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[Diegonightmare]

That time again for Diegonightmare's Ground/Pound MMA topic - a poll with two choices: you can "ground" (disagree with the topic) or "pound" (agree with the topic).

The point isn't as much the voting itself but the reasoning behind it, so let's hear your thoughts!

This week's Ground/Pound MMA topic is:

The UFC's firing of Jon Fitch and apparently Koscheck and Velasquez, and potentially others, will come back to haunt them.

Please make your pick and discuss your reasoning!

[bega]

While Kos and Fitch are great fighters WW division is so deep that they can let them go.

On the other hand looks like UFC only has issues with fighters from AKA (and they have same manager). It seams that Dana's beef is not with fighters but with manager and if stuff said by Dana is true (about his requests to change language in the contracts) that it would hurt UFC more to make exception and keep up those guys than to fire them

[Ramma]

I think it truly is going to come back to haunt them. The UFC is losing starts and the WW division just took a big hit.

Look at the HW division. Arlovski, Sylvia and Randy all felt unappreciated and wanted out. Now, Randy was in a position where he was forced to come back, but the division is still so much weaker. Now the HW division lost Werdum and will lose prospect Cain Velasquez.

Cutting Koscheck and Fitch gets rid of a whole bunch of fights that would have sold. They keep cutting quality fighters and no one is going to watch the shows. Doesn't matter WHO the name is on the card. And who knows if others aren't going to follow in their footsteps.

I think if the UFC keeps doing shit like this, slowly but surely, other fighters will leave. Also, this will pretty much kill the UFC's standing with AKA.


It is friggin bully tactics, and Dana White should stop trying to act all self-righteous just because some other guys are willing to sell their lives away. Giving Zuffa a 10 year limit on the merchandising agreement is reasonable.


How can you take Dana White seriously when he says shit like "I am in it for the sport, for the fighters..." when he goes and pull shit like this? Shame on you, Dana White...

[rivethead]

I think it's foolish and shortsighted.

They're giving up two important fighters in their stable...Fitch is arguably the #2 WW in the world, and Cain is minimally one of their 10 best HW's and in my opinion, has more potential than anyone except Nog.

It also adds to the tone of the "evil empire" vibe that has been an issue for them in the past. Certainly, the UFC is on top of the food chain for now, but I honestly doubt they can achieve/maintain a monopoly on the industry; so sending quality fighters to other orgs is going to backfire. Sure, Dana can spin it "those guys aren't even top 10, I fired them, blah blah blah" and continue to make money off the casual fans...but he's eroding the integrity his org with every bullshit sentence he spews.

rh

[NAL987]

Doesnt it seem weird that Fitchs last fight was a Title Fight and he got cut? If its just Fitch I dont think that'll hurt the UFC but if they cut more top quality fighters or other fighters see whats goin on and somehow end up 'quiting or getting cut', then it'll all ad up eventually and hurt their divisions

[Mac]

I'll have to wait till I get the whole story to weigh in on this. I don't know all the info yet, don't know what was offered and what was rejected.

[Big Daddy Duker]

Originally Posted by NAL987

Doesnt it seem weird that Fitchs last fight was a Title Fight and he got cut? If its just Fitch I dont think that'll hurt the UFC but if they cut more top quality fighters or other fighters see whats goin on and somehow end up 'quiting or getting cut', then it'll all ad up eventually and hurt their divisions

Fitch's last fight was a title shot which went to decision, no les...

[m_babyface_g]

IMO it all depends on the circumstances.

If AKA was one of the first camps full of UFC fighters approached with these contracts then this could only be round 1 of the firings. If that's the case then this could definitely haunt the UFC. If more and more people say no Zuffa is going to have to either fire all of them, or renegotiate the terms of their new deal.

If this is just an isolated incident then I would find it hard to believe that it should effect the UFC in any huge capacity. Sometimes quality fighters go, that's just the way it is.

I don't really know the whole story behind this situation but everything I've read so far just seems like the UFC is being unreasonable. Having a bunch of suits show up at AKA with non-negotiable contracts that apparently resolve in your termination if you refuse to sign them doesn't seem reasonable IMO. Then for Dana to go off on all of AKA and say these guys are no partners of his and they don't understand what he and the UFC are trying to do to the sport of MMA really gets me.

How does not signing away the rights to your image and likeness for videogames for the rest of your life have anything to do with the sport of MMA? Just sounds like Dana thought of a good way to make coin and there are some spoil sports out there who don't want to take one for the team and help out their partner, for incredibly little compensation, of course.

Either way though, back to the main question, if this is just round 1 of these firings then I'll bite and pound to that, but if this is an isolated incident, grounded.

[pantomime horse]

Too early to tell.

I'd venture to guess that the UFC believes the brand is stronger than a fighter. If they lose 3 or 4 named fighters to a rival promotion then it could come back to bite them. I'm surprised Dana wants any top fighters potentially going to Affliction (which is likely). Starving them of known talent is the best way to stay on top.

[Yohnstoppable]

Although I strongly disagree with the firings, I don't think this will really come back to haunt the ufc. These aren't exactly the top of the line draws for the ufc, and they can easily afford letting them go. That said, letting 2 top 10 guys go over this is pretty lame.