Author: Steve Cofield

The roar was loud and sometimes whiny from hardcore and casual fans of
the UFC before UFC 108 and UFC 109. They tabbed the cards less than pay-per-view
quality and lacking star power. In the lead up to the card, the main
events — Tito Ortiz versus Forrest Griffin and Randy Couture versus
Mark Coleman — were ripped to shreds. Lack of interest combined with
the economy and the fact that fight fans are getting a bit spoiled all
led to less than stellar numbers for PPV buys. Both cards appear to be
in 300,000-425,000 range. That’s not embarrassing but certainly a drop
down from the 600,000-700,000 that became the average during the rest
of 2009. The card in Australia features a meaningful fight, Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira versus Cain Velasquez and a fan favorite in Wanderlei
Silva at the top of the card.

So will 110 get the UFC back into
their expected range? The fellas at ESPN.com’s MMA Live were nice enough to have me
on to address the issues of PPV sales in 2010 (starts at 19:55 mark). 

It’s difficult to see 110 doing any better than 108 and 109 in the United States. With efforts to expand internationally, the UFC sacrifices a bit on the media promotional end by holding cards in places like Sydney and Abu Dhabi. Few of the major blogs and Web sites – MMAWeekly, MMAJunkie, Cage Potato, AOL Fanhouse – could afford to send a staffer on the road. And certainly no major U.S. newspaper did so. So the volume of stories coming out of Australia makes it feel like UFC coverage circa 2004. That potentially eliminates a lot of casual fans from getting hooked.  Is the trade worth it? Absolutely. Will the UFC make back the lost PPV revenue down the road? Of course; imagine when pay-for-play expands to India and China? 

As far as hardcore fans, it looks like some are picking and choosing which PPVs to buy. Maybe they were also put off by someone like Tito Ortiz in the main event at 108. When you’re told by UFC management that Tito sucks and can’t compete as a top 10 light heavy for the better part of 12 months, it’s tough to convince those same fans that now it’s time to plunk down your bucks to watch him in a main event. Bottomline is great fights with title implications or belts on the line guarantee a certain audience size and the numbers go to the next level when there’s a great storyline. UFC 111, 112, 113, 114 and 115 should all peform well and that’s before Brock Lesnar returns to the Octagon during the summer.  

It may be a while before Anthony Johnson returns from a knee injury that forced the cancellation of his much-anticipated war against John Howard on Mar. 21. Johnson and Howard were talking a lot of trash before "Rumble" had to bail with a torn meniscus in his left knee. As much as he dislikes Howard, Johnnson had to think with his head not his heart.  

"I ain’t dumb enough to fight this guy. After so much trash talking between me and him," said Johnson. "That would be dumb to go in there."

Johnson injured the knee in practice but it’s been problematic for his last five fights. He was going to visit a doctor today and hopes to get the knee surgically repaired in the next few weeks. 

Johnson wanted to make it clear this wasn’t a way to avoid Howard.

"I promise you we’re gonna fight no matter what. We will fight. Can I say when? No. When my knee is fixed and 100 percent. Oh hell yeah."

If you think the nastiness is phony, Johnson said that’s ridiculous. The fighters don’t like each other and he confirmed Howard’s story that they almost got into it outside the UFC office at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas before UFC 109.  

"When I was walking out. He was sitting there staring at me. Was it there, that one of us could’ve snapped at any second, and just punched one another? Oh yeah. it could’ve happened any second. Just one word, I knew it would’ve happened [but] we’re professionals and we know when to do it."

Johnson has taken a beating on the Internet. Some fans thought he was making excuses after his loss to Koscheck and others have sided with Howard in their war of words. 

"I don’t care. I know what’s going on with me. People can say what they want to say. They’re always going to talk. The media’s going to blow stuff up. If you’re dumb enough to believe the media then go ahead that’s your choice."

Well there! Ignore this whole story or file it away because when these actually step into the cage, it’s going to be a nasty fight. Hopefully Howard gets by Daniel Roberts at UFC on Versus 1.  

It gets worse for Tim Sylvia. Or maybe he just got a great break. Sylvia’s proposed fight against Wes Sims has been turned down by the commission in Ohio. The reason? Sylvia explained via Twitter.

