Dave Meltzer: Ronda Rousey is the number five PPV draw in UFC
By Zach Arnold | March 5, 2013
A summary from a Sunday radio interview on Sherdog:
The early estimate for the UFC 157 PPV buy rate is in the 400,000-500,000 range, more or less in the middle of that range. Dave claims UFC budgeted itself for 250,000 PPV buys for the Anaheim Pond event, hoping that Ronda would draw around what the smaller fighters like Jose Aldo & Frankie Edgar draw. Drawing 250,000 PPV buys is fine, 300,000 is good, and 400,000 is very good.
“A big success” even though “it’s still Liz Carmouche in the main event.” Both women made north of $150,000 USD in terms of money from the fight.
When Dave first saw the original PPV barker ad for the UFC 157 show (the now infamous Rousey mean/smile combo ad), he said it hit him that it’s two girls fighting and that it wasn’t going to draw so well. The early ticket sales in Anaheim were around 4,000 sold for $600,000 at the gate. However, unlike normal UFC business trends, the event ended up sold out and had more momentum for the close.
While the amount of paid tickets sold and gate wasn’t as high as a typical big UFC show is concerned, there were a few reasons for this. The first reason is that Los Angeles/Anaheim is a very tough market for UFC to draw big numbers in. Second, “there was fear” when they put Ronda Rousey on top of the Anaheim Pond card. When the early indications showed slow ticket sales, “they had to be scared” that a ton of empty seats would have Ronda look like a flop to the masses. Over 7,000 tickets were sold in the last couple of weeks. The momentum for the fight surged greatly two weeks before the event and Ronda Rousey being a Southern California girl made it a big deal.
Dave thought the fight would draw 200,000-300,000 PPV buys tops, similar to what Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo draw. Instead, it drew much stronger numbers.
“She’s gonna be a good PPV draw.”
Dave claims that DirecTV is stating that no other UFC PPV show has ever sold more buys for the High Definition telecast than UFC 157 drew. The early web PPV buys UFC got for the show led them to think the show would draw 300,000 PPV buys but momentum grew and then they started feeling that the show could hit the 500,000 PPV buy mark.
The belief is that Ronda was able to attract a different kind of PPV audience — one more affluent and female. However, the live audience at the Anaheim Pond was still 80% guys and pretty much standard UFC event far.
Jack Encarnacao asked where Ronda Rousey ranks as a UFC PPV draw, given that she’s a bigger attraction than Frankie Edgar, Dan Henderson, Urijah Faber, and Ben Henderson. Dave said Rousey/Carmouche out-drew Anderson Silva/Stephan Bonnar and was parallel to the Jon Jones/Vitor Belfort fight. The fight had some novelty appeal and drew way more media coverage than any other UFC fight.
“I suspect Ronda (will be) no worse than the #5 draw in the company if she continues to win.” Dave says that one UFC company source believes Ronda can draw 700,000 PPV buys a fight if she continues her winning streak over the next year. Dave says it’s a “wait and see” situation regarding whether or not Ronda can regularly draw more than 400,000 PPV buys per fight. However, if she loses…
“Will the people stay with her when she’s lost once?”
Ranking UFC’s top 5 PPV attractions: Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Cain Velasquez, and Ronda Rousey. Each fighter appeals to a certain fan base. St. Pierre appeals to Canadians. Jones is the superstar, dynamic athletic. Anderson Silva attacts tons of Brazilian fans. Cain appeals to Hispanics. Ronda appeals to female fans and non-traditional UFC fans with cash to burn.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
In response to former manager, Mirko Cro Cop digs a deeper hole
By Zach Arnold | March 3, 2013
By: Brian J. D’Souza
During the last year, there have been reports from a variety of news outlets and publications that have revealed shocking new details regarding the fall of PRIDE FC. In February 2012, the debut episode of Spike TV’s MMA Uncensored aired a segment with an interview conducted by veteran MMA journalist Dan Herbertson that showcased Miro Mijatovic—former manager of Mirko Cro Cop and Fedor Emelianenko. Mijatovic revealed how his extortion by the yakuza led to the criminal investigation that had PRIDE pulled off of Fuji TV in 2006. Rick Wallace of The Weekend Australian Magazine produced a general-interest feature about Mijatovic’s involvement in the fight game that was published on December 8, 2012. Prior to this, lawyer and anti-yakuza crusader Toshiro Igari’s final book, dealing with Mijatovic’s management of Cro Cop and Fedor, and Mijatovic’s criminal complaint against DSE’s yakuza owners, was published posthumously following Igari’s death in August 2010.
