For a complete backstory, check out Zach Arnold's post at FightOpinion. The gist of the situation is that Zuffa is suing what exists of Dream Stage Entertainment for fraud in relation to the sale of PRIDE to Zuffa. FightOpinion also updated their column with this from the summary of the case:

Plaintiff purchased certain assets of defendant’s business under the Pride, Pride Fighting Championship and Bushido brand names. Because plaintiffs are involved in the gaming industry, defendants were required to cooperate with and submit to background checks and drug tests to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements of plaintiff’s gaming license. Defendants failed to cooperate with, submit to or pass such background checks, defrauding plaintiffs into entering the agreement for “millions upon millions of dollars.”

The interesting part about this and something that Zach Arnold brought up as well is that this lawsuit may bring issues to light regarding the inefficiency of Zuffa to find out these particular details before the sale occurred. The brief above talks about the defendants not cooperating when it came to the background checks, yet the UFC still continued on with the sale.

Why is that relevant? It's likely that there are many more inefficiencies that have yet to be heard. The Nevada Gaming Commission will most likely be keeping a close eye on this lawsuit as they are very strict in regards to parent companies of casinos dealing with organized crime. As you may or may not know, DSE was connected to Yakuza in some ways, and the scandal involving those ties put PRIDE in jeopardy.

The Other Factors

One question lingers throughout this story, who exactly are they suing? Dream Stage Entertainment is dead, and only former employees are still involved in the industry. Former head Sakakibara is also named in the lawsuit, and could potentially be liable, but how much money can the Fertittas actually get back?

Again, the most interesting piece of this puzzle is the gaming licensing issues. If the NGA ends up finding out about the possibility of Zuffa being connected in an agreement to buy an organization that had ties to the Japanese mob, we could see some bad news hit the UFC's backing.

Where did the original money go from buying the organization? Many believe the Yakuza got the money, or at least people linked to the organization. This could all prove to be a huge mess, and it'll be insightful to see where the Fertittas can actually get the money back from.

In the end, this lawsuit will only bring to light other issues that Zuffa shouldn't want to be public knowledge, and if the NGA is keeping an eye on it, it probably isn't good for Station Casinos and the Fertittas. I guess the UFC should have done its research before the buy, instead of going into the deal with all these unknowns.

In the latest chapter of the saga that is Tito Ortiz, the "bad boy" of the UFC has seemingly caused multiple rumors to be released onto the Internet as to who he will be fighting next in the UFC. The presumption was that he would rematch Rashad Evans due to the draw that occured between the two at the UFC 73: Stacked because of a Tito Ortiz fence grab that ultimately caused the scores to be even at the end of the bout. With Ortiz's contract discussions in play, Ortiz has been flapping his gums about potential matchups that may or may not be in the works. Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and the already mentioned Rashad Evans are all possible matchups. It seems odd since Rashad Evans was the fight everyone assumes was going to happen and was said to be happening at UFC 78. It appears that matchup is still happening, but Ortiz has continued the rumors about other fights replacing that matchup. With all the other potential matchups in the air, are there benefits to the other possible opponents? I wanted to take a look inside those potential matchups to see if there really is a bigger benefit to producing those types of matchups. Would a Silva-Ortiz or Henderson-Ortiz fight be a fight that could save the year end events?

Rashad Evans rematch will disappoint

At UFC 73, Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans was a highly anticipated matchup for the mere fact that it was a stepping stone for Rashad Evans to defeat to begin a run into the top contendership of the UFC Light Heavyweight Division. For Ortiz, it was a battle to prove whether or not he was still a fighter that could sneak into contention and cause some trouble and possibly a run for another title. Most MMA fans laugh at that prospect, but Tito Ortiz has the skills to come to life. Lately, his cardio has been under critique even though he trains in Big Bear, California, renowned for providing some altitude training as well as great camps full of top-tier fighters.

