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[Goat Gosselin]

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Following a disappointing performance in his last fight for World Extreme Cagefighting, MMAWeekly.com has confirmed with sources close to the situation that Paulo Filho has been released from his existing contract and will not make the move to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.



Many of the middleweights and light heavyweights from the WEC roster were expected to make the move after the promotion downsized those two weight classes in order to focus more on the lighter weight classes in the organization.



Filho was undefeated in his mixed martial arts career before dropping a lackluster decision to Chael Sonnen in their rematch earlier in November.



Before moving to the WEC, Filho had been a star in the Pride organization and was expected to make waves at 185 pounds when he began fighting in the United States, but unfortunately at this time he will have to look for a new fight home.



There is no word yet from UFC officials what will happen to Chael Sonnen, the last fighter to defeat Filho, but he is expected to make the move over and compete in the Octagon in the future.



While Filho's manager, Ed Soares, could not be reached for comment on the situation, he will be a special guest on MMAWeekly Radio on Wednesday night at 9pm EST/6pm PST to talk about his fighter's situation and many other competitors that he represents.

[Goat Gosselin]

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MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) has received the fighter payouts for UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for the monster pay-per-view (PPV) event held on November 15 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

And, as we reported before the show even started, Brock Lesnar was the big winner of the evening in more ways than one, pocketing a $450,000 base salary and prying the heavyweight title from Randy Couture’s grip with a second round technical knockout.

“The Natural” will of course went home with more than just bumps and bruises — he now has an additional cool quarter million in his bank account, which could will more than likely help soften the blow of losing his belt … a little.

Gabriel Gonzaga also cashed in, earning $110,000 for his lighting fast destruction of Josh Hendricks.

Here are all the UFC 91 payouts:

Brock Lesnar — $450,000 ($250,000 to show, $200,000 to win)
Randy Couture — $250,000
Brock Lesnar defeated Randy Couture via technical knockout (strikes) in round two

Kenny Florian — $80,000 ($ 40,000 to show, $40,000 to win)
Joe Stevenson — $35,000
Kenny Florian defeated Joe Stevenson via submission (rear naked choke) in round one

Dustin Hazelett — $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 to win)
Tamdan McCrory — $10,000
Dustin Hazelett defeated Tamdan McCrory via submission (armbar) in round one

Gabriel Gonzaga — $110,000 ($55,000 to show, $55,000 to win)
Josh Hendricks — $8,000
Gabriel Gonzaga defeated Josh Hendricks via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

Demian Maia — $40,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win)
Nate Quarry — $25,000
Demian Maia defeated Nate Quarry via submission (rear naked choke) in round one

Aaron Riley — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win)
Jorge Gurgel — $10,000
Aaron Riley defeated Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision

Jeremy Stephens — $16,000 ($8.000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Rafael dos Anjos — $4,000
Jeremy Stephens defeated Rafael dos Anjos via knockout in round three

Mark Bocek — $18,000 ($9,000 to show, $9,000 to win)
Alvin Robinson — $7,000
Mark Bocek defeated Alvin Robinson via submission (rear naked choke) in round three

Matt Brown — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Ryan Thomas — $3,000
Matt Brown defeated Ryan Thomas via submission (armbar) in round two

Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.

For example, the UFC often hands out extra cash for “Fight of the Night,” “Knockout of the Night” and “Submission of the Night.” To check out these figures for UFC 91 go here.

The total base fighter payroll for the blockbuster PPV event, which attracted a near sellout crowd of 14,272 fans and a huge gate of $4.8 million, was $1,118,000.

[Goat Gosselin]

M-1’s Official Statement on Brock Lesnar’s victory

M-1 would like to congratulate Brock Lesnar on his UFC heavyweight title victory as well as acknowledge Randy Couture’s return to active competition after a layoff that lasted over a year.

Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year. While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment.

We’ve invited the media to speak with us today to not only make it clear we would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup, but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the number one heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silfva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

In the past, UFC president Dana White and Zuffa, LLC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have tried to claim that Fedor was “overrated” and that his “record was irrelevant.” They make these claims in spite of the fact that Fedor holds career victories over UFC champions past and present. While we have tremendous respect for the contributions Mr. Fertitta and Dana have made to this sport, we do not believe they are sincere in their statements.

It is the position of M-1 that the UFC has adopted an anti-Fedor policy because multiple attempts to sign him have not been fruitful. For a company that has tried to market itself as the number one promotion in the world, they are unable to accept the fact that the number one fighter in the world does not reside on its roster of contracted fighters.

We believe that the UFC has determined that it’s much more inexpensive for them to use their marketing resources to use smoke and mirrors to brand a fighter as the pound-for-pound best as opposed to actually paying the pound-for-pound best what he is truly worth on the open market.

While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world. Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.

For those who feel our statements in regards to Fedor are self-serving, we’d like to refer you to a video interview on the website RawVegas.tv in which at his UFC 91 after-party Couture himself acknowledges that “Fedor would probably tear Brock up at this point.”

– Jerry Millen, M-1 Vice President

[Goat Gosselin]

WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko has a message for Randy Couture following his loss to Brock Lesnar at last Saturday’s UFC 91, keep your chin up.

