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The UFC has issued an official press release to confirm some of the speculation that Demian Maia would be taking Vitor Belfort’s place at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. This match will co-headline the event alongside BJ Penn’s title defense against Frankie Edgar.
UFC® ANNOUNCES ANDERSON SILVA vs. DEMIAN MAIA
FOR UFC 112 MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT
SATURDAY, APRIL 10, LIVE FROM FERRARI WORLD
YAS ISLAND, ABU DHABI
Belfort Injured; Maia Steps up to Face Silva for Title Shot
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Following a hard-fought three round win over Dan Miller at UFC 109 that showed him to be more than just a submission expert, Demian Maia will jump right back into training camp for the biggest fight of his career – an April 10th meeting with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 112 at Ferrari World on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Maia replaces countryman Vitor Belfort, who underwent emergency surgery on his left shoulder earlier this week to fix a chronic injury that got worse in his training camp for Silva.
“It’s always tough when a top fighter like Vitor Belfort has to pull out of a big title fight, but we have found a high quality replacement,” said UFC President Dana White. “Top contender Chael Sonnen was not available due to injuries sustained in his fight with Nate Marquardt, so top six middleweight Demian Maia will step in to fight for the title. Maia is an Abu Dhabi grappling champion, a five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and he is 12-1 in MMA and coming off a win over Dan Miller at UFC 109. Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia will be a matchup between MMA’s best striker and MMA’s best grappler.”
A 32-year old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil who, like Silva, owns a black belt in jiu-jitsu, Maia (12-1) has won six of his seven UFC bouts, including five by submission, with four of those victories earning him Submission of the Night honors. He also holds a 2009 submission win over number one middleweight contender Chael Sonnen. In his most recent bout, at UFC 109 on February 6th, Maia went three rounds with talented New Jersey native Dan Miller and earned a near shutout unanimous decision. Now he will face the pound for pound king in Silva, who is unbeaten in ten UFC bouts and looking to add to his middleweight title defense record when he puts his belt on the line for the sixth time.
In the co-main event of UFC 112, lightweight champion BJ Penn looks to continue his dominant reign when he takes on Frankie Edgar. Also, two legends meet for the first time when future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes battles groundfighting master Renzo Gracie.
Payout Perspective:
The move is surprising, but makes sense when you look at the entire situation from the perspective of the UFC’s desire to keep Anderson Silva on the 112 card. That constraint removes a number of alternatives for the organization and really only gave them Maia at 185 or Randy Couture at 205.
This is MMA, you can’t discount anyone; but, Anderson is likely to beat both Maia and Couture quite handily. If Silva and Couture fought at 112, it would have likely sold gangbusters but also ruined Couture’s future drawing power – perhaps forever. In fighting Maia, the UFC loses much less; it gets its Silva title defense and keeps the Couture ace in its pocket for another few events (the rumored UFC 115 headline against Franklin and possibly even a title shot at 205 should Couture win his next fight).
I would have been inclined to move Silva off the card entirely, but this card is very important to Zuffa. The quality of the card is not only a show of good faith and reward to Zuffa’s new partners, but a statement to the world sports community with respect to Zuffa’s international expansion goals. Thus, it’s understandable that Zuffa wanted to keep Silva on the Abu Dhabi show.
Luke Thomas over at Bloodyelbow has provided a great summary of his conversation with Reed Harris of the WEC in which they discussed everything related to WEC 48. There are undoubtedly many concerns and angles to cover when launching a PPV business model, but it appears as though the folks at Zuffa are well-prepared.
Here are the early details:
1. The date was selected in part to nail down the Sacramento venue. With their most financially lucrative star in Urijah Faber headlining for a title in the main event, it only makes sense to ensure the crowd will be as loud, thick and MMA-savvy as possible. Sacramento has historically shown to be hugely favorable territory for the WEC.
2. According to Harris, their planning of an April 24th show did not take into account any potential Strikeforce plans to also host a Fedor Emelianenko-headlined fight in April.
3.The decision to move forward with a PPV was done by WEC brass in conjunction with UFC President Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta. The logic, as it was explained to me, was that with two title fights and a card filled with highly-ranked, pound-for-pound greats, the card merited moving in that direction. “With five fights and two titles on the line, they feel upstairs that we are the same caliber and quality as UFC events,” said Harris.
4. As for the price point, the decision to place the cost at $44.95 “was made corporately”. Harris insists extensive research was done into PPV watching and purchasing habits. He argues the internal data they received gives them the confidence to move forward with the PPV effort, but did not elaborate beyond that. He also insisted given what the event offered, it was worth the cost of a UFC PPV.
5. Here’s a clever twist: the event will be known as “UFC Presents…WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber”. When asked about the extent to which the UFC would use their marketing and PR muscle to assist the WEC, assurances were made that both organizations would work together to properly promote and cross promote the effort. No specific details were offered as to promotional events, branding, event signage or other items at the time of the call.
Payout Perspective:
I’ve voiced my opinion on this PPV – saying it should happen, but questioning the price point and timing of the event – but I really think the WEC is taking some solid steps towards addressing those concerns and mitigating some of that risk inherent in an initial PPV offering.
The most important step the WEC has made is to label the event as the “UFC Presents: WEC 48 – Faber vs. Aldo” because that’s going to help alleviate some of that brand equity gap that might have caused casual consumers to shy away from an unknown product at $44.95. But it cannot stop at just a label. The UFC and WEC need to build and reinforce the presentation with a host of content and promotional material that further leverages the UFC brand in order to raise the profile of the WEC.
I’d love to see some cross-promotional material done with UFC and WEC fighters, some sort of WEC Primetime show, and even more out of the UFC brass promoting the event. It’s also important for the WEC to ramp up its own PR team: to get these fighters into the media, get its officials like Harris and Dropick into the mainstream media, and pump the idea that Aldo-Faber is a must-see fight for any sports fan.
Time for the MMA community is now
The initial PPV is always tough because distribution isn’t what it should be. Many people balk at the normal UFC price of $44.95, but they’ll usually will go out to the bar or have 10 people over to their home to watch the fight in order to minimize that expense. But that’s a tougher sell for a brand and fight attraction that isn’t widely known. As a result, bar owners are more hesitant to pay the $500-$1500 fee for the PPV because there’s no guarantee they’ll get that money back in the form of good business that night. Likewise, the person that has 10 friends over for a UFC card might only be able to scrounge up 2-3 hardcores for the WEC event.
Thus, Harris is right, this is the time for MMA fans to stand up and show that they want more MMA. The most powerful marketing tool on the planet is viral (word-of-mouth) marketing, and everyone who is aware of this fight needs to spread the word. That means calling local bars and requesting that they buy and advertise the WEC card like they would any UFC event; or, they tell every single one of their sports fan friends that this fight is a must-see.
The key is to reference things that casual fans will be able to comprehend and easily understand. This fight is like Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre at 145lbs; they’re literally the best two fighters in the world at 145lbs.; or that this fight is likely to be the best scrap of the year.
Strikeforce on 24th may not be a bad thing
There seems to be some concern that Strikeforce and CBS will place their card on April 24th, but I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing: the greatest opportunities in life are borne of the largest problems.
What better way for MMA to showcase its growth and product depth than with a showdown of the two best promotions outside of the UFC? If done properly, on both sides, a savvy media battle could really generate some buzz for the sport by pitting the two promotions against one another.
It’s Kanye West vs. 50 Cent dropping their albums on the same day all over again. Both sold way more than they ever would have alone because of that competition and the rivalry that made fans stand up and choose a side. In the end, both organizations could be better off with a April 24th showdown.
I understand there’s some trepidation on both sides, because nobody likes to lose, but neither organization is in this for the long haul. The WEC isn’t putting this event together to make a one-time profit. This is the start of a process that will hopefully lead to a new long-term business model, the effects of which will far exceed the revenue of one event.
Something to chew on.
NightmarefBattle.com is reporting that Dream has announced it will host seven events in the 2010 calendar year including it’s only official date which is Dream 13 on March 22nd.
DREAM will hold events in March, April, May, July, September, and November this year and the April event will most likely be held in South Korea. If the South Korea event goes well a November event might be held abroad as well (with Taiwan or Macau as possible locations). Like the 2009 Osaka event, a cage event is planned for this year too.
A Light Heavyweight GP consisting of 8 or 16 fighters (planned for the May, July, and September events or two of them if it’s an 8-man GP) will take place this year and Gegard Mousasi will play a leading role in it.
Middleweight and Heavyweight champions will also be crowned in 2010 so by the end of the year all weight classes in DREAM will have champions. The Heavyweight champion will be decided through a single fight and not a GP. Alistair Overeem will likely be one of the two participants of the Heavyweight title fight.
They want to hold crossover fights with other organizations this year as well, especially with SRC and Strikeforce. They think it’ll be a hot thing. DREAM EP Sasahara also said that, if possible, he wants to talk with Yoshida Dojo.
Payout Perspective:
Since rumors started swirling that Don Quixote was on the verge of acquiring FEG’s combat division, we haven’t heard a lot to substantiate the claims other than that the super grocer is planning to continue as a sponsor. The success of the NYE show has given the organization the confidence to go forward with a full slate of shows in 2010, including the light heavyweight grand prix.
The last we heard of Dream’s rival organization Sengoku – the same group it partnered with for its NYE event last year – the organization was planning a similar 6-7 events starting with an event on March 7th, in addition to several proposed tournaments amongst different classes.
Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com confirms that Strikeforce has finally found an opponent for Bobby Lashley in the form of UFC Veteran and TUF alumnus Wes Sims:
With just over a week to go until Strikeforce hits Miami for their next event, former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley finally has an opponent. Former “Ultimate Fighter” and UFC veteran, Wes Sims, has been tapped to step in and face Lashley in a heavyweight bout on the main card.
Strikeforce official, Mike Afromowitz, confirmed the bout to MMAWeekly.com on Friday saying the fight has been finalized for next Saturday’s card.
Lashley has gone through the ringer over the last 2 weeks waiting for the final word on an opponent. Originally, he was set to face Yohan Banks, but the fight was not approved by the Florida Athletic Commission and then veteran fighter, Jimmy Ambriz, got the call, but was removed from the fight for unknown reasons.
Payout Perspective:
Lashley’s name has been in the MMA headlines a lot lately, but it’s hardly a sign that he’s the next Brock Lesnar. He doesn’t have the wrestling pedigree, nor the polarizing fan appeal of Lesnar. Moreover, the back and forth that he’s had with Strikeforce and TNA could potentially hurt him as the inconsistency wears on fans of both sports.
The Sims fight should be a solid test, but he’ll have a huge advantage in the fitness and athleticism department over a fighter that’s taking the bout on short notice and has had problems with cardio at the best of times throughout his career.
Loretta Hunt of Sherdog.com reveals the latest plans of Scott Coker and Strikeforce’s to hold eight-women tournaments at 135lbs and 145lbs through the Challenger series starting this April.
Strikeforce 145-pound champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Gina Carano, whom Santos defeated by first-round technical knockout last August in San Jose, Calif., will not compete in the tournaments, said Coker.
“We’re looking for the next women to fight the Gina Caranos and the Cris Cyborgs of the world,” Coker said.
Coker said the tournaments’ quarterfinals and semifinals would be “sprinkled” over a few events.
Sarah Kaufman, an undefeated Canadian striker who’s shined in her two Challengers appearances against Miesha Tate and Shayna Baszler, will not compete in the 135-pound tournament bracket.
“I think we’re going to be promoting Sarah against (Takayo) Hashi for our (vacant) 135-pound title,” said Coker. “I think that fight’s happening sooner than later — February or March, for sure.”
Hashi, a Smackgirl veteran, has been victorious in her last eight outings. Her only career loss came to Strikeforce veteran Hitomi Akano at a Smackgirl event in August 2005.
Coker said the tournament winners would likely face the promotion’s champions in their next bouts.
The tournaments, originally announced to launch at the end of 2009, were postponed into the new year for logistical reasons.
Payout Perspective:
Gina Carano is without a doubt the strongest draw in women’s MMA, but the debate still rages as to whether she’s the only one and whether the women’s side of the sport can gain any traction without Carano. This tournament will go a long way to answering both questions by putting the women on display and allowing any potential stars to emerge.
Dana White has often said that there just aren’t enough talented women in any particular division to make it worthwhile. Perhaps a tournament like this is a stepping stone towards that goal.
Steve Cofield of Yahoo! Sports Cagewriter has confirmed with Dana White that UFC 113 has been moved back one week from May 1st to May 8th in order to avoid a head-to-head PPV battle with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
This afternoon, a UFC source told Cagewriter that UFC 113 was headed for May 8. This evening UFC president Dana White confirmed the date change. The switch was made possible when the Bell Centre was able to move a May 8 concert.
“We were trying to not go the same night as boxing but these [expletive] guys can’t get out of their own way,” White told Cagewriter. “I have never seen anything so unorganized, selfish and disfunctional as boxing. It’s a joke!”
Payout Perspective:
Generally, I believe that competition spurs demand within an industry; it makes everyone better off because the size of the pie grows. But in this case, the direct competition between the UFC and Mayweather isn’t ideal.
The coverage of the weekend will not be head-to-head in nature, but rather focused almost singularly on the return of Mayweather (without Pacquiao, etc.). Moreover, the cross-over fan base will largely have to choose one or the other, and the UFC isn’t going to win that battle when comparing the strength of the main attractions. The argument for Mayweather is likely something to the effect of “how many times does he fight a year or how many does he have left?” versus “the UFC is on all the time and the last time these two guys fought it was bullsh*t.”
The UFC will take some heat – especially from boxing purists – but it’s a smart move. The UFC has to pick its battles.
Brock Lesnar and Dana White appeared on ESPN today to discuss Lesnar’s injury situation and announce that Lesnar will return to the Octagon this summer to face the winner of Carwin-Mir (a bout set for March 27th at UFC 111).
Payout Perspective:
The announcement pretty much went as expected. Again, this was a pretty smart – if not a no-brainer move – for the UFC. There was no better avenue for this interview and to release this news (although just an hour later it’s not even front page material on the ESPN.com website).
It’s hard not to look back at this entire thing and feel that it was sensationalized a bit, but that’s what a promoter does. The comeback angle on this fight will likely ensure that – whether the opponent is Mir or Carwin – Lesnar’s next fight is bigger than it could have ever been without the incident.
The only question now is whom will Lesnar fight. White stated that it’ll be the winner of Carwin-Mir unless that individual is injured, and then he’ll look to the winner of Nogueira-Velasquez. If that’s the case they should probably just drop the interim title headline from the Carwin-Mir bout, but I have a feeling that’s unlikely given that another “title bout” adds value to UFC 111 in the minds of consumer which is likely to induce a greater purchase rate.
——
Lesnar didn’t look too small, but he didn’t look huge either. I wonder what the impact is going to be on him trying to regain this weight and rebuild his cardio.
