They do. Even Don King learned he had to give in, sometimes. And they still make tons of money.
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Cool. I don't know much about the business side of things.

Some cross promo events would be cool. Like when Dana took Chuck to one of the Pride Grand Prix events. Didn't work out like he planned though.

Was there any real negative effects on the UFC when Chuck got ground n' pounded out by Rampage in another Promotions event? I know the UFC wasn't as big then as it is now.
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Not really. It actually worked out well for UFC. He went 2-1 when he was in Pride. Rampage was young and very strong (steroids) at the time and he was nailing everyone during that stretch. Chuck did KO Guy Mezgar and Overeem before losing to Rampage.
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What do you guys think of the Vera/Couture bout? My gut tells me Couture is too much of a strategist to be overcome by Vera, but that's also what I thought right before the Nog fight...
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Tough one. Vera always lets me down in his big fights and Randy always surprises me in his(good and bad). I have to go with Randy but wouldn't be surprised if Vera pulled it off.

How's that for a non-committal answer. :-)
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Haha, it's exactly how I feel. I always feel silly saying "it could go either way" because it seems like an obvious (and thick) answer...But this seems like one of those cases to me.
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First and foremost... Dana is a hype man. He is a promoter and not only knows it, but accepts it. He will say whatever he has to say to sell tickets... end of story.

As much as I'll be rootin' for Randy I don't think he'll pull it out in this one. I wish he would, as I would love to see Vera get his ass spanked by the Natural but I just don't see it happening.
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I understand the difference between an opinion piece and facts. The fact is that a VERY large percentage of all UFC profits come from PPV. If they got those, who knows what else they would require when it came time for the next fight?

I gained a lot of respect for Dana after his Tito bout incident. I still think he is a promoter and like most promoter's they are all about the end dollar. (insert Don King here). I still don't think it was a bad move on his part to say no to the 50%.

Would I like to see Fedor come over to the UFC? Heck ya! Would I like to see Pride still around? Heck ya! But these things are likely to never happen as their are too many behind the scenes politics going on.

Couture vs Vera will depend on which Couture shows up. If the Couture of the Sylvia fight shows up, bobbing and weaving, then Vera will lose. If the old Couture shows up, then he will lose.

Lastly, I hate to jump into this thread with both feet in, and maybe I'll go back and read the other posts one day. I will keep aroudn now that I know it's here. I have been a fan of MMA from day one, even watching bootlegged Val Tudo fights, before UFC.
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When did Don King ever give in? I am not asking this challenging, I would really like to know. :-)
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The first time was when he and Bob Arum co-promoted Felix Trinidad Jr. - Oscar De La Hoya in September 1999.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/SWORN+...s)-a0143596831
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Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie Possible For UFC 109

Another bout has been rumored for UFC 109 which is scheduled for February 6, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. A match up featuring former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes against veteran MMA fighter Renzo Gracie. According to a report from Heavy.com both fighters have been approached about the contest, but no contracts have been signed.

Matt Hughes was last in action defeating fellow former champion Matt Serra via unanimous decision last May at UFC 98. The win over Serra ended a two fight losing streak which saw Hughes lose to Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves, respectively. Hughes has a career MMA record of 43 wins and 7 losses, however he has only managed to go 2-3 since losing the welterweight title to St. Pierre in November 2006.

Gracie was last in action in a February 2007 disqualification victory over Frank Shamrock. In his MMA career Gracie has managed a record of 13 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. He has defeated opponents such as Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton, as well as suffered defeats to notables BJ Penn, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Dan Henderson.

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James Te Huna meets Igor Pokrajac at Australia's UFC 110

Recent UFC signee and Australian MMA veteran James Te Huna (11-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has an opponent for his octagon debut at UFC 110: Igor Pokrajac (21-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

A source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the fight, which was first reported by Fighters Only on Wednesday, likely will be part of the night's preliminary card.

Although not officially announced by the organization, and though UFC UK President Marshall Zelaznik today told MMAjunkie.com the show is "still in the works," UFC 110 is expected to take place Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

The show, headlined by Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, marks the UFC's debut in Australia.

Te Huna, a 205-pounder who trains with PRIDE veteran Mark Hunt, enters the UFC with a five-fight win streak. The past four have come via knockout, including a first-round KO of two-time UFC fighter Anthony Perosh at an Aug. 21 CFC event in Australia. His two most recent losses came to former UFC fighter James Lee and CFC champion and Judo stand-out Hector Lombard.

Pokrajac, who trains with UFC heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, made his octagon debut in September and dropped a unanimous decision to Vladimir Matyushenko in a fairly lackluster fight. The loss snapped the Croatian's eight-fight win streak, and Pokrajac may now be fighting for his future in the organization.
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Paul Buentello meets Stefan Struve At UFC 107

The UFC has just announced that Stefan Struve will be stepping in for the injured Todd Duffee to face MMA veteran Paul Buentello at UFC 107 on December 12th in Memphis, Tennessee. This heavyweight clash completes the 11-bout pay-per-view broadcast.

Duffee was recently forced to pull out of the contest due to an undisclosed illness, and Struve gladly accepted the opportunity to face a fighter of Buentello’s caliber, especially since it’s on the televised portion of the fight card.

Struve was last seen taking a first-round submission win over Chase Gormley at UFC 104 last month. It was his second straight solid victory, impressive enough that UFC brass felt it necessary to showcase the youngster on the main card…or there was nobody else available during the UFC’s hectic holiday schedule.

Buentello will be ending his four-year Octagon hiatus when he enters the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. His only losses have come at the hands of former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski and current Strikeforce title holder Alistair Overeem.
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I wouldn't consider that 'giving in'. Compromising is more like it. I still didn't know about this co-promoting and I thank you for it :-)

Dana White giving up 50% of what is the major factor in all UFC profits... is a different story.
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That was just a starting point, as Fedor's people put it. Dana supposedly scoffed and didn't want to negotiate any further. Like I said earlier, who knows who to believe as they both had different stories as to what happened.
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Image

Event: UFC 105 - ALMOST LIVE & FREE ON SPIKE TV @ 8pm
Location: Manchester, England
Date: Saturday November 14, 2009

Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera
Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang
James Wilks vs. Matt Brown
Damarques Johnson vs. Peter Sobotta
Paul Kelly vs. Dennis Siver
Andre Winner vs. Rolando Delgado
Dan Hardy vs. Kim Dong-hyun


How to properly pronounce Fedor's name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH2FdSX_UK8

(Few-dor E-mel-e-in-yen-ko)
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You need to update the fight card.

The full weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD

* Randy Couture (204) vs. Brandon Vera (204)
* Dan Hardy (171) vs. Mike Swick (170)
* Michael Bisping (186) vs. Denis Kang (185)
* Matt Brown (170) vs. James Wilks (169)
* Ross Pearson (156) vs. Aaron Riley (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD

* John Hathaway (170) vs. Paul Taylor (170)
* Terry Etim (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (155)
* Nick Osipczak (170) vs. Matthew Riddle (171)
* Paul Kelly (156) vs. Dennis Siver (155)
* Alexander Gustafsson (203) vs. Jared Hamman (204)
* Roli Delgado (156) vs. Andre Winner (155)
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Why? You just did. :-) :-)
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Umm...I guess I did. Time for another drink:-)

:-)
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Randy all the way
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watched ufc this afternoon, i thought it sucked except for a few fights
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RANDY WON....GLAD THAT HE DID....28 / 29 DECISION..man I had to hold my breath..So happy he won though. ;3
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