ufc 89 is all set to go in england. everybody made weight. looks like brandon vera may have had an easier time with this being his second cut to 205, coming in at 203. carwin came in just under the HW limit at 264...the guy is huge!
chris leben also sporting a new "corn rows" do, a tribute to evan tanner's "war rows" perhaps? looks like both leben and bisping are in fantastic shape. i'm more excited for that one now than when it was originally announced. taylor vs. lytle is the one i'm still most anxious to see, though.
should be a gooder!
UFC 89, October 18, 2008 - National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England - Spike TV (Tape delay for North America - 9p.m. Eastern) / Live on Sportsnet West and Paacific in Canada and Live in the U.K and Ireland on Setana Sports 3 p.m. Eastern
Main Card:
Chris Leben (186) Vs. Michael Bisping (185)
Brandon Vera (203) Vs. Keith Jardine (205)
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (205) Vs. Luiz Cane (206)
Paul Taylor (170) Vs. Chris Lytle (170)
Paul Kelly (169) Vs. Marcus Davis (169)
Pre-lims:
Dan Hardy (169) Vs. Akihiro Gono (171)
Shane Carwin (264) Vs. Neil Wain (254)
David Bielkheden (156) Vs. Jess Liaudin (155)
Sam Stout (155) Vs. Terry Etim (155)
David Baron (155) Vs. Jim Miller (155)
Per Eklund (156) Vs. Samy Schiavo (156)
ufc 89 is all set to go in england. everybody made weight. looks like brandon vera may have had an easier time with this being his second cut to 205, coming in at 203. carwin came in just under the HW limit at 264...the guy is huge!
chris leben also sporting a new "corn rows" do, a tribute to evan tanner's "war rows" perhaps? looks like both leben and bisping are in fantastic shape. i'm more excited for that one now than when it was originally announced. taylor vs. lytle is the one i'm still most anxious to see, though.
should be a gooder!
UFC 89, October 18, 2008 - National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England - Spike TV (Tape delay for North America - 9p.m. Eastern) / Live on Sportsnet West and Paacific in Canada and Live in the U.K and Ireland on Setana Sports 3 p.m. Eastern
Main Card:
Chris Leben (186) Vs. Michael Bisping (185)
Brandon Vera (203) Vs. Keith Jardine (205)
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (205) Vs. Luiz Cane (206)
Paul Taylor (170) Vs. Chris Lytle (170)
Paul Kelly (169) Vs. Marcus Davis (169)
Pre-lims:
Dan Hardy (169) Vs. Akihiro Gono (171)
Shane Carwin (264) Vs. Neil Wain (254)
David Bielkheden (156) Vs. Jess Liaudin (155)
Sam Stout (155) Vs. Terry Etim (155)
David Baron (155) Vs. Jim Miller (155)
Per Eklund (156) Vs. Samy Schiavo (156)
That is a solid card. Not one bad fight in the Main card. Looking forward to the Jardine/Vera fight, the Taylor/Lytle fight and the Kelly/David fight.
"When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
no need to wish anderson good luck at this stage, eh? it's true, he is so in focus right now, with accuracy and power combined like no other. his reading of opponents almost seems telepathic at times. it's like he takes a minute to get in their mind and fish out their weakness, then attacks it. at the very least this will be a great opportunity for patrick to gain some experience against the very top guy. he'll know what it's like to see that level and it should make him a better fighter. he's still a pretty young guy.
i'm with you in the thrilled department! some good stuff coming up to round out the year and then it looks like some good things for early 2009. the carano vs. santos match is rumoured for then, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. i think they were considering a possible ppv card for the spring. i'm hoping it's shown on cbs so as many people can get a chance to see it as possible. it should be outstanding!
I heard about the PPV idea for Carano/Santos and I think that would be a bad idea. You would get your diehard MMA fans to watch it but that's it. By airing it on CBS you would gain so much more exposure and after the Kimbo fiasco EliteXC needs this fight to bring in more fans and ratings.
"When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
I heard about the PPV idea for Carano/Santos and I think that would be a bad idea. You would get your diehard MMA fans to watch it but that's it. By airing it on CBS you would gain so much more exposure and after the Kimbo fiasco EliteXC needs this fight to bring in more fans and ratings.
bad ass, leafs! i saw that the ads were on last night for the show and they mentioned in HD at the bottom so i was thinking it was all good. then today, the sportsnet site has the countdown show and the live event listed for all sportsnet channels! very nice.
it's crazy that they're the only station in north america carrying it live! good for us canooks, eh?
just got in from angus glen and took a look at the fantasy, i'm very surprised i took this. I'm a little pissed off at the Davis/Kelly fight cause i picked it perfect and then changed to a tko, i knew he was going to do exactly that. DAMN!!!!
Anyways, i've only seen 1 fight so far and it was pretty good, i know who wins each fight but i'll still watch it all (in hd ) anyways lol
"I'll ride the wave where it takes me"
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
just got in from angus glen and took a look at the fantasy, i'm very surprised i took this. I'm a little pissed off at the Davis/Kelly fight cause i picked it perfect and then changed to a tko, i knew he was going to do exactly that. DAMN!!!!
Anyways, i've only seen 1 fight so far and it was pretty good, i know who wins each fight but i'll still watch it all (in hd ) anyways lol
nice work on the win, leafs! i didn't say anything here, so i wouldn't spoil it for you. those bonus points are good when you get them, i say damn to them when i don't though! haha
sorry that releash didn't get her pciks in on time. :(
enjoy the show...i'm going to try to stay up for the replay on spike...
it seemed like kelly was frozen in the first round. i didn't think it would take him until halfway through the second to shoot for a takedown, but it proved to be his undoing when he did. he didn't respect that guillotine attempt and marcus gets the tapout win with it.
great fight! i wanted them to call a draw in that one. it was close. when they announced the scores, i thought the 30-27 was wierd. really thought it was going to be a split decision for taylor. both guys put on a hell of a show, though, so kudos to both. probably fight of the night bonuses again for taylor and lytle.
yeah, he looked good in the first round, but cane withstood the pressure and attack. then he patiently waited for his chance to attack in the second. nothing worse than getting tired in a fight and that first round took more out of sokodjou than cane, it seemed. smart fight by cane, good fight.
first round to jardine, second to vera, and vera virtually gave away the third. the explosiveness i thought we'd see from brandon wasn't there tonight. he looks very good when he's throwing his strikes, but he's not being offensive enough. it's perplexing. i thought he might end this one with a knee in the clinch or a head kick, but he didn't put enough together to set anything like that up.
jardine wins the split. not the most exciting fight.
great fight! i wanted them to call a draw in that one. it was close. when they announced the scores, i thought the 30-27 was wierd. really thought it was going to be a split decision for taylor. both guys put on a hell of a show, though, so kudos to both. probably fight of the night bonuses again for taylor and lytle.
ya that was a great fight. 30-27 is crazy, it was such a close fight. I hope the put together the Davis/Lytle fight for Ireland
I'm watching the Soko fight right now and he looked to start to gas near the end of the 1st and then like you said, Cane just stayed smart controlling the stand up and as soon as Soko hit the floor, he didn't stop throwing till the ref jumped in.
Soko needs to work on his conditiion hard-core, if he could fight the way he does in the 1st half of the 1st round for all 3 rounds, he'd be a beast.
"I'll ride the wave where it takes me"
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
yeah, that match would make complete sense for dublin. it would be a fine addition to the card.
congrats once again on this championship, leafs! tough card! i threw it on purpose, of course, hoping that j bully would put in her picks and maybe she'd get a belt this time around...then no picks! haha :D i shall be hanging out in the basement for this week.
UFC 89 BISPING vs LEBEN :: LEAGUE RESULTS
The Evolution Fight Club
Rank Player Total Points Awarded
1 krs82 185
2 Loveboatcapt0226 166
3 All Manador 147
4 battery 133
Anderson Silva Vs. Patrick Côté - côté by tko
Thiago Alves Vs. Josh Koscheck - alves by ko
Fabricio Werdum Vs. Junior dos Santos - werdum by submission
Sean Sherk Vs. Tyson Griffin - griffin by split decision
Gray Maynard Vs. Rich Clementi - maynard by tko
Pre-lims:
Thales Leites Vs. Drew McFedries - leites by submission
Spencer Fisher Vs. Shannon Gugerty - fisher by tko
Matt Horwich Vs. Dan Miller - horwich by submission
Hermes Franca Vs. Marcus Aurelio - franca by tko
Pete Sell Vs. Josh Burkman - sell by ko
please don't hurt me for picking patrick, fellow league members. i believe!
