1) Matt Brown challenges for the Welterweight Title.

2) Pete Sell is the first UFC fighter to suffer permanent brain damage during a fight. This guy needs to find a new line of work before he ends up a vegetable.

I admit I find it funny to see the comments over on 5 Oz. complaining that Mir/Lesnar II was booked for even longer than Mir was injured, as if that’s pertinent.

Heck, Rampage isn’t even a lock to actually be at the UFC 98 fighting yet. No contract is signed. He may get evaluated and turn out to have a broken toe or something that puts him under a no-contact medical suspension for a month. I’m thinking Rashad Evans/Machida probably wouldn’t satiate the same fans that were rushing off to buy tickets for Mir/Lesnar II. Call it a hunch. My only wonder is how long the UFC can get by booking shows with such fluid main events before people stop buying tickets.

Also, I’m not automatically assuming wrongdoing; I quoted what Cage Potato reported and what highly respected MMA book author Jonathan Snowden wrote. Did you miss the part where Snowden wrote, “If Frank Mir is telling the truth, and there is no reason to believe he isn’t, Zuffa put tickets on sale for Mir-Lesnar II knowing full well that the fight wouldn’t happen at UFC 98.”

As for Zuffa showing unconscious fighters, I was just commenting that it’s good to see more and more people in the media raising the same concerns.

As for the Mir situation… I love it how Ivan automatically assumes wrong doing.

1. Zuffa is getting bigger. What is told to one employee might not get passed to the next.

2. He could have told them he wasn’t ready. Try might have agreed to go on with it. Then as he practiced more realized he couldn’t do it.

Honestly, none of us know the real answer. I just gave two examples of how it might not be as bad as Ivan is trying to make it seem. But I doubt he will ever give them the benefit of the doubt.

Lastly, this is a STUPID debate on Zuffa showing hurt fighters. And I’m glad people like Ivan aren’t in charge of the sport. MMA still is not sanctioned in NY. It still is not accepted by a lot of older people… People who run TV networks or are in charge of marketing. Zuffa is doing the right thing for the current times. Perhaps 10 years from now when the sport is sanctioned in every state. But not now.

As for whether the UFC deserves criticism for putting the Lesnar-Mir tickets on sale, it’s not like they knew that Mir was injured and decided to put the tickets on sale anyway with Lesnar vs. Mir as the advertised main event. Oh, wait a minute…

Cage Potato reported: ““Sources tell us that Mir’s camp asked the UFC not to announce the fight earlier this week since the champ had just had knee surgery that would prevent him from training other than on a treadmill or in a pool for 4-6 weeks. The UFC apparently ignored these wishes and announced the fight anyway, which they’ll probably have to scrap if they can’t convince Mir that it’s no biggie for him to be unable to train before the biggest fight of his life.”

Jonathan Snowden puts it well on Five Ounces of Pain: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2009/03/08/snowdens-five-things-about-ufc-96-lack-of-professionalism-reigns/

“In the 1980’s and 1990’s it was a fairly common business practice for professional wrestling companies to sell tickets for shows by advertising stars who wouldn’t be on the card. Stars that they knew wouldn’t be on the card because they were injured, they were on vacation, or they weren’t with the company any more. Despite the pro wrestling overtones of UFC’s promotional strategy, despite Dana White’s bombastic public persona, despite the trash talking and backstage shenanigans, I’ve always held Zuffa to a higher standard than the WWE. Not anymore.

If Frank Mir is telling the truth, and there is no reason to believe he isn’t, Zuffa put tickets on sale for Mir-Lesnar II knowing full well that the fight wouldn’t happen at UFC 98. I understand they were put in a tough spot, but there is only one word for that kind of bait and switch: unacceptable.”

Also, kudos to some in the MMA media for finally (in the past week) writing about Zuffa’s policy of pretending that unconscious fighters have disappeared and never updating viewers on their condition or even mentioning them again.

Hamill = Celebrating for 5 minutes after the KO. Completely classless.