MMA Update for Thursday June 7th,2007
Written by Chris Howie
Intro
Well, it's Thursday. Not a whole lot going on around the MMA world the last few days but I'm sure things will pick up going into next week. Lets go over what happened yesterday.
Josh Kocheck Rants On UFC Pay…. Nevermind He Didn't
Early yesterday afternoon a message shows up on Josh Koscheck's MySpace bulletin complaining about UFC pay. The message contained jabs at Dana White saying he was as crooked as a boxing promoter and that the fighters in the UFC were getting alot less money than they should be. Yesterday evening another message came out stating that his MySpace page had been hacked and that it wasn't him that posted it. Who knows what happened there but it was an interesting message when it first came out. It is still on our site here under the UFC headlines so take a look if you have a chance.
Dana White Compares Rampage Win Over Chuck To Buster Douglas Beating Mike Tyson
I thought this was really interesting when I seen it. All things considered it has to be one of the worse comparisons I've heard in a long time. Buster Douglas was a HUGE underdog when he took the heavyweight crown from Iron Mike. Rampage on the other hand had already beaten Liddell in 2003 in impressive fashion. When they hooked up two weeks ago Rampage dispatched of Chuck even easier than he did the first time. Weird. Now Dana just remember… just because a lot of North America might not know what Pride is, it doesn't mean that the first fight never happened.
WEC Gets 0.4 Rating For Debut On Versus Network
I can see why some people think this is a bad thing, it's not the best rating they could have gotten but it's not to-to bad with all things considered. Not every home in America gets the Versus Network like they do Spike TV so that is definitely going to bring a drop in ratings. The Versus network also was called the Outdoor Life Network previous to Versus so a lot of people may not have even known this was on. With time the WEC will get the ratings they should. The show was a top-notch show and given the proper publicity and as long as they keep putting on shows like the one Sunday than it shouldn't be a problem to get a ratings boost.
Thomas vs. Sims Removed From TUF 5 Finale
Apparently it was Spike TV that wanted this fight to happen but Dana White has stated that both fighters will never fight in the UFC – ever. Intially it seemed like something that was done to make a little bit of money putting both fighters in the Octagon to settle their street fight from the show but I can definitely understand why White does not want it in the Octagon. Having this fight happen condones the stree fight they had and I think this is the last thing the UFC wants at this point. A lot of people still think that MMA is barbaric. Good move on Dana's behalf to cut this fight in my opinion.
It's Letter Time, It's Letter Time
Mike writes in with:
The whole Pride vs. UFC thing .. Dana taking the talent from Pride & putting it into Zuffa products … I guess my question is about some of the fighters that left the UFC over pay & testing? Joss Barnett … will the UFC let him back in .. Phil Baroni … will he be let back into the UFC stable? & the BEST for last!!!
Fedor …. if Zuffa can hand $350 large to Mirko … Why has it not been announced that they will hand Fedor a cool mil + PPV % like they have with Liddell, Jackson, Hughes & the rest?? If Randy did not show up the Heavyweight div. was a disgrace .. I mean the UFC champ at the time was listed 5th in the world ( Sylvia ) when Pride had 4 in the top 5??? When are some of the heavy hitters coming over? Nog is but what about … Aleksander Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov, SOKOUDJOU ( LW ), Denis Kang , Enson Inoue … Nog is on his way .. but come on … Look at the card in Ireland .. I am no way gonna shell out $40 bucks for that card when I can see it on You Tube in the morning!?
When it comes to Josh Barnett I don't think he wants to fight in the UFC again. He has stated he does not like Dana White and with his return to Pro-Wrestling happening this summer in Japan I think it will be a while before he see Barnett in the MMA world. As for Baroni, White has said that he will offer Phil a contract back to the UFC if he beats Frank Shamrock in their fight June 22nd. Time will tell for that one.
With Fedor it is hard to say what is going to happen. It would make perfect sense for him to sign with the UFC because he has said in the past that he wants to fight all of the best. The best fighters are obviously in the UFC right now. Fedor has beaten everyone put in front of him in Pride so the next thing for him to do would be go to the UFC and fight in the cage. Although, fighting Matt Lindland for Bodog probably made Fedor A LOT of money so with the #1 ranked heavyweight I think it may come down to the $$. UFC obviously has the cash to pay Fedor so maybe it's more he's looking for. Time will tell.
I myself was surprised when I found out UFC 72 would not be on Spike TV. It's unfortunate that fans are going to have to pay $40 for something that isn't going to be live. It may be on in the afternoon though if you wanted to catch it live then but even then the card isn't the hottest so I can understand why people don't want to pay the money.
Thanks for the questions today and remember, [email protected]. You send em in and i'll make sure to get them in the Update.
Well thats it for today. Check In tomorrow for the last Update of the week.
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