That’s it? Did the commission really say Sims "sucks?" Probably not. But we get the point. Sylvia has had a tough time finding fights since his eight second destruction at the hands of 48-year-old Ray Mercer. Would a win over Sims be a way to get his career on track or simply more material for his detractors to use in mocking him? Frankly, Sims doesn’t deserve another payday after the way he acted following his loss to Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami. Sims called Lashley, a "juiced-up monkey."

The UFC’s "Countdown" show once again did a great job of getting the juices flowing for UFC 110. Cain Velasquez and his trainers Bob Cook and Dave Camarillo, show nothing but respect for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. That wasn’t quite the case from Michael Bisping’s camp with regards to Wanderlei Silva. During Countdown to UFC 110 (video) Bisping trainer manager Anthony McGann begins by mocking Silva’s zest for pleasing the fans and also seems to poke fun at his broken english (23:15 mark).

McGann goes on to denigrate Silva’s accomplishments over the years.

"Wanderlei didn’t learn nothing in Japan," said McGann. "He has never changed in
whatever it is, 50 million fights. It’s the same thing. He’s not
evolving. He’s not getting his game up."

And seems to think the Wolfslair has Silva (32-10) figured out. He points to Quinton Jackson’s knockout of Silva at UFC 92.  

"We’ve been here before. A year ago, same [expletive] different day," said McGann (36:56 mark).

Didn’t Jackson do most of the work on that one? Also keep in mind Jackson had been with the Wolfslair for less than four months before that fight. Bisping’s wrestling coach Zach Light also says Bisping is willing to go toe-to-toe with Silva.

"We have no problem trading punches with Wanderlei Silva. Quote me on that," said Light. "You’re gonna see it. We’re gonna put our chin down and put our hands up. We’re gonna slug it out with this guy."

McGann ripped Silva’s striking style. 

"Wanderlei throws wild, crazy hooks. For someone like Michael who’s seasoned, they’re not the hardest things in the world to avoid."

Isn’t Bisping one fight removed from being put to sleep by the wide-punching Dan Henderson at UFC 100? Bisping joins in the discussion saying he was compared to Silva as a young fighter and that he has little respect for Wanderlei’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

"The belt doesn’t mean [expletive] to me. I eat black belts for breakfast," said Bisping.

The bitterness grew during yesterday’s final UFC 110 press conference (video). Silva said he was going to kick Bisping’s ass (12:10 mark). Bisping said he didn’t understand where the animosity coming from and that he hasn’t two words about the guy. A minute later he took a shot at Silva (23:10 mark).

"You do need to win fights in this though Wanderlei, and you haven’t been doing that lately," Bisping." 

Silva fired back by saying most of the guys in the business don’t like Bisping. The Brit responded by saying, "he didn’t give a [expletive]."

That’s a lot of trash talk from a guy with UFC wins over Elvis Sinosic,
Denis Kang, Matt Hamill, Josh Haynes, Chris Leben, Charles McCarthy,
Jason Day and Eric Schafer. Those fights are a combined 24-24 with the
promotion.

Putting Strikeforce in its place has become a favorite past time for UFC president Dana White. During an interview last week with ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas, he again suggested Showtime’s fight partner is a minor league promotion.

Now we know that’s not the case. After the acquisition of EliteXC’s roster, Strikeforce’s four biggest shows in 2009 were all very entertaining and did just fine at the gate in St. Louis, Chicago and San Jose (two cards). In the cage, Strikeforce has been comparable to the UFC, but outside, not so much. The company does lack a bombastic, aggressive pitch man like White. Scott Coker’s style is a bit different. But he is warming up to the rivalry. During a December interview with Cagewriter, he poked fun at the Zuffa’s Reed Harris, and his fight promotion WEC.

Now he’s officially in the battle with a Twitter account. During this video, Coker was disappointed to find out there are other
"Scott Cokers" in the world or at least people pretending to have the
name.

He settled on a name @cokersf and he’s already up 43 followers! Only 1,002,785 to go to catch White on Twitter. He is following @josecanseco, so that may help. Amazingly, Canseco has 325,927 followers. One tip though, Coker may want to send out more than one tweet every five days.   

We’ve done hundreds of interviews with MMA fighters yet we’ve never asked one of them to demonstrate the guard position. Especially with a radio co-host. Michael Bisping’s video blog features a spot on an Aussie radio show. The male host is a genius and his female co-host is ballsy. The Brit shows the "Kyle and Jackie O Show" the guard position by using Jackie on the bottom. What in the hell (1:35 mark)!

