Author: chaddundas

Why is Vancouver So Scared of MMA Fans?

(What’s not to like? Pic: ESPN)

There is mounting evidence to suggest that the city of Vancouver – and indeed the entire province of British Columbia – views MMA and its fans as a roving band of savages who are going to storm the town with torches and two-by-fours, burning every building and raping every damsel before climbing on their snarling horses and moving on to pillage the next village. At least that’s the impression we get from a number of local news reports leading up to June’s UFC 131. First there were reports from the Vancouver Courier that the police chief in The Couv was asking the UFC to foot the bill for extra cops outside the Rogers Arena during the event. The UFC rightly said no to that request last week. Now older reports are beginning to surface that the local government squashed a planned MMA expo last year and even one (from our own M-Russ in his previous incarnation at The Fight Network) alleging that area nightclubs tried to ban Affliction clothing as far back as 2007.

So, what gives? Why so petrified, Vancouver? Did somebody forget to tell them Brock Lesnar’s probably not even going to show up now? We hate to break the news this way, but the UFC has actually been doing shows all over the world for kind of a lot of years now and all of them – as far as we know – are still standing and operational as, you know, cities. From where we’re sitting it seems way more dangerous to say, have your team win the NBA championship than host a UFC event. Oh, wait. Sorry. Forgot. Anyway, more on this story, the UFC’s reaction and the possible roots of Vancouver’s MMA phobia after the jump.

(What’s not to like? Pic: ESPN)

There is mounting evidence to suggest that the city of Vancouver – and indeed the entire province of British Columbia – views MMA and its fans as a roving band of savages who are going to storm the town with torches and two-by-fours, burning every building and raping every damsel before climbing on their snarling horses and moving on to pillage the next village. At least that’s the impression we get from a number of local news reports leading up to June’s UFC 131. First there were reports from the Vancouver Courier that the police chief in The Couv was asking the UFC to foot the bill for extra cops outside the Rogers Arena during the event. The UFC rightly said no to that request last week. Now older reports are beginning to surface that the local government squashed a planned MMA expo last year and even one (from our own M-Russ in his previous incarnation at The Fight Network) alleging that area nightclubs tried to ban Affliction clothing as far back as 2007.

So, what gives? Why so petrified, Vancouver? Did somebody forget to tell them Brock Lesnar’s probably not even going to show up now? We hate to break the news this way, but the UFC has actually been doing shows all over the world for kind of a lot of years now and all of them – as far as we know – are still standing and operational as, you know, cities. From where we’re sitting it seems way more dangerous to say, have your team win the NBA championship than host a UFC event. Oh, wait. Sorry. Forgot. Anyway, more on this story, the UFC’s reaction and the possible roots of Vancouver’s MMA phobia after the jump.

Much of the current hysteria appears to stem from a bump in calls to police in the wake of UFC 115 last summer, particularly one sort of nasty act of violence. In that incident, a gay couple was beaten by two men while returning to their home in the hours after UFC 115. For whatever reason – thought they’ve been a little coy about it – police believe the men responsible may have been all charged up after watching Rich Franklin KO Chuck Liddell that night. Here it is from the most recent Courier report:

“Police have not linked the beating to the UFC event, although (one of the victims) said in an interview a few days after the incident that he believed his attackers attended the fights at Rogers Arena.”

So that seems vague. According to the Courier, other incidents of concern following UFC 115 included “public drinking, rowdy drunks and public urination before and after the UFC event.” You know, sort of like what happens any time there is any sort of significant gathering  of fans for a sporting event, concert or large scale happening. Fact is, you’re always going to have a few idiots sprinkled in with the rest of the crowd.

Inexplicably, BC seems to have decided that MMA fans are also prone to “gang activity,” though if there are any MMA-centric gangs out there, we’ve never heard of them. It’s not like the Hells Angels, Crips or Latin Kings are known to mobilize for UFC events. Apparently however, the powers that be believe these gangs exist, and that they fancy $60 fashion T-shirts as their colors. Dude, those aren’t gangs. They’re just douchebags.

