MMAConvert.com

Despite several hints to the contrary from UFC president Dana White following UFC 121, it appears the UFC is going to give Tito Ortiz another chance to break out of his four-year, four-fight losing streak. And they’re not going to make it easy on him either. As initially reported by Tatame last night, Tito will take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in March, possibly at UFC 128. Dana White confirmed the news earlier today in Germany.

White today confirmed that “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” meets Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in March 2011, possibly at UFC 128.

UFC U.K. president Marshall Zelaznik on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that a potential March event, UFC 128, could take place in the United Arab Emirates, possibly in Abu Dhabi, thought other cities also are under consideration.

White did not specify a date for Ortiz vs. Nogueira.

While I’m not aware of Dana saying otherwise, one has to imagine Tito will be fighting for his job when he steps in the cage with Lil’ Nog. That’s a really tough fight for him, but one he could pull off if he follows the Jason Brilz game plan. I wouldn’t bet on it, but you never know how people are going to react when they’re back’s against the wall.

On a side note, Tito may have made the cut, but it doesn’t look like Gilbert Yvel did. His profile was removed from the UFC website last week, and now word is coming in that he was in fact released. He joins Gabriel Gonzaga and Patrick Cote in the unemployment line following UFC 121.

Image via CombatLifestyle.com

On this week’s edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew recap UFC 121 and Bellator 33. Also, Randy Couture addresses the status of his MMA career once again. He says he won’t be making any more runs at a UFC title, but he might have another “novelty” fight left in him.

ESPN MMA Live Archive

If you have trouble playing the video, you can also watch it on ESPN.com. ESPN MMA Live airs on ESPN 2 Thursday nights at 1AM ET/10PM PT.

(more…)

Gabriel Gonzaga joins Patrick Cote as a UFC title contender turned UFC washout. Following his loss to Brendan Schaub at UFC 121, Gonzaga has confirmed that he has also been cut by the UFC.

Official now – Out of UFC – Thanks for all your support – back to normal life and BJJ forever

Well, that’s two down from UFC 121 and there are probably more cuts to come. I’ll be shocked if Gilbert Yvel is given another shot, and Tito, well, I’m not sure what they’re going to do with him, but it definitely seems like they’re at least tossing around the idea of releasing him. At the end of Dana White’s UFC-WEC interview with Ariel Helwani, Dana basically refused to comment on it.

Image via Esther Lin for MMA Fighting

Two years and three fights ago, Patrick Cote was a UFC title contender. Today, Cote is just another unemployed fighter. Following his third consecutive loss last Saturday at UFC 121, the UFC opted to release him from his contract. Cote himself confirmed the news on Twitter.

I had a little hope but finally got the release word from the UFC .. Its been a awesome experience ! I ll be back !!

Of course, the UFC typically cuts more than just one fighter after a major event. Who’s next? Gilbert Yvel (on 3-fight losing streak)? Gabriel Gonzaga (on 2-fight losing streak)? Paulo Thiago (on 2-fight losing streak)? Tito Ortiz (on 4-fight losing streak)?

Image via Heavy.com’s UFC 121 photo gallery

The CSAC has released the fighter salaries for UFC 121. Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional undisclosed discretionary bonuses, pay-per-view revenue sharing bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

Not surprisingly, Brock Lesnar and Tito Ortiz brought home the big bucks at UFC 121 with $400,000 and $250,000 guaranteed payouts, but new heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez did quite well for himself too. He earned $270,000 altogether with his show money and disclosed win and KO bonuses. Diego Sanchez came in fourth with $170,000 with his bonuses. And Jake Shields rounded out the top five with a $150,000 payday. For those wondering, Shields’ Strikeforce purses were never released, but his last EliteXC purse when he fought Paul Daley was. He made $40,000/$10,000 for that fight. If I remember correctly, Shields’ EliteXC contract was transferred over to Strikeforce, so if he was making the same there (it’s also possible his pay escalated over the course of his contract), he got a considerable bump in pay coming to the UFC.

Payouts

Courtesy of MMA Junkie:

• Cain Velasquez: $200,000 ($100k + $100k win bonus)
  Brock Lesnar: $400,000
• Jake Shields: $150,000 ($75k + $75k)
  Martin Kampmann: $27,000
• Diego Sanchez: $100,000 ($50k + $50k)
  Paulo Thiago: $18,000
• Matt Hamill: $58,000 ($29k + $29k)
  Tito Ortiz: $250,000
• Brendan Schaub: $20,000 ($10k + $10k)
  Gabriel Gonzaga: $67,000
• Court McGee: $30,000 ($15k + $15k)
  Ryan Jensen: $10,000
• Tom Lawlor: $20,000 ($10k + $10k)
  Patrick Cote: $21,000
• Daniel Roberts: $16,000 ($8k + $8k)
  Mike Guymon: $8,000
• Sam Stout: $32,000 ($16k + $16k)
  Paul Taylor: $16,000
• Chris Camozzi: $16,000 ($8k + $8k)
  Dongi Yang: $8,000
• Jon Madsen: $16,000 ($8k + $8k)
  Gilbert Yvel: $30,000

Bonuses

$70,000 bonus to each fighter.

• Knockout of the Night – Cain Velasquez
• Submission of the Night – Daniel Roberts
• Fight of the Night – Diego Sanchez & Paulo Thiago

Total Payout

A disclosed total of $1,793,000, including all bonuses, was paid out to the fighters.

UFC 121 ‘Lesnar vs. Velasquez’ post-fight press conference highlights courtesy of Heavy.com.

In a special post-fight edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew spoke to Dana White, Cain Velasquez and Jake Shields to get their immediate reactions to UFC 121.

Continue reading this post

UFC 121 images via Esther Lin for MMA Fighting and Tracy Lee for Yahoo! Sports. Check out Esther’s awesome UFC 121 photo gallery here. UFC 121 post-fight news and notes…

— 14,856 spectators witnessed Cain Velasquez crush Brock Lesnar in the Honda Center last night, according to Dana White. Their gate receipts totaled $2.15 million.

— Cain Velasquez was awarded the Knockout of the Night bonus for giving Brock Lesnar the worse beating of his short career. Daniel Roberts earned an extra $70,000 for his slick anaconda choke of Mike Guymon. And thanks to Diego Sanchez turning it on in the second round, he and Paulo Thiago were awarded Fight of the Night honors.

Continue reading this post

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Dana White, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Matt Hamill, Tom Lawlor, Court McGee, Daniel Roberts and Daniel Cormier following last night’s UFC 121 event in Anaheim, California. Ariel also spoke to WWE superstar/MMA fan The Undertaker, who had a brief but awkward exchange with Brock Lesnar as he exited the cage following his loss to Cain Velasquez. The Undertaker wouldn’t elaborate on the exchange but hinted there was a little bad blood between the two.

Continue reading this post

The judges were all over the place for the Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann fight. One had it 29-28 Kampmann, another had it 29-28 Shields and the third gave it to Shields 30-27. According to Fightmetric, they were all wrong. From their calculations the third round was even and the fight should have been called a 29-29 draw. Agree?

On a side note, here’s an interesting stat from FightMetric that relates to the next UFC heavyweight title fight.

There are only two fighters in UFC history with 30 minutes of fight time who average more than 5 significant strikes landed per minute (SLpM):

Junior dos Santos – 7.12
Cain Velasquez – 7.11

The next-highest SLpM belongs at Nate Quarry at 4.96.

That’s going to be a good one.