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Thanks YOLO! Always trying to bring some useful DD for the board.
Sure looks like it's going to explode soon, IMO!
Mr. Peeps
HEADLINE: MOBILE PHONES - CONVERGENCE;
The content drift of mobile
Marketing Week
LOAD-DATE: June 2, 2006
BODY:
Mobile operators are looking to convergence - either by extending the capability of handsets or service 'bundling' - to keep profits on the rise and stay ahead of the competition. But content is what the most forward-thinking operators are exploring. Dominic Dudley and Robert Lester report
People who want a mobile phone have surely got their hands on one by now - which is a problem for network operators that want to keep growing. Getting the public to increase their usage of their phones is one way out of the dilemma, but the option operators are increasingly turning to is to expand into new areas, such as broadband internet access. It seems media convergence might be happening at last, but how it will work, and whether consumers want it, is a different matter.
The lack of clear answers has thrown up alternative strategies from operators. T-Mobile and 3 are focusing on providing more services over mobile. On the other hand, Vodafone, O2, Orange and Virgin Mobile are all moving towards new platforms. In essence, they are all placing their bets on whether convergence will happen around the device (so that other services such as television are available on your mobile), or around the brand (so that you buy your phone, internet and TV services from one provider).
Broadening horizons
O2, the UK's biggest network, has revealed plans to set up a capability and innovation division, headed by former marketing director Russ Shaw (MW last week). It will try to address convergence, with the main underlying motivation of finding new ways to keep hold of its customer base. "We are looking pretty closely at the broadband area and the best way to get involved in that space," says Shaw. "You hope along the way you'll pick up some new customers, but we've got 16 million and our challenge is how to keep them happy."
Virgin Mobile has, through its takeover by cable company NTL, been shifting into the multi-platform arena, promising a "quad-play" that offers TV, internet access, mobile and fixed-line telephony in one package.
This week, Vodafone set up a New Businesses unit to meet what it calls "customers' total communications needs". The new unit will focus on providing broadband services, integrating mobile phones with PCs and the internet, and developing new advertising-based services.
Meanwhile, France Telecom has been ramping up its marketing spend to tell consumers that it is replacing its Wanadoo internet brand with Orange. Further details are due this week, but reports suggest it will opt for a "free" broadband offer to persuade customers to take up multiple services. This could land it in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority, just as Carphone Warehouse got into difficulty with the "free" broadband service it offered as part of its TalkTalk phone package.
"Orange, as part of France Telecom, is in an extremely strong position. We're pioneering the idea of moving out of traditional mobile telephony towards converged services," says Orange spokesman Stuart Jackson. "People want to be able to access what they want, when and how they want, and that's what we're providing."
Watch for the changes
As to the nature of such services, there are several possibilities. "It will get to the point where you'll be watching something on your TV at home and when you go out you'll be able to continue watching it on the train on your mobile. That's a long way in the future but it will happen," says Jackson. He adds: "You're going to have one address book, one e-mail address and one contacts library stored on your network, which will be accessible through Orange on your mobile phone."
Such predictions often prove inaccurate, but the general strategy is supported by Phil Kendall, director of global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics. "The days when you can be a provider of a single service are coming to an end. If everyone else is offering quad-play and all you can do is mobile voice and a few multi-media services you are going to struggle," he says.
Not everyone agrees, though, and the sceptics point to other sectors such as the financial world, where people often go to different providers for their mortgage, insurance and banking services. It may be that customers will also prefer to buy TV, broadband access, mobile and fixed telephony from different companies.
HomeChoice has struggled to sign up many customers to its broadband-TV- phone service. Similarly, mobile TV has proved problematic, with O2's trial in Oxford last year proving inconclusive about consumer demand.
T-Mobile technical director Emin Gurdenli questions whether consumers really want an all-in-one package. "Our philosophy is to put on mobile what you enjoy doing at home," he says. "We're not choosing to buy or partner with a broadband provider because we don't think it is the right thing to do. Triple-play and quad-play is operator talk, it's not customers asking for it."
Third generation (3G) operator 3 is keeping a similar focus on mobile services, with no plans to offer multi-platform services. "Through 3G technology we are bringing the consumer the benefit of a converged service - premium media and communications services on one device," says a spokeswoman. "Recent convergence agreements appear to be more about branding than offering the consumer something new and different."
Whichever strategy they follow, the operators face the problem of how to persuade consumers to buy into these extra services. The mobile industry has a poor record in this regard. The last time it made a big bet on the future - with 3G networks - it came badly unstuck. A few years before that it oversold WAP services, promising the mobile internet years before it could really deliver. Shaw acknowledges that the industry needs to do better in the future. "We've got to learn how to introduce these services, to find what customers want," he says.
Catching the imagination of consumers and getting them to take up these services is critical, as access itself becomes more of a commodity with little to differentiate the providers. "Do they move from being a network provider to being a content provider? That's where the money seems to be," says FutureBrand European chief executive Patrick Smith.
More content
If they can get content right, mobile operators might find it easier to keep hold of their customers and attract new ones. But as they search for the best route forward they will have to keep an eye on companies that haven't traditionally been their rivals trying to muscle into mobile services. Just as there are few barriers for mobile operators moving into internet access, so other media companies wouldn't find it so difficult to move into mobile. Convergence could prove to be a double-edged sword for the UK's mobile operators.
Vodafone has set up a New Business unit this week that will explore broadband, integrating mobile phones with PCs and new ad-based services
Orange is to replace the Wanadoo internet brand. Owner France Telecom is believed to be considering a 'free' broadband offer to encourage sign-up
Virgin Mobile, recently taken over by cable company NTL, is turning to multi-platform for growth, offering customers four services in a single package3 is focusing on mobile, believing that 'recent convergence agreements appear to be more about branding than offering consumers something different'
T-Mobile, like 3, is avoiding the multi-platform route. 'Triple-play and quad-play is operator talk, it's not customers asking for it,' says its technical chief
02 is to create an innovation division to address the issue of convergence, despite a trial in Oxford last year proving inconclusive about public demand
HEADLINE: CAGE FIGHTING DRAWS NEW FANS, TAKES LUMPS: SPORT HAS TONED DOWN THE MAYHEM, BACKERS SAY
BYLINE: Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.
