Yeah and Leonard Garcia is rightfully on an 8 fight losing streak. Sports entertainment.
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Yeah and Leonard Garcia is rightfully on an 8 fight losing streak. Sports entertainment.
Italian MMA live right now
http://new.livestream.com/pinkmonkeytv/slam5firenze
http://new.livestream.com/pinkmonkeytv/slam5firenze
Host Samurai
Member
Bad cut on the UFC's part. Not that Kongo is an up and coming star at all, but he was a solid fighter that deserved to be in there. Seeing Kongo on a card made a fight card a bit more credible
sazabirules
Unconfirmed Member
Apparently it was the last fight on his contract.
Lambda Pie
Banned
QF
SF
unstoppable Master Thespian meets underdog TheKaeptain. who will become the champion? see below.
GF
GF Mike Bernardo (Master Thespian) vs Musashi (TheKaeptain)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOVxRDT7uIs&feature=youtu.be
and the champion is....
gonna send him a PM telling him he won. he will face this upcoming weekend the winner of the 2nd tournament, which will take place this Friday.
2nd tournament participants:
Hiromi Amada - sazabirules
Cyril Abidi - GungHo
Nicholas Pettas - FACE
Francisco Filho - CanCrusher
Stan The Man - A More Normal Bird
Ray Sefo - muddream
Tsuyoshi Nakasako - SousedLouse
Xhavit Bajrami - Plywood
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
That also looks like a real life 2013 K-1 card.
AstroZombie
Banned
I think Thespian broke Schilt's record.
Can Crusher
Banned
New bloke with da supersta quality
Lambda Pie
Banned
that right hand, holy shit.
sent Thespian a message, hopefully the champ will leave a few words.
also, Heel, i got something special planned for you at weekend super card.
Chank Gowad for dish opportune. You gonna see da firework. Caralho.
Can Crusher
Banned
Once I win the 2nd tournament, I want a supa fight with Thespian for that P4P.
TheKaeptain
Banned
The computer was racist!!!
Lambda Pie
Banned
no it wasn't, an african won.
Can Crusher
Banned
Africa isn't a race.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
FFFFFFFUUUUUUUU! Even though W-F are my days off, I work tomorrow due to a scheduling quirk.
TheKaeptain
Banned
No way I can watch the glory card. 
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
Weak slate of NBA games, I'm off tonight, and I slept almost 12 hours, meaning there's no way I'm going to bed until like 5am. I believe I will maximize my entertainment tonight with The Americans (season finale!), Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and a bottle of Crown Royal (no herb since my throat has been bugging me the last two days).
A
A More Normal Bird
Unconfirmed Member
Not so fast. Stan the Man might be past his prime and shorter than Hunt but he has a fire within that only a childhood of mixed grills and being called a wog on the streets of north-east Melbourne can fuel.
Incidentally, Eric Bana's first film role was a Greek guy from Melbourne obsessed with kickboxing.
No way I can watch the glory card.
You fucking up Jerome.
I have to agree, him and Schaub can't take a punch. Now that's not to saying heavyweights aren't hitting hard or anything just that they get dropped easily.
TheKaeptain
Banned
brah I got to film for my production class. I'm fucking dying right now. close to an 18 hour day.
Master Thespian
Member
Ghost of Bernardo guided me to victory. Any of you betas want a (re)match with the GOAT?
Beat me--if you can.
Beat me--if you can.
^ knows what's up. Trollin' my way to wins using the same 4 moves since 1998.
Looks like the Shale is doing a test cut to 170: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=56579048&postcount=5175
Lambda Pie
Banned
that's more like 135.
Between the Americans and Vikings, it's been a promising start for basic cable television. Can't wait for 2014 to pick back up with both of these shows.
And come on brahs, who doesn't want to see Felicity in wigs do bondage
Host Samurai
Member
I legit thought that was a pic of Shale 20 years ago
parrotbeak
Member
Another Kevin Swords highlight vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_fGLdmqF88
AstroZombie
Banned
Between the Americans and Vikings, it's been a promising start for basic cable television. Can't wait for 2014 to pick back up with both of these shows.
And come on brahs, who doesn't want to see Felicity in wigs do bondage
Lambda Pie
Banned
i finally dominate the creation in the K-1 game. after you take your time you get pretty cool results.
Heel, get ready for Sunday, your mystery opponent is... fuck, it's the greatest fight ever. you'll have to wait.
Heel, get ready for Sunday, your mystery opponent is... fuck, it's the greatest fight ever. you'll have to wait.
Dan Severn?
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
I'm sure he'll retire soon enough. He's educated enough and has enough on the side to keep him going (his fashion boutique and stuff.)
But I'm sure he can milk a good contract with Bellator or WSOF in the meantime. And I'll always remember that amazing brawl with Pat Barry. One of the greatest fights ever IMO.
Don Frye
Lambda Pie
Banned
not even close. i recorded the match already, since it's someone from neither tournament.
Host Samurai
Member
Kongo is probably the most beautiful man in MMA, right behind Wanderlai Silva. He looks like a Calvin Klein model
No Homo
No Homo
dream
Member
I forgot to share my latest essays.
The UFC finished its four straight weeks of Saturday night fights with what was to be the biggest, the UFC 159 PPV on 4/27, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen for the UFC light heavyweight title.
After three straight great shows, this was the one where the law of averages caught up in far too many ways. There were two fights that ended with eye pokes, and once which ended quickly with a dislocated thumb. Not only that, but if it wasnt for a borderline early stoppage, Sonnen, who was not even competitive with Jones, could have ended up backing into the world championship.
Sonnen continued a lifetime of being a perennial second place finisher. He placed second in the state in high school. He placed second in the Pac-10 three times in college. He placed second in the world university games. He had two title shots, one in WEC and the other in UFC, where he completely dominated the champion (both Paulo Filho when Filho was generally considered the No. 2 fighter in the world, and his more famous first loss to Anderson Silva) the entire fight, only to get submitted. Few remember, but the one time Sonnen won the big one, beating the world champion (a completely spaced out Paulo Filho, the WEC middleweight champion), he didnt get the title because Filho had missed weight and thus it became a non-title match.
Jones was able to take Sonnen down three times in four minutes, and was pounding him on the ground when the ref stopped the fight at 4:33. Sonnen was covered up and blocking punches. He very well may have never gotten out of the predicament and there was nothing to indicate he could do anything with Jones. However, Jones dislocated his toe, and had the referee seen it, theyd have called in the doctor and the fight would have been stopped. Had Sonnen lasted until the end of the round, Jones would not have been allowed to come out and the guy who never won the big one would have become the biggest world championship fluke in UFC history.
But that story didnt happen. While it was thought that night that Jones suffered a compound fracture, X-rays showed no break. Jones next fight is unlikely to be delayed more than about six weeks from when it would have been. If the law to legalize MMA in New York at least gets a vote in the assembly (those in UFC say they have the votes to pass it and the belief is the Governor will sign it; the bill passed in the state senate easily), a mid-November date in Madison Square Garden is still on hold. Provided Anderson Silva beats Chris Weidman on 7/6, which is far from a guarantee, there is a good chance they would try and debut in Madison Square Garden with Jones vs. Silva.
As far as the chances, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, said hes hoping for a vote and cant understand why there wouldnt be one. But he recognized that the roadblock in place that has kept them out, the Las Vegas Culinary Union, is still there. He was in Albany this past week along with fighters Matt Hughes, Dennis Bermudez and Ryan LaFlare, to push the bill in the state assembly. If they can get a vote by the end of this month, they would still have time for everything to be in place for a mid-November date for what will be promoted as the UFCs 20th anniversary show.
Dana White has thought they were getting the law passed for years. Hes taken a different tact of late, talking like UFC doesnt need to be in New York although they would love to run Madison Square Garden as well as upstate.
