There’s still not a lot going on in the world of MMA news these days, unfortunately. While UFC 84, scheduled for May 24th, is looming, many people are also looking forward to see the first glimpse of MMA action during prime time television only a week later thanks to the partnership of EliteXC and CBS. It’s not like EliteXC just paired up with some junk television station - CBS has been a roll lately by racking up the highest number of viewers for the second straight week while maintaining a solid second place standing for the entire season just behind Fox. Ten of the top 20 shows on television these days are on CBS and the viewership will be there regardless of what else is on television at the time. And now thanks to the UFC and Spike TV, you can also watch “Ultimate Iceman: Chuck Liddell” on May 31st as well.

So why did the UFC decide to air a show opposite of live MMA action? If you go out and ask anyone on the street who Chuck Liddell is, you’ll get a pretty decent response. Ask those same people if they like watching live sports and your reaction might be even better. Ask people on the street if they enjoy documentaries and, well, your response might not be so positive. So what makes those running the UFC show think that people will stop watching EliteXC’s live Saturday Night Fights on CBS to learn about the life of an injured former light-heavyweight champion on Spike TV?

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Here are two more Matt Riddle videos courtesy of Spike TV and AOL!

The Ultimate Fighter - Season 7 - Fighter Interviews - Matthew Riddle

The Ultimate Fighter - Season 7 - Everything to Lose - Matthew Riddle Confessional

Kimbo Slice needs no introduction. If by some slim chance you haven’t been on the internet lately, Kimbo is a street fighter that has turned to MMA. The YouTube sensation has finally responded to the comments made by Chuck Liddell. In an article posted on www.mmajunkie and Yahoo, Chuck had nothing good to say about the EliteXC star.

In response to the negative comments made by Chuck, Kimbo recently made and posted a video that is swirling about the internet. In the attached video you can hear his comments, as well as him challenging the UFC super star to a bare knuckle fight. Not only does he challenge him to the fight, but Kimbo also says he would do it at Chuck’s gym! Check it out and let the comments roll.

There’s gotten to be alot more anticipation and anxiety over the matchups that we use to just see as glorified ass-whuppings, advancing the UFC’s top stars to the top. If nothing else, 2007 changed the way that we view the stepping stone matchup forever. We learned the hard way that sometimes stepping stones step back.

It’s not easy to say, simply, that this fight is going to go one way or the other. People will say that Franklin has a clear edge. He’s a multiple time UFC champion and a serious warrior in terms of his ability to stand and trade. There’s no dispute that Franklin is the favorite in this fight, but there’s something about this fight that makes it more than just a promising, starching knockout and the physical dominance that we have seen from Franklin in many of his highlight worthy performances.

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Brock Lesnar is the new car in the garage. The plastic is still on the seats; it still has the dealer tags, and still has that new car smell. Like a new car, many fans feel that Brock Lesnar is far better than he really is. I enjoy going on the different MMA forums and blog sites and reading how he is the savior of the heavyweight division, how he could beat Fedor, or how great he is. I have nothing against Lesnar at all, but I am not on his large bandwagon.

Lesnar has had an interesting life. He has done much more than the average person and he has a great athletic ability. In 2000 he was crowned the NCAA Heavyweight Champion and the year prior he finished second. After college he moved on to another type of wrestling, professional wrestling. His recent venture takes him into the sport of MMA.

In his first fight in the UFC and second fight in MMA ever, he was paid $250,000; more than anyone else on the fight card that night. It is no question why he was paid this much - Lesnar has a drawing power that other fighters just don’t have. The UFC is banking on Lesner to have a huge following from his pro wrestling days and I believe it is an outrageous paycheck for a guy that was 1-1 in MMA and his first fight in the UFC.

I do not have a problem with Lesnar, and I feel that in the future he could do very well. This however is not a given, as many of the fans want to believe. Although there is a huge upside to Lesnar, there is also a huge downside. Brock Lesnar is similar to Kimbo Slice in the fact that they are not great all around fighters. Brock Lesnar has a great wrestling backgroung, but in my opinion this is his only strong suit. This alone can not propel you to be a champ; Josh Koscheck is the most prolific college wrestler in the UFC, yet he isn’t a champ or even top 3.

