Bobby Lashley on beating Bob Sapp: ‘You can Bet Your House on It.’
Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley takes a big step up in competition tomorrow when he takes on Japan’s most famous fighter, Bob Sapp. The two main event the Ultimate Chaos PPV from the Gulfport Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. Five Ounces of Pain’s Jonathan Snowden had a chance to talk to Lashley about his transition to MMA, why it was smart to take it slow, and what he would do if... [Read More...]
Ricky Derouen (Promoter of Sapp-Lashley): ‘It’s gonna be fireworks!’
For the first time since the dark ages of the UFC, Mississippi will host major league MMA when Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp square off for Fight Force International on June 27. While Sapp is one of the biggest drawing cards in Japan, still capitalizing on the sudden fame that changed his life from football failure to icon, it is the former WWE Champion Lashley that promoters hope will draw a crowd to... [Read More...]
Snowden’s Five Things: A Faux Fight of the Year and the End of the Shamrock Myth
Strikeforce made its Showtime debut last night, attempting to put its best foot forward with a main event of Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. As always, the show did well locally, attracting almost 15,000 fans to the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Nationally, it was another story all together. Promoters had hoped that the voluble Shamrock and the trash-talking Diaz would get tongues wagging. Instead, there... [Read More...]
Snowden’s Five Things about UFC 96: Lack of Professionalism Reigns
Another UFC in the books, a card that delivered exactly the kind of tepid entertainment it promised, and we’re left with more questions than answers. Who is fighting whom? And when? It seemed fairly clear during the PPV broadcast that Rashad Evans would defend the light heavyweight title at UFC 98 against Rampage Jackson, while Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir would hook it up again at UFC 100 two... [Read More...]
Snowden’s Five Things: Carwin the Fraud, Kirill the Cheat, and Jardine the Contender
Every week it feels like we’re being bombarded by a endless succession of MMA news stories. Promotions are starting up (and all too often) folding. Fighters are vowing to vanquish their foes. Others are explaining away an ugly loss. All too often, someone is making an excuse for why they’ve failed a drug test, lost an important fight, or slathered themselves in Vaseline. It’s hard... [Read More...]
Snowden: The Decline of Josh Koscheck
It all started so well for Josh Koscheck. With just six months of training, he was competitive with the very best young fighters in the world on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter. His future seemed limitless. He was the best active wrestler in a sport that had been dominated for more than a decade by strong grapplers. With the athleticism and the work ethic necessary to learn how to defend... [Read More...]
Rory Markham: “When Pat Miletich invests himself 100 percent, he is the best trainer in the world”
At every UFC show, there is one fight designated by matchmaker Joe Silva as a potential show stealer. At UFC 95 this Saturday in London, the match expected to set the night on fire is Rory Markham against hometown star Dan Hardy. Hardcore fans know all about Markham’s penchant for amazing fights-UFC fans got a taste for the first time with his dynamic knockout of Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night... [Read More...]
Snowden: Strikeforce Strikes Hard
A couple of days ago, I opined right here at Five Ounces of Pain that Scott Coker and Strikeforce had plenty to prove when it comes to running a national MMA promotion. Yesterday, they took a strong first step, showing me they understand what it’s going to take to attract a significant audience. The first main event for the newly national Strikeforce features not just great fighters, but also... [Read More...]
Snowden: Strikeforce Still has Plenty to Prove
There was much rejoicing in the insular MMA community when it was finally announced that Scott Coker and Strikeforce would be taking over the coveted CBS and Showtime television contracts from the (nearly) defunct ProElite. Not only did Coker gain control of the sport’s first network television time slot, he also took control of EliteXC’s top fighters like Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, Gina... [Read More...]
Snowden: Georges St. Pierre is “The G.O.A.T”
B.J. Penn is no flash in the pan. He’s one of the most respected and successful fighters in UFC history and has been for a decade. Penn is one of two men to win UFC titles in two different weight classes. His skill set is multi-faceted-he’s a legitimate jiu jitsu world champion and has developed his striking game to the point that fellow fighters call him the best boxer in the sport. And... [Read More...]
Snowden: Dana White Wins Again
It hurts me to say it, but Dana White is the best and most important promoter in the history of MMA. No one else is even close. White took a sport that was floundering, a promotion that was giving away tickets to a five thousand seater in New Jersey (available only on satellite television) and turned it into a billion dollar company. Today, I walked the Las Vegas strip and saw the fruits of White’s... [Read More...]
Affliction: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Whether or not Affliction made a dime from their second mega-card, “Day of Reckoning,” it would be hard to deny the event was a huge success from an aesthetic viewpoint. Every fight on the card was everything fans could of wished for (although it took Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vladimir Matyushenko a round to get going). At the end of the year, this will surely be in the running for best... [Read More...]
Snowden: Worrying About Dollars makes no Sense
Affliction is promoting what will likely be the biggest non-UFC MMA fight card of the year Saturday-and almost no one is talking about it. Fans that are talking are discussing the finances above all else. How can Affliction afford to pay its undercard fighters in the mid six figures for fights that are unlikely to contribute to the precious PPV buyrate? How will the company make any money when it is... [Read More...]
Snowden: Davis and Lytle may have raised the bar too high
It’s amazing how something as simple as expectations can change the way you see a fight. By any reasonable analysis, Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle just had a hell of a fight. It was a nice mix of boxing and kickboxing, with Davis using smart movement to avoid the worst of Lytle’s attack and countering his way to victory. Both men took home an extra $40,000, sharing fight of the night honors... [Read More...]
Forget Brock Lesnar, “UFC Primetime” is the next big thing
As The Ultimate Fighter’s ratings continue a precipitous decline, now down 36 percent from their Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock fueled heights, Zuffa has quietly been searching for replacement programming to take over as their flagship show on Spike TV. Despite the success of live fight specials, that couldn’t be the answer long term. The shows are simply too draining on the entire staff,... [Read More...]
Eliot Marshall: “At least in jail you get TV”
After impressing coach Frank Mir and his fellow “The Ultimate Fighter” housemates with a dominant win over Shane Primm to advance into the semi-finals, Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Eliot Marshall was eliminated from the competition by the prohibitive favorite Ryan Bader. Marshall sat down to talk to FiveOuncesOfPain.com about Bader, respect, urine, and anything we wanted. Except Junie... [Read More...]
Braden Bice: Inside the Mind of the Designated Fall Guy
Mike Russow is on the brink of something big. The Monte Cox managed prospect is 10-1 with six wins in a row. In a depleted heavyweight division, this makes him something of a prospect. And prospects have to be managed carefully. As Cox looks to secure a big future fight for his fighter in the UFC, in Affliction, or in Japan, it’s more important than ever that Russow take fights he can win and... [Read More...]
