Cage Fights tonight 5-31-08 Primetime on CBS

[Mark Davis]

Guess cage fighting has taken over boxing in popularity for quite some time now.

This should be fun first time for cage fights on regular non cable stations in Primetime.

Kimbo is fighting and womens match too.

[Southern ILL]

YEP- Its comin' into a new era of contact sports....

There is still some great boxing to be seen..but the state affairs and the years of corruption and crooked promoters and a horriable Heavy-Weight division has destoryed boxing...... along with MMA style cage fighting. Network TV showing MMA..It took ESPN several years to jump on board the MMA bandwagon....looks like the suits at CBS are all in now.

[Southern ILL]

Kimbo fight is cool...but I am intersted in Robbie Lawler and a Phil Baroni fight ought to make some "interesting" TV.

[1293]

Just the other day, a woman at work was telling me that her son and a couple other kids were all after the same girl. They arranged a cage fight showdown - winner gets the girl. They're in second grade.

[GhostofJohnToad]

"Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter."

[getbent]

that's what I'm talking about....

[Califiddler]

Cool! Hockey at 5:00 p.m., then the cagefights!

[Southern ILL]

I'm ready...lawns mowed..grill is warmin' up...I hope the network lets it ride and don't cut to much outa of the broardcast....I don't know if Phil Baroni is still in with Mark Coleman but those guys where psycho over in Japan....Might be some interesting fireworks on the outside of the cage too!!

[SMPTE]

I'll watch when they throw Katie Couric in there with the bald guy from the CBS Morning show...

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by SMPTE

I'll watch when they throw Katie Couric in there with the bald guy from the CBS Morning show...

Ive heard Katie Couric has a great colon spasm chokehold she can use as a submisdion hold.

Dont ask how she applies it! LOL

[Mark Davis]

Ive heard some rumore Tyson is getting into cage fighting and he wants to fight Kimbo.

I think Tyson would make a pretty good cage fighter as he was too crazy for boxing anyway.

[Southern ILL]

I like Mike and it is a shame how low he fell..but Mike better stay on the couch out in Las Vegas.....he's over 300 pounds now(watch clip..it really is Tyson).He's a legend and more of a circus act now. Even a Mike Tyson from back in the day would of had trouble with MMA

[Mark Davis]

Tyson was 210 lbs when he was 12 years old. He beat 2 35 yr old men to a pulp they both had to be hospitalized and got sent to reform school thats how Gus D'Amato found him and the rest is history.

I agree he is too old and washed up but its either WWE wrestling or cage fighting is his only hope of making any $$.

[Southern ILL]

I love Mike....He absolutlely cleaned up a pretty weak and corrupt Heavy weight division....but he just ducked Lenox Lewis for to long....I would of loved to see them fight when Mike was still some what level headed....money and bad management and loosin' Cuz started his down slide.....

Now back on topic....

Kimbo Slice just got a gift from the suits at CBS. Why in the world did he stop that fight.....I mean Kimbo might of knocked him out but to stop it when the guy was still standing? Please....that dude from England didn't get that ugly by layin' down for anyone and deserved better chance than that....Shame on CBS and the fight promoters....can't wait to hear the UFC and Danas' reaction to this.....Heck-Iron Mike might have a shot at whipin' Kimbo!!

[octatonic]

MMA (UFC/Pride etc) is the best sport on the planet imho.

Sports usually bore the pants off me- but MMA I follow religiously.

Anyone watching The Ultimate Fighter reality show?

[bowlfreshener]

Originally Posted by Southern ILL

Kimbo Slice just got a gift from the suits at CBS. Why in the world did he stop that fight.....I mean Kimbo might of knocked him out but to stop it when the guy was still standing? Please....that dude from England didn't get that ugly by layin' down for anyone and deserved better chance than that....Shame on CBS and the fight promoters....can't wait to hear the UFC and Danas' reaction to this.....Heck-Iron Mike might have a shot at whipin' Kimbo!!

I am sure that they would never admit it, but I know that with some of MMA fights in Japan, they are known as "worked-shoots", meaning that the winner is already pre-determined but they go out there and fight for real, or put on a glorified sparring match. It was fun to watch, but something about the ref stopping the fight as soon as Kimbo got the momentum going back his direction seems a bit suspect to me. Especially since at the end of the match it was Kimbo that was laying on the mat and his opponent was still standing, though dazed, but Kimbo was obviously exhausted and was pretty much saved by the bell in the 2nd round.