After the draw between Ortiz and Evans due to Ortiz's fence grab, the rematch was already being announced by Dana White. Many fans sighed in dismay due to the fact that fight was uneventful the first time around. Evans looked scared to be countered by Ortiz's sprawl and his striking was subpar. Ortiz looked to be pushing the pace, but began to tire late in the 2nd round. Let's get one thing straight, Tito Ortiz won the fight. He drew only due to the fence grab, that's the obvious insight on that fight that everyone clearly knows. But a rematch of an already boring fight that had some anticipation leading up to it only to be proven to be unexciting is something the fans do not want to see. Unless we see a Rashad Evans who will use his wrestling more and strike with a bit more aggressiveness, the fight will most likely go the same way it did the first time. For Ortiz, the rumor mill began most likely due to the fact that he wants a bigger fight, more money, and an easier route back into the picture. Is this rematch the only option right now for Tito Ortiz?

In my mind, yes. Tito needs to prove he can be put into the lower top-tier of fighters with a win over an up and comer. He barely beat TUF fighter Forrest Griffin in a controversial split decision. He beat down an older, slower, and gassed Ken Shamrock twice and basically hyped the fights so much that by the time they came around, people were actually somewhat excited for them. A very good job in self-promoting those matchups by Tito Ortiz, you have to give him a bit of credit for that, but it doesn't put him close to even breaking into some of the top contenders in the Light Heavyweight Division. The UFC thought so by pitting him against Liddell in a grudge match that ended with Tito being caught in the third round. Close to seven months later, he gets downgraded to fighting Rashad Evans after fighting the champion, Chuck Liddell. He proved that he wasn't what he used to be. I think he sorely needs an impressive win over a great wrestler like Rashad Evans to really begin a climb toward the top. With the Light Heavyweight Division being flooded with new fighters, Tito isn't in that top tier yet. He hasn't fought consistently this year, and needs to string some wins together before his time is over.

On the flip side, I think a rematch will disappoint. It was fairly unexciting during their first encounter. Rashad's style doesn't counter Tito's style all that well. Pitting two takedown fighters against each other and having one of them shy away from using his primary skills didn't bode well for the fight the first time around. Ortiz's defense is a lot better than most fighters Rashad has faced. His boxing wasn't as effective as it has been in the past when he fought Tito before. We could have the makings for another boring fight, or we could see a much improved Ortiz or Evans. Rashad is now stuck in the Ortiz charade not knowing whether he will be battling the Huntington Beach Bad Boy or having his fight pushed back because Ortiz shmoozed the Joe Silva into a different matchup. For right now, Evans-Ortiz is still the matchup that is up for UFC 78. Will it go on? Nobody knows, but there are two other potential matchups that have been rumored.

Dan Henderson wants to fight at 205

It's been reported in a few publications and in interviews that Dan Henderson wants to fight at 205. The consensus from the MMA community is that Henderson should drop to Middleweight and give Anderson Silva a run for his money. I fall within the latter group. I think Henderson would be an excellent matchup with Anderson Silva, and I'd actually go as far to say he would dominate the Brazilian striker. Last week, rumors surfaced from Ortiz that Henderson may be a possibly matchup that could be set soon. If this fight happened, what would the UFC's thinking be behind it? Are they trying to load up some type of end of the year card with potentially great fights? Of course they are, but Ortiz vs. Henderson?

First of all, Henderson's standup is much better than Ortiz's standup. Henderson's power alone would probably crush Ortiz early in the fight. His wrestling skills are more honed that Ortiz's ground game, although you can knock Henderson to some extent due to some of his showings in PRIDE. During his PRIDE reign, he was outwrestling by some far less skilled ground fighters. To me, this potential matchup is murder for Ortiz. If Ortiz has been renegotiating a new contract, the obvious reason as to why he will be coming back is to sell tickets. Henderson isn't the type of guy to play along with that notion. Also, you can't sell too many tickets talking a huge smack game when you get destroyed by a big name fighter such as Dan Henderson. It doesn't work that way. If the UFC wants to get their money's worth out of Tito Ortiz, I think lower level fighters are the way to go until he proves himself to be back in shape and fighting at a high level again.

