Former number one UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was today handed his walking papers for refusing to sign an agreement that would give the promotion exclusive lifetime video game rights to his name and likeness, MMAmania.com can exclusively confirm.
Christian Wellisch — who also didn’t ink the paperwork — was also released. Others who do not sign the agreement could also be let go in the future.
Fitch and members of his camp were not immediately available for comment on the startling development.
While the full details are a little murky at this time, Fitch was apparently approached about the issue when he turned in his signed bout agreement to fight Akihiro Gono at UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2′ on January 31. And when he and his representatives attempted to negotiate the video game deal it was all or nothing.
He didn’t sign it and was terminated shortly therefafter.
Fitch — who is tied with Royce Gracie and Anderson Silva for the most consecutive wins in UFC history (eight) — recently lost a gutsy unanimous decision to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” on August 9.
The former Purdue University wrestler just returned from a trip to Thailand to refine his Muay Thai and stand up skills. For the time being he may have to now put those skills to the test outside the Octagon for the first time since 2006.
He’s among the top 170-pound fighters in the world and should land on his feet sooner rather than later. Talk about a big loss for the UFC … and Jon Fitch.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned that lightweight competitor Marcus Aurelio is the latest fighter to depart the UFC.
The American Top Team member was released from his contract with the promotion soon after his unanimous decision loss Hermes Franca last month at UFC 90.
The Franca bout marked Aurelio’s second consecutive loss on the heels of his unanimous decision defeat to Tyson Griffin this past July at UFC 86.
Aurelio signed with the UFC in 2007 after having earned a reputation as one of the top lightweight fighters in the world while competing for PRIDE Bushido in Japan. During his PRIDE tenure, Aurelio recorded the most notable victory of his career at PRIDE Bushido 10 when he submitted Takanori Gomi at 4:34 of round 1 courtesy of a arm triangle choke.
While he entered the UFC amidst high expectations, Aurelio failed to gain traction after losing his Octagon debut at UFC 74 when he dropped a split decision to Clay Guida. He rebounded with consecutive victories against Luke Caudillo at UFC 78 and against Ryan Roberts at UFC Fight Night 13 but his career record in the UFC fell to 2-3 after the losses to Griffin and Franca.
Aurelio joins a list of high-profile fighters such as Fabricio Werdum, Paulo Filho, and Jason Lambert that have been released from their contracts with Zuffa.
After a controversial ending to their first bout, UFC welterweights Kevin Burns and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will meet in the Octagon once again in December. The two will settle the score at the live finale for "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir," emanating from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Dec. 13.
A Georgia native fighting out of Los Angeles, Johnson, one of the welterweight division’s most explosive athletes, and Burns, a promising newcomer from Des Moines, Iowa, first met this past July at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin. Towards the end of three highly competitive rounds, it seemed that Johnson was on his way to a hard fought decision win when Burns inadvertently poked him in the eye while throwing an uppercut. The strike escaped the view of referee Steve Mazzagatti, and when Johnson was felled by the blow, Burns pounced and won by TKO. Both fighters have lobbied for a rematch, and their wish will be granted on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.
Also on the card, Edmonton’s Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald will square off against Fortaleza, Brazil’s Wilson Gouveia in middleweight action. MacDonald last fought at UFC 88 in September, where he defeated Jason Lambert in impressive fashion. The Canadian will look to vault himself into title contention in the middleweight division with a victory over a stern test in Gouveia. Wilson Gouveia made his middleweight debut at Ultimate Fight Night 15 this past September after compiling a 4-2 record as a light heavyweight in the UFC. The drop in weight did not have any ill effects on his performance, with Gouveia submitting his opponent Ryan Jensen via armbar in the second round. The American Top Team product will look to notch his sixth UFC victory when he takes on MacDonald.
The world needs a contender. A solid contender. The MMA fighter who the entire world knows is the next man up for the belt. Boxing had their Frazier. We need ours. When title shots are placed in the hands of the specific fight companies, funny things tend to happen. After a championship loss, even be it a valiant effort, the losing competitor is more often thrown to the back of the pack. Unless, the beaten fighter happens to be a poster boy whose image sells t-shirts. Ya dig?
