The British boxer David Haye is the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world, but people just don't pay any attention to cruiserweights. So Haye is giving up his cruiserweight title and will fight at heavyweight, where he thinks he can unify the belts, even though he'll be fighting guys significantly bigger than him.
But Haye's ambitions don't end with being heavyweight champion of the world in boxing. Haye says he also wants to try his hand at mixed martial arts. From The Sun:
"It's just another challenge. I like to set myself goals and tasks and fighting for the UFC heavyweight championship would be a real big thing for me.
"I'd do whatever was required to get that win.
"I'm a fighter, through and through - any kind of competition.
"I'd be a big underdog and I'd actually like that. I like people writing me off."
First, the good: The two headliners for the main event in the upcoming UFC 84 show, Sean Sherk and B.J. Penn, were both administered unannounced drug tests last month, and both passed. Sherk was suspended and stripped of his lightweight title after he tested positive for steroids last year, and it would have been a huge black eye for UFC if he had failed another drug test.
But here's the bad news: California State Athletic Commission executive officer Armando Garcia says the drug problems in mixed martial arts are real, and more significant than in boxing:
"We have 120 shows in boxing and 60 in MMA and the numbers coming out are super high," said Garcia. "It's a no-brainer. There's more drug usage in MMA than boxing."
As MMA gets more mainstream, drug use within the sport will get more scrutiny. The sport needs to be prepared for that scrutiny.
When heavyweight champion Randy Couture left UFC, he did it because he said his pay wasn't commensurate with his contributions to UFC. And since then, he has frequently talked to the media about the way UFC pays far less than boxing.
But Kevin Iole has a great piece at MMA Junkie that delves into the actual pay earned by boxers and UFC fighters. And the bottom line is that when you consider that UFC awards bonuses and allows fighters to sell ad space on their trunks, the pay is actually better than most people realize.
When Frank Mir beat Brock Lesnar, for instance, his base pay was only $40,000. But he got a win bonus of $40,000, a submission of the night bonus of $60,000 and $85,000 from the companies whose logos appeared on his shorts. All in all, $225,000 for that fight was an impressive haul, and more than any other promoter would have paid him to fight Lesnar.
Couture is a smart guy, and if he thinks he can make more money outside UFC than he can in it, he's probably right. But Couture is one of very, very few MMA fighters who can make more outside UFC -- and he wouldn't have gotten to that position without the promotion he got in UFC.
Former UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture was a guest on the Opie and Anthony Show with, of all people, Pat Cooper, and he discussed payment for mixed martial arts fighters (Warning, foul language):
(Via MMA Mania) When asked if the money is getting better, Couture said, "I think that's one of the things that needs to change in our sport."
Couture then added that every single UFC fighter combined makes less money for all of the organization's pay-per-view shows than Floyd Mayweather makes for one boxing match. (Mayweather is the second-highest-paid boxer in the world; Oscar De La Hoya is first.)
Couture said he has "no beef" with UFC President Dana White, but he just wants to get paid a fair market value for his work and that won't happen while he's under contract to UFC. I think Couture is basically right that the fighters in UFC aren't paid enough, but I also worry that fighters leaving UFC for greener pastures would be good for their short-term financial gain but bad for the long-term health of the sport.
One other interesting note from the interview: When Cooper asked Couture whether his opponents are ever afraid, Couture said, "Some guys are, you can see that."
This whole idea of Roy Jones taking on UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a boxing match never made a whole lot of sense, and now it appears to be officially off.
According to Jones, UFC President Dana White has prohibited Silva (who has an exclusive contract with UFC) from partaking in the event because he's worried it would look bad for the UFC if Jones easily out-boxed Silva. Tim Smith of the New York Daily News reports:
"I don't see how it could discredit the UFC," Jones said. "The guy has boxed before and he's a tall, slick, left handed fighter. That gives everybody problems. It would be a good fight. As fighters we're supposed to be trying to do things that amaze people and make history. This could have been something that people really wanted to see.
"I just think it's wrong not to allow him (Silva) to get the opportunity to live out his fantasy to be in the ring with one of his heroes. That's the kind of thing that boxing promoters usually do."
I don't think it would discredit the UFC for Silva to lose to Jones, either, but I also don't think it would make sense for White to allow his organization's greatest fighter to take time out of mixed martial arts to give boxing a try. There are times when White is overly restrictive in his contracts with his fighters, but this is not one of those times.
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is on the record as saying that he would like to box Roy Jones.
But would Jones, the 39-year-old who was once the best boxer in the world, be interested in such a fight? According to Mike Chiapetta of NBC Sports, Jones is very interested -- and he and his promoters are in preliminary talks to make it happen.
Alan Hopper, director of public relations for Don King Productions confirmed that talks are ongoing, and characterized them as "preliminary."
"Roy likes the idea and is up for it," Hopper said. "It's being discussed. Roy will only agree if the match takes place under the rules of boxing, and UFC would have to clear Silva's participation."
That last part is the reason I don't believe this is going to happen. Why would UFC President Dana White, who has Silva under contract, agree to let him engage in a boxing match in which he would be heavily favored to lose? Silva is one of the best things going in mixed martial arts, and from UFC's perspective, he should stick with mixed martial arts.
But if Jones and Silva do step into the ring without kicks, knees, chokes or arm bars allowed, suffice to say that Jones will be a very heavy favorite.
The betting site Bodog has posted these odds for a potential Jones-Silva boxing match:
Roy Jones Jr. -2800 Anderson Silva +1400
In other words, if you think Jones is going to win, you'd have to wager $2,800 just to win $100. If you bet on Silva to win and you get it right, you can win $1,400 just by betting $100. For the wager to count, the fight would have to take place in 2008 under boxing rules.
I don't think Silva's contract with UFC would allow him to box Jones, and even if the contract did allow it I don't think it would make any sense for Silva to box Jones, but if he's actually serious about this, maybe he'll bet a little money on himself and make it a profitable endeavor. Or maybe he'll get crushed.
The first couple of times I heard that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva wants to box Roy Jones Jr., I just thought the whole thing was silly. But a lot of fight fans are talking about it, so I guess it's worth addressing.
For those who haven't heard, the manager for Silva, the most dominant fighter in UFC, told MMA Weekly, "Anderson really would love to fight Roy Jones, Jr. in a boxing match. It's not just talk, we really would like to put that fight together."
But what I can't figure out is why. Silva would almost certainly lose to Jones, but on the off chance that he won, everyone would just say it's because the 32-year-old Silva is in his prime and the 39-year-old Jones is past his. What does Silva have to gain from such a fight?
I can sort of see why a boxer might want to try mixed martial arts: Although he'd have to learn a lot of new skills to successfully fight in MMA, a boxer could at least use all of the skills he has honed in boxing and try to take mostly a stand-up fighting approach to MMA.
But going in the other direction, from mixed martial arts to boxing, makes no sense. Silva has spent years working on Muay Thai-style kicks and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappling. Why would he now want to try a sport in which those skills aren't used?
The whole thing makes no sense, and I don't think it will happen. But it has had a lot of fans talking in the last couple of days, and that answers the question of why Silva would want to do it: Enough fans are curious about it that it would make him more money than any UFC fight will.
Kimbo Slice, the Internet phenomenon who went from backyard brawler whose fights were on YouTube to mixed martial artist whose fights are on Showtime and pay-per-view, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and an interesting name came up as a potential future opponent:
When Kimmel asked, "Is Mike Tyson someone you would like to fight?" Slice said, "Yeah."
I think Tyson really is retired -- not just "retired" like so many fighters who aren't really finished -- but I must say, if he ever wanted to fight Slice, it would be one of the all-time greatest freak shows in the history of sport. And that means it would make everyone a lot of money.
As for the guy he's fighting next weekend, former UFC star Tank Abbott, Slice said, "I don't think nothing about Tank."
The conversation also got a little personal. Kimmel asked Slice if he conditions his beard, and Slice said, "I take care of it because it takes care of me." Kimmel told Slice, "It really is one of the shiniest, cleanest-looking beards I've ever seen."
And then it got really personal. Kimmel said to Slice, "Have you ever had a romantic relationship with a man? Be honest."
As a fan of both sports, I don't have much interest in engaging in the boxing vs. mixed martial arts debate. But I will say this: One of the reasons UFC is catching up to boxing in popularity is that the undercards in UFC are more exciting than the undercards in boxing.
I'm currently watching the undercard to tonight's Roy Jones-Felix Trinidad fight (which I'll be live blogging), and the first fight is an intriguing one, between old pro DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley and promising 20-year-old prospect Devon Alexander. But there are hundreds if not thousands of empty seats, and the fans who are in the stands are talking on the phone, talking to each other or talking to themselves, not watching the fight.
Another fight on tonight's undercard features a fighter just about everyone knows, Andrew Golota (pictured). But have you heard anyone talk about tonight's Golota fight? I haven't.
Contrast that with the undercard for today's UFC 80 (which I live blogged). Every seat was full from the very beginning, and I heard from a lot of fans who were interested in the UFC 80 undercard fights, including Marcus Davis vs. Jess Liaudin and the return of Gabriel Gonzaga.
The bottom line is that with boxing, you feel like you're shelling out your pay-per-view bucks solely for the main event. With UFC, you feel like you're getting a three-hour show. And that's one of the reasons UFC is surging.
The British boxer David Haye is the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world, but people just don't pay any attention to cruiserweights. So Haye is giving up his cruiserweight title and will fight at heavyweight, where he thinks he can unify the belts, even though he'll be fighting guys significantly bigger than him. 
When heavyweight champion 
This whole idea of 
The first couple of times I heard that UFC middleweight champion 
As a fan of both sports, I don't have much interest in engaging in the boxing vs. mixed martial arts debate. But I will say this: One of the reasons UFC is catching up to boxing in popularity is that the undercards in UFC are more exciting than the undercards in boxing. 
