http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/UFCHBO-Deal-Finalized-Inside-The-UFC-To-Return-More.html

UFC/HBO Deal Finalized, Inside The UFC To Return, More

The following notes are courtesy of The Sundance Kid from the Forums.MMANews.com:

Dana just mentioned during the conference call with Mirko CroCop to the international media today that the UFC and HBO have officially inked a deal and the company will debut on the premium network this summer.

When asked about the details he skipped around for a while but finally said that HBO will be doing the production. But he also said that he would never have signed a deal that he wasn't comfortable with.

Dana also Guarantees that Pride will have a huge TV deal for here in the U.S. as well as in Japan.

Also, the show " Inside the UFC" will be making a return, but it is not known when.

Also from MMAnews:

http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/UFCHBO-Deal-Finalized-Inside-The-UFC-To-Return-More.html

Much More News From Today's UFC Conference Call

The following notes are courtesy of Chris Howie who represented MMANews.com in today's UFC conference call with president Dana White and Heavyweight fighter Mirko CroCop.

-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was in limbo, so the UFC signed him. Basically he had no existing deal with PRIDE, so they decided to move him over to the UFC during the acquisition of PRIDE. Doesn't know who he will be fighting first in the UFC as he just signed him a week ago, but said Nogueira will be fighting a top draw. The rumors are Brandon Vera.

-PRIDE will follow the unified rules, weight-classes and rounds. Pretty much adopting UFC's style.

-UFC 72 "Victory" will be broadcast free on ****e TV and will feature Rich Franklin vs. Martin Kampmann and Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez.

-There has been no official decision on the PRIDE LWGP yet. Well, we have that one on the main page already. Dana says rumors of UFC fighters being involved in the tournament (Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez were rumored via a poster) are false. It will only be PRIDE fighters and there will be no UFC vs. PRIDE fights until they do the big supershow.

-When discussing Vanderlei Silva, Dana again mentions how him fighting Chuck Liddell could have been the biggest fight in MMA history until Silva was knocked out by CroCop and Dan Henderson, consecutively.

-Dana doesn't really have anything official on Fedor yet. His contract with PRIDE is not an exclusive deal and Zuffa does not deal with non-exclusive contracts with fighters. Fedor is not a free agent though and they will be working hard to keep him.

-Dana White is still pissed at Tito Ortiz. He sprinkled several insults and choice words throughout the call about him.

-The New Jersey State Athletic Commission is working hard to allow the use of knee strikes in MMA. Dana said that is one rule he would change and they want it added.

-Puts over UFC securing the future of the sport. They are only expanding it and making it bigger, and aren't a flash-in-the-pan like some predict.

-The HBO deal is signed, sealed and delivered. As mentioned before, Dana announced that HBO gained control of the production - so it will be their announcers. It wasn't mentioned, but as a fan of MMA and someone who's about to take over Larry Merchant's position on the boxing broadcasts this year, Max Kellerman would make sense as one of the announcers for the UFC on HBO.

-ESPN will be covering the weigh-ins regularly from now on, and he expects live fight shows to air on that network at some point in the future as well.

UFC coming up big time baby....where all the pride fools at?

I was wondering who the announcers were going to be. Max is more of a boxing guy. They should have a whole different crew. I hope this doesn't take any boxing shows away from HBO.

I was wondering who the announcers were going to be. Max is more of a boxing guy. They should have a whole different crew. I hope this doesn't take any boxing shows away from HBO.

Yeah i thought it was stupid before when HBO was sayin they would only use their own announcers, can you imagine Larry Merchant announcing UFC? Not that they had named a line up, but I think the UFC announcers would do it better.

The elbow situation is bad enough let alone having knees implemented as well though I hear Frank Shamrock supports the notion of having legal knees as a universal mma rule.

The elbow situation is bad enough let alone having knees implemented as well though I hear Frank Shamrock supports the notion of having legal knees as a universal mma rule.

The thing with not having knees to grounded opponents is that it allows fighters to remain on their knees or simply put a hand down and they're safe from getting kneed. Couture used this greatly to his advantage at one point against Sylvia.

I think they should just put the Jap rules back in effect.

It's a fight. Kicking someone when they're down is perfectly acceptable in my opinion, if there were a set of established rules and they changed the name from "Fighting Championships" to "Mixed Martial Arts Competition" I'd say that would be tolerable. As it stands you try and tell Mirko Crocop, Mauricio Rua, and a handful of others who (by the way are prepared to be kicked when they're on the ground because they practice their gaurd well) they can't kick like that: They'll say it's not a real fight.

They're fighters. They'll bite, scratch, headbutt whatever if they have to.

I think they should just put the Jap rules back in effect.

It's a fight. Kicking someone when they're down is perfectly acceptable in my opinion, if there were a set of established rules and they changed the name from "Fighting Championships" to "Mixed Martial Arts Competition" I'd say that would be tolerable. As it stands you try and tell Mirko Crocop, Mauricio Rua, and a handful of others who (by the way are prepared to be kicked when they're on the ground because they practice their gaurd well) they can't kick like that: They'll say it's not a real fight.

They're fighters. They'll bite, scratch, headbutt whatever if they have to.

ITS BANNED IN THE STATES DIDNT YA KNOW?????????????????????????????

Knees and kicks to the head should be legal, its a fight and you do anything to win a fight. If you dont want to be kick in the head then protect yourself. I loved watching Shogun and Silva doing head stomps and soccer kicks it was ****ing awesome. Now that they took that away it made it softer.

ITS BANNED IN THE STATES DIDNT YA KNOW?????????????????????????????

Yes, Wells. I was fully aware of that.

That's why I stated they should bring back the PRIDE rules in the USA now that UFC purchased PRIDE and the rules changed.

I mean ****, look at Bas and Frank in my sig.......NO GLOVES. Pancrase but they aren't wearing protection at all. That's the real shit.

Yes, Wells. I was fully aware of that.

That's why I stated they should bring back the PRIDE rules in the USA now that UFC purchased PRIDE and the rules changed.

I mean ****, look at Bas and Frank in my sig.......NO GLOVES. Pancrase but they aren't wearing protection at all. That's the real shit.


Well, to be fair, there was no real point to wear gloves in Pancrase, cause there was no closed fist strikes to the face, and a gentleman's agreement not to strike to the face on the ground.

Well, to be fair, there was no real point to wear gloves in Pancrase, cause there was no closed fist strikes to the face, and a gentleman's agreement not to strike to the face on the ground.

Agreed, but I'm sketchy about which I'd rather take:

A tiger strike to the eye from Bas without gloves, or a haymaker from Chuck with the 3oz gloves on. Kinda torn, of course both equally would knock me out.

Agreed, but I'm sketchy about which I'd rather take:

A tiger strike to the eye from Bas without gloves, or a haymaker from Chuck with the 3oz gloves on. Kinda torn, of course both equally would knock me out.


In a choice between taking an open hand strike and a closed fist strike, i'm taking the open hand strike every time. There's a lot less chance of having your face mangled up by an open handed strike.

It's not about the UFC getting Pride rules, it is the state athletic commissions changing theirs. Just know that if NJ allows knees, Nevada and most other states will still have a ban on them.

It's not about the UFC getting Pride rules, it is the state athletic commissions changing theirs. Just know that if NJ allows knees, Nevada and most other states will still have a ban on them.

NJSAC was the commission pushing for a ban on knees, so if they reverse themselves, the others could follow suit since they originally had no problem with it.