Hello and welcome back to this fabulous drinking establishment. No, no, the pub hasn't been closed — it's just that I took a wrong turn on my way back home one night and was kidnapped by some rampaging Visigoths.
On the plus side, all that fresh air is good for eavesdropping and there have been a number of interesting rumors floating about. In fact, while I was wenching in a pub near Lindisfarne I got speaking to the local abbot and he had all sorts of juicy tidbits to share.
It was all about MMA, of course, and mostly about Cage Rage's new deal with PRIDE. Fortunately, I remembered to write some of that stuff down …
Cage Rage and PRIDE
Is that a katana or are you just pleased to see me?
It's hard to avoid the news that Cage Rage has, along with SuperBrawl and DEEP, confirmed a new working relationship with PRIDE. This is all well and good but the important question is what, exactly, does this mean?
According to Cage Rage co-promoter Dave O'Donnell, the bottom line is that DSE was looking to put in place a structure whereby prospective talent would be properly tested in a big show, against "name" opponents, before earning the right to appear in PRIDE. A relationship with the three organizations named above ensures that PRIDE will have associate shows based in North America, Europe and Japan.
Cage Rage will, of course, remain an independent show, and it will gain a number of advantages from this new relationship. Most obviously, the UK promotion will have an increased access to some of PRIDE's top stars.
O'Donnell, along with co-promoter Andy Geer, have now been introduced to a number of top fighters in Japan and at least one "big name" will be appearing in the UK in December. Although O'Donnell would not comment on this, the rumor is that Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa will be one of those names.
Unfortunately, O'Donnell poured cold water over the persistent rumor that Igor Vovchanchyn (pictures) would be set to face Ian Freeman (pictures) in the UK. This match was actually spoken about back in February, and Vovchanchyn's management had apparently been poised to sign before the Ukrainian was invited back to Japan in order to compete in the PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix. There are no current plans to take this match forward, but I suppose that we can still dream.
The second advantage for Cage Rage is that in cementing this new relationship with PRIDE, the promotion has also increased its own value in the scheme of things. With the ultimate prize of an appearance in the biggest show in the world, fighters have renewed their clamoring to fight in the UK, hence the continual improvement in the quality of their cards.
An interesting side effect of the deal is a reconsideration of the rules utilized by Cage Rage. Currently, the UK promotion uses a rules-set equivalent to that set down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (i.e. the same rules used by the UFC). Discussions with PRIDE have resulted in a set of hybrid rules that are likely to be trialed at Cage Rage 13.
"We're taking out the elbows," O'Donnell said. "We looked at the tapes and the stats and basically they lead to too many cuts, too many early and unsatisfactory stoppages. The fans don't like it — it breaks up the rhythm of the fight."
Cage Rage loves "mad fights" so in order to make up for the removal of elbow strikes, Cage Rage is set to introduce an "open guard" rule.
The idea is that when one fighter is standing and one is on the ground, the referee will have the right to call "open guard." As soon as this call is made, the standing fighter will be allowed to attempt PRIDE-style aggressive and acrobatic guard passes without fear of being penalized for head-stomps or kicks to the face. All of this will be legal, but only in an "open guard” situation. Neither soccer kicks nor head stomps will be legal in any other circumstance.
In terms of current fighters in which PRIDE are interested, the three names mentioned in Japan were Lee Murray (pictures), Curtis Stout (pictures) and Mark Weir (pictures).
Anderson Silva (pictures) is also expected to make a return to PRIDE soon, and O’Donnell confirmed that Cage Rage is hoping to announce a match between Silva and Curtis Stout (pictures) for the promotion’s World middleweight title for the December card. Now that would be worth the admission price alone. About 12 times over.
If you think this is the end of the good news, then think again. Cage Rage is hoping to announce some new sponsorship deals in the next few weeks. This could mean more money and better fighters.
“We plough all the cash back into the promotion,” O’Donnell told me. “That’s why I’m still skint, after all of this! But listen, mate, if you think this is good, you ain’t seen nothing yet. We’re gonna be f___ing massive next year. Just you wait.”