UFC 89 free on Spike TV … not a PPV
MMA Mania — ... UFC 89: “Leben vs. Bisping” at The NIA in Birmingham, England, on October 18 will be televised for free on Spike TV, according to Dave Meltzer at WrestlingObserver.com. ...

Report: UFC 89 “Bisping vs. Leben” To Be Televised On Spike TV
MMAFrenzy.com — ... UFC 89 “Bisping vs. Leben”, which takes place on October 18th at The NIA in Birmingham, England, will be televised on Spike TV according to Dave Meltzer at F4WOnline.com. ...

New MMA weight classes proposed..
The SAV SCI MMA blog — Via The Wrestling Observer …we’ve talked about the meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions elsewhere, but TWO reports some interesting stuff about the group’s proposed new weight classes for MMA. Here’s the weight classes proposed followed by some comments from TWO: MALE Flyweight (Up to 105 pounds) Super Flyweight (Over 105.1 to 115 lbs) Bantamweight (Over 115.1 to 125 lbs) Super Bantamweight (Over 125.1 to 135 lbs) Featherweight (Over 135.1 to 145 lbs) Lightweight (Over 145.1 to 155 lbs) Super Lightweight (Over 155.1 to 165 lbs) Welterweight (Over 165.1 to 175 ...

Jackson/Griffin Scorecards; Main Event Wins “Fight of the Night”
CagePotato.com — The official judges’ tallies, from Dave Meltzer via Fightlinker: Adalaide Byrd Round 1: 10-9 Griffin Round 2: 10-8 Griffin Round 3: 10-9 Griffin Round 4: 10-9 Jackson Round 5: 10-9 Jackson Nelson Hamilton Round 1: 10-9 Jackson Round 2: 10-8 Griffin Round 3: 10-9 Griffin Round 4: 10-9 Jackson Round 5: 10-9 Griffin Roy Silbert Round 1: 10-9 Griffin Round 2: 10-9 Griffin Round 3: 10-9 Griffin Round 4: 10-9 Jackson Round 5: 10-9 ...

Wild finish to Samoa Joe/Booker T highlight TNA Victory Road results
Ropes, Ring and Cage — ... Live from Reliant Arena in Houston, TX, it's TNA's Victory Road. I watched the ppv sporadically, so I'm posting most of Dave Meltzer's report from www.f4wonline.com, slightly remixed. ...

More Questionable Numbers From Affliction?
CagePotato.com — ... The big question we’ve been waiting to hear an answer to this week is, what of Affliction’s pay-per-view numbers? VP Tom Atencio claimed they did “well over” 100,000 buys. He also said, in the post-fight press conference, that he’d be releasing the numbers on Thursday or Friday of this week. And yet, so far nothing official. Subscribers to Dave Meltzer’s “Wrestling Observer” relayed the following tidbit from the latest issue via the ...

UFC vs Affliction PPV Buys
MMA News & Blog — ... Tom Atencio said earlier this week that while he won’t announce the final numbers, that the numbers are over 100,000 PPV Buys. Most people have claimed this to be a HUGE success, but I am not sure why. Dave Meltzer reported that UFC 86 did 520,000 buys and GSP vs. Matt Serra did 525,000 With the “Greatest Lineup of Fighters on One Card”, I am not sure how they will get more buys later if they weren’t able to get them now. Was there not enough hype? Last 3 posts by InfiniteX Similar Posts ...

Bloody Elbow July MMA Meta-Rankings: Heavyweight
Bloody Elbow — ... were compiled from the following sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), and Total MMA. Figure 4 Online hadn't updated their rankings for July. The normalization scheme as explained ...

Bloody Elbow July MMA Meta-Rankings: Welterweight
Bloody Elbow — ... were compiled from the following sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), and Total MMA. Figure 4 Online hadn't updated their rankings for July. The normalization scheme as explained ...

