HDNet FiGHTS PREMIER SET FOR DALLAS - Fedor is safe

[DCBooks]

HDNet FiGHTS PREMIER SET FOR DALLAS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13...AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER
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DALLAS, TEXAS...SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 --- Mark Cuban announced today (10:00 am Dallas Media Conf.) that his high definition network, HDNet will be entering into the mixed-martial-arts fighting circle, with the debut of “HDNet FiGHTS” in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m.


While HDNet has aired MMA events in the past, this will be the first venture into the MMA business for Cuban and HDNet, with the inaugural event set for the American Airlines Center, the premier sports and entertainment venue that is the home of Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks.

Slated for the light heavyweight main event will be former Shooto World Champion, Eric Paulson (10-4-1, Los Angeles) taking on 5-time World Kick Boxing Champion, Jeff Ford (7-2, Denver). The Paulson vs Ford fight will be one of ten bouts scheduled on the card.
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Highly regarded middleweights, Jason House (7-3, Dallas) and Freddy Espiricueta (6-2, Austin) square off in an all Texas shootout. Former UFC World Heavyweight title challenger, Justin Eilers (17-6, Las Vegas), will head up the undercard when he battles Justin Howard (7-1, San Antonio) in a 3-round Heavyweight contest.

Also featured on the card will be UFC Veteran, Sean Salmon (10-3, Los Angeles). Salmon is set to challenge Leopoldo Serao (14-6, Brazil).

According to Cuban, his fighting franchise will be a big plus for MMA fans at the live gate, as well as for his HDNet viewers.

“Mixed martial arts fighting is a fast, emerging business and there’s a lot of demand out there right now.” said Cuban. “It is in the best interest of HDNet that we provide the programming that the viewers want and MMA fighting has done very well for us. At the same time, we can serve the many fight fans in Dallas and other cities by bringing the sport to them in an arena atmosphere.”

But is he an MMA fan, himself? “Absolutely,” he quickly responded. “I don’t put my energy into anything I don’t enjoy. This is simply an exciting sport.”

Cuban has hired Dallas MMA legend and former UFC champion, Guy Mezger, to take charge of fight operations for his new company. For Martial Arts Hall of Fame member, Mezger, working with Cuban and HDNet will give him an opportunity to help build a solid fighting organization.

“Actually, it’s a dream come true for me to work with Mark and his HDNet team,” the 5-time World champion said. “I know that Mark is committed to producing the best MMA events possible and I’m going to do everything possible to help him do that. I’m looking forward to growing with the company and making some noise in this exciting business.”

As for HDNet FiGHTS first event, Mezger sees an entertaining fight card. “We have a solid main event in Eric Paulson against Jeff Ford,” he noted. “Both guys are former world champions in their respective fighting styles, so when you put them into the ring, together in an MMA fight, you can end up with some real fireworks.

“Justin Eilers and Sean Salmon are former UFC veterans that always put on great fights. We also have several Dallas area fighters that will be fighting on the card, so we have something for everyone -- all kinds of fighting styles and all brave warriors, ready to go on October 13.”
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With talent like Eilers and Salmon, I doubt picking up Fedor is a serious concern for Cuban.

[Z A C H E R]

Jeff Ford just got his ass handed to him by James Funny in Castle Rock. that was the hardest fight I ever had to commentate. the whole damn time Ford was complaining and making BS claims about Funny cheating, and the majority of the fight was right in front of us. he has ZERO ground game, and whines like a little girl. of course in the commentating I couldn't say that, but man did I ever want to.

[dy-no-mite3000]

So what do we think about this? Is Mark Cuban looking to create an open source type establishment where he would be the Don King Promotions/Top Rank etc of MMA? Using freefighters etc?
On HDnet starting friday a new show (probably hosted by Ron Kruck) called INSIDE MMA, where they will discuss all the weekly happenings of MMA with highlights etc apparently.

[Bishop]

Eilers is the new Tiki when it comes to fighting outside the UFC. The guy has been on a roll, but against lackluster competition. Since his loss to Vera, he's gone 8-1, with his only loss coming to a reborn Rizzo by decision. I'm not saying he's a draw or slightly one, but for a guy that lacks the exposure and internet backing, he's a pretty decent fighter who can continue his great run....just as long as he's not fighting against top 10 or 15 HW competition.