Jackie O was having fun but everything took an ugly turn when she starts yelling, "get off!" Here is the show’s video of the submission attempt/romp. Apparently, there is nothing like the evil FCC in Australia. Hit the front page of the show’s website (NSFW) where one of the staffers is inducing a vomiting episode.

Nice job by MMANarcissist with the website name and this photo of UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Look at that thick gut and mega-chin. Silva is seven weeks out from his 185-pound fight with Demian Maia. Rest assured, whether he takes Maia lightly or not, he’ll be there in shape.

Silva has never had an issue making weight in the UFC. In fact, it’s pretty common for the guy to be walking around at 215 pounds between fights. He’s actually come in for under weight at 183 a UFC fight.

For those who didn’t pick up on the sarcasm earlier. Here’s the original:

He’s been talked about as the future of the heavyweight division and so far Cain Velasquez (7-0, 5-0 UFC) has delivered. But that was against lesser opponents on his way up the UFC ladder. Now it’s make or break time against one of the legends of the sport in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 in Australia.

"Big Nog" is arguably one of the best guard fighters and submission artists in the history of the heavyweight division. That makes it tough when you’re a dominating wrestler who does a lot of his damage via top control. Nogueira can also take a beating and is dangerous for all 15 minutes as his record show. He’s 32-5 with losses against Josh Barnett, Frank Mir, Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko (two times). That’s a helluva resume against a guy with only seven fights.

Fellow UFC heavyweight prospect Roy Nelson thinks Velasquez has a good shot.

"Cain could pull out a decision by wear and tear, just kind of keep grinding it. Keeping the pressure on Nog."

Nelson said the fight is a 50-50 proposition because of Nogueira’s submission skills. He said Velasquez’s best plan is to keep it standing like Tim Sylvia did, before he got caught via submission. The difference is, rip Sylvia all you want, his striking is better than either one of these fighters. And that could be a dangerous plan for Velasquez, who showed holes in his standing defense against Cheick Kongo. Nelson countered that by saying Nogueira isn’t a power puncher. This back and forth is what makes this weekend’s fight so intriguing. The betting action is also all over the board.

Nelson also looked ahead to the No. 1 v. No. 2 heavyweight contender fight at UFC 111 between Shane Carwin and Frank Mir. Nelson’s questions revolve around Carwin’s takedown ability and standup defense.

Phil Davis wowed fans and apparently the promotion in his UFC debut two weeks ago. Davis, who steamrolled veteran Brian Stann, is tabbed to return again on Apr. 10 at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. Cagewriter hit San Diego last weekend to catch up with Davis, just before his fight against Alexander Gustaffson was official. Davis, much like fellow wrestler Cain Velasquez, appeared to be a bit one-dimensional his first UFC fight. But that one dimension, ground control/positioning was outrageous. Next up offensively is adding striking and submissions. With his wrestling background at Penn State, the 25-year-old Davis has a head start on most fighters. He’s asking for a little patience when it comes to judging his overall game. 

"It was all gameplan, gameplan, gameplan. They wanted me to go for safe submissions. They didn’t wanted so much risky submissions," Davis told Cagewriter. "Especially for the first go round, the finish would’ve been awesome. You definitely don’t want to lose your first one because you got overzealous."

Davis wasn’t about to compare himself to Velasquez, a former Arizona State wrestler, who many fighters think is the future UFC heavyweight champ.

"Cain is a different type of beast. I’m like aspirin. Cain is like crack. He is dangerous. He’s crazy. He’s nuts."

Velasquez looks to breakthrough this weekend at UFC 109 against the legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Drawing from personal experience Davis sounded like he likes Velasquez’s chances.

"Everytime I get a chance to train with him, we wrestle and it’s like how does he throw me around in wrestling? I’m supposed to know what I’m doing when we wrestle." said Davis, the 2008 NCAA wrestling champion at 197 pounds. "He’s unbelievable."

Davis’ immediate future included a trip to Big Bear, Ca. last weekend where his campmate from Alliance MMA, Brandon Vera is holding a training camp. After that, Davis headed back to his hometown of Harrisburg, Pa. to work with Lloyd Irvin. Follow the very "silly" Davis on Twitter @philmrwonderful. 

And you thought XARM was the dumbest idea ever conceived using mixed martial arts concepts. As Maggie Hendricks pointed out in January there’s something called Tag Team MMA. Now we find out that a future UFC fighter actually took part in this fiasco.

