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Feb 7, 2006
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Former IFL Welterweight Patrick Assaulted

One-time International Fight League welterweight Claude Patrick (Pictures) was assaulted in a hotel room early Sunday following a Freedom Fight event in Gatineau, Quebec, and sent to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The former Toronto Dragon, promoter Peter Rodley, and others were cornered on the room’s eighth-floor patio and attacked by up to ten men wielding taser guns, according to the Ottawa Sun. Patrick had not competed at the event earlier that evening.

Patrick, 28, was reportedly tasered from behind and later placed in a medically induced coma by doctors. Patrick was revived on Monday.

“All I know is that I walked into my friend Pete Rodley’s room to say goodnight and thanks for the show, and next thing I woke up in the hospital,” Patrick told Sherdog.com Monday. “I’m assuming I got tased from behind. They said I got hit with a stun gun or a taser and that’s all she wrote.”

Mississauga native Patrick said he has little recollection of what transpired.

“Dude, I was hoping you were calling me to tell me what happened,” Patrick joked. “They kept me in an induced coma for 24 hours and I just got up today. Actually, I thought today was Sunday.”

Patrick believes he was kept unconscious because he had fallen and hit his head during the attack, and physicians wanted to monitor any swelling of the brain. Patrick said a CT scan performed Monday did not show any adverse effects. Patrick was released from the hospital and is currently at home resting.

Patrick didn’t escape injury-free though.

“I chipped a tooth and I bit my lip,” he said. “I guess you kind of chatter your teeth when you’re getting shocked.”

A report by CBC.ca identified another assault third victim as ring announcer Chancey Voulgaris, who described the bloody melee as a “murder scene.” Voulgaris told CBC.ca that one of his friends was stabbed in the eye with a broken beer bottle and that all of the room’s trapped occupants were tasered multiple times each.

The conditions of Voulgaris and Rodley, as well as the identities of the assailants are not known. In the CBC.ca report, Voulgaris said Rodley had been the target of the attack stemming from a dispute over payment for sound and lighting services provided at the show.

Patrick attended the Freedom Fight event to participate in a Canadian-based MMA reality show.

“I’ve definitely been worse, but at the same time it wasn’t a great ending to the weekend,” said the 7-1 fighter, who last competed in May. “To miss an entire day like that is a weird situation.”
 
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Finding Ricardo Arona

Nearly 16 months have passed since Ricardo Arona (Pictures), a man once universally received as one of the world’s premier light heavyweights, appeared on the mixed martial arts scene. A former open-weight winner at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships, the elusive 30-year-old holds wins over Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) and Dan Henderson (Pictures) and went the distance with Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures).

Arona last fought in April 2007, when he succumbed to strikes against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (Pictures) at the Pride Fighting Championships swan song -- Pride 34 “Kamikaze” -- in Japan.

With all due respect to Simon and Garfunkel -- and Joe DiMaggio -- Arona’s disappearance left many MMA fans wondering, “Where have you gone, Ricardo Arona (Pictures)?” Sherdog.com’s Gleidson Venga and Premiere Combate’s Paula Sack recently tracked down the 2005 Pride middleweight grand prix finalist.

Sherdog.com: Ricardo, you have been out of the ring for more than a year now. What happened?
Arona: It’s already been a year since I fought, but that was by choice. Actually, I had invitations to fight in Canada, Japan and the USA, but I chose not to fight. I’ve been competing in jiu-jitsu, submissions and MMA since I was 15 years old. I decided to stop and watch from the outside, in order to be able to see everything that happens inside fighting. I had to find myself. It’s my aim to fight once or twice by the end of the year, but the most important thing is to come back well prepared, to come back different from what I was. I want to be a much more dynamic fighter in the next phase of my career. My desire to fight is still great. I’m watching everybody fight, observing what’s changed and what hasn’t. This time off has been as important to me as training; it’s part of my training.

Sherdog: Do you think all this time spent away from competition will keep you out of the loop?
Arona: That’s why I dropped out of the scene. Sometimes, it’s more difficult to negotiate the fights. All the business stuff is no good, but I’m a fighter who never worries about that. I really worry about my performance. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past that resulted in me losing, and I don’t want to make those anymore. This next phase of my career is going to be a much more conscious phase. I’m going to put the same pressure on myself to win and use the same adrenaline. I’m going out there to win, but I feel I’ve matured. I’m going to fight more focused. I want to fight differently from now on.

Sherdog.com: Do you want to continue to fight in Japan, or do you see yourself coming to America?
Arona: Actually, I’m connected personally to Japan. There is a lot of respect for the fights and fighters there. I have a great link to Japan, because I’ve spent years fighting there. I have fans, and I’m accustomed to that scene. In America, the crowd’s nosier, more agitated and wants to be entertained. For them, sometimes it’s not important that an American wins. They want to watch a great fight, and we have to adapt ourselves to that. I like the Japanese people a lot, and I would like to fight in Japan again, but if America is dominating the market, I want to be there. I’ve already fought against almost all of the top fighters. I want very much to be part of this new market. I’m waiting on a good contract to make my comeback. I’m doing my part to be well prepared, and I’ll be back to dominate the scene.

Sherdog.com: I read an interview where you said the UFC rules for made for you. Why do you believe that?
Arona: When I arrived at Carlson Gracie’s gym at 16 years old, I already wanted to fight in MMA, and one of my specialties was taking my opponent down, striking him and hurting him from that position. This was cut from MMA when I went to fight in Japan. In the UFC, you can use the cage, which is perfect for me, because once you have your opponent in the corner, there’s no escape; it’s excellent to use to get the takedown. Once on the ground, it’s perfect for striking; it’s fatal. With those rules, I guess the referee will have to stop a lot of my fights quickly, because my great strong point is striking from above, from any position. The third factor I see is that anyone in the ring who gets tired in five minutes is in the wrong place. I’m accustomed to fighting one 10-minute round and two five-minute rounds. In the UFC, it’s three five-minute rounds, which is like child’s play for me. I’m flying in and out with that time. I wouldn’t even stop to wipe my forehead. The UFC rules were made for me -- no doubt about it.

Sherdog.com: What’s your current relationship with the Brazilian Top Team?
Arona: I’m still on the team. Nothing has changed. I’m not training there by choice, but I still have a connection with Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), and I don’t have any quarrels with them. We always made it clear that if our opinions ever changed, we would sit down and talk.

