Beginning with Saturday's IFL event in Chicago, a dozen mid-to-major mixed martial events will be held in the next five weeks.
All told, some 50-odd athletes will suffer losses, stitches and morning-after headaches; another 50 will log wins that could lead to bigger money, more television time, or a better grade of groupie.
The coming month is probably the busiest in the sport's abbreviated history, a big flashing neon light of a sign that the market is nearing capacity. In more than a few cases, fledging promoters will be more nervous than the participants in the ring.
In case you'd like to keep score:
Despite constant fretting from amateur stockbrokers online, the publicly traded International Fight League seems determined to continue providing a substantially different template than other promotions.
Athletes are bred in a team climate, warming up near the ring and rooting for their peers from the sidelines, the euphoria of winning (and the noxious stint of defeat) now a communal experience.
The idea hasn't penetrated as much as organizers had hoped -- I have yet to see any civilians sporting a Tigersharks t-shirt, and I'm not sure I ever will -- but at the least, it's not like any other MMA on television.
May 19 sees
Pat Miletich (Pictures)'s defending champion Silverbacks needing a win over
Igor Zinoviev's Red Bears in order to advance to the playoffs. Opposing Silverbacks heavyweight standout
Ben Rothwell (Pictures) is new Red Bears recruit
Travis Fulton, a workhorse of a competitor with more than 100 bouts to his resume.
Later in the evening, promoters are staging a rematch between
Maurice Smith (Pictures) and
Marco Ruas (Pictures). Industry geezers may recall that Ruas quit between rounds during their first meeting in 1999. The 40-something "King of the Streets" has fought only once since, a submission victory over
Jason Lambert (Pictures) in 2001.
That makes him only slightly less dormant than 45-year-old Smith, who bowed out of MMA after a loss to
Renato Sobral (Pictures) in 2000. Cornermen should bring buckets of WD-40 for the collective amount of ring rust on display here, but the IFL should get credit for keeping aging athletes in their own competitive bracket. (In the UFC, Ruas would likely get served up to Mirko Cro Cop; Smith would be asked to dodge a speeding car.)
Regardless of the outcome, a Ruas-
Ken Shamrock (Pictures) bout later in the year would pique interest, as does an intriguing June 16 light heavyweight showdown between
Mike Whitehead (Pictures) and
Vernon White.
More than a year after their first installment, the GFC returns to the Buckeye State for a card that's light on marquee attractions. Of the butt-numbing 12 bouts scheduled, the most appealing promises to be the continuing progression of grappling sensation Jacare in mixed-style competition against
Bill Vucick.
Also appearing:
Chris Brennan (Pictures) and
Branden Lee Hinkle (Pictures).
As the current
ESPN: The Magazine cover subject,
Chuck Liddell (Pictures) is probably the most recognizable MMA athlete in the game. That he's facing his most formidable opponent in years should be producing the kind of electricity afforded to last weekend's coaxial Ambien of a bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. But so far, it's been crickets.
No matter: Those hip enough to understand where the sparks are should enjoy the fireworks. Since losing to Jackson in 2003, Liddell has been on a tear, knocking out contenders and enjoying the confidence that comes with a seven-fight win streak.
That sheen of invincibility looked mighty dull against Jackson in Japan, though, where Liddell was out-struck and outgunned, beaten so thoroughly on the ground that his corner threw in the towel. Come May 26, we'll see a better Liddell, but can the same be said for Jackson?
Despite his protests, Jackson's conversion to Christianity in recent years seems to have nullified his killer instinct. The man who once slammed
Ricardo Arona (Pictures) through the mat has had to settle for decision wins over the likes of
Murilo Rua (Pictures) and
Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures). And Quinton's striking, while ferocious, lacked accuracy even in their first meeting.
Because of these factors, Liddell-Jackson II presents as the best kind of fight: one where you have no clue what's going to happen.
The undercard struggles to maintain the same interest, but it'll be nice to see
Ivan Salaverry (Pictures) return after paying penitence for his sins; ditto
Karo Parisyan (Pictures) and
Chris Leben (Pictures), who both prefer to fight in third gear.
The Car Accident of the Month Award has a frontrunner, and here it is.
In booking the mammoth Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, K-1's MMA arm seems determined to put on the promotional equivalent of shoving money in a paper shredder. With an obscene payroll -- headlined by both
Royce Gracie (Pictures) and reformed pro wrestler
Brock Lesnar (Pictures) -- the organization is offering $10 tickets and intends to block off a significant portion of the arena … which makes one wonder why they bothered booking it in the first place.
Their financial Kamikaze act aside, Lesnar's MMA debut should be a sight, particularly since he's opposing the enormous Hong-Man Choi. Much has been made of Lesnar's powerful frame and wrestling credentials, but MMA conditioning makes demands on the body that has broken some serious athletes in half. At 265 pounds of muscle, it'll be interesting to see where all that oxygen comes from.
The co-main, which pits
Royce Gracie (Pictures) against
Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) in a rematch of their classic 2000 contest, has no chance to be as riveting as that 90-minute war of attrition. But for those who were introduced to the sport via a ratty video store copy of UFC 2, Gracie's presence on a card never fails to capture attention.
All of this assumes his opponent will be cleared for competition. "He (Sakuraba) will be required to undergo all of the medical testing, including an extensive neurological exam," California State Athletic Commissioner Armando Garcia told Sherdog.com. "I have also requested a previous MRI from his latest bout for comparison value.
Additionally, all medicals will be done in the United States under the supervision of an approved commission physician. No medicals from outside of the country are ever accepted here."
(In a teleconference conducted with media last week, K-1 partner Gary Shaw didn't elaborate on a Plan B if Sakuraba was deemed unfit to compete.)
The longstanding rivalry between the Gracies and Sakuraba is likely to be lost on the American public: time will tell whether SHOWTIME's barker show, airing weekly leading up to the event, can reform them.
Part two runs Thursday. For comments, email jrossen@sherdog.com
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