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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--- 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--- 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--- Pride USA President Ed Fishman Files Lawsuit Against Pride Parent Company Dream Stage
by Ken Pishna and Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

As Pride FC is mired in rumors of a potential sale, Pride USA President Ed Fishman filed a lawsuit on Monday against Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE), the parent company of Pride FC, in Clark County, Nevada. According to the complaint, DSE has failed to pay monies owed to Fishman Companies, breaching a contract between the two parties.

The complaint states that "on or about April 7, 2006" Fishman Companies was contracted "to promote and market PRIDE events… for three years," and that the agreement "provides Fishman Companies with the option of renewing it for an additional two years."

As compensation, the complaint states that DSE was "to pay $200,000.00 to Fishman Companies annually for the term of the Agreement for consulting on PRIDE events world-wide," not solely in the United States. The complaint continued, "In addition, Fishman Companies is entitled to 10% of tickets sales for all PRIDE events occurring in the United States."

At this point, Fishman alleges that DSE has not compensated him for either of Pride’s two U.S. shows, which took place on October 21, 2006 and February 24, 2007, both at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pride: The Real Deal, which took place on October 21, 2006 in Las Vegas, generated $2,056,444.00 in ticket sales, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. With Fishman claiming to be entitled to 10% of that revenue, he would be owed $205,644.40.

Pride: The Second Coming, which took place on February 24, 2007 in Las Vegas, generated $2,033,098.00 in ticket sales, according to the NSAC. Fishman's 10% cut of that revenue would be $203,309.80.

The combined ticket sales for the two events was $4,089,542. If Fishman’s allegations are accurate, the amount that DSE has failed to pay him in ticket revenue is $408,954.20.

Fishman did state in the complaint that Fishman Companies was paid the initial $200,000 owed for the first year of consulting services shortly after he signed with Dream Stage, but official correspondence with DSE for either payment or an assurance of future payment for consulting services has gone unanswered.

The lawsuit states that on February 27, 2007, which was three days after Pride: The Second Coming took place in Las Vegas, Fishman's representatives sent a letter to Dream Stage that served as a "formal written demand" for Fishman's cut of the revenue from the Pride event that had taken place on February 24, 2007, though the lawsuit mistakenly lists the event as having taken place on February 24, 2006.

This correspondence from Fishman's representatives to Dream Stage demanded that Fishman receive his 10% cut of the revenue for the February 24th event no later than March 7, 2007. Also on or before that same date, Fishman wanted a written and formal assurance from Dream Stage that he would be receiving his second annual consultant's payment of $200,000 as scheduled on or before April 7, 2007.

According to the lawsuit, Fishman still hasn't received a reply to his February 27, 2007 correspondence. He has allegedly not received any of the ticket revenue from either of Pride's two U.S. events, nor has he heard anything from DSE about the $200,000 annual payment that is due on or before April 7, 2007.

Fishman Companies is seeking a judgment for damages in an amount in excess of $10,000, an award of reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees, pre and post judgment interest, and any additional relief the Court deems just and proper on the evidence presented at trial.

Though the complaint does not specify the exact amount of relief that Fishman is seeking, sources close to Fishman have made it known that in addition to seeking the amount of money that Fishman would be owed for consulting services over the remaining four-year life of the contract ($800,000), and in addition to seeking his share of the ticket sales for Pride’s two U.S. shows ($408,954.20), Fishman Companies is also seeking revenue for future shows that, as allegedly presented to Fishman by DSE, would have netted Fishman Companies at least $9 million over the five-year term of the contract. Dream Stage would have had to generate $90 million in ticket sales over a five-year period in order for Fishman's 10% cut to reach $9 million.

So, in total, Fishman is seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million, which sources say is based on a business plan and the lower-end of projections used by DSE officials in their attempts to recruit Fishman and to use his already established marketing acumen in the entertainment and gaming industries to help establish Pride in the U.S. market.

It is interesting to note that in addition to DSE, Fishman’s suit also indicates a number of Doe Defendants, or defendants whose identities are not currently known. The lawsuit states, "The true names and capacities of those individuals and entities, corporate or otherwise, are unknown to Fishman Companies at this time." Fishman's lawsuit says that these defendants will be named at a later date, once their "true names and capacities have been ascertained."

These unknown individuals and entities are alleged by Fishman to have "conspired in some manner with Defendants [ie, Dream Stage] and/or each other." The lawsuit also states that these unknown parties are "responsible in some manner for the events and occurrences alleged in the pleading" and that Fishman's financial damages were "proximately caused by their conduct."

The lawsuit makes no mention of the fact that a third Pride USA show had been scheduled for April 28, 2007 and was cancelled after the February 24th event. The lawsuit also makes no mention of Fishman's publicly stated hope to purchase Pride from Dream Stage, including his comments such as "once I fully acquire Pride FC" in the days before the February 24th Pride event.

At this point, no court dates have been set, but we will continue to keep you updated on this story as events unfold.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:42 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--- Nick Diaz Fails Drug Test at Pride 33: The Second Coming
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Nick Diaz has failed the drug test that he took shortly before his win over Takanori Gomi at Pride 33: The Second Coming. Diaz tested positive for marijuana, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Diaz will have an opportunity to defend himself at a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing in the future.

