When Affliction went down in flames, Paul Buentello decided he might want to go to the UFC.  Dana White's feelings on Zinkin Entertainment are well known, and Buentello decided to replace Bob Cook and get a new manager.  As a result, Buentello was suspended from the American Kickboxing Academy, where he's trained since 2000:

According to the fighter and his long-time trainer and friend, Dave Velasquez of Nor Cal Fight Factory, the dispute arose when Buentello replaced Cook with a new manager.

"I’ve always came to this crossroads, if I ever go back to the UFC, I gotta have somebody on board that’s gonna sell me like I’m the best thing since sliced bread," said Buentello. The native Texan believes that someone is Elis Pacheco of New York-based Dedos Marketing Group, which has worked with Ice-T, Fat Joe and Beyonce Knowles.

Cook, Buentello’s former manager and trainer, declined comment.

The practice of trainers simultaneously working as agents for fighters needs to change.  It's very commonplace in MMA because the low payouts keep the big agencies out of the sport, but it results in a number of issues that impact fighters negatively.

There are a number of potential situations in which an agent's interests and a trainer's interests will diverge.  For example, if a fighter at AKA was doing great in the wrestling department, but really needed striking help to reach the next level, a good agent would try to seek out a camp that could give his client what he needs to reach that next level.  If the agent is also the fighter's trainer, and is making money off the fighter paying to train each month, there is an incentive to keep him in camp and away from others.  There's no problem with a camp doing management, but the trainer and manager should not be the same guy.

What happens a lot is young fighters come to a big camp like AKA or ATT, and they end up signing on to be managed by the camp as well.  So then if they ever want to get better representation, they have to worry about being ostracized by their partners or kicked out by their camp.  I have no objection to camps managing fighters, but threatening to throw them out of training for seeking new representation is an outrage.  

I remember hearing Jon Fitch say that before he went out to fight GSP, Bob Cook told him not to throw any lazy leg kicks.  It really struck me as bizarre; you'd never see Kobe Bryant's agent telling him to make sure to rotate more on a jump shot.  Is there any way someone who is teaching people jiu-jitsu for hours at a time during the day is really doing the best job they can representing a fighter?  

One wonders if Cain Velasquez and Jon Fitch would be suspended from AKA if they ever decided they wanted a new agent or manager.

Frank Mir is a master of many things, but he is particularly good at hyping fights.  In fact, he may be the best.  The work he did before his UFC 100 fight with Brock Lesnar was masterful.  Fans that hated Lesnar loved it, and Lesnar's valiant defenders hated Mir with all their being.  He's at it again, but this time with Cheick Kongo.  By the time Countdown to UFC 107 was over, all I wanted was to see Cheick Kongo get his hands on Frank Mir.

Frank Mir told the press weeks ago that he intended to stand with Kongo and beat him at his own game.  Mir has a lot of confidence in his striking, and I do think he'll exchange a little, but there is no way he is going to try to win a kickboxing match at UFC 107.  He will take this to the ground at the first available opportunity.  He'll do this because his livelihood depends on it.

If Frank Mir wins at UFC 107, the path to a rematch with Brock Lesnar begins.  Carwin will get Lesnar's first fight back, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Mir fight the Nogueira/Velasquez winner for a title shot.  Mir already started hyping a trilogy fight with Lesnar on the Countdown show, and it was one of those things where as soon as I saw him talking about it on television, I immediately realized what a monster number a third fight would do.  But to get there, Mir needs legitimate wins.  The path starts Saturday night.

I see Mir as the favorite, though I wouldn't be shocked to see Kongo win.  Wolfslair has never put enough emphasis on proper wrestling and jiu-jitsu training; it is primarily a striking camp, and I don't buy into the idea that Kongo training on the ground out there is going to enable him to survive Frank Mir.  

In July 2009, the UFC set an all-time buyrate record for UFC 100.  One month later, they drew over 900,000 buys for a show that would not have cracked 600k just a year before.  A second show in the same month drew a number in the mid-400's.  In October, a fight between two Brazilians with no co-main event drew roughly 500,000 buys. 

Just about 1 month later, the sky is falling!  Growth is stunted!  Has MMA peaked?  I don't mean to be dismissive, but MMA fans have this built-in fear that the sport is just a fad, so any proof that the growth is not on a permanent upward trajectory causes panic.  People need to get a grip.

