UFC 74 Conference Call Notes: Vera signs new deal and could fight Sylvia; GSP talks sports psychologist; HBO information; and more!

The UFC conducted a conference call for the media today to help promote UFC 74 next Saturday in Las Vegas. UFC president Dana White, Randy Couture, Gabriel Gonzaga, Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck all participated in the call.

Here’s a recap of some of the more newsworthy items that were discussed:

• Georges St. Pierre came off very well during the initial portion of the call. He said all the right things by giving Matt Serra his just due (just like he did immediately after UFC 69) and saying that we wouldn’t be seeing the old GSP vs. Koscheck next Saturday, but a brand new one. He even revealed that he’s been seeing a sports psychologist and that one thing he’s learned is that the best fighter doesn’t win a fight, the fighter who fights the best fight wins. I’ve been very critical of GSP in recent weeks but I have to give him a lot of credit for going to a sports psychologist. It shows he takes winning seriously and wants to fight to his full athletic potential. My only complaint is that towards the latter portion of the call the excuses (mental preparation, physical issues, and illnesses in his family) came out again. In defense of GSP, he was being asked followup questions and he was probably just trying to provide some detail. But he was a true sportsman at the start of the call and sounds determined. While I’m sticking to my prediction that Koscheck will beat him, I am preparing for a lot of “I told you so” e-mails and messages.

• Dana stated on the record that Brandon Vera has a new deal with the UFC. During a followup question he was asked about a possible first opponent and he said it would “probably” be Tim Sylvia. Nothing is official though and Sylvia has to deal with staph infection in addition to his recovery from back surgery. Stay tuned.

• White said that the UFC and Vera never had contract issues and that it was Vera and his old management that had the contract issues. He took a shot at EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw for making comments about Vera last year when there were reports that terms between UFC and Vera were icy.

• When asked about Andrei Arlovski’s status, Dana said “The Pitbull” would be fighting soon and that he didn’t know exactly when or against whom because there are so many matches that are being worked on right now. My thoughts are that if Vera is fighting Sylvia then why not Nogueira vs. Arlovski?

• What would a UFC conference call be without some talk about the HBO deal? Someone jokingly referenced Dana’s comments in the past that a deal with HBO would have been done in time to show a summer event. Dana laughed it off and said something to the effect of, “Well, now it will be signed in time for a winter event.” He still believes it will get done and even so far as went to guarantee it will get done before the year is out. When Dana was asked about why it’s taking so long he said that he’s probably the reason it’s taking so long. A question about what kind of events would be telecast on HBO was brought up. Dana backed off from previous stories that the UK broadcasts would be televised by HBO. While Dana said cards from Europe could possibly be televised on HBO, shows from the States will be telecast as well. He said the HBO cards will pretty much be just like the PPVs.

• Dana said he screwed up by having UFC 70 televised live. He said that UFC fans are used to watching UFC events on Saturday nights and showing the card in the afternoon wasn’t the way to go. As such, don’t expect the cards from Europe to be televised live.

• In regard to Wanderlei Silva, Dana would not confirm that he has signed with the UFC. He did say that he wants to sign Silva but it’s not a done deal and that he doesn’t want to talk about deals that aren’t done yet.

• Fedor was brought up but there wasn’t any new news. Dana once again said that if Fedor was signed he would be able to compete for the UFC heavyweight title right away.

• Dana was asked about if he had any big announcements for the call or for UFC 74 planned. He said there are no big announcements planned unless something crazy happens.

• The dead horse that is known as the steroid issue was brought up (and I’m not blaming anyone for asking about it) and Dana got very animated repeating a lot of the same comments that appeared in Steve Sievert’s recent Houston Chronicle blog. Dana really believes that government testing is pretty stringent and that if the government tested NFL players on gameday the same way fighters are rested before a fight that there would be no more football. He said the existing penalties are harsh and that fighters who use steroids when they already know that there will be consequences are “morons.”

• Randy was asked about why he’s been able to stay successful when other legends like Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock are no longer as efficient as they once were. Randy was uncomfortable with the comparisons but did say that one big difference is that he’s remained active and hasn’t subjected himself to prolonged periods where he was away from fighting.

