The MMA (Non-UFC) Thread

[Hammy]

Strikeforce are legit

And just got a whole lot better...

The fight game can change in the blink of an eye. In ProElite?s case, 14 seconds -- the time it took Seth Petruzelli to knock out Kevin ?Kimbo Slice? Ferguson -- marked the unofficial end to the company?s top promotion, EliteXC.

In the months that followed, negotiations were fast and furious, as a number of rival promoters looked to swoop in on ProElite?s assets. News broke late last week that Strikeforce had won the lottery while also landing a deal with Showtime.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker discussed the intricacies of the deal during a recent installment of ?Beatdown? on the Sherdog Radio Network.

?It was a complicated deal in the sense that we needed to come out and hammer the deal out with ProElite and make sure they were happy and make sure CBS and Showtime were happy,? Coker said. ?Then CBS and Showtime had to have some type of business resolution with ProElite. So it was a triangle, not just doing business with one-on-one entities.?

Coker expects ProElite to continue conducting business with smaller promotions.

?At the end of the day for Pro Elite, they?re going to continue doing business, it sounds like, with King of the Cage,? Coker said. ?I think we only took 42 of the fighters, so they?ll have about 100 fighters that will still be able to fight for King of the Cage or Icon Sport or Cage Rage or Rumble on the Rock.?

Maintaining a strong relationship with CBS and Showtime seems vitally important to the Strikeforce CEO.

?[As for] CBS and Showtime, we?re going to do our best to provide them with the best fights we can put together and do the matchups with the assets we took from ProElite and the roster we currently have,? Coker said. ?I think we?re going to have some compelling matchups.?

The deal Strikeforce struck with CBS and Showtime includes promoting up to 16 live fight cards, with four of those airing on CBS. Strikeforce could double its output from 2008, when it only put on eight shows. The 42 fighter contracts acquired include some of the bigger names available, many of which will be on display at Strikeforce?s scheduled April 11 show.

?You can imagine the top 10 -- the Frank Shamrocks, the Robbie Lawlers, the Gina Caranos and the Kimbo Slices of the world, all the way down to some of the guys we thought were the up-and-coming stars of the future,? Coker said. ?We went down the roster with a couple of my teammates, and we said, ?What do you think about this guy? What about this guy?? Not just the top tier guys ? we took some of the fighters we thought would be helpful in continuing to grow Strikeforce.?

Showtime representatives also had input.

?Some of the fighters were people you?ve already seen on Showtime, and they wanted to have a certain continuity with their fans and the fighters that fought on Showtime,? Coker said. ?That was also a factor.?

Strikeforce already announced one matchup for the April 11 show -- a middleweight bout pairing knockout artists Scott Smith and Benji Radach. Shamrock, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, has also been booked, although an opponent has not been named.

Coker admits the fighter contracts have the potential to become problematic. Similar to the deal in which the UFC bought Pride Fighting Championships in 2007, questions remain as to whether or not the ProElite contracts are transferable.

?I talked to -- before we did the deal -- the attorneys, and the attorneys feel we have a strong position to have the contracts transferable,? Coker said. ?To me, it?s very simple; there could be a legal remedy or there could be a business remedy. I?m all about creating a business remedy. If you guys know anyone I?ve done business with, it?s never with a hammer over the head. I want to be in business with people that want to be in business with me, and I think that we just increased our brand and ability to grow the sport with this distribution deal we obtained. That?s really my opinion.?

The increased workload for the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion will require some changes to the way it does business, but Coker does not see the need for any drastic moves.

?We?ll hire a few more key employees,? Coker said, ?but I?m not going to hire 100 people just to have this guy or that guy. There will be a certain amount of people we?ll need to strategically employ to execute this plan, but promoting eight fights a year with the team we had was very doable. We probably could?ve done one a month. We just didn?t need to do one a month last year. Going to 12 or 16, we could hire a couple of people and get it done.?