BODY:
Jun. 8--No holds barred? Nonsense, Daniel Puder said. Then he began listing everything he can't do in the often-bloody but increasingly popular sport of mixed martial arts.
No kicking to the groin. No eye-gouging. No elbows to the face. Limits to kicking an opponent when he's on the ground.
The criticism that his sport, which will be on display again Friday at HP Pavilion, is barbaric and just one step from street brawling has been "completely overblown," Puder said.
But he has an idea why the image of brutality persists in a sport that wasn't even legal in California until this year.
"The cage," said Puder, a Cupertino native with platinum blond hair who is on Friday's card. "People see fighters go into a cage and that creates perceptions. But the cage is also part of the draw. It's almost like the old Roman thing."
Like exhibitions at the ancient Colosseum, these events -- more commonly known as cage fighting and ultimate fighting -- draw crowds, partly by filling a void created by the decline of boxing. Some 18,265 fans showed up at HP Pavilion for the sport's California debut March 10.
Spectators, who skew toward the coveted 18-to-34-year-old demographic, see bouts that combine elements of boxing, wrestling, kick-boxing and other martial arts. The object: Beat the opponent into submission and get him to "tap out," or concede.
"Or if someone won't tap out when they're in a choke hold, they end up waking up 10 seconds later because they lost consciousness," said Cung Le, a San Jose fighter.
Proponents say cage fighting -- once labeled "human cockfighting" by Sen. John McCain -- is gaining legitimacy because the sport has reined in the mayhem.
Others remain unconvinced: Cage fighting is sanctioned in just 20 states. The American Medical Association calls it medically and morally wrong.
But Orin Starn, a Duke professor of cultural anthropology, is not surprised by cage fighting's edgy appeal.
"For a generation that's grown up playing heavy-duty, kung-fu, fighting video games, this is the real life version of 'Mortal Kombat,' " Starn said. "Demand has been created for a sort of gladiatorial, bare-essentials kind of combat."
A sport on the rise
It's clear that cage fighting is gaining an audience.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, the best-known of the cage-fighting outfits, has staged two Southern California shows that it said drew about 32,000 combined. UFC events are big pay-per-view attractions. And Spike TV has a hit in its reality show "The Ultimate Fighter."
Men aren't the only ones interested. Scott Coker, promoter of the Strikeforce events at HP Pavilion, said about one-third of the March crowd was female.
"This is going to get huge," Le added. "It's day and night from what it used to be."
That's the case in more ways than one. The sport has a controversial past.
The UFC began in 1993 with fights staged inside an octagonal cage, helping cultivate a blood-sport reputation.
Among those who noticed was McCain, a former Naval Academy boxer. He sent letters to every governor urging them to ban cage fighting. By the end of the decade, the sport was relegated to underground bouts or events staged on reservations.
"I was on Larry King's CNN show with John McCain, and I distinctly remember saying that we would never allow this sport in the state of Nevada unless they had rules," said Marc Ratner, the longtime head of the Nevada Athletic Commission. "Their advertising was 'anything goes,' and we couldn't have that."
This year, Ratner became a UFC executive -- and he said it's because cage fighting has undergone an extreme sport makeover. In 2001, stricter rules were hashed out -- including weight classes and time limits. It was enough to get the sport approved in New Jersey and Nevada, as well as back on pay-per-view.
In about 350 Nevada fights since then, the worst injury has been a broken arm, Ratner said. Competitors say cage fighting now is less dangerous than football.
"The injuries there are much worse," added Le, 33. "Receivers go over the middle and risk taking a big shot from linebackers. Quarterbacks have to hope they don't get blindsided. Steve Young got so many concussions that he had to quit the sport."
Puder, 24, said as a pro and amateur wrestler he was knocked out twice, broke his hand and injured his elbow. But he added that he hasn't been hurt inside the cage, which is made of rubber-coated steel.
"People say it's a violent sport," Puder added. "OK, but what's boxing? That's more detrimental to your brain" because of repeated punches to the head.
The rise of cage fighting comes as boxing has fallen on hard times. The lack of marquee bouts and an alphabet soup of sanctioning bodies have taken the luster from "the sweet science."
Meanwhile, promoter Coker said one draw of the new sport is the way it matches fighters from different disciplines: boxer vs. karate guy, wrestler vs. jiu-jitsu expert.
"It's martial arts fighting at its highest, but the media doesn't understand," Coker said. "They think if there's a choke or an arm bar happening, then it's barbaric. In reality, there's been chokes and arm bars in Olympic judo for the last 50 years."
But anthropologist Starn notes that the sport markets its savagery. And interest in vicious events "goes as far back as the Romans, going to the Colosseum and seeing gladiators and guys with pitchforks fighting the Christians," he said.
Starn said some may find it refreshing that this sport isn't hypocritical. He uses NASCAR as an example -- where the chance to see a wreck is part of the allure, even if nobody admits it.
"There's an idea that violence itself just isn't an acceptable reason to watch," Starn said. "So you can see the appeal to a sport that challenges that idea and promotes the concept that blood is going to be spilled and you're going to be able to watch people beat each other to a pulp."
Detractors remain
Some states, such as New York, still won't allow it. When New York banned it in 1997, Gov. George Pataki called it a "Neanderthal blood sport."
Here, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill in 2004 that permitted cage fighting. Last December, the state athletic commission completed the sanctioning process.
