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Randy Couture: Maybe fighting UFC in court over contract weaknesses backfired

By Zach Arnold | February 14, 2013

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Our friend RJ Clifford on Sirius XM radio interviewed Randy Couture about his move to Spike TV and the aftermath of leaving Zuffa. Audio segments one, two, three, four, and five right here.

If memory serves us right, Dana White said that he had been texting back-and-forth with Randy Couture about staying with UFC and if he would be appearing on Fox for the January 26th Chicago telecast. White said that Couture left him hanging by wishing him a Merry Christmas and didn’t reply back further. Dana, of course, went on a tirade about Couture being a bad guy.

Which led to this response from Couture on Clifford’s show.

“Well, I’m certainly not surprised that was the choice that Dana chose to make. That’s not accurate. I gave the UFC and Dana every opportunity to find a way to significantly use me since I retired a year and a half ago. They acted like they were doing me a favor by giving me the four events on Fox a year as a commentator, which I enjoyed. The guys at FOX are amazing, they’re great people and I enjoyed working with them immensely the four times that I got to work with them. But, in my opinion and estimation, not a terribly significant role in the organization and the company of Zuffa. So, I tried like hell to get them to keep me with the company in some significant way and they had nothing for me. I made them aware that this offer had come onto the table, that the TV thing was heating up for me, that there were significant offers being pushed to me — but I had a sign a Non Disclosure Agreement to even hear those pitches and could not tell them specifically what was going on or who was offering what. So, you know… in my professional estimation, they had an opportunity to keep me and use me, they chose not to — and a week later after this whole thing they give a job to Matt Hughes in a significant fashion and, you know, frankly that was a big ‘fuck you’ to me from Dana and that’s exactly what he intended to do.

“That’s the way it felt to me. I’ve been trying for over a year to get them to use me in some way, shape, or form and they chose not to. They didn’t have anything for me, they continually told me that and then Matt, you know, announces his retirement and within a week has a Vice President position for fighter relations. You tell me.”

As for the basis of the hostility between Couture and UFC, it’s all about the past litigation battles between the two parties.

“Well, that’s the only thing that makes sense to me. I think I got on the wrong foot with Zuffa from the very early start and tried to fight for my ancillary rights with my management, Battle Management, at that time and I think from that day forward we’ve kind of had an adversarial relationship. I was never kind one of those guys who let them do whatever they wanted with regard to my career and how I saw it. I’m always trying to keep things simple, just be who I am and no pretense, no nothing. So… I can’t explain it any other way. Yeah, I stood up for myself after the (Gabriel) Gonzaga fight. I had some issues, I stated those issues with Dana and, you know, obviously the Fedor fight was a big deal to me at that point, trying to pursue that fight. It wasn’t going to happen with the UFC, tried to pursue it elsewhere.

“There are a whole bunch of those issues and I think that I was never forgiven for any of those things. I think those things were held against me and a large part of the decision had to do with that. So, you know, it is what it is. I have to do what’s best for me and my family, my career, the brand that I’ve built. Developing and training fighters is something that I’ve always loved. I loved the first season, second and fourth seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and now I get a chance to work with a bunch of young, up-and-coming athletes that are hoping for a shot in Bellator. I’m excited about that opportunity… and I have to be kind of true to who I am and what it is I like to do and unfortunately, you know, that’s not going to be with Zuffa and the UFC moving forward.”

As for the good cop/bad cop routine often used by Lorenzo Fertitta & Dana White on business dealings, Randy said that Lorenzo didn’t talk to him this time around.

