MMA News Thread

[Shogun Locc]

Golden Boy Rebuffs Merchant’s Claim

Has a line been drawn in the sand between MMA and boxing?

Golden Boy Promotions doesn’t seem to think so, though comments made by longtime commentator Larry Merchant during an HBO boxing broadcast on Saturday have others seeing red.

Prized pugilist Oscar de La Hoya’s promotional leg officially dipped its toes into the MMA market on Saturday when it co-produced Affliction M-1 Global “Day of Reckoning” at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Apparently Merchant took offense to de La Hoya’s absence from his proceedings between Antonio Margarito and “Sugar” Shane Mosley at the Staples Center some 30 miles away (Mosley is repped by Golden Boy).

“Oscar De La Hoya … is in nearby Anaheim where his company got a $5 million fee from a T-shirt maker so that he can be personally involved in the promotion of a mixed martial art show,” said Merchant. “It would take that much to get me to go to one of those things.”

Bruce Binkow, Golden Boy’s Chief Marketing Officer, took Merchant’s comments in stride.

“It’s ridiculous [to say] that there was a $5 million dollar fee paid [for de La Hoya’s attendance],” said Binkow. “There’s a financial commitment obviously that Affliction made, and Oscar felt an obligation through his partners at Affliction [to attend]. I don’t know how more simple it can be and why it’s any more complicated than that.”

And while Merchant might be questioning de La Hoya’s lack of allegiance to the sport that made him a star, Binkow said the former champion’s decision to grace “Day of Reckoning” was strictly business.

“The [Affliction] pay-per-view date was set long before the boxing event, and Oscar didn’t feel right about offending his commitment to our partners in Affliction,” said Binkow. “I think it was a great night for both sports. There was packed houses at the Staples Center and the Honda Center, so we were thrilled with both events.”

 

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MMAjunkie.com Fight Biz: UFC seeks greater control of fighter sponsorships

In an attempt to exert even more influence over the flow of marketing dollars into the promotion, the UFC is exploring new ways of controlling the fighter-sponsor relationship.

Traditionally, UFC fighters have been able to cut their own sponsorship deals with companies for the rights to their fight shorts, T-shirts and caps they wear before and after bouts. These agreements, which can often land regional and local companies on fight gear, provide an additional source of revenue to supplement fighters' UFC contracts. The UFC has policed this practice, preventing some sponsorships from happening, but it has not owned the deal-flow process.

However, the days of fighters' managers cutting those deals appear to be ending.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned through an industry source that the UFC is considering a new sponsorship business model, which would require any company interested in sponsoring a fighter to work directly with the UFC. The UFC would negotiate the deal for the fighter and charge the sponsoring company a promotional fee for the right to have its brand on display on fighters in the octagon.

In theory, that new fee could reduce the value of the deal for the fighter, especially since sponsor dollars are going to be in shorter supply in the foreseeable future due to the economic downturn. Hypothetically, if the UFC charges a 15 percent promotional fee, that's 15 percent less revenue from the deal earned by the fighter.

The potential move makes good business sense for the UFC. The promotion wields even tighter control of what companies obtain access to its increasingly global marketing platform, protects its brand and generates additional revenue as a result. At minimum, the impact on fighters is loss of control over sponsors with which they associate. In addition, with the UFC calling the sponsorship shots, the role of fighters' managers is downsized significantly.

As another option, the UFC also is considering taking a page from the music industry by establishing "360-degree contracts" with its athletes. As first reported by MMAPayout.com, these contracts would give the UFC access to a portion of all dollars generated by fighters outside of the octagon.

Under this scenario, the UFC would not only dictate what sponsors appear on fighters' gear, but the promotion also would help fighters secure additional sponsorship revenue and take a sizeable percentage of the related dollars.

The industry source MMAjunkie.com spoke with said neither of these strategies has been officially put in place, but he believes it's only a matter of time before the UFC makes a move to further control what a fighter can and cannot do on his own to produce additional revenue.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Full WEC 39 card, including five televised bouts, released

World Extreme Cagefighting has released its full fight card, including five televised main-card bouts, for its upcoming "WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia" event.

The show takes place March 1 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown makes his first title defense against Leonard Garcia, and WEC welterweight title-holder Carlos Condit rematches Brock Larson in the night's co-main event.

Other bouts scheduled for the Versus-televised main card include Richard Crunkilton vs. Bart Palaszewski, Rob McCullough vs. Marcus Hicks and Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov.
WEC 39 is the WEC's first event in the Lonestar State.

The full fight card includes:

MAIN CARD (Televised)

Champ Mike Brown vs. Leonard Garcia (for featherweight belt)
Champ Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson (for welterweight belt)
Richard Crunkilton vs. Bart Palaszewski'
Marcus Hicks vs. Rob McCullough
Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov
PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

Marcos Galvao vs. Damacio Page
Mike Budnik vs. John Franchi
Justin Haskins vs. Douglas Lima
Alex Karalexis vs. Greg McIntyre
Phil Cardella vs. Danny Castillo
Kenji Osawa vs. Rafael Rebello

 

[Shogun Locc]

WEC 38 Gate and Attendance


According to WEC vice president of event operations and production Peter Dropick, the WEC's first trip to Southern California was a good one.

He estimated attendance for the event at about 8,000 fans, a live gate of $516,560.

"I'm excited we chose San Diego, the fans were outstanding," he said.

Final numbers on the event are due to be released today by the California State Athletic Commission, in addition to test results for drugs of abuse.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Jose Aldo celebrates another knockout

Jose Aldo started 2009 in his favorite way: winning. And by knockout. At WEC 38, which took place yesterday at California, United States, the featherweight fought Rolando Perez and needed only one round to put him on the ground and celebrate another knockout victory at the organization. “It was a good fight. We did some striking and I got the knockout, it was great”, celebrates Aldo.

With three victories in the organization, the athlete now focus the title, now with Mike Brown. “Everything happened as we planned. We’ve trained a lot for this fight on striking and the ground game and everything was great on the fight. They (WEC) praised my performance and were very happy with the fight. I’m their employee and André (Pederneiras, Nova União’s leader) takes care of that part. I just get there and fight”, said the featherweight fighter. “I don’t plan much, but if they put me (to fight Urijah Faber or Mike Brown) I’ll love to do it”, guarantees.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Marcos Loro ready for Damacio Page at WEC

After tying with the Japanese Masakatsu Ueda at Shooto’s title fight, Marcos Loro is training hard to return to the rings in 2009. Changing a little his preparation for his next fight, because of the change of the opponent, from the Brazilian Rafael Rebelo to the American Damacio Page, Loro spoke to TATAME.com about his expectations for the WEC bout, which will be take place at Texas on March 1st. "I want to return to the ring being a winner. This guy is tough, fought at 155lbs division, but I want to win. I decided to change my strategy, I’ll be more aggressive. I was very calm, but now I’m going inside and I’ll stay on top all the time. I have worked a lot on this change", said Loro.

The athlete took the opportunity to talk about his training to the confrontation. "I started to train now, but I’m already getting strong. I train three times a day, with the help from the whole Nova União team. André (Pederneiras, leader of the team) is creating the training, the Wresting I train with Cubano and Pedro, and Boxing with the Master Claudio Coelho and Geovanni Diniz. In Submission, I’m also training with the whole Nova União team".

Top 5 ranked in the division, Loro said he has no hurry for a titleshot and is prepared for everything. “I debuted (at WEC) with a defeat. If I had won it, I would probably be already in the fight for the belt. But I have no hurry and now I’ll expect the decision from the organization. If they think I should do one or two fights before the titleshot I’ll do it. But, if they think now is the time to go to the dispute, I’m also prepared", guarantees

 

[Shogun Locc]

Minotouro fights at Jungle Fight in April

After winning at Sengoku, last November, then at Affliction, last Saturday, Rogério “Minotouro” Nogueira already knows when he’ll step on a ring again. After signing a contract with Jungle Fight, Nogueira will fight for the first time ever in Brazil. “Minotouro signed with Jungle and will fight at Fortaleza, Ceará, at April 25th”, revealed Wallid Ismail, Jungle Fight promoter, with exclusivity to TATAME.com.

