Cofield: UFC & Randy Couture working together again
By Zach Arnold | September 1, 2008
Report here. Couture vs. Lesnar at UFC 91 in November in Portland is now likely. Couture has a gym about 10 minutes from Portland in Vancouver, Washington.
If Steve Cofield is right and we assume that Couture signed a multi-fight deal with UFC, then there are a lot of losers coming out of this situation.
- Couture’s image, no doubt, takes a hit. He had a chance to fight ‘the man’ (UFC) and open up new legal possibilities for fighters, and in the end he took the money and cut his losses. It doesn’t make Couture ‘Mr. Evil’; it just makes him out to be the same as any other fighter in MMA. Dana White has good reason to be confident in stating that there will never be a union or fighter’s association in MMA.
- Second, Mark Cuban was reportedly helping out Couture with legal costs. What does he get out of it now?
- Third, Affliction could be facing the prospects of not being able to book Couture vs. Fedor in their ring. You would have to assume that booking Couture vs. Fedor was going to be a major part of their business plan. After all, the two men shook hands at Affliction’s debut event in Anaheim.
- Unless Fedor agrees to fight the winner of Arlovski vs. Barnett (10/11 Las Vegas), WAMMA has to be prepared to strip the Russian of his title belt if he goes to UFC. Dana White will not allow any mentions of WAMMA whatsoever or even have that belt shown on PPV or TV.
- Out of all of the fighters in the MMA business, Randy Couture was in the best position to challenge parts of UFC’s somewhat controversial fighter contracts in regards to the clauses inserted into them. Now that Couture reportedly is back in the UFC fold, UFC will be able to breathe a big sigh of relief that none of the contractual provisions they make fighters sign (e.g. the retirement clause, the champion’s clause) will face a legal challenge any time soon.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 88 card line-up
By Zach Arnold | September 1, 2008
- Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
- Jason Lambert vs. Jason MacDonald
- Dong Hyun-Kim vs. Matt Brown
- Tim Boetsch vs. Michael Patt
- Thiago Tavares vs. Kurt Pellegrino
- Martin Kampmann vs. Nathan Marquardt
- Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares
- Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
- Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill
- Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: Rampage to fight on 12/27 (UFC 92) Vegas card
By Zach Arnold | September 1, 2008
“I’ve heard he’ll be facing Wanderlei or Shogun but either way, revenge is the dish that’ll be served up on the night!
“I’m sure whoever he gets in December, everyone at the Wolfslair will be behind him 100 per cent and fingers crossed he’ll get his revenge.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Next round in Zuffa vs. Couture court case
By Zach Arnold | August 31, 2008
This Thursday (9/4), with Randy Couture’s legal counsel asking for a jury trial. This is something that Zuffa has been fighting.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Barry Melrose endears himself to the MMA audience
By Zach Arnold | August 31, 2008
America’s favorite TV hockey personality tells it like it is about the state of the NHL:
I think toughness is leaving our game, and I hope that people realize it’s wrong. I hate to mention this, but the fastest growing sport in the world is ultimate fighting. We’ve got that as part of our game. To act ashamed of that has been wrong of the NHL for a lot of years. You can say you don’t like fighting or you love fighting, but it creates conversation. It creates energy and excitement.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Fight Opinion Radio #89: The state of MMA outside UFC
By Zach Arnold | August 30, 2008
Consider this a group therapy session, as we spend this week’s show trying to figure out what the landscape of the MMA business is outside of UFC. Warning: You may get very depressed and fast. We discuss virtually every issue on the table and also talk about which newcomers to the sport have ‘superstar’ potential to perhaps transform or dominate the industry in the years to come.
Special thanks to Caleb of The Fightworks Podcast.
The 89th edition of Fight Opinion Radio is now online and available to download. Download this week’s show here.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Affliction, DREAM, Fight Opinion Radio, Media, MMA, podcasts, Pro Elite, Sengoku, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Article of the Day – NY Times
By Zach Arnold | August 30, 2008
Ultimate Branding. I’m bored out of my mind, too. Work with me here.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: WEC down to four weight classes
By Zach Arnold | August 29, 2008
From the office of Kevin Iole:
Zuffa’s decision to trim the WEC from six divisions (light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight) to four by folding its light heavyweight and middleweight divisions into the UFC, however, will make it that much harder to fill cards.
That’s particularly true given White’s plan to add pay-per-view shows to the WEC’s offerings, perhaps as early as May.
I love WEC. However, WEC PPVs at this time = no buys.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WEC, Zach Arnold | 23 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Rampage Jackson media circus at court
By Zach Arnold | August 28, 2008
Mr. Jackson plead not guilty today to the charges he is facing. Naturally, Rampage is now doing a media tour to rehabilitate his image publicly.
