I’m a fan of Baszler, but really, since she was so gassed, did she really have a shot? Should Mazagatti really allowed it to continue? I think most refs would’ve stopped the fight there. Maybe he should’ve asked her if she wanted to continue.
Judge for yourself:
tyborg tazler – MyVideo
Shayna Baszler Vs Cristiane Cyborg Santos
I’m starting to think so. I think that a lot of professional sports are fixed though. Here are a few examples of some workings I feel are in the UFC.
1) Randy Couture v. Tito Ortiz … the spanking Randy gave him when Tito had him in a toe hold – was it a tap? It could’ve been! I think that had there been more money on Randy Couture that night (meaning more people bet on Randy Couture), I think that Big John would’ve ruled it a tap.
2) This shouldn’t always involve Tito Ortiz, but here’s another example – Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida – Machida dominated the fight. He gets caught in a triangle at the end of the fight. Again, I feel that it could’ve been a work. The ref doesn’t need to wait either – he could’ve just called it a tap after seeing Machida struggle a bit. I’m sure Machida wouldn’t have complained.
3) Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn – BJ just came back and was taking a fight prior to his title shot. GSP was a favorite in that fight. I think that a lot of money was put on BJ. BJ definitely won the fight. He didn’t get the decision. BJ went drinking after the fight. GSP went to the hospital.
4) What the hell … while I’m at it, let’s hit up Tito again. This time, against Rashad Evans. How often do we see points taken away from fighters for holding the fence? Almost never. Why’s Tito special? Do they pay him more for working fights? If you look at the money, you’ll see that Tito’s always paid extraordinarily well compared to the other fighters. Is it because he’s been there the longest? I doubt it. Is it because he can draw a lot of viewers? Sure! Is it because a lot of his fights are fixed? I don’t know and can’t prove it. This fight does make me wonder a little bit though. We all know Tito won that fight. He didn’t get the decision though.
5) Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida – Almeida was definitely a lot closer to finishing the fight than Cote. Unfortunately, he gassed after the first round. Cote hurt Almeida with a shot at the end of the 2nd, but who cares? Almeida was the only guy close to finishing the fight. I don’t think Cote should’ve gotten the decision.
6) Thales Leitas vs. Nathan Marquart – Marquart was robbed of bad reffing by Herb Dean. For some reason, I don’t think the UFC likes Marquart. He’s a pretty good fighter, but not the best, but definitely, won that fight.
7) Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin – It wasn’t clear that Rampage won, but a lot of people think he did. You can read the article on Sherdog.com if it’s still there. Most people thought Rampage won, but he was dominated the 2nd round. I think that a lot of money was put on Rampage.
Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine – this fight was close. I don’t know – tough to say. I’ll bet a lot of money was bet on Chuck though.
Maybe the UFC should incorporate another scoring system. Maybe it shouldn’t be as crazy as Matt Lindland’s how much damage the guy inflicted, but maybe they should have more judges – maybe the audience or something. It could skew things a lot though. It can’t really be the audience on TV either because they’re influenced too much by the commentators. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just crazy.
Takeaway from this: Don’t bet on MMA if you’re going to get pissed about these things. Probably not so much anymore, but MMA fighters used to get paid very little. There’s a good chance that they could get paid more to throw a fight than to win a fight. It’s well known that the Japanese promotions try to get people in on late notice to get them to go there and “lose”. Those don’t have to be for gambling reasons since there isn’t any casino gambling in Japan. Maybe I’m just paranoid. Maybe I just think too much. I hope I got you to think about this a little though. If this posting is the only reason why you’ve popped up on my blog, excellent! Please respond.
Thanks!
Main Card Bouts:
-Quinton Jackson (#1 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Forrest Griffin (#6 Light Heavyweight in the World)*
Uh … Rampage! We’ve seen how Jardine dismantled Forrest … Forrest has great cardio and beat Shogun, but I think Rampage is a little too much for him to handle. Just pure speculation – Forrest may be in danger of over training.
-Josh Koscheck (#4 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Chris Lytle
Who cares? I don’t know. I think Josh by lay and pray … or he might get submitted, but I think Josh by LnP – he’s probably gotten better at submission defense.
-Joe Stevenson (#9 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Gleison Tibau
I’ve never seen Tibau fight. I’m going with Joe Daddy cause he’s a big guy and probably hungry after being decipated by BJ Penn.
-Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio
Tyson Griffin. I haven’t seen Tyson get submitted; he’s also got great cardio. Aurelio’s not the best fighter. He’s strong and has submission skills – he beat Gomi! … but I think Tyson would probably beat Gomi too.
-Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
Interesting one – I’ll take Almedia by submission. Cote has great power to KO people, but I don’t think that Almedia will give him that chance.
Preliminary Bouts:
-Gabriel Gonzaga (#8 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Justin McCully
uhhh … Gonzaga? I’ve never heard of McCully. Apparently, he doesn’t have the best record either! Source: Sherdog Fightfinder
No more picks … the rest of the fights are guys I’ve never heard of or don’t care about. I am looking forward to some good fights though!
-Justin Buchholz vs. Corey Hill
-Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver
-Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins
-Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel
Who are they? Thus far, I see 4 of them.
Gina Carano – obviously, hot as hell! She’s pretty damn popular and seems more interested in being on TV with American Gladiators and Fight Girls than fighting, which I think is a very smart move, especially since she’s given that opportunity. She definitely can fight though – perfect record thus far and did fight in Thailand.
Shayna Baszler- saw her on EliteXC – an excellent, excellent submission artist! She trains with Josh Barnett, former UFC champion – she likes to party with the guitar.
Carina Damm – saw her fighting on BoDog Fight – a pretty good promotion I must say. I’m surprised it isn’t more popular. I expect good things from the promotion as the commentators aren’t too bad – much better than King of the Cage. The fighters are generally younger and inexperienced, but I guess they’re not dishing out the massive cash. She’s obviously cute as hell, but I don’t think she’s going to be a great fighter either – excellent capoeira, very flexible but I think she might just be too small. She had an excellent fight against Molly Helsel – great war, but in my opinion, she just outpointed her.
-record:http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=11403
Michelle Waterson – star from the TV show Fightgirls on the Oxygen network. Very beautiful, excellent form, but I don’t think she’s that good of a fighter.
I thought maybe I put in the picks a little too late last time. This time, I’m taking all of the favorites.
Main Card Bouts:
-B.J. Penn (#7 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Sean Sherk
Uh … BJ. Only possible way for Sherk to win is if he can hold BJ down and ground and pound or lay and pray. BJ’s not easy to take down – even St. Pierre had trouble doing it and I don’t see it being easy for him. I don’t think Sherk can stand with BJ either. I do question BJ’s gas tank though. He’s had issues with it before, but should be in shape now. We don’t need to question Sherk’s gas tank. He can go for 25 minutes no problem as he’s done many times. I’d say that BJ dominates and wins by KO most likely. Sherk’s probably not an easy guy to submit because of his short neck. I think he can power out of any armbar as well.
-Lyoto Machida (#5 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Tito Ortiz (#10 Light Heavyweight in the World)*
Machida. Tito can’t stand with him. Tito could be able to take him down and do the same as Sherk, GnP/LnP. I think that Machida will have his game with takedown defense and potshot Tito to victory.
-Keith Jardine (#6 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Wanderlei Silva (#8 Light Heavyweight in the World)*
The only possible upset of the night that I see can happen is if Wanderlei has some issues with Keith Jardine’s reach. Jardine did a good job against Liddell and I’m thinking that Houston Alexander was a fluke now. That said, if we see a crazy aggressive Wandy, he might be able to get Jardine just like Alexander did.
Beats me for the next 2 … Silva/Gouveia? I haven’t seen their opponents, so I can’t say.
-Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
-Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Preliminary Bouts:
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (#9 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Sokoudjou – he’s a judo fighter too. He’s also got KO power. I think he’ll take Nakamura by KO. Too bad Joe Silva doesn’t allow these guys to take out some of the TUF guys. They’d put on a clinic. Anyways, I think Nakamura will eventually get caught.
-Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Jon Koppenhaver
I like Koppenhaver, but have no clue who Yoshida is.
Don’t know about the rest of these guys either.
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
-Shane Carwin vs. Christian Wellisch
-Dong-hyun Kim vs. Jason Tan
-Terry Etim vs. Robert Emerson
Main Card Bouts:
-Matt Serra (#2 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Georges St. Pierre (#1 Welterweight in the World)*
The first time was a fluke. This time, St. Pierre will dominate.
-Rich Franklin (#4 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Travis Lutter
Rich Franklin by KO – I don’t think Travis can take Rich down. Even if he does, I don’t think he can submit him, but can give him trouble. I’ll still take Rich.
-Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
Quarry? I haven’t seen the two of them fight much.
-Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
Bisping? Only because I’ve seen his name show up more often. He’s only got one loss and he’s coming down in weight. I expect him to do well, but I don’t think he’ll be able to take on Anderson Silva or Dan Henderson.
-Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek
Mac? Only because I’ve seen his name show up more often.
Preliminary Bouts:
-Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen
Might be interesting … MacDonald? Should be a good fight.
-Sam Stout vs. Rich Clementi
Beats me.
Almost never heard of the rest of the guys … mostly TUF guys I guess.
-Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet
-Alan Belcher vs. Jason Day
-Cain Velasquez vs. Brad Morris
-Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia
What’s with the Fedor returns!? It’s like … what the hell? Why is it on PPV like 4 months late? HDnet should really put their fights on PPV if possible for those who don’t have HDNet, but could afford to pay for the shows a la carte. What do you guys think? Hopefully, Fedor vs. Tim Sylvia will be like that. We’ll see if Mark Cuban gets smart.
Man! This announcer is a total, annoying redneck!
Pretty good fights though – they seemed to take a lot of old, washed up fighters and bring them back. Mark Kerr is currently fighter Oleg Taktarov. I wish the fights had more than 1 round though. I guess it’s understandable since it’s a tournament. Crazy! As I was writing this, Taktarov took Kerr with a kneebar! The guy had barely any time left!
-Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Dan Henderson (#3 Light Heavyweight in the World)*
Dan Henderson – superior wrestling and durability will take this one.
-Cheick Kongo (#10 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Heath Herring
Cheick Kongo – sorry Heath, I don’t think you’re that good anymore.
-Jon Fitch (#4 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Chris Wilson
Jon Fitch – the more popular one.
-Yushin Okami (#9 Middleweight in the World)* vs. Evan Tanner
Yushin Okami – IMO, the Franklin fight with Yushin could’ve gone either way. Evan was dominated.
-Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
Chris Leben – Sakara sucks IMO
Preliminary Bouts:
-Andrei Arlovski (#5 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Jake O’Brien
Andrei Arlovski – depends on how O’Brien takes the fight – if he’s just layin’ and prayin’, he might take it. I’ll take Arlovski for superior striking.
-Josh Koscheck (#5 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Dustin Hazelett
Josh Koscheck – Dustin who? Never heard of him.
-Diego Sanchez (#8 Welterweight in the World)* vs. David Bielkheden
Diego Sanchez – fighting another dude I’ve never heard of.
-Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
don’t know either of them
-Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson
don’t know either of them either!
http://thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=6048
It’s pretty sad that the UFC is putting Tito up against Machida. As a matter of fact, I think that the UFC has done some really good matchmaking, but has made some bad choices too. For example, they really shouldn’t have put Kazuhiro Nakamura out with Machida. They should’ve put him up against a wrester like Matt Hamill or somebody that’s relatively inexpensive, so he could actually have a chance to show how good he was in Pride. They also wasted Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou on Machida. I think since Machida’s really good obviously and we all knew it, they should’ve put him up against somebody we know who’s good, but not somebody as expensive as Ortiz. Jardine would’ve been a good option or Houston Alexander or the guy that just beat him. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou should’ve been put up against another guy like Jardine or Michael Bisping and that would’ve been a better fight – again – they should let them show the same skills they showed in Pride. I think Pride’s matchmaking was a lot better considering the deep talent pool the UFC has created. I’d also would’ve liked to have seen Nakamura vs. Rashad Evans as I think Nakamura would have a good chance at beating him or Sokoudjou vs Rashad Evans – I think that would probably be a good matchup as well. I think Sokoudjou would KO Nakamura though.
Anyways, back to Ortiz, I think they should’ve given him a rematch with Wanderlei Silva or let him fight Shogun as I think he could beat both of them. Sad that they’re going to feed him to Machida, a guy that’s beat everyone so far. Who knows though – maybe he’ll fight well that night and hold Machida down the whole fight. Maybe Tito can give Machida his first defeat. I just think that we could’ve had better fights with Shogun or Wandy.
Maybe after his contract, he could go to EliteXC and have his rematch with Vitor Belfort or some of their fighters go to Strikeforce and challenge Alistair Overeem for his heavyweight title!
Here’s the article (in case the link dies)
FREE AGENCY FOR ORTIZ
Disrespected “Bad Boy” Lashes Out at UFC, Confirms May Bout with Machida
By Loretta Hunt ([email protected])
Another UFC champion is speaking out against the promotion he once called home.
In an interview on Sirius’ Fight Network Radio on Monday, a disgruntled Tito Ortiz cited money as a primary point of contention with Zuffa LLC, the Las Vegas-based company that purchased the mixed martial arts’ brand in early 2001 and turned it into a $200 million-plus industry over the next five years.
“They don’t want the fighters to get as big as a ‘Tyson’ or a ‘De La Hoya’ or one of those types because all of a sudden, they’ll be expecting to see a lot more payment,” said Ortiz. “The UFC makes about 99 percent of the money, and the rest goes to the fighters. That one percent ain’t nothing compared to what they make on merchandising, on pay-per-view, and everything else they make around the world.”
Ortiz is not the only marquee fighter to take Zuffa to task. UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture resigned from the organization on Oct. 11, citing compensation and poor treatment within the company as his main motivations. Couture walked away from his title, two contracted fights and a separate employment contract for commentating and promotional duties. Zuffa filed suit with Couture last Monday for breach of his employment contract.
A polarizing former UFC light heavyweight champion, Ortiz confirmed he will face Lyoto Machida (12-0) at a UFC event on Saturday, May 24 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will satisfy the final fight of his UFC contract.
Expecting a rematch with “The Ultimate Fighter 2” winner Rashad Evans, Ortiz (15-5-1) said he begrudgingly accepted the bout with the Japanese-Brazilian fighter who toppled PRIDE sensation Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou with a second-round submission at UFC 79 “Nemesis” on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas.
“I was expecting a bigger fight. I think the fans were expecting a bigger fight,” said Ortiz. “I got pressed into it, and all of a sudden, it’s all over the Internet that Tito Ortiz won’t fight Machida. I’m just looking to get my final fight over with the UFC.”
Ortiz has headlined 17 of his 20 UFC appearances since he stepped into the Octagon at UFC 13 “Ultimate Force” in May 1997. Energetic and captivating, Ortiz became the UFC’s light heavyweight champion after his victory against future PRIDE Fighting Championships star Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25 in April 2004. A poster boy for the promotion, he lost the title to Chuck Liddell (21-5) via a second-round TKO at UFC 47 four years later.
Ortiz’s rematch against Liddell at UFC 66 in December 2006 remains the largest UFC pay-per-view to date, with a reported 1,000,050 buys. The event also holds the North American record for paid attendance, with 12,191 fans shelling out $5,397,300 to see the former friends rumble. The 33-year-old said he’s banked over $ 1 million per fight in his latest outings, but that half those wages go to taxes and training expenses.
Money has always been at the root of a rocky relationship with Zuffa officials. In 2003, Ortiz held out on a pay raise from the Las Vegas promotion in favor of a supporting movie role in a sequel to “The Crow.” Ortiz eventually returned to the fold, but the relationship remained strained.
Ortiz’s troubles with the promotion have become public fodder, particularly with his former manager turned UFC president Dana White, who has belittled the fighter and his girlfriend, Jenna Jameson — the world’s most recognizable porn star — in numerous interviews.
The clash between promoter and fighter came to a head last fall, when Spike TV aired a special documenting a regulated boxing session the two were to have had in a Las Vegas gym. Ortiz said he pulled out of the bout ahead of time, claiming compensation for the publicity stunt was never agreed upon. The cameras rolled with White waiting at the scales.
Nearing the end of his contract last year, Ortiz opted to go back to the table with UFC majority owner Lorenzo Fertitta. Subsequent negotiations stalled.
“They said I wasn’t worth the money,” said Ortiz. “I was worth no more than what I’m getting paid now, and I’m not a commodity to them anymore. I’m not as viable to them anymore. That was a sign of disrespect.”
Ortiz also believes White’s ill feelings towards him will most likely prevent the fighter from getting a shot at the UFC title again.
“With Dana in charge, I don’t think that fight will ever happen for me,” said Ortiz. “Dana has bad blood for me and nothing but bad blood. They’re going to try and ruin me.”
Often at the center of controversy in the sport, bleached-blonde wrestler Ortiz, 33, has managed to stay in the spotlight despite his inactivity. After his heated July 7 draw with “The Ultimate Fighter 3” reality TV series winner Rashad Evans (11-0-1) at UFC 73 “Stacked” in Sacramento, Ortiz (15-5-1) landed a stint on NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice,” alongside KISS frontman Gene Simmons and actor Stephen Baldwin. The show is now in its third week, with Ortiz donating his earnings to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
“UFC is caring so much about the brand itself,” said Ortiz. “They could care less about the fighters. Fighters are a dime a dozen. They’ll keep coming. Dana is really out for himself and the company. He doesn’t give a s–t about the fighters.”
POSTED — 01/21/08