Status of UFC, Affliction, Strikeforce, and MMA
There’s been an awful lot of shakeup in the Mixed Martial Arts world in the last couple of weeks. So just in case you’ve missed some of it, let me give you the whirl-wind update:
Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids (again.)
Due to Josh not being able to fight Fedor, Affliction crumbles.
UFC takes on most Affliction fighters, and the clothing line.
Barnett headed toward WWE.
Rumors of Shaq fighting in WEC.
Dana White is tired of light heavy weight belt being handed off every single fight, so plans to feed a lack-luster Shogun to Lyoto Machita in order to show how really kick-ass Machita is.
Anderson Silva is pissed that he doesn’t get a title shot at Machita when he moves to fight at 205… has to fight Griffin first. Even more pissed that Shogun does get a shot. Feels it’s an insult to Machita. Publicly states that Machita should refuse the fight.
Dana, Fedor, and M1 Global negotiate at length. Comes down to one deal-breaker: Cross promotion. M1 wants events to be “UFC and M1 Global present.” Dana says no. They walk.
Fedor signs with Strikeforce (the guys on Showtime, who also have Gina Carano.)
Strikeforce states that it will likely have to go PPV rather then Showime for events in order to afford to pay Fedor.
Well, that’s about it… you’re all caught up now. The best news out of all of this is that a ton of good Affliction fighters are flooding into the UFC. How will Strikeforce fare? Can they afford the Fedor price-tag in the long run, or are they hanging their success on too few names, just like Elite XC and Affliction did? Can someone find a way to get Hong Man Choi into the US to fight Shaq in WEC? Dunno… should be fun to watch 
The worst news out of this? If Fedor pushes Strikeforce to PPV, then I can’t just watch Gina Carano on Showtime. Dangit!
Related posts:
- Affliction on the Ropes?
- MMA Event Alert: Just In Case You Didn’t Know
- Fedor Emelianenko Training Video
- The Politics and Financials of Liddell
- UFC on Versus 2 in Utah moved to San Diego
Do you even know what your talking about? Silva has stated numerous times that he will not fight his friend and team-mate Machita under any circumstance. Do some homework before you start making BS claims.
LOL! Good Call Vince (see, you didn’t think I’d approve that comment did you?) You’re absolutely right. I wasn’t aware of this when I made the post, but have read several times since then that Silva won’t fight Machita (which is sad… cause I’d love to watch that.)
Hell, this is nothing compared to the whole MMA community pronouncing Kimo incorrectly dead is it?
Thanks for Chiming in Vince. I stand amply corrected. Probably not for the last, and definitely not for the first time