UFCMania.com reported the other day that a potential match at UFC 78 between Andrei Arlovski and Brandon Vera had been discussed.

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer is reporting that according to the UFC, there’s nothing to those rumors.

You can read the UFCMania.com report by clicking here and you can access the Wrestling Observer report here.

The Brazilian site Tatame (trivia question: first person to e-mail me with the correct answer for what a tatame is wins a case of nothing but will get some props) recently interviewed former Pride middleweight (205 lbs.) champion Wanderlei Silva.

Silva confirmed his move to the U.S. and also stated that he’ll be fighting for the UFC by December. He indicated that he does not yet know who his opponent is.

You can read the article by clicking here.

The Bodog Fight promotion will be holding their next series of tapings for their show on ION television in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada on August 24 and 25 in Vancouver, B.C.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has obtained a bout sheet for the tapings and Bodog Fight welterweight champion Nick Thompson is scheduled to fight in a non-title bout. Former IFL fighter Chris Wilson and former UFC fighter Assuerio Silva are both scheduled to debut for the promotion.

Here is the complete bout sheet as of July 31:

145 lbs & under

1. Sami Aziz (Sweden) vs. Hiroyuki Abe (Japan)

2. JR Sims (USA) vs. DJ Taiki (Japan)

155 lbs & under

3. Rodrigo Damm (Brazil) vs. Darren Elkins (USA)

4. Per Eklund (Sweden) vs. Rafael Dias (USA)

5. Ryan Bow (Japan) vs. Santino Defranco (USA)

6. Chris Ade (Canada) vs. Koji Oishi (Japan)

170 lbs & under

7. Nick Thompson (USA) vs. Mark Weir (UK)

8. Piotr Jakaczynski (Sweden) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (USA)

9. Chris Wilson (USA) vs. Ray Steinbeiss (USA)

10. Diego Gonzales (Sweden) vs. Steve Berger (USA)

185 lbs & under

11. Tim McKenzie (USA) vs. Yuichi Nakanishi (Japan)

12. Kyacey Uscola (USA) vs. TBA

13. Steve Byrnes (USA) vs. Alexander Shlemenko (Russia)

205 lbs & under

14. Antony Rea (France) vs. Steve Steinbeiss (USA)

15. Mikhael Zyats (Russia) vs. Buddy Roberts (USA)

Heavyweight

16. Assuerio Silva (Brazil) vs. Constantin Gluhov (Russia)

17. Andrew Pederson (Canada) vs. Scott Lincoln (USA)

18. Dan Evensen (USA) vs. Dominic Richards (Canada)

19. Kristof Midoux (France) vs. Brad Morris (Australia)

Women’s 125 lbs.

20. Megumi Fujii (Japan) vs. Lisa Ward (USA)

21. Carina Damm (Brazil) vs. Jessica Aguillar (USA)

22. Rosi Sexton (UK) vs. Julia Berezekova (Russia)

Women’s 135 lbs.

23. Kelly Kobold (USA) vs. Julie Kedzie (USA)

24. Tama Chan (Japan) vs. Molly Helsel (USA)

A source close to EliteXC informed me today that plans are in the works to make a match between K.J. Noons and Nick Diaz for September 15 in Hawaii. There is some internal concern about reports stating Noons may have suffered a hand injury vs. Edson Berto last Friday night and the match likely won’t become official until they know for sure that he’s 100 percent healthy.

In regard to an earlier report about a match in San Francisco between Frank Trigg and Jake Shields in October, it looks like Shannon Ritch may have spoke too soon. Apparently, Shields has signed a bout agreement and Trigg has not, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Additionally, there are reports circulating that the match was offered at a catch weight of 175 lbs. and Trigg is maintaining that he has no desire to fight below 185 lbs.

Spike TV has issued a press release officially announcing that the next Ultimate Fight Night is set to take place Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

The release covers a lot of matchups we’ve already reported on, however, it’s been announced that Nate Quarry will be making his return against Pete Sell and Cole Miller will also be fighting on the preliminary portion of the card, against Leonard Garcia (nice matchup!).

Here’s the official release:

New York, NY, July 31, 2007 – For The Ultimate Fighter^® alumni Din Thomas (Season 4), Nate Diaz (Season 5 champ) Chris Leben (Season 1) and Mike Swick (Season 1), the Ultimate^® Fight Night^™ on Spike TV Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT will provide a golden opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a nationally televised audience. Each fighter is facing a tough test with the winners moving up the UFC^® ranks and another step closer to a title shot. The two-hour live fight card will take place live from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

Din Thomas (23-7) may have gained national recognition on Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter last year, but the 30 year-old fighter was already well-known to mixed martial arts fans with a resume including an impressive win over current welterweight champ Matt Serra at UFC 41 in 2003. Now, the American Top Team product out of Port St. Lucie, Fl. looks to ascend the lightweight ranks against Spencer “The King” Fisher (21-3). The 31 year-old Team Miletich fighter from Bettendorf, Iowa earned national acclaim when he won a hard-fought decision over Canadian Sam Stout on Spike TV in June.  With three wins in his last four UFC fights, “The King” is inching closer for a shot at the UFC lightweight throne.   

A bold personality from Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris “The Crippler” Leben (16-4), was a rising star in the UFC with five straight victories until his career was sidetracked by a devastating stoppage at the hands of current middleweight king, Anderson Silva, last June. Leben, fighting out of Gresham, Ore., has lost two of his last three bouts, and is desperate for a win against Chicago’s Terry Martin (18-2). The 26-year-old Martin, working toward a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, is on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC including a first round TKO over Ivan Salaverry at UFC 71 in May.

   The Ultimate Fighter 5 champ Nate Diaz (6-2) gets his first big opportunity as a UFC fighter against the tough Atlanta-based Junior Assuncao (6-2). Diaz was awarded a six-figure multi-fight deal with the UFC when he defeated Manny Gamburyan in the second round of their nationally-televised bout in June.  Diaz will look to use his impressive array of submission skills against the hard-charging Assuncao.   

Mike Swick (10-2) was on the fast track to a UFC title shot with a five-fight winning streak since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 1 with wins over vets David Loiseau and Joe Riggs.  However, the talented 28-year-old fighting out of San Jose, Calif. lost a decision in a three-round war to Yushin Okami at UFC 69 in April.  Now he is dropping down to welterweight to fight Canadian Jonathan “The Road Warrior” Goulet (19-8), who trains with UFC star Georges St-Pierre, and is making his fifth appearance on a Spike TV fight card. 