But the sport remains politically sensitive. Armando Garcia, head of the commission, did not respond to multiple interview requests. In March, Schwarzenegger did not attend a mixed martial arts event at his annual Arnold Fitness Weekend in Ohio after media reports about his expected presence at the event.
"It is interesting that this was legalized in the age of Arnold," Starn said. "It's a blurring of the boundaries of movies, muscles and violent spectacles that Arnold has pushed in the movie characters he has played."
But Jim Goddard, general manager and executive vice president of HP Pavilion, said he has no reservations about the sport, and said he hopes the arena can host a few events each year.
"We think mixed martial arts is here to stay," Goddard said.
Contact Mark Emmons at memmons@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5745.
Copyright (c) 2006, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
LOAD-DATE: June 8, 2006
SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. C10
LENGTH: 533 words
HEADLINE: Canadian UFC fighter gives lesson in pain: Georges St. Pierre shows lucky Edmonton fighters a few martial arts fundamentals
BYLINE: Scott Petersen, The Edmonton Journal
DATELINE: EDMONTON
BODY:
EDMONTON - Being roughed up at the hands of Georges St. Pierre would constitute a great day for Justin Nicholson.
Bring on the whip-like kicks to the legs, submission holds or even being tossed to the chandeliers by one of the best mixed martial artists in the world. All would bring pain, but also joy.
Nicholson is a big fan of the Montreal-based St. Pierre, currently the No. 1 challenger for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's welterweight title. On Saturday in the Crowne Plaza's main ballroom, he got to stand in the man's presence and take in some tips.
"He's such an awesome fighter and I hope to get just a couple of things from him," said Nicholson, who drove in from Athabasca to take part in the one-day seminar.
With just a basic high school wrestling background behind him, the 21-year-old isn't about to step into the ring and go toe-to-toe with someone any day soon. But the growing popularity of mixed martial arts has allowed him to watch all of St. Pierre's fights, come away impressed, and then be able to attend a seminar with the star in Edmonton.
The thought of one of the top fighters in the world being able to fly into a mid-sized Canadian city and turn a profit from some simple training advice would have seemed outlandish five years ago. But as the sport grows, so do the purses, the number of challengers, and the number of those looking for advice.
Lethbridge's Jason Day is one of those who would like to make a run to the top. His mission Saturday was to derive as many stand-up techniques as he could from the 12-1-0 fighter and get an inside look into the man's approach to the sport.
"Ultimately my goal is to be a UFC champ, but what fighter doesn't want that," said Day, 27, who boasts an 8-5 record fighting in Canada.
"This is exploding right now. The King of the Cage is in Canada and UFC is coming here ... . There's more of a demand and they can afford to bring people like this in."
The first million-dollar purse has been reached by legend Royce Gracie, and St. Pierre expects to pull in about $100,000 if he wins his next fight, a re-match with the only man to beat him, Matt Hughes. The fight is planned for September and there's the possibility it could take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
It's been a whirlwind ride to the top for the 25-year-old St. Pierre. He coaches in the hit reality show The Ultimate Fighter Season 4, currently being shot in Las Vegas, and is among the sport's most recognizable names.
"It takes a lot of sacrifice and many years of practice (to get to the top)," said the affable St. Pierre in his heavy french accent.
"You don't become a fighter after one or two years. It takes many years."
He started in karate at age seven and dreamed of becoming a pro in martial arts much the same way that many of his friends wanted to reach the National Hockey League. Mission accomplished. Now he's turned part of his attention to teaching others like the few dozen men and handful of women who attended his session in Edmonton.
"This is a good way to promote the sport and make it look better because people can see we're not bums and there's a lot of techniqe to what we're doing," he said. "It is a sport."
spetersen@thejournal.canwest.com
GRAPHIC:
Colour Photo: Marc Bence, the Journal; Georges St. Pierre, left, and sparring partner Victor Valimaki demonstrate some moves to the crowd of amateur fighters at the Crown Plaza Hotel on Saturday.
LOAD-DATE: June 11, 2006
Profit stop spamming the board or you will be reported!
Mr. Peeps
Have fun there Kev...hmmm I like the idea about the girls!
Mr. Peeps
Yeah, you have a good point...that is a possibility Lurky...I guess right now we have to just sit back and wait. Like you said, may be it will be back to normal tomorrow.
Mr. Peeps
Thanks for confirming!
Mike...from what I understood from what Kev was pointing out to me is that the MS server security parameters have to be configured in order to prevent hackers from hacking. Out of the box stuff is not configured at all so many hackers can take advantage of the loopholes. Kev, if you are reading, please correct me if I am wrong.
Mr. Peeps
Thanks for the awesome detailed explanation Kev. A lot of this stuff that you are talking about is totally new to me. It's great to learn something new everyday! Your input is appreciated!
Mr. Peeps
Hey Kev, those products sound way better than Microsoft's anyday. The problem is that a lot hackers hate Microsoft and that's why it always gets hit. A good example is what happend to mmaweekly.com. Case closed!
Mr. Peeps
Wow! Interesting Kev. I hope that they can fix it and get the site back up asap since it is linked with TFN site.
May be they should try using a Linux/Unix server?
Mr. Peeps
I am assuming that they are using that as their server Kev? Am I wrong?
If they are, it's not too good or hacker proof!
Mr. Peeps
No it's not...I hope they have a back up copy to load!
I guess we will have to wait and see.
Mr. Peeps
WTF? Anybody know what happened to http://www.mmaweekly.com/
Looks like someone hacked and deleted the site. Title on the web page says hacked by yev.
Message reads:
y0u h4v3 b33n H4X0R1Z3D
like a sucker
such a weak security
nothing has been deleted
y3v.h4x
Very strange!
Mr. Peeps
I totally agree ozone...it will be sweet when BKMP/TFN take off! Best of luck to you!
Mr. Peeps
Hell YES! It sure is my friend!
