SB Nation User Blog: Lynchman

UFC leaves Setanta Sports.

Lynchman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:01:35 -0000

There have been been rumors of this with all of Sentanta's financial problems, but Fighters Only is reporting that the UFC has terminated it's relationship with Sentanta sports in the U.K.

UFC UK Division President Marshall Zelaznik said: "It was with great regret that the UFC ended its relationship with Setanta. Over the last two years, Setanta has helped the UFC become the biggest indoor sporting event in the British Isles.

"They were the right partner for us at the right time as we continued to build the sport of mixed martial arts and our brand.

"Throughout the last few weeks we have been kept informed of the situation at Setanta and therefore we are in a position to ensure our UK and Eire fans will not miss any of this summer’s huge UFC events, commencing with UFC 100 in July.

"On behalf of the UFC I want to wish the team at Setanta all the strength to get through what must be very difficult times. We have worked very closely with the entire Setanta team over the past years and wish them the best of luck in the future."

Zelanik said the company will be announcing it's new broadcaster in the upcoming weeks. From what I have heard, Zuffa had started some prelim talks with other companies prior to UFC 99. It will be interesting to see how Zuffa plays this. Do they simply go for the most money, or do they look to sign a deal that garners the most pos exposure for the brand?

They are coming off of a TUF season that annointed two U.K. fighters as future stars. With the right deal, they both could become the next Bisping...provided they can hold their own in the cage. I would imagine each will be handled with kid gloves for the first few fights

Thoughts on the always changing Mirko situation (UPDATED).

Lynchman — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:15:13 -0000

By now, we have all heard Dana's comments and statement that Mirko has left the UFC and signed with Dream.

Earlier this morning, Miko was asked about it:

Cro Cop returns home:

Q: Can you comment on signing for DREAM?
"No comment, that is my private business relations."

Q: How was the knee?
"Good. Good. He was going

Now another report has come out with Mirko saying this is not the case: http://www.jutarnji.hr/sport/borilacki_sportovi/clanak/art-2009,6,14,,166592.jl

According to this, he has not signed and is surprised by this. He also said (apparently) that Dana had not talked to him about it prior to going public.

I think there is a lot more to this. I am not saying Dana is lying and I am not saying Mirko is lying, but Mirko left immediately and somebody told Dana that Mirko was competing in Dream.

Perhaps a member of Mirko's camp? Maybe they told Dana he verbally agreed to a deal?

If this was an American fighter, I guess I could see a rumor getting around backstage. But who would be in a position to tell Dana this? None of the other fighters know Mirko at all.

This does not sound like Dana simply overreacting. He clearly was under the impression that Mirko had signed a deal. Dana is not stupid, he is not going to go public because a reporter or hanger-on told him something.

He got home and was asked by a reporter about this new deal with Dream. He would not talk about it.

If there was NO truth to it, would he not have simply said it was not true? Think about it, somebody says something that is out of left field, something that has not an ounce of truth to it, would you not at least ask where they heard such a thing?

I am thinking there is some truth to each side. Perhaps no deal is signed, but Mirko verbally agreed to a Dream deal? If that is the case, I can see how word would get out that he had signed with Dream. Again, it would have to have come from somebody credible.

Now Mirko is talking. I can't help but wonder if he woke up today, saw it all over the internet, and realized he better say something about this situation. A little damage control perhaps.

Perhaps the funniest/saddest thing about all of this is that we have those that declare Mirko scummiest of all scum and then the crew that declare Dana the great Satan.

Reality is usually somewhere in between. In this situation, I am almost certain that is the case.

Update:

Who Me has posted, in the comments section, that Sergio Non has written the following:

Soon after beating Mostapha al-Turk on Saturday at UFC 99, Filipovic told UFC officials that he has signed a three-fight deal with the Japanese organization Dream, Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole first reported. The news was later confirmed to me in an e-mail from Mike Kogan, who runs the U.S. operation of Dream’s parent company, Fighting and Entertainment Group.

Dave Meltzer wrote this:

My belief is that he hasn't signed with anyone because the whole leverage of doing a one-fight deal is to play the sides against each other. Of course he's got one side (agent Ken Imai) telling Dream he's with them, particularly because he told them ahead of time in the event he lost. Now that he won, they can play both sides.

Ken has a history of being shrewd and brutal. If he has Dream convinced that Mirko is with them, I can see how this kind of mess could come about.

Mirko CroCop Already Done With UFC, Signs Again With Dream

Lynchman — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:48:26 -0000

This Fan Post was promoted to the front page by Nick Thomas.

Kevin Iole is reporting that Mirko has signed a new deal with Dream. According to Dana White, Mirko notified them shortly after his bout at UFC 99.

In addition, White said that Mirko turned down several opponents for 99, including Cain:

“He didn’t keep his word,” White said, who said he’d had a two-hour talk with Filipovic on the day Filipovic texted and asked to be able to return. “He talked about honor and all this other [expletive] and he [expletived] me.

“He fed me this bull [expletive] about wanting to take a run for the title, and what I think he did was, he went out and did this. He turned down every other [expletive] fighter I offered him, because I needed him to fight Cain. He didn’t just poke Al-Turk; he poked me, too.”

Since Mirko verbally agreed to a one fight deal, he had every right to go elsewhere after the bout. But it certainly looks like he never intended to compete in the UFC. I am guessing he either

A) Planned it with Dream in hopes of garnering publicity
or
B) Used the UFC deal to get Dream to pony up more money.

Either way, this does not exactly enhance Mirko's legacy.

**Edited by Luke Thomas.

Spencer Fisher is out of Miletich.

Lynchman — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:27:02 -0000

And it looks like another fighter has left MFS. In part one of Dana's latest blog, Dana and Spenser are talking about his training:

Dana: You still with Miletich?

Spencer: No, I've started my own thing up.

I am not going to speculate as to why Spencer left, but these depatures certainly make MFS look like a sinking ship. Part of the appeal of any given school is the success of it's members. MFS does not have that many guys left at the top of the MMA world.

It does seem to change every few years, the top camps. MFS and Team Quest were the big ones 3-4 years ago. Now both are well-known, but hardly the destination of the top prospects. I am curious to see if Pat takes steps to try to build up MFS and it's roster of fighters.

LHW on shelf for another 7 months? Rampage, Champ rumored as TUF Coaches.

Lynchman — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:49:45 -0000

Not sure how legit it is, but U.K. site MMABay is reporting that Rampage has agreed to once again coach on The Ultimate Fighter.

According to the piece, his opposing coach will be the winner of Machida/Evans, with the bout likely taking place on the New Years card.

Jackson will begin training for the fight back at his UK camp, the Wolfslair MMA Academy, in October to ensure that he has a thorough three months to prepare, making sure he goes into the fight at 100%.

Despite the identity of his opposing coach being in the air at the minute, SPIKE TV officials and “Rampage” himself hope that Rashad Evans comes through at UFC 98 and sets up what could escalate into one of the biggest grudge matches of all time after being separated in the middle of the octagon at UFC 96.

I don't how I feel about this. Personally, I thought Jackson was a fairly poor coach, with Juanito appearing to be the real brains of the Tean Jackson. If so, then we will likely see the same folks Bisping has assisting him.

I wonder if Greg Jackson would act an assistant coach for Rashad? Would he be willing to take that much time away from training other guys? Especially when both Jardine and GSP have bouts coming up later in the summer. The idea of getting to watch Greg and see how he works certaining is intriguing.

This would also provide Rashad with an oppontunity to establish himself as a top star. He would be coming off three wins over top guys and this would give him enough camera time to increase his drawing power.

The prospect of having the belt on the shelf for another seven months is also frustrating, but I hope the UFC lines up some bouts to create clear cut contenders if this rumor is indeed true.

Ratings for week six of TUF IX.

Lynchman — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:26:14 -0000

1.1 rating with 1.28 in M18-49, 1.41 in M18-34 and an average audience of 1.5 million.

The show seems to have found a steady audience over the last couple of seasons. For a while, it looked as though the ratings would continue to slide each season, but appear to have stablized. It is interesting that it does not seem to matter who the coaches are anymore, the ratings stay pretty much the same.

I mentioned this before, but this season is holding close to last without all of the drama and drunken antics of recent seasons.

Season so far:
Ep 5: 1.04 rating with 1.33 in M18-49, 1.59 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.4 million.
Ep 4: 1.0 rating with 1.20 in M18-49, 1.5 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.4 million.
Ep 3: 0.9 rating with 1.2 in M18-49, 1.13 in M18-34 and an aud of 1.2 million.
1 rating with 1.2 in M18-49, 1.3 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.5 million.
Ep 2: 1.1 rating with 1.2 in M18-49, 1.3 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.5 million.
Ep 1: 1.3 rating with 1.8 in M18-49, 2.1 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.8 million.

A look at TUF ratings so far (with a comparison to last season)

Lynchman — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:24:57 -0000

Ep 1: 1.3 rating with 1.8 in M18-49, 2.1 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.8 million.
Ep 2: 1.1 rating with 1.2 in M18-49, 1.3 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.5 million.
Ep 3: 0.9 rating with 1.2 in M18-49, 1.13 in M18-34 and an aud of 1.2 million.
Ep 4: 1.0 rating with 1.20 in M18-49, 1.5 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.4 million.
Ep 5: 1.04 rating with 1.33 in M18-49, 1.59 in M18-34 and an ave aud of 1.4 million.

After five eps
Season 8: 1.14.
Season 7: 1.1
This season is averaging 1.07

Realistically, last season got a major boost was the Junie nonsense. His antics caused the fourth ep to do 1.4.

One interesting thing is that this season has had far less drama than last season. That this season is close to the numbers of last has to please those that hated Junie and the rest of the nonsense that filled many of the eps.

A 1.0 is generally considered a hit for an original basic cable show and is considered the threshold for TUF. If it's weekly average sinks below that number, I think Spilke and Zuffa would be concerned. Of course that rating is not the only thing that is important, the numbers for the Male 18-39 and male 18-34 are also very important. In those areas, the show has always delivered.

Stitch greasing Hughes.

Lynchman — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:11:27 -0000

Somebody posted this on another forum.

We see Stitch's hands go from Hughes face to his body.

After seeing this, one has to question credible Hughes' comments about GSP being slippery are?

Personally, I think this shows just how easy it is for somebody, even the best, to get careless.

Stitch is repected by virtually everyone in the MMA community and works not just on wrestlers, but BJJ guys as well. Why would he intentionally do that?

And if he can slip up, one should not be surprised that it happened with Nurse, especially when he was not only in charge of the vasoline, but also with applying the goofy voodoo breathing massage.

Kenny makes a statement regarding Barnett, Josh responds.

Lynchman — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:38:19 -0000

By now, I am sure we all have read Josh Barnett's comments about Kenny Florian. Mr. Josh was upset at Kenny's comments on MMA Live and took some shots at Kenny.

On the Underground, Kenny recently responded:

Anyone who watches MMA Live on ESPN.com knows that I am fair when talking about UFC, Strikeforce, Affliction etc . . . or any of the fighters. In the most recent episode, I spoke about Joe Lauzon's dominant win over Stephens. Joe has spoken negatively about me in several interviews lately but I call it like I see it. He did well against Stephens and dominated the ground action. I also spoke about Strikeforce being a great thing for mma fighters and fans. Criticizing fighters or even picking winners and losers is always tough but it is my job and what ESPN pays me to do. Most here understand that and many here supporting Barnett most likely never saw the episode.

I expected a dominant finish from Barnett because HE IS a top heavyweight going against a man in Yvel who doesn't have his ground skills. Barnett certainly dominated but for whatever the reason, he struggled to put him away. It was my job to tell people watching the show what I thought about the fight.

