Young Pics of Vancouver’s Pamela Anderson Bring You the Fix Friday Link Dump

UFC finally adding Flyweight Divison, signing 125-pounders: here. Spike TV confirms TUF 14 to start with 32 fighters elimated down to 14 and no wild card picks: here. UFC 135 will be headlined by Jon.

UFC finally adding Flyweight Divison, signing 125-pounders: here.

Spike TV confirms TUF 14 to start with 32 fighters elimated down to 14 and no wild card picks: here.

UFC 135 will be headlined by Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, if Jackson’s medically cleared: here.

Shaquille O’Neal planning UFC Octagon debut? here.

UFC‘s purchase of G4 could cost $360 to 600 million dollars… Isn’t this a bad economy? How much f*@king money does Zuffa have?: here.

Bellator planning to replace UFC on Spike TV: here.

Amazing pictures of busty Sports Illustrated model, Kate Upton in her underwear: here.

UFC 131: dos Santos vs. Carwin Weigh-In results (VIDEO): here.

More pics from Vancouver’s greatest import, (if you don’t count plants) young Pamela Anderson below:

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Five Reasons Zuffa Won’t Buy Bellator


“So then I said to Dana, I said, ‘Look, big guy, you take that check, and you roll it up real tight…'”

With the UFC’s current deal with BFF network Spike set to run out at the end of the year, Zuffa has been looking at other options on television, including buying a stake in cable network G4. It’s been fertile ground for all manner of rumors, but one piece of speculation that kept popping up was that Zuffa may be looking at buying Bellator Fighting Championships. This is not really a new idea, and it’s understandable given Zuffa’s demonstrated willingness to swallow its competition, but it ain’t happening.

Sure, Zuffa has pockets deep enough to write a check for the young up and coming promotion, but would they actually be interested in doing so? What would such an acquisition do for the UFC? Could they convert Bellator’s circular steel to Zuffa’s angular cage? Do they need Bjorn Rebney to come up and teach the finer points of running tournaments? Are guys like Eddie Alvarez, Ben Askren, Joe Warren, and Hector Lombard valuable enough to justify a takeover?

Well, short answer: no. Everyone knows that you can’t octagon a circle, so Zuffa would likely have a handful of round cages with nothing to do with them. Who wants a cage that doesn’t reflect your company’s logo? Come on, people, that’s just elementary.

Come on in past the jump and we’ll lay out our case, woefully uninformed though it may be, as to why Zuffa will not be buying Bellator anytime in the near future. We’ll even open up the floor for comments, if you jerks think you know better than we do. Just remember, if you make us look silly, we’re completely capable of doing humorous things to your log-ins, like adding links to diaper fetish sites and penis pump vendors. You’ve been warned.


“So then I said to Dana, I said, ‘Look, big guy, you take that check, and you roll it up real tight…’”

With the UFC’s current deal with BFF network Spike set to run out at the end of the year, Zuffa has been looking at other options on television, including buying a stake in cable network G4. It’s been fertile ground for all manner of rumors, but one piece of speculation that kept popping up was that Zuffa may be looking at buying Bellator Fighting Championships. This is not really a new idea, and it’s understandable given Zuffa’s demonstrated willingness to swallow its competition, but it ain’t happening.

Sure, Zuffa has pockets deep enough to write a check for the young up and coming promotion, but would they actually be interested in doing so? What would such an acquisition do for the UFC? Could they convert Bellator’s circular steel to Zuffa’s angular cage? Do they need Bjorn Rebney to come up and teach the finer points of running tournaments? Are guys like Eddie Alvarez, Ben Askren, Joe Warren, and Hector Lombard valuable enough to justify a takeover?

Well, short answer: no. Everyone knows that you can’t octagon a circle, so Zuffa would likely have a handful of round cages with nothing to do with them. Who wants a cage that doesn’t reflect your company’s logo? Come on, people, that’s just elementary.