The undercard will also feature prominent The Ultimate Fighter alumni as Gray Maynard (Season 5) takes on Joe Veres, Cole Miller (Season 5) battles Leonard Garcia, and Pete “Drago” Sell (Season 4) takes on Nate Quarry (Season 4).

Fighter and promoter Shannon Ritch is claiming through his official account on the Underground forum at MMA.tv that a match between Frank Trigg and Jake Shields has been signed for a card on October 19 to be held in San Francisco, Calif. at the Cow Palace.

Both Trigg and Shields have had a mini-war of words via the Internet. Shields made recent comments during a video interview for ProElite.com and I believe Trigg addressed what Shields said on his show, Tagg Radio.

According to Ritch, the match will be the main event of a card to be shown on PPV.

Ritch is also claiming that Ruben “Warpath” Villareal, Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, Jake Hattan, Bryan Pardoe, Zane Frazier, Gabe Rivas, and Leland Chapman (son of Dwayne “The Dog” Chapman) are scheduled for the card.

Trigg vs. Shields is a very interesting matchup of two former college wrestlers. I’m surprised this match is happening for Ritch and not EliteXC. Also, Ritch had been trying via the Underground to get in contact with Kimbo Slice to have him booked for the card. There’s been no update in regard to the status of whether Ritch was able to get in touch with Slice’s people.

I was a guest on Fight Network Radio with Mauro Ranallo today. Mauro and I discussed a number of topics and Mauro revealed that K.J. Noons has been discussed as a possible opponent for Nick Diaz on EliteXC’s next card slated for September 15 in Honolulu.

I want to stress that Mauro didn’t say the match was signed, only that Noons is receiving consideration for the bout. He did mention that the bout would be contested at 160 lbs., if signed.

The potential matchup makes only a little bit of sense to me. Noons is a strong prospect who was finally able to show off his boxing skills to a mainstream MMA audience this past Friday vs. Edson Berto. The performance was impressive, but Noons simply isn’t ready for Diaz. Not by a long shot.

On the other hand, I understand the potential logic. Diaz won’t be fighting for Zuffa so right now he’s contracted only to EliteXC. Coming off what had been a win this past February against Takanori Gomi (the decision was overturned after Diaz tested positive for marijuana), Diaz has a chance to be one of EliteXC’s signature stars. They need to have him start fighting again as soon as he’s eligible.

With the way their roster is aligned now, the only other candidates to face Diaz are Victor Valenzuela, Edson Berto, and Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett. Berto is coming off a loss and Bennett is rumored to be finally rematching Valenzuela on the 9/15 card. Unless EliteXC brings in a fighter off roster, Noons is really the only choice.

I’ll be a guest on Fight Network Radio with Mauro Ranallo in a short while at 3 p.m. ET. You can listen to the show on Sirius Channel 186 or listen online at HardcoreSportsRadio.com.

Also, I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates today. Right now there really isn’t much going on. It actually worked out well because I resumed training today after a two-month layoff and it wasn’t pretty. I had to make not one, but two trips to the bathroom. To make matters worse, I am starting at a different school (MFS Philly still rocks, but it’s a long commute for me and my schedule keeps changing… the school I go to now is well-regarded as well and is an affiliate school, so everything is all good) so I looked like a total bitch on my first day. I’m sure you all wanted to know that.

Jeremy Stephens and Josh Neer are just two fighters of note to win matches on small shows held in Iowa this weekend.

Stephens, fighting outside of his UFC contract, defeated Nick Walker on Saturday night at Midwest Cage Championships 9 in Urbandale, Iowa.

A day earlier in Iowa, former UFC fighter Josh Neer made his debut at 155 lbs. and was victorious against former UFC and Pride fighter Paul Rodriguez in Des Moines at GreenSparks Fighting Championship 5.

Neer won via TKO at 1:38 in the first round while Stephens also recorded a TKO at 4:45 of round one.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman is interested in a possible second tour of duty in the UFC.

In an interview with MMAWeekly.com, Coleman expresses his desire to continue fighting and to also do so for the UFC:

With an 4-4 record in his past eight bouts, including two losses to Fedor, Coleman hasn’t maintained the influence of the early days of his career, but he hasn’t hung up the gloves yet. In fact, he still has two fights left on his current Pride contract and with the buyout of that organization by Zuffa, it sounds as if Coleman sees a possible return to his old stomping grounds in the near future.

“I’ve always wanted to get back in that cage and I always knew I’d get back in there at least one more time. That’s were I got started. I like the cage and I like the UFC rules better anyways,” said Coleman, obviously in reference to the brutal forearms and elbows he was so famous for. “I can be more effective in the cage than I was in the ring.”

At 42, I just don’t see the UFC having much interest in Coleman. No one can deny his place in MMA history, but look at how the UFC dealt with Ken Shamrock’s request to make another comeback.

I know he still wants to fight, but Coleman would be a great fit as a coach for the IFL if they had interest in adding an Ohio franchise.

There’s also this little nugget of info that I found particularly funny:

Interestingly, Coleman is also the subject of a new movie that is readying for production. Entitled “The Smashing Machine,” the same as the movie about his friend Mark Kerr, it sounds as if Jean-Claude Van Damme could be portraying the former UFC and Pride champion… an “interesting” choice that Coleman even seems to find odd.

What’s next, Steven Seagal as Chuck Liddell?

In order to find out how you can access the entire Coleman interview on MMAWeekly.com, just click here.

Here are the quick results from Extreme Challenge 81 at the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, NJ. Notes at the bottom…

1. Wilson Reis made his pro MMA debut and defeated Baba Shigamashu via unanimous decision in a 145 lbs. bout.
2. Lester Caslow recorded a TKO victory at 3:36 of round two over Mike Murray in a match contested at 150 lbs.
3. Charlie Brenneman recorded a unanimous decision victory over Marcello Olivera in a 170 lbs. match.
4. Chris Volo submitted Anderson DeCastro at 1:05 of round one in a heavyweight clash.
5. Matt Makowski scored a TKO victory in his pro MMA debut over Julio Cruz at 1:10 of round two in a 170 lbs. match.
6. Carlos Moreno recorded a TKO over Marcos DeSilva at 0:36 of round one in a battle of heavyweights.
7. Mark Geto won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title after submitting Joe Camacho in round one with a rear naked choke.
8. Dominic Tafuri submitted Ryan McCarthy with a rear naked choke at 3:27 of round one in a lightweight matchup.
9. In the main event, Tim Boetsch won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Light Heavyweight Title when he submitted Brendan Barrett with a guillotine choke at 3:00 of round two.