The downside of Lesnar starts with his inexperience in the cage. He has 1 fight and lost. Some fans have said that his experience from pro wrestling and being in front of people will transfer into the cage. I feel that this is a stretch. Pro wrestling has nothing to do with getting punched in the face or completely choked out. Lesnar had tons of experience in front of people, but I promise you he was nervous!

Brock Lesnar at this point in his career has many question marks regarding his overall MMA game. First of all we do not know if he has a solid chin or a glass jaw. He also has little ground game. Look at Houston Alexander. You can be very dominant on your feet, but when you go to the ground you have to be able to stop submissions and get back to your feet. It was once said that 95% of all fights end up on the ground. He proved against Mir (an overrated past his prime Mir) that a superior submission artist will give him problems. His standup hasn’t been tested yet. He hasn’t had the chance to show that he can stand and bag with the big guys in the division. If he has boxing training he is keeping it a secret. Another aspect of his game, which is one of the most important, that hasn’t been tested is his heart and conditioning. In his pro MMA career he has only fought for 2:39 combined. He hasn’t proved how he fights when he is severely fatigued. He also hasn’t show whether he has the conditioning to go a full fight (yea I watched the All Access too, he has to prove it in the cage).

The UFC is a business. Part of this business is putting fans in the seats. At this time Brock is an exciting addition to a weak division, especially with the apparent loss of Tim Sylvia and the inability to sign Fedor. If the UFC is smart (and they are), they will feed Brock formidable but beatable opponents. They should avoid scheduling him fights with BJJ black belts, submission artists, or guys that are bad matchups. They need Lesnar to win to keep drawing in the fans. Once Lesnar’s overall game comes together, he could be a force and challenge for the title. Brock has good ground and pound, and is a monster of a man. He has a huge upside and should (I repeat SHOULD) be well worth the money the UFC is paying for him just by his fan following. Many feel that Lesnar could be up for a title fight in 2 or 3 more fights. Lesnar has a huge upside, but then again has tons to prove. It will be interesting as we all watch him mature in the cage, and possibly blossom into the fighter Dana thinks he is. As of right now Brock Lesnar is not that fighter. Right now he can’t beat Nog for the title. Many fans need to be reminded that he is new to MMA. Stop anticipating that he is the next heavyweight force to dominate the UFC, and enjoy his growth in the sport. If he has unreal expectation, he will almost certainly fail.

UFC Fight Night 13, one of the most anticipated Fight Night events in UFC’s history, can not come soon enough! From elite strikers, grapplers, brawlers, to ground & pound and jiu jitsu experts, the explosions are guaranteed to go off throughout the night. Stacked with top talent, this fight card may very well be bigger than many of UFC’s Saturday night Pay Per View events. With this exciting night just a few days away, I caught up with one of UFC’s intense seasoned grapplers Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino (17-3) as he prepares to face off against the recent Ultimate Fighter series winner Nate Diaz (8-2) on Wed. April 2 Live on Spike TV.

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Dana White is a hero to most. Just look at what he has done for the sport of MMA, completely bringing it out of extinction and into popular existence. It is because of him, the hard core MMA fans can quench their thirst with 2 to 4 big events a month. I am one of Dana’s biggest fans, but lately it seems that maybe he has lost sight of his vision. Every other week there is something being said, from fighters speaking out against the UFC to Dana putting down other organizations, leaving you to wonder if Dana believes that MMA is apart of the UFC or if this the UFC is apart of MMA.

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Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is an athlete that has certainly had his ups and downs through out his career and this latest win over Tatsuya Mizuno may be just another part of that roller coaster ride . From being brutally knocked out by Kevin Randelman and Gonzaga to becoming the Pride OWGP champion and also giving Fedor all he could handle, no one really knows which “Cro Cop” will show up. Cro Cop’s greatest obstacle to holding a divisional title has never been the likes of Fedor, “Minotauro” Nogueira, or Josh Barnett but his very own psyche and game plan has been whats holding the Croat down for these past years.

Cro Cop really didn’t face much trouble in Pride until he fought Nogueira, which is where the fatal weaknesses in his mental gameplan where brought out into the open. Nogueira, unlike many of Mirko’s opponents, seemed to be immune to the KO that had slain so many other and he was also persistent with his TD attempts. He kept coming at Mirko despite the brutal punishment he was taking, upsetting the trend of opponents constantly backing away from the Croat and fearing him. Cro Cop has always been a fighter that could sniff out the slightest sense of fear or doubt and could turn into your living nightmare within the first minute of the fight, just ask Igor Vovchanchyn.

In many people’s opinions Mirko lost his fire when he couldn’t topple Fedor and this is certainly true in some aspects. Unlike Nogueira, Fedor’s win was not brought to him by an unbreakable chin, but by just being better at every aspect of the game that night. Mirko had been defeated, not by a lucky punch or a freak chin, but by sheer skill and better game plan giving him his first utter defeat in MMA. Everyone was counting him out after he dropped yet another loss, this time to the human tank that is Mark Hunt, losing in a very similar manner that cost him the Nogueira fight.

“Cro Cop” looked washed up and tired of fighting in the Hunt fight, certainly looking nothing like the monster that terrorized K-1 and Pride. Everyone on the internet forums were saying “He’s done, his game has been figured out” or calling him a “has-been” but oh how it all changed in the new year with the Open-Weight Grand Prix on the horizon. Tearing through Minowa in the first round certainly didn’t change the minds of the masses, but after handily defeating Hidehiko Yoshida with some of the most brutal leg kicks ever seen in MMA people started to jump back on the bandwagon.

His true test was in the semi-finals where Wanderlei Silva, fresh off of a brutal TKO win over Kazuyuki Fujita and with a burning hatred for Cro Cop ever since their first fight. Mirko silenced all doubters after giving Wanderlei Silva the most brutal KO loss of his career (Vitor has nothing on this one) and by beating a highly skilled Josh Barnett for the third time in the finals.

Mirko looked to be back on the right path, with a Grand Prix championship belt around his waist and a new contract with the UFC. He looked poised to take over the world once again, but all of the cries for Cro Cop’s take over were silenced during his fight against Gabriel Gonzaga, after being dispatched by the very high kick that had slain so many of his past opponents and sending him crumbling to the mat along with his immediate hopes of capturing the title any time soon. The chance of redemption presented itself in his match against Cheick Kongo but all that the fans were given was a half hearted attempt just to survive the fight, fueling more fans theories that he was once again done.

Anyone who has followed the fight game long enough knows about the “Mirko Cycle” of storming the scene and destroying opponents left and right but ultimately degrading back into timidness and lack luster fights. Will this latest win in DREAM catapult Cro Cop back into success just as the Minowa fight did? Will Cro Cop finally get all of the problems with his mental game plan figured out? Everyone who calls themselves a fan of MMA should certainly hope so because this man has the talent to beat any Heavyweight in the MMA world, including Fedor, if he keeps his head on straight.

The UFC is in dire need of a few top notch heavyweights to step up and make a run to the title and they are adding to their talent stockpile by using their famous reality show. The MMA reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” in its 8^th season will look to be showcasing lightweights and heavyweights. Rumor has it that if you just happen to be a talented MMA fighter, and in the heart of Red Sox Nation the first week of April, you could run across a TUF tryout. UFC.com has an advertisement for the eighth installment of this show on their homepage. It provides a link to an application.It is no secret that the UFC has a current shortage of big guys. It was no more apparent when they recruited WWE star Brock Lesner and began advertising him more than they did Wanderlei Silva. The UFC hurt themselves when they couldn’t get past contractual issue and sign Fedor. Not only did it not put one of the top fighters in the cage, but also caused problems with their big champion. Most fans are beyond sick of hearing about this, and it also gives Dana haters more fuel to the fire.

