Morning Report: Ken Shamrock rails against Dana White in Twitter onslaught

After a failed 2009 legal attempt against UFC parent company Zuffa LLC, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock has reignited his long-running feud with company president Dana White. After being tweeted a video critical of the UFC’s treatmen…

After a failed 2009 legal attempt against UFC parent company Zuffa LLC, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock has reignited his long-running feud with company president Dana White. After being tweeted a video critical of the UFC’s treatment of fighters, Shamrock was joined by fellow disgruntled former UFC champions Randy Couture and Frank Shamrock in echoing its sentiment.

Going after him directly, Shamrock addresses White’s numerous public disputes with fighters no longer employed by Zuffa.

Shamrock continues with claims that White, acting as the event’s promoter, exploited UFC fighters while not paying them accordingly.

“So what your saying is that the fighters did not make the ufc what it is today that disrespectful promoter did all of that wow what a smart guy you are why didn’t I think of that who needs fighters when you can just disrespect the guys who made your promotion and talk trash and make loads of money and not give what is partially the fighters money.”

When asked about the possibility of filing some sort of class action lawsuit, Shamrock seemed to allege misleading or incorrect UFC financial numbers are hurting its fighters. Due to the UFC’s status as a privately held firm, it’s under no obligation to disclose its financials.

“No the contracts are agreed upon what there are being told what is made. And the numbers that they are being told that is made is no true. At the sometime if one of the fighters want to audit to find out if in fact the numbers are right just look at me that’s what happens when you want to know the truth.”

After claiming the UFC had prematurely released him with one fight remaining on his contract, Judge Susan H. Johnson of the Eighth Judicial District Court for Nevada ordered Shamrock to pay $175,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs related to the 2009 suit. In 2012, Shamrock participated in an Outside the Lines story for ESPN delving into fighter pay. Making an appearance on the MMA Hour shortly thereafter, Shamrock further details his issues with not being given his due by Zuffa and White.

“I set up deals, I agreed to them, so I’m not going to look back on it now and say look how much money they made and how much money I made. It’s not fair. I’m not going to say that because I did a contract. I made a deal. It is what it is. But when I hear things like this where it sounds like he did all these things for me and I did nothing for them, it kind of stirs up a little fire because I’m thinking to myself, ‘Where would they be if that feud didn’t happen?’ They were getting ready to shut the doors, from my understanding. Whether it’s true or not true, that’s just what I heard, that they weren’t doing well. And I came in, and the numbers changed.”

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5 MUST-READ STORIES

Pettis-Thomson. After T.J. Grant admitted he wasn’t quite healthy for a shot at the UFC lightweight title, former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson will now face Anthony Pettis at UFC on Fox 9.

Jones on Cormier. Leading up to this Saturday’s title defense of his light heavyweight crown, Jon Jones says he doesn’t believe Daniel Cormier deserves to fight him just yet. “I don’t respect him as a person. I think fighting me would be an opportunity of a lifetime for him.”

Family ties. After a disappointing weekend for the Gracie clan at WSOF 5 this past weekend, MMA legend Royce Gracie says his family should shift its focus back on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. “I believe in pure jiu-jitsu. That’s what I’ve done in the past. You have to go back to your roots and train Gracie jiu-jitsu.”

Mousasi on the sidelines. Frustrated with injury setbacks and inactivity, former Strikeforce and Dream champion Gegard Mousasi says he wants to make his UFC return against a notable opponent. “I have no doubt in my abilities that I can beat any of the top ten guys.”

Edgar-Penn. After 10 hard-fought rounds with the legend, Frankie Edgar wants to put B.J. Penn away for good. “I gotta give him a reason to say, ‘I don’t want to fight this guy no more.'”

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MEDIA STEW

Jon Jones sits down with Chael Sonnen on Fox Sports Live.

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Jones mic’d up cageside for Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

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Alexander Gustafsson training Vlog part 2.

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Eddie Wineland pre-fight interview.

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Meet new UFC signee Alexandra Albu. Spectacular grunt at 1:26.

… and a little stand up.

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UFC. Oh, honey.

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Question Time with Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley.

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Short local feature on Pat Healy.

KPTV – FOX 12

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Cruz on Wineland vs. Barao.

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Buakaw Banchamek KO’s David Calvo at K-1.

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TWEETS

A-Rod really took the worst of this.

All day to recover.

Get well soon.

Real Estate guys gotta stick together.

It’s important to have goals.

Rich Franklin is selling organic juice in Los Angeles.

But if that’s not your thing…

Over 10 hours!

She’s winning the game of life.

Meanwhile… (click through and read some of those replies. There’s a lot of sad down there.)

My dented shins are cringing watching this.

Imagine if it were real.

#jobesity TM

Sorry, Joe.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Sept. 16 2013)

Erik Perez vs. Edwin Figueroa at UFC 167

Clint Hester vs. Dylan Andrews at UFC Fight Night 33

Derek Brunson vs. Antonio Braga Neto at UFC Fight Night 31

Ed Herman vs. Rafael Natal at UFC 167

T.J. Grant out, Anthony Pettis vs. Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox 9

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FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via MMA Fighting member VVolfe.

Why Ronda is correct to be worried about public perception post-TUF

That didn’t take long… only two episodes in and I already see why she’s feeling uneasy.

Many people who love combat sports like nothing more than to see an upset. When they occur, it’s easy to see why. Especially when given a situation like tonight’s match up on TUF. As Shayna Baszler gave a masterclass in overconfidence and looking past her opponent, seemingly attempting everything possible to get the audience rooting against her, chirping right alongside her was Ronda.

Initially I waited to see if this was simply strategy, a coach playing along with the preferred method of ‘ramping’ of her particular pupil. Even so, hearing Ronda say that Julianna didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Shayna was, for lack of better term, troubling. As basically The ambassador for women’s MMA, to so openly belittle an up and coming female fighter attempting to make it to the UFC for simply not having the same skill set on paper as the #8 ranked female fighter in the world was confusing at best, and shameful at worst.

So when the fight was competitive and Julianna Pena pulled off what basically everyone thought was impossible, the stage was set for Ronda to follow in the footsteps of some of the great coaches of TUF’s past. It was the cue to take her ego out of the equation, admit her error in judgment and encourage both young fighters to keep going. I have to think she knows that regardless of the outcome and whoever wins this season, it’s good for women’s MMA. Instead she displayed something more akin to the petulant reaction of a child not getting what they want for their birthday.

She looked at Miesha being happy for her fighter, as her fighter pulled off a truly surprising upset, yet in her eyes what she saw was Miesha ‘laughing at Shayna’s pain’. I’ve never read one, but I’d wager Junior high school diaries rarely get that melodramatic. For someone who was so vocally disrespectful, and encouraged her fighter to be disrespectful of her opponent, that’s quite a lot of moral outrage to summon at this perceived slight, yet I can’t help but wonder how she would’ve reacted to Shayna doing what was expected.

Based on her behaviour in tonight’s episode I can only think she’d do exactly what it is she’s angry at Miesha for supposedly doing.

I’ve never been a big Miesha fan, and I am most definitely not a Bryan Caraway fan. However with Ronda alternating between teary-eyed hysterics and childish behaviour on the other side, it’s pretty clear right now which fighter is better suited to coaching. More importantly, Ronda’s worries about how we perceive her after this season are looking very well founded, as it’s also clear who is better suited to having a more thorough glimpse of their personality on display for all to see.

Ronda is an incredible talent, with an amazing list of accomplishments. I don’t think any right minded person would deny this… but I certainly know which upset I want to see happen next.

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Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.