EliteXC on CBS - When I first started watching this I thought it was a solid production. To me it looked like a true professional sport was fianlly being portrayed in my Mixed Martial Arts. I was actually excited to see the show and I was planning to write a blog that night about how the UFC REALLY NEEDS A TV DEAL SOON! It looked like EliteXC was going to make a mark. Then the fights started. Now there were some good knockouts (big fan of seeing Phil Baroni knocked silly) and some good exchanges. I thought the female MMA fight was a respectable display and I was impressed with the beginning of the Scott Smith vs Robbie Lawler fight. However I have to say that I found myself yelling at the TV time and time again due to fights being called to early (in my opinion). By the time the Slice vs Thompson fight came on I was pretty much done with the show but I stayed to see the “BIG” fight! It is now apparent that Kimbo Slice will have a hard time with any top contender. Maybe he will evolve into a top ten fighter but his skill set and conditioning just isn’t there.

He holds TKO wins over the likes of Rich Franklin and Stephen Bonnar. Submission wins over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Michael McDonald as well as Unanimous decisions over Bj Penn, Kazuhiro Nakamura, David Heath, Sam Hoger and Vernon White. He is due to face Tito Ortiz at this weekend UFC 84.

He has been criticized for a boring style of fighting and for not finishing fights. He doesn’t engage in talking smack or theatrics to hype a fight. His Martial Arts roots and Karate based fighting style are unique to todays sport of mixed martial arts. So what is he? A fighter that hasn’t been tested or a phenom that hasn’t been recognized?

I think he is just coming into his own and that he has a good chance of beating Tito on Saturday. Ortiz says he is back in shape with no injuries and, if that is true, then it is good for us fans because we will see Lyoto truly tested with a good wrestler and someone with great ground and pound. Either way this fight could be the one that answers alot of questions. I know I will be watching closely.

Okay so I can’t help weighing in on this subject. I have waited and read all the articles on the subject to see if they would change my mind. They haven’t!  From the UFC President, Dana White, asking “What do you think kids are doing when they play Pop Warner football?” to MMA Stars like Randy Couture seeming to endorse the idea, I have time and time again been surprised that this is even a question. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised considering that this is the same world where parents fight in the stands over little league games and little girls are started on their beauty pageant careers by the age of three. For the record I think kids should NOT be competing in Mixed Martial Arts.

Now let me clarify that. I am a father of FIVE kids from ages 17 down to a pair of 18 month old twin boys. I train in MMA as often as I can and I am a HUGE fan of the sport. I encourage (and even insist) that my kids are active and that they do some kind of athletic pursuit. I do offer and introduce all of my kids to Martial Arts including Kickboxing, Ju Jitsu, Wrestling and Kung Fu. Even “Mixed” Martial Arts as a whole with understanding that it is in fact “training”. I am very supportive of all children being athletic and I even think competing in Martial Arts is a great avenue for this. I think the more active they are the stronger, healthier and happier they will be.

I have trained in martial arts for most of my life including Tae Kwon Do, Judo and now the arts I mentioned above. Although I had injuries before it wasn’t until I started training MMA that I noticed how absolutely damaging to your body it can be. Add to this the serious injuries that can occur to your body and it’s joints. There are accumulative concussions that your brain receives as well as the obvious kidney, liver and other organ trauma that is just inherent in MMA. Looking past the violence of the sport I still can’t help but say “This is not for kids”.

I mean isn’t that exactly why we like the sport so much? The modern day gladiators that step into the cage today are our heroes in every day real life. They do the things we can’t do! They take all the punishment and push their bodies beyond the limit of what is normal and still thrive! This is not like football or baseball or soccer. The object of THIS sport is to beat up your opponent or make him give up due to imminent serious injury. We count on the fact that the fighters are either well trained professionals or at least consenting adults! I don’t care how much a parent consents or how much the kids want to compete this just isn’t a stage for children.

At my gym we do have tournaments in kickboxing, Ju Jitsu, Pankration and Submission grappling. Kids are encouraged to participate however the rules are modified greatly and extra safety gear is worn. They are not even allowed to train in MMA until the age of 12. As a parent I feel safe with these limits and safety precautions. I want my children to be strong and athletic, just not crippled with “old sports injuries” at the ripe old age of 15. Don’t we have enough of that to look forward to in our 30’s?

What makes for a succesful Mixed Martial Arts Promotion? The easy answer is popularity and money. Usually they go hand in hand but how does a promotion acheive high veiwership and a hefty income? Is it the fights? To some extent the actual fights are a big componant. How about the production? Also a big componant. But the largest componant of a succesful organization is the fans! Lets face it. There have been alot of promotions that have great fights and great production but still somehow don’t make it. So what gets the fans?

Talent! While there are a lot of “fans” of the UFC by itself, I would ask how many fans would there be without the big names? In our last article we wrote about the dominating market share that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has in the world of MMA. While that is the truth it got me thinking about what it would take for a smaller promotion to overcome that dominance. If there is any answer to that question I beleive it is in the “big names” in the fight world. I opened my recent issue of FIGHT magazine  and page after page there are nothing but high profile fighters. This might seem obvious but it reminded me how much momentum the fighters themselves carry.

Can one fighter change the fanbase of the sport to a new promotion? I don’t think so. If not then how many would it take? If the top 50 big named fighters left the UFC for Elite XC all at once, would the fans switch? I think as long as the production was high and the fights were good the answer is yes! If  that is a possibility then what is the magic number between 1 and 50? How many top level fighters does it take to establish an organizations crowd draw? Two, four, ten, twenty or more? I ask myself this question because recently I read yet another article about a high profile fighter looking at leaving the UFC. While he is not the biggest name or a huge crowd favorite he was the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Tim Sylvia, is just another in a growing line of high profile fighters looking to greener pastures. The story featured here on The Fight Network discusses the news that Big Tim cold be on his way out the door after his next fight.

How many does that make? Not quite 50 but the numbers are adding up. With the recent discussions and rumors of fighters looking to join other promotions including Randy Couture, Andre Arlovski, Fedor Emelianenko and Tito Ortiz we are looking at a cast of characters with a large fanbase. Add to that the fighters that are already on the rosters that draw big crowds including Kimbo Slice, Gomi, the Shamrock brothers, Nick Diaz and others then you are looking at a possible test for the UFC in the near future. What if all of these fighters landed in the same promotion? Would the NEW Heavyweight division make the UFC Heavyweight division seem irrelevent? How many would it take? What is the magic number?

Does the fact that Elite XC is getting on mainstream TV play into this? Can they get the big names, put on the big shows and become the featured name in MMA? How about a 50% market share? Time will tell, but it seems to me that if the UFC doesn’t find a way to keep the big names as part of the BIG show then they risk losing them to the “smaller” shows. How many times can that happen before size doesn’t matter?

So with the recent news of Elite XC landing a TV deal with CBS (parent company to Showtime network who already broadcasts EliteXC) and now Strikeforce forging a TV deal with NBC, what does this mean for the MMA landscape and the UFC in particular? Is the Ultimate Fighting Championship losing out on the few deals there are to be had? Has, UFC President, Dana White squandered his opportunities with the networks? Is this the beginning of the end for the UFC?

Not even close! As much as serious MMA fans like to follow other organizations and root for the underdog organization to usurp the big bad Zuffa Inc the reality is that unless you are a “serious MMA fan” you don’t even know who the other guys are. With the exception of Internet Sensation Kimbo Slice most casual fans, much less “soon to be” fans, don’t even know any of the fighters in the other organizations UNLESS they came from the UFC. I still face the situation all the time where the common response to “Mixed Martial Arts” is “Oh, do you mean that Ultimate Fighting Championship?”

If you talk about football it is the NFL, basketball is is the NBA, racing it is NASCAR. If you’re talking about Mixed Martial Arts with anyone, except the serious fan, you’re talking about the UFC! (that is after you explain that MMA is that UFC thing) The second biggest MMA organization was Pride. They still have a HUGE following, but only with serious MMA crowds. Every UFC party I have been at (and I have been at every one) where a Pride star was being introduced there is always a conversation where someone is explaining WHO the fighter is and WHAT Pride was. It always ends with “then the UFC bought Pride”.

