Even though the history of mixed martial arts is relatively short compared to other sports, it is now without its share of legendary characters that rub fans the wrong way for one reason or another.These fighters, despite being hated by fans, develop…
Even though the history of mixed martial arts is relatively short compared to other sports, it is now without its share of legendary characters that rub fans the wrong way for one reason or another.
These fighters, despite being hated by fans, develop a large amount of star power and become huge draws due to the fact that fans will pay for the possibility to see them get what they deserve in the Octagon.
Who are some of these fighters and why are they so hated? Read and find out, but keep in mind it’s difficult to definitively rank exactly how hated someone is. Thus, the list isn’t ranked per se, but generally goes from least hated amongst hated fighters to most hated.
Sports Business Daily has broken some epic news regarding the UFC and Fox.The two parties have agreed to a deal that says that the UFC will air up to four events per year on the major network. The details of the deal should be very enticing for the vas…
The two parties have agreed to a deal that says that the UFC will air up to four events per year on the major network.
The details of the deal should be very enticing for the vast majority of fight fans, with the main points being as follows:
This is believed to be a seven- or eight-year deal with bidding have reached up to $90 million per year.
Programs featured on Spike and Versus, like The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Live, will now be featured on the FX network.
UFC programming will also now make its way onto the Fox-owned Fuel network; however, Fuel has no plans of becoming a UFC channel.
This deal “would have included NBC and Versus and would have seen G4 re-branded as a UFC channel, but those talks recently broke down.”
The SBD article also mentions that the Versus and Spike TV deals with the UFC expire at the end of 2011 and that a deal with Comcast/NBC at one point looked very possible. The UFC also expressed an interest with renewing their deal with Spike, but the MTV subsidiary stated that they had no interest in making a new deal.
In 2005, Spike noted that UFC programs such as Unleashed, Knockouts and Countdown averaged about one million viewers.
This year, those shows are averaging less than half of that—around 492,000 viewers per show.
An interesting note is that “Spike holds the rights to UFC library programming through ’12, including old fights and shoulder programming such as UFC Unleashed.”
Both Fox and the UFC have refused to officially comment on the deal just yet, but multiple sources are reporting that the negotiation is in the record books.
Should things move forward as planned, this move will be huge in making MMA a more of mainstream sport.
UPDATE: 4:33 Eastern Time
UFC president Dana White is telling MMA Junkie that the deal has not yet been finalized.
“We’ve been very smart, and we’ve taken our time and built this thing slowly, just like you do any other business,” he said. “No matter what carrots were dangling out there in front of us, we know we’re in this thing for the long haul.
“We’re not in this thing to make money and everything else. We’re in this for the long haul. We got into this because we love this sport. We’re passionate about it, and what we want to do is build a sport.
“To me, building a sport is where everybody all over the world plays by the same rules. That’s our goal. That’s what we’re working on, and when the right deal comes, we’ll take it.”
Filed under: UFCUFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the UFC. It’s not that there aren’t any good fighters in other promotions, White believes, it’s just that the only…
UFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the UFC. It’s not that there aren’t any good fighters in other promotions, White believes, it’s just that the only fighters who consistently test themselves against the best in the world are the ones who do it inside the Octagon.
By that rationale, White says Yushin Okami — who will fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 134 — is the greatest Japanese fighter in MMA history.
“In my opinion, Yushin Okami is the best fighter ever to come out of Japan,” White said. “This guy didn’t fight cans and get this built-up, mythological record.”
Fighters who fight “cans” and build up a “mythological record” are a constant thorn in the side of White, who regularly complains about fans and members of the media who proclaim Fedor Emelianenko — whose best moments came in Japan, and who never fought in the UFC — as the greatest fighter in history. White always insists that Silva is the best ever, and now that he’s promoting Silva against Okami, he’s talking up Okami as the best ever to come out of Japan.
A lot of longtime fans of Japanese MMA — especially the fans from the Pride days — would disagree. Kazushi Sakuraba, Takanori Gomi, Kid Yamamoto, Hayoto Sakurai, Caol Uno and Shinya Aoki could all make a case that they’ve accomplished more in mixed martial arts than Okami has.
White is right, however, that none of those fighters have proven it in the Octagon. Aoki has never fought in the UFC. Sakuraba and Sakurai each fought in the UFC just once, with Sakuraba fighting on the UFC’s Japan card in 1997, and Sakurai losing to Matt Hughes in 2002. Gomi and Yamamoto are both currently under contract to the UFC, but both were past their prime before they ever appeared inside the Octagon. Uno had some success in the UFC and fought twice for the UFC lightweight title, but his overall record in the UFC was just 3-5-2.
And White is surely right that if Okami beats Silva — a very big “if” — he would have an excellent case that he’s the best fighter ever to come out of Japan. Okami has already beaten Silva once, although that was a controversial disqualification. If Okami were to beat Silva convincingly, that would become the signature win of his career and completely transform his reputation, while simultaneously knocking Silva from the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
“Anderson Silva is fighting for his legacy,” White said. “Yushin Okami is fighting for respect.”
For Okami, White believes, a win over Silva would make it impossible for anyone to deny that he’s the greatest fighter ever to come out of Japan.
“If he wins this fight,” White said, “he’ll get the credit he finally deserves.”
Out of all the things Chael Sonnen could say in order to get inside of an opponent’s head, he seems hesitant to do so against Brian Stann. In an interview on The Fight Fix, Sonnen revealed that preparing for Stann is more difficult compared to his…
Out of all the things Chael Sonnen could say in order to get inside of an opponent’s head, he seems hesitant to do so against Brian Stann.
In an interview on The Fight Fix, Sonnen revealed that preparing for Stann is more difficult compared to his previous matchups because of how much respect he holds for him.
“When I get a fight, when they call me and say ‘Hey do you want to fight so and so?’ the answer is yes,” Sonnen said.
“It was different with Brian (Stann),” he said.
At UFC 136, Sonnen and Stann will meet in a middleweight bout to likely determine the next challenger for the UFC middleweight title. The respect and friendship Sonnen has for Stann is evident and it has obviously bothered him prior to his bout.
However, Sonnen said he had a private conversation with Stann and was assured the fight wasn’t “a big deal.”
“It’s the right thing to do. It’s what the company asked us to do, it’s what the division needs. We’re two of the top guys,” he said regarding his bout with Stann.
UFC 136 will mark Sonnen’s first bout in a year following his loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last August.
Gather around, fight fans, as UFC 134: Rio is almost upon us. Featured in this spectacular card is a title rematch between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, another rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and a generationa…
Gather around, fight fans, as UFC 134: Rio is almost upon us.
Featured in this spectacular card is a title rematch between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, another rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and a generational battle between MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and rising superstar Brendan Schaub.
So how will this card event play out? Let’s take a look at all the main card bouts and pick out some winners, shall we?
Chael Sonnen was in his element, again, when he was recently interviewed by Bruce Buffer for the Sherdog Radio Network’s show, “IT’S TIME!!!”During the interview, he had choice words to say about his MMA colleagues Anderson Silva (griping f…
Chael Sonnen was in his element, again, when he was recently interviewed by Bruce Buffer for the Sherdog Radio Network’s show, “IT’S TIME!!!”
During the interview, he had choice words to say about his MMA colleagues Anderson Silva (griping for the nth time), Tito Ortiz (uncharacteristically nice on this one) and Ken Shamrock (his new trash-talk target).
Here are his words on each fighter (courtesy of Jason Moles of Cage Potato), and my humble thoughts.
UFC President Dana White is fond of saying that the only way to prove you’re the best fighter in the world is to do it in the