this picture has been floating around the mma sites today, from the chris lytle vs. paul taylor match at ufc 89. it's a picture from sherdog's gallery of the event that has not been photoshopped! it looks like a cartoon. well, at least chris lytle does. nothing above his shoulders is in the place that it should be.
damn! i was looking forward to gina carano vs. cristiane santos! i'm sure the guys will be picked up by other organizations in time, but i hope the women are able to find a place to compete and get their fights shown. someone out there must have the sense to know that their women's bouts were always one of the most exciting parts of their shows.
i'll miss the round cage too. for some reason i find it to be the best for keeping the action going. it's not as easy to hold your opponent against the fence and it's not a rope.
CBS RATINGS NOT ENOUGH, ELITEXC CLOSING UP SHOP
Monday, October 20, 2008
by Tom Hamlin - MMAWeekly.com
ProElite, Inc., parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat, is throwing in the towel on mixed martial arts.
Several sources MMAWeekly.com spoke to said notifications had been sent out on Monday informing managers that the company was ceasing its fight promotion operations by the end of this week and it had begun the process of letting its employees go. One source even said that ProElite had already begun clearing out its corporate offices.
EliteXC’s remaining show scheduled for Nov. 8 in Reno, Nevada has been canceled. The card was due to be broadcast on Showtime networks, EliteXC’s original broadcast partner since the company’s formation in November of 2006.
Industry sources on Saturday informed MMAWeekly.com that ProElite made a last ditch effort to salvage its assets by selling off portions of the company, including fighter contracts and the satellite promotions it acquired in 2007.
The company had accrued over $55 million in debt in its twenty-four months of operations. Though its third CBS-televised offering, Oct. 4’s “Heat,” was looked at as a ratings success by EliteXC and CBS executives, the company's financial position had become untenable in recent months.
In an August SEC filing, EliteXC disclosed they were seeking 3.5 million dollars to fund operations through the end of the year. Only a month later, another SEC filing said they had received only $1 million in funding, provided by Showtime networks.
Elite CEO Chuck Champion last month told MMAWeekly.com that the Showtime loan came after two principal investors in the company had elected not to provide the $3.5 million "bridge financing."
An SEC filling dated Oct. 9 revealed that CBS had funded "Heat" due to ProElite's inability to pay for the show.
Multiple calls to EliteXC and Showtime representatives on Monday went unreturned, although EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw told MMAWeekly.com on Saturday he had no comment on the matter.
Although EliteXC now is out of the picture, that doesn't necessarily mean that CBS and Showtime are out of the MMA business. Sources have indicated that, having worked with Affliction Entertainment to add Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson to the "Heat" event (both are Affliction fighters), there is now the distinct possibility that CBS may look towards a relationship with Affliction to fill the void left by EliteXC's exodus.
yeah, he looked good in the first round, but cane withstood the pressure and attack. then he patiently waited for his chance to attack in the second. nothing worse than getting tired in a fight and that first round took more out of sokodjou than cane, it seemed. smart fight by cane, good fight.
Yeah that was the only fight I caught. Sokodjou definitely was dangerous at first, but Cane obviously had a plan and stuck to it. Like Rogan said, for every advantage Sokodjou has with all his muscle mass, there is an equal disadvantage in endurance.
thanks again for the GSP fights.. i've been checking them out:cool: Can't wait for the Silva fight!!
Whoa, chill bro... you know you can't raise your voice like that when the lion's here.
Yeah that was the only fight I caught. Sokodjou definitely was dangerous at first, but Cane obviously had a plan and stuck to it. Like Rogan said, for every advantage Sokodjou has with all his muscle mass, there is an equal disadvantage in endurance.
thanks again for the GSP fights.. i've been checking them out:cool: Can't wait for the Silva fight!!
right on. enjoy the rush!
it wasn't the greatest show, so you didn't miss much with the two fights after that, unfortunately. i enjoyed the cane vs. sokoudjou match, and the lylte vs. taylor bout is definitely worth checking out. let me know if you'd like to see it. marcus davis showed some good boxing against paul kelly as well, but kelly looked almost frozen in the match. it was weird.
this picture has been floating around the mma sites today, from the chris lytle vs. paul taylor match at ufc 89. it's a picture from sherdog's gallery of the event that has not been photoshopped! it looks like a cartoon. well, at least chris lytle does. nothing above his shoulders is in the place that it should be.
