Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[Yobo Ahoy]

Yeah Mitrione is a tough one to judge, he's clearly mid-card but is the sort of guy UFC needs if it's going to continue its world domination plans and 50-odd events per year, someone needs to fight on the undercards and if it's a relatively entertaining guy like Mitrione, all the better.

 

Can't begrudge him following the money though, even if he'll probably just end up fighting Cheick Kongo 4 times per year. Kimbo rematch anyone...? No...?

[V3zna]

If it happens Rory Mac going to Bellator should be the wake up call the UFC badly needs. Some of the purses the fighters get is ridiculous, not to mention the Reebok deal which even after all this time makes zero sense. I'd love to see the UFC bought out and ran by someone new. 

[Tofu]

46 minutes ago, vezna said:

If it happens Rory Mac going to Bellator should be the wake up call the UFC badly needs. Some of the purses the fighters get is ridiculous, not to mention the Reebok deal which even after all this time makes zero sense. I'd love to see the UFC bought out and ran by someone new. 

 

He's not going anyway, its simply a business tactic to get a better deal if he wins his fight. Otherwise business as usual.

[schmojo]

It doesn't seem very likely that he'd go to Bellator but he's not likely to get a shot at the title while Lawler's King. If they offered double his money, it'd have to be tempting.

 

Fuck,  he could probably pick up some donuts and be the MW champ over there. 

 

[Tofu]

2 hours ago, schmojo said:

It doesn't seem very likely that he'd go to Bellator but he's not likely to get a shot at the title while Lawler's King. If they offered double his money, it'd have to be tempting.

 

Fuck,  he could probably pick up some donuts and be the MW champ over there. 

 

Probably double and PPV points as well, he has a kid coming as well so I expect that would play a big factor as well since family is number one in another's life. So maybe its not too crazy he goes to Bellator if the money is right, he has sponsorship deals as well so that would be a nice tidy sum. However, he wouldn't be fighting the best, he's young and extremely hungry so there is that.

[Orion]

Benson Henderson was on 30k to show and 30k to win, when he was LW champion main eventing cards. He was making his money of sponsorships,  then they brought in the Reebok deal just to fuck him over more.

 

I don't blame these guys for leaving when the UFC has been stiffing fighters since forever. Its fucking horrible how Dana will bury them on the way out as well.

[angel]

Happy to see meathead getting paid over at Bellator now, but i'd be esctatic to see Rory go, precisely the wake up call needed as said. I still find a press conference without Dana a very dry affair, he really is the charisma behind the UFC hype machine, but the business practises leave so much to be desired. I mean Nate being on 20/20 for years was a joke, he was fined for wearing jeans last time out before conor at the weigh in (and they were bloody reebok jeans). Considering the last card did 1 million buys at what, 60 dollars or so, the fighters get an absolute pittance.  As much as a fan as I am, I would love to see proper competition finally come in and take the UFC down, or at least clip their wings. The fertittas are absolute arseholes, Lorenzo pops up every so often in an interview and hes so disrespectful to fighters, slamming them for not towing the reebok line and talking about them like shit. Sadly they really are just a crap company.

[Orion]

That reminds me angel that Mitrione turned up at an event recently in a pair of Jordans and the UFC made him take them off and walk around barefoot. For anyone thats very insulting, for a fighter who is risking their health short term and long term for you it was probably the final straw.

[angel]

Yeah I remember that, I think he mentioned it on the MMA hour. For a company that stopped hiring Stitch Duran over a single comment, and ditched Burt Watson extremely disrespectfully, not matching Mitriones offer was probably always on the cards.

[Tofu]

Its great that this talk is happening, but lets be realistic here. Unless someone like Connor, Rousey goes to Bellator with a couple of big names then this isn't really going to make UFC brass sweat at all. Rory is a great fighter, and fan favourite but he's not a big draw either. As for Mitrone, can't say I'm sad to see him go since he hasn't really impressed in his last few fights.

[angel]

Dont underestimate the UFCs desire to keep hold of people who represent their countries biggest active name (Canada). Rorys in a strange position, he's been denied twice in competitive fights with Lawler so he's almost becoming a top 3 gatekeeper.  Mitriones a good draw too, I like him a lot, he was bang unlucky last time out. Travise Browne is an ass, and the referee was tweeting at him (browne) a few weeks after asking how he was. Mitriones appealing the fight.

