HDNet News - Page 1

A quote from Crocop from his website at MMA-ID.com "Hello everyone, unfortunately I have some bad news? I won't be fighting at DREAM 5 at all. I was about to face Jerome LeBanner but he decided to fight in K1 against Schilt. Mighty Mo was the alternative and I accepted this challenge, but unfortunately Mighty Mo pulled off from the fight. I was ready to face Mo, but maybe this scenario wasn't that bad for me at all and I'll tell you why. I've been having problems with my right elbow for years and the injury got even worse over last 6 months. I'm already receiving a proper treatment but the recovery won't happen over night. The second problem is a knee injury, something that troubles me for quite a while. I had difficulties using my kicks and over last few weeks I focused more on boxing and grappling. I really wanted to fight on July 21 and I was even ignoring doctor's suggestions, but now I've rached the point from which I can't continue with my normal training regiment due to my injuries. I was willing to accept the risk of fighting Mo or someone else without being 100% ready fo the fight. I had only one fight this year, I miss big fights and top level competition. I'm eager to get back to the big stage, I still have good fights left in me and I won't give up. I'm not happy with this outcome of course, but at this moment I need to be patient and give some time for my body to recover. I'm scheduled for arthroscopy tomorrow morning, it's a minor surgical procedure but it will keep me away from MMA trainings for 2-3 weeks probably. From Wednesday I'll focus on my new cardio training program and we'll add MMA elements to my training regiment as soon as my knee will be ready for action. My goal is to become the first heavyweight champion in DREAM and to do that I need to be ready to fight on September 23. I'm not interested in summer time, vacations or things like that; I'll focus on getting back to shape and hopefully I'll fight in September. I would really like to fight Alistair Overeem, we all know why and I won't let it go. My career is far from being over, I'll be fighting some strong competitors soon again and hopefully I'll meet Fedor in the ring once more in 2009. Thank you for supporting me and I'll get back to you all soon to keep you updated. "

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Even though the Mark Cuban-backed HDNet seems to have the financial resources to be a challenger to UFC, HDNet Fights has chosen to be more a programming brand than a fight promotion in the 9 months it's been around. They have no imminent plans for a 3rd event yet, admitting the timing is completely tied to-no surprise here-Randy Couture getting his freedom from UFC.

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The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) will stage its first title fight next month, with the winner of the Fedor Emelianenko versus Tim Sylvia bout emerging as the alliance's "undisputed world heavyweight champion." WAMMA formed in November of last year as MMA's first sanctioning body with goals that include creating greater visibility for the sport and recognizing world champions in each weight class. The organization's first order of business was assembling a group of journalists and bloggers to rank the best of the best in MMA. (In the interest of full disclosure, two MMAjunkie.com staffers are members of the rankings committee.) Emelianenko is currently WAMMA's top-ranked heavyweight, while Sylvia checks in at No. 4. They meet at the Affliction "Banned" show July 19 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The winner earns WAMMA's first title belt. While the notion of an "undisputed champion" would ordinarily pit the top two ranked fighters against one another, No. 1 versus No. 4 is as close as WAMMA can get. Both Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (ranked No. 2) and Randy Couture (No. 3) are under contract to the UFC. The battle between former PRIDE titleholder Emelianenko and Sylvia, former two-time UFC champ, is the first of what WAMMA hopes will be a series of title fights, but stringing together meaningful match-ups to create undisputed champions will be a challenge. Of the six weight classes ranked by WAMMA, heavyweight is the only division not currently topped by a fighter under contract to Zuffa. The UFC and WEC have traditionally not worked with other promotions to make fights and appear to have little interest in working with WAMMA.

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This is something that I never thought I’d type: Donald Trump — who has forged a partnership with Affliction MMA — will tomorrow announce the acquisition of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at a noon press conference at Trump Tower in New York, N.Y., according to MMARated.com. In addition, “The Pitbull” will take on Ben Rothwell (as expected) during the debut pay-per-view (PPV) event for the promotion at the at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on July 19. Trump is also expected to reveal more details on his partnership with Affliction MMA, which according to the report, he owns a “significant amount” of the upstart promotion. This is about to get real interesting … as if it isn’t already. Stay tuned. In the meantime, to get some more background on Trump’s involvement with mixed martial arts click here.

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DreamFighters.com has learned, and confirming a dreamfighters.com news release last week, GracieMag.com has confirmed that Vitor Belfort will be fighting at Chute Boxe academy in Brazil, and will fight under the Allfiction name in July. anybody thinking LIL NOG VS BELFORT going to happen?!?!!?!?!? i havn't been this excited for a card since, ... well ive never been this excited for a card EVER. war affliction.

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Fedor and Tim Sylvia interviewed together. Nothing really amazing, just cool that HDNet throws a few tidbits on Youtube.

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When Mark Cuban announced his intentions of promoting mixed martial arts, many people were excited about the possibilities the billionaire could bring to the sport. Since the formation of HDNet Fights last year, the Dallas based organization has held two events. It's been five months since they've put on a show, but HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon told MMAWeekly they plan on putting together "super-fights" in the future. HDNet started airing MMA with World Extreme Cagefighting, but has expanded their coverage to showing several regional events from around the country as well as Japanese promotions. "We have the ability to partner with pretty much any organization out there," said Simon. "And when the timing is right, you're going to see us promote again some super-fights." "We're going to be pretty opportunistic when we want to promote ourselves. We're in a little bit of a different position than everyone else. We have our own television network. We have our own arena in Dallas with the American Airlines Center, and we're not into it to just put on fights every month ourselves just because. I think you're going to see when we come back it will be a pretty big fight."

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DreamFighters.com's reporter/contributer "MMAPhD" has reported that Kid Yamamoto has just signed a fight deal with DREAM, as is set to fight at DREAM.4 As quoted earlier by Kid Yamamoto" "I don't know when my next fight is yet, but I'm sure I fight in DREAM and I hope I can fight in Jun or July." "At first, I want DREAM to have a lighter weight class than the light weight class. 63 to 64 kg is ideal."

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HDNet cable channel, should cease operations immediately because it was born out of a breach of trust, misappropriation of trade secrets, and other harmful actions on the part of HDNet, the North American Boxing Council (NABC) said in a lawsuit filed March 17th in the Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis, Indiana. The eight count suit seeks to restore the rights ofthe NABC to its proprietary business and marketin gmodel for a unifying mixed martial arts organization, and to recover damages for the ongoing illegal torts committed by HDNet. The complaint states the NABC’s confidential proposal for a unifying mixed martial arts organization was made to HDNet in January 2007. In response to the proposal, HDNet taped two NABC mixed martial arts TV events in Indianapolis in May 2007. HDNet began broadcasting the NABC mixed martial arts events in June 2007 and subsequently placed the events inregular rotation on the HDNet schedule. In August 2007, HDNet advised the NABC it had rejected the NABC’s proposal. However, that same month, HDNet secretly incorporated its own mixed martial arts organization, “HDNet Fights Inc”. HDNet proceeded to introduce “HDNet Fights” to the public beginning with press statements in September 2007 as a unique unifying mixed martial arts organization falsely representing it as the original product of HDNet. The suit seeks to recover damages as determined by ajury trial.

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As aired on Inside MMA. Dream 1-6 is to air on HDNet. DREAM 1-6 to air on HDNet DREAM.1 May 2 10:30 p.m. (to re-air) DREAM.2 May 3 10:30 p.m. (tape delay) DREAM.3-6 look to be live or later day tape delay.

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Randy Couture made some recent comments to MMA Weekly regarding the grappling match between he and Kurt Angle that Angle has been talking up for quite some time now, saying it’s signed on the dotted line, etc. According to Randy, Angle may be jumping the gun a bit:

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The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has granted HDNet's emergency motion to remand its lawsuit against Zuffa to Texas State Court. Zuffa had removed the declaratory judgment action concerning Randy Couture's promotional contract to Federal Court last month. Wednesday's ruling represents a procedural victory for HDNet and Couture.

