Prepare yourself Bill, Jon Fitch has been cut!

Along with these other fighters

http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/2/20/4009518/jon-fitch-among-16-fighters-released-from-ufc-on-tuesday

Wagner Prado, Mike Russow, Jacob Volkmann, Vladimir Matyushenko, Che Mills, Jay Hieron, Terry Etim, Paul Sass, Jorge Santiago, Mike Stumpf, Simeon Thoresen, C.J. Keith, Motonobu Tezuka, Josh Grispi and Ulysses Gomez.

Ok, so...

I've read the whole post so far in it's entirety and I'm surprised no one has brought this up...

Can anyone tell me ANY professional sport's organization that is purely about the sport and not about entertainment and making money?

It's the same reason Northwestern got bumped from a spot on the Outback Bowl in favor of Ohio State besides having a better record!

College sports is the damn DEVIL.

Seriously, I love the sport, art, and science of MMA. Show me ANY fighter would would compete, put his body health and life on the line for free, and I'll show you a madman.

We train because we love it, we teach because we love it. But we compete for glory and prosperity...

*College Football is the devil. The NCAA Basketball tournament is the best championship tournament in all of sports (in my opinion).

68 teams vie for the championship INCLUDING the small schools, which is wonderful. Every year at least one small school beats the overwhelming favorite and it is glorious.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/2/20/4010256/despite-surprising-release-jon-fitch-can-leave-ufc-with-dignity-intact

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1537065-ufc-cuts-jon-fitch-why-mma-fans-really-shouldnt-be-that-surprised

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/2/20/4010802/jon-fitch-cut-ufc-mainstream-mma-fans-reaction-long-term-mma

* Edited at 02.21.2013, 2:09 AM ET *

Hope I didn't wake anyone up with my celebrating!

I'd just love to see Fitch-Askren ... not for excitement value ... just to see Askren get Fitched ... that is my newest MMA dream ... that and Tor KTFO Josh Samman.

They are small dreams, please, oh gods of MMA, make them happen :)

Fitch would murder Askren. 

This is ****** up. I guy who beat Erik Silva then losing to the new beast demi an maia in a greatly entertaining fight gets cut. ***. I bet he comes back to the ufc eventually cause he is gonna murder everyone out of the ufc

in 10 to 20 years DW will look terrible as someone who could have advanced MMA  but decided to line his pokets instead. lomg live leonard garcia!

Well, what's done is done.  Nothing we can do about it.  The UFC has defined themselves as what they want to be, and that's that.  

After all, the UFC has the right to be whatever kind of an organization that they want to be.  But I've learned a lot here.  Just because I wanted them to be a different promotion isn't relevant to what they feel they want to be.

Here's some mental notes to myself that may be worth sharing.  

The UFC is conducting a brutal, scorched-earth policy of promoting the fights and fighters that can compete for the division titles.  Once a guy shows he can't compete in a credible, viable way to win the title, he is then relegated to entertaining status, or set aside, like Fitch.

Think about it.  Once Liddell was shown to no longer be in the title picture, what happened?  In a division with about 40 fighters, Liddell could still whip about 32 of them.  Was he allowed to take his place at the back end of the Top 10 and continue his career as a highly-ranked Top 10 guy?  No.  He was pressured to step aside and retire.  Give his spot to someone else.  And he was Dana White's best friend!  Chuck clearly wanted to continue.  He still loved the training, still loved to fight.  There was no legitimate reason why he couldn't continue on in the Top 10, fighting carefully-selected other Top 10 guys.  But he was forced out strictly because he couldn't compete for the title with good chances!  That's not sports, folks!  That's a manipulated, rigged, distorted and unfair thing, brought about by inept, incompetent suits, concerned only about money.  Sports and fighters be DAMNED!

Liddell, Hughes and Penn still had years of entertaining fights to offer, given carefully selected opponents.  I never got to see Liddell vs. Griffin, or Hughes vs. Fitch, when they made sense.  Once they could no longer contribute to the title picture, they were not allowed to continue on as highly ranked, Top 10 fighters.  They were handed their hats and shown the door.  And Liddell and Penn could still have been entertaining!!!  See the picture?  A bitter, brutal, scorched-earth policy, with the knife at your neck.

Now look at Penn.  Is he being allowed to continue?  Theoretically, he could still be a force in LW.  Is he being encouraged to return to LW?  No.  He is being pressured, just like Liddell to step aside, give his spot away.

The UFC doesn't want the Top 10 BEST.  They don't want great ranked guys to hang around, cluttering up the spots once its deemed you can't compete for the belts.  

I said that Demian Maia would be blocked from a title shot.  But I was probably wrong.  They'll give him his shot, just like Fitch, but if he fails decisively, like Fitch in his title shot, he will then be in Fitch's position.  Not in the title mix, and able to smother the hot prospects' hype trains.  Will that be tolerated?  

