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« | Home | »

Friday reading material (3/7/08)

By Zach Arnold | March 7, 2008

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  1. The Sun (UK): Chuck Liddell demands re-match with Keith Jardine
  2. The Arizona Republic: Melvin Guillard vs. Eric Regan set for Rage in the Cage 105 tonight
  3. The College Times (AZ): Get ready for a Rage in the Cage rumble
  4. The Washington Post: A new grip on talent – popularity of MMA is benefitting amateur wrestling, as well
  5. Dave Meltzer: A look at The Ultimate Fighter 7
  6. MMA Analyst: Fedor vs. Couture – the epic saga continues
  7. Steve Sievert: Fedor free agency raises host of questions
  8. Josh Gross: Fedor’s free-agency fallout
  9. AOL Fanhouse: Oscar De La Hoya – the best businessman in American sports
  10. Rutgers University: Spotlight on Frankie Edgar
  11. Sixshot: Ludacris and Nelly face off in ‘Iron Ring’
  12. The Dallas Business Journal: Mark Cuban eyes martial arts match
  13. WEC HP: Full card line-up for 3/26 Las Vegas event
  14. Fightlinker: Mark Coleman and his daughter’s four-pack abs

Topics: HDNet, M-1, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, WEC, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

26 Responses to “Friday reading material (3/7/08)”

  1. Ultimo_Santa says:

    Chuck Liddell on a possible rematch with Quentin Jackson: “I plan on winning this one – the finish will be different!”

    Ever the strategist. As opposed to his other plan…not winning?

    I’m sure Dana will want Chuck to fight the winner of Griffin/Jackson. Probably a good idea from a marketing perspective.

    I still think Thiago Silva could take out anyone at 205, but does UFC want three Brazilian champions who all can’t speak English? Not likely.

  2. Tomer Chen says:

    Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira actually is pretty decent with the english language. He may not understand every word perfectly, but he certainly can talk about as well as most of the Gracies in the language. Anderson Silva doesn’t really know english, though, as as far as I can tell.

  3. yay, my ‘mocking a 10 year old’ post got linked! Here i was thinking i was just a big ol’ meany for pointing that out.

  4. Ultimo_Santa says:

    Good point, but there’s a difference between getting by with some decent English, and cutting a killer promo.

    That’s why UFC likely booked Forrest to fight for the LW title. Quentin is charismatic, so if he wins it’s all good – and if Forrest wins, you have another marketable American with the title.

    I would argue that Thiago Silva vs. Jackson would be more competitive, but as a promoter I don’t think I would want 3 Brazilians with titles.

  5. Jimmy Allcorn says:

    Wow. I’m surprised that I’m the first one here today to comment on Fedor’s sudden status as a free agent once again. Which, to me anyhow, seems to indicate that M-1 Global is pretty much dead in the water before they ever got a single show off the ground.

    Oh well, makes no difference to me at this point. After all their hyperbole this past fall, about all they managed to accomplish was hold a press conference or two & become a distraction for a few months.

    Now it’s time for someone to step up to the plate, sign Fedor & get him fighting regularly again. Against REAL opposition.

    Can Dana make the most out of this VERY rare opportunity at a “do over”? Or will he find a way to fuck it up again, leaving yet another chance open for EliteXC to become a more powerful rival to the UFC by getting hands on the Russian?

    I mean, can you imagine EXC having Fedor signed & ready to fight on their CBS debut card? That would be HUGE.

  6. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Well, if UFC CAN do a deal for Fedor in the next five months, then all the sudden you have a totally different scenario in the heavyweight division, because Couture still has fights on that contract, and it wouldn’t have expired yet.

    Randy would pretty much have to put up or shut up, no?

  7. IceMuncher says:

    “Can Dana make the most out of this VERY rare opportunity at a “do over”? Or will he find a way to fuck it up again, leaving yet another chance open for EliteXC to become a more powerful rival to the UFC by getting hands on the Russian?”

    The recent developments between M-1 and Fedor appear to exonerate Dana. M-1 decided to give Fedor exactly what he wanted, and look at how that turned out for them. There’s no reason for Dana to do anything different this time around. He “fucked up” last time by refusing to give Fedor and his shady management enough power to screw over the UFC whenever they want.

    I’d be willing to bet quite a lot of money that Fedor is going to Dream. There’s no way that Dana is going loosen up on the terms in the UFC contracts, especially now. If anything, he’ll tighten it down the terms even more.

  8. 45 Huddle says:

    The people who still claim Dana White messed up negotiations needs to rethink their thoughts.

    First, it was very likely that The Fertitta’s were involved in the contracts and decision making. Second, Fedor management now has a long history of being difficult. They were a pain when he was in Pride. They were a Pride when negotiating with K-1. They were a pain when talking with the UFC. And now they have split from M-1.

