The UFC Cuts Jon Fitch... say what?

Of course we don't know the whole story and we probably never will, but it seems that the deal-breaker is a dispute about signing an exclusive contract for an upcoming video game. You can read more about it on MMAJunkie.com.

I wasn't sure what to make of the article and now it appears that Fitch will in fact fight again in the UFC, but I think the UFC is heading into dangerous waters.

As long as these types of issues keep surfacing, Dana White opens the door for a new (or I guess existing) organization to do it better. Any good business keeps their employees happy by creating a sense of value in the company... that's what Dana White needs to do.

There won't be a third round for EliteXC. After a two year run, it appears that EliteXC is closing it's doors. This wasn't a surprise to anybody, it was only a surprise in that it happened so soon. For more on the downfall, read the article Behind the Scenes of ProElite and EliteXC’s Demise.

Being a dedicated fan, I wonder about the fallout of such an event. My immediate reaction is that this is bad for mixed martial arts. There won't be any more Saturday Night Fights. MMA won't have national TV exposure. Worst of all, it may be sometime before we see Gina Carano fight again.

Then again, this might be a good thing for mixed martial arts. The few good fighters that EliteXC had under contract will now migrate to Affliction and the UFC. Fighters might start appreciating the pay they are receiving. Best of all, no more Kimbo hype.

In any case, the fallout will be interesting to watch. Time will tell how this truly impacts mixed martial arts.

From what I have seen this season, I already have some early favorites to make the finale. Of course there is Ryan Bader who was a legitimate number 1 pick by Coach Nogueira. Then, there is Junie Browning.

Picking Bader probably isn't much of a surprise, but picking Browning is a long shot. For one, he has almost been kicked out of the house twice. Then, there was the jumping over the octagon incident. His biggest challenge may not be winning the fights, but making it to his next fight.

So why Browning? I guess I get that feeling because he is writing blog posts for the UFC website. Why would the UFC pick Junie to write posts if he didn't make it far in the show? They wouldn't. Now, whether he makes the final or not is another question, but I am guessing he does.

Who is your early favorite?

We are starting a new feature here at MMAFeed where we have a back and fourth conversation with two of our contributors. The subject for today, why not Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben?

Ryan - I have said it before, but this is a horrible headline event. At least I can cheer against Michael Bisping. Unfortunately I think Bisping will win this one.

Greg - Ryan, you couldn't be more wrong on this one. This will be a great fight and Chris Leben is going to win this fight. Did you see this guys chin? It would take a Mac Truck to knock this guy out.

Ryan - Ah, poor Greg. You are greatly mistaken if you think Bisping will keep this fight standing. Bisping does like to stand, but with Leben he will take this fight to the ground. As Jason McDonald did to Lebel, Bisping will get this fight to the ground and win by choke.

Greg - You have to be kidding me! There is now way this will ever reach the mat. First of all, Bisping will make the mistake of thinking he can stand with Leben. Second, if Bisping does get into trouble on his feet he has to get around Leben's take down defense.

Ryan - You may be right that Bisping will try and stand with Leben, but eventually this fight will end up on the mat. From there, Bisping has a better ground game. Advantage Bisping.

Greg - Let's be real here, Leben is going balls to the wall and will land that first big punch. From there, it's game over for Bisping. Advantage Leben.

Who do you think makes a better argument?

The good thing about UFC 89 is the match ups. They appear to be pretty even across the board. This should translate into some good fights.

The bad thing about UFC 89 is the headlining fight. Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben, you have to be kidding me! I guess that is why they put this one on Spike instead of PPV. Still, I do have some interest in the fight as I love to root against Bisping. Not to mention that Leben is always intertaining. Still, a main event?

The ugly thing about UFC 89, without a doubt, is the lack of star power. The entire card would be an under card for most events. I am puzzled why the UFC put UFC 89 and UFC 90 so close together. I assume there is a good reason, but this compounds the problem of getting good fighters for both events.

There better be some good fights or this will be a bad showing for the UFC. At least it is free...

Junie Browning is an idiot, no doubt about it. Not only is he stupid when drunk, but he tries to fight everybody in the house. To make matters worse for him, half the guys in the house are bigger than him. I like how he always asks for somebody to hit him, well I have a feeling it won't be long before somebody does. You can see most of his drunken rage over on Spike.

The real question I have is why didn't Dana White kick this a-hole out of the house? He never gave a legitimate answer, I have to wonder if the producers asked to keep him on the show for entertainment. The only other thing is that may Dana thinks he has a good shot to win the show. Still, Dana has never sacrificed the UFC's image for a good fighter.

