Post by mysterydriver on Jul 26, 2007 22:07:20 GMT -5
- Michael Bisping was originally against the fight with Matt Hamill at UFC
75: CHAMPION vs. CHAMPION. Bisping feels he is now a main player in the
light heavyweight division and fighting Hamill, undefeated, but untested,
would be a step back for him.
That being said, Bisping recently said that Hamill "spent more time in
bandages than King Tut", in respect to their time as cast members on The
Ultimate Fighter 3.
During the filming of the third season, Bisping, upset with Hamill for
putting his fellow team mates at risk during the wrestling practices,
trapped Hamill on the ground during one of the practices and applied an
armbar. When Hamill stepped into the cage to fight Mike Nichols, the
damaged elbow made the arm all but useless. Hamill had to pull out of the
competition after the fight with Nichols.
- A change was made to The Ultimate Fighter qualifications for this past
season as well as the current season being filmed as I write this.
Perspective fighters for past TUF's, outside of the fourth season, could
not have a single fight in the UFC before applying. Now the UFC is
accepting those fighters that had one fight in the Octagon prior to
applying for the show. While done, I'm sure, to deepen the pool of
contestants, it does seemingly cheapen the competition. On the other hand,
any change to the show is a good one, as far as I am concerned.
- A return date for Brandon Vera in still in the air right now. Vera is
still trying to get out of his current contract with his manager. Until
the situation is resolved, Vera CAN NOT fight.
- In other Ultimate Fighter news, the idea of BJ Penn and Jens Pulver as
coaches was not the original plan for last season. In fact the original
idea was to have Jens Pulver coach against either Kenny Florian or Sean
Sherk, depending on who won the title. The idea was in the works WELL
BEFORE the fight for the UFC World Lightweight Championship, in October of
2006, at UFC 64: UNSTOPPABLE.
The plans hit a snag, though, when Pulver lost to Paul Lauzon via first
round knockout at UFC 63: HUGHES vs. PENN on September 23, 2006.
At that point, with BJ Penn having lost on the very same card to Matt
Hughes, the idea was hatched to have Penn and Pulver coach against each
other with the fight happening at the live finale. The winner of the fight
would then earn himself a shot at the 155lb championship, a fact kept very
close to the chest by the UFC prior to the fight.
- Dana White told reporters that without a TV deal, The PRIDE Fighting
Championships will not return. Zuffa, after making the deal final with
DSE, can now see just how crippled the PRIDE organization truly was after
they were dropped from Fuji Network on June 5, 2006. Almost overnight the
company began to hemorrhage money from one place or another. DSE
continued, though, to put on shows that cost millions to produce in an
effort to prove to the fans and public that nothing was wrong with the
promotion. Both the PRIDE events run inside the United States pulled
around 30,000 buys, a disappointment by any degree of measurement.
If a successful PRIDE show were to be run, a TV deal is a must. Millions
of dollars could be lost if a PRIDE show is done before the market place
is ready for it and Zuffa is not willing to lose that much money and get
zero for a return.
In the meantime, PRIDE fighters with exclusive contracts will be brought
into the UFC to fight and stay fresh.
The UFC is smart enough, though, to realize that they can only bring one
or two PRIDE fighters over at a time. The last thing anyone involved with
the UFC wants to do is make their newest investment look weak and
unimportant by flooding the UFC with PRIDE fighters, having many "fall
through the cracks".
- At the UFC 73: STACKED event in Sacramento, California, a young man by
the name Eraldo Cano fell to his death at 8:30PCT. While in the smoking
section, Cano jumped over a four foot retaining wall, expecting grass to
break his fall. Instead, he fell 30 feet to the ground. He was rushed by
ambulance to the UC Davis Medical Center where he died from his injuries
at 10:00PM PCT. Police ruled the death "Accidental" and believe that Cano
had no idea there was a 30 foot drop.
- While UFC 73: STACKED may have been a success by nearly all
measurements, Dave Meltzer is quick to point out that ESPN gave more press
to the Hot Dog eating contest than they did to the UFC Pay-Per-View event.
While this may be true of Sportscenter, ESPNews had a Live recap from Joe
Rogan and Mike Goldberg after the event was of the air as well as multiple
fight highlights throughout Sunday morning and throughout the day on
Sunday.
So, if you happen to miss a UFC Pay-Per-View, tune into ESPNews to see the
results.
- During the UFC 73 post fight press conference, Dana White was asked
about Josh Barnett, who that very morning had put a post on his website
stating that he was now a free agent.
White quipped that he hadn't been reading Barnett's website, but that the
lawyers from the UFC would have a different view of his free agency. Then
Joe Silva came up, whispered something to White, and then left. An
embarrassed White then told reporters that they had released Barnett from
his contract.
- And it seems that Dana White is doing it again...
It was originally reported that the UFC had nothing to do with booking
Marlon Sims vs. Noah Thomas (the two morons who fought in the house and
were kicked off the show) for TUF 5 Finale. Now White is claiming that
SPIKE TV pushed for it, the UFC accepted it, and then decided it was a bad
idea. White is now trying to paint a picture of "Fan Respect" in this
matter by saying that if you ask the average fan if they would like to see
them fight, they'd say "Yes". If you asked the same fans if the two
belonged in the UFC, they'd say "No".
Interesting...
- While the lid is on VERY tight around The Ultimate Fighter 6, it is
being reported that SPIKE TV is very happy with the material and it is
very clear that Hughes and Serra "hate" each other.
- Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch has been confirmed for UFC 76: KNOCKDOWN on
September 22, 2007.
In the last few weeks rumors have run rampant over who Sanchez would next
fight. Both potential opponents, Hayato Sakurai and BJ Penn, turned down
the fight.
- The UFC and Dana White are telling anyone who will listen that the big
UFC 75 show in London is already sold out. The only information available
is that 10,000 tickets were sold when the tickets went on sale. They are
currently having problems selling certain seats for reasons unknown.
- SPIKE TV will be doing a HUGE four hour Randy Couture marathon on August
23, two nights before the big UFC World Heavyweight Championship fight
with Couture defending against Gabriel Gonzaga. The marathon begins at
10:00PM EST with the UFC 68 main event (Couture vs. Sylvia) while the
countdown show airs at 11:00PM EST. That is followed by more Couture
fights.
At 1:00AM EST SPIKE TV will run a Pros vs. Joes episode in which Couture
participated.
- Quinton Jackson is going home to Memphis, where he was born and admired
Jerry "The King" Lawler, to begin his training. He will focus on his
wrestling and ground game while in Memphis.
- It seems that the Zuffa took a chunk of the money they have made in the
last year and paid off as many loans as they could. The loans were for the
period beginning in January of 2001 to 2004, when the sport began to pick
up steam. That was a period of constant guess work and concerns that the
UFC could fold if a string of bad luck hit the promotion.
- The new deal between SPIKE TV and the UFC, worth over $100 million
dollars, means that multiple seasons of TUF will be produced and run for
the extent of the contract, a fact not known as of now.
The deal means SPIKE TV will get more Live events and big-name fights.
This new phase begins on September 8, when the UFC will broadcast UFC 75:
CHAMPION vs. CHAMPION via six or seven hour tape delay.
This new deal, depending on the length of the deal, could be just as
lucrative as the USA Network deal with the WWE, which is worth $28 million
a year.
There is a concern, though, that MMA, and the UFC specifically, could be
reaching the end of it's current boom. It now seems as if the UFC is
leveling off, a fact seen in the ratings and buy rates.
- Keith Jardine vs. Chuck Liddell seems to be the brain child of Jardine
himself. Jardine has been pushing hard for this fight for some time and
even felt it should have been him and NOT Tito Ortiz that got the title
shot at UFC 66: LIDDELL vs. ORTIZ 2. That night, angry and arrogant,
Jardine took a trip on the International Space Station via a Houston
Alexander uppercut.
The fight is a win/win for Jardine as this is the biggest fight of his
career and, no matter what, it will be Jardine who walks out, win, lose,
or draw, with a bigger standing in MMA and the UFC after the fight. This
fight does little to change Liddell's position in the UFC, but a loss
would knock him off whatever perch he has himself in these days.
- After Wanderlei Silva pulled out of the fight with Liddell, Chuck was
presented with four possible opponents. Keith Jardine, "Shogun" Rua,
Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Lyoto Machida. Based on several factors, including
popularity and familiarity, the decision was made to go with Jardine.