Bloody Elbow July MMA Meta-Rankings: Light Heavyweight
Bloody Elbow — ... from the following sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FightMatrix, MMMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), and Total MMA. Figure 4 Online hadn't updated their rankings for July. The normalization scheme as ...

Bloody Elbow July MMA Meta-Rankings: Middleweight
Bloody Elbow — ... sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FFightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), and Total MMA. Figure 4 Online hadn't updated their rankings when I did the math on these, I'll include them when I ...

Jesse Taylor Released By The UFC
MMAFrenzy.com — ... Jesse Taylor has been released by the UFC following his debut loss to CB Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 14. Yesterday, The Wrestling Observer reported that Taylor had been released by the promotion. ...

Affliction To Ask Fighters To Fight For Less Money
Octagon Buzz — ... Maybe there’s more to Affliction than is being let on.  First it was the inflated numbers - both live gate and pay-per-view buy rates.  Perhaps there is a reason for that; according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Affliction vice president Tom Atencio would supposedly ask fighters to take a 50% cut in pay to participate in the Las Vegas show in October.  Josh Barnett would have none of that as he told Zach Arnold of ...

Bloody Elbow July MMA Meta-Rankings: Lightweight
Bloody Elbow — ... from the following sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FFightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), Total MMA and Figure 4 Online. The normalization scheme as explained by JCS of FightMatrix  is ...

Aleks Emelianenko Barred From Fighting in US?
MMA on Tap — ... However in a recent interview on Wrestling Observer’s Figure Four Daily radio show, California State Athletic Commission representative Bill Douglas ...

CSAC: Emelianenko was not and will not be cleared to fight
MMA Mania — ... It seems his simple explanation of missed deadlines and poor timing isn’t sitting well with Bill Douglas and the rest of the suits over at the CSAC, who fired back recently on the Figure Four Daily Radio Show. ...

Roger Huerta and UFC “Far Apart” On Contract Renewal
MMAFrenzy.com — ... Following his UFC 87 bout against Kenny Florian on Saturday, UFC lightweight contender Roger Huerta will have just one fight remaining on his current contract with the UFC. While a win over Florian would essentially guarantee Huerta a shot at the 155-pound title, he’s unlikely to challenge for the belt unless he agrees to terms with the UFC on a new deal. According to Dave Meltzer at The Wrestling Observer , Huerta and the UFC remain “far apart” in negotiations with Huerta seeking a deal better than current lightweight champion BJ Penn:“Huerta, who has one fight left on his ...

WEC Ratings Go Back to Normal
MMA on Tap — ... Dave Meltzer reported the numbers in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer and ...

Affliction’s Pay-Per-View Numbers Maybe Not So Bad After All
CagePotato.com — ... had pegged the number at 50,000-85,000 pay-per-view buys — far from the “well over 100,000″ that VP Tom Atencio was claiming. In a recent issue of his Wrestling Observer newsletter (via ...

EliteXC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Silva Tests Positive for Steroids
MMA News, UFC News, Strikeforce: MMA Scraps News — Juicing Alert, www.f4wonline.com has the scoop. Antonio Silva Jr., the current EliteXC Heavyweight Champion, tested positive for Boldenone. He has been suspended for one year and fined $2,500. Here's what wikipedia has to say about this particular steroid. Boldenone (1,4-androstadiene-3-one-17β-ol, available as the undecylenate ester), also known under the trade names Equipoise, Ganabol, Equigan and Ultragan, is an anabolic steroid developed for veterinary use, mostly for treatment of horses. It is not indicated for use in ...

Bloody Elbow August MMA Meta-Rankings: Middleweight
Bloody Elbow — ... were compiled from the following sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, MMA Madness, FightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), Figure 4 Online, Fighters.com, and Total MMA.  The normalization ...

ShoXC Scores Highest Rating Ever
MMA on Tap — ... The August 15 edition of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series, which saw Jared Hamman dramatically avenge his prior loss to Poai Suganuma by stopping him in the first round, scored it’s highest rating to date according to the print edition of Dave Meltzer‘s Wrestling Observer: ...

Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar Close to Being Reality
MMA News, UFC News, Strikeforce: MMA Scraps News — ... opponent is Brock Lesnar. They can't get Fedor, too many issues to work out on short notice, and he has a US-only non compete with Affliction. This will be a new contract, not a return to the old one. It will likely pay him more and give him more benefits, but it will lock him into the UFC for the long term. In exchange for signing it Zuffa would drop all breach of contract charges. Its just Rome either, Dave Meltzer has started confirming things on f4wonline.com A source close to Randy Couture has confirmed today that ...

Bloody Elbow August MMA Meta-Rankings: Lightweight
Bloody Elbow — ... sites: TAGG Radio, MMA News, Sherdog, Cage Potato, MMA On Tap, Five Ounces of Pain, Houston Chronicle's Brawl Sports, WAMMA, MMA Fighting, MMA-ELO, FCFighter, 411 Mania, FightMatrix, MMA Playground, HDNet/Inside MMA, MMAVT (Japan), Total MMA, Fighters.com, MMA Weekly, and Figure 4 Online. The normalization scheme as explained by JCS of FightMatrix  ...

Report: Alexander Signs Extension With UFC
MMA on Tap — ... Upstart light heavyweight contender Houston Alexander has reportedly signed a five-fight contract extension with the Ultimate Fighting Championship according to the latest print edition of Dave Meltzer‘s Wrestling Observer. ...

Houston Alexander Signs UFC Extension
MMAFrenzy.com — Houston Alexander Light heavyweight Houston Alexander has signed a five-fight contract extension with the UFC, according to Dave Meltzer . Alexander made his UFC debut at UFC 71 in May 2007 with a 48-second knockout of light heavyweight contender Keith Jardine. “The Assassin” followed up the debut victory with a one-minute one-second knockout of Alessio Sakara at UFC 75. Following the back-to-back wins Alexander was matched up against Thiago Silva at UFC 78 and was defeated via first-round TKO. He was dealt a second-straight loss at UFC Fight Night 13 in April when he was defeated by James Irvin via ...

UFC 92: CB Dolloway vs Jorge Rivera
MMA Mania — ... The Ultimate Fighter 7 runner-up CB Dollaway (7-1) will make his third straight Octagon appearance when he takes on UFC veteran Jorge Rivera (15-7) at UFC 92 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on New Year’s Eve weekend according to WrestlingObserver.com. ...

Affliction Woes: Fedor-Barnett Downgraded to Unlikely, Arlovski Comes at a Heavy Cost
CagePotato.com — ... They’ve got to figure out some way to make it pay, because according to Dave Meltzer Arlovski is poised to haul in seven figures if he beats Nelson this weekend, and Affliction is footing the bill. It’s great for Affliction to get their stuff on CBS, but Arlovski better be wearing several layers of Affliction t-shirts to make this little venture seem worthwhile. ...

Dan Cramer To Make MMA Debut Against Matt Arroyo at UFC 94
MMAFrenzy.com — ... Dan Cramer (0-0) will make his MMA debut on January 31st in a welterweight bout against Matt Arroyo (3-2) at UFC 94 in Las Vegas, according to The Wrestling Observer. ...

Report: Ken Shamrock was going to be “paid to stand with him as well”
FightOpinion.com — ... This report is in the latest edition of Figure Four Weekly , published by Bryan Alvarez: Seth Petruzelli said that he was paid to stand with Kimbo. Well, he said that and then he claimed he never said it. For what it’s worth, we heard in the days leading up to the fight that Ken Shamrock was being paid to stand with him as well. It’s a pretty shady way of doing business, and while it’s not outright working the fight it is attempting to give one man an advantage — or a perceived advantage, as did didn’t help Kimbo one goddamn bit — over another. You can subscribe to Bryan’s ...