• Koscheck was complementary towards St. Pierre but also confident. He didn’t really want to get too much into strategy so we’ll have to wait and see what he has planned for UFC 74. He was asked if he believes he can put GSP on his back and Koscheck basically said yes.

• It sounds like no decisions about the lightweight title will be made until after Sean Sherk has his hearing before the California State Athletic Commission in October.

• Dana did not rip the IFL. That’s big news. But I guess he didn’t rip them only because he was never asked.

Dana White claims media coverage of drugs in MMA a “witch hunt”

In a new entry published by Steve Sievert on his Brawl Sports blog on the Houston Chronicle web site, Dana White is quoted as saying that the media’s coverage of the drug situation in MMA is “a bit of a witch hunt.”

Here are his exact words:

“It’s a hot topic right now. I think it’s a bit of a witch hunt. It’s a fun thing to talk about for the media. At the end of the day, guys have been taking steroids since the (expletive) 1960s. I think the media is making a lot out of it. Steroids have been here forever, and they’re going to be here forever.”

Uh, wow.

I think it’s real hypocritical that White is pointing a finger at the media and using a term like “witch hunt.” I’ll point to his alleged public response to Sherdog.com’s Josh Gross that was made in the Underground forum on MMA.tv:

To all the fighters out there that fight for me or another promotion: these fan boy websites come kissing your ass when they want to shoot video of you or get an interview so they can make money off you. But when you make a mistake, they will be right there to kick your teeth down your throat. One of the great things that has happened over the past 6 years is that real media covers us now.

I say it’s an alleged response from White but all indications are that the UG account that White’s response was posted under is known to be the account of a UFC employee. Unless I hear otherwise, those are Dana’s words.

My issue is this, he bashed “fan boy websites” (and I guess this site falls into that category) and praised mainstream media outlets. He claims sites that conduct video interviews with fighters do it just to make money and that when a fighter makes a mistake, we’ll “kick their teeth down their throat.” Well, when ESPN shows UFC footage on ESPNews does the ad money they make on the commercial breaks before and after the UFC spot go to charity? When a newspaper runs a UFC-related article doesn’t it cost money to buy that paper? Anytime the media — fan boy or mainstream — covers MMA there’s a chance to generate revenue.

But how are the fan boy sites any different than the precious real media? A lot of those boxing news outlets that ignored MMA for years that the UFC loves so much are covering the steroid situation just as much as the fan boy sites. Does Dana think that ESPN for a second won’t hesitate to cut the UFC’s throat if a major scandal breaks out? Unless ESPN is in bed with a sport (i.e. Major League Baseball and all the nauseating Barry Bonds coverage in which the home run record was shoved down our throats) they have no qualms about portraying a sport in a negative light.

But I’m not finished as White’s comments continued:

“When these guys in MMA go out and compete, they’re tested by the government. And, when they get caught, they lose their ability to make a living. Imagine if you did something wrong and you had to lose your ability to make a living for six months to a year. People keep asking me, ‘What else are you going to do to these guys?’ What the (expletive) do you want me to do to these guys? Drag them into the street and have all the villagers stone ‘em to death? You take this guy’s ability to make a living away for a year … you’re tarnished once people think you did steroids, then you have to fight your way back up to the top again. It’s like starting at rock bottom.”

I’m not going to get too much into whether the penalties for testing positive are just. I think they’re just about right, to be honest. My issue is that it seems White is trying to portray potentially guilty fighters in a sympathetic light. Look, losing the ability to earn income is devastating but there’s an easy solution if a fighter doesn’t want to get pinched and that solution is: don’t use drugs!

It’s not like these guys are innocent victims. The rules are clear and in many cases, the fighters either know they will be tested or that there’s a chance they could get tested. As corny as it sounds, if you don’t want to do the time, don’t do the crime.

I felt Dana came off real well in his recent ESPN interview where he said he was going to “bitch slap” guys that tested positive but I can’t help but feel he took a step backward with these recent comments. Anytime you sound lax when it comes to drug use then it’s going to read poorly. Dana is very protective of the UFC’s image when it comes to so many other crimes a fighter can commit (missing weight, senseless street fighting, or pulling a Noah Inhofer) but comes across real wishy-washy in my opinion on drug use, which is the biggest threat to the UFC’s continued prosperity.

