Could be worse, they could have abolished Nintendo gaf threads
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MMA-GAF |OT5| Father Time Is Undefeated
- Thread starter polyh3dron
- Start date
Could be worse, they could have abolished Nintendo gaf threads
I apologize that I am interested in future prospects/the minor leagues/etc of the UFC.
So basically from what I've gathered, #TeamNegative would only have 6 cards a year, no prelims because prelim fighters are garbage, there would be no other organization besides the UFC because only the top tier matters, superstars would just magically appear ready for the 6 main cards a year, etc etc. What am I missing?
Ayo, this is WMMA, there's maybe one of those in every division. Hitting hard and being fearless is pretty valuable as far as standup goes. I'm tellin you, this girl is mean and nasty, never seen anything like it.
Dastardly Jerks
Banned
I only started watching MMA this year, so to me it's interesting.
I'm sure you guys remember your honeymoon periods, hell I'm sure you yearn for them daily.
Didnt even last till Bayonetta 2?
If someone came into the NHL threads and posted nothing but how much they hated the sport and complained and just always sounded pissed off, you would ignore them right?
Yeah, it's best to do the same here with folks like Yaco-lence and FACE and others in #TeamNegative.
I can play Bayo 2 on my friend's console whenever it comes out. That's what I've done with Nintendo exclusives for the past decade.
Monkeys throw shit at the wall for fun, and so does Team Negative. It doesn't matter if they really mean it - oftentimes they clearly don't - the commentary is just a way to entertain themselves akin to an Appalachian hick whittling a stick on their front porch.
This is bullshit. How dare you question my hatred for this sport?!
team hate.
lol.
In other news, my world was turned upside down, seems like seagal didn't teach silva that kick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HUSplS8mEUc
In yet another news, just finished system shock 2, no mods, no spoilers no guides, normal difficulty. Doesn't get much better. Should I go for Deus ex?
Also, what's up with the nintendo hate?
Also, is Miocic trying to make a name off of browne??? I hope he does so we can have Barnett vs Werdum.
Yes.
Hey man anti semitism isnt cool
I'm only interested since I don't want Penn retiring. Sadly, I don't see Penn winning, so this will most likely be lead to another extended break for him. I'd like to see Penn face off against Lawler, Cerrone, and Guillard. If he can commit to 145, then match-ups against Koren Zombie, Swanson, and Lamas interest me.
The most important part of that video is Anderson good boying Jon Jones...bet the house on the refocused Anderson Silva destroying "Chris Weidman" like RJJ did Montel Griffin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HUSplS8mEUc#t=4m53s
Maklershed
Member
Th bad mma gods shine their favor upon us this weekend with fights from Pete Spratt and Andre Arlovski. And in better mma, Diego Nunes starts his UFC comeback run.
I mean this as a serious question, if you hate this "sport" so much, why are you still here posting in these threads?
Criticism of my favorite things doesn't upset me at all. Why does it bother you so much?
I'm getting the opposite vibe.. doesn't look like he even wants to fight anymore.
Nice, I'll add it to my wishlist and get it on a discount some day.
Constructive criticism generally involves thoughts and ideas that improve the sport for the benefit of all.... and this means more than "have less cards!".
Anyways, I'm going to just starting putting some team negative members on ignore, that will make this a more enjoyable place.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Welcome to Mudslide Country
ignore list + http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/140791 = makes Gaming side readable
How much you get for your wii u?
Come on bae. What a simp. Can't wait for the inevitable meltdown when she bounces for greener pastures.
$156 at Gamestop for a Wii U basic.
You know, I've always considered you all family.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=675373
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=675373
this is a great feature, i have 150+ steam games that I don't play or never installed. it would be nice to share the wealth.
yeah, Super ignore is part of the Chrome extension NeoGaf++
polyh3dron
Banned
Wow, not even holding out to play Wonderful 101.
Host Samurai
Member
And I'm actually thinking about picking up that Wind Waker WiiU package for $300. That really makes paying for the Wii U $250, which is good enough for an impulse buy. I was going to get one for Bayonetta anyways and I doubt the price would go down before that.
dream
Member
Theres a saying in baseball about how you cant tell the players without a program. Well, this week, the story is you cant keep up with all the events of the weekend without a guide.
From a PPV standpoint, there are two key events, the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez boxing match on 9/14, promoted by Showtime, and WWEs Night of Champions the next night.
With industry predictions of 1.75 million buys, Mayweather vs. Alvarez is expected to be the biggest PPV event of any kind in North America since the 2007 Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya fight.
The event has been brilliantly promoted on 24/7 All Access shows, where Mayweather is portrayed as an immensely gifted fast-liver, up all night, surrounded by women and friends, really the modern reality of the 80s Ric Flair character, only magnified twenty times over. Alvarez is the Mexican hope. Hes portrayed as surrounded by a crew that is interested in nothing but his next fight, training, eating and dieting in seclusion at Big Bear, with nothing on his mind but the biggest fight of his life.
Hes bigger, stronger and younger, but hes slower and its his first time at this level of pressure and notoriety, while Mayweather is the older veteran who has been living it for years. They are fighting at 152 pounds, more than Mayweather has ever fought at. Still, Mayweather is a -270 favorite. Most in boxing think Alvarez really doesnt have a good chance to win. The match will sell because the Mexican community in the U.S. and Mexico believes he can. What Alvarez has going for him is Mayweather is 36, and he is 23. The belief is the odds will get lower, with a lot of Mayweather bettors figuring to wait until just before fight time with the idea theyll be able to get more favorable odds.
The fight has been heavily promoted with Oscar De La Hoya, the man who really made Mayweather into the star he is. It was Mayweathers beating De La Hoya in 2007 that took Mayweather from a 300,000 buy PPV guy to a seven figure guy, since their 2007 fight break through at a level that no boxing match had since the big fights involving Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis years ago. It was De La Hoyas star power that brought people to the table, but Mayweather became a tremendous heel antagonist, who then won the fight. Since Alvarez doesnt speak English, De La Hoya has been doing much of his English promos, with the storyline that de la Hoya has the book on how to beat Mayweather, almost did in their first fight, and is teaching it to Alvarez. De la Hoya wont be at the fight on Saturday, as it was announced on Tuesday he was voluntarily checking himself into a treatment facility. De la Hoya went through rehab in 2011 for cocaine and alcohol.
Its not going to be quite the world stands still like in the heyday of Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier and George Foreman, or something close to that, like the Tyson fights. Mayweather vs. De La Hoya was the closest thing to that in recent times, and did more money due to improved technology, than any fight in history.
When the fight was announced, promoters were talking about breaking the 2007 record of 2.45 million buys. Based on feeling right now, that would be an extreme longshot, but it also should be noted that the 2007 fight was not figured to do anywhere close to what it did (most in boxing were thinking a little over 1.5 million, thinking that was the max for a non-heavyweight title fight). But it was that fight that exemplified the power of a series of compelling countdown shows that draw a big audience.
The live gate of $19,905,000 will break the all-time boxing record of $18,l419,200 set by the 2007 fight. There are also more locations signed up for closed circuit than ever before, more advertising than ever before, $2 million in sponsorship of the show (the De la Hoya vs. Mayweather fight had $800,000), and sponsors earmarked millions in TV ads, heavily during recent sports programming.