Quote of the Day: Dave Meltzer on Seth Petruzelli's Comments
Bloody Elbow — ... --Dave Meltzer comments in the latest Wrestling Observer Radio about Seth Petruzelli comments and if you are involved with Mixed Martial Arts,  then you have deal with boxing, kickboxing, BJJ, wrestling, etc. And, he also ...

StandGate this morning
Fightlinker.com » Fightlinker - MMA, UFC, and other funny fight crap — ... agreement before Seth opened his stupid mouth and talked about it on the radio. He also says he thinks the situation is as sketchy as it sounds and there should be an investigation. Bryan Alvarez hears that Seth Petruzelli was just getting the same deal as Ken Shamrock … that’s right: Ken was getting paid more to stand and trade with Kimbo Slice as well. ...

Couture-Lesnar at UFC 91 Not Such an Easy Sell-Out After All?
CagePotato.com — ... he never would have come back.) UFC president Dana White claimed with confidence that the Randy Couture-Brock Lesnar headlined UFC 91 would break UFC records this November. He predicted over a million pay-per-view buys and a sure sell-out at the box office. Turns out the tickets, or at least the high-priced ones, aren’t exactly flying off the shelves…or wherever they keep tickets while they’re waiting to sell them. The Wrestling Observer (via MMA Payout) says only $500 and up tickets remain, ...

The 11/15 Las Vegas show with Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar, which should have been a first...
Bloody Elbow — ... of the high prices and economy is at 8,000 sold for $3 million, and also moving slowly since only the $500 and up seats are left. There are casinos who have purchased tickets that don’t figure into that number, which is the ticket outlet numbers. But it was scaled to break the all-time UFC gate record of $5.4 million and right now it looks like they are going to have to cut deals or paper to sellout the 14,000 plus seats at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. -- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer ...

Shamrock's Cut Sort of Stemmed From Not Getting...An Extra Cut
Bloody Elbow — ... In this week’s Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer reported that Shamrock was extremely pissed that Kimbo Slice was making a considerable amount of money for the fight, made an attempt before the show to get a large undisclosed amount. ...

Matt Brown Replaces Injured Matt Riddle at UFC 91
MMAFrenzy.com — Matt Riddle has been forced out of his welterweight debut against Ryan Thomas at UFC 91 after suffering a knee injury. Replacing Riddle in the 170-pound matchup is fellow “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ cast member Matt Brown, according to The Wrestling Observer. Brown was last in action in August, losing via split decision to Dong Hyun Kim. He previously defeated Matt Arroyo via second-round TKO in his UFC debut in June. Riddle’s injury is expected to require surgery and will knock him out of action for a minimum of six weeks. For the latest UFC ...

The trending patterns as a prediction of the buy rate continued to be right on as the 10/25 show in...
Bloody Elbow — ... The trending patterns as a prediction of the buy rate continued to be right on as the 10/25 show in Chicago headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote did 300,000 buys. -- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has the numbers for UFC 90. Anderson Silva headlining a UFC PPV: UFC 67 - 325 UFC 77 - 325 UFC 82 - 325 UFC 90 - 300 vs. Brock Lesnar: UFC 81 - 600 UFC 87 - 600 UFC 91 - ? ...

WWE Report: Jeff Hardy Fine, Wrestling Fans Found Unconscious
FanHouse — ... Thankfully, this is one of those times when your "wrestling is fake!" comments are apropos. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online can confirm that the stairwell unconsciousness and hospital-rushage are all part of tonight's Survivor Series pay-per-view. There are also spoilers below, in case you're planning on watching: ...

Punches in bunches: Sokoudjou cut; UFC 91 does big numbers
Brawl Sports — ... • Dave Meltzer estimates that the UFC 91 buy rate was in the 800,000 to 850,000 range. If those numbers hold up, it will be the second biggest UFC buy rate ever. (Wrestling Observer Newsletter via ...

