Cardio Freak MMA News Report 09.04.08: Welcome to Atlanta

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 09.04.2008

Cardio Freak is back with a preview of UFC 88. How will Liddell knockout Evans? How quick will Liddell knockout Evans? And where will the after-party be after Liddell knocks out Evans? Plus we're short on news but heavy on content as we've got the latest on Couture vs. Lesnar, UFC on CBS, and Tito Ortiz. All that and the latest news from around the MMA world. It's more caring than Brock Lesnar, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘My Way' Lambert.

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UFC 88: Breakthrough Preview

UFC 88: Breakthrough is appropriately named because the main card features five up and comers looking to breakthrough the glass ceiling (does MMA have a glass ceiling like wrestling?) against five guys who have experienced glory before.

The event is this Saturday and while it's just another PPV for some of you, it will go down for me as the first (and hopefully not last) time THE Cardio Freak heads to a UFC event. And as fate would have it, Chuck Liddell is in the main event. Liddell is heading to the Octagon for the first time since his victory over Wanderlei Silva. In the opposite corner will be the undefeated Rashad Evans looking to shatter Liddell's possible last shot at the belt.

If you go by the rumors/confirmation, this is Liddell's third fight of the year (Shogun, Evans, and Evans again) while this would be Evans' fifth fight of the year (Thiago Silva, Liddell, James Irvin, Luiz Cane, and Liddell again). It is, in fact, each mans first fight this year.

The minute Liddell defeated Wanderlei Silva, I stressed that Rashad Evans would be the perfect next fight for him. Like it or not, Chuck Liddell was one fight away from getting a title shot after beating Silva because Liddell vs. the Champion, even if it was Quinton Jackson, would do a minimum for 650,000 PPV buys and even though someone like Lyoto Machida is more deserving based on recent record, it's about big money fights. Rashad Evans made the most sense for Liddell because Evans was a beatable opponent while being young, undefeated, and has name value from The Ultimate Fighter 2. In fact, Evans is a draw. He drew a really good Fight Night rating last year and UFC 78 did a better buyrate than anyone expected and it sold out the arena.

On the feet, Liddell has the advantage. Evans has shown glimpses of knockout power with the highlight being the head kick of Sean Salmon but lets be real, that was Sean Salmon. Evans striking looked very mediocre against Michael Bisping and I don't believe he threw one kick in that fight. The big thing I noticed in watching his fight with Bisping again is that he didn't try to block any of Bisping's punches he tried to parry them. That strategy isn't going to work very well against Liddell's, "crazy punches from weird angles." Evans chin has never really been tested so it will be interesting to see how it holds up to the power of Liddell. There are questions as to whether Liddell still has said power. He hasn't scored a (T)KO victory since December 2006 and he wasn't able to put away Silva despite having him on the ropes a number of times.

Evans biggest strength is his takedowns. Before the Sean Salmon head kick he was looked at as a lay and pray fighter and after the Sean Salmon head kick he's looked at as a lay and pray fighter. In his seven UFC fights, he's only finished two of them and he's amazingly yet to never win a Unanimous Decision inside the Octagon. Think about that. If Evans is going to win this fight, he's got to get the takedown and ride out a decision. He's not going to finish Liddell on the ground so he's got to control him. The only problem with that is that Liddell has a LEGENDARY SPRAWL~! It's tough to take him down and it's even tougher to keep down. Bisping showed a very good sprawl against Evans so one would think Liddell could easily keep this fight on the feet. The one thing you have to worry about if you're Liddell is the hamstring injury. If that affects the sprawl of Liddell then he could spend the night on his back and not courtesy of his new fiancé. If Evans gets the fight to the ground, he'll probably do minimal damage but Liddell isn't going to threaten with anything off his back. In the Silva fight we saw Liddell use his takedown ability to secure some points so don't be shocked if we see some more takedowns from Liddell in this fight. While he won't keep the fight on the ground, it's a tactic that; scores points, allows him to punish opponents on the way up, and throws opponents off balance.

