MMA-URLS

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jiu-jitsu stylist Quinn Mulhern added stock to his name, earning a decision win over previously undefeated prospect Yuri Villefort The bout, which took place Saturday at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., aired on Showtime Extreme and served as the first of four televised "Strikeforce: Heavyweight Grand Prix Finale" preliminary matchups. The action preceded the evening's main card, which aired on Showtime.

Posted in: showtime, hp pavilion, place saturday, strikeforce heavyweight, prix finale

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Strikeforce returns to Showtime tonight (Sat., May 19, 2012) with its "Barnett vs. Cormier" event, which will begin around 8 p.m. ET with its preliminary card broadcast airing LIVE on Showtime Extreme. Then it's time to kick it on over to the main Showtime channel for the main card portion of the event, headlined by the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix tournament final between Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier, beginning promptly at 10 p.m. ET. Don't get Showtime as part of your subscription package? You can call up your local cable and/or satellite provider, of course, or you can click here to order it up so you can make sure you're able to tune in for tonight's mixed martial arts (MMA) extravaganza. However, if you need your Strikeforce results as soon as possible, and don't have a provider that carries the network and have zero desire to order the channel just for tonight's event, MMAmania.com will deliver up-to-the-minute results and live fight coverage, including round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of all the "Barnett vs. Cormier" action before, during and after the event RIGHT HERE. More details on tonight's Strikeforce fight card and line-up after the jump. Main Event: 265 lbs.: Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier Main Card (Showtime): 155 lbs.: Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson 205 lbs.: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Mike Kyle 170 lbs.: Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Chris Spang Preliminary Card (Showtime Extreme): 155 lbs.: Gesias Cavalcante vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg 205 lbs.: Virgil Zwicker vs. Guto Inocente 205 lbs.: Derrick Mehmen vs. Gian Villante 170 lbs.: Quinn Mulhern vs. Yuri Villefort For all the news and notes surrounding the Strikeforce: "Barnett vs. Cormier" Showtime card check out our extensive news archive by clicking here.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, lb, barnett

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May is a big month for kickboxing. Later this month we get two major shows from Glory and the resurrected K-1. Those shows contain a wealth of big fights including the opening rounds of two separate 70kg Grand Prix tournaments, the K-1 returns of Badr Hari and Mirko Cro Cop, and the pound for pound #1 Giorgio Petrosyan in action. This past weekend, May kicked off in earnest with a pair of smaller, but still notable shows from It's Showtime and SuperKombat. Top European organization It's Showtime was in action on Saturday with a show in Belgium. The biggest name on the card was It's Showtime Heavyweight champion Daniel Ghita, who took on Brian Douwes. Ghita defeated Douwes via KO in the 2nd round. With that win, Ghita is now on a 5 fight win streak, with a number of those wins coming via impressive stoppage. Because the Heavyweight division was essentially shut down in 2011, it's hard to create accurate rankings at the moment, though I see Ghita as the #2 Heavyweight in the world right now behind Semmy Schilt (though some may argue for Ghita at #3 and Badr Hari at #2). Another great win for the young star. Five Things To Know About The K-1 MAX 2012 Final 16 Also on the It's Showtime card, 77kg champion Sahak Paparyan successfully defended his title with a Unanimous Decision win over Andrew Tate in a close fight, while Sergei Lascenko continued his resurgent run with a KO win. Full It's Showtime and Super Kombat results, plus video of Ghita vs. Douwes and more in the full entry. The weekend's other big show was from SuperKombat, an Eastern European organization that has been around for some time, but is now beginning to assert themselves as a true player in the international kickboxing scene. The main feature on their card was a one night 4 man Heavyweight tournament with the winner moving on to the SuperKombat Heavyweight Grand Prix this December. Raul Catinas emerged the victor in that tournament, defeating Daniel Sam by decision in the finals. Good win for Catinas. Also victorious on the card were Andrei and Bogdan Stoica and Alexandru Lungu. Full results from Super Kombat below. And in one last weekend result, former K-1 great Alexey Ignashov was in action in Budapest. The one time phenom continued to struggle, losing a decision to Ali Cenak. Ten years ago, Ignashov looked ready to become the next big thing in kickboxing, but personal issues have derailed that promising career seemingly forever. He had a bit of a comeback in 2010, but even that comeback seems like a thing of the past now. With two upcoming 70kg tournaments ready to start in just a few weeks and the pieces coming together for three separate high level Heavyweight tournaments before the year is out, it certainly looks like kickboxing is once again alive and well. And I couldn't be happier. Now if we can just convince these organizations to start working with each other more... Look for much more on the May Glory and K-1 events in the coming weeks. It's Showtime 56May 12, 2012 Cheick Sidibe def. Jason Wilnis, UDSonny Dagraed def. Eric Denis, UDSergei Lascenko def. Salahdine Kandoussi, KO R1Sahak Parparyan def. Andrew Tate, UDRustemi Kreshnik def. Michael Duut, TKO R1Daniel Ghita def. Brian Douwes, KO R2 SuperKombat World Grand Prix II QualificationMay 12, 2012 Semi-Final: Raul Catinas def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, KO R2Semi-Final: Daniel Sam def. Sam Tevette, KOBenny Adegbuyi def. Patrick Liedert, KO R2Sebastian Ciobanu def. Redouan Cairo, TKO R2Andrei Stoica def. Rodney Glunder, DecAlexandru Lungu def. Wieslaw Kwaniewski, SDBogdan Stoica def. Ivan Stanic, UDFinal: Raul Catinas def. Daniel Sam, UD Daniel Ghita vs. Brian Douwes

Posted in: ko, heavyweight, showtime, daniel, ghita

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submitted by Levit0 [link] [6 comments]

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, claim, scott, levit

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Strikeforce held a conference call yesterday for their upcoming May 19th event, and CEO Scott Coker had a few things to say about his organization. After months of negotiations late last year, Zuffa/Forza was able to secure an eight-card, one year extension with Showtime. At that time it was decided that the heavyweight division would move over to the UFC at the conclusion of the heavyweight grand prix and one more "big heavyweight bout". Coker claims that it was a mutual decision to move the heavys over (transcribed by 5thRound.com): "The heavyweight division, they all agreed that there wasn’t going to be enough athletes to support both [UFC and Strikeforce] and they wanted to bring some of the fights over there at that time," Coker shared during Thursday’s conference call. "But now that the Showtime relationship has been renewed and it’s been solid, I think you’re going to see those great fights on the lighter weights – starting with light heavyweight on down in Strikeforce." And he believes that Strikeforce will be able to stay on Showtime for a lot longer than the rest of this year: "We have a great relationship with Showtime, I think we have provided great fights with great ratings. I think you’ll continue to see Strikeforce on Showtime for many years to come." I'm probably the biggest Strikeforce mark you're going to find and even I don't believe this. The ratings for their three cards in 2012 have not been good, and while I commend them for trimming down the roster, getting their website back up, and promoting the heck out of Ronda Rousey, it still seems clear that SF is dying. Either way, I'll enjoy them while they're around because they usually put on good cards, and the May 19th show (Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier in the main event) looks like one of them.

Posted in: strikeforce, heavyweight, showtime, year, heavyweight division

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Showtime and Showtime Extreme will offer four nights of Strikeforce replays next week leading into the May 19 live heavyweight tournament finale, plus full fight replays online.

Posted in: strikeforce, replay, showtime, strikeforce replays, fight replays

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What a long, strange trip it's been. The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament, which started well over a year ago and lost Alistair Overeem somewhere along the way, will finally wrap things up on May 19, 2012 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., live via the Showtime network. Set to headline the card are tournament finalists Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier, who will compete for the grand prix championship and the right to challenge one more fighter under the Strikeforce banner before the promotion eliminates the 265-pound division for good. Also getting their hands dirty (again) are Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson for "El Nino's" 155-pound belt. Their upcoming rubber match will settle a longstanding feud that began nearly four years ago. That's not all. Here is the current Strikeforce: "Barnett vs. Cormier" fight card and line up: Main Event: 265 lbs.: Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier for the Heavyweight World Grand Prix Championship Main Card (Showtime): 155 lbs.: Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson205 lbs.: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Mike Kyle170 lbs.: Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Chris Spang Preliminary Card (Showtime Extreme): 155 lbs.: Gesias Cavalcante vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg205 lbs.: Virgil Zwicker vs. Guto Inocente205 lbs.: Derrick Mehmen vs. Gian Villante170 lbs.: Quinn Mulhern vs. Yuri Villefort MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night (Sat., May 19, 2012), which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" bouts on Showtime Extreme. For all the latest news and notes on the upcoming Strikeforce event on Showtime check out our comprehensive news archive right here.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, lb, card

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The Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Final takes place May 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., the promotion's former home base before being purchased by Zuffa. The card, which gets a full broadcast on Showtime, will feature eight bouts. The four-fight main card will air on Showtime on May 19 at 10 p.m. Eastern. The four-fight preliminary card will air live on Showtime Extreme starting at 8

Posted in: showtime, card, strikeforce heavyweight, strikeforce world, home base

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Roger Gracie is expected to meet middleweight Keith Jardine at a currently unannounced Strikeforce event in July. Sources close to the event told MMAjunkie.com at least one fighter has agreed to the matchup, which MMAFighting.com first reported. A date and location have not been confirmed for the show, which will air on Showtime and Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: event, showtime, strikeforce event, july, july sources

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Posted in: fighter, showtime, daniel, youtube, jonbuchan

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [6 comments]

Posted in: petti, showtime, jose, mattyblayze, drop

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[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] Today’s announcement from It’s Showtime about K-1 contracting some of their top fighters confirms months upon months of rumors and discussion about what would happen with K-1. There has been a behind-the-scenes war of sorts between two factions; Golden Glory and It’s Showtime. Without a doubt both factions are where the power lies within the Kickboxing world right now, with top names working on both sides and there being some crossover when at all possible. A good example of crossover would be Robin van Roosmalen, the It’s Showtime Fast and Furious 70kg MAX 2011 Champion. In a world without K-1, the Fast and Furious tournament was without a shadow of the doubt the biggest tournament for 70kg fighters. Van Roosmalen worked his way through the most prestigious tournament possible while representing Golden Glory. On top of that, Errol Zimmerman and Gokhan Saki appeared on It’s Showtime’s latest card, with the rumor being that both men worked out their own deals in the fall to participate on the card. Both factions have the very best talent in the top weight divisions in the world, making cards featuring both fight camps imperative to see the best competition and best fights in the world. When talks surfaced of both sides looking to become closer to the troubled K-1 over the past six months or so, it was clear that whomever won the race to latch onto K-1 would leave the other one in a predicament. It turns out that Golden Glory lost their bid for K-1, but with the help of investor and partner Total Sports Asia, have been assembling three huge tournaments at Heavyweight, 85kg and 70kg, with a total of $1 million as a prize. Read More...

Posted in: world, showtime, tournament, kg, ’s showtime

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One week from today, it will have been one year since the shocking news that Zuffa -- the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) -- purchased its biggest competitor in Strikeforce. The announcement was sudden and took most mixed martial arts (MMA) fans by total surprise. Much like when Zuffa purchased Pride Fighting Championships -- coincidentally around this time of year half a decade ago -- the back and forth between pundits and fans was of cross-promotional title unification bouts, mergers and even super cards. It became apparent, after being used around 78 times during the video, almost none of those hopes would come to fruition and the meme "business as usual" was etched into the MMA lexicon. It hasn't been "business as usual," per se. For example, Strikeforce is without a heavyweight, light heavyweight and welterweight champion after Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson and Nick Diaz all signed contracts to bring their talents to the Octagon. Aside from those deviations, the company Scott Coker founded as a kickboxing organization plugged along with the only huge difference being UFC pay-per-view commercials during the Showtime telecasts. The company did indeed stay on the premium cable channel, although the future of their relationship was murky. The contract was set to expire in early 2012 and many expected the promotion to move stations or be absorbed -- a la World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) -- into the UFC. Neither happened as an extension through the end of this year was announced last December. It seemed as if Showtime and Dana White -- a pair with no love lost in the past -- had found a way to play nice. Whoa, pump the breaks. I spoke too soon. It was long expected that this past Saturday's (Mar. 3) event, Strikeforce: 'Tate vs. Rousey', would be the first to have the Dana White touch to it. He was even set to miss the UFC on FX event -- held a world away in Australia -- to be in Columbus for the Strikeforce show, marking the first time in over a decade the foul-mouthed President wouldn't be sitting next to the Octagon. But things didn't quite turn out that way. According to an interview today at the UFC on Fox press conference hyping the May 5 event headlined by Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, White revealed he received a call a week before he was set to fly out to Ohio and was told his presence wasn't needed. "It's quite simple. We had four meetings ... and obviously there's some creative differences between me and the producer of the show. And this guy's not a bad guy. ... Creatively, we have some differences ... and we're always gonna. ... While he has that type of power, I guess I ... won't be in the mix." If this is the case and White's input on Strikeforce has been flat out refused, I can only wonder what is going through the mind of Showtime Sports head honcho Stephen Espinoza. Sure, White can often be obnoxious. Okay, that's putting it lightly. The UFC President can be a straight pain in the butt from time to time. He engages in Twitter flamewars with D-level MMA personalities, uses a four-letter word every 10 seconds and doesn't go to bed at night before he's said at least one negative thing about Fedor Emelianenko. But there's absolutely no one on the planet who has done his job -- running a fight promotion -- longer and better than he has. Coker only recently branched outside of southern California while the UFC has been breaking ground in the Middle East, Australia and will do so in Sweden next month. Bellator bigwig Bjorn Rebney has only be in the game a few years and all the power players in Japan are either in jail or in hiding. There's a wealth of knowledge White has which Showtime is squandering. Here, they have the man who has helped MMA become one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the man who partly owns the promotion on their own network and what do they say? Thanks, but no thanks. The decision is baffling and could potentially lead to Strikeforce's demise. Zuffa bought a new toy in Strikeforce but Showtime isn't letting them play with it. If White and company came into the deal thinking they would have some input only to instead get shut out, will there be any incentive to renew the contract once the time comes? No, there won't be. And that will lead to a mountain of uncertainty. Will Strikeforce go to a different network? Or will it close its doors and get absorbed into the UFC? Where would that leave fighters like Nate Marquardt, Paul Daley and the bevy of women fighters under Coker's employ? The small act of Showtime refusing White's help could have major ramifications.

Posted in: ufc, time, strikeforce, showtime, year

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MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Dana White following today’s UFC on FOX 3 press conference to talk to him about a lot of hot topics around the sport including the UFC lightweight title picture, Rampage Jackson’s Twitter comments, his situation with Showtime and more. Here’s a few notes from the interview. — At the time of the interview, Dana White pretty much said that he wasn’t sure what exactly was going on with the UFC lightweight picture yet because he hadn’t spoken to the people he needed to yet. However, he must have talked to them after the interview because Dana has since confirmed that Frankie Edgar will get his rematch against Ben Henderson this summer. — Dana says the disparaging comments he made about Showtime in the MMA Junkie story were never meant to be made public. He’s clearly not happy with the story’s writer and offered a public apology to Showtime for those comments making print. Dana says he has no ill will or problem with anyone at Showtime and would never say anything publicly to embarrass them. They merely have “creative differences.” — Dana White thinks Ronda Rousey is going to be a “big star” and there some big one-off fights every now and then like Tate-Rousey, but it doesn’t change the fact that there aren’t enough good women to create a whole division with. — Neo-Nazi tattooed/sex offender Brandon Saling who slipped under everyone’s radar at last weekend’s Strikeforce show will never fight for Zuffa again. He also may never compete as a licensed fighter in the US, at least not for the time being, since he falsified information on his applications with the Ohio and New Jersey athletic commissions. Both commissions have revoked his licenses. — Dana is aware of Rampage Jackson’s tweets about fighting elsewhere after his next UFC fight. Dana confirmed he talked to Rampage before he sent those tweets yesterday, but didn’t say what was discussed exactly. All he would say is he thinks Rampage is just taking this latest loss to Ryan Bader hard like he takes most of his losses. Dana clarified that he has no beef with Rampage. — Dana says Rampage denied that he ever said a “UFC doctor” told him to take testosterone and basically blamed the whole thing on the reporter who did the interview. Dana said that particular reporter has tried to put words in his mouth before and that’s what he believes happened with Rampage. — Dana White says Dakota Cochrane was 100% upfront with the UFC and FX about his past history with gay pornography and they’re “cool with it.” — Not from the interview per se, but Dana said today that a rumored summertime event in Calgary is “not done but it’s going to happen.” — Also not from the interview, but it’s worth noting that the UFC has officially confirmed Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem for UFC 146 on May 26 in Las Vegas.

Posted in: ufc, rampage, dana, showtime, interview

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NEW YORK -- Watch below as UFC president Dana White talks about the UFC on FOX 3 event on May 5 in New Jersey, Friday night's judging debacle in Sydney, his relationship with Showtime, Ronda Rousey, Brandon Saling, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's future and Dakota Cochrane on TUF 15.

Posted in: ufc, fox, showtime, dakota cochrane, dakota

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MMA Weekly reports that Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey received only 431,000 viewers Saturday night. The ratings are indicative of previous Strikeforce shows on Showtime. Via MMA Weekly: That number is fairly typical for a Strikeforce event on Showtime. The promotion hit its peak viewership with Fedor vs. Silva early in 2011, drawing 741,000 viewers. Other more common showings for Strikeforce were the likes of Henderson vs. Feijao at 412,000, Diaz vs. Daley at 528,000, and Melendez vs. Masvidal at 460,000. Payout Perspective: The numbers could be good or bad depending what you think of a women’s bout as the main event. The last time Showtime featured a women’s main event with this much hype was Gina Carano facing Cyborg Santos back in August 2009 where that show received 576,000 viewers. Still, 431,000 viewers is low and considering Dana White is stepping back from providing input could mean that we’ll see the product whither away. Let’s hope that its not the case as Rousey and Tate proved that there should be some platform for women’s MMA.  We shall se

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, viewer, time showtime

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Big news coming from the kickboxing world today courtesy of It's Showtime. The European organization announced today that they had signed a deal with the new K-1 organization. They also revealed some very exciting details about K-1's plans for 2012: K-1 will organize 4 big events already this year, including the final 16 and final 8 in the 70kg and heavyweight division. The bonuses the fighters can win will be astronomically high, but we leave it up to the company of K-1 Global to announce these amounts. We will also leave it up to them to announce the event schedule, but three weeks from now everything will be announced. So, it looks like after a mostly silent 2011, we may indeed see the return of the K-1 Grand Prix in 2012, both at the Heavyweight and 70kg MAX level. As any kickboxing fan will tell you, the idea of the GP returning is simply fantastic news. Before going any further it has to be said that we've heard this before. Since the end of 2010 there have been multiple K-1 shows planned and cancelled, some involving It's Showtime. But as someone who's been following this story over the past year, I have to say this feels different, for a few reasons: It's Showtime names the owner of the new K-1: Mike Kim, who is running an organization called K-1 Global based out of Hong Kong. There has long been confusion over who owns K-1, and this is a good step. According to It's Showtime, K-1 Global paid their fighters 50% of the money owed to them under old FEG K-1 contracts. This lack of fighter pay has been a major stumbling block in past negotiations, and for K-1 Global to pay it is a huge step forward. This information is not coming from K-1, but from It's Showtime, who, in addition to promoting shows, manages a number of fighters. It's Showtime has tended to be quite open and honest in the past about their relationship with K-1 - if this deal falls through, It's Showtime will speak up. The release goes on to name the It's Showtime fighters who have signed with K-1, and it's quite the collection of talent: Daniel Ghita, Tyrone Spong, Hesdy Gerges, Paul Slowinski, Rico Verhoeven, Anderson ‘Braddock' Silva, Ben Edwards, Melvin Manhoef, Sergii Lashchenko, Mourad Bouzidi, Dzevad Poturak, Chahid Oulad El Hadj, Gago Drago and Andy Ristie. They are also still negotiating contracts for Ruslan Karaev, Harut Grigorian, Chris Ngimbi, and more. Finally, they mention that K-1 has signed other names, but as those others are not represented by It's Showtime, they are not named just yet. One likely candidate here is former MAX champion Andy Souwer, who recently cancelled a May 19 fight, citing a conflict with a new K-1 contract. So while I may hold off on definitively saying "K-1 is back!" until the first show actually happens, I will say that this is the most positive news we have heard in over a year. So for now, a tentative "Welcome back K-1 Grand Prix - we missed you." Read the full press release in the complete article. PRESS RELEASE: IT'S SHOWTIME closes deal with new K-1 organization.With immediate effect, IT'S SHOWTIME closed a multi-year deal with the new owner of the K-1 label, Mr. Mike Kim. The company of Mr. Kim is called K-1 Global and is established in Hong Kong.Even though this new company didn't have any obligations towards our company and our fighters, K-1 Global has paid all of our fighters this week. This means that every fighter received a signing bonus which consists of 50% of the money that was still owed to them by the old company FEG.K-1 will organize 4 big events already this year, including the final 16 and final 8 in the 70kg and heavyweight division. The bonuses the fighters can win will be astronomically high, but we leave it up to the company of K-1 Global to announce these amounts. We will also leave it up to them to announce the event schedule, but three weeks from now everything will be announced. The following fighters have already signed a contract with K-1 on behalf of IT'S SHOWTIME: Daniel Ghita, Tyrone Spong, Hesdy Gerges, Paul Slowinski, Rico Verhoeven, Anderson ‘Braddock' Silva, Ben Edwards, Melvin Manhoef, Sergii Lashchenko, Mourad Bouzidi, Dzevad Poturak, Chahid Oulad El Hadj, Gago Drago and Andy Ristie.Contracts which are ready to be signed with K-1 this week: Ruslan Karaev, Harut Grigorian, Chris Ngimbi, etc. There have been several contracts signed with other big names in kickboxing, but these are not under contract with IT'S SHOWTIME, so we wait for K-1 Global to announce these names. We are very happy with these positive developments in our sport and for all fighters in the world who now get the possibilities to show their talent in K-1. Simon RutzIT'S SHOWTIME Poll Will there be a 2012 K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix? Yes No   4 votes | Results

Posted in: fighter, showtime, contract, name, company

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[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] It's Showtime just sent out a press release announcing a multi-year agreement between them and the new owners of K-1, effective immediately. What this means is that K-1 is looking to scoop up talent for upcoming shows, and has looked to fighters under It's Showtime's management as there are numerous ones. Many It's Showtime fighters have signed, with more to come, with the new K-1 Global Holdings paying fighters 50% of the money owed to them by FEG. It is not clear what, exactly, FEG's involvement will be, if anything. Read More...