The show is also more patterned after a UFC card, where, instead of having a big main event, thinking that will draw the money and skimping on the undercard, the idea is to present the best show possible. The key No. 2 match is Lucas Matthyssse (34-2, 32 knockouts), the WBA and WBC light welterweight champion, against Danny Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs), the interim WBA and WBC champion. The feeling is that the winner could be the next opponent for Mayweather, if Mayweather gets by Alvarez. It would be tougher if Alvarez wins, just because there is a significant size difference between he and these two.
Third from the top is a match of top ten junior middleweights with Ishe Smith (25-5, 11 knockouts) and Carlos Molina (21-5-2, 6 knockouts).
But a look at the next weeks major activities:
TNA NO SURRENDER: The usual weekly Spike TV show is getting a PPV themed name, taped in St. Louis at the Chaifetz Arena.
The first show will have the semifinals and the finals of the BFG series, with Austin Aries vs. A.J. Styles and Magnus vs. Bobby Roode. The two winners meet later in the night, with the winner getting the Bound for Glory shot at the TNA title on 10/20 in San Diego. Also on the first hour of the show is the TNA title match with Bully Ray defending against Ken Anderson.
The two-hour time constraints hurt because thats four major singles matches. Aries vs. Styles was one of TNAs best matches this year in their meeting in the BFG series. Styles is being pushed as the favorite, although the storyline of him not being able to get a title shot for a year based on a loss last year has been dropped. Logically, Ray should defend against a babyface. Aries has been pushed the last few weeks more as a face, but his getting a shot would come out of left field. Magnus was being pushed as the rising star early in the BFG series.
Mickie James vs. ODB for the Knockouts title was scheduled for St. Louis. Right now its scheduled for the second show. If there is a tag title match on the second show, the champs, James Storm & Gunner, have dropped non-title bouts to both Wes Brisco & Garett Bischoff and Frankie Kazarian & Bobby Roode, so they could face either or do a three-way program.
CMLL 80TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: A full story on the build for this show and how to watch it is in the CMLL story in this issue.
BELLATOR 99: The start of weekly Friday night shows at 9 p.m. on Spike begins this week from Temecula, CA, with four featherweight tournament fights, and one light heavyweight tournament fight.
Shahbulat Shamhalaev has pulled out of the featherweight tournament. He asked out of the fight because he needed to take care of his sick father. Hes being replaced by former Strikeforce fighter Justin Wilcox.
The show this week features a light heavyweight tournament first round fight with former UFC fighters Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander facing off. The featherweight tournament has a first round of Patricio Pitbull Freire vs. former UFC fighter Diego Nunes (this is a good test because Nunes was a solid just below contender fighter in UFC), Wilcox vs. Akiop Stepanyan, Des Green vs. Fabricio Guerrero and Joe Taimanglo vs. Andrew Fisher.
ROAD TO DESTRUCTION: A New Japan B PPV, building up to the 9/29 Destruction show airs live from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time and 2:30 a.m. Pacific late Friday night/early Saturday at www.ustream.tv/channel/njpw1972
The show is more like a prototypical go-home Raw without the skits, in the sense the matches are there to set the final stage for the bigger show in Kobe.
The lineup has Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi, Tiger Mask & Bushi vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida (presumably Taka & Taichi and Shelley & Kushida win to build their matches on the PPV), Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Takaaki Watanabe vs. Takashi Iizuka & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshi-Hashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan vs. Prince Devitt & Karl Anderson & Bad Luck Fale, Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin (to build Nakamura vs Benjamin for the IC title and Suzuki vs. Yano on 9/29), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger defend the CMLL tag titles against Tama Tonga & Rey Bucanero, and a main event of Satoshi Kojima & Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada & Masato Tanaka (to build Okada vs. Kojima for the IWGP title and Tanaka vs. Naito for the No. 1 contender spot and NEVER title).
WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING: NBC Sports presents live MMA fighting on 9/14 from Atlantic City, NJ, at 9 p.m.
The show is headlined by Andrei Arlovski vs. Mike Kyle, plus the semifinals of a middleweight title tournament with Dave Branch vs. Danillo Villefort and Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jesse Taylor, as well as Rolls Gracie vs. Derrick Melman and Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Waylon Lowe. The show will air starting at 9 p.m. Eastern, moved up from their usual start time with the hope the main event ends before Mayweather and Alvarez go in the ring.
NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS: The WWEs monthly PPV is a show promoted around two matches, Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE title and a handicap elimination match with C.M. Punk vs. Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel, with the promise that Punk would eliminate Axel and finally get to Heyman.
Bryan vs. Orton is going to be the litmus test of the last few weeks of promotion. Bryan gets a great reaction at all the TVs with the Yes chants, but the question is, is it the chant thats over, the wrestler, or both. Obviously to a degree the answer is both, but what degree is the question. But while HHH and Orton are doing a great job as adversaries for Bryan, the show is based on whether or not people believe he can, and are willing to pay to see Bryan win the WWE title. Are the constant beatdowns effective in building Bryan, as in being left laying seven television shows in a row? That would and have never been done at this level with the big dog babyfaces like Steve Austin, HHH, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart or John Cena. But is this dynamic different and will it be effective because of Bryans small stature and underdog role? Do enough people feel Bryan represents them, hard workers who feel the company they work for overlooks them, and instead promotes either better looking people, kiss asses or family members to the best positions? Do they relate to the idea of being constantly put in fear for their jobs? Is he a different version of rising up against a boss who screws you like Steve Austin, in the sense Austin was more a fantasy character who screwed with his boss constantly, most of the time came out ahead, but never lost his job? Or is this portrayal of wrestlers, even the top main eventers on the face side, constantly fearful of their jobs, and in a more realistic situation where they grudgingly have to go along, another scenario that will result in upping fan interest and getting them to spend money on the product? Or is it something different?
At this point, nobody knows. TV ratings havent noticeably moved, past the day of SummerSlam being up because the Cena to Bryan to Orton scenario at that show was great. All things considered, ratings certainly are not bad. House show attendance at major arenas in traditionally strong wrestling markets this past weekend were not at good levels, but PPV appeals to a different audience than house shows these days. Bryan did one great segment on 8/26, which also involved HHH and Orton, in his gauntlet and post-match with The Shield gaining more than 1 million viewers. The one thing is that if the number is up to any degree, the direction is a success. Even if its down slightly, thats a sign its not a great success, but the crossover of Mayweather with the high price point being the day before will hurt a few percentage points.
Punk vs. Heyman & Axel is all based on Punks quest to get Heyman. There are a lot of ways this can go. To me, Heyman is too valuable to just blow off, although having Punk beat him up and him disappearing for a short period of time and returning when Punk least expects it is viable. So is debuting a new monster protege to get him out of the jam.
The rest hasnt been built up well, but it doesnt matter, but its really Orton vs. Bryan that its all dependent on.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam for the world title has not seen Van Dam booked strong leading to his shot. Not that a U.S. title match in this day and age will mean anything and that the challenger needs to be pushed hard before the match, but the Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler match is extreme in that direction. The other two matches are A.J. Lee vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Brie Bella in a Divas title match, and a tag team title match.
