UFC, Fox agree to seven-year deal

So, when does James Toney fight the reliquary finger bone of St. Bartholomew?

 

He has to get past a small fragment of St. Benedict of Nursia first. Contract fulfillment is a bitch.

 

I hope Fox's broadcasts have fewer commercials and padding than CBS's.

 

I don't think most casual viewers make any distinction whatsoever between UFC and any other form of MMA. Maybe Fox will change that, maybe they won't.

I think this sport has reached its already-converted point. It can be too bloody, perceived as too dirty, but mostly, too fucking boring, to reach mass-popular status.

Some of our deskers watch it, and every time I look up, its a grapple-fest on the mat for 90 percent of the match, punctuated by 10 percent of actual action.

 

We watched a bit of the Hardy/Lytle fight at work and one of the agate guys tried to make a point that if a UFC guy fought a boxer with boxing rules only...a boxer would win.
I know Kimbo just boxed and won...but any other examples?

 

That's another reason why CBS's coverage reeked ... made it all about Kimbo. There are probably better fights at the Indian casinos than were on CBS.

West Coast boxing promoter Dan Goossen suggested about the time of the Toney "fight" that they make it a doubleheader and they also meet under boxing rules, but nothing happened after that. Would be interesting, though.

 

The third round of the tournament has Emelianenko fighting the shinbone of St. Ignatius of Antioch. The leg goes in a 4 to 1 favorite, having fought through Tonya Harding and Carrot Top to get there.

 

I think that a lot of casual sport fans have no idea what MMA is. They will though at least have heard of the UFC. That for me is the key point. If they have heard of any MMA fighters or even watched any MMA then the the odds are that those fighters are in the UFC and that the MMA they watched was presented by the UFC.

 

I will be curious to see how heavily Fox promotes UFC during its NFL telecasts. If the network pushes it during football, I can see new viewers coming to MMA.

 

The oversaturation comment surprised me a little bit.

The UFC doesn't interest me at all, but I think this will be huge for Fox and huge for the sport.

 

Some MMA guys have pro-boxing records. That's not to say that any MMA fighters have had, or would have, success at the higher levels of boxing.

The people below made their professional MMA débuts before their pro-boxing débuts

Chris Lytle (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=121346&cat=boxer) has a pro-boxing record of 13-1-1. His current MMA record is 31-18-5. As Lytle just retried, assuming that he stays retired, they will be his final combat sports records.

There's a guy who posts on the BoxRec forum whose brother trained Lytle in during his boxing career. Back in 2006 he posted the following in a thread about Chris Lytle the boxer.

http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=37784

Though I can't find the post, I think the same guy said that Lytle almost got onto one of the seasons of The Contender.

Fabio Maldanado (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=171565&cat=boxer), who is currently under contact to the UFC, put together a pro-boxing record of 22-0 down in Brazil. Maldanado is currently is 18-4 in MMA.

Anderson Silva (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=152826&cat=boxer), who is the UFC's longest running champion and holds the record for victories in the UFC, is 1-1 as a pro-boxer. He lost a fight by second round TKO back in 1998 and then won one by second round TKO in 2005. Silva's MMA record is currently 30-4.

Silva also competed in Muay-Thai but getting confirmation of what his actual record was seems pretty much impossible.

A few years back Silva was making noises about wanting to fight Roy Jones Jr under boxing rules. This struck me as ill advised.

Footage of one of Silva's Muay-Thai fights is up on YouTube.

His pro-boxing win from 2005 is also up on YouTube.

Anderson Silva Vs Julio Cesar De Jesus (Ginasio Antonio Balbino, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) (August 5, 2005)

Nick Diaz (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=312079&cat=boxer) is 1-0. Diaz was up until recently, when he gave up the title, the Strikeforce welterweight champion. He's now with the UFC and will be challenging GSP for the UFC welterweight title this coming October. His MMA record is 25-7 with 1 no contest. Diaz trains with Andre Ward.

There was some footage of him sparring him Omar Henry floating around the web. Diaz didn't look good in that sparring session. In a fun little fact, the guy Diaz beat in his pro-boxing bout was the first guy to knockdown Andre Dirrell as a professional.

KJ Noons (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=259486&cat=boxer) 11-2-0 as a pro-boxer. He is currently 10-4 in MMA, and he also has a kickboxing record of 12-2. According the the press release below, prior to turning pro as a boxer Noons reached the semi-finals of the 2004 Olympic Boxing Trials.

http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/151174005cp.shtml

Jens Pulver (http://boxrec.com/search.php?status=all&cat=boxer&first_name=jens&last_name=pulver&submit=Go), who was the first UFC Lightweight Champion, is 4-0. He actually fought on ESPN at one stage.

