With the UFC 82 showdown between middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, and the Pride FC 183-pound champion, Dan Henderson, just five days away it got me thinking about the division’s depth as a whole.
Some argue that it is the UFC’s thinnest division; heck, I’ve even argued this as recently as Wednesday. That said, the division is growing.
Both Hendo and Michael Bisping have dropped down from 205, Wanderlei Silva is considering it, the UFC has brought back Ricardo Almeida and former division champion Evan Tanner, Martin Kampmann will return from injury this year, and even Jeremy Horn returned to the Octagon just three weeks ago at UFC 81.
But could the UFC do more to sign contenders capable of facing Anderson Silva?
The UFC currently has contracts with four of the top 10 middleweights listed in MMAWeekly’s latest world rankings — Silva, Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami (Zuffa also has Paulo Filho contracted under its WEC promotion).
By comparison to the depth represented in its other divisions, the UFC has 6.5 heavyweights (Randy Couture is in limbo and Cro Cop just left), nine light heavyweights, eight welterweights (nine if you count WEC 170-pound champion, Carlos Condit) and just two lightweights
However, the sheer volume of 155-pound fighters in the world makes this last statistic a bit deceiving.
The problem, in my eyes, isn’t that the UFC has opted not to sign other top 10 middleweights; it’s that the UFC is allowing start-ups like the new Japan-based Dream promotion (owned in part by the former PRIDE owners) to pick off top contenders, which in turn gives them credibility.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that the UFC was on a mission to buy up all the talent in the world to finally find out who the real champions are.
So why leave open a window of opportunity?
It was recently announced that Denis Kang (29-9-1) has signed with Dream and will debut at the middleweight grand prix on April 29 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
Kang’s last fight was a loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama in October 2007 under the K-1 banner. Akiyama is also now with Dream, as well as a host of other middleweight veterans, including Kazushi Sakuraba (23-10-1).
Word has it that Matt Lindland (20-5) is also set to sign with Dream. The former UFC fighter’s lack of activity is the only thing keeping him off most organizations’ Top 10 Rankings. His last fight was a loss to heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko back in April 2007 for BodogFight.
Why pass on Lindland and Kang? It’s no secret that UFC President Dana White and Lindland haven’t been on good terms since forever, and his association with the International Fight League (IFL) does not help matters, but if White can reconcile with Tito Ortiz, he can reconcile with anybody.
Right?
And what about Robbie Lawler, another top 10 middleweight contender? He was last featured as an assistant coach for Team Hughes in The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6. That seemed like as good a time as any to ink him to a fight contract.
I don’t fault the UFC for releasing David Terrell. The guy’s list of injuries are an unfortunate punch line.
But as a fan who would prefer to see as many top contenders able to fight each other as possible, I only hope Dana White keeps his eye on the prize that he promised us only a year ago.
Tick-tock.
73 Comments »
First! I agree with you! I think the UFC is run heavily like the popularity square off of high school – either you are in the cool crowd or you’re not – whether it’s fair or not. Dana White acts like he’s the coolest kid in town – and he very well may be – but the fact remains if UFC is going to dominate, they have to pick up people who are good and will make them money, while making money and good fan base, regardless if you think they are “cool enough.”
Hopefully the UFC will rebuild the heavyweight division in less time than its taking to rebuild the middleweight division. Provided of course that you dont share the opinion that Dana White expressed on the countdown show last night. “The UFC’s heavyweight division has never been more exciting”.
Mania, I agree with you 100%. There’s no doubt the UFC is the top organization, but they can’t let personality conflicts affect the business side of MMA.
If Dana likes someone, they get the benefit of the doubt every time. If he doesn’t like you for any reason, you’re a worthless second rate fighter that the UFCs not interested in.
This isn’t high school, we need someone much more mature calling the shots.
I completely agree. I think the UFC should do more to get the best fighters in there to fight. I think they try to but just don’t cough up the money for the “unknown” fighters. But something has to give. I hope does soon, b/c I am tired of people saying that the UFC isn’t the best out there, when I know it is.
I think the heavyweight division might be the thinnest now, which you already wrote an article on I believe.
matt linland wanted to come fight and dana just brushed him off,he is a guy that could possibly beat silva and is considered by most a top m.w.
c-war,
yeah, it’s difficult to say which is the “thinnest” division when you have someone like Silva as your MW champion. The guy seems unstoppable.
Can’t wait to see UFC82 live!
[quote comment="329344"]matt linland wanted to come fight and dana just brushed him off,he is a guy that could possibly beat silva and is considered by most a top m.w.[/quote]
i agree they should have tried to work things out w/ linland. he’s to good not to be in the ufc.
This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.
[quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.
i like the ufc and think they are the best right now but with the way they are doing things its not good for the sport like dana tries to sell, he says he is trying to keep it from going the way of boxing but its just not true,thats fine that it is a business but don’t try to sell us that crap than.i would love it if all the best where under on roof but thats not going to happen partly because of fighters trying to do better for themselves money wise and partly due to dana not willing to work with fighters he does not like.the best have to fight the best are this is worse than boxing dana either needs to sign everybody or cross promote once in awhile.
[quote comment="329335"]Mania, I agree with you 100%. There’s no doubt the UFC is the top organization, but they can’t let personality conflicts affect the business side of MMA.
If Dana likes someone, they get the benefit of the doubt every time. If he doesn’t like you for any reason, you’re a worthless second rate fighter that the UFCs not interested in.
This isn’t high school, we need someone much more mature calling the shots.[/quote]
Adam Wagner wrote the piece, not me. You can see the author name at the top of each post.
I definitely agree wagnerav, with a champ like silva any division would look thin in terms of title contention. And, I might be considered crazy here, but I don’t see any HW taking the belt from minotauro soon, considering of his 4 losses all are by decision and in his list of 31 wins has beat the best. Almeida looked great in 81 and I can’t wait to see more of him. One thing I wonder with certain fighters signing with DREAM is the reality that steroid testing there is damn near non-existant? (possibly why Fedor wont fight in the US?) But I agree with everyone when saying there are some holes we can still fill in MW, BUT at the same time it is great having a champ like silva, the guy could take kang and lawler at the same time =)
Why haven’t they signed Lawler and Kang? How about the fact they were outbid on both of them? In Kang’s case, K-1 offered him TRIPLE what the UFC offered him, and Kang said he liked the offer the UFC gave him.
Somehow, people have seen the stunning growth the UFC has had, and started to assume they can do whatever they want and sign anybody they want. It flat isn’t true: very real monetary competition exists for top fighters. The UFC can’t just buy off every single top fighter, especially the marketable ones: Kang makes more business sense for K-1 than for the UFC, and Lawler makes more sense for EliteXC.
As for Dana’s grudges, Dana never lets a grudge get in the way of making money, with the possible exception of Barnett (I have no idea what the deal is with Barnett and the UFC, except I’m certain it goes beyond just a grudge). Dana hates Tito with a passion, and he responded by making Tito a coach. Dana’s love for money outweighs any personal vendettas.
dont forget cote and leben are on the rise and if gsp or b.j. moves up to 185, wich has been talked about by both fighters this div could all of a sudden be stacked.
