Jackson vs. Evans Expected For December Event in Memphis

Former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson will most likely face off this December in Jackson’s hometown of Memphis, TN.

“Rampage” and Rashad are both currently coaching the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter and will fight at the conclusion of the shows televised run as has been tradition.

Marc Ratner, UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs confirmed that the UFC would be holding a show in Memphis, TN this December.

Shine Fights Spotlight: Junior Assuncao – The Love Below

By Rhett Butler

MMAPAYOUT.COM

When Grammy award winning recording artist group, Outkast released their double EP, Speakerboxx/The Love Below the latter record attested to eternal love. The entire album consisted of a song cycle about inanimate love’s battle against fear and self-deception that’s frequently profound and at times scary. This tumultuous relationship exists for every MMA fighter but definitely for Brazilian transplant and Atlanta native, Junior Assuncao.

As a native of coastal city, Recife, Brazil, Assuncao first came to the States in 1994 to learn a different culture and the English language. What later ensued was a

flirtation with the martial arts that ballooned into full-blown ardor as time grew.

“I started training Capoeira when I was 13 years old and I got my black belt when I was 19 years old. Then when I was 17 years old I started training jiu- jitsu with master Jacare (Alliance) and here I am now. I love training in all styles of fighting!”

Once Assuncao began training he quickly developed into a well-rounded competitor. Having competed in various art form specific challenges and tournaments, his medal count rose and so did his reputation.

“In Capoeira we did a state championship and I got first place. In jiu-jitsu I competed in the Pan-Am Games, I was the NAGA (North American Grappling Association) Florida and Georgia champ and I earned second place in the no-gi world championships (losing in the finals to Marcelo Garcia) and I also earned a few other titles.”

The decision to made a professional career in mixed martial arts came quickly for Assuncao. Without much trepidation he had an extremely brief amateur career before turning to MMA full-time.

“I did two amateur fights and jumped right to pro. At the time I wanted to challenge and test myself.”

That test started out shaky but soon the pupil within began to impress. After losing a decision to Andrew Chappelle, Assuncao went on an impressive four fight win streak which offered both submission clinics as well as a knockout. What makes this streak more interesting is that all these wins were in the first round. With three submission victories and one first round TKO over UFC Welterweight, Dustin Hazelett, Assuncao was proving to be true to his quest for love.

Capping off his four-fight win streak was entrance into the UFC for Assuncao’s next bout. The yin and the yang of love surfaced here and times became bumpy. A first round submission loss to Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 64: Unstoppable started his journey within the organization. After a second round victory by rear naked choke over Brit David Lee, Assuncao lost in the first round to Nate Diaz by guillotine choke at UFC Fight Night 11. That loss signaled his exit from the organization but since is on a two-fight win streak. Now facing Jadyson Costa at Shine 2: American Top Team vs. The World he looks forward to continuing his rise to the top.

“I’m getting ready to perform at my best! He is good and fast so I have to be ready for a war. The fans can expect a fast-paced fight with a lot of kicks – wait and see! I’m with my training partners and my brothers, that’s all I need! My family is everything to me - my kids, my brothers they all help me a lot. I couldn’t do it without them!”

Known for his diverse training and dedication, Assuncao has built an impressive resume of training partners and teams aligned with.

“I’ve done different camps. In 2007 I went to Black House in Rio de Janeiro and there I got to train with many good fighters, including UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida, former UFC light heavyweight Champion, Vitor Belfort and many others. I have a gym in Atlanta and there I have solid training also. All Georgia boys help each other a lot, and we have a good group: Roan Carneiro, Roberto Traven, my brother Rafael, Rory Singer, Brian Stann, Brian Bowles, Diego Saraiva and many other newcomers.”

Marching along the path to whatever inevitable destiny is Assuncao, riding the win streak wave and still exploring ‘the love below.’ It’s the gift and the curse of sports where wins and losses both provide ironic truisms. Perhaps this search only served to lead him back home where it all began.

