Inside MMA TV report
by Phil Adams
This week's show was taped immediately following Dream 5. The first set of guests are Mike Kogan (FEG USA) and Matt Hume.
Initially, there is a recap of Dream 5. Regarding the Aoki - Uno fight, Matt notes that Uno wore shoes in the match because Uno feels the shoes make him faster, giving him better traction on the mat. Aoki is normally an upper body submission specialist, so Uno didn't take into account that Aoki would use the shoes to his advantage in going after heel hooks. Matt concludes the use of the shoes was a bad decision by Uno.
Hume also noted that Hansen was actually second in line to face Aoki after Alvarez was unable to continue in the tournament. The first choice was Kawajiri, but he obviously could not continue after being TKO'd.
Matt says that greatest influence that Japanese MMA has had on US MMA is the use of submission techniques. Submission style was pioneered in Japan in Pancrase and exported to the US by Ken Shamrock and Matt.
Mike says that Dream may have a Featherweight Grand Prix in 2009. He anticipates that more weight classes will be developed in Dream. Matt believes it is smart to add and develop one weight class at a time.
Next is a recap of Affliction with Ron Kruck. Note that Inside MMA is allowed to use actual footage of the Affliction show, not still pictures like UFC requires them to use. So if you did not see Affliction, this is an excellent recap.
Mike thinks Affliction went about establishing their promotion the wrong way by presenting such a huge card without having any established audience. Their audience is not large enough to justify such a card. He wonders where they go from here.
Matt questions whether WAMMA titles will ever really mean anything. Obviously, Fedor is the best heavyweight, but without UFC participation what will titles in other divisions mean? Mike was non-commital about Dream ever participating in WAMMA. He says it is very unlikely that WAMMA will ever succeed.
Next, Ron Kruck shows some still pictures from UFC Fight Night and reviews the results.
Back to a very warm Kenny and Bas (the air conditioning in the building in Osaka was turned off after the Dream card and it was 38 degrees celsius in Osaka that day). They are joined by Urijah Faber and his training partner, Joseph Benavidez (8 - 0, with another victory that night). Urijah's next fight is 9/10 against Mike Brown. He would love a rematch with Tyson Griffin, his only loss. He would have to go up in weight because Griffin walks around about 45 pounds heavier than Urijah. Urijah walks around at about 150 and does not really have to cut weight. Joseph wants to fight more in Japan. Both he and Urijah would like to fight Kid Yamamoto. Joseph would supposed to face him at Dream 5 but Yamamoto "tore his ACL".
Ron Kruck interviewed Tom Attencio. He says Affliction needs about 300,000 PPV buys for the show to be a success. He felt flattered that UFC considered Affliction to be enough of a threat to schedule a free show in direct competition to their PPV. He doesn't blame UFC for doing so.
That's about it.
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!
