Canadian Rumour Mill – January 21
With Elite 1 MMA having a show in Moncton, New Brunswick this weekend, MMA in Canada has finally kicked off for the new year!
- Rumours are UFC vet, Jason “Dooms” Day is really thinking about making a return to active MMA competition.
- Scott Fraser will challenge Elite 1 Light Heavyweight champ for his belt on the April 20th Elite 1 MMA show.
- Bellator will hold a show at Casino Rama on September 5th.
- Wyatt Lewis’ suspected killer, James Rajbhandari has been caught. Here’s a news clip on the tragic story: http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/
video?clipId=840959
- Ringside Bantamweight champion Stephane Pelletier could head to AFC following his ECC Bantamweight title fight in mid February. With Brent Fryia, Louis Fisette, Diego Wilson, Mike Adams, and Curtis Brigham, amongst others already with AFC, there would be no shortage of opponents for Pelletier.
- So last year there was talk of the Score Fighting Series holding more events in 2013. That was prior to Rogers buying The Score. Well, SFS still has six tentatively scheduled dates booked for 2013. Sounds like Rogers could rebrand the series as well.
- MFC has started stocking its own Bantamweight division with the signing of the 9-1 Anthony Birchak. Birchak will compete on MFC’s May show.
- Clay Davidson will replace Luke Harris who’s been forced to pull out of his MFC 36 fight. Davidson will now face Jason Zentgraf.
- Two more AFC 15 fights have been added: Aaron Armstrong vs Matt Krayco at a 160 lb catch and Jesse Arnett vs Dia Grant at 155 lbs.
- The expectation is that Ryan Ford will put on the gloves in Edmonton cage for his next bout.
- Nick Penner could return to MMA on the AFC Winnipeg card in March.
- Antonio Carvalho will face Darren Elkins at UFC 158.
- Freedom Fight is working on having a show in Barrie, Ontario this year.
- It looks like the AFC Winnipeg show may be moved from March 22nd to the 23rd to avoid conflicting with the Winnipeg Jets game on that Friday.
- Also I’m happy to hear that the return of Curtis Demarce may happen on this show and his opponent is possibly Bruno Capdeville. This will be Demarce’s first fight since suffering serious injuries in a car accident.
- Initially Saskatchewan was looking at having Municipal MMA commissions to regulate the sport, like in Alberta. Well now I’m hearing that the UFC is looking at coming to Saskatoon and due to this the province is looking at creating a Provincial commission to handle the sport. Saskatoon sounds like it’s at the top of the UFC’s list for Saskatachewan.
- More AFC Winnipeg news and more veterans returning to the cage. Lindsey Hawkes will be “un-retiring” to compete in front of his hometown fans.
- Honor Fight will have its second show on March 23rd at the Odeon Events Centre in Saskatoon. “Second Battle” will follow up on the success that was the inaugural event and have amateur MMA and Muay Thai on this show. The show will be sanctioned by SMAA.
- The UFC’s TJ Grant and Bellator Lightweight tourney fighter Guillaume De Lorenzi both have big fight coming up in January. So what do smart Canadian boys do? They hook up and train together at FitPlus in Halifax. NS
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NOTE: These are just rumors and opinions of the Gossip Queen. If you have a rumour that you want to contribute, email: gossipqueen@topmmanews.com.
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1- Who is the current Elite 1 LHW champ?
2- Rogers Fighting Series does not sound nearly as cool as SFS…
3- “MFC has started stocking its own Bantamweight division with the signing of the 9-1 Anthony Birchak. Birchak will compete on MFC’s May show.” Maybe after Anthony wins they will get him to move up and fight for the FW strap against Graham Spencer?
4- Davidson vs Zentgraf is a solid fight!
5- Excited for the return of “The Demon”!
That’s all.
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What happened to Luke?
Good idea to back out of that fight Luke Haris. Stick to fighting guys with such stellar records as:
4-12
7-24
4-6
1-2
16-19
2-4
Wouldn’t want you to have to actually take a punch, cause we all knows what happens when you get hit.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Jamie Locke…
1)Chris Johnson is the Elite 1 LHW champ
2)How about Sportsnet Fighting Series or SFS?
3)How about Spencer winning LW title and Maromo dropping down to FW to face Birchak for the title?
4)Davidson vs Zentgraf is a solid fight.
5)Demarce wants to be a Top 10 FW immediately after his first fight back.
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Cherry…
I seem to recall Luke Harris beating a guy who is 3-3 and 38-16. Even Fader is 2-1. You must have selectively missed those three.
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Wow. Beating a guy that’s 2-1 and 3-3. Wow. Just. Wow.Lol Gossip Queen I know that Luke is tall and handsome ok I can see why you like him :)
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Oh wow!!!!! It is a bloody miracle!!! Finally a Rumour Mill without the bloody mention of……no, wait, I won’t mention them either…..this is truly a momentous day:)
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^^^^^Curious!
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all the best jason day. you can dooooo it
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After AFC last Ford experience I’m not interested in going to see another shit show of bs.
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Afc puts on a great show, put my money on Ford being on that edmonton card since bellator doesn’t have any Canadian show planned soon. Tickets are cheap, beer is cold and the crowd is insane !!!
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@LOL…. I agree with you on is Rogers should bring Keith Crawford back…but I do wonder if any major changes are gonna happen to SFS….
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Does anyone have any info on what will happen to SFS?… Robin maybe?
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:)
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I really hope they keep the Score Fighting Series. It is the best run show in Canada by far on the production side of things. Fighters on the show get great expossure.
Some people were breaking Alex Caporicci’s balls last week about him getting into fighter management because he was the matchmaker for the Score. Maybe the reason Alex is getting into management is uncetainty on the future of the show.