“I’m from Recife, Brazil. It’s on the cost, and it’s a very nice place to live. We moved to the U.S. in 1994 and the idea was for us to learn a different culture and to learn English. I have a hero, our mother. She worked very hard to raise us to be what we are today! She is our number one fan. I LOVE YOU MOM! After fighting I just want to live at the beach in Brazil and just train for fun. I MISS HOME!!!”

Penn readies for his Florian fight with … Kenny Florian?

When a fighter prepares for a bout, they will often bring in a training partner who is like their opponent. If you're preparing for a match with Josh Koscheck, you bring in a wrestler; Brandon Vera, a kickboxer; Lyoto Machida, Chuck Norris. In preparing for his fight with Kenny Florian, B.J. Penn took that tactic up a notch, bringing in a fighter who even looks like Florian.

‘Ultimate Chaos’ rings true after weight debacle and late stoppage

Organizations like Strikeforce, WEC, Affliction and the UFC have to cringe a bit everytime some small MMA show is waged in states like Alabama and Mississippi. As the big boys push to cross the sanctioning finish line in New York, a disasterous result in one of these unregulated or loosely regulated states, could set back the effort a few years. Ultimate Chaos last weekend in Biloxi, Miss. turned in two embarrassing stories. Former UFC fighter Din Thomas never made it to the cage on Saturday because he weighed in 0.6 pounds over the featherweight limit. Huh? That sounds ridiculous, right? Thomas never got to fight because of miscommunication:

"I looked at the commission, and I said, ‘Am I OK?’ And they said, ‘Oh, yeah. You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.’”

His opponent Javier Vasquez tells a different story:

“Someone from the show came up to me and goes, ‘Hey, he’s a half-of-a-pound over; do you want him to cut?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I want him to cut.’ That’s as far as I went.”

Thomas began to rehydrate and Vasquez says he wasn't checking on him. The result? No fight because one guy was 0.6 pounds over.

That pales in comparison to the sloppy, borderline dangerous stoppage of the Pedro Rizzo-Gilbert Yvel fight. Yvel knocked down Rizzo and was allowed to get in 2-3 extra shots (0:14 mark) that had Rizzo's head smashing repeatedly into the mat.

As much as MMA wants to be legal in all 50 states, the biggest promotions better make sure these states have their ducks in a row. Alabama had similar issues before the Tim Sylvia-Ray Mercer. After months of being on the schedule, a rules conflict arose the week for the fight and nearly cancelled the fight. It was changed from a boxing to MMA match two days before the fight card. That's the picture of disorganization. All these incidents may seem minor at the time but it could lead to something awful setting the sport back years.

Tip via Fightlinker

Money issues heating up with Faber and WEC

WEC is growing by leaps and bounds. All one needs to do is look at WEC 41 in Sacramento where the event pulled in 13,027 fans and around an $815,415 gate. Two of the biggest stars with organization, seeing that growth, are starting to grumble about their pay.

Last week with Cagewriter, WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres, 28, made mention of his salary and said he may only have a shelf life 3-4 years if the money doesn't improve. Torres also joked at the WEC 41 fan Q & A that he would only wage a superfight against Urijah Faber if "they made it worth his while."

Faber has been just as vocal. He's in a tough position. WEC helped Faber get out there on a big level. On the flip side, Faber has been a willing front man for the promotion over the last two years. But now with only one fight left on his contract, he's lost 2-of-3 fights and is coming off a broken hand. Faber wants to make sure he's taken of and sounds bothered by his pay versus what he sees the UFC's elite stars pulling in (3:40 mark):

"I definitely don't think it's a fair scale," Faber told RawVegas' Dave Farra. "They say that WEC is a different company than UFC."

Zuffa, headed up Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta along with Dana White, owns both fight organizations. When he's been told by Lorenzo Fertitta and White that WEC and UFC are different, Faber joked, "well then can you talk to the owners and see if you can pull some strings?"