[quote comment="329361"]i like the ufc and think they are the best right now but with the way they are doing things its not good for the sport like dana tries to sell, he says he is trying to keep it from going the way of boxing but its just not true,thats fine that it is a business but don’t try to sell us that crap than.i would love it if all the best where under on roof but thats not going to happen partly because of fighters trying to do better for themselves money wise and partly due to dana not willing to work with fighters he does not like.the best have to fight the best are this is worse than boxing dana either needs to sign everybody or cross promote once in awhile.[/quote]
i am a boxing fan from a long way back and trust me the ufc is nowhere near as bad as boxings level. look at the next ufc fight night for example. all those top or close to the top contenders fighting each other on the same night. this would never happen in boxing. the managers and promoters would neveer risk having their meal ticket get beat before a title shot. it didnt used to be this way, back in 40s and 50s boxing was the biggest sport in the u.s. except maybee baseball and the top guys had to fight each other, sometimes several times. the mob was also involved back then but thats another story. i used to live and beathe boxing up until mma came onto the scene, exspecially the last 5 years or so. cross promoting would be cool but the other orgs have to be up to par. trust me when i tell you this. mma and the ufc are nowhere near as corrupt and disorganized as boxing, and dana white couldnt carry don kings jock strap as far as being the ” evil emporer”.
[quote comment="329367"]Why haven’t they signed Lawler and Kang? How about the fact they were outbid on both of them? In Kang’s case, K-1 offered him TRIPLE what the UFC offered him, and Kang said he liked the offer the UFC gave him.
Somehow, people have seen the stunning growth the UFC has had, and started to assume they can do whatever they want and sign anybody they want. It flat isn’t true: very real monetary competition exists for top fighters. The UFC can’t just buy off every single top fighter, especially the marketable ones: Kang makes more business sense for K-1 than for the UFC, and Lawler makes more sense for EliteXC.
As for Dana’s grudges, Dana never lets a grudge get in the way of making money, with the possible exception of Barnett (I have no idea what the deal is with Barnett and the UFC, except I’m certain it goes beyond just a grudge). Dana hates Tito with a passion, and he responded by making Tito a coach. Dana’s love for money outweighs any personal vendettas.[/quote]
What about Lindland? What about Fedor – Dana can’t afford to pay the #1 Heavyweight in the world? Tell me Dana can’t pay Arlovski? Now that he’s going to leave, his fights don’t make the main event? Dana absolutely lets his personal vendettas get in the way of sound decision making.
[quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Was it an “IFL” t-shirt Lindland wore? I had never heard that before. I had always only heard it was an “unapproved sponsor” but had never heard it specified. They allowed Wandy to wear the Pride shirt for cross-promotion. Why not allow it for other orgs? (I don’t subscribe to Dana-hate on all facets but can’t stand the hypocracy here.)
One name not mentioned in the article that is exciting every time out is Mayhem. Miller went bell-to-bell with GSP and put on a fantastic fight. He moved up to MW and has shown he is a top competitor in several organizations but has never been back. I have never heard he burned bridges but can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.
out of the MW top 10 rankings, theres some sick match ups id like to see if only these organistations could work together.
The list has Filho above Franklin – IMO Franklin would maul him in an instant.
Another crazy ass fight id like to see is Marquardt v Lawler – that would be mad!
i dont think Frank Trigg has any business being in any MW top 10 list
Leben is not on the rise. He won one fight.
He sucks!
[quote comment="329392"][quote comment="329367"]Why haven’t they signed Lawler and Kang? How about the fact they were outbid on both of them? In Kang’s case, K-1 offered him TRIPLE what the UFC offered him, and Kang said he liked the offer the UFC gave him.
Somehow, people have seen the stunning growth the UFC has had, and started to assume they can do whatever they want and sign anybody they want. It flat isn’t true: very real monetary competition exists for top fighters. The UFC can’t just buy off every single top fighter, especially the marketable ones: Kang makes more business sense for K-1 than for the UFC, and Lawler makes more sense for EliteXC.
As for Dana’s grudges, Dana never lets a grudge get in the way of making money, with the possible exception of Barnett (I have no idea what the deal is with Barnett and the UFC, except I’m certain it goes beyond just a grudge). Dana hates Tito with a passion, and he responded by making Tito a coach. Dana’s love for money outweighs any personal vendettas.[/quote]
What about Lindland? What about Fedor – Dana can’t afford to pay the #1 Heavyweight in the world? Tell me Dana can’t pay Arlovski? Now that he’s going to leave, his fights don’t make the main event? Dana absolutely lets his personal vendettas get in the way of sound decision making.[/quote]
Lindland would probably be a losing proposition money-wise for the UFC, even if he fought for free. He’s a marketing black hole. On top of that, he’s impossible to work with and has spent the past several years tarring the UFC. Not signing Lindland makes perfect sense as a business deal, regardless of personal vendettas. I’d love to have Lindland in the UFC, but he’s obviously a bad business bet.
The UFC offered Fedor a ton of money, and he still chose to go elsewhere. Personal vendettas don’t factor in when a guy wants a lot more than he’s worth to the UFC. Fact of the matter is, Fedor’s a terrific fighter, but there is zero reason to break the bank for him–he’s not marketable beyond his skill. The UFC wants all the best fighters in the world, but they aren’t going to lose money just to make it happen.
Arlovski is worth more to other organizations than to the UFC right now. He’s been put on the undercard to avoid inflating his value before he leaves, to give the UFC a better chance at re-signing him, and reducing the problems he’ll cause if he signs somewhere else. Not particularly nice, but nothing to do with vendettas.
You’re mistaking business actions for personal grudges. Flat out, the UFC doesn’t run that way.
[quote comment="329401"][quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Was it an “IFL” t-shirt Lindland wore? I had never heard that before. I had always only heard it was an “unapproved sponsor” but had never heard it specified. They allowed Wandy to wear the Pride shirt for cross-promotion. Why not allow it for other orgs? (I don’t subscribe to Dana-hate on all facets but can’t stand the hypocracy here.)
One name not mentioned in the article that is exciting every time out is Mayhem. Miller went bell-to-bell with GSP and put on a fantastic fight. He moved up to MW and has shown he is a top competitor in several organizations but has never been back. I have never heard he burned bridges but can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.[/quote]
Since the UFC owns Pride, Wandy’s T-shirt is not an issue. If Lindland was wearing an IFL T-shirt, that’s advertising a direct competitor, and any businessman will tell you that’s not kosher.
I blame it on Anderson Silva. Take away his dominance, and the division isn’t really that thin. Franklin, Marquardt, Swick, Bisping, Okami, Tanner, Cote, Leben, McFedries, Sakara, Leites, Kampmann, and some more I’m sure I’m forgetting.
I think any two of these fighters make for an interesting matchup. However, I don’t give any of them much of a chance vs Silva or Hendo.
