It seems basic enough.  We’re fans, and we want to see fights, right?  So then, what should the role of all the peripheral people that are employed in the fight game be?  You know, writers, production people, referees, and others, but specifically, promoters and agents.  Their role should simply be to do whatever they can to provide the basic want of all fight fans (good fights), while taking care of the fighters as well as they can.  Besides that, they should just be out of the way entirely.

In other words, if you as a non-fighter who somehow earns money as part of the MMA industry are not either contributing to the fans’ enjoyment of great fights, or taking care of fighters in a way that allows them to put on said fights, what exactly are you doing?

I thought of all this when I read yet another news story in the ongoing soap opera that is the relationship between Fedor Emelianenko’s management and…well, everybody.  M-1 Global, and specifically Vadim Finkelstein, seem like good enough test subjects to run through my manifesto in order to test its worthiness.  For fun, I’ll also include some other promoters and agents, as well.  We want to be fair, after all.

For each person, I will evaluate three things: 1) Are they helping us see good fights? 2) Are they helping the fighters do their jobs? 3) Are they doing these things and otherwise staying the hell out of the way?

Vadim Finkelstein

Helping Fans See Good Fights?

This is a clear “no”.  Actually, since the unfortunate demise of Pride Fighting Championships, Finkelstein has gone out of his way to keep these fights from happening.  If the UFC’s inability to sign Fedor was a matter of money, incentives, Fedor wanting to compete in sambo or any other silly thing, I would pin some blame on them, as well.  But for Finkelstein to supposedly be a rational human being with a functional brain and believe that the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world will suddenly co-promote with an almost completely unknown entity simply because they handle Fedor is absolutely stupid.  What would stop Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, or anyone else from making similar demands, then?

Finkelstein hasn’t even helped us see decent fights in Fedor’s Strikeforce tenure.  Because of “renegotiations” (in the middle of a contract, no less), Fedor now will not compete until this summer, over a half year since his last fight in early November.  Was that fight against a top heavyweight who can really challenge Fedor and add to his legacy as the best of all-time?  No, it was against Brett Rogers, who is talented, but simply not ready whatsoever for such a task.

Helping Fighters?

This all depends on what Fedor’s goals are.  If Fedor wants to become very rich, known the world over and cemented as the greatest heavyweight in history, then it’s a resounding “no”.  If Fedor’s goals are to become very rich, known mainly in Japan and Russia and have his legacy debated and possibly bested by someone years from now who will fight the best fighters throughout his entire career, then it’s a “yes” for sure.

Fedor seems like a very loyal guy.  I don’t think he’s ducking the UFC’s top heavyweights at all.  He didn’t duck Nogueira, Cro Cop or anyone else that was highly ranked at the time when he fought them, after all.  I simply think that he wants to fight and stay away from the management of his career.  Unfortunately, that allows Finkelstein and M-1 Global to piggyback off of his considerable talents, even to his career’s detriment.

Staying Out of the Way?

Ha.  Ha.

Dana White

Helping Fans See Good Fights?

Let’s see here.  White has gone to great lengths to sign the most noteworthy fighters from Pride’s heyday, including Fedor himself.  He has also taken his company, which once was limited to pay-per-view on certain outlets only, and put it on basic cable on a regular basis, which opened the door for other promotions to get there as well as on network television, too.  Furthermore, UFC 111 will be viewable in over 25 countries, as well as available online for those who can’t watch it on television.  Love him or hate him, no one person has done more to bring the sport to a worldwide audience than White.

The only negative in this category is that at times, White’s own personal grudges with some fighters leads to their fighting outside of the organization, which has cost fans a fight or two along the line.  Still, White truly does go out of his way to sign fighters that the fans want to see and put on fights that a great number of people can and will want to watch, so this category is a resounding “yes”.

Helping Fighters?

The cynics among you may be tentative on this one, because of White’s public feuds with certain fighters, or a perception that undercard fighters are not paid well enough, along with other minor issues that have come up along the way.  However, what fighter would seriously deny that the UFC’s explosion in popularity hasn’t helped their career become a more lucrative one?  Even smaller shows unquestionably see benefits from the increase in awareness of the sport in general due to White’s efforts.  He also leads efforts to get the sport regulated and legalized wherever he can, even if the UFC is unlikely to ever run a show in the area.  This gives fighters more places to compete.

