A new drug testing option soon for UFC & boxing
By Zach Arnold | July 25, 2011
As David Williams eloquently stated about Nate Marquardt yesterday, today’s sports landscape — from the fans to the media to other athletes — rewards those who do not take full responsibility for their mistakes. Get caught taking drugs? Blame the screw-up on a mark doctor and pray for fans to take your side and portray media critics as too harsh.
Strangely, if there was a ‘person of the year’ or ‘event of the year’ to nominate for the top headline in MMA in 2011, I don’t think it would be a person or an event. I think it would be a word or a phrase to define this year and that phrase would be testosterone. You can’t avoid it as a fan, whether it’s fighters using TRT or radio ads for ‘ageless male’ to increase your ‘natural’ testosterone levels by 61% or “Is it Low T?” ads aimed at 40-something males on television. Testosterone seems to be the cultural buzz word in sports this year.
Which leads us to a recent audio clip from Steve Cofield’s ESPN 1100 ‘MMA Insiders’ radio show with Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports/Cagewriter.com fame. Lorenzo Fertitta is asked about whether or the TRT scandal involving Nate Marquardt is a big deal and what should be done about TRT usage in MMA moving forward.
- Zach Arnold (Boxing.com): The oncoming train wreck in combat sports
STEVE COFIELD: “How big a deal is this story?”
LORENZO FERTITTA: “Well, I think it’s a big deal because you hit the nail on the head. It’s effecting the sport, it’s potentially effecting fights and here we are, a company that goes in and we invest a lot of money, time, and energy to put on a card in Pittsburgh and, you know, because of this issue of testosterone replacement the main event gets scratched and it’s just not fair to anybody, so… Look, at the end of the day, I think that, you know, the commissions have made it basically fairly clear, to my understanding, that TRT is okay if you abide by certain rules, which means that your levels have to stay below a level that could be considered performance-enhancing, right? So, I guess some of these fighters have problems with their body naturally, you know, abnormally low testosterone then theoretically maybe it makes sense to at least to get back to a level of a normal person walking down the street. But what you can’t have is guys that are abusing this to the point where their levels at some super-human factor which is giving them this performance-enhancement. I think what needs to happen, I think Nevada’s taking a step in the right direction, is that there’s got to be more random testing because, unfortunately, it seems that like possibly guys are getting outside the boundary maybe while their training and then managing it down to the point where, you know, once the week of the fight is then they take the test and they’re fine, no problem, but I think there needs to be random testing to make sure that nobody’s abusing it.”
KEVIN IOLE: “Lorenzo, the thing that concerns me about this is that… if you allow this to happen and a tragedy occurs, and I think you know as much as we don’t see it, I know it’s inevitable at some point in a combat sport hat there’s going to be a traumatic brain injury or worse and if it happens that it comes at the hands of a fighter who was on anabolic steroids or EPO or HGH or TRT, I think that’s really going to threaten the core of the sport. So, I don’t know if you would agree with that, but if you can answer whether you agree, and secondly why not make the stance that, hey, we as a company are not going to tolerate this and there’s such a low percentage of people who would need TRT that if you need it you’re just not eligible to fight in the UFC and unfortunately that’s just the way it is?”
LORENZO FERTITTA: “Yeah, I mean, look, at the end of the day I think we came off with a pretty strong response to Nate Marquardt and kind of how we feel about TRT. At the end of the day, you know, this has all been an evolution and some of this stuff is just starting to come to light and this whole idea even what TRT is. I mean, my understanding of it is not like, you know, in the past where you’re dealing with these synthetic hormones or synthetic steroids. Testosterone replacement is basically the same hormone that we all generally make as adult males and, you know, I guess also you hear about women who have hormone problems and they got take estrogen shots or whatever shots that they take to help balance out their life. I think our stance is we’re trying to work with commissions to say, look, this whole thing has got to come to an end and, once again, if you are going to have some kind of therapy not only can you not be at the top end of the range, you can’t be anywhere near performance-enhancing so, you’re exactly right, if something did bad happen in the Octagon you should never be able to blame it on that. You know, if a guy’s levels are mid-range like any other normal person, then he doesn’t have any enhancement in his performance.”
Three weeks ago, I wrote an article talking about Dr. Margaret Goodman’s comments about drug usage in MMA and how widespread the problem is. She stated that if the major fight promoters don’t clean up their act that the Feds will step in and take care of business. (The article is well worth your time to read if you haven’t already done so.)
A couple of days later, Victor Conte issued a statement to Eddie Goldman about how testosterone helps out fighters in terms of endurance. He brought up an important angle to the drug testing discussion that few have really discussed and that’s the issue of hematocrit. Think: the thickness of your blood, your red blood cell count. We know blood doping is prevalent in many sports, so why some of the drug testing isn’t focused on hematocrit levels doesn’t make a lot of sense.
It is from this launching point of discussion that we focus on a recent interview Victor Conte did with Eddie Goldman that I would highly recommend you listen to. It’s terrific and you should go out of your way to check it out.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Your mandatory “Dana White talks about meeting Vince McMahon” video post
By Zach Arnold | July 24, 2011
Video courtesy of MMAFighting.com
The amount of hedgy, coded answers one can read into what was said during this interview is rather numerous in nature.
- When asked whether or not Rich Franklin was offered a replacement opponent for UFC 133 after Antonio Rogerio Nogueira pulled out of his fight, Dana says that they offered Alexander Gustafsson and Franklin’s camp declined. “I don’t disagree with Rich’s position on it.”
- In response to Lyoto Machida’s camp asking for ‘Anderson Silva money’ to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 133: “For Machida to think that he’s even on the same Anderson Silva is completely disrespectful to Anderson Silva.” Dana says the reason Anderson Silva gets paid top money is because he’s undefeated since 2006 in the UFC and “I think he’s the best fighter ever in Mixed Martial Arts.”
- From the 5 minute to 9 minute time mark, his comments about Alistair Overeem was uniquely entertaining. He put the onus on Showtime for what happened with the ‘hard event date’ booked in September and said that it was Overeem’s camp that pulled out of the fight, not any sort of pressuring that he did. Furthermore, Dana claims that while he was in Philadelphia last week that Golden Glory called him up and said that they wanted to negotiate with him. His claim is that he doesn’t run Strikeforce and that he doesn’t know who Overeem’s camp is negotiating with (Scott Coker or “Joe Silva and crew”).
- When asked about Alistair wanting to fight Vitali Klitschko, Dana was amused. ‘His hands didn’t look that good out there against Werdum,’ so what makes him think he can compete with the Klitschkos?
- The subject of Ross Greenburg’s departure from HBO came up. Dana claims the UFC had a deal with HBO a few years ago and it was i place but “every bone in my body told me that deal wasn’t right.” He didn’t sound very optimistic about working with HBO for MMA.
- In response to what he and Vince McMahon discussed recently when Dana paid a visit to Stamford, Connecticut (home of Maury & Jerry Springer now) at Titan Towers, “we shot the
shitabout business.”
