Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

Donald Trump will reveal on Thursday details for “Fighting Fedor,” a reality show starring the number one ranked heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.

“Fighting Fedor” will cast 16 heavyweight fighters from around the world in a reality show similar to that of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.”  Filmed in St. Petersburg, Russia, the up-and-comers will train with Fedor’s Red Devil Sports Club.

The heavyweight fighters will compete in an elimination tournament where the winner earns a finale bout against Fedor. ALso during Thursday’s conference, Affliction’s Tom Atencio will reveal details of Affliction’s partnership with M-1 Global as well its exclusive contract with Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor is the current WAMMA heavyweight champion.

He Said, She Said: Barnett Claims No Ducking, Affliction Insinuates Otherwise

MMARated.com reported yesterday that Affliction originally intended for the resheduled fight between Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett to take place during a co-promoted event with EliteXC during its October 4 primtime fight night on CBS. The web lit up with conclusions and criticism far and wide. Not necessarily criticism aimed directly at Affliction working together with EliteXC but rather some not always positive language for Josh Barnett. Barnett was criticized at times for being a prima donna. But of course there was those who sided with Barnett often asking, “Why would a top five world ranked heavyweight fighter want to be on the undercard of a fight with a highly controversial brawler and an aging veteran?” Throughout the day since MMARated’s report, a lot of uncertainty still hovered around the confirmation of the fight until of course it was revealed late yesterday that Andrei Arlovski would face Roy Nelson on October 4 instead. During an exclusive interview with MMARated.com, Affliction president Tom Atencio stated:

“We’ve been working on the CBS deal for ten days or so. What we’re trying to do is things that are good for the industry. If we can work with these guys great. It [The EliteXC fight on October 4] was going to be Arlovski versus (Josh) Barnett. But what happened was we couldn’t finalize a deal with Barnett and he went to sign with Sengoku.”

Clearly Atencio did not elaborate on the intimate details regarding the situation with Josh Barnett but the trash talk circulated the internet to the point that Josh Barnett posted a blog on Myspace in an effort to silence if not rebut the rumors that he refused the fight offer from Affliction and also rumors that he was asked to take a cut in pay. Josh Barnett stated in a blog post titled “Arlovski on CBS:”

“I read somewhere that I had declined the fight because I would have had to take a pay cut. I suppose others may also formulate some story about me declining the fight for other reasons. I never declined to take this fight. I was never told that I would have any part of my pay reduced since working with Affliction. To my knowledge, no one has been asked to take a pay cut that fights for Affliction. I did not turn down this fight.”

Interestingly, it should be noted that as of today, EliteXC has not officially updated the October 4 fight card on its events web page to feature the bout between Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson. But the fight is confirmed currently by the mainstream press.

From Russia with love: EliteXC signs Alexander Shlemenko

Five Ounces Of Pain reports that EliteXC has signed 2005 World Pankration champion Alexander Shlemenko. For those not in the know, Shlemenko is a tough up-and-comer from Russia that many insiders predict will be a contender very soon in the Untied States. Shlemenko’s deal is rumored to be one of the multi-fight persuasion and talk is that the Russian will make his EliteXC debut during the promotion’s October 10 ShoXC event at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana

Here’s a vintage fight video from Alexander Shlemenko:

The Brothers Lauzon: Joe’s litte bro gets some limelight

Joe Lauzon, a standout on SpikeTV’s The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 as part of B.J. Penn’s team, has a younger brother that is equally promising and tenacious in many minds. Dan Lauzon is cited as the youngest fighter to debut in the UFC even though some sources were claiming Vitor Belfort as the youngest to debut. But of course Belfort debuted at age 19 during UFC 12 against Tra Telligman in February 1997. Belfort was the youngest fighter to “win” a debut UFC fight with Lauzon losing his debut to Spencer Fisher via TKO at UFC 64. But youthful losses aside, Lauzon has a promising future. In fact, both Lauzon brothers are slowly climbing towards comparison with another very talented set of MMA brothers in that of Nick and Nate Diaz. Below is a great video produced by MSNBC that reveals a brief chapter in the young fighter’s life.

Dan Lauzon: I am a fighter

And here’s a Lauzon brothers highlight video which even features the two rolling in the family’s backyard.

And for good measure, here’s scenes from Joe Lauzon’s recent pig roast. Guests really got their kicks at the event.

Oh, the pain … and I am not talking about the punch that was thrown

Kimbo Slice appeared on national television again. Yes, the one time bodyguard for a pornography company now entertains grannies in middle America. Far away from the EliteXC cage, this television appearance by Mr. Slice was a stunt to punch magician David Blaine in the stomach in some lackluster homage to Harry Houdini. Fans of Houdini may recall that a punch to the stomach is what killed the legendary magician. Entertainment Weekly reports that the ratings for Blaine’s primetime show were a dump. And I think we at FCT know why. Kimbo should have punched Blaine in the head and then punched Criss Angel in the head afterward. And why not punch David Copperfield as well to keep things fair and balanced? Now, I would have watched such an event. Heck, I would have TIVO’d it for eternity. Do pardon me if I am showing my loyalty to Harry Houdini a bit too strongly.

