Affliction DOWN!

I was planning to do a photo blog tonight about my day at the Orange County Fair alas I haven't had the chance to upload my photos to the computer yet.

Instead, we'll talk about one of the happiest days in Dana White's life.

Affliction as a fight promoting company is dead. Not a big shock. I think we all saw it coming at one point or another but I think we also all thought they'd manage to get one more show out before the end. Josh Barnett and his love of being muscly ruined that one, didn't it?

So, with Barnett out, apparently Affliction decided they had no marketable Main Event available to save their show - a fair estimation in my point of view as they had presented no potential opponents that I'd pay to see Fedor against. Now, granted, I wasn't going to pay to see Barnett against Fedor either but...

Once again, there's a vacuum in MMA as Dream, Strike Force, and the UFC will scamper to pick up the pieces - not that there's a lot of pieces worth picking up. Anyone not named Fedor could pretty much have been had at any time.

One more obstacle is out of the way for that Fedor vs Brock match.

But will it be enough?

Oh, and don't get me started on the Tito Ortiz stuff!

Here Comes The Pain

After a week of Brock Lesnar being vilified by almost every sportswriter in the country, anyone actually get some perspective on it yet?

No?

I'm guessing not since I'm still seeing people complaining about his "post-fight antics" and the like.

Pro wrestling/MMA journalist Dave Meltzer had this to say - the best column I've seen so far on the situation...

There have been 61 fighters in Ultimate Fighting Championship history who were pro wrestlers at one point or another. There are nine on the current UFC roster. Of the six fighters in the UFC Hall of Fame, three – Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Mark Coleman – dabbled in wrestling.

But UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is the only one vilified for it.

...

This is not a defense of anything he did after the fight. But the reaction to Lesnar’s postfight comments and his flipping the bird at fans is just the latest example of a double standard Lesnar has faced in his MMA career.

What if the Lesnar and Dan Henderson fights and postfights on Saturday night were transposed? If Lesnar had thrown that totally legal but devastating second blow on an already knocked-out foe – and remarked in his interview that he was doing it to shut Mir’s mouth – people would have spent the past week demanding that he be banned from the sport. And would Henderson have gotten nearly Lesnar’s heat if he had pulled the same postfight antics as Lesnar?

You want to deny there’s a double standard here?

...

Of all the pro wrestlers who have come into the sport, only two – Lesnar and non-UFC fighter Bobby Lashley – have ever been disrespected by fellow fighters for being a pro wrestler. In Lesnar’s four UFC fights, only one opponent didn’t throw some kind of variation on “It’s not the WWE,” at him before the fight. In hyping the match, Mir implied Lesnar was strong but clueless when it came to fighting. Heath Herring and his camp had complained behind the scenes to company officials that it was a joke he was even put in the ring with a fake pro wrestler, and made public comments about how the punches were going to be real.

The only opponent who didn’t disrespect Lesnar before the fight was Randy Couture. The only opponent Lesnar didn’t trash talk afterward was Couture. Coincidence?

And Mir probably won’t be the last, given the fact that his potential next opponent, Shane Carwin, already has played the pro-wrestling card in starting the hype.

“We have no scripts in this port, no predetermined earning amount and no predetermined outcomes,” Carwin said.

...

Lesnar never asked to become the biggest villain the sport has ever seen, but he’s also smart enough and experienced enough at it that he knows it’s not all a bad thing. While running down Bud Light – UFC’s leading sponsor – was not the best of judgment, he’s turned out to be one of the greatest things for building the popularity of the sport.

Just as tennis had John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, and boxing had Muhammad Ali, and football has Terrell Owens, it is good for the sport to have a great villain. You don’t want a sport where everyone is like him; but when push comes to shove, Lesnar is great for the sport, just as St. Pierre is in a very different way.

...

The history of fights which have garnered the most interest and drawn the most money in UFC history, matches built by inflammatory interviews fashioned out of pro wrestling, are what made the sport and saved the sport. The examples are endless – from Tito Ortiz’s grudge with Ken Shamrock, to Couture spanking Ortiz at the end of their match, to Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans nearly coming to blows in the crowd. It’s a lesson very much worth examining for anyone arguing about what is good or bad for the future of the sport.

