http://www.latimes.com/sports/boxin...la-headlines-sports-boxing&ctrack=4&cset=true
From the same L.A Times MMA article
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The saga leading into Saturday's MMA event at the Los Angeles Coliseum has had more twists and turns, and reversals, than probably every match on the actual show will have.
Before either group had even gotten a promoter's license in California, Fighting Entertainment Groups (FEG, the parent company for K-1 and Hero's) and Pro Elite Inc. (parent company of Elite XC, partially owned by Showtime) announced a joint show at, by far, the biggest venue ever to house a major MMA event, part of which would air on Showtime, with the main events on pay-per-view. It seemed crazy from the start, and just days away, it seems no more sane. No UFC event in Los Angeles has sold 14,000 tickets, and a brand with no national recognition and television was booking a 92,000-seat stadium, built around three men whose fame has nothing to do with modern MMA--Brock Lesnar was a pro wrestling star with an NCAA wrestling title in his background; Royce Gracie was an MMA pioneer when the skill level of the sport was beyond primitive as compared with today, and Johnnie Morton was a college and pro football star.
The matches seemingly changed on a daily basis. It wasn't until eight days before match-time that FEG received a temporary promoter's license that saved a show that was down to the wire of being canceled. But the three big stars remain intact, but even that wasn't a sure thing until Thursday when Bernard Ackah, a television comedian in Japan, was finally approved as Morton's opponent.
But there were even changes in the two top matches. Gracie's match with Kazushi Sakuraba was switched on Thursday from five rounds to three rounds. FEG asked for the change. The match was a rematch of the most famous MMA match ever held in Japan, a May 1, 2000, match at the Tokyo Dome that went 90 minutes before Gracie's family threw in the towel when Gracie's leg was destroyed after repeated low kicks. It was Gracie's first real loss under MMA rules (some list a loss in a match with Harold Howard, but that match actually never started and was a forfeiture due to an injury from a match earlier in the show). The win also made Sakuraba a national hero. Seven years later, Sakuraba has paid the price of constantly fighting the best fighters in the world, usually giving up substantial body weight. The game has clearly evolved past the point where Gracie's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skill is enough to win. But it's a nostalgia trip for the Japanese fans, who will see the show on the TBS network as a prime time tape delayed special. But cutting back the time limit removes the very element the original match was famous for.
Lesnar went from facing Choi Hong-man, a 7-2 1/2, 355 pound South Korean who is a huge attraction in both Japan and South Korea, to facing a much smaller Kim Min-soo. Min-soo won a silver medal in judo at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in the mid-heavyweight (209-pound) weight class. In many ways, this match can be compared with a match from a few years ago when huge U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner faced a Japanese judo gold medalist, Hidehiko Yoshida, who was giving up about 80 pounds. Yoshida, who transitioned far better than Min-soo into MMA and has become a genuine star in that sport, simply couldn't use his judo on the bigger and stronger foe. Gardner, in his first match after just two months of training, got the better of the standing exchanges and won an easy decision. Lesnar won't have quite as much of a weight edge, but it should still be 45 to 50 pounds. Like Gardner, Lesnar is in his first match. He has had far more training than Gardner, and plans to make MMA his new career, while Gardner largely wanted to do it once and never again. Min-soo only has a 2-5 record and was unable to get Bob Sapp off his feet and was knocked out quickly in that battle. Lesnar, with his wrestling background, will surely have better balance than Sapp.
Because of his name from pro wrestling, Lesnar has the chance to be one of the great attractions in MMA and could have been the biggest PPV draw on the show--except the company made the elementary error of not advertising the event on any of the highly-rated pro wrestling shows of the last two weeks, the target audience that knows Lesnar. Lesnar walked away from that profession and a $1 million per year contract three years ago, on top, because of his hatred for traveling.
He only had a one-bout contract, so with a strong win, he'll likely benefit from an intense bidding war with almost every major organization. If people believe he can fight, he can give any UFC rival company an instant marquee star that will get them attention. In UFC, he would have the potential to walk in and draw huge pay-per-view numbers if his fighting ability is commensurate with his athletic ability. Lesnar is freaky strong, and in his pro wrestling days, at 295 pounds (he's expected to be about 265 for fighting), he used to race Shelton Benjamin, a JC national champion in the 100 meters, running up stairs in empty arenas before shows started, and would usually win. But without an impressive performance in a debut match, his stock will drop quickly.
Numerous other people listed on the show at one time or another besides Hong-man have dropped out or failed to get licensed. Josh Barnett was still under contract to Dream Stage Entertainment, the parent company of Pride. Even though that company is no longer in business, his contract was sold to UFC. Gina Carano, the stunning former kick boxer who Showtime had marketed its show around, got seriously ill while filming a TV show in Thailand and dropped out, canceling the planned women's match. Carano stole the show when Showtime debuted MMA on Feb. 10. Antonio Silva, the 300-pounder who was Showtime's other big attraction, failed to get licensed this week, as did Choi Mu Bae, a South Korean wrestler who was scheduled to face Mighty Mo.
In the end, there will be show. How successful the promotion will be at giving tickets away will be determined come fight time. It's more designed for the Japanese television audience than an American MMA fan, and many names on the show are well known in that country.
The show is to open at 5 p.m. with Hideo Tokoro, a popular 154-pound Japanese fighter, against England's Brad Pickett. Second will be Katsuhiko Nagata, who won a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 2000. Nagata is best known in Japan as the younger brother of pro wrestling star Yuji Nagata, and he'll face San Jose's Isiah Hill, a last minute sub for Gabe Ruediger, who didn't get cleared. Ruediger was subbing for Javier Vazqez, who was injured.
Showtime's live hour, starting at 6 p.m., has Jake Shields, a top-rated 170-pounder, facing Israel's Ido Pariente, who would be a huge underdog; J.Z. Calvan, one of the top 154-pounders in the world against Nam Phan, who is highly skilled but is really someone who should be fighting at a lower weight class; and heavyweights Jonathan Weizorek (about the fourth guy in this slot) vs. Tim Persey (a last minute sub for Antonio Silva).
Morton vs. Ackah opens the PPV, which beings at 7 p.m. Melvin Manhoef, a spectacular 185-pound stand-up fighter, faces Yoon Doon-Sik, another star of the 90s in judo from South Korea who is winless in four MMA matches.
Mighty Mo, perhaps the best power punching heavyweight, faces Ruben Villareal, another former pro wrestler who is now a professional last-minute sub. Villareal makes an entertaining opponent for big punchers, because he's willing to slug with them, isn't particularly good at it, but has a great chin and will hang in there. Gracie vs. Sakuraba and Lesnar vs. Min-soo round out the show.
Dave Meltzer is the creator and author of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a leading publication covering pro wrestling and MMA. For more information: www.wrestlingobserver.com