Faber's only real option is in Japan unless Affliction and Strikeforce show more interest in promoting 145 pound fights in the U.S. He's hoping it doesn't come to that:

"Things will be fine as long as they're looking at me as an investment and not an expense. I've done my part, countless interviews and gone above and beyond with the PR."

Faber has been dynamite over the years with the media and fans. He's one of the top 15 fighters in the world so let's hope he sticks around after his next fight in WEC.

Create-a-Caption: ‘Mom? Is that you out there?

Brock Lesnar will soon face his biggest fight yet in the Octagon, a chance to defend his title at UFC 100. Who is he looking for here? Take a shot at a caption in the comments, and read on for winners of the last create-a-caption.

First place: I told you!!!!! I'm not afraid of machida -- nigron

Second place: I'm only gonna say this once, stay away from the hot-wheels 4x4's. Even if it does have our likeness painted on the side. -- mbungle

Third place: "I'm buzzed. I think you better drive."  -- K-J-MMA-Armchair

The Issues of Referee and Judge Certification

‘Showdown’ Joe Ferraro has an excellent piece up at Rogers Sportsnet that details his experience with ‘Big’ John McCarthy’s referee certification seminar, C.O.M.M.A.N.D. (Certification of Officials for Mixed Martial Arts National Development).

The course is broken down into three areas and participants require a passing grade of 90 percent (at minimum in all three) to be certified. As it stands today, the course has a 75 percent failure rate, as participants simply do not make the grade to officiate or judge in MMA.

 

Would-be referees must know and identify over 25 takedowns, 35 submissions, 25 positions and seven sweeps, reversals and transitions. They also must know the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts inside and out.

 

After the identification of the aforementioned moves and keen knowledge of the unified rules, participants are also trained and tested on in ring / cage mechanics. This is comprised of what is required by an official before, during and after a bout. It’s not just about positioning (which is HUGE when refereeing) but dozens of other variables that are key to the safety of the athletes who put it all on the line.

 

All of this knowledge is paramount for one to be proficient in officiating and without it I do not understand how commissions around the world allow men and women to step into the cage/ring and ref without proving they have this type of knowledge.

 

If the four major sports leagues — the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — mandate that officials are properly trained before being allowed to step onto the playing surface, why doesn’t MMA do the same? If this sport is expected to be taken seriously then this type of certification must be the bare minimum an athletic commission requires from an applicant prior to receiving their license to ref or judge.

Payout Opinion:

It would seem as though we’re finally starting to see the issues of officiating, judging, and bout scoring come to the front of the MMA hot topic list.

Just ask yourself: what good are the rules and regulations that MMA has put into place - those designed to protect the health and integrity of the sport and its fighters - if the individuals enforcing them are incompetent or unqualified?

Yes, the sport is growing - and that’s great for a lot of reasons - but the flip side of that growth is the increasing complexity of the issues surrounding governance, regulation, officiating, and judging.

MMA cannot afford to rest on its laurels; it must adapt to the many new challenges that it faces, including the issues of consistent officiating and judging.

And, believe me, as MMA ventures more and more into the mainstream, the quality of officiating and judging WILL become an issue. Look no further than the MMA competitions of the last week: the awful officiating displays at Strikeforce; the late stoppage in the Rizzo-Yvel fight; or the controversy of Tibau-Guillard, Guida-Sanchez, and Blackburn-Garcia.

While I’m not yet prepared to advocate that ‘Big’ John’s COMMAND is the answer - not that his course probably isn’t the best out there right now - I will say that a universal testing and certification program for both officials and judges is something of a no-brainer. It would afford the sport, its fighters, and its fans the consistency that they’ve all been longing for. It would also help to further cement the legitimacy of the sport in the eyes of its critics.

MMA Marketplace: Last minute roadtrip to UFC 100

With UFC 100 just over a week away, is it possible for you and a group of your buds to hop on a plane (or jump in a car) to Las Vegas, and still be able to enjoy the action? The answer is yes, but like many last-minute decisions, it will cost you.

