MMA/UFC/PRIDE/K-1 discussion thread

Fozzy

If Arlovski hasn't signed a new deal then it's in the UFC's best interest not to have him on the main card. He might fight a really impressive fight and be worth more to whichever promotion signs him afterwards

Barnett is fighting Yoshida on World Victory Road's first event in March

Mark Coleman is getting inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 82 too, it's in his hometown. I remember hearing last year that he wanted to fight one more fight in the UFC, I wonder if there's any chance of that happening now?

The blackballin of Arllovski really has gotten to me. The UFC is makin so so much money off these guys and they cant pay Andrei what hes worth (and he is worth it, most casual fans i know love the guy, hes a big draw)

I kinda do want to see a different promotion come up and REALLY rival the UFC and i think that with barnett, AA, Randy (sort of), Fedor, Gomi, Lindland, Arona, Lil Nog, hunt (who has no signedf with a pro rasslin promotion) and a few other top guys (mainly Asian lightweights) out there and NOT in UFC there is always hope.

Fozzy

Deleted User wrote: »

The blackballin of Arllovski really has gotten to me. The UFC is makin so so much money off these guys and they cant pay Andrei what hes worth (and he is worth it, most casual fans i know love the guy, hes a big draw)

The UFC also puts a ton of money into promoting their business and making it possible for the fighters to earn more money. If they paid the guys more then they'd be less able to promote themselves and their events. We don't know what kind of demands Arlovski made either. Maybe he demanded something that the UFC felt was unreasonable

Deleted User wrote: »

I kinda do want to see a different promotion come up and REALLY rival the UFC and i think that with barnett, AA, Randy (sort of), Fedor, Gomi, Lindland, Arona, Lil Nog, hunt (who has no signedf with a pro rasslin promotion) and a few other top guys (mainly Asian lightweights) out there and NOT in UFC there is always hope.

There's not hope until a promotion with big money gets a good tv deal. Otherwise the average fan won't be interested. PRIDE did woeful buyrates the times they came to the US, and that wasn't for lack of starpower

audacity

Let's be realistic for a second here..

Without my expertise, the UFC would be NOTHING..

I have had all those carnts you're talking about.

Crocop??!! Don't make me laugh.. he sucked on ma d for a cheeseburger yo!!

I'll cage fight all you mutherfunsters!

Dragan

audacity wrote: »

Let's be realistic for a second here..

Without my expertise, the UFC would be NOTHING..

I have had all those carnts you're talking about.

Crocop??!! Don't make me laugh.. he sucked on ma d for a cheeseburger yo!!

I'll cage fight all you mutherfunsters!

Interesting addition to the conversation.

Bored much?

Fozzy

Fozzy wrote: »

The UFC also puts a ton of money into promoting their business and making it possible for the fighters to earn more money. If they paid the guys more then they'd be less able to promote themselves and their events. We don't know what kind of demands Arlovski made either. Maybe he demanded something that the UFC felt was unreasonable

Absolutely but if u look at their annual turnover it shows that they are makin obscene profits relative to what they are paying out. Andrei held their HW div together single handedly for what a year or two, i think he earned some $$$$$$.

Fozzy wrote:

There's not hope until a promotion with big money gets a good tv deal. Otherwise the average fan won't be interested. PRIDE did woeful buyrates the times they came to the US, and that wasn't for lack of starpower

Yes i agree but if they could get Randy couture on board then they have one of the most popular fighters in MMA to market their show. At the moment theres no org even close to the UFC but I think it would be best for the sport if there was at least some realistic competition.

Fozzy

Deleted User wrote: »

Absolutely but if u look at their annual turnover it shows that they are makin obscene profits relative to what they are paying out. Andrei held their HW div together single handedly for what a year or two, i think he earned some $$$$$$.

UFC don't make their turnover and finances public, do they? I've never seen any reliable figures. It doesn't help when you've got guys like Tito telling obvious lies about them either!

Some competition would be nice, but I don't see any on the horizon. Shamrock vs Shamrock has the best chance of attracting a decent audience for a show in the foreseeable future, I think only Couture could rival that in a non-UFC promotion but he won't be fighting for a good while. But they're just one-off events. I think EXC would have the best chance of competing on some level with the UFC, but only if they get a good tv deal

dunkamania

Tito vs Shamrock has alot of draw potential, it would be a better matchup then Shamrock vs Shamrock.

cowzerp

dunkamania wrote: »

Tito vs Shamrock has alot of draw potential, it would be a better matchup then Shamrock vs Shamrock.

No way, The 2 shamrocks fighting would be huge! Ken trained frank and they are not speaking now and dont get on! this would be a grudge match and also an exciting fight imo..