I call for an independent ranking organization who ranks the fighters at each weight class within each fight company. In this manner, since title belt for title belt unification matches will never happen due to a lack of adult communication between the fight companies, at least each company would have a top 10 list per weight class that is not soiled in politics or favoritism. A separate oversight committee would be a God-send. Let’s make it happen. Let's do this for the integrity of MMA. As a fight fan who pays these fight organizations' bills, make your voice be heard.
According to a report at MMA Mania, Jon Fitch is set to face off against colorful Japanese fighter Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 on Super Bowl weekend. The fight was originally scheduled to take place back at UFC 82 before Gono had to pull out of the fight due to a hand injury and was replaced by Chris Wilson.
Fitch would go on to defeat Wilson via unanimous decision but his UFC winning streak ended in his very next fight, a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Fitch is currently 8-1 in the UFC and was undefeated in the Octagon prior to meeting St. Pierre. He holds victories over some of the best UFC welterweight competitors, including Diego Sanchez and current number one contender Thiago Alves.
Akihiro Gono holds a 1-1 record inside the UFC, winning a fight via armbar against Tamdan McCrory at UFC 78 and most recently dropping a split decision loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 89. The Japanese fighter is one of the most colorful fighters in all of MMA, known for his elaborate entrances and dance moves. But he also brings a wealth of experience to the cage, having fought in 49 fights and spanning all of the major Japanese promotions.
UFC 94 is also set to include a welterweight title clash between two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world in Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn as well as a number one contender fight at light heavyweight between Thiago Silva and Lyoto Machida.
In a quick change of heart, UFC president Dana White told reporters in during a press conference today to promote BJ Penn vs. George St. Pierre in Toronto, that the WEC might be looking to promote Gina Carano in one of its future events.
“Gina Carano is a star, I think she’s talented. I think she’s got all the tools, so what I’m willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. We could do fights whenever there’s a challenger for Gina. That’s how I’ll test the waters and see how it goes,”
Who and When is yet to be scene, but a possible fight between Carano and Cris Cyborg might not be to far off. Note, Carano has yet to respond to any possible deals between herself and the WEC.
The line has started to form behind Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko has joined it.
The world’s top-ranked heavyweight and his team of managers voiced their interest on Tuesday in having the touted Russian meet the newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion in “a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment,” according to a prepared press release.
Lesnar dropped perennial favorite Randy Couture at UFC 91 last Saturday three minutes into the second round with a glancing right hook to the living legend’s neck before pouncing on the six-time champion with a flurry of chopping hammerfists for the stoppage.
Couture (16-9) -- who campaigned for a fight with Emelianenko for nearly a year outside the UFC during a contract dispute -- was down on the scorecards, but gaining momentum after he cut Lesnar over his right eye with an angular punch just a moment before his opponent short-circuited his efforts.
The former WWE champion earned a title shot toting a humble 2-1 professional record, but Lesnar silenced numerous critics who condemned the matchup happening based on popularity more than merit.
“I think Lesnar fought a very smart fight,” Emelianenko told Sherdog.com on Tuesday. “It was very interesting to watch. I think one of his strengths was that -- I was impressed by his speed in the fight. I think just from watching the fight, each fighter was waiting for the other one to make a mistake and I think Lesnar was very fortunate to have caught Randy and prevail.”
Despite faltering in his performance against Mike Brown at WEC 36 in Hollywood, Fla., earlier this month, former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber is still in the promotion's plans when it comes to putting together a blockbuster fight card.
That is exactly what the UFC's sister promotion has on tap for January.
Reliable independent sources confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that the WEC is looking to kick 2009 off in style, going big right out of the gate. Current plans call for the promotion to make its first stop ever in San Diego on Jan. 25 with one of its most loaded cards to date.
As mentioned, Urijah Faber is set to be part of the fight card, although he won't get the immediate rematch with Mike Brown that he had hopes for. Brown suffered torn rib cartilage in winning the belt from Faber on Nov. 5 and is unlikely to return to action before March. It is currently unknown whom the WEC will match Faber up against, but the short list includes Leonard Garcia and Jose Aldo.
"Urijah wants to fight in January,” his manger, Mike Roberts, stated in a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio. “We’re still trying to sort out who he’s going to fight."
Current WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner will make the second defense of his title when he faces Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in what is likely to land as the main event at WEC 38. Cerrone earned a shot at Varner with his "Fight of the Night" performance against "Razor" Rob McCullough at WEC 36. Cerrone overcame two knockdowns in the opening round to batter McCullough en route to a three-round unanimous decision.