WWE Report: Jeff Hardy Fine, Wrestling Fans Pleasantly Shocked
FanHouse — ... Thankfully, this is one of those times when your "wrestling is fake!" comments are apropos. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online can confirm that the stairwell unconsciousness and hospital-rushage are all part of tonight's Survivor Series pay-per-view. There are also spoilers below, in case you're planning on watching: ...

Punches in Bunches: The comeback edition
Brawl Sports — ... in Brazil. The film was written by Sylvester Stallone and will also be directed by him as well. (Aint it Cool) • Bobby Lashley, the former WWE pro wrestling star, won his first professional mixed martial arts fight by beating Joshua Franklin in 41 seconds by TKO. (MMA Fanhouse) • Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will fight Renato "Babalu" Sobral at "Day of Reckoning" on January 24th. (Sherdog) • UFC 91 scored about 1,010,000 buys. (Wrestling Observer) • UFC heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and Shane Carwin are ...

UFC 94: Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn 2 in Links
Bloody Elbow — ...         The 1/31 show has 7,000 tickets sold for $1.9 million. --The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.   ...

Preview - UFC 94: Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn
Fight Game Blog — Dana White has been saying that he believes this will be the UFC’s biggest show in their history. That’s pretty ballsy to say considering they did enormous business in November and December. But they have done everything to try to make it so. With the UFC Primetime hype machine behind it, UFC 94 is definitely a must see show. Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn are two fighters at the top of their weight classes at at the apex of their careers. It’s a one of a kind superstar fight. I have asked MMA writers and ...

UFC 94 Weigh-Ins
Fight Game Blog — Here are the weights courtesy of Figure Four/Wrestling Observer: Matt Arroyo (3-2, 171) vs. Dan Cramer (0-0, 171) Jake O’Brien (10-2, 205) vs. Christian Wellisch (9-3, 206) Chris Wilson (13-4, 170) vs. John Howard (10-4, 171) Thiago Tavares (17-3, 155) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (10-4, 155) Jon Fitch (21-3, 171) vs. Akihiro Gono (28-13-7, 171) weighing in with large Afro wig Stephan Bonnar (14-4, 206) vs. Jon Jones (7-0, 206) Nate Diaz (10-2, 156) vs. Clay Guida (24-6, 156) Karo Parisyan (26-5, 170) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1, 171) Lyoto Machida ...

MMA Newswrap: Strikeforce/EliteXC details, UFC 97's Montreal issues, UFN thoughts
Ropes, Ring and Cage — ... until 2012 when their contract runs out. Interestingly enough, Pro Elite still owns the EliteXC name and will remain the parent company of King of the Cage, one of the many organizations they purchased in the past few years. Their $6.3 million in debt to CBS/Showtime has been absolved, so the company may move ahead and promote again without a huge financial burden. This part blows my mind considering what happened, but fight promotions is a strange business. Other details from the Wrestling Observer newsletter: - The 4/11 show will be built through 'short-form' segments on ...

2009 WWE No Way Out - The Aftermath
Fight Game Blog — My FGB brothers and I have mixed feelings about WWE’s latest PPV showing. Big D and cousin Stevie J (from Angry Marks) absolutely loved the show. Duan and Alan (runner up in the F4W King of the Board contest) didn’t like it at all. I liked it, but just was bothered by the booking and long term plans. Big D Show overall rating: Thumbs Up Best Match: Both Elimination Chambers (Tied) Worst Match: Shawn Micheals vs. JBL Call me biased due to my borderline homosexual love for Edge, but I LOVED No Way Out. But even with the Edge love aside, ...

UFC’s Big Show Main Event Is In Jeopardy
Fight Game Blog — ... UFC 98 heavyweight unification bout with Brock Lesnar. It is probably UFC’s biggest match of the year and the timing is especially frustrating because just this week, tickets for UFC 98 went on sale for Fight Club members. I (and Stevie J too) bought a ticket just this week. Dave Meltzer, who is in Columbus, Ohio for UFC 96 tonight, just posted that Mir and Lesnar are actually in Columbus and Mir is saying he can’t spar right now. Meltzer’s latest update: UFC has at this ...

