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Andre Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Banned
Affliction just announced today that Andre Arlovski and Ben Rothwell will fight each other at Affliction: Banned on July 19.
The “Banned” fight card will be the first show promoted by Affliction and has one of the best fight cards of the year. Rothwell still is under contract with Adrenaline MMA but is fighting with permission on the Affliction card. Since the inaugural Adrenaline event is just a month earlier, he will not be available for the Adrenaline show.
Here is the current fight card for the Affliction: Banned event:
Fedor Emelianenko vs Tim Sylvia
Josh Barnett vs Pedro Rizzo
Ben Rothwell vs Andre Arlovski
Aleksander Emelianenko vs Paul Buentello
Matt Lindland vs Fabio Negao
Renato Sobral vs Mike Whitehead
Savant Young vs Mark Hominick
Brett Cooper vs Mike Pyle
Ray Lamaza vs Justin Levens
JJ Ambrose vs Patrick Speight
Affliction just announced today that Andre Arlovski and Ben Rothwell will fight each other at Affliction: Banned on July 19.
The “Banned” fight card will be the first show promoted by Affliction and has one of the best fight cards of the year. Rothwell still is under contract with Adrenaline MMA but is fighting with permission on the Affliction card. Since the inaugural Adrenaline event is just a month earlier, he will not be available for the Adrenaline show.
Here is the current fight card for the Affliction: Banned event:
Fedor Emelianenko vs Tim Sylvia
Josh Barnett vs Pedro Rizzo
Ben Rothwell vs Andre Arlovski
Aleksander Emelianenko vs Paul Buentello
Matt Lindland vs Fabio Negao
Renato Sobral vs Mike Whitehead
Savant Young vs Mark Hominick
Brett Cooper vs Mike Pyle
Ray Lamaza vs Justin Levens
JJ Ambrose vs Patrick Speight
Yamamoto to Return at DREAM in June
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, widely considered as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts today, will return to action as part of DREAM’s next scheduled event on June 15th.
DREAM officials confirmed Yamamoto’s participation during last night’s event broadcast.
Yamamoto originally informed the Japanese media last month that he hoped to return to the ring this summer. His contract with Fight Entertainment Group will have him competing inside the confines of DREAM exclusively. The 31-year-old has been with FEG since leaving Shooto in 2003.
While Yamamoto remains unsure of which weight he will fight at, it’s expected that he will take his talents to DREAM’s newly created featherweight division. Yamamoto last stopped World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Rani Yahya with strikes at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve.
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, widely considered as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts today, will return to action as part of DREAM’s next scheduled event on June 15th.
DREAM officials confirmed Yamamoto’s participation during last night’s event broadcast.
Yamamoto originally informed the Japanese media last month that he hoped to return to the ring this summer. His contract with Fight Entertainment Group will have him competing inside the confines of DREAM exclusively. The 31-year-old has been with FEG since leaving Shooto in 2003.
While Yamamoto remains unsure of which weight he will fight at, it’s expected that he will take his talents to DREAM’s newly created featherweight division. Yamamoto last stopped World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Rani Yahya with strikes at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve.
TITO ORTIZ REFORMING TEAM PUNISHMENT
In it's heyday, Team Punishment was the top of the food chain in mixed martial arts. Founder Tito Ortiz plans to reform his fight team and return it to its former glory when Team Punishment fighters held the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.
"I have some really, really good guys. I'm really focusing right now on getting back to where I was four years ago, four or five years ago when we had Rampage (Quinton Jackson) and everybody else, Ricco Rodriguez and everybody together," Ortiz told MMAWeekly Radio.
"I'm going to do it again. Ricco is actually training with me now. I've got Mark Munoz from Sacramento training with me right now. I've got Carlo Prater from Texas who is training with me now. I'm going to start focusing on this. I'm going to start doing it. I really feel like I'm getting back to where I was before and surrounding myself with great people, great fighters. I'm going to do this."
Ortiz plans to expand Team Punishment to all weight classes and once again make it one of the premier training camps in MMA.
"I'm going to find a guy in each weight class from 155 to heavyweight, and try to get the best I possibly can. The brand of Team Punishment is a worldwide known brand, and we're known to punish our opponents. You've got to get the best fighters to do that, so I'm going to go across the United States and go across possibly Europe and try to find some of the best fighters and bring them around Team Punishment. I'm going to start the team again."
For the past few years, building his fight team is something that hasn’t garnered Ortiz’s focus. On May 24 at UFC 84, he will be dialed in on Lyoto Machida, whom he says will be his last opponent as a contracted fighter for the UFC. As he prepares to wrap-up his tenure with the promotion, it appears that he is finally ready to restore his fight team.
"I'm going to go out and find the superstars. I'm going to find the guys who like to succeed as a business and as a fight team,” said the former UFC light heavyweight champion. “I haven't focused on that in the last few years because I've been trying to deal with my demons and ending another chapter in my life. I just want to move on to a different chapter.
“All the negative stuff is gone, and all it is now is focusing on the positive stuff, and to build a new Team Punishment is the first step to that."
In it's heyday, Team Punishment was the top of the food chain in mixed martial arts. Founder Tito Ortiz plans to reform his fight team and return it to its former glory when Team Punishment fighters held the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.
"I have some really, really good guys. I'm really focusing right now on getting back to where I was four years ago, four or five years ago when we had Rampage (Quinton Jackson) and everybody else, Ricco Rodriguez and everybody together," Ortiz told MMAWeekly Radio.
"I'm going to do it again. Ricco is actually training with me now. I've got Mark Munoz from Sacramento training with me right now. I've got Carlo Prater from Texas who is training with me now. I'm going to start focusing on this. I'm going to start doing it. I really feel like I'm getting back to where I was before and surrounding myself with great people, great fighters. I'm going to do this."
Ortiz plans to expand Team Punishment to all weight classes and once again make it one of the premier training camps in MMA.
"I'm going to find a guy in each weight class from 155 to heavyweight, and try to get the best I possibly can. The brand of Team Punishment is a worldwide known brand, and we're known to punish our opponents. You've got to get the best fighters to do that, so I'm going to go across the United States and go across possibly Europe and try to find some of the best fighters and bring them around Team Punishment. I'm going to start the team again."
For the past few years, building his fight team is something that hasn’t garnered Ortiz’s focus. On May 24 at UFC 84, he will be dialed in on Lyoto Machida, whom he says will be his last opponent as a contracted fighter for the UFC. As he prepares to wrap-up his tenure with the promotion, it appears that he is finally ready to restore his fight team.
"I'm going to go out and find the superstars. I'm going to find the guys who like to succeed as a business and as a fight team,” said the former UFC light heavyweight champion. “I haven't focused on that in the last few years because I've been trying to deal with my demons and ending another chapter in my life. I just want to move on to a different chapter.
“All the negative stuff is gone, and all it is now is focusing on the positive stuff, and to build a new Team Punishment is the first step to that."
NICK DIAZ READY FOR DREAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Following a week-long roller coaster ride, UFC and Pride veteran Nick Diaz finally made his way to Japan late last week to compete under the Dream banner.
