PRIDE isn't back
Even though he purchased PRIDE earlier this year, White insinuated the Japanese-based promotion is essentially history. White said the PRIDE brand was "tainted," referring to the alleged mob involvement of its previous ownership group that cost the promotion its television outlet in Japan.
"(The Japanese) don't want another (mixed martial arts) organization over there," White said. "That company was in trouble. We went in and bought it out with every intention of keeping PRIDE alive. (Japan) is a very tricky place to do business.
"The problem is PRIDE was never a big company in the United States and I'm not going to drop another $44 million to try and straighten it out. We kept running the Japanese offices over there and it didn't work out."
While such an investment seems frivolous on the surface, UFC's purchase of PRIDE allowed White to pick and choose which competitors he wanted to re-sign and essentially kept those fighters off the market from other promoters looking to gain a foothold in the MMA world. Two of PRIDE's biggest stars �" Dan Henderson and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson �" will headline UFC's next major show September 8 in London, England.
UFC_Couture said:I love free PPV's though, I hope UFC continues to do them, and possibly more often. It's a great way to draw new viewers. They should really try to do 3-4 of these a year, it would be great. They may suffer some revenue loss, but they'll gain a ton in promotion and new viewers.
dskillzhtown said:Dana has said he is committed to a few free PPVs a year forever. That is what he says anyway. I do tend to believe him as he knows free, well cable TV, is what blew up UFC and MMA this time around in the first place.
OokieSpookie said:I have to call bullshit on this on a few accounts.
A) how in the fuck are they protecting Bisping?
This is the match that SHOULD have happened in TUF, and as such people have been wanting and waiting for this for some time. Hamill is not some jobber that they are throwing at him.
B) How would it be degrading when Hamill is a fan favorite and gets huge crowd support, as well as being built up during TUF by Tito and Dana and others as being a huge talent and capable of anything and one of the next up and coming stars?
The only people who would see it is degrading are inbred fucking hypocrites who will get all offended at someone throwing racial slurs and shit but think that it is funny to do the same thing to the deaf or handicapped.
And nobody gives a flying fuck about their opinions .
I agree!dskillzhtown said:This is a damned good hype special on Spike tonight.
Ned Flanders said:
*doesn't hear you*
dskillzhtown said:This is a damned good hype special on Spike tonight.
dskillzhtown said:Dana has said he is committed to a few free PPVs a year forever. That is what he says anyway. I do tend to believe him as he knows free, well cable TV, is what blew up UFC and MMA this time around in the first place.
Ned Flanders said:Who the hell said anything about the WWE? If perception means nothing, then why is such great care being taken to protect guys like Bisping? If perception means nothing, then why was Babalu ran out of the UFC for being boo'd for perceivably poor sportsmanship, and why is Arlovski being blacklisted for mailing in his fight against Werdum?
The fact is, people would view a loss to a deaf Hamill as somehow more degrading to Bisping than a loss to a hearing Hamill. I'm not saying its right, but thats the way the world works, much in the same way a fighter could never live down a loss to an opponent with a severed limb or a missing eye. I would like to see it simply because it would be an especially abrupt way to end the scripted ascension to glory written for Bisping. The "mumbling retard" statement was just an exceptionally abrasive way of communicating that point. I never once bashed Hamill's ability, and I won't apologize for being abrasive.
BTW, many have already compared organizations protecting fighters (Pride handing cans to Wand/having non-title fights for champions, Dana protecting Huerta and Bisping etc) to the WWE already..
Timedog said:Words, words, more meaningless words. QUIT MAKING FUN OF A STAND UP GUY THAT HAPPENS TO BE DEAF. That's not needed AT ALL.
dem said:probably doesnt belong in THIS thread...
but Ryo Chonan is fighting in the UFC at welterweight. Unless he meant Pride welterweight.. which is ufc middleweight. He should be able to make 170...
Karo vs Chonan??
That is fine, hate him for that and hope Bisping clubs him like a seal but the deaf shit that was put out in this thread is crap.dem said:i actually hear Hamill is kind of a dick.
Before TUF people were posting that he was like.. a racist homophobe asshole.. :lol
whytemyke said:where's boogie?
Boogie said:Boogie's a little busy for the next few months:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174023
Though I should be able to catch this one on the weekend.
And if Fedor signs I shall squeal like a little schoolgirl.
Eggo said:If Fedor stares down Crocop or Couture at ringside, that is my new desktop.
dem said:i actually hear Hamill is kind of a dick.
dem said:It will be on tape delay because its in London... otherwise it would be on in the afternoon.
which means stay off of sherdog tomorrow afternoon.
Timedog said:yeah i'm staying off Sherdog and even wrestling websites since they seem to be picking up on UFC stuff lately. And for gods sake, nobody post early spoilers in this thread!
Stoney Mason said:Thx.
I'm surprised they are doing the Rampage Henderson fight so quickly. Seems like something they could have milked out better but a great match never the less.
dskillzhtown said:I agree, Dana doesn't seem to grasp the concept of building towards a match or building anticipation.
dskillzhtown said:I agree, Dana doesn't seem to grasp the concept of building towards a match or building anticipation.
radiuhm said:Ortiz vs Shamrock 2 says "Hi"
Dana can promote a fight with a lot of hype, I just think the big problem with this one is, not many US casual fans know Hendo, or Cro Cop, the undercard is pretty weak too compared to past PPVs. Man I can't wait to see my all time fave Cro Cop win his fight.
With how excited you are, I'll have to stay off this thread too.dem said:It will be on tape delay because its in London... otherwise it would be on in the afternoon.
which means stay off of sherdog tomorrow afternoon.
My guess is that they want to promote the LHW division and not just two fighters here. At the 75.ufc.com site, there's a list of all the notable LHWs under ufc contract. There is no way to be sure which LHW will come out on top in this stacked division. By promoting the division and letting the fighters fight it out, they are building towards an undisputed #1 fighter in the LHW division.dskillzhtown said:I agree, Dana doesn't seem to grasp the concept of building towards a match or building anticipation.
Stoney Mason said:I think the answer then is that you build him up and promote him. After this fight for the casual fan either Rampage or Henderson will seem like a lot of hype. (unless it's a great fight)
Bishman said:And Rampage has never technically never been knocked out
I picked this fight to go to a decision but it really wouldn't suprised me to see a knock out. I don't think Chuck was knocked out before his last match either.Bishman said:It seems like there is a lack of hype for Rampage vs Henderson fight. It is going to be a war. Henderson has never been knocked out. And Rampage has never technically never been knocked out (hell... it took like 50+ knees to the chin to finally take Rampage down.)
Gotta respect them for stepping up and fighting bigger guys. People seem to forget Chuck, Wand, Shogun, Tito, etc. all walk around at about ~225 lbs.Cro Cop coming in light at 220 (as usual), and Henderson actually made it over 200 this time (204)
UFC_Couture said:Unfortunately this will be the last fight from a PRIDE organization standpoint ever - once this PPV is over, PRIDE's titles will be defunct, and PRIDE will be history once and for all unfortunately: