Featuring Ivan Trembow's Self-Important, Random Rants on Mixed Martial Arts, Video Games, Pro Wrestling, Television, Politics, Sports, and High-Quality Wool Socks

 
Thoughts on the Finale of The Ultimate Fighter 10
by Ivan Trembow

First and foremost, I can't believe that one of the judges actually had Kimbo Slice winning his atrocious fight against Houston Alexander by the score of 30-27, which means that particular judge had Kimbo winning all three rounds.

How do you win a round without doing anything other than getting leg-kicked by your opponent repeatedly? Slice landed almost nothing in the first round, while Alexander landed numerous good leg kicks. If neither fighter is being particularly aggressive, but one of them is actually landing numerous strikes and the other isn't, how can the fighter who wasn't landing the strikes win the round? Alexander wasn't doing much, but Slice was doing far less.

A scorecard of 29-28 in favor of Kimbo is wrong, but 30-27 in favor of Kimbo warrants nothing less than an investigation into the judge who turned in that scorecard.

Apparently, the awfulness of the Kimbo fight is going to be blamed on Houston Alexander, as Dave Meltzer wrote in his recap, "[UFC president] Dana [White] just said he thinks Kalib Starnes was working Houston's corner. I sense Alexander is on the endangered species list."

Who is going to get blamed for the next Kimbo fight being awful, and the one after that, and the one after that?

This show also featured two of the dumbest moments in recent UFC announcing history.

First, how could Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan act like Jon Jones won his fight when Matt Hamill could not continue? Jones landed four illegal elbows, he got called for the illegal elbows, he got a point taken away for the illegal elbows, and Goldberg and Rogan were just discussing the illegal elbows, and then when it became clear that Hamill couldn't continue, why they were acting like Jones won all of a sudden?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or even a seasoned MMA announcer, for that matter) to know that if one fighter lands an intentional strike on his opponent and it's an illegal strike (or four), and the fighter on the receiving end of the fouls cannot continue, then it's a disqualification.

Also, on a night that featured the Eric Bischoff of the 2000s (Dixie Carter) sitting next to Eric Bischoff himself, at a show promoted by the Vince McMahon of the 2000s, Mike Goldberg put the icing on the cake with this line: "If you're not a fan of Hulk Hogan, then you're not a fan of entertainment or sports!"

More great work by the Nevada State Athletic Commission's doctors (nothing gets past them): Mike Goldberg said that Matt Veach had herniated discs (which would be in his neck or back). So, add "herniated discs" to the long list of injuries that have somehow eluded the eagle eyes of the NSAC's doctors (a list that also includes broken feet; broken hands; torn ACLs; torn shoulders; and severe, hospitalization-requiring staph infections).

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:48 AM

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UFC 106 Turns into an Embarrassment for the Nevada State Athletic Commission
by Ivan Trembow

In the big picture, beyond the things that happen on most MMA events (some fights are good, some fights are bad, etc.), UFC 106 was a very bad event, not for the UFC or for the fans, but for the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

First of all, 48 hours before the show even took place, Karo Parisyan withdrew from his fight against Dustin Hazelett because (according to one of Parisyan's own coaches in an interview on Five Ounces of Pain) Parisyan has a serious problem with painkiller addiction. Parisyan did not want to fight with painkillers in his body and subsequently test positive for painkillers (which he would have, unless the NSAC inexplicably failed to drug-test a prior offender after his fight, like they just did when Sean Sherk fought in Nevada in May).

This left Hazelett, who has spent the last couple months of his life preparing for the Parisyan fight, without an opponent, and if there were fans who bought tickets to see Parisyan vs. Hazelett, they were out of luck.

All of that could have been avoided if the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program had been used to test Parisyan, whom the NSAC certainly had probable cause to test, not that they even need probable cause. They can drug-test any licensee that they want, anytime that they want.

Based on the facts that Parisyan was taking painkillers in the weeks leading up to the fight and that there was no positive drug test announced regarding Parisyan, that means the NSAC chose not to test Parisyan in the weeks leading up to UFC 106.

If the NSAC had tested Parisyan in the weeks leading up to the fight, Parisyan would have either pulled a Nick Diaz and pulled out of the fight at that time, or he would have tested positive for banned substances (ie, prescription painkillers) and would have been removed from the fight. Either way, there would have been several weeks to find a replacement opponent to fight Hazelett, instead of 48 hours.

Then there was the Ben Saunders vs. Marcus Davis fight. After Saunders knocked out Davis, he landed another punch to the head of his already unconscious opponent, which was perfectly legal because the referee hadn't intervened... but then, after the referee stopped the fight and was trying to pull Saunders off of Davis, Saunders landed another punch on the still-unconscious Davis, which is absolutely not legal.

Punching your unconscious opponent after the referee has already started pulling you off of him should at the very least be grounds for a fine, even if it were to just be a nominal fine in order to establish that it's not acceptable behavior.

But what is the NSAC going to do about this? Based on recent history, the most likely answer is "absolutely nothing." When Quinton Jackson landed two punches on an unconscious Wanderlei Silva after the referee was clearly and unambiguously pulling Jackson off of Silva (in December 2008), the NSAC did nothing. Given that the NSAC didn't think that Jackson's actions warranted any punishment of any kind, I don't think that they will do anything about Saunders' actions. (A request for comment from the NSAC on this particular matter is currently pending, and I will update this post when or if the NSAC comments.)

Most embarrassing of all for the NSAC may have been the mess of the Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson fight. After Johnson landed an illegal knee to the head of Koscheck when he was grounded and also poked him in the eye, Koscheck was grabbing his eye and saying that he couldn't see.

Referee Mario Yamasaki, who is not exactly the best referee in the business (he has made a career out of dangerously late stoppages such as Silva vs. Irvin, Lawler vs. Ninja, and many others), was quick to re-affirm his "safety first" reputation by repeatedly asking Koscheck, "Do you need me to call a doctor?"

You'd think that would be Day 1 stuff in Referee Training. If someone just ate an illegal knee to the head and got poked in the eye, they're clutching their eye and saying that they can't see, calling the ringside doctor into the cage should be one of the first things that you do as a ref.

The referee and the doctor are there to protect the fighters, often protecting them from themselves. If you think that the doctor should take a look at the fighter, you call the doctor into the ring, period. You certainly don't ask the fighter if he'd like a doctor.

Yamasaki finally called an NSAC-licensed doctor into the cage, at which point Koscheck told the doctor that he still couldn't see clearly and was experiencing blurred vision. The doctor could then be heard telling Yamasaki that Koscheck had blurred vision and that the fight could not continue. Yamasaki then said, "But he still has five minutes, right?" The doctor's reply was essentially, "I don't know." Yamasaki's reply to that was essentially, "I don't know."

So, the doctor and the ref each demonstrated that they don't know the rules of the sport, as they both make it clear that they have no idea whether a fighter has five minutes to recover in such a situation, or whether the five-minute rule is only for low blows.

Then, without the doctor having spoken to Koscheck again, the doctor left the cage and Yamasaki could be heard saying to Koscheck, "Are you ready? Are you ready?" and Koscheck apparently said yes, so Yamasaki resumed the fight.

So, to recap, in the span of 30 seconds, the situation went from the doctor telling Yamasaki that the fight could not continue, to Yamasaki asking Koscheck, "Are you ready?" and resuming the fight, all apparently without Koscheck and the doctor speaking any further.

Adding to the embarrassment for the NSAC was yet another case of a fighter with a major injury getting cleared to fight by the NSAC's doctors, as Forrest said after his fight against Tito Ortiz that he went into the fight with a broken foot, and Ortiz said that he had issues with bulging discs in his back. There have been countless cases of the NSAC clearing fighters to compete who are in need of major surgery, and in the case of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira last December, he not only needed knee surgery, but he also had a severe staph infection that hospitalized him not long before the fight.

If the NSAC was serious about making sure that fighters don't lie to the NSAC's doctors during pre-fight exams and go into fights with major injuries or illnesses, there would be actual consequences for doing so.

It is indeed against the rules of the NSAC for a licensee to lie to an NSAC doctor about pre-fight injuries, and the NSAC re-affirmed this fact at a public meeting earlier this year.

However, until someone likes Griffin or Ortiz gets suspended or fined for lying to the athletic commission's doctors about major injuries, it's going to keep on happening, in great part due to the lack of consequences.

Finally, if there's one thing that you can count on in MMA, it's that the Three Stooges of MMA Judging (Glenn Trowbridge, Abe Belardo, and Dalby Shirley) will continue to be incompetent. I'm not suggesting that there are only three incompetent judges in MMA, because the last few months alone have demonstrated that's not the case, but Trowbridge, Belardo, and Shirley have historically been as bad as they come.

Shirley has an extensive record of shameful judging in both boxing and MMA that will be hard for anyone to match.

Belardo inexplicably scored the first Griffin vs. Ortiz fight in favor of Ortiz, 30 to 27, meaning that he thought that Ortiz won all three rounds.

Finally, Trowbridge has just added to his legacy of incompetence by somehow scoring the second Griffin vs. Ortiz fight in favor of Ortiz. Common sense dictates that as long as there are no consequences for MMA judges' incompetence, there will continue to be many incompetent judges in the sport.

Other UFC 106-Related Thoughts
Tito Ortiz is now 0-3-1 in his last four fights and should not be put anywhere near the main event of a $45 pay-per-view event unless he goes on a long winning streak.

The end result of Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson was exactly what it should have been for a fight with someone who has Koscheck's ground skills going against someone who has Johnson's ground skills.

Koscheck's decision to stand up and trade strikes with Johnson for so long in a misguided outburst of machismo could have easily gotten him knocked out, and it makes no sense in the context of trying to win the fight, given how good Johnson's kickboxing is and how mediocre his ground game is.

As for why Koscheck would do such a thing, it's no mystery. The UFC often rewards that kind of behavior with their kickboxing-happy Fight of the Night Award bonuses, and surprise, surprise... Koscheck vs. Johnson was determined by UFC management to be the Fight of the Night at UFC 106.

On the bright side, Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann ended up being a damn good, back-and-forth, very close grappling battle with plenty of big shifts in momentum.

I also enjoyed the display of great Jiu-Jitsu skills from George Sotiropoulos, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's impressive UFC debut.

UPDATE at 5:30 PM: I previously asked the NSAC's Executive Director, Keith Kizer, the following questions about the out-of-competition drug testing for UFC 106: "How many fighters on the UFC 106 card were tested under the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program, what are the names of the aforementioned fighters, and what are the test results of those fighters?" Kizer's response: "None." That has been the case for the vast majority of events since the program was instituted.

Kizer also confirmed that the NSAC will not be taking any action (a fine or otherwise) against Ben Saunders, even though he punched his unconscious opponent in the head again after the referee was already pulling him off. That's not exactly reassuring, given the fact that the NSAC's job, first and foremost, is to protect the fighters.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:42 AM

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More Bad Than Good at Dream 11 in Japan; and Junie Browning Gets Arrested After More than a Year of His Behavior Being Rewarded
by Ivan Trembow

I have been a bit puzzled by the online reaction to a couple of things related to the recent Dream 11 event in Japan.

Apparently, Shinya Aoki was somehow protected and it was somehow a crime for him to get time to recover after getting kicked in the groin. Really? The instant replays used a reverse camera angle from which you couldn’t actually see Joachim Hansen's foot hit Aoki's groin, but if you go back and look at the original camera angle as it happened live, it’s clear as day that he was kicked in the groin.

Are fighters not supposed to get a break to recover when they get kicked in the groin? The fact that Hansen kicked Aoki twice in the head after kicking him once in the groin doesn’t change the fact that Aoki was kicked in the groin.

Also, the Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiroyuki Takaya fight was apparently a Fight of the Year candidate. Really? I didn’t come away from the fight with that feeling at all. I thought it was a good fight, but a Fight of the Year candidate? No way.

Apparently following in the footsteps of C.B. Dollaway, Joe Warren lost by submission and then tried to claim that he didn't tap out, even though it certainly appeared that he did (with his fingers). Even if, hypothetically, Warren hadn't tapped at all, his arm was in such a position that the referee would have been completely justified to stop the fight at that moment by technical submission, because otherwise Warren could have suffered a major arm/elbow injury.

On the whole, there was far more bad than good with this event. The "good" was the Aoki-Hansen fight and the Featherweight Grand Prix.

The "bad" was the embarrassing mismatches given to Kazushi Sakuraba and Tatsuya Kawajiri, as well as the awful Hong-Man Choi vs. Ikuhisa Minowa fight and the predictably one-sided fight between Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Bob Sapp (although at least the Sokoudjou-Sapp fight didn’t appear to be a badly-worked pro wrestling match with a pre-determined ending, which is more than I can say for Sapp’s previous fight in the Super Hulk Tournament against Minowa).

I know that this "Super Hulk Tournament" crap is the key to Dream's success in the ratings on Japanese TV, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. The same could be said of EliteXC putting Kimbo Slice in fight after fight on major events, and I didn’t support that, either.

Junie Browning Gets Arrested After More than a Year of His Behavior Being Rewarded
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting the sad news that infamous Ultimate Fighter 8 contestant Junie Browning tried to harm himself by overdosing on anti-anxiety medication, and then attacked three nurses after he was taken to the hospital.

Browning was arrested and charged with battery on a health care provider, and he was shortly thereafter released by the UFC. Browning's coach, Shawn Tompkins, has subsequently said in interviews that Browning was not merely trying to "harm" himself by overdosing, but was actually "trying to take his own life."

The UFC did not release Quinton Jackson after he endangered numerous pedestrian's lives in a Monster Truck in July 2008; nor did the UFC release Jon Koppenhaver when he was convicted of assault for punching and choking a man unconscious (Koppenhaver was only released after his comments about the late Evan Tanner); nor has the UFC released repeat criminal Josh Neer (who should be serving a prison sentence right now instead of fighting on the main card of a PPV event in two weeks).

The fact is, committing a serious crime doesn't usually cause a fighter to be released by the UFC, so it's much more likely that the attempted suicide aspect of Browning's incident is the primary factor behind the UFC's decision to release Browning from his contract.

As you may recall, Browning repeatedly became drunk and violent in the fighters' house during the filming of The Ultimate Fighter 8. During the filming of TUF 8, Browning threw a glass at Kyle Kingsbury; got into a poolside scuffle with Ryan Bader; jumped over the Octagon fence and went after Efrain Escudero in an aggressive manner immediately after Escudero defeated Shane Nelson in an NSAC-sanctioned match; threw a glass at Shane Primm's head; and threw two punches at Primm.

Fighters have been kicked off of The Ultimate Fighter for doing far less in the way of rule-breaking, but Browning was not kicked off of the show or released by the UFC for any of these incidents, nor did the UFC release him when he was eliminated from the TUF 8 lightweight tournament in a one-sided fight.

Instead, Browning was rewarded by the UFC, which gave him the one and only main card fight on the live finale that involved TUF 8 contestants who were not tournament finalists.

I wrote about the UFC's decision to reward Browning for his behavior at the time in the following article: Sleazeball Promoters and Trash TV: What The Ultimate Fighter Has Become.

Browning's own coach on TUF 8, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, said at the time, "Putting him on the main card, it does reward his behavior. It shows people that if you act like a moron or idiot, you'll get face time. That equals money, so it's creating a shortcut, and they don't have to invest as much time into fighting... I realize that Spike has to sell TV time, and I understand that's part of the whole game, but as far as me as a martial artist, I find it an insult."

Rather than being released by the UFC at any of the aforementioned times, hitting rock bottom, and realizing that he needed help with his addictions, Browning was rewarded every step of the way. It's sad that it took an arrest and an attempted suicide for the UFC to finally stop rewarding Browning's behavior. Hopefully, Browning will now get on the road to recovery.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:04 AM

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Kimbo Slice Dominated by Roy Nelson, UFC Very Impressed with Kimbo Slice
by Ivan Trembow

Well, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson has had his chance on The Ultimate Fighter, and in the first round of the 16-man tournament, he lost to Roy Nelson by TKO. The fight itself wasn't as ugly as the heavyweight fight on the previous episode of The Ultimate Fighter, but it was pretty ugly in its own right.

So, THAT is the fight that caused UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta to tell the L.A. Times Blog last week, "We've been very impressed with Kimbo’s performance"? What a joke.

And that's the fight that caused Dana White to tell the L.A. Times Blog last week, "Are you going to see Kimbo Slice fight again in the UFC? Yes," as well as, "The ratings do not influence our decision. The guy can either fight or not" (a quote which leaves no explanation for Junie Browning's continued UFC employment).

I was surprised to see the fight go that way, given Fertitta and White's public statements. What is not at all surprising is White's child-like behavior when his favored fighter lost. "Roy Nelson did just enough to win!" White exclaimed. Really? Because it sure seemed like he shut down and TKO’ed the fighter around whom White built a whole season of The Ultimate Fighter.

And Roy Nelson's 44 unanswered punches on Kimbo's head at the end of the first round reminded Dana White of his daughter playfully punching him? That was just an unnecessary low blow by a man who continues to feel no shame from constantly insulting the professional fighters who work for him.

Of course, whether or not Kimbo got TKO'ed in his fight first isn't what really matters, right? It's the ratings. The UFC and Spike TV have gone from publicly mocking Kimbo and even Kimbo's ratings-drawing power in press releases and public statements when he was fighting for EliteXC, to now fully using that ratings-drawing power for themselves, even though he's still not actually much of a fighter.

Despite saying before this season of TUF that the only way Kimbo would be a UFC fighter is if he went on TUF and won the tournament, the UFC has now amended that position, affirming what many people thought all along, which is that Kimbo is going to be a UFC fighter in the future, no matter how poorly he performs on TUF.

The biggest farce of all is the fact that Kimbo is still going to be a UFC fighter in the future, despite that performance, and despite his performance against Seth Petruzelli, despite the claim that the UFC would never push an un-talented fighter for ratings purposes.

I also want to be clear that I have nothing against Kimbo personally; he has just taken the opportunities that have been given to him. The problem is the con-men who have pushed Kimbo far more than his talent has warranted, from the beginning of his career to now and well into his future career in the UFC.

So, what's the over/under on how much money it would be worth for the UFC if one of the other contestants on the show just happened to come down with an injury that caused them to have to withdraw from the competition, which would lead to another contestant coming back (like, I don’t know, maybe Kimbo Slice). They already hinted at that in the preview for the next episode. Let the "farce" continue.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:20 PM

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Thoughts on Nogueira/Couture Fight; Oregon Athletic Commission's Doctors
by Ivan Trembow

Last night's fight between two of MMA's all-time greats, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture, a fight which Nogueira won via a one-sided unanimous judges' decision, was a wildly exciting, hard-fought, gutsy fight. At the same time, it was sad to see just how far both fighters have fallen.

When Couture got knocked down in previous fights, it was against fighters with a lot of power (Chuck Liddell, Brock Lesnar). In this fight, he was repeatedly knocked down and almost out, against a man who has never been known to have strong punching power (Nogueira certainly has strong punching technique, but not strong punching power).

As for Nogueira, the lengendary chin that was missing in the Frank Mir fight was back in the Couture fight, but that was about it. In his previous couple of fights and also in the Couture fight, Nogueira’s reflexes were gone, his defense was gone, his head movement was gone, and he was moving like he was underwater. Just because he looked much better than Couture doesn't mean that he looked good in the fight.

In the Couture fight, even Nogueira's legendary submission-finishing ability was missing against an opponent who was semi-conscious at the time of the Round 1 submission attempt (and someone like Nogueira losing their submission-finishing ability would be the equivalent of a knockout artist losing their power). The drastically diminished reflexes and movement are far more troubling, though.

So, for me, while it was a very exciting fight to watch, it was also sad to watch.

On another note, there seemed to be repeated instances of questionable judgment by the doctors of Oregon’s athletic commission last night.

The doctors allowed Ed Herman to continue on to Round 2 even though he clearly had a badly injured knee, only for Herman to predictably suffer an even worse knee injury seconds into Round 2.

That wasn’t the only case of a fighter being sent out for another round who might not have been medically fit to continue. From Bryan Alvarez’ play-by-play of the Mike Russow vs. Justin McCully fight on f4wonline.com: "So the second round was about to start and as McCully was getting out of his chair he stumbled. They stopped the clock between rounds and brought the doctor into the ring and he looked at McCully, asked some questions, and then shook his head no. The fans started booing. So the doctor pushed him sideways and McCully couldn’t keep his base. Doctor did it again, same thing. More booing. And they booed and booed and the next thing you know, they took the stools out of the ring and THE FIGHT CONTINUED. Everyone in press row was wondering what the hell this was all about."

The judgment of the Oregon athletic commission’s doctors looks even worse as a result of this line in Sherdog's post-fight press conference recap: "[UFC president Dana] White said nobody went to the hospital when asked if Tim Hague was OK following his loss to Todd Duffee."

I'm assuming that White meant nobody in the Hague-Duffee fight went to the hospital, because it couldn’t possibly be the case that nobody on the entire card went to the hospital (especially given that several fighters were knocked out cold, an unconscious Chris Leben had a seizure in the cage, etc.). If it's accurate that the Oregon athletic commission's doctors didn't send Hague to the hospital for testing after his knockout loss, that is a travesty.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:24 PM

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Thoughts on Fedor/UFC Negotiations
by Ivan Trembow

I continue to be amazed by the fact that in the eyes of the "clapping seals" who must be proud to put forth the UFC’s agenda on any given issue, Fedor Emelianenko's entire legitimacy as a fighter is riding on whether or not he accepts whatever it is that the UFC is offering him.

News flash: Even if Fedor retired from MMA tomorrow and never fought again, he would go down in history as the fighter who was the #1 heavyweight in the world for six straight years (from 2003 to 2009), and arguably the greatest fighter in MMA's history up to this point (of course, as with any G.O.A.T. in any sport, there's no assurance that another athlete wouldn't eventually replace him in that position).

But don’t tell that to the "clapping seals." To them, one successful title defense can prompt questions of who can possibly stop a UFC champion, while Fedor is both illegitimate and irrelevant if he doesn’t sign with the UFC... and he's not just illegitimate and irrelevant in 2009, but it also means that the last six years never happened.

Of course, if every fighter's legitimacy and relevance as a fighter is determined by whether or not they accept whatever it is that the UFC is offering them, that adds a tremendous amount of leverage to the UFC's side and takes a tremendous amount of leverage away from the side of all fighters. That's a big part of the reason why the UFC and its surrogates tend to portray it as though any fighter, even Fedor, is irrelevant if he doesn't accept whatever it is that the UFC is offering.

Yesterday, the UFC leaked out inflated contract numbers through one of their friends in the media (the Carmichael Dave Show), claiming that Fedor was offered $5 million per fight for six fights. The Pavlovian response to the UFC's leak of inflated dollar figures has worked far better than the UFC could have possibly hoped. One little leak and now it's being regarded almost everywhere as the undeniable truth. Wow, that was easy.

Inflated dollar figures are the easiest thing in the world to leak out in an effort to put pressure on the other side, because of the obligatory, "OMG, he turned down that much money!" response, which is exactly the response that the UFC's leak has produced on a massive scale.

In fact, dollar figures have never been a major factor in holding up the UFC/Fedor negotiations. In 2007, the UFC offered a guarantee of $1.5 million per fight, and Fedor's side was understandably happy with that figure. It wasn't the money that held up the deal, and I'd be shocked if that's what is holding up the deal now. There are more important things than dollar figures, such as not having the standard UFC contractual clause that auto-renews the contract for life if you're a champion. Leaking out such an inflated dollar figure is very transparent on Zuffa's part.

Regarding the champion's clause in UFC contracts, it renews one year at a time, and does it so indefinitely, until the champion loses the title. If it expired after just 12 months, Randy Couture would have been a free agent in August 2008. Rob Maysey, who has written more about UFC contracts than anyone, confirms regarding the champion's clause that the "UFC version, as drafted, keeps renewing."

Here's more information from someone who (unlike Carmichael Dave) actually is a credible source, the author of what is widely regarded as the best book about MMA (Jonathan Snowden): The guarantee per fight offered by the UFC was less than the guarantee per fight in the Affliction contract (roughly $1.5 million). But don't let that stop anyone from spreading misinformation. Zach Arnold wrote a very good article about this here.

If Fedor ever wanted to fight the champion's clause in court as Randy Couture did for a year before giving up, there would be a solid 18-to-24 months from the time that the lawsuit was filed to the trial date, and even then, there is no guarantee that he’d win in a Nevada court system with judges like the Xyience/Bergeron case judge who got elected with campaign money from UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta (that is not a secret, a rumor, or a conspiracy theory, as the judge publicly thanked the Fertittas on his web site for their contributions to his election campaign).

There are currently more highly-ranked heavyweight fighters in the UFC than there are outside of the UFC, but let’s not act like there are NO highly-ranked heavyweight fighters outside of the UFC. Even with Josh Barnett out of the picture, other top-15-ranked heavyweights who are not in the UFC include Brett Rogers, Alistair Overeem, Jeff Monson, Fabricio Werdum, and Andrei Arlovski, only one of whom Fedor has already beaten (Arlovski).

That's a stronger heavyweight division than the UFC had a few years ago (a UFC heavyweight division that Dana White now says completely sucked), but it’s still not as good as the UFC's current heavyweight division. Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Mirko Cro Cop are all closer to the end than they are to their primes, and Fedor beat Nogueira and Cro Cop in their primes, but Brock Lesnar beating the Shane Carwin/Cain Velasquez winner would indeed be another big achievement and I would look forward to that fight.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:46 PM

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Post-UFC 100 Thoughts
by Ivan Trembow

-I realize that Brock Lesnar is just playing a heel pro wrestling character, but the casual fans who make up a big percentage of the audience for such a huge show wouldn't know that. They would just think that's how the UFC Heavyweight Champion behaves. You don't have to play a trashy heel pro wrestling character to be a superstar, and one doesn't need to look any further than Georges St. Pierre on the very same event for evidence of that.

-The clip of Brock Lesnar screaming in his semi-conscious opponent's face and then slobbering all over the camera like a bad 1980s pro wrestler made it onto the overnight SportsCenter. So did the clip of Dan Henderson punching his already-unconscious opponent's head.

Between these two things and the recent E:60 segment about Dana White's obscene rant, I don't think that the average ESPN viewer has a very good impression of MMA at this point. Neither does the average potential advertiser, for that matter.

-Here's a quote from UFC play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg, leaving his credibility at the door in a post-event segment on ESPNews: "Lesnar is undoubtedly the best heavyweight in the world!" He obviously wasn't going to go on ESPNews and say, "Lesnar is still not the best heavyweight in the world!" But he could have also retained a lot more credibility if he had chosen different wording.

-I didn't catch it on the live broadcast, but all of the quotes from Dan Henderson’s post-fight interview include Henderson openly saying that he knew Michael Bisping was unconscious and he hit him one more time anyway. That is just classless garbage. At least he didn't throw two more punches at his unconscious opponent's head after the ref was literally pulling him off (like Quinton Jackson did against Wanderlei Silva), but it's still classless garbage.

-That was a masterful performance by Georges St. Pierre, but why was cornerman Greg Jackson talking to GSP like he was five years old in between rounds? I'm not even exaggerating; that is literally how Little League coaches talk to five-year-olds.

-Were the judges distracted by a piece of flying lint during the Yoshihiro Akiyama-Alan Belcher fight? I had it scored 30-27 for Belcher, although I could understand scoring it 29-28 for Belcher. But one judge had it 30-27 for Akiyama? As Jake Rossen said on his ESPN/Sherdog blog, "Do they test the judges for recreational drugs?"

-The fact that Mark Coleman is still fighting at his age and in his condition is sad. The fact that Stephan Bonnar lost to him is almost as sad.

-According to USA Today, during a recent Q&A session with fans, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta recently "called out EA Sports for passing up a deal with the UFC on a video game and then coming around after the success of UFC 2009 Undisputed to do another MMA game."

That is some nice revisionist history (from someone whose company has been engaging in plenty of revisionist history recently). The launch (and sales success) of UFC 2009: Undisputed came in May 2009. EA Sports has been working on an MMA video game since 2008, and multiple media outlets wrote about it in 2008, including MMA Payout and the Wrestling Observer.

Were the writers at MMA Payout and the Wrestling Observer blessed with psychic powers that enabled them to write about EA’s MMA game and some of the specific fighters that signed to appear in it (Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, etc.) one year before EA even started working on the game?

No, they weren't. In fact, IGN also wrote about EA's MMA game in May 2008, a full year before UFC 2009: Undisputed was released.

The UFC's management was fully aware of the existence of EA's MMA game in 2008, as that was one of the major reasons that the UFC threatened its roster of fighters into signing away their lifetime exclusive video game rights for free (ie, to ensure that they couldn't appear in EA's game).

As Steve Barry wrote on MMA Convert, "It's just another example of Zuffa bending the truth to spin an ugly situation in their favor. And quite frankly, it's starting to get old, especially when the majority of people listening don't know any better."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:02 AM

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No Out-of-Competition Drug Testing for UFC 100 Fighters
by Ivan Trembow

None of the fighters on the UFC 100 card were subjected to the Nevada State Athletic Commission's out-of-competition drug testing program, as confirmed by NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer on Sunday morning.

Out-of-competition drug tests differ from the NSAC's usual drug tests in the sense that with the out-of-competition testing, fighters do not know when they are going to be tested ahead of time.

Drug testing on the day of the weigh-in or the day of the fight is, of course, going to fail to detect a significant percentage of dopers because they will have had weeks to use advanced methods of flushing performance-enhancing drugs out of their bodies.

None of the "Big Four" major sports in the United States have a drug-testing program in which the athletes know ahead of time exactly when they may be tested.

Even in the out-of-competition drug tests, fighters are given 48 hours to take their drug tests, whereas other sports require their athletes to take their drug tests immediately upon notification that a test has been ordered.

As The Ring Magazine's Mark Zeigler wrote earlier this year about the NSAC's out-of-competition testing, "Here's how it works: The commission contacts a licensed fighter, notifies him he has been selected for an out-of-competition test and provides instructions about locating the nearest accredited laboratory. The lab is also contacted, and the fighter has two days to show up, present photo identification and submit a urine test. Here's the problem: Two days is ample time for someone to flush their system of many banned substances."

Even when no other out-of-competition drug testing is performed, the NSAC usually orders out-of-competition tests to be performed on fighters who have previously failed drug tests in the state of Nevada.

In the case of UFC 100, that was not done. Stephan Bonnar was not ordered to take an out-of-competition drug test, despite the fact that Bonnar previously tested positive for Boldenone after a fight against Forrest Griffin in 2006. Boldenone is an anabolic steroid used by veterinarians to rehabilitate injured horses.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- As the MMA world reflects on Lyoto Machida's dominant KO win over the previously undefeated Rashad Evans, the fact that Machida didn't get a title shot sooner has been made all the more amazing by his performance against Evans.

Earlier this year, with a UFC record of 6-0 and an MMA record of 14-0, Machida was still passed over for a title shot in favor of Quinton Jackson (even with Jackson’s legal issues), who had won an incredible two fights in a row.

Even when Jackson’s injuries made it clear that he couldn’t fight on the May 23rd card, Machida still wasn’t going to get the next title shot.

It was only because both Jackson and Frank Mir were injured (thus preventing the UFC from delaying Evans’ first title defense until July) that Machida got a title shot before Jackson.

Even then, published reports at the time said that it still would not have happened if Zuffa had been able to convince Georges St. Pierre to move up his title defense against Thiago Alves to May 23.

The only reason they finally gave Machida the title shot when they did, rather than having him fight yet again before getting a title shot and likely against another tough opponent like Thiago Silva, was because all three of these things happened:

1. Quinton Jackson was hurt and couldn't fight on May 23

2. Frank Mir was hurt and couldn't fight on May 23

3. GSP was not willing to move his fight up to May 23

If any two of those things had happened, we’d be looking forward to Evans vs. Jackson in July, and Machida would have yet another tough fight before getting a title shot.

It’s only because all three of those things happened that Evans vs. Machida happened on May 23.

It’s kind of crazy to think that such an historic night would not have even happened if not for all of those things happening at the same time.

Other MMA Thoughts: I’m not surprised by Mirko Cro Cop’s return to the UFC, but I am surprised that he’s fighting in June. Cro Cop is fighting just five months after reconstructive knee surgery? And he’s having a training camp three to four months after reconstructive knee surgery? That doesn't sound like a great idea.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rogers being added to the June 6th Strikeforce event is fantastic news. Having said that, the idea that Phil Baroni vs. Joe Riggs is going to be a main card bout, while Rafael Feijao vs. Jared Hamman is going to be an untelevised prelim bout, is beyond pathetic.

Recent Boxing Events: Jermain Taylor vs. Carl Froch was a very good fight with an incredible 12th round. I had Froch down by a large margin going into the 12th round, as did two of the judges. The one judge who had it 8 rounds to 3 in favor of Froch going into the 12th round is right up there with the two judges who had Michael Bisping beating Matt Hamill in the “incompetent at best” category.

Play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson added so much to the incredible 12th round of Froch vs. Taylor. I was initially against it when Showtime replaced Steve Albert with Gus Johnson, but after that 12th round, I’m not so sure anymore. Albert is more of a traditional boxing play-by-play man, whereas Johnson is more of a “telling the story of any given fight” announcer, much like Jim Lampley, only not constantly missing it when big punches land or saying that something landed when it didn’t like Lampley does. Johnson can add a lot of drama and excitement to a big fight finish, as play-by-play announcers are supposed to do, without saying the same thing every time like Mike Goldberg does (”and it is all over!”).

Andre Ward's recent win over Edison Miranda was a star-making performance for Ward. Miranda is a legit top-level fighter, and dominating him like that is a big accomplishment.

Play-by-play announcer Nick Charles may have been too hard on Miranda during the fight, but I usually enjoy the commentary of Nick Charles and Steve Farhood just about as much as I enjoy any announcing team in boxing or MMA. They tend to be very straightforward and honest with their assessments of up-and-coming fighters, and that’s a particularly big deal on a show like “ShoBox” with all of the up-and-coming prospects that appear on it.

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:52 AM

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ESPN Segment on Dana White Prompts Questions about Long-Term Growth Potential of UFC
Editorial by Ivan Trembow

One could get a sense of how much homework the producers of the ESPN show "E:60" had actually done fairly early in the segment about UFC president Dana White when correspondent Tom Farrey said that "the MMA" has exploded in popularity (as opposed to, "MMA has exploded in popularity").

The show's credibility didn't improve very much from there, as there was no questioning of White's claim, "I built this business without help from anybody."

Additionally, the segment did not even mention the Dana White/AKA debacle of late 2008, where it was not a journalist, but multiple UFC fighters who were on the receiving end of a bullying tirade that would have gotten the public face of any legitimately mainstream sport fired in under a day. White made those statements about Jon Fitch and other AKA fighters in an impromptu interview with Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole.

The segment also failed to mention an important point that is closely related to the AKA explosion, which is the fact that the managers of UFC fighters, and even some of the fighters themselves, are actually terrified of White because of the publicly demonstrated consequences for any manager or fighter who criticizes White in public or doesn't sign something (ie, anything) that he wants them to sign. (Part 1 of my coverage of the AKA mess; Part 2 of my coverage of the AKA mess).

During the E:60 segment, Farrey also reacted with a shocked facial expression to White's oft-repeated claim that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world ten years from now. If Farrey had done more research, he wouldn't have been so shocked to hear that from White because he would have known that White has been saying that on a regular basis since 2007.

There was also the fact that The Zuffa Myth about Dana White changing the sport's rules was repeated and not refuted. Farrey also repeated The Zuffa Myth once again during an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

Even more than The Zuffa Myth, this segment (and the promotion of it) put forward what one might call, "The Dana White Myth." The commercials on ESPN that hyped this particular episode of E:60 said, "Meet the brain behind the fastest-growing sport in the world!"

If The Zuffa Myth is that Zuffa created the rules of MMA, then The Dana White Myth is that White is some kind of super-genius and that nobody else could run the UFC without him, ignoring the fact that Lorenzo Fertitta already makes most of the big business decisions, and ignoring the fact that Joe Silva already does the matchmaking.

Not surprisingly, White remained completely unremorseful for his tirade against Loretta Hunt during the E:60 segment. I say "not surprisingly" because I don't know how that could be surprising to anyone at this point. Pressure from an organization with as much influence as GLAAD meant that White essentially had no choice but to apologize for his use of an anti-gay slur, regardless of whether or not he would have otherwise done so.

White was not forced to apologize for anything else that he said, and he's never going to do so. From White's perspective, why should he? If nothing else, White's tirade against Hunt (and the lack of consequences for that tirade other than those that were self-imposed) clearly served to demonstrate that White can say literally anything he wants, because Fertitta is never going to assert any consequences for White's behavior.

After all, as Iole said in an interview shortly after publishing White's tirade against AKA, it was Lorenzo Fertitta who could be heard in the background during that tirade, acting "just as impassioned" as White and strongly backing what White was saying.

Near the end of the E:60 segment, Farrey asked the only question of the segment that could be classified as anything even close to a "tough question," as he essentially asked White if the UFC could ever be truly mainstream with someone like White as its president. White's response was, "Maybe not." Somehow, there was no follow-up question along the lines of, "Wait a minute... but you said earlier that the UFC is going to be the biggest sport in the world in ten years."

It continues to amaze me that media outlets like E:60 continue to fail to pick up on the obvious contradictions of Dana White and the long-term growth potential of the UFC.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the fact that "This is going to be the biggest sport in the world in ten years" is a statement that is incongruous with the obscene tirade that White publicly directed towards Loretta Hunt.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that "This is going to be the biggest sport in the world in ten years" is a statement that is incongruous with the obscene tirade that White publicly directed towards AKA's fighters.

The fact of the matter is that the UFC is never going to be "the biggest sport in the world" or even a truly "mainstream" entity as long as it has a president that behaves like a vulgar, dogmatic bully.

Maybe it will take two more obscene public tirades for more people to come to that realization, maybe it will take four more obscene public tirades, or maybe some people will never come to that realization, particularly if they remain ignorant of just how much of a role Lorenzo Fertitta and Joe Silva already have in running the UFC.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 97 Thoughts
by Ivan Trembow

-The people who are criticizing Anderson Silva by saying things like "he doesn't care" or "he's not interested in fighting" are way off-base. Silva is a counter-striker. Some counter-strikers are better than others at adjusting their style and their gameplan when their opponent calls their proverbial bluff and forces them to be the one to come forward and be the aggressor. Thales Leites’ gameplan against Silva wasn’t all that different from Patrick Cote’s gameplan against Silva, or from Rashad Evans’ gameplan against Chuck Liddell.

-As Sports Illustrated wrote last night, "The champion [Anderson Silva] enters the cage after a coat of Vaseline is slathered on his face. I’m sorry to say this, but it was pretty obvious that Silva took his hands, wiped down his face and rubbed his chest and arms."

The accuracy of the previous sentence is made clear as day by this video: http://mmafrenzy.com/files/2009/04/anderson-silva-ufc-97-greasing.gif

The video starts just after Silva enters the Octagon with Vaseline on his face, just prior to the beginning of his fight. I have no way of knowing whether it was intentional, but whether or not it happened is not something that's up for debate.

-If that was indeed Chuck Liddell’s last MMA fight, he had an incredible career and provided MMA fans with a lot of great memories. The UFC is doing the right thing by pressuring Liddell to retire before he suffers permanent injury.

-On a related note, It’s amazing to me that there hasn’t been more talk of Wanderlei Silva retiring, just as there has (rightfully) been for Liddell.

While Liddell has been TKO’ed three times in recent years, only one of those was a knocked-out-cold KO. Wanderlei Silva has, in his last five fights, gotten brutally knocked out cold by Mirko Cro Cop, gotten brutally knocked out cold by Dan Henderson, taken a horrible beating in a unanimous decision loss to Chuck Liddell, beaten Keith Jardine, and gotten brutally knocked out cold by Quinton "Delirium Absolves me of Any Responsibility" Jackson.

If there was a list of fighters who should retire (for their own sake) as a result of taking too much punishment over the years and suffering too many bad knockouts, Wanderlei Silva would be far higher on that list than Chuck Liddell.

-More of UFC president Dana White’s credibility went flying out of his mouth and into the night at the UFC 97 post-fight press conference.

White said, "Fedor [Emelianenko] is not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. These guys [referring to Anderson Silva] continue to fight the best. Fedor is at a buffet somewhere in Russia."

Let me get this straight. Fedor’s last two fights were stoppage wins over the #4-ranked heavyweight in the world and the #3-ranked heavyweight in the world.

Anderson Silva’s last three fights were against nowhere-near-ranked James Irvin, nowhere-near-ranked Patrick Cote, and not-quite-top-ten-ranked Thales Leites... and yet it’s Fedor who is not fighting the best in the world?

That's not even the most credibility-shattering quote. Dana White also said this: “So until this guy [Fedor] decides to get in shape, take it serious, and consistently fight the best in the world, for you guys to even think about calling him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is insane.”

Someone break out the clown make-up and honking red nose.

-The Montreal commission wouldn’t comment in the months leading up to this event, but we got our answer in the main event about whether the UFC agreed to use something other than the Unified Rules of MMA for this event. Silva did a foot-stomp, and the referee clearly said, “No foot stomps, no foot stomps.” Other MMA promotions do this with elbow strikes, but this is the first time I can recall the Zuffa-era UFC using anything other than the Unified Rules of MMA.

-Cheick Kongo may not be too far away from a UFC Heavyweight Title match, but I believe that is going to be a squash match for anyone with good takedowns. I’m sure Kongo is better now than he was when Carmelo Marrero dominated him with takedowns, but I don’t think he’s so much better that he wouldn’t be taken down and pounded and/or submitted by any number of heavyweights in the UFC. The UFC is not stupid. They know this, and that’s why Kongo’s last three fights (after the loss to Heath Herring) have come against Dan Evensen, Mustapha al Turk, and Antoni Hardonk, three fighters who were overmatched against Kongo and also had limited ground games.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:33 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Detailed Summary of St. Pierre vs. Penn Vaseline Incidents, Including Possible Influence on Round 2
by Ivan Trembow

Much more information has come out in the past couple of days about the incidents in which vaseline was allegedly rubbed on Georges St. Pierre's back by one of his cornermen in between the rounds of his fight against BJ Penn at UFC 94 on Saturday night. Rubbing vaseline anywhere other than on a fighter's face would be illegal.

There has been a lot of noise on all sides of this issue, including from many fans (and even a few journalists) who are taking the “bury your head in the sand” mentality of just wanting this story to go away, regardless of whether or not any wrongdoing was committed.

The statements from Penn's side about what happened are naturally going to be slanted in one direction, and the statements from St. Pierre's side about what happened are naturally going to be slanted in the other direction.

This makes the quotes from Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, especially relevant because he's not on the Penn side or the St. Pierre side.

So, based on video evidence and numerous statements made by Kizer, here are the actual facts as we know them.

First of all, the video of the cornerman, Phil Nurse, rubbing St. Pierre's face with vaseline and then immediately thereafter rubbing St. Pierre's back is now on YouTube at this URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKuJSQJOiwM. This occurred between Rounds 1 and 2.

There is also confirmation in numerous interviews with Kizer that this was not the only time during the fight that vaseline appeared to be have been rubbed on St. Pierre's back by his cornerman. Kizer has said in multiple interviews that he saw it happen with his own eyes between Rounds 2 and 3, at which point he entered the cage and started yelling at St. Pierre's cornermen.

Here are quotes from MMAWeekly and Sherdog articles about the two separate vaseline incidents.

From MMAWeekly:

"After round two, I watched him like a hawk," said Kizer. "I've only entered the ring maybe three or four times (in my career) during a fight, but I did this time.

Watching the pay-per-view, Nurse is clearly seen on camera applying Vaseline to the face of St. Pierre following round one. It is difficult to tell the amount of residual Vaseline on his hands, but he does clearly rub St. Pierre's shoulders and then reach around to touch his upper back. The extent to which such actions affected the actual in-ring action are unclear, but what is clear is that such action was a violation Nevada's regulations.

"They didn't take a big glob and throw it on his back. After putting Vaseline on (St. Pierre's) face, he put his hands on his body. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it was improper," Kizer continued, who confirmed that an inspector did use a towel to wipe St. Pierre's back between rounds two and three, and three and four."

From Sherdog:

[Kizer said] “After the second round, we observed Mr. Jackson putting Vaseline on Mr. St. Pierre’s face and then putting his hand on his back.”

...

“I told them I was disappointed and that they may have tainted Mr. St. Pierre’s victory…Whether it was intentional or not, I don’t know. It was improper.”

An important detail that has come out in multiple interviews with Kizer is that while the first application of vaseline to St. Pierre's back appeared to happen between Rounds 1 and 2, it wasn't until after the second round that the NSAC intervened.

This would mean that if vaseline was applied to St. Pierre's back after Round 1, it would have still been on his back throughout Round 2.

There is confirmation of this important detail from Kizer in various interviews, but perhaps most clearly in this one from MMA Junkie in terms of the timeline of events:

[Kizer said] "The first round, one of the inspectors that was on the outside of the cage came over to me and said it looked to him that when the cornerman, who I think in that case was Phil Nurse, put the Vaseline on Georges’ face then rubbed his shoulders — which you see the guys rubbing the other guy’s shoulders to help him out — he didn’t wipe off his hands between doing that. I said, ‘Well, I’m going to watch very closely after this round.’”

Kizer watched intently to see if the questionable actions would be repeated as the second round came to a close.

“At the end of the second round I watched, and then another cornerman who I believe was Greg Jackson, he put the Vaseline on Georges’ face, and then he put his hand on his back to do the breathing thing they always do,” Kizer said. “As soon as I saw that, it looked like there was still some Vaseline on his hand. Not a lot, but still some.

“Tony Liano and I immediately yelled at him, and I don’t think he heard us because of the noise. So I actually went into the octagon, and I said, ‘Take your hand off of his back. What are you doing?’ We wiped it down. We made sure it was wiped down after the third round as well. This was after the second when I was in there. I was very upset. I don’t know if they were doing it intentionally or not. Either way, they shouldn’t have done it.

...

[Kizer said] "His cornerman should have been more careful if it was an accident. If it was intentional, that's even worse. Just very, very disturbing."

Now, with all of these facts and statements in mind, look at these five animated GIFs from the Underground Forum of five different times in Round 2 that Penn's legs slipped on St. Pierre's back while Penn was trying to utilize his rubber guard techniques from the bottom:

http://free-zg.t-com.hr/bhz/mma/penn_vs_gsp/slip1.gif
http://free-zg.t-com.hr/bhz/mma/penn_vs_gsp/slip2.gif
http://free-zg.t-com.hr/bhz/mma/penn_vs_gsp/slip3.gif
http://free-zg.t-com.hr/bhz/mma/penn_vs_gsp/slip4.gif
http://free-zg.t-com.hr/bhz/mma/penn_vs_gsp/slip5.gif

Again, Round 2 was after St. Pierre's cornerman rubbed his back immediately after applying vaseline to his face; and Round 2 was also before the athletic commission intervened to towel off St. Pierre's back, which did not happen until after Round 2.

Based on all the facts, quotes, and video evidence, it does look like it COULD have aided St. Pierre in Round 2. I don't think the outcome of the fight would have been any different, but as for whether it COULD have aided St. Pierre in Round 2, the video evidence is pretty overwhelming that it could have.

Although the outcome of the fight would have likely been the same even if St. Pierre did have an advantage in Round 2, that does not make this a non-story. It has been amazing to see some people saying, "It didn't affect the outcome of the fight, so it's a non-issue that we should all stop talking about!" That is such backwards logic.

They are two different situations, but the stand-up agreement in the fight between Seth Petruzelli and Kimbo Slice didn't affect the outcome of that fight because Petruzelli won by knockout anyway in 14 seconds. Were people saying after that fight, "It didn't affect the outcome of the fight, so it's a non-issue that we should all stop talking about"? Of course not, and if they were, that would have been an equally ridiculous argument.

As for where this goes from here, there is a possibility of fines and/or suspensions for any of St. Pierre's cornermen that the athletic commission deems to have broken the rules.

Perhaps just as significantly, St. Pierre's brilliant performance in the fight may be tainted in some fans' eyes. As Kizer said in his interview with MMA Junkie, "This may have tainted [St. Pierre's] victory in the eyes of many fans, and it's his cornerman's fault for that. It doesn't take away his victory, but it does take away from his victory in the eyes of many fans, I believe."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:34 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 94 Thoughts
by Ivan Trembow

As usual, Georges St. Pierre and Lyoto Machida looked like machines, in this case by dominating B.J. Penn and Thiago Silva, respectively. The best sporting event of the weekend was on Saturday, not on Super Bowl Sunday.

Machida Deserves Title Shot in Next Fight: Machida is long overdue for a title shot and he absolutely deserves to get the next shot at Rashad Evans' belt, not the winner of the upcoming fight between Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine.

Update: Dana White said at the post-fight press conference that it will be Jackson who will be getting the next title shot, not Machida, provided that Jackson beats Jardine. He said that Machida will “probably” get a title shot by the end of 2009. At this point, the continual snubbing of Machida is just pathetic.

St. Pierre vs. Penn: In the GSP-Penn fight, Penn showed up to fight and looked to be in good shape, but GSP was simply too good.

For all the hype that went into this fight as two all-time greats with both of them at their absolute peak, Penn’s peak in terms of accomplishments was not beating Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, and Sean Sherk in the three-fight winning streak that he had going into this fight. Realistically, Penn's peak in terms of accomplishments was beating the #1 lightweight in the world and then beating the #1 welterweight in the world, and that was in late 2003 and early 2004, not in 2008 and 2009.

St. Pierre has Thiago Alves next on his plate, although if Jon Fitch could take down Alves at will like he did, then I’m guessing St. Pierre will also be able to take Alves down at will.

Vaseline Controversy in St. Pierre's Corner: According to this report on Cage Potato: "B.J. Penn's camp has filed a formal complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission over Vaseline that was allegedly rubbed on Georges St. Pierre's back between rounds one and two. UFC president Dana White said at the post-fight press conference that he was aware of the complaint, and said he personally witnessed members of the commission take the Vaseline away from GSP's camp and rebuke them in the Octagon between rounds."

White was also quoted as saying that the Nevada State Athletic Commission was "flipping out" about it and was "screaming" at St. Pierre's cornermen about it.

I am in shock about this. I would imagine that if this had been anything other than a huge fight, the fighter who got vaseline put on his back would have been disqualified on the spot, although I don't know that for sure.

I wish we could have seen what actually happened... how much vaseline was applied, who applied it, what the commission did, etc. The UFC has cameras in both corners in between every round, and it sounds like it would have been a big commotion, but the UFC apparently decided not to show the incident during the fight or after the fight, unless they did and I missed it.

Update: From looking at the tape, it was hard to see too much because the director kept cutting away every time vaseline would be on-screen or a towel would be on-screen. However, you can clearly see that one of GSP's trainers rubs his back between Rounds 1 and 2. You can't see in the shot whether the trainer has anything on this hands, but you can see that he is using the same hand that was just applying vaseline to GSP's face seconds earlier, and that is on the tape clear as day.

The athletic commission "flipping out" can be seen on the tape between Rounds 2 and 3. You can see as the round was about to start that one of the NSAC inspectors was thrown a towel and gave St. Pierre's back a very brief rub-down in the seconds right before Round 3 started. Then, between Rounds 3 and 4, it looks like St. Pierre's back got a much more thorough rub-down with towels. Again, it's hard to determine more from this because the director kept cutting away from it.

Zach Arnold also wrote about this on Fight Opinion: "If the NSAC agrees that indeed rules were violated, it will immediately taint St. Pierre’s dominant win over Penn. I realize and you realize that St. Pierre put on a dominant performance, but Penn’s camp has a perfectly legitimate gripe here if the accusations of vaseline usage (in this manner) are true. While Dana White tried to soften the blow of the allegations about possible illegal vaseline usage on St. Pierre, the fact that White is trying to deflect all the heat for the incident on a cornerman and not on St. Pierre is unacceptable."

Fights Going the Distance is Not Necessarily Bad: A lot of people online are complaining about UFC 94 because of the high number of fights that went the distance of three rounds. I don’t think that most fights going to a decision automatically makes an event worse than if most fights end quickly. Even with the one-sided main event, I thought this event was better than the recent UFC event with a bunch of quick finishes that most people said was a great event because of all the quick finishes (UFC 91).

Another Curious Decision for Fight of the Night: Seriously, Clay Guida vs. Nate Diaz gets a Fight of the Night award? And last month, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark Coleman did? And the month before that, Junie Browning vs. David Kaplan did? There were more deserving fights on all three of those events.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:09 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- No Out-of-Competition Drug Testing for UFC 94 Fighters
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The Nevada State Athletic Commission did not test any fighters on the UFC 94 card as part of its out-of-competition drug testing program.

In addition, there were no fighters subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program who competed on the WEC event on December 3; or on the UFC events on December 13 or December 27. All four events took place in Nevada and fall under the NSAC's jurisdiction.

When asked on January 15 if any fighters on the January 31 card had been tested as part of the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer replied, "Not yet."

When asked earlier this week, on January 28, if any fighters on the January 31 card had been tested as part of the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program, Kizer replied, "No."

The out-of-competition drug testing program allows the NSAC to order random drug tests at any time on any fighter that the NSAC licenses as a mixed martial artist, boxer, or kickboxer.

Like many other major sports, this out-of-competition drug testing is in addition to day-of-competition drug testing. The day-of-competition drug testing was still conducted at all of the aforementioned events and will be conducted at UFC 94 as well.

However, when athletes know the exact date of an upcoming drug test ahead of time, the testing is not going to catch very many users. There are numerous ways to mask banned substances if you have days, weeks, or in this case months of notice before a drug test.

Therefore, the out-of-competition drug testing program is a vital step towards detecting the use of banned substances during training camps.

A total of fourteen fighters (some boxers, some mixed martial artists) whose fights were scheduled between February 1, 2008 and October 31, 2008 were tested as part of the out-of-competition drug testing program, which was announced in January 2008.

In the weeks prior to UFC 91 in November, ten fighters were tested as part of the program, and all of them passed their tests.

Between November 15 and the end of January, there were four major MMA events scheduled in the state of Nevada: a WEC event on December 3, a UFC event on December 13, another UFC event on December 27, and another UFC event that will take place on January 31.

None of the fighters on these shows were tested as part of the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In other news related to the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program, The Ring Magazine Online recently reported that instead of having several hours to submit to a drug test from the time that they are notified that they need to take a drug test, fighters actually have two days to take an NSAC-ordered drug test.

The Ring's Mark Zeigler wrote, "Here's how it works: The commission contacts a licensed fighter, notifies him he has been selected for an out-of-competition test and provides instructions about locating the nearest accredited laboratory. The lab is also contacted, and the fighter has two days to show up, present photo identification and submit a urine test. Here's the problem: Two days is ample time for someone to flush their system of many banned substances."

The NSAC's Keith Kizer confirmed that fighters do have two days to take an out-of-competition drug test from the time that they are notified, but added that this is subject to change.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:41 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Zuffa Breaks News of Affliction MMA's Impending Demise Using Psuedonym
by Ivan Trembow

It appears as though Zuffa/UFC took it upon themselves to break the news of the impending demise of Affliction's MMA promotion, while hiding behind a psuedonym on Bloody Elbow.

Anyone who has read Bloody Elbow’s comments section long enough knows that the poster called “mmalogic” works for Zuffa and is not even particularly good at hiding it.

One example: In the comments section of a post from a few months back, “mmalogic” wrote this: “Zuffa adjusted their sponsorship model from creating OUR own sponsors” (capitalization added by me).

When another user pointed out what “mmalogic” just said and asked if he’s Joe Silva or someone else like that, “mmalogic” responded with this non-denial and followed it with flattery towards his accuser: “I won’t say who I am but I will say who you are judging by your past comments and analysis … You either own your own business, have owned your own business or very high up in a business either in Marketing or Sales… Did I call it?”

When the original accuser responded by saying that he just graduated with a degree in marketing and finance, “mmalogic” responded with more flattery: “You got the head for it… try to hook up with a good consulting firm – you will do well.”

In this case, it’s easy to see how high-level executives at Zuffa would know so much about Affliction MMA’s pending demise, particularly if Affliction has contacted Zuffa to work out a peace deal.

So, what do they do? They make a post about it under their “mmalogic” psuedonym to give themselves more leverage in the negotiations for the aforementioned peace deal (Affliction has even less leverage in negotiations if everyone is already reading about how little leverage they have and how their MMA branch is about to go out of business anyway).

A lot of people think that the UFC doesn’t care about blogs, but they must realize what kind of influence a very popular blog like Bloody Elbow has, based on the fact that they (Zuffa) are willing to take the time and effort to try to spread information and influence opinions by making posts under psuedonyms like “mmalogic.”

-More on "mmalogic": Even putting aside how blatant it is in his comments, look at the previous FanPost blog entries by “mmalogic”:

Shinya Aoki is not a top five fighter (in January 2009); EliteXC ratings are below CBS’ expectations and now ProElite people are looking for work; HBO is unhappy with the Affliction/Golden Boy partnership; Randy Couture to Headline UFC 91 (before it was widely reported); and a post about why Zuffa has no reason to co-promote with anyone.

Like I said, not very subtle. I’m guessing Zuffa will try to be more subtle when posting under psuedonyms in the future.

-FightOpinion and Bloody Elbow Posts About This: Zach Arnold wrote about this on FightOpinion.com

"What makes this interesting is that by leaking claims that Affliction wants to wave the white flag in terms of no longer competing with Zuffa that it all but eliminates any sort of leverage Atencio might or might not have if he is in fact doing this.

It’s no secret that Zuffa employees read message boards, blogs, etc. What is interesting is whether or not more and more UFC employees will start using blogs to manipulate the message they want the public to hear. The organization already has friendly broadsheet media outlets that aren’t willing to push back against them, and then you add on the generally UFC-safe Yahoo Sports coverage team, and what you end up with is a pretty sophisticated strategy to influence both hardcore and casual MMA fans."

In response, Bloody Elbow editor Luke Thomas wrote an angry response on BloodyElbow.com.

Personally, I think Luke is misinterpreting the point of Zach’s post. I don’t think that Zach or anyone else (including me) is saying that Bloody Elbow’s “coverage is nothing more than a mouthpiece or distribution channel for Zuffa.” It’s not that Bloody Elbow is guilty of anything, it’s that this one specific poster “mmalogic” certainly appears to be a Zuffa employee from looking at the evidence.

As for Bloody Elbow not having any dialogue with the UFC, this is informal communication, but literally one post down from Luke’s, Michael Rome wrote this as an update to the original post by Zuffa employee mmalogic: “I have been digging at this story for the last 3 or 4 hours since I first heard it. I believe it to be true. A source at UFC informed that Lorenzo Fertitta was contacted today by Affliction looking for a ‘beneficial’ way out.” There’s nothing wrong with having communications with the UFC.

Also, it doesn’t take “some grand Zuffa scheme” for this to happen. “Astroturfing” is something that corporations have been caught doing in the past, it’s probably not that hard for them to do it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Zuffa had other screen names on other sites doing the same thing.

-Affliction Head Denies his MMA Promotion's Demise: Affliction head Tom Atencio has already denied that his MMA promotion is on the verge of going out of business, but of course he’s going to say that.

Realistically, even before any of this came out today, I think the vast majority of hardcore MMA fans have thought for weeks that Affliction’s MMA division would be kaput shortly after their second show (if not before their second show).

It’s likely that it’s over except for the negotiations of how, and under what financial terms, Affliction will stop promoting MMA shows and will re-enter the fray as one of the biggest sponsors of UFC fighters. Zuffa has a lot more leverage than Affliction already, and they attempted to tip the scales of leverage in their direction even further with that post made under one of their psuedonyms — “mmalogic” (and I only use the plural form “psuedonyms” because it would be naive to think that if they’re using one psuedonym that it’s the only one that they have on any web site).

Now, Atencio is trying to tip the scales of leverage back in his direction by denying that they’re getting out of the MMA promotion business.

In that respect, it’s no different than what Zuffa is doing. What is a big difference is the fact that Atencio is using his real name in those interviews, while Zuffa made their post under a psuedonym.

-What's Wrong with the UFC Leaking Information Under Psuedonyms: To anyone who may take the position that a person still has a right to post even if they’re a UFC employee, it’s not being a UFC employee that is objectionable; it’s the lack of disclosure. It’s the fact that there is information coming from the UFC, information whose release benefits the UFC, but without the public knowing that it came from the UFC and being able to judge its veracity (or the motives for its release) in that context. That is what is objectionable about "mmalogic." Now that "mmalogic" has been exposed, Zuffa will likely use other screen names instead (ones that haven’t been exposed).

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:09 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Random Thoughts on a Variety of Topics
by Ivan Trembow

-UFC Primetime Eschews Artificial Controversy and Focuses on the Fighters: Kudos to the UFC for not making Episode 2 of UFC Primetime about artificially created storylines. The ignorance of the argument put forth by many that you need artificial controversy to sell a big fight is exposed by the extremely high quality of all but five minutes of the first two episodes of Primetime (I’m referring to the artificial controversey in the last five minutes of Episode 1).

The preview special before the first Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver fight last year is another great example. This is exactly what a “building up a big fight” preview show should be.

-Huerta Taking Time Away from Fighting: Lightweight fighter Roger Huerta recently announced that he will be taking time away from MMA to focus on his acting career, and predictably he has been getting ripped to shreds for it on MMA message boards.

As you may recall, Huerta had the nerve to question the UFC's pay scale in an interview with Fight Magazine last year, and in doing so, he apparently committed the worst sin of all. Fighters have been arrested for all kinds of things, and they’ve tested positive for steroids and just about every other banned substance known to man. But I don’t think any one of those incidents has generated as much universal scorn as Huerta did for the unforgivable sin of questioning the UFC’s pay scale.

After that interview was printed, and after the retaliatory leak came out from Zuffa claiming that Huerta supposedly wanted low six figures and a PPV bonus and that even BJ Penn doesn’t get that, the response from much of the online MMA community was the anticipated response of, “OMG, Huerta is so greedy!” I didn’t see anyone respond with, “Wait a minute... BJ Penn doesn’t make low six figures with a PPV bonus?"

-Health of Gary Goodridge and Other MMA Fighters: Before the California State Athletic Commission shamefully decided to clear Gilbert Yvel to fight in California, there were rumors swirling that Affliction was going to sign Gary Goodridge to be Yvel's replacement and fight Barnett. Goodridge has been fighting in professional MMA since 1996, he is 42 years old, he has lost his four most recent MMA fights, and he has an even longer losing streak in professional kickboxing bouts.

If the rumors are true that Affliction was going to book Barnett vs. Goodridge if Yvel wasn't cleared, then Affliction should be ashamed of themselves. That fight would have been a brutal, one-sided beating.

Even if he's not fighting against Josh Barnett, Goodridge has enough knockout losses between MMA and kickboxing that an athletic commission might need to step in and save him from himself at some point.

The same is true for Kazushi Sakuraba, Hidehiko Yoshida, Ken Shamrock, Don Frye, Wanderlei Silva (getting brutally knocked out cold on three separate occasions is no joke), Murilo "Ninja" Rua (getting brutally knocked out cold on four separate occasions is no joke), and numerous other MMA fighters. Unfortunately, the Japan-based fighters have no athletic commission to look out for their safety above all else, and we’ve yet to see if any U.S. athletic commissions are willing to take an unpopular stand when it finally becomes time for someone to take that stand.

Even if an athletic commission does take a stand like New York did with Evander Holyfield several years ago, the fighters are still likely to try to continue fighting elsewhere, but at least it limits their options and makes it less of an attractive option for those fighters to continue suffering more and more brain damage as the years go on.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:08 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Random Thoughts on a Variety of Topics
by Ivan Trembow

-More Manufactured Storylines on UFC Primetime: Well, I guess we’ve got an answer to the question of whether the UFC feels that the UFC Primetime series can sell itself based on the personalities of BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre, or whether UFC Primetime needs to have fake, manufactured storylines involving BJ Penn and Dana White in order to garner interest.

What an incredible coincidence that just today, on the day of Episode 2's premiere, word leaked out about Penn temporarily kicking out the cameras several days ago and having a feud with UFC president Dana White.

The UFC appears less interested in building up the St. Pierre vs. Penn fight based on the real-life drama of St. Pierre vs. Penn, and more interested in building up the St. Pierre vs. Penn fight based on a manufactured storyline involving Penn and White.

As noted by Nick Thomas of Bloody Elbow, Penn’s banishment of the cameras (for the cameras, ironically) was only temporary and was noted by Penn in an interview on Tapout Radio two days ago. It just magically leaked out today as being a major issue.

As Adam Swift wrote on MMA Payout, “Color me suspicious. Penn and Dana White are both crafty promoters and it’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility for the two to conspire to stir up some controversy to sell next weekend’s fight. Penn spent the weeks before his last fight with Sean Sherk talking up his genuine dislike for him and sold the fight as a true grudge match. Immediately following the fight Penn apologized and said that it was all pretend to hype the fight. White hasn’t been shy about interjecting himself into the company’s “storylines” (see Tito Ortiz) and has been known to borrow a page or two from the WWE promotional play book.”

-Josh Barnett Inserts Foot in Mouth: Josh Barnett continues to talk about his 2002 victory over Randy Couture as if it was a legitimate accomplishment. Barnett has plenty of other big wins, but he beat Couture in a fight in which he (Barnett) tested positive for steroids and Couture tested negative, so Barnett really ought to stop mentioning that win as an accomplishment. Every time he mentions that fight, all he’s doing is reminding people of his positive test result from 2002.

-Doping Attorney Still Incompetent: Doping attorney Howard Jacobs appears to be as incompetent as ever. In an interview with MMAWeekly regarding Antonio Silva's steroids case involving the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), Jacobs said this: “[The CSAC] basically said, ‘Well, you can’t prove that it actually came from the legal supplement, as opposed to from the banned substance, so you lose because you didn’t prove it to us. We say we didn’t have to prove it. You had to prove it the other way around.”

In addition to the fact that you can’t just declare which party has to prove which facts and have that be the case just because you say so, there’s also the inconvenient little fact that even if they were to prove that it was 100% the fault of the supplement, the fighter is still responsible for what he puts in his body.

Jacobs has had the same B.S. argument every time a fighter has hired him in Nevada or California, and he almost always loses, and he’s always told by the commission that a fighter is responsible if banned substances are in his body whether they got there knowingly or unknowingly, and yet he comes back with the same argument the next time and loses again.

Keith Kizer of the NSAC did an interview with MMAWeekly in 2007 where he talked about a lot of the drug testing myths that fighters often try to exploit to make it seem that they’re not responsible for what they put into their system. Click here to read it.

-Quinton Jackson Gets a Slap on the Wrist for Endangering Numerous People's Lives: You gotta love our criminal justice system in America. Getting zero jail time for what Quinton Jackson did, especially as someone who is not a first-time offender, is just ridiculous, but that's what will end up happening unless he breaks the law again in the next 12 months.

Sadly, this is just one of many ridiculous things that happen every day in the court system. Murder, rape, and robbery get plea-bargained down every single day somewhere in this country. I guess endangering numerous people’s lives in a high-speed police chase while on at least his second religion-fueled hunger strike must be viewed as "nothing in comparison."

Before I get any e-mails about "the new, responsible, and more mature Quinton Jackson," I don’t think it reflects well on him to have punched a clearly unconscious fighter in the head three times, including two times after the referee was already pulling him off and trying to crook his arm to prevent him from throwing more punches (which is what Jackson did after he knocked out Wanderlei Silva in his first fight after the police chase). It’s kind of like talking about "the new, responsible, and more mature Chris Leben" after his positive steroids test.

Based on reading this quote from UFC president Dana White on the Carmichael Dave radio show (as first quoted on Five Ounces of Pain), you would think that Quinton Jackson's crime was that he came down with the flu and then cut in line at the supermarket:

“No, I don’t think there should be any problems with Rampage legally. Obviously he’s got to go to court because that thing happened. But he had delirium. He had something wrong with him. It wasn’t like he was on drugs or drinking alcohol or doing any of that stuff. He was doing the right thing and he got sick and like anyone who got sick and goes to court, I don’t think he’s going to have any issues.”

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:21 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 93 Thoughts
by Ivan Trembow

-Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle (Kickboxing Match): The B-level-kickboxing-ization of MMA continues, as we had a fighter apologizing after a very impressive submission victory (Alan Belcher), and we once again had a B-level kickboxing match being glorified as an epic fight (Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle).

In the Davis-Lytle fight, Lytle could have absolutely benefited from taking the fight to the ground, given that he has better ground skills than Lytle and given that he was losing in the stand-up, but of course he didn’t attempt to do so because that would have made him “a pu--y," to use Lytle's sentiments and Davis' words from before the fight. There were also a couple of times that Davis had Lytle hurt and could have potentially pounced on him and finished him on the ground, but he didn't.

There are clearly fighters who fight for the Fight of the Night bonus as their primary objective and winning the fight as their secondary objective (there are even fighters who have said that), and yet the majority of fans will say with a straight face and will really believe that the UFC doesn’t encourage one kind of fighting over another.

It’s not just that the UFC rewards people for getting into stand-up-only kickboxing matches, it’s also that they punish fighters who they feel are in boring fights. Yushin Okami had a 6-1 UFC record and was put in an untelevised prelim fight at UFC 92, while C.B. Dollaway (who lost in the semi-finals and finals of TUF 7) got a main card slot instead.

Furthermore, the fact that Okami ended up having a boring fight against Dean Lister is used as justification for this treatment by people like Dave Meltzer. It would be the equivalent of arguing that the San Antonio Spurs don't deserve to be in the NBA Playoffs because they play a slower-paced style of basketball. It's a ridiculous argument that nobody would make for a sport that they didn't think of as "quasi pro wrestling."

To be clear, I’m not saying that ALL of the kickboxing in MMA is B-level kickboxing. But I am saying that Davis vs. Lytle in particular is B-level kickboxing, as are most fights involving Davis and Lytle.

I am also saying that if fighters like Davis or Lytle want to compete in a sport with no takedowns, they might want to take up professional kickboxing and leave MMA behind for all of those "pu----s" who tend to do things like, you know, actually go for takedowns when it would clearly be beneficial to their chances of winning the fight.

On a related note, what was Mike Goldberg thinking when he said that Chris Lytle is “one of the top fighters in the UFC”? Lytle went into the fight with a 5-7 UFC record.

-Snowden's Excellent Article on Davis-Lytle and Other Fights Like It: There is a very good article by “Total MMA” book author Jonathan Snowden on Five Ounces of Pain about the Davis-Lytle fight.

Key excerpts:

“There’s also something dangerous about the mentality Zuffa has inspired in many of its fighters by offering bonuses that often exceed the fighter’s regular purses. It has created an atmosphere where winning isn’t a fighter’s main goal… Winning “Fight of the Night” — that was his main goal. Not winning fights, just fight of the night honors. After all, he could make more money losing the kind of fight he knows Zuffa loves than he ever could with a Yushin Okami style winning streak. Caring more about entertaining than winning is the beginning of the end of integrity, the first step down a slippery slope from sport to spectacle… Whether or not there was an agreement set in stone, it was obvious neither man was going to the ground. Even when it became evident that Lytle was losing the standing exchanges and didn’t have the quickness to keep up with the elusive Davis, he never once thought about taking the boxer down. He wasn’t driven by a will to win. He was driven by his pocketbook. And the distinction between pro wrestling and MMA just got a little bit blurrier.”

The full article is highly recommended and it’s available here. I have also heard nothing but strong praise for Snowden's book, although I haven't had a chance to read through it yet myself.

-Shogun Beats Mark Coleman in Unimpressive Fashion: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua did not look impressive and clearly has a very long way to go with his cardio game after tearing his ACL prior to the Forrest Griffin fight, and then having two reconstructive knee surgeries and zero fights in the past 16 months. He should have been able to knock out Coleman sooner than he did. The stoppage was legit, however, and it could have even been stopped shortly before Coleman was knocked down, because he was taking brutal shots to the head and was no longer defending himself at all. That is pretty much the definition of when a referee is supposed to stop a fight.

One of the headlines on the front page of Yahoo.com on Saturday was “Fighter a fraud," and if you clicked the link it took you to Steve Cofield’s predictable piece about how much Shogun sucks. How did it go from “fighter has very disappointing performance” to “fighter a fraud”? Is every fighter who has a very disappointing performance "a fraud," or just some of them?

I was also very surprised to see that the UFC gave a “Co-Fight of the Night” award to Shogun vs. Coleman (along with Davis vs. Lytle), even while privately telling their surrogates that they thought Shogun vs. Coleman was a horrible fight. First Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan got a baffling "Fight of the Night" award in December, and now Shogun vs. Coleman gets one in January. I realize that the UFC probably felt that Davis and Lytle “had” to be rewarded for their “takedowns are for pu----s” mentality, but Shogun vs. Coleman winning Co-Fight of the Night? That makes no sense at all.

-Another Side Effect of Booking 12 PPV Events Per Year: The UFC ended up feeling the need to sacrifice the planned light heavyweight title fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson (for which Evans may have been ready in April or May, but not March) and instead book Jackson vs. Keith Jardine for the March PPV event, due to the fact that they had no other main event that they could book for the March PPV.

-Curious Judging: There were no robberies like Matt Hamill’s domination of Michael Bisping being called a split decision win for Bisping, but there are still some very curious judges’ decisions when the UFC runs these unsanctioned shows in the United Kingdom.

In particular, the judge who scored Henderson vs. Franklin as being 30-27 in favor of Franklin (Chris Watts) should not be allowed to judge on any UFC shows in the future. That was just ridiculous, and even Franklin thought so. Henderson dominated the first two rounds, and Franklin dominated the third round. How that ended up being 3 rounds to 0 in favor of Franklin on that judges’ scorecard is just mind-boggling. (Fortunately, the other two judges had it scored 29-28 in favor of Henderson, which seemed like the obvious score.)

Next Middleweight Title Shot Going to "Not Yushin Okami": We've known that Thales Leites is getting the next shot at Anderson Silva's UFC Middleweight Title instead of Yushin Okami (who has a 7-1 UFC record), and it's not particularly surprising, given the UFC's oft-demonstrated disdain for Okami. But surely Okami would get the next shot at the Middleweight Title after that, right? Perhaps not.

If Silva beats Leites, then Silva is likely to fight in the light heavyweight division in his subsequent fight, and the next Middleweight Title shot could very well go to the winner of the June fight between TUF 9 coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping, who is apparently getting a title shot. Keep waiting, Okami.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:12 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts: Nevada Commission Meets with UFC about Controversial Behavior on The Ultimate Fighter
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

At a meeting in December for which an official summary was released yesterday, Nevada State Athletic Commission officials expressed concerns to UFC officials about some of the behavior that was exhibited during the controversial eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

For each season of The Ultimate Fighter, dating back to the first season's filming in late 2004, Zuffa has requested and been granted a waiver of the NSAC's regulations relating to the results of NSAC-sanctioned fights being posted publicly. This allows the results of the fights on The Ultimate Fighter to remain secret until the fights air on Spike TV months later. These waivers must be requested and granted for each individual season of TUF.

Prior to granting the usual waivers to Zuffa for the upcoming ninth season of TUF, which recently started filming and is tentatively scheduled to begin airing on April 1, the NSAC wanted to talk to Zuffa about some of the behavior in the eighth season of TUF.

Present at the meeting were Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta, Dana White, Marc Ratner, Kirk Hendrick, Michael Mersch, Lawrence Epstein, Andrea Richter, and Craig Piligian, at least four of whom were previously part of the NSAC in some capacity (Lorenzo Fertitta, Ratner, Hendrick, and Mersch).

Also present at the meeting were NSAC Commissioners Bill Brady, Skip Avansino, John Bailey, T.J. Day, and Pat Lundvall, as well as Executive Director Keith Kizer, Recording Secretary Sandy Johnson, and David Newton, who was attending on behalf of the Attorney General's Office.

After Lorenzo Fertitta's Power Point presentation on the history of the company, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer said that there was "some concern about behavior displayed by some of the contestants" during The Ultimate Fighter 8. The NSAC's official summary of the meeting goes on to say, "Lorenzo Fertitta stated that the UFC does not condone the behavior of those contestants and wants the State and the sport to be reflected in a good light. Lorenzo Fertitta stated that in the future there will be a closer look at any behavior that might be offensive prior to broadcast, and that Zuffa does not encourage such behavior and had no prior knowledge of it occurring."

After Commissioner Skip Avansino thanked all of the parties involved for attending the meeting, "Commissioner Avansino stated he did talk with Mr. Fertitta on the phone and he is confident that Zuffa will endeavor to monitor the show so such behavior will not occur again, and there will be no further incidents."

According to the official summary, "Lorenzo Fertitta then explained a UFC event had been held the week prior in Fort Bragg, NC, benefiting the Fallen Heroes Fund and that the contestants visited the soldiers in the hospitals, all of the admission was free, and they raised $4,000,000 for the fund."

At that point, Commissioner Avansino made a motion to approve Zuffa's petition for the usual waivers for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Brady and approved by all of the commissioners.

The specific behavior in question was not detailed during the meeting, but among the incidents that occurred during TUF 8 were several involving Junie Browning. Throughout the course of the season, Browning threw a glass at Kyle Kingsbury; got into a poolside scuffle with Ryan Bader; jumped over the Octagon fence and went after Efrain Escudero in an aggressive manner immediately after Escudero defeated Shane Nelson in an NSAC-sanctioned fight; threw a glass at Shane Primm's head; and threw two punches at Primm. Browning was not kicked off of the show for any of these incidents, and was later featured in a fight on the televised main card of TUF 8's live season finale on Spike TV.

Also during the eighth season of TUF, several members of Team Mir urinated in a platter of fruit salad that was later eaten by several members of Team Nogueira; Kyle Kingsbury mixed his semen into a sushi platter that Dave Kaplan may or may not have later eaten; Tom Lawlor knocked Kaplan unconscious with a punch to the face after an intoxicated Kaplan begged him to do so; and Lawlor and Kaplan voluntarily drank shots of each other's urine while they were both intoxicated (although the voluntary urine-drinking was edited out of the show at the last minute in what was referred to as "a last-minute editorial decision" by Spike TV).

According to an article by Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole that was published on January 13 (several weeks after this meeting took place in December between Zuffa and the Nevada State Athletic Commission), "UFC president Dana White said he’s not going to require the fighters to change anything about the way they behave. That means alcohol stays in the house and the fighters are free to do what they please when they please."

White was quoted in the article as saying, "If you take any young guys, from a frat house, and put them alone and together you’re going to get that kind of stuff. Welcome to dealing with young guys. I’ve talked to the pro skaters and snowboarders and they helicopter guys up to a house and sometimes they get snowed in. They told me that some of the [expletive] that happens with those guys makes what happened on The Ultimate Fighter look like a joke.”

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Random Thoughts on a Variety of Topics
by Ivan Trembow

-One Blemish on an Otherwise Excellent Show: The only part of UFC Primetime's first episode that wasn't excellent was the whole angle of, “BJ Penn is taking a vacation and Dana White is angry about it!” If that came across on TV as a fake, manufactured storyline, that's because it was a fake, manufactured storyline.

The fake, manufactured storyline is not that BJ Penn took a few days off, because he did take a few days off.

The fake, manufactured storyline is that this is anything out of the ordinary for top-level MMA fighters a couple of weeks before a big fight.

This kind of thing happens all the time in an effort to ensure that the fighters "peak" at fight time instead of a couple of weeks before fight time, and the UFC knows this very well.

But it was portrayed on the show like this: "Oh my god, BJ Penn just stopped training! He's just not taking his training seriously!" And then in Episodes 2 and 3 when they show footage of Penn training hard, it's going to be portrayed like this: "Wow, BJ Penn is once again serious about training... he slipped up a couple of weeks before the fight, but now he's serious again, just in time for the big fight!"

It's not that Penn taking a few days off is manufactured. It's the acting for the cameras like it's a big deal, or alarming, or even unusual that is manufactured.

I agree with Bloody Elbow's Luke Thomas, who wrote, "I'd like to see deeper looks into the fighters themselves, their rivalry, their similarities, their differences and their first fight than any manufactured storyline."

-California Commission Clears Gilbert Yvel: Sickeningly enough, the California State Athletic Commission has cleared Gilbert Yvel to fight on the Affliction show, as long as he passes the standard medical tests. I was very surprised and disappointed to hear that California granted Yvel the license that Nevada's commission would not.

No matter what Yvel told the CSAC about how well he's going to behave, and even if he does behave as a responsible martial artist in his fight against Josh Barnett, doesn't brutally attacking a referee the way that he did in 2004 --- under any circumstances --- warrant a lifetime ban from any state with an athletic commission? If it's not an official lifetime ban, then how about a de-facto lifetime ban of "we're never going to license you," which is pretty much what Yvel has in Nevada?

I know that Yvel has a million reasons for why the referee angered him, and he told many of them to the Nevada commission, but I tend to think that a fighter should never attack a referee no matter what the reasons. In a similar situation recently with a crooked, biased referee officiating his fight, Gary Goodridge simply walked out on the fight, losing by forfeit. Nobody made Yvel attack that referee, no matter what his reasons are. Factor in all of Yvel's other disqualification losses, and the decision to license him becomes all the more ridiculous.

Fights in January that I Am Eagerly Anticipating:

-Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn at UFC 94

-Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Day of Reckoning

-Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva at UFC 94

Fights in January that I Can't Believe Are on the Main Cards of Major Shows:

-Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones at UFC 94 (seriously, this fight gets on the main card while the #2-ranked welterweight in the world, Jon Fitch, gets a prelim fight?)

-Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel at Affliction: Day of Reckoning (it's a disgrace for Yvel to be cleared by an athletic commission to fight anyone)

-Rousimar Palhares vs. Jeremy Horn at UFC 93 (Horn has lost four of his last six fights and has looked very uninspired in all four of those losses)

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:22 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Random Thoughts on a Variety of Topics
by Ivan Trembow

-UFC Primetime Debuts: After watching the first episode of UFC Primetime, I think it’s a very well produced show that is also a lot like HBO’s 24/7 series. It’s amazing to me (although no longer particularly surprising) to see how much the MMA media has been fawning all over the Primetime.

For a company that bashes every aspect of boxing as consistently as the UFC does, they sure don’t have a problem with emulating boxing-style promotion of a big fight. Wow, you mean that stuff filmed this week will be on the show just a day or two later? Oh my god, what a unique idea. It’s amazing to see how many web sites have described Primetime in that way (as if it’s a revolutionary concept), without also using the words “just like 24/7.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with copying 24/7; it’s just hypocritical for the UFC to bash boxing all the time and then to duplicate 24/7 so blatantly. The style in which the music played over the training footage, the close-up camera angles on the fighters’ faces as they’re being interviewed, the footage of their home lives… it was all very well done, and it was all very much like 24/7... and again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Hopefully, there will be more of this kind of show in the future. In contrast to the Trash TV of The Ultimate Fighter, Primetime treats the sport with the dignity that it deserves.

-K-1 Dynamite a Mixed Bag: Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez and Daisuke Nakamura vs. Hideo Tokoro were very good fights. The various freak show match-ups were not.

-UFC's Awards for Best Fights of 2008: It’s April Fool’s Day three months early with what must be a tongue-in-cheek article on the UFC’s web site about the best fights of 2008. When they had an article in early 2008 about the best fights of 2007, I laighed when they had Griffin-Bonnar II in their honorable mentions for Fight of the Year, but they’ve really out-done themselves this time! Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin? Paul Kelly vs. Paul Taylor? Antoni Hardonk vs. Eddie Sanchez? Chris Lytle vs. Paul Taylor? Aaron Riley vs. Jorge Gurgel? The Onion has nothing on them when it comes to satire, apparently.

-Affliction's Second MMA Event Coming Up: Affliction's first MMA event did better business than I thought it would from a PPV standpoint, but it will be hard for the second show to come anywhere close to that. It was funny to hear how delusional Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was during the recent press conference for Affliction's event. Affliction’s Tom Antencio said something like, “We know we’re not the UFC. The UFC is like the Q-Tip of MMA. We’re just trying to put on great shows.” Then minutes later, Cohen must have been confused because he said, “Just like Tom said, we are going to be the Q-Tip of MMA!”

Cohen also hilariously said, “Many members of the media have said that this is the MMA card of the century!” It’s a good card, sure, but I don’t recall even one member of the media (much less “many”) who has called it the event “of the century.”

Like some of his fellow MMA promoters, Atencio has also made a habit out of blatantly lying about business figures. Atencio's blatant lies will make it very hard to feel sorry for him when his MMA promotion goes out of business, which is what's going to happen if his second show loses as much money as his first.

-UFC's Lack of Competition Nothing to Celebrate: With that said (regarding Affliction potentially going out of business), the lack of legit competition to the UFC is nothing to celebrate. Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson is a good match-up, but not as the main event of a PPV event, especially when PPVs cost $45. The same was true of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves last year. If the UFC had more legitimate competition, they would have much less of an ability to get away with sometimes offering sub-standard product at full price.

If the only defense to the sub-standard PPV main events is that they're inevitable when the UFC runs so many PPV events, then it’s a cop-out because nobody is forcing them to run 12 or 13 PPV events per year. So far, it has generally only been a few times per year that they have PPV main events that aren’t worthy of being PPV main events, so I’d much rather have 10 PPV events per year and have all of them be worthy of being $45 PPVs than have 12 per year and have a few of those with sub-standard main events.

If, theoretically, the UFC decided to cut two PPV events per year from their schedule, they could still have the same number of total main card slots in which to showcase fighters if they were to also add two free TV events per year to their schedule (or, for that matter, they could add more than that). They run into these problems where they are scrambling to fill all of the PPV main event slots with great fights, but that would happen less often if they didn’t have quite as many PPV main events that they had to book in the first place.

Labels: Boxing, K-1 / K-1 MMA News, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:31 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Zuffa Makes #2-Ranked Jon Fitch a Prelim Fighter Again
by Ivan Trembow

In his first fight after his excellent title match against Georges St. Pierre and his first fight since the UFC/AKA contract dispute, Jon Fitch has been relegated to being a preliminary fighter on the UFC's January 31st event, according to the UFC’s own web site.

This comes on the heels of Yushin Okami's fight on this Saturday's show being relegated to prelim status in favor of both Cheick Kongo versus a fighter making his UFC debut; and C.B. Dollaway versus a fighter making his UFC debut.

Not only is the Fitch fight being slotted below the Karo Parisyan main card bout (in Parisyan’s first fight since he pulled out of a fight at the last minute); not only is the Fitch fight being slotted below the Nathan Diaz-Clay Guida main card bout; but freaking Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones is a main card fight while the #2-ranked welterweight in the world is in the prelims. Unbelievable.

I guess the UFC felt that they needed to send even more of a message to Fitch and his management than they already did. After all, when fear, intimidation, and making examples out of people is how you run your business, you have to follow through with severe consequences when someone doesn't immediately sign something that you ordered them to sign, right?

Being unfairly relegated to the prelims is something that Fitch has faced before... his first 5 UFC fights were all wins over Brock Larson, Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, and Luigi Fioravanti, and all of them except the Hironaka fight were non-televised prelims.

Now, after three more UFC wins (for a total of eight), and one loss to St. Pierre (for a total of one UFC loss), Fitch is in the prelims again.

There is no justification for this. It is not justifiable for a fighter to match the UFC’s all-time consecutive wins record by beating eight strong opponents in a row, then lose to the #1 fighter in his weight class in a UFC Match of the Year candidate, and then be in the prelims in his next fight.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:35 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Browning & Kaplan Each Planned TUF Antics Ahead of Time; Kaplan Wants Fight of the Night Bonus Just as Much as a Win
by Ivan Trembow

According to three different Ultimate Fighter 8 contestants quoted by the Canadian Press' Neil Davidson, Junie Browning admitted to those contestants at various times that he planned his antics on TUF 8 ahead of time in order to make a big name for himself.

Among the quotes are this one from light heavyweight contestant Krzysztof Soszynski:

"To be honest with you, he did everything for show. It was a whole joke to him. Basically he told me the very first day we met - and before our fights to get into the house - he basically said 'If I get into this house, I'm going to be the crazy guy. I'm going to get out of hand, I'm going to get out of control, I'm going to pull whatever I can just to get ratings, to become the character that I want to become.' He said he was going to become the worst Chris Leben ever."

And this one from light heavyweight contestant Ryan Bader:

"I saw him a couple of weeks ago at UFC 91. He told me 'Bader, that's not really me,' this and that, but he still has that in him obviously for him to do that kind of stuff. He has some problems as far as that. But I think a couple of things he was hamming it up for the cameras, knowing he was going into that bad guy mold already, that he might as well go full steam ahead and definitely be talked about."

And this one from lightweight contestant Efrain Escudero:

"Escudero said Browning confessed one on one: "'I'm sorry guys, I don't usually do this but I just want to be on TV.'"

So, Browning did all of that to make a name for himself, and guess what? It worked. The UFC rewarded him for his behavior.

Instead of nipping Browning’s behavior in the bud by kicking him off the show the first time he did something that warranted being kicked off (or the second time), they built the whole season around him, they didn’t kick him off the show (and thus out of the UFC) even after five separate offenses that individually warranted being kicked off, and they gave him the one and only main card fight on the live finale that involves TUF 8 contestants who were not tournament finalists.

Can you imagine what the behavior of the contestants will be on future TUF seasons now that they have seen someone do five different things that warrant being kicked off the show and still not be kicked off?

Actually, I’m sure that the UFC, Spike TV, and the show’s producers can imagine what kind of behavior that message is going to further encourage, and they probably view that as a good thing: Even more hijinks to come on future seasons!

Dave Kaplan is another fighter who "made a name for himself" with his drunken antics, and of all the lightweight fighters from the show who did not make the tournament finals, he just happened to be the one that the UFC chose to fight Browning in the only main card fight that does not involve tournament finalists.

Based on this interview on USA Today’s web site, it looks like Kaplan planned the same kind of thing as Browning, and he was rewarded for it just like Browning. Kaplan said:

“I think I did a good job. There was definitely some things that I may have changed and there’s something that I might wish I might’ve done a little bit more of. But as far as, with letting Tom punch me in the face, that went 100% the way that we wanted to. … It’s one of the main events of the show, if they do a top 25 best moments of all the shows, that one gets part of it, so I’m happy with that. I feel like I was definitely one of the memorable people. Junie obviously, was one, if not the most memorable. But other than him, I mean, I get recognized everywhere I go. there’s a lot of guys, guys fighting in the finals now that didn’t make that much of an impression, as far as in the house and stuff like that. I felt like I did exactly what I wanted to do. I’m fighting on TV on Saturday just like they are, so obviously I did.”

In the same interview, Kaplan displays a Marcus Davis/Chris Lytle kind of attitude that the most important thing is not to do your best and win quickly and decisively if possible, but to go out there and have an epic back-and-forth fight so that you can get the UFC's Fight of the Night bonus:

“I don’t care about the winning or losing as far as, that’s not my main goal. I want this fight to be talked about more than the finals are talked about and I think that it has the possibility because of both of our styles of being that kind of battle… there’s a part of me that wants it to go 15 minutes. Because I want that Fight of the Night, and I want that battle, and the back-and-forth, both of us putting it on the line and punching. If I bleed that’d be awesome; if he bleeds, that’d be awesome. That’s what I want. I want the Fight of the Night; I want that extra 30, 40 grand that you get for that, and if you beat somebody quick, you’re not going to necessarily get that.”

Additionally, Browning's coach on The Ultimate Fighter, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, has come out strongly against the UFC's decision to reward Browning with a main card fight on the live finale:

"Putting him on the main card, it does reward his behavior. It shows people that if you act like a moron or idiot, you'll get face time. That equals money, so it's creating a shortcut, and they don't have to invest as much time into fighting... I realize that Spike has to sell TV time, and I understand that's part of the whole game, but as far as me as a martial artist I find it an insult."

Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. It's not a black-and-white choice between Trash TV and no show at all. Luke Thomas of BloodyElbow.com put it very well when he wrote:

"I disagree with Mir that there is an inevitability to it all. There is an enormous universe of interesting content between watching fighters train and watching them ingest one another's bodily fluids. It's nothing more than a poverty of imagination and reliance on the lowest common denominator that prevents Spike's producers from delivering that sort of content. Hopefully some of the pushback from this season will scale back the boorish nonsense we were subjected to this time around."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:45 PM

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Boxing--- Wow, what a performance by Manny Pacquiao in his fight against Oscar de la Hoya on Saturday night. Most of the discussion going into the fight was about De la Hoya's size advantage, but it ended up being Pacquiao's speed advantage that made the difference.

Pacquiao's strategy was very similar to his strategy in the fight earlier this year against lightweight title-holder David Diaz, and that was an equally one-sided beating.

Pacquiao’s performance was one of the most masterful performances I have seen in combat sports in many years, especially given that just last year De la Hoya had a very competitive fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Going into the fight, I wasn't sure who was going to win, but it was clear that Pacquiao had all the tools to beat De la Hoya and at least had a chance of winning. It’s unbelievable how many people in the sports media were saying, “De la Hoya will automatically win because he’s bigger.” Yes, that gave him an advantage, but no, that did not automatically mean that he was going to win.

Mixed Martial Arts--- Most pro wrestlers are afraid to do anything that might displease Vince McMahon, even if they have just been released from WWE, and it appears that some MMA fighters are afraid to do anything that might displease Dana White, even if they have just been released from the UFC.

Just as some pro wrestlers avoid signing with TNA Wrestling to avoid upsetting McMahon, recently released UFC fighter Jorge Gurgel said in an interview with CBS Sportsline that he didn't want to sign with Affliction's MMA promotion in part because he didn't want to get "black-listed."

Gurgel said: "Apparently, Dana [White] and the UFC do not like Affliction. I do not want to go to a place that the UFC does not like and have the possibility of getting black-listed."

Kickboxing--- Why on earth did HDNet hire Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson to do color commentary for the U.S. broadcast of the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals? It would be bad enough to hire Ferguson to do commentary for an MMA event, but this was a kickboxing event. It's as if HDNet was so excited to get an interview with Ferguson that they thought, “To heck with booking him in a long interview segment on Inside MMA; let's put him on commentary for the biggest event of the year in a sport in which he has never competed"!

Mixed Martial Arts--- Here's a quote from UFC welterweight Marcus Davis about his upcoming fight against Chris Lytle:

"We’ve both been like, ‘I respect you, respect what you do, but a fight between each other is money in the bank.' I basically said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it and the first guy to take the other guy down is a p--sy.'"

These kinds of statements are disgraceful and are yet another example of the glorification of C-level kickboxing within MMA.

Labels: Boxing, K-1 / K-1 MMA News, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:14 PM

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Sleazeball Promoters and Trash TV: What The Ultimate Fighter Has Become
by Ivan Trembow

After two weeks of commercials on Spike TV that prominently advertised Junie Browning's fourth meltdown on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, I wrote the following late Tuesday night about what I expected to happen on Wednesday night's show:

"I think it's likely that after Browning's fourth major incident, viewers are going to be subjected to a sanctimonious speech from Dana White about how the UFC won't stand for that kind of behavior, and then he'll finally kick Browning off the show, oblivious or apathetic to the fact that keeping Browning on the show after the previous three incidents has already made a mockery of the show's credibility."

Clearly, the mistake that I made was overestimating UFC president Dana White's professional integrity.

The three previous incidents that each could have and should have resulted in Browning being kicked off the show were throwing a glass at Kyle Kingsbury, getting into a poolside scuffle with Ryan Bader, and jumping over the Octagon fence in an aggressive, looking-for-a-fight manner after another contestant's official MMA match had just ended.

