Welcome to this edition of MMAterial Facts, where we feature articles from around the MMA community.
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This week’s MMAterial Facts:
– UFC Japan Will Be PPV Event; Doubleheader Plans Abandoned (MMA Fighting)
“The UFC’s long-awaited return to Japan on Feb. 26, 2012 will be a full pay-per-view level event, sources have confirmed to MMA Fighting as initially reported by Dave Meltzer. Zuffa has thus abandoned its controversial plan to have the UFC Japan event act as a free-to-air lead-in to a Las Vegas PPV event.”
– Bjorn Rebney: Viacom buying Bellator is a major statement about MMA’s future (Fight Opinion)
“It speaks volume to the strength of what I believe is the greatest sport on the face of the Earth. And, you know, we’re going to be transitioning to Spike in 2013. In the interim, we’ll be building out the brand and increasing and improving every element of what we do on MTV2 and EPIX & Spike.com. It just gives us an incredible opportunity to work with really smart people who understand our sport backward and forward to build this out and to continue to build traction around our tournament format, our objectivity and some of the greatest fighters on the face of the Earth. So, it gives us every tool to build this out for many, many, many years to come.”
– Interview with Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren (MMA Mania)
“Yeah he was a national champion in junior college but Jay [Hieron] is significantly overrating his wrestling ability. What you have to realize is that people who win national junior college tournaments, I pin them in 30 seconds. That’s no big deal. I mean, even at the highest, highest level at the NCAA tournament my senior year, in five matches I probably got 40 takedowns and that’s against the best of the best of the best guys in the United States in wrestling and Jay was never on that level”
– Dana White Talks UFC 137, Strikeforce, Viacom, Plus Other News & Notes (MMA Convert)
“Dana White announced at the beginning of the press conference that they have hired MMA Live anchor Jon Anik away from ESPN to commentate on the FX and TUF broadcasts. Anik will also have a role in other programming. MMA Weekly is reporting that Anik has signed a three-year deal with the UFC. Dana White said they’ll be working him so much, he’ll regret leaving ESPN.”
– Thailand Floods – A Setback for MMA? (MiddleEasy)
“Thailand has recently joined the mixed martial arts foray, really hitting the ground running in 2011. The sport was slow to get going in Thailand where a majority of the combat sports fans are more apt to enjoy Thai boxing than mixed martial arts, regardless of the fact that it is part of the “mixed” in MMA. As new players have arrived, the sport is beginning to catch on. DareFC, the biggest player in Thailand has enjoyed the early successes of mixed martial arts, showcasing some of the regions talented strikers and grapplers. Their business model is very unique, although one that works very well for the region.”
– Nelson Getting A Little Help From His Friends (NBC Sports MMA)
“Nelson told NBCSports.com that this isn’t the first time the casual friends have trained together — Nelson said he helped Mir prepare for a few fights “three-to-four years ago” — but this is the first time Nelson has called upon Mir for a training camp”
– Video Timeline: MMA’s Greatest Techniques of the Year, 1993-2011 (Cage Potato)
“Over the last two decades, MMA has evolved so consistently that fighters are still finding new and unexpected ways to destroy their opponents — while causing fans to spit their beers in shock. We decided to take a lil’ spin through MMA history and identify the single most awe-inspiring technique from each year since the sport’s modern inception.”
– UFC on FOX prelims to air online (Five Ounces of Pain)
“Everyone wanted to see the lightweight showdown between Ben Henderson and Clay Guida on November 12 and now they’ll be able to. No, the bout won’t air live on FOX prior to the heavyweight main event, but the entire UFC on FOX preliminary card will air online on Facebook.com and Fox.com.”
– Jake Shields Signs with Authentic Sports Management (5thRound)
“This was a big decision for me, I took my time looking for the right management and I found it in Glenn Robinson and Authentic Sports Management,” said Shields. “ASM feels like a family environment. It has good people who are working hard, and he seems to really care about the fighters.”
– Akira Corassani – Behind The Screen (Exclusive Interview) (LowKick)
“Few days before Nick Diaz and BJ Penn square off inside the Octagon, TUF 14 bad boy Hamid “Akira” Corassani stops by for an exclusive interview with LowKick.com. Corassani currently entertains the Mixed Martial Arts fans around in his SpikeTV-documented quest for contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, representing Team Bisping somewhere in Nevada’s deserts (I don’t really know where the TUF Gym is).”
– Jim Genia on NY Underground MMA scene (TheFightNerd)
“New York doesn’t allow MMA right now, so fighters have to go to New Jersey to fight where its sanctioned or they have to go underground in New York city… but the book isn’t just about the underground fight scene in New York, it’s also about the development of sanctioned MMA in the east coast… In New Jersey, tehre was a show called BAMA Fight Night run by Big Dan Miragliotta. His show was the only show for the longest time, there weren’t sanctioned events in the North East, so Big Dan would hold these shows and people like Matt Serra, Nick Serra, Phil Baroni, they had their first fights at these events.”
– Dana White: There Is a Chance That Strikeforce Lives (BleacherReport.com/MMA)
“I met with Showtime yesterday, and I had a great meeting with them,” White told Helwani. “I’m jumping in. The way that it works, and I’ve explained this before, is that Lorenzo and I divide and conquer. We’re both so busy. We’re working on so much stuff and I think sort of to get this deal moving, you needed the kinder, gentler side of the UFC in there. Now, I am going to go in there and close it.”
Good stuff Jose.
Thanks for reading Jack!