Tag: quick quote

“I Just Think About Being A More Efficient And Brutal Killing Machine,” Josh Barnett

On Saturday night, former UFC heavyweight champ Josh ‘The Warmaster’ Barnett (31-6) will step into the Stikeforce cage for the promotions final show in Oklahoma. Barnett faces Austrian Nandor ‘The Hun’ Guelmino (11-3-1), a fighter on a seven fight win streak but whose most notable opponent was kickboxer Semmy Schilt, someone Barnett had beaten twice […]

Josh Barnett – photo by Esther Lin for Strikeforce

On Saturday night, former UFC heavyweight champ Josh ‘The Warmaster’ Barnett (31-6) will step into the Stikeforce cage for the promotions final show in Oklahoma.

Barnett faces Austrian Nandor ‘The Hun’ Guelmino (11-3-1), a fighter on a seven fight win streak but whose most notable opponent was kickboxer Semmy Schilt, someone Barnett had beaten twice in mixed martial arts bouts.

So come Saturday night, win or lose, Barnett has an uncertain future laying ahead of him.

Many of the victors from the Oklahoma City event will find themselves with UFC contracts, but not so for Barnett. ‘The Warmaster’ and UFC president Dana White have some previous history with one another and may preclude Barnett from even being offered a chance to return to the UFC.

Barnett spoke about the fight with Guelmino and a possible return to the UFC in a recent interview with Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” Show. Here are a few quotes from that interview.

On whether he would have rather fought a UFC heavyweight: “Who cares. Whoever was willing to fight. I don’t know. Maybe they asked some UFC heavies? Maybe they didn’t? I wasn’t a part of any of this process. I just know that they came to me and they go, ‘You’ve got a fight and this guy said he’s going to kick your ass.’ That’s as much motivation as I need for anything.”

On whether he thinks he could fight in the UFC again for Dana White: “I just do my job. To be honest, he’s somewhat the boss of the place I’m working right now. I don’t really know even how much direct contact I would have, even if I was in the UFC, with Dana necessarily. They have a whole slew of employees working for them. I don’t really think about that sort of thing. I just think about being a more efficient and brutal killing machine, and everything else should be just fine.”

The final Strikeforce event, Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine takes place this weekend (Jan. 12, 2013) at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Barnett enters the bout on a loss having lost in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final to Daniel Cormier by decision last May. That defeat ended an eight fight win streak for ‘The Warmaster.’

Guelmino has won seven straight, including five finishes by TKO or by submission. ‘The Hun’ was last in action this past October at a World Free Fight Challenge show in Slovenia picking up a unanimous decision win.

“Whoever Can Impose Their Plan Is Going To Win This Fight,” Ryan Couture On Facing KJ Noons At The Final Strikeforce Event

Lightweight fighter Ryan Couture (5-1) is about to face the toughest opponent of his career when he steps into the cage against KJ Noons this coming Saturday in the opening Showtime Extreme broadcasted bout of the Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event. Strikeforce posted an interview with the lightweight fighter on Tuesday, which I found to […]

Lightweight fighter Ryan Couture (5-1) is about to face the toughest opponent of his career when he steps into the cage against KJ Noons this coming Saturday in the opening Showtime Extreme broadcasted bout of the Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event.

Strikeforce posted an interview with the lightweight fighter on Tuesday, which I found to be a bit interesting as Couture talked about having to look past the fact that he’s looked up to Noons for “a long time.” I just found it odd because of who Couture’s father is, UFC Hall of Famer and former two division champ Randy Couture. One might think if you were to look up to anyone it would be a father like that but I didn’t grow up in the Couture household and my father isn’t anyone famous.

The article is still an interesting read, if you’ve got the time, as the younger Couture talks about his development as a fighter and his motivation leading into this fight.

“I have watched KJ for a long time, before I fought professional and even before that was a realistic thing for me,” admits Couture. “It’s going to be weird and kinda cool to be standing across the cage from someone I’ve followed for a long time, that I’ve always enjoyed watching fight, and kind of looked up to in a way. It is a sense of accomplishment to even have that opportunity, but I have to shift gears and look across the cage at him as someone I’m going to beat. Over the course of training camp, that’s really started to click. I’m feeling confident going into this fight. As far as name guys and top level guys that Strikeforce has to offer, he’s style-wise one of the best matchups for me. I think it’s pretty clear-cut that he’s going to want to box and brawl with me and I’m going to want to make him wrestle. Whoever can impose their plan is going to win this fight. I like that it’s a challenge, but I also know it’s doable. I know it’s a fight I can win and I just have to execute and be sharp on fight night.”