The typical punishment for MMA fighters or boxers who test positive for marijuana in the state of Nevada has been a six-month suspension, with the most recent example being professional boxer Mikhail Lyubarsky, who was suspended for six months at his NSAC disciplinary hearing just this morning.

Diaz defeated Takanori Gomi by submission at Pride 33: The Second Coming in a huge upset.

In addition to being under contract to Pride, Diaz was also under contract with the Showtime-backed EliteXC to fight on a future EliteXC card. It is not yet known how or if Diaz' positive test will affect his status with Pride or EliteXC.

Diaz Was Hesitant to Take Drug Test
MMAWeekly spoke with NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer about Diaz's failed drug test, and Kizer noted that Diaz was initially hesitant when he was asked to give a urine sample.

Kizer said, "It was interesting because when the inspectors went to take the urine sample before his fight, Mr. Diaz said no at first. He wanted to give the sample in a stall. The sample has to be given in front of an inspector, and he wouldn't do it. Well, we've played that game with Mr. Randleman, so we weren't going to have that, but he refused to do it. So I said, 'That's fine, no problem, but you're not going to be fighting, of course. If you're not going to take the drug test, that's fine, but you're not fighting tonight.'"

Kizer continued, "So I talked to Turi [Altavilla] at Pride and then he apparently talked to Nick, and then he was more than happy to give us a sample. The fight would have been called off otherwise. I don't know if his hesitance to take a drug test has anything to do with his positive drug test and whether there's any correlation there, but it's definitely a factor that I will be bringing up with the commissioners. Mr. Diaz was the only fighter [on the Pride 33 card] who showed any hesitance in taking a drug test."

Fight Result May or May Not Be Changed to "No Contest"
The official policy of the NSAC used to be that the result of a fight would stay the same, no matter what banned substances were found in the winning fighter's system, but that policy has changed in recent years.

Now, if a fighter wins a bout and tests positive for steroids, stimulants, or other performance-enhancing drugs, the official result is changed to a no-contest.

Whether or not that will apply to marijuana as well remains to be seen. When asked specifically about the official result of the Diaz-Gomi fight, Kizer told MMAWeekly that the issue will have to be decided by the commissioners. He added that all of the factors will be considered before it's decided whether the official result of the fight should be changed to "no contest" or whether it should stay the same (Diaz wins by submission).

Regarding the subject of marijuana use among mixed martial artists in general, Kizer said to MMAWeekly last month, "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."

Potential Disciplinary Suspension a Moot Point?
Due to the fact that Diaz suffered a broken orbital bone during the fight against Gomi and had already been medically suspended by the NSAC for six months, any potential disciplinary suspension for marijuana could end up being a moot point, depending on the length of the disciplinary suspension.

If Diaz were to be given a six-month disciplinary suspension that coincided with his six-month medical suspension, the disciplinary suspension would essentially be a moot point because he wasn't going to be fighting for six months anyway. The fighter in that case has actually lost zero days when they "could have fought" but weren't allowed to fight because they were being punished.

In other states such as New Jersey, if a fighter is medically suspended and also fails a drug test, the fighter's disciplinary suspension begins on the day that his or her medical suspension ends.

This is not currently the case in Nevada. When asked if the NSAC plans to change its policy on this matter in the future, Kizer said that it's up to the commissioners, but he added, "Any drug violation occurs before any injury, so I am not sure if you should punish a fighter more because of his injuries."

Nine Other Pride Fighters Pass Drug Tests
All of the other fighters who were drug tested at Pride 33: The Second Coming tested negative for all banned substances, including steroids, stimulants, and recreational drugs.

The ten fighters that the Nevada State Athletic Commission chose to test following their respective fights at Pride 33 on February 24th were Nick Diaz, Takanori Gomi, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Joachim Hansen, and Jason Ireland. The remaining eight fighters on the card were not drug tested.

At Pride's first event in the United States last October, three of the ten fighters who were drug tested failed their tests (Vitor Belfort, Kevin Randleman, and Pawel Nastula).

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 NSAC spent a total of $2,784 on drug testing for Pride 33: The Second Coming, while the total cost of drug testing every single fighter on the card would have been $4,454. The event drew $2,033,098 in ticket sales.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:20 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--- Pride Fighter Salaries for The Second Coming
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly has obtained the fighter salary information for Pride 33: The Second Coming, which took place on Saturday, February 24th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The following figures are from the fighter salary information that Dream Stage Entertainment was required by law to submit to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Although MMA fighters are not unionized, the fighters' salaries are still public record in the United States, just as with every other major sport in the US.

The question of, "How much do Pride's fighters make when they fight in Japan?" still remains unanswered, but the fighter salaries for this event do provide a great deal of insight into this question.

Given that Pride's Japan-based shows often fill the 35,000-seat Saitama Super Arena, it's likely that the salaries for the USA event were smaller than the salaries for a show in Japan, but it's unlikely that the two sets of numbers would be drastically different from one another.

Just as with UFC fighter salaries, any undisclosed bonuses that Pride also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions, are not reflected in the figures below.