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Sherdog. com Top ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko will fight Tim Sylvia on July 19. The Russian mixed martial arts champion confirmed the bout to Sherdog. com on Tuesday. "[Sylvia] is a good fighter, a strong fighter, the former UFC heavyweight champion, which is important," Emelianenko said via telephone from Stary Oskol, Russia. "I am looking forward to fighting him and training hard for this fight. " While Emelianenko was short on details, Sherdog. com has learned through sources close to the negotiations that Fedor-Sylvia would headline a card tentatively scheduled for the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, the home base of HDNet Fights. HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon declined to comment on the report, however sources indicate the bout will air on the Mark Cuban-owned network and is rumored to be promoted by Affliction, a clothing brand closely tied to MMA. Affliction had been connected with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, however a June 28 Las Vegas date has since been discarded. Emelianenko, a 31-year-old sambo practitioner, has faced criticism from media and fans alike after a string of fights against less than stellar competition. Sylvia would represent the Russian's first ranked opponent since his unanimous decision over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic nearly three years ago. Widely regarded as the top heavyweight fighter in the world, Emelianenko (27-1-0, 1 NC) was recently freed from a letter of intent binding him to the now-defunct M-1 Global promotion. Sylvia, 32, is coming off a submission loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in February at UFC 81. After a spirited performance that saw him batter his foe at will with strikes, Sylvia (24-4-0) eventually fell victim to a classic Nogueira come-from-behind performance and succumbed to a guillotine choke early in the third round.

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Top ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) will fight Tim Sylvia (Pictures) on July 19. The Russian mixed martial arts champion confirmed the bout to Sherdog.com on Tuesday. "[Sylvia] is a good fighter, a strong fighter, the former UFC heavyweight champion, which is important," Emelianenko said via telephone from Stary Oskol, Russia. "I am looking forward to fighting him and training hard for this fight."

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Kurt Angle vs. Randy Couture Update: Mark Cuban Confirms They're Negotiating Submitted by Michael Bluth on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 5:33 PM EST TNA Champion Kurt Angle has said for years that he would like to get involved with Mixed Martial Arts. In a recent radio interview, Angle said he is currently training for a MMA fight with UFC Heavyweight champion Randy "The Natural" Couture. While Angle is known for making some outlandish statements, billionaire Mark Cuban has shed some new light on what would be one of the biggest MMA fights of the year.

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HDNet’s Mark Cuban confirms that Kurt Angle — an Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist and current TNA World Heavyweight Champion (professional wrestling) — and UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture are in talks to stage a grappling match sometime in the near future

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Are very close to a deal that will air Dream's events including a delayed opening round of this weekends 154 pound tourny. SATAN please let this be true. PLEASE!!!!!!!! I am stoked because I really really want to see those fights.

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HDNet, a Mark Cuban-owned channel geared toward MMA coverage, will broadcast this weekend's Xtreme Fighting League event, but DREAM's inaugural show will not be carried by the all-high-definition cable station. HDNet officials today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Saturday's "DREAM 1" event, which features the opening round of a lightweight grand prix and the DREAM debut of former UFC fighter Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, has not been picked up for broadcast by the station. Fans were hopeful that HDNet -- which has signed deals to broadcast events for Strikeforce, the International Fight League, Ring of Fire and other top organizations -- would also pick up DREAM's debut show. Instead, "Team Takedown" fighters will be featured as part of Saturday's XFL broadcast, which begins at 10:30 p.m. ET.

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Maybe a little heavy on the conspiracy angle, but then again, maybe not. Worth a read in any case and if you have comcast and want to join in on all the free MMA they offer, fill out the petition.

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HDNet, the all-high-definition cable station geared toward MMA, will broadcast two major MMA events this weekend: “Maximum Fighting Championship 15: Rags to Riches” tonight and “Strikeforce at the Dome” tomorrow. Both events will be broadcast live. The MFC show features a main event between Pete Spratt (17-10), a UFC veteran and “The Ultimate Fighter 4” cast member, and prospect Ryan Ford (4-0). The event takes place at River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton. HDNet will air the event live from 9-12 p.m. ET. Saturday’s Strikeforce event features a main event between NFL lineman-turned fighter/kickboxer Bob Sapp (9-2-1) and undefeated boxer Jan “The Giant” Nortje (1-5). Other bouts include Maurice Smith vs. Rick Roufus, Joe Riggs vs. Cory Devela, and Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Healy. Should be a couple of good nights for fights, props to HDNet for getting more and more live MMA on TV for us. I'm hoping for a few quick stoppages on the MFC card as a guy that trains at my gym is fighting and it would be great if he gets some air time! Keep an eye out for Gavin Neil ,a really good MT guy (fighting Josh Groves) and give him a cheer if it makes it to air.

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