Overeem cross over fans are the equivalent of Lesnar fans in MMA

Yeah, I twigged that from the fact that old school It's Showtime used to be K-1 co-promotions, with qualifying tourneys, and now they just seem to be promoting their own brand which is going from strength to strength. Not to mention bringing their own title belts in and having their own champions, in 2009....

FEG are a set of bastards. I cannot stand them. Things Mike told me regarding the PUJI demands and ultimate failure of the "investments", and the way FEG have treated fighters in the past, has made me hope Sengoku prevail in Japan this last year. As for K-1, if only someone would buy them out... if only Tanikawa and the boys could release Ishii's baby to be held by more financially secure hands

They will.

I mean, I'm not talking about you here, but a lot of people have no fucking clue about K-1's past bankruptcy and how it moved on from there.

I was talking to TWO 'internet journalists' last night who know shit-all about stuff in Japan but are writing at my old site and hitting me up for info. It grates on me a bit, because people aren't aware that K-1 went bankrupt in 2003, FEG was formed as a dummy, shell company without debt and so forth, and took over K-1's assets.

That is most likely going to happen again, I think they are just looking for a buyer. What is going on now is that Tanikawa and his boys are looking for investors so they don't have to give in to Ishii and let him move on without them. That is why FEG is stagnant right now.

Tanikawa should have known when he took over FEG what he was getting himself into, you know? Now he is acting like he wants nothing to do with Ishii and his problems, yet was hand-selected by Ishii to be the front man. Pffft.

It's Showtime is smart to distance themselves from K-1, but they have their own problems in their back yard right now.

Like yeah, the fact is, most people don't understand what goes on in Japan.

For example, UFC's purchase of PRIDE was hilarious, fucking hilarious. They bought shit. They bought the name and TV rights, of a dead brand that was poisoned by a yakuza scandal and other stuff.

DSE held all the cards, and DSE fractured into two factions, the ones that formed WVR and then Real Entertainment.

Right now Real Entertainment holds the cards for FEG, FEG just owes them money, they have no real assets other than debt.

I promised Mike I wouldn't speak on it, so I'll keep schtum on FEG and PUJI

As for It's Showtime, count me among that number. I actually have very little idea as to what problems they are going through. All I know through Dutch friends from Amsterdam is that the place is run by gangsters, so I'm assuming Its Showtime is no different and have unsavoury types involved with the company.

never mind, you basically said most of it, regarding DSE/Real, the 7m debt (11m GBP?) and the Yakuza.

Cards on the table

Yeah, I mean, I know what Mike knows as well, but most of it has become public in the past few weeks anyway.

It all lines up with their past business practices as well. I've talked to some people in FEG who don't want to be outed and yeah, it is all about the power struggle right now.

ALTHOUGH..

On Twitter the other day, Tanikawa said he was meeting some potential investors.... at hooters....

The same Tanikawa who always has 'important announcements' though.....

Come to think of it, very Dana-esque

Regarding what I said about It's Showtime, fill me in. As I say, I only know of Amsterdam what friends of mine from there have told me... I dont imagine the fight business being free of heavy gangster influence in a city purportedly run by them... or are the problems from another quarter?

The problems are government crackdowns. Rutz himself is pretty clean, but it is the fighters who aren't.

More importantly,

when will Leko get a 95 MAX title shot. His ISh record is thus:

W Badr Hari
W Volkan Duzgun
L Melvin Manhoef - Leko won both rounds, then broke his foot in the 3rd

Spong is out of the picture now, and at HW. Give me all the email contacts you have, I must bombard them, BLITZ them, with emails demanding a title shot for their best 95kg fighter (imo)

He'd probably need to rematch Braddock and beat him to get into contention, to be honest.

@Fletch

Yes I like the Ulitmate Glory cards! i love a card with K-1 and MMA on

I am looking forward to the 2nd rounds of the UG tournaments

The level of Leko nutthugging has reached Fedor uber fan stereotype levels.

veprman wrote:The level of Leko nutthugging has reached Fedor uber fan stereotype levels.

I know, you've got him in your sig you Leko zombie

Man, I mean, Leko is good and all, but yeah...

Fletch can go die in a fire.

The only person that can beat Badr is himself, a 100% prepared, focused and hungry Badr is unbeatable(or damn near close.)

CanadianAssault wrote:reem is overhyped.

This. Hype carried Reem through the HWGP and his hype Ko'ed Badr.

Jride wrote:Fletch can go die in a fire.

you sound upset, Reem crossover

I wrote about how much I would like to see Badr vs Alistair in 2011 and it's still a fight I'd love to see.

Their 2nd fight is one of my all time favorites. There was so much leading up to the fight including the best press conference ever, led by Michael Schiavello.

Here's to hoping that we somehow see it in 2011.

is there any chance of Reem being in the 2011 WGP if K-1 survive, because of this SF tournament

If the K-1 WGP happens, Alistair is pre-qualified in the Final 16 because of his involvement in the Final 8 last year so he's set if he chooses to fight.

With the way the Strikeforce HWGP is playing out, who knows when they'll be finished with it.