Hoy conferencia de prensa en vivo UFC.com

El dia de hoy Dana White y Lorenzo Fertitta daran una conferencia de prensa que sera transmitida a traves de ufc.com, para pronunciarse acerca de las ultimas declaraciones hechas por Randy Couture. esto sera a las 2pm hora del centro de Mexico.

UFC

Problemas en UFC

Desde que Zuffa compro PRIDE han surgido muchos problemas para UFC y con las noticias mas recientes el panorama no pinta muy bien.

La compra de PRIDE FC: La adquisicion de PRIDE estaba condicionada a tener los contratos vigentes con los peleadores de mas renombre de esa empresa. Ya hecha la transaccion se dieron cuenta de varias irregularidades, entre ellas que el contrato de Fedor no era transferible y el de Wanderlei Silva estaba por expirar, lo cual dio muchos problemas para llegar a un acuerdo con el brasileño, ya que Dana White ofrecia una cantidad menor a lo que Silva recibia en PRIDE. Parece que los japoneses encontraron en Lorenzo Fertitta la forma de desligarse de una empresa que se encontraba vinculada a la mafia y tenia serios problemas financieros.

Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva: Cuando parecia que por fin se enfrentarian Liddell y Wanderlei Silva en UFC 76, todo se vino abajo al decidir Silva que no pelearia hasta septiembre, dejando sin pelea estelar a este evento. Razon por la cual entro como sustituto Keith Jardine que derroto a Liddell por decision dividida, un resultado que nadie esperaba.

Esta situacion provoco que de momento se desvanecieran las posibilidades de ver esta pelea tan esperada. Lo ultimo que se ha dicho sobre este asunto fue por parte del entrenador de liddell quien asegura se dara para el UFC 79. Aunque no hay ningun anuncio oficial hasta el momento, desde el dia de ayer ya se esta anunciando esta pelea en DirecTV.

Disolucion de PRIDE: Otro problema que enfrentaron es la poca disponibilidad de los trabajadores de PRIDE Worldwide de trabajar para los americanos (segun Jamie Pollack nuevo presidente de PRIDE), lo que llevo a la cancelacion del torneo de pesos ligeros y el subsecuente cierre de oficinas en Tokio y cese de operaciones.

Perdida de contratos de TV: Recientemente HBO Sports se pronuncio sobre las negociaciones para transmitir UFC, se dijo que el modelo de negocio no tenia sentido para ninguna de las dos partes, dando por finiquitado este asunto. Despues WOWOW empresa que transmite UFC en Japon se nego a renovar el contrato al momento que UFC solicito un aumento en las tarifas.

Surgimiento de nuevas compañias: Han surgido compañias dispuestas a no dejarle el monopolio a UFC, los casos mas notables son ProElite productora de EliteXC que poco a poco se ha ido posicionando en el gusto de la gente, ademas de anunciar hace poco que han comprado varias empresas entre ellas Cage Rage, Icon Sport, King of The Cage, Rumble on The Rock y que han hecho una inversion fuerte en Spirit MC. Otra es M-1 empresa rusa recien adquirida por el billonario Mark Cuban, se ha anunciado que inician operaciones en el mercado americano. Por ultimo la empresa Japonesa World Victory Road Inc que producira un evento del cual todavia no se sabe el nombre (ya que se supone los fans lo van a elegir), y que cuenta entre sus filas con importantes empresarios japoneses, esta empresa es apoyada por la recien creada Asociacion Japonesa de MMA. Muchos ven a esta empresa como la que tomara el lugar que dejo PRIDE.

Fedor a M-1: UFC estuvo tratando de ingresar a sus filas a Fedor Emelianenko, la condicion de Fedor era que mientras estuviera bajo contrato con UFC poder pelear en torneos de Sambo. UFC se nego a tal condicion y derivo en que Fedor terminara siendo contratado por M-1, contrato que se dice es por 10 millones de dolares.

