XARM Heavyweight Tournament
By Zach Arnold | November 20, 2008
Click on the image to watch the greatest spectacle known to mankind. Hint: AN ILLEGAL ARMBAR that must be stopped by a judge.
Topics: Media, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Audio: UFC’s Dana White loses it during Sacramento radio interview
By Zach Arnold | November 20, 2008
UFC President now switching tactics and public stance with Jon Fitch?
Remember what Kevin Iole quoted Dana White as saying about Jon Fitch?
“Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”
Yep. Now, check out this radio interview that White did on Wednesday night:
“It doesn’t have to do with Jon Fitch either,” continued White. “I like Jon Fitch. I’ve never had a bad word with Jon Fitch. The problem is with the idiots that run AKA. I won’t use any names; the idiots know who they are.”
But in expressing a big picture concern that extends beyond Fitch, White began to introduce the current state of the economy as a reason why he doesn’t understand why fighters are more agreeable to terms of deals that are being presented.
I think it’s fair to say that White didn’t expect AKA’s representation to say anything other than ‘yes sir’ to him on any business deal, and like the schoolyard bully… once you punch the bully in the mouth, the bully isn’t so tough any more.
“It’s like all the media wants to jump up and go ‘Oh the UFC! The UFC!” Shut up! Shut up. Every one of you shut your mouth. Mind your business. Here’s the deal: the reality is we’re working our asses off to make this thing bigger and better for everybody. The world is a very dangerous place right now with this economy.”
Naturally, one would not think that Dana White would be losing any sleep over Jon Fitch. The sales of UFC’s upcoming video game will not be determined by whether or not Jon Fitch is in the game in the first place.
There is something remarkable to be said here about Dana White and the statements he’s made the past couple of months. Here is a man coming off of a PPV weekend that did $4.8 million USD at the gate in Las Vegas (currently a ghost town), with a brand new UFC Heavyweight champion in Brock Lesnar who the media loves, and Randy Couture (who got into a protracted legal battle with Zuffa) got beat.
If you buy all the media spin coming out of this weekend’s event, how could things be bad in the world of UFC? After all, several media outlets were blushing about how UFC was having great business success when no one else is during this current economic down cycle.
What is it that has set White off? Is it the mediocre TV ratings that The Ultimate Fighter is drawing right now on Spike TV? Is it the report by Dave Meltzer that UFC 90 (Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote) did an estimated 300,000 PPV buys? Is the cause of stress the big amount of money that Station Casinos currently lost in Q3 ’08? Is it financial trouble due to the outstanding loans/revolving line of credit that Zuffa took out to finance their massive expansion operation into Europe? Is Dana as paranoid as Vince McMahon is right now and scared to death that Fitch may open up the flood gates for other fighters to challenge UFC’s authority?
Excuses, excuses
The sad part about Dana White’s media blowback towards Jon Fitch is that he’s falling into the same trap that he’s mocked Bob Arum for falling into the past. “The economy is bad,” “agents are bad,” “they don’t want to be our partners.”
The rationale that the UFC President gives about how fighters or agents who don’t agree with what he says are not ‘his partners’ is amusing. You want your fighters to be your ‘partners’? Give them an ownership stake in Zuffa LLC. That’s how you can make them a business partner. Want to pay them to fight for you only? Then financially treat them as an employee and not as an independent contractor.
This situation is sad because it seems like such a self-inflicted wound on the part of UFC management. Who knew that mild-mannered Jon Fitch would cause the UFC President to freak out in a similar manner to when he faced a labor dispute with Randy Couture?
In a USA Today interview, White is back at it attacking ‘agents’ in the business:
And you know what? This is more than just AKA. There’s other camps out there that we’re having trouble doing business with. And at the end of the day, this is a business. We run a business just like any other business. You come in, you do your job with your company and you get paid.
And the guys that don’t want to do business with you — then go work somewhere else. It’s as easy as that. You don’t have to do business with us. There’s other people out there you can do it with.