Notes:

• This show was probably produced for half the cost of Bodog Fight two weeks ago (possibly less) and offered twice the action. A lot of aggressive fighters were booked for the card and a lot of them really pushed the action. There was a strong turnout from a crowd that I would estimate was primarily comprised of friends, family, and training partners of the fighters. I heard one boo and his buddy told him to stop and instead yell “Stand them up.” By and large, a much more well-behaved crowd in a city that wasn’t too far from Trenton. The pacing of the show was also top notch. It was a nine match card that started at 8:30 p.m. ET and was over by 11:30 p.m. ET. In comparison, Bodog had ten fights and started at 7:30 p.m. and didn’t end until 1:30 a.m.

• My “Fight of the Night” honors goes to Lester Caslow vs. Mike Murray bout. The first round was really back and forth and tough to call. It had a nice pace to it with good technique. Caslow took over in the second round and the ref stopped the fight. Murray fought hard and had blood coming out from beneath his eye.

• My “Submission of the Night” would go to Mark Geto, who won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title.

• “Knockout of the Night” goes to the debuting Matt Makowski. Makowski was up against Julio Cruz, who I was told is a black belt in BJJ and trains out of Renzo Gracie’s school in New York. Matt systematically took Cruz a part with lower leg kicks early in the bout. Cruz realized he couldn’t stand with him and made several attempts to get the fight on the ground but Makowski’s takedown defense was impeccable. Cruz got tired, dropped his hands a bit and Makowski then started mixing in high kicks and then knees. He let his hands go in round two and really broke Cruz’s spirit. Matt smelled blood and caught Cruz who backed into the cage. He went in for the kill and just started unloading. Cruz turtled up in a standing position and barely was covering himself and making no attempt whatsoever to answer back. The official jumped in and called the match. Just a very impressive performance and Matt made it obvious that he’s got a big future ahead of him in pro MMA. Matt trains out of the Daddis/MFS Affiliate (full disclosure: I used to train there) in Philly and was undefeated as an amateur and held several regional titles.

• Wilson Reis, who also trains at Daddis/MFS and with BJJ United put on a ground clinic vs. Shigamashu in his debut. Reis, who holds a black belt in BJJ and is one of the best grapplers in the Northeast, immediately shot in for the takedown. He hit his shot and that set the tone for the rest of the bout. Not a lot of striking in the bout but there were multiple submission attempts. Shigamashu had no answer for Reis’ takedowns but was able to reverse position several times on the ground. He threw some decent strikes but the match was still pretty much all Reis. He’s a name to keep your eye on at 145 lbs.

• UFC lightweight fighter Frank Edgar was in the crowd and introduced to the audience. He trains with the Rhino Fight Team in New Jersey. Rhino had a couple of fighters from their school fighting on the card.

• I was also impressed by Geto and Joe Camacho. I was especially impressed by Camacho, even though he came out a little aggressive and got caught in a choke. He was very aggressive and quick and was really pushing the action early on. At one point he caught Geto with a knee and the ref stopped the fight. I thought it was over but the ref then called time and spoke with each fighter and then restarted the bout. My guess is that Camacho delivered an illegal knee. The only thing I think could be possible was that maybe Geto was in a down position? I’m not sure as no official explanation was offered. The refs need hand signals at these events like at a football game. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Camacho fight again as I think he has a lot of potential.

• Dominic Tafuri looked real good in his win as well.

• Charlie Brenneman was announced as the winner of the first season of Joes vs. Pros show on Spike TV.

• This is the same Extreme Challenge that is affiliated with Monte Cox. Ed Hsu was the promoter of record. He also holds many amateur shows under the Combat in the Cage title. Check out CombatInTheCage.com for more info.

I apologize for being late with my thoughts but I had to get up at 6 a.m. in order to get ready to haul ass to Princeton, NJ so I could do my show for ESPN 920.

If you were looking for a no-frills, meat and potatoes MMA show then I don’t see how you could have an issue with last night’s telecast of ShoXC.

I was thoroughly impressed with last night’s show from top to bottom. Pro Elite did a great job of booking new talent and making strong matchups for them so that they could show their skills. I don’t think there was a bad match on the card.

I thought that the announcing was top notch. It was the first time that Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros had ever worked together but you wouldn’t know it by listening to them. It sounded like they were old friends that had been broadcasting shows together for years. For my money, they are the best announce team out there even after only doing one show. I’m looking forward to them working together more in the future.

I also couldn’t help but notice that Gary Shaw didn’t come into the cage after any of the matches. Not even after the main event, which featured two EliteXC fighters. I applaud him for taking a step back and letting the fighters have their moment.

Here are my thoughts, match-by-match…

Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Lee Gibson - Solid match. It seemed to pick up steam as time went on. The two wanted to feel each other out (Corbbrey more so than Gibson) and perhaps that’s because these guys have been flying under the radar and there simply isn’t much footage out there. Corbbrey is a cerebral  fighter and it appeared that he didn’t like facing a guy he didn’t know much about. It also looked like he was getting frustrated when he couldn’t find a glaring weakness to exploit.

I like Corbbrey’s athleticism and his hand speed. It also looked like he was tough to hit from an extended distance. His boxing was top notch and he was quick enough to use a lot of head fakes and shoulder movement without setting himself to be caught with a kick or a knee. Not everyone can incorporate basic fundamental boxing into their MMA game like that.

Gibson just seemed like a dude that was tough as nails. It was obvious to me early in the fight that Corbbrey wasn’t going to be able to finish him.

I’d love to see both of them brought back for future shows.

Jefferson Silva vs. Aaron Rosa - Wow, did I really call Silva a prospect? It was a good stoppage, as he took some nasty elbows. But even before he ate those elbows it seemed as though Rosa broke his will. Those grimaces when he was getting hit in bottom position were ridiculous. You really can’t show that type of pain to an opponent or a referee.

Rosa was the most impressive fighter of the night, in my eyes. I wasn’t sure about his perfect record because he hasn’t fought any top guys. But he’s a rugged guy who enjoys fighting and at only 24 years of age, I think he has a bright future. EliteXC should sign him to a deal if they haven’t already.