“Honestly, I had conversations with Lorenzo back [in the aftermath] of the Gonzaga fight. He called me up and I spoke with him directly. The original breakfast I had with Dana and Lorenzo expressing my concerns and my issues with the company then that led to the resignation and all that stuff, but in this whole process the only person that reached out to me, the only person I talked to was Dana White and, uh… I think in some ways, you know obviously, Lorenzo and Frank are the, dare I say, the brains of the operation but they’re the ones who call the shots for sure. But in some ways I think they use Dana and wield Dana as a weapon. Everybody knows what Dana’s going to do and how he’s going to come across and so they channel that, they direct that and it suits their needs when they need him to and, you know, last week’s press conference with Spike and the new Bellator show coming out, I thanked him on that press conference for creating such a media sensation and in a lot of ways making this a lot easier decision. Had he been cordial, nice, and really approached me about doing something different and staying with the company, this would have been a much more difficult choice for me. But him coming out the way he came out, assaulting my manager, assaulting me verbally made that a lot easier choice and created a real nice media sensation for us to launch this new program. So, now since then I think they recognize that as well and have kind of gagged him, we’ve heard no more out of him.”

As for whether or not Randy has any regrets about his litigation battles in the past with Zuffa, he said the outcome turned out to be bittersweet.

“Well, I think I was one of the first ones to point out my issues in dealing with a bunch of fighters and seeing the issues both in fighter pay for the lower and mid-tier fighters, the fact that none of the fighters had any kind of health insurance. It sucks to get injured in training when we train very, very hard to be ready to fight and the only time we were covered is if those injuries occurred in the cage at the show and so I think, in some ways, I feel good that the UFC and Zuffa were listening in those instances. We now have at least accident insurance. It’s not full-on health coverage which would be very difficult to do with fighters, but at least accident insurance so if they do get injured in the training process they have some help, you know, alleviating some of those medical expenses. God forbid they should get the flu or strep throat or something but at least a catastrophic injury in the training process can be covered.

“But it’s a double-edged sword, you know. I stood up to exercise my rights as we read the contract to try and, you know, go and fight Fedor who at that time was considered the #1 heavyweight in the world and that’s the guy you want to fight if you feel like you want to be the best and I think through that exercise and the court interpretation of the language in the contract, uh, you know, Zuffa changed their contract a lot. They shored up what they saw as some of the potential holes in those contracts which made them a lot more difficult for the future fighters to deal with, with their ancillary rights, with all those things. So, I don’t know if I feel so great about that, you know, in essence by me standing up for myself I pointed out some of the potential weaknesses in the contracts they were having everybody sign and those things have been changed and shored up. Nothing’s iron clad but certainly you got a serious commitment in that contract. So, there’s a give-and-take there, you know, obviously I feel good that the guys have some form of medical coverage now but, you know, the contracts are still a much more difficult thing. Sponsorships and all those things that market us, aside from the economy, are a very difficult [task] to get a sponsor now with Zuffa and a lot of the promoters are taking the same toll in wanting to get paid for, you know, being an official sponsor. That makes it hard for the athlete to go out here and develop relationships with sponsors in an on-going basis. You may get a one-off here and there but to sponsor a guy for any length of time and develop a serious relationship, you’re going to have pay the company, you’re going to have to pay Zuffa to be considered an official sponsor and then that’s only going to fly if it doesn’t conflict with any of the official sponsors that they have based on those canvasses they have and all that. So, it’s a very tough thing to navigate. It puts a serious wrench in the ability of some of these fighters who make more money on some of those sponsorships than they’re making from their fights at this stage of their careers.”

Couture also stated that he doesn’t he will be able to go to the live UFC show that his son is fighting on because he’ll be filming a movie in Vancouver at the time.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 43 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

43 Responses to “Randy Couture: Maybe fighting UFC in court over contract weaknesses backfired”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    1) Randy Couture is one of the few people’s autobiographies I have ever read where afterwards I thought much worse of them. I have no clue what his relationship is like with Dana White behind the scenes…. but if it is anything like his personal life…. he cannot be a fun guy to be around.

    2) What motive does he have to be sh!tting on Matt Hughes? That was a childish shot fired for no reason.

    3) Randy can complain about his legal disputes with Zuffa all he wants. But it was Randy who tries to “retire” to get out of his contract when he still had fights left on it. And keep in mind that he straight out lied about how much he was being paid in public. It was such a blatant lie that Lorenzo Fertitta held a press conference and produced signed checks by Randy Couture to prove how full of sh!t he was. And this was during a time that Lorenzo was basically silent in UFC matters to the general public.

