Gone are all the sub-sections on Strikeforce.com, which directed readers to event calendars and fight rosters. Instead, it looks like some intern just screen-capped the latest press-release on MS Word — without running spelling-and-grammar-check first, mind you — posted it, and called it a day. The only link on the site is contained in the poster image at the top, which directs to a freakin’ GoDaddy page.
(“It looks like you’re starting an MMA promotion. May I suggest throwing all your money into a pit and lighting it on fire instead?”)
Gone are all the sub-sections on Strikeforce.com, which directed readers to event calendars and fight rosters. Instead, it looks like some intern just screen-capped the latest press-release on MS Word — without running spelling-and-grammar-check first, mind you — posted it, and called it a day. The only link on the site is contained in the poster image at the top, which directs to a freakin’ GoDaddy page.
Strikeforce’s twitter account confirms that the site has actually been down for four weeks — which is like 12 years in Internet time — but promises that the full site “should” be up by next week. And that’s how fast things get done when your parent company doesn’t give a rat’s ass anymore. Meanwhile, Scott Coker is in permanent “casual Friday” mode…
(“Waaaaaow, a postah thined by Thcott Cokah himthelf…”)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has only existed since November 1993. In its current Zuffa-owned form, it has only been around since 2001.That is a relatively minuscule amount of time for a sport to develop, yet the UFC has grown so much since 2001 …
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has only existed since November 1993. In its current Zuffa-owned form, it has only been around since 2001.
That is a relatively minuscule amount of time for a sport to develop, yet the UFC has grown so much since 2001 that the product is barely comparable to that of yesteryear.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Boxing dominated the American sports landscape and it produced stars such as Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Mike Tyson.
But by the 1990s, the sport was losing steam and the American sports landscape was ready for something new.
Rorion Gracie, brother of Royce, devised a tournament to find out what fighting discipline was the best.
Could a boxer beat a karate master?
Would a jiu jitsu fighter beat a kickboxer?
The world wanted to know and Gracie knew this. It exploded in popularity and a sport was born.
If we fast forward to 2005, the first season of the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) aired on Spike TV and millions of new fans were introduced to mixed martial arts.
The timing and the great list of fighters could not have come at a better time.
The UFC was badly in debt before season one of TUF. After the now-legendary bout between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin at the TUF season one finale, the world took notice of the peculiar sport that mixed striking and submissions.
Was the UFC in the right place at the right time?
I would say that it was.
Boxing had badly lost its luster by the time Zuffa and UFC President Dana White took ownership of the UFC in 2001. And the decision to start the Ultimate Fighter reality show in 2005 was a genius move by the UFC.
However, I do not think the UFC simply got lucky.
There were many factors that lead to the success it has today.
Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and all of the UFC’s hard-working staff have made it happen through toil, tribulation and true grit. The UFC connects to its fans better than any other sports organization and they try harder to cater to us.
We appreciate them for this.
The UFC comes off like the underdog. It’s pretty damn cool to be a fan of the UFC. Us UFC fans are like our own little club. We get it and others don’t and that is perfectly fine with us.
The UFC is the blue collar sport to the white collar sport of the NFL. Most athletes in the UFC are accessible, friendly and pretty darn awesome.
I can vouch because I have been lucky enough to meet a few of them.
Even though the UFC benefited from the decline of boxing, the fact that MMA is unique compared to other sports and the TUF reality show, the UFC did not luck into this.
It was in the right place at the right time to an extent, but this is no more a truth than the fact that the first Super Bowl was held at the right time.
The UFC benefits from great and giving athletes, hard-working employees and fiercely loyal fans who, combined, go above and beyond to do their part to help the sport grow.
The UFC caught a few breaks, however it was not simply lucky. There is way too much that has happened for this to be luck.
Mike Tyson is one of, if not THE most polarizing figure in combat sport history, which makes his upcoming one-man show something we’re very interested in seeing.
What’s amazing is that Tyson, unlike a lot of his counterparts, has actually become a much more thoughtful, articulate and seemingly more intelligent person through his self-education and quest for personal betterment after his retirement. Part of that stems from the fact that he didn’t incur much head trauma during his career as he was typically the one inflicting it, but the biggest factor in Tyson’s turnaround is maturity and the influence his wife and family had on his life.
According to “Iron Mike,” the introspective show will focus on anecdotes and stories from his life and will include the good, the bad and the ugly including his tumultuous relationships with Don King and Robin Givens and the infamous ear-biting incident in his fight with Evander Holyfield.