Scott Jorgenson vs. Chris David - David fought with a lot of heart but Jorgenson was just too much for him. Next to Rosa, Jorgenson was the second most impressive fighter. I don’t know what EliteXC has planned for the 135 lbs. division, but whatever plans they have, Jorgenson will obviously need to be a big part of it. He also seems pretty marketable.

Jaime Jara vs. Jeremiah Metcalf - Jara’s standup wasn’t pretty but it was effective. He deserves a lot of credit for taking the fight on such short notice  and cutting weight. He deserves even more credit for agreeing to defend his 185 lbs. title while fighting at 175 lbs.  Middleweight means you fight at 185 lbs. and if I was in his shoes, maybe I would have taken the fight but I would had at least said that if they want the title to be on the line, then Metcalf needs to make my weight in order to compete for my title.  But Jara is 37-years old and I’m sure he realized the value of being about to get exposure as a champion.

It’s really hard to form any kind of solid opinion of Metcalf because the fight didn’t last long. I know he’s a very tactical fighter, so perhaps the fact that he didn’t have time to scout his opponent hurt him. Hopefully we’ll get to see Metcalf vs. Aaron Wetherspoon rescheduled for the next ShoXC in August.

K.J. Noons vs. Edson Berto - I’m not buying all the talk that Berto’s conditioning was off. There’s no way his father would let him get away with that. I think he got hurt in the first round and continued fighting when maybe he shouldn’t have. I think he definitely suffered a concussion early on. Not only was he winded but it looked like he was just out of it in the second and third rounds. He had a hard time focusing on Noons.  He’s just a much better fighter than what he showed.

I got the prediction for the fight wrong (I went 2 out of 5. Man, I suck. I want to stop doing predictions) but I knew Noons was no joke. I had been taking some flak for touting the guy but you saw just how crisp and fluid his boxing and Muay Thai is.

His ground game from a defensive perspective was good, but he needs to learn how to be able to go on the offensive. I think he’s way off base thinking he can train both boxing and MMA and still reach his full potential. Maybe when he’s mastered everything, I might agree with him. However, boxing reinforces a lot of fundamental bad habits when it comes to MMA standup.

I can understand an MMA guy who comes from a ground background trying to train boxing to improve his hand speed, footwork, defensive skills, learn to work angles, and just get used to taking punches. But Noons already has a lot of the standup basics down.

I guess Shaw doesn’t mind it because he’s a boxing and MMA promoter and the moon lighting could pay dividends from a marketing perspective. But do you think Dana White would let a young fighter try and pursue two full-time fighting careers? He doesn’t even want Kurt Angle to wrestle.

Alright, I’m out because I need to head up to North Jersey to see more young MMA fighters who could be breaking big soon. Matt Makowski from Philly MMA and Wilson Reis from Philly MMA/BJJ United are both making their pro debuts for Ed Hsu’s Combat in the Cage/Extreme Challenge show. I’ve trained with both briefly (and I mean I sparred with Matt for a round once last summer and took one of Wilson’s BJJ classes) in the past so I’m looking forward to it.

BTW, I’m going to be going to East Rutherford this Thursday to cover the IFL semifinals for CBS Sportsline. If you’re reading this and will be attending and want to meet up, drop me a line at SCaplan8@comcast.net.

The WEC will air their second live telecast on the Versus network next Sunday, August 5, at 9 p.m. ET. The card will be headlined by Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson for the WEC welterweight title and Joe Doerksen vs. Paulo Filho for the vacant WEC middleweight title.

Through its official web site, the fight promotion has announced additional matches for the cad.  Bouts between Jeff Curran vs. Stephen Ledbetter (featherweights), Jamie Varner vs. Sherron Legget (lightweights), Hiromitsu Miura vs. Fernando Gonzalez (welterweights), and Antonio Banuelos vs. Justin Robbins (bantamweights) have all been officially added.

The main televised portion of the card will include Larson vs. Condit, Filho vs. Doerksen, Curran vs. Ledbetter, and Varner vs. Legget.

That’s a pretty sweet double main event and I expect the WEC’s rating to be much stronger next Sunday than it was for their first live telecast. During their first live show, they were competing against a lot of programs that appealed to the male 18-34 demographic. But with a lot of shows in reruns, I think the only real competition for them in their time slot next weekend will be ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

UFCjunkie.com has revealed the final two fighters that are rumored to be a part of the cast for the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which is currently being filmed in Las Vegas.

According to Junkie, the rumored cast is also believed to include Daniel Barrera and George Sotiropoulos. A total of 17 cast members are now rumored, with the assumption is a late replacement was needed for a fighter who was injured.

Here is the entire rumored cast for TUF 6:

• Daniel Barrera

• George Sotiropoulos

• John Kolosci

• Roman Mitichyan

• Matt Arroyo

• Blake Bowman

• Richie Hightower

• Mac Danzig

• Tom Speer

• Joe Scarola

• Ben Saunders

• Dorian Price

• Jared Rollins

• Billy Miles

• Troy Mandaloniz

• Jon Koppenhaver

• Paul Georgieff

During recent interviews, UFC president Dana White has commented that he expects to have Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko under contract by the end of 2007 or the start of 2008.

However, in a recent interview with Sherdog.com, Fedor’s manager, Vadim Finkelstein, makes it sound as though Fedor in the UFC is far from a sure deal:

Sherdog.com: As Fedor’s manager, can you please fill us in on the current state of his contract negotiations.

VF: At the moment we are in negotiations with a number of organizations who have put offers on the table. I’ll be blunt in saying that the UFC offer is the most financially attractive one. However they are very harsh in their terms and are not very flexible in actually negotiating them.

Fedor has now been the PRIDE heavyweight champion for four years and I think we have earned the right to negotiate a contract that suits both parties. Instead we are faced with a blunt “you are either in or you’re out.” This does not really suit us. If the negotiations continue in a similar manner, we’ll prefer to fight for less money but with an organization which is more flexible.

The problem is that Fedor is the face of Combat Sambo in Russia. His popularity is at a level where he is acquainted with president Putin himself, in part because he is so successful and well known for Combat Sambo here.

Combat Sambo is a Russian sport that’s not at a level of difficulty of MMA, but is hugely popular with our public. Fedor must represent Russia in Combat Sambo and at world championships, specifically the ones coming up in September. All we want him to do is compete something like once a year in Combat Sambo. But the UFC is not happy with that.

Their proposal has all kinds of clauses, all kinds of fines etc. that do not suit us. The UFC is not really that eager to communicate and negotiate. The negotiations are still continuing, and we will try very hard to get our demands met, if not Fedor will simply not compete in the UFC, even though that will be unfortunate as they currently have one of the, if not the, strongest, heavyweight divisions in the world.

