UFC 73 conference call notes

Sam Caplan has some interesting notes from the UFC 73 conference call here

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DSE responds to Rampage's bribery accusations

for those who are unfamiliar with the story. Rampage Jackson recently stated that in his July 2001 fight with Kazushi Sakuraba he was offered a $2,000 bonus to lose by either submission or KO.

The U.S. arm of DSE has responded to those charges

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MMA Late Night Newsbits for 5/29

We'll take a quick glance at things before we head home.

All the links behind the cut.



IFL joins troops for Fleet Week

A preview of this Friday's Seattle event can be found here

Former UFC Heavyweight fighter
Marcio Pe De Pano Cruz to fight in IFL

Here's what to expect on IFL Battleground this monday:

You Will Submit! "IFL Battleground" Highlights League's Best Tap-Outs Monday On MyNetworkTV

Episode Looks Inside The Art Of Chokes And Holds

NEW YORK, May 29, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, takes a look at the
league’s top submissions and tap-out artists, in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, June 4, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). “IFL Battleground”
airs every Monday night on MyNetworkTV.

The show features full fights and highlights of IFL bouts which have ended via submission, and also includes demonstrations by “IFL Battleground” Co-Host
Bas Rutten and IFL athletes such as the Tokyo Sabres’ Antonio McKee (Long Beach, Calif.).

Additionally, the search for the next IFL Ring Girls continues, with audition footage of some contenders – and a few pretenders – from searches conducted
in New York and Los Angeles.

Some of the competitors seen in the episode include:

Lightweight John Gunderson (Houston/Medford, Ore.) of the Lions vs. Josh Odom (Tallahassee, Fla.) of the Razorclaws
Middleweight Benji Radach (Coconut Creek, Fla.) of the Anacondas vs. Brian Foster (Moreno Valley, Calif.) of the Razorclaws
Middleweight Jeremy Williams (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) of the Condors vs. Bristol Marunde (Sequim, Wash.) and Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Tokyo) of the Sabres
Middleweight Matt Horwich (Portland, Ore.) of the Wolfpack vs. Brent Beauparlant (Ottawa, Ontario) of the Dragons
Welterweight Jay Hieron (Las Vegas) of the Anacondas vs. Donnie Liles (Colorado Springs, Colo.) of the Razorclaws
Light Heavyweight Jamal Patterson (Hoboken, N.J.) of the Pitbulls vs. Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) of the Anacondas

Viewers can find their local MyNetworkTV affiliate at www.mynetworktv.com/local_stations.html.

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to
the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held
at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.

About the IFL

International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York, NY and offices
in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.

Seattle Tiger Sharks Light Heavyweight Allan Goes is ready for Friday's battle.

Dana White, when talking about the Pride sale and its fighters said We're going to have them all

UFC Explodes in Popularity

UFC 71 gives use yet another surprise

Rampage Jackson's trainer put together a masterful plan

MMA Knocks Out Boxing
NBC Sports

Kevin Iole looks at the rise of Rampage

Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle believe that the UFC Swings and Misses by scheduling the Sims-Thomas fight.

Could we see another Shamrock-Gracie fight?

I'm winding down, so I think that will be it for this evening.

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More on Pride Sale Finalization

You can read Dave Meltzer's update Here

It appears, as I started to suspect awhile ago that Pride could simply be absorbed into the UFC. Originally, it was said that they would be kept separate and Pride would continue to run in Japan. With Rua signing with UFC and Henderson challenging Jackson last night, I wondered if Pride would have any stars left and it appears that it will not. However, this is not set in stone and appearances can be deceiving so don't put it in the grave just yet.



However, if Pride is folded in to the UFC then here's what I think business could look like and probably should.

I think if the stable of fighters is large enough, business will not drag too badly provided they go the WWE route and hit international hard. UFC running shows in Japan and expanding further in to Europe popularizing the company would help offset the fall in domestic business that I fear is coming due to the influx of programming with the UFC name attached, not to mention other MMA groups like EXC, Bodog and IFL in the mix. It used to be that watching fights on U.S. TV was a novel concept but with UFC running more dates and with the WEC and other groups making it on to networks, it is now a common thing. Hence, why the ratings have leveled off to the degree that they have.

However, the fact they've appeared to give up on running Pride separately does mean that this is more like the WWF buyout of WCW. Of course, I think Pride run competently could've still meant something overseas but really nobody in UFC was real entrenched in the Japanese way of doing things so its more than reasonable to wonder if it would've been run competently.

Continue Reading!

Dana White: Pride Sale a Done Deal

This was apparently told to NBC sports before tonight's UFC 71 event. You can read the story here

I may take Sunday off from posting, but I've said that before and not done it so you'll probably have plenty to read.

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Pride Lightweight Grand Prix canceled

Taking a break from the coverage of some show, I can't remember what its called right now but will be back with more on it later. Anyway, in the break I've got news on the Lightweight Grand Prix. It seems that the tournament has been canceled This comes as no surprise to me, the Pride sale is a mix and despite reports on sherdog I've got a hunch and it is only a hunch that the deal isn't done.

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes 5/24

I warn you, this is probably the most massive post on MMA news in the history of this blog.

Take a tour around the MMA world with me. Eventually, there will be a CARE audio podcast for UFC 71 which was recorded last night. For the eventual written preview and to add your voice to the crowd, click here

Chuck Liddell fires back at boxers Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins.

I've got plenty more, but you'll have to click.



Sherdog.com sources say that the Pride Acquision has been finalized.

Randy Couture Steps Up to help troops.

Carmelo Marrero is ready for Wilson Gouveia and Light Heavyweight at UFC 71.

Ultimate Fighter ratings are flat at Midseason.

A report says that Pride Fighters are planning a class action lawsuit against Dreamstage Entertainment.

Welterweight Champion Matt Serra talks the Ultimate Fighter 6.

Mirko Cro Cop should return at UFC 75, Sept. 8 from London. Michael Bisping and Jess Liaudin are also expected to compete on that show.

In what I guess is a boxing tournament, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira took bronze in Spain.

Tim Sylvia is a Dancin' Fool

Josh Burkman is ready for the elite fighters at 170 LBS and given he's facing Karo Parisyan...he'd better be.

Andrei Arlovski has lost his title shot and he deserves it. Hey, at least he still has this

Kermit Sintron the man who answered Dana White's challenge to Floyd Mayweather to fight Sean Sherk has reportedly been offered a 3-fight deal with Elite XC.

Gina Carano joins Xtreme Couture.

Art of War 3 which was to take place June 30 on PPV has been postponed until August 18. Pedro Rizzo Vs. Jeff Monson is set to headline. Jeremy Horn and Jake Shields are set for undercard bouts.

It is time once again for Dear Don!

The IFL Playoff System may be more complicated than TNA's King of the Mountain.

Seattle Tiger Sharks Lightweight Shad Lierley has his sights set on undefeated L.A. Anacondas fighter Chris Horodecki.

A look back at IFL Chicago from this past weekend.

News and notes out of today's Observer News Update

--Dana White has a press conference this morning, mostly talking about the Sports Illustrated article and (he was beyond thrilled, saying he and Lorenzo
Fertitta walked all over New York holding the issue) as well as Saturday's show from Las Vegas. Among the key points:
*He is not interested in promoting a boxer vs. MMA fighter match because he knows what will happen, unless it's with a boxer the caliber of Floyd Mayweather.
Said he had never even heard of Cintron as a boxer and has no interest in him.
*He confirmed negotiations are back on with Kurt Angle. He said Angle tells him he's serious and if Angle is serious, he's interested. He said he doesn't
waste his time talking about deals that he thinks are going nowhere, but he also thought he had Angle once in the past.
*Said nothing new to report on HBO. But now he wants to control the production again, but still thinks a deal will be made
*Said in the end, they would finalize the Pride sale and promote shows in Japan. He said their business was a mess and it wasn't run as a business and it's
taking a lot of time to sort it out.
*There will be a major main event announced at the end of UFC 71. It will involve the Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson winner and a challenge that will
be issued for a dream match scenario. It will be the first so-called Super Bowl match (my words not his). At another point, White talked about Shogun Rua
being signed, but our impression is that it's another match. Doing the math, the opponent they are talking about is probably one of these three names--Wanderlei
Silva, Dan Henderson or Rua.
*When a reporter brought up Tito Ortiz thinking that since he's on Dana's bad side that he won't be getting a title match, he said, Tito was a pussy and
he needs to show up and fight Rashad Evans.
*He questioned Georges St. Pierre's mental toughness, saying he was so nervous backstage before the fight with Matt Serra. Said his physical ability is
second to none.
*Said he expects to run a live event in Mexico in early-to-mid 2008
*Said it was disgusting that New Jersey sanctioned the Ray Mercer vs. Kimbo Slice fight
*Ripped on Oscar de la Hoya as a promoter saying he should have loaded up the undercard, but respects him great for his ability to draw and said he expected
1.4 million to 1.65 million buys
*Said that before the Koscheck fight, that Diego Sanchez was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. At first he was planning on announcing his retirement before the
show, but further tests revealed he didn't have it, but they didn't know what it was. Said after the fight with Koscheck he was finally found to have had
a major staph infection, explaining his inability in the ring that night.
*On IFL, "It's a retarded concept."
*On Lesnar: "I'd love to have him."

On the 6/2 K-1 Dynamite USA show...Dave notes:

--We have nothing new confirmed regarding the status of the 6/2 Los Angeles Coliseum show. The belief from the K-1 side is that they expect an 11th hour
sanctioning and are proceeding as if the show is happening. Word on Kazushi Sakuraba should come today. According to sources close to the situation, Choi
Hong-man's medical condition is a tumor near the pituitary gland. FEG has told Tank Abbott, Ruben Villareal, James Thompson and Butterbean, who are all
represented to Valour Fighting, to be ready for a call. As of moments before this writing, they had made no indication which of the four they would pick,
and it is possible they have told others to be on standby. But they made the call at 4 a.m. last night to officially tell all of them to be ready.

Alex Marvez talks to Brock Lesnar

Injury Scraps Condit from First WEC Title Defense against Larson

May, 24, 2007
Thomas Gerbasi, WEC - It was announced today that due to an injury suffered in training camp, WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit has been forced to
withdraw from his June 3rd title defense against Brock Larson at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. A replacement opponent is currently
being sought to face Larson, and will be announced shortly.

Stepping up into the main event slot for the June 3rd card, which will air on the VERSUS network, is the WEC Featherweight Championship bout between Urijah
Faber and Chance Farrar.

WWW.WEC.TV

NBC Sports has a Q&A with Dana White

Dana White on the record

Team Liddell is blown away by the shape Chuck Liddell is in entering Saturday's fight.

Sherdog has a preview of UFC 71.

The Card for Fight Night 10 looks like this

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports has a piece bar room to brawling examining the road the Fertittas and Dana White went down that led them to purchase the UFC.

Chi Kong Lui asks if fighters should apologize for boring fights I see Chi Kong Lui, but I think, Hong Kong Phooey.

Long-time MMA Announcer and current IFL broadcaster Stephen Quadros weighs in on UFC 71.

David Mamet talks the MMA movie Redbelt in this fox news channel fight game video.

The prior 3 links come via Dave Doyle's MMA Blog for Fox Sports.

I think this will due for now, don't you?

Continue Reading!

MMANews.com's Sokoudjou interview

You can read Part 1 and Part 2

I eagerly await what is next for this guy. I am a true believer and it only took me 2 times of looking stupid to figure it out.

Continue Reading!

Dan Henderson: "I would love to fight Chuck Liddell"

details here

I love the fact that he's at least honest about why. It would make him the most money and do the most for his career. Of course before that can happen: Liddell needs to beat Rampage and the Fertittas need to figure out what they're doing with Pride. Neither of those things is a guarantee I might add.

Continue Reading!

Tito Ortiz speaks on current MMA scene.

A link and there is no truth to the rumor he quit half way through the interview and then blamed it on Dana White.

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MMA News and Notes

Matt Lindland gives thoughts on his fight with Fedor

More, lots more behind the cut.



Dana White Pride and its fighters and future and we discussed Dana White on the CARE show.

Dana White also speaks on UFC Matters

UFC.com looks at Andrei Arlovski-Fabricio Werdum and we looked at it on the show and talked about One of Arlovski's sponsors

The Matrix, Victor Valimaki reloads for Round 2

This is UFC's headline, not mine. Assuncao faces David Lee's Roth at UFC 70

Matt Grice Makes his UFC Debut

This is the biggest year of Mirko Cro Cop's life.

Next to get the profile look is David 'Seriously, stop calling me Gangrel' Heath

David Loiseau will compete on July 7 No, it won't be on UFC 73.

Following up on something hinted at the other day, it turns out that Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez won't compete in the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix. I thought it was an interesting rumor but didn't see that happening ever.

As UFC and HBO have reached a deal, it doesn't appear that Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan won't be calling those broadcasts.

Jamal Patterson looking to outwork the the competition in the IFL.

Steve Sievert has comments on the HBO Deal

Michael Coughlin previews UFC 70 for F4WOnline.com

Sherdog has a preview of Cage Rage 21

Edilberto Crocota is ready for his UFC debut

Another Cage Rage 21 article. Gary "Smiler" Turner is Smiling at the Beast we'll see if he's smiling when the fight is over.

I'm thinking its time to end this, you've got enough reading for now.

Continue Reading!

UFC and HBO reach deal, Inside the UFC to Return and more

Promoting UFC 70, Dana White and Mirko Cro Cop had a press conference earlier.

You can read all about it here including the news that HBO and UFC have reached a deal for UFC events to air on that channel.

Plus, news on a TV deal for Pride and the return of Inside the UFC and more.

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Early MMA Notes

Could the Pride Grand Prix be set for July 16?

Remember Leonard Garcia from UFC 69? he'll get another UFC fight and I've got 0 problem with this.

You can read the
Press Release for Shamrock-Baroni.

K-1 has set its card for April 28 in Hawaii.

I'll have more later, to lazy to look for more right now.

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A few UFC Notes to close a Sunday

Just going to do some quick ones.

Click behind the cut for the scoops.



UFCJunkie.com talks about a UFC show in Cincinnati, Ohio in October It would be headlined by Anderson Silva Vs. Rich Franklin regardless of whether Silva is still Middleweight champion at the time.

UFC 73 has apparently lost one bout but gained another this one involving Art's favorite fighter 'the Worm' Jamie Varner.

The Sherk-Florian bout was scheduled for UFC 73 according to MMAWeekly.com and now looks like it will join Randy Couture's first title defense as headliners on UFC 74 which is scheduled for 08/25.

We reported yesterday that the Pride Lightweight Grand Priex was postponed...well, were Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez tabbed to represent UFC in the event?

Here is a profile on Terry Etam who will face Matt Grice at UFC 70.

For the full card Click here also you can register and submit your picks for the event.

Lastly, Euan and I recorded an audio show today that was meant to be quick but ended up going 70 minutes.

We discussed the following topics:

• Black Machismo
  
• Melvin Guillard and Drug use in MMA
  
• UFC 45 and 59 as well as the Ultimate Iceman DVD
  
• The OC Times Message Board
  
• MLB Gameday Audio
  
• Breaking Lockdown news
  
• Whom we will and will not allow ourselves to be whored out to, and Euan's answer will shock you.

All that and much more. It could be posted on Monday but may wait until Tuesday.

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Saturday MMA News and Notes

The Pride Grand Priex which was scheduled to begin May 20 has been put on hold

Watch a pre-fight press video for Bodog. (premium membership required)

Here is a breakdown of IFL Battleground's ratings so far.

The Calgary Sun has a story talking up UFC coming to Canada in 2007.

Has the UFC finally found an opponent for Keith Jardine at UFC 71?

UFCJunkie.com has up an interview with Andrei Arlovsky

Kind of sparse, but that's no surprise for a Saturday.

Continue Reading!

Early Saturday MMA News and Notes

Time to run down a few articles of interest.

Go behind the cut for the good stuff.



David Avila of MSNBC notes that Matt Serra is on the rise in UFC after beating Georges St. Pierre and winning the Welterweight title.

NBC Sports has a video of Matt Serra's homecoming.

Next up, we get a Q&A with Joe Rogan from Hollywood.com

It is week 2 of Joe Lauzon's 'TUF' commentary and some good insite on the second show.

Speaking of episode 2, Noah Thomas talks about leaving the show.

Serene Thio of MSN notes that Underdogs reign supreme at UFC 69

Dennis Siver is looking for a welterweight war with Jess Liuadin at UFC 70. I've got a comment on this but will save it for the roundtable.

Fedor is ready to face Matt Lindland on Saturday's Bodog show. I don't know what time this starts, or how much it will cost only that I'm not ordering it.

Sherdog does actually preview of the event.

They also have an interview with Eric Pele regarding his fight with the other Emelianenko.

You can see the results of Friday's IFL event

According to GracieMag.com says that pride orphans are looking for new homes.

The site also looks at UFC 72 in Ireland.

UFCJunkie.com reports that Din Thomas will face up and coming lightweight Jeremy Stevens at UFC 71

I've done enough for now, back with more later.

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes

Phil Baroni has been arrested in Miami.

Oh, you bet there's more, just click continue reading.



Former Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes talks about last Saturday's UFC 69 event focusing on the 2 Welterweight bouts.

Want to train with Mirko Cro Cop? Well, you can Click here pay enough, and maybe your dream will come true.

The Fight Network has some news and notes from around the MMA World including the next fight for Spencer Fisher, Jeff Joslyn and a move to the WEC for Mark Hominic to challenge Urijah Faber for the Featherweight title.

The NSAC handed down Suspensions to Joe Pearson, Kit Cope and Nick Diaz the commission also ruled the Diaz fight with Takanori Gomi a no contest.

MMAWeekly.com looks at the prospects of Julie Kedzie at Saturday's Bodog Fight Pay Per View.

UFC.com has the latest column from Michael Bisping.

Chuck Liddell is featured in Sports Illustrated.

Another article on Liddell from HofMag.com can be found here

UFC 70 undercard fighter Paul 'please don't call me Euan, it offends me and is not funny' Taylor Profiled~!

Joe Fernandez of Newsday has a look at UFC 69 chiefly Matt Sera's stunning upset.

UFCJunkie.com has a look at the Medical Suspensions coming out of Fight Night 9.

For those of you interested, check out the MMAWeekly.com rankings in the 5 major weight classes.

