UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar

The main card of this event looks pretty good. I actually don't know much about the prelim's besides Matt Brown. Either way, I'll be avoiding the boards until I'm able to download the fights. I haven't found a place I could get the fights up here. My picks are in bold:

Main card

Heavyweight Championship Match: Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar
Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson
Heavyweight bout: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks
Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Nate Quarry
Welterweight bout: Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory


Preliminary card

Lightweight bout: Nick Grant vs. Jorge Gurgel
Lightweight bout: Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. Alvin Robinson
Welterweight bout: Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas

I dont have to change a thing bro you picked exactly how i was going to pick. I wish Joe could get better and come out on top but i think florian will take him pretty good. I wish Randy would take it as well but just dont see it happening. If i had to put money ont hem thats exactly how i would pickem

Sadallah was suppose to fight but got a leg infection. Amir omir, was one of the fights I was excited about. I hope you are both wrong about Lesnar, but who knows. Florian will probably beat the living crap out of Daddy Stevenson.

right now Couture is going throgh the whole stalking issue with some fuckhead that runs Extreme clothing, so he has a lot on his mind. Don't know how it will pan out-he was heavy underdog in his last 2 fights, also, so we'll see.

when is the fight?

FUCK!!!
Couture lost TKO

Damn I wanted couture to kick his ass....

Couture was looking pretty good and Lesner looked like he was getting gassed when
Lesner caught Couture on the back of the head and stunned him - thats all it took and
Lesner finished him. J

any link to the video?

Got caught for sure. Lesnar was gasping for air. The sad part to me is that Lesnar has the belt and really didn't deserve it yet. I hope minotauro beats mir and they fight next. I am also curious to see Franklin and Henderson fight.

One other thing... That idiot gorge gurgel...well he's an idiot. The guy is getting beat down standing up, is a black belt in bjj but never takes the guy down but once. He did it easy too. That guy needs to just ref full time. He's a freaking moron. My karate instructor and I use to joke about the video he made with Franklin holding a striking pad asking Rich how powerful he was. Loser is what he is.

Does anyone know their payouts?

I am always interested to see how much they make

These guys fight in a brute sport and dont make nearly as much as a boxer.......These guys really do fight for pride and respect.

Heres last years payout

UFC Fight Night 9 Fighters' Salaries and Official Results
by Dann Stupp on Apr 07, 2007 at 12:08 pm ET
Joe StevensonFighters' salaries for Thursday's UFC Fight Night 9 event are in, and main-event winner Joe Stevenson was the big winner with a base pay of $32,000.

UFC Fight Night 9 took place on Thursday (April 5, 2007) at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., and aired live on Spike TV.

Although MMAjunkie.com typically contacts state commissions directly to get salary figures for each UFC event, MMAWeekly.com beat us to the punch. And seeing how the Nevada State Athletic Commission doesn't keep office hours on weekends, I'm going to pass along the figures reported by the MMAWeekly.com folks. I'm sure these numbers are accurate.

The total payroll for all 16 fighters came in at $174,000 -- or just shy of $11,000 per fighter.

I should now give the usual disclaimer. These figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, these salaries do not include the typical bonuses the UFC sometimes pays for the submission of the night, knockout of the night, and fight of the night. The figures also do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income.

In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the NSAC and do represent the total amounts made by each fighter.

MAIN CARD

Joe Stevenson: $32,000
Melvin Guillard: $7,000
Stevenson won by submission (guillotine choke) -- Round 1, 0:27

Kenny Florian: $16,000
Dokonjonosuke Mishima: $8,000
Florian won by submission (rear naked choke) -- Round 3, 3:57

Justin McCully: $6,000
Antoni Hardonk: $6,000
McCully won by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards)

UNDERCARD (TELEVISED)

Kurt Pellegrino: $12,000
Nate Mohr: $3,000
Pellegrino won by submission (ankle lock) -- Round 1, 2:58

UNDERCARD (UNTELEVISED)

Wilson Gouveia: $12,000
Seth Petruzelli: $5,000
Gouveia won by submission (guillotine choke) -- Round 2, 0:39

Drew Fickett: $20,000
Keita Nakamura: $4,000
Fickett won by unanimous decision (30-26, 29-26, 29-26)

Kuniyoshi Hironaka: $12,000
Forrest Petz: $4,000
Hironaka won by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Roan Carneiro: $6,000
Rich Clementi: $12,000
Carneiro won by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards)

Thiago Tavares: $6,000
Naoyuki Kotani: $3,000
Tavares won by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards)

Well, now you will have your chance and if you are as tough as you say you are while watching UFC or Pride fighting and think you can kick their butts on TV, try this contest of brutality to determine the world's toughest man!

Ok, now I will start in cracking fun at this contest. What exactly does it mean to be the world's toughest man? I can tell you that a week ago I was standing in -45 degree Celsius weather with the wind blowing madly for roughly 25 minutes. That's tough, man! My ears are still burning from the frost bite.

This upstart organization loosely believes that they are a Mixed Martial Arts organization is... well... a joke in comparison to the Heavyweight champion MMA guru's in Pride & UFC. Never mind the countless other established MMA organizations around the globe.

Have a look at the current group of approved misfits err.. fighters in the contest. I am surprised that Kimbo Slice, the Miami street brawler isn't among them. If someone knows Kimbo, you might want to pass this link over to one of his handlers 'cause I am sure he's gettin' tired of fighting for Big Mac Combo's in people's backyards.

Take a good look at the "qualified" fighter profiles. Here are a few of my favorites that had me spit my favorite beverage on my LCD monitor.

Marlon "Blacky Chang" Bonds

Marlon is a self taught Bruce Lee admiring fighter with heart. At only 19 years of age Marlon is willing to step into the ring against any fighter with any fighting style in order to show he is the best fighter in the world.


Alan "Maniac" Castillo

Alan thinks just as crazy as he looks. This thug is ready to steal yor wallet and leave you on the ground thinking twice about why you looked at him sideways. Just keep your eyes down and he wont hurt you.


Sean "Arrogant Bastard" Belote

Sean is a beer drinking, rugby playing ex-marine sergeant. With a wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, and marine corps martial arts background Sean is skilled, arrogant, and doesn't care when he steps in the ring. His only goal to hurt you.

Christopher Schommer

As an ex-marine corporal, and urban sniper Chris is looking to inflict military style pain on opponents in order to reign undefeated in the ring. Chris's goal is make sure children accross the globe have a REAL idol to look up to.
Anyway, here is a press release from www.newerafighting.com that outlines the tough man contest and also, the $1, 000, 000 bounty on Kimo Leopoldo's head as the grand prize.

Someone should also mention this to Royce Gracie who only received $400, 000 (before PPV bonuses) for the beat down he received from Matt Hughes at UFC 60. Did you know that Royce defeated Kimo Leopoldo early on in his career at UFC 3?


Here is the New Era Fighting Press Release:

SANTA ANA, California (February 19, 2007) - The highest purse ever offered in the history of Mixed Martial Arts competition -- $1,000,000 - could be on the line for the winner of the New Era Fighting-promoted "World's Toughest Man" contest.

New Era Fighting (NEF), the internationally booming mixed martial arts organization combining the raw brutality of UFC with the entertainment value of WWE, will hold a series of international level tryouts, tentatively scheduled to begin June 15-17, at a venue in Orange Country, California.

Each tryout in the proposed series will be conducted during a three-day tournament during an 8-10 month period. Combat fighters selected will advance to the next round, where they will fight each other in a tournament format to eventually determine the remaining 10 survivors.

The 10 tryout-survivors and some fighters already signed to NEF promotional contracts will compete on a show in either California or Las Vegas. The winner will be crowned "World's Toughest Man" and be offered an anticipated $1,000,000 winner-take-all fight against living legend Kimo Leopoldo, headlining a full card for a pay-per-view broadcast live from in Las Vegas at a date to be determined.