Anyhow, “gang concerns” were the reasons given last year when authorities reportedly told a promoter his planned MMA expo could not include “two people competing in any manner.” As result of finding out that no MMA, jiu-jitsu or kickboxing could be expo’d at his expo, the promoter canceled the event.

That pretty much brings us up to date, when Vancouver asked the UFC to pay for extra cops around Rogers Arena next month. The company said no, with Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright explaining in an email to MMA Fighting: “We remain supportive of law enforcement in every city we bring shows to, (but) we weren’t prepared to be ‘treated differently’ than other events/concerts/shows.”

As it stands, it doesn’t seem like this sticking point will threaten the viability of UFC 131. On the other hand, it does kind of feel like British Columbia needs to chill the fuck out.

Brockwatch 2011: With Lesnar Gone, UFC Scrambles to Make Chicken Salad Out of Summer PPV Schedule

(Pic: MMA Soldier)

It was rampant speculation time across the interwebs on Friday, after yesterday’s announcement that Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis has returned with a vengeance. “Is Brock done?” we all wondered aloud. Is Carwin vs. dos Santos actually a better fight? Can the UFC rebound from a couple of weeks that saw the main events of UFC 130, 131 and 133 all go up in smoke? And, dear God, are Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz next to suffer some bizarre malady, causing a reshuffling of the only PPV still left in one piece? Nobody knows.

What we do know is this: Brock Lesnar turns 34 in July and twice now since 2009 he’s seen his career indefinitely sidetracked by being the world’s only millionaire athlete to get a near fatal disease from not eating enough vegetables. Age has never been particularly kind to jumbo-sized athletes and even for a professional wrestler, Lesnar’s job history has been pretty flighty over the years. So, while we can’t say with any kind of certainty that his MMA career might be over over, Lesnar’s second bout with a strange digestive infection nobody had ever heard of before two years ago can’t exactly be considered a good thing. Apparently, the first time he went through this the UFC forgot to tell us that diverticulitis is something that sticks around for the rest of your life. Whoops. But we digress. What it all means for Lesnar, dos Santos, Carwin and – most importantly – you, after the jump.

(Pic: MMA Soldier)

It was rampant speculation time across the interwebs on Friday, after yesterday’s announcement that Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis has returned with a vengeance. “Is Brock done?” we all wondered aloud. Is Carwin vs. dos Santos actually a better fight? Can the UFC rebound from a couple of weeks that saw the main events of UFC 130, 131 and 133 all go up in smoke? And, dear God, are Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz next to suffer some bizarre malady, causing a reshuffling of the only PPV still left in one piece? Nobody knows.

What we do know is this: Brock Lesnar turns 34 in July and twice now since 2009 he’s seen his career indefinitely sidetracked by being the world’s only millionaire athlete to get a near fatal disease from not eating enough vegetables. Age has never been particularly kind to jumbo-sized athletes and even for a professional wrestler, Lesnar’s job history has been pretty flighty over the years. So, while we can’t say with any kind of certainty that his MMA career might be over over, Lesnar’s second bout with a strange digestive infection nobody had ever heard of before two years ago can’t exactly be considered a good thing. Apparently, the first time he went through this the UFC forgot to tell us that diverticulitis is something that sticks around for the rest of your life. Whoops. But we digress. What it all means for Lesnar, dos Santos, Carwin and – most importantly – you, after the jump.

Dos Santos has also been thrust into kind of a tight spot here. Here he is coming off an altogether affable – if not star-making – turn on TUF 13 and for the second time in recent memory he’s seen a big-money fight fall through due to an injury to the other guy. Now he inherits a slightly lesser known but arguably more dangerous opponent. At this point, the dude should just be happy if Carwin makes it to the cage, but (in case you’re interested) he’s taking a “same shit, different opponent” kind of approach to this last-minute switcheroo.

“I got a little upset about this change, but I’m happy that the UFC got another opponent for me,” dos Santos told Sherdog this week. “Carwin is an excellent fighter and deserves all my respect. His boxing skills are great. It’s gonna be a great fight with tough blows from both sides. I would say that it will end by knockout.”

