In an interview with the Vancover Sun, the UFC has vowed to take legal action against both the companies broadcasting the pay-per-view events illegally across the web as well as the individuals who knowingly are watching these broadcast to avoid paying fees associated with the event.
UFC Preparing Piracy Crackdown
Zuffa head and casino magnet Lorenzo Fertitta recently testified in front of the US House Judiciary Committee during a referendum on internet piracy of sporting events. Fertitta shared on the record that his company monitored internet activity and uncovered 271 illegal streams of UFC 106, which aired on November 21, 2009. The streams had generated over 140,000 viewers.
Sites such as these have proliferated the web. One of the more visible players in this space is Justin.TV. Most of website are hosted in foreign companies, making it difficult for broadcast to bring legal suit in countries where copyright infringement is given a pass. These companies utilize blog boards to post comments and links to their websites that will air the fight illegally.
(At BenchwarmersUnited.com, it is our policy to delete comments promoting these illegal practices and we can share that we deleted more that 150 comment post over the last 2 weeks leading up to UFC 108 promoting internet piracy)
UFC President Dana White told the Vancouver Sun, “It’s going to be a battle, man, but I’m ready to [expletive] fight. We’re gonna go after them, we’re gonna go after them hard, and we’re gonna hurt them. When people start going to jail, people will stop doing it.”
The timing of UFC announcement that they plan to crackdown on internet piracy is interesting to say the least. The organization is struggling to generate the quality fight cards it once did, its top stars are aging and the UFC has been hit heavily by the injury bug.
While UFC boasts PPV sales in the six-digit neighborhood, most industry observers believe the numbers fall quite short of these figures given that UFC refuses to allow a third-party audit their books. Following a head-to-head competition in September between the Mayweather/Marquez boxing match and UFC 103, Golden Boy Promotions President Rich Schaefer challenged UFC to an audit of PPV sales after Dana White said the UFC would outsell them that night. The UFC declined the invitation as rumors circled that sales were less than 20% of the boxing card. That night’s headliner was a “contender” fight between soon-to-be-retired Rich Franklin and previously-UFC-banished Vitor Belfort,
More concerning are the inroads being made by other organizations in obtaining television deals that offer fans MMA fights for free or at less substantial costs. Strikeforce has struck a deal with Showtime and CBS to air its events. Bellator scored a major deal with FoxSports Network, Univision and NBC. And Dream and Sengoku have deals with HDNet to air their events. Free mixed martial arts is proliferating the television cable box.
The once mighty UFC is facing strong competition like never before and it has found itself in the middle of a struggling economy where consumers will choose free MMA rather than paying $50 per event, especially when the pay-per-view cards don’t carry a title fight. The announcement of fighting piracy comes about shortly after what most industry observers deemed a lackluster event at UFC 108.
Is the timing a coincidence. We shall know more as 2010 plays out and UFC is stuck with a second-tier TV broadcasting arrangement with Spike TV.
The big matchup between the lightweight champions of DREAM and Sengoku took place New Year’s Eve with Shinya Aoki recording a devastating technical submission via hammerlock against Mizuto Hirota. The fight was halted by the referee upon Hirota’s violent screaming after his arm was snapped broken. A video replay of the Dynamite – Power of Courage 2009 fight can be viewed below.
Generally considered the #2 and #3 lightweight fighters in the world, the fight was one of the most anticipated in Japan in years. Words between the fighters camps had heated up leading into the fight, with both fighters wanting to make a statement in the fight. Aoki would be the one that placed his stamp.
Right from the bell, Aoki attacked with a single leg that he switched off to an ankle pick for a takedown. He then worked up the body for a lock and was able to pin Hirota’s arm behind his back. Aoki then teed off with a barrage of punches in a full mount position. Hirota’s only defense was to move to his base to avoid the shots.
Aoki then ratched up the hammerlock to break Hirota’s base. Aoki was able to slip in a scissor body lock with the hammerlock and snap Hirota’s arm with the contrasting pressures. The arena was filled with Hirota’s shriek of pain as the referee jumped in. Aoki then stood over top of the fallen fighter, delivering the middle finger to the disabled Hirota. The crowd reigned down boos on Aoki and he then turned his middle finger to the arena.
The actions of Aoki were clearly intentional and aimed at injuring Hirota. His dominant display was diminished by his display of poor sportsmanship after the serious injury. Aoki is clearly amped up by the negative catcalls from the UFC and he intended to send a message to Dana White and B.J. Penn.
Message heard and received.
Is the UFC ready to co-promote this one or will it continue to shield the UFC fighters from true tests? We’ll find out in 2010.
Another year has come and gone with MMA broadening it fan base while moving closer to mainstream acceptance in the sports marketplace. UFC hosted it 100th major event, Strikeforce brought Fedor to CBS and Bellator came out of nowhere to deliver some of the best fights all year. It was a year of milestone and big fights.
Here are this year’s awards winners:
Fighter of The Year
Fighter Of The Year
Lyoto Machida (UFC)
2009 was the Year of The Dragon, as Machida laid claim to the title of best light heavyweight in the world. All he did was dispatch two previously undefeated fighters in Thiago Silva to earn a title and Rashad Evans to win the UFC championship belt. He then fought a tightly contested matchup versus former Pride champion Mauricio Rua and earned a controversial unanimous decision. Machida recently underwent surgery on his hand, but a rematch versus Rua is on the schedule for early 2010
Fight Of The Year
Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson (WEC 43)
Unquestionably the best display of mixed martial arts skills in any fight this year amongst top-tier fighters. While other may point to Sanchez vs Guida or Melendez vs Thomson as their pick, those bouts were merely street fights in a cage. Albeit entertaining, they are not representative of true MMA skill sets. The Cerrone/Henderson was a back and forth war between the athlete (Henderson) and the technician (Cerrone). Henderson would be the aggressor and land his shots and get his takedown, then Cerrone would turn the tied with his great defense and submission moves. It was every MMA fans true delight to watch this match and most cannot wait for the rematch of this tightly contested fight.
Knockout of the Year – Dan Horbuckle vs Akihiro Gone (Sengoku)
This was a tough decision, as there were some fantastic knockouts in 2009. UFC’s Dan Henderson’s drilling of Michael Bisping was one of the best punches delivered in a long-time. Bellator’s Yahir Reyes’ spinning backfist of Estevan Payan rates high purely based on the sound of the crack of that hit. In the end, you gotta give the kudos to Dan Hornbuckle for his leg kick to the head of Akhiro Gono. Rarely do you see a guy knocked cold from a leg kick like the one delivered by Hornbuckle. When you watch the super slow motion replay of the kick, you really feel Gono’s pain.
Submission of The Year – Toby Imada vs. Jorge Masvidal (Bellator)
The was the easiest to pick, simply because MMA has never seen such a move applied in its history. Imada had everything thrown at him but the kitchen sink by Jorge Masvidal. Imada never quit and Masvidal let his cockiness supercede sensibility. Masvidal lifted Imada off the ground for a slam, and in the process got himself choked unconscious while standing on his feet. It wasn’t just the submission of the year, it was the greatness submission of all time.
Breakthrough Fighter Of The Year
Breakthrough Fighter
Jose Aldo (WEC)
Jose Aldo was a relative unknown to most MMA fans to start the year, just another featherweight in the stacked WEC. His body of work was questionable as well, having fought mostly guys that had many losses on their records. He caught the attention of fans with his highlight reel flying double-knee knockout of top contender Cub Swanson and followed that up with a dominant victory over WEC champion Mike Brown. While’s Aldo longevity at the top is still questioned by many industry observers, his rise in 2009 from a preliminary bout fighter to close out 2008 to champion.
Bellator Fighting Championship is raining down blows on it competitors in the MMA industry. The promotion today announced the high-profile signing of welterweight star Dan Hornbuckle. The comes on the heels of Bellator’s signings last week of former Olympian Ben Askren and Jacob McClintock.
Hornbuckle (19-2), a Sengoku veteran, joins Bellator’s roster of fighters on a four match win streak. His last taste of defeat came at the hands of UFC’s Mike Pyle, a fight which Hornbuckle dominated before getting caught in a surprise triangle choke. Hornbuckle bounced back from the defeat in style, dispatching cage veterans Akihiro Gono and Nick Thompson in back-to-back fights.
“With the addition of Hornbuckle to an already steady tournament field that includes Askren and McClintock, we’ve created a great tournament field in a division that many experts said was thin when it came to available talent,” Rebney said. “What we now have is the beginning of a 170 lbs. field that has created a feeling amongst hardcore MMA fans that April can’t come soon enough.”
The signings for Bellator are coming quick and steady. The quality of fighters that are being signed are clearly beyond the expectations of most industry observers. The tournament approach and flexibility of the promoters fighter control are appealing to the top independent fighters that have chosen to pass on the UFC. Bellator’s welterweight division, perhaps its weakest in Season 1, is panning out to be the most competitive right now for Season 2.
Needless to say, Rebney stole the words right out of my mouth. I can’t wait for Season 2 to get here soon enough.
UFC 107 has come and gone, finalizing a less than exciting year for the leading mixed martial arts promotion. Racked with injuries, fighter defections, controversial results and upstart promotional competition from Strikeforce and Bellator, the year couldn’t have ended sooner for Zuffa and its President Dana White. UFC enters 2010 in a very weird position and last night’s awful mismatch between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez personifies the problem.
The UFC, outside of its Light Heavyweight division really doesn’t have one marketable championship fight any time in the near future. Its champions BJ Penn, George St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Brock Lesnar really don’t have any competitive fights on the horizon. These are the headline fighters of the organization and the UFC basically has nobody of quality for them to fight.
BJ Penn’s destruction of Diego Sanchez last night was the prime example. Dana White gave us the Vince McMahon sale that Diego Sanchez was the unquestioned second best lightweight fighter in the world and that Penn was going to get his first real test. Sanchez told us he was going to storm across the cage, attack Penn like nobody has before and take him down to the mat for a beating.
None of this transpired.
Instead, Penn manhandled Sanchez like a rag doll and displayed just how weak the talent level is in the UFC at lightweight. Sanchez, the former TUF 1 Champion, displayed no real martial arts skills. His fighting approach that got his the championhsip fight invite was to bullrush, takedown and pound. Last night, the talented Penn nullified these basic skills, fended off every weak takedown attempt and handed out one of the most brutal beatings ever seen in the cage. So if Sanchez really was #2 as Dana White told us, Penn is out of competitors to fight under the UFC banner.
This leads us to the problem with the UFC…its refusal to cross promote. What killed boxing were promoters that overprotected their fighters, controlled the matchups and didn’t deliver the fights people demanded to see. Multiple title holders from different organizations that were not making the fights to protect and hold their crowns. Dana White is displaying his Napoleanistic complex and is dooming the sport in front of our eyes.
Fans are calling for the UFC to sign new top lightweight fighters. The bloom is off the rose. The fans will only drink so much kool-aid. People have figured out that they are not being served shinola now.
Every forum board last night online had discussion threads discussing what fight matchups would look like for Penn with all the great lightweights that are not fighting at UFC. Even commentator Joe Rogan called for it during the broadcast, something I am sure he will get admonished for by Zuffa. The UFC can make these matchups and they don’t have to sign anybody.
Penn is in the driver seat now to help take MMA mainstream. He can push UFC to start cross-promoting to make the biggest fights for him or threaten to bolt to another promotion that will do so. He has reached the point in his career where he controls his destiny, not the UFC.
The fights that matter for Penn which hold the greatest monetary take for him reside with fighters in other organizations. The fans don’t want to see him maul another second-rate UFC fighter. They want to see him fight Dream’s Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri or Joachim Hansen. They want to see him square off against Bellator’s Eddie Alvarez or Jorge Masvidal. Or perhaps throw him in the cage with Sengoku’s Mizuto Hirota. These are the fights that fans want to see, not matchups against an overrated 10 loss fighter like Joe Stevenson or a wrestler with no martial arts skills like Gray Maynard.
As this year comes to end, UFC needs to make some big decisions on how it runs its business and its impact on the sport as a whole. The WWE coattails that have been ridden thus far need to be cut and the UFC needs to recognize it is a promotion, not a league or “sports entertainment”. The sooner this happens the better.