More recently, I published Pound for Pound: The Modern Gladiators of Mixed Martial Arts, a book that chronicles the lives and careers of five men who I consider the greatest MMA fighters of all time, a list that includes Fedor Emelianenko. In order to promote the book, this week I did a two-part Q & A on Liverkick.com (Part 1, Part 2) with Miro Mijatovic where we discussed the career of Mirko Cro Cop.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE | 28 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC Japan 2013: Wanderlei Silva KOs Brian Stann
By Zach Arnold | March 2, 2013
A few notes heading into the show…
The publicity/marketing for this show has been about one man and that’s Wanderlei. In the newspapers, Brian Stann’s name is barely mentioned at all. Wanderlei has done an insane amount of PR work for the show. UFC management cannot discredit him for effort. He really, really cares about this possibly being his last fight in Japan.
More coverage for this UFC show than the 2012 edition, in large part due to Wanderlei being the headliner. His name still carries currency.
Zero talk about Yushin Okami. Very little talk for Takanori Gomi except that he would have a ‘surprise’ for Diego Sanchez. Diego had his issues making weight…
Show will air on WOWOW. Heard nothing about an over-the-air TV deal. Without a strong local MMA circuit, UFC’s task of getting on broadcast TV is that much harder.
- Hyun Gyu Lim defeatedMarcelo Guimaraes in R2 in 4’00 by KO (knee).
- Alex Caceres defeated Kyung Ho Kang after 3R by split decision.
- Kazuki Tokudome defeated Cristiano Marcello after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Takeya Mizugaki defeated Bryan Caraway after 3R by split decision.
- Brad Tavares defeated Riki Fukuda after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Dong Hyun-Kim defeated Siyar Bahadurzada after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Featherweights: Rani Yahya defeated Mizuto Hirota after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Middleweights: Yushin Okami defeated Hector Lombard after 3R by split decision.
- Diego Sanchez defeated Takanori Gomi after 3R by split decision.
- Mark Hunt defeated Stefan Struve in R3 in 1’44 by TKO (punches).
- Wanderlei Silva defeated Brian Stann in R2 in 4’08 by KO.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 29 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The union’s 2013 pushback to MMA legislation in New York
By Zach Arnold | March 1, 2013
Step one: Zuffa Investor Alerts, a new web site focusing on sponsors & Zuffa’s debt in running UFC. They try to stir the pot with this post about UFC & Deutsche Bank and ties Bellator into the matter.
Step two: the letter writing. Here’s a letter from Wednesday that was sent to Sheldon Silver, the main roadblock in the New York Assembly preventing MMA legislation from getting passed in the state.
The letter text:
February 27, 2013
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
Room 932
Legislative Office Building
Re: Statement Opposing Legalization of Cage Fighting in New York
Dear Assembly Speaker Silver:
We are writing to urge you to uphold the State of New York’s ban against professional cage fighting events, and to resist efforts by Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to bring these violent spectacles to New York.
In the wake of the tragic mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, it is unthinkable that lawmakers in any jurisdiction would risk exposing our children to an activity that involves extreme violence and brutality. (See our attachment for a detailed list of recent controversies and scandals associated with cage fighting.)
Cage fighting, also known as “ultimate fighting” and “mixed martial arts,” is sensationalized violence that has no place in civilized society. In these contests, fighters are allowed to knock each other unconscious through elbows, kicks and knees to the head; and to strangle each other to the point of passing out through choke holds. At least four cage fighters from the United States are reported to have died from injuries sustained during amateur or professional cage fights.
We are also deeply concerned that cage fighters have competed in public stadiums and on television bearing Neo-Nazi messages in tattoos and on clothing. The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote:
“Not surprisingly, this rapidly rising blood sport is likewise wildly popular among racist skinheads and other young extremists with a thirst for violence.”
These public displays of violence and hate are all the more troubling in light of the fact that cage fighting is being actively marketed to children. Today, children as young as seven years old are participating in cage fighting tournaments. Videos of these contests show children punching and kicking each other from behind chain-link fences, while adult spectators clap and cheer.
In his State of the State Speech, Governor Cuomo asserted that New York “must remain the progressive capital of the nation.” Clearly, an entertainment spectacle that allows people to pummel each other in bloodstained cages has no place in a state that aspires to be a model for progressives, as well as a capital of art and culture.
As a society, we have an obligation to protect our children from extreme violence and hate speech, just as we have an obligation to protect our children from drugs, alcohol and pornography. We strongly urge you to vote against any proposal that would bring cage fighting events to the State of New York.
This statement has been signed by the following religious and community leaders:
Daniel Cantor
Executive Director
Working Families Party
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Patrick J. Carolan
Executive Director
Franciscan Action Network
Washington, D.C.
Father John P. Duffell
Associate Pastor
Church of the Blessed Sacrament
New York, N.Y.
Rita Freedman
Acting Executive Director
Jewish Labor Committee
New York, N.Y.
Joseph J. Fahey, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chair, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice
Director, Labor Studies Program, Manhattan College
Bronx, N.Y.
Rabbi Michael E. Feinberg
Executive Director
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
New York, N.Y.
