Comments on: “Rampage”-Evans to Headline UFC 107 on December 12 or 19 in Memphis

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:15:48 +0000

No way rashad is dropping down…cant wait for the fight. Im not sure who im gonna put my money on yet…don’t forget Frank Mir and Kongo will also fight on that card…stays standing kongo all the way, hits the ground mir has a cake walk…and tito and coleman also could be on the card, not to mention a rumor of diego sanchez and bj penn

By: Kris Karkoski

Kris Karkoski — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:47:31 +0000

They had Silva fight Franklin in Cincinnati and “The Spider” still walked through him. There’s no doubt having it in Memphis makes it tougher on Evans but its nothing that can’t be overcome.

I doubt 185 is an option for Rashad, who used to fight at heavyweight (including his won on The Ultimate Fighter) before dropping down to 205.

By: AngelesPorlamar

AngelesPorlamar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:28:34 +0000

Holding this fight in Rampage’s birthplace? Sounds like somebody “up there” is trying to make life as difficult for Rashad as possible, no?

And it will be Rashad’s fourth straight fight, and fifth in his last six, in which he has been an underdog.

I’d say Rashad is headed for 185 after what has every promise of being a brief but brutal beatdown at the hands of QJ.

By: KarKing

KarKing — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:58:58 +0000

Rampage didn’t challenge for the title against evans because of surgery he had on his jaw after the jardine fight he tells dana in his video blog

By: frantzfanon

frantzfanon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:56:05 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the first to notice two Black combatants in a UFC Main Event for the first time.

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:56:28 +0000

The Zuffa contract with TapouT seems to be special, however, particularly for TUF. I think Dana felt burned after he was wearing the Affliction shirts a few seasons ago, which prompted a lot of people to buy them, and then Affliction started their own promotion. After that it seems he struck a deal with TapouT to be the “official” TUF clothier, because TapouT are good guys and won’t screw him, and he know TapouT is committed to the sport, they’ve been involved with it longer than he has.

In regards to other fighters, such as Brock Lesnar with Deathclutch, Dan Henderson with Clinch Gear, Shane Carwin with Warrior Wear, Bisping with Ecko, etc. (I know I left some brands out… they’ll be okay ) those are contracts worked out between the individual fighters (and their managers) with those companies. The money those fighters receive for wearing their gear is passed from said company to said fighter (possibly through their manager) with none of it going through the UFC’s hands. (However there has been a recent news that the UFC is demanding $100,000 to sponsor fighters from various apparel companies, deemed a “sponsor tax”.) As far as the other sponsors, like people that get banner space, that is also dealt through the fighter/manager, and I don’t know of any involvement by the UFC in that process.

By: jcohl

jcohl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:11:53 +0000

Thanks for the clarification, fr702.
I always wondered how fighters received compensation, if any, for their walkout wear and ancilliary merchandising.

By: fr702

fr702 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:52 +0000

ZUFFA is a distributor for lets say TapouT they pay TapouT for product, then sell it to us for an adjusted price, the fighters have “signature series” that TapouT will give said fighter a cut of dependant apon gross sales… TapouT is the supplier, ZUFFA is the distributor and us fans are the end user, if anyone is going to pay said fighter it would most likely be TapouT for their services rendered…

By: jcohl

jcohl — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:55:04 +0000

bigchris2328, to answer your question, when I refer to a big money fight I generally mean big money for the promotion, of which I understand a percentage of which is paid out to big draws/names, so I guess the answer is a little bit of both.
Previously I had assumed Rampage Jackson fell into the “big draw” catagory, but after a “justin-ization” of the facts, I stand thankfully corrected.

And fr702, when I ran my Rampage “math”, I was thinking in terms of overall money into the UFC by promoting 2 Rampage fights, first against Evans, and the second against Machida down the line, assuming he beats Rua. But I understand and agree that a Rampage-Machida fight will draw more money than a Rampage-Evans fight, due to title implications.
Sorry if I didn’t make that clear.

Also, an off-topic “justi-pedia” question if I may:
does the UFC have any set policy towards fighter payouts as they relate to t-shirt sales and merchandising? How many t-shirt, or hats, or rashguards does a fighter need to sell before the promotion throws him some cash, or does merchandising fall outside the UFC’s control entirely, and each fighter cuts his own deal with whoever makes their gear, such as Tapout or Punishment Athletics or whoever?
As I understand it the UFC requires all TUF contestants to wear Tapout gear, regardless of what they might be wearing prior to their TUF appearance, but do they have any input once a fighter signs with the promotion?
Just curious…

By: dbiz

dbiz — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:45:37 +0000

Finally found the long-ass comment I wrote up... PPV Analysis