In case you forgot

This is going to be a barn burner. The NYBA has so much to gain here.

Another MMA movie

This one's got to be better than Never Submit:

The feature-length documentary will take a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most talented and exciting fighters in mixed martial arts, which is the fastest growing sport in the United States. Cameras will follow six to eight EliteXC fighters both in and out of the ring. With unprecedented access, Bombo will show MMA fans rare glimpses into the lives of these multi-faceted athletes.

“Theater audiences around the world will soon see through the eyes of these world class fighters why mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport in America,” said Doug DeLuca, CEO of ProElite, Inc. “This film will help promote our EliteXC athletes and continue to propel the sport of MMA into the mainstream consciousness. We are thrilled to be partnering with an award winning production company like Bombo Sports & Entertainment for this exciting film.”

“Audiences who are interested in action-packed adrenaline films will love this film,” said Steven Bram, Chief Operating Officer at Bombo Sports & Entertainment. “The film will capture the essence of the MMA world through back stage access as well as a uniquely personal look at what makes these athletes tick.”

Is it me or are there enough MMA documentaries already in existence? The best one - Warrior Nation - didn't even really do that well. But where there's a buck to be made, there's a movie producer. More info here and here.

Dynamite

The card is shaping up fairly well, especially with the potential addition of Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov. But is that fight going to be on Showtime or PPV?

Shamrock vs. Baroni: Judgement Day

Kudos to Strikeforce and Elite XC for this event. This one's going to be a barn burner.

MMA beyond Zuffa

It's not just BodogFight that can put on decent MMA events. The Elite XC/Strikeforce combo has a killer show coming in June.

Not so fast, Zuffa

The Strikeforce event in June (on Showtime PPV and co-promoted by Elite XC) is shaping up rather nicely. Baroni vs. Shamrock, "Ninja" Rua vs. Villasenor, Cung Le vs. Frykland, Buentello vs. Williams, Bennett vs. Valenzuela and more:

Other fighters that are scheduled to participate include; Josh “The Punk” Thomson, Duane “Bang” Ludwig, Paul Daley, Jason Von Flue, Mike Pyle, Luke Stewart, and Eugene Jackson.

The Zuffa takeover isn't upon us just yet.

Brandon Vera comes around

It looks like Brandon Vera either saw the light or saw it all along and is now disassociating himself from those who didn't, i.e. his management. Via The Fight Network, this notable quote:

Heavyweight contender Brandon Vera has signed an extension with the Ultimate Fighting Championship with plans to complete the remaining fight on his existing contract with the Las Vegas-based organization as soon as he is able to.

Vera’s existing contract slated his last fight take place in May, but the fighter was granted the extension by Zuffa LLC., owners of the UFC, to work out legal issues with his current management. Vera, 29, plans to renew his contract with the UFC afterwards.

“I want to stay with the UFC,” the Virginia native said today. “They have some of the best fighters in the world. It’s an amazing stable of fighters and the who’s who of the MMA world. ‘Cro Cop’ [Mirko Filipovic] is a big factor for me wanting to stay. He’s the number-two guy in the world.”

As UFCMania pointed out, this isn't a new contract, just an opportunity for him to resolve his management issues, fight his last fight, and secure a new contract with the UFC thereafter. No word yet on what the details of that new contract might look like.

I guess Dana White means what he says when he claims the UFC doesn't lose major stars to rival promotions. Well done, sir. Nothing keeps your employees from jumping ship like buying out your rivals, does it?

And thank god Brandon Vera is staying with the UFC. It's good for him, good for fight fans, and good for the UFC. In retrospect I wonder how close he and his management were to securing a deal with Elite XC. Was Brandon resistant all along and simply being tugged by his management? I don't have enough information, but apparently those around him in City Boxing weren't holding up their end of the deal. The FightWorks Podcast confirmed fellow Team Lloyd Irvin member Mike Fowler left the gym as well.

For now, I'm just glad cooler heads prevailed.