Come on in past the jump and we’ll lay out our case, woefully uninformed though it may be, as to why Zuffa will not be buying Bellator anytime in the near future. We’ll even open up the floor for comments, if you jerks think you know better than we do. Just remember, if you make us look silly, we’re completely capable of doing humorous things to your log-ins, like adding links to diaper fetish sites and penis pump vendors. You’ve been warned.

1.  Zuffa doesn’t want or need Bellator’s assets, i.e. fighters’ contracts. Every fighter that steps into the Bellator steel, with only a very few exceptions, already have their eyes set on the UFC. While there are guys like Eddie Alvarez who are more than happy with their pay and treatment, most guys have their sights set on the big money PPV land of the UFC. Likewise, Zuffa is not interested in the library of video owned by Bellator, either. While other acquisitions that Zuffa has made through the years have been influenced by a wealth of primo ass-kicking footage (PRIDE, WEC, IFL, Showtime…mostly PRIDE though), there’s relatively little of interest to the UFC. All due respect to guys like Yahir Reyes Jose Vega, and Rich Hale, but the UFC has no interest in insane highlights of guys that will likely not ever compete at the UFC level.

2. The UFC needs a developmental resource. Whatever you call it, there has to be a system in place for fighters to gain experience and develop some kind of pro record. If those fighters can get national exposure along the way, all the better. Just look at this list of former King of the Cage champions that have gone on to compete in the UFC that we considered making (we decided against it).  While Strikeforce will probably become the minor leagues for the UFC eventually, Bellator’s existence for now serves a helpful purpose to Zuffa.

3. Because Bjorn says “no.” Bellator has been through tough times,  but Rebney believes its value is growing strongly. While there is a great deal of speculation that BFC is losing money, executives at MTV2 are reportedly tickled pink with ratings from Bellator. Add to that the talk around pretty much every campfire that Spike expects to lose its relationship with the UFC, and that network suits are taking a look at Bellator to fill the aching hole that will be left behind, and it seems like a fair assumption that there’s growth ahead for the promotion as a whole.  Why cash out now?

4. Why buy when you can counter-program? This is where Strikeforce comes in again. Given enough time, there will be fluidity between the UFC and Strikeforce, allowing fighters to be called up from (and sent down to) the minors whenever Joe Silva sees something he wants, or a UFCer needs to pick up a couple of wins.  We’re already starting to see these kinds of contracts come out for Strikeforce guys.  As a result, there will always be enough established name talent fighting under the Strikeforce banner to put together compelling broadcasts, whether it be on Showtime, network television, or the UFC Channel.  That gives Zuffa a very large hammer to aim at any competition that pops up.  Dana has already shown that he’ll counter-program his competition — and usually win. If Zuffa ever does look to acquire Bellator, expect a solid counter-programming campaign first.

5.  It could look like a monopoly. After Zuffa’s purchase of what was universally seen as the UFC main competition, Strikeforce, rumors have circulated that the Federal Trade Commission was taking a look at Zuffa for possible legal issues, including establishing a monopoly. In our completely informed expert opinion </sarcasm>, it’s the very existence of promotions like Bellator and Shark Fights — smaller MMA organizations that have fair access to the market — that would support Zuffa and the UFC as fair competitors.  As far as the other stuff, hey, we’re just hack journalists (which may be one step up from being a  “shitsite“), not lawyers.  With the benefits of acquiring Bellator being debatable, why give your detractors (and the feds) ammo to use against you?

Disagree?  Go ahead and make your case below.  Just remember, we’re not above linking your screen name to pictures of Tito’s junk.

[RX]

Analysts Say G4 Purchase Could Cost UFC Between $360-$600 Million


(“…and how much for you to convince Olivia Munn to come back?”)

According to a report by Bloomberg, several analysts are pegging the prospective UFC-G4 deal between $360 and $600 million US, depending on how much of the company Zuffa wants to buy.

Both David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co and David Bank, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets peg the value of the deal as high as $600 million if the UFC purchases the network outright. Insiders say that the promotion is looking to purchase at least a 60% controlling interest in the struggling network, which would cost them an equal percentage of the purchase cost.


(“…and how much for you to convince Olivia Munn to come back?”)

According to a report by Bloomberg, several analysts are pegging the prospective UFC-G4 deal between $360 and $600 million US, depending on how much of the company Zuffa wants to buy.

Both David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co and David Bank, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets peg the value of the deal as high as $600 million if the UFC purchases the network outright. Insiders say that the promotion is looking to purchase at least a 60% controlling interest in the struggling network, which would cost them an equal percentage of the purchase cost.

How the value is determined for a channel is a formula that multiplies the amount of homes the network reaches by a value-per-home figure depending on ratings. Joyce said that figure likely sits between $5 and $10 for the Comcast-owned station that reaches an estimated 60 million homes. More popular channels like Spike TV, whose agreement with the UFC ends late this year, could fetch as much as $20 per household. There are rumors that the UFC are asking Spike for $325 million for them to re-sign with the network they helped put on the map, but it’s unlikely they’ll cough up such a large sum, so they have set the wheels in motion to bring Bellator over from their sister station, MTV2 to fill the void.

NBC Universal spokeswoman Amelia Stewart and UFC PR rep Caren Bell both refused to comment on the prospective deal.

UFC in Negotiations to Buy Majority Stake In G4 Network

(Now we know how the void left by All My Children going off the air in the fall will be filled.)

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the UFC is currently in negotiations with NBCUniversal to purchase a majority stake of its G4 network.

According to the report, (which quotes different sources who have claim that negotiations are in the beginning and midway points and others who say that the story is just smoke, but no fire as the UFC is talking with several networks to get an idea of what options are available), the deal would provide the promotion with a new home for its programming when its current deals with Versus and Spike TV conclude at the end of this year. Apparently Spike has made initial high monetary contract demands of the UFC to renew a deal with the specialty channel whose growth can be attributed in large part due to runaway success of The Ultimate Fighter.

G4’s asking price and the percentage of ownership the UFC is looking for are not yet known.

(Now we know how the void left by All My Children going off the air in the fall will be filled.)

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the UFC is currently in negotiations with NBCUniversal to purchase a majority stake of its G4 network.

According to the report, (which quotes different sources who have claim that negotiations are in the beginning and midway points and others who say that the story is just smoke, but no fire as the UFC is talking with several networks to get an idea of what options are available), the deal would provide the promotion with a new home for its programming when its current deals with Versus and Spike TV conclude at the end of this year. Apparently Spike has made initial high monetary contract demands of the UFC to renew a deal with the specialty channel whose growth can be attributed in large part due to runaway success of The Ultimate Fighter.

G4′s asking price and the percentage of ownership the UFC is looking for are not yet known.

Viewership of G4 has been steadily declining for some time, which could mean that the UFC could get a deal on the struggling property that Direct TV recently dropped from its channel offerings due to low ratings.

Well it looks like we aren’t going to be mentioned on Attack of the Show any more…

We’ll post updates on the situation as we get them.

Hump Day Headlines with Stephanie Ann Cook

New York still ain’t havin’ it with MMA, won’t sanction it in 2011. Shark Fights 15 scoring error in Villasenor vs. Camozzi which resulted in a Draw. New Mexico Commision to declare a winner around.

New York still ain’t havin’ it with MMA, won’t sanction it in 2011.

Shark Fights 15 scoring error in Villasenor vs. Camozzi which resulted in a Draw. New Mexico Commision to declare a winner around June 14th.

Texas Commission to license Josh Barnett.

Clay Guida considering drop to Featherweight division.

Bellator makes Canada debut on July 23rd with Bellator 47: Joe Warren vs. Patricio Pitbull.

UFC‘s new cable network home may be G4. No more Spike TV.

UFC 131 preliminary bouts will stream on YouTube.