Dragan

Personally the best chance of running agains the UFC is, for me, BoDog fight......they have all the money in the world they just need a proper man in charge and to stop being a pet project for Calvin Ayre.

Massive potential for the fighters they could bring in and the deals they could agree to.

Fozzy

I hadn't thought about Tito vs Frank, but that could be a big fight too. Tito, Frank and Ken have always been great at promoting their fights and any combination between them would be more likely to get more people watching than non-UFC shows usually get

Fozzy

It doesn't look like Werdum actually is getting a title shot next, UFC said that someone misquoted Dana in Newcastle. In that case I think they've got to go with Mir

dunkamania

Dragan wrote: »

Personally the best chance of running agains the UFC is, for me, BoDog fight......they have all the money in the world they just need a proper man in charge and to stop being a pet project for Calvin Ayre.

Massive potential for the fighters they could bring in and the deals they could agree to.

Bodog arent known for putting on the quality shows, I would put EliteXC before them, Mark Cubans HDNet is also in the mix.

In all likelihood, the challenge to the UFC will come from a different business model, promoters sharing fighters to put on events as opposed to operating on their own.

Dragan

dunkamania wrote: »

In all likelihood, the challenge to the UFC will come from a different business model, promoters sharing fighters to put on events as opposed to operating on their own.

Seems to be the way it's going alright. Haven't Bodog , EliteXC and CageRage all done a joint event in the past and a bit of co-promotion?

Vince135792003

Fozzy wrote: »

It doesn't look like Werdum actually is getting a title shot next, UFC said that someone misquoted Dana in Newcastle. In that case I think they've got to go with Mir

I think it's the smarter move to go with Mir. However, I heard that press conference and I'm 99% sure Dana said that Werdum was next in line!

Dragan

Vince135792003 wrote: »

I think it's the smarter move to go with Mir. However, I heard that press conference and I'm 99% sure Dana said that Werdum was next in line!

I don't think Mir deserves a shot myself. But thats just me. Don't get me wrong, i'd love to see him work his way back up to the belt....Mir was the first big guy to get me excited about BJJ, but i just don't think he's even close to ready for Nog.

dunkamania

Nog is a terrible matchup for Mir, but that bout could be more about legitamising Nog than building Mir up, defnitely a bigger draw than Werdum, Americans arent gonna watch a PPV of 2 Brasilains they barely know

Fozzy

Vince135792003 wrote: »

I think it's the smarter move to go with Mir. However, I heard that press conference and I'm 99% sure Dana said that Werdum was next in line!

I got that bit off a post by Meltzer on the Wrestling Classics board a couple of days ago. He said that the UFC told him that Dana was misquoted and he's obviously very close to the UFC so even if Dana did say that, they seem to want to ignore it now

I don't think Mir deserves a shot based on his wins/losses. But in terms of business I think he absolutely does. He's never been as big a star as he is now and if he loses his next fight then he might never be as big a star again

cletus

Posted by MMA Junkie on February 8, 2008 at 5:19 pm ET

Fedor EmelianenkoSaying he will no longer permit Dana White to disparage him, former PRIDE heavyweight champion and famed Russian fighter Fedor Emelianenko has fired back and penned an open letter to the UFC’s head president and challenged him to allow a fight with UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture or interim champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

The letter was today sent to MMA.junkie.com (www.mma.junkie.com) and posted on m1mixfight.com, the website of Emelianenko’s management team.

Ever since the UFC tried — and failed — to sign Emelianenko, White has continually blasted Emelianenko, questioning his fighting ability, world ranking and his quality of opponents. In an October 2007 press conference, White even went as far as saying that Emelianenko “sucks” and that “Fedor isn’t even a top-five heavyweight let alone (ranked) top pound-for-pound (fighter).“

The 31-year-old Emelianenko, who held the PRIDE Fighting Championships’ heavyweight belt for more than four years before the organization’s eventual demise this past summer, is a career 27-1. Although he’s defeated some of the most notable fighters in the sport — including current UFC fighters Nogueira, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Heath Herring — he’s fought few (if any) top-tier guys in recent years.

Emelianenko recently turned down an offer to fight exclusively for the UFC, saying the contract was too restrictive, and instead signed with the recently restructured M-1 Global organization.

However, he still wants to challenge the UFC’s best, including Couture, who resigned from the organization in October for what he perceived to be a lack of respect from UFC executives, as well as the UFC’s inability to sign Emelianenko, whom he wants to fight before retiring.

