- UFC and Strikeforce Gearing for 4/17 Collision
- DirecTV deal report ‘not true’ according to Versus
- Canadian Update: MFC Event Canceled, Kaufman Celebrated, Armageddon FC Lands TV Deal
- Coker: Relationship with M-1 Global strong, Emelianenko news expected “in a couple of days”
- Herschel Walker’s network static
- UFC Helping State with Census Count
UFC and Strikeforce Gearing for 4/17 Collision
Dana White confirmed today that UFC is running a show on April 17th, head-to-head with the announced Strikeforce show on CBS. The event would air most likely on Spike TV. The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event. The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick semifinal fight today.
There had been talk of a possibility that if UFC scheduled a show on that date, CBS may move the Strikefroce show to April 24th, which would go head-to-head with the WEC PPV in Sacramento. (F4WOnline)
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MMA on CBS
After officially announcing April 17 as the return for MMA on CBS, sources tell SI.com that CBS is willing to move the card back a week if, as rumored, the UFC decides to move ahead with counter-programing. That would put Strikeforce in direct competition with Zuffa’s first attempt at selling WEC on pay-per-view, and likely signal the commencement of major ground operations between the promotional companies.
It was initially thought that production of an April 24 MMA card on CBS was unlikely since the Showtime broadcast crew, led by producer David Dinkins Jr., was handling duties for the second round of the premium network’s Super Six 168-pound boxing tournament that night. But Kelly Kahl, the senior executive vice president of CBS prime time, told SI.com that it as his impression “things were fluid” regarding the production dates, though he didn’t know for certain. (Sports Illustrated)
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RUMOR: CBS Radio personality Carmichael Dave adds to the Strikeforce vs UFC rumors: James Toney will make his MMA debut April 17th against Kimbo Slice at Vanderbilt Arena in Tennessee. Mike Swick will fight Matt Serra in the main event. The fight would air on Spike TV, according to the rumor.
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MMAPayout Note: SI writer Josh Gross tweets: “Paraphrasing what someone in the know just told me: UFC going against Strikeforce is the best PR CBS can have. Sounds right.” (Josh Gross)
DirecTV deal report ‘not true’ according to Versus
Apparently, there’s been another one today, as MMA blog Cage Potato (via SB Nation) reported that the two sides were going to quietly end their mess just in time for fight fans:
” Sources close to the situation tell CagePotato that the dispute will come quietly to an end next week, with DirecTV subscribers once again able to purchase Versus as part of a special sports tier. While it won’t come in time for this weekend’s WEC card, MMA fans with DirecTV should have the opportunity to purchase the channel by the time the UFC runs its first event on the network later this month.”
A source with Versus with knowledge of the negotiations told us that the report is “not true” and that “nothing is imminent.” The source told us that our report from last month stands today: “At this time, we are not optimistic that an agreement will be in place with DirecTV in time for the start of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.”
That said, the sense we get is that the negotiations are ongoing and that a deal could materialize quickly. Does that mean Versus will agree to a “special sports tier” to get back on DirecTV? Unlikely. Does that mean this dispute will end “quietly” at some point? Very unlikely, considering the level of rancor here. Does that mean we could still see the NHL on Versus on DirecTV in time of the playoffs? We remain optimistic. (Yahoo! Sports)
Canadian Update: MFC Event Canceled, Kaufman Celebrated, Armageddon FC Lands TV Deal
MFC cancels fight card after Edmonton venue operators pull rug out from MMA promotion
Maximum Fighting Championships owner and president Mark Pavelich originally booked the Winspear for Friday, April 9, but the concert hall’s management later backed out. They told Pavelich the booking was a mistake because the Winspear doesn’t host sporting events.
“At the beginning we said, we’ll find a (different) venue real quick,” Pavelich said in an interview. “But there’s four, five factors we have to match up.”
Pavelich struggled to find a different venue, but has secured the Edmonton Expo Centre (formerly Northlands AgriCom) for a different fight on Friday, May 7. Tickets go on sale Monday through MFC and Ticketmaster.
Pavelich remains angry about how the Winspear handled the situation. “There’s not a Tylenol pill on the planet big enough to cure me of the headache they’ve caused me,” he said.
By cancelling the April event, Pavelich said he has lost $500,000 in corporate sponsorship, breach-of-contract fees and printing costs. He hasn’t filed a lawsuit but has asked the Winspear to cough up the money he’s lost.
“I want them to pay for my damages and them I’m OK,” he said. “I don’t want to sue anyone. And you know what would be nice: a sincere sorry.” (Vancouver Sun)
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A long time coming, Zuma’s Kaufman grabs world MMA title
She’s come a long way since training as a teenage dancer at a studio in University Heights mall.