David L. Gregory
Dorothy Day Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law
Executive Director, Center for Labor and Employment Law
New York, N.Y.
Father Brian Jordan, O.F.M.
Chaplain
Saint Francis College
Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs
Executive Director
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
New York, N.Y.
Marjorie Dove Kent
Executive Director
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
New York, N.Y.
Father J. Cletus Kiley
Director of Immigration Policy
UNITE HERE
Sister Marie Lucy, O.S.F. Director of Advocacy and Member Relations
Franciscan Action Network
Washington, D.C.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik
Executive Vice President
New York Board of Rabbis
New York, N.Y.
Dr. Laurence Thomas
Professor, Department of Philosophy
Syracuse University
Syracuse, N.Y.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The bizarre standard UFC is setting for (dis)approval of certain drug usage
By Zach Arnold | February 27, 2013
The schizophrenic nature of UFC’s standards regarding usage of drugs by their fighters took yet another twist last night with the news that Matt Riddle has been cut due to testing positive for marijuana metabolites for a second time.
The cut comes weeks before Nick Diaz faces Georges St. Pierre in Montreal. Diaz is coming off a Nevada for testing positive for… marijuana metabolites.
The debate over marijuana usage amongst MMA fighters should come down to one important issue: is it a performance-enhancing drug? If it is not performance-enhancing, then there shouldn’t be an issue — especially if the drug tests being used are not to detect marijuana usage during a fight itself but rather just the presence of marijuana metabolites for usage days, even weeks before a fight takes place.
MMA is not professional wrestling. If you are high as a kite during a wrestling match, you could seriously injure or kill someone. In MMA, you’re not going to enhance your prospects in a real fight by being under the influence of cannabis.
However, using testosterone while you’re fighting is a different story. It can give you extra KO power. It creates a scenario where older fighters who are suffering the effects of previous steroid usage, weight cutting, pain killer abuse, and/or effects from prior concussions extend their fighting careers to inflict or suffer more brain damage.
Chael Sonnen is being promoted for a fight against Jon Jones on The Ultimate Fighter platform while being the poster child for testosterone usage. Jones himself has his own baggage (being arrested for a DUI). Dan Henderson fought in the semi-main event of the UFC show in Anaheim last weekend while using testosterone. Frank Mir still has a fight contract, as far as I know. Nate Marquardt is still fighting. Vitor Belfort is borderline taunting anyone who criticizes him for using his Nevada hall pass for testosterone (thanks Keith Kizer & Tim Trainor).
In the world of UFC, using the base chemical for anabolic steroids can get a seal of approval. Having marijuana metabolites in your system surface during a drug test can get you fired. However, the double standard doesn’t just stop there. Athletic commissions are now giving out hall passes for testosterone usage while suspending fighters with elevated levels of testosterone… if they don’t have a hall pass to use it. Ask Mickey Bey Jr. how that’s working out for him. By the example UFC has publicly set with fighters using testosterone, athletic commissions are influenced or pressured into following this incredibly bizarre logic where the testosterone users aren’t performance-enhancing but the marijuana users are. Keith Kizer says using testosterone shouldn’t be a scarlet letter for fighters. You don’t say.
Putting the debate about testosterone aside, look at UFC’s behavior regarding fighters using marijuana and juxtapose this to the demographic that UFC touts to everyone regarding who watches their product — 18 to 34 year old males. Ask yourself this question: out of 100 males 18-to-34 years old who watches UFC, how many of them would say that fighters should get cut over marijuana usage but not get cut if they use testosterone? Virtually everyone surveyed would laugh at the notion that a fighter should be cut for having marijuana metabolites in their system.
There’s no other way to say it — UFC management has completely lost perspective about drug usage amongst their fighters and is tangled in the web they have created with the class of testosterone users they promote for marquee fights.
It’s like watching a bald 40-something father who is undergoing a mid-life crisis and decides to buy a Harley Davidson while hitting the tanning salon and getting jacked up on Androgel 1.62% and Ageless Male. Dad finds out that his teenage son in high school got caught smoking a joint. He then proceeds to lecture his son about what a bad gateway drug marijuana is while wagging his finger and screaming, in a fit of rage, just how disappointed he is with his son’s decision making in life while sounding like a prisoner from a taping of Beyond Scared Straight.
I honestly don’t think UFC is truly aware of just how bad they look here, both on the substance and the image being conveyed to the public.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 60 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Racial & political tensions at CSAC have many grumbling behind the scenes
By Zach Arnold | February 27, 2013
To read all CSAC-related articles, dating back to May 2012, CLICK HERE.