In a somewhat sad postscript, the guy Pulver fought on ESPN, Steve Vincent (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=241748&cat=boxer), was shot and killed about two years later while trying to rob a liquor store. Vincent was twenty-four at the time of his death.

Pulver, now thirty-six, last boxed in 2004. In fact all his pro-boxing fights took place in 2004. He continues to fight MMA. These days he seems to lose more than he wins. As of last weekend, when he won a fight, his MMA record is 25-15-1.

The Pulver/Vincent fight is actually online if you want to watch it.

Jens Pulver Vs Steve Vincent (The Belvedere, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, United States) (June 15, 2004)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9thga_jens-pulver-vs-steve-vincent-boxing_sport

Jeff Monson, fighting as Jeff Munson, (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=249847&cat=boxer) went 2-0-1 as a pro-boxer in 2004. Monson's MMA record is currently 42-12.

Alessio Sakara (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=297539&cat=boxer), an Italian fighter who is a bit of a UFC mainstay, is 8-1 as a pro-boxer. His MMA record is 15-8.

Orlando Wiet (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=7339&cat=boxer), a Dutch kickboxer who fought at UFC 2, is 8-8 as a pro-boxer. Wiet's MMA record is 1-4.

Kickboxing/Muay-Thai records (outside of K-1) aren't the easiest to verify but Wiet was a very good kickboxer/Muay-Thai fighter at one stage. He was a better combat sports athlete than his boxing and MMA records suggest.

Travis Fulton (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=18561&cat=boxer) is 14-26 as a pro boxer. Fulton is probably the most prolific MMA fighter in history. Sherdog lists his current MMA record as 247-48-10 (1 NC). There are probably a few fights missing from his record on Sherdog as well. Lord knows how many pro MMA fights he has actually had.

Tra Tellingman (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=50871&cat=boxer) has a pro boxing record of 4-2.

The MMA career of Tellingman, who had one pectoral muscle, peaked in 2001 when he scored a big upset at a Pride show and beat Igor Vovchanchyn by decision. His MMA record is 7-5-1 He hasn't fought since 2005 when he was viciously knocked out courtesy of a Tim Sylvia head kick at UFC 54. So, I'm guessing he's retired.

Mighty-Mo (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=356526&cat=boxer) is 2-1 as a boxer. In truth Mo's a kickboxer who has fought MMA. His MMA record is 3-2. I have included him on the list because his MMA début did pre date his boxing début. More than anything he is a kickboxer though.

Vitor Belfort (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=352247&cat=boxer) is 1-0 as a boxer. Belfort has been pushed as a star since he made his UFC début as 19 year old back in 1997. His MMA record is 20-9. The knock on him as always been that for all his physical talents he has troubles with the mental aspects of fighting and has never realised his true potential.

Ricco Rodriguez (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=373281&cat=boxer) is 1-1. Ricco is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He went through a phase where he liked cocaine and food, a lot. He blew up to 330 lbs at one stage. He kept fighting during this phase. Ricco's MMA record is 47-11.

Oleg Taktarov (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=223223&cat=boxer) is 1-0. Taktarov was an early MMA star. His pro-boxing bout took place in Atlantic City in 1997. Many years later he beat Dolph Lundgren by decision in celebrity boxing match that took place in Russia.

His MMA record is 17-5-2.

These days Oleg has a bit of an acting a career going on (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0847727/)

Alexander Emelianenko (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=513144&cat=boxer) is 0-0-1. Alexander's MMA record is 17-4. Alexander is Fedor's younger brother.

Keith Jardine (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=226517&cat=boxer) is 3-0-1 as a pro boxer. His MMA record is 17-9-2. Jardine was on a season 2 of the Ultimate Fighter . The high point of his MMA career came when he beat Chuck Liddell by decision.

There are other examples as well. They either debuted as boxers first such as Marcus Davis (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=019438&cat=boxer) who was UFC mainstay for a few yeas and who, prior to switching to MMA, had a pro-boxing record of 17-1.

There are also kickboxers like Mark Hunt and Jerome Le Banner who have dabbled with both boxing and MMA but whose boxing débuts came first.

Then there are guys I simply don't know about. There are probably quite a few of them as well.

Also, while he's never had a pro-boxing bout Antonio Rogério Nogueira deserves a mention. He represented Brazil as an amateur at the Pan American Games in 2007 and won a bronze medal.

 

I said one step closer, not already there.