Zuffa sues rivals

Namely, Showtime and Elite XC. From PWInsider, we get this notable quote:

In a 34 page filing, Zuffa contends that the debut EXC broadcast on 2/10 in Southaven, MS featured "unauthorized, wrong, knowing and continuing appropriation, use and copying" of UFC copyrighted material that Zuffa has produced themselves or own from acquiring UFC in 2001 from Semaphore Entertainment.

The filing claims that the defendants, "wrongfully and willing copied the Infringed Copyrights, or caused the wrongful and willful copying" of the UFC footage. They allege EXC and Showtime may have also copied "other aspects and portions" of material Zuffa owns.

Zuffa also contends that the usage on EXC's broadcast created a "likelihood of confusion in the marketplace" and that EXC is using UFC's name and goodwill for their own good, citing the move was unfair competition on the part of Elite XC.

Zuffa requested that Showtime and EliteXC be enjoined from continuing to use the company's copyrighted material, that all copyrighted material be returned to them, that the defendants be forced to cover Zuffa's legal costs and that the court rule in their favor for any damages it deems fit. Their complaint was filed with detailed information on all of the material copyrighted and owned by Zuffa.

Did anyone - and I do mean anyone - notice this or make comment about it during the Elite XC broadcast? I think not. That isn't to say Zuffa has no case, but that they should be awarded any "damages" is absurd. I realize DSE was stingy with their footage when Anderson Silva, CroCop, and Rampage were signed over, but this is just petty. Again, I realize a law may have been broken here and I also understand the concept of fierce competition among rival organizations. I just think that claiming the UFC was in anyway damaged by use of the copyrighted material is going to be difficult - if not impossible - to prove.

Perhaps efforts to solve this matter amicably failed prior to the lawsuit, but high-handed tactics on Zuffa's part to use litigation to stifle competition is nothing new. It's one thing to use healthy competition as a way to develop and expand the brand, it's another to take competitors to court whenever they enter the market. I'll have to go back and watch the broadcast to see how egregious the use of copyrighted information actually was. My suspicion is the use was mild and that Zuffa uses court battles to wear down and corner competition.

Gary Shaw on Nick Diaz

Pramit Mohapatra of the Baltimore Sun snagged an interview with Elite XC promoter Gary Shaw to talk a number of issues, most notably Nick Diaz. Shaw seems very proud of Elite XC's willingness to let fighters compete in other promotions, as if, prima facie, that's a good idea. But it's not. Notable quote:

About Diaz’s contract, I understand that Diaz first signed with EliteXC and then he was allowed to sign a deal with PRIDE. What is Diaz’s contract with EliteXC?

We have a minimum three-fight deal. We have rights beyond three fights.

What do you mean by “rights beyond three fights?”

We have the right to make other offers, to match any offers, and we believe that’s an important part of our company and our strategy. But at the same time, we’ve proved to the world that if you sign with EliteXC, EliteXC will let you fight in other big shows and look what happened.

Yes, Elite XC came out a winner this time. And let me state clearly I'm not against allowing fighters the freedom to fight around. It's good for them and I completely acknowledge that. But the point is that had Nick lost - or worse, lost badly - Shaw would not be grinning so wide. In fact, he might even be sweating. Allowing fighters to compete in rival organizations is only great when they win, but its as equally bad when they lose. Shaw certainly has reason to smile, but the potential for backfire here is enormous.

There's also a discrepancy in pay off and backfire. If a relative unknown from one organization losses or wins in another organization, that's not so terrible. But that changes for a star. A win may or may not have a huge pay off, but a loss could very easily carry consequences. An organization's credibility is damaged when one of their marquee stars losses in a rival promotion. Say what you will, but I believe Liddell's loss to Rampage in 2003 had a lot to do with the "PRIDE is better than UFC" meme.

