THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Strikeforce tried to get its train back on its tracks with "Heavy Artillery" this past Saturday, May 15. Standing atop of the card? A bulldozing pair of heavyweight sluggers in Brett Rogers and Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem.
Strikeforce billed Brett as the “big man” coming into the fight. During the fight however, the steroid-accused muscle-bulging Overeem tossed Rogers to the floor like a sack of manure.
The power punching, horse-munching Dutchman basically shrugged Rogers off of him and sent him and his meteoric rise crashing down. The inevitable occurred shortly thereafter.
Overeem subsequently likened his victory over Rogers to being knocked out by Shogun Rua at Pride’s 2005 Grand Prix and receiving a third place trophy for his efforts.
Strikeforce managed to catch 300K+ viewers for this heavyweight throw down. There also were no late punches after the bell, by either fighter or his related posse. That’s encouraging for Strikeforce and MMA in general.
Coker’s true measure will come from whether he’s able to pit Fedor in a cage (not Japanese ring) against Overeem. Coker’s been prudent enough to allow time for Alistair Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko’s proper introduction to the American audience.
The promotional landscape is now suitably set for Coker’s coveted Heavyweight ace. If Scott Coker is able to get this done, it could be Strikeforce’s biggest fight yet.
First, the electri-froed Don King played his best Wiley Coyote and filed—successfully—a court injunction spoiling their headlining fight: Din Thomas versus former Boxing Champion Ricardo Mayorga.
And then the dominoes of disaster came crashing down one by one…
Because of King’s predictable shenanigans, Shine CEO Devin Price found himself court-bound for the rest of the day and consequently couldn’t withdraw the money necessary for the North Carolina Boxing Authority’s purse confirmation. This forced the commission to cancel the fight on one regard.
Somehow, the doctor scheduled for the fight doesn’t show up and the fight gets cancelled on two fronts.
The fall guy? Shine Matchmaker Ron Foster. He “resigned”.
‘Hektor’ Heeds: Respect Me or Expect Punishment
Bellator’s most UFC ready fighter? Most would say Eddie Alvarez, and I can’t argue with that.
It looks like Strikeforce is going to continue its promiscuous ways. Desperate to spice things up again in his lightweight division, Scott Coker looks to Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney for a sacrificial lamb.
First up, Eddie Alvarez. I always found him overrated on many a top-ten listings, and I look for Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez to vindicate that notion.
Suffering through monogamy is not the Scott Coker way, and for a fan that makes for stimulating matchups.
Keep swinging, Scottie.
The Voice’s ‘Nipple-Hardening’ Definition of Martial Arts
If you haven’t read it yet, Michael “The Voice” Schiavello, K:1/MFC/King of the Cage/Dream commentator wrote a provocative piece regarding the effect successful MMA wrestling has on mainstream appeal.
His preferred nomenclature is “Mixed Fighting Sports”. He finds Mixed Martial Arts a misnomer. Neither wrestling nor boxing are martial arts, by his account.
While they may or may not include the spiritual development that traditional martial arts help to nurture, their utility in MMA is immeasurable.
Hate it or love it, wrestling makes mixed martial arts fighting real.
I suppose UFC Founder Art Davie answered Schiavello’s prayers in the form of his sure-to-be-stillbirth brainchild: Arm-wrestling meets MMA.
Ask, and you shall receive. Happy now, Schiavello?!
Is Fitness MMA’s Ticket to Mainstream Respect?
Jay Glazer and Randy Couture have jointly sprouted a new business venture: cross-training mainstream athletes in MMA. MMAthletic’s biggest acquisition has been the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. Yeah, the whole flipping dirty-birding team.
Next season, what’s good for the Falcons, is even better for MMA’s mainstream exposure and approval.
Et, tu, Joe?
Oh brother. This Lauzon soap-opera is getting dicey. Joe Lauzon, among others, jumped ship on his younger brother’s UFC 114 camp, inciting ire out of Dan.
With Dan Lauzon’s fratricidal juices flowing, does this mean Lauzon versus Lauzon is fair game again?
’I’m Right Here in Yo MoF****** Face!’
UFC 114’s Light Heavyweight Contention bout brings us the most naturally heated rivalry—ever. This kettle of contempt has been furiously boiling since 2004—when Rampage rejected Rashad’s offer to train together.
Then you had the profanity-laced post fight face off at UFC 96. That was nothing. It was during their tenure as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 10 that their bombastic disdain grew to epochal proportions.
It’s a shame really, because during Jackson’s Pride run Rashad actually idolized Rampage. When Wanderlei Silva massacred Rampage, Rashad was “crushed”.
Awaiting the winner? Red-hot Light-Heavyweight Champion Shogun Rua, who buzz-sawed through Rampage in 2005. In fact, Shogun still haunts Rampage to this day.
As I pined for last week, I had hoped Dana White would make Anderson Silva face the winner. I think both Rashad and Rampage could force Anderson to fight with his eyes open, due to their freakish athleticism and power-bombing wrestling.
At any rate, this May 29th promises to bring fistic thunder.
Depending on whom you’re rooting for, don’t forget to keep your snuggies and pillows at arm’s length. Someone’s getting knocked out cold.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP