July 17, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Kenta Kobashi, UFC 61 recap

Kenta Kobashi underwent a five-and-a-half hour operation on 7/6 in a Tokyo hospital that wasn’t released publicly to remove the cancer in his right kidney. While we don’t have this confirmed, it is believed they had to remove the kidney.

The good news was there was no sign of the cancer having spread. He is currently still in a hospital in Tokyo, the name of which has been kept secret. Very little in the way of details were publicly released the next day by Pro Wrestling NOAH to reporters at the house show in Takasago. The company has not publicly addressed the issue of if or when he will come back, other than rumors have surfaced that at some point he will wrestle again.

Haruka Eigen, who works in the company’s office after retiring in March, went to visit him in the hospital on 7/10 and reported he was doing well and he can walk. With all of the wrestlers on tour, the belief is many will visit him in the hospital on 7/15 or 7/16, when the tour hits Tokyo for the Budokan Hall show.

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July 17, 2006 Observer Newsletter: UFC 61, RVD/Sabu

There were two major business questions after the 7/8 show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The first is, How much damage did the show do? The second, and far more important to the industry on a world-wide basis is, What is going on with Pride and UFC?

Neither question can be easily answered at this time.

The afternoon of the show saw the buzz for the event hit a fever pitch. It’s personalities and grudge matches that draw, and Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock had the greatest combination of both, plus better television build-up, than any MMA fight in U.S. history. It’s pretty clear UFC officials were aware going in the match that the bout itself couldn’t match the hype. It was put in the middle of the show, with the heavyweight championship match with Andrei Arlovsky vs. Tim Sylvia put in as the main event. Everyone expected a win, and probably an easy win, for Ortiz to build up a match even bigger with Chuck Liddell. During the final week before the fight, with the live event sold out, UFC opened three closed-circuit locations in Las Vegas. 

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