Tickets: You have two options, going to the fights at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, or going to the closed-circuit viewing party, also at Mandalay Bay. For me, if you're going to Vegas for the fights, you should go to the fights. If you do want to go to the viewing party, it will cost you just under $90 per person. 

Getting into the sold-out fights will cost you quite a bit more. Tickets start at $497, and can cost you as much as ... wait for it ... are you sitting down ... $40,000 per ticket. That's right, you can either buy yourself a new Honda, or you can have a cageside ticket for UFC 100. There is plenty of in-between ground there, like seats in the lower bowl for around $1000. A grand per ticket is hardly cheap, but it's still a seat in the fights that will not give you a nosebleed.

Hotel: The bad economy has affected tourism in Las Vegas, which means you can stay there for relatively cheap rates. Hotels.com has rooms for as cheap as $25 a night, you can stay on the strip at the Tropicana for $80 a night, or in the Luxor, which is attached to Mandalay Bay, for $140. Actually staying at Mandalay Bay will cost you quite a bit more, as in $286 a night. (Note, if you book with Hotels.com, they charge your credit card ahead of time, so don't book until you know you're going.)

Fan Expo: To be held in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, this event seems as if it will be a UFC fan's dream come true. The following fighters will be on hand:UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, UFC Hall of Famers Royce Gracie and Randy “The Natural” Couture,  and former world champions Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. UFC contenders Kenny Florian, Steve Cantwell, Shane Carwin, Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Dustin Hazelett, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann, Josh Koscheck, Joe Lauzon, Junie Browning, Nate Marquardt, Gray Maynard, Karo Parisyan, Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez, Sean Sherk and Mike Swick will also be meeting fans, along with The Ultimate Fighter winners Nate Diaz and Efrain Escudero.

Phew. A two-day pass is $50, and training sessions with fighters and coaches cost an additional amount. The expo is a gargantuan event on its own, and I won't be able to do it justice within this post, so check out more about it here. 

Getting there: This close to the event, airfares are getting pretty high. According to Orbitz, from my own hometown of Chicago, it would cost between $500 -- $600, between $550 -- $700 from Boston, $450 -- $600 from Dallas, and $170 -- $350 from Los Angeles. You can also save quite a bit on your flight if you combine it with your hotel on a Web site like Travelocity or Orbitz.

Extras: The Sin City is an adult's playland, and everything from food and drink to live shows to gambling, nightclubs and strip clubs can cost you quite a bit. If you're male, not a UFC fighter or celebrity, and expect to go to a hot club like XS, Tryst or Body English, plan on ponying up for bottle service. But if you don't need to be in a jampacked club, or the newest restaurant in town, you can save money. Though dancing at XS was a blast, I also had a great time in Caramel in the Bellagio, and had a great meal at Oyster Bay in the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood.

So, it's still possible for you to do Vegas for UFC 100, and do it well, but it will be difficult to do it cheaply. If you do go, come back here and let us know about your weekend. Well, what you can tell us, since what happens in Vegas ... 

Bjorn Rebney talks about the end of Bellator’s first season

As the late Billy Mays used to say, “Life is a pitch and then you buy it.”

We all know that Dana White is MMA’s master pitchman, but he has a lot of weaknesses to go along with his strengths in this department. Bjorn Rebney, the boss of Bellator FC, goes about business a little differently.

While the two men may end up using similar business tactics and acumen, Rebney is the complete opposite of White. He’s an excellent speaker with a sports marketing background. At times, Bjorn sounds like he came from the casting call of Jerry Maguire, but don’t be fooled — he may use marketing clichés such as Q score, pieces of the puzzle, and growth curves, but Rebney’s message is starting to resonate with the general public and fight fans across the States.

Bellator recently finished up their first season of fights for ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language channel seen around the world. Ratings for Bellator on ESPN-D were excellent for the channel, mostly ranging in the 1’s. On Discovery Channel, drawing a 1.5 rating is a minor success (like Billy Mays did with Pitchmen). Drawing a 1.5 on ESPN Deportes, however, is pretty impressive no matter how you slice it.