He had been scheduled to fight on the promotion’s April 29 event, but his proposed opponent, Marcello Garcia, declined the fight. Dream promptly rescheduled Diaz for its May 11 event against former welterweight King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue.
The problem arose when officials at ProElite, whom Diaz has a contract with, determined that the May 11 date was too close to its June 14 event where Diaz was also scheduled to compete. They pulled him from the fight.
As the deadline for the event neared, there was a change of heart within the ProElite organization and Diaz was finally granted permission to fight. He arrived in Japan just two days prior to the fight, but he made weight, made his to the arena, and made his way into Dream’s first welterweight championship bout.
“It took a long time for this fight to be set, and so I had a problem losing weight and that affected my performance,” said Diaz after the fight. “But I'm happy to win, and if they told me I had to get to (lightweight), I would do it.”
Diaz battered Inoue with his relentless striking game, finishing him off when Inoue’s corner had seen enough punishment dished out to the fighter and threw in the towel.
The bout was a welterweight title eliminator, so Diaz now moves on to the championship bout to face popular Japanese fighter Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. Despite any difficulties that he had to overcome, he is happy to move on.
“I am looking forward to my next fight against Sakurai for the welterweight championship!" expressed an elated Diaz.
The bout is expected to take place on July 21 at DREAM.5 in Osaka, Japan.
Following a week-long roller coaster ride, UFC and Pride veteran Nick Diaz finally made his way to Japan late last week to compete under the Dream banner.
He had been scheduled to fight on the promotion’s April 29 event, but his proposed opponent, Marcello Garcia, declined the fight. Dream promptly rescheduled Diaz for its May 11 event against former welterweight King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue.
The problem arose when officials at ProElite, whom Diaz has a contract with, determined that the May 11 date was too close to its June 14 event where Diaz was also scheduled to compete. They pulled him from the fight.
As the deadline for the event neared, there was a change of heart within the ProElite organization and Diaz was finally granted permission to fight. He arrived in Japan just two days prior to the fight, but he made weight, made his to the arena, and made his way into Dream’s first welterweight championship bout.
“It took a long time for this fight to be set, and so I had a problem losing weight and that affected my performance,” said Diaz after the fight. “But I'm happy to win, and if they told me I had to get to (lightweight), I would do it.”
Diaz battered Inoue with his relentless striking game, finishing him off when Inoue’s corner had seen enough punishment dished out to the fighter and threw in the towel.
The bout was a welterweight title eliminator, so Diaz now moves on to the championship bout to face popular Japanese fighter Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. Despite any difficulties that he had to overcome, he is happy to move on.
“I am looking forward to my next fight against Sakurai for the welterweight championship!" expressed an elated Diaz.
The bout is expected to take place on July 21 at DREAM.5 in Osaka, Japan.
PAUL KELLY TALKS INJURY, WITHDRAWAL FROM UFC 85
video interview link: http://mmaexclusives.com/view_player.php?id=2515
British fighter Paul Kelly and Canadian fighter Jonathan Goulet had been expecting to face each other when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the O2 Arena in London on June 7. But before the bout could even be officially announced by the promotion, not one, but both fighters had to withdraw from the bout due to health concerns.
Late last week, Goulet, not disclosing the specifics of his withdrawal, said, “I have to cancel the fight against Paul Kelly for UFC 85 because of health reasons.”
At the same time, Kelly, unaware of Goulet’s problems, had the injury bug bite him. “I injured me finger,” he told MMAWeekly.com.
Kelly actually injured his finger about three weeks ago in training, but tried to work his way through it, but it wasn’t to be. He later discovered that he pulled the ligaments on the back of his finger, which is quite painful and limits the functionality in his right hand.
He is expected to be in a cast for about three weeks or so.
It isn’t something that he could change, but that doesn’t stop Kelly from being disappointed that he will be unable to fight at UFC 85. “I’m feeling a bit guilty,” said Kelly. “I’m a little bit devastated over possibly missing me bonus.”
video interview link: http://mmaexclusives.com/view_player.php?id=2515
British fighter Paul Kelly and Canadian fighter Jonathan Goulet had been expecting to face each other when the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the O2 Arena in London on June 7. But before the bout could even be officially announced by the promotion, not one, but both fighters had to withdraw from the bout due to health concerns.
Late last week, Goulet, not disclosing the specifics of his withdrawal, said, “I have to cancel the fight against Paul Kelly for UFC 85 because of health reasons.”
At the same time, Kelly, unaware of Goulet’s problems, had the injury bug bite him. “I injured me finger,” he told MMAWeekly.com.
Kelly actually injured his finger about three weeks ago in training, but tried to work his way through it, but it wasn’t to be. He later discovered that he pulled the ligaments on the back of his finger, which is quite painful and limits the functionality in his right hand.
He is expected to be in a cast for about three weeks or so.
It isn’t something that he could change, but that doesn’t stop Kelly from being disappointed that he will be unable to fight at UFC 85. “I’m feeling a bit guilty,” said Kelly. “I’m a little bit devastated over possibly missing me bonus.”
Q&A: Whether friend or old foe, Barnett fights on
Barnett Q&A: Heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett is only 30 years old, but there isn't much that he hasn't accomplished in mixed martial arts.
Coming from a catch wrestling background, Barnett became the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history by knocking out Randy Couture in March 2002, and soon after became the first major champ stripped of his title after testing positive for a banned substance. He went to Japan, where he became a pro wrestling star, won a King of Pancrase title and reached the finals of the Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix.
His 21-5 record includes wins over two UFC Hall-of-Famers, Couture and Dan Severn; a pair of near-7-footers, Gan McGee and K-1 superstar Semmy Schilt; and UFC's current interim heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, whose September 2006 bout with Barnett is one of the best fights I've ever seen.
Pride's demise left Barnett in MMA limbo last year, but after going 15 months without a fight, he hooked up with two fledgling groups, World Victory Road, in Japan, and Affliction, in the United States. Barring injuries or other delays, Barnett will have had three fights in four months by the end of July, including his March victory over Hidehiko Yoshida; a May 18 bout against friend and training partner Jeff Monson; and a July 19 rematch with Pedro Rizzo, the first man to defeat Barnett in a professional MMA match.
I talked to Barnett recently about his busy schedule and the MMA business, in general. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Your fight against Jeff Monson will be the second in a row in which you're going against someone you've trained with a lot. Is that just something that just happened, or...?
It's just circumstance, really. The industry isn't so big that you're not going to come across this scenario at least once, if not more than once. It just so happens that I came up in this scenario.
Both of these times, I've come across people that are friends of mine, that I've trained extensively with. In the case of Jeff, I've even coached him and been in his corner for a lot of his fights.
It's unusual to have to go out there and fight your own friend, I suppose. But in this profession, you really are sort of on your own island.
What advantages and disadvantages come with fighting someone who has that level of familiarity?
He knows a lot of the things that I've been successful with in practice so, of course, he's going to be wary and train to try and defend against those things. Knowing what he does also helps me to prepare to defend some specific things that he does as well.
