MMA Thread

[Bmore]

Aaron Godgers says Liddell gave him a replica belt.

[EmpireWF]

THE ICEMAN!~

[EmpireWF]

Rogan had BAS RUTTEN on his podcast yesterday

PODCAST #83 The Joe Rogan Experience

[EmpireWF]

Bloody Elbow had the link...video of Anderson and Machida sparring at Black House.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g6z0Iai-T0&feature=player_embedded"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g6z0Iai-T0&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

[SHOGUN]

That deserves its own thread.

It's interesting to see that Anderson dances around during sparring as well. I'd like to see more footage of Lyoto's groundwork.

[EmpireWF]

Rogan and Bas were talking about bullying in schools (Bas has done anti-bullying campaigns in the past) and they got on the subject of bullying in the gym and in passing, Rogan mentioned hearing stories of Hector Lombard beating up young guys in the gym.

Further google work, Lombard spars at full blast apparently and likes to throw bombs.

One time, when he was at Erik Paulson's gym, he and Josh Barnett were sparring and they ended up beating the hell out of each other with punches. Some time later, Barnett and Lombard were in the cage in the gym and Barnett took him down and wouldn't let him up for being so stiff in the gym. Some time after, Lombard called out Barnett after one of his Bellator wins and has since left Paulson's gym.

....interesting....

[SHOGUN]

MFC 28 was pretty good last night. Lots of back and forth fights. Whitson vs. DeMarc was a barnburner and one of the best fights I've seen so far this year. Disappointed Robert Washington and Matt Veach lost.

Now I'm off to watch some DEEP and ZST...

[SHOGUN]

DEEP 52 was pretty good from the fights I got the chance to watch. A few entertaining brawls. Non-title fights FTL. Iron Nakamura beat Masakazu Imanari in a non-title fight and now he has to beat him again for the DEEP BW title.

[SHOGUN]

Sakakibara And Kato Open Office?! Interesting Weeks Ahead | Nightmare Of Battle

The iconic former president of the now defunct PRIDE organization, who has been withdrawn from MMA for almost three years, is preparing his return to the world of MMA very soon.

The news ran for several weeks and rumors said that Nobuyuki Sakakibara is preparing to create a new MMA organization by spring with Takahiro Kokuho (former director of Sengoku, ASTRA, and responsible of management company J-Rock), and Hiroyuki Kato (Vice Director of DREAM, Director of PRIDE). The news/rumor was contradicted last week by Mr. Kokuho himself and this week by Keiichi Sasahara (Director of DREAM).

However, according to a source close to IKUSA it would appear that things have advanced and it seems like Mr. Sakakibara and Mr. Kato have already found an office in the Shibuya district in Tokyo. Mr. Kato has always been close to Mr. Sakakibara and always kept in touch with him when being involved with DREAM and will probably hold the reins of the future organization since the reputation of Mr. Sakakibara is not the most popular after the PRIDE affair and his alleged relationship with the Japanese mafia.

Hmmmm.

[EmpireWF]

What kind of TV could he realistically get after the Yakuza scandal?

Not to mention, is there a talent base available...even if/when DREAM ends?

[EmpireWF]

Rumored April 9th card:

Nick Diaz (c) vs. Paul Daley
Gilbert Melendez (c) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Gegard Mousasi vs. Roger Gracie
K.J. Noons vs. TBA (@ lightweight)

That appears to be it for the main card due to having 2 title fights.

Wonder what they'll have for May.

[SHOGUN]

What kind of TV could he realistically get after the Yakuza scandal?

Not to mention, is there a talent base available...even if/when DREAM ends?

How they could get TV is the biggest concern. They definitely won't be getting a primetime slot, especially with a new organization, but their chances for TV improves the further Sakakibara stays behind the scenes.

I don't think talent has never been the problem with the Japanese MMA scene. There are plenty of talented fighters in Japan, the problem is the lack of star power makes it hard to sustain interest during a time when the mainstream's interest in combat sports has waned. They simply can't keep viewers. As awesome as fighters like Hatsu Hioki, Taiki Tsuchiya and Katsunori Kikuno are, there is no mainstream demand for them like there was for KID and Masato.

[EmpireWF]

From Meltzer's update:

--Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez, the UFC and Bellator champions at lightweight, square off on Inside MMA tomorrow night on HDNet. They will discuss who is the best lightweight in the world, and build anticipation for a match that can't happen unless Bellator goes out of business.

I'll have to download the show whenever it's available via torrents.

[SHOGUN]

LOL. EA put out a patch for MMA that removes a shitload of names and generic stances. I guess ZUFFA put the clamps to them. I didn't know they could put a claim on a name like Silva.

[EmpireWF]

Meltzer:

--Dana White on Thursday night's post-fight show on Versus said that he believed the knee Michael Bisping threw was intentional and that Bisping is in a lot of trouble. Marc Ratner has been quoted as saying that the ref should have disqualified Bisping or at least deducted two points instead of one.