If Affliction had their first show on CBS, I doubt you would have heard nearly as many UFC-purists complaining, since Affliction actually had a solid MMA offering.

As for fighters’ pay, I agree that we really shouldn’t have an opinion. That is between the promotion and the fighters. They agree to it, so they should stop complaining. But what I will say is that none of us actually knows what “fighter pay” consists of since most of the big companies are private and don’t report it.

Joe Riggs recently said in an interview that he makes about half as much outside of the UFC as he did inside of it. He said that in 2005 he made nearly $300,000 in the UFC, and about $150,000 a year for the next couple years following his exit from the organization. Now that is back when the UFC was just starting to take off, and a mid-tier fighter like Riggs was pulling in $300K? That isn’t too bad for 3 fights a year, and UFC payouts have, in general, gone up since then. It is also MUCH higher than reported on the official commission reports that show things like RIggs making $20,000 to show and $20,000 to win.

Also, if anyone truly believes that Fedor only made less than half as much as Sylvia for the Affliction show they are crazy! The commission reported income for Fedor for that fight was $300,000, yet before that he was asking for $2 million a fight. He got much closer to $2 million than $300K, we just don’t know about it.

All I’m saying is that nobody honestly knows how much fighters are getting paid except the fighters, their managers, and the promotions. Some are probably underpaid, some are overpaid, but none of us really knows. James Irvin was rolling around in a Mercedes on the UFC Countdown, for godsakes! So how about everyone hold off on their outrage either way, because all parties agreed to what they are getting.

The truth is that you can put glitter on a turd but it won’t be pretty, and if you put it in a gift box with a bow, those who recieve it will still think you are a jerk for sending it. This is how people feel about EXC pushing Kimbo Slice, a simple street fighter with limited MMA skills and putting him on as headliner.

As fighter I don’t think Kimbo has the time to become good, he is too old. He can get the occasional KO, but he is simply a sideshow oddity in my humble opinion. He is not in the realm of the great MMA or boxing fighters that you are naming, so that point is not valid. This is what is so infuriating, and why people are “hating” (although I don’t hate Kimbo personally) on Kimbo.

The last 14 seconds of fame have finally ticked off in the Kimbo era, and I have to say I am relieved. Bring on the new and hungry young fighters that will bring this sport to a level.

Elite XC is busch league for their treatment of the poor souls under contract to them who were not initially in their marketing plans (KJ Noons), but really can throw down. If I am a legit champ, do not insult me a second time, trying to make me fight a guy I already mopped the floor with for a quarter of what he is making!

Even boxing does better than that! Maybe De La Hoya gets the Lion’s Share the first time, but if I beat him, you better believe he will be paying a bigger piece of the pie the second time for a rematch.

Maybe Elite has lost a lot of money, but so did UFC before it exploded. Dana White has said in interviews that before the TUF-fueled success of UFC, he and the Fertitas were actively looking to sell the org. because they’d sunk about 30 million into it and feared it wouldn’t take off. Since then, MMA has hit the mainstream, and its demographic is extremely attractive to advertisers. I doubt CBS will pull the plug right away. They’ll tinker with the formula and continue to show fight cards until they conclude that the public has lost interest.

First off Kimbo “Kevin Ferguson” is an MMA rookie – a novice. The guy has less than 5 pro fights. Over the past 10 years the game has developed by leaps and bounds. The guys fighting now are professionals. Well rounded – MMA professionals. Even if it’s a professional “journey-man”. They are not street punks or someone just looking for a fight – like some of the Youtube goons. I have read where people wanted him to get into the ring with MMA veterans and champions to fight – now! You have to crawl before you walk – children even know that much. You practice, learn and fight your way up. Kimbo’s size, strength and tenacity show that he has “potential”. Some lack 2 of those 3 qualities – while other’s have none of the 3. This is why we all wanted to watch Kimbo fight. This potential is why he blew up on Youtube and why he’s already headlined cards. Not because we thought he was the best on the planet – right now. Let his pro fight game progress – don’t give up on him yet.

