Monday Notes

How's it going fellas? Thanks for all the good comments and emails I've been getting over the past few days. The hits on the website have really been picking up, and I really appreciate all of you. I've started to do a few link exchanges with some other MMA websites, and everyone should check them out. Also, if any of my readers have a link they would like to share, please let me know. Now, time for some notes..

• The fighter salaries & live gate totals are out for UFC 73. According to MMAWeekly.com, the live gate was roughly $1,551,920 while the total disclosed payroll was $628,340. Just another example of how the UFC needs to start dishing out more money to the fighters.

• Cage Rage has released the final lineup for their July 14th card, Hard as Hell. Competing in the Main Event is Eric "Butterbean" Esch taking on Tengiz Tedoradze. Also, in what will surely be a brawl, James Thompson & Cabbage will be throwing it down. Other notables in action are the legendary Mario Sperry, Edson Drago, Gary Turner, UFC referee Herb Dean, & TUF veteran Ross Pointon.

• Apparently earlier today a post on Sherdog surfaced about UFC.com. The post claimed that if you went to the UFC website and then went to Title Holders there were two empty spots for Featherweight & Bantamweight. Although these two spots have now been taking off the website, other posters confirmed they were previously there. Not sure what this means exactly, but I wouldn't read too far into it. The UFC is hyping up the WEC with a strong focus on the smaller weight classes, and I think they will keep them over there. I don't see any reason to bring them into the UFC at this point.

• BJ Penn's website has some very good videos on it. A somewhat daily show of Penn's training regiment, and incredible instructional videos offered up for free. It is surely something to check out.

• Arash Markazi of SI.com wrote a pretty good article about the Rashad Evans & Tito Ortiz fight. He had some really good stuff from the post-fight press conference. Including quotes from Rashad claiming "Tito, you were grabbing the cage the whole fight". Tito then asked Rashad "What about the Vaseline on your arms?". Looks like these two were already hyping up the rematch only a few hours after their first fight was a dud.

• According to an article by Gary Herman at CBS SportsLine.com, Dana White has confirmed that Fedor Emelianenko's UFC debut is imminent. Herman quoted White as saying "We are planning to have Fedor fighting in the UFC at the end of 2007, or early 2008".
  

• For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, there is a video of Kimbo Slice calling Tank Abbott out after his victory over Roy Mercer. Cage Fury has confirmed that Kimbo & Tank will clash in the Main Event at their upcoming Cage Fury 6 event "Heavy Hands" on September 14th, in Atlantic City.

• Apparently investors in Brazil liked the idea of the IFL. MMAWeekly.com reports that The MTL, an organization not affiliated with the IFL will be starting up a league in the near future. The coaches include Brazilian stalwarts like Wanderlei Silva, Murilo Bustamante, Pedro Rizzo, & Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Scanning the list of fighters on the various teams, I see names like Jean Silva, Alexandre Cacareco, Erick Wanderlei, & Andre Mussi.
  

That's it for today, hope you got your fill on some of the latest happenings. Until next time..