The Big MMA News & Rumors Thread [2014]

[K1power]

Welcome aboard, fellow migrant

[newman]

I did miss this place! Who else has come over from the old site?

[K1power]

A lot of the still active core members, you should recognize a bunch of names:
kakutougi.proboards.com/members

We're still looking for more members to migrate from the old forum and would like to welcome many new members as well.

[K1power]

Mark Hunt VS Roy Nelson confirmed for Main Event at UFC Fight Night 51 in Japan on September 20th.

That's on my birthday, awesome!

[K1power]

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 41: BERLIN - RESULTS

Gegard Mousasi def. Mark Muñoz by Submission (rear-naked choke) R1
C.B. Dollaway def. Francis Carmont by Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Sean Strickland def. Luke Barnatt by Decision (split) (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Niklas Bäckström def. Tom Niinimäki by Submission (rear-naked choke) R1
Nick Hein def. Drew Dober by Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Magnus Cedenblad def. Krzysztof Jotko by Submission (guillotine choke) R2
Iuri Alcantara def. Vaughan Lee by KO (punches) R1
Peter Sobotta def. Pawel Pawlak by Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Maximo Blanco def. Andy Ogle by Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Ruslan Magomedov def. Viktor Pešta by Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

[newman]

Mousasi looked incredible in his fight. Finally lived up to the promise he had when he was fighting in Japan. Totally clowned Munoz.

[K1power]

Dana White: Jones doesn't want to fight Gustafsson, but Cormier

www.ufc.com/news/dana-download-june-2?utm_campaign=The+Download&utm_source=15600&utm_medium=Facebook%3A+UFC&

[h]

finally catching up on stuff. just watched fight night 40. matt brown vs erick silva was a fucking FIGHT. holy shit. i wouldnt want to ever want to make Matt Brown want to hit me. because the motherfucker would pressure and pressure and pressure until he fucking hit me. lol.

[newman]

Fight Pass will now be broadcasting the all-women's Invicta promotion which is a pretty big step given UFC have never worked this closely with a promotion without buying them outright. All of the old Invicta shows which had women like Cat Zingano, Sarah Kaufman and Shayna Baszler - as well as Cris Cyborg - are going to be available to watch on Fight Pass too. Invicta were doing online PPV which obviously they won't need to do now. Really good move for both parties I think. If they put their whole library on there (UFC, PRIDE, WEC, WFA, Elite XC, Affliction, StrikeForce, Invicta) that's a massive chunk of MMA. Reading the full article this is super interesting and a much bigger deal than we probably realise right now. I'll quote a couple of bits....

As part of the deal, UFC will help promote the events, and will also aid in distribution of the content on traditional television. UFC is looking at using its contacts to help broker international deals for Invicta, which can include both the prior shows as well as either live simulcasts on television or tape delayed broadcast of the upcoming events, with UFC holding the digital distribution rights.

"I think it's a unique opportunity," said Zelaznik. "We have a good relationship with Shannon and Invicta. We think that the Invicta fan base crosses over, but they also will bring in a different fan to Fight Pass. I have no doubt the exposure we can bring to Invicta will help our female divisions. There are so many discussions about what Fight Pass will become. It's now part of the lexicon of MMA. This opportunity with Shannon was unique because of what Shannon brings to the business. As far as bringing in other promotions, other promotions are reaching out to us. We've got a list of promotions running. Will we pull the trigger on them? It's too early to tell. But we feel real confident this deal will serve our existing costumers and bring in new customers."

Basically what I can see happening could be this. Let's say you're a smaller promotion like Ring of Fire (RFA) or Titan or somewhere promoting outside of the US like Cage Warriors in the UK or Jungle Fight in Brazil. What if a deal could be done with Zuffa where they pay you to get your shows broadcast worldwide live on Fight Pass, perhaps help to broker smaller TV deals, in exchange for a direct link for the talent from those shows to go to the UFC when they're ready (or as late replacements)?

What if, hypothetically, they were to do some sort of similar deal with WSOF where their prelims are broadcast on Fight Pass and they broker international TV deals for them, Zuffa get the digital distribution rights and NBC still show WSOF's main cards?

Basically - outside of Bellator - they've then eliminated the competition without having to buy anyone out and risk an antitrust investigation. Bellator would essentially be dead in the water as all of the smaller umbrella promotions would be able to pay well enough that top prospects wouldn't ever need to sign with them, just wait their turn until the UFC calls them up, and there'd suddenly be a ludicrous amount of content for Fight Pass too with more live events.

Another rumor I've heard is that Fox wants to buy the Fight Pass exclusive cards and show them on FS2 as UFC is one of the only things on those stations that draws decent ratings. If that's the case then for sure they need more live content on Fight Pass (outside of just prelims) and so this makes a ton of sense.

[h]

James Thompson and Sudokujoe both fought on bellator tonight. both finished their fights in the first round. lol. Thompson was hilarious post fight. i didnt understand half of what he said but at the end he said "DO IT FOR HIS LOST TESTICLE" lol...

[K1power]

So Chael Sonnen failed a random drugtest and retires from MMA..?

From his Facebook page:

Chael Sonnen

“I want to take an opportunity to officially announcement my retirement from competitive mixed martial arts. I had a great time. I want to thank Roy Pittman. I want to thank Dave Sandal. I want to thank my coach Clayton Hires. These guys taught me how fight, they taught me how to persevere and they stood by me through thick and thin.

“I want to thank FOX, I want to thank the leadership of the UFC. I want to thank a man named Bill Brady, who gave me a second wind if you will. He’s a member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he believed in me at a time when I really needed somebody too, and I owe the second wind of my career to him. I am proud to call him a friend. I also want to thank the most important opponent I’ve ever had. I couldn’t have got here without this dance partner, and that is of course you, Anderson Silva. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the memories, thank you for the invitation to the barbeque, even though I didn’t take you up on it. “

[h]

well he had said previously that he would need to find a way to replenish his testosterone via other ways and if he couldnt do it then he would be forced to retire. so im assuming this was his attempt and it failed so hes retiring. i figured he'd be trying to find, you know, legal ways to do it. lol.

[K1power]

Looks like Overeem's next fight will be against Miocic.

[h]

seems fitting. he better win the fight though lol. cut city for him if not.

[h]

deadspin.com/how-the-ufcs-biggest-show-of-the-year-turned-into-a-fia-1594743611

this is so worth reading. lol.