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Thursday trash talk: More UFC in the UK

By Zach Arnold | January 31, 2008

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  1. Kevin Iole: Frank Mir has seen, done it all (Dana White compares Frank Mir to BJ Penn)
  2. Mike Coughlin: The UFC’s ‘next big thing’
  3. The Newark Star-Ledger (NJ): Tim Sylvia expects to come up big at UFC 81
  4. The Long Beach Press-Telegram: Tim Sylvia’s style works for him, not the fans
  5. The Edmonton Sun: Maximum Fighting Championship signs deal with HDNet
  6. MMA Analyst: RioHeroes 14 ends in a win via vomiting…
  7. Five Ounces of Pain: Does the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act apply to MMA contracts?
  8. Gazette Live (UK): UFC set to return to Newcastle in 2009

Topics: Brazil, HDNet, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

17 Responses to “Thursday trash talk: More UFC in the UK”

  1. Chuck says:

    I think the Ali act should reach out to MMA as well. Don’t get me wrong, Zuffa Sports aren’t as crooked as Don King or Bob Arum, but those UFC contracts are far from desirable. As far as I can tell at least.

  2. GassedOut says:

    It’s interesting that the Quotes in the 5oz article on the Ali Boxing Act are from Mark Cuban. It looks to me like he’s getting ready to dance with some otherwise disgruntled former UFC fighters…

  3. Zack says:

    Iole articles alway brings the LOLs.

  4. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    If he thinks that politicians instead of courts are going to extend the provisions of that law to MMA, then he’s going to be waiting a long long time.

    However, I don’t have any doubt that there will be a court test of some sort in the future that will probably result in some of the more restrictive contract terms being struck.

    That’s just how it works in sports.

  5. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    It’s interesting that the law in question is largely a bunch of bluster telling the ABC to pass some rules.

    Did the ABC actually DO anything as a result? And if they did, then wouldn’t those actual rules already apply to MMA in states where boxing commissions who are ABC members regulate MMA?

    The federal law is rather toothless.

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    I see a few people badmouthing the UFC for not signing Gomi. Was it ever in doubt that he would sign with a Japanese company? The guy would have likely wanted more to come overseas, so the UFC would be looking at a $200,00+ payday for him… And this from a guy who has come out of shape for a fight in the last year, and has zero marketability to the US crowd. Both GOMI AND the UFC made the right choices here.

    Besides, once Penn beats Sherk, he is the new #1 Lightweight in the world.

  7. Dave2 says:

    Anyone who believed that the UFC had a snowballs chance in hell of signing Gomi is crazy. The UFC doesn’t necessarily have to sign guys like Fedor or Gomi because their main fan base is completely ignorant of international superstars in MMA.

  8. The Gaijin says:

    “Both GOMI AND the UFC made the right choices here.”

    Totally agree here. There’s no way in hell Gomi is worth 200K per fight to the UFC and if he can get that from WVR where he’s got numerous opportunities for endorsements etc. the more power to him.

  9. The Gaijin says:

    “If he thinks that politicians instead of courts are going to extend the provisions of that law to MMA, then he’s going to be waiting a long long time.”

    You’re right. This is the type of thing that will be “read-in” to include mma fighters by a judge or require some common-law formulaic test. That is if anyone ever brings a case against a promoter under this Act.

  10. IceMuncher says:

    I read through the ABC, and I honestly didn’t see much to attack the UFC on. They seem to be following almost all the rules. The only stick-up may be the “coersive provisions”, but the term is not defined (I’d go so far as to say intentionally vague), and 100% legal as long as it doesn’t exceed a 12 month period.

    As an aside, there’s one thing that really hit home after reading it: I hate legislation and the legislators that create it. My God, what an obtuse document. It’s so vague that I’m not sure how enforceable it would be if anyone brought it to court. Lawyers could argue the interpretations of the terms long past the point that it would do any good if you won your case.

    …besides, it’s not like it’s going to revolutionize the way the UFC does business any more than it effected boxing.

  11. The Gaijin says:

    I’m really liking the “re-vamped” countdown show for UFC 81. It’s a bit more 24/7-ish styled and more up close and personal.

    I really think they need to do more “All Access” shows for guys ‘on the road’ to the event. Create some more hype and give some substance to the fighters outside of they wear an affliction t-shirt and drink energy drinks.

