THERE IS A SPECTRE HAUNTING STRIKEFORCE…
“After the CBS show, we thought that the terms needed a little bit tweaking — nothing major, just a little bit of tweaking.” – M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan, who rang up Keith Jardine for help with negotiations. (Sherdog)
“Obviously, we are much more than the management company for Fedor.” – Kogan, adding, “I mean, you’ve seen our D-level Euro shows, right?”
“As much as the partners made a lot of effort to acknowledge the co-branding, the media basically picked up on the fact that it was Strikeforce and kind of forgot about everything else, which wasn’t the most ideal for us.” – Kogan. Media reports Strikeforce is Strikeforce; M-1 not amused.
“The difference between our company and the other companies that went out of business before us is that this is our core business. We’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I think we’re very good at it.” – Strikeforce boss Scott Coker. You’ve been doing it in the friendly confines of San Jose. Dealing with shady Russian businessmen does not seem to be your forte. (MMA Junkie)
COKER SAYS THE DARNDEST THINGS
“One day, when CBS says, ‘Alright, we’re going to go head-to-head against your pay-per-view date and you can watch Fedor (Emelianenko) or Dan Henderson for free on TV or buy a pay-per-view,’ people are going to have choices at that point.” – Coker. Fedor:Hendo::Porsche:Volkswagen (Sherdog)
“But that’s something they’d never do. CBS went out of its way to make sure there was nothing else on April 17.” – Coker. IF YOU KEEP BEATING ME UP AFTER CLASS, I’M EVENTUALLY GOING TO FIGHT BACK. EXCEPT THAT I’LL AVOID YOU IN THE HALLS INSTEAD!!!
“The irony of it all was that even for the WEC, we all said, ‘Let’s not have the fight on that date with (WEC general manager) Reed Harris. Let’s support him and move it to the 17th.” – Coker. This is not ironic. This is poor business.
“It was probably more than Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz combined in the history of their careers.” – Coker, spouting hyperbole on the media’s coverage of Herschel Walker. And yes, I used “hyperbole” correctly there. (MMA Junkie)
LESSONS IN CAREER PROGRESSION
“It’s not all about the money. They were able to give me some fights pretty quickly, worthy competitors relatively quick. It’s the right direction for me.” – NCAA wrestling champ and Brock Lesnar training parter Cole Konrad, on signing with Bellator. (Brawl Sports)
“With the other, bigger organizations, it seems like guys fight every four months at most. That’s not where I am right now.” – Konrad.
“I need ring time. I need to become more comfortable in the cage. You can only learn so much in practice. When the bell rings, it’s go time, and you learn a lot when you are out there.” – Konrad, who must be a gigantic p—-. FIGHT THE BEST OR DIE.
IMAGINE IF RAMPAGE RAN ROUGHSHOD THROUGH TOKYO ON A MOPED
“The UFC treats me better than Pride.” – Former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. (Fighters Only)
“[W]hen my contract was up and we were negotiating and I wanted more money and they were telling me ‘oh, but you’re a nobody.’ This was after I had fought in the Grand Prix and beat Igor Vovchanchyn.” – Jackson
“The tournaments were fixed. They said they drew numbers from a hat. It was all set up for Wanderlei to win.” – Jackson. You’re saying being the Tamura/Sakuraba/Yoshida side of the bracket wasn’t the group of death in 2003?
“Yeah, [you would] take yourself to the hospital. I remember my people taking me to the hospital. I think [Pride] used to have a van there sometimes.” – Jackson. No amber lamps at the Saitama Super Arena?
PARTING SHOTS
“Dan is a very good striker, he has that edge over GSP, but Dan’s best weapon is his belief in himself.” – Michael Bisping, evaluating Dan Hardy‘s chances against Georges St-Pierre. I doubt we’ll be seeing a “Submission (Opponent Too Confident)” loss on St-Pierre’s ledger. (Fighters Only)
“I’m a little embarrassed I said that, and want to say publicly Hardy deserves his shot and has a good chance of winning.” – Mike Swick, a stark contrast to Marcus “AIDS” Davis‘s comments last week. (MMAFighting.com)
“I’d be upset if I had to face Rodrigo, Rogerio, Feijao, Lyoto or even Wanderlei or Shogun, but Vitor? He’s just another opponent like everyone else.” – UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, on the prospect of facing Vitor Belfort. Andy upset that Vitor phenomed his ultramancrush Rich Franklin? (Tatame)
“I think they’re using James as a way to say MMA fighters are better than boxers.” – Freddie Roach, on the UFC signing James Toney. (Crave)
“[I]f the opportunity came up to broadcast MMA, I don’t think I’d have any issues doing it. I wouldn’t be wearing the black hat. I wouldn’t be doing all my pro wrestling cliches. You wouldn’t hear any slobberknockers or any of the phrases I’ve coined over the years, like ‘business is about to pick up’ or ‘he’s beating him like a government mule.’You wouldn’t hear that.” – WWE broadcaster and MMA fan Jim Ross. But what about “BANG, BANG, BANG”? (Heavy)