Mr. Peeps
For cable networks seeking male viewers, it's time to enter the octagon.
Inspired by the success of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter," BET, MTV2, Fox Sports and Oxygen (yes, Oxygen) are rushing to fill their slates with martial arts cage-fighting shows.
Spike's program, in which fighters live together a la "The Real World" and settle their differences in an octagonal ring, has helped fill the ratings void left in the network's schedule two years ago when it dropped the staged bouts of World Wrestling Entertainment.
The proliferation of real-life fight shows, replete with blood-splattered mats, choke holds and flying knee kicks, will test viewers' and advertisers' taste for the genre. Ultimate fighting audiences have yet to match those attracted by WWE's theatrical big-time wrestling, leaving cable networks to divvy up a pie that may not end up being as large as they hope.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, the league that began popularizing so-called mixed martial arts competitions 13 years ago, supplies Spike with the reality show, 36 fight specials a year and has a pilot deal with the network. Spike TV programming head Kevin Kay said he's considering a magazine-style series featuring UFC news and profiles.
The rush by other networks to get on the bandwagon prompted a sneer from UFC President and co-owner Dana White.
"It just goes to show all these guys have no creativity and no imagination," Mr. White said. "We were pitching this show forever and nobody would touch it ... Now here we are two years later and everybody is copying us."
BET, MTV2, Oxygen and Fox Sports are betting the popularity of ultimate fighting will grow, providing plenty of viewers for everyone. The phenomena, which first entered the American media landscape as VCR tapes and DVDs passed around by devotees, is gaining steam.
"The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike has posted continuous ratings gains each of its three seasons. Current episodes tout more viewers and a younger median age than NBA games on TNT and Major League Baseball games on ESPN.
"When guys say, 'Did you see the fight last night?' they're not talking about boxing anymore," Mr. Kay said. "They're talking about ultimate fighting."
It may take time for ultimate fighting to win mass audiences. Currently, "The Ultimate Fighter" averages 2.2 million viewers, compared with the 5.3 million who tune in to "WWE Raw," which moved to the USA Network. Advertising prices reflect that difference, with the average 30-second big-time wrestling spot costing $15,000 while commercials on "Ultimate Fighter" garner $3,500, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
For mixed martial arts, a sport that Arizona Sen. John McCain once dubbed "human cockfighting," gaining advertisers may prove to be a permanent challenge. After all, Madison Avenue is wary of pro wresting-and that isn't even real.
Ultimate fighting's violence has been toned down in recent years through rules that bar headbutts and crotch strikes. It's still brutal enough to make some viewers squeamish.
Cable consultant Ray Solley said he's uncertain whether the mixed martial arts audience can support all the shows. Either way, the bouts are unlikely to create enthusiasm for the networks' other shows, he said.
"You don't put fighting on to expand your audience, you put it on to capture the cult audience it already has," he said. "You put boxing on Showtime, the show spikes-but it doesn't do anything for the rest of the network."
The networks planning new ultimate fighting shows are trying to distinguish their offerings from Spike's with an assortment of flash, flesh and format changes.
Fox Sports, which last year began televising "Pride Fighting Championships," another form of mixed martial arts competition, this year has added the International Fight League on Sunday nights. Fox Sports used to host pay-per-view Ultimate Fighting Championship matches.
"We don't want to go into business and do the same thing as UFC," said Gareb Shamus, a gaming and anime magazine publisher turned co-founder and CEO of the International Fight League. "We wanted to bring a real sports element to it with actual teams ... and cool names and logos."
IFL will bar elbow strikes to the head, which will keep fights going longer because the combat won't have to be stopped as often due to facial cuts, he said.
MTV2 is set to announce a July premiere date for its fighting series "The Final Fu," which will be a more stylized take on the format, said David Cohn, general manager for MTV2.
"Obviously UFC has been a real juggernaut for Spike-our show is a much different feel," he said. "Whether we felt it was jumping on a trend, I don't know, but our guys brought in a pilot that was really cool and highly stylized."
Over at BET, President of Entertainment Reginald Hudlin is so excited about his project he won't say anything about it-especially given all the interest among rival nets.
"The producers came up with an exciting new angle; I literally cannot say what it is," he said.
And Oxygen's angle is, well, girls fighting.
Oxygen President of Programming Debby Beece described the two-hour "Fight Girls" special as an experiment. "I think it's a fantasy for women to be able to defend themselves and fight," she told TelevisionWeek last December. "For younger viewers, it will be interesting, though I'm not sure the older viewers will necessarily watch."
Jon Lafayette contributed to this report.
Copyright Crain Communications, Incorporated May 29, 2006
Fight for phone customers heats up;
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. D1
LENGTH: 355 words
HEADLINE: Fight for phone customers heats up;
Cable operators object to a PSC ruling on Verizon offers.
BYLINE: By LAUREN MAYK lauren.mayk@heraldtribune.com
BODY:
How much has the telecommunications business changed?
That depends, apparently, on whom you ask.
Despite success with new phone services, the cable industry is insisting players such as Comcast and Bright House Networks are the underdogs in the phone business -- and should continue to be treated that way.
But to hear Verizon tell the story, we're living in a brave new world where phone companies are under assault by new competitors and the old model for cable franchises should be thrown out.
That discrepancy is the basis for the latest volley in the fight between traditional cable and phone operators as they try to steal each other's customers and reinvent themselves as one-stop shops for wiring your home.
The Florida Cable Telecommunications Association is objecting to a recent ruling by state regulators that lets phone company Verizon give shorter notice before making promotional offers on phone service.
The Florida Public Service Commission green-lit a proposal by Verizon in April that lets the phone company offer special promotions with just a day's notice to state officials instead of 15 days.
"Everything has its day and this time it's time to change it -- and they (state regulators) seem to agree with us on it," Verizon spokesman Bob Elek said.
