According to Japan-MMA.com, the UFC has finally broken into the coveted Japanese market... somewhat. The site reports that the UFC will be shown on the WOWOW network in Japan starting in October. MMAPayout.com also concluded that WOWOW will also show past shows starting August 4th with coverage of UFC 71 to UFC 88 leading into the current lineup of UFC events in October.

While WOWOW isn't the ideal situation for the UFC in Japan, it is a starting point to potentially showing other outlets that the UFC could succeed in Japan. WOWOW is much like HBO or Showtime in the United States as it is a subscription network in which consumers pay a fee per month to enjoy their programming. If the UFC can increase WOWOW's subscription along with getting some decent ratings and fight fans interested in the UFC stars, there shouldn't be a reason why the UFC cannot move onto another larger PPV provider or network.

It may seem like this is the right step forward for the UFC in the Japanese market, but they still lack the matchmaking to make an impact in Japan. It has been proven time and time again over the years that Japanese fight fans relish the entertainment matchups over the quality battles that many hardcore fans covet. Fights like Aoki vs. Calvancante and Gomi vs. Diaz weren't huge number producers. On the other hand, fighters like Bob Sapp, Akebono, Kid Yamamoto, and television celebrities like Bobby Ologun have all done great in drawing huge ratings in the past.

Obviously, the UFC won't be creating matchups to push toward the Japanese audience on their cards that are mostly aimed at a United States audience. Entertainment cards won't be the push by the UFC, and the Japanese market is where those types of matchups make ratings. Nonetheless, the UFC could potentially turn some fans onto the cage fighting experience and the higher profile names that Japanese fight fans don't have the privilege of seeing regularly. Can the UFC begin turning a different market into a gold mine? Only time will tell, but if the past is any indication, the UFC will have a tough time appealing to the casual fans in Japan.

Interestingly enough, there may actually be some merit to the argument that the Lightweight division is beginning to see the same problems that the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions have seen. While I believe the talent below Penn is very formidable and evenly matched in many capacities, I once again turn to the fact that BJ Penn is absolutely crushing at the top of the Lightweight division.

While Penn has been doubted in the past as remaining dominant for a length of time, it seems now that he has dedicated himself to the sport enough to be a dominant force for a long time at 155 pounds. It even seems feasible to think he can fight at other weight classes while remaining the 155 pound champion.

Let me ask the ultimate question though… Can either Florian or Huerta defeat Penn? In my opinion, Penn will have the advantage in both matchups. Many fans thought Sherk could topple onto Penn for the lay and pray victory, but he was unable to even sift through Penn’s accurate strikes. How would Florian or Huerta fair?

Florian is an interesting matchup. He’s scrappy, tough on the ground, and an overall decent striker. Penn still has K-1 striking abilities that would likely crush Florian in the standup game. On the ground, Penn is one of the best at 155 pounds. Huerta wouldn’t stand much more of a chance either. While he has frantic pace, a couple of timely jabs could reset rushes or bring the ground game. Unfortunately for us, the Lightweight division may have a huge talent divide once Penn defeats one of the potential contenders right now in the division.

I’ve been criticized in the past by some other writers for these supposed “jump to conclusion” thoughts when it comes to the talent divides in some of the divisions, but they have yet to be proven wrong. Middleweight remains Anderson Silva’s division, and it will likely remain that way for quite some time. Same for Welterweight and Georges St. Pierre. I don’t think Jon Fitch can stop St. Pierre in any capacity, and I’m sticking to that opinion. Penn could very well be included in that crowd.

I will say that the Lightweight division still has a lot of interesting matchups for contention though, and of course, the frantic pace of the lightweight fighters is something everyone should enjoy. Will the UFC begin looking for some Lightweight talent? I wouldn’t doubt it, especially with more of them hitting the mats in the next few months and having the potential to be cut out of the promotion.

Earlier this week in an article published in the Long-Beach Press-Telegram, Dana White had this to say about Kimbo Slice:

"You know what would happen if he fought in the UFC?" White said to the newspaper. "I'd put him in against B.J. Penn, and (Slice) would get annihilated. The guy he is fighting, James Thompson, might get knocked out before he gets into the cage. Kimbo has no credibility at all in MMA. ... I am telling you, B.J. Penn would beat him."

While this may seem like an idiotic statement to make, it’s partially true. Would B.J be able to defeat Kimbo? It’s hard saying, however, it isn’t that far out of the realm of possibility. B.J. has fought at light-heavyweight and was able to hold his own against Lyoto Machida, but that’s another debate for another day.

The fact of the matter is that Kimbo is an unknown commodity. He has an intriguing personality, but he’s always going to take slack from hardcore MMA fans and veterans of this sport. I think it’s mostly due to people being jealous of his stardom in the sport. They’ve seen the veterans of this sport, the Chuck Liddell’s, the Randy Couture’s, the Tito Ortiz’s, put in their hard work and help grow this sport to what it has become today. Kimbo has burst onto the scene because of backyard fights on the Internet. Does that represent him as a person? No. Does that make the criticism of him valid? Maybe.

Kimbo is being brought along slowly. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He hasn’t been training that long and has done nothing to draw the negative comments that have been directed at him. He’s simply done what he’s been asked to do, and that’s go out there and put on an exciting show and win fights.

EliteXC has also been matching him up with advantageous style matchups that suit his brawling and avoid having him being taken down repeatedly.  I think James Thompson might try to take him down, however; he’s going to have to get close to take him down. The closer he gets, the better chance Kimbo has of exploiting Thompson’s famous glass jaw. Thompson’s wrestling also isn’t that great, so it could be a quick night for Kimbo once again.

Gary Shaw had this to say when asked about Dana’s comments:

"Dana White is a jerkoff," Shaw said. "That's what Dana White is -- a [expletive] idiot -- and you can quote me on that. If he cared about mixed martial arts and the sport instead of caring about his big ass swimming pool and his own personal gains, he'd understand that statements like that make someone a jerk. First of all, I love B.J. Penn, and he is a friend of mine. Kimbo Slice, with one shot, would knock B.J. Penn out. But they are never going to fight. It is an idiotic statement from a complete idiot."

Woah, woah, woah there, Mr. Shaw. Are you implying that you really care about MMA and don’t care about the money? Get the [expletive] out of town.

This is the thing that really irks me about Gary Shaw. I love how all of the sudden he has come out and said that he is all about MMA and that he’s doing this all for the love of the sport. Wrong. He’s doing it for money, and I think he has ulterior motives. To me, he’s still “the boxing promoter” Gary Shaw.

As much as everyone criticizes Dana White, I really believe he loves the sport of MMA. Does he let his personal feelings get involved sometimes? Sure, but I think that just shows that he really loves the sport. He has been here through the thick and the thin, and I think it’s highly hypocritical of Gary Shaw to come out and say that Dana White doesn’t love the sport of MMA. I think he’s probably the biggest fan we have. He’s an impulse acting kind of guy, and that sometimes hurts his persona, but if you ask Dana White a question, you’re going to get a truthful answer.

Things are starting to heat up between the organizations and as the clock winds down to EliteXC’s debut on network television; I think the war of words between Dana and Gary will continue to worsen.

Leave some comments below and let me know what you think about each organizations front man. Is Dana wrong to call out Kimbo and his lack of experience? Is Shaw still the same sleazy boxing promoter some fans see him as? Can EliteXC ultimately compete with the UFC? Let me know, I’ll be sure to respond.

It’s the inevitable battle that sports-themed shows end up running into during their careers on television. Should the show focus more on the drama or the actual sport? It’s been a topic of interest in the blogosphere recently due to The Ultimate Fighter’s shift toward more fight action as opposed to drama from the spats in the fighter house. Which do we prefer?

In my honest opinion, I could care less which philosophy edges out the other. The show, for me, has become as dull as it could be, and it stems from the actual talent in the cage week to week rather than how the show is formatted.

Luke Thomas over at BloodyElbow.com hit the point that the talent outside the UFC that they can bring in for the show has dropped off, and I believe that to be very true. Other organizations are signing on the unsigned talent before the UFC can bring them on for the show, and it’s going to likely continue for the next year while ProElite is still in business and Affliction & Adrenaline try to build rosters.

