UFC on Fox: You want cross-promotion? We?ve got cross-promotion

The UFC announced its seven-year deal with FOX on Thursday, promising plenty of cross-promotion between existing FOX entities and the UFC. To help out the network and the promotion, Cagewriter has a few ideas:

A "Glee"/"The Ultimate Fighter" crossover episode -- The fighters have to put together a song and dance to get New Directions to regionals. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray finally solve their difference in the Octagon. Dana White and Mr. Schu smile and nod a ton. How could this go wrong?

Put the "American Idol" spin on "The Ultimate Fighter" -- Televise the tryouts, and have a panel either over-praise or break the hearts of every contestant.

"The Family Guy" goes to a UFC show -- Peter Griffin and his buddies head to catch some fights with some buddies in Quahog, only to find out that Brian has his UFC debut, with Stewie as his cornerman. Roy Nelson has a cameo.

Feed a fighter challenge on "Hell's Kitchen" -- The chefs have to create a post weigh-in dinner for Anderson Silva. It has to take into account his nutritional needs and love for fast food. Can they handle it, or will the chefs turn on each other? (Hint: It's reality TV. They're going to turn on each other.)

"So You Think You Can Dance: UFC edition" -- Fighters sure like to show off their moves on their way to the Octagon or after fights. Is it too much to ask for a UFC dance-off? No. No, it is not.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-on-Fox-You-want-cross-promotion-We-ve-got-?urn=mma-wp6044

Dave Gomez Keith Hackney Matt Hamill Volk Han

UFC on Fox: You want cross-promotion? We?ve got cross-promotion

The UFC announced its seven-year deal with FOX on Thursday, promising plenty of cross-promotion between existing FOX entities and the UFC. To help out the network and the promotion, Cagewriter has a few ideas:

A "Glee"/"The Ultimate Fighter" crossover episode -- The fighters have to put together a song and dance to get New Directions to regionals. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray finally solve their difference in the Octagon. Dana White and Mr. Schu smile and nod a ton. How could this go wrong?

Put the "American Idol" spin on "The Ultimate Fighter" -- Televise the tryouts, and have a panel either over-praise or break the hearts of every contestant.

"The Family Guy" goes to a UFC show -- Peter Griffin and his buddies head to catch some fights with some buddies in Quahog, only to find out that Brian has his UFC debut, with Stewie as his cornerman. Roy Nelson has a cameo.

Feed a fighter challenge on "Hell's Kitchen" -- The chefs have to create a post weigh-in dinner for Anderson Silva. It has to take into account his nutritional needs and love for fast food. Can they handle it, or will the chefs turn on each other? (Hint: It's reality TV. They're going to turn on each other.)

"So You Think You Can Dance: UFC edition" -- Fighters sure like to show off their moves on their way to the Octagon or after fights. Is it too much to ask for a UFC dance-off? No. No, it is not.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-on-Fox-You-want-cross-promotion-We-ve-got-?urn=mma-wp6044

Dave Gomez Keith Hackney Matt Hamill Volk Han

?Strikeforce HW GP Semifinals: Barnett vs. Kharitonov? Fight Card Updated

Now that the UFC has officially announced their monumental television broadcast deal with FOX, it’s “business as usual” for the rest of the MMA world. Speaking of the UFC’s little brother, the roster for “Strikeforce HW GP Semifinals: Barnett vs. Kharitonov” is nearly complete. The September 10th show takes place inside the U.S. Bank Arena [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/85940/strikeforce-hw-gp-semifinals-barnett-vs-kharitonov-fight-card-updated/

Kevin Knabjian John Kolosci Cheick Kongo Josh Koscheck

Brock Lesnar Is Back, and That's Bad News for Prairie Dogs

Filed under:

In case you were wondering how Brock Lesnar spent his summer vacation, the fine folks at Fusion Ammo have released this video of him having a sponsor-rific time killing prairie dogs with assault rifles in North Dakota.