Verizon offers the special deals to some customers who call to cancel their service and switch to a competitor.
But it takes time for competition to take hold, and letting Verizon swoop in and undercut fledgling phone operators just isn't fair, said FCTA president Steve Wilkerson.
Bright House and Comcast have both started offering phone service in the areas where they already sell cable television service. Their phone products run over their own networks.
"They're just in the beginning phases of it," he said.
The way Verizon wants to do things "constitutes an immediate threat on the part of Verizon on obtaining existing and potential customers from Bright House Networks and Comcast and retaining Verizon customers who wish to switch to Bright House Networks and Comcast, in a discriminatory and anticompetitive manner," the FCTA said in its filing with the PSC.
LOAD-DATE: June 8, 2006
Thanks...take care Mike!
Have a great night Mike...I'm going out for a bit!
Mr. Peeps
I love reading your sig's Mike. They are totally funny!
Pretty quiet on the board tonight. Maybe everyone is watching the Miami-Dallas game..lol..don't know where everyone is at.
Mr. Peeps
The Ultimate Blood Test
UFC Is a Vicious Combo of Martial Arts, Mayhem
By Eli Saslow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 1, 2006; Page E01
LOS ANGELES -- Fifteen minutes remained before he stepped into a locked cage to fight a 260-pound Brazilian man with black belts in kickboxing and combat karate, but Brandon Vera's suffering had already begun.
His mind raced and his stomach flipped as he paced across a small locker room tucked in the entrails of Staples Center. He bounced across a wrestling mat that covered the floor and stopped a few steps away from the door, pausing to hear the steady rumble of a nearly filled arena. "It sounds crowded out there," Vera said. The color drained from his face.
No matter how much pain Vera, 28, endured last Saturday night, this nervousness tormented him most. As a budding star of the fast-growing sport of mixed martial arts, Vera faced an extreme double dose of anxiety. The Ultimate Fighting Championship bout would almost certainly leave him injured or unconscious. It would unfold before almost 15,000 fans, the latest large crowd for a sport that, in four years, has doubled its attendance and pay-per-view numbers to rival boxing's popularity.
An Air Force veteran, a jujitsu champion and an undefeated mixed martial arts fighter, Vera had rarely felt so feeble and intimidated. As his manager and two trainers changed into their ringside clothes, Vera made his own final preparations. He excused himself to the bathroom, bent over the toilet and vomited.
"Sometimes before I go fight," Vera said, "I almost have to wonder, 'Okay. Am I crazy?' "
Different Disciplines
----------------------------------------------------------------
He's sane.
No lunatic could have trained with such singular focus and exhausting precision. Vera vowed to become a heavyweight champion when he first saw the UFC on television in 2001, and his determination rarely wavered. Once something of a floater --a year as a wrestler at Old Dominion University, a job installing cable, a stint at the U.S. Olympic Training Center as a Greco-Roman wrestler -- Vera transformed into a compulsive trainer.
In its struggle to gain attention, UFC had advertised itself as the scale that weighed one fighting discipline against another. In three, five-minute rounds, who would win between a boxer and a wrestler? Between a kick-boxer and a jujitsu master?
Vera believed he had the ability to take a different approach: become proficient in each discipline instead of masterful in only one.
For two years, Vera traveled each weekend from his hometown of Norfolk to mixed martial arts events across the East Coast. He trained often in Camp Springs with Lloyd Irvin, a renowned wrestler who specializes in submission moves. Then he moved to San Diego and worked with Rob Kaman, widely regarded as the greatest kick-boxer ever.
The result of this expert training: A fighter so revolutionary he's nicknamed The Truth. Vera's long, 6-foot-3 body makes him flexible and cunning as a grappler. His kicks -- often aimed at an opponent's head -- land with force similar to that of a swinging baseball bat. Vera estimates that at least a dozen times an opponent has stuck out a forearm to block Vera's kick only to have the forearm snapped and splintered like wood.
"Even when I'm blocking [his kicks] with huge pads, it's like torture," training partner Mike Easton said. "Just one of those could kill you."
In little more than two years as a professional fighter, Vera has earned a reputation as one of the sport's most intimidating threats. He came into last Saturday's bout with a 6-0 professional record and won his first two UFC fights with violent knockouts. The UFC marketed his fight at Staples Center as the featured bout of eight undercard fights. A victory would likely leave Vera just a win or two from a title shot, but a daunting obstacle blocked his path.
Assuerio Silva outweighed Vera by 20 pounds, and he had won 25 more professional fights. In early May, Vera tried to narrow the imbalance with a weeklong training camp at Irvin's martial arts academy. He launched a video blog -- http://brandonveratraining.com/ -- so fans could follow his progress. Then he watched film of Silva and trained for three sessions each day.
"This is all business," Vera said. "I've never been this focused on a fight."
Body on the Line
----------------------------------------------------------------
He's crazy.
In a silent Staples Center locker room, Vera slowly dressed in his protective gear. A protective cup, boxing shorts, two small weightlifting gloves that left his fingers exposed and . . . wait. Nothing else? UFC rules force fighters to enter the ring practically naked, as it has since it held its first event in Denver in 1993. "Once you're in the cage," Irvin said, "there's nothing but you for protection."
Usually, that defense falls short. UFC brawls can end three ways: a fighter falls unconscious and a referee stops the fight; a fighter "taps out" and concedes to avoid more pain; or officials make a decision at the end of the third five-minute round. Of the nine UFC bouts Saturday night at Staples Center, only one ended with a decision.
Vera watched the preliminary fights unfold on the television in his locker room and gleefully celebrated bloody results. In the first fight, a man took a hard right hand to the face and fell unconscious -- even before his head violently bounced off the ground. In the third fight, a flying knee to the face knocked a fighter motionless. When he finally limped out of the cage, he walked into a waiting ambulance inside Staples Center.