In the 12th and final pre-taped episode of the season, Browning threw a glass at fellow contestant Shane Primm's head and proceeded to throw two punches at Primm. Either of those actions would have warranted kicking Browning off the show, so at this point there were five different actions that should have resulted in Browning being kicked off the show.

Due to the previous three incidents, the hit to the show's credibility and to UFC president Dana White's own credibility would have been bad enough if he had come into the house at that point and given the usual sanctimonious speech about how they don't tolerate that kind of behavior.

Instead, based on his subsequent words and actions, White came into the house appearing to already have the storyline worked out in his mind to justify the unjustifiable and keep Browning on the show (and in the UFC).

White framed the issue as if the only way for "justice to be served" (as he put it) was for Browning to stay on the show so that he could fight in the semi-finals and possibly lose in the semi-finals to Efrain Escudero, as opposed to being kicked off the show without losing a fight during the process.

White set up the false premise that the other fighters in the house would be the one to determine Browning's fate, then quickly negated any chance of the fighters saying that Browning should be kicked off the show by essentially making it a question of the fighters' manhood.

While talking about whether he should kick Browning off the show or not, White asked Browning's scheduled opponent, Escudero, "You wanna f--king beat his ass, right?"

Well, when the issue is framed in that context, what do you think Escudero is going to say? "No, I don't want to beat his ass"? Of course not. Instead, the answer was exactly what White counted on it to be: "Yes, I do."

At no point during this process did White mention on the show that the decision on whether to kick Browning off the show or not is also the difference between Browning being released from the UFC like many other TUF contestants before him, or Browning continuing to be in the UFC whether he wins in the semi-finals or loses in the semi-finals.

Despite the tagline of, "8 Fighters, 1 Contract" or "16 Fighters, 1 Contract," the opposite has always been the case with TUF. All of the fighters are already under long-term UFC contracts unless the UFC releases them. If you can just make it through the show without getting kicked off of it for behavioral reasons, you are almost guaranteed a fight on the live season finale line-up, even though it won't be in the tournament finals.

Heck, the fighter who gets tapped out in the semi-finals of TUF (like C.B. Dollaway) could very well be the same fighter who is on the main card of a major PPV event later that same year, while the #5-ranked middleweight in the world (Yushin Okami) languishes on the untelevised preliminary card.

Ultimate Fighter contestants who don't actually win the TUF tournaments are afforded far more of those kinds of opportunities in the UFC than non-TUF-contestants; the Dollaway-Okami debacle is merely the latest and most sickening example.

Of course, the issue wasn't framed on the show in the context of Browning being kicked out of the UFC or Browning not being kicked out of the UFC and actually continuing to fight in the UFC whether he wins or loses in the semi-finals. No, it was presented to the other fighters as, "You wanna f--king beat his ass, right?" and it was presented to viewers at home as, "You wanna f--king see him get his ass beat, right?"

White also presented the ridiculous argument on the show that Browning would have been able to tell people in his hometown that he was kicked off of TUF for being so much of a bad-ass, as if that factor is equal in its importance to the show's remaining credibility being destroyed.

Keeping Junie Browning in the UFC after five separate actions that would have individually warranted kicking him off the show and out of the UFC is not "justice being served," as White said. It's White acting like a sleazeball promoter. That's what it is.

One must also keep in mind the message that this sends to future TUF contestants. When the UFC actually does want to send a message about something to other fighters, they do that by making examples out of people. (Ask Jon Fitch about that for verification.)

In Browning's case, instead of sending a message of that kind of behavior not being tolerated, the exact opposite message has been sent.

"Act like an idiot, do things that could and should get you kicked off the show, and we'll build an entire season around you and keep you in the UFC instead of kicking you out of TUF and outside of the UFC."

That's the message that has been sent to the contestants on the next four seasons of TUF. After letting Browning get away with five different actions that should have gotten him kicked off the show, one can only imagine what the contestants are going to do on future seasons of TUF, and perhaps that was the point of the UFC making the decisions that they made. In fact, it would be naive to think that such a message being sent so blatantly was completely unintentional ("You're actually a great reality TV star," White told Browning).

Just this week, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta was quoted in The Atlantic as saying that The Ultimate Fighter was meant to "let people see kind of how these guys are, that they’re not thugs."

Really? Because I'm pretty sure that this season of the show would have accomplished the opposite to new and old fans alike.

A new viewer of mixed martial arts would have watched this season of TUF and would have been disgusted to see that mentally unstable drunkards are seemingly among the top up-and-coming fighters in the sport, that their behavior is tolerated and even rewarded with endless amounts of camera time, and that the show that is supposedly the breeding ground for the next big stars in the sport of MMA is actually just another Trash TV reality series.

A long-time viewer with a greater understanding of what they're watching would share the same thoughts and would also be disgusted to see just how much Dana White is willing to prostitute the show and the sport for an extra 0.3 of a ratings point.

Update: Wow, this takes shameless to a new level. Not only is Junie Browning still in the UFC and still fighting on the season finale card as I speculated earlier, but according to the UFC's web site, he's actually on the main card that will be airing on Spike TV.

Browning's opponent in that main card bout is none other than the second-biggest drunkard of the season, Dave Kaplan, who taught us all that concussions are to be treated as a funny thing when he got filthy-drunk and begged light heavyweight Tom Lawlor to knock him unconscious (which he did).

Meanwhile, fighters who did not frequently get piss-drink and make fools of themselves (such as Krzysztof Soszynski, Eliot Marshall, John Polakowski, George Roop, Shane Primm, Jules Bruchez, and Roli Delgado) have been relegated to the untelevised prelims on the same night.

Now, when the UFC says that they don't "encourage" drunken idiocy on TUF, they won't be "kind of lying," they'll be flat-out lying.

If it wasn't already made crystal-clear by Dana White's decision to not kick Browning off the show, despite five separate actions that warranted being kicked off the show, the message has been made all the more clear to future TUF contestants on how they should behave if they want to get a prominent push from the UFC.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:20 AM

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Surprise, Surprise! Another Incident Involving Junie Browning on Tonight's TUF
by Ivan Trembow

I am looking forward to tonight's loaded WEC show, headlined by Miguel Torres vs. Manny Tapia, but I am not looking forward to tonight's installments of The Ultimate Drunkard (also known as The Ultimate Fighter).

When the decision was made earlier in the season to not kick Junie Browning off the show even though he did multiple things that would have individually warranted being kicked off the show, any remaining doubt was removed about whether the powers-that-be have any faith left in the concept of "a bunch of young fighters struggle to earn their way into the TUF finals" (as opposed to the "get a bunch of Type-A personalities wasted and film the ensuing chaos" concept).

Zuffa president Dana White has said in recent interviews that the final decision was his alone to make, and that everyone else involved in the production of the show was shocked that Browning was not kicked off.

Later in the season, the show devolved further into the realm of Trash TV and actually sunk lower than Trash TV ever has, as several members of Team Nogueira ate a platter of fruit salad without knowing that several members of Team Mir had urinated in it; and Dave Kaplan ate some sushi without knowing that Kyle Kingsbury had mixed his semen into it (I can't believe I just wrote that sentence).

And now that the season is coming to an end, what better time to dip back to the depths of Trash TV? As the commercials on Spike TV have been prominently advertising for the past two weeks, Junie Browning goes nuts again and is shown in the commercial swinging at another contestant, which would be the fourth thing that Browning has done that would normally warrant kicking a contest off of the show (the first three were throwing a glass at Kyle Kingsbury, getting into a poolside altercation with Ryan Bader, and jumping over the Octagon fence in an aggressive, looking-for-a-fight manner after another contestant's official MMA fight had just ended).

As I wrote earlier in the season when the UFC made the decision not to kick Browning off the show, "You think there's going to be another incident of some kind involving Junie Browning before the season wraps? Of course there is, and that's the point." By not kicking Browning off the show, another volatile situation or near-fight in the house was almost guaranteed to break out at some point.

I think it's likely that after Browning's fourth major incident, viewers are going to be subjected to a sanctimonious speech from Dana White about how the UFC won't stand for that kind of behavior, and then he'll finally kick Browning off the show, oblivious or apathetic to the fact that keeping Browning on the show after the previous three incidents has already made a mockery of the show's credibility.

To a degree, it has always been like this on TUF, but this time around, viewers have been practically beaten over the head with it.

At this point, it takes a special kind of "naive" to think that Browning's behavior is not what the UFC wants from at least one contestant on each season.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 3:52 AM

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"Champions' Clauses" and Potty-Mouthed Executives
by Ivan Trembow

Unless Georges St. Pierre has signed a new contract in the past few months, his fight against B.J. Penn on January 31 is the final fight on his UFC contract.

However, due to the "champions' clause" in UFC contracts, St. Pierre is considered to be under UFC contract at the same pay rate for as long as he holds the UFC Welterweight Title. This clause allows the UFC to extend a fighter's contract for one year or three fights at the same pay rate when he successfully defends a title.

If he holds the title for the rest of his career and retires, then he would be under UFC contract for the rest of his life.

What's not entirely clear is what happens if he loses the title to Penn on January 31. Would he become a free agent? Or would he still be locked into the same pay rate until one year/three fights from his last successful title defense, which was a decision win over Jon Fitch in August 2008?

Either way, St. Pierre is likely to stay with the UFC (based on the fact that he has publicly said so); it's just a matter of whether he is locked into the same pay rate by the "champions' clause."

Update: Michael Rome of BloodyElbow.com reports that St. Pierre has signed a new contract with the UFC.

Potty-Mouthed Executives
There was a mini-scandal in the NFL last week when the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns used one profanity in an e-mail to a fan.

Also last week, Dana White posted the following message about MMA Mania on the Underground Forum through his surrogates: ""Suck my [expletive]! The day a [expletive] website knows more about UFC business deals I have made than I do will... just [expletive] these [expletive]. If they're headlining their [expletive] in a way that even comes close to claiming I [expletive] said "[expletive] Fitch for not signing a video game agreement" then they're [expletive] scumbag [expletive]!""

Apparently, we have lower standards for MMA executives.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:44 PM

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The Effect of Super-Heavyweights on MMA; More on UFC/AKA Debacle
by Ivan Trembow

Zach Arnold of FightOpinion.com asked an interesting question following Brock Lesnar's win over Randy Couture. Lesnar weighs in at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds and then walks into the Octagon the next day at 275 to 280 pounds, which prompted this question:

“So, how much of an issue will weight be, given the result of this fight? If Lesnar is a natural super-heavyweight..."

The first thing this will mean is that anyone who is 230 pounds or lower will be cutting weight shortly before their fights to make the light heavyweight of 205 pounds. Actually, that is what already happens in the majority of cases anyway.

On a wider level, if natural super-heavyweights fighting at heavyweight becomes the norm (ie, fighters stepping into the cage at 275+ pounds) the fighters that it’s really going to negatively affect are the fighters whose natural weight is in the 230 to 249 pound range.

Those fighters are the ones who would really be in a tough situation. If they try to cut to light heavyweight, it will be very difficult for them to lose enough weight to make 205 pounds, even by MMA's extreme weight-cutting standards.

If they choose to stay in the heavyweight division, it will also be very difficult for them to fight against fighters who outweigh them by huge amounts of weight. It may be a disadvantageous situation either way for fighters in the 230 to 249 pound range, and that's a lot of fighters.

More on UFC/AKA Debacle
According to what Jon Fitch said in a video interview with MMA Rated, what happened during the Lorenzo Fertitta coversation was that Fertitta "give his word" that the merchandising contract was not a permanent thing and that if he "ever wanted to leave," there's a possibility that he could get out of it. Of course, the actual contract says that it's both lifetime and exclusive, as Dana White acknowledged in the USA Today interview.

It's also interesting to note how the UFC is preying on fighters' lack of knowledge about other potential video game deals. We've seen multiple fighters, including Fitch, say something to the effect of, "Come on, who else is going to be want to put ME in a video game?" This demonstrates that they are completely unaware of the fact that the biggest video game publisher in the world, Electronic Arts, also has a mixed martial arts game in the pipeline, and unlike Zuffa/THQ, they are willing to pay fighters to be a part of it. It's not like it would be a huge amount of money, but it shows the fighters not being aware of what they're signing away.

On a related note, it is amusing, but not really surprising, to see that the UFC was crying "poor economy, poor economy" throughout the whole UFC/AKA mess (as well as during seemingly every UFC press conference and interview these days), given that the UFC has publicly mocked boxing promoter Bob Arum for mentioning the poor economy.

Robert Joyner of MMAPayout.com wrote a good editorial about the UFC/AKA situation (available here); as did Sam Caplan of FiveOuncesofPain.com (available here).

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 5:08 PM

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Fear, Intimidation, and Making Examples Out of People: UFC Wins Power Struggle, Fighters Give UFC Lifetime Rights to Their Likenesses
by Ivan Trembow

(Previous entry on this subject: "Sign Away Lifetime Rights to Your Own Likeness, Or You're Fired")

Fear, intimidation, and making examples out of people. If you've followed the MMA industry for long enough, you already know that's how the UFC frequently operates during contract disputes, and they're usually successful at getting what they want. The latest situation, with numerous fighters being unwilling to sign over the lifetime rights to their own likenesses, is no different.

After releasing American Kickboxing Academy fighters Jon Fitch and Christian Wellisch and threatening to oust their entire fight team from the UFC, along with any other fight teams that don't want to be "partners" with the UFC/Zuffa (ie, sign anything that the UFC tells them to sign), the UFC has gotten what it wanted. Fitch and Wellisch have re-signed with the UFC, which now owns the lifetime rights to their likenesses. Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, and Cain Velasquez are expected to sign away the lifetime rights to their likenesses shortly.

This situation was perhaps the most abusive example of MMA fighters' need for a union, but that was only going to happen if the fighters or their management teams united in the face of the UFC's despotic actions. Instead, the opposite may have happened. The purpose of the UFC's actions was to scare the living daylights out of any fighter or management team that dared to defy the UFC's orders to sign anything that the UFC wants them to sign, and the UFC appears to have been successful in that effort.

Sam Caplan of FiveOuncesofPain.com spoke with numerous MMA fighters' managers, and even early in the process, they were already scurrying for cover to avoid angering the UFC giant, lest they suffer the same fate as Fitch and his camp. Caplan wrote in one of his first articles on the subject, "No one wants to get on Dana White’s bad side. For an agency to alienate themselves from the UFC is considered to be an act of suicide. Nobody likes the terms of the deal being offered, but thus far everyone appears ready to be bracing themselves to take a bite out of the s--t sandwich."

In a subsequent article that was written after he spoke with even more MMA fighters' managers, Caplan wrote, "In a clear attempt to try and entice fighters to leave AKA and Zinkin [Fitch's fight team and management], White sent a message to non-UFC fighters that train at the gym by intimating that their prospects of fighting for the promotion are damaged as long as they are affiliated with the AKA or Zinkin."

The headline of one of Caplan's articles summed up the situation well: "Fitch’s release a calculated attempt to send fighters and their managers a message."

As Robert Joyner wrote on MMAPayout.com in an article that was aptly headlined simply by the word Brazen, "We knew [the UFC] would look at some unethical ways to get the deals done... but not in our wildest dreams did we have the notion that the UFC would basically go to war with its own fighters in order to get the merchandise agreement signed. For all intents and purposes Dana [White] has taken AKA out into the middle of town square and shot them in the head, making an example for the rest of the village. Sign the merchandise agreements or this could be you."

Later on Thursday, American Top Team manager Dan Lambert went into UFC ass-kissing mode in an interview with MMA Junkie, effectively distancing himself and his camp from the fighters and managers who were not being obedient and signing what the UFC told them to sign.

The only prominent manager who spoke up and said anything that might anger the UFC giant was Monte Cox, who said to Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross, "I just think it's unfortunate... What if the UFC decides they're doing a new calendar? If a guy doesn't want to pose, do they cut him for that, too?"

The Sports Illustrated article also said that Cox will "likely" advise his clients not to sign away the lifetime rights to their likenesses, which could indicate that the UFC's next power struggle will be with Cox and the many UFC fighters that he manages.

Despite publicly saying, "F--k him. F--k them. All of them, every last f--king one of them" about Fitch and the other fighters who would not sign the UFC merchandising agreements, Dana White said in an interview with USA Today that he had no problem at all with Fitch or any of the other individual fighters. He said repeatedly that he just had a problem with their management.

If anything, doesn't that make White's actions worse? He had a problem with someone's managers, so in order to send a message to those managers, inflict pain on those managers, and put pressure on those managers, he released Fitch. Treating the #2-ranked welterweight in the world (or any fighter, for that matter) like a lowly pawn in his own power struggles is supposed to make White's actions less reprehensible instead of more reprehensible?

Fitch seemed to be aware of the bigger picture, as he said on Mauro Ranallo's radio show on Thursday, "It’s 100 percent a power play... They are coming out and they are trying to break us. They are trying to break Zinkin Entertainment and get us to jump off a ship. They are trying to send a message to the rest of the [fighters] out there."

Fitch also spoke again about White's negotiation style, which is essentially to sign what he tells you to sign, or else. Fitch said, "He made those threats. ‘What are you going to do? Where are you going to go? Good luck trying to fight somewhere else.’ This was in the process of the negotiating. This is what he was saying to us.”

The UFC started its very calculated game of chicken by first releasing Fitch's teammate, Christian Wellisch. Then, when Wellisch's teammates still wouldn't sign the merchandising agreements that the UFC ordered them to sign, Fitch was released next. Regarding Wellisch, Fitch told Sherdog, "They cut him from the organization first, I think as kind of a scare for me and [Josh] Koscheck and Cain [Velasquez]." Undefeated heavyweight prospect Velasquez would have almost certainly been next, given that White told Yahoo Sports that Velasquez "can get the f--k out."

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Fitch said, "To have this happen is crazy. This sport is definitely not about fighting anymore. It used to be about finding out who the best guy was, what the best style was. It's not about that anymore. It's about the top company making the most money."

Fitch also said to Sports Illustrated, "I just hope the other guys, the younger guys, everybody else involved, doesn't let them do this. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your rights. If you don't like an agreement or you're not comfortable with it, don't sign."

Of course, less than 24 hours after he said that, Fitch signed.

As I wrote early this morning, the comments of UFC president Dana White in interviews with USA Today and other media outlets had the clear subtext that the UFC was attempting to essentially separate the fighters from their managers, whose job is to look out for the best interests of the fighters, as opposed to just signing whatever the UFC orders the fighters to sign.

The message to fighters was clear: If you want to keep fighting in the UFC, but your manager or lawyer advises you against signing this merchandising agreement or any other contractual agreement that may arise in the future, you can and should just circumvent your manager, contact the UFC directly, and sign whatever we tell you to sign.

On Thursday, after more unproductive conversations with White, Fitch contacted White's boss, Lorenzo Fertitta, and eventually agreed to sign the same exact contractual clauses that White was trying threaten Fitch and his teammates into signing on Wednesday.

It wasn't the first time that Fertitta has been forced to play "Good Cop" after one of White's outbursts directed at fighters or their managers. Who had to handle Randy Couture's recent contract negotiations? Who had to handle Tito Ortiz' last few UFC contracts? Who had to handle the negotiations to buy Pride FC? Who would have to handle any potential future negotiations with Fedor Emelianenko after all of White's public insults towards Fedor and his camp? Lorenzo Fertitta.

In an interview with USA Today after he had agreed to re-sign with the UFC and sign away the lifetime rights to his likeness, Fitch said, "We talked to Dana [White] earlier today and we didn't get any further. We were still stuck in the mud. The way he talks to us, it just doesn't come across well, and I have a hard time dealing with him."

Fitch also said to MMA Rated on Thursday, "Communication kind of broke down with Dana [White], so we talked with Lorenzo [Fertitta]. I just got off the phone with him, and we came to an agreement. We’re going to move ahead, and I’ll be back in the UFC... we felt Dana was being a little bit hot-headed and was threatening us right off the bat. It didn’t seem like a professional way of doing things."

If you're wondering why Fitch would sign the lifetime rights to his own likeness over to a company that had just used him as a pawn in their own power struggles, had said "f--k... every last f--king one of them" regarding Fitch and his teammates, was threatening fighters into signing away the lifetime rights to their own likenesses, and is still threatening the same consequences to other fighters who don't agree to sign away the lifetime rights to their likenesses, the answer is pretty simple.

It's because, after all, "Where else is he going to go?" That is frequently the position that the UFC takes in contract negotiations with fighters. That is the specific statement that White made to Fitch's camp; that is what White said in his interview with USA Today ("Where the hell else could Jon Fitch go right now?"); and that is what UFC matchmaker Joe Silva was quoted as saying by the Houston Chronicle last year ("Where else is he going to go?") in regards to Andrei Arlovski's contract situation when he had one fight left on his UFC contract.

It would be naive to think that the lifetime merchandising agreements are going to be the final legally questionable contracts that UFC fighters are going to be forced into signing in the coming months and years.

The attitude of, "Where else is he going to go?" combined with the lack of a fighters' union or any form of collective bargaining will ensure that the fighters can't, as Fitch put it, "stand up for their rights" without permanently crippling their careers. And as long as that's the case, the UFC is going to continue to prey on that.

The fact that this has been horrible P.R. for the UFC doesn't appear to matter to them. They have succeeded in sending a strong message to any fighter or manager who is even thinking about refusing to sign anything that the UFC orders them to sign in the future. The UFC got what they wanted, and they got it the same way that they often get what they want in contract negotiations: Through fear, intimidation, and making examples out of people.

It was about a year ago that UFC president Dana White said in an interview that the most important thing for him is to be able to know that his kids don't have a "sleazeball promoter" for a father. It's not clear if that's the case anymore.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 9:21 PM

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UFC Management to All UFC Fighters: "Sign Away Lifetime Rights to Your Own Likeness, Or You're Fired"
by Ivan Trembow

After spending the past several months applying heavy pressure to its roster of fighters to sign new merchandising agreements and now releasing/firing fighters who won't, the UFC's management has inadvertently made the strongest case that has ever been made that MMA fighters need to have a union.

The merchandising agreements that Zuffa is attempting to threaten fighters into signing (ie, sign it or you're going to be released) requires the fighters to sign over to Zuffa/UFC the rights to those fighters' own likenesses, and not just for the length of their contract, or for five years, or for ten years. The fighters must sign over the rights to their own likenesses for the rest of their lives and even beyond.

When many fighters balked at signing such a ridiculous contract, the members of Zuffa's management did what they normally do whenever there is a contractual disagreement: They played hardball.

Any new fighter coming into the UFC had no choice in the matter: You either sign the contract that permanently signs away the rights to your own likeness, or you won't be signing with the UFC. Among the fighters who have shown no willingness to sign away their lifetime rights to the UFC is Fedor Emelianenko, the #1-ranked heavyweight in the sport.

In the cases of fighters who are already under contract to the UFC, Zuffa used a different de-facto threat: Sign the merchandising contract or we're going to release you.

After a little back-and-forth that likely consisted of something like, "No, seriously, we're not going to sign away the lifetime rights to our own likenesses" and then, "Yes, you are, because you've got nowhere else to make money in this business and you have to sign whatever we tell you to sign," the other shoe finally dropped and the UFC has started releasing/firing fighters who will not sign the merchandising contracts.

The first high-profile causuality of this edition of "The Threatening Game" was Jon Fitch, who is the #2-ranked welterweight fighter in the world according to MMAWeekly's World MMA Rankings. Fitch is tied with Royce Gracie for the all-time record of most consecutive wins in the UFC, as he went 8-0 in his first eight UFC fights before finally losing to #1-ranked welterweight Georges St. Pierre by unanimous decision this past August. Even with the loss to St. Pierre, Fitch remains a strong #2 in the worldwide welterweight rankings, in part because of his stellar record and in part because of the fact that he previously fought, dominated, and TKO'ed the current #3-ranked welterweight Thiago Alves in a UFC fight.

Of course, none of this matters to Zuffa. Fitch didn't give in to their threats, so now he has been released/fired. So has Christian Wellisch. The UFC intends to release any other fighters who do not sign the merchandising contracts, and that list could include such high-profile fighters as Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, and Cain Velasquez.

In a Yahoo Sports article, Zuffa president Dana White actually framed the issue as if the fighters who don't want to sign away the lifetime rights to their own likenesses are the ones who are being unreasonable. White said, "We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so f--king sick of this s--t, it’s not even funny."

Regarding fighters like Fitch who won't give into the UFC's demands to sign the merchandising agreements, White said, "F--k him. These guys aren’t partners with us. F--k them. All of them, every last f--king one of them.”

Regarding undefeated heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez, whom White previously pushed as being potentially the future of the heavyweight division, White said, "Cain f--king Velasquez, with two f--king fights, wants us to change it for him? That’s f--king nuts. He can get the f--k out."

Also on Wednesday night / Thursday morning, White told USA Today, "We don’t do anything wrong. We treat everybody the right way and we treat people the way that we want to be treated.”

As he dug a bigger hole for himself, White used the same kind of rationale in the Yahoo Sports interview that he has used in private negotiations about fighters not having anywhere else to make money if they don't sign with the UFC: “Do these guys understand what is going on in this world? I’ll tell you, this economy is f--cked up. It’s totally f--cked up. It’s bad, real, real bad. The [television] networks are in trouble and don’t have money. The sponsors are in trouble, and they have no money. If they don’t have money, they go out of business. It’s a whole other world out there, believe me, and let these guys go out there and see what they find.”

Of course, the statements about the economy have nothing to do with the merchandising agreements themselves, but they have everything to do with the UFC threatening fighters into signing away their rights by making the case that the fighters are not going to be able to make much money for very long in other MMA companies.

Fitch said in an interview with USA Today, "That was one of the direct threats from Dana himself. He was saying, 'Where are these guys going to go? They have to sign.' ... He was telling us, 'Okay, you're going to get cut. Have fun fighting for Affliction. Where are you guys going to go? You have nowhere to go.' That was in the threat that he used against us. They know that they have more power now. They know that there's no one who really can hold a candle to them."

White certainly can't be making the point that the UFC itself is in any kind of financial trouble. They have $300 million in annual revenue according to S&P. They just had a PPV event with a gross of $54 million if the UFC’s own estimates are accurate (so Zuffa’s share would be roughly $27 million). They have a TV deal that pays them over $33 million per year, and that’s without factoring in the extra fees for numbered UFC events that take place in the U.K. They pay their athletes, as a whole, a lower percentage of gross revenue than the athletes in any other major sport.

As Fitch said to Yahoo Sports, "The first thing they brought to us was for us to sign all of our rights away for everything forever. It was for very small compensation, and there was no compensation for family members if we were to die... We could die and they could make memorial figurines and stuff and make thousands, millions of dollars, and our families wouldn’t see a penny of it. The way they bring the contracts and stuff to us, I don’t know, it’s just not how business is done."

Fitch acknowledged in the interview that he and other fighters were willing to sign away their likenesses for longer than the terms of their UFC contracts, even for up to ten years, but the UFC wanted lifetime rights or nothing. Fitch said, "We tried to negotiate five- or ten-year deals with them, but it wasn’t good enough. It was all or nothing. He wanted our lifetime... I’m more than willing to work with them, but I don’t see why we have to give up our whole lives for this. Why not a time limit? If we did a ten-year deal with them, is that that unreasonable?"

As Fitch told MMAWeekly, "It's not like I've been bad mouthing them or doing anything negative toward the UFC at all. All I've done is go out there and fight my ass off. I'm at a loss. I don't even know what to think right now. I'm still kind of in shock."

Fitch added, "Within two phone calls, it got to, 'Sign this or you guys are out [of the UFC].' ... "They brought this contract to us and basically kicked in our front door, came in guns blazing, and said, 'Sign this contract or you're dead.'"

Fitch elaborated on that point in an interview with USA Today: "They come in and they threaten you and try to bully you. It's really disrespectful. I can't even believe they'd treat someone like this in daily life, let alone business... When's it going to stop? ... What's the next thing they're going to force us into signing?"

It appears as though part of the UFC's motivation for releasing Fitch is to strike fear into other fighters by showing them that anyone, even the #2-ranked welterweight in the world, can be released if they don't sign the merchandising agreement.

As Sam Caplan wrote on Five Ounces of Pain, "With Fitch, the UFC can make a major statement and strike the fear of God into everyone... Sources have stated that UFC officials chose to make an example of Fitch to send a message to other agents and managers. The feeling was that Fitch was expendable and his status as an elite fighter would be an effective way to help try and convince other fighters to fall in line."

Fitch agrees with that sentiment, as he told USA Today, "I think that's one of the things they're trying to do is to publicly break us, or get rid of us, kind of make an example for all of the rest of the fighters."

Indeed, Fitch's release was not the first shot on Wednesday in the UFC's game of fear, intimidation, and making examples out of people in order to get what they want. The first thing they did was release Fitch's teammate, Christian Wellisch. Regarding Wellisch, Fitch told Sherdog, "They cut him from the organization first, I think as kind of a scare for me and [Josh] Koscheck and Cain [Velasquez]."

It's crystal clear in USA Today's interview with Dana White that what the UFC is trying to do is separate the fighters from their managers, whose job is to look out for the best interests of the fighter (as opposed to just signing whatever the UFC orders the fighters to sign).

White cites Mike Swick as an example of a model employee, a “partner” as he words it, who called White personally and said to forget about his management because he’s with the UFC.

White says in the same interview that if Fitch would just call him and do the same thing (ie, separate himself from his management and agree to sign what the UFC wants him to sign), that White would do that in two seconds.

The message to fighters is clear: If you want to keep fighting in the UFC, but your manager or lawyer advises you against signing the merchandising agreement, you can just ditch your manager, contact me directly, and sign whatever I tell you to sign.

In the USA Today interview, White also puts unnamed “other MMA camps” on notice that he’ll cut off all relations with them just like he did with Fitch's camp if they don’t do what he wants.

The Yahoo Sports article also quotes Fitch as saying that he has been a loyal UFC employee and “I’d only like a little bit of respect for the blood I shed for this company.” The next line of the article is, "White said he has sacrificed more than anyone to build the UFC into the powerhouse it has become and that he’s tired of athletes who don’t want to 'get with the program.'"

Really? Dana White has had to work a side-job as a bouncer just to make ends meet, as Fitch did as recently as last year even though he signed with the UFC in 2005? Dana White has looked like this after UFC events, as Fitch did after the St. Pierre fight? Dana White has had ten-week-long training camps away from his family to build the UFC, as many UFC fighters have? Dana White has physically gotten beaten up and had broken bones and concussions to build the UFC, as many UFC fighters have? Dana White has had to train months for a fight that only paid him $3,000, as many UFC fighters have?

White continued to dig the hole deeper for himself in an interview on the Carmichael Dave Radio Show. According to Five Ounces of Pain, White "became so angry that the amount of expletives he used exceeded the station’s delay, prompting Carmichael to place the UFC president on hold."

White also said on the Carmichael Dave show, "It’s like all the media wants to jump up and go ‘Oh, the UFC! The UFC!' Shut up! Shut up. Every one of you, shut your mouth. Mind your business."

He is apparently unaware that covering the sport is the media’s business, not just putting out slightly re-worded press releases.

When Carmichael started to read a quote from a Jon Fitch interview, White interrupted and said, “Do you know how much Jon Fitch made for the Georges St. Pierre fight? Where the hell else could Jon Fitch go right now and make the money he made? He made $169,000 for that night for that fight. Where’s he going to make that kind of money in one night?”

Putting aside the fact that Fitch could very well make more money than that in one night at least in the short-term in another MMA company, this is an attitude that the UFC has consistently shown. They paid a fighter a significant amount of money to main-event a pay-per-view event that generated tens of millions of dollars in gross revenue for Zuffa and millions of dollars in net profit for Zuffa, therefore the fighter owes them some debt of gratitude.

The UFC also makes it a point to always say that they hate talking about money... until the second there’s a contract dispute of some kind, in which case they will voluntarily get very specific, right down to the dollar amount.

It is counter-productive for the UFC to take such a hard stance and to publicly make such fools of themselves while discussing the subject. Zach Arnold of FightOpinion.com put it very well:

"This situation will ensure negative media attention and probably take away a fair amount of good-will that was earned in the major sports media over the weekend with Brock Lesnar’s title win. No other ‘major sport’ has issues like this, but then again most other ‘major sports’ have players associations/unions... I find it rich that Dana White is now playing: the victim card, the economy-sucks card (a few days after a $4.8 million USD gate in Las Vegas and claims of 1.2 million PPV buys), the you-with-me-or-against-me card, and now the we-want-all-your-likenesses-for-life-you-independent-contractor card." (Full article link here)

In conclusion, if there was ever any doubt that fighters need a union, this kind of bullying and threatening behavior by the UFC's management reinforces the need for a union. Through their own hubris, the UFC has actually made the case for a fighters' union in a stronger way than anyone ever has in the past.

Long after this particular situation passes, the UFC is going to continue with this kind of despotic behavior for as long as they can get away with it. Until there is a union, the fighters have no leverage with which to challenge the UFC's behavior.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:27 AM

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WWE Swings at UFC and Misses in Statement Released AFter UFC 91
by Ivan Trembow

Here's an excerpt from WWE's official web site after Brock Lesnar won the UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 91:

Critics have noted that many of the fights on the UFC pay-per-view ended in the first round, leaving UFC producers scrambling to fill the three-hour event with content. The dearth of hearty competition left many viewers to watch less prestigious under-card fights and only served to bolster claims that UFC pay-per-view events can often be a “crap shoot” in regards to filling the full three hours.

Oh boy, where to begin? Well, for starters, Vince McMahon is a petty, desperate, vengeful man who jumps up and down for joy when one of his monthly PPVs draws 200,000 buys in the United States, a number that would make UFC officials vomit.

This statement also demonstrates how clueless and out of touch WWE is. They could have pushed the obvious angle that one of WWE's former wrestlers (excuse me, I mean “WWE superstars”... excuse me, I mean “entertainers”... wait, which term has WWE not banned its announcers from using this week?) just went into the UFC and won the UFC Heavyweight Title in his 4th career MMA fight, and this must mean that lots of other WWE wrestlers could easily do the same thing if they wanted to.

That is an ignorant belief that a lot of fans are going to have as a result of Lesnar’s win (ask Sean O'Haire how accurate it is), and WWE could have played into that belief and added to it.

Instead, they are ringing a completely empty and hollow note about MMA fights ending quickly.

If anyone needed more proof of WWE's management being out of touch with reality, there it is.

McMahon should go back to contributing to and then exploiting his wrestlers’ deaths for profit, and leave MMA alone.

On a somewhat related note, in response to a question about Scott "Raven" Levy's lawsuit against WWE for classifying its wrestlers as "independent contractors" instead of "employees," the case is still pending in court.

From a legal standpoint, there is absolutely no basis on earth that could be used to justify the status of WWE wrestlers being “independent contractors” when they are told where to work, how to work, who to work against, what to wear when they’re not even working, etc. The only possible way that they could get the Scott Levy suit thrown out is if they can do so because of the statute of limitations running out.

It’s interesting to note that in WWE’s legal response to the Levy lawsuit, they did not even attempt to offer one rationalization for wrestlers being classified as independent contractors. They just said that they’ve never been called employees before and that the statute of limitations had expired.

After years of treating wrestlers like pieces of meat to be discarded when their bodies are about to finally give out on them (or if they die while under WWE contract, exploit their deaths in storylines in order to put more heat on their heel characters, as they did after Eddie Guerrero’s death), god forbid they should now have to provide those wrestlers with the health insurance or retirement plans.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 3:45 PM

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UFC 91 Commentary: Riley vs. Gurgel Wins Fight of the Night?
by Ivan Trembow

I can’t believe that the UFC gave Aaron Riley vs. Jorge Gurgel the award for "Fight of the Night" (and the associated $60,000 bonuses) at UFC 91.

Any question of whether the UFC prefers good ground fighting (ie, Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory) or sloppy stand-up fighting (ie, Riley vs. Gurgel) has been answered once again.

There are few things more ignorant or more frustrating than seeing a highly-skilled ground fighter choose to abandon their strengths and instead engage in C-level kickboxing... and for what? To please fans and MMA promoters who love C-level kickboxing? (Apparently, yes.)

Now that whole ignorant mindset has just been reinforced by that fight being awarded "Fight of the Night" by the UFC. Other fighters who may be similar to Jorge Gurgel (or Chris Lytle, who often employs the "Gurgel Strategy" as well) have been sent the message once again, "Don't worry about all that 'ground game' stuff, just go out there and have a sloppy kickboxing match."

With its choices for Fight of the Night favoring sloppy stand-up fights, the UFC is playing into the ignorant misconception that ground fighting is inherently less exciting. Go watch Demian Maia vs. Jason MacDonald, or Wilson Reis vs. Abel Cullum, or any other recent fight that was a great ground fight, and you'll see just how ignorant that misconception is.

I’m also not saying that I’m opposed to stand-up fighting. I’m saying that I’m opposed to good ground fighters intentionally abandoning their strengths in order to instead put on a C-level kickboxing match and hopefully get the Fight of the Night bonus.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:54 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 89 Minute-by-Minute TV Ratings
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Using minute-by-minute Neilsen ratings data, MMAWeekly has calculated the average viewership for each individual fight that aired on Spike TV's tape-delayed premiere broadcast of UFC 89 on October 18.

Viewership levels are based on live viewership, plus same-day DVR, rounded to the nearest 1,000 viewers, and the times listed are ET/PT. The indicated times begin at the opening bell of a fight and end at the minute in which the winner of the fight is known. In the case of a fight that ends in submission or KO/TKO, the ending time is obviously when the fight ends. In the case of a judges' decision, the ending time is the minute in which the judges' decision is announced. In the case of a doctors' stoppage, the ending time is the minute in which the fight is officially stopped by the doctor. The ending time is always the minute in which the winner if the fighter is known.

The reason that the match lengths are longer for UFC 89 and for some of the previous U.K. shows that the UFC has aired on Spike TV is because on most of those shows, the 60-second rest periods in between the rounds of a fight were stretched into commercial breaks lasting between two and three minutes.

Most-Watched Individual Fights on UFC 89 Premiere Broadcast
Based on Average Number of Viewers using Minute-by-Minute Ratings

1. Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben--- 3.278 million viewers (Aired from 11:31 PM to 11:57 PM)

2. Keith Jardine vs. Brandon Vera--- 3.041 million viewers (Aired from 10:50 PM to 11:14 PM)

3. Luiz Cane vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou--- 2.738 million viewers (Aired from 10:14 PM to 10:26 PM)

4. Chris Lytle vs. Paul Taylor--- 2.475 million viewers (Aired from 9:39 PM to 10:04 PM)

5. Marcus Davis vs. Paul Kelly--- 2.123 million viewers (Aired from 9:14 PM to 9:24 PM)

Viewership Gains
In terms of the increase or decrease in average viewership compared to the previous fight on the broadcast, the Lytle-Taylor fight gained 352,000 viewers, which was the largest gain of the broadcast; the Cane-Sokoudjou fight gained 263,000 viewers; the Jardine-Vera fight gained 303,000 viewers; and the Bisping-Leben fight gained 237,000 viewers, so the main event actually gained the smallest amount of viewers on the broadcast. This statistic does not apply to the Davis-Kelly fight because it was the first fight on the broadcast.

Comparisons to Fighters' Previous Matches
Compared to some of these fighters' previous matches (the ones for which minute-by-minute ratings are available), the Bisping-Leben viewership of 3.278 million viewers was down from the 5.475 million viewers who watched Bisping fight Matt Hamill on September 8, 2007; and it was down from the 3.487 million viewers who watched Bisping fight Josh Haynes on June 24, 2006; but it was up from the 3.080 million viewers who watched Bisping fight Elvis Sinosic on April 21, 2007.

The Jardine-Vera viewership of 3.041 million viewers was down from the 3.847 million viewers who watched Vera fight Reese Andy on July 19, 2008; but it was up from the 2.665 million viewers who watched Jardine fight Wilson Gouveia on June 24, 2006.

The Lytle-Taylor viewership of 2.475 million viewers was down from the 5.023 million viewers who watched Taylor fight Marcus Davis on September 8, 2007.

The Davis-Kelly viewership of 2.123 million viewers was down from the 5.023 million viewers who watched Davis fight Paul Taylor on September 8, 2007.

Top 20 List
For perspective on the broader picture, below is the list of the top 20 most-watched fights in U.S. MMA history.

After the original publication of this list, many readers wrote to ask whether the absence of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar from the TUF 1 finale was an oversight. It was not, as the fight did not come close to making the top 20 list. Contrary to statements that 10 million people were watching that fight at one point, the actual peak audience for the fight in any single minute was 3.662 million at 10:38 PM.

This list excludes pay-per-view events because accurate data on viewers per household is not made readily available for PPV events. However, in terms of the number of households, it is known that the biggest PPV buyrate in U.S. MMA history was 1,050,000 households for Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz on December 30, 2006; and that the second biggest PPV buyrate in U.S. MMA history was 775,000 households for Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock on July 8, 2006. Without knowing how many viewers were in each household for these PPV events (which you do know with Neilsen TV ratings), it's impossible to say how many total viewers watched those fights.

CBS is in approximately 112.8 million U.S. households, while Spike TV is in approximately 97.3 million U.S. households.

These are just the most-watched fights in U.S. MMA history, not the most-watched fights in worldwide MMA history. In Japan, a fight would need to draw over 30 million viewers to crack the top five.

Most-Watched Individual Fights in U.S. MMA History

Based on Average Number of Viewers using Minute-by-Minute Ratings

1. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson--- 7.281 million viewers (Aired from 11:27 PM to 11:40 PM)

2. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock--- 6.524 million viewers (Aired from 9:42 PM to 9:45 PM)

3. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Seth Petruzelli vs. Kimbo Slice--- 6.451 million viewers (Aired from 11:08 PM to 11:08 PM)

4. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith--- 5.867 million viewers (Aired from 10.39 PM to 10:57 PM)

5. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson--- 5.811 million viewers (Aired from 11:29 PM to 12:03 AM)

6. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young--- 5.508 million viewers (Aired from 10:09 PM to 10:17 PM)

7. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill--- 5.475 million viewers (Aired from 10:41 PM to 11:06 PM)

8. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley--- 5.338 million viewers (Aired from 10:34 PM to 10:44 PM)

9. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold--- 5.171 million viewers (Aired from 9:45 PM to 9:59 PM)

10. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson--- 5.154 million viewers (Aired from 10:12 PM to 10:20 PM)

11. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Kendall Grove vs. Chris Price--- 5.100 million viewers (Aired from 9:13 PM to 9:17 PM)

12. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Cheick Kongo vs. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic--- 5.098 million viewers (Aired from 9:58 PM to 10:24 PM)

13. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor--- 5.023 million viewers (Aired from 9:35 PM to 9:39 PM)

14. UFC on Spike TV (7/19/2008): Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin--- 4.795 million viewers (Aired from 11:38 PM to 11:38 PM)

15. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni--- 4.348 million viewers (Aired from 9:47 PM to 9:48 PM)

16. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Jason MacDonald vs. Ed Herman--- 4.297 millon viewers (Aired from 8:44 PM to 8:47 PM)

17. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara--- 4.204 million viewers (Aired from 9:13 PM to 9:14 PM)

18. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Matt Hamill vs. Seth Petruzelli--- 4.007 million viewers (Aired from 8:09 PM to 8:28 PM)

19. UFC on Spike TV (7/19/2008): Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy--- 3.847 million viewers (Aired from 10:58 PM to 11:19 PM)

20. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy--- 3.824 million viewers (Aired from 9:26 PM to 9:27 PM)

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 8:59 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Zuffa's Cannibalization of the WEC
Editorial Commentary by Ivan Trembow

It was sad to see Zuffa's cannibalization of the WEC last night at WEC 36. As usual for a WEC event, it was an entertaining night of fights. However, there is no possible explanation of how it was best for the WEC to have the Jake Rosholt vs. Nissen Osterneck fight on the main card, while Donald Cerrone vs. Rob McCullough was a prelim and Rani Yahya vs. Yoshiro Maeda was also a prelim.

Zuffa's whole reason for folding the WEC's light heavyweight and middleweight divisions was ostensibly to avoid anymore embarrassing situations where the fighter who is rightfully the #1 contender didn't have their #1 contender's fight on a WEC main card, or in some cases hasn't even had a fight on a WEC main card (ie, Mike Brown). By having just four weight classes on which to focus in the future, they would be able to hopefully avoid these situations in the future because they'd be able to properly showcase their top contenders and their "#1 contender's fights" on live TV, main card bouts.

So, what happens right off the bat? A fight that is widely regarded by everyone, including the champion, as being a #1 contender's fight --- Cerrone vs. McCullough --- is made a prelim so that they can instead air a fight between two inexperienced middleweights (Rosholt and Osterneck) who have never even fought in the WEC and will also never fight in the WEC again due to the folding of the middleweight division.

That makes absolutely no sense from the WEC's business standpoint. There is no way to rationalize how that is what's best for the WEC. It may be what's best for the UFC at the expense of the WEC if Zuffa wanted to get Rosholt in a main card bout that badly. However, if that's the case, that is blatantly cannibalizing the WEC product, and it's sad. The WEC deserves better than that. Versus deserves better than that, too.

Even without the Cerrone-McCullough fight, it would have still been ridiculous to have Rosholt-Osterneck on the main card in favor of the Yahya-Maeda fight. It's a choice of airing a fight between two top contenders in the bantamweight division, which is a division that the WEC is still going to have in January, or airing a fight between two inexperienced middleweights who were making their WEC debuts and will never fight in the WEC again due to the folding of the middleweight division.

Is this why Versus is paying an increased rights fee for WEC broadcasts starting in 2009? To air a product that Zuffa has turned into a UFC feeder promotion? Taking on fighters who couldn't make it in the UFC (ie, Alex Karalexis) was bad enough, constantly talking about Carlos Condit possibly getting a shot in the big leagues sometime soon (as if his WEC accomplishments are meaningless because they're not in the UFC) was bad enough. At least those things were subtle enough that you had to be paying attention to notice. Now they are just blatantly cannibalizing the WEC product.

On a related note, what was airing on Spike TV at the moment that the WEC broadcast ended (at 11:05 PM Eastern Time)? Why, it was Team Mir urinating in a platter of fruit salad that they hoped the other team would eat on The Ultimate Fighter (... and they did, and it was not even the most disgusting thing on the episode). Congratulations, Ultimate Fighter! With last night's episode, you have sunk lower than the lowest gutter-trash-TV reality series ever has. At least when that women defecated on the stairs on VH-1's "The Flavor of Love," it wasn't mixed into somebody's food and eaten, which is more than I can say for Team Mir's urine or Kyle Kingsbury's semen.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:03 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Important Questions Raised about UFC Paying Media Outlets to Cover UFC Events
Editorial Commentary by Ivan Trembow

It didn't get anywhere near as much media attention as it should have (other than an excellent article by Zach Arnold of FightOpinion.com), but UFC president Dana White made a startling admission last week in a video blog prior to UFC 90. He openly admitted and talked about Zuffa paying radio personality Scott Ferrall to cover UFC events. As Arnold wrote, "I find it fascinating that UFC has no problems publicly admitting that they buy and pay off the media."

Here is a transcription of what White had to say about Ferrall (video available here):

"So something else happens today. I get off the plane and I get a call from a one of my buddies in California who says that Ferrall is talking a bunch of s--t now. Let me explain to you guys how this stuff works. Ferrall, if you know who he is... you know, he is a DJ comedian who is on Sirius Satellite, and for a while there, we were paying Ferrall to come to the shows and cover the shows... you know, the UFC fights. He would talk about them the week before and then cover it. Then he a came back to us and was... I don't know, I don't know how to really explain it but basically saying he wanted more money that other companies like ProElite and the T-shirt guys were offering him more money to come cover their shows than what we were. This was the guy that we brought in and, you know, he was so pumped when we first you know gave him the gig to come and check out the shows, and the way that he handled it... I didn't like the way that he handled it, so we stopped using him. Fair enough. So now I guess today he had the T-Shirt guys on there talking crazy s--t about, you know, me and the UFC and Lorenzo... and then Ferrall starts saying that he's done with MMA 'I'm done with MMA, and you know I don't even like it, it's not exciting, it's boring.' Ferrall, you f--king clown, you know what? You know, just because you're not getting a f--king paycheck anymore, now you don't like MMA. The only reason why you liked MMA was because we were paying you to like it... f--king goofy crackhead-looking mother f--ker. Give me a break. It's just if you guys knew now much goofy s--t we have to deal with on a daily basis, it's f--king ridiculous."