Posted in: fighter, showtime, showtime fighters, liverkickcom part, fegs involvement

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K-1 has been purchased by a Mr. Mike Kim and rechristened as K-1 Global. Today It’s Showtime announced that they had signed a deal with the new K-1 Global organization. It’s Showtime issued a press release about the deal, which stated that many fighters from their organization had signed contracts with the company and that they all received signing bonuses of 50 percent of the money that was owed to them from FEG, the former owners of K-1.  It’s Showtime fighters Daniel Ghita, Tyrone

Posted in: fighter, deal, showtime, press release, ’s showtime

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MMA Junkie reports that Dana White will step away from working with Strikeforce and focus on the UFC. White said this after Saturday night’s Strikeforce event in which Showtime execs turned down suggestions provided by White. White planned to skip the UFC on FX 2 event in order to head to the Strikeforce event in Columbus, Ohio but when he heard that Showtime would not implement certain changes to the production of the card, he skipped the Strikeforce event. Via MMA Junkie: But at the last minute, things changed. According to White, new Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza decided maybe not all of the changes the UFC boss proposed would find their way into the event. And, White said, he didn’t have the courtesy to even make a direct call, instead preferring contact with fellow Zuffa exec Pete Dropick. “I almost missed the first UFC fight in 11 years, and then I get the phone call from Pete Dropick when I’m in Japan,” White said. “‘Yeah, listen, they’re not going to change pretty much any of the stuff you wanted.’ So I said, ‘[Expletive] them.’ Payout Perspective: Hard to say if this is good or bad for Strikeforce.  Based on the initial reviews and estimates, the Strikeforce event was well-received. It would be interesting to see what changes White wanted and why Showtime turned down the changes. With White hands off on Strikeforce, it will be interesting to see how Strikeforce will do assuming Scott Coker takes over.  Also, what support will it receive from Zuffa?

Posted in: strikeforce, event, showtime, strikeforce event, change

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Less than three months ago, UFC president Dana White was all positivity and enthusiasm in discussing the future of Strikeforce."I'm getting involved in this thing and I'm excited about it," he said then. "I'm going to get behind it 100 percent."But on the same weekend that Ronda Rousey completed her lightning quick rise to the top, giving women's MMA its best moment in years, White essentially said he is done caring about Strikeforce. Those two events weren't connected, except in the fact that one day in the future, they might be.With limited options for women try to ply their MMA trade -- and Strikeforce the biggest -- that means that if a frustrated White and the Zuffa ownership group part ways with Showtime at the end of their current deal, Rousey might soon have no place to hang her star. Let's remember that just a few months ago, Strikeforce's future was tenuous at best, negotiations going down to the wire before a deal was struck. At the time, White acknowledged that the extension wouldn't have been possible without a regime change at Showtime sports that would make it possible for him to provide input and make adjustments to the production. But the new relationship has apparently soured faster than the old one did, and White is no longer interested in a partnership with the Showtime sports staff.That will leave other executives like Lorenzo Fertitta and Peter Dropick to run things in his place on behalf of Zuffa. It's certainly a competent group, but the point is that if White is frustrated with Showtime, the rest of the Zuffa team probably is, too. If White envisioned changes, they all envisioned changes. Those apparently won't be coming, and you don't have to be a business insider to know that unmet expectations lead to discontent.The relationship might ultimately still be salvageable but this can't be considered a good sign coming so early after a contract was inked. And if it isn't salvageable, Strikeforce might be extinct when its deal is up, unless Zuffa tries to find another TV outlet. White likes to say that every day he wakes up, something bad is bound to happen, and for proof, just look at his weekend. Aside from the relationship with Showtime showing its first signs of fracturing, there was plenty more to raise his blood-pressure. On Saturday in Australia, a scoring error during a flyweight tournament bout declared Demetrious Johnson the winner when in fact, his fight with Ian McCall was a draw after three rounds. For the first time, Zuffa had specifically contracted the fighters for a fourth, sudden-death round in case of a draw for such situations, but the simple math error was not discovered until after the event concluded, making it impossible. Instead, their best-laid plans were laid to waste. That will leave McCall and Johnson forced to rematch, while sending tournament semifinalist Joseph Benavidez to the sidelines to wait for the winner.At least that was a somewhat innocent mistake. The man in charge of the scorecards, Craig Waller of New South Wales, Australia's department of sport and recreation, quickly accepted responsibility, standing at a podium at the post-fight press conference and publicly apologizing to fighters, fans and the promotion. As frustrating as the situation was, it's hard to stay mad when someone comes forward and offers himself as a remorseful target of blame. After all, anyone who's ever balanced a checkbook has made a simple math error at some point of their lives, and while the mistake isn't harmless, it's hardly a brazen offense.But what of the other issue of the weekend? Getting airtime during the Strikeforce undercard was a fighter named Brandon Saling, who has Neo-Nazi tattoos on his body and is a registered sex offender. The latter is bad enough, even though rehabilitated former criminals have the right to earn a living. But the former suggests that he is not rehabilitated at all, the tattoos a symbol of discriminatory attitudes and hate that don't deserve a public viewing. Freedom of speech is an inalienable right, but Strikeforce and Showtime have no obligation to offer him a forum for his viewpoints, and in fact, Zuffa in the past has said that they would prohibit fighters with that kind of tattoo art from their shows.It appears unlikely that any kind of background search was done on Saling, as his bout with Roger Bowling was a late signing, getting added about 10 days before the event. And it should also be noted that Strikeforce isn't the first bigtime promotion to feature Saling, who once fought for Bellator as well.But two wrongs don't make a right, and the fallout from his appearance took some luster off an evening that otherwise belonged to Rousey and Miesha Tate. All in all, it was a good, bad and ugly weekend for Zuffa. The flyweights will eventually get their second chance, and Saling is already facing the court of public opinion to go with the increased scrutiny on his personal and professional lives. Both of those situations will eventually reach conclusions. But Rousey, Tate and the rest of Strikeforce's female fighters have a future that isn't quite so clear. Because of White's public stance, the best night women's MMA has seen in years may also have been its worst.

Posted in: strikeforce, fighter, showtime, weekend, zuffa

Read the full article at AOL Fanhouse

Dana White has been talking about 'fixing Strikeforce' since that terrible Rockhold vs Jardine event and recently it sounded like Showtime had finally given him the mysterious control he was demanding. But when it was finally time for the things White asked for to be incorporated into last Saturday's Tate vs Rousey event, Showtime suddenly decided they'd rather keep things the way they've always been. Now Dana's pissed: "I almost missed the first UFC fight in 11 years, and then I get the phone call from Pete Dropick when I'm in Japan," White said. "'Yeah, listen, they're not going to change pretty much any of the stuff you wanted.' So I said, '[Expletive] them.'"You flew out to Las Vegas and wasted my time. Go talk your boxing [expletive] to somebody else."White declined to specifically address what changes were proposed and/or nixed beyond "a few minor tweaks that we thought would make the live show better."However, he did make it clear he thinks Showtime is making a very poor decision."These guys are letting a D-level producer run their organization, and that's exactly what I told Espinoza," White said. "You want to let a D-level producer run your organization? Go for it brother. Knock yourself out. I've got [expletive] to do. I've got another job." While Strikeforce is usually pretty solid in the fights department, the production side of things is consistently terrible. Cringe-worthy interviews and detracting commentary are two big problems that stand out the most. Add in the dozen or so other problems with the broadcast and you have a product that ends up being unpleasant to watch in spite of the enjoyable matches it's providing. Considering this nearly universal opinion, it seems pretty silly that Showtime would reject suggestions from the slightly more experienced and successful UFC on how to run events properly.This situation goes much further than a couple of tweaks that may or may not have helped Strikeforce do something something. MMA Caesar has decided he's not going to bother with the promotion any more. Remember how long PRIDE lasted after that happened? While Zuffa will still provide the services they're contractually obligated to provide, there's a world of difference between trying to make sh*t work and doing the bare minimum. If this is more than a tiff between partners and more like the beginning of a serious rift, it could easily turn the future of Strikeforce on it's head ... and the women's divisions it contains. Which would suck.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, thing, expletive, dlevel producer

Read the full article at Fightlinker

This past Saturday night's (March 3, 2012) Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" fight card that aired on Showtime was supposed to be the first event featuring added input from UFC President Dana White. In fact, the Octagon boss was even going to skip his first UFC event in roughly a decade in order to attend the show in Columbus, Ohio. Instead of watching Martin Kampmann pull off a crazy last minute submission finish of Thiago Alves at UFC on FX 2 in Sydney, Australia, White was going to be at the Nationwide Arena to see Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey settle their differences. Then, at the eleventh hour, it all fell apart. When asked on Twitter why he doesn't find some new announcers for Strikeforce broadcasts, White responded rather succinctly by saying, "Tell Showtime, they run that shit, not me. I'm out. I'm 100-percent UFC." That sent the media into a frenzy in an attempt to figure out exactly what went wrong. In a shocker, Showtime and White simply found themselves at odds once again. As it turns out, White made quite a few suggestions to Showtime on varying ways to improve both the look and feel of their mixed martial arts (MMA) broadcasts, something he's well versed in having done such a bang up job with the production at UFC. But basically all his suggestions were ignored. It was originally thought that once former Showtime Sports Executive Ken Hershman left, White would find a way to dip his toes in the Strikforce waters and turn it into a far more successful promotion than it had been otherwise. Instead he ran into the same issues with Stephen Espinoza, Hershman's replacement. And merry-go-round keeps on spinning. Anyone think this means that Strikeforce will no longer be in the Showtime business once the current deal comes up? And when that happens, will Zuffa still be in the Strikeforce business?

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, ronda rousey, octagon boss

Read the full article at MMA Mania

UFC President Dana White nearly missed his first UFC show in eleven years to help push Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey lineup further towards perfection. However, after finding out many of his ideas and plans had been nixed, White decided to end any future work with the promotion and remain 100% behind the UFC. According to the outspoken White, he was planning on skipping Friday’s UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann card in Australia to help make sure things went smoothly in the states. “I’ll never make that mistake again,” said White, in an interview with MMAJunkie. “UFC is what I am and where I should have been.” White added that he didn’t even get the respect of a call from Showtime executives shooting his suggestions down, saying one of his underlings instead received notice his ideas would not be implemented at last night’s event. “So I said, ‘F*ck them,’” White concluded, criticizing the company’s choice to take advice from someone with less experience than him in the MMA business. It remains unclear what White had in mind in terms of changes, but he was very critical of the production that Showtime put forth for the event. He did say that as long as Zuffa owned Strikeforce they would continue putting together high-caliber fights but that he would no longer offer his own input in production decisions. PHOTO CREDIT – TRIUMPH UNITED

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, ufc show, mma business

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The long-awaited conclusion to Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix is slated for May 19. Strikeforce and Showtime today announced Josh Barnett will meet fellow finalist and injury replacement Daniel Cormier at the upcoming show. The event takes place May 19. The main card, including Barnett vs. Cormier, airs on Showtime while preliminary-card bouts air on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: showtime, josh barnett, strikeforces heavyweight, longawaited conclusion, showtime today

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

Get a look at tonight's Showtime preview video for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey – before it airs on the broadcast! Miesha Tate! Ronday Rousey! The Strikeforce women's bantamweight title! Who ya got?

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, tate, rousey

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Strikeforce returns to Showtime tonight (Sat., March 3, 2012) with its "Tate vs. Rousey" event, which will begin around 8 p.m. ET with its preliminary card broadcast airing LIVE on Showtime Extreme. Then it's time to kick it on over to the main Showtime channel for the main card portion of the event, headlined by a women's bantamweight championship fight featuring Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey, beginning promptly at 10 p.m. ET. Don't get Showtime as part of your subscription package? You can call up your local cable and/or satellite provider, of course, or you can click here to order it up so you can make sure you're able to tune in for tonight's mixed martial arts (MMA) extravaganza. However, if you need your Strikeforce results as soon as possible, and don't have a provider that carries the network and have zero desire to order the channel just for tonight's event, MMAmania.com will deliver up-to-the-minute results and live fight coverage, including round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of all the "Tate vs. Rousey" action before, during and after the event RIGHT HERE. More details on tonight's Strikeforce fight card and line-up after the jump. Main Event: 135 lbs.: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey Main card (Showtime): 155 lbs.: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson170 lbs.: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde185 lbs.: Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers Preliminary card (Showtime Extreme): 135 lbs.: Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis155 lbs.: Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy155 lbs.: Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun170 lbs.: Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling For all the news and notes surrounding the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" Showtime card check out our extensive news archive by clicking here.

Posted in: vs, showtime, lb, card, tate

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey kicks off tonight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. MMAFrenzy will have live coverage beginning with the Showtime Extreme aired Preliminary Card beginning at 8PM ET and will continue through the Showtime aired main card starting at 10PM ET. MMAFrenzy will have live results, twitter updates, and play-by-play for tonight’s main event battle between Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey. Quick Results: MAIN CARD (Showtime) Miesha Tate (c) vs. Ronda Rousey Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship Josh Thomson vs. KJ Noons Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Bristol Marunde Scott Smith vs. Lamumba Sayers PRELIMINARY CARD (Showtime Extreme) Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy Ryan Couture vs. Conor Huen Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling Play-By-Play: Miesha Tate (c) vs. Ronda Rousey Round 1 - Twitter Coverage: <a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&task=siteviewaltcast&altcast_code=75e1eae8d5&height=550&width=470″ target=”_blank” >Click Here</a>

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, tate, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Frenzy

M-1 Global will surely go down as the most misunderstood organization in MMA history. In the past three years, we’ve seen all sorts of entertaining drama come from the Russian promoters: First they touted the WAMMA heavyweight title as the be-all-end-all of the MMA world’s heavyweight titles; then somehow the five companies they co-promoted with (Pride, Rings, Bodog Fights, Affliction, Strikeforce) went under. Their reigning heavyweight champion, Vinicius Magalhães, gave his M-1 Global heavyweight championship belt to Tom Lawlor in a twitter contest about three weeks ago. All of that could earn any organization a ‘notoriety’ lifetime achievement award, but this morning, FrontRowBrian served up some raw, sugar-free guerrilla journalism by reporting that not only is M-1’s contract with Showtime terminated, but it’s because the M-1 matchmaker was allegedly instructed by Evgeni Kogan to lie about Jose Figueroa and hide his knockout loss nineteen days prior to his last fight under Showtime’s December 9th broadcast from the California State Athletic Commission. Yeah, it’s repugnant watching a fighter get brutally knocked out not once, but twice in just nineteen days. To celebrate Showtime’s freedom from M-1 Global, Topps has officially released a limited edition trading card featuring Fedor's 2011 Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix bout against Bigfoot Silva. It’s a bummer the world is rubbing salt in the wounds of a fighter who’s kept in the dark about all this drama. It’s not his fault his management won’t let anyone speak to him without a translator, even if they speak perfect Russian and are just as capable of facilitating their own interviews (like me). We hope M-1 Global considers freeing Fedor instead of allowing the rest of the world to make a mockery of his illustrious career. [Source]

Posted in: world, heavyweight, showtime, fedor, jose figueroa

Read the full article at Middle Easy

ESPN reports that HBO has secured the rights to the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto fight on May 5th. Despite a challenge from rival Showtime, HBO PPV will have the fight. The rights acquisition was the first major move by former Showtime sports head Ken Hersman after Ross Greenburg left the post amidst the premium channel’s first loss of a Manny Pacquiao fight to Showtime. The fight will likely include its standard 24/7 lead-up to the big fight as well as additional marketing and cross-promotional opportunities with Time Warner’s other properties. Payout Perspective: It appears that HBO has stepped up its game since losing the Pacquiao-Mosley fight. Despite whether or not you like Floyd Mayweather, he is a boxing draw and made for promotional shows like HBO’s well-done “24/7” series. Showtime had an exceptional show last night but it was overshadowed by the Haye-Chisora brawl (more on this later). Unfortunately for Showtime, its first big fight in 2012, Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto, was put off due to an injury to Berto. As for Mayweather-Cotto, you can expect some definite hype based upon the success of Cotto since his loss to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather being Floyd Mayweather. Certainly, 24/7 will be much more attractive considering Mayweather going to jail, Manny Pacquiao and his recent comments about Jeremy Lin.

Posted in: fight, hbo, floyd, floyd mayweather, showtime

Read the full article at MMA Payout

Remember EliteXC? It was the MMA promotion of Gary and Jared Shaw that hoped to directly compete with the UFC at a time when there was no clear number two promotion in the United States. They were able to secure a television agreement with Showtime and CBS to become the first MMA promotion to air on network television. Featuring extremely marketable fighters in Gina Carano and Kimbo Slice, they were able to gain a bit of a foothold in the market. Around the same time that KimboMania was running wild, Showtime also had a marketable heavyweight boxer named Samuel Peter making waves in boxing circles. The marketing team at Showtime decided to try and take advantage of the rising popularity of these two heavyweight superstars by releasing what may be the only piece of advertising that could rival the IFL Rap in absurdity. With the help of an unknown band called "DopplegangGanger", Showtime released a song titled "Hits and Chicks". In the ring or in the cage any way you Slice it we love our jugs and pugs. Try getting it up when you get knocked down...Hits and Chicks! Hits and Chicks! Kaboom! Kabluey! Oh boy! Hot Fooey! Hits and Chicks! Hits and Chicks! Hits and Chicks! Hits and Chicks! Busted ears! Bodacious Boobs and one of the best knockouts in years! It's hard getting it up when you get knocked down! Hits and Chicks! Hits and Chicks! Kimbo Slice! Sam Peter! We love em! Hits and Chicks! Hits and chiiiiiiiiiiiiicks!!!! The song is after the jump. I hope you enjoyed another great moment in MMA marketing.

Posted in: mma, showtime, hit, chick, chicks hits

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

The last time It’s Showtime presented a card it was headlined by the final fight of the legendary Badr Hari. In his retirement match Hari defeated Gokhan Saki via first round TKO. It’s Showtime recently released the line up for its upcoming June 30 fight card and it to will see the final fight of another kickboxing legend, Peter Aerts. Aerts, a three time winner of the K-1 World Grand Prix, will face the highly regarded Tyrone Spong on the card, which will take place on June 30 in Brussels,

Posted in: showtime, gokhan saki, ’s showtime, kickboxing legend, time winner

Read the full article at Low Kick

Showtime Sports just put out a new promo for the March 3rd Strikforce main event between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. Check it out.

Posted in: showtime, march, showtime sports, miesha, miesha tate

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

It appears M-1 Global will return to Showtime in 2012.

Posted in: event, showtime, challenge, march

Read the full article at Sherdog

Last weekend was a great day for fans of combat sports. For most fans, the big event of the day was the UFC on Fox 2, with Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping, and that one other fight that we don't want to speak of. But for many sports fans, the UFC stood in the shadow of another major event - the retirement of Badr Hari. In the main event of an It's Showtime event on Saturday, Hari retired from the world of kickboxing. And he did it in style. Hari said farewell to kickboxing with a brutal one round KO of top ranked Gokhan Saki, blasting an uppercut through Saki's defenses midway through the first round. The tough Saki never had a chance after that, and soon after, he was done - the final victim on Hari's 10 year path of destruction through kickboxing. As I outlined in the lead-up to Saturday's fight, Badr Hari is a man who has made a career out of spectacular moments - many good, many bad. It's fitting that he end his career with one final moment, and I for one am glad it was a moment of Hari at his finest. The last image he leaves us with is his hand raised, his opponent vanquished. That's the Hari I am a fan of, and it was good to see him one last time. Hari's dynamite KO and emotional farewell capped off a great show from It's Showtime - one that featured other fast and impressive stoppage victories from the likes of Daniel Ghita and Errol Zimmerman. Watching the UFC show later that night, it was hard not to draw a parallel between the two. Both organizations put on major shows, both looked to draw in new audiences. But the differences in the action each delivered were clear. While It's Showtime had a card filled with fast action and some of the best stand-up fighting in the world, the UFC ended up with a slower paced, decision heavy card that turned off a lot of viewers. After the UFC card, the most talked about highlight was a few seconds of post-fight talk from Chael Sonnen - one of the few moments that night to catch fire and give a real feeling of excitement to fans everywhere. Watching the UFC show and thinking about the earlier It's Showtime event did not do the UFC any favors. Despite the quality technical battles of Sonnen vs. Bisping and Davis vs. Evans, the UFC on Fox show lacked a certain spark - one that was on display throughout It''s Showtime's event, culminating in Hari's big win. From a pure action and excitement perspective, one card was superior on Saturday, and it wasn't the one on network TV. But while It's Showtime may have trumped the UFC in action on Saturday, Dana and company triumph in perhaps the area that matters most - building for what comes next. Walking away from the UFC show, we have Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans both lined up - two fights fans have been eagerly anticipating for some time, now both on the way. It's Showtime fans walked away having seen the last fight (for now) of the undeniable greatest star of this sport's era. Yes Ghita and Zimmerman looked good, but a future without Hari is simply less exciting. And as much as I enjoyed watching the kickboxing action on Saturday, I couldn't help but wonder what the future will bring for the sport. But thoughts of the future can come later. For now, I encourage you to join me in reveling in the moment we were given on Saturday. Check out Hari vs. Saki if you haven't seen it, and stick around for the complete It's Showtime show. If you don't watch it, you're missing out on the weekend's best action combat sports had to offer.

Posted in: ufc, vs, showtime, fan, hari

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] Many fans have took to Twitter and Facebook to let It's Showtime know that they want the full fight card featuring 12 fights to be shown, rather than just 6 fights on the main card. It's Showtime has responded to the requests from its fans with some great news. All 12 fights on this Saturday's It's Showtime card will be streamed on showtimefights.com. We'll all be able to see the great fights that we thought we never would, like Tyrone Spong vs. Melvin Manhoef and Yohan Lidon vs. L'houcine "Aussie" Ouzgni for the It's Showtime 73MAX World Title. Read More...

Posted in: fight, showtime, card, liverkickcom part, middleeasy networkdiv

Read the full article at Middle Easy

This Saturday, January 28th in Leeuwarden, Holland Daniel Ghita and Hesdy Gerges will go head to head for the It's Showtime World Heavyweight Title in a rematch of their 2011 meeting in Amsterdam. Gerges, who emerged victorious from the first clash via a controversial unanimous decision, will look to remove all doubts that he is the superior fighter, while Ghita intends to avenge his defeat and claim the Heavyweight strap.

Posted in: showtime, hesdy gerges, amsterdam gerges, gerge, ghita

Read the full article at Low Kick

MMA Junkie reports that the ratings for Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine earned an average of 344,000 viewers on Showtime. In addtion, Strikeforce salaries were released with Robbie Lawler topping the salary roster. Strikeforce Saturday night earned a 0.93 household rating. It is the second-lowest rated Showtime-Strikeforce show for 2011-2012 out of 9 shows during the period. The low ratings occurred despite a free preview weekend on Showtime. It did compete with the NFL’s Saints vs. Lions game. But, its a disappointing 2012 debut for Strikeforce under the new Zuffa-Strikeforce contract. The salary payroll totaled $566,000 with Lawler receiving $150,000 with no win bonus. Main event winner Luke Rockhold received $90,000. Via MMA Junkie: Luke Rockhold: $90,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Keith Jardine: $30,000 Robbie Lawler: $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Adlan Amagov: $10,000 Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: $95,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. Lorenz Larkin: $17,000 Tyron Woodley: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Jordan Mein: $9,000 Tarec Saffiedine: $31,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. Tyler Stinson: $4,000 Nah-Shon Burrell: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus) def. James Terry: $9,000 Gian Villante: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Trevor Smith: $4,000 Ricky Legere: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Chris Spang: $6,000 Estevan Payan: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus) def. Alonzo Martinez: $5,000 Payout Perspective: It will be interesting what Showtime will do to attract more viewers to its product. The ratings are disappointing considering the free preview allowed more viewers the opportunity to watch. A Tate-Rousey fight will be huge for the promotion (on many levels) in March. Unless we missed it, there were no Fight of the Night, Sub or KO of the Night bonuses. We’ll see if salaries will escalate for Strikeforce stars like Lawal and Melendez to compensate for not being able to jump to the UFC. Zuffa could offer its “locker room” bonuses to those stars as its form of compensation.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, rating, bonus, salary

Read the full article at MMA Payout

Zuffa president Dana White talked with Showtime play-by-play man Mauro Ranallo on Saturday about the future of Strikeforce on the premium cable channel.

Posted in: strikeforce, dana, showtime, future, playbyplay

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] The big news came out the other day that Giorgio Petrosyan had terminated his management contract which kept him linked to It's Showtime and would now simply be working with his original manager, Carlo Di Blasi. LiverKick has spoken with both Di Blasi and officials at It's Showtime about the matter in an attempt to clarify exactly what is going on with Petrosyan and this management situation. I feel like there is a need for some backstory to get a clearer picture if you are not well-versed in the current atmosphere in Kickboxing. As we all know, K-1 had an extremely rough 2011 while It's Showtime had an active year that involved running many successful shows as well as a successful 70kg tournament. A Korean investor, known simply as "Mr. Kim" came into the equation later on in the year, looking to purchase K-1 and strike up a working relationship with Rutz's It's Showtime organization. This is why when the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 was being organized, most of the fighters were under contract to It's Showtime or affiliated companies. The official word that we got from Simon Rutz on this matter is that It's Showtime is not looking to buy a part of K-1, but are more than willing to help anyone who does invest in K-1, as the Kickboxing market is a difficult one right now. Read More...

Posted in: showtime, official word, liverkickcom part, giorgio petrosyan, showtime organization

Read the full article at Middle Easy

The Sports Business Journal reported about the possibility of Showtime surpassing HBO Boxing for marquee fights and fighters. The article underscores the change at the top of each network’s sports divisions as a possible reason. SBJ (subscription required) points to the Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz rematch, which many believe was the Fight of the Year for 2011, as evidence that Showitme is making a move on HBO. Also, changes at the top of each network’s sport division may be the reason for the sudden competition for boxing rights. Ross Greenburg left HBO last year and was replaced by Showtime head Ken Hershman. Hersman, as some recall, butted heads with Dana White regarding negotiations with Strikeforce. This may have been one of the reasons that Showtime and Zuffa were able to strike a new deal for Strikeforce late last year. Showtime replaced Hershman with Golden Boy’s former attorney Stephen Espinoza. Espinoza’s quickly moved on the Berto-Ortiz rematch as Showtime paid only $100,000 more than HBO: $2.2 million. The article also indicates that HBO’s budget “will be about $35 million this year, about half of what it spent as recently as five years ago.” On the other hand, Showtime will increase its budget to at least $28 million. Payout Perspective: This will be an intriguing year for boxing fans as we may see a shift of key fights moving from HBO to Showtime. Last year, we saw that Showtime take the Pacquiao-Mosley fight only for HBO to step up an regain Pacquiao for Marquez as well as Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito. The SBJ points out that this is the first time in 20 years that there has been an authentic fight for US television rights. The newfound bidding war in boxing can only help the sport and perhaps revitalize tv interest in the fight game. We’ve recently seen NBC Sports and Spike TV announce plans to feature boxing in its programming. The only question is how promoters plan to market their fighters. Right now, only a few boxers stand out and the rest are not known to the casual viewers.

Posted in: fight, hbo, boxing, showtime, year

Read the full article at MMA Payout

"Everything you've come to expect from the UFC, you can expect from Strikeforce on Showtime," says UFC president Dana White in an exclusive interview with Mauro Ranallo.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, dana, showtime, ufc action

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

It’s the first MMA event of 2012 and Strikeforce has the floor all to themselves tonight. Coming to us live from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino from Las Vegas, Nevada, it’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine. As always, FiveOuncesOfPain.com will provide complete results including a round by round recap of all the live televised action. Things kick off at 8PM EST on Showtime Extreme with the preliminary card and then the event switches over to Showtime at 10PM EST for the main card. Remember that this is a free preview weekend for Showtime, which means that you could have the chance to watch even if you don’t subscribe to the network. The event is headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Luke Rockhold and challenger Keith Jardine. Plus Muhammad Lawal battles Lorenz Larkin in a light heavyweight showdown and a pair of important welterweight clashes take place as well, as Tyron Woodley takes on Jordan Mein while Tarec Saffiedine squares off again Tyler Stinson. Read below for complete results: PRELIMINARY CARD (ShowtimeExtreme) Estevan Payan vs. Alonzo Martinez Ricky Legere vs. Chris Spang Gian Villante vs. Trevor Smith Nah-Shon Burrell vs. James Terry MAIN CARD (Showtime) Tyler Stinson vs. Tarec Saffiedine Tyron Woodley vs. Jordan Mein Mo Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine *PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE*

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, rockhold, showtime, card

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

As with every major show, Bloody Elbow will be here to bring you live results, play by play and commentary for Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine. Our live coverage will start with the Showtime Extreme coverage of the undercard fights at 8 p.m. ET and continue through the main card on Showtime starting at 10 p.m. ET. so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event. This post will cover live results and thoughts for the main card on Showtime. The main event of the evening sees Luke Rockhold put his Strikeforce middleweight title on the line against former UFC star Keith Jardine. In the co-main event it's Robbie Lawler taking on Adlan Amagov in a middleweight fight. Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammed Lawal squares off with Lorenz Larkin in a bout with serious implications at 205. Rounding out the main card is a great welterweight fight between up-and-comers Tyron Woodley and Jordan Mein and a welterweight bout between Tyler Stinson and Tarec Saffiedine. Make sure to come back during the event and share your thoughts as the event goes down. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

Posted in: strikeforce, event, rockhold, showtime, jardine

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

As with every major show, Bloody Elbow will be here to bring you live results, play by play and commentary for Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine. Our live coverage will start with the Showtime Extreme coverage of the undercard fights at 8 p.m. ET and continue through the main card on Showtime starting at 10 p.m. ET. so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event. This post will cover live results and thoughts for the undercard on Showtime Extreme. Four fights are planned for the undercard broadcast including a welterweight bout between Nah-Shon Burrell taking on James Terry. Gian Villante squares off with Trevor Smith in a light heavyweight bout. Rounding out the undercard is a lightweight fight between Ricky Legere and Chris Spang as well as a 160 pound bout between Estevan Payan and Alonzo Martinez. Make sure to come back during the event and share your thoughts as the event goes down. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

Posted in: showtime, sbn coverage, undercard, trevor smith, estevan payan

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: showtime, strikeforce event, mattyblayze, preview weekend, reminder showtime

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Take a look at Showtime's "sizzle reel" video preview for Saturday's Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine card, which is part of the channel's free preview weekend.

Posted in: strikeforce, rockhold, showtime, jardine, preview

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Filed under: StrikeforceLuke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine headlines the Strikeforce fight card on Jan. 7 at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. "Rockhold vs. Jardine" is the first of up to eight events in 2012 under Strikeforce's new deal with Showtime. Under the new agreement, preliminary bouts will air on Showtime Extreme, while the main card bouts will remain on the standard Showtime channel. This particular card will be free for cable viewers as it takes place during Showtime's free preview weekend beginning Friday, Jan. 6 and through Sunday, Jan. 8. The complete lineup is below. Showtime Bouts Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov King Mo Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin Tyron Woodley vs. Jordan Mein Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson Showtime Extreme Preliminary Bouts Alonzo Martinez vs. Estevan Payan James Terry vs. Nah-Shon Burrell Gian Villante vs. Trevor Smith Ricky Legere vs. Chris Spang Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: bout, vs, rockhold, showtime, jardine

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submitted by NewUploader1 [link] [comment]

Posted in: sport, showtime, showtime sports, newuploader

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Let's be honest, getting older sucks. Sure, you can choose to stay up as late as you want playing Skyrim in your underwear but we all know that this is just glancing back to childlike innocence before the rectum of reality closes tight and Monday comes around again. We can't even buy breakfast cereal with a prize inside without feeling guilty anymore. That doesn't mean we don't buy it, but the excitement of finding a sliding puzzle in your bowl has definitely been diminished, and not just because they are far too easy now. But fear not my adult friends, for the pleasure of unexpectedly getting something for nothing has not been lost, you just need to look a little harder. For example, if you were planning on watching Strikeforce: Rockhold vs Jardine this weekend but with the force of a faceplant on concrete realized that you didn't have Showtime then you can rejoice in the fact that the channel is free this weekend! Check the details and their schedule on their official website. They are dubbing it 'The Showtime All Access Free Preview Weekend' and it will cover Showtime, Showtime HD and Showtime on Demand, but not Showtime Extreme, where the Strikeforce prelims are being aired. Showtime has decided that Friday is now the start of the weekend and thus “The Showtime All Access Free Preview Weekend” actually starts on Friday, January 6th. So now you have no excuse to not count the number of times Jardine's style is referred to as 'herky jerk' while tweeting cynical and sarcastic remarks about the event, like a true adult.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, weekend, official website, preview weekend

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Looking for some MMA on television this weekend but haven't made the commitment to subscribe to Showtime yet? Don't worry. The premium-cable channel has you covered. "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine" airs on Showtime Saturday night, and the channel is being made available for free to viewers across the nation.

Posted in: vs, rockhold, showtime, weekend, premiumcable channel

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

The Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" fight card picked up a last-minute addition to its preliminary line-up set for Jan. 7, 2012, at "The Joint" from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The five-fight main card will air live via Showtime at 10 p.m. ET on fight night; however, Showtime Extreme will broadcast the event's prelim bouts earlier in the evening. Joining the fray will be lightweight mixed martial arts up-and-comer Bobby Green, as he tries to make it three in a row against storied veteran and Strikeforce debutante Alonzo Martinez. The "King" is coming off consecutive wins over Charon Spain and James Reese while "Zo Diddy" bagged back-to-back victories over Spain and Mario Ramos. Here's the current Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" fight card and line-up: Main Event: 185 lbs.: Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine Main Card (Showtime): 185 lbs.: Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov205 lbs.: Muhammed Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin170 lbs.: Jordan Mein vs. Tyron Woodley170 lbs.: Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson Preliminary Card (Showtime Extreme): 170 lbs.: Nah-Shon Burrell vs. James Terry205 lbs.: Trevor Smith vs. Gian Villante155 lbs.: Bobby Green vs. Alonzo Martinez To get up to speed on all the Strikeforce news and notes click here.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, lb, card

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Last weekend's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal," which featured lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez's victory against Masvidal, drew 460,000 viewers on Showtime.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, viewer, masvidal, melendez

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Despite a strong combat sports lead-in with the finals of the Super Six Wold Boxing Classic, this past weekend's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" event drew just 460,000 Showtime viewers. MMAjunkie.com today confirmed the figures from an industry source. The figure serves as just the sixth-highest mark of Strikeforce's eight "Arena Series" events to air on Showtime in 2011.

Posted in: figure, strikeforce, showtime, industry source, sixthhighest mark

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Dan Rafael of ESPN tweets that Showtime is carrying their undercard broadcasts of Strikeforce on Showtime Extreme over into their boxing broadcasts as well.

Posted in: showtime, undercard broadcasts, espn tweets, dan rafael, boxing broadcasts

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsThe main difference with the old and new Strikeforce deal is the cancellation of the Challengers series in favor of quality fight cards from top to bottom, says Showtime Sports executive vice president Stephen Espinoza. "Instead of having two stand alone events," Espinoza said Monday on The MMA Hour. "To make it into one huge night of MMA action." Espinoza made the announcement last Thursday with UFC president Dana White and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker that Strikeforce will continue producing events for Showtime. Espinoza says it made more sense to focus on building both the main and preliminary portions of the Strikeforce cards. Previously, Strikeforce undercards were often non-televised/streamed and figured minimally in Strikeforce's long-term plans. Starting with the Jan. 7 event headlined by Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, all the preliminary bouts will air on Showtime Extreme leading into the featured bouts on the primary Showtime channel. Currently, the deal calls for Strikeforce to produce up to eight events in 2012. Showtime then has to make the decision to whether or not continue the agreement. "We have an option to do additional events beyond that," Espinoza said. In addition to working with the UFC, Showtime also carries M-1 Challenge events. Although UFC and M-1 are competitors, M-1 will likely continue producing events for Showtime as well. "We are in discussions with M-1 to continue our relationship and we actually hope that we are going to be contiuning for at least another year," Espinoza said. "And things looks good that we are going to be able to do so." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, event, showtime, espinoza

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Strikeforce champions Gilbert Melendez and Luke Rockhold remaining with the promotion was a key element of the promotion's new broadcast contract with Showtime.

Posted in: strikeforce, rockhold, showtime, luke rockhold, broadcast contract

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The fun starts at 10:30PM EST on Showtime and here in the chat! Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux Billy Evangelista vs. K.J. Noons Nice bowtie, brah

Posted in: vs, showtime, chat, melendez, strikeforce chat

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This has been auite a year for all of us Strikeforce lovers. From the moment we discovered that Dana White and the UFC had purchased the promotion that struck fear and confusion into all of our hearts to the Diaz vs Daley card back in April that made us all realize why we simply can't accept losing the ever improving promotion its been a steady stream of highs and lows. Everything about Strikeforce this year has taken us for a ride on a wild emotional roller coaster. Even Mauro Ranallo's extreme hairstyle changeup has played games with our emotions. This week is no different. Yesterday Showtime Exec. VP Stephen Espinoza shared with MMAWeekly that the Strikeforce Challengers series will no longer exist. "What we've decided to do in a sense is consolidate programming, we're going to have the preliminaries airing on (Showtime) Extreme, immediately preceding the televised main event, and primary undercard fights. Whether they'll be called Challengers or not is still something to be discussed." Now before you go stomping down your hallway into your bedroom, slamming the door and crying into your pillow over this revelation-there is actually positive news to go along with all of the death of the Challengers series. In a press release from Showtime and Strikeforce yesterday afternoon, the network also announced that they have reached a new programming deal and there will be up to eight televised Strikeforce cards next year. This is exciting news for those of us that feared the Jan 7th Keith Jardine vs Luke Rockhold card might be our last night of Strikeforce. According to a press statement even Dana White himself is stoked about Strikeforce in the coming year: "We’re excited about this renewal with SHOWTIME and I expect to put on some big Strikeforce events next year. I never thought I would say this, but I am very much looking forward to building Strikeforce and working very closely with Showtime.” Take a moment to embrace your homeboys and pour out a little liquor for your dead homie Strikeforce Challengers, but save the rest of the bottle for the celebration of at eight more Strikeforce shows in 2012. The 2012 season begins during Showtime's free programming week so even if you aren't a subscriber you can check out Jardine vs Rockhold and King Mo vs Lorenz Larkin for free on January 7th![source]

Posted in: strikeforce, challenger, vs, showtime, year

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Consolidated shows, phased out heavyweights and more women's fights will mark Strikeforce's 2012 Showtime calendar.

Posted in: strikeforce, deal, showtime, yahoo, womens fights

Read the full article at Yahoo! Sports

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was joined by UFC president Dana White and Stephen Espinoza, the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports, to field questions from the media this afternoon. At the heart of the matter was Strikeforce's renewed deal with Showtime, which entails six to eight events a year run on the premium cable station. Probably the most significant change to the Strikeforce landscape is the elimination of Strikeforce's heavyweight division. A bout between Heavyweight Grand Prix finalists Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier will give way to one final fight in the weight class, in which the Grand Prix winner will face "a top-rated heavyweight." Espinoza explained that finishing the Grand Prix and giving its champion one final performance seemed to offer a sense of closure and felt necessary to Showtime. Scott Coker said that it was quite possible that a UFC heavyweight could cross over to fight the winner of Barnett vs. Cormier. Comparing this development to the UFC's temporary dissolution of that organization's lightweight division, Dana White explained that there simply isn't enough heavyweight talent to support the weight class. With up to eight fights a year, White believes it makes more sense to develop Strikeforce's lighter, more talent-rich divisions. The Grand Prix final is slated for some time at the end of the first quarter in 2012. It's so far uncertain which of the Grand Prix participants will be added to the UFC's roster. Dana White is expecting all other weight classes to grow, and alluded to some very promising developments in the coming year in terms of talent acquisition and matchmaking, which should keep someone like lightweight stand-out Gilbert Melendez quite satisfied. "I can tell you this," White said."Gilbert Melendez is pumped to stay in Strikeforce. He will continue to defend his belt in Strikeforce." When asked about co-promotional fights between Strikeforce and the UFC, Dana White responded "That's a hell yes." Under the new deal, fans can also expect a renewed emphasis on the women's bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Said Dana White: "Every weekend you guys are asking me about the women's division, terrorizing me on twitter about the women's division. It's very popular." Ronda Rousey figured heavily into discussions of both weight classes. The popular submission artist has been asking for championship fights at both 135 and 145 pounds, and Scott Coker seemed amenable to the idea. "I think we're going to put her in some big fights." After the jump, Strikeforce Challengers, the broadcast team, Gina Carano, and more... The future is uncertain for the Strikeforce Challengers series. Espinoza suggested that fights normally meant for a Challengers card could find a place on the preliminaries of a Strikeforce event. He believes this will lend itself to better brand cohesion. Showtime expects Strikeforce programming to come "in three to four hour chunks," with preliminary bouts airing on Showtime Extreme. The December 17th and January 7th Strikeforce events will be significant in determining the next welterweight and light-heavyweight title contenders. The January 7th event, featuring Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, will be part of Showtime's free preview weekend. No decisions have been made yet regarding the broadcast team, but Espinoza implied that Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo, and the rest of the crew would be sticking around. No definite date or opponent has been set for Miesha Tate's first title defense. Gina Carano's return is likewise uncertain. White refuted the claim that Fabricio Werdum would be moving over to the UFC for a fight with Roy Nelson. White remained adamant that Strikeforce would not be used as a feeder or rehabilitation league. A fighter cut from the UFC would not be sent over to Strikeforce, nor would Strikeforce champions be vying for a spot in the UFC. Both Coker and White emphasized that Strikeforce and the UFC would be operating as separate entities. "Both companies are looking for the same thing," said White. "The best fighters in the world." "Let me tell you what," said White, "Strikeforce goes away, the women aren't fighting. Strikeforce offers a ton of opportunity to build up all kinds of new talent. [...] More and more talent is popping up every day, and there's only so many spots to fill."

Posted in: ufc, fight, strikeforce, showtime, division

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Strikeforce will continue to appear on Showtime in 2012, broadcasting between six and eight live events on the premium cable network.

Posted in: strikeforce, event, showtime, network, premium

Read the full article at Sherdog

Somebody drew the short straw during contract negotiations between Strikeforce and Showtime and while we've yet to verify their identity, it looks as though they weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 265-pounds. Under today's contract extension, one that will see the Strikeforce brand of mixed martial arts (MMA) soldier on through 2014 as part of the Showtime network's combat sports programming, the heavyweight division will be eliminated by the end of next year. From UFC President Dana White: We'll be doing 6-8 events a year and we'll be focusing on key weight-classes and the women's division. We'll focus on the weight divisions that are strong. The heavyweight division isn't deep enough so we'll do away with the Strikeforce heavyweight division. The women's division is very popular and we're gonna keep it. The Strikeforce heavyweight division still has some unfinished business and as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports Stephen Espinoza explained, the network wants to tie a ribbon on the heavyweight grand prix tournament. From the Showtime perspective, it felt incomplete and we wanted to run this tournament to its conclusion and then put an exclamation point on it. That means we're still in line for a tournament final pitting longtime veteran Josh Barnett against undefeated up-and-comer Daniel Cormier. After that? The grand prix winner will then have to prove it wasn't a fluke against an opponent to be named, leaving the division's shelf life at a minimum of two fights. As of now, there just isn't enough talent to sustain it, especially after poaching Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum for the greener pastures of the UFC. What say you Maniacs, good move for MMA? Anyone hoping to get Sergei Kharitonov and "Bigfoot" Silva inside the Octagon? Anyone? For more on today's contract extension between Strikeforce and Showtime click here.

Posted in: strikeforce, heavyweight, showtime, division, womens division

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Strikeforce and the Showtime premium cable channel announced Thursday a new deal for 2012. But as part of that deal, the heavyweight division will be eliminated later in the year.

Posted in: deal, showtime, division, heavyweight division, strikeforce showtime

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

It has been speculated for months, but it was finally made official today.  Strikeforce and Showtime have reached an agreement to televise live MMA for 2012, starting with the January 7th event headlined by Keith Jardine vs Luke Rockhold, which will air during a free preview weekend for the premium network. Showtime Networks Inc. and world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE® have entered into a new broadcast agreement to continue producing live MMA events on the premium television network, SHOWTIME. The agreement was announced jointly today by Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®, Dana White, UFC® President, and Scott Coker, STRIKEFORCE CEO.   Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events. STRIKEFORCE athletes such as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos, women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and other world-class MMA fighters will continue to compete for the organization on SHOWTIME. The new deal kicks off during the network’s Free Preview Weekend, Saturday, Jan. 7, as champion Rockhold defends the STRIKEFORCE 185-pound title against dangerous veteran Keith Jardine at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Notable STRIKEFORCE contenders such as Robbie Lawler, “King Mo” Lawal and Tyron Woodley are also set to compete on the televised card, which—as part of Free Preview Weekend—will be available in more than 60 million households nationwide across SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME HD™ and SHOWTIME On Demand®. Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME. The live SHO Extreme preliminary telecasts will afford network subscribers with expanded live fight coverage by up to two hours and provide invaluable exposure for the sport’s next generation of STRIKEFORCE contenders. Under the new deal, the World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament champion will be determined when Josh Barnett battles Daniel Cormier. The winner will compete again on SHOWTIME under the STRIKEFORCE banner in the months to follow. “Since its advent on SHOWTIME in 2007, live mixed martial arts has always performed well with our subscribers, particularly in the younger demographics,” said Espinoza, who now heads the division of the network responsible for programming live boxing, studio shows from National Football League and NASCAR as well as multiple sports documentary series. “As the one and only premium network in the MMA business, we are proud to renew our commitment to the sport and to our partners at Strikeforce.  This agreement ensures that we can continue to deliver the edge-of-your-seat programming that each live MMA event produces in the New Year and beyond. “This exciting announcement could not have come at a better time,” he continued. “During our nationwide Free Preview Weekend a whole new crop of MMA fans will have the opportunity to sample the Strikeforce brand free of charge.” “We’re excited about this renewal with SHOWTIME and I expect to put on some big STRIKEFORCE events next year,” White said.  “I never thought I would say this, but I am very much looking forward to building STRIKEFORCE and working very closely with SHOWTIME.”  “SHOWTIME has been a great TV partner for us and we’re happy to renew our agreement with them,” Coker said. “Together, we’ve put on some really amazing events and we’re going to keep doing that with this new deal. We have a great core of talented fighters on our roster and MMA fans are in for a real treat.” STRIKEFORCE®: MELENDEZ vs. MASVIDAL airs live on SHOWTIME this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast) as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez defends the title against hard-hitting contender Jorge Masvidal. In the night’s co-main event, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos meets gifted Japanese star Hiroko Yamanaka.  

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, event, champion, showtime

Read the full article at MMA Payout

UFC President Dana White told us "Strikeforce lives" and he wasn't lying. It was announced today that Strikeforce has reached a new broadcast agreement with Showtime to continue broadcasting events through the year 2014. From the press release: Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events. STRIKEFORCE athletes such as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, women's featherweight champion Cris "Cyborg" Santos, women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and other world-class MMA fighters will continue to compete for the organization on SHOWTIME. Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME. The live SHO Extreme preliminary telecasts will afford network subscribers with expanded live fight coverage by up to two hours and provide invaluable exposure for the sport's next generation of STRIKEFORCE contenders. Under the new deal, the World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament champion will be determined when Josh Barnett battles Daniel Cormier. The winner will compete again on SHOWTIME under the STRIKEFORCE banner in the months to follow. More on this in just a bit. To get quotes and notes on this deal right away, check out the conference call live blog right here.

Posted in: strikeforce, event, champion, showtime, blog right

Read the full article at MMA Mania

As expected Strikeforce and Showtime have inked a new deal that will keep the Zuffa-owned fight promotion on the premium-cable station. Officials today the deal, which calls for up to eight events, though no timeframe was disclosed for the shows. As part of the deal, main-card bouts will continue to air on Showtime, and preliminary-card fights now will be broadcast on sister channel Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: fight, event, deal, showtime, preliminarycard fights

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

Just moments ago, prior to a media call with Showtime Sports executive VP Stephen Espinoza, UFC president Dana White and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, it was announced via press release that Strikeforce's contract with Showtime has been extended until 2014. This was news that was believed to be coming for some time but did hit some snags when Ken Hershman left Showtime for HBO and was replaced by Espinoza. The combination of a guy with a boxing background (Espinoza had worked in a legal capacity for multiple boxers and promoters) and the fact that the UFC had poached some top talent from Strikeforce added some new wrinkles to getting the deal done, but in the end the sides were able to come to a final agreement and it appears Strikeforce is sticking around for a while. Notes from the press release: Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events They stressed that Gilbert Melendez, Miesha Tate, Luke Rockhold and other current stars will remain with the promotion Will kick off with Showtime's free preview weekend on January 7, 2012 Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME. They also mentioned that the winner of the Heavyweight Grand Prix will compete in Strikeforce again in the following months, meaning that the winner will not jump to the UFC.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, press release, strikeforces contract

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

The rumored extension between Showtime and Strikeforce appears to be signed with representatives from both companies holding a call for the media today. Though details are spotty at the moment, from various sources Bloody Elbow was made aware that the two parties plan to extend the current deal an additional two years which would make it effective through 2014. The big hold up was that Showtime felt that Zuffa didn't act in good faith by signing away the top talent of Strikeforce. UFC President Dana White, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, and Executive Vice President & General Manager SHOWTIME Sports Stephan Espinoza will be on the call. Join Bloody Elbow for a live discussion of the media call which takes place at 3 PM ET/12 PM PT. Follow @mattroth512for instant updates via twitter. Following the call the tweets will be posted after the jump. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Posted in: strikeforce, sport, showtime, media today, parties plan

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The details are somewhat scarce, but Strikeforce has reached a new broadcast agreement with Showtime, promoting up to eight live events per year.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, broadcast agreement, broadcast, agreement

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

We'll bring you live updates and news from the Strikeforce / Showtime conference call today at 3 p.m. ET. It's expected that the new deal between the Strikeforce promotion and the network will be announced on the call as well as a few other bits of big news. There are plenty of rumors floating around right now about what may be announced. Scheduled to be on today are Strikeforce Sports VP Stephen Espinoza, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and UFC president Dana White. I'm sure there will also be some talk about Saturday night's Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal card which follows the Super Six World Boxing Classic final on Showtime. So make sure that you keep your browser locked in here at Bloody Elbow for all the news and updates you need on what should be a very important call in the history of Strikeforce. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, news, world boxing, strikeforce promotion

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

It’s official. Strikeforce lives, at least for now. Strikeforce and Showtime announced today that they have reached a new broadcast agreement that will kick off on Jan. 7 with Strikeforce “Rockhold vs. Jardine.” According to the press release, the Showtime will produce and broadcast up to eight live events in 2012 with the prelims airing on Showtime Extreme. It was also noted that Strikeforce champions Gilbert Melendez, Luke Rockhold, Cris Cyborg, Miesha Tate and the heavyweight grand prix champion (Josh Barnett or Daniel Cormier) will continue to fight for Strikeforce in 2012. Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events. STRIKEFORCE athletes such as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos, women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and other world-class MMA fighters will continue to compete for the organization on SHOWTIME. Under the new deal, the World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament champion will be determined when Josh Barnett battles Daniel Cormier. The winner will compete again on SHOWTIME under the STRIKEFORCE banner in the months to follow. “Since its advent on SHOWTIME in 2007, live mixed martial arts has always performed well with our subscribers, particularly in the younger demographics,” said [Stephen] Espinoza, who now heads the division of the network responsible for programming live boxing, studio shows from National Football League and NASCAR as well as multiple sports documentary series. “As the one and only premium network in the MMA business, we are proud to renew our commitment to the sport and to our partners at Strikeforce.  This agreement ensures that we can continue to deliver the edge-of-your-seat programming that each live MMA event produces in the New Year and beyond. “This exciting announcement could not have come at a better time,” he continued. “During our nationwide Free Preview Weekend a whole new crop of MMA fans will have the opportunity to sample the Strikeforce brand free of charge.” “We’re excited about this renewal with SHOWTIME and I expect to put on some big STRIKEFORCE events next year,” White said.  “I never thought I would say this, but I am very much looking forward to building STRIKEFORCE and working very closely with SHOWTIME.” “SHOWTIME has been a great TV partner for us and we’re happy to renew our agreement with them,” Coker said. “Together, we’ve put on some really amazing events and we’re going to keep doing that with this new deal. We have a great core of talented fighters on our roster and MMA fans are in for a real treat.” A conference call with Showtime Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager Stephen Espinoza, UFC President Dana White and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is scheduled for 3pm ET today. We’ll update this post with additional details following the call.

Posted in: strikeforce, event, champion, showtime, agreement

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Executives from Strikeforce and Showtime have announced a new contract that will keep the two sides partnered up in the television broadcasting business for at least the next year. Their original deal had been set to expire in early 2012. The new pact will see Showtime broadcast up to eight Strikeforce shows per year. Undercard fights will also air live on Showtime Extreme. The announcement ends lengthy speculation about the future of the relationship, which seemed unsalvageable as recently as October. In a joint teleconference including the two sides, UFC president Dana White, who has had an active role in negotiations since mid-October, said the tide turned after a regime change at Showtime. Asked if a deal could have been struck without the regime change, White said probably not. "I dont know," he said. "Obviously, it didn't go well [previously]. It probably wouldn't have. Listen, lets cut the b-------. Me and [former Showtime sports boss] Ken Herschman aren't fans of each other. He's not a fan of mine, I'm not a fan of his. He's not there anymore. I flew out there, I liked these guys, and we did a deal, period, end of story." Stephen Espinoza, who now runs the division as executive vice president & general manager of Showtime sports, would not divulge the length of the agreement between the sides, but promised to continue the long relationship between the brands in presenting Strikeforce as a first-tier product. White echoed that, saying that Strikeforce would look to sign top available talent, and that fans shouldn't expect it to be run as a "B-league" or feeder system for the UFC, as some had feared. "Let's be real clear: Strikeforce is not a secondary brand," Espinoza said. "Luke Rockhold is not a secondary fighter, Cris Cyborg is not a secondary fighter, GIna [Carano] is not a secondary fighter, Gilbert [Melendez] is not a secondary fighter. This is a top-tier organization. It was a top-tier organization as a brand when Scott [Coker] was running it independently of Zuffa, and it will continue to be now that they're in partnership with Zuffa." Among the few changes announced is the eventual abandoning of the heavyweight division. World Grand Prix finalists Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett will meet in the final -- which is likely to take place before the end of the first quarter of 2012, according to Coker -- and then the winner will fight one more time in Strikeforce before the weight class is discontinued. The reason? Lack of depth, according to White, who said the promotion will focus on all of its other existing divisions. He also reaffirmed that Strikeforce will continue to promote both the women's 135- and 145-pound classes. For the first time, Showtime will also have a stake in the event preliminaries, as undercard fights will be aired live on Showtime Extreme. The first event on 2012's Showtime-Strikeforce calendar will be on January 7, with an event from The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and featuring Rockhold defending his newly won middleweight title against Keith Jardine. The event presentation will look similar to past offerings, with White promising a few tweaks. The announcing team is likely to stay intact, Espinoza added. The extra events will bring Zuffa's 2012 total to over 40 live shows, making White's schedule a nightmare. "People don't even think it's going to be humanly possible, but I disagree," he said of the travel that will be required of him. But that doesn't mean he's not excited for the potential of Strikeforce, and he plans to offer the UFC's sister promotion as much of himself as is possible in the coming months. "This is what I love to do," White said. "This is the s--- that gets me out of bed in the morning. The Showtime guys and Scott Coker, everyone will laugh but it's business as usual for these guys. They've had this relationship for a long time. I'm getting involved in this thing and I'm excited about it. I'm going to get behind it 100 percent. Like I said, we're going to get in, we're going to do some fun stuff, make some tweaks and see how big we can make this thing."  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, event, deal, showtime, fan

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Showtime Sports and Strikeforce will hold a special media conference call today (Dec. 15, 2011) to make a "special announcement." Hrmmm, I wonder what this could possibly be about? The call, which begins at 3 p.m. ET, will feature Stephen Espinoza, UFC President Dana White and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. Stephen Espinoza is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports. Rumors have been flying that Zuffa has made a deal to keep Strikeforce on Showtime for the forseeable future and today, all the speculation can finally end. Expect to hear plenty of information about the future of Strikeforce, it's fighters and what its potential relationship with Showtime will be like moving forward. We'll have complete updates of the Showtime Sports and Strikeforce conference call after the jump: Brian Hemminger here. The conference call is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET.

Posted in: strikeforce, sport, showtime, showtime sports, strikeforce conference

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Showtime Networks Inc. and world championship MMA promotion STRIKEFORCE have entered into a new broadcast agreement to continue producing live MMA events on the premium television network, SHOWTIME. The agreement was announced jointly today by Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®, Dana White, UFC® President, and Scott Coker, STRIKEFORCE CEO.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, broadcast agreement, mma events, zuffa sign

Read the full article at Low Kick

Showtime Networks Inc. and world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE® have entered into a new broadcast agreement to continue producing live MMA events on the premium television network, SHOWTIME. The agreement was announced jointly today by Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®, Dana White, UFC® President, and Scott Coker, STRIKEFORCE CEO.   Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events. STRIKEFORCE athletes such as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos, women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and other world-class MMA fighters will continue to compete for the organization on SHOWTIME.The new deal kicks off during the network’s Free Preview Weekend, Saturday, Jan. 7, as champion Rockhold defends the STRIKEFORCE 185-pound title against dangerous veteran Keith Jardine at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Notable STRIKEFORCE contenders such as Robbie Lawler, “King Mo” Lawal and Tyron Woodley are also set to compete on the televised card, which—as part of Free Preview Weekend—will be available in more than 60 million households nationwide across SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME HD™ and SHOWTIME On Demand®. Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME. The live SHO Extreme preliminary telecasts will afford network subscribers with expanded live fight coverage by up to two hours and provide invaluable exposure for the sport’s next generation of STRIKEFORCE contenders. Under the new deal, the World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament champion will be determined when Josh Barnett battles Daniel Cormier. The winner will compete again on SHOWTIME under the STRIKEFORCE banner in the months to follow. “Since its advent on SHOWTIME in 2007, live mixed martial arts has always performed well with our subscribers, particularly in the younger demographics,” said Espinoza, who now heads the division of the network responsible for programming live boxing, studio shows from National Football League and NASCAR as well as multiple sports documentary series. “As the one and only premium network in the MMA business, we are proud to renew our commitment to the sport and to our partners at Strikeforce.  This agreement ensures that we can continue to deliver the edge-of-your-seat programming that each live MMA event produces in the New Year and beyond. “This exciting announcement could not have come at a better time,” he continued. “During our nationwide Free Preview Weekend a whole new crop of MMA fans will have the opportunity to sample the Strikeforce brand free of charge.” “We’re excited about this renewal with SHOWTIME and I expect to put on some big STRIKEFORCE events next year,” White said.  “I never thought I would say this, but I am very much looking forward to building STRIKEFORCE and working very closely with SHOWTIME.” “SHOWTIME has been a great TV partner for us and we’re happy to renew our agreement with them,” Coker said. “Together, we’ve put on some really amazing events and we’re going to keep doing that with this new deal. We have a great core of talented fighters on our roster and MMA fans are in for a real treat.”STRIKEFORCE®: MELENDEZ vs. MASVIDAL airs live on SHOWTIME this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast) as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez defends the title against hard-hitting contender Jorge Masvidal. In the night’s co-main event, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos meets gifted Japanese star Hiroko Yamanaka. 

