TKO TONIGHT on TSN

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

From The Underground ...

 

Hey guys,

Just wanted to drop the word and let you all know that we return to TSN this Saturday for our first TKO brand show.

 

I know sometimes you find out the day before (...like today LOL !!!) but I and forum brother Jon Kellett (The newest member of the TKO broadcast team) have just arrived home from Montreal and are really happy with this show as I think you all will be.

 

Tune in this Saturday for all the action, and for those who've been waiting for news regarding TKO 12-Adrenaline, you can bet that TKO President Stephane Patry will be here to announce this one himself but needless to say the event is READY to air on PPV and will VERY shortly !

 

Take care guys, hope you enjoy the show this weekend !

 

J.T.McCarthy-Host of TKO-Major League MMA

 

The other UCC shows shown on TSN were really good, and they will probably show some George St.-Pierre, who is really a fighter you need to keep your eyes on.

[Guest bort]

thanks for the info ill be sure to watch it, i have watched some of the MMA on tsn before and it was pretty good, whatever happend to the UFC show that somtimes aired before raw

[Guest bort]

sorry double post

[razazteca 0]

It's not fair.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

TSN aired another UFC show last week (same time), but I totally forgot about it (and it's one I really wanted to see!). Which is why I am posting this - there isn't a whole lot of information out there, and TSN's MMA schedule is irregular at best. It seems that they'll show it when ever they feel like it. I'll try to do this for every show in the future, increase awareness and whatnot.

 

I don't understand why they don't put it on before RAW anymore - but it's probably an ad thing where advertisers would rather have them put boxing or bodybuilding or fitness programs on rather than MMA. It just seems like a perfect fit, as there is a cross-over audience and putting MMA on at Midnight on Saturdays isn't exactly premium showcasing.

[Guest bort]

ya i used to always watch the UFC show before raw, they seemed to be making it a regular thing and it look like a very well done show but then almost out of nowhere it disappeared, it seems like the perfect place right before raw but TSN some times does werid things, thanks for the heads up on the show though

 

a candien channel like sports net should try to pick up an MMA program as they are always looking for new stuff it seems, anything to draw attention away from there horrid brodcasters

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The UFC show was originally made for UK audiences to hype the "UFC: Brawl and the Hall" show which features the Carlos Newton/Matt Hughes rematch. It is now airing on the Sunshine Network in the states. I really enjoy these shows too as they feature a lot of really great matches (Shonie Carter vs. Matt Serra comes to mind, as does Pedro Rizzo vs. Josh Barnett). I would love to see a deal between the UFC and TSN come to fruition, but the

 

TSN used to run "Full Contact Fighter", hosted by TSN 'reporter' Dave Amber and featured various co-hosting fighters (Pat Militich and Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver for example) - which used to promote UFC events (though they did talk about other organizations as well). I don't know why they stopped (well, I can guess), but it shows that TSN is willing to carry a show about MMA.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

http://www.tsn.ca/magezine/F3_feb_pg1.asp

 

Here's an article about the UCC (it's a bit dated, but it's still very good)

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

My Thoughts:

 

The opening needs work. "T-K-O... T-K-O.... T-K-O... something something something.... more somethings.... yada yada yada.... blah blah blah.... nothing really rhymes in their lil opening theme...." and I've seen better fight montages on-line (hell, I've made better montages with the freakin Windows Movie Maker). The opening is so integral as it sets the stage and pace for the show; this one was just bad.

 

I prefer the "news-style" set-up they had last time, rather than just have all in-ring action. The introductions from each match take 3 minutes each (in both English and French), just cut them up and use that time to set up the match in-studio. Or just eliminate one match and use the time for the pre-fight introductions and a spotlight on a fighter. There's a reason why the WWE, Pride, the UFC start their shows with the announcers - you don't quite get the same effect with two faceless guys; it's not as personable.

 

The announcing was good but it was missing the little things that great announcers do. I know that this was taped 8 months after the event aired, but it would have been nice to get some more background on the fighters. The success of anything relies on familiarity with the product - in this case the fighters and the product. ANYTHING helps - be it their favourite colour, or TV show, mentors, other fighters whom they look up to, why they got into MMA... ANYTHING. It helps the viewer relate to the fighters; they become human. We begin to forge an attachment with them and become more invested in their fighters.

 

They should have ended each segment with "You're watching TKO ___ on TSN" and made reference to it throughout the show. They should have brought up the history of the promotion, the great fans and support in the area, other fighers in the division, the CHAMPIONS in the division.. there's more to announcing a match than just the match (jeez, am *I* saying this?). As I mentioned, this was taped 8 months ago but they just did the studio work recently, so their commentating was skewed towards the winning fighter, rather than a more unbiased, impartial, stance.

 

And my final criticism on the commentary was that there wasn't enough analysis of the fights. I know that the 3 matches were not epic encounters, but it would have been nice for some explanation on what's going on, what the fighter should do to get out of the situation, how this may impact the fight when match gets long, etc, etc. I know there's a lot of stuff to be covered, but it takes a few seconds to do each of these things, and in that time all they did was harp and repeat on things a dozen times over. But these are things that make *great* announcers, both Jon and JT were perfectly fine and for the most part I enjoyed their commentary. It flowed well, they had really good chemistry, both were very natural in calling the match and have a solid base to work from. My suggestion would be hiring Jeff Marek to produce and/or commentate. He knows all those little things and his speaking-style is very Quadros-esque.

 

The Production -aside from the opening montage- was good. It wasn't anything flashy or outrageous; it was simple. And Good Simple is always better than Bad Outlandish.

 

What? There were FIGHTS on the show??

 

Oh yeah...

 

Samuel Guillet over George Peters via TKO (Strikes) at 2:10 in Round 2

 

Guillets striking stance is very Ludwigy, as are his flurries, but those were few-and-far-between and not nearly as satisfying (still fun though )... oh, and they were mostly all punches. Not bad low kicks, but they were a 0.01 on the Rizzo-scale... Man, was I jonesin for a High Kick... Peter's was generally clueless with just-plain-bad striking skills, but does he cut a great promo or what!?! He is the devil, and he is BRINGING HELL WITH HIM!!! Nice finish with the rubber legs and fish dance and a Silva/Mezger-style right to the jaw. I would like to see more of this young James Carvellesque Samuel Guillet.

 

Stephane Vigneault over Shane Rice via Decision (Unanimous) after (2) 5:00 min rounds

 

ACK! C'mon, I can see giving the 2nd round to Vigneault, but that 1st round was all Rice. He had a triangle for crying out loud! He got the takedown and passed the guard with ease and got the mount! That's a TON more than "SIMBA" did. All Stephane did was land lowkicks -and yes, those low kicks did damage- but I don't think it was enough to outweigh the takedowns, the guardpass, the mount, and the triangle done by Rice. This was an example of the 8 month delay effecting the commentary as they were heavily biased towards Vigneaut and against Rice. Shane is a freakin tank with some great power and good technique and they completely ignored it.

 

Joel Pigeon over Dirk Waardenburg via TKO (Strikes) at 1:38 in round 1

 

This was just "there". Nothing particularly outstanding in this fight other than than KO (which was good ) and Pigeon's hair and demeanor... which is to say, I think he was drinking before the fight. I would probably have put this on second and the Vig/Rice on last as the longer match tends to be more satisfying than the shorter match in the Main Event.

 

I enjoyed this show and found it very refreshing compared to the humdrum of the WWE, and if JT's comments at the end were true it seems like there will be one next week (it sure did sound like he was setting it up), which will make me very happy... though no Rush doesn't ...