A few points that shouldn't be overlooked is that Liddell will enjoy a big reach advantage, Liddell is a much bigger man, and Evans is the training partner of the last man to defeat Liddell. As is the case with most of his fights, Liddell has a big reach advantage against Evans and he's very good at using that reach to keep guys, especially wrestlers, on the outside forcing them to shoot from a wide gap making it easy for Liddell to sprawl. Liddell is also a big Light Heavyweight compared to Evans. Evans won TUF2 in the Heavyweight division but most people on that show fight out of their weight class and Chuck Liddell is no Brad Imes. The size difference will come into play when the fight goes to the clinch where I feel Liddell is very underrated. The fact that Evans trains with Keith Jardine gives him some confidence in knowing that Liddell has lost to his best friend but as far as styles, Evans and Jardine are on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

This fight is tailor made for Chuck Liddell to win. He's always done well against grapplers with mediocre stand up and Rashad Evans fits that bill. Evans will likely have trouble taking Liddell down and if he can't get the fight to the ground, chances are he's going to get knocked out like Ortiz, Horn, Couture, Sobral and Randleman before him. As a Liddell fan going to see his favorite fighter live, my hope is that Liddell knocks him out and then plugs the after-party. As a MMA journalist (HA!) my pick is still Chuck Liddell because come on, it's Chuck Liddell against Rashad Evans. In fact, I am so confident in Liddell winning this fight that if he loses, I will dedicate next weeks column to Rashad Evans. Don't let me down Chuck.

The co-main event of the evening sees another former champion trying his hand at a new-old weight class. Rich Franklin was once considered a dominant Middleweight champion before Anderson Silva came along and gave new meaning to the word dominant. Franklin moves back up to 205 where he last competed against Ken Shamrock at the Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. He'll be taking on Matt Hamill looking to make a big splash in the Light Heavyweight division.

This is a very interesting fight to me because UFC seems really behind Hamill but we all know that they love Franklin and he's likely a UFC-lifer. I question the booking a little bit in this fight but at the same time I have faith that Joe Silva knows what he's doing.

For some reason a lot of people aren't sold on Hamill and I'm not sure why. He has a very good wrestling background and he improves with every fight. The only reason I'm not sold on Hamill is that he hasn't beat a top level guy. You can argue that he beat Michael Bisping (he did) but at the same time you can argue that Bisping wasn't a top level Light Heavyweight (he wasn't). It will be interesting to see how Hamill handles the pressure of being in a big fight against a former champion.

On the feet the advantage goes to Franklin. He's a very diverse striker with power while Hamill is just coming along in his striking. Hamill's striking improves with every fight but it's not to the level of Franklin's. Hamill has shown good power in the past though and if he connects, Franklin could go down. Franklin's takedown defense is good but not great and if Hamill works hard then he could obviously get the takedown. Hamill has freakish strength as well so maybe he won't even have to work hard to get the takedown. On the ground Franklin has underrated submission skills but I don't see him catching Hamill with anything off his back. Franklin is tough to submit and Hamill isn't a world-class grappler so if Hamill gets the fight to the ground then he's got to control Franklin and possibly overwhelm him.

The big question about Hamill will be his condition. He showed signs of gassing in his most recent fight but you can give him a slight pass because the fight was in Colorado. We know Franklin will show up in shape and ready to go 15 minutes so Hamill better be ready to do the same. If Hamill doesn't show up in great condition and then has to work for takedowns and expend a lot of energy then I could easily see Franklin taking this fight in the third round. I'm not saying Hamill will show up like Lutter, who trained for a three-minute fight instead of a three round fight but he can't gas like he did against Tim Botesch.

Quick point on Franklin before I make a pick: Rich Franklin is a very good fighter. I always read negative stuff about Franklin pointing out his looks, how he was the golden boy of the Middleweight division, and how Silva beat him twice. Franklin can't help that he's a good looking guy (although Silva was trying to change that), he fought and beat whoever UFC put in front of him, and losing to Silva is more a credit to Anderson Silva being great than Franklin being mediocre. I'm not Rich Franklin's biggest fan or anything but to discredit his skills is a joke. The man has three loses in his entire career, Anderson Silva twice and Lyoto Machida. Not exactly bad company there.

