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MMA-GAF |OT4| BangBros
- Thread starter polyh3dron
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Who is a bigger star, UFC World Champion Demetrious Johnson or Liz Carmouche? Serious question.
polyh3dron
Banned
Wait, why is Robbie Lawler fighting this "Bobby Voelker" now?
Yep, that's why I gave it the name I did in the OP.
Forget skills, he has no employable appearance to fall back on.
Saffiedine was replaced by Bahadurzada who was replaced by "Bobby Voelker" :\
Carmouche for
Host Samurai
Member
Who is John Moraga?
Goodbye international satellites for our UK MMA-GAFers.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=624931
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=624931
This. I've legit never heard of this dude before and he's challenging for a title on national broadcast television.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
What, Siyar the killer got injured?! FFFFFUUUUU
There are literally only 2 fights on that card I care about now. Rory vs Jake and "TUF winner" vs local boy Masvidal.
polyh3dron
Banned
those nutjobs.
I won't believe Buakaw, Yodsaenklai and other celeb Thais are leaving the Fedor pre-retirement circuit until I see both feet in the Glory ring.
There's the problem.
There's the problem.
Maklershed
Member
@fodaquinhentos - I purchased System Shock 2
(also got FTL, American Nightmare franchise, and Mark of the Ninja)
(also got FTL, American Nightmare franchise, and Mark of the Ninja)
Freddie Roach on Anderson Silva KO Loss to Weidman, RJJ Fight
Prelim boxer status in Freddie's eyes...and he's trained at Wild Card. Ouch.
Prelim boxer status in Freddie's eyes...and he's trained at Wild Card. Ouch.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Freddy's getting worse... 
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/7/1...dong-hyun-kim-october-9th-ufc-brazil-mma-news
Erick Silva v Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim on Fox Sports 1
Erick Silva v Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim on Fox Sports 1
has any other fighter ever had a day dedicated to them?
http://www.newsday.com/sports/mixed...-declares-july-17-chris-weidman-day-1.5705695
http://www.newsday.com/sports/mixed...-declares-july-17-chris-weidman-day-1.5705695
FS1 carriage talks sticky a month out
Sounds like posturing that will lead to last minute deals, but if they don't get 'er dun there will be a lot of angry Ultimate fans. I'd always assumed it was nothing more than a branding switch. Were the SPEED deals expiring?
Sounds like posturing that will lead to last minute deals, but if they don't get 'er dun there will be a lot of angry Ultimate fans. I'd always assumed it was nothing more than a branding switch. Were the SPEED deals expiring?
Yet his sport is still illegal in the state. lol
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Dong will probably be too big, strong and hard for Silva to handle.
But it should be an decent grappling match regardless.
polyh3dron
Banned
Keep in mind where this fight will be taking place though.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Maklershed
Member
Yassir. Looking forward to trying it. Heard lots of good things. This working though is getting in the way of my kideo playing.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Buying FTL was a good choice Mak. One of the best games I've ever played.
I've personally spent well over £100 on video games in the last week. Between Steam sales and some special GOG offers, I won't be bored for quite some time.
I've personally spent well over £100 on video games in the last week. Between Steam sales and some special GOG offers, I won't be bored for quite some time.
Shame I've got no time to play.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Good pickups. Don't stop now! Keep spending!
I'm looking forward to these two fights. I'll watch it with 100,000 other viewers, half of which stumble upon this card on accident. I even forgot that this was a card broadcasting from Seattle, which is the only venue where Mighty Mouse will fly.
TheKaeptain
Banned
So's Stun Gun. Him and Sexyama were on an episode of Running Man and Kim looks fucking huge.
Maklershed
Member
Good to see Al Iaquinta finally get a fight. During TUF 15 I thought he was gonna be awesome and go to the top of the division but he lost to Chiesa and just disappeared. He should be able to dispatch Couture pretty easily though barring any lingering injuries or a horrible case of ring rust.
Can Crusher
Banned
Pettis to win against Bendo, Aldo to move up and fight Pettis for the title?
Mini super fight? Dana please?
Mini super fight? Dana please?
Can Crusher
Banned
Aldo will put them thangs on Pettis.
Heh, apparently Sports Illustrated had a panel that thought the Silva/Wideman fight was fixed. Uncle Dana was none too pleased.
http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_17700.shtml
http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_17700.shtml
Maklershed
Member
" There was no incentive for anyone for that fight to be fixed. As White argued, what's the benefit in a two to one fight, one in which many were already picking Weidman? How does that do anyone any good? A"
Uhh having a rematch with even bigger PPV numbers than the first fight. And then maybe Weidman loses and theres the third fight with yet even bigger PPV numbers.
Considering they had GSP there ready to challenge Silver if he had won, I have to agree with Uncle Dana here. GSP/Canderson is bigger business than Weidman/Candy II.
The fight fixing stuff is coming from people who don't follow MMA and thought Weidman was just another can. People who follow the sport knew how talented he is and the potential he has.
The fight fixing stuff is coming from people who don't follow MMA and thought Weidman was just another can. People who follow the sport knew how talented he is and the potential he has.
You'd think that, wouldn't you? I'd say even after knocking the dust off Canderson, the majority of fans still have him pegged as a Matt Serra fluke. He'd never even been on a pay-per-view.
Challenge? Georgie was gonna retire.
dream
Member
What could be the second biggest UFC show in history was announced by Dana White over the weekend by saying the Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva middleweight title rematch will be on the same show as the Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate womens bantamweight title match.
The show, UFC 168, takes place on 12/28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Silva had confirmed the date before Whites announcement in an interview with the Brazil version of GQ Magazine.
Immediately people started making predictions on what type of numbers the show would do. The initial reaction is it would be the second biggest show in company history, trailing only UFC 100, on July 11, 2009, which did an estimated 1.6 million PPV buys with a triple headliner of Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir in a grudge match for the heavyweight title, Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves for the welterweight title and a coaches battle off Ultimate Fighter with Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping.
White predicted a figure between 1.2 million and 1.4 million buys. But there are far too many factors to make any kind of an early prediction.
So much depends on the momentum and dynamic the show garners in the final week. This years biggest show, the 3/16 show, did phenomenal numbers based on Nick Diaz saying all kinds of crazy things in the final week. White had predicted 750,000 buys a month ahead of time, and the show ended up closing in on 1 million.
The biggest factor has to do with the situation with Fox Sports 1. The new network debuts on 8/17, and it may take time for the entire UFC fan base to familiarize themselves with a new channel. All of the key promotion will be on the new channel. In addition, its unclear how many homes the station will open with. At this point, according to a story in the Sports Business Journal, Fox doesnt have carriage deals for DirecTV, the Dish Network or Time Warner Cable, representing 46 million of the 99 million cable and satellite homes in the U.S. With other deals not in place as well, it would appear that at this point they only have deals in 44 million homes, barely more than Fuel. But even if they hit the projected 90 million homes, that is about 8 percent less than the number of homes that could get FX.
Its not as bad as it sounds right now because a lot of times, these deals arent finalized until the last minute. The belief is that cable distributors were paying about 23 cents per subscriber for The Speed Channel, which is turning into FS 1. Fox is looking for an increase with contracts that start at 80 cents per subscriber, but grow to $1.50 per subscriber within a few years. If you multiply those numbers by 90-100 million, thats the kind of carriage revenue they are hoping the new station can deliver. A lot of systems thought they would be able to maintain the 23 cents level with the change, at least until their contracts expire. Apparently Fox isnt allowing that. But if any of those key distributors dont carry the channel, while actual ratings wont be affected, total viewership numbers would, This would hurt UFC with the reach of its TV shows. While it is unlikely it would work out like this, right now based on deals in place Ultimate Fighter and the Countdown shows, may have a far more limited exposure level than first anticipated. And they still have to get viewers used to watching an unfamiliar channel.
On the Rousey vs. Tate fight, the keys to the success are what happens on The Ultimate Fighter show, if the season makes you want to see the women fight, and second, how many viewers end up watching each week, given its on another new night (Wednesday) on an unfamiliar channel
Silva vs. Weidman has gotten a good amount of mainstream publicity with the nature of the finish and the idea it was one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. It was an upset, but not a major upset to the level a lot of the media talk has been. And its brought out the worst, because some people have been so sure that Silva couldnt possibly lose to Weidman, and have thrown out accusations he threw the fight, which was ridiculous in this instance. What hasnt been said is that within the industry, a lot of people were expecting Weidman to win all along.
But there are keys to whether that fight hits mainstream, which have to do with what Silva says and how visible it is, and whether Weidman comes across to the public as a big star in the buildup. The finish of the last fight and the intrigue it caused was perfect for a rematch. But you could say the same about Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard in their third meeting, and in the end, not that many people paid to see it.