Kimo, the undisputed superstar of New Era Fighting, in effect has had a $1-million bounty placed on his head. "I've had a bounty, of sorts, on me my entire life in one way or another," Kimo said. "I've fought in a lot of other organizations and what we're (NEF) doing is bringing up the average purse for NEF fighters as well as give fighters with other organizations another option and leverage in terms of earning more money. There are no excuses for any fighter (heavyweight) to enter the NEF tournament. If champions and top contenders from other organizations want to fight in the 'World's Toughest Man' tournament, they are welcome to fight and have sufficient time to work things out. Instead of just claiming that they're the best or the baddest fighters in the MMA world, now they all have the chance to prove it.

"For any of them to even have a remote chance of beating me and winning the $1,000,000, though, they'll have to look me in the eyes and go where I'm willing to go to win - whatever it takes, no limits with the force and 100-percent spirit. They will need to be a complete fighter - kicking, striking, cardio, etc. - to get through the tournament and then fight me. This is street-fighting that crosses over to sports. I've been in this sport 12 years and it is evolving through New Era Fighting, which will use the toughness of old-school fighting combined with the great athleticism of today. New Era Fighting will be the only MMA organization with a poll of complete fighters."

NEF president Ron Kort noted that the "World's Toughest Man" contest will not only give fighters an opportunity to ultimately fight Kimo for $1-million, but also be scouted in the tournament for their fighting ability and charisma outside of the ring for a potential NEF promotional contract offer.

"I'm in the process of reviewing bids and proposals to lockdown venues, television relationships, and sponsors but nothing has been finalized, yet," Kort explained. "We are in no hurry and understand the importance of aligning ourselves with the right marketing relationships. Our rules for this show are different from what MMA fans are used to seeing. They will insure the safety of fighters as well as constant action in the ring. We think outside of the box, something most MMA promoters don't do, and that's why our popularity is growing every day. We know what fighters need and MMA fans want and we're selfless enough to give it to them."

Fighter Salaries: The Problems With Revenue Linking

There exists a critical assumption within the business world that most of our theories rely on: the concept of rationality. A rational or "greedy" individual is said to prefer more than less and it is this preference that can be seen in all walks of life. Investors are expecting greater wealth generation, creditors want higher interest rates, buyers want a cheaper price, and sellers want more for their goods. The same can also be said for the relationship that exists between a firm and its employees; no matter how much you pay someone, they're always going to want more.

This is human nature. This is rationality.

And so we arrive at perhaps one of the most contentious issues within the MMA industry today - fighter pay. Regardless of what some fighters will tell you, they don't fight for free and they always want more. The question is, how much more is fair?

One suggestion that has been thrown around the industry is to directly or indirectly tie salaries/payouts to a percentage of the revenue. In particular, many feel the UFC should be paying out somewhere between 20-30% of its revenues to the fighters. There are, however, several problems with this approach:

1.) People are comparing apples to oranges when looking at the guaranteed revenue sharing schemes that other professional sports leagues employ. The lack of a collective bargaining agreement between the UFC and its fighters makes it virtually impossible to form a guaranteed revenue percentage paid to the fighters.

The UFC holds too much power at this point in time - even despite the emergence of some potentially legimate contenders in Dream and Affliction - to give up their standard organizational contract and form a partnership with a fighters union. Futhermore, a lack of unity between the fighters would seem to make starting a union very difficult; certainly the precedence set in other combat sports support this theory.

Beyond guaranteed shares of revenue, indirect methods might still be possible, but the state of the industry would seem to indicate it won't happen for the following reasons.

2.) The sport of MMA is still within its infancy stage of the product development cycle. It's a stage characterized by extremely high development costs that see a larger-than-normal proportion of earnings reinvested into the organization - earnings that really aren't that high to begin with. Let's face it, MMA is not yet a big four sport with an established revenue base into the billions of dollars per year like the NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL.