This pic is crazy, I can't believe his head didn't come off. LOL
it really looks like someone photoshopped a head onto the body, doesn't it? both guys were looking to take each other's heads off with those punches they were throwing. i couldn't believe they were both still standing by the end!
holy pie, i can't wait for this one! i hope we get to see it on the show this weekend. a sin that's it's on the undercard, really. anyway, a cool write up about the backgrounds of hermes and marcus.
Hermes Franca vs. Marcus Aurelio: The student & the teacher face off at UFC 90
October 21, 2008
By Jeff Larsen
There is practically nothing that sports fans can universally agree upon. Any two fans can look at the same event and have completely different interpretations depending on their respective affiliations.
An Oakland Raider fan who watched the NFL playoffs in 2002 will tell you about a bad call by an official which allowed the New England Patriots to maintain possession at a key point in their game with the Raiders. A New England fan, who watched the exact same play, can tell you the finer points of the “tuck rule” and how it was properly interpreted on that snowy January day.
Mixed martial arts fans are not immune from these differences in reality interpretation. For example, whether you saw Nick Diaz’s victory over Pride stand-out Takanori Gomi as an entertaining display of heart and technique or an aberration which was correctly changed to a no contest, is probably largely dependant on your opinion of the polarizing Stockton fighter.
At UFC 90, in Chicago, IL, two fighters will square off who, themselves, have very differing interpretations of events from their shared history. Pride veteran Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio (16-6) will face former challenger to the UFC Lightweight title Hermes Franca (18-7).
The two are former countrymen, former teammates, as well as former teacher and student.
Both fighters grew up in the city Fortaleza, Brazil. The two became acquainted through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Aurelio teaching Franca - is his junior by one year.
Eventually, both moved to the U.S. and found a home at American Top Team in Florida. The nature of this move, however, is disputed as Aurelio has said that he brought Franca over while Franca contends that he came by himself and that it was fellow UFC fighter Wilson Gouveia who gave him the idea.
Whatever the truth is, the two remained in close contact with Aurelio being one of the four Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts present when Franca was awarded his own black belt.
It was the awarding of another black belt, however, that helped lead to the end of their relationship.
While still with ATT, Hermes awarded current UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Some of Franca’s ATT teammates did not feel the promotion was deserved. The divide was wide enough that Franca left to form his own team with Pellegrino at The Armory in Jupiter Florida.
“When I gave Kurt his black belt I was four years into my black belt,” Franca tells Inside Fighting.
“And I know exactly when a guy deserves a black belt. He wasn’t just a good fighter but Kurt’s a good teacher and a great fighter.”
While the strained separation may have severed their relationship, both Aurelio and Franca continued their careers, becoming top level fighters in the lightweight division. Aurelio highlighting his resume with a submission victory over Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi in April of 2006 and Franca stringing together eight consecutive victories resulting in a Championship title match with the UFC’s Sean Sherk at UFC 73.
But staying true to their parallel motif both fighters have come upon difficult times as of late; Aurelio losing four of his last six fights and Franca serving a one year suspension for testing positive for a banned substance following his loss to Sean Sherk. Additionally, both are entering this fight coming off of a loss to a strong wrestler; Aurelio dropping a unanimous decision to Tyson Griffin at UFC 86 in early July and Franca on the wrong end of a decision to Frankie Edgar later that month.
“Last time I just froze and I did not fight, you know?” Aurelio recalls of his loss to Griffin. “I wasn’t in good shape and I just got, you know, kind of weird. I didn’t feel good and I couldn’t do my game. I don’t know what happened. I guess (I) froze. But this time that’s not going to happen. I prepare my mind everyday.”
Franca also believes his performance was not what it could have been in his last outing. “I was really excited to fight, you know? I stopped for a year and I was really excited to fight. I was supposed to go against Frankie Edgar in August in Minneapolis but Joe Silva called me, asked to fight in July, and I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ You know, I was more excited to come back and fight. Believe me, the waiting was kind of weird ‘cause that’s what I do. And one year without fighting was kind of killing me. But, you know, it was great. It was the fight of the night. Of course I didn’t win. Now I have no excuse. I have enough time for training, to change my game. I think I am ready,” Franca says.