James Te Huna will have to go it alone after an illustrious career as a tag team mixed martial artist. Chief Jay Strongbow, Smash, Nobbs and Hawk will not be allowed in the cage. Nor will Ole Anderson, Ricky Morton or Scott Hall. I know it’s the real stuff but really, Tag Team MMA?

Watch the video as Te Huna gives up a side mount to tag out (2:05 mark). A few seconds later the Russian fighter is getting punched in the head and bails for the corner to tag out. Huh? That’s convenient. Why didn’t Tim Sylvia just tag out when Ray Mercer was all over him. Two weeks ago at UFC 109, Nate Marquardt could’ve used a tag against Chael Sonnen. 

Te Huna does have 12 legitimate "solo" wins on ledger. He’ll make his debut against Igor Pokrajac, who is probably fighting for his UFC life. He lost his first UFC fight when he was outclassed badly by veteran Vladimir Matyushenko.

By the way, XARM is still much dumber (VIDEO). Two dudes with their left arms hooked together, beating the snot out of each other with a table in the way. Did ESPN.com really call it the sport of the future (0:27 mark)? I need to see that article. 

Tip via Cage Potato

They weren’t quite as excited as the Saturday Night Live crew but several UFC fighters sped around Sydney Harbor. Joe Stevenson is the ring leader. He’s joined by Wanderlei Silva, Cain Velasquez, Rashad Evans and Elvis Sinosic.

Can we get the extended version where the fellas sing, "I’m on a boat mother[expletive]?"

Showtime dumped Karyn Bryant in favor of Jenn Brown. I had no idea why until SPORTSbyBROOKS posted some old photos of Brown. This really can’t be the reason. Is it all about looks when it comes to female reporters? It shouldn’t be. Frankly, Bryant, who’s also a very attractive lady, is much better than Brown. She’s also very knowledgeable on MMA and pretty well dialed in.

Brown is still a work in progress and has been sort of stiff during her spots on Showtime’s Strikeforce broadcasts. That said, with looks to rival Erin Andrews, she’ll pushed aggressively by network executives at ESPN or one of the big four down the road. Word was that ESPN would ask her to be exclusive to the "Worldwide Leader" soon.

It seems Brooks is hinting the she may have tried to de-emphasize her "hotness" by going with the bangs. It didn’t work. We can see through your attempts to fool us Ms. Brown. 

Anyone remember what a breakthrough UFC 59 in Anaheim, Ca. was way back in 2006? It marked the promotion’s first time in California and opened the door for MMA to start hitting bigger markets around the United States. Before that, 18-of-22 events were held in Las Vegas.

Less than four years later, spreading the MMA love around the U.S. isn’t enough. The UFC is slated to hit Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Montreal and Vancouver in the next 15 weeks.

The first step to international expansion was putting an office in the U.K. and holding six events there in 2008 and 2009. UFC has also added three television partners in the U.K. It’s been a huge success story.

So where are the 2010 events for places like London, Dublin (we know, not part of the U.K.) and Manchester? UFC U.K. chief Marshall Zelaznik says that the Brits, Welsh, Scottish and Irish may not get an event until the close of 2010. 

"We’re all motivated by the same things, to grow the sport," Zelaznik told Cagewriter. "The way
you grow it is by bringing events to other markets. In a perfect
world, we’d be doing an event every weekend [in the U.K.]. That’s not realistic, so we have
to pick and choose."

Zelaznik says the U.K. is still hungry for fight cards. 

"Everything’s positive there [but] I think we need more fights. They’re important for the market, for the media, for the fans. The fans understand it deep down. It’s okay to want more. So we’re going to try to deliver it."

Now that’s progress in a region that was slow to warm up to MMA back in 2006. On a positive note, three of the country’s biggest stars — Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and Paul Daley — are all featured in megafights between this weekend and early May. Zelaznik also that the promotion is looking to get at least four U.K. fighters on the card at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. 

Maybe it’s time to start moving events out of Las Vegas? Sin City has struggled to buy tickets for many of the recent events. UFC may be hurting its business in the U.K., by forcing so many fights close to home.  

What a bummer. John Howard and Anthony Johnson were on pace for an epic battle in and out of the cage on March 21. "Coward" as he was dubbed by "Crumble" Johnson will now face UFC newcomer Daniel Roberts, as the promotion makes its Versus debut with a free show from Denver.

Howard and Johnson were going at it during interviews and on the Internet via Twitter and Facebook. Right before UFC 109 in Las Vegas, they were even close to coming to blows at the credential desk.