The pre-show will be a multiple person tag match with The Prime Time Players, The Usos, Brodus Clay & Sweet T, Jack Swagger & Antonio Cesaro and 3MB, with the winning team facing Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns for the titles. One would expect the Prime Time Players and Usos to be the favorites. The Usos already worked with them on PPV and lost clean, but they were also the ones who worked the angle with Rollins & Reigns on the Smackdown show that airs two nights before the PPV. But in that angle, Rollins pinned one of the Usos again, which isnt what youd in theory do to the next challengers unless youre doing a title change. There doesnt seem to be the momentum for a title change going to faces, particularly when Los Matadores are getting the big vignette treatment as faces. The Prime Time Players were getting more wins on the shows the past few weeks, but ended up now on either Raw or Smackdown go-home week.
Its also interesting to note that the one tag team that hasnt lost, Erick Rowan & Luke Harper, have been kept out of this scenario. Its possible they could be a late add, but more likely, its not time for The Shield vs. Wyatt Family and there was no point to put the Wyatts in a situation like that where they arent winning.
From a PPV standpoint, there are two key events, the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez boxing match on 9/14, promoted by Showtime, and WWEs Night of Champions the next night.
With industry predictions of 1.75 million buys, Mayweather vs. Alvarez is expected to be the biggest PPV event of any kind in North America since the 2007 Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya fight.
The event has been brilliantly promoted on 24/7 All Access shows, where Mayweather is portrayed as an immensely gifted fast-liver, up all night, surrounded by women and friends, really the modern reality of the 80s Ric Flair character, only magnified twenty times over. Alvarez is the Mexican hope. Hes portrayed as surrounded by a crew that is interested in nothing but his next fight, training, eating and dieting in seclusion at Big Bear, with nothing on his mind but the biggest fight of his life.
Hes bigger, stronger and younger, but hes slower and its his first time at this level of pressure and notoriety, while Mayweather is the older veteran who has been living it for years. They are fighting at 152 pounds, more than Mayweather has ever fought at. Still, Mayweather is a -270 favorite. Most in boxing think Alvarez really doesnt have a good chance to win. The match will sell because the Mexican community in the U.S. and Mexico believes he can. What Alvarez has going for him is Mayweather is 36, and he is 23. The belief is the odds will get lower, with a lot of Mayweather bettors figuring to wait until just before fight time with the idea theyll be able to get more favorable odds.
The fight has been heavily promoted with Oscar De La Hoya, the man who really made Mayweather into the star he is. It was Mayweathers beating De La Hoya in 2007 that took Mayweather from a 300,000 buy PPV guy to a seven figure guy, since their 2007 fight break through at a level that no boxing match had since the big fights involving Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis years ago. It was De La Hoyas star power that brought people to the table, but Mayweather became a tremendous heel antagonist, who then won the fight. Since Alvarez doesnt speak English, De La Hoya has been doing much of his English promos, with the storyline that de la Hoya has the book on how to beat Mayweather, almost did in their first fight, and is teaching it to Alvarez. De la Hoya wont be at the fight on Saturday, as it was announced on Tuesday he was voluntarily checking himself into a treatment facility. De la Hoya went through rehab in 2011 for cocaine and alcohol.
Its not going to be quite the world stands still like in the heyday of Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier and George Foreman, or something close to that, like the Tyson fights. Mayweather vs. De La Hoya was the closest thing to that in recent times, and did more money due to improved technology, than any fight in history.
When the fight was announced, promoters were talking about breaking the 2007 record of 2.45 million buys. Based on feeling right now, that would be an extreme longshot, but it also should be noted that the 2007 fight was not figured to do anywhere close to what it did (most in boxing were thinking a little over 1.5 million, thinking that was the max for a non-heavyweight title fight). But it was that fight that exemplified the power of a series of compelling countdown shows that draw a big audience.
The live gate of $19,905,000 will break the all-time boxing record of $18,l419,200 set by the 2007 fight. There are also more locations signed up for closed circuit than ever before, more advertising than ever before, $2 million in sponsorship of the show (the De la Hoya vs. Mayweather fight had $800,000), and sponsors earmarked millions in TV ads, heavily during recent sports programming.
The show is also more patterned after a UFC card, where, instead of having a big main event, thinking that will draw the money and skimping on the undercard, the idea is to present the best show possible. The key No. 2 match is Lucas Matthyssse (34-2, 32 knockouts), the WBA and WBC light welterweight champion, against Danny Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs), the interim WBA and WBC champion. The feeling is that the winner could be the next opponent for Mayweather, if Mayweather gets by Alvarez. It would be tougher if Alvarez wins, just because there is a significant size difference between he and these two.
Third from the top is a match of top ten junior middleweights with Ishe Smith (25-5, 11 knockouts) and Carlos Molina (21-5-2, 6 knockouts).
But a look at the next weeks major activities:
TNA NO SURRENDER: The usual weekly Spike TV show is getting a PPV themed name, taped in St. Louis at the Chaifetz Arena.
The first show will have the semifinals and the finals of the BFG series, with Austin Aries vs. A.J. Styles and Magnus vs. Bobby Roode. The two winners meet later in the night, with the winner getting the Bound for Glory shot at the TNA title on 10/20 in San Diego. Also on the first hour of the show is the TNA title match with Bully Ray defending against Ken Anderson.
The two-hour time constraints hurt because thats four major singles matches. Aries vs. Styles was one of TNAs best matches this year in their meeting in the BFG series. Styles is being pushed as the favorite, although the storyline of him not being able to get a title shot for a year based on a loss last year has been dropped. Logically, Ray should defend against a babyface. Aries has been pushed the last few weeks more as a face, but his getting a shot would come out of left field. Magnus was being pushed as the rising star early in the BFG series.
Mickie James vs. ODB for the Knockouts title was scheduled for St. Louis. Right now its scheduled for the second show. If there is a tag title match on the second show, the champs, James Storm & Gunner, have dropped non-title bouts to both Wes Brisco & Garett Bischoff and Frankie Kazarian & Bobby Roode, so they could face either or do a three-way program.
CMLL 80TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: A full story on the build for this show and how to watch it is in the CMLL story in this issue.
BELLATOR 99: The start of weekly Friday night shows at 9 p.m. on Spike begins this week from Temecula, CA, with four featherweight tournament fights, and one light heavyweight tournament fight.
Shahbulat Shamhalaev has pulled out of the featherweight tournament. He asked out of the fight because he needed to take care of his sick father. Hes being replaced by former Strikeforce fighter Justin Wilcox.
The show this week features a light heavyweight tournament first round fight with former UFC fighters Vladimir Matyushenko and Houston Alexander facing off. The featherweight tournament has a first round of Patricio Pitbull Freire vs. former UFC fighter Diego Nunes (this is a good test because Nunes was a solid just below contender fighter in UFC), Wilcox vs. Akiop Stepanyan, Des Green vs. Fabricio Guerrero and Joe Taimanglo vs. Andrew Fisher.
ROAD TO DESTRUCTION: A New Japan B PPV, building up to the 9/29 Destruction show airs live from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time and 2:30 a.m. Pacific late Friday night/early Saturday at www.ustream.tv/channel/njpw1972
The show is more like a prototypical go-home Raw without the skits, in the sense the matches are there to set the final stage for the bigger show in Kobe.
The lineup has Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Taka Michinoku & Taichi, Tiger Mask & Bushi vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida (presumably Taka & Taichi and Shelley & Kushida win to build their matches on the PPV), Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Takaaki Watanabe vs. Takashi Iizuka & Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshi-Hashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan vs. Prince Devitt & Karl Anderson & Bad Luck Fale, Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin (to build Nakamura vs Benjamin for the IC title and Suzuki vs. Yano on 9/29), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger defend the CMLL tag titles against Tama Tonga & Rey Bucanero, and a main event of Satoshi Kojima & Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada & Masato Tanaka (to build Okada vs. Kojima for the IWGP title and Tanaka vs. Naito for the No. 1 contender spot and NEVER title).
WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING: NBC Sports presents live MMA fighting on 9/14 from Atlantic City, NJ, at 9 p.m.
The show is headlined by Andrei Arlovski vs. Mike Kyle, plus the semifinals of a middleweight title tournament with Dave Branch vs. Danillo Villefort and Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jesse Taylor, as well as Rolls Gracie vs. Derrick Melman and Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Waylon Lowe. The show will air starting at 9 p.m. Eastern, moved up from their usual start time with the hope the main event ends before Mayweather and Alvarez go in the ring.
NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS: The WWEs monthly PPV is a show promoted around two matches, Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE title and a handicap elimination match with C.M. Punk vs. Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel, with the promise that Punk would eliminate Axel and finally get to Heyman.
Bryan vs. Orton is going to be the litmus test of the last few weeks of promotion. Bryan gets a great reaction at all the TVs with the Yes chants, but the question is, is it the chant thats over, the wrestler, or both. Obviously to a degree the answer is both, but what degree is the question. But while HHH and Orton are doing a great job as adversaries for Bryan, the show is based on whether or not people believe he can, and are willing to pay to see Bryan win the WWE title. Are the constant beatdowns effective in building Bryan, as in being left laying seven television shows in a row? That would and have never been done at this level with the big dog babyfaces like Steve Austin, HHH, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart or John Cena. But is this dynamic different and will it be effective because of Bryans small stature and underdog role? Do enough people feel Bryan represents them, hard workers who feel the company they work for overlooks them, and instead promotes either better looking people, kiss asses or family members to the best positions? Do they relate to the idea of being constantly put in fear for their jobs? Is he a different version of rising up against a boss who screws you like Steve Austin, in the sense Austin was more a fantasy character who screwed with his boss constantly, most of the time came out ahead, but never lost his job? Or is this portrayal of wrestlers, even the top main eventers on the face side, constantly fearful of their jobs, and in a more realistic situation where they grudgingly have to go along, another scenario that will result in upping fan interest and getting them to spend money on the product? Or is it something different?
At this point, nobody knows. TV ratings havent noticeably moved, past the day of SummerSlam being up because the Cena to Bryan to Orton scenario at that show was great. All things considered, ratings certainly are not bad. House show attendance at major arenas in traditionally strong wrestling markets this past weekend were not at good levels, but PPV appeals to a different audience than house shows these days. Bryan did one great segment on 8/26, which also involved HHH and Orton, in his gauntlet and post-match with The Shield gaining more than 1 million viewers. The one thing is that if the number is up to any degree, the direction is a success. Even if its down slightly, thats a sign its not a great success, but the crossover of Mayweather with the high price point being the day before will hurt a few percentage points.
Punk vs. Heyman & Axel is all based on Punks quest to get Heyman. There are a lot of ways this can go. To me, Heyman is too valuable to just blow off, although having Punk beat him up and him disappearing for a short period of time and returning when Punk least expects it is viable. So is debuting a new monster protege to get him out of the jam.
The rest hasnt been built up well, but it doesnt matter, but its really Orton vs. Bryan that its all dependent on.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam for the world title has not seen Van Dam booked strong leading to his shot. Not that a U.S. title match in this day and age will mean anything and that the challenger needs to be pushed hard before the match, but the Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler match is extreme in that direction. The other two matches are A.J. Lee vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Brie Bella in a Divas title match, and a tag team title match.
The pre-show will be a multiple person tag match with The Prime Time Players, The Usos, Brodus Clay & Sweet T, Jack Swagger & Antonio Cesaro and 3MB, with the winning team facing Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns for the titles. One would expect the Prime Time Players and Usos to be the favorites. The Usos already worked with them on PPV and lost clean, but they were also the ones who worked the angle with Rollins & Reigns on the Smackdown show that airs two nights before the PPV. But in that angle, Rollins pinned one of the Usos again, which isnt what youd in theory do to the next challengers unless youre doing a title change. There doesnt seem to be the momentum for a title change going to faces, particularly when Los Matadores are getting the big vignette treatment as faces. The Prime Time Players were getting more wins on the shows the past few weeks, but ended up now on either Raw or Smackdown go-home week.
Its also interesting to note that the one tag team that hasnt lost, Erick Rowan & Luke Harper, have been kept out of this scenario. Its possible they could be a late add, but more likely, its not time for The Shield vs. Wyatt Family and there was no point to put the Wyatts in a situation like that where they arent winning.
dream
Member
Running three live shows in eight days burned out the UFC audience to the point that the 9/4 show from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, headlined by Glover Teixeiras first round knockout of Ryan Bader, did only 539,000 viewers.
It was down 35 percent from the 824,000 the prior Wednesday. Aside from the crazy number for the FS 1 debut, most UFC shows had been doing in the 800,000 range. The Ronda Rousey-Miesha Tate Ultimate Fighter debut, a two-hour special which followed the live show, did 762,000 viewers and was FS 1's second highest rated show of the week, trailing only Pac-12 football, which also did in the 825,000 viewers. The most recent Golden Boy promotions live boxing show against Raw did 50,000 viewers, for a comparison.
While a far weaker main event when it comes to name value, a comparison is that back in March, a Fuel show headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann did 485,000 viewers. The notable comparison is that Fuel was in 36 million homes at the time while FS 1 is in 89 million homes.
The scorecard for the seven straight hours of UFC fights saw the prelims from 5-7 p.m. do 220,000 viewers, the main show was from 7-10 p.m. and TUF followed at 8 p.m.
While tried to put a positive spin on the numbers, saying they won their time slot in the key demos. The higher rated Ultimate Fighter was fifth in Males 18-49 with an 0.81 in the demo, seventh in overall 18-49 at 0.52 and seventh in Males 18-34 at 0.74. Viewership of Ultimate Fighter was 71.1% male in the 18-34 age group and 84.5% Male from 35-49. In other words, adding female fighters and female coaches garnered virtually no additional interest among women, particularly over the age of 35. That may also be because it was advertised almost exclusively on shows that hit males, and Im not sure doing ads on womens programming would have been effective for this show. But unlike Rouseys last fight, where there was an increase in the womens audience (not a huge increase, but enough that if you looked at it youd see it, as opposed to Gina Caranos big fights where the different audience couldnt be missed), this show was even more than the usual 70% male audience of UFC programming.
A lot of that is also the station as virtually everyone watching UFC on FS 1 are fans who are aware searching for it as opposed to a base regular audience on a station. Whats lost from FX is women viewers and casual station viewers.
As far as the station was concerned, TUF was a big success because their goal is beating ESPN. In the overall 18-34 demo, TUF actually beat the combination of both Major League Baseball and the U.S. Open tennis on ESPN and ESPN 2. They fell just shy of beating both ESPNs combined in overall 18-49 because of the non-existent women over 35 audience. But it did beat them combined in Males 18-34 and 18-49.
But for UFC, it was lower than any season opener of Ultimate Fighter. The previous low open was season 16 on FX, with Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin as coaches. It opened at 947,000 viewers on a tougher to draw Friday night and declined from there.
The numbers make it clear the reality is UFC is not going to be getting viewership numbers near what they got on FX or Spike until FS 1 is more established, plus its also in nine percent viewer homes. How long that will take cant be predicted. What that means to PPV numbers when the company has, barring injuries, its best four month period in years coming up, is impossible to predict.
One of the big problems with the Wednesday night live shows is, unlike Spike, which has a staggered feed so viewers on the West Coast would watch on tape delay, but get it in prime time, FS 1 runs everything live. For a sport that is heavily skewed to the West Coast, it meant Fight Night, airing an hour earlier than it usually will, aired 4-7 p.m. on the West Coast, so people coming home from work, unless they used a DVR (which for live sports is something a relatively small percentage of viewers do), they were going to miss half or more if they got off work at 5 p.m. and had to commute home. Theyd also miss the prelims.
It hurt having non-staggered for the Saturday live fights on FX, but while it hurts the numbers going live on the West Coast, its not nearly the issue on a Saturday. In addition, Ultimate Fighter will air at 7 p.m. on the West Coast instead of 10 p.m., as it did on Spike and FX.
But even accounting for the station, the decline from 8/28 to 9/4 when it came to the viewing audience on the same station was shocking. It was a clear sign three shows in eight days is more than much of the audience will watch. Teixeira vs. Bader wasnt a blockbuster main event, but it was solid by usual Fight Night standards. While the undercard was filled with a lot of Brazilians who American fans dont know, the three-strong main card was deeper than the vast majority of the previous Fight Night shows.
The show dragged during the prelims, with several boring matches. But the main card was really good.
Ali Bagautinov, a short Russian who won the 2012 world sambo championship, looked explosive when it came to power in finishing Brazils Marcos Vinicius in his UFC debut. Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng was a fun ground clinic of reverses and blocks that got fight of the night. Piotr Hallman shocked the crowd with a submission win.
The top three fights were similar, as not only did the favorites win, but did so quickly by knockout, all looking impressive in the process.
Joseph Benavidez beat Jussier Formiga da Silva in a battle of top flyweights. Ronaldo Jacare Souza beat Yushin Okami in a battle of top ranked middleweights. And Teixeira over Bader.
Benavidez is likely to face Demetrious Johnson in the next flyweight title fight. Benavidez is the clear top contender but in their first meeting which decided the first champion, Benavidez seemed to have no answers for Johnsons speed and wrestling, and has not been aggressive about asking for a rematch up to this point, at least until now.
Teixeira has already been announced as facing the winner of the 9/21 Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson fight for the light heavyweight title. And Souza made a huge impression, to the point where its he and Vitor Belfort as the two most likely next in line for the Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva middleweight title match winner.
Teixera, a former training partner of Chuck Liddell, who Liddell has been pushing to get a shot at Jones, scored an impressive knockout over Bader, but was in trouble seconds before the knockout.
The live show at Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil drew an announced 5,126 fans total. It was the second time at the arena, which drew 16,642 for the debut show in 2012 headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin. Granted, its a weaker main event and a Wednesday night, but thats a huge drop-off for a Brazilian market that seemed to be on fire not all that long ago. Those who were there were super responsive like a usual Brazilian crowd, at least for the good matches.
Just a few weeks into the move to FS 1, its clear UFC is a strong building block for the network, but for UFC, far fewer viewers are being exposed to the product on television except on the four FOX nights. And for all the clamoring by hardcore fans and some reporters about Spikes policy of airing it on a three hour West Coast delay so the shows are in prime time, its clear not doing so here is my satisfy the few but hurts with the many.
The bonuses, all $50,000, were Natal vs. Troeng for best fight, Teixeira for best knockout and Hallman for best submission.
It was down 35 percent from the 824,000 the prior Wednesday. Aside from the crazy number for the FS 1 debut, most UFC shows had been doing in the 800,000 range. The Ronda Rousey-Miesha Tate Ultimate Fighter debut, a two-hour special which followed the live show, did 762,000 viewers and was FS 1's second highest rated show of the week, trailing only Pac-12 football, which also did in the 825,000 viewers. The most recent Golden Boy promotions live boxing show against Raw did 50,000 viewers, for a comparison.
While a far weaker main event when it comes to name value, a comparison is that back in March, a Fuel show headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann did 485,000 viewers. The notable comparison is that Fuel was in 36 million homes at the time while FS 1 is in 89 million homes.
The scorecard for the seven straight hours of UFC fights saw the prelims from 5-7 p.m. do 220,000 viewers, the main show was from 7-10 p.m. and TUF followed at 8 p.m.
While tried to put a positive spin on the numbers, saying they won their time slot in the key demos. The higher rated Ultimate Fighter was fifth in Males 18-49 with an 0.81 in the demo, seventh in overall 18-49 at 0.52 and seventh in Males 18-34 at 0.74. Viewership of Ultimate Fighter was 71.1% male in the 18-34 age group and 84.5% Male from 35-49. In other words, adding female fighters and female coaches garnered virtually no additional interest among women, particularly over the age of 35. That may also be because it was advertised almost exclusively on shows that hit males, and Im not sure doing ads on womens programming would have been effective for this show. But unlike Rouseys last fight, where there was an increase in the womens audience (not a huge increase, but enough that if you looked at it youd see it, as opposed to Gina Caranos big fights where the different audience couldnt be missed), this show was even more than the usual 70% male audience of UFC programming.
A lot of that is also the station as virtually everyone watching UFC on FS 1 are fans who are aware searching for it as opposed to a base regular audience on a station. Whats lost from FX is women viewers and casual station viewers.
As far as the station was concerned, TUF was a big success because their goal is beating ESPN. In the overall 18-34 demo, TUF actually beat the combination of both Major League Baseball and the U.S. Open tennis on ESPN and ESPN 2. They fell just shy of beating both ESPNs combined in overall 18-49 because of the non-existent women over 35 audience. But it did beat them combined in Males 18-34 and 18-49.
But for UFC, it was lower than any season opener of Ultimate Fighter. The previous low open was season 16 on FX, with Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin as coaches. It opened at 947,000 viewers on a tougher to draw Friday night and declined from there.
The numbers make it clear the reality is UFC is not going to be getting viewership numbers near what they got on FX or Spike until FS 1 is more established, plus its also in nine percent viewer homes. How long that will take cant be predicted. What that means to PPV numbers when the company has, barring injuries, its best four month period in years coming up, is impossible to predict.