Even fighters who run afoul of White or end up cut from the UFC due to poor performance are now “former UFC fighters” and unquestionably will enjoy a larger fan base, more interest from other promotions and a more successful overall career as a result.  You can say that White has hurt fighters in some regards, such as by putting other promotions out of business and giving fighters less top-notch alternatives for where to fight.  However, how many of these alternatives would even exist without White’s efforts?  You have to give White a “yes” here.

Staying Out of the Way?

This is the only area where White gets less than outstanding marks.  Staying out of the way is not his area of expertise, and since the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, he has been as recognizable as the fighters he promotes.  He often says the wrong thing and has been controversial at times, which goes without saying to those who follow the sport.  However, when factoring in the good that he has done, even someone like myself who has criticized White in the past has to give him a pass here.

Just one thing, Dana: could you stop standing in between the fighters when they pose after weigh-ins?  I’ve always thought that looked kind of dumb.

Scott Coker

Helping Fans See Good Fights?

Coker, as the CEO of Strikeforce, has done a good job of trying to put together a quality product for MMA fans.  His promotion is viewable by millions on Showtime, and has even done a show on network television, with more to come.  He has even done the unthinkable and given into Finkelstein’s demands in order to sign Fedor Emelianenko, keeping the world’s best heavyweight from having to fight one-off matches in Japan or Russia somewhere against whoever M-1 Global could find.  While Coker could use a bit of White’s toughness (why would you let your heavyweight champion hold the belt for well over a year without defending it?), he gets good marks here.

Helping Fighters?

Coker seems like a guy who treats fighters pretty well.  Certainly, Strikeforce is one of the only viable options other than the UFC for top-level fighters or promising prospects.  Strikeforce has also provided a platform for female fighters to ply their trade without fighting in local shows or abroad, which has undoubtedly resulted in wider acceptance of women’s MMA not only in Strikeforce, but everywhere else, as well.  There has been some talk about fighters not being treated as professionally by the organization as they were in the UFC (most recently by Matt Hughes), but few would argue that Coker’s net worth to the fighters he deals with isn’t a positive figure overall.

Staying Out of the Way?

Here’s one area where White could take some advice from Coker.  Coker does his job while staying out of the picture for the most part, although he answers questions from media and performs some of the more visible aspects of his job as he should.  While White’s visibility may be part of the success of the UFC, as he has become a personality on the level of the fighters themselves, Coker has shown that you can stay out of the headlines and still do a good job putting on fights that the fans want to see.

Conclusion

So, does my little theory work?  I think so.  We can even evaluate referees, judges, doctors, trainers and yes, writers by these standards.  Referees and judges, for instance, can pass the tests by protecting fighters, accurately deciding the outcome of fights, but most importantly by staying the hell out of the way the rest of the time.  A highly-ranked referee or judge under my system would not constantly be in the headlines for early stoppages, unnecessary point deductions, poor decisions or other forms of interference that harms the fights that MMA fans want to see.

As far as writers like myself go, well, we can’t exactly stay the hell out of the way, can we?  But a good writer can help prepare fans for fights and help them enjoy the sport more by fostering their knowledge and giving them the information they want or need.  They can even help fighters by giving them exposure and keeping fan interest high.

Overall, I think my three-question evaluation method for non-fighters is a success.

Unless you’re Vadim Finkelstein, I guess.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Cung Le suffered the only loss of his career last December against Smith at Strikeforce: Evolution.

Le was taken out with a left hook in the final round of their fight.

“I”m hoping to get a rematch with Scott Smith ASAP,” Le said in a video on the Strikeforce website.

“I’ve been training hard,” Le said. “Since my last fight didn’t work out the way I wanted it to, but I’ve been training hard to make sure there’s a different outcome next time around.”

“I’m going to save my news until we have something announced,” Le said. “Maybe we’ll announce it April 17 at that fight. So right now, I’m training hard, and I’ll be back in the cage real soon.”

The deal will see UFC programming being distributed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

UFC 112 will be shown live from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on April 10th.

“We are excited to sign a deal with ASN and to distribute UFC on this HD sports channel,” said Dana White, UFC President.

“Asia is a huge market for us, it has a deep-rooted history and appreciation for the martial arts. We are thrilled to be working with ASN and to deliver the UFC to all of our fans in Asia.”

“ASN is thrilled to deliver UFC, the world’s fastest-growing sports organization to audiences in Asia and with HD production quality, our viewers will not miss a single striking detail,” remarked Thomas Kressner, CEO of ASN.

