Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

EliteXC Champ KJ Noons Stripped of His Title

KJ Noons was stripped of his EliteXC lightweight title on September 19. The announcement came on Friday by EliteXC’s Head of Fight Operations, Jeremy Lappen.

According to Lappen, Noons was stripped of his title for refusing to defend the belt against Nick Diaz. Noons and Diaz have a history of bad blood that resulted in a post fight riot after a recent Noons victory when Bill Goldberg invited Diaz into the cage for a future fight challenge.  In many minds, Noons was simply taking the high road and possibly even a small bit of revenge in refusing Diaz a shot.

Noons was offered a headline fight for his title defense against Diaz on the upcoming October 4 CBS show that also features EliteXC darlings, Kimbo Slice and Gina Carrano. Jeremy Lappen went on to reveal that Noons was given a second chance for the defense against Diaz on Showtime but continued his stance of refusal.

The EliteXC brass has commented that the move by Noons is extremely bad for his career but kept the door open by saying he still had two fights to honor on his contract and there was still enthusiasm for Noons to fight again on a future EliteXC card. Lappen had no official fight announcement for the now vacant lightweight title.

Below is video footage of the incident between KJ Noons and Nick Diaz that was widely suspected to be choreographed controversy on the part of former EliteXC president, Gary Shaw. Following a victory in his home town, Noons was challenged and insulted by Nick Diaz after Bill Goldberg invited both Nick and his brother Nate (UFC fighter) into the cage. What followed was a lowbrow spectacle more fitting of WWE or possibly even the Jerry Springer Show. Many people in the wake of this unfortunate incident criticized EliteXC for exploiting a vulnerable situation considering the bad blood between the two fighters. A large percentage of fans sided with KJ Noons during the post fight incident as well as presently during his championship dethroning.

Welcome to  “This Week In MMA.” Each week, Full Contact Talk will filter through stories of interest within the world of mixed-martial-arts and hopefully provide our readers with everything they need to know as fans of the sport. All at a glance, of course.

Frank Mir Speaks Out On Kimbo Slice, Krazy Horse and Tank Abbott 

In an interview with Five Ounces of Pain, the UFC’s Frank Mir speaks his mind to Gary Ibarra with an opinion that’s increasingly becoming status quo within the ranks of professional mixed-martial-arts.

Frank Mir: “I think the show goes a long way towards humanizing the sport and the guys. By having the cameras in the house it acts as sort of a window into the real lives of the people who take the sport seriously, and how they really are when they are not in the ring, they’re mostly just regular kids. I mean let’s face it, the public’s perception of MMA is not exactly fantastic. Every time guys like Tank Abbot or Krazy Horse (Charles Bennett) fought or even now with Kimbo Slice; every time Kimbo fights it sets the sport back. Guys like that just reinforce the idea in the public’s eye that we are all blood thirsty barbarians who just want to pummel each other and that there is no skill required. Guys like them do the sport a disservice.”

UFC Announces Partnership With Fallen Heroes Fund

Wednesday night during the UFC Fight Night 15 broadcast, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced a special event titled “UFC Fights for the Troops.” The night of fights will be held on Dec. 10 at Fort Bragg, NC . 

The three hour show will air on Spike TV and benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Viewers will be able to call in and donate funds to support American soldiers wounded in combat.

UFC President Dana White: “UFC and Spike TV are going to present a three hour event. It’s called ‘UFC Fights for the Troops.’ And it’s to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The goal will be to raise millions of dollars to help the National Intrepid Center of Excellence. It’s a treatment center for men and women in the military who’ve experienced traumatic brain injuries.”

Showtime Enters Talks to Purchase Pro Elite

Showtime Networks filed public notice with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. This announcement reveals Showtime’s intention to enter negotiations for the purchase of Pro Elite Inc. The proposed acquisition might be music to the ears of Pro Elite which is currently on the edge of  potential bankruptcy. Pro Elite faces a staggering $55 million deficit only after two years of existence.

Pro Elite debuted with its first EliteXC event in 2007. The struggling company has held 15 events under its EliteXC and ShoXC brands. Pro Elite has acquired several other smaller MMA organizations in the last year alone. Cage Rage, King of the Cage, Rumble on the Rock and Icon Sport are part of the list.

Bas Rutten: An Opinion More Fitting of A Used Car Salesman?

The MMA News reports that Bas Rutten made some interesting statements during EliteXC’s recent press conference for the upcoming fight on CBS between Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice. Bas Rutten, a legend of Pancrase and MMA now serves a Mr. Slice’s trainer and mentor.

According to MMA News, Rutten claims the following: “Kimbo has much more skill than Brock Lesnar and feels he is a more well rounded fighter. Bas doesnt want to take anything away from Lesnar, but he feels Kimbo is just better.”

Many are left to ask, “Seriously Bas? Are you actually serious?” A large percentage of MMA fans normally praise Bas Rutten. A lot of fans find Rutten to be both a serious trainer and at times comic relief within the sport of MMA. But there’s nothing really that humorous about simple delusion. Brock Lesnar is a novice in the the MMA world but he’s also a tremendously huge and strong novice that just smashed a veteran MMA fighter in that of Heath Herring at UFC 87. Not to mention that Lesnar is a decorated collegiate wrestler.

Let’s balance the scales of justice here so to speak. Brock Lesnar is definitely a newcomer in the sport. Yet he has a convincing win over Herring in the UFC (the top MMA organization in the world) and came close to manhandling Frank Mir before he was caught in a knee bar by one of the best BJJ heavyweights in the world. Kimbo Slice has three wins against second or third tier competition at best. Heck, maybe even fourth tier competition.

Kimbo Slice beat an aging Tank Abbot who had lost his last four fights in a row prior to the bout. Slice then defeated Bo Cantrell who had entered the fight with five straight losses. Then Mr. Slice faced James Thompson who was legendary for suffering flash knockouts at PrideFC. And ironically, Thompson in many minds actually won the fight that was stopped due to a busted cauliflower ear. Many criticize referee Dan Miragliotta for his failure to stop the fight in favor of Thompson while Kimbo laid on his back for close to two minutes taking elbow shots to the head and not intelligently defending himself.

To say Kimbo has more skill than Lesnar is almost like saying Milli Vanilli has better chops than Metallica. It’s more than a stretch. So come on Bas, we really respect you. But this entire marketing campaign you are leading is tracking mud all over the new carpet in the house of mixed-martial-arts.

Spike’s Ultimate Fighter Scores Big with Young Men in Ratings

The Ultimate Fighter reality show on Spike TV, which many analysts cite as the essential part of the formula leading to the current financial success of the world’s top MMA promotion, scored huge ratings this week with its debut episode of the eighth season featuring teams coached by Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira.

According to a press release from Spike TV:

The UFC proved once again to be the king of young men on cable television on Wednesday, September 17 with a live “UFC Fight Night” and the premiere of season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”  Spike TV’s “UFC Fight Night,” headlined by Nate Diaz and Josh “The Dentist” Neer’s, placed number one with Men 18-34, 18-49, 18-24, and 25-34.   In fact, the UFC fight drew more young men than ESPN’s telecast of Major League baseball game in the heat of a pennant race and ESPN2’s college football telecast combined as the Spike telecast drew 913,000 Men aged 18-49 and 465,000 Men aged 18-34.  By comparison, ESPN’s telecast of the Red Sox vs. Rays and ESPN’s Louisville vs. Kansas St. college football game drew a combined 858,000 Men aged 18-49 and 373,000 Men aged 18-34.

Overall, the UFC fight card, emanating from the sold-out Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska, earned a 1.6 in M18-49, a 1.6 in M18-34, and an average audience of 1.8 million viewers. The viewership peaked for Diaz’s thrilling split-decision victory over Neer in the main event with 2.3 million tuning in.

Following the live fight, the premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter 8” ranked #1 in cable in M18-49 (846,000) with a 1.5 rating.  Overall, the premiere earned a 1.2 household rating, a 1.5 in M18-34, and an average audience of 1.6 million viewers.