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
There isn’t a more appropriate phrase to use for four prominent African-Americans who are in positions of power at the California State Athletic Commission. John Frierson is the Chairman of CSAC. Dr. Paul Wallace heads the medical advisory committee. Doreathea Johnson is the boss in legal at the Department of Consumer Affairs. Awet “Fredo” Kidane is in the #2 seat at DCA management. While the four may not always like each other or coordinate together, they all share similar political connections and are part of a system that is having a significant impact on the decisions being made regarding the regulation of fight shows & behind-the-scenes activity in California.
Rather than judge their motives, judge the backgrounds they bring to the table and their past actions.
Awet Kidane was Chief of Staff to California Assembly leader Karen Bass, a long-time politician who is now in the US House of Representatives representing her Los Angeles district. Kidane is well-juiced politically in Sacramento and is building more power. He’s already applied a hands-on approach to managing affairs, which includes California State Athletic Commission business. Kidane was at the June 2012 meeting in El Monte to try to get George Dodd terminated as CSAC Executive Officer.
Doreathea Johnson is a Sacramento lifer. She was formerly a President for the Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association, which is/was associated with the California Association of Black Lawyers. At age 61, she just got a promotion (of sorts) by Governor Jerry Brown at DCA despite inflaming tensions with many at CSAC including athletic inspectors by trying to confiscate 2010 overtime pay for full-time state employees three years later when the CSAC implosion made headlines in California media outlets. She was also instrumental in attempting to oust George Dodd at CSAC. Suffice to say, Doreathea views herself as a political mover-and-shaker. Jerry Brown viewed her as important enough to make the declaration he just recently made.
Dr. Paul Wallace, a practicing dermatologist, has been around the California fight scene for many years. He had a prominent role in the pre-Armando Garcia era. With Andy Foster now in charge at CSAC, Wallace is the man. He was the lead doctor at the UFC show in Anaheim last week. A dermatologist by profession, Wallace oversaw the testing of fighters — including testosterone-using Dan Henderson, despite the fact that there aren’t any rules or regulations on the books as to approving/regulating testosterone usage. Wallace has been around the fight game and is very confident in his skills. He’s also politically juiced in California Democratic Party circles. His ex-wife was the campaign manger of… Karen Bass, who Awet Kidane was the Chief of Staff for when she was California Assembly Leader.
John Frierson, who remains the Chairman of the California State Athletic Commission, is still close with… Karen Bass. Frierson remains an active figure in Los Angeles politics, more or less active in the local political circuit. It was Frierson who first motivated us to investigate CSAC last May. We wrote two books worth on the man and that was what launched the wild reporting ride we’ve been on since.
Here were the original articles we wrote last May: The future of combat sports in California (May 6th, 2012) and How did (then) 80 year old scandal-plagued politician John Frierson get an important job promotion? (May 9th, 2012)
Frierson has been in politics for over 40 years and is an old ally of Governor Jerry Brown. The more things change, the more they stay in the same. In his 40-plus years of political activism, Frierson has fought for racial equality and has made it a cornerstone cause. However, in past years at public CSAC meetings, he has also made some controversial remarks regarding race that have offended insiders who work in and around the commission.
Kidane, Doreathea, Wallace, and Frierson all share political connections and are wielding their political power in their decision making for events at CSAC. It’s a political nexus that is putting Executive Officer Andy Foster in the cross-hairs of many disgruntled, unhappy people who have contributed their services to CSAC and now feel slighted, abandoned, or disrespected.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
CSAC backs Dan Goossen with legal opinion in lawsuit against Tony Thompson
By Zach Arnold | February 26, 2013
On February 11th, we wrote an article titled Court ruling against Dan Goossen will scare California-based fight promoters. A quick summary: Goossen had a verbal contract with Tony Thompson with Maryland jurisdiction. Goossen filed suit in California for breach of contract & fraud. Judge Conrad Aragon in Los Angeles Superior Court ruled against Goossen, saying that Goossen needed a written contract and that the contract had to be validated by the California State Athletic Commission… for a fight taking place in Switzerland… with a contract based on German law.
The absurdity of the court ruling immediately had promoters & managers in California talking about how they should conduct their business affairs in the future.
Two weeks later, the California State Athletic Commission (via the Department of Consumer Affairs) issued a declaration for Dan Goossen’s legal case against Tony Thompson. The move is an eye-opener given that it’s coming from DCA and not from the state’s Attorney General office. Given the past history of AG lawyer Karen Chappelle, I suspect she would never issued the kind of legal opinion that DCA just issued to Dan Goossen. Can you say “political turf war”?
The legal declaration by DCA was filed in LA Superior Court on February 21st. The 15-page filing includes Goossen’s inquiry to CSAC:
What is CSAC’s position on whether CSAC believes the California Regulations apply to international fights? In other words, does CSAC require a California boxing promoter or manager to have contracts with a non-California fighter for an international fight to be in writing and approved by the Commission?