There’s a whole lot more so you should really check out the Sherdog.com interview by clicking here.

EliteXC and Showtime will partner for the debut of ShoXC on Friday night live from the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.  at 11 p.m. ET. The five bout card is expected to end sometime around 1 a.m. ET, at which time ProElite.com will telecast five additional fights via the Internet.

ShoXC is patterned after Showtime’s boxing series ShoBox, which has been a springboard for the career of many young boxers. Showtime is hoping that ShoXC will have the same impact on mixed martial arts.

If nothing else, the show has great timing in the sense that it feels like it’s been months since we’ve had live MMA to watch. While the card doesn’t boast any huge names, there are fighters on the card with a lot of potential. On paper, I also think the matchmakers have done a good job as far as styles are concerned.

The show will also feature the debut of Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros as an announce team. The team garnered strong fan support on an individual basis during their broadcast stints with Pride. However, they had never been on the air at the same time until this show.

Here’s my breakdown of what to watch for:

K.J. Noons vs. Edson Berto - This fight could prove to be a sleeper in the mold of Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher. You have two lighter weight guys with strong striking backgrounds.

In the case of Berto, he also has a strong ground game and is notorious for tapping guys with his heel hook. Berto is a true mixed martial artist and it boggles my mind why more people don’t talk about him. If he was in UFC, people would be drooling.

As for Noons, he’s a hell of a boxer who had a buzz surrounding him heading into his fight against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett during EliteXC’s debut show on February 10. Bennett caught Noons and dropped him cold and Noons hasn’t fought in an MMA bout since (he competed in a pro boxing match, and won). This is his chance to regain some of the momentum he lost after losing to Bennett.

If Noons gives up boxing and focuses solely on MMA, he could be a star because his boxing is unreal. We didn’t get a chance to see it vs. Bennett but hopefully we’ll get to see it Friday.

My prediction is that Berto will win in the second round via submission.

Jeremiah Metcalf vs. Jaime Jara - This match was originally supposed to be a rematch between Metcalf and Aaron Wetherspoon in a bout that would unify the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage welterweight titles. However, Wetherspoon is injured and pulled out of the fight yesterday.

Stepping in for Wetherspoon will be Jara, a 37-year old tough as nails fighter who took the fight on next to no notice. Jara is the Gladiator Challenge middleweight champion and has also held the GC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles in the past. He has to cut to fight at 185 lbs. and now is faced with the task of cutting to an agreed upon match weight of 175 lbs. That dude’s life must have sucked the last few days.

Jara is a good wrestler who has worked hard to improve his boxing. He’s fought Rashad Evans (lost), Carter Williams (won), and Anthony Ruiz (holds three wins over him) so he won’t be feeling any pressure fighting for Showtime.

There’s been some talk that the match could be title vs. title but I don’t see how the state of California would allow a 170 lbs. title be on the line against a fighter weighing in at 175 lbs. We’ll have to see how this plays out.

Metcalf is a 26-year old freestyle fighter who trains with Gene Fields out of Team Voodoo. He’s a very well-rounded fighter who has good Greco-Roman wrestling skills. He’s going to be giving up a lot of size to Jara so who knows if he’ll be able to utilize those wrestling skills.

Metcalf has great cardio so his best bet may be to keep the fight standing and try to wear Jara down since he’s coming into the fight on short notice.

I’m going to pick Metcalf by unanimous decision. If Jara had more time to prepare, the outcome would be different.

Aaron Rosa vs. Jefferson Silva - Watch out for Jefferson Silva! He has a K-1 background and trains with Mario Sperry out of Brazilian Top Team. He’s a rangy Muay Thai striker with some Jiu-Jitsu training that has star potential written all over him. The only thing that is holding him back is his conditioning.

That could be a problem for Silva because Rosa has been a sparring partner for Tito Ortiz for Ortiz’s last two fights. His conditioning is excellent and he has a lot of heart.

Rosa likes to stand up but he’s got some ground skills. If Silva has top position and gets sloppy, Rosa will be a threat to triangle him.

These two will stand and trade early and if Silva doesn’t take Rosa out early, we easily could see an upset. In spite of that possibility, I’m still picking Silva to win the fight and come out of the show with a lot of people talking about him.

Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Lee Gibson - Besides Silva, Corbbrey is the other fighter on this card that people need to watch out for. I’m really impressed with him as he’s a smart guy who is extremely competitive.

Corbbrey is a professional boxer who has competed in professionally in Muay Thai as well. Don’t stereotype him though because he’s not just a striker. He also competes in grappling tournaments and has won events such as NAGA and ISCF. He trained Jiu-Jitsu with Lloyd Irvin and now works on his ground game with UFC fighter Din Thomas.

Gibson is a tough dude who is a former Army Ranger and served 16 months in Iraq as a private security contractor. He splits his time between Kansas City and Las Vegas. He works in KC as a fireman and trains MMA in Vegas with Tony Fryklund.

Gibson just recently fought for Richard Steele’s Steele Cage Promotions on July 7, defeating Talon Hoffman via TKO at 2:25 in the second round. He’s a solid fighter and Corbbrey will have to bring his A-game in order to win.

Finishing Gibson won’t be easy, which is why I am picking Corbbrey to win via unanimous decision.

Chris David vs. Scott Jorgenson - David is trained by UFC fighter David Terrell out of the Nor Cal Fighting Alliance. He has a record of 8-5-1 and is a perfect 3-0 when fighting for the Gladiator Challenge promotion.

David has been training in martial arts since the third grade and wrestled during high school. When he first got involved with MMA he was almost exclusively a wrestler, however, he’s made strides in recent years in all other aspects of MMA.

It’s good that his stand up has improved because that’s where he needs to keep the fight in order to win. Jorgenson has much better wrestling credentials, having been a three-time All-Pac 10 selection as a freestyle wrestler while at Boise State.

I expect Jorgenson to win the fight in the first round via ground and pound.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned that the unification match for the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage welterweight titles between Jeremiah Metcalf and Aaron Wetherspoon scheduled for Friday’s debut ShoXC card on Showtime is off.

Wetherspoon is out with an injury and will be replaced by Jaime Jara. Jara is a middleweight but has agreed to fight Metcalf at a catch weight of 175 lbs.

This is the only change to the card that we’re aware of.