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, event, champion, showtime

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M-1 Challenge 30 earned an average of 148,000 viewers for its Saturday night broadcast on Showtime, Sherdog.com confirmed Tuesday with an industry source.

Posted in: showtime, challenge, viewer, broadcast, showtime sherdogcom

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MMA Junkie reports that the Strikeforce-Showtime relationship may continue as Dana White stated to the web site that a deal for Strikeforce to continue on Showtime is imminent. “Showtime lives,” White stated to MMA Junkie. Scott Coker appeared on Inside MMA on Monday to talk Strikeforce: Coker didn’t reveal too much about the future of Strikeforce. According to White, Strikeforce fighters are staying put although it was rumored that Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez would move over to the UFC. Payout Perspective: The move to continue the Showtime relationship is interesting considering the amount of programming Zuffa intends to put on Fuel TV. Its also surprising with the Fox deal that there would be a need to continue with the Strikeforce promotion on Showtime. Keeping Strikeforce talent such as Melendez in Strikeforce is disappointing considering Melendez has outclassed his division in Strikeforce. Certainly, a superfight with Frankie Edgar would create some PPV buzz. One think about keeping Strikeforce  is that it keeps women’s MMA. While its unlikely to see women in the UFC anytime soon, keeping the women’s divisions in Strikeforce would have Zuffa observe whether its something that fans want to see.

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, showtime, melendez, strikeforce fighters

Read the full article at MMA Payout

Hot off the heels of news that Strikeforce would indeed be sticking around on Showtime through 2012 comes news that the UFC will stop stripping the promotion for parts. Here's Papa Dana: "The guys that are in Strikeforce are staying in Strikeforce. Strikeforce lives. Gilbert Melendez and all the guys that are in the Strikeforce show and with Showtime, I will make fights (for them). They will be happy to be there. Believe me, I got this thing worked out. It's going to be good for everybody. It's going to be good for the fighters, it's going to be good for Showtime, and it's going to be good for Strikeforce." I dunno how this is going to be good for guys like Gilbert Melendez, Luke Rockhold, Jacare, and Tim Kennedy. They all find themselves stuck on the smaller stage, smaller paycheck platform fighting whatever random opponents Zuffa decides they're going to stock Strikeforce with now. Be it unknown up and comers or UFC castaways too marketable to let Bellator get a hold on, they're not going to be great for the resumes of the top tier dudes now locked into the B league.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, guy, showtime, stock strikeforce

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UFC boss says Strikeforce will carry on and operate separately from the UFC as new Showtime deal approaches.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, deal, showtime, ufc boss

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Great news for all you "Dean of Mean" fans hoping to catch a glimpse of "The Mean 1" in his Strikeforce middleweight title fight next month against Luke Rockhold. The Showtime network, home to the Strikeforce brand of mixed martial arts for many moons, will offer the "Rockhold vs. Jardine" event as part of its free preview weekend (Jan. 6-8, 2012) next month in Las Vegas. From the official press release: On Saturday, January 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), SHOWTIME Sports will air the STRIKEFORCE Middleweight Championship featuring defending champ Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, with four additional mixed martial arts bouts, live from The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here's a look at what you'll see next month: Main Event: 185 lbs.: Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine Main Card (Showtime): 185 lbs.: Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov205 lbs.: Muhammed Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin170 lbs.: Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson Preliminary Card (May not be televised): TBA For all the news and notes surrounding the Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" Showtime card check out our extensive news archive by clicking here.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, rockhold, showtime, jardine

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TORONTO - UFC president Dana White recently told MMAjunkie.com that the announcement of Strikeforce signing a contract renewal with cable partner Showtime could come as early as today However, for those expecting to see a greatly retooled product from the UFC's sister promotion, don't get your hopes up. "The guys that are in Strikeforce are staying in Strikeforce," the fight executive said on Saturday. "Strikeforce lives."

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, contract renewal, fight executive

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

Sorry, Gilbert Melendez. No UFC for you! Strikeforce, you know, the promotion that appeared to be on its deathbed as early as one month ago, has struck a deal to continue broadcasting events on Showtime in the year 2012. Details have remained scarce, though, as UFC President Dana White has maintained his silence regarding what exactly the situation is. Until now. White revealed last night at the UFC 140-post fight press conference (via MMAWeekly.com) that not only does Strikeforce live but its fighters will remain with the promotion. Here's the word from the man himself: "The guys that are in Strikeforce are staying in Strikeforce. Strikeforce lives. Gilbert Melendez and all the guys that are in the Strikeforce show and with Showtime, I will make fights (for them). They will be happy to be there. Believe me, I got this thing worked out. It's going to be good for everybody. It's going to be good for the fighters, it's going to be good for Showtime, and it's going to be good for Strikeforce." Melendez is just one week away from defending his Strikeforce lightweight championship against Jorge Masvidal on Dec. 17 in San Diego, California. It was expected that he would make the jump to UFC shortly after. This thought was perpetrated by White himself, who said he wanted "El Nino" fighting inside the Octagon "ASAP." Not anymore, apparently. But if Strikeforce lives, they'll have to figure out a few things and fast. Most importantly, a champion needs to be crowned in the welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Surely, that will all be worked out in 2012. Business as usual.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, melendez, live

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Contrary to what his last name would lead us to expect, it looks like Strikeforce general manager Scott Coker may not be smoking crack after all. We’ve all been laughing for months at him, and not just because he’s a fatty fatty fat fat. We also laughed at him for saying that Strikeforce will extend its contract with Showtime. But now, after months of Dana White washing his hands of the situation with Showtime while flashing the sheepish grin of a dog that’s just butt-dragged a fetid line of ass juice onto your bed, the UFC president is saying that StrikeForce is staying on Showtime in 2012: [Strikeforce is] staying, and hopefully I’ll have all the information for you next week. Just sit and wait and watch what I do. Trust me, it’s going to be just fine... I know I keep saying this every week, but that deal should be wrapped up any day now, and then I’ll make the decisions on who goes where and what’s going to happen. So we should know hopefully by Monday. ESPN’s Josh Gross tweeted regarding the situation that the fees Showtime pays will be reduced significantly under the contract extension, perhaps being cut by as much as half, even though the original contract called for a large increase in payments in 2012. Evidently Showtime used the fact that the UFC is stealing talent from Strikeforce like innocence from little boys at Penn State to finagle themselves a better deal. (As per UFC Rape Joke Protocol® sec. 2, Penn State jokes are acceptable.) I know that we (ok, just I) try to maintain solidarity with the other writers at FL, but I could sit on the toilet for hours and still not shit out a reason why Subo would write that Strikeforce is a "piece of crap" and that MMA would be better off without it. This contract extension will definitely be a very good thing for fans, because not only do we get to see Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier fight in March, women’s MMA will continue to have a home under the Zuffa/Forza banner. And if (as Dana White bringing up the WEC in conversation about Strikeforce would indicate) StrikeForce is to become the AAA league of the UFC, then we’ll get to see lots of not-yet-shot-but-lost-a-couple-fights UFC vets getting their rebound matches nationally televised. (Elliot Marshall, anyone?) Or maybe the WEC comparison means that we’ll get to see the addition of 115lb, 105lb, and midget weight classes. Either way, sign me up. This will be a good thing for Zuffa as well, because it will keep Zuffa’s Japanese rape tentacle (can we say that anymore?) gripping talent that could otherwise be snapped up by Bellator or others in a second. And the reduced price may have already led Showtime to conclude that it no longer needs M-1 on its network; this would certainly lead to jubilation within Zuffa that it has ripped another asshole into yet another enterprising competitor. Just like the asshole of a... never mind.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, contract, ’ll

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Costa Mesa, California (December 8, 2011) – The fighters have hit the scales, and all competitors are on weight for tomorrow’s scheduled night of action. The mixed martial arts (MMA) event titled M-1 Challenge XXX: Zavurov vs. Enomoto II takes place at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California and airs LIVE on SHOWTIME Friday, TONIGHT at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on the West Coast). Official Weigh-in Results: (Welterweight Title bout) Shamil Zavurov 169.4 lbs - vs -

Posted in: showtime, weight,  the hangar, tomorrow ’s, showtime friday

Read the full article at Low Kick

UFC President Dana White today announced that Strikeforce will likely continue to appear on premium cable network Showtime in 2012, revealing that a deal between the parties was close to being reached.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, network, premium, cable

Read the full article at Sherdog

The UFC is keeping Strikeforce alive after striking a deal with Showtime to continue airing Strikeforce events after their current contract ends in February, UFC President Dana White announced Thursday. “It’s staying, and hopefully I’ll have all the information for you next week,” White said at the UFC 140 pre-fight press conference (via MMAjunkie). White hinted that the deal meant further changes would be coming to the promotion, which has already surrendered champions Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem and former title-holder Cung Le to the UFC. “Just sit and wait and watch what I do,” White reportedly said. “Trust me, it’s going to be just fine. Like I said last time I talked to you guys about this, I’m getting into this, and I’m going to handle it. Watch and see.” Meanwhile, Strikeforce confirmed on Thursday that it will visit the Hard Rock in Las Vegas on January 7 for an event headlined by middleweight champion Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine. Also announced for the Showtime card were Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov, “King” Mo Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin, and Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson. For the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com. Pictured: Luke Rockhold

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, vs, event, showtime

Read the full article at MMA Frenzy

Press Release:Friday, Dec. 9, 2011. Live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT From The Hangar at the O.C. Fair and Events Center, Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa, California (December 5, 2011) – M-1 GLOBAL’s final U.S. outing for 2011 features a rematch of what most consider up to this point the M-1 Challenge match of the year. The mixed martial arts (MMA) event titled M-1 Challenge XXX: Zavurov vs. Enomoto II takes place at The Hangar in Costa Mesa,

Posted in: event, showtime, challenge, ii, mesa

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Strikeforce exec believes heavyweight tournament finals between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier could happen by March, "optimistic" about Showtime extension.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, josh barnett, barnett, daniel cormier

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Scott Coker talked today on the media call for Melendez vs. Masvidal about Strikeforce's future on Showtime. While he said that there was nothing to announce in terms of a new deal, he did seem to suggest that things were progressing well and his tone suggested that the promotion had a future on the network. He also said that they hope to conclude the heavyweight Grand Prix in March if Daniel Cormier has fully recovered from his broken hand. In expanding upon the Showtime situation, Coker said: In the history of Strikeforce since the relationship with Showtime was developed, we put on, I think some of the best fights in the history of MMA. ... We've done our part to grow the sport, and that's going to continue. There's still a lot of great fighters on the roster. And we're going to keep building these fighters. We're going to continue putting on great fights. To me, that's not going to change. So everybody can tune into Showtime and watch in 2012, and we're going to put on some amazing, amazing fights. It sounds like things are still positive with the Showtime/Strikeforce relationship even with the changes at the top of Showtime Sports, but until the deal is signed and announced it's hard to say with any certainty what the future looks like. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, future, coker, strikeforces future

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsWith 2011 rapidly coming to a close, word of an agreement to extend the soon-to-be-expiring deal between Strikeforce and premium cable TV partner Showtime has yet to come. In the wake of the Strikeforce buyout by UFC parent company Zuffa, negotiations between Strikeforce and Showtime got off to a rocky start, but a management shakeup at Showtime seemed to open the door for renewed hope. Still, they've yielded no firm results just yet, according to Strikeforce's Scott Coker. "There's nothing to announce, but I'm optimistic at this point," he said on Tuesday. Asked for a possible timeframe on a decision, Coker declined to offer any specifics. "That's something that we'll have to just wait and see," he said. "I think things are going well and I think we'll have something to announce shortly, but right now, I have nothing official to announce." The uncertainty puts the Strikeforce team in something of a strange position. On a Tuesday teleconference designed to promote the upcoming December 17 event that will match lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez against Jorge Masvidal in the main event, both fighters were repeatedly asked about the possibility of soon moving to the UFC. The promotion has also had to continue planning for future possibilities during a time of flux. For example, Coker mentioned that he is hoping to host the finals of the heayvweight World Grand Prix in March. Meanwhile, fighter contracts constantly need to be addressed, and future venues and dates have to be determined. Essentially, Coker and the rest of his team must continue as though Strikeforce's future existence is a guarantee. For his part, Coker is plowing ahead with the belief that he'll be promoting events far into 2012 and beyond. "In the history of Strikeforce since the relationship with Showtime was developed, we put on, I think some of the best fights in the history of MMA," he said. "We've done our part to grow the sport, and that's going to continue. There's still a lot of great fighters on the roster. And we're going to keep building these fighters. We're going to continue putting on great fights. To me, that's not going to change. So everybody can tune into Showtime and watch in 2012, and we're going to put on some amazing, amazing fights." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, fighter, showtime, future, coker

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Showtime will air the next installment of the M-1 Challenge series. Officials recently announced that M-1 Challenge 30 will air on the premium-cable station on Friday, Dec. 9, from The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif. Headlining the event is a championship bout and rematch between welterweight titleholder Shamil Zavurov and Yasubey Enomoto.

Posted in: event, showtime, challenge, championship bout, premiumcable station

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CHICAGO (Nov. 29, 2011) – M-1 GLOBAL welterweight (170 lbs.) champion Shamil Zavurov will defend his title in a rematch against Yasubey Enomoto in the main event M-1 Challenge XXX live on SHOWTIME on Friday, December 9 at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) from The Hangar at the O.C. Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, California. Zavurov (18-1), a three-time world champion in Combat Sambo, two-time champion of the CIS in hand-to-hand combat, winner of international tournaments in wrestling and Wushu Sanda and champion of Dagestan in Wushu Sanda, Zavurov has accumulated more than 50 victories in combat Sambo and 50 victories as an amateur / semi-professional MMA fighter. Flying under the radar of North American fans until recently, Zavurov has amassed a vault of experience and holds an impressive 18-1 record. After the successful defense of his belt last year Zavurov spoke about his opponent saying, "This was one of the most important fights in my career. Enomoto is a really good fighter and dangerous opponent. The stronger the opponent, the more you learn from the fight and the more you improve as a fighter yourself. It was a really hard fight for me and I am glad I came away with my belt." Enomoto (8-3) is coming off two wins over Rafal Moks (Majority Decision) and Josh Thorpe (Submission, Triangle Choke). Prior to that, he stepped in as a last minute replacement for an injured Rashid Magomedov to compete against M-1 Welterweight champion Zavurov. Taking the fight on eight days notice, Enomoto lost via unanimous decision in a full five round battle. "I’m going after that title one way or another", said Enomoto after the loss. "Zavurov has my belt. I asked him to give it to me once and he didn’t let me take it. Looks like I’ll have to work a bit harder to get to it." Enomoto knows this is his opportunity to become champion. He knows what to prepare for and that the win will not come easy under any circumstances. In the co-main event, Francisco Drinaldo (10-1) will take on Alexander Sarnavsky (15-0) in a lightweight (155 lbs.) bout. Also featured on the televised portion of the event will be a rematch between Jose Figueroa (10-5) and Artiom Damkovsky (9-6) in a lightweight bout. In their first meeting this past July, Figueroa violently stripped Damkovsky of his lightweight title by second round TKO. Figueroa lost the title to Daniel Weichel in Moscow at M-1 Global’s "Fedor vs Monson" event. Tyson Jeffries (7-6) will take on Eddie Arizmendi (15-5) in a middleweight matchup. And opening the evening of fights on SHOWTIME, Alessandro Ferriera (10-1) will take on Bao Quach (18-10) in a featherweight (145 lbs.) bout. "This entire card is expected to be extremely entertaining from start to finish." said Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations at M-1 GLOBAL. "We are very excited for these fights and excited to have our fourth event with SHOWTIME". Mauro Ranallo will call the action from ringside with Pat Miletich serving as expert analyst. The telecast will be produced by Chuck McKean and directed by Craig Farrell. The executive producer of SHOWTIME Sports is David Dinkins, Jr. For information on M-1 Global, go to the official M-1 website, www.M-1Global.com and M-1 Global Facebook fan page For information on SHOWTIME Sports programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go to the SHOWTIME Sports website at http://www.sho.com/sports.

Posted in: fight, event, champion, showtime, zavurov

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BloodyElbow.com has learned that the Hard Rock Hotel venue in Las Vegas is being targeted for a Strikeforce show on January 7th of 2012. A representative from the Nevada State Athletic Commission confirmed the promotion's request. The event, which will be aired on the Showtime network, is likely to stage the first title defense for Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. When the promotion urged him to start training for his next bout, Rockhold recently speculated that Tim Kennedy would be his opponent at an event being aligned for January. This report seems to reinforce Rockhold's claim. The future of Strikeforce has been in question since the promotion was acquired by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in March of 2011. "Business as usual" was the initial driver for Strikeforce's operation until select stars were poached from the roster, such as Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson and Jason "Mayhem" Miller. With the pre-Zuffa contract between Strikeforce and Showtime nearing expiration and a handful of their premiere fighters being plucked away, expectations for a prosperous future dwindled. However, late last month, Dana White stated that negotiations for a contract extension between Strikeforce and Showtime went "very well", perhaps facilitated by Showtime Sport's new helmsman, Stephen Espinoza. Scheduling another event to be aired on Showtime is a positive indicator and could signal a new beginning for the Strikeforce promotion.

Posted in: promotion, strikeforce, rockhold, showtime, strikeforce show

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Strikeforce has requested a January 7 date to host an event at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas that would be televised by Showtime. A Nevada state athletic commission representative confirmed the Zuffa request on Monday. Once approved -- and given parent company Zuffa's track record in Nevada, that is a near certainty -- the previously unannounced show would be the first Strikeforce event to be scheduled for 2012. Until now, the only future Strikeforce event planned had been the upcoming December 17 Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal event in San Diego, California. The move is yet another indication that Strikeforce will exist past its current deal with Showtime, which is set to expire around March 2012. In the past, Zuffa executive and UFC president Dana White voiced doubt that Strikeforce and Showtime could salvage their relationship, but a change in Showtime's leadership structure allowed White to inject himself in negotiations, and recent talks have reportedly been far more productive. While final word on an extension has yet to come from either side, the booking of events in early 2012 must be seen as a positive step towards a likely deal. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, event, showtime, zuffa, zuffa request

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The future of Strikeforce on Showtime has been a matter of some interest and concern for MMA fans. With the UFC taking stars from the Strikeforce roster already and hinting at wanting to bring in more top talent, it seems that Strikeforce's days are numbered. But UFC president Dana White has said several times that they are trying to continue the promotion going forward. In late August, White told Ariel Helwani that he met with Showtime execs and it went well as far as keeping Strikeforce around. However, on November 14 it was announced that Showtime had hired Stephen Espinoza as Ken Hershman's replacement as executive VP and general manager of Showtime Sports after Hershman left for HBO. Espinoza had a boxing background after working as an attorney for men like Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya while also working with Golden Boy Promotions. While no one was quite sure how Espinoza would handle sports going forward after Hershman established a pattern of looking to pay solid rights fees for good fights in boxing while also showing a grand vision by bringing Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley to the network and organizing the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Today saw some big news for the network as they outbid HBO to get the rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto. This is a big rematch that did very solid viewership numbers for HBO the first time out. Showtime going after the fight shows that they have a commitment to getting big fights on the network and are willing to pay for them. Now, networks like HBO and Showtime work on a yearly budget for boxing. This leads to situations like HBO bidding against themselves and overpaying for the box office bomb that was Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley. That overpayment forced HBO to put Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson on PPV even though they knew it wasn't a PPV worthy fight, it was just necessary given their depleted fight budget. I'd be lying if I said I had any idea what Showtime's budget is or if they tie the Strikeforce money to the overall budget with boxing. But paying a rights fee of $2.5 million for Berto vs. Ortiz is an indication that they're keyed in on making 2012 a big year for boxing. I think it's entirely fair to wonder if this is a revealing signal of their priorities going forward. If they can take the yearly expense of paying rights fees for Strikeforce events and even buy 2-3 more fights like this, it may be of more long term value as Showtime continues to build up their reputation as a very stiff competitor to HBO for the best boxing action. If that is of a high enough priority and the network isn't interested in ratings for Strikeforce that haven't shown steady improvement while the UFC picks off their top fighters, it may be the end for the promotion on Showtime once the contract is up.

