UFC wisens up in co-promotional deal with K-1
Zach Arnold summarizes an article in Nikkan Sports newspaper about the apparent alliance between the UFC and K-1. According to the article, the two organizations have entered into a co-promotional deal in which K-1 is looking to send Kazushi Sakuraba and Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto to fight in the UFC, and the UFC is considering sending Chuck Liddel to fight in Hero's.
I would love to see Sakuraba in the UFC again, or see KID Yamamoto make his UFC debut (even if he would have to move up to the 155 pound division in order to do so). But, in my opinion the odds that Chuck Liddell - the UFC champion and current poster boy - will fight for K-1/Hero's are slim to none. The last time Liddell fought in Japan, the UFC sent him as its "representative" in the Pride light heavyweight tournament only to see him get knocked out by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. I hope (for the UFC's sake) that the UFC learned its lesson and will not risk its title holder's reputation.
That brings us to another lesson the UFC apparently learned. So far, the co-promotional alliance has been one-sided. B.J. Penn and Royce Gracie (who were both reportedly under contract with K-1) have fought in the UFC, while no UFC fighters have been sent to K-1 yet. This is the exact opposite from what happened with Pride. The UFC sent Liddell, but the talk of top Pride fighters appearing in the UFC remained just that - talk. All the UFC ever got out of the deal was the promotional appearance of Wanderlei Silva at a UFC show.
So, give the UFC credit. They seem to know that they have the upper hand in negotiating with K-1 and they are taking advantage of it.
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I would love to see Sakuraba in the UFC again, or see KID Yamamoto make his UFC debut (even if he would have to move up to the 155 pound division in order to do so). But, in my opinion the odds that Chuck Liddell - the UFC champion and current poster boy - will fight for K-1/Hero's are slim to none. The last time Liddell fought in Japan, the UFC sent him as its "representative" in the Pride light heavyweight tournament only to see him get knocked out by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. I hope (for the UFC's sake) that the UFC learned its lesson and will not risk its title holder's reputation.
That brings us to another lesson the UFC apparently learned. So far, the co-promotional alliance has been one-sided. B.J. Penn and Royce Gracie (who were both reportedly under contract with K-1) have fought in the UFC, while no UFC fighters have been sent to K-1 yet. This is the exact opposite from what happened with Pride. The UFC sent Liddell, but the talk of top Pride fighters appearing in the UFC remained just that - talk. All the UFC ever got out of the deal was the promotional appearance of Wanderlei Silva at a UFC show.
So, give the UFC credit. They seem to know that they have the upper hand in negotiating with K-1 and they are taking advantage of it.
technorati tags: / del.icio.us tags: ufc, k1, hero's, mma, chuck, liddell, kazushi, sakuraba, norifumi, kid, yamamoto, quinton, rampage, jackson, whaledog
