VANCOUVER, British Columbia — MMA Fighting caught up with Dana White following Thursday’s UFC 131 press conference to discuss a whole host of topics: how he signed Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre, why he decided to make all non-title main events five rounds, Clay Guida’s win against Anthony Pettis, why the UFC isn’t returning to the UK in 2011, slow ticket sales in Vancouver, why Kenny Florian dropped down to featherweight and his acting skills on the new UFC Bud Light commercial.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — MMA Fighting caught up with Dana White following Thursday’s UFC 131 press conference to discuss a whole host of topics: how he signed Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre, why he decided to make all non-title main events five rounds, Clay Guida’s win against Anthony Pettis, why the UFC isn’t returning to the UK in 2011, slow ticket sales in Vancouver, why Kenny Florian dropped down to featherweight and his acting skills on the new UFC Bud Light commercial.
Filed under: UFC, NewsVANCOUVER, British Columbia — UFC president Dana White on Thursday said he expects light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to make his first title defense against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 in Denver, Colo. on September 24…
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — UFC president Dana White on Thursday said he expects light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to make his first title defense against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 in Denver, Colo. on September 24.
“That is the date [Jones] will fight, assuming he’s healed,” White said.
White stipulated that Jones still needs to get his hand cleared by a doctor before he can be officially slotted in, but that could happen as early as Friday, barring any unforeseen medical problems.
Just last week Jones told MMA Junkie that Jackson would be his first challenger, but said he couldn’t discuss the date. White ended that speculation following the UFC 131 press conference, telling reporters that the organization is targeting Jones’ return for September 24.
Previously, Jones was expected to face former training partner Rashad Evans in his first title defense. But after pulling out of the bout amid claims that he needed surgery on an injured ligament in his hand, Evans was slotted for a fight with Phil Davis at UFC 133.
Recently, Jones’ management announced on Twitter that the champion doesn’t need surgery after all, clearing the way for a return to action in the fall. As long as doctors don’t see any problem with the hand now, Jones should be cleared to take on Jackson in Denver.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Following the UFC 131 press conference, Dana White talked about having to share the spotlight with the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver. Watch below.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Following the UFC 131 press conference, Dana White talked about having to share the spotlight with the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver. Watch below.
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsClay Guida defeated former No. 1 contender Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision at Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale, but according to UFC president Dana White, the dominant win didn’t help “The Carpenter” secure a li…
White told MMA Fighting on Saturday that Jim Miller “is still ahead of [Guida]” in the organization’s lightweight rankings despite Guida’s win on Saturday night.
Miller (20-2) has won his last seven fights in a row. He is scheduled to meet Ben Henderson at UFC on Versus 5 on Aug. 14 in Milwaukee.
Current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was scheduled to defend his title against Gray Maynard at last week’s UFC 130, but injuries suffered by both fighters forced the bout to be canceled. It has yet to be rescheduled, but White said last week that he hopes to rebook it in the fall.
Miller’s only two losses have come against Maynard and Edgar. The AMA Fight Club member lost to Maynard at UFC 96 in March 2009 and dropped a unanimous decision to Edgar at Reality Fighting 14 in November 2006.
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, News, Sports Business and MediaWednesday night marked the season finale of the UFC’s major programming vehicle, The Ultimate Fighter. It also marked the unofficial beginning of a countdown to the zero hour when the…
Wednesday night marked the season finale of the UFC’s major programming vehicle, The Ultimate Fighter. It also marked the unofficial beginning of a countdown to the zero hour when the promotion will be faced with a major decision about the fate of its key show. Its current deal with longtime home Spike expires at the end of 2011, following the 14th season of TUF.
According to most observers within the industry, selling the television rights package is the single most important priority for the UFC, and as of now, it remains open for negotiation, a showpiece with bidders circling but no deal yet reached.
While the UFC and Spike remain the main players and talks between the two remain ongoing, the two sides aren’t the only ones involved. In a drama that has played out over recent months and is expected to drag on into the near future in executive boardrooms, other suitors will continue to try to convince the UFC to abandon its longtime home.
Chief among the possible new landing spots is Versus, which is soon to be re-branded as “NBC Sports Channel,” or some similar variation, and with which the UFC already has a solid relationship. In 2007, UFC parent company Zuffa struck a deal to broadcast its WEC brand on Versus, and in Dec. 2009, the two sides increased their investment in each other, with Versus beginning to air UFC events as well. The UFC’s current deal with Versus allows them to broadcast four live events in 2011.
While TV ratings on Spike have generally been higher than those on Versus, it’s not so simple as ratings or money, according to those in the know. The UFC is also hopeful of a partner that will allow them to leverage other assets past the airtime of an event. That would seem to favor Comcast, which can boast the assets of NBC at its disposal, including the possibility of multiple cable channels, morning shows and late-night programming.
Yet within the UFC, there is still an appreciation for Spike’s willingness to air its product when no one else would. There is also a certain ease to their relationship that only comes with time.
“Yeah, absolutely, our preference is to stay with them,” UFC president Dana White said in a recent exclusive interview with MMA Fighting. “Obviously we’ve been with them forever. We have a great relationship. There’s a little comfort being there.”
Still, there have been at least some signs of tension over the last few months. For one, Spike changed TUF’s start time from its customary 10 pm slot to 9 pm this season, a shift that White said was partially responsible for the lower-than-expected ratings. And while Spike declined to comment on ongoing negotiations, a company source questioned some of the booking choices the UFC has made for its Fight Night events.
As an example, he wondered how large an audience would have been drawn to Randy Couture’s last fight had it been the main event of a Spike show rather than airing on pay-per-view.