One of the big problems with the Wednesday night live shows is, unlike Spike, which has a staggered feed so viewers on the West Coast would watch on tape delay, but get it in prime time, FS 1 runs everything live. For a sport that is heavily skewed to the West Coast, it meant Fight Night, airing an hour earlier than it usually will, aired 4-7 p.m. on the West Coast, so people coming home from work, unless they used a DVR (which for live sports is something a relatively small percentage of viewers do), they were going to miss half or more if they got off work at 5 p.m. and had to commute home. Theyd also miss the prelims.
It hurt having non-staggered for the Saturday live fights on FX, but while it hurts the numbers going live on the West Coast, its not nearly the issue on a Saturday. In addition, Ultimate Fighter will air at 7 p.m. on the West Coast instead of 10 p.m., as it did on Spike and FX.
But even accounting for the station, the decline from 8/28 to 9/4 when it came to the viewing audience on the same station was shocking. It was a clear sign three shows in eight days is more than much of the audience will watch. Teixeira vs. Bader wasnt a blockbuster main event, but it was solid by usual Fight Night standards. While the undercard was filled with a lot of Brazilians who American fans dont know, the three-strong main card was deeper than the vast majority of the previous Fight Night shows.
The show dragged during the prelims, with several boring matches. But the main card was really good.
Ali Bagautinov, a short Russian who won the 2012 world sambo championship, looked explosive when it came to power in finishing Brazils Marcos Vinicius in his UFC debut. Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng was a fun ground clinic of reverses and blocks that got fight of the night. Piotr Hallman shocked the crowd with a submission win.
The top three fights were similar, as not only did the favorites win, but did so quickly by knockout, all looking impressive in the process.
Joseph Benavidez beat Jussier Formiga da Silva in a battle of top flyweights. Ronaldo Jacare Souza beat Yushin Okami in a battle of top ranked middleweights. And Teixeira over Bader.
Benavidez is likely to face Demetrious Johnson in the next flyweight title fight. Benavidez is the clear top contender but in their first meeting which decided the first champion, Benavidez seemed to have no answers for Johnsons speed and wrestling, and has not been aggressive about asking for a rematch up to this point, at least until now.
Teixeira has already been announced as facing the winner of the 9/21 Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson fight for the light heavyweight title. And Souza made a huge impression, to the point where its he and Vitor Belfort as the two most likely next in line for the Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva middleweight title match winner.
Teixera, a former training partner of Chuck Liddell, who Liddell has been pushing to get a shot at Jones, scored an impressive knockout over Bader, but was in trouble seconds before the knockout.
The live show at Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil drew an announced 5,126 fans total. It was the second time at the arena, which drew 16,642 for the debut show in 2012 headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin. Granted, its a weaker main event and a Wednesday night, but thats a huge drop-off for a Brazilian market that seemed to be on fire not all that long ago. Those who were there were super responsive like a usual Brazilian crowd, at least for the good matches.
Just a few weeks into the move to FS 1, its clear UFC is a strong building block for the network, but for UFC, far fewer viewers are being exposed to the product on television except on the four FOX nights. And for all the clamoring by hardcore fans and some reporters about Spikes policy of airing it on a three hour West Coast delay so the shows are in prime time, its clear not doing so here is my satisfy the few but hurts with the many.
The bonuses, all $50,000, were Natal vs. Troeng for best fight, Teixeira for best knockout and Hallman for best submission.
dream
Member
UFC fighter Matt Grice at press time remains in critical condition following brain surgery on 9/8 stemming from being rear-ended while at a red light in Shawnee, OK, not far from Oklahoma City.
Grice was rushed to emergency brain surgery due to bleeding on the brain, at the University of Oklahoma Presbyterian hospital and was listed in very serious condition. He was reported to have suffered a stroke after surgery. He was showing brain activity with his eyes showing movement and dilation.
The swelling on his brain went down on Monday night and CT scans were done on Tuesday which came back good.
Grice, 32, a father of two daughters has been working a regular job as an Oklahoma City police officer for the past five years in addition to fighting in the UFCs featherweight division. He is also considered one of the greatest high school wrestlers ever to come out of the state of Oklahoma.
Grice is best known in the UFC for his most recent fight, a 2/23 split decision loss to Dennis Bermudez on the Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche undercard in Anaheim. Its considered one of the best fights of 2013, with Grice showing amazing heart and composure in surviving while under serious fire and making a comeback.
According to the Oklahoma Highway patrol report on the accident, Grice, who was off duty, was driving his Jeep in Shawnee, when he was hit from behind by a van driven by 53-year-old Michael Monroe of Oklahoma City. Monroe said he was distracted by a passenger in the van. Monroe wasnt hurt. His two passengers were an eight-year-old and an 11-year-old. The younger boy was hospitalized with a head injury but was in good condition. The older boy was not hurt.
Grices Jeep hit another Jeep in front of him after being driven forward. The driver of that Jeep was not injured. A 21-year-old passenger was taken to a local hospital in Shawnee with a neck injury, but was later released.
Grice was a four-time high school state champion, meaning he won a state wrestling championship as a freshman in 1997, which in a state like Oklahoma, is amazing. In 1998, 1999 and 2000, he was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the state, something that no other Oklahoma high school wrestler, from Kenny Monday to Jack Brisco to Danny Hodge, ever achieved.
He was one of the most highly recruited wrestlers in the country coming out of high school, and chose to attend the University of Oklahoma. But he struggled, suffering a series of injuries.
He moved to MMA in 2005, and after winning nine fights in a row, was signed by UFC in 2007 to compete as a lightweight. But he was cut in 2009 after going 1-3. He went on another win streak, and was brought back in 2011 for a second run as a featherweight.
He was 1-2 on this run, with the highlight being his fight with Bermudez. He had been training for a fight with Jeremy Larsen on 10/19 in Houston.
Chael Sonnen vs. Rashad Evans, Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem and Evan Dunham vs. Donald Cerrone have been announced for the 11/16 show in Las Vegas underneath Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks. Sonnen-Evans should have more interest than Sonnen vs. Phil Davis would have had. It means Sonnen is staying at 205 for at least another fight. Evans has the tools to win, being younger, better striker and pretty close on the wrestling. Evans should be good enough to where Sonnen wont be able to get him down, and he should be too fast standing. For Sonnen, its kind of a no lose situation in the sense that as long as Evans doesnt cream him, hes still got the move to 185 and Wanderlei Silva after that fight. If he wins, thats still the best direction for him. It should do huge business, as they are billing it as the 20th anniversary show. They really need to set up a lot of special things around the show, between activities, and something to do with history such as bringing stars of the past back to use that to help make the event feel special. A 20th anniversary documentary is coming out in conjunction with the show (Im going to be in a bad mood over that since I was invited to be part of it and due to a series of miscommunication and timing issues it never happened) that Fox is putting together.
