-- UFC 91 did gigantic numbers. The most consistent number I've seen has them assuredly topping 850,000 buys for the show, and could even be over 900,000. It's the second biggest show in UFC history (right behind UFC 66), and it means that Brock Lesnar has drawn over 2 million buys this year, which nobody has done since Tito Ortiz did it in 2006.
It also means that it was easily the biggest PPV event of the year, at least until De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao takes place.
-- Jorge Gurgel and Sokoudjou were cut. Neither one is a surprise, since both guys seem to relish being defeated. Gurgel has already signed with Strikeforce, and Affliction is trying to bring in Sokoudjou for January, but word has it that both DREAM and WVR are making a play for him as well.
I see him likely ending up back in Japan, where they love foreigners who can put on entertaining fights, which Sokoudjou can certainly do for at least one round before he gets tired.
-- Randy Couture hasn't made up his mind about fighting again. He could very well retire from fighting and has said that it all depends on who the UFC offers him as an opponent.
As far as the potential fight with Chuck Liddell, I can tell you that neither side has been offered the fight, and at this point, it's something that has only been discussed internally. There has been absolutely no talk within the company of Liddell moving to heavyweight, and that's something that won't even be discussed until after the fight is accepted by both parties.
This is a fight that Dana White would love to make, but it hasn't gotten past the discussion stages yet, and both fighters confirm that the company have not approached them about it. The rumors have been running wild and people are treating it like a done deal, but that's just not the case at this point.
-- There is talk of a big potential return by a former UFC star that could take place at one of the February shows. I haven't been able to track down anything concrete, but the two names being tossed around the most are Frank Shamrock and Josh Barnett.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Both of those are very unlikely to ever return to Zuffa, which means that it would indeed be shocking if it were to happen. Frank Shamrock vs. Anderson Silva would be a huge fight, because there is nobody in the fighting industry who understands how to sell a fight better than Frank Shamrock, and if Silva beats him in dramatic fashion, it could finally be the push that turns Silva into a true superstar instead of just being the best fighter in the world.
-- Fabricio Werdum's story about Zuffa wanting to renegotiate his contract is likely not true. All UFC sources have stated that Werdum was cut outright and there was no attempt to cut his contract in half. There were a lot of reasons for Werdum being dismissed, and his management played a large role in it.
The complaints about not getting a title shot surely factored into the decision. He also had a gigantic contract and the company felt like they couldn't book him in a fight that would draw enough money to justify what they were paying him, so they cut him.
He will land with Affliction, possibly in time for the January show. Affliction should just cut everyone but the heavyweights and become a heavyweights-only promotion. People love to watch the heavyweights, and they have the best heavyweight roster in the sport and could probably carve out a good niche for themselves by concentrating on the giants.
-- UFC 92 has only sold 5,500 tickets for a $1.7 million gate thus far in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which is weird considering the show is the strongest of the year on paper. None of the three main events for the show equal Couture vs. Lesnar in stature or hype, but all three of the fights could have been main events on any other show.
The company is blaming it on New Year's Eve being on a Wednesday, because people will come into Vegas on the weekend for New Year's and attend the traditional December UFC show, but with New Year's being four days later, it's tough to keep people in town.
I have no idea if this is true or even plausible, but I suppose that as far as excuses go, it's as good as any.
-- The winner of the Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver fight in January will get a shot at the winner of the Mike Brown/Leonard Garcia fight that'll take place in March. Contracts haven't been signed for Faber/Pulver II as of press time, but they're expected to be finished soon.
-- Round 5 signed exclusive deals with Rich Franklin, Sean Sherk, Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Rampage Jackson, and Tito Ortiz. The toy deals are exclusive, and UFC won't be allowed to create action figures of those fighters, which explains why Zuffa has been so insistent on getting the merchandising options signed.
-- No location has been finalized for the Feb. 7 Spike show, but that will likely be done within the week. They are looking at a southeast location.
-- The next season of The Ultimate Fighter will kick off on Apr. 1, and there will be a two hour Fight Night to kick it off.
-- Brock and Rena Lesnar's first child is due in June.
Jeremy Botter is the editor-in-chief of Inside Fights, a blog title covering the mixed martial arts and boxing industries. He has been writing about mixed martial arts and the professional wrestling industry for 15 years. His weekly news column, The Botterm Dollar in MMA News, is published on Inside Fights every Friday morning.
In addition to Inside Fights, Jeremy also serves on the rankings committee for the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts. He is a graduate of The University of Texas and believes that President-elect Obama's first major presidential duty should be to mandate a college football playoff system.
