Quick Hits: Ortiz Still a Free Agent, UFC and CBS In Talks, Koppenhaver Changes Name, and More
By: Kris Karkoski (admin) | Aug 30, 2008
Light heavyweight free agent Tito Ortiz confirmed on the latest edition of HDNet’s “Inside MMA” that he is currently in negotiations with Affliction, EliteXC, and the UFC.- The winner of the September 10th WEC 36 bout between former WEC lightweight champion Rob McCullough and Donald Cerrone has been guaranteed a 155-pound title shot title shot. [MMA Junkie]
- The California State Athletic Commission this week released the official fight salaries for ShoXC “Suganuma vs. Hamman 2″, which took place earlier this month. The event’s top-earner was Jared Hamman, who made $8,000 for his first-round TKO of Po’ai Suganuma, who made $5,000 in the loss. [MMA Junkie]
- The Ultimate Fighter 6 cast member Jon Koppenhaver this week announced that he has legally changed his name to War Machine due to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling trademarking “War Machine” as the nickname for professional wrestler Rhino.
- A future bout between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho may be a possibility according the fighter’s managers, Ed Soares, but it would reportedly be a “uphill battle” to convince them to accept the bout. [MMA Weekly]
- The UFC and CBS are reportedly again in talks, this time to have the UFC take over EliteXC’s Saturday time slot on the network. [New York Post]
- World Victory Road on Friday announced that former IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz will take on Jorge Masvidal at Sengoku 5 on September 28th at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. In middleweight tournament bouts slated for the card Yuki Sasaki will fight Yuki Kondo and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos will face Siyar Bahadurzada. Kazuhiro Nakamura and Jorge Santiago are also slated to participate the in the middleweight tournaments but their opponents have not yet been announced.
- Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will take on PRIDE and UFC veteran Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at DREAM 6 on September 23rd at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. [Sherdog]
I didn’t know that Filho and Anderson Silva shared the same manager…
i would want to see my tito in the ufc again…
he wouldn’t do much..but he would be a good stepping stone for fighters…
as for jon…man this foo is crazzzzy…imagine when he goes to his child’s back to school night!!! hahah
he is going to be the type of father that kids want to take to “show and tell” haha
the ufc on cbs!?!?!
ummm idk bout that..they should stick to spike…
cbs will probably try to contain the ufc and enforce too many restrictions…keep it on spike!!!!!
Rob McCullough and Donald Cerrone is a fight I want to see. Cerrone is really comming into his own. He deserves a fight like this. I like Cerrone’s fighting style. McCullough is probably still wondering what hit him, but he has a lot to prove, so he’ll be tough to beat. I really like this weight division in the WEC and UFC. Tough fighters all over.
If I’m not mistaken I thought the UFC signed with spike until 2011.
So is his last name War Machine or first? Or is his First War, and Last Machine? Eh, I guess it really don’t matter he still sucks. Everybody is copying off World B Free though. First Ocho Cinco, now Mr. War Machine lol.
UFC isn’t stupid, if they sign with CBS i’m sure they will still have creative control, after this circus elite xc has put on. If it does happen i’m sure we will see elite xc on the oxygen network.
hell yeah i want tito back in the ufc i love the guy, he’s still a big name and will make for some intresting matches.
” hi there sir could u please gaive me ur full name” yes hi every1 im war machine haha crazy fool
Tito, um gate keeper or he should try to become a well rounded fighter instead of one dimensional, now not to say that he only trains in a certain area I believe he trains in a lot of other forms of martial arts he just doesn’t apply them in the cage
Warmachine is well not right in da head, entertaining as hell do u think is mom still calls him john?
UFC willnot let go of creative control nor any “points” of their privately held company, I strongly doubt CBS and ZUFFA will come to terms
Overeem v Cro Cop pretty much all that can be said there can’t wait
O I forgot about CoooooWWWBBooooYYY, he is a.very talented muay thai practioner but wins primarly by subs huh interesting if he gets a title shot I think he will be the “next champ”
i think war machines parents are dead? seem to remember him sayin that he has no family
^^^^^ good point my bad I forgot
I agree with you fr702, I don’t think anything will happen with CBS. If you look at the crap deal elite got, I don’t think CBS is willing to give up more. Dana will not give up any production say and won’t accept anything less than a mega deal.
And once again Dana and the Brothers Fertitta hold all of the cards
i would rather have ufc stay on spike! and HAHAHAHA tito still not signed. but i agree with the guy who said having tito on ufc and have people fighting him to get closer to the top. like give him a silva i would like tito to get KNOCKED OUT! by anderson silva haha i hate tito
War Machine hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Say bye bye to the eye of Cbs XC….:)
ufu=top mma organazation
Not long ago Tito and Dana were talking about how much they hated each other. Dana was saying he was out of the Tito Ortiz business… Tito talked about how badky he was mistreated by the UFC and now… lo and behold… contract negtiations are back under way. What does Tito hope to prove? Does he need the job because of the new baby? He under-achieved in his last few fights… Has he gotten better? Maybe Dana has reconsidered letting a big draw let Tito go to a competitor. I suppose the UFC as fickle as Tito is. Tito used to be a factor in the 205s, but not so much anymore.
but whats jons middle name, is his legal name now like
war rodney machine
war nelson machine
war eric machine
wtf??
honestly? god damn if ufc signs another contract with tito they’re idiots, all he does is whine and turn down fights unless hes sure he can win they have enough talent to survive without him
HAHAHA! Elite XC is dead now. CBS owns Spike tv. They are both Viacom companies. I truly believe Zuffa will not screw this one up again. Gus Johnson and Mauro Renallo are very good I thought.
We will see what happens, but one thing is for shure, The Shaws are ruining the sport.
Tito is a jerk. I want the UFC to sign him just so I can watch him lose his heart half way through the first round and then get his ass kicked.
Did I mention Tito is a jerk?
Dear UFC,
We here at CBS are very sorry for not listening. We are uneducated and lack knowledge about the great sport of MMA. CBS was trying to save money and trick the average fan but we were unaware MMA actually had a strong following and hardcore audience. As of now, Kimbo Slice cannot bring us the ratings we need to keep making profits and our company is being thrashed by the hardcore MMA audience who were not nearly decieved by our antics. Our business is hurting and the Shaw family keeps offering crooked schemes and unmentionable bribes to hold our relationship together. We are no longer going to be stupid, stubborn or blind here at CBS. We here at CBS want the best and that means the UFC! Please Mr. White, talk to us again. Help us make sense of this mess. Help us recover from this dark venemous world we have entered with the Shaw family. Save us! CBS needs the UFC!
The UFC should sign Tito(never gonna happen) and give him three fights. Anderson Silva, Rampage and then force Tito to move up and fight Brock. Tito is full of ****. His talks with the UFC are probably far from anything happening. Tito is not even worthy of being a gate keeper in the UFC. Now that many WEC fighters will be moving over to the UFC there is even less reason to need Tito around. At this point in Tito’s career he is more an actor/drama queen than a great fighter. He had his day in the sun and its done.
i hate to say this KOuch but elite xc are on a winner with kimbo vs shamrock all the youtube geeks are guna tune in to see kimbo and all the mma fans are guna tune in to hopefully see a legand beat this wanabe, i belive the rateing will go threw the roof for this fight, which will make more fighters want to fight for elite xc which make cbs a happy place to be, i love the ufc just as much as the next guy but i think we have to accept these new firms or were just guna spend most r time being p!ssed and writeing sh!t on here
Dear CBS,
We have discussed at length the problem you have and we feel we have a solution. We, the UFC will be happy to save your network and we believe our demands are fair. First, you will need to change the logo from CBS to UFC. We are convinced this will bring more attention to our product. Then you will have to open your bank vault and allow our movers to relocate your assets to our bank vault. And lastly, you will have to find a job of some king for one of our employees. We’re sure that you will find Mr. Ortiz is a very good janitor or possibly a ticket taker.
We are looking forward to hearing from you again at your convenience.
Johnboy,
Why would more fighters want to fight for ELITE because of the ratings? Word on the street is that Elite is going under. Along with that, KJ Homo Noons just thrashed Eilte for under paying him and threating his family. ELITE is going to go out of business. I promise you. I know this because GOD(Dana White) said so.
DOLFAN G,
Tito a janitor or ticket taker….LOL…..I swear, Ken Shamrock and Tito need to start a referees union. Tito needs to cut the crap and do his movie with Jenna. NO MORE BS!
come on Tito just fight abd kick some a$$
*and
I’d really like to know where Tito stands right now… Let him fight with W. Silva or Rampage Jackson. If he wins that fight then the fans might have some reason to want to see him again.