Thursday, July 9 6:41 pm PT: After inciting a mini-revolt over allegations he bolted on a verbal agreement with the UFC to head overseas, Croatian Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic appears to have settled on a suitor: Several sites are reporting that he could face Junior dos Santos at UFC 103 in Dallas on Sept. 19.
Thursday, July 9 3:57 pm PT: There was a point in the sport’s mid-1990s growth spurt when a Mark Coleman fight resembled a National Geographic special -- less a prizefight than a piece of snuff footage. He was an athlete among martial artists, and it wasn’t pretty to watch.
A lot of time has passed since then, and Coleman, 44, has been the nail more frequently than he’s been the hammer. This hasn’t appeared to dissuade him: he told MMA Junkie that Saturday’s fight with Stephan Bonnar won’t be a curtain call regardless of the outcome.
Thursday, July 9 1:35 pm PT: An additional -- if unnecessary -- sign that MMA is creeping further into public consciousness: the surge of statistics sheets. The UFC offers their own in-house stats for big fights; CompuStrike is CompuBox’s MMA equivalent; FightMetric recently launched bout reviews and career-total reports of fighter efficacy. (I used to joke that we’d soon need pie charts to analyze the sport. Now here they are. Go figure.)
All of this is fun to play with -- and possibly lucrative, if you can figure out what any of it means for wagering purposes. For most fans, though, I suspect the only numbers of real concern are the obscene cable bills the sport has generated.
Thursday, July 9 1:03 pm PT: Gaining momentum in recent weeks is the idea that 17-1 Michael Bisping could earn a title shot with a win over Dan Henderson on Saturday.
Bisping, 3-0 as a middleweight, is a numerical underdog in the Henderson fight, with most handicappers expecting that his opponent’s experience and wrestling credentials will be too much to handle.
Thursday, July 9 9:00 am PT: The UFC’s home video distribution deal with First Look Studios appears to be taking its final lap: The promotion announced today that Anchor Bay Entertainment would be the funnel for all future disc releases beginning in September. (UFC 96, possibly the last of the First Look titles, is set for an Aug. 18 debut.)
Anchor Bay plans on issuing events 60 days from their pay-per-view date, which is a substantially more efficient time-lapse than previous releases: UFC 95, set for a July 21 DVD date, was originally broadcast on Feb. 21 of this year. The company is also held in high regard among videophiles for attention to more obscure catalog releases, particularly in the horror genre.
Fighting in a ring -- with rules, in front of a crowd -- is an artificial environment, and no amount of crowing is about to change it. Most fighters accept that the outcome is one based on the template served up.