Dos Santos rightly opened as a pretty significant favorite over Carwin, who will be staring down the barrel of his own 11-month absence from the cage by fight night. Oddly though, at least some of the early money appears to be falling to Carwin. According to reports, dos Santos opened at around -265, but has since seen those odds shrink to -225. That means there are a significant number of gamblers who might just think Carwin can win here. Winning would be a great thing for The Engineer, who came within a breath of claiming the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 116 and still, still at some point needs to give us his side of how his name wound up on that one list we’ve all forgotten about already.

As for the company itself, well, this change pretty much couldn’t come at a worse time, what with the upcoming PPV schedule already ailing. To add insult to injury, TUF 13 ratings slipped again this week, further fueling our speculation that a season of reality TV was exactly the wrong way to try to promote Lesnar in the first place. During 2010, the big fella was the company’s biggest (and best paid) PPV draw. At this point though – even if he is able to return to active competition – you have to wonder just how much the UFC can count on him as a reliable future PPV draw.

And So It Begins: UFC Guts Strikeforce Front Office

(“OK, if we didn’t call your name, it means we had no idea you even worked here. Anyway, you’re fired too.”)

Kind of like the husband who assures his loving wife he’s only going to have “a couple of beers” with the boys after work, we suspect when Dana White told us back in March that Zuffa, LLC was “not planning any changes” inside Strikeforce he probably really believed it at the very moment the words came out of his mouth. But just as that husband somehow ends his night trying to explain there was no way he could’ve known that 14-year-old prostitute was actually an undercover policewoman, so too does it turn out White’s definition of “business as usual” actually means, “in two months we’re going to lay off 85 percent of you guys.”

(“OK, if we didn’t call your name, it means we had no idea you even worked here. Anyway, you’re fired too.”)

Kind of like the husband who assures his loving wife he’s only going to have “a couple of beers” with the boys after work, we suspect when Dana White told us back in March that Zuffa, LLC was “not planning any changes” inside Strikeforce he probably really believed it at the very moment the words came out of his mouth. But just as that husband somehow ends his night trying to explain there was no way he could’ve known that 14-year-old prostitute was actually an undercover policewoman, so too does it turn out White’s definition of “business as usual” actually means, “in two months we’re going to lay off 85 percent of you guys.”

And like the wife stranded at home with the baby and the bottle and the bail money, we kinda knew all along this night wasn’t going to end well, didn’t we? That’s why it comes as a shock to absolutely no one this week that reports say of the 12 employees who worked in the Strikeforce front office at the time of the Zuffa sale, just two full-timers now remain. It was clear weeks ago that the UFC had effectively taken over Strikeforce’s media relations and this week that Scott Coker had been quietly demoted to Executive VP of Something-Or-Other, so these new revelations just feel like another incidental step toward a sad divorce. Unless you used to work for Strikeforce, in which case – if you’ll excuse our language – these new revelations probably feel like a huge dick in the ass.

According to MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta: “The highest-profile of the layoffs was matchmaker Rich Chou, who Coker once said was the man most likely to replace him and run the organization some day. Chou was replaced by former WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby.”

And look, that’s just business. At the time of the purchase maybe the UFC had actually convinced itself that Strikeforce could continue to run as a separate entity – that’s sort of what it says every time, after all – but the truth is that’s just not practical. If there’s one thing we know for sure about the honchos at Zuffa, it’s that they like to run things a certain way. Their way. They also don’t seem like the type of dudes who are going to be amenable to changes or outside ideas. Fact is, Strikeforce peeps weren’t part of Dana’s crew and if you’re not part of the crew, well …

As if we needed one sad detail to act as a microcosm here, there’s this: According to the report, even as Zuffa continues to tighten its grip on Strikeforce from its Las Vegas-based offices Coker – who now appears to hold the same rank in the company as Chuck Liddell – continues to work out of San Jose.

Put your glasses on, Scott. See that stuff on the wall? That’s the writing. It’s been there for awhile now.