Posted in: fight, hbo, strikeforce, boxing, showtime

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Fabricio Werdum is, as musician Jack Johnson once said, "Sitting, waiting, wishing." The 34-year-old heavyweight is currently stuck in limbo as UFC parent company Zuffa, LLC and Showtime are behind closed doors deciding what may or may not become of the (still fairly recently purchased) Strikeforce promotion. Werdum would like nothing more than the ability to transition over to the UFC like former colleagues Dan Henderson, Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Cung Le have done in recent months.

Posted in: ufc, nick, showtime, werdum, fabricio

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

A welterweight title clash between Shamil Zavurov and Rashid Magomedov will serve as the main event for M-1 Challenge 30, M-1 Global's final effort on Showtime in 2011.

Posted in: showtime, challenge, global, shamil zavurov, rashid magomedov

Read the full article at Sherdog

The Strikeforce Challengers series took a ratings hit on Friday night, as the Showtime broadcast of “Britt vs. Sayers” drew an average audience of 143,000 viewers.

Posted in: challenger, showtime, viewer, friday night, showtime broadcast

Read the full article at Sherdog

No need to ask why I'm tuning in. Show starts at 11pm on Showtime and the chat will be up so we can cheer Ronda Rousey on to another victory that takes just over a minute. It'll be UFC on FOX all over again, but without the anxious fears that the Almighty Mainstream didn't enjoy the taste of our sport's pee-pee.

Posted in: show, showtime, chat, ronda rousey, minute itll

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Showtime Networks, Inc. has a new man in charge of its sports programming, but how long the channel’s schedule will continue to include mixed martial arts remains unclear.

Posted in: sport, showtime, head, programming, sports programming

Read the full article at Sherdog

submitted by mexicutioner23 [link] [1 comment]

Posted in: showtime, kick, mexicutioner, pumpkin

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MMA Junkie reports that Dana White is taking over the company’s negotiations for a new deal with Showitme. Lorenzo Fertitta was the lead in the negotiations prior to Ken Hershman leaving Showtime for HBO. White called Hershman a “deal blower” in an MMA Fighting interview with Ariel Helwani. With Hershman out of the picture and Showtime wanting to continue in the MMA business, White stated the negotiations “went really well.” Payout Perspective: This is an interesting development as most believed that Zuffa/Strikeforce-Showtime would mutually end its contractual relationship when the existing agreement ended. Perhaps Zuffa sees Showtime as a network it could keep Strikeforce Challengers or a “Challengers” type series if Strikeforce dissolves. Or, he wanted to meet the new team in charge of Showtime to gage a potential competitor in the MMA business. With UFC content heading to Fox, a contract with Showtime would mean Strikeforce will continue in 2012. But, with most of its top fighters rumored (or already in the organization) to be in the UFC, only Strikeforce Challengers may survive.

Posted in: mma, showtime, strikeforce challengers, mma business, negotiation

Read the full article at MMA Payout

You've been hearing it for months now. "Strikeforce is dead as soon as its contract with Showtime is up," the pundits have said. "Who cares, all the champions have gone to the UFC anyway," the fans chime in. Halt the hearses, folks, this funeral might not be happening. That's because UFC President Dana White has personally stepped in to handle the ongoing negotiations with Showtime to reach a new contract to keep the promotion alive.  "I met with Showtime yesterday and I had a great meeting with them. I'm jumping in [to the negotiations]. Lorenzo Fertitta and I divide and conquer. We're both so busy and we're working on so much stuff, so to get this deal moving we needed the kinder, gentler side of the UFC there in the beginning. Now, I'm going to go in there and close it.... We had a great conversation. We moved the ball forward and we'll see what happens. There is no deal done. I just think we had a great meeting... We have a chance that Strikeforce lives." This is partially possible thanks to Ken Hershman bailing on Showtime to become President of HBO Sports. White had previously had trouble dealing with the successful executive, whom he referred to as a "deal-blower." But now that Hershman no longer has any say in the discussions, there's hope just yet that Strikeforce can prosper on cable television. There are still plenty of reasons to believe the opposite. Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, and Nick Diaz, all champions, have jumped ship recently to fight inside the more prestigious Octagon. But for the first time since Zuffa purchased Strikeforce back in March, there's optimism that Scott Coker and company will have a promotion to run next year. Hear more from White on the negotiations, as well as plenty of UFC 137 talk, in the full entry.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, showtime, hbo sports, negotiation

Read the full article at MMA Mania

UFC president Dana White has taken over negotiating duties with Showtime from UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta.

Posted in: ufc, deal, showtime, fertitta, duty

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

LAS VEGAS - Dana White has taken the negotiating reigns with Showtime. The UFC president on Wednesday met with executives from the premium cable channel to resume talks on the future of a broadcast partnership Zuffa, LLC assumed with the purchase of Strikeforce. Previously, UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta had spearheaded negotiations. But with the recent exodus of Ken Hershman from Showtime to HBO, White reversed his stance on getting involved in the process.

Posted in: showtime, ufc president, ufc monopoly, ken hershman, showtime talks

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

LAS VEGAS - Dana White has taken the negotiating reigns with Showtime. The UFC president on Wednesday met with executives from the premium cable channel to resume talks on the future of a broadcast partnership Zuffa, LLC assumed with the purchase of Strikeforce. Previously, UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta had spearheaded negotiations. But with the recent exodus of Ken Hershman from Showtime to HBO, White reversed his stance on getting involved in the process.

Posted in: ufc, showtime, ufc president, ken hershman, showtime talks

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

If you've been following our coverage of K-1 and the 2011 K-1 Grand Prix, you already know what a mess the entire situation is. As we reported last week, the GP appeared to be cancelled after K-1's long-standing financial difficulties could not be worked out. In the days since, we've had a bit more news on the situation. First up, It's Showtime confirmed what we already suspected - there will definitely not be a Final 16 event for the 2011 K-1 Grand Prix. Originally scheduled for October 29 in China, that event has been officially cancelled. K-1 hasn't actually made this official announcement, or updated their website, but that is not a surprise given the way they normally deal with news like this. The announcement from It's Showtime was actually quite detailed, which was a breath of fresh air after a year full of rumors and half-stories. It's Showtime president Simon Rutz clarified that FEG, the parent company to K-1, is indeed bankrupt, and the K-1 name is now owned by Barbizon. He also reports that there are a handful of investors interested in rebuilding the K-1 brand - one from Korea, one from the US that Rutz describes as "an American company which also has big opportunities to bring the K-1 brand to high levels," and a third party. These investors are working with long-time K-1 president Tanigawa as well as Golden Glory head Bas Boon to finalize their deals. However, none of these investors can move forward without the signature of Kazuyoshi Ishii, the founder of K-1. There is a lot of interesting news to unpack in this statement.   Bas Boon has some official connection to K-1. When the Barbizon sale was announced it was a not discussed, but not very well disguised, secret that Boon was likely connected to Barbizon. Seems that this is probably the case, or at least that Boon does have some official interest in K-1. Ishii remains an official part of K-1.  Despite leaving the company a few years ago, it's been known that he has some involvement still. But the fact that he must approve any investors is a rather large degree of control that Ishii still holds. Despite this year's troubles, there still is hope for the future, as any of these investors could bring K-1 back next year or beyond. It's Showtimer pledges their support in making that happen.   So with that, it looked like we could hold out hope for a future Grand Prix, just not one in 2011. But of course, with K-1, things aren't that easy. Anil Dubar, the trainer to Daniel Ghita who first announced that the Final 16 was off, now says that K-1 has told Ghita to remain in shape and ready to fight in December. The plan now is to skip the Final 16 and just have 8 participants take part in a one night Final 8 GP in December. My opinion on that? Wishful thinking on everyone's part. K-1 doesn't like to admit defeat, and I in fact predicted that this would be their next move when we talked about the end of the Final 16 last week. So expect another two months of rumors and fighters being strung along before the ultimate cancellation. And for the future? I will join in the optimism there. There remains a vibrant international kickboxing scene and great interest in the sport in Europe. If a smart investor can come in, clean house, and run K-1 like a proper business, working with camps like It's Showtime and Golden Glory, we could see the Grand Prix crown once again. Just don't hold your breath.

Posted in: showtime, year, official, prix, investor

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

MMA Junkie reports that ratings for M-1 Global Challenge on Showtime Friday night scored an average of 185,000 viewers. The event drew a 0.6 household rating. Via MMA Junkie: The event was the third M-1 Challenge show to air on Showtime. M-1 Challenge 24 drew 189,000 viewers earlier this year, and M-1 Challenge 26 drew 161,000 viewers in July. The three shows now have averaged 178,000 viewers on the premium-cable channel. By comparison, the Strikeforce Challengers series on Showtime has averaged 207,000 viewers per event in 2011. Payout Perspective: Good numbers for the promotion especially with its Friday night time slot. Still lower than Strikeforce Challengers  average numbers, but as pointed out by readers, the M-1 average matches Bellator 54. It will be interesting to see what Showtime will do with Ken Hershman leaving for HBO and Zuffa in talks with the network about its future on Showtime. M-1 could be an alternative for Showtime if Zuffa leaves and it decides to remain in the MMA business.

Posted in: mma, event, showtime, challenge, viewer

Read the full article at MMA Payout

M-1 Challenge 27 took in an average of 185,000 viewers for its Saturday night broadcast on premium cable network Showtime.

Posted in: showtime, challenge, viewer, broadcast, premium

Read the full article at Sherdog

M-1 had another strong showing on Showtime, and this past Friday's M-1 Challenge 27 event drew a 0.6 household rating and 185,000 viewers. MMAjunkie.com today confirmed the figures with an industry source. Featuring a pair of M-1 Global title fights, M-1 Challenge 27 took place Oct. 14 at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix.

Posted in: event, showtime, challenge, rating, industry source

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

What does the future hold for K-1? Or is there even a viable future in the offing? Simon Rutz of It's Showtime tried to provide some details about K-1's current status.

Posted in: showtime, future, status, rutz, simon

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

submitted by knees [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: showtime, challenge, shot, frankie edgar, frankie

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A replay of Friday night's "M-1 Challenge 27: Magalhaes vs. Zayats" event airs Tuesday on Showtime Extreme. The broadcast begins at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Featuring a pair of M-1 Global title fights, M-1 Challenge 27 initially took place this past Friday, Oct. 14, at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix.

Posted in: showtime, challenge, friday night, title fights, tuesday

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] As we had reported previously, there has been a rumor that FEG has offered certain fighters an offer that would let FEG off of the hook for 50% of the money that they owe certain fighters. What many who read it neglected to notice was the last paragraph, which states that it was unclear who this offer was extended to, if anyone. LiverKick.com has received numerous reports that K-1 has been working to broker deals with fighters and managers this past week to solidify the K-1 Final 16 and that there were some fighters being offered a "50% deal." It appears that It's Showtime's fighters were not offered this deal, at least that is what Simon Rutz says as of this morning. When a fan asked Mr. Rutz if It's Showtime fighters would be willing to take a cut of 50% to fight for K-1 he claimed that was not the case for It's Showtime's fighters, and in a reply to another fan's post he said that K-1 was not "blackmailing" them. This does not entirely rule out that some fighters have been offered a "bad deal," but in the case of It's Showtime it appears this deal has not been given to them. Read More...

Posted in: fighter, deal, showtime, showtime fighters, simon rutz

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On Thursday, Ken Hershman, executive vice president and general manager of sports and event programming for Showtime, resigned after a nineteen years with the subscription-based network. Hershman was pivotal to the growth of mixed martial arts, bringing the sport to the network in 2007 in the form of EliteXC. EliteXC inevitably failed, but Hershman kept his resolve, adding Strikeforce to the portfolio and helping the small California-based promotion become a major player in the mixed martial arts' world. Hershman isn't leaving the industry however. He's been named the new president of HBO Sports, opening up the possibility that HBO will lift their embargo on the sport. In the aftermath of the news, there were also questions revolving around Showtime's continued committment to the sport. Will they work out a deal to keep Strikeforce on Showtime? Will they remain in the MMA business? BloodyElbow.com's own Brent Brookhouse opined yesterday that Hershman's move to HBO is likely focused more on helping boxing grow on the network versus bringing in a new option: Hershman's move to HBO isn't likely to bring MMA to that network either. Boxing remains a big part of HBO's identity and despite uninformed opinions that the network will eventually give up on the sport, they actually are investing even more in the sport. In 2012 the network is launching a midweek boxing show that will feature competitive fights on a smaller budget to try to aid the process of building up stars. I couldn't agree more, and I find it perplexing that the immediate reaction from many fans and media was the blatantly optimistic opinion that HBO will now open its doors to MMA. As for Showtime's future in the sport, Strikeforce is an option, although there are many reasons why staying connected to Zuffa may be the wrong way to go. These are only micro issues underneath the larger macro problem that start-ups and networks promoting MMA are entering the sport with an even steeper slope than we've ever seen before. The UFC's expansive reach, years and years of brand saturation, and buyout of the second largest promotion in the world has turned their large lake into an ocean, sucking the water from all the smaller lakes and ponds. They control a vast majority of the relevant talent in the sport with only a few outliers who are able to draw any semblance of interest from fans. Ten years ago, start-ups had options. EliteXC and Strikeforce both fed off veteran talent, both to promote their main card and test young prospects, while also taking advantage of regional honey holes like southern California. The more options, the more talent was willing to negotiate and take the best offer, especially when those smaller promotions were gaining traction in the television landscape. Fast forward to today, and we see that EliteXC has crumbled, Strikeforce has been swallowed by Zuffa, and casual interest outside of the UFC is at an all-time low. Look no further than ProElite for proof. I'm not attempting to be the most cynical man on the planet, but it's difficult to see a progressive trend of growth when Pedro Rizzo vs. Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton are the top two fights on one of the newest start-ups in the sport. The proven formula of growing prospective talent while bringing in name value doesn't work any longer because name value has disappeared. Who is Reagan Penn and Mark Ellis, assuming they progress into bona fide talents, going to fight down the road? The optimistic fans will throw Bellator right into my face. Look at what they've done! They've signed a bevy of great prospects, many of which are featured on the 2011 World MMA Scouting Report. They have notable names that fans will tune in to watch. Unfortunately, they are hindered by MTV2's decision to keep them on Saturday nights, going head-to-head with the UFC, and that's not their most glaring problem. Whether it's a start-up promotion or an established brand like Bellator, finding recognized veterans to prop up cards and draw in fans who wouldn't normally watch the card is becoming harder and harder to do. In fact, it's impossible to do these days. Bellator is going to find out quickly that Eddie Alvarez has nobody to fight. Same goes for the rest of their champions. What does any of this have to do with Showtime and HBO? In my opinion, Showtime's best option is to let Strikeforce go and start their own series. It isn't necessarily a promotion, more of a series of shows designed to build cheap programming and maintain subscribers. After the failure of EliteXC and the piece-by-piece stripping of anything worth a damn from Strikeforce by the UFC, Showtime's biggest issue has been outside forces crushing their MMA programming. The problem, however, is that there isn't any talent to build from. It's pointless for HBO to waste the money entering the market unless they want low budget, cheap programming regardless of name value. Same goes for Showtime. Even if they retain Strikeforce, it's going to be tough for them to gain enough steam to move away from sustainability into growth. The mere second a prospect begins showing signs of greatness, Zuffa will swoop in and sign him to a UFC contract. Smaller promotions in North America and beyond serve a purpose as development platforms for prospects, but I believe the days of spectacular growth, growth seen in two or three years in the market are gone. There isn't enough recognizable talent available to help small promotions gain eyes, and building prospects to a casual fanbase requires money to promote them. Even the latter is a risky endeavor. Will fans care more about Eduardo Dantas if they spend a lot of money promoting him? Who has he beaten? Who is Wilson Reis? Those are questions people will ask. Be honest and ask yourself... what fighters, outside of Zuffa, would you actually tune in to watch? Most will cite Bellator fighters, perhaps Nate Marquardt, Roger Huerta, or Shinya Aoki. How many of those are viable options for a promotion like Titan FC to bring in? Will that help them keep your interest for a prolonged period of time? Probably not. The point is that it isn't a large number. It's so small that there are barely any options for regional promotions looking to make an impact to consider.  This isn't the boom years of MMA any longer. The upward trend is slowly flattening out, and the UFC has come out as a massive presence. In North America, they dominate the landscape. Internationally, there is opportunity. More on that later. For promotions like Shark Fights and Titan Fighting Championships however, it doesn't look good. 

Posted in: promotion, hbo, strikeforce, sport, showtime

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Broadcasting and Cable reports that Showtime head Ken Hershman is leaving to take the vacant HBO Sports opening. Hershman will become the president of HBO Sports replacing Ross Greenburg. Hershman will start his new position in January 2012. What does this mean for the future of MMA on Showtime? Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated that he has talked to Showtime officials and the network wants to continue with MMA programming according to a report from MMA Junkie. Via MMA Junkie: Coker said the much of the same executive staff will oversee the remaining events Strikeforce owes to Showtime, which comprise three major events and three of the promotion’s Challenger series through February 2012. Coker said it was possible that should Showtime renew, a revised TV deal could see fewer Strikeforce events on the channel. Showtime has not named a replacement for Hershman. Payout Perspective: Does Hershman’s departure mean that Strikeforce is closer to extinction? Or, will Hershman’s departure mean Strikeforce gets a stay of execution? Earlier this week, MMA Payout made a compelling argument that Zuffa had muted any chance for Strikeforce success. Hershman did bring MMA to Showtime but Dana White has not been a fan of Hershman. If Showtime would like to continue programming MMA, Hershman’s replacement must have the same interest in the sport and see it through. If White decides to dissolve Strikeforce, it will be interesting to see if Showtime will continue to pursue MMA programming.

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, showtime, hershman, mma junkie

Read the full article at MMA Payout

Dana White hinted a couple weeks back that Strikeforce’s fate would be known soon. At the time, Lorenzo Fertitta was meeting with Showtime execs in New York to figure out whether or not Showtime wanted to extend Strikeforce’s contract. It sounded like it would be settled by now, however Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker revealed today that both sides are still talking and actually want to make a deal. “There are negotiations going on to extend the deal, and I believe both sides want to make a deal,” Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Both sides have indicated to me that they’d like to stay in this relationship.” “I know that negotiations were ongoing and they were going back and forth,” Coker said. “It’s like any negotiation. They’re trying to come to a deal that makes sense for both parties. The devil’s always in the details.” It’s a little surprising considering Strikeforce’s numbers are down since Zuffa, err Forza LLC, acquired the organization and subsequently cherry picked it’s top stars for the UFC. Coker hinted that a new deal could result in fewer shows on the network, but it’s unclear what the motivation would be to keep it going. Another interesting twist in this story is Ken Hershman’s departure from Showtime. News broke today that Hershman, the Executive VP of Showtime Sports and the guy Dana White spit fire at back in the day, resigned from Showtime to become the new president of HBO Sports. It’s unclear if and how his departure would affect negotiations. When Ariel Helwani sought comment from the organization today, all they would say is they’re committed as ever to MMA. Of course, that attitude could change if Hershman’s replacement isn’t as enthusiastic about the sport. So for now, Strikeforce still has a big fat question mark next to it, but it sounds like there might be some life left in it after all.

Posted in: strikeforce, deal, showtime, coker, negotiation

Read the full article at MMA Convert

The departure of Ken Hershman from Showtime Sports makes an already murky picture even cloudier for the future of MMA on the network.

