Armed

Justin Buchholz joins Carson to discuss what came to be his loss last night on a zuffa event. Also, our host gives an even tempered review of the much discussed Strikeforce event. I thought it was a pretty fair assessment. Carson mentioned how the Walker fight made SVS&E's model similar to DSE's. I prefer to place it as kin.

Everyone promoting MMA has been using a similar model for a number of years. What is this era that we are in? It's one characterized by mixing good athletes with charade. Sometimes that means bringing in celebrities just to draw attention from the idiot masses, and sometimes it means fighters themselves selecting to act as entertainers during a contest. Rolles Gracie found out about that last night. When you sign with zuffa, you better read the fine print with a magnifying glass. But, as I inferred, zuffa is the biggest tumor in a cancerous sport body. We are in an era of sports entertainment. Too many are trying to pass toughman contests and celebrity appearances off as valuable sporting competition. Too many people are buying it.

Follow the first link to hear the midseason report on Iowa State's wrestling program with retired MMA fighter and Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson. Hear what the gold medalist thinks of how wrestling serves as the best sport for crossing over into MMA and much more.

We've been so busy saying what's wrong with the Strikeforce event lately that we've almost forgot about the moves the people behind the Bellator event are making. These guys seem poised for a rise, and if their website's news section is

any indication, they may have the funding to make it. Certainly, they are making the right moves with the fighters they're signing. Good scouting has led to the addition of many great young fighters to their tournaments, the latest but not least of these being Joe Warren. Eddie Goldman discusses wrestling and MMA with the rising athlete that will get a chance to prove himself according to principles of competition rather than of some wwe-clone matchmaker as he participates in the upcoming Bellator FW tournament. Look forward to this, folks.

Some of the Goldman and Perretti's critique of this past weekend's Strikeforce event deteriorated into mean-spirited insult. Worse, zuffa may have been granted impunity by our knowledgeable reviewers. I'll try to be concise in explanation.

Perretti's criticism of Mauro Ranallo is well founded. But when Ranallo is singled out for spewing "verbal diarrhea" the critique devolves into ad hominem. What Ranallo does as a commentator is no different than what most combat sports announcers do. This does not excuse it, but when he is singled out, it's a personal attack. When one person does something wrong, it's a personal problem. When many do it's a public issue.

The critique is similarly set back when the Strikeforce event is said to be "the circus to zuffa's harley davidson." If by harley davidson, Perretti invokes an analogy to middle-aged men deluding themselves into the youth they never had, I see the correlation. However, let's not delude ourselves. If "Strikeforce" is a circus called "Smackdown," then "UFC" is a circus called "Raw is War." They're using the same model. Perretti, for unknown reasons, implies "UFC" is a higher quality, arguing "at least their mismatches are purposeful." Zuffa's mismatches and tinkering with judges serve one purpose: get the bigger star "over." It's Entertainment 101. When Herschel Walker was brought in, it was this school of thought that was employed. Walker was featured on "Strikeforce" for the same reason Kimbo is on "UFC" events. Which fighter is better? Who cares. Neither deserves to be in our conversation. But why is zuffa let off the hook? In a way, the Fertittas are more guilty for employing an elementary strategy. Their brand sells itself, and they still drag the sport through the mud. Perretti is picking on the little guy here. It's easier to tap out the little guy.

I also challenge Goldman to answer his claim that zuffa events, specifically "UFC" events, are now featuring more submissions. The numbers tell us the exact opposite. I'll wager the next zuffa event has no more than one submission applied, on and off broadcast.  Maybe Goldman is suggesting that their recent partnership with Flash Entertainment will change the complexion of their events. Maybe once a year in Abu Dhabi to appease the local audience (when fighters change their style to appease the locals, is this sport?). I doubt it'll be more than that. Renzo Gracie will need to learn tough-man striking if he wants to succeed with zuffa, not that he sold out in order to climb zuffa's rankings.

Now there were some successful critiques made. Perretti was one of the few I've seen online who noticed the ineptitude of the refereeing at "Strikeforce: Miami". When Diaz went down, the referee stopped the fight for a second. This was the "low-light" of a number of grossly inexplicable moments. Goldman and Perretti also mention the screw-up of the Hieron, Riggs stream. No real apology was given for this. It looks bad all around: they look ill prepared and unapologetic. By "they," I mean Explosion Entertainment.

I agree with the general hypothesis of this latest NHB: this is not how to run MMA. What is "this" though? It, in fact, is all of the above: it is Strikeforce, UFC, Dream and a whole host of shows. Despite the problem being widespread, this latest NHB hinted that zuffa gets impunity because their shows are profitable. Thinking of this kind is straight out of right field. AIG and Goldman Sachs are  also innocent by the "profit defense," regardless of how they came to their riches.  

