Quote of the Day

"I still smile from ear to ear thinking about it. I have sacrificed a lot and it finally paid off. As far as wearing the belt to school, I wore the first three days after my fight. And not just to school, but everywhere. Then my fiancé said she would no longer be seen in public with me if I continued to wear the belt. I really miss being seen in public with her!" -- Nick Thompson pulling a Tim Sylvia after becoming the BodogFight Welterweight Champion

BodogFight Season 3

The early reviews are in and it appears to be a vast improvement over the previous two seasons. Notable quote:

Overall, another good show from Bodog. Season three has been certainly above expectations and if they continue with the solid fights and better production, they will continue to grow. And, the very best part is that you can watch these fights for the low, low cost of free at bodogfight.com.

Membership's privileges

According to MMA Weekly, the past weekend's Cage Rage event will be shown this coming Saturday on the ION channel - the same network that runs BodogFight. Notable quote:

It seems that parts of the alliance announced at the K-1 and Pro Elite press conference on March 27th are already bearing fruit. BodogFight has announced that, in partnership with Cage Rage, they have struck a deal to air Cage Rage 21: Judgment Day on the broadcast TV network ION Television, which was previously known as PAX Network...

...Although Judgment Day already took place on April 21st and was streamed live throughout the world on ProElite.com, a two-hour telecast of the event will air on Saturday, April 28th starting at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) on the ION network, followed by a replay of the latest episode of BodogFight Season 3: Costa Rica Combat.

Following the K-1 / Pro Elite press conference, Cage Rage’s Dave O’Donnell did indicate that the Judgment Day event would be on American television. At the time, it seemed that they were hopeful for a same day telecast, but the deal had not yet been solidified. The telecast on ION isn’t live, but it is a big step into the American market for the venerable U.K. promotion.

Costa Rica Combat's cast

They're pretty good. Whether they can be developed and marketed properly is another matter.

A short talk with the man behind Bodog

Over at BloodyElbow, I've got a short interview up with CEO and founder of Bodog, Calvin Ayre.

Russian journalism

This article from Kommersant (which describes itself as "Russia's Daily Online") has an interesting piece covering this past weekend's BodogFight event in St. Petersburg. What's notable is how strong the pro-Russian/anti-American slant is throughout the entire article. Consider these not so subtle jabs:

• The title of the article was "Russia Beats America Hand-to-Hand"
• I don't know if the event was marketed differently in Russia, but the author calls it "Russia vs. America" instead of "Clash of the Nations".
  
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is apparently adored and fawned over by everyone
• Eric Pele is "corpulent"
• Matt Lindland "gave up" in the first round (technically true, but given the other coverage, it stands to reason this was intended as an insult)
• This sentence was cute: "The rest of the audience was roaring. Besides the general cheering, calls such as 'Wipe out America!', 'This is for Iran!' and 'Tell Bush he's next!' could be heard.
  

They also claimed Fedor's victory was symbolic given the tension between the U.S. and Russian governments. It probably is, but who cares? Talk about holding a grudge. Most Americans don't really harbor the same animosity or competitive hatred for Russia since the end of the Cold War. Apparently the feeling is not mutual.

Third time might be the charm

I'm definitely impressed with some of the fights and talent signed on for season three of BodogFight.

MMA beyond Zuffa

It's not just BodogFight that can put on decent MMA events. The Elite XC/Strikeforce combo has a killer show coming in June.

Blandishment

Over at BloodyElbow, I polish my own apple for my correct predictions for the BodogFight PPV.

Mike Sloan gets it right

His write-up of the BodogFight PPV is spot on. As are these two choices comments:

For personal reasons due to countless inside jokes between me and those close to me, Nick "The Goat" Thompson has the greatest nickname in the history of mankind. …

There is no merit in regards to the "Fedor grabbed the rope" argument as to why he won. Everybody grabs the ropes and/or fence in MMA. He wasn't penalized because it was a one-time thing. It happens all the time so let's all collectively get over it and move on. Fedor would have won anyway. …

More humble pie

I believe Sherdog's Tomas Rios might want to eat a slice. Check out his prediction for the Thompson vs. Alvarez fight. A "journeyman for virtually his entire career"? Not so much, Tomas.

Video of the Day

Two of them. Two of the three fights I wrote about in my recent MMA Insight article. Luckily I went three for three in my predictions, thereby slightly redeeming my awful performance at UFC 69.

The camera angles aren't really that great and the commentating is a little too WWE for me, but whatever.

Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Eric Pele

Erik Pele vs Aleks Emelianenko bodog
Uploaded by redkiller77400

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Lindland

Fedor vs Matt- 14 April 2007
Uploaded by bosnia_

BodogFight weigh-in results

Here are the results:

Main Card
Fedor Emelianenko 230lbs. vs. Matt Lindland 212lbs.
Eddie Alvarez 169lbs vs. Nick Thompson 170lbs.
Aleksander Emelianenko 255lbs vs. Eric Pele 277lbs.
Andrei Semenov 185lbs. vs. Jorge Santiago 186lbs.
Amanda Buckner 135lbs. vs. Hitomi Akano 136lbs.
Roman Zentsov 233lbs. vs. Kristof Midoux ??

Undercard
Julia Berezekova 131lbs. vs. Julie Kedzie 135lbs.
Dmitry Samoliov 169 lbs. vs. Ray Steinbeis 171lbs.
Eric Oganov 169lbs. vs. Derrick Noble 170lbs.
Amar Suloev 184lbs. vs. Andy Foster 184lbs.

Undercard Pre-PPV Fights
Josh Curran 265lbs. vs. Jarno Nurminen 249lbs.
Rodrigo Damm 156lbs. vs. Santino Defranco 156lbs.
Steve Steinbeiss 171lbs. vs. Bill Mahood 204lbs.

Pele at 277lbs? I think that's the lightest I've ever seen him. Smart move, too. If you want to be able to keep up with the agile and fast-moving Aleks, being light on your feet is a must.

Midoux hadn't weighed-in apparently because he missed a flight.

Fedor will have nearly 20 pounds on Lindland, but that's really not a lot. I know mean mugging isn't an element of real criteria, but Lindland looks ready.