Author: kmowatt

It wouldn’t be a normal month in the world of MMA if no ‘post worthy’ material didn’t stem from Fedor Emelianenko and company (meaning M-1 Global), and just when we’ve gone a few days talking about the crazy shenanigans of Anderson Silva, the ‘hey buddy’ Strikeforce brawl, and Penn vs. Edgar II, yes indeedy, “The Last Emperor” finally gets tossed back into the mix (which is far easier to do in a sentence than physically).

In an interesting report from MMA Junkie’s John Morgan this afternoon, M-1 Global President Vadim Finklechtein offered the organization’s own view, as to why there’s been a hold-up regarding Fedor’s second Strikeforce bout:

“We’re not trying to renegotiate a new contract,” Finkelchtein said. “We’re not asking for anything in addition to what we were promised prior to entering into the relationship in 2009. … What we’ve wanted, and why the fight didn’t happen this past weekend, is because we wanted the terms that were promised to us in the deal, and that’s what we are trying to negotiate – for us to be able to get those terms that were promised so we can move forward.”

One of the terms meaning, M-1 Global wasn’t exactly front and center during the promotion of Fedor’s Strikeforce debut last fall. Now, Vadim also said that Fedor could be ready to fight on Strikeforce’s June 26^th show (probably against Fabricio Werdum); after last weekend’s less than ‘where’d my socks go?’ Strikeforce event, getting Fedor back on CBS ASAP is probably a good way to go.

As any regular reader of Fix knows, we are tickled pink with excitement over the upcoming release of UFC Undisputed 2010 (a common occurrence for people whose passion for rarely exercising has precluded them from an actual career in MMA). Last year’s inaugural edition was cool and everything, but after a couple of months it lost its original ‘this will never get old’ lustre (very much unlike pics of Brittney Palmer).

Now if you’re a three star gaming nerd like us (four star entails you also play War Craft; five star means you also spend a lot of time being a ‘MMA fighter’ in Second Life…yeesh), then you probably agree that part of the reason the first Undisputed got stale, was the somewhat undeveloped career mode. Well, THQ has released yet another trailer demonstrating some of the career mode’s new features for the 2010 edition, and it’s looking pretty, pretty, pretty good.

In this latest preview more info is provided on how you can create a personality for your fighter, and as it looks, you have opportunities during weigh-ins, the fights and post fight interviews to either be respectful or arrogant (alas, no info was provided as to whether or not you can interrupt another fighter’s post-fight interview). In another sweet ‘revelation,’ THQ has really vamped up the training camp aspect, meaning that you actually go and spar with various camps to learn new techniques. You don’t just click on a team logo / coach like last year’s edition.

Check out the trailer here (keep an ear out for the comment to Ed Soares that his fighters are never ”antagonistic.” This was probably shot prior to UFC 112?)

A lot of the coverage regarding this Saturday’s WEC PPV is surrounding the featherweight title fight between champion Jose Aldo and former champ Urijah Faber, which makes complete sense to us, as both guys rank extremely high on Fix’s entertainment per second index (we’ll get those figures to you later). Of course, another reason for our anxious-excited-energy lately (aside from our paranoia that the Icelandic volcano is trying to tell us something…) is the Ben Henderson / Donald Cerrone rematch, which is also part of this weekend’s WEC.

Now if you didn’t see the first fight, and thus are thinking ‘what’s the big deal?’, keep that thought to yourself and go find footage of the fight. Wow. Back already? Pretty sweet tilt huh? With a memorable and competitive five round war like that, who wouldn’t want to see a rematch? Well, speaking to MMA Weekly, the lightweight champ Henderson admitted he completely understands this sentiment.

“I knew after the first fight we had, Cerrone and I, that there was going to be talks of a rematch. I knew it was a matter of time, we were going to fight again,” Henderson said. “Cerrone’s a great guy, and he’s more than deserving, so let’s do it again. Give me a chance to end it.”