Franca was set to start his comeback by facing American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau at UFC 90 until a shoulder injury in late August forced Tibau off the card. His teammate, Aurelio, was offered the fight and the stage was set for the former student and teacher to face off.
And though the back story was already rich as the two fighter’s lives were scheduled to intersect once again, the plot thickened after some comments Aurelio made to the Brazilian press calling Franca’s character in to question.
Despite the verbal shots that were traded in the aftermath, both Franca and Aurelio possess a desire to play down the conflict now.
“We don’t have like bad blood. He was my coach in Brazil and I was at the American Top Team and not kind of like a personal thing so, [it is] not that bad,” Franca says. “But he’s not like my friend, friend. We don’t talk. And I think it’s just more professional. I don’t like bringing problems to the cage, you know? I just train hard and try beating him. That’s my job.”
Aurelio seems to echo the sentiment, “I’m trying to make this fight, you know for me, a professional thing. I have to fight, you know? And I will fight good. I will fight great. I’m ready to rock the world over there,” he says.
Aurelio also indicates that he thinks the pending fight is at the heart of the tension that has surfaced. “People are talking a lot. People are asking a lot about that. But the bad blood is because of the fight,” he says.
Franca agrees.
“Like I say, we don’t have problems, you know? It’s going to be just a fight and it is what it is. After the fight, he’s going to keep the same. I don’t talk to him. He doesn’t talk to me so, same thing,” Franca says.
While acknowledging that his former teacher’s style is perhaps the closest to his own that he has ever faced, Franca makes no secret of what he needs to do to win.
“He has a good guard. He’s got the good Jiu Jitsu,” Franca says. “But he knows if he takes me down, he’s going to have some advantage.”
So to prepare to fight his former teacher, Franca has been working extensively on takedown defense as he prepares in different academies in the San Diego area. Aurelio holds his cards a little closer to his chest and will only indicate that he continues to work on all facets of the game.
“I’m training a lot of Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling. I have a lot of teammates at ATT that can train with me all day and they help me a lot,” Aurelio says.
This slight contrast in gamesmanship continues in their predictions for the fight as well. “I don’t have any prediction,” claims Aurelio. “The prediction I have is that when the fight starts I’m going to be 100%, you know, for the fight. For me, it will be a fight that I’m going to die or to live, you know? That’s my prediction. If I have to die in the cage I will die for that.”
Franca simply says, “I’m gonna knock him out.”
And after the fight, will Franca walk across the cage and shake the hand of this man with whom he’s shared so much history?
“If he’s awake, I’ll shake his hand,” Franca says.
One thing that can be predicted is a great fight between two of the most skilled 155 pound fighters in the world; a fight that will propel one of the fighters up the UFC’s crowded lightweight division while making the other an owner of a multi-fight losing streak with an up hill battle ahead of themselves. With stakes like that and a shared history like theirs, Aurelio vs. Franca is sure to be a fight worth seeing.
Comments
chris leben also sporting a new "corn rows" do, a tribute to evan tanner's "war rows" perhaps?
should be a gooder!
UFC 89, October 18, 2008 - National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England - Spike TV (Tape delay for North America - 9p.m. Eastern) / Live on Sportsnet West and Paacific in Canada and Live in the U.K and Ireland on Setana Sports 3 p.m. Eastern
Main Card:
Chris Leben (186) Vs. Michael Bisping (185)
Brandon Vera (203) Vs. Keith Jardine (205)
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (205) Vs. Luiz Cane (206)
Paul Taylor (170) Vs. Chris Lytle (170)
Paul Kelly (169) Vs. Marcus Davis (169)
Pre-lims:
Dan Hardy (169) Vs. Akihiro Gono (171)
Shane Carwin (264) Vs. Neil Wain (254)
David Bielkheden (156) Vs. Jess Liaudin (155)
Sam Stout (155) Vs. Terry Etim (155)
David Baron (155) Vs. Jim Miller (155)
Per Eklund (156) Vs. Samy Schiavo (156)
That is a solid card. Not one bad fight in the Main card. Looking forward to the Jardine/Vera fight, the Taylor/Lytle fight and the Kelly/David fight.
