According to Wisconsin’s Dept. of Safety and Professional Services, Lytle was the show’s top earner after making $200,000 for his career-capping defeat of Dan Hardy in Sunday evening’s main event. Lytle’s base salary for his memorable finish was $35,000 but the sum ultimately received a major boost due to an attached win bonus and dual awards for “Fight of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” (each worth $65,000).

Meanwhile, Cerrone received $44,000 for his first frame TKO victory against Brazilian youngster Charles Oliveira plus another $65,000 for “Knockout of the Night”.

Other notable payouts include $52,000 for Ed Herman and $43,000 for Joseph Benavidez for their successful showings in Milwaukee.

Read below for a full list of UFC Live 5 salaries minus any undisclosed bonuses or sponsorship money:

Edwin Figueroa: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Jason Reinhardt: $6,000
Jacob Volkmann: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Danny Castillo: $17,000
Cole Miler: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. T.J. O’Brien: $6,000
Jim Hettes: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Alex Caceres: $8,000
Ronny Markes: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Karlos Vemola: $10,000
Ed Herman: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus) def. Kyle Noke: $8,000
Joseph Benavidez: $43,000 (includes $21,500 win bonus) def. Eddie Wineland: $10,000
Jared Hamman: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. C.B. Dollaway: $20,000
Duane Ludwig: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Amir Sadollah: $20,000
Donald Cerrone: $109,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus, $65,000 “Knockout of the Night”) def. Charles Oliveira: $12,000
Ben Henderson: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Jim Miller: $35,000
Chris Lytle: $200,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus, $65,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus, $65,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus) def. Dan Hardy: $90,000 (includes $65,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of the event-specific awards was announced at the post-show press conference.

Lytle notched “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” distinctions as a result of going toe-to-toe with the brash Brit for the first two rounds only to end up latching on to a Guillotine Choke with less than a minute remaining in the third after Hardy shot for a takedown despite promising to keep things standing throughout. Lytle exits the sport with an overall record of 31-18-5 including six “Fight of the Night” bonuses in the UFC.

“Knockout of the Night” went to Donald Cerrone after finishing impressive youngster Charles Oliveira with strikes in the opening frame of their fight. Cerrone, who also earned an extra $65,000 for his performance, has now won five straight bouts though the stoppage marked the first TKO of his career.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The news was first reported by NBCSports.com earlier this morning.

At the UFC Live 5 weigh-ins on Saturday afternoon, Lytle could be seen handing UFC President Dana White a white envelope. According to the report, the envelope contained a thank you letter and a retirement note. After making weight and squaring off with his opponent, Lytle told Hardy that this would be his last fight.

Lytle said that he made up his mind about retiring months ago after spending time with his family while rehabbing injuries. Once he got back into the gym, he said, “I a guilt that I’m not used to feeling.”

Lytle went on to tell NBCSports.com, “I’ve been fighting since ’98, fighting forever, a lot of it is just that I’m not doing my responsibilities like I need to at home. I feel like I’m not being the type of dad I want to. I got four kids and lots of times I feel just an immense sense of guilt for not being there in times when I should.”

The 36 year old Indiana native made his UFC debut at UFC 28 in November 2000, dropping a unanimous decision to Ben Earwood. After spending a couple of years fighting across the United States and Japan, Lytle returned to the octagon at UFC 45, losing another decision, this time to Robbie Lawler. Lytle finally picked up his first UFC victory at UFC 47, submitting Tiki Ghosn with a bulldog choke in the second round.

Lytle would go on to compete on The Ultimate Fighter 4, which was a comeback season featuring former UFC fighters competing not only to win The Ultimate Fighter tournament, but to receive a title shot against the current champion. Lytle made it to the finals of the tournament, where he lost a very close split decision to Matt Serra. Lytle would avenge that loss four years later at UFC 119. After losing another decision to Matt Hughes at UFC 68, Lytle decided that he would no longer fight safe, and instead let it all go in his fights.

Since the loss to Hughes, the full-time firefighter has gone on to win one knockout of the night award, two submission of the night awards, and five fight of the night awards. With eight event awards bonuses, Lytle is tied with Anderson Silva for the most in company history.

