Yahoo! Sports columnist Kevin Iole provided us with some quotes from Matt Hughes this week regarding his fight with Georges St. Pierre and his upcoming battle with Thiago Alves that I found to be vintage Matt Hughes:

On Alves: “To be honest, I like the matchup,” Hughes said. “He’s a stand-up guy. On the ground, he’s not nearly as dangerous. I’ll be stronger, I believe I’ll be the better wrestler and I like the fact he’s kind of a slow starter. I think I can wear him out before he gets going.”

On St. Pierre: “I got into a couple of positions I wanted to be in and I didn’t pull the trigger,” Hughes said. “Walking away from the octagon that night, I said to myself, ‘That wasn’t me. Obviously, Georges is a tremendous fighter, but I had a real bad night at the same time he had a real good night. When that happens, you saw what the result can be. But I did get into some good positions and I saw some things, but I couldn’t do what I knew I needed to do.”

I want to ask this question… did Matt Hughes simply have a bad night in the Octagon or is St. Pierre just that dominating in the UFC’s Welterweight division? In my opinion, it wasn’t just a terrible night for Matt Hughes in the Octagon, but a different Georges St. Pierre.

Some people have claimed that St. Pierre has become gun shy in the standup game while others claim that his superior ground skills are the easiest way for him to win each fight. Regardless, it doesn’t really matter what you perceive to be the reason he has become a crushing force on the ground. He still wins fights in unbelievably impressive fashion against top competition. Matt Hughes found that out, and I’m hesitant to believe that a “bad night” was the culprit of such an embarrassing performance by Hughes.

For Hughes, that’s exactly what he has probably called it a thousand times… embarrassing. But was it really that embarrassing? He was clearly outclassed, outpowered, and outmatched in every aspect of that fight. Do we simply chalk it up to a poor gameplan and bad night for Hughes? I don’t believe so, and I think if it were to happen a second time, it’d be much of the same power and punishment by St. Pierre.

What about Thiago Alves? Does Hughes possess the wrestling skills to make it a hard night for Alves? He does in fact possess that skill, but his quote above rubs me the wrong way in a similar way to what Parisyan stated leading up to his fight with Alves. A lot of fans underestimate Alves’s potential, and luckily for me, I’ve always found his combinations to be truly devastating to any type of fighter in that cage. There is a reason he’s known as “The Pitbull”.

Hughes is correct in that Alves won’t be as dangerous on the ground, but his leg kicks are absolutely devastating in every fight he takes. He can literally make your lead leg mush within the first round of a fight, and his power is being underestimated by Hughes. Slow starter or not, Alves still has great Muay Thai striking that could create a huge problem for Hughes. Let’s hope Hughes doesn’t have another “bad night”.

Some interesting news comes by way of Adam Swift over at MMAPayout.com regarding the story revolving around Brandon Vera and his former manager Mark Dion. Mark Dion is now filing a civil lawsuit against Brandon Vera and his new management team in which he is claiming:

The complaint closely follows the contours of the arbitration proceedings, except for the inclusion of Zuffa, White, and Silva for allegedly interfering with Dion's management contract with Vera. Specifically the complaint alleges that Zuffa and its officials encouraged Vera to breach his contract with Dion and provided him with confidential emails to use in that effort.

We all know that Zuffa has had some sneaky and questionable business practices in the past. Xyience, PRIDE’s buyout, and the laundry list of complaints regarding contract negotiations have plagued the promotion’s standing with the MMA community for some time, but they still remain the leader in putting on great shows, big name fights, and exposing fighters to the fanbase enough to garner even more money in their pockets.

Now, the actual contract negotiating is under question. Dion already won the arbitration case with the CSAC regarding his contract with Brandon Vera in which Dion won a portion of Vera’s purse from his battle with Tim Sylvia along with $100,000 for future fights. Dion’s contract was set to end in 2010, but has since been cut due to the deterioration in their relationship. It looks like there may be some more underlying problems that could hit Zuffa for their poor ways of dealing with fighters.

Post-it notes were the culprit of the arbitration case, and now Zuffa’s sneaky tactics of trying to get Vera to breach his contract with Dion could potentially give Dion another payday and Zuffa a lesson in ethical business practices. It’s unfortunate that Zuffa is becoming plagued with these lawsuits because it could eventually begin catching up with them in the long haul. Although the Xyience case could be the real turning point in how Zuffa does business, keep an eye on this case as it could begin unraveling even more problems with White & company’s ethical thinking in the matters of fighter contracts.

