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UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend card shifts from Las Vegas to Newark in 2014

BAD MMA News — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 00:50:00 +0000

LAS VEGAS – The UFC’s 10-year run of Super Bowl weekend pay-per-view cards in its home city of Las Vegas apparently will come to an end this winter. The promotion will touch down at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for a show on Feb. 1, 2014. Super Bowl XLVIII takes place the following day at MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford. The announcement came as part of a FOX Sports 1 promotional video following a question-and-answer session with FOX analyst Jay Glazer at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas. UFC officials could not immediately confirm to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) a working event number for the card. The video teased several major sports events for the new FOX Sports 1 cable network that will take place during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, including a college basketball invitational at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a Golden Boy boxing event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and, as the voiceover said, “Saturday night in primetime, it’s the main event – the UFC live from the Prudential Center, all leading to Super Bowl XLVIII from MetLife Stadium, live on FOX.” Although specific broadcast plans for the card were not announced, the event is likely to be a pay-per-view with prelims on FOX Sports 1 leading into the main card. Assuming a pay-per-view, it could wind up being UFC 169

UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend card shifts from Las Vegas to Newark in 2014 – MMA Junkie

Tim Kennedy Apologizes to UFC for Fighter Pay Comments, Says He Was Taken Out of Context

BAD MMA News — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 01:32:43 +0000

Tim Kennedy earlier this week criticized his employer, the UFC, for how much it pays its fighters, and tried to put into context for fans how difficult it can be to make a living as a professional fighter. On Thursday, however, Kennedy issued a statement on his official Facebook page, retracting his comments and apologizing for them. Kennedy, while a guest on the GrappleTalk podcast, characterized it as “pathetic” that so many fighters had to work a “day job” instead of being able to focus full-time on their fighting careers. Kennedy has various business interests and his military career along with what he makes from fighting, which he said doesn’t amount to much after expenses and taxes. “It would be slim pickings to survive off what I make in fighting,” he told GrappleTalk. “It’s a good thing I have another job because the UFC doesn’t pay very well.” Kennedy said his comments were taken out of context, but accepted responsibility for his statements, apologizing to the UFC, company president Dana White , CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, and matchmaker Joe Silva. Kennedy’s statement: “I recently made comments regarding fighter pay. The intent of these statements was to highlight that professional fighters incur significant expense associated with their preparations to fight and that fighter compensation is still not on par with other major sports.

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Tim Kennedy Apologizes to UFC for Fighter Pay Comments, Says He Was Taken Out of Context – MMA Weekly

Tim Kennedy apologizes for fighter pay comments, says taken out of context

BAD MMA News — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Two days after directing pointed criticism at the pay of UFC fighters, Tim Kennedy has apologized to the fight promotion’s executives. “The intent of these statements was to highlight that professional fighters incur significant expense associated with their preparations to fight and that fighter compensation is still not on par with other major sports,” wrote the middleweight on his official Facebook fan page . Kennedy (15-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC), 33, is scheduled to meet Roger Gracie (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) next Saturday at UFC 162, but as of late, most of the MMA media’s attention has been focused on a controversial interview he gave this week with the Grapple Talk podcast . It was during the appearance that the decorated soldier said it was “pathetic” that fighters had to take second jobs to support their careers, and mused that he’d be better off collecting trash than accepting low pay for his services.

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Tim Kennedy apologizes for fighter pay comments, says taken out of context – MMA Junkie