    4) The paying sponsors thing has been talked about before and I am sure Randy is just ignoring the truth.

    It is hard to attract large companies to sponsor in the UFC when Jack’s Tire Barn can pay $5,000 to a fighter and get the same exposure. So putting a minimum amount they have to pay in does do good overall. I can see the complain to some extent, but for the sport to move forward the small sponsors need to go.

    Plus, every sports organization puts much higher restrictions on what athletes can wear during competition. The UFC along with NASCAR is one of the most lenient in all of professional sports.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      5) Why doesn’t Randy Couture talk about how the UFC gave him a new contract worth substantially more money after the entire contract issues and without Couture even asking to negotiate one. They gave out higher pay to guys like Liddell, Hughes, and Couture without any of their contracts coming up.

      Couture was all smiles during one pre-fight press conference because of this act by Zuffa.

      Short term memory loss probably….

    • Simon says:

      Just some of the things I don’t understand with Randy: He complained about fighter pay for the low to mid tier fighters and the lack of insurance, and without anyone forcing them to, the UFC has increased fighter pay and offers fighter insurance for every fighter in their roster. But now Randy works with one of the worst offenders of fighter pay and I’m not sure Bellator even offers insurance. If they do, I don’t think it’s anywhere near as comprehensive as Zuffa’s.

      I just hate that someone with the history that Randy has created for himself, how he is both legendary and revered, and at the same time detestable and reviled by some who know him personally and professionally. How he would pull these kind of maneuvers knowing they will push the history books to add that little bit extra venom an more attention put on the unpopular things he’s done.

      I’ve been a huge Randy fan, like a lot of other people, for a long time but these contradictions have taken a toll on his perception as both a person and as a fighter.

    • The Judge says:

      “What motive does he have to be sh!tting on Matt Hughes? That was a childish shot fired for no reason.”

      He has met Matt Hughes. Unlike Randy Couture being pseudo-Captain America, this (him being a douchebag) is something I have heard many a person who has dealt with Matt Hughes speak of. As well as fans who have just heard him on television.

  2. Mr. K says:

    Dana White had no problem pushing the Captain America when it made him & the UFC $$$ end of story.

    • 45 Hudle says:

      Under that line of reasoning…. Couture has no reason to complain either because he got maximized paydays from this persona as well….

      Hence it really is not good reasoning you provide….

  3. RST says:

    Randy Couture is an Ace at fighting with his hands!

    dana white is an Ace at buddying up onto rich people!

    One of these trumps the other

  4. janklow says:

    “So, I tried like hell to get them to keep me with the company in some significant way-”

    i’d like to hear him elaborate on what he means by this remark.

  5. Simon says:

    One thing that surprised me at Randy is that after all this time of being at the top and thus being around the people who basically are the top, the people who have funded and helped build “the top”, that he doesn’t understand that throwing money at everything that requires more money, without a long term plan and careful implementation, that is the only way to sustain a promotion.

    And by putting money back into the sport typically means that not everyone will be fully satisfied, but at least they won’t be fucked over so that their futures aren’t ensured.

    The pay will get better and their careers and livelihood will be taken are of the larger this thing gets and the sooner it gets there. MMA has been around in it’s current, sustainable state for only about a decade.

    Other sports took several decades to get to the point of paying their largest star outlandish amounts of money. Even then, I hate it when paying absurd amounts of money to athlete’s as it creates an environment where the people who get paid loads of money get content with how taken care of they really are and they don’t put that much commitment or effort into their craft.

    We don’t know how much this will affect a fighter, but if we gauge how boxers have become since paydays pay out tremendous sums of money, it’s apparent that there are too many boxers who fight to decision more times than not after they receive reach that point in their careers where large payday’s are expected.

    They become complacent in their fights, their desire to put it all in the line goes away and they no longer resemble the fighter that tore their way thru the division putting on exciting fights that justify those expected outrageous paydays.

