Word. Some dudes just dont know when to pack it up
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- Thread starter polyh3dron
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Word. Some dudes just dont know when to pack it up
Maklershed
Member
You did indeed call it.
What a bullshit announcement. Stann was fun to watch but that was the big news that required a one hour press conference?
Maklershed
Member
The only thing positive I can say about it is that at least it wasn't an announcement of a division < 125 lbs.
polyh3dron
Banned
Props to Vio-friend for predicting Zuffa's chicanery.
Can Crusher
Banned
But... how do you take a dive by getting knocked out?
Can Crusher
Banned
This hilarious. Usher on Silva.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BYmhFwUPna0#t=52s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BYmhFwUPna0#t=52s
Hahaha I was just waiting for Usher to unveil that his lesson includes bigger abs.
dream
Member
It is very rare when someone scores a decisive second round knockout in a fight to win a championship, and very few people are convinced he was the better fighter.
Anderson Silva, generally considered the greatest fighter in MMA today, and perhaps in its history, started taunting challenger Chris Weidman late in the first round. He put his hands down and dared Weidman to punch him. Weidman did, and he laughed it off. Generally speaking, its the punch you dont see coming thats going to hurt you so that isnt nearly as impressive as it looks. But it often works as a mind game, telling the guy I can take your best shot.
Silva and his incredible fast twitch fibers started landing punches, low kicks and a high kick as the round ended.
In the second round, Silva showed Weidman even less respect. Weidman tried for a takedown. Unlike in the first round where Weidman got Silva down and controlled him, until he went for a series of submissions that caused him to lose position and allowed Silva to get up, this time Weidman didnt even come close to getting Silva down.
Silva started telling Weidman not to wrestle him. This was clearly psychological, playing the game of teasing Weidman into abandoning a game plan and get into a brawl, in which Silva would remain calm and counter. Weidman threw a crazy head kick that missed. Silva then did the same and missed. Silva stood there, with his hands down, and dared Weidman to punch him. Weidman landed a left hook. Silva started taunting him by acting wobbly, like he was Terry Funk, mocking the guy. While he was playing these mind games, Weidman threw another left hook, that landed solid. Silvas eyes rolled up. He went down.
Most of the crowd figured Silva was faking going down to make fun of Weidmans lack of power, just as he did for the previous punch. Only Weidman landed a few more punches on the ground, and it was stopped by Herb Dean at 1:18.
Chris Weidman had ended Anderson Silvas nearly seven year reign as UFC middleweight champion, the longest in its history. He had snapped Silvas record-setting 16 consecutive UFC wins, and ten consecutive title defenses streak.
If you didnt like Silva, it was the greatest possible finish, since he had mocked opponent after opponent, and used that to mess with their heads badly. This time, the strategy didnt work well enough. If you did like Silva, the finish had its benefits as well. A fan can still believe 100% that Silva is still the best fighter in the world. He just made a mistake. But you could interpret the fight easily as showing Silva would win a rematch. Thats the interpretation the majority had, given that Silva has been favored everywhere when it comes to the return, in some places by a significant margin.
The truth is, what makes the first fight so great at selling a rematch is that it can be viewed and interpreted almost any way you see fit.
It can be viewed as a lucky punch fluke, certain not to happen again, because Silva wont clown around the second time when he has something to prove. It can be viewed that Silva getting hit solid with a punch that for the last seven years, playing the same game, he avoided every time. It can be argued this was the first signing of aging for a 38-year-old.
It can be viewed that Weidman won the first round, and Silva really landed nothing of significance past a few low kicks and punches that did not damage in the second. The clowning can by viewed as his fooling the public and camouflaging he couldnt win. Or it could be viewed that he could have won at almost any time, was putting on a show, and lost only because he got careless.
Weidman winning the fight really shouldnt have been a shock, since a lot of people expected him to win, but his winning the way he did was totally unexpected. And if anything, for those who were sure hed win, and proved to be right, there were aspects of the fight that would make you question that choice in a rematch. Before it was all theoretical, wrestling, plus conditioning would allow Weidman to take him down and control him for five rounds. In real life application, that worked for about four minutes. Those who talked about Weidmans stand-up improving to where he could hang with Silva, when seeing it in practice, have to be unsure about it. Yet, if the guy was that gassed and so out of his league, he wouldnt have landed the punch, and it wasnt as if Silva was hurting him physically with anything, only attempting to beat him mentally.
Weidmans version is that he never got rattled, even though it seemed like he did, and that Silvas clowning him was because Silva wasnt going to be able to beat him any other way.
But there are questions. Was Weidman exhausted in the second round, and thats why he couldnt get the takedown, no different from Chael Sonnen last year? If thats the case, hes going to be in trouble against a guy who can take him the distance.
Ultimately what the future will decide is if Weidman, winning the championship in his 10th fight, is the next Cain Velasquez, who ultimately lived up to things said about him from his second fight, or the next Matt Serra, the unlikely guy whose massive right hand on Georges St-Pierre is the reason St-Pierre isnt working on an 18 fight winning streak and his own nearly seven-year title reign.
Silvas strange behavior started early in the week. He spoke about not caring if he won or lost the fight at a press conference early in the week. On a Canadian MMA show, when asked what his perfect scenario was for Saturday night, he said Winner and new champion, Chris Weidman, and insisted he wouldnt want a rematch. In the cage, after the match, he was booed out of the building by his Brazilian fans when he said that he had no interest in a rematch, or ever fighting for the championship again, but was still interested in fighting.
A few hours later, at the press conference, when Dana White was outright saying there would be a rematch, Silva just said he wanted a few months off to hang out with his family. His camp later said Silva wanted a rematch, and as the week went on, sources close to him said they wanted it as soon as possible, specifically stating before the end of the year. Weidman, after the fight, revealed he did come into the fight banged up and said February sounded about right for another match, so Silvas side wanting to put the pressure on having it as soon as possible makes sense. Plus, with Weidman having just turned 29, while Silva is 38, the longer the delay in that sense favors the new champion.
