General UFC Chit Chat/News

pauldoo

i doubt its bad news, if it was him sayin hes done it would be a press conference, hes doin it through twitter to get his twitter followers up and get some ufc bonueses, i guess come back date or hes comin out of the closet

Richy06

He's graaaaaand;

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/8/18/2370017/ufc-news-brock-lesnar-announces-return-health-update-heavyweight-championship

JoeyJJ

There is a special announcement at 1pm today on ufc.com presser called. I guess thats 6pm.

My Guess is Overeem to sign for ufc, can't think of any other news apart from Brock.

Zero-Cool

Wait....How cool would it be if the news was Uber was being signed and he's 1st fight would be against Brock!

scudzilla

Quote from Brock's Facebook page

He’s back!! Fusion Ammunition spokesperson Brock Lesnar reveals he’s healthy and ready to get his title back. In his first public appearance since his surgery in May, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion is feeling great. MMA fans can expect to see the heavyweight contender in the octagon again, Lesnar says “sooner than later.”

Richy06

I'd be fairly surprised if they gave him Overeem as his first fight back after such a major lay off.

Zero-Cool

Ya but after Overeems last performance, he's hardly gonna get a title shot. Well from UFC's point, i'm sure they are gonna give him someone handy and hopefully Reem destroys them to make him look good but eventually get KTFO by Cain. Speaking of, can't wait to see Cain and JDS!

DrPhilG

JoeyJJ wrote: »

There is a special announcement at 1pm today on ufc.com presser called. I guess thats 6pm.

My Guess is Overeem to sign for ufc, can't think of any other news apart from Brock.

They have reportedly finally done a network TV deal, with Fox.

DrPhilG

http://www.5thround.com/85764/watch-fox-sports-ufc-press-conference-live-today-at-10am-pt1pm-et/

fightireland

So does FOX = Sky Sports for us?

DrPhilG

Well as soon as the deal is confirmed, there'll either be some news released for the international broadcast deals, or Marshall Zelaznik's facebook page will be getting a battering.

I doubt it will affect the current deals as yet. Might have an impact on the next one though. Fox's FX channel in the US will be getting the likes of UFC Unleashed etc and possibly TUF, and as far as I know FX is also on Sky but no idea if they'll start showing UFC programming.

DrPhilG

fightireland wrote: »

So does FOX = Sky Sports for us?

Sorry, just re-read your post.

The only TV presence that Fox have in the UK/Ireland as far as I know is FX. So I don't think this will have any impact on how the UK or Ireland views UFC events.

Richy06

Yeah, separate deals so no effect in the short to medium term anyway I'd say.

DrPhilG

Richy06 wrote: »

Yeah, separate deals so no effect in the short to medium term anyway I'd say.

No affect on how we watch, but maybe an affect on what we watch?

Plenty of questions to be answered, so I might try to catch the press conference later.

The UFC have always held firm on their commentating team, will this stand or will we see a Fox commentator added to the ranks?

Will production be changed in any way?

The UFC's main income is PPVs, but obviously network TV brings a wider potential audience and increased sponsorship. How will they balance the need to stack the (rumoured) 4 Fox shows per year with the need to keep the PPV events attractive?

Richy06

Sure, that's what I meant. I wasn't going to speculate but all of the above are concerns. You also have to look at how long the deal is tied in for. Can FOX opt out if it's not going like they though or is the deal locked in for x amount of years before that can happen?
Will FOX want control of TUF from how it looks to who they get on the show? Will they want control of the production side of live events on their network? Lotsa questions.

DrPhilG

Richy06 wrote: »

Sure, that's what I meant. I wasn't going to speculate but all of the above are concerns. You also have to look at how long the deal is tied in for. Can FOX opt out if it's not going like they though or is the deal locked in for x amount of years before that can happen?
Will FOX want control of TUF from how it looks to who they get on the show? Will they want control of the production side of live events on their network? Lotsa questions.

All speculation so far until the deal is official, but I read rumours that the deal is for 7 or 8 years and Fox have the option to review after 3.

TUF certainly needs something to happen, the show has gone stale big time. Mind you Lesnar vs JDS backfired on the UFC a bit because Brock and JDS got on so well while Miller vs Bisping is bound to be different.

Production control has always been one of the biggest stumbling blocks for the network deal in the past so I'd be surprised if the UFC gives in much in that respect.

the_doctor199

Some changes coming to TUF as part of the new Fox deal.

The most significant changes may come to TUF, which will take place over a 12-week time frame and include live fights each week. As part of the deal, TUF will be moved to Friday nights. Each episode will feature taped footage from the four to five days prior, but the match between advancing fighters will be live. In addition to that, coaches will conduct their own training camps during the time and then fight at the end of the season.

Fights will now be decided by the public too, rather than the coaches.

El Guapo!

the_doctor199 wrote: »

Fights will now be decided by the public too, rather than the coaches.

Not sure I like this idea at all.

You'll have people getting the whole town/city to vote for their friend/family member. And people will vote for their favourite character rather than who won the fights.

DrPhilG

Dean09 wrote: »

Not sure I like this idea at all.

You'll have people getting the whole town/city to vote for their friend/family member. And people will vote for their favourite character rather than who won the fights.

Think you missed the point there...

The public vote is to choose the matchups, not who won a decision.

Minstrel27

DrPhilG wrote: »

Think you missed the point there...

The public vote is to choose the matchups, not who won a decision.

I still don't like it. Money maker for FOX is all it is.

Logical Fallacy

Fighter sponsorship should hopefully generate a lot more cash for them now.

Mellor

Glad to see Lesnar recovering well.

I don't see the big deal with viewers deciding match-ups, should be interesting. Lol at think it was decvidign the winner of a fight

Sid_Justice

what's the level of recognition / popularity of MMA in Australia Mellor, Is it similar to here? The Aussie's are sports mad have they taken to it?

Can only think of the cuban born Hector Lombard and the Greek guy to be names from australia

Xlami

So after the big deal with FOX there was no press release from Marshall Zelaznik, or even a note on his twitter or facebook to let UK and Irish fans know how the deal will affect them. Also self proclaimed MMA Insider Gareth A. Davies has avoided both accounts also. Poor form IMO.

Mellor

Sid_Justice wrote: »

what's the level of recognition / popularity of MMA in Australia Mellor, Is it similar to here? The Aussie's are sports mad have they taken to it?

Can only think of the cuban born Hector Lombard and the Greek guy to be names from australia

It's pretty big, prob bigger than ireland (I haven't been home since early 2009 though)

UFC 110 and 127 sold out pretty fast. Were big arenas too. The UFC have a dedicated UFC Australia magazine, its not amazing but its worth getting. 2 posters each month, some are pretty good.

As for fighters, there's Hector Lombard the Belator champ, and in the UFC George Sotiropoulos, Kyle Noke, Anthony Perosh, Brian Ebersole (the guy with the arrow on his chest), and James Te-Huna (born in NZ but living and training in Oz for the last few years)

One issue here is that while MMA bouts are sanctioned without issue, victoria has a rule where all fights must be in a ring and not a cage. Which means melbourne is out for the UFC.

the_doctor199

Xlami wrote: »

So after the big deal with FOX there was no press release from Marshall Zelaznik, or even a note on his twitter or facebook to let UK and Irish fans know how the deal will affect them. Also self proclaimed MMA Insider Gareth A. Davies has avoided both accounts also. Poor form IMO.

It may be that they don't actually know yet, they'll have to sit down with ESPN and see how they can air it, I imagine 'live' isn't going to be an option so most likely to be Saturday night.

El Guapo!

DrPhilG wrote: »

Think you missed the point there...

The public vote is to choose the matchups, not who won a decision.

yeah I didn't read it properly....never mind me!

SDTimeout

Oh Chael

sonnench chael sonnen
Tweeting from West Linn when I should be in Rio. It's flattering that Brazil is THIS worried for Blackhouse's safety.

Oh_Noes

Koscheck apparently moving up to 185 and fighting soon. Wikipedia has him listed as fighting Ed Herman at UFC 139. Wikipedia also says he moved up to 185 because he wants to fight Stephan Bonner, who fights at 205 . Got to love Wikipedia.

Sherdog also says Koscheck is moving to 185. I can't see him making any big noises there though. Personally I'd like to see him fight Chris Leben.

Xlami

Yeh I remember hearing an interview with Bonnar recently basically saying he'd break his bollix to make 185 to fight Kos. The two of them are involved in a court case. It would make for a WWE like storyline, in the build up. Not sure it's the most professional thing to do though.