MMA News Thread

[Shogun Locc]

Tito Ortiz signs with Affliction

Tito Ortiz is set to become the highest paid MMA fighter in history when a "ground-breaking" deal between the free-agent fighter and Affliction is announced as early as Wednesday during a press conference for Affliction's next card, which will be held Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

"I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other," said Ortiz, stopping short of giving away the specifics of a deal that could include responsibilities outside of the ring. "It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There's so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it's all about the fighters trying to make that money. It's going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them. That's something I'm interested in doing. They're going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also."

Ortiz, who became a free agent on Monday after an 11-year career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, met with Donald Trump on Tuesday to finalize the deal and is expected to be at Wednesday's press conference where his first opponent will be Renato "Babalu" Sobral.

"Babalu has been in my crosshairs," Ortiz said. "He's already been talking smack, saying if he sees me he's going to kick my ass, but right on if he keeps thinking that. He'll get his face caved in sooner or later. I know Frank Shamrock is another person who's been opening up his mouth. He beat me the last time we fought and I think that would be a great revenge fight where I kick his ass and finally shut him up. As time goes we'll see who Affliction signs besides me. I don't know. I might even go up to heavyweight if the bigger pay days are there."

Ortiz attended Affliction's first card, on July 19 in Anaheim, and has been in contact with Trump since his last fight in the UFC about the possibility of joining Affliction after the two forged a friendship during Ortiz's stint on The Celebrity Apprentice.

"Mr. Trump works fast and gets busy in a lot of the things he does and he's going to give me the best deal possible," said Ortiz. "I know they want to make some money and I know they got over 100,000 pay-per-view buys on their first show and with me it's guaranteed to be over 500,000 pay-per-view buys just by the number of fans that are going to follow me no matter where I go so they're going to get there money's worth just in pay-per-view no matter what."

Trump addressed the possibility of Ortiz joining Affliction last month in a conference call with reporters.

"I think Tito is terrific," said Trump. "He not only was a nice guy and very different from the way he is in the ring, he was really talented, really smart, and yes, I think he likes me a lot. And I like him a lot. That doesn't mean he signed a contract [with Affliction], but I think Tito would love to deal with us."

Ortiz's deal was structured in a way that would make it impossible for the UFC to match, as they contractually have that right to do so. However, UFC President Dana White, with whom Ortiz has had an ongoing feud for the past five years, said that there would be no bidding war and that he wouldn't even match an offer if Ortiz was paid "$30 a fight."

"They have the right to match the offer, so I'll be getting a deal that no other fighter has ever gotten. It's going to be some ground-breaking news for sure," he said. "I'm going to a company that's going to take care of me, a company that's going to respect me, a company that's going to put me in the forefront and make me the ambassador that I've always been. I think Mr. Trump respects me at that value to get it. My heart's not with the UFC anymore because of how bad they treated me. They don't respect me and they don't see me as a businessman. All they think is that I'm a punk fighter that's going to fold, and I've already proven that I'm not going to fold to anything by not resigning with them."

Trump made his first play for Ortiz after his last fight in the UFC, a unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida on May 24 -- Ortiz's second loss in three fights to extend his winless mark to nearly two years. His last win in the Octagon was on Oct. 10, 2006, a TKO victory over Ken Shamrock.

"We talked a little bit about [Trump getting involved in MMA] when I was on the show," Ortiz said. "I know he did a couple things with WWE and a few boxing events and after the show he said, 'One day, I may be interested in getting into your business and I want to sign you' and that's pretty much where it was until he signed with Affliction and once he signed with Affliction I got a personal call from him saying he was going to come to my last fight in the UFC and support me and after my fight was over he walked up to me and said, 'Tito you may have lost tonight, but you won in my eyes no matter what. I just signed with Affliction and we want to sign you next.' He sees the power that I have and he's going to respect me for it."

With big names such as Ortiz, Randy Couture, Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia giving credibility to Affliction combined with the financial backing and business savvy of Trump, Ortiz believes it's only a matter of time before Affliction makes the UFC, and White in particular, regret not giving the fighters a bigger cut of the profits when they had the chance to.

"Mr. Trump sees it as a business and no more than that," said Ortiz. "He understands that and there's nothing personal to it at all and that's what the UFC has problem with. The UFC takes the work they do very, very personal and in any business once you let your personal feelings get involved with it everything goes to [crap]. Mr. Trump is a strict businessman who respects the fighters. This is going to be one of the biggest losses [the UFC] has ever had to date and one of the worst mistakes they've ever made."

link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/arash_markazi/08/05/ortiz.affliction/index.html

 

[Shogun Locc]

UFC Sets Its Sights On Mexico, Latin America

Recent happenings indicate that the UFC will put their first toes in the water of the Latin market. On the weekend of August 15th the UFC will be lending their talent and Octagon design to a pair of events to increase their penetration of Latin America. On the 15th they will be holding a training seminar in Tijuana with UFC fighter Diego Sanchez as well as UFC Espanol color commentator and Mexican MMA fighter Victor Davila. The seminar will center on “Ground and Pound and its effectiveness in MMA”. The UFC is using these seminars to spread the basics of MMA as well as the tactics of fighting inside the cage. Davila will also do seminars for the UFC in Costa Rica and Argentina.

Victor Davila is the point man for Zuffa’s Latin operations. Davila seems to be equal parts Joe Rogan and Joe Silva in his role. Davila is the voice and image of the play-by-play narrations for the Spanish audience for UFC live events as well as a host of the “El Octágono del UFC” on Galavision. At the same time, Davila is also being used as a scout/talent relations man in looking for MMA fighters in the Mexican and Latin market. He is currently feeling out and trying to sign “name” fighters in the Mexican circuit for Zuffa. All this in addition to doing seminars similar to the one mentioned above.

The second step will be an event the same week-end in Tijuana featuring the biggest names in Mexican MMA in the Cage of Fire (COF) promotion. The UFC is using a pre-existing promotion in COF to help put forward their cage environs as well as act as a liaison to the Mexican MMA market. The Tijuana event will be the first local card to be fought inside an Octagonal cage, under license form the UFC. This will be the first of several cards contested in an Octagon, leading up to a final card in November. These fights are being presented to the Mexican fighters as qualifying match-ups for the UFC, a deal similar in concept to what the UFC did with the Japanese cage promotion GCM. Yoshyuki Yoshida was the beneficiary of that arrangement, leading to his debut in the Octagon against Jon Koppenhaver.