The result of the fight eliminated any shot at doing Silva vs. Jon Jones next, or Silva vs. St-Pierre. But St-Pierre hasnt been interested in the fight. And as far as Jones goes, if Silva beats Weidman in the rematch, the door to that fight reopens. If he doesnt, then Weidman vs. Jones is opened. Weidman, with two wins over Silva, will be then viewed as the real deal and a world champion in more ways than just holding the belt at this particular time. And if UFC is looking for a Supefight, there is always Jones vs. Cain Velasquez.
From a business standpoint, this was all a positive. Silva is a far bigger star in losing than he was in winning any of his previous fights. Weidman, although winning the title, still ended up secondary when it came to public interest. But the rematch will either raise Silva into a level that hes never been before, or make Weidman a star. Its not a lock hell be as big a star with two wins as Silva was. Frankie Edgar never came close to being B.J. Penn even though he beat him twice, and the second time proved the first was no fluke.
But the first fight ended with intrigue and an interest level after the fact that UFC hasnt had in a long time. Unlike with pro wrestling, where you can debate what is the best method of handling it, here its a different issue. All you can do is make the match, and whatever happens, go from there.
As far as when the rematch happens is up in the air. Weidman admitted to being banged up but would be ready for a 2/1 date in Newark, not far from Long Island, where he grew up. At first, Dana White wanted to avoid the date, because running a show in the New York market the night before the Super Bowl in that same market means no media attention and limited fan attention. You can do it in Las Vegas, because UFC regularly gets big coverage there. White at one point talked about 12/28 in Las Vegas, and moving Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate to 2/1, but changed his mind on the idea. There is a strong argument to not put on what should be one of the biggest fights in company history on Super Bowl weekend, even though UFC has done well with that show in the past. The difference is, theyve done well with Brock Lesnars debut, something they could draw with based on targeting their audience and the pro wrestling audience. But Silva vs. Weidmans target audience, besides the core UFC audience, is going to be the casual sports fan who wants to see a big fight, like the people who come to see a Floyd Mayweather fight. That audience is drawn based on mainstream sports media coverage, which would be cut down greatly over Super Bowl week, particularly the week of a New York market Super Bowl. Plus, the local promotion for the event will be buried as compared to usual. FOX wanted them to run in the market as part of their own Super Bowl promotion. Whether this is strong enough for the Cowboys Stadium date that Jerry Jones has been badly wanting is another issue. I see this as a very big PPV fight. Whether its a fight that can draw upwards of 40,000 fans in Dallas, Im not so sure.
Thus far, the major oddsmakers have it between -160 and -200 for Silva, down from the -240 that Silva was favored at fight time.
Because of the holiday weekend, PPV numbers at this point are not available, even from a preliminary standpoint.
Dana White after the show said that based on their trending patterns, they are expecting 800,000 buys. The problem is that any measure that one would usually use to look at interest before actual numbers are released, whether it be web site hits, Google searches that day, how many people clicked onto the UFC site or watched the post-game show are all inflated because of what happened. Numbers that would usually be a good predictor of buys wouldnt be this time. The only thing I would strongly suspect is that replay buys would be near record levels, but thats a very small percentage of overall buys,
The post-fight press conference did four times the number of any post-fight press conference in company history. Web searches for Anderson Silva on Saturday topped 1 million, and by Sunday they had topped 2 million. That was roughly four times that of the Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz fight that flirted with 1 million buys. But that after-the-fact interest may be more accurate representation of what happens next in business than what happened beforehand, when it was Anderson Silva, an up-and-down drawing card, against the latest unknown contender. I wasnt expecting the number to be anything special going in, but expect the rematch to do huge numbers.
The post-fight show numbers from 1 to 2 a.m. on Fuel were equally impressive. The show did a 0.42 rating and 214,000 viewers. It was the ninth highest-rated show in the history of Fuel TV, and the tenth most-watched show in station history. It beat the previous records of a 0.34 rating and 159,000 viewers for the 4/27 post-fight show after the Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen fight. The most notable thing is the 0.67 in Males 18-49 during that time slot made Fuel the highest rated national station, either broadcast or cable, in that time slot. It was also No. 1 in Males 35-49 (0.85) and No. 6 in Males 18-34 (0.49).
The prelims on FX did a 0.96 rating and 1.36 million viewers for the show headlined by Chris Leben vs. Andrew Craig. Thats slightly above the usual 1.3 million average. Thats still good because viewership overall is down in the summer months. It also showed that while the interest going in for the show wasnt through the roof, it was coming out of the show, which is a strong indication of big numbers for the rematch.
Prelim numbers dont correlate with PPV numbers as well as one would think, but there is still some correlation. The show did a 1.19 in Males 18-34 and 1.73 in Males 35-49, once again showing that the core UFC audience, which came in eight years ago, is growing older and its not as hot with the growing up right out of high school and college audience as it was even a few years ago.
The weigh-ins at 7 p.m. Eastern on 7/5 did a 0.27 rating and 119,000 viewers, nearly triple the 2012 weigh-ins average. It was the second highest rated and fourth most-watched weigh-ins in company history, with the GSP vs. Nick Diaz weigh-ins blowing away everything else at 0.47 and 215,000.
The 7/6 show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena drew 12,399 fans, a little shy of a sellout, and a gate of $4,826,000. The gate figure was the eighth biggest in UFC history, although a lot of those tickets sold were casino buys. It was in conjunction with a Fan Expo that brought a lot of people into Las Vegas and still didnt sell out, which was largely due to the high ticket prices. They scaled the house the same as for Silva vs. Sonnen, which did almost $7 million, but this fight had nowhere near that level of interest because Weidman couldnt promote a fight like Sonnen. The Fan Expo attendance wasnt released, but it appeared to be a lot less attended than the previous ones in Las Vegas.