Pulver Fights Until the End

Now, I am no professional fighter myself, but I think that, even more than skill, most fighters want to be recognized for having heart and determination.  After all, skill can be earned through practice and even through natural ability.  Heart is something different altogether.  When you have heart, fans love you, your peers respect you, and you can be held in a higher regard than even the most skilled champions.  That’s why people lined up to see “Rocky”.

That’s also why fans love Jens Pulver.

Though the fight obviously didn’t go as he wanted it to, he fought his heart out right up until what may have been the last seconds of his career, as he held out and struggled even when Javier Vazquez had the armbar that would finish the fight tightly secured.

Don’t think I’m short-changing Jens.  The guy’s record proves that he is a skilled fighter who has accomplished quite a bit.  If anything, he’s a victim of his stature, as losing even a half-step can make it hard to compete at the lighter weights, where even “lightning-quick” is often a beat too slow.  You won’t find any Randy Coutures at 145 pounds, in other words.

Still, the thing that will always make Pulver a fan favorite is not his ability, but the intangibles that he brought with him to the cage.  His enthusiasm for fighting, his willingness to test himself against anyone and everyone, and the determination to keep trying no matter what.  Many of these terms have become cliches; wasted sentiments too often given to those who haven’t earned them, and have lost much of their value.  However, make no mistake about it, Pulver exemplified them all.

Even better, outside of the cage, Pulver overcame seemingly endless obstacles, and seemed no less friendly and affable as a result.  Though much of Pulver’s fire seemed to come from the difficult experiences of his life, he did not have the unmistakable air of a person who was fueled by such dark experiences when he was outside of the cage.  To those meeting him for the first or the fiftieth time, he was outgoing, modest and sincere.

Make no mistake about it, Pulver would not stop fighting if he was only worried about himself.  Jens is not the kind of person or fighter who would give up competing simply because the competition is tougher, or he has gotten older, or any other reason.  When the vast majority of people would say, “I can’t do what I used to, it’s time to hang ‘em up,” Jens would press on, never afraid to face defeat in order to succeed once again.  I do believe him when he says that he doesn’t want to put his fans, supporters and loved ones through any more ups and downs.  I think if he does retire, that will be the main reason- not that he doesn’t like fighting anymore, or that he doesn’t think he can compete.

Jens, whether you’re done or not, thanks for exemplifying everything we love about this sport.

Javier Vazquez and the Silver Lining

If there’s any good to take from the Pulver-Vazquez fight, it is that with two of the nicer guys in MMA trying to turn things around, one would definitely be able to do so.  That fighter ended up being Vazquez, who had lost two split decisions previous to the Pulver fight and has battled a ridiculously unfortunate history of injuries in his past, though he’s always been a very talented fighter.

I think Vazquez can definitely compete with the top fighters in the division, and it’s good to see a true veteran of the sport that can mix it up with some of the younger talent.  Vazquez has some interesting matchups ahead of him, and it’s good to see him three fights into his WEC contract and injury-free.

Where Do Torres and Bowles Go From Here?

If you would have told me that Miguel Torres or Brian Bowles would have lost, I would have raised an eyebrow, but I wouldn’t have bet you a kidney or anything.  This is MMA, right?  Anything can happen, and all that stuff.  Still, to see both guys not only lose on the same night, but in such devastating fashion, was truly shocking.

You have to wonder what happens next for these two.  If the WEC is going the UFC-style matchmaking route, we’ll see Bowles-Torres II, so that at least one of these guys will be guaranteed to get back on track.  Of course, I’m not a huge fan of doing those sorts of matchups, because it also means that one of your bigger stars is going to have at least a two-fight losing streak.

In Bowles’ case, let’s hope that his hands won’t cause problems throughout his career, as he’s already broken them multiple times.  I’ve always thought that Vitor Belfort’s troubles with broken hands contributed to the disappearance of “the Old Vitor”, and it’s easy to imagine how not having confidence in your hands working correctly can wreak havoc on the mindset of a powerful striker.

With Torres, I suspect he’ll be just fine.  He’s a confident guy and seems to have a very strong will, whether he’s wearing a championship belt or not.  He’ll be back.

Cruz-Benavidez II Looming?

The other question from the two main events that was on everyone’s mind is whether we would see Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez square off again, this time for the bantamweight title.

