Author: McKinley Noble

Dana White Rants on Bellator & Viacom, Says Spike TV Didn’t Build the UFC

Maybe UFC president Dana White isn’t “loving” the dealings going on at Bellator MMA after all.During a recent episode of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, a visibly angry White unleashed a firestorm of heated words about his company’s promotional rival, pro…

Maybe UFC president Dana White isn’t “loving” the dealings going on at Bellator MMA after all.

During a recent episode of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, a visibly angry White unleashed a firestorm of heated words about his company’s promotional rival, prompted in an interview lead by show host Chael Sonnen.

The lawyer for Bellator? He’s either the biggest moron in the history of the world or a liar. For this guy to go out there and say that Spike and Fox are exactly the same—that they’re comparable—is the most ridiculous statement ever made in the history of the world, to compare [the] Fox Network to Spike TV.

How many critically acclaimed programs does Spike TV have? What kind of numbers does Spike TV pull every week? Our prelims on FX pull bigger numbers than their live main events do! You know what I mean? On FX! Let’s not even talk about Fox. Fox shouldn’t even be in the discussion.

At a glance, White seems to be on the money when he describes the current discrepancy in total viewers between the two competing MMA promotions in 2013.

According to MMA Weekly, Bellator 86 averaged 812,000 viewers while Bellator 85 drew a company record-high average of 938,000 viewers in their SPIKE premiere.

By contrast, the UFC is doing much better on Fox’s networks (via MMA Weekly, Yahoo):

• Bellator 85—938,000 viewers
• Bellator 86—812,000 viewers

• UFC on FX 7 Prelims (Fuel TV)—255,000 viewers
• UFC on FX 7—1,900,000 viewers
• TUF 17, Ep. 1—1,512,000 viewers
• UFC on Fox 6 Prelims (FX)—1,200,000 viewers
• UFC on Fox 6—4,200,000 viewers

Clearly, the 2013 war for ratings is favoring the UFC.

However, the UFC also has the advantage of national distribution on larger networks. Additionally, most UFC programming is spread out on three channels, compared to Viacom’s sole efforts on SPIKE.

White also gave a vehement criticism of Viacom’s claims that they “built” the UFC, stating that misconceptions like is one of the main reasons fighters like free agent Eddie Alvarez suffer in contract disputes:

Eddie Alvarez is getting screwed big time. The judge? He’s not educated on television, television networks, on pay-per-view—I’ve said this before. The thing is too, that drives me crazy, it’s not Spike TV. It’s Viacom. There’s a pompous, arrogant clown that runs Viacom, his name is Philippe Dauman. This guy has claimed that he built the UFC. Claims he built the UFC. Let me remind everybody, the UFC was a time buy on Spike TV.

We paid 10 million dollars to be in a time buy on Spike TV. They act like they were these geniuses that saw this sport coming. Then, when we moved on to Fox—Fox is such a massive, incredible platform, a global, massive platform. No two play-per-views are created equal. Comparing Spike TV to Fox is a joke and it’s horrible what’s happening to Eddie Alvarez.

Bellator isn’t battling just for top-flight talent either, as the promotion recently struck a major deal with UFC Hall-of-Famer and former two-division champion Randy Couture.

Although Dana White claimed that he “loved” the news, the fact remains that Couture is one of the more famous men in MMA. His presence on Bellator and SPIKE programming could draw critical eyes to the UFC’s rival network over the years, even though the retired legend won’t be fighting in any tournaments.

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TUF 17 Ep. 2 Recap: Team Sonnen Wins 1st Bout, Jon Jones Slams His Own Team

Nearly everyone on TUF 17 was bewildered that coach Jon Jones picked one of the shortest guys on his team to face off against the tallest possible competitor.And as predicted, it didn’t end well.• In an effort to pick off Chael Sonn…

Nearly everyone on TUF 17 was bewildered that coach Jon Jones picked one of the shortest guys on his team to face off against the tallest possible competitor.

And as predicted, it didn’t end well.

• In an effort to pick off Chael Sonnen‘s No. 1 pick, undefeated English fighter Luke Barnatt, Jones ignored his team’s requests for matchups and chose Gilbert Smith—a much shorter opponent with a ridiculous-looking reach disadvantage.

• Smith did wind up giving Barnatt trouble early with takedowns, consistently pressing the attack as his taller foe tried to find his range. For the most part, it seemed effective, but the effort was clearly exhausting them both.

• Jones didn’t seem to be much help in the corner, essentially telling Smith to stop being timid against Barnatt and just “hit him in the face.” Ironically, Jones doesn’t seem to know what it’s like to fight someone with the reach of a giraffe.

• Smith came out of the gate a little stronger in the second round, but his weak gas tank came back to bite him as Barnatt started to gauge his shots. Eventually, the Englishman landed a clean flying knee to the jaw on very short jump (but tall for Smith’s size), knocking the shorter man out cold. Here’s the updated roster following the fight:

Team Jones:

1. Clint Hester (7-3)
2. Josh Samman (9-2)
3. Robert “Bubba” McDaniel (20-6)
4. Gilbert Smith Jr. (5-1)
5. Collin Hart (4-1-1)
6. Adam Cella (4-0)
7. Dylan Andrews (16-4-1)

Team Sonnen:

1. Luke Barnatt (5-0)
2. Uriah Hall (7-2)
3. Zak Cummings (15-3)
4. Tor Troeng (15-4-1)
5. Jimmy Quinlan (3-0)
6. Kevin Casey (5-2)
7. Kelvin Gastelum (5-0)

• Jones was NOT happy with the result, verbally lashing his team for the loss and telling his guys that there would be “no celebration” of any kind.

• Judging by the editing, Jones didn’t even have a kind word to say to Smith in the Octagon or in the locker room, telling the camera crew that cardio “should never be an excuse” for losing a fight. For Smith’s part, he looked devastated.

• With the win, Team Sonnen took control of the matchups, as coach Chael Sonnen chose powerful smasher Uriah Hall (No. 2 pick) to challenge undefeated Adam Cella (No. 6 pick).

• It seems like next week features the first incident where someone takes a trip to the hospital, as Dana White calls what happens in Episode 3 one of the most brutal knockouts he’s ever seen in TUF history. Any bets on who wins?

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

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Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson Set for UFC on Fox 7 in San Jose on April 20

Nate Diaz and former Strikeforce fighter Josh Thomson won’t have to travel very far for their next fight, as the two will be meeting in San Jose for a lightweight battle at UFC on Fox 7, according to CSN Bay Area.Interestingly enough, both fighters are…

Nate Diaz and former Strikeforce fighter Josh Thomson won’t have to travel very far for their next fight, as the two will be meeting in San Jose for a lightweight battle at UFC on Fox 7, according to CSN Bay Area.

Interestingly enough, both fighters are coming off losses in championship bouts.

Thomson recently fell just short of upsetting former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez en route to a contentious split-decision loss last May, while current UFC champion Benson Henderson manhandled Diaz at UFC on Fox 5.

The fight will have added significance for Thompson, as he will get another chance to knock off a member of the “Skrap Pack”—an infamous group of Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighters consisting of Nate, his brother Nick Diaz, Melendez and middleweight contender Jake Shields.

Speaking of which, Henderson will also be headlining the card against Melendez in a “champion vs. champion” match, attempting to secure a third consecutive defense of his UFC title.

Here’s how the card looks so far, with a total of four bouts rumored and confirmed:

• Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez
• Frank Mir vs. Daniel Cormier
• Matt Brown vs. Dan Hardy (rumored)
• Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson

Both Diaz and Thompson will walk into the Octagon facing “must-win” situations in order to stay within reach of the UFC lightweight title hunt. Thompson is the lower-ranked of the two, so the odds may favor Diaz despite his lower win total and career MMA fight count.

At a glance, Thompson will have to grind his way to a decision—in 24 fights, the younger Diaz brother has never been stopped via KO or TKO.

Both Diaz and Thompson are also black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, although Diaz could be the superior grappler with 11 submission wins to Thompson’s nine.

Still, choking out Thompson won’t come easily, as “The Punk” has never been tapped once in his 25-fight career.

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The Ultimate Fighter 17, Episode 2 Live Results: Jon Jones’ First Big Mistake?

Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter continues tonight at 9 p.m. PT/ET on the FX Channel with the middleweight tournament between Team Jon Jones and Team Chael Sonnen.In the premiere episode, 28 middleweights fought through 14 elimination b…

Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter continues tonight at 9 p.m. PT/ET on the FX Channel with the middleweight tournament between Team Jon Jones and Team Chael Sonnen.

In the premiere episode, 28 middleweights fought through 14 elimination bouts for a guaranteed spot in the TUF house, with some notably stellar victories from Uriah Hall, Clint Hester and dangerous Swedish import Tor Troeng.

(Check out the full list of competitors here.)

But in a bit of a twist for the first team vs. team matchup, Jones is gunning for English fighter Luke Barnatt, Sonnen’s No. 1 pick, by calling up his own No. 4 pick, Gilbert Smith.

Various members of Team Jones (including No. 2 pick Josh Samman) weren’t happy with the call, as Smith has a distinct reach and height disadvantage against the lanky Barnatt. Even UFC president Dana White seems to have no idea what Jones is thinking.

UPDATE: Check out the full episode recap right over here, with impressions and thoughts on the match.

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UFC President Dana White on Randy Couture Signing with Bellator: ‘I Love It’

Apparently, Dana White isn’t too worried about one of his most famous former fighters going to work for his biggest business rival.While UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture is widely recognized by the public as a UFC personality, that hasn’t stopped the no…

Apparently, Dana White isn’t too worried about one of his most famous former fighters going to work for his biggest business rival.

While UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture is widely recognized by the public as a UFC personality, that hasn’t stopped the now-retired fighter from signing a major deal with Bellator MMA and SPIKE.