Members of Tapout Crew Admit Distributing Mask’s Ashes, Say Sister’s Lawsuit is Just a Cash Grab

(Call us crazy, but we have a hunch two grown men who call themselves “Punkass” and “SkySkrape” may not always weigh the legal consequences of their actions. Pic: CombatLifestyle)

Here come the admissions (and the counter-arguments) in one of the weirdest MMA-related stories we’ve ever heard: The co-founders of MMA’s best known apparel company confirmed through their lawyer on Thursday that they handed out their deceased business partner’s ashes at a memorial service following his 2009 death, but said the amounts were far less than originally reported and that there was “nothing wrong with dividing up a loved one’s ashes” among his close friends. These acknowledgements from Tapout front men Dan “Punkass” Caldwell and Tim “SkySkrape” Katz came after the sister of Charles “Mask” Lewis filed a lawsuit in California this week seeking unspecified damages for the “overwhelming and severe emotional distress” caused by the treatment of her brother’s remains.

Caldwell and Katz fired back that Lewis and his sister were estranged at the time of his death and dismiss her lawsuit as a cash grab. Damn. We’re beginning to think this is one of those situations where everyone is right … and wrong, at the same time. Public responses from both Punkass and ’Skrape are after the jump.

(Call us crazy, but we have a hunch two grown men who call themselves “Punkass” and “SkySkrape” may not always weigh the legal consequences of their actions. Pic: CombatLifestyle)

Here come the admissions (and the counter-arguments) in one of the weirdest MMA-related stories we’ve ever heard: The co-founders of MMA’s best known apparel company confirmed through their lawyer on Thursday that they handed out their deceased business partner’s ashes at a memorial service following his 2009 death, but said the amounts were far less than originally reported and that there was “nothing wrong with dividing up a loved one’s ashes” among his close friends. These acknowledgements from Tapout front men Dan “Punkass” Caldwell and Tim “SkySkrape” Katz came after the sister of Charles “Mask” Lewis filed a lawsuit in California this week seeking unspecified damages for the “overwhelming and severe emotional distress” caused by the treatment of her brother’s remains.

Caldwell and Katz fired back that Lewis and his sister were estranged at the time of his death and dismiss her lawsuit as a cash grab. Damn. We’re beginning to think this is one of those situations where everyone is right … and wrong, at the same time. Public responses from both Punkass and ’Skrape are after the jump.

“You all who talk shit should know the whole story first!!!” SkySkrape posted to the UG on Wednesday. “She [Lewis’ sister] is a nut case that charles couldn’t stand (his words not mine)! And I was the closest person to him the past 13 years! She is reaching for SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!”

“Sad shit!” tweeted Caldwell, who appears in this photograph wearing a necklace bearing a vial with Mask’s name printed on it. “Relatives who hadnt talked to Charles in 10 years now comin out to get money! Not his Ashes! Anyway his ashes belong to his kids!”

Lewis’ sister – still being identified only as “Carla” – contends Caldwell and Katz borrowed Lewis’ ashes for viewing at the public memorial, but says she later learned between 50 and 100 vials containing bits of her brother’s cremated body were distributed to people on a “special list” during the service. She further charges that the men still have the urn containing the ashes and have refused to give them back. Though they now admit to giving out the ashes, Punkass and ’Skrape say it was only a “very small amount.” They also concede they still have Lewis’ ashes – kind of hard to deny when the Orange County Register has published photos of the weird room where they keep them – but say they’ll return the urn “so Mask’s two young children can eventually inherit their father’s remains.”

Caldwell and Katz say Lewis’ “close circle of friends had become his family” at the time of his death. All this seems reasonable, but the actual lawsuit will probably hinge on Carla’s claims that she was the only person with any legal rights over her brother’s ashes. If that’s true, our best guess is that the Tapout Crew is probably going to have to give her some money to go away.

As most of you know, Lewis – who founded Tapout in 1997 with Caldwell and added Katz to the team shortly thereafter — was killed in a car accident during a street race in 2009. The other driver in the race (who was drunk) was later convicted of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to nine years in prison.