Sherdog.com: What motivates you to fight?
Arona: Fighting in MMA involves many things. Sometimes people only see the fight in the ring, but the preparation, the training, the nights we’ve spent thinking about our lives and families … all these things are involved until the day of the fight. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had 20 victories already; what matters is victory that day. There’s no way I can explain what it feels like to start and finish a fight. It’s what moves my life and makes my blood flow in my veins. In the fight, time and money don’t matter to me; only victory is important. Besides that, there’s the personal satisfaction I get. I get enormous pleasure out of going into the ring, looking into the eyes of my opponent, starting and finishing the fight and then receiving hugs from everybody. As long as I feel that, I’ll continue to fight. My age will not be a limit.

Sherdog.com: What would be your perfect scenario under which to come back to compete in MMA? Which promotion and which opponent?
Arona: I think the promotion would have to be the UFC, because it offers the best proposals and the best fighters, and it’s the best event and the best show. The best opponent for me is whoever has the belt, but I don’t think there’s any way to come back and fight right away for the belt.

Sherdog.com: Do you see a rubber match with rival Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) as an option?
Arona: My relationship with him has already been settled. If there’s still a problem between us, it’s in his head, because from my side, everything has been settled. It would be a great fight, but in time. I’ve stopped thinking about what would be the best fight, who would be the best fighter. I have to be prepared to face any of them. When I come back, I want to win, against him or anyone else.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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SHIELDS ACCEPTING ALL CHALLENGES, EVEN AT 185

Since signing on with Elite XC in 2007, it was Jake Shields mission to become the company’s first welterweight champion and after a lot of hard work, numerous opponents, going through his first major injury and his debut fight on network TV, he finally got the gold around his waist.

Most fans watching Elite XC knew that Shields was the real deal going into his fight with Nick Thompson, but some still questioned if he could hang with many of the top welterweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the promotion that is home to the majority of the top 170lbers.

Shields answered that question in resounding fashion as he tapped out Thompson, who was previously on a 12 fight win streak, in just over a minute during their championship bout on Saturday night.

“I was prepared for the full 25 minutes, I was in the best shape of my life, but I was hoping to end it in the first so it ended up working,” said Shields about the quick fight.

While the Cesar Gracie student can’t help but be happy with his performance, he is far away from realizing his dream of being considered the best in the world.

“I’m not satisfied yet,” Shields stated. “I’ve got a ways to go, won the Elite (XC) title that I’m very proud of, but I want to be considered the best and I know there’s some fighters out there ranked above me and I’m not going to be satisfied until I beat them.”

Two of the fighters that Shields mentioned in his post fight interview are going to battle in the UFC on Aug 9 as champion Georges St. Pierre and top contender, Jon Fitch, face off in a championship bout. The California native would love to face the winner, but he understands that fight will not happen. . .at least for now.

“I guess that was a mistake, I just kind of called them out, but that fight realistically won’t happen next,” he said of St. Pierre and Fitch. “Those are two guys I’d really love to fight right now. Two of the top guys at my weight, I’ve got a lot of respect for both of them, that’s why I want to fight them.”

While facing the best the UFC has to offer is probably not going to happen for Shields, he feels there are plenty of quality opponents that Elite XC can provide for him to defend his title against.

“I’d like to fight (Drew) Fickett, he’s been running his mouth and that fight was supposed to happen, I still wouldn’t mind that one,” commented Shields. “(Shinya) Aoki is a fight I’ve wanted for a while, he just lost, but he still has quite a resume on him. They’ve got Akira Kikuchi, which was actually my last loss, they could possibly bring in him.”

Always the warrior, Shields also didn’t rule out a move to 185lbs to fight top competition.

“I’m willing to fight up a weight,” said Shields. “I’d fight Robbie Lawler, Frank Shamrock, if Elite wants me to do something like that, I’d be happy to do that.”

Shields also mentioned that he hopes to get another fight in before the end of this year and the Oct. 4 Elite XC/CBS show would be a perfect place for him to defend his title for the first time.

For now, Shields said he plans on heading back into training right away to prepare for the next challenge that lies ahead.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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MICAH MILLER LOOKING FOR WIN AT WEC 35

One of the top contenders in the World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight division, Micah Miller, will make his return next Sunday night. Miller’s last fight was in February when he recorded a knockout victory over Chance Ferrar.

Miller is looking forward to getting back in the cage to take care of business. “The fight's coming up and I haven't fought in a while, so I'm real anxious to get back in there,” said an excited Miller. “I'm used to fighting more, but they kind of spaced these shows out a little bit. So, I'm definitely excited to get back in the ring.”

Being an extremely active fighter the last few years, it took some adjusting to not fighting as much in the WEC since their shows are a little more sporadic. “Yeah, but I've kind of adjusted to it. It's not something I'd like to get used to but I'm not freaking out as much now as I used to when I was active. I'm always training. There's never a point when I'm real out of shape. It's not hard to train for. You just get kind of anxious. I'm getting used to it.”

Miller trains out of American Top Team, which is one of the most premier camps in the sport today. They have fantastic fighters like Gesias “JZ” Calvancante, Yves Edwards, Thiago Alves and Mike Brown, only to name a few. Micah Miller believes that having a camp like that is an integral part to his success. “It's a world class team and I feel privileged to be a part of it,” he explained. “When I first got there being at the very bottom, it was tough. But I said to myself that I wanted to do it. I committed myself to working my way up and learn something every day. The thing is you aren't just learning from instructors, you're learning from all of the fighters. All the world champions that they have, they're helping me too. It definitely helps you develop your game very quickly.

It's awesome because they can see that I'm hungry. I think I earned their respect because they see the hard work I put in. They can see it. That makes them want to help me. When you have guys that are that good, you get real good that fast. Those guys have been to war with the best guys in the world. They know what they're doing. If you can get advice from them, that's worth its weight in gold.”

The WEC has become a haven for the lower weight classes in mixed martial arts. Stars in the promotion like Urijah Faber, Jamie Varner, Rob McCullough and Miguel Torres have propelled the WEC to a heightened popularity. Miller appreciates what they have done for the lighter weights and what they have done for his career. “It's great. What they've done for the weight class is awesome. Up until a few years ago, the lower weight classes were....nobody really knew about them. It doesn't seem that long ago that the UFC scrapped the 155. It's good to be recognized. WEC has done a lot, not only for my career, but for the weight classes. They put them front and center.”

