Machida escapes Rua…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Well, it’s not too often I’m wrong. Wait, it’s not too often I’m RIGHT. But UFC 104 once again proved that even the most predictable outcome sure is fun getting there.
Really thought Lyoto Machida was going to walk on, through and everything else against Shogun Rua.
With the way Machida handled ‘my boy’ Rashad Evans and that Rua was getting the rub off of beating Chuck Liddell (though a legend, he’s past his prime), thought Machida would cruise to the easy win.
Wasn’t so. All three judges scored it 48-47 for Machida, who lost his first rounds ever in his eight UFC bouts.
What is clear after watching it Sunday and judging from the crowd reaction is that Rua won the last two rounds, and that’s what people remember.
It’s all about the finish. Very close fight. Initially, I called it a draw. I might watch it again for a better assessment.
Either way, all it really did was build up the anticipation to an immediate rematch that has earned the right to headline a PPV. UFC president Dana White said he thought Rua won and also said there would be a rematch.
In the other notable bout, heavyweight Cain Velasquez continues his rise with a second-round TKO victory. Stoppage was a bit premature, but Cain was handling his business.
Don’t know if he’s ready for a title shot, but he dang close at this point. I would like to see him win one more fight against a well-seasoned fighter that could give him fits.
***
Caught the first episode of 24/7: Pacquiao and Cotto as must say both Manny and Miguel are coming off as likable dudes.
Still torn on who I’m picking in this one. Something in me keeps saying this is Cotto’s moment and Pacquiao has never faced someone with such power.
But Cotto has never faced anyone with such blinding speed. Hmm, see, could go back and forth every day.
Sets up a good November as I forgot about Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson II on Nov. 7, then PacMan and Cotto on the 14th and Andre Ward vs. Mikkel Kessler to close off the first stage of the Super Six on Nov. 21.
Bellator added to the big boys?
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Bellator Fighting Championships announced a partnership with NBC, Fox Sports and Telemundo on Tuesday to broadcast Seasons 2 and 3 of Bellator in 2010.
A little conflicted on this one. On one hand, it’s great to have a TV deal locked in place, and it lets fighters know it won’t be going away anytime soon.
But on the other, after doing gangbuster ratings on ESPNDeportes, you have to think Bellator was hoping for a spot on ESPN2 or somewhere like that.
I think it’s a matter of perception. When I see something on Fox Sports, I don’t get too excited. I’ll still watch because I have the sickness. But in terms of production values and things that add to a broadcast, hmm, it hasn’t always been Fox’s best asset.
Fox has had the International Fight League and PRIDE events before on its affiliates, so it’s not like it’s new to the MMA world.
From the press release:
“Since our launch earlier this year, there has been an overwhelming demand from MMA fans nationwide for us to broadcast our events live and through a widely available platform,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “We are thrilled to have signed this groundbreaking agreement with FOX Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo, which will bring our unique and exciting brand of tournament-based MMA events to a dramatically expanded audience of both English- and Spanish-speaking fans.”
Under this new multi-tiered alliance, Bellator events will be distributed live in primetime on Thursday nights beginning April 8, 2010 on FSN and its regional sports network affiliates. The top moments from each week’s live events will then be condensed into an action-packed 30-minute highlight show, broadcast every successive Saturday night in the all night daypart on NBC, and a one-hour highlight show will air in Spanish on Telemundo every Saturday night from midnight to 1 a.m. Each of the three broadcasts will be aired in high definition.
In talking with Rebney before, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. And maybe the best thing he’s done with this is to have the live fights on Fox, and then shine it up all nice for NBC.
The goal (you would think) is for the NBC viewings to be the the ones that add the new viewers. The diehards are going to watch on FSN anyway, so it’s an interesting approach.
Bellator made a pretty big splash for a first-year MMA group in April with some fantastic fights and some even better finishes. The second season will start in April with another 12-week tournament. The third season is set to commence in August with another 12 weeks.
It took MMA back to its roots with a tournament setting and a fighter getting more and more money with each win.
Former Central Oklahoma wrestler Jared Hess made it to the finals of the middleweight tournament. He lost to Hector Lombard but was praised for his grit and toughness.
Bellator came to the Lloyd Noble Center at OU, and I was impressed with the setting and production. Hope to get in touch with Hess and get his thoughts about this agreement.
What do you think? Has Bellator officially arrived with this deal, or is it too early to make such a proclamation?
Super Six giving boxing buzz…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
While MMA and UFC are seemingly doing everything right in trying to create new fans and exploring new marketing ideas, boxing has been well behind the curve.
For years, us ‘experts’ thought there needed to be the Next Great Star to try to bring fans to the game. But after watching the Super Six World Boxing Classic, that is not needed.
Imagine that all it took was fighters willing to risk everything for the chance at getting everything. The buzz was there this last weekend for Arthur Abraham and Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell.
Taylor has left the hospital and is now vacationing in Europe. That’s the best news you could hope for at this point.
Some thoughts, observations
- European crowds are absolutely fantastic. Great atmosphere at both venues. Wish it would be like that again in the US.
- Antonio Tarver is going to be one heckuva announcer. What he’s doing a real good job of right now is not turning the focus back to himself. He’s talking about the fighters. Really hope he sticks with it. I love the “Magic Man” but the last couple of years have stained what I remember of him.
- Glad we finally know the format of the Super Six. Three stages with two points for a decision win and three points for a KO win. After that, a semifinals and a final. Thank you.
- How cool is the Super Six? Because of the format, not one person (well, almost) has mentioned how Andre Dirrell is now done because he just had his first loss.
- Taylor needs to get out. And I’m not just saying that because I’m an advocate of Tulsa’s Allan Green taking his place. Taylor gave us everything he had. He took on one tough fight after another. He’s good to great, but it seems he’ll always end up just a little short. The money isn’t worth the memory loss.
- But that leads to an interesting conundrum. Say Green (or whoever) replaces someone. Does the replacement inherit the other guy’s point total, and how would that be fair? We’ll see.
- I love Gus Johnson’s excitement, but he was off the mark on Dirrell and Froch. I thought Dirrell won, too, but Johnson seemed to only notice what Dirrell did the whole night. And great to see Steve Albert back for the Abraham fight, a true class act.
- Well, we got almost a month now. 24/7 for Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto starts Saturday. That fight is Nov. 14, with Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward concluding the first stage of the Super Six on Nov. 21.
- Back later in the week as I try to muster up some enthusiasm for UFC 104. I don’t know, just think Lyoto Machida is going to wipe the floor with Shogun Rua. We’ll see.
Hendricks added to UFC 107…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Kinda slow time here in the MMA world as we gear up for the next big UFC PPV, but there are a couple of local names making news.
First is former Oklahoma State star Johny Hendricks. Hendricks is coming off a first-round TKO against Ultimate Fighter winner Amir Sadollah and will be a part of UFC 107 on Dec. 12 from Memphis.
It hasn’t been officially confirmed by the UFC, but all reports say Hendricks will fight UFC newcomer Ricardo Funch. Funch is undefeated and from Brazil, but I admit that’s about as much knowledge as I have about the guy at this time.
Hendricks is one of my favorites to talk with when it comes to his honesty about everything going on. Definitely try to catch up with him before the bout.
***
Another former Cowboy is making some noise as “King” Mo Lawal has signed with Strikeforce.
Sources say Lawal might even be ready to go as early as December. Lawal has some of the most entertaining videos out there right now.
He’s been gaining steam in the last couple of years in the Japanese organization Sengoku. Has quite the buzz around him right now.
Lawal would definitely add a lot to the Strikeforce light heavyweight division, which isn’t the strongest right now. So win-win for both parties involved.
Green wins, but was it enough?
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
I know there was a late opponent change, but it’s stuff like Friday night why nobody starts tooting the horn of Tulsa super middleweight boxer Allan Green.
Because sometimes, he just looks like he doesn’t want to be there. Green was originally supposed to fight Victor Oganov, but it was switched to Travis Simms.
The result was an underwhelming decision for “Sweetness” (or is it Ghost Dog). He was coming in with huge momentum following the second-round destruction of Carlos De Leon Jr., but this, ugh, not what people wanted to see.
Green is arguably the best fighter not involved in Showtime’s Super Six Super Middleweight Round Robin tournament. But he didn’t make a case for inclusion with his outing Friday in Newkirk.
Lawton’s George Tahdooahnippah picked up another win, this time by decision. Good experience for Tahdooahnippah, interesting to see where he goes from here.
Biggest winner of the night was Antwone Smith in an undercard bout against Harry Crawford. Walked him down and put ‘em out. Fine performance.
This weekend sees the return of Israel Vazquez, who rose up the Boneman’s rankings faster than anyone I can remember with his three bouts with Rafael Marquez.
Hope he’s the same Izzy as before, but who knows what those fights have done to him?
Also be keeping an eye on The Ultimate Fighter this week to see if Kimbo Slice comes back. His bout with Roy Nelson did record ratings for Spike (kinda figured that). The teaser sure was setting it up for Kimbo to be an injury replacement. We’ll see.
Nelson TKO 2 Slice…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
We’ve all seen boxing and MMA fights like the one just witnessed on Spike between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson on The Ultimate Fighter.
It’s not pretty, not really entertaining, but it’s what the guy (Nelson) needs to do to get the job done.
Kimbo simply had no answer for when he got close to Nelson. Once the distance closed, Nelson knew he could take him down and then use his advanced ground game (compared to Kimbo’s) and hold him down.
Kimbo stopped one takedown, and coach Rampage Jackson was quite happy about that. I thought it might have been over in the first when Kimbo used all his energy to try to flip over. That’s a risky move.
Nelson started to pepper him with shots. Not hard, fight-ending shots, but Kimbo was in a defenseless position when the bell sounded.
In round 2, Kimbo landed a couple of good shots before Nelson was able to get him down again and do the exact same thing he did in the first. Kimbo just couldn’t the 264-pounder off of him, so referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.
The old cliche ‘it is what it is.’ Kimbo showed heart and some improvement, but he still has a long way to go if he still wants to make a go at this. I give Nelson credit for not getting caught up in the hype and just sticking to a plan.
He didn’t earn me as one of his fans with tonight, but that doesn’t matter. He did what he had to do.
***
Ol’ boxing scribe Thomas Hauser is at it again. This is an amazing piece about the HBO boxing situation. Amazing.
Get a drink of your choice and get ready for a startling 10-15-minute read about the inner workings of HBO sports, circa 2009.
Fields inks with catBOX…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
In a major move for the up-and-coming local boxing promotion, catBOX Entertainment has signed cruiserweight Eric Fields.
Fields (12-1, 10 KOs) was knocked out in his bid for the vacant NABO, WBO championship 20 months ago by Ola Afolabi. But at 27, Fields definitely has what it takes to climb back up that ladder.
Fields is an Ardmore native, and he’s only fought once since his first loss, a TKO victory in the second round in January.
Fields and fellow catBOX fighter Oklahoma lightweight champion Noah Zuhdi will be at Remington Park in a couple of weeks for autographs on Oklahoma Derby weekend.
No word on when Fields’ first bout with his new promotional team will happen.
***
That was dominance by Vitali Klitschko against Chris Arreola. Arreola fought as hard as he could and for eight rounds, he wasn’t discouraged.
But in the ninth, you felt the will sapped away from him before it was called after the 10th.
I had Vitali up 9-1, giving Arreola the eighth round for his volume and pressure.
Klitschko fought the entire fight going backwards and did so successfully – that says something.
Great effort by Arreola, an even better performance by Vitali.
***
Reminder that Kimbo Slice takes on Roy Nelson on Wednesday night’s Ultimate Fighter episode on Spike. I should be home to see it, and I’ll post what I thought later that night.
Arreola ready, but will it matter?
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
The talk in the boxing community this week has bascially been people trying to get themselves to believe that Chris Arreola has a chance against Vitali Klitschko.
The public has just become so bored with the Klitschko brothers that it doesn’t really matter who is fighting them.
I would give Arreola a shot against Wladimir. Not a good one, but if Arreola could test his chin, who knows?
Vitali has a sturdy beard. He can’t be hurt by one shot. However, he has had numerous injuries, so perhaps he breaks down in the ring? I don’t know, that’s about the only way I see Arreola walking out with a win.
Arreola, for his credit, actually looks like he is coming to fight. He’ll never be in great shape, but he looked as good as I’ve seen him at the weigh-in Thursday.
He’s got good power, but more than anything, he’s got great energy. If he can get inside and make Vitali back up or fight back, that’s his chance.
But if Arreola is stuck at the end of that jab and Vitali is just hammerin’ him with those one-two shots, gonna be a long night.
I’m trying to convince myself that Arreola can win it, but I don’t see it happening. Go with Vitali by late-round TKO.
***
The numbers for Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez are mind-boggling. The AP is reporting near a million buys.
Wow.
Mayweather has been saying he’s a PPV attraction, but when you fight Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, of course you are. This would be a legit thing of saying “I brought the numbers.”
He just can’t decide who he is. All this week he’s been humble and gracious but then that arrogance kicks in.
People are buying the fights to see him get beat. He’s the black hat part of the equation. And while he plays the role fine, I don’t think he’s comfortable with it at the end of the day. He wants to be liked, I think.
***
Big episode of The Ultimate Fighter coming up next week with Kimbo Slice going against Roy Nelson.
A lot of people are saying it’s the end for Kimbo, we’ll see. The fact people are talking about it is good and should lead to another huge rating for Spike and the UFC.
I’ve been watching the shows on the weekend, but I’m hoping I’ll be free Wednesday night to watch it when it happens.
Could Belfort give Silva a run?
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
MMA fighter Vitor Belfort will always have this special aura about him when it comes to how I perceive him.
He was such a breath of fresh air when he burst onto the scene. He was incredible. Fit as can be with the fastest hands I had seen from an MMA fighter.
And with his win against Rich Franklin at UFC 103 last Saturday in front of a sold out crowd in Dallas, he’s thrown himself back into the mix.
I don’t know if he deserves a shot against Anderson Silva, but now is the time to strike. An impressive first-round KO is all people are remembering about Belfort at this point.
