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We've got a couple more questions answered today for Ask MMATorch, and as always, if you've got a question you'd like answered by MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick or MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen, send it in to askmmatorch@gmail.com! If we have questions in we'll try to answer them daily!
Eliot Writes: Seeing how fighters like Floyd Mayweather and Oscar de la Hoya are able to create their own show without any organization's overly large input, could someone like Jon Jones in the future leave the UFC and do a similar thing? Or does the UFC pay their fighters enough anyway?
MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen answers: Short answer: No.
Long answer: No way.
Detailed answer: Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather have more money than God and Jesus. Robert Guerrero, the hand-selected can of the month in the Floyd Mayweather collection, made $3,000,000 for his fight last week. No MMA fighter has ever made that much (disclosed) for a fight. I doubt 10 fighters have made more than $500,000 (disclosed) for a fight. Even after figuring in the notion that the very tip of the iceberg in MMA might get a couple bucks for every PPV sold over a certain threshold, there's no way in hell any MMA fighter has close to enough money to put together 1% of what's necessary to go out on their own. And even if Bill Gates' son decided to fight and self-promote as you suggest, who's he going to fight that's going to make the venture profitable? Every good fighter (with the semi-exception of Eddie Alvarez) is under contract to a promoter.
Changing the business for MMA promotion would be about as impossible as changing the English language. Sure, it makes no more sense than 'tion' sounds like shun, and that 'eigh' can be pronounced several different ways, and any of a zillion other examples. But the rabbit is out of the hat; the genie is out of the bottle; the toothpaste is out of the tube. The other subject is out of the other object. @MMATorchRich
Joe Writes: I know this is off topic but what has happened to Shane Carwin? Is he injured? Suspended? Is he even still in the UFC? It has been a long time since I've read or heard anything about him.
MMATorch Columnist Rich Hansen answers: There's not much to tell you on this one. Carwin's been battling scores of injuries. He was scheduled to fight Roy Nelson at the conclusion of the 16th season of The Ultimate Fighter, but he suffered yet another injury during training for that fight. His absence has nothing to do with a suspension, he's just gotten old and brittle.
MMATorch Forum user Raven-Curse writes: Based on skill alone, do you think Chris Weidman has any chance of winning the title, and if he does, in what area would he make it happen?
MMATorch Editor Jamie Penick answers: Weidman does have a path to victory in this fight, because we have seen numerous examples of Silva being put on his back by skilled wrestlers in the past. And unlike Chael Sonnen, Weidman hasn't shown a significant weakness in the submission game. Of course, Weidman also hasn't been really tested in that capacity. But for him to pull off the upset, he has to take Silva down, keep him there, and beat him up. It's something he's capable of doing; he's got the ground and pound to hurt people with, and the top control to keep people down. That's how he can win that fight, by doing that for either the entire five rounds, eeking out three and surviving the other two, or somehow pulling off a stoppage against Silva. Of course, pulling that off for five rounds is far from an easy task, and Weidman's never faced off against a striker like Silva before, so he's got plenty of challenges to get past. But if he's going to win that fight, it'll have to be with ground and pound from top control.
[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
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