For other fans who are actually interested in the entertainment side of the show, drama is likely to be something that the casual fanbase wants to be included in the show. After all, arguments, rants, and spats between competing fighters in the house make for some great storylines and tension leading up to a bout. It’s no secret that Tito and Ken’s hatred for each other produced ratings on what many hardcore fans knew was a “past his prime” Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz season.

What can improve the show in regards to producing drama that will engage the viewer? I’m not sure the show can really come out of the funk it is currently in without some major changes. A season of nothing but a bunch of fighters who hate each other would likely set off some alarms for drama, or another season with two coaches who want to tear each other apart would likely work, but what could change for the future?

Here’s a sure-fire way to create huge drama, and the formula is simple if you look at most major networks primetime lineups. Most of the drama on primetime television involves women and men and a bunch of tension in the workplace due to sexual innuendo. Grey’s Anatomy couples that along with high tension situations, medical terms, operations, and death, and the same could be said for House or ER. Most of the drama in comedies revolves around similar paths. Death, love, and animosity seem to be what drama is created from with most of the shows.

TUF already has the animosity factor, and the show has used it brilliantly in the past. Each of these fighters puts their life on the line in the cage as well, but it definitely isn’t comparable to open heart surgery on a primetime drama medical show. What doesn’t the house have?

Women… here’s my half jokingly way to infuse the house with drama. 16 single fighters, 8 single women… same format, add in a few short fuses, and you have the most drama filled hour of reality television that MMA has ever seen. Maybe that’s a complete joke of an idea, but it’s better than seeing two guys gets mad over lime juice in some damn chewing tobacco.
I haven’t obviously thought this through completely either. Why would the women be there? Just to create drama? I have no idea how you’d do it, or if maybe all these girls were fighters. Obviously, at this juncture, women in the house wouldn’t fly as fighters since the UFC has yet to expand to women’s MMA.

As much as I’d love to think this was a legitimate idea, it sounds like a ploy that FOX would come up with. A Paradise Island / Ultimate Fighter mashup, if you will. Nonetheless, something has to change on the Ultimate Fighter to make it more interesting for everyone. Hardcore fans love the fights, but the fights don’t have a lot of meaning without a little bit of bite behind them. Low ratings won’t help the show continue either, but then again, the UFC may be looking forward to getting rid of the show for a different format down the line.

The UFC officially announced this week that Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Frank Mir would be coaching teams on the eighth season of the Ultimate Fighter reality series. Many bloggers are up in arms over the selections for various reasons that range from tying up another title picture to explaining that the show is near death as far as appeal to MMA fans. The ratings would certainly indicate a drop-off of the show’s popularity over the years, and the coaching selection will tie up the Heavyweight title for a lengthy amount of time while the UFC tries to figure out who will move into the contention spot. What’s the problem with The Ultimate Fighter and with the news that “Big Nog” and Mir will battle it out for the title?

To answer the question, let me reference a couple of opinions from Fightlinker and Bloody Elbow and weigh in my own opinion. Fightlinker had this to say:

Let’s get something straight: a fight between Frank Mir and Big Nog is barely interesting enough to carry a PPV on its own, let alone an entire season of TUF. As for the argument that TUF exposure is a great way for Nog to become popular, that’s ass backwards thinking. Sticking a relatively unknown guy on TUF is just going to result in less people giving a shit about it. And it’s not like Nog just needs a showcase for his shining personality. The guy looks / acts like a big lumbering Frankenstein. For all the excitement he creates in the ring, he’s duller than matte paint in real life.

And don’t even get me fucking started on Frank Mir … Frank Mir, who everyone continues to say is “back.” This, despite the fact that UFC virgin Brock Lesnar nearly smashed his face through the canvas. Despite the fact that his only ‘convincing’ recent win was against a kickboxer who tried to out-sub him. I know MMA fans have the memory of sea amoebae, but was it really that long ago that a Krispy Kreme sponsored Mir waddled into the octagon to get easily annihilated by Brandon Vera?

I would definitely agree that Nogueira vs. Mir isn’t a main event that can carry a pay-per-view for the simple fact that Nogueira is fairly unknown to the casual fanbase and Mir is on the return track back to the title. I will say that I was one of those people on board to seeing Nogueira gets some exposure to boost his draw, but in thinking about it over the past couple of months and with the recent TUF season’s lackluster ratings and overall dullness, exposure for Nogueira probably wouldn’t be significant.