But my biggest issue could be with the below comment:

It’s a fun thing to talk about for the media.

Fun!? I can’t speak for other writers, but I find writing about drugs in sports to be the single most boring thing to write about. I think it’s even more boring to read about it. Fun is writing about B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the lightweight title at UFC 77. It’s not fun writing about Sherk and Hermes Franca getting busted for steroids after UFC 73. Unfortunately, if it’s a story then it has to be addressed. If drugs in sports isn’t a story, nobody can write about it.

There is one thing I would agree with:

Whether you agree with White or not, this much is certain: There won’t be changes to the current drug-testing system. White is adamant that testing handled by the athletic commissions is the proper way to police the sport.

Why would anyone want the fight promotions themselves to test fighters when there’s a true independent body out there capable of doing it? The answer isn’t testing by the fight promotions, the answer is more thorough testing by the state commissions.

To read Sievert’s article in its entirety, just click here.

Dana White again says a deal with HBO is coming soon

Just because you haven’t heard much talk about it recently doesn’t mean it’s not happening; a potential deal between the UFC and HBO is not only still in the works, according to UFC president Dana White, but it’s likely to be closed soon.

White’s most recent comments appear in an new article at TVWeek.com:

One deal Mr. White says won’t take long to complete is the UFC’s programming agreement with HBO, noting, “It will happen.” He said the HBO series of fights would be used to complement programming on Spike (which has exclusivity on the UFC on basic cable) and the PPV events.

“What we’re doing is going to get guys started on ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ where they can then progress to a show like ‘UFC Fight Night’ before landing on HBO. HBO would then give them the opportunity for a title shot on PPV,” he said.

The article also discussed the upcoming fall launch of the UFC’s new syndicated show, “UFC Wired.” In order to read the article in its entirety, just click here.

New Dana White interview at ESPN.com

When Dana White speaks, it’s news.

Just back from a vacation to Tahiti, White recently conducted an interview with ESPN.com. While he didn’t break any huge news, White was very outspoken against steroid use in MMA.

While he’s never condone usage and has always spoken out against it, this is the first time I know of where White has promised punitive action by the UFC in addition to any penalties a fighter might be subjected to from the commission.

Here’s an example of one exchange:

ESPN The Magazine: What changes do you plan to make?

White: Moving forward, I am putting the b—- slap on guys who get caught using steroids from here on out. The fighters make a lot of money. I have all these nickel-and-dimers starting up leagues, and they don’t steal fighters from me. There are a lot of morons out there throwing money around, and nobody’s leaving me. When what you’re selling is human beings competing against each other, there are always going to be issues, man. Personal problems. Contract issues. There are always problems.

ESPN The Magazine: But what is the punishment? What are you going to do?

White: They’re not going to get paid. I take care of all of my guys. If you fight your ass off for me, you’ll get paid. But what I’m going to do is: I’m going to wait and see if they pass their drug tests. If they don’t, you’re going to get paid what’s in your contract and that’s it.

White was also asked about what will happen to the lightweight title if Sean Sherk’s one-year suspension is upheld following an appeal that’s set for the next few days:

ESPN The Magazine: What are you going to do with the 155-pound weight class?

White: I don’t know. Like I said, I trust when Sean Sherk tells me something, and I believe him. I’m not just saying this because I’m president of this league. He’s my friend, and if he tells me he didn’t do this, I believe him. He’s innocent until proven guilty. He’s not a liar, he’s not a cheater. We’ll see what happens. If at the end of the day the commission says he took steroids, then that’s what the ruling is and he’ll get whatever they put on him. That division will live on. This is a speed bump, and it hurts us bad. But we’re going to move on.

You can read the full interview by clicking here.

Blog within a Blog: Steroid testing, Tiger Schulman’s and MMA, dream match at 160 lbs., and much more

 

I know I caught your attention with the Tiger Schulman’s Karate teaser.

I’ll get to TSK soon. But first, I want to talk about drugs.