The WEC looks to be a key component in Zuffa’s plans to expand south of the border. Scott Adams and Reed Harris, co-heads of the WEC, are being invited to scout talent. Adams recently commented to the Mexican press about his efforts:

In a published article online by Ricardo Ibarra of the Excelsior newspaper, Scott Adams says: “We want to go to Mexico to look for talent, I know that this sport is growing very fast there, and is why we want to visit it to be able to observe all the peleadores (MMA fighters) and to bring us to the best gladiators of MMA. It is very possible that we have an event in its country, so that we want to extend our market, and first in the list it is Mexico, we want to show the best fights to him of the WEC, to the fanatics of this sport.”

Adams commented that the best Latin MMA fighters find their home in the WEC currently with fighters like Miguel Angel Torres, Manny Tapia, Damacio Page, Leonard Garcia and Charlie Valencia calling the WEC home. Adams also spoke of possibly hosting a WEC card in Mexico in the future.

In addition to these moves the WEC has also solidified it’s presence with a deal with Cadena Tres to become the network television home for the WEC in Mexico. The Cadena Tres deal started with WEC 35 and runs through 2009.

 

[UCDgreek]

Tito Ortiz signs with Affliction

Tito Ortiz is set to become the highest paid MMA fighter in history when a "ground-breaking" deal between the free-agent fighter and Affliction is announced as early as Wednesday during a press conference for Affliction's next card, which will be held Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

i cant wait to see the figures of this contract. tito ortiz is a bum as evident from his last 3 fights. lmao at saying affliction is getting 500k buys for the next ppv because of him.

 

[PsyDaL]

UFC Sets Its Sights On Mexico, Latin America

Recent happenings indicate that the UFC will put their first toes in the water of the Latin market. On the weekend of August 15th the UFC will be lending their talent and Octagon design to a pair of events to increase their penetration of Latin America. On the 15th they will be holding a training seminar in Tijuana with UFC fighter Diego Sanchez as well as UFC Espanol color commentator and Mexican MMA fighter Victor Davila. The seminar will center on “Ground and Pound and its effectiveness in MMA”. The UFC is using these seminars to spread the basics of MMA as well as the tactics of fighting inside the cage. Davila will also do seminars for the UFC in Costa Rica and Argentina.

Victor Davila is the point man for Zuffa’s Latin operations. Davila seems to be equal parts Joe Rogan and Joe Silva in his role. Davila is the voice and image of the play-by-play narrations for the Spanish audience for UFC live events as well as a host of the “El Octágono del UFC” on Galavision. At the same time, Davila is also being used as a scout/talent relations man in looking for MMA fighters in the Mexican and Latin market. He is currently feeling out and trying to sign “name” fighters in the Mexican circuit for Zuffa. All this in addition to doing seminars similar to the one mentioned above.

The second step will be an event the same week-end in Tijuana featuring the biggest names in Mexican MMA in the Cage of Fire (COF) promotion. The UFC is using a pre-existing promotion in COF to help put forward their cage environs as well as act as a liaison to the Mexican MMA market. The Tijuana event will be the first local card to be fought inside an Octagonal cage, under license form the UFC. This will be the first of several cards contested in an Octagon, leading up to a final card in November. These fights are being presented to the Mexican fighters as qualifying match-ups for the UFC, a deal similar in concept to what the UFC did with the Japanese cage promotion GCM. Yoshyuki Yoshida was the beneficiary of that arrangement, leading to his debut in the Octagon against Jon Koppenhaver.

The WEC looks to be a key component in Zuffa’s plans to expand south of the border. Scott Adams and Reed Harris, co-heads of the WEC, are being invited to scout talent. Adams recently commented to the Mexican press about his efforts:

In a published article online by Ricardo Ibarra of the Excelsior newspaper, Scott Adams says: “We want to go to Mexico to look for talent, I know that this sport is growing very fast there, and is why we want to visit it to be able to observe all the peleadores (MMA fighters) and to bring us to the best gladiators of MMA. It is very possible that we have an event in its country, so that we want to extend our market, and first in the list it is Mexico, we want to show the best fights to him of the WEC, to the fanatics of this sport.”

Adams commented that the best Latin MMA fighters find their home in the WEC currently with fighters like Miguel Angel Torres, Manny Tapia, Damacio Page, Leonard Garcia and Charlie Valencia calling the WEC home. Adams also spoke of possibly hosting a WEC card in Mexico in the future.

In addition to these moves the WEC has also solidified it’s presence with a deal with Cadena Tres to become the network television home for the WEC in Mexico. The Cadena Tres deal started with WEC 35 and runs through 2009.

Sick ass article, goodlookin out Shogun Locc. I can't wait to see all the gems come out of Mexico in the near future. Give it a few years and Latino fighters will integrate into Mixed Martial Arts well. I wouldnt be surprised if WEC does a Mexico VS USA as the UFC did with the whole USA vs Canada event....

 

[WXS STOMP3R]

i cant wait to see the figures of this contract. tito ortiz is a bum as evident from his last 3 fights. lmao at saying affliction is getting 500k buys for the next ppv because of him.

YOU FAILED TO REMEMBER...HE CAN BE MARKETED AS THE MAN WHO THE BEAT THE UFC'S CURRENT LHW CHAMP...TITO AS A FIGHTER ISNT ALL THAT GREAT BUT THAT IS A GOOD PICK UP FOR AFFLICTION. HE'S STILL TOP TEN IN HIS DIVISION.

 

[InfamousICON]

YOU FAILED TO REMEMBER...HE CAN BE MARKETED AS THE MAN WHO THE BEAT THE UFC'S CURRENT LHW CHAMP...TITO AS A FIGHTER ISNT ALL THAT GREAT BUT THAT IS A GOOD PICK UP FOR AFFLICTION. HE'S STILL TOP TEN IN HIS DIVISION.

Tito is fuckin up by taking Babalu as his first fight though, Babalu will fuck Tito's world up right now. It Babalu fucks him up too bad then Tito can't be marketed at all anymore.

 

[heyzel]

JON FITCH WANTS GOLD, NO MORE EXCUSES

Jon Fitch may be the best fighter at 170 pounds that many fans don’t know much about. He has gone under the radar in the Ultimate Fighting Championship defeating top competition like Thiago Alves, Brock Larson, Roan Carneiro and Diego Sanchez. He is undefeated in the UFC going 8-0 in his tenure. The hard work is about to pay off as he gets his shot at the welterweight crown on Saturday night against Georges St. Pierre.

MMAWeekly Radio caught up with Fitch prior to his fight with St. Pierre to discuss his preparation and training. “All of the hard stuff is done. Now it's just time to have fun,” said a confident Fitch. “I'm just letting my body recover. It's been getting beat up for 12 weeks, so I finally get to rest now.”

