News, Quote, Opinion: DREAM.16
by Matt Bishop on Sep 27, 2010 9:00 AM EDT
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Welcome to a new feature here at MMAForReal.com. We strive to bring you different ways in looking at the mixed martial arts scene and this is another step in that direction. Welcome to "News, Quote, Opinion" where we break down various topics in MMA.
Sherdog.com has a lot of interesting notes from the aftermath of Saturday's DREAM.16 in Nagoya, Japan.
Sakuraba wants to continue fighting
News: MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba was submitted for the first time in more than 14 years Saturday by Jason "Mayhem" Miller. It came in less than three minutes and moves Sakuraba to 2-4 in his last six fights. Many have been decrying Sakuraba for continuing to fight after taking so much punishment during his long career.
Still, he said he plans to continue fighting.
Quote: "With this regret, I still want to fight, even tomorrow," said Sakuraba, who holds a 26-14-1 (2 NC) record, to Sherdog. "I'd even fight in Dynamite if it was tomorrow."
Opinion: The thing is, if Sakuraba attempted to fight in the United States, he'd likely be denied a license. Without regulatory oversight in Japan, Sakuraba will probably continue to fight until some terrible happens. That's a shame. We've seen Sakuraba take enough beatings for several fighters, let alone one. It's time to hang up the gloves.
Really, Ishii?
News: And in one of the stranger notes in the report, Satoshi Ishii (2-1 MMA), fresh off his decision win against Ikuhisa Minowa, said he wants to fight in K-1. As in kickboxing.
Quote: "I wanted to do better in the striking, but it was a challenge for me," Ishii said in the Sherdog report. "In order for me to grow, I want to fight in kickboxing, like K-1."
Opinion: Well, that is quite the aspiration. Even the lowest of low K-1 fighters would maul Ishii, an Olympic gold medalist in judo. His striking in his debut fight with Hidehiko Yoshida was undoubtedly dreadful. Maybe he's already been hit in the head too many times if he thinks he can compete in K-1. I hope this is just posturing and he doesn't really plan on pursuing this because nothing good can come of it.
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Dreaming of a better show....
Although I like “the Voice” and “Twinkletoes” and the license to discuss things on HDNet that would go unsaid on other broadcasts, I DVR everything Dream for two reasons.
1 – The show is way too long. The 1st fight starts at about one hour into the broadcast. Some of the fighter entries are longer than the fight itself. Honestly, if it was a choice between watching all 5 hours v. skipping the whole thing – well… and this coming from someone who watches every MMA show available.
2 – Japanese fighters. I understand it is a Japanese show, but some of these guys are cans, and Canuzaki v. Canuishi is not worth watching.
Sadly, Dream is not Pride.
by Saevus Antistes on Sep 27, 2010 2:49 PM EDT reply actions
I can get behind #1 in a big way
If it started at like, 6 or 7pm it would be different, but I used to work the graveyard shift on occasion (11pm-7am) and my body neither agrees with that, or the similar times of Dream shows. I mean, what good does it do me to punish myself with all of the idle banter, intermission, and fights that don’t start till over an hour in, especially when I can blast through it the next day over a long lunch!
You know what's really fun? Not being a raving lunatic. Give it a try some time, you might just like it!
Live previews and reviews of all major fights! LightsOutRadio.com
See, in a way, fans were spoiled during the PRIDE days because those shows were edited down. As I’m sure Forrest, at the very least, could attest to, those PRIDE shows were no different and probably even worse than the DREAM shows, only they didn’t air live in the US.
So the downfall of watching the show live and seeing all the fights is that it sometimes takes a while. Or you can have an edited down version, and you might not see all the fights, and save some time.
For me, I’m going with the live version all the time. The last PRIDE show was the only one they showed live in the US on PPV. I think it started at 2 or 3 and I remember going to bed at 7:30. And that was on a show with only eight fights, all of which ended in the first round. And they didn’t even show the first two fights. The announcers were live backstage previewing the rest of the show and you could hear the fights going on in the background.
On these shows from Japan, you can’t have it both ways. A UFC show is 5 1/2 hours most of the time in its entirety live. It’s just that it’s presented differently and we don’t see all the fights. Your normal DREAM show goes about that long, as well. So I don’t see a lot of difference.
I know HDNet does an edited version of the live shows a week later. Like the PRIDE days, you can just wait for the tape delay version, too.
I stay up for a lot of these shows because, a) I can and my sleep schedule is such that I’m only staying up an extra 2-3 hours to see the whole thing and b) I enjoy the different presentation and the different style of fighting. I think we can all agree the UFC-style is the best way for the sport, but it’s nice to see something different every once in a while.
Different is nice
But I’d guess that only 1 of 10 people can or will stay up for a Dream show. Most people have a regular job, and whether that means that they’re working a 9-5 or whatever, very few of them are such that staying up until 7am doesn’t eff them up for the next work day. I don’t want them to not present them live, because the DVR takes care of business (when I’ve actually got the station it’s broadcast on), but the idea that someone in the EST time zone is just in the worst possible spot.
I think what bugs me the most is the long intro and the intermission. Granted, these are both hallmarks of the Japanese MMA culture, but I don’t think that it quite translates over here. When I turn on a show, I expect it to really start shortly thereafter, and not get a parade of fighters 30-45 minutes later. You bring up a good point that a Japanese show isn’t that different from a live UFC show, but the fact that I spend around half of the program fast-forwarding the Japanese shows is pretty telling that for presentation in North America, it needs a little tweaking.
You know what's really fun? Not being a raving lunatic. Give it a try some time, you might just like it!
Live previews and reviews of all major fights! LightsOutRadio.com
In order for me to grow, I want to fight in kickboxing, like K-1.
See, I was under the impression to get better at striking you train for striking with good people to bring you up, and not just throw yourself into a den of wolves to be eaten alive. Granted, not all K-1 strikers live up the the “K-1 level striker” moniker, but they’d still rip this man to pieces. But hey, I guess it takes a world-class judoka to know how to train to strike, right?
You know what's really fun? Not being a raving lunatic. Give it a try some time, you might just like it!
Live previews and reviews of all major fights! LightsOutRadio.com
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