Jason "Mayhem" Miller says DREAM is no nightmare
(mmajunkie.com)World traveler and all-around colorful character Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-6) has been involved in his share of entertaining fights. With recent reports that DREAM -- promoters of Miller's previous two fights -- may be in financial trouble, the 27-year-old may soon find himself a free agent once again.
Miller discussed his status while a guest of "The Lights Out Show" on the TAGG Radio Network (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
"As far as the fighting front goes, I'm not sure yet," Miller said of his possible return to action. "I've got my DREAM contract still alive. I don't know what's going on."
Amid recent allegations by Nick Diaz that DREAM still had not paid him for his TKO victory in May, Miller stood firm in his support of the organization.
"I think that's just a rumor," Miller said. "Maybe [DREAM] stiffed a couple of fighters or something. But I'm sure they'll pay those guys eventually. Maybe they were just like, 'The check's in the mail.'"
JON FITCH WANTS GOLD, NO MORE EXCUSES
(mmaweekly.com)Jon Fitch may be the best fighter at 170 pounds that many fans don’t know much about. He has gone under the radar in the Ultimate Fighting Championship defeating top competition like Thiago Alves, Brock Larson, Roan Carneiro and Diego Sanchez. He is undefeated in the UFC going 8-0 in his tenure. The hard work is about to pay off as he gets his shot at the welterweight crown on Saturday night against Georges St. Pierre.
MMAWeekly Radio caught up with Fitch prior to his fight with St. Pierre to discuss his preparation and training. “All of the hard stuff is done. Now it's just time to have fun,” said a confident Fitch. “I'm just letting my body recover. It's been getting beat up for 12 weeks, so I finally get to rest now.”
This fight will be Fitch’s first foray into a five-round title fight. Known for his rigorous training, he has prepared himself a little differently for a full five-round fight. “Just more and more work. Almost double the cardio work as normal. It's pretty crazy. When I started the camp, I couldn't believe it that I was going to do double the workouts as before. I've always been a cardio guy. I always pushed my cardio. I was doubling my output. Halfway through my camp it started getting pretty easy and I started seeing changes in myself.
ALBERTO CRANE GETS BACK ON TRACK
(mmaweekly.com)Heading into his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut last year, former King of the Cage lightweight champion Alberto Crane was considered one of the best young prospects in the 155-pound weight class.
Having won all seven of his bouts heading into his UFC 74 match-up with Roger Huerta, Crane seemed more than ready to make his step up to the big time of MMA.
After missing out on an opportunity to take control of the fight early on, he was finished off in the third round, signaling the beginning of a three-fight losing streak for the previously unblemished fighter.
Determined to get back on track, Crane entered this past weekend’s Rage in the Cage event insistent on not dropping his fourth fight in a row, and delivered a performance reminiscent of his earlier bouts, winning the match via guillotine choke just over 90 seconds into the fight.
Rampage's Problems Aren't Mental + UFC Looking To Return To Montreal This Year
(tsn.ca)TORONTO - The UFC is looking to return to Canada later this year.
''I literally just left a meeting where we were talking about that,'' UFC president Dana White told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. ''We're looking to come back to Montreal.''
White said the mixed martial arts organization hopes to return in November or December.
The UFC made its Canadian debut April 19, drawing a loud and proud crowd of 21,390 at the Bell Centre to see Montreal's Georges St. Pierre reclaim his welterweight title from Matt Serra. The Canadian card was the UFC's biggest ever in terms of attendance, its fastest ever sellout, and produced a gate of some $5 million.
''The energy tonight was more powerful here than anywhere I've ever been. The fans were amazing,'' White said that night.
''Everybody delivered. It was a great night.''
Zuffa Mourning "A Loss In The Family"
(wec.tv)The Zuffa family is mourning the loss of in-house graphic designer Nelsen Bernardo, who tragically perished in an automobile accident Monday morning. He was 29. He joined Zuffa in February 2007.
UFC in Montreal again in 2008? (TSN.ca)
(tsn.ca)
TORONTO - The UFC is looking to return to Canada later this year.
''I literally just left a meeting where we were talking about that,'' UFC president Dana White told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. ''We're looking to come back to Montreal.''
CSAC: Aleks Emelianenko Will Never Fight In USA Again
(mmanews.com)California State Athletic Commission Official Bill Douglas was a guest recently on the Figure Four Daily radio show that airs on The Wrestling Observer and Mr. Douglas shed a little light on the controversay surrounding the reasoning behind Aleksander Emelianenko being removed from his scheduled bout with Paul Buentello at Affliction's debut show on July 19th.
Tito Ortiz to Affliction MMA official
(mmamania.com)Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has officially ended his turbulent tenure with the most popular mixed martial arts promotion in the world, opting to sign with upstart Affliction MMA and reuniting with his on screen “boss,” Donald Trump, from the “Apprentice.”
No specific details of the contract were revealed at this time; however, the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” told SportsIllustrated.com that deal is “like no other.”
Here’s a snip:
“I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other. It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There’s so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it’s all about the fighters trying to make that money. It’s going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them. That’s something I’m interested in doing. They’re going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also.”
That “back work” likely includes an opportunity to somehow help grow the business behind the scenes. Ortiz — one of the most recognizable and controversial faces in the sport — has been a part of several of the top-grossing pay-per-view (PPV) events ever.
He can likely leverage that star power to contribute to the success of the promotion.
The interesting thing here is that Ortiz is clearly set to likely make a lot of money, which is not uncommon within Affliction MMA. For its first show, in fact, the promotion shelled out an astounding collective payroll that exceeded $3.3 million, cutting into any potential profit significantly.