Jonathon Snowden of Heavy.com has done a piece with Bjorn Rebney that looks at some of the differences between MMA and boxing in terms of business, demographic, and the overall nature of both sports:
Like Gary Shaw and others around the country, Rebney is a boxing guy newly converted to MMA. There is an important distinction. As he name dropped Georges St. Pierre and Shinya Aoki, it was obvious that Rebney is a fan of mixed martial arts, not just a savvy business man looking for the next opportunity. But that doesn’t mean Rebney isn’t looking into his personal crystal ball at the future of both sports. And with MMA, he likes what he sees. Zuffa’s recent sale of ten percent of their company for an estimated $100-150 million is a sign Rebney recognizes as MMA’s ascendancy. “There’s a better chance I could grow a second head than a boxing company could show that kind of growth or have that valuation,” Rebney said. It’s more than the UFC’s rapid rise that Rebney sees as an indicator of MMA’s advantage over boxing. Boxing he says, attracts an older and poorer audience. MMA fans are relatively wealthy and college educated. “It’s a monster demographic. There’s not much of a comparison.”
Boxing fans have also been trained to view their sport differently than MMA fans. In boxing, fighters are expected to rack up tens of wins before they ever face a serious challenge. A boxer that is 20-5 is probably an also-ran. In MMA, a fighter with a similar record is a superstar. MMA fans are more comfortable with loss, allowing Rebney to let his fighters fly free, taking on even serious challengers, in the 10 months between Bellator shows.
“Fighters don’t want to sit on the sideline and collect dust. We were able to keep our fighters active,” Rebney said. “We worked with a promotion in Japan to get Eddie (Alvarez) a fight, a fight that almost gave me a heart attack watching it on HDNet… this promotion is based on our belief that the best should fight the best. There are risks and rewards. Conundrum is the perfect word for it. What if Eddie fights in a super fight and loses? It happens in MMA, that’s one of the magic things about the sport. In boxing there is this false sense that everyone needs to have a record of 22-0. In MMA, guys like Toby Imada have an upside down record but are hugely talented. MMA fans in general are not as concerned about a guy losing a tough fight.”
Payout Perspective:
Rebney makes some interesting points, but the one that stands out most to me is the comparison of fighter records between both sports. It’s something that I – and I’m sure others – encounter on almost a daily basis when explaining parts of the sport to newcomers:
Randy Couture 17-10 vs. Mark Coleman 16-9 — How could either possibly be legends in the sport?
For years, fans have been trained by boxing’s tin can system that a fighter isn’t legitimate until he’s at least 15-0. If he’s got more than a few losses, he’s more or less irrelevant. In fact, that’s still one of the knocks on Manny Pacquiao today; it doesn’t matter how good Manny is now, it almost matters more that he lost 2-3 times earlier in his career.
MMA is different: ask anyone in the UFC’s middleweight division if it matters that Anderson Silva got caught by a heel hook six years ago; or that Georges St-Pierre has two losses on his record; or that BJ Penn has five losses over the span of his career. In MMA you’re only as good as your last fight.
It’s a small, yet important distinction: the sport cannot generate new fans unless those people actually commit to watching the fights. Thus, the sport has to work at removing some of the stereotypes that would impede curious on-lookers from doing so: blood lust, savagery, talentless bar fighters, and records not fit for an elite fighter are just a few of them.
Note: The entire article is worth a read. Rebney goes on to discuss various aspects of the lessons he was able to learn through his time in boxing: casino site fees, sales pitches to sponsor execs, the importance of television, etc.
The UFC has confirmed three more bouts for UFN 21 – the UFC’s debut on cable television network Versus – and what now looks to be the best card ever assembled for an Ultimate Fight Night event.
Confirmed
Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones
Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Anthony Johnson vs. John Howard
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Eliot Marshall
Rumored
Sean Sherk vs. Clay Guida
Brendan Schaub vs. Chase Gormley
Dwayne Ludwig vs. Jeremy Stephens
Payout Perspective:
The real upside of the UFC on Versus deal is that it’s a network that has traditionally drawn a demographic with a stronger preference for sports than Spike TV. Versus provides the UFC with the same age exposure, but also a more targeted sporting skew. There are young sports fans out there that are very much aware of the UFC, but haven’t had the opportunity or really the inclination to watch on SpikeTV – UFN 21 will provide more of those individuals with that opportunity.
Thus, it’s very important that the UFC put together a strong offering for the Versus show; and, the proposed card is chalk-full of dynamic, explosive fighters and clever matchmaking. Not only is it the type of card that should perform exceedingly well – gaining new fans in the process – but it’s also positioned younger fighters front and center, which has obvious long-term benefits.
——
There was a lot of “I told you so” going on after UFC 108, but I’m not sure it was justified. There is no denying that we’re all fans of the sport because we like to watch fights. However, there’s something to be said for the value that a fan gets out of watching “just a fight” versus a “fight with meaning.”
There’s no way that anyone can look at UFC 106 through UFC 109 and tell me that those events even hold a candle to what’s being talked about for UFC 110 through UFC 113. It’s not about disrespecting the fighters – it’s about meaning, it’s about anticipation, and it’s about expectation.
UFC 108 would have been a great card regardless of its pre-event hype. But it was the low level of expectations surrounding the fight that led to so many people being pleasantly surprised with the card. They saw great fights that night, but not great fights with meaning.
The Las Vegas Sun has a great short clip featuring Randy Couture where he shares part of the recent conversation he had with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre regarding his rumored move to Olympic Wrestling.
