Tito and Dana really don’t get along

OK, so it’s not exactly news, but man, even we were surprised by the venom with which Tito and Dana went at it around the time of Ortiz’s fight with Machida. Every interview and every TV spot was chance for them to take pot shots at each other. Dana called Tito a moron – Tito hit back saying UFC fighters were slaves. It all came to a head with Tito gate crashing the post-UFC 84 press conference (to which he claims he was not invited). Things got tense as the UFC brought in police officers, ready to remove Tito if needs be, but thankfully it went off with only a couple of barbed comments from the feuding pair. There is no doubt Tito is never going back to the UFC.

Mo’ money, mo’ problems

Er, no, at least not if you’re running a MMA promotion. More money means you don’t face going under, which, if you read all the reports, is what the IFL, EliteXC, Cage Rage and more are all facing. Victims of the global recession or a result of bad business practice? Let’s wait and see...

It’s leg injury season

First it was Shogun (out with a blown knee) then Chuck Liddell shredded his hamstring, Gesias ‘JZ’ Calvancanti has a torn meniscus and ACL, and the latest victim is Mark Coleman, who was scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar in August. Shogun is expected to be out until September, Calvancanti is out for at least four months and at present no one is even sure Chuck is going to make it back at all. Suckage!

Deaf people are in an uproar over MMA

Light heavyweight Matt Hamill will be the inspiration for an upcoming movie, due out in 2009. The deaf UFC fighter’s life is being made into a movie that some members of the deaf community have rallied against, because it features a non-deaf actor. The star will be Eben Kostbar, an actor with wrestling experience who is fluent in American Sign Language. “I was really shocked by the reaction,” Hamill told UFC.com. “I thought the movie would receive positive feedback from the deaf community because this movie is based on a deaf athlete and the life surrounding his deafness.”

The UFC wants to take over the world

In 2007 it was the UK, in 2008 they hit Canada. Next on their list? According to Dana they’re planning on going worldwide. “The Philippines is definitely happening, we’re working on that right now, Australia and Germany, those three are right now,” he stated. “And now we’re starting to focus on doing something in Brazil.” How very interesting – time to dust off our passports!

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