Anderson Silva Makes MMA History

Record crowd in Montreal boos uninspired title fight

By Dave Deibert, The Star Phoenix,
April 20, 2009

It didn't happen in the spectacular fashion followers of mixed martial arts have grown accustomed to, but Ultimate Fighting Championship star Anderson Silva entered the record books Saturday night at UFC 97: Redemption at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

In successfully defending his middleweight championship with a unanimous decision over Thales Leites (14-2) of Brazil, Silva (24-4) posted his ninth-straight victory in UFC's Octagon, breaking the tie he held with legend Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch for consecutive wins. However, this was one of the most uneventful main events in UFC history.

The two fighters didn't make contact for the first 70 seconds and they often went stretches in the five-round match without mixing it up.

Much of the match consisted of Silva knocking Leites down, Leites lying on his back hoping to turn it into a ground battle and Silva waiting for Leites to stand back up.

When they did throw down, Silva was clearly at a different level. He dominated the stand-up exchanges and thwarted any submission attempts on the mat by Leites.

"Sorry. Next time I'll give a better performance," Silva, a native of Brazil, said through his translator.

"It's unfortunate. I wish I could have given a better show, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way."

A crowd of 21,451, a North American record for a MMA event, paid a live gate of $4.9 million. They rained boos at various points in the match, chanted 'boring' midway through the final round and also shouted the name of Georges St-Pierre, the Canadian star and UFC welterweight champion who was sitting at ringside. St-Pierre is the rumoured next opponent for Silva in what would be a dream fight between two UFC title holders.

"I've never put on an event that I was embarrassed to be at until tonight," said UFC president Dana White. "I want to publicly apologize to all the fans.

"Watching that was hard. It was embarrassing."

Liddell likely done

MMA fans have seen the last of UFC legend Chuck Liddell.

Liddell, 39, the former light heavyweight champion and one of the biggest money-makers in company history, was the subject of retirement talk heading into his match with former Pride star Mauricio (Shogun) Rua. If Liddell didn't win, and win big, White said Liddell would seriously have to consider calling it quits.

Liddell (21-7) and Rua (18-3) went toe-to-toe for much of the first round until Rua floored Liddell with a left hook. Rua pounced and scored with a half-dozen hammer fists before the match was stopped at 4:28 of the first round.

Fans gave Liddell a roaring ovation, well aware it could have been his final match in the Octagon.

"I'm disappointed. I had a great camp, I was in great shape," said Liddell, who has lost four of his last five fights.

When asked if he was ready to call it quits, he was non-committal.

"I've got to go home and talk to everybody," Liddell said.

"I don't know. It just didn't feel right tonight."

Rua, who hadn't looked good going 1-1 in his first two UFC fights, was instantly thrust into the list of potential light heavyweight contenders.

"I'm happy," said Rua. "Liddell is a legend in MMA.

"He can still sell out shows and he can still sell pay-per-views, but he's done. He helped build this company and he helped build this sport, but it's done. Even Michael Jordan turned 40 and he was done."

In other pay-per-view matches:

Sam Stout (14-5-1) of London, Ont., scored a unanimous decision over Matt Wiman (10-5) in a lightweight battle.

Winnipeg's Krzysztof Soszynski (17-8-1) forced Brian Stann (6-2) to tap out to a Kimura hold at 3:53 of the first round of their light heavyweight bout.

Heavyweight Cheick Kongo (14-4-1) scored a TKO over Antoni Hardonk (8-5) at 2:29 of the second round.

Luiz Cane (10-1-1) posted a unanimous decision over Steve Cantwell (7-2) in a light heavyweight match.

How UFC Fighters get paid at UFC Main Events

UFC fighters get paid according to their individual pre-fight contract agreement as follows:

Example: Fighter X gets $125,000 to show plus $125,000 to win.

UFC pays "Knockout of the Night" $65,000 bonus.

UFC pays "Fight of the Night" $65,000 bonus.

