A shocked Johny Hendricks (pictured) witnessed the dark days of boxing returning after hearing an unbelievable decision by UFC judges giving a cut, bloodied and beaten George St-Pierre the victory over him who without question we feel that Hendricks dominated and overwhelmingly won the fight - UFC Photo Following his fight with Johny Hendricks George St-Pierre definitely was not this pretty as he had several cuts and was bloodied - Bad intentionz Photo

Much to his surprise Anderson Silva had this smile knocked off his face as he lost his UFC title to a serious Chris Weidman - (Ninjasp photo)   Chris Weidman was all business when he busted now former champion Anderson Silva's face and took his UFC title - (Peter Gordon photo)

SPORTS NOTES - JON HENDRICKS WAS ROBBED by the UFC

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

He was robbed is the sentiment when the UFC judges awarded the decision to Georges St-Pierr and that won his fight with John Hendricks and the crowd booed. For many viewers nothing could be further from the truth. Hendricks dominated the fight and was unmarked but he left St-Pierr's face cut bloodied and badly bruised. The question is has the UFC LOST THE PLOT AND OVERDOSED IN PROMOTING REMATCHES that can earn HUGE FUTURE BOX OFFICE AND PAY PER VIEW RECEIPTS?

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

FIGHTING WOES & WORDS

The fight game has always had a negative history having been associated with the Mafia, gambling and fixed fights. Over a week has past since the UFC gave a decision that champion Georges St-Pierr won his fight against John Hendricks and the crowd booed. The result reeks of a fix but the media is not talking about it. It seems that it is the biggest media secret since former US Vice President Dick Cheney paid a $250 million fee to the Nigerian Government to STAY OUT OF JAIL for committing an alleged bribery. Cheney is in the WAR business.

But the Hendricks, St-Pierr result belies common sense as Hendricks clearly dominated the fight spending much of his time pounding St-Pierr's face to a bloody pulp and mounting him repeatedly after taking him to the ground.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan said after the fight prior to the decision being announced that Hendricks won the fight. Recently the UFC has been received major coverage following Chris Weidman dethroning Anderson Silva in July. The wide media coverage continued in September following the controversial but close decision when Jon Jones pulled off a razor-thin decision over Alexander Gustafsson on Sept. 21 in Toronto. That decision easily could have gone Gustafsson's way as he dominated the fight the first three of five rounds.

That fight put the UFC as a major player in the sporting world. The fight proved that the UFC had a quality product that was worth watching. The popularity of the sport has gone wild in attracting more viewers to its top cards than CNN does with their overblown BREAKING NEWS programming interruptions that can last for a week of 24 hour coverage. CNN's Boston Bombings coverage attracted only a million viewers while the UFC's top cards attract 3 to 5 millions viewers.

The Velasquez vs. dos Santos fight November 12, 2011 attracted 5.7 million viewers. Credit is due to Dana White who masterfully promoted the sport from having to buy time like buying a commercial to get the UFC televised and evolve to be as popular as it is today… until this... the St-Pierr debacle.

After the decision a blotchy, cut and bloodied faced St-Pierr said he was going to stop fighting. Rogan pressed on and asked if he was quitting the sport to which St-Pierr avoided giving a clear answer saying that he had a lot going on in his life that needed to be attended to. His body language was as if he knew he had his ass beaten and wasn't deserving of retaining the title belt. There appeared to be a look of guilt on his face but he dejectedly bolted his way through the interview saying that he thought he won the fight. Although he had two previous losses in his career, to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra respectively, he never had his ass beat as badly as the whooping that Hendricks gave him last week.

Hendricks and his corner were in disbelief when the result was announced. When Rogan interviewed Hendricks the fighter blurted out, "The belt was earned but it was taken away from me."

Hendricks was spot on with that comment so much so that when the fight was re-telecast later in the week in the Pacific Rim region his comment was omitted.