"Ouch!" Vera said. "That fight was awesome."
Vera grew up the son of a Filipino mother and Italian father in a house crowded with 10 siblings, and he learned to stand out with cocksure assertiveness. "Nothing can stop me but me," Vera said. "I don't care what other people think."
He scheduled his wedding for the day after a UFC fight in Las Vegas last year, bruises and black eyes be damned. He tattooed profanity on his wallet. He disobeyed all conventional wisdom the night before his fight at Staples Center, stuffing his body like a garbage disposal. He ate cheeseburger soup and a chicken quesadilla at his hotel before proceeding to The Palm for chicken curry and a strawberry smoothie. After midnight he ordered and devoured a full meat lover's pizza. He finally went to bed at about 4 a.m.
Thirty minutes before his fight, Vera sweated through his T-shirt while grappling on the floor with Irvin. Then Vera huddled with Irvin, Kaman and Manager Mark Dion, and the fighter's hardened eyes said what he had already told this entourage many times: If necessary to win this fight, Vera would willingly endure deep gashes, concussions and broken bones.
"I do what it takes," Vera said. "I'm willing to wreck my body."
Growing Popularity
----------------------------------------------------------------
He's sane.
This, after all, is no backyard brawl he sacrifices for; it's a legitimate, lucrative business that has made him a niche celebrity. As a public address announcer revved up the crowd at Staples Center, Vera walked down the hall leading to the arena and landed smack in the middle of a cultural phenomenon. A spotlight hit his face and thousands of fans -- some wearing Vera shirts that read "Truth Hurts" -- hollered his name. In the first few rows, Paris Hilton, Cindy Crawford and Nicholas Cage stood applauding.
In five years since Dana White became UFC's president, the organization has morphed from a renegade sideshow to a corporate juggernaut. In the late 1990s, Senator John McCain launched a campaign against the UFC after watching a tape of a fight. He wrote a letter to each governor suggesting all states ban the sport, and the UFC survived only in small venues and with niche audiences until White took over in 2001.
White, 36, helped establish 31 rules to govern the sport and give it legitimacy; he campaigned and won sanctioning in more than 22 states, including California in February. "We had a pretty optimistic five-year plan when we took over," White said, "and we accomplished everything in four years."
The UFC holds about one event each month with anywhere from seven to 10 bouts on the card, and it has sold out 12,000-plus-seat venues in Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif. The season debut of an ultimate fighting reality show on Spike television in April attracted 2.4 million households -- more than competing broadcasts of the Masters and an NBA doubleheader. The cheapest tickets at Staples Center last Saturday sold for $100; second-level tickets cost $400. The potential gate receipts neared $10 million.
At the center of this whirlwind, Vera enjoyed financial rewards he never imagined fighting could provide. The UFC paid him $16,000 to show up for his fight last Saturday night, and another $16,000 if he won. Sponsorship deals doubled that package to a potential net worth of almost $70,000. Vera believed even that figure would amount to UFC pocket change in a few years. Already, titleholders receive as much as $250,000 per fight. A major deal with HBO and domestic beer sponsorship are "coming soon," White said. More than 60 countries televise the UFC, and it plans to open an office in Europe later this year.
On pay-per-view, UFC events have doubled in popularity during the last three years and now draw as many as 400,000 buys -- a number comparable to major boxing events. In a move UFC executives heralded as foretelling, former Nevada Athletic Commission president Marc Ratner, long one of the most respected figures in boxing, took a job with UFC earlier this month.
"If things keep going like this, it's going to be crazy in a few years," ultimate fighter Forrest Griffin said. "We're all going to be millionaires."
And for such enticement, Vera willingly made a calculated sacrifice. He had always walked away from his fights with what he called "minor injuries": broken bones, dislocations, and muscle tears. In 12 years of sanctioned UFC fights, no competitor had ever died. Referee John McCarthy, the UFC's longest-tenured official, stepped into the cage a moment before Vera, and he prided himself on breaking fights up quickly.
"If I see a guy who is vulnerable, I'm going to jump in there and end it," McCarthy said. "All contact sports have some risks, but this one isn't any more dangerous. I'm in there to stop somebody from taking a savage beating."
A Stand-Up Guy
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He's crazy.
By the time Vera's fight began, Staples Center was a cauldron of raging testosterone, a fraternity party on steroids. Fans had already been drinking for three hours and were ogling scantily dressed, UFC-employed women who paraded around the cage between rounds.
Now they wanted to see a fight. And blood.
Vera immediately asserted himself as the aggressor, throwing three leg kicks that Silva deftly defended. Vera tried shoving Silva and accidentally poked him in the eye with a finger. The Brazilian glared, then responded with a clean punch that smacked Vera in his left eye. Less than a minute into his fight, Vera had already suffered the most direct hit of his UFC career.
From the edge of the cage, Irvin and Kaman implored Vera to rely on his kicks, and Vera whirled his right leg at Silva's knee. This time, though, the impact hurt Vera most. He hit Silva so hard it aggravated Vera's already-tender shin, so Vera fell back to the ground and Silva jumped on top of him.
Fans reacted as they usually did when UFC fights turn into wrestling battles fought on the ground: They booed resoundingly. While fighters regard grappling as artful and technical, it typically bores UFC fans. They prefer stand-up fights with definitive blows. "That's all they understand," said Dion, Vera's manager. "Most of the time, the fans have no clue what's actually going on."
Vera quickly confused the crowd further. A little more than two minutes into his fight, Vera slid up against the side of the cage, and Silva bent down to try to pick him up. Vera locked his forearm around Silva's neck to secure what wrestlers call the guillotine hold. Even as Silva picked Vera up on his back, Vera maintained dominance. He twisted the Brazilian to the ground and tightened his grip on the fighter's neck, turning it violently and limiting his air supply.