Despite 18 losses on his record, Lytle has never been legitimately finished in a fight. 16 of his 18 losses came by way of decision while the other two fights, against Joe Riggs and Thiago Alves, were stopped due to cuts.

Lytle steps into the cage one last time tonight against Hardy. Both men have stated that they expect a stand up war, which would be a fitting ending to the long career of “Light Outs.”

*PHOTO CREDIT – UFC*

All four men spoke to media today through a conference call about their upcoming bouts and Five Ounces of Pain was on the line plucking out interesting soundbytes and other relevant nuggets of information.

Read below and find out whether or not the 170ers plan to keep things standing the entire time, how Henderson feels his BJJ matches up with Miller’s high-level grappling ability, and more!

Chris Lytle:

- Is expecting a great fight against Hardy
- Even a dominant win over Hardy won’t change his interest in eventually running for political office
- Considers himself a “nomad” when it comes to training rather than staying at one specific location / Doesn’t have time to open his own gym with family duties and a full-time job as a firefighter
- Joked that he’s hoping to hurt Hardy’s hand with his “thick skull” and jokes that Matt Mitrione has helped him with that
- Explains that the UFC put him/Hardy in the main event for a reason and it’s going to be an exciting fight, no “dry humping”

Dan Hardy:

- His move to Las Vegas has been smooth and he feels this has been his best training camp yet / Felt he needed to take himself out of his comfort zone / Has been sparring at various gyms including ring-time with Evan Dunham and Gilbert Yvel
- “I feel I’ve made a lot of improvements overt the past four weeks. I’m seeing improvements myself and hearing the same from other people. Regardless of where the fight goes I’m ready for it and I want the opportunity to show people what I can do.”
- Says he learned a lot from the GSP fight and blames his own arrogance for the loss to Carlos Condit
- Acknowledges the additional pressure from having lost three in a row but won’t focus on it too much / “I love being part of the UFC – part of this sport, part of this world. Yeah, there’s definitely pressure but I’ve gotta kinda go with the flow. I can’t force it too much. If I think about it too much it’s going to bring me down.”
- “I just don’t like having boring fights. I want to have fun fights and for me Chris Lytle is the kind of guy I look up to, the kind of guy I want to fight like. Fighting him is an honor. I know he’s gonna bring it, he’s gonna test me, and he’s gonna try and win the fight. And that’s exactly what I want.”
- Has changed his look for the fight to get a “fresh start”
- Was annoyed by Anthony Johnson’s decision to impose his wrestling after promising to stand but isn’t concerned about that being the case with Lytle

Ben Henderson:

- Isn’t thinking about any contendership implications
- Won’t take the fight personally with Miller, who had dissed WEC lightweights, but remembers the quote
- Says it’s the biggest fight of his career
- “The UFC has the toughest 155 pounders in the world and I’m excited to be here, to showcase the things that I do.”
- Has no idea what’s next for him after UFC Live 5 and doesn’t really care / “If you’re on the right track and you get your hand raised that’s all that really matters.”
- Feels they have similar styles and expects it to either be a fifteen minute war on the ground or a stand-up battle if their grappling neutralizes the other’s

Jim Miller:

- Like Henderson, Miller also isn’t looking beyond next weekend or at a potential title-fights in the future
- “I want a tough road. I want to fight all the best guys.”
- Thinks the WEC guys have won as many as they’ve lost and the biggest win they’ve had was Henderson’s win over Mark Bocek / Felt some WEC lightweights were disrespectful to the UFC’s 155ers
- Has not been told that if he beats Henderson he’ll get a shot at the belt

According to statement on the UFC’s website, Hardy will meet Chris Lytle on August 14 as part of UFC Live 5 on the Versus Network.

The Indianapolis firefighter is without question an apt grappler as indicated by the twenty-one submission wins on his record but has never shied away from engaging in heated exchanges with his adversaries while standing. His battle with Ebersole was good enough to earn “Fight of the Night” honors, the eighth event-specific bonus in Lytle’s UFC career. After the bout it was reported that Lytle had torn the meniscus in his right knee removed and was considering retirement. Apparently he’s put those plans on hold in order to trade leather with Hardy in August.

While only three of Lytle’s thirty total wins are TKOs with the last coming three years ago, the 36-year old is a former boxer who compiled a 13-1-1 record in the sweet science and has yet to be knocked out in a 50+ fight MMA career including bouts against talented strikers like Thiago Alves, Nick Diaz, and Robbie Lawler. Additionally, he holds past wins over respected competitors Kazuo Misaki and Matt Serra among others.

Regardless of where the fight actually ends up taking place it should not only be fast-paced and fun given the stylistic pairing but one with more on the line than simply a win, as Lytle is coming off a loss to Brian Ebersole at UFC 127 and Hardy has fallen in three straight after starting out his UFC career with four consecutive victories.

“The Outlaw” holds an overall record of 23-9 with in-ring success against Marcus Davis, Akihiro Gono, and Mike Swick but went winless in 2010 after suffering one-sided outpointing by 170-pound champion Georges St. Pierre and the first knockout of his career against Carlos Condit before running into Johnson at UFN 24.

UFC Live 5 will also feature a recently announced bout between former WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson and top 155-pound contender Jim Miller as well as still-green Ultimate Fighter Season 7 winner Amir Sadollah continuing his growth by taking on hard-hitting veteran Duane Ludwig and original TUF finalist Stephan Bonnar in action against 8-1 Karlos Vemola.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

“He’ll never use that stuff as an excuse, and the reason he tried to keep this quiet is because he wants to make sure that Ebersole gets all the credit in the world for his win, and for livening up the fight,” Pavia said in a conversation with MMAFighting where the news was broken.

Lytle is expected to offer some official insight on his future plans after understandably taking some time before making a decision.

If fans have indeed seen the last of the Indianan as a Mixed Martial Artist his last in-ring performance was certainly an appropriate send-off minus the final result as the match-up with Ebersole was named UFC 127’s “Fight of the Night”. The event-specific bonus was the eighth of Lytle’s career. In addition to providing entertainment in the Octagon on a consistent basis “Lights Out” has also racked up wins over a number of respectable opponents in the past including Matt Serra and Kazuo Misaki.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

It’s a fact: Chris Lytle is not only one of the most consistently exciting fighters to watch currently in the UFC, but in the history of the sport for that matter.

This UFC bonus check recovery specialist has taken being among the top earners in the promotion into his own hands, capturing a total of seven performance dictated bonus checks over the course of the last several years after making a conscious decision to focus almost exclusively on being known as one of the most electrifying athletes of mixed martial arts.

In total it has been four “Fight of the Night” honors, two “Submission of the Night” checks and a “Knockout of the Night” bonus that has helped to factually legitimize Lytle as a bonafide bad ass that likely has the late Arturo Gatti looking down on the Indiana based fireman, nodding his head in approval.

“That’s my main goal this year, when people here that I’m going to be on the card I want them to want to order the pay-per-view because they know it’s going to be an exciting fight,” said Lytle in a January 2009 conversation with FiveOuncesofPain.com. “I want to be in high demand and I want people to want to see my fights.

“I want to make sure that by the end of this year for everyone to want to see every fight I’m in. I want to be the kind of fighter that makes people want to buy pay per views just because I’m going to be on it.”

Mission accomplished, Chris. Well played.

All in all, Lytle has captured a grand total of $310,000 over the last two and a half years in FOTN bonus checks alone. Of course, that’s not counting the walking highlight reel’s guaranteed “show” and possible win money.

The moral of the story is that I could easily think of more than a handful of highly rated fighters that could do themselves a great service by taking a few notes from Lytle. I’ve heard the same consistently dull fighters promise excitement time and time again with no results, but action speaks louder than words, and of course money most definitely talks while empty promises walk.