That’s not even a bad thing. But it’s simply accepting the truth of what all of this is, as opposed to living in a world of pretend – and then complaining about somebody because he used to be a pro wrestler.

One Step Closer

I know there's been a surplus of MMA stuff on here this week but honestly, what else am I going to talk about? The Home Run Derby? (didn't see it!)

But I did see this article that made me think I am one step closer to my MMA dream come true of Mirko Cro Cop vs Brock Lesnar in Japan! The linked article above basically has Dana White saying that "they" will have to kill him to keep the UFC out of Japan. Who are "they" in this instance?

The "dirty, sneaky, bad guys in Japan" trying to keep the UFC out of the country.

Dana White - How To Win Friends And Influence People

So, this week, Dana's been pissed at Brock, Dan Henderson, Electronic Arts, and now... basically, the Yakuza. And yes, one of those things are not like the others in a very big way... unless you think EA Sports might conspire to have Dana murdered on the streets.

It's in the game, you know?

Usually, I'm a big fan of Dana's big talking attitude but on this one... well, I just might keep my mouth shut and not try to antagonize the Yakuza before trying to break into the Japanese fight market.

Just a suggestion!

Late night

Had a wonky 12-9 Sunday shift today for a meeting... which, of course, ran long and I didn't get home til almost 10:30. Had dinner and now it's time for sleep.

But I can't forget you loyal YMB,B! readers, can I?

In honor of Brock's awesomeness last night at UFC 100, check this out...

Quick UFC recap

Fun show. Not a great show by any stretch of the imagination but a fun show.

Like the result or not, the Hendo KO was top notch and I was legit concerned for Bisping for a while there.

Like the result or not (and I don't), you've gotta be impressed by yet another dominant GSP performance. Alves survived five rounds... which is about all I can give him. All throughout the fight, I just couldn't figure out who in the world would be next if GSP wins and to find out it's Mike Swick... I like Mike Swick but I can't imagine he has anything more than a puncher's chance against GSP. The postmatch promo makes me wonder if my Silva/GSP "dream match" has a chance of going down after all.

Like the result or not, Brock was probably the most entertaining fighter of the night. Just absolutely brutal work on the ground leading to the stoppage but the best part of it all was the post-fight promo. The man is a natural heel who realizes how much money there is in it just like Tito did. Now all we need is for Dana to find a face to make the box office blow up.

Like I said, a fun show... but next month's looks just as fun with Penn/Florian [two of my favs] and Silva/Forrest [another two of my favs.] For the first time in a long, long while, the UFC has managed to put together back to back shows that I have great interest in seeing.

Return Of Top Five Friday: Top Five Favorite MMA Fighters

It's the "long-awaited" return of Top Five Friday tonight here at the B-Spot as I celebrate the happening that is UFC 100 with a MMA-themed list...

My Top Five Favorite MMA Fighters!

5. Wanderlei Silva

One of the most dangerous strikers in MMA, the "Axe Murderer" takes the #5 spot in this one. He may not be as dangerous as he once was as he seems to have lost a bit in the move from Pride to the UFC [you can speculate all you want as to why] but he's still one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. The man will throw down from Minute One and not stop until someone is laid out. I have to admit though, I DO miss the head kicks and stomps from Pride Silva.

4. Brock Lesnar

The current UFC World Heavyweight Champion

come a long way from his days throwing around

the WWE's finest. One of my favorite things about

Brock in MMA is that the so-called "purists"

absolutely despise him being there, let alone him

being the champ. It's a beautiful thing to see. To

me, the only thing that would be better is if Brock

used his natural arrogance to the fullest and

embraced his pro wrestling roots while running

down the UFC guys as being "not as tough" as the

WWE folks. It'd make for amazing television as

fighter after fighter stepped up to "protect the

honor of MMA." Vince McMahon is obviously a

huge influence on Dana White - you'd think Dana

would pick up on some of the storyline aspects of

the biz too.

3. BJ Penn

This is a weird one for me because I have a really difficult time explaining why I like BJ Penn so much. There's just something about a guy who talks a ton of trash about people who looks like there's no fucking way he can back it up inside a cage... and then goes in there and does it. Plus, you toss in things like licking the blood off his fists after a fight and well... it's just kinda cool. I'm still pissed he lost to GSP. Fucking Frenchy.

2. Mirko Cro Cop

Fuck yes! CroCop is coming back to the UFC for more! I was so disappointed when I thought he was jumping back to Japan because ever since I stumbled upon MMA, Cro Cop has been one of my favorites. From the Pro Wrestler Hunter gimmick to the "the right leg sends them to the hospital, the left to the morgue" quote - this man oozes badassedness. Plus, he's in Croatian Special Forces so he really could fuck up someone's world. I still think Brock vs Cro Cop in Japan would be a golden ticket for the UFC to do whatever the fuck they want in the Land of the Rising Sun.

And my #1 favorite fighter in MMA...

ANDERSON SILVA

I still remember the first time I saw Anderson Silva fight in Pride. He seemed... interesting. There was nothing amazing about him but I found the spider guard to be pretty impressive as no one else was able to do something like it. When he jumped to UFC, I wasn't excited because all I could remember was the guard. Then he took on Chris Leben - who was one of my favorites at the time... and absolutely KEEEEELED HIM DEAD! It was a beatdown of epic proportions that cemented Anderson Silva as a rising star. The two fights with Rich Franklin put him over the top as someone who was potentially MMA's version of Mike Tyson in the late 80s/early 90s - the guy you would pay big money to see because you wanted to see how badly he'd knock someone the fuck out. Sadly, the shine has come off him a bit with a few unimpressive showings but to me, Silva remains the top dog in MMA.

Are You Ready?

Just finished watching the UFC 100 Countdown special

and I'm pretty stoked about this weekend's event. I'm

fairly sure I'm going to drop the cash for it whcih'll make

it the first UFC PPV I've bought since the first Lesnar/Mir

fight.

This is actually the first MMA fight in quite some time that

I'm excited for so here's hoping it's a good one.

Oh, and if the MMA gods are smiling, GSP will get stomped

into oblivion too!

Damn, I'm Good

Sometime during the year, I kinda quit the whole UFC Picks thing since I wasn't getting out to watch most of the PPVs anymore. But damn, after tonight, maybe I should've stuck with it.

Earlier today, when asked my thoughts on a winner for Brock vs Randy, my text message answer was:

"I think Randy will be suffering from cage rust, make a mistake, get caught with a big punch and then get GNPd to a stoppage."

Wow. I basically nailed that one, right?

So, what's next for both the new champion and the former champ?

Brock gets to wait for the winner of Mir and Noguiera in a unification fight. I really like Nog but part of me is rooting for Mir to see the rematch. But after that... hrm. The UFC Heavy division isn't exactly overflowing with top contenders after those four.

Randy? Well, I can't imagine he'll stay at heavy. Unless they sign Fedor, there doesn't seem to be much there for him. Light heavy? Maybe. There'd probably be money in Forrest/Randy, Silva/Randy, Rampage/Randy, maybe even another Chuck/Randy. I'd see that as more likely at this point.

Brock needs to channel that inner heel though. Now's the time. Buyrates could explode with people paying to see who can take the title off the hated champion - it's the Ric Flair Syndrome.

I didn't get to see the rest of the show since I got home from work just in time to see Ken Flo choke out Joe Daddy - a result that pleases me muchly. But the Main Event was a lot of fun and had that "big match" atmosphere.

Is Brock Lesnar once again "The Next Big Thing?"

Time will tell.

Lesnar vs Couture: Let's Get It On!

Hooooo boy.

Dana White sure does know how to make a splash. You've got to wonder just how long he's been holding that in his back pocket. Just when Quinton Jackson had been formally charged and there was a nice-sized black eye on the UFC's rep - BOOM! - Dana puts y'all in check.