UFC pays "Submission of the Night" $65,000 bonus

So, if Fighter X shows ($125,000) and wins his fight ($125,000) and also gets awarded "Submission of the Night" ($65,000), he would take home a purse of $315,000.

If Fighter Y shows ($7,000) and wins his fight ($7,000) and also is in "Fight of the Night" ($65,000), he can make a much larger take home purse ($79,000) based on his bonus.

If Figher Y shows (7,000) but loses his fight (-$7,000) but is in "Fight of the Night" ($65,000), he would take home a purse of ($72,000), and made ($7,000) additional had he won his fight.

UFC 6th Most Popular Sport in the U.S. ?

written by Greg Sacks April 20th 2007

If website visitation is any indication, there is a new sport around that is capturing the hearts of U.S.
consumers. The "UFC", or Ultimate Fighting Championship, attracts a greater number of visitors to its website than the organizations that run professional golf, soccer, bowling, and tennis. And if hockey doesn't fire up its zambonis soon, it appears that the NHL will be the next sport to be KO'd.

Much like the NFL is the largest professional football league, the UFC is the largest promoter of a combat sport named mixed martial arts (MMA). Competitors are allowed to not only punch like in boxing, but also kick, knee, elbow, slam, and choke their opponents. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea (my mother is not a fan), but enough interest has been building in the sport that nearly a million U.S. consumers visit the UFC's website each month.

Started in 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) brand is in its fourteenth year of operation as a professional mixed martial arts organization offering the premier series of MMA sports events.

The UFC organization follows a rich history and tradition of competitive MMA dating back to the
Olympic Games in Athens.  About 80 years ago, a Brazilian form of MMA known as Vale Tudo
(anything goes) sparked local interest in the sport.

Then, the UFC organization brought MMA to the United States.  The goal was to find "the Ultimate
Fighting Champion" with a concept to have a tournament of the best athletes skilled in the
various disciplines of all martial arts, including karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, grappling,
wrestling, sumo and other combat sports.  The winner of the tournament would be crowned the champion.

Once the UFC brand was launched, MMA popularity surged in Brazil, followed by immense interest in
Japan where these bouts became major events.

In January 2001, under the new ownership of Zuffa, LLC, the UFC brand completely restructured
MMA into a highly organized and controlled combat sport.  As a result, the UFC organization now offers twelve to fourteen live pay-per-view events annually through cable and satellite providers. 
UFC fight programs are also distributed internationally throughout the world, including broadcast on Viewer's Choice in Canada, MAIN EVENT in Australia, Globosat in Brazil and Setanta and
Bravo in the United Kingdom.

Response to the UFC brand of MMA has been tremendous, resulting in a growing fan base that has grown exponentially through the years.

Recently, a UFC event in Montreal, Canada attracted more than 21,000 people-the largest audience in North America to witness a mixed martial arts event.  UFC® popularity continues to reach new heights as the sixth season of the hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter® delivered top ratings in male 18-34 and 18-34 demographics for the Spike TV cable network. 

The UFC organization and Spike TV also extended its two-year strategic partnership through 2008
to present four additional seasons of hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter®, as well as ten live
UFC® Fight Night^TM events and 26 taped programs of UFC: Unleashed^TM.

The UFC organization is regulated and recognized by the world's most prestigious sports regulatory
bodies including the California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania State Athletic Commissions. The UFC organization strives for the highest levels of safety and quality in all aspects of the sport.

In 2007, seven live UFC fights on Spike TV have averaged more young men in the coveted 18-34 demographic (869,000) on cable than the more established ‘major' American sports of basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and NASCAR including:

An estimated 18.1 Million Americans took part in some form of Martial Arts last year. Included in that estimate are:

Of the 9.4 million adults 63% were between the ages of 18-34 years old ( Hybrid Fighting's target market ) Of the 63% MMA and Kickboxing type events proved to be significantly more popular.

Why is this so important ? Statistically, these individuals are younger, richer, and more risktolerant than the marketplace as a whole. For example in a recent independent poll of MMA demographics: