Fitch out of the by UFC???

[Keithlewis]

And some more about his release:


Dana White: ‘[Expletive]’ Jon Fitch for not signing video game agreement

“We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny. Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them…. I’m not a douche bag and I do a lot for these guys, a lot more than any of you will ever know. We’re in a horrible time in the economy now, and every guy with two nickels to rub together is making a run at us. We’ve worked too hard, given too much, to let certain guys come in and [expletive] with that.”

– UFC President Dana White fumes via Yahoo!Sports.com about the situation that went down earlier this evening surrounding the release of Jon Fitch for not signing an agreement that would give the promotion exclusive lifetime video game rights to his name and likeness. White appears to be most heated about the management team that represents most of the fighters out of American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), Zinkin Entertainment. In fact, he says that with the exception of Chuck Liddell, Mike Swick and more than likely Forrest Griffin (who are also represented by Zinkin Entertainment) that other top fighters such as Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez are also possibly on the outs. “Kos,” as of press time, is still scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 16: “Fight for the Troops” on December 13. However, after reading these comments who knows what the future holds. This is madness.

[Keithlewis]

Dana White Gets More Elaborate On Release Of AKA Fighters

From USA Today:

“This is not an attack on Jon Fitch. It’s not an attack on any one fighter. We have chosen not to do business with this camp called AKA. These guys have never, ever, ever treated us like partners. They’re always fighting over stupid, stupid (stuff) and negotiating over stuff that makes no sense. They’re negotiating like they’ve got Mel Gibson and this thing is the biggest movie ever being made. You know what I’m saying? The reality is, we’re not even sanctioned in Massachusetts or New York … (and) we’re going into all these different countries trying to do these different things. And I’ve got these guys that basically don’t want to be partners with me. You’ve got morons that are running these fighters’ lives. But to tell you the truth, one of the fighters from AKA called me and said, “Listen, I don’t care what these managers say or what they’re doing. I make my own decisions and my decision is, I’m with you. I’m your partner, I’m in.’ And this was before we even told AKA we wouldn’t be doing business with them any more. So this really isn’t an attack on Jon Fitch or any personal fighter. We’re just choosing not to do business with AKA any more. We’re not going to do business with them. And listen, there’s other guys out there that they can go do business with; they’re just not going to do business with me. Now there’s rumors out there, I know, about, ‘It’s over a video game deal. It’s over the ancillary rights agreement. It’s over this, that.’It’s over a lot of different things. It’s not one specific fighter or one specific thing. It’s about a lot of different things with a lot of these fighters. And you know what? This is more than just AKA. There’s other camps out there that we’re having trouble doing business with. And at the end of the day, this is a business. We run a business just like any other business. You come in, you do your job with your company and you get paid. And the guys that don’t want to do business with you" then go work somewhere else. It’s as easy as that. You don’t have to do business with us. There’s other people out there you can do it with.”

[Keithlewis]

Just shy of a day after the reported dismissal of Jon Fitch by the UFC, It appears the two have come to an agreement and the top 5 welterweight has returned to the company.

The news was first reported by MMARated this afternoon.

It is being reported that Fitch spoke with UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta this afternoon and the parties managed to resolve their differences, and the fighter will sign the much talked about video game licensing agreement.

Fitch still stands by his assertion that he didn’t appreciate the way Dana White treated the fighter when attempting to negotiate a deal for video game licensing.

At this point everything appears to be resolved and the scheduled fight with Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 appears to be back on.

[broncofan]

Firing good fighters over a video game is fucking ridiculous!!!

[tuco]

glad Fitch stayed but this is kind of extortion

[ArmyofDarkness]

WHY IS DANA STRONG ARMING THE TALENT?