Mallory Mahling
Tonight's UFC Fight Night Preview; "60 Minutes" looks at Ultimate Fighting; and UFC’s Shopping Spree
By Mallory Mahling
Dec 13, 2006, 14:25

If you’ve been intrigued by Samuel L. Jackson and Dana White’s commercials debating the correct pronunciation of M----F----, you’re probably also aware that tonight will be another UFC Fight Night on Spike TV.  (As far as M-----F----- is concerned, I think the pronunciation is a personal preference, sort of like tomato/tomahto.)

Airing live from an aircraft hangar at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, the show is meant to be a tribute to the military.  The audience will be comprised almost entirely of Marines, except for five pair of tickets which went to lucky civilian bidders in an auction to benefit the Marine Corps Community Services Quality of Life Programs.

 “We are holding this fight at Miramar as our way of saluting the brave men and women of the United States military fighting overseas in the name of freedom,” said UFC’s Dana White and Spike TV’s General Manager, Kevin Kay, in a recent joint statement.

The card is a solid one, and the main event is a battle of well-known welterweights, Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Riggs.  A winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Sanchez remains undefeated and supremely confident in his abilities.  Riggs is a familiar face to UFC viewers and more often than not, he has been a force to be reckoned with.  My pick in this match is Riggs.   

-  Welterweights Jeff Joslin vs. Josh Koscheck.  Josh Koscheck is well remembered from the first season of TUF.  Since then, he has grown tremendously as a fighter and he’s my pick here.

-  Welterweights Drew Fickett vs. Karo Parisyan.  If you’ve watched the UFC shows with any regularity, you’ve seen both of these fighters many times.  I’m picking Parisyan.

-  Welterweights Marcus Davis vs. Shonie Carter.  Both of these fighters are veterans of TUF, but Shonie is also a veteran of UFC whose experience in fighting (and with a Beadazzler) goes way back.  I’m going to pick Davis to win, but with Shonie, there is always that flying back fist that could change the game in a heartbeat.

Preliminary matches, which may not be broadcast, include:

-  Light Heavyweights Victor Valimaki vs. David Heath (no, not Gangel)

-  Middleweights Alan Belcher vs. Jorge Santiago

-  Welterweights Dave Menne vs. Luigi Fioravanti

-  Welterweights Keita Nakamura vs. Brock Larson

-  Middleweights Logan Clark vs. Steve Byrnes

Join me right here at WorldWrestlingInsanity.com at 8:00 p.m. (ET) tonight for my real-time coverage of the show.

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A Little Respect

Time was, UFC and MMA didn’t get much mainstream respect.  Politicians called it human cockfighting and others regarded it as too vicious and nothing but a bloodsport.  Then along came Dana White and Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta who saw potential in the sport of MMA.  Their confidence is now paying off big time and Zuffa’s initial $2 Million investment has multiplied many times over.  White was coy about stating UFC’s worth now, but indicated it might be over $100 Million.

It’s hard to get more respectable than “60 Minutes,” and the venerable CBS show took a look at MMA last Sunday night.  In a segment called “A New Kind of Fight,” they focused on UFC and IFL and how the sport has become wildly popular these days.  Dana White of UFC and Pat Miletich and Renzo Gracie were all interviewed. 

Miletich said comparing boxing to MMA was like comparing checkers to chess. 

Reporter Scott Pelley interviewed Renzo Gracie to get his thoughts on MMA in general and Gracie jiu jitsu in particular. 

He visited Matt Hughes on his farm and later rolled with him at the Miletich facility in Bettendorf, Iowa. 

I hope you got to see the show, because it was an excellent – and respectful – show about the sport.

UFC’s Holiday Shopping

Zuffa announced this week that it has purchased certain of the remaining assets of the World Fighting Alliance, including select fighter contracts, as well as WFA’s trademarks and intellectual property.  Contracts mentioned were those of Quinton Jackson and Heath Herring.  The details of other contracts, such as those of Matt Lindland and Bas Rutten, are rather murky at this point, since Lindland and Rutten are also affiliated with IFL. 

This is very exciting news, since it means that there are dream matches in UFC’s future.  Dana White was quoted as saying:  “Zuffa is committed to giving our fans the best fights between the best fighters in the world.  This acquisition helps us continue fulfilling that goal.”

Yes, it’s a very good time to be an MMA fan!

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Thanks for reading and see you next week.