“Our show is going on ESPN Desportes to a spanish-language audience,” Rebney said recently in an interview with TheFightNerd.com (Matthew Kaplowitz) after a Bellator show in Connecticut. “The Spanish-language audience until Bellator hit on Deportes had never had a show produced for a spanish-language audience in real time that had Spanish-language announcers. It was being broadcast week to week. So, we’re hitting real virgin territory. If we’re able to do numbers that are better than in many instances the top dogs in the game and comparable to hitting an audience that knows nothing about this great game.”

“I think that we’re poised to do some really great numbers when we change over to English language and I think that going into the second season, we will do consistently stronger numbers in Spanish language because the fan base will know it I mean you know you can’t believe how many people came to us in terms of Spanish-language media saying, “Well explain this to us. Is it real? Are those real fights?’ There was a complete lack of understanding of this great game so, it’s gotten… it’s strong and I look at it from that perspective, I love it to be you know north of 1’s but it’ll get there.”

Bellator, during season one, crowned new champions — Lyman Good, Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard, Joe Soto, and Toby Imada are the names that most hardcore MMA fans recognize as being pushed by the organization. Now that season one is over, how will Bellator create new stars and challengers for their new crop of aces? Rebney told Kaplowitz that the matchmaking formula won’t change all that much.

“What you’ll see is much of the same, you’ll see Challenger series, 8 guys fighting to become the #1 challenger to challenge Lyman Good, to challenge Joe Soto, to challenge Eddie Alvarez or Toby Imada and to challenge Hector Lombard or Jared Hess. You’ll see guys fight for the right to fight for our championship. So, we’re not going to change the format. We didn’t do the format and say, “Oh, this is a great tournament and then we’re going to switch it on its head and go to old-school matchmaking formula.” It’s not going to happen.”

Being on free/cable TV or premium pay-to-watch TV like Showtime has been a primary method for a lot of MMA groups so far, since most have failed on PPV. Rebney says that the economics of MMA determine that Bellator will need to make the move to PPV in the near future.

“Happy right now on TV, but obviously the dynamics in this business require that you get to PPV. So, my hope and the vision was you’ve got four tournaments running simultaneously. Who knows if at the end of that all four of those guys are A-level guys? I think we have some guys right now with the ‘it factor’ I think the guy you saw win a title here tonight has the it factor. You look for all of those different parts of the ingredients. He can fight inside the cage, he’s got great talent, amazing drive, he looks like belongs on the cover of GQ, you know, he could be the evil or the good character in a Conan the Barbarian movie, he’s got all those kind of unique factors working together. And you want to take a person like a Lyman and he keeps working the way he’s working and create somebody that can fight him that becomes the A- or B- to his A and then you’ve got the ability to conceivably to move onto PPV.

Bellator second season will kick off in the Fall. And what I can say is that you will see Bellator in both English-language and Spanish-language. That’s as much specificity as I can give.”

While Eddie Alvarez is the name that the hardcores know the most about in Bellator and care the most about, the name Lyman Good is one that should be on your radar screen. In addition to his charisma, looks, and ability to fight, he potentially makes a very good candidate to become the poster boy for Bellator. Will Bellator go with one primary ace or will they use the ‘deck of cards’ theory that has been used in other fighting genres?

“I think Lyman has done an amazing job. Like I said he’s got an awful lot of pieces to the equation. We took him to what is called a Car Wash at ESPN where he went through literally about 9 or 10 interviews in one day. He was the consummate professional, started at 6 o’clock and done about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. But there are a lot of … we’ve been very lucky. Eddie Alvarez, whose fighting for our Lightweight title is another guy who generates a huge amount of buzz wherever he goes. He’s got an electrifying personality and a beautiful wife and great kids. Jared Hess, whose fighting Hector Lombard, is this magical kind down home Americana Oklahoma boy who’s a world class wrestler and strong as an ox and Mom travels with him and Mom loves him and Dad… I mean there are a lot of guys in this organization that could conceivably elevate themselves to the next level. Joe Soto who fought last week, who’s soft spoken and as kind as can be, walks up and is just like the most pleasant understanding guy. We got a lot of guys who’ve really stepped out of the box. Um, and it’s… I mean, Wilson Reis who Joe Soto beat has got this gregarious kind of over-the-top personality with huge big smiles and he loses and all he wants to do is give the guy that just beat him a hug and you know what I mean, he’s just… you got a lot of guys who we can get traction with, so I wouldn’t want to classify anybody as the poster boy but if there was going to be um we could a heck of a lot worse than Lyman Good as the face of this organization. He is a very high quality individual outside the cage and a very, very talented fighter inside.”