Agreed. While we’re on the subject of the WEC lightweight division, however, according to UFC boss man Dana White, dudes like Henderson and Cerrone will eventually be throwing down in the UFC. More on that here. To bet on this weekend’s WEC click here.

According to a report today from Fighters Only Magazine, the outlet has confirmed with “several key sources” that the rematch between newly crowned lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, and former champ BJ Penn, will go down August 28^th at the UFC’s promotional debut in Boston. For Boston fans that’s some pretty wicked good news no? Should be a wicked good fight.

As soon as word broke after the first Penn / Edgar bout earlier this month that the UFC was looking at hooking up an immediate rematch, we here at Fix thought it was a good idea. Yeah, Edgar deserves a ton of props for the game plan he implemented and for pushing Penn the way he did, but if you play into the whole ‘you gotta beat the champ to be the champ,’ a case can certainly be made that Penn should still have the belt (not to mention the fact that few people seem to be bothered about the upcoming rematch between “Shogun” Rua and light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida…it works both ways…).

In a recent interview with MMA Weekly, Edgar conceded that he would love an opportunity to avenge his loss to rising contender Gray Maynard, but that:

“If it’s B.J., it’s B.J. If anybody deserves a rematch right away I guess it would be him, you know?”

We’re thinking Joe Stevenson, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian and Sean Sherk might agree.

While some die hard MMA fans remain concerned about how Saturday night’s Strikeforce post-fight brawl could provide ammo for the sport’s haters (don’t underestimate the lobbying power of knitting clubs and bird watching enthusiasts), one can’t help but wonder what the boss man of the world’s omnipresent promotion, the UFC’s Dana White, thought of the debacle. Was he outraged? Disappointed at UFC welterweight Nate Diaz’s attempts to lay the boots to Jason Miller? Or even happy that his main competitor had the bed completely soiled on one of its most important events ever?

Well, speaking to Yahoo Sports! Kevin Iole, White discussed a few of these issues, and in terms of Nate Diaz, it sounds like no punishment from the UFC is heading the fighter’s way. As far as his feeling towards Strikeforce, CBS and Showtime, well, let’s just say that White didn’t pull any punches (nothing shocking there). Here is just one of several quotes from Iole’s article, where White blasts away at Strikeforce and its partners.

“Now, they’re stuck with a bush league, C-level promotion that will probably be out of business next month,” he added. “And what you saw on Saturday is the kind of thing that happens when you put a product like that on national television.”

Guess any UFC fighters planning to interrupt an upcoming post-fight interview with ‘hey buddy, where’s my rematch?’ just had those plans punted. To read the entire ‘discussion’ head here.

It shouldn’t be surprising to hear today that the Tennessee Athletic Commission has decided to launch a formal investigation into the post fight brawl at Saturday’s Strikeforce show, which thanks to the actions of a few very tough dudes, has likely convinced overprotective mothers across N.A. to ban MMA in their households…(if you’re over 18 and this describes your situation, have hope dude, you still have time to change your life).

Now, while this may lead to disciplinary action, or hopefully a review of why in the hell people were allowed to cram into the cage after the fight like sardines in a can, the man whose actions sparked the ‘disagreement,’ has offered an apology. Speaking on his official website, Jason “Mayhem” Miller posted:

“I would like to formally apologize to CBS, Strikeforce and all fans of mixed martial arts for my role in the events following the ‘Strikeforce: Nashville’ event. In retrospect, my timing could not have been worse to ask for my rematch with Jake [Shields], and I take full responsibility for entering the cage and setting off a chain of events that cast a dark shadow on the sport. I’ve been a fighter and a fan of MMA for over 12 years and would never do anything to intentionally tarnish the sport I’ve given my life to. In the excitement of the moment, I let my emotions run high and made a bad choice that resulted in a debacle. For that, I sincerely apologize.”

Wow. That’s quite the upgrade from the “whoops” he ‘tweeted’ Saturday night. Wonder if he’s had any phone calls between now and then? Here’s hoping for a nice brisk wind to blow this over ASAP.