SBNation.com: All Posts by Luke Thomas

Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne set for UFC on FOX Sports 1 debut

2013-05-22T20:17:05Z

The inaugural card for UFC on FOX Sports 1 is taking shape. Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will take on Greg Jackson-trained Travis Browne as part of that event's main card.

However, it will not serve as the event's headlining bout, according to MMA Junkie who first reported the story. MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani has confirmed the booking.

UFC on FOX Sports 1's first event takes place at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass. on Aug. 17th. The event is part of the launch of the new sports channel, which goes live and operational that day.

Browne, 30, most recently competed for the UFC in April where he defeated Gabriel Gonzaga by first-round knockout at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the win was controversial due to the location of some of Browne's elbows to the back of Gonzaga's head, and Gonzaga formally protested the result to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the win was not overturned. Browne is 5-1-1 in the UFC and 14-1-1 in professional MMA.

Overeem, 33, last competed at UFC 156 where he was upset in a stoppage loss by Antonio Silva in the third round of their February tussle. The Blackzillian is 1-1 overall in the UFC with his lone victory being a first-round TKO stoppage of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 in December of 2011. He is 36-12 with 1 no-contest in professional MMA.

Recent MMA retiree John Cholish now lobbying for UFC to raise fighter pay

2013-05-22T14:00:05Z

It didn't take long for John Cholish to begin being outspoken since retiring from mixed martial arts. The now former UFC lightweight announced on Saturday via Twitter prior to his UFC on FX 8 bout with Gleison Tibau that win or lose, he was bowing out of the sport. Cholish eventually lost, but he hadn't even boarded a plane back to the United States before he began speaking out about the reasons why he was retiring on why fighter pay in the UFC could and should be higher than what it is today.

"The main reason behind it is just I do kind of have another job that provides for me and it got to the point where I really had to sit back and say, ‘You know, all the sacrifices that I'm making - time away from family, time away from friends - is it really worth what I'm getting in return?'," Cholish told Ariel Helwani on Monday's The MMA Hour. "For the love of the sport I was pretty much doing it the whole time, but then it gets to the point where financially it just doesn't make any sense."

Cholish spends his days as an energy trader on Wall Street after having graduated from Cornell University. While he acknowledges his day job is more than sufficient as an enjoyable, financially-rewarding career, his experience in the UFC caused him to believe his situation was particularly unique and ultimately very lucky. If he wanted to bow out of MMA, he could. "For some of the fighters that fight full time," Cholish observed, "I just don't understand how they can live off the income at this level." Others, in other words, weren't so lucky.

Cholish's story is basically this: he loved MMA and wanted to test himself at the highest level. When he got the opportunity to do so in the UFC, he took it. Yet, along the way, he noticed the financials in his experience were hard to understand. Even at points where he was winning bouts and earning discretionary bonuses, he was barely breaking even. In some cases, like his fight last Saturday, he was losing money just to compete.

"To kind of give a brief overview, why I'm here talking to you today is I just think a lot of fighters feel the exact same way I do, but are just in a situation or position where there, for a lack of a better word, just scared to say anything about it because they're worried about the repercussions," Cholish said.

Cholish believes a look at the UFC fighter pay arithmetic doesn't, well, add up. At least not for someone at his level.

"But just for a basic example. So Danny [Castillo] I know trains out of California. He had to travel to New Jersey [for a bout with Cholish]. I live in New York. I had to travel to Brazil. You're fighting in a sport, mixed martial arts, with a wide range of skills and tactics and a lot of people will have multiple coaches.

"You're allowed three corners for each fight, but you're only in your contract, and for me personally, I only get one coach's flight and one hotel room and cover one visa," Cholish said. "I know just from this last fight. I had to pay over $3,000 in flights. I had to pay for an additional hotel room. I had to pay for two additional visas which are $500 a piece. I have to pay for the licensing fees. I have to pay for the medicals.

Cholish says he made $8,000 for his Saturday bout. He estimates once you factor in costs required simply to travel to Brazil with his team, he's in the hole $5,000 to $10,000.

"Before you even step to the ring, your original purse is gone," Cholish claimed. "And that's before factoring in the gyms I go to train at, my coaches that take hours of time to sacrifice. I want to pay them and take care of them. It just seems like certain things could be handled better and the fighter could be treated better for an organization that claims to be the best in the world in mixed martial arts."

His ask is simple if controversial: pay the fighters more. Cholish believes the UFC could do more to pay fighters greater wages, particularly at the low end, without taking a dramatic hit to a pocketbook he views as very full.