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
David Williams: Nate Marquardt & the issue of accepting responsibility (he claims his hypogonadism is from concussions)
By Zach Arnold | July 24, 2011
On June 28th, two days after being removed from the main event of UFC on Versus 4, Nate Marquardt made an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to explain why he had been suspended and subsequently released by the UFC. It was a lengthy, emotional interview in which Marquardt explained that he had been sluggish and irritable as a result of low testosterone levels. According to Marquardt, his doctor recommended testosterone replacement therapy to return his testosterone levels to normal. After beating Dan Miller at UFC 128, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board requested that Marquardt stop his treatment for a period of time to ensure that Marquardt needed the therapy. After his testosterone levels declined again, Marquardt’s doctor recommended more aggressive treatment in the form of an injection. This injection caused Marquardt’s testosterone levels to be too high, and in the lead up to Marquardt’s scheduled fight against Rick Story, Marquardt was unable to get his levels back to the acceptable range. The result was Marquardt’s release from the UFC. On numerous occasions during the interview, both Marquardt and his manager, Lex McMahon, emphasized that Marquardt was at least taking full responsibility for what took place.
The problem is that Marquardt didn’t take full responsibility for what took place. In fact, Marquardt took responsibility for everything except the actual part that broke the rules. For that, the blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of this anonymous doctor, whose terrible, horrible, no good, very bad advice was really what led to this mess in the first place. Never mind that Marquardt had tested positive for steroid abuse following his win against Ivan Salaverry in August 2005, and that his prior steroid abuse may have caused him to have low testosterone levels to begin with. Never mind the questionable logic of the idea that testosterone replacement therapy should be applied “more aggressively.” Marquardt is only to blame for miscommunication, not actually cheating in any way. But hey, at least Marquardt is taking full responsibility, right?
If taking responsibility had a dollar value in sports, its value would probably be negative. Sadly, the sports world has a long list of players, coaches, and owners who have obtained better positions and made more money by denying reality as opposed to taking responsibility.
Take, for instance, the pathetic saga that is Frank McCourt’s ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a complicated story with many confusing details, so I’ll do my best to summarize what’s taken place. (For a detailed version, I recommend Larry Behrendt’s terrific piece here.) McCourt, and his wife, Jamie, purchased the team in 2004 entirely with loans. They proceeded to use the Dodgers as their personal slush fund, doing this by splitting the organization into over 20 separate businesses, and charging the team rent to play in its own stadium. This money was funneled into expenses such as multiple Los Angeles mansions, an exclusive hairdresser, and a Russian spirit healer, just to name a few examples.
Recently, after the McCourts divorced each other, and so many embarrassing details of their ownership were made public, the Dodgers have suddenly had significant difficulties in making payroll, despite having Major League Baseball’s 11th highest payroll in its second-largest media market. To prevent the control of his team being seized by MLB, Frank McCourt instead opted to enter the Dodgers into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in which he could secure debtor-in-possession financing to operate the team even more. A recent report by Sportsbybrooks.com stated that MLB contacted sports and entertainment company AEG, inquiring about the possibility of constructing a downtown Los Angeles stadium for the Dodgers. The reason? Even if MLB was to successfully seize control of the team, McCourt would still own Dodger Stadium and the land it resides on.
For the McCourts, taking responsibility would have meant that, you know, perhaps one mansion would have been enough. Maybe there wasn’t a need to split the Dodgers into over 20 separate businesses. Perhaps Jamie could’ve had her hair done by an expensive stylist on something less than a daily basis. Maybe their son could’ve done just fine without $300,000 to go on top of a salary working for Goldman Sachs. Of course, that just wouldn’t do for the McCourts. They’ve opted instead to deny reality, and this denial only led to a lavish lifestyle and an iron grip on Dodger Stadium and Chavez Ravine. So what if the Dodgers are $525 million in debt?
The McCourts are only one source of sporting controversy in Los Angeles. USC football head coach Pete Carroll insisted for years that he wasn’t interested in coaching in the NFL. Year after year, teams had inquired about Carroll’s interest in a head coaching position, only for Carroll to turn them down. However, as soon as it appeared that the NCAA was poised to sanction USC for improper benefits given to running back Reggie Bush and his family, Carroll suddenly accepted a head coaching position for the Seattle Seahawks, saying that the job offer “came out of nowhere.”
John Calipari has mastered the art of benefiting from dishonesty. Calipari has taken two college basketball programs – the University of Massachusetts and the University of Memphis – from relative obscurity to becoming national powerhouses. On both occasions, Calipari conveniently left to take a higher-profile position, first by going from Massachusetts to the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, later by leaving Memphis to coach the University of Kentucky. As it turns out, Calipari reaped the benefits of players like Marcus Camby receiving improper benefits, without suffering the resulting consequences.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the caricature that is Chael Sonnen. After being suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for high testosterone levels following his UFC 117 match against Anderson Silva, Sonnen appeared before the commission to appeal his suspension. He claimed that he suffered from the effects of hypogonadism, and needed testosterone replacement therapy, or else he would have the testosterone production of an old man. He further explained that he disclosed his usage of this therapy to George Dodd prior to his fight against Silva, and that he had disclosed to Keith Kizer that he had undergone TRT as well. This was enough for the CSAC to reduce Sonnen’s suspension from 12 months to 6 months.
After Kizer denied that he had ever spoken to either Sonnen or Sonnen’s manager about TRT, the CSAC decided to place Sonnen back on suspension, to be lifted upon the expiration of Sonnen’s license to fight on June 29th. Ultimately, for making a mockery of the CSAC appeal process, Sonnen effectively was able to reduce his suspension despite the extended suspension imposed by the CSAC.
What happens when a fighter takes responsibility for his actions? Ask Thiago Silva, a fighter who was suspended by the NSAC for providing a drug test sample that was “inconsistent with human urine.” After being suspended, Silva admitted to MMA Junkie that he knowingly broke the rules and was taking prohibited substances to treat a back injury. By doing this, all Silva did was ensure that his original 12-month suspension would be upheld.
As it turns out, Nate Marquardt’s suspension by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission lasted less than a month. Now, he’s signed with BAMMA to begin what Lex McMahon calls Marquardt’s “path to redemption.” While Marquardt is hardly going unpunished, the script has already been written for Marquardt to make a triumphant return to grace. It’s a story that wouldn’t be possible if Marquardt had, for instance, admitted to cheating and been suspended for 12 months. After all, taking responsibility – full responsibility – is for losers. As so many sports figures have demonstrated, pretending to take responsibility while denying any actual wrongdoing is the way to go.
Nate Marquardt on concussions causing low testosterone & God’s role in this latest predicament
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The obligatory ‘Jon Fitch really hates Nick Diaz’ video
By Zach Arnold | July 22, 2011
I decided against doing a transcript of this interview, simply because there was too much background noise in the audio to make it worth my while. Nevertheless, you should watch it to hear some of his rather curious responses.
For example, he’s mad about the fact that BJ Penn ended up challenging Carlos Condit. However, he’s more or less mad about the fact that he’s stuck in no-man’s land due to injury as opposed to Penn challenging Condit. (Even though Fitch, on Twitter, said at the time that he was hurt and disappointed by BJ’s actions.)
Fitch noted that the only opponent available for him to fight soon would be Martin Kampmann. He further stated that he would love the fight to take place this November in San Jose.
Where the interview gets real interesting is when he starts talking about Nick Diaz and how Diaz is the only guy he really hates in MMA. He says that Diaz is scared of his fighting style, that Nick’s MMA record is ‘padded,’ and that he’s been protected too often by promoters in the past. Towards the end of the interview, Fitch basically defends his fight style (again).
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 28 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
MMA Link Club: Dana White doesn’t mind TRT usage in MMA, Lorenzo Fertitta not so much
By Zach Arnold | July 22, 2011
Member sites of the MMA Link Club
- Five Ounces of Pain – http://fiveouncesofpain.com/feed/rss
- MMA Fighting – http://www.mmafighting.com/rss.xml
- NBC Sports – http://www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42363531/device/rss/rss.xml
- Cage Potato – http://www.cagepotato.com/feed
- MMA Mania – http://feeds.feedburner.com/sportsblogs/mmamania.xml
- 5thRound – http://www.5thround.com/feed
- Bleacher Report – http://bleacherreport.com/articles/feed?tag_id=3007
- MiddleEasy – http://middleeasy.com/index.php?format=feed&type=rss
- LowKick – http://www.lowkick.com/newrss
- The Fight Nerd – http://www.thefightnerd.com/feed
- MMA Convert – http://feeds.feedburner.com/mmaconvert
- Fight Opinion – http://feeds.feedburner.com/fightopinion
- MMA Payout – http://feeds.feedburner.com/Payout
This week’s MMA Link Club featured stories
Five Ounces of Pain: Conference call highlights for Fedor, Dan Henderson, Marloes Coenen, Miesha Tate
(Tate) doesn’t feel Dana White is truly informed about Women’s MMA to make a judgment call on it and thinks he’ll pay more attention now that Strikeforce is a Zuffa property, says the opportunity to prove the sport’s worth has provided extra motivation
MMA Fighting: Alistair Overeem explains why he was removed from Strikeforce GP
Winning the tournament was my number one goal. I understand their position, but they have to understand mine, and I’m disappointed we couldn’t work it out.
NBC Sports: Rashad Evans says you should pick Jon Jones over Rampage Jackson (I guess that means he will soon join the Rampage “f-bomb Twitter list”)
Cage Potato: The fight you’ve always wanted to see – Satoshi Ishii vs. Paulo Filho
Yes, a ‘retired’ HW with a self-destructive, compulsive, erratic personality versus a troubled Middleweight. Ishii has reportedly been training at Kings MMA & Reign (Mark Munoz’s gym) in Los Angeles. Furthermore, he claims that the media reports of him retiring and going to Orlando to qualify for the Olympics in Judo while trying to obtain American citizenship were either overblown or false. Yes, just like his 9-month marriage ending in divorce was false and just like him claiming he would fight Tito Ortiz on NYE last year was false, too, right?
And after a full review, the verdict is “not guilty” … of anything … at all.
As unfortunate as that is, it’s equally as ridiculous when reading the statement released by the Calgary Commission in which they threw their full support behind Len Koivisto, the referee in question.
5th Round: Lorenzo Fertitta takes firm stance against Testosterone Replacement Therapy
“I think we came off with a pretty strong response to Nate Marquardt, and kind of how we feel about TRT,” UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta told ESPNRadio in Las Vegas (transcribed by Yahoo). “Our stance is we’re working with commissions to say ‘Look, this whole thing has got to come to an end.’
“If you are going to have some kind of therapy, not only can you not be at the top end of the range, you can’t be anywhere near performance-enhancing.”
Consider this double talk, given what Dana White said to HDNet about TRT usage.
I think the testosterone therapy thing, it’s real, people do do it, what it is is after guys, when you get in your 40s and 50s, men’s testosterone starts to go down so they bump it back up to the levels that they used to be and there’s guy now that are younger doing it for whatever their reasons are and, you know, it gets to the point where… how much are you taking?
Bleacher Report: Jon Fitch says he’s ‘tired of being ignored’
Middle Easy: Aw crap, Ranger UP is ‘out’ as a Strikeforce/UFC sponsor
Lowkick: Photo Gallery – Team Quest and Dan Henderson prepare for war against Fedor
Our photographer Scott Hirano traveled to the sunny Temecula in Southern California to capture the bulked-up Dan Henderson in his final preparations for July 30th. Dan Henderson’s teammates Virgil Zwicker, Tarec Saffedine, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Ricardo Feleciano helped “Hendo” to strike, wrestle, and as you can see – sweat, for what is without a doubt one of the most high-profile fights in MMA history.
Make sure you check out Scott Hirano’s website at ScottHirano.com, and “Like” his Facebook page.
The Fight Nerd: ‘Dana White, King of MMA’ — review of the tell-all biography by Dana White’s mom
June gives us a detailed account of Dana’s youth and important family members that helped to shape his life. There are many stories about Dana’s drunken and abusive father and the hard life they had as a family. Want some dirt on a young DFW? He memorized Dr. Seuss books at age three, was chased by an angry rooster as a teenager, and his grandfather thought he was gay.
I don’t think this book will be a best-seller, do you?
MMA Convert: Cub Swanson saved $50,000USD by switching to HCIC
He’s the very first fighter to use the insurance after a sparring partner nailed him full force with a knee to the face, breaking his orbital, nasal, cheek and jaw bones.
MMA Payout: Ranger Up ‘out’ as sponsors for Strikeforce/UFC fighters Tim Kennedy & Liz Carmouche
Ranger Up stressed that supporting the troops will always be the primary focus of Ranger Up, whether it’s through sponsorship in MMA or other events, such as the All-Army Combative Tournaments where Tim Kennedy has made a name for himself over the years. Ranger Up is currently sponsoring over 100 troop members pursuing MMA in smaller events.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Mike Schmitz: Veteran Mike Pyle in Familiar Territory Against Rory MacDonald
By Zach Arnold | July 21, 2011
Déjà vu. That’s exactly what Mike “Quicksand” Pyle will be feeling when he steps into the octagon with 21-year-old (22 on July 22) phenom Rory MacDonald on Aug. 6 at UFC 133.
Just over nine months ago, Pyle came to blows with then-14-0 rising star John Hathaway. The 21-year-old Britt ran through all of his competition prior to meeting Pyle, and was fresh off an impressive win over Diego Sanchez at UFC 114. Hathaway made a statement against Sanchez – who was fresh off a title fight with BJ Penn – in a fight that had MMA fans thinking he may be the next big thing.
Pyle, on the other hand, turned 35 the month prior and was 2-2 in his previous four bouts. Hathaway clearly played the role of rising star poised to eventually touch the Welterweight title, while Pyle was the aging veteran hoping to stunt Hathaway’s growth and avenge a recent skid. And Pyle did the unthinkable as he shocked the UFC by completely manhandling Hathaway with the ground and pound on his way to an unexpectedly dominant unanimous decision.
Pyle took the over-hyped Hathaway to school, so it’s only natural to wonder, will he do the same with MacDonald and become the hype-buster of UFC?
“When I fought Hathaway, they tried to build hype in England and I went there and made the hype train quieter,” he wrote in a SportsNation chat. “This is what I’m going to do again. It’s going to be a repeat. That’s all I have to say about that.”
MacDonald’s hype is even greater than Hathaway’s, however, and for good reason. He’s 11-1 and 2-1 in his first three UFC fights, most recently an impressive victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 129 that was easily the biggest of his career. He mixed in a handful of impressive suplexes in the third round and mopped the octagon with Diaz. MacDonald also outfought Carlos Condit for two rounds at UFC 119 before Condit defeated the Canadian by TKO with only seven seconds remaining in the final round.
MacDonald is extremely skilled in virtually every area of MMA and is set to embark on a title run that seemed imminent before falling to Condit. A win could catapult him into the top 15 in the class. It’s hard to argue with 12-1, victories over Diaz and Pyle as well as a new victory over Condit. If MacDonald is able to get past Pyle and eventually boast the aforementioned resume, he could meet a Diego Sanchez or Jake Ellenberger-level fighter. But Pyle has other plans.