Many pundits have written columns on the major sites discussing steroids and offering their ideas about how the issue should be addressed by the major promotions. Thus far, there seems to be a big push for the promotions to do internal testing.

While I respect all the writers who have expressed their thoughts, I think the idea of internal testing doesn’t make much sense.

Let me preface my next statement by saying all of my dealings with the major promotions have been nothing but positive and I have no reason to question their integrity.

However, which would you rather be responsible for the testing of athletes: the promotions themselves or an outside body?

Major League Baseball has its own testing program. Do you trust it? World Wrestling Entertainment has a “wellness program.” Do you trust it?

Look, I’m not an advocate for our government and I certainly don’t always have a lot of trust in our system at times, but I think they are better suited for the task of testing fighters as opposed to the promotions themselves.

Sure, if the IFL decides to do an internal program they’ll use an independent third party. But doesn’t the term “independent third party” become an oxymoron when you take into account that any testing lab brought in by a promotion will be getting their paycheck signed by the promotion they are working for?

Again, I have no reason to doubt the IFL or any promotion that would step up and decide to do internal testing. But is it necessary?

The commissions in states where MMA is regulated do a good job. Improvements still need to be made and testing needs to be expanded. But instead of instituting internal testing, I’d rather see the promotions work directly with the state athletic commissions and let the commissions be in charge of testing.

At the end of the day, the commissions are accountable to the people while independent third parties will be accountable to the fight promotions.

I’d really like to see the promotions stress to the commissions the importance of testing every fighter that’s slated to appear on a fight card.

Another thing I’d love to see — if it’s not being done already — is blood testing.

To my knowledge, only urine is used for drug screening (I could be wrong about this). While you can test urine for a lot of substances, there are some chemicals that don’t show up in urine such as Human Growth Hormone.

HGH is used by a lot of athletes, which is why the MLB drug testing policy is a joke. They test for steroids but not HGH. Blood tests might be costly but at the very least I think any fighter competing in a title fight should be tested for HGH.

Another thing I wanted to comment on is the assertion by some people that drug usage in MMA has reached “epidemic” proportions. The statement may or not be true because I have no idea whether the fighters who have tested positive recently are just isolated offenders or if the usage is widespread. However, from my own personal myopic perspective, steroids in MMA are relatively non-existent.

When I used to lift weights a lot, I primarily trained at home. However, I would go to gyms sometimes. When training at gyms I was amazed at how rampant and wide open steroid usage was. There was no attempt to hide it in most cases. It was incredulous.

I’ve trained at several martial arts schools that had people involved with competitive martial arts. Supplement use is frequent by many fighters that I know but if they’re on the juice, they are keeping it to themselves. I’ve never been offered any kind of chemical enhancer and have never seen a guy doing anything shady in the locker room or making comments about it during my MMA travels.

I’m making a broad statement here but this is a blog entry so cut me some slack, but I just don’t think steroids are a big issue in MMA at the grass roots level. While I find a lot of people who train MMA are educated, I don’t think many are all that affluent. What does affluence have to do with steroid use? Well, that crap isn’t cheap and a guy who is working multiple jobs so that he can pay down school loans, keep up with his rent or mortgage, and trying to pay training fees doesn’t have the investment capital needed to get in the business of performance enhancers.

My theory is that fighters don’t start using until they get to the higher levels then start making real money and then start feeling the pressure. It isn’t until so much is at stake and they feel like they have something to lose that they start to consider a turn to the dark side. Hermes Franca said in his letter he felt pressured because he was injured and needed the pay day. Whether that’s true in his case remains to be seen but it’s certainly a scenario that could be true for some fighters.

Then you have a guy like Stephan Bonnar. Endorsements aren’t easy to come by in MMA and sometimes your look dictates whether you get a sponsor just as much as your record. After having fought in the smaller shows and not wanting to go back, perhaps Bonnar also felt insecure about his status in the UFC after a couple of disappointing performances and was looking for a boost.

Unfortunately, we may never know precisely why fighters are taking steroids because for the most part, they aren’t talking.

Okay, enough talk about urine and drugs because now I want to discuss something that is almost a big of a threat to MMA’s reputation as steroids.

Tiger Schulman’s MMA?