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about 1 month ago
I figured Dan Severn was the guy coming back to the UFC, he had mentioned something about it to White in one of those video blogs before a UFC event (90 or 91??). I would however love to see Frank Shamrock fighting in the UFC again. He told them to call him when they had someone who could beat him, and Silva may just be that guy. Affliction becoming a HW only promotions actually has a nice base to it, but I personally want to see Horidecki fight, and he is currently under Affliction.
from about 1 month ago
I finished that article on Thursday, and I spend a good portion of Friday trying to track down who the mystery return guy could be. After about 20 phone calls, the only thing I could still find out is that it's supposedly a big name or legend and that it will surprised a lot of people. I asked several people point-blank if it was Frank Shamrock and got your basic "no comment". I thought about getting in touch with Shamrock's people, but then I realized that Frank is a master promoter and he's not going to leak anything like that to the press. He'll wait for the big UFC event when he can walk into the cage after Anderson Silva beats a scrub and challenge him to a title fight.
There are plenty of awesome fighters in Affliction who aren't heavyweights, but they have such an awesome heavyweight roster that I truly believe they could just run shows with those guys and do well. They're only running shows every few months at this point, which means they could constantly create heavyweight matchups on every show they run without worrying about burning the fans out or overworking the fighters.
Of course, I also still believe that Affliction will be dead before the end of January 2009, so I guess it doesn't matter.
I do like Horodecki, and there are plenty of other non-heavyweights that I enjoy watching. Little Nog is great, and I'm always up for seeing Babalu getting destroyed by someone. Most of the good fighters from Affliction would find a home in the UFC if/when the company folds, but Babalu would be screwed. I can't imagine they'd bring him back after the stunt he pulled in his final UFC fight.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Joe.
about 1 month ago
I am curious what you think will become of Werdum. Didn't Affliction just recently pass on signing him? Do you think he will lower his asking price and end up splitting time between Affliction/Dream?
If you had to guess who/where Anderson Silva fights next what would you say? "Where" is most likely UFC 95 but we all know how eager Silva is to fight again. Any chance he fights at UFC 93 or 94? The UFC seems to have lost faith in him to carry a fight card after UFC 90. And do you think he will fight at MW or LHW next? And any guesses on who that fighter might be?
Well those are my questions - hopefully you have an answer or two!
from about 1 month ago
He's definitely going to lower his asking price. Otherwise, he's not going to have any fights for the foreseeable future.
As of last week, the plan was still to have Silva fight in February, and probably against a top opponent. Rumors are still flying about him facing the loser of Rampage/Wanderlei, but it would be less than two months rest and I can see Wanderlei or Rampage going for it unless there is very little damage done in the December fight.
I can't imagine that Silva will fight at middleweight next. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Silva never fights at middleweight again. Unless a legit challenger who can really threaten Silva comes up soon, he's going to want the big fights, and those are really only available to him at 205 right now. If Bisping ends up beating Hendo, then that could be a huge fight in England, but that's a long time for the middleweight belt to be on the shelf and there really aren't many interesting options for him at 185 right now. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Demian Maia vs. Silva, but they're going to go with fights that will appeal to the mainstream fans and that fight doesn't.
from about 1 month ago
I was curious about vacating belts and what the precedent on that is (if you know). If Penn were to beat GSP and claim the WW belt would the UFC put pressure on Penn to vacate the LW belt? Also, could you see Silva vacating the MW belt if he makes the move to LHW permanent?
from about 1 month ago
If Penn beats GSP, he's not vacating the belt, or at least that's the plan right now. He might decide that he doesn't want to go back and forth, but as of right now, they're going to let him keep both belts if he wins.
As far as vacating belts go, it wouldn't be that big of a deal if Silva is moving permanently to 205. If that's the case, then there's no reason to keep the 185 belt on him, because he'll never defend it. It would be better to vacate the belt completely and let Bisping and Henderson fight for it at the end of The Ultimate Fighter.
about 1 month ago
Good article.
Now I'm curious about this mystery star returning to the UFC. I won't buy into the hype though because some of Dana's "biggest news ever" "...will shock the MMA world!" type announcements have been about as exciting as them announcing a new coffee machine in the cafeteria. Frank Shamrock makes sense and Josh Barnett makes sense too. Barnett has seemed a bit lukewarm on his deal with Affliction, especially since they cut back his per fight salary. Nick Diaz might be a possibility too since Dream is having trouble paying fighters.
In regards to UFC 92s lack of ticket sales I can't say I'm surprised. While you could argue that this season of TUF is one big promotion for UFC 92 & Mir-Nog there hasn't been much other advertising about the event. There are huge names, two title fights, and a great undercard... yet it seems we've jumped straight from UFC 91 to UFC 94 in terms of notoriety.
from about 1 month ago
There will be a media blitz for the show, perhaps even on the scale of UFC 91. It all depends on how ESPN is feeling about the UFC when the time comes.
I think Nick Diaz will be back in the UFC by the end of 2009, but I'm almost positive he's not the guy they're talking about. From the way it's been described to me, they're treating this like a huge, huge deal that will shock everyone and be a big thing for the company. The only real names that fit, at least from what I can come up with, are Frank Shamrock and Josh Barnett. Either one of those guys returning would definitely surprise me, so they fit the bill.
from about 1 month ago
Tito Ortiz.
from about 1 month ago
Will Tito be able to fight in 2009 with his back surgery...or will it be in early 2010?
from about 1 month ago
From everything I've been told, it seems like Tito won't be able to fight until July at the earliest. He was actually the first guy I thought of when I started hearing this rumor, but the fact that he just had surgery and will be out a long time disqualifies him.
about 1 month ago
That would be hilarious to see Dan Severn come back to the UFC.
How about they dig up Oleg Taktarov and and have a "Return of the Titans, the Trilogy!"
But seriously, how about Rampage vs. A. Silva?
about 1 month ago
You'd like to see Rampage vs Silva wouldn't you now! I wish there was more time between UFC 92 and UFC 95. I cant see them making Rampage fight 2 months later (and thats assuming he loses to Wanderlei).
about 1 month ago
We all know that Rampage will crush Wanderlei.
That fight shouldn't even happen until Jackson, ices, A. Silva, right, Brian?
from about 1 month ago
I feel the opposite. I think Wandy's display against Keith Jardine was a sign that the killer, cold-blooded Axe Murderer is back, and I think he's going to finish Rampage in the first round. Jackson is a great fighter, but Silva might have his number.
about 1 month ago
Brian,
What are your thoughts on the outcome if Jackson/A.Silva fought tonight?
from about 1 month ago
I'm not Brian, but I'll share my opinion anyway. I think Anderson Silva would beat Rampage, maybe not easily, but I do think he'd probably finish him in the second round.
from about 1 month ago
Thats a tough call Joseph. We are used to Silva dominated good MW's and so its easy to assume he would do the same with good LHW's. His only fight at LHW was agaisnt James Irvin (who has beaten guys like Houston Alexander, Scott Smith, and Terry Martin). Hes not a great fighter but not a bad one.
It is also interesting that Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva have a mutual opponent in Dan Henderson. Rampage fought Hendo to a boring 5 round decision while Silva dispatched Hendo in the 2nd round.
I think Silva actually has the potential to be a better fighter at 205 - he looked more natural at that weight when he fought James Irvin. Its just that the competition is alot stiffer. I could go on and on in analysis but I would take Silva by TKO, maybe a decision. I am not 100% on what the stand up game would look like. I could easily see Silva winning the that game but I could also see Rampage landing a bit shot. But I digress...
from about 1 month ago
People underestimate just how accurate Silva's striking is compared to your normal fighter. Even the good strikers land about 30% less than Silva does. It's hard to defend yourself, no matter who you are, when 60-70% of the strikes your opponent throw are landing.
about 1 month ago
Thanks Jeremy and Brian, for your solid perspectives.
For some reason, I see Rampage slamming the Spider like a ragdoll repeatedly. I just think he's a bad match-up for Anderson Silva.
I never put much emphasis on mutual opponents because styles tend to overrule common opponent fights.
As far as Wanderlei? Jackson is (obviously) a bad match-up against wanderlei, but...this is nearly five-years later. Neither fighter is the same as yesteryear.
This fight is also different because the large, noisy, hostile octagon works in Jackson's favor... save for the Wanderlei/Jardine joke. This time it's not in the Pride ring with its four referees and the ten-minute first round. (although it should be ten-minutes)
about 1 month ago
Jeremy, this is your article, right? Seems as if someone else tried to jerk the rug out from under you, man. Frank Shamrock, huh? Gosh, that would be interesting. Wonder if he'd let me interview him? Hmm? It certainly will be interesting to see who pops out of the woodwork.
from about 1 month ago
It's okay, I like starting discussion, and once you start the discussion you have no control over where it goes! :-)
from about 1 month ago
Are you sure the "comeback" isn't a Dana deception to bring Tim Sylvia back to fight Brock, or to bring another "champion" WWE or TNA (don't make me say Angle) wrestler for Brock to play with. Like Joseph, I am too paranoid to not suspect that Dana's good news is not.
from about 1 month ago
I'm positive it's not Tim Sylvia, and it's certainly not Kurt Angle. Sylvia has 2 fights left on his Affliction deal, and Kurt Angle, even if he wasn't a pathological drug-addicted liar, couldn't get licensed to fight anywhere because of the condition of his body.
The only other "WWE Guy" (and by that, of course, I mean former NCAA wrestler who moonlighted in WWE for a couple of years to make money) I can see Dana bringing in will be Bobby Lashley, and that won't be until late 2009 at the earliest. There are a couple of former NCAA standouts and even a Sambo champ on the WWE roster, but none of them have the same kind of athletic credentials as Lesnar or even Lashley.
from about 1 month ago
OK. Just checking.
about 1 month ago
It's okay...I'm not even in the B/R rankings anymore! HAHAHA
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