But the title or headline of the article should be “Fitch Reinstated. Lessons Learned.” Or something like that. The way its currently titled, you almost have to already know he was brought back.

This is about the only MMA site I have time to read, and with the new format I like to skim over the front page at all the stories. (Also, I’m only stopping by about every other day.) Just like CNN.com, SI.com, or another magazine/news site, titles of stories are important.

Thanks!

Excellent article except for this part above.

Why was it restored? Nothing has changed.
Most of the MMA sites had no guts and called it business as usual at least you called it like it is. I just dont see why your faith is restored. Everything is in place for this to replay itself over and over again.

Everyone one of these events reminds us that Fedor is not wrong for not signing with the UFC anything past one fight. Why should he? He fought the best of his period (except Barnett), he is rich and can still make a few bucks, he has lots of leverage, he is revered in his home and loved in Asia.
Why would he give away all the leverage he has? For the glory of having a UFC belt even though its HW division is pathetic and the only fighter worth a damn is Nog (when did he last fight? Last year?)

The Ali Act should apply to MMA as well, let’s hope someone is taking this all down.
There is no reason why it shouldnt be forced to use rules which were in place to protect athletes.

Blaming Fitch isnt fair because he isnt an international name, therefore he can only fight in the US. He has no choice.

As for the nauseating nuthuggers, youre like the douchebags who wear your 40$ Nike hats. You are label seekers. It makes you feel better to wear, eat, listen or own something taht is popular. The UFC is popular, therefore youre McDonalds dayjob is forgottena adn you fell validation.
Im sure you go to casinos and trash talk the losers: “Yeah bitch, dealer oooooowns your ass, suckah. The house rulez!!!”

Personally, I believe that the whole situation with Couture leaving the UFC and coming back was for marketing purposes. I may be wrong but hear me out. Look how everything worked out. Couture comes back to the UFC in time for a big payout. Yea he signed a three fight contract but all the hype behind him leaving and coming back built an even larger fan base for him and the UFC. Couture is smart and knows where the money is. Even if he retires again without ever fighting Fedor, he will still have a home with the UFC doing something, commentary etc. Not that he needs it as he is a pretty good business man as it is. Besides, why would he want to fight for an organization in Affliction when they honestly won’t make the cut. Yea he may make one big paycheck before they go under but that’s not worth it when you can fight for the UFC again multiple times. I don’t think that the UFC ever did him wrong. I believe that there’s a lot more going on behind the MMA scene than any of us know. I have one word for you MARKETING.

The situtation involving UFC and Couture was different in the sense that it was much more significant. Couture is one of the most beloved fighters of all time, a repeat champion, and the current heavyweight champion when he tried to leave. Like Fitch, he felt he wasn’t being treated fairly under his contracts and went public. Unlike the situation with Fitch, Couture didn’t resolve his dispute for a year, and there were some criticisms back and forth and a lot of bad pr for White and UFC. Despite that, UFC and MMA continued to flourish. The situation with Fitch wasn’t even close to that level of significance. Even if Fitch hadn’t signed a contract, the sport would have been fine.

p.s you must be canadian eh?

Thank you Sam.

And I should go to another blog..because I don’t want to ‘nitpick’ with the boys as u so eloquently put it. Hahahaha. It seems RJA that you feel that an opinion that is drawn from facts has no relevancy here in these comments… And that those like yours and the author’s which convey flawed thinking are not opened to be challenged? Good one buddy! That will make you a smarter person at the end of the day to listen only to one critically distorted side of things,

These forums are all great…call Dana out and you get accolades, point out where the naysayers have no basis and they all say to post on Sherdog or somewhere else. Hahahaha! Not one commenter that agreed with Sam truly realizes that Dana is doin it his way, more sucessfully than any of them could ever do and that this forum ONLY exists today because of his talents and they are idiots to think he’s going anywhere because some board poster is mad at Dana throwing his weight around. Its MMA guys, survival of the fittest.and Dana fights more often and still has a better reord than Fedor. That is not kissing ass, show me where he got beat while making his company grow 165times larger then when he bought it, then challenge his tactics. Deep thinkers this lot, eh?

Are we as guilty as them for buying their PPVS???

Someone…ie Randy Coture…Please step up and unionize these boyz…if not not for the money (like Dana) but for the love of the game!!!