UFC to Offer Bonuses for Twitter Use

(“Please understand when I type ‘Go Fuk Urself’ it’s just part of a carefully orchestrated corporate branding campaign.” Pic: Dub)

If you’ve noticed the ridiculous crush of Twitter messages that have flooded the social networking site during the current Zuffa, LLC. fighter summit in Las Vegas, this may be the reason why: UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday that the fight promotion will begin offering bonuses to fighters for Twitter use, essentially paying them to tweet. Bonuses will be available to fighters who add the most Twitter followers and write the most creative tweets, according to a report from MMA Fighting. Jesus, this oughta be good. No word yet on whether the UFC Octagon girls will get bonuses for incessantly tweeting about their daily agendas.

Those of you who have been paying attention know it is no accident that the UFC has quickly evolved into a major player in the social media world during the last couple of years. As one of its primary PR objectives, the promotion recently partnered with a marketing firm called The Digital Royalty, which specializes in teaching celebrities and organizations how to maximize their presence on Twitter. Turns out, Dana doesn’t just tweet because he likes it. And here we thought one of Twitter’s only redeeming qualities was that it seemed halfway organic and spontaneous. Guess not. Anyway, exactly how these bonuses will work is after the jump.

(“Please understand when I type ‘Go Fuk Urself’ it’s just part of a carefully orchestrated corporate branding campaign.” Pic: Dub)

If you’ve noticed the ridiculous crush of Twitter messages that have flooded the social networking site during the current Zuffa, LLC. fighter summit in Las Vegas, this may be the reason why: UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday that the fight promotion will begin offering bonuses to fighters for Twitter use, essentially paying them to tweet. Bonuses will be available to fighters who add the most Twitter followers and write the most creative tweets, according to a report from MMA Fighting. Jesus, this oughta be good. No word yet on whether the UFC Octagon girls will get bonuses for incessantly tweeting about their daily agendas.

Those of you who have been paying attention know it is no accident that the UFC has quickly evolved into a major player in the social media world during the last couple of years. As one of its primary PR objectives, the promotion recently partnered with a marketing firm called The Digital Royalty, which specializes in teaching celebrities and organizations how to maximize their presence on Twitter. Turns out, Dana doesn’t just tweet because he likes it. And here we thought one of Twitter’s only redeeming qualities was that it seemed halfway organic and spontaneous. Guess not. Anyway, exactly how these bonuses will work is after the jump.

Straight from Ariel Helwani: “Starting June 1, UFC and Strikeforce fighters will be divided into four categories, based on how many Twitter followers they currently have. At the end of each quarter, three fighters from each category will be awarded a $5,000 bonus. The three winners will be based on who has gained the most followers since the start of the quarter, who gained the highest percentage of new followers and who wrote the most creative tweets. White will be the judge of the last category. At the conclusion of a full calendar year, the UFC will end up paying $240,000 a year to its fighters for their Twitter usage.”

Naturally, being our sport’s official arbiter of good taste and creativity, Dana will decide who gets the award for most creative tweets. If you ask us, this award may as well just be called The Miguel Torres Bonus. Seriously, if anybody is going to catch Miguel Angel, they’re really going to have to step their game up.

It goes without saying that the more followers the UFC can draw into its social networking web, the better it can advertise its various products (among which, the fighters themselves are No. 1) and ultimately push sales of things like merch and PPVs. Can it also use information about its followers to better hone its demographic information? Probably, but that’s just our guess.

So, the next time you see your favorite fighter on Twitter announcing his most recent breakup, telling an opponent he hopes he gets AIDS or letting us all know who was the most important person in the car wreck he just had, he’s not just being friendly. He’s trying to get paid.

After 5 Hours at the Dentist, Randy Couture is A-OK Following Career-Ending KO

(YouTube/MMA30tv)

Any time you watch a 47-year-old man get kicked in the face by a levitating karate master – man, if we only had a nickel for every time that happens, right? – you have to wonder how the elder statesman is going to bounce back from it. In the case of Randy Couture, he appears to be recovering nicely. Aside from a small bruise under his eye, the newly retired “Natural” seems in great spirits when he meets up with MMA30’s Dave Fara at a gala event for the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation, which seeks to raise money for wounded vets. Couture also looks fully in control of his faculties, as evidenced when he correctly uses the word “assimilate” in casual conversation.

The teeth however, were more of a problem. In the above vid, listen to Couture discuss the five-plus hours he spent at the dentist getting his pearly-white Hollywood-level choppers realigned. All that, and he even has to go back for more. Nonetheless, The Old Man is taking it in stride, relating to Fara that Lyoto Machdia put in a personal phone call to him a couple of days after the fight to make sure he was OK. Couture laughs off the Steven Seagal angle, keeps right on using the word “cat” as much as possible (which is only slightly less annoying than when guys in MMA insist on calling everyone “kid”) and even comments on rumors he personally took out Osama bin Laden. “It was a long plane ride,” says Couture. So you know, (if you’ll excuse the phrase) business as usual. Now if we could just do something about the epaulets on his dress blazer …

The rest of Couture’s quotes are after the jump, followed by a bevy of other Las Vegas-based fighters making appearances to pay homage to the 14-year vet. And damn, check out the jacket on Ray Sefo at 4:15. Looking good.

(YouTube/MMA30tv)

Any time you watch a 47-year-old man get kicked in the face by a levitating karate master – man, if we only had a nickel for every time that happens, right? – you have to wonder how the elder statesman is going to bounce back from it. In the case of Randy Couture, he appears to be recovering nicely. Aside from a small bruise under his eye, the newly retired “Natural” seems in great spirits when he meets up with MMA30’s Dave Fara at a gala event for the Xtreme Couture  GI Foundation, which seeks to raise money for wounded vets. Couture also looks fully in control of his faculties, as evidenced when he correctly uses the word “assimilate” in casual conversation.

The teeth however, were more of a problem. In the above vid, listen to Couture discuss the five-plus hours he spent at the dentist getting his pearly-white Hollywood-level choppers realigned. All that, and he even has to go back for more. Nonetheless, The Old Man is taking it in stride, relating to Fara that  Lyoto Machdia put in a personal phone call to him a couple of days after the fight to make sure he was OK. Couture laughs off the Steven Seagal angle, keeps right on using the word “cat” as much as possible (which is only slightly less annoying than when guys in MMA insist on calling everyone “kid”) and  even comments on rumors he personally took out Osama bin Laden. “It was a long plane ride,” says Couture. So you know, (if you’ll excuse the phrase) business as usual. Now if we could just do something about the epaulets on his dress blazer …

The rest of Couture’s quotes are after the jump, followed by a bevy of other Las Vegas-based fighters making appearances to pay homage to the 14-year vet. And damn, check out the jacket on Ray Sefo at 4:15. Looking good.

“I had a rough day yesterday,” Couture says. “Got the teeth fixed yesterday. Five and a half hours in the dental chair. My lip is still a little swollen (and) I still feel like I’m talking a little funny, but (it’s) temporarily fixed now. The real bridge comes in a week and we’ll be back up and running.”

When asked by Fara what it was like to be feted by 55,000 strong at Rogers Centre during his final fight, Couture admits it was hard to wrap his mind around the whole thing. Especially that last part. The part with the flying crane kick.

“It was a little surreal,” he says. “It almost doesn’t sink in when it’s happening, you have to kind of sit back and reflect on it later. It was an amazing experience. Lyoto was a terrific competitor, obviously he’s a tremendous athlete. He’s everything he was billed to be, he’s elusive (and) he’s hard to get a handle on. That kick, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone set up that kick in competition. It’s been kind of the year for those strange kicks.”

Stick around for the full nine minutes and you’ll also get to hear from Ryan Couture, Sefo, Tyson Griffin, Frank Mir, Jay Glazer and some dude who looks like he just wandered off the set of “21 Jump Street” who claims to be Mike Pyle.