MMAterial Facts (02/24/10)

• Strikeforce April Event Details Leak
• Japanese Boxer, Tough Man Contestant Suffer Fatal Head Injuries
• More On UFC 110 International Ratings
• Alabama adopts MMA legislation
• MTV’s “Bully Beatdown,” host Jason Miller renewed for third season

Strikeforce April Event Details Leak

Tennessee Athletic Commission Executive Director Jeff Mullen told MMAjunkie.com that the promotion has yet to file an official request to hold the event in Nashville, but multiple sources close to the promotion insisted Strikeforce was leaning increasingly in the direction of “Music City.”

Strikeforce officials declined to comment on the matter and insisted nothing had yet been finalized.

Should Strikeforce ultimately decide to hold the April 17 event in Nashville, Mullen said the organization has until March 18 to file an official request. All mixed martial arts events in Tennessee require a 30-day advance notice with the commission…

While MMAjunkie.com has been told Nashville is the likely destination for the April 17 event, additional sources have indicated Strikeforce is also still considering holding the event in its home base of San Jose, Calif., or perhaps traveling to the East Coast for a show in New Jersey.
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Additionally, while the unannounced April card has long been considered a lock for Strikeforce’s second-ever broadcast on CBS, the card may now wind up on Showtime.  (MMAJunkie)

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Details surrounding the date and place of Strikeforce’s next offering on CBS should be revealed by the end of the week, Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou told SI.com Monday night.

The San Jose, Calif.-based promotion is awaiting finalized dates from its television partners — CBS and Showtime — before announcing bouts, he said.

On Monday, newly appointed California State Athletic Commission executive officer George Dodd said Strikeforce expressed an interest in securing an April 24 date in the Golden State, meaning it could go heads-up against the first pay-per-view offering from UFC’s sister promotion, WEC.  (Sports Illustrated)

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Dan Henderson and Jake Shields have agreed to meet in Strikeforce with the middleweight title on the line in April. Shields confirmed the bout when speaking to MMAWeekly Radio on Tuesday night.

“It’s a go now. We finally worked it out a few days ago,” he said about the fight with Henderson. “It’s a done deal, it’s been agreed upon by both parties as far as I know, and I think it’s set to go.”

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“I have a date (and) venue, but they told me to hold that back,” said Shields. “Hopefully CBS. I think it’s CBS. There’s a slight possibility of Showtime because they’re still (working it out). I don’t know the rest of the card or any of that yet. But me and Dan’s on, and I’m hoping it’s on CBS.”(MMAWeekly)

Japanese Boxer, Tough Man Contestant Suffer Fatal Head Injuries

Japanese boxer Yamaki dies after suffering brain injury

Japanese boxer Hirokazu Yamaki died at a hospital Monday after sustaining a traumatic brain injury during a bout on the weekend in Tokyo, the Japan Boxing Commission said.

Yamaki, 26, suffered an acute subdural hematoma in his eighth-round knockout loss against Toshimasa Ouchi on Friday night at Korakuen Hall.

He remained unconscious after the fight and underwent emergency surgery at a Tokyo hospital to repair the brain damage… (Japan Today)

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Contestant Dies After Toughman Contest

A contestant in a “Toughman Contest” last weekend has passed away from head injuries he received during the fight.

A spokesman with the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City has confirmed Nathan Johnson, 23, died Tuesday afternoon. The Latta High School graduate suffered severe injuries to his head, including irreversible brain damage, according to a CarePages Web site updated by Johnson’s family.

“In all my years of doing this, I’ve never seen this happen at our venues,” said Farmer’s Public Market owner Burt McAnally who confirmed Johnson’s pregnant fiancé, his mother and his sister were all present at the fight Saturday night.

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His family and pregnant fiancé watched as EMSA medics and a doctor rushed to his side. Suffering from a traumatic brain injury, Johnson was taken from the ring to the OU Medical Center. There he laid in a coma until he passed away Tuesday.

Required by state law, paramedics are always on stand-by for these events.

The Toughman Contest requires its competitors to use protective head gear and gloves, but that doesn’t guarantee an injury-free fight, especially when there are a slew of punches to the head. (News 9)

More On UFC 110 International Ratings

Continuing from MMAPayout’s UFC 110 International Ratings Post:

One is the digital sports channel of Ch. 10, one of the market’s three major stations which dominate the airwaves the way the big three networks did in the U.S. in the 70s. The only people who get the channel are those with HD Digital tuners, which is about 30% of the country. The show was broken up into two blocks, the 2-4 p.m. block, which did 123,000 viewers, and the 4-5 p.m. block which did 122,000 viewers. UFC Wired (the syndicated version of the show similar to Unleashed), which airs on the station every Thursday, in recent weeks has done between 95,000 and 100,000 viewers…  The weekly UFC Wired is the highest rated of those shows and UFC 110 may have been the highest rated show on the station since a Formula One race in November.

The station was so happy with it that they are going to air the 3/21 show from Broomfield, CO, live and then replay it later that night in prime time. But Ch. One only averages a 0.6 rating. UFC 110 was the fourth most watched sports show of the day in the country, trailing a cricket match (1.25 million), Olympic coverage (Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer)

Alabama adopts MMA legislation

UFC president Dana White took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the news: Alabama is the latest U.S. state to adopt mixed-martial-arts legislation.