So to me, the MW division is an extremely interesting division that just so happens to have one of the most dominant fighters we’ve ever seen as champion.
Especially if Silva beats Hendo, or worse yet dominates Hendo! If that happens, he’ll separate himself even more from the rest of the MW’s, and future championship bouts will be even less interesting.
However, Hendo can really mix things up with a win, as I think the current MW roster matches up much better with him than Silva.
Matt still has an IFL team… Which is a competing org. Also, Matt hasn’t beat a top MW in forever and hasn’t even fought for almost a year, but I’m sure he’s demanding huge money.
Did I mention that he also has no marketability and tends to fight in boring fashion?
[quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Is matt linland fighting in the IFL or is he just a coach for a team there? so if he is a coach, I think it is extremely mature that Dana wont let matt fight in the ufc because he is really just basically cornering his fighters at another show. i really dont see how it would hurt the ufc at all. in reality it would be self promotion of the ufc in another organization.
[quote comment="329428"][quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Is matt linland fighting in the IFL or is he just a coach for a team there? so if he is a coach, I think it is extremely mature that Dana wont let matt fight in the ufc because he is really just basically cornering his fighters at another show. i really dont see how it would hurt the ufc at all. in reality it would be self promotion of the ufc in another organization.[/quote]
I mean…inmature!
This whole Anderson Silva hype puts into perspective just how solid and dominant Matt Hughes was/is – even though hes usually a cock the man should be a HOFer now and if he chooses should get an immidiate title shot in either LW or MW
[quote comment="329412"][quote comment="329392"][quote comment="329367"]Why haven’t they signed Lawler and Kang? How about the fact they were outbid on both of them? In Kang’s case, K-1 offered him TRIPLE what the UFC offered him, and Kang said he liked the offer the UFC gave him.
Somehow, people have seen the stunning growth the UFC has had, and started to assume they can do whatever they want and sign anybody they want. It flat isn’t true: very real monetary competition exists for top fighters. The UFC can’t just buy off every single top fighter, especially the marketable ones: Kang makes more business sense for K-1 than for the UFC, and Lawler makes more sense for EliteXC.
As for Dana’s grudges, Dana never lets a grudge get in the way of making money, with the possible exception of Barnett (I have no idea what the deal is with Barnett and the UFC, except I’m certain it goes beyond just a grudge). Dana hates Tito with a passion, and he responded by making Tito a coach. Dana’s love for money outweighs any personal vendettas.[/quote]
What about Lindland? What about Fedor – Dana can’t afford to pay the #1 Heavyweight in the world? Tell me Dana can’t pay Arlovski? Now that he’s going to leave, his fights don’t make the main event? Dana absolutely lets his personal vendettas get in the way of sound decision making.[/quote]
Lindland would probably be a losing proposition money-wise for the UFC, even if he fought for free. He’s a marketing black hole. On top of that, he’s impossible to work with and has spent the past several years tarring the UFC. Not signing Lindland makes perfect sense as a business deal, regardless of personal vendettas. I’d love to have Lindland in the UFC, but he’s obviously a bad business bet.
The UFC offered Fedor a ton of money, and he still chose to go elsewhere. Personal vendettas don’t factor in when a guy wants a lot more than he’s worth to the UFC. Fact of the matter is, Fedor’s a terrific fighter, but there is zero reason to break the bank for him–he’s not marketable beyond his skill. The UFC wants all the best fighters in the world, but they aren’t going to lose money just to make it happen.
Arlovski is worth more to other organizations than to the UFC right now. He’s been put on the undercard to avoid inflating his value before he leaves, to give the UFC a better chance at re-signing him, and reducing the problems he’ll cause if he signs somewhere else. Not particularly nice, but nothing to do with vendettas.
You’re mistaking business actions for personal grudges. Flat out, the UFC doesn’t run that way.[/quote]
I guess we can agree to disagree. If Dana can afford to pay Brock Lesnar almost 300K when he’s 0-0, I can’t believe he can’t pay a guy like Fedor. Fedor chose to go elsewhere for more money. The UFC’s making more $$ than the org he went to, so tell me how they can afford it and the UFC can’t.
As far as Fedor being marketable….Huh?? A Fedor vs ummm, let’s see….almost any heavyweight in the UFC would be one of the most marketable fights ever. The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC. Now imagine him fighting Randy, Nog, AA or even someone like Brock Lesnar. If Dana can’t promote that, he’s in the wrong business.
As far as Lindland goes – you say he’s been “tarring” the UFC. Do you wonder why? Does he go around “tarring” other organizations? Maybe it’s because he and Dana had a disagreement, he was blackballed and Dana badmouths him all the time.
I’m not a complete Dana Hater because of everything he’s done for the sport. I’m just saying it’s completely gone to his head. He’s making poor business decisions based on personal feelings.
[quote comment="329414"][quote comment="329401"][quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Was it an “IFL” t-shirt Lindland wore? I had never heard that before. I had always only heard it was an “unapproved sponsor” but had never heard it specified. They allowed Wandy to wear the Pride shirt for cross-promotion. Why not allow it for other orgs? (I don’t subscribe to Dana-hate on all facets but can’t stand the hypocracy here.)
One name not mentioned in the article that is exciting every time out is Mayhem. Miller went bell-to-bell with GSP and put on a fantastic fight. He moved up to MW and has shown he is a top competitor in several organizations but has never been back. I have never heard he burned bridges but can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.[/quote]
Since the UFC owns Pride, Wandy’s T-shirt is not an issue. If Lindland was wearing an IFL T-shirt, that’s advertising a direct competitor, and any businessman will tell you that’s not kosher.[/quote]
IFL also apparently stole some executive talent from UFC when it was starting up, which did not go over well on Sahara Avenue. It’s personal. The Randy Couture fiasco doesn’t help, either.
[quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Hmmmm. Hendo was right there with Lindland in every Team Quest IFL fight I had seen, and there’s no problem with Henderson. Is Hendo no longer able to be in the corner of IFL fighters?
[quote post="5110"]One name not mentioned in the article that is exciting every time out is Mayhem. Miller went bell-to-bell with GSP and put on a fantastic fight. He moved up to MW and has shown he is a top competitor in several organizations but has never been back. I have never heard he burned bridges but can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance. [/quote]
ABSOLUTELY! I mention Jason Mayhem Miller at least once a month. He has great BJJ and Muay Thai, and he can wrestle. He is a very well rounded mixed martial artist who finds himself comfortable no matter where the fight is taking place, or what is going on. He had GSP on top of him GnP’ing his face into oblivion and what did he do? He smiled and kept a very active guard. That fight with GSP was actually the first time I ever saw him fight. I became a Mayhem monkey instantly!
[quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
WHY DOES IT MATTER IF HE COMES FROM AMERICA OR NOT, THE BEST FIGHTERS SHOULD BE IN THE UFC PERIOD, IT DOESNT MATTER IF THEY COME FROM AMERICA OR ANT OTHER COUNTRY
[quote post="5110"]Hmmmm. Hendo was right there with Lindland in every Team Quest IFL fight I had seen, and there’s no problem with Henderson. Is Hendo no longer able to be in the corner of IFL fighters?[/quote]
Lindland is the coach, Hendo is not.
[quote comment="329490"][quote post="5110"]Hmmmm. Hendo was right there with Lindland in every Team Quest IFL fight I had seen, and there’s no problem with Henderson. Is Hendo no longer able to be in the corner of IFL fighters?[/quote]
Lindland is the coach, Hendo is not.[/quote]
When is Dana going to realize that the IFL is about 20 years away from becoming competition for the UFC. The IFL is like minor league mma. I can understand if Dana sees EliteXC or DREAM as threats to the UFC’s business, but the IFL is no where near being able to threaten the UFC’s business. Dana needs to grow the hell up. The IFL doesnt even have pay per view events.
Its like if Tom Brady was wearing an Arena football team shirt…Why the hell should the NFL care….
UFC = NFL
IFL = Arena football… NO COMPETITION, Dana grow up!
I posted this the other day… for those that missed it:
The Matt Lindland Situation:
top-ten middleweight in the estimation of many observers, tried to get a fight with the UFC and was flatly turned down. According to Lindland, “I made it very clear to Dana (White), and he’s the final decision-maker on all that stuff, I made it very clear that I was looking for them to make me an offer. I said, “Make me an offer, and let’s talk. Let’s do business.’ I got back a, “We’re not going to make you any kind of an offer’ response.”
For those not familiar with the back story, Lindland was let go by the UFC supposedly for wearing an unapproved sponsor’s logo to the weigh-in of UFC 54. It’s hard to believe that the sport’s preeminent promotion would part with a quality fighter over such a minor squabble, so we’re left to wonder if there might not have been other issues at play. Whatever the reason for the split, White’s apparent inability to push aside his towering ego two and half years after the logo incident is one step down the same painful, self-destructive path pioneered by boxing.
Like him or not, Lindland is a top-flight middleweight, a world class wrestler and grappler who competes at the UFC’s weakest weight class. Refusing Lindland’s offer undercuts the UFC’s credibility as the world’s premier fighting organization and deprives fans of the best possible fights. If personal enmity prevents fans from seeing Lindland fight Rich Franklin, Nathan Marquardt, Yushin Okami, and UFC champion Anderson Silva, then White will have truly begun a Dorian Gray-like transformation into that which he despises most.
[quote comment="329432"]I guess we can agree to disagree. If Dana can afford to pay Brock Lesnar almost 300K when he’s 0-0, I can’t believe he can’t pay a guy like Fedor. Fedor chose to go elsewhere for more money. The UFC’s making more $$ than the org he went to, so tell me how they can afford it and the UFC can’t.[/quote]
I’m guessing you don’t have any marketing background. Lesnar is tremendously marketable, much more than Fedor would be, at least for the first year or two each would spend in the UFC. And Fedor was supposedly offered well over a million per fight. If that doesn’t show you that the UFC was serious about signing Fedor, I don’t know what you want from them. You may think the UFC should pay ALL their fighters more, but the fact is they offered to make Fedor the highest paid fighter in the world. That shows respect, not a grudge.
[quote]As far as Fedor being marketable….Huh?? A Fedor vs ummm, let’s see….almost any heavyweight in the UFC would be one of the most marketable fights ever. The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC. Now imagine him fighting Randy, Nog, AA or even someone like Brock Lesnar. If Dana can’t promote that, he’s in the wrong business.[/quote]
I have news for you: Anderson Silva is the most dominant middleweight fighter the UFC has ever seen. He’s tremendously exciting. He also doesn’t command a fraction of the attention that Chuck Liddell commands, or Randy Couture, or Tito Ortiz.
You claim that “The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC.” You’re wrong. Most US fans haven’t even heard of the guy. Fedor doesn’t speak good english, he doesn’t have a wildly entertaining fight style, he doesn’t talk shit. . . there is very little to market him with besides his dominance. And dominance doesn’t make a person a draw. Just ask Wladimir Klitschko.
Fedor can be built into a draw over time. But that means the UFC will have to invest a lot of money into building him up.
[quote]As far as Lindland goes – you say he’s been “tarring” the UFC. Do you wonder why? Does he go around “tarring” other organizations? Maybe it’s because he and Dana had a disagreement, he was blackballed and Dana badmouths him all the time.[/quote]
And? Dana’s a prick. But Lindland could have talked nice about the UFC, rather than talk them down and ruin his value to them.
[quote]I’m not a complete Dana Hater because of everything he’s done for the sport. I’m just saying it’s completely gone to his head. He’s making poor business decisions based on personal feelings.[/quote]
Again, you’re reaching. Dana talks a lot of shit, and can be a total prick. But the evidence for Dana’s personal feelings interfering with his business decisions begins and ends with Josh Barnett.
Dana made Tito an Ultimate Fighter coach. And Dana hates Tito to the core. Shouldn’t that answer the questions about whether or not Dana lets emotions interfere with his decisions?
What I find totally ironic is that most of the fighters were with PRIDE are coming back to DREAM with a few exceptions. Zuffa just pissed away 70 million for nothing one of the worst deals I’ve seen. The UFCs middleweight division is barren other than Silva and Hendo. I hope that Wandy and a few others drop down.
[quote comment="329414"][quote comment="329401"][quote comment="329359"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
It’s about the IFL, really. That’s the major bone on contention … not the t-shirt.[/quote]
Was it an “IFL” t-shirt Lindland wore? I had never heard that before. I had always only heard it was an “unapproved sponsor” but had never heard it specified. They allowed Wandy to wear the Pride shirt for cross-promotion. Why not allow it for other orgs? (I don’t subscribe to Dana-hate on all facets but can’t stand the hypocracy here.)
One name not mentioned in the article that is exciting every time out is Mayhem. Miller went bell-to-bell with GSP and put on a fantastic fight. He moved up to MW and has shown he is a top competitor in several organizations but has never been back. I have never heard he burned bridges but can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance.[/quote]
Since the UFC owns Pride, Wandy’s T-shirt is not an issue. If Lindland was wearing an IFL T-shirt, that’s advertising a direct competitor, and any businessman will tell you that’s not kosher.[/quote]
It wasn’t an IFL shirt anyway. If I remember correctly it was a Bodog.Net shirt. The IFL thing should not be a big issue according to Dan Henderson. He was asked in an interview if he was ever told he couldn’t corner his fighters in different leagues and he said it wouldn’t be a problem for him to do, but he does not know the terms of Lindland’s old contract.
It’s going to be suprising who capitalizes on the UFC losses of fighters like David Terrell, Couture, Possibly Sylvia and Arvloski, Ortiz
EliteXC could make a big jump in competition. I mean there are a bunch of good fighters out there that should be fighting with the UFC but Dana is being stubborn and he needs to be put his shit behind him and look at whats best for the company and the fans and the fighters.