If you notice, Bjorn Rebney makes sure to always stay positive and praise his fighters. With Dana White, he’ll praise someone if they are on his good side but when the fighter is on his or Lorenzo Fertitta’s bad side, UFC management is not afraid to criticize or raise their volume when talking about said person in the media. It’s fair to say that UFC management can be very combative at times when talking about talent under contract (and even fighters who are not under contract to them).

One of the recent interviews Lyman did at ESPN was an interview segment for MMA Live. He came across as a star during the interview with Jon Anik. If the way to succeed in MMA is to build new, fresh stars, how does Rebney see Bellator’s role in the process and how does it impact the company’s marketing & booking philosophy?

“From my personal perspective, seeing a guy like a Lyman Good who I met three months who nobody knew who he was, he had no Q score, he really was an unknown fighter but for a small contingent and niche group in the Northeast and now to know that we’re getting blogs and people logging in, people coming to our site, people talking to us from California, Minnesota, you know, New Mexico and on, talking about Lyman Good, that’s very cool. It’s very cool to know that we kinda criss-crossed the nation, it’s very cool that 3-4,000 people come to our site every week, are looking at these fighters and going ‘Wow he’s an A-level guy, I want to see him, I want to learn more about him’, and people start to talk when people when to start talk about Lyman Good versus this guy or that guy and for to mention top guys in the UFC at 70 or start to mention top fighters from Japan at 70, very cool, it’s very cool for us. I don’t think that’s a defining moment, but it’s a real good growth curve moment.”

“What I preach about fighters controlling their own destiny, they can do it and they can do it here. So, that is very cool for me for a personal defining moment about what we’ve done.”

The Mystery of Tito Ortiz

It was only a few years ago that Dana White and UFC management thought that Tito Ortiz would become their first mega-Mexican superstar athlete. Unfortunately, Tito doesn’t speak Spanish and he grew up in Huntington Beach, California.

Rest assured that this was not the only problem between the two sides during Ortiz’s long tenure with UFC.

Outside of Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz is a marketing icon closely associated with UFC. His matches still air on Spike TV re-runs all the time. He’s still one of the most popular figures in all of MMA. Ortiz likes to call himself a brand, which is a fair claim to make. However, he also gives back to fighters by not only marketing them but by also sponsoring them. Of course, given UFC’s tactics these days in terms of who can sponsor what fighter and how a sponsor reportedly has to pay UFC the right just to even sponsor someone, it seems as if Zuffa wouldn’t be disappointed if companies like Tito’s were left on the outside-looking-in.

If only MMA Memories had existed a few years ago, I would have written about 30 articles about Dana White’s boxing match with Tito Ortiz and the Spike TV special that White made sure was on television to show just what great shape he was in and what a pussycat Ortiz ended up being.

We know what the history is between White and Ortiz. The great irony is that is no matter what White has tried to do to Tito, it always seems to reflect off of Tito like teflon and not cause any damage. Case in point — the last two notable fights Tito had in the UFC were against Rashad Evans a few years ago and against Machida. Tito and Evans went to a draw in Sacramento and Machida beat Ortiz by decision. Evans and Machida would end up facing each other and Machida would become the Light Heavyweight champion. When Ortiz and Machida were booked against each other in Tito’s UFC farewell match, it was clear that a lot of people thought Ortiz would get humiliated and damaged in the fight. Instead, the affair was largely boring and didn’t really hurt Ortiz’s stock all that much. White didn’t get the ultimate payoff that he wanted.