Tying fighter salaries to 20-30% of an organization's revenue at this point in the industry's life cycle would limit the amount of money the organization is able to reinvest back into the firm (thus limiting the growth of the organization and the industry at large).

3.) Fixed and variable costs. Given the above, we know that an MMA organization's costs are currently higher because of its place in the product life cycle. We also know that many of these MMA organizations have comparatively higher production costs than their boxing counterparts because its all done in-house (opposed to being done by a network).

Proportionately, however, many of the costs with running an MMA organization are fixed relative to the fluctuation potential of revenue streams from any particular event. So, just for one moment let's assume that an MMA organization's average ballpark cost for one show is $1,000,000 before payouts. Then let's entertain two scenarios:

A.) Revenue for the event is $1,000,000. Thus, fighter payouts are valued at $300,000.
B.) Revenue for the event is $20,000,000. Thus fighter payouts are valued at $6,000,000.

Under Scenario A, the firm loses $300,000.
Under Scenario B, the firm makes $13,000,000.

The point here is that revenue figures can be misleading. The sport is still growing at such a fast pace that linking fighter pay to revenues would seem to be a poor valuation of their worth. A general revenue percentage paid to the fighter also ignores the costs of putting on events, which from a business standpoint needs to be emphasized.

4.) Distribution Issues. Openly linking payouts to revenues is going to highlight the distribution issues between fighters and further aggrivate the much-maligned gap between top-end and bottom-end fighter payouts.

Fighters should be rewarded for the revenue they generate, but human resource experts around the world are going to tell you that paying the lower echelon employees is just as important as paying the upper echelon employees.

How exactly should the 20-30% be divided amongst the fighters? Furthermore, how does the implication that the majority of MMA revenue is generated by a few fighters, solve the issue of minimum fighter salaries being perceived as to low?

Check back later this week for my take on possible solutions to fighter pay that leave behind percentage figures and focus on the interests of both parties.

MMA vs. Boxing: America’s Fastest Growing Sport Goes Head to Head with the “Sweet Science.”


The debate has been ongoing ever since UFC’s pay-per view numbers from 2006 were released. The UFC broke the pay-per-view industry’s all-time records for a single year of business, generating over $222,766,000 in revenue during 2006, surpassing WWE and boxing. Has boxing’s reign as the premiere combat sport come to an end? As quickly as you might answer one way or the other, let’s look at the most important factors in determining the leading sport:



Most Recognizable Fighters:



MMA has spearheaded into popularity, largely due to the commercial success of UFC and The Ultimate Fighter. The Ultimate Fighter has helped create household names such as Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez and most recently Nate Diaz. Roger Huerta became the first Mixed Martial Artists to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, and Chuck Liddell not only graced the cover of ESPN the Magazine, but also starred in an episode of “Entourage.”



Lately, everywhere you turn, an MMA fighter’s face is garnering mainstream attention. However, there is hardly an athlete in any sport that has created a stronger brand or that carries more name recognition than Oscar De La Hoya, who has generated over $500 million in pay-per-view buys over the course of his career. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has become a house hold name since his relatively timid win over De La Hoya this year. Despite a heavyweight division filled with more characters from a “Stallone” movie than actual contenders, names of less relevant aging fighters can still be found on the tips of casual fighting fan’s lips. (e.g., Evander Holyfield, and Roy Jones Jr.)



Advantage: Boxing





Bigger Commercial Success



The UFC’s 2006 pay-per-view sales have led many people to speculate on the death of boxing. How else could you explain, one promotion outselling an entire sport? The numbers tell the story, and as the saying goes, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.” But I think we’re looking at the wrong numbers. Boxing is coming off of the biggest boxing pay-per-view ever with 2.15 million household buys. Not only that, but De La Hoya ended up bringing in close to $45 million for the fight, while Mayweather Jr. earned close to $20 million.



In the biggest UFC fight, UFC 71, complete with ESPN coverage throughout the promotion, Chuck Liddell earned $500,000 and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson earned $225,000. With such a disparity between purses in the two sports, its hard to argue that MMA has surpassed Boxing commercially. The average sports fan actually does not even refer to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as MMA. It’s commonly referred as “Caged Fighting”, “Ultimate Fighting” or as the ultimate sign of a one promotion monopoly, “UFC.”

MMA is the fastest growing sport in America. However, it’s still has some growing up to do to catch the sport of boxing in commercial success.



Advantage: Boxing

More Excited Pay-Per Views


Boxing is ailing in this area. The biggest flaw in boxing pay-per-views is a lack of an undercard. The boxing business model for pay-per-views is to hype up the main event in as many media outlets as possible, leading up to the day of the event. Fans pay $39.95- $49.95 for one fight which usually begins at around 11pm. While they wait for the main event, they’re thrown 2-3 fights featuring fighters they have never heard of. Off the top of your head, can you name the Miguel Cotto v. Zab Judah undercard? How about the Mayweather v. De La Hoya? And on the rare occasion when the undercard fight is better or at least more memorable than the main event, (see Kelly Pavlick v. Edison Miranda) it is because the main event is so lackluster. (e.g., Cory Spinks v. Jermaine Taylor).


MMA’s strongest trait is it’s ability to stack a card. UFC/Pride’s dominance over smaller promotions has provided us with some of the best fights $39.95 can buy. For instance, at UFC 73, there are two titles on the line, as well as one of the biggest names in the sport in Tito Ortiz. The card also includes the UFC debut of one of the greatest submission heavyweights in the world in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Thanks to the world of corrupt promoters, what seems like hundreds of governing bodies, and too many decision makers, this is something we’ll never see in boxing.



Advantage: MMA





Championship Match Excitement


Dan Henderson is the PRIDE Fighting Champion at welterweight (183 pounds) and middleweight (205 pounds). Sean Sherk is the UFC’s lightweight champion (155 pounds) and Matt Serra is UFC’s welterweight champion (170 pounds).

As easy as it is to name these champions and their respective promotions, its as difficult name a true champion in a boxing weight class. Boxing has so many weight divisions, along with so many sanctioning bodies (IBF, WBC, WBA and soon ABCDEFG), there aren’t any recognizable champions in the sport. The biggest and most popular division in the sport, the heavyweight division, is in its worst condition ever. The four heavyweight champions, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev, Ruslan Chagaev and Sultan Ibragimov, don’t exactly invoke the memories of Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier or even Evander Holyfield.



Advantage: MMA

Who has the best fighters?

In the midst of hyping his fight with Oscar de la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather posed this question: Could an MMA fighter step into the ring with a professional boxer with 12 ounce gloves and actually put on a competitive fight? It’s highly doubtful. There are not many MMA fighters with an average boxer’s striking ability. With plenty of room to maneuver, no takedowns or elbows to worry about, a professional boxer would pick an MMA fighter apart.

However, the same can be true in an Octagon. If Floyd Mayweather fought Sean Sherk at 145-150 pounds, it’s unlikely he would last 45 seconds. What training has he had in takedown defense or submission defense? The fighter whose made millions of dollars and gained nationwide attention by dodging and moving, would have no where to go and no other recourse but to tap out.



Advantage: Even

So which sport wins? It’s clear one sport is on the way, while the other is on a decline. Whether or not MMA has passed boxing yet in its upward climb has yet to be determined. But its sure fun to watch.

I'm really amazed by Lesnar's accomplishments. Starting in WWE, and then suddenly you're good at football and MMA? It really freaks me out...

WWE is probably a lot less dangerous than competing in MMA, so if you could build your athleticism cooperatively in a format like that first (along with general wrestling and other MA training with friends) maybe you'd suffer less injuries before entering against resisting opponents with better base fitness?