On Friday, it was announced that Thiago Silva had to withdraw from his UFC 89 match with Machida.
http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/injured-silva-withdraws-from-ufc-89-14296
So, much for getting to watch 2 of the top 5 light heavyweights in the world fight for free, and probably fight for a title show.
But, that's ok because there's a free WEC event coming up this week, right? Wrong, that event had to be delayed until November.
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/09/06/wecs-sept-10-event-postponed-until-nov-5/
In two days, we lost one of the best free MMA fights of all time and had a WEC event pushed back 2 months. Fuck
Showing posts with label free mma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free mma. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
I didn't see that coming...
Damn, apparently Evans knocked Liddell way the fuck out of the title picture, or at least as out of the title picture as one of MMA's biggest names can be, and knocked himself off the "I won't pay to watch" list by Sean Salmon'ing Liddell.
Who now fights Forrest Griffin for the light heavyweight belt in December?
Liddell's out of contention, Machida has no name recognition & can't finish, Thiago Silva's injured (fuck, and more on that in a latter post), and Jackson isn't a viable champ until his criminal trial is over.
I'd say that leaves 3 people:
Evans who has the record and just gave himself some serious name recognition (fight could be billed as "UFC: Ultimate Ultimate Fighter")
Wanderlei has the history & is a decently sized name in the US (fight could be billed as "UFC: Generations")
Silva, assuming he beats Cote & doesn't get a medical suspension, has name recognition in the US & has the credentials. And, it is the easiest of these fights to sell, "UFC: Champion vs Champion."
Enjoy the real start of the NFL season tomorrow (1 game on Thursday night doesn't count as the start). Hopefully, it'll help ease the pain of today being the worst day in the history of free MMA (more on that later this week).
Who now fights Forrest Griffin for the light heavyweight belt in December?
Liddell's out of contention, Machida has no name recognition & can't finish, Thiago Silva's injured (fuck, and more on that in a latter post), and Jackson isn't a viable champ until his criminal trial is over.
I'd say that leaves 3 people:
Evans who has the record and just gave himself some serious name recognition (fight could be billed as "UFC: Ultimate Ultimate Fighter")
Wanderlei has the history & is a decently sized name in the US (fight could be billed as "UFC: Generations")
Silva, assuming he beats Cote & doesn't get a medical suspension, has name recognition in the US & has the credentials. And, it is the easiest of these fights to sell, "UFC: Champion vs Champion."
Enjoy the real start of the NFL season tomorrow (1 game on Thursday night doesn't count as the start). Hopefully, it'll help ease the pain of today being the worst day in the history of free MMA (more on that later this week).
Monday, August 25, 2008
World's Most Overrated Man
He hasn't won a MMA fight in 4 years.
He's an ex-professional wrestler.
He lost his last 5 MMA fights.
He turns his fights into embarrassing personal feuds.
He lost 8 of his last 10 fights.
If you complain after he cuts in front of you in line, he starts yelling about how you need to respect him.
He once tried to hide the fact that he tapped out after his opponent released the hold.
He hasn't made it out of the first round in 6 years.
He is Kimbo Slice's next opponent.
He is the World's Most Overrated Man.
He's an ex-professional wrestler.
He lost his last 5 MMA fights.
He turns his fights into embarrassing personal feuds.
He lost 8 of his last 10 fights.
If you complain after he cuts in front of you in line, he starts yelling about how you need to respect him.
He once tried to hide the fact that he tapped out after his opponent released the hold.
He hasn't made it out of the first round in 6 years.
He is Kimbo Slice's next opponent.
He is the World's Most Overrated Man.
"I don't always lose my fights, but when I do, I prefer referee stoppage followed by my complaining."
Olympic MMA?
As the Bejing Olympics ended on Sunday, people started speculating about the 2012 Olympics in London.
Could England top China's Opening Ceremony and event sites?
Could England spend anywere near the $40 billion that China supposed spent on the olympics?
Would England sentence any of its citizens to hard labor if they asked to protest?