Given how casually Dana White spoke about paying Ferrall, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, it would be naive to think that Ferrall is the only person to have been paid by UFC parent company Zuffa to cover UFC events.

So, this raises many obvious questions, including but not limited to:

1. Other than Scott Ferrall, which other media outlets been paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events?

2. When media outlets are paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events, are they being paid to provide positive coverage of UFC events, or to provide coverage of UFC events regardless of whether it's critical of any aspects of the event?

3. If a media outlet is obstensibly being paid simply to "cover UFC events" and not for "positive coverage of UFC events," would that media outlet tend to criticize the UFC less than they would if they weren't getting paid to cover UFC events?

4. If a media outlet is obstensibly being paid simply to "cover UFC events," what happens if that media outlet does criticize the UFC, its events, its matchmaking, its business practices, its public statements, or any other aspect of the UFC? Would that media outlet still continue to be paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events? Would that media outlet get a reduced fee for covering UFC events in the future? Or would Zuffa continue to pay the media outlet, at the exact same rate, regardless of that media outlet's criticism of the UFC?

5. If a media outlet is being paid to cover UFC events, what normally happens if that media outlet requests an increase in the fee that it's being paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events? Are these requests for raises sometimes granted, or are they always turned down? If media outlets do sometimes get increases in pay from Zuffa upon request, how does Zuffa determine which media outlets are worthy of getting a raise and which media outlets are not worthy of getting a raise? Does positive coverage of UFC events play any role in those decisions?

These are important questions. We didn't know that Scott Ferrall was being paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events until Dana White disclosed it while criticizing Ferrall for demanding a pay increase.

So, without full disclosure from any media outlet that is being paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events, this runs the risk of tainting the water for everyone who covers MMA because consumers have no way of knowing which media outlets are being paid by Zuffa to cover UFC events and which ones aren't. Without full disclosure from these media outlets, there's no way to distinguish between media outlets who praise the UFC for genuine reasons and media outlets who praise the UFC because they're "being paid to like it."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:55 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Nevada's Out-of-Competition Drug Testing in 2008
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2008 has tested a relatively small number of mixed martial artists and boxers as part of its out-of-competition drug testing program, newly instituted this year. When the new program was announced on Jan. 25, no specifics were given on how many fighters would be tested in the weeks and months prior to their scheduled fights in the state of Nevada.

Fourteen fighters have been tested in the nine months since then, and that includes a three-month period in which zero fighters were tested for any fights scheduled to take place in Nevada from July 6 to Oct. 31.

The out-of-competition drug testing program allows the NSAC to order random drug tests at any time on any fighter that the NSAC licenses as a mixed martial artist, boxer, or kickboxer. When or if these tests are conducted is up to the discretion of the NSAC, not the fighters or the fighters' promoters. Like many other major sports, this out-of-competition drug testing is in addition to day-of-competition drug testing.

In the press release announcing the program in January, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer said, "Random testing throughout the year will further deter any fighters considering taking non-approved substances." The press release also noted that some fighters "have become very sophisticated in the timing of taking prohibited substances."

When asked by MMAWeekly this week for comment on why there were zero fighters tested in the out-of-competition drug testing program for fights scheduled to take place from July 6 to Oct. 31, Kizer said, "We will not set any pattern... kind of defeats the purpose."

An updated memorandum on the program dated May 24, 2008 added language that allowed the NSAC to order a random drug test as a result of "a request by a Commissioner" or for "any other cause determined by the Commission."

Additionally, the updated memorandum removed the original memorandum's note about the NSAC also attempting "to contact the fighter's promoter, if known, with the ordering of the test and the timeframe within which the test must be taken."

All NSAC licensees were originally notified of the out-of-competition drug testing program in a memorandum dated Jan. 7, 2008.

In February, the NSAC sanctioned three mixed martial arts events (including a UFC show and an IFL show), as well as four boxing events (including an HBO pay-per-view broadcast). None of the fighters on any of those cards were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In March, the NSAC sanctioned one MMA event (a WEC show), as well as one kickboxing event and three boxing events (including an HBO PPV broadcast). None of the fighters on any of those cards were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In April, the NSAC sanctioned one minor MMA event and one boxing event (including an HBO broadcast). None of the fighters on either of those cards were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In May, the NSAC sanctioned two MMA events (including a UFC show), as well as one kickboxing event and three boxing events (including an HBO broadcast). Prior to the UFC event, three fighters were subjected to and passed out-of-competition drug tests: Tito Ortiz, B.J. Penn, and Sean Sherk. Additionally, boxers Shane Mosley and Zab Judah were subjected to and passed out-of-competition drug tests prior to a show that was originally scheduled to take place in Nevada on May 31. The event ended up being cancelled due to an injury suffered by Judah.

In June, the NSAC sanctioned four MMA events (including a UFC show), as well as four boxing events (including an HBO PPV broadcast). None of the fighters on any of those cards were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In July, the NSAC sanctioned two MMA events (both UFC shows), as well as one kickboxing event and five boxing events (including an HBO PPV broadcast and a Showtime broadcast). Prior to the first UFC event, two UFC fighters were subjected to and passed out-of-competition drug tests: Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson. None of the fighters on any of the other cards, including the second UFC event of the month, the HBO boxing event, or the Showtime boxing event, were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In August, the NSAC sanctioned one MMA event (a WEC show) and four boxing events (including an HBO broadcast). None of the fighters on any of those cards were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

In September, the NSAC sanctioned zero MMA events and five boxing events (including an HBO PPV broadcast). None of the fighters on any of those cards were subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

Thus far in October, the NSAC has sanctioned one minor MMA event and one boxing event (a Showtime broadcast), with an additional boxing event scheduled for Oct. 31. None of the fighters on any of those cards have been subjected to the out-of-competition drug testing program.

On the schedule for November is one MMA event (a UFC show) and four boxing events. Six fighters who are scheduled to compete on the UFC show were recently subjected to and passed out-of-competition drug tests: Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar, Amir Sadollah, Nick Catone, Aaron Riley, and Jorge Gurgel.

Earlier this year, pro boxer Joseph Gilbert was subjected to and passed a drug test as part of the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program. Gilbert previously tested positive for a banned substance in 2007, and has not fought in Nevada or elsewhere in 2008.

In total, 14 fighters in boxing and MMA combined have been subjected to the NSAC's out-of-competition drug testing program in the nine months since licensees were notified of its creation on Jan. 7, 2008.

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:55 PM

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Forum Posts: The Ultimate Fighter's Return to Drunken Idiocy

I recently posted the following on the MMAWeekly Forum.

Question: What do you call a reality show in which a house is stocked with an unlimited supply of hard alcohol, and then you act surprised in the result that you anticipated, encouraged, and hoped for?

Answer: A concept that was trashy, repetitive, and out-of-date in 1999. In 2008, it's just pathetic. Like a lot of people, I choose to watch The Ultimate Fighter because I enjoy MMA. I don't enjoy the obsolete 1990s reality show concept of "get a bunch of drunkards in a house, get them wasted, and film the ensuing chaos." I can't believe I missed South Park for that garbage.

The fact that Junie Browning is STILL not kicked off of The Ultimate Fighter is ridiculous. After all that he had already done (or even without it), jumping over the Octagon fence in an aggressive manner in order to instigate a fight would have likely been enough to get his license temporarily revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, as Dana White said.

But because Keith Kizer wasn't there in person on that day, it's like it never happened? That's a B.S. cop-out. The UFC officials who were there couldn't have decided that was the final straw to kick Browning off the show? Of course they could have. Anybody who was present to witness the incident couldn't have later said to Keith Kizer, "Hey, there was an incident at the TUF tapings, I think you need to take a look at this"? Of course they could have.

The producers of TUF and the people who make the decisions on who gets kicked off or doesn't get kicked off have made abundantly clear, if it hadn't already been made clear in the previous week's episode, that they don't have much faith in the concept of "a bunch of young fighters struggle to earn their way into the TUF finals." Instead, they are determined to promote, exploit, encourage, and profit from the 1990s reality show concept of "get a bunch of Type-A personalities in a house, get them wasted by stocking the house with an unlimited supply of hard alcohol, and film the chaos." You think there's going to be another incident of some kind involving Junie Browning before the season wraps? Of course there is, and that's the point. It's "Trash TV" at this point, and it could be so much better than that.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:16 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Top 20 Most-Watched Fights in U.S. MMA History
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Previous ratings for individual fights have been based on quarter-hour ratings, which measure the average viewership for an entire 15-minute period. Given that some fights last for well over 15 minutes and some fights last for well under 15 minutes, measuring a fight's average viewership based on quarter-hour ratings has always been an inexact science.

In the majority of cases, the average viewership for any given fight is dragged down by the lower viewership in the minutes immediately preceding and following the fight. It's the minutes containing the actual fights themselves that generally draw the highest viewership levels, so why not track the ratings on a minute-by-minute basis?

Using minute-by-minute Nielsen ratings data, the most accurate possible viewership information for any given fight can be determined. Viewership levels are based on live viewership, plus same-day DVR, rounded to the nearest 1,000 viewers, and the times listed are ET/PT. The indicated times begin at the opening bell of a fight and end at the minute in which the winner of the fight is known.

(In the case of a fight that ends in submission or KO/TKO, the ending time is obviously when the fight ends. In the case of a judges' decision, the ending time is the minute in which the judges' decision is announced. In the case of a doctors' stoppage, the ending time is the minute in which the fight is officially stopped by the doctor. The ending time is always the minute in which the winner if the fighter is known.)

Note that these are just the most-watched fights in U.S. MMA history, not the most-watched fights in worldwide MMA history. In Japan, a fight would need to draw over 30 million viewers to crack the top five. It also excludes pay-per-view, as accurate data on viewers per household is not made readily available for PPV events, although the biggest PPV buyrate in MMA history was 1,050,000 households for Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz on December 30, 2006.

MOST-WATCHED INDIVIDUAL FIGHTS IN U.S. MMA HISTORY

Based on Average Number of Viewers using Minute-by-Minute Ratings

1. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson--- 7.281 million viewers (Aired from 11:27 PM to 11:40 PM)

2. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock--- 6.524 million viewers (Aired from 9:42 PM to 9:45 PM)

3. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Seth Petruzelli vs. Kimbo Slice--- 6.451 million viewers (Aired from 11:08 PM to 11:08 PM)

4. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith--- 5.867 million viewers (Aired from 10.39 PM to 10:57 PM)

5. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson--- 5.811 million viewers (Aired from 11:29 PM to 12:03 AM)

6. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young--- 5.508 million viewers (Aired from 10:09 PM to 10:17 PM)

7. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill--- 5.475 million viewers (Aired from 10:41 PM to 11:06 PM)

8. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley--- 5.338 million viewers (Aired from 10:34 PM to 10:44 PM)

9. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold--- 5.171 million viewers (Aired from 9:45 PM to 9:59 PM)

10. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson--- 5.154 million viewers (Aired from 10:12 PM to 10:20 PM)

11. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Kendall Grove vs. Chris Price--- 5.100 million viewers (Aired from 9:13 PM to 9:17 PM)

12. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Cheick Kongo vs. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic--- 5.098 million viewers (Aired from 9:58 PM to 10:24 PM)

13. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor--- 5.023 million viewers (Aired from 9:35 PM to 9:39 PM)

14. UFC on Spike TV (7/19/2008): Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin--- 4.795 million viewers (Aired from 11:38 PM to 11:38 PM)

15. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni--- 4.348 million viewers (Aired from 9:47 PM to 9:48 PM)

16. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Jason MacDonald vs. Ed Herman--- 4.297 millon viewers (Aired from 8:44 PM to 8:47 PM)

17. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara--- 4.204 million viewers (Aired from 9:13 PM to 9:14 PM)

18. UFC on Spike TV (10/10/2006): Matt Hamill vs. Seth Petruzelli--- 4.007 million viewers (Aired from 8:09 PM to 8:28 PM)

19. UFC on Spike TV (7/19/2008): Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy--- 3.847 million viewers (Aired from 10:58 PM to 11:19 PM)

20. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy--- 3.824 million viewers (Aired from 9:26 PM to 9:27 PM)

Labels: Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:30 PM

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Forum Posts: Little or No Understanding of Drug Testing

Check out these quotes from a Yahoo Sports article. Sean Sherk, who tested positive for steroids after his defense of the UFC Lightweight Title in July, still apparently knows nothing about drug testing:

“He said a glucosamine supplement he took was later found to be contaminated with a testosterone booster. But he said if that’s how the steroid got into his body, he can’t understand how he should be held responsible for it.

“Even if it was a tainted supplement, I had no intentions of taking it and it was somebody else’s error,” Sherk said. “I think they should be at fault rather than me. Contamination of supplements is an issue. There have been people who have tested positive in the past for that reason, but I don’t think the fighter should be held responsible. It’s not the fighter’s fault.”


And (from the same article), UFC president Dana White apparently still knows nothing about drug testing, either:

“White has known Sherk for seven years and said he believed Sherk without hesitation when Sherk denied taking the steroid. White admitted it was blind faith, since he never saw a shred of scientific evidence that would exonerate Sherk.

White said he looked at Sherk, who is nicknamed “Muscle Shark” and knew he was telling the truth.

“I’m 38 years old and I’ve seen a lot of guys use steroids in my time,” White said Friday. “When guys are doing steroids, you can see the difference. Before they start, they have a certain body type. It looks a certain way. Then they take the stuff and there are changes and the body looks a different way. Then, when they get off, it changes again and looks a different way again.

“With Sean Sherk, his body looked the same since the day I met him. There’s never been one change. This guy is a maniac when it comes to how he treats his body and what he puts in it. I totally, totally, totally believed what he told me.”

In response to Sean Sherk's latest ridiculous statements about steroids and the ensuing backlash against those statements, Dave2 on a Fight Opinion comments thread wrote:

"As for the whole tainted supplements thing, I find it a bit odd how the state athletic commissions puts the entire onus on the athlete for knowing what they put in their body. It’s very common for fighters to use supplements. Any fighter that uses supplements could have been at risk for taking Nandrolone or whatever accidentally. What are fighters supposed to do? Stop taking supplements just to be on the safe side?”

To which I replied:

Uh… yes (if that's what it takes)? It is not an extraordinary requirement for fighters to be responsible for what they put into their body. That’s no different than any other athlete in any sport with any form of drug testing. Fighters are found “guilty” or “innocent” of having banned substances in their system at the time of the drug test.

How those banned substances got there— whether it was intentional use, a mis-timed steroid cycle (which is often the case when a fighter tests negative very shortly after testing positive), tainted supplements, or the Magical Steroid Fairy injecting it into them against their will as they sleep- is irrelevant. If you have banned substances in your body at the time of the drug test, you fail the drug test.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:04 AM

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Forum Posts: A One-Sided Feud Between UFC and EliteXC Presidents

As written by Ivan Trembow on the MMAWeekly SoundOff Forum:

Regarding the contrived “feud” between the UFC's Dana White and EliteXC's Gary Shaw (which is not much of a “feud” until they have both shown that they can draw money in MMA, as opposed to just one of them), Shaw has no credibility in talking about the MMA industry as long as he’s booking “Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott” main events.

After Kimbo vs. Tank, I can't wait for Kimbo vs. Gannon and then maybe Tank vs. Butterbean and then maybe Tank vs. Gannon and then maybe Butterbean vs. Gannon! This is high-quality MMA at its finest! (sarcasm intended)

As for White’s retort to Shaw that the UFC's PPV numbers in 2007 were actually up from their 2006 numbers, that’s pretty impressive if the UFC’s gross PPV revenue in 2007 was MORE than their $222 million in gross PPV revenue from 2006.

It's also interesting to note that based all of the published numbers on the UFC's 2007 PPV buyrates on Yahoo Sports and the Wrestling Observer, even if UFC 78 and UFC 79 both did way above expectations, there’s still no way Zuffa would have matched the 2006 total of $222 million in gross PPV revenue. They could reach $200 million, but not $222 million.

The reason this becomes increasingly relevant is because the top PPV main-eventers are getting paid based on what they are told the PPV numbers are, and the fighters have no way of knowing whether or not the numbers they’re told are the actual numbers.

Labels: Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:16 AM

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Forum Posts: Ridiculous Statement of the Month

"Thirteen new states regulated MMA last year and Hawaii is one of them, so we want to come there, but the regs aren’t done yet. We’re not like all these other ‘cheese ball’ shows; we can’t go there until the regs are done.”

— UFC president Dana White, on a conference call to promote the UFC’s show in unregulated, unsanctioned England

The statement that Zuffa made to the media for many years was that they would never run shows that weren’t regulated and sanctioned, and that “unlike the previous owners,” Zuffa would “run towards regulation, not away from it.”

The statement was never, “We won’t run unregulated, unsanctioned shows in America,” it was, “We won’t run unregulated, unsanctioned shows.”

I assumed that kind of talk would subside once they started to regularly hold unsanctioned, unregulated shows in the United Kingdom, but apparently not.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Opinion: Thoughts on UFC's Lawsuit Against Randy Couture
I haven't been writing a lot of news stories lately, but I have been making a lot of message board posts, primarily on the MMAWeekly SoundOff Forum. As you may have heard, UFC parent company Zuffa has filed a lawsuit against Randy Couture, who came out of retirement in early 2007, won the UFC Heavyweight Title from Tim Sylvia, defended the title against Gabriel Gonzaga, and then resigned from the company after he claims he was lied to and disrespected by Zuffa's management.

Couture has maintained from the time of his resignation that he will be contractually free and clear from the UFC in October 2008, which is one year from the date of his resignation. The UFC has publicly and privately maintained that they will fight this and will do everything in their power to prevent Couture from fighting for another MMA organization at any time, whether it's before or after October 2008. It has been expected for the last several months that a lawsuit was forthcoming, and here was my initial reaction after the news of the lawsuit broke, as I wrote on the MMAWeekly SoundOff Forum:

"It’s hard to say how this case is going to turn out, but I’d expect that Randy Couture would defintely be bound to Zuffa until October 2008, and that the one-year no-compete clause after that would also probably hold up in court because no-compete clauses of one year or less usually do hold up in court.

So, at that point it would be October of 2009 and Couture would be 46 years old. The obvious question at that point is, “What could Couture possibly accomplish in MMA when he’s 46 years old?” but then again Couture defied the odds at 43 years old to win the UFC Heavyweight Title and then successfully defended it when he was 44 years old, so who knows?

The issue goes beyond October of 2009, however, as Zuffa is essentially trying to make Randy Couture their property for life with these clauses regarding contracts being able to be “extended indefinitely” if a fighter is unable to accept a fight for any reason whatsoever (whether it’s injury, resigning from the company, or anything else). That amounts to a no-compete clause for all of time, and there’s no way that is legal or would hold up in court. No-compete clauses lasting more than one year have a horrible track record of holding up in court.

Heck, the UFC wouldn’t have been able to sign their latest headliner, Brock Lesnar, if not for the fact that WWE was basically getting their ass kicked in court when they tried to enforce the six-year no-compete clause that Brock Lesnar signed (as part of the WWE contract from which Lesnar quit just months after signing due to the stress of being on the road in WWE).

In addition, the so-called “champion’s clause,” where the UFC tries to essentially claim ownership of a fighter if he is one of their champions, is not likely to hold up in court. In a previous case where BJ Penn won a UFC title on the last fight of his UFC contract and then went to fight for more money in K-1 Hero’s shortly thereafter, Zuffa sued him on the grounds that the “champion’s clause” in the contract that he signed should have made him bound to Zuffa even though his title victory over Hughes was the last fight on Penn’s contract. As with Lesnar and WWE, that was not going well for Zuffa in court and just as with Lesnar it led to a rather one-sided settlement that very much favored the individual (Lesnar, Penn) over the corporation (WWE, Zuffa).

Couture's involvement with the IFL would be a fairly blatant violation of Couture’s no-compete clause if he was actually the coach of that team in the IFL, but he’s not, nor was he ever scheduled to be. Shawn Tompkins is. The only potential issue there is the fact that the word “Couture” is in the name of the gym that Shawn Tompkins coaches out of (ie, “Team Xtreme Couture”). This could be a non-issue if they just change the name of the IFL team to “Team Tompkins,” with the same coach that it was always going to have: Shawn Tompkins.

So, basically, Zuffa would obviously have an air-tight case when it comes to their contract with Randy Couture through October 2008, and would probably have a good case when it comes to the one-year no-compete clause if indeed there is such a clause in the contract with very clear language detailing it, so that would lock Couture up contracually through October 2009, but beyond that, I think they have a very weak case as far as their efforts to lock Couture up contractually for the rest of his life."


Hours later, news broke from Adam Swift of MMAPayout.com that despite all of Zuffa's statements in recent months, weeks, and days focusing on Couture's fighting contract with the UFC, Zuffa's lawsuit against Couture doesn't even mention his promotional contract (ie, fighting contract). Instead, Zuffa is trying to achieve the same goal (preventing Couture from fighting elsewhere) via the indirect method of alleging breach of contract on Couture's other UFC contract: the "employment contract" under which he served as a color commentator and goodwill ambassador for the UFC. Here is the forum post that I made after this information came to light, again on the MMAWeekly SoundOff Forum:

"It's interesting to note, as MMAPayout's Adam Swift has, that Zuffa's lawsuit against Couture only mentions his employment contract with Zuffa (ie, commentating duties), not his promotional contract (ie, fighting). Even though all of Zuffa's public statements up to this point have been all about the fighting contract, the lawsuit itself doesn't allege that he breached his fighting contract, it only alleges that he breached his employment/commentating contract.

And by Zuffa's own admission in the lawsuit, he does have the right to resign from his employment contract and then work elsewhere following a one-year period from the date of his resignation, so that would only tie him up contractually through October 2008, which is the date that Couture has been publicly citing all along as the date when he believes he'll be contractually free and clear from the UFC. According to the detailed article by Adam Swift, there is nothing in the lawsuit talking about the promotional contract (ie, the fighting contract) at all, which would mean that there's nothing in the lawsuit disputing that October 2008 timeframe.

What is in the lawsuit, however, is Zuffa's attempt to get an injunction that would serve as a temporary restraining order to prevent Couture from "competing with the UFC" during that time period, and that would include fighting for any other organization. We've known for months that Zuffa's legal position is that they're going to do everything in their power to prevent him from ever fighting for another organization, so ultimately what they want here is a temporary injunction leading to a more long-term injunction.

By only focusing on the commentating contract and not the fighting contract in this initial lawsuit, what they've done is basically make a strategic decision to try to attain their end-goal here (which is an injunction preventing Couture from fighting anywhere else), without having to actually claim or prove a breach of contract on his actual fighting contract. If a judge agrees with the case that they've laid out, they could theoretically get an injunction that prevents Couture from fighting without ever even directly challenging his right to fight elsewhere after a certain date.

The reason this is vitally important is because it gives them the chance to potentially get what they're ultimately seeking (an injunction that prevents Couture from fighting elsewhere) without having the legally questionable aspects of their fighting contracts potentially thrown out of court. (In particular, the de-facto no-compete-clause-for-life would likely never hold up in any court, and the so-called champion's clause would be unlikely to hold up in court very well, either, since it didn't hold up very well in the BJ Penn lawsuit.)

If they had sued Couture directly on the basis of a claimed breach of contract on his promotional/fighting contract, then they'd be seeking what they ultimately want, but they'd be doing so at the risk of getting some of their key contractual clauses thrown out of court and declared invalid, which would affect a lot of other UFC contracts.

By only suing on the basis of the employment/commentating contract for now, they're still seeking the injunction that they ultimately want, but without the risk of having to put the aforementioned contractual clauses under legal scrutiny.

I would expect that when or if anything goes poorly for Zuffa's side in this legal case, or it looks like there's a good chance they're not going to be getting the injunction that they're seeking via this particular lawsuit, then at that point you can expect another lawsuit to be filed with the full gamut of legal claims about Couture's actual fighting contract. What has happened up to this point has essentially just been a gamble to see if they can get that injunction without having to subject all of their fighter contractual clauses to legal scrutiny."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 2:50 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter 6 Finishes as Lowest-Rated Season to Date
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The twelve-episode regular season of The Ultimate Fighter 6 was the lowest-rated season in Ultimate Fighter history. This marks the third consecutive season of TUF that has been the lowest-rated to date.

In chronological order from first to last and rounded to the nearest one-tenth of a ratings point, the twelve individual episodes of TUF 6 drew overall ratings of 1.5, 1.0, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.1, 1.0, 1.1, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.1. In the end, the season averaged a 1.1 overall rating.

Overall Ratings
In the history of the series, The Ultimate Fighter 1's regular season averaged a 1.6 overall rating; the second season was down to a 1.4 average rating; the third season was the series' peak with a 1.7 average rating; the fourth season was down to an average rating of 1.2; the fifth season was down very slightly from the previous season but still rounded to an average rating of 1.2; and the just-completed sixth season was down to an average rating of 1.1, which is the new series-low.

Ratings in the #1 Key Demographic
In the demographic that is most coveted by advertisers on Spike TV, the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the ratings of The Ultimate Fighter as a series were on a steady increase through the first three seasons (which finished airing in June 2006), and have been on a steady decrease ever since.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the twelve-episode regular season of TUF 1 averaged a 2.2 rating; the second season increased to a 2.5 average rating; the third season continued the increase with a 2.9 average rating; the fourth season decreased to a 2.0 average rating; the fifth season continued the decline with a 1.6 average rating; and the just-completed sixth season declined further to an average rating of 1.5.

Ratings in the #2 Key Demographic
The second most targeted demographic among the UFC and Spike TV's advertisers is 18-to-49-year-old males. In this demographic, we don't have all of the data for the first and second seasons of TUF, but we do have all of the data starting with the third season.

In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the twelve-episode regular season of The Ultimate Fighter 3 drew an average rating of 2.2; the fourth season decreased to an average rating of 1.6; the fifth season continued the decline with an average rating of 1.4; and the just-completed sixth season further declined with an average rating of 1.3.

Future of The Ultimate Fighter
Despite the decreasing ratings, The Ultimate Fighter is not going to be leaving the airwaves anytime soon. In fact, it's just the opposite, as Spike TV has a deal in place with the UFC to air TUF 7 and TUF 8 in 2008; TUF 9 and TUF 10 in 2009; TUF 11 in 2010; and TUF 12 in 2011.

The most recent season pick-ups were part of a multi-year renewal of the UFC's contract with Spike TV to air numerous shows on the network, including The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed, and UFC Fight Night. Under the terms of the new contract, Spike TV will pay the UFC over $100 million, according to Variety and MultiChannel News, plus additional funds if there are more than six special event broadcasts per year, which consist of four UFC Fight Night events per year through 2011; two Ultimate Fighter finales per year through 2009; and one Ultimate Fighter finale per year in 2010 and 2011.

The Ultimate Fighter 7 will feature a 16-man middleweight tournament and will be filmed starting in January, will air in April, May, and June. While the coaches of TUF 7 have not yet been officially announced, the UFC has said that it has very big plans for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the near future, which has added fuel to the widespread rumors that Jackson will be one of the coaches on TUF 7.

As for the other coach, the most likely choices would seem to be Forrest Griffin, who scored the biggest win of his career in September when he submitted Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 76; or Chuck Liddell, provided that he defeats Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:42 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for UFC 74
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for UFC 74, which took place on August 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that Zuffa is required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that Zuffa also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, pay-per-view bonuses for the top pay-per-view main event fighters), are not included in the figures below.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in title fights or in the main event. "Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the PPV broadcast.

Also, please note that Renato "Babalu" Sobral was fined $25,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, due to his refusal to release the winning submission hold when he defeated David Heath.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during Ultimate Fighter seasons because those fights are officially classified as exhibitions.

UFC 74 Fighter Salaries
Event took place on August 25, 2007

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Randy Couture: $250,000 (18th fight in UFC; defeated Gabriel Gonzaga; win bonus was $0)
-Gabriel Gonzaga: $45,000 (5th fight in UFC; lost to Randy Couture; win bonus would have been $45,000)

Main Card Fighters
-Georges St. Pierre: $140,000 (10th fight in UFC; defeated Josh Koscheck; includes $70,000 win bonus)
-Roger Huerta: $34,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Alberto Crane; includes $17,000 win bonus)
-Joe Stevenson: $32,000 (6th fight in UFC; defeated Kurt Pellegrino; includes $16,000 win bonus)
-Patrick Cote: $24,000 (6th fight in UFC, defeated Kendall Grove; includes $12,000 win bonus)
-Kendall Grove: $12,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Patrick Cote; win bonus would have been $12,000)
-Josh Koscheck: $10,000 (9th fight in UFC; lost to Georges St. Pierre; win bonus would have been $10,000)
-Kurt Pellegrino: $8,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Joe Stevenson; win bonus would have been $8,000)
-Alberto Crane: $4,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Roger Huerta; win bonus would have been $4,000)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Frank Mir: $66,000 (11th fight in UFC; defeated Antoni Hardonk; includes win bonus of $30,000)
-Marcus Aurelio: $30,000 (1st fight in UFC after 6 fights in Pride; lost to Clay Guida; win bonus would have been $30,000)
-Renato "Babalu" Sobral: $25,000 (10th fight in UFC; defeated David Heath) (Sobral would have also received a $25,000 win bonus, but it was withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to Sobral's actions at the end of the fight)
-Thales Leites: $18,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Ryan Jensen; includes $9,000 win bonus)
-Clay Guida: $14,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Marcus Aurelio; includes $7,000 win bonus)
-Antoni Hardonk: $8,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Frank Mir; win bonus would have been $8,000)
-David Heath: $6,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Renato "Babalu" Sobral; win bonus would have been $6,000)
-Ryan Jensen: $4,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Thales Leites; win bonus would have been $4,000)

Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $730,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:34 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for UFC Fight Night 10 & Ultimate Fighter 5 Live Finale
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 5 and for UFC Fight Night 10. The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale took place on June 23rd in Las Vegas, Nevada; and UFC Fight Night 10 took place on June 12th in Hollywood, Florida.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that the UFC is required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions. The winners' bonuses for the fighters who won their matches are included in the figures published below.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that the UFC also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for PPV main event fighters), are not included in the figures below. Also not reflected below are the taxes that the fighters have to pay.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in title fights or in the main event. "Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the TV or PPV broadcast.

Please note that Brandon Melendez was fined 10% of his purse for failing to make weight. All of The Ultimate Fighter 5 fighters had contracts that paid them $8,000 to fight and $8,000 to win on the finale, so Melendez' purse for his loss to Lauzon was $8,000. The amount of the fine was $800, half of which went to Lauzon and half of which went to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during Ultimate Fighter seasons because those fights are officially classified as exhibitions.


UFC Fight Night 10 Fighter Salaries
Event took place on June 12, 2007

Main Event Fighters
-Spencer Fisher: $26,000 (7th fight in UFC; defeated Sam Stout)
-Sam Stout: $6,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Spencer Fisher)

Main Card Fighters
-Jon Fitch: $36,000 (6th fight in UFC; defeated Roan Carneiro)
-Drew McFedries: $14,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Jordan Radev)
-Jordan Radev: $5,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Drew McFedries)
-Roan Carneiro: $5,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Jon Fitch)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Pete Spratt: $12,000 (7th fight in UFC; lost to Tamdan McCrory)
-Thiago Tavares: $10,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Jason Black)
-Gleison Tibau: $10,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Jeff Cox)
-Luigi Fioravanti: $8,000 (5th fight in UFC; lost to Forrest Petz)
-Tamdan McCrory: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Pete Spratt)
-Forrest Petz: $8,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Luigi Fioravanti)
-Nate Mohr: $6,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Luke Caudillo)
-Anthony Johnson: $6,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Chad Reiner)
-Jason Black: $6,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Thiago Tavares)
-Jeff Cox: $3,500 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Gleison Tibau)
-Luke Caudillo: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Nate Mohr)
-Chad Reiner: $3,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Anthony Johnson)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $175,500


Ultimate Fighter 5 Live Finale Fighter Salaries
Event took place on June 23, 2007

Main Event Fighters
-BJ Penn: $100,000 (11th fight in UFC; defeated Jens Pulver)
-Jens Pulver: $30,000 (9th fight in UFC; lost to BJ Penn)

Main Card Fighters
-Roger Huerta: $24,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Doug Evans)
-Nate Diaz: $16,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Manny Gamburyan)
-Thales Leites: $14,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Floyd Sword)
-Manny Gamburyan: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Nate Diaz)
-Floyd Sword: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Thales Leites)
-Doug Evans: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Roger Huerta)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Joe Lauzon: $16,400 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Brandon Melendez) (original purse was $16,000 and he also received $400 from Brandon Melendez' fine)
-Cole Miller: $16,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Andy Wang)
-Matt Wiman: $16,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Brian Geraghty)
-Brian Geraghty: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Matt Wiman)
-Allen Berube: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Leonard Garcia)
-Andy Wang: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Cole Miller)
-Robert Emerson: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; fought to a no contest with Gray Maynard)
-Gray Maynard: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; fought to a no contest with Robert Emerson)
-Brandon Melendez: $7,200 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Joe Lauzon) (original purse was $8,000 and he was fined $800 for failing to make weight)
-Leonard Garcia: $4,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Allen Berube)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $297,600

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:08 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC & WEC Fighters Pass Drug Tests
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

A total of thirty-six fighters competed at UFC 71 and WEC 27, of which twelve fighters were drug tested. Of the fighters who were drug-tested, all twelve have passed their tests for steroids, stimulants, and recreational drugs.

At UFC 71, which took place on May 26th in Las Vegas, the six fighters who were drug-tested by the Nevada State Athletic Commission were Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Karo Parisyan, Josh Burkman, Alan Belcher, and Sean Salmon. All six of those fighters tested negative for all banned substances. The other twelve fighters on the card were not drug-tested.

The NSAC spent a total of $1,670 on drug testing for UFC 71. The total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been an additional $3,341.

At UFC 69 (which took place on April 7th in Houston, Texas) and UFC 70 (which took place on April 21st in Manchester, England), there was no drug-testing of any kind. The UFC has said that there would be drug testing at UFC 72 (which took place on June 12th in Belfast, Nortern Ireland). The same claim was also made prior to UFC 70.

At WEC 27, which took place on May 12th in Las Vegas, the six fighters who were drug-tested by the NSAC were Doug Marshall, Justin McElfresh, Manny Tapia, Brandon Foxworth, Ed Ratcliff, and Johnny Sampaio. Those six fighters tested negative for all banned substances. As with UFC 71, the other twelve fighters on the card were not drug-tested.

The NSAC spent a total of $1,670 on drug testing for WEC 27, the same as UFC 71. The total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card also would have been an additional $3,341.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:33 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Fight Night 10 Draws 1.2 Rating; Brutal Knockouts Handled Poorly Yet Again
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The live broadcast of UFC Fight Night 10 on Tuesday, June 12th drew an overall rating of 1.2. With a line-up that was considered to have perhaps the least marquee value of any live UFC event on Spike TV to date, the overall rating has to be considered a success.

The main event of UFC Fight Night 10 featured Spencer Fisher and Sam Stout, both of whom were coming off of losses in their last UFC fights. The star in the semi-main event, Jon Fitch, had a UFC record of 5-0 going into the bout, but not a single one of his fights had ever aired on UFC television, and only one of them had ever aired on UFC pay-per-view. While hardcore MMA fans recognize Fitch as one of the top ten welterweight fighters in the world, Fitch's constant placement on the UFC's preliminary undercards means that the casual fans who make up the bulk of the UFC's TV viewership likely had no idea who Fitch was prior to this fight.

With all of these facts in mind, the UFC and Spike TV may have been concerned that UFC Fight Night 10 would draw the UFC's lowest ratings to date, but it did not, at least not in terms of overall viewership. The overall rating of 1.2 managed to stay a tenth of a ratings point higher than the UFC's least-watched live fight special to date (the November 2006 finale of The Ultimate Fighter 4 drew an overall rating of 1.1). In addition, it was two-tenths of a ratings point higher than Spike TV's primetime average rating of 1.0.

Ratings in Key Demographic Continue to Slip
However, in the advertiser-coveted demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males, UFC Fight Night 10 did indeed draw the UFC's lowest ratings ever for a first-run event premiere. There have been two live specials in the UFC's history on Spike TV, dating back to early 2005, that have drawn ratings lower than 2.0 in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic. UFC Fight Night 9 in April 2007 drew a rating of 1.6 in this demographic, and UFC Fight Night 10 drew a 1.5 rating in this demographic.

The UFC and Spike TV both depend on this key demographic to attract new advertisers and retain current advertisers, so a drop in overall viewership might actually be preferred over the drop in 18-to-34-year-old male viewership that UFC programming on Spike TV has been experiencing in both live specials and the premieres of pre-taped Ultimate Fighter episodes.

In the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, a slightly broader group that is the UFC and Spike TV's second most-targeted demographic, UFC Fight Night 10 drew a rating of 1.5, putting the show in a three-way tie for the all-time low mark among live UFC fight specials on Spike TV. The other two specials in the three-way tie for last place among live UFC events are April 2007's broadcast of UFC Fight Night 9, and November 2006's broadcast of The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale.

UFC Fight Night 10's Ratings vs. Previous UFC Ratings
Compared to the UFC's average-to-date for fight specials headed into this event, UFC Fight Night 10 was not able to approach the previous shows' average ratings.

The UFC's average-to-date for its previous fifteen fight specials was a 1.7 overall rating, and UFN 10 drew a 1.2 overall rating.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the UFC's average-to-date was a 2.8 rating, and UFN 10's rating in this demographic was 1.5.

In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the UFC's average-to-date was a 2.2 rating, and UFN 10's rating in this demographic was 1.5.

A March Through the UFN 10 Broadcast, Including Brutal Knockouts and Ratings for Individual Fights
The two-hour broadcast of UFC Fight Night 10 opened up with Drew McFedries' quick knockout victory over Jordan Radev in a fight that drew an overall rating of just 0.7. The first two or three fights on any live UFC broadcast on Spike TV are almost always the least-watched, but even the first fights on the broadcast still manage to hit the 1.0 mark on the vast majority of occasions.

After this fight, when Radev was still unconscious in the ring, the UFC continued what is now a long-standing, de-facto policy of cutting away from the unconscious fighter and not acknowledging the fighter's condition for the rest of the broadcast. The UFC did this on two occasions in 2005 when Terry Martin and Tra Telligman were each brutally knocked out, and then the same thing happened for a third time when Sean Salmon was knocked out cold by Rashad Evans in January 2007. This is the equivalent of an NFL player going down from a big hit and not moving for several minutes, but the camera on the television broadcast cuts to a crowd shot or commercial break, and then the injured NFL player is never or shown or acknowledged again for the rest of the broadcast.

The UFC could not send the next scheduled fighters out to the Octagon while Radev was still receiving medical attention inside the cage, but they were also apparently insistent on keeping with the de-facto policy of not acknowledging the unconscious fighter. So, 16 minutes after the end of the McFedries-Radev fight, a pre-taped preliminary fight between Anthony Johnson and Chad Reiner aired.

The Johnson-Reiner fight also ended in a quick and brutal knockout, as Johnson knocked Reiner out and the fight drew a 1.1 rating. Ironically, while Jordan Radev was still being treated by medical personnel in real time, the UFC also chose not to update or acknowledge the unconscious Reiner's condition for the rest of the broadcast.

After Radev was taken to the backstage area, the next live fight pitted Jon Fitch against Roan Carneiro in a fight that started nine minutes after the Johnson-Reiner bout finished airing. Fitch defeated Carneiro by submission, and the fight drew a 1.0 rating. While that rating could certainly be considered a disappointment, it's not a complete surprise that the fight didn't pop a rating, given the fact that it was Fitch's first ever exposure on a UFC event on Spike TV.

At this point in the broadcast, with two of the three main card bouts having concluded before the end of the second round, there was plenty of time to fill, so the decision was made to air the preliminary fight between Thiago Tavares and Jason Black, as main-eventers Spencer Fisher and Sam Stout made their final preparations backstage. As is usually the case with the UFC's live fight specials on Spike TV, the viewership level increases significantly over the course of the last hour. Thirteen minutes after the end of the Fitch-Carneiro fight, Tavares' impressive submission victory over Black hit the airwaves, and the fight drew a 1.4 rating.

Twenty minutes after the Tavares-Black bout finished airing, Fisher vs. Stout to got underway, and the two fighters had an exciting stand-up battle that Fisher won by unanimous decision. The main event fight drew a 1.6 rating, making it the most-watched fight of the night.

The 1.6 rating for Fisher vs. Stout was higher than every single fight on the UFC Fight Night 9 broadcast, but it was lower than every single fight on the UFC 70 broadcast on Spike TV, and lower than all-but-one of the fights on the UFC Fight Night 8 broadcast. Ironically, that one fight on the UFN 8 broadcast was Spencer Fisher's previous fight, a TKO loss to Hermes Franca that drew a 1.5 rating. Stout's previous fight on Spike TV, a submission loss to Kenny Florian in June 2006, drew a 1.8 rating.

Ratings Comparison: UFC vs. WWE vs. IFL vs. WEC
Even though UFC Fight Night 10's ratings were among the lowest in the UFC's history on Spike TV for a live event broadcast, the Zuffa-owned UFC is still in a different ballpark when compared to other MMA promotions.

The UFC's top competitor for TV ratings amongst current MMA promotions is the IFL. The first ten original episodes of the IFL's "Battleground" series on MyNetworkTV averaged 998,000 viewers, compared to 1,524,000 viewers for UFC Fight Night 10. The Zuffa-owned WEC promotion recently aired its first live event on Versus Network, and the two-hour broadcast averaged 416,000 viewers.

UFC Fight Night 10 also marked the first time since August 2006 that a live UFC fight special went head-to-head with first-run WWE programming. The latest edition of WWE's Tuesday night program "ECW" (which is "ECW" in name only) on the Sci Fi Network out-drew UFC Fight Night 10 in overall rating (1.7 to 1.2) and overall viewers (2,400,000 million to 1,524,000), but the UFC actually beat WWE in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic. Even the UFC's record low rating of 1.5 was enough in that demographic to beat WWE's rating of 1.2 in the same demographic.

Head-to-Head Network Competition; Other UFC-on-Spike Ratings
Airing head-to-head with the first hour of UFC Fight Night 10 on network television from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM on Tuesday, June 12th, ABC's presentation of "NBA Finals: Game 3" drew a hugely disappointing overall rating of just 5.1 in the hour. The NBA Finals on ABC lost handily to the NBC variety show "America's Got Talent," which drew an overall rating of 7.9 in the hour. Meanwhile, a repeat of "The Unit" on CBS drew a 4.7 overall rating, and a repeat of "House" on Fox drew a 4.2 overall rating.

Airing head-to-head with the second hour of UFC Fight Night 10 from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM on June 12th, the second hour of "NBA Finals: Game 3" drew a slightly better 5.7 overall rating on ABC. However, it embarrassingly lost to repeat programming, as a rerun of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" on NBC drew a 6.1 overall rating. A repeat episode of the documentary news series "48 Hours Mystery" on CBS was not far behind with a 5.1 overall rating.

Leading into the 9:00 PM start of UFC Fight Night 10 on Spike TV, a repeat of UFC Unleashed aired from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM and drew a disappointing overall rating of just 0.5, continuing the trend of UFC Unleashed's decreased ratings.

After the conclusion of UFC Fight Night 10, the hour-long special "Countdown to UFC 72" aired on Spike TV from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM and drew an overall rating of 0.8. Thanks in large part to the UFC lead-in, this was higher than the overall rating of 0.7 that was drawn by the premiere of "Countdown to UFC 71" and the overall rating of 0.5 that was drawn by the premiere of "UFC All Access: Quinton Jackson."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:07 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- TUF Ratings Slump, but Still Dominate Boxing; PLUS: Liddell on Letterman Ratings
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The final three regular season episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 5 drew overall ratings in the low 1's, concluding a season that was the least-watched in the history of The Ultimate Fighter. However, the UFC still managed to completely dominate a live boxing broadcast on Versus Network that went head-to-head with the eleventh episode of TUF 5.

Episode Ten of The Ultimate Fighter 5 featured the final two quarter-final fights of the season's 16-man tournament. The episode premiered on Thursday, June 7th and drew an overall rating of 1.1, which was down slightly from the previous episode's 1.2 overall rating. In the advertiser-coveted 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, Episode Ten drew a 1.4 rating, which was also down slightly from the previous week's 1.5 rating in that demographic.

Episode Eleven of TUF 5 featured the first of two semi-final tournament bouts. The episode premiered on Thursday, June 14th and drew an overall rating of 1.3, which was up from the previous episode's 1.1 overall rating. Episode Eleven also out-drew Episode Ten in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, 1.7 to 1.4, while still finishing well below TUF 4's ratings averages in the same demographic.

The final regular season episode of TUF 5 featured the second of two semi-final tournament bouts. With Episode Ten serving as its lead-in, Episode Eleven premiered on Thursday, June 14th at 11:00 PM and drew an overall rating of 1.0, which is tied for the lowest-rated premiere episode in TUF history when airing on its normal night. The episode drew a rating of 1.5 in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic.

TUF Demolishes Boxing Head-to-Head
Overlapping with The Ultimate Fighter 5's eleventh episode on Thursday, June 14th, the newest live installment of "Versus Fight Night" on Versus Network was thoroughly trounced by TUF in the ratings. While Spike TV is available in approximately 90 million homes and Versus is available in approximately 70 million homes, that is certainly not enough to explain the huge disparity in viewership between TUF and the live boxing broadcast.

The two-hour boxing broadcast on Versus aired from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM and featured former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman in the main event. While Episode Eleven of TUF 5 drew an overall rating of 1.3, the two-hour broadcast of Versus Fight Night drew an overall rating of 0.2.

As for the overall number of viewers, Episode Eleven of TUF 5 averaged 1,718,000 viewers, while Versus Fight Night averaged 227,000 viewers. The disparity is far greater in the younger male demographics, due to the fact that the average age of Versus Fight Night's audience was 60 years old.

In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, Episode Eleven of TUF drew a 1.5 rating, while Versus Fight Night drew a rating of 0.1.

One might think that it can't get any worse than 1.5 to 0.1, but it can, as evidenced by the ratings in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic. In that key demographic, Episode Eleven of TUF drew a 1.7 rating, and Versus Fight Night did not even register as a 0.1 rating in the demographic. Technically, the two-hour broadcast of Versus Fight Night averaged a rating of 0.03 in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic.

Ratings for Individual Fights on Episodes 10, 11, and 12 of TUF 5
As for the ratings that were drawn by individual fights on the final three episodes of TUF 5, Episode Ten featured Nate Diaz' submission victory over Corey Hill in the tournament quarter-finals. The Diaz-Hill aired early in the episode and drew a 1.1 rating. Diaz' previous fight, which was a submission victory over Robert Emerson, had drawn a 1.3 rating. Hill's previous fight, which was also a victory over Emerson (by judges' decision), drew a 1.3 rating as well.

Episode Ten also featured Manny Gamburyan's unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman in the last of the tournament quarter-final bouts. The Gamburyan-Wiman fight aired during the second half of the episode and drew a 1.2 rating. Gamburyan's previous fight was a submission victory over Noah Thomas, and it drew a 1.4 rating. Wiman's previous fight was a technical submission victory over Marlon Sims, which drew a 1.2 rating.

The first semi-final tournament bout aired on Episode Eleven, as Manny Gamburyan defeated Joe Lauzon by unanimous decision. The fight itself drew a 1.3 rating, up slightly from the 1.2 rating that was drawn by Gamburyan's quarter-final fight against Matt Wiman. Lauzon's previous fight was a TKO victory over Cole Miller, which drew a 1.4 rating.

Episode Twelve featured the last of the tournament semi-final matches, as Nate Diaz defeated Gray Maynard by submission. The fight drew a 1.0 rating, down slightly from the 1.1 rating that was drawn by Diaz' quarter-final bout against Corey Hill. Maynard's previous fight was a submission victory over Brandon Melendez, which drew a 1.3 rating.

Liddell Episode of Letterman Draws Strong Ratings
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell appeared on CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" on Thursday, June 7th, and the episode drew a 3.6 overall rating.

It was the most-watched episode of the week for "The Late Show," which drew a 3.5 overall rating on Monday of that week, a 3.0 rating on Tuesday, 3.5 on Wednesday, and 3.2 on Friday.

The June 7th episode also out-drew the next week of "The Late Show," as the show's highest rating from June 11-15 was 3.4. However, the June 7th episode of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" still topped Letterman's rating of 3.6, as Leno drew an overall rating of 4.1 on the same night, head-to-head with the episode of Letterman that featured Chuck Liddell.

TUF's Head-to-Head Network Competition
Airing head-to-head with Episode Ten of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on Thursday, June 7th from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, the cancelled drama series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" continued its march towards oblivion, as it drew an overall rating of 3.1 on NBC. The first game of the NBA Finals on ABC drew a hugely disappointing 5.6 overall rating, and it actually lost to repeat programming head-to-head, as a rerun of the crime drama series "Shark" drew a 6.3 overall rating on CBS.

Airing head-to-head with Episode Eleven of TUF 5 on Thursday, June 14th from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, a new (burn-off) episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" drew an overall rating of 3.0 on NBC. Meanwhile, the fourth and final game of the NBA Finals on ABC drew an embarrassing 5.6 overall rating, which was the same rating that Game 1 drew one week earlier. The NBA Finals once again lost to repeat programming head-to-head, as a rerun of "Shark" on CBS drew an overall rating of 5.8.

On both June 7th and June 14th, the NBA Finals broadcast was just the fifth most-watched TV show of the evening. On both Thursdays, the NBA Finals broadcasts lost not only to repeats of "Shark," but also to repeats of "CSI" and new episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?"

Leading into Episode Ten of TUF 5 on Spike TV was the pro wrestling show "TNA Impact," which drew an overall rating of 1.0 on June 7th.

Leading into Episode Eleven of TUF 5 on Spike TV was "TNA Impact," which drew an overall rating of 1.1 on June 14th. Episode Twelve of TUF 5 then aired immediately after Episode Eleven.

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:57 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Penn vs. Pulver Preview Special to Air on Versus Network?
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

In a strange development, the 30-minute countdown special for the upcoming fight between BJ Penn and Jens Pulver will actually air on Versus Network tonight (June 22nd), despite the fact that the show is specifically designed to promote a Saturday night broadcast that will be airing on Spike TV, not Versus.

The 30-minute special, entitled "Bad Blood: Penn vs. Pulver," premiered on Monday night, June 18th at 11:30 PM on Spike TV. Barring a last-second schedule change or the NHL Draft running past its allotted timeslot (7:00 PM to 10:00 PM), the Penn-Pulver preview special will air on Versus tonight at 11:00 PM Eastern Time, less than 24 hours before the fight between Penn and Pulver begins on Spike TV. Versus does not have a staggered feed for different time zones, so an 11:00 PM Eastern start time is 10:00 PM for the Central time zone, 9:00 PM for the Mountain time zone, and 8:00 PM for the Pacific time zone.

Zuffa's contract with Spike TV specifically states that Spike TV is the exclusive basic cable home of UFC programming. While the contract, which expires in mid-2008, does not preclude the UFC from signing a deal with a premium cable network such as HBO or a broadcast network such as CBS, it does prevent the UFC from signing a deal with Versus, ESPN, or any other basic cable network for the duration of the contract. So, in order for the Penn-Pulver special to be cleared to air on Versus, Spike TV would have had to specifically approve it.

When asked about the unusual nature of this arrangement, a Spike TV spokesperson told MMAWeekly, "It is unusual, but a great way to promote our finale to a potentially new audience. [The special] is also available on SpikeTV.com and iFilm."

With the generally low ratings of Versus, it does not seem as though Zuffa has much to gain from airing the special on Versus, unless one takes into consideration the fact that there happens to be a pay-per-view event airing at the same time that will be co-promoted by Zuffa competitors EliteXC and Strikeforce.

Zuffa has a well-established history of aggressively counter-programming on Spike TV with extended UFC marathons whenever a competitor runs a major televised event. While one could argue that it's strictly a series of coincidences, the UFC has happened to schedule marathons of UFC programming on Spike TV to air head-to-head with the WFA pay-per-view in July 2006, the Pride USA pay-per-view in October 2006, the first EliteXC event in February 2007, the second EliteXC event earlier this month, and the K-1 Dynamite pay-per-view earlier this month.

Now that Zuffa owns the WEC and has WEC programming on Versus Network in addition to having UFC programming on Spike TV, the UFC now has two different cable networks that it could theoretically use if it wanted to counter-program against a competing MMA show. Versus stands to benefit from this arrangement because the Penn-Pulver preview special will likely out-draw the show that Versus was originally planning to air in the timeslot.

So, in addition to UFC programming airing on Spike TV tonight, the Zuffa-owned WEC will be airing a Friday encore of WEC WrekCage at 10:00 PM on Versus, and that will be followed by the Penn vs. Pulver preview special at 11:00 PM on Versus. Both shows will be going head-to-head with the EliteXC/Strikeforce pay-per-view event, which also starts at 10:00 PM.

There's nothing unusual about a replay of UFC Fight Night 10 airing on Spike TV tonight, as the UFC has aired UFN replays on Friday nights for several weeks. However, tonight's airing of WEC WrekCage is somewhat unusual, as it is the only Friday night airing of WEC WrekCage on the schedule for the next six weeks; and tonight's airing of the Penn-Pulver preview special is highly unusual, as it will mark the first time ever that a preview special for a Spike TV event will be airing in its entirety on a competing cable network.

Labels: Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC) News, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:10 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter Ratings Slip in Week Nine
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The ninth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5 drew an overall rating of 1.2 on Thursday, May 31st. The previous week's episode, which was promoted around the street fight between show contestants Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas, drew a slightly higher 1.3 overall rating.

Spike TV's primetime average last week was a 1.1 overall rating, which is just 0.1 lower than TUF 5's average-to-date.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, Episode Nine drew a 1.5 rating, down from the previous week's 1.7 rating. In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, Episode Nine drew a 1.4 rating, down from the previous week's 1.6 rating.

The portion of Episode Nine that featured the tournament quarter-final match between Gray Maynard and Brandon Melendez, which Maynard won by submission, drew a 1.3 overall rating. This is an increase from Maynard's previous fight (a TKO victory over Wayne Weems) and Melendez' previous fight (a decision win over Andy Wang), as both of those fights drew 1.1 ratings.

Overall Ratings Close to Season 4; Key Demographic Ratings Significantly Lower than Season 4
At this point, if TUF 5 continues to draw overall ratings in the range of 1.2 every week, it will likely be tied with TUF 4 as the least-watched season of TUF to date, although it's going to be close. However, in the key demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males, the gap is much wider and TUF 5 is by far the least-watched season of TUF to date in that demographic.

In terms of overall ratings, TUF 5 is averaging a 1.2 rating through its first nine episodes. At the same point in previous TUF seasons, the first season was averaging a 1.6 overall rating, the second season was averaging a 1.4 overall rating, the third season was averaging a 1.7 overall rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 1.3 overall rating.

In the advertiser-coveted 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, TUF 5 is averaging a 1.6 rating through nine episodes. At the same point in previous TUF seasons, the first season was averaging a 2.1 rating, the second season was averaging a 2.5 rating, the third season was averaging a 3.0 rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 2.2 rating.

UFC Still Drawing Higher Ratings than Other MMA Promotions
Even as the least-watched season of The Ultimate Fighter, the ratings for TUF 5 are still higher than the ratings for the IFL and WEC.

While Episode Nine of TUF 5 drew an average audience of 1.6 million viewers on Spike TV, the IFL's Battleground series is averaging 998,000 viewers per episode on MyNetworkTV, and the WEC's live debut on Versus averaged 416,000 viewers.

Head-to-Head Network Competition
Airing head-to-head with Episode Nine of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on May 31st at 10:00 PM, a repeat of the drama series "Shark" on CBS drew a 6.5 overall rating. Over on ABC, the final few minutes of the National Spelling Bee and a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" combined to average a 3.8 overall rating in the hour. The ratings for new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" are typically much higher than the ratings for new episodes of "Shark," but that is not the case when both series are in reruns for the summer.

Airing on NBC in the 10:00 PM hour was a new episode of the cancelled series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and the show's 2.9 overall rating may have reminded NBC why they decided to cancel the show in the first place.

Airing in the 9:00 PM hour on Spike TV prior to The Ultimate Fighter, the pro wrestling show "TNA Impact" drew an overall rating of 0.9.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 8:44 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- WEC's Debut on Versus Network Draws 0.4 Rating
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The debut broadcast of World Extreme Cagefighting on Versus Network drew an overall rating of 0.4 on Sunday, June 3rd. The event was the WEC's fourth since being purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa last December, and it was the first time that the WEC or any other MMA promotion has aired on Versus.

Airing from 9:00 PM to 10:54 PM, WEC 28 averaged 416,000 total viewers. The broadcast's 0.4 overall rating was matched by its 0.4 rating in the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic. In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the show drew a rating of 0.7.

Formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network, Versus is available in approximately 70 million U.S. households. Spike TV and most other cable networks are available in slightly more than 90 million U.S. households. Broadcast TV networks such as CBS and NBC are available in approximately 111 million U.S. households.

WEC's Ratings Already Approach NHL's Ratings
While the WEC's ratings pale in comparison to the average ratings for the UFC, the same could be said for any show on Versus. The network's highest-profile property, the National Hockey League, has drawn lackluster ratings not only for the regular season, but also for the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Finals.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, WEC 28 actually out-drew the two games of this year's Stanley Cup Finals that aired on Versus. Both of the Stanley Cup Finals games drew 0.6 ratings in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, while WEC 28 drew a 0.7 in that demographic.

The first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus drew overall ratings of 0.8 for Game 1 and 0.7 for Game 2, as compared with 0.4 for WEC 28. In terms of overall viewership, the difference between the WEC and the NHL is not as big as the overall ratings might suggest, as there were more viewers per household for the WEC. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus averaged 769,000 viewers; Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus averaged 576,000 viewers; and WEC 28 on Versus averaged 416,000 viewers.

When coverage of this year's Stanley Cup Finals moved over to NBC starting with Game 3, the result was the lowest overall rating for any primetime broadcast in NBC's history. The game drew a 1.1 network rating on NBC, which is slightly lower than the low point of Vince McMahon's ill-fated XFL in early 2001.

WEC vs. EliteXC vs. IFL vs. UFC vs. NBA
The average audience of 416,000 people for WEC 28 on Versus is slightly higher than the average audience of 365,000 viewers who tuned in for the premiere of EliteXC on Showtime back in February. The ratings for EliteXC were considered excellent for Showtime, given the fact that the premium cable network is available in just 15 million U.S. households, whereas Versus is available in 70 million households.

The average audience for IFL Battleground in its first ten original episodes on MyNetworkTV was 998,000 viewers, which compares favorably with the NHL's average for the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals (673,000 viewers) and the WEC's live debut on Versus (416,000 viewers). As a broadcast TV network, albeit a struggling broadcast TV network, MyNetworkTV is available in approximately 105 million U.S. households.

Of course, other live sporting events held by such organizations as the UFC and NBA are in a different league when it comes to overall viewership levels.

The most recent live UFC broadcast on cable television was UFC 70, which drew a 1.8 overall rating and 2.8 million viewers on April 21st.

The most recent live NBC broadcast on cable television for which final ratings are available was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which drew a 4.8 overall rating and 5.6 million viewers on May 31st.

WEC WrekCage and Tapout Also Premiere on Versus
Leading into the live WEC broadcast on Versus was the premiere of WEC WrekCage, featuring WEC fight footage and a UFC Unleashed-like format. The first episode of WEC WrekCage drew an average audience of 189,000 viewers and an overall rating of 0.2. The two most recent airings of UFC Unleashed on Spike TV drew overall ratings of 0.4 on May 8th and 0.7 on May 15th.

The series premiere of the reality show Tapout, featuring the people behind the well-known MMA clothing line, aired immediately following WEC 28. Tapout drew an average audience of 286,000 viewers and an overall rating of 0.3. In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, Tapout drew a rating of 0.5, which is just short of the 0.6 rating that the first two games of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals averaged on Versus.

Head-to-Head Network TV Competition
Airing head-to-head with the first hour of WEC 28 on June 3rd from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, a repeat of "Cold Case" on CBS drew a 6.3 overall rating. The final hour of the movie "Bad Boys II" drew a 3.3 overall rating on Fox. A repeat of "Desperate Housewives" on ABC lagged far behind the top spot with a 2.7 overall rating, as "DesperateHousewives" typically draws much lower ratings for its repeats than most shows. Coming in a distant last place on the Big Four networks was a repeat of the NBC drama series "Friday Night Lights," which drew a 1.5 overall rating.

Airing head-to-head with the second hour of WEC 28 on June 3rd from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, a repeat of "Without a Trace" drew a 6.0 overall rating. Fox doesn't air national programming in the 10:00 PM hour, and NBC moved ahead of ABC for second place among the Big Four networks. A repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" drew a 2.7 overall rating on NBC, while a repeat of "Brothers & Sisters" drew a 2.3 overall rating on ABC.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:20 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for WEC 28
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for WEC 28, which took place on June 3rd, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event was the WEC's fourth since being purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa, and it was also the WEC's live debut on cable television channel Versus.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that Zuffa and the WEC are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that Zuffa and the WEC also pay its fighters, but do not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, pay-per-view bonuses for the top pay-per-view main event fighters, which would not apply since this event was not on pay-per-view), are not included in the figures below.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Preliminary Match Fights" are fights that are taped before a television or pay-per-view show goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those fights aired on the telecast or pay-per-view broadcast.

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Urijah Faber: $20,000 (defeated Chance Farrar)
-Chance Farrar: $4,000 (lost to Urijah Faber)

Main Card Fighters
-Alex Karalexis: $10,000 (defeated Josh Smith)
-Rani Yahya: $10,000 (defeated Mark Hominick)
-Brian Stann: $8,000 (defeated Craig Zellner)
-Mark Hominick: $6,000 (lost to Rani Yahya)
-Craig Zellner: $2,000 (lost to Brian Stann)
-Josh Smith: $1,000 (lost to Alex Karalexis)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-John Alessio: $18,000 (defeated Alex Serdyukov)
-Brock Larson: $16,000 (defeated Kevin Knabjian)
-Cub Swanson: $8,000 (defeated Micah Miller)
-Alex Serdyukov: $6,000 (lost to John Alessio)
-Jeff Bedard: $6,000 (defeated Mike French)
-Charlie Valencia: $6,000 (lost to Brian Bowles)
-Brian Bowles: $4,000 (defeated Charlie Valencia)
-Micah Miller: $4,000 (lost to Cub Swanson)
-Mike French: $3,000 (lost to Jeff Bedard)
-Kevin Knabjian: $2,000 (lost to Brock Larson)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $134,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:05 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Sims-Thomas Street Fight and Scheduled UFC "Rematch" Give the Sport Two Black Eyes
Editorial by Ivan Trembow

A lot has been said and written about the UFC's handling of the unsanctioned street fight between Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas on a recent episode of The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC absolutely did the right thing by kicking Sims and Thomas off the show. Two fighters in TUF history were kicked off the show and no longer welcome in the UFC for not making weight (Kenny Stevens and Gabe Ruediger), and doing anything less than that to Sims and Thomas for getting into a street fight would have accurately been seen as encouraging exactly that kind of behavior on future seasons.

This brings us to the fact that despite being kicked off the show and called a disgrace to the sport, Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas are being welcomed back into the UFC. Not only that, but they'll actually be fighting each other in a bout that is being promoted specifically as a rematch of the street fight. And not only will this fight take place on the season finale card on June 23rd in Las Vegas, but it will actually be given the "main card" treatment and air live on Spike TV.

It would be very difficult for the hypocrisy in all of this to be more overwhelming. First of all, there's the fact that the fighters are put in a house with no form of entertainment or contact with the outside world and then provided with as much beer and hard liquor as their hearts desire.

Quasi-outrage and shock notwithstanding, that basic combination is a formula that has been used to create drama, confrontations, and fist-fights on a wide variety of reality TV shows for many years. It's not rocket science.

If the UFC didn't want alcohol-induced wild antics or confrontations on the show, it would be very simple to eliminate the alcohol from the equation, as evidenced by Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. After Chris Leben's drunken episode on TUF 1, Zuffa's Lorenzo Fertitta said to remove the alcohol from the house and to tell the contestants to act like professional athletes.

One season later, the alcohol was put back in the house towards the end of Season 2, in part because of the belief that there wasn't enough in the way confrontation or wild antics, which means that it should not come as a surprise to anyone associated with the show when the abundance of alcohol contributes to exactly that kind of behavior.

Just as much of a disgrace to MMA as the actual Sims-Thomas street fight itself is the fact that Sims and Thomas are going to get another shot in the UFC, in a match against each other that is being promoted as a rematch of their street fight, and they are being rewarded with a main card slot on the season finale of TUF, while other TUF 5 contestants who didn't get into street fights are relegated to untelevised prelim status, with their finale undercard bouts seen by a fraction of the audience.

It doesn't excuse their actions in any way, but Sims and Thomas' judgment was impaired when they had their street fight because they were drunk.

Spike TV and the UFC cannot use the same excuse for their poor judgment in deciding to reward Sims and Thomas for getting into a street fight on the show.

Both Spike TV and the UFC share the blame for this because either party could have refused to go along with it.

If it was the UFC that was the primary force in wanting to have a Sims-Thomas "rematch" on the TUF 5 finale, Spike TV could have said, "No, we're not going to air that. Put it on PPV or on your web site if you want it to happen so badly."

If it was Spike TV that was the primary force behind it, the UFC could have said, "No, we're not going to have that fight on one of our events, and you can't force us to put any fight on any of our events."

Instead, both Spike TV and the UFC either endorse the decision or share in the complicity for it by allowing it to happen.

Barely a week after the UFC received the most mainstream media attention and coverage in its history, the message that is sent by the Sims-Thomas decision could not be more disturbing: "If you gain enough notoriety from getting in a street fight, you will be rewarded for it."

Sadly, this can't be considered a one-time lapse in judgment, as this is the second time that this message has been sent to potential UFC fighters. The first time was in 2005 when Sean Gannon was given a UFC contract as a result of the notoriety he gained from a video of his unsanctioned street fight with Kimbo Slice.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 7:05 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter 5 Ratings Increase in Week 8
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Episode Eight of The Ultimate Fighter 5 drew an overall rating of 1.3 on Thursday, May 24th, an increase from the previous episode's 1.1 overall rating.

The entire week of marketing leading up to Episode Eight was focused on the unsanctioned street fight that took place at the fighters' house between intoxicated, previously eliminated fighters Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas. The part of the show that contained the Sims-Thomas street fight drew a 1.2 rating. The part of the show that featured the MMA fight between Joe Lauzon and Cole Miller drew a slightly higher 1.4 rating, which is tied for the second-most-watched fight thus far in Season Five.

The increase in the overall rating from the previous week can be partially attributed to the commercials promising a brawl at the house, and also to the fact that the UFC had just come off its biggest week of mainstream exposure and awareness in the history of the company.

In the advertiser-coveted demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males, Episode Eight drew the same 1.7 rating that Episode Seven drew one week earlier. In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the rating increased from 1.4 to 1.6.

Season-to-Date Averages Through Eight Weeks
Through eight episodes, TUF 5 is averaging a 1.2 overall rating. Eight episodes into previous seasons of TUF, the first season was averaging a 1.6 overall rating, the second season was averaging a 1.5 overall rating, the third season was averaging a 1.7 overall rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 1.3 overall rating.

In the key 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, TUF 5 is averaging a 1.7 rating through eight episodes. Eight episodes into previous TUF seasons, the first season was averaging a 2.1 rating, the second season was averaging a 2.6 rating, the third season was averaging a 2.9 rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 2.2 rating.

Head-to-Head Network Competition
The head-to-head network TV competition that The Ultimate Fighter faced on Thursday, May 24th was significantly weaker than the competition that TUF 5 has faced in all of its previous episodes. May 24th was the first night of the summer 2007 season, so TUF 4 only had to contend with repeats and failed NBC dramas instead of heavily promoted season finales.

Airing head-to-head with TUF from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, a repeat of "Shark" on CBS drew a 7.5 overall rating, and a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC drew a 3.9 overall rating. One week earlier, the show's season finale had drawn a 14.0 overall rating, but "Grey's Anatomy" always performs much worse in repeats. Also airing at 10:00 PM on May 24th, the cancelled NBC drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" began its summer burn-off and drew a 2.8 overall rating, which is embarrassing for NBC even by the summer's lower ratings standards.

The Ultimate Fighter 5's lead-in on May 24th was a new episode of the pro wrestling show "TNA Impact," which drew a 1.0 overall rating for the fifth consecutive week. Leading out of TUF at 11:00 PM was a replay of the UFC 71 Countdown special, which drew an overall rating of 0.9.

On Monday, May 21st, the premiere of the UFC 71 Countdown special drew an overall rating of 0.7, and the premiere of UFC All Access: Quinton Jackson drew an overall rating of 0.5.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 8:31 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for UFC 71
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for UFC 71, which took place on Saturday, May 26th in Las Vegas.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that the UFC is required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions.

The winners' bonuses are included in the figures below. (Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson had flat salaries with no win bonuses.)

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that the UFC also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for PPV main event fighters), are not included in the figures below. Also not reflected below are the taxes that the fighters have to pay.

In the listings below, "Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in title fights or in the main event. "Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the PPV broadcast.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during Ultimate Fighter seasons because those fights are officially classified as exhibitions.

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Chuck Liddell: $500,000 (18th fight in UFC; lost to Quinton Jackson)
-Quinton Jackson: $225,000 (2nd fight in UFC after 17 fights in Pride; defeated Chuck Liddell)

Main Card Fighters
-Karo Parisyan: $32,000 (9th fight in UFC; defeated Josh Burkman)
-Ivan Salaverry: $17,500 (6th fight in UFC; lost to Terry Martin)
-Terry Martin: $12,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Ivan Salaverry)
-Kalib Starnes: $10,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Chris Leben)
-Chris Leben: $10,000 (9th fight in UFC; lost to Kalib Starnes)
-Houston Alexander: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Keith Jardine)
-Josh Burkman: $7,000 (6th fight in UFC; lost to Karo Parisyan)
-Keith Jardine: $7,000 (6th fight in UFC; lost to Houston Alexander)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Din Thomas: $28,000 (7th fight in UFC; defeated Jeremy Stephens)
-Wilson Gouveia: $16,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Carmelo Marrero)
-Thiago Silva: $16,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated James Irvin)
-Alan Belcher: $14,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Sean Salmon)
-James Irvin: $7,000 (5th fight in UFC; lost to Thiago Silva)
-Carmelo Marrero: $5,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Wilson Gouveia)
-Sean Salmon: $3,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Alan Belcher)
-Jeremy Stephens: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Din Thomas)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $920,500

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:00 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter Ratings Flat at Midseason
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The sixth and seventh episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 5, both of which featured two fights instead of one, drew overall ratings of 1.2 and 1.1, respectively. The previous week's episode drew a 1.1 overall rating.

Episode Six aired on May 10th and featured two fights in order to make up for the editors' decision not to include a fight on the Gabe Ruediger-focused Episode Five.

The fight on Episode Six between Joe Lauzon and Brian Geraghty, which Lauzon dominated, drew a 1.1 rating, tied for the lowest of the season. However, this was to be expected because it aired near the beginning of the show, and the show's smallest viewership levels are almost always towards the beginning of any given episode.

Airing over the course of the second half of Episode Six, Corey Hill's controversial three-round judges' decision win over Robert Emerson drew a 1.3 rating. This was a slightly higher rating than the previous week's Ruediger-weight-cutting ending, which closed out with a 1.2 rating in the final minutes.

Episode Seven of TUF 5, which aired on May 17th, also featured two fights, largely because both of the fights ended up being so brief. Gray Maynard's domination of Wayne Weems did not air until the second half of the show, but the fight still only drew a 1.1 rating. Matt Wiman's equally impressive domination of Marlon Sims in the closing minutes of the show drew a 1.2 rating.

Key Demographic Ratings Up for Episodes Six and Seven, but Series-to-Date Averages Still Down Significantly
While the overall ratings of 1.2 and 1.1 for Episodes Six and Seven, respectively, are not much different than Episode Five's overall rating of 1.1, the ratings in the key demographics were slightly higher than Episode Five's. In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, Episode Five drew a 1.5 rating, Episode Six drew a 1.6 rating, and Episode Seven drew a 1.7 rating. In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, Episode Five drew a 1.3 rating, Episode Six drew a 1.5 rating, and Episode Seven drew a 1.4 rating. Given the ratings free-fall that was taking place earlier in the season, this upward trend is encouraging.

However, TUF 5 continues to be the least-watched season of TUF to date by a good-sized margin. Through seven episodes, TUF 5 is averaging a 1.2 overall rating. At the same point in previous TUF seasons (seven episodes in), the first season was averaging a 1.6 overall rating, the second season was averaging a 1.5 overall rating, the third season was averaging a 1.7 overall rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 1.4 overall rating.

In the advertiser-coveted 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, TUF 5 is averaging a 1.6 rating through seven episodes. At the same point in previous TUF seasons, the first season was averaging a 2.0 rating, the second season was averaging a 2.6 rating, the third season was averaging a 2.9 rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 2.3 rating.

Hype for Episode Eight Promises a Fight at the House
The commercials for Episode Eight that have been running on Spike TV all week long clearly show a fight breaking out at the fighters' house between two fighters who appear to be Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas. It will be interesting to see how yet another "fight breaks out in the house" ad campaign will affect the ratings.

It will also be interesting to see how the UFC will handle the first full-fledged fight breaking out at the fighters' house in series history. Other fighters have been banished to the "you're no longer welcome in the UFC" territory for various reasons: Eli Joslin (who quit the show), Kenny Stevens (couldn't make weight), Noah Inhofer (quit the show), and Gabe Ruediger (couldn't make weight).

Head-to-Head Network Competition
New episodes of the pro wrestling show "TNA Impact" served as The Ultimate Fighter's lead-in on May 10th and 17th, and "Impact" drew a 1.0 overall rating on both of those weeks.

Airing head-to-head with Episode Six of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on May 10th at 10:00 PM, the CBS drama "Without a Trace" returned to its Thursday night roots and drew a 9.9 overall rating with its season finale. A new episode of "ER" on NBC drew a 6.2 overall rating, while the series premiere of the new drama "Traveler" flopped on ABC with a 6.1 overall rating, retaining less than half of its lead-in audience from "Grey's Anatomy."

Airing head-to-head with Episode Six of TUF 5 on May 17th, a repeat of "CSI" on CBS out-drew the season finale of "ER" on NBC, as "CSI" drew a 9.0 overall rating and "ER" drew a 6.4 overall rating. Meanwhile, ABC drew an 8.7 rating for the hour, as the network aired the end of the "Grey's Anatomy" season finale from 10:00 to 10:15, followed by a special called "Lost: The Answers" from 10:15 to 11:00.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:50 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for WEC 27
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for WEC 27, which took place on May 12th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was the WEC's third since being purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that Zuffa and the WEC are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that Zuffa and the WEC also pay its fighters, but do not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for the top PPV main event fighters, which would not apply since this event was not on PPV), are not included in the figures below.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Preliminary Match Fights" are fights that are taped before a TV or PPV show goes on the air, and since this show hasn't aired on TV or PPV, all of the non-main event fights are defined as "Main Card Fights."

Highlights from this event will air this summer on one of the WEC's hour-long highlight shows on the Versus Network, which is available in approximately 70 million U.S. households.

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Doug Marshall: $8,000 (defeated Justin McElfresh)
-Justin McElfresh: $3,000 (lost to Doug Marshall)

Main Card Fighters
-Jason "Mayhem" Miller: $30,000 (defeated Hiromitsu Miura)
-Manny Tapia: $8,000 (defeated Brandon Foxworth)
-Sherron Leggett: $6,000 (defeated Charlie Kohler)
-Ariel Gandulla: $6,000 (defeated Gary Padilla)
-Marcus Hicks: $6,000 (defeated Sergio Gomez)
-Ed Ratcliff: $6,000 (defeated Johnny Sampaio)
-Eric Schambari: $6,000 (defeated Art Santore)
-Art Santore: $6,000 (lost to Eric Schambari)
-Charlie Kohler: $5,000 (lost to Sherron Leggett)
-Tom Speer: $4,000 (defeated Sidney Silva)
-Sidney Silva: $4,000 (lost to Tom Speer)
-Brandon Foxworth: $4,000 (lost to Manny Tapia)
-Sergio Gomez: $4,000 (lost to Marcus Hicks)
-Gary Padilla: $3,000 (lost to Ariel Gandulla)
-Hiromitsu Miura: $3,000 (lost to Jason "Mayhem" Miller)
-Johnny Sampaio: $2,000 (lost to Ed Ratcliff)

Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $114,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:21 AM

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Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts--- Arrest & Firing of HBO's CEO Could Affect UFC-HBO Deal
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The news of the record-breaking PPV buyrate for Oscar De la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has almost been overshadowed by the news that HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht has been fired. Just hours after the conclusion of the De la Hoya-Mayweather fight, Albrecht was arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in a Las Vegas parking lot.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, "Officers at the site of the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. boxing match came running when they spotted a man later identified as Albrecht grabbing a woman by the throat with both hands and dragging her toward the valet parking station at the MGM Grand... The officers who arrested Albrecht said that he had grabbed his companion around the neck so hard that he left red marks, and that they had to physically break his grip to free her."

According to an MSNBC/Newsweek account of the police report, Albrecht then told the officers "that his girlfriend had pissed him off and that he was the CEO of HBO."

Fans of mixed martial arts who don't follow the boxing industry or HBO at large may be familiar with the name Chris Albrecht because he is the person who took the uncommon step of overruling HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg's plans to exclude MMA from HBO's line-up in the future, as previously reported by acclaimed boxing writer Thomas Hauser of Seconds Out.

Two days after his arrest, Albrecht initially said in a memo to HBO employees that he was taking a paid leave of absence from the company. Just one day later, Albrecht said in a second memo that he was resigning from the company "at the request of Time Warner," which is HBO's parent company.

As for what changed in that one-day period between the two memos, Albrecht was asked to resign from his position at HBO on the same day that the Los Angeles Times published a story containing the revelation that this is not the first time Albrecht has been in trouble for allegedly assaulting a woman. The Times reported, "In 1991, the cable network [HBO] paid a major settlement to Sasha Emerson, a subordinate and love interest of Albrecht's who alleged that he had shoved and choked her at HBO's West Coast offices in Century City. The incident, according to four people familiar with the matter, had been kept quiet for 16 years by the management of HBO."

Insiders at HBO considered Albrecht to be "a ticking time bomb" even prior to the most recent incident, according to a report by the Reuters news service.

Reuters has also reported that there could be further shake-ups at HBO if those loyal to Albrecht choose to leave the company in the coming months. As Reuters put it, "Rarely does an executive that high in a corporate structure fall out without taking some of the people he put in with him. Insiders are wondering who will follow Albrecht out the door."

Albrecht is among those credited with helping lead HBO to expand beyond movies, sports, and stand-up comedy with the addition of critically-acclaimed original series such as "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," and "Oz."

Bill Nelson, the Chief Operating Officer of HBO, will assume Albrecht's duties until a full-time CEO is appointed. The top candidates to replace Albrecht as CEO include Nelson and two other HBO executives, Eric Kessler and Richard Plepler.

According to a report by Thomas Hauser of Seconds Out from January of this year, HBO Sports did not want to air MMA programming at all, and HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg had "opposed the UFC deal as vigorously as possible," while doing "everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts."

It was a surprising and significant move when Albrecht, then the Chairman and CEO of HBO as a whole, veto'd Greenburg and insisted that HBO would air MMA programming at some point, leaving Greenburg only to negotiate the details of such a deal. The Seconds Out article added that the veto from Albrecht "represented a marked shift in HBO's corporate culture... in the past, an HBO chief executive officer would not have ordered sports programming over the objection of the sports department."

It is not yet known what affect, if any, Albrecht's departure from HBO will have on Greenburg's day-to-day business dealings and the decisions that he makes at HBO Sports.

However, due in part to Albrecht's previous veto of Greenburg, and also due in part to the very strong anti-MMA sentiments of other people at HBO Sports (including HBO Boxing's lead announcer Jim Lampley), it's a very sensitive political situation at HBO whenever the subject of boxing vs. MMA is raised even privately, and much more so when it's raised publicly.

Lampley said on the air following the conclusion of the De la Hoya-Mayweather fight, "Mixed martial arts is entertaining, but the kind of skill level you saw in the ring tonight... there’s nothing in mixed martial arts which is within light years of what Mayweather and De la Hoya are able to do with their hands."

Max Kellerman, the HBO Boxing color commentator who may or may not be replacing Larry Merchant as the #1 color commentator for HBO Boxing in the coming months, responded to Lampley's comment minutes later by saying on the air, "I disagree with Jim. I think there are mixed martial artists who are operating on a very similar skill level in what they do as these fighters [Mayweather and De la Hoya], and that’s one of the reasons why that sport is becoming very popular."

In comments to the media after the record-setting PPV buyrate was announced, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said, "This fight never would have materialized if boxing was dying. It's alive and well." Greenburg expanded on that point in the L.A. Times: "The sport of boxing is alive and well. If it isn't, how do you explain this? The naysayers can go take a nap."

In numerous interviews with the media after the De la Hoya-Mayweather fight, UFC president Dana White voiced his disappointment with the fight. In one interview with the Boston Herald, some of White's statements included: "I went to the fight that night. Inside the arena, there was no energy whatsoever... I'm not bashing boxing, I love it, but all these people have destroyed this sport... It's crazy. It just drives people further from boxing. You get one fight for 55 bucks. One fight for a $2,500 ticket. You get people all excited for the build-up and then the fight ends up sucking. Both guys try to outpoint the other and win a decision."

White continued, "In the UFC, we give you eight or nine fights, they’re all good, and the guys are fighting their asses off trying to finish it."

The UFC's contract with Spike TV expires in mid-2008. Spike is currently the UFC's exclusive basic cable television partner, an arrangement which precludes the UFC from signing deals with other basic cable networks, but would not preclude a deal with a premium cable network like HBO.

In addition to seeking a large increase in programming rights fees in its negotiations with Spike TV for a contract renewal, the UFC is almost certainly going to want to remove the exclusivity clauses altogether, given the company's publicly stated desire to air its programming on other networks such as ESPN.

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:58 PM

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Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts--- Mayweather vs. De la Hoya Shatters Pay-Per-View Records
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The May 5th fight between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Oscar de la Hoya shattered the pay-per-view industry's all-time records for buys and gross revenue for a single event, with approximately 2,150,000 pay-per-view buys and $120 million in gross PPV revenue.

The number of buys for the show exceeded all expectations. Going into the show, it was believed that the event would break the all-time record for a non-heavyweight boxing PPV (which was 1.4 million and was set by De la Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad in 1999), but the event was not expected to break the sport's all-time record of 1.99 million PPV buys. As it turned out, Mayweather vs. De la Hoya surpassed that mark by over 100,000 buys.

PPV Records Broken
The previous all-time boxing PPV records were set by a 1997 fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield; and a 2002 fight between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.

The last time Oscar de la Hoya fought, it was against Ricardo Mayorga in May 2006. De la Hoya vs. Mayorga drew 925,000 pay-per-view buys and generated $46.2 million in gross PPV revenue.

The UFC's biggest event in company history, last December's UFC 66 with Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz as the main event, drew approximately 1,050,000 pay-per-view buys and grossed approximately $41.95 million in PPV revenue. Prior to that, the UFC's biggest PPV in company history was UFC 61, which drew approximately 775,000 PPV buys and grossed approximately $30.96 million in PPV revenue.

Live Gate Records Broken
The event is also expected to have broken boxing's all-time records at the live box office, with over $19 million in gross ticket sales at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The previous record of approximately $16.9 million was held by the 1999 rematch between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Last May, Oscar de la Hoya's fight against Ricardo Mayorga generated approximately $7.6 million in gross ticket receipts at the MGM Grand.

The UFC's biggest live event in company history was UFC 66 at the MGM Grand in December of last year, which generated approximately $5.4 million in gross ticket receipts. Prior to UFC 66, the UFC's biggest live gate was drawn by UFC 57 in February 2006, which featured Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture in the main event and generated approximately $3.4 million in gross ticket receipts.

Fighters' Pay, The "24/7" Series, and The Rematch
Oscar de la Hoya's guaranteed, upfront purse for the fight was $23.3 million, and his final purse is expected to be nearly $50 million, according to both ESPN and the Los Angeles Times. Floyd Mayweather's guaranteed, upfront purse for the fight was $10 million, and his final purse is expected to be approximately $20 million, also according to ESPN and the L.A. Times.

A significant portion of the fight's success is being attributed to the success of HBO's four-part series, "De le Hoya-Mayweather 24/7," which has come to represent the new state-of-the-art for promoting an individual fight. A point could certainly be made that prior to "24/7," nothing else came close to the UFC's "Countdown" specials on Spike TV in their effectiveness at promoting certain fights.

However, the intimate, in-depth look into Mayweather and De la Hoya's professional and personal lives that was offered by "24/7," coupled with the series' incredible production values, have taken the game to a whole new level.

A rematch between De la Hoya and Mayweather, perhaps in 2008 after De la Hoya's pregnant wife has given birth, would appear to be likely as a result of the overwhelming financial success of the event. While Mayweather said before and after the event that he is retiring from fighting, he has also said numerous times in recent days (including on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) that he might have to come out of retirement "if the fans demand to see a rematch."

Within the boxing community, it was widely believed even before the aforementioned comments that Mayweather would fight again if a huge financial offer was made, which would be no less than $10 million to $15 million per fight. Now that the record-breaking numbers have come in, any doubt as to whether Mayweather would be worth that kind of money for a rematch with De la Hoya has seemingly disappeared.

The Myth of Boxing as a "Dying Sport"
Much like Jim Lampley's thoughts on the subject of mixed martial arts, the whole notion of boxing as a "dead sport" or a "sport that needs to be saved" is based largely on ignorance of the facts. The facts are that last year was the second-biggest year in boxing history at the pay-per-view box office, with $177 million in gross PPV revenue for HBO.

It would also be inaccurate to say that boxing can't draw decent PPV buyrates without Oscar de la Hoya. While De la Hoya vs. Mayorga was boxing's biggest event in 2006, it only generated $42 million out of the $177 million in HBO's gross PPV revenue last year. The remaining $132 million in gross PPV revenue was drawn by fights that did not feature De la Hoya.

One of the reasons for the existence of this false perception about boxing's fortunes is the dramatic rise of the UFC on the PPV landscape in 2006. Even with boxing having its second-biggest year ever in 2006, the UFC surpassed boxing for the first time ever in 2006, with gross PPV revenue of $222,766,000 generated by UFC PPVs in 2006.

The drastic increase in the UFC's pay-per-view buyrates did not appear to negatively affect boxing's PPV buyrates. In fact, a major boxing PPV and a major UFC PPV aired at the same time on PPV last November, and neither event suffered any significant ill effects as a result of the head-to-head competition. There is some crossover between the two sports' fans, but nowhere near as much as one might assume.

Though many hardcore MMA fans hate the pro wrestling industry with a passion, the fact remains that MMA's audience overlaps much more with pro wrestling's audience than it does with boxing's. It has been pro wrestling, not boxing, that has seen its United States PPV buyrates collapse as the UFC's PPV buyrates have increased. It is pro wrestling, not boxing, that shares a similar demographic breakdown with the UFC. The #1 demographic for boxing is people over the age of 50. The UFC doesn't draw particularly well among 35-to-49-year-olds, much less people over the age of 50.

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:04 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Fighter Melvin Guillard Suspended 8 Months for Positive Cocaine Test
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Lightweight UFC fighter and former Ultimate Fighter contestant Melvin Guillard has suspended for eight months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission following a disciplinary hearing in Las Vegas. He was also fined $2,100 out of his $7,000 purse for the fight.

Guillard tested positive for Benzoylegonine, a major metabolite of cocaine, following his loss to Joe Stevenson at UFC Fight Night 9 on April 5th. Guillard's fight against Stevenson was the card's main event, and it aired live on Spike TV.

Guillard was the first MMA fighter to test positive for cocaine in the state of Nevada. In neighboring California, only one MMA fighter, Ricco Rodriguez, has tested positive for cocaine.

At his disciplinary hearing in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Guillard admitted that he used cocaine. Guillard said that on Friday, March 30th, he was hanging out with some friends and not intending to use any drugs, but "one thing led to another" and he ended up trying cocaine. Guillard said that he thought the drug would be out of his system within 72 hours and that he absolutely did not expect to test positive when he fought six days later.

Guillard said, "I've only been introduced to drugs in the past year or so." He added that he has only used drugs for recreational purposes, and that he does not have an addiction. Guillard did not specify which other drugs he has used, but he did state that he has never used performance-enhancing drugs.

Guillard said to the commissioners, "I made an honest mistake. I embarrassed myself, and I embarrassed my family." Guillard said that the hardest part of the whole process was explaining to his mother what he had done. Guillard added that he has subsequently tried to put himself in a new environment with different people surrounding him and that he does not intend to use drugs in the future.

The commissioners said that there is precedent on the sentencing of fighters who test positive for certain drugs, but that they also have some leeway to give suspensions on the low end of the spectrum or the high end of the spectrum. The commissioners did appreciate Guillard's honesty and the fact that he appeared to be remorseful for his actions. At that point, a motion was introduced to suspend Guillard for eight months from the date of the fight and to fine him 30 percent of his purse for the fight (or $2,100 out of his $7,000 purse). The motion passed unanimously.

There has never been a positive cocaine test for a fighter in the state of Nevada. Professional boxer Omar Nino tested positive for methamphetamine in March 2006 and was given a suspension of nine months, one month longer than Guillard's suspension.

Although Guillard was the only fighter on the UFC Fight Night 9 card to have failed his drug test, only six of the card's eighteen fighters were drug-tested. The NSAC spent a total of $1,670 on drug testing for UFC Fight Night 9, while the total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been $5,011. No fighters at all were drug-tested at UFC 69, which took place in Houston, Texas; or at UFC 70, which took place in Manchester, England.

The issue of drug-testing in MMA has become increasingly prevalent as more and more fighters have failed drug tests. At a teleconference prior to UFC 70, when a reporter raised the issue with UFC president Dana White and specifically mentioned Diego Sanchez' positive test for marijuana and Melvin Guillard's positive test for cocaine, White said that it always sucks whenever any UFC fighter tests positive for anything. When the reporter asked if the UFC would consider instituting random drug testing of its own, in addition to the athletic commission drug testing that always takes place on the day of the events, White did not directly address the question. Instead, he said that all of the fighters on The Ultimate Fighter reality show have to pass a drug test before they can be on the show, and some of the other fighters are drug-tested by the athletic commissions, but he concluded, "I don't know what else I can do."

Guillard will have to provide a negative drug test to the NSAC before he will be allowed to fight again in the state of Nevada.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:09 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter Ratings Rebound Slightly, Still Below Previous Seasons
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The fifth episode of The Ultimate Fighter drew a 1.1 overall rating on Thursday, May 3rd. The show's overall rating rebounded slightly from the previous week's all-time series low rating of 1.0.

Through the first five episodes of the season, The Ultimate Fighter 5 has drawn an overall rating of 1.4 for the season premiere, followed by overall ratings 1.3, 1.2, 1.0, and 1.1.

Just as importantly, Episode Five was up significantly in the advertiser-coveted demographics when compared to Episode Four. In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, Episode Four drew a 1.1 rating, and Episode Five drew a 1.5 rating. In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the increase was less pronounced, but still notable, as Episode Four drew a 1.1 rating and Episode Five drew a 1.3 rating.

Weight-Cutting Focus & Lack of Fight May Have Pushed Away Some Viewers
Despite the increase in overall viewership, the trend in the quarter-hour ratings would seem to indicate that some viewers were not satisfied with the content of the episode, which did not feature a fight and instead focused on Gabe Ruediger's struggles to make the 155-pound weight limit.

The viewership level of any given episode normally stays the same or increases as the show progresses, but the viewership level for this episode actually decreased at one point. The second quarter-hour drew a 1.2 rating, and the third quarter-hour drew a 1.1 rating.

Even with all of TUF 5's ratings struggles, this is the first time all season long that the viewership level has actually decreased from one quarter-hour to the next enough to cause the rating to change when rounded to the nearest tenth of a ratings point.

This was actually the first time that such a decrease has taken place during an Ultimate Fighter episode since Episode Four of TUF 4

The final 15 episodes of the episode drew a 1.2 overall rating, which is the second-lowest mark of the season for an episode's final quarter-hour. The episode that featured Brandon Melendez' fight against Andy Wang drew a 1.1 rating in its last 15 minutes.

TUF 5's Ratings Through Five Episodes Compared to Previous TUF Ratings
Over the course of its first five episodes, the fifth season of TUF has averaged a 1.2 overall rating. At the same point in each of the previous TUF seasons (five episodes in), the first season was averaging a 1.5 overall rating, the second season was averaging a 1.6 overall rating, the third season was averaging a 1.7 overall rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 1.4 overall rating.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, which is where the majority of the UFC's fan base is located and is also Spike TV's target audience, the fifth season of TUF has averaged a 1.6 rating through its first five episodes. This is much more of a drastic drop-off than is the case in the overall ratings. At the same point in previous seasons in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the first season was averaging a 1.9 rating, the second season was averaging a 2.6 rating, the third season was averaging a 3.0 rating, and the fourth season was averaging a 2.3 rating.

Head-to-Head Network Competition
A new episode of the pro wrestling show "TNA Impact" aired at 9:00 PM on May 3rd as the lead-in for TUF 5, and it drew a 1.0 overall rating. The ratings for "Impact" have struggled ever since TNA co-owner and head writer Jeff Jarrett booked himself to return to action in a prominent role.

Airing head-to-head on network television with Episode 5 of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on Thursday, May 3rd, the second half of a two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC drew a massive 13.4 overall rating. Meanwhile, the season finale of "Shark" on CBS drew an 8.3 overall rating, and a new episode of "ER" on NBC drew a comparatively paltry 5.3 overall rating.

Just a couple of weeks ago, when a new episode of "ER" came in third place in its timeslot, it was a highly unusual occurrence. Now, it almost seems commonplace, and the show is not even coming in a close third place. Fox does not air national programming in the 10:00 PM hour.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:02 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for UFC 70
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for UFC 70, which took place on April 21st in Manchester, England.

In the listings below, "Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters are not in the main event bout, but whose matches are on the main card (regardless of whether or not those matches air in all countries).

"Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the PPV broadcast. As always, any PPV bonuses are not included in the figures below, nor are other bonuses such as Knockout of the Night or anything else other than the win bonuses.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during Ultimate Fighter seasons because those fights are officially classified as exhibitions.