Welterweight kingpin Carlos Condit will also don the card, looking to keep his eight-fight winning streak intact. No opponent has been locked down at the time of publication, but indications are that a rematch with Brock Larson could be in the works for Condit, who recently made the move to train at Arizona Combat Sports with Varner.
In a recent conference call, WEC vice president Peter Dropick stated that pay-per-view is in the works for the promotion, "Do I have anything scheduled (for PPV)? No. Do I have plans? Yes."
The plan isn't to put WEC 38 on pay-per-view event, however. Sources indicate that it will be carried live on Versus.
Following one of the most exciting fights in all of 2007 in a win over Jason Black at UFC 77, Oklahoma native Matt Grice took some time off from competing in MMA to attend the police academy and help solidify a future for his wife and young daughter.
Grice asked permission from the Ultimate Fighting Championship to take the time off to attend the academy. They were accommodating to let him do what he had to do, while holding his contract in place to allow for his return to the Octagon.
As far as the overall experience, Grice says he couldn't be happier with what the UFC did for him.
"I was perfectly happy with the way everything went," Grice told MMAWeekly Radio recently. "You hear a lot of bad things, but I base my decisions off personal experience. From everything I've experienced with them, they've done nothing but take care of me and done great things for me, so I have nothing but the highest regards for the UFC."
With his police training coming to an end soon, he has already made contact with matchmaker Joe Silva about a return to the cage, but also made another request before returning.
"I talked to Joe Silva about a month ago and I asked him if I could have permission to do a warm-up fight here locally in Oklahoma City and he did say yes," Grice stated. "When I come back to the UFC I want to be top notch ready to go, and I feel that being out for a year now that I need to do a local fight to knock the rust off and stuff like that."
Ready to return to action, Grice was pleased with the UFC's willingness to work with him and after he finishes his police training, it's right back to work again – this time for fighting.
"As of right now, Jan. 31 for Freestyle Cagefighting and then right after that hopefully I'll be going back to the UFC," Grice announced on the radio show.
Following that fight, Grice is looking to return to the UFC hopefully in April or May 2009, hoping to get right back on track in the 155-pound division.
On August 9th after UFC 87, internet message boards erupted mere minutes after Brock Lesnar defeated 11 year veteran Heath Herring, a solid heavyweight contender, with relative ease. While many of the posts were based on the subject of Lesnar’s performance within the octagon, the same amount (or more) dealt with the discussion of Lesnar’s post-fight antics.
While it became a natural occurrence to see Tank Abbott or Tito Ortiz figuratively spit in the faces of their defeated opponents, for some reason MMA’s fan base took great offense to the former “WWE Superstar’s” victory-lasso-rope’em-up shenanigans. But why? The man was literally trained and developed to become a prime-time character within the wild world of sports entertainment’s pro wrestling giant. When you have so many hyped-up fictional scripts and scenarios engrained within your psyche over the course of several years, the stuff doesn’t simply come out in the wash.
In the past, so many MMA fighters had strong roots within the traditional martial arts. Thus, so many fighters were taught to be humble and respectful in life, as well as in competition. However, the times are changing. The sport has evolved to the point that many newer fighters are strictly taught MMA. They learn the basics in each combative art; but they are not taught the philosophy of the actual martial art system from which the technique was taken. In essence, they learn the physicality, but not the tradition.
In the case of Brock Lesnar, his life has been wrestling. From actual collegiate championships to the scripted bruising-ballet of the pro ranks, the man has eaten, breathed and slept some form of the sport since the age of 5. A successful wrestler is often the hardcore type whose self-motivation and drive are based on the pride of one’s self. We aren’t talking about a pedigree for modesty.
While Lesnar might not have paid his dues within MMA circles, the man has dedicated the vast majority of his life to a combative sport. He also happens to have more dedication in his left pinky finger than Tank Abbott has in his entire body. So, if Tank made a living out of being the villain while so many (for so long) hitched a ride on his bandwagon, then why can’t Brock Lesnar do the same? So sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It’s not like Lesnar pulled Tito’s stunt of wearing a t-shirt with a slogan that questions his opponent’s sexuality with a vulgar term. And Brock did not stoop so low as to mock a convulsing opponent who he just knocked out like Tank once did.