Kimbo was in a no win fight Saturday night. If he beats Ken all of you “bandwagon” reporters, writers, bloggers, followers – say “he should have beat old-a** Ken Shamrock – he’s 44 and blah blah”. So Ken get’s hurt warming up – now Kimbo takes another fight on short notice. Listen if you’ve watched a fight in your life you know any man with an MMA glove on can hit someone and knock them out. You can’t “build” your temple muscle to keep from being knocked out. You can’t do chin workouts so you can take a hit better. If you get caught you go to sleep – especially if you are a heavy weight. Also we’ve seen a guy get stunned – recover – realize “hey I can’t screw around with this guy” and kick his butt. Being that this was the “headline” fight – give him a chance to get in his guard and recover. Most of you were watching to see Kimbo lose anyways. Mostly because he has made a name for himself, you are jealous and he could kick your couch potato butt any day. So for you true fight fans – don’t give up on him yet.

Go back and look at the past champions from MMA or boxing – 99% of them have lost at least once. Why can’t Kimbo lose a fight without being written off? Why can’t Kimbo lose a fight without being written off? (No it’s not a typo – I meant to write it twice) Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Royce Gracie, Andrei “the pit-bull”, Tim Sylvia, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn all MMA fighters – all with at least one loss. Should they have quit too when they lost their first fight? Some of those guys are legends, others champions – all losers at some point. You keep working on your game, learn from your mistakes and fight again. Ali, Foreman, Tyson, De la Hoya, Jones Jr., Hopkins, Mosley, Holyfield, Leonard, Lennox Lewis all great champions – all losers at some point. Should they have stopped putting on those gloves after they were defeated? Think about how many great fights we would have missed out on if these guys had quit after their first loss? So don’t give up on Kimbo yet.

Seth Petruzelli did not land a lucky punch. He is a pro fighter. He meant to throw it where it landed. A pro fighter beat another pro fighter? Isn’t that what normally happens? Someone wins – someone loses. After the fight Kimbo showed that he was humble – even congratulating Seth in his victory. Kimbo is not a champion – never has been. Kimbo is new to the pro-fighting game. I named over 20 fighters – all with losses. All beat some good opponents during their career – after they were ready. Ali probably doesn’t beat Foreman if it’s his 2nd or 3rd pro fight that night in Africa. Instead Foreman probably pummels him and quickly too. The cageyness that brought on the “rope a dope” was learned from years and years of getting hit and getting hit hard. Some of those champions I named lost late in their careers after they were established too. Lennox Lewis gets knocked out by Hasim Rahman in 2001. Remember what happened later that year? Lewis knocked Rahman out and took his belt back. Lewis is still a great champion – one of the best ever. He lost to a journeyman, redeemed himself and we have since forgotten about it. Give Kimbo the same chance – don’t give up on him yet.

Unlike people here that say the UFC is the best and EliteXC is the minor leagues, I don’t think that is true.

UFC is Vanilla and EliteXC is chocolate. Different flavor for different likes.
Why do we always have to compare, and not just enjoy different flavors of MMA.

for all we know, some of EliteXC’s guys could move on to bigger and better things, and bring the crowd they gained from EliteXC to other better promotions.

I understand your concerns with the stand up, as I did with the stand up in NJ. This is not EliteXC’s doing , but it has become their problem. The state athletic commission is in charge of the officials, there have been many a bad call in the last 12 months in many org’s . Ask Brandon Vera just to name one. As much as we would like to pin those crappy calls on Elite, you can’t.

And in regards to all this “bribe” talk. Perhaps just perhaps people should pay attention to the words coming out of the mouth of other promotions at the fighters meetings before a major event. It is often made very VERY clear that it is TOP priority to put on an exciting event, that the athletes are being paid to do so, and it is what is expected if they plan on continuing to make a living fighting for “the company”

What happened in the Petruzelli situation I don’t know, I know what he said, I know what he said later. Bribes, paying off officials, fixing fights, these are all very strong accusations being made against a company that deals with a sport that many would like to see go away. There is so much more in some of these situations, and many times so much less.

I like free TV MMA. There are many things I don’t like about EliteXC but with the bad comes some good. I like that they have female MMA fighters. I like that out of the 4-5 broadcast fights at least 2 of them will be “good” fights and the outcome is not already predetermined. I like that EliteXC with all it flaws is another outlet for MMA fighters and spectators.

The UFC has pretty much been putting on a PPV event every month for the past few years. Depending on what day of the month it falls on, I sometimes have two of them on one satellite bill. If the only way to see MMA is through PPV that would be terrible. I would have to wait for it to come out on DVD and that amounts to what you said about watching the Superbowl in June. So I will continue to watch any free MMA on TV. I may gripe, but I will have the TV on.