The real reason Tito Ortiz gets fights, UFC 140 Nogueira vs Ortiz

THE UFC IS STUCK PAYING MONEY TO THE FIGHTER LACKING THE MOST CONSISTENCY

On the horn:
Johnny Waugh
LEAD SR WRITER

Chuck Liddel (left) with a left hook on Tito Ortiz (right) at UFC 66 (AP Photo/Marlene Karas)

       UFC 140 brings the UFC to the same problem it keeps having time and time again with Tito Ortiz. Problem being he is still fighting and the UFC is still paying him to do it.

       Since his victory against Ken Shamrock in 2006 it seems that Ortiz has had a bit of trouble making anything of real quality happen in the octagon.

       Take a look for yourself in order.

Loss   15–5 Chuck Liddell       TKO             (punches)
Draw 15–5–1 Rashad Evans    Draw           (unanimous)
Loss   15–6–1 Lyoto Machida  Decision      (unanimous)
Loss   15–7–1 Forrest Griffin   Decision      (split)
Loss   15–8–1 Matt Hamill       Decision      (unanimous)
Win   16–8–1 Ryan Bader       Submission   (guillotine choke)
Loss   16–9–1 Rashad Evans   TKO             (knee & punches)

       The UFC has gotten themselves into a major pickle with Tito Ortiz. They pay him way too much to put any fights together with mid-level talent versus Ortiz regardless of how much his record CLEARLY calls for it.

       The UFC realizes the pay-per-view draw, whether you like Tito or enjoy watching him get beat, of a fighter that once was as popular as Ortiz and cash in on that as best they can considering the contract they have.

       As an example, Ortiz got paid $450,000 (no win bonus) for his only win in the past five years at UFC 132.

       Ortiz (16-9-1) pocketed almost half a million dollars while the second biggest pay day on the card was the legendary Wanderlei Silva (34-11-1)  who took home $200,000 after his loss to Chris Leben.

(CONTINUED)...

UFC confirms Miguel Torres is cut, Evans not. Quite inconsistent

"Miguel Torres has been cut from the UFC, and his career with us now is over," White told SI.com.


On the horn:
Johnny Waugh
LEAD SR WRITER

Miguel Torres

       The UFC confirmed yesterday, Dec. 8, that they released current bantamweight fighter, former WEC champion, Miguel Torres. Torres has been released because of a tweet the UFC felt was grossly inappropriate.

"If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn't mind going for rides in them." Torres said according to SI.com.

       Torres has since changed the tweet to say "If a windowless van was called a surprise van, more people wouldn't mind going for rides in them, Everyone likes surprises."

       That is the tweet that the UFC apparently decided was the reason for releasing him from his contract.

       "They are all smart guys. . . I cannot make sense if Miguel Torres's tweet," White said.

(CONTINUED)...

GSP out, Condit fights Diaz at UFC 143

The UFC Has Gone Full Retard


On the horn:
Schroe
SR WRITER

Carlos Condit

       Today, December the 7th 2011, a date which will live in infamy, the UFC announced that Carlos Condit will fight Nick Diaz for an interim welterweight title February 4th 2012, in Las Vegas.

       That is what came to mind yesterday when the news came with the Dana White tweet heard round the world.

@danawhite
"Dana White GSP blown acl will be out for 10 mos. Now Condit vs Diaz for the interim welterweight title on Feb 4th in Las Vegas!!
Dec 07 via Twitter for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply "

       This is taking place because George "Rush" St Pierre has a blown ACL which requires surgery sidelining him for an estimated 10 months.

       Rather than proceed with Condit fighting Josh Koscheck and finding another fighter to face Nick Diaz, the "brains" of the UFC decided to throw Koscheck to the curb and pit Diaz Vs Condit for an interim belt.

       This leaves me to once again ask the question: Why the hell does Nick F*$%ing Diaz get so much special treatment?!?

      The guy gets wins, I understand this, but he is constantly disrespecting the sport.

(CONTINUED)...

MIR VS NOG II, SOMEONE LEAVES LIMBLESS

Someone's arm is coming off

On the horn:
MattZilla
SR WRITER

       Just three years ago, these two legendary heavyweights battled for the Interim Heavyweight Championship.        That fight ended halfway through the second round, with Mir punching Big Nog out in the second round, the first time Nogueira had ever been knocked out professionally mind you.        This is a tough fight to judge as both fighters are known for having a wide range of skills, though both mostly rely on submissions to win.        But what really makes this analysis a cloud of obscurity is that neither fighter has earned a huge victory since then.        Since their first fight, Mir has defeated Cheick Kongo, the median of the heavyweight division, a nearly-retired Cro Cop, and an over-hyped Roy Nelson.        During this time he's been KO'ed by Lesnar and Carwin, a champion and a title contender.        Meanwhile, Nogueira defeated Randy Couture in a decision, was knocked out by Cain Velasquez, then was fed Brendan Schaub in his home country of Brazil for a seemingly easy KO. (CONTINUED)...

BONUS TIME! UFC 140 Bonus Predictions

BONUS TIME IS AN SRMMA EDITORIAL FEATURE BROUGHT TO YOU BY SCHROE


On the horn:
Schroe
SR WRITER

Lyoto Machida

       This coming Saturday, Dec. 10, has one of the most anticipated main events in the history of the UFC in Jon Jones vs Lyoto Machida. But right now its time to look at the whole card and pick KO, Submission and Fight of the night.

Knock Out of the Night!

       For anyone thinking they will just tune into the top three events because you think those are going to be the only fights that will really be entertaining, you're an idiot.

If you don't heed my advice then that means you will be missing Knock of the Night brought to you by Mark Hominick.

       Ahh, I can hear the scoffs already, "But Schroe, he is fighting the KOREAN ZOMBIE!"

       Well it is that very reason why I am picking Hominick. "The Machine" will be at his most powerful and most determined for this fight because of the allure that his opponent carries with him.

       Mark is going to step into that Octagon this Saturday night and break through the "Concrete Chin" of Chan Sung Jung to start a new winning streak after his decision loss to Jose Aldo at UFC at UFC 129.

Submission of the Night!

       Some may look at a card that has Frank Mir's name on it and instantly say, "Well, there is submission of the night." I however, look at a fight card with Tito Ortiz's name on it and say, "I want to see that a**hole get choked out!"

(CONTINUED)...

The "Eye" of the Scorn, Margarito vs Cotto 2: The Fallout

"He means nothing to me," Cotto said.

On the horn:

Scottie 2Piece & Johnny Waugh

SR BOXING WRITERS

       Antonio Margaritos' eye is now undergoing a long awaited healing process following a nine round pummeling literally at the hands of Miguel Cotto (36-2  30 by KO).

       The latest is that Margarito has had 12 stitches put in to close up a cut yet still felt post fight that Cotto "Hits like a girl."

       The ring doctor saw fit to halt the action, between rounds nine and ten, once Margaritos' eye closed to the point where they felt he could no longer see and was far enough behind in the scorecards to rule out a decision win.

       The ninth round was arguably Margaritos' best round of the fight according to HBO commentator and boxing trainer Emanuel Steward. Miguel Cotto retained his WBA Super welterweight championship with the victory on Dec. 3.

       Cotto dominated from the opening bell with a lot of side stepping to nullify Margaritos reach advantage and continued to pepper the body and head whenever he saw openings.

       Cotto looked like the hungry unbeaten fighter he once was in this grudge match to solidify his honest belief that their first fight, July 6, 2008, was fixed because of the growing evidence against Margarito.

       Cotto believes Margarito also used the same plaster wraps in their first fight as Maragrito was found to have after his fight with Shane Mosley in 2009.

Max Kellerman of HBO asked Cotto post fight:

"HOW DID HIS PUNCHES FEEL TONIGHT COMPARED TO HOW THEY FELT THE FIRST TIME?"

Cotto replied: " I'M STILL AWAKE"

(CONTINUED)...

TUF 14 Season Finale: Dodson and Brandao Impress the world

John Dodson and Diego Brandao win their contract in definitive fashion


On the horn:
Johnny Waugh
LEAD SR WRITER


Diego Brandao


       John Dodson out of Team Jackson's camp in New Mexico showed the MMA planet that his KO victory over Johnny Bedford in the semi finals of the tournament was no fluke last night at TUF Season 14 Finale on Spike TV.

       Dodson ended TJ Dillishaw's night just 1:54 in round number one when he caught him with a wicked left hand to put Dillishaw on wobbly legs.
 
       Dodson followed Dillishaw to the ground with punches carrying him forward until the referee stopped the bought crowning John Dodson the bantamweight (135lbs) Ultimate Fighter winner for season 14.

       Many believe that Dodson will drop to the 125 lb flyweight class when it becomes available in the UFC.

       For now Dodson will have to be happy with the six figure contract, the additional $25,000 bonus given to him by the fan voted knockout of the season and the UFC knock out of the night award for his TUF 14 finale victory over Dillashaw.

       Diego Brandao came out to the same entrance song that Wanderlei Silva traditionally comes out to and he didn't disappoint in this comparison.

       Brandao and Dennis Bermudez was probably the best TUF finale since the shows first when Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonner fought it out for three rounds on TUF season one.

       Bermudez started the bout well against Brandao who many deemed to be the sure pick in this match up including his coach Micheal Bisping.

"Diego wins the whole season, simple as that," Bisping said on TUF 14. "Diego kills Bermudez, wins season 14, goes on to be a big star in the UFC."

(CONTINUED)...

"Count" the days til Bisping gets his title shot. Puts Mayhem on Miller

"He was basically just a punching bag," Dana White said.


On the horn:
Johnny Waugh
LEAD SR WRITER

Bisping (top, white trunks) pounding on Miller before the finish.

        Jason Miller looked amped and ready to meet the challenges presented in fighting a UFC veteran like Micheal Bisping after a season long battle to piss each other off the most on national television week after week.

       Turns out that was mostly due to a huge adrenaline rush which eventually showed itself in the third when Miller seemed to be able to handle the punches of Bisping but was physically unable to get his body to do enough to maintain a fighting effort.

       Bisping finished a turtled up Miller by TKO 3:34 into round three to take home his fourth consecutive victory in the UFC and 8-2 in his last ten fights.

       Although it seemed that Miller may have taken the first round UFC president Dana White tweeted that the bout was "the most one sided in UFC history" and had Bisping winning all rounds even the first regardless of Miller's partial mount.

"A quarter of a mount where he did no damage," White said.

       Bisping felt he started off sluggish and said he seems to need getting hit to get going but felt that in the second round he could feel his train of pain chugging towards the finish over Miller.

"Once I started connecting with the punches and reading his timing a little bit, I knew it was one way traffic from there," Bisping said.

       One way traffic indeed. Bisping bestiality hurt Miller in the third round, dropping him to the ground and landing some heavy tenderizing knees to Miller's mid section until the referee stepped in to stop the fight due to Miller's lack of defensive efforts.

       Bisping looked fabulous while putting together combinations that left Miller searching for something to compensate for his lack of technical striking in comparison to Bisping who also man handled Miller at times.

"When we clinched an things like that he felt like a little boy at times," Bisping said. "I felt so much physically stronger than him."

(CONTINUED)...