Watchdog

The IFL seems to be struggling in the crowded, competitive mixed martial arts world.

The MMA purists who hated CBS' Elite XC card Saturday night urged me to check out the WEC card on Versus Sunday, promising a much better example of what the sport is about.

I didn't, but many people did, and apparently the event lived up to its billing.

The show, featuring featherweight Urijah Faber against Jens Pulver, attracted 1.4 percent of households that get Versus and averaged 1.535 million viewers.

It was the highest-rated and most-viewed non-NHL playoffs, non-Tour de France telecast in OLN/Versus history.

Here's an old picture of James Thompson - who almost beat Kimbo Slice Saturday night - back when his ear looked much better than it does now.

I wrote an item about the MMA card earlier today and will have another one in the newspaper Tuesday, but here is some additional ratings info that I found mildly interesting:

The rating in 54 major markets peaked at 4.7 percent of homes from 11:30 to 11:45 p.m., when Slice and Thompson were doing battle.

Oklahoma City led the way with a huge 11.1 percentage, followed by nine other markets that are not in the Northeast or Upper Midwest: Nashville, New Orleans, Memphis, Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville, Las Vegas, Tulsa, Miami, Los Angeles, St Louis.

The hockey game was over by then, so I'm not sure what this means. Discuss among yourselves.

Good night. Enjoy the 1996 Dodge National Circuit Finals rodeo at 11 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

Honestly, I don't know where to begin in discussing the historic debut of Mixed Martial Arts in prime time on a major broadcast network Saturday.

It seemed to upset everyone, from the MMA purists who found novice Kimbo Slice to be an embarrassing symbol for the sport, to the MMA skeptics who found the entire spectacle to be a step backward for Western Civilization.

(I'll flesh out the confusing TV ratings data in the newspaper, but the bottom line is that it did pretty well, particularly among - surprise! - young males.)

Gosh, I don't know . . . It was undeniably disturbing, a weird hybrid of pro wrestling and boxing, and not necessarily more or less moral and valid than either of them.

It also was undeniably entertaining in spots, and the hyperbolic Gus Johnson was the right man for the blow-by-blow.

Given everything else on television, there is no reason to deny EliteXC and CBS another episode of this drama, but next time organizers might want to tighten up the production to shorten the endless filler between fights.

And it might want to showcase fighters other than Mr. Slice, who looked much more like a boxing prospect than an MMAer.

Harvey Korman died Thursday.

What does that have to do with my Friday newspaper column? WatchDog kudos to the first reader with an answer.

For a big hint, here is a quote from CBS executive Kelly Kahl about the night the network chose for its inaugural Mixed Martial Arts show this weekend:

"I think all the networks are guilty of letting Saturday night slip away. It wasn’t that long ago that Saturday nights were a big deal on network television. If we can use this to make Saturday night a little bit more of an event from time to time that’s a win for everybody . . . Unfortunately, the bar isn’t all that high for success. If we get half the people who really seem to be into MMA, we’ll do OK. But we’re not putting high expectations on this first one."

Hey, look everyone, I'm writing about mixed martial arts again!

In the actual Friday newspaper!

Just trying to keep up with the times, my friends.

Enjoy the card on CBS Saturday night.

I'll be watching hockey, but do what is best for yourself . . .

Well, this should be interesting . . . CBS announced Monday that Gus Johnson would serve as the play-by-play announcer May 31 when mixed martial arts comes to the network for the first time.

This might be too much overall agitation for your TV set to absorb. Please make sure to watch from at least 15 feet back.

Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo will be the analysts. Karyn Bryant will be the "cageside" reporter.

"Gus Johnson delivers great energy and storytelling to every sports event he calls," Kelly Kahl, senior executive VP for CBS Primetime, said in a news release, establishing an early leader in the running for TV executive understatement of the year.

By the way, Gus has studied Kung Fu, boxing and most recently Jiu-Jitsu.

I spoke to writer/director David Mamet last Friday about his new movie, "Redbelt," which comes out Friday, and about the rising profile of mixed martial arts in general and of his particular interest, Jiu-Jitsu.

"It’s coming out of the woodwork," he said. "It’s great. MMA is just part of the movie. It’s part of the world these guys move in. But I’m really glad that MMA has become so popular, because I think a lot of MMA fans are going to appreciate the movie, because we have a lot of MMA fighters, and we have a lot of the MMA spirit.

"It’s a movie about Jiu-Jitsu. I got into it about six years ago. I ran into a pretty good friend of mine in Los Angeles, Eddie O’Neill, who’d been studying for many, many years, and he said you come out to Los Angeles I’m going to get you to some guys, and he did.

"I started when I was 55, so it’s great. You do it little by little. They call it the old man’s sport, because the better you get at it the less force you use.

"It’s like trying to hit a golf ball. You use knowledge."

Last Friday I had an opportunity to speak to Randy Couture, a mixed martial arts star and now actor who has a small but important role in the new David Mamet film, "Redbelt."

I always try to keep an eye on MMA stuff for all you crazy kids out there, including my boss.

(If you missed it here is my MMA conversation with Ray Mancini from the other day.)

Click below for a transcript of my chat with Couture.

The subject is whether a major release with an MMA/Jiu-Jitsu theme is another indication the sport has become mainstream.

It's the Germanakos brothers with IFL coach Bas Rutten!

I have been assured this story from Thursday is legit:

Jim and Bill Germanakos, the Long Island natives who won on NBC's "The Biggest Loser,'' participated in the weigh-in for Friday night's IFL event at the Izod Center.

When IFL featherweight champ Waggney Fabiano weighed in a half-pound over the 145 limit to defend his title against Shad Lierly, Bill Germanakos offered a suggestion:

Spit. A lot.

Fabiano promptly went for a run around East Rutherford . . . spitting all the while. He returned an hour later, having dropped nine ounces.

High school wrestlers trying to make weight are advised not to try this at home.

Tuesday I screened a film called "Never Back Down," which opens Friday and is built around mixed martial arts.

Is it worth seeing? It's not really fair for me to say, since I haven't been part of its target audience since the original "Rocky" came out. Speaking of which, this cliche-ridden flick features athletes in training chugging, yup, raw eggs.

Look, I'm no expert on MMA action and thus can't speak to its realism here. Plus, again, I haven't been an expert on teen-oriented movies since the Carter Administration.

But for what it is, this is done well, highlighted by solid acting from the formidable Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) and Sean Faris (who looks a lot like a 1980s-era Tom Cruise), plus all sorts of fresh young faces and rippling young abs.

The real story here is this: MMA has become so mainstream in general and so popular among young males in particular that it now qualifies as the focal point of a teen movie.

This is a film that will someday belong in an early 21st century time capsule. YouTube even has a major supporting role!

(UPDATE: Joe Fernandez has linked to this post from his MMA blog. Joe knows much, much more about this sport than I do. So does my boss, by the way. You know you're old when you have a boss much younger than you.)

Unlike many of my fellow cranky old sportswriters, I have nothing against mixed martial arts.

It's no more barbaric than boxing, really, plus my boss likes it.

Also, it is full of interesting young men with diverse interests and approaches to sports achievement.

Some even drink urine. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I don't pretend to be a mixed martial arts expert, but I do try to stay on the cutting edge, and my boss likes the sport, so . . . for my final post of the day:

There was big news in the MMA world this Thursday with the news that CBS and ProElite had signed a deal to bring the sport to prime time, national, broadcast TV for the first time.

CBS will broadcast four live events a year, probably on Saturday nights, from ProElite's EliteXC fight division.

EliteXC has been seen on Showtime previously and will continue to be.

ProElite CEO Douglas DeLuca called it "a pivotal moment for the sport of mixed martial arts."

As everyone knows, the IFL season kicks off (um, literally) Friday night in Vegas, live on HDNet. (The card also will be seen on tape next week on FSN.)

I don't know about you, but I will be rooting for reigning middleweight champ Matt Horwich, whose plan is to get married the day after he competes.

Here is an interview with Matt on that and other subjects.

(The IFL has an event scheduled for the Izod Center in Jersey April 4, by the way.)

Even Mark Cuban is getting into the fast-growing mixed martial arts world.

Why the heck not? His "HDNet Fights" has jumped into a field dominated by UFC but with a number of other wannabe outfits such as the IFL and World Combat League.

Cuban's partnership with Louis Neglia's "Ring of Combat" will debut tonight with the showing of "HDNet Fights Presents: Ring of Combat" from the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City.

It beats watching the Knicks.