- BROCK LESNAR REVEALS DIVERTICULITIS WAS REASON FOR UFC ABSENCE
- UFC exclusive: Abu Dhabi a goer with Penn Silva Hughes and Gracie
- Kizer welcomes Strikeforce to Las Vegas, though April date “not very likely”
- Zelaznik on the UFC’s Expansion
- Survivor’s Mark Burnett invests in King of the Cage, secures deal with HDNet for 2010
- FCC to force cable operators to share sports channels
BROCK LESNAR REVEALS DIVERTICULITIS WAS REASON FOR UFC ABSENCE
UFC President Dana White and UFC fighter Brock Lesnar appeared on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” today to discuss Lesnar’s absence from competition due to being diagnosed with diverticulitis. Lesnar: “I had a hole in my stomach.” Lesnar said a doctor in Bismarck , North Dakota , “put me on antibiotics, put me on pain medication and wanted for me to heal myself. The other side of it was to go in, remove part of my colon and wear a colostomy bag and pretty much end my career.”
After getting a second opinion, Lesnar said he told White that he had to have surgery. Lesnar: “I didn’t want to. If I could beat the odds, I was going to do everything in my power to do that. I had another checkup after the first of the year. I went home, I went back in the gym. I got my weight back up. I put about 30 pounds back on. I went back into the doctor January 5, and a miracle. … They couldn’t find any signs of any problem in my stomach.”
When asked when Lesnar would return to the octagon, White said the winner of the Shane Carwin-Frank Mir fight in March would face Lesnar “this summer” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 1/20)… (Sports Business Daily)
UFC exclusive: Abu Dhabi a goer with Penn Silva Hughes and Gracie
Marshall Zelaznik, UFC’s managing director of International Expansion, said: “We’re going to have a big press conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, with our new partners from the region, Flash. Lorenzo [Fertitta] and myself will be there with some of the biggest names on the UFC roster. I don’t want to give away the official announcement but it will be a unique showand not just because the card will be as good as any in UFC history.”
That suggests BJ Penn v Frankie Edgar, Anderson Silva v Vitor Belfort, and Matt Hughes v Renzo Gracie are likely to be the top three fights on the event, arguably the best line-up since UFC 100 in Las Vegas in July 2009… (Telegraph)
Kizer welcomes Strikeforce to Las Vegas, though April date “not very likely”
The only problem? Strikeforce has yet to apply for a promoter’s license in the state of Nevada.
Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Strikeforce asked for an application in late 2009, but he has yet to see a completed form. And with just three months until the proposed event, Kizer said getting the deal done in time “would be very, very difficult.”
“[Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker] has not applied for a date request of any sort for April or any other time in Nevada, and I’m sure he’s well aware of the fact that he would need to get a license before he even asks for a date,” Kizer said. “I was very pleased to see that they had asked for an application about two months ago, and we look forward to seeing Strikeforce here, and if the commission says yes, we’d very much look forward to having a Strikeforce card here. But April would be very, very difficult.”… (MMAJunkie)
Zelaznik on the UFC’s Expansion
Sherdog.com: How has the event been received there since the announcement was made?
Zelaznik: It’s been incredible. You never really know how successful a new territory will be, but we have been blown away by our final analysis. The event sold out in a day. It would have been the fastest-selling event in the companies history, but we held some back from the pre-sale. It’s currently the second fastest-selling event in UFC history. People are travelling from all over to see it. Half of the tickets sold have been to fans outside of the New South Wales area. In fact, the event sold out so quickly that for the first time ever for an international event we are arranging a close-circuit experience for fans without tickets. It will be in the ballroom at the Acer Arena, which holds around 800 people. Tickets will go on sale for around $50, and were looking to have a few significant [fighters] make the trip and hold a Q&A with the fans…
Sherdog.com: How close are you to confirming a date for the show in Abu Dhabi?
Zelaznik: We’re pretty close, but these things take a lot of time and we don’t like announcing anything until all the papers and fighters have been signed. But, as I said, I was there for three days last week and we are working to deliver the show in April…
Sherdog.com: Outside of Australia and Abu Dhabi, do you have any idea where you will take the promotion next?