Live round by round event update
ProphetFighting — ... events on Saturday we’ll not be able to cover the Ring of Honor debut on HD Net. We love the ROH product and will definitely be covering it, but we may end up just doing a ‘recap’ of each show much like Mike Wilkerson’s Nobel Prize nominated writeups recapping ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. As you’re no doubt aware these shows are taped well in advance and if you’re *that* interested in finding out what’s going on before it airs there’s plenty of places online where you can do so (Hint: Try The Wrestling Observer website , or better yet subscribe to their newsletter which will give ...

Live round by round event update
ProphetFighting — ... events on Saturday we’ll not be able to cover the Ring of Honor debut on HD Net. We love the ROH product and will definitely be covering it, but we may end up just doing a ‘recap’ of each show much like Mike Wilkerson’s Nobel Prize nominated writeups recapping ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. As you’re no doubt aware these shows are taped well in advance and if you’re *that* interested in finding out what’s going on before it airs there’s plenty of places online where you can do so (Hint: Try The Wrestling Observer website , or better yet subscribe to their newsletter which will give ...

WWE News: Tazz Gets the Axe, More Divas Announced for Wrestlemania
Ropes, Ring and Cage — ... If it was an early April Fool's joke, I'm sure Tazz probably hoped someone would have let him in on the joke. The former ECW Champion and longtime WWE color commentator was the latest addition to the future endeavors list Tuesday. According to the Wrestling Observer site , his contract had recently expired and a deal was made to have him on Smackdown through this week. Peter " Tazz " Senerchia had been with WWF /E since January 2000 when he defeated Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble. After retiring, he became a full-time color commentator for extended runs on both ...

ROH’s Larry Sweeney talks about his bipolarity
ProphetFighting — ... and clear, but was told he wasn’t welcome at the shows. He said they owe him money for the bookings, and noted his contact expires on 5/2. He noted he’s got bookings this weekend in Louisiana and one in Houston on 4/18. “I will appear for ROH if they have made things right with me by that time, but quite frankly, I do not see that happening. If somebody says they’re your friend, but then tires to fuck with our livelihood, for whatever reason, what does that make you? Your enemy.” Larry Sweeney talks about bipolarity @ The Wrestling Observer Here’s the full ...

FGB Radio - UFC 98 Weigh-Ins, Frank Mir Q&A, Final Predictions, And F4W Convention Notes
Fight Game Blog — Stevie J from AngryMarks.com and I did an audio show right after the UFC 98 weigh-ins and before steak dinner with the F4W Convention crew. We talked about the weigh-ins, who looked good, who the crowd liked and didn’t like, the Frank Mir Q&A, our final predictions for the top two matches based on the UFC hype show, and lastly, a little bit about the F4W Convention. Listen below. Right click to download.

F4WOnline Convention - Bryan Vs. Peachmachine
Fight Game Blog — I was in Las Vegas over the weekend to see UFC 98, but also to hang out with members of F4W/Wrestling Observer at the F4WOnline Convention. One of the highlights of the weekend was a grappling battle between Bryan Alvarez and Peachmachine. Also in attendance were Bryan Danielson, who cornered Bryan and Roderick Strong, who cornered Peachmachine.

Kimbo Slice Added To The Cast For The Next Season Of The Ultimate Fighter
Fight Game Blog — Monday night, I received a Google chat message from fellow F4WOnline/Wrestling Observermember Sinbad, who was very excited. KIMBO SLICE IS ON ULTIMATE FIGHTER NEXT SEASON! I think I started laughing. I wasn’t laughing because it was a terrible idea, but I was laughing because I’d just been talking with a very casual MMA fan and one of the first questions he asked me was about Kimbo Slice. I’d showed him the Jose Canseco vs. Hong Man Choi fight and he immediately wondered if Kimbo Slice was ever going to fight again. There have been ...