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Shane BTP should fight on the score card and put his money where his mouth is… This guy talks like he knows all… what a joke….dot dot dot…
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All I know is about SFS is there’s a potential card lining up for late March and some more info coming down Feb 1st.
I also hear the letters SFS will stay, I’m presuming Sportsnet Fighting Series, which would be pretty cool I guess.
I might hear some more info over the next couple days I’ll keep you guys posted.
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The purpose of putting SFS in there was to show that they have tentatively plans for up to six events!
SFS, or whatever it will be called, will continue putting on great events.
PS. Brendan Fyfe & crew are doing a great job with this organization.
PPS. Next week, I will share the tentative dates.
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That’s great news Robin!! You guys do an awesome job on your end and Alex is right up there with Darren as the top matchmakers in Canada!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I would love to be able to continue to fight…but unfortunately… after 3 reconstructions on my knee and another one upcoming and 2 reconstructions on my right hand my body plus the fact that I’m 41…makes it hard for me to heal like I use to…so if I could still fight competitivly I would…after this upcoming surgery…hopefully next year I’ll be able to compete again in grappling competition…. but I guess we will have to see…so it’s not a fact that I can’t fight or won’t fight….it’s the body getting older while the mind stays young…but not that your really cared… other than to try and insult me….par for the coarse around this website…a guy can’t even ask a legitiment question..without getting jumped on….cheers
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Dean, forgive me for being rude. Who is darren?
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I’m pretty sure he’s referring to Darren Owen from Aggression.
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If your a real agent or someone of importance you wouldn’t be on forums trying to one up people, just a few thoughts as I’m a little tired of this Dean talking as if he invented MMA.
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I missed where he is trying to “one up” someone. Didn’t Dean just say Alex is one of the top matchmakers in Canada?
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Dean didn’t invent mma, and he’s been around the block enough to have an opinion. Cut him some slack, it must be hard to think clear as you are envisioning riding Dave mazany reverse cowgirl 24/7….haha
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I am writing this to answer some of the questions about the status of The Score Fighting Series.
The Score television network has been purchased by Rogers for $171 million pending final approval by The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The CRTC hearing could happen anytime between now and March. Timing depends on agenda items on the list in front of us. Assuming a successful hearing, the network (and by extension the SFS) would be rebranded shortly afterwards. The new branding is TBD.
The go-forward role of the SFS is part of ongoing discussions with Rogers. There is a lot to figure out in a purchase of this size but once we get past the transitional period it hopefully should be business as usual with all of Rogers assets behind the series.
In regards to potential event dates, they aren’t official until they are announced by the promotion.
Feel free to post any questions and I’ll answer what I can. I have been in discussion with a number of people impacted by the sale but you may contact me at brendan.fyfe@thescoretv.ca if it’s something specific or personal.
Thanks to everyone who has expressed their support. Your good wishes and patience are appreciated.
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Thanks for posting @Brendan Fyfe.
My questions:
I believe your last two shows were held on or after the sale date. Those were not held up by the sale, what is different now?
“The new branding is TBD.” I prefer the old SFS abbreviation. Does TBD stand for Total Battle Domination?
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@Keith – The Score sale was announced in August 2012 with the understanding that all dates already in place for the balance of the year would be kept in order to honour our partnership agreements with licensees, venues, fight teams, sponsors and production companies. It also gave us a chance to compare the SFS live broadcast audience numbers against those carried via tape delay.
Although “Total Battle Domination” is a solid suggestion, TBD actually stands for “Topless Big Don”. The potential new logo captures a rare glimpse of everyone’s favourite TMN reporter without his famous vest. I will let you know how it tests in focus groups.
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How were the live numbers compared to delay? I would think live would draw a bigger audiance, am I right?
I love the live broadcast and hope that with the re-branding SFS remains the killer product that it has grown to be.
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I really hope they continue with the live events… it’s really hard to avoid the results until the re-broadcast comes on!
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@Brendan Fyfe “Topless Big Don” that will really help pull in the female demographic. I’ll send in a few shots from my demo reel and we can set up a photo shoot lol Also Alex Cap is also my talent manager so you’ll have to negotiate with him on my huge salary and gut lisencing rights
I all seriousness I hope he CRTC gets through those hearings quickly (and from what I heard about te new head he’s all about speed and loves cutting through that red tape) I love seeing the juggernaunt of the west AFC rolling out shows but SFS was our eastern jug and as seen fighters and fans need something to cheer about out east.
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@ Jamie Locke – Thanks for the support! The average per minute audience on The Score for the SFS event on Nov 23 was 62,000. Per minute viewership peaked at 84,000 and a total of 416,000 viewers watched some part of the telecast (at least 1 min). Very solid result.
The SFS delivered 2,692,000 in total audience in 2012. The live audience numbers are definitely higher than tape delayed ones but live events come with additional transmission and production costs which need to be factored into the equation.
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@ Big Win. I look forward to getting you on board to spread joy to the ladies of the land. I will keep an eye out for Alex’s demands.
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What is the all time most viewed SFS fight?
@Bobby K – the single most watched broadcast was the SFS 7 event mentioned above from Nov 23, 2012. Besides the 62,000 average audience for the live broadcast on The Score we cut the event into 1-hour shows including the undercard bouts which would give us another 100,000+ in audience for that event in the following weeks.
On top of the Canadian audience numbers are the ones from AXS TV. AXS is not Nielson rated as they are a subscription based model but SFS 7 was in the upper tier for MMA audience numbers via their internal metrics. AXS has been pleased with the content we have provided so far and are ready to continue the relationship when we are.