Check out the fruits of Lytle’s hard work below:

$40,000 for “Submission of the Night” inverted triangle/straight armbar over Jason Gilliam during UFC 73 on July 7, 2007

$55,000 for “Fight of the Night” honors against Thiago Alves during UFC 78 on November 17, 2007

$60,000 for “Knockout of the Night” over Kyle Bradley during UFC 81 on February 2, 2008

$40,000 for “Fight of the Night” honors against Paul Taylor during UFC 89 on October 18, 2008

$40,000 for “Fight of the Night” honors against Marcus Davis during UFC 93 on January 17, 2009

$25,000 for “Fight of the Night” honors against Kevin Burns during The Ultimate Finale 9 on June 20, 2009

$50,000 for “Submission of the Night” kneebar over Brian Foster during UFC 110 on February 21, 2009

Chris “Lights Out” Lytle

The news of the bout-scratching injury to Lytle comes courtesy of a report from MMAMania.com who confirmed the withdrawal with sources close to the Indiana based fighter earlier today.

UFC Fight Night 19 is scheduled to take place on September 16 from the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma.

No news of a replacement opponent for the injured Lytle is available at this time but you can rest assured that the UFC is currently on the job.

The report of Lytle’s withdrawal is an unfortunate won as he is currently coming off of a 3 for 3 streak earning “Fight of the Night” honors and the bout with Condit was likely to make it 4 for 4.

Condit will be looking to bounce back in September after coming up on the short end of a split decision to Martin Kampmann at UFC Fight Night 18 that could have gone either way. “The Natural Born Killer” established himself as one of the best fighters currently competing at 170 pounds as he approaches his thirtieth trip to the cage, compiling wins over the likes of Brock Larson, John Alessio and Frank Trigg to name just a few.

The event is scheduled to take place on June 20 at The Pearl in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and will be airing live on Spike TV.

Lytle is a full-time firefighter and prize fighter that is a veteran of over 40 professional mixed martial arts bouts, over a dozen of which have been fought under the UFC banner. He was a veteran of the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter and has earned fight of the night honors in his last two bouts for the UFC against Paul Taylor, and most recently, Marcus Davis, where Lytle wound up on the losing end of a hard fought split decision.

After going 5-1 as a professional, Burns made his UFC debut count, submitting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Roan Carneiro by triangle choke in the second round of their bout which took place at UFC 85. He followed up the impressive win over Carneiro with a highly controversial TKO victory over Anthony Johnson where Burns repeatedly poked Johnson in the eye until he was no longer able to continue before being knocked out by Johnson in their return match in his most recent bout.

A full list of the bouts expected for the card are listed below:

Lightweight finalist No. 1 vs. No. 2

Welterweight finalist No. 1 vs. No. 2

Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez

Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson

Matt Brown vs. Anthony Johnson

Kevin Burns vs. Chris Lytle

According to MMAWeekly.com, the two have been sent bout agreements and have agreed to the matchup. The finale is scheduled for June 20 and will emanate from the Pearl at the Palm in Las Vegas.

Burns made quite a splash in the UFC as the jiu-jitsu blue belt submitted Roan Carneiro with a triangle choke at UFC 85 in June of 2008. It is was considered a big upset especially considering the fact that Carneiro is a black belt.

Burns would then go on to defeat Anthony Johnson via TKO at UFC Fight Night 14 this past July. Referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight and should have disqualified Burns due to a series of inadvertent eye pokes but instead gave the victory to Burns. Johnson extracted a measure of revenge when the two hooked up at live finale for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter in December, as Johnson knocked Burns out cold from a head kick.

Lytle has fought a who’s who of UFC welterweight champions and challengers in his time with the organization. The Ultimate Fighter season 4 finalist was last seen losing to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. In spite of the loss,  Lytle received a “Fight of the Night” bonus for his role in the exciting encounter.

The TUF 9 finale will be the culmination of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter with which will pit eight fighters from the USA coached by Dan Henderson against eight fighters from the UK being led by Michael Bisping. Bisping and Henderson are scheduled to fight at UFC 100 on July 11.

Before the fight, both men told anyone who would listen that they weren’t just looking for a great fight. They were going to have the fight of the night. Of the decade. Of their lives. Of all time. “A lot of times people talk about fights and then they’re not that great,” Davis said prior to UFC 93. “This fight is going to be better than the buildup.” It wasn’t. It was a fight damned by expectations.

There’s also something dangerous about the mentality Zuffa has inspired in many of its fighters by offering bonuses that often exceed the fighter’s regular purses. It has created an atmosphere where winning isn’t a fighter’s main goal. Don’t take my word for it. Chris Lytle explained his thought process before the fight in a Five Ounces of Pain exclusive.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this ended up being fight of the night. I’m not really planning on the fight going to the ground and I doubt he is either. That’s kind of what I’m anticipating. I’m expecting a stand up war,” Lytle said. “Back to back fight of the night honors would definitely make me very happy. That’s my main goal this year, when people hear that I’m going to be on the card I want them to want to order the pay-per-view because they know it’s going to be an exciting fight. I want to be in high demand and I want people to want to see my fights.”

Winning “Fight of the Night” — that was his main goal. Not winning fights, just fight of the night honors. After all, he could make more money losing the kind of fight he knows Zuffa loves than he ever could with a Yushin Okami style winning streak. Caring more about entertaining than winning is the beginning of the end of integrity, the first step down a slippery slope from sport to spectacle. And it leads to the type of gentleman’s agreement we haven’t seen since the days of Pancrase. In those early 1990′s fights, stalwarts like Ken Shamrock and Bas Rutten agreed not to hit each other when the fight went to the ground. Davis and Lytle took it one step further, announcing beforehand their intention not to take the fight to the ground.

“We never made any type of agreement and Chris will tell you that,” Davis protested to reporters after the fight. “We both said we wanted to do this because we knew that we could bring it out of each other and have an exciting fight. Other people ran with that.”

Whether or not there was an agreement set in stone, it was obvious neither man was going to the ground. Even when it became evident that Lytle was losing the standing exchanges and didn’t have the quickness to keep up with the elusive Davis, he never once thought about taking the boxer down. He wasn’t driven by a will to win. He was driven by his pocketbook. And the distinction between pro wrestling and MMA just got a little bit blurrier.

Coming off of the heels of his fight of the night victory over Paul Taylor at UFC 89, Lytle will have another golden opportunity to establish himself as one of the UFC’s most electrifying athletes when he faces off with fellow professional boxer, Marcus Davis, as the two have publicly entered into a gentleman’s agreement that they will stand up and fight on the feet for the duration of the bout. Whether the agreement will be honored by both men remains to be seen but the fight already has all of the ingredients of an old fashioned slugfest. A slugfest with heavy consequences for either fighter.

Lytle and Davis both bounced back from disappointing losses and the match up between the two will move one fighter that much closer to title contention while leaving the other with that much longer of a road back up the ladder in the UFC’s talent rich welterweight division.

Cory Brady: I know that you are a full time fire fighter as well as having to train full time for the UFC. How do you split the two up?

Chris Lytle: I got pretty lucky that I working with the fire department. It’s a really great job as far as allowing me to train. I’ll work a 24 hour shift and then I’ll have 48 hours off, so I’ll do most of my training during those 48 hours that I have off. While I’m at the station I have a chance to do my weight lifting and my cardio and then I do all of my other training during the those two days that I have off.

Cory Brady: How are you feeling in the days leading up to your fight with Marcus Davis?

Chris Lytle: I’m really excited about this fight. I think it’s going to be a really good, exciting fight. It’s the kind of fight that I’ve been looking for. He’s the kind of guy that likes to stand up and trade and put on an exciting show. He’s a pro boxer and I’ve been a pro boxer as well, so I think it’s the exact kind of fight that both of us have been looking for.

Cory Brady: How do you feel you match up with Davis stylistically?

Chris Lytle: I think we match up pretty evenly. Both of our strengths is our stand up. I’ve had a lot of boxing matches and so has he and in addition to that I think that we both have an under rated ground game. If you combine all of those factors I think that we are very similar fighters with the main difference being that he’s left handed and I’m right handed.

Cory Brady: Have you been working with a lot of left handed guys in preparing for this fight?