Despite being gone from UFC for over a year now, Ortiz keeps getting asked by the media as to whether or not he will return to Zuffa. During this time period, Tito has made several claims about potential contract offers from Affliction or Strikeforce or other parties, but nothing ever seems to come to fruition.

In a recent Trib Total Media interview with Jusitn Labar, Ortiz announced his latest business declaration.

“I’m starting my own organization also with Strikeforce called Punishment Fighting Championships so not just as a promoter, I’ll be competing also and bringing some of the other guys around, try to make some more superstars and for me to get a chance to fight in Pittsburgh would be awesome, I’d love it.”

And as for a return to UFC?

“Not as long as Dana White’s the President of UFC. It’s just, I have too much integrity, I have too much respect for myself and to be taken advantage of, to be talked as bad as I have from him, he does not have my best interests as a businessman or as a fighter he has no respect for me so I live my whole career and my life on respect and for me to grow on and show that successful no matter what that’s the most important thing in showing that I’m just not a fighter, I’m a brand and I’m a businessman, I’m a smart businessman and I’m going to make sure to look out for my future and for there I will lose complete integrity if I do go back.”

Set the odds to 3-1 that Tito makes a comeback to UFC by next year if and when the organization needs him to pop them a good PPV buy rate. Count on it.

One person Zuffa can count on to be their mega-superstar in Hispanic markets is Miguel Torres. Unfortunately, Miguel fights for their baby sister promotion WEC and he fights at 135 pounds. Oops. Dana White finds his Spanish-speaking super talent and somehow, Torres doesn’t fit into their scheme in UFC.

In an interview with Superstar Steve Cofield and Smokin’ Dave Cokin interview last week on ESPN 1100, Torres talked about his upcoming fight against Brian Bowles in Las Vegas on August 9th. Torres, who is taller than the majority of his opponents, has to train against smaller guys in camp in order to prepare himself for fights.

“Whenever I have a fight coming up I try to find guys who are almost the same height and the last time I fought in Vegas I fought Manny Tapia and I had to find guys that were like 5′4″, 5′5″ and I could not believe how tall I was than those guys. I was like man I got to go up in weight, I got to start put on some weight, and my metabolism is so crazy I can’t do it and when I fought Tapia it was so easy that I was so much taller than him. So I don’t know, it’s kind of crazy.”

While Mike Brown is the WEC’s ace at Featherweight (145 pounds), Torres is the promotion’s king at 135 pounds and overall the company’s best fighter. Nobody matches up with him in terms of speed, skill, stamina, and heart. What does Miguel think separates him from the rest of the pack?

“Well, I mean, it’s just the mentality, how you think about it. For me, fighting is a lifestyle. Mixed Martial Arts is a lifestyle for me. I do mixed martial arts to be a martial artist in the most pure sense. I don’t consider myself a fighter. I do this for enlightenment, I did it to learn more about myself, challenge myself, and you know for me it’s a process. A lot of other guys that get into the sport, you know, they played football, they wrestled in High School, they get into the sport in their mid-20s, they do it because they think it’s cool and they want to make a lot of money, they’re trying to break onto the scene and their mindset is a little bit different. Their training is not going to be focused 100%, their body’s not going to be there 100%, so it’s two different levels. A good example of that is when you had Machida fight against Rashad Evans. A guy who’s flourished his whole life, in the back of his head, this is his time and his moment in time to become a world champion, he’s been waiting his whole life. Evans is the world champion who came off The Ultimate Fighter, so you have two different mindsets.”

There’s that name again, Machida. We know Machida’s father taught his son karate and other martial arts as a kid, but we also know that Ryoto/Lyoto first came to prominence under the marketing of Antonio Inoki. Machida’s win over Rich Franklin on NYE 2003 in Japan is what got everyone’s attention. From that point forward, Machida was destined to become the king of his weight class, just like Torres is the king of 135 pounders.

Will Torres stay at 135 pounds, however?

“Well I’m happy where I’m at now, 135, I want to cement a legacy, I want to be, I’m one of the first fighters at 135 that’s actually been in the weight class and the popularity. I’m doing what Urijah Faber did for 145, so I want to do it at 135, you know I think a couple more of years here, two more years here at this weight class, and then before I retire I want to move up in weight just for some really big fights, some higher profile fights.”

The problem for Torres has more to do with the way UFC looks at WEC and handles their own affairs as opposed to his skill set, his marketing ability, and his fight style. Torres is the complete package and much like Urijah Faber, it is evident that these two prime talents should be on a bigger stage rather than watching the peak of their careers in a league that Zuffa treats as secondary to UFC for business purposes.

Since WEC isn’t on PPV and is a TV-only property, the salary structure is going to be lower. The live event ticket prices are lower than UFC’s, so the gates are smaller. For men like Torres and Faber who put on fight-of-the-year caliber matches while fighters in heavier weight classes make anywhere from 5-10 times the amount those guys do on undercards or midcard slots on PPV, it has to be incredibly frustrating.

“They do take care of us, they give us undisclosed bonuses and perks on the side but you know I have a family and I got things I want to do with my gym and I have other venues I can get into as far as making income. Fighting, I love fighting and I can stay and fight another 10 years, it’s just the training process, it’s just so rigorous not just on my body and my mind but being away from my family and just so much traveling and so much, you know, there’s so much other sacrifices that I make to get ready for a fight especially being at the level where I’m at now that I don’t get to have any fun in my life and you know depending on where the money is at in three or four years would depend on if I stick around but I’m planning on staying in 3 or 4 more years and then getting out.”

Money is always a top priority for fighters, no matter how much MMA is a lifestyle to them or not. Torres should be positioned by Zuffa in a much higher profile slot, but he isn’t. For years, Dana White clamored about finding that Spanish-speaking superstar that could help him expand operations into Mexico and other Latin America countries. Now that he has that fighter, not a lot is being done for expansion plans. Combine this along with the end of Setanta Sports and suddenly the European expansion plans compared to focusing more time, money, and energy expanding into Latin America is looking like a big mistake.

We know Torres is the real deal. As a guest host on MMA Live, he comes across as humble, yet very much his own man with his own opinions. In other words, he’s about as good as Rich Franklin when it comes to speaking and marketing. That’s a pretty good man to be compared to.

Given the limited shelf life that fighters have in MMA, Torres has to be frustrated. After all, he puts in an incredible amount of time into training, into marketing and hyping fights, and into doing PR for WEC. What is it that separates Torres from the rest of the pack as far as being an elite-level fighter both in training and during the actual fight performance itself?

“Well the biggest thing when you’re getting ready for a fight is getting your mindset right and if you’re training for a fight and the days coming up, you got two months to get ready for your fight and you’re going out and you’re having a good time and you’re going to the movies and playing video games and doing a lot of other stuff where you’re not focused on what you got to do, when the fight comes that night the day of the fight you think back on your training process, you know, that’s the ground that’s the base of what’s getting you ready for this fight and you think about that process and what did you do to get ready for that fight. You go back in your head, you know I was drinking, I was eating fast food or I was out partying or I was hanging out with these people and I wasn’t in the gym or you know, you got to be focused on what you got to do. The physical part is the easy part, anybody can be in shape, but to mentally be prepared for a fight that very few people can do and that’s what I do when I get ready for a fight, you know, wake up in the morning and I train, I’ll eat, I’ll take a nap, I’ll go back to the gym, go for a run at the beach, so I’m at the beach but I’m not really having a good time at the beach because I’m training, I’m running, when I get out of the beach I got to get back and sleep again so that the sun’s real hard on your body, then at night I train again so there’s no time to go out, there’s no time to do anything else but to eat and go to sleep because you got to do it all over again in the morning. It’s just a process.”

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