Tag: Brock Lesnar

So What Ever Became of Fedor Emelianenko’s WAMMA Belt, Anyway?

Filed under: StrikeforceIt’s the question that few of us have bothered to ask, probably because even fewer of us bothered to care, but what’s the status of Fedor Emelianenko’s WAMMA heavyweight title after his submission loss to Fabricio Werdum?

I kno…

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It’s the question that few of us have bothered to ask, probably because even fewer of us bothered to care, but what’s the status of Fedor Emelianenko‘s WAMMA heavyweight title after his submission loss to Fabricio Werdum?

I know, I know. Somehow, what with Brock Lesnar winning a dramatic comeback victory and the heavyweight ranks getting shaken up like a snow globe in the hands of a petulant child over the last few weeks, it doesn’t seem all that important.

That said, is Werdum now the WAMMA champ? Did Fedor FedEx him the belt? And if so, will he wear it with the same sense of pride that Fedor did? I did a little asking around in order to find answers to these and other almost relevant questions, and what I discovered was that the fans aren’t the only ones who haven’t given the issue much thought.

Full UFC 116 Fighter Salaries

Filed under: UFC, NewsThe Nevada athletic commission recently released the UFC 116 payroll for not just the four headliners, but for the entire roster competing on the card.

The disclosed salaries are below, but as always, they are not complete as fig…

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The Nevada athletic commission recently released the UFC 116 payroll for not just the four headliners, but for the entire roster competing on the card.

The disclosed salaries are below, but as always, they are not complete as fighters have other sources of income including sponsorships and locker room bonuses, that are reported to the IRS, but not the media. That night specifically, which UFC president Dana White called the “greatest night of fights I’ve ever seen,” should have an even wider discrepancy than usual.

“We’re writing some [expletive] checks tonight. We’re writing checks – more than what you heard here tonight,” White told reporters following the event. “Guys are going to get very well taken care of tonight.”

Shane Carwin: No Regrets, No Blaming Ref, Just Work Towards Rematch

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, interviewYou would probably understand if Shane Carwin had some regrets about his UFC 116 title match loss to Brock Lesnar. After all, he was so close to victory. One big punch here or one little tweak there might …

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You would probably understand if Shane Carwin had some regrets about his UFC 116 title match loss to Brock Lesnar. After all, he was so close to victory. One big punch here or one little tweak there might have made all the difference. He might still be undefeated, with 13 straight first-round finishes and the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship belt in his possession.

But that’s not the type of fighter Carwin is, nor the type of man he is. In his mind, there’s nothing to regret since he followed his gut. When Carwin had Lesnar in trouble, he went for the finish. And though the energy expenditure ultimately factored into the physical problem that made him vulnerable for Lesnar’s second-round comeback, Carwin said there’s no second-guessing his aggressive attitude.

“That’s me, it’s instinctually who I am,” Carwin told MMA Fighting. “I get somebody wounded and I go in for the kill. That’s how I fight. I don’t know if there’s anything that changes that. I don’t know if I want to change that. I think it’s an exciting style, and it’s who I am as a person. I don’t have any regrets with what happened, but I do have things to work on and figure out. Now it’s time to move forward.”

Insane Lashley-Lesnar Comparisons Must End

Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceOn the surface, you can see how someone could make a comparison between Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar: Both were college wrestlers who became WWE wrestlers and then became mixed martial artists. But if you scratch the surf…

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On the surface, you can see how someone could make a comparison between Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar: Both were college wrestlers who became WWE wrestlers and then became mixed martial artists. But if you scratch the surface at all, you realize that these comparisons aren’t even close to being valid.

You’d think that would be obvious to anyone who has seen Lashley and Lesnar fight, but it’s worth addressing again after recent comments from Strikeforce lightweight Josh Thomson, who in talking up his training partner and future Lesnar opponent, Cain Velasquez, made a rather bizarre comparison between Lashley and Lesnar.

Falling Action: Winners and Losers in the Aftermath of UFC 116

Filed under: UFCThe UFC’s July pay-per-view event is quickly becoming the MMA version of a mid-summer classic. Last year it was UFC 100 that took the organization – and, you could argue, the sport – to a whole new level. This year, UFC 116 brought us a…

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The UFC’s July pay-per-view event is quickly becoming the MMA version of a mid-summer classic. Last year it was UFC 100 that took the organization – and, you could argue, the sport – to a whole new level. This year, UFC 116 brought us a slightly less star-studded card, but one that delivered just as many great moments.

It’s one thing to stack an event with multiple title fights or big pay-per-view draws. That’s the easy way to guarantee big numbers, though it doesn’t always guarantee great fights. UFC 116 delivered in part because of guys like Brock Lesnar, but also in no small part because of guys like Chris Leben, Chris Lytle, and Stephan Bonnar.

They aren’t mainstream superstars and they can’t headline a pay-per-view on their own. All they do is put on gritty, entertaining fights on a consistent basis, which is exactly what they did on Saturday. For that, they deserve a greater share of the attention, and maybe also a bigger cut of the money. But enough preamble. Now on to the best and worst of UFC 116.

Brock Lesnar, Chris Leben Lead UFC 116 Salary List

(Gerald Harris: One finger for each of ’em. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)
The UFC paid out $1,373,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters at UFC 116, with Brock Lesnar taking home over a third of the total payroll with his $400…

Gerald Harris UFC 116 afterparty
(Gerald Harris: One finger for each of ’em. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

The UFC paid out $1,373,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters at UFC 116, with Brock Lesnar taking home over a third of the total payroll with his $400,000 salary and $75,000 Submission of the Night bump. Chris Leben, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Stephan Bonnar also cracked the six-figure mark after their Fight of the Night bonuses were factored in. The full payout list is below. Keep in mind that these numbers don’t include additional income from sponsorships, undisclosed "locker room" bonuses, or percentages of the pay-per-view gross that some of the UFC’s stars (i.e., Brock Lesnar) are entitled to.

Brock Lesnar: $475,000 (no win bonus; includes $75,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Shane Carwin: $40,000

Chris Leben: $161,000 (includes $43,000 win bonus, $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Yoshihiro Akiyama: $120,000 (includes $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Chris Lytle: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Brown: $10,000

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