hurtbusiness

A quick update

Over on the main site, we have a feature article explaining why the M-1 Challenge coming to the UK is the most positive UK MMA news this year.

read it at:

www.hurtbusiness.com

reading

Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Not much to do with MMA (although there is a bit of Georgian wrestling early on). A fascinating and entertaining portrait of a significant figure.

The Pyjama Game: A Journey into Judo by Mark Law

Gets a bit carried away (and the bit about Gracie jiu jitsu and MMA is not great ), but a well written memoir of a man sucked into the world of everyone's second favourite martial art. 

TV

The Wire on F/X

Not much to do with MMA (although there is Cutty's boxing gym and Avon Barksdale fought at the Golden Gloves when he was a kid), but it is the best TV show ever. 




www.hurtbusiness.com

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."

Oogway in Kung Fu Panda

Wise words indeed.

This weekend, it's Cage Gladiators giving us a treat. With Cage Rage apparently on the ropes- the other UK MMA brands are flexing their muscles. Hot on the heels of the Cage Warriors mega card- the Liverpool promotion step up to the plate with their latest show.

Two title bouts, a host of other well balanced contests at Britain's best venue. Looks good to me.

One of the saddest sights of the year was Colin Robinson after he was stopped early by Antoni Hardonk UFC 80. Big C's face in extreme close up on the mega screens at the Metro Arena- a picture of desolation. The game was up and he knew it.

You don't get rid of the big man that easy. Robinson told anyone who'd listen he was determined to fight his way back to the big time. A false start against the 70s porn star Dan Severn has raised the stakes even further.

Robinson will leave Liverpool with either a shiny new belt or a three fight losing streak. Standing in his way: the imposing Stefan "The Skyscraper" Struve. Last time out, he stunned the Olympia by slapping a triangle on local fave Tom Blackledge. A similar result on Saturday would push the dream of a UFC return even further away from Robinson.

The contest may well be decided in the clinch, where both men are capable of bringing the pain.

A truly meaningful fight.

The British Featherweight title is also up for grabs. Steve "Taz" McCombe moves up a weight after his unsuccessful crack at Paul McVeigh for the Cage Warriors Bantamweight strap. Out of the frying pan- into the fire. McCombe was a huge bantam and looked good with his hands, but he was taken apart on the deck. Ronnie Mann has a rock solid Muay Thai background and a tidy sub game. Taz has guts to spare, but it's hard to see him pulling off the upset.

There are attractive match ups down the card. Rob Sinclair has impressed in all departments and is unbeaten as a pro. He faces his toughest test yet in the shape of Greg Loughran. The wiry Irishman uses every ounce of his experience to win fights. He tends to outsmart his opponents and is particularly dangerous when working for subs off his back.

Mick Sinclair was DQ'd on his last visit to the Olympia after he delivered a kick to the grounded Aidan Marron. Before that, he dished out plenty of legal punishment to earn the nod from the judges after a three round war with Ian "The Mongoose" Jones. His opponent, AJ Wenn, toughed it out for three rounds against the highly rated Andre Winner last year. Neither will be expecting an easy night.

"Sass by triangle" is quickly becoming a Cage Gladiators catchphrase and the man himself will be going for his seventh sub in a row on Saturday. Martin Stapleton had been marching through the opposition, until he was pushed all the way by the ultra-game David Johnson in his last outing. In that fight, Stapleton showcased some mean takedowns- repeatedly slamming Johnson onto his back. If he does that to Paul Sass- he'd better watch out for those legs creeping up his back.

Lurking down the card is a gem. Unbelievably, Kam Atakuru and Lucasz Les both have losing records. Lucasz Les clocked up his 0s years ago in Poland. In his UK debut, he handed Lee Livingstone his only loss to take the honours in the LL derby fight. Les exploded backwards to sub the Rough House jiu jitsu coach via Achilles lock. Atakuru has hung with classy company from the beginning. Seek out film of his epic round against Jason Ball as an example of why people love MMA. Performances like that showed Kam's ability- and earmarked him as a man to dodge. The winner's record will come out of the red. The loser will become President of the "one to be avoided" club.

There are another nine fights, making this a solid offering- but the fights are only half the story with Cage Gladiators. The Olympia is a unique venue in UK MMA: carved elephant heads, ace sound system, bang up for it crowd, flashing cage and built on a proper street in a proper area instead of some leisure park. What more could you want? Not only that- the fights are on a Saturday- opening up the special delights of Liverpool nightlife.

As we learn in Kung Fu Panda- there are no secret ingredients. Whether it's martial arts or noodle soup: what you see is what you get.

Cage Gladiators 8 looks pretty tasty to me.

for more info on Cage Gladiators, visit:

www.cagegladiators.tv

www.hurtbusiness.com

despatches from the frontline of UK MMA

Cage Warriors Enter the Rough House 7 is arguably the best UK MMA card ever.
(And before I get any pedantic email- obviously the UFC don’t count).

Starting at the top- Paul Daley returns from his self imposed exile- hoping to re-establish himself at the very top of the UK pecking order. Semtex was making a big splash with EliteXC and Strikeforce before his shock retirement. On a five fight winning streak, he had smashed everything in front of him.

The first obstacle on the road back is Slovenian Bojan "Zelva" Kosednar.  Unbeaten records don’t always mean much, but when they belong to Balkan choke artists- you’d better beware. Kosednar has a judo background and is no doubt looking for a big scalp to thrust him back onto the international scene. Due to his experience, Daley must be favoured to win- but he’s fighting a hungry guy on the way up.

Down the card- the standard of the matches is unbelievable. Matt Thorpe fought at Cage Warriors Strike Force 4: Night of Champions 2005- arguably the previous best UK MMA card ever. That night he pushed soon to be UFC star Dan Hardy to the limit for 5 rounds. Last time out, he looked as sharp as ever and will need to be against Simeon Thoresen.  Cage Warriors don’t do joke imports and the undefeated Norwegian has names like Chas Jacquier  and “The Hands” on his CV.

Wayne Buck’s career consists of a series of first round Nottingham demolition jobs. Matteo Minonzio is a huge, brooding hulk with dangerously fascist looking tatt’s adding to the aura of menace. Kind of a cross between Paolo Di Canio and the Gruffalo. On his last trip to the UK- he was bombed out in just over a minute by Martin Thompson, but that’s only half the story. Recently, “The Ox” Thompson has been making it his business to plough through the cream of the UK heavies. Early on, Minonzio stood and had a good old bang with him and did more than OK. Thompson showed his fighting brain and took the Italian down before pounding him out. Buck could do worse than following this example.

Jim Wallhead is the only person to fight on all the Cage Warriors Rough House shows to date. He has won the last five of those with performances that have established him as a crowd favourite. His opponent, Fabricio Nascimento, was ranked the #4 welterweight in Europe by Groundandpound as recently as March 2008 and will hope to leapfrog back over Judo Jim in the prestigious ratings (Visit www.groundandpound.de for quality rankings and a generally ace site).

Another home fighter with a difficult night in store is Andre Winner. Winner oozes class- particularly when dispensing trademark Rough House knees in the clinch and his superb conditioning means he has no trouble going the distance. Against Abdul Mohamed- the full fifteen minutes is likely to be needed, but you never know which Abdul you’re going to get these days. In his last five fights- he has ground out a couple of dour points wins, lost on an early cut and knocked out Ross Pointon with a spinning backfist. He’s also been subbed in the first- but that is unlikely to happen to ace wrestler Abdul on Saturday. It could be stunning- or it could be a yawn fest. Two European top ten fighters- it is a significant match which needs to happen.

The whole show hasn’t got an ounce of fat on it. Paul McVeigh, as exciting a fighter as you’re going to see, is putting his title on the line and the bill is studded with names who you know will deliver. Eddie Podolski, Cliff Hall, Rocci Williams, Chris Cooper and Pete McGurk have all impressed the Nottingham crowd before and have interesting matches.

For me, the fight of the night could be Lee Livingstone v Wayne “Mayhem” Murray. Rough House v Ultimate Force. Both throw brutal leg kicks. Both have the capability to pull off spectacular submissions. A potential classic – and on the card I’ve seen it’s seventh fight down.

If you are a fan of UK MMA- you must be at the Harvey Haddon on Saturday.
It’s as simple as that.

Enter the Rough House 7
12th July 2008 6:30pm, 
Harvey Hadden Sports Centre, 
Wigman Road, 
Nottingham, NG8 4PB

www.cagewarriors.com

This weekend was going to be a big one for the hurtbusiness. After a few weeks of inactivity- the plan was to come back with a bang with a report and podcast based around the Quannum Fighting Championship 3 show. As most of you will know by now- the show didn’t happen due to the intervention of West Yorkshire Police.

As fans of UK MMA we are all used to this kind of nonsense. I don’t know the ins and outs of what happened- but you have to judge people on past records. Quannum have put on a couple of solid shows before. QFC 3 was promoted in partnership with Cage Warriors Fighting Championship. CWFC have a great history of professionalism and doing the right thing. All things considered- you have to suspect this is down to police intelligence (if that isn’t an oxymoron).

Boxing, house music and most other things that are any good in the world started out as activities that caused moral panic and attracted the attention of the constabulary. Rather than go over all the arguments again, I would urge you to read this feature from the hurtbusiness archive. Time for Heroes. It’s almost like going for a ride in the Delorean with the Doc.

******

A number of fights from the card will now take place at the next CWFC Rough House show on July 12th. This is massively significant. On the same night- Cage Rage 27 goes on at Wembley Arena- headlined by the Buzz v Neil Grove rematch. In Nottingham, Paul Daley tops the bill against a top European. The card features Jim Wallhead, Andre Winner, Matt Thorpe and Paul McVeigh. To my eyes, the Cage Warriors card beats Cage Rage hands down.

Cage Rage have traded on being the UK’s number one for years- but that could be over.  The next Cage Gladiators also has a stronger card than Cage Rage. Strike and Submit 8 will be headlined by Colin Robinson v Martin Thompson. Total Combat has Buzz v the Big C. Both are more interesting fights than Buzz v Grove. Even Neil Grove has slagged Cage Rage in an interview.

Elite XC promised big things when they came in- but they have yet to deliver. No- one can be surprised that Sky have dropped live coverage. Cage Rage have put on some great shows. I thought Cage Rage 24- headlined by Ninja v Professor X (Buzz v Grove one didn’t make the live broadcast) was a step in the right direction. Next time out, Elite XC gave us a horribly shot Ken Shamrock and hyped him as a cross between Godzilla and Sugar Ray Robinson. I’m sure that casual viewers were less than impressed by the performance of the superstar.

July 12th is a big deal because one of the supposedly ‘lesser’ UK promotions is going head to head with Cage Rage and look to have a stronger show down the card. The hunter is becoming the hunted. Cage Rage are still the biggest name in UK MMA- but that name is becoming worth less with every gimmick. Take Cage Rage 26 as an example. The return of Ian Freeman to take a title was a superb story. My abiding memory of the night is not The Machine’s emotion packed victory speech. Cage Rage 26 is all about Ziggy from Big Brother putting on his best Lock Stock accent and telling the Great British Public he was going to be a cage fighter. They have further alienated core MMA fans by inexplicably stripping Tengiz and Abdul Mohamed of their titles. The only explanation I can think of the pair are difficult to market to people who don’t like A] Technically gifted wrestlers, B] Immigrants with foreign names.

We need a strong MMA show in the capital and Cage Rage are best placed to deliver it. In the past- they have put on some of the most compelling fights on British soil. If they got back to that, co operated with other promotions and stopped pandering to some imaginary chav/ thug demographic- they would be untouchable. If they carry on as they are- they will not be around for much longer.

*****

UFC in brief.