Last Friday (Feb. 26), in front of a crowd of 2,322 at San Jose’s Civic Auditorium, professional mixed martial arts star Sarah Kaufman (11-0) became the first Strikeforce women’s welterweight (135 pounds) champion.
“It’s the biggest platform for women in the world and it’s the biggest title for my weight category, so I’m really happy to have that now.”
Kaufman, 24, won a five-round, unanimous decision over Japan’s Takayo Hashi (12-2) in the Strikeforce Challengers main event.
On paper, Hashi was ranked the No. 2 contender to Kaufman, long considered by many in the MMA industry as the world’s No. 1 female MMA fighter for her weight class.
“The fight itself wasn’t the most physical or challenging that I’ve had,” Kaufman said. “I really felt like my prep was similar to my previous fights but knowing this was a big moment for women’s MMA and my shot for the title I felt the need to have a good showing.” (BC Local News)
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Victoria’s Armageddon FC lands national MMA TV deal
Promoters of a cage fighting event at Langford’s Bear Mountain Arena on March 6 have signed a deal with The Fight Network to have the mixed-martial arts bout broadcast across Canada.
Armageddon Fighting Championships partner Jason Heit said the 15-fight event — AFCII: Aftershock — will be taped and likely aired two weeks later. The Fight Network has 1.6 million subscribers through cable and satellite carriers in Canada.
The national TV exposure is a major coup for Heit and partner Darren Owen, who drew about 2,000 fans to their first event last August in Langford after the controversial cage fighting event was spurned by the city of Victoria and the local athletic commission. Although it is considered one of the world’s fastest growing sports and popular with the twentysomething demographic, the fights have been criticized as being brutal and promoting violence. Mixed martial arts is banned in many cities across Canada, including Vancouver.
“It’s been three years of hard work, so we’re pretty excited about this,” said Heit.
HDNET, another specialty channel covering wrestling and extreme fighting, will also be on location at Bear Mountain Arena to film its weekly program, Inside Mixed Martial Arts, and capture highlights. (Vancouver Sun)
Coker: Relationship with M-1 Global strong, Emelianenko news expected “in a couple of days”
“I can tell you this: we’ve been having really good dialogue with M-1 Global and (M-1 Global president) Vadim Finkelchtein, and I think we’re in the final stages of buttoning everything up to make that happen again,” Coker said. “I think we’ll have an announcement soon on that, but I feel very confident we’ll be promoting Fedor here in the near future.” … “We’re at the 11th hour of getting this done, and I think in a couple of days we’ll have something to announce.”
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So it appears Strikeforce may be involved in another Emelianenko fight sooner rather than later. And perhaps most importantly for those vested in the future of the California-based promotion, Coker said the financial success of Strikeforce does not rest on the shoulders of “The Last Emperor.”
“Our company is not built off of one athlete,” Coker said. “Our company, we have some amazing athletes on our roster now, and we’ve got some of the best fighters in the world. I think they can compete against anybody. Fedor is an amazing athlete. I’ve followed his career for many years. Fedor is Fedor, and he’s an amazing asset, but our company is not built financially off of just one guy.
“Believe me, my guys are very smart about building a model that works for us and works for M-1 Global. I think that we’re at that point where that had to be looked at. We looked at it. We’re not going to put all of our eggs into one basket and roll the dice with one guy. We’re built for longevity. This is not a sprint; this is going to be a long-distance race.” (MMAJunkie)
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Vadim Finkelstein clears the air on Mousasi leaving M1 and Fedor’s contract negotiations
The problem isn’t there. The fight will take place. We’re planning on showing the bout in over 100 countries. For all of that to go smoothly we had to postpone the event. Unfortunately I do not know the date yet. It’s most likely going to be in early May. The bout is also postponed because of some other contract issues. Obviously there are always disagreements and technical questions, but everybody deals with those. (MiddleEasy)
Herschel Walker’s network static
Walker’s absence takes the show’s narrative in a different direction: Without a mass-media hook, ratings will depend almost exclusively on the appetite for solid fights between anonymous (to network viewers) athletes on over-the-air television. Shinya Aoki, Gilbert Melendez and Gegard Mousasi are all capable and intriguing fighters, but they have none of the resonance that an ex-NFL player or a Russian bruiser would for viewers torn between free fights or a repeat of “Spider-Man 3.” These are not facts that thrill me, but they are what they are.