As originally reported by Sports Illustrated journalist Loretta Hunt, Couture will be working closely with his new partners in a variety of programs on the SPIKE cable channel—not least of which is being a coaching stint on Bellator’s upcoming reality TV series.

White broke his silence on the issue in a response to a fan question on Twitter, surprisingly giving his approval of Couture’s new opportunity:

 

Such a stance may be a shock to those familiar with the vitriolic promoter, who recently had several negative things to say at length about Bellator, SPIKE, parent company Viacom and their business practices—specifically stemming from a legal battle over the contract of top-ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez (via MMA Fighting):

I saw in their argument where they said, ‘Oh, Spike launches pay-per-views.’ No, actually they don’t. That’s not true. We did. What they’re doing is, they’re saying — not as much Spike, as Viacom — has been saying, ‘We built the UFC.’ No you f–king did not. No you did not, you arrogant, pompous jackass. You did not build the UFC. We’ll see if you did.

But you better think long and hard if you’re a manager or a fighter and you’re about to do a deal with Bellator. Think long and hard about how you negotiate that contract.

However, Couture is one of the unique MMA athletes who has the latitude to sign with Bellator MMA and not worry about contract issues.

For one, Couture has been retired since a second-round knockout loss against former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. That definitively spelled the end of his active fighting career after 13 long years in MMA, stemming back to his first appearance at UFC 13.

Moreover, Couture’s had his own legal issues with the UFC in the past (via Yahoo Sports and MMA Weekly), as the two-division light heavyweight and heavyweight champion had temporarily left the company in 2007 due to salary disputes.

Additionally, the UFC’s inability to arrange a bout with then-No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Fedor Emelianenko played a part in Couture’s departure. Eventually, “The Natural” returned to Zuffa in November 2008 for a title match against WWE star Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, marking the legend’s 15th and final championship fight.

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UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture Teams with Bellator and Spike for Reality Series

Bellator MMA and SPIKE have just fired a massive shot at the UFC in their continuing war for television ratings and viewers.Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday that UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has signed a deal with the Viacom cable company to a…

Bellator MMA and SPIKE have just fired a massive shot at the UFC in their continuing war for television ratings and viewers.

Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday that UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has signed a deal with the Viacom cable company to appear in several projects, including a high-profile coaching stint on Bellator’s upcoming reality series:

Spike TV will unveil this industry-shifting announcement on Feb. 5 during a press conference in Los Angeles, where Couture and Spike TV president Kevin Kay will discuss details of the agreement and what the 49-year-old retired fighter’s role will be on the Bellator series and possibly other Spike-broadcasted projects. The series is expected to feature a number of current and up-and-coming Bellator fighters.

According to SI reporter Loretta Hunt, the deal was made back in December 2012. UFC president Dana White apparently knew about it and expressed “disapproval” over the issue.

With a historic career in MMA that covered over 13 years since UFC 13 in 1997, Randy “The Natural” Couture is one of the most prominent faces in the sport, as well as one of its most recognizable figures.

However, Couture has also had past issues with the UFC, including an infamous contract dispute (via Yahoo Sports) that led to his early (but temporary) retirement.

According to MMA Weekly, the UFC’s failure to arrange a bout with Fedor Emelianenko contributed to his split from the company in 2007, with additional spats including his pay:

I was offered to fight Fedor over a year ago when I wanted to come out of retirement for thee million dollars in Bodog. It’s more than I’ve ever been paid for a fight…The UFC has stated time and again that I’m the number two athlete on their books as far as my contract, what my base pay says on that bout agreement, but what happens is they pay you a visit in your locker room after your fight and give you a bonus check. It’s not on the books anywhere… [The UFC] offered [Emelianenko] more in a signing bonus than I had ever been paid in a fight. That was like the final slap in the face.

Couture did eventually return to the fold in the UFC, where he finished out his fighting career with matches against marquee opponents like Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and notable boxing champion James Toney.

Couture’s last bout ended in defeat at UFC 129, where he was knocked out in the second round by former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

As a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion and two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, the 49-year-old Couture was also the promotion’s first two-division title-holder with a record 15 title fights.

Couture isn’t the first former UFC fighter to sign a deal with Bellator, as other former Zuffa employees such as Paul Daley, Ben Saunders and Roger Huerta have also left or been dropped from the UFC to join their rival.

Bellator has also recruited high-profile signees from the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion, with the most lucrative contract going to light heavyweight Muhammed Lawal.

Still, arguably no Bellator or Strikeforce fighter is anywhere near as famous as Couture.

As “The Natural” makes appearances on SPIKE, he should provide some critical fuel to the network’s aggressive MMA plan. With Bellator tournaments now airing on SPIKE and following TNA Impact Wrestling in a solid ratings block, the UFC’s top competitor has a sizable weapon in their growing arsenal.

UPDATE: Dana White has commented on the announcement via Twitter, simply stating that he “loves” the news of Couture’s deal with Bellator MMA and SPIKE.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com