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| ‘Never Surrender’ video trailer with UFC stars Posted: 20 Nov 2008 08:32 AM CST |
| Left but never gone: Bobby Southworth interview exclusive with MMAmania.com Posted: 20 Nov 2008 08:21 AM CST Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth knows a thing or two about playing the villain. This Friday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, the 38-year-old product of American Kickboxing Academy will once again fill that role as he defends his light heavyweight strap against the uber-talented fan favorite Renato “Babalu” Sobral live in the main event of Strikeforce “Destruction” airing live at 10pm ET on HDNet. Southworth first rose to popularity as one of the founding fathers on season one of the UFC’s hit reality show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) — and almost prevented history as we know it from taking place after battling fellow contestant Stephan Bonnar to a close split-decision in episode seven. Bonnar would go on to compete in the finals where he and Forrest Griffin, well, you know the rest. During his stint on TUF 1, Southworth gave the fans someone they could jeer for with an array of weekly shenanigans that included pranks, weight-cutting issues and the infamous “Fatherless Bastard” outburst toward Chris Leben. Following the show, Southworth would make his final UFC appearance against Sam Hoger in the Ultimate Fighter Finale in April of 2005. Though he came up short in the decision, Southworth didn’t waste any time feeling sorry for himself and would reappear just two months later at Strikeforce “Revenge”. After a faulty cage handed him a No Contest against James “The Sandman” Irvin at that event, Southworth plowed forward, going 3-1 in his next four Strikeforce bouts including his victory over Vernon “Tiger” White to claim the vacant light heavyweight title. Bobby Southworth might have left, but he was never really gone. During his almost 10-year career, he’s seen enough and been through enough to know what it takes to pull off an upset against a talented veteran like Sobral. It will be interesting to see if he can make this a competitive fight or if Babalu is going to “run through him” like he claims he will. Despite some of the negative images of his past, Southworth is actually one of the nicest guys I’ve had the opportunity to talk with. His passion about the sport of mixed martial arts is undeniable and he knows the opportunity in front of him this Friday night is perhaps the biggest of his career. We recently caught up with the champ to find out his thoughts on the Babalu fight, his recurring injury plus a whole lot more.
James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): How did your camp go for this fight training over at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose? Bobby Southworth: Good, you know, it was a really good camp. A lot of good training partners, so I’m ready to go. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Who are some of the guys you’ve been working with? Bobby Southworth: We have a wide variety of styles and stuff. I got a little work in with Trevor Prangley. A little work with Cain Velasquez, Christian Wellisch, Kyle Kingsbury, Jon Jones, Nate James, you know, we got a big stable of fighters there and a lot of different looks that you can get anytime you’re in our gym, so we got a lot of good guys in there. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): When you’re preparing for a guy like Babalu, who’s a stud on the ground, do you train a ton of jiu-jitsu or do you work on your takedown defense and striking? Bobby Southworth: Well, I’m a little bit of a jiu-jitsu guy myself. I’m always training jiu-jitsu. I’m always on the mat either teaching or training when I’m not in the gym with the fight team. I trained a little bit more on the ground than usual, but we concentrate a lot on all the aspects of the fight in our gym. We’re always working on striking, wrestling, jiu jitsu and submissions, so I feel like I’m prepared. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): The fight was originally scheduled to go down in September at the Playboy Mansion, but you were both pulled out with injuries. Can you tell us a little bit about your injury? Bobby Southworth: Yeah, I have this recurring problem with my ACL, and I have some other problems in there. I didn’t really have time to get surgery and go in and get it corrected, so I just worked on rehabbing the leg and strengthening the muscle for stabilization, strength and explosion. And you know, we’ve had very good results, and I’m happy. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What’s the ACL problem? Is there a tear? Bobby Southworth: My ACL is thinning out as I get older so if I tweak it a certain way a little bit of it frays off. So, it’s not that it’s torn, it’s just that little bits of it keeping pinging away kind of like a piano wire or like a rope. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What have you heard about his injury? Bobby Southworth: I just heard he had a minor meniscus tear. He got it repaired and was back training like seven days later, so it must not have been too bad. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): In the past you’ve had success using a lot of takedowns and control. Do you think a similar strategy can work against a guy like Babalu? Bobby Southworth: You know, we’ll find out in the fight. I’m not gonna give away my strategy or anything like that, but like I said we’re prepared for all the aspects of anywhere the fight might go. If I can control Babalu on the ground that’ll be great. If not, then I’m prepared to keep the fight on the feet and strike with him. You can do all the preparation you want for fights, but once the cage door closes and the fight starts, a lot of game plans go out the window because fighters adapt, in their training and they adapt minute to minute in the cage as well. My goal is to, you know, I’m in great shape. I hired a strength and conditioning coach. So, I’m in shape. I’m ready to go five hard rounds, so wherever the fight goes I’ll be ready. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What are some of the advantages you think you have over Babalu in this fight? Bobby Southworth: I think most of the advantages go to Babalu. He’s the more experienced fighter. He’s faced better competition. He trains in a gym with twenty black belts in jiu jitsu. You know, I think my striking is a little more precise and a little more accurate than his. I do have those six plus championship fights under my belt. Going deeper into the fight I think that favors me a little bit more. Like I said, I don’t like to make predictions or run my mouth about the fight or my opponent. I just like to go in there and let the chips fall where they may. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): You mentioned a little bit of his credentials. Even as the champ, you’re more than likely going to be the under dog in this fight. How do you feel about that role? Bobby Southworth: I don’t really think about those things. I think about being prepared and going in and performing. All the hoopla and getting interviews and taking pictures and what the betting line is … those are the things that don’t really concern me. You know, on any given night anybody can beat anybody. I don’t worry about what a fight looks like on paper. I worry about how the fight is going when I’m actually in there throwing leather. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Being that this fight is right in your backyard, it’s for your world title, it’s the main event of a HDNet televised Strikeforce event, it has to be the biggest fight of your career. What is going through your head so close to fight night? Bobby Southworth: I mean, you pretty much run the whole gantlet of emotions, nervousness, being excited, you know. But I just try to listen to music, watch movies, you know, quiet my mind because the worst part of the fight is the week leading up to the fight. You have a lot of down time, you’re training a little less, your schedule’s a little less hectic. That’s the time I think your mind works against you, so I just try to stay busy doing other things and keep my brain distracted and just wait for fight time. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I’d imagine having a whole arena full of people and basically and entire city behind you is going to give you a little extra adrenaline on fight night. Bobby Southworth: I hope it does. I definitely want to perform well for my hometown fans and all the people who are coming over from Santa Cruz to watch the fight. Santa Cruz is actually my hometown. I just live and fight out of San Jose. I want to perform well for them. I’m sure the crowd will be giving me a lot of energy. Hopefully I’ll be able to channel some of that into getting a victory. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): This will be your sixth fight with Strikeforce. What’s your current contract status with them? Do you have more fights or is it a situation where you have to continue to defend your title? Bobby Southworth: Well my contract was originally a four fight deal, and like you said I’m six fights in. I never actually saw that contract on paper, so I’m not sure. Obviously beating Babalu give a fighter some options in his career, but I’m not thinking about what happens after the fight. I’m thinking about the fight. It’s important for me to retain my title. As long as I have this belt I’m alive in the MMA game, and I have some bargaining power. So that’s my main goal, is get in there, get this victory, and then worry about everything else after the fight. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I’ve heard rumors of potential network television deals with both NBC and CBS for Strikeforce. Have you heard anything about that? And what are you thoughts about potentially fighting on live network television one day? Bobby Southworth: I have not heard anything about that. I mean getting mainstream, primetime, major network exposure is huge for any fighter. And that would be an awesome opportunity for me, you know, and any other fighter fighting in Strikeforce. I’m happy fighting for Strikeforce. I think it’s a great organization. With 16 shows in or however many shows they have in without canceling a date or consistently getting attendance in the double digits, consistently in the tens of thousands, I think that’s a great thing. I think they’re a major player in the game with a good business model that will be around for a while to come. Hopefully my relationship with them continues to be a positive one. I have no complaints at this point. The more exposure, the more television time that I can get while I’m with Strikeforce, I think that just benefits me as a whole, so that would be great. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): As the champion, you’re representing the entire Strikeforce 205-pound division. How do you feel you match up against some of the other light heavyweight champs out there like your former cast mate Forrest Griffin for instance? Bobby Southworth: Well, you know, when I was on the show with Forrest I matched up very well with him. He’s improved as a fighter. He’s had a lot of big time experience and a lot of big time fights. I think I’m competitive with anybody in the 205-pound division. It’s just a matter of coming in having done your due diligence. If you have the right game plan, if you train properly and make sure you’re in shape, you know, anybody can beat anybody on any given night. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Are you still friends with any of the guys from the show? Bobby Southworth: You know, we’re all real busy, but every so often there’s MySpaces or phone calls or we run into each other at an event and have a beer or something. But it’s not like, you know, a lot of us live in different parts of the country. It’s not like we’re all coming over to each other’s houses for Sunday dinner or anything like that. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What are your thoughts on Chris Leben testing positive for steroids? Bobby Southworth: I don’t know what to say about that. I think it’s unfortunate for Chris. I think he’s made huge strides as a fighter and as a person. When we did the reunion he seemed like he was in a real positive place in his life. I just think it’s unfortunate that that happened. You know, I’ve seen … it’s hard to say, you know, there’s a lot of these new emerging supplement companies. Sometimes you read articles or hear rumors that sometimes supplement companies are putting stuff in there to give people a boost. Kind of like trying to get them hooked and then go back and give them regular type supplements. I don’t know what Chris’ situation is. I haven’t heard any formal statements or anything that he made. Steroids in any sport are unfortunate, but I think history has shown that anytime there is opportunity for financial gain, people are going to do anything they can to get an edge to obtain that. I mean, it’s just human nature. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Ok, you’ve been the champion now for almost two years. You’re 38 years old. What does the future hold for you? What are your goals in this sport? Bobby Southworth: Day to day, week to week those goals, you know, those perceptions are always being assessed. I’m just a few weeks shy of being 39. I’m just trying to take it one fight at a time. I still feel like I’m improving as a fighter. I’m learning new techniques. I’m making strides in my strength and conditioning. It’s hard to say. I mean, obviously there’s only one Randy Couture. You know, I’m older than Chuck Liddell. I want to stay in this game as long as I can. I’ll have to assess it on a fight to fight basis after this fight and see how my body feels. See how my performance was. Obviously if I win this fight it’s a huge thing for me. Obviously if I lose the fight it’s a huge thing as well. I mean, we’ll just have to see what happens. I want to stay in this game as long as I can and fight the best competition that I can. I leave that up to my management and the matchmakers at Strikeforce. I’ll show up, and I’ll be ready to go for as long as I’m in the game. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What else do you have going on in your life? Do you have any business ventures or anything else you’d like to talk about? Bobby Southworth: Yeah, I recently opened a gym with two partners. I opened another American Kickboxing Academy. It’s American Kickboxing Academy Sunnyvale with my partners Javier Mendez and Alex Khanbanian. I’m running the jiu-jitsu and MMA. Alex is running the boxing, kickboxing and kids MMA program. He’s a former two time ISKA world champion. We’ve been open for about six months. We’ve got about a 180 students. We’re doing well considering the state of the economy and we’re happy. I haven’t been in there for a few weeks because I really wanted to concentrate on preparing for the fight. But as soon as the fight is over it’ll be right back in, it’ll be right back to business as usual teaching jiu-jitsu and MMA and hopefully helping the business to grow. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is there anything you want to say to your fans or anybody you would like to thank in closing? Bobby Southworth: I’d just like to thank some of my sponsors. I’d like to thank Cage Fighter MMA Authentic. I’d like to thank Sherdog.com, score clinic, my friend Jason at Elite … I can’t remember the name, but he’s my strength and conditioning coach. I call it Elite Performance. And I’d like to thank Shocker Nutrition for giving me all the supplements they’ve given me and that’s pretty much about it. James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Cool man. We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us, it was great talking with you and we wish you good luck on Friday night. Bobby Southworth: Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure. |
| Dana White video on UFC 94 media blitz to discuss Georges St. Pierre vs BJ Penn 2 on SportsNet Posted: 20 Nov 2008 06:22 AM CST Part two after the jump.
