NO HOLDS BARRED

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, the second this week, host Eddie Goldman begins by commenting on the purchase this week of Pride, the largest and heretofore most successful mixed martial arts promotion in the world, by the owners of UFC, the largest and heretofore most successful mixed martial arts promotion in the U.S. An analogy is drawn about what to expect from this arrangement with the deleterious effects on boxing by its monopolization by the notorious International Boxing Club (IBC) in the 1950s. The IBC was later broken up by the U.S. federal government.

We also highlight a major attempt to continue independent promotion of MMA. The web site ProElite.com is inviting fans, fighters, and all involved or just interested in MMA to uses its site for social networking, similar to what MySpace does for the general public.

ProElite.com is also providing a free live webcast of the Icon Sport "Epic" show from Honolulu, Hawaii, this Saturday, March 31. That card features a title fight between Frank Trigg and Robbie Lawler. Also on that card are Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Charuto Verissimo.

We speak at length about all this with Kelly Perdew, President of ProElite.com.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here or here or here and just press the play button on the player. (Please note that if one of these sites has a technical problem, please use another one.) You can also listen to it through my blog and my MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player. (And if the player does not display the latest episode, please go directly here or here or here.)

Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. You can also catch the IFL's newest show, "IFL Battleground", every Monday on MyNetworkTV from 8-10 PM. An encore presentation will run each Saturday night from 8-10 PM. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.