HOW POWERFUL IS DANA WHITE?
Sometimes UFC Prez Dana White just irks me. A fortnight ago, Tapout a major MMA sponsor, was pressured by the UFC to “not sign” a deal with Fedor Emilianenko. Word is Tapout got a call from the UFC stating that, “If you do a tee shirt deal with Fedor, you’re done with the UFC.” Dana White has not denied the call being made.
“TAP HEARD AROUND THE WORLD”
When Fedor Emelianenko tapped out a fortnight ago to Fabrice Verdum, it was called , “the tap heard round the world.” Around the world perhaps, but only about 700,000 homes watched the uncrowned heavyweight champ Fedor get caught in a choke hold on Showtime in the United States. Fedor (32-2) was trying to build a US fanbase that could get him parity with the UFC champ Brock Lesnar. Oh, the overall Showtime rating of 1.47. Last year, Gina Carrano, her nearly being beheaded by Cris Santos in this same San Jose, CA arena, the chicks had a bigger live crowd and grabbed a 2.17 rating.
CBS TV IS WHERE STRIKEFORCE NEEDS TO BE
CBS has not yet said whether or not they will put forth a fall Strikeforce card. Last Monday, just two days after Fedor flopped, Scott Coker, the man behind Strikeforce went to New York to discuss a date with potentially Hershell Walker, Bobby Lashley, and get this, Dave Bautista of WWE fame.
BAUTISTA HAS YET TO SIGN ON DOTTED LINE
Bautista, 41 years of age, said he didn’t like the PG rated product the WWE is serving up these days. At the Strikeforce Los Angeles card last month, Bautista had nothing good to say about Vince McMahon or the WWE. Making close to $2 million a year, that’s a lot of money for a man Dave’s age to walk away from. The aforementioned Hershell Walker, an NFL great, at 1-0, the 47-year old is training in San Jose full time.
UFC 114 NUMBERS ARE IN!
The Rashad Evans-Rampage Jackson PPV match last month did an estimated 1,050,000 buys. And while the fight was all Evans and failed to deliver, the animosity in the pre-fight build up is what delivered the numbers.
ULIMATE FINALE NUMBERS AS WELL
The live gate in Las Vegas for the Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Finale was 1,708 paid for a live gate take of $430,000. The show drew two million viewers on Spike TV, making it the highest rated show of the television day! As good as it sounds, it was the third lowest total in 11 season endings.
MMA PUG HELD IN CASINO DEATH OF PAL
Alcohol, drugs, and testosterone, in combination they are deadly. Take the case of Las Vegas’ MMA fighter Jason Sindelar. The 25-year old assaulted DeMario Reynolds, a friend who had tried to prevent Jason from choking his girlfriend, three different times on the night of June 19 at the Luxor Hotel & Casino. The third attack proved fatal. Sindelar is being held sans bail.
Pedro Fernandez