“I’m not saying they’re not giving us good fights, but there’s a difference between good fights and marquee names,” the source said. “The good fights pull in UFC fans, but the marquee names are the ones that pull in sports fans. That’s how you get those monster ratings.”
Privately, Spike executives are hopeful of retaining a sports property that helped their cable network build an identity, but it’s clear it’s no sure thing. A source with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting that Spike has had production executives in attendance at some Bellator events, perhaps keeping an eye on a potential replacement should UFC bolt.
Still, Spike believes its history of working closely with the UFC will win out, noting how many hours the channel devotes to the UFC, and wondering if anyone else could offer the same. While the UFC is a major property for Spike, that might not necessarily be the case at another cabler. It’s also worth noting that Spike is available in 99.4 million homes, about 20 million more than Versus, its most likely rival.
White bluntly says that the promotion is talking to “everybody,” weighing their options as they take their prime platform into free agency. It’s a deal that may not have long to finalize. While White gave a six-month timeframe for completion, it’s likely that both the UFC and Spike will know the fate of a new deal much earlier than that. If the UFC leaves, it will need at least a few months to get the news out and promote its new TV home. Likewise, Spike would require some time to adjust its schedule and advertise a new Wednesday night lineup.
One source said it is likely we will know the answer to TUF’s 2012 home before TUF 14 starts broadcasting in September. That leaves just about three months in which to strike a deal.
“We’re talking to everybody, and when I say we’re talking to everybody, we’re talking to everybody,” White said. “That’s what you do when your deal is up. With Spike, it’s normal s—. What’s going on right now is normal. There is nothing abnormal about what’s going on.”
Where the UFC ends up is anyone’s guess. UFC and Spike officials talk regularly, according to White, and both sides say the relationship is hardly strained despite the uncertainty of the future.
If you want to read into the tea leaves, recent signs have been more positive. Just days ago, the UFC and Spike announced that Jason “Mayhem” Miller would be one of the coaches on TUF, lending his “Bully Beatdown” reality show fame to the franchise. In addition, both White and a Spike source said it’s quite likely that TUF will be back on at 10 pm next season, putting the show back into its historic slot.
Spike and the UFC helped make each other, and the relationship remains in good working order, even with a looming deadline. That, of course, will change if another cable channel wedges their way in between them. Time for negotiations is running short, and very soon, a decision will have to be made about the UFC’s future home. It may not be the revenue driver that pay-per-view is, but the TV rights deal is a potentially huge step forward as the UFC continues its plan to expand its reach worldwide. Six years into its run on Spike, the UFC’s television future is alternatively full of uncertainty and full of promise.
“Where could we end up? Anything is possible,” White said. “Nothing is impossible.”
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsAt UFC 130, Dana White didn’t sound very confident that he would be able to put together the much talked about Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre super-fight. However, on Wednesday afternoon, the UFC president ann…
At UFC 130, Dana White didn’t sound very confident that he would be able to put together the much talked about Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre super-fight. However, on Wednesday afternoon, the UFC president announced the fight was a done deal and would take place at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas.
MMA Fighting spoke to Cesar Gracie, Diaz’s manager and trainer, about how the deal was completed and what this means for Diaz’s Strikeforce future.
A transcript of the conversation can be found below.
Ariel Helwani: How did this deal get done?
Cesar Gracie: We just sent the contract yesterday and it arrived in their office today.
Is Nick now a UFC fighter?
You know what? That’s an interesting question and they have not told me how they’re going to structure that.
So is his Strikeforce belt on the line?
I don’t know. I truly don’t. They haven’t told me if his belt is on the line. I don’t think so. This is not like that because if his belt was on the line that would make GSP the Strikeforce champion (if he wins). And then what? He’s going to fight someone from Strikeforce? I don’t think that’s happening. But then again, refer to Dana on that one because I truly don’t know.
Did Nick sign a one-fight deal with the UFC or a longer one?
We have a new deal. Multi-fight, multi-year contract with the UFC.
How many fights is the new contract for?
I can tell you it’s a multi-fight, multi-year contract. I can’t tell you how many fights.
So it sounds like he is a UFC fighter now.
Right, but the contract does give the option to fight in Strikeforce. So what that opens up is the potential for him to also fight in Strikeforce.
Over the weekend, Dana White referred to some issues which were stopping this fight from being made. Do you know how those were resolved?
There was a lot of misinformation — there were a lot of reports out there that weren’t true. Showtime, I don’t think was a problem, to be honest with you, at all. They don’t have a contract with Nick. Nick’s contract is strictly with Explosion [Strikeforce’s parent company prior to the Zuffa purchase]. It has never been a contract with Showtime. So the reports you heard were erroneous and false. Other than that, the hurdles were the [Jeff] Lacy thing, stuff like that. I don’t know if they were Strikeforce, and if they were, Nick signed a new contract that dissolved his old contract with Strikeforce.
Do you know if Showtime is getting any kind of percentage of the pay-per-view?
No idea.
Any idea why Vegas was chosen as the site of the fight?
There were two venues they were looking at: one was in Canada and one was in Vegas. We didn’t know which one it was going to be until today.
Would you have been OK with fighting in Canada?
I did tell them it would be better if we fought in Vegas, obviously, because then the belt wouldn’t have very much further to go once Nick gets it (laughs).
Do you think this marks the end of Nick’s run in Strikeforce?
Hopefully. If he’s back in Strikeforce, I would imagine that’s because he lost his next fight.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — 
Clay Guida
Wednesday night marked the season finale of the UFC’s major programming vehicle, The Ultimate Fighter. It also marked the unofficial beginning of a countdown to the zero hour when the promotion will be faced with a major decision about the fate of its key show. Its current deal with longtime home Spike expires at the end of 2011, following the 14th season of TUF. 
At UFC 130,