The MMA regulation actually comes less than a year after Alabama passed a bill to create a state boxing commission to oversee MMA’s sister sport.

The recently created Alabama Boxing Commission will be renamed the Alabama Athletic Commission and will now oversee pro and amateur MMA events in the state.

Rep. Spencer Collier (R-Irvington) introduced the bill earlier this month to the House Tourism and Travel Committee, which approved the measure. Rep. Gerald Allen (R-Cottondale), who introduced the boxing legislation in 2009, co-sponsored the MMA efforts.  (MMAJunkie)

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ALABAMA MMA SANCTIONING NEARING COMPLETION

UFC president Dana White on Tuesday posted to his Twitter account, “Sweet home Alabama just passed mma!!! One more down 4 more to go!!!”

While he has cause to be excited, mixed martial arts sanctioning in Alabama isn’t a done deal yet.

“The mixed martial arts legislation has passed both the Alabama House and the Senate. However, the two bills must now be reconciled before it can be sent to the governor’s desk. So we are about three-quarters of the way through the process,” Casey Sears, vice chairman of the Alabama Boxing Commission, told MMAWeekly.com.

“There are still some final hurdles, but it appears that the political support is there for this legislation to be signed into law before the end of the current session.” (MMAWeekly)

MTV’s “Bully Beatdown,” host Jason Miller renewed for third season

Jason “Mayhem” Miller’s popular MTV reality series, “Bully Beatdown,” will return for a third season later this year.

A source close to the TV show confirmed the renewal with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Tuesday.

While details about the third season are scarce, the source said Miller returns as the show’s host and that the pro-fighter-vs.-bully format will remain largely the same…

MTV has aired 16 “Bully Beatdown” episodes over two seasons, which ran from March to April and August to October of 2009.  (MMAJunkie)

VIDEO OF THE DAY

• UFC 111 Trailer: Two world titles will be on the line for the first time in 2010 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for UFC 111: St-Pierre vs Hardy. UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has been unstoppable since regaining the title in 2008, and he aims on extending his reign and his six fight winning streak against British bomber Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy, who is unbeaten in the UFC and fresh off wins over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick… Also, former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir will attempt to make history when he squares off against number one contender Shane Carwin in a clash of the titans that will leave the winner with the interim UFC heavyweight championship belt. UFC 111 – Saturday, March 27th, live on Pay-Per-View from Newark, New Jersey.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

”They’ve said some things and done some things that I don’t agree with. That’s not the way I do  business. I am a loyal person, people take care of me and I take care of them. So I am done with the UFC, they cant ask any more favours from me, nothing. I just want to finish my contract and get out if there, do my own thing”  (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Fighters Only Magazine)

QUICK HITS

• SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED: SHIELDS VS. HENDO (MMAWeekly)
• Rampage “done with the UFC” (Fighters Only Magazine)
• Shine Fight III takes shape with Rua, Vitale, Thompson, Pamplona, Estima, others (MMAJunkie)
• Shine Fights 3: Ricardo Mayorga vs. Din Thomas Set for May 15 (MMAFighting)
• EliteXC “will be revived” (Fighters Only Magazine)
• Torres-Volkmann Added to UFC Fight Night 21 (Sherdog)
• Child’s Play (Sherdog)
• DREAM IS DONE, ALVAREZ FOCUSES ON BELLATOR (MMAWeekly)
• Get the memo to Shane: Carwin calls Mir ‘a terrible human being’ (Cage Writer)
• Luke Rockhold Continues the Climb in Strikeforce Middleweight Division (Heavy)
• Student of the Game Gilbert Melendez Looking to Fight Legends (Heavy)
• Bellator finalizes WW tourney roster with signing of Brett Cooper and Ryan Thomas (FiveOuncesOfPain)
• MMA pioneers meet boxing’s forebears (ESPN)

TV LISTINGS

• HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (Hari vs Bonjasky) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (02/26/10)
• InsideMMA (Dominick Cruz, Alan Belcher and Karen Darabedyan) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (02/26/10)
• HDNet Fights Presents The Featherweights, Vol. 2, at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/26/10)
• Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (02/26/10)
• Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs Hashi at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (02/26/10)
  

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs Hashi at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (02/26/10)
• WEC 47: Bowles vs Cruz on at 10 PM ET on Versus (03/06/10)
• HDNet Fights: Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 at TBD on HDNet (03/12/10)
• HDNet Fights: XFC X-Night of Champions at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/19/10)
• UFC on Versus: Vera vs Jones at 10 PM ET on Versus (3/21/10)
• HDNet Fights: King of the Cage – Legacy at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/26/10)
• Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs Mahe at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (03/26/10)
• UFC 111: GSP vs Hardy at 10 PM ET on PPV (03/27/10)
• UFN 21 : Florian vs Gomi at 10 PM ET on Spike (03/31/10)
• The Ultimate Fighter 11 Debut after UFN 21 on Spike (03/31/10)