ONE FC: The Good, the Bad and the Future

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On Sept. 3, we saw a new potential contender on the global MMA scene. The self-proclaimed "Asian major leagues." The new "king of MMA in Asia."

The first event from the Singapore-based ONE FC was highly touted and full of action, but did it live up to the hype?

After the break, we have a detailed look at the good, the bad and the future of the upstart promotion.

The Good:
Talent. Like most people, this was my first time seeing a lot of these fighters in an MMA ring - and on the whole, I was very impressed. Although there were matchmaking issues (see below), ONE FC (and the pilot promotion Martial Combat) has unearthed some genuinely good talent.

Eduard Folayang and A Sol Kwon put on a fantastic show in the main event, and I can't wait to see Zorobabel Moreira, Eddie Ng, Vuyisile Colossa, Eric Kelly and Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai again. That is an impressive amount of names for a debut show. Yes, some of these guys were given squash matches, but it was clear that they had legitimate MMA skills and were not your typical ill-equipped crossover athletes.

Pre-fight hype. This was promotion done right. ONE FC CEO Victor Cui's experience was clear as his debut event garnered far more interest than any recent event in Asia. Some of the claims leading up to the event were dubious (calling it "Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event," before their first event springs to mind), but they served their purpose.

In their first event, ONE FC was able to generate far more fan interest than the likes of Shooto, Pancrase and Deep in Japan, the Hong Kong-based Legend FC or the South Korean Road FC - no mean feat considering that a significant portion of the card was populated by MMA rookies.

Those expecting the second coming of Pride FC were gullible but people were genuinely excited - and that is something no Asian MMA event has been able to accomplish for a long, long time.

Local focus. Phil Baroni was the only real international "name" fighter brought in for the event and that is very smart. ONE FC is tailored to an Asian audience and they don't need to waste money bringing in expensive foreign heavyweights or the big MMA names that western fans know - they need local, sustainable talent.

ONE FC is looking for long-term success here, and bringing in outside talent, would only bring short-term benefits at a high cost. Developing its own stars is the way to go.

The Bad:
Matchmaking. The biggest problem with the event,and the most difficult issue to overcome for ONE FC brass, was the matchmaking.

With so many inexperienced MMA fighters on the card, it really wasn't a difficult issue to foresee, but five of the 10 bouts were completely one-sided. These mismatches made for great violence, but they were not great sport. The challenge in fixing this issue will be finding depth

This is not to say the entire card consisted of poorly made bouts though, the main event between Eduard Folayang and A Sol Kwon was absolutely superb.

Production. ONE FC has a lot of new athletes and is appealing to a new fan base - they really needed to introduce the fighters better. Just having the commentators list accomplishments and a few tidbits of information as a fighter makes his way to the ring is not enough. Potential fans need to care about these fighters. Small vignettes introducing the fighters were posted on YouTube so why not include them in the stream?

Unfortunately the ring announcer's voice wasn't capable of doing the epic things, he thought it could do. Normally I would not deem something like this worth mentioning, but it detracted from an otherwise polished production.

I would also like to see localized introductions to MMA prior to the event. The vast majority of the audience will have never seen MMA before.At the time of writing there is still no schedule for the ESPN Star Sports broadcast through Asia and so it his highly likely that these minor production issues are addressed.

Fight week. Despite generating an impressive level of media and fan interest leading up to the event, the international promotional efforts tapered off in the week leading up to the event.

The ONE FC website provided no link to the live stream, no TV broadcast information, no links to fight week interviews, no weigh-in results and at the time of writing, 24 hours after the event finished, still no results.

The Future:
The biggest difficulty facing ONE FC is correcting the matchmaking problems. This is mainly due to the simple fact that there is a lack of MMA gyms in Asia outside of Japan and South Korea. ONE FC will need to do some impressive scouting to come up with local guys that can compete with the likes of Eduard Folayang, Zorobabel Moreira, Eddie Ng, Vuyisile Colossa, Eric Kelly and Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai.

Given some of the talent they were able to unearth in their debut event though, I have faith.

The production and promotional issues we saw are easy to fix - some of them were just minor organizational problems and obviously any new event will have hiccups initially. The challenge will be to tailor the production to this completely new audience through Asia. Victor Cui has a huge amount of experience here and I'm interested to see how he introduces the sport and fighters. It will be crucial to their success.

Prior to the first ONE FC event, the Singapore-based promotion was being touted as "The king of MMA in Asia." It's premature to crown ONE FC, it will take at least a year for the promotion to really show its true potential, but it is off to a solid start.

 

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UFC to Return to Japan in February 2012

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TOKYO - For the first time in more than 10 years, and for the first time in the Zuffa era, the UFC is finally set to invade Japan.

UFC President Dana White and Zuffa LLC Asia Executive Vice President and Managing Director Mark Fischer made the announcement on Tuesday at the Shinjuku Wald 9 Theater, revealing that the world's leading MMA promotion will head to the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Feb. 26, 2012.

The entire Japanese UFC roster - Yushin Okami, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Hatsu Hioki, Michihiro Omigawa, Takanori Gomi, Riki Fukuda, and Takeya Mizugaki - were said to be possibilities for the Japanese event by Fischer but the official card is scheduled to be announced in November.

It is also not yet known if the UFC Japan event will be part of the numbered UFC series or a "Fight Night" event. Fischer stated, "We're not identifying that today but it will be, you can be assured, a major, major event here."

"It's been over 10 years since a UFC event was held in Japan and we're pumped to bring the fastest growing sport in the world there once again," said UFC President Dana White via video message. "Japan has played a huge role in getting the sport to where it is today. UFC stars such as [Quinton] "Rampage" Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, [Antonio Rodrigo] "Minotauro" Nogueira all made names for themselves fighting in the Pride organization and dozens more fought in front of the passionate Japanese fans at some point in their careers. Japan has also produced world class fighters such as [Yoshihiro] Akiyama, [Takanori] Gomi and Yushin Okami. They have all headlined major UFC events all over the world. Now, this February, the wait is finally over - we're coming back to Japan."

Mark Fischer, who was also responsible for the NBA's expansion in Asia, noted the economic benefits associated with the UFC returning to Japan.

"To give another idea of the scope of this event, it will literally be witnessed by millions of fans all over the world," stated Fischer. "Moreover, this event will be a boon for Japan's economy. For example, UFC 100 in Las Vegas generated more than $51 million for the local economy. In Sydney, Australia, our two events generated over $30 million for the local economy. We're pleased to bring the similarly anticipated event to Saitama and the greater Tokyo area."

The Saitama Super Arena, the former home of the defunct Pride Fighting Championships, and current home to DREAM, will be configured for 20,000 seats.

Fischer also made it clear that it will not take the UFC another 10 years to return to Japan after this February, giving the outline behind the UFC's planned expansion into Asia.

"Let me also say that while UFC Japan in 2012 will be the first event for Zuffa in Asia, it certainly won't be the last," said Fischer. "We hope to make UFC Japan an annual fixture on our calendar and we also have plans to follow-up with a series of high quality events across Asia,"

To fit with American broadcast plans, the UFC Japan event is scheduled to begin 10:00 a.m. local time, with the main card running from 12:00 noon to approximately 3:00 p.m. No details were given as to the event's local broadcast plans, however the UFC currently has deals in place with TV Bank, NTT Plala's "Hikari TV" and WOWOW satellite TV.

The UFC first visited Japan in Dec. 21, 1997 for "Ultimate Japan," an event which saw the birth of Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba. The UFC returned twice more in November 1999 and April 2000 for UFC 23 and UFC 25 respectively, but the upcoming Japanese UFC event will mark the first time the promotion has visited while under the Zuffa banner.

 

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Ben Henderson vs. Clay Guida Added to UFC on FOX Debut Event

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A lightweight scrap featuring a pair of the division's top-rated competitors has been added to the card of November 12's UFC on FOX premiere.

The tilt will feature Ben Henderson taking on Clay Guida. The bout, first reported by Yahoo! Sports's Kevin Iole, has been confirmed to MMA Fighting by sources with knowledge of the situation, though not yet officially announced by the UFC.

Henderson has won both of his starts since moving over from the WEC, where he was at one time the organization's lightweight champion. His consecutive defeats of Mark Bocek and more recently Jim Miller have come in decisive fashion, rocketing Henderson up the divisional rankings.

A winner of 12 of his last 13 fights, Henderson stands at 14-2 overall.

Guida rallied from two straight losses in 2009 to post four straight wins, most recently derailing Anthony Pettis from a possible title shot in a unanimous decision victory. He also holds wins over Takanori Gomi, Shannon Gugerty and Rafael dos Anjos during that stretch. Guida is 29-8 overall.

UFC on FOX takes place on Nov. 12 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and will feature a main event of heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos. However, that one-hour scheduled broadcast is for now guaranteeing only Velasquez-dos Santos airtime.

While Henderson vs. Guida is likely to be the co-main event, the fight has not yet been guaranteed a live television airing, according to sources with knowledge of the information, although given its importance, the UFC is likely to find airtime for it somehow.

 

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UFC on Fox: You want cross-promotion? We?ve got cross-promotion

The UFC announced its seven-year deal with FOX on Thursday, promising plenty of cross-promotion between existing FOX entities and the UFC. To help out the network and the promotion, Cagewriter has a few ideas:

A "Glee"/"The Ultimate Fighter" crossover episode -- The fighters have to put together a song and dance to get New Directions to regionals. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray finally solve their difference in the Octagon. Dana White and Mr. Schu smile and nod a ton. How could this go wrong?

Put the "American Idol" spin on "The Ultimate Fighter" -- Televise the tryouts, and have a panel either over-praise or break the hearts of every contestant.

"The Family Guy" goes to a UFC show -- Peter Griffin and his buddies head to catch some fights with some buddies in Quahog, only to find out that Brian has his UFC debut, with Stewie as his cornerman. Roy Nelson has a cameo.

Feed a fighter challenge on "Hell's Kitchen" -- The chefs have to create a post weigh-in dinner for Anderson Silva. It has to take into account his nutritional needs and love for fast food. Can they handle it, or will the chefs turn on each other? (Hint: It's reality TV. They're going to turn on each other.)

"So You Think You Can Dance: UFC edition" -- Fighters sure like to show off their moves on their way to the Octagon or after fights. Is it too much to ask for a UFC dance-off? No. No, it is not.

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Are You the 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14 / ZZR1400?

The internet has been abuzz lately with leaked/early/spy photos, some real, and some not so much. Looking a bit like the genuine article, we get another glimpse at a soon to be released motorcycle before its public unveiling. While Kawasaki has been busy teasing the interwebs with videos that feature a nice exhaust note, a flash of green light, and the date: 10/10/2011,  it looks like Asian motorcycle magazine Young Machine has released its issue featuring ...

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UFC on Fox: You want cross-promotion? We?ve got cross-promotion

The UFC announced its seven-year deal with FOX on Thursday, promising plenty of cross-promotion between existing FOX entities and the UFC. To help out the network and the promotion, Cagewriter has a few ideas:

A "Glee"/"The Ultimate Fighter" crossover episode -- The fighters have to put together a song and dance to get New Directions to regionals. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray finally solve their difference in the Octagon. Dana White and Mr. Schu smile and nod a ton. How could this go wrong?

Put the "American Idol" spin on "The Ultimate Fighter" -- Televise the tryouts, and have a panel either over-praise or break the hearts of every contestant.

"The Family Guy" goes to a UFC show -- Peter Griffin and his buddies head to catch some fights with some buddies in Quahog, only to find out that Brian has his UFC debut, with Stewie as his cornerman. Roy Nelson has a cameo.

Feed a fighter challenge on "Hell's Kitchen" -- The chefs have to create a post weigh-in dinner for Anderson Silva. It has to take into account his nutritional needs and love for fast food. Can they handle it, or will the chefs turn on each other? (Hint: It's reality TV. They're going to turn on each other.)

"So You Think You Can Dance: UFC edition" -- Fighters sure like to show off their moves on their way to the Octagon or after fights. Is it too much to ask for a UFC dance-off? No. No, it is not.

Nuvogene Tea
Boresha B Latte
Boresha International
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ARG Matrix