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Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:15 am EST

Fitch has one a helluva day

By Steve Cofield

On a day when the New York Yankees passed the torch from one Steinbrenner to another, was anyone else thinking that the UFC resembled the old days of the Yankees' Bronx Zoo on Thursday? People were shocked in the morning to learn that welterweight title contender Jon Fitch was booted from the company over a contract squabble. And then just like the old days when manager Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner would go crazy on each other and then make nice hours later, the UFC and Fitch buried the hatchet by the evening.

MMARated's Ariel Helwani caught up with Fitch at American Kick Boxing Academy in San Jose before tonight's Strikeforce event. The smirk on Fitch's face tells you what kind of day it was:

"It was never even about the agreement or the contract. It was the approach we felt that Dana (White) was a little hot-headed and threatening us right off the bat. It didn't seem like a professional way to do things."

Fitch paints a picture portraying UFC president Dana White as the root of the problem in the squabble and that owner Lorenzo Fertitta was the voice of reason. Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports told ESPNRadio1100 in a radio interview on Thursday that during a telephone interview with White on Wednesday, Fertitta was just as impassioned and could be heard in the background backing strongly exactly what the very angry White was saying about Fitch.

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44 Comments

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  1. HAHA
    1. Posted by HAHA Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:49 pm EDT

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    what about Wellisch???
    HAHA
  2. chano
    2. Posted by chano Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:02 pm EDT

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    Hey welcome back Fitch!
  3. yep thats me
    3. Posted by yep thats me Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

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    so does this mean that Koscheck and the others are still gonna be gone?
  4. Darkness!
    4. Posted by Darkness! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    I love the UFC- it was my first, and still my fav. exposure to mma; so I'm usually one of Dana White's biggest supporters/fans. But I have to agree with a point Clint made. Dana took this situation waaaay too far, to the point that his "boss" Lorenzo had to step in to resolve it... all cuz Dana had some personal issue with Fitch's agent, and has no tact or diplomacy. I have all the respect in the world for Dana as an enterpraneur and a pioneer- practically the Godfather of modern mma; but he simply should not be involved in talent negotiations. Dana White is pretty much the spokesman or "face" of the UFC; and having bad business and/or personal relationships with UFC talent can in no way help the company. Dana- pleaase stick to what u do well: marketing, hype, ripping other mma organizations, etc... and let someone not so close to the situation handle the talent.
  5. HAHA
    5. Posted by HAHA Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:49 pm EDT

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    na i think they will stay blaze
  6. Kevin S
    6. Posted by Kevin S Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:54 pm EDT

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    He's changing his story to try and get all the anti-Dana fans on his side. Seems like he overestimated his position and then got a dose of reality.
  7. Karl A
    7. Posted by Karl A Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:47 pm EDT

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    Glad it worked out. I've said all along I don't like Dana. Jay I agree with you on the fact that Dana should just stick to promoting fights, marketing, squabbling. He is waaaaaaaay to full of himself and I'm sure he'll find a way to get even. He'll probably make Fitch jump up three weight classes and fight Lesnar as his punishment for going against him and making him look like the arrogant POS he is.
  8. Darkness!
    8. Posted by Darkness! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    let's not get too carried away Karl-
    Dana has some jerk moments here and there; but make a guy jump up 3 weight classes to fight a guy who outweighs him by over 100 lbs? I know ur prob. just kidding, but Brock isn't Dana's personal hitman. So are u one of the fans that think Dana "fed" Couture to Lesnar and gave Lesnar the title shot as a punishment to Couture? Even if he did- hopefully Randy learned his lesson... do n't f**k with Dana White. That would be hilarious to watch, though... what if Fitch won?
  9. Ron M
    9. Posted by Ron M Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:12 pm EDT

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    Exactly Kevin S....Fitch isn't in the strongest negotiating position right now...considering he was totally annihilated in his last fight. Everyone knows Dana is a hot head. So it's not like he's unpredicatable. You know what to expect. Fitch was an idiot pushinig him on something as insignificant as this. I mean sometimes the fighter is to blame...it's not always management or the powers that be that's at fault.
  10. yep thats me
    10. Posted by yep thats me Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

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    Ron M.... I see what you are saying about not always being managements fault, but do you agree with the method that Dana used to try and get him to sign it, no matter how insignificant that it might be?
  11. yep thats me
    11. Posted by yep thats me Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

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    Yep that is pretty jacked up Chano. Another shocker is they act like they were doing Kocheck a favor by letting him fight another fight just because took his last one on such short notice. Just goes to show how much Dana appreciates his employees, even though they try to help the company.
  12. chano
    12. Posted by chano Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:02 pm EDT

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    Yeah exactly and if he has lost then he was going to get cut pretty F8cked up dont you think!
  13. Ron M
    13. Posted by Ron M Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:12 pm EDT

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    Well, we don't really know what was said to Dana or how it was said. He could have had good reason to react the way that he did.
    Plus guys, that's the nature of the fight game. If you don't win your gone. That's just business...your gonna keep the fighters that put the most fans in the seats and sell the most tickets. Usually that's gonna be the guys that win. I don't know too many real popular fighter that suck and never win.
    Saying Dana White and the UFC is an evil empire that's sole purpose is too screw over it's fighters is just stupid and makes no sense whatsoever.
  14. yep thats me
    14. Posted by yep thats me Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

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    Yup.
  15. Matthew T
    15. Posted by Matthew T Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:25 pm EDT

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    Give me a break, these guys love to fight and for Dana to throw Koscheck another fight so quickly, just means another payday for him. It's not like Koscheck has a real job, so the more he fights, the more $$$ he brings home.
  16. HAHA
    16. Posted by HAHA Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:49 pm EDT

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    damn i never knew that if u lose once u can be let go like its nuthin
    thats pretty messed up
    but i guess it keeps the fighters hungry 4 that W
  17. Darkness!
    17. Posted by Darkness! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    yeah- I would've figured maybe if u lose 2 fights in a row, in convoncing fashion, u could be on the chopping block; but I don't see B.J. or GSP being cut if they lose to the other one, or the loser of Griffin vs. Evans... that doesn't make sense to me. Maybe once u reach main event level, that rule doesn't apply to u anymore; only to preliminary level fighters... who knows?
  18. Matthew T
    18. Posted by Matthew T Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:25 pm EDT

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    There must be a bunch tree-hugging conspiracy theorist (Democrats for short) in the yahoo MMA blogs. Dana White is just running a business, who wants to watch Werdum after he just KO'd by some no name.? Not Me! There are enough exciting Heavies out there that are 10 times better than Werdum, so who really gives a crap.
  19. HAHA
    19. Posted by HAHA Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:49 pm EDT

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    na Jay
    it is in the contract supposedly
    if u lose once u can be released
    which i bever knew of
    but i think its crazy
    the ufc really does brake off the winners
    and the losers sometimes get chump chage compared to the winner
    then u add the fight night bonuses
    UFC is all about performance
    the betta u do, the more u get
    that is how they keep the fighters hungry i guess
    and keep them from bein pre madonnas
  20. HAHA
    20. Posted by HAHA Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:49 pm EDT

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    yea matt werdum wasnt that much of an exciting fighter at all in the UFC
  21. Ican2
    21. Posted by Ican2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    I got another theroy....Cofield is actually a puppet master...He has HAHA, Blazin,jay ,chano. and ron.. And he actually uses all of these fictional charecters to supposedly talk back an forth as if there was actually an intelligent conversation going on here..Very clever Cofiled..I would be despreate to if I was in ur position...
  22. Darkness!
    22. Posted by Darkness! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    that seems like a good way to motivate ur athletes. I think the whole AKA situation should've been handled better; but I'm not totally against the "win or go home" policy; it just sounded a little extreme in the terms it was described by another poster... but HAHA and (especially) Drok did a nice job of clarifying it. Maybe if other pro sports organizations had pay structures similar to the UFC (more $ for winning, less $ for losing, performance bonuses, etc.), maybe we wouldn't have to see and hear great athletes like Chad Johnson, Pacman Jones, Ron Artest, Shaq, etc., etc. whining about their millions, or getting into trouble cuz they have more $ than they know what to do with, and just shut up and go out and do what they get paid to do... that's one big reason mma is my fav. sport- cuz it's still a sport.
  23. Darkness!
    23. Posted by Darkness! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    hey Ican2-
    why u jumpin' on me? I'm one of the few guys on here that actually reads ur conspiracy crap with an open mind, and doesn't rag on u for having ur own opinion (ok- sometimes, but not always)...
    that would be a good idea for Cofield though...
    : p
  24. mystaryte
    24. Posted by mystaryte Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:32 pm EDT

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    you can't say that it was all about losing. fitch only lost once in the last 2-3 years he's been with the company. this was def. a vendetta against his mgmt. plus, he wasn't a rabble rouser unlike others who have come & gone.
  25. vudusup
    25. Posted by vudusup Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:38 pm EDT

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    Kimbo would destroy Brock Lensar. Brock cannot take his striking and his submissions are second only to the Undertaker's.

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