[quote comment="329382"][quote comment="329361"]i like the ufc and think they are the best right now but with the way they are doing things its not good for the sport like dana tries to sell, he says he is trying to keep it from going the way of boxing but its just not true,thats fine that it is a business but don’t try to sell us that crap than.i would love it if all the best where under on roof but thats not going to happen partly because of fighters trying to do better for themselves money wise and partly due to dana not willing to work with fighters he does not like.the best have to fight the best are this is worse than boxing dana either needs to sign everybody or cross promote once in awhile.[/quote]
i am a boxing fan from a long way back and trust me the ufc is nowhere near as bad as boxings level. look at the next ufc fight night for example. all those top or close to the top contenders fighting each other on the same night. this would never happen in boxing. the managers and promoters would neveer risk having their meal ticket get beat before a title shot. it didnt used to be this way, back in 40s and 50s boxing was the biggest sport in the u.s. except maybee baseball and the top guys had to fight each other, sometimes several times. the mob was also involved back then but thats another story. i used to live and beathe boxing up until mma came onto the scene, exspecially the last 5 years or so. cross promoting would be cool but the other orgs have to be up to par. trust me when i tell you this. mma and the ufc are nowhere near as corrupt and disorganized as boxing, and dana white couldnt carry don kings jock strap as far as being the ” evil emporer”.[/quote]
i am a boxing fan from way back also and in the end the best always fought the best at some point. i don’t think dana should cross promote with anyone asking for it just the one s out there that are the best.if the best don’t fight each other this is worse than boxing.you bring up protecting meal tickects and that happens in mma too and i don’t want to see him cross promote with anyone that is nor up to par but all the best fighters are not in the ufc so to make the entire sport legit not just the ufc they need to cross promote or sign everyone witch they can’t.
You claim that “The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC.” You’re wrong. Most US fans haven’t even heard of the guy. Fedor doesn’t speak good english, he doesn’t have a wildly entertaining fight style, he doesn’t talk shit. . . there is very little to market him with besides his dominance. And dominance doesn’t make a person a draw. Just ask Wladimir Klitschko.
There is a reason that Wladimir Klitschko is not a huge draw its a glass chin, he is dominant but its in a horrible division. He was well on his way to being a huge draw (if he wasnt already) until he ran into Cory Sanders ( a semi pro GOLFER) and got KTFO. People dont care about languages they care about excitement! Brock does bring but so does Fedor especially since Couture called him out. He has gotten more publicity from that anything else. All that beig said Wladimir most likely made more money fighting Sultan Ibrag then all the UFC fighters this weekend will make combined with out generating nearly the amount that the UFC pay per view will. Now some may need some marketing lessons here but I think some accounting lessons would make more dollars and cents.
A good example, The night that Couture and Liddel fought the third time Manny Pacquio and Eric Morales fought for the second time. Both shows did around the same PPV buys (350,000 range). Both were in packed houses. The big difference was the bottom line while Cotoure and Liddel might have made half a million combined for there work that night, Manny and Eric each made 3 million thats right EACH. Now I am not here to crap on UFC but they crap on boxing all the time. At least boxing promoters pay there meal tickets when they put there lifes on the line. THe UFC should really start throwing the money to they guys that are generating it. I mean Floyd Mayweather made around 50 mill fighting this year. No MMA fighter is in that stratosphere but they are generating that kind of money and it is all going into the UFC’s pockets instead of the fighters. So dont tell me they cant afford anyone.
I’m guessing you don’t have any marketing background. Lesnar is tremendously marketable, much more than Fedor would be, at least for the first year or two each would spend in the UFC. And Fedor was supposedly offered well over a million per fight. If that doesn’t show you that the UFC was serious about signing Fedor, I don’t know what you want from them. You may think the UFC should pay ALL their fighters more, but the fact is they offered to make Fedor the highest paid fighter in the world. That shows respect, not a grudge.
the only people that think lesnar is more markeable are kids that don’t know anything about mma,any true fan of the sport would know that fedor is one of the best and lesnar is a side show more of a freak like alor of you called hung man choi who is popular in japan and marketable there but you all called it a freak show and said fedor not fighting any one.lesnar has wrestleing creds and choi has kickboxing creds but choi lasted longer with one of the best h.w.’s and lesnar could not last more than 90 seconds with a so so fighter who now after one win against a newcomer all of the suddon is back in the mix.lesnar will lose to any decent fighter.
[quote comment="329605"]You claim that “The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC.” You’re wrong. Most US fans haven’t even heard of the guy. Fedor doesn’t speak good english, he doesn’t have a wildly entertaining fight style, he doesn’t talk shit. . . there is very little to market him with besides his dominance. And dominance doesn’t make a person a draw. Just ask Wladimir Klitschko.
There is a reason that Wladimir Klitschko is not a huge draw its a glass chin, he is dominant but its in a horrible division. He was well on his way to being a huge draw (if he wasnt already) until he ran into Cory Sanders ( a semi pro GOLFER) and got KTFO. People dont care about languages they care about excitement! Brock does bring but so does Fedor especially since Couture called him out. He has gotten more publicity from that anything else. All that beig said Wladimir most likely made more money fighting Sultan Ibrag then all the UFC fighters this weekend will make combined with out generating nearly the amount that the UFC pay per view will. Now some may need some marketing lessons here but I think some accounting lessons would make more dollars and cents.
A good example, The night that Couture and Liddel fought the third time Manny Pacquio and Eric Morales fought for the second time. Both shows did around the same PPV buys (350,000 range). Both were in packed houses. The big difference was the bottom line while Cotoure and Liddel might have made half a million combined for there work that night, Manny and Eric each made 3 million thats right EACH. Now I am not here to crap on UFC but they crap on boxing all the time. At least boxing promoters pay there meal tickets when they put there lifes on the line. THe UFC should really start throwing the money to they guys that are generating it. I mean Floyd Mayweather made around 50 mill fighting this year. No MMA fighter is in that stratosphere but they are generating that kind of money and it is all going into the UFC’s pockets instead of the fighters. So dont tell me they cant afford anyone.[/quote]
[quote comment="329612"]the only people that think lesnar is more markeable are kids that don’t know anything about mma,any true fan of the sport would know that fedor is one of the best and lesnar is a side show more of a freak like alor of you called hung man choi who is popular in japan and marketable there but you all called it a freak show and said fedor not fighting any one.lesnar has wrestleing creds and choi has kickboxing creds but choi lasted longer with one of the best h.w.’s and lesnar could not last more than 90 seconds with a so so fighter who now after one win against a newcomer all of the suddon is back in the mix.lesnar will lose to any decent fighter.[/quote]
Wow. Thats some blinding insight, right there.
I really think Henderson will cause some problems for Silva. First off Dan’s clinch is one of the best in the business the others probably being Silva and Couture, but his signature clinch is more or less cancled out due to Dan’s in depth knowledge of it. Second Dan will not back down or get intimadated by any fighter let alone Silva. And he has one up on Silva that nobody that fought has Silva before had, Dan watched Silva lose twice in Pride and one of those times was in devastating fashion.
Henderson, stopage in second round due to strikes.
The UFC needs Henderson to win this one. With Anderson Silva cleaning-out the MW division, they are running out of fighters for him to fight. Sure there are Lightheavy weights who can drop the weight, but th
The UFC needs Henderson to win this one. With Anderson Silva cleaning-out the MW division, they are running out of fighters for him to fight. Sure there are Lightheavy weights who can drop the weight, but that will only last so long. Plus a rematch with these two down the road smells like a money maker assuming their fight is an entertaining one. American fans do not have an emotional connection with Silva mostly because of his lack of English. All in all the fight should be great but I don’t see Henderson winning this one.
Silva via 4 round TKO.
I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.. All I am going to say is with the Pride footage that is now property of the UFC and the fact that he is the only man to have dismantled our current UFC Champion, The UFC marketing team (which is one of the best I have ever seen) would Market a fedor match with such easy.
After fedor’s 1st UFC fight, his skills would make him an instant Fan Favorite to the fools that dont know about him yet!
[quote comment="329700"]I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.[/quote]
I’d be stunned if that were true, just based on the stuff you post.
Man! I’m really looking forward to this next fight! It will answer alot of questions.
Good write up mania.
Actually, I think Mayweather made somewhere like $250 mil, around the same amout the UFC made in the same year all together. So in two fights, Mayweather made as much as the UFC did in 2007.
Glad that Dana stopped with his retarded crusade. This means fighters can actually make good money dont know where you people get this stupid idea that having 1 org with all the top fighters is a good thing. ITS A TERRIBLE THING FOR THE FIGHTERS!!!! Dana doesnt pay much as it is if he had all the talent he wouldnt give a rats ass what a fighter wants. Anyways its good that matt is going to dream hope more people head to dream Japan>America when it comes to mma i love the shows way way way better just about everything from the fans not booing like a bunch of retarded children to the way they announce the fighter intros! Hope dream is everything Pride was without the fucken Yukoza fucken shit up.
I agree very much with adam’s thoughts on the matter. At this point in mma, the UFC needs to start signing up as many top fighters or they need to start reconsidering their way of business. With start-ups like DREAM and HDFights and the boatload of other promotions that are willing to cross-promote to bring us the “super-fights” we want to see, some of us might spend our money else where. Of course the UFC is still the best show in town and will stay that way for many years to come, but if they keep making 300 million dollar marketing mistakes (Brock) and passing up former champs, it may bite them in the ass later (or sooner if anderson beats hendo senseless)
[quote comment="330008"]There is a reason that Wladimir Klitschko is not a huge draw its a glass chin, he is dominant but its in a horrible division. He was well on his way to being a huge draw (if he wasnt already) until he ran into Cory Sanders ( a semi pro GOLFER) and got KTFO. People dont care about languages they care about excitement! Brock does bring but so does Fedor especially since Couture called him out. He has gotten more publicity from that anything else. All that beig said Wladimir most likely made more money fighting Sultan Ibrag then all the UFC fighters this weekend will make combined with out generating nearly the amount that the UFC pay per view will. Now some may need some marketing lessons here but I think some accounting lessons would make more dollars and cents.
That klitschko vs sultan fight sucked, boring as hell,he didn’t even throw a right until the third round! UFC is lightyears ahead of boxing in terms of excitement .[/quote]
[quote comment="329811"][quote comment="329700"]I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.[/quote]
I’d be stunned if that were true, just based on the stuff you post.[/quote]
Drexel University: Lebow College of Business! Hate all you want, those are the facts!
[quote comment="329335"]Mania, I agree with you 100%. There’s no doubt the UFC is the top organization, but they can’t let personality conflicts affect the business side of MMA.
If Dana likes someone, they get the benefit of the doubt every time. If he doesn’t like you for any reason, you’re a worthless second rate fighter that the UFCs not interested in.
This isn’t high school, we need someone much more mature calling the shots.[/quote]
I totally agree. Dana is making this more of a popularity contest than a sport. If Dana liked Jardine he would be the #1 contender right now. All you need is to have won a fight against a good fighter and be buddy buddy with Dana then the sky is the limit but it’s really not fair for fighters that are more deserving of more money, title shots, etc. Thiago Silva, Machida, and Jardine are some examples.
How about Flyod Mayweather making 20 million just to fight at wrestlemania?
Lindland and Lawler are signed with other organizations, and have been for a long time. Zuffa wants exclusive contracts, so those two are out of the question.Kang is worth more in asia then he is in the states.
Zuffa is doing the best they can given the circumstances.
I remember reading way back that Lindland was promised a title shot if he won his last UFC fight. He did win a was then released from his contract because of the T shirt issue. This guy competed for his country and got a silver medal. Dana is an a@ss hole. Fighters can get caught doing steroids and are still allowed to fight in the UFC (except Barnett) but not Lindland because Dana knows that without doubt he would probably have been wearing the belt by now, not one of his poster boys. I know it’s a business but if you are going to claim to have the best fighters, then they should get all the best fighters, Barnett included, that is what real fans of MMA want to see.
Recently Lindland asked UFC for a fight. He told Dana white to make him an offer. Gutless Dana had Joe Silva call Lindland to inform him that they wont be offering Lindland anything!
What a shame! This is one of the best fighters in the world who actually wants to fight in the UFC, and Dana didnt even want to try to negotiate a contract with him. Flat out Dana doesnt want Lidland in the UFC.
Last year we were promised by Dana that by this time all the best fighters in the world would be fighting each other in the UFC. What B.S, you got one of the best middleweights in the world wanting to get back to the UFC and Dana wont even attempt to negotiate.
[quote comment="329489"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
WHY DOES IT MATTER IF HE COMES FROM AMERICA OR NOT, THE BEST FIGHTERS SHOULD BE IN THE UFC PERIOD, IT DOESNT MATTER IF THEY COME FROM AMERICA OR ANT OTHER COUNTRY[/quote]
The ONLY reason I said that is because the UFC does not have ANY of the top Japanese fighters. If they did, the LW division would be the greatest division in the history of MMA. I am also certain that there are many top flight fighters from Brazil that are not in the UFC. Just look at the young and talented Thales Leites. I guarantee you that he is not the most talented MW fighter from Brazil. He just happens to fight in the UFC, and look what he’s been able to do.
Given the same opportunity to fight in your home country, or go fight an live overseas and leave your family behind, which would you choose? I’d choose to fight at home.
[quote comment="330415"]How about Flyod Mayweather making 20 million just to fight at wrestlemania?[/quote]
That is, according to Floyd. I don’t think that he will be making anywhere near that amount of money. $2 million dollars would have been believable, but not 20.
“Was it an “IFL” t-shirt Lindland wore? I had never heard that before. I had always only heard it was an “unapproved sponsor” but had never heard it specified. They allowed Wandy to wear the Pride shirt for cross-promotion. Why not allow it for other orgs? (I don’t subscribe to Dana-hate on all facets but can’t stand the hypocricy here.)”
“Since the UFC owns Pride, Wandy’s T-shirt is not an issue. If Lindland was wearing an IFL T-shirt, that’s advertising a direct competitor, and any businessman will tell you that’s not kosher.”
