Mirko Cro Cop vs Alistair Overeem Postponed

It now looks like Overeem’s only chance to fight Mirko Cro Cop this year will be in the Croatians basement. In yesterdays press conference for Fields Dynamite FEG executive Sadaharu Tanigawa made if official that Mirko Cro Cop would not be fighting Alistair Overeem.

"Alistair is begging for this fight but this fight will not go ahead on New Years Eve at Fields Dynamite. We will look to match them up on a different card."

Mirko Cro Cop is a huge star in Japan and this match-up clearly doesn’t interest the Japanese public at moment. I’m sure FEG will match him with a bigger name. As for Overeem a rubber match with Sergei Kharitonov looks likely.

Details Emerge Of UFC’s German TV Deal

Yesterday we reported that the UFC had reached a German TV deal with ProSieben. Further details emerged today as Germany’s K1-Sport confirms our story and delves into the UFC’s strategy in Germany. We have the exclusive translation below.

This will be the fourth serious attempt by a German broadcaster to introduce the wider German public to the sport of mixed martial arts. Dedicated sports channel DSF (“Deutsches SportFernsehen” or German Sports Television) aired a very similar concept to “The Ultimate Fighter” but failed miserably due a lack of German MMA talent, weak production and eventually succumbed to low ratings before the live final was even aired.

The Eurosport network which had some success with the K1 World GP and K1 Max series also failed with its attempt. The networks broadcast of Pride FC events resulted in mass complaints with the channel finally deciding to end its association with MMA in Germany. Exclusive PPV provider Premiere stopped airing live UFC events in 2006 after disappointing PPV buy rates.

Translation provided by Free Fight Videos:

UFC soon on ProSieben

It has been two years since the last time the UFC aired on German TV.

When the two UFC legends Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture met for the 3rd time in February of 2006, German fans had no idea that it would be the last time Premiere would broadcast a UFC event. Shortly there after Premiere decided to end its UFC broadcast which meant German fans had no way of watching the UFC live.

The huge success of the UFC in the US made it possible for Premiere to even consider it for a German audience. It's success can be largely attributed to its popular reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter”. 16 young aspiring MMA fighters live in a Las Vegas Villa and train under the guidance of Liddell and Couture. The combatants compete for the right to be called “The Ultimate Fighter“ and receive a lucrative UFC contract.

The show game the American public a glimpse at the reality of MMA and the fighters within it. Shortly after the first season MMA emerged as one of the fastest growing sports in the US.

The UFC become the worlds biggest MMA organization last year after it acquired Japanese rival Pride FC. However UFC failed to capitalise from new acquisition after it quickly learned that Japanese market had its own set of rules.

Since then the UFC has been more cautious as it tires to establish a foothold in Europe. Since last year the UFC has held regular events in the UK and soon Ireland too. However it is yet to enter the European mainland. But that is about to change. News came trough today that the UFC had signed a deal with ProSieben.

The UFC will use the tested strategy of easing into a market by informing the audience of the reality of the sport. The UFC will air the first season of the Ultimate Fighter next year. Thereafter the UFC plans to hold its first event in Germany with its success greatly depended on the success of the TV show.

Rumours have been circulating that it will be another meeting between rivals Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture that will headline the show. Since both where coaches in the first season of the ultimate fighter, a fourth fight between the two could be huge success in Germany.

If the UFC’s plan is implemented correctly the general interest in mixed martial arts throughout Europe should increase exponentially in the coming years.

Article by Jens Habermann - Translation by Robert K.

The UFC returns to German TV

The UFC has paved the way for its first ever event in mainland Europe by completing a long awaited German TV deal . After a almost 3 year wait since its last appearance on German TV, the Ultimate Fighting Champion has finalized a deal with one of Germany’s biggest broadcasters. According to a report by the Spiegel (via Baz Online) starting from 2009 the UFC will air its popular reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter” on German broadcaster “Pro Sieben”.

ProSieben is the second biggest privately owned TV company in Germany and consistently of one the highest rating broadcasters on German TV. The channel is part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG group one of Europe’s biggest media conglomerates.

Pro Sieben relies heavily on foreign programming especially content form the US. Its the is the German broadcaster of numerous popular foreign shows including Desperate Housewives, ER, Grey's Anatomy, The Simpsons and Two and a Half Men. Its also the home of the German version of American Idol. The popular channel is distributed in several other counties throughout Central and Eastern Europe including Austria and Switzerland.

The UFC last German TV deal ended in 2006 after it failed to come to terms with the German pay per view provider Premiere.

The report seem to confirm the news that the UFC will host its first event in Germany in mid 2009. According to reports from Bloody Elbow, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell are early contenders to headline the show.

UFC Germany? “Ich don’t think so”

I’m surprised with the speed this rumor has captured the MMA blogsphere with but before European fight fans start celebrating a quick reality check. European MMA fans will know that Germany may well be the least prepared Western European country to host any major MMA event. The UFC in Germany in 2009 makes no sense at all no matter how you look at it.

I firmly believe UFC Germany would be a huge blunder for the following reasons:

*Does Couture really speak fluent German? I'm not convinced. Couture joined the U.S. Army some 25 years ago. He spent six years in the service. Its unclear how many years he spent in Germany. He picked up the language during his time in the army and chose to major in it while focusing on a athletic career at University. That was 20 years ago. I'd go as far as saying Couture is as fluent in German as Anderson Silva is fluent in English. If he still speaks any German its far from fluent.

*The UFC hasn't been on German TV for over 5 years. At one time Eurosport a dedicated cable sports channel did broadcast Pride and some European MMA events once in long while however other than that there is absolute zero MMA coverage on German TV. The UFC has never been on German TV outside the short lived deal with PPV channel Premiere that ended in 2004. Currently UFC events are no broadcast on any German broadcaster, so even if you wanted to catch a UFC event be it on PPV or free to air it simply wouldn’t be possible.

*Like in Japan major German fight sport events are broadcast on free to air TV not on PPV.

*There isn’t one significant German fighter in mixed martial arts. At this point Russian born Dennis Siver (11-5 MMA.1-3 UFC) is the only German fighter of note. Even with Matt Hamill headlining their UK card, the UFC in the UK has been an extremely unprofitable venture in a country with a fast growing MMA community. UFC Germany would be huge money loser.

*Germany may be the richest country in Europe however its just about least prepared destination in mainland Europe to host any major MMA event. Countries with a bigger and better mixed martial fan base include Poland, Holland even tiny Croatia. Brazil and South Korea remain a decade ahead of the German MMA community.

*The UFC’s Q Score or Q Rating is just about non existent. There is absolutely no brand recognition. There absolute zero name recognition of Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell even the term mixed martial arts. There’s are no more than one or two significant websites dedicated to MMA in Germany. Having lived there for years and visiting regularly I've yet to see any mainstream media coverage of the sport. The German MMA fan base is non existent.

With the German economy in a huge recession I cant see this event as anything other than a huge mistake on the UFC's part if it is held within the next 6 months.

Exclusive: Werdum talks about his departure from the UFC

The former UFC heavyweight contender talks to about his controversial exit from the UFC. [Translation by Robert at Free Fight Videos via Tatame.com.br]

***

Its has been a troubling month for Fabricio Werdum. Rumours of his departure from the UFC began soon after his loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 90. While he first denied the speculation, he now can confirm his exit from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“When I first heard the rumours, I didn’t know anything. I had four more fights left with them on my contract, which ran to 2010. But they demanded to renegotiate my exiting contract by cutting my pay in half” revealed the heavyweight. Adding also that his departure had nothing to do with the video game licensing dispute. “No that wasn’t an issue but its not something that benefit’s the fighters”

“It’s a pity I would have liked to continue with the UFC but now we forge ahead.” said Fabricio who still has plans to move to the US.

"I still plan to go to the United States with my family. I'm open to negotiations with Affliction, Sengoku and Dream ...”, said Werdum. “I‘m a free agent now”

“One of the advantages of leaving the UFC is the freedom of contract, which allows fighters to work with more than one event without any problems.

"That’s very beneficial. There are several possibilities now including fighting in multiple organizations. Affliction, Sengoku and Dream are big events, but I think the possibility of fighting for Affliction in particular will give me the best chance to fight the best in the world, Fedor, in addition to (Andrei) Arlovski, Josh Barnett and several other big names ...That would be a great opportunity for me" concluded Werdum.

Where are they now: Gilbert Yvel

Seriously, Gilbert Yvel is a very scary looking man and was at one time a damn good fighter too. The last news I heard was when he brought in to Zagreb, Croatia to help Mirko Cro Cop become something of a dirtier fighter and generally improve his stand-up back to the good old K1 and Pride days. The dutchmen still trains with Vos Gym alongside Remy Bonjasky Antoni Hardonk and coach Ivan Hippolyte in Rotterdam, Holland.

He is known as one of the most controversial fighters and figures in the sport. He was disqualified a few times during his PRIDE career for biting his opponent. When he fought Don Frye (on a short list of guys in the sport I'd least like to have mad at me) he gouged his eyes, raked his fingernails across the face and then bit his nose. He was supposed to fight on PRIDE's USA debut card but the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to license him due to his lengthy resume of unsportsmanlike conduct. The fact that biting, gouging and other chicanery was essentially Yvel's "take down defense" is also very disturbing.

Yvel is currently under contract to K-1 and currently holds a impressive 5 fight winning streak. He is still an interesting match up for just about any top fighter but since he is persona non grata in the US his careers is limited to fighting in Japan and Europe. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him fight for either Dream or World Victory Road in 2009 as these two organizations are very desperate for any heavyweight talent at the moment .

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About MMA

Mixed Martials Arts or MMA for short is the ultimate fight sport today. It’s a mix of various traditional fighting styles while at the same time being loyal to its core roots of free style and no holds bared fighting. While it may not be as ‘free’ as it once was its still the closest thing to ‘real’ fighting that we’ll ever have. Rules are a vital to the sports integrity, long levity and most importantly fighter safety.

Its still remains a very young sport with evolving rules and regulations. Clear human fighting has always been part of our nature. Organized fighting however can be traced back to around 648 BC. Ever since we’ve wondered who really strongest man on the planet is. The current MMA phenomenon continues that quest in finding the strongest and best fighter in the world.

The UFC (The Ultimate Fighting Championship) has brought MMA to the forefront of North American culture. Fighters such Randy “The Natural” Couture, Tito Ortiz, Anderson “The Spider” Silva and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell have become households names in the US. The sport has gone from being the black sheep in in the fight game to the “next big thing“ in less than 5 years.

There is no doubt that MMA is set to become a major force internationally too. MMA is just as big in Korea and Japan as it is here in the USA and is slowly catching on England, Holland and dozens of other countries.