Cage Fighting/MMA

[Kit]

Affliction were destined to go out of business seeing as they paid their fighters more than they earned in ticket and PPV buys combined.

It’s a shame really, as if they’d have thought things through and paid their fighters like the UFC (small guaranteed amounts, with win bonuses and a proportion of PPV buys once they get into title contention) they could have been a real competitor. Now the only other half decent orgs out there are Strikeforce and Dream, and neither have the depth of the UFC.

[cutmymilk]

They did the same as what EliteXC did. They are all morons, basically.

[merf]

you see it in all business, somebody carefully and organically grows success over years then the 'me too's' try to copy it with a big chequebook whilst never understanding the fundamentals.

it ws only a question of when not if with affliction.

[Super Grover]

A pertinent question is 'is a single brand (ie. UFC) good or bad for the 'sport''?

Other than the Japan scene, it seems UFC has no other significant competitors (it could be argued they had none before).

With all the top fighters under one company (if 'they' go to the UFC), surely it can be only a good thing?

Whats the general consensus??

[phillai]

Deep down, I like the competition for UFC.

It keeps Dana White on his toes and he always seems to have the balls to go one up on his competitors anyway.

UFC does seem to be taking over the world at a scary rate though and it can only mean one thing - More UFC fights!

Sooner or later they will attack Japan again where DREAM have one more deal on TV before that deal ends and god knows what will happen after that and there is only one other competitor which is Sengoku but it only has a few star fighters.

There are other negatives though - I don't what Dana pays his fighters as compared to boxers but I'm sure it will work itself out eventually.

Then again, I can argue that although there are super mega fights in boxing, I hate the fact that they are few and far between.

I'd much rather watch 12 UFC shows a year rather than watch one mega super fight in boxing which is like once or twice a year at the most, max.

[VR46]

It's more like 20 UFC's a year nowadays, feel they've become a bit diluted at times, but still love the sport. The two main bouts at UFC 100 really ramped up the expectation. Was obvious Bisping was going to lose to a right hand KO, was just a question of when.
Thought Mir could have done more to get out of Lesnar's "clinches" I must admit, would like to see a re-match but don't suppose we'll get one.

Working my way through the Top 100 fights shows at the minute and up to about number 60, some real classics in there, quite a few very old ones I've never seen also which is good.

[browngirl]

is mark weirs fight in the top 100? the one were he does a knock out in approx 9 seconds comes out punch, roundhouse then out, really nice guy met him in blockbusters in quedgeley, gloucestershire

[Kit]

I think for the time being the way the UFC do business is the right way to go. Before they basically monopolised the sport no one could say for sure who the top fighters in each division were, so at least with them on top it clears up that particular issue.

The negative side to this is they (or more specifically Dana) do get away with treating certain fighters like ****, and you have to wonder how long this can go on until someone either hits him or a few of them refuse to fight.

is mark weirs fight in the top 100? the one were he does a knock out in approx 9 seconds comes out punch, roundhouse then out, really nice guy met him in blockbusters in quedgeley, gloucestershire

I know the fight you’re on about; the one the commentators would recount everytime someone was on the end of a head kick.

I'm not sure if it made the top 100, but looking at fight finder he’s one of the few English guys to fight in the UFC so he must have been pretty good - he even fought David Loiseau.

M-1: No Fedor in UFC Without Co-Promoting

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Fedor Emelianenko, the top-ranked heavyweight in the world, will not fight in the UFC unless Dana White and company agree to co-promote with Emelianenko’s partners at M-1 Global.

M-1 Global CEO Vadim Finkelstein made that clear Wednesday at a news conference. Finkelstein confirmed that M-1 Global had negotiated with UFC officials as recently as Tuesday.

...

M-1 Global also pressured the UFC by saying they are in talks with other shows, including Strikeforce.

“We're not going to wait,” Finkelstein said. “We have to move forward. It might be that very soon we will be able to announce a deal with another promotion. I'm going to tell you that we're only going to work under co-promotion conditions.”

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/m-1...romoting-18792

Such a ridiculous demand. The UFC do all their own production, advertising, write the fighters Checks, and M-1 (a promotion with 1 show under their belt) want to co-promote? what will they do exactly other than share in the profits.

When the UFC refuse, which surely they will, they might as well remove Fedor from the top 10 seeings as outside the UFC there's no fights for him out there.

[Peekay]

As for Lashley, he isn't that impressive. He beat a few nobodies and just about defeated Jason Guida, who is not even in Clay's league. I think any heavyweight in the UFC would beat him at the moment. If we see him in the UFC, it will be in a couple of years though I'd like to see him on Ultimate Fighter.

He's just starting out; he's building experience. Did you watch the Jason Guida fight (presumably not)? Guida had nothing for him.

I think any heavyweight in the UFC would beat him at the moment.

Not sure about this at all - you think Antoni Hardonk would beat Lashley? As I said, the man is still building experience.

[Peekay]

They did the same as what EliteXC did. They are all morons, basically.

I find it laughable the amount of people who equate "MMA" with "UFC". Where do you think your hero Brock Lesnar got his start in MMA? K-1 Hero's (sic).

[Peekay]

A pertinent question is 'is a single brand (ie. UFC) good or bad for the 'sport''?

Other than the Japan scene, it seems UFC has no other significant competitors (it could be argued they had none before).

With all the top fighters under one company (if 'they' go to the UFC), surely it can be only a good thing?

Whats the general consensus??

Bad. The problem with fight organisations is that, unlike football, for example, things are a lot murkier. You can keep winning, and never get a title shot. Great fighters can be sidelined for business reasons (Frank Shamrock - an unbelievably dominant UFC champion in his time - being edited out of the UFC's "100 Greatest Fights", for example). You can even be given dodgy decisions if you're a fighter your particular org wants to push heavily (for example, Belcher was never going to beat Akiyama/Chu via decision - Akiyama/Chu is much too important to the Korean and Japanese market. My Korean girlfriend, who has no interest in MMA whatsoever, tuned in to UFC 100 just to watch him). This means that, with just one major org, the potential for unethical business decisions is compounded. We're already seeing it with the UFC making moves like the EA game ban and fighters being forced to sign over the rights to their likenesses in perpetuity. Competition is healthy. I'm sad to see Affliction go.

[Peekay]

Sooner or later they will attack Japan again where DREAM have one more deal on TV before that deal ends and god knows what will happen after that and there is only one other competitor which is Sengoku but it only has a few star fighters.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Zuffa relaunch Pride in Japan, cross-pollinating with UFC fighters. Sengoku have some good fighters and put on some good shows, but yeah, they're lacking star power. DEEP and Shooto are also good Japanese promotions which act as important feeders for Dream and Sengoku. Katsunori Kikuno just made his Dream debut this week after winning the DEEP lightweight championship - he fights in a kyokushin karate style which is cool to watch. Dong Hyeon-gim (who fought at UFC 100) was also a DEEP champion.

[cutmymilk]

He's just starting out; he's building experience. Did you watch the Jason Guida fight (presumably not)? Guida had nothing for him.



Not sure about this at all - you think Antoni Hardonk would beat Lashley? As I said, the man is still building experience.

I find it laughable the amount of people who equate "MMA" with "UFC". Where do you think your hero Brock Lesnar got his start in MMA? K-1 Hero's (sic).

Yeah, ok dude. Mr Know It All.

1) I have watched every Lashley fight so far. He couldn't finish Jason Guida, even though he did dominate him. Fighting Bob Sapp doesn't impress me either. I'm sure he's fantastic but I'd like to see him against someone more capable than Guida before declaring him the future.

2) I watched Brock fight before UFC. Where did I say UFC was MMA?

I watch most major MMA PPVs so what a generalisation to think you are the only person here with an informed opinion!

For the record, I would like nothing more than for Lashley to keep improving and face Lesnar one day. If it happens it will be in around 18 months to 2 years, depending on who Lashley fights next. He needs better competition to move up the ranks in the eyes of the UFC.

[merf]

ESPN does indeed get UFC and TUF rights, plus some other UFC shows

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/2564350/TUF-luck-for-Virgin-on-UFC-deal.html

[VR46]

Wonder how much they are planning to charge a month, would love it to be free on Virgin as Setanta was.