I heard about the PPV idea for Carano/Santos and I think that would be a bad idea. You would get your diehard MMA fans to watch it but that's it. By airing it on CBS you would gain so much more exposure and after the Kimbo fiasco EliteXC needs this fight to bring in more fans and ratings.
i totally agree.
agreed again.
ya i agree... i'm also looking forward to the Kelly/Davis and Etim/Stout fights, both should be pretty good standup wars.
I just checked the HD listing and it has UFC 89 listed for 3pm. I hope it's right
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
it's crazy that they're the only station in north america carrying it live! good for us canooks, eh?
this post is just an excuse to say...j bully get you picks in!!!
Anyways, i've only seen 1 fight so far and it was pretty good, i know who wins each fight but i'll still watch it all (in hd
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
i dunno i think he looks better with the beard to be honest
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
nice work on the win, leafs!
sorry that releash didn't get her pciks in on time. :(
enjoy the show...i'm going to try to stay up for the replay on spike...
indeed.
yeah, he looked good in the first round, but cane withstood the pressure and attack. then he patiently waited for his chance to attack in the second. nothing worse than getting tired in a fight and that first round took more out of sokodjou than cane, it seemed. smart fight by cane, good fight.
jardine wins the split. not the most exciting fight.
ya that was a great fight. 30-27 is crazy, it was such a close fight. I hope the put together the Davis/Lytle fight for Ireland
I'm watching the Soko fight right now and he looked to start to gas near the end of the 1st and then like you said, Cane just stayed smart controlling the stand up and as soon as Soko hit the floor, he didn't stop throwing till the ref jumped in.
Soko needs to work on his conditiion hard-core, if he could fight the way he does in the 1st half of the 1st round for all 3 rounds, he'd be a beast.
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
congrats once again on this championship, leafs!
UFC 89 BISPING vs LEBEN :: LEAGUE RESULTS
The Evolution Fight Club
Rank Player Total Points Awarded
1 krs82 185
2 Loveboatcapt0226 166
3 All Manador 147
4 battery 133
UFC 90, October 25, 2008 - Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois - PPV
Main Card:
Anderson Silva Vs. Patrick Côté - côté by tko
Thiago Alves Vs. Josh Koscheck - alves by ko
Fabricio Werdum Vs. Junior dos Santos - werdum by submission
Sean Sherk Vs. Tyson Griffin - griffin by split decision
Gray Maynard Vs. Rich Clementi - maynard by tko
Pre-lims:
Thales Leites Vs. Drew McFedries - leites by submission
Spencer Fisher Vs. Shannon Gugerty - fisher by tko
Matt Horwich Vs. Dan Miller - horwich by submission
Hermes Franca Vs. Marcus Aurelio - franca by tko
Pete Sell Vs. Josh Burkman - sell by ko
please don't hurt me for picking patrick, fellow league members. i believe!
taylor lands a huge left on chris lytle...
http://www.sherdog.com/pictures/gallery/event/14844/69232
both guys landed a lot of big punches inthe fight, but this one happened to be caught as just the right moment. chris lytle can take a punch!
i'll miss the round cage too. for some reason i find it to be the best for keeping the action going. it's not as easy to hold your opponent against the fence and it's not a rope.
CBS RATINGS NOT ENOUGH, ELITEXC CLOSING UP SHOP
Monday, October 20, 2008
by Tom Hamlin - MMAWeekly.com
ProElite, Inc., parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat, is throwing in the towel on mixed martial arts.
Several sources MMAWeekly.com spoke to said notifications had been sent out on Monday informing managers that the company was ceasing its fight promotion operations by the end of this week and it had begun the process of letting its employees go. One source even said that ProElite had already begun clearing out its corporate offices.
EliteXC’s remaining show scheduled for Nov. 8 in Reno, Nevada has been canceled. The card was due to be broadcast on Showtime networks, EliteXC’s original broadcast partner since the company’s formation in November of 2006.
Industry sources on Saturday informed MMAWeekly.com that ProElite made a last ditch effort to salvage its assets by selling off portions of the company, including fighter contracts and the satellite promotions it acquired in 2007.
The company had accrued over $55 million in debt in its twenty-four months of operations. Though its third CBS-televised offering, Oct. 4’s “Heat,” was looked at as a ratings success by EliteXC and CBS executives, the company's financial position had become untenable in recent months.
In an August SEC filing, EliteXC disclosed they were seeking 3.5 million dollars to fund operations through the end of the year. Only a month later, another SEC filing said they had received only $1 million in funding, provided by Showtime networks.
Elite CEO Chuck Champion last month told MMAWeekly.com that the Showtime loan came after two principal investors in the company had elected not to provide the $3.5 million "bridge financing."
An SEC filling dated Oct. 9 revealed that CBS had funded "Heat" due to ProElite's inability to pay for the show.
Multiple calls to EliteXC and Showtime representatives on Monday went unreturned, although EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw told MMAWeekly.com on Saturday he had no comment on the matter.
Although EliteXC now is out of the picture, that doesn't necessarily mean that CBS and Showtime are out of the MMA business. Sources have indicated that, having worked with Affliction Entertainment to add Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson to the "Heat" event (both are Affliction fighters), there is now the distinct possibility that CBS may look towards a relationship with Affliction to fill the void left by EliteXC's exodus.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=7396&zoneid=2
Yeah that was the only fight I caught. Sokodjou definitely was dangerous at first, but Cane obviously had a plan and stuck to it. Like Rogan said, for every advantage Sokodjou has with all his muscle mass, there is an equal disadvantage in endurance.
thanks again for the GSP fights.. i've been checking them out:cool: Can't wait for the Silva fight!!
right on. enjoy the rush!
it wasn't the greatest show, so you didn't miss much with the two fights after that, unfortunately. i enjoyed the cane vs. sokoudjou match, and the lylte vs. taylor bout is definitely worth checking out. let me know if you'd like to see it.
This pic is crazy, I can't believe his head didn't come off. LOL
it really looks like someone photoshopped a head onto the body, doesn't it? both guys were looking to take each other's heads off with those punches they were throwing. i couldn't believe they were both still standing by the end!
Hermes Franca vs. Marcus Aurelio: The student & the teacher face off at UFC 90
October 21, 2008
By Jeff Larsen
There is practically nothing that sports fans can universally agree upon. Any two fans can look at the same event and have completely different interpretations depending on their respective affiliations.
An Oakland Raider fan who watched the NFL playoffs in 2002 will tell you about a bad call by an official which allowed the New England Patriots to maintain possession at a key point in their game with the Raiders. A New England fan, who watched the exact same play, can tell you the finer points of the “tuck rule” and how it was properly interpreted on that snowy January day.
Mixed martial arts fans are not immune from these differences in reality interpretation. For example, whether you saw Nick Diaz’s victory over Pride stand-out Takanori Gomi as an entertaining display of heart and technique or an aberration which was correctly changed to a no contest, is probably largely dependant on your opinion of the polarizing Stockton fighter.
At UFC 90, in Chicago, IL, two fighters will square off who, themselves, have very differing interpretations of events from their shared history. Pride veteran Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio (16-6) will face former challenger to the UFC Lightweight title Hermes Franca (18-7).
The two are former countrymen, former teammates, as well as former teacher and student.
Both fighters grew up in the city Fortaleza, Brazil. The two became acquainted through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Aurelio teaching Franca - is his junior by one year.
Eventually, both moved to the U.S. and found a home at American Top Team in Florida. The nature of this move, however, is disputed as Aurelio has said that he brought Franca over while Franca contends that he came by himself and that it was fellow UFC fighter Wilson Gouveia who gave him the idea.
Whatever the truth is, the two remained in close contact with Aurelio being one of the four Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts present when Franca was awarded his own black belt.
It was the awarding of another black belt, however, that helped lead to the end of their relationship.
While still with ATT, Hermes awarded current UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Some of Franca’s ATT teammates did not feel the promotion was deserved. The divide was wide enough that Franca left to form his own team with Pellegrino at The Armory in Jupiter Florida.
“When I gave Kurt his black belt I was four years into my black belt,” Franca tells Inside Fighting.
“And I know exactly when a guy deserves a black belt. He wasn’t just a good fighter but Kurt’s a good teacher and a great fighter.”
While the strained separation may have severed their relationship, both Aurelio and Franca continued their careers, becoming top level fighters in the lightweight division. Aurelio highlighting his resume with a submission victory over Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi in April of 2006 and Franca stringing together eight consecutive victories resulting in a Championship title match with the UFC’s Sean Sherk at UFC 73.