But I usually feel pretty confident when I go into a fight against any of my opponents. I'm pretty good at reading what they like to do and where their strengths are.
So how do you assess Monson as a fighter and an opponent?
He tends to be giving up reach, height and leverage, but he's very compact, he's strong. There's not going to be a whole of difference in weight, I would imagine.
He's got a lot of tensile strength, I would call it — he can hold and grip and keep a position very well. He is not a very explosive athlete, but he can be when he needs to, and he's known to throw some heavy punches when given the opportunity.
Not a big ground and pounder, but he posseses a modicum of skill all throughout the ground game. He really likes to attack for the chokes, though.
In the past you've liked to tout a rivalry between catch wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Are you going to look to sub him since he's a jiu-jitsu specialist?
I'm going to look to sub him just because I feel that's probably the best bet and what I'd like to do anyway. Not very many folks have ever submitted Jeff Monson in grappling, let alone a fight, if they have even ever submitted him in a fight.
But I don't really think of Jeff when I think of jiu-jitsu, because Jeff's original background was wrestling, fine, but he originally started training with us at AMC Pankration, in Kirkland, Wash., where I used to train with Matt Hume. So a huge array of his arsenal comes from the catch wrestling training that we used to do up there, and his own natural skill at amateur wrestling from college.
Even with all of his training with the jiu-jitsu guys, like (Ricardo) Liborio and others, they've really (only) refined his game.
He really sort of fits into the mold like a Liborio, I would say, who's beyond being just, say, a label of jiu-jitsu. They're just really well skilled, they have takedowns, they've got wrestling control. Their abilities are above stereotypes.
From the way you're talking, it sounds like you're willing to train with him again, after it's all said and done.
Oh, absolutely. Hopefully, I'll get him to come out and train with us here in California; I've offered it to him before. I'll still be in his corner for his fights.
I expect to win, and afterward I'll sit down with him and go, "Here's where you made your mistakes, here's what we need to improve on, to make sure you don't get caught with this same thing again."
Will you be looking to execute any suplexes this time?
Every time. That never changes.
In fact, sometimes, given the opportunity, I've asked for some of the big opponents in MMA — because in Japan, it's open weight — just some very large individuals. I said, "Look, man, you get me in the ring with all those guys, there's a pretty good chance that I can get the opportunity to get a hold of them, and when that happens, I can take a 300-, 350-, near 400-pound man and put him on his head, don't worry about it."
You have a big fight coming up in July with Pedro Rizzo. You recently said on HDNet that you want to knock him out, so are you going to stand with him like you did seven years ago, or will you change things up?
It's necessary to stand with everybody, if you ask me. It's long since past that you can be entirely a one-dimensional fighter and make things work. You have to be able to stand with anybody, even if you wanted to take them down, because if they have no respect for anything that you may do on the feet, then you're never going to be very successful with your takedowns and vice versa.
Whether it's on the ground or on the feet, I'm coming and I'm bringing it hard. I always aim for the knockout or the submission, but it certainly would be sweet to turn the tables around and leave him with his eyes rolled up in the back of his head.
When you look back at that fight with Rizzo in '01, what do you see that you did wrong?
You know, I didn't strategize; I didn't think as much as I should've. I started landing lots and lots of punches and I just kept going with it, and instead of thinking about setting things up, I just kept coming after him. He likes to run a lot in the ring; he got me to chase him, too.
Let's say — and I don't really like the idea of this tactic — but let's say toward the end of the second round, right before I got knocked out, I just started firing off the low kicks and front kicks, and just sort of dancing away for a minute. Maybe he engages me, maybe he doesn't, (but) I could have stalled out the entire end of that second round (and) I probably would have been up two rounds to zero. It's as simple as that.
I would never even have thought of that at the time, and honestly, I just should have taken advantage of certain things that he was doing. And sometimes, if he's not going to initiate, I should have used that opportunity to do something else.
I just wasn't smart in some of the things I did in that fight, and against a guy like Pedro Rizzo, who's that skilled, it cost me.
Seven years later, how have you changed as a fighter, and, as far as you can tell from watching him, how has Pedro Rizzo changed?
Pedro Rizzo has started to do more ground work in his fights, but he's been doing this long enough that he's always been able to grapple to a certain extent.
I think he's pretty much the same guy. I don't think much has changed for Pedro and he had quite a bit of success with it early on in his career, so I don't think there was any reason in his mind to change it, other than to just try and be better at what he already was.
For me, I'm still pretty much the same fighter in one aspect and that is, I always aim to be world class at every aspect.
A lot of people talk about being a well-rounded fighter and able to do X and Y, and they don't care — (they say) they'll fight on the feet, they'll fight anywhere. But it's very rare that you'll see a fighter get out there and start to try and execute and go ahead and fight within all levels. It'll become apparent very quickly where they have to be to win the fight, and what they have to do, otherwise they fall apart.
For me, it's not an issue. I truly can fight at any level and any area in the ring. I've just spent so many years working with great coaches like Erik Paulson and Matt Hume and Bill Robinson. My submission game, my top game, has improved. I'm stronger and bigger and faster than I used to be back then, and I've got more fights under my belt.
So if anything, I'm just me, but a hundred times better.
You've said that pro wrestling has improved your fighting. How so?
When you've got to get out there in front of 50,000 (pro wrestling) fans, and go out there and mix it up with somebody, and when you go on the road, and you've got to stay in shape, and you're wrestling match after match, night after night, everything you do is physical and athletic.
It also helps you to understand and to be comfortable out there in front of everybody, and become very intimate with your surroundings, and also be very mindful of what your opponents are doing as well.
Affliction Vice-President Tom Atencio has said the plan is to match the winner of your fight with Rizzo against the winner of Fedor-Sylvia. How do you see the Fedor-Sylvia fight going?
Let's see — a couple of jabs from Sylvia, (then) I think Fedor, at some point, will step in with some overhands and hooks, and paste him right in the face, and put him down and either finish him there, or put him on his back and submit him within two.
Affliction will be using a ring. I'm told that Tim Sylvia has said he's happy to fight in a ring. Would you rather see a ring or a cage?
Oh, I'd rather fight in a ring, personally. I think the ring is a superior surface for conducting matches — I think it keeps the fights a lot faster.
A guy like Sylvia, unfortunately, with the cage, he's able to grab and hook onto it, on the top of it, to reach out and grab the links. He has a great history of hooking and grabbing the cage, so I imagine he'll probably transition that to the ring as well. I expect him to hook the rope with his elbows, overhook them, grab them; as long as he's penalized for it, that should hopefully deter him, but it'll make it difficult for Fedor to take him down if he's constantly doing stuff like that.
What sort of approach would you take with Sylvia or Fedor?
With Sylvia, I would just train really hard and come in in really good shape and then just pick him apart until I put him on his back and then submit him.
Fedor — just try and impose my will.
Affliction is a new organization coming up, and World Victory Road is a relatively new organization. Should new organizations even think about competing with the UFC?