It's pretty tough to pick against Rich Franklin after I just verbally blew him so I won't. I think Franklin's conditioning and experience will lead him to victory in this fight and he'll be able to finish Hamill late.

The man who should be facing Rich Franklin is also on the card as Dan Henderson looks to finally put a mark in the second stint Octagon win column. I don't understand why Henderson vs. Franklin was a talked about fight for UFC 85 and now they're both on the same card but not only not fighting each other but not even in the same weight class. I want answers Joe Silva. Henderson will be fighting Rousimar Palhares, a jiu-jitsu expert who submitted and retired Ivan Salaverry in his UFC debut.

Like Franklin, people are a bit down on Dan Henderson since he's 0-2 since returning to the company but lets not forget that his two losses came at the hands of Quinton Jackson is a close decision and Anderson Silva in a fight where he made Silva look human for one round. With Henderson, you know what you're going to get. His striking isn't great and he has a tendency to over strike but he holds heavy power in both hands, his Greco-Roman wrestling is second to maybe only Randy Couture, his chin is iron, and his conditioning is strong. Palhares is a bit more of a mystery. He showed no striking against Salaverry, the takedown came easy thanks to Salaverry throwing a kick, and his jiu-jitsu is excellent. In his fight against Fabio Negao he still showed no striking but his takedowns looked pretty good and he finished with a beautiful leg lock.

If I'm Dan Henderson, I keep this fight standing. Obviously Henderson's biggest strength is his wrestling but Palhares biggest strength is on the ground as well. Henderson has confidence in his stand up and power while Palhares has never really let his hands go. I think Henderson should trust his stand up and takedown defense to keep the fight standing and look for the knockout. If Palhares starts winning some exchanges then maybe taking the fight to the ground wouldn't be a bad idea but why play strength vs. strength when you can play confidence and power vs. known mystery?

If the fight hits the ground we'll see just how good Palhares grappling is. Dan Henderson is almost a jiu-jitsu measuring stick. He's only been submitted three times in his career; once by each Noguiera brother and once by Anderson Silva, a Nogueira brother student. Only top guys are going to submit Dan Henderson so we'll see just how good Palhares' submission skills are in this fight.

I like Henderson in this fight. I think he'll employee the strategy I listed above because Henderson is a smart guy and my source tells me that he reads Cardio Freak (my source on this one is that little voice in my head) so he'll read that, know I'm right, and implement that strategy. My only concern in this fight is if Henderson turns into "Decision" Dan, not wanting to lose three straight so he plays it safe. Lets hope that's not the case.

Karo Parisyan returns to the Octagon after a loss to Thiago Alves looking to climb back to the top of the Welterweight division where he'll hopefully fall from grace again. He takes on Yoshiyuki Yoshida who is coming off a quick victory at UFC 84.

You know what you're going to get with Karo Parisyan. He's going to use his judo and then hold you down for 15 minutes. Yoshida showed very poor takedown defense in his fight with Akira Kikuchi but he did a good job scrambling when he was on the ground. I haven't seen much of Yoshida's striking so I can't give a fair comment to that but from what I have seen, it is technically sound. Karo's striking is decent but he has no power and actually holds zero (T)KO victories in his career (although he does have one win by strikes via submission).

Yoshida's biggest strength is his top game. He has some very good ground and pound and throws some real crisp elbows from the top. Karo has decent submission skills but he hasn't pulled off a submission victory since 2003 (not counting the submission by strikes). Karo's control from the bottom is pretty good so if he does end up on the back he's got to take minimal damage. The biggest worry if you're a Karo fan (not that you'll admit it) is that Karo's chin isn't all that great. If he eats a lot of punches and elbows on the ground then he may end up going out instead of being stopped.

I like Yoshida in this fight although I am bias against Karo Parisyan. Outside of a Chuck Liddell knockout the only thing I want to see more at UFC 88 is Karo Parisyan getting knocked out like his cousin Manny Gamburyan last month.

Finally, the theme of "Anderson Silva Victims" ends with Nate Marquardt as he takes on Martin Kampmann. Marquardt was doing well against Silva before losing late in the first round and now he's looking to bounce back after a controversial loss to Thales Leites where he got over more in losing than Leites did in losing. Kampmann is looking to stay undefeated in the Octagon and continue his road back from a broken leg. Kampmann was in line for a title shot last year but had to pull out of a fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 72 with the injury.