Main Event Fighters
-Mirko Cro Cop: $350,000 (2nd fight in UFC after 24 fights in Pride; lost to Gabriel Gonzaga)
-Gabriel Gonzaga: $60,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Mirko Cro Cop)

Main Card Fighters
-Andrei Arlovski: $160,000 (13th fight in UFC; defeated Fabricio Werdum)
-Fabricio Werdum: $80,000 (1st fight in UFC after 6 fights in Pride; lost to Andrei Arlovski)
-Ryoto Machida: $42,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated David Heath)
-Cheick Kongo: $40,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Assuerio Silva)
-Michael Bisping: $24,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Elvis Sinosic)
-Elvis Sinosic: $8,000 (7th fight in UFC; lost to Michael Bisping)
-Assuerio Silva: $8,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Cheick Kongo)
-David Heath: $6,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Ryoto Machida)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Alessio Sakara: $20,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Victor Valimaki)
-Terry Etim: $12,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Matt Grice)
-Paul Taylor: $8,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Edilberto de Oliveira)
-Junior Assuncao: $6,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated David Lee)
-Jess Liaudin: $6,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Dennis Siver)
-Edilberto de Oliveira: $4,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Paul Taylor)
-Victor Valimaki: $3,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Alessio Sakara)
-Matt Grice: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Terry Etim)
-Dennis Siver: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Jess Liaudin)
-David Lee: $2,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Junior Assuncao)
Combined Fighter Payroll: $845,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:39 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter Ratings Collapse to Record Lows
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Episode Four of TUF 5 drew an overall rating of just 1.0 on Thursday, April 26th. The episode went head-to-head with the NBA Playoffs, but so did several episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 3, which was the most-watched season in the history of TUF.

The overall rating of 1.0 has the dubious distinction of being tied with several episodes of TUF 4 as the lowest-rated episodes in series history. The first four episodes of TUF 5 have drawn overall ratings of 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, and 1.0, respectively.

Perhaps more alarming than the drop in overall viewership was the drastic drop in viewership among the advertiser-coveted demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males. In that demographic, TUF 5 had been averaging a 1.9 rating in its first three episodes (which was already the lowest average in TUF history), but Episode Four drew a 1.1 rating in this demographic. The average for TUF 4 in this demographic was 2.0, and the average for TUF 3 was 2.9.

The same pattern emerged in the viewership patterns of the slightly broader demographic of 18-to-49-year-old males. In that demographic, TUF 5 had been averaging a series-low 1.7 rating through three episodes, but Episode Four drew a 1.1 rating in this demographic as well. The average for TUF 4 in this demographic was 1.6, and the average for TUF 3 was 2.2.

What the Ratings Collapse Means for the UFC, Spike TV, and Advertisers
The fact that TUF 5's ratings are lower than previous seasons' ratings is disappointing for the UFC and Spike TV, but the fact that TUF 5's ratings are lower than the advertiser-quoted expectations is what's likely to actually cost money for the UFC and Spike TV. The overall ratings for TUF 5 (an average of 1.2 through four episodes) are significantly lower than the ratings that the show's advertisers were told to expect according to the Wrestling Observer, which reported for the season premiere an advertiser expectation of a 1.7 overall rating. If the advertising contracts for TUF 5 are structured like most ad deals in the TV industry, the show's advertisers are going to be getting refund checks, make-good spots (basically free commercial slots to make up for the lower viewership) or a combination of both.

With the continued drop in viewership, many fans of the sport have asked via e-mail and message boards whether TUF will be cancelled. The answer is "no," and not necessarily because the ratings are strong enough that it would be completely out of the question based on the ratings alone. If for no other reason, Spike TV is unlikely to cancel TUF because the UFC as a whole is too valuable to Spike TV.

The relationship between the UFC and Spike TV is currently in a crucial time period, as negotiations for the UFC's new contract (and new rights fees) will be starting in the not-too-distant future if they haven't already gotten underway. Spike TV's contract with the UFC expires in the middle of 2008, and the UFC is going to want to secure higher rights fees for the TV programming that it produces, either from Spike TV or from other networks.

The collapse of TUF's ratings does lower the amount of money that the UFC is going to be able to get from Spike TV or any other network for the rights to air its programming. At the same time, Spike TV doesn't want to do anything that would alienate or upset the UFC (such as canceling TUF) because its leverage in negotiations is limited by the fact that the UFC is Spike's #1 provider of original programming.

While these negotiations play out over the next several months, TUF 6 and TUF 7 were already ordered in early 2006, which was the last time that the UFC extended its contract with Spike TV. These two seasons of TUF are likely to air regardless of how high or low the ratings are, as the UFC's management has stated numerous times in the past that they do not believe in "overexposure."

The sixth season of TUF is scheduled to begin filming before the fifth season finishes airing, and it will have a premiere date of August or September 2007. The seventh season of TUF will air sometime in the first half of 2008, which means that it's either going to be filmed in late 2007 for a January 2008 premiere date, or it's going to be filmed in January 2008 for an April 2008 premiere date.

Head-to-Head Network Competition; Plus Other Spike TV Ratings from April 26th
Airing head-to-head on network television with Episode 4 of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on Thursday, April 26th, a new episode of NBC's "ER" came in third place in its timeslot for just the second time in the series' history (the first time was last week). The overall rating of 6.2 for "ER" was beaten by ABC's "October Road," which drew a 6.4 overall rating, and by CBS' "Shark," which drew a 9.4 overall rating. The lead-in for "ER" on NBC is now "Scrubs" (which drew an embarrassing 3.0 overall rating), and this has only served to accelerate the series' rapid decline. In the same timeslot, CBS has a new hit on its hands with "Shark," and the consistent 6's that have been drawn by "October Road" may or may not be enough to warrant a second season order from ABC.

Episode Four of TUF 5 was preceded on Spike by TNA Impact, which drew the same overall rating as TUF (1.0). The episode of UFC Unleashed that followed TUF on April 26th drew an overall rating of 0.8.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:25 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 70 Draws Strong Ratings on Spike TV
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

On the same week in which the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter continued its ratings collapse with the lowest-rated episode to date, UFC 70 drew a strong overall rating of 1.8 on Spike TV.

The three-hour, tape-delayed broadcast of UFC 70 on April 21st was the fifth-highest-rated UFC broadcast out of the fourteen UFC fight specials that have aired on Spike TV since the beginning of 2005. Five nights later, the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5 drew an overall rating of 1.0.

UFC 70's Ratings vs. UFC's Previous Ratings
Compared to the UFC's average-to-date for fight specials headed into this event, UFC 70 showed increases across the board. The UFC's average-to-date for its previous fourteen fight specials was a 1.7 overall rating, and UFC 70 drew a 1.8 overall rating.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the UFC's average-to-date was a 2.8 rating, and UFC 70 rating in this demographic was 3.2.

In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the UFC's average-to-date was a 2.2 rating, and UFC 70 rating in this demographic was 2.6.

The high ratings for UFC 70 came just sixteen days after the disappointing ratings for UFC Fight Night 9 on Spike TV, which makes UFC 70's viewership all the more impressive by comparison.

The overall rating of 1.8 for UFC 70 is significantly higher than the 1.2 overall rating that was drawn by UFC Fight Night 9, and is only surpassed in the UFC's history on Spike TV by TUF 1's live finale (1.9), TUF 2's live finale (2.0), TUF 3's live finale (2.0), and The Final Chapter with Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock (3.1).

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, UFC 70's rating of 3.2 was literally double UFC Fight Night 9's rating of 1.6. The only UFC fight specials to have ever drawn higher ratings in this demographic were TUF 1's finale (3.3), TUF 2's finale (3.7), TUF 3's finale (3.8), and The Final Chapter (6.0).

In the broader demographic of 18-to-49-year-old males, UFC 70's rating of 2.6 was significantly higher than UFC Fight Night 9's rating of 1.5, and higher than any UFC fight special to have ever aired on Spike TV other than TUF 1's finale (2.7), TUF 2's finale (2.7), TUF 3's finale (2.9), and The Final Chapter (4.5).

Ratings for Each Specific Fight
The UFC 70 broadcast started off with the fight between Cheick Kongo and Assuerio Silva, and that particular fight drew a 1.7 rating, which is a good rating for the traditionally low-rated first fight of the broadcast.

After a 17-minute gap, the preliminary fight between Terry Etim and Matt Grice started airing. Etim vs. Grice drew a 1.9 rating, which is an impressive rating for a match-up of two fighters who were making their UFC debuts.

Following a 27-minute gap in between fights, the fight between Michael Bisping and Elvis Sinosic started airing. Surprisingly, this fight did not build on the previous fight's rating, as it also drew a 1.9 rating. The last time there was a "live" Bisping fight on Spike TV, his TUF 3 finale match-up against Josh Haynes drew a much higher 2.5 rating.

After a 24-minute gap, the fight between Andrei Arlovski and Fabricio Werdum started airing. Even though it was not the most thrilling of fights, Arlovski vs. Werdum drew a strong 2.2 rating. This was the first time in over six months (since October 10, 2006) that any fight on any UFC broadcast drew a rating of 2.0 or higher.

Twenty-five minutes later, the main event bout of Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko Cro Cop started airing, and this fight also drew an impressive 2.2 rating.

The aforementioned long gaps in between fights drew lower ratings than the fights themselves, which is why the three-hour broadcast's overall average rating was 1.8.

Although it was hyped at the beginning of the show, the fight between Ryoto Machida and David Heath did not air on Spike TV, nor were any highlights or explanations offered to viewers.

In addition, the entire UFC 70 broadcast was inaccurately billed as live, as the words "Spike TV LIVE" were displayed in the corner of the screen at all times, despite the fact that no portion of the broadcast was actually live. It was not live-to-tape either, as there were numerous post-production voice-overs leading into and out of commercial breaks, the Etim-Grice fight was inserted after the Kongo-Silva fight as if it were also live, and the Machida-Heath fight was edited out entirely.

UFC 70 vs. NASCAR vs. Major League Baseball vs. NBA
UFC 70 on Spike TV out-drew the NBA, Major League Baseball, and NASCAR on Saturday, April 21st in the UFC's strongest demographic, as there were 885,000 males between the ages of 18 and 34 who watched UFC 70.

In terms of overall viewership, UFC 70 drew 2.8 million viewers. On the same weekend, a Saturday night NASCAR race on Fox drew 7.6 million viewers; Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN drew 5.5 million viewers; Saturday afternoon baseball on Fox drew 4.7 million viewers; and a first-round NBA Playoffs game on Sunday afternoon drew 4.3 million viewers.

The first-round NBA Playoffs game that aired on ESPN head-to-head with UFC 70 barely out-drew UFC 70 in overall viewership, with a 2.0 overall rating compared to UFC 70's overall rating of 1.8. Ratings for the NBA in general are down drastically from what they were ten years ago for Michael Jordan's sixth and final championship season.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 8:08 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Reaches Deal with HBO, According to UFC
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The UFC has reached a deal to air live events on HBO, according to statements made by UFC president Dana White during a teleconference prior to UFC 70.

White said that the UFC will be putting on live events for HBO and that the first UFC event on HBO will air this summer. When asked by a reporter if the HBO deal is "signed, sealed, and delivered," White said, "Yes." When asked if the deal should be reported as official, White said, "Yeah. We will be on HBO this summer."

White also spoke of struggling to sign the HBO deal in the past tense, as he said, "We would have never signed a deal if we weren't comfortable with it."

However, at a post-UFC 70 press conference, White said that a deal between the UFC and HBO has not yet been signed.

White said during the pre-UFC 70 teleconference that the UFC broadcasts on HBO will have an HBO production team and HBO announcers, so UFC announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan will not be doing commentary on the UFC's HBO events. White said that he doesn't know who will be on the HBO announcing team for UFC events, but when asked if Jim Lampley would be on the team, White said, "Hell no."

White inferred that the HBO events will be higher in stature than the Spike TV events but still lower in stature than the pay-per-view events. As an example, White said that you could expect to see the winners from future seasons of The Ultimate Fighter have their first post-TUF fights on HBO after they win the TUF competition, whereas the UFC Fight Night events would be the home for all of the fighters who are on TUF and get UFC contracts even though they didn't win the TUF competition.

As another example, White said that you can expect to see Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight on HBO, and he added that Nogueira "will fight one of the top guys right off the bat." White said that fans can expect to see top-quality fights whether any given UFC event is on HBO, Spike TV, or pay-per-view.

White said that the UFC's June 16th event in Belfast, Northern Ireland will not be the HBO debut show, as he said that the June 16th show will be "on Spike TV or pay-per-view." The UFC web site previously said that the June 16th would be on Spike TV in the United States.

The statements made by White would seem to end a period of more than one year wherein the UFC and HBO were close to a deal but had not reached a deal. White has said consistently over the past year that the UFC would be on HBO "very soon," dating back to an April 2006 radio interview on 1140 KHTK in Sacramento, California.

Acclaimed boxing writer Thomas Hauser wrote in an article on the Seconds Out web site in January 2007 that HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg had "opposed the UFC deal as vigorously as possible" and was doing "everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts." In the same article, former HBO Sports president Seth Abraham actually compared MMA to "naked boxing" and said that MMA would tarnish HBO's boxing heritage

In an unprecedented move, HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht veto'd HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg and insisted that HBO would air MMA programming at some point, leaving Greenburg only to negotiate the details of such a deal. According to Hauser, this move "represented a marked shift in HBO's corporate culture... in the past, an HBO chief executive officer would not have ordered sports programming over the objection of the sports department."

Left only to come to terms on the details, some of the key disagreements between Zuffa and HBO Sports were whose production crew will film the event, whose announcers will commentate on the event, and how those announcers will go about commentating on the event.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently summarized the dispute as follows: "HBO wants full control of the product, and to use its crew and its announcers and cover it like a network broadcast team would cover a major sporting event. UFC doesn't want to give up its control of the product, wants its own crew to film it, and wants to use its own announcers, who are closer to pro wrestling announcers whose role is to build up the product as opposed to providing detached, objective commentary."

With those issues resolved, there were no remaining obstacles standing in the way of a deal between the UFC and HBO.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC News Round-Up: Tito Ortiz, Brandon Vera, Mirko Cro Cop, Drug Test Failures, Knee Strikes, and More
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

In addition to discussing the UFC's deal with HBO and his plans for Pride, UFC president Dana White also discussed numerous other issues during a media teleconference last week.

A reporter asked White about Tito Ortiz' recent statement that he would still be willing to fight White in an exhibition boxing match if the right contractual terms were reached. White said, "Why would I pay him to fight me? He wanted the fight."

When the reporter continued, asking White whether or not Ortiz is aware that the Nevada State Athletic Commission said that they don't want to hear about the fight again, White responded, "Tito's not aware of anything. He's living in a f---ing bubble. He's out there making himself look like a jackass right now. He ought to shut his face and focus on Rashad Evans."

A reporter mentioned that the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board might be interested in legalizing knees to the head on the ground in MMA, and asked if White thinks the Nevada State Athletic Commission would follow suit if that were to happen. White said, "Probably, because it was New Jersey that didn't want knees to the head before." White has previously stated on multiple occasions that he would personally like to see knees to the head on the ground legalized in MMA.

White also said that Brandon Vera will be fighting on a UFC card in the near future, that the Spike TV program Inside the UFC (which was previously placed on indefinite hiatus) will be returning at some point, and that ESPN will not only be covering UFC events from now on, but may also broadcast live UFC events in the future.

Regarding the UFC's show in the United Kingdom, White said that because there is no athletic commission in the U.K. that regulates MMA events, UFC vice president Marc Ratner would be regulating and overseeing UFC 70. Ratner is the former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

A reporter asked about all of the recent drug test failures in the UFC, specifically mentioning Diego Sanchez' positive test for marijuana and Melvin Guillard's positive test for cocaine, and White said that it always sucks whenever any UFC fighter tests positive for anything. When the reporter asked if the UFC would consider instituting random drug testing of its own, in addition to the athletic commission drug testing that always takes place on the day of the events, White did not directly address the question.

Instead, he said that all of the fighters on The Ultimate Fighter have to pass a drug test before they can be on the show, and some of the other fighters are drug-tested by the athletic commissions, but he concluded, "I don't know what else I can do."

Prior to Mirko Cro Cop's loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70, Cro Cop also spoke to the media. When asked which fighters he would like to fight other than Gonzaga and Randy Couture, he said that he would like to fight Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the very near future.

Cro Cop said that his term in the Croatian Parliament ends in six or seven months, and he will not be seeking a second term.

He will instead return to the Special Forces police unit in Croatia, which he says will not affect his MMA career. Cro Cop said that it has been an honor to serve in Parliament, but that he enjoys fighting more than he enjoys politics.

When asked about the possibility of fighting Chuck Liddell at some point in the future, Cro Cop said that he is not able to make the 205-pound weight limit, but he would welcome a fight with Chuck Liddell or anyone else if the fight was contested in the heavyweight division.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 7:58 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ratings for Ultimate Fighter 5 Continue to Decline in Week Three
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Episode Three of The Ultimate Fighter 5 drew an overall rating of 1.2 on Thursday, April 19th. There has been a downward trend since the beginning of this season, as Episode One drew a 1.4 overall rating, Episode Two drew a 1.3 overall rating, and Episode Three drew a 1.2 overall rating.

A week's worth of commercials on Spike TV hyping that Episode Three would contain one of the best fights in the history of The Ultimate Fighter was apparently not enough to entice more viewers to tune into the show. The actual fight between Nate Diaz and Robert Emerson drew a 1.3 rating, making it the least-watched fight of this season to date.

In addition to the overall rating decreasing from the previous week, Episode Three of TUF 5 also saw decreases in the demographics most coveted by advertisers. In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, Episode 3 drew a 1.7 rating, down from the previous week's mark of 2.0. In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, Episode Three drew a 1.5 rating, down from the previous week's mark of 1.7. It was still the highest-rated show of the day on cable television in the latter demographic.

An overall rating of 1.2 is still an excellent rating for cable, but it's not significantly above Spike TV's primetime average of 1.0. More importantly, it is significantly lower than the overall rating that the show's sponsors were told to expect, as the Wrestling Observer has reported that advertisers were told to expect a 1.7 overall rating for the season premiere. If the overall ratings of TUF 5 were to sink any lower than 1.0, the series would actually be dragging down Spike TV's primetime average at that point, but it seems unlikely that the ratings will decrease to that extent in the coming weeks.

At this point, if TUF 5's ratings hold steady at this level or increase in the upcoming weeks, it may or may not end up being the lowest-rated season of TUF to date. However, the numbers are now at a point where if the ratings decrease any further in the upcoming weeks, TUF 5 will beat out TUF 4 as the lowest-rated season of TUF to date.

The fourth season of TUF averaged a 1.2 overall rating, compared to 1.7 for TUF 3, and 1.2 for Episode Three of the current season.

The Ultimate Fighter 4 averaged a 2.0 rating in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, compared to 2.9 for TUF 3, and 1.7 for Episode Three of the current season.

The fourth season of TUF averaged a 1.6 rating in the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, compared to 2.2 for TUF 3, and 1.5 for Episode Three of the current season.

Episode Three of TUF 5 was almost out-drawn by its pro wrestling lead-in, TNA Impact, which has had stagnant ratings for several months. The episode of TNA Impact that aired on April 12th at 9:00 PM drew a 1.1 overall rating, just 0.1 lower than TUF's 1.2 overall rating. However, the demographic ratings aren't even close, as TNA drew a 0.9 in the two demographics most coveted by advertisers, compared to 1.7 and 1.5 for TUF.

Even the sinking ratings of TUF are still higher than the highest ratings that the IFL has drawn on MyNetworkTV. The most-watched episodes of IFL Battleground have averaged 1.1 million viewers, while Episode 3 of TUF 5 averaged 1.6 million viewers.

Airing head-to-head on network television with Episode 3 of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on Thursday, April 12th, the CBS drama "Shark" came out on top in the 10:00 PM hour. A new episode of "Shark" drew an 8.5 overall rating, once again beating out a new episode of NBC's "ER," which drew a 6.1 overall rating.

For the first time in the history of "ER" on Thursday nights, a new episode of the series actually came in third place in its timeslot, losing not only to "Shark" but also to ABC's "October Road," which drew a 6.7 overall rating. Though "ER" was already renewed through May 2008 about two years ago, it's hard to imagine the series continuing past that point.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:01 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter 5's Ratings Slip to 1.3 in Week Two
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5 drew an overall rating of 1.3 on Thursday, April 12th. This is down slightly from the season premiere's 1.4 overall rating, which was the lowest overall rating for any TUF season premiere to date.

The silver lining for the UFC and Spike TV is that despite the decrease in the overall rating, the show's rating in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic actually went up slightly. Episode Two drew a 2.0 rating in this demographic, up from the season premiere's 1.9 rating in this demographic. This is still down significantly from TUF 3's average rating of 2.9 in this demo, but at least now it's on par with TUF 4's average of 2.0 in the demo.

In the week prior to Episode Two, it seemed as though all of this episode's proverbial eggs were being put into one promotional basket: The tease that one or more fights would break out in the house during Episode Two. The ads for the episode were heavily focused on the heated arguing and near-fighting in the house.

This gambit did not pay off in terms of overall viewership. One of the major reasons is that this kind of behavior, and the producers' eagerness to make an entire episode revolve around it and then focus heavily on it promotionally, serves to actually TUF less of a unique show.

There's only one reality show on television that people can watch if they want to see professional fighters battle it out in MMA competition for a UFC contract (or several UFC contracts). On the other hand, there have been literally dozens of reality shows that people can watch if they want to see people get into heated arguments with each other in a house and subsequently get into scuffles or near-scuffles in the house. Every time there's a fight or tease of a fight in the TUF house instead of in the Octagon, it makes TUF seem more like "just another reality TV show," as opposed to "the reality TV show where they have an MMA fight at the end of each episode."

The actual fight between Manny Gamburyan and Noah Thomas drew a 1.4 rating, as compared to the 1.5 rating that was drawn by the Episode One fight between Cole Miller and Alan Berube.

Compared to the first four seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, the current season is drawing higher ratings than TUF 4's averages at this point, but lower ratings than all of the other seasons. The first season of TUF averaged a 1.6 overall rating, TUF 2 averaged a 1.4 overall rating, TUF 3 averaged a 1.7 overall rating, and TUF 4 averaged a 1.2 overall rating. The first two episodes of the current season have drawn overall ratings of 1.4 and 1.3, respectively. If the ratings hold steady and do not drop any further, TUF 5 would not be the lowest-rated season to date.

Airing before The Ultimate Fighter on April 12th, the pro wrestling show TNA Impact drew a 1.1 overall rating. Airing after The Ultimate Fighter on April 12th, the Ortiz-White special drew a 1.2 overall rating. Much like Austin-McMahon before it, Ortiz-White was able to pique viewers' interest.

Airing head-to-head on network television with the second episode of TUF 5 from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, a new episode of CBS' freshman drama "Shark" dominated a new episode of veteran NBA drama "ER," as "Shark" drew a 9.5 overall rating and "ER" drew a 6.3 overall rating. The continued losses for "ER" are getting increasingly embarrassing for NBC, but it's not surprising for "ER" to lose when its lead-in audience is literally one-tenth the size of the lead-in audience for "Shark" ("CSI" out-drew NBC's comedy block by the ridiculous margin of 13.4 to 3.4).

ABC came in third place in the 10:00 PM hour, averaging a 5.8 overall rating for the hour-long series premiere of its new comedy, "Notes from the Underbelly." Fox does not air national programming after 10:00 PM.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:07 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC President Discusses Plans for Pride, Plus Fedor, Shogun, Wanderlei, and More
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White spoke in great detail during a pre-UFC 70 teleconference about his plans for the Pride Fighting Championships organization, which was recently purchased by UFC principal owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.

The most striking aspect of White's answers to reporters' questions was the way in which he spoke of Pride as a company essentially owned-and-operated by the UFC. Any pretense from the initial buy-out announcement that White would not have anything to do with Pride (or would not be running Pride) was long gone, as was any pretense that Pride and the new company Pride FC Worldwide would not be controlled by Zuffa.

White set the tone for this early on in the conference call when he talked about how busy he is: "I'm working on that [the first round of the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix]. There's only so much I can do at once. We own the UFC, Pride, and WEC, so it's a lot of work."

White also said, "I'm working on a major TV deal for Pride in the U.S. and in Japan." When asked about the Pride USA office, he said that all of the Pride employees will be keeping their jobs but added, "I'm going to be the one going out and signing deals for Pride."

White's comments about Pride stand in stark contrast to the statements made by DSE executives when the announcement was made that UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were buying Pride. At the time, DSE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara said, "Lorenzo believes that Pride should maintain its luster, and he will make sure that Pride. is here to stay. I trust and believe in Lorenzo... but please don't misunderstand the situation. This is not a speech about the UFC purchasing Pride. The UFC will forever stay as a competitor to Pride, because the UFC is operated by Zuffa Entertainment and Mr. Dana White."

White also contradicted statements made just in the past week by DSE executives about Pride's upcoming Lightweight Grand Prix. When asked if it's true that there will be one or more UFC fighters in the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix, White said that it is absolutely not true.

At the press conference last week in Japan where it was announced that the first round of Pride's Lightweight Grand Prix would not be taking place on May 20th as originally scheduled, DSE president Sakakibara said, “I’m sure that the UFC will send us one of the very best lightweight fighters of the UFC. That’s what Lorenzo promised me. I’m sure that Lorenzo will prove his commitment.”

Also, while DSE announced in Japan this week that the first round of the Grand Prix would take place on July 16th in Nagoya, Japan, White said, "We don't have a date for the Lightweight Grand Prix yet." White said that it's still being determined when they'll be ready to run their first Pride event.

When a reporter asked if it's true that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will be fighting in the UFC just as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be, White said that Shogun will stay in Pride and added, "All of the guys who are in Pride will stay in Pride." White said that there will be no Pride fighters in the UFC before the big UFC vs. Pride "Super Bowl" event, which he said will be taking place this year.

When asked about the recent statements from Shogun's camp that Shogun has a contract for two fights in Pride and two fights in the UFC, White said, "I don't know where that's coming from, but it's not true."

When a reporter asked about Wanderlei Silva's status as a free agent, White said that Silva is not a free agent and that he has four fights remaining on his Pride contract.

When asked about the status of Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, who recently stated that he is not under contract to Pride, White said that Fedor is indeed under contract to Pride, but added, "It's a non-exclusive contract, and I don't do non-exclusive contracts."

White said that he is trying to sign Fedor to an exclusive contract and that if Fedor were to sign a similar non-exclusive contract with any other MMA promotion in the meantime, "We would absolutely slap an injunction on that." An "injunction" in this case would be a temporary restraining order seeking to legally prohibit Fedor from fighting in any other MMA promotion.

White was asked about the problem of so many Pride fighters, such as Fedor, being under non-exclusive contracts. White responded, "Yeah, it's a problem. I'm working on it. It's a big problem, but believe me, I'll fix it."

Several of the reporters did not seem to be aware of White's previous statements that the UFC and Pride would have the same rules. When asked about the differences between the UFC's rules and Pride's rules in the future, White said, "It'll all be the same."

One of the reporters on the teleconference said that he feels the color commentary on the April 8th Pride event was "horrendous" due to the "constant shilling for Pride" and asked if White will be making changes to ensure that the Pride broadcasts will be "more professional" in the future. White responded, "Absolutely," and said that he "agrees 100 percent" with what the reporter said. When asked specifically if color commentator Frank Trigg will continue to be part of the Pride announcing team, White said, "No, he won't. We're looking for some new announcers."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Zuffa-Owned WEC to Make Live Cable TV Debut on June 3
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

World Extreme Cagefighting is scheduled to make its debut on live cable television on June 3rd, according to the Versus Network's web site. The Versus Network and WEC previously announced a partnership that would start in June, and now the specific date and other details have been pinned down.

The first live WEC fight card is scheduled to air on the Versus Network on Sunday, June 3rd from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Versus' web site lists the next two live WEC broadcasts as taking place on Sunday, August 5th and Wednesday, September 5th.

While any of these dates could change, the June 3rd date is solid enough that the WEC has formally requested the date with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The WEC has run two events since being purchased by the Fertittas, who also own Pride and the UFC, and an additional WEC event is scheduled for May 12th. Footage from these events will serve as the basis for a series of WEC highlight shows that will air on Versus, not unlike UFC Unleashed on Spike TV.

All of the WEC's live events since the Fertitta purchase have taken place at the WEC's unofficial new "home base" venue, The Joint at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As previously reported by MMAWeekly, the WEC's deal with Versus Network is for three live fight specials (each of which will be two hours in length), and six highlight shows at one hour apiece. The total committment from Versus at this point is for 12 hours of WEC programming, plus replays.

The six new episodes of WEC highlight shows are scheduled to premiere on Versus at the following dates and times: Sunday, June 3rd at 8:00 PM (leading into the first live fight special); Wednesday, June 6th at 9:00 PM; Wednesday, June 13th at 9:00 PM; Sunday, August 5th at 8:00 PM (leading into the second live fight special); Wednesday, August 8th at 9:00 PM; and Wednesday, August 15th at 9:00 PM.

The Versus Network, formerly known as the Outdoor Life Network, is available in approximately 70 million U.S. households. This is not at the level of cable networks such as Spike TV, which is available in over 90 million households, but the Versus Network does have a far wider reach than premium networks like HBO (30 million households) and Showtime (15 million households). Versus had been in advanced negotiations for a TV deal with the IFL prior the Fertittas' purchase of the WEC.

Given the low ratings that the NHL has drawn on the Versus Network, it would not be unrealistic for one to expect that the WEC could approach or even surpass the NHL's viewership levels right out of the gate. If that were to happen, it would be a mere formality for Versus to order more episodes of the WEC's live and pre-taped programming.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:42 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Fighter Melvin Guillard Tests Positive for Cocaine
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Lightweight UFC fighter and former Ultimate Fighter contestant Melvin Guillard tested positive for a major metabolite of cocaine following his main event bout with Joe Stevenson at UFC Fight Night 9, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The NSAC's drug testing results show that Guillard's urinalysis was found to contain cocaine metabolite Benzoylegonine in an amount equal to or greater than 150 ng/ml. When reached for comment by MMAWeekly's Damon Martin, Guillard's manager had no comment at this time.

Guillard is the first MMA fighter to test positive for cocaine in the state of Nevada. In neighboring California, only one fighter, Ricco Rodriguez, has tested positive for cocaine.

The six fighters on the card who were drug-tested were Guillard, Stevenson, Antoni Hardonk, Justin McCully, Nate Mohr, and Kurt Pellegrino. All of those fighters tested negative for all banned substances, except for Guillard.

The other twelve fighters on the card were not drug-tested. The NSAC spent a total of $1,670 on drug testing for UFC Fight Night 9, while the total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been $5,011.

In addition, all of the drug tests that were administered at WEC 26 in Las Vegas late last month have come back negative for all banned substances.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission tested eight of the twenty fighters who competed on the card. The eight fighters who were drug tested were Urijah Faber, Dominic Cruz, Carlos Condit, John Alessio, Chase Beebe, Eddie Wineland, Alex Serdyukov, and Scott Norton.

All eight of those fighters' urine samples did not contain any banned substances, including steroids, stimulants, and recreational drugs. The remaining twelve fighters on the card were not drug tested.

The event took place on March 24th and was the WEC's second show since being purchased by the Fertittas, who also own the UFC and Pride

The drug test results from WEC 26 are a notable improvement from WEC 25, where two of the six drug-tested fighters failed their drug tests.

Although, Urijah Faber, Rob McCullough, Rich Crunkilton, and Mike Joy all passed their drug tests at WEC 25, Kit Cope tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone (frequently used by veterinarians to rehabilitate injured horses) and was later suspended by the NSAC for nine months; while Joe Pearson tested positive for Delta 9 THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and was later suspended by the NSAC for six months.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:03 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Fight Night 9 Draws Series-Low Ratings
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The two-hour broadcast of UFC Fight Night 9 drew an overall rating of 1.2 on Thursday, April 5th, making it the lowest-rated installment to date of UFC Fight Night on Spike TV.

The telecast also drew the lowest ratings ever for a live UFC event on Spike TV in the advertiser-coveted demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males.

The event was not the lowest-rated live UFC fight card in the company's history on Spike TV, as the November 11, 2006 live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 4 drew a 1.1 overall rating.

UFC Fight Night 9 Ratings vs. UFC Fight Night 8 Ratings
The trend of declining UFC Fight Night ratings appeared to be turning around with the 1.7 overall rating that was drawn by UFC Fight Night 8 on January 25, 2007, but this may have just been an abberation, based on the much lower rating for UFC Fight Night 9.

Both UFN 8 and UFN 9 aired on Thursday nights from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM, and both received similar levels of promotional build-up on Spike TV. However, UFN 9 drew significantly lower numbers than UFN 8 in terms of overall rating (1.7 to 1.2), the rating in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic (2.3 to 1.6), and the rating in the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic (2.0 to 1.5).

As far as how exactly this happened, the increases and decreases over the course of these two broadcasts indicate that both started out with a fairly low viewership level, as is almost always the case with live UFC broadcasts on Spike TV. The key difference is that UFN 8 was able to significantly increase its ratings over the course of the two-hour broadcast, while UFN 9 was not.

While both broadcasts opened up with a similar rating for the first 15 minutes (1.2 for UFC Fight Night 8, compared to 1.0 for UFC Fight Night 9), the ratings for UFN 8 increased drastically during the broadcast, peaking with a 2.1 rating for the Heath Herring vs. Jake O'Brien fight. On the other hand, nothing on UFN 9 was able to draw a rating higher than 1.4.

Increases and Decreases in Viewership During the UFN 9 Broadcast
The first fight on the UFC Fight Night 9 broadcast was Kenny Florian vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima, which drew a 1.1 overall rating, not atypical for the opening fight on a live UFC broadcast.

As with UFC Fight Night 8, the second fight on UFN 8 was a heavyweight fight that lasted the entire 15-minute time limit. However, while Heath Herring vs. Jake O'Brien drew a 2.1 rating in January, Justin McCully vs. Antoni Hardonk drew a 1.2 rating in April.

The next fight that aired on the UFN 9 broadcast was the preliminary fight between Kurt Pellegrino and Nate Mohr. Pellegrino vs. Mohr drew a 1.4 rating, and that's where the rating would stay for the remainder of the broadcast. Joe Stevenson's 27-second submission win over Melvin Guillard in the main event was too short for its rating to be determined, but the minutes before and after the actual fight drew a 1.4 rating, the same as the Pellegrino-Mohr fight.

UFC Fight Night 9's Ratings vs. UFC's Average Ratings
In total, there were 13 live UFC fight specials on Spike TV prior to UFC Fight Night 9, from the first one in April 2005 all the way through UFC Fight Night 8 in January 2007. The average ratings of those 13 broadcasts are significantly higher than the ratings that were drawn by UFN 9.

The UFC's average overall rating for its first 13 live fight specials on Spike TV was 1.7, while UFN 9 drew a 1.2 overall rating. In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the UFC's average-to-date was 2.3 heading into this event, and UFN 9 drew a 1.5 rating in this demographic. In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the UFC's average-to-date was 2.9 heading into this event, and UFN 9 drew a 1.6 rating in this demographic.

The rating of 1.6 in the core demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males is a long way from the UFC's prior average of 2.9, but it still out-drew the NBA game that aired head-to-head on TNT. In addition, the UFC's smallest audience for a UFC Fight Night broadcast (1.6 million total viewers) is still larger than the IFL's biggest audience for an IFL Battleground broadcast (1.1 million total viewers).

Head-to-Head Network Competition; Plus Other Spike TV Ratings from April 5th
Airing head-to-head with UFC Fight Night 9 on Thursday, April 5th from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, a new episode of "Survivor: Fuji" on CBS drew an 8.0 overall rating. While it was enough to win the timeslot, the 8.0 rating is significantly lower than the ratings that Survivor was drawing just a couple of seasons ago. A new episode of the Fox trivia show "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" came in second place with a 6.0 overall rating, while a repeat of "Ugly Betty" on ABC drew a 4.4 overall rating. NBC's combination of "The Office" and "30 Rock" averaged a 4.1 overall rating in the hour.

Airing head-to-head with UFC Fight Night 9 in the 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM hour, "CSI" on CBS beat out "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC, primarily due to the fact that Grey's Anatomy was a repeat. A new episode of "CSI" drew a 12.9 overall rating, making it the most-watched show on television that night, while a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" drew a 5.8 overall rating. NBC's combination of "30 Rock" and "Scrubs" averaged a 3.4 overall rating. Two off-night repeat airings of "Family Guy" on Fox averaged a 3.1 overall rating.

A new episode of UFC Unleashed served as UFC Fight Night's lead-in on Spike TV, airing from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM and drawing an overall rating of 0.8.

Following the two-hour broadcast of UFC Fight Night was the one-hour broadcast of The Ultimate Fighter 5's premiere, which drew a 1.4 rating. As detailed in a separate article that was published yesterday, this is tied with the TUF 1 premiere for the lowest-rated season premiere in the history of the series.

Leading out of the UFC programming block was a new episode of the pro wrestling show TNA Impact, whch aired from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM and drew an overall rating of 0.9.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:26 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for UFC Fight Night 9
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for UFC Fight Night 9, which took place last night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that the UFC is required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that the UFC also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for PPV main event fighters), are not included in the figures below. Also not reflected below are the taxes that the fighters have to pay.

In the listings below, "Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in title fights or in the main event. "Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the PPV broadcast.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during Ultimate Fighter seasons because those fights are officially classified as exhibitions.

Main Event Fighters
-Joe Stevenson: $32,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Melvin Guillard)
-Melvin Guillard: $7,000 (5th fight in UFC; lost to Joe Stevenson)

Main Card Fighters
-Kenny Florian: $16,000 (6th fight in UFC; defeated Dokonjonosuke Mishima)
-Dokonjonosuke Mishima: $8,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Kenny Florian)
-Antoni Hardonk: $6,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Justin McCully)
-Justin McCully: $6,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Antoni Hardonk)

Preliminary Fighters
-Drew Fickett: $20,000 (7th fight in UFC; defeated Keita Nakamura)
-Rich Clementi: $12,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Roan Carneiro)
-Kurt Pellegrino: $12,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Nate Mohr)
-Kuniyoshi Hironaka: $12,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Forrest Petz)
-Wilson Gouveia: $12,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Seth Petruzelli)
-Thiago Tavares: $6,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Naoyuki Kotani)
-Roan Carneiro: $6,000 (1st fight in UFC; defeated Rich Clementi)
-Seth Petruzelli: $5,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Wilson Gouveia)
-Keita Nakamura: $4,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Drew Fickett)
-Forrest Petz: $4,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Kuniyoshi Hironaka)
-Naoyuki Kotani: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Thiago Tavares)
-Nate Mohr: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Kurt Pellegrino)

Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $174,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:39 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Ultimate Fighter 5 Ties Series Low with Premiere Rating
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 5, which aired on Spike TV on April 5th, drew an overall rating of 1.4. This puts the TUF 5 premiere in a tie with the premiere of the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter for the lowest-rated premiere episode in series history, as the TUF 1 premiere also drew a 1.4 overall rating.

The majority of the episode drew a 1.3 rating, but the show-closing fight between Cole Miller and Alan Berube drew a 1.5 rating, increasing the average for the hour.

The pertinent question now is whether or not TUF 5's ratings will decrease as the season progresses, as was the case with TUF 4. It would still be a successful show if it can draw a 1.4 overall rating every week. However, if the ratings were to decrease over the course of the season to the extent that TUF 4's ratings decreased, the show would fall well below the series' ratings expectations and it would be an alarming sign.

The UFC and Spike TV appear to be under the impression that it was the pull-apart quasi-brawls that drew the series-high ratings for TUF 3, as the promotion for this season of TUF in general (and the next episode in particular) is focused heavily on the tease of one or more fights breaking out in the house.

Say what you will about the negative light in which this portrays MMA and its competitors, but they may very well be correct in their belief that it will draw strong ratings. We'll find out in the coming weeks.

TUF 5 Ratings vs. Previous TUF Ratings
On the whole, The Ultimate Fighter 3 (which premiered in April 2006) was the most-watched season to date, and TUF 4 (which premiered in August 2006) was the least-watched season to date. The UFC has publicly dismissed TUF 4's lower ratings on multiple occasions by blaming the lower numbers on having to go head-to-head with the NFL, but that makes no sense because TUF 4 only went head-to-head with a regular season NFL game on one occasion.

The second season of TUF, on the other hand, went head-to-head with regular season Monday Night Football games airing on ABC for all but three episodes of its regular season, and yet TUF 2 drew higher ratings than TUF 4.

Based on the premiere ratings, it appears to be extremely unlikely that TUF 5 is going to be challenging TUF 3 for the mantle of most-watched TUF season. As for whether it will challenge TUF 4's position as the least-watched TUF season, that remains to be seen, but it doesn't look promising based on the season premiere's ratings.

In comparing those three seasons, the trend is not a positive one. In terms of the overall rating, the TUF 3 premiere drew a 2.0 rating, the TUF 4 premiere drew a 1.7 rating, and the TUF 5 premiere last week drew a 1.4 rating.

In the advertiser-coveted 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, the TUF 3 premiere drew a 3.7 rating, the TUF 4 premiere drew a 2.8 rating, and the TUF 5 premiere drew a 1.9 rating.

In the second most coveted advertising demographic for Spike TV and the UFC, 18-to-49-year-old males, the TUF 3 premiere drew a 2.7 rating, the TUF 4 premiere drew a 2.2 rating, and the TUF 5 premiere drew a 1.8 rating.

As you can see, the ratings trends for TUF in the key demographics have taken a complete U-turn over the past 12 months, decreasing rapidly instead of increasing rapidly, as they were at this time last year. However, these are still excellent ratings in the key demographics. The TUF 5 premiere was still the #1 show on cable in the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic on April 5th, and even the UFC's decreased ratings on Spike TV are higher than anything that the IFL is drawing on MyNetworkTV.

The two-hour live broadcast of UFC Fight Night that served as TUF 5's lead-in drew a 1.2 overall rating, making it the lowest-rated live fight special in the UFC's history on Spike TV. We will have a separate report on UFC Fight Night's ratings tomorrow.

Head-to-Head Network Competition
Airing head-to-head on network television with the premiere of TUF 5 on April 5th from 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM, CBS led the pack with a new episode the drama series "Shark," which drew a 10.0 overall rating. ABC came in second place with a new episode of the drama "October Road," which drew a 5.2 overall rating and may be headed towards cancellation if its ratings don't turn around.

NBC came in a distant third place in the hour with a new episode of the comedy "Andy Barker, P.I." airing at 10:00 PM and drawing an overall rating of 2.6 (the series was shortly thereafter removed from NBC's Thursday night line-up, effective immediately). At 10:30 PM, NBC aired a repeat of "My Name is Earl," and the 2.6 overall rating that it drew is not atypical for a repeat airing of a comedy series. Fox does not air national programming in the 10:00 PM hour.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:35 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Numerous MMA Fighters Fail Drug Tests in California
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Welterweight UFC star Diego Sanchez is far from the only fighter to have a positive drug test in California that was not publicly disclosed at the time. MMAWeekly has obtained documentation indicating that nearly two-dozen MMA fighters have failed drug tests in the state of California over the past year without the drug test failures being publicly disclosed at the time.

Sanchez tested positive for marijuana following his December 13th victory over Joe Riggs in the main event of UFC Fight Night 7, but it wasn't until a March 22nd report by Carlos Arias of the Orange County Register that Sanchez' drug test failure was publicly announced or disclosed.

When asked why the UFC did not acknowledge Sanchez' drug test failure on its web site, as it has for all other UFC drug test failures over the past year, the UFC did not respond.

When asked why the California State Athletic Commission did not previously disclose or announce Sanchez' positive drug test, CSAC Executive Officer Armando Garcia said to MMAWeekly, "No one made any requests for public records on it." Garcia also said that the CSAC would make information about any positive drug tests in the future readily available to media outlets.

The California State Athletic Commission has now provided MMAWeekly with a complete list of every MMA fighter who has tested positive for any banned substance in the state of California since the first legal MMA events were held in California in March 2006. Many of these drug test failures have not previously been publicly disclosed in any media outlet.

Legally, this information is public record; there is no right to privacy or confidentiality for any fighter who tests positive for any banned substance. If a fighter takes a banned substance and tests positive for it, he or she can expect to be fined or suspended, and for the drug test failure to be publicly disclosed.

In addition to 31 professional boxers in the same time period, 23 mixed martial artists tested positive for banned substances in the past year, and the complete list of these fighters can be found below.

Over the past year in the state of California, the punishments have been a three-month suspension and $500 fine for any fighter who tests positive for marijuana; or a six-month suspension and $1,000 fine for any fighter who tests positive for any banned substance other than marijuana (or a combination of marijuana and other banned substances). These punishments escalate for repeat offenders.

In a neighboring state, Nevada, drug-related suspensions are taken on a case-by-case basis, but in general the suspensions have been six months for any fighter who tests positive for marijuana; or eight to twelve months for any fighter who tests positive for any banned substance other than marijuana.

There are many fighters who don't fight more often than once every three months under normal circumstances, so a three-month suspension for these fighters may or may not change their fighting schedule in any tangible way.

You may notice in the list below that not a single fighter tested positive for steroids over the past year in California. This is because there has been no steroid testing in California over the past year. This will change in April 2007, according to CSAC head Garcia, who said, "No steroid policy has ever been in place in California. Obviously, I was not satisfied by this." Starting in April, a total of approximately 25 fighters per month will be tested for steroids in California, and any fighter who tests positive for steroids will be suspended for six months and fined $2,500.

The list below is in chronological order, with each item containing the date and name of the event, the name of the fighter who tested positive for a banned substance, the substance(s) for which the fighter tested positive, brief notes on the substance(s) if warranted, and the length of the fighter's suspension (which is consistently three months for marijuana and six months for anything other than marijuana).

California State Athletic Commission Positive Drug Tests for MMA Fighters

-March 10, 2006: Strikeforce; Cesar Gracie tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-May 13, 2006: International Cage Fighting Organization; Tim McKenzie tested positive for Benzodiazepines (frequently found in anti-anxiety drugs and muscle relaxants); suspended for 6 months

-June 3, 2006: Extreme Wars 3; Anthony Ruiz tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-June 9, 2006: Strikeforce Revenge; Harris Sarmiento tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-June 15, 2006: WEC 21; Joe Hurley tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-June 15, 2006: WEC 21; Ryan Healy tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-June 17, 2006: Invincible- Fists of Fury; Randal Limond tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-July 1, 2006: Gladiator Challenge 51; Emmanuel Newton tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-July 15, 2006: Total Combat 15; Shawn Bias tested positive for Benzodiazepines (frequently found in anti-anxiety drugs and muscle relaxants); suspended for 6 months

-July 22, 2006: World Fighting Alliance; Bas Rutten tested positive for Hydrocodone (prescription painkiller), Morphine (prescription painkiller), and Diphenhydramine (antihistamine with common brand name Benadryl); suspended for 6 months

-July 22, 2006: World Fighting Alliance; Lodune Sincaid tested positive for Cannabinoids/Marijuana Metabolite; suspended for 3 months

-August 12, 2006: Warrior Cup; Chuck Booz tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-August 18, 2006: Pangea Fights 2; Aaron Brink tested positive for Cannabinoids (substances found in cannabis) and Benzodiazepines (frequently found in anti-anxiety drugs and muscle relaxants); suspended for 6 months

-August 19, 2006: California Xtreme Fighting 3; Mike Penalber tested positive for Amphetamine; suspended for 6 months

-August 19, 2006: Total Fighting Alliance; Jesse Romero tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-September 30, 2006: Chaos in the Cage; Paul Mince tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-September 30, 2006: Xtreme International Kombat; Ty Montgomery tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-October 26, 2006: Valor Fighting; Jamiah Williamson tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-November 4, 2006: Cage Combat Fighting Championships; Joe Hurley tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 6 months as a repeat offender

-November 4, 2006: Total Combat 18; Shad Smith tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-November 17, 2006: Beatdown in Bakersfield; Ricco Rodriguez tested positive for Benzoylecgonine (major metabolite of cocaine) and Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 6 months

-December 13, 2006: UFC Fight Night 7; Diego Sanchez tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

-February 17, 2007: Cage Combat Fighting Championships; Nate Loughran tested positive for Delta 9 THC (active ingredient in marijuana); suspended for 3 months

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:12 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for Second Zuffa-Owned WEC Event
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for WEC 26, which took place on March 24th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was the WEC's second since being purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that Zuffa and the WEC are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that Zuffa and the WEC also pay its fighters, but do not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for the top PPV main event fighters, which would not apply since this event was not on PPV), are not included in the figures below.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Preliminary Match Fights" are fights that are taped before a TV or PPV show goes on the air, and since this show hasn't aired on TV or PPV, all of the non-main event fights are defined as "Main Card Fights."

Highlights from this event will air this summer on one of the WEC's hour-long highlight shows on the Versus Network, which is available in approximately 70 million U.S. households.

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Carlos Condit: $20,000 (defeated John Alessio)
-Urijah Faber: $14,000 (defeated Dominick Cruz)
-John Alessio: $9,000 (lost to Carlos Condit)
-Chase Beebe: $6,000 (defeated Eddie Wineland)
-Dominick Cruz: $3,000 (lost to Urijah Faber)
-Eddie Wineland: $3,000 (lost to Chase Beebe)

Main Card Fighters
-Brock Larson: $12,000 (defeated Erik Apple)
-Alex Serdyukov: $10,000 (defeated Scott Norton)
-Charlie Valencia: $8,000 (defeated Antonio Banuelos)
-Micah Miller: $6,000 (defeated Jesse Moreng)
-Cub Swanson: $6,000 (defeated Tommy Lee)
-Brian Stann: $6,000 (defeated Steve Cantwell)
-Tiki Ghosn: $5,000 (lost to Dave Terrel)
-Antonio Banuelos: $4,000 (lost to Charlie Valencia)
-Dave Terrel: $4,000 (defeated Tiki Ghosn)
-Tommy Lee: $3,000 (lost to Cub Swanson)
-Steve Cantwell: $3,000 (lost to Brian Stann)
-Erik Apple: $3,000 (lost to Brock Larson)
-Jesse Moreng: $2,000 (lost to Micah Miller)
-Scott Norton: $2,000 (lost to Alex Serdyukov)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $129,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:05 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- More on Fertittas' Pride Buy-Out, Plus Two More Fights Announced
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Two more fights have been announced for Pride 34: Kamikaze, which will take place on April 8th and will be the final Pride event held by Dream Stage Entertainment before the company's operations are turned over to a company owned by UFC majority owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.

Veteran heavyweight Kazuyuki Fujita will face former UFC fighter Jeff Monson, and MMA legend Don Frye will face 185-pound Pride veteran Ikuhisa Minowa.

Don Frye, who exploded onto the MMA scene by winning the UFC 8 tournament in 1996, has had health problems with his neck and spine in recent years, but has continued to fight nonetheless and amassed an MMA record of 3-0-1 in 2006. The 41-year-old Frye is no longer under contract to fight for K-1 Hero's, thus enabling him to fight for Pride.

It's possible that Frye's contract to fight in Pride will only be a one-time deal since it's the last Pride show promoted by DSE. Frye is the coach of the Tucson Scorpions in the fledgling International Fight League (IFL), and Zuffa has made it clear in the past that it's not going to use any fighters who are coaches in the IFL.

This has been Zuffa's unofficial policy for the UFC itself, and UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta may or may not have the same unofficial policy when their newly formed company, Pride FC Worldwide, assumes control of Pride's day-to-day operations after the April 8th event.

Leaving the IFL altogether would seemingly not be an option for Frye, as all of the coaches in the IFL have ownership stakes in the company that cannot be sold for a certain number of years.

Frye's opponent will be 31-year-old Ikuhisa Minowa, who has a career MMA record of 35-25-8. Minowa's MMA record in 2006 was 5-2, but several of his wins came in "freak show fights" where he was vastly outweighed by his lesser skilled opponent, including wins over Eric "Butterbean" Esch, Paulo "Giant" Silva, and Mike Plotcheck (aka, Bart Gunn in WWE).

While Frye is not a super-heavyweight like the aforementioned fighters, he is still going to outweigh Minowa by 30 to 50 pounds, which is the kind of size mismatch that will presumably not be allowed once Pride is run by the same people who own the UFC.

Since returning from K-1 Hero's to Pride in 2006, Fujita has gone 2-1, with a loss to Wanderlei Silva and victories over James Thompson and Eldari Kurtanidze.

Monson is a former UFC fighter who asked to be released from his UFC contract after his one-sided decision loss to Tim Sylvia last November, so that he could pursue opportunities in the BodogFight promotion. Monson was originally scheduled to face Fedor Emelianenko on BodogFight's April 14th pay-per-view event in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was later scheduled to face Fedor's brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, and then Roman Zentsov. Instead, Monson will be facing Fujita at Pride 34.

In addition to Frye vs. Minowa and Fujita vs. Monson, it was also reaffirmed today that Ricardo Arona will be fighting Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou on the April 8th card, and Shinya Aoki will be fighting Brian Lo-A-Njoe.

Wanderlei Silva is also tentatively scheduled to compete on the April 8th card (his opponent has not been announced), pending the approval of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Silva is medically suspended by the NSAC until April 11th as a result of his knockout loss to Dan Henderson at Pride 33.

When previously reached for comment on this issue by MMAWeekly, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said, "If Mr. Silva is cleared by a doctor there [in Japan], our doctor will look at the medical records and determine whether to lift the suspension three days early." If he is unable to get this clearance, Silva will not be fighting on the April 8th card.

After the April 8th card in Japan, the next planned show with the Pride brand name is scheduled to take place in Japan on May 20th, as the first round of a 16-man Lightweight Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on that date.

This had been scheduled to be a 160-pound tournament, but Pride is no longer scheduled to have a 160-pound weight class under the ownership of the Fertittas. With White saying in the Las Vegas Review Journal that Pride will have the same weight classes at the UFC, this means that Pride's 2006 Grand Prix would have to be changed to a 170-pound Grand Prix or a 155-pound Grand Prix.

The Fertitta-owned Pride also plans to run a few shows per year in the United States, possibly as soon as June, but these plans are complicated by former Pride USA president Ed Fishman's lawsuit against Dream Stage. With Fishman being the exclusive U.S. promoter of Pride events, the Fertitta-owned Pride may or may not be legally able to run shows in the United States until Fishman's lawsuit has worked its way through the court system, or until a financial settlement with Fishman can be reached.

Labels: International Fight League (IFL) News, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:08 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Diego Sanchez Failed Drug Test After UFC Fight in December
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Ultimate Fighting Championship star Diego Sanchez tested positive for marijuana after his December 13th victory over Joe Riggs and was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission.

The UFC welterweight contender and Ultimate Fighter Season One winner knocked out Riggs in the main event of UFC Fight Night 7, which took place in San Diego, California at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and aired live on Spike TV.

At some point following Sanchez' failure of the drug test, he was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for three months from the date of the fight, which means that his suspension has already expired. The CSAC also fined Sanchez $500 (his purse for the fight was $32,000).

The news of Sanchez' positive test was first reported on Thursday by Carlos Arias of the Orange County Register. In the three months following the Sanchez-Riggs fight and prior to Arias' report, the California State Athletic Commission did not announce or disclose Sanchez' drug test failure.

In addition, the UFC did not acknowledge Sanchez' drug test failure on its web site, despite the fact that the company has posted brief stories on its web site acknowledging all other drug test failures for UFC fighters since the beginning of 2006, including Thiago Alves' positive test for a banned diuretic just a few weeks after Sanchez' positive test for marijuana.

When asked why the California State Athletic Commission did not previously disclose or announce Sanchez' positive drug test, CSAC Executive Officer Armando Garcia said to MMAWeekly, "No one made any requests for public records on it." Garcia also said that the CSAC would make information about any positive drug tests in the future readily available to media outlets.

When asked why the UFC did not acknowledge Sanchez' drug test failure on its web site, as it has for all other UFC drug test failures over the past year, the UFC did not respond.

Sanchez' next scheduled fight is against Josh Koscheck at UFC 69 in Houston, Texas on April 7th. His positive drug test will not affect his availability to fight on the UFC 69 card, due to the fact that his suspension has already expired. Sanchez has a 17-0 professional record in MMA and is currently the world's #4 Welterweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings.

It is fairly uncommon for fighters in the UFC to fight more often than once every three months under normal circumstances, so a three-month suspension may or may not change any given UFC fighter's schedule in any tangible way.

The CSAC's Garcia said to MMAWeekly that a three-month suspension and $500 fine is the most common punishment for MMA fighters who test positive for marijuana in the state of California. In Nevada, the typical punishment for a positive marijuana test is a six-month suspension. Since the beginning of this year alone, there have been two MMA fighters who have tested positive for marijuana in Nevada: Pride's Nick Diaz and the WEC's Joe Pearson, neither of whom have had their NSAC disciplinary hearings as of yet.

Garcia also said that the California State Athletic Commission is planning to implement new drug testing procedures in the near future, which will include drug testing more fighters than any other state. Under the CSAC's new procedures, all fighters will be tested for recreational drugs, and approximately 25 fighters per month will be tested for steroids.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- It is now official that the owners of the UFC have purchased Pride Fighting Championships. For complete details on this huge, industry-changing deal, check out the full report from MMAWeekly's Scott Petersen on MMAWeekly.com

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:14 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Fighters Pass Drug Tests; Plus the Recent History of MMA Drug Testing
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The drug test results have come back from UFC 68, and all of the fighters who were tested at the event tested negative for banned substances.

The Ohio Athletic Commission tested for steroids and recreational drugs at the event in Columbus, Ohio on March 3rd, although only four of the eighteen fighters on the card were tested.

The four fighters who were drug tested were Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Jon Fitch, and Luigi Fioravanti. All of those fighters' urine samples came back negative for all banned substances. The remaining fourteen fighters on the card were not drug tested.

This marks the second consecutive UFC event on which none of the fighters failed their drug tests. At UFC 67, which took place in Las Vegas on February 3rd, eight of the eighteen fighters on the card were drug tested and all of them passed their tests. Those eight fighters were Anderson Silva, Travis Lutter, Mirko Cro Cop, Eddie Sanchez, Quinton Jackson, Marvin Eastman, Ryoto Machida, and Sam Hoger.

At UFC 66, which took place in Las Vegas on December 30th, six of the eighteen fighters on the card were drug tested. Five of those fighters passed their drug tests: Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Forrest Griffin, and Tony DeSouza. However, the banned diuretic Spironolactone was detected in the urine sample of the sixth fighter who was tested, Thiago Alves, and Alves was suspended for eight months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Prior to Alves' failed drug test, the last time that a UFC fighter had tested positive for banned substances was when Stephan Bonnar tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone at UFC 62 on August 26, 2006. Bonnar was suspended for nine months by the NSAC.

Drug testing is the responsibility of the state athletic commissions, not the responsibility of the UFC, Pride, or any other specific MMA promotion. However, in the cases of big promotions like Zuffa or Dream Stage Entertainment, they could easily afford to pay for every fighter to be drug tested on every card with the revenue generated from less than 100 tickets sold.

At Pride's first event in the United States, which took place in Las Vegas on October 21st of last year, ten of the sixteen fighters on the card were drug tested. The fighters who were drug tested and passed their tests were Fedor Emelianenko, Mark Coleman, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Josh Barnett, Dan Henderson, Phil Baroni, and Yosuke Nishijima. However, three fighters on the card failed their drug tests: Vitor Belfort, Pawel Nastula, and Kevin Randleman.

Belfort tested positive for the anabolic steroid 4-hydroxytestosterone and was suspended for nine months by the NSAC. Nastula tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and also for the banned stimulants phenylpropanolamine, pseudoephedrine, and ephedrine; Nastula was suspended by the NSAC for nine months.

Randleman admitted to submitting a fake urine sample due to the large amount of painkillers and antibiotics that he was taking at the time, as well as the fact that he had a potentially life-threatening lung infection. At a discplinary hearing last month, the NSAC revoked Randleman's license as a fighter. In addition to passing a drug test, Randleman will have to personally appear in front of the NSAC and provide medical evidence that he is completely healthy before he can fight again, and he is not eligible to do so until at least October 2007.

At Pride's second event in the United States, which took place in Las Vegas on February 24th, ten of the eighteen fighters on the card were drug tested. The fighters who were drug tested and passed their tests were Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Takanori Gomi, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Joachim Hansen, and Jason Ireland. However, Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana. Diaz has not yet had his Nevada State Athletic Commission disciplinary hearing.

At the first Zuffa-owned WEC event in Las Vegas on January 20th, six of the eighteen fighters on the card were drug tested: Urijah Faber, Joe Pearson, Rob McCullough, Kit Cope, Rich Crunkilton, and Mike Joy. Faber, McCullough, Crunkilton, and Joy passed all of their drug tests. However, Cope tested positive for the illegal anabolic steroid Boldenone, and Pearson tested positive for the active ingredient in marijuana. Cope and Pearson have not yet had their NSAC disciplinary hearings.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:02 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 68 Breaks Total Attendance Record for North American MMA
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The final attendance figures for UFC 68 have come in from the Ohio Athletic Commission, and the event has officially broken the all-time total attendance record for a mixed martial arts event in North America.

The total number of fans in attendance at UFC 68 in Columbus, Ohio on March 3rd was 19,079. The previous record for an MMA event in North America was set by the Strikeforce promotion, which drew a total of 18,265 fans at a show in San Jose, California on March 10, 2006.

The paid attendance for UFC 68 was 17,358. This falls just short of Strikeforce's paid attendance record for an MMA event in North America, which still stands at 17,465 for its March 10, 2006 event in San Jose.

The initially announced figure of $3,014,520 for UFC 68's live gate revenue was not correct, as the final live gate figure for the event was actually $2,741,820.

This is almost identical to the live gate total for UFC 67 ($2,767,130), despite the fact that UFC 67's paid attendance of 8,700 was much smaller than UFC 68's paid attendance. The reason for this disparity is that UFC 68 had much cheaper ticket prices than most of the UFC's Las Vegas events. The average price per ticket sold for UFC 67 was $318, while the average price per ticket sold for UFC 68 was $158.

UFC 68 out-drew the Pride event that took place one week earlier at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC 68 came out on top in total attendance (19,079 to 12,911), paid attendance (17,358 to 8,334), and live gate revenue ($2,741,820 to $2,033,098).

Comparisons to Previous UFC Records and Worldwide MMA Records
The previous record for total attendance at a UFC event was set by UFC 60, which was attended by a total of 14,765 fans in Los Angeles, California on May 27, 2006. The UFC's web site still claims that UFC 59 drew over 17,000 fans in Anaheim, California on April 15, 2006, but the building capacity for that sold-out show was actually 13,814.

The new record of 19,079 in total attendance is strictly for North American MMA events and does not apply to Japanese MMA events. Pride has sold out the Saitama Super Arena numerous times, and with Pride's seating configuration, the arena can hold approximately 35,000 fans (though the attendance is usually announced as being over 45,000).

However, Pride has never drawn anywhere near as much pay-per-view revenue as the UFC, which generated $222,766,000 in pay-per-view revenue in 2006 alone.

The worldwide total attendance record for an MMA event was set at Tokyo Outdoor Stadium on August 28, 2002, as a Pride and K-1 co-production drew over 70,000 fans (though it was announced as being 91,107).

Compared to WWE's biggest pro wrestling event in the United States over the past twelve months (WrestleMania 22 in Chicago, Illinois on April 2, 2006), UFC 68 out-drew WrestleMania in total attendance (19,079 to 17,155) and in live gate revenue ($2,741,820 to $2,500,000).

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:16 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 70 to Air on Spike TV Instead of Pay-Per-View or HBO
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

With a star-studded line-up that includes top ten heavyweights Mirko Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovski, and Fabricio Werdum, the UFC's April 21st show in the United Kingdom is an event that many fans in the United States would have gladly bought on pay-per-view. Instead, due to an unforeseen chain of events, U.S. audiences will be able to watch the event for free on Spike TV.

The news, which was previously listed on MMAWeekly's Rumors page for UFC 70, has now been officially confirmed by the UFC.

Dana White, the president of UFC parent company Zuffa, previously said that UFC 70 was Zuffa's target date for the company's first show on HBO. Privately, negotiations have been ongoing between Zuffa and HBO, but a number of sticking points have kept the two sides from reaching an agreement in time for UFC 70 to air on HBO.

Zuffa could not air UFC 70 on HBO without having an HBO deal, and Zuffa also could not air UFC 70 on pay-per-view because all of the PPV advertising deadlines for an April 21st event have long since passed.

This sequence of events left Spike TV as the only logical option as the U.S. home for UFC 70. Spike TV was interested in broadcasting UFC 70 due to the strong ratings that it is sure to draw, and Zuffa was interested in airing the event on Spike TV not only because there wasn't much of a choice, but also because it will build some goodwill with fans.

Instead of airing live, the event will air in the United States on a tape delay and will begin airing on Saturday, April 21st at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time/Pacific Time).

The six-figure cost of broadcasting live in the United States from an event in Europe was ultimately deemed to not be worth the expense, particularly since the ratings are likely to be higher in primetime. Most UFC fans in the U.S. will not be aware that the event is taking place on Saturday afternoon.

The event could have aired live on Spike TV on Saturday afternoon and re-aired on Saturday evening in primetime (as is the case when HBO Boxing broadcasts an event from Europe), but instead it will air only in primetime.

The top four fights on the card are Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (with the winner fighting Randy Couture this summer), Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum, Ryoto Machida vs. David Heath, and Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic. All of those fights look excellent on paper, with the exception of the Bisping bout, as Sinosic has an MMA record of 8-9-2.

If there is a fifth fight on the live Spike TV broadcast, it would likely be Cheick Kongo's fight with Assuerio Silva. The complete line-up as it currently stands is listed at the end of this article.

Zuffa could have booked a United States pay-per-view date for UFC 70 while privately hoping to have reached a deal in time for the event to potentially air on HBO, as was the case with UFC 69. The fact that Zuffa never did book a U.S. PPV date for UFC 70 demonstrates how confident the company was that an HBO deal would be reached by this point.

Now, without a PPV date booked for UFC 70 and without an HBO deal in place, UFC 70 is set to air on Spike TV.

As a result, HBO has lost out on an event that would have likely garnered more interest than many of the lopsided boxing offerings that have aired on HBO recently, and Zuffa has lost out on millions of dollars in PPV revenue. The winner in this unusual chain of events is clearly the fans, who will be able to watch a PPV-quality event for free on Spike TV.

As for why Zuffa wasn't able to reach a deal with HBO in time for UFC 70 to be the company's first event on HBO, there have been a number of snags in the negotiations between the two sides.

Zuffa president Dana White has said consistently over the past eleven months that the UFC would be on HBO "very soon." However, while HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg has publicly said things like, "We're still measuring it, looking at it, and getting comfortable with the UFC" (which he recently said in an interview with trade journal MultiChannel News), Greenburg is said to be strongly against the UFC deal behind the scenes.

Acclaimed boxing writer Thomas Hauser wrote in an article on the Seconds Out web site in January that Greenburg had "opposed the UFC deal as vigorously as possible" and was doing "everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts." In the same article, former HBO Sports president Seth Abraham actually compared MMA to "naked boxing." Abraham said that MMA would tarnish HBO's boxing heritage, a view that is shared by many people who still work at HBO Sports.

In an unprecedented move, HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht actually veto'd HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg and insisted that HBO would air MMA programming at some point, leaving Greenburg only to negotiate the details of such a deal. According to Hauser, this move "represented a marked shift in HBO's corporate culture... in the past, an HBO chief executive officer would not have ordered sports programming over the objection of the sports department."

Left only to come to terms on the details, some of the key disagreements between Zuffa and HBO Sports have been whose production crew will film the event, whose announcers will commentate on the event, and how those announcers will go about commentating on the event.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently summarized the dispute as follows: "HBO wants full control of the product, and to use its crew and its announcers and cover it like a network broadcast team would cover a major sporting event. UFC doesn't want to give up its control of the product, wants its own crew to film it, and wants to use its own announcers, who are closer to pro wrestling announcers whose role is to build up the product as opposed to providing detached, objective commentary."

UFC 70 Line-Up
-Mirko Cro Cop (#2 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
-Andrei Arlovski (#7 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Fabricio Werdum (#8 Heavyweight in the World)*
-Ryoto Machida vs. David Heath
-Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic
-Assuerio Silva vs. Cheick Kongo
-Dennis Siver vs. Jess Liaudin
-Alessio Sakara vs. Victor Valimaki
-Terry Etim vs. Matt Grice
-David Lee vs. TBA

* Based on MMAWeekly Rankings

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:13 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Inside the UFC Goes on Hiatus
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The UFC newsmagazine-style series Inside the UFC has been put on hiatus and currently has no return date planned. The last planned episode of the series aired on March 1st and was officially referred to as the "season finale."

A Spike TV spokesperson tells MMAWeekly, "Inside the UFC will be going on hiatus, as we have new originals Bullrun and TUF 5 coming up."

While part of the reason for Inside the UFC going on hiatus was because of two original series that are set to debut in March and April, that couldn't have been the entire reason. Bullrun is going to air on Tuesday nights at 10:00 PM, while The Ultimate Fighter 5 will air on Thursday nights at 10:00 PM. Neither of those timeslots conflict with Inside the UFC's regular timeslot of Thursday nights at midnight, nor does the scheduled weekly replay of Bullrun on Thursday nights at 11:00 PM, nor does

A significant factor that may have contributed to the decision to put Inside the UFC on hiatus was the show's diminishing ratings. While the show did an excellent job of hyping the UFC's pay-per-view events, it also faltered in the ratings.

Inside the UFC started off with ratings that were considered strong for a midnight show, as it averaged a 0.6 overall rating in its first five weeks. However, starting at the beginning of January, the show no longer had repeats of UFC Unleashed and other UFC programming as its lead-in, and instead it had Afro Samurai and Wild World of Spike as its lead-in.

Inside the UFC's ratings promptly collapsed without UFC programming as a lead-in, with the next four episodes all drawing overall ratings in the range of 0.3 to 0.4. The low point came on February 1st, when the show drew a 0.2 overall rating. The show didn't get much help from its lead-in, Wild World of Spike, which drew a 0.3 overall rating on February 1st.

During the UFC 67 pay-per-view on February 3rd, it was mentioned on multiple occasions that Inside the UFC would have a special start time of 11:00 PM "for the next two weeks."

Spike TV moved the debut airings of Inside the UFC from midnight to 11:00 PM starting with the February 8th episode, in part to see if the show would perform better in the earlier timeslot and with a much stronger lead-in (Pros vs. Joes).

While the ratings did increase for the two episodes that debuted at 11:00 PM, those episodes still averaged a mere 0.4 overall rating. For the purposes of comparison, the pro wrestling show TNA Impact averaged a 0.8 overall rating in the same timeslot of Thursdays at 11:00 PM on Spike TV.

Given the fact that repeats of UFC Unleashed consistently draw ratings in the range of 0.7 to 1.0 no matter how many times they have aired in the past and no matter what kind of lead-in they have, it wouldn't make much sense to produce a 30-minute original series every week if it was only going to average a 0.4 rating.

Inside the UFC did not air on February 22nd. A repeat of UFC Unleashed aired instead, and sure enough, it drew a 0.9 overall rating for an episode that has aired numerous times in the past.

When asked about a possible return date for Inside the UFC, a Spike TV spokesperson said, "Inside the UFC is currently in hiatus, so I don't have a target date."

The series is expected to return eventually, but not anytime in the immediate future.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 68 Fighter Salaries & UFC Fight Night 8 Fighter Salaries
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for UFC 68, which took place on Saturday, March 3rd in Columbus, Ohio.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that the UFC is required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that the UFC also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for PPV main event fighters), are not included in the figures below. Also not reflected below are the taxes that the fighters have to pay.

Following the fighter salaries for UFC 68 are the fighter salaries for UFC Fight Night 8, which took place on January 25 in Hollywood, Florida.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in title fights or in the main event. "Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the PPV broadcast.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during Ultimate Fighter seasons because those fights are officially classified as exhibitions.

UFC 68 Fighter Salaries
Event took place on March 3, 2007

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Randy Couture: $250,000 (17th fight in UFC; defeated Tim Sylvia)
-Tim Sylvia: $100,000 (11th fight in UFC; lost to Randy Couture)

Main Card Fighters
-Matt Hughes: $150,000 (18th fight in UFC; defeated Chris Lytle)
-Rich Franklin: $42,000 (9th fight in UFC; defeated Jason MacDonald)
-Renato "Babalu" Sobral: $21,000 (9th fight in UFC; lost to Jason Lambert)
-Martin Kampmann: $20,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Drew McFedries)
-Jason Lambert: $18,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Renato "Babalu" Sobral)
-Jason MacDonald: $14,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Rich Franklin)
-Chris Lytle: $10,000 (8th fight in UFC; lost to Matt Hughes)
-Drew McFedries: $5,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Martin Kampmann)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Jon Fitch: $28,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Luigi Fioravanti)
-Matt Hamill: $10,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Rex Holman)
-Luigi Fioravanti: $8,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Jon Fitch)
-Jamie Varner: $6,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Jason Gilliam)
-Gleison Tibau: $6,000 (2nd fight in UFC; defeated Jason Dent)
-Rex Holman: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Matt Hamill)
-Jason Gilliam: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Jamie Varner)
-Jason Dent: $3,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Gleison Tibau)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $697,000


UFC Fight Night 8 Fighter Salaries
Event took place on January 25, 2007

Main Event Fighters
-Rashad Evans: $24,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Sean Salmon)
-Sean Salmon: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Rashad Evans)

Main Card Fighters
-Heath Herring: $60,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Jake O'Brien)
-Hermes Franca: $24,000 (7th fight in UFC; defeated Spencer Fisher)
-Jake O'Brien: $18,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Heath Herring)
-Spencer Fisher: $13,000 (6th fight in UFC; lost to Hermes Franca)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Nathan Marquardt: $44,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Dean Lister)
-Ed Herman: $24,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Chris Price)
-Din Thomas: $24,000 (6th fight in UFC; defeated Clay Guida)
-Rich Clementi: $20,000 (3rd fight in UFC; defeated Ross Pointon)
-Josh Burkman: $14,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Chad Reiner)
-Dean Lister: $11,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Nathan Marquardt)
-Chris Price: $7,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Ed Herman)
-Ross Pointon: $5,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Rich Clementi)
-Clay Guida: $5,000 (2nd fight in UFC; lost to Din Thomas)
-Chad Reiner: $3,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Josh Burkman)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $299,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:19 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Tito Ortiz vs. UFC President (and now Professional Boxer) Dana White Sanctioned in Nevada
by Ken Pishna and Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Dana White, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, officially received his professional boxing license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Monday morning.

White was attemping to acquire such a license in order to fulfill a contractual promise that he made to professional MMA fighter Tito Ortiz when Ortiz re-signed with the UFC in 2006.

With the license in hand, White is now cleared to face Ortiz in an exhibition boxing match that will consist of three rounds of three minutes each. All of the standard ringside precautions will be taken, and the bout will take place under the auspices of a professional boxing referee, although there will be no judges or scoring of rounds due to the bout's exhibition status.

The bout is scheduled to take place on March 24th and will not be open to the public. There are plans to air the bout on UFC.com (though not live), with the majority of the financial proceeds going to charity. There will also be a documentary about Ortiz and White's training for the bout on Spike TV.

White received his license following a 3-1 vote by the NSAC to approve him. The lone dissenting vote was from Dr. Raymond “Skip” Avansino, Jr. who after much discussion said that he could not justify granting a license to an 0-0 professional boxer to face a fighter with as much experience as Tito Ortiz, albeit as a mixed martial artist and not as a professional boxer.

At one point, White did say that he was doing this because he wanted to live up to the word that he gave when he promised the bout to Ortiz. Reassuring the commission, he said, “Believe me, if I thought I was going to get seriously injured… I wouldn’t do it.”

UFC Chief Operating Officer Kirk Hendrick also spoke on behalf of White, saying that he really has been training for this and is taking it seriously. “This is not WWE wrestling. This is not Vince McMahon getting in the ring. We’re taking this seriously,” said Hendrick, addressing another concern of Avansino’s that this was some sort of “publicity event.”

At one point, when Dr. Avansino was saying that he couldn't justify voting in favor of granting White a license to fight Ortiz because he felt it was a mismatch in favor of Ortiz, Hendrick said that if anything it would be a mismatch in favor of White. Hendrick said to the athletic commission that White used to "dominate" Ortiz when they would spar together.

White was an amateur boxer from the ages of 17 to 24 (which would be 1988 to 1995) before turning to managing fighters and then to his current position as president of Zuffa, which is now the most successful mixed martial arts company in the United States, if not the world.

In the end, the argument for the bout to take place won out, and the 3-1 vote was cast in favor of newly licensed professional boxer Dana White.

White said towards the end of the meeting, "Believe me, I'm never going to fight again after this."

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:45 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC's Relationship with HBO Continues to Evolve
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

An article by the Associated Press has addressed the issue of the UFC's relationship with HBO Sports, and the Wrestling Observer recently reported on some of the points of contention between the two companies as well.

Zuffa has been in negotiations to air UFC programming on HBO for quite some time. Any potential deal with HBO would not conflict with Zuffa's Spike TV deal. Zuffa's deal with Spike TV is an exclusive basic cable deal, but Spike's exclusivity does not cover premium cable (like HBO and Showtime) or broadcast television (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, MyNetworkTV, and The CW Network).

The Associated Press report said, "[HBO executive Mark] Taffet said he isn't worried about UFC's rise. The two companies are negotiating over HBO possibly airing a UFC fight. However, there are questions about which company will produce the fight and who will call it — along with some hard feelings. One of HBO's most well-known ringside announcers is Jim Lampley, who has bashed the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC."

In addition, HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg recently told MultiChannel News, "We're still measuring it, looking at it, and getting comfortable with the UFC."

The Wrestling Observer has elaborated on the status of the negotiations between Zuffa and HBO, specifically focusing on the disagreements over control, production crews, and announcers.

The Observer reported, "HBO wants full control of the product, and to use its crew and its announcers and cover it like a network broadcast team would cover a major sporting event. UFC doesn't want to give up its control of the product, wants its own crew to film it, and wants to use its own announcers, who are closer to pro wrestling announcers whose role is to build up the product as opposed to providing detached, objective commentary."

The Observer added that there are two factors that have made a UFC-HBO deal more likely to happen than it was a few months ago, with the April 21st show from England being the UFC's target date for its HBO debut.

One factor is that with Showtime having aired the first MMA event on premium cable (EliteXC), and with the event being internally considered a ratings success by premium cable standards, it has led to "both parties [HBO and Zuffa] wanting to get in the game now and speed up working through whatever problems might be there."

The other factor that makes a UFC-HBO deal more likely to happen is the fact that if Zuffa does not agree to a deal on HBO's terms, HBO could easily find other MMA promotions that would agree to its terms.

So, even if the terms of the deal are not favorable, Zuffa might still want to sign with HBO, if for no other reason than to prevent any other MMA promotion from signing a deal with HBO. This scenario is not as far-fetched as it might seem at first glance. The Observer previously reported that the IFL had been in negotiations for a national TV deal with the Versus Network when Zuffa bought the WEC and got it a deal to be the exclusive MMA partner of the Versus Network. (This was before the IFL struck a deal with MyNetworkTV.)

Zuffa president Dana White has said consistently over the past year that the UFC would be on HBO "very soon." This has been said as recently as this past week and as far back as April 2006, when White first mentioned HBO during a radio interview on 1140 KHTK in Sacramento.

An article in January on the boxing web site Seconds Out reported that HBO Sports did not want to air MMA programming at all, specifically saying that HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg had "opposed the UFC deal as vigorously as possible" and was doing "everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts."

Seconds Out feature writer Thomas Hauser wrote that HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht, in an unprecedented move, actually veto'd Greenburg and insisted that HBO would air MMA programming, leaving Greenburg only to negotiate the details of such a deal.

The Seconds Out article added that the veto from Albrecht "represented a marked shift in HBO's corporate culture... in the past, an HBO chief executive officer would not have ordered sports programming over the objection of the sports department."

Greenburg was quoted on the record in the Seconds Out article as saying, "I wouldn't say that I’m a big fan of UFC... but when I started at HBO, I wasn’t a big fan of boxing, either. I recognize the fact that UFC appeals to a fan base and demographic that boxing doesn’t have right now."

Seth Abraham, who was the president of HBO Sports before Greenburg, went on a now-infamous tirade in the article, and his rather outlandish statements about MMA are said to represent the opinions of some of the hard-liners who, unlike Abraham, still work at HBO Sports.

Abraham said, "I think it's ridiculous for HBO to televise UFC. When I was at HBO, we had discussions once or twice a year about professional wrestling. We all agreed that it would get good ratings, and we also agreed that it would tarnish our boxing franchise. I feel the same way about UFC. Boxing has a storied history. When HBO attaches itself to boxing, it attaches itself to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. It attaches itself to history, achievement, and glory. UFC has none of those things, and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise. Will UFC get good ratings? Probably, but so would naked boxing."

Labels: Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:12 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC PPV Revenue Tops $200 Million in 2006, PLUS: Early Word on UFC 67's PPV Buyrate
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The UFC broke the pay-per-view industry's all-time records for a single year of business and generated over $200 million in revenue during 2006, according to two credible media outlets.

Both the Associated Press and the Wrestling Observer have reported that Zuffa's pay-per-view revenue in 2006 exceeded $200 million, with the Wrestling Observer reporting the specific figure of $222,766,000. As the Observer put it, "UFC grossed more money this past year on PPV than any promotion in history ever has."

Many fans of both boxing and MMA have wondered whether the UFC has already surpassed boxing. The numbers show that not only is the UFC bigger than boxing today, but it's also bigger than boxing ever was from a PPV revenue standpoint. The all-time record year for boxing was 1999, with just over $200 million in combined PPV revenue, and the UFC broke that record by over $20 million in 2006.

Specific UFC PPV Buyrates
In addition to the broader, annual statistics in the Associated Press report, the Wrestling Observer has also reported on the PPV buyrates of specific UFC events.

Leading the way was UFC 66 (Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz), which drew approximately 1,050,000 pay-per-view buys and grossed approximately $41.95 million in PPV revenue.

Prior to UFC 66, Zuffa publicly and repeatedly predicted that the event would draw 1.2 million PPV buys. While the event fell short of meeting that prediction, the total of 1,050,000 still topped boxing's biggest event of 2006 (Oscar de la Hoya vs. Ricardo Mayorga) by more than 100,000 buys, as De la Hoya vs. Mayorga drew approximately 925,000 PPV buys.

The UFC's second-biggest pay-per-view event of 2006 was UFC 61 (Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski), which drew approximately 775,000 PPV buys and grossed approximately $30.96 million in PPV revenue.

The UFC's third-biggest PPV event of 2006 was UFC 60 (Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie), which drew a final number of approximately 620,000 PPV buys and generated approximately $24.77 million in PPV revenue.

Several other UFC PPV events in 2006 surpassed the mark of 500,000 PPV buys (and thus $20 million in PPV revenue), as the UFC's average for its ten PPV events in 2006 was approximately 522,500 buys per event.

Even if one were to take the three biggest UFC events of 2006 out of the equation, the seven remaining UFC PPVs in 2006 still managed to average approximately 400,000 PPV buys per event.

Boxing Has Second-Biggest Year Ever, WWE's Domestic PPV Buyrates Collapse
The only records that the UFC has not broken are the all-time boxing records for individual events, which still stand at approximately 2.0 million buys for a heavyweight fight and approximately 1.4 million buys for a non-heavyweight fight. The upcoming fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is expected to break the 1.4 million mark and perhaps even approach the 2.0 million mark.

While the perception is that boxing's PPV business has rapidly declined, the fact of the matter is that 2006 was the second-biggest year in boxing history at the PPV box office, with gross PPV revenue of $177 million. That would likely be seen as a far bigger news story than it currently is, if it weren't for the fact that the UFC blew away boxing's all-time records during the same year.

It's not boxing that the UFC's explosion in PPV business appears to have severely hurt; it's pro wrestling and specifically World Wrestling Entertainment that the UFC is hurting.

The UFC launched on national cable television with the highly-watched pro wrestling program WWE Raw as its lead-in, and two years later the UFC's domestic PPV business has skyrocketed during the same period that WWE's domestic PPV business has collapsed.

From a promotional standpoint, the UFC has out-done WWE at its own game with money-drawing, exaggerated personal feuds like Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock, only with real fights in place of the simulated fights that pro wrestling offers. Indeed, the same publication that broke the story of the UFC's PPV totals for 2006, the Wrestling Observer, has also written in the past year that they have been specifically told by UFC president Dana White that WWE's business model "is the business model that they're trying to emulate."

The data could not be any more clear in demonstrating that the UFC is drawing fans away from pro wrestling far more than it's drawing fans away from boxing.

The management of WWE, led by Vince McMahon, continues to publicly downplay the negative affect that the rise of the UFC has had on WWE's domestic PPV buyrates. Indeed, a WWE executive is quoted in the Associated Press story on this subject as saying, "We are not worried about UFC."

Nonetheless, WWE's domestic PPV buyrates for its monthly shows have fallen under the 200,000 mark regularly over the past year, and recently fell to as low as 55,000 for a PPV event in December. In addition to the alarming number of 55,000 domestic buys for the "December to Dismember" event, several of WWE's pay-per-view events in the second half of 2006 failed to draw 150,000 domestic buys, including Great American Bash (140,000); No Mercy (120,000); Cyber Sunday (140,000); and Armageddon (145,000).

With its total of 1,050,000 domestic PPV buys, UFC 66 actually drew more domestic buys than WWE's last six pay-per-events of 2006 combined. The last six WWE PPVs of 2006 combined to draw approximately 880,000 domestic PPV buys, which is still 170,000 buys short of UFC 66.

In addition, annual mega-events that used to be huge for WWE are now drawing domestic PPV buyrates that are far below the average UFC PPV buyrate. Two prominent examples are Royal Rumble and SummerSlam from January 2006 and August 2006, respectively. Royal Rumble and SummerSlam are traditionally WWE's second and third biggest events of the year, but the 2006 editions of these events only managed to draw 340,000 domestic buys and 330,000 domestic buys, respectively.

Even WWE's biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, was actually out-drawn at the domestic box office by the UFC's second-biggest PPV of the year, and not by a close margin (775,000 to 640,000).

The total revenue generated by domestic buys of WWE PPVs in 2006 was $131,793,000, according to the Wrestling Observer, and that's with WWE having held 16 pay-per-view events in 2006, as compared with ten events for the UFC in 2006 and eleven for boxing.

The average number of domestic PPV buys per event was a mere 208,000 for WWE; which is less than half of the UFC's average of 522,500.

UFC 67 Establishes Strong "Base-Line" for Non-Marquee UFC Events
The Wrestling Observer also reports that the UFC's first PPV event of 2007, UFC 67, drew a much stronger than expected PPV buyrate and has established a "rock bottom" for UFC PPV buyrates that would still be highly profitable.

With Georges St. Pierre having pulled out of UFC 67 due to injury, the PPV main event was Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter, which was expected to draw the lowest buyrate that the UFC could possibly draw at this time. The Observer added, "Anything more than 300,000 would have been considered a huge success."

As it turns out, the early estimates for UFC 67 are that it drew between 350,000 and 400,000 PPV buys, meaning that it grossed between $13.98 million and $15.98 million in PPV revenue. The early estimates are always lower than the final numbers, which have replays and "late buys" included in the figures.

It's a positive sign for the UFC if the absolute minimum number of buys that UFC PPVs are going to draw is still in the range of 350,000 to 400,000 buys.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:07 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Pride 33 and UFC 67 Attendance Breakdown
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Pride 33: The Second Coming was a moderate success from a live box office standpoint, with numbers that were almost identical to those of Pride: The Real Deal.

Pride 33 drew a paid attendance of 8,334, which was up slightly from The Real Deal's mark of 8,079 in paid attendance. Both events took place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, with ticket prices down slightly, the live gate was down from $2,056,044 for The Real Deal to $2,033,098 for The Second Coming. As it currently stands, The Real Deal drew the eighth largest live gate of any MMA event in Nevada to date, and The Second Coming drew the ninth largest live gate of any MMA event in Nevada to date. The UFC holds the top seven spots in Nevada's record books.

The number of people in attendance who had free "comp" tickets went up from 4,042 at The Real Deal to 4,577 at The Second Coming.

The total number of fans in attendance increased from 12,121 at The Real Deal to 12,911 for The Second Coming.

As is usually the case, there are the attendance numbers that the promotion claims publicly during or after the event, and then there are the actual, legitimate attendance numbers.

In the case of Pride 33: The Second Coming, Pride announced that the total attendance was 13,180, which is slightly higher than the legitimate total attendance figure of 12,911.

While The Second Coming performed slightly better at the live box office than The Real Deal, both events paled in comparison to the live event business that the UFC consistently generates in Las Vegas.

Just three weeks prior to Pride's Second Coming, UFC 67 took place in Las Vegas. While the UFC lamented the fact that the event did not fill the 11,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center at the post-fight press conference, the event still handily out-drew Pride: The Second Coming.

While Pride: The Second Coming generated $2,033,098 in ticket sales, UFC 67 generated $2,767,130 in ticket sales.

The UFC's higher live gate figure was caused not only by higher ticket prices, but also by the fact that UFC 67 had a slightly higher paid attendance figure, with 8,700 fans paying to attend UFC 67 (compared to 8,334 for The Second Coming).

UFC 67 also had 1,527 fans in attendance who had free "comp" tickets, making the total attendance 10,227, which is slightly lower than the UFC's publicly announced figure of 10,787.

The UFC has held eleven live PPV events since the beginning of 2006, and eight of those events were able to exceed Pride: The Second Coming's live gate of $2,033,098.

The only UFC PPV events from the past year that Pride: The Second Coming out-drew at the live box office were UFC 58 (which took place in Las Vegas and drew a live gate of $1,758,450); UFC 63 (which took place in Anaheim and drew a live gate of $1,582,370); and UFC 64 (which took place in Las Vegas and drew a live gate of $1,790,490).

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:56 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- In-Depth Coverage: NSAC Hearings for Randleman, Yvel, Alves, Toughill, and Carvalho
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Mixed martial arts fighters Kevin Randleman, Thiago Alves, and Aaron Carvalho have each been suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as a result of their positive tests for banned substances following their recent MMA bouts in the state of Nevada; while Gilbert Yvel has been denied a fighters' license and Erin Toughill has been granted a conditional fighters' license in Nevada.

Randleman's license as a fighter has been outright revoked for providing fake urine during a drug test; Alves has been suspended for eight months due to a positive test for a banned diuretic; and Carvalho has been suspended for six months due to a positive test for the active ingredient in marijuana.

Randleman and Toughill appeared before the NSAC in person, while Alves, Yvel, and Carvalho participated via teleconference.

In Randleman's case, it's not clear when or if he will be allowed to fight again. The absolute earliest that he will be able to apply to get his license back will be one year from the date of his last fight, so that would be October 21, 2007. Even after that date, Randleman will have to personally appear in front of the NSAC and provide medical evidence that he is completely healthy before he can fight again. On top of the aforementioned suspensions, Randleman has been fined $5,000 and Alves has been fined $5,500.

Also today, Gilbert Yvel was denied a fighters' license in Nevada due to his previous actions in MMA bouts, which include punching and kicking a referee during a 2004 fight in Europe and also getting disqualified in two previous fights. While Yvel was calm throughout the hearing, there were several heated moments stemming from the fact that Yvel seemed to be oblivious to the fact that the NSAC did not understand his justifications for his actions. The NSAC appeared to become increasingly frustrated with Yvel's explanations during the proceedings, and Yvel was eventually denied his request for a license to fight on Pride's February 24th card.

In addition, Erin Toughill was granted her request for a fighters' license. Toughill's request required a special hearing because she previously fought while under an NSAC medical suspension. In 2006, Toughill was TKO'ed during a boxing match in Nevada, and she fought on an MMA card in California while under NSAC medical suspension. The NSAC agreed to grant her a license on the condition that it would only be for one fight, and then the NSAC will re-evaluate her case on medical grounds.

In another matter that was before the NSAC today, Kit Cope and Joe Pearson were temporarily suspended, pending disciplinary hearings at a later date. Following their fights on the first Zuffa-owned WEC event in January, Cope tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone and Pearson tested positive for the active ingredient in marijuana.

Drug testing at mixed martial arts events in the United States is handled by state athletic commissions, not by the MMA promotions such as Pride or the UFC. As with all NSAC drug-related suspensions, the suspended fighters must submit a urine sample after the suspension has expired and the sample has to come back negative for all banned substances before the fighter can fight again.

For as long as a particular fighter is suspended in the state of Nevada, companies that are licensed to promote events in the state of Nevada are strongly discouraged from using that fighter anywhere in the world, which includes Pride and K-1 events in Japan. On this subject, Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer previously said to MMAWeekly, "I would expect a licensed promoter to respect any and all NSAC suspensions."

Kevin Randleman's Hearing
Kevin Randleman fought on the Pride card on October 21st of last year, losing to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua by submission, and his post-fight urine sample did not contain any human hormones. As a result, the NSAC alleged that Randleman provided a fake urine sample, which is regarded as being just as much of a violation as actually failing a drug test, if not more of a violation.

After an emotional disciplinary hearing, during which Randleman and his representatives admitted that Randleman provided fake urine, his fighters' license was revoked. It's not clear when or if he will be able to fight again, and the absolute earliest that he will be able to apply to get his license back will be one year from the date of his last fight (which took place on October 21, 2006). The NSAC ruled that even after that date, Randleman will have to appear in front of the commission and provide medical evidence that he is completely healthy if he to be granted a fighters' license ever again.

Randleman's hearing started as his representative, Jim Gallo, discussed the recurring lung infection that has plagued Randleman for the past 16 months. The lung infection has required eleven surgeries and increasingly strong antibiotic treatments. The NSAC was provided with photos from the surgery that Randleman had just two months before his October 21st fight in an effort to rid his body of the infection. Gallo said that due to the recurring infection, Randleman was on prescription painkillers and antibiotics at the time of the Pride event, and that Randleman was subsequently hospitalized for seven days in January due to "his body shutting down" from complications stemming from the same infection.

Gallo said, "Mr. Randleman was a fighter in poor health who misled this commission so that he could fight and make money for himself and his family. He takes responsibility for his actions." Gallo also asked that the NSAC change its procedures so that fighters are provided with a list of banned substances six to eight weeks before an event takes place, as Randleman was only given a banned substances list one day before the event and "that's when he panicked" upon seeing some of his medications on the list.

Gallo concluded his statements by saying that he was aware of the talk that Randleman's license should be revoked, but Gallo felt that a suspension of 10 to 12 months would be more appropriate.

Randleman then spoke in front of the members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Randleman said, "I'm extremely sorry for the deception... I had eleven surgeries in 16 months, and it was very rough on me. My intention was not to deceive." At that point, NSAC Commissioner John Bailey interrupted and said, "Your intention was to deceive. Instead of disclosing everything to us, you said, 'I'm going to deceive these people so that they will let me fight.' Is that correct?"

Randleman responded: "That is correct, sir... I was wrong. I was very wrong. I should have come to you and said, 'Ladies, gentlemen, I have a problem here... but all I wanted to do was fight."

The commission was upset not only with the fake urine test, but also with the fact that Randleman did not fully disclose his medical condition prior to the fight. On this subject, Bailey said during the hearing, "When we had Joe Mesi [a boxer who has suffered bleeding in the brain] in front of us, our mindset was that sometimes we have to protect fighters from themselves... You were not healthy in this case. You were not healthy, and you did not make the right judgment. You cannot really provide us any assurance that if there were a fight next week, just hypothetically if there were a fight next week, that you would not try to fight next week, irrespective of the fact that your health is bad. We have to protect you when you can't protect yourself. You have demonstrated that you can't protect yourself and that you will deceive us instead of protecting yourself. You could have gotten killed in that ring."

Randleman said, "I'm not going to run and fight in Russia or Brazil or anywhere else. I'm going to sit at home and take the responsibility of whatever the punishment is for all those people who came before me and all those who will come after me."

Commission chairman Dr. Tony Alamo expressed concern that with Randleman having a serious lung infection going into the fight, he could have theoretically passed the infection along to his opponent, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, if both of them had sustained open cuts during the fight. Fortunately, neither fighter was cut during the fight.

Alamo also said, "I am moved by what you have said. We understand that you did not lie to us so that you could... I'm just one person, but what I believe here is that you did not lie to us so that you could take a performance-enhancing drug that could hurt someone else. But we need to protect you from yourself. Your deception was not just with the urine, but also with the pre-fight medicals. If you had told the doctors about your medical condition, you would not have been cleared to fight."

Randleman said that he has been drug tested in the past when he fought for the UFC and always passed his tests. When he was asked whether he used a product called the Whizzinator to fake his urine test, Randleman said he did not. When asked what he did use, Randleman said that he bought a bottle of fake urine from a company called Diversity.

Alamo said the only case that the NSAC has for a basis of comparison is that of Sean McCully, who provided fake urine for a drug test in 2004. In McCully's case, the NSAC revoked his license. Alamo said that even though he believes Randleman regrets his actions, the NSAC also has to set the precedent that Randleman's actions were unacceptable.

At that point, an emotional Randleman said, "You're right, sir. You guys have to set an example for anyone who comes after me who tries to do the same thing... I had 16 months of pure hell. Whatever your ruling is, I am going to honor it and not go and run and fight someone else... I was just thinking [before the fight], 'I can't let everybody down. I can't let my organization down.'"

The commission ultimately decided to revoke Randleman's license and fine him $5,000. Randleman will have to personally appear in front of the NSAC and provide medical evidence that he is completely healthy before he can fight again.

In recent months, the NSAC has changed its procedures to require that all drug-tested fighters must submit their urine sample in front of the inspectors. Dr. Tony Alamo said that in order to prevent something like this from happening again, "The inspectors now have to visually see the urine leaving the genitalia and going into the cup."

Thiago Alves' Hearing
Thiago Alves tested positive for the banned diuretic Spironolactone after he defeated Tony DeSouza at UFC 66 on December 30th. Diuretics are banned not only because they can be used to help fighters cut dangerous amounts of weight in short periods of time (which many fighters routinely do even without the use of diuretics), but also because they can be used to flush other banned substances out of a fighter's body before a drug test.

Alves' manager, Dan Lambert, said to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, "We acknowledge that Thiago took the diuretic." Lambert claimed, "Thiago did not knowingly break the rules of the commission" because he did not know that the use of diuretics is banned. "We're not trying to play games with anybody here, but we have over 40 fighters on our team, and none of them knew about the ban on diuretics. If you read the Internet forums, it seems as though a lot of people, fighters and fans alike, were not aware of the ban on diuretics," Lambert said.

Alves said, "I didn't know. I'm really, really sorry. I knew about steroids [being banned], I didn't know about the diuretics [being banned]... This is my life. This is all I do. I need to fight to survive, not just for me but for my family in Brazil." Alves said that he took the diuretic on the Thursday before the event, which would have been about 48 hours before the fight.

The commissioners did not seem to believe that Alves and Lambert were unaware of the fact that diuretics are banned. They mentioned that it has been well documented in lots of sports that diuretics are banned, and specifically that diuretics are banned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). It was very interesting to hear the NSAC mention USADA due to the fact that the NSAC and other state athletic commissions have yet to implement USADA's standard punishment for any athlete who tests positive for a banned substance (which is a two-year suspension for a first-time offender and a lifetime ban for a second offense).

The commissioners brought up the question on the pre-fight paperwork that asked if Alves had taken any medications prior to the fight, which had been marked "no." Alves was asked, "Would you agree that it was misleading for you to have checked the 'no' box?" Alves said, "Yes."

The NSAC said that past offenders of the diuretics policy have been suspended for approximately eight months, at which point the commissioners agreed to suspend Alves for eight months from the date of the fight and also fine him $5,000.

Since Alves had a banned substance in his system when he won his fight against Tony DeSouza, many fans have asked if the official result of the fight will be changed.

The official policy used to be that the result of the fight would stay the same, no matter what banned substances were found in the winning fighter's system.

That rule has been changed in the past two years. Now, if a fighter wins a fight and tests positive for steroids, stimulants, or other performance-enhancing drugs in their post-fight drug test, the official result is changed to a no-contest. However, this has not been applied to diuretics, and MMAWeekly has confirmed with the NSAC that the official result of the Alves-DeSouza fight will not be changed.

Aaron Carvalho's Hearing
Aaron Carvalho tested positive for marijuana after his December 29th loss to Gilbert Sims on the Tuff-N-Uff fight card in Las Vegas. Carvalho was very forthright and straightforward in his testimony, as he said, "I admit to it. I was hanging out with some people about a week before the fight and we were smoking." Carvalho said that he hasn't used marijuana since then and that doesn't smoke marijuana regularly, but he did use it about a week before his December 29th fight.

In deciding Carvalho's punishment, the commissioners brought up the NSAC's most recent marijuana-related suspension, noting that K-1 fighter Carter Williams was suspended for six months after he tested positive for marijuana following the K-1 USA event in August 2006 The commissioners decided that Carvalho would also be suspended for six months from the date of the fight.

In addition to the fact that it's illegal, fighters are also tested for marijuana for competitive and safety reasons. On the subject of marijuana, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer tells MMAWeekly, "The main issue with marijuana is it slows the reflexes, putting the fighter at much greater risk. We would not let a fighter compete who is coming off arm surgery and has not fully recovered his reflexes, or who is under the influence of alcohol because of the same issue. Additionally, it may also deaden some pain. That could hurt the fighter... he may not tap out when he should and he suffers broken bones or torn ligaments as a result... or that could unfairly help him if he can trade punches more easily with his opponent."

Other state athletic commissions have more lenient policies when it comes to marijuana or drugs in general. One recent example would be the state of California and Ricco Rodriguez. The Wrestling Observer cites the California State Athletic Commission in reporting that Rodriguez tested positive for both marijuana and cocaine after his November 17th victory over Imani Lee on an MMA show in Bakersfield, California, but he was only given a six-month suspension for the two offenses.

Gilbert Yvel's Hearing
Pride Fighting Championships previously submitted the match-up of Sergei Kharitonov vs. Gilbert Yvel to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for approval as part of the February 24th line-up, but the NSAC would not approve the fight without a special hearing due to the fact that Yvel has been disqualified on three separate occasions in his MMA career, most recently when he brutally attacked the referee during a 2004 fight in Europe.

Yvel was asked to explain his actions in each of his three disqualifications. Yvel remained calm and polite throughout the hearing, but he also seemed to be oblivious to the fact that the NSAC did not understand his justifications for his actions.

In regards to his first DQ loss, which took place in 1998 when Yvel bit his opponent, Yvel said that he was "really young and had a really bad temper" at that time. Yvel said, "My opponent, he gave me a headbutt, and I told the referee, but the referee was like, 'Nothing is happening.' And then he did it again with the headbutt, and that was what caused my reaction, to bite him."

Yvel's second disqualification loss was in a 2001 fight against Don Frye, during which Yvel repeatedly eye-gouged Frye. Regarding this incident, Yvel explained, "Don Frye is a very, very strong man, and he was pushing all his body strength against me. I just put my fingers against his nose to push him away from me, and I wasn't really paying attention to what place my fingers were, and my finger slipped on to his eye. It was in the heat of the moment and I can tell you it was not my intention to put my finger in his eye."

The most infamous incident was in 2004 when Yvel got into an argument with the referee during a fight in Europe and proceeded to punch the referee in the face and then kick him. The commissioners were familiar with the incident and seemed disgusted by it: "This commission has all seen the video of the punching and kicking of the referee... I've never in my life seen somebody do what you did. What was going through your mind?"

Yvel gave a very long response, which was interrupted several times as the commissioners tried to get him to talk about the pivotal moment where he decided to attack the referee. The following are just excerpts from the full response: "In that fight, I fought almost for free... the referee was the trainer of my opponent, the promoter of the event, and he kept us waiting for four hours to pick us up at the airport [before the event], and then at the gym he kept us waiting for three more hours. We were just waiting and waiting..."

This was one of the several occasions when the commissioners seemed to be very frustrated, as they interrupted Yvel and said, "I want you to tell me what went through your mind when the referee broke up the fighters and you felt the need to hit the referee in the face and then return back and kick him. What were you thinking?"

Yvel said "sorry" and was polite at all times during the hearing, but he seemed to be oblivious to the commissioners' frustration. Yvel continued, "In the bout, I punched my opponent really hard and he didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't want to fight anymore and we almost fell out of the ring! He was ready to walk away from the fight, he wanted out of the fight, but the referee was trying to pull him back into the fight, and he said, 'Stop, don't move.' And when the referee says, 'Stop, don't move,' then you're supposed to go to the center of the ring in the same position. But he didn't do that, he put us in the center of the ring standing up. He put us standing up instead of on the ground, and that's not right. The referee put me in a bad position and my opponent in a good position by doing that, and the referee was screaming at me, and he was pulling at me. He was screaming and pulling, screaming and pulling, and at that moment, I am there to fight..."

At this point, the commissioners interrupted again, sounding fed up and saying, "Mr. Yvel, Mr. Yvel, you've got 30 seconds. The floor is yours for 30 more seconds." At that point, Yvel finished up by saying, "And at that moment, I got mad and I hit the referee and I kicked him. Yeah."

With Yvel having explained all of his problems with the referee, the commissioners unanimously agreed to deny his application for a fighters' license. This is not like a suspension where the fighter can't fight anywhere in the world for a certain period of time; Yvel simply can't fight in Nevada because he is not being given a license to fight in Nevada.

This leaves Yvel's original opponent for Pride's February 24th card, Sergei Kharitonov, without an opponent. Pride had previously proposed a fight between Kazuyuki Fujita and Wes Sims for the February 24th card, but the NSAC rejected it for competitive reasons (Sims vs. Mark Hunt was also rejected for competitive reasons). With Kharitonov's fight not being approved and Fujita's fight not being approved, it would seem to be logical that Kharitonov would fight Fujita, but that is not the case.

The NSAC has confirmed to MMAWeekly that Fujita will not be fighting Kharitonov or anyone else on the card, as the deadline has passed and Pride has still not sent all of Fujita's medical information to the NSAC.

It is not known whom Kharitonov will be fighting (if anyone), but it won't be Fujita. As a safety measure, the medical information of all fighters who are at least 35 years old (Fujita is 36) must be submitted at least a week before a show. Pride has missed this deadline for Fujita, so he will be ineligible to compete on the card. The NSAC just got Dan Henderson's medical information from Pride today (Henderson is 35 years old).

Erin Toughill's Hearing
Female mixed martial arts competitor Erin Toughill, who was recently featured on the MSNBC show Warrior Nation, appeared before the Nevada State Athletic Commission to request a fighters' license. Toughill's application required a special hearing instead of getting a standard approval because last year Toughill fought while she was under an NSAC medical suspension.

Toughill was TKO'ed in a boxing match in the state of Nevada on August 31, 2006. Due to punishment sustained in the fight, the NSAC medically suspended Toughill for 30 days. However, Toughill fought two weeks later on an MMA show in California while she was still under medical suspension.

Toughill said that all she can say in her own defense is that the MMA fight in California was on an Indian Reservation and she thought it was not under commission regulations. An emotional Toughill also said that her father passed away shortly before the MMA bout in California, and that the MMA bout was the best way for her to cope with her loss at the time.

The commissioners said that sometimes they have to protect fighters from themselves and that she should not have been fighting anywhere, in any sport (boxing or MMA), while under medical suspension. The commissioners voted to grant Toughill a conditional, one-fight license to fight in the state of Nevada. After that one fight in Nevada, then the NSAC will re-evaluate her case on medical grounds. Toughill is able to fight anywhere else in the meantime; her application for a fighters' license today was specifically for the state of Nevada.

Drug Testing Costs; Other Recent Drug Testing Results
According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the total cost of drug testing one fighter for performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants, recreational drugs, and all other banned substances is $278.40.

The seven Pride fighters who were drug tested and passed their tests at the Pride USA event last October were Fedor Emelianenko, Mark Coleman, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Josh Barnett, Dan Henderson, Phil Baroni, and Yosuke Nishijima. Vitor Belfort and Pawel Nastula failed their drug tests, and in December they were both suspended for nine months from the date of the event. The other six fighters on the Pride card were not drug tested.

The NSAC spent a total of $2,784 on drug testing for Pride: The Real Deal, while the total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been $4,454. The event drew $2,056,444 in ticket sales.

At UFC 66, there were six fighters who were drug tested: Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Forrest Griffin, Tony DeSouza, and Thiago Alves. All of those fighters passed their drug tests, with the exception of Alves. The other twelve fighters on the card were not drug tested. The NSAC spent a total of $1,670 on drug testing for UFC 66, while the total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been $5,011. The event drew $5,397,300 in ticket sales.

At UFC 67, there were eight fighters who were drug tested: Anderson Silva, Travis Lutter, Mirko Cro Cop, Eddie Sanchez, Quinton Jackson, Marvin Eastman, Ryoto Machida, and Sam Hoger. All eight of those fighters passed their drug tests. The other ten fighters on the card were not drug tested. The NSAC spent a total of $2,227 on drug testing for UFC 66, while the total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been $5,011. The event drew $2,767,130 in ticket sales.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:03 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salaries for UFC 67
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for UFC 67, which took place this past Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that the UFC is required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that the UFC also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for PPV main event fighters), are not included in the figures below. Also not reflected below are the taxes that the fighters have to pay.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in title fights or in the main event. "Preliminary Match Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the PPV broadcast.

In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of UFC fights that he has had, not counting fights that took place during TUF seasons because they are officially classified as exhibition fights.

Due to the fact that he failed to make weight for his fight against Anderson Silva, Travis Lutter was fined 10% of his pay. Since his pay was $20,000, the fine was $2,000. Of that amount, $1,000 went to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and $1,000 went to Anderson Silva for agreeing to fight Lutter even though Lutter hadn't made weight. These amounts are reflected in the salaries listed below for Silva and Lutter.

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Anderson Silva: $71,000 (3rd UFC fight; defeated Travis Lutter)
-Travis Lutter: $18,000 (5th UFC fight; lost to Anderson Silva)

Main Card Fighters
-Mirko Cro Cop: $350,000 flat fee (1st UFC fight; defeated Eddie Sanchez)
-Quinton Jackson: $170,000 (1st UFC fight; defeated Marvin Eastman)
-Eddie Sanchez: $30,000 flat fee (2nd UFC fight; lost to Mirko Cro Cop)
-Marvin Eastman: $30,000 (3rd UFC fight; lost to Quinton Jackson)
-Patrick Cote: $20,000 (5th UFC fight; defeated Scott Smith)
-Scott Smith: $12,000 (3rd UFC fight; lost to Patrick Cote)
-Roger Huerta: $12,000 (2nd UFC fight; defeated John Halverson)
-John Halverson: $3,000 (1st UFC fight; lost to Roger Huerta)

Preliminary Match Fighters
-Lyoto Machida: $36,000 (1st UFC fight; defeated Sam Hoger)
-Jorge Rivera: $12,000 (7th UFC fight; lost to Terry Martin)
-Tyson Griffin: $9,000 (2nd UFC fight; lost to Frank Edgar)
-Terry Martin: $8,000 (3rd UFC fight; defeated Jorge Rivera)
-Sam Hoger: $7,000 (4th UFC fight; lost to Lyoto Machida)
-Frank Edgar: $6,000 (1st UFC fight; defeated Tyson Griffin)
-Dustin Hazelett: $6,000 (2nd UFC fight; defeated Diego Saraiva)
-Diego Saraiva: $3,000 (1st UFC fight; lost to Dustin Hazelett)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $803,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 7:11 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Pulls Chuck Liddell from Appearance at Local MMA Show
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The UFC has pulled Chuck Liddell from a personal appearance at a local MMA show in Jacksonville, Florida, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union.

A report in the Times-Union by reporter Bart Hubbuch says that Liddell had agreed to be the host or "master of ceremonies" for the Ultimate Warrior Challenge event in Jacksonville and was doing so on a volunteer basis.

However, the UFC pulled Liddell from the event due to concerns that the event would be mistaken for a UFC event as a result of local advertisements which said that "top UFC pros" would be making appearances at the event.

Local promoter S. Marcello Foran said, "They're very, very touchy at the UFC. They're very protective of what they've built, and Chuck is the crown jewel. I basically have to do what they tell me to do."

According to the Florida Times-Union, the UFC initially threatened to sue the local promoters unless the event was cancelled altogether. Foran said, "Once I gave the UFC confidence that there would be no more confusion about anything, they gave me the OK but said they couldn't allow Chuck to be [here]," Foran said.

You can read the full story from the Florida Times-Union at this URL: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020207/spo_7735798.shtml

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:25 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Fight Night 8 Draws Solid Ratings; Pros vs. Joes Draws Strong Premiere Ratings
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The two-hour broadcast of UFC Fight Night 8 on Spike TV drew an overall rating of 1.7 on Thursday, January 25th. The overall rating and the specific demographic ratings were close to the UFC's averages for live fight specials on Spike TV, and they were also up from the ratings that were drawn by the previous UFC Fight Night special on December 13th.

Comparisons to UFN 7 and UFC's Averages-to-Date
Compared to the two-hour broadcast of UFC Fight Night 7 on December 13th, UFC Fight Night 8 was a big success from a ratings standpoint.

UFN 7 drew a 1.3 overall rating, while UFN 8 drew a 1.7 overall rating. UFN 7 drew a 2.0 rating in the key demographic of 18-to-34-year-old males, while UFN 8 drew a 2.3 rating in this demographic. In the broader 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, UFN 7 drew a 1.6 rating and UFN 8 drew a 2.0 rating.

Compared to the UFC's averages for the first twelve live fight specials that it aired on Spike TV (from April 2005 to December 2006), UFC Fight Night 8 was on par in terms of overall viewership and slightly below average in the key demographics.

The UFC's first twelve live fight specials on Spike TV drew an average overall rating of 1.7, which is identical to the overall rating that was drawn by the company's thirteenth live fight special, UFN 8. However, UFN 8's rating of 2.3 in the coveted 18-to-34-year-old male demographic falls short of the prior UFC average of 2.9 in that demographic. Also, UFN 8's rating of 2.0 in the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic falls short of the prior UFC average of 2.3 in that demographic.

Jake O'Brien vs. Heath Herring Out-Draws Rashad Evans vs. Sean Salmon
The surprise of the night was that the biggest ratings draw was not the main event match-up of Rashad Evans vs. Sean Salmon. The biggest draw of the night was the fight between Heath Herring and Jake O'Brien, which was the first live UFC fight since last October to break the 2.0 barrier in the ratings.

The lowest-rated fight of the evening was the fight that opened the live TV broadcast. This is almost always the case because a large percentage of the people who watch a live UFC special over the course of its two-hour duration are people who were not aware that the event was going to be taking place until after it started. Word of mouth and viewers stumbling upon the broadcast while flipping channels both play a big role in the ratings for every live UFC special, as evidenced by the fact that the ratings always start out low when not as many people are aware that there's a live UFC special airing on Spike TV.

In the opening fight of the broadcast, Hermes Franca defeated Spencer Fisher by TKO, and the fight drew a 1.5 overall rating, which is actually a higher rating than most UFC "opening fights" draw on Spike TV.

The biggest jump of the night for UFN's ratings came for the next fight, Jake O'Brien's unanimous decision victory over Heath Herring. That fight drew a 2.1 overall rating, creating more of an audience increase from the previous fight than the audience growth on the entire UFN 7 broadcast in December. During that broadcast, the largest audience growth was from 1.1 to 1.4.

The viewership level decreased slightly after the O'Brien vs. Herring fight, and it never reached the 2.0 level again. Ed Herman's submission victory over Chris Price drew a 1.8 overall rating, and then the main event fight between Rashad Evans and Sean Salmon was responsible for moderate ratings growth, as it drew a 1.9 overall rating.

While it was somewhat surprising for Evans vs. Salmon to have not drawn the highest rating of the broadcast, the fight still drew a high enough rating to be the second most watched fight on the last three UFC live specials (behind only O'Brien vs. Herring).

Pros vs. Joes Draws Strong Ratings for Season Premiere
The January edition of UFC Fight Night was specifically scheduled to take place on Thursday the 25th in order to serve as a steady lead-in for another show on Spike TV, which has been the case in some form or another for every single live UFC fight special on Spike TV since UFN 4.

In this case, the show being promoted was the second season premiere of Pros vs. Joes, and the show came through by actually out-drawing the UFC Fight Night special that served as its lead-in. It was only the second time that a non-UFC show has out-drawn its live UFC lead-in, with the first show being Blade: The Series last June.

Pros vs. Joes drew an overall rating of 1.9, building on UFN's overall rating of 1.7. Pros vs. Joes also drew a 2.6 rating in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, building on UFN's 2.0 rating in this demographic. Most impressively of all, Pros vs. Joes drew a 3.3 rating in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, building on UFN's rating of 2.3 in this demographic.

Compared to the launch of Blade: The Series following a UFC Fight Night special last June, Pros vs. Joes lost slightly when it comes to the overall rating (1.9 to 2.0), but Pros vs. Joes handily out-drew Blade: The Series' premiere in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic (3.3 to 2.6) and in the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic (2.6 to 2.2).

Of course, as with any TV series (and any individual season of any TV series), the question is whether or not Pros vs. Joes can maintain ratings that are close to this level over the long haul.

The strong first week ratings won't mean all that much if the ratings fall off drastically in subsequent weeks and the series ends up being cancelled, which is what happened to Blade: The Series. Blade went from drawing a 2.0 overall rating in its first week to averaging a 0.9 overall rating in its remaining weeks, and it experienced similarly drastic drop-offs in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic (from 2.6 down to 1.0) and in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic (from 2.2 down to 0.9).

Other Spike TV Ratings from January 25th
Airing from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM and leading into the UFC Fight Night special on Spike TV was a new episode of UFC Unleashed, which drew an overall rating of 0.6. The last time that a new episode of UFC Unleashed aired at 7:00 PM, it drew an overall rating of 0.9 back on August 17th (the night of TUF 4's premiere).

After the two-hour broadcast of UFC Fight Night and the one-hour broadcast of Pros vs. Joes, the Spike TV original series Afro Samurai aired from 11:00 PM to 11:30 PM and drew an overall rating of 0.7, which was actually an increase from the series' previous average of 0.5.

Airing from 11:30 PM to 12:00 AM, Wild World of Spike drew an overall rating of 0.5, which was up slightly from its previous average of 0.4. Needless to say, the ratings that have been drawn by Afro Samurai and Wild World of Spike have left a lot to be desired, and the low ratings can't be blamed on the late timeslot because TNA Impact was able to consistently draw ratings of 0.8 or higher in the same timeframe (11:00 PM to 12:00 AM).

The latest episode of Inside the UFC aired on Spike TV from 12:00 AM to 12:30 AM, and it drew an overall rating of 0.4. The ratings for Inside the UFC have decreased ever since Spike TV took away its UFC lead-in.

In the five-week period when Inside the UFC had repeats of UFC Unleashed and one new episode of UFC All Access as its lead-ins, the series was averaging a 0.6 overall rating, which was actually considered a fairly good rating for a show that airs at midnight. In the four weeks since then, with lead-ins of Afro Samurai and Wild World of Spike, the series has drawn overall ratings in the 0.3 to 0.4 range.

Head-to-Head Network Competition
Airing head-to-head with UFC Fight Night 8 on Thursday, January 25th from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, a repeat of CSI Miami on CBS led the pack with an overall rating of 8.1, while a repeat of the ABC series Ugly Betty drew a 6.9 overall rating. NBC's repeats of My Name is Earl and The Office drew overall ratings of 5.3 and 4.8, respectively, which are fairly strong ratings for repeats of comedy shows.

Bringing up the rear was Fox, which managed to draw only a 3.5 overall rating for a repeat of 'Til Death and a 3.2 overall rating for a new episode of The War at Home. Neither series is going to be on the air for very long if they keep drawing ratings in that range. The War at Home's ratings have fallen off drastically ever since Fox moved the series from Sunday nights and put it head-to-head with The Office and Ugly Betty on Thursday nights.

Airing head-to-head with UFC Fight Night in the 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM hour, a new episode of Grey's Anatomy on ABC out-drew a new episode of CSI on CBS, which was shocking when it first happened last fall but is now considered commonplace. Grey's Anatomy drew a 14.0 overall rating, while CSI drew a 13.1 overall rating.

In the meantime, NBC's repeats of Scrubs and 30 Rock drew overall ratings of 3.2 and 2.5, respectively. Despite its critical acclaim, 30 Rock is probably not going to get renewed for a second season unless its ratings increase in the coming months. Fox again came in last place with a 2.5 overall rating for a new episode of The OC. That is exactly the kind of number that caused Fox to make the decision to end The OC, which was drawing more than double its current audience just two years ago.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 1:10 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- WEC's Joe Pearson Tests Positive for Marijuana Ingredient
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Joe Pearson, who fought for the WEC Featherweight Title at the first Zuffa-owned WEC event on January 20th, has tested positive for a metabolite form of the active ingredient in marijuana, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The active ingredient in marijuana is Delta-9-THC, and Pearson tested positive for Delta-9-THC's major metabolite, Delta-9-THC Carboxylic Acid. THC is short for Tetrahydrocannabinol, and it is the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana.

Pearson is the ninth MMA fighter to fail a drug test in the state of Nevada since the beginning of 2006.

With Pearson's test for recreational drugs coming back positive, two of the four fighters in WEC title bouts on the January 20th event have now tested positive for a banned substance.

Last week, when the test results came back for performance-enhancing drugs, WEC Lightweight Title challenger Kit Cope was found to have tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Boldenone. Cope lost his January 20th fight to Rob McCullough, while Pearson lost his fight to Urijah Faber.

The six fighters who were drug tested at the WEC event on January 20th were Pearson, Cope, Faber, McCullough, Rich Crunkilton, and Mike Joy. Faber, McCullough, Crunkilton, and Joy passed all of their drug tests.

Competitors in MMA, boxing, and kickboxing who have been suspended for positive marijuana tests in the state of Nevada in the past have included Samson Po'uha, Sean McCully, Jason Guida, and Carter Williams. Though there is no standard punishment for a drug test failure in Nevada, previous fighters have generally been suspended six months for their first offense (and twelve months for their second offense in the case of Po'uha).

According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the steroid test for any given fighter costs $154.50, the drug screen (which also tests for recreational drugs) costs $78.90, and the stimulant test costs $45.00, so the total cost of drug testing one fighter is $278.40.

The NSAC spent a total of $1,670.40 on drug testing for the first Zuffa-owned WEC event, which was also the first WEC event in Nevada. The total cost of drug testing every fighter on the card would have been $5,011.20. With 664 tickets sold, the WEC event had a live gate of $100,155.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 7:02 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Handles Brutal Knockout Poorly
by Ivan Trembow

The UFC showed a lack of class in its handling of the brutal knockout of Sean Salmon on the UFC Fight Night card on Thursday night, just as was the case when Tra Telligman and Terry Martin when they were both unconscious for an extended period of time after being knocked out in separate UFC bouts in 2005.

If you didn't see it, Salmon was knocked out cold by a high kick from Rashad Evans in the main event of the UFC Fight Night broadcast on Spike TV. He was unconscious for several minutes, and the UFC never acknowledged or updated viewers on his condition. (UPDATE: We now know, not from the UFC but from the web site of one of Salmon's sponsors, that Salmon is scheduled to be released from the hospital later tonight and thankfully it looks like he's going to be okay.)

As was the case with Telligman and Martin, there was no on-air acknowledgement by the UFC that Salmon was unconscious for a significant period of time, nor were there any general updates on his condition. In fact, the commentators were still yelling about what a "beautiful knockout" it was 30 seconds after it happened, when Salmon was still completely limp and it was clear that there was a potentially serious situation unfolding.

After the event, numerous people on message boards were asking questions like, "Is he okay?" and even, "Is he dead?" You literally would not know from the UFC broadcast itself whether Salmon was dead or alive when the show went off the air, which left a lot of people wondering about his condition.

Name any other sport where someone has a potentially serious injury and the response is to not acknowledge it or update the viewers on the injury.

It would be the equivalent of an NFL player going down from a big hit and not moving for several minutes, and the camera on the television broadcast cuts to a crowd shot or commercial break, and then the injured NFL player is never acknowledged again during the broadcast.

That’s exactly what happened in the UFC when Telligman and Martin were knocked out (and in both of those cases, they had hours to offer any kind of update or acknowledgement to the PPV viewers), and that’s exactly what happened tonight. It was classless and it’s not something that you’re going to see in other sports.

If you're the UFC, you don’t have to say, “He’s okay!” You don’t have to put the camera on him non-stop and “play up the spectacle” of it. That’s not what I was suggesting at all. What I was suggesting is that they acknowledge the fact that someone is unconscious and that the fighters’ safety is the most important thing, and that whether Sean Salmon ends up being okay or not is ultimately more important than the fact that Rashad Evans just scored a highlight reel KO. It would take maybe two sentences and it would make a world of difference in terms of the image that the UFC is portraying.

In Salmon's case, there may not have been enough time to update viewers on his condition in the few minutes before they went off the air. The UFC would deserve and would receive the benefit of the doubt in this situation if it weren't for their previous actions when Tra Telligman was unconscious for an extended period of time due to a Tim Sylvia high kick, or when Terry Martin was unconscious for an extended period of time due to a flying knee from James Irvin. In Telligman’s case, they even kept going with the post-fight interview without skipping a beat as Telligman was in a neck immobilizer and being taken out of the cage on a stretcher in the background of the camera shot.

Again, even if there was literally no new information to give before they went off the air, they could read two sentences about how fighter safety is the most important thing in the UFC, and that there is a great team of doctors helping Salmon right now, and that there will be updates on the UFC web site later tonight as they learn more about his condition. (Yes, that would have been a plug for their web site, but when it’s a legitimate news story, it’s no different than ABC News saying, “We’ll have more on this developing story throughout the night on our web site.")

That would have been the decent thing to do. It wouldn't be "shining a light on the negative aspects of the sport," because the fact is that viewers could see with their own eyes, whether the UFC acknowledged it or not, that there was a team of doctors in the background trying to help a fighter who was still not moving. All the lack of acknowledgment did was make the UFC look bad for not acknowledging it.

A brutal knockout, in and of itself, does not make the sport of mixed martial arts "look bad." Brutal knockouts are going to happen in any combat sport, though MMA has a far better safety record than boxing. Serious injuries like those that could have been suffered by Salmon are going to happen in any contact sport, though MMA has a far better safety record than football. What makes the sport of MMA look bad is when a fighter has been knocked unconscious for several minutes and the promotion in three separate cases doesn't even acknowledge the unconscious fighters' condition.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:36 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Fighter Salary Breakdown for First Zuffa-Owned WEC Event
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for the WEC event that took place this past Saturday night, January 20th, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was the WEC's first in Las Vegas and also the WEC's first since being purchased by Zuffa, the same company that owns the UFC.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that Zuffa and the WEC are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses.

Although MMA fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that Zuffa and the WEC also pay its fighters, but do not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, PPV bonuses for the top PPV main event fighters, which would not apply since this event was not on PPV), are not included in the figures below.

In the listings below, "Title Match & Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show and/or compete in a title fight on a show. "Preliminary Match Fights" are fights that are taped before a show goes on the air, and since this show hasn't aired on TV or PPV, all of the non-main event fights are defined as "Main Card Fights."

Highlights from this event will air this summer on one of the WEC's hour-long highlight shows on the Versus Network, which is available in approximately 70 million U.S. households.

Title Match & Main Event Fighters
-Rob McCullough: $20,000 (defeated Kit Cope)
-Urijah Faber: $10,000 (defeated Joe Pearson)
-Kit Cope: $5,000 (lost to Rob McCullough)
-Joe Pearson: $4,000 (lost to Urijah Faber)

Main Card Fighters
-John Alessio: $10,000 (defeated Brian Gassaway)
-Rich Crunkilton: $10,000 (defeated Mike Joy)
-Alex Karalexis: $8,000 (defeated Olaf Alfonso)
-Logan Clark: $8,000 (defeated Blas Avena)
-Carlos Condit: $8,000 (defeated Kyle Jensen)
-Antonio Banuelos: $6,000 (defeated Mike French)
-Brian Gassaway: $4,000 (lost to John Alessio)
-Brendan Seguin: $4,000 (defeated Fernando Gonzalez)
-Olaf Alfonso: $4,000 (lost to Alex Karalexis)
-Mike French: $3,000 (lost to Antonio Banuelos)
-Fernando Gonzalez: $3,000 (lost to Brendan Seguin)
-Kyle Jensen: $3,000 (lost to Carlos Condit)
-Blas Avena: $2,500 (lost to Logan Clark)
-Mike Joy: $2,000 (lost to Rich Crunkilton)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $114,500

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:19 PM

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Video Games and Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Reaches New Video Game Deal with THQ
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a new edition of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in video game form, but that will be changing in the not-too-distant future, as the UFC has struck a deal with video game publisher THQ.

In a story first reported by entertainment trade journal Variety, THQ has signed a five-year contract with Zuffa to be the exclusive publisher of UFC video games through the end of 2011 for "all console and portable platforms, as well as wireless devices."

While no specific game platforms have been announced for the first UFC game from THQ, the primary platforms for UFC games in the future would seem likely to be the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, though modified versions of UFC games could also be released for the less powerful and younger-skewing Nintendo Wii.

Drastically altered versions of the games could also be released for portable systems such as the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP in order to maximize revenue and help offset the higher development costs of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games.

THQ is not a company that develops video games itself; THQ is a game publisher that hires game developers to create games. THQ funds and supervises the development of these games, and THQ is then responsible for marketing the finished products.

The quality of future UFC video games will be heavily dependent on which developer(s) THQ has contracted to develop the games. In an interview with IGN, THQ executive Kelly Flock refused to answer when he was asked to name the developer of the game.

THQ is also the publisher of WWE video games, and the fact that WWE and UFC games will now be released by the same game publisher has upset the management of WWE, which has seen its domestic pay-per-view buyrates collapse in the same year that the UFC's PPV buyrates skyrocketed.

In early 2005, the UFC started airing on the same cable network as WWE (Spike TV), and when WWE's contract with Spike TV came up for renewal later in 2005, Spike TV made the choice to break off all renewal negotiations with WWE, which then returned to USA Network for significantly lower rights fees than it had been receiving from Spike TV.

THQ's Flock said in an interview with Variety, "We see WWE as an entertainment brand, while UFC is a true sports brand." The WWE games that have been published by THQ had been fairly well received from a critical standpoint for years, but have received decidedly mixed reviews over the past few years.

THQ previously published "Pride FC" for the PlayStation 2, a game that is widely regarded as the best MMA game to date. As for UFC-branded video games, the first effort on the Sega Dreamcast was well-received, but the last several UFC games from publishers such as Crave Entertainment, TDK Mediactive, and Global Star Software (a brand of Take-Two Interactive) were almost universally panned by critics.

Video games based on MMA are inherently difficult to create due to the complexity of the sport and the fact that fights can end in any number of different ways, which makes it hard for developers to create an entertaining, but still true-to-life gameplay experience.

When asked by IGN about the degree of difficulty in such a project, Flock acknowledged, "We're well aware of this difficulty to made this game work out, especially the mechanics, and Zuffa, LLC was also aware of this when they picked us to publish their game."

THQ has been mum on the details regarding its first UFC game. The Variety and IGN articles said that the game would include online multi-player functionality (which is a given for any sports game) and would feature "current and former UFC fighters."

The specific fighter line-up could be a key factor, as previous UFC games were missing some notable fighters who wanted to be paid fees or royalties for their video game appearances in the same way that athletes in any other sport are paid when they appear in video games. In football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and other sports, this is handled through the Player's Association of each respective sport.

THQ's Flock also said that he envisions new releases once per year after the first UFC game has been released, as he said to IGN, "UFC lends itself to an annual update, so we expect to have annual iterations of the game with new features, updated and upgraded graphics and gameplay, the whole deal."

No titles or release dates have been announced, though the Variety article said that the first game would likely be released in late 2007 or in 2008.

However, given the fact that the deal between Zuffa and THQ was just signed in late 2006 and that a new gameplay engine is presumably being created for the game, a late 2007 release date would seem to be very unlikely. A one-year development cycle would be unusually short and seemingly rushed for the first generation of a new game franchise running on a new gameplay engine.

Beyond the core gameplay itself and the features that are standard for any sports or fighting game, fans of previous MMA video games will also be interested to know what innovations the game will offer in its "Season" or "Career" modes, how deep the simulation aspects of the game will be, and how many fighters the game will include. It's conceivable that the game could feature dozens of fighters, given the massive size of the UFC's real-life roster.

THQ's biggest motivation for signing a deal with the UFC is obvious. A top-selling video game can generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue or more, and the UFC's popularity has exploded over the past two years.

THQ's Flock said to IGN, "The popularity of the UFC has really kicked into gear. It's amazingly popular right now. We saw the numbers, how it was taking off, how our demographic was interested, and we felt like it was time to bring it back to the interactive arena. The response from people [who] know about it all think this is a great move."

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Video Games

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:34 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Biggest Event of 2006: UFC vs. Boxing vs. WWE
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

With the UFC's business exploding in every category over the past twelve months, many people have asked how the UFC's current level of business compares with that of boxing and pro wrestling, which are two of the UFC's primary competitors.

To examine this issue, we're going to take a look at the two most relevant statistics for the largest shows of the year in each of the three aforementioned respective genres: Live gate revenue and pay-per-view revenue.

Television ratings information is not available for boxing on HBO or Showtime, and it has proven largely irrelevant in the case of WWE, which regularly produces TV shows with double or quadruple the UFC's TV ratings while also producing monthly pay-per-views with less than half of the UFC's domestic PPV buys.

The boxing event with the biggest live gate in 2006 was the May 6th fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Ricardo Mayorga, which generated $7,636,000 in gross ticket receipts.

Even with UFC 66 drawing the UFC's biggest live gate in history, its live gate total of $5,397,300 is still over two million dollars short of boxing's high mark in 2006.

However, if the UFC's own publicly stated predictions are accurate, UFC 66 will generate more PPV revenue than De la Hoya vs. Mayorga.

The fight between De la Hoya and Mayorga drew 925,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States at $49.95 per buy, which generated gross PPV revenue of $46.20 million.

The UFC has publicly and repeatedly predicted that UFC 66 will draw 1.2 million PPV buys, and with a price of $39.95, the gross PPV revenue would be $47.94 million.

The previous all-time record for UFC PPVs was set this past July by UFC 61, which drew approximately 775,000 buys and generated approximately $30.96 million in revenue.

In boxing, the all-time record for pay-per-view buys was set in 2002 by Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis, which drew 2.0 million pay-per-view buys. That event is followed closely in the record books by the 1997 fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, which drew 1.99 million PPV buys.

The all-time record for a non-heavyweight boxing PPV was set in 1999 when Oscar de la Hoya's fight against Felix Trinidad drew 1.4 million PPV buys. De la Hoya's upcoming fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr., which is scheduled to take place on May 5th, has a strong chance of breaking the 1.4 million record for a non-heavyweight boxing PPV.

With the decline in its domestic business in recent years, World Wrestling Entertainment is no longer in the same league as the UFC or big-name boxing match-ups when it comes to live gate sales or PPV revenue for the largest events.

The biggest WWE event of 2006 was WrestleMania, which took place on April 2nd and drew a live gate of just $2.5 million. In addition, WWE now claims that WrestleMania drew 636,000 PPV buys in the United States (an increase from WWE's previously claimed figure of 560,000).

If WWE's latest figure of 636,000 buys is accurate, that would equal PPV revenue of $31.77 million for the event, which would be $14.43 million short of the PPV revenue that was generated by De la Hoya vs. Mayorga, and $16.17 million short of Zuffa's projections for UFC 66.

Live Gate Sales (United States)
1. Boxing's Biggest Event of 2006: $7,636,000 (De la Hoya vs. Mayorga)

2. MMA's Biggest Event of 2006: $5,397,300 (UFC 66)

3. Pro Wrestling's Biggest Event of 2006: $2,500,000 (WWE WrestleMania)


Pay-Per-View Revenue (United States)
1. MMA's Biggest Event of 2006: $47.94 million (UFC 66, according to Zuffa's publicly stated projections)

2. Boxing's Biggest Event of 2006: $46.20 million (De la Hoya vs. Mayorga)

3. Pro Wrestling's Biggest Event of 2006: $31.77 million (WWE WrestleMania, according to WWE's latest claimed figures)

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:07 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC, Pride, and IFL Dates Revealed
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has learned the scheduled dates of several upcoming mixed martial arts events that have not yet been publicly announced.

As previously announced, Pride's next show in the United States will take place on February 24th, but Pride has also requested the venue of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas for a third U.S. show on April 28th.

Meanwhile, Spike TV has confirmed that the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 5 (featuring BJ Penn vs. Jens Pulver) will take place on June 23rd.

Also, while not confirmed by Spike TV, MMAWeekly has learned that the next UFC Fight Night broadcast after the January 25th event is scheduled to take place on March 13th, and the next one after that will take place on April 5th as the lead-in to the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 5.

In addition, the previously open date in June on the IFL's previously announced 2007 season schedule now appears to have been filled, as the IFL has formally requested the date of June 17th for an event at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

Finally, though it was reported on MMAWeekly several months ago, it has now been officially confirmed that UFC 68 will be taking place on March 3rd at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The show is actually being referred to as "UFC 68: Ohio 1." There will already be a lot of visitors in the Columbus area on that weekend due to the Arnold Classic bodybuilding event, and many of those visitors may also purchase tickets to the UFC event.

You can always find the latest information on scheduled dates and rumored line-ups for upcoming MMA events in MMAWeekly's Rumors section, and you can find the specific TV or PPV listings for any particular event in our MMA Television Guide.

Labels: International Fight League (IFL) News, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News, UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:06 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC 66 Breaks Records; UFC Business Year-in-Review
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Last weekend's UFC 66 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada generated $5,397,300 in gross ticket sales, which is more than any other event in UFC history.

Prior to UFC 66, there had been three events in UFC history that drew more than $3 million in gross ticket sales: UFC 57 (headlined by Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture), UFC 61 (Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock; and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski), and UFC 62 (Liddell vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral).

The live gate figure of $5,397,300 that was announced by Zuffa after UFC 66 is indeed the legitimate live gate figure. However, Zuffa's claim that the building was sold out with 14,607 fans in attendance is not accurate.

The actual number of fans in attendance, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, was 13,761. Of the 13,761 fans in attendance, 12,191 of those fans paid for their tickets, while the remaining 1,570 people in attendance had free "comp" tickets.

The UFC's all-time record for highest paid attendance is still held by UFC 59, for which 13,060 tickets were sold. In addition, the UFC record for the highest total attendance still belongs to UFC 60, which had a total of 14,765 fans in attendance (although 4,418 of those fans had free "comp" tickets).

Nonetheless, the amount of the live gate is far more important from a business standpoint than the number of fans in attendance, and UFC 66 simply blows away every other UFC event in history when it comes to gross ticket sales. The event that previously held the all-time record was UFC 57 (with gross ticket sales of $3,382,400), and UFC 66 surpassed that mark by more than $2 million.

UFC 65 Live Gate Info
Just over a month prior to UFC 66, a fight between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre headlined UFC 65 in Sacramento, California. The event drew a live gate of $2,138,020, making it the ninth highest-grossing UFC event in history (including UFC 66).

Both events took place in California and both events featured a Matt Hughes fight in the main event, but UFC 65 (with Hughes vs. St. Pierre) drew approximately $550,000 more in gross ticket sales than UFC 63 (with Hughes vs. BJ Penn).

However, the public claims that 15,350 fans were in attendance at UFC 65 are false. The legitimate total attendance was 14,666, with 12,362 of those fans paying for their tickets and the other 2,304 fans receiving free "comp" tickets.

UFC Business Year-in-Review
Heading into 2006, the UFC had drawn live gates of $2 million or more on just two occasions in its history (UFC 52 with Liddell vs. Couture, and UFC 54 with Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn).

In the year 2006 alone, the UFC surpassed the $2 million mark in ticket sales with seven different events, three of which also surpassed the $3 million mark, and one of which also surpassed the $5 million mark.

Chuck Liddell has been in the main event in five of the nine events in UFC history that have drawn live gates of $2 million or more. The only two fighters who come close to Liddell's record are Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes, each of whom have been in the main event in three of the UFC's nine events that have had ticket sales of more than $2 million.

In addition, Chuck Liddell has been in the main event in three of the four events in UFC history that have drawn live gates of $3 million or more, and he fought three different fighters in those three events (Randy Couture, Renato Sobral, and Tito Ortiz). Ortiz has been in two of the top four events, with Liddell and Ken Shamrock as his opponents.

The UFC held a total of ten pay-per-view events in 2006, and without taking pay-per-view revenue into account, those ten events generated $27,532,225 in ticket sales. The revenue in ticket sales, while impressive, is dwarfed by the skyrocketing PPV revenue.

Using the most conservative possible estimates for the UFC PPV events that took place in late 2006, the gross PPV revenue that was generated by the UFC's ten PPV events in 2006 surpassed $200 million. The total may actually be well over $200 million, depending on how well UFC 64, UFC 65, and UFC 66 performed at the PPV box office.

Using Zuffa's own public predictions of 1.2 million buys for UFC 66, that would mean that UFC 66 alone generated approximately $47.94 million in pay-per-view revenue.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 9:10 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- UFC Reaches Deal for Weekly Syndicated TV Show
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

The UFC is expanding into the syndicated television market and has reached a deal with Trifecta Entertainment & Media to launch a weekly syndicated TV show in the fall of 2007.

Hosted by UFC color commentator and Inside the UFC host Joe Rogan, the new show will be called UFC Wired and will air in syndication on local TV networks throughout the United States starting at the beginning of the 2007-2008 TV season.

The format of the hour-long weekly series is tentatively planned to be a mixture of UFC Unleashed and Inside the UFC. Advertising will be sold in the weekend syndication market, meaning that the show will air on Saturday or Sunday, depending on your local market.

UFC Wired will be the first syndicated show that Trifecta Entertainment & Media has distributed since the company was founded in 2005 by former MGM Entertainment President Hank Cohen.

Cohen said in a press release, "When we formed Trifecta, we agreed it was a priority to identify a high-profile property before launching our syndication business and, without a doubt, UFC Wired is that property."

Trifecta's initial committment to UFC Wired is a 22-episode order.

Given the weak ratings of the current crop of first-run syndicated weekly TV shows in the young male demographics that form the UFC's target audience, it's conceivable that UFC Wired could become one of the highest-rated weekly syndicated shows on all of television in the young male demographics. The current leaders in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic among first-run, non-scripted weekly syndicated shows are Maximum Exposure, The Chris Matthews Show, and Ebert & Roeper.

The UFC's expansion into the syndicated TV market comes on the heels of several other expansion initiatives, which include buying the WEC, buying selected assets of the WFA, and reportedly entering into negotiations to buy Pride Fighting Championships (although Pride has publicly denied those reports). The news also comes mere weeks after the launch of a new, magazine-style weekly series on Spike TV called Inside the UFC.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 9:01 PM

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