That should hold you for now.

Continue Reading!

MMA News and Notes

Happy Easter from those of us in the Old Country to those of you in more modern countries.


Chris Cozzone of the Albuquerque tribune writes MMA is here to stay, but Boxing isn't going anywhere

The Houston Chronicle has more on UFC 69.

The Washington Post notes that Serra shocks the world, but not himself

At the press conference, it was said that Matt Hughes would be the first challenger for Matt Serra's welterweight title.

CBSSportsline also Weighs in

MMAWeekly has a Review of Pride 34 so do I and its not positive.

They also note the signing of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and there is no word on when or whom he will fight first. Also, UFC was TNA-like last night in that we got no footage of Nogueira so he ended up looking like just another dude.

Koscheck puts an end to the Nightmare in a Nightmare of a fight.

Here is what NBC Sports has to say.

I'm sure I'll have more later.

Continue Reading!

Pride 34 'Kamikaze' Live Play-by-Play

Yes, I'm settling in for 5 hours of live coverage. Thank God, Jesus and Mr. McMahon for lots of soda, and a wireless keyboard.

If you happen to read this please, please leave me a comment saying hi, I'd love to know who is out there. This is my second show in just a few hours as I covered UFC 69

I'm doing this while fighting off a slight tuch of the flu so thank God, Jesus and Mr. McMahon for Tylenol.

Refresh your browser for the latest news.

Interesting, I'm watching the Preshow and well...they just had a profile package on Wanderlei Silva. Oops.

You can read the Pride picks that the CARE/Other vuz, Vuz, Vuz, Jabronis have submitted, such as they are, by simply Clicking here

This is the last DSE Pride card. The card isn't what I'd consider to be the best way to go out with a bang but whatever.

I've also got Lenne Hardt to keep me awake should I drift off to sleep.

We open with a pretty cool video package highlighting some of the best moments in Pride history.


Now we get the usual Pride theme which rocks all kinds of hard.

We go straight to the ring announcers and the introduction of the full fight card.

If there are bonus fights, they weren't announced during the Parade.

The audio of the announcers is being piped in over the audio from the ring including the crowd.

I'm not sure of who the one guy is (Sean Wheelock) but the other is Frank Trigg.

They run down the fights on the card that we're going to see. I wish this wasn't drowning out the crowd noise and the ring, it ruins the atmosphere. But hey, with no video of the fight why should we be allowed to hear it?

Ok, it is annoying me that there is a fight going on in the ring, and yet the announcers are just oblivious to it like it doesn't matter to them there are only 6 fights on this show. A hardy fuck off to whoever thought of this and then put it in to practice.

In the first fight Yoshihiro Nakao defeated Edson Drago. Don't ask me how, I don't know and the announcers are hyping up the fight card that this isn't a part of at all.

I'm going to quote Dave Meltzer directly on this one.

This is starting out bad. Instead of airing the first two matches, they are having a lengthy pre-game show from another part of the arena. In the background,
we did hear that Yoshihiro Nakao has beaten Edson Drago. We also won't be seeing Butterbean vs. Zulu. Please don't ask why given that Butterbean would
be the most well known person on this show to a casual fan. Not that I was looking forward to the match, but it's better than Frank Trigg doing a ridiculously
long stretch. Whomever made this call made a bad call.

Zulu and Butterbean is in the ring. We are only getting some of the audio in the background of Wheelock and Trigg talking. I only know who is in the ring because I knew the fight order and because Lenne Hardt is the most powerful force in the Universe. Give DSE an "F" give them a "U" give them a "C" give them a "K" give them an "O" give them an "f" give them an "F" and you've given them a message straight from me. How did Lenne Hardt feel about this introduction?: "They can suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkk maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiii balllllllllllllsssssseeeeeeeeee! Somewhere Bruce Buffer sheds a tear.

Now they decide to show us a Mark Coleman fight from 2000 against Igor Vovchanchyn. Thumbs down to this decision, whoever made this one should be getting a pink slip in the mail soon or a kick in the balls in person even sooner.

I wish I could grow more thumbs to point them down as this is a horrible way to start off a show.

The announcers talk about how the show is just beginning and a big hardy up at 2:30 AM fuck off to the both of them.

Now we get some sort of new opening for the show, you know cause the 1 opening half an hour ago wasn't enough. Who the fuck is booking this PPV? WCW? Vince McMahon didn't fuck the invasion up this bad. TNA can rest easy, Lockdown will not be the worst thing I see this month. Seriously, we could see 6 Gomi-Diaz fights and it wouldn't make up for this shit.