Sports Illustrated’s Ben Fowlkes is not impressed at all:
It’s not that I can’t understand the collective desire of the UFC and Jackson himself to put this incident behind them. But in order to do that, Jackson needs to take responsibility, and the UFC needs to deal with it head-on. Ascribing the whole thing to illness or delirium downplays Jackson’s role in his own unraveling, as well as the possibility that something more serious could be going on with him. It’s not as if he caught the flu and was running a high fever when he crashed into a parked car on his way to the pharmacy. That would be a case of blameless illness.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Why Quinton Jackson was lucky to avoid any further criminal charges…
By Zach Arnold | August 27, 2008
… D.A.: Loss of fetus not from crash
Speaking of incidents involving a car, here is a sad story about a young fighter who tried to jump from his car.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
IFL 10Q report (8/27/08)
By Zach Arnold | August 27, 2008
No real surprises in today’s filing. The main reason I was interested in reading the document was to see if the IFL had indeed sold its assets to Zuffa LLC. I saw no mention of this at all in the filing.
Basic financial stats at hand from the filing:
- Accumulated deficit as of 6/30/08: $35.7 million USD (deficit was $30.9 million USD on 12/31/07), $1 million USD in cash available
- First six months of 2008: $1.2 million USD in revenue, cost of revenue was $2.7 million USD, net loss of $4.75 million USD
- The company is down to four employees.
- IFL ended up with $20,000 per show on FSN, $140,000 TV rights revenue so far this year for the deal
And then there is this:
As of June 30, 2008, the Company’s operating subsidiary, IFL Corp., was a party to seven coach agreements or team manager agreements. The Company reached an agreement with one of these coaches to terminate his agreement subsequent to June 30, 2008, pursuant to which IFL Corp. paid $10,000 and all parties were granted releases of further obligations to each other. The six remaining agreements have termination dates ranging from December 31, 2008 to January 2, 2013. The total remaining payment obligation of IFL Corp. under these agreements is $1,208,000. These agreements provide for semi-monthly payments, and IFL Corp. has not made payments on these agreements since June 15, 2008 as a result of the cancellation of its MMA events and its financial situation. IFL Corp. has been in discussions with the coaches about a termination and settlement of these agreements but has not yet been able to reach an agreement with the coaches. The financial statements reflect an accrual of payments due under these contracts through June 30, 2008.
Put the IFL implosion into perspective. They have an accumulated deficit of $35.7 million USD. Pro Elite, in comparison, has a $55 million USD deficit and was in business for less time than the IFL. One company gets lampooned while the other company gets somewhat lampooned but also occasional reprieves from the media in coverage of the company’s finances.
Topics: IFL, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
A lot of nervousness right now
By Zach Arnold | August 27, 2008
So, I’m writing an article that will be posted soon at MMA Memories talking about the state of the MMA industry. Nobody has ever accused me of being Mr. Sunshine, but I can’t recall a more perilous situation for MMA organizations outside of Zuffa LLC as I can right now at this moment.
A lot of people could find themselves unemployed very shortly. In fact, the theme of the article I’m writing revolves around the possibility that five promotions could be out of business within the next 12-18 months. When you consider that Elite XC has basically (in my opinion) killed off several promotions with their failed attempt at a farm system, the damage done to the MMA industry is widespread and global. Money marks aren’t just going to suddenly pop up and prop up this high-risk business.
My greatest fear is that the MMA boom is dying and that the business in the next year will resemble what professional wrestling looks like right now with WWE as the only major player. Dana White can continue to say that UFC will be the biggest global sport within the next 8 years, but history indicates that UFC will be dominant… however, only in a WWE-type mold and not anything else. That’s great for UFC and probably simpler for your casual MMA fan who doesn’t want to get burned out with multiple promoters and garbage, money-losing shows getting booked. However, this is a terrible predicament for fighters and people inside the business who are trying to hang on for dear life and make a living.
Once the money starts drying up and UFC starts running out of slots to book fighters (they can’t act like Mother Theresa and hire everyone), the big question will then become: can the industry grow? We’ve seen a trend of amateur wrestlers and athletes, who used to choose professional wrestling, instead make the transition to MMA because of how much money is at stake and how much less punishment your body takes as an MMA fighter as opposed to being a professional wrestler. However, once the money starts drying up in MMA, so will the sport’s growth. And that’s a major problem.
I’m concerned about where the business is heading, due in large part to the irresponsible and selfish actions of money marks and hustlers who have torched the business. They got their cut of the pie and left everyone else to clean up their mess. Unfortunately, the pie is starting to shrink while the messes needing to be cleaned up will grow voluminously.
(For the record, Japan is in worse shape right now than America in terms of the fight game. Really bad shape.)
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Screaming Rampage media headlines, plus Hamill & GSP get ready for their upcoming big fights
By Zach Arnold | August 26, 2008
The city of Utica (New York) gave Matt Hamill a big sendoff, as he gets ready to face Rich Franklin in Atlanta on September 6th.
All the screaming headlines you want about Rampage are here and here.
Here’s some news regarding Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn II being booked for January 31st in Las Vegas.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |