Karo Parisyan to Make UFC Return Against Dennis Hallman at UFC 123

Karo Parisyan will make his return back to the UFC later this fall when he meets Dennis Hallman at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI. The news first broke, courtesy of MMA Fighting, which reportedly confirmed the fight with Parisyan and several other sources.  It’ll be an interesting fight because Parisyan has had two fights [...]

Huerta soaks in more of the brawl spotlight on TMZ

In an odd way, Roger Huerta is proving you don't need the UFC marketing machine to promote yourself to casual and non-MMA fans. The former UFC prospect is only 1-1 since leaving the promotion but has gotten plenty of national attention.

The reason? It wasn't exactly part of some grand plan. At 2:15 a.m., Huerta happened to stumble upon what looked like a man hitting a woman outside an Austin bar in Texas. Huerta stepped in to beat the snot out of the unsuspecting dude, who was reported to have been a former University of Texas linebacker. According to TMZ's Harvey Levin, the Huerta fight video was one of the biggest stories of that week on the site. Considering that TMZ is normally dealing with the likes of Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Bieber, for anything concerning an MMA fighter to compete with that mix is pretty impressive. Huerta was invited to appear on TMZ's afternoon webcast and talked about the incident.

"I approached the man and said, "You don't do that. You don't hit a woman," said Huerta. "The video doesn't show what happened next, but he said, '[Expletive] you. I'll knock any [expletive] out I want.' The tape also doesn't show that he swung at me two or three times right after that."

"All you see is me bouncing up and down. He has already swung at me at that point. Then the guy takes off running. I chased him down and you saw what else happened ... I can't talk about what exactly happened because it's a legal matter. If the same thing occurred, I would do it all over again. I have no regrets."

It's interesting to note that Huerta had to often restrain himself from going into too much detail. There are still plenty of legal hoops to jump through. Huerta says he do it again but you wonder if he'd like to erase the end of the brawl where he apparently got pretty vicious? The appearance actually makes you wonder who's handling his case. It's a little surprising that a lawyer would allow him to speak at all on this sort of platform. 

These TMZ videos are unique. There's no real setup. Check out the beginning. It looks like Levin is ready to ask Huerta to beat up a faulty chair. 

Quotes via Fightlinker

Strikeforce MMA DVD Set Cover Unveiled

About a month ago, MMAPayout detailed some of Strikeforce’s big plans for the fall, that not only included a big October show, but the release of EA Sports MMA, a new branding strategy, and also the release of their 2 disc DVD set scheduled for October 12.

Payout Perspective:

Strikeforce fans who have been patiently wondering when Strikeforce would be releasing their fights to fans on some form of media will soon get their opportunity.  Amazon.com, Walrmat, BestBuy and other retailers are now accepting pre-orders for and upcoming 2 disc DVD release titled “Strikeforce MMA”, at the moment starring Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelienenko, Robbie Lawler, Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski, and “Babalu” Sobral will contain 6 hours of content produced by Showtime Entertainment.  The listing price will be around $20.99 and will be releasing on October 12, which is just a few days after their October 9th event taking place in San Jose.  Interesting to note that Jake Shields was also set to be featured in the DVD release before he signed to the UFC, so it will be interesting to see how much, if any, focus is placed on him.

The Evan Tanner “Once I Was a Champion” Documentary Preview

Evan Tanner may not ever get into the UFC Hall of Fame, but the unique fighter has won a place in the hearts of many MMA fans. His intriguing life is the focus of a new documentary entitled “Once I was a Champion,” and has received increasing amounts of recent support. The film’s director, Gerard [...]

After pulling out of Maia bout, Alan Belcher still having eye trouble

UFC middleweight Alan Belcher was on a roll. After wins over Patrick Cote and Wilson Gouveia, he was training for a bout with Demian Maia when he had to pull out of the fight. He had a detached retina and had to undergo surgery in late July to have his eye corrected.

Now, more than a month later, he is still having problems with his vision.