"I saw him in the back room and we almost got into it," Howard told DC and The Sunshine Man on ESPNRadio1100. "They had to separate us. The beef is real, man. I was pumped up. I was ready."

Howard said the near brawl was started when the fighters simply stared at each other. Since the cancellation, Howard has been gracious. Johnson was as well on Facebook.

It’s also interesting to hear that Howard trains a bit with Boston Celtic Glen "Big Baby" Davis (3:50 mark). Howard said the NBA power forward is pretty nimble. Imagine the 6-foot-8, 285-pound Davis in MMA? The day is coming when you’ll see NBA-type athletes entering cages. At that point, good luck to the Cabbage Correiras of the MMA world.

Herschel Walker and Jose Canseco have gotten way too much coverage from the mainstream media according to UFC president Dana White and he’s sick of it. Before and after his Strikeforce fight, Walker, 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, appeared all over ESPN television, ESPNRadio and ESPN.com.

"Herschel Walker is like 50 years old and it’s a cool little fun hobby," White told Gridlock on ESPNRadio1100 (0:10 mark) in Las Vegas."You know what makes me crazy is the media attention it got. ESPN will cover Herschel Walker fighting when you got guys like George St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, and B.J. Penn. All these great athletes that have been training for years and are the best in the sport and you are talking about Herschel Walker? Then you start talking about Walker possibly fighting Jose Canseco? Oh my god, give me a break."

For many casual fans like ESPN1100’s Seat Williams, after seeing Walker all over ESPN, the natural question is why isn’t Walker in the UFC? 

"Hell no. You know what would happen to Herschel Walker over here? It would be the first death in MMA," said White. "He wasn’t impressive in his first fight; he would have to turn it up for the next three or four."

That seems to be a bit of a stretch. The 6-foot-1, 215 lb. Walker can’t compete as a low-level light heavyweight or heavyweight? His conditioning and heart can’t be worse than Rolles Gracie, who got just one fight with the UFC at UFC 109, gassed out in three minutes, quit in the second round and was cut four days later. 

Canseco has hitched his wagon to Walker. He was all the rage on MMA blogs last week when he called out the former NFL star. There were reports that the 45-year-old former MLB slugger met with Strikeforce. In any case, he began training at a rival gym in Northern California to Walker’s American Kickboxing Academy. Canseco’s trainer Cesar Gracie said he will turn Canseco into a solid fighter in three months. Canseco lost his only professional fight and is 1-1-1 in celebrity exhibitions. 

CORRECTION: Reader Alan points out that Canseco does have a win during a boxing exhibition over someone named Todd Poulton.

Tip via Sports Radio Interviews

Other popular Yahoo! Sports blog posts:
• NBA star walks out on meal after being traded
• College scholarship for 14-year-old hits snag
• French judge issues warrant for Floyd Landis’ arrest

You know it’s a non-fight weekend when we have to post hour-by-hour updates of Jose Canseco lobbying Strikeforce. Late last night, Canseco posted a picture of one of his first workouts with Cesar Gracie in Northern California and said he’d be meeting soon with officials from Strikeforce. 

Earlier this afternoon, Mike Afromowitz from Strikeforce P.R. told Bloody Elbow that the promotion had no interest in Canseco and would not be meeting with him. Now MMAJunkie is being told by Gracie that the meeting took place today. 

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and Canseco gathered today in a San Jose,
Calif.-area restaurant along with esteemed trainer Cesar Gracie to discuss the
possibility of the former baseball star fighting for Strikeforce, according to
Gracie, who spoke with MMAjunkie.com Friday before the group met.

Huh? Gracie also began the trash talking for a fight against Herschel Walker that is likely to never happen.

"Jose says baseball’s better than football, Gracie jiu-jitsu is better than AKA
(American Kickboxing Academy) and he’s better than Herschel (Walker)," Gracie
said. "Three strikes and you’re out. People will be amazed what kind of
shape this guy is in. He throws a head kick like Cung Le."

Cung Le? The 45-year-old Canseco throws kicks like one of the best kickboxers of the last 25 years. Really? It’s starting to sound like this is local gym rivalry being played out using Canseco and Walker as the pawns.

During a recent conversation, AKA fighter Mike Swick said Walker isn’t the type of guy to engage in a celebrity fight showdown.   