For the 35-year-old submission artist coming off of a UD victory over Ricardo Almeida, this bout is much more than a chance to remind MacDonald to respect his elders. He’s undefeated in his last three fights and could start an upward climb toward a Welterweight title shot with a win over MacDonald. In his most recent ESPN Blog Entry, Pyle explained that despite his age, he’s in terrific shape and as confident as ever.
“I believe I am at the peak of my career right now,” Pyle wrote. “I have never felt better physically and have never been stronger mentally.”
Despite a 21-7 record and a host of solid victories, Pyle’s career is nowhere near complete. He’s never hoisted the UFC Welterweight title belt, and surely hasn’t left his mark on mixed martial arts forever.
“Unlike a lot of my legendary peers, I am still trying to make my way in this sport and am still aspiring to achieve my goals. I am not yet content with where my career has taken me,” Pyle wrote. “I still have plenty left to achieve and still have sights on that UFC welterweight title. I’m not doing this thing to get on television. I want to fight Georges St. Pierre. I want to become world champion and I won’t let some 21-year-old kid named Rory MacDonald stand in my way of doing both.”
If Pyle defeats MacDonald, he could be another win or two from the title shot he’s been longing for. Expect him to possibly take on a Rick Story or Thiago Alves if he does to MacDonald what he did to Hathaway.
But although he made easy work of the last blue-chip prospect he faced, don’t assume Pyle will do it again. MacDonald is an extremely diverse fighter who is very polished despite his lack of experience. He’s equally dangerous on the ground and on his feet, which poses a challenge to the more grappling-heavy Pyle.
But if Pyle does get him on the ground like he did to Hathaway, it will be interesting to see how MacDonald responds. Sixteen of Quicksand’s 21 victories (76%) are by way of submission and he makes his living on the ground.
But MacDonald has six submission wins, meaning Pyle’s going to have to be on top of his game to defeat the youngster. My guess is that Pyle’s motivation to finally make a major splash in the UFC along with his decade of experience will be enough to fend off MacDonald.
After taking care of both Hathaway and MacDonald, Quicksand will be known for stunting the growth of UFC’s rising stars, while working his way toward the welterweight title shot he’s been striving for.
Train with Mike Pyle at TapouT VTC
Train with Mike Pyle at TapouT VTC where members get access to endless hours of MMA training videos from the top mixed martial arts pros. Members also receive nutritional plans, fitness tips, a 21-day workout plan from strengths and conditioning coaches as well as exclusive access to behind-the-scenes interviews and much more. Pyle teaches a Clinch & Grappling Module and a Submissions Module that include the following courses: Knees From Clinch, Takedown Off Cage, Punching From Guard, Passing the Guard, Passing Half Guard, Control Half Guard Against Cage, Shoulder Lock From Side, D’arce Choke, Arm Triangle From Side Control. Learn from Pyle and over 25 other top pros at TapouT VTC today.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Bjorn Rebney: If Nate Marquardt wants to fight Hector Lombard & Ben Askren, fight in a Bellator tournament
By Zach Arnold | July 21, 2011
The Bellator business model
MIKE STRAKA: “You spin different verticals even in your own personal career, where it’s the television packaging, now it’s the promoting and have you come to terms with the way to bring it all together? Because you have to step aside and say, okay, it’s not just about promoting and it’s not just about the sport and it’s not just about these athletes, either. It’s about putting on a show. How have you reconciled that?”
BJORN REBNEY: “That’s a great question. It never ceases to amaze me how you can keep learning in this dynamic and I always kind of dreamed about that moment where, um, I was far from the smartest guy in the room. That’s what I kept hoping is that I could surround myself with a bunch of great people and I, slowly but surely, have been able to do it. Now, with the guys at MTV Networks coming into it, with their expertise, their background in this space, what they’ve been able to develop under the Spike banner and we’re able to leverage some of that expertise from some of those people onto our show, it just it continues to evolve it. I mean, we’re never going to get to a point where I look at it and I go, everything’s working in synergy, I can’t conceptualize being at that point but all the movement, all of the different pieces are coming together in a stronger manner. They’re getting, the show is now coming into a place where it’s closer to what I had in my head years ago than it’s ever been. I don’t know if it’s ever going to reach that picture, that synchronicity in terms of traction but it’s getting much closer and it’s starting to resemble that which I hoped it would and that’s just a matter of putting those pieces together and working with super-smart people because there’s no way you can do it on your own. You’ve got to have wizards working with you on TV and other facets of the game and that’s fortunately what I’ve been able to pull together.”
MIKE STRAKA: “You saw recently where the San Jose Sharks pulled out from Strikeforce and pulled Scott Coker’s financing out and, you know, UFC came in and sort of were the white knights for Strikeforce and kept them afloat by purchasing them. Have you had those instances where your finance partners are saying, okay, Bjorn, you know we’re putting in a lot of money into it. Even the Fertitta Brothers (with UFC) at one point said, ‘what are we doing here?’ Have you had those types of conversations? How has it been business-wise?”
BJORN REBNEY: “It’s been really good business-wise and I mean I guess the, um… the essence of it is that we had a two year plan to reach a cash-flow break-even position and whether it was that the business model was incredibly strong and the projections were wickedly on point, maybe there’s a sprinkle of luck tuned into it, but with the falloff from the sport with the acquisition of the WEC, the acquisition of Strikeforce, the demise of the IFL, the demise of Elite XC, Bodog, Affliction, the list goes on and on…
“Everything worked. Those numbers that we projected in terms of time frames and how it would fly, it all worked the right way. So, we hit the numbers we had projected we were going to hit at the time we projected we were going to hit them, so I never had to have one of those ‘tail between legs’ conversations with our investment group saying, hey, I know I said this would happen at this time but it didn’t, can we have more money? The money worked, the money funded to the point where we hit cash-flow break-even and now we’re at a point where everything we do in terms of money coming in is equal to money going out. So, we can build this brand according to the platform we want to.
“People ask me all the time, when are you going to do your first PPV? We don’t need to do PPV. There may come a time when we do, but that will happen when the stars align, when there’s a consumer demand for it, when there’s a kind of fight where you and I are talking to each other and we’re looking at each other and going, ‘this! oh! what a fight! I would pay for that, I would stay home on a Saturday night to watch that.’ But that can all happen according to a brand-building strategy as opposed to based on economic dynamics pointing us in a specific direction. So, it’s gone really well, it’s in a good place.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Speaking of economic dynamics, I notice this year what’s different about your live events is you’re at casinos now, where before you were at the Wang Theater, you were doing theater shows with MSG and things like that. And when I was at the Wang Theater and I was up in Chicago, there were a lot of empty seats. So, it was a challenge getting into the live event. Now, it’s not so much of a challenge because I think the casinos really lend themselves to having that kind of combat sports entertainment. Was that a business decision that you came up with?”
BJORN REBNEY: “Yeah, it was two factors working in unison. One of them was a business decision. We went to the casinos and when you got a casino, you can cut what’s called a site fee deal (sold show), they pay you a certain amount. If they make $5 million at the gate, you make the exact same amount. If you make five dollars at the gate, you make as the promotion the same exact amount. Well, as the brand’s been building and as fans have started to respond, you just saw last season we had six sellouts of the eleven events, so it’s building. The casinos are getting better return on investment. When we go to a casino now, we’re bringing in the right kind of player, typically a 24-to-32 year old male, $80,000 medium income, the kind of socioeconomic player that a casino wants on the floor, they want at the casino and they’re willing to step up and give us a site fee and we come in and give them great exposure on MTV2, we’re reaching 80+ million homes, the numbers are strong.