Wanderlei Silva rematch in the works

Another hot rumor that has been out there is the possibility of a Tito Ortiz vs. Wanderlei Silva rematch. Rematch you say? If you haven't seen it, Ortiz fought Silva back in UFC 25 in which he threw Wanderlei down to the ground for most of the fight and dominated him in ground and pound fashion. He didn't TKO Silva, but won an unanimous decision. If you watch the fight in-depth, you can definitely see Wanderlei's size difference from then to now. He is much bigger, stronger, and has a much better takedown defense than he used to. The rematch rumors were first spoken by Ortiz during a speech at Little Creek Casino in Shelton, WA this past weekend, sourced by Fightlinker. I think this is a horrible fight right now for a number of reasons.

First, Wanderlei Silva is a huge signing for the UFC and Dana White has publicly said that Wanderlei was a guy he dreamed about signing. Dana seems to have the notion that Silva is a guy who can make the UFC a lot of money. Instead of setting up Silva for a possibly lay and pray beatdown by Ortiz, get him some experience in the cage first unlike the other PRIDE fighters that have been sent in too early. I'm not saying that Ortiz would necessarily win in that manner, but I'd rather see a tune up fight for Silva before a major fight. A lot of you may think that an Ortiz vs. Wanderlei fight may not be a major fight, but with the Ortiz hype machine in full gear before the fight, it will become a ridiculous spectacle. Be assured, Dana White would be hoping Ortiz exploits the hell out of the media to anger Silva into a war of words.

Second, Ortiz would probably be signed to a new deal. One fight into his new deal, he possibly gets devastatingly knocked out by Silva after a much hyped campaign by Ortiz to bring in the big dollars. Fans watch him as he gets destroyed and of course, many fans love it! But now what happens? Ortiz's value in the light heavyweight division begins to go down the tubes. People will say that he dodged the rematch with Evans, he got destroyed by Silva in their rematch, and his days as a top ranked fighter are over, needless to say, they may already be over. With the amount of talent in that division, Ortiz is almost a lock for underperforming and being beat out of the division. I'm not even going to get into the type of fights he may get if he beats Evans in a rematch. Can someone say Lyoto Machida? Nobody wants to fight that guy, and he's coming up through the rankings and may run into Ortiz soon. Fact is, having someone like Ortiz, although hated, produces hype and brings in more PPV buys and sales. Getting him possibly murdered by Silva would not bode well. Let Ortiz prove his worth, give him someone lower or the rematch with Evans and let him make you some money on some of the lower level light heavyweight bouts. Give him a huge fight later on into his contract.

Last, Wanderlei Silva has already mentioned that fact that he would like to fight Forrest Griffin to avenge Mauricio Rua's loss at UFC 76. I believe that this is a much better matchup for the UFC to promote. The whole "avenge" storyline will be hyped to death, the UFC vs. PRIDE debate will be brought up again and again, and it's a fight that if Griffin can win, will solidify a shot at the title for him. On the other hand, Silva will have the chance to have a strong showing against a guy who has had success, but isn't exactly the best fighter there is in the division. The matchup makes much better sense to me, but due to Griffin's horrendous gash that he received from "Shogun" in their matchup, we may not see this fight for quite some time.

In retrospect, Ortiz could market the Silva battle as a rematch, and would be the right guy to pull Silva into a war of words. Ortiz is a master at hyping fights and to his credit, many fans may hate him but he always seems to do well in the pocketbook. The UFC could work a rematch angle, as well as another UFC vs. PRIDE debate just like the rest of the fights. Wanderlei would definitely get upset over any comment Ortiz makes, and the war of words alone would make this fight hotly anticipated. Wanderlei's debut in the Octagon alone would make any hardcore MMA fan want to see this matchup.

Putting it all together

Until Ortiz's contract is figured out, we won't find out what's going on with his next matchup. He has one fight left on his contract, and he has stated that in his dealings with the Fertittas, owners of the UFC, he was offered the deal that he wanted. So why hasn't it been signed and the matchup confirmed? I have no idea. Rashad Evans is now waiting in the wings of the contract negotiations. Rashad could be matched up with someone like Houston Alexander or Lyoto Machida if the Ortiz fight does not happen. To be honest, I think Rashad gets destroyed in both fights, but that's speculation as far as if those fights would happen in light of Ortiz being matched up with someone else.