Posted in: showtime, scott coker, ken hershman, ken, showtime sports

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

Move over Theo Epstein, you're not the only General Manager switching teams. In an interesting bit of news today, it has come to light that Ken Hershman, Showtime's Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sports and Event programming, has left his job at Showtime, according to a report by Broadcasting & Cable. It is also believed that Hershman will now head over to HBO to replace Ross Greenburg as President of HBO Sports. A statement was released by a Showtime spokesperson earlier today: "Sports has been an important part of our content lineup at Showtime for many years. We have a great team and great programming in place and our commitment to sports remains strong. We have no announcement about a successor at this time, when we do we will let everyone know." Hershman is responsible for introducing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the rotation of the popular cable channel Showtime. Hershman's first venture with MMA began with Elite XC and eventually continued with the deal he struck with Scott Coker and his San Jose-based organization. With the news of Hershman's resignation, could this be another sign of things to come for MMA on Showtime, namely Strikeforce? Dana White has often been critical of Ken Hershman and the way he runs his business with Showtime. So much so, that UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta has been running the operations and meetings with Showtime since Zuffa acquired Strikeforce which also included its deal with Showtime earlier this year. Is this another sign of the soon-to-be demise of Strikeforce? Or is this much ado about nothing? Discuss.

Posted in: sport, showtime, hershman, ken hershman, hbo sports

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Showtime Executive Vice President and General Manger of Sports and Event Programming Ken Hershman (Pictured) has resigned from his positions at the premium cable network.

Posted in: sport, showtime, hershman, manger, premium

Read the full article at Sherdog

Ken Hershman has been at Showtime since 1992, serving as the general manager of sports and event programming for several years. He has now expected to jump to HBO where he will replace Ross Greenburg. The most obvious sport this impacts is boxing as Hershman was one of the primary players in turning Showtime into a much more competitive network with HBO with a much smaller budget. Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook talks about the impact on the boxing world: HBO has already shown improvement in the second half of 2011, so Hershman coming on board should keep that momentum rolling. It's worth wondering what he's like with a major budget, though. There is a legitimate worry that he might get lazy with everything being that much easier. Things like the Super Six didn't come easy, and took a lot of work on his part. But doing something similar at HBO would, in theory, be far easier. This could be both a good and bad thing. Showtime has no successor in place for Hershman, and I wouldn't expect them to name anyone to a long-term position until 2012. As a boxing fan, without being corny, I'd like to tip my hat to what Hershman did at Showtime, and I feel good for him that his hard work has rewarded him with this opportunity. It's not about HBO being better at Showtime, but facts are facts, and HBO is the bigger fish. Hershman was absolutely, 100%, without question the man most qualified for the job at HBO Sports, and it's good to see that guy get it. Hershman was a big part of getting MMA onto Showtime (and CBS) and some MMA fans may even remember the pre-Zuffa owned Strikeforce days when Dana White would accuse Hershman and Showtime of being the ones actually running the promotion. Hershman responded to those claims to Sports Illustrated last June: We want to make sure that people understand our place in this sport. We're putting a lot of money and commitment into this sport. We're in it for the long run. We're not going anywhere, despite what anyone may suggest. All the kicking and screaming makes us hold true to that more firmly... I would say there isn't a network that I'm aware of that doesn't ensure the quality of what they put on the network meets whatever criteria they've established. There isn't one fight that gets on the air that I'm not satisfied meets the expectations that out subscribers hold us to. It would be irresponsible for me not to do otherwise. But to suggest that I'm running Strikeforce or controlling the matchups is ludicrous. The question becomes if Showtime will retain that commitment to the sport with Hershman's departure. Showtime execs are no doubt aware that Zuffa has been stripping Strikeforce for parts to beef up the UFC and that relationship seems likely to die the second the current TV deal is up. M-1 Global is likely to continue to be ratings death and even smaller ShoBox level boxing events will do better ratings for little more than the same price. Hershman's move to HBO isn't likely to bring MMA to that network either. Boxing remains a big part of HBO's identity and despite uninformed opinions that the network will eventually give up on the sport, they actually are investing even more in the sport. In 2012 the network is launching a midweek boxing show that will feature competitive fights on a smaller budget to try to aid the process of building up stars. Being realistic, there just aren't enough legitimate fighters outside of Zuffa control for either network to make any sort of long-term investment into MMA at this point. Bellator would be the only even somewhat reasonable option but their structure would have to change entirely as it simply doesn't work with the limited dates provided by the HBO and Showtime schedule. If we didn't already know that we were seeing the beginning of the end of MMA on premium cable, we should know for sure now.

Posted in: hbo, sport, showtime, network, hershman

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Ken Hershman, Showtime's Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sports & Event Programming, has resigned, the premium cable network confirmed to MMAFighting.com on Thursday afternoon. Broadcasting & Cable first reported the news earlier in the day. The outlet is also reporting that Hershman, who left Showtime earlier this week, will replace Ross Greenburg as president of HBO Sports in the coming days. Showtime officials would not confirm where Hershman was headed and HBO officials could not be reached for comment. Hershman began working for Showtime in 1992 in the network's law department. He was named head of Showtime Sports in 2003. In 2007, Hershman brought MMA to the network when EliteXC debuted, and he stuck with the sport following the demise of EliteXC in 2008, striking a deal with Strikeforce in 2009. Of course, this news comes at an interesting time for Strikeforce with all sorts of speculation about its future. Showtime officials would not confirm whether Strikeforce would continue to air on the network next year when its current contract expires, however, a network spokesperson did say that they are still as committed as ever to the sport. UFC president Dana White has made no secret of the fact that he has never seen eye-to-eye with Hershman, however, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta has been running Strikeforce and dealing with Showtime since Zuffa purchased the fight promotion in March. Depending on who replaces Hershman, his departure could either signal the end of MMA on Showtime or breathe new life into the struggling Strikeforce brand. Conversely, Hershman's reported arrival at HBO could open the doors for MMA to air on the network for the first time in its history. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, sport, showtime, network, hershman

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Zuffa created a subsidiary called Forza LLC to control Strikeforce who was taken over from Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment in March of this year. Since then, there’s been much debate as too whether Zuffa/Forza will continue to operate the promotion or just kill it off. Strikeforces’ television contract with Showtime expires mid-February 2012 and both sides have been relatively quiet as to the future the promotions programming on the network. However, UFC President Dana White recently commented on the Strikeforce/Showtime situation at the UFC 135 pre-fight press conference: “Who knows what’s going to happen? The way this thing works is, it depends on Showtime. The ball’s in their court. They need to decide whether they want to keep Strikeforce around or not” Showtime has yet to comment on their plans moving forward. They do have an option to extend the deal through 2014, however, the ball that’s been left in their court doesn’t have much of a bounce left. Over the past 5 months Strikeforce had their top draws cherry-picked by the UFC, an impressive list that includes former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem, former welterweight champ Nick Diaz and Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Dan Henderson. It’s almost certain the Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez will join them. By hollowing out the promotions champions, Zuffa’s actions speak louder then words and Showtime should be getting the message now loud and clear. So is there even a business case left for keeping Stikeforce around in 2012? Using the publicly available data we took a closer look at the performance of the two Strikeforce ownership groups, Silicon Valley, and Zuffa/Forza. We sampled data from the last 9 events under Silicon Valley ownership, between October 9 2010 to March 25 2011 that included 5 major tier 1 events and 4 smaller tier 2 Challengers events. We compared the average TV Ratings, Attendance, Gate and Payroll to the first 9 events under Zuffa ownership, between April 1 2011 and September 23 2011 that included 4 major tier 1 events and 5 tier 2 events. Payout Perspective: In the midst of losing their top talent, the rough estimation is that Strikeforce has seen TV ratings dip 5%, attendance drop 32%, live gate profits down 11% and an increase of 26% in fighters payroll since Zuffa took control in March 2011. From Showtimes point of view, the ratings are stagnant and Zuffa is (or has) impeded the ability for Strikeforce to improve upon their ratings. Showtime is drawing approximately 2.5 times more viewers with boxing programming then with Strikeforce. M-1 Global, who also broadcasts MMA events on Showtime will air their next to last event on October 14th. With no word on a Showtime/M-1 contract renewal, perhaps Showtimes focus will shift solely back to boxing leaving the MMA programming by the wayside. For Zuffa, they’re in a position were they have just signed a huge network television contract for the UFC with FOX, which includes distribution on the cable channels FX and Fuel TV. Plus, Spike TV appears set to continue broadcasting UFC content, counter-programming or not, throughout 2012. So for Zuffa’s primary brand there’s no shortages on the television front. There has been zero push for Strikeforce since the ownership change and none look to be in sight. The numbers aren’t terribly good and there is no momentum, I see little benefit for Zuffa to continue their support for Strikeforce. It’s plausible they would continue to broadcast Strikeforce on Showtime in an attempt to help limit potential competition but I think if Showtime is to continue with MMA programming, it won’t be under the Zuffa/Forza/Strikeforce banner.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, event, showtime, zuffa

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In less than two weeks, the 2011 K-1 World Grand Prix is scheduled to begin. On October 29 in China, K-1 will hold the Final 16, with the winners moving on to the Grand Prix finals on December 10. It's the biggest yearly event in kickboxing, and a title with 20 years of proud heritage. So this is great news for kickboxing fans, right? Not so fast. As of today, the exact status of the Grand Prix remains very much in doubt. When the event was announced in September, 11 of the 16 participants were named, with 3 more later added. They also announced that the show would be co-promoted with Europe's It's Showtime organization. In the weeks since, we have seen some definite cracks forming. First up, It's Showtime has once again been public about their concerns over payment issues. For well over a year now, It's Showtime (who represents numerous notable K-1 fighters including Badr Hari and defending MAX champion Giorgio Petrosyan among others) has complained that many of their fighters are owed substantial amounts for past K-1 fights. The relationship became very rough earlier this year, but with the GP partnership, things seemed to be ironed out. But on September 28, in their announcement of Badr Hari's retirement, It's Showtime stated: If K-1 will host a World Grand Prix this year, Badr will also participate to that. The Grand Prix Final is scheduled for December 10 in China. If this World Grand Prix will take place, depends if K-1 will be able to pay its debts to IT'S SHOWTIME and others. If not, the fight on January 28 will be Badr's only remaining fight as a kickboxer. More questions came to the surface this weekend, when Tyrone Spong (another It's Showtime fighter) stated that he was still owed money for last year's Grand Prix, and that he would not fight without being paid. K-1 has made no public response to these claims, nor have spoken of the Grand Prix since the September announcement. Despite these troubles, rumors have begun to surface of a possible line-up, with 7 of the 8 fights included. That alleged line-up is as follows: Xhavit Bajrami vs. Daniel GhitaHesdy Gerges vs. Errol ZimmermanBen Edwards vs. Singh JaideepMourad Bouzidi vs. KyotaroPeter Aerts vs. Melvin ManhoefSergei Lascenko vs. Rico VerhoevenBadr Hari vs. Anderson "Braddock" Silva Notably absent from that list? Tyrone Spong. Notably ON the list? Peter Aerts. If true, Aerts is a huge addition, as he represents a link to the traditions of K-1. He also gives the tournament at least one former GP winner, and will almost guarantee a greater emotional investment from long-time kickboxing fans. But this list includes a number of It's Showtime fighters (Hari, Manhoef, Gerges, Bouzidi, Silva, and Verhoeven). If the company pulls their fighters out, it doesn't seem that K-1 can possibly continue on with the event. So three weeks from now, will we be reporting on the results of the Final 16? And if we do, will the winners actually move on to crown a new K-1 Grand Prix champion? Personally, I remain highly skeptical. I'd love to see it, even with a less than ideal line-up, but I have my doubts.

Posted in: vs, showtime, year, &nbsp, prix

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An injury has forced heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili out of next week's M-1 Challenge 27 headliner. In his place steps Maxim Grishin, who now meets Kenny Garner for an interim title. M-1 Challenge 27 takes place Oct. 14 at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix, and the main card airs on Showtime.

Posted in: card airs, showtime, challenge, place oct, champ gugenishvili

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UFC president Dana White has thrown the ball to Showtime, declaring, "Either you want to be in this business or you don't."

Posted in: business, dana, showtime, ball, ‘ showtime

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Following the once great K-1 in 2011 has been a maddening experience. The company has long had issues delivering on their promises, but between the rumored shows, bankruptcy, and sale, 2011 has been an especially befuddling year. Now, the 2011 K-1 World Grand Prix has entered this same state of confusion. Where do things stand exactly with the event? Let's see what we can figure out: All year, rumors of a 2011 K-1 Grand Prix were decidedly on-agan, off-again. Over the summer, the rights to K-1 were reported as being sold to an unrelated Japanese company, with some possible unnamed investors from the world of international kickboxing. After that sale, rumors continued to circulate, with fighters mentioning being approached to take part in a GP later this year. Earlier this month, K-1 officially announced the 2011 K-1 World Grand Prix, set to begin with the Final 16 on October 29 in China. Eleven of the 16 participants were officially announced: Badr Hari (77-11) - 2008 & 2009 K-1 GP runner-upHesdy Gerges (39-9-1) - Current It's Showtime Heavyweight championTyrone Spong (67-6-1-1) - 2010 Final 8Ruslan Karaev (13-9) - 2008 K-1 Taipei champion; 2005 K-1 Las Vegas championDaniel Ghita (39-7) - 2010 Final 8; 2009 K-1 Tokyo GP championBen Edwards (32-7-2) - 2010 K-1 Oceania GP championMelvin Manhoef (37-9) - 2009 Final 16Dzevad Poturak (47-16-1-1) - K-1 Grand Prix debutSergei Lascenko (27-9) - 2011 SuperKombat GP champion; 2009 K-1 Tokyo GP runner-upRico Verhoeven (35-5-1) - K-1 Grand Prix debutAnderson "Braddock" Silva (29-5-1) - K-1 Grand Prix debut Notable in this announcement was the news that It's Showtime would be co-promoting the show. It's Showtime has had a rocky relationship with K-1 in 2011, as they have very publicly spoken about their fighters not being paid, and had a falling out earlier in the year when K-1 pulled out of a planned co-promoted show in Amsterdam, forcing It's Showtime to cancel their yearly super show. Shortly after the announcement, 3 more names were rumored additions to the field. Ben Edwards stated that he would be fighting Errol Zimmerman in the Final 16, and both Rustemi Kreshnik and Xhavit Bajrami were also allegedly added, leaving just two remaining spots open. Last week, It's Showtime announced the retirement of Badr Hari, and in the midst of that announcement threw the entire Grand Prix into doubt, stating: If K-1 will host a World Grand Prix this year, Badr will also participate to that. The Grand Prix Final is scheduled for December 10 in China. If this World Grand Prix will take place, depends if K-1 will be able to pay its debts to IT'S SHOWTIME and others. If not, the fight on January 28 will be Badr's only remaining fight as a kickboxer. While it seemed K-1 and It's Showtime had worked out their financial issues, obviously that is not the case. To be clear, if It's Showtime pulls their fighters, the K-1 Grand Prix can not happen as it is currently planned. And as of right now, it seems It's Showtime thinks that is a definite possibility. K-1 is trying desperately to hold on, and so are we as fans. Yes this line-up is greatly diminished from last year's, but it was still the Grand Prix, and I was still greatly looking forward to it. But at some point, we may need to accept the reality. K-1 may pull something together, may even crown a 2011 GP champion, but the truth is, it's over. And it has been ever since Alistair Overeem put Peter Aerts down one year ago. The only question left is, when will they pull the plug? 

Posted in: world, showtime, year, gp, prix

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Big news from the kickboxing world today - controversial fighter Badr Hari has announced his retirement from kickboxing. The news came via Hari's management at It's Showtime, stating that the K-1 veteran would be leaving kickboxing in order to move to the US and begin a professional boxing career. Hari will have at least one final fight, as he faces Gokhan Saki on the January 28 It's Showtime card in what will be Hari's last fight. Known as "The Golden Boy", Hari has been one of the most polarizing figures in K-1 and kickboxing for some time. Hari's aggressive style earned him great acclaim and a legion of fans, but his uneven temper has also caused him troubles. In 2008, Hari was the first fighter ever to be disqualified in the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals as he stomped a downed Remy Bonjasky in an ugly scene. 2010 saw a near repeat of this incident when he kicked Hesdy Gerges on the ground in an It's Showtime event. Shortly after the Gerges incident, Hari became entangled in an incident involving the assault of a nightclub bouncer. He was wanted by police in Amsterdam, and left the country for some time. He would not return to the sport until one year later after finally getting these legal issues sorted out. Despite these troubles, Hari remains a very popular fighter. He's had great successes in his career, including twice making the K-1 Grand Prix finals, and holding knock out victories over huge names like Alistair Overeem, Peter Aerts, and Semmy Schilt. His fights with Ruslan Karaev, Stefan Leko, and Errol Zimmerman are all classics for fans of non-stop action and huge KOs. Hari has talked about the switch to boxing for some time, including an announcement that he would box for Morocco in the 2012 Olympics (though that seems to have passed). If he is serious about the move, his personality and heavy hands will make him an intriguing new Heavyweight, though he'll have to answer questions about his chin, defenses, and of course his temper. One other note from this news - the Saki fight will be Hari's last, but he's also scheduled to take part in the K-1 Grand Prix later this year. However, It's Showtime, who is a co-promoter of the GP, stated that Hari may not take part, as the GP may not happen at all due to outstanding fighter pay on the part of K-1. If the GP happens, Hari will be in, but for now the event is in jeopardy.

Posted in: fight, showtime, kickboxing, hari, prix finals

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It what can only be described as "sudden", It's Showtime has announced Badr Hari's impending retirement from the sport of kickboxing on their official website. Badr Hari has decided to retire from kickboxing to start a new career as a boxer. On January 28, 2012, Badr Hari will fight his last kickboxing match on the IT’S SHOWTIME event in WTC Expo in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. After this fight, he will go to the United Stated to fully work on his boxing career. This announcement will be a shock to the millions of kickboxing fans all around the world, but the sport of boxing will welcome and embrace this charismatic fighter. In the U.S., many see Badr Hari as the man to relaunch the popularity of boxing, and he’s being seen as a mix of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. Even more bizarre than the news that Hari is retiring is the degree to which It's Showtime has their foot on the hyperbole accelerator in reflecting on Hari's boxing prospects. I'm no kickboxing effort, but I've seen enough Hari fights (and even chimed in atop my soapbox on his legal troubles) to know his defense leaves a lot to be desired. I do think Badr's mechanics are competent enough, but American boxing is nothing if not a polished, dedicated machine. David Haye would use Hari as a Moroccan toothpick, and not even Haye is part Tyson, or Ali. But nevermind the obviously absurd comparison. In addition, It's Showtime appears to add weight to the rumor that the K-1 World Grand Prix may not even happen. However, the bad news is not to be outdone by the revelation that Gokhan Saki is also considering retiring from K-1. For a sport that is clearly ailing, this news couldn't come at a worse time. Daniel Herbertson has more at MMAFighting.

Posted in: showtime, kickboxing, badr hari, hari, badr

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It's Showtime has announced that super welterweight kingpin Giorgio Petrosyan will be meeting promotional champion Chris Ngimbi at an event set for The Sand in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on December 17th. The bout between Giorgio Petrosyan and Chris Ngimbi marks the first true sign of It's Showtime's effort to bring order to the ranks of its various weight classes. While finding real success, the promotion has generally oriented its events toward showcasing contracted talent in lieu of establishing an embedded set of weight classes. While the bout between Petrosyan and Ngimbi may do little for the promotion's lesser division - 73 kg., 95 kg., etc. - it is a great beginning to the process of making sure that championship contests are rooted in merit as much as name. Giorgio Petrosyan has quite clearly been the top fighter at super welterweight for over two years and has posted a half-dozen wins under the It's Showtime banner alone. The two-time K-1 MAX champion's lone shortcoming at this point seems to be his recurring hand injuries. Petrosyan is also scheduled to meet Spain's Zeben Diaz at the It's Showtime event in Tenerife on November 12th. Chris Ngimbi will enter the December bout not only as an underdog, but also with his early exit from the It's Showtime Fast and Furious tournament fresh in the minds of fans. There, Ngimbi was able to take a decision win over rival Murat Direkci before losing a decision to eventual tournament winner Robin van Roosmalen. Petrosyan and Ngimbi have met once before, as Petrosyan took a three round decision in April 2008. Look for additional news regarding the It's Showtime event on December 17th to come in the near future.

