SB Nation User Blog: funnytiger

""UFC Main Events" special debuts Nov. 7 on Spike TV, counters Strikeforce event"

funnytiger — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:20:27 -0000

""UFC Main Events" special debuts Nov. 7 on Spike TV, counters Strikeforce event"

And it begins...

Local Bars Choosing Not to Show UFC PPV Events Due to Increased PPV Pricing? [Update]

funnytiger — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:43:56 -0000

I run a group through Meetup.com that gathers and watches UFC PPV events at local bars and pubs in the Washington, DC area. Recently, I found out that several bars in my area have opted to stop showing the UFC events because Joe Hand Promotions, the exclusive commerical distributor of UFC PPV events in the U.S., has (according to my contact at a local bar) "nearly doubled the price" of ordering UFC PPV's.

Here is an explanation of how it works from David Nelmark on MixedMartialArtsBlog.com:

While a residential viewing of a UFC PPV typically costs $44.95 ($54.95 in HD) it costs much more for a bar to order the event. Commercial establishments are charged based on their seating capacity. For example, a restaurant that holds 150 people will pay around $1000 to show the broadcast. Some places try to get around that fee by using an illegal "black box" to steal the signal or just by hooking up a dish and trying to get the event at the residential rate. That's where Joe Hand comes in.

When we had our first event as a group I convinced a friend of mine who was the Events Coordinator for a small bar in NE DC called The Cardinals Nest to show UFC 90. She agreed to give it a try on the condition that I did all the leg work in terms of ordering the PPV. I called Joe Hand Promotions and was quoted a price around $1200. Not a bad price considering the boxing PPVs were almost twice that amount at the time.

Shortly after that we found a well-known and popular sports bar in Washington, DC that was accommodating to our group and showed every UFC PPV. We as a group have been regulars there nearly every month (occasionally changing to a bar in Northern Virginia for variety) for the past year and have subsequently developed quite a relationship with them.

We were saddened to hear from the bar this past week that they are considering no longer showing the UFC PPVs because Joe Hand Promotions has nearly doubled the price of ordering UFC PPVs through them. I tried calling other bars in DC to find out if they were showing the PPVs and found several places with the same story. They USED to show them but because of the increase in price they can no longer afford to do so.

Unfortunately, due to the size of our group places like Hooters can not possibly accommodate us. We can have anywhere from 15-30+ members show up for a given event depending, of course, on the event itself.

My question is, how many of you have experienced this in your area? Bars or restaurants that showed the UFC PPVs that have either suddenly started a cover, increased the cover charge to get in during these events or worse, stopped showing them all together. I have every intention of sending an inquiry to Joe Hand Promotions to find out more about this. There may be fees they are incurring on their end that I may not be aware of that are causing these price increases.

I appreciate any feedback you guys can offer!

Update:

I spoke with someone at Joe Hand Promotions and they let me know that the PPV prices have NOT been raised. The places I inquired about had been reporting a smaller capacity to get the lower price for the PPVs and were found out. So their prices went up based on their true capacity. Bah. When will people ever learn that cheaters only prospers SOMETIMES.

Has TUF Run Its Course?

funnytiger — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:27:32 -0000

via fiveouncesofpain.com

Tryouts for the The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 will be taking place from Los Angeles, California on October 26.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com has recently confirmed the news through sources close to the upcoming casting call.

While no announcement has been made in regards to the potential weight classes being featured on TUF 11, FiveOuncesOfPain.com has also been able to confirm that fighters trying out for the upcoming telecast normally compete in the middleweight and welterweight divisions. Making a scenario where TUF 11 would possibly feature both the 170, and 185 pound weight classes a very probable one.

I find it very interesting that next season will (supposedly) be a season of WW and MW contestants. There is little doubt that the WW and MW division in the UFC are in desperate need of some sort of change, but I have to confess, I have doubts that the UFC's precious reality show can deliver anyone who would be a serious contender. Although I highly enjoy plopping down in front of my TV every Wednesday to watch two men fight for the right to be crowned the next "Ultimate Fighter". But let's be serious. There haven't been too many fighters who've actually won the show who've come out and really left an impression. Correction, a good impression. Why would another season's winner be any different?

