UFC 131 presser: Speed vs. power and TV deal rumors

Gone was the happy, smiling Junior dos Santos. The guy who's 12-1 with eight knockouts to his credit, sat on stage in Vancouver and gave his prediction for his fight against Shane Carwin on Saturday night at UFC 131.

"Shane Carwin comes from wrestling. I think I'm faster than him. As soon as he feels my hands, my speed, I think he's gonna try to take me down," said dos Santos (26:55 mark).

That was short and sweet, but it didn't even cause a ripple from Carwin. The 6-foot-2, 255 pounder believes in his power and keeps saying he'll stand and trade with the Brazilian.

"I am a great at wrestling and I was blessed with huge power in my oversized XXXL hands, but I've just got a lot to learn. [...] On Saturday I will be facing a guy that, like me, can finish a fight with one just punch. He comes from an amazing training camp and he is not only a powerful striker, but one of the most accurate strikers too," Carwin wrote in his Yahoo! Sports' "Monster" blog. [...] But I believe I will be the one doing the knocking out. My power is derived from my legs and ass. I have the ability to generate a lot of power even in short or tight spaces because of the power from my big legs … which is great for punching but makes it nearly impossible for me to get keys from my jeans pocket."

During the prefight press conference at the University of B.C.'s Robson Plaza, UFC president Dana White raved about the fight. He expects fireworks and said the winner will face Cain Velasquez in the next four or five months. Velasquez has mentioned October in Houston as his target for a return.

White also discussed one of the big rumors of the week - the UFC's future television deal plans and the possibility of leaving Spike and buying a stake in the Comcast/NBC-owned G4.

"We're talking to everybody right now. There is no deal with anybody. If that was true, trust me, I'd be up here talking about it right now," said White (11:30 mark).

Meanwhile, MMAFighting's Mike Chiapetta reported that rumors persist about the UFC looking to buy G4. Sources at Spike are telling Chiappetta that Bellator, currently on MTV2, would then be an option for Spike.

Bloomsberg.com checked into the G4 story.

NBC Universal's G4 channel may fetch as much as $600 million in a sale to Ultimate Fighting Championship, according to analysts including David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co.
...
Negotiations are early and a deal may not be reached, said the people, who aren't authorized to speak publicly. Ultimate Fighting Championship's contract with Viacom Inc. (VIA/B)'s Spike TV ends this year, one of the people said. More broadly distributed cable channels with bigger advertising revenue can fetch as much as $20 per subscriber, Joyce said.

The New York Times confirmed the UFC's talks to buy the channel that's currently seen in 60 million homes. Spike is available in 99 million homes. UFC would have to work on the recent DirecTV issue with G4. The channel was dropped by DirecTV at the end of the 2010.

Brian Stelter of the Times reported that Comcast, the new owner of G4, met with UFC representatives on Wednesday.

Two of the people with knowledge of the NBCUniversal talks said that UFC, which is privately held, could take ownership of 60 percent or more of G4, which is one of the lowest-rated cable channels in Comcast's portfolio. Its target audience of men ages 18 to 34 overlaps nicely with UFC's audience on Spike, a unit of Viacom, which has carried a fighting reality show for the last six years.

According to Stelter, the UFC is looking for a bigger deal this time around from Spike.

Spike's $170 million-a-year deal with UFC for the show, "The Ultimate Fighter," and for live fights expires in six months. Negotiations between Spike and UFC for a new deal started almost one year ago, one of the people said, but broke down after UFC proposed a $325 million-a-year fee, a price that was far steeper than Spike was willing to pay.

You can watch UFC 131 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-131-presser-Speed-vs-power-and-TV-deal-rum?urn=mma-wp3282

Edwin Dewees  Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen 

The welterweight audio debate: Can someone take GSP’s belt in the next two years?

With Georges St-Pierre set to face Nick Diaz in October, it's looking more and more like the UFC's welterweight champ will make 170 pounds his permanent home. Is that a good for the sport? If GSP gets by Diaz, what's next?

Yahoo! Sports' lead MMA writer Kevin Iole joined myself on Las Vegas' "The MMA Insiders" show to debate the topic of the 170 division. Iole says if you believe the division is catching the champ, is just wishful thinking (4:27 mark).

During the "opening round" we also discussed the Diaz-GSP fight, Dana White vs. Roy Nelson vs. Frank Mir and the UFC president's World Cup concept for "The Ultimate Fighter."

Make sure you listen to part two with Kenny Florian and part three with Shane Carwin. "The MMA Insiders" airs each Friday from 6-7 p.m. and streams live here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/The-welterweight-audio-debate-Can-someone-take-?urn=mma-wp3228

Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Wagnney Fabiano

Nevada to Increase Out-of-Competition Drug Testing

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The state of Nevada will ramp up random, out-of-competition drug testing for combat sports athletes after Gov. Brian Sandoval on Wednesday signed a bill into law that will increase the amount of money available for screenings.

Senate Bill No. 498 amended the current Nevada state athletic commission regulations, which used promoter taxes from professional events to award grants to amateur organizations. Now, some of the money will be placed into a fund for drug testing fighters.

The language of the bill states that testing will be for "amateur and professional unarmed combatants at any time, including, without limitation, during any period of training."

That essentially means that Nevada can randomly test any licensed fighter at any time. The state's commission has had that power since early 2008 but often lacked the funds to employ it. UFC 84 fighters Sean Sherk and B.J. Penn were among the first to be tested out of competition, but within two years, the program was unfunded and unused. By February 2011, the program was out of money after legislators withdrew its funding, effectively rendering it useless as a weapon to catch drug cheats.

Immediately afterward, commission executive director Keith Kizer requested the state find a new source of revenue to fund the program, and the newly signed bill is the compromise.

Currently, promotions pay $1 for each ticket sold for admission at sanctioned professional events, though smaller events (those with gross receipts less than $500,000) pay 50 cents for each ticket sold.

Last year, for example, the UFC held six events in Nevada that drew a total of over 40,000 paid fans. It included four pay-per-view events that drew $1 million-plus gates, and two smaller Ultimate Fighter Finales that drew less than $500,000 each. Those ticket sales resulted in Nevada earning $39,189.50 in fees.

Those fees will now help fund the testing program. The change goes into effect on July 1, the day before UFC 132 comes to town.

In addition to MMA, Nevada sanctions boxing and kickboxing, and promoters and athletes in those sports will also be included in the program.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/06/17/nevada-to-increase-out-of-competition-drug-testing/

Rickson Gracie Rodrigo Gracie Roger Gracie Rolles Gracie

UFC Signs Undefeated Heavyweight Stipe Miocic

The UFC has signed undefeated heavyweight Stipe Miocic to a multi-fight deal, with the Octagon debut of the Ohio-based NAAFS champion expected to be finalized soon, the promotion announced Wednesday. Miocic won his first five fights by knockout and has never gone past the second round.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/18865/ufc-signs-undefeated-heavyweight-stipe-miocic/

Renzo Gracie Rickson Gracie Rodrigo Gracie Roger Gracie

Overeem a huge favorite this week, Couture is picking Werdum

With 10-of-12 favorites winning, UFC 131 was a great night for chalk bettors. Off-shore sportsbook Bodog released the news that two of its players cashed big plays.

One bettor nailed a $200 12-fight parlay, good for $51,547. Another bettor cashed a 10-teamer for $32,000. That's a helluva job, but it took a little luck. Darren Elkins, who many people thought got a gift decision against Michihiro Omigawa, was part of the 12-teamer.

Will the squares cash in again this Saturday at the Strikeforce event? The Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix clashes are very one-sided on the betting boards. Alistair Overeen is a massive minus-300 favorite over Fabricio Werdum while Josh Barnett is minus-350 to beat Brett Rogers.

Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champ Randy Couture likes Werdum.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Overeem-a-huge-favorite-this-week-Couture-is-pi?urn=mma-wp3514

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Antonio Carvalho Debuts Against Yuri Alcantara at UFC 134 in Brazil

Featherweight Antonio "Pato" Carvalho (13-4) has signed with the UFC and will make his Octagon debut against fellow newcomer Yuri Alcantara (25-3) on the UFC 134 fight card on August 27 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Carvalho replaces WEC veteran Mackens Semerzier, who had been rumored to face Alcantara on the UFC 134 prelims.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/18891/antonio-carvalho-debuts-against-yuri-alcantara-at-ufc-134-in-brazil/

Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte

Josh Barnett Plans To Give Brett Rogers A Lesson In ?Hard Times?

“I’ve been sitting on the sidelines, sitting there watching everybody go out and fight. Hard times have been on Josh Barnett. Dealing with athletic commissions. Everybody saying, ‘You did this, and you did that. You’re the problem for this.’ That’s hard times. Hard times for my family. Hard times for my friends. Hard times by [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/q2jBfJ2mgL0/

Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan 

Koscheck dislikes new shirt, Bonnar wants to pummel him

It's a great marketing idea that apparently irks some other UFC fighters. Stephan Bonnar's new "Trash Talking Kids" t-shirt line is based on real-life fighters like Josh Koscheck, Forrest Griffin and Cain Velasquez.

Koscheck's "Josh Koshbygosh" shirt is pretty cool, right? Not according to Bonnar, who claims Koscheck had his lawyers call about the t-shirt.

"He got wind of it and he didn't like it and I tried to explain it to him firsthand. 'Like, look we're doing them for all the fighters. It's kinda a joke, just cartoon versions of the fighters.' His version is called Josh Koshbygosh and he kinda looks like a Cabbage Patch doll, because he really does. Anyway, so he didn't like it," Bonnar told Five Knuckles. "Turns out we won't be able to sell his but we will be able to sell the other ones. I didn't think his was gonna sell too much anyway. We're getting hit up his lawyers at the moment, it's been a pain in the ass."

Bonnar also made some interesting comments about Koscheck and the now infamous sucker punch from Paul Daley.

"He actually inspired the idea, he talks so much [expletive] in the Daley fight and after the fight. The whole time I see Koscheck talking [expletive] to him on the ground, I thought it was hilarious and I was carrying on about it. Then sure I knew he was gonna get to Daley. Turns out afterward that he was saying terrible things about Daley's mom and all that. Well it's kinda understandable that Daley tried to punch him afterwards and sure enough he got to Daley. Daley lost his cool and punched him afterwards," Bonnar said. "I thought it was the funniest thing, like he is just a trash talking kid at heart."

UPDATE: Koscheck explained his side of the story to Bleacher Report

"This situation is very black and white," (Koscheck who is 14-4 in the UFC said). "There's a side of right and a side of wrong and I'm on the side of right. Stephan Bonnar and his company are on the side of wrong. I have an exclusive deal that is a conflict to use my image, to use my likeness, and to use my name."

"He spoke with myself and my manager Bob Cook at AKA when he was filming something for SpikeTV, he was in agreement and in an understanding that they would stop producing and making the shirt. Because I was about to get sued from my preexisting exclusive deal that I've had signed for two-years."

"He basically gave me no other choice, but to go after him legally because of the fact that I'm about to be sued from another company because of Stephan Bonnar and his antics."

Tip via MMAMania

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Koscheck-dislikes-new-shirt-Bonnar-wants-to-pum?urn=mma-wp3257

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago AlvesÂ