Thursday, August 6, 2009

Notes From Strikeforce/Fedor/M-1 Global Conference Call

  • The UFC lied about what they offered to Fedor.
  • Fedor is willing to fight anyone for his first fight in Strikeforce.
  • Brett Rogers is a more worthy opponent for Fedor than Brock Lesnar, as Lesnar is only 4-1 in MMA.
  • The whole Gegard Mousasi/UFC offer thing was fabricated BS by the UFC.
  • Brock sucks.
  • Vadim Finkelstein either owns a dog, or was driving during the call and ran a dog over.
  • Strikeforce will aim to do pay-per-views six to nine months down the road.
  • Fedor is kept fully abreast of the decisions being made on his behalf. He even receives financial reports.
  • Someone please feed that dog.
  • The UFC's offer to Fedor was miserable. If it really was for $30 million, he would've signed the contract for sure.
  • No immediate plans for a tournament, but Scott Coker likes the format.
  • Is that a car alarm?
  • Vadim, please roll up your window.
  • Dog again. Is he someone's attorney?
  • Closing statements, and everyone agrees this conference call was "different". Different? This was a Monty Python sketch. And I can't wait for another!

Predictions for UFC 101: "Ultimate No Eddie Alvarez"

The UFC comes to Philly - the land of cheesesteaks, aggressive football fans and restaurants where smoking is allowed - and strangely enough, the card lacks fighters from Pennsylvania. Wait, that's not true. Undercarder Matt Riddle was born in Allentown before moving to New York. But other than that, it's doubtful that anyone competing on Saturday night could even find the state on the map. Why the shortage on homegrown talent? Was there no one local worthy of setting foot in the Octagon? I wonder... So, wahoo! UFC 101 predictions!
  • It's easy to assume that BJ Penn is going to slaughter Kenny Florian, especially since Penn hasn't lost at lightweight since UFC 35 (and even then it was a close decision). But I give Florian a lot of credit for making himself into a skilled and dangerous fighter, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say Penn will merely massacre the New Englander.
  • Forrest Griffin's got a lot heart - which will be proven when Anderson Silva rips it out of the TUF winner's chest and holds it up for all to see.
  • Amir Sadollah - does anyone really remember who he is or what happened during his season of TUF? I sure don't. In fact, when he gets into the cage and faces off against Johny Hendricks, Hendricks is going to snap his fingers and say, "Oh, now I remember who you are! You're my pizza delivery guy!"
  • If Kendall Grove survives Ricardo Almeida's early, first-round submission assault, Almeida will be mentally broken and become easy prey for the Hawaiian's... whatever it is he does. Clinch and knee game? Dirty boxing? Who knows.
  • Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino? That match-up has staph infection written all over it! (Get it? 'Cause they're both grapplers? Heh.)