I am pleased to announce that Matt Cava of UFCTakedown.com and I have decided to partner on a brand new Internet audio show pertaining to MMA that will be called “Inside the Cage Radio.”

“Inside the Cage Radio” will debut next weekend (either 8/4 or 8/5) and will be available at FiveOuncesOfPain.com and UFCTakedown.com.

In the future, the show will also be accessible through its own web site.

“Inside the Cage” will be taped each Saturday inside the studios of ESPN 920, the local ESPN radio affiliate in Philadelphia. Matt and I plan to use ESPN 920’s vast production resources to bring everyone a professional sounding Internet MMA show.

Each week on “Inside the Cage,” Matt and I will debate the most pressing topics in MMA each week and we’ll interview the biggest guests in MMA.

Matt and I have a lot of long-term plans for the show and while we expect to have a strong debut, the show will improve as time goes on. What you hear on the first show will just be the beginning.

Feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions. The show is for all of you so your feedback matters.

I know I caught your attention with the Tiger Schulman’s Karate teaser.

I’ll get to TSK soon. But first, I want to talk about drugs.

Many pundits have written columns on the major sites discussing steroids and offering their ideas about how the issue should be addressed by the major promotions. Thus far, there seems to be a big push for the promotions to do internal testing.

While I respect all the writers who have expressed their thoughts, I think the idea of internal testing doesn’t make much sense.

Let me preface my next statement by saying all of my dealings with the major promotions have been nothing but positive and I have no reason to question their integrity.

However, which would you rather be responsible for the testing of athletes: the promotions themselves or an outside body?

Major League Baseball has its own testing program. Do you trust it? World Wrestling Entertainment has a “wellness program.” Do you trust it?

Look, I’m not an advocate for our government and I certainly don’t always have a lot of trust in our system at times, but I think they are better suited for the task of testing fighters as opposed to the promotions themselves.

Sure, if the IFL decides to do an internal program they’ll use an independent third party. But doesn’t the term “independent third party” become an oxymoron when you take into account that any testing lab brought in by a promotion will be getting their paycheck signed by the promotion they are working for?

Again, I have no reason to doubt the IFL or any promotion that would step up and decide to do internal testing. But is it necessary?

The commissions in states where MMA is regulated do a good job. Improvements still need to be made and testing needs to be expanded. But instead of instituting internal testing, I’d rather see the promotions work directly with the state athletic commissions and let the commissions be in charge of testing.

At the end of the day, the commissions are accountable to the people while independent third parties will be accountable to the fight promotions.

I’d really like to see the promotions stress to the commissions the importance of testing every fighter that’s slated to appear on a fight card.

Another thing I’d love to see — if it’s not being done already — is blood testing.

To my knowledge, only urine is used for drug screening (I could be wrong about this). While you can test urine for a lot of substances, there are some chemicals that don’t show up in urine such as Human Growth Hormone.

HGH is used by a lot of athletes, which is why the MLB drug testing policy is a joke. They test for steroids but not HGH. Blood tests might be costly but at the very least I think any fighter competing in a title fight should be tested for HGH.

Another thing I wanted to comment on is the assertion by some people that drug usage in MMA has reached “epidemic” proportions. The statement may or not be true because I have no idea whether the fighters who have tested positive recently are just isolated offenders or if the usage is widespread. However, from my own personal myopic perspective, steroids in MMA are relatively non-existent.

When I used to lift weights a lot, I primarily trained at home. However, I would go to gyms sometimes. When training at gyms I was amazed at how rampant and wide open steroid usage was. There was no attempt to hide it in most cases. It was incredulous.

I’ve trained at several martial arts schools that had people involved with competitive martial arts. Supplement use is frequent by many fighters that I know but if they’re on the juice, they are keeping it to themselves. I’ve never been offered any kind of chemical enhancer and have never seen a guy doing anything shady in the locker room or making comments about it during my MMA travels.

I’m making a broad statement here but this is a blog entry so cut me some slack, but I just don’t think steroids are a big issue in MMA at the grass roots level. While I find a lot of people who train MMA are educated, I don’t think many are all that affluent. What does affluence have to do with steroid use? Well, that crap isn’t cheap and a guy who is working multiple jobs so that he can pay down school loans, keep up with his rent or mortgage, and trying to pay training fees doesn’t have the investment capital needed to get in the business of performance enhancers.

My theory is that fighters don’t start using until they get to the higher levels then start making real money and then start feeling the pressure. It isn’t until so much is at stake and they feel like they have something to lose that they start to consider a turn to the dark side. Hermes Franca said in his letter he felt pressured because he was injured and needed the pay day. Whether that’s true in his case remains to be seen but it’s certainly a scenario that could be true for some fighters.

Then you have a guy like Stephan Bonnar. Endorsements aren’t easy to come by in MMA and sometimes your look dictates whether you get a sponsor just as much as your record. After having fought in the smaller shows and not wanting to go back, perhaps Bonnar also felt insecure about his status in the UFC after a couple of disappointing performances and was looking for a boost.

Unfortunately, we may never know precisely why fighters are taking steroids because for the most part, they aren’t talking.

Okay, enough talk about urine and drugs because now I want to discuss something that is almost a big of a threat to MMA’s reputation as steroids.

Tiger Schulman’s MMA?

For those of you who don’t live in the Northeastern corridor of the country, Tiger Schulman’s is a franchise of Karate schools that are usually strategically located in strip malls. They fit the description of the quintessential “McDojo.”

I’m not sure if it’s a company-wide transition, but on my way from Philly to Princeton, NJ each Saturday to do my show for ESPN 920, I pass three TSK locations and they are now called “Tiger Schulman’s Mixed Martial Arts.”

My first question is: what the hell has Tiger Schulman ever accomplished in MMA?

But I guess the fact that Tiger Schulman doesn’t come from a MMA background is irrelevant because MMA is what’s hot right now and TSK (hey, all the cool kids chant it at MMA shows!) has to keep enrollment up.

If that’s how they want to run their schools, so be it. However, I’m appalled by rumors (i.e. I’ve seen a few message board posts) that Tiger Schulman’s could be trying to secure a franchise in the IFL.

I have no idea if the talk is even accurate. For all I know, people could be getting things confused with previous speculation that Tiger Schulman’s was going to have a team in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League.

But just the thought of Tiger Schulman’s having anything to do with the IFL is enough to make me throw up in my mouth.