There was a huge reaction after the match, but it was far more about Silva losing, or Silva showboating and losing, than Weidman winning. Still, Weidman was deluged with media and came across well doing it, but its going to be impossible to determine until the week before the fight, how much he will be presented as a star on his own.
UFC should promote this card as its 20th anniversary event. The first UFC show was on November 12, 1993, so the 11/16 show in Las Vegas is actually closest to a 20th anniversary. But its still the right year and not that far removed. Two title matches and it being presented as a special card, like UFC 100 was, to give it that WrestleMania aura, can make a big difference. And theres also the very good chance when youve got four headliners that one can get hurt between now and the end of the year.
Christmas is also a factor. My belief is that for a monster event, a holiday date is a positive. That isnt exactly a holiday date, but its the Saturday of a holiday weekend. A lot of people would be in the mood to watch as a group of friends or family if its huge. For pro wrestling, the week between Christmas and New Years, along with the weekend of Thanksgiving, were traditionally the two best weeks of the year for business. But thats a different dynamic when it comes to television.
After Christmas you can more easily get either friends or the family together and do things. An event in town, or parents buying their kids tickets as a Christmas present when the event is the cool thing in the area is a strong positive.
A PPV is different than a live event, but a big event at a time people want to be together may tip some scales over to buying from skipping. In the mid-90s, the old UFC used to put on the Ultimate New Years Eve special, essentially a year-in-review show, on PPV every year, and those did excellent business during the hot period for a taped show with no new material.
The UFCs annual New Years week tradition on PPV in the modern era started December 30, 2006, for the Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz fight that was UFCs first to hit 1 million buys.
The 2007 version, with Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva plus Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes for the interim welterweight title, did 700,000 buys, going head-to-head with the biggest NFL regular season game of the past few decades, a number that at the time was considered excellent.
The 2008 show, also approached 1 million buys with a triple main event of Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title, Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the interim heavyweight title, and Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson.
There was no 2009 show, instead there was a January 2, 2010, show headlined by Evans vs. Thiago Silva. That show was destroyed by injuries and did not do well based on usual numbers at the time, but did no worse than should have been expected given the main event.
The January 1, 2011, show, headlined by the second Edgar vs. Maynard fight, also didnt do well, but it was also a show that would have been figured to do baseline numbers.
The December 30, 2011 show, may be the exception to the rule, Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem did about 540,000 buys, well below expectations. But this show had the disadvantage of being on an unfamiliar Friday night, Overeem was making his UFC debut and Lesnar was clearly hurt by the nature of his loss to Cain Velasquez.
Last year was the second Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos fight on December 29, 2012. That show didnt do all that well. But Velasquez was largely an ethnic star, and it was a rematch off a one-punch knockout in their previous fight. It also had no marquee undercard fights with Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon, a great fight but not a fight with big stars, in the No. 2 position.
So the results bear out the theory. The week helps if its a big time major show, but doesnt help a normal show much if at all.
Theres also the aspect of a Prime Time show, whether for one fight, or for both. UFC hasnt done one of those since Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche. The problem is, its a lot of money to spend for a show that would air on Fuel. So much depends on if Fox Sports 1 comes out strong.
Still, the double title match card should be the second biggest in history. Silva vs. Weidman is one of the bigger rematches ever. Its probably not the biggest to the public, although it will be promoted like it was. But of all the major rematches in history, only Lesnar vs. Mir had a No. 2 fight of that level.
As a kid on the playground, the most humiliating thing you could hear if you were a guy is, You fight like a girl.
For anyone watching the 7/13 debut of the Invicta Fighting Championships on PPV, that insult to a new generation may end up as a compliment.
The show, before a sellout crowd of 1,137 at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, had both positives and negatives as a night of entertainment. But the one thing that couldnt be argued was the skill level of the fighters, and in most cases, the quality of the fights.
As far as whether an all-womens promotion can financially pay off, in the end, that is going to be answered like it would be for any fledgling MMA company. It comes down to whether they get the right television partner to pay them enough to make it viable, and once getting that partner, being able to create big enough stars and attract enough interest among both MMA fans and the public.
PPV without television is not going to work long-term, but PPV in this instance, priced low at $14.95 for SD and $24.95 for HD, was clearly there hoping to maximize casual and impulse buys to try out the new product, as opposed to generate the most money for one night on a big show.
Without a television deal, it did give the promotion and its fighters at this stage of growth, the opportunity to be seen by more viewers than ever before.
It would be difficult to go away without some positives, most notably the exciting, and often evenly matched fights with women who with the right promotion and exposure, have potential to be future stars, such as the tiny but super fit looking Tecia Torres, skillful boxer Mizuki Inoue, Rowdy Bec Hyatt, Joanne Calderwood, Jessica Penne, Leslie Smith and Brazilian Claudia Gadelha.
Where Invicta, if they can get the necessary television deal, can fit in is that UFC only has one womens weight class. You could argue for sport it would be the best thing for UFC to have a full complement of weight divisions for women, at this stage having the number of womens matches to make that work would be counterproductive to the big picture.
When it comes to UFC, one or two womens fights on a 12 fight card is a change of pace. I dont want to say more than that would absolutely be a mistake, because in the end its about stars, not the sex of the fighter. But Invicta works not only as a breeding ground for new fighters, but for allowing women who arent best served to fight at 135 to have a place to go. But being the right thing for the good of the athletic side of the sport doesnt mean it will work, nor even that the fan base will support it.
But fights are still sold by main events. Cris Cyborg Justino vs. Marloes Coenen was the strongest fight the company could put on at this time. With Cyborg (12-1, 1 no contest) dispatching Coenen (21-6) to become the first Invicta featherweight champion in such one-sided fashion, the promotions biggest star now has no similar-level opponent in sight. Based on this fight, Cyborg may be so far ahead of the pack at 145 that there may be no competition. And with her look and failed steroid test, the idea of her as the face of a company beating up on women who arent competition can leave some with a guilt feeling for watching, and leave others not being entertained. Yeah, shes a perfect opponent for the right star in a dream match situation, but if she wins, as we already saw with the Gina Carano fight, it can greatly stifle growth in that end of the sport.
Cyborg was put in the spotlight and delivered, strengthening a potential 2014 fight with Ronda Rousey. But if such a fight happens, likely forcing Cyborg to cut from 145 to 135, itll be in UFC, and probably be the biggest womans combat sports fight in history. If Rousey isnt competitive in that fight, the reality is it will be great for a day but bad long-term for the sport. And for Invicta, Cyborg dominating and leaving to UFC does no favors for building its brand, and strengthening its own promotion has to be the companys primary goal as opposed to creating UFC main events.
A possible next opponent for Cyborg could be Ediane Gomes (10-2), who Cyborg was originally supposed to meet on 4/5, before Gomes pulled out late due to an injury. After the show, that fight was hinted about, but Invicta president Shannon Knapp said a decision had yet to be made.
Gomes ended up as one of the many casualties in the final few days in a show that appeared so cursed in the first few hours that announcer Mauro Ranallo was joking about what the 13 in July 13 really meant.
Problems started with fighters dropping almost like war casualties. Gomes herself went through three different opponents, and ended up not even having a fight. Originally scheduled against Julia Budd, it was changed to Canadian Charmaine Tweet, who couldnt get into the country due to visa issues. That was changed to Tamikka Brents, and given Brents having little notice, the weight was changed from 145 pounds to 150. Brents then missed weight, coming in at 155.1 pounds, but the fight was still going to happen, until Brents then injured her knee warming up after the prelim fights had already started.
This cut the scheduled two-hour free preliminary fights from four bouts to two. Veronica Rothenhausler, who was to face Mollie Estes in a featherweight fight, was pulled from the fight the day before by doctors after issues related to cutting weight for the weigh-ins.
Additionally, in a third of the four originally scheduled prelims, Livia von Plettenberg, scheduled to face Cassie Robb at 105, ended up first weighing in at 113 the day before. The decision was made to instead put her against Kathina Catron, not even scheduled on the show, and the weight class was moved all the way to 125, with both women eventually weighing in at 123.
Both Robb, Estes and Gomes ended up getting their appearance money, but none were able to fight on the show.
As a potential contender for Cyborg, Gomes does have four wins in a row, but was also one of Rouseys victims, losing in 25 seconds to an armbar, in a fight on March 27, 2011.
Fortunately, there were no changes after weigh-ins when it came to the main card.
Knapp had before the show promised quick turnaround between fights. If you were watching with the idea that you saw nine pay-per-view fights for a low PPV price, then, based on the going rate, it was a bargain.
But based on reaction we received, they would have likely been better off with seven fights, and more packages and interviews between fights so people can better identify with the participants.