Henderson and Silva are a bit more intriguing, but I don't think Ortiz deserves that kind of huge matchup. But what do I know? I know that Ortiz is a media mogul for the UFC. I know that no matter who they put Ortiz in with, he will hype that fight to the max and every casual MMA fans who doesn't realize that Ortiz hasn't beaten a top contender since 2006 will eat the hype up with a spoon in hand. Eventually, even the hardcore fans will show some interest, although the consensus would be that Ortiz would be beaten. I doubt the Henderson rumor has any truth to it. Wanderlei Silva vs. Tito Ortiz does have some merit though. With a big marketing scheme that the UFC can deploy for that matchup and the hype that Ortiz could create with a bit of smack talk with Wanderlei Silva, the matchup could become a hotly anticipated rematch. Don't hold your breath though.

SOURCES

Fightlinker.com: Tito vs. Wanderlei Silva or Rashad Evans
TaggRadio: Tito vs. Henderson <--- Debunked, but still worthy of analysis

Apparently, some people did not believe the rumors were true or didn't read any MMA news for an entire week... here you go.

Saturday morning, I woke up knowing that UFC 75 was most likely going on in England at the very moment I stepped out of bed. Normally, I would rush downstairs to the computer, immediately check the results, and brag to the MMA fantasy leagues how well my picks "owned" everyone. But not for UFC 75. Since it was a free event on SpikeTV and I had been shelling out cash to see all the other notable MMA events such as Art of War, ShoXC, and UFC 74, I was glad to save a little coin to see the event on tape delay. I grabbed a cup of coffee, some breakfast, watched some television, some college football, my beloved Northsiders, the Chicago Cubs, and then finally settled in for UFC 75. During the day, I received some phone calls from friends talking about the event coming up that evening. A few decided to drive down and got there about an hour before the event started. As I sat outside cooking up some brats on the grill, holding a beer in my hand, an unbelievable question shot through my ears. "Who the hell is Dan Henderson anyways? "Rampage" is going to kill this guy, I don't even know who the hell Henderson is, must be some shitty can." It was amazing to me. I was completely dumbfounded by the question. I proceeded to explain that Dan Henderson was an Olympic team wrestler in Greco-Roman. He had an unbelievable record of 22-6 in his entire MMA career with notable wins over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Kazuo Misaki, Murilo Bustamante, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Murilo Rua, Renato Sobral, and Gilbert Yvel. He's the current welterweight and middleweight PRIDE Champion, first MMA fighter ever to hold both titles at the same time.¹ To my surprise, my buddy didn't really care. He'd never heard of him, therefore he declined to really let a guy of this caliber into his world of MMA. He just figured Quinton would destroy him in the first round. He didn't know who any of those notable wins were except for Wanderlei Silva, and my friend hasn't really seen any footage on him either. He just knows through hearing me speak of him that he's a great fighter. What's the problem here? My buddy is a typical casual MMA fan who's directly in the demographic that the UFC is aiming for. He's a bit amped for the fights, but I'm unbelievable nervous about the light heavyweight championship. I know the two guys are unbelievable fighters, I've seen nearly all of each fighter's past fights, and I know what's on the line here. He has no clue, no real excitement, and completely discounts Henderson due to the fact he hasn't seen any of his fights, and knows nothing about him. This brings me to my big question: What is the UFC doing wrong in their marketing department?

UFC 75 Unified Belt? Where?

The big question when Dan Henderson was given the title shot against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was what was going to happen to the PRIDE belt now that Zuffa, UFC parenting company, had bought PRIDE Fighting Championships. First, it was that the belts were not on the line.² Then a few days later, the belts were going to be unified.³ It seemed the rumor went back and forth, back and forth. Finally, it was assumed that the belts would be unified and MMA would have it's first undisputed Light Heavyweight champion of the World. Did anyone really see that? No. Once the post-fight interviews were over, there was no passing of the guard, or belt, no big extravaganza that we used to see at the PRIDE Grand Prixs with the musical score blaring and the streamers falling from the rafters. Henderson didn't even come out with the PRIDE belt on. None of his entourage was carrying it, the commentators didn't even mention it. Why was it not a factor all of the sudden? Dana, can you answer that?

