UFC 162, on 7/6 in Las Vegas, is supposed to be the big event of the summer with the Fan Expo. As timing worked out, the depth of this card hardly says major event. The entire selling point of the show is the ability to convince people that Chris Weidman has a chance to win. I cant predict against Anderson Silva, but Weidmans ground game is a lot better than Silvas and hes good at taking people down as well. Mark Munoz, who is a good friend of Silvas and has trained with him for years, said to me outright, for attribution, that Weidman has the style to beat Silva and if Silva cant stop his takedowns, it will be a long night for him. There are a lot of factors, including the vast difference in big match experience, when age will catch up to Silva, Weidman being out a year and potential ring rust, and how Weidman reacts under intense pressure that are all unknowns. But for all the words, the key is simple. If Weidman can get Silva to the ground regularly, he can win. If he can get Silva to the ground in every round, he is very, very likely to win. If Silva keeps it standing for long periods of time, he will probably win. I dont see monster numbers out of this show because whatever insiders may or may not say, I dont think the public knows Weidman well enough or believes he can win. And theres nothing on the undercard that will help numbers. Dana White said this week that if Weidman does win, they will book an immediate rematch. Personally I believe that if a champion with the tenure of Silva, GSP, Jon Jones and Jose Aldo lose their title that they should get an immediate rematch.
As far as the marketing of the show, there was only one way. Because Weidman isnt a name the casuals know, the only way to promote this is the method theyve chosen, pushing that this guy can beat Anderson Silva. They sent out a media release with comments from 18 fighters, 12 of which outright picked Weidman and six wouldnt make a pick, but none picking Silva. The PPV number will ultimately judge how effective they are over the last week in convincing enough casual buyers that there is a real chance to see a title shot and how that would be something they dont want to miss.
The show had a $3 million advance as far as tickets sold at ticket outlets are concerned, not including casino buys. Prices were jacked up, so that is nowhere close to full, but it would be ahead of the pace of the previous two Vegas shows. They charged Silva vs. Sonnen prices for this one, and there was nowhere near the Silva vs. Sonnen demand. Still, at the end of the day, UFC in Las Vegas, the house will be close to full by 7 p.m. the night of the show. Seattle on 7/27 was more than 6,500 tickets sold the last we heard. Boston on 8/17 had sold 7,500 tickets for $1.1 million, which is lower than Id have expected since its only the second time in, its a good sports city and its been three years since theyve come.
It didnt take long for Tim Kennedy to send out the apology letter about his remarks about fighters pay. Funny thing is, he made a point that a lot of people dont know about when they see salaries, and dont realize the cost of gyms, coaches, etc., not to mention double taxes for some foreign shows. Its a lot of physical damage and only the very best really make money at it. But you can say that about a lot of entertainment and sports work, except that major leaguers in big four sports all are guaranteed very nice salaries as long as they stay on the major league roster. Kennedy wrote, The intent of these statements was to highlight that professional fighters incur significant expense associated with their preparations to fight and that fighter compensation is still not on par with other major sports. While I am fortunate to have various revenue streams associated with my business interests, most fighters do not have that luxury. When you spend training camps with great guys with amazing talents and you see them barely making ends meet, while simultaneously seeing athletes in other sports with far less character and a far smaller work ethic making exponentially more, you can get frustrated. Unfortunately, I made statements that alluded to how the UFC in particular pays its athletes. This was particularly offensive as Zuffa has taken better care of me than any other organization, even giving me a bonus for being amusing on Twitter. My choice of words was poor, not properly informed, and did not match my intent. Additionally, my comments were taken out of context. I can tell you that I have been fighting longer than most people and remember all too well the days when there was no regulation or standard for an MMA promotion. I fought many times in Mexico where the rules were negligible, there were no physicals, and being paid was a luxury we didnt expect. Our sport was shunned and considered human cockfighting. Today we are on Fox. We have doctors and insurance. We make more money than the average American. And we get these things by playing a sport we love. The only reason this is possible is because of Zuffa. They have legitimized the sport and taken better care of the athletes than any other organization, and the trend is only improving, with athletes making three times what they made on average five years ago. My comments were foolish, hurtful and inappropriate. I accept full responsibility for the statements and apologize to the UFC, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Joe Silva a well as anyone I might have offended with my comments.