Is it possible that they've gone a little overboard with the guitar riffs and explosion effects in this video, considering the fact that they're on a glorified varmint hunt with advanced high-caliber weaponry? A little, yeah.

But God bless him, nothing seems to fire Lesnar up as much as getting out in the great outdoors and killing for fun. And sure, he takes a moment to relax with some hoagies and some beef jerky (also sponsors) and talk about his MMA career, too.

"I believe there's still a bright future in the UFC for me," Lesnar says, after discussing his recent operation and bouts with diverticulitis. "My health is a hundred percent. I feel great. My motivation is there and I want to get on the map again. I want to become the UFC heavyweight champion again and I believe I will do that."

In the meantime, however, he appears to be having a pretty good time bouncing small mammals across the plains with high-powered firearms.

Granted, prairie dogs are considered a pest in many places, so they probably won't be missed too terribly in Selfridge, N.D. At the same time, there's something incongruous about a gigantic man getting so excited about killing rodents from a great distance. Not that there's not skill involved, but when you've got a scope and a shooting rest and the prairie dog has only his dichromatic vision and cooperative social instincts, it's not exactly a sporting contest.

Of course, Lesnar is probably entirely unconcerned with the segment of the population that might be turned off by seeing him pop prairie dogs for fun. After all, he's getting sponsor dollars for this "hunt," and it's not as if he was courting the PETA crowd before this video came out.

Still, when he talks about how shooting prairie dogs gave him a "respect for the smaller stuff" -- and by stuff he means caliber, not the small, furry animal he just decapitated -- do you think he paused at all to appreciate the irony of his own statement? No, me neither.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/08/18/brock-lesnar-is-back-and-thats-bad-news-for-prairie-dogs/

Roger Huerta Matt Hughes Matt Hume Mark Hunt

Facepalms of the week: ?Mayhem? and Bellator prospect arrested

Facepalms of the week: ?Mayhem? and Bellator prospect arrested

It's been a while since Cagewriter has awarded the facepalm of the week award, but it's time to give it out for two fighters who were arrested recently.

The first one goes to Jason "Mayhem" Miller, the fighter who also hosts "Bully Beatdown" and will be featured as a coach on the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter." TMZ reports that he was arrested in North Carolina for false imprisonment and simple assault after he reportedly put his sister in a headlock and wouldn't let her leave a party.

The second, heartbreaking facepalm goes out to Rasul Mirzaev, a Russian fighter who was expected to make his American debut in Bellator this fall. He was reportedly arrested and charged in the death of a student in Moscow. Mirzaev allegedly was in a verbal altercation with the student and threw a single punch, which knocked the student out. He died four days later, and Mirzaev faces up to 15 years in jail.

In both cases, fighters used their physical skills outside of the cage against people who weren't equipped to defend themselves. A facepalm isn't strong enough to show disgust in these cases.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Facepalms-of-the-week-Mayhem-and-Bellator-pro?urn=mma-wp6088

Jake O Brien Naoya Ogawa Sean O Haire Yushin Okami

?Bang? Ludwig gives Sadollah a stand-up lesson at UFC on Versus 5

Duane Ludwig is still a relatively young fighter, but the guy has logged 88 pro fights between mixed martial arts and kickboxing, so when Amir Sadollah decided to stand with a guy nicknamed "Bang," he was asking for it.

What Sadollah got was a beating for two rounds and probably a major headache. Ludwig stormed to a unanimous decision victory, 29-28 on all three scorecards, at UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee, Wis.

"I've been doing this since I was 15. Not to be boastful, but I'm good at what I do," Ludwig, 33, said. "I just have good composure. I drill these things over and over."

Sadollah (6-3, 6-3 UFC) has an excellent Muay Thai background, but not on the pro level. He's also not a great boxer and Ludwig took advantage of a guy in just his ninth professional fight. From the opening seconds, Ludwig landed wicked combinations inside. The left hook was especially devastating as Sadollah looked a step slow in the pocket.

The champ from Season 7 of "The Ultimate Fighter," showed a granite chin because he got rocked and appeared to be on shaky legs with 1:25 left in the first. It happened again in the second when Bang ripped him with a left hook with 2:40 left in the round.

Sadollah, who's a pretty solid ground fighter from the top, tried to get it to the mat often, but failed on eight occasions.

"I'm not playing. I'm a mixed martial artist," proclaimed Ludwig about his takedown defense.

Ludwig (21-11, 4-2 UFC) tired a bit in the third, but his stamina was still better than many of his previous fights where he's cost himself victories due to exhaustion. Frankly, Ludwig was probably a little shocked that some of those shots over the first two rounds didn't finish Sadollah.

"Amir ... he's good man. I wasn't nervous for this fight and that got me scared. Amir is a tough guy," Ludwig said.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Bang-Ludwig-gives-Sadollah-a-stand-up-lesson-a?urn=mma-wp5858

Mike Patt Ivan Pack Ido Pariente Karo Parisyan

AMADI: UFC's standards for MMA competition raised with Fox TV deal; women's MMA not yet on that level

By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist

Staff10Amadi_130_60.jpg

The UFC's deal with the Fox Broadcasting Company doesn't instantly change everything. Unfortunately, the announcement in and of itself doesn't automatically convert 100 million Americans into die hard mixed martial arts fans. However, what it does do is afford the UFC the means and opportunity to exponentially grow their brand by joining elite American sports leagues like the NFL, NHL, and NASCAR in providing Fox networks with regular live sports content.

Fox Sports' level of commitment to the UFC brand stands in stark contrast to the type of apathy present in the deals Strikeforce and Elite XC were able to secure with CBS. Rather than seemingly airing fights on a whim, Fox is providing a home to a number of UFC programs and hopes to help the brand grow and succeed at the highest level. In turn, the UFC has to provide the best mixed martial arts content possible, and do away with the type of freak show chicanery that were prominently featured in Strikeforce and especially Elite XC broadcasts. Chief among the things the UFC should and probably will wind up avoiding is women's MMA.

Most people argue in favor of the UFC embracing women's mixed martial arts out of some sort of twisted sense of propriety, but the truth is that showcasing women's MMA at this point in time might be detrimental to its long term success.

By this point, we've all seen plenty of women on major MMA events, and to be honest, very few of them have been good. Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, a fight between two of the more skilled female mixed martial artists at this time, was still an incredibly sloppy affair. While the ratings that fight pulled off are a triumph for women's MMA and a true testament to Gina Carano's drawing power at the time, the fight itself looked more like a sloppy brawl than a high level athletic contest.

If and (more than likely) when Zuffa does away with Strikeforce and strips it for parts, women's MMA would make a perfect niche for an up and coming organization like Pro Elite. Pro Elite or even perhaps another organization that hasn't yet established itself could grow along with women's MMA and the two would complement each other perfectly.

Female fights are already a tough sell, and the UFC is just now gaining the type of mainstream acceptance necessary to possibly usher in women's MMA a few years down the line. Perhaps when more world class judoka like Ronda Rousey or world class wrestlers like Sara McMann evolve as fighters and set a standard for more high level competition, women's MMA should be featured on UFC broadcasts. But at this point, the UFC is of a higher standard.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JasonAmadi. If you're a woman, don't hate me.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/amadis_take/article_10196.shtml

Mike Van Arsdale Paul Varelans Jovany Anaconda Varela Tony Vartanian

UFC on FOX main card features just two fights

The UFC and FOX are slipping Manny Pacquiao's punch in the first event of their new partnership.

The main card of the yet-unnumbered show on Nov. 12 will feature just two fights as opposed to the usual four or five, the "Las Vegas Sun" reported Thursday.

As a result, the mega-popular boxing champ's fight with Juan Manuel Marquez won't overlap. The Nov. 12 event will still be a full card, but more matches will be "dark," and likely streamed on Facebook.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/hnh1vlxWiKI/ufc-on-fox-main-card-features-just-two-fights.mma

Mike Patt Ivan Pack Ido Pariente Karo Parisyan