By This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- UFC 72 from Belfast takes place in just hours. The line-up is as follows, courtesy the great Dr. Keith:
UFC 72 - Victory - Saturday, June 16, 2007 - The Odyssey - Belfast, Northern Ireland
1. Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami
2. Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez
3. Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida
4. Jason MacDonald vs. Rory Singer
5. Tom Murphy vs. Jake O'Brien (Dark)
6. Eddie Sanchez vs. Colin Robinson (Dark)
7. Dustin Hazelett vs. Stevie Lynch (Dark)
8. Marcus Davis vs. Jason Tan (Dark)
9. Scott Smith vs. Ed Herman (Dark)
- Show airs live on PPV at noon PST, 3:00 PM EST, plus there is a replay started at the usual time, 7 PST/10 EST this evening. Not exactly the strongest main event, and I'd predict the PPV does in the 300,000-400,000 range. Mike Coughlin has an article previewing the show elsewhere on the site. UFC has done a pretty good job getting the word out about the show, as you were bombarded with commercials if you watched any of the UFC-related shows on Spike this week. I don't expect the mainstream to jump all over this one, but I do think they'll be out en masse for the July PPV with Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans.
- I'll be doing ongoing play-by-play on the front page of this site starting at noon Pacific. If we do a post-PPV audio show it won't be until much later as I have family/birthday-related things to do in the early evening. Realistically, unless something major happens we'll just cover the show tomorrow night after Slammiversary.
- The final line-up for the TUF V finals this coming Saturday night, which we'll be attending live in Las Vegas:
UFC The Ultimate Fighter V - Finals - Saturday June 23, 2007 - The Pearl, Las Vegas, NV
1. Jens Pulver vs. BJ Penn
2. Season Five Final: Nathan Diaz vs. Manny Gamburyan
3. Roger Huerta Vs. Doug Evans
4. Floyd Sword Vs. Thales Leites
5. Brandon Melendez Vs. Joe Lauzon (Dark)
6. Brian Geraghty Vs. Matt Wiman (Dark)
Cancelled: Noah Thomas vs. Marlon Sims
- In addition to Sherri Martel, we're sad to note the death of Argentinean star Humberto Reynoso on June 14th at the age of 72. He actually got a mention in Variety of all places. Thanks to David Bixenspan.
- If you didn't see the final episode of Ultimate Fighter on Thursday (Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard show), you must. It's so damn great, and you'll be blown away with how awesome and dramatic they were able to make a PING PONG GAME. Watch it after TNA if possible.
- Royce Gracie tested positive for nandrolone (steroids) following his fight with Kazushi Sakuraba at the K-1 show in LA. He has, of course, denied taking anything. He joins Johnny Morton (steroids) and THE BIG PERM (meth) on that show, and there may be more to come.
- IFL Battleground did an 0.5 on Monday. Raw did a 3.8, though if you throw out the first 8:00 hour it would have done a 4.2. The Fight Night Show Tuesday did a 1.16, which is actually a hell of a lot better than I expected it to do. May bode well for tonight's PPV, as UFC's base hardcore audience seems to be pretty damn high. The Guy's Choice Awards did an 0.73. ECW did a 1.7.
- Interscope Records hip-hop star Rich Boy will be performing on Friday night at the Baroni/Shamrock Strikeforce PPV. Admin Nailz will be at this show live so we'll have full coverage on the website and in the newsletter.
- As reported in this past week's newsletter, Saturday Night's Main Event in August will be taped with Raw at Madison Square Garden.