UFC 98 Trending Estimates Suggest a 635,000 PPV Buyrate
Bloody Elbow — According to the newest issue of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer and other sources, UFC 98 reportedly has trending estimates that are putting the pay-per-view buyrate in the area of 635,000 buys for the event. This isn't a final number, but this is a huge surprise for a card that featured Lyoto Machida vs. Rashad Evans and Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes. If the trending estimates are true, it suggests that Lyoto Machida could very well be a major drawing fighter in the future for the UFC. ...

More Details on the UFC Sponsorship Racket
Bloody Elbow — From the Wrestling Observer Newsletter via MMA Payout: The UFC is now charging prospective sponsors a $100,000 fee for the right to sponsor fighters that appear on UFC broadcasts for a six month period. This eliminates all the small-time sponsors because they may be able to pay $1,000 to a fighter but they aren’t paying $100,000 to UFC for the right to pay $1,000 to a fighter. The ones hurt the worst are the low-end guys who are struggling to make it on prelim money contracts. It also lessens the amount of ...

Details emerge surrounding UFC potential ban and sponsorship fees
Watch Kalib Run — ... The people most effected by this decision are the preliminary card fighters who make around $3,000-$12,000 a fight. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter approximately 40% of their income is at risk due to this deal.  ...

UFC 100 Preview - Brock Lesnar Vs. Frank Mir
Fight Game Blog — ... a PPV on their own, this show is stacked. It’s a show that should live up to the hype and probably become the biggest PPV card in UFC history. Rather than bore you with a long intro, I’m just going to get to it. I have asked MMA writers and hardcore fans for their predictions for the three top fights on Saturday night. Here is the panel: Todd Martin - Todd writes in the MMA section at CBSSports.com and writes the WWE Raw Report on Figure Four Online/Wrestling Observer. Mike ...

Mitsuhiro Ishida Claims Gilbert Melendez Was Greasy
CagePotato.com — (Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.) As first reported by f4wonline.com and confirmed by FiveOuncesofPain, members of Mitsuhiro Ishida's camp have issued a verbal complaint to the California State Athletic Commission that Gilbert Melendez was illegally greased up during their fight at Saturday's Strikeforce event. Melendez defeated Ishida by third-round TKO in a one-sided match marked by Melendez's flawless counter-punching and takedown defense. During their first meeting in 2007, Ishida ...

UFC 101 Buyrate Likely to Exceed 1 Million Last week’s early estimates of UFC 101 have been c...
Bloody Elbow — ... only UFC 100. The others did right at or just below other the big three of late (Couture vs. Lesnar, Griffin vs. Evans and Penn vs. St. Pierre). One national cable estimate was at this stage between 800,000 and 900,000 buys. Trending patterns indicate numbers higher than that, and if it was the same as the big three before UFC 100, or better, as indicated by the few direct numbers we have, it could top 1 million since UFC 92 hit that figure and 91 and 94 were just below. HT: f4wonline.com (via mmapayout) ...

Preview And Predictions – Floyd Mayweather Jr. Vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
Fight Game Blog — The fight poster says that this fight will decide who is number one (numero uno). Manny Pacquiao has a lot to say about that. However, this is still a big fight. It’s Floyd’s comeback after a 21 month layoff. It’s Marquez fighting against the odds in what is for a very deserving pay day. Will Floyd have any ring rust? Will Marquez’s weight disadvantage be too much? We have a great panel of boxing writers and bloggers who have given me their predictions to publish in our preview. Here is the panel: George Kimball – George is the author of the ...

Bret Hart Possibly Returning to Wrestling
Fight Game Blog — ... According to Dave Meltzer in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, former 5 Time WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart has been in talks with World Wrestling Entertainment about not only coming back to WWE, but coming back in a full-time weekly role. ...