For those of you who don’t live in the Northeastern corridor of the country, Tiger Schulman’s is a franchise of Karate schools that are usually strategically located in strip malls. They fit the description of the quintessential “McDojo.”

I’m not sure if it’s a company-wide transition, but on my way from Philly to Princeton, NJ each Saturday to do my show for ESPN 920, I pass three TSK locations and they are now called “Tiger Schulman’s Mixed Martial Arts.”

My first question is: what the hell has Tiger Schulman ever accomplished in MMA?

But I guess the fact that Tiger Schulman doesn’t come from a MMA background is irrelevant because MMA is what’s hot right now and TSK (hey, all the cool kids chant it at MMA shows!) has to keep enrollment up.

If that’s how they want to run their schools, so be it. However, I’m appalled by rumors (i.e. I’ve seen a few message board posts) that Tiger Schulman’s could be trying to secure a franchise in the IFL.

I have no idea if the talk is even accurate. For all I know, people could be getting things confused with previous speculation that Tiger Schulman’s was going to have a team in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League.

But just the thought of Tiger Schulman’s having anything to do with the IFL is enough to make me throw up in my mouth.

Some of you might feel it’s unfair of me to criticize TSK considering I don’t train there. However, I have an embarrassing admission to make and that is that I once trained there about 10-12 years ago. I only trained there for a month because they couldn’t convince me my street brawling style was ineffective. Quite frankly, a lot of the techniques they tried to teach me would have caused me to get my ass kicked (blocking kicks with forearms!?). I couldn’t believe some of the stuff they tried to teach with a straight face. But hey, they can break boards and I can’t.

I’m sure they’ve changed their curriculum over the years but my experience with McDojos (I sent my son to one at one point) has been that they teach a brand of martial arts that’s just challenging enough so that you don’t quit. The goal of these insidious places with their corporate tactics designed solely to separate you from your money is to make sure you advance through their program so that you keep paying them to move up the ladder.

TSK does have an MMA team that competes in a lot of smaller shows in the Northeast. Some of their fighters are actually pretty good, though none are nationally known. I’m sure they’ve assembled a decent camp with some good trainers but how are they able to teach MMA on a widespread basis? I’d really like to know the credentials of the people teaching MMA at all of their many local schools.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been inside of a Tiger Schulman’s (bow to your Sensei!) and I’m half-tempted to take a week of free lessons just to see what it’s all about. I’ve been to a school where MMA was taught the right way so I think I’d have a good comparative frame of reference.

If there’s any shred of truth that TSK is indeed trying to get an IFL team, I pray the IFL turns them away. No amount of money is worth what it could do to their reputation. The IFL allowing Tiger Schulman to have a team would be like Morton’s Steakhouse allowing McDonald’s to supply them with the meat they use.

Underachievers article on Sportsline

I’ve received a lot of good feedback on my latest Sportsline article regarding the “Ten biggest underachievers in MMA.” I received lots of e-mail and a few responses here on the blog in addition to a few message board threads dedicated to the topic.

It’s a fun topic that has sparked some debate and I’ve been asked about some guys that didn’t make my list. I wanted to comment on a few of them, not to put myself on the defensive but because I think it’s interesting and wanted a chance to comment publicly on some of the names.

One thing I focused on as I compiled my list is whether a guy was truly an underachiever or possibly not just as good as everyone had thought.

Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni both fell into the category of not being as good as first thought.

While I respect Baroni’s boxing skills and feel his wrestling ability is underrated, I don’t consider him a versatile fighter. He just never developed on a rapid level and I think he got as big as he did because he provided the UFC with some big knockouts and a big personality back when they needed stars in the worst way. Simply put, I think he was overrated when he had his run in the UFC.

As for Lawler, he was like a major league hitter who gets called up from the minors and hits four home runs in his first four games because he’s an excellent fastball hitter. But then that hitter struggles once there’s a book on him and pitchers realize he can’t hit a breaking ball. Lawler brought the hit with his standup and big right crosses but wasn’t as well-rounded as you’d expect an MFS fighter to be. Once fighters started taking him off his feet he was exposed.

The ironic thing is that Lawler has really improved in recent years and is a much better fighter than he was during his first run in the UFC. In my mind, he went from being overrated to being underrated.

The name of Andrei Arlovski was brought up. The Pitbull has definitely been a disappointment and I think he’s capable of more. But I don’t think he’s been underachieving long enough to make the list. If things keep up the way they’ve been going, it won’t be long though until he gets added.

Renato Sobral was also a nomination but I think his current status in MMA is correct. His submission wrestling is world class and his striking has improved. But I see him as being nothing more than a guy worthy of fighting in the UFC just outside of title contention and that just happens to be exactly where he’s at right now.

Vernon White was also suggested. Ugh, don’t get me started. Now, if you know Vernon and think he’s a good guy, that’s fine. Just don’t let your personal bias get in the way of your overall perspective of his place in MMA. He’s right where he belongs and I don’t see any potential in him that’s untapped.

Two choices that people didn’t agree with were Frank Mir and Evan Tanner. There are those who actually feel both are overachievers.

Say what?

In regard to Mir, I will concede that with the improved depth in the UFC’s heavyweight division there’s no way he would be in the title picture even if he was in his prime. However, based on his ground ability, he should at least be a middle of the road guy similar to Heath Herring. But Mir isn’t even Heath Herring! Right now, he’s more like Wes Sims.

Tanner may not be a great pure athlete but he’s an incredible fighter who could easily be the UFC middleweight champ right now if he had his act together. Some people will bristle at that statement but I think Anderson Silva is a vulnerable champion and the UFC simply has an abundance of guys who he matches up well with.

The bottom line is that Tanner would be a bad matchup for Silva. Good luck in trying to convince me otherwise.

I know he can’t stand with Silva, but who can in the 185 lbs. division? But Tanner is a far superior wrestler and if the fight got to the ground then Silva would be in a world of shit.

I’m considering doing an overachievers article next week but have only come up with Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Kenny Florian, and Matt Serra.

Anyone else have any ideas?

A 160 lbs. division sounds good to me!

I like where EliteXC President of Live Events (what an awkward title) Gary Shaw is going with his idea of possibly creating a 160 lbs. division.

The 161 lbs. division in Pride was pretty exciting and it’s a practical weight class for a lot of fighters. It’s also a good idea on Shaw’s part because it would be a way for EliteXC to differentiate their product from the competition.

It would also be a great way to showcase Nick Diaz.

You could definitely build the division around Diaz, assuming he can put the bong down. He can held his own with anyone at 170 lbs., but Cesar Gracie teammate Jake Shields is a big part of EliteXC’s welterweight division and the two of them won’t fight.

Oh, how I could also forget that at 160 lbs., Diaz is a beast!

The 160 lbs. weight class would also be perfect for a fighter not currently on the EliteXC roster. I think former Bodog welterweight champion Eddie Alvarez is made for 160 lbs.

Alvarez is undersized for 170 lbs. in my opinion. He’s thought about dropping to 155 lbs. but feels comfortable at welterweight and wants to stay there. However, he might be more open to the idea of dropping to 160 lbs. as opposed to 155 lbs.

His boxing is good enough that he can hold his own with anyone at 170 lbs., however, put him at 160 lbs. and like Diaz, he becomes a beast.

Alvarez has two fights left on his contract to Bodog and when I had him on my show on ESPN 920 several weeks back, he expressed nothing but happiness with Bodog.

However, money talks and if Elite makes a strong offer once Alvarez becomes a free agent, then you never know.

Bringing in Alvarez would be a great move for Elite because he’s significant name that could be added for an affordable price. While he wouldn’t come cheap, he wouldn’t require Sokoudjou money ($150,000 per match).

If built up properly, a match between Alvarez and Diaz could headline a pay-per-view.

It would also be one hell of a fight.

IFL vs. EliteXC?

One thing I left out in my conference call notes for the IFL yesterday is that IFL commissioner Kurt Otto once again commented on the possibility of having all the winners from the upcoming IFL World Grand Prix eventually take on another promotion’s top five in a best-of format.

Otto said he’s willing to work with just about any promotion but wouldn’t talk specific names. However, EliteXC seems like a logical partner because thus far, Gary Shaw is the only other executive of a major fight promotion that I know of willing to work with promotions other than his own.

