Hi and welcome back to yet another edition of the Wrap Up. There's a lot of interesting developments brewing in the world of Combat Sport this summer, so let's catch you up with some of the highlights.IS AFFLICTION THE NEWEST 'FASHION' FOR MMA?
In every popular media, there's always at least two types of fans. First, there's the mainstream fan who knows all about the most popular stuff. In music, that would be the guy who follows American Idol and Billboard's Top 40. For Movies, is would be that person who checks out all the major releases and blockbusters. This person would know all about the most popular actors and directors, he or she could tell you how many millions the top movies made this week or which ones are likely to win an Oscar.
However, there's also another type of fan; The person who loves a particular art or media form, yet somehow also shuns anything considered mainstream. In music, this type of fan couldn't care less about Top 40, but would tell you more than you'd ever care to learn about some obscure Jazz artist or a little known Punk Rock band from the 70s.
In movies, this type of fan would know all about the Independent films supported at the Sundance Film Festival or artsy Foreign movies playing at a local movie house. This type of fan doesn't care about Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie... in fact, he tends to pride himself on the fact that his interest isn't shared by most people.
Now, in the world of Combat Sport, the mainstream person is undoubtedly a UFC fan. For most people "Ultimate Fighting" and "Mixed Martial Arts" is the same thing. The UFC is the best promoted and best advertised MMA organization in the world. Fighters like Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Matt Hughes, Anderson Silva, and Georges St. Pierre are easily recognised by even the most casual fans.
The Ultimate Fighter Television show has brought even more fans to this growing sport. Everyone knows and loves UFC.
But, like music and movies, where do the outsiders go when they want to see a good fight? Which organizations do they follow? What do the 'Cool Kids' like?
Well, MMARated.com's Ariel Helwani recently did a piece on the Affliction Event coming up next month... and it looks like Affliction just might be setting itself up as the new Anti-UFC.
It seems to me that while the rest of the world is concerned with the Forrest Griffin/Quinton Jackson matchup at UFC 86, the Combat Sport fans that are 'in-the-know' will be talking about the Emelianenko-Sylvia fight.
Helwani seems to imply that the Affliction:Banned event won't do very well because it won't sell anywhere near the amount of pay-per-views as a UFC Event - And he's right... the UFC will kick their butt in gross event sales.
However, remember that Affliction is a clothing line. They aren't trying to sell tickets, they're trying to sell t-shirts. I'm guessing that Affliction isn't trying to be the next UFC, rather they are trying to be the lesser known, but cooler, alternative to the UFC.
They want the die-hard fans, the people who spend money on combat sport clothing, to buy their merchandise... and I think their plan just might work.
So, for you casual fans out there let's get you caught up on the Affliction: 'Banned' fights which will take place at the Honda Center ("The Pond") in Anaheim, California on July 19th.
The main event, and the only fight that most people are talking about, is a WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts) Heavyweight Title fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia.
Here's a quick promo that lets you see these guys in action:
Other matches on the card include:
Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Ben Rothwell vs. TBA
Paul Buentello vs. Aleksander Emelianenko
Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Nascimento
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
On the Preliminary Card:
Ray Lazama vs. Justin Levens
Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young
J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight
Brett Cooper vs. Mike Pyle
TDATRAINING HELPS SPREAD RUMORS ABOUT UFC 'ANNOUNCEMENT'
CagePotato.com mentioned last week that UFC President, Dana White was preparing to make a "huge" announcement that would "blow people's minds." He added mystery to his announcement of the announcement by stating that even his employees didn't know about it and that it would be "an indicator of where this business is going over the next five years."
He was supposed to make this announcement, or proclamation, or whatever on Thursday, but then postponed it until tomorrow. (Even more suspense... how will I ever be able to stand it? Please Dana, tell us what it is! Please, Please, Please! -Is Kimbo Slice going to fight Chuck Liddell? Did Anderson Silva discover a cure for cancer? Tell US!)
Of course, this mysterious announcement has led to all kinds of rumors and speculation over the Internet. And what kind of blog would TDATraining be if we didn't help spread some of them?
So here it goes. (Yes, these are all actual rumors of Dana White's announcement.)