To be perfectly honest, this is no surprise to me. Zuffa has been linked to countless questionable business practices that could either be deemed as “too bad, so sad” to the people they have been screwing, or could eventually become a much bigger problem legally for Zuffa. Off the top of my head, the Xyience case seems to be the bigger lawsuit to come down the pipe with valid arguments and evidence from the shareholders of Xyience. That case could potentially strike at the foundation of Zuffa, The Fertittas.

This case is much different though. I’ve wanted to hear more about the contract negotiations and what exactly has been going on in the process, and this case could show the fanbase what’s been going on. If these claims are true, it only adds to the notion that Zuffa is a Goliath pushing around the “little guy”. Unfortunately for Zuffa, the pushing could very well be illegal and unethical.

Last week, we heard some interesting rumors surfacing that the UFC was about to unload a substantial amount of talent in the coming months to slender down the roster of fighters. At first glance, I was a bit disappointed as I figured the UFC may be trying to limit how many fights these guys can take in a year, thus giving us less events with top talent. It doesn’t make sense why the promotion would do that however, so I’m hoping they may be opening up some doorways for some other talent out there to move in. Obviously, the UFC wants to cut the fat and put on some lean muscle by bringing in small numbers of elite talent and cutting large amounts of disappointments or TUF alumni. Today, a few more guys were lumped into that group.

Din Thomas, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, and Tommy Speer were all cut from the UFC according to the Wrestling Observer newsletter. The numbers are now totaling around 9-10 fighters currently off the UFC payroll for the time being with more cuts possibly coming after their next scheduled event on May 24th.

Is this a major disappointment for fans? Was Thomas, Hironaka, and Speer good candidates to be cut from the UFC? I believe they were for more than just losing efforts. Thomas has definitely dropped off in skill, Hironaka couldn’t cut it against bigger and rangier opponents, and Speer was just outmatched in his bout with Anthony Johnson. There are other factors I believe that are pushing these fighters out besides losing two straight fights.

For instance, are any of those fighters extraordinarily exciting to watch? No, they aren’t, and I think the UFC is definitely more inclined to keep the James Irvin’s of the promotion around even after a loss due to their explosiveness and excitement factor.

Of course, the UFC can’t control the fights once they are made and both combatants are in the cage. We could end up cutting a lot of non-exciting fighters and still end up with a lackluster event full of horribly bad lay-n-pray decisions. In the end however, the UFC is creating better odds for themselves by cutting those types of fighters. It’s looking good so far, UFC, keep it up.

MMA-Analyst.com is looking for writers who can devote a little time each day to writing 1-2 small opinion/editorial pieces based on current news, events, and anything else MMA related. My schedule is beginning to get rough during the days, and I haven't had as much time to devote to the site as I've wanted. I'll be pushing out 1-2 articles per day, but would love to keep the analytical pieces coming for the fans who read this site.

If you want your voice heard, or have some intelligent opinions regarding the sport of mixed martial arts, email me at lr@mma-analyst.com with a small summary of why you want to write along with some information like age, background, etc.

Affliction has been making some headlines in recent months with its potential entry into the North American mixed martial arts market and becoming a possible power player in the industry. We’ve heard huge rumors surrounding an event taking place at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on July 19th, and the announcement of Tim Sylvia vs. Fedor Emelianenko to headline such an event. Unfortunately, those rumors were exactly that… rumors, and the announcements regarding the event’s card are up in the air now.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com revealed that the deal between HDNet and Affliction had fallen through, and the booking of the American Airlines Arena did not happen. Affliction is looking to other venues, but it looks like this may be only the beginning to the snags that will begin surfacing as we lurch closer to July.

My current thoughts on Affliction are very similar to the thoughts I had about Golden Boy Promotions trying their hand at the MMA market. Why move into a market that simply doesn’t have the talent outside the UFC to fuel an entire promotion for years to come? Why spend extraordinary dollars to fund events that could potentially be flops?

Fedor was the subject of unconfirmed rumors that he may be receiving over $2 million to fight Tim Sylvia while “The Maine-iac” was reportedly going to produce a $300,000-800,000 salary, and sources at MMAPayout.com have the estimated salary number ballooning to $5-6 million dollars. With numbers that astronomical when compared to even the UFC’s payroll per event, can Affliction last more than one event?

No, they can’t and won’t be in the business of promoting mixed martial arts very long with those types of numbers. Golden Boy Promotions was smart to back out of their partnership. The simple fact of the matter is that MMA right now is ruled by the UFC in the North American market.

Most of the talent is still in the UFC, and Affliction cannot blow huge dollars to produce such a big event in hopes that it will carry them to the promise land. It’s unfortunate that companies and entrepreneurs won’t be able to move into the business in the upcoming years until something different happens, but it’s much better than wasting money that could be better used down the road for something bigger.