“So, that’s a dynamic now where you go in, you know the margins, you know exactly how much you’re making when you walk into the event, so it’s not a risk situation. You’re not praying for a big walk-up. You know what you’ve got coming in and you can model your business accordingly, so that’s worked out really well and it’s a more straight-forward, more economically-sensible way to do it. There’ll come a time where we start doing some events at places where we work with Ticketmaster and we put our own advertising out and we promote the event in an old-school fashion, much the way Strikeforce used to do on a consistent basis. But from an economic perspective in terms of the business, that’s not a strong model for us right now and the model we’ve got going on right now is just a blessing. We’ve got partners at the Hard Rock, partners at Mohegan, Caesars is now doing three events with us this Fall, so those are the kind of relationships you dream of as a promoter because it’s stability.”
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Joe Warren says he wanted to be an MMA commentator but got told to be a fighter first
By Zach Arnold | July 21, 2011
MIKE STRAKA: “So, let’s talk. First of all, I hear you want to go down to Bantamweight, is that right?”
JOE WARREN: “That’s a natural weight for me, you know, I walk around 145, so, uh… it’s a career move for me, a safe career move, you know, to get down and fight those studs at 135, get the belt there and defend both belts.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Now, that would be 2012, a year that you could be the Bantamweight, the Featherweight champion of Bellator, but also maybe a gold medalist on the U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling Team, is that right?”
JOE WARREN: “Yeah, that’s the plan here, you know, we got a plan for the next year and right now the plan is another belt at 35 and then make the Olympic team and go win that thing. But, you know, it’s one day at a time for me keeping focus and if you look too far ahead sometimes it’s rough for me. But I got a real tough here against Alexis Villa first and then, we’ll see what happens, you know?”
MIKE STRAKA: “Alexis Villa, he’s a Cuban wrestler, another great wrestler like yourself. But how’s the transition been for you, going from being a wrestling guy, a mat guy, I see your ground-and-pound is great, stand-up not so great?”
JOE WARREN: “It’s great now, okay, so watch out. Yeah, I mean I was a wrestler, came from the Olympic Training Center and jumped directly into Japan and fought the featherweight world championship. I wanted to actually be a color commentator and they said I had no credibility in fighting, so I should fight. So Dan & Heath at Team Quest, ex-teammates of mine, gave me a call and said, two weeks, we can get you into this featherweight championship. So, I didn’t really have any training, just wrestling, so…”
MIKE STRAKA: “First of all, who told you had no credibility to be a color commentator? I mean, how many fights has Joe Rogan had?”
JOE WARREN: “Exactly, but you know, I wanted to be a better color commentator than that, okay? So, I just to want make sure that I knew what I was doing and actually had credibility. So, now that I have some belts, you know, I’ll get a few more belts and maybe stand next to him some day, you never know.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Well, have you ever considered doing wrestling commentary? I see Cael Sanderson doing some stuff, John Smith…”
JOE WARREN: “Yeah, I’ll probably do a lot of that, but I got a family so it’s a business for me, it’s a job, they don’t usually pay the wrestling commentators really well.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Well, speaking of family, you’ve got Xander, how old is Xander?”
JOE WARREN: “He just turned three last week, and I have a daughter, she’s 14 months (old), and my wife Christy, love ’em. That’s why I really got into this, you know, it’s my job and I fight for them so it’s nice, I got a good, strong support cast at home. It keeps me focused and training hard.”
MIKE STRAKA: “What’s the difference, Joe, between being an amateur wrestling and going for the gold in the Olympics and the World Games, things like that, to being a professional fighter?”
JOE WARREN: “You know, it’s completely two different things, you know. These are professional athletes, the best of the best at the Olympic level, you know, their whole life is based around winning a gold medal for this Olympic, It’s life or death for them, so once you compete against one of those guys in a foreign country, it’s very personal. So the match is a battle, it’s like the worst war you’ve seen in the cage. I’m seeing this is more of a business and people love to fight and it’s exciting and so you see two different guys get matched up, one five-time world champ jiu-jitsu, five-time world champ wrestler, so you see a clash. Now I’m seeing better athletes, top-tier fighters get into fighting. It’s changed a lot. So, the difference is pretty tough but hand-to-hand they’re very similar.”
MIKE STRAKA: “The sport’s called Mixed Martial Arts, you’re a wrestler and maybe you’re learning some striking. Would you ever consider yourself a martial artist?”
JOE WARREN: “Well, I consider myself a fighter now, okay, not a wrestler. I’ve put too much into this and I’m starting to love this sport. It was hard for me to love this sport earlier in the last year and a half because I was fighting so much, I think I fought 8 times in a year and a half, two years, 8 times, so I couldn’t learn any technique, my muscle memory, that’s why my hands were bad. But now I’ve put that time in, I’m putting the time in every single day and I’m starting to love jiu-jitsu and striking because I’m learning the sport, you know, I respect both of those sports more and more every day when I get some technique.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Have you been training your wrestling? (Olympics)”
JOE WARREN: “Yeah, I have a home in Monument, Colorado, so it’s 30 minutes from the Olympic Training Center, 30 minutes from my gym in Denver. So, yeah, I’m still in there, the best place I think to train in the world is at the OTC. It’s a team atmosphere and I’ve been pushing real hard.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Your next fight with Villa, are you guys going to negate each other’s wrestling, you think?”
JOE WARREN: “You know, he’s a Freestyler, you know, so if he drops down and grab his leg right here he might get knee’d in the face, but you never know. It might negate it but that’s better for me because I have a longer reach, bigger hands, and my hands are working better. So, it’s going to be a war, I mean this is a champion and I’m a champion, so when we both get in there neither of us like to break. But those are those situations that I’m comfortable in, you know, the war where it gets down and dirty, that’s where I shine.”
MIKE STRAKA: “Now, you talk about this is your job and you do it for your family and things like that. Christy, your wife, how long have you been together?”
JOE WARREN: “We’ve been together for like 12 years, so it’s been a while.”
MIKE STRAKA: “So, to her, your fighting world and your sports, athletic world, that’s just second nature to her?”
JOE WARREN: “It’s second nature. We met in college, she was older than me, she got a full-time job, a medical sales job to support me so I could go after my Olympic gold, I wanted to win the Worlds, I was focused, she believed in me. So, she got a job and worked hard and supported us for six, seven years and now it’s my turn, so she’s at home with the babies and I’m beating people up for money. So, that’s how it goes. But to have that support structure, someone who believes in you, you gain ground every single day with that.”
MIKE STRAKA: “How devastated were you when you didn’t compete in the Olympics?”
JOE WARREN: “You know, it was tough, I don’t think I lost three years up to that. I won the Pan American games, I won the World Cup, I won the World Championship, I won everything. So, me making that team and not being able to compete? You know, it was a blow to me but things happen, you know, I just move through it. I get another chance now to make that team and now I’m a fighter. Look at this, this is awesome. I enjoy the big stage. I enjoyed fighting in Japan, stuff like that. So, not winning that gold hurt then but it made me stronger and a champion is able to move through those bumps and keep going forward.”
MIKE STRAKA: “What did you say to Christy when everything she sacrificed for you to get there, how did you reconcile that with her?”
