FanHouse UFC

Prior to 2007, hardly anyone following mixed martial arts knew much about Vadim Finkelchtein, but by that time, he had already been managing Fedor Emelianenko for almost four years. Today, Finkelchtein finds himself in the center of the biggest free agency story in MMA history, with major news outlets like The Los Angeles Times tracking its progress.

On Tuesday night, ESPN's E:60 investigative reporting show profiled UFC President Dana White, behind the central question: "Can UFC get to the next level with Dana White being Dana White?"

I have a question, too: At what point can we all just admit UFC has already reached "the next level" while corporate America was sleeping on the job?

The fallacy these days is that UFC somehow needs to be legitimized by mainstream media or major advertisers. The fact is that either or both would enhance their position rather than validate it.

Since the demise of EliteXC last October, Gina Carano has remained relatively quiet. The female mixed martial arts fighter is one of the biggest stars in the sport and it seems like every day someone's talking about her proposed super-fight with Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

Here's the video of UFC President Dana White announcing that we're going to see Chuck Liddell fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79:

White refers to Liddell-Silva as "the most anticipated fight in mixed martial arts history. The fight that I've been waiting for, the fans have been waiting for, finally it's going to happen."

I think the key word there is "finally." If the fight had happened a year and a half ago, that would have been great. But with both fighters on two-fight losing streaks, it's hard to be quite so excited.

UFC is still reeling from the retirement of Randy Couture, its best and most popular fighter. But whoever wins the main event at UFC 77 may be in a position to fill, at least in part, the void created by Couture's departure.

Middleweight champion Anderson Silva may be UFC's most impressive fighter, and his opponent in the main event, Rich Franklin, is a fan favorite. You can bet that the winner of this fight will be heavily promoted as UFC attempts to move beyond the loss of Couture

Here are the details of Saturday's event:

What: UFC 77: Hostile Territory

Who: In addition to the Silva-Franklin main event, other fights on the main card are heavyweights Brandon Vera vs. Tim Sylvia, light heavyweights Eric Schafer vs. Stephan Bonnar and middleweights Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher.

When: Saturday, 10 p.m. ET

Where: U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati

How: $39.95 on pay-per-view ($49.95 in HD).

Predictions after the jump.

The departure of Randy Couture from UFC is one of the biggest stories in sports this week, and as usual with UFC, blogs are offering better insight than the mainstream media. Here are excerpts from the three best takes I've seen in the blogosphere:

This couldn't come at a worse time for the UFC. Their most marketable and beloved champion just retired and they couldn't sign Emilianenko to a deal. Also, their other star, Chuck Liddell, is in the midst of a two fight losing streak after a bad loss to Keith Jardine. The guy's nickname is "the dean of mean" for God's sake, come on Chuck. Is it possible that the UFC and President Dana White may have gotten a little overconfident?

-- Rumors and Rants.

Though White hardly seemed upset by UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture's announcement Thursday that he is retiring as a professional fighter and severing all ties with the company, how he handles the situation will determine whether the company will continue its rocket-like ascent toward mainstream acceptance or whether it will return to the netherworld of niche sports status.

-- Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports via MMA Junkie.

The loss of Couture is a major deal. It throws the heavyweight division into chaos ... much like the 155-pound weightclass. Losing a high-profile star like Couture the way that they did, certainly makes the situation even worse. In addition, it means that the big SuperBowl weekend card is now void of a main event. Don't be surprised to see Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva (if it gets signed) bumped to that card rather than UFC 79 in December.

-- UFC Mania.

Bottom line: Everyone agrees that the loss of Couture is a major loss for UFC, and everyone agrees that Dana White has dug himself a very big hole.

In a stunning move that has the potential to seriously damage the popularity of the world's most popular mixed martial arts organization, heavyweight champion Randy Couture is quitting the Ultimate Fighting Championship, The Fight Network is reporting.

Couture announced his resignation from the Las Vegas-based promotion, leaving two contracted fights, his job as an on-air analyst and his heavyweight crown on the table.

In South Africa shooting scenes for his lead role in the upcoming feature film "The Scorpion King – Rise of the Akkadian," Couture made the announcement official in a letter to UFC president Dana White. The UFC's inability to land PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko played a prominent role in the decision to walk away, according to Couture.

"I appreciate this opportunity the sport of MMA and the UFC has given me," the UFC Hall-of-Famer said. "However, I'm tired of swimming upstream at this stage with the management of the UFC. It only makes sense at this point in my career to fight Fedor Emelianenko, and since he's now signed with another organization, I feel like it's time to resign and focus on my other endeavors."

It's not clear what else Couture might be doing next, but it is clear that this strikes a major blow to UFC.

Previously on FanHouse:
Randy Couture Finished Off Gabriel Gonzaga Despite a Broken Arm
UFC 74: Randy Couture Beats Gabriel Gonzaga, Keeps Heavyweight Title
Randy Couture Defends UFC Steroids Policy
UFC 74: Randy Couture Gabriel Gonzaga Live Round-By-Round Results
Sorry, No Photos

Hat tip: Sports by Brooks.

Big ups to The Big Lead for finding this ESPN video in which Jenna Jameson sees whether she knows more about her boyfriend, UFC fighter Tito Ortiz, than his best friend does.

I'm kind of amazed that ESPN is using its web site to promote a porn star and an athlete in a sport that ESPN doesn't have a contractual relationship with, but I'm not complaining.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell got back into the Octagon tonight but lost a stunning upset to Keith Jardine at UFC 76.

The split decision, in which Jardine dominated the second and third rounds, turns the UFC on its head, as Liddell is the most popular mixed martial arts fighter in America but has now lost a lot of credibility -- and two straight fights.

Jardine came out looking aggressive, and handled himself well in the first round. But that was actually his worst round. He pummeled Liddell with repeated right body kicks and left hooks in rounds two and three, and it's actually quite surprising that he had to win a split decision -- it's hard to imagine what the judge who scored the fight for Liddell was thinking.

UFC seemed so confident that Liddell would win that it announced before the fight that a Liddell victory would pit him against Wanderlei Silva. Instead, it may be time for Liddell to think about retirement.Sorry, No Photos

This is the live blog for tonight's UFC 76 main event, as former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell tries to get back on track against Keith Jardine.

If Liddell wins, he'll fight Wanderlei Silva next.

Liddell is the most popular fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but the last time we saw him in the Octagon, he was getting knocked out by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. The UFC desperately needs Liddell to win, as he's one of the organization's biggest pay-per-view draws, and a victory would set him up for another big pay-per-view fight, most likely late this year.

The main event will begin at about 12:30 a.m. ET.

Round-by-round live updates are after the jump.