« New K-1 12/31 Osaka Dome card | Home | Wednesday weekly notes »
Tuesday media notes
By Zach Arnold | December 26, 2006
- Link: Evan Tanner creates his own web site
- Vecernji List: Mirko will make an announcement next Monday regarding his fighting career in America
- The Eagle-Tribune (Massachusetts): Eric Bradley signs contract with Showtime for Elite XC 2/10 event
- Canadian Press (via SLAM! Sports): UFC looks to expand chokehold on MMA
- No Holds Barred (radio): Meet the New York Pitbulls of the IFL
- Jake Rossen: Holiday Letters
- UFC HP: Andrei Arlovski begins on the road back
- GBRing (Japanese): Choi Yong-Soo out, Satoru Suzuki in as Masato’s opponent
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
So Mirko announcement on Monday and the UFC on Saturday, if Crocop signed with the UFC wouldn’t Dana like to announce it live on UFC 66?
Yea IF he signed with UFC…wouldnt Dana liked to have announced it on Saturday….hmm gets ya thinking huh?
Or maybe this is just disinformation by Mirko, and it will be announced on Saturday.
Let’s just wait and see.
Given the interview Sakikabara just gave, I think Mirko’s departure is a done deal. It sounded like Sak was preparing the Japanese fans for some big names leaving.
CroCop is pretty stubborn, so if he wants to make an announcement on Monday, that’s what he’ll do, regardless of what Dana White would prefer.
Eh we shall see…I dont know, I still just cant see Fedor or Mirko in UFC…maybe its just one of those, “too good to be true” things…just like I never thought for one second Liddell/Silva was going to happen…maybe its just me.
Maybe for Mirko it means that if he did signed with UFC and Dana made the announcement on Saturday and he came out and talked a little bit….Then it could mean that on Monday he would get into more details about it in his accountment and such. *Shrugs* What do I know?
Eric Bradley in MMA is great news. Being a 3 time wrestling All American, and a National collegiate boxing champ, He is the nexy Danny Hodge.
Sorta MMA related…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1F10udeixLM&refer=home
World’s `Worst’ Visa System Scares Business Away From the U.S.
Japan has been tightening up their work visas for entertainers (based on suspicions of human tracking and prostitution) as well lately.
Why in the hell would any of you want to see world class fighters like Fedor or Mirko in an arena like the UFC that won’t let them fight to their full potential. Head kicks and knees to downed opponents are a part of both of those fighters arsenals, and fighting for the UFC would just limit what they can do.
It makes no sense to root for the most entertaining fighters on Earth to go to an organization that won’t let them use all their techniques.
AJAX Says:
“Why in the hell would any of you want to see world class fighters like Fedor or Mirko in an arena like the UFC that won’t let them fight to their full potential. Head kicks and knees to downed opponents are a part of both of those fighters arsenals, and fighting for the UFC would just limit what they can do.
It makes no sense to root for the most entertaining fighters on Earth to go to an organization that won’t let them use all their techniques.”
I agree 100%. Pride is more than just its fighters — it’s also its perfect rule system. Part of the reason UFC fights aren’t generally as exciting as Pride fights is that the UFC has some unfortunate rules.
Unfortunately, it looks like all this might be moot. I think the UFC is at the juggernaut stage right now.
I want to see more world class fighters in the UFC so they can give more exposure to the sport and help make it bigger. I couldn’t care less about the rule restrictions … Fedor in the UFC without soccer kicks is a million times better for the sport than Fedor in Bodogfight with soccer kicks.
I’ve seen good fights from Fedor and Cro Cop that didn’t involve soccer kicks or knees on the ground. They don’t need those to win fights; certainly not against some of the UFC fighters. I’m all for the UFC bringing in the best fighters they can.
I understand people wanting Cro Cop and Fedor to get more exposure to the U.S. audience, but I do think rules are important. No Fedor and Cro Cop don’t use a lot of soccer kicks and stomps, though both have used those techniques to great effect (Fedor against Gary Goodridge, Cro Cop against several opponents).
However, what about the Chute Boxe fighters? They have an entire style — and this is especially true of Shogun — that would really suffer without soccer kicks and stomps.
The most important rule, though, is knees to the head on the ground. Why do so many UFC fights end up with a wrestler laying in someone’s guard, throwing elbows? One big reason is that those being taken down can’t use the single best technique for dissuading the aggressive wrestler — knees to the head during the shoot (or following a sprawl).
Yes, great fighters like CC and Fedor can work around the limitations. But why should they have to?
DEDWYRE, did you just say Mirko and Fedor don’t need soccer kicks to win? Wow, are you sure you’re not some big time MMA analyst, because that was really profound! Obviously I’m in the minority here, but to me, the most exciting attacks in MMA are stomps and soccer kicks. Nothing ejects me from the couch to my feet like someone on their hands and knees getting blasted in the face by a kick. Its that brutality that makes me watch MMA.
Fighting in a cage and the use of elbows are just as unappealing to me as the lack of head kicking. I’m afraid if Fedor fights in UFC he’ll just shove people against the cage and pummel them until the ref stops it. I think fighitng under the current rules used by UFC would make his fights less exciting.
CroCop wouldn’t suffer too much because he’ll still be able to high kick opponents into unconciousness. But Cop has used knees to the head against the takedown.
The cage and the unified rules greatly favor the wrestler. Hopefully knees and kicks to a downed opponent are allowed soon.
Check out the sweatshirt Mirko is wearing in today’s issue of Vecernji List:
http://www.vecernji-list.hr/newsroom/sports/more/706217/index.do
That depends if someone steps up and becomes competition to UFC, because right now it’s state-by-state as far as rules. If UFC remains the one dominant player, then the unified rules will be the standard. However, if other groups come in and start using modified rules that are not the unified ones, then there’s a chance we could see elements of PRIDE rules in play.