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Business as Usual: Josh Barnett Forced to Cancel Pro Wrestling Gig Against Jerome Le Banner Due to Zuffa Pressure

(Sorry, kids. Christmas is canceled this year.)

Josh Barnett is currently scheduled to face Sergei Kharitonov in the semi-finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, September 10th in Cincinnati. He was also scheduled to face kickboxing legend Jerome Le Banner in an August 27th pro-wrestling match for IGF in Japan, because he’s Josh Barnett, and fake-fighting dudes that he could just as easily fight for real is what he does, damn it.

But while that sort of thing wouldn’t have batted an eye under Scott Coker’s droopy watch, Zuffa runs a much tighter ship, and won’t run the risk of Barnett suffering an injury in a worked puroresu match two weeks before he has to show up for a legit cage-fight. As Fighters Only reports:

(Sorry, kids. Christmas is canceled this year.)

…Barnett has been prevailed upon not to take the gig which, despite being a pre-determined pro-wrestling match rather than a proper fight, could still potentially have resulted in him picking up an injury…With Alistair Overeem having already been removed from the semi-finals thanks to an injury/contract dispute, it would have been disastrous had Barnett been forced out as well.

The August 27th IGF card is still going ahead in Japan. Aside from LeBanner it also features Peter Aerts and Ray Sefo. Why anybody would want to see real fighters having pretend fights is beyond us, but pro-wrestling gigs pay well in Japan and with K-1 on hiatus, these kind of gigs are a good earner for name fighters.

So in a strange turn of fate, Josh Barnett has become the biggest star remaining in Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament — the other semi-finalists are Kharitonov, Antonio Silva, and Daniel Cormier, for God’s sake — and Zuffa actually needs him. Funny how things work out.

The September 10th Strikeforce show will also feature Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza’s latest middleweight title defense against Luke Rockhold, Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal’s return against Roger Gracie, and a lightweight feature between Josh Thomson and former Sengoku stunner Maximo Blanco.

Pro-Wrestling Legend “Macho Man” Randy Savage Dies in Car Crash

Earlier today, those of you who have an account on Twitter may have noticed rumors of the death of professional wrestling great “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Unfortunately, TMZ.com has since confirmed those rumors. His brother, Lanny “The Genius” Poffo stated in an article published this morning, “…the wrestling legend suffered a heart attack while he was behind the wheel around 9:25 AM … and lost control of his vehicle.” The vehicle drove across a concrete median into oncoming traffic before crashing into a tree. Savage, who was 58 years old, is survived by his wife Lynn. Lynn was also in the car but suffered only minor injuries. According to the police, both passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident and alcohol was not a factor.

For those of you who don’t know (or are too cool to admit to knowing) who Randy Savage is, his bio on WWE.com sums it up pretty well: Few superstars were as dynamic as “Macho Man” Randy Savage. His style – perfectly punctuated by his entrance music, “Pomp and Circumstance” – was only outshined by his performances in the ring, which led him to two WWE Championships, two World Heavyweight Championships and a 14-month reign as Intercontinental Champion. Other in-ring accomplishments of Randy Savage include being the 1987 King of the Ring, as well as 4x WCW World Heavyweight champion.

Outside of wrestling, Randy Savage was the spokesperson for Slim Jim throughout the 90s. Admit it: if you were still in grade school at this time, you bought a Slim Jim because of this man. And if you had taste buds, you never did so again. He has also had appearances in numerous television shows and movies, including an appearance in Spider-Man as Bonesaw McGraw. For what it’s worth, Macho Man also dropped a rap album in 2003 that will always hold a special place in hip-hop history.

After the jump: Shane Carwin and BJ Penn react to the news via Twitter (click images for full size).

