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Quote of the Day – Jake Rossen
By Zach Arnold | January 1, 2008
UFC President Dana White and owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were alleged to be openly ecstatic at cageside over Griffin’s submission win over Rua in September. Matchmaker Joe Silva passed a note to announcer Joe Rogan during Lyoto Machida’s mauling of Sokoudjou on Saturday, saying the bout’s outcome was indicative that “This ain’t Japan.”
Never mind the fact that Machida fought the majority of his career overseas, or that PRIDE alumni Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva are doing just fine. The partisan commentary by UFC chairs is getting to be a little distracting, especially considering they already “won” the fabricated war created by fans with their acquisition — and subsequent dismantling — of PRIDE earlier in the year.
Wasn’t it Chris Leben who, ironically, in his pre-fight Ultimate Fight Night 5 live interview said that Anderson Silva should go back to Japan where the competition is a little easier? We know what happened in that fight…
Topics: Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 39 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Funny, i just got done reading that article and came to this website to see a post about it.
It is easy to see why Dana White and Sherdog.com can’t stand each other with articles like this one.
While Zuffa ain’t perfect, that article is nothing but a list of complaints for a company that is doing fantastic things for the sport. Jake Rossen sounds like an ungrateful child.
A few other points:
1. He completely forgets about a potential match-up between Sylvia & Kongo. That would be a fun an interesting war.
2. Nobody can blame Zuffa for not signing Josh Barnett. First, the guy is more worried about Japanese Pro Wrestling then he is about MMA. Secondly, if there is anybody Zuffa has a legit gripe with, it is Barnett. That guy literally screwed them over after UFC 36.
3. I agree with TUF delaying fights, but at the end of the day, the UFC is still putting on the best fights. Even when Serra got injured, they actually put together a BETTER fight in GSP/Hughes 3.
4. As for Pride…. It is so apparent that it was smoke and mirrors. They never pushed guys like Sean Sherk & Yushin Okami. Instead, fi they didn’t have a certain fighting style, they wouldn’t invite the fighters back. They actually made for champions that weren’t as tested as we once thought.
5. As for the interim titles…. Rossen needs to do a little research on that. The HW interim title has NOTHING to do with fighting and everything to do with Zuffa’s lawyers instructing them not to pull the belt off of Randy Couture. And the Welterweight Title was a smart one since there is no guarantee that Serra can defend his belt within one year of winning it.
And while Rossen does make some valid points here and there…. It is lost in his hatred for the UFC. Even after another banner year, it is nothing but complaints from the crew at Sherdog. Bunch of amateurs….
It wasn’t the best article in the world, no… But so what? I don’t know if I’d call it flat out ‘hatred’ for UFC as much as him trying to be a master of the argument, much like just about any other internet commentator and falling flat.
Its not like Zach here has always known to be fair and balanced. People have their preferences and their dislikes, and its fine.
Happy New Year to you, too.
Frank Trigg has gone on record as saying that he was ordered to openly assasinate UFC and put over Pride while on air. So why wouldn’t UFC feel vindicated? I also find it funny that Goldie/Rogan would be criticized because during the height of Pride/UFC rivalry, outside of not mentioning Pride by name (as Rogan admitted), they rarely ever tried to put down or mischaracterize Pride the way that Pride did to UFC (calling the UFC the super bowl of MMA is hardly a put down to Pride). Its funny that Zach would point out one of the few times (where a fighter mind you) was open about sending him back to “Japan,” which is hardly comparably to the crap that Pride’s broadcasting team would pull. The most surprising thing about the Sherdog article is that it was from Jake Rossen who I thought was the least bias against the UFC out of the Sherdoggers. Otherwise, this stinks of the same type of trademark Sherdog UFC assasination articles like the one about Fedor criticizing the UFC a few weeks back.
The whole point of Rossen’s paragraph is that UFC bought the PRIDE assets. PRIDE is dead. There’s no point now in UFC burying PRIDE or fighters who now belong to UFC who used to work for PRIDE. UFC owns them!
