With its present lineup of five champions, the UFC has a group that ranks far superior than any of its predecessors in the history of the organization and the sport.
In a year during which the featherweight division has played a pivotal role, perhaps it is fitting that the division's hottest prospect will close out 2009 as its top-ranked competitor. ... Read More
Roger Huerta is back on the market. The UFC lightweight has entered into the matching period of his recently completed contract with the promotion, allowing the fighter’s management to field offers outside the UFC. ... Read More
After some slight misdirection in declaring Saturday’s broadcast of UFC 105 “live” -- it was actually on a several-hour tape delay from Manchester, England -- Spike and the UFC have decided that the opportune time to acknowledge the stuttered feed is when discussing how it beat November 7’s Strikeforce in the 18-49 demo.
“Emanating from a European UFC attendance record setting MEN Arena in Manchester, England, the tape delayed presentation of ‘UFC 105’ outrated the LIVE broadcast ‘CBS Saturday Night Fights’ and the Strikeforce debut of Fedor Emelianenko on Saturday, November 7 (9:00 - 11:24 PM, ET/PT) in every key male demographic,” bleated the press release. (All caps? Really?) An average of 2.9 million viewers tuned in, with 3.7 million staring agog at Randy Couture’s hold-and-mold offense against Brandon Vera. ... Read More
A month full of MMA is already stirring movement in Sherdog’s rankings. Check out the latest update as we move into the second half of a very busy November. ... Read More
During a recent four-fight heavyweight run, Randy Couture was outweighed by as much as 50 pounds on fight night. While it might seem wise to eliminate that excess and return to the light heavyweight arena, there’s always a price to be paid: in this case, he’ll be facing some considerably faster opponents who might be able to put punches together in the same time Tim Sylvia got off one.
Will Vera be intimidated by the Couture name?
Brandon Vera has made repeated mention of athletes like Chuck Liddell and Couture being role models for what can be accomplished in the sport; that kind of hero worship cost Georges St. Pierre his first fight against Matt Hughes. While Couture isn’t running as rampant as Hughes was at the time, he may still exist in Vera’s head as something other than a man. An idol is a hard thing to damage. ... Read More
Dana White has a better understanding of media relations than virtually any sports personality alive. Beat writers want inflammatory quotes; White gives it to them. It’s the reason he’s such a pervasive presence, and it’s helped make his brand synonymous with combat sports. Geniality is boring. Meltdowns create hits and move copy.
Saturday’s Strikeforce telecast is an open invitation to solicit White, because everyone involved knows what they’re going to get. It’s approaching performance art.
“CBS made its biggest mistake partnering with a tiny, small show with a roster no one cares about,” White told Yahoo Sports Wednesday. (Wind him up and watch him go.) “Just because you read on MMA.TV that someone is a superstar doesn’t make it true. This should prove that no one out there gives a [expletive] about Fedor.” ... Read More
Since using “The Ultimate Fighter” to disguise a pretty swell sport as an idiot reality show in 2005, the UFC has largely avoided the economic crunch that’s been sending businesses into survival mode. (Or, in many cases, into bankruptcy proceedings.) Blood is apparently recession-proof.
This might change over the winter months, as the promotion is facing a draught: four of its five champions have been shelved due to injury or illness. (B.J. Penn, who probably gets enough Vitamin D in Hawaii’s sun, is healthy and fights December 12.) Chuck Liddell is still only appearing on toy shelves; Randy Couture is being given away on free television Saturday. ... Read More
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