According to his Twitter, Belcher again had to have surgery after experiencing blurry vision. His wife said that he is in pain, and that the next few weeks are important in seeing how his vision progresses. 

BJ Penn Thinking Ahead to Next Fight

B.J. Penn has lost two consecutive lightweight championship fights against current champion Frankie Edgar, and there is some concern as to how Penn is mentally and physically feeling. Days after the loss, Penn announced he planned to get back into the gym and wants to get another fight as soon as possible.  UFC President Dana [...]

UFC 118: Disclosed Payouts

MMA Weekly has obtained the basic payout information for UFC 118 from the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission in which a total of $1.428 million was paid out to 20 fighters.

MAIN CARD FIGHTERS:
-Frankie Edgar: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. B.J. Penn: $150,000
-Randy Couture: $250,000 (no win bonus) def. James Toney: $500,000
-Demian Maia: $68,000 (includes $34,000 win bonus) def. Mario Miranda: $8,000
-Gray Maynard: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Kenny Florian: $65,000
-Nate Diaz: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Marcus Davis: $31,000

 

PRELIMINARY CARD (NON-TELEVISED) FIGHTERS:
-Joe Lauzon: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000
-Nik Lentz: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner: $10,000
-Dan Miller: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. John Salter: $8,000
-Greg Soto: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Nick Osipczak: $10,000
-Mike Pierce: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Amilcar Alves: $6,000

 

UFC 118 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $1,428,000

The UFC also paid out three disclosed fight night bonuses at UFC 118:

Fight of the Night: Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis ($60,000 each)
Submission of the Night: Joe Lauzon ($60,000)

Payout Perspective:

The normal disclaimers apply. These payouts do not represent the full sum of money paid to fighters; they often also receive discretionary bonuses and sponsorship money. The sport’s top draws often also receive a cut of the PPV revenue from the card upon which they headline.

Randy Couture and BJ Penn are both known recipients of PPV cuts, which means they both likely grossed over a million for the fight depending on how well it sold. James Toney may have also been cut in on the PPV sales.

McGuinty: “No Illegal Lobbying” in Ontario

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is denying reports that any sort of illegal lobbying occurred in order to legalize the sport of mixed martial arts in Ontario, according to a recent Canadian Press article.

The NDP has asked Ontario’s integrity watchdog to investigate, and speaking Monday in Kitchener, Ont., McGuinty said he is willing to put the decision under scrutiny.

 

“I would welcome any such inquiries on the part of the integrity commissioner or anybody else, because I am absolutely confident that nothing untoward took place,” he said.

 

NDP justice critic Peter Kormos wrote two letters to commissioner Lynn Morrison about whether unregistered lobbying may be going on.

 

The Ontario Liberal Party is advertising a $250-a-ticket fundraiser Oct. 19 hosted by former premier David Peterson and his colleague Noble Chummar, who is a registered lobbyist for Ultimate Fighting Championship.

 

The close relationship between UFC, Chummar and Peterson raises questions given the government is developing regulations around mixed martial arts, Kormos has said.

Peterson has called the suggestions of wrongdoing “scurrilous” and “factually incorrect.”

Payout Perspective:

This is nothing but political posturing on part of the NDP — a party that vocalized support for the legalization of MMA last month — in advance of the coming Ontario General Election in October 2011.

MMA has nothing to worry about here.

FEG Continues to Struggle

photo courtesy of graciemag.com A few weeks ago it seemed as though the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) has found its second life. In mid July it was announced that PUJI Capital, a Chinese investment company, had partnered with FEG in hopes of raising the funds needed not only to keep the company going, but [...]

Despite Poor Showing, Ruediger Promised a Second Bite of the Cherry

Gabe Ruediger surely must be counting his lucky stars following UFC 118. Firstly he’s got to be thankful that, following on from his annihilation by Joe Lauzon, he still has functioning limbs and coherent speech. He’s also got to be glad that Joe Silva has confirmed that he’ll have another chance to redeem himself back [...]

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