JOE WARREN: “The reason it happened is we lost a baby right at that time, you know, and it was rough on both of us. There’s not much you can say. It was a mistake that I made and I dealt with it, you know, it’s done and it’s over with but I get a second chance.”
MIKE STRAKA: “This is some personal shit, you know what I mean?”
JOE WARREN: “Yeah, it’s personal, I mean, fighting’s personal, man. I mean, all these sports are personal and what we do, what you do, is to try to teach everyone who we are so we can just educate people that we’re real people, we’re the same person as your next-door neighbor. We’re just not good at accounting, we’re good at punching people, that’s the difference. But, you know, every day in and day out is a struggle always for everyone. It might their job or it might be fighting, so, we just try to stay positive and keep moving forward and one day at a time and usually it’s good.”
Topics: Bellator, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media day: 10 things I think I know are true in UFC & MMA (part two)
By Zach Arnold | July 20, 2011
On Tuesday, I did two radio interviews (one with Bryan Alvarez here & one with Jordan Breen on Sherdog here).
Yesterday, I wrote the first 5 things I think I know are true about the UFC & MMA landscape based on my interview with Bryan. Today, things 6-10 that I think I know are true based on my excellent interview with Jordan Breen. The only thing not-excellent about that interview was my usage of the crutch “I mean” too many times. Been a while since I’ve done the interview rounds, so I didn’t pay attention and paid for it.
Our interview with Jordan focused mostly on UFC’s plans for wanting to run an event in Japan and what the Japanese landscape looks like now versus what it may look like down the road. I would strongly encourage you to listen to both interviews I did (if you get the chance). Many thanks to the feedback I’ve received from everyone on the F4W interview.
Now, focusing on some of the issues raised in the Sherdog interview.
6. Zuffa wants to run in Japan because, in our opinion, it will be a vanity show to placate egos & stick it to ‘the ghost of PRIDE’
Jordan calls the idea of UFC running a show in Japan as a ‘vanity show’ and I agree with him. Japan is no longer a substantial MMA market to make money in. There’s a reason you see One FC and Legend FC running in Macau, in Singapore (I predicted that specific area a couple of years ago would see substantial activity because of what the country offers), and in Hong Kong.
The primary reason I stated that UFC would be interested in running in Japan is to basically placate egos in management that want to kill the meaning of PRIDE in their heads. I said this to Jordan and I stick by it — Dana White and company still mark out over PRIDE in 2011 and magnify an imaginary feud with PRIDE to this day. It’s a ghost and it’s almost as if wanting to run a show in Japan is to prove to the Japanese that PRIDE was nothing, that their rules suck, and that UFC is superior to PRIDE. PRIDE is dead, so it shouldn’t matter. With that said, I don’t believe for one second that UFC isn’t interested in running in Japan in order to continue with the fixation of proving that the foreign power is best and that foreign fighters are better than Japanese fighters. Again, it doesn’t matter if it’s truthful or not, if you’re a Japanese fan why do you want to watch natives get buried to foreigners you’ve never seen on television and never will largely care about?
There is a great romance that people who have spent many years in the MMA business have with Japan as far as what it meant and still try to project recent history with what the current landscape really is like.
7. MMA fans expect big activity from the Japanese landscape in 2011 despite the industry’s collapse in the country
“What is Japan right now for fighting?” That’s the question, in a nutshell, that I think about quite a bit. Jordan mentioned that if the MMA scene died in the UK tomorrow, people would still move on with their lives. However, there’s this belief that MMA’s importance on a large scale should and never will die in Japan. That’s simply not the case.
The expectations of what fans and promoters think Japan should be versus what it is are unrealistic. That doesn’t mean that I’m not sad about it. Japan has always been a major part of my career history and I’ve made so many personal & business connections over there because of the fight game.
8. The timing couldn’t be more miserable for a foreign promoter to try to gain a large market share in
Japan.
2 to 3 years ago, I stated that the one way UFC could possibly get traction in the Japanese marketplace is if they agreed to work with K-1 and Kazuyoshi Ishii. At that time, the possibility of match-ups like Kid Yamamoto vs. Urijah Faber still existed. K-1 still had connections with Fuji TV & Tokyo Broadcasting System, network television assets that are essential to being successful in that country. You cannot transfer UFC’s traditional cable business model to Japan and expect it to work. It didn’t work for WWE and it won’t work for UFC.
Forward to the landscape today and K-1 is largely marginalized. Foreign fighters, no less, are openly challenging K-1 for getting stiffed on cash. Even five years ago, foreigners would have been punished hard for causing such trouble. Now? K-1 is impotent, weak, and shallow. Largely irrelevant. They don’t bring the television power to the table that they once had.
However, don’t think for a second that UFC could ever capitalize on K-1’s misfortune. If they can’t secure the kind of TV deal they want in the States and if they can’t navigate the politics of New York, the politics of Japan are far more challenging than they could ever deal with or be motivated to traverse through.
Five years ago, Simon Rutz would have been punished for running a show in Japan. A foreigner from Holland running a show as a protest to business dealings with K-1? This is the same operation (K-1) that cooperated with Shukan Gendai to create the steam needed to destroy PRIDE. I say cooperated because Seiya Kawamata, the admitted yakuza fixer, was aligned with K-1 at the time of the scandal. The idea of someone like Simon running without fear is incredible, no matter how small the buildings he runs events in are.
9. If the UFC runs a vanity show in Japan, the safe money is the show taking place at Saitama Super Arena or Yokohama Arena.
Yokohama Arena is where WWE tried their hand in 2003. It’s a building that is booked for a lot of foreign shows and concerts. It’s also home to where Ultimate Japan took place with Sakuraba.
Saitama Super Arena, as I stated during the Sherdog interview, is my best bet for where UFC would want to run a show. SSA is PRIDE’s home turf and if you’re going to go into Japan to kill off the ghost of PRIDE, you run your show there. The building can be scaled down for smaller crowds as well. Makes a lot of sense.
There is an outside chance that if UFC can’t get either building, they would have to run in a building like Makuhari Messe (Chiba) or Tokyo Bay NK Hall (old home to UWF/Pancrase shows). WWE ran Ryogoku Kokugikan for their last Japanese stint, but I’m not sure if UFC would want to book that building because it’s not a very flexible set-up for production.
As for what kind of crowd would show up for a UFC show in Japan, there would be some hardcore MMA fans. However, I would expect the majority of the audience to be one-and-doners or concert types that go because it’s a foreign product, but nothing with a real emotional attachment.
The UFC using a cage is more of a negative than it is a positive in Japan. The Japanese fans prefer the ring. Always have, always will. Less barbaric looking.
As for what kind of fights UFC could book for a Japanese show to try to appeal to the masses, I’ll just tell you to listen to the Sherdog interview for my initial response. Even after listening to my answer on the audio download, I’m horrified I even said the match-up that I did. But I told the truth.
10. We do not know where the next pipeline is for recruiting young Japanese MMA talent. What is the profile of the next big Japanese star?
At no point during our discussion on the radio interview did we talk about Yushin Okami headlining a UFC show in Japan. He is practically a no-name in his home country. You could not headline a show with him on top and expect to draw a huge gate.
Yushin Okami’s biggest value for UFC in Japan, ironically, is in what I call the “Akio Sato” role. Sato was a fledgling, yet good technical pro-wrestling midcarder who never got a big push. He ended up working for Vince McMahon when McMahon decided to do some super shows with the SWS (money mark) promotion in the early 90s. Sato was the go-between for talent between the two companies. He essentially managed to pipeline for business between the American and Japanese entities.