    Honestly, Fedor doesn’t deserve some unique contract that is totally different then the rest of the fighters. Just like Barry Bonds doesn’t deserve some crazy contract that is so much more one sided then the rest of the MLB players….

  9. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Very sly, slipping Fedor in with a juicer.

    My understanding was that his management were the same Russians who formed M-1, and that now he has all new all different management.

    I’m a little skeptical about the claims that the US and Russian sides of M-1 were squabbling. My impression all along was that the Russians were in charge and that the Americans were just idiots putting up cash who didn’t know what they were getting into.

    Ultimately it’s turned out that the Russians appear to have been played for fools as well when the Japanese promotions that they thought they were going to be aligned with stabbed EVERYONE in the back 😀

    It’s high comedy.

  10. Andrej says:

    ^^^ Those Crazy Russians!!!

    I don’t blame Dana White one bit for saying those same words. How else can you describe how this is turning out? How can you defend Fedor Emelianko or his management in this case. I can’t and that is really sad.

  11. cyphron says:

    Dana is in a much stronger position now. I highly doubt they are willing to pay 2 mil per fight for a fighter who is a purely submission specialist. When was the last time Fedor won by KO?

    One fighter has never, ever sold PPV. When was the last time you bought a PPV just for one fighter? A card has to be stacked with at three, or at a minimum two matches that people want to see. Why not pay 6 fighters with the 2 mil rather 1 fighter? Then there’s no proof that that fighter will be as dominant. A Silva is a much better deal than a Fedor.

    As much as I want Fedor in the UFC, from a business stand point, it doesn’t make sense. I highly doubt Dana will bite.

  12. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Brock Lesnar apparently sold a large number of marginal viewers (viewers in excess of the baseline UFC crowd that will buy any PPV) on the show he headlined with Mir.

    Fedor on the other hand has never sold as many PPV buys in the United States for any single event that he appeared on as Lesnar apparently sold in marginal viewers.

    Name brand fighters can be worth the money. I don’t think that there is a large cadre of US MMA fans who would buy a Fedor headlined PPV that are not already buying most UFC PPVs though. The number is certainly not in the hundreds of thousands, and may not be in the tens of thousands. Those are figures I’m guessing at based on the estimated Pride figures that have been thrown out there.

    Of course, in UFC it might be a totally different story, because they could SELL the story as one that involves the UFC, which is a brand that can be traded off of strongly, and he wouldn’t be headlining by himself, he would most likely be facing off against Randy Couture.

    If I was Dana, I’d pay the two million, and I’d schedule Fedor vs Randy Couture for a two leg Superfight in the fall. No belts, just skill against skill for all the marbles.

  13. 45 Huddle says:

    Did any Pride event sell more then 50,000? And I think the typical Pride PPV was around 30,000. Not to mention to BodogFight had 13,000 PPV Buys.

  14. D. Capitated says:

    One fighter has never, ever sold PPV. When was the last time you bought a PPV just for one fighter?

    People buy PPVs specifically for the headliner. There’s a reason why Ortiz/Liddell II and Ortiz/Shamrock II were bigger PPVs than, say, any of the others. Asking hardcore fans if they’ve bought a PPV because someone was fighting on it is riduclous anyhow.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    While certain fighters do help sell more PPV’s, I would say the company who is selling it has just as much to do with the buyrate (if not more), then the athletes.

    The UFC on an afternoon PPV can get 200,000 PPV Buys. And not even with a great card. So we know the UFC name alone gets a bare minimum of 200,000 in this current economy.

    Now, a decent PPV with interchangable fighters can typically get 300,000 to 450,000 PPV Buys. So a UFC PPV in a reasonable timeslot, with any one of multiple top fighters has those limits.

    It is only when you look at a Chuck Liddell or Brock Lesnar do the PPV Buys get any bigger then that.

    So I would say the organization at this point is far more important then the athlete. And my point only improved when you look at the buyrates of any MMA PPV without the UFC name on it.

  16. cyphron says:

    The hardcores with money will buy anything. That’s the 250k buys regardless of how shitty the show is.

    Then the next tier is the hardcores with not so much money. They’re the hardcores that will buy the PPV if it’s good (multiple great fights). That pushes it to 500k.

    Then fianlly there are the casual fans who will buy if there’s a marquee fighter(s) on the show. That’s the 600k – 1000k buys. Fedor is not a marquee name for the casual fans. His fans number in the 13k (his last PPV). Even the Pride name could only manage to sell 50k with a stacked card. Fedor doesn’t sell PPV, period!

  17. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    But Fedor COULD sell PPVs if he was paired with Randy and it was played up.

    It could be the biggest even in MMA history, legitimately, and not just in the minds of hardcores.

    Start it off right with a fight in late July or the first week of August, then you do a Fedor vs Couture TUF season (start taping immediately after the fight, premiere four weeks later), and at the end of the TUF season you have “la revancha” on New Years Eve.

    If you don’t get a million buys for their rematch, then you’re a huge fuckup. That’s a master stroke right there.

  18. 45 Huddle says:

    I would honestly be shocked if Couture/Fedor got 1 Million PPV buys with even the UFC….

  19. IceMuncher says:

    “But Fedor COULD sell PPVs if he was paired with Randy and it was played up.”

    But then it really wouldn’t be Fedor selling the PPVs, it would be mostly Randy and the UFC.

    Fedor is not a PPV draw, and won’t be until he has a few exciting fights under his belt in the UFC. It doesn’t matter how good he is or how great of a matchup he’s in. If the very casual fans that watch maybe 2 shows a year don’t know him, then it won’t sell big.

    We live in a world where Lesnar’s UFC debut pulls more buys than the Henderson vs Silva superfight (I’m assuming since I don’t have the numbers, but I think it’s a safe assumption).

    Kimbo vs Randy in the UFC would pull in a hell of a lot more viewers than Fedor vs Randy in the UFC. It shouldn’t, but it would. That’s the world we live in.

  20. D. Capitated says:

    Then the next tier is the hardcores with not so much money. They’re the hardcores that will buy the PPV if it’s good (multiple great fights). That pushes it to 500k.

    Ken Shamrock/Tito Ortiz and Sylvia/Arvloski III are “multiple great fights”? That’s the second highest buyrate in MMA history. Maybe it has something to do with the guys at the top of the marquee?

  21. D. Capitated says:

    We live in a world where Lesnar’s UFC debut pulls more buys than the Henderson vs Silva superfight (I’m assuming since I don’t have the numbers, but I think it’s a safe assumption).

    If you buy into the early estimate for UFC 81, yeah, you have to expect that as truth. That was a pretty weak card from top to bottom, and yet if you buy into it selling 650,000 PPVs, that’s 250,000 more than the UFC 73 did with two title fights on it.

  22. cyphron says:

    Ken Shamrock/Tito Ortiz and Sylvia/Arvloski III are “multiple great fights”? That’s the second highest buyrate in MMA history. Maybe it has something to do with the guys at the top of the marquee?

    I already covered that in my prior post.

    Lesnar without the UFC name didn’t sell jack. Lesnar with the UFC sold 650k. What does that say about the UFC brand? Fighters shouldn’t overestimate their name recognition without the correspoding UFC brand. We’ll see what Tito and Arlovski sell without the UFC. It won’t be pretty.

  23. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Randy vs Kimo? I have trouble believing that anyone except us even remembers who he was at this point.

  24. D. Capitated says:

    I already covered that in my prior post.

    No, you didn’t. There’s no equivalent to Tito in the free agent market, much less a fight the magnitude of Tito/Shamrock II. Your “coverage” of that point is totally irrelevant. Don’t even bother with the comparison with Lesnar, given that Tito is far more established now in the mainstream than Lesnar was back for K-1 Dynamite. Its to such a point where it would show gross incompetence to try and draw a parallel to a guy who hadn’t been on US TV in any context for years versus a guy who was just on a highly rated network reality show.

  25. cyphron says:

    You think Tito will sell PPVs with his name? LOL. The last “name guy” he beat was Ken Shamrock. And we all know how good he is. You still think this is the Tito right after his TUF appearance. Tito is a tarnished brand. Without the UFC, it’s an even more tarnished brand.

    As for Lesnar, there is already proof that marquee names require a marquee organization. K-1 and Bodog couldn’t do anything with Fedor or Lesnar.

    Its to such a point where it would show gross incompetence to try and draw a parallel to a guy who hadn’t been on US TV in any context for years versus a guy who was just on a highly rated network reality show.

    What? The UFC had just did that with UFC 81. They sold 650k with a guy who hasn’t been on TV for years. It’s been a while since Tito’s been on TUF. His reputation is done. Kaput. He can’t live on the glory of beating Ken Shamrock any longer.

  26. D. Capitated says:

    You think Tito will sell PPVs with his name? LOL.

    Yes, I know, you don’t. You believe that no one will ever sell any PPVs of note except the UFC. We have reviewed this. I’m not really interested in reviewing that detail.

    What? The UFC had just did that with UFC 81. They sold 650k with a guy who hasn’t been on TV for years. It’s been a while since Tito’s been on TUF.

    TUF is a network show? I was talking about Celebrity Apprentice. Averaging about 8 million watching a week is a lot more than TUF even in the heyday of Tito/Shamrock.

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