The way I see it, Affliction got ahead of themselves here. Guaranteeing such large sums of money to fighters was a mistake from the beginning, and it is clear that the promotion either has some bad business sense or has something up their sleeve. Nonetheless, the MMA market is too volatile right now to throw $5-6 million into the fight salaries alone. Just give it up, Affliction. Save yourself the embarrassment.

After being booted from their primetime slot yesterday, I started thinking about some of the other details that surround the promotion as a whole. For a few months, I've been aggravated by the constant news that comes out of Japan regarding both the lightweight and middleweight tournaments. Rumored fighters are on the card, but nobody has been confirmed while other fighters are asked about the tournament and have no idea that they have been contacted to appear. Case in point: Frank Trigg.

Frank was announced by the promotion to be taking on Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Ronaldo Jacare at the DREAM 2 Middleweight tournament coming up on the 29th of April. Unfortunately for fans, DREAM happens to run along the same lines as many of the bigger Japanese promotions have done in the past. DREAM announced the battle, but had yet to sign Trigg to a contract or have the fight even confirmed verbally from him. From listening to the show, it was explained that K-1 tried to get Trigg to fight, but they did not reach a deal by the deadline. Instead of immediately taking him off the card, Trigg's name was left there until today in which Ian Murphy has been announced.

Unlike the UFC, DREAM and other major Japanese promotions really need to get on the ball when it comes to announcing these fights. There is almost always a guarantee of a bigger name fight not happening due to the laziness of K-1. The UFC happens to confirm bouts months in advance, and confirms their cards weeks in advance.

Another potential stirring of the pot is Sakuraba's recent comments that Fightlinker has quoted on their site. To make a long interview short, Sakuraba doesn't like tournaments. In fact, the tournament is next week, and he has yet to decide if he wants to fight in it. To make matters more ridiculous, he states that he absolutely hates tournaments in the first place because he's always thinking about the next fight. Good reasoning, but why wait until nearly a week before the event? He is almost certainly going to pull out.

DREAM should probably work out these small details before the actual week of the fight, and it's very unprofessional. Of course, I've been hearing this for years from Japanese promotions, and it isn't new news to me.

Kid Nate over at BloodyElbow.com wrote a small piece outlining the recent news from Sherdog.com's Jordan Breen regarding DREAM being dropped from their network primetime slot. While the view from his article is grim, I'd like to point out some of the things that weren't mentioned and may end up having some impact at least for those of us who love the stable of fighters that DREAM has managed to put together.

Am I refuting the fact that DREAM is over? No, not at all. In fact, losing their network primetime slot is a deadly blow for revenues when it comes to television advertising and as Breen mentioned in his article, PPV isn't big in Japan as it can be in the United States.

There is one point that Jordan Breen brought up that may score a small victory for hardcore fans for the time being. Pay-per-view only cards will be featured in full length instead of the fully edited versions of the cards that we've seen on the primetime network slot. Also, Daisuke Sato has returned to the promotion to hopefully pump up the pre-fight promotional material for DREAM. PRIDE entrances may have finally returned.

How can DREAM overcome a demise after losing a primetime TV slot and the attached advertising revenue? It'll be tough, but the quality of fights could potentially increase PPV buys slightly. One idea that hasn't been done yet is porting the event to an American fanbase. Although the buys would be low, which may be exactly why it will never happen, hardcore fans would likely buy the card. A more realistic scenario would be using HDNet in some way to increase viewership.

Coupling SkyPerfect with HDNet is far from getting them back on track, but the epic matchups in the middleweight tournament and the lightweight Grand Prix are just too good to leave behind. If DREAM truly does go down, WVR may end up picking up some of these fights or the American MMA market may once again start actively pursuing those fighters. I'd love to see the latter happen, but for now, many hardcore MMA fans could be crying in their beers in a few months time.

There is still hope for the GP Finals to make the primetime slot however, so hopefully it'll make a resurgence with some exciting fights in the upcoming events.

Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva was one of the most entertaining battles that we saw last year in the UFC. The toe-to-toe exchanges were spectacular, and the surprising chin and cardio of Silva proved to make the fight even more exciting. There were also the years and years of hype and hope that fueled the excitement for that fight to happen, and the UFC made the play to get Silva and create that fight to not only please the hardcore fans, but produce a fantastic bout between MMA legends. Now, a new matchup that pits a legend in Liddell against an Internet street brawler in Kimbo Slice could very well be the next Silva vs. Liddell.