Did Dennis Dodd book this opening. Oh God, here he comes. "Uh huh huh huh hooh hooh me suck thumb after stick it up me bumb, huh huh hooh, give me cookie I love book pride show to not start and piss off fan, now where fudge brownie with Travis Lutter and Vince Russo Twinkie?" Ok, I do apologize for Dennis' run-in it won't happen again. To balance it out...

Domo! Hadugei, Desu! Fuuuuuuu~! HG here to thrust his way in to your hearts, minds and probably your backsides if you are man enough to handle Hard Gay. Thanks HG, you know how to save a seg... Oh HG just thrust at Dennis Dodd, only he didn't thrust his crotch, he thrust a sword right through Dodd's face. He's never looked better, everyone give it up for HG! Fuuuuuuuu!!! Oooooookay!

Now, if you're wondering what that was, call it a distraction for the crap that was this first 30 minutes.

Bout 3: I don't give a fuck what these bastards say.
Zelg "Benkei" Galesic
Vs.
Makoto Takimoto

I hope the Yakuza kill whoever thought that opening the show the way they did was a good idea. Then I hope God reserects that person to be killed again and again until I don't think it is funny anymore.

A reminder that in Pride the first round is 10 minutes, the second and third are 5 minutes each. At least until the next show, bwa ha ha ha ha!

Round 1: Galesic starts off with a big high-kick and then follows up with more kicks. Takimoto wants to back away from those unless of course his great desire is to lose. Krazy Horse says those Leg kicks hurt like a motha fuck ya'll.

Takimoto uses a legsweep to take Galesic down. Galesic gives up his back to Takimoto. Takimoto goes for a choke but Galesic manages to avoid it. If Takimoto wants to choke someone, I've got a suggestion for who wouldn't be that difficult of a target.

Takimoto goes for an armbar but Galesic escapes. Takimoto goes for a stomp but that did not work. Galesic is in the mount now and he is looking for a choke.


The referee stands both men up after some inactivity. This is where Galesic wants it. Indeed, Galesic has Takimoto in serious trouble after a big combination and Takimoto hits the deck. The ref steps in but allows the fight to continue.

Takimoto is in the open guard and the ref moves them to the middle of the ring for a restart. Takimoto has a Kamura and he gets the submission.

Winner: Makoto Takimoto - 5:43 R1 via submission
Fight was ok, I'd like to see more of Galesic.

Bout 4: Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel
Vs.
Akira Shoji

Round 1: Yvel has the aggression early but Shoji is defending nicely. Shoji takes Yvel down to the mat and has him in full guard. Shoji goes for a couple of rights but for all their effectiveness he may as well have not thrown them.

Yvel with a left from the bottom position, not where he'd like to fight but he's holding his own. Shoji just keeps trying the rights and they just keep not working. I should note that now that the preshow is over, the audio is the way it should be, but still big thumbs down for that preshow shit.

Yvel has Shoji in a heelhook and Shoji is trying to fight it. Yvel loses his grip and Shoji is able to free himself. Now it is Shoji that has the heelhook of his own. Yvel escapes and ground-and-pound for Yvel and he is victorious. I'm skunking out badly in my pride picks so far.

Winner: Gilbert Yvel - 3:46 R1 via ground-and-pound

Bout 5:
Don Frye
Vs.
James Thompson
Referee: Yuji Shimada

I'm about to break out my first Mt. Dew of the show.

An intense staredown occurs before the opening bell. The crowd erupts when the bell rings.

Round 1: Frye puts Thompson on the mat almost instantaniously with a right hand. Thompson is able to recover as Frye was not ready to capitalize on knocking him down. Thompson nails a series of knees now and then has Frye in the Side Mount and throws more knees.

Thompson moves to full mount and Frye gives up his back. But Frye reverses and is able to get back to his feet. Thompson with a soft left to the head of Frye. Thompson continues to work with the knees.

Legsweep from Frye puts Thompson down and they're in half guard. Frye's corner wants him to drop some elbows, Frye trying to slip in the guillotine from the North South, but he doesn't have it completely. He's still working for it though. Thompson is able to escape popping his head out and back to side control. Frye gives up his back and Thompson starts laying in with heavy rights, a vicious knee and a big kick. Frye is in deep trouble as he is rocked. Frye swinging but they aren't landing, and how Frye is still standing I'm not sure I'll ever know.

Thompson continues to rock Frye with rights as the referee is looking on. The referee finally stops the fight though Frye took a hella beating and didn't drop, it probably should've been stopped sooner.

Winner: James Thompson

Don Frye cuts a promo and says he let all of Japan down, hey don't forget me, you've raviged my PPV picks.

BTW, according to Sherdog.com, Butterbean defeated Zulu in round 1. This ensures that I will not go 0 for the PPV which was a very real possibility. However, Alan Lee is not proving to be so great standing at 0-5 for now.