This fight will be Fitch’s first foray into a five-round title fight. Known for his rigorous training, he has prepared himself a little differently for a full five-round fight. “Just more and more work. Almost double the cardio work as normal. It's pretty crazy. When I started the camp, I couldn't believe it that I was going to do double the workouts as before. I've always been a cardio guy. I always pushed my cardio. I was doubling my output. Halfway through my camp it started getting pretty easy and I started seeing changes in myself.

“I'm training to be there for the whole fight,” he explained. “I'm not going to get tired on you, especially in a five-round fight. I plan to get stronger as the fight goes on. I'm not really worried about five rounds. I'm in great shape. I've been sparring hard. I'm pretty confident in my cardio right now.”

Fellow American Kickboxing Academy training partner Josh Koscheck has already faced St. Pierre, where he was defeated by unanimous decision. Having a fighter in your camp that has already faced your opponent can only be a good thing and Fitch thinks it definitely adds another edge to his training. “It always helps a little bit to have somebody with you who's fought somebody that you're going to fight. Just having somebody that is that good of an athlete that you get to train with every day is a bigger asset and the camp I'm at and how good the guys are in my gym and the trainers who coach me.”

After spending quite a few fights competing on the preliminary card, many thought that Fitch’s rise to the title would take a very long time. After finally being promoted to the main card and defeating highly regarded Diego Sanchez, fans began to notice how talented Fitch was. He was never negative about it though and knew that if he kept winning, he couldn’t be denied his shot.

“I knew it was a matter of time,” he commented. “As long as I kept doing the things I was doing, training the way I'm training, I wanted to keep improving and keep winning. I knew I'd get my shot eventually. I just had to pay some dues. The higher level guys wouldn't fight me. The UFC had to find the guys to fight me because a lot of people said no.”

To get the belt he wants, he’ll have to dethrone perhaps the most talented fighter in the world, Geroges St. Pierre. After St. Pierre was knocked out in his first title defense against Matt Serra, Fitch predicted that St. Pierre would become a more careful fighter, insinuating that he won’t be willing to stand with his opponents right away. While many fans thought that he was trying to slight St. Pierre, he was just making an observation.

“I wasn't bashing Georges St. Pierre. That's just what happens. He adjusted and I think he's worked through that. I don't think it's a problem for him any more. It would be foolish of me to go into the fight thinking that he's only going to take me down. At that time and place, he was still questioning that knockout. He's had two fights since then. He's grown. He's adapted. He's learned to get through it.”

St. Pierre provides a variety of problems for any fighter. He’s an elite level wrestler, excellent jiu-jitsu practitioner, and has a dynamic striking repertoire. According to Fitch, the key is to stay in a strong position in the fight. “The biggest thing is not to let him get into a dominant position. I can't think of too much of a game plan. Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody's perfect. It's just a matter of time for me to take advantage of his mistakes.”

Against a top-level wrestler like St. Pierre, every opponent has to be willing to accept the fact that they might end up on their back. If Fitch were to end up on his back, he is not a fish out of water. “I'm very comfortable on my back. I spend a lot of the time training on my back. I have a very good bottom game. I just haven't had to use it in a fight situation. I've been able to get up and get away. I fought really good jiu-jitsu guys with great top games like Carneiro. I'm comfortable there. Wherever the fight goes, I'm comfortable with.”

One possible advantage that Fitch believes will help him in this fight is his seamless transitions in each aspect of the game. He can set up a shot with his strikes and do it without fail a good majority of the time.

“I think that's one of my strengths is being really good at those transitions,” stated the Indiana native. “Some of those guys are real good strikers or really good on the ground or really good wrestlers. That level in between each of those is what some of them are missing out on. They aren't able to transition from the striking to the wrestling smoothly. It's either they are striking or they are wrestling. It's not a smooth transition. Georges is good at it too. That's something I can use to my benefit in this fight.”

While some fighters would think that winning the championship would be the culmination of their careers, Fitch would just be happy to have the belt so he could get a fight all the time with the top guys in the world. “The best thing would be that no one could say no to fighting me. It's such a frustration. People have no idea. From before I fought Shonie Carter in Vegas. You wouldn't believe how many fights I've had turned down by fighters who are considered high level, even with higher weight classes just because I wasn't well-known and they didn't want to risk having a bad fight or losing to me. It's been so many years that I've had to deal with it. If I have the belt and you turn down a fight with me, it just shows your cowardice.”

 

[heyzel]

Talkin’ MMA with the CSAC’s Armando Garcia

CALIFORNIA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION Executive Officer Armando Garcia takes time out to answer our questions in this all-encompassing interview:

BoxingInsider.com: How did you make the transition from being a boxing referee in Florida to heading up the California State Athletic Commission? Leading the CSAC is a lot of responsibility.

Armando Garcia: It was a natural progression for me. I have held a variety of positions in boxing and my professional career in management helped me out tremendously. It has not and continues not to be easy.

This is a 24/7 job. We’ve set a torrid pace. There have been about 500 events in California in the three years that I’ve been here. We also went through the sunsetting of the Commission, working with numerous new Commission members and dealing with a slew of operational deficiencies that would have easily shut down a non-state business. And, to boot, family separation which is quite heartbreaking.

I applied for the position and went through the state application process along with 75 other candidates. I then underwent interviews and the Commission members selected me by vote.

I’m happy to say that I have received very strong support from the state since I got here. I’m very thankful.

We just finished another banner fiscal year at over $2M in revenue and importantly, under budget.

Commission revenue the year before I took over the job was at about $441K. In my first year we went to $1.3M, the next one $1.6M and then this tremendous $2M plus year.

Hard work pays off. I’m so thankful.

BoxingInsider.com: How has the drug testing policy changed with the CSAC in the last year? It seems as if more information is being released about test results and the specificity of the testing is more publicly known now with the steroid testing taking place at the WADA testing facility at UCLA.

Armando Garcia: Our operation values transparency. What is public record is treated as such.

Our entire drug testing, more than any Commission has ever done in the history of combatitve sports, is funded through our support budget. That means we don’t ask for or receive additional monies. Managing money is important to my administration and we are quite good at it.

We have had our minor set backs in testing, but with the great effort of Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas, our Program Manager, we have established the best testing program in the Nation by far.

BoxingInsider.com: What is the exact cost of drug testing? There are so many MMA and boxing events happening these days that it seems impossible to get the financing to test all of the fighters.

Armando Garcia: It is expensive, but much needed. Use of steroids and drugs is both cheating and a possible indication of addiction and or other medical issues that are not consistent with combative sports.

Once the contract with the UCLA WADA lab is finalized the cost for a steroids test will be $125.

Presently for steroids tests, and to be absolutely sure that an adverse analytical finding (positive) is just that, we go through a detailed process. First, we send the sample to the Olympic Quest Laboratory in Atlanta. If the result is negative it is considered negative. If the result is positive the sample is transferred to the Canadian WADA lab in Montreal. Sending it to WADA Montreal costs an additional $125 per test.

For drugs of abuse we use instant kits that are 99% accurate. These kits cost $12 each and they check for twelve kinds of abused drugs. If it is negative it is negative. If it is positive it is sent to Quest Laboratory for confirmation at an additional $25 per test.

Expensive, but a must. What price tag do you put on a person’s career?

People can conjure stories or excuses trying to defend themselves from a positive drug test result in California but in the end if we say it is positive it is positive. We’d never announce a positive unless our detailed process was true. In fact, for example, if the laboratory doesn’t receive the sample in pristine manner to include the paperwork being correct it is considered a fatal flaw and the sample is discarded.

WADA is the highest standard in the world.

BoxingInsider.com: Do you think that more fighters are staying away from performance-enhancing drugs because of the drug testing policy or are fighters finding new ways to beat the system before the system catches them?

Armando Garcia: I’d like to think that through education they are learning the perils of drug usage. They are terrible for your mind and body, but I think we have both a little staying away and a little attempt at trickery. Education takes time.

BoxingInsider.com: The amount of MMA-related activity in the state seems to be growing every year. California is a huge state and travel is a big hindrance for regulating so many events. What kind of stress does the size of the state put on your staff and what changes have had to be made to streamline or modify CSAC management to be able to handle the workload?

Armando Garcia: Good management and staffing techniques is critical to our success. The whole thing is quite stressful on everyone.

We have a detailed event preparation process that deals with numerous medical examinations. It is very time consuming.

Morale has remained high though. Everyone loves being on a winning team. Humbly speaking, we’re not perfect, but we are the best if you consider the size of the state, the number of events, where we’ve come from, our regulations and laws, etc.

BoxingInsider.com: Quinton Jackson, who is a high-profile MMA fighter, has undergone psychiatric evaluation for potential mental health issues. What is the protocol in the state of California right now for testing fighters in terms of both their physical and mental health, and are there any suggestions you might have to change the way testing is done in the future to address possible problems that arise?

Armando Garcia: Although we have a neurological examination it does not address potential mental health or psychiatric issues that may result from participating in combative sports.

We are reviewing the present neurological examination and I hope that it is changed for something that better clearly identifies cognitive impairment.

BoxingInsider.com: There seems to be some controversy and confusion regarding strikes to the back of the head and what exactly the ‘zone’ is for a legal blow as opposed to an illegal blow. For the casual MMA fan out there, can you explain what the current rules in regards to this situation?

Armando Garcia: That is easy. The same as boxing. From the back of one ear to the back of the other ear. I’m in complete opposition to the ‘mohawk’ concept for back of the head fouls. Our Physicians support our position.

Illegal blows to the head are devastating. Ask Gerald McClelland.

BoxingInsider.com: What do you think about the 10-point must system being used to score MMA fights? Should there be a change in the scoring system more towards a PRIDE-style system where a judge picks a winner after three rounds as opposed to individually scoring each round?

Armando Garcia: We’ve beat the whole scoring system up pretty badly in both boxing and MMA. I think what we need is consistently competent judging not so much a new or modified scoring system.

With that said, we should move to address the differences of a 10-9 to a 10-8 round. We’re dealing with shorter fights in MMA. There’s both sides, a 10-8 is huge in a short fight while the differences in 10-9 rounds (routines to close to dominant) are more visible.

I like our system as opposed to the old PRIDE system.

BoxingInsider.com: How would you compare the CSAC’s media relations with MMA media members in comparison to boxing media members? Which media sector is it easier to communicate the kind of message you want to get through? It seems as if various members of the boxing media have been hostile towards you and the way business is being handled in California.

Armando Garcia: We value our relationship with the media tremendously. We have a huge mailing list and virtually everyone in the state has my cell phone number. Our thinking is that the relationship must stem from professionalism and of course, truth. We are more transparent than anyone and I think the media enjoys it.

The MMA media is much more active than the boxing media I think. I love their passion. The down side of the internet is that there is a bit too much disinformation all the way around.

I have a different view in looking at it than just stating that some boxing media have been hostile to me. Overall they’ve been fabulous. Most of them have many years of experience and know of me.

Everyone knows the story. What you’ve had are a couple of people who favor a very small group of other people in California who perceive they are out of power or something and for whatever reason try to use their position to slant facts to their favor. The isolated cases are much more personal than business. One must question their real love for the Commission and the sports we regulate.

The interesting thing is that one of those things started like this interview when an internet writer called me for an interview. This was in May 2006. His initial concern seemed to be that Mexican-American boxers were wearing patches or showing placards about an immigration bill that was in the news at that time, how could I allow it, etc. From there we began talking about my job and it moved on to a supposed article that was to be written about me, my position, etc. I spent about two hours speaking to this individual on two occasions and discussed many things to include quite personal struggles of my family in Cuba and when we came to the USA. The final product was a perfect example of yellow journalism. Some really terrible deceit there.

At the end of the day though there is always the bottom line. I’m a state employee, not a boxing or mma guy and I work hard at doing what I’m supposed to be doing all of the time.

Things that I’ve already mentioned, the anti-doping program, the Inspector program, how we’ve handled inherited operational deficiencies, creating small businesses with about 20 new promoters who consistently promote, etc. while effectively supervising over 500 events in three years time in a huge state are the things that one should judge an athletic commission administrator like myself.

We’ve had more informational and Commission meetings than ever in our history. We’ve brought back fairness and an equal playing field to California while frankly, simply doing our job. Respectfully and humbly, the work product surpasses anything and everything before it in California.

BoxingInsider.com: What are some of the major political challenges that the CSAC faces both internally and politically in the state in terms of funding, medical testing, etc.?

Armando Garcia: We just finished a banner year. If we keep the present funding and spending we will continue to shine. More likely than not that is what will happen as we move forward.

The top promoters in the world have come to California more times than ever. We also have a strong club level group of promoters who work very hard and help us to distinguish ourselves.

We have some very exciting things coming our way. Amateur mixed martial arts, full muay thai kickboxing, multiple sports events in the same competition enclosure, an expanded drug awareness effort, really exciting things for fans and athletes.

Thanks for allowing me this time

 

[Shogun Locc]

Sept. 20 EliteXC event heading to Albuquerque

EliteXC middleweight Joey Villasenor (26-6) will compete at a Sept. 20 EliteXC event at the 18,000-seat University Arena ("The Pit") at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the event details last week as part of an interview with Villasenor, and EliteXC officially announced the event overnight.

No opponent or other event competitors were announced.