After the fight, White told the press that Silva had called him and he wanted a superfight. White wouldnt reveal who Silva had asked for. It was in that White way where you dont know what to think or believe, but it was clear he was wanting to make you think it was Silva vs. Jones, but wouldnt say it. Silva spoke to Ariel Helwani a few days later and blew off the question, just saying hes 100% focused on Weidman. However, another source with full knowledge of the White-Silva interaction said Silva did contact White after watching the fight with Sonnen and told White he could beat Jones, that he has him figured out and can beat him at his game.
Both Lyoto Machida and Alexander Gustafsson have said they are willing to fight the other for a shot at Jones, provided Jones was injured or Jones fought a superfight. Of the two, Jones has said he wants to fight Gustafsson, saying he wanted to prove his critics wrong, who say he only wins because hes so much bigger than his opponents, since Gustafsson is taller than he is. Jones in the past has said he didnt want to face Machida again, both because the first fight didnt do that well on PPV and Jones won by second round submission. Machida was announced by White as the next contender after his win over Dan Henderson on 2/23.
But as far as the show went, it was the weakest in recent memory. There was a few good finishes, but only two exciting fights, the opener where Steven Siler beat Kurt Holobaugh via decision, and an upset win by Strikeforces Pat Healy over Jim Miller on the PPV. There were boring fights, and fluke finishes.
When it was over, Ratner said he was looking at a number of things. He said they were going to look at if it was possible to change the gloves. Joe Rogan on the broadcast complained the gloves were the reason for the frequency of eye pokes. The glove is an issue because it has to have open fingers to allow for grappling. The gloves are a hindrance to grappling. Not having gloves, like when UFC started, meant hand breaks were far more frequent and it was a far more grappling oriented sport than striking oriented.
He also was going to push for specific rules regarding eye pokes. In the Gian Villante vs. Ovince St. Preux fight, Villante had his eye poked in the third round of a close fight. Ref Kevin Mulhall asked him if he could see. Villante said, No, figuring it would give him a few seconds to clear his eye. Mulhall then stopped the fight, and Villante went crazy, saying he could see and could fight. It was a miscommunication issue. If a fighter tells a ref he cant see, its a code word for stop the fight. In this case, Villante didnt mean stop the fight, he was just looking to clear his eye. UFC is not pushing to give the victim of an eye poke five minutes, the same as someone getting a low blow gets. But they are looking at putting a rule in place that if there is an eye poke, the match is stopped and the doctor is called in to determine if the fighter can continue after a reasonable break.
The other law they want reworded involves knees to a downed opponent. They arent looking at overturning that rule, but have it reworded so a fighter cant simply stand up and put his finger or hand on the mat, and because of it, his opponent cant kick or knee to the head.
As far as post-show ramifications, things are not looking good for Leonard Garcia, who lost a one-sided decision to Cody McKenziehis fifth loss in a row. After his prior loss to Max Holloway, White gave Garcia a vote of confidence because of all his exciting fights. Garcia has had six fight of the nights between UFC and WEC, and one fight of the year (2010 against Chan Sung Jung). But the McKenzie fight wasnt exciting, and he was controlled the whole way through.
Sara McMann, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling, made her UFC debut, beating Sheila Gaff via first round submission. McMann is being groomed for a womens title shot, although the earliest that could come would be the spring of 2014, so shes likely fighting again. The fight wasnt exciting, nor was it anywhere near the level of the prior two UFC womens bouts.
Healy gave another example of how underrated the Strikeforce lightweights were when he beat Miller via third round submission.
Roy Nelson knocked out Cheick Kongo in the ultimate cant judge a book by its cover fight. After the fight, White said Joe Silva has decided that Nelson should next face either Mark Hunt (if he beats Junior Dos Santos on 5/25), or Daniel Cormier.
A few days earlier, White said that if had made the choice, hed like to see Daniel Cormier as a light heavyweight, questioning if he had heavyweight knockout power. He also said that he thinks the fact Cormier has beaten Frank Mir, Bigfoot Silva and Josh Barnett, that he could get a light heavyweight title shot at Jones in his first match in the division. Except for Anderson Silva, Cormier would be the most interesting opponent for Jones unless he moved up to heavyweight.
Cormier has said he would like to have at least one fight at 205 before challenging for the title. However, two days later, they were hinting of a Roy Nelson vs. Cormier fight. Then Nelsons manager, Mike Kogan, said he felt the Cormier fight made no sense for Nelson and that Nelson instead wanted Antonio Silva, he if loses to Cain Velasquez, or Mark Hunt or Junior Dos Santos.
Michael Bisping beat Alan Belcher in a match that featured tremendous promotional work from the British fighter. But even with Bisping suffering from nerve damage that weakened his right arm, and refusing to cancel the fight, he took the measure of Belcher. Belcher seemed to freeze once the match started, never got his rhythm, and couldnt keep up with Bispings speed or conditioning. It was Bisping 14th career UFC win, making him the fighter with the most victories in history to never get a title shot. A few years back, when he was coming close to this record, he said it was the record he never wanted to have. Bisping has never been overlooked for a title shot, as three times he was on the verge of a shot, against Dan Henderson, Sonnen and Vitor Belfort, he lost. Bisping said he was now going to undergo surgery, which he needs to do.
Sonnen teased retirement after losing, saying he doesnt want to be a guy hanging around with no path to a title, and going 0-3 in title matches, doesnt see another one in his future. That lasted a few days. On UFC Tonight, Sonnen outright said he was continuing his career, and wanted to stay at 205 pounds. The day before, Sonnen was told UFC wants to do Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva for the 8/17 Fox Sports 1 debut show in Boston. Sonnen then went on TV the next night, in his promo about continuing his career, called out Silva. He also threw out the name Rich Franklin, who is looking for fight later this year. That bout and date is far from official, but it is a current working idea.
From a business end, the early PPV indicators look strong. We dont have a number at press time, but it looks well ahead of the Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche show and should be the second largest number of the year, although nowhere close to the 3/16 show.
The show drew 15,227 fans for $2.7 million at the Prudential Center, which was up several thousand in ticket sales from the prior show in 2011 headlines by Jones vs. Shogun Rua.
While Jones was booed like crazy at the weigh-ins, he wasnt booed that much at the live show, although Sonnen was the clear favorite. This year has been about rehabilitating Jones image, because the feeling is Jones is going to be the companys biggest star and they dont want it to be this pay to see him beat heel thing.
As far as the TV surrounding the show, the prelims on FX did a 0.94 rating and 1,382,000 viewers. It was down from 1,579,000 on the 3/16 show, but above the 1.2 million average for the FX prelims before a PPV. The number is good considering it was a beautiful summer-like day on the West Coast (where prelims aired 5-7 p.m.) and the prelim matches werent good. In fact, the prelims ended so early that they ended up showing the McMann vs. Gaff fight twice, and it wasnt like it was that exciting of a fight. The show did a 1.07 in Males 18-34 and 1.61 in Males 35-49. Were really seeing a shift in the strongest demo as the 2005 fan base (a lot of which came from WWE) is crossing the line past the age of 35.
The surrounding programming on Fuel did very well. Weigh-ins the day before did a 0.24 rating and 109,000 viewers. It was the second highest rating and fourth most viewers for a Fuel weigh-in, although barely half of the record-setting GSP vs. Diaz weigh-ins last month.
The post-fight coverage on Fuel did a 0.34 rating and 159,000 viewers, doing an 0.50 in Males 18-49 from 1-2 a.m. It was the second largest audience for a post-fight show (behind the 3/2 Brian Stann vs. Wanderlei Silva show, but that had the fights themselves on Fuel so it had a huge inherent advantage), and highest ever after a PPV show.
UFC sources has noted to us that the upcoming season of Ultimate Fighter will have more name fighters than any season in years, most on he womens side.