So, Randy Couture is officially back in the UFC and is still UFC Heavyweight Champion. And apparently he's back on a multifight deal as Dana says the winner of Randy/Brock will meet the winner of Noguiera/Mir for a unification fight in 2009. Now that's how you stir up interest in your heavy division. And if that wasn't enough, Dana drops the teaser that he wants to do the Fedor fight and as soon as Fedor is clear of contractual obligations to Affliction, they'll try to put it together.

Hoooooo boy.

At first, the Randy/Brock fight seemed a poor choice to me but the more I think about it, the more I start to like it. After his last fight, I saw dollar signs all over Brock Lesnar. The showboating after the win, the crazy near KO at the beginning, the total domination [boring as it was] of a legit heavy contender - all good signs for the UFC. If Brock can improve as much between Herring and Randy as he did between Mir and Herring, this could be an interesting fight. After all, even Randy can't harness the Flux Capacitor and make himself ten years younger. With this long of a layoff, will he have ring rust? If he does, this could get interesting. Randy's whole fight strategy is usually based around getting people down, dirty boxing, and ground-and-pound. I don't think you want to get that close to Brock for any of that so I think it could be a serious style clash for the champ.

And if Brock loses? Well, he's losing his first title fight to Randy Couture. No shame in that. That's an easy rebuild. If he wins? He beat Randy Couture! Oh, and if he beats Randy, you can bet that Dana's praying for Mir to upset Noguiera. Mir/Lesnar 2? I can smell the cash from here.

Dana is predicting that Lesnar/Randy will be the biggest fight in UFC history and do over a million buys. How much of that is promoter hype, I just don't know. But I do think that if Lesnar gets a chance to show his natural personality before the fight - and I mean shoving a mic under his face EVERY possible chance until then - people will want to pay to see him lose. And that's where the money is. The money is in people wanting to pay to see the heels lose - just like in pro wrestling - no matter how many people want to deny it. It worked for Tito. It would work for Josh Koshcheck if he'd embrace his inner dick. It'll work for Brock.

Biggest fight in UFC history? I guess we'll all know soon enough.

F5! F5! F5!

In honor of Brock Lesnar's third MMA match taking place this weekend, I thought some of you might be curious to see what his first MMA fight was like...

Top Five Friday: Google Reader

Fresh off a BIG win in Game 2 of Lakers/Spurs, I can't think of a single thing that I want to write about - especially in Top Five form.

Let's pay a little tribute to the Google Reader section of the site and present:

The Top Five Headlines In My Google Reader News (off to your right) And My Thoughts On Them!

5. FSN to carry "Affliction: Banned" preliminary card
Pretty nice deal for Affliction, as they try to get some eyeballs on their first show. However, with the amount of talent they've got on the show, they really need to get eyeballs on their PPV. There's absolutely no way they make any money on the first show. The goal is to build strong word-of-mouth so that future shows can be less stacked but still draw viewers because of good buzz. It's an interesting plan - probably not one that will work but interesting nonetheless. Oh, and I think the "Banned" name is clever as Affliction has been banned as a clothing sponsor for all EXC and UFC fighters. That's a tough one for them as Affliction has been sponsoring fighters for ages. I'm curious to see the PPV though and depending on price point, I might shell it out - or since it's taking place about twenty minutes from "the crib," maybe I'll go see it in person.

4. Brock Lesnar's UFC fight with Mark Coleman is off
The UFC has been absolutely snakebit recently when it comes to fight scheduling. The London show is cursed to no end as I've never seen so much card juggling as I have with that event. Lesnar losing the high profile fight in his hometown is a bit of a blow but as usual, it comes down to who the replacement will be. Offhand, I can't think of a heavyweight in the UFC that would draw as much interest as Coleman did. I suppose Dana could drag Tank in for Lesnar to slap around but after running down Kimbo and EXC lately, that'd be a tough one to do. Keep an eye on this one because Brock needs something high profile to keep his name in the spotlight.