Yet, the fact of the matter is….we just can’t let Lesnar simply do his thing. It was evident in the post-fight press conference after his UFC Heavyweight Championship victory over Randy Couture this past Saturday night at UFC 81 that Brock Lesnar has heard the whines of us MMA fans. We have dealt our hand in housebreaking the beast. Heck, this much was apparent while Lesnar was still in the octagon. What we saw was respect and mild mannered responses to questions.
And just when I thought MMA had found its equivalent to Muhammad Ali: a brash, loud, out-spoken fighter who could back up the talk while entertaining us fans with both his antics and the mic. Ah! Why did we have to go and ruin it before it really ever had a chance to begin? I want to be entertained. It is too late to go knock on Brock’s door as a collective group and apologize for our giving him a hard time? Is there anything that can bring Brock back to the beast?
According to a report in the Nov. 17 print edition of the Wrestling Observer, the UFC will be returning to Columbus, Ohio for the third consecutive year on Saturday, March 7. While a venue was not identified in the report, the Nationwide Arena is considered the most likely candidate.
The date has yet to be confirmed by the UFC and few details surrounding the event have yet to surface.
Since debuting in Columbus on March 3, 2007 in front of a sold out crowd with its “UFC 68: Uprising” event, the city has become one of the promotion’s top markets. UFC 68 was held at the Nationwide Arena and featured one of the most memorable main events in UFC history, with Randy Couture ending a brief retirement to defeat Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight title in a five round unanimous decision.
The UFC returned to Columbus and the Nationwide Arena earlier this year for “UFC 82: Pride of a Champion” and featured a title unification match between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and PRIDE welterweight champion Dan Henderson. In front of a near-capacity crowd, Silva submitted Henderson with a rear naked choke at 4:52 of round 2.
Previously announced Sengoku 7 competitor and longtime PRIDE fighter Hidehiko Yoshida (8-6-1) now has an opponent for the Jan. 4 World Victory Road event: Sanae Kikuta (27-6-3).
The event takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Sengoku officials recently announced the light-heavyweight bout.
Yoshida, a 1992 Japanese gold medalist in judo, most recently fought in June at Sengoku 3 and scored a first-round submission victory over Maurice Smith. The victory snapped a three-fight losing skid for Yoshida, which included stoppage losses to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, James Thompson and Josh Barnett.
Kikuta, meanwhile, is currently riding a five-fight win streak going back to 2004. The longtime Pancrase fighter has fought only once in the past two years and scored a second-round submission victory over Chris Rice at Sengoku 3.
As MMAjunkie.com previously reported, Sengoku 7 also features fights for vacant WVR titles. Jorge Santiago meets fellow middleweight Kazuo Misaki, and despite a recent loss, Takanori Gomi takes on Satoru Kitaoka for the lightweight belt.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — There isn’t another fighter in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) whose physical appearance coincides with his character more so than that of Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7). At 33 years of age, the Brazilian native and Jiu-Jitsu black belt has firmly ingrained in the minds of his followers a look and demeanor that, coupled together, amount to a pretty startling and somewhat scary individual.
Less than a week out from his long-awaited showdown with Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) Champion, Bobby Southworth (9-5), a notorious rogue in his own right, Sobral is spewing words indicating his firm intention to humble the defending crown holder.
“Bobby called me out and I gladly accepted the challenge,” said Sobral. “ On Friday, the world will learn what Bobby already knows – that this was the biggest mistake of his career.”
Over the years he has spent mastering his craft, Sobral has produced more than his share of submissions. Given what seems to be a disproportionate training schedule, leaning heavily towards western boxing, that he has maintained for this bout, though, all signs indicate that the challenger will attempt to keep the fight standing and let his hands fly.
“I’m going to be looking for the knockout,” said Sobral, who has been putting in hours upon hours of work with former world championship boxing contender, Justin Fortune. Sobral hooked up with Fortune shortly after relocating from Brazil to the Los Angeles area. “If I have to break my hand on his face, I will.”
Despite the tough talk directed at his opponent, Sobral is a man with a soft side – especially when it comes to kids. At his brand new, state of the art gym in Cerritos, he is insistent upon instructing nearly all of the children’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes.
“It is important to me that they receive the best instruction possible so that they learn the fundamentals of this art,” he said. “I want to share with them something that has been a guiding force in my life.”
When the subject of conversation turns back to Friday’s showdown with Southworth, though, Sobral becomes all business again.
“I will be a 100 percent and I’m going to push the pace. I will be very aggressive in this fight."