The long road to producing this fight has already begun. Chuck Liddell had these words to say regarding Kimbo’s supposed star status:

"Kimbo's one of those guys who doesn't have any ground game," Liddell said. "He's training and he's learning but he's been built up as such a big star, and that's the thing that bothers me.

"People talk about him like he's the next great thing when he really hasn't done anything. He's been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street... I could make some impressive knockout videos too if you let me walk outside and just punch people and knock them out."

Kimbo has since replied with his own comments:

Ferguson says that Liddell and other fighters are "only creating a monster" by calling him out and that they should come see him directly if they have a problem.

"We can always take it back to old-school; that'll work for me," Ferguson said. "But I still got love for all the MMA fighters, but if you keep on rapping man, I'm going to have to zip it close, baby, because I'm getting tired of the talk.

"The next one that has something to say, just see me [directly]. I'll come to your camp, and that's real talk."

Talk may be cheap, but it’s all that MMA fans need to get the gums flapping about this matchup. Is Kimbo the real deal? Can Liddell actually use a ground game against him? Will he even try? A lot of questions are being asked, and it’s very interesting to hear Chuck talk about how nobody should care about Kimbo, yet he continues to comment on him.

Regardless of all the talk, both fighters are beginning their campaigns to make this fight happen down the line, and make this fight become something much bigger than it initially was thought to be. Dana White confirmed on TSN Canada's sports talk show "Off the Record" that they would be looking at Kimbo if he beats some legitimate competition. That would give fans the signal that the fight is a definite possibility down the line if Kimbo's skills can continue to improve.

Add in the potential for Kimbo to become a true MMA star if EliteXC’s venture into network television ends up being a huge success, and we could see the makings of some record breaking numbers for a UFC PPV. Kimbo’s internet presence alongside his newfound presence on network television could boost his drawing power through the roof. Kimbo could very well be the dream draw for casual fans, while Liddell is one of the UFC’s highest draws in their history. Put both these guys together on one card, and it could be one of the most successful events ever for the UFC.

Right now however, this is all speculation until Kimbo proves that he can continue beating competition in devastating fashion. A few legitimate opponents in the future would definitely up his stake to hardcore fans while some successful battles on CBS would excite the casual fanbase. Once he’s successfully been put through the hoops, I’m sure the personality of Kimbo Slice will begin to rear its head in the media and the “smack” talk will be heard throughout the industry. Chuck Liddell can’t resist shutting down Kimbo’s claims, so it should provide the perfect background to hype Liddell vs. Kimbo.

Is this fight inevitable? Two powerful strikers with heavy hands and knockout power squaring off against each other is always a great battle, but Kimbo still must prove himself to the fanbase and to the UFC. I believe Kimbo will face Liddell eventually. It could take some time though, and Kimbo isn't exactly young. Hopefully, he takes on some better competition after Thompson and legitimizes his skills, but don't leave out the possibility of Kimbo being slapped down the ladder he's climbing.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Finale event on June 21st is starting to take shape with four more additional bouts announced today by the UFC. Spencer Fisher will take on Jeremy Stephens in a lightweight bout while Jeremy Horn will try to once again defeat Dean Lister in a rematch from their King of the Cage 31 bout back in 2003. Drew McFedries will try to knockout Marvin “Beastman” Eastman, and Josh Burkman takes on jiu-jitsu fighter Dustin Hazelett. Although these fights don’t exactly have that excitement surrounding them as we have seen from the Ultimate Fight Night cards and past TUF Finales, there are some battles here that could determine where these fighters are at right now.

Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens

On paper, this could be another scrappy war for Spencer Fisher. Both Stephens and Fisher are standup fighters with some decent ground and pound abilities, but can also show the submission game when the chance is available. While Fisher is beginning to maintain a role as a gatekeeper to the mid-echelon talent of the lightweight division, Stephens is beginning to work his way up in the division. He’s 2-1 in the UFC with his lone loss to Din Thomas at UFC 71, and Fisher will be a step up in competition for him. Fisher should be able to use his experience, striking, and overall toughness to pull out a win, but Stephens has a shot with good power in the standup.

Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister

A lot of fans are making a fuss about this fight due to the rematch aspect of this fight, but Horn vs. Lister could prove to bore fans who want to see a standup fight. Lister hasn’t been impressive in his stints in the UFC, and “Gumby” has hard times in his last two battles. Nonetheless, Horn is a veteran of the sport and has the submission skills on the ground to defeat a guy like Lister. It could be a grappling chess match on the ground, and I’m always game to see those fights unfold.