Michael Bisping was ace. He’s continuing to develop and showed he has the potential to be up there with the very best.

Thiago Alves failed to make weight by 4 pounds then has the brassneck to demand a title shot. The UFC are the number one show on the planet and should be setting the standards. They had a nightmare with pullouts and losing the main event at short notice would have been a disaster. When Alves turned up with a beer gut and a story about hurting his ankle- he had Dana White over a barrel. (or, as it’s know in the trade- the Carano position). They did the right thing letting him fight- but he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a belt.

*******

hurtbusiness recommends:

Live

14th June: Bad Company present World Championship Muay Thai at Leeds Town Hall.

In Liam Harrison, Richard Cadden and the rest- Bad Co produce some of the most stylish Thai boxers in the biz. Add a few ranked guys from Thailand and you’ve got a show not to be missed. Thankfully- West Yorkshire Police don’t seem concerned about this festival of shin and elbow strikes.

TV

Setanta

If you’ve not got it yet- why not?

Every UFC live from now on. Regular UFC chat on the news channel where they treat MMA like a proper sport. All the best in Boxing. An hour of Steve Bunce every week. What more can you want for £10 a month?

Mag’s

Boxing Monthly

Superb as always. This month’s has a great feature about the importance of matchmaking and how the obsession with padding records has hurt boxing.

Fighters Only

The best issue yet in my opinion. Packed with ace content (including my own article on MMA in the US Army).

Books

Ringside- A Treasury of Boxing Reportage.

A collection of the works of Budd Schulberg. Schulberg wrote the screenplay for On the Waterfront and loved boxing. As readers of the hurtbusiness- you are the kind of cultured fight fan who will lap this stuff up.

No Blackmail

www.hurtbusiness.com
www.myspace.com/thehurtbusiness

A top night of action at the Dome. Ross Pearson and Jason Ball took titles with displays that oozed star quality. Despite a ton of pull outs- there was solid action down the card and a series of hard fought home victories to keep the crowd happy.

As usual, the show ran like clockwork and the venue and production make Ultimate Force a top event.

Full report at www.hurtbusiness.com

Dan Hardy turned up and stole the show with another bravura performance. I believe that he has a chance of making a real impact in the UFC. He has bitten the bullet and gone abroad to train early in his career. The results are there for all to see. A real coup for Ultimate Force to get him on the bill in a significant European contest. [Check out his website www.danhardymma.com and to see his hilarious photo editing skills and great taste in fight reports]

The EFR team went 0-2 at Ultimate Force. Mark O’Toole and Aidan Marron both came up against formidable opponents and took some stiff punishment. Aidan Marron in particular had a tough night. Not only was he facing a late replacement he hadn’t prepared for- he was fighting a bloke who looks ready to fight and beat anyone at the moment. Last year- the Irish lads made a habit of flying over and beating up English opposition. This year, the results haven’t been as impressive- but the professional attitude and general good humour are still the same. They are a credit to the sport

I’ve seen a bit of hot air on the Internet forums about the behaviour of the crowd on Saturday and the actions of security at the Dome.  I didn’t put anything in my report about it because I didn’t see anything to write about. The Thompson fans were loud- like they always are. The Donny crowd were loud- like they always are. There was a bit of good natured banter. The security asked a few guys to sit down like they do at football every week. Nobody even got thrown out. A total non story.

The story is: the security acted like they should at a high end venue like the Dome. Calm and professional- maybe a little fussy, but that goes with the territory. The Thompson fans are proper MMA fans. Unlike at boxing, when often a fighter’s mates turn up and stay in the bar until their man is on, they always watch every fight. I suppose they have to do this to get value for money as the average Thompson fight last about twenty seconds before the opponent goes to sleep.

