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Video: Shamrock Talks Brother-vs-Brother Matchup
It’s a bout that’s taken on almost mythical proportions. Rumors have swirled for years, and yet it’s never happened. Brother versus brother. Ken Shamrock and his younger brother Frank, meeting in the ring.
To some, the brother-against-brother idea sounds like a bad Thanksgiving.
But in this exclusive video from IFL.tv, Ken Shamrock insists that it’s nothing so pernicious. It’s just good clean fun and wholesome competition between two extremely competitive men.
“Fighting is not a dirty thing,” said the elder Shamrock. “Brothers fighting is not a dirty thing. It happens every day in this world, brothers fighting. They just don’t get paid for it. Now I’m going to bring my brother in the ring, I’m going to beat him up, and I’m going to pay him.”
Whether the fight will ever actually take place is still a mystery, though both men have professed interest in it. How the action might unfold once the bout is underway is another question mark.
IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz declined to make a prediction in the contentious bout, though he would say that he thought Frank Shamrock might be the more skilled of the two.
Heavyweight champ Roy Nelson, a member of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den in the IFL, would concede only that the difference could be in who is better prepared for the showdown, should it actually take place.
Nelson, along with other members of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den, will be in action against Matt Lindland’s Team Quest when the IFL comes to Las Vegas on Feb. 29.
Xtreme Couture fighters will also be taking on members of Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center.
In a third championship fight, middleweight title-holder Matt Horwich faces Miletich Fighting Systems’ Ryan McGivern
It’s a bout that’s taken on almost mythical proportions. Rumors have swirled for years, and yet it’s never happened. Brother versus brother. Ken Shamrock and his younger brother Frank, meeting in the ring.
To some, the brother-against-brother idea sounds like a bad Thanksgiving.
But in this exclusive video from IFL.tv, Ken Shamrock insists that it’s nothing so pernicious. It’s just good clean fun and wholesome competition between two extremely competitive men.
“Fighting is not a dirty thing,” said the elder Shamrock. “Brothers fighting is not a dirty thing. It happens every day in this world, brothers fighting. They just don’t get paid for it. Now I’m going to bring my brother in the ring, I’m going to beat him up, and I’m going to pay him.”
Whether the fight will ever actually take place is still a mystery, though both men have professed interest in it. How the action might unfold once the bout is underway is another question mark.
IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz declined to make a prediction in the contentious bout, though he would say that he thought Frank Shamrock might be the more skilled of the two.
Heavyweight champ Roy Nelson, a member of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den in the IFL, would concede only that the difference could be in who is better prepared for the showdown, should it actually take place.
Nelson, along with other members of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den, will be in action against Matt Lindland’s Team Quest when the IFL comes to Las Vegas on Feb. 29.
Xtreme Couture fighters will also be taking on members of Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center.
In a third championship fight, middleweight title-holder Matt Horwich faces Miletich Fighting Systems’ Ryan McGivern
Rivals Prepare to Square Off in Vegas
A smile slowly stretches across Ryan Schultz’s face when he’s asked about his upcoming title fight with John Gunderson.
“Gunderson,” he says, shaking his head. “What can I say?”
It’s not that the lightweight champion Schultz doesn’t have anything to say about the Lion’s Den fighter. It’s that he doesn’t know where to begin.
Their paths crossed for the first time several years back, when both were rising young fighters in the Pacific Northwest’s vibrant MMA scene. Schultz trained in Portland with Matt Lindland’s Team Quest, competing in several of the local Sportfight promotions. Gunderson made his home in nearby Medford and fought in bouts all across the region.
Gunderson began by quickly coming up the amateur ranks. Schultz started his career as a pro. As each man racked up more and more victories, a showdown between them seemed inevitable, looming just ahead on the horizon.
The two never faced each other, however, despite being two of the more well-known lightweights in the region. According to Schultz, it wasn’t from lack of trying.
“We’ve offered him a fight with me many times,” says the 155-pound titleholder. “He has not taken it. Whether that’s him or his management, I’m not for sure. But I’ll fight Gunderson any day of the week.”
According to Gunderson, however, the fight with Schultz is the one he’s most looked forward to since entering the IFL.
“I expected him to be one of the toughest lightweights in the league from the start,” says the Lion’s Den product. “It’s going to be one of the toughest fights in my career, just two bucks locking horns.”
As if the peripheral history the two have together isn’t enough, the bout will be for the IFL lightweight title, which Schultz claimed after his upset victory over Chris Horodecki at the World Grand Prix finals in December. On February 29, just two months after winning the belt, he’ll put it on the line for the first time against his regional rival.
But as much as we’ve seen of both men thus far in IFL competition, this one is still very difficult to call. Schultz, a former University of Nebraska wrestler, forged a reputation as a brawler early in his career, but his greatest success has come when he sticks to a more tactical approach and doesn’t risk trading blows on the feet.
This isn’t lost on Gunderson, who has seen enough of Schultz over the years to know what he likes to do in the ring. He says his plan is to be the more technical fighter and not let Schultz suck him into a street fight.
At the same time, he knows he’ll have to contend with Schultz’s considerable wrestling skills. “The Lion” not only owns a stunning victory over Horodecki, but has also beaten top-tier guys like Roger Huerta.
In other words, a win would easily be the highlight of Gunderson’s young career at this point.
In the end, this one will probably be decided by the slimmest of margins, as fights at this level usually are. Their personal feelings about each other – maybe best described as mutual respect tinged with a fierce competitiveness – only serve to up the ante.
For both men, this fight represents a kind of inevitable destiny. They’ve always expected that some day this had to come. They just might not have imagined that it would be for the IFL lightweight championship.
On February 29 in Las Vegas, they’ll finally get their chance to settle this rivalry, or at least write the first chapter.
A smile slowly stretches across Ryan Schultz’s face when he’s asked about his upcoming title fight with John Gunderson.
“Gunderson,” he says, shaking his head. “What can I say?”
It’s not that the lightweight champion Schultz doesn’t have anything to say about the Lion’s Den fighter. It’s that he doesn’t know where to begin.
Their paths crossed for the first time several years back, when both were rising young fighters in the Pacific Northwest’s vibrant MMA scene. Schultz trained in Portland with Matt Lindland’s Team Quest, competing in several of the local Sportfight promotions. Gunderson made his home in nearby Medford and fought in bouts all across the region.
Gunderson began by quickly coming up the amateur ranks. Schultz started his career as a pro. As each man racked up more and more victories, a showdown between them seemed inevitable, looming just ahead on the horizon.
The two never faced each other, however, despite being two of the more well-known lightweights in the region. According to Schultz, it wasn’t from lack of trying.
“We’ve offered him a fight with me many times,” says the 155-pound titleholder. “He has not taken it. Whether that’s him or his management, I’m not for sure. But I’ll fight Gunderson any day of the week.”
According to Gunderson, however, the fight with Schultz is the one he’s most looked forward to since entering the IFL.
“I expected him to be one of the toughest lightweights in the league from the start,” says the Lion’s Den product. “It’s going to be one of the toughest fights in my career, just two bucks locking horns.”
As if the peripheral history the two have together isn’t enough, the bout will be for the IFL lightweight title, which Schultz claimed after his upset victory over Chris Horodecki at the World Grand Prix finals in December. On February 29, just two months after winning the belt, he’ll put it on the line for the first time against his regional rival.
But as much as we’ve seen of both men thus far in IFL competition, this one is still very difficult to call. Schultz, a former University of Nebraska wrestler, forged a reputation as a brawler early in his career, but his greatest success has come when he sticks to a more tactical approach and doesn’t risk trading blows on the feet.
This isn’t lost on Gunderson, who has seen enough of Schultz over the years to know what he likes to do in the ring. He says his plan is to be the more technical fighter and not let Schultz suck him into a street fight.
At the same time, he knows he’ll have to contend with Schultz’s considerable wrestling skills. “The Lion” not only owns a stunning victory over Horodecki, but has also beaten top-tier guys like Roger Huerta.
In other words, a win would easily be the highlight of Gunderson’s young career at this point.
In the end, this one will probably be decided by the slimmest of margins, as fights at this level usually are. Their personal feelings about each other – maybe best described as mutual respect tinged with a fierce competitiveness – only serve to up the ante.
For both men, this fight represents a kind of inevitable destiny. They’ve always expected that some day this had to come. They just might not have imagined that it would be for the IFL lightweight championship.