Okami very much could fill the same role for Zuffa as a recruiter & talent scout, similar to the role that Hiroshi Hase had with his amateur wrestling contracts when he recruited new talent for New Japan Pro-Wrestling during their golden age of business.
If UFC does not manage to put Okami in a position to be able to recruit new talent and create a recruiting pipeline, the danger is that someone will attempt to fill that vacuum and it won’t be a Zuffa-friendly ally. It will be someone like Hase (if he gets the itch) or Antonio Inoki. Inoki is not in the business for recruiting talent for UFC, he’s in business for himself like he’s always been.
What will the profile be of the next young Japanese ‘ace’ for the MMA scene there? Listen to the radio interview and find out our guesses/answers to that question.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
What exactly is the message UFC is sending to MMA fighters with their handling of Alistair Overeem?
By Zach Arnold | July 20, 2011
YAHOO! SPORTS’ Iole on Zuffa dumping Overeem from Strikeforce HWT GP from Steve Cofield on Vimeo.
Steve Cofield & Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports/Cagewriter.com fame had an interesting discussion about the message Zuffa is sending to fighters in wake of their cancellation of Alistair Overeem from the Strikeforce GP tournament. Alistair Overeem said that he wanted to fight in October, Zuffa & Showtime had a September date. Now, Dana White says his problems with Lyoto Machida & Alistair Overeem will ‘blow over.’
STEVE COFIELD: “I do think that Dana White & Zuffa needed to send a message to Strikeforce fighters because I do believe that the scheduling in the past has gotten, it was a little ridiculous. Some of the fighters, I think, took control of things and took advantage of being able to push fights back and I think they need to lay down the law and say, hey, we have a schedule here and, you know, even if you’re a little dinged up you’re going to have to fight sometimes.”
KEVIN IOLE: “Yeah, I mean, there’s a fine line, you know, I think every fighter goes into a fight hurt. If you want to say they got aches & pains, they got bruises, they got this, they have that, there’s a lot of things that go on. Now there’s a difference, do you have a broken foot in your foot, can you bare weight on that foot, can you kick with it, are you going to do any damage to yourself going forward? But there’s always going to be aches & pains that come with fighting. You hear guys talk about it all the time, Steve, and you have to realize that this is becoming a big business. It’s no longer a mom & pop thing and just a small little thing, it’s now a big business and we have major televisions networks involved in these things and they have to run. It takes 8 weeks to promote these things for the television networks, they have to get all their marketing materials done and get everything out, get into the TV guides and then if guys pull out for really little reason then it really throws a big monkey wrench into a lot of things. So, the fighters need to make themselves available as best as they can. I don’t want to sound like I’m criticizing fighters because I’m not. I think the guys largely do a great job of doing that but in this particular case, you know, not knowing the extent of Overeem’s injury, we’re at a loss but it doesn’t sound like it was the most significant injury that Overeem’s probably ever had.”
STEVE COFIELD: “Do you think there are fans that are actually angry with Zuffa, with Dana White, with UFC over this?”
KEVIN IOLE: “Well, I think there’s a large segment of people out there who don’t like Zuffa, who don’t like Dana White, and for whatever reason that’s their choice. I don’t begrudge them that. I think as a result, they apply all this to them and they’re going to take the opposite side, the anti-Zuffa, the anti-Dana White side and that’s their choice. But I think fans are probably going to be upset in the future when they see Daniel Cormier fighting instead of Alistair Overeem. Cormier is a good prospect, but was he one of the top guys in Strikeforce? Well, if he was one of the top 8 guys, he would have been in it at the beginning. I think, you know, maybe if this had been held this time next year, he would have been in from the start. You know, so it’s disappointing to see it happen. I think there is going to be a little bit of a backlash, but if the fights are good, here’s what we remember — if the fights are good, if Cormier gives a good performance, if there are good fights on that night, I think people will forgive and forget.
(later on)
“Overeem is a great personality and he’s a guy that I think is an entertaining fighter, but he is largely unknown to the U.S. The hardcore fans know him and so they’re going to get upset and say, “We know who he is!” The hardcore fans know him but the hardcore fans make up less than 1% of the fan base, less than 1%. So, they’re marketing to a much bigger audience out there that doesn’t include the guys that are, you know, on the forums all day and posting and reading all these posts. And Overeem to that larger public is very unknown. Steve, he needs to be fighting on Zuffa-televised events and get his name out there because he’s got a great personality, people would love him when they get to know him. But he’s got to give himself a chance and talking about going into another sport is just going to lessen the impact you’re going to make in MMA.”
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 48 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media day: 10 things I think I know are true in #UFC & #MMA (part one)
By Zach Arnold | July 19, 2011
I spent the day doing the media rounds, doing a couple of in-depth interviews that I thought turned out really well in terms of discussion content. I’ll elaborate on the first interview here and some points from it.
Earlier this morning/afternoon, I did an interview with Bryan Alvarez talking about, well, everything imaginable under the sun that is related to MMA.
Which leads me to bring up some points from the interview that I think are true and noteworthy.
1. The 9-year rule article on Fight Opinion may be the most successful article ever written on this site
I’ve covered every MMA scandal, some moreso in detail than others. And, yet, it appears that the 9-year rule article written by David Williams is probably the most successful article ever published on the site. I have plenty of people who still ask me about the piece and how it came about.
David does a great job of writing articles over at his Fantasy Fights web site, so you can check out more of his work there or check out his latest thoughts on Twitter @dwilliamsmma.
2. The TV landscape is not what the UFC thought it would end up being for a new television deal.
During the interview, Bryan & I talked a lot about the concept of UFC going all-in with Versus and the potential turnkey operation of converting the G4 network into the UFC network. In the end, the safe bet is to assume that a new deal between Spike & UFC will get worked out. UFC’s audience from Spike does not seem to be that portable in terms of shifting over to other television platforms. The HBO carrot may or may not be out there, but UFC wants full control and right now no other cable operation is willing to give them that outside of their current television situation.
Bryan mentioned the potential of the UFC & WWE working together for a combat sports channel, but I largely don’t see that happening because of the increasing polarization of the two audiences and growing contempt/indifference they have for each other.
3. UFC re-upping with Spike likely means the financial death for Bellator.
It’s really hard to see what way Bellator can stay solvent if they do not get the Spike TV deal. If UFC leaves Spike, suddenly there’s a golden opportunity. If UFC stays on Spike, Bellator has no shot. It’s not like MTV is going to buy out the promotion and run it as a feeder system. Maybe UFC would, but more than likely not because they’ve had enough of buying out other organizations (PRIDE & Strikeforce). It’s too much work. With that stated, the Bellator contracts could be used against the fighters should the promotion go under.
4. Showtime and UFC will probably be mutually happy to end their relationship sooner rather than later.
With Ross Greenburg out at HBO, Ken Hershman at Showtime has to be feeling his oats. Chris DeBlazio of Showtime recently said that boxing is their marquee sport, which all but indicates a lack of interest in Showtime getting heavily involved in the MMA scene. After all, they know the boxing business model of paying promoters a lot of money and buying fights. That’s not what UFC’s business model is at all. I was told early on when UFC bought out Strikeforce that Ken Hershman was happy with the deal, but it seems clear with the poaching of Nick Diaz and the departures of Gina Carano & Alistair Overeem (on the sidelines) that the oil/water comparison is apt. Showtime does business their way and UFC does business their way. Where M-1 fits into this equation is anyone’s guess. Can they step up and fill the role that Bellator is currently filling should Bellator go under?
