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UFC Quick Quote: Heath Herring calls out Dana White and Zuffa for unfair treatment
UFC 110: Michael Bisping and Rampage Jackson take Australia (Video)
Crikey! UFC 110 prelim bouts will not air on Spike TV
Injury forces Anthony Johnson to withdraw from UFC on Versus bout against John Howard
Official UFC 112 poster HT: Demian Maia's website

UFC Quick Quote: Heath Herring calls out Dana White and Zuffa for unfair treatment

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 10:58 AM PST

"I really don't care too much for them, and I don't think they care too much for me (Dana White and the UFC ownership group).... They've got their guys they want to push, guys they want to market. Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir are the guys they want to push and market. The problem is if you're one of the guys who's not one of their favorites, they want to keep you out of the competition.... I'm trying to make money for myself, feed my family, and these guys are trying to do everything they can to make it impossible for me.... With the way the UFC's pay scale is and as much as it costs me to get ready for a fight, at the end of the day I made like 40 grand.... If I was getting a little more money and it was worth my while I'd get back into fighting. But right now I'm making more in movies. I've got to look out for number one as far as that goes.... These guys are literally making money off our blood, sweat and tears. We don't get any health insurance. If you get hurt training for a fight, you're screwed. It's really kind of crazy.... Dana White's got six Ferraris. Hell, I just want one."

-- UFC heavyweight (for the time being at least) Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring had some choice words for Dana White and company when he spoke to Fight Night Radio on ESPN 1080 about the current state of his mixed martial arts career. Herring, who hasn't fought since UFC 87 when he took on Brock Lesnar, puts the blame for his recent inactivity square on the shoulders of the Zuffa brass. We've heard these types of sentiments before from unhappy fighters, and we'll surely hear them again, but does Herring have a point here or is he just looking for someone to blame for his declining MMA career? Does Dana White need to do something about the UFC's pay scale or is that just an uphill battle that is too steep to climb right now?

UFC 110: Michael Bisping and Rampage Jackson take Australia (Video)

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 07:54 AM PST

Crikey! UFC 110 prelim bouts will not air on Spike TV

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 07:52 AM PST

Spoiled Spike TV viewers who get their preliminary fight fix courtesy of the cable television network are watching their excitement for the UFC 110 undercard go "Down Under" as it appears that on Feb. 21, what happens in Sydney stays in Sydney.

MMA Fighting delivered the bad news earlier today.

Fans were treated to one hour of uninterrupted mixed martial arts competition just over a week ago when Melvin Guillard collided with Ronnys Torres in a lightweight showdown and fellow 155-pounders Mac Danzig and Justin Buccholz got busy on the UFC 109: "Relentless" undercard on Feb. 6.

Starting with the UFC 103 pay-per-view back in September 2009 and then again at UFC 104 just a month later, the Zuffa brass wanted to test the idea along with its cable television partner and see what kind of numbers free preliminary bouts could generate.

After attracting about 1.4 million viewers for both events as well as snagging a 1.0 household rating for the 1.3 million viewers who tuned in to see featured preliminary bouts from UFC 106, the network ordered another ten bouts for 2010 starting with UFC 108: "Evans vs. Silva."

The ratings have continued to impress, as select UFC 109 prelim bouts aired commercial-free and garnered 1.7 million viewers for a 1.2 household rating earlier this month -- a record since the prelims began airing late last year.

With two out of the ten broadcasts already in the bag, coupled with the geography of this current Octagon offering, Spike TV has opted to keep the remaining eight broadcasts on standby for future cards.

A disappointment now, but if the numbers continue to hold, it's conceivable that the UFC and Spike TV could make this a permanent addition to every pay-per-view event.

Injury forces Anthony Johnson to withdraw from UFC on Versus bout against John Howard

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 07:27 AM PST

UFC welterweight prospects Anthony Johnson (8-3) and John Howard (13-4) will have to put their longstanding feud on hold after "Rumble" suffered a knee injury and was forced to withdraw from the upcoming UFC on Versus event scheduled for The Odeum Colorado in Broomfield on March 21.

In the battle of mouthy maulers, it's now Johnson who will take most of the heat.

They were originally set to do battle at last June's Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale; however, Howard withdrew from the bout under his manager's direction, prompting a slew of unflattering remarks from Johnson.

Here's how it all went down, according to "Doomsday:"

"I don’t appreciate him calling me a coward or anything like that. He has to understand that the decisions that are made for me are smart decisions. My job is to fight. I don’t make decisions about who to fight or when I’m going to fight, and I don’t pull out of fights ... Anthony Johnson has been in the UFC a little longer than me, and it’s not because I’m a coward (that the fight was nixed); it just wasn’t time…. I want to fight him, and the first chance I get the OK to fight him, I will. And he’s going to eat his words, definitely. It’s personal. He’s going to regret ever questioning me."

Howard was instead paired up with Tamdan McCrory at UFC 101 in Philadelphia back on August 8, squeaking past "The Barn Cat" via split decision.

The win was good enough to earn him a crack at Dennis Hallman at UFC 106 on Nov. 21. Dooms came from behind to stop "Superman" with just seconds remaining in their clash.

It appeared that Howard was finally ready to test himself against Johnson -- who suffered a major setback en route to 170-pound title contention.

"Rumble" was choked out by Josh Koscheck -- also at UFC 106 -- to snap a three fight winning streak. Unfortunately the contest was not without controversy.

The fight was littered with bizarre stoppages and frequent mishaps including eye pokes from both sides and a controversial knee while "Kos" was grounded. Johnson contends his errant knee never made head contact and that his loss can be attributed to the aforementioned eye mashing.

Whatever the case, this latest setback isn't going to help him get back into the title hunt any time soon.

UFC on Versus 1 is set to feature a fantastic main event between dynamic light heavyweight strikers Brandon "The Truth" Vera and Jon "Bones" Jones. Junior "Cigano" dos Santos and Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga are also expected to be in action on what is shaping up to be a great card for the promotion's debut on the Versus network.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for news of a possible replacement for Johnson. In the meantime, check out the latest fight card and rumors for UFC on Versus 1: "Vera vs. Jones" click here.

Official UFC 112 poster HT: Demian Maia's website

Posted: 14 Feb 2010 05:56 AM PST