Tag: MMA Media Watch

Gus Johnson Signs With Fox but Stays With Showtime

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, StrikeforceLast week it was revealed that Gus Johnson’s contract with CBS had expired, and on Tuesday morning it was reported that Johnson has accepted a job at Fox. But that doesn’t mean he’s done as the voice of mixed ma…

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Last week it was revealed that Gus Johnson‘s contract with CBS had expired, and on Tuesday morning it was reported that Johnson has accepted a job at Fox. But that doesn’t mean he’s done as the voice of mixed martial arts on Showtime, the sister network of CBS.

Sources told MMAFighting.com that Johnson’s contract with CBS was for basketball and football, and that his deal to call fights (both MMA and boxing) for Showtime was a separate contract. That contract is still in effect, and Johnson will call Saturday night’s Andre Ward-Arthur Abraham boxing match for Showtime. Although Showtime hasn’t yet announced who will broadcast its next MMA show (a June 18 Strikeforce card), Johnson is expected to call that event as well.

Theoretically, it’s even possible that Johnson could be back on the CBS airwaves if CBS ever aired another Strikeforce fight: When Johnson called EliteXC and Strikeforce fights on CBS in the past, that was part of his Showtime deal. It’s probably a long shot that we’d see Johnson back on CBS, however.

Gus Johnson’s Contract Up at CBS

Filed under: EliteXC, MMA Media Watch, StrikeforceGus Johnson, the lead mixed martial arts play-by-play man for CBS who has called many of the most-watched fights in the sport’s history, is reportedly leaving the network.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Ill…

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Gus Johnson, the lead mixed martial arts play-by-play man for CBS who has called many of the most-watched fights in the sport’s history, is reportedly leaving the network.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reports that Johnson, who’s best known for calling college football and the NFL, is leaving after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the network. UPDATE: The New York Daily News reports that while Johnson’s contract with CBS has expired, it’s still possible he could reach a new deal.

It’s not clear whether Johnson is also out at Showtime, where he has been both a boxing and MMA play-by-play voice. Johnson will still be part of Saturday night’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley pay-per-view broadcast, but it seems unlikely that Johnson would stick around at Showtime, which a division of the CBS Corporation, for long.

Ramsey Nijem Makes His Case for Jake Shields, Talks TUF Episode 5

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFCOur weekly interview with The Ultimate Fighter cast member Ramsey Nijem includes not only a look at the fight that took place on this week’s show — Clay Harvison defeating Mick Bowman — but also the fight that everyon…

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Our weekly interview with The Ultimate Fighter cast member Ramsey Nijem includes not only a look at the fight that took place on this week’s show — Clay Harvison defeating Mick Bowman — but also the fight that everyone in the MMA world is discussing this week, Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields at UFC 129.

Although he knows he’s in the minority, Nijem is picking Shields. That’s motivated in part by Nijem’s status as one of Shields’ training partners to help him get ready for the St. Pierre fight, but it’s not just talk: Nijem says he put down some money on Shields.

Nijem also comments on this week’s Ultimate Fighter episode. The full interview is below.

‘Like Water’ Documentary a 3-D Look at Anderson Silva’s Life in the Spotlight

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, News”Like Water,” the documentary film about UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, is like martial arts itself, a focus on journey as much as destination. The film follows Silva during arguably the most turbulent …

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“Like Water,” the documentary film about UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, is like martial arts itself, a focus on journey as much as destination. The film follows Silva during arguably the most turbulent time of his fighting life, from just after his baffling performance against Demian Maia last April through his career-defining moment in a fifth-round comeback win against Chael Sonnen four months later.

The film, which just had its world premiere at the renowned Tribeca Film Festival, is a step forward not only for Silva, but for mixed martial arts, which too often depends on manufactured drama as a selling point for its main events. Director Pablo Croce strips away any pretense and gives a three-dimensional look at the human side of one of MMA’s signature athletes. In a sport that is often depicted as cartoonish or dismissed as a B-level fad by surface-grazing mainstream media, it is one of the first layered, mature examinations of a top fighter and his world. For some, it might come as a revelation that fighters are real people with real lives.

Central to the drama is Silva as a family man. For the Sonnen camp, he left Brazil for two months to live in Los Angeles and train with Team Black House. To do that, he leaves behind his family — his wife, three sons and two daughters — and spends much of the time pining for them. At one point before the Sonnen fight, he is asked what his goal is. “To come back home in one piece,” he says without hesitation. For a champion at the top of his game, in the midst of a record title run, it’s a candid admission, one rooted in his love of family, noting that to them, winning or losing is not important. “To them, I will always be champion,” he says.

Ramsey Nijem on Winning His Fight, Painting His Toenails

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFCRamsey Nijem stepped into the cage and won his fight against Charlie Rader on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, using his solid wrestling base to control Rader, take him down and finish him with a rear-naked …

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Ramsey Nijem stepped into the cage and won his fight against Charlie Rader on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, using his solid wrestling base to control Rader, take him down and finish him with a rear-naked choke.

But this week’s episode of the UFC’s reality show focused almost as much on Nijem’s personality outside the cage, where his habits — including painting his toenails and watching Glee — make him something very different from the stereotypical cage fighter.

In his weekly interview with MMAFighting.com, Nijem talked about his victory over Rader, shed a little more light on his personality outside the cage, and shared his thoughts on advancing to the next round of this season’s Ultimate Fighter tournament.

Anderson Silva Documentary to Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival Next Week

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, News

A documentary about Anderson Silva’s life between his bizarre title fight against Demian Maia at UFC 112 and his showdown with Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 will premiere on Thursday, April 21, at New York’s Tribeca F…

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A documentary about Anderson Silva‘s life between his bizarre title fight against Demian Maia at UFC 112 and his showdown with Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 will premiere on Thursday, April 21, at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival.

A trailer for “Like Water,” directed by Pablo Croce and produced by Jared Freedman, was released on Wednesday. You can watch it above.

“We basically took a slice out of Anderson Silva’s life and all of our lives and basically documented it,” Silva’s manager Ed Soares said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “People can see the entire experience up until he is walking out of the locker room.”