Standing 6’1”, Miller has a distinct advantage in his weight division over the majority of his opponents. However, his upcoming opponent, Josh Grispi, is actually one of Miller’s taller adversaries. Due to Miller’s reach advantage in most of his fights, he has learned to utilize that tool into his game. “You always try to train to use your length,” stated Miller. “As a taller fighter, you want to be able to utilize that. In this weight class, I'm going to have that most of my career.

This time around it's a little different because I have someone my height that I'm fighting. For the most part, I'm always going to have the advantage. You definitely have to work on it to get it down right. A few years ago, when I was the same height, I didn't use my reach very well. I used to fight like I was a smaller guy. I used to walk in on guys. I've learned to use it.”

Grispi is coming off his debut in the WEC defeating the highly regarded Mark Hominick. The match up intrigues Miller because he believes that the fight could go anywhere. “It's a real interesting match up. It's two tall '45ers in the division. We're both young, but we both earned our spots. As far as the match up goes, I don't have much to go on as far as tape or anything, but just to see him fight and hear about him, he sounds like myself.

He's young, he's hungry, he's in the big show now. He's well-rounded. Even with Hominick, he came forward to strike with him. He's fearless. I hear he's good on the ground. I think, all around, I don't see this fight going to any particular spot. It should be a lot of fun.”

With a win over Grispi, it would propel Miller to the forefront of the featherweight division. His teammate, Mike Brown, will be taking on Urijah Faber in September for the WEC featherweight title. If Brown is successful, Miller would be happy to step aside and let his teammate rule the division. “I'd definitely take a step back for Mike. He's earned his shot. It's his time now.”
 
Jul 24, 2005
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EliteXC not the same without Shaw's brashness

By Dan Stupp


STOCKTON, Calif. — Elite Xtreme Combat's return to CBS airwaves this past Saturday, July 26, at the Stockton Arena in California delivered in many ways.

A rash of last-minute ticket sales resulted in a sold-out crowd of nearly 8,000 fans, according to EliteXC officials. And unlike the organization's CBS debut in May, the producers kept a quick and steady pace to the show. The fights were largely well-matched, and a contingent of California-based fighters gave the big event an intimate atmosphere.

It was an all-around great event.

However, for all the positives coming out of the show — and there were many — there was one glaring omission: Gary Shaw.

EliteXC's live events president and former frontman — a boxing promoter who applied his trade to mixed martial arts — has taken a reduced role with the company over the past few months.

Since EliteXC's formation in late 2006, Shaw had been the guy steering the ship — in the public's eye, anyway. However, Doug DeLuca, executive chairman of ProElite Inc. (EliteXC's parent company), recently confirmed a smaller role for Shaw.

"We collectively made the decision that Gary was going to back off a little bit, kind of take a little bit of a relaxed role as far as being involved front and center, which is a good thing for ... three things: for his health, for his boxing business and for his family," DeLuca said.

Shaw was brash. He exaggerated and made claims so bold his own fighters would blush. He sometimes favored spectacle over sport, and he was willing to sacrifice 15 years of the sport's evolution to do things his own way. (Never mind the excruciatingly long, disjointed press conference.)

But for all his faults, Shaw stirred the pot. He created story lines. He got you excited for future events. His fighters wouldn't have to say they were as good as any UFC fighter — because Shaw would do it for them. He'd make you appreciate that day's event while having you anxiously awaiting the next three.

Still, it'd be hard to argue that this past Saturday's show wasn't a little more professional, a little more organized. EliteXC Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen has done a fine job as Shaw's frontman replacement.

However, for as good as the Stockton show was, there's no real buzz for the next one. And somewhere, Gary Shaw has to be thinking that's the ultimate sin
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Where the MMA business stands after big shows

Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports



If there is a running theme in mixed martial arts these days, it is that several promotions have the ability to put together good enough cards to rival the industry-leading Ultimate Fighting Championship.

But when it comes to making money on those shows, and long-term staying power, the questions get a lot trickier.

After a slew of major shows in the past several weeks, the cruel reality of the industry has become clear: The quality of fights and fighters really don’t matter in 2008.

The average fan is attracted to stars. Stars can be champion-level fighters like Georges St. Pierre, former pro wrestlers like Brock Lesnar, colorful mid-level fighters like Tito Ortiz, or a well-marketed novice like Kimbo Slice.


And for an event to be a success, it needs strong television promotion.

In the long run, for a promotion to survive, it has to, at the very least, not lose too much money. The past two years were littered with companies starting out with a lot of fanfare and in the end, becoming huge money pits.

Bodog Fight and the International Fight League, the UFC’s big challengers of 2006 and early 2007, are already down for the count after tens of millions of dollars in losses. While some point to UFC’s huge losses from 2001-04 before the company turned the corner, there was a major difference. For one, the sport had nowhere near the level of popularity it has now. In terms of media coverage and general talk, the industry that has grown more than tenfold.

UFC had no weekly television outlet in the down years. Its fortunes turned around immediately upon getting a TV deal with Spike in 2005. Bodog and IFL walked into a far more popular sport with weekly national TV deals. Neither gained any real public interest past the hardcores, didn’t draw ratings and were canceled.

Elite XC’s issues

Elite XC has suffered similar losses since its first show 18 months ago. But with deals with both Showtime and CBS, there is at least a potential for a light at the end of the tunnel. The company’s second show on CBS Saturday night sent mixed messages. EXC showed it can put on a well received show with good quality fighters. But it also showed that the first show, even drawing a strong audience, didn’t create new stars.

Saturday night’s show in Stockton, Calif., was a sobering reality. The show scored a 1.9 rating and 2.62 million viewers on CBS based on the overnight ratings, down 37 percent and 43 percent respectively from the May 31 debut card.

The third CBS special, scheduled for Oct. 4 from the BankAtlantic Arena in Sunrise, Fla., headlined by Slice and Gina Carano, clearly needs a huge increase from this level, because CBS simply can’t afford those kind of numbers in prime time. As a comparison, on July 19, airing reruns of “The Unit” and “48 Hours Mystery,” the Tiffany network averaged 4.35 million viewers in the same time slot.