People hate zuffa for different reasons. Some people only hate them because they're winning. Some people don't even hate zuffa---they just wish dana white would lose his job. Don't count me in this crowd. What's wrong with zuffa isn't that they're winning or that their public representative is a nit-wit boxercise instructor. Zuffa is detestable for the same reason AIG and Goldman Sachs are: they use and abuse people who have less than them; they use their profits not to improve their product and service, but to rip even more people off.  My politics are to the far left. Even if yours aren't, zuffa's financial success does not get them get-out-of-jail-free-cards.  They are not excused from an ultimate criticism; their gains do not make their show, their contractors' lives, and the sport of a higher quality. They sure as hell don't.

In addition to sitting down with Eddie Goldman to preview tomorrow's Strikeforce, Bob Carson also released two interviews on this edition of Carson's Corner. One is with fighter Drew Fickett, and another with agent Eric Nyenhuis. Despite what we've heard about Fickett being a drunk (what's wrong with that), he has some palpable opinions and is a fine contrast to the Lesners and Palins of the world. He divulges that the substances most abused amongst athletes are rarely heard about, and this is because their legality makes their use a non-story. We're talking about the drugs from big pharma here. You know, that stuff that's been killing off half a dozen celebrities every year. Nobody in the media notices, because nothing could be wrong with a drug dealer so long as it's corporate and buys ad time.

Carson's second interview is with Eric Nyenhuis. Nyenhuis is an agent: he therefore puts on a new coat pretty easily. His new position on zuffa is that "they're good business people. If you're dumb enough to sign a contract with them you deserve to get ripped off." I feel this way about Tito Ortiz, but not every fighter. And moreover, few fighters are knowing enough to realize they are being ripped off---they went into martial arts, not philosophy. But this isn't my counterpoint. I submit that people shouldn't be praised for being frauds, whether these people are mafia brats that bankrupted their father's casino, or bankers that disappeared billions of tax dollars. Listen, I don't admire any business people, but if any are to be admired, it should be those that are good at something more than the tricking the indigent. The Fertittas get poor people to waste rent money on horrifically bad PPVs. They're snake oil salesmen.

Nyenhuis also gives an update on Mikey Burnett. Presently, it looks as if zuffa will either settle or go to court; they couldn't get the case thrown out. Most likely, as I see it, zuffa will go to court. This should tell you something about who the Fertittas are. But you should have already known.

The Strikeforce event doesn't have it easy with MMA bloggers. They are busy cheerleading for zuffa's product, which is frustrating in two senses: MMA bloggers are frequently incapable of noticing more than one MMA event---i.e., they are simpletons, and it is hard to be coolheaded when faced by a regime of simpletons. In the other sense, one that does not counteract the first, most MMA bloggers are extremely right-wing fanatics that actually admire the bankrupt Fertittas and their lackeys. Anyone with any notion of justice feels a strong impulse of disgust whenever fascist monsters such as the Fertittas are put on a pedestal.

As consequence of this double bolted zuffa bias, all non-zuffa mma shows have a difficult time getting attention. Eddie Goldman and Bob Carson, who lean left to zuffa's right, are willing to give attention to other shows. Not only that, they are able to perform the simple act of critique. They critique the Strikeforce card, as well as its promotional errors, and unlike most MMA bloggers, they are afterward able to turn their displeasure to zuffa.

I won't give a corresponding rundown of their preview. Let me just react to a few points:

1. Hieron, Riggs should be on the main card.

We all agree on this. It will be shown online at the EA MMA game site, but inasmuch that it's a contender's match for "the" WW belt, it should be televised.

Why won't it be broadcast? Because this event needs ratings, and someone suspects Walker will deliver on this end. Goldman mentions it could as easily end in disaster if Walker leaves on a stretcher, for instance. I suppose this has been accounted for by Coker and the TV producers at Showtime. But they need to attract an audience. Even if they were to put Hieron, Riggs on the main card the Walker fight would probably  bump something else; it would still make broadcast. The show needs ratings. It's repeatable. I don't support their way of getting them but understand their urgency.

2. If Coker and company are urgent, why are they not more involved online?

There's no disputing that Explosion Entertainment (the group that produces the Strikeforce events) are way behind in terms of making use of internet technology. We need not complicate what their shortcoming is: in short, they are not present. I'm on the Strikeforce forum and its administration is simply not present. They're not there. One has to take the ten minutes a day to be there. MMA fans are very juvenile. They need that contact from their father and because they don't get it, they turn to slime-balls like certified boxercise instructor dana white for guidance.