Would softball and baseball be back for the 2012 games or would they be dropped from the Olympics?
What other sports are on the chopping block?
Will any sports be added, and if so which ones?
Could MMA become an Olympic sport? The Olympics have a long history of popular sports. Beach volleyball became an Olympic sport after the AVP established the sport's broad appeal. Snowboarding was added to the Olympics after the X-Games started being televised on network TV. BMX, another "extreme sport" just road the rising tide of the X-Games to Olympic exclusion.
There's no arguing that MMA is experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity (http://budgetmmafan.blogspot.com/search/label/general%20intro) or that Olympic MMA would help the medal counts of Brazil & Japan. And, many MMA elements are already in the Olympics (wrestling, boxing, Judo, etc.). The big question is whether or not MMA can be made Olympic friendly.
Can MMA be Olympic-ified, like boxing, so athletes can fight 5 - 6 times in a fortnight? I don't think it can be.Olympic-ifing striking disciplines like boxing and tae-kwon-do involves throwing on a bunch of pads/protective gear. Problem is you can't wrestle or use jui-jitsu if you and your opponent are covered in pads.
I'd love to see the additional free MMA of Olympic MMA in 2012, but we're more likely to get stuck with Olympic skateboarding than Olympic MMA.
Could England top China's Opening Ceremony and event sites?
Could England spend anywere near the $40 billion that China supposed spent on the olympics?
Would England sentence any of its citizens to hard labor if they asked to protest?
Would softball and baseball be back for the 2012 games or would they be dropped from the Olympics?
What other sports are on the chopping block?
Will any sports be added, and if so which ones?
Could MMA become an Olympic sport? The Olympics have a long history of popular sports. Beach volleyball became an Olympic sport after the AVP established the sport's broad appeal. Snowboarding was added to the Olympics after the X-Games started being televised on network TV. BMX, another "extreme sport" just road the rising tide of the X-Games to Olympic exclusion.
There's no arguing that MMA is experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity (http://budgetmmafan.blogspot.com/search/label/general%20intro) or that Olympic MMA would help the medal counts of Brazil & Japan. And, many MMA elements are already in the Olympics (wrestling, boxing, Judo, etc.). The big question is whether or not MMA can be made Olympic friendly.
Can MMA be Olympic-ified, like boxing, so athletes can fight 5 - 6 times in a fortnight? I don't think it can be.Olympic-ifing striking disciplines like boxing and tae-kwon-do involves throwing on a bunch of pads/protective gear. Problem is you can't wrestle or use jui-jitsu if you and your opponent are covered in pads.
I'd love to see the additional free MMA of Olympic MMA in 2012, but we're more likely to get stuck with Olympic skateboarding than Olympic MMA.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thank God its Free
How much would you pay to watch a UFC event broadcast in the middle of the day or at night on a tape delay with Bisping vs Leben as the main event?
$1?
$2.50?
$5?
Well, good news UFC has announced that UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben will be broadcast on SpikeTV, on a tape delay. http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=13660
This is fantastic news. For 2 reasons:
Sokoudjou vs Cane
and more importantly
Machida vs Thiago Silva
Those 2 fights wouldn't have been enough to salvage the event's otherwise lackluster card and make me buy the PPV, but I'll watch any MMA for free.
The fact that Bisping vs Leben is the main event over Machida vs Thiago Silva shows how little mainstream appeal/name recognition Machida & Thiago Silva have. Here's hoping that fighting on free TV ups their name recognition so they can start to be considered for a title fight. They have the talent for a title shot, but no promotion wants to have guys that don't get PPV buys fighting for a title.
$1?
$2.50?
$5?
Well, good news UFC has announced that UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben will be broadcast on SpikeTV, on a tape delay. http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=13660
This is fantastic news. For 2 reasons:
Sokoudjou vs Cane
and more importantly
Machida vs Thiago Silva
Those 2 fights wouldn't have been enough to salvage the event's otherwise lackluster card and make me buy the PPV, but I'll watch any MMA for free.
The fact that Bisping vs Leben is the main event over Machida vs Thiago Silva shows how little mainstream appeal/name recognition Machida & Thiago Silva have. Here's hoping that fighting on free TV ups their name recognition so they can start to be considered for a title fight. They have the talent for a title shot, but no promotion wants to have guys that don't get PPV buys fighting for a title.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Even more free MMA in July
My apologies to Affliction. When I listed July's free MMA, I neglected to mention that 3 of Affliction: Banned's preliminary card matches will be broadcast on FSN (8 pm et/ 5 pm pt).
Aleksander Emelianenko vs Paul Buentello and Anotion Rogerio Nogeuira vs Edwin Dewees will definitely be shown along with one other undercard fight. 2 confirmed fights feature guys best known for being the other Emelianenko or other Nogeuira taking on journeymen fighters, and the other preliminary card fights are less compelling. But, I'll watch them for free.
July really could be greatest month of free MMA ever. That's why all MMA fans should be pulling for Affliction: Banned to be, at least, a relative success. Its almost guaranteed that Affliction will lose money on the show due to the payroll of their card and the difficulty of starting a new promotion, but it can still succeed if it gets enough PPV buys. If it succeeds, we'll see more Affliction shows in the future (Fedor vs someone that isn't painful to watch, please) which will create more competition in the MMA world. Which should lead to more free MMA or at least keep companies from raising their PPV price, and maybe lower them (I'm looking at you UFC charging $55 for a PPV vs Afflicition's $40).
Aleksander Emelianenko vs Paul Buentello and Anotion Rogerio Nogeuira vs Edwin Dewees will definitely be shown along with one other undercard fight. 2 confirmed fights feature guys best known for being the other Emelianenko or other Nogeuira taking on journeymen fighters, and the other preliminary card fights are less compelling. But, I'll watch them for free.
July really could be greatest month of free MMA ever. That's why all MMA fans should be pulling for Affliction: Banned to be, at least, a relative success. Its almost guaranteed that Affliction will lose money on the show due to the payroll of their card and the difficulty of starting a new promotion, but it can still succeed if it gets enough PPV buys. If it succeeds, we'll see more Affliction shows in the future (Fedor vs someone that isn't painful to watch, please) which will create more competition in the MMA world. Which should lead to more free MMA or at least keep companies from raising their PPV price, and maybe lower them (I'm looking at you UFC charging $55 for a PPV vs Afflicition's $40).
Sunday, July 6, 2008
I've never wanted a Bud Lite so badly in my life...
Thank you Bud Lite for sponsoring both Silva vs. Franklin 1 (yeah, we've all seen it before, but its still fun to watch) and Gurgel vs Miller on UFC.com. In exchange for you giving me those fights for free, I promise to order a Bud Lite next time I'm at a bar.
On a related note: UFC thanks for advertising that the Gurgel vs Miller fight was available for free on UFC.com. But, did you have to follow that announcement by showing Miller's triangle as the submission of the fight?
On a related note: UFC thanks for advertising that the Gurgel vs Miller fight was available for free on UFC.com. But, did you have to follow that announcement by showing Miller's triangle as the submission of the fight?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Hooray for Harley Davidson
Thank you Harley Davidson for letting everyone watch the Hazelett vs. Burkman fight for free on ufc.com. It'd be nice if Harley Davidson has started a new trend with advertisers sponsoring the unaired fights so they can be seen for free.
I'd argue this gives companies a greater return on their advertising dollars than having their logo in the octagon or sponsoring the fight clock. Having your logo in the ring/on the clock graphic means people see your logo a lot, but people don't view you as doing anything for them. People don't see your logo as much when you sponsor an unaired fight, but they view your company as giving them something for free. Let's put it this way, I have no clue who's logo was in the center of the octagon on Saturday night, but I'll always remember that Harley Davidson let me watch a fight for free.
Thanks Harley Davidson.
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