The response from CSAC:
After consulting with the California State Athletic Commission’s legal counsel and reviewing Business and Professions Code 18640, it is the Commission’s position that the California Boxing Act does not apply to international fights since they do not take place within the state of California and the Commission does not regulate such fights. The Commission does not have jurisdiction and does not require a California Manager or Promoter to be licensed or to have a Commission approved contract with a non California fighter for a fight that does not take place in the State of California.
The declaration by CSAC is very interesting. Money talks and there’s clearly a concern that the ruling against Dan Goossen in LA Superior Court will chase off California-based promoters from doing business in the state. Keep your eyes open on how this plays out.
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 157 (2/23 Anaheim Pond): Ronda Rousey takes care of business
By Zach Arnold | February 23, 2013
Urijah Faber was recently at Scott Stern’s Las Vegas Fight Shop for UFC 156 weekend, signing autographs for fans. Faber has a challenge on his hands at UFC 157 against Ivan Menjivar.
Date: February 23rd
Venue: Anaheim Pond (Honda Center) in Anaheim, California
TV: FX/PPV
- Welterweights: Nah-Shon Burrell defeated Yuri Villefort after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Welterweights: Neil Magny (-150, 3 to 2 favorite) defeated Jon Manley (+130) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Welterweights: Kenny Robertson (+130) defeated Brock Jardine (-150) in R1 in 2’57 by submission (knee-bar).
- Lightweights: Sam Stout (+130) defeated Caros Fodor (-160, 8 to 5 favorite) after 3R by split decision.
- Featherweights: Dennis Bermudez (-400, 4 to 1 favorite) defeated Matt Grice (+350) after 3R by split decision.
- Lightweights: Michael Chiesa (-180, 9 to 5 favorite) defeated Anton Kuivanen (+160) in R2 in 2’29 by submission (choke sleeper hold).
- Heavyweights: Brendan Schaub (-140, 7 to 5 favorite) defeated Lavar Johnson (+120) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Welterweights: Robbie Lawler (+300) defeated Josh Koscheck (-350, 7 to 2 favorite) in R1 in 3’57 by TKO (punches).
- Court McGee (-350, 7 to 2 favorite) defeated Josh Neer (+300) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Bantamweights: Urijah Faber (-400, 4 to 1 favorite) defeated Ivan Menjivar (+300) in R1 in 4’34 with a choke.
- Light Heavyweights: Lyoto Machida (-240, 12 to 5 favorite) defeated Dan Henderson (+200) after 3R by split decision.
- UFC women’s title (135 pounds): Ronda Rousey (-1200, 12 to 1 favorite) defeated Liz Carmouche (+800) in R1 in 4’49 by submission (armbar).
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 286 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
ESPN reluctant to say ‘testosterone’ during the Lamont Peterson fight
By Zach Arnold | February 22, 2013
The issue of testosterone proliferation in combat sports is very real and very nasty. The usage of testosterone amongst Mixed Martial Arts fighters and their enablers (state athletic commissions & promoters) is completely shameless and now out in the open. In boxing, most of the players in the industry are behind the curve in terms of recognizing how serious of an issue it really is.
For example, Dan Henderson is in the semi-main event of the UFC show this weekend at the Anaheim Pond. When Henderson fought Mauricio Shogun at San Jose Arena, he was using testosterone. A doctor for the California State Athletic Commission was testing his levels for that fight. For the Machida fight, it is believed that the same process is happening here as well.
The problem, of course, is that the California State Athletic Commission doesn’t have any rules or regulations on the books regarding testosterone usage amongst fighters. The fact that we are seeing Sacramento picking and choosing which fighters can use testosterone without any rules on the books is not a good thing for combat sports. It also makes the Chael Sonnen circus from a few years ago all the more detestable. We now have a system where athletic commissions are giving out hall passes to fighters to use testosterone while getting on their moral high horse and going after fighters (like Mickey Bey Jr) for elevated levels of testosterone.
“You’re too stupid to ask for your testosterone hall pass, so here’s your nine month suspension.”
Henderson wasn’t public about his usage of testosterone until it leaked out in the media. However, now that it’s a public story, Dan doesn’t shy away from questions about his usage.
The same cannot be said, in our opinion, about one Lamont Peterson.
Peterson, who got caught microdosing his testosterone usage via pellets before a big payday fight with Amir Khan, returned to action after a 14-month hiatus. He fought Kendall Holt on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights from the D.C. Armory. ESPN spent several weeks promoting the fight on television and had their studio crew at the venue. Todd Grisham, writer Dan Rafael, Bernardo Osuna, Teddy Atlas, and Joe Tessitore. Gary Shaw’s name was on the ring but it was Head Bangers (Lamont Peterson’s camp) promoting the fight on home turf.
