Bloody Elbow :: The Official Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Blog of the SB Nation

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, UFC 83, which featured Georges St. Pierre v. Matt Serra, drew 525,000 buys based on the first industry estimate of the event. Early estimates typically rise as more numbers come in and the event is reportedly tracking ahead of both of Randy Couture's fights from last year which did 540,000 and 520,000 respectively.

Many sources relying on google trends and other internet traffic based methods of predicting pay-per-view buys had predicted that the event would come in average to below. Based on the strong storytelling behind GSP-Serra and anecdotal evidence, MMAPayout.com correctly predicated that the event would surprise to the upside. MMAPayout.com has since learned that the highly praised Countdown show for the event drew an above average 782,000 viewers.

The thing that threw me off more than anything else was the small bump in traffic we had here at BE for UFC 83. We got a much bigger bump for the Anderson Silva/Dan Henderson fight, which was a dud on PPV.

I don't have video of that yet, so perhaps this will tide you over in the meantime:

Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): So are you saying that a lot of these fighters who we see on television as the faces of the UFC, do you think that behind the scenes, they are commenting on that type of thing but are just afraid to say it?

Tito Ortiz: Of course they're commenting on it. There are all kinds of guys ... Georges St. Pierre, I know he's very disgusted with the UFC, but it's just one of those things where they give him little small things that he thinks are great. He gets a brand new Hummer, like "Wow, I get an awesome new Hummer" (and it) costs 50 grand, and all of a sudden I gotta pay taxes on it, and I gotta pay for gas, and dutta-dutta-duh.

This is a pathetic tactic either way. If this is a lie, it really shows how low Tito is in general. If it's true, Tito has no business outing it, and GSP is probably keeping the disagreement private for a reason.

Tito Ortiz: Actually, I've seen my fan base increase. They've seen the true colors of Dana and they've seen that I'm not the only one saying something. Many fighters - Randy [Couture], Tim [Sylvia] - are talking about what Dana has been doing. Fans want to support me no matter where I go.

MMA Madness: And on that note, can you tell us what's next for you?

Tito Ortiz: Well, nothing official yet. As soon as this fight is over, I have a 30-day waiting period before I can negotiate.

MMA Madness: Which organizations are you interested in?

Tito Ortiz: Definitely EliteXC. Affliction seems to be building up well. And they just started with DREAM in Japan. Any organization that will respect me and promote me as the champion that I am.

MMA Madness: And of these organizations you're interested in, which have contacted you?

Tito Ortiz: All of them have contacted me, but I can't negotiate yet.

I think a lot of people are expecting Tito to fight and within 24 hours announce that he has signed with EXC, Affliction or DREAM. In reality he can't even begin negotiations with any non-UFC promotion until 30 days after the fight. Knowing how difficult Tito can be at the table when it comes to getting a contract he likes I'm going to say it'll be July or August before we know what his next move is.

There really aren't a lot of attractive non-UFC fights at light heavy outside of Frank Shamrock or Cung Le (who would each have to be willing to move up to 205...which may not be doable for Le). Tito says in the interview that he'd consider bulking up and fighting Fedor or Kimbo also. I think the smart path would be for him to take a deal with EXC and fight Le or Shamrock on a joint promoted card. From there if he really wants to bulk up he could take on Strikeforce's heavyweight champion in Alistair Overeem as a "testing the waters" bout...this is also a fairly safe bout as Ortiz would likely be able to get the fight to the ground and pound out a win. From there you can try to work a possible big money fight with Kimbo.

Fantasy matchmaking on my part to be sure, but it's a path that is doable, profitable and fairly safe route for Tito.

I've recently posted his fights with Sam Greco and B.J. Penn, so I'm only going to post a few more so folks who may not be familiar with him can get a better idea.

Personally, my main concern is how Lyoto will handle Ortiz's physicality and wrestling. Machida has a very wide stance and while he's got excellent movement in and out of range - and Ortiz has a tendency to reach on his takedowns out of desperation, e.g. third round of his fight with Forrest Griffin - you have to think at some point (especially early on) Ortiz is going to get the takedown with some sort of snatch single or double. From there, we know Machida has a good guard and underrated BJJ, but Ortiz has an excellent base, vicious ground and pound and good submission defense. I see this fight going Ortiz's way early on with Machida doing well as the fight wears on. More fights after the jump.

Affliction is a new organization coming up, and World Victory Road is a relatively new organization. Should new organizations even think about competing with the UFC?

No, they shouldn't. They can't operate within a vacuum, because what every promotion does, even to a small extent, is going to affect them, but they can't worry about competing with UFC.