Bloody Elbow’s Luke Thomas had this to add:

For the record, I think this season is terrible and that's with two coaches who are good on camera, legitimate MMA stars and generally amiable and funny guys. If this format can't even work with them at the helm, I seriously doubt Mir and Nogueira is going to be any better (or even as good).

Look, the show - in its current format - has jumped the shark. I think there are a host of reasons for this, but part of it is that the talent well has run dry. If the UFC were able to space seasons further apart, they might be able to draw on more mature and developed talent. But they're running this machine into the ground and I don't think they've been able to cull the kind of talent they need consistently to make the show interesting.

In fact, the coaches' celebrity status used to be an ancillary benefit. TUF was originally and almost exclusively about the developing fighters. And when the show first started, there were a lot of up-and-comers to choose from. But between the pacing of the seasons and the growth of MMA leading to other organizations snatching up talent, there just isn't that much left to go around. Mir and Nogueira, despite being two of my favorite fighters, aren't going to change that dynamic.

Luke makes a good point that the talent outside of the UFC that they are able to pull from has decreased substantially. I’ve thought about this myself, and it seems that ProElite and some of the promotions overseas are grabbing up some of that talent. The ongoing debate on what fighters should get from their contracts and the restrictions in the Zuffa contracts probably doesn’t help, and it could be a small deterrent as well.

One reason I believe the series has lulled in excitement is due to the coaches really not having a beef with each other. While the comedy of both coaches is a pleasant relief from the dull tension that sometimes plagues the series, it isn’t a Tito vs. Shamrock angry tension that created some of the higher ratings for the series. Right now however, I don’t believe a heated rivalry between coaches would help the show at all.

In the end, a combination of both opinions is probably the biggest reason why this next season won’t do much better. Nogueira’s personality isn’t exactly flowing with exuberance, and putting Mir and Nogueira together will probably be less eventful than this season. Add in the fact that fighter talent has dropped off outside the UFC due to other promotions signing them to contracts, it just doesn’t bode well for the show.

In my opinion, The Ultimate Fighter is just a lame duck. I’ve watched it for multiple seasons and have usually been excited to see the fights during the next week’s show, but as of late, I could care less what really has been happening on the show. Some people may live for drama that involves a can of chew and lime juice, but who really gives a shit? I think Dana White’s new format ideas need to come sooner rather than later.

Some interesting news comes by way of Adam Swift over at MMAPayout.com regarding the story revolving around Brandon Vera and his former manager Mark Dion. Mark Dion is now filing a civil lawsuit against Brandon Vera and his new management team in which he is claiming:

The complaint closely follows the contours of the arbitration proceedings, except for the inclusion of Zuffa, White, and Silva for allegedly interfering with Dion's management contract with Vera. Specifically the complaint alleges that Zuffa and its officials encouraged Vera to breach his contract with Dion and provided him with confidential emails to use in that effort.

We all know that Zuffa has had some sneaky and questionable business practices in the past. Xyience, PRIDE’s buyout, and the laundry list of complaints regarding contract negotiations have plagued the promotion’s standing with the MMA community for some time, but they still remain the leader in putting on great shows, big name fights, and exposing fighters to the fanbase enough to garner even more money in their pockets.

Now, the actual contract negotiating is under question. Dion already won the arbitration case with the CSAC regarding his contract with Brandon Vera in which Dion won a portion of Vera’s purse from his battle with Tim Sylvia along with $100,000 for future fights. Dion’s contract was set to end in 2010, but has since been cut due to the deterioration in their relationship. It looks like there may be some more underlying problems that could hit Zuffa for their poor ways of dealing with fighters.

Post-it notes were the culprit of the arbitration case, and now Zuffa’s sneaky tactics of trying to get Vera to breach his contract with Dion could potentially give Dion another payday and Zuffa a lesson in ethical business practices. It’s unfortunate that Zuffa is becoming plagued with these lawsuits because it could eventually begin catching up with them in the long haul. Although the Xyience case could be the real turning point in how Zuffa does business, keep an eye on this case as it could begin unraveling even more problems with White & company’s ethical thinking in the matters of fighter contracts.