[smoke]

Watching that last night reminded me of watching the XFL. Yep, there was some fighting, but there was a WHOLE lot of other stuff that didn't belong. There were two fights in the first hour, and they were both first round KO's. TWO FIGHTS in 60 minutes. Did we need the dancing girls? Rappers coming out w/ the fighter? Etc? If they want MMA to be taken seriously by mainstream fans, they did a horrible job at it last night. Whoever runs EliteXC really did a disservice to MMA, in my opinion, and probably ruined a perfectly good shot at promoting the sport as a sport. Bleeech.

[mikespe]

Mike Tyson should be locked in a cage and the key thrown away. He is a disgrace to the human race. Yes I hate the guy. He had a gift and he abused it (along with his wife and every other woman he came across!). Part of the blame were the people around him but he is one step below Neanderthal. He is no man just a talking animal...

[po-boy]

i haven't followed boxing for years, but am a big fan of mma - we have satellite tv and i have been following ufc, pride, wec, etc for a while now and was looking forward to seeing what cbs could do for mma - based on last night, not much - saw some of these guys in pride (baroni and thompson) and saw lawler in ufc and they all looked like ufc has-beens (except for first heavyweight winner 'grim' who looks like he might have some potential but needs lots of coaching) - kimbo looked old and slow and one dimensional - he is a decent striker but wouldn't make the top 10 in the ufc heavyweight divison - reminds me of 'crazy horse' who came to the ufc from pride - decent striker who got dominated by much more well rounded ufc fighter - biggest dissapointment of the night was the referee stopping the kimbo-thompson fight - he should have stopped it in the 2nd round when kimbo couldn't defend himself on the ground - cbs didn't help establish mma in the mainstream and probably hurt mma's image last night by protecting kimbo and giving him a very questionable victory - i've seen some bad judges decisions in every level of mma but i never got the feeling that the tv network was protecting its star attraction before - will be watching wec tonight on vs channel featuring jens pulver (former ufc) vs uriah faber - last saw pulver when he lost to bj penn (current ufc lightweight champ) - faber is young and talented well rounded mma fighter who hasn't fought the kind of guys pulver has but pulver is in the late stages of his career - interesting matchup - hope it goes better than last night -



- i'm not a complete idiot ... some parts are missing -

[Califiddler]

Originally Posted by smoke

Watching that last night reminded me of watching the XFL. Yep, there was some fighting, but there was a WHOLE lot of other stuff that didn't belong. There were two fights in the first hour, and they were both first round KO's. TWO FIGHTS in 60 minutes. Did we need the dancing girls? Rappers coming out w/ the fighter? Etc? If they want MMA to be taken seriously by mainstream fans, they did a horrible job at it last night. Whoever runs EliteXC really did a disservice to MMA, in my opinion, and probably ruined a perfectly good shot at promoting the sport as a sport. Bleeech.

Exactly what I was thinking last night.

[63dot]

Originally Posted by bowlfreshener

I am sure that they would never admit it, but I know that with some of MMA fights in Japan, they are known as "worked-shoots", meaning that the winner is already pre-determined but they go out there and fight for real, or put on a glorified sparring match. It was fun to watch, but something about the ref stopping the fight as soon as Kimbo got the momentum going back his direction seems a bit suspect to me. Especially since at the end of the match it was Kimbo that was laying on the mat and his opponent was still standing, though dazed, but Kimbo was obviously exhausted and was pretty much saved by the bell in the 2nd round.

i started the thread that got thrashed by mma fans by mentioning that i thought that perhaps, in a way, that winners were predetermined, or that maybe key fights, like this one, to bring mma to primetime

at least that makes sense to me since viewership was eleven times that of any pay per view mma match and it's probably no coincidence that i saw kimbo on the espn cover a day before ;)

i didn't believe the practioners of mma really represented the martial arts, but more boxing, or just street fighting and brute strength...i don't think this fight helped any mma detractors' perceptions of the sport

i admit i only started paying close attention after many here convinced me that mma is a real sport, and not an entertainment form like wwe/wwf, even if there are former wwe people now in mma, and vice versa

watching mma as much as i could get via youtube, i am convinced, or became convinced that mma is a sport as much as boxing is, but what i also became convinced about is that it is more "fighting" vs. "martial arts"

i have way more respect for the sport after seeing the athletes of mma on youtube and i thank many fans here who gave me examples that i viewed

so like a movie reviewer, i give the fight 3 out of five stars

1) one star for introducing fighters that could probably actually take on iron mike if he was in his prime

2) showcasing real people vs. some skewed viewpoint from the john mccain hearings which picked out criminals and thugs, and ignored the real martial artists

3) and i give kudos to the professional debut of the sport being like a superbowl