Kevin Randleman, the non-human robot and Mark Coleman have come out to the ring. An F-bomb is dropped 5 seconds in by Coleman and we're in for an intermission.

We get a commercial for a best of Pride show to air in a few weeks (04/28 the night they were to be in Vegas), bet you $50 that tonight's opening doesn't make the cut. We go back and see the Coleman-Vovchanchyn match from 2000 because it was so awesome the first time we saw it tonight that we can't help but see it a second time.

Have I mentioned how sorry I am to see DSE go? I haven't? Well, maybe there's a reason.

I'm headed for a slice of pizza or 2. Still working on that first soda.

We also get to see Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Kevin Randleman. Hmmm, trying to send some sort of message? I mean earlier Frank Trigg mentioned that Chuck Liddell took part in the 2003 Grand Pre and didn't fair very well. If you don't know, Randleman knocked Cro Cop in to next century.

They ask both men about the purchase of Pride. Randleman says he'll be fighting again within 8 months. He also says that if you look at the top 5 rankings, all of them are Pride and the bottom 5 are all UFC. I want to know what rankings he's looking at these days?

They're now running down the matches we've already seen with Coleman and Randleman. Yada Yada Yada Yada Ya!.

Randleman says that no other organization has what pride has, not the WWF and not UFC. I was unaware that the World Wildlife Fund had gotten in to MMA. Fedor Vs. Pandabear lets sign it.

As Randleman and Coleman are leaving Randleman thanks the Fertittas and then Jerry Millen. Guess which name will never be heard on a Pride show again after tonight?

Sakakibara and Takada are in the ring. Sakakibara, "I'd like to thank all my Yakuza friends for being most Japanese brothers in the vold. I sell Pride to UFC for large money, I suplex their checkbook, put it in the camel clutch, break its back and fuck its ass...UFC money be humble, and I be proud. I thank fans for support as I flush #1 organization-san down the toilet for mob ties. Shoot Shoot Shoot, Bang Bang Bang, bribe bribe bribe, many many secret killings for fun and profit plus lot of fight, fight! Sumo is cool, Yokozuna was my favorite WWE star, and now with money I take from Las Vegas Pizza Man Fertitta I go retire on Private island where I have beautiful women walk on my back and open up Chinese laundry, I'm not Chinese but natives be stupid and not know the difference like stupid UFC fan. It is so awesome to be me and it sucks to be all of you. I want to thank Lenne Hardt for not screaming in my ear, it rings oh how it rings from last time. Echie, echie, echie, echie, schwing! American business men be suckers, pride only worth about $5 and if they thought Yakuza scandal was big wait til they open books. I spend many yen on fansy backscratchers becauseI can. I want Dana White to fight Chuck Liddell, Dana think he real man but I work him over at bargoning table like Georges St. Pierre work over Matt Serra at last UFC show. I likey likey sample American twinkie and donkey punch Ric Gillespie over and over till he make like Japanese during World War II and surrender his hot man love. I buy many things for young houseboy, he feel big man breasts I have because I have Japanese mob kill many many people. In conclusion, bwahahahahahaha banzi! I no make bling bling in sing sing for your ching ching, god bless mob ties! Now we fight so make with the ding ding, ling ling?"

He might not have said all of that word for word.

As for what happened here, I'm going to turn it over to Dave Meltzer for the explanation.

Kazushi Sakuraba under a Tiger Mask is in the ring, and Kiyoshi Tamura came out after him. This is the all-time pro wrestling dream match that never happened
because Tamura kept turning it down for years. Unfortunately, it's a little late for this one to ever be what it could have been. Sakuraba is crying big-time
under the mask. He's the guy who built this and now it's the final show. Sakakibara said it took him 3 1/2 years of work to bring these two together. He
said Sakuraba has returned to Pride, which is a huge blow to Hero's, as he was the company's last superstar. He said Sakuraba would like to have fought
on this farewell show and they he tried to get him to fight on this show. Sakuraba is now doing a promo while still wearing the Tiger Mask. Sakuraba said
he's now back in Pride. Tamura said he's nervous just being in the ring. He said he's said to see the end of Sakakibara in Pride and how much he appreciates
the Pride fans. Tamura said they will keep alive the dream of Sakakibara. Tamura said he wants to make up with Sakuraba after their years of being at odds
with each other. Sakakibara said he's tried so many times to put this match together and he believes some day we will see the match. So in the end, they
still didn't announce the match. Frank Trigg said this is like Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump being put back together. I must say that Trigg set a world's
record for the world's worst analogy. They shook hands. Sakuraba didn't take the mask off until he left the ring.

You know what this show needs? Another video, so its a good thing we're getting one!

Up next...

it has been so long since I've had a fight to recap I'm not sure I can remember how.