I’d love to see it. Right now EliteXC needs to work on building their heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions but Chris Horodecki vs. Nick Diaz at lightweight, Delson Heleno vs. Jake Shields at welterweight, and Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach at middleweight are intriguing matchups on paper.

But in the end, I think an EliteXC vs. IFL team challenge is unlikely to happen because Shaw has not been extremely keen on the IFL’s team concept when the topic has been brought up during conference calls.

Free agent market ripe in MMA

It’s July 26 as I write this and Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett, Thierry Sokoudjou, Brock Lesnar, Denis Kang, and Gilbert Melendez are all still free agents.

I don’t think the MMA market in North America could handle another new promotion, but there’s enough talent out there that if there was a multi-millionaire who wanted to get involved with MMA and didn’t care about making money right away, they could throw some cash around and become an immediate player.

Tito Ortiz could also become available in the coming months and if you threw in guys like Matt Lindland and Robbie Lawler (who don’t have exclusive contracts), a newcomer to the business could make Dana White’s worst nightmare become reality.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

Rosholt wins MMA debut

Remember the name Jake Rosholt.

The Team Takedown member, who also trains with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, won his MMA debut this past weekend in Oklahoma. Rosholt tapped Dusty Miller at 3:40 in round one during Masters of the Cage 15 in Oklahoma.

A former top college wrestler, Rosholt is one of four members of Team Takedown, a group started with the intent of recruiting top collegiate wrestlers and assisting them in making the transition to MMA.

Rosholt, Johny Hendricks, Shane Roller, and Eric Bradley all have big futures in this sport.

Where in the world is Chris Wilson?

Does anyone know what happened to former Portland Wolfpack welterweight Chris Wilson? I thought the Team Quest member was a legitimate prospect at 170 lbs. but he left the IFL and I haven’t heard about him since besides some rumors that he might be signing with Bodog.

If you know anything about Wilson’s current status, please drop me a line.

Report: ESPN talking to the UFC

According to PWInsider.com, Monday’s print edition of Multichannel News will report that ESPN is talking to the UFC about the possibility of carrying UFC-related programming in the future. According to the web site, the report also acknowledges the UFC’s previously reported renewal with Spike TV.

When I spoke to UFC president Dana White in an interview conducted in the spring for CBS Sportsline, he said that the promotion’s existing deal with Spike did not prevent them from airing the UFC on other networks. If the report from Multichannel News is correct, one would have to assume that the new deal with Spike is somewhat non-exclusive as well.

Dana White responds to Josh Gross?

Maybe I shouldn’t be posting this because it’s not 100% verified that Dana White actually wrote the below message, but it’s too interesting not to. In an apparent response to an open letter to Sherdog’s Josh Gross, it looks as though UFC president Dana White might have seen the letter and decided to speak out on the Underground forum at MMA.tv. If it’s not Dana White, then whoever typed the letter must be a student of his speech patterns:

From: saucylv33 Date: 07/20/07 09:38 PM	Member Since: 08/14/2002 8802 Total Posts	Ignore User
if (readCookie(‘MMATV_USERID’) == 162748) { document.writeln(‘Edit  ’); }

My response to idiot Gross: Its funny how when bad things happen, you love to call me out and say that I need to jump in and fix it. All the positive things that Zuffa has done over the past 6 years and you write me an open letter telling me to fix the problem of fighters using steroids? You are the biggest idiot I have ever met in this industry. Josh “holier than now” Gross writes a letter full of insults and sarcasm about what my company and I have accomplished since buying the UFC- like it was some easy chore. This is the same scumbag who released the finalists of TUF season 4 before it even aired. Josh, before you start trying to fix my company, worry about the potential lying, corruptions and inaccuracies at your own shitty website.

To all the fighters out there that fight for me or another promotion: these fan boy websites come kissing your ass when they want to shoot video of you or get an interview so they can make money off you. But when you make a mistake, they will be right there to kick your teeth down your throat. One of the great things that has happened over the past 6 years is that real media covers us now. So when these fan boy self proclaimed MMA websites want to do video interviews or any other kind of interview to make themselves money tell them to stop calling you and leave you alone. They are not doing you any favors- they are making money off of you. I have not let Sherdog into a UFC event in years. And the UFC is doing just fine.