As with UFC salaries, we're listing "Main Event Fighters," "Main Card Fighters," and "Preliminary Fighters." All non-main-event fighter for this card are listed below as "Main Card Fighters" because there were no preliminary bouts on this card. None of the fights were taped before the show went on the air, so there were no "Preliminary Fighters."

Though our listings still note which fighters won their fights and which fighters lost, there were no winners' bonuses on this card. In addition, next to each fighter's name is the number of fights that he has had in Pride.

Main Event Fighters
-Wanderlei Silva: $150,000 (28th fight in Pride; lost to Dan Henderson in main event)
-Dan Henderson: $50,000 (18th fight in Pride; defeated Wanderlei Silva in main event)

Main Card Fighters
-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: $50,000 (13th fight in Pride; defeated Alistair Overeem)
-Takanori Gomi: $20,000 (15th fight in Pride; lost to Nick Diaz)
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $20,000 (10th fight in Pride; lost to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou)
-Nick Diaz: $15,000 (1st fight in Pride; defeated Takanori Gomi)
-Joachim Hansen: $15,000 (6th fight in Pride; defeated Jason Ireland)
-Hayato Sakurai: $10,000 (11th fight in Pride; defeated Mac Danzig)
-Frank Trigg: $10,000 (2nd fight in Pride; defeated Kazuo Misaki)
-Kazuo Misaki: $10,000 (8th fight in Pride; lost to Frank Trigg)
-Sergei Kharitonov: $10,000 (11th fight in Pride; defeated Mike Russow)
-Alistair Overeem: $10,000 (14th fight in Pride; lost to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua)
-Travis Wiuff: $10,000 (1st fight in Pride; lost to James Lee)
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: $10,000 (1st fight in Pride; defeated Antonio Rogerio Nogueira)
-Mac Danzig: $10,000 (1st fight in Pride; lost to Hayato Sakurai)
-Jason Ireland: $10,000 (1st fight in Pride; lost to Joachim Hansen)
-Mike Russow: $10,000 (1st fight in Pride; lost to Sergei Kharitonov)
-James Lee: $10,000 (1st fight in Pride; defeated Travis Wiuff)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $430,000

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:42 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--- Pride Event from Japan to Air on U.S. Pay-Per-View Live for First Time
by Scott Petersen and Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Multiple sources have confirmed to MMAWeekly that Pride is planning to make its next pay-per-view event from Japan available in the United States on live pay-per-view for the first time in the promotion's history.

In the past, Pride's events in Japan have always aired on a tape-delayed basis on United States pay-per-view outlets. While this tape delay has been as short as 18 hours in many cases, it has also been a full week in other cases, or even a full month in the case of a few Bushido events.

Even when the tape delay was only 18 hours, many MMA fans wished that they could watch the events live and couldn't resist the temptation to read the results online before the U.S. pay-per-view debut.

Now, starting with the event that will be held in Japan on April 8th, Pride is planning on making its events available for live viewing on U.S. pay-per-view outlets. The events will still have numerous replays for fans who don't want to stay up late to watch the events live.

This is not unlike what HBO does with major boxing events that take place in Europe. For example, HBO will air the upcoming Wladimir Klitshcko boxing match from Germany live in the United States at 5:00 PM Eastern Time (which is 2:00 PM Pacific Time) and will then replay the fight in the U.S. in primetime with a 10:00 PM Eastern and Pacific start time.

Part of Pride's motivation for doing this stems from the fact that they lose money every time a fan watches an illegal Pride video online instead of buying the PPV.

However, the primary motivation for doing this is that Pride wants to cater to the U.S. market as much as possible, and offering its Japanese events on live U.S. pay-per-view is a big step in that direction.

Sunday, April 8th in Japanese time is actually in the latenight hours of Saturday, April 7th in U.S. time. Regardless of what the PPV timeslot ends up being, Pride is planning to make the start time of the live event in Japan coincide with the PPV timeslot that it gets in the United States so that the event can air live on U.S. pay-per-view.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 7:23 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Nick Diaz Signs with Pride In Addition to Showtime-Backed Elite XC
by Ivan Trembow and Ken Pishna
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Nick Diaz has signed a two-fight contract with Pride and will make his Pride debut on the promotion's February 24th event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Diaz will be cutting to lightweight for his fight at Pride 33 on February 24th, and he expects to face a top-level opponent. Pride previously announced the participation of two lightweights on the Pride 33 card: Takanori Gomi and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, who are the #1 and #2 Lightweights in the MMAWeekly Rankings.

Though it's not known who Diaz will be fighting, Gomi and Sakurai are two of the many possibilities. If Diaz does fight Gomi, it will not be for Gomi's Pride Lightweight Title, as Pride previously announced that Gomi's fight at Pride 33 will be a non-title fight.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Diaz signed with the Showtime-backed Elite Xtreme Combat, for which he is expected to make his debut in May. Diaz' contracts with Pride and EXC do not conflict with each other, as EXC has no problem with non-exclusive contracts, and Pride entered its negotiations with Diaz knowing that he was already under contract with EXC.