Bout 6: Shinya Aoki
Vs. Brian Lo-A-Njoe

round 1: Lo-A-Njoe starts off with some nice striking to Aoki. He's got Aoki in half guard but Aoki reverses and hooks him in an armbar and he gets him to tap.

Winner: Shinya Aoki - 1:33 R1 via Armbar submission.

We get a lengthy video for the next fight that starts out with Sokoudjou flattening Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Pride 33 'The Second coming'.

Lenne Hardt introduces: "Soka, Soka Soku Sokou Sokoudjou!"

Bout 7: Sokoudjou Vs. Ricardo Arona

Round 1: Sokoudjou looking to prove his KO of Little Nog wasn't a fluke.
They start out early feeling each other out. They trade some nice kicks Sokoudjou first and Arona responds.

Arona looking for a takedown, has the leg of Sokoudjou but he manages to stave it off for now. Well, the KO of Little Nog was no fluke as Sokoudjou has just knocked the fuck out of Ricardo Arona with an uppercut. This dude is for real.

Winner:Sokoudjou - 2:00 R1

The video package airing before the main event has both Pride and UFC footage, and contains the first link of Bruce Buffer and Lenne Hardt on video that has been released to the public.

Bout 8: Kazuyuki "Iron Head" Fujida
Vs.
Jeff "The Snow Man" Monson

Lenne Hardt, god bless her, introduces Monson as the UFC Monster.

As much as they try to hype this as Pride Vs. UFC that's not really what this is because it is not like UFC hand-picked Monson to come over and represent the company in this fight. Monson asked out of his UFC contract.

Dan Henderson is at the commentary table. Trigg asks him if he wants to fight Anderson Silva or Chuck Liddell, and Henderson says Liddell.

Fujida comes to the ring to the Pride theme song.

Trigg says this could go either way and is a close matchup and I'm thinking, we shall see.

Yuji Shimada is the referee.

Round 1: Fujida goes for a windmill punch and misses badly. Monson shoots the doubleleg and Fujida pounds away at his head with the hammerfist. Monson turns and goes for a guillotine but doesn't have it. Monson goes for a takedown again and gets it but Fujida with a reversal. In 1 minute we've had more action than we got in Monson-Sylvia at UFC 65.

Fujida nails a big kick but Monson weathers the storm.

Fujida sprawls out of a Monson takedown and lands more kicks to the approval of the crowd.

Henderson says the biggest challenge for the UFC guys coming over will be the 10 minute first round. Apparently, he hasn't gotten the memo about unified rules yet.

We're 5:30 in to the first round and the pace has slowed considerably. If I hear the phrase Pride Vs. UFC one more time, I'm going to call in Sheiky baby to break some hearts and some backs.

Jeff Monson sneaks in a choke and he gets the tapout.

Winner: Jeff Monson - R1 Submission

Supposedly, the UFC takes a 1-0 lead. The Pride guys are all bumbed forgetting that ultimately, the same man owns both groups and thus money will be made by all.

The Pride roster such as it is hit the ring for a celebration.

If I needed another reason to hate this show, I got it.

Euan: 6-2
Alan: 3-5
Scott: 3-5
Casey: 2-6

Damn this show and its long gaps and stupid opening.

This is everyone's chance to say a few words I guess.

Continue Reading!

No Wanderlei but Pride 34 'Kamikaze' could feature some surprises

MMAWeekly.com has all of the details from the Pride Press Conference, Here.

Akira Shoji is taking the place of Bazigit "Volk" Atajev in his fight with Gilbert Yvel. The proposed Wanderlei Silva Vs. Igor Vovchanchyn fight is not going to happen but out going Pride President Nobuyuki Sakakibara hinted that there might be a surprise fight or 2.

One thing I will not miss when the change over takes place is cards being announced at the last minute. Hopefully, Zuffa has the good sense to announce matches far in advance like they do for UFC, I guess time will tell on that one.

Also, it is looking very likely that I will provide live coverage for this show.

The bout order as it stands:

Yoshihiro "KISS" Nakao (Japan) vs. Edson Drago (Brazil)
Zuluzinho (Brazil) vs. Eric "Butterbean" Esch (USA)
Makoto Takimoto (Japan) vs. Zelg "Benkei" Galesic (Croatia)
Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel (Holland) vs. Akira Shoji (Japan)
James Thompson (Great Britain) vs. Don "The Predator" Frye (USA)
Shinya Aoki (Japan) vs. Brian Lo-A-Njoe (Holland)
Ricardo Arona (Brazil) vs. Sokoudjou the African Assassin (Cameroon)
Kazuyuki "Iron Head" Fujita (Japan) vs. Jeff "The Snowman" Monson (USA)

Continue Reading!