No, they shouldn't. They can't operate within a vacuum, because what every promotion does, even to a small extent, is going to affect them, but they can't worry about competing with UFC.
They have to try and make sure that:
a) They can put together a great product, in a fashion that is going to draw people to watch it and is available for people to watch it.
b) All their i's are dotted and all their t's are crossed, and everything is laid out and set up, so that someone like UFC couldn't come along and try and find some way to throw a wrench into it, hijack it, challenge it by running programming against it or just simply going behind the scenes to whoever and making a few handshakes, and (say), "Hey, make sure this thing doesn't go off."
You've worked with many promoters in your career. Why is it so hard for new organizations to get traction?
They don't secure the viewership first and basically they just spend way too much right off the bat.
Of course, you're going to lose money when you start, but some of these guys, I think they come in not with the understanding of how long it's going to take them to recoup that investment, and they don't have a nest egg that's large enough to hang in there, especially at the level they're trying to do it at.
You do a lot with women's MMA. How do you see that field progressing, especially in this country, over the next few years?
It's making strides. It's getting bigger and better, and I think the women, like Shayna (Baszler) and Gina (Carano), who are on Showtime right now are doing a great job of trying to increase more awareness. Other than being women, they're two entirely different types of athletes and individuals, so therefore you're not hitting the same market in the same way. And with that, it could make an open path for other women to come and perhaps get into that larger spotlight.
It's still got a ways to go. The fact of the matter is, you run an all-women show, it's going to be difficult to get past a certain point, when it comes to the size of the promotion, how much people are going to be able to spend on it, either in buying it, and merchandise. There's just a certain plateau right now for women's MMA.
But by having them integrated with EliteXC, which is a fairly large company, and having the ability to show a women's fight on something like CBS or Showtime, is big, and that's a big step in the right direction.
I thought Bodog had a really quality product, but they just had some really horrible people in their office, that I don't truly believe were there to make the product stick around, they were just there to collect a paycheck. It's unfortunate that a lot of the women who were involved in that are no longer around, but if you like to see great fights, the women rarely disappoint
Barnett Q&A: Heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett is only 30 years old, but there isn't much that he hasn't accomplished in mixed martial arts.
Coming from a catch wrestling background, Barnett became the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history by knocking out Randy Couture in March 2002, and soon after became the first major champ stripped of his title after testing positive for a banned substance. He went to Japan, where he became a pro wrestling star, won a King of Pancrase title and reached the finals of the Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix.
His 21-5 record includes wins over two UFC Hall-of-Famers, Couture and Dan Severn; a pair of near-7-footers, Gan McGee and K-1 superstar Semmy Schilt; and UFC's current interim heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, whose September 2006 bout with Barnett is one of the best fights I've ever seen.
Pride's demise left Barnett in MMA limbo last year, but after going 15 months without a fight, he hooked up with two fledgling groups, World Victory Road, in Japan, and Affliction, in the United States. Barring injuries or other delays, Barnett will have had three fights in four months by the end of July, including his March victory over Hidehiko Yoshida; a May 18 bout against friend and training partner Jeff Monson; and a July 19 rematch with Pedro Rizzo, the first man to defeat Barnett in a professional MMA match.
I talked to Barnett recently about his busy schedule and the MMA business, in general. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Your fight against Jeff Monson will be the second in a row in which you're going against someone you've trained with a lot. Is that just something that just happened, or...?
It's just circumstance, really. The industry isn't so big that you're not going to come across this scenario at least once, if not more than once. It just so happens that I came up in this scenario.
Both of these times, I've come across people that are friends of mine, that I've trained extensively with. In the case of Jeff, I've even coached him and been in his corner for a lot of his fights.
It's unusual to have to go out there and fight your own friend, I suppose. But in this profession, you really are sort of on your own island.
What advantages and disadvantages come with fighting someone who has that level of familiarity?
He knows a lot of the things that I've been successful with in practice so, of course, he's going to be wary and train to try and defend against those things. Knowing what he does also helps me to prepare to defend some specific things that he does as well.
But I usually feel pretty confident when I go into a fight against any of my opponents. I'm pretty good at reading what they like to do and where their strengths are.
So how do you assess Monson as a fighter and an opponent?
He tends to be giving up reach, height and leverage, but he's very compact, he's strong. There's not going to be a whole of difference in weight, I would imagine.
He's got a lot of tensile strength, I would call it — he can hold and grip and keep a position very well. He is not a very explosive athlete, but he can be when he needs to, and he's known to throw some heavy punches when given the opportunity.
Not a big ground and pounder, but he posseses a modicum of skill all throughout the ground game. He really likes to attack for the chokes, though.
In the past you've liked to tout a rivalry between catch wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Are you going to look to sub him since he's a jiu-jitsu specialist?
I'm going to look to sub him just because I feel that's probably the best bet and what I'd like to do anyway. Not very many folks have ever submitted Jeff Monson in grappling, let alone a fight, if they have even ever submitted him in a fight.
But I don't really think of Jeff when I think of jiu-jitsu, because Jeff's original background was wrestling, fine, but he originally started training with us at AMC Pankration, in Kirkland, Wash., where I used to train with Matt Hume. So a huge array of his arsenal comes from the catch wrestling training that we used to do up there, and his own natural skill at amateur wrestling from college.
Even with all of his training with the jiu-jitsu guys, like (Ricardo) Liborio and others, they've really (only) refined his game.
He really sort of fits into the mold like a Liborio, I would say, who's beyond being just, say, a label of jiu-jitsu. They're just really well skilled, they have takedowns, they've got wrestling control. Their abilities are above stereotypes.
From the way you're talking, it sounds like you're willing to train with him again, after it's all said and done.
Oh, absolutely. Hopefully, I'll get him to come out and train with us here in California; I've offered it to him before. I'll still be in his corner for his fights.
I expect to win, and afterward I'll sit down with him and go, "Here's where you made your mistakes, here's what we need to improve on, to make sure you don't get caught with this same thing again."
Will you be looking to execute any suplexes this time?
Every time. That never changes.
In fact, sometimes, given the opportunity, I've asked for some of the big opponents in MMA — because in Japan, it's open weight — just some very large individuals. I said, "Look, man, you get me in the ring with all those guys, there's a pretty good chance that I can get the opportunity to get a hold of them, and when that happens, I can take a 300-, 350-, near 400-pound man and put him on his head, don't worry about it."
You have a big fight coming up in July with Pedro Rizzo. You recently said on HDNet that you want to knock him out, so are you going to stand with him like you did seven years ago, or will you change things up?
It's necessary to stand with everybody, if you ask me. It's long since past that you can be entirely a one-dimensional fighter and make things work. You have to be able to stand with anybody, even if you wanted to take them down, because if they have no respect for anything that you may do on the feet, then you're never going to be very successful with your takedowns and vice versa.
Whether it's on the ground or on the feet, I'm coming and I'm bringing it hard. I always aim for the knockout or the submission, but it certainly would be sweet to turn the tables around and leave him with his eyes rolled up in the back of his head.
When you look back at that fight with Rizzo in '01, what do you see that you did wrong?
You know, I didn't strategize; I didn't think as much as I should've. I started landing lots and lots of punches and I just kept going with it, and instead of thinking about setting things up, I just kept coming after him. He likes to run a lot in the ring; he got me to chase him, too.
Let's say — and I don't really like the idea of this tactic — but let's say toward the end of the second round, right before I got knocked out, I just started firing off the low kicks and front kicks, and just sort of dancing away for a minute. Maybe he engages me, maybe he doesn't, (but) I could have stalled out the entire end of that second round (and) I probably would have been up two rounds to zero. It's as simple as that.
I would never even have thought of that at the time, and honestly, I just should have taken advantage of certain things that he was doing. And sometimes, if he's not going to initiate, I should have used that opportunity to do something else.
I just wasn't smart in some of the things I did in that fight, and against a guy like Pedro Rizzo, who's that skilled, it cost me.
Seven years later, how have you changed as a fighter, and, as far as you can tell from watching him, how has Pedro Rizzo changed?
Pedro Rizzo has started to do more ground work in his fights, but he's been doing this long enough that he's always been able to grapple to a certain extent.
I think he's pretty much the same guy. I don't think much has changed for Pedro and he had quite a bit of success with it early on in his career, so I don't think there was any reason in his mind to change it, other than to just try and be better at what he already was.
For me, I'm still pretty much the same fighter in one aspect and that is, I always aim to be world class at every aspect.
A lot of people talk about being a well-rounded fighter and able to do X and Y, and they don't care — (they say) they'll fight on the feet, they'll fight anywhere. But it's very rare that you'll see a fighter get out there and start to try and execute and go ahead and fight within all levels. It'll become apparent very quickly where they have to be to win the fight, and what they have to do, otherwise they fall apart.
For me, it's not an issue. I truly can fight at any level and any area in the ring. I've just spent so many years working with great coaches like Erik Paulson and Matt Hume and Bill Robinson. My submission game, my top game, has improved. I'm stronger and bigger and faster than I used to be back then, and I've got more fights under my belt.
So if anything, I'm just me, but a hundred times better.
You've said that pro wrestling has improved your fighting. How so?
When you've got to get out there in front of 50,000 (pro wrestling) fans, and go out there and mix it up with somebody, and when you go on the road, and you've got to stay in shape, and you're wrestling match after match, night after night, everything you do is physical and athletic.
It also helps you to understand and to be comfortable out there in front of everybody, and become very intimate with your surroundings, and also be very mindful of what your opponents are doing as well.
Affliction Vice-President Tom Atencio has said the plan is to match the winner of your fight with Rizzo against the winner of Fedor-Sylvia. How do you see the Fedor-Sylvia fight going?
Let's see — a couple of jabs from Sylvia, (then) I think Fedor, at some point, will step in with some overhands and hooks, and paste him right in the face, and put him down and either finish him there, or put him on his back and submit him within two.
Affliction will be using a ring. I'm told that Tim Sylvia has said he's happy to fight in a ring. Would you rather see a ring or a cage?
Oh, I'd rather fight in a ring, personally. I think the ring is a superior surface for conducting matches — I think it keeps the fights a lot faster.
A guy like Sylvia, unfortunately, with the cage, he's able to grab and hook onto it, on the top of it, to reach out and grab the links. He has a great history of hooking and grabbing the cage, so I imagine he'll probably transition that to the ring as well. I expect him to hook the rope with his elbows, overhook them, grab them; as long as he's penalized for it, that should hopefully deter him, but it'll make it difficult for Fedor to take him down if he's constantly doing stuff like that.
What sort of approach would you take with Sylvia or Fedor?
With Sylvia, I would just train really hard and come in in really good shape and then just pick him apart until I put him on his back and then submit him.
Fedor — just try and impose my will.
Affliction is a new organization coming up, and World Victory Road is a relatively new organization. Should new organizations even think about competing with the UFC?
No, they shouldn't. They can't operate within a vacuum, because what every promotion does, even to a small extent, is going to affect them, but they can't worry about competing with UFC.
They have to try and make sure that:
a) They can put together a great product, in a fashion that is going to draw people to watch it and is available for people to watch it.
b) All their i's are dotted and all their t's are crossed, and everything is laid out and set up, so that someone like UFC couldn't come along and try and find some way to throw a wrench into it, hijack it, challenge it by running programming against it or just simply going behind the scenes to whoever and making a few handshakes, and (say), "Hey, make sure this thing doesn't go off."
You've worked with many promoters in your career. Why is it so hard for new organizations to get traction?
They don't secure the viewership first and basically they just spend way too much right off the bat.
Of course, you're going to lose money when you start, but some of these guys, I think they come in not with the understanding of how long it's going to take them to recoup that investment, and they don't have a nest egg that's large enough to hang in there, especially at the level they're trying to do it at.
You do a lot with women's MMA. How do you see that field progressing, especially in this country, over the next few years?
It's making strides. It's getting bigger and better, and I think the women, like Shayna (Baszler) and Gina (Carano), who are on Showtime right now are doing a great job of trying to increase more awareness. Other than being women, they're two entirely different types of athletes and individuals, so therefore you're not hitting the same market in the same way. And with that, it could make an open path for other women to come and perhaps get into that larger spotlight.
It's still got a ways to go. The fact of the matter is, you run an all-women show, it's going to be difficult to get past a certain point, when it comes to the size of the promotion, how much people are going to be able to spend on it, either in buying it, and merchandise. There's just a certain plateau right now for women's MMA.
But by having them integrated with EliteXC, which is a fairly large company, and having the ability to show a women's fight on something like CBS or Showtime, is big, and that's a big step in the right direction.
I thought Bodog had a really quality product, but they just had some really horrible people in their office, that I don't truly believe were there to make the product stick around, they were just there to collect a paycheck. It's unfortunate that a lot of the women who were involved in that are no longer around, but if you like to see great fights, the women rarely disappoint
Coaching gig gives Mir chance at Ultimate goal
By ADAM HILL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Frank Mir took one more step on his comeback path Monday. He hopes this is the one that helps him finally fulfill his goal.
The Las Vegas native and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion will coach one of the teams on season eight of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV. His rival coach will be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, UFC's interim champion.
The announcement means that after the upcoming season, which begins shooting this month and airs starting in September, Mir will finally get to compete for the belt that was stripped from him in 2005. He was unable to defend it then because of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
"(A title shot) is what I've been struggling to get to since the accident," Mir said. "It's what helped me get through the hardships when I was struggling to come back."
Before fighting Nogueira for the belt, probably on New Year's weekend, Mir will be working with 16 young fighters who share the same dream. The season will again feature fighters from two weight classes -- light heavyweights and lightweights.
"I just want to be able to help the fighters as much as possible. I have a big ego and I want to prove I can coach and do a good job at it," Mir said.
Mir was last in action when he submitted Brock Lesnar in 1:30 on Feb. 2, the same night Nogueira won the interim title by knocking out Tim Sylvia.
By the time Mir fights Nogueira, their bout could be for the outright belt because current champ Randy Couture is in litigation to get out of his contract with the UFC.
•
By ADAM HILL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Frank Mir took one more step on his comeback path Monday. He hopes this is the one that helps him finally fulfill his goal.
The Las Vegas native and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion will coach one of the teams on season eight of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV. His rival coach will be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, UFC's interim champion.
The announcement means that after the upcoming season, which begins shooting this month and airs starting in September, Mir will finally get to compete for the belt that was stripped from him in 2005. He was unable to defend it then because of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
"(A title shot) is what I've been struggling to get to since the accident," Mir said. "It's what helped me get through the hardships when I was struggling to come back."
Before fighting Nogueira for the belt, probably on New Year's weekend, Mir will be working with 16 young fighters who share the same dream. The season will again feature fighters from two weight classes -- light heavyweights and lightweights.
"I just want to be able to help the fighters as much as possible. I have a big ego and I want to prove I can coach and do a good job at it," Mir said.
Mir was last in action when he submitted Brock Lesnar in 1:30 on Feb. 2, the same night Nogueira won the interim title by knocking out Tim Sylvia.
By the time Mir fights Nogueira, their bout could be for the outright belt because current champ Randy Couture is in litigation to get out of his contract with the UFC.
•
UFC's Television Future
By Michael Rome
Posted on Mon May 12, 2008 at 11:26:25 PM EDT
The announcement that Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira will coach TUF 8 raises further questions about the UFC's television future. Despite ever declining ratings on TV, the UFC is coming off one of its hottest periods ever, with UFC 79, 81, and 83 all doing huge numbers. The second half of the year looks promising too, with Rampage/Forrest, GSP/Fitch, Lesnar/Coleman, more of BJ Penn, Chuck's return, and a possible Chuck/Rampage mega fight in December. However, things can turn cold very fast, and the quickest way south is a disappearing TV presence.
The UFC's viewership numbers of late are actually below the Spike prime time average. I fully expect them to drop a bit more this season, and even more next season, maybe down to the .8 range. The current contract with Spike calls for a new Weekly fights show in 2010, but that may be too late. If ratings keep dropping, they may need to introduce the new show in 2009.
The main point of weekly TV is simply to keep the public aware of what is going on in the UFC, and keep millions of eyes on the hype for upcoming shows. TUF is starting to fail in that regard, and if Dana cannot pull off a network or HBO deal by the end of the year, they are going to need to change the Spike formula. They were bold once a few years ago, and they need to be bold again.
By Michael Rome
Posted on Mon May 12, 2008 at 11:26:25 PM EDT
The announcement that Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira will coach TUF 8 raises further questions about the UFC's television future. Despite ever declining ratings on TV, the UFC is coming off one of its hottest periods ever, with UFC 79, 81, and 83 all doing huge numbers. The second half of the year looks promising too, with Rampage/Forrest, GSP/Fitch, Lesnar/Coleman, more of BJ Penn, Chuck's return, and a possible Chuck/Rampage mega fight in December. However, things can turn cold very fast, and the quickest way south is a disappearing TV presence.
The UFC's viewership numbers of late are actually below the Spike prime time average. I fully expect them to drop a bit more this season, and even more next season, maybe down to the .8 range. The current contract with Spike calls for a new Weekly fights show in 2010, but that may be too late. If ratings keep dropping, they may need to introduce the new show in 2009.
The main point of weekly TV is simply to keep the public aware of what is going on in the UFC, and keep millions of eyes on the hype for upcoming shows. TUF is starting to fail in that regard, and if Dana cannot pull off a network or HBO deal by the end of the year, they are going to need to change the Spike formula. They were bold once a few years ago, and they need to be bold again.
EliteXC on CBS Will Ruin MMA Edition
By Luke Thomas
Posted on Mon May 12, 2008 at 04:45:51 PM EDT
"The problem is most people are going to see it - they're going to see it for the first time - and they don't understand it. And, I guarantee you the Monday after that event all the screams of "It's a bloodspot" and "It's human cockfighting" - remember all those things that MMA has tried to extricate themselves from, all those labels? Man. Just wait for the paper on Monday after that event.
And, why? It's because I think the promoters have not really cared, to be honest with you, or really maybe even considered - I don't know if they care or not - but I don't think they've considered what's going to happen if Gina Carano gets her face opened up and America has to see a girl with a bloody face. Now what you're doing is you are going to be in crisis control mode.
Instead of educating the population saying, "You know what? Girls get cut all the time. Girls serve in the military. Women do all these things and, guess what, [it's] not a big deal." Those cuts, they may be bloody, and just because something creates blood doesn't mean it's particularly dangerous - it may be a bit gory for your taste but physicians are very good at stitching up cuts. Can't remember the last time someone died from a cut on their face or a bloody nose. Now, it may be a bit shocking for you to see for the first time but hardly makes it dangerous.
But, you need to tell the mainstream public that before it happens. Not after because nobody's listening then. Because now I was mortified when I thought, "Did you see what happened to that pretty girl?"
-- Dr. Johnny Benjamin, predicting hysteria and apocalyptic ravings by Americans witnessing EliteXC's version of MMA for the first time on primetime television.
I'm on the fence with the good doctor's argument. On the one hand, he calmly and quietly provides perfectly good reasons to not overreact to the visceral sights of the exceedingly pretty face of Carano bleeding from violence-induced cuts. On the other hand, Dr. Benjamin is, well, a doctor. He's not only qualified to give medical evaluations, he's also an educated American less likely to offer condemnatory proclamations of wrongdoing based on instant judgments.
The question then becomes whether or not those who are not predisposed to enjoying combat athletics will cry foul should any of the fights be particularly bloody or brutal? Has the UFC and the efforts of the sport's ambassadors put enough positive equity in the media bank should disaster strike? I tend to think yes, but it's a tenuous yes...at best.
By Luke Thomas
Posted on Mon May 12, 2008 at 04:45:51 PM EDT
"The problem is most people are going to see it - they're going to see it for the first time - and they don't understand it. And, I guarantee you the Monday after that event all the screams of "It's a bloodspot" and "It's human cockfighting" - remember all those things that MMA has tried to extricate themselves from, all those labels? Man. Just wait for the paper on Monday after that event.
And, why? It's because I think the promoters have not really cared, to be honest with you, or really maybe even considered - I don't know if they care or not - but I don't think they've considered what's going to happen if Gina Carano gets her face opened up and America has to see a girl with a bloody face. Now what you're doing is you are going to be in crisis control mode.
Instead of educating the population saying, "You know what? Girls get cut all the time. Girls serve in the military. Women do all these things and, guess what, [it's] not a big deal." Those cuts, they may be bloody, and just because something creates blood doesn't mean it's particularly dangerous - it may be a bit gory for your taste but physicians are very good at stitching up cuts. Can't remember the last time someone died from a cut on their face or a bloody nose. Now, it may be a bit shocking for you to see for the first time but hardly makes it dangerous.
But, you need to tell the mainstream public that before it happens. Not after because nobody's listening then. Because now I was mortified when I thought, "Did you see what happened to that pretty girl?"
-- Dr. Johnny Benjamin, predicting hysteria and apocalyptic ravings by Americans witnessing EliteXC's version of MMA for the first time on primetime television.
I'm on the fence with the good doctor's argument. On the one hand, he calmly and quietly provides perfectly good reasons to not overreact to the visceral sights of the exceedingly pretty face of Carano bleeding from violence-induced cuts. On the other hand, Dr. Benjamin is, well, a doctor. He's not only qualified to give medical evaluations, he's also an educated American less likely to offer condemnatory proclamations of wrongdoing based on instant judgments.
The question then becomes whether or not those who are not predisposed to enjoying combat athletics will cry foul should any of the fights be particularly bloody or brutal? Has the UFC and the efforts of the sport's ambassadors put enough positive equity in the media bank should disaster strike? I tend to think yes, but it's a tenuous yes...at best.
People like this are such whiny bitches. "It's gonna ruin the sport", "so and so is bad for the sport" .. STFU. It's a fucking fight sport. The business of fight sport isn't always pretty technical battles .. shit can be sloppy and bloody. People need to get a new hobby if they're doing all that bitching about nothing. MMA gets on network TV and fags still find shit to whine and bitch about.
Shonie Carter headlines PrimetimeFC1; Clay Guida guest referee
Longtime MMA fighter and UFC veteran Shonie Carter (38-17-7) headlines the Primetime Fighting Championship debut event, "Primetime FC 1," which takes place May 30.
Carter will face Midwesterner Demi Deeds (12-4), who goes for his fifth straight victory.
The event, which also features veteran Ron Fields (22-25-1) vs. Bobby Martinez (12-8), takes place at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Ind.
UFC lightweight Clay Guida, who competed throughout the Midwest before moving onto larger organizations such as Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting, will serve as a guest referee during the event.
Tickets for the show, which range from $20 to $155, are now available at Ticketmaster.
The full card includes:
Shonie Carter (38-17-7) vs. Demi Deeds (12-4)
Ron Fields (22-25-1) vs. Bobby Martinez (12-8)
Boban Simic (7-2-1) vs. Jason Riley (9-0)
Steve Kinnison (16-11-1) vs. Dustin Neace (21-10-1)
Antonio Canas (2-2) vs. Paul Martin (0-1)
Scott Tuggle (2-1) vs. Tony Marti (0-1)
Chase Minor (6-0) vs. Brandon Munson (6-1)
Jesse Chilton (11-3) vs. TBA
Ramy Daoud (2-1) vs. Christian Neilsen (0-2)
Jeremy Ashley (2-4) vs. Jon Murphy (3-1)
Jay Estrada (21-8) vs. Dave Love (9-7-1)
Said Hatim (0-0) vs. Michael Hampton (0-0)
Longtime MMA fighter and UFC veteran Shonie Carter (38-17-7) headlines the Primetime Fighting Championship debut event, "Primetime FC 1," which takes place May 30.
Carter will face Midwesterner Demi Deeds (12-4), who goes for his fifth straight victory.
The event, which also features veteran Ron Fields (22-25-1) vs. Bobby Martinez (12-8), takes place at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Ind.
UFC lightweight Clay Guida, who competed throughout the Midwest before moving onto larger organizations such as Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting, will serve as a guest referee during the event.
Tickets for the show, which range from $20 to $155, are now available at Ticketmaster.
The full card includes:
Shonie Carter (38-17-7) vs. Demi Deeds (12-4)
Ron Fields (22-25-1) vs. Bobby Martinez (12-8)
Boban Simic (7-2-1) vs. Jason Riley (9-0)
Steve Kinnison (16-11-1) vs. Dustin Neace (21-10-1)
Antonio Canas (2-2) vs. Paul Martin (0-1)
Scott Tuggle (2-1) vs. Tony Marti (0-1)
Chase Minor (6-0) vs. Brandon Munson (6-1)
Jesse Chilton (11-3) vs. TBA
Ramy Daoud (2-1) vs. Christian Neilsen (0-2)
Jeremy Ashley (2-4) vs. Jon Murphy (3-1)
Jay Estrada (21-8) vs. Dave Love (9-7-1)
Said Hatim (0-0) vs. Michael Hampton (0-0)
Josh Thomson preps shoulder for June 27 fight with "mini Fedor"
He's made steady progress since a Jan. 15 shoulder surgery, but Josh Thomson (14-2) knows he'll need to be near 100 percent when he takes on Gilbert Melendez (14-1), an opponent he's dubbed "mini Fedor."
The two fighters will put their belts on the line -- Melendez's Strikeforce world lightweight title and Thomson's Strikeforce U.S. belt -- when they meet in the main event of a June 27 Strikeforce event.
Thomson discussed the bout while a recent guest on TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), a content partner site of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and airs live on HDNet.
Thompson has won his past six fights but hasn't competed since a September 2007 victory over Adam Lynn.
"I had a SLAP tear in my labrum in the back part of my shoulder," Thomson said. "My doctor told me to go ahead and rehab it. Usually you can't really rehab it, so I don't know what he was thinking. He said that given the fact that I was an athlete that it might not be that bad of a tear and that I might be able to rehab it. So we started rehabbing it, and I started training, and it felt fine. But it slowly and gradually started tearing to the front."
He soon wrecked it for good.
"I was down training with Rob McCullough, and I shot in on a double-leg (takedown), and he sprawled out, and my arm stretched over my head and dislocated. I made the decision from then to ... get surgery. I got it all fixed up."
Thomson began working out as soon as possible, but he admits that simple things, such as throwing a kick, required the use of his upper body. That, in turn, caused excruciating pain and hampered his progress.
He's not at 100 percent now, but he's getting closer.
"I'd probably give it about 70 (percent), but you've got to get busy, and you get paid to fight, and it's time to fight," Thomson said.
As for his upcoming opponent, Thomson isn't really expecting any surprises. The fighters -- two of the top lightweights outside the UFC -- are friends and very familiar with each other's fighting style.
With that knowledge, Thomson doesn't expect the fight to go the distance.
"There's really no secrets at all," Thomson said. "The feeling-out process is over now, so we just come out and throw. He may be a little more timid than I am. I'm going to be someone who comes out and gets it done, so I don't see it going the distance."
However, that's not to say Melendez won't attempt to grind it out. Thomson said that his stamina has been a problem in recent fights as he tries to balance weightlifting with his overall conditioning. He said that caused him to tire in later rounds, but Thomson is confident that he's got the balance figured out.
"I think he's going to try to push the pace and try to push the fight into the later rounds, but I can assure you that I'm going to be ready for the deeper rounds, and I'm actually looking forward to the deeper rounds," he said.
While the 5-foot-9, 155-pound Melendez may not immediately conjure up images of Fedor Emelianenko, one of the world's most dominating heavyweight fighters, Thomson said the similarities are numerous.
"He has a big right hand, and he's got good takedowns, and he's got vicious ground and pound," Thomson said. "He's a little mini Fedor basically. He throws wild on his feet but he's got heavy hands, and he's got a great chin."
Thomson will compete in the fourth fight of a non-exclusive six-fight deal with Strikeforce.
He's made steady progress since a Jan. 15 shoulder surgery, but Josh Thomson (14-2) knows he'll need to be near 100 percent when he takes on Gilbert Melendez (14-1), an opponent he's dubbed "mini Fedor."
The two fighters will put their belts on the line -- Melendez's Strikeforce world lightweight title and Thomson's Strikeforce U.S. belt -- when they meet in the main event of a June 27 Strikeforce event.
Thomson discussed the bout while a recent guest on TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), a content partner site of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and airs live on HDNet.
Thompson has won his past six fights but hasn't competed since a September 2007 victory over Adam Lynn.
"I had a SLAP tear in my labrum in the back part of my shoulder," Thomson said. "My doctor told me to go ahead and rehab it. Usually you can't really rehab it, so I don't know what he was thinking. He said that given the fact that I was an athlete that it might not be that bad of a tear and that I might be able to rehab it. So we started rehabbing it, and I started training, and it felt fine. But it slowly and gradually started tearing to the front."
He soon wrecked it for good.
"I was down training with Rob McCullough, and I shot in on a double-leg (takedown), and he sprawled out, and my arm stretched over my head and dislocated. I made the decision from then to ... get surgery. I got it all fixed up."
Thomson began working out as soon as possible, but he admits that simple things, such as throwing a kick, required the use of his upper body. That, in turn, caused excruciating pain and hampered his progress.
He's not at 100 percent now, but he's getting closer.
"I'd probably give it about 70 (percent), but you've got to get busy, and you get paid to fight, and it's time to fight," Thomson said.
As for his upcoming opponent, Thomson isn't really expecting any surprises. The fighters -- two of the top lightweights outside the UFC -- are friends and very familiar with each other's fighting style.
With that knowledge, Thomson doesn't expect the fight to go the distance.
"There's really no secrets at all," Thomson said. "The feeling-out process is over now, so we just come out and throw. He may be a little more timid than I am. I'm going to be someone who comes out and gets it done, so I don't see it going the distance."
However, that's not to say Melendez won't attempt to grind it out. Thomson said that his stamina has been a problem in recent fights as he tries to balance weightlifting with his overall conditioning. He said that caused him to tire in later rounds, but Thomson is confident that he's got the balance figured out.
"I think he's going to try to push the pace and try to push the fight into the later rounds, but I can assure you that I'm going to be ready for the deeper rounds, and I'm actually looking forward to the deeper rounds," he said.
While the 5-foot-9, 155-pound Melendez may not immediately conjure up images of Fedor Emelianenko, one of the world's most dominating heavyweight fighters, Thomson said the similarities are numerous.
"He has a big right hand, and he's got good takedowns, and he's got vicious ground and pound," Thomson said. "He's a little mini Fedor basically. He throws wild on his feet but he's got heavy hands, and he's got a great chin."
Thomson will compete in the fourth fight of a non-exclusive six-fight deal with Strikeforce.
ESPN to Launch Online MMA Series
According to a report in this morning's New York Times, ESPN will test the MMA waters this fall with a series appearing exclusively online and on mobile devices:
Like many of the broadcasters, ESPN intends to play up its new-media offerings along with what is coming on TV, outlining plans for original programming that will appear only online or on mobile devices. Those shows include “Mayne Street,” featuring Kenny Mayne, the “SportsCenter” anchor; “Eric’s Got Issues,” with Eric Kuselias; “P.O.V.,” which will compile and present video clips that are submitted to ESPN by viewers and fans; and a series about mixed martial arts.
“We have more digital originals than television originals,” said Ed Erhardt, president for ESPN customer marketing and sales, who described the digital shows as “a strategic asset to help broaden our relationship with fans.”
According to a report in this morning's New York Times, ESPN will test the MMA waters this fall with a series appearing exclusively online and on mobile devices:
Like many of the broadcasters, ESPN intends to play up its new-media offerings along with what is coming on TV, outlining plans for original programming that will appear only online or on mobile devices. Those shows include “Mayne Street,” featuring Kenny Mayne, the “SportsCenter” anchor; “Eric’s Got Issues,” with Eric Kuselias; “P.O.V.,” which will compile and present video clips that are submitted to ESPN by viewers and fans; and a series about mixed martial arts.
“We have more digital originals than television originals,” said Ed Erhardt, president for ESPN customer marketing and sales, who described the digital shows as “a strategic asset to help broaden our relationship with fans.”
Latest UFC Pay-per-view Estimates
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, UFC 83, which featured Georges St. Pierre v. Matt Serra, drew 525,000 buys based on the first industry estimate of the event. Early estimates typically rise as more numbers come in and the event is reportedly tracking ahead of both of Randy Couture's fights from last year which did 540,000 and 520,000 respectively.
Based on that estimate the event is the seventh largest drawing pay-per-view in company history in terms of number of buys. The event will rank higher in pure revenue terms thanks to an increased price tag.
Many sources relying on google trends and other internet traffic based methods of predicting pay-per-view buys had predicted that the event would come in average to below. Based on the strong storytelling behind GSP-Serra and anecdotal evidence, MMAPayout.com correctly predicated that the event would surprise to the upside. MMAPayout.com has since learned that the highly praised Countdown show for the event drew an above average 782,000 viewers.
UFC 82 did not fare so well according to the Wrestling Observer. The event featuring Anderson Silva v. Dan Henderson for the unified Middleweight Championship appears to be in the range of Silva's last fight at UFC 77 which drew a disappointing 325,000 buys. Silva's inability to break through as a top draw has to be a source of frustration for both sides and is likely a large part of the dominant fighter's desire to box Roy Jones Jr. (along with a guaranteed mid seven figure payday).
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, UFC 83, which featured Georges St. Pierre v. Matt Serra, drew 525,000 buys based on the first industry estimate of the event. Early estimates typically rise as more numbers come in and the event is reportedly tracking ahead of both of Randy Couture's fights from last year which did 540,000 and 520,000 respectively.
Based on that estimate the event is the seventh largest drawing pay-per-view in company history in terms of number of buys. The event will rank higher in pure revenue terms thanks to an increased price tag.
Many sources relying on google trends and other internet traffic based methods of predicting pay-per-view buys had predicted that the event would come in average to below. Based on the strong storytelling behind GSP-Serra and anecdotal evidence, MMAPayout.com correctly predicated that the event would surprise to the upside. MMAPayout.com has since learned that the highly praised Countdown show for the event drew an above average 782,000 viewers.
UFC 82 did not fare so well according to the Wrestling Observer. The event featuring Anderson Silva v. Dan Henderson for the unified Middleweight Championship appears to be in the range of Silva's last fight at UFC 77 which drew a disappointing 325,000 buys. Silva's inability to break through as a top draw has to be a source of frustration for both sides and is likely a large part of the dominant fighter's desire to box Roy Jones Jr. (along with a guaranteed mid seven figure payday).