Post by Bob Sapp on Aug 27, 2009 19:40:29 GMT -5
While Merge with WEC Uncertain, White Says Lighter Classes Coming to UFC "Probably Real Soon"
by John Morgan on Aug 27, 2009 at 8:25 pm ET
PORTLAND, Ore. – While the idea of a merge between the UFC and WEC has been tossed around for quite some time, this past week's rescheduling of "WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson" brought the topic back to the discussion table.
At today's UFC 102 pre-fight press conference, White said he didn't have any immediate plans to merge Zuffa's two fight organizations together – but that doesn't mean fans shouldn't expect to see some of the WEC's biggest stars making their way into the UFC, especially with the volume of cards the UFC is planning for 2010.
"(The chances of us bringing lighter weight classes to the UFC are) very good, and probably real soon," White said. "We're doing like three fights a month next year."
While the WEC's surprise announcement of a rescheduled WEC 43 was officially attributed to an injury to headliner Benson Henderson, many MMA observers have speculated that both lagging ticket sales and a stalemate in negotiations between broadcast partner VERSUS and DirecTV also played a role in the decision.
White ruled the potential loss of DirecTV as a VERSUS carrier out of his decision to bring lighter classes to the UFC.
"That has nothing to do with anything," White said. "I'm not saying the WEC's going away. There's obviously some things I need to figure out and things that I'm working on right now. But I have a new TV deal with VERSUS (to air WEC programming)."
"I have a great relationship with [VERSUS], and they're owned by Comcast. Trust me when I tell you them and DirecTV are going to work it out. Maybe they'll keep butting heads and go off the air for a little while. But you're talking about Comcast. You're not talking about some wimpy little network or something like that. It's Comcast. They're going to figure it out."
In the meantime, White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the featherweight and bantamweight divisions were obvious choices as new classes in the UFC, but he didn't feel the company would necessarily stop there.
"I think we could go as low as boxing has," White said. "Now that we've gone into Mexico and Mexico's ratings are kicking ass, I think you're going to start to see a lot of Mexican fighters, and those guys are small."
While the lighter weight classes appear a certainty for the UFC, White said he hasn't budged on his stance against the addition of a female division – despite the fact he admitted to being entertained by Strikeforce's recent Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Gina Carano title fight.
"I thought it was an exciting, entertaining fight," White said. "You know that's the first fight I've ever watched of another organization since we've owned this company? That's what a psycho I am. I wanted to see the fight. I was in California, and I watched it, and I like Gina. I wanted to see how it went.
"How can I say this? You guys are going to re-write this and I'm going to get blasted, but it's the truth. When I say all the time when they ask me about women's mixed martial arts, and I'm like, 'There's not enough good girls out there to create an entire division,' one of the most exciting things about a women's fight is there's not really much defense, so girls are just out there blasting each other, and that's what people like about it."
White said while he felt the fight was fun to watch, the quality of the action didn't meet his exacting standards.
"I had some questions," White said. "Why was Gina in the mount? Why did she stand up when she was in the mount and get off? I think there was a lot of inexperience on both of their parts in that fight, which made it very entertaining. Did I say that the right way to not sound like I'm smashing them? Because I'm not. I found the fight entertaining, and I found it entertaining because I think there was a lot of lack of experience between both girls.
"In making a good female fight, Carano and 'Cyborg' were probably the best two you could have, and I don't think that fight was at UFC level."
As for the ultimate fate of the WEC, White said he was unable to comment at this time because he was still in the process of making those decisions. But despite the apparent setbacks that WEC officials have faced in recent weeks – including some vocal complaints from WEC stars that their pay pales in comparison to their UFC counterparts – White said he and his team would ultimately make the best decisions for everyone involved.
"As cocky as it sounds, it's the [expletive] truth, and now everybody knows it: Nobody knows more about this [expletive] business than we do," White said. "Nobody. And nobody knows more than we do how hard it is to run this business and how even harder it is to make money in this business.
"Even with all the things we know how to do, and the deal that we have with VERSUS – which is a great deal – it's still hard to make money and to pay the guys what they deserve to be paid or what they think they deserve to be paid and to run the business and make it a profitable business. It's not easy to do.
"I've got some [expletive] I've got to figure out. But we've had bigger problems. I will figure this out."
