TUF Ortiz vs. Liddell Up in the Air
Much speculation has been made today as to the fate of Tito Ortiz, his turn as a coach on this season of "The Ultimate Fighter", and the status of his bout with Chuck Liddell.
It was reported early today that Ortiz was forced to pull out of his scheduled bout with Chuck Liddell for undisclosed reasons. Things got stranger when it was reported that not only was Ortiz forced to pull out of the fight, but that he was forced to leave "The Ultimate Fighter" while the show was still taping. That same report had Rich Franklin stepping in for Ortiz to finish out the show and to take on Liddell in Ortiz's place at a June UFC show.
Things would get stranger still.
UFC president Dana White took to his Twitter to respond to the rumors.
"Not true! We are doing couture vs franklin not chuck," Tweeted the boss, adding an extra element of confusion to this mess.
At this point we are left to assume that either the sources that fueled the rumors were wrong or lying or that Dana White is trying to throw people off with his Twitter comments. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.
SpikeTV Has Some “Sneaky” Plans for March 8th?
During an appearance on Don Imus' FOX radio show this morning, TNA star Hulk Hogan hyped Monday's live Impact debut and hinted that TNA's planned surprises may begin early in the evening. Hogan said, "Tune in a few minutes before nine because we might pull some sneaky stuff."
Back on January 4th, footage of Scott Hall and Sean Waltman was shown on Spike TV during commercial breaks of the UFC show that aired before Impact With TNA looking to grab the attention of the wrestling world on the first night of the new Monday night war, it's possible we could see something similar on Monday night.
Rampage Jackson’s UFC Status
Thanks to FightLine.com for the following:
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has been involved in a heated back-and-forth with the UFC ever since he passed over fighting Rashad Evans at UFC 107 for a chance to star in the A-Team movie remake. And though it appeared that the beef was squashed between Rampage and Dana White as he is now officially signed on to fight Evans at UFC 114 in May, a recent interview with Fighters Only Magazine proves otherwise.
"They've [UFC] said some things and done some things I don't agree with - that's not the way I do business," Jackson said. "I'm a loyal person so I take care of people who take care of me, but people who don't take care of me, I don't take care of them. So I'm done with the UFC.
They can't ask me for anymore favors. Nothing. I just want to finish my contract and get out of there, do my own thing. Dana lied to me. He told me I didn't have to fight Rashad and that I could fight Machida. I did the show and then after that he told me I had to fight Rashad."
Obviously there was either some miscommunication here or one of the parties involved just isn't being very truthful. Either way, it looks like this whole mess has turned Jackson sour on the sport of MMA.
"I don't know how much I ever loved the fight game, to be honest," Jackson said. "Most fighters these days join fighting because they became a fan of it. When I started I wasn't a fan of it - I've been a fighter my whole life.
I just thought it was a blessing that God could give me something I could make money doing. When I was a kid I got tired of fighting. I didn't want to be a fighter anymore. But I was just good at it. It was just something that was in my blood. Some people are fighters."
Jackson later added. "I like it a lot less than I used to. It's no secret, everybody knows about the falling out I had with the UFC, and it's just unfortunate that they're trying to blame me for doing this movie."
While this news doesn't bode well for Rampage's future in the UFC, we will at least have one more opportunity to see his infamous howl as he strolls to the Octagon on May 29th at UFC 114 when he takes on Rashad Evans.
UFC 110 Bonuses
After an exciting night of fights inside the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, four UFC 110 contestants received some extra dough for their special performances inside the Octagon.
Here is a break down of the Fight Bonuses for UFC 110:
- Fight of the Night: George Sotiropoulos and Joe Stevenson ($50,000/each)
- Submission of the Night: Chris Lytle ($50,000)
- Knockout of the Night: Cain Velasquez ($50,000)
Shane Carwins Talks About His Upcoming Fight With Mir
Shane Carwin talks to Thegarv.com about his upcoming match up with Frank Mir at UFC 113 and feels he has what it takes to put Frank Mir out of the heavyweight title picture:
"I think I have what it takes to win the fight standing or through ground and pound. He is going to be looking for mistakes and openings for his submissions. It will be a true honor to test myself against Frank."
"Frank Mir's trash talk won't affect me at all. I really do not pay a lot of attention to smack talk. Whatever my opponent needs to do to get themselves ready to fight me is fine. At the end of the night the better fighter (that evening) should have his hand raised and really that is all I care about. I have a lot of respect for Frank as a fighter and as a MMA professional. I have a long ways to go to be on his Hall of Fame level so whatever he says is likely justified."
Ken Shamrock Loses Legal Battle Against the UFC
Thanks to FightLine.com for the following:
Zuffa, LLC, doing business as the UFC, was awarded a legal victory today against former champion, Ken Shamrock.
Shamrock, who claimed Zuffa had violated certain contractual provisions of his final fight agreement, was demanding several hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation he claimed was due and owing from the UFC.
Following a trial before the Honorable Susan H. Johnson, the Court entered a sixteen page written decision concluding that Ken Shamrock was to "take nothing by way of its Complaint filed April 15, 2008, and judgment is rendered in favor of Zuffa, LLC dba the Ultimate Fighting Championship."
Specifically, Judge Johnson ruled that Zuffa (1) did not breach the contract; (2) that the contract should be interpreted in manner advocated by Zuffa; and (3) that, in any event, Shamrock and his attorney/agent Rod Donohoo waived any purported breach by Zuffa.
The UFC was again represented by their trial counsel Donald J. Campbell and J. Colby Williams of the Las Vegas firm Campbell & Williams. Asked for a comment, Messrs. Campbell and Williams responded as follows:
"Zuffa has issued a clear directive that we are to pursue every legal remedy to ensure that the UFC's contracts are scrupulously honored and defended. The resulting judgment in this case is just one more example of the UFC's resolve to vigorously vindicate its contractual rights in the courts."
When asked if further proceedings would be likely in this case, Messrs. Campbell and Williams remarked in the affirmative:
"The UFC has a clear and unambiguous attorney fee clause in all of its contracts with fighters to the effect, that in the event a fighter loses any contractual challenge in court, that fighter will be responsible for paying our fees. Accordingly, we will be filing a motion to seek recovery of all of our expenses and fees which were occasioned by this lawsuit."
Plans & Format For WWE NXT
After all the speculation about what WWE's new NXT show would be like, we finally have some new concrete information - it's got nothing to do with science fiction or conspiracies.
Entertainment industry publication Variety reveals that WWE NXT will be a reality-based show, similar to Tough Enough and UFC's "The Ultimate Fighter," that will feature eight rookie wrestlers from WWE's developmental system (Florida Championship Wrestling) as they work their way towards a spot on the main WWE roster. Each rookie will be paired up with a veteran WWE superstar as their mentor, "with egos often getting in the way, as they learn the ropes of competing in the ring in front of live audiences, creating characters and speaking on camera."
WWE is teasing the series as a window into how the company truly operates.
"These kids crash and burn a lot," said Vince McMahon. "By putting them into this environment we'll find out if they can make it. There's no better way to develop skills than being in front of an audience. And that makes for good television. "
McMahon added, "ECW' feels old, it feels tired. Sometimes our brands need freshening up. You have to continue to reinvent yourself."
The weekly show will be broken into seasons, with two or three seasons airing per year. It will feature a totally new "look and feel" for WWE programming.
"Syfy is excited to continue our partnership with WWE, Vince and his team with this innovative live event-reality show," said Syfy president Dave Howe. "The 'NXT' rookies take the challenge of our new tagline 'Imagine Greater' to heart as they embark on their ultimate dream quest to be the next generation of revered heroes and champions in the fantastic arena of the WWE."
Another Fighter Cut From UFC
He started off his MMA with a 3-0 record and was pegged to become the next great Gracie, but after being signed by the UFC and performing horribly in his debut, Rolles Gracie now finds himself back on the free agent list.
The Wrestling Observer was first to report the news of Gracie being cut by the UFC and it has since been confirmed by multiple sources. Gracie being cut is just another in a list of fighters cut following UFC 109.
Mark Coleman, Frank Trigg, Phillipe Nover, and Tim Hague are all among the fighters to get their walking papers following losses at UFC 109 last week.
WWE SvR 2010 Beats Out UFC 2009 Undisputed
WWE's Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 video game has shipped 3.5 million units already, putting it slightly ahead of UFC's Undisputed game. Still, the number for WWE's game is down from previous years.
UFC Wrestlers Let Go Following UFC 109 Performances
Fiveouncesofpain.com has learned that Mark "The Hammer" Coleman and Tim "The Thrashing Machine" Hague have been cut from the UFC following their performances at UFC 109.
Hague made the announcement via his face book page stating that: "Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague was released from the UFC… Time to train harder, beat up some more people and work back to the big show!" Hague lost a controversial split decision to Chris Tuchscherer.
There has been no official word on the release of Coleman but Fiveounces has a source close to the situation that tells them that Coleman is done in the UFC. He didn't look good in his match up with Couture and was controlled for the whole bout before being choked out cold.
Welterweight Frank Trigg received the same news that Tim Hague, Phillipe Nover and Mark Coleman got earlier today, that his services will no longer be needed by the UFC. Trigg confirmed his unemployment status with MMAJunkie.com on Wednesday evening and stated that he wanted to keep the news quiet until he let his family and friends know first. Trigg was put to sleep by Matt Serra in the first round of their UFC 109 bout this past weekend, however preceded that performance with another knockout loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 103. Clearly, both events led to the UFC's decision to let Trigg go once again. He holds a 19-8 professional record.
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