Drew McFedries vs. Marvin Eastman

Eastman is known for his appearance, but he certainly hasn’t used it to knock opponents out in the past. At 15-7-1 with 9 wins via decision, the perception that Eastman can flat out strike may be a farce. McFedries, on the other hand, is a power striker that uses his heavy hands to put opponents out. He’s coming off a tough loss to Patrick Cote, but his power alone can change the tide of a fight in no time. Can Eastman avoid the blow for the entire fight if it goes to decision? Will McFedries have the gas this time around? Not a bad battle to add to this free card.

Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett

I’m definitely not convinced that Josh Burkman can beat up on Dustin Hazelett. Hazelett showed some improved standup in his fight with Josh Koscheck, but Hazelett’s artwork comes from the jiu-jitsu ground game. He has very slick technical grappling skills that can easily overwhelm anyone in his guard. Burkman’s standup needs to improve significantly before I can believe he’s a presence in the division. Looping haymakers don’t win fights unless your opponent walks into one. Let’s hope this one turns out to be a decent scrap, but it could end quickly if Hazelett gets it to the ground.

Adam Swift at MMAPayout.com posted some interesting information regarding the UFC’s entry into the network television market alongside their prime competition in the American market in ProElite. Referencing some of the answers Dana White gave during an interview with The Score in Canada, White stated that a network deal will be “very soon” and later hinted at potentially being as soon as six months down the road.

Swift reports in the article that he has learned that FOX is believed to be the leading network in the race to create a partnership with the UFC. The site also reported that ESPN was in the running as well to produce shows on their network.

This brings me to a concern that the sport of mixed martial arts could eventually run into and somewhat ties in with a recent interview from Michael David Smith at AOL Fanhouse with Tony Reali of ESPN. Quoted from FightOpinion.com:

I’m really interested to see how MMA does this year on network TV. My gut tells me we have to get MMA. If somebody asked you 10 years ago would ESPN put poker on you’d have said no. There’s a resistance right now from an older generation, not just at ESPN but my grandfather was a huge boxing fan, I don’t know if he’d be taking to MMA.

I know how Tony and Michael feel, which is that it’s too brutal to put on television. We’ve talked about putting Rampage Jackson on PTI and what happens in the end is they can’t get past the brutality of it. I don’t know that it’s really more brutal than boxing, there are long-term injuries in boxing. I think it’s compelling. When you watch it you can see what the appeal is, and I think it will be a ratings success on network TV.

Tony Reali hosts “Around The Horn” on ESPN, if you can’t put the quote with a face. The intriguing parts of this quote are that the mindset in the sports industry and the idea that the young generation of sports fans out there may be changing. Reali obviously understands that MMA is beginning to get huge in terms of potential. It’s a facelift of boxing for people who want more than the standard striking aspect of a fight. He also makes the point that boxing may not be as brutal as MMA, and that those points are made by people who oppose the sport (Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser). Maybe MMA is beginning to get through to the thick headed mindset of old school boxing fans and people believing it really is more dangerous.

If that’s the case and the rumors regarding the UFC coming to FOX end up being true, we could potentially see a network television blowup for mixed martial arts. NBC is currently airing re-run matchups from past Strikeforce events with slick production and fighter profiles. CBS will be airing EliteXC with likely some better production, and FOX could push to air some UFC events. It’s only a matter of time before ABC may get in on the action. The big 4 would ultimately be airing MMA on a monthly basis, and it could eventually reach bi-weekly numbers.

My concern here revolves around the rise of MMA in the mainstream. While the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NASCAR all feature game after game, event after event of action that never gets old to those die-hard fans of their respective sport, will MMA have the same effect in attracting that type of casual fanbase due to their large exposure in a network television era?

It’s tough to say, but if fans are attracted to the sport and educate themselves about the actual fight game involved in mixed martial arts, I would say yes only because of the way that I was pulled in by the sport. There are still countless critics of the sport that compare it to “cockfighting” and stating it’s too brutal for a casual fan of all things sports to be watching on network television. I beg to differ that those people wouldn’t be watching.

In fact, I believe firmly that those casual fans out there not familiar with the sport may very well tune in to see those huge knockouts, but inevitably become enriched in the “ground game” and the intricate details that make a fighter complete. There is a huge roadblock in the perception of mixed martial arts, and hopefully the promotions that get the chance to push MMA to the top will make use of educating those new fans coming on board.

The biggest problem to overcome will be what most of the promotions will be seeking: mainstream media. While sports media will cover the events and fighters, the critics will continue to blast mixed martial arts will arguments revolving around brutality. Adding more promotions to the network mix will inevitably bring the onslaught of those critics, and hopefully the networks involved won’t back down. The sport can produce numbers and add new fans to the sport given the chance. Let’s hope the mainstream media doesn’t sink us before that can happen.