Fighters Only

Issue 072

February 2011

Catch the latest news and hot interviews, updated daily by our worldwide team of reporters.

NEWS: FITCH SAYS REFUSAL TO FIGHT KOSCHECK IS BUSINESS

Jon Fitch clarified that his refusal to fight AKA co-member Josh Koscheck is about business, not friendship. It was understood their adamant refusal to fight each other in the UFC 170lb division was because of a personal bond. “It’s not a matter of friendships that make fighters uncomfortable with fighting each other. It’s the team thing, the team aspect,” Fitch explained to USA Today. “It’s not a friend issue when we say me and Koscheck won’t fight. It’s a business decision. It’s bad business for our team to have teammates fight each other.”

NEWS: BISPING CONFIRMS RIVERA FIGHT FOR UFC 127

Michael Bisping has confirmed he will fight Jorge Rivera at UFC 127 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, on February 27th. “I was after a higher-profile opponent. I asked for Nate Marquardt – I was hoping for someone like that,” he said in a video blog. “But, if it has to be Jorge Rivera it has to be Jorge Rivera; I have no qualms with that. He has been around a long time he is on a good win streak and he is a solid opponent.”

INTERVIEW: Q+A WITH UFC PRESIDENT DANA WHITE

FO: If Anderson beats Belfort and Okami fights Anderson, with Okami being cautious like he is and Anderson putting on one of his weird performances, that’s probably your nightmare right now?

DW: “What can you do? We go out there and put together the fights that we think are the best fights, and guys who deserve it and have fought their way there… Yushin Okami was supposed to get this title shot before, he was injured and he couldn’t get it. Now he beat Nate Marquardt to get it. No matter what Nate did or didn’t do tonight, Okami won the fight and deserves his shot.”

INTERVIEW: UFC’S MARC RATNER ON CALIFORNIA TRIAL WITH MONITORS FOR JUDGES

FO: The use of monitors for judges is a common suggestion. It definitely wouldn’t hurt accuracy or consistency. Your thoughts?

MR: “Actually, we’ve used them for the last three [UFC] events in California. We’re still experimenting with that. I don’t want them to only look at the monitor, because that only gets you one view, but certainly when your view is obstructed they might be valuable. Whether it’s a cameraman, the ref, or a corner post, there are several things that can obstruct the judges’ line of sight.”