Vera might be sticking around

Just like MMA Insider's Pramit Mohapatra wrote on his blog after the UFC 68 press conference that Dana White seemed "confident" about keeping Brandon Vera, a new interview by CBS Sportsline's Sam Caplan with Mr. White gives creedence to that possibility. Notable quote:

Q: Can you comment on the rumors that Brandon Vera recently turned down an offer that would have paid him a guaranteed $200,000 per fight?

DW: No, I don't think that is true.

Q: Has the final fight on Vera's contract been scheduled?

DW: No, I don't think we have. I like Brandon Vera. I like him. I like him, he's a nice kid. You know, he's young and he's cocky and he's talented. And I think there's a lot of things going on in his head right now, this is just typical stuff, it isn't anything unusual. Everybody wants more money. Everybody wants to make more money. Everybody wants to do this, everybody wants to do that. There's a time progression; when you're a young, up-and-coming fighter, it takes time. You know what I mean? We've proven over the last six years we know how to build stars. So, you know, you just got to get the kid's head on right and we'll get it worked out. Brandon Vera is a good kid and we like him. We'll figure it out.

Q: Do you think maybe he's just grandstanding, or is there a real fear that he might go somewhere else?

DW: I don't ever have a fear of anybody going anywhere else. Anybody who would walk away from the UFC machine is out of their minds. They'd be hurting themselves. They'd totally be hurting themselves. Let me tell you what, man, there's a lot of Internet rumors and bulls--- out there, we treat fighters very well and the guys that are with us do very well. So, any guy that would walk from the UFC right now, especially someone we like and we're really focused on, it would be career suicide.

Sounds about right. I understand MMA is getting more exposure with Elite XC on Showtime and IFL Battleground on MyNetworkTV, but neither of those promotions has the buzz, stars, and most importantly, cultural imprint like the UFC. Look, things can change within the blink of an eye, but if we are talking about probabalistic outcomes, if I were a fighter I'd bet my future on the house that Royce Gracie built.

More on Elite XC

MMA Insider's got some photos from the press section of the event. And here's the breakdown of the MMA ratings war between SpikeTV's pre-programmed material and Showtime's Elite XC.

Grading Sherdog's Report Cards

Jake Rossen's recent grading of the 6 major MMA promotions (UFC, IFL, PRIDE, K-1, Bodog, and Elite XC) needs some revising in both content and attitude. The piece is unnecessarily harsh and fails to grasp the significance of the information it evaluates.

The grades are as follows:

UFC: B
IFL: B-
PRIDE: B
K-1: C
Bodog: C-
Elite XC: B-

This isn't to say his observations are trenchant nowhere. For example, I agree there is a problem when every promotion employs different rules, judging, and scoring criteria. The lack of any kind of coherent rules - in a sport where rules and scoring are already hard to determine because MMA is essentially a combination of other sports that have their own rules - is a serious problem. And when promotions with unique rules, e.g. PRIDE allows knees and kicks to a downed opponent, only to change them when the fights they produce change locations merely exacerbates the already confusing issue.

But Jake, unless your writing heavily reliant upon shtick (and his comment that "unfair generalizations" are contained in the article indicate he probably is), you need to back off just a tad. Don't miss the forest for the trees. The point is obvious, but worth reminding. That we're grading not one or two but 6 major promotions most of which either have television or PPV coverage is nothing short of fantastic, yet your piece employed a tone of cynicism and bitterness as if the sport were in regress. No, I don't think growth or the sport's infancy render concerns null and void, but they should give pause and more importantly, the benefit of doubt for up-and-coming or even established promoters . You're seriously jumping the gun in expectations.

The criteria used in the article are decent, but a better way to assess the sport vis-a-vis any promotion is by judging what they were doing at this point last year and then determing what kind of an effort they should put out in the next year. Since the sport is new and is growing, shouldn't we be asking how they've improved (or worsened) over the course of specified period of time? And isn't it a little early to be giving a report card to Elite XC since their entire grade is predicated on ONE measely event? Judging them in "realtime" will only serve to couch the promotions' achievements as shortcomings at best and outright failures at worst.

Lighten up a little, Francis.