Gomi – Oliveira completes “Trilogy” PPV

Gomi-Oliveira completes Affliction M-1 Global’s “Trilogy” PPV card Fedor Emelianenko
Josh Barnett headline August 1 in Anaheim

SEAL BEACH, California (July 6, 2009)—Japanese combat fighting superstar Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi has been added to the Affliction M-1 Global’s locked-and-loaded “Trilogy” card against upset-minded Rafaello “Tractor” Oliveira, completing the five-fight Pay-Per-View event, live August 1 from Honda Center in Anaheim.

The premier heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter in the universe, Russian icon Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (30-1-0), defends his WAMMA heavyweight title against No. 1 contender, Josh “The Babyfaced Assassin” Barnett (24-5-0), in the special main event. GoDaddy.com presents Affliction M-1 Global’s “Trilogy,” featuring Fedor vs. Barnett in association with Golden Boy Promotions and Donald J Trump.

The show is separated into two live broadcasts on the same night—a one-hour special will air on HDNet starting at 7:30 PM/ET (4:30 PM/PT), followed by the sensational Pay-Per-View event, “Trilogy,” commencing at 9PM/ET (6 PM/PT). Gomi (30-5-0), 4-time All-Japan Combat Wrestling Champion, is a former Shooto welterweight and PRIDE lightweight title-holder. His strong wrestling background and ambidextrous striking ability make him a dual threat to contend with. The Japanese warrior will be fighting in the United States for only the second time in his pro career.

Among his many victims is former UFC® champion, Jens Pulver. The once-beaten Oliveira (8-1-0), fighting out of Knoxville, has won three in a row in 2009, since suffering his only loss by doctor stoppage last October. Also appearing is Strikeforce® Light Heavyweight Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-8-0), who takes on Armenian kick-boxing artist Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi (25-2-1), making his American debut in an intriguing co-main event. Also on the PPV card is former UFC® Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort (18-8-0) against Sengoku middleweight title-holder Jorge Santiago (21-7-0), while knockout specialist Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel (36-13-1), fresh off of his devastating first-round knockout of 3-time UFC® heavyweight title challenger Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo, squares-off with former UFC® heavyweight title challenger, Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello,.

The stacked undercard on HDNet features ex-IFL® Welterweight Champion Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron (17-4-0) versus former Cage Rage belt-holder Paul “Semtex” Daley (21-8-2), young lightweight prospects Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (12-1-0) and Dan “The Upgrade” Lauzon (12-2-0), and former IFL® heavyweight titlist “Big” Ben Rothwell (30-6-0) tangles with hot, unbeaten prospect Chase Gormley (6-0-0). Two other HDNet fights include featherweight L.C. Davis (13-2-0) meeting former KOTC and Gladiator Challenge champion Javier “Showtime” Vasquez (13-2-0), and former IFL® lightweight challenger Deividas Taurosevicius (10-3-0) facing Mark “The Machine” Hominick (16-8-0).

Two off-television matches are also on tap between heavyweights Jessie Gibbs (7-2-0) and Rob Broughton (10-4-1), as well as Brazilian light heavyweight Lucio Linhares (12-4-0) and Mikhail Zayats (8-3-0). All fights and fighters are subject to change. For more information go online to www.afflictionclothing.com. Tickets for Affliction M-1’s “Trilogy” range between $50.00 and $600.00, are on sale at Honda Center Box Office (1.714.704.2500) and also online at Ticketmaster.com and all Ticket Master outlets (1.714740.2000).

Affliction Already a mainstay for the most elite athletes, heaviest bands, A-listers and the fashion conscious, Affliction Clothing’s ability to set the bar high in fashion is evident in its collection’s indulgence of style and design, focus on quality, and its trademark series of divinely executed, dark and powerful themes. (www.afflictionclothing.com)

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Daily Five – Jul. 7, 2009

1. Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard to headline UFC Fight Night 19
2. Chris Leben to return from steroid suspension against Jake Rosholt at UFC 102
3. UFC 100 Countdown airs tonight on SpikeTV
4. BJ Penn making sure to not “overtrain” for UFC 101 fight with Kenny Florian
5. The backlash over the new UFC “sponsor task” continues to grow

Source: MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

A Tale of Three Fight Cards

The months of July and August will provide some excellent mixed martial arts action for both the “hardcore” and casual MMA fans.

The UFC is putting their full weight behind this weekend’s UFC 100 event and the associated UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas, NV. Just around the corner in August, however, both Strikeforce and Affliction will put on equally impressive fight cards of their own.

There is no denying that UFC 100 is a solid fight card, but is it any more spectacular than other UFC events in the past? Zuffa has said all along they were going to do something “big” for the centennial event, and there really is no denying that UFC 100 is an excellent fight card.

The main fight card features both the UFC’s heavyweight and welterweight belts on the line, as well as a No. one contender’s match in the middleweight division. Throw in Jon Fitch and they North American debut of Yoshihiro Akiyama and the PPV portion of UFC 100 is tough to top.

Not to be outdone, Affliction will hold their third event on August 1 with their Affliction: Trilogy fight card.

Trilogy brings perhaps and even more “star-studded” lineup to their PPV main card. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett, Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato Sobral, Jorge Santiago vs. Vitor Belfort, Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel, Jay Hieron vs. Paul Daley and the North American debut of Takanori Gomi.

While the average UFC fan might not get as excited for the Trilogy fight card, most MMA fans would have a hard time picking UFC 100 over Affliction: Trilogy.

Also throwing their cards into the mix, Strikeforce continues to add new fights to their event scheduled for August 15 on Showtime.

Strikeforce will hold the first “major” MMA event to be headlined by a women’s fight as Gina Carano finally takes on Cristiane Santos. Strikeforce will also one-up the UFC as they put three title belts on the line: Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez will rematch for the lightweight title, Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum will fight for the heavyweight belt, and Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs will fight to crown a new welterweight champion.

Which fight card is best? I don’t think it really matters. For MMA fans, we are being treated to three excellent fight cards with stacked fight cards. How can we be anything but happy.

Source: MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

BJ Penn Continues Lifelong Vigilance Against ‘Overtraining’

(No, B.J.  That does not count as working on your clinch game.)

There are any number of concerns one might have about B.J. Penn’s readiness when he shows up to fight.  That he might be suffering from ‘overtraining’ is typically not one of them.  And yet, without a hint of irony, that’s what Penn says he is effectively guarding against for his UFC lightweight title fight with Kenny Florian at UFC 101.  As he tells AroundHawaii.com (via MMA Mania):

“The training’s going great for UFC 101. I’m making sure not to overtrain. And, you know we started a couple months ago, and I’m training with Marv Marinovich, and we’ll be spending our last 8 weeks in California with a bunch of good training partners, with Marv Marinovich there, Jason Parillo will be there, Rudy Valentino’s gonna fly up, so I feel VERY good about this training camp.”

Well, that’s a load off our minds.  In a related story, Thiago Alves assured reporters that he wouldn’t come in underweight for his fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100, while Mark Coleman vowed not to be too young and vivacious for his bout with Stephan Bonnar.

Source: Cage Potato - MMA News, Knockout Videos, and the Hottest Ring Girls

Breaking News: Brock Lesnar Is Not a Steve Mazzagatti Fan

This clip from the UFC 100 "Countdown" show makes it seem as if maybe Brock Lesnar is displacing some of his rage over losing the first Frank Mir fight.  Turns out he really hates Steve Mazzagatti, which we already knew, what with his specific request to have anyone but Mazzagatti work his bout with Randy Couture at UFC 91.  But when you force him to watch the video of his loss to Mir the anger really comes to the surface.  The things he hates about Mazzagatti include, but are not limited to:

1) His slow reaction time
2) His oversensitivity to the back of the head region
3) His mustache

Basically, he just hates the guy.  Not that he’s the only one.

Source: Cage Potato - MMA News, Knockout Videos, and the Hottest Ring Girls

UFC Undisputed Update Patch Coming

Gamers voiced their opinions and THQ listened, as it was announced earlier today that the gaming company will release a patch for UFC Undisputed 2009 that will fix several issues that players have complained about since the game’s May 19th release. (Read More…)

Source: 5thRound.com - UFC 89 Play-by-Play, UFC News, MMA News, Interviews

UFC 100 video blog with Dana White (Episode three)

Source: UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets — MMAmania.com

UFC Inks New DVD Distribution Deal

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 8 — Anchor Bay Entertainment announced today that it has acquired DVD distribution rights in North America for the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC(R)) brand and will begin rolling out the high-octane sport titles in September of this year in the U.S. Canada will begin releasing titles in 2010. Offering 12 to 14 live PPV events annually, along with televised specials, a reality series, toys, trading cards, and official gear, UFC(R) has become an international phenomenon. Formed in 1993, the UFC(R) brand is in its 16th year of operation as a professional mixed martial arts organization.