This will be the first event in New Mexico for the Los Angeles-based EliteXC organization. A press conference will take place Thursday in Albuquerque with Villasenor and EliteXC Head Of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen. Villasenor fights out of Albuquerque as part of Greg Jackson's camp.

Villasenor, who suffered a loss to Murilo "Ninja" Rua in EliteXC's first-ever middleweight title fight, could earn another title shot with a victory in September.

Villasenor said after defeating Phil Baroni in May, EliteXC offered him the winner of a fight between current title-holder Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith that took place in May. When the bout ended as a no-contest, those plans were put on hold in lieu of the Lawler vs. Smith rematch that took place last month.

Tickets for the Sept. 20 event are now on sale.

 

[Shogun Locc]

WEC 35 barely misses sellout status

This past Sunday's WEC 35 championship triple-header at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas missed official sellout status by just two tickets.

The event drew a total crowd of 1,006 spectators (with 734 paid). Just two tickets went unsold/unused, according to figures the Nevada State Athletic Commission today sent to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The total gate for the event was $116,900.

Sunday's show -- another solid showing for the Las Vegas-based WEC organization -- was the follow-up show to the organization's record-breaking June event, which featured WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber's successful title defense over former UFC champion Jens Pulver. That event set WEC records for live gate, attendance and TV ratings.

This past Sunday's follow-up event featured successful title defenses for Carlos Condit and Jamie Varner, and Steve Cantwell upset Brian Stann for the organization's light-heavyweight title.

 

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Home Field Advantage: Huerta Prepared for Toughest Challenge of his Career
videolink: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/recen...red-for-Toughest-Challenge-of-his-Career-1728
Sherdog.com’s Greg Savage and Dave Mandel sat down with Roger Huerta (Pictures) to discuss his bout with lightweight star Kenny Florian (Pictures) at UFC 87 in Minneapolis.

 

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Living on Fighting

The longest days for Kenny Florian (Pictures) start at 4:30 a.m. That’s when the Boston-bred, Boston-based mixed martial artist rises from bed in the pitch dark, showers, suits up, compiles two days of research and sets out on a two-hour drive to tape a weekly fight recap show at ESPN headquarters in Connecticut. When he gets home, he trains in the afternoon and again at night.

“That’s wrong,” Florian says. “No one should have to work when it’s dark; no one should have to get up in the dark. In a weird, sick way, it’s kind of like going to training. I know there’s going to be pain and suffering involved, but I love it so much I do it anyway. It’s kind of a sick relationship.”

In the run-up to a marquee fight against Roger Huerta (Pictures) at UFC 87 this Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Florian, 32, finds himself at a strange intersection. As his MMA career hits its peak, several opportunities have emerged that could allow him to build a foundation for life after fighting. In addition to hosting “MMA Live” weekly on ESPN.com, Florian, an intelligent, verbose fighter who has a communications degree from Boston College, has also won praise for his recent performances as a color commentator on UFC telecasts. He keeps an active blog, his abilities as a seminar instructor are in demand at MMA gyms coast-to-coast, and he and his brother are opening Florian Martial Arts in Brookline, Mass., next month.

In short, Florian is trying to do it all, whether he’s wearing a blazer or fight shorts.

“Every fight, I think I’m going to take some time off, and I’m just not able to do it,” he says. “Either from training or from other commitments, it’s just been one thing after another, so I’ve been super busy for this fight, but it’s like that every fight. I’m always busier and busier. It means I need to focus that much more on my training when I’m [home]. Fighting is the reason I’m on the [ESPN] show. Fighting is the reason I’m able to pay my bills. That needs to come first, for sure.”

Florian tapped the breaks on his hectic schedule in recent weeks. He temporarily yielded the ESPN seat to former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir (Pictures), a well-spoken fighter following a career path similar to his. Keith Florian, Kenny’s brother and cageside advisor, who delayed his honeymoon so he could corner Kenny against Huerta, believes the relaxed schedule came just in time.

“It was getting to the point where we hadn’t seen him for three weeks,” Keith says. “He literally had seminars every single weekend for about a month and a half. He was still training, but we hadn’t seen him. He’d be in New York, and then he’d be training with whoever he trains with over there. Then he’d be back in Vegas, and he’d be training over there in Vegas with some other people. And he’d be training in Mexico with other friends.”

Kenny Florian may be shuttling all over the map on the UFC’s public relations circuit, but he’s also finding gyms to train, keeping a strict diet and refusing to lose a step. His longtime muay Thai trainer, Mark DellaGrotte, thinks “KenFlo” has managed to obtain peak form since his last fight -- a TKO win over Joe Lauzon (Pictures) in April.

“I used to be able to stop everything Kenny Florian threw at me, and now I can’t,” says DellaGrotte, who regularly spars with his charges. “Now I get lumps, and I get black eyes. He is a 155-pound fighter that is a sparring partner for Patrick Cote (Pictures) at 185, for Jorge Rivera (Pictures) at 185, Marcus Davis (Pictures) at 170, Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) at 205; the list goes on and on. If you call Marcus Davis and Jorge Rivera and Patrick Cote, they’re all going to tell you exactly what I’m going to tell you: Florian gives them f--king hell.”

In Huerta, Florian will face a fighter who has weathered a similar PR regimen recently. Huerta has been so pressed for time that he’s publicly expressed his displeasure with the grind and what the UFC pays for it. The UFC sees the 25-year-old -- a balls-to-the-wall, gutsy fighter with movie star facial features -- as its potential centerpiece in the Hispanic market. Huerta’s approach to combat in some ways resembles that of Diego Sanchez (Pictures), who overwhelmed Florian at “The Ultimate Fighter 1” Live Finale in 2005 -- the first time anyone outside of small clubs and halls in Massachusetts saw Florian compete. It was a case study in UFC jitters.

“I think in that fight I was just super insecure and super not ready for the cameras,” Florian says. “I had no idea how huge it was. It literally hit me in the face, and by the time I knew I was in the fight, Diego was mounted on me, and I was bleeding.”

Florian learned a valuable lesson in defeat.

“That was really the big wake-up call to know that 80 percent of this really is mental,” he says. “Everyone is doing the right things now. Everyone knows that you need to train in everything. Everyone knows you need your own strength and conditioning coach, you need to eat well and all that stuff. So what’s the difference? The mental difference. That’s really what it is. Who has the better confidence? Who’s more secure with themselves and really confident in what they did to prepare for the fight?”

Florian’s mental will and confidence were forged in a fight with Sean Sherk (Pictures) in 2006. In only his third UFC bout, Florian challenged for the vacant lightweight title against a 34-fight veteran moving down from welterweight, where he’d only lost twice. Florian hung with Sherk for five rounds, bloodying the Minnesotan and staying very much in the hunt despite repeatedly being taken down.

