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 …
Welcome to episode 7 of Full Contact Talk. In this episode we talk to Eliot “The Fire” Marshall. A cast member of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter Season 8, Marshall lost a controversial decision to Karen Grigoryan that resulted in protests by UFC President Dana White and T.U.F. coaches Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira.