Two ideas come to mind. First, the whole PRIDE acquisition and organization could just be a huge confusion to the casual MMA fan. The UFC may be trying to stray from the boxing arena with the IBF, WBA, WBF, the list goes on. Instead of confusing fans with the thought of two organizations, one being acquired by another and now there being a type of "playoff" to determine who will be the champion under a combined organization, the UFC decided to create all this hype in the MMA media, but ultimately leave it out when it mattered the most. Secondly, maybe the UFC really just didn't think the U.S. audience really cared. As a hardcore fan of MMA, I loved PRIDE. PRIDE was an organization full of spectacular fighters, spectacular knockouts, and spectacular events. I feel the same way about the UFC, and I was very excited when Zuffa bought PRIDE. But the excitement is no longer there for me anymore. The fight was great, but the UFC really acted as if it was just another day, another dollar made. They shoved Dan Henderson aside and touted Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. I love Jackson's skill, his fighting, his personality, but I really thought the UFC dropped the ball by shoving Henderson aside like that. For such a meaningful fight, the UFC made it far from that.

Personalities

What can be done to really make the UFC's marketing more educational to the fans? What can be done to make the fans really learn the game, learn who the fighters are, learn how important some of these fights can be, and ultimately make the fans even more excited about the events? One huge idea that has already been brought up in the MMA community is the idea that these fighters are not showcased enough. Personalities are not shown enough. When we get a dose of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, we love it. Stephen Quadros did an interview with Jackson during his show on the Sherdog Radio network awhile back, and he noted that he found it odd that many people did not know how unbelievably funny Quinton is, and charismatic he is when people are around him. He was very funny during the post-fight interviews, funny during his radio interviews, and overall just a likeable guy outside the ring. But a lot of people don't know that side. They say "Man, he looks like a bad dude, a real crazy lunatic..". Fact is, he may look that way, but he is a serious professional MMA fighter who works hard and respects many of his opponents. Why isn't the UFC marketing his personality more? Chuck Liddell was successful with the MMA faithful for knocking people out. That was all he did, he knocked people out, and everybody loved him for it. He's soft spoken and not very outlandish when speaking in interviews. So, what happens when you market a guy that not only knocks people out, but is funny, likeable, and generally good for the sport? I'm going to stretch an idea and say that probably ten times the revenue that Liddell has brought in over the years.

The List

I compiled a small list of ideas I had in my head of things that the UFC could do to really amp up marketing, educate fans, and educate fans on the new fighters coming in from PRIDE. Fact is, they haven't done really any good marketing of these guys coming over from PRIDE. They really dropped the ball on it. Instead of really capitalizing on them, I have friends of mine who ask me who Crocop is still to this day even though he's fought in three UFC fights. On to my list:

1. More Personal Fighter Profiles
Didn't they have an "Inside the UFC" show you ask? Yes, they did. But it got cancelled. Fact is, the UFC needs to have some sort of show on SpikeTV every week that highlights a different fighter every week. The NBA has a show like that, the NFL has an entire network devoted to football that has shows like that, NASCAR has shows and a network devoted to that, hell, even the NHL had a show that was actually very good that went in-depth with teams during the season. The UFC had a show like that, but it was axed due to ratings. It's time for a resurrection with some new production value. I've heard rumors about a show in the works called "UFC Lifestyles". Idea doesn't sound bad, but please, don't make it like MTV Cribs, I know the same company that owns SpikeTV owns MTV Networks.

2. UFC Unleashed with a Twist
Instead of doing UFC Unleashed with crappy commentary that just introduces what the next fight is, why don't you take a suggestion from FSN and produce a PRIDE FC/UFC show just like what Jay Glazer and Frank Trigg hosted. The show could show older UFC and PRIDE fights with commentary from the hosts on their impact on MMA, their possibly bearing on upcoming fights in the UFC, and they would also showcase the skills of PRIDE fighters coming into the UFC on SpikeTV. It's an idea I can't believe the UFC has yet to take advantage of since they have the PRIDE FC Fight Library. This gives a lot more exposure to PRIDE fighters coming over.

3. Tune up every PRIDE Fighter
Give all the PRIDE guys ample time to adjust to the Octagon. I know, I know, you want your superfights now, but these guys aren't going to perform their absolute best without some type of tune up. If they lose the tune up, then obviously they weren't going to be doing much in the Octagon anyways. I'm tired of hearing the excuse that the UFC could lose their investment. Listen, every investment has risk. Signing a PRIDE fighter to a UFC contract is a big risk, but you have to be willing to give him some type of tune up before the big name fights can happen. In Mirko's case, a bad investment.

4. Pre-UFC event analysis shows
Sunday morning, the NFL has 4 hours of damn analysis shows on ESPN, ABC, CBS, NFL Network, it's ridiculous. Why can't the UFC have a little hour long show before the event hyping up the fights, going over styles, what to expect, maybe some predictions, analysis of each fighter, etc? Some fans watch these fights expecting a one-sided beatdown. If the UFC would actually somehow show each fighter's strengths, it could make the fight more meaningful in the casual fan's eyes. For example, my buddy has seen Robbie Lawler fight, but never seen "Ninja" Rua fight. For that reason, he doesn't care about the title fight in the EliteXC card this weekend. He's much rather looking forward to the Nick Diaz fight. If he actually knew what to expect from "Ninja", I think he'd be much more excited to see the fight. I think it would really spread the word about the UFC more, and get more casual fans really talking about styles and techniques, just like Sunday armchair quarterback fans do.

5. Major network participation, even if it is small
I'm sure Dana is working on this, but major network participation would be key. Getting a UFC Fight Night like event on ABC, CBS, or NBC would be unbelievable. With the  recent ratings that UFC 75 got, I don't know if it's a huge push to actually gain network television's bandwidth when SpikeTV sufficiently did the job, but even getting sports networks to highlight the regular events would be a great push into getting the fights, results, and events seen by the average sports fanatic. ESPN sometimes shows the major title fight highlights, but we need more than that on Sportscenter with more frequency.

6. A little confetti
Would it hurt to make a title unification bout actually meaningful? Pull out the stops. I enjoyed the big runway that fighters got to take during the PRIDE events, but we don't absolutely need that. When Fedor Emelianenko won the Heavyweight Title in PRIDE, and the streamers came down as he was hoisted onto the shoulders of his corner men while he had blood running down from his eyes, as a fan, you could actually see a bit of emotion. He knew he had done something great. That was just for the PRIDE belt. At UFC 75, Quinton unified the belts, and all that happened was some funny comments and the event was over. Come on! You can make a celebration without creating a ridiculous environment.

And for a bit of fun, my wishful thinking list...

Bring in the screaming PRIDE girl
For that old nostalgic calling, Lenne Hardt needs to be signed by the UFC and brought over to scare the casual UFC fans.

Just Bleeds Guy on payroll please
Sherdog's very own Jordan Breen brought nostalgia back during a show where he wanted to know what happened to the Just Bleeds Guy, shown here. He's obviously the numero uno fan of the UFC. When he gets out of jail in 2013, have a contract ready for him.

That's all the ideas I have for right now. I'm somewhat tired of these PRIDE guys getting no love from the UFC. As a hardcore MMA fan, I miss PRIDE very much, but was very excited at the prospect of these super fights occurring in the UFC. But having casual MMA fans have no clue who these guys are even after the Countdown shows and All Access shows is amazing to me. Obviously the marketing just isn't cutting it. Yeah, the UFC had awesome ratings for the SpikeTV show, but it was on FREE TV, and it was on an otherwise boring night of sporting events. Get the marketing tank going and bring more of a personal feel to the fighters and to the sport.

There are several points that can be argued against these ideas, the main one being that the shows got low ratings when they were around. I found one thing to be particularly odd when reading Jay Glazer's article in FIGHT! Magazine. NFL players were asking him about PRIDE fighters and UFC fighters while at camp. Obviously the PRIDE FC show on FSN was hitting their demographic and educating those guys into who those fighters were. That's the aim here. To educate fans, and in turn, make them more excited, amped, whatever you want to call it, but more intelligent about the fight game. I think in the long run, this will make the sport even more successful. Basketball, Football, Baseball, we've all played those games, we know from experience about those sports, but MMA is much different. It isn't something you play when you are a little boy, or at least not a mainstream sport. We can't all be experts and understand it. The aim of this article is to give some suggestions on how the UFC can market toward that demographic.