No more worries, ‘UFC on Versus’ is back on DirecTV

Does the UFC have juice or is this purely coincidental? Less than a week away from its first event on Versus, the promotion got the good news Monday. The network has ended its spat with DirecTV and Comcast. Around the country, viewers are reporting that Versus is now reappearing on their channel guide.

@VsMMA just tweeted the good news as did outstanding hockey writer E.J. Hradek over at ESPN.com

Here is the official release:

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and PHILADELPHIA, March 15, 2010 - DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV.

"We're excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS. "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."

The network was dropped from DirecTV on Sept. 1. The UFC made the seemingly odd decision to expand its "free" television offerings on Versus, which at the time was struggling for clearance. Its debut event on Versus is this Sunday in Broomfield, Colo. 

You may not want to register ‘watchufc … .com’

When Lorenzo Fertitta hit Washington D.C. in December, it was a hint that the UFC was serious about protecting its pay-per-views. The promotion went after a New England bar for showing illegal broadcasts. Now it's attacking web pirates.

Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, owner of the UFC, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Friday against the Web sites www.watchufc111.com and www.watchufc111free.com.

Attorneys for Zuffa, Michael Feder and John Krieger of the Las Vegas office of the law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, charge in the complaint that an individual in Framlingham, Suffolk, United Kingdom, registered the watchufc111 name and an individual in Jacksonville, Fla., registered the watchufc111free name.

According to the Las Vegas Sun story, UFC also filed suit against a Stafford, Va., man, Moazzam Gandu, back on Feb 18. Gandu's site rage-streams.net was selling unauthorized UFC broadcasts for $6.95.

UFC is on Versus! Someone tell the announcers

Versus is prepping this week for its first huge UFC card on Sunday. There's nothing better than using March Madness telecasts to pump the big event. Versus is partners with the Mountain West Conference so it carried the MWC men's basketball title game on Saturday. In between promos for D-League basketball, bull riding, IRL and hockey, they squeezed in a plug for the big UFC event in Denver this weekend. One problem, announcer Ted Robinson didn't have the info and then sounded a bit angry that Versus was airing the bloodsport.

"All right, Sunday March 21st for the first time on Versus, can you believe it? It’s the UFC battle," said a half-hearted Robinson. "One of these heavyweight fighters -- I don’t even know if they’re heavyweights or not -- whatever weight class they are. Look at these great matchups and you’ll see them Sunday only on Versus." 

Let's hope this Versus thing works out for the UFC. It has problems written all over it. Because of the dispute between DirecTV and Versus, there's going to be more than a few angry MMA fans who won't be able to catch the event either on satellite or at their local watering hole. At least the UFC can fall back on the excuse that the NHL and Mountain West were also misguided enough to align themselves with the off-the-radar network. 

Liddell fooled us and Faber! Comes clean on Kimmel show

The jig is up. Chuck Liddell finally admitted what most of us knew, his naked workout video was a hoax. It was a viral ad for Reebok filmed at Brad Penny's home gym. But Liddell also admitted that he didn't wipe down the machine and a friend of Penny's used it the next day!

Liddell appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Show with Chad Ochocinco and Dax Shepard, who also put out their own naked videos.

The guy who really got burned in all this is Urijah Faber, who told Cagewriter that Liddell was caught by a peeping tom. At least that's what the "Iceman" told him. Let's hope this betrayal blossoms into a huge rivalry setting up season 22 of "The Ultimate Fighter" between Liddell and Faber.   

Soto picks up the WBC lightweight hardware

Humberto Soto stepped up in class and weight. It proved to be a good change. The 29-year-old Mexican was workmanlike in downing former WBC champ David Diaz via unanimous decision, 115-111, 117-109 and 117-109, in the final fight before the main event at Cowboys Stadium.

Soto sealed the fight with knockdowns in the first and final round. He landed a big left hook in the final minute of the first that forced Diaz to put a glove on the canvas. Diaz fought hard the rest of the way. HBO ringside judge Harold Lederman actually gave Diaz five rounds the rest of the way. One judge agreed while the other two had it 9-3 for Soto. The title was locked up in the 12th when Soto blasted Diaz with another good left hook. Diaz fell forward off balance to the canvas and quickly bounced back to his feet.

The 33-year-old Diaz (35-3-1, 17 KOs) has now lost two-of-three fights. Soto (51-7-2, 28 KOs) has won seven straight and a belt in his third weight class. He outlanded Diaz 160 to 90 at 25-to-14 percent rate. He also landed 132 power punches.

Pacman fight brings up issues of blackouts and crowd control

What athlete can essentially shut down a nation? He's only 5-foot-6, 145 pounds but Manny Pacquiao has the power to do so. The Philippines goes to special lengths to make sure as much of the nation will see their hero in action tonight against Joshua Clottey. In Manila, the huge crowds make extra security a necessity.

According to Ric de Guzman, Mayor Alfredo Lim's chief of staff, members of the Manila Police District will augment the security marshals that have been tasked to maintain peace and order in the areas designated for the purpose of the free showing of the Pacquiao-Clottey match.

There will be huge screens set up around the city in six different districts showing a commercial free airing of the fight. In Pacquiao's hometown of General Santos City, there's a different issue to deal with. Because of the recent earthquake, power is at a premium.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has assured that General Santos City residents can watch Manny Pacquiao's fight against Ghana's Joshua Clottey uninterrupted. The southern island has been reeling from 5- to 8-hour blackouts as hydro-power plants, which are the main sources of power in the south, were already drying up.

Pacman's mother Dionesia won't take the chance of missing any of her son's fight. She'll be watching at his mansion where they've set up a backup generator. 

Who is watching Pacman tonight? HBO says almost none of you

There's still a bizarre dynamic between boxing and mixed martial arts. For some reason many boxing head honchos still view MMA as the enemy. Some like Bob Arum even lash out at the growing fanbase by saying the fighters "roll around like homosexuals" and the followers are "skinheads."

I've never gotten it. I never will. There are plenty of fans who like and watch both boxing and MMA. This weekend's bout, with Manny Pacquiao fighting Joshua Clottey is a prime example. For some reason, HBO pay-per-view chief Mark Taffett continues to claim MMA fans don't like boxing.

"We've done a lot of research at HBO talking to our pay-per-view distributor, we haven't found more than five percent overlap between the audiences," said Taffet speaking to folks at USA Today.

Can that really be gauged accurately? How do you account for all the bars around the country that buy both boxing and MMA PPV's? Wouldn't that qualify as 100 percent overlap unless you have a profile on every attendee? It just seems odd for boxing to seemingly try and turn off MMA fans on a weekend that it has to itself with its most entertaining superstar on display.

"They're two businesses that co-exist. Two sports that are thriving. Our sport, whether it's on HBO or PPV, has been growing significantly over the last three or four years. There's surprisingly little overlap of the consumer base."

Is that true? As an MMA blog reader, do you have any interest in watching Pacman versus Clottey tonight? 

UFC president Dana White seems to think there's a big crossover audience. He's part of it. He tweeted this week, to his 1,012,527 followers, that he was giving away tickets to the boxing match.

Arum and Top Rank extended the olive branch earlier this week. It's a smart move. Why wouldn't you want a guy with over one million followers on Twitter to hear about your fight? Maybe Taffett will jump on board next.

White knew nothing about combat sports before he met Mayweather

Is there a better story teller than Floyd Mayweather? During his recent media tour, he visited the offices of USA Today and was asked about mixed martial arts cutting into the boxing fanbase. The legendary pugilist responded by telling a story that suggested he pointed UFC president Dana White in the right direction.

"My uncle Jeff Mayweather is the one who started Dana White off," said Floyd Mayweather. "I first met Dana White in 1996. He was a boxing aerobics trainer but he didn't know nothing about boxing. My uncle Jeff taught him about contact sports."

Mayweather said he introduced White to a woman with deep pockets and the rest is history. All this time we thought White put this together because he went to high school in Las Vegas with Lorenzo Fertitta. That sets the record straight. 

Arum extends the olive branch to UFC

Top Rank boxing chief Bob Arum has plenty of people in his crosshairs this week so he doesn't need to unload on prior enemies like UFC president Dana White and owner Lorenzo Fertitta. The Las Vegas Sun reports that both of the UFC head honchos will be amongst the 45,000 to take in the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday.

Arum even said the boys are actually pitching the fight to the MMA fans.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum made note of a pair of startling names on the guest list for Saturday’s fight card: UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta and the organization’s president, Dana White. As Arum said, the two are encouraging UFC fans to buy into the fight’s pay-per-view package.

The Sun's John Katsilometes pointed out accurately that Arum has been a big proponent of mixed martial arts.

An impressive diplomatic move considering Arum once compared UFC fights to gay erotica (as a means of criticism, not praise, mind you).

"We want to thank Dana and Lorenzo for crossing sports to help promote this fight," Arum said, as [Cowboys owner Jerry] Jones, the guy who helped make that unlikely visit happen, nodded from the dais.

Have things cooled with Arum vs. UFC or is he just preoccupied with everyone else he hates? During Wednesday's prefight press conference, he did manage to slam Las Vegas, casinos and Golden Boy Promotions, saying "[expletive] Golden Boy."

The world according to Hardy hits U.S. shores

It's 17 days out from his clash against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111 and the Dan Hardy hype machine has arrived in the New York area. Hardy posted his first stateside video blog. There's not a whole lot to it aside from cup shopping, some awful teeth and revealing the nugget that he'll be spending some time on Long Island, the home of Matt Serra, the last guy to take out GSP.

We're hoping Hardy can find the manufacturer of Adam Lambert's spiked cup. That would be a real weapon come fight night! 

In a previous blog at DanHardyMMA.com, Hardy tried to clear up a couple of things Cagewriter has blogged about in the past few weeks. One was Hardy tattoo-gate. The Brit lost his gut tattoo on several posters:

But another item I've read online I'd like to clear up is why my stomach tattoo has been Photoshopped off the official UFC 111 poster. Maybe I am the wrong guy to moan about getting Photoshopped, but I'm not really very happy about it and don't understand the reason behind it at all.

I've been told the people who designed the poster felt my tattoo would be "too distracting". Well, I'm very happy with my tattoo. Makes no sense they airbrushed it out. But some of the guys at the gym have found it very amusing, so at least they got a laugh out of it.

Hardy found it funny that some message board posters tried to get to the story behind the story.

Some of the theories out there as to why it was removed were very funny. I had no idea MMA fans were such hardcore conspiracy theorists. If they ever do another series of the "X-Files", the producers should look no further than the MMA fan forums for their writing team.

Through his P.R. minions, Hardy also said his last wrestling singlet blog was not attempt to disparage GSP. It was only intended to mock on his own wrestling abilities.

Check out the Day 2 vlog. Serra, Hardy and Ray Longo should provide some blog magic. 

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