I bring to you, the first ever Fight Game Blog Awards. Since our website is unique in that we cover boxing, pro wrestling, and MMA, we have three different categories for awards.

In addition to our FGB brothers, Stevie J from Angry Marks is also giving his picks.

Pro Wrestling

Wrestler Of The Year
Big D - Edge
Alan - Shingo Takagi

Was given the ball in Dragon Gate due to top star CIMA being on the sidelines, and the company had it’s best business year ever. He was also outstanding in the ring and is full of charisma.

Duan - Jeff Hardy

This may not be a popular choice, but Jeff has really delivered main event quality matches this year, and he has now finally been given the chance to carry a world title. His ascension has helped freshen up a tired WWE main event scene, and the title change was executed perfectly.

I might’ve given up on WWE this summer if it weren’t for Chris Jericho. He and Shawn Michaels were the sole reason I bought any B shows this year.

Match Of The Year Continue Reading »

The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him.

It’s been reported by most MMA sites (including Josh Gross at SI.com) that ProElite, Inc., owner of EliteXC, is closing down the MMA company after CBS/Showtime decided not to purchase them. Even after a very good TV rating for their last CBS show, the possible underhanded actions by the promotion seemed to scare CBS/Showtime away.

After Seth Petruzelli uttered the quote above to an Orlando radio show, it took everything out of the sails for one of the biggest upsets (that wasn’t really an upset) in MMA. Petruzelli claimed that he was hungover when he said it, but it was too little, too late. For EXC, the damage was done. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has decided to step in and investigate that manner, and it seems like that’s what it took for CBS/Showtime to get cold feet.

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DREAM returns from a 2 month absence following the lightweight grandprix finals back in July. On tonight’s show, we will see the crowning of the first ever DREAM middleweight champion as Zelg Galesi, Ronaldo Souza, Melvin Manhoef and Gegard Mousasi, will battle it out in the grandprix finals. The tournament reserve bout will featuring Yoon Dong-sik taking on Andrews Nakahara.

Also on the card, former Pride and UFC star Mirko Cro Cop will continue on the comeback trail as he takes on the dangerous Alistair Overeem. Cro Cop is coming off a win in his DREAM debut, which followed a disappointing run in the UFC. Overeem has looked impressive in recent performances, and rides a 3 fight win streak into tonight’s bout.

Cro Cop got a massive reaction when they introduced all the fighters to the live audience.

I believe they are doing the reserve bout first.
Kenny and Bas are our commentary team as always.

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Let me just say that the only reason I bought this show was because of Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Nothing else is even half way interesting.

Picture by Erdnuckel_86

To a lesser extent, having the ability to purchase the show in HD was also a buying factor. We don’t even get Raw or Smackdown in HD out here in Gilroy, CA. Charter needs to work on their HD signal as I’m seeing a bit of pixelation.

1. ECW Championship Scramble

Matt Hardy and the Miz started out the match. No pinfalls, but the Miz did hit his finisher for a two count.

Chavo came out next, hit the frog splash on Matt Hardy and is the in match champion.

Hardy hit the side effect and pinned Chavo and is the in match champion. Mark Henry is in next.

Henry hit the world’s strongest slam on Chavo and pinned him and is the new in match champion. Finlay is the last guy in.

Finlay pinned Hardy, but then Hardy pinned The Miz. Hardy is the current in match champion. The Miz has a nasty cut and is bleeding pretty badly.

Hardy played keep away for about 3 minutes, which didn’t really make sense because the rules state that you can pin anyone an win the belt. But Hardy is the new ECW Champion. Henry lost the belt without having been pinned.

Winner: Matt Hardy

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I joined our own Big D on his podcast last night and we discussed UFC 87 and discussed if WEC and UFC working together is a good thing or not.

Click here to download it from AngryMarks.

We had coverage for every show last weekend. Here’s what we thought about all those shows after thinking about them for a few days.

UFC Fight Night

GG

Show overall rating: Thumbs in the middle

Best Fight: Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns
Worst Fight: Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy

There wasn’t really a top notch fight, but I thought Johnson and Burns was the best until the lame stoppage. There were some fun knockouts with Rory Markham and Anderson Silva coming to mind, and a great submission by CB Dollaway, but the show was really just there. If Silva had a better opponent, I think the fight could’ve felt bigger. But James Irvin wasn’t going to cut it, and he showed why, taking a beating. Brandon Vera’s terrible performance took a lot out of the show as well.

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I used to do a post once or twice a week at my old site in which I posted links and recapped news stories. I’m bringing it back. The column was MMA only, but because our new site focuses on MMA, boxing, and pro wrestling, so will this column.

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- The UFC Fight Night payouts were just a we bit less than the Affliction payouts. Yes, it said that Tim Sylvia made nearly $800,000 for 36 seconds of work.

- Eric Raskin (for The Ring Magazine and through ESPN.com) says that if you see one fight all year, you have to see Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito.

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Dream officials have been forced to rethink the line up for this show, due to several of their marquee names being forced off the card. Nick Diaz was pulled from the show by EXC, “Kid” Yamamoto withdrew after sustaining a knee injury, the Mirko Cro Cop versus Jerome LeBanner fight was dropped, and it’s uncertain whether Hideo Tokoro can fight after being involved in a car crash last week. So alot of this card still remains a mystery.

There’s one thing we know for certain though, Dream’s first lightweight champion will be crowned by the end of this show. Shinya Aoki will fight Caol Uno in one semi, while Eddie Alvarez and Tatsuya Kawajiri will face off in the other. The winners will go on to meet in the grand prix final later on in the night.

It’s the usual HDNet commentary team of Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice calling the action. We start off the show with a recap of the tournament so far. This is Followed by the usual introductions of each fighter to the live crowd. Nakamura vs. Ologun is up first.

1. Daisuke Nakamura vs. Andy Ologun

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News and notes from around the MMA world …

I would say that you should try and go out of your way to see tonight’s WEC show on the Versus Network. There are three title matches and all of them should be pretty good. Carlos Condit is trying to avenge a previous loss a few years ago to Carlo Prater. The WEC shows are quick paced because of their focus on the lighter weight fighters and go by pretty quickly. Also, you get to hear Frank Mir talk about his win over Brock Lesner, since he’s the color commentator.

Here’s more on the show:

- WEC 32 showcases three title fights.

- Adam Swift focuses on the WEC.

The main story today is that a new company called the Fighting Entertainment Group, made up of K-1 and the former Pride promotion, has created a new promotion called Dream. The Hero’s promotion is no more, and this new promotion will take it’s place and the network television deal they have in place with TBS in Japan. This is important because the main reason Pride eventually failed is because it lost TV and didn’t have the money to spend on what their fans loved, which was an insane fighting atmosphere and big named fighters.

Maybe even more importantly to US fans, Mirko Cro Cop is going to be involved with them, ending his short stay with UFC. Cro Cop says that his contract was ended by the UFC, though he still had several fights left on it. In a recent Wrestling Observer newsletter, Dave Meltzer mentioned that the UFC was trying to renegotiate his deal. His three fight UFC stay has to be looked at as nothing short of a disaster for the UFC.

Here’s more on the story:

- Meltzer has more on Cro Cop to Japan.

- Cro Cop says that he didn’t like fighting in the cage.