    MMA fighters aren’t getting payed what they deserve, but they get paid close enough that it justifies UFC investing and expanding their futures.

  6. david m says:

    Anything 45 Huddle says about anyone who is against the Zuffa Empire is to be disregarded. You fucking shill.

    Randy has always looked out for himself; it is great that he was in a position to actually obtain leverage and use said leverage against Zuffa. I hope his show succeeds greatly and that Bellator gets the support it needs to really blossom and become a legitimate competitor to UFC.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      So when I talk about something I don’t agree with in the “Zuffa Empire” should that be regarded twice as much? lol

      You should read Couture’s book. You will come away thinking two things:

      1) Loretta Hunt is a horrible writer.

      2) Randy Couture is not a good guy.

      And a retired fighter isn’t going to make a dent in MMA. if their live broadcasts right now are doing 800,000 viewers, there reality show will do even worse.

      The UFC has a $90 Million FOX Contract, TV Revenue Streams from many countries, a solid PPV Business, and dependable gates. You really think anybody is going to become a competitor to that? SpikeTV will be out of the MMA business the second the ratings go down or they get bored with it.

      You are the one sounding like a schill…. At least my comments are rooted in reality. Yours are based in a bizarre fanboy alter-reality….

      • david m says:

        You are so predictable. Everyone who is against UFC Empire is teh bad, and Zuffa has pure intentions. Why are you talking about Couture being a scumball? Did you care about his poor morals (read: willingness to stick up for himself and do what is best for himself, the same way Zuffa does) when he was being called Captain America? Do you not think Dana and the Fertittas have engaged in incredibly shady business practices/bullying/threatening/destroying their competitors? Get a grip. You are a broken record and you write as if you are getting paid by Zuffa. Regardless of the validity of anything you say, your credibility is non-existent.

        • Simon says:

          I think the same could be said about you. Just as you say 45 is a shill for UFC/ZUFFA, it could be said that you sound like a shill for all things anti-UFC. Or at least that’s how it comes across in your first post. Seems ridiculous that anyone would want any MMA organization to go under. So what if someone like UFC more than they like the competition. Some people just like a winner.

          I think that makes you a contrarian to automatically dislike anything UFC does, but at the same time like anything that can do harm to UFC. Not one competitor will ever reach the heights that UFC has reached, or even come close, with the tactics they currently use.

          No company outside of UFC is blazing trails all over the World, no one else is raising awareness and changing people perception of the sport outside of N.America, other than the UFC. It just seems stupid to want UFC to go under when they are directly responsible for you, me, and anyone else who currently enjoys watching MMA.

        • edub says:

          “…it could be said that you sound like a shill for all things anti-UFC.”

          -Far from it. David’s anti a lot of stuff usually, but he gives things proper dues (good fights, signings etc.) if they deserve it.

          “Or at least that’s how it comes across in your first post”

          -That would be a key problem. david’s not judging 45’s post singularly. There’s a reason some of this site’s commentary divulges into 45’s need to stick up for anything Zuffa.

          “Seems ridiculous that anyone would want any MMA organization to go under.”

          -45 has made it clear he would like one promotion.

          “I think that makes you a contrarian to automatically dislike anything UFC does, but at the same time like anything that can do harm to UFC.”

          -Problem is, that’s not what he does. He’s pretty even spouting vitriol, or giving praise to Zuffa and other promotions.

          “No company outside of UFC is blazing trails all over the World, no one else is raising awareness and changing people perception of the sport outside of N.America, other than the UFC. It just seems stupid to want UFC to go under when they are directly responsible for you, me, and anyone else who currently enjoys watching MMA.”

          Oh, ok. So you take the talking points from the promotional literally. You probably still think that MMA is growing more than it ever has too, I’m guessing.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Here is what happens….

          1) “Competitor” to UFC arises.

          2) Hardcore fans get behind it. Say it will help the sport.

          3) I make fun of them and tell them why the “competitor” will go out of business.

          4) I am called a UFC shill….

          5) “Competitor” has tiny amounts of success while going on their downward slope. I get made fun of.

          6) Stories slowly come out about demise of “competitor”. Everybody gets on the bandwagon.

          7) “Competitor” either gets bought out by the UFC or goes out of business.

          8) Fighters end up having long wait between fights which is bad for the sport.

          9) I am right once again.

          Now, instead of the word “competitor” you can put any of the following companies in there…. WFA, IFL, Affliction, EliteXC, Strikeforce, DREAM…. the list goes on and on….

          I’m just helping you face reality sooner…. And everytime, the MMA Hipsters resist!!

        • nottheface says:

          It’s amazing how the fandom for MMA promotions eclipses the fighters. It’s as if the UFC was the WWF, the Yankees, or the Cowboys. Either you 100% support them as the greatest thing ever, or you despise them as being in league with the devil. The lack of middle ground in people’s analysis is revealing.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Since the vast majority of sports fans around the world cheer for a specific team…. This would make sense.

          It is weird to cheer for individual players.

        • The Gaijin says:

          “It is weird to cheer for individual players.”

          Tennis? Golf? Boxing? NASCAR?

          Does ANYONE “cheer” for Top Rank, Golden Boy or Goosen Tudor??…

        • Jay B says:

          LOL That last thing was ridiculous Huddle, weird to cheer for individuals? UFC isnt a team concept anyways.

  7. Mr. K says:

    UFC Huddle you have already made a complete fool out of yourself regarding the ratings as you were completely WRONG on your predictions and have been calling for the collapse of Bellator for several years now. Stop being bitter and just let it go.

    Bellator Season 8 TV Ratings
    Bellator 85: 938,000
    Bellator 86: 812,000
    Bellator 87: 705,000
    Bellator 88: 807,000

    • 45 Huddle says:

      I was actually right in predicting the ratings for a few of the shows.

      And as has been discussed many times before, Viacom saved Bellator…. It is the only reason it is still around. Not because of any success Bellator had.

      Bellator has yet to prove it can bring in solid ratings for SpikeTV….

      I still stand by my prediction of Bellator going away in a few years. It is a much more sound prediction then the people who think Bellator will be a competitor to the UFC….

      • Mr. K says:

        “I still stand by my prediction of Bellator going away in a few years.”

        You have already been saying it for a few years. When does the timespan of your faulty prediction end?

  8. Mr. K says:

    “pikeTV will be out of the MMA business the second the ratings go down or they get bored with it.”

    Bellator is doing everything the right way building from one deal to the next. Viacom is committed to building this new brand on Spike and reality program is only going to help. UFC finally has a real competitor again in American MMA.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      If SpikeTV was committed to MMA, they would have stuck with the UFC….

      • Jay B says:

        Or could it be that UFC just found a better deal and Spike moved on. There is a committment to MMA on Spike obviously. Or else another competitor wouldnt be there. So just say “Spike didnt commit to UFC”

  9. edub says:

    Oh, 45 you had a decent couple of months. You seemed even minded towards Zuffa and other entities. Now, as soon as another promotion picks up steam and a fighter seems to “win” against Zuffa in any type of regard you’re back on your soap box.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Um no…. I still speak out when Zuffa does something bad.

      Right now that worse offender in the sport is the way Bellator is treating Eddie Alvarez….

      Hence the sh!tting on Bellator.

      Sorry to interupt your theory with facts….

      • nottheface says:

        I’m not a fan of the current Alvarez situation, but I am curious to know if you were equally upset that Tito sat out a year ot get around his 12-month matching clause or that Roger Huerta almost had to do the same?

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Huerta was offered a fight and declined. That’s a fact some people like to ignore.

          Ortiz has always resigned with the UFC. He has been the one playing games for the most part.

        • nottheface says:

          It’s also a fact that it has nothing to do with what I asked. Huerta’s contract ended at the end of 2009 with the UFC but he waited 6-months before accepting an offer. The UFC matching clause played a big part as to why it took 6 months to sign.