Canseco last fought in May, losing to 7-foot-2 Hong Man Choi in 76 seconds. 

Injuries tore apart the UFC’s star-studded roster over the last eight weeks. It left the promotion with pay-per-view shows built more on depth over star power. After UFC 109, when asked about the fans complaining about PPV prices and value, White flipped his lid: 

"UFC fans are spoiled," White explained that every UFC PPV can’t be a megacard. "There’s gonna be the people that always bitch and I say what I always say, ‘don’t buy it!.’ If you don’t like the [expletive] card don’t buy it. I don’t give a [expletive]!"

White reached a boiling point after hearing and reading the complaints before the Mark Coleman-Randy Couture card. 

"People who are real fight fans and want to sit home on a Saturday and watch fights, will watch it. Nobody’s [expletive] making you buy fights and watch the pay-per-view. Watch "American Idol," I could care less."

Probably not the best choice of words by White but he does have a point when comparing MMA PPV’s to what boxing offers. Boxing still builds its cards around one fight. If that main event is a flop, the consumer is hosed. At least you get five-to-seven fights on an MMA card for your $45-$60. Is that enough value? Over the long haul, the market will determine if UFC is presenting too many PPVs.

With a little reflection, White would probably say he does give a [expletive]. He’s just a little cranky right now. To think, this PPV discussion was before he found about Vitor Belfort being out of UFC 112!

Wow! The fight is still three months away but Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley are out of the gates quickly. Early in the week, Koscheck said he would put his foot down the Brit’s throat. Daley, as has been a recent tradition with British fighters, called on his minions to rip up Koscheck on the Underground Forum.

We’ve seen a lot of photoshop contests in the past, making a fighter into television painting freak, Bob Ross, may be the most unique creation ever. Kudos to Dylan Hill on the UG. Is Kos Ross’ long lost son? You be the judge.

Check here for the rest of the Koscheck images.

Tip via Cage Potato

This is really going to happen? Someone may actually help fulfill Jose Canseco’s request for another MMA fight? Who else is shocked that a real mixed martial arts gym would offer to work with Canseco? I guess any publicity is good publicity for Cesar Gracie. No, screw that. This can’t possibly be a good thing, can it? The bigger problem comes when a legitimate promotion throws the sport’s integrity out the window to make some short term proift. Strikeforce will take a massive P.R. hit if it chooses to bring in the clown prince of sportsmen, right?

Canseco, 45, might deliver a nice television rating but at what cost? This will only further the awful stereotypes about the sport. That said, there’s so sense in remaining in a state of denial. You have to believe there’s something to Canseco’s tweet about meeting with officials from the promotion. 

UPDATE: Strikeforce P.R. whiz Mike Afromowitz indicated to Bloody Elbow that Canseco fibbed:

Check out the look on the faces of the Diaz brothers, Nate (on Canseco’s left) and Nick (on the right).

Gracie indicated that he can turn Canseco into a real fighter in three months. That takes hard work. When has Canseco ever shown that he would go the distance and not take a shortcut? In MMA, there are no shortcuts. All the performance enhancing drugs in the world won’t help your fight technique and stamina.

Tip via MMAConvert

After a big win at UFC 109, middleweight Chael Sonnen turned his attention to his other career, politics. He made an appearance on "Fox and Friends" this morning on Fox News to kickstart his run for Oregon house. The campaign is a huge undertaking that Sonnen said will take a minimum of $400,000 to execute. It’ll be time consuming and Sonnen’s MMA training has to take a back seat. Or will it? That may have changed this afternoon.

Sonnen may have a conundrum on his hands — continue his run for office or take on UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, the opponent he’s been chasing for years. Silva and the UFC learned today that Vitor Belfort is injured and out of UFC 112.

It’s not a guarantee that Sonnen will be offered the fight. On the surface, it seems like a logical choice. UFC president Dana White promised the winner of Sonnen-Nate Marquardt a shot at the title. Sonnen won decisively and was waiting to see who won between Belfort and Silva on Apr. 10. Realistically, Sonnen may not even be an option. Because of a cut and injuries suffered at UFC 109, he’s on medical suspension until Mar. 9. He told Josh Gross of SI.com that he wouldn’t be back in the gym for at least two weeks, which leaves roughly five weeks to get ready for the fight.

Back to his political aspirations, Sonnen gave ESPNRadio1100
listeners a pretty good rundown of what he stands for and the problems
he’s seeing in Oregon and nationally.