Granted, we have yet to even see how the winners of the 9th season of the show will fair in their respective divisions. We won't really know how either of the newly crowned champions will do when thrown into the mix with the other UFC vets. I have a feeling that neither Ross Pearson (LW) or James Wilks (WW) will really make a significant impact on either division but I would be delighted to be proven wrong in either case. I think we'll have a better idea of how they measure up when both Pearson and Wilks fight for the first time (since the Finale) at UFC 105 in Manchester, England on November 14.

Ross Pearson drew Aaron Riley as his first opponenet in the Octagon. Riley is coming off of a very unimpressive decision over Shane Nelson a former cast member of the 8th season of The Ultimate Fighter. I have an icky feeling that we are in for a 3 round man-blanket fest, but maybe I'm being too pessimistic. Neither fighter has really good striking from what I can recall.

James Wilks will be facing one of the more promising fighters to come off of a recent season of The Ultimate Fighter when he faces Matt Brown, a former cast member of the 7th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Brown has had some pretty impressive victories, including an impressive (controversial?) loss against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88.

Season 8 winners Ryan Bader (LHW) and Efrain Escudero (LW) have both had victories since they were crowned, and admittedly, I think Bader is transforming from a "lay and pray" type fighter to a well-rounded fighter, but he still has a lot to prove before he is considered any kind of contender in the already seriously stacked light heavyweight division. His next opponent is Eric Schafer at UFC 104 on October 24th.

Escudero is coming off of a 1st round KO of a former TUF veteran in Cole Miller. Despite coming in overweight initially, Efrain showed some improvement in his striking which proved to be Miller's downfall. But was his performance mind blowing? I don't know if I would call it a glimpse of future champion material, but he is still very young and will hopefully continue to grow and improve with each fight.

It seems the best The Ultimate Fighter has been able to do is pad their respective divisions with middle tier fighters (at best) with very few diamonds in the rough since it's second season produced former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. *Although, Matt Serra was able to defeat Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title in their bout after his win of the 4th season of The Ultimate Fighter, that season was a comeback season and for intents and purposes Serra was already a veteran of the Octagon.

All that to say, do you think there is much hope in finding a serious contender in either division through The Ultimate Fighter?

Poll

Has The Ultimate Fighter run its course or do you think it still has a place as a means of finding new talent for the UFC?

Absolutely! Not everyone is meant to be a champion.

88 votes

Too soon to say. There may still be hope!

83 votes

I couldn't care less. I just enjoy watching the fights!

63 votes

234 votes | Poll has closed

29% Ratings Drop For Second Episode of 'TUF 10'

funnytiger — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:10:52 -0000

Sherdog.com reports that this weeks past episode of TUF 10 saw a 29% drop in ratings. However, even with what seems like a staggering drop in ratings, the episode still managed to net 2.9 million viewers (2.2 rating) making it the top-rated show in its timeslot for Men 18-34. It also managed to beat (by only a hair's breath, mind you) the live finale of "The Ultimate Fighter 3" in 2006 which was the previous record holder at 2.8 million viewers.

Despite the drop from the season opener, which had to have been expected to a certain degree, Spike executives must be very happy with these numbers. I'm sure they are expecting similarly fantastic numbers during next weeks episode which features the first fight for Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, who is one of the main reasons for such impressive numbers for the recently struggling show. (The heated rivalry between coaches Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans also being a big draw for this season.) The fact that Kimbo's opponent, Roy "Big Country" Nelson has been touted as the man most likely to "win it all" makes it an even more intriguing fight for both casuals and hardcores alike.

We've already seen that Team Rashad has had their hands full with the veteran fighter and it appears that Roy Nelson is having a hard time being a coach-able student. Will his stubbornness be his downfall and give Kimbo the opportunity to surprise the MMA community by defeating the former IFL Heavyweight Champion? Or will the experience of "Big Country" be too much for the famed street brawler turned MMA fighter?