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| Dana White: ‘[Expletive]’ Jon Fitch — Update Posted: 20 Nov 2008 12:23 AM CST
– UFC President Dana White fumes via Yahoo!Sports.com about the situation that went down earlier this evening surrounding the release of Jon Fitch for not signing an agreement that would give the promotion exclusive lifetime video game rights to his name and likeness. White appears to be most heated about the management team that represents most of the fighters out of American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Zinkin Entertainment. In fact, he says that with the exception of Chuck Liddell, Mike Swick and more than likely Forrest Griffin (who are also represented by Zinkin Entertainment) that other top fighters such as Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez are also possibly on the outs. “Kos,” as of press time, is still scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 16: “Fight for the Troops” on December 13. However, after reading these comments who knows what the future holds. This is madness. Update: White was on “The Carmichael Dave” radio show and had this to say:
Clearly, according to him, the issue goes much deeper than the video game deal. |
| Jon Fitch, Christian Wellisch and possibly others cut by UFC Posted: 19 Nov 2008 07:55 PM CST
American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) team member Christian Wellisch was also released. Others who do not sign the agreement could also be let go in the near future, including stars Cain Velasquez and Josh Koscheck (he will still headline UFC Fight Night 16: “Fight for the Troops”). Fitch and members of his camp were not immediately available for comment on the startling development. While the full details are a little murky at this time, Fitch was apparently approached about the issue when he turned in his signed bout agreement to fight Akihiro Gono at UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2″ on January 31. And when he and his representatives attempted to negotiate the video game deal it was all or nothing. He didn’t sign it and was terminated shortly therefafter. Fitch — who is tied with Royce Gracie and Anderson Silva for the most consecutive wins in UFC history (eight) — recently lost a gutsy unanimous decision to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” on August 9. The former Purdue University wrestler just returned from a trip to Thailand to refine his Muay Thai and stand up skills. For the time being he may have to now put those skills to the test outside the Octagon for the first time since 2006. He’s among the top 170-pound fighters in the world and should land on his feet sooner rather than later. Talk about a big loss for the UFC … and Jon Fitch. More on this breaking exclusive news as soon as we receive it. Hopefully cooler heads soon prevail. |
| The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8: Episode 10 recap and discussion Posted: 19 Nov 2008 07:31 PM CST
Episode ten of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 is now underway and we get things rolling with a quick recap of Krzysztof Soszynski’s submission win over Kyle Kingsbury. Despite the victory, no one on Team Blue seems overly impressed with the armbar. Further downplaying his Polish power, apathetic teammate and drunken master Junie Browning is convinced that his sister could have submitted Kingsbury. Team Blue now has four contestants in the semifinals compared to Team Red’s three. Nog and Co. have a chance to even things up in the final preliminary bout when they send John Polakowski into battle against George Roop. Most of the house is convinced that Polakowski is insane based on his rampant hugs and "Fire the cannons!" battle cry, but considering how many of them have been drinking Johnny Walker Yellow and doing shots of albino tadpoles, Polakowski to me seems downright normal. Team Mir hits the gym with their attention focused on the training and preparation of George Roop. Shane Nelson shoots on him while sparring and inadvertently backs him into the cage - hand first. Roop suffers pain and swelling in his right hand but vows to fight on no matter what the condition. Polakowski wakes up the next morning and hits the kitchen dressed like Brad Hamilton when he worked at Captain Hook Fish and Chips. Things are going smoothly until Professor Positive reaches for his cereal and finds that some ignorant bastard has removed all of the marshmallows from his Lucky Charms. Now it’s war. Polakowski promises to avenge the fallen marshmallows by beating on George Roop inside the Octagon. We get a close-up of Stankie yelling at him during sparring. We also get a close-up of Stankie’s earring, which looks like it’s been there since the Battle of Hastings. The weigh-ins go off without a hitch until Vinny Magalhaes calls out Polakowski for dying his hair bright red. As if Mags was one to talk. Didn’t he roll out of the cage a few episodes back looking like Sisqo? Coach Mir thinks the best game plan for Roop is to avoid striking and implement the ground game where Polakowski may be at a disadvantage. Conversely, Coach Nogueira gives Polakowski the edge in striking and will look to keep his pupil on his feet. Later that night, Nogueira swings by the house for some grub and uses the opportunity to give Roop a light-hearted ribbing about his upcoming fight. Not to be disrespectful, but every time they show a close-up of Nog it looks like he’s aging faster than Walter Donovan after he drank from the false Grail. It’s fight day and in a bizarre display of singularity, both Roop and Polakowski agree to hug each other before and after trying to hurt each other. Team Mir’s George Roop (8-3) vs. Team Nogueira’s John Polakowski (2-1) Round 1: Roop opens with some high kicks. Polakowski stumbles forward with a combo that misses. Roop with a knee. Polakowski lands a right. Roop with a nice liver kick. Polakowski backs him up with a combo but Roop finds his mark with leg kicks. Polakowski throws an airball and Roop shoots in and takes him down. Roop landing nice punches and elbows from mount. Roop drags him to the cage and moves into side control where he lands some vicious knees to the ribs. Roop goes back to mount and drops a few more elbows. Polakowski rolls and Roop takes his back and works for the rear naked choke. Polakowski defends and twists into mount. Polakowski gets a few shots in but Roop is busy from the bottom with short elbows and upward strikes until time runs out. Round one was all (well mostly) Roop. Inexplicably, Coach Nogueira tells Polakowski he won the first frame. Round 2: Roop opens with a stinging liver kick. Polakowski goes in hard and lands a combo on both sides of Roop’s face. Roop wobbles and backpedals before eating another combo. Polakowski rushes in but Roop uses the cage to stabilize himself. Polakowski denies a shot and they exchange knees. Roop sucking wind. Roop sneaks in a knee and a straight left. Polakowski cracks him with a right. Roop dives in for a takedown and it scores. From mount, Roop lands a couple of big shots and cuts Polakowski on the nose. Roop drags him to the cage and lands a big elbow. Roop spins and once again gets his back. Polakowski defends well as Nogueira screams like RZA from the side of the cage "Protect ya neck!" Roop lands nice elbows to the ribs and the round ends with Polakowski trapped in a body triangle. Close round but I give it to Roop. Both sides anticipate a possible third round but the judges have rendered their decision and the fight is over. George Roop defeats John Polakowski via unanimous decision. Dana and most of Team Red are appalled by the decision. Personally I won’t go crazy over it. Round one was definitely all Roop. Polakowski had the first minute of round two and I think they were even for the next minute and then Roop controlled the last two minutes. Either way, it was a pretty good fight. Back in the locker room, Krzysztof brags about Team Blue winning the preliminary fights 5-3 and also has some very mean-spirited remarks about Coach Nogueira’s training methods and the bonding between members of Team Red. He also decides to round up a bunch of his cronies and throw food at some of the guys in the hot tub when they return home later that evening. Junie Browning gets hit in the face with a pork chop and goes berserk. Hopefully what happened next was a case of someone being tongue-tied and not careless editing. Junie storms the castle to get revenge for being turned into an egghead and someone off camera tries to stop him by yelling "Junie! Junie! You’re in the finals bro!" Normally I would ignore it, but I think at this point its common knowledge that the sequences aren’t always shown in chronological order. Time will tell. The next day Dana joins Coach Nogueira and Coach Mir for a roundtable about who gets matched up with whom in the semifinals. Let’s break it down: Ryan Bader: Picks Eliot Marshall for calling him out after he won his preliminary fight. Eliot Marshall: Picks Ryan Bader because he thinks it will be a good test for him. Krzysztof Soszynski: Picks Ryan Bader because he thinks he can out jiu-jitsu him. Vinny Magalhaes: Picks Krzysztof Soszynski for talking smack about him behind his back. Phillipe Nover: Picks George Roop because he believes Roop is the weakest link. George Roop: Picks Junie Browning because he thinks Junie has no cardio. Junie Browning: Picks Efrain Escudero so that he can shut him up. Efrain Escudero: Picks Junie Browning for exactly the same reason. After interviewing the fighters and discussing it amongst themselves, Dana, Mir and Nog agree on the following semifinal matches (in order): Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall (LHW) Phillipe Nover vs. George Roop (LW) Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Vinny Magalhaes (LHW) Junie Browning vs. Efrain Escudero (LW) From a fan’s perspective, the semifinals look to be very exciting fights. Aside from perhaps Nover vs. Roop, I can see all of the fights going in either direction. Tune in on December 3 as playtime is finally over! The first two rounds of the semifinals get underway with Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall and Phillipe Nover vs. George Roop. See you in two weeks! |
| Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale fights confirmed for Dec. 13 card Posted: 19 Nov 2008 01:42 PM CST
In addition, the network made official that Wilson Gouveia (11–5) and Jason MacDonald (21–10) will throwdown in a middleweight bout on the televised main card, which will serve as the co-featured fight of the broadcast. Of course, the finals of the lightweight and light heavyweight tournament-style format that is currently in progress on the mixed martial arts reality series will also take place at the TUF 8 Finale. All the action will begin to air live on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET on fight night. With the series nearing its conclusion (the semifinal match ups finalized tonight), we should learn more about the remaining fight card, which will likely include several eliminated participants on the show. In the meantime, check out the latest TUF 8 fight card and rumors click here. Remember to also hit up our TUF 8 Finale event archive right here. |
| Dana White willing to ‘test the waters’ with Gina Carano in the WEC Posted: 19 Nov 2008 12:25 PM CST
UFC President Dana White has continued to soften his stance about promoting a possible fight using former Elite XC female superstar and butt-kicking heartthrob Gina "Conviction" Carano (7-0). Just don't expect it to take place in the hallowed Octagon. If it were to happen under his watch, White says, it would more than likely take place under the Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) banner. Here's what he said at Monday’s Q & A in Toronto :
That's clearly not an all-out guarantee. However, it is a marked change in tone from just two weeks ago. Here's what he had to say then:
It's an intriguing development to say the least. Perhaps White — who has historically gone on record saying he does not personally like to see women beat each other up — is having a change of heart because a match up between Carano and Brazilian rival Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (6-1) is more than likely a huge money maker. In fact, the WEC has designs on making its pay-per-view (PPV) debut sometime in 2009. And what better way to increase interest (and PPV buys) than putting a fight together than fans are eager to see, were told they were going to see, and then had it disappear before their very eyes when Elite XC closed its doors. Remember, too, the Carano is very close with UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and his wife Kim, training full-time at the X-Treme Couture facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is also that ugly issue with Affliction's now-exiled Todd Beard and the Couture's, suggesting that a fight between Carano and Cyborg would now be highly unlikely under the Affliction MMA brand because of the tensions between the parties. Therefore, White more than likely has the upper hand, as well as the financial and television resources, to ensure that this blockbuster showdown is indeed just that. |
| Price check: UFC 93 and 95 to air on pay-per-view (PPV) Posted: 19 Nov 2008 10:45 AM CST
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is coming out of the gates like a bat out of hell in 2009, scheduling five events in less than 70 days to start the New Year. That's, of course, on the heels of a December that features three events, including the year-end blockbuster pay-per-view (PPV) event, UFC 92: "The Ultimate 2008," on December 27. Here is the early jam-packed schedule for 2009:
The only bad news, according to MMARated.com, is that the promotion is unable to hammer out a deal with its cable television provider, Spike TV, to air any of the European-based events for free so early in the year. That means four of the first five UFC shows in 2009 (UFC 93, UFC 94, UFC 95 and UFC 96) will be broadcast on PPV, which could price out fans who may be unable to afford to watch all the shows because of the current state of the economy. And that doesn't even include the Affliction: "Day of Reckoning" PPV on January 24, which features a sick main event fight between WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Talk about bitter sweet. |
| Bellator Fighting Championships Signs Exclusive TV Agreement with ESPN Posted: 19 Nov 2008 09:09 AM CST
Bellator (Latin for warrior), marks a step forward in the evolution of professional Mixed Martial Arts with a business model unique in the fight industry, yet followed in every other major sport. At Bellator, a fighter's wins or losses control his future. Bjorn Rebney, Bellator founder & CEO states, "We are implementing a tournament structure to determine champions and #1 challengers so that world-class fighters can control their destiny based on their performance." Bellator events will showcase highly competitive fights between top competitors with each tournament bout winner earning substantially larger purses and moving closer to a championship fight. "Simply put, at Bellator, fighters fight their way to the title," Rebney adds. With a tagline that refers to its fighters as warriors that are on their way to becoming legends, Bellator differentiates itself by making its fighters the focus of the organization. "The fans' connection to Bellator will be created through our fighters. That understanding will drive the promotion, publicity, marketing and advertising of Bellator's fighters, making them the centerpiece of what we do," says Rebney.
On each telecast, leading up to tournament bouts, Bellator Fighting Championships will air back-stories on each fighter. "We will use the simple yet powerful sports programming philosophy of combining elite Bellator's nationally televised events will be highly competitive sports programming in its purest form and will have no connection to "reality television." These events are structured as tournament competitions, crowning champions and top challengers at the end of each season. Bellator's premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events to be broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights. The nationally televised events will feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There will be four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season #1 over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions. Eight fighters from around the world will be represented in each division. To win the Bellator Championship, a fighter must win a total of three fights, each consisting of three five-minute rounds over a three month period. At the end of the initial three month, 12-event season, Bellator will have crowned four Bellator Champions and will have awarded each Champion $175,000. Opening round winners receive $25,000, semi-final round winners receive $50,000 and final winners receive $100,000. "Mixed Martial Arts is becoming increasingly popular among Hispanics and we are thrilled to work with Bellator Fighting Championships to showcase these world-class athletes on a national platform," says Lino Garcia, general manager, ESPN Deportes. "The structure of this championship will give fans a unique opportunity to follow their athletes as the tournament progresses." Bellator's interactive Web site, www.bellator.com, featuring event and fighter information, behind the scenes video footage, fight clips and live interaction with Bellator fighters will go live in late December, 2008. About Bellator Fighting Championships |
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