You have no idea how many e-mails Ive gotten, from all over the world, over the past week, including U.S., U.K., Puerto Rico and Australia all bringing up how much interest in UFC has fallen among themselves and their social groups. It started with a web site article on the ticket sales for the 10/26 show in Manchester headlined by Michael Bisping. The U.K. has its issues with the TV being on a pay tier and the shows airing in the middle of the night, making it difficult to draw anything but the super hardcore fan. But even outside, the amount of shows is cited in almost every letter, how friends can no longer keep up, and have given up trying. Its weird because there is boxing multiple times a week on TV and very few watch any but the biggest fights. The general feeling, as the numbers of the big shows have shown, is people still have interest in the big shows, but, as numbers show, are more inclined than ever to skip anything but what they perceive as the biggest shows.
The reason Ronda Rousey thought Miesha Tate was replacing her as coach on Ultimate Fighter is because two days before the start of the season, there was something that happened behind the scenes. Rouseys lawyer and Dana White got into a big argument regarding the show. I dont know the details, other than White threatened to pull her from the show in the argument. Keep in mind that White already at that point knew that Cat Zingano was out and Miesha Tate was in, but they were keeping it a secret. My impression is the argument was over real things, but because the argument happened, White thought they could use the fact Rousey knew the situation wasnt good to set her up on camera. When Tate came out, which was filmed, she was told to say she was there as a coach, with the idea Rousey would think it was to replace her against Zingano, with the idea of getting a big reaction. Tate was told she could not say anything more than she was there to coach a team and for Ronda to talk to Dana White. She came in and Rousey started laughing at first and shook her hand, figuring she might be in as an assistant for Zingano and build up another fight down the line. Then Tate told Rousey she was there to coach, and Rousey freaked out and stormed off, as they expected. White then told her that Zingano was hurt and Tate was coaching against her, not taking her spot.
White said that he and Lorenzo Fertitta had lunch recently with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, and that Cruz hoped to be able to fight after two knee reconstructive surgeries, by early 2014. He also intimated that if Cruz isnt ready by then, they may have to make a move (ie: making the interim title held by Renan Barao the real title). Cruz last fought on October 1, 2011, retaining his title via five round decision over Demetrious Johnson in Washington, DC.
fucking ridiculous.
Fox Sports President Erik Shanks called up Dana White on 8/18, after the Sonnen vs. Shogun show, and told him, Youve accomplished great things, but everything youve accomplished to date pales in comparison to what you did last night.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has raised the threshold on what is a marijuana positive by triple. Previously, the threshold was 50 ng/ml and now its 150 ng/ml. This came after UFCs Marc Ratner, who was for years the Executive Director of the commission, spoke before the commission saying that times have changed in society and there should be more lenience toward marijuana usage. Essentially, you would have to have smoked pot probably the day before or later to fail now, as opposed to maybe eight days or so with the old threshold, although every body is different. Whether marijuana is performance enhancing or not, it being used eight days earlier isnt going to help you significantly in a fight. It becomes a question regarding legality and rules of the sport.
ESPN Magazine did a secret poll of MMA fighters, most in the UFC, asking a few questions. When asked what percentage of fighters were using PEDs, the average percentage number of the fighters when it came to their belief was 51%. Nobody knows the number, other than its a lot that do and a lot that dont. Thats why the justification that you cant fight without them, you cant recover from training without them, athletes cant compete at that level without them is bullshit and a crutch used by guys to justify being on them. When fighters were asked who the best fighter in the world was, 41% said GSP, 24% said Jon Jones and 21% said Anderson Silva. 47% believed that abstaining from sex before a fight makes them a better fighter. 53% believed that was garbage. The average amount of pounds a fighter said that he cut before a fight was 17. 27% of fighters have said theyve at one time been in a fight where their opponent has gone to the bathroom in their shorts. When asked if Fallon Fox (one of a few transgender fighters but the only one known publicly) should be allowed to fight in the UFC womens division, 4% felt she should be allowed. Of those asked, the average annual claimed income from fighting was $70,300.
As it turns out, Dana White was correct when he said Bjorn Rebney wasnt going to allow Ben Askren to just sign with UFC. Rebney said that he was misquoted and never said he would let Askren go. He said he wouldnt stand in the way of Askren getting an offer and dragging things out. He said he would let UFC make Askren an offer. They would then have the right to match the terms. UFC in that situation can make a huge guarantee like they did with Hector Lombard, that with the benefit of hindsight, in that specific situation it bit them in the ass because Lombard couldnt work his way up to a title match as they expected after hed destroyed everyone in Bellator. So, instead, they could do what they did with Eddie Alvarez, and offer him huge money for one fight no matter what, and after that, if he could headline PPVs hed get huge money, but his guarantee after his bonuses would be very good, but not off the charts. But that got all tied up because of the court case of what matching terms really are.
Megumi Fujiis retirement fight on 10/5 in Tokyo will be against Jessica Aguilar, who beat her in a Bellator fight.
Grice was rushed to emergency brain surgery due to bleeding on the brain, at the University of Oklahoma Presbyterian hospital and was listed in very serious condition. He was reported to have suffered a stroke after surgery. He was showing brain activity with his eyes showing movement and dilation.
The swelling on his brain went down on Monday night and CT scans were done on Tuesday which came back good.
Grice, 32, a father of two daughters has been working a regular job as an Oklahoma City police officer for the past five years in addition to fighting in the UFCs featherweight division. He is also considered one of the greatest high school wrestlers ever to come out of the state of Oklahoma.
Grice is best known in the UFC for his most recent fight, a 2/23 split decision loss to Dennis Bermudez on the Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche undercard in Anaheim. Its considered one of the best fights of 2013, with Grice showing amazing heart and composure in surviving while under serious fire and making a comeback.
According to the Oklahoma Highway patrol report on the accident, Grice, who was off duty, was driving his Jeep in Shawnee, when he was hit from behind by a van driven by 53-year-old Michael Monroe of Oklahoma City. Monroe said he was distracted by a passenger in the van. Monroe wasnt hurt. His two passengers were an eight-year-old and an 11-year-old. The younger boy was hospitalized with a head injury but was in good condition. The older boy was not hurt.
Grices Jeep hit another Jeep in front of him after being driven forward. The driver of that Jeep was not injured. A 21-year-old passenger was taken to a local hospital in Shawnee with a neck injury, but was later released.
Grice was a four-time high school state champion, meaning he won a state wrestling championship as a freshman in 1997, which in a state like Oklahoma, is amazing. In 1998, 1999 and 2000, he was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the state, something that no other Oklahoma high school wrestler, from Kenny Monday to Jack Brisco to Danny Hodge, ever achieved.
He was one of the most highly recruited wrestlers in the country coming out of high school, and chose to attend the University of Oklahoma. But he struggled, suffering a series of injuries.
He moved to MMA in 2005, and after winning nine fights in a row, was signed by UFC in 2007 to compete as a lightweight. But he was cut in 2009 after going 1-3. He went on another win streak, and was brought back in 2011 for a second run as a featherweight.
He was 1-2 on this run, with the highlight being his fight with Bermudez. He had been training for a fight with Jeremy Larsen on 10/19 in Houston.