Some of you might feel it’s unfair of me to criticize TSK considering I don’t train there. However, I have an embarrassing admission to make and that is that I once trained there about 10-12 years ago. I only trained there for a month because they couldn’t convince me my street brawling style was ineffective. Quite frankly, a lot of the techniques they tried to teach me would have caused me to get my ass kicked (blocking kicks with forearms!?). I couldn’t believe some of the stuff they tried to teach with a straight face. But hey, they can break boards and I can’t.

I’m sure they’ve changed their curriculum over the years but my experience with McDojos (I sent my son to one at one point) has been that they teach a brand of martial arts that’s just challenging enough so that you don’t quit. The goal of these insidious places with their corporate tactics designed solely to separate you from your money is to make sure you advance through their program so that you keep paying them to move up the ladder.

TSK does have an MMA team that competes in a lot of smaller shows in the Northeast. Some of their fighters are actually pretty good, though none are nationally known. I’m sure they’ve assembled a decent camp with some good trainers but how are they able to teach MMA on a widespread basis? I’d really like to know the credentials of the people teaching MMA at all of their many local schools.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been inside of a Tiger Schulman’s (bow to your Sensei!) and I’m half-tempted to take a week of free lessons just to see what it’s all about. I’ve been to a school where MMA was taught the right way so I think I’d have a good comparative frame of reference.

If there’s any shred of truth that TSK is indeed trying to get an IFL team, I pray the IFL turns them away. No amount of money is worth what it could do to their reputation. The IFL allowing Tiger Schulman to have a team would be like Morton’s Steakhouse allowing McDonald’s to supply them with the meat they use.

Underachievers article on Sportsline

I’ve received a lot of good feedback on my latest Sportsline article regarding the “Ten biggest underachievers in MMA.” I received lots of e-mail and a few responses here on the blog in addition to a few message board threads dedicated to the topic.

It’s a fun topic that has sparked some debate and I’ve been asked about some guys that didn’t make my list. I wanted to comment on a few of them, not to put myself on the defensive but because I think it’s interesting and wanted a chance to comment publicly on some of the names.

One thing I focused on as I compiled my list is whether a guy was truly an underachiever or possibly not just as good as everyone had thought.

Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni both fell into the category of not being as good as first thought.

While I respect Baroni’s boxing skills and feel his wrestling ability is underrated, I don’t consider him a versatile fighter. He just never developed on a rapid level and I think he got as big as he did because he provided the UFC with some big knockouts and a big personality back when they needed stars in the worst way. Simply put, I think he was overrated when he had his run in the UFC.

As for Lawler, he was like a major league hitter who gets called up from the minors and hits four home runs in his first four games because he’s an excellent fastball hitter. But then that hitter struggles once there’s a book on him and pitchers realize he can’t hit a breaking ball. Lawler brought the hit with his standup and big right crosses but wasn’t as well-rounded as you’d expect an MFS fighter to be. Once fighters started taking him off his feet he was exposed.

The ironic thing is that Lawler has really improved in recent years and is a much better fighter than he was during his first run in the UFC. In my mind, he went from being overrated to being underrated.

The name of Andrei Arlovski was brought up. The Pitbull has definitely been a disappointment and I think he’s capable of more. But I don’t think he’s been underachieving long enough to make the list. If things keep up the way they’ve been going, it won’t be long though until he gets added.

Renato Sobral was also a nomination but I think his current status in MMA is correct. His submission wrestling is world class and his striking has improved. But I see him as being nothing more than a guy worthy of fighting in the UFC just outside of title contention and that just happens to be exactly where he’s at right now.

Vernon White was also suggested. Ugh, don’t get me started. Now, if you know Vernon and think he’s a good guy, that’s fine. Just don’t let your personal bias get in the way of your overall perspective of his place in MMA. He’s right where he belongs and I don’t see any potential in him that’s untapped.

Two choices that people didn’t agree with were Frank Mir and Evan Tanner. There are those who actually feel both are overachievers.

Say what?

In regard to Mir, I will concede that with the improved depth in the UFC’s heavyweight division there’s no way he would be in the title picture even if he was in his prime. However, based on his ground ability, he should at least be a middle of the road guy similar to Heath Herring. But Mir isn’t even Heath Herring! Right now, he’s more like Wes Sims.

Tanner may not be a great pure athlete but he’s an incredible fighter who could easily be the UFC middleweight champ right now if he had his act together. Some people will bristle at that statement but I think Anderson Silva is a vulnerable champion and the UFC simply has an abundance of guys who he matches up well with.

The bottom line is that Tanner would be a bad matchup for Silva. Good luck in trying to convince me otherwise.

I know he can’t stand with Silva, but who can in the 185 lbs. division? But Tanner is a far superior wrestler and if the fight got to the ground then Silva would be in a world of shit.

I’m considering doing an overachievers article next week but have only come up with Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Kenny Florian, and Matt Serra.

Anyone else have any ideas?

A 160 lbs. division sounds good to me!

I like where EliteXC President of Live Events (what an awkward title) Gary Shaw is going with his idea of possibly creating a 160 lbs. division.

The 161 lbs. division in Pride was pretty exciting and it’s a practical weight class for a lot of fighters. It’s also a good idea on Shaw’s part because it would be a way for EliteXC to differentiate their product from the competition.

It would also be a great way to showcase Nick Diaz.

You could definitely build the division around Diaz, assuming he can put the bong down. He can held his own with anyone at 170 lbs., but Cesar Gracie teammate Jake Shields is a big part of EliteXC’s welterweight division and the two of them won’t fight.

Oh, how I could also forget that at 160 lbs., Diaz is a beast!

The 160 lbs. weight class would also be perfect for a fighter not currently on the EliteXC roster. I think former Bodog welterweight champion Eddie Alvarez is made for 160 lbs.

Alvarez is undersized for 170 lbs. in my opinion. He’s thought about dropping to 155 lbs. but feels comfortable at welterweight and wants to stay there. However, he might be more open to the idea of dropping to 160 lbs. as opposed to 155 lbs.

His boxing is good enough that he can hold his own with anyone at 170 lbs., however, put him at 160 lbs. and like Diaz, he becomes a beast.

Alvarez has two fights left on his contract to Bodog and when I had him on my show on ESPN 920 several weeks back, he expressed nothing but happiness with Bodog.

However, money talks and if Elite makes a strong offer once Alvarez becomes a free agent, then you never know.

Bringing in Alvarez would be a great move for Elite because he’s significant name that could be added for an affordable price. While he wouldn’t come cheap, he wouldn’t require Sokoudjou money ($150,000 per match).