“That fight was so important to my development as a fighter mentally,” Florian says. “I think that the Kenny Florian who fought Sean Sherk had a lot of heart. He was tough but still technically just not where he needed to be, physically not where he needed to be. Just the gains I’ve made physically are night and day. I would smash that old Kenny Florian.”

Florian has not lost since that five-round affair, rattling off four straight wins against tough competitors and diversifying his arsenal each time out. He’s one of the least predictable fighters in the lightweight division, and that’s by design.

“Somebody may say, ‘Oh yeah, he fought the perfect fight. We’re going to fight just like that the next time,’” Keith Florian says. “Well, you know what? Your opponent is looking exactly at what you were doing that last fight. They’re already finding counters for that. That’s exactly why you have to keep evolving. You can never stand still. If you stand still, you’re dead in the water.”

Florian and his camp do not expect to stand still at all in the fight against Huerta. They expect Huerta, fighting on his own Minnesota stomping grounds, to come forward tenaciously and try to turn the match into a brawl, make it a battle of wills and disrupt Florian’s game plan any way possible.

“I think Roger’s well rounded like the other fighters nowadays, but he’s got that something extra as far as heart and determination, and he’s not going to quit,” Kenny Florian says. “It has to be something technical that’s going to take him out. You have to capitalize on a mistake.”

If Huerta errs, Florian’s camp banks on it having something to do with hitting a wall with which he is unfamiliar. The biggest war Huerta has engaged in during his UFC tenure -- a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Clay Guida (Pictures) in December -- saw him struggle through two rounds, only to deliver a stunning knee strike that set up a submission in the third. Florian, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, hopes to present challenges that will preempt such a blow from getting through.

“Roger hasn’t hit that wall yet,” DellaGrotte says. “Most fighters learn about who they are and what they believe in when they hit that wall, when they’ve been around the block once or twice.”

DellaGrotte senses Huerta and many fans are discounting Florian amidst the hype “El Matador” has enjoyed for most of his UFC tenure. Huerta’s done nothing but win in the Octagon, and fans have rallied behind him as a result. Florian, meanwhile, has had to slowly build up his fan base; two of his three career losses have been before massive television audiences.

“If this was a popularity contest, Kenny would be f--ked,” DellaGrotte says. “But it’s not a popularity contest; it’s a fight. So therefore, Roger is f--ked. I love Roger; he’s a great guy, but every time I see Roger, he kind of gives me that wink, like he knows something I don’t. He doesn’t realize the joke’s on him. I’ve never seen Kenny so hungry.”

Florian was cageside the night Huerta defeated Guida, calling the action as an analyst for Spike TV. He straddled the line between objectively calling the action and scouting a fighter who now stands between him and the apex of his profession. It was symbolic of the crossroads at which the multi-talented Massachusetts fighter finds himself. MMA is his past, his present and his future.

“My life pretty much revolves around this right now,” Florian says. “It’s all I do. It’s all I really think about.”

 

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ALBERTO CRANE GETS BACK ON TRACK

Heading into his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut last year, former King of the Cage lightweight champion Alberto Crane was considered one of the best young prospects in the 155-pound weight class.

Having won all seven of his bouts heading into his UFC 74 match-up with Roger Huerta, Crane seemed more than ready to make his step up to the big time of MMA.

After missing out on an opportunity to take control of the fight early on, he was finished off in the third round, signaling the beginning of a three-fight losing streak for the previously unblemished fighter.

Determined to get back on track, Crane entered this past weekend’s Rage in the Cage event insistent on not dropping his fourth fight in a row, and delivered a performance reminiscent of his earlier bouts, winning the match via guillotine choke just over 90 seconds into the fight.

“It’s been a while since I got a win, so it feels amazing,” said Crane of his victory over Adrian Valdez Saturday night. “I’m real happy with the way that it went, and I got to fight in New Mexico with all the support as well.

“We came out, threw some punches, then we scrambled and I took him down. Basically I went into half guard and threw some punches, mounted him and the guillotine was right there, and that was it.”

Crane points out a continued focus on becoming a serious competitor as the reason he was able to get out of his funk.

“This last year I’ve been committed to being a full-time MMA fighter,” said the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. “I’m just working on my stand-up and my overall MMA game.

“I was hoping to show some of that, but I didn’t get to throw a lot of punches, but a win’s a win and I’m happy to get back in the win column. I’m going to go from there and get back on track.”

Now fully settled in Los Angeles after a move from New Mexico; Crane looks to kick his career back up into high gear in the coming months.

“They’re talking about having an EliteXC on Showtime in September in New Mexico, and that’s an option,” he stated. “There’s a couple other options that I’m looking at, so I’m going to look to see what’s best and go from there.

“I want to string some wins together and get back in there with the best, get back on the big stage and make it happen.”

Back on track and looking to stay busy in the coming months, Alberto Crane could quickly work his way back up the ladder and make the kind of impact he had originally wanted to make last year.

Should that happen, there could be yet another serious young contender for a myriad of titles in the stacked lightweight division.

“I want to thank my trainers, Justin Fortune in boxing, Walter McCloskey in Muay Thai, Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu, and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in New Mexico for all the awesome years,” he concluded.

“I’m back and I’ll keep coming, so keep a look out for me.”

 

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Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to endorse Bad Boy MMA Apparel

Bad Boy Brands announced today that they have signed a multi-year sponsorship & endorsement agreement with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The new relationship between Bad Boy and Shogun includes product endorsement, advertising, promotion, personal appearances, product design involvement and even a line of Shogun “signature” fight apparel, The most noticeable aspect of the relationship will be when Shogun dons the legendary Bad Boy “Sungão,” the original Vale Tudo fight shorts as he represents Bad Boy on the international MMA stage.

Bad Boy has been involved with MMA since the early nineties, sponsoring such legendary fighters
as Rickson Gracie, Wallid Ismael, Vitor Belfort and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira!. Bad Boy
currently offers a full line of premium MMA gear and clothing online and at specialty fight retailers. “Shogun’s ultra aggressive fighting style demands fight apparel of the highest quality and performance
attributes” commented Robin Offner, CEO of Bad Boy. “We’ve developed our new line of Bad Boy Pro Series products specifically for Shogun’s style of fighting”. ”I’ve known and respected Bad Boy apparel for years in Brazil”, said Shogun. “I’m excited to be a part of the Bad Boy team and I will do my best to represent them well”.