"I can say from how I've been treated indirectly and just my understanding of what I think the UFC takes in on an annual basis, they could compensate the lower-level fighters and without going into detail the upper-level fighters a little bit better," Cholish claimed.

"I think if you're a fighter on the lower level, you should at least be getting enough income - win or lose in your fight - so that in a three-month period of time or two-month period of time, whatever the fight camp may be, you can go into that fight fully focused on the fight, performing your best as opposed to worrying about, ‘Man, you know, financially how can I prepare? Cut corners?'"

The Ivy League college graduate believes if one takes the time to see the sources of revenue UFC and parent company Zuffa take in, it isn't hard to make a case there's more money to go around to the fighters who could desperately use a raise.

"I think last year the average UFC ticket price was about $200 to $250. For an average sporting event in America, it's about $100 for a ticketed event. So, they're already double what the average price is," he insisted.

"Last year they had 31 events that ranged in 11 different countries. 13 of those were pay-per-view," he said. Cholish estimates the UFC is averaging between 300,000 to 350,000 buys per pay-per-view event. "That's generating, roughly, 4.5 million buys per year. That's $275 million, and that's just with their pay-per-views.

"They're kind of shifting more toward the contracted revenue, which would be FOX Sports, their Globo deal," he continued. "They signed a seven-year deal with FOX Sports and I know the Sports Business Journal quoted it roughly $100 million a year for seven years. I think it's probably more than that, but that's what they said. That's another $700 million.

"When you look at guys getting paid $6,000 to fight, $8,000 to fight, $10,000 to fight, I think if you add five to that number, ten to that number, it does a lot for the fighter. It secures their livelihood for their family and on the flip side, it doesn't hurt the UFC as much. I think they're going to get better performances because the fighters are going to be more focused on the fight."

UFC officials have yet to formally comment on Cholish's statements.

The New York-based fighter is speaking out now, largely because he believes it's important to do so. He also knows it's easier to do once you've moved on from the organization or sport itself. He contends active fighters feel pressure not to complain in a sport where there's really only one big show and that big show is looking to make tough roster cuts any day now.

As for his future, he isn't entirely sure what it will be. He enjoys his day job and has no intention of leaving it to stay in the industry. Cholish acknowledges in a sport where the top earners have little incentive to unionize, getting fighters together for collective action can be hard to come by. But, there is another group Cholish believes that could be influential in getting fighters greater pay.

"The fans, I think, are the biggest ones that can influence what a company does," he said. "The fans are the ones that bring the revenue to Zuffa and if that ever decreased, that's something they're going to take notice at. Until then, I think it's going to be hard for an individual fighter to do anything. I'm just hoping I can shed a little bit of light on it."

Cholish isn't planning any full scale attack on his former employers, who he acknowledges "aren't doing anything wrong" legally speaking even if he has ethical and practical concerns. At the moment, he's just voicing his opinion because he wants to and can without the fear of retribution.

He leaves MMA with a record of 8-3, 1-2 inside the Octagon. That's a commendable if not entirely impressive record. Cholish himself doesn't necessarily disagree and wonders whether for the sport he loves, he can do more outside of it than competing within it.

"I think now I might be able to add more value being able to speak out and kind of give me opinion," he said. "Hopefully it encourages other fighters to speak up and do the same, but in the end I just want to do what's best for the sport."

Live Chat: UFC 160 preview, TRT discussion, Josh Barnett-UFC signing and more

2013-05-22T13:41:52Z

A heavyweight title showdown is upon us. I think I speak for most fans when I say watching Cain Velasquez compete is exciting and the somewhat surprising success of Antonio Silva is a welcome departure from the expected. That said, it's hard to get up for a rematch between two fighters where one bathed in the blood of the other in their first encounter.

Vitor Belfort also seems to have whacked the hornet's nest on the TRT issue. His amazing success at middleweight combined with his erratic behavior have made many wonder if we've reached a tipping point in TRT abuse.

And would you look at that? Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is back in the UFC to close out the last chapter in his career. I never thought I'd see the day. Actually, I take that back. After years of battling with Dana White in public, Barnett called White 'pretty f--king metal' once UFC purchased Strikeforce. I figured once we hit that point anything was possible.

There's a lot going on, so join me today to discuss all of this and more. In terms of today's chat, anything is up for discussion, but I will lead with this and it all kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.

As is customary, I'll post the video window here as the event draws near and I'll answer any questions you may have if you post them in the comments section below. Be sure that you click the 'rec' button for those comments/questions you believe most deserve a response.

Be sure to link this page and use the hashtag #chatwrappers on Twitter or even Facebook when you're watching this to let everyone know you're taking part is this activity of ours.

Talk with you all at 1 p.m. ET.

