. How great would it be if Kimbo and Bob could ever work out the weight and have that fight? I think it would be an entertaining fight to say the least. But by no means was that something that was contracted or talked about with both sides. It was just a “what if.”
Does Shamrock have the need or desire to avenge the loss to Cung Le?
FRANK SHAMROCK:
A need or desire, no. They’d probably pay well very well and it would probably be the fight of the year again. Other than that, fighting is fighting to me. It’s a transaction between two artists and somebody wins.
Shamrock’s comments on Nick Diaz:
FRANK SHAMROCK:
I do know Nick personally. It’s rare that I do know fighters on a social level. Nick Diaz is very similar to me. He grew up in a broken home and had abusive parents and really had a tough childhood. He and I have that in common and we’ve spoken about it a few times. He’s also gone on his MMA quest and traveled around to all the gyms. He ended up with my father for a minute training with him. So we have common ties that tie us together. I know for a fact hat he wasn’t too happy when I knocked out his coach Cesar and he said some words afterward that got him into this fight. But we’re going to fight and I don’t care about Nick. He’s a nice guy and I’m going to knock him out. Then I’ll move onto the next one.
Question about ProElite:
KEN HERSHMAN:
The reality of the situation is that ProElite ran into funding problems as many, many companies much bigger and far flung are in this world today. We had to figure out a way to unwind the relationship in a way that worked for everybody and that allowed MMA to have a life and to continue on SHOWTIME. That was very important to me and it was very important to SHOWTIME that we continue to showcase this programming for our subscribers.
Absolutely we had a say in that (the ProElite deal with Strikeforce). We were a stockholder number one and we had a programming agreement. We had to be very comfortable with the partner we were going to continue with. We absolutely had input there and we’re very happy with the way it worked out.
Why Strikeforce?
KEN HERSHAMN:
There were a lot of factors that went into it. First and foremost, we wanted stability that I think Strikeforce has demonstrated in their long tenure of operating successfully. We like their roster of fighters and we like the combination of rosters between the EliteXC fighters that we’re picking up and their current fighters. It presented a lot of compelling content in a very short time frame for us, so we didn’t have a building process.
What did you learn from failures of EliteXC?
KEN HERSHMAN:
They learned a lot as we did throughout this process about expansion too quick, too much, too fast. Things like that we’ll apply here. We just want to have a steady partner. We want to put on great shows. The benefit of our model and Strikeforce’s model is we’re not dependent on pay-per-view. So we don’t have to go out there month in and month out and charge our fans $40 or $50 to see our content. You get SHOWTIME, you can watch them every month, month in and month out. We think we have a really good model that will allow us to grow in the future and we’re looking forward to it.
Exclusive deal with Strikeforce?
KEN HERSHMAN:
We weren’t exclusive to EliteXC either and we’re not exclusive with Strikeforce. But I will tell you that when we’re in with a partner, we’re in with a partner. We feel like we’re going to be doing a lot with Scott. I’m not sure we have the capacity or the desire to do anything with anyone else. If somebody came along with something compelling we would examine it and also talk with Scott about how he felt about it because that’s the type of partnership we’re going to have.
What synergy is there between boxing and MMA?
KEN HERSHMAN:
I think that when we looked at our sports platform and the ways to expand it we looked at boxing and that is, in essence, one of the original extreme sports. Adding mixed martial arts, to me, is a very natural extension of that. Obviously that sport has evolved and developed in a very quick fashion and has caught the attention of a young demographic, which we will see. And we have the NFL, which, on a lot of levels, is as extreme and challenging of a sport as a combat sport. We love the triumvirate of those three together. We think that they all cross-pollinate each other and we expect that fans of one will become fans of each of the other.