They have to try and make sure that:

a) They can put together a great product, in a fashion that is going to draw people to watch it and is available for people to watch it.

b) All their i's are dotted and all their t's are crossed, and everything is laid out and set up, so that someone like UFC couldn't come along and try and find some way to throw a wrench into it, hijack it, challenge it by running programming against it or just simply going behind the scenes to whoever and making a few handshakes, and (say), "Hey, make sure this thing doesn't go off."

You've worked with many promoters in your career. Why is it so hard for new organizations to get traction?

They don't secure the viewership first and basically they just spend way too much right off the bat.

Of course, you're going to lose money when you start, but some of these guys, I think they come in not with the understanding of how long it's going to take them to recoup that investment, and they don't have a nest egg that's large enough to hang in there, especially at the level they're trying to do it at.

Two-time UFC champion Tim Sylvia holds the highest knockout percentage among the world's premier heavyweights. The 32-year-old product of the Miletich Fighting Systems camp has delivered 16 of his 28 career wins (57 percent) by knockout or technical knockout. His percentage is followed by Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (52 percent), Ben Rothwell (50 percent), former UFC titleholder Andrei Arlovski (47 percent), Aleksander Emelianenko (44 percent), UFC Hall-of-Fame Randy Couture (29 percent), Gabriel Gonzaga (27 percent), Fedor Emelianenko (21 percent), Fabricio Werdum (21 percent), Heath Herring (17 percent), Josh Barnett (15 percent) and interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (8 percent).

Yes, yes, I know. Sylvia's become more boring as his career has progressed. I get that. I just thought the data was interesting.

So that controversial earmark that would direct proceeds collected not required to run the athletic commission to the state's only collegiate Division I program? It was approved on the committee level:

A bill to legalize and regulate "mixed martial arts" competitions in Tennessee is headed for a full Senate vote.

The measure passed the Senate Finance Committee 10-1 on Monday. The companion bill was approved 95-2 in the House last week.

The measure would create a new commission to regulate amateur and professional contests beyond the boxing and kickboxing currently permitted in Tennessee.

The committee approved an amendment by Sen. Bo Watson that would direct some of the proceeds to Division I wrestling programs in Tennessee.

Now here's a question for you: Why the fuck are there so few websites out there screaming "WEAKSAUCE" over this shit? I mean, go onto any forum out there and you'll read reactions from people that range from angry to confused to resigned to utter ambivalence (which means not giving a shit for those of you who hate my uppity big-wordiness). Yet go read the countless blogs out there and no one is giving the UFC a hard time over this lame-ass uninspired choice.

Let's get something straight: a fight between Frank Mir and Big Nog is barely interesting enough to carry a PPV on it's own, let alone an entire season of TUF. As for the argument that TUF exposure is a great way for Nog to become popular, that's ass backwards thinking. Sticking a relatively unknown guy on TUF is just going to result in less people giving a shit about it. And it's not like Nog just needs a showcase for his shining personality. The guy looks / acts like a big lumbering Frankenstein. For all the excitement he creates in the ring, he's duller than matte paint in real life.

For the record, I think this season is terrible and that's with two coaches who are good on camera, legitimate MMA stars and generally amiable and funny guys. If this format can't even work with them at the helm, I seriously doubt Mir and Noguiera is going to be any better (or even as good).

Look, the show - in its current format - has jumped the shark. I think there are a host of reasons for this, but part of it is that the talent well has run dry. If the UFC were able to space seasons further apart, they might be able to draw on more mature and developed talent. But they're running this machine into the ground and I don't think they've been able to cull the kind of talent they need consistently to make the show interesting.

In fact, the coaches' celebrity status used to be an ancillary benefit. TUF was originally and almost exclusively about the developing fighters. And when the show first started, there were a lot of up-and-comers to choose from. But between the pacing of the seasons and the growth of MMA leading to other organizations snatching up talent, there just isn't that much left to go around. Mir and Nogueira, despite being two of my favorite fighters, aren't going to change that dynamic.

B.J. Penn -265
Lyoto Machida -220
Wanderlei Silva -170

Sean Sherk +215
Tito Ortiz +180
Keith Jardine +140

Dream Event Producer Sasahara was asked about the possibility of Kimbo Slice possibly fighting on a dream card, despite him being unknown in Japan. He was also asked if EliteXC's female superstar Gina Carano might be a possibility.

Dream Event Producer Sasahara: " Certainly, now Kimbo Slice is perhaps namelessness. But, like Mayhem Miller yesterday, there is a possibility where it can grasp the heart of the fan with 1 appearance'

In regards to the woman fighter, at present time, no. Now ' DREAM ' is in the process of growing. When ' DREAM ' has reached maturity, we would think of adding women fighters at that time."


	Bloody Elbow : The Official Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Blog of the SB Nation

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