The truth of the matter is that the UFC has barely anybody to answer to. Honest sports practices have always been an issue when it comes to placing a professional team in the gambling town of Las Vegas the home of the UFC. The conflict is the integrity of a sport can be tainted in the confluence of gambling and vice as the sin city is known for.

The UFC appears to be overdosing on promoting. After Anderson Silva lost to Weidman he announced his retirement on camera while still in the octagon. It seemed staged as a build up to a rematch. Silva was adamant that he was serious and he was out of the fight game. Months later he had a change of heart and a rematch was scheduled. This scenario appears to be playing out for a St-Pierrs, Hendricks rematch as it's not about integrity but it's about THE MONEY that attraction could draw.

Lorenzo Fertitta, Chairman/CEO of the UFC and his brother Frank call the UFC business shots under the corporate banner of Zuffa, LLC an American sports promotion company. They funded the purchase of the UFC and White runs and promotes it. They have bought out their competition and are basically the only 800 pound gorilla in the sport. The UFC has all of their bases covered inside and out with basically nobody to answer to. Zuffa is co-owned by Fertitta brothers (40.5% each), Dana White (9%) and Sheik Tahnoon of Abu Dhabi (Flash Entertainment) (10%).

Marc Ratner is the current Vice President of Regulatory Affairs with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Formerly, he was the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Ratner joined the Nevada Athletic Commission in 1985, He became the Chief Inspector of the Nevada athletic commission in 1987 and Executive Director in 1992. Ratner left the Nevada Athletic Commission and joined the UFC as its vice president for regulatory affairs on May 15, 2006.

The issue is clouded as the Fertitta's money history comes from owning gambling casinos IN LAS VEGAS where the fight was held. With the St-Pierrs decision it raises red flags as to what is going on in the UFC and who are these judges that made such an obvious unfair call?

Fertitta is a principal shareholder and a co-founder of Station Casinos Inc. He served as a member on the board of directors from 1991 until gaining the position of Station's president in July 2000. On June 19, 2008, Fertitta stepped down as president to work full-time for Zuffa, LLC.

On February 2, 2009, Station Casinos announced its plans to file for bankruptcy by April 15. Station's filing came in response to a lawsuit filed by an individual bondholder challenging the gaming company's debt swap and prepackaged bankruptcy proposal. In July 2009, Station Casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; however, the Fertitta family is expected to make additional investments to maintain its ownership.

St-Pierrs is the UFC's fair haired boy. He is all over their promotional material. This fight was intended to be the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the UFC. Promotions and features of the two fighters training for the event repeatedly aired on the Fox Sports channel in the Pacific Rim region throughout the week prior to the fight.

The decision appears to be a rob job and reeks of a fix yet no media outlet is touching the subject. There are some possible reasons why. In the old Vegas Mafia era days one could get their legs broken but the question is could what have happened then happen now?

The other explanation is that the fight game is a very close society. Everybody that covers the fights is known and the hard core journalists attend most every major fight. The game that could be played out here is non conforming media being in a position not being able to obtain credentials. No news organization or journalist wants to lose their credentials for future events. The majority of fight journalists are junkies for the sport and they learn to choose their words carefully.

The only negative comments that we heard about the controversial decision ironically came from those hosting or as a guest on the UFC TONIGHT show that previews and reviews past and upcoming UFC events. Former champions Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping said they felt Hendricks clearly won the fight. Bisping commented that St-Pierr's face looked as if it had been through a meat grinder and that Hendricks didn't have a mark on him.

The bottom line is something sucks and the result stinks. Hendricks wants a rematch but he shouldn't have it since he should be given the belt for having been cheated. St-Pierr's is off on a holiday healing his wounds thus he's not available and it may take him a long time to heal.

It's a sad state of affairs that a sport that has been so cleverly promoted and built up and promoted by White should be falling like a rock after this horrible decision and lack of justice. Stay tuned...

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