UFC

[wbbfan]

8 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Former Dallas Cowboy Greg Hardy looking for a new career as a fighter.  I guess you know it's time to hang up the cleats when even the Riders don't want to sign you!

http://www.tsn.ca/report-ex-cowboy-hardy-taking-up-mma-1.583040

lol. Football players have the right level and type of athletic ability to make the jump. And the vast majority are in the weak AF heavy weigh range. Wont be following him specifically but wish him luck. Hope its for the love of fighting and not the money though. 

[wbbfan]

Supposedly official by the end of the week, nunes vs rousey at ufc 207. Having seen soo much emo stuff out of RR since her loss, and seemingly taking refuge in hollywood as the worst actress/actor alive while still training under tardverdyan Im kinda ready for the RR phase to be over. The belt has been passed around  with no end since then, but maybe parity would be good. Im more interested in watching cybro butcher till one of the names takes the pay day or watching JJ crush the division below. 

[The Unknown Poster]

Ronda for the win 

[wbbfan]

GSP is reporting he is a FA and no longer under contract with the UFC. Dont really want to see him fighting in roidzin or bellaturd. 

[bigg jay]

LOL! GSP can say whatever he wants but if he tries to sign somewhere else, the UFC will say see you in court (and that court would be in Nevada where the UFC has considerable sway).

Unless they can reach a new deal, he's pretty well stuck.  Any legal action would bleed him dry well before it does the UFC any damage.

 

[sweep the leg]

3 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

LOL! GSP can say whatever he wants but if he tries to sign somewhere else, the UFC will say see you in court (and that court would be in Nevada where the UFC has considerable sway).

Unless they can reach a new deal, he's pretty well stuck.  Any legal action would bleed him dry well before it does the UFC any damage.

 

I guess we'll see. Apparently there was a clause in his contract that the UFC had to offer him a fight in a certain amount of time after he requests one and they didn't do it. fighters usually don't win court battles over their contracts though, so the odds of seeing him fight elsewhere are probably pretty low. Imo it's all part of the negotiation dance and he'll fight in the UFC eventually.

As to the issue of going to court in Nevada, I don't believe for a second that UFC can influence a court decision. Either the contract is valid or it's not.

[bigg jay]

There's a reason why UFC contracts specifically stated that all contract disputes must be settled in Nevada court rooms, and it's not simply because it's convenient for the UFC.

Rampage Jackson tried the same thing with Bellator.  He was able to fight once for the UFC before the lawsuits were settled but ended up back with bellator. 

The UFC is already disputing his claim and GSP himself admits they offered him a fight with Robbie Lawler.

http://www.tsn.ca/st-pierre-announces-he-is-a-free-agent-1.586969

[wbbfan]

15 hours ago, bigg jay said:

There's a reason why UFC contracts specifically stated that all contract disputes must be settled in Nevada court rooms, and it's not simply because it's convenient for the UFC.

Rampage Jackson tried the same thing with Bellator.  He was able to fight once for the UFC before the lawsuits were settled but ended up back with bellator. 

The UFC is already disputing his claim and GSP himself admits they offered him a fight with Robbie Lawler.

http://www.tsn.ca/st-pierre-announces-he-is-a-free-agent-1.586969

Yeah maybe its a ploy or some thing. 100% the situation with the ufc and fighting for the WW strap again is about money. I dont see him fighting else where. GSP is kind a crazy though. He might actually believe hes a FA. 

[bigg jay]

Money is definitely the hold up.  GSP signed his contract prior to the Reebok deal so they have to sort that out because he made a ton on sponsorship that he would now lose out on.  

Both sides have a legal leg to stand on so a court case could go either way.  GSP can say they can't enforce a unilateral change to a contract without his agreement but standard UFC contracts (even ones prior to Reebok) say that a fighter can't wear clothing that conflicts with a UFC sponsor.

There's a great blog from a lawyer in BC who translates legalese to normal english when it comes to combat sports.  Worth a read if you're interested in that kind of thing.  https://combatsportslaw.com/2016/10/18/lets-speculate-about-gsps-ufc-contract-dispute/

 

[The Unknown Poster]

UFC fired Tom Wright this week (among others) and gutted the Canadian offices with upwards of 80% of people let go. Not the same UFC anymore...

Edited October 20, 2016 by The Unknown Poster

[Brandon]

7 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

UFC fired Tom Wright this week (among others) and gutted the Canadian offices with upwards of 80% of people let go. Not the same UFC anymore...

I thought they gutted 80% of the staff worldwide (not just in Canada)?

It's also a shame that they rid themselves of all those staff .... yet kept Dana White.

[The Unknown Poster]

24 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I thought they gutted 80% of the staff worldwide (not just in Canada)?

It's also a shame that they rid themselves of all those staff .... yet kept Dana White.

Sounds like there was a world-wide firing spree but Canada in particular was hit hard.  Wright seemed to take the hit for the drop in revenue from Canada but really, he lost GSP so it was going to happen.  Wright got them approved in Ontario and made Canada their best market for awhile and got them into Australia and New Zealand too.  Got rid of some big guys, like people considered #3 in the company (Cook). 

New owners have their own people that do the same positions so will just add UFC to their duties.

[bigg jay]

26 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I thought they gutted 80% of the staff worldwide (not just in Canada)?

It's also a shame that they rid themselves of all those staff .... yet kept Dana White.

Yep, the Canadian staff was just one part of the axe cutting.  The new bosses are saying that the cuts only affect 15% of their total staff.  Most of the people fired were execs (like Wright) who were in charge of getting getting legislation passed.  Since that has been accomplished, there really wasn't much of a need for those high payed guys.

[The Unknown Poster]

6 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Yep, the Canadian staff was just one part of the axe cutting.  The new bosses are saying that the cuts only affect 15% of their total staff.  Most of the people fired were execs (like Wright) who were in charge of getting getting legislation passed.  Since that has been accomplished, there really wasn't much of a need for those high payed guys.

Well, some very key positions were cut too.  60-80 staff world-wide. 

Garry Cook, Global Brand Officer and head of International Business Development.  Considered the #3 guy in the company and the guy most likely to end up running UFC eventually.

Wright was the Exec VP and head of Canada

Marshall Zelaznik, Chief Content Officer and former head of European Operations.

Ken Berger, head of Asian operations.

Jamie Pollack, Senior Vice President of Global Content, responsible for making some big TV deals.

Shanda Maloney, head of Social Media.

Ed Muncey, Senior Vice President of Technology.

Brad Smucker, Controller.

Reason for the gut job was the massive debt UFC now has.  They need upwards of $150 million per year PROFIT just to pay the interest on the debt.

[bigg jay]

High ranking people for sure, and the debt was a massive factor (Goldman-Sachs actually received a warning from the feds about the debt deal it arranged for this sale) but most of their jobs were redundant now.

Wright was brought on-board to help break into Ontario (and other Canadian markets to a lesser extent) but his main mission was accomplished. Most of his job could now be done by someone else from a central location.  The need for boots on the ground, so to speak, was finished.  Zelaznik & Berger had similar roles in Asia & Europe and met the same fate.  Given that WME IMG has their hands in pretty much every type of media, they probably already have people like Maloney, Muncey & Pollack on staff.  Cook is really the only guy I'm suprised by.

There were other moves related to this that happened in the last couple weeks (the Brazillian boss left as did Dave Sholler, their long time PR exec) so either the writing was on the wall or they had been informing staff that there was going to be layoffs.

[wbbfan]

205 cant come soon enough. That under card looks better then the event we had here in winnipeg.

[wbbfan]

Ufc 205 was GREEAAAAAAAT. I was surprised woodley beat wonderboy, hope thats a rematch down the road. McG crushed alvares, maybe he fights nurmagomedov next or defends his FW belt. 

[bigg jay]

Woodley didn't win, it was a draw.  Conor was very impressive but Khabib is a bad match up for him.  Tony Ferguson would be a fun fight for him.

[bustamente]

Michael Johnson got out classed on the ground, fight should have been stopped in the 2nd.

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Woodley didn't win, it was a draw.  Conor was very impressive but Khabib is a bad match up for him.  Tony Ferguson would be a fun fight for him.

right but a draw as a champion is as good as a win. Khabib is a bad match up for every one under 171, it is a horrible match up for conor thoughh.

2 hours ago, bustamente said:

Michael Johnson got out classed on the ground, fight should have been stopped in the 2nd.

Yeah that ground and pound was brutal. One that could have been stopped 100 times.

[Brandon]

 I'm glad they didn't stop the fight,  he was still defending himself and was able to come out in the 3rd round.  

 

[bigg jay]

6 hours ago, wbbfan said:

right but a draw as a champion is as good as a win.

I guarantee you that Woodley doesn't feel that way.  He wasnt happy after the fight (even before the screw up with the announcement) and now he misses out on a win bonus too.

 

[sweep the leg]

McGregor embarrassed Alvarez. It wasn't close. I picked him to win, but didn't think it would be that easy.

My guess for McGregor's next fight is GSP. They both want money fights and GSP could fight at 155. It would be huge fight.

Khabib deserves it, but McGregor was downplaying him for never fighting and White certainly didn't promise him anything. Khabib is the best grappler in mma, but Johnson proved you can get to his chin.

I think he fights Ferguson next.

Edited November 13, 2016 by sweep the leg

[wbbfan]

3 hours ago, bigg jay said:

I guarantee you that Woodley doesn't feel that way.  He wasnt happy after the fight (even before the screw up with the announcement) and now he misses out on a win bonus too.

 

Thats true, but he kept the belt. And he will get another shot at the money fight he wanted in the first place. 

2 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

McGregor embarrassed Alvarez. It wasn't close. I picked him to win, but didn't think it would be that easy.

My guess for McGregor's next fight is GSP. They both want money fights and GSP could fight at 155. It would be  huge fight.

Khabib deserves it, but McGregor was downplaying him for never fighting and White certainly didn't promise him anything. I think he fights Ferguson next.

I cant see a GSP fight especially with the GSP thinks hes a FA. I hope he defends the FW title next and keeps both belts. 

[Brandon]

7 hours ago, sweep the leg said:

McGregor embarrassed Alvarez. It wasn't close. I picked him to win, but didn't think it would be that easy.

My guess for McGregor's next fight is GSP. They both want money fights and GSP could fight at 155. It would be huge fight.

Khabib deserves it, but McGregor was downplaying him for never fighting and White certainly didn't promise him anything. Khabib is the best grappler in mma, but Johnson proved you can get to his chin.

I think he fights Ferguson next.

Doesn't GSP walk around 200 lbs... McGregor is way to small to fight GSP.