What the article is missing is any thoughts from Couture on possibly moving to the UFC. A win could certainly earn him a contract and would provide the UFC with a gimmick for future events but with an already stacked 155-lbs division, which is about to become more stacked, earning a spot could prove difficult.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney Says His Company Matched UFC Offer For Eddie Alvarez

Things have started to heat up over the last few days for lightweight fighter Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alvarez as he now faces a legal challenge from the Bellator promotion over the latest contract proposal. On Monday, Alvarez came out saying that the Bellator promotion failed to match the contract offered him by the Ultimate […]

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney

Things have started to heat up over the last few days for lightweight fighter Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alvarez as he now faces a legal challenge from the Bellator promotion over the latest contract proposal.

On Monday, Alvarez came out saying that the Bellator promotion failed to match the contract offered him by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and that now he is being sued by Bellator over the contract dispute.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney spoke out about the situation on Monday to MMAFighting.com, defending his company’s side of the contract negotiations stating the offer made to Alvarez was the exact same as the UFC’s.

“I will tell you point blank, no questions asked, we matched it dollar for dollar, term for term and section for section,” he said. “To avoid any kind of ambiguity, let me make clear, we took the UFC contract, we took it out of the PDF format, we changed the name ‘UFC’ to ‘Bellator’ and we signed it. We didn’t alter a word, we didn’t alter a phrase, we didn’t alter a section, we didn’t alter a dollar figure.”

Naturally the sticking point is a cut of the pay-per-view revenue, which the UFC is certainly offering Alvarez for all events he would participate in. This is a practice the UFC appears to follow when dealing with it’s big starts, it’s just not a business model that Bellator Fighting Championships follows as their events air on free television.

Projecting a dollar amount generated from ppv buys is certainly an unknown and according to Rebney is something his company doesn’t “have to match.”

“There is no guaranteed pay-per-view in the UFC offer to Eddie Alvarez,” he says emphatically. “We as Bellator don’t have to match projections. We don’t have to match what could conceptually happen. We have to match guaranteed dollars and what the UFC contractually guaranteed would occur. That is what we are held to.”

I can certainly understand Bellator’s stance, it’s difficult to quantify something for which there has been no basis for when it comes to Alvarez. I guess one could use the PPV numbers from UFC 149, the Octagon debut of former Bellator champ Hector Lombard, but again how does one compare the drawing power of Alvarez to Lombard.

On the other side, Alvarez does have a strong fan base and his inclusion in the UFC’s lightweight division would generate a lot of buzz, more so if he wins his Octagon debut. The money that he could potentially earn is certainly more than Bellator would be willing to pay to keep a former marquee fighter.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the court’s decide, as well as whether or not this recent event has left a sour taste in ‘The Silent Assassin’s’ mouth. If this is the case, and the court decides to rule in favor for Bellator, Alvarez may opt to sit for a year until he is entirely free of any contract obligations to the Chicago promotion.

Eddie Alvarez Being Sued By Bellator, Says Counter-Offer Unequal To UFC Contract

Former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alvarez (24-3) completed his contract with the Chicago based promotion last October when he picked up a first round knockout win over Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire at Bellator 76. With that win Alvarez was able to entertain contract offers from other promotions, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship The […]

Former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alvarez (24-3) completed his contract with the Chicago based promotion last October when he picked up a first round knockout win over Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire at Bellator 76.

With that win Alvarez was able to entertain contract offers from other promotions, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship

The UFC made their offer and Bellator made their counter-offer, but according to Alvarez the two contracts were vastly different and because he didn’t resign with Bellator he is now being sued by his former promotion.

Alvarez was a guest on The MMA Hour (@MMAFighting.com) earlier today to speak about the contract negotiations.

“We went to settlement maybe a couple days ago,” Alvarez said. “We had a settlement meeting to where we were supposed to settle our differences and everything was supposed to get worked out. Long story short, I was sued 30 minutes after our settlement agreement was over…. ”

“If it was a match, I would be more than happy to honor the contract,” Alvarez said. “I signed that contract, I have to fulfill my obligations, it’s what I signed, I’m a man. I have no problems. If it was a match, if this was a hundred percent match, I’d have no problem going and fighting for Bellator. That is not my issue. Do I want to fight the best in the world? Yeah. Would I love to fight the Ben Hendersons? Yeah. The Gilbert Melendezes? Yeah. I’ll fight them tomorrow.

