BJ Penn MMA NEWS APP BJ Penn MMA NEWS APP BJ Penn Facebook BJ Penn Twitter
BJ PENN
 

MMA News

August 9th 2:34:02 PM PST

Bas Rutten speculates on Zuffa vs. Golden Glory situatuion


MMA legend and Inside MMA host, Bas Rutten, has recently spoken out about the apparent rift between ZUFFA and Golden Glory Management.

In the recent weeks we have seen several reports come out from both sides of the argument explaining their sides of the story in regards to the recent rift which caused all but one Golden Glory fighter to lose their ZUFFA contracts in both the UFC and Strikeforce.

The highest profile of which being that of former Strikeforce champions Alistair Overeem and Marloes Coenen.

While everyone has said their peace on the matter, Bas Rutten, who shares his heritage with the Golden Glory team, took to twitter (via twitlonger) to give his side of things, and it reads as follows:

“Many people have been asking MY view on what happened with StrikeForce and Golden Glory. Finally, after hearing from the fans and fighters involved, I thought to write what I though.

First thing we heard was: “Dana said that it was the problem from GG management, that they don’t want the checks directly to go to the fighters”. But then there is suddenly a picture from Marloes Coenen’s check on the Internet with her name on it, a check that she cashed herself.

Some will ask, “Why does GG do business like this?” Well, it’s for their own protection of course, but it probably started because some checks from Japan started to bounce from some organizations. And if they didn’t bounce, the fighters would be able to get them cashed 6 or 8 weeks later. Since fighters want their money right away, and GG loves their fighters, they said “No problem, we pay the fighters from our OWN money, pay their trainers and sparring partners, and then when the money comes in, we simply deduct everything from the check that is paid, this way everybody get’s paid”.

I know for a fact, 100% true, that they STILL need to get money from some organizations. The fighters got paid, but GG didn’t because they paid the fighters out of their own money. And some people say that they are crooks? Please explain this to me, who else, what management, give me one name, does this?

As a fighter, this would be something really cool, but even more for the trainers, because, ask trainers how many times they get paid by their fighters? You will be amazed with how many do NOT. I know fighters who became World champion in big organizations, even the UFC, and they never, yes, you read this good, NEVER, paid their trainer (OK, I might be wrong 1 or 2 times from the at least 10 or 15 times, but I am pretty sure I am not wrong). It sickens me and I would love to mention names, but out of respect of their coaches, I won’t. I hope those fighters read this, so they know that I know.
Anyway, these problems don’t exist at GG, at least not when the management is taking care of this.

So we know now why GG does this. And of course when GG heard that the UFC wanted to pay their fighters directly, and that they otherwise didn’t want to do business, GG right away said “OK, no problem”. And that’s why you saw that check from Marloes Coenen popping up.

So what is the real reason then that they let the fighters go?

Well, because we don’t have an answer now, I started speculating and thinking about everything, that’s something you do when you don’t have answers.

The truth is, I don’t exactly know, but what I DO know is that Alistair Overeem was in a beautiful spot. When he would win the tournament, his contract would be over and that would put him in a really good spot.

That’s about the same situation as I had in Pancrase. I had ONE more fight on the contract, and Pancrase waited for that moment and then put Funaki against me. They thought: “Funaki beat him before, he will do it again, and when that happens, we have Bas in a perfect position for the new contract”.

But, that all fell through because I beat Funaki, and now I, not them, was holding the power to negotiate.

Similar position for Alistair, IF he would win his last fight on the contract of course.
You heard from Alistair that he went into the Werdum fight with an injury, and that Scott Coker knew this and told Alistair he HAD to fight, and if he would do that for him, he would give him time to “heal up” after the Werdum fight. “No worries, late fall is gonna be the finals”, is what was said to Alistair, his trainer and management

Now, they suddenly changed the date, I believe it was because it fell on the same day as another event, but whatever the reason was (it doesn’t really matter), Alistair was promised late fall, NOT early September.

Oh, and for people who wondered about this: why didn’t Alistair tell the people he was injured right after his “not Alistair like” performance against Werdum? Because then the people could have understood why he was “off”, right?

The reason of that is that Alistair hates people who look for excuses. He even said that Remy Bonjanski deserved an Oscar after he complained about a fight he lost; he also had hard words for Badr Hari when he complained why he lost against Alistair. So the last thing that Alistair wants to do, is be like the guys who he said looked for excuses. Otherwise people are gonna say “He’s complaining about those people, but he’s exactly the same!”

Now, the Big Foot fight, is probably the most important fight in his career, you don’t think that he wants to be without injuries before he fights a guy like that? Especially after fighting with an injury and not able to perform as usual. (he could have lost the fight against Werdum because of it).

And talking about injuries, why didn’t StrikeForce ask for his medicals? Could it be because they already knew he was injured? Or did they simply want to get him out of that “Golden contract” that he had? I really don’t know what the reason is, but tell me, could it be something else? Because to me, it all looks weird, and you start getting those conspiracy theory’s.
Like, could it be that during all the stress of selling the company, StrikeForce didn’t realize what they were doing when making this, for Alistair really good, contract?

Or didn’t it matter because they were selling the company anyway?

Because the fact that Alistair IS the StrikeForce heavyweight Champion (and only person in the world who holds a K1 World title and not 1, but 2 different MMA World titles), and that he DOES have a legitimate reason not to fight (X Rays plus letters from Doctors), makes me really wonder why they let him go.

And then, (if that’s not weird enough), the next week they suddenly let the rest of GG go, Valentijn Overeem, OK, I expected that, he simply didn’t fight, but Jon Olav Einemo (who they, by the way, also paid personally) was UFC and not StrikeForce. And Marloes Coenen after losing only her last fight, which was a World title fight they let her go!?

“They don’t like the management from GG”, is what I have been tweeted by MANY fans, and you know what? It really starts to look like this now.

But, then some of you will say, “Kharitanov is still there, they didn’t fire him and he is also GG”. Yes, that’s true, but that could be true because otherwise everybody would have known 100% that it’s a “powerplay”, (that’s what they call it on the internet).

Now we simply never “really know” what went on, all we can do is speculate and making conspiracy theories.

But, whatever the reasons are, the fans lose in this situation. Because the chances that Alistair is going to fight in the UFC now, are slim, and I don’t know about you, but I would have loved to see Alistair versus Jr Dos Santos, two top strikers in an MMA match, hell yeah!

So let’s hope it get’s fixed!”



 
phil-davis

Phil Davis to Battle Chad Griggs at UFC On Fox 4

Following a very difficult loss to Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox, Phil Davis return...
5.14.12@2:38 pm
1

 
 
zombie-poirier_large

UFC on FUEL TV 3: Weigh-In Results

Today all UFC on FUEL TV competitors hit the scales and made their bouts officia...
5.14.12@2:23 pm
0

 
 
poll_green

MMA POLL | Are You Still A Nick Diaz Fan Following Latest No-Show?

This past weekend Nick Diaz failed to deliver on a promised grappling match for ...
5.14.12@9:40 am
48

 
 
frank mir

Frank Mir Planning On Standing With Dos Santos

Frank Mir has been counted out of his upcoming fight with Junior Dos Santos befo...
5.14.12@9:33 am
36

 

 
tkz weigh

Watch today’s UFC on FUEL 3 Weigh-Ins Live on BJPENN.COM (4pm ET)

The UFC on FUEL TV 3 weigh-ins are set to go down today and you can catch all th...
5.14.12@9:01 am
1

 
 
sonnen_edited-3

Video | Chael Sonnen Enlists Stone Cold Steve Austin For Training | UFC NEWS

Chael Sonnen admits training with former WWE star Stone Cold Steve Austin for  ...
5.14.12@8:40 am
31

 
 
Kimbo boxing vid

VIDEO | Kimbo Slice, 38, KOs Latest, Keeps Undefeated Boxing Streak Alive Against Another Forgettable Opponent

Oft-maligned former UFC heavyweight fighter Kimbo Slice continued his undefeated...
5.14.12@8:33 am
10

 
 
hunt21-300x207

Mark Hunt | “The blood will fall whether it is mine or his.”

By Jamie McAllister Mark Hunt in an interview with TATAME. Hunt comments on trai...
5.14.12@8:27 am
8

 

20 Comments


  1. Brandon

    dead on.


    • Brandon

      Everyone knows Dana has beef with Overeem, this move didn’t surprise me at all, especially leaving the LEAST known fighter so it doesn’t look obvious. I’m certain that if Fedor had won, we’d STILL see Hendo in the UFC and not him.


      • Josh

        If that happened I think that Dana would have tried to set Fedor up with an opponent that would destroy Fedor lol. Since Hendo won there was no need for that.


  2. noway

    Wow powerful stuff Bass, good insight on what you think, I still believe Dana White is the Don King of mma and is ruining the sport we love so much, but what can we do right.


  3. pancho villa

    I was wondering what was going on, glad to some what know now or at least speculate. One thing though. I would rather see overeem and velasquez. Cain is the man! I have all faith and strongly believe that cain is the best fighter in the world! I would love too see cain prove that once and for all!


    • Majority of Alistairs wins were by submission…So uhhh “Just a kickboxer and no MMA skills”? This was personal, Dana White doesn’t like Overeem at all, ever since Overeem refused to sign for UFC. Cause UFC fighters don’t get permission to fight in other competitions such as the K-1, which is something Overeem really wanted to do.

      It’s all about the money, Overeem fought injured as a favour and got assured by Coker the next fight was late fall. Then they try to make him fight earlier so he not only doesn’t get a normal amount of time to prepare, something Bigfoot had cause he fought earlier this year, he also didn’t get a reasonable amount of time to heal from his injuries.

      That’s no way to treat someone. It’s time for some new CEO’s in these organizations cause Coker and White are starting to act like dictators. I always liked White cause i thought he was a straight-up no bullshit kinda guy…Turns out that’s all an act he’s exactly like all the other big company executives….


  4. mark

    is it fair to just drop all those fighters?? no and uh hell no… but business is business and its all about money.. i dont remember the last time overeem fought a real heavy weight like jr dos santos or even rampage quality fighters that fight .. overeem has been in k1 and thats all no fights in the cage doing mma he is a kick boxer and thats about all .. im not taking anything away from his skills i just dont think he has the game to compete in the ufc with their caliber fighters(mma fighters) not kick boxers


  5. michael

    Bas is a stand up guy, and Dana is a very shifty person, would have to go with bas on this one. Dana is given so much credit for MMA, but I think this sport was gonna take off with or without Dana, and for how far this sport has came and all the revenue, look at some of these fighters salaries are a fkn joke, yet Dana is extremely wealthy.


  6. $

    its about time someone speaks up about these kind of situations. thank you bas! that’s why you’re the greatest!


  7. DJ

    no matter if the things people blame dana or zuffa for are actually true, them having this much power and responsibility is not good for PR. If Dana (and I hope youre listening) is keeping fighters out of the ufc and strikeforce because he doesn’t like them personally, youre gonna lose fighters and fans to bellator and other promos and ( in that case) i hope that happens.


  8. Bas is the most knowledgeable man in mma.


  9. Sem

    What a great article by bas rutten. A most read. If you love mma


  10. chad

    I think its more along the lines of dana trying to bankrupt strikeforce and the showtime deal so that he can bring the fighters over to the UFC. And with Overeem being out of the spotlight dana will have a chance in a year to sign him for cheap. As for Marloes, we all know Dana would like to do away with womens MMA all together…. I love what Dana has done for the sport, but he is now starting to destroy it by keeping some of the true best out of competition.


  11. rileeyy

    only faggot fedor fans are agreeing with this bullsh*t, bas is another ufc reject and hes hating like im sure their gonna tim sylvia to interview his thoughts arnt they -_- wooow


  12. michael

    @rileeyy do you just watch MMA, couldn’t imagine you do any martial arts or combat sports, and would say that about Bas, cuz Bas is the most informed person when it comes to anything in MMA, he is the Godfather of MMA. He has his own gyms, his own fighting system, and hosts a show on MMA, who the fk are you to say he is a reject, just wish you had the chance to say that to his face.


  13. Gip2345

    Ok I love Bas but Bas and Overeem are good buddies. That being said…the real reason is pretty obvious but can’t be made public….Overeem is on growth hormone and steroids and under the UFC he would heavily be tested based on the commisions and governing bodies in the states. In Strikeforce, most of the fights were in the same states so was controlled. It’s timing when you are on these PEDs for when you come off in anticipation for the tests. Honestly, I don’t think he was on PEDs for the Werdum fight which is why he was sluggish (timing off) and his stamina tanked. I guess my question for Bas would be, “If Overeem doesn’t want to make excuses, why is the blaim being pointed at management issues?” Overeem is the fighter and if he truly wanted to be the best and fight the best and make decent money he would pick up the phone and call Dana and straighten the situation out and then let his management know that he wants to fight in the UFC and then negotiate money. Don’t get me wrong, Overeem is a good fighter but he has built his career oversees. Most MMA fans have only seen his fights in Strikeforce. He needs a win against a top 10 UFC fighter and then negotiate. If Overeem doesn’t fix this now, I am afraid this will end up being Fedor in the states all over again.


  14. dave

    first learn o spell cheques you idiot…and rem was with GGwhen he won the K1 and he still has not been paid…so your little saftey reason being for the fighters is Bs…..and fuk gg you will never beat zuffa at shit…with zuffa behind reem gg is gonna give up fast…fuk bas he shit and always was,,,faggot jumping and doing the splits always talking about street fights and jail////youi a bitch