The UFC should do this and that…Dana should do this or that…. Dana is not appropriate….hahahaha!

Dude, Dana built a 500 million dollar business from a 3 million dollar tomato can with a cauliflower ear. Sure he had Zuffa money but he did it. Sam, what did you do, except build a website that has 99.9% of its readers ONLY because of what Dana did? That fact is just hilarious if we look at this in the proper perspective. Should Dana tell you to stop writing idiot business management editorials and stick to technical and fighter roll call type articles?

Fitch got bitchslapped, made an example of and then he put his tail between his legs and signed the next day. T-shirt guy and ever future wannabe learned a lot this week. That they are NOT relevant and that the UFC dictates. Fighters learned with Randy and now with Fitch, if you wanna play, we play hardball and until expansion and universal legislation and greater economic security have been achieved, be damn grateful that you can kick someone’s as and be paid well for it instead of going to jail or go fight on Affliction 3 or 4 if they ever happen

Sure Dana is emotional; sure he does some things w/o enough forethought… but name a person who went up against him who beat him? Name a faster growing major sports franchise ……ever? Dana is the sum total of his parts and they have good and bad but they are supremely effective and he has some of the most amazing instincts I have ever seen and have help to give us an amazing new sport that is going into the stratosphere.

Everyone wants to be more, but we all need to know our strengths. Golberg should 100% stay away from the color commentary and Sam Caplan should stick with technical and roster-based MMA reporting before attempting anymore high comedy.

Cheers Mates

p.s. This site is so badly in need of an editorial position contrary to the existing core contributors. It’s like a bunch of whiny Democrats when Reagan was ‘takin names and kickin ass’ and so they had to nitpick on little stuff and try and make an issue (and no I am not Republican) but I am able to discern ‘when it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’

Personally, I believe this is the beginning of the break. You could tell by the way Dana sounded. He went from bad cop to insane cop in a heart beat. That’s not good for anyone. As far as I was concerned, Dana pushed it a bit too far this time which is what initially upset me the most.

One of these days, when one of these issues floats up to the surface again, Dana is going to push the wrong button. This isn’t a relief and a sign of restored faith. As far as I can tell, this is where the break starts. Dana White or the Fertittas need to look in the mirror and stop the bleeding before it gets worse. Step back, collect your thoughts and figure out a way to go about business before you really start to damage the image of this fine sport.

Dana and Lorenzo are basically the same person while White is loud and brash, Lorenzo is more laid back both but of them are cutthroat businessmen. Dana while powerful doesn’t have the stroke to just release fighters without getting the ok from his bosses, he didn’t just decide to release the AKA fighters overnight it was all a plan to send a message. Which is exacly what they did, do you think there is one guy or camp that won’t sign the deal now?, and just like that Zuffa once again shows that it’s their way or the highway. Fitch ended up signing the exact same deal that he supposedly didn’t want to sign and was embarrased in front of the mma masses.

Call it good cop, bad cop or just smart business tactics but Dana and Lorenzo don’t make moves without the others backing they’ve proven that before with the Tito situation. The idea that the UFC has to change their business model is silly and stupid when they just pulled off another example of why their way is very succesful and that won’t change because a couple of internet bloggers got emotional over it.

As you say though, Fitch is back in the UFC and that is a great thing for MMA and for Fitch.

But realistically, this whole thing was a disgraceful mess.
Well done Dana and Lorenzo. Credibility -1. (IMO) John Fitch credibility -1. The Fans respect for the UFC – 100. Thank you all for blemishing a great sport with predominantly great people in it with your stupid antics. Now release the terms of the deal you fools. So that we may see who’s credibility really needs to take a -1.

Dino: True, White was just trying to make Tito look bad with that Bad Blood special, but remember that White used to train boxing. Not only that, Dana used to spar (boxing only) with Tito and Chuck back when he managed them. Multiple people have said that Dana routinely beat Tito when they sparred. Tito’s boxing has improved, but it’s still the weakest aspect of his game. I think Dana would have beaten him, but either way, Tito did the smart thing by pulling out. Tito would have looked extremely bad by A) showing how weak his boxing is or B) beating up someone who isn’t a professional fighter (and possibly both could have happened). It was a no-win situation for Tito. Dana talking shit about him is nothing new, so nothing was changed by Tito pulling out. Why Tito challenged Dana is beyond me. There was no way for him to come out of it looking good.