The television show “The Ultimate Fighter” has done great things for the sport. Fighters such as Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson, Marcus Davis, and Rashad Evans came from just the first two seasons. There are more than 15 fighters on contract with the UFC that were a part of this series. This show is something that the other organizations want, but do not have.

Arguably the weakest division in the world’s strongest MMA organization may get a boost in talent from the show. If the show does indeed center on heavyweights, it could bring in a handful of fighters that would add depth to the depleted division. Constant exposure from the cameras will give the world enough time to fall in love or hate a fighter. This love hate relationship between the fans and fighters is one of the things that draw viewers. If you hate Matt Hughes you will purchase a PPV in hopes that he gets knocked out and if your favorite fighter is stepping into the cage, you will buy it to cheer him to victory.

This show has meant more to the UFC than ever imagined. The 7^th season will begin April 2^nd with a fight your way in mentality. 32 fighters will be cut in half, as they fight to earn their spot on the show. Every season their have been drama and special moments that made each season unique; Chris Leben spitting on another’s bed or the constant drama between coaches BJ Penn and Jens Pulver. I look for it to continue in April. This may be the most talented group of fighters on the show yet. It will showcase All-American wrestlers, Champion Jui-Jitsu practitioners, and fighters from the elite teams such as Team Quest. This was a brilliant idea and will continue to stock up the talent for the UFC leading up to the much needed TUF 8 season.

There’s always going to be a large movement of fans (not just of fighting, but of anything) who reject the conventional and the mainstream. Those guys are generally credited with being the first MMA fans; guys who turned their backs on professional boxing and wrestling in order to find something new, something different, something off-beat.

The problem is, now the UFC has become so mainstream, so cultured that the reason they started following it to begin with no longer carries any weight. Where do these fans go?

They can’t go to Pride, since it no longer exists. (many left for Pride after the first TUF season, but they’re now looking for somewhere else to go)

They can’t go to the IFL, because, let’s face it, the IFL has worked way to hard to pull itself into the mainstream.

They can’t go to the WEC, because it follows that same formula as the UFC, only with lighter weight classes. (And, on top of that, many refuse to support Zuffa entirely, because of some of its contractual issues with its fighters)

They can’t go Japan, because they know that those organization are unstable. (and the disillusionment has only furthered itself with Fedor’s free-agency)

They won’t go to Elite XC because, besides about 4 fighters, the whole thing is a gimmick show (these are the fans who have been following the sport long enough to know that Kimbo Slice is not legit).

These guys are stuck in limbo, wandering back and forth between organizations. They watch UFC events because their friends (most of whom they got into the sport) are really excited to watch Anderson Silva (who is not, as many have said, the Mike Tyson if MMA, since he doesn’t commit rape and he has all of his teeth) and Rampage.

I wish I could say that the solution was simple, or that an answer would present itself, but the fact is I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve been out looking for other, exciting organizations for a long time. I’ve watched alot of K-1 (very exciting, but I miss the grappler) and have turned to Cage Rage to get some of my fix. Whether an underground titan will emerge soon, I don’t know, but I hope that when it does, these fans will find it, so that the UFC doesn’t just squash it with it’s giant checkbook.

Bud Light is one of the most popular brands of beer in the world. It is known for the Bud Bowl, Real Men of Genius, and now the first beer to step into the cage. Yesterday the UFC announced that the King of Beers, Anheuser- Busch, will make Bud Light their newest and most exclusive sponsor. The UFC could have announced a future fight or a new television deal, but the addition of this beer sponsor is a huge deal for the beer company as well as the UFC.

Annually, beer companies spend millions of dollars advertising. Last year alone they sponsored the most popular NASCAR driver, had some of the funniest Super Bowl commercials, and could be seen in almost every professional sports complex in America. Annually, the Bud Light creator is responsible for almost half of the beer sales in the U.S. Take this into the cage, and the UFC may have the top sponsor needed to put them and the sport of MMA in the forefront of american sports.

If it were a fight between Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor and Bud Light, Bud light just completed a knock out similar to that of Rampage over the Iceman. Mickey’s is almost certain to lose it’s sponsorship with time considering Bud Light is on a different playing field. The UFC will eventually have to decide between the two beer sponsors. If or when this happens, Mickey’s has less of a chance than a Tito and Shamrock rematch. Bud Light is part of a monstrous corporate company that would smash Mickey’s in a fight of sponsors.

In my opinion this is a giant step in the right direction for the UFC and the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Most of the media has said that the UFC needs a major sponsor and this is about as big as it gets. Not only will this open doors for the UFC in commercials, but it also opens the door for large companies such as Nike, Under Armor, Sony, or another top notch sponsor to come along. In the future we may see a Nike MMA clothing line, a Chuck Liddell Gatorade flavor, or even a Rich Franklin Math for Dummies Book. A large sponsor would bring larger demographics to the sport. It could create an influx of new fans and viewers that thinks of the sport as barbaric. In their minds, if Nike is a UFC sponsor, how barbaric can MMA be?

Only a day after StrikeForce inked a deal with CBS, the UFC announced the huge addition of the Anheuser-Busch beer Bud Light as an amazing turn of events for the UFC. If the UFC can capitalize on this move, then they will open some incredible doors for other companies to step forward in the future. It may be a matter of time before Chuck has a Bud Light symbol on his Iceman shorts. The move gives the UFC and the WEC a major sponsor in the addition of Harley Davidson. The UFC is the show of shows in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. They currently have the most talent, the most exposure, and they have solidified the best sponsors. I look for more big time sponsors in the future for the UFC.

Wow. In a surprise move that has potential to shake up the MMA industry, ProElite and EliteXC will soon be announcing a TV deal with Showtime owner, CBS. Kid Nate of Bloody Elbow beat me to punch by asking how did Gary Shaw beat Dana White to a television deal? I get a lot of flack for publicly denouncing White’s means of running the UFC (along with many many others, I might add), but this only solidifies my standpoint. Will White come out and publicly say that he had the ability to sign with CBS but he didn’t due to some outrageous comment? My guess is that he says they wanted too much control. Thanks to MMA Junkie for breaking the news! Sam Caplan, a ProElite writer who runs Five Ounces of Pain, has more commentary. It seems that everyone beat me to the good talking points already!

Does this mean that UFC will be going over to HBO? Well, if talks broke down in the past, White better hope he can revive them or risk being stuck with Spike TV for a little while. I’m sure he’s not a huge fan of HDNet right now.

With the official closing of the Pride offices in Tokyo on Thursday, prominent Japanese MMA figures have been openly divulging contrasting views on how Dana White and the Fertitta Brothers have handled the acquisition of the foreign fighting promotion. While it is certainly easy to blame the UFC for the demise of the largest Japanese MMA promotion, a lot is relatively unknown behind the scenes of the Pride offices aside from the corruption and mob ties.

Although my opinions in the past may have unintentionally set the precedent that I am a critic of the largest MMA production and those who individuals who run the show, I do enjoy most of the decisions that emerge from the Feritta’s and Mr. White.

Many enthusiasts, me included, are quick to criticize the Japanese organized crime families for the downfall of Pride, but you still have to remember that the Fertitta brothers are not far removed from their own family’s mob past and it didn’t take long for the Fertitta’s to establish themselves financially thanks to their father, Frank Fertitta Jr, who had ties to Vegas gambling since the 1960’s.

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This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by ZUFFA, LLC

As I searched through YouTube for fight clips, I was plagued by this obnoxious message telling me that I can’t watch a UFC fight on the internet anymore. It’s not like I was looking for a free streaming Pay Per View clip of UFC 72, I was merely looking for an old Stephan Bonnar fight from a few years back.

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Amazing things can happen when you combine money and ego. In a recent interview Dana White called Calvin Ayre a “criminal” and compared the billionaire owner of BodogFIGHT to Brewster from the movie Brewster’s Millions saying “he’s like that guy in Brewster’s Millions who is trying to spend all his money in 48 hours.” Well Mr. Ayre has fired back on his blog “Ayre Waves” making White “an offer he can’t refuse.”

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