          As for your red herring, It should also be noted that Heurta did indeed turn down a fight in Jan 2009, during a time of personal problems (problems that I’ve been told the UFC were aware of) and then he had to waited 9 months, before they submitted a second fight to him, even after he basically begged for one.

          But hey, you tell it like it is.

  10. The Judge says:

    “Here is what happens…”

    Sun comes out in the morning. The oracle correctly predicts it will come down at night. Sun goes down at night. The oracle thinks he is a genius. Nobody else does. They just wish it stayed up a little longer, because you know, it provides a possible alternative to the darkness.

    • 45 Hudle says:

      No where in sports does a sub group of “fans” hope for the biggest organization in their sport to have less top talent. Only in the world of MMA…

      I would say my viewpoint is not the problem here.

      • The Judge says:

        I don’t think so. Not only are there are many things different between MMA and other sports that explain this, but the statement is not really true.

        1. The parallel comparison to team sports, for example, NFL, does not hold as so much talent would have to drain to create a watchable alternative circuit to make the scenario unlikely.
        2. Fans do wish for dominant organizations to face adversity so as to change their ways. Whenever NBA gets too ghetto, basketball followers are glad it’s not as popular so that changes in sport are implemented.
        3. Both WHA and AFL had a large amount of support among both people who followed the sport closely as well as casual fans as viable watchable underdog alternatives to the dominant organization.
        4. In pro wrestling, a sport which also features cards of one on one single competition with individuals that have alternatives as to whom they can be under contract to, the uh… sub groups…whatever that means… depending on their preference, cheer for either the top brand, WWE, or some other organization, TNA, ROH, before them, WCW or ECW, to have more top talent.
        5. I don’t know how things are in boxing, but I have never heard anybody say: “man, I’m glad Don King, Golden Boy, whoever, has all this talent locked up.
        6. In most sports, when a team has a large collection of talent, the fans actually start to cheer against them, “Real Madrid”, early 00s Lakers.
        7. Being the least established sport, as far as aged and format, among all sports with their share of popularity, many fans are naturally least uniformly in favor of UFC being the sole top dog than they are in other sports. If they grew up on a “UFC-only” era, it would be much more accepted.
        8. The era of competition, where neither top organization had all the top brnad talent in MMA would be Pride-UFC. Can you really tell me that during that era the quality of the sport suffered?
        9. If things fall out between, say, Anderson Silva or Jon Jones, it makes sense for fans to wish there was a viable alternative for him to go rather than for him to flounder in a third rate league, like MFC, where nobody could offer him any competition.
        10. Talent traffic is usually favorable for individual sports overall, creating fresh highly anticipated match-ups, like Nick-GSP, Fedor-Couture, Liddell-Rampage and Henderson-Melendez. WWE even at one point artificially created a division within its ranks to create this possibility.
        10. People complain about the NFL, NHL and every other top team sport organization I have ever followed all-tha time. With conspiracies, accusations, wishes things were different, etc.

        Now for me, things are simple. The problem is not really your viewpoint, in fact, I did not realize you were pro-UFC up until this thread. It’s that I don’t like a lot of things about UFC product and wish a different promotion would come to the forefront or that adversity would make them change their ways. Now, if you like Dana White’s reign of whim and terror, cards dominated by underweight fighters with no real punching power, grappling that gets broken up after a few seconds because trailer park trash is bored or because athletic commission insists fight must be divided into five-minute increments, then, yes, by all means, one should fully support the UFC.

      • RST says:

        “No where in sports does a sub group of “fans” hope for the biggest organization in their sport to have less top talent.”

        That can happen if you are a bigger fan of the sport then of an organization

        I dont watch other sports,
        but I’m pretty sure that most of them are regulated and ruled by commissions, contain multiple sub organizations/teams that create check and balances under the umbrella, athlete unions and what not

        Everybody isn’t bound by the arbitrary raging ego of one dizzy foulmouthed adult child

        The NFL doesn’t threaten to kick the entire raiders out of the league because one of their players didn’t sign over perpetual exclusive rights for their likeness to the NFL

        UFC is good for the sport,
        but ONLY UFC isn’t

        At least not in ts current form IMO

        I’m hoping that UFC will continue to evolve
        I think the “official” rankings are a positive move

        But what if it doesn’t?
        What if UFC gets worse?
        Then I dont want the sport of MMA held back by being exclusively tied to it

      • Megatherium says:

        Also, congratulations are in order to Czar Dana for ducking the Ronda/Cyborg fight. Way to make it not happen Dana! This is what is so great about the Zuffa monopoly. You know, all the big matchups, great fights etc.

        Rock on bro!!

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Fans can’t even get mad at him for fights not happening between fighters in the same weight class anymore. So now they are reduced to complaining about fighters from different weight classes not fighting each other. It is grasping at straws….

  11. Mr. K says:

    @SBNLukeThomas: Bellator 89 ratings: 719k. Replay 313k. I have no numbers for adult or male demos. Cume: 1.032 mill.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      The target demographic was so low it didn’t get in the Top 100 for that days cable shows. That is not good. Which is why Thomas doesn’t have that demo number…. It wasn’t posted online and he probably just takes his stuff from other websites. The 100th most watched show in the demographic did a .2…. Which means Bellator did that or worse. They are not hitting the same demographic the UFC hits…. Which is what makes the UFC’s content so valuable.

      The replay numbers don’t mean anything. Half of those viewers are probably people who never changed the channel. So that 1 Million number is counting some fans twice….

      Since the first show, Bellator has averaged 760,000 fans. They have gained no traction and have not built up anything really.

      The biggest issue is that Bellator is losing over half of the TNA lead-in. TNA did 1.3 Million. Half of that is 650,000. Any MMA on cable will get 100k to 200k fans coming in to watch it. So if Bellator is only getting slightly over 700,000….. They are not retaining enough of the lead-in.

      The reality show is the next indicator…. If the show can’t do good numbers…. It isn’t going to be sitting pretty for Bellator…. No good demographic numbers, can’t retain the lead-in, and are not creating stars so far…. yikes!

      • Jay B says:

        None of what you wrote is true about TNA or Bellator. TNA does not average that much and just barely got back to 1.3 total on a recent episode.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Last 3 weeks of TNA….

          2/14 – 1.3 Million
          2/7 – 1.4 Million
          1/31 – 1.58 Million

          So that number was low for TNA based on what they typically provide for a lead-in.

          The same trend has been happening basically every week…. Bellator averages slightly more then half of the TNA audience. Which means after they bring in some of the hardcore MMA fans, they are losing over half of the TNA audience overall.

          Bad sign.

  12. RST says:

    Matt Hughes in Vice President for fighter relations?!

    I like Matt Hughes in a respect kind of way,
    but I wouldn’t hang around with him

    He’s seems like a butthole

    Out of all the positions that they could have made up to give him something to do, thats seems like the thing that he’d be the least qualified for

    Whats he gonna do, make everybody stand there and listen to how much he doesn’t like showboating?

    Its probably another of zuffas petty little schemes to make dana not seem to be the biggest jerkhole in the office

    Bad cop/even worse cop

    AND of course also for dana to childishly lash out as usual at Randy or anyone who doesn’t drop to their knees and shine his shoes

  13. The Judge says:

    “complaining about fighters from different weight classes not fighting each other”

    That attitude would make sense if Dana White said: “I am not interested in Rousey and Cyborg fighting each other, because they are in different divisions.” As however, he said the exact opposite, the criticism of “they should fight each other, in spite of being in different divisions” is a criticism of Zuffa’s position as well.

  14. 45 Huddle says:

    Dana White said during the post fight press conference that fighters are using TRT at very high levels and then coming down right before a fight…. At least he thinks so….

    So if a fighter wants to take TRT, they are going to start testing them throughout their camps.

    This HAS TO BE DONE!! It is the only way TRT should be okay in MMA.

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