About Bad Boy
Founded in 1982, Bad Boy is a leading international action sports lifestyle brand with worldwide
distribution spanning 6 different continents. Bad Boy is dedicated to supporting the alternative sports
athlete and is committed to providing high-quality products that enhance the athlete’s training,
performance and lifestyle. Bad Boy has a long history of supporting the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and the associated lifestyle of the athlete and fan. Through support of MMA athletes and eventsworldwide, Bad Boy hopes to increase awareness and appreciation for the intelligence, desire anddedication demonstrated by these world-class athletes. With international operations headquartered in San Diego, California, Bad Boy spans the globe through its longstanding relationships with over 50 dedicated licensee manufacturers worldwide. www.badboy.com

 

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An Inside Look At IMMAE

Long Beach Ca – The International Mixed Martial Arts Expo (IMMAE) was held this past weekend in Long Beach California, an event that boasted a collection of some of the biggest names in mixed martial arts, the hottest MMA related products, and an opportunity for exhibitors big and small to create their own version of MMA glory. The nearly 100,000 square foot show floor was riddled with exhibition booths from the brands you would expect to see such as WarriorWear, Punishment, ThrowDown, Toe 2 Toe, and of course TapouT.
Also present was the elephant in the room or in this case a Rhino. Marc Ecko who recently decided to throw his hat in the cage in an attempt to try and grab a foothold the multi million dollar MMA apparel market. While those companies dominate the world of MMA and mainstream urban apparel they represented only a fraction of the exhibitors present at this years event, start up companies hoping to one day achieve the same status as these staples of the MMA world displayed their products and services to thousands of consumers and colleagues during the 3 day event.

The wide array of exhibited products and services on display covered nearly every aspect of the MMA landscape as well as a few you may not have thought of before. Fight promotion companies, Fighter Management companies, various retailers offering products from training mats, high altitude training equipment, nutritional supplements, even products like tattoo ointment and health insurance? While not something a fighter wants to think about, in the world of mixed martial arts health care is absolutely a must have item to be considered.

Whether it be the IMMAE, Magic, or ASR, industry trade shows are a vital part of any retail driven industry. The opportunity to not only connect with your customers first hand, but to network with other people in your chosen field of endeavor are extremely important in ensuring your business can maintain the continuous growth required to be successful. Identifying who is buying your product in person is much more valuable than any marketing research or demographics you will receive on paper and can provide you the feedback you’ll need in the upcoming days of appropriating your income and knowing where to budget your expenses. Knowing and identifying what drives people to pick up your apparel or training gear as opposed to the next persons is what can make a good idea into a great one, a new product into the industry standard, or a small start up company into an industry Icon.

While knowing what drives the public to purchase your products and bypass others is vital, being realistic as to weather or not your prepared to exhibit at a trade show is just as crucial. Securing a booth is a big expense within itself, usually ranging in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the size of the booth and popularity of the show. Add to that the logistics of getting your products as well as yourself to and from the show, the laundry list of other expenses, food, lodging and your starting off in the red before the event even opens. Then you have minimal time to recoup that cost in sales all while being surrounded by your competition. These facts are not meant to deter anyone from considering a booth at the next industry trade show, these are the simply the realities of the process. If MMA Payout can advise you of the pros and cons beforehand, you may be able to use this information to make sure you get the most for your investment and ensure the success of your booth.

Observing the show floor is like looking at a microcosm of the industry itself, the haves and have nots. Where some sections would be completely packed with people clamoring for autographs and waiting in huge lines, others were complete ghost towns. The bigger booths with fighters like Urijah Faber, Sean Sherk, Tim Sylvia and the TapouT crew signing autographs on their wide array of products for sale become like huge black wholes, sucking in consumers and their wallets within seconds of walking by. As long as you know that there is a very real possibility of not recouping your initial investment you should be able to make your booth at the next trade show net you at least a modicum of result with very little effort. A few companies I spoke to had different ideas as to what they hoped to accomplish with their booths, while their goals were very different, each group concentrated their efforts on bringing their goals to fruition and were able to all find success.

Chess Game Fight Gear, a small Jiu Jitsu Training Gear company based in Maine I spoke with, they had only been in business for 4 months before committing to a booth in this years show. During my conversation with the creators of the brand I asked what they had hoped to garner from this experience, “We’re a small company that wants to spread the word to a broader audience about who we are and what we’re about and that can’t be achieved by staying in Maine” they went on to say “If we can accomplish that goal and recoup expenses, great, if not then a vacation to California with a business purpose isn’t so bad, is it?” The guys were willing to take their dream and run with it while being realistic as to what to expect, there is nothing wrong with planning for the worst and hoping for the best.
Another company I spoke with Jiu Jitsu enthusiasts will surely recognize, Gameness, famous for their Jiu Jitsu gi’s, rash guards and other training related products. Though already established in the training gear part of the business, after speaking with Shane Messer, owner of the brand, it was clear to me he had a different reason for exhibiting this year as he announced that Gameness will be expanding their product catalog to include lifestyle apparel while continuing to offer their popular, high quality training products.
Nathan May and Ben Young are two guys with several years of experience in the business, they’re partners in an up and coming lifestyle apparel brand called MMA ADX. There idea is to create high quality and stylish apparel but still maintain the more popular design themes seen in MMA today. The guys had some really great shirt designs but, their purpose at the show was to unveil what they believe will become the future of a very prominent product in MMA, fight shorts. The product was developed in conjunction with MMA veteran Cung Le, who’s input and experience were used in the creation of the product to ensure its functionality, an idea that should have more companies following suit in the near future.

While the show was a success for these burgeoning companies, your idea of trade show success may be different. The point is if you want to have a successful trade show experience the formula is simple, be realistic in what you hope to accomplish, network as much as possible and do everything you can to accomplish the goals that you set out for yourself. Consider your time there as a learning experience, gather as much information you can about the field you’ve chosen to enter from people who have been there before you, if you do that then consider your trade show experience a success and more importantly, you can consider your expenses money well spent.

 

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Jay Hieron tapped for Oct. 11 Affliction; Lindland vs. Belfort in jeopardy?

Reigning International Fight League welterweight champion Jay Hieron (15-4) has been approached by Affliction executives and is expected to compete at the organization's "Day of Reckoning" event in October.

On Tuesday a representative from Hieron's Xtreme Couture camp told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) of the upcoming bout.

No opponent has been determined.

"Affliction: Day of Reckoning" takes place Oct. 11 at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The event -- the second one for the rookie Affliction Entertainment promotion -- features a headline match of Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett.

Hieron, a 32-year-old UFC and WEC veteran, hooked up with the IFL soon after its formation in 2006. He's 7-2 in the organization and defeated Delson Heleno for the IFL welterweight title back in December. He made one title defense -- a first-round TKO of Mark Miller in April -- before the organization's financial troubles forced the IFL to cease operations earlier this summer.