For first-timers, and there were many, much of the show consisted of a fight between two people they didnt know, with a quiet crowd. There were so many fights that they became less memorable when it was over. As far as the fights, many were evenly matched and some were difficult to judge.
The show opened with Torres (3-0), taking the measure of Rose Namajunas (2-1), the girlfriend of popular UFC fighter Pat Barry, in the kind of an opener that every show would love to have. The two strawweight (115 pound) fighters set the tone for the show, with three rounds of non-stop action. That set the theme for the show as a whole.
Up and down, because the women in general are smaller than their male counterparts, the positives were that they could fight three rounds at a faster pace without tiring. The negative is, with the lack of power, more fights seemed destined to go the distance. The women werent cautious standing, with plenty of great exchanges. Nor were they shy about constantly going for submissions on the ground. The moves and escapes were more exciting than the majority of mens shows. The wrestling skill wasnt as high. The striking, while lacking power, was in most cases very technical. No fighter on the show looked like they didnt belong.
The third fight featured a potential future superstar in Inoue (6-1), a Japanese strawweight fighter who is 18-years-old, and had boxing skill far beyond her years. Still, she fought a close fight that could have gone either way with crowd favorite Hyatt, of Australia (5-3), whose work on social media made her among the best known of the undercard fighters.
Both fights would have been up for best fight on nearly any show, but the fight-of-the-night honors went to a decision win by Leslie Smith (6-3-1) over Jennifer Maia (7-3-1) with a shot at Barb Honchaks flyweight title at stake. Smith, a Pleasant Hill, CA, product of the Cesar Gracie camp, who lost a controversial decision to Sarah Kaufman in her previous fight, and has since dropped to 125, fights with the kind of pace of a Diaz Brother. But besides the constant barrage of punching, she throws in a lot of kicks. During the second round, as the two exchanged holds on the ground, announcer King Mo Lawal said it reminded him of watching Dean Malenko.
Round three opened with both going back-and-forth with punches to where it was like the Frye-Takayama fight. Maia still worked for submissions late before Smith got the decision.
After the show, Knapp confirmed a Honchak vs. Smith fight upcoming, as well as Carla Esparza defending the strawweight title against Brazilian Claudia Gadelha (11-0), who was simply too powerful for Ayaka Hamasaki (9-1), the champion of Japans Jewel promotion. Former atom weight champion Jessica Pennes submission win over Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc at 4:57 with a choke and body triangle, should put her in line for a rematch with new champion Michelle Waterson. Penne was winning that fight until getting submitted late in what was one of the better fights, male or female, of this year. But Knapp hinted at Waterson defending against someone else before Penna got her rematch.
No future date was announced, although the promotion after the show was talking about an October show, in Kansas City. Knapp talked about how the company is working on a reality show, saying it would be completely different from Ultimate Fighter and Fight Master. When asked if the October show would be on PPV, she said it could be on television instead, but for obvious reasons, couldnt hint at where.
Esparza was at ringside while Gadelha was controlling Hamasaki, before finishing her at 3:58 of the third round with punches on the ground. But inviting the two of them into the ring to discuss a potential fight would have given the viewers an imprint of something to look forward to next.
From a technical standpoint, there were some cable problems in parts of the country, but it was not a national issue as most reported no issues.
From an announcing standpoint, the threesome of Mauro Ranallo, Julie Kedzie and King Mo Lawal, who have been with the group from the start, were well prepared. But with so many close fights, the announcers need to talk about who they feel is winning and why. Ranallo declined to give opinions on who was winning the fights, as did Kedzie. Lawal would, when prompted, but wasnt encouraged. There were decisions booed, like Hyatt losing, and a prelim result where Emily Kagen won over Ashley Cummins that led to massive confusion. But there was no discussions over the scoring, either speculating much on who was winning close rounds and why, nor talk after decisions were read. With no post-fight interviews, except after the main event, they moved as quickly as possible to the next fight.
On a show with a lot of fighters much of the audience would likely only know by name, if that, you need more in the way of background, and establishing who people are. To a TV viewer, Cyborg was clearly an unbeatable monster, but the lack of crowd reactions didnt make the great fights stand out as much as they could have.
Miriam Nakamoto, a kickboxer from Northern California, looked great with punches and hard knees in finishing Duda Yankovich in just 2:08. She showed a style that would get over on any show, but at 36, it may be too late to build her.
Some background was supplied, as far as where they came from, or in some cases, like Lauren Taylor, her using fighting to battle back from drug issues. Post-fight interviews would have helped familiarized the audience with the winners, and quite frankly, many of the losers looked impressive enough that youd want to bring them back and hear them talk about the experience, their feeling on the judging, and their opponents.
The crowd was quiet most of the way. Ranallo described it as a Japanese crowd, but for a casual fan watching, it took away from the atmosphere.
Live reports indicated the crowd was with every move in the main event, but that didnt come across on television.
This group doesnt have the budget to have the kind of production people expect from HBO Boxing or UFC, or for that matter, even Bellator. There were a few weird noises on the mic at times, but far less people than would usually work behind-the-scenes on a pay-per-view held the show together well.
Overall, watching the show was an enjoyable experience because the fighters, by and large, delivered. It was a good show, but not a great show, with the cramming too many fights in and lack of crowd reaction hurting the atmosphere, because as far as fights went, even with all the decisions, any show should love to have the action the competitors brought. Thats been a consistent theme of the promotion, as the last several shows were every bit as good as this one.
If someone is a fan of huge impressive events, at this stage, Invicta cant afford to be that, and may never be able to afford to be that. If you want a fun Saturday night of seeing several fighters who are likely to be stars in a few years, and spirited competition with fighters who can go all out for the duration of the fight, this fit the bill. Any negatives within reason are fixable, but long-run, its still about getting the right television partner.
The show, UFC 168, takes place on 12/28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Silva had confirmed the date before Whites announcement in an interview with the Brazil version of GQ Magazine.
Immediately people started making predictions on what type of numbers the show would do. The initial reaction is it would be the second biggest show in company history, trailing only UFC 100, on July 11, 2009, which did an estimated 1.6 million PPV buys with a triple headliner of Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir in a grudge match for the heavyweight title, Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves for the welterweight title and a coaches battle off Ultimate Fighter with Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping.
White predicted a figure between 1.2 million and 1.4 million buys. But there are far too many factors to make any kind of an early prediction.
So much depends on the momentum and dynamic the show garners in the final week. This years biggest show, the 3/16 show, did phenomenal numbers based on Nick Diaz saying all kinds of crazy things in the final week. White had predicted 750,000 buys a month ahead of time, and the show ended up closing in on 1 million.
The biggest factor has to do with the situation with Fox Sports 1. The new network debuts on 8/17, and it may take time for the entire UFC fan base to familiarize themselves with a new channel. All of the key promotion will be on the new channel. In addition, its unclear how many homes the station will open with. At this point, according to a story in the Sports Business Journal, Fox doesnt have carriage deals for DirecTV, the Dish Network or Time Warner Cable, representing 46 million of the 99 million cable and satellite homes in the U.S. With other deals not in place as well, it would appear that at this point they only have deals in 44 million homes, barely more than Fuel. But even if they hit the projected 90 million homes, that is about 8 percent less than the number of homes that could get FX.
Its not as bad as it sounds right now because a lot of times, these deals arent finalized until the last minute. The belief is that cable distributors were paying about 23 cents per subscriber for The Speed Channel, which is turning into FS 1. Fox is looking for an increase with contracts that start at 80 cents per subscriber, but grow to $1.50 per subscriber within a few years. If you multiply those numbers by 90-100 million, thats the kind of carriage revenue they are hoping the new station can deliver. A lot of systems thought they would be able to maintain the 23 cents level with the change, at least until their contracts expire. Apparently Fox isnt allowing that. But if any of those key distributors dont carry the channel, while actual ratings wont be affected, total viewership numbers would, This would hurt UFC with the reach of its TV shows. While it is unlikely it would work out like this, right now based on deals in place Ultimate Fighter and the Countdown shows, may have a far more limited exposure level than first anticipated. And they still have to get viewers used to watching an unfamiliar channel.
On the Rousey vs. Tate fight, the keys to the success are what happens on The Ultimate Fighter show, if the season makes you want to see the women fight, and second, how many viewers end up watching each week, given its on another new night (Wednesday) on an unfamiliar channel
Silva vs. Weidman has gotten a good amount of mainstream publicity with the nature of the finish and the idea it was one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. It was an upset, but not a major upset to the level a lot of the media talk has been. And its brought out the worst, because some people have been so sure that Silva couldnt possibly lose to Weidman, and have thrown out accusations he threw the fight, which was ridiculous in this instance. What hasnt been said is that within the industry, a lot of people were expecting Weidman to win all along.
