The wholesome goodness that once was the Daily Record's Sunday entertainment page has just been violently shaken up.
Welcome to Fightin' Words.
Every Sunday it's my hope to entertain and inform our readership about the fighting arts.
More specifically about the ongoing drama in the UFC, WWE and TNA wrestling promotions.
Let me get something out of the way. I am no expert when it comes to mixed martial arts, professional wrestling or anything - just ask my wife. I'm simply a dude who likes watching other dudes pummel other dudes.
MMA is something I've only really started paying attention to in the last four or five years.
And I think the combatants in UFC are some of the most phenomenal athletes I've ever seen.
I have also spent the better part of 35 years watching, following, studying, digesting professional wrestling. Gross, I know. But it's something I connected with at an early age. I collected Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazines like most boys my age collected baseball cards.
The current wrestling product offered byVince McMahon'sWWE and the TNA Wrestling group on Spike TV leave me a little flat. So I started cheating on them with the UFC.
Gone are the days of the great wrestling interview.
Where a masked and befuddled Mr. Wrestling II would jive talk his way into your heart. Or how the rude and crude antics of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin would make me want to give my boss a "stunner" just because I said so.
But, like the sick-minded fool that I am, I do still watch. The WWE's 24/7 channel allows me to relive those classic moments from my childhood. Those 30-year-old shows still hold up and bring joy and violence tomy heart.
And what has drawn me to the UFC is the same thing that glued me to the TV oh so many years ago.
The great interviews, personalities and even better action are what make the current UFC product so entertaining and MMA one of the hottest sports in the country.
On Friday, things picked up in a big way. At a press conference to announce UFC's expansion into England and Ireland through ESPN and the re-signing of one of its most loved/hated fighters - Tito Ortiz - UFC President Dana White cut one of the greatest pro wrestling promos I've ever heard.
First, a little background.
UFC is the NFL of fighting, if you will. And until last week, there was an XFL-type group out there known as Affliction.
It was backed by big money monkeys Donald Trump and Marc Cuban. That group had the contract of one of the best MMA fighters in the world, Fedor Emelianenko, a Russian heavyweight who is seemingly unstoppable.
Well Affliction, which started out as a T-shirt company that actually sponsored UFC fighters, went belly up. Just like the XFL, Elite-XC, Pride Fighting Championships and GMC.
The UFC is welcoming Affliction back as a T-shirt sponsor and hand picking some of its best talent to bring into the company. At one point this week, White and the owners of UFC were ready to make a huge money deal to bring Fedor into the fold and set up a MMA dream match between him and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Fedor is represented by amanagement team known as M-1 Global. And this group turned down a rumored $5 million per-fight deal that gave Fedor the freedom to fight Sambo matches in Russia and the money to buy one or several of the country's smaller republics.
After vowing not to talk about Fedor or the deal gone bad at the beginning of his press conference, Dana White vented some of his frustrations at the end the only way he knows how - with fast talk and dirty words.
To me, the comparisons to wrestling are obvious and welcomed. But make no mistake, this was real. Real frustration, disappointment and anger.
"We didn't hold back on anything, we gave everything," White said. "It's insanity to turn down a deal like this. To turn down a deal like this, you don't care about proving you're the best in the world. You don't want to fight the best in theworld. You don't care about money. How do you deal with something like that?"
The door is still open for Fedor to reach an agreement with UFC. "The fans want to see this fight, it's my job make this fight happen. It's what I do for a living," White said. But under no circumstances is UFC willing to sell the ownership rights of its company for a fighter.
It seems like a no brainer to me.
UFC 101 on Saturday, while not backed by the hype of last months pay-per-view blockbuster UFC 100, still has two big fights and should be an exciting card.
The main event has BJ Penn defending the lightweight championship against Kenny Florian. Penn just lost a hardfought bout against welterweight champion Georges St.
Pierre. GSP is widely considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the business and punished Penn for four roundsat UFC 94.
Penn has an unorthodox training style and stepped up in weight to take on GSP. Even though he's the champ, Penn has something to prove.
Florian was one of the first guys to come out of UFC's reality series "The Ultimate Fighter" and has a six-fight win streak coming into Saturday's bout. He's a muay thai specialist that has greatly improved his submission fighting and is considered the No. 1 contender for the belt.
With the sting of the GSP loss still ringing in his head and the fact this is Florian's first title shot, I have to give the edge to BJ Penn.
The other main event for UFC 101 pits middleweight champion Anderson Silva against "Ultimate Fighter" winner Forrest Griffin in a non-title bout.
Silva has crazy Brazilian jiu jitsu skills and throws punches and kicks like lightening strikes. Since coming to the UFC he is undefeated and has beaten a UFC who's who of middleweights including Rich Franklin twice, Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt.
Griffin has some impressive wins on his resume as well, besting Quinton Jackson and Mauricio Rua.
This fight should be all action. Griffin likes to slug it out and is not afraid to take a pounding. He's also one of the most likable guys in the UFC and you just can't help rooting for him.
Too bad he's fighting Silva.
It's not out of the question that Griffin could win, that's the beauty of MMA. But I don't like his chances.
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Chad Eiler is a page designer for the Daily Record and a chronic fightaholic. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
News, Pages 9 on 08/02/2009