Then again, Explosion Entertainment's failing is my failing.

A healthy number of people see through zuffa's scams and expose them daily on internet forums. The number of such people is growing; however, we aren't organizing ourselves. Just as Scott Coker can't get his troops together online, those of us who know the lowdown on zuffa still hide in the woodworks, under the rocks; we are content to be "what the cat dragged in." Part of the reason for this is we aren't getting paid for this shit. We're just doing it because we know MMA has deteriorated since the fascist fertittas started profiting from it. We hate their MMA events, we hate the Fertittas, but dammit, we like MMA. No one hires us to put this passion into an organized effort. No one we're trying to help helps us. Coker sends his fighters to that punk ariel helwani when he should be getting his fighters in contact with Bob Carson. Does he not get that much of the MMA media has an agenda to support zuffa? Does he not notice that helwani can't go 2 minutes without asking why Fedor didn't sign with "the ufc," or that Fighter's Only magazine is in fact "zuffa fighters only." Did he not see that their latest piece on Alistar Overeem was nothing more than the work of a zuffa zombie trying to get Overeem to sign with zuffa? As the article appeared and spread around online, there was no response from Explosion Entertainment. Some people would call it a mild form of contract tampering, but nothing was said to counter it.  

Of course, we are at fault for allowing ourselves to be what the cat dragged in. Our gravest shortcoming is/has been our own inability to join forces to oppose zuffa. It's important we are able to decenter our critique of this horrible organization so that we don't become incestuous, but this does not mean we should not set up correspondence and back each other up, disseminate one another's word. This does not mean we will always agree; it means we will regard each other's words as quotable and productive, and that we will do this instead of quoting the zuffa zombie media. What Eddie Goldman thinks, for example, is always more of a discussion piece than what dave "chris benoit fan" thinks.

For some years, the loudest retaliation against zuffa's assault on MMA came from the Fightsport Forums. This has entailed a number of counterproductive handicaps in the anti-zuffa posture: 1. forum members portray themselves as jesters, or "trolls," which makes for some laughs, but who is to take a joker seriously; 2. when forum members aren't trolling, they often present solid critiques as conspiracy theories. This makes all their arguments easy to laugh off. ("The median is the message," the form is the content:) If what we're saying looks like lunacy then it is likely to be taken as such. I've fallen into formulating things in this manner myself. For example, I used to tell people zuffa paid the judges off in the Griffin, Jackson fight a few years ago. It's not that I'm wrong. It's just that I said it in such a way that it sounded maniacal. I should have said zuffa did pay the judges because that's who pays MMA judges---promoters. If we ever wish to have fair judging this arrangement will always be cancerous to the sport.

In order to succeed at spreading each other's words, we have to come out from behind the veil. In other words, we have to discontinue our online gimmicks and usernames, and replace them with adult voices and names. Another carry-over from the fightsport forums is this tendency to hide everything, to make ourselves appear as fictional characters. In a certain way that's all we ever are---but if you want to get things done politically you have to first be recognized and taken serious. We can't be known as trolls and tricksters.

Finally, much of what was found on the Fightsport forums is not only presented untenably: it is also grossly racist. Some people on the far-right may have their own reasons for despising the Fertittas, but inasmuch as the Fertittas belong to the far-right, I don't see how racism undermines these bankrupt casino owners. I would regard it as having the opposite effect: the more racist and prejudice the sport is, the more the Fertittas will profit.

I have not said all this as a Fightsport member---I've never been one. I just know that it once served as a gathering place for the revolt against zuffa. But instead of growing into an organized effort to undermine the zuffa zombie media and the indictable promotion itself, the site went the other way, straight into the abyss. There are good reasons for this. One being that they lacked the analytical tools to reasonably critique the brothers, but in sum, their far right leanings would have made a solid argument impossible in any instance.

This latest NHB was depressing for me. Goldman delivered the bad news that I know but prefer to ignore: the zuffa virus is expanding. It has a new, very wealthy backer, and is making a run into Asia. The "ufc" brand will be taken away from them---not that I care about the brand, but it's far harder to kill than zuffa, so we should kill the latter first. And I know their war on competitive decency is being derailed every chance I get to derail it. But I remain depressed. The wrong people have been equipped with most of the arms, and they're not seeing that there are individuals out there better able to use them. I'm not talking about the sword here folks. I'm saying the pen is mightier, the keyboard is mightier than the PPV buy-rate. That is, unless we are on the occasion that no one is at the forum to notice. And Explosion Entertainment, I'm afraid, is all too absent.  