To be perfectly honest, this is no surprise to me. Zuffa has been linked to countless questionable business practices that could either be deemed as “too bad, so sad” to the people they have been screwing, or could eventually become a much bigger problem legally for Zuffa. Off the top of my head, the Xyience case seems to be the bigger lawsuit to come down the pipe with valid arguments and evidence from the shareholders of Xyience. That case could potentially strike at the foundation of Zuffa, The Fertittas.

This case is much different though. I’ve wanted to hear more about the contract negotiations and what exactly has been going on in the process, and this case could show the fanbase what’s been going on. If these claims are true, it only adds to the notion that Zuffa is a Goliath pushing around the “little guy”. Unfortunately for Zuffa, the pushing could very well be illegal and unethical.

One of the things I’ve disliked about the WEC is the fact that the promotion has continued to carry the heavier middleweight and light heavyweight weight classes. Dana White suggested in an article over at the Canadian section of Yahoo! Sports on Saturday that Zuffa may be heading toward taking those divisions out of the WEC and merging them with the UFC’s own divisions.

White says the UFC has no plans to introduce a 145-pound weight class. “That’s why we bought the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting).”

In fact, he said they are going to take steps to make the two circuits more distinct. “We’re going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights. We’ll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into UFC. We’re still trying to figure that out.”

WEC features 135-(bantamweight) and 145-pound (featherweight) weight classes as well as 155, 170, 185 and 205. The UFC has 155, 170, 185, 205 and heavyweight.

I like this move by the UFC and Dana White. Not only will Paulo Filho be moving over the promotion, but he’s probably going to be pushed up to the Light Heavyweight division after having massive problems with performance after cutting weight in the Middleweight division. His grappling should be dangerous against the divisional opponents in the UFC, and he’s arguably one of the most dangerous fighters on the ground in the world.

Brian Stann could also be an addition to the Ultimate Fighter Season 8. An Iraqi war hero on the show will get tons of exposure the American public and likely grab a huge following due to his duties in the military from members of the armed services within that same demographic. I’m a bit sick of hearing his story, but we all know the UFC will exploit it.

The rest of the fighters in those weight classes would likely make cannon fodder for upcoming talent in those divisions, or possibly make their way into the mid-echelon of those divisions in the UFC. I don’t think Doug Marshall can hang in the UFC, but Chael Sonnen could effectively dominate the lower level fighters at middleweight. Regardless, I’m not too keen on seeing those fights at this point.

Dana White had an interesting appearance on TSN's Off the Record in promoting UFC 83's main event in Canada. The show features an up front profile on Dana White in which he answers some questions, a panel in which he fires back at critics, and a quick-fire Q&A session from the host of the show. Not only was it entertaining to see White on his heels at times, but we got some solid answers on some of the issues we've wanted to know about for some time. See the entire show here... Props to MMAMania.com for the heads up.

The rundown...

• Is Dana White the star of the UFC? Dana doesn't believe so, and he mentioned Chuck Liddell as being unable to go anywhere without being mobbed by a crowd. 
• Building a brand over building fighting? The UFC was built as a brand, and Dana mentions how competition in this arena has failed, and everyone has their opinions of how he acts, but the business is still very successful. “UFC wasn't allowed on PPV, and porn was allowed on PPV” referencing the early days of the UFC, White was able to get those things to happen later on, testament to his drive and successful work ethic. 
• Marketability and reality vs. entertainment? Dana mentions that reality is better than the scripts that the WWE uses. When upsets happen, rematches, drama, and the elements that can create a prime atmosphere for marketing a fighter. 
• Was PRIDE buyout a mistake? No, they got Wanderlei Silva, other PRIDE fighters, and the video library. Got rid of their top competitor.
• A change in physiques when PRIDE fighters came over? Dana did not dismiss that steroids could have been the cause of this due to non-testing in Japan. 
• Why is it better for fighters to be clean? Careers last longer, mentally and emotionally stable.

The panel...

According to Adam Swift at MMAPayout.com, Dana White has recently began to focus more of his time on fighter relations than he had been previously giving to it. Joe Silva remains the VP of Talent Relations for Zuffa, but Swift is reporting that Dana White is now becoming much more involved in that area of the business. The article points at Couture's resignation from the promotion as being the primary cause to the refocusing of his priorities in the business.