On February 29 in Las Vegas, they’ll finally get their chance to settle this rivalry, or at least write the first chapter.
dana calls out fedor"Fedor isn’t a real fighter, he’s a complete joke" "Liddell knock
Dana answers your questions
THOUSANDS of you bombarded us with e-mails when we gave you the chance to question UFC supremo Dana White a fortnight ago.
And now, the president of the world's leading mixed martial arts promotion has responded to twelve of the best posers Sun readers put to him.
In a revealing question and answer session, White reveals his thoughts on Michael Bisping's move to middleweight, the Sean Sherk drug scandal and his thoughts on Fedor Emelianenko...
Dana, in your opinion, which fighter past or present best epitomises the term 'Ultimate Fighter'? - Michael Barnes, Dublin
White: "That’s a real tough one, Michael, because I think all our guys epitomise what it is to be an 'Ultimate Fighter' – that’s why they're in the UFC. Not only are they the best fighters in the world, but they really go out there and go after it. They are real fighters.
"Our fighters, when they are asked in interviews who they want to fight next, they always say “whoever the UFC puts in front of me” because they will fight anyone, anytime.
"In other sports you see they send their agents in and they say “we are building the brand of this fighter” but the only fighter I deal with who does that is Tito Ortiz.
"We’ve got so many guys that just ask where to show up and fight...Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, Sean Sherk and I’d put Brock Lesnar in there. We told him he’d be fighting top guys from his second pro fight and he said that’s what he wanted."
Which fighter do you think has the best chance of breaking Randy Couture and BJ Penn's record to claim a three-weight championship? - Paul McNally
White: "Three divisions? That's a lot of weight to move up or down in the UFC. I don’t know, BJ Penn used to talk crazy s*** about fighting all the way up to heavyweight but I think he’s now realised you become a legend by dominating a division for a period of time.
"You look at guys like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes – they became so big because they dominated their divisions for a long period of time."
How big a force can Michael Bisping be at middleweight? - Paul Powler, Sheffield
White: "I think Michael Bisping can be a huge force at middleweight, Paul. I think we will see the best of Bisping at 185lbs - I think middleweight is his best division and he’ll tell you I told him that when I first met him.
"When you look at what he accomplished at 205lbs despite been a little smaller, you have to be excited about him going to a weight which suits him much better.
"He was doing great at light heavyweight – which is really impressive because our 205lbs guys are HUGE.
"It's funny, after he came to the UFC, Wanderlei Silva told me that the UFC light heavyweights are bigger than a lot of PRIDE’s best heavyweights.
"We have some giants in our 205lbs division. For Michael Bisping, who can make 185lbs, to do what he did was very impressive but now I feel he’s at where he should be at and I expect him to really do things in this division."
Why has Sean Sherk been welcomed back to the UFC after being tested positive for steroids? He won the lightweight title on the day he tested positive and will now face BJ Penn for the title later this year. Surely this de-legitimises the title, the UFC, and MMA as a whole? - Steven Littley
White: "Why wouldn’t I welcome the guy back? He’s a great fighter, a great guy and I respect him as a fighter and as a person. He’s served his six months suspension, he’s done everything that was asked of him, and now he’s starting back.
"Whatever he did, whatever happened, he’s paid for it. He was stripped of his title, he was suspended, he was fined – and he’s still protesting he never did this in the first place.
"He has lost the ability to earn a living for six months already, he’s lost his title...what else am i supposed to do – drag him into the street and stone him?"
Would you ever consider hosting an open weight GP tournament like there used to be in Pride or GP tournaments in different weight classes? - Kaleem Malik
White: "No, never. For a start the commissions in the US would never allow it, and these things - they are so stupid anyway. I know it was all cool and crazy back in the early 1990s to do them but it was dumb and dangerous too.
"I have got this question a few times and I don’t get it – the best fighter never wins these dumb things anyway.
"The winner is some alternate, or whichever fighter got the most rest or didn’t pick up an injury – you never know for sure if the winner really deserved it because he’s the best fighter or because some stupid s*** like that - which is all to do with luck and doesn’t prove who the best fighter is.
"Also, I think fighters try and pace themselves in the opening round of those tournaments to make sure they are fresh for the later rounds. Think about it - these things force guys to not give their best efforts so they can be fresh later!
"You watch the UFC fighters walking back to the dressing room after a great fight and they are not fresh! UFC fighters let it all hang out every time they fight."
Will the UFC ever set up a ranking system in each of the weight divisions so people know which fighters are in line for a title shot? For example, fighters could score points for winning fights and lose points for any defeats they incur. - Dean Hayward, Leicester
White: "Actually, Dean, I said we’d never do that because I figured people would say our rankings are biased. But, when you look around at some of these other rankings that are out there I think we probably will do our own after all.
"I have no idea when we will get to that, though. I wouldn’t look for any rankings anytime real soon."
If you had to make a call on who the respective title holders in each weight class on January 1st 2009 would be, who are your picks? - Rob Walker, London
White: "Man, that’s another tough one because you know this crazy sport and how many ways you and win and lose any fight in a second.
"It is a real tough one...no-one is unbeatable in this sport and all our fans know there are no “gimmies” and no “tune-ups”.
"But if I had to choose one of our current champions to stay at the top for another year...I’d probably go with Anderson Silva...but then he’s fighting Dan Henderson in March which I think is an incredible fight between two guys who are maybe the best two middleweights in the history of this sport.
"Real tough question!"
Do you plan on cross-promoting bouts or even events on a large scale in the future? Most of the small organisations are cross-promoting to share talented fighters and put on larger events to compete with the UFC. - Carlo, Iowa
White: "Why would I want to do shows with these promotions? I have the best fighters in the world all under contract. Why would I cross-promote with these organisations? They suck."
Would you consider having a fight card that was voted for by the fans for each weight class? - Brad Custer, Minnesota
White: "Actually, Brad, we did talk about doing exactly that a little while ago...having the fans be the matchmaker and choose the fights on a card.
"But in the end we decided it didn’t really make sense because the fans of the UFC are already the ones choosing the fights anyway because they let us know what fights they want to see and we make it happen.
"Listen, I am in the business of giving fans the fights they want to see to sell tickets and pay-per-views. If I can’t figure out what fights the fans want then, hey, I am pretty f*****.
What has been your all-time favourite fight? How high up your list would the Liddell v Silva bout rate? - Colin Clyburn, Hartlepool
White: "Easy question, Colin, it was the second Matt Hughes v Frank Trigg bout (April 2005). Amazing fight, with an awesome back story and build-up and the way Matt won the fight, coming back after getting hit low, was just awesome to experience live. You just had to be there to feel how amazing that fight was.
"Chuck v Silva was a great fight and is up there. It was very special to me because I’d tried for years to make that fight happen and when it finally happened I don’t think anyone was disappointed."
The scoring system in the UFC has always been questionable. As time goes on, it is becoming apparent that a change needs to be made - the Bisping/Hamill fight at UFC 75 being an obvious example. Can we expect any changes in the future? - Eric Smith, London
White: "I hear you, Eric. I know exactly what you are saying. The 10-point must system was developed for boxing and it doesn’t fit mixed martial arts that well.
"But what you've got to understand is, unlike in the UK, the people who regulate sports over here – guys like the Nevada State Athletic Commission - are the government.
"These guys are part of the actual government of the state so doing something as huge as changing the whole system for scoring won’t happen just like that.
"And even if someone spent months putting together the perfect scoring system for MMA you know what? We’ll still have some fights where you see one guy winning and I see another.
"We will still get arguments and controversy, because when it goes to the scorecards it is about opinion and people have different opinions.
"But I do know exactly what you are saying, though."
Dana, why did you turn down M1's offer to let Fedor fight Randy in the UFC? Is there any chance Randy Couture will face Fedor in a UFC show, and if not, will we ever see 'The Natural' compete in the Octagon again? - Steve, Liverpool
White: "I tried to make that fight for months but I’m not getting into some b***s*** posturing. Fedor isn’t a real fighter, he’s a complete joke.
"He’s fighting middleweights and guys who have absolutely no business fighting – and he’s looking like s*** doing it.
"It's 2008 and he hasn’t had a real fight since 2005. I don’t care about what he did in PRIDE years ago - he can’t live with anyone in the top five in the UFC and that’s why he’s not here.
"He’s not in the UFC because if he was he couldn’t avoid real competition like he’s been doing for years now.
"And Randy Couture knows all of that, believe me. Let me tell you - Chuck Liddell knocked Randy Couture out – out cold – twice and that’s why Randy retired. Chuck ended his career as a top light heavyweight and that’s why he retired.
"Then after being done and gone for a year he calls me on my cell phone saying “Dana, I want to come back as a heavyweight and fight Tim Sylvia – can you make it happen?”
"We make that happen, we give Randy Couture that huge opportunity and now Randy Couture is refusing to give a fighter like Antonio Nogueira that exact same opportunity he was given.
“'Captain America' needs to honour his contract and honour fighters like Nogueira. You would expect 'Captain America' should do the honourable thing."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article765051.ece
Dana answers your questions
THOUSANDS of you bombarded us with e-mails when we gave you the chance to question UFC supremo Dana White a fortnight ago.
And now, the president of the world's leading mixed martial arts promotion has responded to twelve of the best posers Sun readers put to him.
In a revealing question and answer session, White reveals his thoughts on Michael Bisping's move to middleweight, the Sean Sherk drug scandal and his thoughts on Fedor Emelianenko...
Dana, in your opinion, which fighter past or present best epitomises the term 'Ultimate Fighter'? - Michael Barnes, Dublin
White: "That’s a real tough one, Michael, because I think all our guys epitomise what it is to be an 'Ultimate Fighter' – that’s why they're in the UFC. Not only are they the best fighters in the world, but they really go out there and go after it. They are real fighters.
"Our fighters, when they are asked in interviews who they want to fight next, they always say “whoever the UFC puts in front of me” because they will fight anyone, anytime.
"In other sports you see they send their agents in and they say “we are building the brand of this fighter” but the only fighter I deal with who does that is Tito Ortiz.
"We’ve got so many guys that just ask where to show up and fight...Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, Sean Sherk and I’d put Brock Lesnar in there. We told him he’d be fighting top guys from his second pro fight and he said that’s what he wanted."
Which fighter do you think has the best chance of breaking Randy Couture and BJ Penn's record to claim a three-weight championship? - Paul McNally
White: "Three divisions? That's a lot of weight to move up or down in the UFC. I don’t know, BJ Penn used to talk crazy s*** about fighting all the way up to heavyweight but I think he’s now realised you become a legend by dominating a division for a period of time.
"You look at guys like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes – they became so big because they dominated their divisions for a long period of time."
How big a force can Michael Bisping be at middleweight? - Paul Powler, Sheffield
White: "I think Michael Bisping can be a huge force at middleweight, Paul. I think we will see the best of Bisping at 185lbs - I think middleweight is his best division and he’ll tell you I told him that when I first met him.
"When you look at what he accomplished at 205lbs despite been a little smaller, you have to be excited about him going to a weight which suits him much better.
"He was doing great at light heavyweight – which is really impressive because our 205lbs guys are HUGE.
"It's funny, after he came to the UFC, Wanderlei Silva told me that the UFC light heavyweights are bigger than a lot of PRIDE’s best heavyweights.
"We have some giants in our 205lbs division. For Michael Bisping, who can make 185lbs, to do what he did was very impressive but now I feel he’s at where he should be at and I expect him to really do things in this division."
Why has Sean Sherk been welcomed back to the UFC after being tested positive for steroids? He won the lightweight title on the day he tested positive and will now face BJ Penn for the title later this year. Surely this de-legitimises the title, the UFC, and MMA as a whole? - Steven Littley
White: "Why wouldn’t I welcome the guy back? He’s a great fighter, a great guy and I respect him as a fighter and as a person. He’s served his six months suspension, he’s done everything that was asked of him, and now he’s starting back.
"Whatever he did, whatever happened, he’s paid for it. He was stripped of his title, he was suspended, he was fined – and he’s still protesting he never did this in the first place.
"He has lost the ability to earn a living for six months already, he’s lost his title...what else am i supposed to do – drag him into the street and stone him?"
Would you ever consider hosting an open weight GP tournament like there used to be in Pride or GP tournaments in different weight classes? - Kaleem Malik
White: "No, never. For a start the commissions in the US would never allow it, and these things - they are so stupid anyway. I know it was all cool and crazy back in the early 1990s to do them but it was dumb and dangerous too.
"I have got this question a few times and I don’t get it – the best fighter never wins these dumb things anyway.
"The winner is some alternate, or whichever fighter got the most rest or didn’t pick up an injury – you never know for sure if the winner really deserved it because he’s the best fighter or because some stupid s*** like that - which is all to do with luck and doesn’t prove who the best fighter is.
"Also, I think fighters try and pace themselves in the opening round of those tournaments to make sure they are fresh for the later rounds. Think about it - these things force guys to not give their best efforts so they can be fresh later!
"You watch the UFC fighters walking back to the dressing room after a great fight and they are not fresh! UFC fighters let it all hang out every time they fight."
Will the UFC ever set up a ranking system in each of the weight divisions so people know which fighters are in line for a title shot? For example, fighters could score points for winning fights and lose points for any defeats they incur. - Dean Hayward, Leicester
White: "Actually, Dean, I said we’d never do that because I figured people would say our rankings are biased. But, when you look around at some of these other rankings that are out there I think we probably will do our own after all.
"I have no idea when we will get to that, though. I wouldn’t look for any rankings anytime real soon."
If you had to make a call on who the respective title holders in each weight class on January 1st 2009 would be, who are your picks? - Rob Walker, London
White: "Man, that’s another tough one because you know this crazy sport and how many ways you and win and lose any fight in a second.
"It is a real tough one...no-one is unbeatable in this sport and all our fans know there are no “gimmies” and no “tune-ups”.
"But if I had to choose one of our current champions to stay at the top for another year...I’d probably go with Anderson Silva...but then he’s fighting Dan Henderson in March which I think is an incredible fight between two guys who are maybe the best two middleweights in the history of this sport.
"Real tough question!"
Do you plan on cross-promoting bouts or even events on a large scale in the future? Most of the small organisations are cross-promoting to share talented fighters and put on larger events to compete with the UFC. - Carlo, Iowa
White: "Why would I want to do shows with these promotions? I have the best fighters in the world all under contract. Why would I cross-promote with these organisations? They suck."
Would you consider having a fight card that was voted for by the fans for each weight class? - Brad Custer, Minnesota
White: "Actually, Brad, we did talk about doing exactly that a little while ago...having the fans be the matchmaker and choose the fights on a card.
"But in the end we decided it didn’t really make sense because the fans of the UFC are already the ones choosing the fights anyway because they let us know what fights they want to see and we make it happen.
"Listen, I am in the business of giving fans the fights they want to see to sell tickets and pay-per-views. If I can’t figure out what fights the fans want then, hey, I am pretty f*****.
What has been your all-time favourite fight? How high up your list would the Liddell v Silva bout rate? - Colin Clyburn, Hartlepool
White: "Easy question, Colin, it was the second Matt Hughes v Frank Trigg bout (April 2005). Amazing fight, with an awesome back story and build-up and the way Matt won the fight, coming back after getting hit low, was just awesome to experience live. You just had to be there to feel how amazing that fight was.
"Chuck v Silva was a great fight and is up there. It was very special to me because I’d tried for years to make that fight happen and when it finally happened I don’t think anyone was disappointed."
The scoring system in the UFC has always been questionable. As time goes on, it is becoming apparent that a change needs to be made - the Bisping/Hamill fight at UFC 75 being an obvious example. Can we expect any changes in the future? - Eric Smith, London
White: "I hear you, Eric. I know exactly what you are saying. The 10-point must system was developed for boxing and it doesn’t fit mixed martial arts that well.
"But what you've got to understand is, unlike in the UK, the people who regulate sports over here – guys like the Nevada State Athletic Commission - are the government.
"These guys are part of the actual government of the state so doing something as huge as changing the whole system for scoring won’t happen just like that.
"And even if someone spent months putting together the perfect scoring system for MMA you know what? We’ll still have some fights where you see one guy winning and I see another.
"We will still get arguments and controversy, because when it goes to the scorecards it is about opinion and people have different opinions.
"But I do know exactly what you are saying, though."
Dana, why did you turn down M1's offer to let Fedor fight Randy in the UFC? Is there any chance Randy Couture will face Fedor in a UFC show, and if not, will we ever see 'The Natural' compete in the Octagon again? - Steve, Liverpool
White: "I tried to make that fight for months but I’m not getting into some b***s*** posturing. Fedor isn’t a real fighter, he’s a complete joke.
"He’s fighting middleweights and guys who have absolutely no business fighting – and he’s looking like s*** doing it.
"It's 2008 and he hasn’t had a real fight since 2005. I don’t care about what he did in PRIDE years ago - he can’t live with anyone in the top five in the UFC and that’s why he’s not here.
