UFC article on Liddell and the sport in general

[hifigator]

This is a good read:

sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=glock/070514&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1


I like the part where he says that he does enjoy hitting Tito Ortiz .... "I REALLY enjoy hitting him."

[Deleted]

I can't remember if its UFC or one of those other MMA "leagues," but one of them is owned and operated by two brothers. In their operating agreement, any disputes between the two aren't subject to binding arbitration or mediation, and won't be settled in any court.

Instead, all conflicts are to be resolved in the octagon.

Cool.

[hifigator]

buffalohoya said:

I can't remember if its UFC or one of those other MMA "leagues," but one of them is owned and operated by two brothers. In their operating agreement, any disputes between the two aren't subject to binding arbitration or mediation, and won't be settled in any court.

Instead, all conflicts are to be resolved in the octagon.

Cool.

I had never heard that, but that is kind of cool. I bet it is just a sales gimmick though. I bet if any real legal controversy arises the lawyers will get involved, not the fists. In any case, it isn't UFC. Dana White is the main guy for UFC.

That might be "The Pit" which is owned by brothers. I really don't know.

[Hank Scorpio]

I work pretty closely with the UFC in my line of work, so I can say with 100% certainty that the majority ownership of the UFC belongs to the Fertitta brothers, Lorenzo and Frank, who also own Station Casinos. They own 90% of Zuffa LLC (the parent company of the UFC), with Dana White owning roughly a 10% share. Dana is the face of the organization and serves as president, but he is not the owner.

Buffalo is correct about the agreement the Fertittas have. It would never ever come to that, but it's a fun clause.

The success of the UFC is mind boggling considering where they were 3 years ago. I go to just about every pay per view event held outside of Las Vegas, and the crowds are absolutely rabid. A few years ago, selling out the Mohegan Sun was a dicey proposition, now selling out pro basketball arenas is a breeze. As the sport gets sanctioned in more and more states, and more people can see it live, I think it could supplant boxing in this country.

hifigator said:

buffalohoya said:

I can't remember if its UFC or one of those other MMA "leagues," but one of them is owned and operated by two brothers. In their operating agreement, any disputes between the two aren't subject to binding arbitration or mediation, and won't be settled in any court.

Instead, all conflicts are to be resolved in the octagon.

Cool.

I had never heard that, but that is kind of cool. I bet it is just a sales gimmick though. I bet if any real legal controversy arises the lawyers will get involved, not the fists. In any case, it isn't UFC. Dana White is the main guy for UFC.

That might be "The Pit" which is owned by brothers. I really don't know.

[hifigator]

Interesting Borat, I had never heard that. I knew that Dana had partners but I thought I remember reading that White laid out the bulk of the 2.1 million when they originally purchased it. Actually, I am almost positive they said that on a documentary special about UFC featuring Dana White. Do you know if the brothers were the silent partners to begin with and White's role was overblown from the start or did he get partially bought out along the way?

In any case, that is an interesting little detail about the brothers settling things in the octagon.

[hifigator]

One more thing Borat, if UFC happens to come anywhere in north or central Florida I would love some great seats if you could hook me up. I wouldn't expect them free, and would expect to pay face for them, but maybe you could use some of your pull to "improve" my seats.

[Hank Scorpio]

Dana's role has been the same throughout, so I guess you could say they were silent partners from the get go - they let Dana run the show, but you can see them at all the PPV events. They were hugging Randy in the Octagon after he beat Tim Sylvia in Columbus.

Dana's role isn't overblown, though, he runs the UFC and its day-to-day operations. That is the business he runs. The Fertittas have a casino empire to attend to, which isn't to say that the UFC is an afterthought to them, but it isn't their singular focus.

Ticket pull is something I wish I had, especially as a fight in NYC seems inevitable and I am sure all my friends will be looking for tix. UFC handles all that - all I get is a credential to help conduct interviews with the fighters. Spike was supposed to do a fight in Orlando in June, but that got moved to the Hollywood Hard Rock. man i hate that place! it isn't even a real casino!

hifigator said:

Interesting Borat, I had never heard that. I knew that Dana had partners but I thought I remember reading that White laid out the bulk of the 2.1 million when they originally purchased it. Actually, I am almost positive they said that on a documentary special about UFC featuring Dana White. Do you know if the brothers were the silent partners to begin with and White's role was overblown from the start or did he get partially bought out along the way?

In any case, that is an interesting little detail about the brothers settling things in the octagon.

[Hank Scorpio]

peep the new sports illustrated cover. jeez.

[hoyaboy1]

What exactly do you do that involves you with the UFC, Borat?

[Hank Scorpio]

PR work/promotion mainly. i started with spike 2 years ago as the show came on, since then i have developed a pretty good relationship with the Zuffa/UFC organization itself. it has led to me working freelance for their non Vegas PPV events while being on staff at the network for our fight cards. i dug MMA before going in, so it's been pretty cool, a hobby has been my job. i'm in vegas more than i care to be, in a perfect world MMA would get sanctioned in NY and the UFC would establish an office here to work in, but for now there are worse ways to make a living.

[hoyaboy1]

Sounds awesome. Supposedly there will be an event in NJ later this year, but I don't know if that would be enough to get an office over there.

Do you know what went down with UFC 72, which everyone thought would be on Spike but is now on PPV?

[Hank Scorpio]

November 19th at Continental Airlines is what I am hearing as a possibility. Would make sense to me, the IFL is already putting on shows there, and they haven't been to the Northeast since October of 2005 with UFC 63. I hope so, I've got a birthday around there, I'd love to go in a nonwork capacity! For the most part when I am at the events I am running from back stage to press row and vice versa to interview the fighters postfight and get quotes to the writers. Usually I only get to see the first fight and the final two of the evening live. I have a great seat though.

I don't think there will be a NY office until they get sanctioned in NY and there are fights at MSG. Dana has stated publicly that he'd stack cards in NYC. Would really get your money's worth. Speaking of which, check out the lineup for UFC73 at Arco. Ridiculous card. Just stacked.

Spike's got a live card on 6/12 [fight night 10] and another on 6/23 [TUF6 finale], so I think marketing and promoting 3 fights in 11 days would have been a bit much. Not that I wouldn't have loved going to Belfast for a weekend.

hoyaboy1 said:

Sounds awesome. Supposedly there will be an event in NJ later this year, but I don't know if that would be enough to get an office over there.

Do you know what went down with UFC 72, which everyone thought would be on Spike but is now on PPV?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

When is Liddell going to fight Drama for real?

[hoyaboy1]

I've never been to a UFC event, and Continental would be the 2nd easiest venue for me to get to (behind Verizon, which I've also heard is a possibility soon). Hope it happens.

Agreed about 73. Now that the UFC has acquired a lot more talent and has a 155 lb division again, i hope we see a lot more cards like 73 and fewer like tonight's that are really based off of one fight.

[Hank Scorpio]

DC could be sooner than NJ. MMA is already sanctioned in DC. My guess is that it'll come down to whoever gives up an available Saturday first.

I agree with you regarding Saturday's card being based on one fight. If I have one complaint about the UFC it is that they may be doing too much. The UFC72 card is kind of weak on its own - its headlining fight is better suited for a subheadliner or a Spike headliner. The talent can be spread kind of thin. With the infusion of the Pride fighters, this may not be a problem for much longer, but nonetheless, it is currently.

hoyaboy1 said:

I've never been to a UFC event, and Continental would be the 2nd easiest venue for me to get to (behind Verizon, which I've also heard is a possibility soon). Hope it happens.

Agreed about 73. Now that the UFC has acquired a lot more talent and has a 155 lb division again, i hope we see a lot more cards like 73 and fewer like tonight's that are really based off of one fight.

[hifigator]

I didn't get to see the show on Saturday. We were out at the lake preparing for a big party on Sunday and we are not set up for PPV out there yet.

I was going to buy the replay if I couldn't find someone who TiVo'd it, but from what I hear, it wasn't worth the money. I have probably seen close to half of the Liddell-Jackson fight already.

Obviously there is no way to know for sure, but it looked almost like a "lucky" punch right on the button. For those who saw the first minute, did they look to be somewhat evenly matched? Personally I bet that Jackson's team had seen enough Iceman fights and caught something on film about leaving himself open after throwing to the body. It almost looked like Greg was incapable of seeing that particular punch coming from that particular position.

[Hank Scorpio]

Rampage beat Chuck in Japan earlier...that was no fluke. he's really good. so is Chuck, but it shouldnt have been that shocking.

hoyaboy, who you got Sat with the big 3? i've got Rashad over Tito, Marquardt over Silva, and Sherk over Franca.

headin to Sactown from Chicago on Saturday morning following a wedding reception the night before. it's going to be a looong day

hifigator said:

I didn't get to see the show on Saturday. We were out at the lake preparing for a big party on Sunday and we are not set up for PPV out there yet.

I was going to buy the replay if I couldn't find someone who TiVo'd it, but from what I hear, it wasn't worth the money. I have probably seen close to half of the Liddell-Jackson fight already.

Obviously there is no way to know for sure, but it looked almost like a "lucky" punch right on the button. For those who saw the first minute, did they look to be somewhat evenly matched? Personally I bet that Jackson's team had seen enough Iceman fights and caught something on film about leaving himself open after throwing to the body. It almost looked like Greg was incapable of seeing that particular punch coming from that particular position.

[hifigator]

I didn't mean to imply that Rampage wasn't damn good himself, just that it almost looked like something they had specifically scouted for. When Chuck comes in with this particular body shot from this particular angle, then counter with this particular punch. I know that is generally a good game plan to begin with, but in that specific case, it really was as if Iceman couldn't see the punch coming from his position.


In any case, I am ready for the next one.


As for th Hard Rock, the news is getting a lot better. Apparently the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the reservations once again, and basically has given the state a very short period of time to get a deal worked out concerning taxes etc... If they don't do so by then, then the federal governement will step in and make a deal. Either way, we are likely to have real casinos on the reservations within the next year.

Also, something has changed dramatically concerning the poker rooms. I don't know if it is connected to that ruling or not, but I would guess that it was. In any case, we used to be limited to $1-$2 limit tables, but now they have all sorts of games. They have a $1-2$ no limit game with a $60 minimum buy in and a $100 max buy in. They also have 1-5, 2-10 tables as well as all day minis.

I'm sorry about getting off subject.

Getting back to the UFC, we were at the lake for the "free per view" on Spike a couple of weeks ago, and almost exactly at 11:05pm, when the first of the two "main events" started, the power went out, and stayed out for about an hour. I guess I just don't get to watch UFC at the lake.

[Hank Scorpio]

hoyaboy

in London for ufc75, was at a meeting today, looks like UFC78 nov 17th at the new prudential center in newark is locked in.

pretty psyched about the card tomorrow. lemme know who ya got. also, root for rampage:

farm2.static.flickr.com/1092/1224135966_ed66c4e3c2.jpg

no, hifi, i am not going to ask him to wear a UF jersey next time

- B

hoyaboy1 said:

I've never been to a UFC event, and Continental would be the 2nd easiest venue for me to get to (behind Verizon, which I've also heard is a possibility soon). Hope it happens.

Agreed about 73. Now that the UFC has acquired a lot more talent and has a 155 lb division again, i hope we see a lot more cards like 73 and fewer like tonight's that are really based off of one fight.

[hifigator]

borat, a Gator jersey is appropriate for all occassions.