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The Franchise June 28 Podcast

The Weekly HABit: Joined by the lovely and talented Amanda Stein, Nick "L.A" Murdocco and Gary Whittaker look at the 2009 Draft in Montreal from a Habs' perspective. We also comment on the latest rumors, and look at who could/should be in a Canadiens uniform next season. Amanda also gets into the "Koivu or Kovalev" debate with her own spin.

Franchise Weigh In: It was a packed house, as Gary Whittaker and Nick Murdocco were joined by local actor and TV host Adam Reid, MMA fighter John "The Bull" Makdessi and his manager Mitch Mayberger, and regular guest Jeremy Rubin. We looked at Fight Quest 8, Saturday night's disaster that was Ultimate Chaos, Wushu, and a lot more!New intro, but same great flavor that keeps you coming back for more!

The Franchise FULL SHOW: Only on the full show can you get the Weekly HABit, the Franchise Weigh In, and the latest on the Montreal Juniors and Alouettes. The Franchise also takes a few moments to honor the talent of Michael Jackson, a musician who held a special place in both of our hearts.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Franchise website will be getting a major facelift over the coming weeks. Same great content, but with a whole new updated, clean look and feel to it. Visitors may experience some slowdown on our current site during periods where we are transitioning some of our back office materials. Our target date for the relaunch of The Franchise new website is July 17th!

^{WIN A Pair Of Montreal Impact Tickets With The Franchise!!}

Fight Quest 8 Results

As usual, the team behind Fight Quest and all the fighters put on a spectacular show. I sat with two friends that were watching an amateur MMA fight for the first time, and both thought that the show was fantastic!

140 – Aiemann Zahabi (Zahabi MMA) Vs Maxime Fecteau (Kanreikai)

Aiemann Zahabi wins by Rear Naked Chokke in Round 3

USL - Montreal Impact to Face Charleston Battery Sunday At Saputo Stadium

The Montreal Impact (5-5-2) play their 13th USL division 1 game of the season against the Charleston Battery (7-2-6), Sunday, at Saputo Stadium (3:30 pm, Radio-Canada, CKAC  Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com).

Thiago Alves Talk About GSP

By: Jordan Small - MMA HANGOVER

  On July 19th 2008, The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) crowned Fedor Emelianenko as their first champion ever after he dismantled Tim Sylvia in their main event heavyweight title bout at Affliction 'Banned'. It only took Fedor 36 seconds to capture his divisions belt and it seemed that WAMMA would issue out at least five other championship belts in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. On December 31st 2008, Shinya Aoki and Eddie Alvarez fought for WAMMA's lightweight belt at K-1 Dynamite 2008. Aoki, the former Japanese cop, kept the belt in Japan after submitting Alvarez in just over 90 seconds into the first round. WAMMA had made a big splash on the world of mixed martial arts with the crowning of their first two champions.

Since Aoki's New Years Eve victory however, WAMMA seems to have had faded away with no signs of their remaining belts being put into contention. Some could point the finger at the Ultimate Fighting Championship for not recognizing WAMMA as a legitimate organization, but in reality, the UFC doesn't need the WAMMA belts and has the majority of the best MMA fighters in the world today already drenched through each of their five weight classes. A solid argument would be that the UFC has three of the five main divisions stacked (Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight) and as the parent company to the World Extreme Cagefighting organization, they also have control of the best featherweight and bantamweight division in the world.

According to the Habs press release:

MONTREAL (July 3, 2009) – The Montreal Canadiens announced today that 40 prospects will  participate in the team’s annual development camp from July 6-12, at the Bell Sports Complex, in Brossard. It is the most players attending since the first edition of the Canadiens development camp in 2001.

According to Sports Juniors ,The Montreal Juniors can count on the services of Belarusian player Evgeny Solomonov as of the 2009-10 season's start. You will remember that last season, the Juniors were only able to fill their limit of 2 European players by mid season (Dmitri Kostromitin and Toni Ritter), however this year, with Kostromitin gone, Ritter already on the squad and Solomonov already set to lace 'em up for season's start, the Juniors are now ahead of where they were last year at this time during their inaugural season.

The Montreal Canadiens have inked a few depth players to one year/two way contracts for the 2009-10 Season. Mike Glumac, Mathieu Darche and Alex Henry are all Montreal Canadiens for the season.

Please read the official Habs press release for all the info.

The Montreal Alouettes went into Calgary with payback on their minds, and revenge in their hearts. After starting the game strong with a highlight reel touchdownon their first possession, the Als needed their defense to bail them out in order to pull out the 40-27 win.

Source: TSN

The Montreal Impact and the Haitian National Team tied 0-0, Wednesday, in front of 8,047 spectators at Saputo Stadium, in its second of six international games presented this summer in Montreal.

SHOULD WAMMA ISSUE OUT MORE BELTS NOW?

By: Jordan Small - MMA HANGOVER

  On July 19th 2008, The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) crowned Fedor Emelianenko as their first champion ever after he dismantled Tim Sylvia in their main event heavyweight title bout at Affliction 'Banned'. It only took Fedor 36 seconds to capture his divisions belt and it seemed that WAMMA would issue out at least five other championship belts in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. On December 31st 2008, Shinya Aoki and Eddie Alvarez fought for WAMMA's lightweight belt at K-1 Dynamite 2008. Aoki, the former Japanese cop, kept the belt in Japan after submitting Alvarez in just over 90 seconds into the first round. WAMMA had made a big splash on the world of mixed martial arts with the crowning of their first two champions.

Since Aoki's New Years Eve victory however, WAMMA seems to have had faded away with no signs of their remaining belts being put into contention. Some could point the finger at the Ultimate Fighting Championship for not recognizing WAMMA as a legitimate organization, but in reality, the UFC doesn't need the WAMMA belts and has the majority of the best MMA fighters in the world today already drenched through each of their five weight classes. A solid argument would be that the UFC has three of the five main divisions stacked (Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight) and as the parent company to the World Extreme Cagefighting organization, they also have control of the best featherweight and bantamweight division in the world.

40 players to take part in the Canadiens Development Camp

According to the Habs press release:

MONTREAL (July 3, 2009) – The Montreal Canadiens announced today that 40 prospects will  participate in the team’s annual development camp from July 6-12, at the Bell Sports Complex, in Brossard. It is the most players attending since the first edition of the Canadiens development camp in 2001.

Montreal Juniors To Add Belarusian Evgeny Solomonov to 2009-10 Roster

According to Sports Juniors ,The Montreal Juniors can count on the services of Belarusian player Evgeny Solomonov as of the 2009-10 season's start. You will remember that last season, the Juniors were only able to fill their limit of 2 European players by mid season (Dmitri Kostromitin and Toni Ritter), however this year, with Kostromitin gone, Ritter already on the squad and Solomonov already set to lace 'em up for season's start, the Juniors are now ahead of where they were last year at this time during their inaugural season.

MMA Live July 2nd

Montreal Canadiens Sign Mike Glumac, Mathieu Darche and Alex Henry

The Montreal Canadiens have inked a few depth players to one year/two way contracts for the 2009-10 Season. Mike Glumac, Mathieu Darche and Alex Henry are all Montreal Canadiens for the season.

Please read the official Habs press release for all the info.

Alouettes Avenge Grey Cup Loss Against Calgary

The Montreal Alouettes went into Calgary with payback on their minds, and revenge in their hearts. After starting the game strong with a highlight reel touchdownon their first possession, the Als needed their defense to bail them out in order to pull out the 40-27 win.

Source: TSN

HAITI NATIONAL TEAM, MONTREAL IMPACT PLAY TO NIL-NIL DRAW

The Montreal Impact and the Haitian National Team tied 0-0, Wednesday, in front of 8,047 spectators at Saputo Stadium, in its second of six international games presented this summer in Montreal.