For me – Saturday night’s crowd was a good news story. From a sporting point of view, another major UK show with no booing and full respect for all fighters. If you dig a bit deeper, it gets better. For the last week, there have been a number of pieces in the press labelling the people of South Yorkshire as racist thickos because the BNP won a couple of council seats in Rotherham in the local elections. Any of the mainstream press turning up at an Ultimate Force would have seen a big hall full of South Yorkshire folk cheering on an Eastern European immigrant in the main event. Of course, you won’t read this in the papers because it is a good news story about UK MMA and they were all too busy covering important events like the women’s FA cup final and the gripping climax of the world snooker championship.

Any regular readers will know that the hurtbusiness would like to get rid of the whole demeaning and sexist concept of ring card girls.
Having said that- if you’re got to have them- you may as well go the whole hog. What’s the point in getting some decent looking young lass to squeeze into a sponsors T-Shirt and look faintly embarrassed as she skulks round the cage. 
You may as well book Katie and Lindsay- two lasses who certainly left their mark on Ultimate Force. Girls who built up their parts to such an extent – they virtually had to be dragged out of the cage for the start of every round. Even a miserable old git like me has to admit they added something to the show. More brassy than classy for sure- but they made me laugh.

Dan Hardy and Chad Reiner was everything you could wish for from a main event.

{(read report at www.hurtbusiness.com )

A quality import. Chad Reiner has talent and showed a great deal of heart and guts. Cage Warriors brought over some one who is a real threat to push the local hero to his limit. If Dan Hardy hadn’t brought his A game, the result would have been an early night due to an away win. I know the bold matchmaking was influenced by events at Cagewarriors USA .

All I can say is- God bless the clockwatchers of the Florida State Athletic Commission.

Dan Hardy: Great resistance early on, great composure and a stunning finish. He really does look the real deal and must be ready to mix it on the world stage.

Crowd: The first round was a gripping ground war with the local boy under the cosh. The crowd at the Harvey Haddon were well into it. No booing- no abuse- just encouragement and appreciation. LOUD encouragement and appreciation.

Obviously, the success of the Rough House fighters has increased interest in Nottingham , but the promoters deserve a lot of credit. They have built the event over six instalments. Sometimes, there have been wide open spaces- but last night ,the stands were rammed. Many of the fighters on the card were making their second or third appearance- and they were as warmly received as the Rough House team.

This is how you build a SPORT. You put on well matched events that produce compelling fights. Contrary to popular belief- the public are not thick. You might get someone to turn up once to watch a mate or a Butterbean once- but to get people coming back- you need to provide some thing meaningful. Down the card, the fights answered questions and raised others for the next time. What questions does a Butterbean crowd raise for the audience? (Apart from- Have I got any razor blades at home?)

If MMA is going to have any kind of future in the UK- it will be because of the work put in by Cage Warriors and other committed home grown shows. Enter the Rough House 6 was a great night. Congratulations to all the fighters and everyone behind the scenes on your efforts.

hurtbusiness # 3 / Paul McVeigh Interview

Paul “Metabolic” McVeigh is on the verge of the big time.

In his last fight, he submitted BJJ Black Belt Anderson Pereira by way of Triangle choke at Cage Warriors: Enter the Rough House 5.

On April 5th- the Glasgow based Irishman and his team mate James Doolan both fight on the GCM Cage Force 6 card in Tokyo.

In the first round of the Bantamweight tournament, the reigning Cagewarriors Champ will face the former Shooto Featherweight World Champion Masahiro Oishi.

Paul took some time out from his preparation for a chat with the hurtbusiness.

Paul McVeigh has recently featured heavily in the Scottish press.

http://www.sundayherald.com/search/display.var.2104383.0.cage_rage.php

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/comment/columnists/showbiz-tv-columnists/brian-mciver/2008/03/14/fight-for-respect-86908-20350282/

For further information on Paul McVeigh contact Warrior Promotions

www.cagewarriors.com

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No Blackmail

The hurtbusiness are moving into the podcast business.

Check out our interview with the Strike and Submit supremo Michael Surtees by downloading it from 

itunes

or got to yet another blogpage

Please let us know what you think.