Signal to Noise: UFC on FX 8's best and worst

2013-05-20T20:00:12Z

There was much to love about Saturday night's UFC on FX 8 event from Jaragua do Sul, Brazil. Former Strikeforce champions made their MMA debuts, flyweights shined and there was a spinning heel kick that ended up on ESPN's SportsCenter. Then again, the card wasn't overly impressive and the main event featured a fighter, fairly or not, who is reigniting the debate about the role of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in MMA.

It's time to separate the winners from the losers, the best and from the worst and the signal from the noise.

Credit Where Credit Is Due Award: Vitor Belfort

We'll get to the TRT issue in a moment because it's inextricable from the situation at this point. For now, though, let's talk about the kick. Under no coherent concept of 'good' was that kick anything but. The timing, set-up and ferocity of it all was positively sensational. Moreover, it's one thing to want to spinning heel kick a reporter. It's quite another to be able to do it to one of the best middleweights on earth. The kick ultimately found it's way onto ESPN's SportsCenter's Top Plays, which is the least it deserved in available accolades. If nothing else, Belfort is now in the running for Knockout of the Year while Rockhold is sent to the kind of career drawing board he's never been forced to saddle up to. Not bad for an old man.

Questions Where Questions Are Due Award: Vitor Belfort

Sorry, but this discussion of Belfort's achievements is impossible to have without a frank discussion of the impact TRT is having on his late-career resurgence. His physique looks dramatically improved and he's beating competitors in ways he did not at light heavyweight or heavyweight. Moreover, he's doing so at an age when skill development - particularly for techniques like a spinning heel kick that require a fair amount of athleticism - almost exclusively tapers off or gets worse. And let's not forget it's not as if he's still performing at a high level that is slightly less high than his previous high. He's winning in MMA after spending several years being, at best, highly inconsistent.

None of us are able to quantify just how much TRT is impacting his game. Others who've used the drug found the potency or effect to be less than inspiring. But what we can say for certain is this idea of a compartmentalized impact, e.g. it benefits training but didn't cause the kick, is complete nonsense. While it's hard to pinpoint the precise contribution of TRT in any one scenario, it's essentially omnipresent. The impact is fluid as it pertains to training, recovery, reflexes, athletic skill development, speed, power and more. These are just as relevant in camp as they are in the first round of a middleweight main event.

There's a debate to be had over whether the attention Belfort receives for TRT use is fair relative to his peers, but there's no arguing that there's not been a better poster child for the drug than Belfort himself. And frankly, trying to explain his success at this juncture in his career without a nod toward TRT is a task I've yet to find anyone capable of competently answering.

Good Ref/Bad Ref: Leon Roberts, Kevin Mulhall

Let's not overstate either the good or the bad. Generally speaking, the refereeing and judging on Saturday night was agreeable. Not perfect or even great necessarily, but relatively good. On the bad side, there were a series of highly dubious stand-ups from referee Mulhall that are difficult to understand. On the good side, referee Roberts performed his job ably, stopping fights right on time and not interfering in ways that changed the bout's complexion. Some of the judges' scoring created a few head scratching moments, but mercifully there wasn't anything in outlier territory.

I wouldn't call this an officiating 'win', but there also isn't a ton to bellyache about. They did well enough to not rage with righteous indignation and that's often better than normal.

Best Proof Flyweights Deserve Better Card Placement: John Lineker

I've long argued that while I personally enjoy the flyweight fights in the UFC, I understand why others don't. They sometimes do a lot without doing a lot to their opponent to change the complexion of the bout. Mercifully, Lineker does not have this problem. His style may be a bit on the reckless side, but no one can accuse him of being unable to make something happen. That's why his placement on the fight card is hard to understand. UFC is already dealing with a situation in Demetrious Johnson-John Moraga that is not advisable, namely, having the champion defend his title against a challenger who has only fought on Facebook preliminaries.

In Moraga's case, you can at least argue on the cards he was on, his placement was relatively justified (although he could have been placed at different events). No such argument is available here. Rafael Natal vs. Joao Zeferino wasn't terrible, but I cannot possibly fathom what the upside was in putting decent middleweights on the FX portion of the card over elite and far more exciting flyweights. Jussier Formiga is probably wondering the same thing.