Sherdog.com as well as several other MMA sites are currently reporting inside news that former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and IFl standout Roy Nelson have agreed to fight on the upcoming Oct. 4th EliteXC fight card on CBS. If so, this would be a tremendous boost to EliteXC’s television ratings and credibility.

MMARated.com actually reported the rumor first in an interview with EliteXC vice president Jared Shaw. In the interview Shaw had daring words for UFC President Dana White.

Jared Shaw: “ Obviously, in my eyes, it’s a win-win for both organizations but the biggest winner on this night are definitely the fans of mixed martial arts. This hits the mainstream, this hits the hardcore and, especially, this hits Dana White hard. Because he has to realize that there are some other big players in this game and now those players have decided to work together. Affliction gets it as promoters, we get it as promoters. We want to bring fans the best fights possible in the world.”

Sherdog.com reports things in a slightly safer manner by not absolutely confirming the fight.

Sherdog: “Arlovski’s management team would not comment Wednesday on the proposed bout, while Nelson’s attorney, Rod Donohoo, also refrained from remarks. However, Sherdog.com has learned from separate sources that both fighters have agreed in principle to the match and that contracts have been issued for review.

If the Arlovski/Nelson fight proves true, the potential of record high television ratings for the Oct. 4 EliteXC event on CBS are almost guaranteed. Like it or not, Kimbo Slice draws in a brand new demographic of young fans to the sport of MMA as well does Gina Carano. Add in two big names of MMA with recent links to both the UFC and IFL and the fan crossover is tremendously deep. And again, this is a free televised MMA event on national American television. What’s to stop the ratings?

The second Affliction event scheduled for October 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been cancelled. The main event between Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski was poised to toss the victor at current WAMMA champion, Fedor Emelianenko. But now Fedor’s next opponent is as big a mystery as that of Afflictions own survival as a financially sound MMA organization.

And boy, the rumors abound.

Affliction CEO Michael D. Cohen promised earlier in the week that he has an upcoming announcement that will change the world of mixed-martial-arts. But days passed and all that was heard from the Affliction main offices was the chirp of crickets at best. Therefore to keep things interesting and help a guy out when he’s down on his back, Full Contact Talk has decided to post a list of the top threem latest Affliction rumors.

Rumor #1. Talk has slithered its away across the web that former UFC star Tito Ortiz has decided to sign with Affliction to move up in weight and fight Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA belt.

FCT Response: Really? Seriously? Hey, in all honesty, this fight will sell tickets. Heck, it might keep Affliction afloat for a couple more shows. But Tito will suffer the same fate as Tim Sylvia. And possibly fall even faster than the big guy did on July 19. 

Rumor #2. Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Productions is rumored to be in talks with Affliction over a co-promotion where future Affliciton events will not only have aging heavy metal bands perform, they’ll mix and match MMA fights with boxing matches.

FCT Response: Huh? You know, Affliciton arguably has the best heavyweight division in contemporary mixed-martial-arts. Yet, the debut event was plagued with a production value equivalent to that of Friday Night Fights in the 1980s. It was better than EliteXC’s debut on CBS. But only by a small margin. Mixing short, flashy MMA fights with potentially long, boring boxing matches sounds like a recipe for failure. 

Rumor #3. Another ironic rumor claims HDNet Fights owner Mark Cuban is considering a partnership with Donald Trump’s Affliction in an effort to survive the UFC’s stranglehold on the sport of MMA.

FCT Response: If true, I guess money does by love after all. Or is it the economic survival of two MMA organizations that can mend burned bridges? Does anyone remember the public war of words and near slander between Cuban and Trump not too long ago? It ranked up there with Trump’s war on Rosie O’Donnell. If this rumor turns true, it would be like Cain and Abel opening a taco stand together. 

The cancellation of “Affliciton: Day of Reckoning,” is masked in silence with regard to the reason for the sudden pull of the plug. But another rumor floating around the cybernetic toilet bowl states that ticket sales were a dump. Numbers as low as 600 to 700 total sales are being tossed around. If these numbers are accurate, that’s a staggering deficiency. The Thomas & Mack Center can hold nearly 20,000 spectators.

Full Contact Talk extends its upmost encouragement and support to Affliciton. But things are looking really, really sad at the moment. But then again, there are masses of MMA fans shooting torpedos at the Affliciton ship in hopes that a bankrupt Affliciton means Fedor verus Randy Couture in the UFC octagon in 2009.

More to come …

Segment Three:

The Full Contact Talk panel discuss mixed-martial arts organizations such as the UFC, Affliciton and EliteXC and compare the production quality and financial success of each company. Other subjects of conversation incude Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko and the recent controversies within MMA including Kimbo Slice’s polarization of MMA fans.

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