Payout Perspective:
In recent days the GSP-wrestling talk has really been heating up in Canada. The feeling is that GSP would be a welcome addition to the Canadian team and the sport, but he’d have to put in years of training to prepare himself for competition on the world’s greatest athletic stage, the Olympics.
There’s probably a part of every MMA fan that wants to see GSP try it – most everyone thinks he’s capable of winning a medal given the proper training time (in either 2012 or 2016) - but he’s such a popular and valuable figure within the sport that his absence would adversely impact the UFC and MMA.
Whether it’s 2 years now or 3-4 years in preparation for 2016 in Rio – it’s a serious commitment and almost what you’d have to consider a career change. Thankfully, for MMA, it would seem as though GSP isn’t prepared to make one yet.
Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports talks about what makes Urijah Faber such a valuable asset for the WEC in the wake of his contenders bout with Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 on Sunday.
Big matches aren’t unfamiliar territory for Faber, who held the title for two years and eight months before losing it in an upset at the end of 2008 to Brown in their first meeting.
Faber’s big fights of the past two years – a 2008 match with Jens Pulver and June’s featherweight title rematch with Brown – were the two biggest money fights in WEC history. He retained his title by winning a decision over Pulver in the former. In the latter, Faber lost a decision in a match high on most lists as match of the year in a match where Faber injured both his hands, which had been sore for a long time coming off the Pulver fight.
The Pulver match drew 1.6 million viewers and the Brown fight on June 7 drew 1.3 million. Those numbers on Versus are even more impressive when you consider that no fight without Faber has done more than 700,000 viewers, and the most recent WEC show on Dec. 19 (featuring Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliffe) did 333,000.
Faber has the home-court advantage of fighting at Arco, the same site as the first Pulver and second Brown fights. Both events drew in excess of 12,000 fans, easily the two biggest numbers in WEC history, and numbers rarely reached in North American MMA without a UFC banner attached. While Faber doesn’t have the same general-public name recognition of the biggest UFC fighters, among MMA fans Faber gets cheered as loudly as Georges St. Pierre and Chuck Liddell – who get the strongest crowd reactions in the sport.
“Every sport has its stars that shine above the others,” noted Marc Fein, Versus’ executive vice president. “When Faber fights, ratings tend to be up. We’d love to be able to get other fighters to that level. … In every sport – basketball, golf – you have the guys that the public wants to watch.”
Faber’s popularity is the result of a combination of factors. He’s got a look that stands out in a crowd, and his personality comes across well, giving the vibe of a cool California surfer type. He’s worked tirelessly with WEC over the past three years in promoting himself and the brand. All that work can get you to a certain level of popularity, but to stay at the top you have to win fights. Faber has been able to deliver not only wins but memorable fights as well.
Payout Perspective:
Perhaps one of the greater challenges of working in sports business is the absence of ultimate control over your product. The WEC cannot control what happens in the cage on Sunday night between Faber and Assuncao – it can only hope to plan and react.
With that said, a Faber victory on Sunday makes life for Reed Harris and Peter Dropick a lot easier. Faber has been a remarkable draw for the WEC, and the feeling is that if the WEC is to pursue a PPV event this year it would likely involve him. The current speculation is that should Faber win, he’ll earn a date with current WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo this summer. That would be about as good an opportunity as any for the WEC to launch a PPV, and in either scenario they’re likely to come out with a star fighter.
Something to chew on as we head into this weekend: WEC 46 on Sunday and UFN 21 on Monday.
The fight card for UFC 112, to be held in Abu Dhabi on April 10th, is slowly taking shape and looks to be an early candidate for event of the year if rumors are true. Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie have long been penciled for the event, but now it seems as though both Anderson Silva and BJ Penn will defend their belts on card.
Brazilian fight website Tatame has posted an exclusive interview with Carlos Santos of Emirates Team who indicated that both Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort had contacted him about training at his facilities in the week prior to the event.
The fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort is in works to take place at UFC 112, on April 10, at Abu Dhabi. Carlos Santos, leader of Emirates Team, revealed to TATAME.com that both fighters called him to train at his training center in Abu Dhabi in the days before the fight. This will be the first UFC event in Abu Dhabi, and will also have the UFC debut of the legend Renzo Gracie, against the five times welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
What’s the expectation to the first UFC in Abu Dhabi?
The best as possible. It’s going to be one of the best of the world, because Abu Dhabi’s government is giving total support to this event, because it’s gonna be week of fight in Abu Dhabi… Abu Dhabi Fight Week (laughs). Besides UFC on April 10, it’s going to happen, four days before, the national championship of team from government schools, and five days after the World Pro Cup (Jiu-Jitsu) 2010.
Are you helping on the event’s organization?
At this moment, no, but the same company that will take care of the marketing here on the World Pro will do UFC’s. But we’re here to help everyone, including the visitors that come to see the event.
BJ Penn has also posted a short vlog stating he’ll likely be participating on the Abu Dhabi card, but with no confirmed opponent.
Payout Perspective:
Most people have looked at the Abu Dhabi event and just drawn a single connection to MMA in the form of the ADCC, but the UFC is very excited about this event for other reasons:
Thus, the UFC has a great deal of incentive to put forward a strong card in Abu Dhabi. However, I do question whether its wise to have four title fights within the span of 14 days (five title fights within the span of 35).
The UFC ran into trouble on the back nine of 2009, because it was without title matches for a number of consecutive shows. There’s a risk that some injuries (or the absence of GSP due to wrestling) could leave the UFC in a similar position over the summer. The other pitfall of UFC 112 is that Abu Dhabi is 12 hours ahead of PST, which almost guarantees that this huge event will be tape delayed in North America.
Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports does a good job of chronicling the injuries that have made UFC 108 “the cursed” show of 2009. Never before has a card started with so much promise and fallen so quickly.
Back in September, UFC 108 looked to be a card with the unique problem of having too many big matches.
Then, the dominoes started falling. Middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s minor surgery to repair bone chips in his elbow healed slower than expected.
Lesnar fell ill, which ended up diagnosed a case of diverticulitis, which has him out indefinitely. Light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida had surgery on his left hand. Suddenly, with B.J. Penn scheduled for Dec. 12 and Georges St. Pierre not being ready to fight until February due to a torn abductor muscle, UFC was in a position where instead of too many title matches for one night, there were none available.
A prospective Dan Henderson vs. Nate Marquardt match to determine the top contender for the middleweight title was bandied about, but it fell apart as Henderson and UFC couldn’t agree to terms on a new contract and he signed with Strikeforce.
Then the middle of the card got gutted. Carlos Condit, Gabriel Gonzaga, Rory Markham, Griffin and Sherk all pulled out for a variety of ailments over the past six weeks. White decided to go on with the show on pay-per-view, avoiding what would be a stream of logistical nightmares in trying to make a late change in plans.
Payout Perspective:
The injuries that this card has suffered have obviously made the UFC’s job a nightmare: everything from advertising, to logistics, to matchmaking has taken a hit.
The advertising and promotion for the event has likely changed 3-4 times by now – which are marketing dollars spent that now return next to nothing. Moreover, the constant changing of the fight card has to at least slightly impair the UFC’s goodwill amongst fight fans. It didn’t help that the UFC failed to correct some material for 106 and 107 that, until one week before each original date, still ran trailers for Lesnar-Carwin and Jackson-Evans.
Logistically, the injuries have put the UFC in the position of having to fulfill obligations to venues and PPV providers that the it might otherwise have wanted to avoid. UFC 108 as a PPV is much more of a problem than UFC 108 as a free gift on Spike.
Not only has Joe Silva’s hand been forced in many situations, but the ultimate product fight fans will see on the 2nd is likely to be hampered by a lack of preparation time for many of its fighters. Every injury to one fighter, affects at least one other. Jim Miller trained for three different opponents leading up to this bout, and now faces a last minute replacement that is far different, stylistically, than the opponent he’d anticipated to face previously.
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The quesiton is now, trend or fluke? Javier Mendez and Greg Jackson give their different opinions on the future toll that injuries my take on MMA, but it was interesting to hear both men mention increasing competition as a critical component in the new MMA landscape.
Another by-product of MMA’s surging popularity is the impact it may have on the development of future talent. There are over 26,000 martial arts facilities in the United States – all with a growing membership base. Not only are martial arts once again seen as a popular athletic activity, but also a trendy way to get in shape. Thus, the sport of MMA can expect to see a continued influx of talent in the coming years – should the sport sustain this growth and popularity – which will ultimately boost competition levels.
If Mendez is right, this increased competition will bring greater wear and tear on the MMA fighter.
However, if Jackson is correct, this competition will push training methods to become more efficient but less intensive from an overall health perspective – train smarter, not harder. He might also be supported by the theory that better competition often comes as the result of superior athletes. Superior athletes being those that can better withstand MMA’s intensive training regimen than some of the fighters a part of MMA’s founding generation.
Dan Hardy fired this salvo in the direction of Georges St-Pierre earlier this week at a press conference promoting the event, and expect the frequency of these to only increase as we approach March 27th:
(Video courtesy of MMA Fanhouse)
Payout Perspective:
There are three things that will draw people to a title fight:
1.) The promise of a very good bout.
2.) The promise that a dominant champion will yet again display his tremendous skill.
3.) The promise that the antagonist, if you will, is going to meet his demise.
This fight depends on the latter two.
Most people look at Dan Hardy as Georges St-Pierre’s weakest competition to date – aside from, perhaps, the first time that he fought Matt Serra – but that doesn’t mean this fight won’t draw.
Hardy poses a thread on his feet; he’s got a puncher’s chance, especially considering it’s be done with St-Pierre before. Moreover, if he continues to talk as much as he has lately, he’ll also draw the ire of many fans simply looking to see him “get what he deserves.”
Then factor in the rumored addition of an interim heavyweight title bout between Shane Carwin and the UFC’s best trash-talker, Frank Mir, and UFC 111 could very well enter the must-see, big PPV territory for even the most casual fan.
Dan Rafael of ESPN.com is reporting that Manny Pacquiao is planning to file a defamation lawsuit against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Golden Boy Promotions.
What began as an apparent simple disagreement between the camps of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. over how to handle drug testing for their megafight — tentatively scheduled for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas — has spiraled so out of control that the potential biggest money fight in boxing history was in serious jeopardy on Christmas Day.
