Dana White clarified the problems with, and his position concerning UFC fighter Jon Fitch. Here’s the quote, via USA Today:

This is not an attack on Jon Fitch. It’s not an attack on any one fighter. We have chosen not to do business with this camp called AKA. These guys have never, ever, ever treated us like partners. They’re always fighting over stupid, stupid (stuff) and negotiating over stuff that makes no sense. They’re negotiating like they’ve got Mel Gibson and this thing is the biggest movie ever being made. You know what I’m saying? The reality is, we’re not even sanctioned in Massachusetts or New York … (and) we’re going into all these different countries trying to do these different things. And I’ve got these guys that basically don’t want to be partners with me. You’ve got morons — morons — that are running these fighters’ lives. But to tell you the truth, one of the fighters from AKA called me and said, “Listen, I don’t care what these managers say or what they’re doing. I make my own decisions and my decision is, I’m with you. I’m your partner, I’m in.’ And this was before we even told AKA we wouldn’t be doing business with them any more. So this really isn’t an attack on Jon Fitch or any personal fighter. We’re just choosing not to do business with AKA any more. We’re not going to do business with them. And listen, there’s other guys out there that they can go do business with; they’re just not going to do business with me. Now there’s rumors out there, I know, about, ‘It’s over a video game deal. It’s over the ancillary rights agreement. It’s over this, that.’It’s over a lot of different things. It’s not one specific fighter or one specific thing. It’s about a lot of different things with a lot of these fighters. And you know what? This is more than just AKA. There’s other camps out there that we’re having trouble doing business with. And at the end of the day, this is a business. We run a business just like any other business. You come in, you do your job with your company and you get paid. And the guys that don’t want to do business with you — then go work somewhere else. It’s as easy as that. You don’t have to do business with us. There’s other people out there you can do it with

The MMA News will bring you any developments in this story.

While The MMA News is the first one to admit there haven’t been very many good forays from MMA stars into movie roles(or rather good movies with MMA stars) we thought that we’d bring you a trailer for the upcoming Never Surrender movie.

M-1 Global American VP Jerry Millen recently talked to MMAWeekly and had this to say about a potential matchup between WAMMA heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko and UFC heayvweight champ Brock Lesnar:

“We would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup, but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.”

Fedor Emelianenko himself sent a message to Randy Couture, saying:

“I would tell Randy that – I’m sure he already knows – he’s already in the history books, that he’s a legendary fighter, and regardless of the outcome of this fight, things just didn’t go his way,”

Regardless of what Millen says, you can’t fault Fedor as he still is one of the true class acts in MMA.

There’s no doubt that MMA and the UFC are huge in Canada, but Ontario still refuses to sanction or allow events. Dana White has it in his mind to change things; here’s the quote:

“I’m going after Canada after (I get approval in) New York and Massachusetts. I’m attacking Canada. I’m going to spend so much time in Canada I’ll have to buy a house. I’m going to live here until it’s done. I’m going to be sitting on the porch every day they come to work.”

And here’s a pic for the Montreal Canadian fans to enjoy:

UFC 93 features Rich”Ace”Franklin taking on Dan Henderson while Shogun returns to attempt to avenge a previous loss to UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman. Enjoy the vid:

There’s an upcoming Documentary based on Matt “The Law” Lindland which is looking to stir the proverbial MMA pot. Here’s the synopsis:

Cage Fighter Matt “The Law” Lindland had to earn his nickname the hard way, through perseverance and a good lawyer. Back in 2000 Matt was in one of the biggest political sports messes ever, resulting in his case on the steps of the supreme court. His success in the Sport of Mixed Martial Arts came to an abrupt halt as politics came knocking on his door again. This is his story.

The MMA News will bring you dates for screening the documentary which has been submitted to the 25 largest Film Festivals.

UFC president Dana White has shocked the MMA world by releasing the super talented Jon Fitch, and that’s just the start as there is word that others from AKA(American Kickboxing Academy) are soon to be cut including big names Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez. The situation erupted over Fitch’s refusal to sign an agreement giving up lifetime video game rights for his likeness(this type of clause is certainly coming up more often as a negative of signing with the UFC) and White wasn’t pleased with the situation. Here’s the quote, via Yahoo!Sports:

“We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny. Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them…. I’m not a douche bag and I do a lot for these guys, a lot more than any of you will ever know. We’re in a horrible time in the economy now, and every guy with two nickels to rub together is making a run at us. We’ve worked too hard, given too much, to let certain guys come in and [expletive] with that.”

Fitch shouldn’t have any problems finding a new contract with a new promotion, and expect there to be some backlash directed at the UFC if Koscheck and Velasquez follow. The MMA News will keep you up to date on any developments in this story.

Freddie Roach, acclaimed boxing trainer, will soon be working with Anderson Silva. Like the competition needed that. Here’s the vid:

There’s been quite a few people who thought that the Couture Lesnar fight should have ended sooner, and that referee Mario Yamasaki may have been wrong in giving him “extra time” to recover. Whatever the case, here’s UFC president Dana White’s take on the situation(via Los Angeles Times):

“The ref [Mario Yamasaki] was going, ‘Eh, is [Couture] OK?’ Mario was trying to give him time [to recover]. There’s a fine line between that and [allowing] too many punches. When I saw Randy go back down, I thought we had crossed that line.”