The season, with Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano as coaches, will start filming in a few weeks. There will be 16 bantamweight men and 16 bantamweight women fighting in singe-elimination bouts to get into the house in the first episode.
We have received a list of the women who are supposedly on the show. I cant vouch for the authenticity of the list as it did not come from UFC or FOX, but it is from a good source. One note is that it had been reported that Tara LaRosa was turned down because of age, but her name is on the list. I can only confirm this much. All 16 of the women listed here tried out, and that many of the names are real, because I did know five names from different sources who are on the list and all five are listed here. There are a number of interesting names and backgrounds on the list.
*Revalina Berto - Berto, if she makes it to UFC, would be the second second generation fighter in the promotions history (the first being Ryan Couture). Her father, Dieuseul Berto fought in a 1996 UFC prelim match, losing to Geza Kalman Jr. But if the Berto name sounds familiar, it should. Dieuseul Berto was a pro wrestlers in the 80s for Championship Wrestling from Florida as Haiti Kid Berto. He later wrestled under his real name in Japan for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. His two sons are professional fighters, as Andre is a well known pro boxer with a 28-2 record, whose two losses came in the 2011 fight of the year to Victor Ortiz, and last year to Robert Guerrero in the fight that got Guerrero his shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. this weekend. Her other older brother, Edson, is an MMA fighter who was a regular with the Elite XC promotion. Revalina is 23 years old, has a 3-1 record, and is cutting from 145.
*Peggy Morgan - At 6-foot-1, shes the tallest woman on the roster. She has a 2-0 record, including a decision win over Berto on 3/2 in Coral Gables, FL. Shes also cutting from 145.
*Colleen Schneider - She 4-4, and 31 years old. He fought once in Strikeforce, losing a 2011 fight to Liz Carmouche via decision. She was a regular with the Super Fight League in India where she won her last three bouts.
*Jessamyn Duke - The 5-foot-11 Duke, is 26 years old and has a fitness model body. Shes coming off a controversial knockout loss to Miriam Nakamoto on the 4/5 Invicta show. She 2-1 as a pro, all with Invicta, and 5-2 as an amateur.
*Bethany Marshall - Shes 24, is coming up from 125 pounds where she lost to Barb Honchak last year on an Invicta show. She 4-1 as a pro and 5-1 as an amateur, and started training in 2004 at the age of 16 in both Muay Thai and grappling.
*Valerie Letourneau - A 30-year-old from Montreal with a 4-3 pro record. Shes been fighting as a pro since 2006 after starting training at the age of 15. She was beaten early on by Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis. She is Montreals only pro female fighter and trains at Tri Star Gym with Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald.
*Ashlee Evans-Smith - A former 145 pounder from Lake Forest CA, moving down, Smith has a 1-0 pro record and 5-4 amateur record. Shes fought a number of times in Las Vegas for the Tuff N Uff promotion.
*Gina Mazany - A former 145-pounder from Anchorage with a 3-0 pro record, who debuted in 2008.
*Julianna Pena - Moving up from 125, Pena has is from Spokane, and has a 4-2 pro record.
*Katie Merrill - A 1-1 fighter who lost recently in Bellator to world boxing champion Holly Holm.
*Marcia Allen - I dont have any real information on her.
*Tara LaRosa - At 35, an 11-year veteran who was has held numerous championships at 125 pounds and has a 21-3 pro record. She was the big female star in Bodog fights in 2006 and 2007 but lost her last fight in Invicta to Vanessa Porto, where she also missed making weight. She was on a national ESPN news show as the main voice on an investigative show that knocked Strikeforce and Elite XC building around Gina Carano for her looks, with the idea that LaRosa was really the best U.S. female fighter but Carano got all the opportunities. She also had a really ugly back-and-forth radio interview a few years back with Miesha Tate.
*Roxanne Modaferri - A 30-year-old with a 15-10 record. She went to college in Japan and began fighting with the Smackgirl promotion in 2003. She fought most of the big names of the early days, including splitting two matches with LaRosa, splitting two with Marloes Coenen, winning two of three over Megumi Yabushita and has also beaten Vanessa Porto and lost to Sarah Kaufman.
*Tonya Evinger - An 11-6 fighter who usually fights at 125, Evinger was a top U.S. amateur wrestler who is best known for losing a 2007 fight with Gina Carano on an Elite XC show in Honolulu. Evinger, a lesbian, was noted for the quote before the fight, saying that Carano was so good looking she didnt know if she wanted to punch her or kiss her.
*Lia Mataafa - The sister-in-law of former Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove, the Samoan-Italian native of Maui in Hawaii grew up a huge fan of pro wrestling. It was her love for pro wrestling that led her to amateur wrestling in ninth grade. She wrestled four years in high school, mostly wrestling against boys. She was a two-time girls state champion at 140 pounds, pinning all but one opponent in the first round, and beat a number of boys, and was a standout in every sport she did. She played varsity rugby at Boston University and is currently a member of the American Samoan national rugby team, and barely missed out on qualifying for the 2012 Olympics as a wrestler, placing fifth in an international qualifying meet. Shes 4-1 as an amateur fighter with no pro bouts, and first trained under Chris Leben.
*Raquel Pennington - An Invicta regular with a 3-3 pro record and 7-1 amateur record, she has losses to Leslie Smith and Cat Zingano in her last two fights and has a win of Kim Couture.
*Shayna Baszler - A submission specialist who trains under Josh Barnett, and has also at times been trained by Billy Robinson, the 32-year-old Baszler is 15-8. She once lost to Cris Cyborg on an Elite XC show on CBS, and was in two fight of the nights in her three Invicta bouts (fights she lost to Alexis Davis and Sara McMann). 14 of 15 her wins are via submission including wins over Roxanne Modaferri, Julie Kedzie and Elaina Maxwell. She also skated in a local Roller Derby league in her native Sioux Falls, SD.
The UFC finished its four straight weeks of Saturday night fights with what was to be the biggest, the UFC 159 PPV on 4/27, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen for the UFC light heavyweight title.
After three straight great shows, this was the one where the law of averages caught up in far too many ways. There were two fights that ended with eye pokes, and once which ended quickly with a dislocated thumb. Not only that, but if it wasnt for a borderline early stoppage, Sonnen, who was not even competitive with Jones, could have ended up backing into the world championship.
Sonnen continued a lifetime of being a perennial second place finisher. He placed second in the state in high school. He placed second in the Pac-10 three times in college. He placed second in the world university games. He had two title shots, one in WEC and the other in UFC, where he completely dominated the champion (both Paulo Filho when Filho was generally considered the No. 2 fighter in the world, and his more famous first loss to Anderson Silva) the entire fight, only to get submitted. Few remember, but the one time Sonnen won the big one, beating the world champion (a completely spaced out Paulo Filho, the WEC middleweight champion), he didnt get the title because Filho had missed weight and thus it became a non-title match.
Jones was able to take Sonnen down three times in four minutes, and was pounding him on the ground when the ref stopped the fight at 4:33. Sonnen was covered up and blocking punches. He very well may have never gotten out of the predicament and there was nothing to indicate he could do anything with Jones. However, Jones dislocated his toe, and had the referee seen it, theyd have called in the doctor and the fight would have been stopped. Had Sonnen lasted until the end of the round, Jones would not have been allowed to come out and the guy who never won the big one would have become the biggest world championship fluke in UFC history.
But that story didnt happen. While it was thought that night that Jones suffered a compound fracture, X-rays showed no break. Jones next fight is unlikely to be delayed more than about six weeks from when it would have been. If the law to legalize MMA in New York at least gets a vote in the assembly (those in UFC say they have the votes to pass it and the belief is the Governor will sign it; the bill passed in the state senate easily), a mid-November date in Madison Square Garden is still on hold. Provided Anderson Silva beats Chris Weidman on 7/6, which is far from a guarantee, there is a good chance they would try and debut in Madison Square Garden with Jones vs. Silva.
As far as the chances, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, said hes hoping for a vote and cant understand why there wouldnt be one. But he recognized that the roadblock in place that has kept them out, the Las Vegas Culinary Union, is still there. He was in Albany this past week along with fighters Matt Hughes, Dennis Bermudez and Ryan LaFlare, to push the bill in the state assembly. If they can get a vote by the end of this month, they would still have time for everything to be in place for a mid-November date for what will be promoted as the UFCs 20th anniversary show.
Dana White has thought they were getting the law passed for years. Hes taken a different tact of late, talking like UFC doesnt need to be in New York although they would love to run Madison Square Garden as well as upstate.
After the fight, White told the press that Silva had called him and he wanted a superfight. White wouldnt reveal who Silva had asked for. It was in that White way where you dont know what to think or believe, but it was clear he was wanting to make you think it was Silva vs. Jones, but wouldnt say it. Silva spoke to Ariel Helwani a few days later and blew off the question, just saying hes 100% focused on Weidman. However, another source with full knowledge of the White-Silva interaction said Silva did contact White after watching the fight with Sonnen and told White he could beat Jones, that he has him figured out and can beat him at his game.
Both Lyoto Machida and Alexander Gustafsson have said they are willing to fight the other for a shot at Jones, provided Jones was injured or Jones fought a superfight. Of the two, Jones has said he wants to fight Gustafsson, saying he wanted to prove his critics wrong, who say he only wins because hes so much bigger than his opponents, since Gustafsson is taller than he is. Jones in the past has said he didnt want to face Machida again, both because the first fight didnt do that well on PPV and Jones won by second round submission. Machida was announced by White as the next contender after his win over Dan Henderson on 2/23.
But as far as the show went, it was the weakest in recent memory. There was a few good finishes, but only two exciting fights, the opener where Steven Siler beat Kurt Holobaugh via decision, and an upset win by Strikeforces Pat Healy over Jim Miller on the PPV. There were boring fights, and fluke finishes.
When it was over, Ratner said he was looking at a number of things. He said they were going to look at if it was possible to change the gloves. Joe Rogan on the broadcast complained the gloves were the reason for the frequency of eye pokes. The glove is an issue because it has to have open fingers to allow for grappling. The gloves are a hindrance to grappling. Not having gloves, like when UFC started, meant hand breaks were far more frequent and it was a far more grappling oriented sport than striking oriented.
He also was going to push for specific rules regarding eye pokes. In the Gian Villante vs. Ovince St. Preux fight, Villante had his eye poked in the third round of a close fight. Ref Kevin Mulhall asked him if he could see. Villante said, No, figuring it would give him a few seconds to clear his eye. Mulhall then stopped the fight, and Villante went crazy, saying he could see and could fight. It was a miscommunication issue. If a fighter tells a ref he cant see, its a code word for stop the fight. In this case, Villante didnt mean stop the fight, he was just looking to clear his eye. UFC is not pushing to give the victim of an eye poke five minutes, the same as someone getting a low blow gets. But they are looking at putting a rule in place that if there is an eye poke, the match is stopped and the doctor is called in to determine if the fighter can continue after a reasonable break.
The other law they want reworded involves knees to a downed opponent. They arent looking at overturning that rule, but have it reworded so a fighter cant simply stand up and put his finger or hand on the mat, and because of it, his opponent cant kick or knee to the head.
As far as post-show ramifications, things are not looking good for Leonard Garcia, who lost a one-sided decision to Cody McKenziehis fifth loss in a row. After his prior loss to Max Holloway, White gave Garcia a vote of confidence because of all his exciting fights. Garcia has had six fight of the nights between UFC and WEC, and one fight of the year (2010 against Chan Sung Jung). But the McKenzie fight wasnt exciting, and he was controlled the whole way through.
Sara McMann, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling, made her UFC debut, beating Sheila Gaff via first round submission. McMann is being groomed for a womens title shot, although the earliest that could come would be the spring of 2014, so shes likely fighting again. The fight wasnt exciting, nor was it anywhere near the level of the prior two UFC womens bouts.
Healy gave another example of how underrated the Strikeforce lightweights were when he beat Miller via third round submission.
Roy Nelson knocked out Cheick Kongo in the ultimate cant judge a book by its cover fight. After the fight, White said Joe Silva has decided that Nelson should next face either Mark Hunt (if he beats Junior Dos Santos on 5/25), or Daniel Cormier.
A few days earlier, White said that if had made the choice, hed like to see Daniel Cormier as a light heavyweight, questioning if he had heavyweight knockout power. He also said that he thinks the fact Cormier has beaten Frank Mir, Bigfoot Silva and Josh Barnett, that he could get a light heavyweight title shot at Jones in his first match in the division. Except for Anderson Silva, Cormier would be the most interesting opponent for Jones unless he moved up to heavyweight.
Cormier has said he would like to have at least one fight at 205 before challenging for the title. However, two days later, they were hinting of a Roy Nelson vs. Cormier fight. Then Nelsons manager, Mike Kogan, said he felt the Cormier fight made no sense for Nelson and that Nelson instead wanted Antonio Silva, he if loses to Cain Velasquez, or Mark Hunt or Junior Dos Santos.
Michael Bisping beat Alan Belcher in a match that featured tremendous promotional work from the British fighter. But even with Bisping suffering from nerve damage that weakened his right arm, and refusing to cancel the fight, he took the measure of Belcher. Belcher seemed to freeze once the match started, never got his rhythm, and couldnt keep up with Bispings speed or conditioning. It was Bisping 14th career UFC win, making him the fighter with the most victories in history to never get a title shot. A few years back, when he was coming close to this record, he said it was the record he never wanted to have. Bisping has never been overlooked for a title shot, as three times he was on the verge of a shot, against Dan Henderson, Sonnen and Vitor Belfort, he lost. Bisping said he was now going to undergo surgery, which he needs to do.
Sonnen teased retirement after losing, saying he doesnt want to be a guy hanging around with no path to a title, and going 0-3 in title matches, doesnt see another one in his future. That lasted a few days. On UFC Tonight, Sonnen outright said he was continuing his career, and wanted to stay at 205 pounds. The day before, Sonnen was told UFC wants to do Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva for the 8/17 Fox Sports 1 debut show in Boston. Sonnen then went on TV the next night, in his promo about continuing his career, called out Silva. He also threw out the name Rich Franklin, who is looking for fight later this year. That bout and date is far from official, but it is a current working idea.
From a business end, the early PPV indicators look strong. We dont have a number at press time, but it looks well ahead of the Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche show and should be the second largest number of the year, although nowhere close to the 3/16 show.
The show drew 15,227 fans for $2.7 million at the Prudential Center, which was up several thousand in ticket sales from the prior show in 2011 headlines by Jones vs. Shogun Rua.
While Jones was booed like crazy at the weigh-ins, he wasnt booed that much at the live show, although Sonnen was the clear favorite. This year has been about rehabilitating Jones image, because the feeling is Jones is going to be the companys biggest star and they dont want it to be this pay to see him beat heel thing.
As far as the TV surrounding the show, the prelims on FX did a 0.94 rating and 1,382,000 viewers. It was down from 1,579,000 on the 3/16 show, but above the 1.2 million average for the FX prelims before a PPV. The number is good considering it was a beautiful summer-like day on the West Coast (where prelims aired 5-7 p.m.) and the prelim matches werent good. In fact, the prelims ended so early that they ended up showing the McMann vs. Gaff fight twice, and it wasnt like it was that exciting of a fight. The show did a 1.07 in Males 18-34 and 1.61 in Males 35-49. Were really seeing a shift in the strongest demo as the 2005 fan base (a lot of which came from WWE) is crossing the line past the age of 35.
The surrounding programming on Fuel did very well. Weigh-ins the day before did a 0.24 rating and 109,000 viewers. It was the second highest rating and fourth most viewers for a Fuel weigh-in, although barely half of the record-setting GSP vs. Diaz weigh-ins last month.
The post-fight coverage on Fuel did a 0.34 rating and 159,000 viewers, doing an 0.50 in Males 18-49 from 1-2 a.m. It was the second largest audience for a post-fight show (behind the 3/2 Brian Stann vs. Wanderlei Silva show, but that had the fights themselves on Fuel so it had a huge inherent advantage), and highest ever after a PPV show.
UFC sources has noted to us that the upcoming season of Ultimate Fighter will have more name fighters than any season in years, most on he womens side.
The season, with Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano as coaches, will start filming in a few weeks. There will be 16 bantamweight men and 16 bantamweight women fighting in singe-elimination bouts to get into the house in the first episode.
We have received a list of the women who are supposedly on the show. I cant vouch for the authenticity of the list as it did not come from UFC or FOX, but it is from a good source. One note is that it had been reported that Tara LaRosa was turned down because of age, but her name is on the list. I can only confirm this much. All 16 of the women listed here tried out, and that many of the names are real, because I did know five names from different sources who are on the list and all five are listed here. There are a number of interesting names and backgrounds on the list.
*Revalina Berto - Berto, if she makes it to UFC, would be the second second generation fighter in the promotions history (the first being Ryan Couture). Her father, Dieuseul Berto fought in a 1996 UFC prelim match, losing to Geza Kalman Jr. But if the Berto name sounds familiar, it should. Dieuseul Berto was a pro wrestlers in the 80s for Championship Wrestling from Florida as Haiti Kid Berto. He later wrestled under his real name in Japan for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. His two sons are professional fighters, as Andre is a well known pro boxer with a 28-2 record, whose two losses came in the 2011 fight of the year to Victor Ortiz, and last year to Robert Guerrero in the fight that got Guerrero his shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. this weekend. Her other older brother, Edson, is an MMA fighter who was a regular with the Elite XC promotion. Revalina is 23 years old, has a 3-1 record, and is cutting from 145.
*Peggy Morgan - At 6-foot-1, shes the tallest woman on the roster. She has a 2-0 record, including a decision win over Berto on 3/2 in Coral Gables, FL. Shes also cutting from 145.
*Colleen Schneider - She 4-4, and 31 years old. He fought once in Strikeforce, losing a 2011 fight to Liz Carmouche via decision. She was a regular with the Super Fight League in India where she won her last three bouts.
*Jessamyn Duke - The 5-foot-11 Duke, is 26 years old and has a fitness model body. Shes coming off a controversial knockout loss to Miriam Nakamoto on the 4/5 Invicta show. She 2-1 as a pro, all with Invicta, and 5-2 as an amateur.
*Bethany Marshall - Shes 24, is coming up from 125 pounds where she lost to Barb Honchak last year on an Invicta show. She 4-1 as a pro and 5-1 as an amateur, and started training in 2004 at the age of 16 in both Muay Thai and grappling.
*Valerie Letourneau - A 30-year-old from Montreal with a 4-3 pro record. Shes been fighting as a pro since 2006 after starting training at the age of 15. She was beaten early on by Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis. She is Montreals only pro female fighter and trains at Tri Star Gym with Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald.
*Ashlee Evans-Smith - A former 145 pounder from Lake Forest CA, moving down, Smith has a 1-0 pro record and 5-4 amateur record. Shes fought a number of times in Las Vegas for the Tuff N Uff promotion.
*Gina Mazany - A former 145-pounder from Anchorage with a 3-0 pro record, who debuted in 2008.
*Julianna Pena - Moving up from 125, Pena has is from Spokane, and has a 4-2 pro record.
*Katie Merrill - A 1-1 fighter who lost recently in Bellator to world boxing champion Holly Holm.
*Marcia Allen - I dont have any real information on her.
*Tara LaRosa - At 35, an 11-year veteran who was has held numerous championships at 125 pounds and has a 21-3 pro record. She was the big female star in Bodog fights in 2006 and 2007 but lost her last fight in Invicta to Vanessa Porto, where she also missed making weight. She was on a national ESPN news show as the main voice on an investigative show that knocked Strikeforce and Elite XC building around Gina Carano for her looks, with the idea that LaRosa was really the best U.S. female fighter but Carano got all the opportunities. She also had a really ugly back-and-forth radio interview a few years back with Miesha Tate.
*Roxanne Modaferri - A 30-year-old with a 15-10 record. She went to college in Japan and began fighting with the Smackgirl promotion in 2003. She fought most of the big names of the early days, including splitting two matches with LaRosa, splitting two with Marloes Coenen, winning two of three over Megumi Yabushita and has also beaten Vanessa Porto and lost to Sarah Kaufman.
*Tonya Evinger - An 11-6 fighter who usually fights at 125, Evinger was a top U.S. amateur wrestler who is best known for losing a 2007 fight with Gina Carano on an Elite XC show in Honolulu. Evinger, a lesbian, was noted for the quote before the fight, saying that Carano was so good looking she didnt know if she wanted to punch her or kiss her.
*Lia Mataafa - The sister-in-law of former Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove, the Samoan-Italian native of Maui in Hawaii grew up a huge fan of pro wrestling. It was her love for pro wrestling that led her to amateur wrestling in ninth grade. She wrestled four years in high school, mostly wrestling against boys. She was a two-time girls state champion at 140 pounds, pinning all but one opponent in the first round, and beat a number of boys, and was a standout in every sport she did. She played varsity rugby at Boston University and is currently a member of the American Samoan national rugby team, and barely missed out on qualifying for the 2012 Olympics as a wrestler, placing fifth in an international qualifying meet. Shes 4-1 as an amateur fighter with no pro bouts, and first trained under Chris Leben.
*Raquel Pennington - An Invicta regular with a 3-3 pro record and 7-1 amateur record, she has losses to Leslie Smith and Cat Zingano in her last two fights and has a win of Kim Couture.
*Shayna Baszler - A submission specialist who trains under Josh Barnett, and has also at times been trained by Billy Robinson, the 32-year-old Baszler is 15-8. She once lost to Cris Cyborg on an Elite XC show on CBS, and was in two fight of the nights in her three Invicta bouts (fights she lost to Alexis Davis and Sara McMann). 14 of 15 her wins are via submission including wins over Roxanne Modaferri, Julie Kedzie and Elaina Maxwell. She also skated in a local Roller Derby league in her native Sioux Falls, SD.
dream
Member
A recent story in the New York Times talked aobut how fake Twitter followers can be purchased, and really exposed the entire statistic of Twitter followers, like trending on Twitter, to be terribly misleading at best, and often a scarm.
The story noted you can purchase 1,000 fake followers for only $5. In a world where some people equate Twitter followers with importance, others using it as a metric to sell company or personal value to, that can be a cheap price to pay.
In UFC, there are fighters who equate Twitter followers with star power, and there is a correlation between the two. Jon Jones in a recent press interview was talking about how hes not one of the more popular UFC fighters citing the number of fighters with more followers. Some fighters have talked about not wanting to fight fighters with a substantially lower number of twitter followers, believing they have nothing to gain beating non-stars.
In addition, UFC gives out Twitter bonuses to fighters who are the most creative on twitter, but also for those with the most followers and for those who during a particular quarter increase their number of followers by the highest percentage.
However, among the 17 who have received UFC bonuses, five had significant numbers of fake followers according to a survey done by Ingrained Media, most notable of which was Roy Nelson. Nelson is listed as having 566,458 Twitter followers, but of those, about 464,500 are either spambot drones or people who have fake profiles. Another 62,300 were from people who are no longer using Twitter, so his actual number of followers was closer to 39,600.