Best Jon Fitch Impression: Nik Lentz

I doubt it's intentional, but Lentz is beginning to resemble Fitch more and more every fight. He was getting close at lightweight, but ultimately was a bit too small and could be muscled some. At featherweight, he's a dead ringer for the World Series of Fighting welterweight. From his pressing wrestling attacks against the fence to his top game to the ability to defend seemingly unbreakable frames of a locked-in submission, Lentz is following the Fitch blueprint perfectly while putting together quite a run. Of course, he's also positioning himself in the same way Fitch did as a promotional entity, which is to say not much. Lentz will likely continuing winning, making a strong case for himself a fighter deserving of bigger fights against better opposition, but his style could make UFC brass want to wait him out until he loses in the process of knocking off challengers.

Least-Pleasing Retirement to UFC Officials: John Cholish

It's one thing for Ken Shamrock to rail against Zuffa. He might have all the evidence and the best argument in the world, but he simply isn't accepted or viewed as a credible speaker on the matter. But replace Ken Shamrock with a young, Ivy League-educated energy trader on Wall Street and the equation begins to change a bit.

Cholish announced on Twitter before his bout Saturday against Gleison Tibau that no matter the outcome, he was retiring from MMA. As he explained after the bout (which he lost), he loves the sport of MMA, but it wasn't really worth it for him to continue competing. In short, there was no money in it and he had a steady job, anyway.

As he later broke down on Monday's The MMA Hour, a fighter at his level of the game was either breaking even or losing money just to compete in the UFC. While he has the luxury of walking away because of full-time employment, many other fighters do not. Cholish is now openly advocating for the UFC to raise their pay for all fighters, but particularly those at the bottom of their pay scale.

The claim of low fighter pay being an issue in the UFC is not new, but thus far the 'movement' has lacked any truly credible speakers. It's not clear if Cholish is that guy or even cares to be long term. But while broke, faded stars who lack a post-secondary education can he dismissed with the wave of a hand, Cholish's claims are not so easily dispatched.

Most Debatable But Not Overly Contentious Decision: Evan Dunham vs. Rafael dos Anjos

This is another one of those fights where the claim of 'robbery' seems misplaced given how close the contest actually was. There's nothing in the stat sheets (whatever that is worth) that indicates a decision for dos Anjos is some sort of crime of ineptitude. Debatable, certainly, but hardly some egregious error.

I scored the bout 29-28 for Dunham and felt he did enough to win the second round and clearly take the third. The Brazilian ever-so-slightly outlanded Dunham in the second frame, but was taken down twice. We don't have any FightMetric numbers on 'riding time', although the American is not credited with any submission attempts or passes. Dos Anjos did a good job of controlling posture with collar ties and overhooks while he held position.

The long and short is that Dunham is the rightful winner insofar as I can tell, but as we've discussed over and over (and as Frankie Edgar's fights against Ben Henderson demonstrate), if you fight opponents close in MMA, you're going to eventually get screwed. It's a consequence of using a less-than-refined scoring criteria as much as suspect judging. It's also not going away anytime soon. Beating the top guys in the world in your weightclass is easier said than done, but if you want any hope of a decision going your way, make sure the judges have positively zero choice but to award the bout to you.

'Jacare' Souza heard Chris Camozzi's neck 'snapping', but isn't ready for Vitor Belfort just yet

2013-05-19T19:50:28Z

It's going to be difficult for fighters to have better UFC debuts than the one former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza had on Saturday night. The submission grappling ace easily dispatched with Chris Camozzi at 3:37 of the first round with an academic head and arm triangle at UFC on FX 8 in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, earning not only a victory but $50,000 through his Submission of the Night award.

"All my life I was very good in that move. Now I'm really practicing it a lot," Souza said at the event's post-fight press conference. "I'm also doing a lot of cardio work, so obviously I'm much stronger. When I held my opponent, I heard his neck snapping, so I knew he was either going to tap out or pass out."

Despite his nearly unmatched grappling pedigree, Jacare was able to win in virtually all phases of the game. He not only earned the submission after wrestling Camozzi to the floor, but his attack was made possible by the damage he was inflicting with his hands.

"I started moving very well when I was standing, but when I realized that he didn't respect my hands, I showed him my calling card," Souza recalled. "When he went down, I just did the groundwork very easily. I knew that sooner or later, something would be there for me, and that's what happened. I was able to submit him."

For Jacare, the moment - a victory in his UFC debut, which took place in his home country of Brazil - was difficult to articulate. It's increasingly rare for a fighter of this caliber to have spent this much time out of the UFC. It was also emotional for him to be at this particular juncture in his career in Brazil.

"The emotion I felt when I was going into the cage, there are no words to explain it. I could just tell I was exploding with happiness," Souza said. "When I walked in and I heard the crowd, there was a moment when I just started jumping, and I said, 'Now I cannot let this crowd down. This crowd is fantastic, and I have to do my best.'"

The question facing Souza now is 'what's next?' He is certainly one of the middleweight division's top contenders, but if Jacare gets his way, he isn't in any rush for a title shot. The jiu-jitsu black belt wouldn't necessarily turn down the opportunity to fight Saturday's winning headliner in Vitor Belfort. In fact, in his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Jon Anik, Jacare said he wanted the winner of the bout between Belfort and Luke Rockhold. As it turns out, however, he would rather get some experience against some of the other best middleweights in the world first.

"I'm a real professional, and I think that rivalry is just natural. If I have to fight against him, I'll fight against him," Jacare said of a potential bout with Belfort. "But I'm still not ready to fight Vitor. Vitor is just ready to go for a title bout, so I hope one day to be ready and be competent. If the UFC thinks I'm ready, I'll do it. I'll fight happily with the champion Vitor Belfort. But I just said it because we don't want to get the loser. We want to get the winner."

UFC on FX 8 bonuses: Vitor Belfort's knockout earns him $50,000

2013-05-19T04:01:50Z

It was a night where the Brazilians cruised and ended up placing three of the four fighters who eventually earned UFC post-fight bonuses at UFC on FX 8. Lucas Martins and Jeremy Larsen earned Fight of the Night for their preliminary card action, Ronaldo Souza claimed Submission of the Night with his first-round finish of Chris Camozzi and Vitor Belfort left the UFC no choice but to award him Knockout of the Night with his stunning victory over former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.

UFC announced the awards on Twitter on Saturday evening. UFC on FX 8 took place at the Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sol, Brazil.

Martins, 24, and Larsen, 27, put on an entertaining affair, although most observers believed Martins to be on the losing end of an inevitable decision before a short right hand cracked Larsen and ultimately put him to sleep before the final bell could sound. The end came officially at :013 of the third frame. Martins moves to 13-1 in professional mixed martial arts while Larsen is now 8-4.

'Jacare', 33, looked impressive in his UFC debut as he easily dispatched with Chirs Camozzi with a head and arm triangle submission at 3:37 of the first frame. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion used his superior wrestling and top control and to pass to side control and secure the requisite grip before Camozzi was left unconscious.

Last, but certainly not least, Vitor Belfort, 36, scored an early candidate for knockout of the year when he stopped Luke Rockhold, 28, with a spinning heel kick in the first round of their main event bout. After a bit of feeling out between the two and Rockhold attempting a spinning back kick of his own, Belfort eventually responded with an enormous and entirely unobstructed heel kick to the jaw of Rockhold, sending the former Strikeforce champ crashing to the mat. A few follow-up punches from Belfort finished the job. Referee Leon Roberts was forced to stop the action at 2:32 in the very first round.

UFC on FX 8 Live Blog: Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold

2013-05-19T02:32:26Z

This is the UFC on FX 8 live blog for Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold, a middleweight bout at Saturday night's UFC event at the Arena Jaragua in Brazil.

Belfort, who has won three of his past four fights, will face Rockhold, who has won nine straight fights, on the main card.

Check out the UFC on FX 8 live blog below.

More Coverage: UFC on FX 8 Results | UFC news
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Round 1: Leon Roberts is the referee in charge. Both fighters open orthodox. Rockhold shoots and is stuffed. Belfort follows up with a right and they briefly tie up. Rockhold staying active with his kicks, some of them landing to the legs. Belfort charges forward with punches and misses wildly. Wow. Out of nowhere. Belfort lands a spinning heel kick that lands flush on Rockhold. It downs the American badly. Belfort follows up with a few punches and that's all she wrote. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight.

Vitor Belfort def. Luke Rockhold via KO (spinning heel kick) at 2:32 of round 1

UFC on FX 8 Live Blog: Jacare Souza vs. Chris Camozzi

2013-05-19T02:10:58Z

This is the UFC on FX 8 live blog for Jacare Souza vs. Chris Camozzi, a middleweight bout at Saturday night's UFC event at the Arena Jaragua in Brazil.

Souza, who has won four of his past five fights, will face Camozzi, who also has four of his past five fights, on the main card.

Check out the UFC on FX 8 live blog below.

More Coverage: UFC on FX 8 Results | UFC news
Download MMA Fighting iPhone App

Round 1: Jacare opens orthodox and cracks the southpaw Camozzi. Another right hand lands for Jacare and a knee tap puts Camozzi on his back. Hard elbow on top from the Brazilian scores. Jacare landing all sorts of hard shots from top position. Jacare moves to side control and now knee on belly. A scramble for Jacare ends up with an oma plata then to side control for Jacare. And just like that, Camozzi goes to sleep.

Ronaldo Souza def. Chris Camozzi at 3:37 of round 1