But there are keys to whether that fight hits mainstream, which have to do with what Silva says and how visible it is, and whether Weidman comes across to the public as a big star in the buildup. The finish of the last fight and the intrigue it caused was perfect for a rematch. But you could say the same about Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard in their third meeting, and in the end, not that many people paid to see it.
There was a huge reaction after the match, but it was far more about Silva losing, or Silva showboating and losing, than Weidman winning. Still, Weidman was deluged with media and came across well doing it, but its going to be impossible to determine until the week before the fight, how much he will be presented as a star on his own.
UFC should promote this card as its 20th anniversary event. The first UFC show was on November 12, 1993, so the 11/16 show in Las Vegas is actually closest to a 20th anniversary. But its still the right year and not that far removed. Two title matches and it being presented as a special card, like UFC 100 was, to give it that WrestleMania aura, can make a big difference. And theres also the very good chance when youve got four headliners that one can get hurt between now and the end of the year.
Christmas is also a factor. My belief is that for a monster event, a holiday date is a positive. That isnt exactly a holiday date, but its the Saturday of a holiday weekend. A lot of people would be in the mood to watch as a group of friends or family if its huge. For pro wrestling, the week between Christmas and New Years, along with the weekend of Thanksgiving, were traditionally the two best weeks of the year for business. But thats a different dynamic when it comes to television.
After Christmas you can more easily get either friends or the family together and do things. An event in town, or parents buying their kids tickets as a Christmas present when the event is the cool thing in the area is a strong positive.
A PPV is different than a live event, but a big event at a time people want to be together may tip some scales over to buying from skipping. In the mid-90s, the old UFC used to put on the Ultimate New Years Eve special, essentially a year-in-review show, on PPV every year, and those did excellent business during the hot period for a taped show with no new material.
The UFCs annual New Years week tradition on PPV in the modern era started December 30, 2006, for the Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz fight that was UFCs first to hit 1 million buys.
The 2007 version, with Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva plus Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes for the interim welterweight title, did 700,000 buys, going head-to-head with the biggest NFL regular season game of the past few decades, a number that at the time was considered excellent.
The 2008 show, also approached 1 million buys with a triple main event of Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title, Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the interim heavyweight title, and Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson.
There was no 2009 show, instead there was a January 2, 2010, show headlined by Evans vs. Thiago Silva. That show was destroyed by injuries and did not do well based on usual numbers at the time, but did no worse than should have been expected given the main event.
The January 1, 2011, show, headlined by the second Edgar vs. Maynard fight, also didnt do well, but it was also a show that would have been figured to do baseline numbers.
The December 30, 2011 show, may be the exception to the rule, Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem did about 540,000 buys, well below expectations. But this show had the disadvantage of being on an unfamiliar Friday night, Overeem was making his UFC debut and Lesnar was clearly hurt by the nature of his loss to Cain Velasquez.
Last year was the second Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos fight on December 29, 2012. That show didnt do all that well. But Velasquez was largely an ethnic star, and it was a rematch off a one-punch knockout in their previous fight. It also had no marquee undercard fights with Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon, a great fight but not a fight with big stars, in the No. 2 position.
So the results bear out the theory. The week helps if its a big time major show, but doesnt help a normal show much if at all.
Theres also the aspect of a Prime Time show, whether for one fight, or for both. UFC hasnt done one of those since Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche. The problem is, its a lot of money to spend for a show that would air on Fuel. So much depends on if Fox Sports 1 comes out strong.
Still, the double title match card should be the second biggest in history. Silva vs. Weidman is one of the bigger rematches ever. Its probably not the biggest to the public, although it will be promoted like it was. But of all the major rematches in history, only Lesnar vs. Mir had a No. 2 fight of that level.
As a kid on the playground, the most humiliating thing you could hear if you were a guy is, You fight like a girl.
For anyone watching the 7/13 debut of the Invicta Fighting Championships on PPV, that insult to a new generation may end up as a compliment.
The show, before a sellout crowd of 1,137 at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, had both positives and negatives as a night of entertainment. But the one thing that couldnt be argued was the skill level of the fighters, and in most cases, the quality of the fights.
As far as whether an all-womens promotion can financially pay off, in the end, that is going to be answered like it would be for any fledgling MMA company. It comes down to whether they get the right television partner to pay them enough to make it viable, and once getting that partner, being able to create big enough stars and attract enough interest among both MMA fans and the public.
PPV without television is not going to work long-term, but PPV in this instance, priced low at $14.95 for SD and $24.95 for HD, was clearly there hoping to maximize casual and impulse buys to try out the new product, as opposed to generate the most money for one night on a big show.
Without a television deal, it did give the promotion and its fighters at this stage of growth, the opportunity to be seen by more viewers than ever before.
It would be difficult to go away without some positives, most notably the exciting, and often evenly matched fights with women who with the right promotion and exposure, have potential to be future stars, such as the tiny but super fit looking Tecia Torres, skillful boxer Mizuki Inoue, Rowdy Bec Hyatt, Joanne Calderwood, Jessica Penne, Leslie Smith and Brazilian Claudia Gadelha.
Where Invicta, if they can get the necessary television deal, can fit in is that UFC only has one womens weight class. You could argue for sport it would be the best thing for UFC to have a full complement of weight divisions for women, at this stage having the number of womens matches to make that work would be counterproductive to the big picture.
When it comes to UFC, one or two womens fights on a 12 fight card is a change of pace. I dont want to say more than that would absolutely be a mistake, because in the end its about stars, not the sex of the fighter. But Invicta works not only as a breeding ground for new fighters, but for allowing women who arent best served to fight at 135 to have a place to go. But being the right thing for the good of the athletic side of the sport doesnt mean it will work, nor even that the fan base will support it.
But fights are still sold by main events. Cris Cyborg Justino vs. Marloes Coenen was the strongest fight the company could put on at this time. With Cyborg (12-1, 1 no contest) dispatching Coenen (21-6) to become the first Invicta featherweight champion in such one-sided fashion, the promotions biggest star now has no similar-level opponent in sight. Based on this fight, Cyborg may be so far ahead of the pack at 145 that there may be no competition. And with her look and failed steroid test, the idea of her as the face of a company beating up on women who arent competition can leave some with a guilt feeling for watching, and leave others not being entertained. Yeah, shes a perfect opponent for the right star in a dream match situation, but if she wins, as we already saw with the Gina Carano fight, it can greatly stifle growth in that end of the sport.
Cyborg was put in the spotlight and delivered, strengthening a potential 2014 fight with Ronda Rousey. But if such a fight happens, likely forcing Cyborg to cut from 145 to 135, itll be in UFC, and probably be the biggest womans combat sports fight in history. If Rousey isnt competitive in that fight, the reality is it will be great for a day but bad long-term for the sport. And for Invicta, Cyborg dominating and leaving to UFC does no favors for building its brand, and strengthening its own promotion has to be the companys primary goal as opposed to creating UFC main events.
A possible next opponent for Cyborg could be Ediane Gomes (10-2), who Cyborg was originally supposed to meet on 4/5, before Gomes pulled out late due to an injury. After the show, that fight was hinted about, but Invicta president Shannon Knapp said a decision had yet to be made.
Gomes ended up as one of the many casualties in the final few days in a show that appeared so cursed in the first few hours that announcer Mauro Ranallo was joking about what the 13 in July 13 really meant.
Problems started with fighters dropping almost like war casualties. Gomes herself went through three different opponents, and ended up not even having a fight. Originally scheduled against Julia Budd, it was changed to Canadian Charmaine Tweet, who couldnt get into the country due to visa issues. That was changed to Tamikka Brents, and given Brents having little notice, the weight was changed from 145 pounds to 150. Brents then missed weight, coming in at 155.1 pounds, but the fight was still going to happen, until Brents then injured her knee warming up after the prelim fights had already started.
This cut the scheduled two-hour free preliminary fights from four bouts to two. Veronica Rothenhausler, who was to face Mollie Estes in a featherweight fight, was pulled from the fight the day before by doctors after issues related to cutting weight for the weigh-ins.
Additionally, in a third of the four originally scheduled prelims, Livia von Plettenberg, scheduled to face Cassie Robb at 105, ended up first weighing in at 113 the day before. The decision was made to instead put her against Kathina Catron, not even scheduled on the show, and the weight class was moved all the way to 125, with both women eventually weighing in at 123.
Both Robb, Estes and Gomes ended up getting their appearance money, but none were able to fight on the show.
As a potential contender for Cyborg, Gomes does have four wins in a row, but was also one of Rouseys victims, losing in 25 seconds to an armbar, in a fight on March 27, 2011.
Fortunately, there were no changes after weigh-ins when it came to the main card.