I have always had a lot of respect for Josh Barnett as a fighter and he has always came across well in the past. Hearing his comments about me shows that while he is a good fighter, he is like school on Sunday, he has no class. I am not sure if Barnett is overly sensitive, sexually frustrated or believes he had a perfect performance, whatever the case, I think the comments he made shows what kind of a background he comes from. He has made some unusual comments about the UFC and other fighters so I find it odd that he is so sensitive.
As a professional mma fighter myself, I have been subjected to a lot of criticism. I think all of my performances are terrible after a few weeks after my fights. I know I need improvement which is why I train so hard. To resort to insults and name calling because someone thought I should have fought better is immature and pointless. We can always do better. We fight on TV and people will criticize. No mysteries here.

It is fighters like Josh Barnett who help support the perception that MMA fighters are ignorant and low class individuals. This is unfortunate since the MMA world needs guys who act like professional athletes if we want people to take this sport seriously. Barnett isn't a kid anymore and has been around the sport for a long time now, he should act like a pro. If we show a lack of respect, how can we want people to respect us?

Either way, thanks for watching MMA Live on ESPN.com. All of our past episodes are available on the MMA page at ESPN.com.

KF

Shortly thereafter, Josh responded:

Now that I have your attention Kenny, and the rest of the internet it seems, I’ll lay it out for you without the attention grabbing obnoxiousness. I have done media work in MMA for years and know the difference between acting as a professional on camera and taking shots at someone. You obviously do not and did not have respect for me as a fighter when you decided to not simply be critical of my performance but talk of it with derision and disdain. Your clearly condescending attitude is where I took offense and when I have fellow fighters sending me messages saying, "Hey, did you see Kenny Florian talking down about you on ESPN?" it’s clear to me you’re being disrespectful.

Yeah I know all the crass comments were a bit much and "Sit-on-a-dong" in retrospect was in very poor taste. I regret that one. But for grabbing attention and putting more listeners in front of the PC for Shoman and Co. it did the trick. The offer still stands however if you, K-Flo, think you can teach me a two about throwing an armlock or two. Your attitude suggested you sat on a pretty high perch for someone so much my junior in this sport and you must think yourself a better fighter. I’d simply like to see you stand up for that attitude. I have been submitted plenty of times by Matt Hume who is around your weight and you’re a professional athlete so no need for anyone to whine about me picking on you Kenny.

Who are you to speak of class or more importantly my background? The only thing you need to know about my background is that no one ever let me act like an arrogant prick without smacking me one. My teachers are men who put up or shut up and take no shit from anybody. See when I started fighting I didn’t have the luxury of gyms everywhere, promotions all over the US, sponsors, or even MMA gear. We fought whoever, whenever pretty much regardless of weights, time limits or rules. What you see on Sherdog isn’t the extent of my fighting history. Ever fight bare knuckle, with headbutts or no time limit? No cutting and running in those matches buddy boy. No, I bet you didn’t. You got all the benefits of a modern MMA created by people like myself and I can tell you what it really means to suffer for a sport when we didn’t make dick. But we fought however we could and for free if we had to, just to fight.

You’re a kid in this game. A mewling babe sucking from a teet. You haven’t done the things I have or even have as many fights as I have wins. You need to realize that just because you fight in the UFC and are on an ESPN internet show, we are not peers. Not even close. Not as fighters, not in MMA knowledge, not in the business aspects, not in anything.

I must say that as a fighter your improvement has been impressive and I think you have come far from the finals of the first TUF. This however is not just about professionalism but about being a man. If you want to speak with contempt and flout be prepared to have own up to it –even if it means having to get physical. That’s the way it is.

Don’t talk shit if you don’t want shit.

Josh

Folks have already pointed out that Kenny's comments were nothing compared to what mainstream Sports writers would have offered up. When you step into the spotlight, you have to accept that a certian amount of criticism is going to come with it.

Was Kenny critical? He was, but I don't think anything he said crossed the line. Actually, I think he hit the nail on the head. He said nothing that was not being said online and even among the MMA fans I know.

I give Josh credit for admitting some of his remarks were crass, but he still comes across in a very condescending manner. I think Kenny and Josh are indeed peers. Kenny has become one of the top LWs in the world and has established himself as a fine commentator as well. To me, Josh's latest comments almost had a tint of jealousy to them.