By Michael David Smith
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MMA Twitter universe had plenty to say about
Dream 11 on Tuesday morning, with a great lightweight fight betewen
Shinya Aoki and
Joachim Hansen, and a not-so-great series of mismatches and freak shows in other fights.
But before we get to that in our MMA Twitter mailbag, we'll look at how CBS is promoting
Fedor Emelianenko. Your questions and my answers for our MMA Twitter mailbag are below.
: See any Fedor commercials during CBS NFL games this past weekend?
No. There are still four more Sundays between now and Fedor's November 7 fight with Brett Rogers on CBS, so maybe we'll see plenty of commercials promoting Fedor during CBS NFL games, but as of right now, I think CBS is missing some opportunities to hype the fight.
Hard-core fans universally consider Fedor the best heavyweight in MMA, and many consider him the best fighter ever to fight in any weight class. But hard-core MMA fans are still a relatively small audience, and for this fight to get a good rating, CBS will need to appeal to casual MMA fans and people who have never watched MMA at all.
I think CBS needs to air plenty of commercials explaining to fans who Fedor is, and what makes him such a compelling figure. There's no better audience for those commercials thanNFL fans, but so far, those fans haven't heard a word about Fedor. I'd like to see that change soon.
: It was accidental, and I don't think he kicked him. Aoki milked that for all it was worth. VERY good win by Aoki though.
The Aoki-Hansen fight was halted during the first round when Hansen landed two upkicks, first to Aoki's groin and then to Aoki's head. I watched it several times and I don't think there's any question that Hansen landed an illegal kick to the groin, and I'm surprised that the announcers on HDNet and many fans I heard from thought Aoki was faking being hurt. I guess we'll just have to disagree on that.
But we agree that it was a very good win by Aoki: With just seconds left in the fight, he got Hansen to tap with an arm bar. He solidified his status as the best lightweight outside the UFC, and I'm looking forward to his next fight, which will most likely come against Tatsuya Kawijiri on New Year's Eve.
: Who is Hong Man Choi?
This came in response to my tweet comparing Hong Man Choi fighting in MMA to a dog walking on its hind legs. Choi, for those who don't know, is a 7-foot-2, 320-pound Korean kickboxer who occasionally dabbles in MMA, as he did Tuesday when he lost to Ikuhisa Minowa at Dream 11. It's fascinating to watch the enormous Choi fight, but it's far too easy for his long arms and legs to get caught in some submission or another. I'd rather see Choi focus on K-1 kickboxing, where he's a little bit more of a legitimate athlete and a little bit less of a freak show.
: Geez, I hope FanHouse pays you two or three salaries. Seems like you never sleep.I'll be sure the bosses see this one. Thanks.
Want to be part of our next UFC Twitter mailbag? Post a question or comment on Twitter.com, and be sure to start it with @MichaelDavSmith.
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