With mounting losses, even if Elite XC draws numbers on CBS, it has to be able to translate those viewers into pay-per-view buyers in 2009, because the networks aren’t paying enough to sustain operations at this level.

The positive is the show created a scary opponent for Carano in Cris “Cyborg” Santos of Brazil. It’s a great contrast, the American with the big smile against the ferocious, overly muscular foreigner. But the problem is, if Carano loses in devastating fashion, will the American public in big enough numbers care about Santos?

There is also the question as to whether the success of Elite’s first show was the novelty appeal of being the first MMA show live on a major network, and that, like so much in television, it was a nice gimmick with no shelf life.

Can Affliction build momentum?

Affliction, paying huge money to put together a heavyweight division with more top ten fighters than UFC, put together a largely well-received show on July 19 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Fedor Emlianenko’s win over Tim Sylvia couldn’t have been more impressive, and Andrei Arlovski, who looks to oppose Emelianenko for the unofficial distinction as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world on Oct. 11, looked the best he has in years in finishing Ben Rothwell.

As with any first-time venture, there is a learning curve. The pay-per-view production was weaker than the competition. With a full house of 13,988 fans, darkening the arena took away from the impressiveness of the crowd size. The event came across far better live than on pay-per-view, which didn’t capture the excitement level up-and-down the show. Since it is going to be judged as a television broadcast, that’s a problem that needs to be rectified.

The show’s strength was the matches were good overall, and going forward for the promotion, all the right people won. Those who needed to look impressive, either did so, or at the very least, were impressive in finishing.

Emelianenko, Arlovski, Josh Barnett, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vitor Belfort, not only won, but won with strong knockout or TKO finishes that brought the house down.

But Affliction has huge hurdles in becoming a long-term factor in this game. Whether the show did in excess of 100,000 buys, as promoter Tom Atencio claims, or 50,000-85,000, which were the earliest cable industry estimates, either way, the losses were in the millions for a show Atencio stated would have needed 250,000-300,000 buys to break even. Atencio has already stated they can’t afford losses like this on a second show, and hinted that the name fighters would have to work with them on some of the huge deals or they won’t be around much longer.

UFC juggernaut rolls on

Chugging along is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which put up a 2.1 rating and 3.1 million viewers on its July 19 live Spike TV special, which went head-to-head with the Affliction show. The company’s pay-per-view business remains strong and consistent, with the North American shows of late believed to be hovering between 475,000 and 525,000 buys since UFC 84 in late May.

There were two major goals for the show. The first was to hurt Affliction’s pay-per-view numbers, which is debatable, since Affliction appears to have beaten what most in the industry expected they would do.

The second was to build Anderson Silva into a pay-per-view draw. Even though Silva has been UFC’s most impressive fighter of the past year plus, his March match with Dan Henderson drew significantly lower numbers than any North American UFC pay-per-view event this year.

Getting a quick win, and even more, TV commercials promoting the show airing on sports programming for a few weeks leading up to the show, billing Silva as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world had the goal of making him a drawing card.

The test of this will be Oct. 25, when UFC makes its debut at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Silva won’t have much help, as challenger Patrick Cote, getting a shot at Silva’s middleweight title, barely squeaked by Ricardo Almeida on July 5 in a dull fight and has hardly the star power of Henderson or Rich Franklin, Silva’s recent pay-per-view opponents.

The real big money, and this is the real explanation of Silva’s move to light heavyweight on the Spike special, has to do with his contract and window of opportunity. Silva felt he could have cashed in for a boxing match with Roy Jones Jr. UFC president Dana White wouldn’t allow for the obvious reasons of putting his best fighter in a situation where he could be embarrassed in a high-profile fight by a past-his-prime boxer.

Silva asked to fight more often than the usual UFC rotation of three fights per year for top talent, and with his contract calling for a percentage of pay-per-view revenue, recognized that he’d make more money against light heavyweights. While nothing is signed, and a lot of things would have to break right for it to happen, there is talk internally of Silva vs. Chuck Liddell sometime in 2009, which has potential of being the company’s biggest money fight since 2006.

Across the pond

The same promotional issues are facing the sport in Japan, where MMA became huge in the early part of the decade. The leading promotion, Dream, which has network coverage of its shows, has struggled in the ratings and has struggled to create new stars since the heyday. A torn ACL suffered by Kid Yamamoto, the country’s most popular MMA fighter, couldn’t have come at a worse time. Current hardcore favorite Shinya Aoki, one of the world’s best pound-for-pound grapplers, could not carry the ratings on the July 21 show, and his two tournament matches ended up outdrawn by a one-sided of hated judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama against former pro wrestling star Katsuyori Shibata.

Dream’s back isn’t up against the wall like Elite XC, but it faces a similar situation to the company for the next show on September 23. Under the gun to draw ratings, the company is attempting to put together middleweight Akiyama against heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop, the country’s most popular foreign fighter
 
Jul 24, 2005
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The truth about Zuffa’s business acumen

By Mark Davies

The UFC is threatened in a way that it rarely has been. Affliction is a credible challenger, with discernible advantages in several areas. The deep-pocketed rival, and the mainstream attention it is getting, presents a challenge that even the late, lamented, PRIDE Fighting Championships never did. Affliction, Elite XC, the growing drawing power of a large number of individual stars and the press’ increasing awareness of non-UFC MMA, will test Zuffa’s management in a way that nothing ever has. The Fertittas and Dana White are certainly regarded as possessing the necessary skills to maintain their pre-eminence, but is that reputation warranted?


The UFC’s current valuation, often cited as anywhere between 200 million and 1 billion dollars, is generally regarded as conclusive proof that Zuffa’s tenure as owner has been an overwhelming success. It has been; but who deserves the credit, and specifically what do they deserve credit for?

Dana White is often lauded as the man that saved Mixed Martial Arts. He merits praise for having the foresight to realize that the SEG-owned UFC was grossly undervalued, and for pouncing on an opportunity, but what did he do beyond that? Would the UFC have prospered as much or more under different ownership? It’s hard to say. How much of the UFC’s current value was generated by savvy maneuvering as opposed to simply being in the right place at the right time? That’s our question of the day.

