Tag: UFC News

Forrest Makes Fighting Sound Fun!

Forrest Griffin spoke to MMA Junkie about his rematch against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua this Saturday at UFC 134 in Rio and holy sh*t it was depressing! It sounds like Forrest was reluctantly forced into this.

Forrest Griffin spoke to MMA Junkie about his rematch against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua this Saturday at UFC 134 in Rio and holy sh*t it was depressing! It sounds like Forrest was reluctantly forced into this match. Griffin says:

“Acceptance, just like the stages of grief… You can only stay in denial for so long… When I got off the plane, I accepted that I was in Brazil,”

Geez, you’d think he was taking his death march to the guillotine… No not the choke, I mean an actual guillotine. Griffin was a tad more enthused just about 4 years ago when he had actually asked to fight Shogun. I remember! I interviewed him here:

Watch Road to 76 I on RawVegas.tv

And no, obviously I couldn’t pronounce “Rua” correctly at the time, but forget that! Listen to how pumped Forrest was. He asked for that match when Joe Silva called him to suggest a match up with Lyoto Machida. Griffin response was:

“I said, well who’s fighting Shogun? [Joe Silva] said we’re looking for someone to fight Shogun. I said, ‘shit man, you found somebody!’ I’ve been wanting to fight that dude since forever…”

Well, gee… I guess once was enough. But boy, back then… It was a hell of fight, wasn’t it? Now, for Forrest, it sounds like it’s really just about getting the bills paid and taking care of family:

“My parents gotta retire,” he said. “My wife’s parents gotta retire. My little brother wants to go to college. I’ve got a daughter coming; she’s probably going to want to go to college, and she’s probably not going to be a genius, either. So, gotta make some money. A win. Winning pays a lot more than losing.”

So… at least, he still plans on winning and there’s a motivation there… Let’s just hope it’s motivation enough to bring out that same Forrest Griffin in the cage we saw back at UFC 76. F*cking bring it!

TUF Moves to FX and Goes Live

As UFC and FOX announce their new multi-year partnership, details have confirmed that a revamped The Ultimate Fighter series will begin airing on FX Network this spring. A UFC press release stated: In spring 2012,.

As UFC and FOX announce their new multi-year partnership, details have confirmed that a revamped The Ultimate Fighter series will begin airing on FX Network this spring. A UFC press release stated:

In spring 2012, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER, UFC’s signature weekly reality show moves to FX, FOX’s general entertainment cable network now in more than 99 million homes. With the move to FX, the show will feature a newly-designed format. FX is also set to televise another four-to six-live UFC events annually, with a mixture of additional events and programs heading to FSMG cable networks including FUEL TV.

Changes to the TUF show include a two-hour live season premiere to showcase 16 ‘all-or-nothing’ fights among 32 fighters and audience participation as viewers vote on who will fight who once coaches select their teams. TUF episodes will be edited in real time and live fights will follow each episode over a 12 week period leading up to the 13th episode which will be an all live event crowning the champion.

Changes to UFC pay-per-view events are also in the works and Fox’s first UFC Live event will air November 12th.

Dana White Flies to LA on Day Before Fox Network Big Announcement: Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

Well Dana White tweeted today: And that sent rumors buzzing that White and Frankie Edgar‘s trip to Los Angeles could be due to the big announcement Fox Network has planned tomorrow (Thursday, August 18th). As.

Well Dana White tweeted today:

And that sent rumors buzzing that White and Frankie Edgar‘s trip to Los Angeles could be due to the big announcement Fox Network has planned tomorrow (Thursday, August 18th). As reported by MMA Weekly:

It was released on Wednesday by John Ourand from Sports Business Daily that Fox executives were in Los Angeles for a press conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon that would be “one of the biggest announcements in FOX Sports history.”

MMA enthusiasts are expecting to hear that a major broadcast deal has been struck between UFC and Fox for a multi-year contract negotiated around $90 million dollars. To add fuel to this pretty much true theory, it’s been reported that also on route to LA today were Georges St. Pierre and Rashad Evans. The Fox Press Conference is said to be held at 10:00am (PT) in Studio 2A at the Fox Network Center. This would really suck and/or be a little funny if it has nothing to do with UFC.

TUF and UFC Events to Find New Home on Fox Network

Sports Business Daily and Heavy MMA are reporting that Fox Network has or is very close to inking a multi-year broadcast deal with the UFC which includes airing about 4 UFC events per year and.

Sports Business Daily and Heavy MMA are reporting that Fox Network has or is very close to inking a multi-year broadcast deal with the UFC which includes airing about 4 UFC events per year and make Fox the new home of The Ultimate Fighter reality competition series. The deal which has not been confirmed by Dana White or any reps at Zuffa (but has been allegedly leaked anonymously by someone at Fox) is said to be negotiated at or up to 90 million dollars.

White addressed the rumored deal at the UFC 136 press conference by saying: “I didn’t comment when The Wall Street Journal said we bought G4 either. When you’re in these negotiations, rumors start flying and everything else.”

Both the UFC’s contracts with Spike and Versus Networks expire at the end of this year and neither Network is expected to renew deals with the UFC.

Shaquille O’Neal to Join UFC?

There has been a lot of rumbling over former NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal in talks with Dana White and a possible MMA career. O’Neal will address the rumors to Inside MMA tomorrow night on HDNet..

There has been a lot of rumbling over former NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal in talks with Dana White and a possible MMA career. O’Neal will address the rumors to Inside MMA tomorrow night on HDNet. O’Neal reportedly tells hosts Kenny Florian and Bas Rutten : “Once I started training MMA, I starting winning championships.” O’Neal spent this past 2010-2011 season with the Boston Celtics before retiring from his basketball career this year at the age of 39. At 7′ft. 1 inches tall and 325 pounds, he was the heaviest player ever to join the NBA. Inside MMA airs Friday night at 9:00pm ET.

Um…Why Did M-1 Put Arianny Celeste on Their Official Poster?

The sneaky marketing team over at M-1 Global decided to use an image of Arianny Celeste in their official poster for their upcoming Ukranian event. As word spread over the internet, Miss Celeste was none-too-pleased.

The sneaky marketing team over at M-1 Global decided to use an image of Arianny Celeste in their official poster for their upcoming Ukranian event. As word spread over the internet, Miss Celeste was none-too-pleased and immediately ratted out M-1 to the UFC. Celeste tweeted:

They’re Russian! Couldn’t they have made Celeste an offer she couldn’t refuse? Or is that the Italians? I hate when I mix up my stereotypes. At any rate, maybe this was M-1 Global’s Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan‘s way of trying to make Dana White laugh since he recently told Sports Illustrated how much he enjoys White’s humor: “I look at his interviews and it just makes me laugh, it’s just funny… It’s laughable that those things are said….all the stuff that happens behind the scenes, it changes the picture very significantly.”

Let’s see if White gets a good chuckle from this poster incident.

Meanwhile, M-1′s main attraction, Fedor Emelianenko finally gave an interview and reaffirmed his belief that his bout against Dan Henderson was stopped prematurely. Fedor also says he didn’t have a contract with Strikeforce [or Zuffa] and that he is under contract with Showtime Network. Highlight’s from Fedor’s interview via Low Kick below:

A lot of people are arguing about the stoppage in your last fight with Dan Henderson. Do you think the referee made the right call to stop the fight?
I think the fight was stopped early. But that’s my opinion. We all know that the referees are trying to protect fighters from serious injuries. I don’t want to judge anyone. The refereeing was fair, and if there was some sort of mistake, I don’t think it was intentional.

According to Dana White, you were fired from Strikeforce. Is there any truth in this statement?
That’s Dana White’s style to make comments. I didn’t have a contract with Strikeforce. My current contract is with Showtime. So I think people shouldn’t pay attention to these “loud” comments.

I don’t have any obligations for UFC or Strikeforce. Our new contract ensures we don’t have to work directly with these organizations. We have already experienced certain difficulties while working with PRIDE and Affliction. We are trying to avoid any unpleasant consequences.