Kampmann has a big advantage on the feet although he's never really shown his power in the UFC. Marquardt's striking is technically sound but he lacks power. Lacking power against Kampmann isn't a good thing either because this man proved in his fight against Drew McFedries that it takes a lot to knock him down and out.

I expect the majority of this fight to take place on the ground where Kampmann has shown very good submission skills and we know Marquardt has great wrestling skills. The question in this fight is, who gets on top first? Both men have submission skills but their best submissions come from their top game and not off their back. Marquardt has the better wrestling but Kampmann may come out and try to put Marquardt on his back. If Marquardt ends up on his back then he has submissions but he's not likely to catch Kampmann with anything.

I'm picking Marquardt to win this fight simply because of his wrestling and submission defense. I honestly don't care either way who wins as long as I get to see an exciting fight.

That wraps up the main portion of the card. For my picks on the undercard check out the 411 Roundtable.

Before we move into the news though, I just want to add that if you're going to UFC 88 and want to meet up, shoot me an email at [e-mail]. I'll be at the weight ins on Friday and of course at the event on Saturday. I'm a fan first and I always enjoy chatting with other fans about the sport. Plus you'll likely get your name mentioned next week so you can brag to your friends about that. Of course bragging to your friends about getting your name dropped in a 411Mania article is the equivalent of bragging to your friends that you were on TV because WWE cut to your reaction after John Cena lost on Raw. Ok, maybe it's a little cooler than that. So again, email me if you're going to be in Atlanta and you want to talk fighting with someone who deems himself an expert.

Playing to Your Strengths

UFC announced that Randy Couture is back with the company and that he will fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 in Las Vegas for the Heavyweight Title

Where to begin? This story came out of almost nowhere but it's now official. One point that didn't go overlooked was that Couture has brought in big, strong, heavyweight wrestlers to his gym, which indicated that he was preparing for a return and preparing for Lesnar. While that fight may come as a surprise, Couture returning to the UFC should honestly come as a surprise to nobody. Many people were saying that from day one of this whole dispute that Couture wasn't going to be able to get out of his contract and if he were going to fight, it would be in the Octagon.

So what does this mean for all parties involved? Well, for Couture, it means a way to say good-bye. Leaving the UFC the way he did left a sour taste in the mouths of many of his fans. The resignation came out of left field as everything seemed fine between Couture and the company and as the dispute went on, Couture ended up looking like the bad guy. Coming back now will give Couture a proper send off from his fans, win or lose, inside the Octagon. It will also hopefully mean that things are smoothed over between the UFC and Couture, meaning they'll actually show him on camera at events and that he'll be back in the commentary booth.

For Brock Lesnar it means the prospect of being UFC Heavyweight Champion in just four professional fights. You read that right. Randy Couture is still the UFC Heavyweight Champion and when this fight takes place, it will be for the belt. Also for Lesnar it would give his a HUGE high profile and likely shut up any critics that still don't believe he's a real fighter. Beating Heath Herring was a big deal but that fight didn't have the hype that Lesnar's first UFC fight had. Couture vs. Lesnar will have hype and then some. If Lesnar weren't a star already, beating Randy Couture would probably put him on par with Liddell.

For UFC, this means money. Not just money in Lesnar vs. Couture, but money down the line. Couture would sign a three fight, leaving him with five fights remaining on the contract. I should never doubt Randy Couture but I do doubt that he has five fights left him in. Three or four seems more likely to me. Even if you can only get three fights out of Couture, you'd be getting fights with Lesnar, Nogueira, and Liddell with Fedor possibly in there as well. All four of those fights are money. None of those fights will fall below the 550,000 mark with the Liddell fight possibly doing a million. It also gives UFC their media friendly figure back. The media loves Randy Couture more than any other fighter in the world today. He's one of the most knowledgeable fighters about the sport, he's well spoken, he has a charisma about him, and he has a good look. Couture is one of those guys who could help UFC get the ESPN coverage that I think they need. It's really a no lose situation for UFC getting Couture back.

For the fans, we obviously win. We get to see big time fights involving a legend of the sport. We also get to see a sweet ending to the career of Couture instead of the sour one we were almost left with. The only bad thing that comes of this is that we might be robbed of Fedor vs. Couture but if you've been listening to me during this whole legal dispute, that fight was never going to happen anyway. Hell, maybe it will happen in the Octagon.

More on that in a second.

For those in Oregon who are disappointed, I feel for you. Oregon seemed all but set for the November show but when they got Couture vs. Lesnar they knew business would be better in Vegas. Oregon would net the company a between 2-3 million at the gate while Vegas will net them a minimum of 5 million at the gate. I'm talking dollars and not people by the way. Don't think that this isn't a way to stick it to Affliction as well. Not everyone can afford to go to two big events in two months and you can't tell me people are going to Arlovski vs. Barnett over Couture vs. Lesnar.

One problem is that Nogueira and Mir have taped their season of The Ultimate Fighter where they'll clash in December for the Interim Heavyweight Title. I say this is a problem because the season may lose some of its luster now that the title really is the Interim Title. Hopefully some crafty editing prevents Nogueira and Mir from talking too much about the belt because after Lesnar vs. Couture no one is going to buy Mir vs. Nog as the champion. In fact, they should just go ahead and do away with the Interim Title and make Nog vs. Mir a #1 Contender's fight that only lasts three rounds. It won't happen but it probably should.

The other problem is that the three shows before UFC 91 almost become irrelevant. Couture and Lesnar were on Mike & Mike in the Morning and First Take on Wednesday and there was no mention of UFC 88 this weekend. While UFC 88, 89, and 90 don't have that big fight that fans are clamoring for, they're still big cards. A Chuck Liddell victory this Saturday sets up Liddell vs. Griffin, which is a huge fight, Bisping vs. Leben is on free TV so fans will be happy no matter what, and Silva vs. Cote is a title fight with a 1% chance of an upset.

You know who is pissed off right now? Fabricio Werdum. He was promised a title shot after defeating Gabriel Gonzaga only to get surpassed by Frank Mir. Then he signed a new deal and was promised a title shot if he defeats Junior dos Santos and while that still may happen, he's going to have to be put on ice for awhile because the winners of Couture vs. Lesnar and Nogueira vs. Mir will meet before Werdum gets his title shot. What a slap to the face.

Rumor has it that UFC has re-opened negotiations with Fedor Emelianenko. They want to bring him in to fight Randy Couture in February or March of 2009 if Couture loses to Lesnar or in the Summer of 2009 if Couture beats Lesnar and has to fight Nogueira or Mir

My initial response to this news item was to go with the Brock Lesnar quote of, "Who gives a fuck about Fedor?" but then I decided that you people deserve the mediocre content that I deliver.

How many times have we heard this one? Before you start marking out at the prospect of Couture vs. Fedor, stop and think. Think about how many times we've been on the cusp of this fight and how many times it's failed.

Dana has already stated that he isn't going to tamper with Affliction contracts so I don't expect a deal to be announced as long as Affliction is still around. If and when Affliction goes under then the negotiations should heat up but as long as Affliction is around, Fedor will be with the company.

The big hold up in the negotiations will be that Fedor won't sign a three-year deal. Those crazy Russians want a "wham, bam, thank you UFC" deal and Dana isn't having that. Even through Lorenzo Fertitta has more say in negotiations, he's not going to cave in and give Fedor anything less that three fights. It's just the smart business move. They're obviously worried about give him one fight because if he comes in, beats Couture, and leaves then he's gained a new following that allows another company to get over. Two fights isn't going to work because they either feed him someone like Frank Mir to start, he wins, fights Couture, and then leaves with the big following or he fights Couture and if he wins he has to have a big fight in his next fight but if he losses they can give him the Arlovski treatment. Obviously UFC can't take the risk that Fedor will lose though. This is why UFC signs almost all of their fighters to three fight deals and why they're the number one company while all these other companies sign guys to non-exclusive deals and they're almost dead. If a three fight deal gets done, the minor hold ups won't come into play like they reportedly did last time. Maybe UFC will throw some of Fedor's teammates a bone and sign them, Dana will say, "we're working on Russia", and they can't be concerned with some Russian Sambo tournament after last years debacle that saw Fedor destroy one opponent and two others no show.