Extreme Championship Wrestling was an enormously influential pro-wrestling property that failed, in part, because it was extremely under-capitalized. The lack of assets led it to accept a subpar television deal, to lose valuable human resources, and to eventually fold. The visionary who built most of ECW’s value, and brand loyalty, was unable to make it profitable. The WWE swooped in, bought the trademarks and remaining assets, and turned the ECW name into something that generates huge profits. Is that because Vince McMahon was a superior businessman to Paul Heyman? Or is it because Vince McMahon had the capital to invest that Heyman did not?

Did Dana and the Fertittas profit primarily by their financial ability to wait out the anti-MMA zealots, whereas Bob Meyrowitz and SEG couldn’t? Let’s take a look at some turning points in the UFC’s history, and examine how they reflect on Zuffa’s legendary business sense.

Regulation

The early UFCs were huge moneymakers. Production, salaries, and other costs were minimal and the shows generated a lot of revenue. People were paying for the idea of MMA, because there wasn’t much else there. In retrospect those early cards are an embarrassment, but they are also a testimony to the incredible value of the idea the UFC was built on. The enormous financial potential was readily apparent but so was the near mortal threat to SEG’s golden goose.

The constant problems with venue, protests and other anti-brutality forces quickly made it clear that the sport had to change. There were some, like the Gracies, who believed that the sport couldn’t, or shouldn’t, survive in a watered-down form. Others, like Dana White, saw regulation and organization as a way to protect everyone’s money and to enable the UFC to grow.

Was regulation really Zuffa’s brainchild? Is the “Zuffa Myth” that the company swooped in, cleaned up the sport, and secured athletic commission sanctions, actually true? Not really. Jeff Blatnick, the UFC commissioner under SEG, was aggressively pushing an agenda of safety and regulation. There is no question that Zuffa eventually got this done, but it isn’t as if it was Dana White’s stroke of genius. Its simply an example of Zuffa having the resources to finish something that most realized needed to be done and many were already working on.

The Ultimate Fighter

The reality juggernaut launched the UFC explosion. Whatever its effect on the quality of competition, the show brought millions of new fans to the sport. The show is a Zuffa creation. That seems to lead naturally to a conclusive answer to our lead question. It seems to… but it doesn’t. What is it that sets TUF apart from the host of other reality shows that were springing up at the same time?. Was it everyone living in the same house? No, every show had that. Was it the bickering? No, every show had that. What makes TUF more influential than Hard Knocks, the Association of Volleyball Professional’s reality show, or the WWE’s Tough Enough? Is it something about the production, structure, or pacing? No, in every sense TUF is a cookie cutter reality show. What makes it special is simply that the inevitable conflicts these shows are built around get settled with fists. In other words, the reason that TUF is a cultural landmark, whereas Hard Knocks and Tough Enough are somewhat successful, is that its about fighting. That means that Zuffa was simply doing what everybody else was doing. When the two skanky friends do porn, then the beautiful one does the same, is the third friend a business genius because more people want to see her do unspeakable things? This is another instance of Zuffa succeeding due to being in the right place, at the right time, and having the right resources.

The WEC

There are two intermingled revenue streams essential to Mixed Martial Arts. The first are the casual fans. These are the most important because there are so many more of them. The second, a less valuable but more lucrative group head-for-head are the hardcore fans. These fans who knew who Jon Fitch was when he was curtain jerking on Ultimate Fight Nights. These fans buy 2-3 pay per views a month, follow the Japanese promotions, and purchase non-Affliction merchandise.

Zuffa purchased the WEC to secure the loyalty of these diehards. By signing fighters like Urijah Faber and Paulo Filho and putting on deep, exciting cards, Zuffa won the loyalty of many fans who previously viewed the UFC with distaste. Why are these few fans so valuable? Because they consume a lot of MMA and also influence the casual fans. No fan wants to be the one who asks, “Fedor? Isn’t he the Russian guy with the beard and the vampire mouthguard?” As the new fans learn more about the sport, they start to look to their more educated brethren for guidance. How long would the UFC have lasted as the pre-eminent force if the most educated fans continued to view them as second best.

Europe

The least profitable cards currently run by the UFC are based in Europe. These cards often interrupt momentum built domestically, because they are at odd hours. These cards also generate little pay per view revenue. In fact, they often generate none because they are shown on Spike. The UFC has taken over from Cage Rage as the number one promotion in the UK. Has the financial sacrifice been worth it? Are the inroads on the continent and in Ireland, enough to justify the outlay? On this point there is not
enough information to judge.

The PRIDE Purchase

Originally viewed as a coup, this is one area in which Zuffa seriously miscalculated. What did the UFC get out of the PRIDE purchase? A deeper roster and some big contracts. What PRIDE fighters have really made an impact in the UFC? Wanderlei Silva and Nogueira. That’s it. Shogun, Hendo, and Sokoudjou have been disappointments thus far. Are those five fighters worth the purchase price of PRIDE when you take into account the fact that they still have to be paid? No. The UFC gained almost no market share in Japan, and they have not run a show in the Land of the Rising Sun since the purchase. This was a blunder and its biggest value is that it kept other promoters from purchasing PRIDE and using its fighters to challenge Zuffa, a prospect that seemed much more likely at the time.

Letting Tito, Randy, Arlovski, and Sylvia Leave

The UFC’s biggest advantage is brand loyalty. Zuffa can count on 300,000 pay per view buys for any card they care to put on. There are stars that can add several hundred thousand to that number, but the UFC name provides the baseline. In the last year the UFC has lost three of its all-time biggest stars (Shamrock, Randy and Tito). The UFC also let two ex-heavyweight champions go. It was inevitable that at least one of the UFC’s big name stars would want to test what their name was worth, without the UFC’s backing, but can the UFC maintain their dominance if they keep losing top stars at this rate. Maybe for the first time in history the UFC doesn’t have anything close to a monopoly in U.S. drawing cards. Who is more valuable: Chuck Liddell, Rampage Jackson, Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin and B.J. Penn or Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Kimbo Slice, Fedor Emelianenko, and Andre Arlovski? Probably the UFC guys, but not by much. Zuffa also has a large advantage in second tier stars, but is it enough for them to maintain their brand loyalty? Probably not.

Prospects

The question of whether Zuffa has the executive ability to maintain market share may be unfair because it suggests that someone could. It is very possible that the UFC is destined to fade as a market leader simply because a promotion must eventually rely on its fighters. In the past, professionalism in production has set the UFC apart from Bodog or the WFA but others are catching up. There was no difference in fighter quality, production value, or anything else between last night’s Elite XC show and your average UFC pay per view.

There is a reason few fans know if Kelly Pavlik holds the IBF, WBC, WBO, or WBA title. In individual sports the stars are always the athletes and eventually the athletes start demanding a commensurate share of the revenues. The UFC has bucked that trend for a
long time but can it continue to do so? Intelligent, experienced, deep-pocketed sports businessmen are starting to enter the arena. Can Zuffa continue to rule when their product is virtually identical to that being put on by Affliction and Elite XC? To the extent it may be possible, it would take a businessman, or men, of transcendant ability and intuition. That may be the Fertittas and Dana White but nothing in the above examples would make them a good bet to achieve this near-impossible goal
 
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Tito Ortiz Joins With Affliction, Will Fight Renato 'Babalu' Sobral Oct. 11 in Vegas

Tito Ortiz, long one of UFC's most popular fighters, has reached an agreement with the upstart Affliction organization and will fight on its October 11 pay-per-view show in Las Vegas, Steve Cofield is reporting.

Ortiz's opponent will be Renato "Babalu" Sobral, a former UFC fighter who won his match on this month's Affliction: Banned undercard. Babalu called out Ortiz after winning his Affliction fight, which Ortiz attended, and this match-up has been expected since then.

Ortiz is still one of the most popular athletes in mixed martial arts, but he has appeared of late to be past his prime: In his last three fights he has losses to Chuck Liddell and Lyoto Machida sandwiching a draw against Rashad Evans. However, Ortiz does have a win on his record over UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, which Affliction will no doubt mention a few times in the run-up to the October 11 show.

Babalu is a very experienced fighter with a 30-7 record. He was kicked out of UFC after he failed to let go of an anaconda choke after opponent David Heath had tapped out.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Lesnar: This fight is do or die

By ARTURO COLLAZO Jnr


Speaking at an open workout to promote his appearance at UFC 87 on August 9, the ex-WWE world champion made it clear he's not prepeared to make another amateurish mistake inside the Octagon.

Lesnar said: "I got overexcited, I got sloppy in my first fight.

"I think you're going to see a calmer and much more polished fighter this time."

Lesnar debuted for the company on February 2 at UFC 81 in Las Vegas, where he exploded against former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

The 31-year-old pushed through Mir's guard and looked like an absolute monster as he easily gained side control before unleashing a barrage of punches on his opponent's face and head.

But Mir started rolling, trying to show the referee he wasn't unconscious yet, and pushed his head upwards, causing Lesnar to illegally punch him in the back of the head.

In a controversial move, referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the match for a moment, deducted one point from Lesnar, issued a stern warning and stood the two fighters up.

Lesnar exploded a second time, taking Mir down again.

But Mir, who had been given a brief chance to recover from the first onslaught, made several arm-bar attempts as Lesnar threw heavy punches from the top.

The arm-bars failed to hit the target so Mir targeted his opponent's legs, catching Lesnar by surprise with a heel hook.

Unsurprisingly, Lesnar had no choice but to tap out as his UFC bow ended in defeat.

With his return to the Octagon fast approaching, Lesnar's former WWE agent Paul Heyman has backed his protege to overcome Herring.

Heyman said: "Brock's very savvy. He's not going to whine and moan about the loss, even if he has a legitimate gripe.

"He's going to say I lost, I'm p****d and I'm taking it out on Heath Herring at UFC 87."

Despite UFC 87 being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lesnar does not fear looking bad in front of his hometown crowd.

He added: "I've been in clutch situations before.

"My back is against the wall in this fight because I said from the beginning I wanted to fight credible opponents — and that’s what Dana White is handing me in Heath Herring."
 
Jul 24, 2005
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If Affliction wants to hang around, it may need a math lesson

Affliction did something special last weekend: It packed the Honda Center with almost 14,000 fans. The promotion also drew more than 100,000 pay-per-view buys, according to Vice President Tom Atencio. It created a big-event atmosphere and got the mixed martial arts world buzzing.

In short, Affliction did everything it said it would do, and that's rare for any fight organization, especially one holding its first event.

But as hopeful as the promotion must feel after Saturday night, the question now is, what's next? Exploding out of the gates is one thing, but one good show doesn't make a successful promotion, especially when after shelling out more than $3 million in fighter salaries while selling only $1.6 million worth of tickets.

Looking at the final numbers, it's clear that Affliction overpaid many of its fighters. Any world where Tim Sylvia makes $800,000 (around four times what the Ultimate Fighting Championship decided he was no longer worth) just to show up and take a quick beating from Fedor Emelianenko (who made only $300,000, at least, officially) is a strange world indeed. And when the main event costs almost as much as the total live gate revenue, it's also a world lacking staying power.

The problem for Affliction isn't just the price tag. It has a rich, but shallow talent pool. The organization has built up an impressive heavyweight stable, only to see it whittled down to one champ (Emelianenko) and two credible contenders (Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski both looked impressive) after one show. It simply doesn't have enough fighters under contract to keep putting on shows without recycling and reworking the same fighters into different matchups, which is a game of diminishing returns.

This is where the UFC currently enjoys a major advantage. It has the best fighters in every division, from lightweight to light heavyweight, and it also has enough top contenders and mid-level gatekeepers to put on quality pay-per-views every month, with a couple of free shows on Spike TV thrown in for good measure.

If Affliction wants to compete it'll have to go out and sign more talent, which eventually is going to mean luring more big-name fighters away from the UFC. And that means spending even more money.

Consider what they went through to get Arlovski, who is slated to get the next crack at Fedor in October. The former UFC heavyweight champ was making $105,000 to show with a $65,000 win bonus in the UFC. His first fight in Affliction brought him $500,000 in guaranteed pay with a win bonus of $250,000.

That's great news for Arlovski, but if it's emblematic of what it takes to poach the UFC's talent, you have to wonder if it's a sustainable strategy.

Affliction is good for the MMA landscape. It has the backing and the momentum to become a credible competitor to the UFC. In turn, fighter salaries will go up across the board and fighters will get the kind of options they've rarely enjoyed. It also means fans will get more blockbuster shows like the one Affliction put on in Anaheim, which gave a home to so many of the itinerant fighters the UFC wasn't willing to embrace.

As much as the Dana White and the UFC hates it, this competition is good for them, too. It will make their product better in the end and maybe shake them out of the complacency that naturally comes with being at the top of the food chain.

But in order for it to work, Affliction has to stick around. They have to start developing some of their own talent and keep from paying main-event prices for mid-level fighters.

The MMA world needs them to succeed. It needs the new blood and the competition. What it doesn't need, though, is another organization that hemorrhages cash with every event. It might have been a one-time necessity for Affliction to convince audiences it's legitimate, but now it's time to prove the clothing company can last as a promoter
 
Feb 7, 2006
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EliteXC signs welterweight John Alessio to three-fight deal

Veteran fighter John Alessio, who's won four of his past five fights, has agreed to a three-fight deal with EliteXC, sources close to the fighter tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The signing was first reported today by fiveouncesofpain.com.

Messages left with EliteXC Head of Fighter Relations Jeremy Lappen on Monday were not immediately returned. Additionally, terms of the deal, including whether or not the contract is exclusive, were not disclosed.

Alessio, a former UFC and PRIDE fighter, could become an immediate contender for the organization's 170-pound title, which was won by Jake Shields this past weekend.

With his quick submission victory of Nick Thompson, Shields had defeated about the only legitimate contender currently under contract to the California-based EliteXC. And with the UFC's stronghold on the division -- Shields and Carlos Condit are the only non-UFC fighters in most current top-10 rankings -- few free agents were available.

Alessio most recently defeated Pete Spratt at a boxing/MMA show in Las Vegas. The Alessio-Spratt fight headlined the MMA portion of the event. Alessio ended it in the second round with a rear-naked choke.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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WEC signs featherweight prospect John Franchi

World Extreme Cagefighting has signed undefeated featherweight prospect and one-time IFL fighter John Franchi (4-0) to a five-fight deal.

He's the latest major signing coming out of the New York-based Team BombSquad. Team manager Ryan Ciotoli confirmed the signing with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) over the weekend.

Franchi is the latest in a rash of IFL-fighter signings for Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC and WEC.

With the IFL reportedly just days away from officially ceasing operations, a Zuffa LLC buyout announcement is expected soon.

Franchi, who competed as a lightweight in his most recent fight, will return to his normal fighting weight and compete at 145 pounds in the WEC.

After turning pro in October 2007, he posted three consecutive victories (two via TKO and one via submission) in Northeast-based shows. He then earned an invitation to the IFL and submitted Frank Latina during a May show at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

No WEC debut date has been set for the former collegiate wrestler.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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UFC Fight Night 14 fighters test clean

The 11 fighters who were randomly chosen to undergo drug testing earlier this month at UFC Fight Night 14 (also dubbed "UFC: Silva vs. Irvin") have tested negative for performance-enhancing drugs and drugs of abuse.

Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, today emailed the results to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The July 19 event, which took place at The Palms Las Vegas and aired on Spike TV, drew a total attendance of 2,071 (1,690 paid) for a live gate of $590,000.

The event featured UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's non-title, light-heavyweight win over James Irvin. Both headliners were tested, as were Tim Credeur, Cale Yarbrough, Hermes Franca, Frankie Edgar, Cain Velazquez, Brandon Vera, C.B. Dollaway, Nate Loughran and Shannon Gugerty.

The NSAC tests for drugs of abuse (also known as recreational drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana), as well as performance-enhancers, including anabolic steroids.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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Rob Kimmons vs. Dan Miller slated for UFC Fight Night 15

Two of the UFC's most promising middleweight prospects, Rob Kimmons (27-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and reigning IFL middleweight champion Dan Miller (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), will meet in September at UFC Fight Night 15.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed with sources close to Kimmons that the fight has been accepted and bout agreements distributed. However, Miller's manager wasn't immediately available for comment.

The middleweight bout takes place Sept. 17 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb. -- most likely on the night's un-aired preliminary card.

Kimmons, a Midwest-based fighter who's the head instructor at the Kansas City Xtreme Couture gym, had dominated in many of the country's top regional promotions before earning his invitation to the UFC. He made his octagon debut in June (as a late replacement for an injured Alessio Sakara) and scored a first-round submission victory over Rob Yundt at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.

It was Kimmon's 12th victory in his past 13 fights. (In fact his only career losses have come to UFC vets Joe Riggs, Marvin Eastman and Ryan Jensen).

As MMAjunkie.com first reported last week, the UFC recently signed Dan Miller (and his brother, Jim Miller), who will take on Kimmons. Dan recently won the IFL middleweight title with a first-round submission victory over Ryan McGivern. It was just his second fight in the IFL; he debuted with the organization in August 2007 with a submission win over Dave Phillips.

Miller, who is also the middleweight champion for Cage Fury Fighting, has a strong wrestling base and has scored five of his eight career victories via submission.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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UFC Quick Quote: Thiago Alves wants to rematch Jon Fitch in title fight

“I want Jon Fitch to win. That’s what I really want because then he’ll be holding the belt and it will be really nice to fight him for the belt and get my rematch. I would be able to fight him for the title and get my rematch at the same time so it will be perfect.”

– Thigo Alves tells FightHype.com that he will be rooting for Jon Fitch to pull off the upset at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” on August 9 and defeat Georges St. Pierre to become the new welterweight champion. That way the “Pitbull” can kill two birds with one stone: avenge a technical knockout loss earlier in his career and challenge for the 170-pound strap. First, however, he’ll have to take care of business against Diego Sanchez at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” on Ocotber 25. Of course, Fitch will also have to defeat “Rush.”
 
Feb 7, 2006
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5 Oz. Exclusive: Entire Aug. 15 ShoXC card unveiled

EliteXC’s next card will be a ShoXC event scheduled for August 15 and will feature five bouts to be televised on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET from the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, Calif.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the finalized card after speaking with EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Shaw, the card will feature two light heavyweight bouts with Jared Hamman and Poa’i Suganuma rematching each other in the night’s main event and Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate making his EliteXC debut against Jaime Fletcher.

Shaw indicated that the winners of the 205 pound fighters could find themselves in line for an opportunity to fight light heavyweight sensation Rafael Feijao.

Also added to the card is a 160 pound lightweight match featuring Fabricio Camoes taking on Sammy Morgan. The promotion is said to be very high on Camoes and a win could catapult him onto a spot on a future EliteXC card.

Four other fighters will be making their EliteXC debuts as well, with Debi Purcell and Rosi Sexton set to do battle in a female MMA fight and Keith “K.O.” Berry and Reggie Orr set to scrap.

Berry is recognized as the King of the Cage middleweight champion but the bout is only scheduled for three rounds so it’s unlikely that his title will be on the line.

Meanwhile, Orr was one of 32 middleweights brought out to Las Vegas by the UFC and Spike TV earlier this year to fight in qualifying bouts in order to make the final cast for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Hector Lombard had been tentatively scheduled to make his EliteXC debut on the card but a lingering wrist injury will prevent him from being healed in time.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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Werdum close to title shot

After two good victories at UFC, Fabrício Werdum is now close to see his biggest a dream becoming true. Doing his last fight under contract with Ultimate, Werdum told TATAME that he has already made a new five fights contract, where an important clause says: winning his next fight, he’ll earn a title shot. “I was going to fight at October 18th at London, but I made a new five fights contract and they changed it to October 25th at Chicago, probably against Junior Cigano. It’s not 100% right that I’ll face him, but I’ll surely fight at October 25th”, said Werdum, that wants Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira to win his next fight (against Frank Mir) to rematch the Pride confront on 2006, that ended with Nogueira’s unanimous decision victory.

“It’s my last fight under the old contract and, with a victory, my first new contract’s fight will be for the title. I deserve that, I’m training hard for that, I wanna be UFC heavyweight champion. A final against Minotauro would be like a dream, it would be great for me, because I fought against him at Pride and it was a great fight, he deserved the victory, and I wanna say that fighting for the belt against Minotauro, probably on March”, said Werdum, that commented Fedor Emelianenko’s fast victory at Affliction.

“I knew that Fedor would win, I didn’t believe that Tim Sylvia has the perfect game to beat him, because he (Fedor) already showed that on the ground he’s great and knocks everybody out standing up… If I were going to fight against him, I’d try to stay over him, like I did with his brother, hurt him standing up and let the fight to the ground, bring on top, because he’s not fool on the ground”, told Werdum, that wants to fight for more four years. “I’m 31 now and wanna fight for more three or four years, and I wanna be the UFC champion”, finishes the athlete.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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M-1 Challenge № 9 in St-Petersburg is anounced

The date of next M-1 Global tournament which will take place in Russia is announced. The 9th part of M-1 Challenge
will take place on 21st of November in "Ledoviy" Palace, Saint-Petersburg. Both Russian teams will carry out
their last fights: Red Devil FT faces Team Korea, "Legion" faces Team Holland. There will be some superfights also.
The details will be announced later.
 
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Diversification: Miletich Looking Beyond MMA

Greg Norman may have choked yet again at the British Open last week, but there is no denying his success as one of the great sports “brands” of all time. With a net worth reportedly near about $400 million, and numerous successful ventures including a clothing line, his career is a blueprint for any professional athlete looking to turn sports success into business success. It’s too early to say when MMA will produce its first Greg Norman but there is no shortage of aspirants.

Randy Couture, The Gracies, Wanderlei Silva and Matt Serra, to name a few, have established themselves as forces in the business of MMA through successful schools, fight promotions and endorsement deals. Another is Pat Miletich, who spoke with MMAPayout.com about his plans, in areas ranging from personal fitness to entertainment.

While the two-time UFC champ prides himself on not talking business with his fighters, “I don’t talk money with people, I talk training,” there’s no denying his ambition outside the ring. While Monte Cox remains his manager, Miletich recently signed with Arizona-based Gaylord Sports, whose client list includes Phil Mickelson, Bronson Arroyo, Jennie Finch and Mark Mulder. His hope is that Gaylord will give him access to the type of national endorsement deals typical of mainstream sports. Miletich has also signed on with World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts and has served as its VP of Fighter & Promoter Relations for the past six months.

WAMMA’s goal, among others, is to establish true “pound for pound” champions through independent rankings and by certifying fights between fighters from different organizations. Last week’s Affliction matchup was WAMMA’s inaugural event and Fedor Emelianenko is now its heavyweight champion. While WAMMA is still very much in “startup mode”, Miletich told us the company’s business model aims for revenues from sponsors as opposed to fight promoters. In theory at least, this will allow the organization to remain independent and objective. In addition to Affliction, Adrenaline, Pro Elite and Strikeforce have all signed on. WAMMA has also met with the UFC, which according to Miletich, “wants to sit back and watch how things develop,” but has not dismissed the idea.

On the training front, Miletich has also built an affiliate network of ten fighting schools, both in the U.S. and overseas. He conducts about 12 seminars a year, though by his own admission he’s “pulled back a bit” to focus on his other business ventures. He continues to be heavily involved in working with fighters at his 20,000 square foot training facility in Bettendorf, Iowa. Typically, 30-40 athletes are training there at any given time. Fighters can apply via his mfselite.com website, and are eligible based on a background check and blood tests. Fees are determined based on length of stay. He’s also developed a fitness program that combines his own Fighting System with the fitness training methods of the U.S. Special Forces. The program can be customized depending on sport and fitness level. So far, Miletich has trained athletes in sports ranging from wrestling to BMX. He envisions the program being offered through a national fitness chain and is currently in discussions with potential partners.

As if all of this weren’t enough, Miletich is branching out into entertainment and even the telecom business. He choreographed fight sequences in the Paul Walker straight-to-DVD movie “Bobby Z,” and is in discussions with a major network for a reality show for which he’d serve as executive producer. He also co-founded the text marketing company CellAsap (cellasap.com).

With this highly varied – some would say scattershot – approach, what does Miletich hope to accomplish at the end of the day besides profits? “I don’t need a 150 foot yacht with a butler,” he said. “I want to take care of my family, send my kids to school and make a positive impact on the sport. I want to make more of an impact as a person in the background than a person in the ring.” There’s no denying he’s been a success already on all of those fronts. Whether he becomes MMA’s first “Shark”, however, remains to be seen.