Chris Lytle: I’ve definitely been working a lot with the left handed guys in the gym. We have a few different southpaws and guys that can switch it up and go back and forth, so I’ve been focusing a lot on that.

Cory Brady: Both of you guys are known for having terrific boxing. Do you think this fight has potential to turn into a slugfest?

Chris Lytle: It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this ended up being fight of the night. I’m not really planning on the fight going to the ground and I doubt he is either. That’s kind of what I’m anticipating. I’m expecting a stand up war.

Cory Brady: Coming off of your fight of the night performance with Paul Taylor it seems if you have been given another opportunity to have a standout performance in this match up. Will you be hoping for a consecutive fight of the night in this one?

Chris Lytle: Back to back fight of the night honors would definitely make me very happy. That’s my main goal this year, when people here that I’m going to be on the card I want them to want to order the pay-per-view because they know it’s going to be an exciting fight. I want to be in high demand and I want people to want to see my fights.

Cory Brady: What do you feel are some of your advantages you will have over Davis going into this fight?

Chris Lytle: I feel like I’m a little bit taller and that I’m going to have a little reach advantage against Marcus and I think that’s going to come into play. I also think that I’m a little awkward with my stand up and I think it’s going to be something that he hasn’t really seen before.

Cory Brady: Have you been spending any extra time focusing on your ground game preparing for Davis?

Chris Lytle: I have been working a lot on my ground game. I’ve been putting a lot of time into pretty much every aspect of my fight game so I’ll feel really good no matter where the fight goes. I don’t really have a one track mind when it comes to fighting. I can change it up whenever I need to.

Cory Brady: Do you think a convincing win over Marcus Davis will shoot you up in the rankings in UFC’s welterweight division?

Chris Lytle: Without a doubt the ultimate goal is to work my way up and get a shot at the title at some point. The problem is that the 170 pound division is just so stacked. The welterweight division is just ridiculous right now.

Cory Brady: What would be the perfect ending to this fight for you?

Chris Lytle: I’m always looking to win by knockout. I guess second place would be the submission win but definitely want the fight to be over before the final bell sounds. I don’t like going to decisions at all because I’ve lost a lot of close one’s. You just never know, I’ve seen some really close decisions so you just can’t leave your fate in the judges hands. When you have someone like him that has had a lot of experience in boxing I think that knockout is a little harder to get than most people think. If he’s been boxing for a while he’s probably had at least 10,000 punches thrown at his face so it will be that much easier to see it coming and get out of the way. I think the same thing goes for me. It’s a harder than most people think but nobody is above getting knocked out. I always hear about guy’s that have an iron chin, no way, if you get hit in the right place you’re getting knocked out. It can happen to anybody.

Cory Brady: It seems like a lot of people just expect that a fight between two strikers or two ground specialists will stay in the area that the fighters are the most comfortable but a lot of times they will neutralize each other it whatever area they specialize in. So we end up seeing two strikers in a wrestling match or two wrestlers on the feet banging. Do you think that this fight has the potential to turn out that way?

Chris Lytle: Yeah, it’s funny, that does happen a lot. You’ll get two guys that are really good at jiu-jitsu and they’ll be sitting there banging it out and you’re sitting there like, ‘What?’. I’m not really anticipating that in this fight though. I definitely think you’re going to end up seeing a lot of stand up.

Cory Brady: What can people expect to see from Chris Lytle in the future?

Chris Lytle: I think last year was fantastic year for me. I think I won submission, knockout or fight of the night in like four of my last five fights. I want to make sure that by the end of this year for everyone to want to see every fight I’m in. I want to be the kind of fighter that makes people want to buy pay per views just because I’m going to be on it.

Cory Brady: Would you like to have another fight with Paul Taylor at some point?

Chris Lytle: Oh yeah, I would do another fight with him. That’s the exact kind of fight that I’m looking for right now. I want to fight anyone that’s willing to get in there and bang it out and put on a good show with me. I didn’t realize how good of a chin that he had. Paul was extremely tough and I look for really great things from him in the future. Those are the kinds of fights that I’m looking for right now.So him or anyone else that fights like him, yeah, bring it. Just putting on fantastic, entertaining fights is what I’m all about right now.

Cory Brady: Any plans to return to boxing at some point down the road?

Chris Lytle: Ever since I’ve been under a UFC contract for the last few years it has kind of been a no-no. They won’t let you box. They kind of control when you fight and who you fight and to be honest with you, things have been a lot better with the UFC than with boxing. I wouldn’t mind having another boxing match or two at some point in my career but if it doesn’t happen, that’s alright too. I just couldn’t see myself giving up mixed martial arts for boxing because MMA is where my heart is at right now.

Cory Brady: Is there anyone you would like to thank?

Chris Lytle: MMA Agents are always doing good work for me and my boys over at TapouT are always helping me out. Also, Full Tilt Poker, I’m a big poker guy.

Davis is coming off a submission victory over Paul Kelly at UFC 89 just two weeks ago in Birmingham, England and has won four out of his last five fights. This upcoming fight with Chris Lytle will mark the sixth time in a row that Davis has fought overseas, not having fought on U.S. Soil since 2007 at UFC 69 in Houston, Texas.

Lytle most recently recorded a unanimous decision victory over Paul Taylor at UFC 89 in what turned out to be a slugfest and the fight of the night. Lytle has won four of his past six fights in the UFC and inked a contract extension with the company in July.

UFC 93 is set to feature a main event attraction at light heavyweight between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson as well as the return of Maurico Rua to the cage against former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman at light heavyweight.

Some see it as a negative; that UFC president Dana White’s act has grown tired and Fertitta’s presence is imperative in order for the company to go to the next level.

Others view the announcement with a more positive spin; that the UFC is growing so much that White needs someone on the executive level who can assume some of his workload in order to ensure greater output.

I see today’s announcement as something in between.

Having someone like Lorenzo Fertitta involved on a day-to-day basis is huge for the future of the UFC. He’s been involved since 2001 as an owner and producer but now he’s in a position to make a much bigger impact.

But to say the primary motive for this decision is based on the growth of the company is not telling the whole story. While this isn’t a demotion for White and he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Fertitta’s involvement still means that a great deal of White’s power has been usurped. Before this announcement, Dana was the most powerful man in MMA. Now, he’s number two.

To say this move was made because the UFC is growing so fast is a cop out. The UFC has been growing at a fast rate for quite some time and we’re now only see this move made in light of EliteXC becoming the first promotion in MMA to land a primetime network television deal.

My feeling is that White has taken the company as far as he can take it. He’s been the key to the UFC’s growth for so many years but the stakes have changed with so many major media companies now paying attention to the sport. Corporate accountability is finally starting to be added to MMA’s lexicon.

White’s genuine business style was a refreshing change from boxing promoters and it helped attract new fans to the sport. However, what you see with White is often what you really get. There are times when his business acumen might rub people the wrong way (i.e. HBO) and when it comes to business development, you often need a soft touch when trying to woo potential partners. It just so happens that the phrase “soft touch” isn’t in White’s vocabulary.

On the other hand, Lorenzo Fertitta is a man that can be smooth as silk. While White will remain the public face of the company, don’t be surprised if meetings with Madison Avenue media buyers as well as major television networks are reserved for the more polished ways of Fertitta.

Most fans are none too pleased with a comment in which Fertitta praises the UFC 78 card that took place in November from a business perspective:

Y!: But it seems like you had some shows in 2007 that just didn’t do that well as they had in the past. Isn’t that fair?

LF: Not really. I actually look at this the opposite way. One of the greatest successes that we’ve had, for instance, is the last show we did in New Jersey (UFC 78 on Nov. 17). We had a fight being headlined by two guys who had never fought for a championship and, relatively, had never been proven to be pay-per-view draws. But we basically sold out the arena in New Jersey and we did very strong, above average, pay-per-view. So to me, while it wasn’t Liddell-Ortiz, that said more to me than one of what you might call one of our bigger fights did. It showed that our UFC brand can carry a whole show.

From a fan’s perspective, I can understand why they wouldn’t be too happy with a co-owner of the UFC giving themselves credit for putting together a card that was not one of their strongest efforts.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG