Recent welterweight championship challenger Jon Fitch (19-3) was released by the UFC today after refusing to sign away his lifetime video game rights to the promotion, according to MMA Mania.
Heavyweight Christian Wellisch (8-4) was also cut by the UFC after failing to sign the agreement.
Fitch, who had been scheduled to fight Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 on January 31st, was last in action in August at UFC 87, losing to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre via unanimous decision. He had previously won 15-straight fights, including a record-tying 8-straight in the UFC.
Wellisch had won two-straight bouts over Anthony Perosh and Scott Junk, before losing to Shane Carwin at UFC 84 in May.
According to the report other fighters who refuse the sign the agreement may also be released.
Additionally, Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that lightweight Marcus Aurelio (16-6) has also been let go by the UFC, though his release is believed to be the result of his subpar performance. Aurelio is 2-3 in the octagon, most recently dropping back-to-back fights to Tyson Griffin and Hermes Franca.
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wow I do not agree with this move at all…wow
damn.. hope to see you again fitch
Dbiz did have a good point in the other forum about this subject, Timcat bringing the infor a lil early, and Kris for being on top of his shhhh tonight
Just caught why Junie may have gotten kicked off the show in that lil teaser just now on SpikE
I have to believe that part of the reason for them wanting lifetime rights is for THQ, and UFC, not just UFC. And because if it wasn’t a lifetime license, they may have to later pull the game. Not a good situation, I hope that they can revisit the contract so that more fighters don’t leave because of this. I also hope this is just a rumor.
FR,
You made a good point on the other forum about where is he going to fight now.
DBiz,
In regards to your other comment, NFL players do get cut, Brock Lesnar got cut from the NFL. In fact, NFL players get cut all the time, the difference is that there is no competing organization. In the UFCs case there is a competing organization, that’s why Fitch wouldn’t want to sign the contract.
THQ quite possibly could have a lot to do with the lifetime commentment
This sucks. Fitch will soon have the same problem Jake Shields will soon not have, in being the best WW not in the UFC with no decent competition. He will have to move up to MW at the very least in order to fight decent competition in Affliction or Strikeforce.
This seems very petty to me.
It seems that the Aurelio release is unrelated to the game thing, still sucks.
What if GSP or A. Silva didn’t sign the deal? Think they wouldn’t release them? Hell no.
It does seem petty, but if this originated with THQ, as I suspect it did, its not something petty to them.
I hope we don’t see more UFC business decisions made by video game companies. They shouldn’t feed Affliction or anyone else.
unreal
Fitch vs Shields with Affliction
Wow… The worst part is now I can’t play the GSP/Fitch rematch in the game. I was looking forward to Yelling out FINISH HIM mortal kombat style, everytime I turned Fitch’s face inside out on my playstation.
Over a video game? Really? GAY! GAYER than Gary Shaw and Barbra Streisand in their ritual farm animal orgies! GAY! Fitch is f-ing badass and this f-ing sucks. There is more BS to come….I am almost sure of that.
I clarified the article, but Aurelio’s release is unrelated to the video game agreement and is the result of his back-to-back losses.
even if it was the game company who wanted the lifetime videogame release, it was ufc’s bad decision to release them, fitch could still have fought for ufc just not be in the game unless ufc’s ad campaign is to say that every ufc fighter is in the game, either way its still petty
hell… fitch they coulda made fitch a downloadable character that doesnt load into the next game or sumthing… but they ACTUALLY went as far as releasing him?!?! there has to be some sort of misunderstanding… It just doesnt make sense…
Justin, I meant they don’t get cut for not signing video game rights away.
this is just a rumor no way they would cut fitch. he just had one of the best fight of the fucking year. believe it when you see it for real. come on guys
Honestly I think that if they wanted to have exclusive rights to John Fitch in a video game for life, maybe he made the right call?
Lets face it, no other organization is near as big as the UFC, and all the ones that have tried to compete in the states (and abroad) have failed thus far, but MMA is still fairly young, and so is Fitch, and lifetime exclusive rights to a fighters image to one company is big time, that means video games, t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs etc.. So to want big money for that is understandable by someone like Fitch.
Having said that if they wanted me i’d settle for 100k right now >.>
Due to all of this nonsense I’ve busted out the oldskool video game PRIDE FC and UFC Sudden Impact the hell with it whynot
Still sucks tho
This is just a way for the UFC to get the attention off of Fedor and M1 goodness what depths they will go too
I thought that was a possibility, DBiz.
muaythai4life,
Its their likeness just for the video game. Not other stuff as well.
The thing that makes the least sense out of all of this is that the UFC has non exclusive contracts with the guys for apparel at JC Penny, and are working on non exclusives for action figures. Why would they make them sign an exclusive contract for the video game (granted they stand to make a lot more money on the game than the other stuff). It just doesn’t make sense, there has to be more to this.
ESPN reports that “other AKA fighters may be released as well if they lose their upcoming fights”. I would assume this means Kos and Swick with their December fights. It looks like a camp vs. UFC. The AKA camp is really tight (and Christian Welliesch (sp?) is a lawyer) so they may be trying to put their foot down. Not a good outcome for them if they all get booted. I wonder how much a refusal to fight each other drove Dana White and the UFC to want to “clean up” a little??????
madness…
This is crazy. I seem to be shaking my head at a lot of the ufc’s crazy cuts lately. first werdum now Fitch. Bad cuts. Don’t like it one bit.
what is the UFC thinking totally unfair treatment of there fighters ..First of all that four man tournment should of had Couture vs Werdum not Lesnar…. Werdum deserved a shot way more, Now 1 lose Werdum is gone and now fitch that just BS
I’m just kinda curious where Fitch is going to go to stay competitive? I mean Affliction has canceled just as many shows as it’s put on now right? And I know they paid huge on their first show, but they let a few fighters go because they wanted to cut salaries after that event… so i’m sure they’ll pick him up, but how often can they have him fight? I think that given some time Fitch could maybe beat GSP, I mean lets be honest, he survived 5 rounds with him, no one else has to date, and I don’t think Penn will either.
I still wonder if it was only lifetime on the video game. normally when they want your image it goes a lot further than a video game.
Why wouldn’t Fitch sign away though? Is he hoping to be in an elite xc game? lol
Sadly this is true. Read Dana’s comments here
Justin or anyone else for that matter, Dwayne Zinkin and his brother were instimental in Kos growing with the UFC, they started out in MMA because their family has A LOT of $$$$ and their grandfather started out farming nuts and various types of vegies… Dwaynes father spent half his time farming then went into developing land here in the Central Valley of California, the boys Dwayne and his brother really don’t have the nack for farming soo with “their bankroll” the started to provide Chuck with sponsorship $$$ and developed Zinkin Entertainment which houses Chuck, Bob Cooks entire team (that’s how they constantly aquire new equipment), Zinkin has sponsored many of THE PIT fighters, help Hack with equipment, they have ties to Cung Le and Casey Olson (local fav on the cusp of becoming someone in the WEC)
Not that Dwayne is a bad guy, yet he does get a little head strong and perhaps isn’t the best business mind outthere…. I by no means am pulling anyones chain I will tell you this I can definately see Zinkin Entertainment pulling some strong arm move against the UFC and Dana saying fuuuuck you, in all reality this isn’t good for Zinkin & Co they could have easily tried to minipulate the situation and put all their eggs in a basket thinking there is no way UFC would cut Fitch and Kos and tried to demand some retarded shhhit….
that’s like slavwery – signing away yourself forever. talk about over-reaching. Is this Dana or Lorenzo? Given that it’s pretty apparent Randy was thrown to the wolves for his contract contretemps, is this outrageous and abusive treatment of it’s players result in the UFC going out of business somewhere down the line?
No one should sign such a thing – for life? Are you kidding me – beyond outrageous. Evil.
After reading that article, I don’t think Fitch is being unreasonable at all. I feel sorry for the poor guy who just wants to fight but has to deal with all of this other BS. It takes a strong person to stick up for yourself and your family like that. He has my respect and my best wishes.
After reading that article i am left in two minds, i understand where fitch is coming from with the lifetime rights but like someone commented who else within the next few boys will have john fitch in there fighting game or even a game made buy someone else than thq?
The velazquez situation i find confusing, what is he arguing over? Im not to sure?
Can anyone confirm that werdum has been released?
Can anyone confirm that fitch has actually been officially released?
Say fitch n werdum and valazquez have left, were do they go, they fight with affliction 2 or 3 times a year against a group of 5 or 6 people in there wieght division, just does not make sense too me.
But UFC nee to understand that they cant get rid of such talent by not replacing it with talent, i mean get rid of john fitch and replace it wth dennis kang come on not good enough in my opinion.
I don’t feel sorry for them. Yes they’ve worked hard to get where they are but they also have give up a lot to maintain their status. I think sometimes we forget where we came from and don’t really see what we have in comparison.
Man this game is going to be awesome.
Oh yeah… I also suspect there’s more to this story than is readily obvious. I’m not big on contract language but I know it can be EASILY mis-interpreted and what might be included in this type of contract as common contract language might be mis-interpreted. Who knows.
Will we have to sign any contracts to play the game ?
Do you think we have to have a contract too where we can only play the UFC game not allowed to touch any other MMA game ;)
I for one don’t think there’s much possibility of another company putting out an MMA game any time soon.
Unbelieveable, things like this is whats making me not like Dana. He [Dana] aint concerened about the fighters no more if he ever was, but it is all about the $. You are willing to cut one of the best WW in the world over a video game. If this trend keeps happening like {Brock] getting a title shot after 3 MMA bouts i hate to say it but I might stop watching the UFC. I dont really like him but look what Florian has went through and he hasnt got his title shot. It just goes to show that its not the best fighters no more it’s witch matches will fill Dana’s pocket more disgraceful to me.
well said surfingk5! now they have NOTHING! i never liked koscheck and his mouth anyway. i still think there is more to the story… we will see!
i hate this is all over video games, because they make peoples heads soft and backs weak. i once had to fire a guy (with a wife and 2 small kids) because he could’nt stay awake on the job because he stayed up late EVERYNIGHT playing those d*mned games. he had several written warnings too, so dont get all liberal on me. i hate slackers more than mayonnaise and thats alot!
Everyone has the right to be pissed. I think the fans should speak out against this after all we are what make the damn sport. I am really angry about this decission. i really enjoyed watching fitch fight and UFC you just let go one of the best WW fighters in the world over a video game. STUPID!
to many to read so will just comment,
dana this is ur worse decision ever, jon fitch is a top fighter who could hold the belt one day, im just in shock total shock, f*ck the video game i dont even have a ps3/x-box/wii or what ever else there is about these days, bull sh!t dana, and now i here koscheck an all WTF dana give ur head a shake, we want to see the best fighters in the ufc not on some bull sh!t game
Huge piece in USA today they interviewed both Fitch, and White.
Here you all go. Because everyone cares about my opinion.
Furthermore, here is Dana in his own words…
“Q: Fitch is basically saying that you told his management team was, “If you don’t like it, you have nowhere to go. Who are you going to sign with?” Is that an accurate characterization of what you said?
A: That’s not accurate at all. I never talked to Jon Fitch once. I never talked to Jon Fitch. I talked to the AKA guys, the guys who manage him.
The only fighter that called me from AKA was Mike Swick. Mike Swick called me from AKA, that was it. And Mike Swick said, “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t care what’s going on. I’m with you, I’m in business with you guys. You guys are my partners.” And I said, “I appreciate that, Mike. We look at you the same way.”
This isn’t an attack on any fighter. I didn’t talk to (Fitch) and say, “Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?” Affliction is trying to build a company right now. Those guys are dying for fighters — dying for fighters. I’m sure Fitch isn’t going to have any problems finding work over there, or any of the other guys.
But if Fitch called me today, if Fitch called me right now and said, “Dana, listen, I don’t know what happened with my managers … but I want to work this out with you,” I’d work it out with Fitch in two seconds.
It has nothing to do with Jon Fitch or any other specific fighters. It has to do with the management team, the guys who own AKA. I don’t want to be in business with them anymore. End of story.”
Great find with that link, Justin. To summarize: Fitch says what his managers told him Dana said. Dana says his managers suck and he’s not doing business with them any more and that any interested fighters should call him. Like Swick did.
I hope that Fitch does contact Dana, yet that is very unlikely to happen soo essentially there is StrikeForce and Affliction perhaps Japan other than that unless he personally calls Dana, Fitch will never have an oppritunity to be the UFC champ which he has always said he wants to be
Why wouldn’t he? His managers (and their arrogance/incompetence) basically got him canned. Dana has now expressed that he is more than willing to work something out without that management team if Fitch will just call him. Dana is practically begging there.
Fitch ought to either do a complete split with AKA or tell them what Liddell did. Handle merchandise and get the hell out of his business negotiations.
Thanks. I think Fitch should split from his managers, or at least do what Liddell did. If Fitch trusts the UFC he should deal with them directly, contracts for fights can’t be that hard to sort out, the promotional crap is where it gets hairy, all this stuff about how much money per inch of space on a shirt or whatever. If he doesn’t think he can handle the UFC contract stuff on his own, get a lawyer that he pays a fee to, where the UFC comes to Fitch, with an offer, he has his lawyer that he pays by the hour, and therefore has no stake in the financial aspects of the deal, look at it, and explain the legalese to him.
Brandon Vera come into anyones mind
I do believe that Fitch should the Zinkin entertainment to stay out of business negotiations and just deal with sponsors
am glad fitch is back, am looking foward to seeing him fight again. I think within a year fitch is capable of beating gsp regards the first fight he held his own agaisnt gsp and took him all five rounds
Congratulaqtions to Dana White for the empire he is building. I have been waiting when the success will get up his head. Soon he will think that he own the fighters who made the sport and they, the fighters, will become,to him spendable creatures, disposable as in our disposable economy. Profit is the moral of all evil.
Gina is fuuuccckkkiing hott in person her body is curvy and sexy damn, cheers
Bad mistake. Regardless of the managers for the UFC to release a top, TOP contender in any division based on them rejected a portion of a contract in which they ask for LIFETIME release of any given thing is unethical business practice IMO.
Dana is basically saying I DONT CARE HOW GOOD YOU ARE IF YOU DONT DO THINGS MY WAY YOU’RE DONE.