"If they keep doing this, pretty soon the UFC will have nobody left but up and comers from KOTC etc"
like 4 fights ago Penn was an up and comer with no experience. The UFC made him, they can make someone else just as easy
Where does it say this?! I've been looking at mmaweekly and all I see is BJ's future is uncertain. Nothing has been done by the UFC yet. They didn't even take his belt, let alone ban him from the UFC.
"like 4 fights ago Penn was an up and comer with no experience. The UFC made him, they can make someone else just as easy"
BJ's skill made him. He would have been just as effective in any organization, the UFC just happened to get to him first. IMO BJ is still champ, and though I hate to say this, the UFC is going down hill.
Does anyone know why it was ok for Lidell to fight in Pride?
The UFC even supported him. I think it would be good if they supported him, like they did with Lidell.
"He would have been just as effective in any organization, the UFC just happened to get to him first."
I disagree totally. There are alot of places that wouldn't have had him back after the lackluster performances he turned in following his loss to Pulver
As someone pointed out in another thread, UFC paid Penn more than the vast majority of their fighters. They gave him three shots at a title, including one in a division he'd never even fought in. Then, when he was finally living up to the potential they'd been paying him for, he goes to take a bigger paycheck in another organization.
What if he lost to Bang? Wouldn't he be a "paper champion" then? What if Bang signed a long term K-1 contract and couldn't fight in the UFC to give someone else a chance to take the "linear championship" from him? What if Bang didn't want to come back and fight for peanuts just to give someone else a shot? How many times could he possibly defend his title in the UFC when his main focus is on K-1?
What if BJ won but didn't want to return and fight for what UFC pays? What if UFC wanted him on their next card, but he doesn't want to fight that soon after the K-1 fight? What if he gets injured? What if he really does intend to only defend the title once a year?
Zuffa did the only thing they could in this situation.
underhill check mmaweekly again ufc have released a statement. I think its cos penns the champ and liddell wasnt so there wasnt as much at stake.
How can you say the UFC made him who he is today ? Surely his skills and hard work did that.The UFC has, among other things, gave him 3 title shots. Maybe Rizzo has had more. They gave him a chance to showcase his skills. They gave him good opponents to build him up with. His loss to Pulver made him an even better fighter. Of the 9 fights BJ has had in his professional career, 8 were in the UFC. A little off topic, but I respect the professional wrestler Sting because he stuck with WCW thru thick and thin when WWF took over. Thats called loyalty.Now I dont know the details to BJ's contract, but if it stated that he cant fight elsewhere as the UFC champion then he should have respected that. If getting fights and money was an issue, it was BJ that mentioned only fighting once a year I believe.
As I said in another thread:
This is very disappointing.
Zuffa is really starting to teeter off the cliff with the UFC.
The UFC wants people who will sign a contract saying they won't fight other places. In other words, they only want fighters who agree they won't want to make too much money. In other words, they want mediocre fighters.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's less about controlling their fighters and more about the possibility of Penn sullying the UFC belt; and subsequently the UFC's reputation.
I don't think Dana would have a problem letting a non-belt holder fight in any other organization as a diplomat for the UFC organization (recall Chack at Pride), but when a belt holder goes up against another fighter outside the purview of the organization and loses, it undermines the credibility of that belt.
"Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's less about controlling their fighters and more about the possibility of Penn sullying the UFC belt; and subsequently the UFC's reputation."
This step is hurting the UFC's reputation in my eyes...much more than one of their champs losing in another promotion.
Business is starting to ruin this organization. It's becoming like boxing.
" Business is starting to ruin this organization. It's becoming like boxing."
It's always been about business....W/out the potential for profit, the UFC, Pride, KOTC, or K1 wouldn't exist. The people who put up millions of dollars to see these events come to fruition don't do so out of their love of the sport, they want a return, and w/out it the entire organization will go under.
This shit with stripping fighters because they need to make real money elsewhere is bullshit.
When BJ signed to fight Huges he had to sign UFC contract where they added the clause he cannot fight anywhere else. If he did not sign he would have never been able to fight Hughes.
What would you do? Would you sign and honer a contract you don't beleive in or would you not sign and never fight? Or would you do what BJ did and that was sign a contract even though the clause zuffa put in was non negotiable and then knowingly break it later because you don't want to be limited in your career.
Dana needs to stop being a prick and this time BJ taught him something and not the other way around.
I hope that other fighter are aware of his clauses and don't say anything and just sign and then win and fight somewhere else. It really is better for us fans.
"Dana White is the devil"
"this thread is bad for the sport."
LOL...
I think it would be good if they supported him, like they did with Lidell.Hopefully I understand what you're saying here.BJ went over to Japan and fought Gomi. How did the UFC treat him then? They gave him a his 3rd title shot. I would say that is support. Lidell was never the UFC champion. Since BJ became champion the politics are a little different now.
Pride, K1mma and UFC should try to unify their belts, in the long run, both organizations would win. Now both organizations take shit 'cause their fighters are being stopped from fighting top-competitors from the other organization. They're not really competition because all fans watch both anyways. There's a lot of money to be made in trying to unify the belts, and I suspect both the fighters and the fans would rather have one champ/ weight-division.
"And please, dont bother telling me how much KOTC fighters get payed, they are a known B-league."
Calling the KOTC a B-level promotion would be a compliment.
"It's always been about business....W/out the potential for profit, the UFC, Pride, KOTC, or K1 wouldn't exist."
Of course the UFC wants to make money, but BJ fighting (and even losing) in K-1 doesn't affect their bottom line at all.
They're hurting their product in the long run by doing this type of thing.
I don't think I agree with the argument of "if he
loses in another organization, the UFC title will be
in question".
K1 fights are in a ring, with different rules. Different
variations to the same sport. If he loses there, he
loses under a different set of rules AND a different
arena that he won that championship with. Both
these variables can play a big part of a fighters
gameplan, not to mention the outcome of the fight.
It's like say, a 100 Meter world champion runner
gets wooped in the 200 Meter. Does that take away
his credibility as the 100 meter champ? Again,
same sport, different variation.
If BJ fought and lost in an orgination held in a cage,
under the same UFC rules this argument would
have some ground. Otherwise, I just see it as an
excuse to punish him for fighting elsewhere.