Check out an interview the healthy-looking Tyson did with USA Today about the upcoming show after the jump.
(“It’s actually a Robin Givens voodoo bear.”)
Mike Tyson is one of, if not THE most polarizing figure in combat sport history, which makes his upcoming one-man show something we’re very interested in seeing.
What’s amazing is that Tyson, unlike a lot of his counterparts, has actually become a much more thoughtful, articulate and seemingly more intelligent person through his self-education and quest for personal betterment after his retirement. Part of that stems from the fact that he didn’t incur much head trauma during his career as he was typically the one inflicting it, but the biggest factor in Tyson’s turnaround is maturity and the influence his wife and family had on his life.
According to “Iron Mike,” the introspective show will focus on anecdotes and stories from his life and will include the good, the bad and the ugly including his tumultuous relationships with Don King and Robin Givens and the infamous ear-biting incident in his fight with Evander Holyfield.
Check out an interview the healthy-looking Tyson did with USA Today about the upcoming show below:
HDNet only had to use one of six degrees of separation when adding “That 70’s Show” actress Laura Prepon to the Inside MMA guest list this week alongside former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
An avid MMA fan who is often seen on camera during pay-per-view events, Prepon is rumored to have dated former UFC and Bellator heartthrob Roger Huerta. Moving on.
In the segment above Fo-Griff and Donna take some reader questions about preparing for the apocalypse and who “The Red Dragon” would fight if she had to pick one of her former co-stars.
SPOILER: No, it wasn’t Mila Kunis.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/HDNetFights)
HDNet only had to use one of six degrees of separation when adding “That 70′s Show” actress Laura Prepon to the Inside MMA guest list this week alongside former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
An avid MMA fan who is often seen on camera during pay-per-view events, Prepon is rumored to have dated former UFC and Bellator heartthrob Roger Huerta. Moving on.
In the segment above Fo-Griff and Donna take some reader questions about preparing for the apocalypse and who “The Red Dragon” would fight if she had to pick one of her former co-stars.
SPOILER: No, it wasn’t Mila Kunis.
Also on the same episode, they caught up with massive mixed martial arts fan Mike Tyson to get his thoughts on the current state of MMA vs. boxing and who his favorite fighter is.
(Internet personality Mike Tyson‘s latest brilliant cameo.)
We try to keep the begging to a minimum around here. But I could really use your help today. Me and our homeboy Fidel from TuVez have joined forces to launch a new site called BuzzerBeat.com. It’s a really simple concept: The best sports videos, delivered daily. So I’m gonna cash in that favor you owe me, and ask you to do the following…
And hell, let’s make it interesting — I’m going to select a commenter from the BuzzerBeat facebook page at the end of the day and hook him/her up with the latest version of our CagePotato Devil’s Horns t-shirt, the one with the fist on the back. (Yeah, you didn’t even know those existed, huh?)
Any questions, let me know in the comments section. Thanks, guys.
BG
(Internet personality Mike Tyson‘s latest brilliant cameo.)
We try to keep the begging to a minimum around here. But I could really use your help today. Me and our homeboy Fidel from TuVez have joined forces to launch a new site called BuzzerBeat.com. It’s a really simple concept: The best sports videos, delivered daily. So I’m gonna cash in that favor you owe me, and ask you to do the following…
And hell, let’s make it interesting — I’m going to select a commenter from the BuzzerBeat facebook page at the end of the day and hook him/her up with the latest version of our CagePotato Devil’s Horns t-shirt, the one with the fist on the back. (Yeah, you didn’t even know those existed, huh?)
Any questions, let me know in the comments section. Thanks, guys.
BG
Who knew that some of Mike Tyson’s greatest lines would fit so seamlessly with basic chords on an acoustic guitar?
I’m as big of a Mike Tyson fan as anybody, but he is narrowly behind Tito Ortiz as the most phonetically challenged fighter in combat sport history and this song proves it.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/JustDaveMusic)
When you’re humming this later, don’t blame us.
Who knew that some of Mike Tyson’s greatest lines would fit so seamlessly with basic chords on an acoustic guitar?
I’m as big of a Mike Tyson fan as anybody, but he is narrowly behind Tito Ortiz as the most phonetically challenged fighter in combat sport history and this song proves it.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has only existed since November 1993. In its current Zuffa-owned form, it has only been around since 2001.