Once a man is no longer credible and viable to compete for the title, he better be entertaining, with a sparkling, striking offense.  Otherwise, he will be undermined in some crafty, under-handed way.

The UFC, which all of us thought was trying to move in a more sports-oriented direction, has now chosen to move in a more entertainment direction.  Nothing really wrong with that, other than the potential lost to evolve a great sport.

* Edited at 02.21.2013, 3:59 PM ET *

The original combination for MMA was boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, Brazillian ju-jitsu.  With any other offensive combat discipline added as needed - judo, Sambo, etc.

The UFC is now so committed to manipulating the original formula, that any kind of legitimate sport evolving is being smothered in its adolescence.  By its under-emphasizing wrestling, and over-emphasizing striking, winning, finishing and being entertaining, any chances of ever developing naturally into a legitimate sport is now lost.

But I will not cry.  I will not continue to verbally crucify the UFC for disappointing me by not evolving into a true sport.  They have every right to define themselves however they like.

But we should all adjust our hopes and dreams of what might have been.  We can mourn the lost potential.  But money drives the UFC.

Thank you, CT.  I accept your sincere apology.  So far, you are the only man in the house who is man enough to admit I was right all along, and the house was as wrong as it could be.

Everyone saying, "Wow, Bill. Your boy is gone."  But no one admitting I was RIGHT!  

Thanks for being man enough to say so.  

So much for, "Dana is God.  Dana knows best.  The UFC knows what it's doing."

* Edited at 02.21.2013, 12:18 PM ET *

Some questions that were raised.

Someone questioned Demian Maia.  After his title shot, his deadly ability to smother hot prospects will actually work against him.  He will become a detriment.  His talent to beat people will make him a problem.  And his high salary will also work against him.

Someone asked about Ronda Rousey.  If she were a man, she wouldn't be promoted like this.  And even though she is a women, if she loses, she better learn an entertaining offensive style of fighting, or she will become a burden.  And if she goes down, she could take the entire women's experiment down with her.

And if that happens, let's all hope that they all are picked up by Invictus, and given a real shot.  Invictus would make the Cyborg vs. Rousey fight immediately.  

* Edited at 02.21.2013, 12:20 PM ET *

Bill, you have one point I agree with that you apparently think is a bad thing that I think is good: The UFC is interested in putting on exciting, title relevant fights.

The UFC is NOT discriminating against grapplers. They are discriminating against stallers. Advancing position in grappling is like footwork in striking: they are merely the setup and don't mean anything if you don't deliver the sub/strike. If you're actually trying to finish and not win by points they don't care how you do it.

Bottom line is the finish (or at least a legitimate try for one) is the goal as it should be imo.

Oh and here's a couple more interesting articles that I haven't seen links to in this thread yet.

SBnation

MMAcorner

Oh well this should be good for bellator. They should have based the cuts on time spent stalling in fights to really send a message

One safe prediction.  We will never see Fitch being asked to return to the UFC.  They are probably extremely relieved to be rid of someone they didn't want, didn't feel they needed, was no longer viable for the title, whose salary was not in line, could derail hot prospects with deadly smothering tactics, and was hard to justify why he wasn't getting top contenders.

The 3rd greatest WW who ever fought, after GSP and Hughes.  Won his first 8 UFC fights, lost to the best, won 5 more straight, won a fight that was declared a draw, lost one, won another, and lost his 3rd fight in 10 years.

I further predict that Jon Fitch is now suddenly awakened to his former employer's bad attitude towards himself.  It might have been easy for him to kid himself.  Now he can't.  I would be shocked and disgusted if he EVER even CONSIDERED returning to such an employer.  

The UFC did him a favor, since they were obviously not going to give him any more title shots, or even give him top contenders anymore.  Now, he can get the respect he deserves from his bosses, still get good money, and take proper care of his family.  The UFC is not the only game in town.  

Fitch and Aaron Simpson.  Who would have thought?  Who knew?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Fitch

* Edited at 02.21.2013, 2:44 PM ET *

Ariel Helwani ‏@arielhelwani

Dana explaining why they released Fitch. "He can go get some fights and get back in the UFC."

Ariel Helwani ‏@arielhelwani

On if he was fired over video game deal: "Are you f'n ****ting me?!" "I don't have one ounce of hate for Fitch."

Im not one to call BS on Dana cause most the time i think hes truthful but goes over board . But this one feels like BS

They might as well of cut Phil Davis, Allistar Overeem, Hector Lombard, Nate Diaz, Dustin Porier, Urijah Faber, and Uncle Creepy. Cause i feel as though all those guys are in the same position that Jon Fitch was in there respective divisions, give or take a spot lol