Cruz beat Benavidez by decision the first time, and has already jump-started the hype for another fight by saying that he thinks he would beat Benavidez nine out of ten times.  So, Cruz is confident, and Benavidez wants to avenge his only loss, it’s going to happen…right?

Well, maybe not.  WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby isn’t ready to commit just yet.  He says he won’t put the fight together yet unless he sees something that allows him to believe that the outcome would be different in a second fight.  There’s also Cruz’s health to deal with, as he has an injured (though not broken) hand from his fight with Bowles.

Quick Shots

–Will there be a more painful-looking choke this year than Scott Jorgensen’s absolutely brutal guillotine choke on Chad George?  From lifting George off the mat with the technique to just plain dropping the guy on his head when the ref stopped the fight, that was a definite statement.  Jorgensen is a beast and has only lost twice (by decision both times; one being a split decision) in his seven WEC fights.  I think he will fight for the title yet this year if he keeps on this track.

–It’s unfortunate that a point deduction from George Roop after just one attack to the groin of opponent Leonard Garcia cost him a split decision victory.  One has to wonder whether the warning assessed by referee Kevin Mulhall in the second round for a supposed illegal knee by Roop (the knee clearly was not illegal, however) influenced the decision to take a point.  Perhaps we’ll see a quick rematch of this one, like we will in the UFC with Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Slice made his Octagon debut in December and defeated Houston Alexander via unanimous decision.

Mitrione is a former NFL player who won his MMA debut in December, when he knocked out Marcus Jones in the second round of their bout.

Both fighters took part in the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter show.

UFC 113 will be headlined by a rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, as well as a bout between Josh Koschek and Paul Daley.

Dominick Cruz managed to pull off an upset by beating Brian Bowles and win the bantamweight title at this past weekend’s WEC 47 event.

Benavidez won his fight against Miguel Torres, a top contender for the title, at the same event.

“I haven’t heard much,” said Benavidez to MMAkunkie.com Radio.

“I heard a few things about maybe an immediate rematch (for Bowles). … I don’t know who else there would be. I think most people just expected it (Cruz vs. Benavidez) to happen since we were co-main-events.”

The 32-year-old managed a first-round submission win over Pulver.

“I was happy to get the win,” Vazquez told MMAjunkie.com. “The people that know me know that I don’t do this to hurt people. I just try to win.

“I’m not one of those guys that’s a bully or anything. I mean, I’m glad I won, but I didn’t want to hurt him either. I don’t want to hurt anybody, so it was very bittersweet.”

Vazquez’s opponent, Jens Pulver, decided to retire after the fight.

“For many, many years, I was the biggest Jens Pulver fan,” Vazquez said. “Coming up through the ranks, that was the pinnacle of where I wanted to be.

“For me, it was an honor, seriously, and a pleasure to get a chance to fight him.”

Khalidov managed a shocking first-round TKO victory over Santiago when the two met at Sengoku 11, but Santiago won the rematch on Sunday.

Official Results:

Jorge Santiago def. Mamed Khalidov via unanimous decision
Akihiro Gono def. Diego Gonzalez via unanimous decision
Maximo Blanco def. Chang Hyun Kim via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:10
Marlon Sandro def. Tomonari Kanomata via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:09
Yoshihiro Nakao def. Henry “Sentoryu” Miller via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:27
Yuji Hoshino def. Nick Denis via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:47
Leonardo Santos def. Kiuma Kunioku via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:06
Shigeki Osawa def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision

Arlovski Still Alive; Signs With Strikeforce

Hey, remember Andrei Arlovski?   You know, former UFC champion, ranked in the top five in the world before consecutive losses to Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers?  Yeah, him.  He’s still alive!  And he signed with Strikeforce.

Arlovski has signed a multiple-fight deal, in which he will obviously want to avenge those two losses.  First, he will have to face the ginormous Antonio Silva this May, who is also looking to get back on the winning side of things.  I’ve always thought Arlovski had plenty of talent, but his head wasn’t in the right place after he was knocked out by Tim Sylvia to lose his heavyweight title years ago, and it took him awhile to regain his confidence.  Will two consecutive knockout losses ruin his confidence again?  We’ll have to see.  Arlovski has top-notch talent, but his chin tends to betray him.

Fedor’s Manager: Overeem’s a “Steroid Bully”

The world’s largest parasite, Vadim Finkelstein, has lurched back into the news by providing his unwanted opinion on Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.  Citing Overeem’s huge gain in muscle mass over recent years, Finkelstein pulled a Floyd Mayweather, saying he wouldn’t have Fedor fight Overeem without a strict drug testing schedule in place.

