SB Nation User Blog: Tonley

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva told ESPN.com today that he is not relinquishing his title...

Tonley — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:25:14 -0000

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva told ESPN.com today that he is not relinquishing his title to fight exclusively at light heavyweight. Silva's manager, Ed Soares, also denies ever making such an offer to UFC president Dana White.

"The way I feel is that the 205 belt is Lyoto Machida's," said Silva, whose words were translated by Soares. "That's my teammate, my brother, my friend; I'm not going to fight Lyoto Machida. So between me and Lyoto, we are going to defend both of those belts.

"I'm not going to fight Lyoto. It's not about the money. We're brothers, we are not going to fight. That's how we feel."

"Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura vs. Gustavo Falciroli (with ref cam) Shooto Austrailia - Superfight...

Tonley — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:02:55 -0000

"Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura vs. Gustavo Falciroli (with ref cam)
Shooto Austrailia - Superfight Australia 6

FIGHTMETRIC® CELEBRATES UFC 100 WITH COMPLETION OF STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN OF EVERY FIGHT IN MODERN ...

Tonley — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:01:20 -0000

FIGHTMETRIC® CELEBRATES UFC 100 WITH COMPLETION OF STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN OF EVERY FIGHT IN MODERN UFC HISTORY

Washington, D.C. -- In anticipation of UFC 100, FightMetric (www.fightmetric.com), the world's first comprehensive mixed martial arts statistics and analysis provider, announces the completion of the most extensive statistical breakdown of UFC fights in existence.

"We are very proud to announce the completion of our modern UFC database," said FightMetic creator Rami Genauer. "Every relevant offensive or defensive maneuver to ever take place since UFC 28 has now been documented. As MMA grows and becomes more mainstream, we're proud to offer statistics on par with the best stats that exist for traditional sports like baseball and football."

The FightMetric system analyzes MMA bouts across 67 statistical categories, encompassing all strikes, takedowns, submissions, and position changes. In addition to bout statistics, FightMetric's database includes a wealth of supplementary information, including complete judges' scoring, referee assignments, and fighter reach data.

Title Quest Volume 3: Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves by Gengis Con

Tonley — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:02:30 -0000

Title Quest Volume 3: Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves

by Gengis Con

Statistics from the Rich Franklin/Wanderlei Silva fight Full Compustrike round by round analysis...

Tonley — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:39:42 -0000

Statistics from the Rich Franklin/Wanderlei Silva fight

Full Compustrike round by round analysis here

Full Fightmetric analysis here

One Step Closer: Could Bellator Finally Air on ESPN/ESPN2?

Tonley — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:40:01 -0000

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Cannon Jacques.

From MMA Junkie:

Season two of Bellator will commence this fall, and with its success this season on ESPN Deportes, the rookie fight promotion could find itself with a bigger ESPN audience for the second go-around.
. . .
"Our [April 17] show (in Oklahoma) ran last week, and a replay 48 hours after the original broadcast did a 1.2 (household rating)," Rebney said. "That's a great number especially for a replay. Anything over a 1.0 is pretty strong."
. . .
"It would be really cool and interesting to see if we're doing 1.2s on replays right now on a Spanish-language network, what would be doing if we were on ESPN2 right now?" Rebney said. "I've got to assume the numbers would be out of this world."

There's no doubt that the amount of advances in the coverage and display of MMA in the past few years have been great. A few years ago, if you said that eventually there would be a network that's dedicated to showing regional events all over the country (HDNet), that ESPN would actually put their support towards a webshow dedicated to the sport, and one day live MMA would air on network television (CBS), you would have been considered...well...an optimist with really high (read: unrealistic) hopes. But yet here we are.

Now after all of that progress could this be the watershed moment we have all been waiting for? There's always talk about MMA eventually breaking through becoming "mainstream". Is this where it starts?

Consider this: ESPN Deportes is available in approximately four million households. ESPN and ESPN2 are available in nearly 100 million each.

Color me excited.

The WAMMA Ring and Photo Gallery HT: DreamFighters.com

Tonley — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:13:40 -0000

The WAMMA Ring and Photo Gallery

HT: DreamFighters.com

Yoshihiro Akiyama to UFC or Sengoku?

Tonley — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:24:42 -0000

Fronted by Luke Thomas.

From Sherdog:

One notable name missing from an official list of possible participants released for the New Year’s Eve extravaganza was Dream's biggest rating draw, Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama is reportedly no longer under contract to FEG, while fighter and promotion are rumored to not be on good terms.

A move to rival outlet Sengoku is likely, as Akiyama has expressed interest in facing fellow judoka, Hidehiko Yoshida, in what would be a huge money match. Akiyama is also believed to be in talks with the UFC, as Zuffa is said to be building their ranks for a possible Korean invasion.

After living in South Korea for a few months and being exposed to the nation's sport channels, I can honestly say whenever a Korean athlete does well in America it's covered like an event in their home country. Simply by watching the commercials, you would think the Colorado Rockies needed to be renamed Byung Hyun Kim and the Other American Dudes.

An event with Akiyama and "Stun Gun" Kim on the same card would do wonders for the UFC's popularity in South Korea. Of course, the judoka vs. judoka battle of Yoshida/Akiyama would do the same for WVR. But what does this mean for DREAM? From data in the past, it's easy to tell that Akiyama is their best ratings draw. FEG's executives have promised that DREAM will still be around for a while but without the heel "Micheal Jackson" on their cards who will bring in the viewers?

Micosoft's "I'm a PC and I'm not alone" ad featuring Rashad Evans

Tonley — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:49:47 -0000

Micosoft's "I'm a PC and I'm not alone" ad featuring Rashad Evans

Dream Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinals Set

Tonley — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:02:58 -0000

Fronted by Luke Thomas.

Jordan Breen has the scoop:

The middleweight grand prix semifinals, set for Sept. 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will pit Brazilian jiu-jitsu all-star turned hot MMA prospect Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza against Croatian Zelg Galesic (Pictures), while Dutch-based Armenian Gegard Mousasi (Pictures) meets fellow Netherlander Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), with the two victors set to square off in the finale later that evening.

In June, Souza punched his ticket to the semifinals by taking a unanimous verdict over colorful cult hero Jason "Mayhem" Miller, while Galesic saw only 65 seconds of action before his rematch with Taiei Kin (Pictures) ended due to a dislocated elbow. Their first bout last October ended in only 36 seconds due to a cut. On the same bill, Mousasi successfully knocked off South Korean judo star Yoon Dong Sik with a unanimous nod, while Manhoef smashed MMA icon Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) in a brief but brutal 90 seconds.

While no reserve bout was announced for the middleweight finale, a source close to the promotion has told Sherdog.com that FEG are interested in a pairing of quarterfinalists Miller and Sik. However, the proposed bout is still in its most embryonic stages.

Poll

Who will win the DREAM Middleweight GP?

"Jacare" Souza

78 votes

Zelg Galesic

4 votes

Gegard Mousasi

70 votes

Melvin Manhoef

120 votes

272 votes | Poll has closed