MMA / UFC News 7/31 UFC News: Dana White comments on Fedor negotiations, announces new contract signings, ESPN rumors By Jason Powell Jul 31, 2009 - 02:07 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing The following is an ongoing recap of the UFC press conference that the company is holding via conference call. -Dana White opened Friday's UFC conference call by saying the company has been unable to sign Fedor. He said they offered him the best possible deal they could. He said the hang up is the copromotional aspect that Fedor's people wanted. "I wanted out there and tried to make this happen," White said. I did everything I could possibly do. They didn't want to do it." -White announced that Vitor Belfort has re-signed with UFC. He said Belfort will face Rich Franklin on the September show in Dallas. White said Dan Henderson would likely be next in line. -White also announced that Tito Ortiz has re-signed with the company. "Tito Ortiz will retire in the UFC," White said. -Ben Rothwell and other Affliction fighters have signed with UFC. White said others will be assigned WEC. -White said UFC has inked a three-year deal with ESPN in the UK. He said the events will be broadcast in HD. -Tito Ortiz joined the conference call and said he's 100 percent recovered from back surgery. He said competition is the main reason he re-signed with UFC. He said there were only a few fighters he felt like he could have fought outside UFC that would have mattered and then there wouldn't have been anyone left to fight. -Ortiz said he hoped he would be back in September, but he just received medical clearance and is now targeting November or December for his return to the octagon. He said he would fight before the end of the year and perhaps even the New Year's Eve show. -White said Ortiz will likely face Mark Coleman in his first fight back. -A caller asked if there's a bigger deal with UFC and ESPN brewing in the United States. When the caller asked if White wanted to talk about it, White laughed and said, "Nope." White said they're always talking with networks. "Once we get the right offer, we will be on network television," White said. "We haven't received the right offer yet." -Tito vowed that fans will never hear money complaints come out of his mouth again. He and White agreed that they're over their past issues. A caller joked that White is on the "bury the hatchet tour." White laughed and said he is. He said a mutual friend approached him and got him talking with Tito again around UFC 100. -White balked at the idea of M1-Global coming in and co-promoting as part of the Fedor deal. "That shit probably works in Russia, not here," he said regarding the negotiating tactics. -White said they're working on television deals around the world, including Russia and Japan. -A caller asked about the boxing industry. Dana said there are promoters who have taken from the business for years and didn't give back. He said he likes boxing and believes both sports can coexist. He said they're forcing the next Floyd Mayweather fight down the throats of fans even though no one wants to see it. He said he thinks it's good UFC is forcing boxing to make their sport better. -White all but confirmed that UFC 100 did 1.5 million buys. -Dana said a Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva fight could happen soon if Silva doesn't suffer any injuries in his next fight. -White said he has no interest in Tim Sylvia or Andrei Arlovsky at this point. -Tito said he suffered his back injury in a fight against Randy Couture and hasn't been the same since. -White raved about the television ratings they're doing on Televisa in Mexico. He said they love fighting in Mexico. White said he was a huge boxing fan who fell in love with MMA, and he knew the fans in Mexico would do the same. He said it's only a matter of time before UFC holds a live event in Mexico. Tito said he would love to headline a show in Mexico City. -"Trust me when I tell you we did everything to make this happen," White said regarding the Fedor negotiations. "To turn down a deal like this you don't care if you're the best in the world and you don't care if you fight the best in the world." White asked why would he ever Fedor's people to walk in and co-promote. -White said the Fedor deal isn't dead. He said they could call him at any time. "I was f---ing miserable the entire day because we couldn't make this deal," White said. He said they were willing to make a deal at almost any cost. "Believe me when I tell you these guys don't want to make a deal." -Dana and Tito agreed that the October show at Staples Center is probably too soon for Ortiz to return. "L.A. would be awesome, but I wanna have four or five more years of competition in me." He said it makes more sense to wait another month or two and let his back heal properly rather than take a chance and fight sooner. -White said M1 Global was out of business before they ever promoted a single show, yet they want to co-promote with UFC. He said they would need to do a background check on Fedor's handlers in order to make such a deal, but White said UFC isn't interested in giving up that type of control. "I was not a dick in these negotiations," White said. "I was the nicest Dana ever." -White compared the Fedor situation to Brett Favre negotiating with a football team and demanding that he become a 50 percent partner. -A caller recalled White saying Tito is more concerned with being a celebrity than a fighter. White said they were a lot of things said because of their past bad blood. He said it wasn't for show, they legitimately hated one another. -White said he's over the Fedor deal and doesn't even want to talk about him. "Do you really give a shit that much about him that this guy won't even step up and give you what you want to see?" White said he gave him everything he wanted and he could go fight sambo every Thursday night he wanted to. "This guy doesn't want to fight the best in the world," White said. "I don't even want to talk about him. I want to talk about the guys who do want to fight the best in the world period." -Dana was asked to speak about the role Tito played in helping the company grow. Dana said they're moving forward. "Tito belongs here," White said. "He should be here." He said they got into UFC together and he's happy they put it behind them. Tito agreed. -Tito said he was really close to signing with Strikeforce. He said they took a while to get back to him. He raved about promoter Scott Coker and said he's an awesome guy, but said it really came down to competition. "People forgot that I'm the longest reigning UFC Lt. Hvt. Champion that UFC has ever had and I'm going to get it back." Tito said 98 percent of the voters on his website wanted him to fight with UFC and that's what made up his mind. -A caller asked how a network television deal would change his pay-per-view structure. He said it wouldn't affect pay-per-view, but they would put big fights on network television unlike pro boxing. He said it would be awesome for the fans if they can sign a deal. This concludes Dot Net's coverage of the UFC conference call. HELP SUPPORT DOT NET! BECOME A MEMBER AT OUR CHARTER RATE OF JUST $5 A MONTH - GET THE FIRST LOOK AT EXCLUSIVE INSIDER DOT NET NEWS, TONS OF EXCLUSIVE AUDIO SHOWS, MESSAGE BOARD ACCESS, START YOUR OWN BLOG, AD-FREE MAIN LISTING: SIGN ME UP (or MORE INFO) GOT AN IPHONE OR IPOD TOUCH? THEN BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD OUR NEW FREE iPhone APP: (click here!) (or SEARCH "pro wrestling" in iTunes App Store) FOR MORE BREAKING WWE & TNA NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE PWTORCH.COM (click here!) FOR MORE MMA & UFC NEWS AND COMMENTARY, VISIT OUR AFFILIATE MMATORCH.COM (click here!) 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