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Saturday headlines (1/12/08)
By Zach Arnold | January 12, 2008
An update on the Xyience Inc. vs. Rich Bergeron $25 million USD lawsuit: Pamela R. Lawson, the new attorney for Xyience, has filed an application for a default judgment on 1/8 in Clark County, NV. and also submitted an affidavit in support of the application.
Dave Meltzer takes a look at UFC’s Light Heavyweight division. Steve Cofield has a new article, talking about UFC being MMA’s dominant organization and what Gary Shaw intends to do to combat this situation with Elite XC.
Here is a glimpse at one person appointed to Minnesota’s boxing commission to regulate MMA.
The more Sean Sherk talks about his steroid case, the bigger the issue is going to become and will haunt him forever. He really needs a PR person guiding him right now.
Glad to see Gabriel Gonzaga get his name mentioned in the press, but what a weird way for it to happen.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Cofield’s main point starts to quickly get lost when he quotes Frank Trigg. Sorry, but that guy isn’t too credible when talking about Zuffa.
And I have to laugh at the way the article portrays the MMA industry. It makes it sound as if EliteXC has a large impact on fighter salaries. That is just funny. They are such a small piece of the pie compared to K-1 & the UFC, that their impact is minimal at best.
Check out these quotes from a Yahoo Sports article. Sean Sherk (still) apparently knows nothing about drug testing:
“He said a glucosamine supplement he took was later found to be contaminated with a testosterone booster. But he said if that’s how the steroid got into his body, he can’t understand how he should be held responsible for it.
“Even if it was a tainted supplement, I had no intentions of taking it and it was somebody else’s error,” Sherk said. “I think they should be at fault rather than me. Contamination of supplements is an issue. There have been people who have tested positive in the past for that reason, but I don’t think the fighter should be held responsible. It’s not the fighter’s fault.””
And Dana White (still) apparently knows nothing about drug testing, either:
“White has known Sherk for seven years and said he believed Sherk without hesitation when Sherk denied taking the steroid. White admitted it was blind faith, since he never saw a shred of scientific evidence that would exonerate Sherk.
White said he looked at Sherk, who is nicknamed “Muscle Shark” and knew he was telling the truth.
“I’m 38 years old and I’ve seen a lot of guys use steroids in my time,” White said Friday. “When guys are doing steroids, you can see the difference. Before they start, they have a certain body type. It looks a certain way. Then they take the stuff and there are changes and the body looks a different way. Then, when they get off, it changes again and looks a different way again.
“With Sean Sherk, his body looked the same since the day I met him. There’s never been one change. This guy is a maniac when it comes to how he treats his body and what he puts in it. I totally, totally, totally believed what he told me.”
Regarding the contrived Shaw vs. White “feud” (which is not much of a “feud” until they have both shown that they can draw money, as opposed to just one of them), as I said yesterday Gary Shaw has no credibility in talking about the MMA industry as long as he’s booking “Kimbo vs. Tank” main events.
As for Dana White’s statement, that’s pretty impressive if the UFC’s gross PPV revenue in 2007 was MORE than their $222 million in gross PPV revenue from 2006.
It’s almost best if DW & Sherk just kept their mouths shut about the steroids from now on. They just dig themselves a bigger hole each time the topic comes up.
And I agree with Ivan about EliteXC. Until they can turn a profit, they really don’t have any effect on the industry. They can pay fighters whatever they want, but aren’t they just inflating pay for checks they potentially can’t cash in the future?
EliteXC pay fighters of a certain level (ie. Nick Diaz, Ninja, Robbie Lawler) more than what they would make in the UFC. Strikeforce too (ie. Babalu’s 50k/50k deal). Though that is only going to have a small dent on the industry. EliteXC have like 4 regular shows a year and a bunch of smaller ShoXC events. Strikeforce had like how many events? Four as well? When we’re talking about money, FEG’s MMA promotion (HERO’s, NYE shows and this new “Dreams” thing now) is #2 on an international level. EliteXC from that.