"He’s not in the UFC because if he was he couldn’t avoid real competition like he’s been doing for years now.
"And Randy Couture knows all of that, believe me. Let me tell you - Chuck Liddell knocked Randy Couture out – out cold – twice and that’s why Randy retired. Chuck ended his career as a top light heavyweight and that’s why he retired.
"Then after being done and gone for a year he calls me on my cell phone saying “Dana, I want to come back as a heavyweight and fight Tim Sylvia – can you make it happen?”
"We make that happen, we give Randy Couture that huge opportunity and now Randy Couture is refusing to give a fighter like Antonio Nogueira that exact same opportunity he was given.
“'Captain America' needs to honour his contract and honour fighters like Nogueira. You would expect 'Captain America' should do the honourable thing."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article765051.ece
Report: UFC Owners Suing Former PRIDE Ownership Group
PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, which was created after the UFC’s primary owners purchased the former Japanese-based PRIDE Fighting Championships, has filed suit against Dream Stage Entertainment, the organization’s previous ownership group.
The news comes from Dave Meltzer in the print edition of Wrestling Observer.
According to the report, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta claim that Dream Stage Entertainment, Dream Stage Holdings, and DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara defrauded millions of dollars during last year’s sale of PRIDE and PRIDE Bushido.
The UFC’s ownership group first announced its intention to purchase PRIDE in March 2007 and confirmed that the sale — or more specifically, the acquisition of assets such as the PRIDE video library and some (but not all) of the fighters’ contracts — had been finalized two months later.
Originally, UFC President Dana White announced that PRIDE would continue to operate as a separate entity while promising “SuperBowl-type” mega-fights between the two organizations’ biggest stars. “Fans will finally get the match-ups they’ve always wanted,” White said. However, soon after the paperwork was signed, he called the company “a mess” and reasoned that the organization was lucky to be in business given its horrible financial state.
Back in October, all of PRIDE’s former employees were laid off, even though they claim that they had been assured their jobs were safe.
The once-mighty PRIDE had been a sports phenomenon in Japan, but chinks started appearing in the armor when the organization lost its television deal with Fuji TV in 2006, thanks to claims that the organization had ties with the Yakuza, Japan’s organized crime group.
PRIDE launched in October 1997 and held a total of 68 shows under the PRIDE and PRIDE Bushido banners. The organization set a still-standing record for an MMA audience when it drew more than 71,000 people to its August 2002 Shockwave/Dynamite show, which was co-promoted by K-1.
PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, which was created after the UFC’s primary owners purchased the former Japanese-based PRIDE Fighting Championships, has filed suit against Dream Stage Entertainment, the organization’s previous ownership group.
The news comes from Dave Meltzer in the print edition of Wrestling Observer.
According to the report, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta claim that Dream Stage Entertainment, Dream Stage Holdings, and DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara defrauded millions of dollars during last year’s sale of PRIDE and PRIDE Bushido.
The UFC’s ownership group first announced its intention to purchase PRIDE in March 2007 and confirmed that the sale — or more specifically, the acquisition of assets such as the PRIDE video library and some (but not all) of the fighters’ contracts — had been finalized two months later.
Originally, UFC President Dana White announced that PRIDE would continue to operate as a separate entity while promising “SuperBowl-type” mega-fights between the two organizations’ biggest stars. “Fans will finally get the match-ups they’ve always wanted,” White said. However, soon after the paperwork was signed, he called the company “a mess” and reasoned that the organization was lucky to be in business given its horrible financial state.
Back in October, all of PRIDE’s former employees were laid off, even though they claim that they had been assured their jobs were safe.
The once-mighty PRIDE had been a sports phenomenon in Japan, but chinks started appearing in the armor when the organization lost its television deal with Fuji TV in 2006, thanks to claims that the organization had ties with the Yakuza, Japan’s organized crime group.
PRIDE launched in October 1997 and held a total of 68 shows under the PRIDE and PRIDE Bushido banners. The organization set a still-standing record for an MMA audience when it drew more than 71,000 people to its August 2002 Shockwave/Dynamite show, which was co-promoted by K-1.
hahah @ Dana White. w0rd Dana tells it like it is. Thats what promoters do hype up whatever it is to make people tune in. Ya either hate it or love it. Dude is smart and knows what the fuck he is doin plain n simple. Hes still a punk for hikin up the fight prices but in the end hes putting together some damn good fights. Every other promoter is riding Dana's coattail cause after all Dana put MMa into Mainstream status. Sundays paper the Sacramento Bee had a lil article on the UFC card, just as big as any article they would write about boxing. Comparing other major metropolitan cities, for a city small like Sac is huge....
Update on Xyience bankruptcy situation
Some interesting developments. Tomorrow, there will be a hearing in front of LV judge Tim Williams as to whether or not Xyience’s motion to win their cause against Rich Bergeron (based on a technicality) will work or not. If the motion fails, then there will be a hearing next week on Bergeron’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. Xyience initially sued Bergeron, a blogger who had been very critical of Xyience (long before anyone else online was), for $25 million USD. As we detailed last week on Fight Opinion Radio, the original attorney in the Xyience/Bergeron lawsuit backed out of the case and a new attorney, Pamela Lawson, has since taken over.
Bergeron, who continues to deal with Xyience-related legal proceedings, wrote this article on Xyience’s bankruptcy proceedings. Bergeron includes a YouTube video that supposedly (according to his side of the story) explains what has happened with Xyience and what the UFC connection is.
Besides what Rich Bergeron is writing about Xyience, an intriguing mass e-mail was sent out on Tuesday night addressed to ‘Xyience shareholders.’ The author of the e-mail is Terry Cardenas, who was named in this January 22nd Las Vegas Review-Journal article:
Sattar said the company would have filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 had not it not enjoyed the continued support of the Fertittas. Sattar said Xyience continues as a key UFC sponsor. Xyience signed a $15 million sponsorship agreement with the UFC for 2007.
Sattar said the bankruptcy became necessary when the company was unable to raise $7.5 million more from shareholders.
“Those negotiations, however, were derailed by a campaign of intimidations and threats led by company founder and former CEO Mr. Pike, Terry Cardenas, Ronald Solomon and Rick Klingenberg,” he said.
“Associates of Mr. Pike and Mr. Klingenberg made threats of physical violence against Xyience management and board members and, on at least one occasion, showed up uninvited at the home of one member of management,” Sattar said in bankruptcy court filings.Now, here is the text of the mass e-mail sent by Terry Cardenas to various MMA writers:
Fellow Stockholders,
On January 18, 2007 current Xyience Incorporated management filed for voluntary bankruptcy. There does not appear to be a contingency for stockholders in management’s bankruptcy plan. There will be a hearing on February 12, 2008 at 9AM before the United States Bankruptcy Court located at 300 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV concerning certain matters including the Court’s consideration of a post-petition financing from Zyen LLC a Fertitta limited liability corporation. It is very important that as many stockholders as possible attend the hearing.
As many of you are aware, stockholders retained the services of Attorney Daniel Newman of Broad and Cassel and on December 7, 2007 filed a lawsuit against certain offices and directors of Xyience Incorporated in State Court. For your convenience a copy of the complaint is attached. We would like to have the United States Trustee’s office recommend a shareholder’s committee to represent our rights in the bankruptcy. Please contact Mr. Landis ASAP to tell him you also would like to see a shareholder committee formed & volunteer to be on this committee.
Also, any stockholder that has any information concerning any alleged inappropriate behavior committed by management or the board of directors of Xyience Incorporated, please contact me or August Landis, the United States Trustee, using the information below.
Sincerely,
Terry Cardenas
August Landis
Assistant United States Trustee
United States Department of Justice
702-388-6600 ex. 235[email protected]
Some interesting developments. Tomorrow, there will be a hearing in front of LV judge Tim Williams as to whether or not Xyience’s motion to win their cause against Rich Bergeron (based on a technicality) will work or not. If the motion fails, then there will be a hearing next week on Bergeron’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. Xyience initially sued Bergeron, a blogger who had been very critical of Xyience (long before anyone else online was), for $25 million USD. As we detailed last week on Fight Opinion Radio, the original attorney in the Xyience/Bergeron lawsuit backed out of the case and a new attorney, Pamela Lawson, has since taken over.
Bergeron, who continues to deal with Xyience-related legal proceedings, wrote this article on Xyience’s bankruptcy proceedings. Bergeron includes a YouTube video that supposedly (according to his side of the story) explains what has happened with Xyience and what the UFC connection is.
Besides what Rich Bergeron is writing about Xyience, an intriguing mass e-mail was sent out on Tuesday night addressed to ‘Xyience shareholders.’ The author of the e-mail is Terry Cardenas, who was named in this January 22nd Las Vegas Review-Journal article:
Sattar said the company would have filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 had not it not enjoyed the continued support of the Fertittas. Sattar said Xyience continues as a key UFC sponsor. Xyience signed a $15 million sponsorship agreement with the UFC for 2007.
Sattar said the bankruptcy became necessary when the company was unable to raise $7.5 million more from shareholders.
“Those negotiations, however, were derailed by a campaign of intimidations and threats led by company founder and former CEO Mr. Pike, Terry Cardenas, Ronald Solomon and Rick Klingenberg,” he said.
“Associates of Mr. Pike and Mr. Klingenberg made threats of physical violence against Xyience management and board members and, on at least one occasion, showed up uninvited at the home of one member of management,” Sattar said in bankruptcy court filings.Now, here is the text of the mass e-mail sent by Terry Cardenas to various MMA writers:
Fellow Stockholders,
On January 18, 2007 current Xyience Incorporated management filed for voluntary bankruptcy. There does not appear to be a contingency for stockholders in management’s bankruptcy plan. There will be a hearing on February 12, 2008 at 9AM before the United States Bankruptcy Court located at 300 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV concerning certain matters including the Court’s consideration of a post-petition financing from Zyen LLC a Fertitta limited liability corporation. It is very important that as many stockholders as possible attend the hearing.
As many of you are aware, stockholders retained the services of Attorney Daniel Newman of Broad and Cassel and on December 7, 2007 filed a lawsuit against certain offices and directors of Xyience Incorporated in State Court. For your convenience a copy of the complaint is attached. We would like to have the United States Trustee’s office recommend a shareholder’s committee to represent our rights in the bankruptcy. Please contact Mr. Landis ASAP to tell him you also would like to see a shareholder committee formed & volunteer to be on this committee.
Also, any stockholder that has any information concerning any alleged inappropriate behavior committed by management or the board of directors of Xyience Incorporated, please contact me or August Landis, the United States Trustee, using the information below.
Sincerely,
Terry Cardenas
August Landis
Assistant United States Trustee
United States Department of Justice
702-388-6600 ex. 235[email protected]
Flashback: Gaming license issues related to UFC/PRIDE asset sale deal
By Zach Arnold | February 6, 2008 | Print This
As many long-time readers of this site know, I have been drumming the beat about PRIDE’s problems for at least two years. When the rumors first started that Zuffa was interested in doing a PRIDE asset sale purchase, I warned that there would be many problems that would arise if such a deal occured.
Those problems are surfacing right now.
I am going through some of the archived posts on this site in relation to warning signals about the PRIDE asset sale deal. One of the warning signals fired by me was that the Fertitta brothers were possibly putting their gaming license at risk by doing a business deal with Dream Stage Entertainment.
On March 21st of 2007, Ed Fishman did a radio interview with Sherdog and had this to say:
In regards to the stories about Ed being interested in buying PRIDE, he said that was true. He told the Japanese (who wanted $60-65 million USD) that he would need 30 days for due diligence to find any outstanding debts or secret owners. EF said that due diligence was critical in buying an operation like this, especially if he wanted to keep his gaming license in Nevada (and expressed the same concern if the Fertittas bought PRIDE). Ed said that he asked for paperwork from PRIDE such as legal documents, contracts, bills, etc. Nothing was ever presented to him. He was told by the Japanese that they couldn’t wait 30 days for the due diligence process to occur (and yet it’s 45-50 days after the initial buy-out request and now PRIDE is interested in being sold to the Fertittas?). Ed expressed that by this point now, due diligence by his team would have already taken place and he could have bought the promotion. Ed said he didn’t know if $60-65 million USD was a good price for PRIDE because his legal team didn’t get a chance to perform due diligence on whatever assets existed (VTR library, contracts, name/logo, etc.) He needed time to study the fighter contracts for opt-out clauses and other issues.
On March 22nd of 2007, Dave Meltzer reported that Nobuyuki Sakakibara was telling PRIDE employees that an asset sale deal had been finalized. I raised some serious questions about it:
Now, the last sentence by Meltzer… more than likely, the fighter contracts with PRIDE are personal service deals and could have real problems being transferred to UFC. Therefore, the only guaranteed way to enforce the contracts is if The Fertitta Brothers bought shares into Dream Stage Entertainment Inc. If that’s the case, the risk factor just went up exponentially on a lot of levels with a lot of important authorities.
In the case of a money transaction to Japan, you’re talking about raising the awareness of the Tokyo tax bureau (along with the Kanagawa Police and perhaps Tokyo Metropolitian Police). In America, certainly there will be awareness raised by the Nevada Gaming Commission and by the Fishman Companies legal team. This is far from over as far as a business transaction
On March 23rd of 2007, we posted some notes from our radio interview with Ed Fishman:
Ed talked about the process of inspection from the Nevada Gaming Commission and how it’s a 20-year background test check, where you (the person being investigated) have to pay all of the investigation costs. He pointed out that only one Japanese person has managed to pass it (and had ownership in The Aladdin Hotel). Ed stated that while he wasn’t a lawyer and that UFC was likely doing an asset sale with PRIDE, he felt that the NGC could prove to be an issue. Jeff Thaler asked him if Ed’s lawsuit could turn out to be a poison pill and Ed said yes, because his legal team has to put witnesses (including ex-DSE staff, which he didn’t name Yukino Kanda and Hideki Yamamoto specifically but clearly hinted at it) under deposition for a full day.
On March 26th of 2007, I wrote this preview post right before the asset sale deal occured:
Let’s analyze each option (the rewards and risks).
1. UFC does an asset purchase of PRIDE from DSE. This would be (relatively-speaking) the cleanest business transaction in terms of Zuffa LLC putting up cash. The risk would be limited in the sense that they would be buying the VTR collection, fighter contracts, and the PRIDE name/logo trademarks. This kind of deal might raise an eyebrow with the Nevada Gaming Commission, but it would be unlikely that anything negative from the NGC would take place.
The major risk of this kind of deal is what kind of fighter contracts does PRIDE have. Are they assignable or not assignable? This is key, because if the contracts are not transferrable to a third party then whatever asset transaction takes place will allow all of PRIDE’s fighters to become free agents and receive bids from BodogFight, K-1, etc. Zuffa LLC lawyers would need to perform due diligence, and so would company accountants. Due diligence takes anywhere from 30-60 days on a deal like this, and you don’t know how many of the contracts are in English or Japanese.
2. UFC does an asset purchase of PRIDE from DSE and Zuffa LLC starts their own subsidiary organization to run PRIDE in Japan. The risks from the first option apply to this option, plus there are more added risks. In the Japanese marketplace, it is likely not going to be palatable to the fans to support a foreign company that has a false Japanese face to it. In the modern history (since the 1950s) of the Japanese fight game, there hasn’t been a single gaijin President, boss, or owner of a fight promotion that has had long-term success in the Japanese marketplace. Race and nationality is a major issue here. Another element of risk on starting a subsidiary in Japan is not only losing a lot of cash (Japan is one of the most expensive places in the world to do business in), but also encountering angry gangs and criminals who are looking to disrupt or get a piece of the action.
On April 2nd of 2007, I reviewed the article that Shukan Gendai wrote about PRIDE’s asset sale deal with UFC. Spend a few minutes reading it and put it into context for the big picture.
On April 27th of 2007, I wrote a laundry list of questions that Ed Fishman’s legal team should ask Zuffa management in the Fishman vs. DSE Inc. lawsuit (before it was settled). Read the questions and fill in the blank for answers and compare what answers you have now versus what answers you didn’t have last year.
On August 30th of 2007, I addressed Todd Martin and explained the importance of the Nevada Gaming Commission in relation to the PRIDE asset sale deal:
Todd,
Here’s the logical fallacy with Dana’s “tainted” comments.
Lorenzo Fertitta and Zuffa had to have known about the yakuza scandal. You couldn’t avoid it if you read this site and others — and some people inside Zuffa likely read this site (because of past e-mails I’ve gotten). When they purchased the PRIDE assets from DSE, Dana went around bragging about what a “strong brand name” PRIDE is. As recently as a month ago, he said in a Japanese magazine that PRIDE was Japan’s #1 brand and HEROs was #2. Given the circumstances, this was such a laughable statement.
