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Tim Kennedy’s ideal UFC 162 scenario? Gracie shooting for a single leg on ref

BAD MMA News — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 21:15:00 +0000

On Saturday at UFC 162, Tim Kennedy makes his UFC debut after 12 years as a professional MMA fighter, including three in the now-defunct Strikeforce organization, where he once vied for the promotion’s middleweight belt. It’s long overdue, and yet Kennedy looks at the booking as bittersweet. And no, it’s got nothing to do with his fight purse . Although he’s fighting Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Roger Gracie (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the pay-per-view card’s swing bout, the always-outspoken Kennedy (15-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) said he’d much rather be paired against a UFC veteran. Fighting in Strikeforce, he constantly was being compared to the middleweights in the industry-leader and asked about whether he measured up to the UFC roster. Ever since the California-based promotion was shuttered, he’s been a cheerleader for Strikeforce fighters as they transition into the octagon. “Now, I’ll just be cheering for myself,” the Special Forces veteran told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’ll be like, ‘Great overhand right, Tim!’ ‘Good takedown!’ ‘Oh-oh, watch out for his guard.

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Tim Kennedy’s ideal UFC 162 scenario? Gracie shooting for a single leg on ref – MMA Junkie

Ex-UFC welterweight Jon Fitch responds to Dana White’s fighter-pay comments

BAD MMA News — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:45:00 +0000

Welterweight Jon Fitch cut a video today to respond to UFC President Dana White’s angry rebuttal about his tenure with the industry-leader. Responding to White’s assertion that he made $302,000 in discretionary bonuses, Fitch added up his fight purses, saying he was paid a total of $1,022,000 for 18 bouts with the promotion and “about $300,000 in bonuses,” which he said brought his total payout to $1,322,000. “Sounds like a lot of money,” he said. “But let’s look at that a little bit closer. Out of the 18 fights in that fight purse, I paid 20 percent of that to management and the gym. So if you take that number, divide it by seven-and-a-half years, I was making roughly $176,000 a year before management and gym fees.” The onetime welterweight title challenger, who in January signed with the upstart World Series of Fighting promotion after his high-profile UFC release, said he was in the “medium to high pay grade,” but added, “most fighters didn’t make as much money as I did.” Fitch’s take-home figure also leaves out taxes (UFC fighters are paid as independent contractors)

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Ex-UFC welterweight Jon Fitch responds to Dana White’s fighter-pay comments – MMA Junkie

Jacob Volkmann, Jon Fitch hit pause on WSOF 3 to discuss MMA fighters’ union

BAD MMA News — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 02:00:00 +0000

A middle-of-the-road media teleconference briefly turned into an informal union meeting as World Series of Fighting signees Jacob Volkmann (15-4) and Jon Fitch (24-5-1) swapped ideas about collective bargaining. “I did have a question for Fitch after this question,” Volkmann said in response to a query from MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) about his feelings about the promotion. “I was wondering if Fitch wanted to get a fighter’s union started for the UFC, to see if we can get a union started so fighters have a little better pay and a little more leverage in their contract.” As it turned out, Fitch already was on the same page. Like Volkmann, he had been unceremoniously released from the industry-leader following a loss and signed with the WSOF. In several interviews after his departure, he criticized the UFC’s business practices. Both Fitch and Volkamnn will turn over a new leaf when they compete on June 14 at the upstart promotion’s third event, which takes place at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The event’s main-card airs live on NBC Sports Network following prelims that will stream at MMAjunkie.com

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Jacob Volkmann, Jon Fitch hit pause on WSOF 3 to discuss MMA fighters’ union – MMA Junkie