Bob Carson has new interviews up with MMA fighters Ben Henderson and Daniel Puder. Puder seems to have fallen off the map as concerns MMA, but promises a return on this latest edition of the corner. Henderson's personality is in contrast to everything zuffa represents. It's a real shame he's signed with them.

We have two more NHBs to listen to. First up is Goldman's second interview with Felicia Oh, who won gold recently at the World Grappling Championship. After that Larry Nuggent stops by to review the sport of

wrestling. Because of Chris Benoit fans like Dave Meltzer, when you say wrestling people think of a genre of theater. But we're talking about the sport, and its popularity appears to be spreading. If they can manage to incorporate submissions wrestling will really take flight. 

MMA continues to take hold in Asia. The event, Martial Combat, advertised on the video below will broadcast out of a huge new resort in Singapore (that we may list as an investor), and televise on the ESPN Star network (which we list as an investor), which spans across Asia. Note this event's affiliation with the Evolve MMA gym, which sounds like more than a gym, at least as we know them. Also note, of the video, that most images are taken from FEG kickboxing events. Credit goes to Eddie Goldman for the heads up about ESPN Star MMA.

Bob Carson returns with MMA fighter Javier Vazquez as well as his own unique commentary. Carson delivers a bit of news we might consider the implications of. As we all know, zuffa makes its profits from PPV buys. People who should be paying to heat their homes and diaper their kids like to be dupes and throw their money away on tough-man contests---this is somehow good for the economy, argue those idiots that think MMA should be legalized because zuffa events generate revenues. Zuffa PPVs bankrupt people and turn them to crime---that's what they do. And live zuffa events, they come to form as a payoff.

Carson reports that zuffa gives away about 4000 of its tickets to live shows. Is it any wonder why bloggers continuously support them? Who do you think they are giving these tickets to.

I can't imagine why tickets to a ufwwe event would be of any value. I suppose I would use them to fill up a garbage can. But why would I ever use them to go to see a toughman event. Not only that, why would I be so grateful after zuffa gives me this free garbage that I spew delusional articles in support of zuffa? When you're having a bad day, or week or

year, just take a peek (only a peek---that shit is toxic) at a zuffa zombie's blog. You'll feel a sudden superiority, I promise.

Two more NHBs are on board today. First up is Goldman's discussion with "a pioneer in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu," Claudio Franca. Franca in helping to organize the west-coast (of the USA) trials for the Abu Dhabi Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup. Boy, Abu Dhabi in becoming more and more involved in the combat sports. With their apparent appreciation of Jiu-Jitsu, one has to wonder what interest they have in a tough-man event like the UFWWE. I am of course sounding ignorant on one level. A firm called flash entertainment bought a ten percent stake in zuffa, and this firm is not necessarily in charge of the push to popularize Jiu-Jitsu. Still, I ponder, whether involvement from "Abu Dhabi" (not naively over-simplfying this time) will eventually end the Fertittas destruction of MMA. (Or at least help to end it.)

This brings us to the second NHB. Goldman brings back one of our favorites, John Perretti, to discuss a particularly significant fight, that of Igor Zinoviev-Mario Sperry, and Goldman's effort to compile a list of the most significant MMA fights that have taken place. The Sperry, Zinoviev fight is particularly insightful and challenges a few major assumptions about MMA. Mainly, that the sport has evolved from what it was ten years ago. We know where these arguments come from---they come from people who think Forrest Griffin is a great striker because his technique is better than Tank

Abbot's; they come from people who watched non-SEG UFC events. What these people don't know is that these events were organized like the current Fertitta promoted UFWWEs. Fighters advanced because of their freakishly fan-friendly qualities, much as they do now. How can this be used to grade the quality of a fight? I mean, we have people who will argue endlessly that Forrest Griffin's first contest with Stephen Bonnar was a great MMA fight. How the hell was that MMA?

What you'll notice about the Zunoviev, Sperry fight, most of all, is that these two athletes were seemingly better at MMA than most of those regarded as today's top MMA fighters. I encourage Eddie Goldman and John Perretti to continue to make us aware of fights that demonstrate as much.

The first event I watched that mixed martial arts disciplines was probably a UFC one. However, the second one I watched was an Extreme Fighting one. Not everyone cares to see the other side as I do. Some people find an icon to worship and that's where their thinking stops. It's my goal to make these foolish people the side-show performers, the pat robertsons of MMA. The zombies must be stopped; the best way to do that is to enlighten as many as we can, and let the rest devour themselves in isolation.