So, why did White suddenly change his tune a month after making those comments to the Japanese press? We don’t know. I can make guesses and assumptions relating to certain events, such as the Ed Fishman lawsuit settlement with DSE Inc. and the rumor that one of the provisions of the settlement is that PRIDE won’t come back, but I don’t have any concrete facts to prove why Dana keeps flip-flopping on the PRIDE brand value.
Here’s the problem for Dana and the whole “tainted” comment. The Nevada Gaming Commission is extremely sensitive about licensees and who they do business with. In other words, if you’re licensed by them stay the hell away from the mafia. That’s why I was always puzzled as to why Zuffa took a risk in dealing with DSE Inc., considering how high-profile the yakuza scandal was in Japan and translated in English on several top sites. It was a known story. All Dana is doing by using the word “tainted” is drawing attention to the fact that they did business with an organization that had accusations and allegations made against them in a high-profile scandal, which is not a good move on his part. Too many logical inconsistencies and flip-flops for him not to get called out on the carpet for it.
When he says stupid things like “it’s hard to rent an office in Japan,” how can you not laugh at him? Those kinds of statements are total crediblity killers. However, the joke was on him when DSE had Hustle running angles and doing business in the PRIDE offices while Zuffa’s staff were supposedly trying to take over the operations in Japan.
By Zach Arnold | February 6, 2008 | Print This
As many long-time readers of this site know, I have been drumming the beat about PRIDE’s problems for at least two years. When the rumors first started that Zuffa was interested in doing a PRIDE asset sale purchase, I warned that there would be many problems that would arise if such a deal occured.
Those problems are surfacing right now.
I am going through some of the archived posts on this site in relation to warning signals about the PRIDE asset sale deal. One of the warning signals fired by me was that the Fertitta brothers were possibly putting their gaming license at risk by doing a business deal with Dream Stage Entertainment.
On March 21st of 2007, Ed Fishman did a radio interview with Sherdog and had this to say:
In regards to the stories about Ed being interested in buying PRIDE, he said that was true. He told the Japanese (who wanted $60-65 million USD) that he would need 30 days for due diligence to find any outstanding debts or secret owners. EF said that due diligence was critical in buying an operation like this, especially if he wanted to keep his gaming license in Nevada (and expressed the same concern if the Fertittas bought PRIDE). Ed said that he asked for paperwork from PRIDE such as legal documents, contracts, bills, etc. Nothing was ever presented to him. He was told by the Japanese that they couldn’t wait 30 days for the due diligence process to occur (and yet it’s 45-50 days after the initial buy-out request and now PRIDE is interested in being sold to the Fertittas?). Ed expressed that by this point now, due diligence by his team would have already taken place and he could have bought the promotion. Ed said he didn’t know if $60-65 million USD was a good price for PRIDE because his legal team didn’t get a chance to perform due diligence on whatever assets existed (VTR library, contracts, name/logo, etc.) He needed time to study the fighter contracts for opt-out clauses and other issues.
On March 22nd of 2007, Dave Meltzer reported that Nobuyuki Sakakibara was telling PRIDE employees that an asset sale deal had been finalized. I raised some serious questions about it:
Now, the last sentence by Meltzer… more than likely, the fighter contracts with PRIDE are personal service deals and could have real problems being transferred to UFC. Therefore, the only guaranteed way to enforce the contracts is if The Fertitta Brothers bought shares into Dream Stage Entertainment Inc. If that’s the case, the risk factor just went up exponentially on a lot of levels with a lot of important authorities.
In the case of a money transaction to Japan, you’re talking about raising the awareness of the Tokyo tax bureau (along with the Kanagawa Police and perhaps Tokyo Metropolitian Police). In America, certainly there will be awareness raised by the Nevada Gaming Commission and by the Fishman Companies legal team. This is far from over as far as a business transaction
On March 23rd of 2007, we posted some notes from our radio interview with Ed Fishman:
Ed talked about the process of inspection from the Nevada Gaming Commission and how it’s a 20-year background test check, where you (the person being investigated) have to pay all of the investigation costs. He pointed out that only one Japanese person has managed to pass it (and had ownership in The Aladdin Hotel). Ed stated that while he wasn’t a lawyer and that UFC was likely doing an asset sale with PRIDE, he felt that the NGC could prove to be an issue. Jeff Thaler asked him if Ed’s lawsuit could turn out to be a poison pill and Ed said yes, because his legal team has to put witnesses (including ex-DSE staff, which he didn’t name Yukino Kanda and Hideki Yamamoto specifically but clearly hinted at it) under deposition for a full day.
On March 26th of 2007, I wrote this preview post right before the asset sale deal occured:
Let’s analyze each option (the rewards and risks).
1. UFC does an asset purchase of PRIDE from DSE. This would be (relatively-speaking) the cleanest business transaction in terms of Zuffa LLC putting up cash. The risk would be limited in the sense that they would be buying the VTR collection, fighter contracts, and the PRIDE name/logo trademarks. This kind of deal might raise an eyebrow with the Nevada Gaming Commission, but it would be unlikely that anything negative from the NGC would take place.
The major risk of this kind of deal is what kind of fighter contracts does PRIDE have. Are they assignable or not assignable? This is key, because if the contracts are not transferrable to a third party then whatever asset transaction takes place will allow all of PRIDE’s fighters to become free agents and receive bids from BodogFight, K-1, etc. Zuffa LLC lawyers would need to perform due diligence, and so would company accountants. Due diligence takes anywhere from 30-60 days on a deal like this, and you don’t know how many of the contracts are in English or Japanese.
2. UFC does an asset purchase of PRIDE from DSE and Zuffa LLC starts their own subsidiary organization to run PRIDE in Japan. The risks from the first option apply to this option, plus there are more added risks. In the Japanese marketplace, it is likely not going to be palatable to the fans to support a foreign company that has a false Japanese face to it. In the modern history (since the 1950s) of the Japanese fight game, there hasn’t been a single gaijin President, boss, or owner of a fight promotion that has had long-term success in the Japanese marketplace. Race and nationality is a major issue here. Another element of risk on starting a subsidiary in Japan is not only losing a lot of cash (Japan is one of the most expensive places in the world to do business in), but also encountering angry gangs and criminals who are looking to disrupt or get a piece of the action.
On April 2nd of 2007, I reviewed the article that Shukan Gendai wrote about PRIDE’s asset sale deal with UFC. Spend a few minutes reading it and put it into context for the big picture.
On April 27th of 2007, I wrote a laundry list of questions that Ed Fishman’s legal team should ask Zuffa management in the Fishman vs. DSE Inc. lawsuit (before it was settled). Read the questions and fill in the blank for answers and compare what answers you have now versus what answers you didn’t have last year.
On August 30th of 2007, I addressed Todd Martin and explained the importance of the Nevada Gaming Commission in relation to the PRIDE asset sale deal:
Todd,
Here’s the logical fallacy with Dana’s “tainted” comments.
Lorenzo Fertitta and Zuffa had to have known about the yakuza scandal. You couldn’t avoid it if you read this site and others — and some people inside Zuffa likely read this site (because of past e-mails I’ve gotten). When they purchased the PRIDE assets from DSE, Dana went around bragging about what a “strong brand name” PRIDE is. As recently as a month ago, he said in a Japanese magazine that PRIDE was Japan’s #1 brand and HEROs was #2. Given the circumstances, this was such a laughable statement.
So, why did White suddenly change his tune a month after making those comments to the Japanese press? We don’t know. I can make guesses and assumptions relating to certain events, such as the Ed Fishman lawsuit settlement with DSE Inc. and the rumor that one of the provisions of the settlement is that PRIDE won’t come back, but I don’t have any concrete facts to prove why Dana keeps flip-flopping on the PRIDE brand value.
Here’s the problem for Dana and the whole “tainted” comment. The Nevada Gaming Commission is extremely sensitive about licensees and who they do business with. In other words, if you’re licensed by them stay the hell away from the mafia. That’s why I was always puzzled as to why Zuffa took a risk in dealing with DSE Inc., considering how high-profile the yakuza scandal was in Japan and translated in English on several top sites. It was a known story. All Dana is doing by using the word “tainted” is drawing attention to the fact that they did business with an organization that had accusations and allegations made against them in a high-profile scandal, which is not a good move on his part. Too many logical inconsistencies and flip-flops for him not to get called out on the carpet for it.
When he says stupid things like “it’s hard to rent an office in Japan,” how can you not laugh at him? Those kinds of statements are total crediblity killers. However, the joke was on him when DSE had Hustle running angles and doing business in the PRIDE offices while Zuffa’s staff were supposedly trying to take over the operations in Japan.
Mark Hunt Signs With HUSTLE
Mark Munt signs with Hustle. As you might remember, Mark Hunt was a guest of the Pro-wresting organization last year. Now he has signed with them, and will make his debut as a pro-wrestler later this year.
What this means for his MMA career, I am not sure about, but mixing pro-wrestling and MMA is not unusual in Japan.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/wrestling/20080206-00000018-spnavi_ot-fight.html
Mark Munt signs with Hustle. As you might remember, Mark Hunt was a guest of the Pro-wresting organization last year. Now he has signed with them, and will make his debut as a pro-wrestler later this year.
What this means for his MMA career, I am not sure about, but mixing pro-wrestling and MMA is not unusual in Japan.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/wrestling/20080206-00000018-spnavi_ot-fight.html
Tito Ortiz Trashes Dana White, Hints at Starting New Fight Promotion on “Howard Stern Show”
UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz had some harsh words for UFC President Dana White and hinted that he might eventually start his own fight promotion when he leaves the UFC. Ortiz discussed both topics while a guest on today’s “Howard Stern Show,” which airs on Sirius as satellite radio’s most popular program.
Ortiz was a guest on the show with his girlfriend, former porn superstar and mogul Jenna Jameson. While much of the interview focused on Jameson and her new book, Stern did ask Ortiz about his current feud with White and plans for the future.
“He’s an egotistical egomaniac,” Ortiz said of White. “He wants to be a fighter and a superstar.
“I’ve worked so hard for (the UFC) and put my ass on the line. I’ve fought injured and with a torn ACL and a bulging disc and still put my ass on the line, and they still don’t show me respect… Dana’s like Don King. The only thing that separates him and Dana White is the color of their skin.“
Ortiz also confirmed that he’ll be a free agent after his May 24 fight with Lyoto Machida. He said he “could” go to work for another organization or even start his own fight promotion when that time comes.
His decision to leave the UFC is based largely on his and other fighters’ pay — an issue Ortiz has spoken about openly for years and that has been well-documented here on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). Ortiz believes the UFC is raking in millions with each event while giving a pittance to its fighters.
“They make about $43 million strictly on pay-per-view. That’s not including the revenue of the gate, which is about another $5 million. That’s also not including the merchandising, which is about another 10 to 15 (million dollars),” Ortiz said.
As for life after the UFC, Ortiz said he would love to fight Frank Shamrock. Ortiz and Shamrock are reportedly considering a 10-year-anniversary fight if Ortiz doesn’t re-sign with the UFC. The two fighters first met at UFC 22, where Shamrock defeated Ortiz with a fourth-round submission via strikes.
Ortiz also confirmed that his new autobiography will be called “It’s Going to Hurt” and hits stores in June.
“I’m afraid to let it go,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t hold anything back.“
UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz had some harsh words for UFC President Dana White and hinted that he might eventually start his own fight promotion when he leaves the UFC. Ortiz discussed both topics while a guest on today’s “Howard Stern Show,” which airs on Sirius as satellite radio’s most popular program.
Ortiz was a guest on the show with his girlfriend, former porn superstar and mogul Jenna Jameson. While much of the interview focused on Jameson and her new book, Stern did ask Ortiz about his current feud with White and plans for the future.
“He’s an egotistical egomaniac,” Ortiz said of White. “He wants to be a fighter and a superstar.
“I’ve worked so hard for (the UFC) and put my ass on the line. I’ve fought injured and with a torn ACL and a bulging disc and still put my ass on the line, and they still don’t show me respect… Dana’s like Don King. The only thing that separates him and Dana White is the color of their skin.“
Ortiz also confirmed that he’ll be a free agent after his May 24 fight with Lyoto Machida. He said he “could” go to work for another organization or even start his own fight promotion when that time comes.
His decision to leave the UFC is based largely on his and other fighters’ pay — an issue Ortiz has spoken about openly for years and that has been well-documented here on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). Ortiz believes the UFC is raking in millions with each event while giving a pittance to its fighters.
“They make about $43 million strictly on pay-per-view. That’s not including the revenue of the gate, which is about another $5 million. That’s also not including the merchandising, which is about another 10 to 15 (million dollars),” Ortiz said.
As for life after the UFC, Ortiz said he would love to fight Frank Shamrock. Ortiz and Shamrock are reportedly considering a 10-year-anniversary fight if Ortiz doesn’t re-sign with the UFC. The two fighters first met at UFC 22, where Shamrock defeated Ortiz with a fourth-round submission via strikes.
Ortiz also confirmed that his new autobiography will be called “It’s Going to Hurt” and hits stores in June.
“I’m afraid to let it go,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t hold anything back.“
Zuffa sale goes public
This weekend rumors that Zuffa and the UFC are for sale went public in a radio interview between Steve Cofield and Dana White. Sam Caplan has a transcript of the relevant exchange at FiveOuncesofPain.com. When asked if the company was for sale, White essentially said that everything has a price and that there have been unsolicited bids, but that the company was not actively shopping for buyers.
MMAPayout.com first heard that the company was for sale back in December. At that time, the rumored asking price was in the neighborhood of $220 million with the profile of the prospective buyer being described as a media company, preferably international. Including the company's $350 million debt, that asking price would put Zuffa's value at more than half a billion dollars. Since then sources have told MMAPayout.com that the rumored asking price is significantly higher.
Many in the industry believe that the company's major, some would say quixotic, international expansion effort is related to its rumored sale.(see Tough Sledding: UFC Finding International Expansion Isn't Easy
http://www.mmapayout.com/2008/01/tough-sledding-ufc-finding.html)
This weekend rumors that Zuffa and the UFC are for sale went public in a radio interview between Steve Cofield and Dana White. Sam Caplan has a transcript of the relevant exchange at FiveOuncesofPain.com. When asked if the company was for sale, White essentially said that everything has a price and that there have been unsolicited bids, but that the company was not actively shopping for buyers.
MMAPayout.com first heard that the company was for sale back in December. At that time, the rumored asking price was in the neighborhood of $220 million with the profile of the prospective buyer being described as a media company, preferably international. Including the company's $350 million debt, that asking price would put Zuffa's value at more than half a billion dollars. Since then sources have told MMAPayout.com that the rumored asking price is significantly higher.
Many in the industry believe that the company's major, some would say quixotic, international expansion effort is related to its rumored sale.(see Tough Sledding: UFC Finding International Expansion Isn't Easy
http://www.mmapayout.com/2008/01/tough-sledding-ufc-finding.html)
Strikeforce Adds Two More to Tacoma Card
Jorge Masvidal (Pictures) will fight Ryan Healy (Pictures) as part of the Feb. 23 "Strikeforce At The Dome" in Tacoma, Wash., Sherdog.com has learned.
Meeting at a catch-weight of 160 pounds, Masvidal and Healy (9-2-1) promises to be a stand-up affair. Fighting out of Miami, Fla., Masvidal (12-2) looks to extend a six-fight win streak that includes a stoppage of Yves Edwards (Pictures).
Strikeforce VP Mike Afromowitz confirmed the 10-bout card at the Tacoma Dome would also include a welterweight contest between IFL veteran Brad Blackburn (Pictures) and Ray Perales (Pictures).
Previously announced bouts feature Bob Sapp (Pictures) in his cage-fighting debut against K-1 veteran Jan Nortje (Pictures); Maurice Smith (Pictures) takes on fellow kickboxing champion Rick Roufus; and Duane Ludwig (Pictures) battles veteran Steve Berger (Pictures).
Though no television broadcast is currently in place, that could change in the run-up to Feb. 23, Afromowitz said.
Jorge Masvidal (Pictures) will fight Ryan Healy (Pictures) as part of the Feb. 23 "Strikeforce At The Dome" in Tacoma, Wash., Sherdog.com has learned.
Meeting at a catch-weight of 160 pounds, Masvidal and Healy (9-2-1) promises to be a stand-up affair. Fighting out of Miami, Fla., Masvidal (12-2) looks to extend a six-fight win streak that includes a stoppage of Yves Edwards (Pictures).
Strikeforce VP Mike Afromowitz confirmed the 10-bout card at the Tacoma Dome would also include a welterweight contest between IFL veteran Brad Blackburn (Pictures) and Ray Perales (Pictures).