Anyway, back to steroids- every athlete on this planet knows what’s going on with steroids right now and we make it very clear what the athletic commission will do to them if they are caught. In fact, to my knowledge, athletes competing in combative sports are the only ones in the world who get drug tested by the government, that’s a pretty high standard to meet. Imagine if every NBA, MLB or NFL athlete was drug tested by the government every time they competed? That’s a very high standard yet UFC fighters face government drug testing every time they enter the Octagon.

Everyone knows that it hurts me and my company badly when one of my fighters tests positive for steroids. Listen Josh “save the whales” Gross- I can’t save the world by myself. So roll your boss back into the ocean and write a letter “Attention all promoters.” When your product is human beings, there are always going to be problems and nothing is ever going to be perfect.

Gross, you have no clue the stuff I deal with on a daily basis with fighters. Myself and the UFC are adamantly opposed to the use of steroids or any other kind of drugs. Most of these guys that fight in the UFC are my friends and I care about them. My job isn’t to smash them publicly and ruin their lives. Apparently, that’s your job. My job is to help them through whatever problems they might have- professional or personal.

I don’t know if anyone has ever seen Josh Gross but the guy has never done anything athletic in his entire life. And you only have to see Jeff Sherwood and his staff to know the same thing about them. These people don’t know the first thing about the demands and challenges that professional athletes are faced with. I have my own opinion of Sherdog and Gross and how they run their business but I don’t write open letters to the public about it. So for these goofy supposed fan boy clowns to sit around and write letters about what I need to do with my company and my athletes is fucking hilarious.

You guys just keep selling DVDs and chasing my guys around for video interviews so you can make more money and keep eating and I will handle the UFC and it’s fighters.

Dana White

Josh Gross writes open letter to Dana White

Josh Gross of Sherdog.com has written a very interesting open letter addressed to UFC president Dana White regarding the recent positive drug tests in MMA. To check it out,click here.

New interview with Tito Ortiz on CBS Sportsline

I know what you’re thinking: “Oh, great. Another Tito Ortiz interview.” But at the risk of coming off as a self-promoter, I think I did a good job with this interview and that a lot of you will find it interesting.

During the interview Tito made several revelations, such as who he’ll negotiate his next UFC contract with; whether the UFC has the right of first refusal when it comes to offers he might receive from other promotions; what Tito thinks of the other promotions; his thoughts about possibly starting his own promotion; and his response to recent negative comments UFC president Dana White made about Jenna Jameson on Sporting News Radio.

To check out the interview, just click here.

The outtakes of my interview with Tito will be appearing here in the next few days.

White confirms Liddell vs. Jardine for UFC 76

A lot of the readers of this blog have been highly critical of a story first reported by UFCJunkie.com that Chuck Liddell will be fighting Keith Jardine in the main event of UFC 76 in Anaheim, Calif. on September 22.

Well, Kevin Iole has confirmed the fight during his latest MMA column on Yahoo! Sports.

I thought I’d post a quote from Dana White with the sole purpose in mind of provoking you guys:

White bristled at the notion Liddell-Jardine is not a headline-caliber match. “It is definitely a main event, in my opinion,” he said. “Jardine beat a lot of good guys, and he absolutely deserves to be fighting Chuck. He wouldn’t if Chuck still had the title, but I don’t think he needs to win a lot of fights just to get a fight with Chuck.”

Personally, I think it is a headline caliber match. Is it a “Super Bowl of MMA match?” No. Is it one of the UFC’s strongest main events? No. But I think Liddell vs. Jardine could offer some big-time fireworks.

Despite my maligned love for this bout, I will concede the point that Jardine is definitely Chuck’s lowest-profile opponent since Vernon White. Hopefully some of you will be willing to admit though that Jardine vs. Liddell is a match in which Chuck is not a lock to win.

Iole’s article also talks about UFC 75 being televised on Spike. However, despite getting quotes from White there’s no mention of Wanderlei Silva’s response to reports that he turned down a fight with Liddell.