Is all of this about to change because EliteXC is going to have bi-monthly events in questionable timeslots and Strikeforce will have highlight reel shows? Not even close! I hope the two new deals are successful. It should only be good for the sport. But with more MMA success comes the need for other networks to respond.  I am guessing that a TV deal with a major network will happen for the UFC in the near future and then Mixed Martial Arts will be introduced to the masses as a main stream sport. Until then Dana will hold his own waiting for the “right deal” for the UFC and you can bet there will be a network jumping at the chance to get it eventually. For now the UFC continues to dominate the pay per view numbers and Spike TV is doing just fine with it’s UFC programming. Add to the current UFC success the fact that they just got Bud Light as the number one sponsor and I can only see bright lights in the future of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

If I never read “internal Server Error” , “404- Page not found” or “timed out” for my own sites I will be happy. Since that is probably not going to happen given the sense of humor the server and internet gods seem to have I guess I will just be happy it is all working now. If you have noticed that the site has been up and down running on it’s own beat then you aren’t the only one. Due to our increase in traffic and a web host who was maximizing profits by “overselling server space” we have had to move to a new web host. We were with the last one for 12 years and I always enjoyed the reliability of their service but in the end, when it is done it is done.

Now we are up and running after our less than flawless move and with luck we will be here for another 12 years before we have to look into new arrangements. I really don’t want to do all of that again. So, “ON WITH THE SHOW”. We have some new articles up and coming as well as some news about upcoming contests. Stay tuned.

Anderson Silva is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He destroyed the hard headed Chris Leben with a KO, he dismantled ace striker Rich Franklin twice with strikes, he beat Nate Marquart with strikes and even though he stopped Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson by submission it was obvious his striking played a huge part in the wins. Now the UFC is searching for an opponent for Silva and coming up empty handed, from outward appearances.

Silva has an idea of his own! He wants to “box” Roy Jones Jr in a boxing ring with boxing rules. The story being reported at MMA Weekly here  states

“Silva feels that fighters in mixed martial arts are often unjustly criticized as not being as technically proficient as their boxing counterparts, a misconception that he would like to dispel. We respect Jones’ boxing ability and think he’s one of the best,” said Soares, “but we’re tired of different boxers saying that MMA fighters aren’t technical. Anderson would love to fight Roy Jones in a boxing match under boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are technical, too.”

Has Silva really cleaned out the UFC Middleweight division so completely that he must try out another sport to face a new challenge? It sure looks like he has only a few choices in front of him.

Choice #1 - Seek to answer one of the big sports questions of this decade. “Can a boxer really put an MMA fighter to shame?” Certainly having a match in a boxing ring levels the playing field for the boxer who would be at a serious disadvantage facing  “take downs” and “Ju Jitsu”. Often you hear how a “boxer would never survive in an MMA Cage. While I agree with this, I don’t think a boxer in the cage would be a true test of skill. Look at Marcus Davis. An exceptional boxer who did poorly as a striker in the UFC but has been undefeated since becoming a student of the ground game. This match with one of our MMA legends facing a true boxing legend in the boxing ring would make the statement once and for all. If there is a fighter in the UFC that can equal a professional boxer I would say that Anderson Silva is it. So with that said let me encourage him to get in the ring and show the world that an elite UFC striker can hold his own with and elite boxer.

Choice #2 - Challenge other weight classes. We have heard of this move being considered by Matt Huges, George St. Pierre, Brandon Vera and seen it done by Randy Couture, BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. However we have never been faced with a division completely cleaned out by the sitting champion. If there was ever a call for a fighter to move to another weight class and challenge a new division isn’t it now? Isn’t that what they have always said about GSP or Hughes? When he cleans out the division he will move up a class and challenge that division. My opinion is that is what is called for here. Bring the drama on and let Silva start working on other divisions until someone can stand up to him at 185.