Although Affliction is best known for a stocked heavyweight division, executive Tom Atencio has promised the organization would begin signing additional talent for the lighter weight classes. Hieron brings instant credibility to a welterweight division that's still under construction.

The former stand-out high school and collegiate wrestler will now go for his fourth consecutive victory -- and his sixth win in his past seven fights. His only career losses have come to UFC veteran Georges St. Pierre, Jonathan Goulet, Chris Wilson and Brad Blackburn.

For the latest on "Affliction: Day of Reckoning," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.


* * * *

MMAjunkie.com has also learned that a rumored Oct. 11 Affliction bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort -- both of whom were winners at Affliction's first show back in July -- could be scratched.

A source close to Belfort said that the middleweight fighter has been slowed by a lingering hand injury.

As we previously reported, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Belfort 180 days after his July victory over Terry Martin for undisclosed medical reasons (though a hand injury is believed to be the reason why).

Belfort can be cleared early by a doctor, but any signs of a hand injury would make an October return unlikely.

MMAjunkie.com coudln't immediately reach Belfort or Lindland for comment, but we'll have more on this story later in the week.

 

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Exclusive: Phil Baroni Looks To Fight In September And October

Following three straight losses in the Middleweight division, "The New York Badass" Phil Baroni now finds himself back in the win column, coming off a win three weeks ago in England when he knocked out Scott Jansen and then following it up on August 2nd with a TKO victory over Ron Verdadero at ICON Sport after making a move to the Welterweight division that he felt, was needed to revitalize his career.

Baroni will now look to fight again in September and possibly October and the reason for the quick turnaround is quite simple for the "New York Badass", "The sooner the better. I want to get my respect back as a contender".

The move to Welterweight seems to be just what the doctor ordered. With a career mark of 12-10, Baroni isn't getting any younger at 32 and feels now is the time to let everyone know what he has to offer, "I want to show that I'm a force at welterweight and the only way to do that is to fight."

With a win in early September and barring any injuries it could be possible to see Baroni make his return to CBS just time in for the October 4th card. EliteXC is looking for suitable Welterweights to challenge newly crowned champ Jake Shields and getting a few wins under his belt could possibly lead to a title fight some time down the road. Baroni, with the power and explosiveness he posseses could be a dangerous opponent for anyone he faces.

 

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Video: MMANews Interview With EliteXC MW Champ Robbie Lawler


Michael Moody spoke with EliteXC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler during the International MMA Expo in Long Beach, CA this weekend and the champ talks about numerous different topics.


Lawler talks about his fight on July 26th with Scott Smith and how it went. He also talks about future matchup's, who he likes to watch, and much more.

You can view the video below to find out why Robbie Lawler is a no jokes - all buisness kind of fighter.

 

[Shogun Locc]

FLORIAN: "I HAVE AN ADVANTAGE EVERYWHERE"

Following a dominant victory against Alvin Robinson in July 2007, Kenny Florian gave a warning to the lightweight division that he was looking to clear out all of the top contenders on his way back to a second shot at the title. He also let it be known that he was looking to finish each and every one of them just as he did Robinson.

Two more fights and two more finishes followed and at UFC 87, Florian faces another tough challenge as Roger Huerta now stands in his way of a possible shot at the 155-pound divisional crown.

Florian has been working hard alongside long time trainer Mark DellaGrotte, while focusing on all the things he needs to do to win his next fight. While Florian respects Huerta, he doesn’t believe there is one facet of the game that his opponent out matches him going into the fight.

“I really believe I have an advantage everywhere,” he said during a recent appearance on MMAWeekly Radio. “If I go in there and I fight a dynamic fight, like I can, he’s not going to be sure whether I’m going to take him down, whether I’m going to strike with him, whether I want to come with a knee or if I’m going to do a kick, a punch, an elbow; he has to be worried about a lot of things with me.”

Both fighters have always been extremely well spoken of each other in the past, but a now controversial interview with Roger Huerta produced by the UFC has spurned a little extra motivation in Florian.

“He’s got to go in there and be confident and know that he’s going to win and I’m the same way,” commented Florian. “Of course there’s a way to do it respectfully, but Roger’s saying it’s going to be a cakewalk. I don’t think he believes that and if he does believe it, he’s going to be in trouble.”

Regardless of hype, the real prize in this fight could be a shot at the UFC lightweight title, but current champion B.J. Penn has his sites set on a welterweight showdown with the winner of Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch. While titles are great, Florian is only focused on one thing right now.

“I don’t know first of all what B.J.’s going to do. Who knows what B.J.’s going to do tomorrow or the next day? Looks like he’s going to fight GSP at the end of December. That’s what I feel is going to happen. That’s what I’m hearing is going to happen,” Florian said. “One thing I know for sure is when I fight Roger Huerta, I’m going to have another tough fight. And that’s exactly what I want.

“The belt is great of course. I want that, great prestige, a lot of prestige with that and probably more money of course, but the main thing is me being able to fight the top guys.”

The Boston native will get a chance to take one more step towards that title shot when he faces Roger Huerta on Saturday night in Minnesota at UFC 87.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Affliction announces partial fight card, broadcast details for Oct. 11 event

LAS VEGAS -- Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio today confirmed a handful of fights and the broadcast details for the organization's second show, "Day of Reckoning," which takes place Oct. 11 at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) was on scene today at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, which has signed on as an event sponsor.

Atencio today confirmed that HDNet will broadcast three preliminary bouts before a seven-fight card, headlined by Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett, airs on pay per view.

Atencio said the the main event will be a "No. 1 contender's bout" with the winner likely to face current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at a future show. Emelianenko was expected to fight Arlovski at the Oct. 11 event, but a rumored hand injury forced him off the card.

Today's announced main-card bouts included Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort. (However, as we reported earlier today, the bout is contigent on Belfort's hand being healed in time for the show and early clearance from his current 180-day medical suspension.)

One fighter not officially confirmed for the main card was Tito Ortiz. Earlier today we passed along a report from si.com in which Ortiz had stated he agreed to a deal with Affliction and that he expected to fight Renato "Babalu" Sobral at the Oct. 11 event. Michael Cohen, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and Special Counsel to Affliction executive Donald Trump, would only say that the organization is interested in signing Ortiz and that he and Donald Trump Jr. had spoken to him just yesterday.

Atencio also confirmed two of the night's three preliminary bouts. In addition to Jason High vs. Mike Pyle, Paul Buentello will meet IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson in the preliminary card's final bout. (Nelson was expected to fight Xtreme Couture's Jay White, as we previously reported, but the fight apparently fell apart at the final hour.)

Tickets for "Day of Reckoning" go on sale Saturday and range from $75 to $500.