So, White is not only railing against agents, he’s publicly laying down a marker against other fight teams by essentially saying to not fight with him on business deals.
A non-exclusive merchandising deal?
Is this an attempt to muddy the waters by Dana White?
No, no. There’s no lifetime deal on merchandising. The merchandising deal is non-exclusive. They can go out and do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it. with whoever they want to, and we haven’t pressured anyone to sign that thing. That merchandise deal was an offer — at the end of the day, we’re trying to come up with new ways to make more money for us and for the fighters. That’s what that deal was for.
Up until this point, every media reporter (both pro-UFC and anti-UFC) has basically claimed that the merchandising agreements call for for a fighter to give up their image/likeness for in perpetuity, meaning never-ending. Is White telling the truth here or not?
Robert Joyner at MMA Payout sums up Dana White’s latest actions in one word: brazen. If the Elite XC debacle managed to bring agents like Monte Cox and Ken Pavia together, then I wonder what kind of unity will (or will not) be fostered based on White’s actions.
UFC caught in a shell game with THQ?
Sam Caplan is reporting that UFC is dealing with some issues with THQ involving exclusive rights to all their fighters in terms of image rights and likenesses:
It appears that the UFC may have gotten itself into a bit of a predicament as sources indicate that THQ, who is producing promotion’s upcoming video game release “UFC Undisputed 2009,” operated under the auspices that they had exclusive rights to the likenesses of all fighters on the UFC roster. Five Ounces of Pain has been informed that THQ was none too pleased upon learning that rival Electronic Arts has commenced work on an MMA game of its own and that plans are in motion to involve a great deal of recognizable fighters. The sources have indicated that in addition to names such as Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, and Frank Shamrock that known UFC fighters could potentially be featured as well.
The fact that THQ had been promised exclusive access to the likeness of the entire UFC roster when the UFC wasn’t in a position to make such an assurance is believed to be a reason why the promotion has acted in haste in regards to demanding its fighters sign over their likenesses for “Undisputed.”
Previous posts:
- Flashback: Rob Maysey talks about Zuffa’s new marketing rights agreement
- Report: Jon Fitch released by UFC
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 77 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Pro Elite SEC statement on relations with Showtime, possible new financial backers
By Zach Arnold | November 20, 2008
On November 13, 2008, the Company received correspondence from CBS Corporation, on behalf of Showtime Networks, Inc. (Showtime), that the sale of assets of ProElite, Inc. and its subsidiaries originally scheduled for November 17, 2008 has been adjourned for no less than two weeks from that date. The correspondence also confirmed that Showtime will provide the Company with notice of intention to schedule a sale of assets.
While the Company believes that Showtime had no right to schedule the asset sale, the Company is continuing discussions with potential strategic investors to secure financing sufficient to cure any possible default under the Showtime loan agreements. However, there is no assurance as to whether any such financing will be available or available on reasonable terms.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Flashback: Rob Maysey talks about Zuffa’s new marketing rights agreement
By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2008
This is why we have a radio show. On June 26th of this year, we had Rob Maysey on as our special guest to talk about UFC’s new marketing rights agreement. (Listen to the interview here.) Get on board and check out the show if you don’t have it already saved on your computer. Start at the 13 minute mark of the radio show to hear the interview.
We will update this post throughout the day on Thursday with links to what others on the Internet and in the general sports media have to say about Jon Fitch and others from American Kickboxing Academy getting cut by UFC President Dana White.
Rob Maysey articles:
- Billion-dollar UFC enters merchandising in big way: Good Deal For Fighters?
- UFC Increases Pressure — Contacting Fighters Directly
MMA Payout articles:
Media Reaction:
- Bloody Elbow – Why Zuffa needs competition
- AOL Fanhouse – Jon Fitch comments during Hardcore Sports radio interview
- Steve Barry – Refuse to give up lifetime video game rights? The UFC cuts you. Ask Jon Fitch.