Poll

Who will come out on top during next week's episode?

Roy "Big Country" Nelson

67 votes

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson

73 votes

140 votes | Poll has closed

'Leverage' goes to the mat with an MMA hour

funnytiger — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:52:59 -0000

'Leverage' goes to the mat with an MMA hour

Episode Summary:
When the LEVERAGE crew tries to get a corrupt mixed martial arts promoter to invest everything he has in a fake cable television network, their con is discovered. Now, Eliot must throw a fight in order to save the day. Professional mixed martial arts fighters Ed Herman (The Ultimate Fighter 3) and Matt Lindland (Ultimate Fighting Championship) guest star.

I would love to fight Mayweather, just because of the simple fact that I think he's a cocky...

funnytiger — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:44:30 -0000

I would love to fight Mayweather, just because of the simple fact that I think he's a cocky asshole.

Miguel Torres talks Mayweather, Brock and money Cagewriter - Mixed Martial Arts - Yahoo! Sports

In today's edition of the Mailbag on Yahoo! Sports, Kevin Iole reveals that MMA legend, and co-host...

funnytiger — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:50:41 -0000

In today's edition of the Mailbag on Yahoo! Sports, Kevin Iole reveals that MMA legend, and co-host of HDNet's "Inside MMA," originally came to the U.S. with the dream of becoming a comedic actor not a fighter. Currently Bas stars alongside Gary Valentine ("King of Queens") in an online series called, "Dusty Peacock." The show centers around a underachieving daredevil (Gary Valentine, "King of Queens") and his misfit team as he attempts death defying feats such as holding his breath for 5 minutes under water. Rutten plays Dusty Peacocks inept trainer who wears a painfully obvious toupee.

http://www.crackle.com/c/Dusty_Peacock

White Confirms Liddell's Retirement

funnytiger — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:24:15 -0000

White Confirms Liddell's Retirement

Dana White exclusively confirmed on Setanta Sports that the legendary Chuck Liddell will never fight in The UFC again.

UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson - Predictions

funnytiger — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:40:02 -0000

A pretty decent FREE televised fight card on Spike.

MAIN CARD (Televised)

Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson. After an embarassing loss to Kenny Florian I believe Stevenson is going to come out with a vengeance, but unfortunately for him, I think Sanchez is going to do what he does best. Push the pace and overwhelm his opponents. This is of course if the weight drop hasn't affected Sanchez's cardio. I'm going to go with Sanchez via submission.

Dan Hardy vs. Rory Markham. Is anyone else as baffled as I am that this fight is the co-headling event? Anywho, I think that Hardy is going to prove to be hard to knockout (all of his losses come from either decisions or submissions) and they both seem like the kind of guys who wants to come in swinging for the fences. I think this one will go the distance in Markham's favor (unless someone gets lucky). Markham via decision.

Wilson Gouveia vs. Nate Marquardt. I think Marquardt is going to prove to be too much for Gouveia (not to mention I haven't been THAT impressed with Gouveia as of late). Marquardt via TKO.

Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen. I am actually rooting for Sonnen on this one. Maia is going to be trying to go for the submission and Sonnen is one tricky bastard. I think he may be able to whether the storm and possibly TKO Maia. Its a longshot, but hey. I live dangeriously.

Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago. I don't mean to take Thiago lightly, obviously the UFC picked him for a reason. Despite my dislike for Koscheck, he has proven to be one hell of a fighter who is growing exponentially. I feel sorry for Thiago for pulling this guy as his first opponent in the UFC. Oh well. There's always next fight right? Koshcheck via TKO.

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve - Going for the long shot here again. Struve via submission.
Brian Cobb vs. Terry Etim - Terry Etim would be the smart choice, but I'm hoping for an upset. Cobb via submission.
Paul Kelly vs. Troy Mandaloniz - I like Troy, but Kelly may prove to have too much experience for him. Kelly via TKO.
Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Neil Grove - Grove via TKO.
Evan Dunham vs. Per Eklund - Per Eklund via decision.