After about eight seconds, Silva tapped Vera on his side and conceded. Vera danced in the cage, then waded back through the outstretched arms of fans to get back to his locker room. A UFC official greeted him there and suggested he go to the hospital for treatment.
"I don't think I need to go," Vera said. "Really. I'm fine."
Once the official walked out of the room, Vera made a second diagnosis. His left eye had probably suffered some sort of muscle damage, he said. And his right shin?
"I'm hoping that it's just something little," Vera said, "like maybe a hairline fracture. "
________________________________________________________________
Ultimate Fighting Championship, once an underground free-for-all, now has safety rules and is sanctioned by 22 states, including Maryland.
People enjoy this? Last week's card at Staples Center in Los Angeles sold out at $50 to $1,000 per ticket. It rivals -- some say surpasses -- boxing in popularity.
What kind of fighting is it? It is the top series in mixed martial arts a loosely defined sport that combines 11 combat disciplines.
Where can I see it? A card is contested about once a month and often shown on pay-per-view.
Has anyone died? Not in a sanctioned event since safety rules were instituted in 2001.
SECTION: NORTH OF TAMPA; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 644 words
HEADLINE: 'Ultimate' fight
BYLINE: AMBER MOBLEY
BODY:
LUTZ - Karate?
Sure.
Tae kwon do?
Why not?
But mixed martial arts - a genre that's best known for bloody, often brutal Ultimate Fighting Championships where almost anything goes?
Ehhh, not so much, especially not for a 6-year-old.
But it's what A.J. Lopez loves to do - the punches, kicks, take-downs and submission holds of mixed martial arts that blend kickboxing, karate and a variety of other disciplines.
"There are some people who think we're terrible to let him do this," said his mother, Adele Lopez. "But this is what he likes to do and this is what he's good at, so we support him."
And mixed martial arts is the only thing A.J. likes to do. He doesn't like baseball, football or basketball.
"This is it," he said with a smile.
Today, the Lopez family - Mom, Dad, Anthony, and sister Shelby, 15 - are all in New Jersey cheering on A.J. as he competes in one of the nation's largest mixed martial arts tournaments, the Tiger Schulmann's Challenge of Champions, with more than 1,500 competitors.
Standing a mere 47 inches tall, weighing in at 47 pounds and constantly smiling, A.J. might be the last kid one would consider an "ultimate fighter."
But he trains like one, spending on average six to eight hours a week for the past year at Tiger Schulmann's Karate in Carrollwood.
A.J., who lives in Lutz's Crystal Lake neighborhood, is the only child from his dojo going to the competition, and he's usually the smallest and youngest kid on the mat at practice.
And the only one with a mohawk.
"A lot of people didn't know he did this until he cut his hair," said Adele Lopez. "(The kicking and hitting) is when he's here. When he's out of here, it's different. That's not the way he is."
The second-grader's low-cut mohawk makes him a standout at Claywell Elementary School but often draws concern from other parents, his mother said.
"A lot of the mothers will say, 'Why did you let him do that?' and I'll say I didn't let him do anything. His dad did it to him."
Dad Anthony Lopez just snickers.
Adele Lopez jokes that Anthony Lopez is living vicariously through A.J.
Trained in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu karate, Anthony Lopez grapples with A.J. all over the house. Any room and any surface is fair game. Mom sometimes joins in too.
When A.J. is at Tiger Schulmann's, though, his parents go from participants to spectators. With their dental lab business nearby, it's easy for one or both to stay during his nearly daily practices.
As A.J. smiles between kicks and punches, he often glances over to dad for an approving nod or two. It's a look that asks, "Was that okay, Daddy?"
Even though A.J. looks to his dad for support, he idolizes 6-foot-2, 200-plus pound Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, and nicknamed himself "The Icekid."
But unlike the Iceman, the Icekid will suit up in protective headgear, shin guards and boots for his tournament, where several "ultimate fighting" techniques are illegal, such as body slamming and standing position kicks to an opponent's head, neck or face.
A.J. said he's ready for whatever comes his way in New Jersey.
He's not scared.
He's excited to compete.
But more than a trophy and accolades, the biggest prize A.J.'s looking forward to is dodgeball.
Instructor Tina Tuller promised him two hours of dodgeball play if he brings back a first-place trophy. But that's according to A.J.
"I must've been tired if I promised that," said Tuller, who has a black belt in tae kwon do.
Instructors use dodgeball during practice to help young students develop their reflexes while having fun, said instructor Rich Cifuentes.
Mom Adele Lopez simply hopes A.J. knows it's okay if he doesn't win a trophy.
"If he comes home without winning anything, I'm nervous that he'll be disappointed in himself," she said. "The mom in me just wants him to have a good experience."
Amber Mobley can be reached at (813) 269-5311 or amobley@sptimes.com.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, MIKE PEASE, (3)
LOAD-DATE: June 4, 2006
Your very welcome!
Mr. Peeps
Just some advice, Matt will remove you if you don't follow the rules on IHUB. For starters, it would be a good idea to leave the mods alone. Thanx!
Mr. Peeps
Stop stalking the mod profit!
Mr. Peeps
Well said Mike!!
Mr. Peeps
That's a high five my good buddy!! I always love your
optimism!! This stock is definitely going to be a grand slam!!!!
Go BKMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Peeps
Yolo, you were smart to load up when you did. You definitely will get a nice BIG payout in the future!! I'm looking to hold this puppy for a long time. Never know where this thing is going in the future. It would be nice to see in the long term for us to jump to a big board. That would be sweet!
Mr. Peeps
Hey Yolo can you lend me 10 mill? Lol! j/k! Looks like you are nicely locked and loaded!!
Mr. Peeps
Thanks pickspicks1 for your PM.
Well, hard to say for sure in terms of an extact date...however, IMO, in the next 6 months to a year. We are just warming up right now, IMO. The future looks pretty bright though.
