Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

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.

Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipović’s return to the Japanese fight world at Dream 6 on September 23 was not a triumphant affair. In fact, neither Cro-Cop or his opponent looked like veterans of mixed-martial-arts. Rather, the heavily anticipated grudge match between the Croatia’s Cro-Cop and the Netherlands’ Alistair Overeem played out like a clumsy wrestling match interrupted by two “official” illegal knees to the testicles. The referee called two illegal knees whereas I seem to recall a couple more than the official number that eventually resulted in a yellow card for Overeem.

The final result of the fouls was a damaged Cro-Cop wincing in pain because one of his testicles was actually pushed up into his body. The fight between Cro-Cop and Overeem was a disappointment on many levels. The one fight on the Dream 6 event that had the most potential to be an emotional war stumbled downward into a lackluster series of restarts and time-outs. And in the end I was left with a looming question; “Why doesn’t Cro-Cop simply move down one weight class?”

Cro-Cop is a small heavyweight. He walks around normally in the 230 pound range. Heck, current light heavyweight Forrest Griffin walks around sometimes as big as 240 pounds and he makes the cut in weight easily each fight. Cro-Cop shows superiority in the ring against middleweight to light heavyweight fighters. Just refer to his devastation of Wanderlei Silva back in 2006 at Pride Final Conflict.  But against the bigger fighters in MMA, Cro-Cop has faced uphill battles. Gabriel Gonzaga who is a very large fighter treated Cro-Cop to a taste of his on head-kick medicine following an entire round of domination and ground-and-pound. And Cheick Kongo muscled Cro-Cop around soon after. Not to mention that Kongo much like Overeem last night at Dream 6, kneed Cro-Cop to the groin requiring a momentary stoppage to the fight. And it is these illegal knees that place focus on Cro-Cop’s size.

In the clinch, taller fighters often throw accidental knees to the groin of shorter opponents. Of course this is not Cro-Cop’s fault, but it lends to the concept of moving down to a weight class where such scenarios will potentially not occur as easily.  Cro-Cop is still wildly popular with fans worldwide but performances such as last night’s will certainly derail the train of optimism at some point. Let’s face it, before the multiple illegal shots stunned Cro-Cop, Overeem was easily tossing him around the ring. Was Overeem’s performance at Dream 6 one for the record books? By no means. It was mostly just the forces of gravity hard at work. But at minimum it leaves a lot of questions regarding Cro-Cop’s future.

The official Dream 6 Results:

Gegard Mousasi wins the Dream MW Grand Prix with an upkick knockout of Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza in round one.

Mousasi defeated Melvin Manhoef in the semi-finals via triangle choke in round one.

Jacare defeated Zelg Galesic via armbar in round one.

Andrews Nakahara defeated Dong Sik Yoon via TKO in the second round.

Cro-Cop vs. Allistair Overeem ended in a no contest when Cro-Cop took two knees to the groin. The fight was halted in the 2nd round.

Shinya Aoki defeated Todd Moore via neck crank- 1:10 of round 1.

Yoshihiro Akiyama defeated Masanori Toonoka via armbar- 6:26 of round 1.

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai defeated Kuniyoshi Hironaka via unanimous decision.

Undercard:

Masakatsu Funaki defeated Ikuhisa Minowa via heel hook- :52 of round 1.

Atsushi Yamamoto defeated Hideo Tokoro via unanimous decision.

Sergei Kharitonov defeated Jimmy Ambriz via TKO- 2:15 of round 1.

Keita Nakamura defeated Adriano Martins via split decision

The war of words between PrideFC veterans, Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipović and Alistair Overeem is hotter than any smack talk the average fight promoter could ever dream up. Probably because the words tossed around between Cro-Cop and Overeem are deeply passionate and serious. Cro-Cop is provoked and heated to say the least. In recent weeks Overeem called out Cro-Cop. The first blow came from Overeem when he called the legendary Croatian kickboxer a “chicken.” Then this insult was soon followed when the Dutch fighter called Cro-Cop “old” as if to insinuate that Mirko’s fight career was over.

And many do argue that the future of Cro-Cop’s career is on the line at Dream 6. Previously a dominant force in Japan just a few years ago, Cro-Cop experienced a lackluster performance recently  in the UFC octagon with a smashing KO loss to Gabriel Gonzaga and a decision loss to Cheick Kongo. A loss by Cro-Cop during his return to Japan at Dream 6 would not only hurt is fight record, but it would hurt his image as well. Earlier in repsonse to Overeems criticism, Cro-Cop declared that he would tar and feather himself and run around Amsterdam until he is arrested if he is defeated by Overeem.

Below is video footage of Mirko Cro-Cop addresing Overeem’s trash talk as well as working out in preparation for the fights on September 23 in Japan.

Additional Mirko Cro-Cop videos can be found here.

Dream 6 is not just about Cro-Cop and Overeem though. By no means. It’s a classically stacked Japanese fight card featuring a who’s who of MMA fighters not currently scooped up by the UFC or Affliction. There’s many notable and exciting fighters on the event including Melvin Manhoef, Ronaldo de Souza, Sergei Kharitonov and Hayato Sakurai just for starts.

Below is a preview video from HDNet Fights.

 The Official Dream 6 fight card:

Middleweight Grand Prix: Ronaldo de Souza vs. Zelg Galesic
Middleweight Grand Prix: Gegard Mousasi vs. Melvin Manhoef
Middleweight GP Championship: Gegard Mousasi/Melvin Manhoef vs. Ronaldo de Souza/Zelg Galesic
Middleweight Grand Prix reserve: Yoon Dong-sik vs. Andrews Nakahara

Featherweight bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Heavyweight bout: Mirko Filipovic vs. Alistair Overeem
Heavyweight bout: Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jimmy Ambriz
Middleweight Bout: Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Welterweight Bout: Hayato Sakurai vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Lightweight Bout: Keita Nakamura vs. Adriano Martins
Middleweight Bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Masanori Tonooka
Lightweight Bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Todd Moore

The official Dream Website