And Spike’s big night of mixed-martial-arts also provided the quote of the week in MMA. Junie Browning, a cast member of the eight season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” is a real sparkplug to put it mildly. Before his entrance bout against Jose Aguillar, Browning said the following during a prefight interview:

Do I think Jose Aguillar can beat me? He has a better chance of getting me pregnant.”

Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” airs each Wednesday night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Stay tuned …

Earlier this week Full Contact Talk reported on the sleazy EliteXC promo video also known as “Hits and Chicks” that was created by the marketing department at Showtime Sports to promote the upcoming fight between Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice on October 4. This unfortunate video, focusing mainly on the anatomy of women, Kimbo Slice and James Thompson’s busted ear, is lost somewhere beneath the Jerry Springer Show on a bad day. It quite simply enraged a large percentage of the mixed-martial-arts community. Especially female fans and female martial artists. Earlier today, either Youtube.com or Showtime Sports removed the video from its playlist. At this moment, FCT cannot clearly cite which company made the decision to remove the video. However, the controversial video is still circulating the web through other video hosting sites. For example, the promotional catastrophe from Showtime Sports is still available on Break.com.

Hits

EliteXC and Showtime just released a viral marketing video that is viral on more negative levels than just clever spam. As I have written many times in the past, professional mixed-martial-arts is a sport and its athletes are some of the most hard-working men and women in the world. These athletes deserve promotion and marketing that elevates them within the greater mainstream sports world to build an expanding and long-term audience. Not to mention higher paychecks and bigger sponsorships down the road. Yet EliteXC continues to promote MMA in an ignorant freakshow package.

I will never fully understand why an MMA organization such as EliteXC feels compelled to market controversy and cheap thrills for a momentary spike in viewership. Clearly EliteXC is attempting to snag the attention of that chunk of people who watch “Girls Gone Wild” videos and scan the internet for videos of bum fights, prison riots and bully attacks. And this approach to marketing is as much a sign of a desperate company in search of ratings as it is a company that simply does not understand mixed-martial-arts in the first place.

The argument from those few who continue to defend EliteXC for bringing new fans to MMA falls upon mute ears in the aftermath of this latest promotional video. Does MMA really need bouncing boobs, over-rated brawlers and embarrassing production quality to bring the sport to the masses? I ask, at what cost will the pursuit of these so-called new fans effect the greater mainstream expansion of mixed-martial-arts? Currently, such marketing tactics do nothing more but make a mockery of a combat sport that only recently climbed from the depths of darkness and opposition.

In comparison, if the NFL, NBA, NASCAR or any other mainstream professional sports organization created marketing videos focused mainly on close-up shots of breasts, these organizations would be squeezed through the moral ringer on network news programs across the dial. And such consideration should be taken when marketing a sport like MMA that only recently crawled out of the shadows of catch phrases such as “Human Cock Fighting.” MMA deserves respect and its not going to get such respect as long as trash television hangs on to its metaphorical chokehold.

Equally and even more sadly, EliteXC’s latest marketing approach cheats the percentage of talented athletes within its own ranks. Gina Carrano is an amazing female fighter who can potentially expand the sport of MMA into demographics never touched before. But is it fair to Gina to promote the organization she represents with a video haze of soft pornography and cheap violence more worthy of a backyard brawl? Its embarrassing and wrongly diminishes female fighters contributions to the sport.

Gary Shaw recently resigned from EliteXC but his Vince McMahon approach to MMA marketing still holds strong making the organization the WWE or XFL of the mixed-martial-arts world. Shaw’s son now runs the show but his father clearly still has his ear. It’s quite amazing to think that Dana White and the UFC battled for years in the depths of bankruptcy to save the sport of MMA and deliver it to a larger audience by 2005. Then a mere three years later, EliteXC with its unfortunate CBS television deal has grossly vandalized the image of MMA and threatens to drag the sport back into the dark ages.

Score another foul against Showtime and EliteXC.

Frank Shamrock cites the takedown, wrestling skills, ground-and-pound and submissions as the key to crushing Kimbo Slice. And I totally agree. But when’s the last time Ken Shamrock has shown dominance in these areas? He’s lost five fights in a row. The last coming by way of early knockout. The odds are stacked extremely high against chances that the Ken Shamrock ala 1995 will magically show up in 2008.

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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