.......

but i shave off one star for that superbowl type debut, making it look more like a show than a real fight, as in a boxing match

and i shave off another star for seeing very little of what i would call martial arts

........

i think i am being generous, too, and see the sport part in the mma after looking at other fights, but if i had just seen the cbs debut of mma to a viewership eleven times that of pay per view, i may suspect that perhaps it's more about getting big guys to duke it out vs. seeing something related to martial arts

but all that being said, with mixed feelings, i think i witnessed the birth of a huge star in kimbo, and actually thompson, too

i can see all the product endorsements as mma could, possibly, take the place of baseball which more and more americans perceive as that sport where the players lied about steroids, or complained about their meager tens of millions not being bigger in their last contract

kimbo and thompson could do movies, and show hulk or the rock something, and seriously take a shot at stardom

...and i don't think my governor did bad going from bodybuilding to the movies

kimbo vs. rambo, anyone? :)

[63dot]

some people mentioned that mma is the fastest growing sport in the usa and a google search on that proved inconclusive since many sports see themselves as the fastest growing sport

when cnn reported that cbs viewership was eleven times that of previously very popular pay per view mma matches, i am pretty convinced that mma is the fastest growing sport, at least in viewership

being a football fan and baseball fan, i saw the rise of joe montana and barry bonds into stars (i live in the bay area) but their stars rose over time

one reason i can say that mma is the fastest growing, if not already biggest sport being watched, or to be watched in the future, is that kimbo was made a household name overnight

i bet internet traffic pro-kimbo and anti-kimbo is huge, but one thing is undeniable

i think kimbo has reached a fame only once seen in stars of baseball and football who took years to become a houshold name

kimbo will, in my belief, also become a verb :)

if you don't stop that noise, i am going to go all "kimbo" on you

i think kimbo knew his name kevin ferguson, or whatever it is, did not ring a bell like kimbo could...it sounds like rambo, and his physical appearance does have a star quality like a hulk hogan or mr. t

iron mike had to win a ton of fights, and get into a ton of trouble, and lose a battle against a tattoo needle to get recognized by detractors of boxing, but kimbo will win hearts of grandmothers

i can't put my finger on it ... but he's just a star, whether he wins another fight or really displays something close to martial arts

how much did he get paid last night?

[63dot]

Originally Posted by Southern ILL

I love Mike....He absolutlely cleaned up a pretty weak and corrupt Heavy weight division....but he just ducked Lenox Lewis for to long....I would of loved to see them fight when Mike was still some what level headed....money and bad management and loosin' Cuz started his down slide.....

Now back on topic....

Kimbo Slice just got a gift from the suits at CBS. Why in the world did he stop that fight.....I mean Kimbo might of knocked him out but to stop it when the guy was still standing? Please....that dude from England didn't get that ugly by layin' down for anyone and deserved better chance than that....Shame on CBS and the fight promoters....can't wait to hear the UFC and Danas' reaction to this.....Heck-Iron Mike might have a shot at whipin' Kimbo!!

i totally agree

i think cbs was intent on giving it to kimbo, or at least building his now, huge brandname made in just minutes

you did convince me that mma is real, and i thank you for that, but cbs may have made people think that mma, of which millions got introduced to for the first time via cbs, as some sort of freak show vs. a legitimate and fair fight

i have seen some boxing matches that bordered on hype, but this was over the top and kind of circus like

i would have liked to have seen something longer and with more martial arts moves, even if it resembled some actually boring looking world class judo matches

that being said, i do think kimbo, while only 4-0 in mma fights against proven champions in mma or boxing, is pretty tough looking out there

he may surprise all of us and beat everybody he sees in timely fashion, but may fall like a shooting star getting too big too fast like iron mike

i think more than anything, iron mike's huge fame and fortune eventually did him in and it could be a threat to kimbo if he does not have a good crew watching out for his interests

last week, if the biggest name in mma dropped a paparazzi photographer in a brawl at a hollywood club, it would have done nothing to hurt mma's reputation

but today, i think the rules are different now that many people, including me, have a face to reference with the mma

paparazzi and press is going to hound kimbo everywhere he goes, and if he so much as hurts a fly on a press person, or annoying paparazzi, it may do huge damage to mma, which after the leads you and others gave me, took years to build

kimbo, and to some lesser degree, thompson, have to be ambassadors of mma and behave if they are to make it the biggest sport in the world, where it seems to be headed

kimbo's beard and thompson's ear are definitely marketable, recognizeable icons that advertisers will use and actually endear many to mma in numbers never seen or imagined