Why did he do that?

I’m trying to work out some reasonable scenario there. He says that UFC called him, and said they needed someone to fight Tim. All along, UFC and Randy have been saying that Randy called UFC and wanted to fight Tim.

There are so many instances of he said she said here…

Then Randy pulls out his contract and says that this is what he was getting paid, while moments later giving people a huge comic wink when he says that he was upset because he didn’t get the post-fight bonus that is above and beyond the contract. A bonus that apparently he was used to getting.

Well, the bonus isn’t in the contract, Randy. How much were you paid?

As for Kevin .. well, I’ve already said enough. He is embarrassing himself though .. wouldn’t surprise me if a couple more months of being treated like the village idiot of MMA journalism and he slinks back to boxing where he belongs and lets Meltzer lead the MMA coverage.

Randy Couture was being disrespected – a lot – and deserved some gratitiute for staying with the company, turning down the BoDog fight vs. Fedor, and for taking the title off Tim Sylvia. That alone was worth at least a $1M bonus.

When you’re Randy Fucking Cuture and Dana White is turning down a free hotel stay or a couple tickets for a family member? That’s insane.

It was only a matter of time before some of the figthers that Dana has been fucking over left the company. If M-1 keeps making good offers and UFC keeps screwing fighters over, there will be more stars leaving.

Not only that, but UFC had AMPLE opportunity to sign Fedor…why didn’t they? Becuase they’re greedy, and don’t want to share the hundreds of millions with the fighters. Paying Fedor what he’s worth would mean having to pay OTHER fighters what they’re worth, and Dana isn’t willing to fork over a bunch of fair paychecks.

WRONG!!!!
You couldn’t be anymore wrong with this statement.

He is obligated to report the stuff he believes is true. If he didn’t think his source was reliable enough then he should have never reported it. There is a big difference reporting something someone said and giving their name, as to identify who made the statement; But if you write something quoting one of your “sources” then the burden of truth is shifted to you, because you are vouching for that source. (btw I don’t know of anyone that believed Ioles figures when they first came out, even UFC nuthuggers were skeptical, just ask 45)

Iole was exposed as a complete hack yesterday and you got people trying to defend him. He stood by a report that turned out to be completely false.

I agree with you that it is Iole’s right to ask why he(randy) was happy months ago but not now. But it is such a silly question because its as though he refuses to pay attention to what randy has been saying recently. A lot changed in those few months, namely randy found out what other guys were making and the fact he didn’t get a bonus check for his last fight.

The fact that we know better now doesn’t change the fact that he signed a contract at a time when it was laughable to think of him as a top-10 heavyweight. If he wants to break the contract, fine by him, but the UFC has every right to hold him to it as much as legally possible (which I expect will be nine months).

Second, the sport is definitely still at its birth. Zuffa is making a large chunk of change, but Zuffa DESERVES to keep a healthy sum of the profits, as much of the profits they are making are completely independent of the fighters. Any idiot can put together a boxing PPV and make good money, but the UFC is the only organization that is capable of making good money with an MMA PPV.

The reason for that is that MMA is way behind boxing, but the UFC is such a well-run organization that it has built the brand at great cost and large monetary risk. They should be fully compensated for that. Moreover, they aren’t just putting the profits in their pockets, they are actively working to continue building the brand and the sport in new markets, which will greatly benefit the fighters in the long run. If the fighters had it their way, they’d get all the money, and the UFC would never grow, and MMA would take decades to reach the level the UFC is going to take it in a quarter of the time.

And Tomer, implying that Iole is on anyone’s payroll because someone took a bribe from PT Barnum a hundred years ago is pure horseshit. You have zero evidence.

Considering I said:

and even if Kevin Iole was doing it for the better scoops (which I don’t know for certain), he wouldn’t be the first.

I don’t know what your point is. But thanks for not reading my post/trolling, though.

Kevin Iole is the only reporter who ACTUALLY GOT BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY yesterday, and yet people are saying he’s a bad journalist. It’s laughable. really.

Your IP on DNS Stuff traces to a Yahoo server. Admittedly, I do like Yahoo mail.

And Tomer, implying that Iole is on anyone’s payroll because someone took a bribe from PT Barnum a hundred years ago is pure horseshit. You have zero evidence.

Ultimately, all of this “reporting” and using Iole as White’s media conduit just muddies the water of fact and reality that much further. He’s adding much more confusion than clarity to this process and as a consequence, absolutely tarnishing what little credibility he had to begin with.

I’m not a big follower of Iole’s work so I’m basing my thoughts mostly on the linked article in this thread and how he’s being treated with the same kind of automatic bias as Dana White.

I think its Iole’s right to raise the issue that he asked Couture pointblank about the payscale months ago and Couture said he was happy (which is why at the conference Iole asked about why raise this now). That’s stuff that’s on the record and Iole wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t cite that. I also didn’t feel in the article in question that he was overly pro-Zuffa and anti-Couture. The overall tone was sympathetic towards Couture likening him to another legend Willie Mays. I think he plays it pretty close to the middle on this one and if anyone disagrees, cite the parts where he’s bias.

Leland, you have to understand that its not Iole is saying this or that. Its his sources and as a reporter, it doesn’t mean he’s advocating it or saying its the truth. He’s just obligated to report stuff that he can substantiate through fact checking and sources.

If anyone wants to link to an article where Iole compromised his integrity as a journalist, I’d like to read it and see if it is indeed true.

A pic of Couture’s bout agreement for those who may be interested.