“We wanna do an event at Iracema beach and I’m here at United Stated to sign a deal to show the event live at America”, tells Wallid. “We’ll do the event here at Ceará. We still don’t know who he’ll face, but he’ll fight there. He’ll fight for the first time here at Brazil, we’re very happy with it”, said Luiz Alves, Nogueira’s Muay Thai coach.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Miyata Makes FWGP Appeal! Brave Gym Opening Ceremony

Kazuyuki Miyata made an appeal to join the DREAM Featherweight GP to FEG President Sadaharu Tanigawa at the opening ceremony of his new gym called “Brave” today. Tanigawa responded that because it is not for him to decide, he will tell DREAM Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara about it.

Some notable fighters present at the ceremony were Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Michihiro Omigawa, and Naoya Uematsu.

 

[Shogun Locc]

DreamFighters Exclusive With Randy Couture

DreamFighters.com was able to catch up with UFC Legend Randy Couture to chat about a few things. We like to thank Randy personally for taking the time to speak to us.

DreamFighters.com: Randy, thanks for taking the time to speak to me (Adam) at DreamFighters.com (Big fan of yours from my University Wrestling days)

Randy Couture: No problem, thanks for having me.

DreamFighters.com: First off, what have you been up too since your fight with Brock Lesnar? Filimg Movies, training, ?

Randy Couture: I took a bit of time off during the holidays to be with my family and have just been getting caught up on some things with the business since then.

DreamFighters.com: How is the Extreme Couture gym and business going?

Randy Couture: The gym and business are going great. Between the UFC and Affliction cards coming up, we have several fighters competing in January, including Martin Kampmann, Jay Hieron, Chris Horodecki, and Vitor Belfort. Having all of those guys going full bore in training camp really brings a great energy into the room.

DreamFighters.com: It was a very inspirational fight with Brock Lesnar, seeing you hold your own in the first round until you got taged. Can you briefly tell us your thoughts on the fight? Were you suprised at all by Brock, or all was expected?

Randy Couture: I was happy with the way the fight was going up until that big shot was landed. Everything that we worked on in training camp was happening, I just had a tough time dealing with Brock’s reach. I had a great team of big heavy guys helping me prepare for his weight, but I didn’t have anyone with that kind of wingspan to get used to dodging his long punches.

DreamFighters.com: Any chance of a re-match in the future if all goes well for you?

Randy Couture: I would relish the opportunity to prove that I can beat him.

DreamFighters.com: Quickly, who do you pick for the winner of Brock vs. Mir II ?

Randy Couture: That is a tough fight to pick. Brock has proven that he is a force to be reckoned with, but I would still have to give Frank the edge because of his experience and submission acumen. It’s going to be really difficult for Brock to improve his jiu-jitsu enough to hold Frank off on the ground and Frank just showed in the Nogueira fight that he is more than capable of ending the fight standing as well. As long as Mir puts together another solid training camp and shows up in top form, he should pull off the win.

DreamFighters.com: Who is your pick for GSP vs BJ Penn?

Randy Couture: That’s an even tougher pick. They are two of the most talented and dynamic fighters in the sport today. If I had to chose, I’d say Georges because he’s been the more consistent and better conditioned of the two over the past few years. I expect that BJ will give him fits early but that Georges will take over as the fight wears on. It will be particularly interesting to see how BJ responds if the fight makes it to the championship rounds.

DreamFighters.com: Is there any talk of who you could fight next? Anyone in particular you would like to fight?

Randy Couture: I think it all depends on how the Mir Lesnar rematch plays out. If I had my way, I’d get a rematch with Brock first thing, but the only way that is likely to happen is if he loses to Frank. If Brock wins, I’d say it will most likely be either Mir or Nogueira across the cage from me next. Either of those fights would pose an interesting challenge.

DreamFighters.com: What are your thoughts on WAMMA, and the WAMMA belt system? Do you think WAMMA has a good idea of trying to crown champions in each weight class?

Randy Couture: I like the idea of having a single unified belt in each weightclass that transcends the promotional boundaries. Unfortunately, unless they can get the UFC onboard with the idea, WAMMA is going to have a very difficult time crowning legitimate world champions in each weight class.

DreamFighters.com: You are apart of a big new movie with a all star cast and working with sylvester stallone - Can you tell us a little about that? Started filimg, etc?

Randy Couture: I’m very excited about it. I get to go to Brazil in March and shoot in the jungle with Sly and an incredible cast of action stars. It should be a great experience for me.

DreamFighters.com: What are your thoughts on Alistair Overeem? After winning his last fight, people are saying he could be the next UFC HW champion after it was made public that the UFC are negociating with him

Randy Couture: This is the first I’ve heard of him negotiating with the UFC. I have heard that he looked very impressive in his last fight. He’s always been a talented, well rounded mixed martial artist, so I’m sure he’ll fit in well if he does sign with the UFC.

DreamFighters.com: Randy, is there any advice you can give a young MMA/Wrestler that may want to follow in your foot steps?

Randy Couture: There’s no substitute for hard work. Find a quality gym and a manager you can trust and put in the hours training. If you do that and perform on fight night, the rest will fall into place.

DreamFighters.com: Randy, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. We all wish you the best of luck!

Randy Couture: Thank you!!!

 

[Shogun Locc]

Melvin Manhoef on Mark Hunt, Anderson Silva, etc.

CM: How did it come about that you took the K-1 fight with Mark Hunt on such short notice? If there was a fight you’d want to prepare for, Mark Hunt would certainly have to be at the top of that list.

MM: I was already in Japan to help Badr Hari for his fight against Alistair Overeem. Then the night before the event the K-1 organizers asked me to fight Mark Hunt. I thought about it for a while, because I wasn’t training hard and hadn’t planned to fight. Also the fact that Mark is 45kg heavier made me wonder if I had to do it. But in my heart I’m a fighter, I just want to fight. So I decided to take the chance.

CM: Once you took the fight, what was your strategy going in against such a tough opponent?

MM: Of course you can never tell up front, but my game plan was to be quick, move a lot through the ring, and try to keep the fight standing.

CM: What was it like knocking out a man who is considered to have one of the best chins in MMA, in just 18 seconds?

MM: It was a great feeling. I never expected this. I was very happy!

CM: Are you currently or have you ever had serious negotiations with UFC or Affliction? Do you want to fight in the U.S.? Your aggressive style would go over well in the states.

MM: There are no negotiations with the UFC or Affliction now. They did approach me and my trainer Mike Passenier both, but I have a contract with the K-1. I’m happy there. Off course it would be nice to fight in the USA. You never know what the future brings.

CM: Would you rather compete in K-1 or MMA bouts?

MM: I really can’t choose. I like both and I think it’s great that I get the chance to do both in with the K-1.

CM: Are there any fighters out there you really want to fight?

MM: At the moment not really. It would be an honor to fight Wanderlei Silva or Anderson Silva.

CM: How well do think you match up Anderson Silva?

MM: It would be an honor to fight him. I would like to fight him, and I think it could be a great match. Especially if I can keep the fight standing.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Despite Affliction loss, humbled Gilbert Yvel happy to be back in U.S.

More than an hour after his third-round submission loss to Josh Barnett, Gilbert Yvel took his seat at the "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" post-event press conference.

Despite a swollen face, busted lip and trickles of blood coming from his mouth, the heavyweight fighter was neither dejected nor remorseful.

In fact, for a fighter heavily criticized for his past in-fight antics, the slight smile coming from Yvel's busted mug almost gave a sense of relief.

Affliction Entertainment received its fair share of criticism when it offered a slot on its Jan. 24 fight card to Yvel, a former PRIDE veteran with a checkered past. The list of offenses includes two disqualifications due to unsportsmanlike conduct as well as a 2004 assault on a referee. The Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to license Yvel for a proposed 2007 bout under the PRIDE banner based on the conduct.

While Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio was confident Yvel would be credentialed for the event, he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he had another heavyweight on standby just in case.

The California State Athletic Commission, though, let the Dutch fighter compete.

In the post-event press conference, he expressed his appreciation.

"What can I say?" said Yvel (35-13-1), who took a steady stream of punishment before finally tapping out in the third round. "I hope that this punishment is enough for all of my bad things that I did in my past."

Yvel surely won over some fans with his effort. Although he never put his opponent in any real danger, Yvel's resiliency created problems for Barnett, who couldn't finish the fight in the first two rounds despite dominant ground positions.

"I tried to do my best," Yvel said. "I was ready to stand up with Josh, but he didn't want to do it, so I fought with him on the ground. I tried my very best. I tried with all my heart. Those elbows were hard. He punched me real hard."

The performance is likely to earn Yvel another shot with Affliction, though the organization has yet to make an official announcement of when it might take place. However, more than one source at the event said Affliction is considering a show on the East Coast, possibly at one of Affliction executive Donald Trump's Atlantic City properties, for its next show this summer.

Regardless, Yvel was just happy to get a second chance on American soil.

"I want to thank one more time the California (State) Athletic Commission and M-1 and Affliction for giving me the chance to get my ass beat here," he joked.

 

[Shogun Locc]

AFFLICTION VP DENIES HBO CLAIMS ON DE LA HOYA

In what appears to be the continuation of an ongoing smear campaign against mixed martial arts, this past Saturday night HBO boxing broadcaster Larry Merchant made the claim that clothing company Affliction paid Oscar De La Hoya for his participation in the promotion’s Day of Reckoning pay-per-view in Anaheim, Calif.

During the HBO broadcast of the Shane Mosley versus Antonio Margarito boxing match, Merchant commented how De Lay Hoya was absent from the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the fight because he, “Was paid five million dollars by a t-shirt maker so he would personally be involved in the promotion of a mixed martial arts show.”

In response to the comments made by Merchant, Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio said exclusively to MMAWeekly.com, “I think they’re completely ridiculous.”

Merchant made no comment of where he got his information, but according to Atencio, the statement appears to be fabricated.

“I don’t see where they would get it from,” stated Atencio. “But based on the comment I would say that yeah, he definitely had to make it up.

“I’m not him, so I’m not going to assume anything like possibly they would. I’m not going to make rumors; all I can say is that it’s completely false.”

According to Atencio, De La Hoya was at the Honda Center event because his Golden Boy Promotions was truly involved with the event because of their interest in mixed martial arts, and not because of an alleged payday.

“We knew he was going to be there (because) he’s our partner,” commented Atencio. “Being our partner – the good partner that he is – he honored and wanted to live up to his part of the bargain; that was being part of the show.”

As it stands currently, Atencio confirmed that Golden Boy Promotions continues to have a partnership with Affliction and will be involved with the mixed martial arts promotion’s future endeavors.

De La Hoya, at the Day of Reckoning post-fight press conference, affirmed Atencio's comments about the duration of the two companies' relationship. "This is not a short-term relationship with Golden Boy and Affliction. This is a long-term relationship where we are looking forward to stage bigger events, stage better fights, even though I don't know how it can get better than this."

As for Larry Merchant, don’t expect to see him involved with a mixed martial arts show anytime soon; as he told HBO broadcast commentator and fellow MMA detractor Jim Lampley, “It would take that much (money), Jim, to get me to go to one of those things.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

FABER BACK ON TRACK AFTER 2ND WIN OVER PULVER

Former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber said he was caught in the moment during his last fight with Jens Pulver.

“I know what Jens is known for, and I was just so in the moment of wanting to slug it out," Faber told a small group of journalists at the WEC 38 post-fight press conference. “It was fun.”

But Pulver’s toughness prevented Faber from doing what he really wanted to do – finish the former UFC lightweight champion decisively.

This time, Faber wanted to push the action on the ground. Pulver, through his work with AMC Pankration in Seattle, Wash., showed up to the re-match looking a lot bigger. There was an opportunity to wear him out on the ground.

“A lot of people can stay with my pace as a stand up fighter, but there’s not many people in the world that can keep up with my conditioning once I get my hands on you and move around,” Faber continued. "I wanted to put my hands on him and wear him down a little bit.”

His right hand was also still injured. After five rounds of slugging in their first meeting, Faber couldn’t spar with it in the same way.