Previously announced bouts feature Bob Sapp (Pictures) in his cage-fighting debut against K-1 veteran Jan Nortje (Pictures); Maurice Smith (Pictures) takes on fellow kickboxing champion Rick Roufus; and Duane Ludwig (Pictures) battles veteran Steve Berger (Pictures).
Though no television broadcast is currently in place, that could change in the run-up to Feb. 23, Afromowitz said.
‘Shogun' Discusses Liddell and Plans for ‘08
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Pictures) started 2008 in a new home.
The fighter left Chute Boxe and, along with three former Chute Boxe teammates, created the Universidade da Luta. With the structure of his new team almost set, Rua spoke with Sherdog.com about his plans for the year ahead, which includes a showdown against former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (Pictures).
Gleidson Venga: What did you think about Chuck Liddell (Pictures) as your next opponent?
Mauricio Rua: I think that was a great choice. Liddell is a great fighter and it's a good fight for me because he is a very famous guy in America. Liddell is a tough guy, hard to defeat, but I think that there are no easy fights in my weight division. I'll go straight up over him and I'll give a great show to my fans.
Venga: You were going to fight before in an earlier UFC event, but the schedule was changed for you to face Liddell. The UFC asked you to fight in this event to face Liddell and due to this you'll fight in June?
Rua: That was it. Before I was scheduled to fight in April, but suddenly they called me to offer this fight and I was like "nice, very happy with that!"
Venga: Liddell is one of the top fighters in the weight division, a very respected former champion. Do you believe that a victory over him will put you back at the top of the ranking and you'll be able to fight for the UFC belt?
Rua: I'm sure of that. A victory over him will give me an "upgrade," but I'm not thinking about the belt -- I'm thinking of Liddell. He is a complete fighter, very tough and on top of the category. He deserves a lot of respect. So, I don't have to think about the belt before this fight against him. I'm thinking of him as a tough opponent that will be in my way, not the belt.
Venga: You started 2008 creating a new team. What are your plans for this year?
Rua: In 2008 my goal is to train even more. Now I'm establishing my team along with my brother Murilo Rua (Pictures), Andre Dida and Mauricio Veio. I'm working on my cardio with Alejo Morales in the afternoon, and I train Muay Thai and BJJ at night.
Venga: Tell us about your new team's structure.
Rua: We are a close partnership with me, my brother, Veio and Dida, along with Hercilio, a businessman who will invest in our gym and manage the athletes. For sure it will be a perfect partnership because we will have great athletes. I just want to train more and more. I'm actually not worried about the organization because this is Hercilio's job. My only concern is the training.
Venga: Are there other known fighters in addition to you four?
Rua: We have a lot of fighters, but we will only announce their names after the opening, which I'm expecting to be right after Carnival. Our gym will have the largest mat in Brazil.
Venga: Who will be the coaches?
Rua: The physical conditioning is under Alejo Morales. We worked with him before, and for sure he is a top professional here in Brazil. Muay Thai will be taught by Mauricio Veio, a great professional in this area. About the BJJ, we are discussing who will be the coach. We will look for a very qualified person in this area; this is the only thing missing at our gym.
Venga: Are you worried about losing the quality of your training and sparring, because now you don't have all of the people you used to train with at Chute Boxe?
Rua: Well, I've been back to training only for a few weeks, but I'm training more than ever. I'm working a lot on cardio and jiu-jitsu. In Muay Thai we have 15 athletes, and the training is as good as was at Chute Boxe. I can guarantee you that.
Venga: Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) also left Chute Boxe last year. How is your relationship with him?
Rua: Wanderlei is a good friend of mine. He was here in Curitiba and called me. We talked for a while, and the doors of our team will always be open to him. Like he said, that his gym's doors will be open for us.
Venga: What do you think about his fight against Chuck Liddell (Pictures)?
Rua: I talked to him about that fight, and we have the same opinion: He trained a lot, but he didn't have much sparring. I think this fact warmed him a lot.
Venga: And how about your brother? What does Murilo Rua (Pictures) have ahead for him in 2008?
Rua: He will fight in March, probably for Cage Rage's title. For sure he will bring this belt to us, if God wishes. My brother is in his prime, and soon he will be among the top.
Venga: 2008 must bring a lot of new things to your career. What can your fans expect this year?
Rua: I want to say to my fans to be calm, keep believing and supporting me. I live for the fight. I'm 100 percent focused on fighting. I wouldn't leave Chute Boxe without having a structure like I have. So I want my fans to keep supporting me, sending me good thoughts. Because for sure my greatest motivation to fight is my fans, to pay them back all the affection they give me.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Pictures) started 2008 in a new home.
The fighter left Chute Boxe and, along with three former Chute Boxe teammates, created the Universidade da Luta. With the structure of his new team almost set, Rua spoke with Sherdog.com about his plans for the year ahead, which includes a showdown against former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (Pictures).
Gleidson Venga: What did you think about Chuck Liddell (Pictures) as your next opponent?
Mauricio Rua: I think that was a great choice. Liddell is a great fighter and it's a good fight for me because he is a very famous guy in America. Liddell is a tough guy, hard to defeat, but I think that there are no easy fights in my weight division. I'll go straight up over him and I'll give a great show to my fans.
Venga: You were going to fight before in an earlier UFC event, but the schedule was changed for you to face Liddell. The UFC asked you to fight in this event to face Liddell and due to this you'll fight in June?
Rua: That was it. Before I was scheduled to fight in April, but suddenly they called me to offer this fight and I was like "nice, very happy with that!"
Venga: Liddell is one of the top fighters in the weight division, a very respected former champion. Do you believe that a victory over him will put you back at the top of the ranking and you'll be able to fight for the UFC belt?
Rua: I'm sure of that. A victory over him will give me an "upgrade," but I'm not thinking about the belt -- I'm thinking of Liddell. He is a complete fighter, very tough and on top of the category. He deserves a lot of respect. So, I don't have to think about the belt before this fight against him. I'm thinking of him as a tough opponent that will be in my way, not the belt.
Venga: You started 2008 creating a new team. What are your plans for this year?
Rua: In 2008 my goal is to train even more. Now I'm establishing my team along with my brother Murilo Rua (Pictures), Andre Dida and Mauricio Veio. I'm working on my cardio with Alejo Morales in the afternoon, and I train Muay Thai and BJJ at night.
Venga: Tell us about your new team's structure.
Rua: We are a close partnership with me, my brother, Veio and Dida, along with Hercilio, a businessman who will invest in our gym and manage the athletes. For sure it will be a perfect partnership because we will have great athletes. I just want to train more and more. I'm actually not worried about the organization because this is Hercilio's job. My only concern is the training.
Venga: Are there other known fighters in addition to you four?
Rua: We have a lot of fighters, but we will only announce their names after the opening, which I'm expecting to be right after Carnival. Our gym will have the largest mat in Brazil.
Venga: Who will be the coaches?
Rua: The physical conditioning is under Alejo Morales. We worked with him before, and for sure he is a top professional here in Brazil. Muay Thai will be taught by Mauricio Veio, a great professional in this area. About the BJJ, we are discussing who will be the coach. We will look for a very qualified person in this area; this is the only thing missing at our gym.
Venga: Are you worried about losing the quality of your training and sparring, because now you don't have all of the people you used to train with at Chute Boxe?
Rua: Well, I've been back to training only for a few weeks, but I'm training more than ever. I'm working a lot on cardio and jiu-jitsu. In Muay Thai we have 15 athletes, and the training is as good as was at Chute Boxe. I can guarantee you that.
Venga: Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) also left Chute Boxe last year. How is your relationship with him?
Rua: Wanderlei is a good friend of mine. He was here in Curitiba and called me. We talked for a while, and the doors of our team will always be open to him. Like he said, that his gym's doors will be open for us.
Venga: What do you think about his fight against Chuck Liddell (Pictures)?
Rua: I talked to him about that fight, and we have the same opinion: He trained a lot, but he didn't have much sparring. I think this fact warmed him a lot.
Venga: And how about your brother? What does Murilo Rua (Pictures) have ahead for him in 2008?
Rua: He will fight in March, probably for Cage Rage's title. For sure he will bring this belt to us, if God wishes. My brother is in his prime, and soon he will be among the top.
Venga: 2008 must bring a lot of new things to your career. What can your fans expect this year?
Rua: I want to say to my fans to be calm, keep believing and supporting me. I live for the fight. I'm 100 percent focused on fighting. I wouldn't leave Chute Boxe without having a structure like I have. So I want my fans to keep supporting me, sending me good thoughts. Because for sure my greatest motivation to fight is my fans, to pay them back all the affection they give me.