The UFC got killed by the injury bug, and the combination of bad luck with a heavy schedule left us with a series of weak, uninspired shows to end the year.  UFC 108 is probably a 300,000 buy show, or even less.  Anderson Silva used to draw 300,000 for title defenses just over a year ago; there's no reason to be sure Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva will beat that number.  UFC 109 was originally going to have a double main event of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort and Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman.  Now Anderson is out with an injury, leaving Randy to carry the show.  Amusingly, a 46 year old is now the UFC's most active fighter.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Brock Lesnar will return in late Spring or Summer, and his return will be positively massive.  Chuck Liddell is training to return, and there are rumors of a fight in the Spring.  Georges St. Pierre will return in March, and Anderson Silva is likely to return in April.  Lyoto Machida and Shogun will have their rematch in May, and the UFC is back in talks with Quinton Jackson about coming back to fight Rashad Evans, perhaps on the Memorial Day show.

The dry streak looks like 3 months.  It seems like more because they're doing a lot of shows, but people need to take a long view of things.  Some observers have waited so long for a slowdown that they're chomping at the bit to pronounce a decline.  They'll be silenced again by next summer.  MMA fans should be more confident in their sport.  It's popular for a reason.  When the stars return, so will the numbers, and they may even be bigger than expected.

The path upward is not always linear.  There are bumps and bruises along the way.  In this instance, mostly bruises.  Relax, Spring is just around the corner.

Sports Business Daily reports on an extensive survey done by Scarborough Sports Marketing (subscription required and recommended):

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is attracting young, wealthy, high-tech consumers, according to Scarborough Sports Marketing's first-ever look at the sport. MMA fans are defined as those adults who watched the sport on broadcast or cable TV during the past year. The six-month survey of 221,000 adults ages 18+ in 81 top U.S. markets, including every big-league city, found that MMA fans are 15% more likely than the average American adult to have a household income of at least $75,000 and 10% more likely to own a second home. MMA fans also are above the national average for current ownership of high-tech household items such as HDTVs, VOD service, video game systems and broadband Internet.

This is one of those small bits of news many fans skim over each day without a second thought, but this kind of study will do wonders for the pockets of fighters.  The widespread conception of MMA fans is that they're a cross section of poor white trash and meatheads.  This is nowhere near the truth.  My experience in law firms alone showed me that in almost every white collar office there are a number of "closet" MMA fans who love the UFC but just don't talk about it unless they're sure someone else likes it.

This survey is a nice feather in the cap for fighter representatives.  I believe Georges St. Pierre's sponsorship with Underarmor was just the first crack in the dam; mainstream sponsors are on their way.

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White revealed that doctors told Lesnar, he's been dealing with the condition for over a year and that he's only been operating at 60-percent of his potential:

"That's a lot [expletive] scary. He's at 60-percent of his potential? What's going to happen when he comes back? How much faster can you beat people? Hopefully we can get though this."

Dana White, striking fear into the hearts of heavyweights everywhere.  Brock Lesnar will return, and when he does, this ordeal will probably make him an even bigger star than before.  

Things look dark now, but Spring and Summer will probably be huge for the UFC.  I fully expect the return of Brock Lesnar and a reconciliation with Quinton Jackson to lift the company out of its current short-term slump.

Tito Ortiz is still good enough to appear competitive.  But he was outclassed tonight.  He lost every round on my card, though the second was admittedly close.  He was out of gas in the third round, waited way too long to shoot, and when he did couldn't get the takedown.  

Ortiz made people believe that if he just got rid of his injuries he'd be back to dominant form.  It was always nonsense; his game is too predictable, he has a double and some nice inside elbows, but that's about it.  He opened up Forrest with one, which isn't much of an accomplishment given Forrest's scar tissue.  

It's unclear where to go next with Ortiz.  He could fight the Couture/Coleman winner, though I don't think he could beat Couture now anymore than he could when they first fought.  Another option is to put him on The Ultimate Fighter opposite Chuck Liddell.  Both guys are obviously planning to fight again, it would do big ratings, and neither one is relevant at 205 at this point.

Forrest showed no signs of being mentally broken tonight.  Many assumed his unwillingness to talk about the Anderson fight and his odd behavior suggested he had mental issues.  What people didn't take into account was the possibility that he knew no words could explain what happened, and that the only thing he could really do was train hard and jump back on the wagon.

Josh Koscheck got a nice win by using his wrestling.  It says something about Georges St. Pierre that Koscheck was able to take down a JUCO national champion so easily.  There's no reason to do Hardy-Koscheck; this is already a division with no contenders, why eliminate one?  I'd like to see Koscheck-Alves 2.  If Koscheck can beat Alves, then he's really earned himself a shot.

The final big story of the night was Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.  He made a big statement with his win tonight, icing a guy whose chin looked like iron before he met his demise this evening.  It's always risky to take shots because you believe in your chin, because that strategy eventually hits a brick wall for everyone.  Tonight it did for Cane.  Nogueira may only be a win away from title contention, and he's stated he is willing to fight Lyoto Machida.  Who's next for him?  Fights with Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin, and Brandon Vera are all appealing options.

I think this show may have marked the end of Tito Ortiz's drawing power.  I'm a strong believer in the theory that the impact of losses on drawing ability is overstated, but he was exposed in a big way tonight, and his tantrum after the fight was just embarrassing.  Though I'll concede people may hate him enough after that fight that they'll pay to see him get beat up.

Just a few days ago, Dana White told us Brock Lesnar was very sick.  He couldn't comment on what it was specifically, but he let us know it was bad.  Real bad.  Maybe life threatening.  Definitely career endangering.  But he assured us it wasn't AIDS or cancer.  Three days later, Brock Lesnar is out of the hospital and resting at home after minor surgery for an intestinal disorder.  Turns out that as soon as he went to a hospital they were able to handle his issues.

Dana White is not a doctor.  I've been saying that over and over to people the last few days.  He has no idea what Brock's future is medically.  Based on what we know now, I wouldn't be shocked if Brock is back in the octagon fighting by summer.  A lot has changed in a few days.

There's news that Dana is considering an interim heavyweight title match.  My guess is it would be on the Australia card  and that it would feature Shane Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez.  I see no reason whatsoever to make this fight.  Just 3 days ago everyone thought Brock was on his deathbed, now he's at home on a low fiber diet recovering.  Give it two weeks, and see what his medical status is then.  Maybe he really won't fight again.  But maybe he'll be ready to fight by the Memorial Day show in May.  If that's the case, creating an interim champion in February only to unify in May is a ludicrous decision that only cheapens the title.

Here's an alternative suggestion.  Wait 3 weeks, and if it looks like Brock will be able to fight again, simply schedule his original fight with Carwin for late spring or early summer, and put Cain Velasquez and Nogueira on The Ultimate Fighter as coaches.  By the time they finish and fight it will probably be right around the time Brock fights Carwin, and we'll have another good contender.  If they don't want Nog on there again, maybe Cain and Mir if Mir wins at 107.  This solution avoids a pointless interim title and takes care of the TUF problem without putting a division on hold.

I had a conversation with Doug Crosby, and he said that during one of the [UFC] fights, one of these boxing people that have come over and started judging MMA...someone was attempting a submission, and this person turned to him and said, 'what is he doing?'  How CRAZY is that?  This is a professional mixed martial arts judge at the highest level of the sport, someone who is judging an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, between two guys that are professional fighters....their careers are on the line, it's a huge contest, two equally skilled guys in a hotly contested match, and the judge has literally no idea what's going on.

Joe Rogan, relating an anecdote about judging incompetence to Josh Gross.

I strongly disagree with Rogan's assessment of the UFC 104 and UFC 105 main event judging, but his point is sound.  It's hard to overstate how outrageous this is.  In MMA, winning or losing a fight can be the difference between getting on the title track and making millions or getting cut if you lose one more fight.  A ton is on the line, and incompetent athletic commissions can't be bothered to hire judges that know what a kimura is.  

As fans, we must demand regulatory reform.

 The Telegraph reports that GSP and Dan Hardy are under consideration for a coaching stint on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The telegraph also understands that the UFC may be considering offering coaching places to the pair for the next series of The Ultimate Fighter.

Let me be the first on this website to complain about this.  By the time they fought, that would be a year between welterweight title defenses, or more importantly, a year between GSP fights.  It's one thing to put off a highly anticipated fight for the purpose of the reality show, but entirely another to delay a fight where the outcome is so obvious.

Georges is already back in training, and was looking to return in early March.  We've already seen how delaying a fight for the reality show can turn out to be a disaster, who knows if one of these guys gets injured before July and then it'd be well over a year between GSP fights.

Far be it from me to complain without offering a viable alternative.  If Ortiz loses to Griffin, they should do a season with Tito Ortiz and Mark Coleman.  They will talk a lot of trash, both guys are good TV characters, and neither one is really relevant at light heavyweight at this point.  The ratings will probably be even stronger, and we won't have to spend 7 more months debating a fight very few people are even interested in seeing.

Note:  All information in this post was obtained via Affliction's motion to dismiss filed on November 6, 2009.  It is all public information and can be obtained through the Pacer system.

David Wolf of MMA Payout broke the story earlier today that Affliction filed its motion to dismiss in response to the M-1 lawsuit I discussed on Bloody Elbow last week.  Needless to say, a motion to dismiss is just a standard response in a lawsuit by the defense.  I will have more thoughts on the motion to dismiss next week on Bloody Elbow, but my initial thought is that I'm baffled as to why a 12(b)(6) focused so much on the facts instead of the law.  A 12(b)(6) motion is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted, it is not a motion related to factual disputes.

The most interesting part of the filing is Affliction's disclosure to the courts of its agreements with Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global. They disclosed the promotional agreement as well as the "consulting agreement."  According to the initial M-1 filing there was a third consulting agreement related to the M-1 Challenge TV show, but as far as I can tell that agreement hasn't been disclosed.

Below I'll go through the promotional agreement's essential terms and add my comments in italics where I feel anything additional is warranted.

The Promotional Agreement.

--Fedor is to be paid a $300,000 purse per fight.

--The contract arranges for four first class tickets and three coach tickets from St. Petersburg to wherever the fight is.  It also arranges for four first class hotel rooms for up to five nights, round trip transportation on the ground, and meal allowances.  This section is more extravagant than equivalent UFC contract provisions for its top stars.

-- The contract calls for three fights under the Affliction banner, and makes Affliction the exclusive home of Fedor fights in the United States.  However, the contract states that any fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture is excluded from the contract and can take place elsewhere.  It's clear that when this contract was signed Fedor and M-1 were still shopping around a potential Couture fight incase he ever got out of his contract.  This also further confirms that Affliction never had the rights to this fight.

--The contract states that it ends on the earlier of two dates: March 31, 2009 or after Fedor's last fight, unless the contract is extended.  This will be a serious litigation battleground; M-1 will argue that Affliction extended the contract by promoting a third show.  I find this argument fairly convincing.

--Affliction agreed to make all efforts to feature a M-1 logo on the mat.  Fedor was allowed to choose any sponsor as long as there was no conflict with Affliction.

--Fedor Emelinaenko reserved all rights to distribute and exploit his bouts in Russia and Asia.  He had the right to retain all revenue from the sale, license, or any other exploitation of his reserved rights to market the broadcast.  There are other specifics regarding Affliction's responsibility to provide Fedor and M-1 with a high definition feed.  The rights include streaming rights, and extend beyond Fedor's fights to the undercard and preliminary fights.  You can imagine the UFC would never agree to such a term.

There are a number of other important and interesting terms, but those are the essential ones.

The Consulting Agreement

--M-1 was to provide consulting on all the following topics: International bout consulting, international television, fighter scouting, location for future bouts recommendations, television-related opportunities, international sponsorships, and bout tourism.  

--M-1 was also required to fully cooperate and assist in the advertising and promotion of each fight.

--In exchange for these consulting services, Affliction agreed to pay M-1 a consulting fee of $1,200,000 per fight.  

--Affliction was required to promote the M-1 Global brand through promotional activities including: Articles in event programs, M-1 Global's logo incorporated into Affliction advertising, M-1 logo recognition with event advertising, public address announcements during the bouts, the airing of M-1 videos announcements during events, and the creation and sale of co-branded M-1 and Affliction event posters.

I believe there is still one more consulting agreement out there based on my reading of M-1's lawsuit, but Affliction did not disclose it here.  Just counting these two agreements, Fedor Emelianenko received $300,000 per fight while M-1 Global received 1.2 million.  Fedor Emelianenko is a 20% owner of M-1 Global.