Kimbo Slice to Fake-Fight Pothead Sumo Wrestler in Japan Next Month, Obviously

("Five…five dolla…five dolla, foot rong." [Ed. note: I sincerely apologize for that awful caption.] / Photo courtesy of sportsnavi.)
His MMA career? Dead in the water. His boxing comeback? Who knows. But the Miami Pound Machine gotta ea…

("Five…five dolla…five dolla, foot rong." [Ed. note: I sincerely apologize for that awful caption.] / Photo courtesy of sportsnavi.)

His MMA career? Dead in the water. His boxing comeback? Who knows. But the Miami Pound Machine gotta eat. And so, Kimbo Slice has reportedly agreed to perform at an IGF pro wrestling tournament on February 5th in Fukuoka, Japan. His opponent will be Shinichi "Wakakirin" Suzukawa, the marijuana-scandalized sumo wrestler who allegedly went off the script against Mark Coleman last year. (Wakakirin was also supposed to wrestle Bob Sapp at Dynamite!! 2010, but Frankenhood pulled out at the last moment like the professional he is.) And before you ask, yes, Josh Barnett will be part of the tourney as well.

Note to Kimbo: If you "win" your first match, Antonio Inoki may want to slap the shit out of you in front of everybody. I know, if that happened on a street-corner in Perrine, he would be as dead as yesterday’s chicken. (That’s something that people say, right?) As it turns out, the slapping is actually a sign of respect and well-wishing. Please inform your crew.

Video: Mark Coleman’s Latest ‘Fight’ Didn’t Go as Planned

(Props: densetsug via MiddleEasy. Match starts at the 2:01 mark)
UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman hasn’t competed in a legit MMA fight since he was choked out by Randy Couture at UFC 109. What you see above is Coleman performing in a worked MMA-styl…

(Props: densetsug via MiddleEasy. Match starts at the 2:01 mark)

UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman hasn’t competed in a legit MMA fight since he was choked out by Randy Couture at UFC 109. What you see above is Coleman performing in a worked MMA-style wrasslin’ match at the IGF Genome 13 event back in September against Shinichi Suzukawa (who will be appearing against Bob Sapp on the Dynamite!! 2010 card). The thing is, this particular work was supposed to be worked in Coleman‘s favor. We’ll let Phil Baroni tell the story:

"It was supppose to be a pro wrestling match. It was suppose to be 3 min.
Coleman was suppose to win. The fat fucking douch scum bag didnt do the match the way it was suppose to be. That film was eddited. The Fat didck was suppose to tap from a head lock. He would not and kept rope escaping. Coleman squeezed hard a few times and burnt him self out trying to get the guy to tap.

WWE Wrestler John Cena is Not a UFC Fan and is Also an Idiot

(Word Life? Nevermind. Cena is brilliant. He can communicate without the use of verbs, adjectives or pronouns.)
Before all the Pro Wrestling fanatics jump all over me for the title of this post, read the quote below, then take a deep breath and think a…

(Word Life? Nevermind. Cena is brilliant. He can communicate without the use of verbs, adjectives or pronouns.)

Before all the Pro Wrestling fanatics jump all over me for the title of this post, read the quote below, then take a deep breath and think about things in perspective.

Cena, who is a native of Newbury, Massachusetts, was asked about what he thought about the UFC coming to Boston last weekend, likely by an oblivious reporter ,who, like many mainstream scribes, think that MMA and WWE are just variations of the same acronym. Why else would you ask a wrestler to talk about a sport that has as much to do with his profession as hunting does to being a butcher?

Here’s Cena’s well thought out reply which likely earned him a bonus from Vince McMahon:

"It’s just not something that particularly interests me," Cena told The Boston Globe ahead of UFC 118. "UFC is where boxing was years ago, and I was never really into boxing, either."

In town for last night’s WWE "Monday Night Raw" at the TD Garden, Cena said he prefers professional wrestling because it’s "regulated entertainment that’s safe for anyone to enjoy." And UFC? "It is what it is," he said. "It can be pretty over the top, and it’s not something I’d want my children to watch."