Posted in: showtime, december, ngimbi, chri, petrosyan

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Filed under: K1, JapanIn yet another blow to the struggling sport, kickboxing has lost its brightest and most controversial young star as Badr Hari, former K-1 heavyweight champion and two-time K-1 World GP finalist, has made the decision to retire from kickboxing after a final Jan. 28, 2012 bout against Gokhan Saki to go to the United States to pursue a boxing career. The news, which comes via a release posted on the It's Showtime website on Wednesday, also casts serious doubt over the 26-year-old's participation in the Dec. 10 K-1 World GP Final 16 and in fact, raises questions as to whether the 2011 K-1 World GP will even take place at all. "If K-1 will host a World Grand Prix this year, Badr will also participate to that," the release from It's Showtime states. "The Grand Prix Final is scheduled for December 10 in China. If this World Grand Prix will take place, depends if K-1 will be able to pay its debts to IT'S SHOWTIME and others. If not, the fight on January 28 will be Badr's only remaining fight as a kickboxer." When the K-1 World GP Final 16 was finally announced earlier this month, K-1 President Sadaharu Tanikawa specifically thanked It's Showtime CEO Simon Rutz for his support in co-promoting, but the statement above gives one the distinct impression that things may have soured on that deal. There have been rumors in Japan that the K-1 World GP Final 16 may not actually take place and the statement from It's Showtime adds significant weight to that. Due to declining popularity, lack of TV deals and lack of sponsorship, K-1 promoter FEG have been struggling badly financially for the past few years and now owe a large amount of money to many fighters at teams. Alistair Overeem, Jerome Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Ray Sefo, the Golden Glory team, It's Showtime and others have publicly stated that the K-1 owe them large sums of money - in many cases well into six figures and even seven figures. The move from Badr Hari into the world of boxing comes as no real surprise given his recent discussion of the sport and the economic state of K-1. Hari has often expressed a desire to go into either Olympic or professional boxing and after a series of troubles - in and out of the ring - the timing seems right. Hari's exceptional kickboxing career, though short, has been punctuated with knockouts and controversy. The Moroccan-Dutch heavyweight arrived on the kickboxing scene in 2005 with a brutal spinning back kick knockout of Stefan Leko in a K-1 World GP reserve bout, but a 2006 brawl at a press conference with Peter Graham and his refusal to leave the ring and subsequent destruction of backstage dressing rooms following a loss to Ruslan Karaev saw Hari's public perception turn from "Golden Boy" into "Bad Boy". After capturing the vacant K-1 heavyweight title, Hari made a run at the K-1 World GP in 2008, knocking out Peter Aerts and Errol Zimmerman before getting disqualified in the final against Remy Bonjasky for kicking and stomping his opponent while he was down. The unsportsmanlike act caused a large amount of controversy in K-1 and Hari was stripped of his heavyweight title, not awarded any prize money and not awarded the title of GP runner-up. Rebounding from a shocking knockout loss to Alistair Overeem at Dynamite, Hari again made it to the final of the K-1 World GP in 2009 after defeating Ruslan Karaev and Alistair Overeem in a rematch, but fell to the much bigger Semmy Schilt. Not learning from past mistakes Hari was again disqualified in 2010, this time while defending his It's Showtime heavyweight title against Hedsey Gerges. Like the Bonjasky fight, Hari again kicked a downed opponent and lost his title. Although he was initially unapologetic for his actions, Hari voluntarily took a one year break from the ring. Hari has also had problems discipline outside of the ring, charged with assaulting a neighbor in 2006 and was wanted for questioning in 2010 in regards to a nightclub brawl that left a doorman with a fractured eye socket and broken nose. Coincidentally Gokhan Saki, Hari's final opponent in the kickboxing ring and another top young stars in the sport, is also considering leaving kickboxing and has been publicly discussing a move to MMA for some time. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: world, showtime, gp, hari, world gp

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[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] While It's Showtime's "Fast & Furious 70MAX" event was going on yesterday, they quickly announced an event for December 17th in Amsterdam. The event will take place at The Sand, a venue It's Showtime has visited prevously this year and last year. A somewhat long awaited match, Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Chris Ngimbi was confirmed for the card. In making this fight, it looks like It's Showtime is now trying to legitimize their world title at 70kg. Giorgio Petrosyan is easily the undisputed number one fighter at the weight. Chris Ngimbi won the belt in December, with, many people including myself thinking that he should've lost. Ngimbi hasn't done much to convince anyone that the It's Showtime 70MAX World Title is a legitimate "world" title, and losing in the 70kg tournament yesterday doesn't help his cause. Having Petrosyan as the champion would help a lot in getting the belt recognition. Mind you, if Ngimbi wins then the title is legit since he beat the number one fighter at the weight. (But let's be real here. What are the chances of Ngimbi winning?) Read More...

Posted in: event, showtime, ngimbi, chris ngimbi, petrosyan

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Premium cable channel Showtime will broadcast five fights from M-1 Challenge 27, an event topped by an M-1 Global heavyweight title rematch between unbeaten Ukrainian Guram Gugenishvili and American challenger Kenny Garner.

Posted in: challenger, showtime, guram, challenge, kenny

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It's Showtime 70 kg. champion Chris Ngimbi will meet Murat Direkci in the opening round of the It's Showtime Fast and Furious Tournament on Saturday. The two met in a bout last December, which saw Ngimbi take the 70 kg. title from Direkci. Chris Ngimbi has emerged as one of the top fighters in his weight division after spending years posting mixed results in and around the Netherlands. Ngimbi, once known as a minor titleholder who was infamously knocked out against Joerie Mes, has won his last five bouts. The Congolese-Dutch fighter put himself in line for a chance at the It's Showtime title last May, when he scored a flying knee knockout over Anthony Nekrui. Ngimbi has fought once since winning the title last December, defending his title in May against French fighter Willy Borrel. There, Ngimbi scored another impressive flying knee knockout. Murat Direkci hasn't competed since losing to Ngimbi last December. Direkci has posted a 5-2 record since 2009, with wins over fellow tournament competitors Gago Drago and Chahid Oulad el Hadj and a loss to Artur Kyshenko. While Direkci has established himself as a bit of a name at the international level, there is a great deal of uncertainty in his style. When sharp, Direkci has the ability to put the competition away early with his boxing, which is led by a dangerous left hook. Yet, the Belgian-born fighter can also be pulled into brawls and given significant amounts of trouble. Just one bout before losing his It's Showtime title to Chris Ngimbi, Direkci was nearly stopped by Enriko Kehl in Germany. Direkci was able to recover and grab a first round stoppage of his own, but the fact remains that he had real issues in a lightly-viewed bout that he should have won handily. As the It's Showtime champion, Chris Ngimbi will be a definite favorite in this quarterfinal contest on Saturday. While Ngimbi's most impressive showings have perhaps come against lesser competition, there has been a marked increase in his ability to advance his offense in a manner both intelligent and devastating. The days of Ngimbi getting caught with his hands down while throwing a lazy knee appear to be over. Perhaps the biggest question which remains in this bout is how Direkci will respond to an improved Ngimbi. It seems we'll soon find out.

Posted in: showtime, ngimbi, direkci, chri, chris ngimbi

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What, you thought UFC signing away three of Strikeforce's five men's champions, all of which have a much higher profile than the remaining two, meant Zuffa wanted to do away with the boys from San Jose? Apparently, that's not the case, at least not if you hear UFC President Dana White tell it, which he did recently to Heavy: "We do want to keep (Strikeforce) around. The ball is in Showtime's court. We're waiting to hear back from them (on) whether they want to stay in the Strikeforce business or not. I can't even get into the details, it's so not my thing. I have literally not been in one of these meetings. I do the UFC, that's it. We'll see what happens." These are sentiments echoing what White stated at the UFC 135 pre-fight press conference yesterday, when he continued to shrug off the idea of a women's division in the UFC. The extension of that is whether or not said women would have a home in Strikeforce past early 2012, which is when the contract with Showtime runs out. And that's where White says it's up to the cable television channel if they want to renew. This despite the fact they've been given every reason not to. Indeed, even upon being asked such questions, White looks, dare I say, mildly annoyed at having to provide answers. Video after the jump so you can judge for yourself.

Posted in: ufc, strikeforce, san jose, showtime, strikeforce business

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As usual, Dana White chatted with the press about all the hot topics in MMA following today’s UFC 135 pre-fight press conference. MMA Nation has video of the chat above. Below, rundown of all the news and notes along with Dana’s interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. — Now that Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem and Dan Henderson have all officially left Strikeforce, pretty much no one expects the organization to stick around in its current form when the Showtime deal ends in Feb. 2012. Dana White says however that Strikeforce’s future is completely in Showtime’s hands. “Who knows what’s going to happen? The way this thing works is, it depends on Showtime. The ball’s in their court. They need to decide whether they want to keep Strikeforce around or not.” “It depends on whether they seriously want to stay in the business, the mixed martial arts business,” White said, before hinting that he thought Strikeforce had signed a bad deal when it aligned itself with Showtime. “Everybody that comes into this business thinks that pay-per-view or free TV is the holy grail, the answer to everybody’s problems. Bulls–t. Either of those two things will put you out of business. You get into a bad deal with one of these companies, and the next thing you know you’re $30 million in the hole.” “I would classify everybody who’s done a television deal out there besides us has done a bad deal. Everyone.” Dana added that Showtime only has about a month left to decide whether or not they want to extend the contract with Showtime, but reading between the lines it doesn’t sound like Zuffa is just going to agree to the same terms that Scott Coker and Co. did even if Showtime is interested. If you ask me, the writing’s on the wall. — Nick Diaz is officially off Dana White’s shit list. Dana says he’s spent some quality time on the phone with Diaz since the press conference incident and has come to the realization that he’s just going to have deal with him differently than the other fighters. “Here’s the thing with Nick Diaz, which I’m not used to, but I’m going to get used to it: He’s just a different guy,” White today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’m going to have to handle him and deal with him differently than I do every other guy in the UFC.” “It’s not that he has to,” he said. “But you have to play by some of the rules. I’m not asking you to not be yourself … or come up to me and say ‘hi’ to me when you see me. It doesn’t matter. But I think I can work with it, and I think we can figure this thing out. I respect him as a fighter, people like to see him fight, there’s no doubt he’s got a little nutty side to him, but we’ll figure this thing out. “What I’m more worried about are the things that he has to do, like follow the rules that the athletic commission of whatever state we’re in lays down. You’ve got to follow those rules. There’s no bending or curving on that. All the other stuff is all, who cares. The kid’s a fighter.” Dana hasn’t confirmed that Diaz will get another title shot if he beats BJ Penn, but he hasn’t ruled it out either. — Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le are the official main and co-main events for UFC 139. As expected, Dana White hinted that Hendo and Shogun could very well determine who fights for the UFC light heavyweight title after Rashad Evans. “It would be tough not to give the winner of that fight the next shot after Rashad (Evans),” White said. “Rashad’s next.” Dana confirmed that the potential number one contender’s bout will be a five-rounder. — Wanderlei Silva’s future in the UFC could be on the line when he faces Cung Le at UFC 139. Dana stopped short of saying that he would definitely force Wand to retire if he loses to Le, but he definitely hinted that it’s a real possibility. “It’s one of those things,” White said. “There’s this fine line between telling a guy you’ve got to hang it up and him actually wanting to hang it up. We’ll give him this fight with Cung Le, and we’ll go from there.” “He knew going into that last fight how I felt about it,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “The thing with me is, I love Wanderlei. Wanderlei has been awesome ever since he’s come to the UFC. You couldn’t ask for a nicer guy and a guy who goes in and gives it all. But listen, I don’t want to see a guy go in and get hurt. You guys have heard me say it a million times: I don’t want to make one dollar of that kind of money. I don’t. Otherwise, if that was the case, Chuck Liddell would still be fighting. “People get pissed off every time I say this – people are like, ‘Who are you?’ Unfortunately for people who don’t like it, I am the one who makes those decisions. Whether you like it or not, too [expletive] bad.” — Neither Dana White nor Matt Hughes knows what’s next for him after the Koscheck fight, but neither are talking like this is the end if Hughes loses. All Hughes would say is he doesn’t want to fight in his 40′s. He’s 37 now. You do the math. — Don’t tell Clay Guida and Ben Henderson, but Dana White seems to be favoring Melvin Guillard for the next lightweight title shot if he beats Joe Lauzon at UFC 136.

Posted in: ufc, guy, dana, showtime, thing

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Strikeforce's future will likely be decided in the next month.

Posted in: strikeforce, showtime, month, month ’, future

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Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceDENVER -- Near the end of Wednesday's UFC 135 pre-fight press conference, a particularly insistent fan decided he didn't need the microphone in order to grill UFC president Dana White about the future of Strikeforce's women's division, of which he seemed to be an ardent supporter. What would become of the female fighters, he inquired, after Strikeforce...well, you know. "After Strikeforce what?" White shot back. Though really, he didn't need to ask. He understood the unstated assumption as well as anyone in the room, and the sheepish grin on his face said as much. "Are you assuming that we're going to shut Strikeforce down?" White asked, as if it was the first time he'd heard the idea. To hear White tell it, it's not a question of whether Zuffa wants to continue to operate the lesser-known organization it acquired last spring. Instead, he insisted, it's up to Showtime, which broadcasts the fights on its premium cable network. "Who knows what's going to happen? The way this thing works is, it depends on Showtime. The ball's in their court. They need to decide whether they want to keep Strikeforce around or not," White said. Of course, with the UFC picking off Strikeforce champions left and right, it seems as though White isn't giving Showtime a lot of reasons to keep the flagging organization alive. Former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem and former welterweight champ Nick Diaz both have UFC dates in the near future, and vacant Strikeforce titles in their wakes. The UFC also recently signed Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Dan Henderson to take on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 139 after "smooth" contract negotiations, according to White, and the stakes for Hendo are indeed big in his return to the Octagon. "It would be tough not to give the winner of [Henderson-Rua] a title fight," White added. "After Rashad [Evans]." But while Strikeforce continues to play out its Showtime contract, White doesn't seem terribly interested in following the action. He claimed not to have seen the most recent World Heavyweight Grand Prix event, which got very little hype from Zuffa or Showtime, and received dismal ratings after drawing a paltry live crowd. Showtime reportedly has an option to extend the Strikeforce contract, but White added there was a "deadline" for the network to decide by. "It depends on whether they seriously want to stay in the business, the mixed martial arts business," White said, before hinting that he thought Strikeforce had signed a bad deal when it aligned itself with Showtime. "Everybody that comes into this business thinks that pay-per-view or free TV is the holy grail, the answer to everybody's problems. Bulls--t. Either of those two things will put you out of business. You get into a bad deal with one of these companies, and the next thing you know you're $30 million in the hole." It's comments like that that have many in the industry assuming it's all just a matter of time before Strikeforce disappears for good. With the Showtime contract expiring soon, and with ratings worse than ever, it seems unlikely that the cable network would want to continue to air an organization that is rapidly losing its few stars to the UFC. And maybe that's the whole point, even though White won't confirm or deny it. "I'm UFC, man," he said. "I'm all UFC and you guys know that. I wanted nothing to do with this thing. And it's not like I'm Showtime's best friend. Lorenzo [Fertitta]'s much nicer than me. Let Lorenzo go deal with that." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, business, strikeforce, showtime, contract

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[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] We have a very busy schedule coming up for us after a bit of downtime. First off, DREAM.17 marks the return of live Japanese MMA to HDnet on September 24th. That isn't the end of the action for fight fans, though. Not by a long shot. For kickboxing fans there are two huge 70kg tournaments happening in the two kickboxing hot beds of the world. It's Showtime puts on their Fast and Furious 70kg MAX tournament. The Fast and Furious tournament is shaping up to be the biggest tournament of the year, hands down, in any weight class in the kickboxing world. The event will be streamed on It's Showtime's website, ShowtimeFights.com for the usual 10 euros live, and according to Andrew Simon from HDnet, there are plans of airing the event on the 14th of October. On top of that, It's Showtime has promised today that on Friday they will announce the fight card for the January 28th It's Showtime event, including the location and they've promised "REALLY breaking news." Read More...

Posted in: event, showtime, tournament, kickboxing, class

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Press releaseM-1 GLOBAL announced today an upcoming mixed martial arts (MMA) event titled M-1 Challenge: Guram vs. Garner II featuring the rematch between current M-1 Global Heavyweight (265 Lbs.) Champion Guram Gugenishvili (11-0) and 2010 M-1 Selection Americas Tournament heavyweight winner Kenny ‘Deuce' Garner (7-3). The bouts from the new 5,550 seat Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix, Arizona will air LIVE on SHOWTIME on Friday, October 14 at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on the West Coast).In co-main event action, Light Heavyweight (205 Lbs.) Champion and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist Vinny Magalhaes (8-5) will make his first title defense against versatile Russian fighter Mikhail Zayats (14-5). Tickets are priced at $35, $45, $75 and $100 and can be purchased at www.GCUArena.com, charge by phone at 602-639-8999 or visit the GCU Arena Box Office located at 3300 W. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85017"Our Champions are hungry to defend their titles and this is shaping up to be our strongest, most exciting card of the year." said Vadim Finkelschtein, co-founder of M-1 GLOBAL. "This marks our third event with SHOWTIME; there's no better TV network for M-1 than SHOWTIME and no better market to seriously compete in than the U.S.""Garner has been extremely vocal about wanting a rematch with Guram and he's put the work in to get this opportunity," said Evgeni Kogan, M-1 Global's Director of operations. "This is a great title fight between two fierce opponents."Ranked as the sport's #1 Heavyweight prospect by Bloody Elbow, Gugenishvili has left a long list of opponents in his wake of destruction since coming on the scene in July, 2009. The winner of the inaugural 2010 M-1 Selection Eastern European tournament and Europe's leading MMA promotion's reigning heavyweight champion, Guram's most notable characteristic is his agility; at 6'4" and 250lbs, he moves around the ring lightly, maintaining precise offensive ring positioning.Gugenishvili was sidelined from his July title defense after suffering a wrist injury during a training session; now recovered and ready for action, Guram is more than accepting of Garner's challenge, "Garner knows where to find me if he wants my belt; I will defend it."Kenny ‘Deuce' Garner's first run-in with Guram was in October 2010 and it ended unpleasantly, being choked unconscious via standing guillotine in the second round. Since then Garner has won back-to-back bouts via knockout.Garner is best known for his relentless self-marketing which he backs up with one-punch power as evidenced by his five knockout wins. Hidden behind the heavy leather is also a potent submission arsenal and solid wrestling base which makes this rematch a potentially explosive outing for both men."I always said I'd get another chance to claim MY belt!" said Garner. "I made a mistake in my last fight with Guram and I know it. It cost me my title. This time out - no mistakes! This is my opportunity to chase down my belt! I've been training hard and I'm not losing to Guram; he's not making it out of the first round."For information on M-1 Global, go to the official M-1 website, www.M-1Global.com and M-1 Global facebook fan page.Mauro Ranallo will call the action from ringside with Pat Miletich serving as analyst. The telecast will be produced by Chuck McKean and directed by Craig Farrell. The executive producer of SHOWTIME Sports is David Dinkins, Jr.For information on SHOWTIME Sports programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video, photos and much more, please visit http://sports.sho.comAbout M-1 Global:Founded in 1998, M-1 Global (www.M-1Global.com) has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world's next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged over 100 events worldwide including the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge events and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States. Captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 events boast some of the sport's top names including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Stephan Struve and rising stars Shamil Zavurov, Guram Gugenishvili, Alexander Sarnavskiy and Vinny Magalhaes. 2011 marks a breakthrough year with two Selections tournaments across Eastern & Western Europe, North America and Asia and a full calendar of Challenge events fuelled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global's Champions amongst the greatest in the sport.M-1 Global's greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko. With daily coverage on all MMA-related websites in the world, and articles in Time Magazine, LA times and New York Times, Fedor and M-1 Global make a lifetime match serving as the catalyst to grow MMA in the 21st century.About Showtime Networks Inc.Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNELTMTM, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNELTM XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HDTM, THE MOVIE CHANNELTM HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNELTM ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian ChannelTM. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®. and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2About HYPE Enterprises:HYPE Enterprises, LLC ("HYPE") is a sports and entertainment promotional company based in Phoenix, AZ, founded in 2011 by 5-time US Masters judo champion and former Dutch soccer star Werner Van Hees. HYPE partnered with Gemini Sports President Rob Yowell to co-promote and handle all sponsorships and event marketing. HYPE promotes mixed martial arts events forM-1 Global in the US and Canada.

Posted in: event, showtime, &reg, guram, quot

Read the full article at UltMMA