Similarly, of Dana Whites 2,517,324 twitter followers, the number of real followers is closer to 705,000. Of Anderson Silvas 3,301,511, the number of real followers is about 694,000. For Junior Dos Santos, of his 599,987 followers, only about 114,000 are real. For Georges St-Pierre, of his 678,834 followers, about 237,600 are real.
That doesnt mean the fighters are necessarily trying to defraud the promotion to get bonuses, or that the fighters themselves even know. How fake followers happen isnt necessarily the person involved. One day I went to bed with 10,000 followers and woke up with 26,000. Luke Thomas, who writes for MMAFighting.com, the same MMA site I write for, had a similar change on the same morning. I have no idea how it happened, and it certainly served no purpose. Currently, of my 16,405 followers at press time, only about 7,050 are real and active. But I wouldnt have known better and it wasnt as if I could care about inflating numbers to look important to the outside world.
The WWE twitter account lists 2,599,025 followers, but the number of real followers is about 286,000. For a lot of the talent, the percentages are similar. It sounds impressive when The Miz or Zack Ryder talk about one million followers, even though the reality is nothing even close to that ballpark.
What this means is it explains why people in television have continued to be confused why they work so hard on Twitter promoting events that ratings dont move.
Within wrestling, in spots where one would expect to see a difference, which would be in greater quarter hour variances based on the immediacy of telling people that, say, Undertaker is wrestling right this minute for the first time in a TV match in years, its been confusing as to why it has no effect. The variances when top talent is on the screen is actually less, usually substantially, than it was three years ago.
A recently told story was from a few months back, during the NCAA basketball tournament, when ESPN had a U.S. national team soccer game going against the NCAA tournament. That night, those at ESPN were celebrating because the Twitter reaction to the game was through the roof, killing the basketball on the rival network. But the next day, when the ratings came out, there were 11 times as many people who actually watched the basketball game, and the soccer rating was the same as the soccer rating would have been expected to do. Upon further investigation, they realized that it takes 100,000 homes to make an 0.1 difference in ratings, but thats simply not a number social media can change. In WWE, there is a chasm, because the company is so geared in that direction, yet so many have noted there have been no results from it at all. The truth is, companies should use every marketing thing they can, and Twitter is one of them. But to expect it to replace other marketing, well, thus far, it hasnt been the case.
While both WWE and UFC big shows have done well, the reality is they arent doing any better than those same shows would have done a few years ago. And from a ratings standpoint, both products are down as compared to where they were before embracing social media. Social media is not the reason for the decline. Both are down in ratings because of market conditions, in the sense they are paid for hours of product and in doing so, to get the most hours and the most money, they dilute the actual value of the hours in quest of the money. Its not a bad thing, but it is something that leads to declines in everything but the top-tier events. Its a tool, like every marketing tool, but not a game changer, and from a marketing standpoint based on the results thus far, highly overrated.
But a main reason it is so overrated is because of the brilliance of the people who put it together, creating the situation where twitter followers is given a meaning, only for the numbers to be completely bogus.
WHICH IS FAIR, I SAY, BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE RUSH'S TWEETER IS REAL TO BEGIN WITH
The final numbers for the 4/20 show in San Jose were 11,794 paid, 13,439 in the building and $1,333,000. It was the largest MMA gate ever in San Jose because of the higher ticket prices than Strikeforce charged.
Final numbers for the 4/13 show in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay were 5,382 paid, 5,918 total and $569,075. I believe those are all records for TUF finales. They set the building up for 6,141, but thats misleading, because they were going to set it up with however many they could fill since they knew going in it wasnt a show that was going to do 11,000 tickets in Las Vegas.
The television lineup for the 7/27 FOX special and match order, at least at press time, has been announced. The plan is to open the show with Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche, which may be the most anticipated fight on the show. The winner is likely to get a shot at Ronda Rousey, since the feeling is they are the two best known challengers. But with Cat Zingano in December, and if Rousey wins that one, by that time Cris Cyborg will likely be able to make 135 because were probably talking March or April of next year. Then there is also Sara McMann, so the winner is probably going to have to win another fight or two, but its not good for the loser. Rousey has expressed interest in another fight with Tate, who is the UFCs second most popular woman and someone who can have the second biggest grudge match with Rousey (behind Cyborg). For ratings purposes, Id have put these two in the semifinal spot. Second is scheduled to be Tarec Saffiedine, who was Strikeforces welterweight champion when the company went down, facing Robbie Lawler. The semifinal will be Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald, where the winner should be in line for a shot at the GSP vs. Johny Hendricks match. However, if the winners are GSP and MacDonald, who knows if that will happen since both have said they wont fight the other. The main event is Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga for the flyweight title. Moraga is probably the least known title challenger for a UFC belt in years. Hes 13-1, with his only loss being to John Dodson via decision in 2010. He had never fought for a major organization until signing with UFC. Hes had two fights in UFC, and he looked impressive in winning both, but they both aired on Facebook prelims. Moraga was a teammate of Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway on the Arizona State wrestling team, where he competed from 2004 to 2007. The problem with putting the match that may have the most appeal first is the last shows ratings pattern didnt see the audience kick in to any meaningful number until 8:45 p.m., and granted, that was Josh Thomson vs. Nate Diaz, but its been a pattern when it comes to Raw, Impact and UFC shows at 8 p.m. now that the weather is good is a late arriving audience.
Also on that show, in a match that will air on the FX prelims, Matt Mitrione faces Brendan Schaub. That match was a big surprise when announced, given Mitrione was just announced as being on suspension 16 days earlier. The official company word is that when Mitrione made the remarks he did on the 4/8 edition of The MMA Hour about Fallon Fox, the transgender, that he was suspended pending an investigation. Once the investigation was completed, the company took him off suspension, although they never made that public, which made it look to the outside world like their punishment was non-existent. Dana White said Mitrione was given a major fine, although he has not said the amount. White also said that Mitrione apologized, but did so privately, as White claimed if he told him to publicly apologize, its not a real apology so wouldnt mean anything. Mitrione called Fox a, Lying sick, sociophathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that. The next day, Mitrione did a public apology, saying, I want to apologize for my hurtful comments about Fallon Fox and a group within our society which, in truth, I know nothing about. I know now theres an important line between expressing an opinion on a subject and being hurtful and insensitive. I crossed that line by expressing my views in an ugly, rude and inappropriate manner. I know there are people who look up to UFC athletes and I let them and myself down by setting a very poor example. I also want to apologize to Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and everyone associated with the UFC. Anyone can say `Im sorry, to get themselves out of trouble. Thats not the kind of person I want to be. I am embarrassed I chose to express myself in such a fashion and am looking forward to living up to this apology through my future actions, words and conduct. The UFC, though Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein, said that Mitriones comments represented a breach of the UFCs code of conduct for its athletes. As a result, Mr. Mitrione received a significant monetary penalty. Further, he will be required to make amends to the community he hurt by working with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender) community.
Jon Jones ripped on Mitrione for what he said. I think Fallon Fox, thats a strong person. Despite what the person has gone through in their life, thats a strong person. Im a fan of that person because of what theyve gone through and what theyre willing to go through. People like Matt Mitrione are scumbags. Hes a scumbag. I dont care if hes off suspension or doesnt fight again, hes a ridiculous person.
After last week apologizing for saying Chael Sonnen had done steroids, Jones pretty much said he thought it again. I dont know that Sonnen threatened legal action against him (Sonnen has threatened legal action in the past against reporters), but Sonnen did say that if Jones hadnt have retracted it he would go after him in an interview. I think he does drugs. I dont know.
He just seems crazy. He just keeps going with it. The other quote is, I had no evidence to prove that Chael Sonnen did steroids throughout his prime. You know? And I know a lot of guys, not personally, but I know a lot of guys are probably doing it. And I think its a shame. Especially for parents that have athletes. It ruins the code, the honor code. It ruins everything. Its not right. And I had a feeling through hearing stories throughout the grapevine that Chael is a guy who has secretly done steroids throughout his career. You look at some of his earlier fights and some fights he had extraordinary muscle tone and other fights he just didnt. And Id also heard that when you do steroids, when youre younger, in your early years, you dont produce testosterone naturally. Which hints to Testosterone Replacement Therapy. So I came up with the conclusion that he had done steroids, made lots of money, and he does it now to continue making lots of money. Which isnt fair. It cheats the cycle of life, the circle of life. The next guy needs his turn to be great, but, like if I did steroids now, Id be a beast. And then I do steroids, five years for now, Id still be a beast. Its not fair, Im stealing all the glory. So I think its not fair. When you get old, you need to step aside and let the next kid thats working his tail off be great. So, to answer your question, I had no concrete evidence to prove that he had done steroids so I shouldnt make that allegation. And so, I apologized.
Dana White indicated that should Junior Dos Santos beat Mark Hunt, that he would get a rematch with Cain Velasquez. If he doesnt, then theyd likely wait for the Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight on 6/8 in Fortaleza, Brazil. If Werdum wins, he may get the shot. If not, then theres probably Alistair Overeem if he wins his next fight, or Hunt.
In an analysis of the UFC television audience, they found a shockingly high percentage of viewers, as in 22%, came from the Pacific Northwest. Only 15.7% came from the Northeast even though if you compare the respective populations, that wouldnt seem possible.
White went to Boston after Saturdays show and said during the week that he, the UFC and FOX, would all be writing checks to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. He also said he wanted to meet with the people. He later went to Boston and said that he donated personally, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta donated personally, the UFC as a company donated money as did FOX. But he said he backed off on meeting with the victims, saying after looking into it, People are really emotionally trying to deal with whats gong on, so I backed off a bit.
Matt Hughes in a Q&A said that he personally called B.J. Penn and Rich Franklin and told them not to retire.
The Nevada Attorney Generals Office sent word to the camp of Gabriel Gonzaga that they would not overturn the result of his 4/13 fight with Travis Browne on FX. Gonzagas camp protested, claiming Brown used illegal elbows to the back of the head in the fight, which he unquestionably did. Its had to make a conclusion that Gonzaga was knocked out by the legal elbows, or the illegal ones, because they came in a split second sequence.
Satoshi Ishii placed second in the U.S. national judo championships two weeks ago. Hes now signed for an MMA fight with Pedro Rizzo on 5/26 in Tokyo as part of Antonio Inokis next IGF pro wrestling show.
The story noted you can purchase 1,000 fake followers for only $5. In a world where some people equate Twitter followers with importance, others using it as a metric to sell company or personal value to, that can be a cheap price to pay.
In UFC, there are fighters who equate Twitter followers with star power, and there is a correlation between the two. Jon Jones in a recent press interview was talking about how hes not one of the more popular UFC fighters citing the number of fighters with more followers. Some fighters have talked about not wanting to fight fighters with a substantially lower number of twitter followers, believing they have nothing to gain beating non-stars.
In addition, UFC gives out Twitter bonuses to fighters who are the most creative on twitter, but also for those with the most followers and for those who during a particular quarter increase their number of followers by the highest percentage.
However, among the 17 who have received UFC bonuses, five had significant numbers of fake followers according to a survey done by Ingrained Media, most notable of which was Roy Nelson. Nelson is listed as having 566,458 Twitter followers, but of those, about 464,500 are either spambot drones or people who have fake profiles. Another 62,300 were from people who are no longer using Twitter, so his actual number of followers was closer to 39,600.
Similarly, of Dana Whites 2,517,324 twitter followers, the number of real followers is closer to 705,000. Of Anderson Silvas 3,301,511, the number of real followers is about 694,000. For Junior Dos Santos, of his 599,987 followers, only about 114,000 are real. For Georges St-Pierre, of his 678,834 followers, about 237,600 are real.
That doesnt mean the fighters are necessarily trying to defraud the promotion to get bonuses, or that the fighters themselves even know. How fake followers happen isnt necessarily the person involved. One day I went to bed with 10,000 followers and woke up with 26,000. Luke Thomas, who writes for MMAFighting.com, the same MMA site I write for, had a similar change on the same morning. I have no idea how it happened, and it certainly served no purpose. Currently, of my 16,405 followers at press time, only about 7,050 are real and active. But I wouldnt have known better and it wasnt as if I could care about inflating numbers to look important to the outside world.
The WWE twitter account lists 2,599,025 followers, but the number of real followers is about 286,000. For a lot of the talent, the percentages are similar. It sounds impressive when The Miz or Zack Ryder talk about one million followers, even though the reality is nothing even close to that ballpark.
What this means is it explains why people in television have continued to be confused why they work so hard on Twitter promoting events that ratings dont move.
Within wrestling, in spots where one would expect to see a difference, which would be in greater quarter hour variances based on the immediacy of telling people that, say, Undertaker is wrestling right this minute for the first time in a TV match in years, its been confusing as to why it has no effect. The variances when top talent is on the screen is actually less, usually substantially, than it was three years ago.
A recently told story was from a few months back, during the NCAA basketball tournament, when ESPN had a U.S. national team soccer game going against the NCAA tournament. That night, those at ESPN were celebrating because the Twitter reaction to the game was through the roof, killing the basketball on the rival network. But the next day, when the ratings came out, there were 11 times as many people who actually watched the basketball game, and the soccer rating was the same as the soccer rating would have been expected to do. Upon further investigation, they realized that it takes 100,000 homes to make an 0.1 difference in ratings, but thats simply not a number social media can change. In WWE, there is a chasm, because the company is so geared in that direction, yet so many have noted there have been no results from it at all. The truth is, companies should use every marketing thing they can, and Twitter is one of them. But to expect it to replace other marketing, well, thus far, it hasnt been the case.
While both WWE and UFC big shows have done well, the reality is they arent doing any better than those same shows would have done a few years ago. And from a ratings standpoint, both products are down as compared to where they were before embracing social media. Social media is not the reason for the decline. Both are down in ratings because of market conditions, in the sense they are paid for hours of product and in doing so, to get the most hours and the most money, they dilute the actual value of the hours in quest of the money. Its not a bad thing, but it is something that leads to declines in everything but the top-tier events. Its a tool, like every marketing tool, but not a game changer, and from a marketing standpoint based on the results thus far, highly overrated.
But a main reason it is so overrated is because of the brilliance of the people who put it together, creating the situation where twitter followers is given a meaning, only for the numbers to be completely bogus.
WHICH IS FAIR, I SAY, BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE RUSH'S TWEETER IS REAL TO BEGIN WITH
The final numbers for the 4/20 show in San Jose were 11,794 paid, 13,439 in the building and $1,333,000. It was the largest MMA gate ever in San Jose because of the higher ticket prices than Strikeforce charged.
Final numbers for the 4/13 show in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay were 5,382 paid, 5,918 total and $569,075. I believe those are all records for TUF finales. They set the building up for 6,141, but thats misleading, because they were going to set it up with however many they could fill since they knew going in it wasnt a show that was going to do 11,000 tickets in Las Vegas.