But staying true to their parallel motif both fighters have come upon difficult times as of late; Aurelio losing four of his last six fights and Franca serving a one year suspension for testing positive for a banned substance following his loss to Sean Sherk. Additionally, both are entering this fight coming off of a loss to a strong wrestler; Aurelio dropping a unanimous decision to Tyson Griffin at UFC 86 in early July and Franca on the wrong end of a decision to Frankie Edgar later that month.
“Last time I just froze and I did not fight, you know?” Aurelio recalls of his loss to Griffin. “I wasn’t in good shape and I just got, you know, kind of weird. I didn’t feel good and I couldn’t do my game. I don’t know what happened. I guess (I) froze. But this time that’s not going to happen. I prepare my mind everyday.”
Franca also believes his performance was not what it could have been in his last outing. “I was really excited to fight, you know? I stopped for a year and I was really excited to fight. I was supposed to go against Frankie Edgar in August in Minneapolis but Joe Silva called me, asked to fight in July, and I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ You know, I was more excited to come back and fight. Believe me, the waiting was kind of weird ‘cause that’s what I do. And one year without fighting was kind of killing me. But, you know, it was great. It was the fight of the night. Of course I didn’t win. Now I have no excuse. I have enough time for training, to change my game. I think I am ready,” Franca says.
Franca was set to start his comeback by facing American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau at UFC 90 until a shoulder injury in late August forced Tibau off the card. His teammate, Aurelio, was offered the fight and the stage was set for the former student and teacher to face off.
And though the back story was already rich as the two fighter’s lives were scheduled to intersect once again, the plot thickened after some comments Aurelio made to the Brazilian press calling Franca’s character in to question.
Despite the verbal shots that were traded in the aftermath, both Franca and Aurelio possess a desire to play down the conflict now.
“We don’t have like bad blood. He was my coach in Brazil and I was at the American Top Team and not kind of like a personal thing so, [it is] not that bad,” Franca says. “But he’s not like my friend, friend. We don’t talk. And I think it’s just more professional. I don’t like bringing problems to the cage, you know? I just train hard and try beating him. That’s my job.”
Aurelio seems to echo the sentiment, “I’m trying to make this fight, you know for me, a professional thing. I have to fight, you know? And I will fight good. I will fight great. I’m ready to rock the world over there,” he says.
Aurelio also indicates that he thinks the pending fight is at the heart of the tension that has surfaced. “People are talking a lot. People are asking a lot about that. But the bad blood is because of the fight,” he says.
Franca agrees.
“Like I say, we don’t have problems, you know? It’s going to be just a fight and it is what it is. After the fight, he’s going to keep the same. I don’t talk to him. He doesn’t talk to me so, same thing,” Franca says.
While acknowledging that his former teacher’s style is perhaps the closest to his own that he has ever faced, Franca makes no secret of what he needs to do to win.
“He has a good guard. He’s got the good Jiu Jitsu,” Franca says. “But he knows if he takes me down, he’s going to have some advantage.”
So to prepare to fight his former teacher, Franca has been working extensively on takedown defense as he prepares in different academies in the San Diego area. Aurelio holds his cards a little closer to his chest and will only indicate that he continues to work on all facets of the game.
“I’m training a lot of Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling. I have a lot of teammates at ATT that can train with me all day and they help me a lot,” Aurelio says.
This slight contrast in gamesmanship continues in their predictions for the fight as well. “I don’t have any prediction,” claims Aurelio. “The prediction I have is that when the fight starts I’m going to be 100%, you know, for the fight. For me, it will be a fight that I’m going to die or to live, you know? That’s my prediction. If I have to die in the cage I will die for that.”
Franca simply says, “I’m gonna knock him out.”
And after the fight, will Franca walk across the cage and shake the hand of this man with whom he’s shared so much history?
“If he’s awake, I’ll shake his hand,” Franca says.
One thing that can be predicted is a great fight between two of the most skilled 155 pound fighters in the world; a fight that will propel one of the fighters up the UFC’s crowded lightweight division while making the other an owner of a multi-fight losing streak with an up hill battle ahead of themselves. With stakes like that and a shared history like theirs, Aurelio vs. Franca is sure to be a fight worth seeing.
Even the two of them can likely agree on that.
http://www.insidefighting.com/latest-news/hermes-franca-vs-marcus-aurelio-the-student-the-teacher-face-off-at-ufc-90