Regardless of who Diaz fights at Pride 33, he will be fighting at Pride's lightweight limit of 160 pounds. The lightweight limit for MMA in the United States is usually 155 pounds, but promotions like Pride also have the option of holding fights at "catch weights" such as 160 pounds.

The 23-year-old Diaz normally fights at 170 pounds and is currently the #9-ranked 170-pound fighter in the MMAWeekly Rankings.

Diaz is a UFC veteran who won the last two fights on his UFC contract at UFC 62 and UFC 65, respectively. Diaz had been scheduled to face Thomas "Wildman" Denny on the Gracie Fighting Championships event on January 20th, but the event was postponed.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 11:50 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 Confirms Signing of Mirko Cro Cop; A Look at the Heavyweight & Light Heavyweight Title Pictures
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

As previously reported by MMAWeekly.com's Ken Pishna, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has signed with the UFC, and this news was officially confirmed at the UFC 66 event on Saturday night.

Cro Cop will make his UFC debut against Eddie Sanchez at UFC 67 on February 3rd. Cro Cop is the #2 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings, behind only Fedor Emelianenko.

A commercial for UFC 67 aired several times during the UFC 66 pay-per-view broadcast and also on the big screens at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cro Cop's name got somewhat of a lukewarm reaction from the live crowd in Las Vegas, indicating that many of the UFC fans in attendance do not know who he is.

The expectation of this kind of response from casual MMA fans is primary reason for not giving Cro Cop an immediate title shot in the UFC. If Cro Cop has one fight in the UFC and beats Sanchez, far more UFC fans will be familiar with and interested in Cro Cop headed into a potential UFC Heavyweight Title match.

Brandon Vera had been scheduled to get the next shot at UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, but that fight will only happen if Vera signs a multi-fight contract extension with the UFC (Vera currently has one fight left on his UFC contract).

Vera recently made an appearance at the introductory press conference of the Showtime-backed Elite XC promotion, where he told the Los Angeles Times that he wants his next contract to be with "whoever wants to take care of me the best."

The commercial for UFC 67 also prominently featured Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the #8 Light Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings. Jackson will be making his UFC debut at UFC 67 against Marvin Eastman.

The next shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Title had been tentatively slated to go to Forrest Griffin if he defeated Keith Jardine at UFC 66, but Griffin's loss to Jardine throws a monkey wrench into those plans.

With Jardine defeating Griffin by TKO, the next shot at Chuck Liddell's UFC Light Heavyweight Title would seem to be most likely to belong to Jackson if he is able to beat Eastman on February 3rd, but it could also conceivably go to Jardine.

After his second TKO loss to Liddell, Tito Ortiz would not appear to be in the UFC Light Heavyweight Title picture for now. However, a rematch between Ortiz and Griffin would still be highly marketable, and Ortiz has already laid the marketing groundwork in recent days and weeks for a potential fight against Renato "Babalu" Sobral, whom Ortiz has repeatedly referred to as a "B-level fighter."

The UFC has also confirmed previous MMAWeekly.com reports that Heath Herring has signed with the UFC and will be fighting Jake O'Brien at UFC Fight Night on January 25th in a battle of heavyweight contenders.

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

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:48 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- In-Depth Coverage: Vitor Belfort & Pawel Nastula Suspended after Steroid Hearings
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Breaking News on MMAWeekly: Vitor Belfort and Pawel Nastula have each been suspended for nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as a result of their positive tests for banned substances following their respective fights at Pride: The Real Deal on October 21st.

In addition to the nine-month suspensions, each fighter was fined approximately one-third of their purses, which worked out to a $10,000 fine for Belfort and $6,500 for Nastula.

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.

The commissioners of the NSAC mentioned Stephan Bonnar when determining the length of the suspensions. Bonnar was suspended for nine months after he tested positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone following his fight against Forrest Griffin at UFC 62. The commissioners concluded that Belfort and Nastula should receive similar suspensions, and they unanimously agreed on the length of the suspensions for Belfort and Nastula.

Kevin Randleman's disciplinary hearing is tentatively scheduled to take place in January. The NSAC has alleged that Randleman provided a fake urine sample during his drug test at the same Pride event on October 21st. Providing fake urine or otherwise trying to defraud the drug testing system is regarded as being just as much of a violation as actually failing a drug test, if not more of a violation.

Nastula tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and the banned stimulants phenylpropanolamine, pseudoephedrine, and ephedrine. Belfort tested positive for 4-hydroxytestosterone, which is also legally defined as an anabolic steroid and banned in Major League Baseball and other sports.

Belfort, a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, lost to Dan Henderson by unanimous decision on the Pride card. Nastula, who won a gold medal in Judo at the 1996 Olympic Games, lost by submission to Josh Barnett on the card.

As with all NSAC drug-related suspensions, Belfort and Nastula will not be automatically reinstated in July 2007 when their suspension terms expires. After the terms expire, Belfort and Nastula will become eligible to re-apply for fighters' licenses in Nevada. This step requires a urine sample to be provided and for the sample to come back negative for all banned substances before the fighter can be re-licensed.

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's events in Japan. On this subject, Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer told MMAWeekly, "I would expect a licensed promoter to respect any and all NSAC suspensions."

Vitor Belfort's Hearing
While Pawel Nastula was represented by an attorney and an agent/interpreter, Vitor Belfort represented himself and passionately pleaded his case to the commissioners. As for how he could have unknowingly ingested 4-hydroxytestosterone, Belfort said that it could have been in the rehabilitative injections that he was given by endocrinologist Dr. Rodrigo M. Greco following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee over the summer; or it could have been from a nutritional supplement called Max Tribustak.

That particular supplement does indeed contain 4-hydroxytestosterone and is touted as helping to maximize the user's testosterone output. The commission seemed to believe that the Max Tribustak was much more likely than the post-surgical injections to have been the cause of Belfort's positive drug test.

Belfort was emphatic in saying that he is not a cheater. Belfort added that many fighters in MMA are cheaters and steroid users, but he is not one of them. Belfort said that he was very surprised by the positive test result, adding that he has lost a lot of sponsorships and has had his name, reputation, and career tarnished as a result of this.

The commissioners stated that even if Belfort was given injections by a doctor who did not inform Belfort that the injections contained anabolic steroids, it would still be a violation of the banned substances policy and "it would be malpractice for a doctor to do that here in the United States, to be giving someone anabolic steroids" during recovery from surgery.

The NSAC received a written statement from Dr. Greco in which he said that he gave Belfort post-surgical injections containing testosterone, which the NSAC said would be a violation of the NSAC's drug policy in and of itself.

The conclusion was ultimately reached that Belfort's story is fairly consistent, but that it's still a violation of the drug policy to have a banned substance in your body at the time of a fight. Regardless of when or how he took the banned substance, he should not have been fighting with 4-hydroxytestosterone in his system, and it is the fighters' responsibility to make sure that they're clear of all banned substances going into a fight.

Pawel Nastula's Hearing
Pawel Nastula's primary defense, as laid out by attorney Howard Jacobs, was that Nastula's positive test for the anabolic steroid nandrolone was a result of supplement contamination, not deliberate use. Jacobs presented several studies on the subject of supplement contamination to the NSAC, but none of them were specific to Nastula's case.

After Jacobs spoke extensively about the subject of supplement contamination in general, one of the commissioners said, "We have [detected] certain prohibited substances in his urine. We don't know how they got there, and he's responsible for that."

The commissioners further stated that in many cases where supplement contamination is alleged as the reason for a fighter's positive test, the defense chooses to have sample pills from the same manufacturing batch tested to determine if the supplement was, in fact, contaminated. Jacobs responded that it would take four to six months to run cross-contamination tests, and with Nastula being unable to fight during that timeframe, it would be a de facto suspension for that four to six month period.

The commission responded by telling Jacobs that if he chooses not to have the samples tested and if Nastula is suspended today, he could potentially be suspended for longer than four to six months. Jacobs then asked if NSAC policy would allow Nastula to temporarily be able to fight until the disciplinary matter is resolved.

Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the NSAC, said that would not be allowed. Kizer said that an athlete who is taking performance-enhancing drugs in track and field would run faster or throw the javelin farther, but in MMA you're hitting another human being harder, so they can't allow MMA fighters to compete while they have pending disciplinary matters stemming from positive drug tests.

Jacobs also argued on Nastula's behalf that the relatively low levels of nandrolone found in Nastula's system were consistent with unintentional ingestion and not deliberate use. The commissioners responded by saying that low levels of a banned substance can sometimes indicate unintentional ingestion, but low levels can also sometimes indicate that a fighter was trying to cycle off of the banned substances and simply didn't stop taking them soon enough.

The commissioners said that they have no way of conclusively knowing which one of those scenarios holds true in this case, but they do conclusively know that Nastula had more than the maximum allowed amount of nandrolone in his system, and that was grounds to suspend him.

Pride "Allows Usage of Doping"?
Nastula's original written response to the NSAC stated that his promotional contract with Pride "allows the usage of doping." The commissioners asked for clarification on what exactly that means, and Nastula's agent/interpreter Michal Szymanski responded by saying that Nastula's Pride contract does not specifically allow doping, but it does say that fighters will not be tested for performance-enhancing substances at any of Pride's events in Japan. (It's a completely different scenario in the United States, where it's up to the athletic commissions and not the MMA promotions to handle the drug testing.)

The NSAC's Kizer further clarified to the commissioners that from what he has been told by Pride, they test for marijuana and other recreational drugs at their shows in Japan, but they do not test for steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. The commissioners agreed that they need to look into Pride's drug testing policies more in the future, although no specific plans to that effect were laid out.

According to the NSAC, the exact passage in Nastula's contract with Pride in Japan is as follows: "Fighter agrees to be tested immediately preceding and following the fight in each event, to confirm negative results of the use of marijuana, cocaine, barbiturates, and other illegal substances. Should any test be positive, fighter shall forfeit all amounts payable under this agreement granted for such event. Performance-enhancing stimulants of the steroid-based family are specifically excluded from the scope of the tests and the prohibition in this section."

At that point during the hearing, Kizer said that when Nastula's representatives were informed of his positive test result back in November, the first question that agent Michal Szymanski asked him was whether or not the NSAC had legally ratified the drug policy that Pride has in Japan. Kizer added that attorney Howard Jacobs' first question to him was also whether the NSAC had legally ratified the drug policy in Japan.

Kizer asked rhetorically why either of them would have asked that question right off the bat if the fighter had not intentionally taken steroids. Jacobs responded by saying that it was just a formality to make sure that the NSAC's policy allowed for the testing of fighters for performance-enhancing drugs.

Nastula Plans to Retire, Would Have Fought on Pride Shockwave if Cleared
When asked if Nastula or his agent had anything else to add, Szymanski said, "We have a contract with Pride to have Nastula's last fight on December 31st... and they told us that if Nastula is cleared and there is no suspension, Nastula can be used on the 31st of December... Nastula is 36 years old and this is his last chance... he would like to finish his career on the 31st."

Szymanski also inferred that Nastula is a top-level athlete and an Olympic Gold Medalist who would have no need to use performance-enhancing drugs. Kizer responded by saying that Nastula is indeed a tremendous athlete and an Olympic Gold Medalist, but he could have still potentially had motivation to use performance-enhancing drugs because his MMA record going into the fight against Josh Barnett was 1-2, while Barnett is ranked as one of the top five heavyweights in the entire world.

NSAC Commissioners "Putting the Hammer Down on the Steroids Issue"
After the Belfort and Nastula hearings were finished and everything else on the NSAC's meeting agenda was completed, commissioner T.J. Day said, "We're putting the hammer down on the steroid issue. This is real, this is important, and the tougher we are on it, the lesser the chance that we're going to be asked in the future why we didn't do anything about it."

It remains to be seen how accurate those words will turn out to be, given that the majority of fighters on any given fight card are still not drug tested.

Other Agenda Items
A few of the NSAC commissioners also said that with the popularity of MMA growing so much, they feel that all of the commissioners should fully understand the judging criteria and the referee procedures related to fight stoppages in MMA. The commissioners proposed that at some point in the future, there should be a seminar for the benefit of the NSAC, during which top MMA referees and judges would explain these matters in great detail to the commissioners.

The vast majority of the rest of the NSAC's agenda on this particular day related to upcoming boxing matches in the state of Nevada involving Jose Luis Castillo and Ricky Hatton, which will be relevant to MMA in the future if any main event fighters fail to make weight and subsequently face the kind of disciplinary action that Castillo has faced.

Castillo once again failed to make weight (or even come close to making weight) for a big-money boxing match against Diego Corrales earlier this year, which cost Showtime, the NSAC, and the event's promoters millions of dollars in lost revenue. Castillo was suspended until the end of 2006 and fined $250,000 for his repeated offenses, but that fine has yet to be paid.

At the meeting on Thursday, the NSAC insisted that the full fine of $250,000 must be paid before Castillo can fight in a proposed title elimination bout on January 20th, and that Castillo could be fined again if he fails to make weight for that bout.

Castillo’s promoter, Top Rank, presented plans to have Castillo and Hatton face different opponents at an event in Las Vegas on January 20th, and then if they are both victorious, Castillo and Hatton would fight each other in Las Vegas on June 2, 2007.

The NSAC was willing to approve those plans if and only if the $250,000 fine was paid before January 20th, or if Castillo pays at least $150,000 before the January 19, 2007 weigh-in and Top Rank puts into writing a formal agreement that they will be fully responsible and legally liable for the fine if Castillo does not pay it in full by June 1, 2007.

Top Rank was expected to compose such documents and return to the athletic commission at a later date in order to get formal approval for the June 2nd showdown between Hatton and Castillo.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 10:17 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Josh Barnett & Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Set for Pride Rematch
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Josh Barnett and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will face off at Pride Shockwave 2006 on December 31st in a rematch of their hotly contested fight from earlier this year.

The Barnett-Nogueira rematch was first reported by Tatame, and since then Nogueira has written the following in his latest column in the Brazilian newspaper Jornal dos Sports (roughly translated from Portuguese to English):

"My adversary for the next Pride event, on the 31st of December, will be the American Josh Barnett, and revenge will be mine in my last fight of the year. Shortly after [Nogueira's first fight with Barnett], I made it clear to Pride management that although I respect the judges decision, I would like a revenge match, since I didn't feel the decision being given to Barnett by 2 to 1 was just. I am motivated and focused for this fight and am certain I will put in a good performance. Barnett is a great fighter and has shown how he is dangerous on the ground. In a fight at this level, anything can happen, but I am quite confident I can beat him."

Barnett and Nogueira previously fought in the quarter-finals of the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix on September 10th. After a Fight of the Year candidate with world-class submission grappling that you're rarely going to see in the heavyweight division or any other weight class, the extremely close fight went to the judges for a decision.

One of the judges gave the fight to Nogueira, while the other two judges gave it to Barnett, thus making Barnett the winner by split decision. Later that night in the Finals of the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix, Mirko Cro Cop defeated Barnett by submission to become the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix Champion.

Barnett is currently the #3 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings, behind only Fedor Emelianenko and Cro Cop, while Nogueira is the #4 Heavyweight.