Zelaznik: I don’t know. We’re kicking around with the possibility of doing a show in Italy. We are working on a few TV deals over there, and the prospect of putting on a Scandinavian show is also a possibility. The sport is really popular in that part of the world, and it is definitely something that we would like to explore …(Sherdog)
Survivor’s Mark Burnett invests in King of the Cage, secures deal with HDNet for 2010
FiveOuncesofPain.com has recently been able to learn from sources close to the situation that reality television kingpin, Mark Burnett, has invested in King of the Cage, and through this recent founded partnership the company has managed to secure a broadcast deal with HDNet Fights for the year of 2010.
Sources close to the agreement have indicated to 5 Oz. that the promotion’s founder and current majority owner, Terry Trebilcock, still has a controlling interest in the company.
FiveOuncesofPain.com has also been able to learn that the debut of King the Cage on HDNet in 2010 will kick off with a show targeted for March 26 from Reno, Nevada… (Five Ounces of Pain)
[MMAPayout contacted HDNet regarding the news and was notified that there was no official announcement just yet.]FCC to force cable operators to share sports channels
The cable industry could face more competition from phone and satellite rivals after federal regulators voted to close a loophole giving operators such as Comcast Corp. exclusive rights to certain sports channels.
The decision mainly covers the Philadelphia television market, but San Diego, New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut and North Carolina could also be affected by the ruling.
Comcast has denied DirecTV and Dish Network access to the company’s SportsNet Philadephia channel, which airs professional games of the baseball Phillies, basketball 76ers and hockey Flyers. Comcast could lose thousands of customers to rivals if the FCC ruling withstands legal challenge.
“For years, the so-called ‘terrestrial loophole’ has allowed Comcast to maintain a virtual lock on sports fans in greater Philadelphia,” analyst Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research wrote in a note… (Market Watch)
QUICK HITS
- Lesnar to Return, Face Winner of Carwin-Mir (MMAPayout Perspective)
- UFC champ Brock Lesnar says Canadian health care like ‘a Third World country’ (Vancouver Sun)
- Details on Pacquiao-Clottey Emerge (MMAPayout Perspective)
- Strikeforce Women’s Tourneys Launch in April (Sherdog)
- Prangley-Amoussou Top Strikeforce Challengers Return Feb. 26 (Sherdog)
- KAUFMAN VS. HASHI for 135-Pound Women’s (Strikeforce) Title (MMAWeekly)
- “Strikeforce: Miami” Media Conference Call Recap (Heavy)
- Wisconsin Assembly Approves Regulation of Mixed Martial Arts (Journal Sentinel)
- Gina Carano is the 68th Most Desirable Woman in the World (AskMen)
- Fistic Medicine: The Biophysics of Taking a Punch (Sherdog)
- Readers split over co-promotion (Sports Illustrated)
- Georges St-Pierre: I’m Not Good Enough for the Olympics Right Now (MMAFighting)
- Dream champ Zaromskis draws energy from flamboyance (USA Today)
- Smokin’ Joey Villasenor signs new four-fight deal with Strikeforce (MMAMania)
- Exclusive: Shine Fights 3 pushed back to April, will air as televised Pay-Per-View (Five Ounces of Pain)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“During the darkest days of UFC history, when its existence was hanging by a thread in 1998-99, Frank [Shamrock], as middleweight champion, was the company’s biggest star. Later, Frank, from his ability to promote fights also garnered from years of studying pro wrestling, was instrumental to the beginnings and the early success of the Strikeforce promotion…
Frank, who became the head coach while Ken was wrestling, saw his career go nowhere. He moved with a girlfriend at the time to San Jose, and it was that move that led to San Jose becoming one of the MMA capitals of the world. He started up MMA training at the American Kickboxing Academy, which became one of the world’s most well-known camps, although he later went his own way and is no longer involved with the group. He was also instrumental in Strikeforce moving from being a kickboxing promotion to MMA in 2006, headlined the biggest shows in San Jose which in many ways opened the door for Strikeforce to become the No. 2 promotion in the U.S.” … (Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer)
TV LISTINGS
- HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (Asian GP 2008) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (01/22/10)
- InsideMMA (Ed Soares, Jose Aldo, Jon Fitch, & Randy Couture) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (01/22/10)
- HDNet Fights Presents Best of 2009 K-1 World MAX at 10 PM ET on HDNet (01/22/10)
- Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (01/22/10)
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Abu Dhabi show is scheduled to be the first outdoor event in UFC history, as there is no suitable indoor arena for such an event. – Meltzer
You have to wonder if the weather/heat will have some impact on the fighters or event here…