Coker has learned from the mistakes of others.

?You?ve seen what happened with some of these companies that have blown up and hired a zillion people and two years later are out of business,? he said. ?We have to be smart with what we?re doing. All these decisions will be based on sound business decisions based on how we?re doing and how we?re able to produce these events and profit-and-loss statements. Those will all be a determining factor of how fast we?ll expand.?

Will Strikeforce promote more events outside its home base in San Jose?

?That?s a good question,? Coker said. ?We?re going to be meeting with everyone in New York at the end of this month and lay out the whole year. I think that we will do fights on the West Coast, probably in the Seattle region. We?ll probably go back to the [Playboy] Mansion because the Mansion fight is a lot of fun. I understand, with the amount of shows we?re going to need to do, we?re going to have to go on the road. We?ve had offers from different casinos around the country to do fights, and I think we?re going to take up those offers at this point.?

With the acquisition of 42 fighter contracts and the television deal with CBS and Showtime, Strikeforce has set itself up as the strongest competitor to date for the UFC. Unlike some of his predecessors, Coker does not expect his relationship with UFC President Dana White to change much. The two remain cordial.

?He?s always been very nice to me,? Coker said. ?We?ve always had a good relationship. There?s never been any bad talk. I think the issue was with companies before that came out and called UFC out saying our fighters were better than your fighters or saying this is better. You?re not going to hear that from us. That?s not what we?re about.?

Coker has a deep respect for what White and Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta have done for the sport of mixed martial arts.

?They built the industry here in America,? Coker said. ?Would we be talking right now if they didn?t do that deal and UFC didn?t spend the money to build it? Probably not. I?m very respectful of that, and I know where they?re at in the marketplace today. We just want to run our business and do what we do and be a profitable company and do amazing fights and do our part. That?s really the goal.?

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/strikeforce-ceo-talks-proelite-showtime-fighter-acquisitions-16122

[slash666]

It's definatly going to make UFC & Affliction up their game.

Main event for their April 11th show has been announced and it's a big one, Frank Shamrock vs Nick Diaz!!! It should be brilliant.

[Hammy]

A fight sure to peak the interests of wrestling fans as well as MMA ones:



Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley?s opponent for ?March Badness? ? a hybrid mixed martial arts and boxing event being put on by former boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. ? will be none other than UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock (27-13-2), according to BloodyElbow.com.

The pay-per-view (PPV) event will take place at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla., on March 21.

Lashley is an absolute monster, weighing in right around the 265-pound heavyweight limit for his fights. He destroyed Joshua Franklin in under a minute during his MMA debut last December with devastating takedowns and a ground-and-pound that opened up a nasty fight ending gash on Franklin?s head.

One of the newest members of the prestigious American Top Team, Lashley has a rare blend of size, freakish athleticism and blazing quickness. He?s going to be a handful for anybody in a fight, let alone a 45-year-old man who?s lost 8 of his last 11 contests and hasn?t beaten a decent heavyweight since submitting Bas Rutten nearly 14 years ago.

?The World?s Most Dangerous Man? managed to win his most recent fight a couple of weeks ago over Ross Clifton at WarGods: ?The Valentine?s Eve Massacre;? however Ross Clifton isn?t exactly comparable to a Goliath like Bobby Lashley.

The truth is, this is probably a more difficult match-up for Shamrock than even Kimbo Slice was when they were scheduled to lock horns last October, simply because of Lashley?s versatility as a decorated amateur wrestler and his overall explosiveness.

Shamrock pulled out of that scheduled match with Slice on fight night due to a cut sustained in warm-ups, and has since been accused by younger brother Frank of cutting himself to get out of the fight.

Regardless of whether or not that?s true, the fact is that Shamrock hasn?t seen action inside a cage or ring against a guy as big and as dangerous as Lashley in a long time. This one could get ugly.