“We think UFC(R) is a perfect fit for our company and we’re looking forward to giving fans more than they expected with each release,” said Anchor Bay Entertainment President, Bill Clark. “We’re known for cutting-edge entertainment and this is the hottest sport around - many of these fighters have already become cult heroes.”

Added UFC President, Dana White, “UFC(R) is not a team sport, but I think ABE and the UFC(R) will make for a great team. We have very loyal fans that want to watch their favorite fights again and again; these releases will give them the ability to do that. Fans also expect a level of quality from our brand and we know that Anchor Bay Entertainment is the right company to uphold that high standard.”

Anchor Bay Entertainment plans to roll out the highly rated UFC(R) television events 60 days after airdate with over 300 minutes of material; this will include the main event fight, four co-featured fights and five preliminary fights. In addition, each release will include bonus materials featuring behind the scene footage that will give viewers a fly-on-the-wall perspective.

Source: MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA

UFC 100: Go behind the scenes on July 11

Props: UFC.com/BK

Quoteworthy:

“The locker rooms of Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir and George St. Pierre; as well as the Octagon Girls, will be viewable via Beyond The Octagon, powered by Burger King, a LIVE multi-video broadcast on Saturday, from 5 p.m. PT to 10 p.m. PT.”

Yet another option just in case you needed an even bigger UFC 100 fix this weekend — as if there wasn’t already enough headed our way these next few days. Remember that MMAmania.com will have LIVE UFC 100 results and updates on fight night (”Digg” us right here). We’re getting there, Maniacs. Slowly …

Source: UFC blog for UFC news, results, videos, rumors, fights, pics and tickets — MMAmania.com

GSP vs Thiago Alves: Two Ways to Tackle Tax on Sponsors

GSP vs Thiago Alves…it is a match up that might go down in history. It is also a nice case study on how fighters may take different avenues of attack to combat the sponsor tax that has been implemented by the UFC recently. The business braintrust for the two seem to have taken divergent paths, each with their own strong points.

Welterweight Champ GSP isn’t a fighter that will be much affected by the sponsor tax. For quite sometime GSP has chosen to enter the Octagon sans signage, with a few notable exceptions. One exception was trunk signage for the THQ UFC videogame in the Fitch fight, which for obvious reasons probably got a waiver…..probably. The other instance recently was his Silver Star walk-in shirt for the BJ Penn fight, but judging from the ubiquity of Silver Star apparel their are either happily paying the tax or are in a TapouT/CageFighter type deal with the UFC. But for the most part GSP has maintained a clean appearance in the Octagon, instead aligning with premium, mainstream brands outside the Octagon like Gatorade. Such a philosophy has a few benefits. One is avoiding potential approval hassles, which basically amounts to a back and forth tussle with UFC Sponsor Czar Mike Mersch over what can and can’t get through. Another benefit is having the fighter accrue all the goodwill of the relationship with the sponsor instead of having the UFC gloam off the deal financially and through exposure. With a deal like Gatorade, having the “G” in the Octagon gives credibility to the UFC, not the other way around. Also, the UFC did zero to cultivate Gatorade as a sponsor and would basically be making a buck off the sweat of the manager’s efforts. The major drawback to this strategy is that it would only be a viable option to the higher end fighters who would be attractive to the blue chip sponsors with out the UFC’s implicit involvement, (think Rashad in the Microsoft ad.)

With his opponent Thiago Alves, you have a different tack. With Thiago you have a fighter who has already set up deals that are UFC friendly. He has a nice size annual deal with TapouT, featuring his own signature line shirt, so he gets comparable compensation to others that have deals with apparel companies like Silver Star and Dethrone, while at the same time having this deal with a company that is in no danger of being turfed out by UFC management any time soon. Thiago also has a big annual deal with Champion Nutrition, who recently inked a deal with Tapout to design, distribute and market the Tapout Sports Nutrition brand. If the Champion Brand is verboten, the TapouT brand is a fallback position that will still allow Thiago to get paid. By hitching his wagon to UFC linked brands, Thiago would seem to be in a less volatile sponsorship situation with the recent sponsor tax implementation.

With Thiago you have a fighter that has more tightly embedded himself in the UFC web, while GSP seems to have taken the philosophy of building up sponsor revenue streams that will be independent of the whims of the UFC and their latest cash grab. A winner in the Octagon will be decided this Saturday night, but the win winner in the sponsorship realm will only be decided over the course of time.

Source: MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA