Tag: News

Live Coverage Focus of HDNet Fights in 2011

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, News, interview, JapanWhen I was a young MMA fan in the early 2000s, the only way for me to watch Japanese MMA was to trade tapes or wait sometimes years for official tapes or DVDs to be released. Later with the advent …

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When I was a young MMA fan in the early 2000s, the only way for me to watch Japanese MMA was to trade tapes or wait sometimes years for official tapes or DVDs to be released. Later with the advent of streaming video, I was able to finally catch my MMA live via temperamental, pirated Korean streams. I was greedy though and even with my treasured Korean video, I wanted more and so I moved to Japan. These days, thanks largely to HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon, MMA fans need not take such desperate measures to get their JMMA fix.

After being given a clean slate by HDNet owner Mark Cuban in 2007, Simon and the team at HDNet Fights initially attempted to create a new promotion but after two events, they instead focused solely on broadcasting.

“We experimented with our own events in Dallas, but our strength is to be the leading TV network in the field of Mixed Martial Arts. We made it a goal to have more live MMA than any network in the world,” Simon explains.

Nate Marquardt Not Focused on Criticism Heading Into UFC 128

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsNate Marquardt will not be using Dana White’s criticism as motivation to prepare for his upcoming fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128.

If you recall, following Marquardt’s loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 12…

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Nate Marquardt will not be using Dana White’s criticism as motivation to prepare for his upcoming fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128.

If you recall, following Marquardt’s loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 122, the UFC president called Marquardt “a choker.”

“I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff,” Marquardt said on the most recent episode of The MMA Hour. “It’s just not true of me. You have to deal with that talk crap all the time and just basically brush it off. I gotta stick to what I gotta do.”

Mayhem vs. Kennedy III Bumped to ‘Strikeforce: Columbus’ in March

(I guess you had to be there. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)
Originally slated to go down this month, the long-awaited (at least by us) rubber match between middleweights Jason Miller and Tim Kennedy is now expected for Strikeforce: Columbus, wh…

Jason Miller Tim Kennedy HDNet Fights Reckless Abandon
(I guess you had to be there. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Originally slated to go down this month, the long-awaited (at least by us) rubber match between middleweights Jason Miller and Tim Kennedy is now expected for Strikeforce: Columbus, which takes place March 5th at the Nationwide Arena. It’s great news for Kennedy, who has been ducked by everybody in the universe since his decision loss to Ronaldo Souza in August. Miller has won his last two fights, scoring a first-round TKO over local yokel Tim Stout at Strikeforce: Nashville last April, and choking out creaky legend Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM.16 in September.

For the second year in a row, the UFC has decided not to hold an event during the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, and Strikeforce is swooping in to take full advantage. Along with Miller/Kennedy, the event is rumored to feature Rafael Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson in the main event, a 135-pound women’s title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, the possible return of Paul Daley, and maybe (maybe!) even Werdum vs. Overeem. 

Speaking of Jason Miller, did you know that he once fought a 360-pound man at an Icon Sport event, and held onto a choke for so long that even Babalu Sobral would be disgusted? I just learned that over the weekend, and I’m still confused. Video proof after the jump…

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‘Fancy Pants’ vs. Pat Healy, Ryan Couture Targeted for Strikeforce Challengers 14

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsLightweights Lyle Beerbohm and Pat Healy have agreed to main event the upcoming Strikeforce Challengers 14 event on Feb. 18, MMA Fighting has learned from sources close to the fight.

Strikeforce announ…

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Lightweights Lyle Beerbohm and Pat Healy have agreed to main event the upcoming Strikeforce Challengers 14 event on Feb. 18, MMA Fighting has learned from sources close to the fight.

Strikeforce announced the event on last week’s Challengers 13 broadcast, but have yet to announce the location of the card.

MMA Fighting has also learned that Ryan Couture is expected to compete on the card against a yet to be determined opponent.

Dana White: Wanderlei Silva Likely to Face Brian Stann in Comeback Fight

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsIn the months since Wanderlei Silva went on the shelf recovering from a knee injury and subsequent surgery, it seems like practically every middleweight in the division has asked to face him in his comeback fig…

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In the months since Wanderlei Silva went on the shelf recovering from a knee injury and subsequent surgery, it seems like practically every middleweight in the division has asked to face him in his comeback fight.

Chael Sonnen, Nate Marquardt, Alan Belcher and Chris Leben are all among the names that have publically lobbied to face the MMA legend. But it seems the most recent man to request Silva may be the one to get the much-desired bout.

Brian Stann is the most likely opponent for Silva upon his return, UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting.

Strikeforce Considered Herschel Walker vs. Don Frye or Mark Coleman

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsWe’re 15 days away from Herschel Walker’s second pro MMA fight, and it’s safe to say that there is a considerable less amount of buzz heading into the sequel.

Part of that has to do with the mammoth sh…

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We’re 15 days away from Herschel Walker‘s second pro MMA fight, and it’s safe to say that there is a considerable less amount of buzz heading into the sequel.

Part of that has to do with the mammoth shadow cast over the Jan. 29 Strikeforce event by the upcoming heavyweight grand prix, and the other part is most of us feel like we’ve seen this movie before: Herschel Walker vs. unknown fighter X. Been there done that. As you may recall, Walker defeated the unknown Greg Nagy last January, and many are expecting him to do the same against Scott Carson when they meet in San Jose, Calif.

And while pundits and fans criticized Strikeforce for the matchmaking when this fight was first announced, which was originally supposed to take place in December before Walker suffered a cut under his eye in training, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, that the organization originally had some big plans for the former Heisman Trophy winner.