5. The action right now is in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau for Asian MMA. It’s not in Japan.
If there was one universal topic that I was asked during my various media interviews today, it was about the state of the Japanese combat sports landscape and when things will bounce back. There is a real romance and emotional connection fans have with the history of the Japanese scene. It is hard for so many people to fathom just how far things have declined, but they have. Read these items (Middle Easy talking about One FC and this press release about the former News Corp. COO investing into Legend FC in Hong Kong) and take into account that the smart money for Asian MMA is not going anywhere near Japan. It shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who’s read my warnings for the last few years about what the PRIDE scandal would mean for the country’s fight scene…
And, on that note, this will be the starting point for the next summary of ‘things I think I know’ when discussing the next media interview I did.
The link to the audio interview I did with Bryan Alvarez is here if you would like to check it out. I think you’ll have a fun time listening to it. I did briefly bring up the book written by June White about Dana, but it really has not gained much traction or interest online.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Card & cable TV chaos puts UFC in a fluid business situation
By Zach Arnold | July 18, 2011
When Chad Mendes decided to take a fight so soon after his most recent UFC bout instead of waiting around for Jose Aldo (UFC Featherweight champion) to recover from injury, he was roundly criticized for putting himself in a situation where he could have gotten a title shot if he had waited one month longer. As things turned out, UFC is very thankful that Mendes decided to take a fight for their Philadelphia card. The Philly card has been hurt by injuries and cancellations. Despite being favored by more than -500 to win over Rani Yahya, Mendes still has put himself in quite a low-reward, high-risk predicament.
“You ask if it’s a risk and I honestly believe it is a risk, but I mean it’s a big risk if the only reward is the belt. And for me, obviously, the belt is a great reward for me but in my situation and my life, competing is almost just as big of a reward for me as getting that belt. I mean, being happy in life, you know, competing, you know, I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to train and be healthy all the time, you know, I get to hang out with all my buddies all the time. You know, I get to travel all the world, I get to meet new fans, new people constantly. You know, I get to come on cool shows like this, get to meet you guys. I mean, never in a million years would I have thought that growing up I’d be sitting here right now, 26 years old. So, I mean, overall I’m loving my life and I love to compete. I mean, I’ve been competing since I was five years old, you know, with wrestling and stuff like that so, you know, just sitting around and training and not competing is not in the cards for me.
“I’ve only been doing this for not even three years, yet. It’s not going to help me to just sideline and just sit on the shelf, you know, if I can take another fight… I’m getting better with every fight, I honestly believe and, you know, I’m getting more confident with my stand-up. I have the wrestling and, you know, I’m only getting better. So, I’m taking the fight, I’m taking a chance. But like I said, overall I’m still going to be happy and I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. If I go out there and destroy (Rani) Yahya, well it was meant to be. If I don’t, well then it wasn’t. But, I mean, I’ll tell you this right now that I’ve put in all the blood, sweat, and tears for this camp and done everything possible to win this fight. So, you know, I did everything I need to do, I’m prepared for the fight, and I’m just going to go out there and have fun.”
Aldo, after giving the all-clear, will end up defending his Featherweight belt against Kenny Florian in early October for UFC’s Houston event (which also features Frankie Edgar/Gray Maynard III & Chael Sonnen/Brian Stann). With all the reshuffling UFC has had to do with their upcoming cards, it has created a situation with two mega-cards for October (the early show in Houston and the later event in Las Vegas). All of this stress comes at a time when UFC did the right thing by giving their fighters (who are under contract) health insurance. File that policy, right now, under the category of ‘when doing the right thing hurts.’ A word to the fighters, however, who decide to open the floodgates all at once and pull out of fights for minor injuries — UFC can take the policy away. It’s not as if they are dealing with a union here. One day, UFC could simply make the decision to cut the cord on the insurance and come up with a multitude of reasons for doing so.
All of the card modifications and injuries has put UFC in a tough spot for television negotiations. Ratings are largely where they have been for the past few years and the company is in a transitional period right now by adding new weight classes and fighters to their roster to push. If you’re a television executive interested in UFC, how much do you want to invest in resources in promoting the UFC? The Versus cards, on paper, have been dogs lately and the upcoming Washington D.C. debut doesn’t look all that hot. If you’re a TV suit and you see UFC is constantly having to shuffle fights around, don’t you take pause and wonder if there’s room for growth for the organization? During this time period where UFC is negotiating with multiple television outlets, chaos is the last thing they want to deal with.
Throw into the equation what’s happening at HBO Sports and you have quite a landscape to navigate.
Sports by Brooks says Ross Greenburg got fired and Kevin Iole says that Greenburg burnt one too many bridges in the boxing world to keep his job. Think about the fact that Top Rank & Manny Pacquiao going from HBO to Showtime was the final nail in the proverbial coffin. Boxing’s economic model is the last thing UFC wants to find itself in and, yet, there’s the potential golden carrot of working with HBO now that Greenburg is out of the picture. Taking a deal with HBO for UFC would be quite the scenario. Dana White & Lorenzo Fertitta want full production control, including announcers. A lot of UFC fans are accustomed to watching cards on basic cable, not pay television. Zuffa has the Strikeforce deal with Showtime that appeared to be reaching a dead end. However, fathom this possibility — Zuffa keeps SF afloat to prevent new competition from taking a foothold on Showtime and they put UFC cards on HBO & Versus. It would be quite an interesting business scenario. If UFC is going to leave Spike TV, they may as well make a big splash (as opposed to buying the G4 TV network and trying to make the nearly impossible success story of their own cable/satellite channel happen.)
While it is easy to get caught up in the horse trading of fighters getting booked and canceled off of shows as the most immediate daily news updates, the real action right now is with what’s happening at Comcast/NBC Universal and, now, HBO.
Speaking of boxing, here’s Alistair Overeem taking a page out of the Nick Diaz playbook by suggesting the idea that he would like to fight Vitali Klitschko. “It matches my personality. I’m always looking for a challenge.” Klitschko is scheduled to fight Tomasz Adamek in Poland on September 10th. He’s around a -425 favorite (4.25 to 1) to win.
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 71 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC reshifts focus on blaming culinary unions for lack of New York MMA regulation
By Zach Arnold | July 17, 2011
On Friday, we posted a link to this open letter on The Fight Nerd about how things are regressing/progressing for UFC in New York in regards to MMA legislation getting passed. Here was a quote from that letter we focused on:
You once told me, on the record, after a press conference that you don’t follow New York politics too closely but that the UFC has hired all the right people and that they know what they are doing. While delegating work to specialists makes perfect sense, it means that you have been answering questions from the media about New York based on information provided by Global Strategy Group. This information ranges from misleading to outright lies and is costing New York MMA valuable potential allies for next year.
Before this open letter was written, an acquaintance of mine from our site (Tim) mentioned to me that I should check out an interview that UFC posted on their web site with Joe Rogan talking to Lorenzo Fertitta about the company’s political battles in New York.
Picture of Lorenzo Fertitta from Joe Rogan interview. Copyright — Zuffa LLC. Click on the picture to watch the Ultimate Insider show on UFC.com.
The interview was interesting on a few levels. In addition to reading the transcript, I would encourage you to listen to the actual audio/video to get a real sense of the tone of the interview. It sounded like there were some audio jump cuts, but I’m not positive/certain about it.
Continue reading this article here…
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |