Full-Time Fighter: Sean Salmon Discusses a Departure from the UFC
I said in my last blog that UFCjunkie.com fans would know what’s next for me before anyone else. Well, here is the story.
My manager, Ken Pavia, has spoken with Joe Silva (the UFC’s matchmaker), who gave us some options with which to work. Ken and I spoke at length and came to this decision: I am leaving the last fight on my contract with the UFC for a later date and taking a “release” to fight for other organizations.
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Send an e-mail to this idiot:
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Grand Rapids Press reporter Brian Vanochten in Michican writes the following article about the UFC and its fans. Please read the article. Get piss off and email this donkey at bvanochten@grpress.com please thank you.
The Grand Rapids Press Reports. "UFC is a real low point in TV". Is UFC a sport or not a sport?
The so-called sport of ultimate fighting, which is little more than glorified street fighting, has become America’s fastest-growing and most controversial form of televised entertainment. And the most repulsive form of television programming.
Chuck Liddell To Appear On David Letterman Show
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The following is from UFC.com:
Chuck Liddell to appear on David Letterman Show
You can't miss it when Chuck Liddell speaks for the first time on national TV with David Letterman about his loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on the CBS "Late Show." Chuck Liddell on Letterman marks the first time an MMA fighter will sit on the stage with Dave to talk about America's fastest growing sport.
Chuck joins Amy Sedaris and Jordan Zevon this Thursday night, June 7 at 11:30 PM ET/PT on your local CBS station.
HOUSTON ALEXANDER MAKES AN IMPACT
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Houston Alexander entered the Octagon at UFC 71 in the role of the underdog. Forty-eight seconds and 20-plus unanswered strikes later, Alexander propelled himself from relative unknown to legitimate threat. The Omaha, Nebraska resident made his successful UFC debut dominating Keith Jardine.
(Video)Faber talks after title defense
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WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber spoke with reporters after successfully defending his title Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada against Chance Farrar in the headliner of the Versus network premier of the organization. See what Faber had to say about the fight, when he’ll fight next, moving up and down in weight classes, challenging top international talent and much more in this video interview.
Gracie Invitational 2007
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Without doubt, the highlight of the BJJ Calendar in the UK is the annual Gracie Invitational tournament organised by the European Fight Network and hosted at the SENI martial arts exposition. This competition has grown from modest beginnings to a 2 day tournament which saw around 500 competitors this year, a scale that is only rivalled in Europe by the CBJJ European Championships.
There were strong showings from 302 team, Pedro Bessa team, Brasa, BTT, Roger Gracie Academy, Gracie Barra Birmingham and the other academies from around the country, with over 200 white belts and more than 150 blue belts vying for the titles on offer. The competition was not limited to these shores and a number of fighters came from as far away as Hungary, Greece, Poland, Italy, Sparta and even one competitor from Australia.
High Profile Welterweights Headline Week 8 of Bodog Fight Season 3
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Arguably two of Bodog Fights more notable fighters, Nick “The Goat” Thompson and Eddie Alvarez, will take to the ring in episode 8 of Bodog Fight’s Season 3 “Costa Rica.” Despite their documented abilities, both fighters will have to be on their toes, as the promotion has matched them up with some solid opposition.
“Hellboy” has no idea
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Norwegian light heavyweight Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen admits to Lee Whitehead in an interview for MMAWeekly.com that he has no idea what’s going on with his MMA career.
Hansen, one of the best lightweight fighters in the world, is one of many fighters whose career is in a state of limbo following the completed purchase of the Pride Fighting Championships by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.
Hansen is apparently getting a little antsy not knowing his future in the sport:
“Not much is happening. I’m just training and waiting for some phone call that I got a fight. It’s confusing and boring to train really without a purpose.”
He had four fights left on his contract with Pride, but doesn’t know if he will get to fulfill those fights.
“I’m not hearing anything now,” he said. “I’m just gonna stay in shape and wait for something to happen. The best thing to do is to float and stay in good basic shape.”
Correction on Frank Mir story
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We had reported that a proposed match between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir for UFC 74 in August had been rejected by Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer. My reporting was not entirely accurate.
UFCJunkie.com contacted the always-accesible Kizer via e-mail and received the following response:
That fight has not been presented to me, and thus no ‘denial’ has been made. I was asked about the match-up by a reporter and said I would have a hard time approving that fight unless I see a quality win from Mr. Mir first. However, I will keep an open mind.
Please note that I approved Mir vs. [Antoni] Hardonk a short while back. I still think that would be a good match-up.
So while the match was never officially submitted to NSAC and Kizer never formally turned it down, the UFC had been considering a Sylvia vs. Mir bout but Kizer is acknowledging he likely wouldn’t have approved it.
It’s a good thing that Mir performed so well as analyst during the WEC’s debut on Versus this past weekend because he has something to fall back on in the event his fighting career never gets off the ground again.
WEC fighter payroll
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Title Match & Main Event Fighters -
-Urijah Faber: $20,000 (defeated Chance Farrar)
-Chance Farrar: $4,000 (lost to Urijah Faber)
Main Card Fighters -
-Alex Karalexis: $10,000 (defeated Josh Smith)
-Rani Yahya: $10,000 (defeated Mark Hominick)
-Brian Stann: $8,000 (defeated Craig Zellner)
-Mark Hominick: $6,000 (lost to Rani Yahya)
-Craig Zellner: $2,000 (lost to Brian Stann)
-Josh Smith: $1,000 (lost to Alex Karalexis)
Preliminary Match Fighters -
-John Alessio: $18,000 (defeated Alex Serdyukov)
-Brock Larson: $16,000 (defeated Kevin Knabjian)
-Cub Swanson: $8,000 (defeated Micah Miller)
-Alex Serdyukov: $6,000 (lost to John Alessio)
-Jeff Bedard: $6,000 (defeated Mike French)
-Charlie Valencia: $6,000 (lost to Brian Bowles)
-Brian Bowles: $4,000 (defeated Charlie Valencia)
-Micah Miller: $4,000 (lost to Cub Swanson)
-Mike French: $3,000 (lost to Jeff Bedard)
-Kevin Knabjian: $2,000 (lost to Brock Larson)
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $134,000
Alessio Sakara to Return at UFC 75
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Italian UFC light heavyweight (11-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) will likely return to the Octagon at UFC 75 in September, according to a UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) source.
UFC 75 takes place Sept. 8 in London, England, and 02 Arena is expected to host the event. Croatian Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and France’s Jess Liaudin are also on the rumored card.
Sakara, fresh off a first-round TKO victory over Victor Valimaki at Manchester’s UFC 70 event, had lost two in a row (to Dean Lister and Drew McFedries) before that swift win in April. In previous UFC fights, he has a win over Elvis Sinosic and a no-contest (groin kick) with Ron Faircloth
Salmon taking a break from the UFC
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Through the UFCJunkie.com website, many people have become big fans of Sean Salmon. The site not only sponsored Salmon for his two UFC fights but hosted semi-regular columns from the former amateur wrestling standout.
Salmon lost his UFC debut to Rashad Evans at a UFC Fight Night event in January and followed up the disappointing performance with a quick loss to Alan Belcher at UFC 71. He had one more fight remaining on his UFC contract but Salmon has revealed in his latest UFCJunkie.com column that his last fight will delayed and that he’s been granted permission to fight for other organizations.
What’s likely to happen is that Salmon will fight for smaller, regional promotions under the watchful eye of the UFC. They will retain the option of bringing him back to the big show at a later date. This is something they’ve done with several young fighters so Salmon’s arrangement is not uncommon.
Trouble for UFC sponsors
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If you’ve followed the MMA scene on the Internet for the last couple of years, you’ve heard all the gossip and innuendo about the trouble that Xyience, UFC’s primary sponsor, allegedly has been in. Well, today, another shoe dropped as Amp’d Mobile filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The New York Times has more on the story.
I point this story out because one of the knocks against UFC in the American corporate media (primarily from CNBC’s Darren Rovell) is that UFC (and MMA in general) has not been able to attract the major blue-chip sponsors. This was also a claim that insiders leveled against PRIDE (which had many non-traditional or non-blue chip companies sponsoring their events). What made the criticism against PRIDE in terms of sponsors interesting is that Japan is home to the world’s largest ad agency, Dentsu. Plus, PRIDE had many free-to-air television events on Fuji TV.
The two other major sponsors currently for UFC are Toyo Tires and Mickey’s malt liquor.
Canadian MMA backyarders gone wild
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The Chronicle Herald’s Josh Visser (e-mail) in Halifax, Nova Scotia is reporting that East Coast Street Fights, an outlaw group of individuals who do backyard-style MMA brawls in parking lots and lawns, has found a ‘millionaire’ money mark that will convert them into a ‘legitimate’ promotion. The Halifax RCMP is not amused.
The article also throws in The Zuffa Myth for good measure, talking about how Zuffa LLC introduced weight classes and other regulations when they bought the company in 2001. Furthermore, the article finds a university professor to say the following about MMA: “”My sense is, it’s still a marginalized activity.”
WEC debut
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World Extreme Cagefighting hit a home run in the group's live national cable television debut Sunday night.
Quote of the Day
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"These are the same guys who sanctioned Tito vs Dana and CroCop vs Eddie `Dirty' Sanchez, for God's sake. But now we have Frank Mir being denied ... Frank Mir, who broke Sylvia's arm in half the last time they met. Sure, this was before Mir bounced his head off a highway doing 90MPH, but has the NSAC seen how badly Tim Sylvia has been lately? If you're going to deny someone, it should be him for fear that he will cause widespread narcolepsy in anyone witnessing his boring ass fights. At least Frank Mir has the decency to lose in an exciting and painful manner." -- Fightlinker, commenting on the NSAC's (alleged) decision to deny Frank Mir a rematch with Tim Sylvia
“Maximus” to join the UFC lightweight division
Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio has signed a four-fight deal with the UFC, the American Top Team announced.
Aurelio has fought exclusively for PRIDE since 2004 after a breakout stint with ZST, where he won the ZST Grand Prix by defeating Rich Clementi, Remigijus Morkevicius and Masakazu Imanari all in one night.
At PRIDE Bushido 10, Aurelio defeated the PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi with a first-round arm triangle choke.
Despite living and training with the American Top Team in Florida, Aurelio’s last fight in America was in August 2003.
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UFC Announces Belfast Main Card Lineup
The Ultimate Fighting Championship today officially announced the main fight card for its June 16, 2007 event in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dubbed UFC 72: Victory, former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “Ace” Franklin faces Japan’s Yushin Okami in the headline bout. Franklin is angling towards a shot at regaining the title he lost to current champion Anderson Silva, while Okami is riding a six-fight winning streak and looking to stake his own claim to a title shot.
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Fisher Looks for Redemption in Rematch with Stout
The last time Spencer Fisher was scheduled to face Sam Stout, there were no fight posters printed up, no television and internet commercials advertising the bout, and no time for either Fisher or Stout to compile an opponent-specific gameplan. Yet judging by the action in the torrid three rounder at UFC 58 in March of 2006, maybe most bouts should be put together on two days’ notice.
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