Early Ratings Are In: Kimbo vs. Nelson Sets MMA Records
Ropes, Ring and Cage — We knew a ton of people were going to watch Wednesday's The Ultimate Fighter match between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson, but early ratings show that Slice is even more of a ratings phenomenon then even some experts gave him credit for. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer/Yahoo fame, the early numbers have Wednesday's edition of TUF as the highest-rated MMA show in history with an estimated 5.3 million viewers for the show and 6.1 million for the fight itself. This makes it the "highest rated fight in the history of UFC programming and most watched MMA ...

Early Ratings Are In: Kimbo vs. Nelson sets MMA viewership records
RootZoo Articles — We knew a ton of people were going to watch Wednesday's The Ultimate Fighter match between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson, but early ratings show that Slice is even more of a ratings phenomenon then even some experts gave him credit for. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer/Yahoo fame, the early numbers have Wednesday's edition of TUF as the highest-rated MMA show in history with an estimated 5.3 million viewers for the show and 6.1 million for the fight itself. This makes it the "highest rated fight in the history of UFC programming and most watched MMA ...

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Will Face the Winner of Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin for the UFC Heavyweight Title
Bloody Elbow — ... the Nov. 21 Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin fight. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who is coming off an impressive victory over Randy Couture, will have to put his desire for a rematch with Frank Mir on hold, since it seems that he will be getting the next shot against the winner of Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin. No date or event has been announced yet, but they say that it will probably happen early 2010. HT: Inside Fights, and f4wonline.com

Mark Coleman pulls out of fight with Tito Ortiz at UFC 106
Fight Game Blog — ... According to Titanic Dave Meltzer over at Wrestling Observer, Mark Coleman has pulled out of his co-main event fight with Tito Ortiz at UFC 106. This was scheduled to be a battle of UFC legends and now it won’t happen. They were the secondary main event, right behind Brock Lesnar’s Heavyweight defense against Shane Carwin. ...

Backstage Details on the Signing of Nigel McGuinness
Fight Game Blog — ... watching Nigel McGuinness and was immediately enamored with his gimmick and workrate and wanted to bring him in for a while and jumped at the chance to do so. Dixie Carter was also a fan of his work and wanted McGuinness to be an original member of the British Invasion. - This contract was worked out in the past 3 or 4 days. - As far as I know, Bryan Danielson has fully passed his physical and is still heading in to WWE. I await tomorrow’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with hopefully more details.

HULK HOGAN SIGNS WITH TNA
Fight Game Blog — ... biggest news story in professional wrestling since the death of WCW, Hulk Hogan is preparing a huge announcement in Madison Square Garden that is scheduled to begin shortly. Allegedly there are banners for both Spike TV and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Yes, Hulk Hogan HAS SIGNED WITH TNA WRESTLING! Sources say Hulk Hogan is not the only big star to sign, but the first one to be announced. TNA has acquired the biggest star in the business. Thanks to WrestlingObserver.com

Preview And Predictions – Manny Pacquiao Vs. Miguel Cotto
Fight Game Blog — It’s the biggest fight of the year for fight fans. Rarely do you get such a big fight on a big scale that’s actually the fight that fight fans want to see. We saw a few months ago how a fight that is deemed big can leave a bit of a bad taste in your mouth. I don’t think that’s the case here. Even though voters in the poll on our site would suggest differently, this should be a competitive fight. While Manny Pacquiao seems to be the heavy favorite, Miguel Cotto is a helluva boxer and should give him hell. We have a great panel of boxing writers and bloggers who have given ...

More on the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers Ratings
Watch Kalib Run — ... Dave Meltzer adds some more perspective to Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers ratings (via MMA Payout). As far as match-by-match ratings, Werdum vs. Silva gained 113,000 viewers and did a 2.15. Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou gained 178,000 viewers and did a 2.25. Jake Shields vs. Jason Miller gained 504,000 viewers and did a 2.63 rating. However, it peaked during the third round and lost 79,000 viewers in the fourth and fifth round. The Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers fight gained 1,493,000 viewers ...