If built up properly, a match between Alvarez and Diaz could headline a pay-per-view.

It would also be one hell of a fight.

IFL vs. EliteXC?

One thing I left out in my conference call notes for the IFL yesterday is that IFL commissioner Kurt Otto once again commented on the possibility of having all the winners from the upcoming IFL World Grand Prix eventually take on another promotion’s top five in a best-of format.

Otto said he’s willing to work with just about any promotion but wouldn’t talk specific names. However, EliteXC seems like a logical partner because thus far, Gary Shaw is the only other executive of a major fight promotion that I know of willing to work with promotions other than his own.

I’d love to see it. Right now EliteXC needs to work on building their heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions but Chris Horodecki vs. Nick Diaz at lightweight, Delson Heleno vs. Jake Shields at welterweight, and Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach at middleweight are intriguing matchups on paper.

But in the end, I think an EliteXC vs. IFL team challenge is unlikely to happen because Shaw has not been extremely keen on the IFL’s team concept when the topic has been brought up during conference calls.

Free agent market ripe in MMA

It’s July 26 as I write this and Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett, Thierry Sokoudjou, Brock Lesnar, Denis Kang, and Gilbert Melendez are all still free agents.

I don’t think the MMA market in North America could handle another new promotion, but there’s enough talent out there that if there was a multi-millionaire who wanted to get involved with MMA and didn’t care about making money right away, they could throw some cash around and become an immediate player.

Tito Ortiz could also become available in the coming months and if you threw in guys like Matt Lindland and Robbie Lawler (who don’t have exclusive contracts), a newcomer to the business could make Dana White’s worst nightmare become reality.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

Rosholt wins MMA debut

Remember the name Jake Rosholt.

The Team Takedown member, who also trains with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, won his MMA debut this past weekend in Oklahoma. Rosholt tapped Dusty Miller at 3:40 in round one during Masters of the Cage 15 in Oklahoma.

A former top college wrestler, Rosholt is one of four members of Team Takedown, a group started with the intent of recruiting top collegiate wrestlers and assisting them in making the transition to MMA.

Rosholt, Johny Hendricks, Shane Roller, and Eric Bradley all have big futures in this sport.

Where in the world is Chris Wilson?

Does anyone know what happened to former Portland Wolfpack welterweight Chris Wilson? I thought the Team Quest member was a legitimate prospect at 170 lbs. but he left the IFL and I haven’t heard about him since besides some rumors that he might be signing with Bodog.

If you know anything about Wilson’s current status, please drop me a line.

Earlier this afternoon the IFL held its second press conference in as many weeks to promote both their team semifinals on August 2 in East Rutherford, NJ as well as the announcement of the field for their first World Grand Prix that will be taking place in the fall.

Here are some notes from the conference:

- Each Grand Prix winner will be awarded a title belt and will be considered the champion for their respective weight class. Kurt Otto also revealed that during the ‘08 season, Grand Prix champions might find themselves in situations where they will be defending the title.

While they will remain Grand Prix champion until the next Grand Prix, my understanding is that they will lose one of two belts should they lose in a title fight. When a title is defended in ‘08, it will take place during the course of a team competition. So a figthter could find himself in a position where he’s in a match that will decide a title as well as whether his team wins its match.

There will be discretion used as to when a fighter’s title will be on the line. For instance, if Chris Horodecki is the lightweight champ and the Anacondas are fighting the Silverbacks and he’s pitted against Bart Palaszewski, chances are the title will be on the line. If Horodecki is fighting a guy with a 2-3 record from the Chicago Red Devils, the title likely won’t be at stake.

Some reporters had some concerns that incorporating individual titles into the team aspect could blur the team concept but I think it only adds to the drama and for what the IFL is trying to do on TV each week, the concept lends itself personally. Having title matches puts the IFL in a position where they can market title fights as main events and really build towards a big climax during the two-hour telecast on MyNetworkTV. I think IFL commissioner Kurt Otto describe the concept best when he said it will be the best of both worlds.

- The rules and rounds won’t change for title fights that take place as part of the team bouts. So title fights will not be five round of five minutes and will remain three rounds of four minutes. I don’t like that. I think all title fights should be five and five.

- Talks are ongoing as to how best showcase the World Grand Prix. I asked Otto is FSN or MyNetwork had contacted them with the expressed idea of possibly televising the Grand Prix live and Otto commented that FSN executives were at the Las Vegas show and came away very impressed. To me, it sounds like there are some different options on the table. I think if the money is right, there could be a chance we’d get to see some live IFL.

- I’ve been wanting to ask for a long time whether private investors have ever contacted the IFL about owning a franchise. Otto says they are contacted quite often and they’ve explored the idea. He said if they can make it work logistically that it’s something that could be possible. I think that could definitely be a future form of revenue for the IFL. Whether it would be enough revenue to effect their bottom line will depend on how much value the company can build up.

- Otto talked about their desire to start an internal drug testing program. He stressed that it needs to be a drug program and not just a steroids program because fighters are testing positive for recreational drugs. He said the IFL is willing to work with other promotions when it comes to an internal anti-drug program. Otto also talked about how educating fighters about the potential dangers of drugs is important. My idea would be to sit them all in a room and make them watch “The Smashing Machine” documentary about Mark Kerr. Let them see Kerr’s fights from his prime and his recent fights so they see how drug use can spiral out of control and you can lose everything.

- During the World Grand Prix, each card is expected to open with a “Superfight” between two fighters from the IFL who didn’t make the final four of their weight class.

- Otto confirmed that Ian Freeman will be coaching a UK team. A reported asked about talk of a possible Brazilian team and whether teams from Brazil and the UK would be U.S.-based or based in the native homelands. Otto didn’t have a definitive answer.

- Brazil’s version of the IFL was brought up and Otto took the “imitation is the greatest form of flattery” approach. He said that the league in Brazil is basically validation for their belief that the team concept could work. Otto also made sure to mention that several UFC fighters are coaches in Brazil and wondered if the UFC is changing their stance towards the IFL and the team concept? Somehow I don’t think Dana White’s opinion has changed.

- I was curious about how alternates would work after the completion of the first round of the Grand Prix. For example, suppose John Gunderson beat Wagnney Fabiano  in Chicago but was able to fight in the finals in December because of injury. Would Fabiano advance or would Shad Lierley go right into the finals? Otto indicated that it would be Lierley and that in that scenario “he’d be a very lucky guy.”