Rossen didn’t flat out say it, but the clear insinuation is that Silva is a mark for the way he allegedly acted (if Rossen’s story is true).
First off, that was a long profile article done at Sherdog about Fedor — last week. It was a good article overall.
That was not an ‘assassination’ or drive-by piece, since the focus was entirely on Fedor. There’s a difference between running a hard news piece where you should get both sides of the story versus commentary or profiling where you focus on the actions or statements of the person you’re focusing on.
If you want to bust Sherdog’s balls for being anti-UFC (and that’s your prerogative, I won’t stop you), that’s fine. Just be aware that some people will bust your balls on this site because all of your past comments over the year here have been pro-UFC.
He’s taking the “this ain’t Japan” comment out of context.
Profiling an athlete is one thing. But Sherdog.com doesn’t do it properly. At least in my opinion. They will give multiple profile pieces (Fedor… His manager… etc)…. Without then giving the other side of it at any point.
A lot of times, it is the editorial direction I see that is lacking.
We will get articles like this one talking about the negatives. Yet they have never posted anything about how the UFC pay continues to go up. And that information is public knowledge. Nor do they talk about how the UFC bonuses are now up to $50,000 for PPV events. And UFC 79 paid out $200,000 of bonuses, which is in the same ballpark as what Strikeforce pays an entire card of fighters.
The overall feel I get with Sherdog is that a non-UFC event, the glass is 50% full. Yet with a UFC event, the glass is 5% empty, and they harp on that 5%.
You can’t blame Dana and the Fertittas for being happy that their UFC-bred fighters (like Griffin) can beat the top PRIDE guys. It shows that the UFC fighters are competitive on the world stage. It’s not necessarily an indictment against PRIDE.
As for Sokoudjou–the guy lost to Teixeira right before he fought Arona and Nogueira. He was 4 – 1 coming into the UFC. Why anyone thought he would just come in and dominate is beyond me.
Fred, you say that about Sokoudjou, and I completely agree…. But reading various message boards in the past, and that was just not the public perception. I believe it was reported that K-1 offered him $100,000 per fight and that the UFC offer was substantially lower. Many fans said the UFC was being cheap and that they should sign Sokoudjou for that amount because he beat Arona & Nogueira. Yet people thought he was the next coming and that he should be paid accordingly. Looks like Zuffa was in the right on that one.
On a side note, a Sokoudjou vs. Houston fight is almost a guarantee at this point. At least in my mind. The loser will basically be out any type of contention for the rest of his career.
So long as Sherdog rankings clearly overvalue Pride fighters and the perception that Pride fighters are superior to UFC ones (regardless of whether Pride actually exists or not), Zuffa has legitamate beef and will continue to hold a grudge.
Sherdog doesn’t go so far as to fabricate stuff, but when a fighter says stuff that furthers Sherdog’s own agenda, the only thing they stop short of doing is highlighting the parts they think are most relevant. They didn’t even bother to put a disclaimer like “we tried to contact Zuffa for comment, but did not get any response.” Its also funny that you would defend it as a profile piece because when you linked to it, you highlighted all the juicy UFC-is-evil parts and titled it “Fedor doesn’t like UFC contracts”.
I like to think of myself as more anti-BS than pro-UFC. I’m for more fair and balanced reporting and against the rampant fanboy-ism that runs rampant in the MMA media. Unfortunately, the anti-UFC climate of the hardcore fans puts me in the position of defending the UFC more than I would like.
I completely agree with him. I said it long ago in this article too
http://mmagame.com/mmablog/has-the-ufcs-collective-ego-cost-them-big-bucks/19/
One thing that annoys me most about MMA fans, is that you’re not allowed to criticise anything the UFC does without someone going “they’re making millions and millions of dollars, I think they’ve got a better idea of what to do than you!”
No doubt they do a lot of things right but they could certainly do some things better.
I was never a Pride fan, any more than I was a UFC fan but I do resent the snide/smug back slapping that goes on within the UFC management, every time a “UFC guy” beats a “Pride guy”… I think it’s pathetic and honestly it spoils my enjoyment of the fights.
I think there are a significant amount of MMA sites in general that are fair, if not pro-UFC.
If you’re talking about Sherdog’s message board and some other boards with the insane pro-PRIDE rhetoric, I’ll concede that point.
Seriously, in all reality it turned out for Anderson that the competition was way easier here. The guy’s yet to be legitmately challenged.
So I take it you guys are fans of MacMahonism then actual, you know, building of aquired talent as you do your own.
All I have to say is, “Home Court Advantage”… those guys are pathetic for talking smack!
… and 45, quit trying to make a name for yourself, I used to like your comments but now they are sounding desperate.
Royal Babylon: Are you suggesting that the UFC is trying to bury the Pride guys? Thats the kind of bullshit rhetoric that fuels this whole Pride/UFC debate.
If UFC management had its way, CroCop would be the HW champion. People saw Forrest as a gimme fight to introduce Shogun to the UFC. Henderson is getting TWO chances to take a UFC belt in his first two fights!
Home Court Advantage? Basically none of the athletes are competing in their home town. And a lot of these Pride fighters aren’t Japanese and still found success in Japan, so that is a BS idea.
Michaelthebox is correct. The UFC has given the majority of these Pride fighters every opportunity to succeed. Well, except Silva who was fed Liddell… But even he was coming off two straight losses.
1. He completely forgets about a potential match-up between Sylvia & Kongo. That would be a fun an interesting war.
hahahahahahahahahaha.
So I take it you guys are fans of MacMahonism then actual, you know, building of aquired talent as you do your own.
How is it McMahonism? They’ve given ex-PRIDE talent perfect opposition to prove themselves against, and many of them have failed miserably. This is seriously the most ridiculous shit to argue. What happened, did Shogun hit the glass ceiling Dana constructed by being put in with unstoppable juggernaut Forrest Griffin? Don’t make me laugh.
This ain’t the WWE where McMahon can keep down any star he wants. It comes down to 2 men fighting each other. The UFC can want Mirko as their champion all they want, but they can’t make him win a fight. Nor can they keep Yushin Okami or Lyoto Machida exciting fighters.
And Mirko was giving what people were calling an easy fight when he fought Gonzaga. And Forrest was supposed to get wrecked by Shogun. And Sokoudjou was given a fighter who I had ranked around the same as him in terms of of the Top 10.
It is obvious that Zuffa wasted a LOT of money on a LITTLE talent when they purchased PRIDE. I had always thought that PRIDE fighters would dominate in the UFC but I was wrong and atleast I can admit it. I wish the rest of my fellow PRIDE fans would just let it go…….WE WERE WRONG!!!!!!!!
Here’s a quick list of some of the “Pride” fighters that the UFC obtained, and what they did with them.
Wanderlei Silva – Put a video of Dana signing him on UFC.com, showed him repeatedly during UFC 76, put him on All-Access, gave him a huge fight with Chuck Liddell.
Rampage Jackson – Put him in the main card in his Debut, gave him a title fight against Chuck after 1 win, put him on All-Access, headlined the most viewed UFC event in history, made him the newest TUF coach.
Anderson Silva – Made him the main event in his televised UFC debut, gave him a title fight against Franklin after 1 win.
Dan Henderson – Gave him two immediate title shots with main-event status for his first two UFC fights, headlined the most watched UFC event in history.
Shogun Rua – Gave him co-Main Event status in his UFC PPV debut, rumored to have gotten an immediate title shot if he won.
Crocop – Put him on the main card in his UFC debut, hyped him up constantly, made his 2nd fight the main event in their first England show, rumored to recieve a title shot with a victory.
Big Nog – Put him on the main card in his UFC debut, gave him an immediate title shot against Tim Silvia.
Well…good luck trying to get noticed in the UFC if you’re a former Pride star. Clearly, the UFC will try to destroy your career.
Heath Herring also received co-main event billing on a UFN card after he was acquired. They even had a multitude of ads showing him knocking out Kissman Nakao to hype the event up.