As for the whole tainted supplements thing, I find it a bit odd how the state athletic commissions puts the entire onus on the athlete for knowing what they put in their body. It’s very common for fighters to use supplements. Any fighter that uses supplements could have been at risk for taking Nandrolone or whatever accidentally. What are fighters supposed to do? Stop taking supplements just to be on the safe side? Isn’t that kind of extreme? The supplement industry should be regulated more to prevent this sort of thing. Otherwise, how the hell else are you supposed to know what’s in those supplements? If you ate food at a restaurant and got killed by ecoli poisoning, is it your fault for not knowing what you put in your body? If food is regulated, why not regulate supplements?
Is UFC really thinking about doing Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva again already, or am I thinking of the wrong Silva?
I don’t really get it from a competitive standpoint, but if that show did good money (and it sounds like it did), then I can understand the desire to wring as much cash out of Wanderlei as they can while he has any luster left at all.
“As for the whole tainted supplements thing, I find it a bit odd how the state athletic commissions puts the entire onus on the athlete for knowing what they put in their body. It’s very common for fighters to use supplements. Any fighter that uses supplements could have been at risk for taking Nandrolone or whatever accidentally. What are fighters supposed to do? Stop taking supplements just to be on the safe side?”
Uh… yes? It is not an extraordinary requirement for fighters to be responsible for what they put into their body. That’s no different than any other athlete in any sport with any form of drug testing. Fighters are found “guilty” or “innocent” of having banned substances in their system at the time of the drug test. How those banned substances got there— whether it was intentional use, a mis-timed steroid cycle (which is often the case when a fighter tests negative very shortly after testing positive), tainted supplements, or the Magical Steroid Fairy injecting it into them against their will as they sleep is irrelevant. If you have banned substances in your body at the time of the drug test, you fail the drug test.
Or how about only taking supplements that are on a pre-approved list provided by the company for which you work, as is the case with the NFL and other major sports? Or is such a list not possible when your employer (Zuffa) has a primary sponsor that markets supplements and is almost a front company that’s only still in business because of a cash infusion from the same two people whose money started Zuffa?
Or how about getting their supplements tested to make sure they’re not contaminated (which Sean Sherk still says he’s not going to do for all of his supplements even after all of this)?
It cost Sherk $3,000 to test 7 supplements during his case. Considering how many supplements fighters take, do the math. The supplement industry needs better regulation or Zuffa needs to published a list of pre-approved supplements just like the NFL does. But with their whole Xyience deal like you said, this might not be possible unfortunately. So what’s an athlete supposed to do? Right now they have three options…
1. Take supplements and risk intaking something tainted (which isn’t a high probability but it does happen given the results of Sherk’s testing of his supplements and the Marquardt case)
2. Test supplements before you use them, costing about $500 a pop for testing. (Ivan, you know the UFC payscale so you know that testing supplements isn’t chump change for a good portion of the UFC roster).
3. Don’t take supplements. But how many athletes don’t take supplements? A whole lot of them do.
Zuffa needs to step in and publish a list of pre-approved supplements or the states/federal govt need to introduce stricter regulation of the supplement industry. By forcing the onus on the athlete, Zuffa and the government are refusing to take responsibility for this issue. The government regulates the food that we buy in a grocery store. Why not supplements? Ask all those babies in Africa who died from using Nestle’s baby formula product if they agree with psuedo-libertarian policies that advocate “personal responsibility” over regulation and quality control.
I think Sherk is crazy enough to be taking so many supplements. When you put that many drugs into your body, you are always going to put yourself at risk for crazy and wacky test results.
And I’m one of the people who actually believes he didn’t shoot up steroids. But at the same time, he has to be a little smarter about his career.
“I think Sherk is crazy enough to be taking so many supplements. When you put that many drugs into your body, you are always going to put yourself at risk for crazy and wacky test results.
