MMAVu

…has been virtually free of trash-talking. Even when the two were face to face along with co-main eventers Brock Lesnar and Heath Herring on a conference call today, they chose to take the high road.

Damn. I wanted to hear more GSP classic quotes like how he’ll do his talking “wid” his fists, or how Fitch won’t be able to ‘andle his “riddum” because French Canadian’s don’t pronounce “H’s.”

Oh well, this is sure to be an awesome fight anyways, as St. Pierre is a freak of an athlete, and Fitch defeated Thiago Alves who in turn dismantled Matt Hughes. I know “MMA Math” doesn’t work, but it’s fun to point out. Anyways, here’s a snip from Welterweight Champion St. Pierre as he prepares for the first defense of his second reign:

(Fitch) has got a lot of heart. Even if in the build up for this fight there is not trash talk, believe me, August 9 is going to be a great fight.

And from the Fitch:

It shows you where the sport is going. The top-level guys are professionals and behaving as professionals. The guys who talk trash and spew all that garbage, they don’t last. They do that stuff because they need that to get attention because they suck as fighters.

Um, doesn’t his teammate at AKA Josh “Trash-Talker” Koscheck well, um, trash-talk? That’s a bit of what you’d call foot-in-mouth-itis isn’t it?

Top UFC Lightweight contender Roger Huerta opened a lot of eyes in his recent interview with FIGHT! Magazine.  Here are a few snips from the article:

Huerta’s disillusionment with the UFC began when he did press tours for his employer in Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, and London and received a $50 per diem for his troubles. It sounds like a a good deal until you factor in time away from training, friends, and family, days often stretch twelve hours or more, and an exchange rate of one UK pound for two American dollars. “Why do you think I don’t do PR for the UFC any more?” he asks.

He argues that many UFC fighters barely make enough to cover their training expenses. He brings up teammate Keith Jardine repeatedly, incensed that a main event fighter is working for ten and ten- $10k to show and 10k to win – while his opponent regularly makes ten times as much.

“The truth is, I don’t really care if I fight in the UFC or somewhere else,” Huerta says. The fighter says he understands that Zuffa has to keep an eye on the bottom line, but he wants to work, “For a company that is as loyal to me as I am to them.”

Wow.  Them are some pretty strong words.  Maybe there’s something to the ever-increasing list of disgruntled fighters making their way out of the UFC.  The UFC is considered the major league of mixed martial arts fighting, but unlike other major leagues (at least, on paper) they don’t pay the most.  How much value do you put into exposure versus the money?

The UFC has usually tried to bury fighters who gripe too loud about this, like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Andre Arlovski.  On Arlovski’s way out the door, Zuffa sat him on the bench for almost a year, then stuck him on a preliminary card against a smothering blanket of a fighter.  With Ortiz’s case, they sent their version of a hitman, Lyoto Machida and Machida got the job done.

I really wonder what they’ll do with Huerta.  He’s right though, $50 per diem is an outright joke.