I think Japan was meant more as Pride.
And yes I do agree that the UFC has been a little too jacked up at times about Pride fighters struggling in the UFC.
But kind in mind that, for years, the MMA journalism community has openly valued Pride fighters over UFC fighters. I think Dana, Joe Silva and co felt like some of these fights were vindication that they have had the best fighters.
Hopefully we no longer see this time of stuff since it is counterproductive.
No wonder the MMA scene is plagued with all this mind numbing fanboyism when the editors of sherdog (and now here, apparently) continue to spout their pathetic anti-UFC vitriol on a daily basis. It’s strange to me how UFC fans just seem to keep quiet and, you know, enjoy the sport when it’s Pride fans that are always the most vocal and annoying. Monkey see monkey do ?
IceMuncher… Nice list. And kind of related, they gave Paulo Filho an immediate title shot in the WEC.
On a related topic, Sherdog.com has their collective panties in a bunch about Fedor Emelianenko. Gross is always talking about him. They are always doing news articles on the guy.
Sadly, after everything we have seen with the Pride fighters getting dominated, Fedor is still being looked upon as an unstoppable fighter. The guy has fought 1 legit contender in the last 3 years. The sport has changed leaps and bounds since then. The Pride Heavyweights have been proven to be not as good as once thought. And yet Sherdog is still talking about this guy like he has proven himself more then anybody else. It is kind of pathetic.
The reality is that in the past he ducked any big Heavyweight with skills. He would likely have a very hard time with a guy like Tim Sylvia. And until he starts fighting legit competition again, really shouldn’t even be considered for any Top 10….. But good ole’ Sherdog.com will continue to talk about him on the same level of GSP, Anderson Silva, and Quinton Jackson…. Basically being compared to fighters who ACTUALLY fight legit competition in the year 2006 and 2007….
Wow. It looks like the PAID POSTERS for the UFC are even on the blogs too (i.e. 45 Huddle)
45 makes it out as if Sherdog is incredibly biased in favor of Fedor. On Sherdog Radio the guys were saying that they were contemplating taking Fedor off the #1 spot if he doesn’t fight top competition soon. So it’s complete BS to say that sherdog is biased in favor of Fedor. Josh Gross has also said something about the PRIDE mystique being over-rated after Shogun lost. Does that sound anti-UFC biased? Sherdog isn’t particularly anti-UFC. They just don’t kiss their ass. Journalists and the media are supposed to be watch dogs, not lap dogs.
As for Sherdog forums, they are far from Pro-PRIDE. Yes there is a contingent of PRIDE nuthuggers but the UFC/Zuffa/Dana White nuthuggers have them outnumbered. I support(ed) both the UFC and PRIDE but whenever I stated that I had a preference for PRIDE or whenever I make a criticism of the UFC, I get criticized vehemently by UFC fanboys. Whenever I make a criticism of PRIDE/DSE, I never once got blasted on the internet. Not once. The UFC/Zuffa/Dana White worship on Sherdog forums is astronomical and a bigger contingent than the PRIDE nuthuggers. At least circa 2007. This perception that the internet MMA community has an anti-UFC bias is false. The actual Sherdog staff though is pretty balanced. Just because sherdog isn’t a UFC lapdog, doesn’t mean they are anti-UFC.
I saw on a Sherdog thread a good point: the note was probably in response to a Rogan quote, something like if you’d seen Sokodjou’s wins in Japan, you’d be shocked.
Taken in that context, Silva’s note looks like a funny joke rather than a partisan attack. And the fact that Rossen ran with it and used it to cast shadows on the UFC brass, speaks volumes.