If this fight goes down, it will obviously be huge. It should do no less that 700,000 buys and if promoted correctly it could easily top one million. Then no matter who wins, the remaining fights will continue to do huge business for the company.

This is what happens when you tie you entire promotion to one fighter. Sup Bodog?

It is being reported that CBS has opened negotiations with UFC about replacing EliteXC on the network. EXC currently has two more shows left on their CBS contract

Besides Michelle McCool, you know who is loving life? Dana White. There's a UFC PPV coming up this Saturday headlined by his boy Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture is back with the company and he's fighting his money maker Brock Lesnar, he might be negotiating with Fedor in the near future, he's doing video blogs with Mandy Moore, and now he might be negotiating with CBS.

CBS wants MMA but they don't want EXC anymore. Their feeling is that the first show drew well because it was the first show and Kimbo is a draw but it became clear to them with the second show that no one else in EXC is a draw besides Kimbo. That would be great if Kimbo was this unbeatable monster but CBS knows that Kimbo is going to get exposed and when that happens they'll have nothing to hang their hat on.

UFC is in a great negotiating position with CBS right now because they don't need CBS. UFC wouldn't cave in the first time a network deal was rumored so you can bet they're not going to cave now. UFC is doing HUGE business with just SpikeTV and PPV and they're doing business that's head and shoulders above any other MMA company. CBS will increase their business but it's not a make or break deal for UFC like it was for EXC and they know this. If UFC ends up on CBS it will be their way. Mike Goldberg and a toned down Joe Rogan will be the announcers and it will be just like a UFC on Spike show except it will be on CBS. CBS will obviously have control over some things but they're not going to have the pull that they have with EXC.

Studying Tape



Of course it's Chuck Liddell.

Sparring Session

KJ Noons Camp, Nick Diaz Camp, and EliteXC have engaged in a three-way war of words. Noons says the Diaz fight will happen but it won't happen in 2008 and that he has been disrespected by EXC. Diaz says that Noons is ducking him. EliteXC may strip Noons of the Lightweight title

There's a lot more to the story that what I bolded above but that's pretty much the important stuff.

Hasn't KJ Noons learned from TNA that whiny champions don't draw? He doesn't he have to look at TNA to know that, he really has to look no further than Randy Couture. When Couture got into his dispute with UFC, I honestly believe that UFC came out looking like the better of the two parties. Obviously now that Couture ended up back with the company it sort of proves the point that Couture was seemingly in the wrong but during the entire dispute it seemed like Couture fans seemed to turn against him more than support him. If Randy Couture can't get some love during a dispute over money (which is really what it all comes down to) then what makes KJ Noons think he's going to get some?

I'm not a fan of Jared Shaw and a lot of his actions but when a fighter attacks your company, you have no choice but to retaliate. If Shaw wants to strip Noons of the EXC Lightweight title, so be it. He has the right to and considering Noons won't obligate his contract and defend his title, it's probably the best move to make.

The thing that baffles me the most about this whole situation is that Noons really does seem like he's ducking Nick Diaz. Why? He beat Nick Diaz the first time around. Take away the fact that the fight was stopped due to cuts, KJ Noons owned that first round. He stuffed Diaz on every takedown attempt, he beat him up on the feet, and he knocked him down at one point. KJ Noons should have all the confidence in the world after beating Diaz and Edwards but he really seems like he's ducking Diaz. Noons wants to fight Eddie Alvarez as he feels that Alvarez is the top contender but when you're the champion, you fight who they put in front of you. Do you really think Anderson Silva believes that Patrick Cote is the #1 contender to his Middleweight title? Probably not. But you don't see him complaining. Champions can't be choosers. Champions fight whomever the company puts in front of them regardless of the reason. Brock Lesnar isn't the #1 contender to the UFC Heavyweight Title but it's a fight that will draw. My rule of thumb is that if the title fight can't be justified (and I think every title fight can be justified if you have an open mind) then it should be a big draw. Noons vs. Diaz can be justified and it is a draw.