[Tofu]

12 minutes ago, angel said:

Dont underestimate the UFCs desire to keep hold of people who represent their countries biggest active name (Canada). Rorys in a strange position, he's been denied twice in competitive fights with Lawler so he's almost becoming a top 3 gatekeeper.  Mitriones a good draw too, I like him a lot, he was bang unlucky last time out. Travise Browne is an ass, and the referee was tweeting at him (browne) a few weeks after asking how he was. Mitriones appealing the fight.

Its great that this talk is happening, but lets be realistic here. Unless someone like Connor, Rousey goes to Bellator with a couple of big names then this isn't really going to make UFC brass sweat at all. Rory is a great fighter, and fan favourite but he's not a big draw either. As for Mitrone, can't say I'm sad to see him go since he hasn't really impressed in his last few fights.

 

Canada isn't the UFC's biggest draw anymore, its been in decline for a while since GSP left. That fight with Lawler was awesome, I respectfully disagree that he's a gatekeeper. Rory has all the signs of being a champion however, can't wait to see the fight between him and Wonderboy.

[angel]

Not a gatekeeper in the traditional sense, but he's log jammed behind his 2 losses to the champ, a bit like Benavidez. I think he'll lose to WB.

[Doomguy]

I hope Rory and Condit both go to bellator. 

 

Dana is still after all this time comparing the UFC to the NFL, it's ridiculous.

 

Team sport = NFL

Singles sport = MMA 

 

What a dope. 

 

Can you imagine trying to sell this idea to tennis fans? 'andy murray is a team so we're going to take all his sponsorship money away and put our own brand on him'. 

 

'so where is all the money going that you get from sponsorship?' 

 

'well, andy will get a tiny fraction of that and we'll take the rest.'

 

...

[Gotters]

I realise a lot of people like to bash the UFC but some of the controlling practices that they have are what makes it so great - you never get fighters allowed to swerve each other endlessly as in boxing as they are built up and then matched more like the WWE would do it.

 

I actually believe in order to keep the UFC great they need to remain bigger than the fighters and should never worry about 1 or 2 names leaving, what the need is a large roster of competitive fighters - the loss of Mittrione, Condit even Rory Mac isn't really going to worry them at all, all fighters who may have had their best fights already and just don't sell tickets. 

 

 

[glb]

Think they could start by increasing the fight bonuses, especially if a PPV is drawing in $60m+ in buys, and allow fighters other endorsements to supplement their basic income. Perhaps an approved list to appease the powers that be, but at least the fighters that put their necks on the line can actually draw improved income for doing so.

 

Conor likes to brag about the 000s he adds to everyone else's paychecks, which while truth, does overshadow the fact that plenty within the organisation have sacrificed plenty and more to get where they are, and thus fill cards. even if they don't have the same levels of charisma to make themselves known to the wider world. Only analogy I can think of is the NFL where teams share revenue. There are a handful of leading lights, but every team contributes to the sport as a whole (except the Jags) and thus gets a decent share of the pot. Maybe that's naive on my part, but $30,000 paychecks when the company is making 1000 times that on PPV income does seem more than a little lopsided.

 

Agree fighters not being able to swerve, was one of the things that first attracted me to watching the UFC after getting frustrated with boxing's various promoters refusing to do business with each other.

[schmojo]

2 hours ago, Gotters said:

I realise a lot of people like to bash the UFC but some of the controlling practices that they have are what makes it so great

 

That's what makes it a dystopian, anti-fighter nightmare.

 

Me being provided with fights I like is secondary to people being able to feed their families and have the leverage that professionals deserve. The sooner the regime is toppled, the better.

 

I'm not sure it'll be an outside influence that does it though. It might be the point at which someone surpasses Conor (or maybe still Conor himself), who realises that they can demand co-promotion.

[Floyd]

I think it'll be really good if a few more head over to Bellator, it'll elevate them, make them more popular and they wont have to do their silly gimmick fights anymore. Competition is great for the UFC and for us. I hope Rory goes there. End of the day, I'm a fan on MMA , not UFC.

[Orion]

3 hours ago, schmojo said:

 

That's what makes it a dystopian, anti-fighter nightmare.

 

Me being provided with fights I like is secondary to people being able to feed their families and have the leverage that professionals deserve. The sooner the regime is toppled, the better.

 

I'm not sure it'll be an outside influence that does it though. It might be the point at which someone surpasses Conor (or maybe still Conor himself), who realises that they can demand co-promotion.