Knapp had before the show promised quick turnaround between fights. If you were watching with the idea that you saw nine pay-per-view fights for a low PPV price, then, based on the going rate, it was a bargain.
But based on reaction we received, they would have likely been better off with seven fights, and more packages and interviews between fights so people can better identify with the participants.
For first-timers, and there were many, much of the show consisted of a fight between two people they didnt know, with a quiet crowd. There were so many fights that they became less memorable when it was over. As far as the fights, many were evenly matched and some were difficult to judge.
The show opened with Torres (3-0), taking the measure of Rose Namajunas (2-1), the girlfriend of popular UFC fighter Pat Barry, in the kind of an opener that every show would love to have. The two strawweight (115 pound) fighters set the tone for the show, with three rounds of non-stop action. That set the theme for the show as a whole.
Up and down, because the women in general are smaller than their male counterparts, the positives were that they could fight three rounds at a faster pace without tiring. The negative is, with the lack of power, more fights seemed destined to go the distance. The women werent cautious standing, with plenty of great exchanges. Nor were they shy about constantly going for submissions on the ground. The moves and escapes were more exciting than the majority of mens shows. The wrestling skill wasnt as high. The striking, while lacking power, was in most cases very technical. No fighter on the show looked like they didnt belong.
The third fight featured a potential future superstar in Inoue (6-1), a Japanese strawweight fighter who is 18-years-old, and had boxing skill far beyond her years. Still, she fought a close fight that could have gone either way with crowd favorite Hyatt, of Australia (5-3), whose work on social media made her among the best known of the undercard fighters.
Both fights would have been up for best fight on nearly any show, but the fight-of-the-night honors went to a decision win by Leslie Smith (6-3-1) over Jennifer Maia (7-3-1) with a shot at Barb Honchaks flyweight title at stake. Smith, a Pleasant Hill, CA, product of the Cesar Gracie camp, who lost a controversial decision to Sarah Kaufman in her previous fight, and has since dropped to 125, fights with the kind of pace of a Diaz Brother. But besides the constant barrage of punching, she throws in a lot of kicks. During the second round, as the two exchanged holds on the ground, announcer King Mo Lawal said it reminded him of watching Dean Malenko.
Round three opened with both going back-and-forth with punches to where it was like the Frye-Takayama fight. Maia still worked for submissions late before Smith got the decision.
After the show, Knapp confirmed a Honchak vs. Smith fight upcoming, as well as Carla Esparza defending the strawweight title against Brazilian Claudia Gadelha (11-0), who was simply too powerful for Ayaka Hamasaki (9-1), the champion of Japans Jewel promotion. Former atom weight champion Jessica Pennes submission win over Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc at 4:57 with a choke and body triangle, should put her in line for a rematch with new champion Michelle Waterson. Penne was winning that fight until getting submitted late in what was one of the better fights, male or female, of this year. But Knapp hinted at Waterson defending against someone else before Penna got her rematch.
No future date was announced, although the promotion after the show was talking about an October show, in Kansas City. Knapp talked about how the company is working on a reality show, saying it would be completely different from Ultimate Fighter and Fight Master. When asked if the October show would be on PPV, she said it could be on television instead, but for obvious reasons, couldnt hint at where.
Esparza was at ringside while Gadelha was controlling Hamasaki, before finishing her at 3:58 of the third round with punches on the ground. But inviting the two of them into the ring to discuss a potential fight would have given the viewers an imprint of something to look forward to next.
From a technical standpoint, there were some cable problems in parts of the country, but it was not a national issue as most reported no issues.
From an announcing standpoint, the threesome of Mauro Ranallo, Julie Kedzie and King Mo Lawal, who have been with the group from the start, were well prepared. But with so many close fights, the announcers need to talk about who they feel is winning and why. Ranallo declined to give opinions on who was winning the fights, as did Kedzie. Lawal would, when prompted, but wasnt encouraged. There were decisions booed, like Hyatt losing, and a prelim result where Emily Kagen won over Ashley Cummins that led to massive confusion. But there was no discussions over the scoring, either speculating much on who was winning close rounds and why, nor talk after decisions were read. With no post-fight interviews, except after the main event, they moved as quickly as possible to the next fight.
On a show with a lot of fighters much of the audience would likely only know by name, if that, you need more in the way of background, and establishing who people are. To a TV viewer, Cyborg was clearly an unbeatable monster, but the lack of crowd reactions didnt make the great fights stand out as much as they could have.
Miriam Nakamoto, a kickboxer from Northern California, looked great with punches and hard knees in finishing Duda Yankovich in just 2:08. She showed a style that would get over on any show, but at 36, it may be too late to build her.
Some background was supplied, as far as where they came from, or in some cases, like Lauren Taylor, her using fighting to battle back from drug issues. Post-fight interviews would have helped familiarized the audience with the winners, and quite frankly, many of the losers looked impressive enough that youd want to bring them back and hear them talk about the experience, their feeling on the judging, and their opponents.
The crowd was quiet most of the way. Ranallo described it as a Japanese crowd, but for a casual fan watching, it took away from the atmosphere.
Live reports indicated the crowd was with every move in the main event, but that didnt come across on television.
This group doesnt have the budget to have the kind of production people expect from HBO Boxing or UFC, or for that matter, even Bellator. There were a few weird noises on the mic at times, but far less people than would usually work behind-the-scenes on a pay-per-view held the show together well.
Overall, watching the show was an enjoyable experience because the fighters, by and large, delivered. It was a good show, but not a great show, with the cramming too many fights in and lack of crowd reaction hurting the atmosphere, because as far as fights went, even with all the decisions, any show should love to have the action the competitors brought. Thats been a consistent theme of the promotion, as the last several shows were every bit as good as this one.
If someone is a fan of huge impressive events, at this stage, Invicta cant afford to be that, and may never be able to afford to be that. If you want a fun Saturday night of seeing several fighters who are likely to be stars in a few years, and spirited competition with fighters who can go all out for the duration of the fight, this fit the bill. Any negatives within reason are fixable, but long-run, its still about getting the right television partner.
dream
Member
Brian Stann only had a 12-6 record and never challenged for a UFC championship, yet his retirement announcement on 7/11 was major news in the sport.
Stann, 32, had been announced the day before as being hired as an analyst for Atlantic Coast Conference football on Fox Sports South, which would have made it impossible for him to fight until well into the new year.
But Stann said that didnt really play a part in his decision, which he made months ago. There are the rational reasons, the feeling that with two daughters and a third on the way, plus his fighting style, that he saw what had happened to several NFL players and famous boxers when they had gotten older and said that it was the foolish decision to risk that happening to him.
He noted he started playing football in the second grade, played through college, went into the Marine Corps and served in combat, and then fought MMA for eight years.
But there were two things that primarily led to his decision. One was the loss to Wanderlei Silva on 3/3 in Saitama, Japan, in what is a candidate for this years best fight. While that fight, where both men were knocked down several times, and Stann was knocked out cold for the first time in his career late in the second round, is entertaining for fans, it shook up Stann, who told Jon Anik and Kenny Florian after that he thought it was his last fight.
Ironically, that was something he wasnt even considering beforehand, where he targeted fighting for another three or four years.
I probably still would be fighting, Stann said to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour about what his reaction would be had he won that fight. Its a very fair question. Sometimes it takes losses to see things in a different way.
But it really dated back to when his brother-in-law committed suicide. His family, particularly his mother-in-law, who lives with him, and his wife, Teresa, a former cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles, are still not fully over it. Stann felt he needed to be with his family, and could no longer put all of his focus into fighting, and in particular, spending two months away from his family each fight and going to Greg Jacksons camp in Albuquerque.
Instead, he put together his own camp in Atlanta, where he lives. But being the head coach and leader of the room wasnt a way for him to improve and to be as successful. He recognized he wasnt as good as he had been when being completely focused and training in Albuquerque, but felt leaving his family was not an option.
He also had lost two straight fights, to Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva. He felt he couldnt rebound from that to get into championship contention unless he went to Albuquerque. That would be a long road back to the top with no guarantees.
If I was to continue, I think I would run the risk of long-term health problems and that would be very irresponsible for me as a husband and a father. Ive maintained a full-time job the entire time I was a fighter because things like this can happen. Ive got some other options. I think its time to focus more on them.
He noted things had started taking a toll on his body. When he was younger, hed take punches regularly with no effect. For the Silva fight, he cut his sparring down from twice a week to once a week because of headaches.
Ive never been knocked unconscious until the Wanderlei Silva fight, but as you get older, your start to notice things. Early in your career, you cant take punches in sparring and in fights that dont faze you. Over time, youre sparring with better people, you start to have headaches, and you realize this isnt the best thing for your health.
He said in reality, based on his fighting style, which is to trade punches in the middle, that his career of eight years was about as long as it was going to be.