In the weeks leading up to the fight, ESPN did not delve into why Peterson had been absent from boxing or why he was stripped of a title belt. The word testosterone was not, to my recollection, used. For a show like Friday Night Fights, which prides itself on talking about real issues in the world of boxing, it seemed unusual that they wouldn’t spend at least some of the time promoting Peterson’s return by talking about the drama outside the ring with the testosterone usage being exposed.
Peterson ended up beating Holt rather easily by TKO in Round 8. He knocked Holt down twice, slowed down for a couple of rounds, and then poured on the pressure to get the stoppage from referee Tony Weeks.
During the fight, Teddy Atlas stuck to focusing on the action & strategy in the ring. Tessitore repeatedly mentioned that Lamont Peterson was stripped of a belt and that a fight was cancelled. Peterson’s camp and ESPN both used the word “redemption” on the air and Tessitore talked about Peterson getting a contract “with a big promoter” after the win.
(Dan Rafael, for his ESPN column, elaborated that “the big promoter” was Golden Boy — but GB’s name was not uttered during the telecast, if memory serves me right. Dan also mentioned the testosterone issue in his article and on an accurate level, something which is different than the TV broadcast portrayal.)
Repeatedly throughout the fight, everything was discussed in-depth and repeatedly about Peterson’s stumbles except… testosterone.
Not once was the T word magically mentioned for any sort of context in regards to VADA or microdosing. Read Robert Poole’s comment for further elaboration.
Was it self-imposed censorship by Joe Tessitore & Teddy Atlas? Did a network suit tell them not to say the word? Did the TV contract prohibit them from saying the T word? Whatever the reason was behind-the-scenes, it was very clear during the telecast that uttering the word testosterone was a taboo and something to be avoided. Crystal clear.
The fans who watch ESPN’s Friday Night Fights have been accustomed to listening to Teddy Atlas and Joe Tessitore rant & rave about athletic commissions who appoint crappy officials who can’t judge or score a bout. There’s an expectation that the ESPN crew will address matters that other platforms won’t touch. And, yet, during their glorified Lamont Peterson infomercial on Friday night, not one person uttered the word testosterone in the context of truthful candor. I have personal respect for Tessitore, Atlas, and Dan Rafael. You won’t find me saying bad things about them. However, on a professional level, they blew it on Friday night’s telecast. By self-censoring themselves from telling their audience about why Peterson was stripped of his belt, they were avoiding using the T word that is an absolute plague on combat sports right now. I’m sure the counter-argument here will be that, hey, ESPN didn’t lie or anything here.
In the process of avoiding the utterance of one T word, they managed to avoid giving their audience a full dosage of another T word — the truth.
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC’s 16 fighter cuts & the proliferation of testosterone usage
By Zach Arnold | February 20, 2013
Jon Fitch was one of 16 fighters cut by the UFC on Wednesday. There’s plenty of outrageousness outrage online about the news. The reaction has largely been predictable.
So, let’s focus on the issue from a different angle and that’s the shamelessness of MMA fighters using testosterone in order to extend their careers so they aren’t the next ones on the cut list.
Everyone was blathering palaver in response to Dana White’s comments from past week about his disgust with fighters using testosterone. It’s just another smokescreen from UFC management and really just a carry over from Dana’s media strategy of buying time, buying more time, and buying even more time before actually facing reality head-on and doing something about the problem. Remember, it was nine months ago when Dana said in an interview that the issue of drug usage in UFC is not as big as it’s being made out to be.
Three questions arise from this weekend’s comments:
1) Why is UFC reversing course publicly now after they created the environment for testosterone usage in the first place?
Someone has to be nudging them and that party must be someone with financial clout. Perhaps Fox executives? Otherwise, there’s no reason for UFC to care about any sort of consequences from testosterone usage fallout. Perhaps the lawyers finally got in their ear and said that the issue is a ticking time bomb for liability?
2) Why should fighters end their shamelessness in using testosterone if the UFC’s doctors and UFC-friendly commission doctors go along for the joy ride?
If you’re Vitor Belfort, Rampage Jackson, Frank Mir, Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Nate Marquardt, and a slew of other fighters, why stop using testosterone now if UFC’s guy Dr. Jeff Davidson or a guy like Dr. Tim Treanor (Keith Kizer’s guy which comes from the same commission that Marc Ratner comes from) is handing out the hall passes? These guys see the cuts happening all the time. They don’t want to be on that list.
3) If UFC really cares about the issue, why don’t they follow the one path that would create some anxiety over the issue with fighters — stop booking them for shows?
Last weekend, Dana White is throwing a PR fit about testosterone and the suckers in the media push his tripe as if he’s really all-caring about the topic. A week after his comments, you have UFC in Anaheim with Dan Henderson in the semi-main event. Then you have Chael Sonnen getting pushed on FX (via The Ultimate Fighter) to promote a bout against Jon Jones. You have Vitor Belfort antagonizing anyone who criticizes him for using testosterone for fights and Luke Rockhold has to deal with this circus for their upcoming match.