Callun Leslie, who spoke to Kennedy where Kennedy claimed what he had said was taken out of context, then released the actual transcript. So these were Kennedys exact words. I think its pathetic that so many fighters, you know, Im like one of the top three percent paid guys in the whole entire sport, and it would be slim pickings to survive off what I make in fighting. I think its just the nature of the beast and I think a lot of guys would second what Im saying. Fighter pay is always the hot topic of conversation, especially once post-fight pay purses come out and people are like, `Holy cow, that guy made $60,000? Woah, he is so rich. Im like, $60,000, well, you pay 35 percent taxes on that and then you pay 50% between your coaches, your manager, training expenses, your medical, your nutrition. That $60,000 is really like 10 or 12 once everything is said and done. So, good luck surviving. Lets say you fight three times a year on $36,000 a year, thats insane. So yeah, its good to have another job because UFC doesnt pay very well. Anybody who accepts this as a reality of the sport is sad and pathetic. I hope this isnt the reality of the sport. If it is, I should probably go do something else like empty trash cans. Id make more money than I do now. So, I dont know. Hopefully it will change. I just dont know when or how. I see a lot of people write articles, talking aboutIll use a specific instance, Bleacher Reportthey wrote an article like, `Whos on the hot seat to get cut in this next UFC. The first thing they always bring up is a fighters salary. For instance, Jake Shields in his last fight, theyre like, `This guy hasnt had a spectacular record since hes come to the UFC, and hes like super freaking expensive, hes making like $150,000 for his total purse, perpetuating that type of propaganda thats pushed from the promotion saying this, having journalists say that fighters are making too much money and theyre on the heat seat to get cut. Thats just cruel. Thats journalists saying, `These guys should get cut because this is how much they make. Golly, thats horrible. For his fight with Roger Gracie on 7/6, he said, I think Im at $55,000 or $60,000 is my show purse, and then I have like a $10,000, $15,000 win bonus. So lets just say 70 total. And of that 70k once I was going to do a tweet actually later, next week, about what my total is Im going to make-Ill probably pocket of that 70, 20. Its not a lot of money at all. And Im going to fight, what two, maybe three times this year. Thats pre-tax. And at the end of the year, I have to pay taxes, not just the $20,000 that Im pocketing, Im paying taxes on the $70,000. Itll be deductions, of course, but its tough.
At a press get together, Dana White said what he could do about pay is eliminate all bonuses and use that money to help pay more for the lower level guys. Regarding what Kennedy said, White responded, Then go be a f***ing garbage man. Theres the answer to that question. Who you will not hear bitching are the guys that matter. The guys who make a difference. Frankie Edgar is going to make a lot of money. Anderson Silva is going to make a lot of money this weekend. Chris Weidman is going to make a lot of money. No disrespect, but who gives a F*** about Tim Kennedy? Is he selling out venues? Are people buying F***ing tickets for Tim Kennedy. OK, there you go.
Obviously hes saying that to have the top fighters, who get the highest bonuses if shows do well, freak out about the idea that bonuses could be eliminated and if there are ranks to ever be broken if this becomes a bigger issue when it comes to attempts at some form of collective bargaining, have them broken. If we go with the idea that the bottom fighters are getting a $5,000 bonus up and above what is announced since virtually everyone gets bonused something and for undercard guys Ive heard about the day after, that figure is usually $5,000 (headliners can get significantly more) to increase everyone on the card to a $20,000 minimum, just using UFC 160 numbers (the last ones we have), it would only cost $19,000 extra to hit that minimum. Thats hardly a figure they cant afford. But you hardly have to eliminate the $200,000 performance bonuses let alone whatever the discretionary bonus totals are to increase prelim fighter pay.
Kennedy on TRT: Listen, I am 33 years old. I have been jumping out of planes, shot at, exploded, blown up for ten years. Ive been punched in the head for 15 years. If anybodys going to have an excuse to use testosterone, it would be me. I do not need (artificial) testosterone. My level of testosterone is like twice that of an average dude. So guess what I havent been doing? Steroids in the past. Oh man, there it is. Its complete horse shit that these guys are using testosterone. Its cheating. Chael Sonnen, I tip my hat to him because he was honest enough too say hes taking it because its enhancing his performances and thats exactly what it does. Hopefully this Kennedy when it comes to this subject is more honest than the last Kennedy who wanted to take to the media about it.
White, at a press conference on 7/1, defended Stephan Bonnar in the UFC Hall of Fame for what was said to be 16 minutes. He said that if it wasnt for Bonnar and Forrest Griffin, that hed be picking up cigarette butts at the Palace Station Casino. I guess thats going to be the new history of UFC, that if it wasnt for Griffin vs. Bonnar, the company wouldnt have made it. The reality is, while that fight was among the biggest in company history, and you can argue it was the best fight, or even the most important fight (Id argue Shamrock vs. Ortiz I and III were more important, the former because it showed UFC had potential even though it was a big money loser, and III, because the ratings and demos were so spectacular that the media and television reaction to the sport started changing and it being taken seriously), UFC was going to make it with or without that fight. The first season of TUF, which predated that fight, did great ratings on Spike. If anything, it was Chris Leben, who was the guy who people hated at first, and then sympathized with, who was the star of getting that show over, even though Griffin after the season ended and with the Bonnar fight, because the biggest star the show created. The show with Leben vs. Josh Koscheck at 11:10 p.m. on a Monday night pulled bigger ratings than the finale with Griffin vs. Bonnar. The angle and TV the week before that fight garnered incredible interest, although the fight itself sucked. Griffin vs. Bonnar didnt have that great an interest going in, although it was a fantastic fight with the perfect ending, one of the rare times a very close decision where nobody is finished would be the perfect ending. But Spike had already announced a second season of TUF before that fight took place, and the Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell PPV created by that season was going to do its 300,000 buys whether Griffin vs. Bonnar was a great fight or not, and theyd have been on their way. As far as if the UFC Hall of Fame was to have respect and credibility as a real Hall of Fame, hes the first and only fighter who ruins it. He was 8-7 in UFC competition, failed two drug tests, main evented one PPV and that was as the guy doing the Rocky story where the whole idea of the match is this popular undercard guy who has never headlined is getting this unlikely main event.
T.J. Grant was mad at Anthony Pettis for pushing to get the title shot at Benson Henderson on 8/31 after an injury knocked Pettis out of his title shot at Jose Aldo on 8/3. Grant said on an ESPN UFC podcast, I wish it was handled a little differently, him of all people. I think it was disrespectful, to do that against someone who has earned the right to fight is not right. Unfortunately, he got hurt, but it was low class, I thought. I didnt want to get into the whole talking thing. I got here legitimately and earned it. Ultimately, what he was saying was that he wanted my title shot, which was incredibly disrespectful. It as pretty dirty.
Kyle Kingsbury is working on EMT training and studying to get into the fire department in California. He noted, at 30, that hes starting to see teammates at 35 and more who now have to start from scratch at making a new life and long-term its the smart move. He said once he gets in the fire department, if theyre okay with him fighting, he could fight again but right now it cant be his priority.
The Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Alvarez fight on 9/14 will almost surely be one of the two biggest PPV events of all time from a strictly dollars standpoint. Promoters are reporting the live gate, since all tickets sold out immediately (almost all purchased ahead of time by Las Vegas casinos, very few to the public) is $18.6 million or more, breaking the $18.4 million record set in 2007 by Oscar de la Hoya vs. Mayweather. The price for PPV will be among the highest ever, meaning it should gross more money than lower priced fights that finished just underneath the 2 million level, the 1997 Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield and the 1999 Lennox Lewis vs. Holyfield fights. Televisa has also paid more money for the TV rights to this fight than any fight in history. In Mexico, the overwhelming belief of the public is that Alvarez is going to win because Televisa has pushed him like the biggest fighting star theyve had in recent memory. Mayweathers guarantee has yet to be announced for taking the most dangerous fight hes taken in recent memory, but it is said to be significantly larger than the $32.5 million he received for the Robert Guerrero fight. At a press conference, when Mayweather Jr. was asked about $40 million, he gave the impression that the real number is higher. Its in Nevada, so the real number will be out at some point. The Guerrero fight, which was a disappointment on PPV (the promotion claims it barely topped 1 million, although boxing reporters have written it was less than that), led the way to this because the realization is that because of the huge amount of money Showtime paid Mayweather to get him from HBO, they had to do huge business with him, and the public wasnt going to do so without a bigger name opponent. Alvarez was being groomed as the heir apparent to the throne of Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao as the two biggest drawing cards on PPV, although he has no track record yet. Normal promotional protocol would save this fight until Mayweather was on the decline and the new star beats the old star, because it serves no purpose for the old star to cut off the new star they are banking to carry things. The reasons, besides Mayweathers last fight not doing so well, is that from UFC, theyve changed the play book, feeling that UFC has shown that a loss doesnt hurt the drawing power of a top star to the younger fans the way it used to. Alvarez is hugely popular in the Southwest and in Mexico, and his last fight in San Antonio sold more than 35,000 tickets. Richard Schaeffer, the CEO of Golden Boy, which is promoting the fight, claimed the MGM Grand is buying much more than double the amount of tickets they had purchased for Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. That event holds the all-time PPV record, doing 2,450,000 buys. Schaeffer also said they would have more closed circuit locations opened up in Las Vegas for the overflow than theyve had since the PPV era usurped the closed-circuit era.
Bobby Lashley, who turns 37 next month, won his second fight in a three week period beating Matt Larson (2-3) in 98 seconds via takedown, getting his back and choking him out on the Global Warrior Challenge PPV from Kansas City. Lashley (9-2), who is the only name doing MMA and pro wrestling at the same time in the U.S., is scheduled to fight again on 8/9 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, and has talked about making his pro boxing debut in September. Now training under Josh Barnett, Lashley wants to fight regularly. He still does pro wrestling indies all the time, and noted his management has talked with TNA and Bellator. He said that he loves pro wrestling but fighting is paying the bills right now. Lashley has a gym in Aurora, CO, down the street from the Colorado theater shootings of last summer, and spends a lot of his time mentoring kids and opening his gym up to them to keep them off the streets.
Semmy Schilt, 39, the 6-11 ½, 285 pound kickboxer has announced his retirement. At first the story was that it was due to a heart condition, but Schilt denied that story and said it was because he had accomplished all of his goals. Schilt started his career in karate, and then moved to Pancrase in 1996 at a time when it was considered pro wrestling. He was inexperienced in submissions early, losing four of his first six matches. But eventually when he learned how to utilize his size, he was beating the people who had earlier beaten him, and won the Pancrase Open Weight title in 1999. He vacated his title when he signed with UFC in 2001, but was cut after his first loss to Josh Barnett. Schilt never had great takedown defense. He was eventually able to stop the 185 pound guys from Pancrase from taking him down, but not the good heavyweights could negate his reach by taking him down. He went to Pride, where he went 3-2, losing to Prides two beat heavyweights of the era, Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He started with K-1 in 2002, where he had his most success, winning the K-1 World Grand Prix in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. He also won the Glory Grand Prix, essentially the follow-up to K-1, on December 31, 2012, where he beat four men on that night, including a first round knockout of Daniel Ghita, in what turned out to be his final fight. Hes listed as having a 43-6-1 record in kickboxing and 26-14-1 in MMA.
Megumi Fujii, 39, one of the greatest woman fighters of all-time, announced her retirement fight would be on 10/3, in Japan, against an opponent not yet named. Fujii has talked retirement several times in recent years and come back. Shes got a career record of 26-2, with 19 wins via submission. She started her career after being highly ranked in judo, with a 22-0 record before losing to Zoila Frausto Gurgel via split decision in the finals of Bellators 115 pound title tournament that Fujii was expected to win.
Gilbert Yvel, 37, a kickboxer from Holland who was 38-16-1 (1 no contest) in MMA, announced his retirement and said he would be taking a job as a kickboxing trainer in Dusseldorf. Yvel gained a rep in Japan as a dirty fighter in a memorable fought when he raked the eyes of Don Frye a few times and was DQd (this was when Frye was at the peak of his popularity in Japan right after 9/11 happened, in fact the fight was September 24, 2011. Frye was always popular in Japan but the Japanese saw him as this representative of American patriotism after the bombing and then Yvel cheated to try and beat him and even blinded he kept wanting to fight). Yvel was already a name, having won the RINGS title from Kiyoshi Tamura (this was when RINGS did both worked and shoot matches, and this was a shoot but strangely even though Tamura kept taking Yvel down, the ref kept standing them up and there was no way Tamura could compete, who was 190 without cutting, could compete with a 230-pound heavyweight kickboxer standing). Yvel was never good at stopping takedowns. He had other incidents, including biting the ear of an opponent and punching a referee which stopped Nevada from licensing him in 2007 on a Pride show in Las Vegas. In 2009, they did give him a license for one show based on the fact he had no incidents since 2004. He came to UFC when UFC purchased Affliction, but was cut after going 0-3, losing to Junior Dos Santos, Ben Rothwell and Jon Madsen.