La renuncia de Randy: Randy Couture al saber que no pelearia con Fedor en UFC decidio terminar toda relacion con esta empresa. Este rompimiento con UFC se da siendo Randy el actual campeon Heavyweight y teniendo todavia dos peleas pendientes estipuladas en un contrato que se dice ronda los 15 millones de dolares. Aparentemente se retiraria de las MMA pero poco despues se supo que CFC ofrece 3 millones de dolares por realizar Randy vs Fedor. Todavia no se sabe si los peleadores han aceptado esta oferta, pero va a ser dificil para Randy ya que primero tendra que librar una batalla legal con UFC quienes definitvamente no se van a quedar de brazos cruzados.

Situacion financiera y problemas legales de Xyience: hay rumores que la situacion financiera de Zuffa no es muy buena. Aqui un articulo por Adam Swift, una segunda opinion a lo escrito por el mismo en Sherdog.

It looks to me like the Fertitas and Dana White “cashed out” and purposely switched to a very risky capital structure. Can’t say I blame them; they get to keep all the upside potential of the company while passing off the downside to their lender. This sort of thing often proceeds a bankruptcy.

Por Ultimo se ha sabido que Xyience principal patrocinador de UFC tiene problemas legales en el estado de California. Sin duda esto repercutira de alguna forma en UFC.

Xyience, who recently signed a 3-year contract extension as the official energy drink of the UFC, was issued a Desist and Refrain order by California’s Department of Corporations on September 10, 2007.

Fedor se queda en M-1 y Randy Deja UFC

Dana White debe estarse arrepintiendo de no acceder a la peticion de Fedor de dejarlo participar en combates de Sambo mientras estuviera bajo contrato con UFC, Dana se quedo sin los dos mejores peleadores de MMA de todos los tiempos y acaban de surgir dos empresas con el capital para hacerle frente a UFC.

El dia de ayer desde temprano surgieron rumores que Fedor Emelianenko quien es visto como el peleador numero uno de las MMA no firmaba contrato con UFC sino con M-1, empresa que se decia habia sido adquirida por un americano pero no se mencionaban nombres.
Hoy se sabe que quien compro M-1 es el billonario Mark Cuban dueño de los Mavericks de Dallas y segun TAGG Radio el contrato de Fedor es por 10 millones de dolares.
La ultima pelea de Fedor fue en M-1 contra Matt Lindland un evento co-producido con BodogFight.

Mucha gente opino que para Fedor el no firmar con UFC iba a ser contraproducente, pero por las reacciones que hemos visto solo fue contraproducente para UFC, ya que les costo la renuncia de Randy Couture quien dijo que los motivos son seguir su carrera como actor (actualmente filmando El Rey escorpion: the rise of the Akkadian) y que al no poder pelear contra Fedor ya no tiene nada que probar en las MMA.

Con esto nos damos cuenta lo que pesa Fedor en las MMA y que si hay peleadores que quieran enfrentarse al mejor tendran que ir a M-1, no Fedor a UFC.

Tambien ayer se anuncio el inicio de una nueva compañia en Japon llamada World Victory Road Inc en la cual participa gente que estuvo involucrada en PRIDE.

Mas detalles sobre todo esto en In The Blue Corner.

Barnett responde a Dana White

Josh Barnett responde a traves de FiveOuncesOfPain.com a las ultimas declaraciones hechas por Dana White en la conferencia de prensa de UFC 75, “Nobody gives a shit about Josh Barnett, especially me”.

“He cared,” Barnett responded after White’s quote was read. “He gives a shit because if he didn’t he wouldn’t say anything and he wouldn’t get so worked up about it. He only uses his coveted swear words at important moments like when he tries to get fighters pumped up or gives them pep talks.”

Josh Barnett responds to Dana White.

UFC 75 media conference call / Babalu fuera de UFC

UFC le rescindio el contrato a Renato “Babalu” Sobral a causa de desobedecer al referee y no liberar de un anaconda choke a su oponente el sabado pasado. Tambien se dijeron mas cosas interesantes en esta conferencia.