As Emelianenko wrote (keep in mind it’s been translated by a third party):

Numerous times have I read mister White’s statements on Internet concerning myself. In my opinion, allowing yourself to say those things is not a sign of a gentleman or a grown man at all! If he candidly wants to prove himself right then let my fight with Randy happen or let me face the reigning UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In the future I wouldn’t want to hear those statements in my address ever again and I won’t tolerate that.

My last fight in Japan proved that I’m ready to fight anybody with any height advantage, skillset or experience. I have fought and still wish to fight the best athletes. The Randy fight is my goal number one right now, he’s a great fighter and this is a very unfortunate situation when too strict and one-sided UFC contracts don’t let this fight happen.

The whole world is eager to see me fight your champions, people don’t want to listen to your press-conferences. I’m signed with M-1 Global and this promotion is ready to organize such fights under our banner or in co-promoted events.

Vince135792003

cletus wrote: »

Fedor: The Randy fight is my goal number one right

Which is why he signed with UFC in September to fight Randy.

... oh wait.


Stole off another board but it sums up my feelings entirely. The fight was there for him. He was offered seriously big money. And he/manager turned it down.

Fozzy

To me it reads like another statement from M-1, trying to goad the UFC into working with them. That's never going to happen, the UFC don't need to do that at all. And right now M-1 is basically just Fedor's management. They haven't signed any other fighters or made any plans to hold any events. It's sad really

dunkamania

The Fedor statment is step in trying to force UFC to come to the table, unlikely to work, Dana is slightly hardheaded.

If Fedor's previous statement is true, regarding the terms set by the UFC in their negotiations with him, then he was right to walk as it was unfair.

Fozzy

dunkamania wrote: »

If Fedor's previous statement is true, regarding the terms set by the UFC in their negotiations with him, then he was right to walk as it was unfair.

You mean the one where he said that if he lost a match the UFC could cancel his contract? Do you really think that the UFC would have done that if he had won three fights and then lost one? If he went in and lost three fights then I'd understand the UFC wanting to get out of paying him so much, but that's hardly unfair on Fedor

dunkamania

A little more to it then that, UFC had the option of exteding his contract as long as they wanted, but the real sticking point appears to have been not allowing him to compete in combat sambo. My understanding is, that they came to an agreement, but when the contract arrived, it was very different from what was agreed.

Depends who you believe really

Vince135792003

dunkamania wrote: »

Depends who you believe really

I don't believe Vladimir Finklestein (Fedor's representative).

cletus

thought you guys might be interested in the payroll for UFC 81, given Brocks presence

http://www.mmafightline.com/news/200...c_315420.shtml

Below is the official UFC 81 fighter payouts according to the NSAC:

The total fighter payroll - $892,000.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($200,000) def. Tim Sylvia ($100,000)

Frank Mir ($80,000) def. Brock Lesnar ($250,000)

Nate Marquardt ($52,000) def. Jeremy Horn ($25,000)

Ricardo Almeida ($40,000) def. Rob Yundt ($5,000)

Tyson Griffin ($36,000) def. Gleison Tibau ($11,000)

Chris Lytle ($24,000) def. Kyle Bradley ($4,O00)

Tim Boetsch ($12,000) def. David Heath ($6,000)

Marvin Eastman ($14,000) def. Terry Martin ($12,000)

Rob Emerson ($16,000) def. Keita Nakamura ($5,000)

*These numbers to not include "locker room" bonuses, sponsorship monies, or gate and/or PPV percentages.

dunkamania

Vince135792003 wrote: »

I don't believe Vladimir Finklestein (Fedor's representative).

I dont either, but I definitely dont believe Dana White

Dragan

Personally i believe about half of what i see, and less of what i hear.

I believe next to nothing on the net forums.

I don't really care about Randy and Fedor any more. They will fight who they fight, or they won't.

I won't be waiting around on tender hooks for either of them. Dozens of quality scraps take place each month and i'll be watching those guys.

Charlie3dan

I never checked what these guys were earning before but I'm amazed to see the difference in pay checks for different fighters. Why is there such a difference between Nog and Sylvia, is sylvia tied into a ****ty contract? I'd be pretty pissed if I was in the main event but was only making half the dough of the guy accross the octagon (I know it was Nog's debut so there was likely to be a big pay out).

Another report shows Chuck Lidell made 500k for his fight against Jardine who was paid 14k for the same fight?????

It's obviously partly down to success and popularity but does anyone know what the process is for agreeing the purse for each fight?

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Nogueira had already faught Heath Herring in the UFC before the Silvia fight. Not sure why the big difference, apart from Nog being the better draw.
Also Nog won the fight so that obviously had some effect.