This catches my eye.... Oh, the possibilities.
by John Morgan on Aug 27, 2009 at 8:25 pm ET
PORTLAND, Ore. – While the idea of a merge between the UFC and WEC has been tossed around for quite some time, this past week's rescheduling of "WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson" brought the topic back to the discussion table.
At today's UFC 102 pre-fight press conference, White said he didn't have any immediate plans to merge Zuffa's two fight organizations together – but that doesn't mean fans shouldn't expect to see some of the WEC's biggest stars making their way into the UFC, especially with the volume of cards the UFC is planning for 2010.
"(The chances of us bringing lighter weight classes to the UFC are) very good, and probably real soon," White said. "We're doing like three fights a month next year."
While the WEC's surprise announcement of a rescheduled WEC 43 was officially attributed to an injury to headliner Benson Henderson, many MMA observers have speculated that both lagging ticket sales and a stalemate in negotiations between broadcast partner VERSUS and DirecTV also played a role in the decision.
White ruled the potential loss of DirecTV as a VERSUS carrier out of his decision to bring lighter classes to the UFC.
"That has nothing to do with anything," White said. "I'm not saying the WEC's going away. There's obviously some things I need to figure out and things that I'm working on right now. But I have a new TV deal with VERSUS (to air WEC programming)."
"I have a great relationship with [VERSUS], and they're owned by Comcast. Trust me when I tell you them and DirecTV are going to work it out. Maybe they'll keep butting heads and go off the air for a little while. But you're talking about Comcast. You're not talking about some wimpy little network or something like that. It's Comcast. They're going to figure it out."
In the meantime, White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the featherweight and bantamweight divisions were obvious choices as new classes in the UFC, but he didn't feel the company would necessarily stop there.
"I think we could go as low as boxing has," White said. "Now that we've gone into Mexico and Mexico's ratings are kicking ass, I think you're going to start to see a lot of Mexican fighters, and those guys are small."
While the lighter weight classes appear a certainty for the UFC, White said he hasn't budged on his stance against the addition of a female division – despite the fact he admitted to being entertained by Strikeforce's recent Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Gina Carano title fight.
"I thought it was an exciting, entertaining fight," White said. "You know that's the first fight I've ever watched of another organization since we've owned this company? That's what a psycho I am. I wanted to see the fight. I was in California, and I watched it, and I like Gina. I wanted to see how it went.
"How can I say this? You guys are going to re-write this and I'm going to get blasted, but it's the truth. When I say all the time when they ask me about women's mixed martial arts, and I'm like, 'There's not enough good girls out there to create an entire division,' one of the most exciting things about a women's fight is there's not really much defense, so girls are just out there blasting each other, and that's what people like about it."
White said while he felt the fight was fun to watch, the quality of the action didn't meet his exacting standards.
"I had some questions," White said. "Why was Gina in the mount? Why did she stand up when she was in the mount and get off? I think there was a lot of inexperience on both of their parts in that fight, which made it very entertaining. Did I say that the right way to not sound like I'm smashing them? Because I'm not. I found the fight entertaining, and I found it entertaining because I think there was a lot of lack of experience between both girls.
"In making a good female fight, Carano and 'Cyborg' were probably the best two you could have, and I don't think that fight was at UFC level."
As for the ultimate fate of the WEC, White said he was unable to comment at this time because he was still in the process of making those decisions. But despite the apparent setbacks that WEC officials have faced in recent weeks – including some vocal complaints from WEC stars that their pay pales in comparison to their UFC counterparts – White said he and his team would ultimately make the best decisions for everyone involved.
"As cocky as it sounds, it's the [expletive] truth, and now everybody knows it: Nobody knows more about this [expletive] business than we do," White said. "Nobody. And nobody knows more than we do how hard it is to run this business and how even harder it is to make money in this business.
"Even with all the things we know how to do, and the deal that we have with VERSUS – which is a great deal – it's still hard to make money and to pay the guys what they deserve to be paid or what they think they deserve to be paid and to run the business and make it a profitable business. It's not easy to do.
"I've got some [expletive] I've got to figure out. But we've had bigger problems. I will figure this out."
This catches my eye.... Oh, the possibilities.
ing awesome