- Total MMA – Fighting is a Tough Business: Fitch looking for work
- Sherdog – Jon Fitch comments on release
- Sam Caplan – For an agency to alienate themselves from the UFC is considered to be an act of suicide
- Danny Acosta: UFC’s Epic Fail
- Michael David Smith – Just which fighters have leverage in UFC?
- Josh Gross (SI) – No signature, no fighting
- Fightlinker – Black Wednesday
- Josh Stein – The Fitch/White debacle: abject failure
MMA Weekly – Jon Fitch interview
The American Kickboxing Academy welterweight standout explained that the situation for the urgency of the contract from the UFC might have stemmed from another company, EA Sports, putting out an MMA video game of its own. Apparently the UFC had promised all of its fighters exclusively to THQ, the makers of the upcoming UFC Undisputed 2009 game scheduled for release in spring of 2009.
“We were already promised to THQ by the UFC, even though none of us were under contract (for that), in order to save face, they had to force us to sign this thing,” he explained.
Eurosport – Swick ‘to avoid pals’
Mike Swick has told Eurosport-Yahoo! he can see a bright future in the UFC welterweight division – despite his plans to avoid fights against team-mates Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch.
And as for potential fights against buddies Koscheck and Fitch?
“I fight them every day – and for free,” Swick joked. “I would not want to have to fight them. There are so many guys in this division, I am sure we will have plenty of competition without fighting each other.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: Jon Fitch released by UFC
By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2008
And the reasoning has nothing to do with his fighting ability, either:
Former number one UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was today handed his walking papers for refusing to sign an agreement that would give the promotion exclusive lifetime video game rights to his name and likeness, MMAmania.com can exclusively confirm.
My first reaction: UFC wouldn’t be so willing to do this move if they didn’t think that Jake Shields would soon become available on the open market.
My second reaction: This situation reminds me a lot of the lawsuit that famous poker players filed against the World Poker Tour.
My third reaction: This is pretty abhorrent behavior, in my opinion, on the part of UFC. Yes, the 170 pound division has a lot of talent. I realize that Fitch was outclassed by St. Pierre in Minnesota last August, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he’s a decent fighter to have on the roster. Remember, this latest business dispute with UFC is not the first time Fitch has encountered anger from the powers-that-be — he was also going to be sponsored for a fight by MMA Mania and UFC supposedly put the squash on that.
Here’s hoping that Jon Fitch can find himself booked in Japan very shortly. I think he was vastly underutilized by UFC.
There is a part of me that is wondering… why is UFC so hard up on the licensing rights agreement issue right now? Are they in that much need of a revenue stream? It’s not as if Jon Fitch being in the video game would make or break sales of it. So, I wonder if there’s another motive at work here…
Luke Thomas has some thoughts on this developing story. I’m sure that Rob Maysey will also have some thoughts to share on this situation soon.
Update: Dave Meltzer reports that other stars like Cain Velasquez and Josh Koscheck could get cut very soon.
While there will be some who attack agent Bob Cook for telling his fighters not to sign the ‘lifetime’ rights give-away deal by UFC, let me be the first to stand up and applaud Cook for doing his job. He’s trying to represent his fighters as best as he possibly can. We can’t complain about piss-poor representation in the sport and then, when fighters do get legitimate agents who look out for their clients, suddenly complain about fighters being ‘greedy.’ The situation UFC seems to be creating for themselves, in my opinion, is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
There’s little upside for UFC to cut guys like Jon Fitch or Cain Velasquez over this situation, considering what the company currently pays for them per fight. This situation will ensure negative media attention and probably take away a fair amount of good-will that was earned in the major sports media over the weekend with Brock Lesnar’s title win. No other ‘major sport’ has issues like this, but then again most other ‘major sports’ have players associations/unions.
So much for those upcoming ‘legendary’ Brock Lesnar/Cain Velasquez fights.
Update II: From UFC-friendly Kevin Iole… Dana White says he doesn’t want to do business with any fighters associated with American Kickboxing Academy any longer.
“Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”
Now, this is a Vince McMahon-style promo. However, check out this gem from Iole’s article:
Zinkin also represents UFC light heavyweight Chuck Liddell, though Liddell does not fight for AKA. White said he has been “beefing with Zinkin for years” and said he had to call Liddell, one of his closest friends, and tell him to get Zinkin to back off.
Shocking – just shocking – that a fight promoter would allegedly tell a fighter to tell his agent to stop being ‘a bully.’ Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
I find it rich that Dana White is now playing: the victim card, the economy-sucks card (a few days after a $4.8 million USD gate in Las Vegas and claims of 1.2 million PPV buys), the you-with-me-or-against-me card, and now the we-want-all-your-likenesses-for-life-you-independent-contractor card. It would be a shame if UFC and WWE had to face a world where they lost a battle in court with fighters challenging their independent contractor status, wouldn’t it?
One other thought… this story gives the anti-MMA people in New York some ammunition now to cause UFC problems in terms of getting MMA legalized in the state.
Michael Rome has more details on the purported agreement Zuffa wanted Fitch to sign.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 53 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC, Dana White, Brock Lesnar dominate media headlines again
By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2008
The Toronto Sun: UFC bustin’ down the door (an effort to get MMA legalized in Ontario)
t marked, according to White, an acknowledgement of the fan base for the sport in these parts and a launching point from where he intends to put the boots to the powers that be that deny his sport its legitimacy.
“I’m going to move here, I’m going to live here until it’s done,” White enthused. “I’m going to be sitting on their porch every day.
“There’s no reason for Canada (outside of Montreal) not to accept this sport. I don’t know how we can be denied. Toronto is like the mecca (of the sport).”
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Press Release: UFC Creator Art Davie and RipeTV Launch XARM, First Combat Sport for the Digital Age
By Zach Arnold | November 18, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Nov 18, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — RipeTV.com, the web’s top destination for short-form video entertainment for men 18-34, teams with UFC creator Art Davie to debut an entirely new sport, created for the digital platform: the first-ever XARM Heavyweight Tournament on November 19, 2008.
The XARM tournament, consisting of 10 fighters, combines arm wrestling with contact sports like boxing and martial arts. The first competition takes place in San Bernardino, CA. The winner of the Heavyweight Tournament will earn the title of “XARM Heavyweight Champion” and the top prize of $10,000.
“In XARM, there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide once you step up to the table. It’s hard-core hand-to-hand combat.” said Art Davie, CEO of XARM and creator of Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC). “The action is tremendous. This is the most intense 3 minutes in sports.”
“It’s action, it’s entertaining, it’s real,” said Ryan Magnussen, CEO of Ripe Digital Entertainment. “We know our audience will love this show and advertisers will benefit from the viewer interest and expected viral pass through.”
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Videos: UFC 94 BJ Penn/Georges St. Pierre promotional tour (Toronto)
By Zach Arnold | November 18, 2008
Today in Toronto. The video is divided into four separate clips:
At the press conference, Dana White said that he’s interested in bringing in Gina Carano to WEC.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Video: A tribute to Brock Lesnar
By Zach Arnold | November 18, 2008
Someone actually took the time to make a five minute-long video in honor of Brock Lesnar’s MMA career. A meteoric career rise, indeed.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Sanae Kikuta booked for Sengoku 1/4 Saitama event
By Zach Arnold | November 17, 2008
On a marketing and interest level, this is not an appealing main-event match. It is an even stranger booking decision when you consider the following:
Kikuta last fought in June against Chris Rice on the Sengoku 3 show. Yet, he is ‘rewarded’ with the main event slot against Yoshida? When this fight happens, it will be Kikuta’s third fight in the last two years.
Further compounding the absurdity is Takanori Gomi facing Satoru Kitaoka in a top slot on the same card, right after Gomi lost to Sergey Golyaev in a lackluster display of fighting spirit on the same 11/1 Saitama show.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
More media and boxing reaction to Dana White & UFC 91
By Zach Arnold | November 17, 2008
ESPN’s Page 2 has a fascinating article profiling what it is like to be with Dana White backstage while UFC 91 is taking place. Compare and contrast White’s behavior to that of Vince McMahon.
