Stevie J did a great job with running the interview while I was on my cell phone driving home. As you’ll be able to tell, both Stevie and I read the book cover to cover and both enjoyed it thoroughly. Snowden was a great guest and answered everything we threw at him.

It’s a fun 90 minute interview.

Right click to download or listen to the stream at Angry Marks.

Also, let me know what you think in the comments section or by sending me an e-mail me.

I’ve pasted the press release sent to us by Mike Afromowitz from Strikeforce.

LOS ANGELES, CA. — In a transaction signaling the dawn of a new era in the world’s fastest growing sport, world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) organization Strikeforce, has acquired certain fighter contracts from ProElite, Inc, the parent company of former Strikeforce co-promoter, Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC).

The promotion made history again by bringing, for the first time, a live MMA event to the CBS Television Network on May 31, 2008.

About Strikeforce:

Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and after 12 years of success as a leading world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” Since then, it has co-produced the first SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card on June 22,2007 followed by the first-ever mixed martial arts event at the world-famous Playboy Mansion on September 29, 2007.

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
Big D – Undertaker vs. Edge in Hell in a Cell
Alan – Kenta Kobashi, KENTA, Akihiko Ito, & Atsushi Aoki vs. Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kento Miyahara, & Takashi Okita
Stevie J – Undertaker v. Edge at Wrestlemania 24

They went on last and they literally brought the house down. I was so tired and warn out from the long day at that point I thought I was going to crash, but they got my attention in a big way and brought me right back up to my feet. For the second straight year in a row, Undertaker stole the show at ‘Mania and made it his own.

GG – Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels Ladder Match

Card Of The Year
Big D – ROH Supercard Of Honor 3
Alan – ROH Supercard Of Honor 3
Duan – Wrestlemania 24
Stevie J – Tie between Wrestlemania 24 and ROH Supercard Of Honor 3
GG – Wrestlemania 24

Most Memorable Moment Of The Year
Big D – Chris Jericho punches Rebecca Michaels at SummerSlam.
Alan – Shingo and Cyber Kong turn heel on BxB Hulk and form Real Hazard.
Duan – Flair’s retirement on Monday Night Raw.

An emotional farewell to arguably the greatest of all time.

Stevie J – Shawn Michaels mouths “I’m sorry, I love you” before superkicking Ric Flair and beating him at Wrestlemania 24.
GG – Flair’s retirement on Monday Night Raw.

MMA

Fighter Of The Year
Big D – Brock Lesnar
Alan – Brock Lesnar
Duan – Brock Lesnar
Stevie J – Georges St. Pierre
GG – Georges St. Pierre

Fight Of The Year
Big D – Jens Pulver vs. Urijah Faber
Alan – Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Duan – Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Stevie J – Brock Lesnar v. Randy Couture
GG – Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin

Card Of The Year
Big D – UFC 91
Alan – DREAM 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals
Duan – DREAM 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals
Stevie J – UFC 91
GG – UFC 91

Most Memorable Moment Of The Year
Big D – Seth Petruzelli beats Kimbo Slice out of the sport.
Alan – Brock Lesnar wins the UFC Heavyweight championship from Randy Couture.
Duan – Randy Couture returns to take on Brock Lesnar.
Stevie J – Tie between Rashad Evans destroying Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson destroying Wanderlei Silva.
GG – Brock Lesnar wins the UFC Heavyweight championship from Randy Couture.

Boxing

Boxer Of The Year
Big D – Manny Pacquiao
Duan – Manny Pacquiao
GG – Manny Pacquiao

Fight Of The Year
Big D – Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto
Duan – Tie between Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto and Steve Cunningham vs Tomasz Adamek
GG – Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto

Most Memorable Moment Of The Year
Big D – Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao

Oscar was dominated.

Duan – Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao

The biggest fight of the year, and one in which Manny Pacquiao overcame the odds in the most dominant of fashions.

GG – Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao

I will never forget the sight of Oscar on the stool with no intention of getting off it after the 9th round.

Photo of Brock Lesnar from Wikipedia
Photo of Manny Pacquiao from Wikicommons and shared via creative commons

This is the second death MMA death reported in just over a week after Justin Levens was found dead along with his wife just over a week ago.

Eilers had recently fought Antonio Silva at the big EXC show in July. Silva beat him with strikes in the second round.

He went 1-3 in the UFC, with his biggest match being a fight for the heavyweight championship against Andrei Arlovski. Since a loss to Brandon Vera at UFC 57, he went 10-1 fighting on smaller shows before his loss to Silva.

I found some of his career information on his Wikipedia page.

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.

For the last several weeks, the rumor was that EXC wasn’t going to exist if it wasn’t purchased and that CBS/Showtime could be the buyer if they were happy with the latest Saturday Night Fight’s show. After doing a good rating, things seemed to be well on their way. But as of today, EXC is done.

Where does that leave the fighters?

Kimbo Slice is the most well known MMA fighter in the US, but after losing to Petruzelli, his bubble burst. I’m not sure where he’s going to work as the UFC and Dana White have thrown him under the bus on every occasion possible. And even though they used an over-matched Ken Shamrock to help draw a huge buy rate with Tito Ortiz, it would seem that Dana White would stay far away from him. I can’t see him going to Affliction because the competition is too tough in the heavyweight division. Companies may stay away from him for a little while until the sting of his loss goes away, but someone like the AFL could throw money at him to face Bobby Lashley. He’ll never be a great fighter more than likely, but someone will be able to book the rematch between he and Petruzelli if they can get it on TV.

Gina Carano is maybe the most marketable of the EXC stars right now and she has a ready made fight with Cris Cyborg. A lot of the promotion has already been done and someone like Affliction or Strikeforce should try to get that fight on one of their shows. It’s a nice fight to have as a strong undercard match-up.

Jake Shields is a strong welterweight and he’d fit right in UFC. He’s already stated that he wants to fight Georges St. Pierre, and though he’d have to work his way up to that fight more than likely (mostly because to a casual audience, he’s unknown), he could definitely cause some havoc in the division.

Nick Diaz, Eddie Alvarez, Scott Smith, Robbie Lawler, and KJ Noons are all fighters who put on great fights and should have no problem finding work. Diaz might’ve overstayed his welcome in UFC, but I’d love to see him there again. I’d love to see Alvarez there as well. Noons and Smith might get lost in the shuffle, though signing Smith and Lawler to a fairly weak middleweight division wouldn’t be the worst decision for UFC. Ninja Rua could definitely find work in UFC or Affliction. Yves Edwards looks to be fighting with Strikeforce next. Where would Joey Villasenor go?

Brett Rogers and Dave Herman should also be able to find work, as should Wilson Reis. I’m not sure where Bigfoot Silva goes, but he’s suspended for his positive steroid test, so he’d have to wait anyway.

But with the UFC being the big game in town, Japan not being a strong market anymore (Dream is on its last life and Sengoku isn’t doing well either), and Affliction losing money, many of the fighters on the EXC roster will have trouble finding work. Even though it’s not surprising, it’s still not a good day in the MMA world.

I understand why everyone is bothered with the idea that Seth Petruzelli was told that he would be paid more money to stand with Kimbo. On the surface, I can see why people are up in arms. But I’m not so bothered. Actually, I think that Petruzelli’s lack of consistency in his story is the bigger issue. Originally, he mentioned that the promoter “hinted” to him that he should stand with Kimbo. And then in the same sentence, he said they paid him more money to stand with Kimbo. Petruzelli was, and still is, a lower level fighter. It’s not to say that he’s not good at what he does, but in no way is he in the upper level. So it makes sense that he wants to promote his win as much as possible. It also shows what happens when you put people in main event situations who aren’t ready to be in them. Do you think Ken Shamrock would’ve flip flopped his stories as much has the same thing happened to him?

ESPN.com reported that there is an investigation underway.

After repeated calls from ESPN.com, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation — which oversees the State Boxing Commission — said Thursday that it has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter.

I started to think about how the UFC offers “best fight” bonuses with the intention of delivering the most exciting fights. Generally, the fights that win those bonuses are ones with lots of stand-up fighting involved. So how different is that from what they are saying EXC did, if they even did it? On one hand, you have a company that is rumored to have told one fighter to stand-up and punch and they will pay him more. And on the other hand, you have a company that tells all their fighters that they can win money by doing the same thing. I get the difference. I really do. I just don’t think there’s a huge difference between the two different strategies.

And for those people talking about fight fixing, they don’t understand the issue. That’s not what the issue is.

Because WWE is creatively walking in quick sand, Chris Jericho’s awesome run this year as champion is going to be forgotten. One could say Edge too, except he was able to main event an excellent Wrestlemania against the Undertaker. Jericho might not have as memorable a match, and thus, his fantastic run right now might not be remembered because of the current funk WWE is in. There are guys who are on his level as heels. Edge is right there with him and the second Randy Orton can wrestle again, he’s probably right with the both of them. But there’s a certain realism with his character that neither guy can duplicate, and I’m not sure we’ve seen a heel with that type of realism in a long time. He’s really at a level that no one else is in the company when it comes to drawing heat.

Photo by Scott Fife

I recently purchased Bret Hart’s Hitman book and am looking forward to plowing through it. I also purchased Wrestling With Shadows the other day and will re-watch that as well. I was never the biggest Bret Hart fan in the world as his prime was at a point where I wasn’t watching much WWE, or even wrestling period. But I’ve always found him as this interesting character who seems to value his legacy more than any athlete I can ever remember. And add to that, the terrible tragedies he’s had to overcome, there are just many layers to the man who had no problem calling himself the best. I imagine that I’ll review it here, but the book is huge, so it will take some time to get through it.

I was watching the show with some very casual fans and when they heard that Shamrock was out of the fight, there were two responses. One, they were disappointed that Shamrock was out of the fight. But two, they wanted to know who Kimbo was going to kill. When Seth was announced as the replacement, they then said, “Who?”

Obviously, the fight was a disappointment. Petruzelli backpedaled immediately at the sound of a bell, as if he was scared and by looking at Kimbo’s face, I can’t blame him. When Kimbo attacked and Petruzelli hit him with a short check right hand, I didn’t really think anything of it. It wasn’t necessarily a hard shot. It’s the kind of shot a boxer throws to stick and move. But Kimbo wouldn’t get up and when he was on his back, he looked like a turtle on his back who couldn’t get to his feet. Petruzelli threw about 5 or 6 straight rights in a quick enough manner to simply overwhelmed Kimbo. I don’t think he was necessarily all that hurt, but you got the thought that maybe one or two or three more of those shots could’ve done some serious damage. After watching the check right hand in slow motion, you can see that it caught Kimbo flush.

It’s unfortunate for EXC that Shamrock got hurt, and also that their meal ticket lost to a guy who you can’t really market around. At least if Shamrock beat him, you could do something with Ken. Mauro Ranello tried to say that Petruzelli was like a modern day Rocky Balboa because he was the underdog, but UFC fans saw many weeks of Petruzelli on The Ultimate Fighter, and there was really nothing there. Can Kimbo be rebuilt? I’m not sure. You can’t build a fighter as Superman and have him lose like a pedestrian. The aura is gone. He can sneer and look as nasty as he wants, but as boxing fans saw with Mike Tyson, once that aura is gone, all he is at that point, is a regular fighter. He doesn’t have that early advantage anymore.

At least Gina Carano held up her end of the bargain. There’s just something about her that is special. I’m not sure that she’s even going to beat Cristiane Cyborg. But she has the look, the personality, and maybe even more importantly, there’s something about her that makes you want to root for her. It’s that X factor that is hard to describe. She beat Kelly Kobold in a very matter of fact manner. She beat her with what she does well, and if the fight went any longer, probably would’ve finished her.

I’m not sure what’s next for EXC, but it doesn’t look good. The bloom is off the Slice rose, but at least they have the biggest female MMA star. I’m just not sure what that means right now.

There has been a lot of drama in the hours leading up to this show, as a result of the Ken Shamrock situation. It looks like Ken will not compete, and with kick off time approaching, a replacement is yet to be named. At this stage, we will just have to wait and see what happens.

They start the show by announcing that Seth Petruzelli is taking Shamrocks place in the main event. They then show a pretaped interview with Shamrock. He basically says he’s disappointed, and that he has fought through much worse injuries in the past, but the doctors just wont let him fight.

The announcers are trying to push the strength of the card even without Shamrock. They emphasize that the Arlovski vs. Nelson fight could main event any show on its own. Frank Shamrock buries Ken, saying that he should have been training lighter, and that he’s disgracing the Shamrock name. You just know Frank is still trying to build towards a future fight with his brother. Middleweights are up first.

1. Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach

Radach rushes forward right from the bell. Ninja is happy to engage and two end up in a wild brawl. Radach got much the better off it, rocking Rua on 3 separate occasions. Rua showed serious guts to stay in the fight. Radach was just winging punches, and he may have exhausted himself a little. He chooses to bring the fight to the mat, where one would think Rua has the advantage. Rua twice went for a leglock as the clock ran down, but was never really close to securing it.
Rua seemed to have figured out Radach’s striking patterns in the second, and looked to be beginning to take control. However, he slipped on a knee strike, and Radach was quick to follow up, raining down bombs on his fallen opponent. The ref stepped in after 3 or 4 shots. Rua was out cold, and was down for a long time after the fight.
A big upset to start the show.
Winner: Benji Radach (TKO: Round 2)

2. Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald
(Photo by George Ruiz)
Kelly clinched immediately and she worked really hard for the takedown, but Gina was able to avoid it. They fought nearly the entire opeing round in the clinch. Kelly was controlling their position, but the only strikes were coming from Carano. Kelly seemed to be getting frustrated, and briefly started slugging with Gina, but went back to the clinch when she got hurt.
In the second round Kobalt was looking tired. She tried to clinch again, but Gina did a better job of creating distance and started to pick her apart with punches and kicks. Kobalt finally wrestled her to the ground, but there was only seconds left in the round.
The third round was more of the same. Gina really started to open up, and was just teeing off on Kobalt. Carano landed several high kicks and looked to have her reeling as the time expired.
Carano took the unanimous decision win.

Winner: Gina Carano (unanimous decision)

3. Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
They interviewed Tito Ortiz at ringside during this fight. He said he’s close to signing with EXC, and that he would like to do the rematch with Frank Shamrock.
The story of this fight was very similar to Carano vs. Kobalt – Nelson wanted to clinch the whole time, while Arlovski tried to create distance and use his boxing and leg kicks to dismantle the big man. Roy had some success early in the first round, ending up in the top position after both men went to ground. Nelson controlled the action on the floor, but did very little damage while moving from position to position. It was eventually stood up as nothing was happening. Back on the feet, Arlovski fought on the back foot, utilizing his superior boxing to punish Nelson.
In the second round Arlovski began to find his range, and Nelson was showing signs of Fatigue. Roy connected with one wild hook which shook the Pitbull, but Arlovski recovered quickly. Andrei landed some damaging knees in the clinch. Arlovski starts to unload with punches, Nelson is doing a poor job of defending himself. Andrei catches him on the back foot with a devastating straight jab, and that was all she wrote.
After a frustrating start, Arlovski really showed just how good he can be in this one.
Winner: Arlovski (KO: Round 2)

4. Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley
Daley had the clear advantage standing, but was never able to keep it there for very long. Shields had the mount position for almost the entire first round, before missing an armbar which allowed Daley to get on top. From there he threw some solid strikes but it was too late in the round and time expired.
In the second, Daley again controlled the stand up, and fended off a few takedowns early. Once shields did eventually secure the takedown, he again moved straight to mount. It wasnt long before he locked in a nice side armbar, and Daley had no choice but to tap.
They interviewed Kimbo during the fight. He was visibly agitated by the change of opponent, and implied that this whole situation had been completely unprofessional.
Winner: Shields (Submission Armbar: Round 2)

5. Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli
(Photo by cotton_man)
This show is definitely going long. There is only a couple of minutes left of the allotted 2 hours, and the fighters are yet to make their entrances. The announcers are putting over that Kimbo comes from a background where accepting challengers at a moments notice is the norm. Frank said that Seth Petruzelli has the chance of become a modern day Rocky, and he would be a huge superstar overnight should he beat Slice. I love Frank Shamrock, but i really doubt that one.

Oh my……. Petruzelli decimated him in seconds. Slice tried charge him right from the bell. Seth pushed him off with a front kick, and then caught him with what looked like a soft jab, but it ended up sending Slice to the mat. Petruzelli pounced and threw a million punches till the referee stepped in. It was a good stoppage. Slice had no idea where he was. The time was just 14 seconds.
Winner: Seth Petruzelli (KO:Round 1)
Petruzelli was very humble post fight. He put Kimbo over saying that Slice didn’t get time to prepare, and that he probably wasn’t mentally ready for the fight
Kimbo’s post fight promo was slightly bizarre. He was raising his arms in the air like he had won, and was talking up the show overall. He said it was all good because they were going to have the after party anyway. Making the best of a bad situation i guess.

Well, It will be certainly interesting to see where EXC goes from here, and how Kimbo is effected as a draw. The announcers mentioned that perhaps they can still do the Shamrock fight in the future. Will it be able to garner anywhere near the same amount of attention after what happened tonight?