I’m sure that Strikeforce’s Scott Coker is overjoyed to hear this, as Overeem is the current champ and all.  Of course, Overeem hasn’t so much as appeared in Strikeforce since winning the title almost two and a half years ago, so he should have been stripped long ago.  This is a major issue for Strikeforce, as is Overeem’s apparent reluctance to fight stateside for the company.  How can you be legitimate without a heavyweight title defense in two and a half years?  Or when the world’s number one heavyweight is going to be two fights deep in your organization, without a title shot in sight?

Still, it’s hilarious to hear Finkelstein criticize Overeem, who hasn’t ever had a positive steroid test, while listing two-time test failer Josh Barnett as an opponent they would like for Fedor.  Yes, because it wasn’t enough when Barnett’s failed test effectively killed an entire promotion last year.  With all of the crap that comes with Finkelstein and the tiny organization (M-1 Global) that he represents, you have to wonder if Coker regrets signing Fedor.  It would have been nice if no one would have co-promoted with them, so that they would have to drop the silly demand altogether.

Randy Couture Wants Easy Win- Er…James Toney

If you had me list the good possible matchups for the newly-signed boxer-turned-UFC fighter James Toney, Randy Couture would be nowhere on the list.  Have we forgotten the barn burner that was Couture-Vera?  Yet, Couture, who knows money when he sees it, has said he wants a piece of Toney.

I’m actually shocked by this, as I thought Couture was trying to build his way to a title shot in the light heavyweight division.  I do have the utmost respect for Couture, and I know that he likes to take tough matchups (like Brock Lesnar) to test his ability to gameplan for them and overcome the odds, but this isn’t one of those fights.  Couture’s gameplan for a hypothetical fight couldn’t be more clear, or more boring: push him against the fence or take him down altogether.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

I loved watching Couture formulate ways to overcome opponent’s strengths earlier in his career, but lately he has been relying purely on controlling his opponents, with no real effort to finish them, which I can’t get behind at all.  Couture is a horrible matchup for Toney, and a win over Toney does nothing for Couture aside from allowing him to stay healthy and make some money.  Toney needs to find Kimbo Slice, then go from there.

Hopefully, This is The Last Time “Jenna Jameson” Is Mentioned Here

Apparently, Jenna Jameson (Tito Ortiz’s girlfriend and former porn actress/entrepeneur) had quite a bit of fun on Twitter by teasing Chuck Liddell, Dana White, and a legion of rabid Liddell supporters that she riled up like little mohawk-sporting hornets in a nest filled with Pabst Blue Ribbon and strip clubs.

Dana White, who has long been Chuck’s BFF of sorts, posted a picture of Liddell’s abs to show that he was in shape, contrary to the rumors purported by a few websites.  This prompted Jenna to wonder whether White would post a picture of Liddell’s “weiner” first.  Now, you are probably wondering: why would a former porn star use the word “weiner”?  Or not.

Still, this started a little back and forth between her and Liddell, who called Tito a “bitch” and pointed out his past successes against him.  Jenna, like either a loyal girlfriend or possibly an ill-informed MMA fan (or both), had her man’s back and seems to believe that he will be able to retain his consciousness for this meeting between the two.  Tito, for his part, stayed quiet about most of this, and even took time to thank Dana White and company yet again for bringing him back to the UFC.

My thoughts?  Sigh.  Jenna’s talking is just going to bring Tito more pain and embarrassment.  I know she supports her boyfriend, but pissing off his boss and annoying the man who has already wrecked him twice is probably not the right way to show that support.  She claims to be a long-time MMA fan, but she also alleges that Ortiz is still one of the world’s best fighters.  Like I said, she either has no idea what she’s talking about, or she really is that loyal.  Also, fighters are talking crap with each other’s girlfriends on Twitter now.  I think this is a sign of the Apocalypse.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Pulver, who is now 22-13-1, lost the fight through a first-round arm bar submission from Vazquez.

“I love you all way, way, way too much to put you all through this again,” Pulver said after the fight.

Pulver also took time to thank his son, wife and mother for backing him throughout his MMA career.

Vazquez admitted that he was sad about Pulver’s possible retirement.

“I would’ve been in his corner too,” said Vazquez. “I’m as big a fan of him as everyone else. It’s an honor to fight him. You will never hear me say a bad thing about him.”