[Centraal] MMA topic #17 With a new lightweight champion?

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In case you missed it, Floyd Mayweather Jr. shockingly announced his retirement from professional boxing on Friday.

The move stunned quite a few people in the boxing world because plans had been in motion for a rematch between Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya to take place on Sept. 20. The fight has been canceled and with it, Mayweather is walking away from a $20 million payday for the fight.

“It is with a heavy heart that I write you this message today,” Mayweather said in a statement. “I have decided to permanently retire from boxing. This decision was not an easy one for me to make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport.

“I have said numerous times and after several of my fights over the past two years that I might not fight again. At the same time, I loved competing and winning and also wanted to continue my career for the fans, knowing they were there for me and enjoyed watching me fight. However, after many sleepless nights and intense soul-searching I realized I could no longer base my decision on anything but my own personal happiness, which I no longer could find. So I have finally made up my mind, spoken to my family, particularly my mother, and made my decision.”

To me, the decision makes little sense. While there were very few hurdles left in climb in boxing for Mayweather, to walk away from $20 million for just one more fight speaks volume. I don’t think he’s walking away to take up golf or sit around and play shuffleboard. Mayweather is still a relatively young man (he’s 31) still in his athletic prime. There has to be something else going on here that we don’t know about.

Mayweather participated in a pro wrestling angle for the WWE earlier this year, which culminated in a featured match with Paul “The Big Show” Wight at Wrestlemania this past match. Mayweather’s haul for the performance has been rumored to be anywhere between $2-20 million. Officials were said to have been happy with Mayweather’s performance and the door was left open for his return.

In addition to pro wrestling, Mayweather has also flirted with the idea of getting involved with MMA. In recent months, Dallas Mavericks owner and HDNet Fights founder Mark Cuban announced that Mayweather was looking to get involved in MMA. It was unclear at the time as to whether he was looking to become a competitor or get involved in an ownership capacity.

But the timing of Mayweather’s announcement is very curious. UFC President Dana White revealed earlier this week that a huge announcement is planned for this coming Thursday. I speculated in a column earlier today that I believe it will have to do with network television. But what if I’m wrong and the announcement had to do with Mayweather signing a contract to fight for the UFC?

Sounds a bit far fetched, doesn’t it? Well, the idea of Mayweather walking away from a $20 million payday is equally far-fetched. For him to walk away from that kind of money likely means he’s walking towards something that could be even more lucrative. I’m just not 100 percent sure what it is.

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Op zondag 8 juni 2008 18:49 schreef roepdeman het volgende:
(H) Het was weer eens leuk om op zondag een beetje MMA te kijken.... UFC 85 en Sengoku 3....Taz, hahahaha jammer van je streak :p

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Op dinsdag 10 juni 2008 15:31 schreef Dacide het volgende:
Mja maar komop... Jason Day is echt geen walkover hoor..

Jason heeft gewonnen van Loisseau, Belcher, Goulet en Cote....

Jason Day werd volledig outclassed door Bisping.

Bisping heeft gewoon een fokking goeie move gedaan door een klasse lager te vechten.

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It’s a day many hoped for, and after a flurry of activity that has taken the indusrty by storm, fans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship will soon be able to collect Jakks Pacific UFC figures, use UFC-branded Bic lighters and Silver Buffalo watches, shop with a UFC credit card, and pick up UFC apparel at JC Penney stores. This unprecedented series of announcements truly stamps the UFC as the premier brand in the sport of mixed martial arts as well as the home of the elite fighters in the game.

“This puts our merchandise on a global scale,” said Randy Klein, the UFC’s Vice President of Licensing and Merchandising. “The fans have been waiting for UFC product for years and now we’ve joined up with some of the biggest and best companies in the world to produce authentic UFC-licensed products.”

For Klein, who worked closely with each company on these deals, getting these major names on board was an easy sell considering the reach and popularity of the UFC.

“The companies see the future of this sport and the loyalty of the fanbase, and the potential for enormous growth,” he said. “They see this taking over boxing and they can’t get over how recognizable these athletes are. You can’t even name five boxers now and that sport has really changed from the days of Ali and Tyson. So to the companies, they see working with the UFC as a tremendous opportunity to get involved with an emerging sport, mixed martial arts.”

Already, UFC-branded Bic lighters are hitting retail shelves, and after April’s ‘soft’ launch of UFC t-shirts at 450 JC Penney stores, the retailer will create “UFC Hot Zones” in August that will sell shirts and headwear in the Young Men’s department. Silver Buffalo, which has developed licensed products for such brands as WWE, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, and Kiss, will come on board this summer with UFC-branded watches, barware, bar accessories, lighting, wall décor, and billiards and darts accessories, and on June 15th, US Bank launches its UFC VISA card with no annual fee and the option to receive points for UFC merchandise.

“There’s going to be incredible UFC-branded product,” said Klein. “We’re establishing a benchmark of MMA product that no one has ever seen before. We’re going to be in retailers all over the world with our video game, apparel, and sports collectibles. It’s really
an exciting time right now.”

Perhaps no items have been more demanded by fans in recent years than action figures, and thankfully, those prayers have been answered.

There are also going to be more than a few happy faces when official UFC action figures hit major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, and Toys R Us in Fall of 2009. Expected in this launch will be Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Brock Lesnar, Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira, Michael "The Count" Bisping and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva. Octagon playsets and role-play items based on the UFC brand and its classic and current roster of star fighters are also planned.

Needless to say, the UFC has come a long way since its humble beginnings, and it has no intentions of stopping anytime soon when it comes to delivering quality MMA action and quality MMA products to its fans.

“In everything we do, whether it’s television, pay-per-view, fights, or merchandise, we do it for the fans,” said Klein. “And our fans are smart people. They know when there’s an authentic product out there and they’re very loyal. So when we’re providing merchandise, we’re using the same philosophy – quality, innovative, authentic mixed martial arts products with the UFC brand and our best fighters.”

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Op dinsdag 10 juni 2008 20:25 schreef The-Brahma-Bull het volgende:
Vind dit ook wel een erg goeie annoucement hoor. Hier mee krijgt UFC veel meer naams bekendheid. Dit zal ze uiteindelijk ook wel helpen naar een goeie TV deal.

Ik heb trouwens helemaal geen problemen met Spike, goeie zender hoor. Als ze nu ook nog eens HD gaan word het helemaal goed. Alleen jammer dat het geen "grote" zender is zoas CBS.

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The IFL held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to announce their decision to cancel their next planned card scheduled for August 15 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

IFL CEO and President Jay Larkin addressed reporters on the call, stating that in addition to canceling the event, the promotion will continue to downsize its workforce and is reviewing their contractual obligations with several of their coaches. There are no current plans to cut fighters from its roster.

While the IFL is not declaring bankruptcy and is technically not suspending operations, today’s news casts an even bleaker outlook for the company going forward. The primary reason behind the cancellation of the August event was because the show could put the company in financial jeopardy, according to Larkin.

Larkin stated that in recent months the company has sought out additional funding so that the company could continue operations. The former SHOWTIME executive indicated that when seeking new partners and additional financing, no stone has been left unturned. According to Larkin, discussions with major financial companies, competing fight companies, television networks, media companies, film studios, and celebrities have all taken place. While many of the prospective investors greeted the opportunity of working with the IFL with initial excitement, they’ve been unable to consummate a deal