The dark horse of this predicament is Dan Henderson, who has gotten several positive audience pops in recent months at Strikeforce events and is coming off a sensationally hyped performance at UFC 100. Certainly a portion of that show’s 1.5 million pay-per-view households will remember Henderson annihilating Michael Bisping and tune in to see what he attempts to obliterate next.
Unlike the UFC, which can sell low-watt cards based solely on that acronym, competing promotional entities are heavily reliant on personalities. When Kimbo Slice skipped EliteXC’s second CBS telecast, ratings went down 40 percent from the inaugural installment. Aoki talking trash in Japanese is probably not going to burn up the Nielsen boxes. (ESPN)
UFC Helping State with Census Count
The Ultimate Fighting Championship and Nevada’s secretary of state are teaming for a different kind of fight: The 2010 census.
Wednesday afternoon at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in downtown Las Vegas, Secretary of State Ross Miller announced a partnership between Nevada and the UFC to promote awareness for the upcoming census.
“UFC is Nevada’s sports franchise,” Miller said. “And they are the best partner you could have when trying to accomplish something as significant as this.”
During the press conference, Miller unveiled the state’s advertising campaign, which heavily targets the 18- to 30-year-old demographic, one that has shown to be less likely to fill out the forms.
“It’s hard to overstate the important of the census to Nevada,” Miller said.
According to Miller, completing the 2010 census means about $917 of federal funding per person each year, which translates to almost $10,000 a person over the 10-year time period.
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“Obviously anything in Nevada is UFC territory,” Griffin said. “We take it that way and the more funding for Nevada, the more for the UFC.” (Las Vegas Sun)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You won’t see a Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me,” White said Tuesday. “I don’t want to say anything bad about Roy Jones, I like Roy Jones and was a fan of his, but he mattered like fifteen years ago. He’s not anywhere near the best boxer in the world. He must’ve spent all his money.”
…”I could do it, make it huge, make money, but I could have done a fight like this when we were bleeding money [in the early 2000s],” White said. “The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don’t do that because we love the sport. That’s a Pride or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do.” (Dana White on signing Roy Jones Jr. in 2009, CBS Sports)
VIDEO OF THE DAY
- MMA Live: 3-4-10: Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker checks in to talk about a number of recent fight announcements. Also, a complete preview of WEC 47. And UFC heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee makes his MMA Live debut.
QUICK HITS
- Wand Finds Bisping Victory ‘Tasty,’ Eyes Akiyama Next (Sherdog)
- Strikeforce Challengers VI peaks with nearly 200,000 viewers for main event (MMAJunkie)
- WEC 47 attendance could top out at about 8,500, top-five mark possible (MMAJunkie)
- “Kimbo Slice” manager welcomes James Toney fight but says nothing currently in works (MMAJunkie)
- Past Mistakes May Hurt Toney’s License Bid (MMAFighting)
- Coker: ‘Last-Minute Details’ Stalled Fedor Fight (MMAFighting)
- COUTURE, KIMBO, FORREST? WHO’S FIRST FOR TONEY? (MMAWeekly)
- UPDATE: WEC TO CALGARY IN JUNE, DATE NOT A LOCK (MMAWeekly)
- Baseball player Jayson Werth also beard-owner and MMA promoter (Cage Writer)
- Video: Bowles, Cruz, Torres and Benavidez Spar at WEC 47 Open Workouts (Heavy)
- James Toney For Dummies (FiveOuncesOfPain)
TV LISTINGS
- HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (2008 K-1 World Max) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (03/05/10)
- InsideMMA (Matyushenko, Renzo Gracie) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (03/05/10)
- HDNet Fights Presents Furious Finishes IV, at 10 PM ET on HDNet (03/05/10)
- Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (03/05/10)
- WEC 47: Bowles vs Cruz on at 10 PM ET on Versus (03/06/10)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- 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)
Wow, let the games begin. I’ve been a proponent of CBS on the 24th of April for some time. CBS and Strikeforce really need to start changing their mentality. If they are truly in it for the long haul, they have a big fight ahead of them.
Strikeforce should move their event to April 24th. They need to do this for two reasons:
1. NOT risking a head to head with the UFC. Way to early for that.
2. Take some potential buys away from the WEC. There will only be room for 2 MMA orgs in the PPV arena. If Strikeforce is serious about going PPV, they need to ensure that WEC never tries it again and that this event fails.
UFC has a huge upper hand and it will be interesting going forward to see how it all plays out.
mmaguru:
I think the problem lies in Showtime promoting two combat sports, Boxing and MMA. They have to worry about HBO counter-programming their boxing cards, which they did on the 17th, and they have to now worry about the UFC counter-programming their Strikeforce events. Definitely tough to accommodate to this schedule.
I agree though, they should have scheduled it for the 24th if anyway possible.
If Strike Force would have started small and built a foundation before trying to compete with Zuffa then they wouldnt have this problem. Strike force dont have their own fan base. The run events hoping the UFC dont counter them because they are trying to piggyback off the UFC fanbase. If you start small and build slowly and build your fan base then they will choose you regardless of what the UFC does.
This is why the UFC counters and why i love every minute of it. You didnt see the UFC trying to counter program Pride did you? Thats because Pride didnt try to piggy back. They had their own fanbase in the US even though it was small. They ran 2 events here in Zuffa’s home turf of Vegas. The UFC knew that countering them would not have an effect because the people who went to Prides event were die hard Pride fans and the wouldnt have stolen them. 2 different fan bases.
SF and XC all tried to steal the UFC fanbase and the UFC put of a fight. Rightfully so.
Brain Smasher,
Strikeforce did start small and was praised by everyone, including Dana White for what all other promotions should try to be and how they help MMA grow (referring to EliteXC and Affliction as examples of what not to do). Strikeforce has a huge fan base in Northern California (specially the Bay Area), where they continue to run successful shows there with little overhead due to being owners of the HP Pavilion.
On your other point, there are many reasons why the UFC didn’t counter PRIDE that it’s pretty nuts why anyone would bring that up.
1) Pride and the UFC are on completely different markets, time zones, fan bases, etc.
2) PRIDE was the #1 promotion at the time, and Zuffa even co-promoted the event where they sent over Chuck to fight in their GP, where Dana White himself attended.
3) When PRIDE came over to the states, they were looking for a buyer, and Dana and the Fertittas were huge fans of the product and even attended the events. Eventually, they ended up buying PRIDE.
Strikeforce did start small but that was only for a couple years. I mean gradually build themselves. Being popular in San Jose because you have Frank and Cung Le then going global with some finacial backers isnt slowly building yourself. Like KOTC but with more focus on growing and not staying the same like KOTC. Onver the years KOTC build a very well known name. They just never tried to expand past a D level event.
#1 reason is meaningless becauwse i was refering to just the Pride Vegas shows. So demo, market, time zone were all the same. Pride did have their own nitch following which was the point i was making. They didnt try to piggyback UFC success so the UFC didnt counter.
#2. Sending Chuck liddel over to fight in Pride is not what i call co-promotion. If you have some documented proof there was copromotion i would like to see it. I highly doubt Zuffa was split production cost of that event or advertising cost of a show in japan that noone saw in the states. Also Pride wasnt #1. That is opinion. In the US where Pride ran 2 cards the UFC was #1. Any fan opinion of who was better has nothing to do with wether the UFC would counter them or not.
#3. The UFC were interested but not serious at the time. The guy everyone though was going to get Pride was Ed Fishman. I hihgly doubt the UFC didnt counter because they were going to buy Pride. Dana himself said buying Pride was a last minute thing. Also even if they did want to buy Pride what would that have to do with countering them and making sure they werent successful?
BTW Dana was in japan because Chuck represented his company and also because he made a belt with Pride president for 100K that Chuck would beat Wandy if they fought. But Chuck didnt make the finals. That doesnt suggest copromoting.
Brain Smasher,
You are correct to bring up KOTC and Bellator. KOTC has been doing this forever and have done shows all over the world. Just recently signed an HDNet deal, and is starting to expand. Once Bellator or KOTC get to that “next level” where they jump from regional promotion, people will criticize them the same way. That’s the way things go when you enter a market place with an undisputed leader.
Does KOTC have a fan base since they have been promoting shows for the past 12 years or so? It helps in terms of experience and building promoting knowledge but I don’t expect to see a huge fan base for any regional promotion crossing over to the big stage. Strikeforce was already promoting combat sports since the 80’s and has promoted MMA for the past 4 years, so its not like they just jumped into this out of nowhere like Affliction did or from a Boxing model like EliteXC did.
Im not saying SF is inexperienced. But to answer your question about KOTC. Yes they do have a fanbase. They have ran hundreds of shows in areas that the UFC would never go. They have been the first live show for thousands of fans. If they started to make a run for the next level then they would have a lot working for them. If given a tv deal there are many more people who would be interested in them because of their past exposure to the brand. Yes people would be against them but they would also have a very large group of hardcores more so that SF. This is just an example. I dont think currently KOTC could make that jump because so far nealry all their events have been to poor quality. I think they would have to fix a lot of the budget issues that cause this and run for a few years before making a serious run.
SF started at the grass roots but only in 1 city. KOTC did the same thing but on a national and international level over a much longer period.