 The first death in a regulated MMA contest has happened. Sam Vasquez died as a result of blood clots, brain swelling and a massive stroke brought on by head trauma suffered in a lightweight bout in Houston, Texas on October 20. Vasquez left behind a wife and a 7-year-old son; Ronin Rickson Vasquez. I would like to send my deepest sympathy to them in respect of their loss.

I don’t know enough about the individual case to pass comment. If you look in the Sherdog archive, there is an excellent piece by Josh Gross celebrating the life of Vasquez and one by Joe Hall on the Doug Dedge tragedy. Some of the other reporting has been pretty crappy and has the whiff of point scoring and I don’t want to be part of it.

As a long term Boxing fan- I am used to death in sport. It still causes me great distress whenever it happens. It makes me question if it is worth it, but I have accepted it is an inevitable part of the sport.

More people will die and be seriously injured when taking part in MMA. It is an inevitable part of the sport. No amount of regulation can ever make it 100% safe. It used to sicken me when people in MMA would proudly bang on about the number of deaths and brain injuries in Boxing. The grand-standing politicians lump all combat sports together. There are no votes in suggesting a ban on Boxing and replacing it with ‘Cage Fighting’. We should stand together with similar sports in these risk averse times.

I believe that the positive effects of combat sports are so great- they outweigh the risks. It is up to everyone to take responsibility for themselves. To decide if it is worth it.

At this time of year- lots of us get the odd book token as a gift from an unimaginative relative. I’d like to recommend a couple of good books which will help you decide.

In the early 80s Johnny Owen, a shy, pale lad went from Merthyr in South Wales to Los Angeles to challenge the Mexican Lupe Pintor for the World Bantamweight title. Owen was European champion and fully deserving of his shot. He fought skilfully and bravely, got knocked out in the 12th and died without waking up again six weeks later.

The Big If: The Life and Death of Johnny Owen by Rick Broadbent tells the stories of both Owen and Pintor. It is the story of how Boxing made them both and broke them both. Of why combat sports are beautiful and disgusting at the same time. The book follows the story of Johnny’s parents and Pinto after the tragedy. If you are not moved by the section which deals with them meeting to unveil a staue of Johnny- there is something wrong with you.

The only time I can remember ever crying when watching a sporting event was February 25, 1995 when Nigel Benn fought Gerald McClellan for the World Super Middleweight belt. McClellan, a fearsome character from Illinois came to London a hot favorite and justified this by blasting Benn clean out of the ring in the first. Incredibly, Benn recovered and, over ten rounds, the two put on the most brutal fight I have ever witnessed. I was moved to tears by the spirit of Benn. He hung in there against a truly destructive puncher and, despite being clubbed to the ground again, stood toe to toe with him.

Something had to give. McClennan wilted under the onslaught and was counted out on his knee in the tenth. A prime time UK TV audience and a baying, beyond hysterical London crowd saw the greatest fight of all time. It was the kind of event MMA must aspire to.

War, Baby: The Glamour of Violence by Kevin Mitchell tells the story of the fight in graphic detail. It tells you everything about the main players and the sport itself and the culture that surrounds it. It asks the reader difficult questions about whether this kind of behaviour is acceptable in civilised society.

Many of you will know that Gerald McClellan is still paying the price for his glorious career. Straight after the fight, he had surgery to remove a blood clot. As well as his purse for the fight- he received blindness, 80% deafness and a wheelchair.

Read these books and think about Sam Vasquez. He wasn’t a high profile casualty. He seems to have been a nice guy doing something he loved. Read these books and remember that Sam Vasquez was a real man with a family he loved.

Maybe not this time, but in the future, people who are pro and anti combat sports will kick around figures and use names of the fallen to back up their point of view. The two books mentioned delve beyond the headline and look at the reality. These are real people, not stats.

I believe that the combat sports, because of their extreme nature, are the ultimate sporting test. Anyone who competes at any level learns more about themselves from this than just about any other human activity. The benefits in terms of self discipline and respect for others have helped literally thousands and provided entertainment for millions.

I believe that combat sports are worth it. It is up to you to decide if you agree. 

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