Chael Sonnen vs. Rashad Evans, Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem and Evan Dunham vs. Donald Cerrone have been announced for the 11/16 show in Las Vegas underneath Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks. Sonnen-Evans should have more interest than Sonnen vs. Phil Davis would have had. It means Sonnen is staying at 205 for at least another fight. Evans has the tools to win, being younger, better striker and pretty close on the wrestling. Evans should be good enough to where Sonnen wont be able to get him down, and he should be too fast standing. For Sonnen, its kind of a no lose situation in the sense that as long as Evans doesnt cream him, hes still got the move to 185 and Wanderlei Silva after that fight. If he wins, thats still the best direction for him. It should do huge business, as they are billing it as the 20th anniversary show. They really need to set up a lot of special things around the show, between activities, and something to do with history such as bringing stars of the past back to use that to help make the event feel special. A 20th anniversary documentary is coming out in conjunction with the show (Im going to be in a bad mood over that since I was invited to be part of it and due to a series of miscommunication and timing issues it never happened) that Fox is putting together.
You have no idea how many e-mails Ive gotten, from all over the world, over the past week, including U.S., U.K., Puerto Rico and Australia all bringing up how much interest in UFC has fallen among themselves and their social groups. It started with a web site article on the ticket sales for the 10/26 show in Manchester headlined by Michael Bisping. The U.K. has its issues with the TV being on a pay tier and the shows airing in the middle of the night, making it difficult to draw anything but the super hardcore fan. But even outside, the amount of shows is cited in almost every letter, how friends can no longer keep up, and have given up trying. Its weird because there is boxing multiple times a week on TV and very few watch any but the biggest fights. The general feeling, as the numbers of the big shows have shown, is people still have interest in the big shows, but, as numbers show, are more inclined than ever to skip anything but what they perceive as the biggest shows.
The reason Ronda Rousey thought Miesha Tate was replacing her as coach on Ultimate Fighter is because two days before the start of the season, there was something that happened behind the scenes. Rouseys lawyer and Dana White got into a big argument regarding the show. I dont know the details, other than White threatened to pull her from the show in the argument. Keep in mind that White already at that point knew that Cat Zingano was out and Miesha Tate was in, but they were keeping it a secret. My impression is the argument was over real things, but because the argument happened, White thought they could use the fact Rousey knew the situation wasnt good to set her up on camera. When Tate came out, which was filmed, she was told to say she was there as a coach, with the idea Rousey would think it was to replace her against Zingano, with the idea of getting a big reaction. Tate was told she could not say anything more than she was there to coach a team and for Ronda to talk to Dana White. She came in and Rousey started laughing at first and shook her hand, figuring she might be in as an assistant for Zingano and build up another fight down the line. Then Tate told Rousey she was there to coach, and Rousey freaked out and stormed off, as they expected. White then told her that Zingano was hurt and Tate was coaching against her, not taking her spot.
White said that he and Lorenzo Fertitta had lunch recently with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, and that Cruz hoped to be able to fight after two knee reconstructive surgeries, by early 2014. He also intimated that if Cruz isnt ready by then, they may have to make a move (ie: making the interim title held by Renan Barao the real title). Cruz last fought on October 1, 2011, retaining his title via five round decision over Demetrious Johnson in Washington, DC.
fucking ridiculous.
Fox Sports President Erik Shanks called up Dana White on 8/18, after the Sonnen vs. Shogun show, and told him, Youve accomplished great things, but everything youve accomplished to date pales in comparison to what you did last night.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has raised the threshold on what is a marijuana positive by triple. Previously, the threshold was 50 ng/ml and now its 150 ng/ml. This came after UFCs Marc Ratner, who was for years the Executive Director of the commission, spoke before the commission saying that times have changed in society and there should be more lenience toward marijuana usage. Essentially, you would have to have smoked pot probably the day before or later to fail now, as opposed to maybe eight days or so with the old threshold, although every body is different. Whether marijuana is performance enhancing or not, it being used eight days earlier isnt going to help you significantly in a fight. It becomes a question regarding legality and rules of the sport.
ESPN Magazine did a secret poll of MMA fighters, most in the UFC, asking a few questions. When asked what percentage of fighters were using PEDs, the average percentage number of the fighters when it came to their belief was 51%. Nobody knows the number, other than its a lot that do and a lot that dont. Thats why the justification that you cant fight without them, you cant recover from training without them, athletes cant compete at that level without them is bullshit and a crutch used by guys to justify being on them. When fighters were asked who the best fighter in the world was, 41% said GSP, 24% said Jon Jones and 21% said Anderson Silva. 47% believed that abstaining from sex before a fight makes them a better fighter. 53% believed that was garbage. The average amount of pounds a fighter said that he cut before a fight was 17. 27% of fighters have said theyve at one time been in a fight where their opponent has gone to the bathroom in their shorts. When asked if Fallon Fox (one of a few transgender fighters but the only one known publicly) should be allowed to fight in the UFC womens division, 4% felt she should be allowed. Of those asked, the average annual claimed income from fighting was $70,300.
As it turns out, Dana White was correct when he said Bjorn Rebney wasnt going to allow Ben Askren to just sign with UFC. Rebney said that he was misquoted and never said he would let Askren go. He said he wouldnt stand in the way of Askren getting an offer and dragging things out. He said he would let UFC make Askren an offer. They would then have the right to match the terms. UFC in that situation can make a huge guarantee like they did with Hector Lombard, that with the benefit of hindsight, in that specific situation it bit them in the ass because Lombard couldnt work his way up to a title match as they expected after hed destroyed everyone in Bellator. So, instead, they could do what they did with Eddie Alvarez, and offer him huge money for one fight no matter what, and after that, if he could headline PPVs hed get huge money, but his guarantee after his bonuses would be very good, but not off the charts. But that got all tied up because of the court case of what matching terms really are.
Megumi Fujiis retirement fight on 10/5 in Tokyo will be against Jessica Aguilar, who beat her in a Bellator fight.
Maklershed
Member
Just watched UFC Tonight. Either Dana just cooked up the the most obvious lie ever or BJ Penn is an idiot.
Dana: "BJ called me up out of the blue and said he wants to fight Ben Henderson. I said Ben Henderson? Why would you want to fight him? And he told me he thinks if he beats Ben Henderson I'd give him the fight he really wants .. Frankie Edgar. And then if he wins that maybe he gets Pettis. This kid is fucking fired up. He's so fired up he made me fired up!"
Rrrrrright. Why would BJ ask to fight a guy so he could get to a guy in a lower division (he doesn't fight in) to ultimately get at a champion in his division? How the fuck does that make any sense. I'm 99% sure BJ wants Hendo and then to springboard to Pettis. Why would he care about Edgar? To "clear the stain from his soul" like Hendo with Pettis? Sure.
Dana: "BJ called me up out of the blue and said he wants to fight Ben Henderson. I said Ben Henderson? Why would you want to fight him? And he told me he thinks if he beats Ben Henderson I'd give him the fight he really wants .. Frankie Edgar. And then if he wins that maybe he gets Pettis. This kid is fucking fired up. He's so fired up he made me fired up!"
Rrrrrright. Why would BJ ask to fight a guy so he could get to a guy in a lower division (he doesn't fight in) to ultimately get at a champion in his division? How the fuck does that make any sense. I'm 99% sure BJ wants Hendo and then to springboard to Pettis. Why would he care about Edgar? To "clear the stain from his soul" like Hendo with Pettis? Sure.
If you want house drama watch bad girls club IMO.