To those who say Fedor should fight the top heavyweights (I am ESPECIALLY talking to you Dana’s bit…I mean, 45). Why should he? Seriously, the man probably has a ton of money mostly from fighting for PRIDE, and I am sure he got top dollar for fighting on Yarennoka! and look at who he fought. Hong Man Choi, who really isn’t a terrible fighter, but still was taylor made for Fedor. He will probably make more money fighting for Yarennoka! (if they ever decide to run any more events) and/or K-1 (if they want to sign him. They should sign him) than fighting for UFC. And he can build his legacy as an unstoppable fighter doing this, while making boat-loads of money. And he will probably retire with more brain cells intact than if he decided to fight top guys (especially in the UFC. Not that MMA is more dangerous than boxing, because it’s not even close to boxing in the brutality department). Good for Fedor, he should take this route, and maybe even participate in HUSTLE (why not?). But once someone actually does knock him on his ass, well…
“Sadly, after everything we have seen with the Pride fighters getting dominated, Fedor is still being looked upon as an unstoppable fighter. The guy has fought 1 legit contender in the last 3 years. The sport has changed leaps and bounds since then. The Pride Heavyweights have been proven to be not as good as once thought. And yet Sherdog is still talking about this guy like he has proven himself more then anybody else. It is kind of pathetic.”
Pathetic that he’s 2-0 against a guy that’s fighting for the belt next month…apparently even those who are “not as good as once thought” are somehow managing to fight for the belt.
hmmm….
Weak argument, the gaijin. He’s fighting for the belt. . . after beating a Pride guy. I do believe he’s one of the best fighters in the world, but the fact that he’s fighting for the belt has everything to do with what he did in Pride, and nothing to do with what he’s done in the UFC.
LOL at all the people calling 45 Huddle a shill for the UFC while never refuting anything he says. Give me a break! Everybody is biased one way or another here. Anyone who’s pro-UFC is now a UFC shill? Please. Everyone is calling Kevin Iole a shill because most of his articles are pro UFC. Most ESPN writers are probably NFL shills as well because their articles are pro NFL.
Sherdog is anti-UFC. Their beef with the UFC is widely known. There is no reason to doubt it. Some of their jabs are subtle but other are not. For every pro-UFC mentions, there are numerous other anti-UFC articles.
Sherdog.net consists of fanboys from two sides who go into hiding when their fighters lose and come out in full force when their fighters win. You should see the forum in 2006. It’s like Pride fanboy land. Right now, the table has turned. That’s fanboyism for you.
Chuck,
You’re right, Fedor has a right to keep fighting pansies to protect his legacy. We as fans have a right to call him out on it. And the press has an obligation to drop him off their top ten list if he continues to do so.
Fedor fought HMC who is fighting an MMA (1-0 which means he’s basically an amateur turned pro) fight without the use of knees…furthermore, the guy’s got a tumor in his brain…and furthermore, it’s his second fight in two weeks after getting decimated in a K-1 tournament. Talk about stacking the deck in fovor of your fighter!
Fedor was one of my favorite fighters when I believed that Pride fighters were these supermen who were unbeatable. CroCop, Silva, Shogun were all unstoppable badasses. Now I realized that Fedor was and is a very good fighter among a sea of good to mediocre fighters. Pride built up fighters like Cro Cop to unbelieveable heights, then when that “god” was defeated, the conqueror was believed to be unstoppable as well. Smokes and mirrors.
Too bad the Pride mystique has been dashed. Let’s face the reality already.
Cyphron, if you bought into the gods that PRIDE made of its fighters, you have no one to blame but yourself. Calling Shogun or whomever overrated is entirely the viewer’s prerogative. Dana’s and Joe Silva’s attitudes reflect the fact that they too, bought into it. But slipping a note to Rogan that says “this ain’t Japan” under the circumstances is just fighter-bashing. Since when do promoters cut down their contracted employees?
“Weak argument, the gaijin. He’s fighting for the belt. . . after beating a Pride guy. I do believe he’s one of the best fighters in the world, but the fact that he’s fighting for the belt has everything to do with what he did in Pride, and nothing to do with what he’s done in the UFC.”
My point is that if one is to believe this “PRIDE myth” has been dashed to pieces, why is a former PRIDE fighter the only viable contender they could find? Apparently they can’t be doing so horribly if you’ve set one up for a title shot.
These arguments also conveniently forget the fact that two former PRIDE fighters hold belts and a 3rd PRIDE fighter is fighting another former PRIDE fighter for the belt at 185. These are the same people that will say – well the LHW champion (Henderson) lost his debut to a UFC fighter, who of course was a PRIDE fighter for all intents and purposes of the debate. But I digress, people see what they want to see, so there’s no point in sabre rattling with those who have their blinders on.
The point is that fighters get better and worse. They are human beings after all. There is an old adage that behind every high mountain, there is a higher mountain. The fact of that matter are those fighters you cited fought frequently and got better (or worse) as they progressed in their skills and their careers. The fighters who are champs got their glory in the UFC and not Pride. Fighters get better fighting top not lesser competition. I am not here to start a Pride VS UFC argument which unfortunately this is turning into.
My point is that Fedor has not fought many top fighters in the last two years and he’s living on his legacy as a former Pride fighter in his hey days. He could turn out to be the best fighter in the world today, but until he competes, there is no way to say that he is just because of his past wins. Just as with the stock market, past performance has no bearing on current performance. With the actions of his management and his last few fights, I question his legacy every day.
Cyphron, you saw the fights in which Fedor competed, did you not? Whatever legacy you have constructed for him is yours alone. The MMA media often perpetrates the notion that there is a pound-for-pound ‘best’ fighter on the planet, which is unfortunate, since circumstance ultimately dictates success in a sport with competing promotions wherein fighters contest bouts with differing levels of competition.
Fedor should be judged by his individual performances in the ring, as should any fighter. Whether or not the MMA media thinks this way or another about any given fighters should not alter anyone’s perception of a fighter’s performance or legacy, since we all have our favorite athletes and like certain components of the sport more than others. A fan’s attitude plays less of a part in the ‘world’s greatest’ debate than it should. Some people just plain don’t like some fighters; assuming those in the MMA media don’t have such biases is folly.
If you’re going to create a legacy for anyone, it’s going to be fragile.
“Chuck,
You’re right, Fedor has a right to keep fighting pansies to protect his legacy. We as fans have a right to call him out on it. And the press has an obligation to drop him off their top ten list if he continues to do so.”
Yeah, of course fans have a right to call him out, as do the press. But does Fedor really care what any of us think? I doubt it. It sucks I know, but c’est la vie. I doubt Fedor cares about some wesbitess rankings as well. Until they actually give out title belts (like Ring magazine) then the websites’ opinions don’t matter to him I presume. Hell, he would probably fight Bill Duff on an episode of “Human Weapon” before he decides to fight any sort of top fighter. Fedor is probably more in the business of making money over proving he is the absolute best. He is probably just padding his pension and 401K doing what he is doing.
This over-the-top Fedor hate is incredible. Fedor never said that he’s #1 in the world and probably doesn’t care whether the MMA community ranks him #1 or not. Fedor is doing what is best for Fedor. It’s ridiculous how fans are saying that Fedor is ducking top competition for not signing with the UFC and going with M-1 Global instead.
Why is it that Fedor is “obligated” to sign with the UFC? He will likely make more money with M-1 Global in the long run than the UFC considering that he isn’t very well known in America. He will also be able to fight for other organizations (like Zombie PRIDE) and be able to fight in Combat Sambo tournaments. Things that he couldn’t successfully negotiate for with the UFC. Fedor signed with M-1 Global because they offered him better terms than the UFC and he couldn’t come to an agreement with the UFC. It’s as simple as that.
The UFC shills need to leave Fedor alone for not signing with the UFC. It’s even more pathetic when they made a big deal about the potential signing before and then conveniently acted like Fedor sucks after he didn’t sign with Zuffa. Competition is good for the sport anyway. You don’t see boxing fans complaining that all the best fighters in the world aren’t fighting under one promotion like Golden Boy or Mayweather. If a boxer doesn’t want to sign with Golden Boy or whatever is the top boxing promoter out there now, is he ducking top competition too? In fact co-promotions are common in boxing.
So when you see fans complain that top fighters don’t want to sign with the UFC, you can’t help but think, “UFC nuthugger.”