Mr. Peeps
I agree with you 100% Yolo. When TFN comes to the U.S. and also to the UK, this stock, IMO, is going to be HOT!! People are going to chase this mother like there is no tomorrow!!
I try to also take time off on the weekend but this stock is like drinking ten cups of coffee...you get so wired with it..lol!
I hope that you are enjoying the weekend!
Mr. Peeps
Yolo, did I hear Kabooom!!!??? LOL...it sure is!! How's it going Yolo? Nice to see you here on the weekend.
Mr. Peeps
Thanks Neal!
Mr. Peeps
Thanks High Hopes!
Mr. Peeps
I totally agree Mike!!!
We will blast off soon, IMO!!
Go BKMP!!!!
Mr. Peeps
SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 50
LENGTH: 341 words
HEADLINE: UFC TOPS YAHOO!'S-WHO'S LIST
BYLINE: BY JOSE RODRIGUEZ, CALGARY SUN
BODY:
Dana White's quest for world domination drew one step closer yesterday.
His Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise was the No. 1 searched item on the Yahoo! search directory -- the unofficial barometer of all that's cool and important.
UFC beat out Angelina Jolie (No. 14), American Idol (No. 8), the NBA playoffs (No. 10) and even World Cup soccer (No. 6) as the most sought after topic in cyberspace.
"We're definitely not cooler than Angelina Jolie but a lot of people are checking us out," White told the Sun yesterday.
Fresh off the success of UFC 60 -- which featured welterweight champ Matt Hughes pounding martial arts legend Royce Gracie in a first-round vitory -- the UFC juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down.
Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter -- currently airing on Spike TV -- regularly draws more male viewers in the desirable 18-39 category than basketball, baseball and hockey.
Season 4 of the popular reality show is already filming and plans to set up Ultimate Fighter Mexico and Ultimate Fighter South Africa are already in the works.
The fighting machine also plans to set up offices in London before year's end and stage fights across Europe beginning in March.
As first reported in the Sun, the UFC hopes to make its Canadian debut soon, with a welterweight championship fight that would feature Hughes defending his belt against Montrealer Georges St.Pierre. The UFC has been in talks with sanctioning bodies in Montreal and Edmonton to host the fight.
But despite the big plans to carve deep into unchartered territory, the fighting organization is heading back to its home base for the next big round of bouts.
UFC 61: Bitter Rivals is scheduled for July 8 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and will feature a rematch for the heavyweight belt between champ Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovsky as well as a much anticipated showdown between TUF Season 3 coaches and sworn enemies Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz.
CYBERSPACE'S HOTTEST TOPICS
AMONG YAHOO!'S TOP-10 MOST SEARCHED ITEMS...
#1 UFC
#2 THE X-MEN
#4 JESSICA ALBA
#6 WORLD CUP
#8 AMERICAN IDOL
GRAPHIC: 5 photos
LOAD-DATE: June 1, 2006
SECTION: LOCAL SPORTS; Main Sports; Pg. B1
LENGTH: 569 words
HEADLINE: Fighting goes to next level
BYLINE: Allen Thayer
BODY:
The future may be found in an 8-sided configuration.
Today's youth want more action and more violence. That's an understandable byproduct from hours spent playing mindless video games espousing mayhem.
Organizations like the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the Worldwide Fighting Championship have jumped on this craving to capture more of that elusive entertainment dollar. Televised pay-per-view and live mixed martial arts events are becoming more common. Why even the IKON Center hosted a WFC show on May 13.
Although the promotional arm of the WFC needs to improve (the Cheyenne stop was billed as taking place at the ICON Sports Center), it's hitching a ride on the trail being blazed right now by the more popular UFC.
Marc Ratner, 61, longtime executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, resigned to take an administrative post with the UFC.
Ratner started work May 15 as a vice president of Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, owner of UFC and producer of televised pay-per-view events. Now instead of trying to get the best of Mike Tyson on a boxing card, Ratner is dealing with athletes who earn much less in purses in the UFC Octagon. UFC events were the first to feature an eight-sided competition configuration.
Ratner helped write state rules that in 2001 let the UFC begin promoting in Nevada - a big step toward legitimizing the previously no-holds-barred bouts that critics in Congress called barbaric.
Mandated rules for the UFC include:
- No head butting or kicking to the downed opponent.
- No knees to the head of a downed opponent.
- No downward point of the elbow strikes.
- No strikes to the spine or the back of the head.
- No groin or throat strikes.
There also are commission approved gloves, weight classes, time limits and rounds and mandatory drug testing.
These rules would force even Tyson to behave himself while offering more violence than you can see in the boxing ring.
In mixed martial arts, competitors use interdisciplinary forms of fighting that include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and others to their strategic and tactical advantage in a supervised match. Blows can be delivered with the hands, feet, knees or elbows. Anything not expressly denied in the rules above are good to go in the UFC.
Gamers are drooling while contemplating the damage inflicted upon fighters in the octagon.
With the UFC now sanctioned in 20 states, observers believe that mixed martial arts are poised to eat away at boxing's popularity.
It's easy to see that happening with boxing's resistance to establish unified title holders in all the weight classes so fans can know who's rated best pound-for-pound from heavyweight to mini flyweight.
See THAYER, page B2
Thayer:
Continued from B1
It's too much to expect that the three major sanctioning bodies for the sport - the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council and the International Boxing Federation - will do what's sensible and give fans more of a reason to care about what happens in the ring.
That's why Ratner got out of boxing.
While mixed martial arts will never displace boxing from the top spot in Las Vegas, New York, New Jersey and California, the rest of America is up for grabs.
Someday soon ultimate fighting might eclipse both boxing and bull riding, for that matter, in Cheyenne.
Allen Thayer is the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle's sports copy editor. He can be reached at 633-3123 or by e-mail at ed6@wyomingnews.com.
LOAD-DATE: May 29, 2006