Ultimate Fighter Finale 8 Scheduled for Dec 13th
(mmajunkie.com)
The eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which features prospect light heavyweights and lightweights coached by interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former title-holder Frank Mir, debuts Sept. 17 on Spike TV, and the show's live finale is slated for Dec. 13.
Dana White and His Rise to Multi-Millions
(wallstreetfighter.com)"When you see Dana White, the bald headed President and co-owner of the UFC on TV, he always leaves you with the same impression. He's loud, obnoxious, confident, and most probably wealthy. You're right about the wealthy, but how much is he worth? "
Most of this is a shot in the dark. I am posting it because there is some cool information about the finances of Dana and the UFC. Like how Dana is a 10% owner of Zuffa.
MM-Eh: Horodecki Up for Grabs
(sherdog.com)It appears that a feeding frenzy has begun to circle around 20-year-old wunderkind Chris Horodecki now that he has officially become a free agent.
Jeff Clark, one half of Horodecki’s North County Fight Club management team, says his client was released from his International Fight League contract last week at the fighter’s request, clearing a path for prospective promoters to voice their interest in the young striker.
"Kid" Yamamoto Has Surgery - Out For The Year
(fightline.com)Sports Navigator is reporting that Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto was recently diagnosed with a complete ligament tear not a partial tear as originally suspected.
Surgery was required and performed successfully yesterday and Yamamoto should make a full recovery, but will be out of action for the rest of this year.
Yamamoto is currently riding a fourteen fight win streak which includes big wins over Jeff Curren, Royler Gracie and Caol Uno, but the 5'4" dynamo hasn't competed since New Years Eve and will now have to go through well over a year of inactivity before his next fight.
Winky Wright Criticizes Boxing Politics, Praises UFC
(mmamemories.com)Concerns are growing that Mixed Martial Arts fighting is on the way to surpassing professional boxing in popularity (if it hasn’t already) with Elite XC on network TV CBS, The Ultimate Fighter series on Spike, etc. etc. Add Winky Wright to the list to those lauding the UFC’s business plan and questioning the decision-makers in boxing.
In a wide-ranging interview with Danny Flexen in the July 25th Boxing News weekly magazine of London (State Of The Game with Danny Flexen), Wright voiced plenty of logical sentiments which the boxing powers-that-be had better begin to heed, and fast. Among them told by Wright to Flexen:
“When I was coming up, more top fighters fought each other. They all wanted to prove they were the best in their weight class, not in the WBA, the IBF, but the best, period. But now the promoters and the networks get in the way and we’re losing a lot of fans because of it. The promoters milk the prospects, they don’t match them against top fighters. The networks allow too many easy fights.”
Cung Le In Talks For Anderson Silva Showdown
(fightersonlymagazine.co.uk)Cung Le is in talks with the UFC about a possible showdown with middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
The sticking point in negotiations is that Le has several fights left on his deal with Californian promotion Strikeforce.
Speaking after a seminar in Richmond, Canada on Saturday, Le revealed that the UFC is looking for a six-fight commitment from him.
But he has three fights left on his contract with Strikeforce and, while his current promotion are happy to “work something out”, the UFC is well known for refusing single-appearance deals.
Nonetheless, Le is hopeful that a compromise can be reached and cited the Royce Gracie-Matt Hughes fight as an example (Gracie was loaned out by K-1 for one fight).
Mayhem Miller On Jacare: ""He punches like a girl, he kicks like a girl."
(fightline.com)In the newest edition of The Light's Out Show, the fellas interview Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Below are some interesting quotes from this hilarious interview:
In the wake of Nick Diaz saying he has not been paid from DREAM, we asked Jason if he had similar problems:
“No, no problems. They’re a kick-a__ organization. Money in the bank!!”
Asking Jason if he’s looking to land a long term fight contract with a promotion:
“No. A long term deal is like being married. You can’t go around bangin’ other chicks.”
Asking Jason why he chose not to sign with The UFC when given the opportunity:
“At the time they offered me the deal, it wasn’t the workable deal, so I did my own thing. It can be scary for a fighter to do that because if you’re not with The UFC people look at you like you’ve got leprosy, but I’m not worried about it. I’m able to make money, and let’s face it, you’ve got to make as much money as you can because you can’t go around punching people in the face forever.”
UFC Sets Its Sights On Mexico, Latin America
(mmapayout.com)Recent happenings indicate that the UFC will put their first toes in the water of the Latin market. On the weekend of August 15th the UFC will be lending their talent and Octagon design to a pair of events to increase their penetration of Latin America. On the 15th they will be holding a training seminar in Tijuana with UFC fighter Diego Sanchez as well as UFC Espanol color commentator and Mexican MMA fighter Victor Davila. The seminar will center on “Ground and Pound and its effectiveness in MMA”. The UFC is using these seminars to spread the basics of MMA as well as the tactics of fighting inside the cage. Davila will also do seminars for the UFC in Costa Rica and Argentina.
Victor Davila is the point man for Zuffa’s Latin operations. Davila seems to be equal parts Joe Rogan and Joe Silva in his role. Davila is the voice and image of the play-by-play narrations for the Spanish audience for UFC live events as well as a host of the “El Octágono del UFC” on Galavision. At the same time, Davila is also being used as a scout/talent relations man in looking for MMA fighters in the Mexican and Latin market. He is currently feeling out and trying to sign “name” fighters in the Mexican circuit for Zuffa. All this in addition to doing seminars similar to the one mentioned above.
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