  12. Dave2 says:

    I love how Dana does everything in his power to try to distance himself from boxing. But then they go ahead and take pages out of boxing’s play book. Just because the state of boxing sucks now doesn’t mean that some of the things boxing does can’t be great to adopt (ie. 24/7 shows, superior production values, being on HBO instead of SpikeTV, co-promotions, world belts given out by independent sanctioning bodies.. the issue though is that they all need to unify into one sanctioning body, etc.)

    The UFC can learn a lot from boxing. They just need to avoid the stuff that hurt boxing. HBO PPV revenue beat UFC in 2007 but seriously, as a casual fan of boxing, I can’t sit through a boxing PPV these days. Mayweather is boring and the undercards suck. I prefer Pavlik to Mayweather any day. MMA and K-1 events (which I’ve recently started following) are much more entertaining than boxing currently by a long shot. I don’t understand how boxing fans can seriously say that MMA is boring.

  13. Chuck says:

    “world belts given out by independent sanctioning bodies.. the issue though is that they all need to unify into one sanctioning body, etc.)”

    UGH!! Seriously?!?! You want sanctioning bodies in boxing?! WHY?!?! They are ruining the sport, and it would be the same thing all over again if it happened in MMA.

  14. Dave2 says:

    “UGH!! Seriously?!?! You want sanctioning bodies in boxing?! WHY?!?! They are ruining the sport, and it would be the same thing all over again if it happened in MMA.”

    I don’t see anything wrong with the idea of an independent sanctioning body in boxing or MMA. Having ONE Unified international Sanctioning Body in MMA would settle once and for all who are the real #1 fighters in each weight class. The UFC have the majority of the elite fighters in the world but they are not the only game in town with elite fighters. Would you prefer the current system instead where the only champions recognized in the world are club champions for each promotion?

  15. Chuck says:

    Hell no! One sanctioning body wouldn’t be too bad I guess, but what would stop other folks from forming their own sanctioning bodies? People have agendas you know. Have you ever heard of the WAA? The World Athletic Association? it was formed by Sean O’Grady’s father just to give his son a title. Check it out, go to Wikipedia if you have to.

  16. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    The fantasy version of a uniform sanctioning body is a nice idea, but in practice, most of the international sanctioning bodies in other sports are simultaneously corrupt and tyrannical.

    Could it happen? Maybe, but the outlook is not good.

  17. Dave2 says:

    Perhaps it is just a fantasy that there would be only one undisputed world champion in each weight class with one unified sanctioning body. That is unfortunate. Because right now we have UFC champions but there are guys outside of the UFC who could pose a challenge (Fedor vs. Big Nog/Sylvia and the top Japanese/Brazilian LWs in K-1/DREAMS/WVR vs Penn/Sherk. Even in the divisions where the UFC is dominant, who wouldn’t want to see the top non-UFC fighters at 205, 185 and 170 fight the UFC champs for a unified world belt?). Hence why a unified world belt is appealing. But yeah, I can understand the concern about the unrealistic probability of their being only one sanctioning bodies. That is the only way that I’d accept the possibility of international sanctioning bodies, if there is only ONE. If we had the WBC, WBA, IBO, etc. crap, we’d be in an even worse position than we started.

    As for boxing, we could only hope they unify the sanctioning bodies. 🙁 Things were a lot better in boxing when there was only one and when they had less weight classes. I’ll watch the Pavlik fight (actually I’ll d/l it because I can’t sit through HBO’s crappy undercards) but overall, I’m sticking to watching MMA and K-1. As a casual boxing fan, I can’t stand boxing these days.

  18. Chuck says:

    “As for boxing, we could only hope they unify the sanctioning bodies. Things were a lot better in boxing when there was only one and when they had less weight classes. I’ll watch the Pavlik fight (actually I’ll d/l it because I can’t sit through HBO’s crappy undercards) but overall, I’m sticking to watching MMA and K-1. As a casual boxing fan, I can’t stand boxing these days.”

    Actually, boxing is better off now than it was “back then”. Bro, good old days have never existed. Boxing is at its cleanest right now in history. I don’t think there is much of a La Cosa Nostra influence in boxing nowadays.

    And here is a little-known fact. The titles have always been splintered. Yup, since at least the forties or so. There was always at least three or so “world” champs in each weight class. It wasn’t as big of a cluster fuck as today, but still. I think the best source for rankings and champs is Ring Magazine.

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