This highly anticipated rematch is set to take place at the Pride Shockwave show on December 31st. The show premieres on United States pay-per-view outlets on December 31st at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (6:00 PM Pacific Time).

The other confirmed fights on the card are Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mark Hunt, Takanori Gomi vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura, Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gilbert Melendez, Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki, Akihiro Gono vs. Yuki Kondo, and Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa vs. Kiyoshi Tamura.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:40 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Mirko Cro Cop Talks about Offers from UFC & Pride
by Al Yu and Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

MMAWeekly brought you the news earlier this week when Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic told a Croatian newspaper that the UFC has shown interest in signing him, and now Cro Cop has elaborated on the offers that he has received from the UFC and Pride.

In a subsequent interview with a different Croatian newspaper, Cro Cop said, "Like everybody else, I'm also available on the market. The offer from the UFC is slightly better than Pride's offer, but I haven't decided if I will change jerseys." Cro Cop went on to say that he has also received an offer from another US-based organization, which he did not name.

Cro Cop, who won Pride's 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix, also said in the same Croatian newspaper interview that money will not be the only factor that determines where he fights in the future, alluding to the fact that his decision will likely be swayed by his desire to secure a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko, who defeated Cro Cop last year at Pride's Final Conflict 2005. Cro Cop is currently the #2 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings, while Fedor is the #1 Heavyweight.

As previously reported by MMAWeekly, Fedor is currently taking his fight bookings as a succession of one-fight contracts, with the next one being his December 31st fight against Mark Hunt in Pride, followed by his March fight with BodogFights. After that, numerous MMA organizations will surely be seeking Fedor's services, whether it's in the form of a one-fight contract or an exclusive long-term deal.

In addition to the aforementioned Croatian newspaper interviews, the following statement was also posted on Mirko Cro Crop's official web site:

"With MMA becoming a worldwide mainstream, more than a few promotions are trying to sign some of the best fighters in the world for their shows. Mirko's office is jammed with various offers from the world's top MMA promotions, and Cro Cop is considering everything before making his final decision. We've received tons of emails lately from Mirko's fans, with questions about Mirko's future MMA plans, so we decided to share some with you.

As we all know, Mirko's primary goal has always been winning the PRIDE Heavyweight title. After a successful Grand Prix, Cro Cop was promoted to #1 contender and promised a fight with Fedor by the end of the year or in early 2007. However, it's highly unlikely that we are going to see the rematch anytime soon. It was PRIDE's call to set up one of the most anticipated rematches in MMA history, but the Japanese organization has been unable to do it so far. Maybe it's not entirely their fault, as Fedor announced several times that he's going to fight in some other MMA organizations too, such as BodogFights.

But the bottom line is that Cro Cop likely won't have his chance to fight Fedor for the title in the next few months. With that said, it's perfectly reasonable for Mirko to consider other offers.

Of course, the most interesting offers are coming from the US, where we have a number of new and promising MMA promotions. However, the leader in the US MMA market is still the UFC and they are joining the battle for top level MMA fighters with full confidence after a few recent successful events. Over the last few days we have read about the UFC's offer to Mirko that allegedly leaked out due to someone's eagle eye from the airplane backseat. Millions of dollars were about to appear on Cro Cop's account if he agreed to fight in the UFC, according to the rumors. Well, that was nothing but the rumors, the offer from the UFC is actually in Cro Cop's hands, but the numbers are entirely different.

Is Cro Cop seriously considering making his UFC appearance? Let's say that Mirko is always open to new challenges and he is looking forward to his US debut, which will happen very soon. The question remains - under which roof?

The bottom line of the whole story is - Mirko is still hoping to fight Fedor for the title in the first half of 2007. If the rematch will never happen under PRIDE's roof, again, then Cro Cop will consider some other options. There are some other interesting challenges waiting for him in MMA, it's not all about PRIDE's Heavyweight belt."

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

posted by Ivan Trembow at 4:03 PM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Will DSE Really Sell Pride to the UFC or WWE?
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Dream Stage Entertainment is taking part in ongoing negotiations with several different companies based in several different countries to sell Pride, according to a report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Among the companies with which DSE has had talks are the Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Wrestling Entertainment, and multiple companies in both the United States and South Korea that were not named in the article, which further stated that the majority of the interest that has been shown in purchasing Pride has come from outside of Japan.

The crux of the Observer article is that it is necessary for DSE to eventually sell the company because while the company can continue to put on mega-shows like the December 31st show in the short term, Pride at its current level is simply not a sustainable business model over the long run without the all-important Japanese TV deal.

Fuji TV cancelled its contract and removed Pride from its network earlier this year due to company scandals, even though Pride's 2005 New Year's Eve show won the head-to-head ratings battle with the K-1 New Year's Eve show for the first time.

Fuji TV was much more than just a TV outlet for Pride, as Fuji also paid the company millions of dollars and provided it with valuable promotional exposure. Pride has been unable to secure a new TV deal with any other major network in Japan.

The DSE-owned Pride will continue to aggressively expand into the U.S. marketplace, add big-name fighters to its roster if given the opportunity, and continue to run shows in Japan. While it remains possible that a huge explosion in popularity or a Japanese TV deal could change the situation, neither of those two things are particularly likely to occur, and this would likely make it necessary for DSE to sell the company to new ownership if things don't turn around in the next year or so.