- This week's new 25,000-word Figure Four Weekly newsletter is packed with pro-wrestling and MMA news and analysis from around the world! For those of you who wanted more news in the previous week's Road Report issue, we make up for it with a VENGEANCE here! We've got a cover story on THE DEATH OF VINCE MCMAHON, what the plans were at press time and how they might change, the aftermath of the situation, why I have a hard time being offended by it, what this means for the Vince McMahon character, how far they're going to go with it, when the limo explosion was taped, the storylines through the summer, backstage at the draft Raw, who knew they were being drafted and who didn't, why Kennedy is going to Raw, why Benoit is going to ECW, a funny incident with Iron Sheik backstage before the show, the storyline screw-up of Vince stripping Lashley for being drafted and what the explanation from McMahon was, tons of notes on the K-1 attendance, including breakdowns of nearly every seat and ticket sold, how it compares to other giant MMA events in the US, whether it actually broke any records, what the Japanese press was saying about it, more steroid test failures, UFC Ultimate Fight Night review, what's up with Jackass, some scary buyrate numbers for WWE from the last several months, developmental notes, ECW lawsuit, Kennedy update, Paul Heyman update, ratings news and notes, Cena on a new network show, tons of notes on the dangers of concussions in sports, referees not being told finishes and what that's about, MMA Superbowl match upcoming, UFC drug test results, matches for upcoming big shows, what happened with Noah and Marlon and TUF V, Chuck in rehab?, ratings notes, Scott Steiner seriously hurt, TNA top star injured, TNA looking at new TV deal, Impact ratings breakdown, Bad News Allen show update, new Shimmer champ, TONS of notes on Tommy Morrison and his "MMA debut", is he HIV positive?, Armando Garcia talks rules and more, interesting partnership between IFL and USA Wrestling, tons of notes from Mexico, ROH big show results from the weekend, Vinny reviews the 1985 AWA Live TV special, full reviews of every major TV show including Raw, Smackdown, TNA and TUF, and TONS more! Of course, as a member you also get full access to ALL new and archived radio shows dating back to 2005, plus all the new and archived (280-plus issues) Figure Four Weekly newsletters dating back to 2001. To sign up, please click here, or PayPal users can use the Quick Buy link at the top of this page to be online within 60 seconds. Rates start at just $7.99 per month (27 cents a DAY), so it's a steal. Thanks for your support!
- Our latest FREE radio show, the June 11 Bryan & Vinny Show, can be downloaded here.
- My newest Fight Network column is here with a look at Brock Lesnar's MMA career and MMA debut. If you like the columns, they're about 1/25th the length of each issue of Figure Four Weekly, and we've got 300 back issues archived from 2002-today, all available 24/7 with an online membership to this site. See below for more info and ordering details.
- Alex Marvez' column on Konnan
- Teacher lays the smack down with a People's elbow
- Lance Storm's thoughts on the draft
- Joe Rogan's latest celebrity feud
- I love Dave's favorite wrestler growing up
- Muchnick in the Jerusalem Post
- Hot chick loves dudes fighting
- Thanks as always to Mikeinformer for all his help!
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news from this site or from our newsletters, please include a link to www.f4wonline.com as opposed to "From F4W", "From Figure Four Weekly" or derivatives. Thank you!
For the most in-depth and detailed news and analysis on pro-wrestling and MMA, always turn to Figure Four Weekly Online! Become a member of F4Wonline.com and get the absolute latest insider news and commentary from WWE, TNA, UFC, PRIDE, CMLL, AAA, ROH, K-1, all the wrestling and MMA independents, Japan, and so much more, all for as little as $1.44 per week. Members get access to the COMPLETE radio show archives dating back to 2005 (Figure Four Daily, The Bryan & Vinny Show, Mike Coughlin's Five Star Radio, the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show, and The Adam & Mike Big Audio Nightmare), the Figure Four Weekly newsletter archive (260+ issues from the past five years), the entire Dragon King Wrestling History Archive, and complete access to every news article and column ever posted on the site. For your convenience, we offer secure online payments using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card or PayPal account. Don't miss out on the fun, sign up now!
Want full access within one minute? QUICK AND EASY $7.99 PAYPAL SIGN-UP!
Send us a news tip: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news from this site or from our newsletters, please include a link to www.wrestlingobserver.com
For the most in-depth and detailed news and analysis on pro-wrestling and MMA, always turn to Wrestlingobserver.com/Figure Four Weekly Online, the #1 website of its kind on the Internet. Members receive online access to both the Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly newsletters and growing archives, Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer three times per week, the popular Bryan and Vinny Show twice per week, additional radio shows including Figure Four Daily with Alvarez, Mike Coughlin's Five Star Radio, the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show, The Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare, Tough Talk and the Karl Stern Wrestling History Show, the infamous BOARD, and more! Members also have full access to the thousands of hours of audio in our radio show archives which date back to 2005. For your convenience, we offer secure online payments using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card or PayPal account. Don't miss out on the fun, sign up now! Don\'t miss out on the fun, sign up now!
Want full access? QUICK AND EASY $10.99 SIGNUP!