MMAJunkie wrote a great article about last weekend's Fight Night.

By far, the best line of the article is:

Slice's days as an MMA curiosity are over. He will still be able to sell some tickets, but the loss to Petruzelli, who's never been confused with a truly elite-level fighter, effectively makes Slice just another guy who fights for a living.

MMAJunkie points out that the big winner was Affliction and of course Seth Petruzelli. I tend to agree as I saw the Affliction name everywhere during the show. Also, Andrei Arlovski looked very good once he got going.

As for the losers, there is of course Ken Shamrock who never got his chance at Kimbo Slice. With Kimbo losing, the other big loser has to be EliteXC. Where they go from here is beyond me, but it will be interesting to see how they advertise Slice going forward.

The EliteXC Heat event was actually pretty entertaining. You can find more on the event here. Of course I watched it with the aid of digital video recorder, so I didn't have to watch all the fluff. For me, the highlights where...

• Ken Shamrock out of the main event - This sucked at first, but got all the more interesting when Kimbo lost. By the way, did anybody actually remember that Seth Petruzelli actually was on The Ultimate Fightar 2?
• Benji Radach fighting style "facesmasher-fu" (or something like that) - I still can't find a reference to what the hell his fight style was, but he sure looked good kicking the crap out of Murilo Rua.
• The weigh-ins - The Kimbo-Shamrock escapade almost looked scripted but Carano getting naked had millions of fans watching.
• Seeing Jake Shields fight - Having never seen Shields fight, I was impressed. I can now justify putting him in my rankings.
• Andre Arlovski looked aggressive - I don't think the Arlovski of old is back, but he definitely showed some of the signs.

I am still waiting on the fallout from this event. What happens with Kimbo now? Who will Petruzelli fight next? Will pictures of Carano surface? These are the important questions.

OK, so this might be the worst fight night in some time. The main event will feature the the up and coming Nate Diaz. I am not sure this is what Diaz had in mind when he asked for some real competition, lets see if Neer makes this an interesting fight.

Thinking about it, I can't even remember when Neer fought last. He throws with heavy hands, but lets face it Diaz will win. I promised to pick Diaz in his next fight no matter what, so I have faith he will win. If you missed it, I think I have picked Diaz to lose his last 4 fights only to be wrong every time.

The Clay Guida vs. Mac Danzig fight should be good. The only other fighter I am excited about is Houston Alexander. Let's hope he explodes like he did in his first two wins. Another loss for Alexander and the UFC might show him the door. Here is to a good night of fights!

I was reading this article yesterday when I ran across this tidbit.

All UFC contracts have a championship clause, which ties the fighter with the company as long as they hold a company title unless they retire as champion.

This was a surprise to me and it got me thinking about some of the recent contract disputes. Previously, I was under the impression that the UFC wouldn't give a fighter a title shot if they only had one fight remaining on their contract. This would assure that they would stay under contract at least to defend their title.

With the championship clause, I would think that the UFC wouldn't care if a fighter only has one fight left on their contract. The reason being is that they would be bound to the organization as long as they are the title holder. Am I missing something here? What the hell was Randy Coutre thinking when he left the organization? I guess I will have to dig further on this one...

Rashad Evans shocked almost everybody with his knockout win over Chuck Liddel at UFC 88. Liddel was clearly winning the fight until Evans landed that blow. For me, it was one of the five best knockouts I have ever seen. The funny thing is, it reminds me of Evan's knockout of Sean Salmon.

I am still surprised at the strategy executed by Rashad Evans. Clearly it was effective, but why he didn't try and take down Liddel still puzzles me. For Evans, it looks like a matchup with Forrest Griffin is on the horizon. If Dana White really wants to make the fans happy, he should make these two the next coaches of The Ultimate Fighter.

Just when you think you have seen it all, Randy Coutrue will fight again in the UFC. After a year of legal hassling, it seems both sides agree the best result is to have Couture fight again in the UFC. To me, this is a clear win for the UFC who was right in the first place.

Interestingly, the big winner in the whole ordeal is Brock Lesnar. He gets a title shot probably one or two wins earlier than he would have otherwise. On the other hand, he has to fight a legend and a fighter that knows how to execute a game plan.

Maybe the big winner isn't Brock Lesnar, but its the fans. We are treated to a very marketable fight and potentially two future fights from Randy Couture. To say the least, this is a very exciting announcement.