If they were smart they would make this the headliner for UFC 103 with Franklin vs Ortiz as the lead in. That would turn one of the potentially weakest cards in UFC history into the biggest heavyweight fight in MMA history with, coupled with Ortiz’s return against a worth opponent. 250,000 pay per view buys would turn into a million plus.  Call me Joe Silva Fukerton.

Source: Bloody Elbow

Jeff talks about trying to balance running a gym, training for a fight and being a family man.  We discuss the upcoming Pulver/Faber fight and he makes his pick in the GSP/BJ Penn match up.  Interesting to hear how a guy that has had so much success still has to burn the candle at both ends.  I guess not everyone is making Tim Sylvia money just yet. (Can you hear the sarcasm dripping?)  Good luck to Jeff in April, he’s a stand up guy.

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Quite a thrill.  A legend that can still whoop ass takes some time to sit down with The Nation’s Leading Website.  Randy chop’s it up with The Fukerton about his movie career, fighting Brock Lesnar, who he is picking in the Penn vs GSP fight and whether or not Fedor is coming to the UFC.  Forgive the horrendous cliche but it applies:  We’re not worthy.

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Whatever you think of Frank Trigg you can’t deny he knows his shit and earns his wage talking MMA. Great stuff here. Trigg talks Fedor, Mir, Lesnar, why he was taken off the Affliction color commentary and who he thinks is the best fighter in the world. Guy is great at what he does.

The video above is from the laundry list of offenses committed by Gilbert Yvel.  I wasn’t that familiar with him either.  I knew he fought Cheick Kongo had the reputation for being a dirty fighter.  What I did not know is all the henious ass shit he has been doing during his fighting career.  Sherdog.com had a nice rundown they put together for ESPN which you can view for yourself:

The rap sheet:

• vs. Karimula Barkalaev in 1998: Yvel was disqualified for biting his opponent.

• vs. Dan Henderson in 2000: Yvel landed a calculated elbow directly behind Henderson’s ear while Henderson was working for a takedown.

• vs. Don Frye in 2001: Yvel repeatedly gouged Frye’s eyes, was eventually disqualified and placed his hands on the referee.

• vs. Atte Backman in 2004: Yvel assaulted the referee by knocking him to the ground and then kicking his hapless frame into unconsciousness.

• vs. the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 2007: Yvel was denied a fighter’s license in the state after commissioners evaluated his prior behavior.

Affliction doesn’t need this kind of headache.  Is anyone going to plunk down 50 dollars to see Yvel fight?  Even if you would argue that everyone likes to slow down to look at a car accident, what if it’s a road no one drives down?  This isn’t like having Mike Tyson fight someone.  That’s a car crash on 95 north.  Yvel is  car crash in your driveway.  No one outside of the hard core MMA community has even heard of this buffoon, so he will bring in no additional PPV buys.  Couple that with the fact that there is a good chance he will do something stupid to bring shame to a company that is fighting for it’s very existence.  Affliction has put on one good fight.  It has also overpaid for almost all it’s fighters, had to cancel its second fight once already and entered into some questionable business partnerships. (Golden Boy and EliteXC.)  Is this the type of individual you want involved in what may prove to be the most important night in your companies history?

You have a show about MMA.  You have a television network.  Put the show on TV.  This ain’t rocket science.

M1’s offical statement MMA Junkie:

M-1’s Official Statement on Brock Lesnar’s victoryM-1 would like to congratulate Brock Lesnar on his UFC heavyweight title victory as well as acknowledge Randy Couture’s return to active competition after a layoff that lasted over a year. 

Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year. While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment.

We’ve invited the media to speak with us today to not only make it clear we would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silfva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

In the past, UFC president Dana White and Zuffa, LLC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have tried to claim that Fedor was “overrated” and that his “record was irrelevant.” They make these claims in spite of the fact that Fedor holds career victories over UFC champions past and present. While we have tremendous respect for the contributions Mr. Fertitta and Dana have made to this sport, we do not believe they are sincere in their statements.

It is the position of M-1 that the UFC has adopted an anti-Fedor policy because multiple attempts to sign him have not been fruitful. For a company that has tried to market itself as the number one promotion in the world, they are unable to accept the fact that the number one fighter in the world does not reside on its roster of contracted fighters.

We believe that the UFC has determined that it’s much more inexpensive for them to use their marketing resources to use smoke and mirrors to brand a fighter as the pound-for-pound best as opposed to actually paying the pound-for-pound best what he is truly worth on the open market.

While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world. Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.

For those who feel our statements in regards to Fedor are self-serving, we’d like to refer you to a video interview on the website RawVegas.tv in which at his UFC 91 after-party Couture himself acknowledges that “Fedor would probably tear Brock up at this point.”

Jerry Millen, M-1 Vice President

This will not happen for many reasons.  Firstly, Fedor would likely beat Brock Lesnar.  How would that benefit the UFC?  Dana’s policy on hating Fedor is based mostly on his contention that Fedor hasn’t fought any of his heavyweights.  That makes him unproven in White’s eyes.  What happens if a fighter not under UFC contract smashes the new golden boy?  Not only does that prove Fedor’s status, but it shows the UFC isn’t the only game in town for the best fighters on the planet.  Dana has shown he is all about having total control.  That is why the UFC is still still relegated to Spike and not on a major network.  He will not relinquish control, nor should he.

What control would Dana White have over Fedor Emelianenko?  If Lesnar lost to him, who in the UFC stable could beat him?  Fedor has half the notoriety but is twice the fighter.  He has a huge reputation with the MMA hard cores but hardly any mainstream recognition.  That means the PPV numbers might not even top Couture/Lesnar.  I would be the first to savage my privates if a Fedor stepped into the cage with Lesnar, but Dana won’t do it.  Under the current circumstances, he shouldn’t do it either.  Get Fedor under contract with the UFC.  Then spread out some paper towels for MMA fans all over the globe.

Dude is one of my favorite fighters. If you haven’t, read who he wants to sponsor him.  Roy is fast as shit, tough as shit and he loves fast food.  How the hell do you not like that?

Credit: Five Ounces of Pain

Bloody Elbow gets all the skinny. I’m a little jelous but I’m also aroused.  Anyone that watched the Affliction: Banned pay per view saw that there is some serious Heavyweight talent in that brand.  I happen to be some serious Heavyweight talent as well, if you were wondering.  My favorite fight of the night was Andrei Arlovski having a very good match with Ben Rothwell.  Hence the fist pumps, and thrust kicks I started throwing when I read the following statement:

Fedor Emelianenko will defend his newly won World Association of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight championship belt on Oct. 11 against Andrei Arlovski in the UFC’s backyard.

Affliction’s second MMA promotion will be at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus, in the shadow of the UFC’s corporate offices, according to a venue official.

I guess this isn’t 100% but thats a pretty good fucking fight.  That way, if Fedor wins, he has put away two legit fighters and former UFC champions to set up the fight with Randy Couture.  The Natural’s contract is up in October which is when Fedor/Arlovski takes place.  That gives them 3 months to hype the super match.  I might do the dragon punch from Street Fighter 2 off the roof of my car if that’s how this plays out.