“I was still sparring with my left hand,” he explained. “The left hand has really come along, and it’s a lot thanks to (Pulver’s) hand speed.”

It just so happened that the turning point of the fight came via a left hook to Pulver’s liver. When Faber swarmed in with punches, he found an opponent ready to be finished.

Faber slapped a guillotine choke on the downed Pulver, and the fight was over almost as quickly as it began. In 94 clicks, he was back on the road to his belt.

“I feel like in the first fight there was an opportunity for me to capitalize,” said Faber. “I got hungry for the knockout and could have maybe tried to go for a submission when I faced him in the second round. This time around, I just had that mind, when he was a little bit injured, I went for the choke and made sure.”

And in the end, the crowd loved them both. While the hero’s welcome came initially to Faber, the crowd lost no love for the emotionally raw Pulver.

“I’ve been in a lot of fights in my career, and to hear two guys get the response we got, that’s what I love,” said Faber.

Faber will wait for his next re-match with the man who dethroned him, Mike Brown. Assuming the American Top Team product keeps his belt at WEC 39, the two should face off in late spring or early summer.

Any animosity between Faber and Pulver can now pass.

“Me and Jens can be good buddies now, it will be nice,” smiled Faber.

 

[Shogun Locc]

FRANCA OFF UFC FIGHT NIGHT 18 WITH KNEE INJURY

The main event for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 17 in Tampa, Fla., just lost one of its participants as main eventer Hermes Franca has been forced out of his match-up against Joe Lauzon due to what is believed to be a torn ACL. The injury was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight on Monday night.

Franca was stepping into the bout against Lauzon after a win over Marcus Aurelio in October of 2008. His next fight will now be at a later date following the knee injury.

With the injury to Franca, the UFC will now seek out a new participant to face Lauzon on just under two weeks notice. A number of lightweights are already on the UFC Fight Night 17 card, Mac Danzig, Josh Neer, and Nick Catone, among them. In fact, MMAWeekly.com recently confirmed that Catone's proposed opponent, Amir Sadollah, recently suffered an injury that will keep him out of their bout.

With the Feb. 7 date of the event quickly approaching, Matchmaker Joe Silva will likely burn up the phone lines to find a qualified candidate to fill the slot as soon as possible.

Joe Lauzon was returning to action after a win in his last fight against Kyle Bradley at UFC Fight Night 15 in September. The Massachusetts native has been working at his gym alongside his brother Dan, who competed and won at the Affliction card over the weekend.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Jamie Varner: Frank Mir’s commentating was skewed

It was a little skewed. I don’t know if he doesn’t like me or he doesn’t like my style. He was always talking about Cerrone this, Cerrone that. Are you kidding me? You’re supposed to be a world champion fighter and you don’t know who’s winning the fight? That’s bullshit.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Fight Biz Quote: The Recession’s Effect on MMA

This is their first recession, and they’re not as scared as everyone else. Their home equity is not at stake, and their 401(k) is just getting started.

Martiz Research consultant Thomas Krause explaining to BusinessWeek why Generation-Y oriented retailers like Buckle are thriving in a troubled economy. This may also explain the resilence of the UFC on pay-per-view and bode well for MMA’s ability to weather the current economic storm.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Prospectus Canibalis

I saw the best fighters of the next generation destroyed by madness, starving underskilled naked, dragging themselves through lopsided fights at dusk, looking for a well-matched fight.

Affliction’s sophomore effort, “Day of Reckoning,” put something both incredibly pressing and incredibly depressing on display Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. It’s a disturbing trend, if not a destructive plague, and one that should arrest and alarm you. If it doesn’t, it’s time to examine your priorities as a prizefighting fan.

You should be aggravated by watching a 20-year-old Kirill Sidelnikov beat into bloody, black-eyed despondence. You should be vexed by 24-year-old Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou slipping one fight away from a .500 record. In these cases, indifference is ignorant, if not downright unconscionable.

Sidelnikov, despite the “Baby Fedor” moniker, is not any incarnation of this sport’s heavyweight king. Yet, with two years and five fights experience, he was placed into the ring against Paul Buentello’s 37 fights and 12 years of experience. Afterward, his face looked like he’d been mugged by a tractor.

In all honesty, the numbers can’t tell the full story. We’re well aware that for some preternatural talents two years and seven fights is more than enough time to become world beaters. However, Sidelnikov, an overweight light heavyweight, has faced dreadful opposition on the whole, showing natural power and toughness but massively deficient technique. He had his hands full in a slop-fest with completely unknown muscle freak Martin Soltisyk and was soundly outwrestled and controlled by Finnish muay Thai stylist Jarno Nurminen.

Buentello’s only losses in the last five and a half years were to top 10 heavyweights in Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem. I have a question for you, Vadim Finkelchtein. If and inevitably when your young charge didn’t land a haymaker knockout in the first three minutes, what was he going to fall back on -- the experience he does not have or the skills he never learned?

Sokoudjou was matched in a less ostensibly retching manner. Having already fought four fighters who were, at one recent time or another, top 10 light heavyweights, you couldn’t say he was overmatched. Hell, I picked MMA’s top Cameroonian to win the fight. He even took the first round. Then he was put on his back and looked completely lost. In the scramble, he was overmatched against a vastly superior technical grappler and was submitted, dropping to 5-4 in his brief career.

Why my indignation? After all, Sokoudjou smashed Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona, so it would be asinine to act as though he was completely out of his league. However, following his bouts with Nogueira and Arona -- bouts he won purely on natural power punching -- he was expected to consistently fight elite light heavyweights. He had the power to beat them, if only he could hit them in the face. However, MMA is a cruel lottery, and if your victory is contingent on a fortuitous strike, you’re likely about to lose.

Sidelnikov should be fighting unknown guys in M-1, learning how to sprawl and punch straight. Sokoudjou, after plunking Nogueira and Arona, should have been fighting a steady diet of mid-level 205ers in bouts where he could test out his new and developing skills without fear of being destroyed, and where, should he experience adversity -- a positive happening in the process of grooming a fighter -- he would have the physical assets to rebound. Time and pressure make diamonds, not reckless promotional force.

In MMA, this baptism by fire is almost a rite of passage. It was possible in the days of proto-MMA, when being a gifted striker or a world-class wrestler was enough to win. It was accepted during the Japanese kakutogi boom because the premature spoiling of talented judokas and wrestlers gave K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships the television revenues necessary to put on sensational products. It is tolerated now because MMA maintains an absurd “otherness” with boxing, as its fans whine and moan about boxers being “protected” and the fact that prized prospects may have two or three dozen fights before they face elite-level opponents.

MMA has some outstandingly inclined fighters who, with little training, can win consistently at the elite level. However, they’re a rarity, especially in a sport in which the talent level is consistently growing. The boxing world has precocious prospects, too, but it also has precaution. The days of Pete Rademachers are long gone, as boxing handlers and promoters have learned it’s in the best interest of everyone involved -- athletes and their associated leeches -- to develop well-groomed, well-trained, well-versed fighters rather than attempting to hastily hurl them toward the stars.

Unlike boxers such as Marvis Frazier and David Reid, brutal products of the too-much- too-soon mistake, Sidelnikov and Sokoudjou are not permanently damaged goods, having escaped their trials relatively unscathed; they’re young enough to rectify their careers, but they shouldn’t have that onus. They should be mastering combinations, transitions, submissions, sweeps and escapes and dutifully smashing incrementally better competition under the watchful eyes of savvy handlers. Then, when their day comes, their eye won’t explode because they can’t evade a jab, and they won’t be strangled with a basic brabo choke setup.

This sport is still young, and there’s hope for more prudent practices regarding prospects. Muhammed Lawal, who was seven seconds away from being a freestyle wrestling medal favorite in Beijing, made it through his cruel baptism by knocking out one of the sport's most experienced fighters, Travis Wiuff, in his debut. However, Lawal was quick to step out of that baptismal pool before he found the drop-off and drowned. A true student of the prizefighting game, he’s acutely aware of what’s become of rushed boxers and knows his skills need developing. As such, his next two bouts were stylistic matchups that allowed him to test out his blossoming skills in real action.

In March, in his fourth pro bout in just six months, he’ll take on light heavyweight King of Pancrase Ryo Kawamura in an appropriately tough fight -- a fight where he can further work on his striking. Should the heavy-handed Kawamura prove troubling, Lawal can easily take him down and physically overwhelm him on the floor, giving him ample time to further his guard passing, ground-and-pound and submission skills. Lawal wants to fight on every Sengoku card this year against well-chosen opponents that will help him develop into a true MMA fighter.

Unfortunately, few fighters have Lawal’s promotional street smarts. Even fewer managers have been in this game long enough to know how to successfully develop an elite fighter and his or her value, despite the fact that it seems pretty obvious and intuitive. The well-architected ascent of “King Mo” seems more like a freakish aberration than an evolutionary step.

This is the wrong sport to be eating its young. We’re amidst a generational flux for MMA in which the inevitability of age is grabbing Randy Couture, three lifetimes of punishment in 32 years has besieged Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and a toe-to-toe brand of brutality has caught up with Wanderlei Silva. Leave it to lions and tigers, butterflies and baboons. The youth should be the future, not fodder.

With every stacked card and every time two elite fighters meet expectedly rather than thankfully, the MMA world thinks it’s learned from boxing.

Not enough, apparently.

 

[Shogun Locc]

A message from Andrei to his fans

 

[Shogun Locc]

Evans needed more time to recover from Griffin fight

UFC president Dana White says the reason why Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is fighting Keith Jardine next instead of champion Rashad Evans is because Evans wanted more time to recover from his title win last month at UFC 92.
"Rashad didn't think he was ready," White said. "He said he was still banged up from the Forrest Griffin fight and needed more time and 'Rampage' wanted to fight."

Jackson will fight Evans' teammate Jardine on March 7 at UFC 96 "Jackson vs. Jardine" at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

 

[rylor206]

MMAjunkie.com Fight Biz: UFC seeks greater control of fighter sponsorships

In an attempt to exert even more influence over the flow of marketing dollars into the promotion, the UFC is exploring new ways of controlling the fighter-sponsor relationship.

Traditionally, UFC fighters have been able to cut their own sponsorship deals with companies for the rights to their fight shorts, T-shirts and caps they wear before and after bouts. These agreements, which can often land regional and local companies on fight gear, provide an additional source of revenue to supplement fighters' UFC contracts. The UFC has policed this practice, preventing some sponsorships from happening, but it has not owned the deal-flow process.

However, the days of fighters' managers cutting those deals appear to be ending.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned through an industry source that the UFC is considering a new sponsorship business model, which would require any company interested in sponsoring a fighter to work directly with the UFC. The UFC would negotiate the deal for the fighter and charge the sponsoring company a promotional fee for the right to have its brand on display on fighters in the octagon.

In theory, that new fee could reduce the value of the deal for the fighter, especially since sponsor dollars are going to be in shorter supply in the foreseeable future due to the economic downturn. Hypothetically, if the UFC charges a 15 percent promotional fee, that's 15 percent less revenue from the deal earned by the fighter.

The potential move makes good business sense for the UFC. The promotion wields even tighter control of what companies obtain access to its increasingly global marketing platform, protects its brand and generates additional revenue as a result. At minimum, the impact on fighters is loss of control over sponsors with which they associate. In addition, with the UFC calling the sponsorship shots, the role of fighters' managers is downsized significantly.

As another option, the UFC also is considering taking a page from the music industry by establishing "360-degree contracts" with its athletes. As first reported by MMAPayout.com, these contracts would give the UFC access to a portion of all dollars generated by fighters outside of the octagon.

Under this scenario, the UFC would not only dictate what sponsors appear on fighters' gear, but the promotion also would help fighters secure additional sponsorship revenue and take a sizeable percentage of the related dollars.

The industry source MMAjunkie.com spoke with said neither of these strategies has been officially put in place, but he believes it's only a matter of time before the UFC makes a move to further control what a fighter can and cannot do on his own to produce additional revenue.

Whats next owning the rights to the fighters unborn children. I feel for these guys they have to start some union or something