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Mid-Afternoon Muesli: MFC, Germany, Edgeheads…

February 23, 2008

* I very much enjoyed last night’s Maximum Fighting Championship telecast on HDNet. Partially because the fights were all very explosive (especially the last two) and mainly because it featured a lot of up-and-coming Canadian talent. The best purchase I have made this past year has to have been buying an HD television because without it I would have missed all these great MMA cards on the network. I like MFC but two things need to go: 1) the ring and 2) allowing journalists to interview the fighters in the ring after their fights. This could work if the event wasn’t televised but it doesn’t make for good television.

* Sam Caplan has another great article out at CBSSports.com. This time he analyzes which non-MMA athletes would be prime candidates to follow in the successful footsteps of Kimbo Slice and Brock Lesnar. I’m quoted a few times throughout the article as Sam was kind enough to reach out to me for my views on several athletes. Check ‘er out.

* Speaking of great reading material, solid article in the New York Times by Nicholas Kulish breaking down the tremendous boxing scene in Germany and how it differs Stateside – particularly in the way our media covers the sport. I found this quote from Kevin Monahagan, a former boxing coordinator at NBC Sports and currently a Senior VP at the network, to be particularly interesting:

“We had a meeting with the pay-TV guys in the United States,” Monaghan said, “and we said, ‘Hey, the bottom line is if you don’t build the next generation of fighters through network TV, you may not have a business in the long term.’ ”

Kind of sounds like a certain reality show that airs on Spike TV, doesn’t it?

* Final reading material plug: Dave Meltzer’s look at the phenomenon that is Bob Sapp.

* Love the idea of a Justin McCully vs. Brock Lesnar bout. Makes total sense for both men. And, by the way, McCully is one of the best guest to be booked on Inside MMA. Some of their guest bookings are very questionable but McCully has a future in TV, no doubt.

* Keith Jardine will beat Wanderlei Silva.

* You know, when the Edgeheads faction was initially formed I had high hopes for the former Major Brothers but I think it’s a bad sign that a) they’re still blander than ever and b) I still can’t tell the difference between the two. I don’t blame Rider and Hawkins entirely because they just haven’t received any mic time.

* My pick not to win the Money in the Bank at WM 24? Shelton Benjamin.

* Seriously now, has there ever been a better time to be a combat sports fan? We used to be lucky to get one great event every second week. Now, it’s strange when there aren’t at least three. Tonight we have Klitschko-Ibragimov/Duddy-Smichet, Strikeforce and ROH in NYC. Next Week? IFL, UFC 82, Vazquez-Marquez III and Kim Couture’s smoker!

Enjoy the fights, my friends. Let me know what you’ll be watching and we’ll break it all down tomorrow.