It wasnt a holiday in Brazil so we did get the Globo numbers. The show did 24 million viewers in a country with 202 million people, a number more impressive than it sounds because the main event aired at 2 a.m. Still, thats a far cry from the record of nearly 40 million for the second Silva vs. Sonnen.
As far as the show went, aside from Silva, it lacked in star power, but made up for in exciting fights and interesting stories.
Frankie Edgar and Charles Oliveira tore the house down in the co-feature. Edgar won the decision, clearly, but Oliveira hung with him, stayed up from bombs and gave the impression that at 23, hes a few years away from being a title contender.
Cub Swanson put himself into the big four of potential featherweight contenders by stopping Dennis Siver in the third round of another great fight. With Jose Aldo facing Chan Sung Jung for the title on 8/3 in Rio de Janeiro, the leading contenders for the winner would be Swanson, Edgar, Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes (who faces Clay Guida on 8/31 in Milwaukee).
The show also featured the new-look Mark Munoz. The formerly thick wrestler looked like he had dieted down for a bodybuilding competition after ballooning due to depression. Munoz was destroyed by Weidman last year in a fight that he had difficulty training for due to a broken foot. In particular, Weidman dominated him in the wrestling game before knocking him out.
Munoz went from 261 pounds down to 192, and cut the last day from there to hit 185, over seven months. The question was whether that training would make him a better fighter was answered, as he dominated Tim Boetsch, himself a strong wrestler, in that aspect of the game. But at 35, Munozs window is closing.
Chris Leben, who is only 32, may have had that window shut, after his third straight loss. Leben didnt look like he belonged in UFC in his December fight with Derek Brunson. This time, against Andrew Craig, he showed up physically appearing to be in his best ever shape ever, and looked better, but still lost handily.
In an interesting note, Leben received permission from the Nevada State Athletic Commission to use the prescription opiate Suboxone. Suboxone is generally used as a drug to help wean people off addictions to stronger opiate. Lebens past issues with pain killer addictions are not a secret, including a positive test for Oxycodone and Oxymorphone that led to a one year suspension, as well as a 2010 DUI. He also went through rehab for painkillers.
Dana White, after the fight, noted that the style of fighting Leben was known for, taking big punches because of his granite-like head in his quest to deliver big haymakers, while fan friendly, isnt good for a long career and Leben is one of the last remaining fighters from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.
There was no controversies as far as ref stoppages or judging. The officiating was strong, with the exception of Steve Mazzagatti blowing one call. There were some horrendous round scores by individual judges, but nothing that gave someone a win they didnt deserve.
Anderson Silva, generally considered the greatest fighter in MMA today, and perhaps in its history, started taunting challenger Chris Weidman late in the first round. He put his hands down and dared Weidman to punch him. Weidman did, and he laughed it off. Generally speaking, its the punch you dont see coming thats going to hurt you so that isnt nearly as impressive as it looks. But it often works as a mind game, telling the guy I can take your best shot.
Silva and his incredible fast twitch fibers started landing punches, low kicks and a high kick as the round ended.
In the second round, Silva showed Weidman even less respect. Weidman tried for a takedown. Unlike in the first round where Weidman got Silva down and controlled him, until he went for a series of submissions that caused him to lose position and allowed Silva to get up, this time Weidman didnt even come close to getting Silva down.
Silva started telling Weidman not to wrestle him. This was clearly psychological, playing the game of teasing Weidman into abandoning a game plan and get into a brawl, in which Silva would remain calm and counter. Weidman threw a crazy head kick that missed. Silva then did the same and missed. Silva stood there, with his hands down, and dared Weidman to punch him. Weidman landed a left hook. Silva started taunting him by acting wobbly, like he was Terry Funk, mocking the guy. While he was playing these mind games, Weidman threw another left hook, that landed solid. Silvas eyes rolled up. He went down.
Most of the crowd figured Silva was faking going down to make fun of Weidmans lack of power, just as he did for the previous punch. Only Weidman landed a few more punches on the ground, and it was stopped by Herb Dean at 1:18.
Chris Weidman had ended Anderson Silvas nearly seven year reign as UFC middleweight champion, the longest in its history. He had snapped Silvas record-setting 16 consecutive UFC wins, and ten consecutive title defenses streak.
If you didnt like Silva, it was the greatest possible finish, since he had mocked opponent after opponent, and used that to mess with their heads badly. This time, the strategy didnt work well enough. If you did like Silva, the finish had its benefits as well. A fan can still believe 100% that Silva is still the best fighter in the world. He just made a mistake. But you could interpret the fight easily as showing Silva would win a rematch. Thats the interpretation the majority had, given that Silva has been favored everywhere when it comes to the return, in some places by a significant margin.
The truth is, what makes the first fight so great at selling a rematch is that it can be viewed and interpreted almost any way you see fit.
It can be viewed as a lucky punch fluke, certain not to happen again, because Silva wont clown around the second time when he has something to prove. It can be viewed that Silva getting hit solid with a punch that for the last seven years, playing the same game, he avoided every time. It can be argued this was the first signing of aging for a 38-year-old.
It can be viewed that Weidman won the first round, and Silva really landed nothing of significance past a few low kicks and punches that did not damage in the second. The clowning can by viewed as his fooling the public and camouflaging he couldnt win. Or it could be viewed that he could have won at almost any time, was putting on a show, and lost only because he got careless.
Weidman winning the fight really shouldnt have been a shock, since a lot of people expected him to win, but his winning the way he did was totally unexpected. And if anything, for those who were sure hed win, and proved to be right, there were aspects of the fight that would make you question that choice in a rematch. Before it was all theoretical, wrestling, plus conditioning would allow Weidman to take him down and control him for five rounds. In real life application, that worked for about four minutes. Those who talked about Weidmans stand-up improving to where he could hang with Silva, when seeing it in practice, have to be unsure about it. Yet, if the guy was that gassed and so out of his league, he wouldnt have landed the punch, and it wasnt as if Silva was hurting him physically with anything, only attempting to beat him mentally.
Weidmans version is that he never got rattled, even though it seemed like he did, and that Silvas clowning him was because Silva wasnt going to be able to beat him any other way.
But there are questions. Was Weidman exhausted in the second round, and thats why he couldnt get the takedown, no different from Chael Sonnen last year? If thats the case, hes going to be in trouble against a guy who can take him the distance.
Ultimately what the future will decide is if Weidman, winning the championship in his 10th fight, is the next Cain Velasquez, who ultimately lived up to things said about him from his second fight, or the next Matt Serra, the unlikely guy whose massive right hand on Georges St-Pierre is the reason St-Pierre isnt working on an 18 fight winning streak and his own nearly seven-year title reign.
Silvas strange behavior started early in the week. He spoke about not caring if he won or lost the fight at a press conference early in the week. On a Canadian MMA show, when asked what his perfect scenario was for Saturday night, he said Winner and new champion, Chris Weidman, and insisted he wouldnt want a rematch. In the cage, after the match, he was booed out of the building by his Brazilian fans when he said that he had no interest in a rematch, or ever fighting for the championship again, but was still interested in fighting.
A few hours later, at the press conference, when Dana White was outright saying there would be a rematch, Silva just said he wanted a few months off to hang out with his family. His camp later said Silva wanted a rematch, and as the week went on, sources close to him said they wanted it as soon as possible, specifically stating before the end of the year. Weidman, after the fight, revealed he did come into the fight banged up and said February sounded about right for another match, so Silvas side wanting to put the pressure on having it as soon as possible makes sense. Plus, with Weidman having just turned 29, while Silva is 38, the longer the delay in that sense favors the new champion.
The result of the fight eliminated any shot at doing Silva vs. Jon Jones next, or Silva vs. St-Pierre. But St-Pierre hasnt been interested in the fight. And as far as Jones goes, if Silva beats Weidman in the rematch, the door to that fight reopens. If he doesnt, then Weidman vs. Jones is opened. Weidman, with two wins over Silva, will be then viewed as the real deal and a world champion in more ways than just holding the belt at this particular time. And if UFC is looking for a Supefight, there is always Jones vs. Cain Velasquez.
From a business standpoint, this was all a positive. Silva is a far bigger star in losing than he was in winning any of his previous fights. Weidman, although winning the title, still ended up secondary when it came to public interest. But the rematch will either raise Silva into a level that hes never been before, or make Weidman a star. Its not a lock hell be as big a star with two wins as Silva was. Frankie Edgar never came close to being B.J. Penn even though he beat him twice, and the second time proved the first was no fluke.
But the first fight ended with intrigue and an interest level after the fact that UFC hasnt had in a long time. Unlike with pro wrestling, where you can debate what is the best method of handling it, here its a different issue. All you can do is make the match, and whatever happens, go from there.
As far as when the rematch happens is up in the air. Weidman admitted to being banged up but would be ready for a 2/1 date in Newark, not far from Long Island, where he grew up. At first, Dana White wanted to avoid the date, because running a show in the New York market the night before the Super Bowl in that same market means no media attention and limited fan attention. You can do it in Las Vegas, because UFC regularly gets big coverage there. White at one point talked about 12/28 in Las Vegas, and moving Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate to 2/1, but changed his mind on the idea. There is a strong argument to not put on what should be one of the biggest fights in company history on Super Bowl weekend, even though UFC has done well with that show in the past. The difference is, theyve done well with Brock Lesnars debut, something they could draw with based on targeting their audience and the pro wrestling audience. But Silva vs. Weidmans target audience, besides the core UFC audience, is going to be the casual sports fan who wants to see a big fight, like the people who come to see a Floyd Mayweather fight. That audience is drawn based on mainstream sports media coverage, which would be cut down greatly over Super Bowl week, particularly the week of a New York market Super Bowl. Plus, the local promotion for the event will be buried as compared to usual. FOX wanted them to run in the market as part of their own Super Bowl promotion. Whether this is strong enough for the Cowboys Stadium date that Jerry Jones has been badly wanting is another issue. I see this as a very big PPV fight. Whether its a fight that can draw upwards of 40,000 fans in Dallas, Im not so sure.
Thus far, the major oddsmakers have it between -160 and -200 for Silva, down from the -240 that Silva was favored at fight time.
Because of the holiday weekend, PPV numbers at this point are not available, even from a preliminary standpoint.
Dana White after the show said that based on their trending patterns, they are expecting 800,000 buys. The problem is that any measure that one would usually use to look at interest before actual numbers are released, whether it be web site hits, Google searches that day, how many people clicked onto the UFC site or watched the post-game show are all inflated because of what happened. Numbers that would usually be a good predictor of buys wouldnt be this time. The only thing I would strongly suspect is that replay buys would be near record levels, but thats a very small percentage of overall buys,
The post-fight press conference did four times the number of any post-fight press conference in company history. Web searches for Anderson Silva on Saturday topped 1 million, and by Sunday they had topped 2 million. That was roughly four times that of the Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz fight that flirted with 1 million buys. But that after-the-fact interest may be more accurate representation of what happens next in business than what happened beforehand, when it was Anderson Silva, an up-and-down drawing card, against the latest unknown contender. I wasnt expecting the number to be anything special going in, but expect the rematch to do huge numbers.
The post-fight show numbers from 1 to 2 a.m. on Fuel were equally impressive. The show did a 0.42 rating and 214,000 viewers. It was the ninth highest-rated show in the history of Fuel TV, and the tenth most-watched show in station history. It beat the previous records of a 0.34 rating and 159,000 viewers for the 4/27 post-fight show after the Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen fight. The most notable thing is the 0.67 in Males 18-49 during that time slot made Fuel the highest rated national station, either broadcast or cable, in that time slot. It was also No. 1 in Males 35-49 (0.85) and No. 6 in Males 18-34 (0.49).
The prelims on FX did a 0.96 rating and 1.36 million viewers for the show headlined by Chris Leben vs. Andrew Craig. Thats slightly above the usual 1.3 million average. Thats still good because viewership overall is down in the summer months. It also showed that while the interest going in for the show wasnt through the roof, it was coming out of the show, which is a strong indication of big numbers for the rematch.
Prelim numbers dont correlate with PPV numbers as well as one would think, but there is still some correlation. The show did a 1.19 in Males 18-34 and 1.73 in Males 35-49, once again showing that the core UFC audience, which came in eight years ago, is growing older and its not as hot with the growing up right out of high school and college audience as it was even a few years ago.
The weigh-ins at 7 p.m. Eastern on 7/5 did a 0.27 rating and 119,000 viewers, nearly triple the 2012 weigh-ins average. It was the second highest rated and fourth most-watched weigh-ins in company history, with the GSP vs. Nick Diaz weigh-ins blowing away everything else at 0.47 and 215,000.
The 7/6 show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena drew 12,399 fans, a little shy of a sellout, and a gate of $4,826,000. The gate figure was the eighth biggest in UFC history, although a lot of those tickets sold were casino buys. It was in conjunction with a Fan Expo that brought a lot of people into Las Vegas and still didnt sell out, which was largely due to the high ticket prices. They scaled the house the same as for Silva vs. Sonnen, which did almost $7 million, but this fight had nowhere near that level of interest because Weidman couldnt promote a fight like Sonnen. The Fan Expo attendance wasnt released, but it appeared to be a lot less attended than the previous ones in Las Vegas.
It wasnt a holiday in Brazil so we did get the Globo numbers. The show did 24 million viewers in a country with 202 million people, a number more impressive than it sounds because the main event aired at 2 a.m. Still, thats a far cry from the record of nearly 40 million for the second Silva vs. Sonnen.
As far as the show went, aside from Silva, it lacked in star power, but made up for in exciting fights and interesting stories.
Frankie Edgar and Charles Oliveira tore the house down in the co-feature. Edgar won the decision, clearly, but Oliveira hung with him, stayed up from bombs and gave the impression that at 23, hes a few years away from being a title contender.
Cub Swanson put himself into the big four of potential featherweight contenders by stopping Dennis Siver in the third round of another great fight. With Jose Aldo facing Chan Sung Jung for the title on 8/3 in Rio de Janeiro, the leading contenders for the winner would be Swanson, Edgar, Ricardo Lamas and Chad Mendes (who faces Clay Guida on 8/31 in Milwaukee).
The show also featured the new-look Mark Munoz. The formerly thick wrestler looked like he had dieted down for a bodybuilding competition after ballooning due to depression. Munoz was destroyed by Weidman last year in a fight that he had difficulty training for due to a broken foot. In particular, Weidman dominated him in the wrestling game before knocking him out.
Munoz went from 261 pounds down to 192, and cut the last day from there to hit 185, over seven months. The question was whether that training would make him a better fighter was answered, as he dominated Tim Boetsch, himself a strong wrestler, in that aspect of the game. But at 35, Munozs window is closing.
Chris Leben, who is only 32, may have had that window shut, after his third straight loss. Leben didnt look like he belonged in UFC in his December fight with Derek Brunson. This time, against Andrew Craig, he showed up physically appearing to be in his best ever shape ever, and looked better, but still lost handily.
In an interesting note, Leben received permission from the Nevada State Athletic Commission to use the prescription opiate Suboxone. Suboxone is generally used as a drug to help wean people off addictions to stronger opiate. Lebens past issues with pain killer addictions are not a secret, including a positive test for Oxycodone and Oxymorphone that led to a one year suspension, as well as a 2010 DUI. He also went through rehab for painkillers.
Dana White, after the fight, noted that the style of fighting Leben was known for, taking big punches because of his granite-like head in his quest to deliver big haymakers, while fan friendly, isnt good for a long career and Leben is one of the last remaining fighters from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.
There was no controversies as far as ref stoppages or judging. The officiating was strong, with the exception of Steve Mazzagatti blowing one call. There were some horrendous round scores by individual judges, but nothing that gave someone a win they didnt deserve.
dream
Member
Dana White teased the idea of signing Roy Jones Jr. for a boxing match with Anderson Silva. Saying they are in preliminary talks would be overstating things. Jones Jr. and White, who have known each other for years, talked and White flew Jones Jr. in for the PPV. Silva losing didnt exactly thrill Jones Jr., since the initial reaction would be Silvas loss costing him the potential of tons of money if such a fight were to happen.
The filming of the fall season of Ultimate Fighter ended on 7/2. Ronda Rousey did a Q&A and said that she couldnt say much but admitted that she was going crazy by the end of it. Dana White said Rousey and Tate both drove each other nuts, but didnt necessarily say it like it was a great thing for television. The word going around is that Rousey came off in a way that may not come across well, and the same would be said for Tate. I dont know how the show will be edited because the people putting the show together are going to edit it to tell the story they want told. There was at least one example of a major star who came off completely different in edited fashion than they did while on the show, in the sense a lot of what came off as selfishness and would get the public to view them in a very negative fashion was edited out because that wasnt the story being told. But they do want to accentuate the drama because that will be better for ratings. But its also important to not portray Rousey (much less Tate) in a way that could hurt her popularity, appeal and drawing power. Tate, after the season ended, was so mad that she said to MMAFightCorner.com, I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It cant happen. Well, I dont know if the armbar can or cant happen, but if it does happen, I hope nobody is going to give her a gun in that cage.
Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland for the interim bantamweight title, a fight originally scheduled to headline the 6/15 show in Winnipeg but Barao was hurt and it was moved back, has been rescheduled for 9/21 in Toronto. It is very possible that will not be for the interim title, but for the title. As Dominick Cruz approaches the two year mark since last defending his title, if he cant compete soon there have been hints theyll strip him of the title. Dana White has said he doesnt want to do it, but over the weekend, hinted that its approaching that time where they are going to have to make that decision.
Josh Thomson and Anthony Pettis have issued challenges back-and-forth for a fight. For Thomson, a win over Pettis should guarantee him a title shot. For Pettis, any dangerous fight is risking his current position where hes in line for a title shot at both the featherweight and lightweight division.
I dont know that UFC has even considered letting Herschel Walker fight, but if they were, his fighting on Super Bowl eve in Newark would get the show a ton of publicity. Given that Walker would be a month shy of 52 when that date comes around, Im not sure its the publicity theyd want and am guessing theyll feel the same way. I was for Walker in Strikeforce as a gimmick because they needed a gimmick, and also because I knew first hand just how great an athlete Walker was and hes was taking it seriously. But this is a few years later, hes older, and UFC is a different animal than Strikeforce. But UFC did use Kimbo Slice and Walker took MMA far more seriously than Slice.
Besides the two title matches, other matches that were announced officially for UFC 165 in Toronto are Daniel Omielanczuk (a heavyweight with a 15-3-1,1 no contest) record, our of Warsaw, Poland, against Nandro Guelmino, (11-4-1), a heavyweight out of Vienna, Austria; Stephen Thompson vs. Chris Clements (Ontario native), Michel Prezeres (from Brazil, a 16-1 lightweight) vs. Mark Bocek (from Woodbridge, ONT); Myles Jury (12-0) vs. Montreals Mike Ricci and Kid Yamamoto vs. Montreals Ivan Menjivar.
(lol@UFC 165, jesus fuck)
The 9/21 date will be one week after the Mayweather vs. Alvarez fight and its $74.95 HD (which most people buy in these days, its $59.95 standard) price tag. Generally, seven days should be enough time, but this is a fight that so many are going to get that I think it will hurt UFC. There is talk regarding the Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez PPV on 10/12 hurting the 10/19 date. Im not so sure on that one, because thats nowhere near as big a fight. But that fight is going to draw on Marquez, which means a Mexican audience. The 10/19 UFC show is also aimed at a Mexican audience.
Jeremy Stephens plea bargained to one count of a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and felonies charges of assault and burglary were dropped by prosecutors in Polk County, IA. This stems from an October, 2011, fight in Des Moines. Stephens was given an unspecified fine and sentenced to time in jail, but it was less than the time already served so he has no additional time to spend. Stephens was picked up on 10/5, just before a fight scheduled in Minneapolis with Yves Edwards. Dana White throughout the day was trying to get Stephens out on bond so he could fight. During the show, White called the media reports that Stephens wouldnt be fighting erroneous and said he would be later in the show, on the air. It was never acknowledged again but White couldnt get Stephens out, claiming the Iowa prosecutors kept changing the deal on him.
Nick Diaz contacted White this past week, telling him that he broke up with his girlfriend, so now he wants to fight. Of course thats not the end of the story. He also told White that he wanted to come to Las Vegas for the weekend but he couldnt get a hotel because every place was packed. So White got him a room. Then Diaz no-showed.
Dan Hardys doctor in the U.K. told him he was fine, and that he doesnt need surgery, and hes trying to return to get on the October show in Manchester, U.K. Hardy was flagged by the California State Athletic Commission for Wolff Parkinson White syndrome, which needs minor heart surgery to fix. Hardy has refused to get the surgery, saying that hes fine, and that the odds of him dying from it are tiny.
Fabricio Werdum issued a challenge to Daniel Cormier, who indicated that would be a good final match as a heavyweight. Werdum would be the logical opponent for the winner of the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos match on 10/19. The reason I could see UFC wanting to go in a different direction is if Werdum loses, the heavyweight contendership ranks go down, but a Cormier win (unless Dos Santos beats Velasquez and Cormier decides to stay at heavyweight) doesnt give them a new contender. The winner of Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne (8/17 in Boston, particularly if its Browne) or Stipe Miocic to me makes more sense from a long-term booking standpoint as Werdums next opponent.
The story about Anderson Silva not wanting to fight Vitor Belfort that White talked about this past week is something Ive been hearing for months. He feels he soundly beat him and has nothing left to prove. Although now, thats a lot less important since its not a match that has to be made.
White also said that Georges St-Pierre doesnt want a fight with Silva.
He also claimed the idea of doing away with all bonuses is real and would talk to the fighters about it. Its pretty clever how he uses doing away with bonuses when questioned about undercard pay. As noted last week, for every fighter at UFC 160 to make a minimum of $20,000, it would probably only cost the UFC an additional $19,000. The total amount of bonuses on that show is a number we cant even speculate on but its $260,000 minimum and most likely the number is multiple times that.
Cung Le is scheduled to be one of the coaches for the China version of Ultimate Fighter. At least that was what is reported. Le actually read about it on the Internet and had no idea at least as of the weekend. Le had been in talks for a fight with Michael Bisping in October in Manchester, England. It was reported that the date wouldnt work because of movie filming, but Le said he was ready for the date, felt hed be in good shape by then (hes recovering from an elbow injury) and was thinking it was happening until hearing the Bisping vs. Costa Philippou rumors.
The MMA PPV of the weekend on 7/13 will be the Invicta show from Kansas City headlined by Marloes Coenen vs. Cris Cyborg Justino (she is no longer using the Santos last name since she and Evangelista Cyborg Santos divorced) for the companys first featherweight title. This is the companys two biggest stars against each other. They are pricing the PPV at $14.95 and its available everywhere, and for those who dont have PPV, its also going to be an iPPV. It will be a four-hour PPV window and they are hoping to get ten fights in, with the key fights being Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Claudia Gadelha, Sarah DAlelio vs. Lauren Taylor, Jennifer Maia vs. Leslie Smith, Jessica Penne vs. Nicdall Rivera-Calanoc, Joanne Calderwood vs. Norma Rueda Center, Ediane Gomes vs. Charmaine Tweet and Bec Hyatt vs. Mizuki Inoue. Hyatt has an underground following being popular in social media. The deal here really isnt about how many buys they get, because without any television, that number is going to be very limited. The idea is the ability to put on a smooth live television broadcast and interest somebody to pick up the product. Obviously Showtime is the carrot, because they can run shows on a decent budget and if Showtime pays them for the broadcast rights and becomes a partner, then they have a shot at being financially viable for the long-term. Stephen Espinoza of Showtime, who would make that call, has been complimentary, but his latest comments to me felt more negative than positive, saying that hes not sure if there is a demand right now for more MMA on television. And the numbers right now seem to back up his point.
The filming of the fall season of Ultimate Fighter ended on 7/2. Ronda Rousey did a Q&A and said that she couldnt say much but admitted that she was going crazy by the end of it. Dana White said Rousey and Tate both drove each other nuts, but didnt necessarily say it like it was a great thing for television. The word going around is that Rousey came off in a way that may not come across well, and the same would be said for Tate. I dont know how the show will be edited because the people putting the show together are going to edit it to tell the story they want told. There was at least one example of a major star who came off completely different in edited fashion than they did while on the show, in the sense a lot of what came off as selfishness and would get the public to view them in a very negative fashion was edited out because that wasnt the story being told. But they do want to accentuate the drama because that will be better for ratings. But its also important to not portray Rousey (much less Tate) in a way that could hurt her popularity, appeal and drawing power. Tate, after the season ended, was so mad that she said to MMAFightCorner.com, I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It cant happen. Well, I dont know if the armbar can or cant happen, but if it does happen, I hope nobody is going to give her a gun in that cage.
Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland for the interim bantamweight title, a fight originally scheduled to headline the 6/15 show in Winnipeg but Barao was hurt and it was moved back, has been rescheduled for 9/21 in Toronto. It is very possible that will not be for the interim title, but for the title. As Dominick Cruz approaches the two year mark since last defending his title, if he cant compete soon there have been hints theyll strip him of the title. Dana White has said he doesnt want to do it, but over the weekend, hinted that its approaching that time where they are going to have to make that decision.
Josh Thomson and Anthony Pettis have issued challenges back-and-forth for a fight. For Thomson, a win over Pettis should guarantee him a title shot. For Pettis, any dangerous fight is risking his current position where hes in line for a title shot at both the featherweight and lightweight division.
I dont know that UFC has even considered letting Herschel Walker fight, but if they were, his fighting on Super Bowl eve in Newark would get the show a ton of publicity. Given that Walker would be a month shy of 52 when that date comes around, Im not sure its the publicity theyd want and am guessing theyll feel the same way. I was for Walker in Strikeforce as a gimmick because they needed a gimmick, and also because I knew first hand just how great an athlete Walker was and hes was taking it seriously. But this is a few years later, hes older, and UFC is a different animal than Strikeforce. But UFC did use Kimbo Slice and Walker took MMA far more seriously than Slice.
Besides the two title matches, other matches that were announced officially for UFC 165 in Toronto are Daniel Omielanczuk (a heavyweight with a 15-3-1,1 no contest) record, our of Warsaw, Poland, against Nandro Guelmino, (11-4-1), a heavyweight out of Vienna, Austria; Stephen Thompson vs. Chris Clements (Ontario native), Michel Prezeres (from Brazil, a 16-1 lightweight) vs. Mark Bocek (from Woodbridge, ONT); Myles Jury (12-0) vs. Montreals Mike Ricci and Kid Yamamoto vs. Montreals Ivan Menjivar.
(lol@UFC 165, jesus fuck)
The 9/21 date will be one week after the Mayweather vs. Alvarez fight and its $74.95 HD (which most people buy in these days, its $59.95 standard) price tag. Generally, seven days should be enough time, but this is a fight that so many are going to get that I think it will hurt UFC. There is talk regarding the Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez PPV on 10/12 hurting the 10/19 date. Im not so sure on that one, because thats nowhere near as big a fight. But that fight is going to draw on Marquez, which means a Mexican audience. The 10/19 UFC show is also aimed at a Mexican audience.
Jeremy Stephens plea bargained to one count of a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and felonies charges of assault and burglary were dropped by prosecutors in Polk County, IA. This stems from an October, 2011, fight in Des Moines. Stephens was given an unspecified fine and sentenced to time in jail, but it was less than the time already served so he has no additional time to spend. Stephens was picked up on 10/5, just before a fight scheduled in Minneapolis with Yves Edwards. Dana White throughout the day was trying to get Stephens out on bond so he could fight. During the show, White called the media reports that Stephens wouldnt be fighting erroneous and said he would be later in the show, on the air. It was never acknowledged again but White couldnt get Stephens out, claiming the Iowa prosecutors kept changing the deal on him.
Nick Diaz contacted White this past week, telling him that he broke up with his girlfriend, so now he wants to fight. Of course thats not the end of the story. He also told White that he wanted to come to Las Vegas for the weekend but he couldnt get a hotel because every place was packed. So White got him a room. Then Diaz no-showed.
Dan Hardys doctor in the U.K. told him he was fine, and that he doesnt need surgery, and hes trying to return to get on the October show in Manchester, U.K. Hardy was flagged by the California State Athletic Commission for Wolff Parkinson White syndrome, which needs minor heart surgery to fix. Hardy has refused to get the surgery, saying that hes fine, and that the odds of him dying from it are tiny.
Fabricio Werdum issued a challenge to Daniel Cormier, who indicated that would be a good final match as a heavyweight. Werdum would be the logical opponent for the winner of the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos match on 10/19. The reason I could see UFC wanting to go in a different direction is if Werdum loses, the heavyweight contendership ranks go down, but a Cormier win (unless Dos Santos beats Velasquez and Cormier decides to stay at heavyweight) doesnt give them a new contender. The winner of Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne (8/17 in Boston, particularly if its Browne) or Stipe Miocic to me makes more sense from a long-term booking standpoint as Werdums next opponent.
The story about Anderson Silva not wanting to fight Vitor Belfort that White talked about this past week is something Ive been hearing for months. He feels he soundly beat him and has nothing left to prove. Although now, thats a lot less important since its not a match that has to be made.
White also said that Georges St-Pierre doesnt want a fight with Silva.
He also claimed the idea of doing away with all bonuses is real and would talk to the fighters about it. Its pretty clever how he uses doing away with bonuses when questioned about undercard pay. As noted last week, for every fighter at UFC 160 to make a minimum of $20,000, it would probably only cost the UFC an additional $19,000. The total amount of bonuses on that show is a number we cant even speculate on but its $260,000 minimum and most likely the number is multiple times that.
Cung Le is scheduled to be one of the coaches for the China version of Ultimate Fighter. At least that was what is reported. Le actually read about it on the Internet and had no idea at least as of the weekend. Le had been in talks for a fight with Michael Bisping in October in Manchester, England. It was reported that the date wouldnt work because of movie filming, but Le said he was ready for the date, felt hed be in good shape by then (hes recovering from an elbow injury) and was thinking it was happening until hearing the Bisping vs. Costa Philippou rumors.
The MMA PPV of the weekend on 7/13 will be the Invicta show from Kansas City headlined by Marloes Coenen vs. Cris Cyborg Justino (she is no longer using the Santos last name since she and Evangelista Cyborg Santos divorced) for the companys first featherweight title. This is the companys two biggest stars against each other. They are pricing the PPV at $14.95 and its available everywhere, and for those who dont have PPV, its also going to be an iPPV. It will be a four-hour PPV window and they are hoping to get ten fights in, with the key fights being Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Claudia Gadelha, Sarah DAlelio vs. Lauren Taylor, Jennifer Maia vs. Leslie Smith, Jessica Penne vs. Nicdall Rivera-Calanoc, Joanne Calderwood vs. Norma Rueda Center, Ediane Gomes vs. Charmaine Tweet and Bec Hyatt vs. Mizuki Inoue. Hyatt has an underground following being popular in social media. The deal here really isnt about how many buys they get, because without any television, that number is going to be very limited. The idea is the ability to put on a smooth live television broadcast and interest somebody to pick up the product. Obviously Showtime is the carrot, because they can run shows on a decent budget and if Showtime pays them for the broadcast rights and becomes a partner, then they have a shot at being financially viable for the long-term. Stephen Espinoza of Showtime, who would make that call, has been complimentary, but his latest comments to me felt more negative than positive, saying that hes not sure if there is a demand right now for more MMA on television. And the numbers right now seem to back up his point.
Wise words from Mestre Usher. Sadly he does not realize this is all a part of Anderson Silva's brilliant master plan to solidify his GOAT status by losing. That crying backstage? Jacaré tears. He threw the fight and lost on purpose because he didn't want the belt anymore, but he's gonna ask for a rematch because Chris Weidman got lucky. You think he was taking this fight seriously after cutting weight and training for months? Not buying it. This is the first time he has ever tried to frustrate his opponent, weave through punches with his hands down and look for a counter. Wake up, sheeple.
Maklershed
Member
Three injury / line up changes for UFC on Fox 8 today alone. Amazing. I thought these guys were getting better at cycling. What gives?
lol
lol
Can Crusher
Banned
Gotta say Wideman showed some nice boxing skills. The way he cuts the angle with the second right, was the kind of stuff you don't see UFC fighters do. That's boxing stuff.
I would love to see Weidman throw down with Bisping and Vitor.
I would love to see Weidman throw down with Bisping and Vitor.
polyh3dron
Banned
Ursher blew Canderson's mind away with those truth bombs.
same way guys get knocked out in the squared circle playboy.
polyh3dron
Banned
Wait, are you telling me that the Big Show doesn't knock those guys out for real?
This is too much. I can't take pro wrestling.
Can Crusher
Banned
Someone check the tape. Did Stann nod to Wand to signal the spot, just like Luke The Rock did versus Victor?
Wake up, sheeple!
Lol never seen that. What the hell was that?
This is too much, it's getting hard to process.
Host Samurai
Member
LOL. When I was watching this fight live I couldn't help think Shamrock took the spill.
Image is blocked at work, but I assume this is from the Franklin fight?
edit: looks like i was right, fresh off a stint in the WWF, Ken totally took a dive for Uncle Dana to put over Ace Franklin.
Can Crusher
Banned
.
GAF told me TM was an innocent kid with skittles and a mountain dew. I don't know what to believe.
polyh3dron
Banned
innocent in the particular situation that led to him being killed, yep.
And it was Skittles and Arizona Fruit Punch.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
Punk vs Pettis would be FOTY but as vio-friend said, chances are it won't happen.
I'm many days behind on the defense, but it's looking like the honorable Don West is gonna have The Zimmer Man doing the Ric Flair strut out of the courthouse. Regardless of how one may feel about the case, it's hard to deny that Don West is that dude in open court. Perhaps the best performance since David Chesnoff had the NSAC asking Mr. Overeem for autographs and pointers.
Ninja Scooter
Member
Bros does Kimo deserve to be a UFC Hall of Famer?
tell me more
polyh3dron
Banned
I just got out from seeing it. Was a quality flick.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Pacific Rim was pretty much the best action flick not named Furious 6.
parrotbeak
Member
They stop being fun pretty fast, especially if you're on them all the time. Within a few days you'll just feel hazy. Oxy and coke are good times once in a while but the last time I got vics for an injury, I gave half of them away.
I'm starting to forget if I smoked weed after I got home.
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
it's 4th of July in my asshole
Fuckin Steam sales. So tempted to buy Dont Starve, want to wait for PS+ on ma PS4 though and get it free.
Any bros watch Pitch Perfect yet?
Any bros watch Pitch Perfect yet?
The Zimm's a real piece of shit, but it's impossible not to be intrigued by what happens after he goes free.
- Status