Also, I'm still waiting on him to drop down to 205, but I guess he's not a fan of cutting the weight.

Sean Salmon, I was expecting huge things from him after the Rashad fight, but that didn't happen. He's gone 3-2 since and both losses coming via guillotine....I guess he's the Frank Trigg of the guillotine world instead of RNC's. He's a powerhouse wrestler, but he needs to learn how to protect his neck. Though the losses did come against 2 legit fighters (Belcher and Wiuff), it still help that both of those fights combined took a little over 4 minutes to take those 2 losses.

oh, in short, they are just names to throw out there and to use the UFC name. It's a smart business tactic, but I am suprised they didn't try to get Babalu or Jeremy Horn for the start-up show.

[dy-no-mite3000]

One positive to Cuban getting back into producing MMA for HDnet directly under their own shows is the fact that there will be no more rinky dink bar shows aired in HD with bar room bouncers fighting etc.

While I enjoy free mma ESPECIALLY in HD, the quality of fights on HD Net has lacked considerably since the departure of WEC from the channel at the start of the year.

[Z A C H E R]

to be honest, I am not to excited about the card.

[DCBooks]

Does anyone else see this lack-luster initial line-up as a sign that the alleged negotiations with Fedor may have been overblown?

Every guy mentioned on the card for 3 fights apiece won't total the offer the UFC has on the table with Fedor.

If he was serious about Fedor I would have expected to see Monson, Barnett, Alex, Hunt etc. lined up at the press conference.

[Z A C H E R]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

Does anyone else see this lack-luster initial line-up as a sign that the alleged negotiations with Fedor may have been overblown?

Every guy mentioned on the card for 3 fights apiece won't total the offer the UFC has on the table with Fedor.

If he was serious about Fedor I would have expected to see Monson, Barnett, Alex, Hunt etc. lined up at the press conference.

I see it that way too. I actually see this card as being really really lackluster for a first card.

[DCBooks]

Originally Posted by Z A C H E R

to be honest, I am not to excited about the card.

It's not an exciting card. For free on HD Net, sure I'll watch, but it's just not competitive.

Erik Paulson? 7 years ago he wasn't a name.

[Z A C H E R]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

It's not an exciting card. For free on HD Net, sure I'll watch, but it's just not competitive.

Erik Paulson? 7 years ago he wasn't a name.

trust me on Ford too, lmao. I would scope it if I had HD net, but I don't so I will find other ways .

[dy-no-mite3000]

Originally Posted by Bishop

Eilers is the new Tiki when it comes to fighting outside the UFC. The guy has been on a roll, but against lackluster competition. Since his loss to Vera, he's gone 8-1, with his only loss coming to a reborn Rizzo by decision. I'm not saying he's a draw or slightly one, but for a guy that lacks the exposure and internet backing, he's a pretty decent fighter who can continue his great run....just as long as he's not fighting against top 10 or 15 HW competition.

I've seen a few Eilers fights on HD net since his loss to Vera. Atleast 3 or 4 I'd say. Eilers has NEVER looked impressive. He looked like shit with an uninspired effort vs Rizzo, vs. Jimmy Ambriz in the WEC a year ago Ambriz was schooling Eilers during round one and then tore his right bicep at the end of the round giving Eilers the win and I think the WEC HW strap. The only time he looked good, was vs. a relative unknown named Josh Diekman, yeah I looked it up, Justin fought the guy when he was something like 4-0 and won in under 3 mins, the guys gone on since to win 3-4 fights with his only loss being to Eilers.

Eilers unfortunately has become nothing more than cannon fodder for a small or mid scale show, the promise we thought we saw when he defeated Mike Kyle was 3 years ago, and he hasn't looked half as good as he did in those 4 minutes since and that's sad.

[DCBooks]

Guy Metzger has just sold a used pinto to a billionaire as if it was a Ferrari.

[Bishop]

to me, even though Paulson has done great things in MMA and for it as a trainer, but I will always remember him as the guy who had his hair held by James Warring and foot stomped to a stoppage

[dy-no-mite3000]

The card is being rushed for sure, however since it is being rushed perhaps it is being used as an avenue to make some big announcements, or maybe it's jsut being rushed because they can take the 12 fights they they will hold and stretch them out over the course of 4 weeks on HDnet to fill their production quota. Remember this however, eventhough Cuban didn't book the WEC events, he just paid the bills, but while you had no named guys ALWAYS on their shows, for some strange reason every WEC show seemed to have 1 if not a handful of undercard fights that will wow you, hopefully this luck will carry over to Cuban's new show.