If Pride were to be purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment, it is not a stretch to say that it would be unlikely to succeed. Putting aside any fears that WWE would be tempted to fix fights, there's also the well-documented fact that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has never displayed competence in any business outside of his core business of pro wrestling, with unsuccessful business ventures in nutritional supplements (IcoPro), a bodybuilding league (WBF), the movie industry (WWE Films), reality television production (Manhunt, Tough Enough, WWE Diva Search), a professional football league (XFL), the book industry (WWE's self-published novels in which McMahon solves crimes), and yes, even promoting legitimate shoot-fights on national television (Brawl for All).

The Observer article noted that Zuffa is faced with a strategic choice. If the UFC bought Pride and inherited what the Observer referred to as Pride's "very high contracts," Zuffa would acquire lots of world-class MMA fighters, but the move would raise the UFC's salary structure and "up the ante greatly" in terms of the amount of money that the company spends on fighter contracts.

If, on the other hand, Zuffa were to sit back and take a different kind of risk by letting the situation play itself out, the ideal scenario for Zuffa would be that Pride would eventually go out of business (or whoever buys Pride would fail with it and go under), thus making all of Pride's fighters free agents.

This would enable Zuffa to pay a lot less for the fighters than they would otherwise have to, because at that point there would be a very large amount of free agent fighters and only two stable, big-money options available for those fighters (UFC and K-1), although upstarts like BodogFight have managed to lure Fedor Emelianenko away, at least for one fight.

As the Observer reported, in the latter scenario Zuffa would be able to "work at signing only the people they want with the ability to negotiate more favorable terms [for Zuffa] due to the only other option [for the fighters] being K-1, which generally doesn't pay at Pride's level." In this scenario, with Pride's entire roster as free agents, the top-level fighters would likely end up split primarily between the UFC and K-1.

In the face of all the speculation, Pride broadcaster Frank Trigg appeared on MMAWeekly Radio's SoundOff and denied outright that Pride was for sale. Trigg said, "Two major organizations offered to buy Pride and both answers were no. They were both very substantial offers." Trigg was adamant as he said, "[DSE President] Sakakibara does not want to sell Pride. Pride is not up for sale. I spoke with him earlier today. Are we trying to do cross-promotions with other people? Absolutely... [but] Pride is not up for sale."

The Observer reported in its initial article that DSE's senior management will continue to act like "everything is status quo" and will continue to tell company employees that the company is not going to be sold.

Regardless of how the situation with Pride plays out, the Observer reports that Zuffa is planning on getting "very aggressive" when it comes to signing top talent.

The only thing for certain is that in the ever-changing landscape of MMA, only time will tell.

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

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:09 AM

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Mixed Martial Arts--- Vitor Belfort Responds to Steroid Charges
by Ivan Trembow
Originally Published on MMAWeekly

Pride and UFC veteran Vitor Belfort has responded to the Nevada State Athletic Commission's charges that he had anabolic steroids in his system when he fought on Pride's October 21st card in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Belfort, who lost by unanimous decision to Dan Henderson on the card, tested positive for 4-hydroxytestosterone, which is legally defined as an anabolic steroid and is also banned in Major League Baseball and other sports.

Belfort's case is still pending in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and at some point there will be a disciplinary hearing at which Belfort could be fined or suspended.

Here is a transcript of the letter that Belfort sent to the NSAC:

"In regard of the disciplinary complaint against myself about having violated section 467.850 of the Commission Regulations, all I have to say is that I bought a supplement called 'Max Tribostak' at Max Muscle in La Habra, California, which contains 4-Hydroxytestosterone. I had no idea that a supplement bought over the counter at a vitamin store would contain a substance that is illegal in the state of Nevada. This lack of knowledge is costing me a great deal, hurting my image throughout every newspaper in Brazil, which caused me to lose some of my sponsors, and most of all the risk of being suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. I hope you consider my letter before taking any formal disciplinary actions.

Sincerely,
Vitor Belfort"

The product in question ("Max Tribustak," which Belfort misspelled in his latter) is listed on Max Muscle's web site as "male hormone support" and an "anabolic optimizer" that will help maximize the user's testosterone output. As Belfort acknowledges in his letter, it contains 4-hydroxytestosterone, the substance that caused Belfort to fail his drug test.

Belfort was one of ten fighters who were drug tested at the Pride event on October 21st, and he is one of three fighters on the card who failed to pass their drug tests. The other two are Kevin Randleman and Pawel Nastula.

Randleman has been charged by the Nevada State Athletic Commission with providing fake urine for his drug test, while Nastula tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and the banned stimulants phenylpropanolamine, pseudoephedrine, and ephedrine.

The seven Pride fighters who were drug tested on October 21st and passed their tests are Fedor Emelianenko, Mark Coleman, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Josh Barnett, Dan Henderson, Phil Baroni, and Yosuke Nishijima. The other six fighters on the card were not drug tested.

Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Pride Fighting Championships News

posted by Ivan Trembow at 12:27 AM

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