-Dana on Babalu: if it had of been an arm or an ankle he probably wouldn’t be on fighting anywhere ever again. At this time he has been cut from his contract.

-If Dan goes to 185 it’s possible he gets a direct shot at Silva but he may have one fight first.

-Dana says the last thing he wants to do is bury Pride but it is going to take some time to sort things out.

-Dana: “Nobody gives a shit about Josh Barnett, especially me”.

MMANEWS.COM UFC 75 media conference call

Dana White responde a fans

Dana White respondio a varias preguntas hechas por fans a traves de Yahoo! Sports reader Q & A.

TITO IS SHOT

Why would you consider re-signing Tito Ortiz? He has negligible submission skills, questionable stand-up skills, his ground-and-pound style is boring for the casual fan and worst of all, he’s not able to compete at a world-class level any more. He barely squeaked by with a victory over Forrest Griffin, he drew with Rashad Evens, was badly beaten by Chuck Liddell and chickened out on a boxing match with you.

Please use the money you would offer to Tito to sign Fedor Emelianenko.

Emmanuel S.

DW: Did I write this question? It sounds like I must have submitted this question myself or you are reading my mind. I don’t disagree with anything you said. There are a lot of fans who still like Tito, but I wouldn’t disagree with your assessment of him. I think you really hit the nail on the head, but the reality is, even saying that, there are a lot of Tito fans out there. Why, I have no (expletive) idea, but they’re there. I’ll be curious to see his rematch with Rashad. Will Tito Ortiz win a world title again? Probably not, but he still has a couple of interesting fights out there.

Ultimas noticias de UFC

Kevin Iole de Yahoo sports entrevisto a Dana White y publica que no se llevara a cabo la pelea entre Wanderlei Silva y Chuck Liddell. Parece que Silva es quien no quiere pelear, aun no ha dado ninguna razon.

“This is the worst news I could have possibly gotten,” White said. “It’s horrendous. I have been trying to make this fight for six years. I have done everything in my power I could do over the last six years to make this fight and it’s still not happening. I just don’t see it happening now.”

Por su parte Chuck Liddell comento para MMAWeekly:

“To my knowledge, he turned it down, but I don’t pay attention much until they tell me it’s time to go. There is never any problem with me signing to fight.”

Esta pelea se suponia seria la estelar para el UFC 76 en Anaheim, aunque se haya cancelado habra buenas peleas para este evento. Esta confirmado que Mauricio Shogun debutara en UFC vs Ryoto “Lyoto” Machida, asi como la pelea entre Jon Fitch y Diego Sanchez.

–

Parece que UFC todavia no llega a un arreglo para pasar por PPV el UFC 75: Champion vs Champion, lo que esta haciendo pensar a mucha gente que se podria transmitir por Spike TV, igual que el pasado UFC 70: Nations Collide.

–

 Ya hay varias peleas confirmadas para UFC 74:

UFC 74: Respect
25.08.2007
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada.

Randy Couture vs Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga

Georges St. Pierre vs Josh Koscheck

Renato Sobral vs David Heath

Joe Stevenson vs Kurt Pellegrino

Travis Lutter vs Ryan Jensen

Marcus Aurelio vs Clay Guida

Patrick Coté vs Kendall Grove

–

Con la inminente revancha entre Ortiz y Evans creo que UFC debe reevaluar si Tito Ortiz realmente vale los US$210,000 que cobro en UFC 73. Aqui los salarios de este evento:

Tito Ortiz $210,000
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira $200,000
Anderson Silva $90,000
Heath Herring $70,000
Stephan Bonnar $32,000
Sean Sherk $28,000
Nathan Marquardt $24,000
Chris Lytle $20,000
Rashad Evans $16,000
Kenny Florian $16,000
Hermes Franca $14,000
Jorge Gurgel $14,000
Frankie Edgar $10,000
Mike Nickels $5,000
Alvin Robinson $3,000
Diego Saraiva $3,000
Jason Gilliam $3,000
Mark Bocek $3,000

Comentarios de Dana White despues del UFC 73

15rounds.com publica algunos comentarios de Dana White despues de las peleas del sabado, hay algunos muy interesantes y se desdice acerca de la pelea de unificacion de titulos entre Jackson y Henderson.

“I am very confident that we’ll have an HBO deal very soon.”

“Would like to make the Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell for September”

“They will not fight other opponents before the rematch (Rashad and Tito)

“We need a TV deal to get Pride going. Japan and the US both”

“Hayato Sakurai is joining the UFC. We’re ready as soon as he is. He’ll fight at 170.”

“When we bought Pride, we were going to put on events. We have to get this thing straightened. They have contracts and they need to fight.”

“This is the most exciting sport in the world. This will be the biggest sport in the world.”

“Cro Cop said if he beats Cheik Congo he wants Noguiera”

“Hope to have Fedor fighting in the UFC at the end of 2007 or early 2008”

“Henderson vs Rampage will be for both belts. It is a unification bout. Undisputed champ.”

“Shogun will be in the UFC in Anaheim.”

Kermit Cintron en EliteXC

EliteXC esta listo para ofrecerle un contrato por tres peleas de MMA al boxeador Campeon de la IBF Kermit Cintron, informo hace unos dias Jared Shaw de EliteXC.Cintron habia expresado que si Mayweather declinaba la oferta de Dana White para pelear en UFC, el estaba listo para tomar su lugar.

EliteXC no es UFC, ni le van a ofrecer millones de dolares. Pero aun asi es una buena oportunidad para este boxeador de probarse en MMA e ir subiendo de nivel. Y asi no ser arrojado a los lobos, ya que en este momento una pelea entre Sean Sherk y el estaria muy dispareja.

Dana White comento para MMA WEEKLY acerca de los boxeadores que estan hablando de pelear en MMA y sobre Cintron.

“Boxing is in a position now where to get any notoriety they have to come out and say they’re going fight our guys. Not Floyd (Mayweather), Floyd’s the real deal.”

The UFC President also doubts that these boxers really want to fight MMA at all. Addressing whether or not Mayweather would really agree to such a fight, White stated, “No. Come on. Kermit Cintron doesn’t want to fight any of these MMA guys either. No one knows who Kermit Cintron is.”

Informed that Cintron is the current IBF Welterweight Champion, White replied, “Which means what? What does that mean? It means nothing. I mean, when they’re calling us out now, obviously it’s a good thing.” Of course referring to boxing’s numerous attempts to piggyback MMA’s popularity.

Sean Sherk en ringside

SHERK CHASING FLOYD It’s not unusual when a fighter attends a big match and gets a seat at ringside, hoping to land a fight with the winner of the main event.

It is unusual, however, when that fighter is from a different sport.

But such will be the case Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden when mixed martial artist Sean Sherk, the UFC’s lightweight champion, will be ringside to watch Mayweather try to lift the super welterweight boxing title from De La Hoya.

Mayweather has recently made a number of critical comments about the UFC and MMA. UFC president Dana White, who along with owner Lorenzo Fertitta will also be ringside, has agreed to make it worthwhile for Mayweather to prove his point if he gets past De La Hoya.

The lightweight division in MMA has a 155-pound limit, while the super welterweight division in boxing has a 154-pound limit.

White has been irritated by Mayweather’s putdowns of MMA and has decided to challenge Mayweather to back his words.

Sean Sherk habla de Mayweather

Parte de una entrevista en randomspeak.com a Sean Sherk actual campeon Lightweight de UFC, en la que comenta acerca de Mayweather y nos dice como seria si se diera una pelea entre ellos.

RS: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. came out the last couple weeks completely bashing the UFC and stating that any boxer would demolish a UFC fighter in the cage. Dana White (UFC President) came back at Mayweather and named you as the guy who he’d put Mayweather up against, and that you would handle him no problem. What are your thoughts on the whole situation?

Sean: Well, you know honestly in a boxing match, of course he’d beat me in a boxing match. In an MMA fight, he would be in for a beating. I mean, he’s not going to knock me out with one punch; I’ve got a hard head and have been boxing for 13 years so it’s not like I don’t know how to box. So, he’d have to land a lot of punches to stop me from taking him down, and me being one of the best wrestlers in the sport, there’s no way he could stop me from taking him down.

I don’t think that fight would last longer than a minute, to be honest with you. And I don’t think he should be talking about something that he can’t back up, because I’ll fight him tomorrow. I literally would, if they called and asked me to fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr. tomorrow, it’s done. He’s not going to fight me though, and he’s just running his mouth. I don’t really respect that a whole lot.

RS: It seems like a lot of boxers are starting to fear the rise of MMA by the way they keep speaking out against it. Do you think MMA has taken over?

Sean: Well it has, the numbers for the UFC are absolutely phenomenal. The numbers are unbelievable, and it’s only getting bigger. A fight with me and Mayweather would obviously draw all the boxing fans, and after they see what happens to Floyd they would immediately jump on the UFC bandwagon and say “hey, what the hell are we watching boxing for”. So it’s a losing situation for boxing.

Aqui algunas imagenes de la ultima pelea de Sherk.

Mas de Mayweather y Dana White

Dan Wetzel escribe un interesante articulo sobre las ultimas declaraciones de Floyd Mayweather y Dana White.

“Boxers couldn’t become mixed martial artists. That’s why they’re boxers,” White countered Wednesday from England where UFC has an event Saturday. “They are one trick ponies. Our guys can do everything. They can box, they can kick box, they can wrestle and do jiu-jitsu. They are much better athletes than boxers.”

“Any day that Mayweather wants to put his money and his ass where his mouth is, I’m ready,” White continued. “If he wants to step up, let’s do it.”

Despues de los comentarios despectivos hacia los peleadores de UFC seria interesante ver a Mayweather peleando en MMA y si alguien lo puede hacer posible es Dana White.

Dana White acerca de Mayweather

Los Fertitta compran PRIDE

MMAWeekly publica hoy que los hermanos Fertitta compraron PRIDE y que segun SportsHochi no sera operada bajo Zuffa ni UFC sino como una compañia aparte.

The Japanese newspapers reported today in Tokyo, Japan that the UFC has bought Pride. Rumors of the sale have been circulating for a while, but the deal now appears to be done. One of the newspapers in Japan, SportsHochi, reported that Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who own UFC parent company Zuffa LLC, will start a new company, thus disbanding Dream Stage Entertainment, the parent company of Pride. DSE/Pride President Nobuyuki Sakikabara, who brought Pride to the United States and was successful in making the Pride brand one of the most compelling MMA promotions in the world, is reportedly resigning from his position.

Esta noticia contrasta mucho con las declaraciones hechas ultimamente por Dana White acerca de este asunto.

UFC president Dana White told Sherdog.com Saturday night in Las Vegas that there is not a concrete deal in place for Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to purchase PRIDE at this time. “about 70 percent of what you hear is bullshit.”

Entrevista a Dana White

Interesante entrevista con el presidente de UFC Dana White hecha por CBS Sportline el 9 de marzo donde responde a algunas declaraciones hechas por Jerry Millen (Productor de PRIDE), tambien dice que el UFC 70 no sera PPV y va a ser transmitido por television abierta.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/boxing/story/10050453

Jerry Millen y Dana White

Jerry Millen (Productor de Pride USA) y Dana White tuvieron una acalorada discusion en una entrevista de radio acerca del asunto de Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell

Articulo

Mas comentarios de Dana White

In regards to the UFC’s business plans, White commented that, “We’re going to get real aggressive over the next two, three years. We’re going to expand our market. We’re going down to Mexico. We’re going up to Canada. We’re going over to the U.K. in October. We’re going to do 4 or 5 fights a year over there. We’re going to see how that goes and then possibly reaching out into Europe.”

White was a little more direct with his comments when asked about Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva, who lost to Mirko Cro Cop in Pride on September 10th. White said, “I think he just got executed. Isn’t that what happened to him?”

Articulo completo