Pacquiao, angered by accusations from the Mayweather camp that he uses performance-enhancing drugs, said he would file a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions.
“Enough is enough. These people, Mayweather Sr., [Mayweather] Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs,” said Pacquiao, who denied that he has ever used any banned substance and who has passed all of his drug tests. “I have tried to just brush it off as a mere prefight ploy, but I think they have gone overboard.”
Payout Perspective:
Perhaps the skeptics were right, and this fight may never happen. It would be a shame.
Rafael goes on to mention that Arum is now planning a secondary fight against former junior welterweight titlist Paul Malignaggi for March 13th in the event that he cannot come to an agreement with the Mayweather camp in time. That fight doesn’t have nearly the appeal that a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would, which bodes well for the press coverage of the UFC’s two, rather important, events in late March (the debut on Versus for the 21st and UFC 111 featuring the return of GSP just six days later).
Steven Marrocco of MMAWeekly sheds some interesting light on the fighting and contract status of Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem:
In January, the promotion secured Overeem to a one-year, three-fight deal, obligating him to a return in lieu of an informal talent-sharing agreement with K-1 that saw him snag the title in November 2007.
Overeem, who was forced to pull out of two scheduled Strikeforce events in June and August with a serious hand injury, is scheduled to appear against Kazuyuki Fujita at K-1 Dynamite on New Year’s Eve – his fifth K-1 fight in 2009 – and is planning a sixth in late March/early April 2010.
That was grim news to those expecting a showdown between Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko under the CBS eye in April. More confounding was that it was Overeem asking to fight the Russian after sacking James Thompson at Dream 12.
“Alistair Overeem wants to fight Fedor in April 2010,” the Dutchman said after the Oct. 25 fight. “So write that down.”
And while Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMAWeekly.com he would invite the champion to participate on the promotion’s second CBS card in April, his manager said the K-1 opportunity – the final fight on his contract with the Japanese promotion – is too good to pass up.
“I never said he wasn’t fighting in April,” Overeem manager Bas Boon told MMAWeekly.com. “What I said was there will be a fight by the end of March or April in K-1, and actually, he did very well in K-1 and he’s got an extremely good contract. Commercial-wise, it’s better for him, and we agreed to this already on K-1, that we will do that fight. After that fight, he will fight in Strikeforce. Two, three times, whatever is available in May, June, July, we don’t care.”
Boon said Overeem could make a late April date if he wasn’t injured, but doubted Coker would agree to promote a fight under those circumstances. He said the hand injuries extended the time on his Strikeforce contract, but did not say for how long.
For now, it was time to strike when the iron was hot.
“(Golden Glory) has a 10-year relationship with Alistair, and we told him that this is a better way to work for him,” said Boon. “Think about it, man, he’s broadcast in 150 countries (on K-1). Right now, he’s got more sponsors than he ever had before. In his own country, he had a crazy rating during the Grand Prix, but also on EuroSport and also in Thailand. And this is where the UFC isn’t even broadcast. UFC is not even broadcast in Europe. Nobody knows about the UFC. Semmy Schilt and Alistair Overeem are gods there. You’re talking about a continent with 280 million people.
“(American fans) have to understand, man, to fight Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, Texeira, and again, Badr Hari, these are the top strikers in the world. If there would be any Americans wanting to win $400,000 or $500,000 in U.S., which is big money, why are they not there? Why are they not in K-1?”
Payout Perspective:
Herein lies the issue with non-exclusive contracts: not only does Strikeforce have to compete for fighters entering the entertainment business, but it’s also got to compete for the time and booking of its own fighters with other organizations. For as much as the contract type helps the organization secure new talent, it’s also managed to put two of Strikeforce’s divisions on hold for the better part of the last two years.
It’s tough to fault Overeem for taking the money and the exposure in Europe; the latter of which might really pay off for M-1 if and when it comes time to promote a Fedor vs. Overeem fight internationally.
However, given that Overeem only signed a one-year, three-fight contract — and that it has already been extended — you have to wonder for how many more fights he’ll remain in the organization. Depending on the type of extension that has already been applied to his contract, it’s conceivable that he could leave Strikeforce without defending the belt against Fedor. Worse still, he could beat Fedor and then walk – leaving Strikeforce in a very bad position.
Ken Pishna of MMAWeekly brings us the latest news regarding Strikeforce’s next CBS event scheduled for April, which is likely to feature a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum.
“It’s not confirmed… (but) on that fight card, you’ll most likely see Fedor fighting Fabricio (Werdum),” Coker revealed. “It’s not guaranteed, but you will see Dan Henderson fighting on that card, and Gina Carano, we’ll invite her if she’s ready.”
Henderson’s opponent hasn’t been finalized yet either, but he is expected to challenge current middleweight champion Jake Shields under the watchful eye of CBS.
Pressed about heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, the CEO said, “We’re probably gonna invite Alistair to fight on the CBS card,” dispelling initial plans for an earlier return.
Coker also has big plans outside of the April fight card, particularly in the lightweight division. He intends to expand on Strikeforce’s relationship with Japanese fight promotion Dream.
First up are bouts for Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson, who had another battle in their rematch on Saturday night.