I view Anderson Silva as the Ultimate Fighting Machine because I don’t think there is much the Brazilian star can’t do.
And while I wouldn’t give Belfort much of a chance if a proposed bout happened, I would watch it. But there is a window to this. This needs to happen by the summer of 2010. Just a gut feeling.
***
Applaud The Ice Man Chuck Liddell going on Dancing with the Stars. I’m no judge or anything, so I can’t comment on his performance. I just know as I’ve done with Floyd Mayweather and Evander Holyfield, I’ll be pulling for Liddell to go as far as possible. I like humanizing the fighters, and I like the fighters getting their name out there for as long as possible.
***
Speaking of Mayweather, he may be the most polarizing figure in the sport in years. You either marveled at his precision after a 21-month layoff in easily disposing of Juan Manuel Marquez. Or you were frustrated at him coming in over weight, not finishing JMM and being a jerk in the postfight activities.
I’ll put the fight on DVD on Saturday, but I prob won’t watch it again. I’d watch a highlight package of the big shots, but there are too many dull spots in this one, especially late in the fight. Mayweather looks like he’s ready to strike, but he just doesn’t.
The replay will be shown on HBO on Saturday as a prelude to the heavyweight championship bout between Chris Arreola and Vitali Klitschko. This is a bout that is everything good and bad about boxing. I’ll explain later in the week.
***
Moore resident Billy Wilson is watching The Ultimate Fighter 10 a little bit closer than the rest of us.
His cousin, Justin Wren, is one of the contestants on the show and is part of Team Rashad. TUF is on Spike on Wednesday nights. The season premiere did monster ratings.
Mayweather back in the saddle…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Boxer Floyd Mayweather continues to do what he does best: look superior to everyone inside the ring and just a troubled person outside of it.
The good: Mayweather’s performance vs. Juan Manuel Marquez was a thing of beauty. He dominated the Mexican star nearly every minute of the bout in earning an easy unanimous decision win.
Scores were 120-107 (like mine), 119-108 and 118-109 for the returning Mayweather.
We’ll never know if there was any rust after a 21-month layoff because Marquez never really pushed him to see.
JMM was content to play Mayweather’s game, and you knew early that it was going to be a long (and sometimes boring) night.
Mayweather dropped Marquez with a patented left hook midway through the second round. He knew JMM was more stunned than hurt and didn’t really move in for the kill.
The writing was on the wall after the weigh-in fiasco. The fight’s contracted weight was 144 pounds. Mayweather never tried to get that low and came in at a ready and comfortable 146.
He looked sculpted (as always). He wasn’t weight-drained because seems like he had no intentions on trying to make 144. Marquez weighed in at 142 and received $600,000 for Mayweather’s 2 pounds over the limit.
Mayweather pressed the action hard in rounds 10 and 11 to try for the knockout, but Marquez is a warrior in the highest degree out there. A bevy of lefts and rights tattooed JMM in those two rounds. Not only did Marquez not go down, he wasn’t even seriously hurt.
Mayweather won this fight with his jab. It’s a weapon he hasn’t utilized recently but it was out in full force on Saturday night.
Think JMM landed two significant punches in the entire fight. But he fought hard and was gracious enough to do a postfight interview (even demanding one). Man is a class act all the way.
Mayweather is now 40-0 with 25 KOs.
***
There was some tension in the postfight interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman. Mayweather was dodging the weight question. Kellerman pushed it and then moved on like a professional.
Then there was talk of a potential Shane Mosley bout, and Bernard Hopkins started jawing at Mayweather and his people. Mosley was just being Shane, but Hopkins looked like he wanted to go right there.
And when Floyd said Max talks too much and said he was going to conduct the interview, Kellerman rightly just said no and sent it back to Jim Lampley.
It’s a Floyd Mayweather in a nut shell: the greatest fighter of the last 20 years and maybe the most easily hated fighter of the same generation. Maybe “he gets it” but doesn’t care. I don’t know.
There are reasons why people don’t clamor to see him fight, and that postfight interview tops ‘em all.
Mayweather should fight Mosley. And the winner should fight the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto winner (that bout is Nov. 14). We’ll see.
***
Vitor Belfort continues to remain relevant. I seriously thought his best days were long gone.
Belfort scored a TKO victory against Rich Franklin in the first round at UFC 103.
From the reports, it didn’t look like a big shot that dropped Franklin. But once he was down, Belfort went in for the kill.
Belfort may be in line for a shot with middleweight champion Anderson Silva. I say why not? If Belfort is going to get a shot vs. Silva, it needs to be sooner rather than later.
In the other big bout, Junior Dos Santos stopped Cro Cop in the third round after Cro Cop couldn’t see after a right hand. It was set up by some good body work earlier in the round.