The television lineup for the 7/27 FOX special and match order, at least at press time, has been announced. The plan is to open the show with Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche, which may be the most anticipated fight on the show. The winner is likely to get a shot at Ronda Rousey, since the feeling is they are the two best known challengers. But with Cat Zingano in December, and if Rousey wins that one, by that time Cris Cyborg will likely be able to make 135 because were probably talking March or April of next year. Then there is also Sara McMann, so the winner is probably going to have to win another fight or two, but its not good for the loser. Rousey has expressed interest in another fight with Tate, who is the UFCs second most popular woman and someone who can have the second biggest grudge match with Rousey (behind Cyborg). For ratings purposes, Id have put these two in the semifinal spot. Second is scheduled to be Tarec Saffiedine, who was Strikeforces welterweight champion when the company went down, facing Robbie Lawler. The semifinal will be Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald, where the winner should be in line for a shot at the GSP vs. Johny Hendricks match. However, if the winners are GSP and MacDonald, who knows if that will happen since both have said they wont fight the other. The main event is Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga for the flyweight title. Moraga is probably the least known title challenger for a UFC belt in years. Hes 13-1, with his only loss being to John Dodson via decision in 2010. He had never fought for a major organization until signing with UFC. Hes had two fights in UFC, and he looked impressive in winning both, but they both aired on Facebook prelims. Moraga was a teammate of Cain Velasquez, Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway on the Arizona State wrestling team, where he competed from 2004 to 2007. The problem with putting the match that may have the most appeal first is the last shows ratings pattern didnt see the audience kick in to any meaningful number until 8:45 p.m., and granted, that was Josh Thomson vs. Nate Diaz, but its been a pattern when it comes to Raw, Impact and UFC shows at 8 p.m. now that the weather is good is a late arriving audience.
Also on that show, in a match that will air on the FX prelims, Matt Mitrione faces Brendan Schaub. That match was a big surprise when announced, given Mitrione was just announced as being on suspension 16 days earlier. The official company word is that when Mitrione made the remarks he did on the 4/8 edition of The MMA Hour about Fallon Fox, the transgender, that he was suspended pending an investigation. Once the investigation was completed, the company took him off suspension, although they never made that public, which made it look to the outside world like their punishment was non-existent. Dana White said Mitrione was given a major fine, although he has not said the amount. White also said that Mitrione apologized, but did so privately, as White claimed if he told him to publicly apologize, its not a real apology so wouldnt mean anything. Mitrione called Fox a, Lying sick, sociophathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that. The next day, Mitrione did a public apology, saying, I want to apologize for my hurtful comments about Fallon Fox and a group within our society which, in truth, I know nothing about. I know now theres an important line between expressing an opinion on a subject and being hurtful and insensitive. I crossed that line by expressing my views in an ugly, rude and inappropriate manner. I know there are people who look up to UFC athletes and I let them and myself down by setting a very poor example. I also want to apologize to Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and everyone associated with the UFC. Anyone can say `Im sorry, to get themselves out of trouble. Thats not the kind of person I want to be. I am embarrassed I chose to express myself in such a fashion and am looking forward to living up to this apology through my future actions, words and conduct. The UFC, though Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein, said that Mitriones comments represented a breach of the UFCs code of conduct for its athletes. As a result, Mr. Mitrione received a significant monetary penalty. Further, he will be required to make amends to the community he hurt by working with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender) community.
Jon Jones ripped on Mitrione for what he said. I think Fallon Fox, thats a strong person. Despite what the person has gone through in their life, thats a strong person. Im a fan of that person because of what theyve gone through and what theyre willing to go through. People like Matt Mitrione are scumbags. Hes a scumbag. I dont care if hes off suspension or doesnt fight again, hes a ridiculous person.
After last week apologizing for saying Chael Sonnen had done steroids, Jones pretty much said he thought it again. I dont know that Sonnen threatened legal action against him (Sonnen has threatened legal action in the past against reporters), but Sonnen did say that if Jones hadnt have retracted it he would go after him in an interview. I think he does drugs. I dont know.
He just seems crazy. He just keeps going with it. The other quote is, I had no evidence to prove that Chael Sonnen did steroids throughout his prime. You know? And I know a lot of guys, not personally, but I know a lot of guys are probably doing it. And I think its a shame. Especially for parents that have athletes. It ruins the code, the honor code. It ruins everything. Its not right. And I had a feeling through hearing stories throughout the grapevine that Chael is a guy who has secretly done steroids throughout his career. You look at some of his earlier fights and some fights he had extraordinary muscle tone and other fights he just didnt. And Id also heard that when you do steroids, when youre younger, in your early years, you dont produce testosterone naturally. Which hints to Testosterone Replacement Therapy. So I came up with the conclusion that he had done steroids, made lots of money, and he does it now to continue making lots of money. Which isnt fair. It cheats the cycle of life, the circle of life. The next guy needs his turn to be great, but, like if I did steroids now, Id be a beast. And then I do steroids, five years for now, Id still be a beast. Its not fair, Im stealing all the glory. So I think its not fair. When you get old, you need to step aside and let the next kid thats working his tail off be great. So, to answer your question, I had no concrete evidence to prove that he had done steroids so I shouldnt make that allegation. And so, I apologized.
Dana White indicated that should Junior Dos Santos beat Mark Hunt, that he would get a rematch with Cain Velasquez. If he doesnt, then theyd likely wait for the Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight on 6/8 in Fortaleza, Brazil. If Werdum wins, he may get the shot. If not, then theres probably Alistair Overeem if he wins his next fight, or Hunt.
In an analysis of the UFC television audience, they found a shockingly high percentage of viewers, as in 22%, came from the Pacific Northwest. Only 15.7% came from the Northeast even though if you compare the respective populations, that wouldnt seem possible.
White went to Boston after Saturdays show and said during the week that he, the UFC and FOX, would all be writing checks to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. He also said he wanted to meet with the people. He later went to Boston and said that he donated personally, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta donated personally, the UFC as a company donated money as did FOX. But he said he backed off on meeting with the victims, saying after looking into it, People are really emotionally trying to deal with whats gong on, so I backed off a bit.
Matt Hughes in a Q&A said that he personally called B.J. Penn and Rich Franklin and told them not to retire.
The Nevada Attorney Generals Office sent word to the camp of Gabriel Gonzaga that they would not overturn the result of his 4/13 fight with Travis Browne on FX. Gonzagas camp protested, claiming Brown used illegal elbows to the back of the head in the fight, which he unquestionably did. Its had to make a conclusion that Gonzaga was knocked out by the legal elbows, or the illegal ones, because they came in a split second sequence.
Satoshi Ishii placed second in the U.S. national judo championships two weeks ago. Hes now signed for an MMA fight with Pedro Rizzo on 5/26 in Tokyo as part of Antonio Inokis next IGF pro wrestling show.
Can Crusher
Banned
GTAV is gonna be amazing.
lol and here we go.
Wanderlei Silva ‏@wandfc - The real man talk face to face! http://youtu.be/5xir5HN24e8 quero ver se vai matter a disposicao no cara!!! Lets go!!!
chael sonnen ‏@sonnench - IN YOUR CASE, WANDERLEI, ISN'T IT "REAL MEN MUMBLE FACE TO FACE?"@wandfc
chael sonnen ‏@sonnench - Or "real men ramble incoherently face to face, and occassionally one of them nods and smiles to be nice." @wandfc
chael sonnen ‏@sonnench - Isn't THAT what you mean, you fool? @wandfc
Wanderlei Silva ‏@wandfc - The real man talk face to face! http://youtu.be/5xir5HN24e8 quero ver se vai matter a disposicao no cara!!! Lets go!!!
chael sonnen ‏@sonnench - IN YOUR CASE, WANDERLEI, ISN'T IT "REAL MEN MUMBLE FACE TO FACE?"@wandfc
chael sonnen ‏@sonnench - Or "real men ramble incoherently face to face, and occassionally one of them nods and smiles to be nice." @wandfc
chael sonnen ‏@sonnench - Isn't THAT what you mean, you fool? @wandfc
Can Crusher
Banned
That video lol, Sonnen was feeling like he was put on the spot.
Lambda Pie
Banned
Sonnen will 30-27 Wandy, he won't stand and bang with him. takedown into blanket ultra.
Host Samurai
Member
Wand will TKO Sonnen. I will bet on that.
When has Wand ever been wrestlefucked?
When has Wand ever been wrestlefucked?
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