“(Shinya) Aoki and Gilbert and do (Tatsuya) Kawajiri vs. Thomson,” said Coker, mapping the road for his two top 155ers, intending to pit them against two other top lightweights in the world.
He insists those are plans for Melendez and Thomson, not just hopeful talk. He’s targeting the second quarter of 2010 to make both those fights happen.
Payout Perspective:
The news of Fedor-Werdum is likely going to disappoint those that are clamoring for Fedor-Overeem, but it’s a fight that makes sense for a number of reasons:
- Werdum is a familiar face having fought on the last CBS show.
- Overeem, despite being the champion, is largely an unknown in North America.
- Thus, the organization is also looking to build Fedor-Overeem before it happens (ostensibly by getting Overeem onto a card underneath Fedor).
- Strikeforce likely views Fedor-Overeem as a PPV calibre fight, which it wants to use to launch its first PPV event in late 2010.
Sherdog.com has an interesting 5 minute interview with Coker similar to the comments above, but he goes into further detail. Specifically, he mentions that it’s not enough just to have the Dream alliance – he wants to use it. In regards to the lightweight division, he talked above Melendez vs. Aoki and Thomson vs. Kawajiri, but he also noted that Strikeforce could use their own fighters like Shaolin Ribeiro and KJ Noons in place of Aoki and Kawajiri, respectively.
Coker, again, noted that the organization is looking to hold 20 events in the next fiscal year – March, 2010 to March, 2011 - and that would include 8 Challenger events, 8 Showtime events, and likely 4 CBS events.
He’d also like to do a PPV at some point, but that would seem contingent on a lot of things going correctly over the next few months (match-ups, injuries, a positive response in awareness and interest as the result of the Showtime and CBS cards, etc.).
Geno McGahee of Ringside Report writes that Floyd Mayweather has threatened to pull out of the bout against Manny Pacquiao, tentatively scheduled for March 13th, because of differences in weight allowance.
According to a source very close to the situation, Floyd Mayweather, JR., has threatened to pull out of the March showdown with Manny Pacquiao over a weight issue. Apparently the weight of the meeting has been established, but the wiggle room that Floyd allegedly wants is being contested by Team Pacquiao. In his bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd came in heavy and paid for it financially, but others contend that Marquez paid for it in the ring, losing badly. Pacquiao does not want to face a fighter a division or so heavier than he is and has rightfully protested.
With the Manny Pacquiao bout in limbo, other options have been mentioned but these appear to be negotiation tactics. Reportedly, Mayweather’s camp has suggested that an in between bout would take place in March against a much lesser foe, perhaps a Yuri Foreman or Matthew Hatton and after that, should Pacquiao not accept the terms, a bout with the winner of the Shane Mosley – Andre Berto fight could be in the wings.
Although other options have been mentioned, expect this fight to stay on course and occur. There is far too much money involved and they have agreed on the most important specifics…the cash divide. Now we are in the bickering stage of the negotiations and expect more and more little things blown out of proportion and turned into big deals.
Payout Perspective:
The last thing that boxing needs right now is its next, and possibly last, mega fight to be scrapped due to promotional differences like a weight allowance. However, from an MMA/UFC perspective, the cancellation or postponement of this fight is definitely a good thing. Pacman-PBF is certain to consume an overwhelming amount of the media pie alloted to combat sports in late February and early March, but its cancellation or postponement would leave that media wide open for the UFC to help push its debut on Versus (March 21st) and UFC 111 (March 27th).
The way things are shaping up right now, February and March are looking to be critical months for the UFC as it looks to start 2010 strongly and salvage some of the PPV disappointment its dealt with down the stretch of 2009. The Versus show will be headlined by two young and exciting fighters in Vera and Jones, and the UFC is likely going to look to make an impression for its debut. Likewise, UFC 111 will be headlined by GSP vs. Hardy and possibly Mir vs. Carwin, and is shaping up to be one of the most stacked cards since UFC 100.
Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald is reporting that the UFC has locked up its first date in the state of Massachusetts on August 28th where it will hold a PPV event at the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston.
Local mixed martial arts fans can get out their 2010 calendars and circle Aug. 28. That’s the date the UFC is scheduled to hold a pay-per-view event at TD Garden.
UFC president Dana White told the Herald yesterday that his organization has reserved the date, but an official announcement won’t be made until the day draws closer.
White has big plans for the UFC’s first Boston show.
Payout Perspective:
The report isn’t an official one, because the UFC doesn’t expect to announce the event until later in 2010. But it’s pretty much a certainty.
Given Dana White’s evident passion for the market, you can expect this event to be huge. White is playing down the idea that Lesnar could make an appearance on the show, but if he’s healthy it’s hard to believe that White won’t schedule what could be the year’s biggest PPV fight in his home town. It might also make sense for the UFC to throw a Florian-Penn rematch onto the card as a co-headliner – building from an angle of a “re-born” Florian that’s a different fighter (having dispatched Guida like no one else has). This of course would mean that he’d have to probably take on and convincingly defeat one of the other top three contenders right now (Maynard, Griffin, or Edgar).
Regardless, this event and the memorial day weekend event are shaping up to be two of most pivotal on the 2010 calendar.