It is not a very popular decision by most fans perspective.
- A November fight between Silva and Liddell is a near impossibility,
according to the UFC. The eight week turnaround and inability to properly
market the fight, make the fight impossible before December. If the fight
is meant to happen and the fighters want it to happen, it can be set for
the big year end show in Vegas; the same card when Serra and Hughes will
finally lock horns for the UFC World Welterweight Championship.
-Speaking of Serra/Hughes, Dave Meltzer is reporting that the fight was
moved to the December 29 date because the upcoming season of TUF would not
be over in time for them to fight in November, on the 17th.
- Ortiz/Evans 2 may be some time off. Ortiz has not agreed to the fight
even though he talked it up at the event. Ortiz has one fight left on his
current UFC contract and is battling a host of injuries, including a bad
back.
- The ESPY award for Best Fighter, which went to Floyd Mayweather Jr.,
wasn't shown on television and Quinton Jackson and Randy Couture, who were
both up for the same honor as Mayweather, weren't even shown or referenced
during the broadcast.
- The June 23rd TUF Live Finale pulled in a HUGE 20.8 rating in Hawaii. To
say that BJ Penn is popular in Hawaii would be an understatement. Dana
White, prompted by the HUGE rating for the event, told the Honolulu
Star-Bulletin that he expects to run a UFC show in the Aloha Stadium,
which seats 50,000 people, sometime in 2008 with Penn vs. Grove to be the
featured fight.
I'll believe it when I see it.
- Renato Sobral was arrested for battery and trespassing at 4:15AM on July
14. After the incident with the bouncer, Sobral posted the $1,000 bond six
hours later.
- Mirko "Cro Cop" will be making his Motion Picture debut in "Ultimate
Force", a staright-to-DVD release. The movie, scheduled for release on
October 9th, is patterned after the martial arts classic "Enter The
Dragon". BCI, the same company who puts out the PRIDE FC DVD's is
releasing the movie.
- The official PRIDE FC website, www.pridefc.com, has finally updated the
news board with UFC news. All links have been disabled outside of the link
to the over-priced online store.
75: CHAMPION vs. CHAMPION. Bisping feels he is now a main player in the
light heavyweight division and fighting Hamill, undefeated, but untested,
would be a step back for him.
That being said, Bisping recently said that Hamill "spent more time in
bandages than King Tut", in respect to their time as cast members on The
Ultimate Fighter 3.
During the filming of the third season, Bisping, upset with Hamill for
putting his fellow team mates at risk during the wrestling practices,
trapped Hamill on the ground during one of the practices and applied an
armbar. When Hamill stepped into the cage to fight Mike Nichols, the
damaged elbow made the arm all but useless. Hamill had to pull out of the
competition after the fight with Nichols.
- A change was made to The Ultimate Fighter qualifications for this past
season as well as the current season being filmed as I write this.
Perspective fighters for past TUF's, outside of the fourth season, could
not have a single fight in the UFC before applying. Now the UFC is
accepting those fighters that had one fight in the Octagon prior to
applying for the show. While done, I'm sure, to deepen the pool of
contestants, it does seemingly cheapen the competition. On the other hand,
any change to the show is a good one, as far as I am concerned.
- A return date for Brandon Vera in still in the air right now. Vera is
still trying to get out of his current contract with his manager. Until
the situation is resolved, Vera CAN NOT fight.
- In other Ultimate Fighter news, the idea of BJ Penn and Jens Pulver as
coaches was not the original plan for last season. In fact the original
idea was to have Jens Pulver coach against either Kenny Florian or Sean
Sherk, depending on who won the title. The idea was in the works WELL
BEFORE the fight for the UFC World Lightweight Championship, in October of
2006, at UFC 64: UNSTOPPABLE.
The plans hit a snag, though, when Pulver lost to Paul Lauzon via first
round knockout at UFC 63: HUGHES vs. PENN on September 23, 2006.
At that point, with BJ Penn having lost on the very same card to Matt
Hughes, the idea was hatched to have Penn and Pulver coach against each
other with the fight happening at the live finale. The winner of the fight
would then earn himself a shot at the 155lb championship, a fact kept very
close to the chest by the UFC prior to the fight.
- Dana White told reporters that without a TV deal, The PRIDE Fighting
Championships will not return. Zuffa, after making the deal final with
DSE, can now see just how crippled the PRIDE organization truly was after
they were dropped from Fuji Network on June 5, 2006. Almost overnight the
company began to hemorrhage money from one place or another. DSE
continued, though, to put on shows that cost millions to produce in an
effort to prove to the fans and public that nothing was wrong with the
promotion. Both the PRIDE events run inside the United States pulled
around 30,000 buys, a disappointment by any degree of measurement.
If a successful PRIDE show were to be run, a TV deal is a must. Millions
of dollars could be lost if a PRIDE show is done before the market place
is ready for it and Zuffa is not willing to lose that much money and get
zero for a return.
In the meantime, PRIDE fighters with exclusive contracts will be brought
into the UFC to fight and stay fresh.
The UFC is smart enough, though, to realize that they can only bring one
or two PRIDE fighters over at a time. The last thing anyone involved with
the UFC wants to do is make their newest investment look weak and
unimportant by flooding the UFC with PRIDE fighters, having many "fall
through the cracks".
- At the UFC 73: STACKED event in Sacramento, California, a young man by
the name Eraldo Cano fell to his death at 8:30PCT. While in the smoking
section, Cano jumped over a four foot retaining wall, expecting grass to
break his fall. Instead, he fell 30 feet to the ground. He was rushed by
ambulance to the UC Davis Medical Center where he died from his injuries
at 10:00PM PCT. Police ruled the death "Accidental" and believe that Cano
had no idea there was a 30 foot drop.
- While UFC 73: STACKED may have been a success by nearly all
measurements, Dave Meltzer is quick to point out that ESPN gave more press
to the Hot Dog eating contest than they did to the UFC Pay-Per-View event.
While this may be true of Sportscenter, ESPNews had a Live recap from Joe
Rogan and Mike Goldberg after the event was of the air as well as multiple
fight highlights throughout Sunday morning and throughout the day on
Sunday.
So, if you happen to miss a UFC Pay-Per-View, tune into ESPNews to see the
results.
- During the UFC 73 post fight press conference, Dana White was asked
about Josh Barnett, who that very morning had put a post on his website
stating that he was now a free agent.
White quipped that he hadn't been reading Barnett's website, but that the
lawyers from the UFC would have a different view of his free agency. Then
Joe Silva came up, whispered something to White, and then left. An
embarrassed White then told reporters that they had released Barnett from
his contract.
- And it seems that Dana White is doing it again...
It was originally reported that the UFC had nothing to do with booking
Marlon Sims vs. Noah Thomas (the two morons who fought in the house and
were kicked off the show) for TUF 5 Finale. Now White is claiming that
SPIKE TV pushed for it, the UFC accepted it, and then decided it was a bad
idea. White is now trying to paint a picture of "Fan Respect" in this
matter by saying that if you ask the average fan if they would like to see
them fight, they'd say "Yes". If you asked the same fans if the two
belonged in the UFC, they'd say "No".
Interesting...
- While the lid is on VERY tight around The Ultimate Fighter 6, it is
being reported that SPIKE TV is very happy with the material and it is
very clear that Hughes and Serra "hate" each other.
- Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch has been confirmed for UFC 76: KNOCKDOWN on
September 22, 2007.
In the last few weeks rumors have run rampant over who Sanchez would next
fight. Both potential opponents, Hayato Sakurai and BJ Penn, turned down
the fight.
- The UFC and Dana White are telling anyone who will listen that the big
UFC 75 show in London is already sold out. The only information available
is that 10,000 tickets were sold when the tickets went on sale. They are
currently having problems selling certain seats for reasons unknown.
- SPIKE TV will be doing a HUGE four hour Randy Couture marathon on August
23, two nights before the big UFC World Heavyweight Championship fight
with Couture defending against Gabriel Gonzaga. The marathon begins at
10:00PM EST with the UFC 68 main event (Couture vs. Sylvia) while the
countdown show airs at 11:00PM EST. That is followed by more Couture
fights.
At 1:00AM EST SPIKE TV will run a Pros vs. Joes episode in which Couture
participated.
- Quinton Jackson is going home to Memphis, where he was born and admired
Jerry "The King" Lawler, to begin his training. He will focus on his
wrestling and ground game while in Memphis.
- It seems that the Zuffa took a chunk of the money they have made in the
last year and paid off as many loans as they could. The loans were for the
period beginning in January of 2001 to 2004, when the sport began to pick
up steam. That was a period of constant guess work and concerns that the
UFC could fold if a string of bad luck hit the promotion.
- The new deal between SPIKE TV and the UFC, worth over $100 million
dollars, means that multiple seasons of TUF will be produced and run for
the extent of the contract, a fact not known as of now.
The deal means SPIKE TV will get more Live events and big-name fights.
This new phase begins on September 8, when the UFC will broadcast UFC 75:
CHAMPION vs. CHAMPION via six or seven hour tape delay.
This new deal, depending on the length of the deal, could be just as
lucrative as the USA Network deal with the WWE, which is worth $28 million
a year.
There is a concern, though, that MMA, and the UFC specifically, could be
reaching the end of it's current boom. It now seems as if the UFC is
leveling off, a fact seen in the ratings and buy rates.
- Keith Jardine vs. Chuck Liddell seems to be the brain child of Jardine
himself. Jardine has been pushing hard for this fight for some time and
even felt it should have been him and NOT Tito Ortiz that got the title
shot at UFC 66: LIDDELL vs. ORTIZ 2. That night, angry and arrogant,
Jardine took a trip on the International Space Station via a Houston
Alexander uppercut.
The fight is a win/win for Jardine as this is the biggest fight of his
career and, no matter what, it will be Jardine who walks out, win, lose,
or draw, with a bigger standing in MMA and the UFC after the fight. This
fight does little to change Liddell's position in the UFC, but a loss
would knock him off whatever perch he has himself in these days.
- After Wanderlei Silva pulled out of the fight with Liddell, Chuck was
presented with four possible opponents. Keith Jardine, "Shogun" Rua,
Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Lyoto Machida. Based on several factors, including
popularity and familiarity, the decision was made to go with Jardine.
It is not a very popular decision by most fans perspective.
- A November fight between Silva and Liddell is a near impossibility,
according to the UFC. The eight week turnaround and inability to properly
market the fight, make the fight impossible before December. If the fight
is meant to happen and the fighters want it to happen, it can be set for
the big year end show in Vegas; the same card when Serra and Hughes will
finally lock horns for the UFC World Welterweight Championship.
-Speaking of Serra/Hughes, Dave Meltzer is reporting that the fight was
moved to the December 29 date because the upcoming season of TUF would not
be over in time for them to fight in November, on the 17th.
- Ortiz/Evans 2 may be some time off. Ortiz has not agreed to the fight
even though he talked it up at the event. Ortiz has one fight left on his
current UFC contract and is battling a host of injuries, including a bad
back.
- The ESPY award for Best Fighter, which went to Floyd Mayweather Jr.,
wasn't shown on television and Quinton Jackson and Randy Couture, who were
both up for the same honor as Mayweather, weren't even shown or referenced
during the broadcast.
- The June 23rd TUF Live Finale pulled in a HUGE 20.8 rating in Hawaii. To
say that BJ Penn is popular in Hawaii would be an understatement. Dana
White, prompted by the HUGE rating for the event, told the Honolulu
Star-Bulletin that he expects to run a UFC show in the Aloha Stadium,
which seats 50,000 people, sometime in 2008 with Penn vs. Grove to be the
featured fight.
I'll believe it when I see it.
- Renato Sobral was arrested for battery and trespassing at 4:15AM on July
14. After the incident with the bouncer, Sobral posted the $1,000 bond six
hours later.
- Mirko "Cro Cop" will be making his Motion Picture debut in "Ultimate
Force", a staright-to-DVD release. The movie, scheduled for release on
October 9th, is patterned after the martial arts classic "Enter The
Dragon". BCI, the same company who puts out the PRIDE FC DVD's is
releasing the movie.
- The official PRIDE FC website, www.pridefc.com, has finally updated the
news board with UFC news. All links have been disabled outside of the link
to the over-priced online store.
Gerweck.net
Lot of stuff. I hope the UFC doesn't screw up Pride.
