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This one flew under the radar and is not a monumental event in and of itself, but is certainly worth recognition:

Brazilian sports fans now have access to the best mixed martial arts ( MMA ) fights in the world, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship® ( UFC® ) and Globosat today announced a three year television distribution agreement to show UFC events on two Globosat channels – Premiere Combate and SporTV.

Starting with UFC 92: THE ULTIMATE 2008, Premiere Combate, a Globosat subscription channel, will air all UFC live events per year, along with an active schedule of other UFC programs including UFC® Fight Night™ events, UFC® All Access™ and UFC® Unleashed™. These popular UFC series feature riveting fight action such as knockouts and historic mega-fights, as well as training highlights and behind-the-scenes action and commentary.

Also launching with UFC 92, the Globosat premium channel SporTV will feature five UFC live events on its annual programming lineup, as well as a one-hour weekly highlight series “SporTV Combate” to continue in early 2009.

“We are thrilled to have the world’s most exciting live sports event – the UFC – available through Globosat,” said Dana White, UFC President. “We have over 20 Brazilian fighters in the UFC, including our Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, Interim Heavyweight Champion “Minotauro” Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida, Gabriel Gonzaga, and the list goes on and on. Now fight fans in Brazil can see their fights and follow their favorite fighters starting December 28th with “Minotauro” and Wanderlei at UFC 92.”

“We are very happy to be able to show the UFC for another three years, this is the event that our subscribers continually request,” said Elton Simões, Globosat’s premium channels director. “We are certain this deal will allow Globosat to deliver the best mixed martial arts fights in the world.”

The bigger fish here is SporTV (although it's cable) as the scope of their coverage is wider, the network is older and more established and is mainstream enough within Brazil to offer "Football World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games, the Brazilian Football Championship, the Gymnastics World Cup, the Volleyball World League, the Wimbledon and US Open tennis tournaments, basketball tournaments and several other tennis, in-door soccer, athletics, swimming and surfing events, in addition to the best of car racing, in Brazil and abroad." Again, this deal isn't some sort of game changer, but these small steps set up over time larger moves within markets. There likely isn't much money in promoting a ton of events in Brazil given the economic climate, but there is importance is further cemeting MMA as a worldwide sport carried by the worldwide leader in the UFC. This only faciliates the process of establishing a clear delineation of fight promotion hierarchy for aspiring fighters in a country with arguably one of the richest traditions in fight sport.

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MMA Authentics/CageFighter Unbanned From the UFC?

by Discman2 on Jan 6, 2009 10:55 AM EST

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas. Good catch.

Vlcsnap-4140049_medium I was going through some MMA news sites earlier when I saw this little snippet that was, I believe, largely overlooked in the wake of UFC 92. It deals with the abrupt and absurd ban of MMA Authentics/Cage Fighter fight wear.

If you recall a few months ago MMA Authentics was banned from being a sponsor worn inside the Octagon much like Affliction, although it was not because MMA Authentics was starting up their own MMA organization. Instead it was banned because MMA Authentics took over more retail space in one of the nations largest retailers. This ban affected such fighters as Chuck Liddell, Roger Huerta, Urijah Faber and Forrest Griffin. MMA Payout writer Robert Joyner noticed the following:

MMA Authentics/Cage Fighter made their return to the Octagon at UFC 92. Former Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Rampage Jackson was sporting a signature MMA Elite shirt, with special wolf design for the brawler known to let out a howl after victory. Cornerman for Rampage Tiki Ghosen as well the entire Rampage crew were decked out in the shirts. Any past tensions between the apparel brand and the UFC look to be in the rear view mirror. Expect an announcement shorlty about a possible deal/further elaboration on the lifting of the ban.

Its a surprise that this news was largely over looked by the MMA blogosphere seeing as it was big news when MMA Authentics was banned. If I recall correctly I remember a lot of angry commentors berating the UFC for the move (and justly so). It appears as if the ban has been lifted seeing as there has been no news of Rampage being punished for wearing an unapproved sponsor much like Matt Lindland was supposedly fired for wearing an unapproved sponsor at the weigh ins of UFC 54. Though Lindland says he was fired for other reasons. We'll see how this apparent unban pans out in the coming weeks. For now though it looks like MMA Authentics is on it's way back to being in the good graces of the UFC.

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Lift the Ban Watch: Back to New York

by Kid Nate on Jan 6, 2009 9:54 AM EST in News

ESPN.com reports:

The tea leaves suggest the climate is right for passage of the bill. MMA became more mainstream in 2008 with CBS broadcasting two EliteXC cards on prime-time television and the UFC attracting unprecedented media attention while compiling record pay-per-view numbers. From London to Las Vegas, the UFC has enjoyed a consistent streak of sellout or near-sellout crowds in a troubled economy.

Meanwhile, Gov. Paterson is cutting programs and paychecks to address a $15 billion deficit in the state budget, and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered $1.4 billion in budget cuts last month. Ignoring the income MMA and the UFC could bring to the state and city would seem fiscally irresponsible.

"At a time when the New York economy is in crisis, it would be a mistake for the state to miss out on the considerable revenue that our events would generate," said Marc Ratner, a UFC vice president for Government and Regulatory Affairs. "We are eager to bring both the excitement of our new sport as well as its major tax and tourist revenue to New York State."

Gov. Paterson appointed Melvina Lathan as the chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission last July, replacing Ron Scott Stevens. Lathan, a professional boxing judge for 18 years, is a proponent of MMA and supports it legalization in New York, but she would like to see her staff increased to handle the additional responsibility of regulating the sport.
"I'd like to encourage more conversation about MMA," she said. "Unless it's regulated there's no way to insure the health, safety and protocol issues are all in place. I love boxing, but there's room for both.

Getting MMA legalized in New York state is the last major hurdle to nation-wide acceptance in the U.S. A major show at Madison Square Garden covered on network television would be the ultimate signifier that MMA has arrived in the mainstream.

This major lobbying effort is another example of Zuffa investing in the future of the sport as a whole.

HT FightOpinion

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UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson Preview - Mauricio Rua

by Nick Thomas on Jan 6, 2009 9:06 AM EST in News

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UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II In-Depth

by Nick Thomas on Jan 6, 2009 8:55 AM EST in News

"If Fitch reminded GSP of the Terminator, he's gonna think I'm God"

-- BJ Penn at the 2:18 mark.

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"We’ll start off with a low-caliber opponent," he told Gross. "I wouldn't have 30 fights. I’d say five fights, then fight [Vitali or Wladimir] Klitschko."

-Freddie Roach's slightly more realistic approach on Andrei Arlovski's Boxing Career

fiveouncesofpain.com

about 8 hours ago weoweoweo comment 2 comments 0 recs

EliteXC Limbo: 77 Days and Counting

by Michael Rome on Jan 5, 2009 7:42 PM EST in News

77 days ago, EliteXC closed shop after CBS pulled out of a deal to buy the company. Within a week numerous fighters were talking about where they'd fight in the future, but over two months later they are still in limbo with no end in sight.

There have been numerous reports of a sale of Pro Elite, but it's been a while since we heard anything about the deal. Pro Elite is a public company, it would be nearly impossible to keep the closing of a deal a secret. Of course, when troubled companies try to sell, the deals often fall apart at the last minute as a result of due diligence and company representations. It would not surprise me if that happened here. Pro Elite is saddled with numerous public debts that nobody wants to take on, which is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to a sale.

The real victims here, as usual, are the fighters. They have now gone almost 3 months without the promise of any income, and the UFC won't touch them because of their uncertain contractual status. There are a lot of villains in this situation, but fighter management has been shown yet again to be almost completely useless. It's hard to imagine agents in any other field letting this happen to their clients. Monte Cox, Ken Pavia, and whoever else manages these fighters need to come together and file a joint action for declaratory relief in California. It will force Pro Elite to either put up or shut up about their future as a company instead of stringing these fighters along with false promises in order to maintain their only valuable asset for a potential sale.

In the best case scenario, Pro Elite's management is striving to complete deals and the fighters just need to wait a little bit to be rewarded with more CBS exposure. In the worst case scenario, Pro Elite is stringing along fighters with false promises of sales while it attempts to find ways to drop debt and restructure to free itself of any long term obligations. Given this company's short history, I find the latter more plausible, but hope the former is the case.

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Dustin Hazelett vs Ben Saunders at UFC 96

by scotty23 on Jan 5, 2009 7:40 PM EST

This Fan Post was promoted to the front page by Nick Thomas.

The onslaught of new fight news continues this evening as Sherdog has word of a welterweight bout for UFC 96 featuring Dustin "McLovin" Hazelett and Ben "Killa B" Saunders:

Barring any last-minute glitches, fast-rising welterweight prospect Dustin Hazelett will lock horns with unbeaten Ben Saunders at UFC 96 on March 7 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Bout agreements have been issued and are expected to be signed sometime this week, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Doing his best to be the American version of Shinya Aoki, Hazelett (12-4, 5-2 UFC) has seen his stock rapidly rise up the UFC welterweight ranks recently. He's won two consecutive submission-of-the-night bonuses in wins over Josh Burkman and Tamdan McCrory in June and November respectively, and has proven to have one of the best submission games in the UFC at 170, despite being only 22 years old. Hazelett will be fighting in front of a hometown crowd in Columbus, as he trains with Team Jorge Gurgel in Cincinnati.

Saunders (7-0-2, 3-0 UFC), a product of TUF season 6, trains with American Top Team but recently unleashed a brutal muay Thai clinic on Brandon Wolff at UFC Fights for the Troops in December; getting the first round TKO after an endless barrage of knees. Saunders has also proven to be a credible submission threat with his huge frame.

Saunders may not be able to match the submission skills of Hazelett, but he certainly is more than adequate on the ground, while Hazelett better be working his standup big-time after Saunders's performance in December.

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Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller at UFC 96

by scotty23 on Jan 5, 2009 5:44 PM EST

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas.

UFC lightweights Jim Miller and Gray "The Bully" Maynard are set to square off at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio in March, according to a report from TheGarv.com:

Here’s another hot scoop for you all: Sources inside Jim Miller’s camp have just confirmed to me that Jim will be facing Gray Maynard at UFC 96.

Maynard (6-0, 1 NC, 4-0, 1 NC UFC) is an alum of TUF season 5 and is undefeated in his MMA career. An outstanding wrestler, Maynard trains out of Xtreme Couture and most recently defeated Rich Clementi via unanimous decision at UFC 90.

Miller, a former IFL fighter with his brother and UFC middleweight Dan, is on a hot streak since signing with the UFC. After submitting French grappler David Baron in his debut, he took a fight with the dangerous Matt Wiman on only one week's notice after just returning from his honeymoon. Despite the odds, Miller used his outstanding ground game to dominate Wiman en-route to a unanimous decision win at UFC Fights for the Troops in December.

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Josh Koscheck to Face Paulo Thiago at UFC 95

by Kid Nate on Jan 5, 2009 5:13 PM EST in Events

Here's a highlight reel of Paulo Thiago, the 7-0 (Tatame says 10-0) Brazilian who's being thrown in at the UFC deep end at UFC 95. He trains with Rani Yahya. Here's a quote from his coach via Tatame:

“We’re investing in his career for two years. Jungle Fight gave us a big chance and now we put him into UFC. Rani (Yahya) may only be back in March (at WEC), so the whole team is focused on his preparation. If he wins, maybe we’ll get the submission of the night bonuses”, celebrates Ataíde Junior, leader of the Constrictor Team.

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