That appearance was long before Zuffa’s purchase of Pride. (Mania, the info that IFL stole execs makes more sense in the grudge.)
[quote comment="329612"]“I’m guessing you don’t have any marketing background. Lesnar is tremendously marketable, much more than Fedor would be, at least for the first year or two each would spend in the UFC. And Fedor was supposedly offered well over a million per fight. If that doesn’t show you that the UFC was serious about signing Fedor, I don’t know what you want from them. You may think the UFC should pay ALL their fighters more, but the fact is they offered to make Fedor the highest paid fighter in the world. That shows respect, not a grudge.”
the only people that think lesnar is more markeable are kids that don’t know anything about mma,any true fan of the sport would know that fedor is one of the best and lesnar is a side show more of a freak like alor of you called hung man choi who is popular in japan and marketable there but you all called it a freak show and said fedor not fighting any one.lesnar has wrestleing creds and choi has kickboxing creds but choi lasted longer with one of the best h.w.’s and lesnar could not last more than 90 seconds with a so so fighter who now after one win against a newcomer all of the suddon is back in the mix.lesnar will lose to any decent fighter.[/quote]
Umm,Roy, you pretty much made his point for him. People know Lesnar’s name. They wanted to see if/how well he could compete. It was worth the investment spent because they were drawing tremendous numbers and attracting new viewers that wouldn’t otherwise be making PPV buys. Some might stick around and become loyal fans or just watch when Lesnar fights next. Either way, it was good business strategy. Breaking the bank to hire away fighters from other orgs just for the sake of doing so = bad strategy.
[quote comment="329700"]I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.. All I am going to say is with the Pride footage that is now property of the UFC and the fact that he is the only man to have dismantled our current UFC Champion, The UFC marketing team (which is one of the best I have ever seen) would Market a fedor match with such easy.
After fedor’s 1st UFC fight, his skills would make him an instant Fan Favorite to the fools that dont know about him yet![/quote]
Johnny boy, I don’t know how you do it! Eight hours a day there and at least 10 hrs a day posting here. Don’t see many articles without your comments. Your dedication to our obsession is admirable, my man.
[quote comment="329412"][quote comment="329392"][quote comment="329367"]Why haven’t they signed Lawler and Kang? How about the fact they were outbid on both of them? In Kang’s case, K-1 offered him TRIPLE what the UFC offered him, and Kang said he liked the offer the UFC gave him.
Somehow, people have seen the stunning growth the UFC has had, and started to assume they can do whatever they want and sign anybody they want. It flat isn’t true: very real monetary competition exists for top fighters. The UFC can’t just buy off every single top fighter, especially the marketable ones: Kang makes more business sense for K-1 than for the UFC, and Lawler makes more sense for EliteXC.
As for Dana’s grudges, Dana never lets a grudge get in the way of making money, with the possible exception of Barnett (I have no idea what the deal is with Barnett and the UFC, except I’m certain it goes beyond just a grudge). Dana hates Tito with a passion, and he responded by making Tito a coach. Dana’s love for money outweighs any personal vendettas.[/quote]
What about Lindland? What about Fedor – Dana can’t afford to pay the #1 Heavyweight in the world? Tell me Dana can’t pay Arlovski? Now that he’s going to leave, his fights don’t make the main event? Dana absolutely lets his personal vendettas get in the way of sound decision making.[/quote]
Lindland would probably be a losing proposition money-wise for the UFC, even if he fought for free. He’s a marketing black hole. On top of that, he’s impossible to work with and has spent the past several years tarring the UFC. Not signing Lindland makes perfect sense as a business deal, regardless of personal vendettas. I’d love to have Lindland in the UFC, but he’s obviously a bad business bet.
The UFC offered Fedor a ton of money, and he still chose to go elsewhere. Personal vendettas don’t factor in when a guy wants a lot more than he’s worth to the UFC. Fact of the matter is, Fedor’s a terrific fighter, but there is zero reason to break the bank for him–he’s not marketable beyond his skill. The UFC wants all the best fighters in the world, but they aren’t going to lose money just to make it happen.
Arlovski is worth more to other organizations than to the UFC right now. He’s been put on the undercard to avoid inflating his value before he leaves, to give the UFC a better chance at re-signing him, and reducing the problems he’ll cause if he signs somewhere else. Not particularly nice, but nothing to do with vendettas.
You’re mistaking business actions for personal grudges. Flat out, the UFC doesn’t run that way.[/quote]
man fedor didn’t turn down the ufc for more money, he turned it down b/c he’s like a lot of us patriotic americans, except he’s a patriotic russian and there’s nothing he loved more than competing in his motherland’s greatest sport, combat sambo. Dana white wasn’t going to let him compete in the russian national tournament. if Fedor had signed dana’s contract, he could only appear at ufc events where dana would be the only person making money off of fedor. Russians are a proud and respectable people, no american is gonna tell a russian what they can and cant do and that’s what dana tried to do to fedor
[quote comment="330579"][quote comment="329612"]“I’m guessing you don’t have any marketing background. Lesnar is tremendously marketable, much more than Fedor would be, at least for the first year or two each would spend in the UFC. And Fedor was supposedly offered well over a million per fight. If that doesn’t show you that the UFC was serious about signing Fedor, I don’t know what you want from them. You may think the UFC should pay ALL their fighters more, but the fact is they offered to make Fedor the highest paid fighter in the world. That shows respect, not a grudge.”
the only people that think lesnar is more markeable are kids that don’t know anything about mma,any true fan of the sport would know that fedor is one of the best and lesnar is a side show more of a freak like alor of you called hung man choi who is popular in japan and marketable there but you all called it a freak show and said fedor not fighting any one.lesnar has wrestleing creds and choi has kickboxing creds but choi lasted longer with one of the best h.w.’s and lesnar could not last more than 90 seconds with a so so fighter who now after one win against a newcomer all of the suddon is back in the mix.lesnar will lose to any decent fighter.[/quote]
Umm,Roy, you pretty much made his point for him. People know Lesnar’s name. They wanted to see if/how well he could compete. It was worth the investment spent because they were drawing tremendous numbers and attracting new viewers that wouldn’t otherwise be making PPV buys. Some might stick around and become loyal fans or just watch when Lesnar fights next. Either way, it was good business strategy. Breaking the bank to hire away fighters from other orgs just for the sake of doing so = bad strategy.[/quote]
i never said lesnar was not marketable just that fedor is more marketable to any true mma fan would know that,if you prefer to watch lesnar over fedor try the wwe or go watch bob sapp fight and don’t complain about hung man choi than because it is the same thing side show fights compared top to fighters.
[quote comment="330390"][quote comment="329811"][quote comment="329700"]I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.[/quote]
I’d be stunned if that were true, just based on the stuff you post.[/quote]
Drexel University: Lebow College of Business! Hate all you want, those are the facts![/quote]
My friend, talking about the prestigious school you go to on an MMA thread is a bad idea, you are kind of setting yourself up for disaster. Not that I don’t believe you, but it is not the place for it.