- First, is that the UFC will buy the IFL. (This is actually possible - although unlikely, as the IFL is going through serious financial difficulties and may be for sale for as little as 1 million dollars)
- The UFC will begin holding events in New York city. (The state of New York is now considering allowing mixed martial art competition, however there have recently been set-backs in the legislature. Some people speculate that this is the reason White had to postpone his big announcement. - Although this rumor seems believable, it's hardly something that would blow anyone's mind or act as an indicator for the business for the next five years.)
- Vince McMahon of the WWE will provide financial support to help Dana White purchase the UFC from Zuffa. (What!? Yeah, that one's not going to happen... I think this rumor started because the former WWE star, Brock Lesnar, was with Dana when he made the announcement about his announcement.)
- The UFC is going to go public. (Yeah, I know; not very exciting, nor very surprising. The UFC is doing very well. It would make a lot of sense for them to enter the stock market. This is probably what all the hype is about. - Hey Dana, if you guys are all really about to become filthy, dirty, rotten, stinking rich in the market, why not consider sharing some of your wealth with the fighters who bleed so that you can live it up so well?)
The Ultimate Fighter television show ends its season on Saturday with a final showdown between the top 185lb fighters from the program. The event will also feature a bout between the former middleweight champion Evan Tanner and TUF season #3 Champ Kendall Grove.
The fights will take place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and will be broadcast for free on Spike TV. It all starts at 9:00pm ET.
MMAMania.com has a complete list of the fights which include:
Main event:
Evan Tanner (32-7) vs. Kendall Grove (8-5)
Main card (televised):
TUF 7 Finalist #1 vs. TUF 7 Finalist #2
Diego Sanchez (18-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (12-3)
Josh Burkman (9-5) vs. Dustin Hazelett (10-4)
Spencer Fisher (20-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (13-2)
Under card (May not be broadcast):
Marvin Eastman (15-7-1) vs. Drew McFedries (6-3)
Dean Lister (10-5) vs. Jeremy Horn (79-17-5)
Matt Arroyo (3-1) vs. Matt Brown (6-6)
Dante Rivera vs. Matthew Riddle
Rob Yundt (6-1) vs. Rob Kimmons (20-3)
The team Coaches, Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson will also face off at UFC 86 at The Mandalay Bay Resort in Vegas on July 5th.
EXTREMELY LOCAL FIGHT COVERAGE UPDATE
Last week we told you about the Adrenaline Fights coming to Chicago. - I also recall wondering if Chicagoans would come out to the 'burbs to watch a fight... turns out that they didn't.
Our friends at Combatwire.com report that the attendance was rather poor; only about 2,500 fans. I'm going to stick with my argument that city people won't leave the city for an event and not enough suburbanites are into Combat Sport to fill the stadium. Also $40.00 for nose-bleed seats is a bit expensive and having a mma event on Father's Day does not constitute 'Family' entertainment.
The event was also hampered by an injury for one of the main event fighters, Jeff Munson; who had to drop out due to a broken hand during training. Jason Guida, (the older brother of famed UFC lightweight Clay Guida) was brought in at the last minute to finish the card.
Anyway, here's the fight results from Combatwire.com
Main Card:
Mike Russow def. Jason Guida, Submission-Neck Crank, Rd1
Terry Martin def. Daiju Takase, Disqualification- Groin strikes, Rd2
Forrest Petz def. Brian Gassaway, Majority Decision
Bart Palaszewski def. Jeff Cox, KO- Head Kick, Rd2
Rory Markham def. Jay Ellis, Submission- Triangle Choke, Rd1
Clay French def. Jameel Massouh, Submission- Rear Choke, Rd2
Joe Jordan def. Ryan Williams, Unanimous Decision
Preliminary Fights:
Mike Stumpf def. Don O'Grady - Rd 2 TKO strikes
Tom Belt def. Marcus Levesseur - Rd 1 TKO strikes
Herc Hayes def. Kerry Schall - Decision
Aaron Rosa Def. Ron Fields - Round 2 TKO strikes
Hector urbina Def. Dave Kleczkowski - Rd 2 TKO strikes
Louis Taylor Def. Adam Maciejewski - Decision
Joe Pearson Def. John Hosman - Rd 1 Triangle
Okay, that's going to do it for another edition of the Wrap Up. Check back again soon as we continue to bring you the 'Best of the Web' in Combat Sport competition.
Rick
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