There’s a simple solution for minimizing the shamelessness — simply stop booking the fighters in top slots. The counter-argument to this is that the fighters will simply keep using testosterone and not admit to it in public. I don’t buy the sympathy ploy.
A final thought
Remember the whole debacle between Rampage Jackson and Fighters Only magazine last February when he was preaching to the masses about his testosterone usage? I said at the time that the testosterone issue would catch up to UFC in a bad way and that it would start sucking up the oxygen in the media. It’s a legitimate and serious topic, especially when you see everyone in baseball freaking out about their players getting caught going to a wannabe unlicensed mark doctor in Tony Bosch in South Florida.
Everyone knows what the end game will be with testosterone issue — there will be a fight involving a guy on testosterone and the other guy not on it. The guy using testosterone will seriously hurt his opponent, perhaps permanent brain damage or paralysis or even a death in the cage. Outlets like Outside the Lines will smell blood in the water and rip UFC to shreds for creating an environment in which testosterone hall passes are being dished out.
And if UFC needs to see what the future looks like on this issue? Look at WWE. Even they figured out that giving out testosterone hall passes is a scam. Of course, we had Chris Benoit with his brain damage & massive testosterone usage to contribute to the pressure during that media circus.
As today’s cuts by the UFC demonstrates, fighters will do anything to extend their careers. The UFC has been all too happy to give out the permission slips for testosterone usage to muscular guys fighting a cage who are talking tough out of one side of their mouth and crying hypogonadism out the other side. If hypogonadism is such an epidemic in Mixed Martial Arts, how come it isn’t in an epidemic in a sport like the NFL? The UFC wants everyone to treat their operation as a real sport. They want Fox to promote them as a real sport. And yet, what kind of a sport are you pushing when so many of your top athletes are claiming they can’t naturally produce testosterone and need to take a dosage of the base chemical of anabolic steroids in order to function as a human being to compete?
Right now, MMA’s credibility as a sport when it comes to drug usage is on the same level as horse racing and cycling. Lip service isn’t going to fix the problem. Neither are bogus promises of claiming to test testosterone users globally during their training camps while also proclaiming out the other side of your mouth that you can’t drug test every athlete under contract because it’s too expensive and unreliable. The UFC has their hand caught in the cookie jar here and they still aren’t sure what kind of strategy to use to handle the testosterone mess they’ve created and enabled in the sport.
Addendum: Keith Kizer suspends boxer Mickey Bey for elevated levels of testosterone. We now have a system in Nevada where Kizer & his doctor (Tim Trainor) are giving out testosterone hall passes to fighters who ask for them while suspending fighters for elevated T/E ratios who don’t have hall passes. If you’re going to give out permission slips for guys to use the base chemical of anabolic steroids (testosterone), don’t you think you lose the moral & ethical ground by going after fighters w/o hall passes who test positive for testosterone?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 90 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
How the general sports media sees Ronda Rousey as UFC’s version of Danica Patrick
By Zach Arnold | February 18, 2013
On December 17th, 2012, I wrote the following article: Dana White’s no-lose bet with Ronda Rousey as UFC main eventer in Anaheim. If you recall around the time, Ronda Rousey was making waves with her comments about sex & testosterone. It was cheap bait for the likes of TMZ to capitalize on and it made her a search engine sensation. My article at the time said that the Anaheim event on 2/23 would do fine because there will be a flood of media coverage the likes which we’ve never seen for a UFC event. And if the experiment fails, Dana White can turn around and say, “Hey, see, I was right, women’s MMA doesn’t have a market in the States.”
Over the last two months, there has been an unprecedented media barrage over Ronda Rousey as a sex symbol and being the first UFC women’s champion. It’s the kind of media coverage that you often saw in Japan during the PRIDE boom but it’s not something that UFC fans are accustomed to seeing necessarily for fighters. Yes, Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit had a high-profile ad campaign on TNT and elsewhere, but nothing can match the sheer volume of material being produced by general sports writers on Rousey’s upcoming match against Liz Carmouche.
Dave Meltzer comments over the weekend that the reason the media has been so willing to push Rousey in articles is because it’s good for their bottom line, too. He said this even while claiming that UFC will be fortunate (and successful) if they get 300,000 PPV buys for the show.
Rousey did a live interview shot at 2:30 PM EST on Sportscenter with anchor Jay Crawford. Before the interview, Crawford gave away the media viewpoint on Rousey by segueing from Danica Patrick’s NASCAR pole finish (first) over the weekend.
Then it hit me. We’re witnessing Rousey go the Danica Patrick route in terms of appealing to the masses and low-information MMA fans. The kind of soap opera we’re seeing with Danica Patrick is what we’re seeing now with Rousey. The difference, of course, is that Rousey is far more accomplished in her sport than Danica is in her sport. However, it’s the same playbook. Ronda talks sex symbolism and sex before fights and testosterone… and Danica Patrick spends years and years doing endless Go Daddy sexploitation commercials that the Darren Rovells and Michelle Beadles of the world applaud for because, hey, you can’t take yourself too seriously and you need that crossover marketing going on.