If Noons wants to be a boxer, go be a boxer. He was an idiot for believing that he would be promoted as a boxer by EliteXC and Shaw and Shaw was idiot for signing him to such a contract. If he wants to be a boxer though, at least have the courtesy to fight the remaining bouts on his contract against anyone EXC wants you to fight.

Then again EXC can try to solve all this by just doing Nick Diaz vs. Eddie Alvarez with the winner getting a shot at Noons. If Diaz wins that fight, Noons can no longer say that he isn't the #1 contender.

"Come on bitch. Don't be scared homey."

Underwater Ice Bath

Tito Ortiz has stated that he's still negotiating with Affliction, EliteXC, and UFC

Normally I would skip over this as we all know he's negotiating with those companies but due to recent events, I thought it warranted comment.

Tito Ortiz will be back with the UFC. I've said it all along and I believe it now more than ever. If he were going to sign with another company, he would have signed already. Affliction knows that they're bleeding money and that they can't afford to pay Ortiz the money that he wants. They're already one show away from going out of business, if they pay over a million dollars for Ortiz then they're pretty much guaranteed to go out of business. Plus Affliction gives Ortiz little to no exposure and more than money, Tito wants exposure. EliteXC could give Ortiz money and exposure but only if they stay on CBS. If they're on Showtime only then they're really no better than Affliction. Sure they'll have more viewers but Ortiz won't get a cut of the PPV revenue with no PPV. Fact is, neither Affliction or EliteXC have the money to sign Ortiz and unless he's willing to take a cut, he'll end up back in the UFC.

Despite the claims of Dana White, Tito Ortiz is no fool. He knows what is best for him and what is best for business. If Affliction goes under or loses Fedor, there's no big fight for him. Even if they keep Fedor, that's probably not a fight Tito is looking to take. EliteXC offers him fights against Ken Shamrock (if the commission will sanction it), Kimbo Slice, or Frank Shamrock. If those fights are on Showtime or PPV with no TV though, they don't mean a whole lot.

The PPV where Tito Ortiz returns to UFC will do a big number and Dana White and Ortiz know this. If they announce Ortiz is coming back and he's coming back against someone like Liddell, Griffin, Couture, or Silva, it will do a minimum of 600,000 buys.

Affliction and HDNet have struck a deal that will see HDNet air preliminary fights on their network before the PPV event

So Affliction is essentially moving from FSN to HDNet, which likely means less viewers. This by no means is going to save Affliction because the preliminary fights on FSN weren't a big deal so this isn't a big deal.

What this does is put more MMA on HDNet and maybe gives Affliction an outlet to air a Countdown special. If HDNet allows Affliction to air the countdown special then it may lead to some extra buys but in reality, HDNet caters to hardcore MMA fans and hardcore MMA fans are already buying the Affliction PPV. The best thing that comes of this is that Affliction isn't likely paying for the HDNet slot like I believe they were paying for the FSN slot. If Affliction is making any type of money from this deal then you have to consider it a win for the company but I can't imagine them making enough to stay alive with how much money they're losing on fighter.

Taking Time Off

With College Football season and NFL season kicking off there's no better time than now to join CentSports. I'm actually laying down my entire bankroll on Liddell this weekend so don't let me down Chuck.

Training Partners

Adam Tool, Stephen DeAugustino, Wendell Mitchell, BREN~!, and Morgan Marx bring the news.

John Curry looks at Kimbo vs. Ken. Alex Mattis previews the two big UFC 88 fights. Adam Tool puts together the Fight of the Month as voted on by the staff. Chris Robinson includes a video of Ginao Carano rolling with Kim Couture. Ryan Seymour profiles Chuck Liddell. Scott Kuczowski gives the good, bad, and ugly of the Strikeforce and DREAM champions. Jonathan Solomon previews three UFC 88 fights.

I'M DONE, GUS~!

Yes, I changed the title, sue me. I may change it again next week. Speaking of next week, I'll be back with a report on UFC 88 including some LIVE THOUGHTS~! Plus all the latest news in the MMA world. Take care everyone.

Cardio Freak Sources: Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer, Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly, MMAWeekly, and MMAMania