 |
 |
||
 Well, looks like Jon Fitch is back in the UFC. Ariel at MMA Rated is hanging out at AKA and passed this along:"Communication kind of broke down with Dana (White) so we talked with Lorenzo," Fitch told MMARated. “(I) just got off the phone with him and we came to an agreement. We're going to move ahead and I'll be back in the UFC. We're going to sign off on the video game and I'm back. It was never even about the agreement or the contract. It was the approach that we felt Dana was being a little bit hot-headed and was threatening us right off the bat. It didn't seem like a professional way of doing things." So ... score one for the UFC bully machine. No word yet on what happens to the rest of the AKA fighters like Cain Velasquez. And a clear message is sent out: no matter how small an issue or reasonable a point you're trying to make during negotiations, if you don't bow down the UFC will wreck your shit.  lol it's like Dana and Lorenzo were playing "Good cop Bad cop"It worked, he signed :P I think it's more of a case of Lorenzo Fertitta giving him an offer he couldn't refuse.  Good cop; bad cop is exactly right. Cleary, Dana and the ufc wanted to send a very public message to all fighters and their agents and he succeeded. Fitch came running back like a bitch to her pimp that just bitch slapped her! Fitch picked the wrong fight.  Ha! What a cocked up melodramatic mess this turned out to be.If Fitch ever gets an offer to be in a video game when he's not fighting in the UFC, which he won't, he can take the UFC to court and work it out there.  Dana is the US and Lorenzo is Canada.  Frank is...Puerto Rico?  Ah yes another one for the myth that dana is good for the UFC. This is the first tangible benefit of bringing Lorenzo into the picture. Dana is just like every other shithead promoter that ruined boxing. "Frank is...Puerto Rico?"Gary Shaw is the People's Republic of China. what happened to fitch's "principles"? fitch admitted from the get-go that he never spoke to dana in person, so how would he know he was being hot headed? sounds like fitch was afraid to get an ass-chewing. I was kind of hoping fitch would stand his ground and encourage other fighters who dont want to sign away the rights to their name and face for the rest of their lives to also tell UFC and Dana to go fuck themselves. Oh well, I guess when the battlefield is money MMA fighters are just as spineless and greedy as the rest of us shlubs.  somehow reading this story reminds me of mel gibson in braveheart screaming, "FREEDOM!!" It may sound cliche, but i still believe in having rights whether or not i choose to exercise them or not, or whether or not they may ever materialize. if someone wants to take away those rights, and then threatens my livelihood if i don't give them away according to the "FAVORS" that i need to comply with, then that seems a bit unethical to me. and before everyone says, "they're a private co./ don't work for them, etc. etc....i agree w/ that, but only to a point. saying something like that is only valid if you have another company or organization to go to. otherwise, if you only have pretty much ONE choice, then that option sort of becomes moot and meaningless.can i choose then to not be a fighter - sure. but how logical or practical is that? especially in terms of the age, training, money and lifelong dedication spent towards being a pro fighter. which is why i say that........... i cannot wait for the day that another promotion is able to truly challenge the ufc so that when they pull their strongarm tactics on the fighters, they can actually say "f*ck u dana" and go elsewhere and really have a place to earn a living. for all the bad crap spoken about the other organizations, it seems they at least didn't squeeze the lifeblood out of their fighters just so they could earn every red cent from them. to go back to something very relevant that luke thomas posted in one of the many fitchgate stories: he asked several ?'s re: why the contract needed to be exclusive, why is it absolutely nonnegotiable, why cut fitch completely instead of just out of the game & is this more personal w/ zinkin than w/ fitch himself? the truth is, there really are no answers to these questions that can justify the lifetime issue and the nonpayment to the fighter, including upon his death. & it does not matter to me that currently no org. pays their fighters for dvd's or the like; they should & hopefully will in the future if the fighters get a union or something similar in terms of banding together. again, it goes back to freedom and rights. the ufc is categorically trying to take them away, and b/c they are the only real game in town, they can pretty much force the fighter's hand if they want to eat & continue to live. you can argue all u want that they (the ufc) have the right to do this, and while that may be true, it does not necessarily make it right or fair or ethical. i hope ea sports makes a video game and asks fitch to be in it and then let the ufc sue and have their contract declared illegal. that would be the sweetest revenge. i know fitch had to capitulate b/c of monetary reasons b/c there just aren't too many places to go at this juncture. fitch may never have another video offer, but the fact that he could & now cannot exercise that right is the main crux of the problem for me. the pt. is giving up a right that you have as a person and as an employee of a company and giving up that right due to pressure of not being able to thrive b/c there isn't enough competition. at some pt. what may seem like a small silly video game can lead to larger issues and rights that slowly are devalued by strongarm tactics. so much for freedom of autonomy. as fitch said, swick has a "special" deal for a video game so he's not affected the same way as fitch is; and who knows how many other fighters are exempt from the ufc's special brand of "offers they can't refuse." maybe it's time for a ufc - vegas tea party......w/ the aka boys leading the way. :-) I think the reason Fitch came crawling back is because it's pretty clear that the UFC is the only MMA promotion that people believe will be around longer than the next 6 months. That's why Tito may be crawling back as well.( but they will pay him a lot less than he was making) A fighter can sign with any organization for x, y, or z, but if the organization craps out, the fighters are left holding their dicks.My, how the landscape has changed in the last 3-6 months. ^^I think Affliction could have a legit chance now that they're buddying up with showtime. Imagine all the best things about EXC (broadcast venues, pop stars and a couple of legit fighters) combined with Afflictions roster. I've got my fingers crossed. I don't know about all this 'good cop/bad cop' stuff you guys are talking about. Am I the only one that thinks that Lorenzo might just have sat Dana down and told him to shut up and count to ten? Remember how agitated Dana was during interviews over the last couple of days? He's been touting all the 'bad economy' talk since the end of the Couture/Lesnar card. I think he legitimately lost his temper (which is saying a lot since he walks around with his tempter kinda lost all the time) and Lorenzo had to straighten him and the Fitch situation out.I don't think this was some sort of orchestrated thing between Lorenzo and Dana - I think Dana got overruled by Big Daddy. It'll be interesting to see his next interview when this comes up - I bet he'll still be mad.  How did he get overruled? Fitch signed his video game rights away, exactly what Dana wanted. Dana wins, Fitch loses. Lorenzo is the closer, kinda like Brad Lidge.  LOL- VeryVery true there Beau Dana is the Bad ass Hot Head take not shit #1 starter in the pitching rotation like Carlos Zambrano and Lorenzo is Mike Marinao Rivera coming in at the end to clean it all up !!!!
|
    Skyscraper 120 Right 120x600 |
