Roy Nelson is a horrible matchup for Kimbo Slice.  He is an IFL champion. He had Andrei Arlovski dead to rights.  If it wasn’t for a bogus stand up in the Shaw families shame of a promotion he might already be in the UFC.  He is a BJJ blackbelt and is an excellent grappler.  None of that bodes well for Slice.  

That is the very reason that it’s a great fight for Kimbo.  If he wins, or even goes to a decision with Nelson, he should achieve instant credibility with skeptical MMA fans.  It will also give the UFC an excuse to book Slice for a pay per view which win, lose or draw would definitely financially benefit both parties.

The fact that this fight is free on Spike TV is a credit to not only Slice, but Dana White and the UFC.  It took balls for Slice to walk into this house knowing the bullseye that would be placed on his back and knowing that he would face fighters like Big Country.  It also takes balls by White to do business with Kimbo, knowing what the reaction would be from the MMA hard cores.  I don’ t want to make any predictions, save one.  This will be a record night for The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV and in all likelyhood, cable television.

Last year I had a chance to catch up with Roy Nelson after his Elite XC fight against the Pitbull.  He spoke on fighting Kimbo even back then.  It’s worth a listen if I do say so myself.  Check it out by clicking HERE.

This from Mr. President’s Twitter account:

“Yes tito and I made up.” 4:03 PM Jul 17th from TwitterBerry

“Doesn’t mean he’s back it means we aren’t smashing each other anymore and we don’t hate each other.” 4:11 PM Jul 17th from TwitterBerry

As you can see from the time stamp, this happened almost a week ago.  The only reason I am reporting it here is because the three MMA sites I check daily had no mention of it and I think it is certainly news worthy.  Tito Ortiz immediately becomes a top contender in the light heavyweight division if he rejoins the UFC.  It what looked to be a fuck you, squash match, Ortiz nearly triangle choked the now champion Lyoto Machida.  Machida has looked unstoppable since against some very stiff competition, making Tito’s performance look all the more admirable.  Ortiz is still one of the most recognizable faces in the sport and the match ups he could generate with a return to the UFC could be very intriguing. 

Wikipedia has been updated with the advent of White and Ortiz burying the hatchet.  You can see that here.  The only other move that could be as large for Tito is if he moved up in weight to replace Josh Barnett against Fedor at the the upcoming Affliction: Trinity.  What would the point? All roads lead to the UFC. Fedor will ultimately fight there in my opinion, so if that was something the Huntington Beach Bad Boy was really interested in, it could still happen within the confines of the octagon. Point being, if you are a fan of compelling MMA on the biggest stage in the world: Dana White and Tito Ortiz playing nice is a good thing.

That mess Dana Jacobson calls the fighters in the UFC “wrestlers” about 90 seconds into this interview.  Can you imagine if Bud Selig was being interviewed on this low rent show and she called members of the MLB “hockey guys?”  So stupid.  It’s always good exposure for the UFC when Dana is on this snobby network, but none of these ESPNers do their homework.  The UFC has a show on right now, 3 fights coming up and a huge video game, and this yetti spends have the interview talking about White saying the word faggot.  That has been addressed several dozen times, how about you do a little show prep, woman with Jay Leno’s chin.  Ugh.

Thanks to our buddy Luke Thomas over @ Bloody Elbow for picking up on this interview. Last night on Red Ring of Death Radio (which can be heard in the D.C are on 106.7 WJFK or anywhere on WJFK.COM) we had a chance to catch up with Nevin Dravinski who is the project manager for UFC Undisputed. Nevin is a great guy that also worked on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. We chatted about the game, Dana White’s involvement in the product and what it’s like trying to satisfy MMA fans and gaming fans. We are a fickle lot. Have a listen by clicking here.

We here at the Fukerton were deeply saddened by the loss of Tapout’s engaging front man “Mask.” We had the opportunity to catch up with Lewis on our radio show and his passion for life and his craft was extremely evident. During a recent trip to Washington D.C, we got a chance to get UFC president Dana White’s thoughts on the passing of Charles Lewis. It’s very interesting to hear from someone with the passion for MMA that White has, speaking about another with equal zeal. RIP Mask.

*Thanks to Mr. President for this time. He is the best owner in sport. Thanks to Creepy Justine and Othello for doing some great work for The Fukerton on site.*

Let’s be honest.  This site isn’t going to get any bigger without a great deal of help.  Lots of readers take it upon themselves to help spread the word by getting our interviews out to the rest of the interweb.  For that I am very appreciative.  There are some nut jobs that take it upon themselves to take it a step further.  Creepy Justin (pictued right in The Fukerton shirt with Dana White) has done more for this site than  I have.  He has always helped book some great interviews (Dan Henderson comes to mind) but this is even a step further. 

Creepy drove down to Fort Bragg for the media day that took place the the day before “Fight for the Troops.”  During that time, he got site ID’s from multiple UFC fighters.  He also got Dana White’s email, and got him on the phone to let this blogger shoot the shit with the most powerful man in mixed martial arts.  I’m not saying that all of you should do what he did…well yes, I am saying that actually.  Point being that it does not go unnoticed when some does something to help spread the word on this site which I work very hard on.  If you’re going to be some place cool, why not wear a Fukerton shirt?  If you like an interview, put it in a message boardand if you’re going to kidnap Shawn Johnson, why not put her in a dufflebag and drop her off in front of my apartment?   Peep the sweet vids below.  The quality of the Dana one is rough, but it’s still pretty damn cool.

I really like the fact it seems like Dana White won’t take his shirt off in the pool. Just like me. I’m really excited that ESPN the mag is doing anything with the UFC, but this is one gay photoshoot. You can throw as many ring girls as you want into this thing, it’s still a lesbian taking pictures of shirtless dudes. As gay as it may seem and as much as I don’t care about Prada shirts or whatever, it is good shit for we MMA fans. Word.

Yahoo Sports covered an interesting exchange between Todd duBoef and Dana White.  DuBoef is the president of Top Rank, a big time boxing promotional company and he had some biting comments about the safety of mixed martial arts after watching the Couture/Lesnar fight.  I don’t think anyone in boxing should be throwing stones about safety.  Anyone that has heard Evander Holyfield do an interview lately will agree boxing can be dangerous.  Naturally, Dana White had some comments of his own in responce to what I think are uninfomred, bullshit allegations:

Todd duBoef, the president of the powerful boxing promotional company Top Rank, clearly does not understand mixed martial arts very well, as his recent comments in a Los Angeles Times article would indicate.

During a media day workout for Manny Pacquiao on Monday, duBoef questioned the safety of MMA based upon the finish of the Brock Lesnar-Randy Couture heavyweight title fight on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Lesnar knocked Couture down with a right to the back of the ear and then finished him with a series of blows on the ground.

That caused duBoef to question the widely held belief that MMA is a safer sport than boxing in an interview with the Times’ Lance Pugmire. “When I see stuff like that, it looks like nothing more than a Toughman contest,” duBoef told Pugmire. “There’s no way it’s safer than boxing.”

DuBoef’s comments did not escape the notice of UFC president Dana White, who ripped him upon reading the Times story.

“What Todd duBoef said the other day in the L.A. Times, this is the same Todd duBoef who got the free tickets from me to be at that event that night,” White said. “He said that the Randy Couture stoppage proves that boxing is much safer than MMA. [Top Rank chairman] Bob Arum is 95 years old and senile, when he says crazy [expletive] you know, it goes over your head because you expect it from him. Bob has been saying crazy [expletive] since Day 1. But Todd duBoef? What does Todd duBoef know about MMA?

“I have a study from Johns Hopkins that proves that MMA is safer than boxing. Todd duBoef ought to stick to what it is he knows, but I don’t know what that is. He’s Bob Arum’s stepson and that’s how he got that job at Top Rank. This is insane. Bob Arum’s stepson commenting on MMA safety? He doesn’t know what he is talking about. I don’t know what he knows, but whatever it is, he ought to stick to that.”

Pwned.

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.

Leave it to an ESPN anchor to look unprepared and misinformed in an interview that I would kill to have.  Dana White in person.  So, Michael Kim, the biggest fight in UFC history is days away, and you spend half your time with White talking about Kimbo Slice?  Kimbo slice who got knocked the fuck out?  Kimbo Slice that has no job?  I love Slice, but what the SHIT does he have to do with Brock Lesnar taking on Randy Couture?  Way to bring up UFC 100, btw.  The UFC has 3 mega fights coming up including GSP vs Penn, but you bring up a PPV that’s months away. 

Kudos to Mr. President for saying that Kimbo on the cover of ESPN the Magazine made him ill.  Saying that on ESPN proves he’s not going to kowtow to this network for media coverage.  Shame on ESPN for sticking a huge interview on ESPN 2 on a limp dick show like First Take that no one watches.  This should have been on the 6pm Sportscenter at the very least.   If White is willing to give them studio time, why is not on Rome is Burning, PTI and Sportscenter?