Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

Have you missed us? Hey, everyone needs a few days of vacation from time to time. Welcome to yet another edition of Full Contact Talk’s weekly MMA summary. 

EliteXC Poised for Potentially Big Television Ratings

Jared Shaw of EliteXC is seemingly celebrating the success of this weekend’s third network television installment of MMA on CBS far before the ratings have even rolled in. And honestly, if the October 4th fight card featuring Andrei Arlovski, Gina Carrano, Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock brings in bad numbers, it’s safe to say that EliteXC is treading on seriously thin ice. But what’s to stop positive ratings? The show is free and televised to even those people in far off places without a cable connection. 

As previously reported by FCT, Shaw had some daring words for UFC President Dana White last week. In an interview with MMARated.com, Shaw stated:

“This hits the mainstream, this hits the hardcore and, especially, this hits Dana White hard.”

MSNBC’s MMA Fight Weekly reports further in the following video where Dana White laughs off Jared Shaw’s words by citing the UFC as the corporate equivalent of McDonald’s fast food restaurants and mocking EliteXC’s $60 million of current debt. 

MSNBC – Dana White Interview and EliteXC Breakdown Video
 

As harsh as I have been towards EliteXC throughout the past, I’d be a bitter man to rain on its October 4th parade. In all honesty, I am actually motivated to see this Saturday’s night of fights. Mainly for the Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson bout that is being co-promoted by Affliction but the welterweight championship between Champ Jake Shields and Paul Daley could also prove to be an exciting fight. So why not a promo video for the Welterweight championship? 

Now back to bitterness for a moment. As long as Kimbo Slice continues to be the cash cow for EliteXC, I guess I always have a problem with the struggling MMA organization. Slice possibly has the most padded record in professional mixed-martial-arts and the marketing campaign utilized to pitch Kimbo into the living rooms of middle America is one of both genius and swindle. P.T. Barnum comes to mind. Put a freakshow up on Main Street and the masses will follow. 

Kimbo Slice has a 99.9% chance of knocking the old and tired shell of Ken Shamrock into the deepest sleep. It’s almost a given. Shamrock has lost his last five fights in basically the same fashion but at the same time he carries the monicker of “UFC Legend” upon his shoulders. And this is the great EliteXC sham on October 4.

Kimbo will more than likely overwhelm Shamrock with haymakers early in the first round. Then in the aftermath and celebration, EliteXC will pawn Slice off to MMA newcomers and the casual audience as a legitimate MMA contender who has disposed of two UFC fighters in his young career. But is an aging Ken Shamrock and an equally ancient Tank Abbott a contemporary representation of the UFC? How about a big, whopping “NO!”

In fairness, these easy fights are not the fault of Kimbo Slice. He’s simply riding a wave of cash and hype all the way to stardom and fame. And who can blame him? He does seem genuinely dedicated to training under MMA legend Bas Rutten and he does more than often take the high road of humbleness when in front of the media spotlight. But don’t go thinking for a moment that Rutten has not only coached Kimbo for the cage but the microphone as well. Can you imagine if Kimbo talked smack and called out legitimate champions? The backlash would rumble like the San Andreas Fault Line.

In the end, I am certain there are thousands of hardcore MMA fans hoping that Ken Shamrock will pull off an upset and derail the Kimbo Slice train. But the odds are impossibly high for such an event. Again, Shamrock has not had a good showing since possibly his fight against Limo Leopoldo at UFC 48 in 2004. But of course many analysts will argue that Shamrock has not shown respectable competitiveness since the middle of the previous decade. 

Nothing is impossible as someone once said. Ken Shamrock could technically get Kimbo down and immediately go for a trademark toe hold, ankle lock or heel hook. But first he’s got to get past a swarm of fists that have proven to be his demise over the past several years. And of course, critics will yell loudly that Shamrock took the easy road out if he does catch Kimbo in any variation of the leg lock kind. So this fight is a losing scenario for Shamrock on a number of levels if the veteran does not beat Slice at his own game.

The Full October 4th EliteXC Card: 

Main Card (CBS)
Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. Ken Shamrock 
Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson 
Champ Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley (for EliteXC welterweight title) 
Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold-Gavin 
Benji Radach vs. Murilo “Ninja” Rua 

Preliminary Card 
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Yoko Takahashi (could appear on CBS, time-permitting) 
Edson Berto vs. Connor Heun 
Seth Petruzelli vs. Aaron Rosa 
Lorenzo Borgomeo vs. Mikey Gomez 
Jorge Bouchat vs. Nicolae Cury 
David Gomez vs. Brett Jackowski

EliteXC Saturday Night FIghts airs live on CBS, October 4 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 

UFC Finishes 2008 With a Bang!

The UFC’s acquisition of the Pride organization in 2007 comes in handy as 2008 slowly comes to a close. Before year’s end MMA fans will be treated to a couple of Pride-era grudge matches as well as Pride-versus-UFC dream fights. UFC 92 on December 27 brings forth the rubber match between former Pride legends Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. And UFC 93 starts off 2009 with the same theme when former Pride champion Dan Henderson faces former UFC champion Rich Franklin. Shogun Rua meets Mark Coleman again in an attempt to avenge his controversial loss to Coleman at Pride 31 where the young Brazilian suffered a broken arm. The bad blood in the aftermath of the loss resulted in near riots from the Hammerhouse and Chute Boxe fight teams both in the ring and backstage. 

Need a video reminder of this legendary feud between both Coleman and Rua’s camps?

And of course 2008 is packed with many other exciting fights from the UFC. There’s the controversial heavyweight championship bout between UFC legend Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 on November 15th and the battle of “The Ultimate Fighter” winners for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 92 on December 27th when Forrest Griffin meets Rashad Evans in the Octagon. 

Upcoming UFC Events:

Thanks to Ricky over at Ultimate-Fighter.ca for compiling the current fight card information.

UFC 89
Date: October 18th
Location: NEC Arena in Birmingham, England

Main Card
Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Luiz Cane
Keith Jardine vs. Brandon Vera
Marcus Davis vs. Paul Kelly
Paul Taylor vs. Chris Lytle

Preliminary Card
Akihiro Gono vs. Dan Hardy
Jess Liaudin vs. David Bielkheden
Sammy Schiavo vs. Per Eklund
Sam Stout vs. Terry Etim
Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain
David Baron vs. Jim Miller

UFC 90
Date: October 25th
Location: Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois

Main Card
Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote (UFC Middleweight Title)
Diego Sanchez vs. Thiago Alves
Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior dos Santos
Tyson Griffin vs. Sean Sherk
Spencer Fisher vs. Melvin Guillard
Thales Leites vs. Goran Reljic
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich
Hermes Franca vs. Marcus Aurelio
Pete Sell vs. Josh Burkman
Rich Clementi vs. Gray Maynard

UFC 91
Date: November 15th
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

Main Card
Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar (UFC Heavyweight Title)
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson
Demian Maia vs. Nate Quarry
Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory
Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Matt Riddle vs. Troy Mandaloniz
Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek
Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone
Travis Lutter vs. Joe Doerksen
Justin Buchholz vs. TBA

UFC 92
Date: December 27th
Location: Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

Main Card
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir (Interim UFC heavyweight title)
Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans (UFC Light Heavyweight Title)
Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jorge Rivera
Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
Mustafa Al-Turk vs. Cheick Kongo
Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan
Ivan Serati vs. TBA

UFC 93

Date: January 17th
Location: o2 Arena – Dublin, Ireland

Fight Card (More TBA)
Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin
Shogun Rua vs. Mark Coleman

UFC 94

Date: January 31st
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Fight Card (More TBA)
BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre (UFC Welterweight Title)
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
Dan Cramer vs. Matt Arroyo

And what would a week in review be without some cheap gossip news?

Celebrity gossip news site TMZ.com reported this week that MMA fighter Dean Lister was choked out by George Clooney. But of course it was all in fun. 

According to TMZ: “Looking like Jason Bourne’s debonair uncle, everyone’s favorite bachelor George Clooney threw a mock choke hold on mixed martial arts fighter Dean Lister during a party at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego last week.”

Stay tuned for upcoming FCT Podcasts featuring Jeff Monson and Eliot Marshall from Spike TV’s The Ultimate FIghter Season 8.

Kudos to the UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 15 will be dedicated to Evan Tanner

UFC President Dana White will be dedicating Wednesday night’s UFN 15 on SpikeTV to recently deceased veteran, Evan Tanner. The event will air live from Omaha, Nebraska and feature a main event from hometown hero Houston Alexander as he faces Eric Schafer. An Evan Tanner tribute show will also air on SpikeTV.  White told the press that the UFC  has also put together 30 second tribute spots dedicated Tanner that will begin airing soon.

Cheick Kongo and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to join Michael Bisping at Wolf’s Lair in England

It’s official. Kongo and Rampage will travel to England for training. Rampage recently fired his former longtime trainer Juanito Ibarra just after his troubles with the police in California. Be sure to listen to Full Contact Talk Episode 6 as we had Wolf’s Lair founder Kazeka Muniz in the studio discussing his future training of both Rampage and Kongo.

MMA Bad Boy in the Pokey

UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard had pulled out of his UFC 90 bout with Spencer Fisher because he is currently in custody for cocaine possession in the Harris County jail in Houston, Texas. The arrest (not Guillard’s first) was a violation of his probation for a drug charge in 2007. Rumor is that Guillard will be released to a strict drug treatment program once a vacancy is available.

Rashad Evans will face Forrest Griffin But Not At UFC 92

Evans and Griffin are set to fight for the light heavyweight title and its official. Only problem is that the fight will not occur at UFC 92 on December 27, 2008. Word is that the title fight will occur on one of the first fight cards in 2009. Rumors are leaning towards a February date for the match.

The War Machine Currently Disassembled 

Well, this is old news. A couple of days old anyway. But hey, we have been busy recording new episodes of the podcast and interviewing fighters. T.U.F. alumnus Jon “War Machine”Koppenhaver has been dropped by the UFC. Apparently The Machine was finally bitten by its own teeth when Koppenhaver made critical comments about the UFC’s pay to fighters in an unfavorable public statement about the death of Evan Tanner. War Machine also was rumored to have turned down a fight offer from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. Koppenhaver, just barely out of recent legal problems, legally changed his name to War Machine in court following a battle for the right of the title with a professional wrestler. War Machine has published several irrate and immature diatribes on his official website that probably contributed to the UFC’s decision and certainly places the young fighter alongside recently ejected Jesse Taylor and potentially Melvin Guillard in light of his current arrest. I am almost willing to bet that all of these recent UFC rejects go knocking on the door of EliteXC. After all, EliteXC does love controversy within its brand. Heck, controversy is its brand.

Stay tuned …