MMAWeekly.com spoke with Emelianenko via telephone as he finished watching the first round of the fight on a nearby television. The top ranked heavyweight is currently in Thailand, filming an action movie starring Rutger Hauer and Michael Madsen.

“It’s a very interesting fight,” Emelianenko said of the bout’s first round through his interpreter. “So far, it looks like Randy – he’s more active in the ring.”

Asked who the winner of the first round was, he paused.

“The first round, I thought Randy had the round,” he continued after a beat. “He certainly showed more skills. He was quite interesting in the first round.”

If Emelianenko knew how the fight ended in advance, he didn’t make it known. But after witnessing Lesnar’s fight-ending hammerfists, he warmed to the former pro wrestler.

“He’s a very good fighter,” he remarked. “He’s a very strong fighter. I’m very impressed with his speed.”

Emelianenko said it was too early to say how he would have approached the fight differently. Not what you’d expect, seeing as he knows a thing or two about facing monsters. In his last three years of MMA competition, Emelianenko has faced an equal amount of giants – Tim Sylvia, Hong Man Choi, and Wagner da Conceicao Martins. Lesnar’s speed clearly set him apart from those Emelianenko had laid waste to in the rings outside the UFC.

“I would certainly take a different tactic to the fight, although I do believe that Randy had a smart game plan, but it appears that he wasn’t able to control the top position, which is what I believe he was trying to do,” Emelianenko offered.

Jerry Millen, M-1 Global’s American Vice President, issued a statement following the interview that welcomed an Emelianenko vs. Lesnar fight, however grim the chances of its fruition are at the moment.

“We would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup, but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” the statement read. “In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.”

Emelianenko has certainly resigned himself to the fact that a fight with Couture may never happen. Despite his affinity for the legend, he says it suits him fine if he never gets the chance to participate in the dream match-up.

“Nothing is ever certain,” Emelianenko said. “This is something that the managers and the organizers need to resolve. But I understand that in all likelihood if Randy stays with the UFC, that the chances of us fighting are much less, and hopefully our fans will be able to overcome that. We both have our history in the sport and if a fight between Randy and I was not to materialize in the future, there will still be other fights. I’m not going to be angry or upset about it in any way.”

In his usual understated way, Emelianenko stopped short of calling Lesnar out in his critique. That’s for the managers.

As for a message to his friend and colleague, another pause.

“I would tell Randy that – I’m sure he already knows – he’s already in the history books, that he’s a legendary fighter, and regardless of the outcome of this fight, things just didn’t go his way,” Emelianenko said.

[Goat Gosselin]

UFC 93 and 95 from Europe are not going to be shown free on Spike like previous fights. they will be PPV

[Goat Gosselin]

Jake Shields Expects To Sign With The UFC, Wants To Fight GSP
By: Kris Karkoski | Nov 18, 2008

Jake ShieldsEliteXC welterweight title-holder Jake Shields, in a recent interview with Newsday, revealed his intention to sign with the UFC and challenge UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre for the title:

Shields is also upbeat about his future. He predicts he’ll land with the UFC, whose president Dana White has shown interest in him.

“For me, I’m looking for top competition,” Shields said. “I want to prove I’m the best fighter in the world. Georges St. Pierre, it’s an opportunity to fight him and show I’m the best.”

And joining the UFC would give Shields the opportunity to add another championship belt to his collection.

“I think I’m gonna be the top 170-pounder there. I wanna be the best. I wanna go there and take the belt,” Shields said. “I wouldn’t be happy with anything less.”

[Goat Gosselin]

Despite Speculation, Fedor Is Human After All
By: Eric Shapiro | Nov 17, 2008

Fedor EmelianenkoFedor Emelianenko has come up short in a Sambo tournament this past weekend, earning only a Bronze medal after losing decisively to Bulgarian Blagoi Ivanov, according to a report from MMAMania. As one might imagine, this is somewhat of a big deal since Fedor practically had to scour the earth just to find a willing Sambo opponent in the past. Not to mention that Fedor walked through Ivanov with ease in their previous meeting. Of course, Sambo is not exactly MMA, but it isn’t terribly far off either. If pressed, I would have to agree that combat Sambo is about as close as one is going to get to modern mixed martial arts.

Additionally, Fighters Only is now passing along the rumor that Ivanov’s performance has earned him a contract with Affliction, which was apparently inked “immediately after winning the tournament.” Wow, that Atencio guy must work fast.

The overall point remains that Fedor has finally lost at something, and he just might not be the Skynet-created cyborg some thought he was. I can also imagine Andrei Arlovski (a highly accomplished Sambo man as well) getting wind of Fedor’s shiny new bronze and smiling just a little bit. If nothing else, it couldn’t hurt his confidence when he steps in to face Emelianenko at Affliction: Day Of Reckoning on January 24th

[tlock]

looks like dana white is goign to sign carano and cyborg to fight in teh WEC. makes a lot of sense since the total salary would be 50k max

[Goat Gosselin]

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that would be good, love watching gina fight, hope she is just a bit over when she weights in again,

[Randal Graves]

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I'm really looking forward to Shields being in the UFC. He has pretty much run through everyone he has fought in the past couple of years, but it still remains to be seen how he fits in the UFC.