“I’ve always wanted to fight the best guys. That’s not the issue. The issue has to do with being fair. If the contract said at the end we have a chance to match this contract, I said OK to that four years ago and I’m accountable for that. In our eyes, this is not a match. This a difference is a lot of money, a lot of money, and its hard to sign on the dotted line. It’s a lot of money.”

Alvarez is 9-1 over his last ten bouts, all but one of which was under the Bellator banner. ‘The Silent Assassin’ won the Bellator lightweight title back in June 2009 and successfully defended the belt in April 2011 against Pat Curran. Alvarez was finally beaten, losing by submission to current champ Michael Chandler in a 2011 “Fight of the Year” candidate at Bellator 58. Alvarez would bounce back by winning a rematch with Shinya Aoki last April and then by earning his first round knockout against Freire at Bellator 76.

Daniel Cormier Still Wants Bout With Frank Mir, Hoping For April Event on Fox Television

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier (10-0) has his next fight and will appear opposite opponent Dion Staring in the very final Strikeforce event on January 12 in Oklahoma. Regardless of how Cormier does, the current undefeated heavyweight is expected to fight inside the Octagon for his next fight. Cormier had been scheduled […]

Daniel Cormier with the Strikeforce Grand Prix title – Photo via Strikeforce.com

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier (10-0) has his next fight and will appear opposite opponent Dion Staring in the very final Strikeforce event on January 12 in Oklahoma.

Regardless of how Cormier does, the current undefeated heavyweight is expected to fight inside the Octagon for his next fight.

Cormier had been scheduled to face former UFC champ Frank Mir last fall till an injury forced Mir to back out, the former World Championship wrestler is still hoping for that fight to happen and would like to face Mir on Fox television.

Cormier spoke to FightHubTV.com about that matchup as well as some thoughts on his teammate Cain Velasquez’ recent win over Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title.

“I would love for it to be on the FOX show here in San Jose. April 20th, fight Frank Mir, on FOX, have it be a free broadcast and that will help expose me and get more fans behind me who may not know me. That is what I want right now. That is the fight I have trained for, and would be excited to train for it again; Mir wants the fight, I think it would be a great fight. It’s like we are doing Joe Silva’s job for him.”

“I watched the Mir – Dos Santos fight as a fan in the crowd, so live, I did not see it that good. When I came home and watched it, he didn’t do that bad really. I think JDS beat him where he was supposed to and maybe if Mir had pressured a little more he could have done better. The thing about Mir is, there are no secrets in his game, and I think he is very good all around. I respect Frank a ton for what he has done and what he has come back from over his career.”

Cormier faces Staring in the co-main event of the Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event scheduled for Jan. 12, 2013. The match will appear on Showtime along with a welterweight title bout between defending champ Nate Marquardt and challenger Tarec Saffiedine.

Paul Daley Upset With Bellator After Promotion Looks To Stop His Upcoming Cage Contender Bout

The recent troubles for British welterweight Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (30-12-2) continue as the fighter posted an update on his Facebook page stating that the Bellator promotion is attempting to stop him from competing at a Cage Contender event in Ireland this coming February. ‘Semtex’ had been scheduled to appear in Bellator’s Season Eight welterweight tournament […]

Paul 'Semtex' Daley

The recent troubles for British welterweight Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (30-12-2) continue as the fighter posted an update on his Facebook page stating that the Bellator promotion is attempting to stop him from competing at a Cage Contender event in Ireland this coming February.

‘Semtex’ had been scheduled to appear in Bellator’s Season Eight welterweight tournament but issues with his visa are preventing him from making the trip in January. A decision is expected to come in April, so in the meanwhile Daley had been looking to earn a paycheck with local promotions until he received a notice from Bellator.

(Paul Daley) Has received a legal document from Bellator this morning, signed by Bellator CEO, Bjorn Rebney and Legal representatives of the promotion.

Despite, Bellator being aware of a legal matter preventing me from obtaining a P-1 visa to compete in the USA, and therefore making it unable for me to fulfill certain terms of my contract, Its seems as though they are attempting to stop me from earning a living while awaiting a decision that is out of my control, and is not expected until Late April 2013.

This situation has been developing daily, since Oct 2012 with back and forth emails between myself, my management and Bellator representatives (including Bjorn, and Talent relations officer Sam Caplan, to name a few)

I would like to offer full disclosure to the MMA MEDIA. Feel free to contact me here, on my facebook.

Paul “Semtex” Daley

Daley was to headline Cage Contender XVI which is expected to take place on February 23, 2013 at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland. No opponent had been named at this time.