My fighting style, Im not going to change that, he said. When you pay me and book me for a fight, Im going to fight. I can take guys down, but thats not who I am. I have no issue standing in the center and throwing. Its not a healthy fighting style. Its not going to give you a long career. Its going to give you a career as long as the one I had. I want to be functional and I want to be able to provide for my daughters. When I look at the videos of Muhammad Ali and some of the guys hes fought, Im not going to allow that to be me.
But even with all that, he was planning on going on until being shocked by the loss. He said he had pretty well made up his mind not to fight again a few months back, and told Dana White about two weeks ago.
It never crossed my mind that I would lose that fight (to Silva),: he said. You have to make yourself feel that way as a fighter. You have to make yourself mentally invincible. I encountered some health problems in training that were very frustrating. I thought I would be fighting for another three or four years. Thats legitimately what I thought, but when you have a fight like that, that night, after getting out of the hospital, I was so disappointed.
I looked at the amount of time Id invested, how hard I trained, because when you train for a fight, a large percentage of your mind is 100 percent devoted to the fight. Even on our off days, taking the kids to the park, you cant get it out of your mind. It takes away from your ability to learn new things in life. I dont read as much as I used to. For me, when I lost that fight, it was time. Ultimately I have to provide for my wife and children.
Stann had been working on pre and post-fight shows on both Fuel and as a FOX analyst. Those at the network were impressed by how hard he had worked in preparation. At Fuel, the network said it was amazed at how many of the fighters were able to transition so well to broadcasting and analysis by percentage of compared to sports like football. Stann, along with Chael Sonnen and Dominick Cruz, were always mentioned as the standouts.
He had done an audition in Atlanta for the position as analyst for Fox Sports South for football this fall. Stann was a star football player in high school, who went on to play at the Naval Academy as a middle linebacker.
Hes also the President and CEO of Hire Heroes USA, an organization that assists veterans leaving the service to get jobs. The WWE is a major supporter of the organization as Vince McMahon personally was impressed by Stanns presentation, and felt he would rather sponsor his project than one that was higher profile.
After Stann graduated from the Naval Academy, he was assigned to the Marine Corps and rose to the level of captain, and won a silver star in combat in 2005 for directing his unit, that had been ambushed in Iraq, and was under heavy attack for six days, out of trouble with no losses.
He began fighting in 2006 while still in the Marines. He had one pro fight, winning via knockout, when he was booked on the June 15, 2006, WEC show in Highland, CA, where he scored a 16 second knockout of Miguel Cosio.
When the UFC purchased WEC later that year, largely as a way of keeping a rival promotion from getting a television deal with Versus (since UFC had an exclusive deal with Spike), Stann, along with Urijah Faber, became the backbones of the promotion as it hit television.
He won the light heavyweight title, knocking out Doug Marshall in 1:35, on March 26, 2008, but was stopped at 4:01 of the second round in his first title defense against Steve Cantwell.
He fought 11 times in the organization, going 6-5.
The UFC 164 main event on 8/31 in Milwaukee is now Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis for the lightweight title in a rematch of one of the best fights of the past five years. Pettis, who is from Milwaukee, replaces T.J. Grant, who suffered a concussion training BJJ one month back, had stopped training, and when he didnt feel his brain was ready to start back this week, which would give him six weeks of training before the title fight, he pulled out. A lot of guys would have still fought. Grant said he himself would have fought the fight on a knee injury, but not on a brain injury. Guys like him who get title shots that fall apart are never guaranteed getting another one when they recover, particularly with guys like Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson in the division. Pettis hit Henderson with the Showtime kick, running up the cage, springing off and nailing a back pedaling Henderson with a kick to the side of the head, which knocked Henderson down. The fight was even going into the fifth round, and while Pettis probably would have won the round either way, the kick clinched it and gave Pettis the WEC lightweight title. It was Hendersons only loss in his last 18 fights. Well, at least only loss on his record, because he was very lucky to get decisions in fights with Frankie Edgar (the second one where I had Edgar), Gilbert Melendez (I had Melendez) and the first Donald Cerrone fight. Both have improved significantly since that fight, on December 16, 2010, in the final WEC show, held in Glendale, AZ, where Henderson lives. Now Henderson has a chance to avenge the defeat in Pettis home town. This was one of those occasions where a main event falling out leads to a stronger fight, at least for most of North America. Grant as challenger was clearly stronger in Canada, although I dont know that either fight was going to do significantly different business on PPV. In theory, Pettis should sell tickets in Milwaukee going for the title in his home town. Id think Pettis would be a stronger contender on PPV than Grant because hes been a star longer and a lot of people know about the first fight. I think its just a little over a baseline fight, but well see if two straight title fights on FOX have helped Henderson as a PPV draw. His lone PPV defense against Franke Edgar did not do well.
As expected, Dana White has now said that they are keeping the pay structure exactly as it has been, with the base salary, discretionary bonuses and the $50,000 best submission, KO and best match bonuses. He cited talking to fighters and thats what they wanted. When there were complaints from fighters about pay, White said that they were thinking about doing away with all bonuses if people wanted to use that money to increase undercard pay.
The 8/26 main event for Manchester, England is now Mark Munoz vs. Michael Bisping. At various times over the past month there had been consideration to Cung Le (who had been talked with about it and Im guessing that ended when they wanted him to coach TUF China instead), Costa Philippou, Tim Kennedy (I dont know how serious but I do know the name was broached to Bisping and was in a discussion, Bisping legitimately doesnt like Kennedy and the feeling was it would be easy to promote because Kennedy if insulted will respond back in kind) and now Munoz. I call this one the last chance and its a tough fight for both of them. Munozs wrestling looked great the last time out and his conditioning was at his best. Hes 35 and cant afford another loss. Bisping, if he loses, is likely out of the title picture for good and will wind up with the record he desperately never wanted, which is most career wins in UFC without ever getting a championship match. And in his case, its not a Jon Fitch situation (Fitch even got one) where there was a style issue or he was unfairly passed over. Bisping was put in position to get a title match several times, but in every case (Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort) lost the last match before hed have gotten the shot. With 14 wins inside the UFC, Bisping has more career wins than anyone in history who hasnt gotten a title shot. Chris Leben and Gleison Tibau each have 12, but Leben is because hes has 21 fights, which means nine losses and Tibau has had seven losses.
Georges St-Pierre spoke to Sports Net in Canada and said the he wanted Johny Hendricks to agree to do VADA drug testing (significantly more extensive than the drug testing done by the athletic commissions) for their 11/16 fight. I invite all high-profile athletes in the UFC to do the same. I believe its a good thing. Its a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes, but I believe to make the sport (fairer), Im ready to do it to set a good example. VADA drug testing would be blood and urine, testing for GH (which I still think is largely a fraud), and you have to be in contact with them the entire time in camp, and when they come to your door, you leave a sample that instant, none of this delaying or anything like that, and you get no warning when they are coming. Hendricks quickly agreed to it.
Nick Diaz contacting Dana White about fighting may be as much about financial issues as anything. His War MMA show on 6/22 in Stockton looks like it only did a $50,000 house, which is horrible for a 12,000-seat arena. Diazs promotion never gave the California State Athletic Commission the ticket breakdown on the show within the required five days, but Executive Director Andy Foster said to MMA Junkie that, he basically paid half of what he owes. Its not like he fell off the planet. Hes been communicating. If they dont pay us in the next week or so, Ill probably have to move to plan B, which maybe says we might have to assess a penalty, but I have full confidence that they will pay.
Because the name Fox Sports 1 1 for a show is kind of cumbersome, UFC looks like they are going to call the shows UFC Fight Night 1, Fight Night 2, etc. Thats not to be confused with the old Spike shows which were Ultimate Fight Night 1, Ultimate Fight Night 2.
(I don't understand why they need to number shows)
MMAJunkie ran a story noting of all the major sports leagues, UFC spent more on lobbying in 2012 than anyone but the NFL. UFC spent $620,000, well ahead of the third place PGA at $380,000. The NFL spent $1.14 million. The NBA only spent $125,000. In 2011, UFC spent $410,000. The money was spent trying to legalize the sport, as well as trying to push Congress for tougher laws in intellectual property rights, most notably people who illegally stream PPVs. They are pushing for stronger enforcement of copyright laws, and upping punishment for offenders. That is going to be one long fight because Congress got spooked on legislation regarding the Internet because of the reaction to SOPA.
In what is probably some type of a game, Tito Oritz was teasing the idea of making a comeback and noted he was at the Bellator headquarters. He said hed decide in five months. Oritzs body is in really bad shape due to injuries, with a fused neck and fused back. His record in the last six years speaks for itself, with one win, over Ryan Bader, since his last Ken Shamrock win in 2006. At 38, fighting is something he should not be thinking about.
After 8/10, the World Series of Fighting will run on NBC Sports Network on 9/14 in a show from Atlantic City headlined by Anthony Johnson vs. Mike Kyle at light heavyweight. Both originally trained out of San Jose, but Johnson has moved on to the Blackzillians in South Florida.
The proposed Ken Shamrock vs. Ian Freeman match on 7/27 in Doncaster, England is off. Shamrocks side of the story is that he had signed for the fight and had reached an agreement to get the money paid in front installments that would be put in an escrow account that neither could touch until after the fight ended. Shamrock, 49, claimed he was supposed to get a payment on 6/1 and on 7/1, and when the advance payments didnt come, he pulled out of the fight. He claimed he was only responding because the promoter called him a coward for pulling out of the fight. Freeman, 42, claimed Shamrock was a coward and a thief, saying he accepted the fight, demanded a $5,000 deposit, which was sent, and is now not returning the money. Freeman said Shamrock demanded his fight money in advance to be sent to an American bank. Shamrock, you are f***ing delusional. What promoter pays a fighter before he fights, and with your track record of being a bum, Im not surprised the promoter said `No. Freeman said that hes just making excuses because he didnt want to fight, and claimed Shamrock made a video interview pulling out of the fight before even telling the promoter he was out. At last word, Freeman was still fighting on the show.
Shamrock hasnt fought since November, 2010, when he suffered a leg injury 2:00 into a fight with Mike Bourne in Durban, South Africa.
Apparently Ken and Frank Shamrock are now working on some sort of a project together. While the actual project wasnt revealed, it sounds like a sit down interview with the two of them like a Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels deal where they discuss all their past issues and ended up mending fences, or at least that is part of it. Both brothers and a few promoters were working on a fight between the two, which looked like it would happen about six years ago. CBS had a falling out with Ken over his cut right before the Kimbo Slice fight after holding them up for money and wouldnt do business with him after that. It was just one of those ideas that they never could put together.
Jens Pulver, 38, UFCs first champion at 155 pounds, who remains active, is headlining a show on 11/12 in Gothenburg, Sweden, facing Sami Aziz, a 40-year-old who represented Sweden at 136 pounds in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Aziz hasnt fought in three years, since a loss to former Japanese circuit star Joachim Hansen. He also fought in 2009 for Bellator, losing via armbar to Fabio Mello.
Carina Damm, 33, was suspended for six months by the Ohio Athletic Commission for providing a urine sample that turned out not to be urine before a 6/1 fight in Cleveland against Jessica Eye. How she expected to get away with that, I have no idea. Damm had been suspended in 2008 in California for testing positive for the steroid Nandrolone (Decadurabolin). What makes this case interesting is that she has a fight scheduled in Brazil in July, and whether she will be allowed to fight now that Brazil has an MMA commission. In 2008, while suspended in the U.S., she fought twice in Brazil. To me, it speaks volumes about promoters who will use a fighter under a steroid suspension, particularly a woman fighter.
Stann, 32, had been announced the day before as being hired as an analyst for Atlantic Coast Conference football on Fox Sports South, which would have made it impossible for him to fight until well into the new year.
But Stann said that didnt really play a part in his decision, which he made months ago. There are the rational reasons, the feeling that with two daughters and a third on the way, plus his fighting style, that he saw what had happened to several NFL players and famous boxers when they had gotten older and said that it was the foolish decision to risk that happening to him.
He noted he started playing football in the second grade, played through college, went into the Marine Corps and served in combat, and then fought MMA for eight years.
But there were two things that primarily led to his decision. One was the loss to Wanderlei Silva on 3/3 in Saitama, Japan, in what is a candidate for this years best fight. While that fight, where both men were knocked down several times, and Stann was knocked out cold for the first time in his career late in the second round, is entertaining for fans, it shook up Stann, who told Jon Anik and Kenny Florian after that he thought it was his last fight.
Ironically, that was something he wasnt even considering beforehand, where he targeted fighting for another three or four years.
I probably still would be fighting, Stann said to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour about what his reaction would be had he won that fight. Its a very fair question. Sometimes it takes losses to see things in a different way.
But it really dated back to when his brother-in-law committed suicide. His family, particularly his mother-in-law, who lives with him, and his wife, Teresa, a former cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles, are still not fully over it. Stann felt he needed to be with his family, and could no longer put all of his focus into fighting, and in particular, spending two months away from his family each fight and going to Greg Jacksons camp in Albuquerque.
Instead, he put together his own camp in Atlanta, where he lives. But being the head coach and leader of the room wasnt a way for him to improve and to be as successful. He recognized he wasnt as good as he had been when being completely focused and training in Albuquerque, but felt leaving his family was not an option.
He also had lost two straight fights, to Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva. He felt he couldnt rebound from that to get into championship contention unless he went to Albuquerque. That would be a long road back to the top with no guarantees.
If I was to continue, I think I would run the risk of long-term health problems and that would be very irresponsible for me as a husband and a father. Ive maintained a full-time job the entire time I was a fighter because things like this can happen. Ive got some other options. I think its time to focus more on them.
He noted things had started taking a toll on his body. When he was younger, hed take punches regularly with no effect. For the Silva fight, he cut his sparring down from twice a week to once a week because of headaches.
Ive never been knocked unconscious until the Wanderlei Silva fight, but as you get older, your start to notice things. Early in your career, you cant take punches in sparring and in fights that dont faze you. Over time, youre sparring with better people, you start to have headaches, and you realize this isnt the best thing for your health.
He said in reality, based on his fighting style, which is to trade punches in the middle, that his career of eight years was about as long as it was going to be.
My fighting style, Im not going to change that, he said. When you pay me and book me for a fight, Im going to fight. I can take guys down, but thats not who I am. I have no issue standing in the center and throwing. Its not a healthy fighting style. Its not going to give you a long career. Its going to give you a career as long as the one I had. I want to be functional and I want to be able to provide for my daughters. When I look at the videos of Muhammad Ali and some of the guys hes fought, Im not going to allow that to be me.
But even with all that, he was planning on going on until being shocked by the loss. He said he had pretty well made up his mind not to fight again a few months back, and told Dana White about two weeks ago.
It never crossed my mind that I would lose that fight (to Silva),: he said. You have to make yourself feel that way as a fighter. You have to make yourself mentally invincible. I encountered some health problems in training that were very frustrating. I thought I would be fighting for another three or four years. Thats legitimately what I thought, but when you have a fight like that, that night, after getting out of the hospital, I was so disappointed.
I looked at the amount of time Id invested, how hard I trained, because when you train for a fight, a large percentage of your mind is 100 percent devoted to the fight. Even on our off days, taking the kids to the park, you cant get it out of your mind. It takes away from your ability to learn new things in life. I dont read as much as I used to. For me, when I lost that fight, it was time. Ultimately I have to provide for my wife and children.
Stann had been working on pre and post-fight shows on both Fuel and as a FOX analyst. Those at the network were impressed by how hard he had worked in preparation. At Fuel, the network said it was amazed at how many of the fighters were able to transition so well to broadcasting and analysis by percentage of compared to sports like football. Stann, along with Chael Sonnen and Dominick Cruz, were always mentioned as the standouts.
He had done an audition in Atlanta for the position as analyst for Fox Sports South for football this fall. Stann was a star football player in high school, who went on to play at the Naval Academy as a middle linebacker.
Hes also the President and CEO of Hire Heroes USA, an organization that assists veterans leaving the service to get jobs. The WWE is a major supporter of the organization as Vince McMahon personally was impressed by Stanns presentation, and felt he would rather sponsor his project than one that was higher profile.
After Stann graduated from the Naval Academy, he was assigned to the Marine Corps and rose to the level of captain, and won a silver star in combat in 2005 for directing his unit, that had been ambushed in Iraq, and was under heavy attack for six days, out of trouble with no losses.
He began fighting in 2006 while still in the Marines. He had one pro fight, winning via knockout, when he was booked on the June 15, 2006, WEC show in Highland, CA, where he scored a 16 second knockout of Miguel Cosio.
When the UFC purchased WEC later that year, largely as a way of keeping a rival promotion from getting a television deal with Versus (since UFC had an exclusive deal with Spike), Stann, along with Urijah Faber, became the backbones of the promotion as it hit television.
He won the light heavyweight title, knocking out Doug Marshall in 1:35, on March 26, 2008, but was stopped at 4:01 of the second round in his first title defense against Steve Cantwell.
He fought 11 times in the organization, going 6-5.
The UFC 164 main event on 8/31 in Milwaukee is now Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis for the lightweight title in a rematch of one of the best fights of the past five years. Pettis, who is from Milwaukee, replaces T.J. Grant, who suffered a concussion training BJJ one month back, had stopped training, and when he didnt feel his brain was ready to start back this week, which would give him six weeks of training before the title fight, he pulled out. A lot of guys would have still fought. Grant said he himself would have fought the fight on a knee injury, but not on a brain injury. Guys like him who get title shots that fall apart are never guaranteed getting another one when they recover, particularly with guys like Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson in the division. Pettis hit Henderson with the Showtime kick, running up the cage, springing off and nailing a back pedaling Henderson with a kick to the side of the head, which knocked Henderson down. The fight was even going into the fifth round, and while Pettis probably would have won the round either way, the kick clinched it and gave Pettis the WEC lightweight title. It was Hendersons only loss in his last 18 fights. Well, at least only loss on his record, because he was very lucky to get decisions in fights with Frankie Edgar (the second one where I had Edgar), Gilbert Melendez (I had Melendez) and the first Donald Cerrone fight. Both have improved significantly since that fight, on December 16, 2010, in the final WEC show, held in Glendale, AZ, where Henderson lives. Now Henderson has a chance to avenge the defeat in Pettis home town. This was one of those occasions where a main event falling out leads to a stronger fight, at least for most of North America. Grant as challenger was clearly stronger in Canada, although I dont know that either fight was going to do significantly different business on PPV. In theory, Pettis should sell tickets in Milwaukee going for the title in his home town. Id think Pettis would be a stronger contender on PPV than Grant because hes been a star longer and a lot of people know about the first fight. I think its just a little over a baseline fight, but well see if two straight title fights on FOX have helped Henderson as a PPV draw. His lone PPV defense against Franke Edgar did not do well.
As expected, Dana White has now said that they are keeping the pay structure exactly as it has been, with the base salary, discretionary bonuses and the $50,000 best submission, KO and best match bonuses. He cited talking to fighters and thats what they wanted. When there were complaints from fighters about pay, White said that they were thinking about doing away with all bonuses if people wanted to use that money to increase undercard pay.
The 8/26 main event for Manchester, England is now Mark Munoz vs. Michael Bisping. At various times over the past month there had been consideration to Cung Le (who had been talked with about it and Im guessing that ended when they wanted him to coach TUF China instead), Costa Philippou, Tim Kennedy (I dont know how serious but I do know the name was broached to Bisping and was in a discussion, Bisping legitimately doesnt like Kennedy and the feeling was it would be easy to promote because Kennedy if insulted will respond back in kind) and now Munoz. I call this one the last chance and its a tough fight for both of them. Munozs wrestling looked great the last time out and his conditioning was at his best. Hes 35 and cant afford another loss. Bisping, if he loses, is likely out of the title picture for good and will wind up with the record he desperately never wanted, which is most career wins in UFC without ever getting a championship match. And in his case, its not a Jon Fitch situation (Fitch even got one) where there was a style issue or he was unfairly passed over. Bisping was put in position to get a title match several times, but in every case (Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort) lost the last match before hed have gotten the shot. With 14 wins inside the UFC, Bisping has more career wins than anyone in history who hasnt gotten a title shot. Chris Leben and Gleison Tibau each have 12, but Leben is because hes has 21 fights, which means nine losses and Tibau has had seven losses.
Georges St-Pierre spoke to Sports Net in Canada and said the he wanted Johny Hendricks to agree to do VADA drug testing (significantly more extensive than the drug testing done by the athletic commissions) for their 11/16 fight. I invite all high-profile athletes in the UFC to do the same. I believe its a good thing. Its a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes, but I believe to make the sport (fairer), Im ready to do it to set a good example. VADA drug testing would be blood and urine, testing for GH (which I still think is largely a fraud), and you have to be in contact with them the entire time in camp, and when they come to your door, you leave a sample that instant, none of this delaying or anything like that, and you get no warning when they are coming. Hendricks quickly agreed to it.
Nick Diaz contacting Dana White about fighting may be as much about financial issues as anything. His War MMA show on 6/22 in Stockton looks like it only did a $50,000 house, which is horrible for a 12,000-seat arena. Diazs promotion never gave the California State Athletic Commission the ticket breakdown on the show within the required five days, but Executive Director Andy Foster said to MMA Junkie that, he basically paid half of what he owes. Its not like he fell off the planet. Hes been communicating. If they dont pay us in the next week or so, Ill probably have to move to plan B, which maybe says we might have to assess a penalty, but I have full confidence that they will pay.
Because the name Fox Sports 1 1 for a show is kind of cumbersome, UFC looks like they are going to call the shows UFC Fight Night 1, Fight Night 2, etc. Thats not to be confused with the old Spike shows which were Ultimate Fight Night 1, Ultimate Fight Night 2.
(I don't understand why they need to number shows)
MMAJunkie ran a story noting of all the major sports leagues, UFC spent more on lobbying in 2012 than anyone but the NFL. UFC spent $620,000, well ahead of the third place PGA at $380,000. The NFL spent $1.14 million. The NBA only spent $125,000. In 2011, UFC spent $410,000. The money was spent trying to legalize the sport, as well as trying to push Congress for tougher laws in intellectual property rights, most notably people who illegally stream PPVs. They are pushing for stronger enforcement of copyright laws, and upping punishment for offenders. That is going to be one long fight because Congress got spooked on legislation regarding the Internet because of the reaction to SOPA.
In what is probably some type of a game, Tito Oritz was teasing the idea of making a comeback and noted he was at the Bellator headquarters. He said hed decide in five months. Oritzs body is in really bad shape due to injuries, with a fused neck and fused back. His record in the last six years speaks for itself, with one win, over Ryan Bader, since his last Ken Shamrock win in 2006. At 38, fighting is something he should not be thinking about.
After 8/10, the World Series of Fighting will run on NBC Sports Network on 9/14 in a show from Atlantic City headlined by Anthony Johnson vs. Mike Kyle at light heavyweight. Both originally trained out of San Jose, but Johnson has moved on to the Blackzillians in South Florida.
The proposed Ken Shamrock vs. Ian Freeman match on 7/27 in Doncaster, England is off. Shamrocks side of the story is that he had signed for the fight and had reached an agreement to get the money paid in front installments that would be put in an escrow account that neither could touch until after the fight ended. Shamrock, 49, claimed he was supposed to get a payment on 6/1 and on 7/1, and when the advance payments didnt come, he pulled out of the fight. He claimed he was only responding because the promoter called him a coward for pulling out of the fight. Freeman, 42, claimed Shamrock was a coward and a thief, saying he accepted the fight, demanded a $5,000 deposit, which was sent, and is now not returning the money. Freeman said Shamrock demanded his fight money in advance to be sent to an American bank. Shamrock, you are f***ing delusional. What promoter pays a fighter before he fights, and with your track record of being a bum, Im not surprised the promoter said `No. Freeman said that hes just making excuses because he didnt want to fight, and claimed Shamrock made a video interview pulling out of the fight before even telling the promoter he was out. At last word, Freeman was still fighting on the show.
Shamrock hasnt fought since November, 2010, when he suffered a leg injury 2:00 into a fight with Mike Bourne in Durban, South Africa.
Apparently Ken and Frank Shamrock are now working on some sort of a project together. While the actual project wasnt revealed, it sounds like a sit down interview with the two of them like a Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels deal where they discuss all their past issues and ended up mending fences, or at least that is part of it. Both brothers and a few promoters were working on a fight between the two, which looked like it would happen about six years ago. CBS had a falling out with Ken over his cut right before the Kimbo Slice fight after holding them up for money and wouldnt do business with him after that. It was just one of those ideas that they never could put together.
Jens Pulver, 38, UFCs first champion at 155 pounds, who remains active, is headlining a show on 11/12 in Gothenburg, Sweden, facing Sami Aziz, a 40-year-old who represented Sweden at 136 pounds in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Aziz hasnt fought in three years, since a loss to former Japanese circuit star Joachim Hansen. He also fought in 2009 for Bellator, losing via armbar to Fabio Mello.
Carina Damm, 33, was suspended for six months by the Ohio Athletic Commission for providing a urine sample that turned out not to be urine before a 6/1 fight in Cleveland against Jessica Eye. How she expected to get away with that, I have no idea. Damm had been suspended in 2008 in California for testing positive for the steroid Nandrolone (Decadurabolin). What makes this case interesting is that she has a fight scheduled in Brazil in July, and whether she will be allowed to fight now that Brazil has an MMA commission. In 2008, while suspended in the U.S., she fought twice in Brazil. To me, it speaks volumes about promoters who will use a fighter under a steroid suspension, particularly a woman fighter.
Can Crusher
Banned
lol there's no way "TJ Grant" is getting a title shot without another win or three now that one of his rolling partners has cashed in the bounty on his head.
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