Did Couture's resignation have a profound effect on the current status between Zuffa and its fighters? Dana White seems to think that the relationships between the promotion and its fighters has been degrading, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the theory is very true. Within the last year, the heavyweight division could very well be the easiest target for these problems.

Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, and Randy Couture are all done with the UFC in some capacity right now in their careers. Arlovski is rumored to have signed with any and all promotions in the North American market right now, but nothing has been confirmed and the UFC is still talking to him. Tim Sylvia left the promotion on good terms, but did state after his bout with Frank Mir that he was unhappy with his pay compared to Brock Lesnar's purse for his loss. Sylvia has stated his displeasure with the promotion from time to time over the years as well.

The most significant loss to the promotion was Randy Couture, who spontaneously resigned from the promotion during a film shoot in South Africa. Unfortunately for fans and Couture, Couture isn't exactly allowed to simply resign from a contract, and we are now faced with the upcoming legal battle between Zuffa and Couture. Regardless of the legal hassles, one of the main points that Couture stated was the cause of the resignation from the promotion was the lies that Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White had told him, along with the numbers of his contract compared to his current status within the promotion. Couture is the UFC Heavyweight Champion, and his argument was that his pay was “disrespectful” compared to what he's done for the promotion.

In a sense, poor fighter relations could be part of the problem with the recent departures, and White wants to make sure that his talent pool doesn't continue to depart. Respect and treatment of the fighters has been a focus of the problems with Zuffa lately, and this move by White should only improve those aspects of the promotion. Overall, I like the move. White moves from dealing with the business side of the promotion back to getting in the “trenches” of pleasing fighters, maintaining communication, talking with managers and agents, and hopefully grabbing some fresh new talent. In any case, it definitely can't hurt the promotion.

World Extreme Cagefighting fighter and former UFC combatant Leonard Garcia was arrested recently for his alleged involvement in an extensive cocaine drug trafficking ring in Texas according to Newschannel II in Lubbock. In fact, thirteen people were arrested in connection with the drug ring that apparently was preceded by a four-year investigation that involved not only local officials and state police, but federal help as well. Five federal indictments were issued for the accused, and there is no doubt that Leonard Garcia’s name is on one of those indictments.

Garcia had this to say about the case, reported by MMAJunkie.com:

"I am fighting it because there is nothing but someone saying I was involved,"  said Garcia, who was released from jail on a recognizance bond and will return to court on May 5. "I hope to have a smile on my face after this is said and done, but I feel like I'm in a fight for my life."

He continues his response by asking for support from his fans and asking them to stick with him in this fight for his life. Let me enlighten the general MMA fanbase on a few statistics that you can wrap your brain around.

Here’s a snapshot of some statistics on federal criminal cases which includes drug cases, props to MMAjunkie readers for pointing this out:

During 2004, criminal cases were commenced against 92,645 defendants in U.S. district court. Most (88%) were charged with a felony offense. Thirty-seven percent of felony defendants were charged with a drug offense; 36% of all defendants were charged with a public-order offense -- including 19% with an immigration offense and 11% with a weapons offense. Fifteen percent were charged with a property offense.

Cases were terminated against 83,391 defendants during 2004. Most (90%) defendants were convicted. Of the 74,782 defendants convicted, 72,152 (or 96%) pleaded guilty or no-contest.

96% of the defendants plead guilty or no-contest to the charges brought forth by federal charges who were convicted. 90% of the total number of cases brought up ended in conviction, so that leads 10% of the cases either ending in lesser charges or actual clearing of the charges.

Let me ask this question, and I’m sure I’ll get the same response from many of you. Does Leonard Garcia actually have a case here? Would the federal government hand down an indictment unless it had a lot of evidence in its corner? Doubtful. I hate to say it to the fans that support Leonard Garcia, but this doesn’t bode well for him at all. Much like Michael Vick, a federal indictment almost guarantees a case with solid evidence, and with a four-year investigation behind the claims, it’s hard to imagine Garcia simply being pointed at by someone and then thrown in the slammer. I’m sure there are some things that have been left out that will eventually surface when the jury trial happens.

Good luck, Leonard, you’re going to need it.