I will be fascinated to see how well Rousey’s fight draws on PPV given the absolute media saturation going on. I can’t recall a UFC fight getting so many ad barker plays on Comcast and satellite dish ad time segments as I can for this fight. At least you can’t say that UFC didn’t go all-in on Rousey and that there isn’t a complicit media to help them along with the marketing push. I would be interested to see how UFC fans compare the way Rousey is being marketed versus the way Gary Shaw marketed Gina Carano and Kimbo Slice.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 47 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
A few notes about Dave Walsh’s new MMA novel, The Godslayer
By Zach Arnold | February 15, 2013
Click on the image to order the book on Amazon
I normally don’t delve into the world of MMA fiction, but Blake Northcott did a great job with her eBook and her writing career has definitely grown since publication. Our friend Dave Walsh, who has been an MMA writer for many years (and whose work I appreciated for the Total MMA publication), has jumped into the realm of MMA fiction with his new novel called Godslayer.
Fiction really isn’t my cup of tea when it comes to reading books… but Dave did a great job here with Godslayer. Truth is often stranger than fiction and in the case of Godslayer, I kept having flashbacks to past moments of modern MMA history and saying, “I remember that happening with those guys.”
The writing is sharp. The storytelling is fluid. The transitions are smooth. The most important question I have when it comes to reading a genre of book that isn’t my cup of tea is to ask, “Is this an easy read?” Even at 260 pages in length, this book is a very easy read. I read it in full during an afternoon reading session.
Without giving too much of the book away, here’s the general storyline of Godslayer. Alek Turner is a 38-year old retired MMA fighter. He was champion of a league called the United Fight League, whose front-man is named Jeordie Johnson. Jeordie is two parts Dana White, one part Vince McMahon. He’s absurdly over-the-top and, for an outsider to the MMA industry, completely unrealistic. However, every action and quote coming from Jeordie reflects some crazy moment from the past that you’ve seen from Dana or Vince when it comes to dealing with fighters.
Now in retirement and paid a monthly salary to show up at events as an ‘ambassador’ for the UFL, Turner finds out that retirement sucks. He hates dealing with his ex-wife and the drama she puts up by bringing her new man into his life while complaining about Turner not being a good father. There’s definitely an element of Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler here. Turner hates being told what to do by everyone else, including the promotion he’s working for. He was pushed into retirement by the promoter because the fans said he was washed up as a fighter. If you know the life stories of Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Don Frye, and many other retired MMA fighters then you will recognize that parts of their life stories seem to mesh together here to come up with the Alek Turner character.
(That’s my opinion, but not a 100% declarative factual statement.)
There are also moments where Alek has physical struggles and I was reminded of Gary Goodridge, who recently did an interview with Sherdog that drew a lot of attention online.
Eventually, promoter Jeordie Johnson approaches Alek Turner about coming out of retirement to headline a show in San Jose against an old rival named Jack Miner. My initial take on the way this played out in Godslayer is that this was a feud similar to Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz. Turner agrees to come out of retirement and take the fight booking so he can fight for a promoter that had pressured him into retirement. A quote from the book about how Jeordie Johnson handles relationships with fighters says it all.
“Bury him!” Jeordie is shouting into a headset back by the production tables, his line feeding into Buckley and Brown’s headsets. “
Fuckingbury him! He is done! Hefuckedthe fans!” Veins are bulging out of his forehead as his face is beginning to turn a deeper shade of red, the rage washing over him.
He goes back to the gym to work with his old trainer, Pete, who is characterized as the classic fight trainer — a guy who never could make it on his own as a fighter but knew how to find the next big thing and pocket a lot of money in fees for doing so. The training process wears out Alek and has him reconsidering the way he’s been acting with his ex-wife Sarah and his two children. There’s an internal conflict that plays out as to whether or not he’s becoming a changed man because of his own reflections on his fighting career.
Eventually, the time comes for Turner to have his fight with old rival Jack.
The ending of Godslayer is very clever and believable, as I actually found an incident in MMA’s past that was close to what happened for the Turner/Miner fight.
And that is the beauty of this book. The lines between MMA history and fiction are completely blurred. The actions of the characters are entirely believable for people who are involved in the fight business. I wouldn’t suggest you reading this book if you’re looking for a pick-me-up Anthony Robbins-style motivational kind of deal, but it’s dramatic writing mixed in with the darker side of the MMA sport and the consequences prize fighters often suffer from because of their past actions.
A well-recommended read.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Randy Couture: Maybe fighting UFC in court over contract weaknesses backfired
By Zach Arnold | February 14, 2013
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 |