And I’m one of the people who actually believes he didn’t shoot up steroids. But at the same time, he has to be a little smarter about his career.”
I do think he takes too many. But all it takes is one supplement. Hence why I feel this industry needs to be regulated or at the very least, Zuffa needs to put their Xyience interests aside and publish a pre-approved list.
If not Zuffa (whom have a conflict of interest because of Xyience), then maybe the state athletic commissions (Nevada, California, Ohio, New Jersey, etc) should collectively make a list and then charge a fee to each promoter running events to cover the cost. Sherk doesn’t need to use all those supplements (22 x 3 times a day. Who else takes that much?) but athletes aren’t going to stop using supplements cold turkey.
Whatever happens, something needs to be done. The corrupt supplement industry is not only bad for fighters and other athletes but bad for regular everyday people who use supplements given health risks.
I am listening the the most recent episode of Fight Opinion Radio…. And I don’t agree with something being said.
All these individuals speaking are talking as if the UFC has been keeping back Machida for so long. I couldn’t disagree more. Up until beating Sokoudjou, he hasn’t beaten a Top 10 level Light Heavyweight. And now he gets one win, and the common theme is: “Well, they can’t keep on holding him back forever”.
Sorry, but their treatment of Machida is no different then their treatment of Thiago Silva. Both are getting substantial wins in the UFC before being pushed further. Now, Silva is getting a fight with Rashad Evans (an established star). And Machida is being offered a fight with Tito Ortiz (another established star). If they presented a Silva/Evans & Machida/Ortiz fight a year ago, the Fight Opinion crew would also be complaining about how they are rushing the prospects too much.
To me, the UFC has done nothing but good things with building up these two great Light Heavyweight Prospects. But you would never know that listening to the radio show.
Re: Meltzer on the LHW division
I’m disappointed by Meltzer’s revelations of the match-ups being considered. The business angle is definitely prevailing over merit (for lack of a better word). I understand the importance of the business angle. Quite aside from making an “ethical” criticsm, it’s just disappointing to me as a fan. (I’m also aware I’m not the average fan.)
Why are only rematches being considered for Liddell in such a stacked division? The possibilities are awesome:
Silva vs Ortiz/Jardine/Thiago Silva/Evans/Alexander…
Liddell vs Machida/Thiago Silva/Rua/Evans…
Liddell vs Jardine wasn’t very exciting. 3 reasons against Liddell vs Silva II:
1. Instant rematches are silly, unless there was an unusual circumstance like a premature stoppage, an injury, a DQ, a weird decision, etc. The rematch will probably be similar to the original.
2. If Liddell wins, what do you do with Silva, demoralized and discredited after 4 losses?
3. If Silva wins, there is nowhere to go but Liddell vs Silva III. Yuk.
4. A rematch down the road could make perfect sense. Say they each won their next 2 fights: Liddell beats Machida then unseats the champion. Meanwhile Silva beats Ortiz and Jardine. NOW would be the perfect time for a legendary rematch!
Machida vs Ortiz makes perfect sense from a business perspective; it is indeed a win-win. No matter wins that fight, you’ve discarded a pesky fighter and built a credible contender. Aside from that, it’s a meaningless match-up between a Top 5er on the rise and an injured, distracted waning star.
Alexander is set to fight someone other than Sokoudjou, which many of us had clamored for, and is the logical fight.
The main story here is that the UFC is protecting Liddell from Machida. They fear their star will be methodically dismantled by a boring fighter who can’t speak English. It’s understandable but unfortunate because it’s delaying Machida’s rise and depriving the fans of a match-up for the legitimate #1 contender.
Please, no more unnecessary rematches!
Before Liddell’s fight with Jardine, he went over 3 years without fighting a rematch. Now that he has non-rematches in a row, they want to put him back into rematches. That is kind of a pathetic way to protect a fighter.
I think they realize he can’t beat a lot of these Light Heavyweights today…. Hence the reason for the rematches they are putting together.