 

I was thinking the other day it would have to be a Floyd Mayweather type to shake up the UFC. A flamboyant American who is just unbeatable and talks tons of shit. It could have been Jon Jones but they spent years pretending he was nice god fearing good guy. Until they just gave up when everyone realised he was a dickhead behind the scenes. I'm not sure he is charismatic enough anyway but someone American with his skill level with a real polirising personality like Mayweather would be a huge draw.

 

It could still be Conor who does open up the floodgates. I'm just not sure he will ever go on some kind of GSP type unbeaten run though. I bet the bosses were happy in a way he lost as it does wind his neck in bit. 

[Doomguy]

Fedor was the unbeatable outsider for years and the UFC did everything to discredit him despite the fact he'd destroyed half their roster. 

 

Personally I'd like to see them go back to the model they had when Liddell / Randy were champs.  There was LOADS more sponsorship then  - tim Slyvia made a cool million ffs off one fight. Now you have guys in the top 3 on 20-20 deals. That makes absolutely zero sense as the UFC is literally a thousand times more popular since those days. 

 

I hope the rise of Bellator will bring back the competitiveness you had with Pride and the UFC. Everyone wins then. 

[angel]

7 hours ago, Orion said:

 

I was thinking the other day it would have to be a Floyd Mayweather type to shake up the UFC. A flamboyant American who is just unbeatable and talks tons of shit. It could have been Jon Jones but they spent years pretending he was nice god fearing good guy. Until they just gave up when everyone realised he was a dickhead behind the scenes. I'm not sure he is charismatic enough anyway but someone American with his skill level with a real polirising personality like Mayweather would be a huge draw.

 

It could still be Conor who does open up the floodgates. I'm just not sure he will ever go on some kind of GSP type unbeaten run though. I bet the bosses were happy in a way he lost as it does wind his neck in bit. 

 

Apparantly JJ is taking it to new levels even now, being way beyond a dickhead. Someone from Cormiers management was saying at the UFC unstoppable conference JJ was being absolutely vile, like really nasty personal shit. And yet he still fakes this niceness on camera, even when talking about how its nice not to have to pretend any more, he's STILL faking it. He's one of the least sincere human beings alive, I mean that on top of what a despicable person he is (multiple DUIs, fleeing the scene after breaking a pregnant womans arm, cokehead, oblique kicks etc), he's still being vile as soon as the cameras are off.   I mean he is (or was?) an absolute monster, but I doubt the UFC would shed any tears if he lost next month, especially how notoriously hard he is to work with and looking out for no1. I'd be delighted to see him lose to DC. 

[Orion]

It reminds me of Matt Hughes. For years the UFC were going every video package "he is just a good ole country boy, he lives on a farm, a real American hero". Then they just admitted what everyone had worked out years ago that he is just an arrogant, shit talking dickhead and it was money. Plus they had the perfect foil in good guy GSP to beat him.

 

Jones makes Hughes look like a saint though. I mean getting into a DUI car crash with a pregnant women and running away, then running back not to check on the people you just hit but to get your money out your car then running away again pretty much sums Jones up. In his MMA Hour " I'm so sorry" interview he still seemed to give no fucks about the woman he hit.

[angel]

Everywhere except fight week yeah

[angel]

Im wondering if JJ might actually be loading up on muscle too much and end up sluggish, I think theres a real chance he might be making a mistake.

[Gotters]

Cormier and his camp calling somebody out for being a dick seems a bit rich, I find DC one of the most unpleasant characters in the whole UFC (along with his jock mate Rockhold).

 

I'm with Hellcock and hope Jones rag-dolls DC into oblivion.

[angel]

I duno, I quite like him. I think he's genuine, unlike Jones.

[schmojo]

DC's a flip-flopper. He jumps from *awful* trash-talk and being the big I am to attempting to be humble and contrite.

 

I hope they both beat each other into oblivion, but I don't see DC making that much headway.

 

JJ doesn't really need to be worrying about making mistakes with his muscle mass. He's the undefeated GOAT - his judgement in fighting, if nothing else, is pretty unassailable.

[angel]

I duno, I just have this sneaky feeling he's tinkering with a winning formula. I may be completely way off, but I'll just say it here just in case.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Apparently McGregor/Diaz 2 is in the works for 200 in July. It was a good fight but does anyone really want to see it again? Meanwhile FW just stagnates in the background, you have to think it'll then be October before he can fight again, much longer than that and you could forgive Aldo/Edgar etc for talking about interim titles. A real mess and so short-termist on the UFC's part.

[angel]

Man that's dumb, they really don't want him facing edgar