Ultimate Fighting and MMA News

UFC President Dana White has continued to soften his stance about promoting a possible fight using former Elite XC female superstar and butt-kicking heartthrob Gina “Conviction” Carano (7-0).

Just don’t expect it to take place in the hallowed Octagon. If it were to happen under his watch, White says, it would more than likely take place under the Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) banner.

Here’s what he said at Monday’s Q & A in Toronto :

“ Gina Carano is a star, and I think she’s talented. I think she has all the tools, so what I’m willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. We could do fights whenever there’s a challenge for Gina. That’s how I’ll test the waters and see how it goes ."

That’s clearly not an all-out guarantee. However, it is a marked change in tone from just two weeks ago. Here’s what he had to say then:

“Gina Carano’s a talented fighter, she’s a star. She should’ve been the main event (on CBS’ last EliteXC broadcast). My thing with women and fighting is there isn’t enough good women to create a whole division. Could I do some one-off fights here and there? Yeah, but that’s not really what we do.”

It’s an intriguing development to say the least. Perhaps White — who has historically gone on record saying he does not personally like to see women beat each other up — is having a change of heart because a match up between Carano and Brazilian rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (6-1) is more than likely a huge money maker.

In fact, the WEC has designs on making its pay-per-view (PPV) debut sometime in 2009. And what better way to increase interest (and PPV buys) than putting a fight together than fans are eager to see, were told they were going to see, and then had it disappear before their very eyes when Elite XC closed its doors.

Remember, too, the Carano is very close with UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and his wife Kim, training full-time at the X-Treme Couture facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

There is also that ugly issue with Affliction’s now-exiled Todd Beard and the Couture’s, suggesting that a fight between Carano and Cyborg would now be highly unlikely under the Affliction MMA brand because of the tensions between the parties.

Therefore, White more than likely has the upper hand, as well as the financial and television resources, to ensure that this blockbuster showdown is indeed just that.

Cha-ching! … hopefully.

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There’s no rest for the weary in the mixed martial arts (MMA) land of milk and honey.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is coming out of the gates like a bat out of hell in 2009, scheduling five events in less than 70 days to start the New Year.

That’s, of course, on the heels of a December that features three events, including the year-end blockbuster pay-per-view (PPV) event, UFC 92: “The Ultimate 2008,” on December 27.

Here is the early jam-packed schedule for 2009:

• UFC 93: “Franklin vs. Henderson” from The O2 in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17
• UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2” from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 31
• UFC Fight Night 17 [Location TBD] on February 7
• UFC 95 from the O2 Arena in London, England, on February 21
• UFC 96 from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 7

The only bad news, according to MMARated.com, is that the promotion is unable to hammer out a deal with its cable television provider, Spike TV, to air any of the European-based events for free so early in the year.

That means four of the first five UFC shows in 2009 (UFC 93, UFC 94, UFC 95 and UFC 96) will be broadcast on PPV, which could price out fans who may be unable to afford to watch all the shows because of the current state of the economy.

And that doesn’t even include the Affliction: “Day of Reckoning” PPV on January 24, which features a sick main event fight between WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

Talk about bitter sweet.

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Los Angeles, Calif. — November 19, 2008 — Bellator Fighting Championships, a first of its kind Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion, officially launched operations today from offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Three years in development, Bellator has an exclusive television agreement with ESPN Deportes. Bellator season #1 premieres on ESPN Deportes in April, 2009.

Bellator (Latin for warrior), marks a step forward in the evolution of professional Mixed Martial Arts with a business model unique in the fight industry, yet followed in every other major sport. At Bellator, a fighter’s wins or losses control his future. Bjorn Rebney, Bellator founder & CEO states, “We are implementing a tournament structure to determine champions and #1 challengers so that world-class fighters can control their destiny based on their performance.”

Bellator events will showcase highly competitive fights between top competitors with each tournament bout winner earning substantially larger purses and moving closer to a championship fight. “Simply put, at Bellator, fighters fight their way to the title,” Rebney adds.

With a tagline that refers to its fighters as warriors that are on their way to becoming legends, Bellator differentiates itself by making its fighters the focus of the organization. “The fans’ connection to Bellator will be created through our fighters. That understanding will drive the promotion, publicity, marketing and advertising of Bellator’s fighters, making them the centerpiece of what we do,” says Rebney.

On each telecast, leading up to tournament bouts, Bellator Fighting Championships will air back-stories on each fighter. “We will use the simple yet powerful sports programming philosophy of combining elite
competition with compelling feature pieces that tell the story of who these fighters are, where they’re from and why they compete,” says Bellator founder & COO Brad Epstein. “MMA fighters have incredibly rich stories to tell, and we will bring these to MMA fans, allowing our audience to identify with who these warriors really are.”

Bellator’s nationally televised events will be highly competitive sports programming in its purest form and will have no connection to “reality television.” These events are structured as tournament competitions, crowning champions and top challengers at the end of each season.

Bellator’s premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events to be broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights. The nationally televised events will feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There will be four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season #1 over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions. Eight fighters from around the world will be represented in each division.

To win the Bellator Championship, a fighter must win a total of three fights, each consisting of three five-minute rounds over a three month period. At the end of the initial three month, 12-event season, Bellator will have crowned four Bellator Champions and will have awarded each Champion $175,000. Opening round winners receive $25,000, semi-final round winners receive $50,000 and final winners receive $100,000.

“Mixed Martial Arts is becoming increasingly popular among Hispanics and we are thrilled to work with Bellator Fighting Championships to showcase these world-class athletes on a national platform,” says Lino Garcia, general manager, ESPN Deportes. “The structure of this championship will give fans a unique opportunity to follow their athletes as the tournament progresses.”

Bellator’s interactive Web site, www.bellator.com, featuring event and fighter information, behind the scenes video footage, fight clips and live interaction with Bellator fighters will go live in late December, 2008.

About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Bellator’s founders, Bjorn Rebney and Brad Epstein, are experienced sports and entertainment professionals with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production (including Rob Beiner, winner of 12 Emmy awards for sports programming), fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.

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Props: HarbenPictures.com via LiftStudios.com

Quoteworthy:

I was fortunate to help create the first ad campaign for the UFC. Now for those of you who live under a rock or refuse to watch TV, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is extreme mixed martial arts. The sport has grown so large that it now eclipses all major sports. This campaign helmed by Publicis, aims to tell everyone just that. We shot for two days and nights to create these images, we had an awesome makeup artist and stylist and a group of great guys who stood for what seemed like hours while we poured over the details. This was a great shoot and thanks to all who brought this together. You can find the whole campaign in the new work section of the site.

Check out the rest of the photos after the jump.

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