Also expected to be in action is the man who put an end to the Kimbo Slice hype train last October with a 14-second technical knockout, Seth Petruzelli. He?ll lock horns with ex-WEC 205 pound champion Doug ?The Rhino? Marshall. Top heavyweights Roy ?Big Country? Nelson and Jeff ?The Snowman? Monson will also collide in a featured MMA fight as well.

The boxing portion of the event will be headlined by Roy Jones Jr. taking on Omar Sheika.

[slash666]

Good fight for promotional purposes.

I predict Lashley by murder! Can't believe Shamrock would even accept this fight.

[D]

WOW, This is going to be awesome!

[D]

Anybody catch WEC last night?

I promise they are rivaling UFC as my favorite promotion. I love watching these lower weights in action.

great fights last night all around.

Mike Brown is a fucking relentless beast!

[Hammy]

?I?ve done a lot of firsts. I was the first heavyweight champ of MMA and first foreign champ in Japan. This is the first time two champions (Jones and Shamrock) in their individual sports, at this level, will be fighting on the same card ? boxing and MMA. I think it?s the way of the future and it?s happening now. Lashley got things going in wrestling and then the WWE. Now he?s in MMA. He?s very good. I think he?s 270-pounds of muscle ? quick, explosive and strong. The area he lacks, gound skills, he makes up for with his strength and ability to move on the ground. He can really move on his feet. This isn?t a fat guy laying on his back.?

UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock (27-13-2) prepares for his upcoming bout against former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley at ?March Badness? ? a hybrid mixed martial arts and boxing event being put on by former boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla., on March 21. ?The World?s Most Dangerous Man? is coming off his first win in almost five years at Wargods ?Valentine?s Eve Massacre? where he harpooned Ross Clifton early in round one. Shammy doesn?t anticipate the same level of resistance from Lashley - though it may not matter once the hulking behemoth gets his hands on the 45-year old MMA pioneer.

Says it all really, first win, against a scrub, and in nearly five years, and its not for lack of fights, name value alone and the fact that they are two former WWE stars makes this seem entertaining on paper but it looks like it should be easy for Lashley.  But, Shamrock has great leg locks, there are a lot of similiarities between this and the Mir vs Lesnar encounter.  It'll be fun anyway, no matter how short the fight ends up being.

As for WEC dude, never seen much simply because we don't get it on tv over here so I would need to download it and between all the wrestling I download and classic MMA and UFC Prelims I don't really have the time to be honest, I would like to give it a try if only for Frank Mir's much praised commentary.

[D]

Just saw where TapouT founder Mask got killed in a hit and run car crash.


Damn

RIP


I loved that guy

[C0ma]

That is terrible news. I met him at a Show in Vegas and he couldn't have been nicer.
Those guys have done alot for the sport (and fighters in General) RIP

FYI... this is the car:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum_framed.frame&page=1

[slash666]

Well no cut excuse, this time it's a suspension. Ken Shamrock has tested positive for several banned steroid substances and has been banned for 1 year. He is planning an appeal but is likely to be rejected. So Lashley/Shamrock is now off but Lashley is still set to fight there and is looking for an opponant.

[Hammy]

Well no cut excuse, this time it's a suspension. Ken Shamrock has tested positive for several banned steroid substances and has been banned for 1 year. He is planning an appeal but is likely to be rejected. So Lashley/Shamrock is now off but Lashley is still set to fight there and is looking for an opponant.

To continue with the "Former WWE Star" vs "Former WWE Star" theme, get Sean O'Haire in the jobber role, less name value but just like Shamrock they'll be sure he'll lose and it'll make Lashley look good, which was clearly the plan.  If not, Bart Gunn, although he is slightly more competent than O'Haire.

[slash666]

Well no cut excuse, this time it's a suspension. Ken Shamrock has tested positive for several banned steroid substances and has been banned for 1 year. He is planning an appeal but is likely to be rejected. So Lashley/Shamrock is now off but Lashley is still set to fight there and is looking for an opponant.

To continue with the "Former WWE Star" vs "Former WWE Star" theme, get Sean O'Haire in the jobber role, less name value but just like Shamrock they'll be sure he'll lose and it'll make Lashley look good, which was clearly the plan.  If not, Bart Gunn, although he is slightly more competent than O'Haire.

Unfortunatly the organiser for this show isn't Vince Russo so instead Shamrocks replacement is Jason Guida.

[Hammy]

Well no cut excuse, this time it's a suspension. Ken Shamrock has tested positive for several banned steroid substances and has been banned for 1 year. He is planning an appeal but is likely to be rejected. So Lashley/Shamrock is now off but Lashley is still set to fight there and is looking for an opponant.

To continue with the "Former WWE Star" vs "Former WWE Star" theme, get Sean O'Haire in the jobber role, less name value but just like Shamrock they'll be sure he'll lose and it'll make Lashley look good, which was clearly the plan.  If not, Bart Gunn, although he is slightly more competent than O'Haire.

Unfortunatly the organiser for this show isn't Vince Russo so instead Shamrocks replacement is Jason Guida.

Ah-hem, Vince Russo would have booked Pee-Wee Herman 

In all fairness, considering Lashley has only had one pro fight, its a fair test, he should win if he is ever going to be a force, but Guida isn't a total scrub...well not quite.

[Hammy]

Colossal heavyweights Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp are on a collision course to meet at the Gulf Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Miss., on June 27, according to Larry Pepe of ProMMARadio.com.

It?s a titanic match up that is expected to be among several mixed martial arts bouts slated for the pay-per-view (PPV) event, which is being coordinated and promoted by Prize Fight Promotions

Lashley ? a former WWE champion and decorated amateur wrestler ? is fresh off a unanimous decision victory over Jason Guida at ?March Badness? just last month. Most expected the American Top Team-trained fighter in just his second professional fight to steamroll the journeyman.

It didn?t happen ? Lashley looked a bit green against Guida an his inexperience was clearly evident.

Lashley has recently indicated that his ultimate goal is to be a major player in the UFC, but understands that he must first become a reputable fighter prior to a potential debut, vowing to improve and work his way to the top.

He?ll have another chance against ?The Beast? on fight night.

Sapp is no stranger to the sport, as well as the occasional freak show ? he recently bested a character from a Japanese anime show, ?Kinniku Mantaro,? at Fields Dynamite!! in Japan on New Year?s Eve 2008.

The former NFL offensive lineman is a bonafide star in ?The Land of the Rising Sun,? however, that popularity has not carried over to the United States. In fact, the 6?5? 350-pound Sapp dropped his United States debut against 6′11? 330-pound South African, Jan ?The Giant? Nortje (2-5), via embarrassing first round technical knockout under the Striekforce banner last year.

Lashley and Sapp typically rely on their size when fighting, but neither of them will have that advantage on June 27. It should be an interesting sight to say the least.

This is a HUGE fight in more ways than one, can't wait! 

[slash666]

Sapp said he hasn't signed the contract yet but he is expected to soon, Lashley has already signed.

[Hammy]

Only in Japan (or perhaps Alabama).

In a bid to bolster their daunting ratings, Japans Fighting & Entertainment Group (FEG) are pulling out all the stops. According to their official website, they have constructed a open weight tournament which is being billed as a ?Super Hulk Tournament? for their DREAM 9 event which takes place from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, on May 26.

It will feature eight fighters of varying size and ability.

First up will be fan favorite Ikuhisa Minowa, who has fought every name under the sun (albeit to inconsistent results). He will be put to the task of facing off against Bob ?The Beast? Sapp who relies on his size when fighting and not so much technical prowess.

UFC washout Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will look to get back to his wining ways but will be considerably outsized in his attempt to do so when he clashes with 6? 11?, 330 lb. Jan ?The Giant? Nortje.

Gegard Mousasi, who vacated his DREAM Middleweight title recently because he desired a move to Light Heavyweight, will face off against dangerous kickboxer Mark Hunt.

And 7? 2? gargantuan Hong Man Choi is reportedly set to do battle with baseball star Jose Canseco.

Unreal.

I still remain a little skeptical about Canseco?s participation. It wouldn?t be unlike Japan to have someone dressed up as and ?play? his part. This is after all, the same promotion that gave birth to the mixed martial arts debut of a Japanese anime character in Kinniku Mantaro.

It looks like we?ll have to wait and see though what will actually come to fruition within this ?Super Hulk? Tournament.


DREAM 9 will also feature the promotion?s featherweight grand prix quarterfinals.

The focal point of which will boast the long awaited return of 139-pound superstar Norifumi ?Kid? Yamamoto, who was offered a first-round bye in the tournament in hopes that he will have recovered from a previous injury in time to compete. He?s coming off a long 16-month layoff but now he?s finally ready to compete and will take on wrestling standout Joe Warren.

In non-tournament action will be highly regarded lightweight standout Gesias ?JZ? Calvancante who is set to do battle with Japanese mainstay Tatsuya Kawajiri.

And grappling phenom Ronaldo ?Jacare? Souza is slated to once again do battle with the charismatic Jason ?Mayhem? Miller, in a bout that will be contested for the vacant DREAM Middleweight title.

And although the card looks to be complete, DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara teased that there is more to come.

Oh my.

Here is the current line-up for ?DREAM 9?:

Featherweight grand prix quarterfinals:
Norifumi Yamamoto (17-1) vs. Joe Warren (1-0)
Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (4-2)
Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1)
Abel Cullum (14-2) vs. Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1)

?Super Hulk? Openweight quarterfinals:
Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30) vs. Bob Sapp (10-3-1)
Jan Nortje (2-5) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-4)
Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) vs. Mark Hunt (5-5)
Hong Man Choi (1-2) vs. Jose Canseco (0-0)

DREAM middleweight title:
Ronaldo Souza (10-2) vs. Jason Miller (22-6)

Non-tournament bouts:
Gesias Calvancante (14-2-1) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2)

Who can resist over the top fun like this?    It's just like PRIDE    Gegard Mousasi for the win!

[slash666]

That is russorific as anything I've seen...but by God it will be funny!

[Hammy]

Sapp said he hasn't signed the contract yet but he is expected to soon, Lashley has already signed.

BILOXI, Miss. (May 14, 2009) ? Styles make fights and the June 27 main event match-up between contrasting MMA fighters, kick-boxer Bob ?The Beast? Sapp and wrestler Bobby Lashley, features a potential instant classic of pure entertainment on the ?Ultimate Chaos? pay-per-view event live from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The imposing 6-4, 350-pound Sapp (10-3-1), who played in the NFL for four years before becoming an iconic combat fighter in Japan, wants to brawl on his feet while the chiseled 6-3, 265-pound former WWE star Lashley (2-0), 3-time NCAA champion (1996-98) and 4-time All-America wrestler at Missouri Valley College, prefers to ground and pound.

?Ultimate Chaos,? presented by Prize Fight Promotions and Fight Force International, in association with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, Treasure Bay Casino and Budweiser, is being produced and distributed by Gotham MMA and Integrated Sports at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States on cable and satellite via iNDemand, TVN and DirecTV for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

Sapp starred as an offensive lineman on the University of Washington?s football team, winning the prestigious Morris Award, and he was selected in the third round of the NFL draft in 1997 by the Chicago Bears. Bob turned to pro wrestling after football and was later recruited by PRIDE in Japan, where his incredible size, strength and bull-rush style made him an instant fan favorite. He went on to star in K-1 as well as become an actor, playing roles in movies like The Longest Yard and Elektra.

?This fight is what fight fans want to see,? Sapp said. ?It?s intriguing and will be very entertaining. Bobby is bringing ?The Beast? out in me- I want to brawl. I?m the last person to say I?m a submission artist. I want to box. I?m a brawler. I?m going to come at him with my long arms and legs, punching and kicking. He?s going to come strong at me, trying to take me off balance, but I?ll come back with a straight right knee to his jaw and follow with a left hook. He?s never been hit by anybody like me. He?s new on the MMA scene. Bobby?s more or less a grounder and pounder who wants to slam me and hold me down. He?ll throw in some elbows and maybe some new, slick MMA moves. What?s left?

?I?m a huge test for him, which says a lot about Bobby. He has no fear of getting cracked real hard. It could be a flash knockdown or an accumulation of punches, which does worse damage and is tougher to get over. Bobby?s powerful, his slams are strong and he does have some pro wrestling moves. But I?ll be faster than he imagines. If he wants to be a star in MMA, he needs a more entertaining style of fighting, one that I?ve built by career on. I?m more of an entertaining fighter than typical MMA guy.?

After graduating from Missouri Valley College, Lashley joined the U.S. Army and was a 2-time Armed Forces Champion and 2002 Military Games Championship silver medalist. Two years ago, Lashley became a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar, joining Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 23 in a bet against WWE president

Vince McMahon. Lashley won the match and helped Trump shave McMahon?s head in the ring. Bobby made his MMA debut last December 13, stopping Joshua Franklin only 0.41 into the opening round, and March 21 he won a 3-round decision versus 37-fight veteran Jason Guida in Pensacola (FL).

?This fight is going to let fans in the U.S. know that Bob?s still around,? Sapp added. ?I?ve been fighting for organizations all over the world, in a ring, not a cage. I want to go at it and make all my fights exciting. I?ll be training 20 days in a Judo center in Japan (for a DREAM show there in late May) and it?ll be the first time that I?m only training for an MMA fight ? no movies, no television, just training everyday. It?s a great opportunity for me and American fans are going to see the real Beast.?

In a co-feature that could be the main event on most cards, former UFC title challenger and feared Brazilian striker, Pedro ?The Rock? Rizzo (16-8-0), takes on controversial Dutch heavyweight Gilbert ?The Hurricane? Yvel (35-13-3).

Dangerous lightweight Din ?Dinyero? Thomas (24-8-0), star of The Ultimate Fighter 4, faces former KOTC and Gladiator Challenge champion Javier ?Showtime? Vasquez; Canadian lightweight sensation Chris ?The Polish Hammer? Horodecki (12-1-0) meets dangerous William ?The Bull? Sriyapai (12-4-0).

Also fighting on the card are welterweights Brett Cooper (8-4-0) vs. Waachiim ?Native Warrior? Spirit Wolf (5-4), Affliction vice president Tom Atencio (1-0) vs. lightweight Randy Hedderick, middleweight James Orso (3-2-0) vs. Colby McMahan (1-0-0), middleweight Danny Abbadi (3-4-0) vs. Lance Thomson (1-0-0), and welterweight Eric Bradley (2-1-0) vs. Colin McKee (3-2-0).

[pilferk]

Maybe taunting your opponent by wearing a luche libre mask to the cage isn't a great idea, huh?

Took Lashley about 20 seconds to finish the fight with Cook.  Jeesh....why would you want to piss your opponent off and give him MORE reason to want to knock your block off, eh?  Hope he enjoyed the laugh before getting the crap kicked out of him.

[Hammy]

WAMMA Heavyweight Championship bout: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett
Heavyweight bout: Tim Sylvia vs. Paul Buentello
Light heavyweight Bout: Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi
Middleweight bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
Welterweight bout: Jay Hieron vs. Paul Daley
Lightweight bout: Dan Lauzon vs. Chris Horodecki

Another kick ass card so far and with many more bouts to be added.  I really hope Barnett can pull off the upset.  I'd also like to see Buentello win but thats very doubtful.  There are so potential show stealing bouts in the other 4 announced, my favourite being the Babalu vs. Mousasi one.