Thursday, September 17 5:25 pm PT: Here’s something I find increasingly curious about Strikeforce: in an industry that frequently appears wiretapped, they manage to keep their news in a lead box. No one anticipated their signing of Fedor Emelianenko in August, and no one pegged Emelianenko’s bout with Brett Rogers as a CBS attraction.
But that’s exactly what it is, per a Strikeforce press release Thursday afternoon that announced a November 7 primetime slot for the fight. The move puts them a week ahead of UFC 105, a Spike broadcast, and one week ahead of both boxing’s Manny Pacquiao/Miguel Cotto and UFC 106.
Maybe Strikeforce is gambling that the UFC won’t have the resources to assemble a show to create three consecutive weeks of programming. Or if they did, maybe they simply don’t care: in terms of available viewership and household penetration (oh, grow up), CBS isn’t in any danger of being smothered.
This leaves the UFC to counter in what they’ve clearly defined as an adversarial relationship with the network: minimal effort means some repackaged shows on Spike. The high end? A fight streamed live from the Coliseum in Rome between Wanderlei Silva and a Kodiak bear. Thank God for DVRs.
Thursday, September 17 4:25 pm PT: UFC 103 in Dallas marks the return of Vitor Belfort. The former UFC light heavyweight champion hasn’t been inside the Octagon since a split-decision loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 51 in February of 2005.
Riding a four-fight win streak, Belfort looks to continue his run against former middleweight champion Rich Franklin.
Thursday, September 17 3:18 pm PT: The popularity -- and correlating distractions -- of mixed martial arts has made securing fighters for interviews slightly more difficult than a few years ago. They’re pushed and pulled in a lot of different directions, and a Web site request for comment doesn’t usually trump sponsorship obligations, family, or sleep.
On the whole, though, combat athletes tend to make themselves more available and amenable than their MLB, NFL, or PGA equivalents, most of whom insulate themselves in a Snuggie’s worth of PR and league foot soldiers.
Shocking then, that Tim Sylvia turned down an interview from Fighters.com shortly before Friday’s rebound bout against Jason Riley in Nebraska. Sylvia, savvy media player he is, apparently asked for some of the questions beforehand. And he might’ve been right on board until the interviewer -- identified only as “Chad” -- previewed this home run: “Did you bed [Andrei] Arlovski’s ex-girlfriend, Patricia Mikula?”
Chad, Chad. Do you think “Stuttering” John Melendez passed a list of questions over to Ringo Starr’s publicist before asking what we did with the money his mother gave him for singing lessons? If you have to go there, go there unannounced.
The ambush interview can be amusing in the right hands, but in the end, using a crowbar to peer into an athlete’s personal life is only going to result in a greater divide between press and personalities. And if that happens -- if performers begin to look and sound as clinical as the bores in other sports -- fans are going to have a harder time relating. That’s a big, big component of this sport’s success: athletes as accessible, regular people. Not bubble boys.
Thursday, September 17 3:05 pm PT: An athletic portfolio that includes a career as a “strong man” -- carnival spectacle that exists only to fuel ESPN2’s 3 a.m. programming block -- is not usually an indication of success in MMA. Strong doesn’t teach you foot work, strong doesn’t necessarily lead to damaging strikes, and strong means squat when someone has their arms around your neck.
If any of this bothers Mariusz Pudzianowski, he’s doing an excellent job of hiding it: the Polish-born strongman, who has signed with Polish promotion KSW for a mixed-style debut on Dec. 11, spoke with confidence to Fighter’s Only about his strategizing. It is ominously vague.
“I feel comfortable in street fighting techniques,” he told Artur Przybysz, who has no vowels in his last name. “I go out and do what I have to do…A little bit of wrestling, judo, a little bit of everything.”
That should do it. In fairness, Pudzianowski does have some semi-tangible background in Kyokushin karate, a base striking style that didn’t hurt Bas Rutten or Georges St. Pierre any. And if being a strongman has any application at all, he’d be the one to benefit: the 32-year-old has won more of those competitions -- and tossed more beer kegs -- than anyone.
Thursday, September 17 12:41 pm PT: You asked and we found the answers. “Ask the TUF Crowd” gives you the chance to throw your burning questions to the cast following each episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 10.”
Were you surprised the fight wasn’t stopped in the first round with the amount of blood that was pouring out of Abe Wagner? What was going through your head seeing all that red and did referee Steve Mazzagatti say anything about stopping the fight?
-- Paul in Phili
Thursday, September 17 12:10 pm PT: Tachi Palace Fights is bringing in Bellator champion Joe Soto and others for its first state-regulated event on Oct. 8, the promotion announced Wednesday.
The promotion, owned by the casino property of the same name on sovereign land in Lemoore, Calif., had previously run shows under the Palace Fighting Championships brand without the oversight of the California State Athletic Commission. Tachi Palace was also the birthplace of the WEC, which held events there from 2001 until 2006, when it was purchased by the UFC and moved to Las Vegas.
The promotion will also move its bouts from a ring to a cage and will contest five-minute round fights. It had previously used three-minute rounds under the PFC banner and once under the TPF name in a boxing-MMA mixed event last July.
Thursday, September 17 10:55 am PT: Is Melvin Guillard about to get discouraged?
Guillard showed some punishing, powerful hands and credible takedown defense in the first five minutes against Nate Diaz. If he’s motivated and continues to improve, his ability to be a headache in the lightweight division grows.
In spite of an extended layoff and a very tough opponent in Gray Maynard, Huerta looked like a handful. The UFC is still in dire need of a Spanish-language superstar to unlock that market. Should he relegate his acting aspirations to the margins until he exhausts his potential in MMA?
Substituting for Joe Rogan on color commentary, Florian was articulate, easy to follow, and brought in a fighter’s perspective without the usual accompanying speech impediment. If he can avoid repeated concussions, he has a nice post-fight gig ahead of him.
Thursday, September 17 10:00 am PT: Patience of the Night AwardKenny Florian, for affably attempting to get between Nate Quarry and Tim Credeur during an extended endorphin exchange after their exciting three-rounder.
The Ignoring Any Rivalries in Business Award Time-Warner Cable, for advertising Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather/Juan Manuel Marquez bout repeatedly during the Spike programming block. (It airs opposite UFC 103.)
The Left Hand/Right Hand Award For the narration over a Roger Huerta video package that promised “Huerta is ready to make a run at the UFC lightweight title.”
The Being Mike Goldberg Award Mike Goldberg, for exclaiming “Condit is in huge trouble here, Joe!” to fill-in broadcaster Kenny Florian. And they say the guy is a robot.
Thursday, September 17 12:15 am PT: What was supposed to happen, happened: topping UFC Fight Night 19 from Oklahoma City, Okla., Wednesday were two main-attraction fights that more or less played to scripts written by fans and analysts. Gray Maynard, an active and bullying wrestler, was able to pressure 12-month absentee Roger Huerta into dropping a close-split decision; after suffering the effects of solid striking, Nate Diaz capitalized on a lazy takedown attempt and squeezed Melvin Guillard’s neck.
Lack of suspense aside, you can’t complain much over fifty continuous minutes of fighting: suffering “Saw VI” previews is a small price to pay.
Next For Diaz: A slightly inflamed ego from breaking a two-fight losing streak; maybe Joe Lauzon.
Next for Guillard: A review of some fundamentals: don’t charge in like a bull, head down, and stick your neck into the armpit of a jiu-jitsu black belt. Failing that, opposing Sam Stout in a guaranteed stand-up highlight clip.
Next for Maynard: Some busy work until he can challenge the winner of B.J. Penn/Diego Sanchez for the 155-pound title. (Hopefully with a finish: his last five wins are via decision.)
Next for Huerta: More fights: you can act when you’re old and rusted out.
The Belarusian striker spent some time growing up in Hungary and was often picked on for being an outsider. Arlovski said he endured everything from name-calling to street fights.
“I have always been somebody that protects my friends at any cost and since I was always a little bigger, I would stand up to defend them no matter how many were picking on us,” said Arlovski.
Arlovski springs into action for those in need again Thursday, as he guest stars on “Bully Beatdown” at 9:30 p.m. EST/PST on MTV. Arlovski meets 6-foot-four 280-pound bully "Nathan, the Big Nasty” in sparring and grappling contests.
“I know what it felt like to be the kids from the show that asked for my help,” said Arlovski. “Being pushed around is not fun and I just wanted to let them hear the bully apologize for treating them poorly.”