UFN 16: Best of 2008?

funnytiger — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:09:19 -0000

Despite it's lack of big names, last nights UFN may have been the UFC's best show of 2008 and subsequently a hard act to follow as the year closes out.

I realize this thought process may not be the most popular, but I stand by it. I can't remember having so much variety and action on a UFC fight card. Nearly every fight was fast paced and intense with only one of the televised events ending in a decision, and even that fight was an exciting bout to watch.

The evening started off with a high intensity battle between Matt Wiman and Jim Miller. Although it was pretty clear who was going to win the fight early on, as Matt Wiman was on the wrong side of an ass whoopin', he refused to give up. Jim Miller threw everything but the kitchen sink at him and he still powered on. I tip my hat to Matt Wiman for being such a warrior.

Next TUF alumn Tim Credeur force fed young buck Nate Loughran a fist sandwich for 2 rounds. Loughran finally threw in the towel in between the 2nd and 3rd round, but who could blame him? Tim's standup has greatly improved since we last saw him and I am excited to see him in the octagon again.

The next fight was a little bit of mixed feelings for me. It was a bout between 2 UFC newcomers, reigning WEC Light Heavyweight Champ Steve Cantwell versus Razak Al-Hassa, a virtual nobody. Razak seemed to be holding his own in the standup game early on until the fight went to the mat. That's where things got ugly. Cantwell managed to put Razak in one hell of an armbar and well, there is a reason they call it "foolish" pride. Razak refused to tap and ended up with a nasty broken arm. Cantwell immediately stood up and paraded around the ring screaming, "I broke that shit!" During his interview with Joe Rogan he admitted that he "always wanted to do that". Not once did he check to see if his opponent was okay, which he obviously wasn't. Cantwell is a great fighter and a poor warrior.

Not that I am a fan of Razak, because as I pointed out, I never heard of him. However, any man worth his salt would have gone over and said something to his downed opponent, but instead he felt it was necessary to brag about it. Any respect that he would have earned from me for a solid victory was lost when I saw how much of a poor sportsman he was. I look forward to Cantwell fighting some real competition in the UFC's light heavyweight division and moreso I look forward to him getting his ass handed to him. The only blemish on the night for me.

The next fight was grudge match between TUF alumn Mike Swick against Lord of the Ring's, Gollum. (Wait, what? That wasn't Gollum from Lord of the Rings?) Okay, I keed, I keed. Swick was actually battling it out with Jonathan Goulet who just happens to resemble the creepy character from LOTR. Never the less, Goulet was KTFO after a mere 33 seconds of the first round. I actually think Gollum would have lasted longer.

As expected with quick knockouts, the UFC then broadcast a fight from earlier in the evening between yet another TUF alumn Ben Saunders and his opponent Brandon Wolff. Wolff spent 1 minute and 49 seconds eating vicious knees from Saunders. By the time the ref called the fight, Wolff's forehead had a knot the size of a Hostess cupcake on his forehead; and by the time Joe Rogan had finished interviewing Saunders on his victory, the knot on Wolff's head was eating the first row. Very sad.

The main event of the evening had yet another TUF alumn, Josh Koscheck, pitted against Japanese Judo expert Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Koscheck wasted little time in the ring and made short work of his opponent with a hard straight punch, knocking Yoshida out on his feet, followed by a hook punch that sealed the deal. No doubt Koscheck is a force to be reckoned with despite his loss to Alves just 46 47 days ago.

Another poster commented that it took a Japanese national to turn Koscheck into a fan favorite. I'm not sure I would go as far as to say he is now a "fan favorite" but I can say that I dislike him less now. Not by much though. I still think he's a douche.

Overall, an absolutely fantastic night of fights. The UFC outdid itself this time and it was all free for the fans and in the name of a good cause. I hope this weekend's TUF Finale is half this exciting and I pray that the upcoming pay per views, with the hype machine in full force behind them, will pleasantly surprise me as this show did.