[dragomort]

I'd say it's a test of the waters. You don't need existing big names for great fights and a solid company, just good matchmaking, fighters and promotion. The fact that more $$ wasn't dumped in the initial offering to draw the likes of some of the free agents out there is worrisome for their long-term plans, however. You only get one hype boost from your first card and this one doesn't scream out excitement to even us hardcore fans. I'd rather them start small enough to handle, but this doesn't seem ambitious enough for their future plans to succeed.

[dy-no-mite3000]

We remember what happened to the WFA when they started up again and dumps so much of their initial capital in big names.

[Z A C H E R]

Originally Posted by dy-no-mite3000

We remember what happened to the WFA when they started up again and dumps so much of their initial capital in big names.

Yeah but man, this is like the extreme opposite of that.

[dragomort]

Yeah, but I'd expect to see at least someone(s) with some name value to bring interest to their first card. This is prime territory for a promoter to come in and get together some of the contracts left behind by others and take advantage of the inexclusivity on most fighters contracts outside the UFC. These guys are getting the AA center and a crowd that wouldn't fill it up if the tickets were free.

[dy-no-mite3000]

Source: PWInsider.com

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who is forming his own Mixed Martial Arts promotion, recently told MMAWeekly.com that he would be interested in a potential partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Cuban said, "We've been in discussions with the WWE, Vince and Linda McMahon and Shane about doing some cross promotions under the HDNet Fights banner. Since they do a great job of putting together events, within some of the restraints that I talked about, the no ring girls and obviously the events have to be straight up, there’s no scripted anything, but they want to get into that side of the business. They realize that if they just brand it as WWE, that people aren’t going to believe that it’s not scripted, but if they work with Mark Cuban and HDNet Fights and the Dallas Mavericks approach, then people will trust it.”

Shane McMahon has been said to be high up on the MMA industry and has been pushing others in WWE to branch into that direction.

Vince McMahon addressed the possibility of a WWE-branded MMA product at the WWE stockholders meeting this May. McMahon said that the company had looked into it but it’s tough to build an intellectual property and noted that it is a real sport. McMahon explained to stockholders that once you build a guy up and he gets knocked out, you’re left with nothing. He also said that he felt like MMA would burnout and doubted that it would have a long-running legacy like boxing.

...

[Z A C H E R]

ugh

[dragomort]

I guess we'll be seeing a SHW division and a use for Texas' policy not to release drug tests....

[dy-no-mite3000]

Originally Posted by dragomort

I guess we'll be seeing a SHW division and a use for Texas' policy not to release drug tests....

Somewhere in the world Big Perm is smiling.

[Z A C H E R]

Originally Posted by dy-no-mite3000

Somewhere in the world Big Perm is smiling.

Is that because he scored meth?

[DCBooks]

If Cuban joins with WWE, lets vow right here and now, never to speak of HDnet Fights again.

[Z A C H E R]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

If Cuban joins with WWE, lets vow right here and now, never to speak of HDnet Fights again.

I will take this vow.

[DCBooks]

Watch, he'll get Fedor, and then Fedor will run the gauntlet from Lensner to whoever, and we'll never be sure the fights are real.

[The Kraken]

Sounds like the WWE thing won't happen based on McMahon's words, thankfully.

I'm hoping this is just a sort of practice run. With the amount of MMA programming they seem to intend to bring to the air, I'd expect a pretty wide range of quality from show to show. Hopefully others will dwarf this one.

[dragomort]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

Watch, he'll get Fedor, and then Fedor will run the gauntlet from Lensner to whoever, and we'll never be sure the fights are real.

Nah, Fedor's not ripped enough to warrant being a real fighter

It depends how they'd plan it to work, but I see a helluva lot more chances of crappiness than of goodness should this come close to happening. At least for the knowledgeable fans like those here.

[DeltaSigChi4]

Salmon is 11-4, not 10-3. He just loss [BY GUILLOTINE, ] to Travis Wuiff on Richard Steele's IFO promotion.

E

[chuck]

I have time for Cuban. he played in the pack in rugby. takes balls to do that.