[quote comment="329515"][quote comment="329432"]I guess we can agree to disagree. If Dana can afford to pay Brock Lesnar almost 300K when he’s 0-0, I can’t believe he can’t pay a guy like Fedor. Fedor chose to go elsewhere for more money. The UFC’s making more $$ than the org he went to, so tell me how they can afford it and the UFC can’t.[/quote]
I’m guessing you don’t have any marketing background. Lesnar is tremendously marketable, much more than Fedor would be, at least for the first year or two each would spend in the UFC. And Fedor was supposedly offered well over a million per fight. If that doesn’t show you that the UFC was serious about signing Fedor, I don’t know what you want from them. You may think the UFC should pay ALL their fighters more, but the fact is they offered to make Fedor the highest paid fighter in the world. That shows respect, not a grudge.
[quote]As far as Fedor being marketable….Huh?? A Fedor vs ummm, let’s see….almost any heavyweight in the UFC would be one of the most marketable fights ever. The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC. Now imagine him fighting Randy, Nog, AA or even someone like Brock Lesnar. If Dana can’t promote that, he’s in the wrong business.[/quote]
I have news for you: Anderson Silva is the most dominant middleweight fighter the UFC has ever seen. He’s tremendously exciting. He also doesn’t command a fraction of the attention that Chuck Liddell commands, or Randy Couture, or Tito Ortiz.
You claim that “The US fans can’t wait to see this guy in the UFC.” You’re wrong. Most US fans haven’t even heard of the guy. Fedor doesn’t speak good english, he doesn’t have a wildly entertaining fight style, he doesn’t talk shit. . . there is very little to market him with besides his dominance. And dominance doesn’t make a person a draw. Just ask Wladimir Klitschko.
Fedor can be built into a draw over time. But that means the UFC will have to invest a lot of money into building him up.
[quote]As far as Lindland goes – you say he’s been “tarring” the UFC. Do you wonder why? Does he go around “tarring” other organizations? Maybe it’s because he and Dana had a disagreement, he was blackballed and Dana badmouths him all the time.[/quote]
And? Dana’s a prick. But Lindland could have talked nice about the UFC, rather than talk them down and ruin his value to them.
[quote]I’m not a complete Dana Hater because of everything he’s done for the sport. I’m just saying it’s completely gone to his head. He’s making poor business decisions based on personal feelings.[/quote]
Again, you’re reaching. Dana talks a lot of shit, and can be a total prick. But the evidence for Dana’s personal feelings interfering with his business decisions begins and ends with Josh Barnett.
Dana made Tito an Ultimate Fighter coach. And Dana hates Tito to the core. Shouldn’t that answer the questions about whether or not Dana lets emotions interfere with his decisions?[/quote]
Dana….is that you??
Seconds Out & Roy made my points for me.
You’re wrong about my Marketing experience and I’ll leave it at that. Brock Lesnar is marketable to a broader audience because of pro wresting. Fedor is much more marketable to the MMA fan base and we’re the one’s paying $49.99 for the PPVs.
It seems obvious that you’re either not a true MMA fan or that you’re employed by the UFC brass
[quote comment="330587"][quote comment="329700"]I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.. All I am going to say is with the Pride footage that is now property of the UFC and the fact that he is the only man to have dismantled our current UFC Champion, The UFC marketing team (which is one of the best I have ever seen) would Market a fedor match with such easy.
After fedor’s 1st UFC fight, his skills would make him an instant Fan Favorite to the fools that dont know about him yet![/quote]
Johnny boy, I don’t know how you do it! Eight hours a day there and at least 10 hrs a day posting here. Don’t see many articles without your comments. Your dedication to our obsession is admirable, my man.[/quote]
I post so much because I do it while I am in my classes. Thats why I am on here so often. My classes are at least 2 hours long, and we have internet access in every class room here at Drexel. Thats how I am able to blog as often as I do!
My friend, talking about the prestigious school you go to on an MMA thread is a bad idea, you are kind of setting yourself up for disaster. Not that I don’t believe you, but it is not the place for it.
If that idiot didnt attck me, I would have never brought it up. In 2 years of blogging on this site that was the 1st time I ever even mentioned it…so Piss off!
[quote comment="330415"]How about Flyod Mayweather making 20 million just to fight at wrestlemania?[/quote]
fight??? in wrestlemania??? seriously doubt that. but that is a nice amount of cash.
parisyan sucks.
or what i meant was i doubt there will be any sort of fighting in a WWE event.
[quote comment="330390"][quote comment="329811"][quote comment="329700"]I am close to earning my degree in Marketing from one of the most prestigious Universities business school in America. I am not going to get into a big ol’ marketing debate on this site because I spend 8 hours a day studying this crap.[/quote]
I’d be stunned if that were true, just based on the stuff you post.[/quote]
Drexel University: Lebow College of Business! Hate all you want, those are the facts![/quote]
congrats!
[quote comment="330543"][quote comment="329489"][quote comment="329356"]This whole Matt Lindland thing is really starting to piss me off. Top 10 fighters born and raised in America should undoubtedly be in the UFC. He had an ‘illegal’ sponsorship logo at a weigh in and they never let him fight in the UFC again. Lindland vs Silva is a fight that we the fans deserve, Lindland deserves (provided he wins 1-2 fights in UFC first), and Anderson Silva deserves. Anderson wants to prove that he is the best MW in the world and the way to do that is to constantly beat Top 5 or even Top 10 (in his case) ranked opponents. Dana’s grudges and biases make the UFC talent pool dwindle.[/quote]
WHY DOES IT MATTER IF HE COMES FROM AMERICA OR NOT, THE BEST FIGHTERS SHOULD BE IN THE UFC PERIOD, IT DOESNT MATTER IF THEY COME FROM AMERICA OR ANT OTHER COUNTRY[/quote]
The ONLY reason I said that is because the UFC does not have ANY of the top Japanese fighters. If they did, the LW division would be the greatest division in the history of MMA. I am also certain that there are many top flight fighters from Brazil that are not in the UFC. Just look at the young and talented Thales Leites. I guarantee you that he is not the most talented MW fighter from Brazil. He just happens to fight in the UFC, and look what he’s been able to do.
Given the same opportunity to fight in your home country, or go fight an live overseas and leave your family behind, which would you choose? I’d choose to fight at home.
[quote comment="330415"]How about Flyod Mayweather making 20 million just to fight at wrestlemania?[/quote]
That is, according to Floyd. I don’t think that he will be making anywhere near that amount of money. $2 million dollars would have been believable, but not 20.[/quote] youre right about it being around 2 mil. tyson fought at a wrestlrmania w/ dx and got paid 2.5 mil i believe, and he is alot bigger name than mayweather. 2mil to fake fight aint bad though.
Ivan Salaverry is back on an upcoming card as well, he has been out of action since his loss last May to Terry Martin (which was crap IMO). I know he’s not a top contender, but he’s still a very game opponent who’s got volumes of experience, has fought some big names and with a few wins could be right up there in the middleweight division.