Meanwhile, it seems some people in boxing are not happy about UFC 91’s success and are taking shots at MMA:
“When I see stuff like that, it looks like nothing more than a tough man contest,” said Todd duBoef, president of boxing promotion company Top Rank, who attended the Lesnar-Couture fight. “There’s no way it’s safer than boxing.”
Jeff Marek (formerly of Live Audio Wrestling and now with CBC Sports) is buying the Brock Lesnar experiment in a big way.
Monte Cox, meanwhile, is bullish on Jake Shields coming to UFC very soon.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 25 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Pro Elite Form NT 10-Q SEC Filing
By Zach Arnold | November 17, 2008
Full text and information here:
The Company has spent and continues to spend significant time and resources in discussions with Showtime Networks, Inc. (Showtime) and CBS Corp. related to Showtime’s Senior Secured Note Payable and other debt owed to Showtime and exploring other financing transactions. While the Company has had laid offs, including employees involved in accounting and financial reporting, remaining management continues to work to secure financial transactions to enable to the Company to continue. Due to the Company’s limited resources and dedication of those resources to discussions with Showtime, CBS Corp. and other parties, the Company is unable to complete the consolidated financial reporting needed to file our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2008 with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the deadline without unreasonable effort and expense. Until the aforementioned items are resolved, the Company cannot determine the proper basis of accounting for its financial statements. Therefore, the Company requests additional time to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2008. The Company cannot currently offer guidance as to when it expects to file its Quarterly Report.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media reaction to Brock Lesnar winning UFC Heavyweight Title
By Zach Arnold | November 17, 2008
I just wanted to thank everyone for coming to the site this weekend, as site activity this past week matched levels seen… last July, when there was a flurry of activity between UFC & Affliction. I notice that nobody complains about our server any more! If you have a few bucks and would like to donate to help pay for our server costs, please click here and donate. Thank you.
Arash Markazi (SI): UFC’s Dana White can rest easy — Lesnar more than lived up to the hype
If this was pro wrestling, this would have been the equivalent of Hulk Hogan dropping the title to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI before Hogan went off to enjoy a semi-retirement and film some straight-to-video movie. White, of course, is hoping that Lesnar fairs better with the passed torch than the Warrior did.
Franklin McNeil (ESPN): Despite impressive win, Lesnar still a work in progress
The Sweet Science: Brock Lesnar, MMA’s real-life punisher, KOs Randy Couture
The matchup was billed as the biggest in MMA history and is expected to become the sport’s highest-grossing event by making a projected 1.2 million pay-per-view sales. The event failed to break the gate record, but UFC President Dana White says the sagging economy is to blame.
“It was a very successful event tonight, just shy of a sell-out, but it’s $4.8 million at the gate,” he revealed. “Obviously in this economy that’s considered a home run for us.”
George Willis (NY Post): UFC makes Vegas sparkle
It’s a dreary picture in Las Vegas these days. The economy is taking its toll with fewer and fewer visitors leaving fewer and fewer dollars. Gaming stocks are plunging, layoffs have been massive. A cabbie told me, “Vegas has turned into a ghost town.” Not since post 9/11 has it been this bad.
Yet, Vegas looked like its old-self Saturday night. The MGM Grand was packed with customers, and a big-fight feel engulfed the Strip. Walk from the MGM to Caesar’s and all your saw were UFC T-shirts and hats. A big event was in town, all of it courtesy of the UFC. A crowd of 14,272 packed the MGM Grand Garden Arena, generating a gate of $4.8 million, and leaving millions more at the gaming tables, restaurants and clubs. Love it or hate, the UFC is a money-making machine even during the worst economic crisis in recent history. The phenomenon continues.
And for your viewing pleasure…
Dana White’s latest YouTube vlog has gotten nearly 60,000 views in less than 36 hours.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |