If he's about what he says, trying to get back in the title picture, it makes sense. What does a win over Franklin do? However, a win over Anderson would be worth 2/3 wins when it comes to the title hunt. I commend Chuck for having the balls to take this if it goes through.

I know they have done it before to fighters who are nearing the end of there contract and are having a hard time getting them to sign an extension. I know they hid Arlovski in the undercard his last couple fights because they knew he wasnt gonna be back. I remember Goldberg being interviewed somewhere at the time when someone asked about it and he said the only way Arlovski fight would be shown is if he got beat.

Saw GSP, BJ Penn and Dana White at the Toronto Maple Leafs game last night. That is all. lol

Why does BoDog have action on this fight...

Good way to hang onto suckers money intrest free?

http://mmajunkie.com/news/13291/ufc-drops-...ka-fighters.mma
What the ****...

Wow, that is a bit crazy. It seems to me that he's just trying to get these guys to drop their agent by playing hardball.....much the same as he did with Vera.

Unbelievable. This reminds me of Raymer, et. al. scoffing at the WPT releases. According to DN, his lawyers said there was no problem signing those releases to play, so I'm wondering if these are much different. These AKA guys could be pissing away their UFC contracts over something that doesn't mean much in the long run. I just hope they're getting good legal advice.

Koscheck is fighting in a couple weeks, I wonder if that fight is in jeopardy now.

Seems like awful business on both sides, right? I mean, the UFC says we need you to sign this, they try to renegotiate, wham you are dropped. On the other end, how in the world does a guy like Fitch let himself get cut over not having video game rights for himself when he's 40? Just when there seemed to be hope after they settled the Randy issue Zuffa makes you shake your head again.

My understanding is that this fight is certainly going to take place. Dana feels like they owe Koscheck for stepping in to take the Thiago Alves fight and that it would be tough to replace him this late in the calendar for the main event. If he loses and doesn't sign the deal he is probably gone and if he wins he will not be resigned when his contract is up.

You can really see UFC saying we are the only big game in town that is gonna be around for awhile and if you want to play then you play by our rules, if not...we don't need you.

I realy wish Dana would go away. Sure he has been very shrewd bringing the compnay to the heights it has reached but just reading his qoutes he comes off as a wannabe gangster with the constant foul language. Its very off putting the president of a billion dollar company talks like that and how he lets personel grudges drive the decision making process sometimes. Big John for UFC president imo.

There's no doubt that he lacks professionalism, but the guy has done an amazing amount for the sport.

I think he is trying to be the Vince Mcmahon of MMA. The reason I stopped watching wrestling is cheesy sub-plots that got away from the action itslef. MMA doesnt need sub-plots, its real. I think there is a real possibility the UFC is changing ownership in the next 12 months, hopefully the pass on bringing Dana along.

I've read quite a few articles and listened to interviews on both sides of the Fitch thing today. It sounds like the break can certainly be mended, and I think it will. Dana just doesn't want to deal with the managers for the AKA guys. Funny enough, one of the AKA managers also handles a lot of Liddel's business, and Dana has no problems with it, as long as he can deal with Chuck directly when it pertains to UFC matters.

Swick is also an AKA fighter and he hasn't been cut because he contacted Dana directly and said that he'd be willing to be a team player and keep the managers in the background. I'd be willing to bet that Koscheck and Fitch will follow suit, White has left the door open for all of those guys.

And yeah, Dana can be a prick, but I've been running a startup company for the past 6 years and I can definitely see where he's coming from. He's got a vision for what he wants to accomplish within the UFC, and if you're not on board with that, you can take a hike. I can't say I'm a whole lot different than that when it comes to my business affairs.

I think it's rather refreshing to see a guy like that in such a prominant role in a large company. I'd much rather hear "f*ck that guy" than the regular corporate half-truths that come out of most executive's mouths anyday.

Edit-- I'd be willing to wager on the fact that Zuffa won't be the owners of the UFC come Thanksgiving 2009.

Dana has the mentality the President of a company like the UFC needs. We're number 1, if we want you you come on board. If you give us trouble, we throw you overboard. May not be best for fans, but I think it's just him demanding the respect he needs to run his company efficiently.

Personally, I like Fitch and he's a Top 5 WW. I'm sure Fitch has a lot of fans and it's likely he'll end up in a competing organization.

Already caved and is back in the fold.

Huzzah!

I hadn't checked Sherdog today.

Yeah, but it sounds like the release is ridiculous. A fighter shouldn't have to give up the rights to his likeness for LIFE. Like one of the guys said, they could die in the right, the UFC could make t-shirts, bobbleheads and all kinds of other stuff, and the dead fighters family gets NOTHING. It's just Dana White trying to control every single aspect of the game, giving no rights to the fighters at all. It's not a great long term model, but it works with they type of product (mostly uneducated fighters) they deal in.


Sometimes I like him and his brashness, but stuff like these releases and ultimately having to sign away your life, I hate

For instance, if you sign a 4 fight contract, it's only valid if you win each fight, the contract is honored. If you lose any fight, the UFC can cut you immediately after the fight. These contracts are basically putting a gun to the head of the fighter. Sign or die. (the die is a metaphor for their career if they don't fight in the UFC)

ok guys, i got a question, but nobody can laugh. Why is it that some guys get to try to get their belts back right away and some don't. Like why did GSP get to fight Serra right away, but Serra didn't get another match? And why didn't Rampage get a crack at his belt back from Forrest before someone else gets a shot? I would think that the former champion would be the number one contender....especially in Rampage's case since the fight went to a decision. Although i see good reasoning for Evans to get the title shot, I don't understand why Rampage wouldn't get it first, since he's clearly the better fighter.

Is Rampage a clearly better fighter than Rashad Evans?

also, where would it stop? QJ gets a rematch, wins, does FG get first crack at winning it back?

It's just the way it is, some fights demand instant rematches, sometimes the ex champ has to fight his way back to the belt.

I think Serra was set to defend his title against Matt Hughes but got hurt, so GSP fought Hughes and destroyed him, thus earning his way back to the belt. I think, my history my be foggy.

GSP had two or three fights before he got his rematch with Serra. I can't remember the last time some one lost the belt and got first crack at it. If the number one contender was always the guy who lost the belt couldn't theoritically the same two people fight forever.

really he only had 1. The first was vs Koscheck and the second was for the interim belt w/ Hughes. The he got his crack at Serra.

but we're nitpicking here

Yeah you're right I don't really count the interim title though. Also that division isn't exactly deep as far as talent goes especially when compared to the light heavyweights.

Ctrl-F is way better than Alt-E, Find. just sayin.

I like armbars

made yellow sash in my jkd class yesterday.

if zuffa isn't owning UFC at that time, then Dana White won't be with UFC after that. He's the public face for the ferrtitas and I highly doubt that they'd sell what is making them a good chunk of change right now

They might have to. There casino business is 6 billion in debt and a good chunk of there bonds mature early in 09. They deffinatly have no where near 6 billion in equity.

Fertitta resigned from that, did he not?

They own the Casino company. If they want to keep it they will have to get money from somewhere. It comes down to what do they want to keep. I am not sure if the UFC is off limits from there creditors during a restructuring.

They own. a quarter of the casino company, and if they were comfortable enough to take it private, I think they will be OK, where did you read otherwise?

It was mentioned briefly on a business show I was watching. The casino company is all but toast was the consensus along with alot of the other casino companies.

They've made a ton of money on the UFC and it is only growing. I'd be surprised if the HAD to sell.

Yes they have made a ton of money with the UFC but is it at its playeau in terms of profitability? I have no doubt that numers will grow in terms of popularity but will the costs of fighter contracts also start to escalate with competitiion? And if the recession does drag on for a couple years(a very real possibility) how many people will stop buying ppv every month and paying $500 for tickets? They are gonna be forced into a decision real soon about which business they want to continue in I dont think they can have both. Sheldon Adelson of LVS has already had to pour 1 billion of his own capital into his casino company in the last couple months and they still are gonna default on some of there debt. MGM Mirage got bailed out by arabs. Station is gonna need alot of fresh capital to continue and the UFC is a very attractive asset.

I think there is a TON of financial growth coming from the international growth. Continued expansion in England, Germany and Ireland shows, I think there is a lot of money pouring to the UFC overseas in the near future.

Yea I think they have commited to at least 5 shows outside the US in 09.

This is key to their future success and one of the reasons that the one brother moved over to oversee the international expansion. With the continued marketing of the UFC on the global front and the recent deals of video games, action figures etc the UFC looks to be continuing to head is a solid direction.

While I wouldn't imagine that station casinos is in the greatest shape right now due to the economy, I would find it hard considering the casinos that they own, that they would be either that far in debt, or that the debt wouldn't be a managable debt

Anybody else not get a new episode of the ultimate fighter tonight?? Anybody know why?

I saw a reminder on junkie earlier today that there isnt a new episode this wekk.

Double episode next week.

i'm currently watching TUF season 1. I found all the files available for all the seasons on rapishare. It's awesome how many fighters that show produced.

Woot!

Wednesday is the best night of the week for tv (not just because of TUF).

Just a WEC reminder on VS for tomorrow. Top 3 fights should be sweet.

Miguel Torres vs Manny Tapia
Brian Bowles vs Will Ribeiro
Waggney Fabiano vs Akitoshi Tamura

If anything, watch the main event for Torres. He's f'n phenominal.

http://mmabay.co.uk/Story%2000061.html
Diego to 155... very interesting move. Diego Kenny rematch down the road?

Good episodes of TUF last night.

Was good to see Junie get his ash kicked! He is such a loser punk and I was glad Dana called him out for what he was/is. Was good to see Efrain kick his ass all over the cage.

Really looking forward to seeing Vinny fight some more. His jiu-jitsu is plain sick. If he ever gets a stand-up game that is anywhere close to his jits...we are looking at a future UFC champion imho. Not sure how Bader is gonna be able to take him. Does Bader really wanna use his wrestling background and get on the mat with Vinny? Should be a good fight either way!!!

I really wanted to see Vinny fight Krystof (sp) in the finals. I liked him on the show. He kept the house form being boring and his pranks were not hurtful. He was fighting a good fight but should have made Vinny stand up every time he broke away from him on the ground.

How was Junie not kicked off the show? He was given wayyyy too many chances then he deserved. I hope he never makes it in the UFC again. I'm sure he will though because that bozo from last season that busted up the limo got to fight again. Have not seen him in a long time though.

Yeah, last night was pretty good. Bader's only chance is to keep the fight standing and his standup isn't that great. Vinny's BJJ is just ridiculous. It seems he is close to a sub after only a few seconds of the fight being on the ground. Krystoff would have won though had he kept some distance. He was effective doing what he was doing. I think Bader is going to lose in a semi boring fight.

Junie was ridiculous. I would have sent the little shit home. God what a waste of life he is. Nice to see Efrain "beat him off" though. Felipe is going to win though. I think he's just better all around than Efrain. This fight will be great though.