3. Christian Bale signs on for an entire Terminator trilogy
Talk about being Mr. Franchise. The entire Batman saga on your shoulders and now the future of the Terminator franchise as well? Whew. I hope Mr. Bale's been working out lately. This, of course, is the Terminator series that will actually take place in the future with the human resistance fighting the machines - the story everyone has wanted to see since the very first flick. It could be very, very cool... or it could be Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions levels of suck. I'm one of the few who dug the direction they went with Terminator 3 so I've got my fingers crossed for this series as well. Besides, Bale wouldn't sign on to an entire trilogy unless it looked golden right? Right?

2. Next Spider-Man movie[s?] coming soon
Is anyone really excited about this after seeing Spider-Man 3? Me neither. Next!

1. KERSHAW IS COMING... maybe
The Dodger blogs/boards were abuzz all day today with the news that projected future Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw was pulled from his start in Jacksonville last night after one inning. The early buzz was that he might pitch on Tuesday or perhaps even tomorrow night. The late buzz is that he will be called up tomorrow to make his first big league start on Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals - a decision that will surely send tickets to that game flying out the window. I'm already debating getting in on that after pretty much deciding to spend the weekend at home to avoid paying over $4 a gallon in gas. We shall see.

Until next time...

Top Five Friday

Ay yo!

It's time for the second edition of Top Five Friday... and in honor of it being a big MMA weekend [the first IFL show of the year is tonight & the UFC PPV is tomorrow night] I've decided on an MMA-themed Top Five and thus...

My Top Five MMA Dream Matches Of The Moment

5. Kimbo Slice vs Bob Sapp
Let's start with the Mother of All Freak Show Fights. Bob Sapp, the man who has made a living off being a freak show fighter in Japan, who incidentally got his ass knocked the fuck out last weekend in no time flat, taking on the YouTube King, Kimbo Slice. So, Kimbo vs Sapp... it soooooo needs to go down in Japan. For one, it'll draw the best there since they love the freak show fight, they love Sapp, and I can't imagine they wouldn't adore Kimbo. For two, since it'd require a weight class change that would probably be a bad idea for both [although Kimbo could probably do it] so you'd need the "relaxed" rules of Japan. It'd be over in no time flat probably but it'd be a fun first round.

4. Chuck Liddell vs Forrest Griffin
This would be better if Chuck was the champ as you'd have the great story of the heavily favored champ taking on his former student, the huge underdog, in what would be a great brawl. Forrest shows no fear and would stand and throw with Chuck. The UFC screwed this one up by booking Forrest vs Rampage but... oooh, fantasy booking hat on! Forrest vs Rampage... Forrest takes Rampage to the limit but ends up losing by controversial decision. In the match, Rampage hurts Forrest pretty bad at some point... maybe a tweaked neck or something from a big slam. Chuck takes up his former student's mantle to go after Rampage... and wins the title. Forrest comes back but instead of being grateful to Chuck... he immediately challenges him for the title. It's beautiful!

3. Mirko CroCop vs Brock Lesnar
I said it a month or so ago... this really is a fantastic dream match but only if it goes down in Japan. This match has lost some luster for me since Brock lost his first fight and CroCop's heading back to Japan to get back in the groove before his UFC return. If CroCop can string together some wins and Brock gets on track, this could be a fantastic match sometime in '09 though.

2. Fedor Emiliananko vs Randy Couture
Couldn't go without everyone's favorite dream match, right? Arguably, the two top heavyweights in the world going toe to toe for the undisputed World Championship. Of course, with Noguiera stopping Sylvia while Randy could only take him to the limit [and with Sylvia having a bad back during the fight], there probably is some "dispute" to it. This fight may happen this year... depending on how the UFC contract scenario shakes out. It's got a limited shelf life though so it needs to happen quick. And preferably before Fedor ends up fighting real competition and loses.

1. Wanderlei Silva vs Anderson Silva
Okay, Wanderlei made a little noise recently about dropping down in weight class if Hendo wins the title tomorrow night... so he could do the same to face Anderson. Two of the best strikers in the world colliding would make for one of the most exciting fights in ages. This is a long shot because I believe they are on the same fight team but it would be awesome.

Okay, that's that. UFC Picks to come tomorrow.