The first Sunday Morning Rumor Mill of 2014 — and it doesn’t even fall on a Sunday. We’ll try to make these things a weekly occurrence that debuts on Sunday from this point on, but honestly I’m not sure how long I can keep that promise. Maybe if you guys would pool together and order me a home Thai massage each week then perhaps I can ensure the Sunday Morning Rumor Mill is a weekly publication. In the meantime, your favorite feature will be a streaky piece that may or may not come when you want it.
However this Tuesday night the Sunday Morning Rumor Mill has arrived, and it’s available for your orbital sockets free of charge.
.I heard some really troubling news yesterday, and it involves Fedor. Folks, The Last Emperor was offered a very lucrative MMA contract that wasn’t associated with M-1 Global (we’re talking about seven figures) and he turned it down, insisting that he’s truly done with MMA. This was not a UFC contract.
.On Tuesday I somewhat teased that Alistair Overeem should just squash whatever beef he has and return to Golden Glory, but now it seems that may be closer to the truth than I initially thought. The owner of Glory purchased Samui Superpro Gym along with a resort and flew Alistair (and anyone else he wanted) to Thailand to prepare for his upcoming fight against Frank Mir. The ultimate goal is to get Overeem to sign with Glory Kickboxing after his UFC contract is done (or if he loses to Mir).
.As expected, the UFC will be making some tweaks to their newly-released UFC Fight Pass before March 2014 which is completely in response to WWE’s newly-announced digital service.
.In Sweden’s Expressen.se, Alexander Gustafsson admitted to going to prison for street violence, something the UFC contacted Gustafsson about and requested that he no longer bring it up in interviews.
.This isn’t really a rumor, but Dana White (through Dave Sholler) turned down being interviewed by High Times in regards to TRT multiple times. Oh, and all of you should go out to your local magazine stand and pick up the March 2014 issue of High Times. Yep, that’s a plug. This is a pug.
.XFC issued a challenge to WSOF, similar to what WSOF offered Bellator in regards to co-promotion, and the rumor is WSOF will probably accept the challenge.
.It appears Kron Gracie may be making a ‘return’ to MMA, specifically in Japan.
.Apparently Rampage Jackson is still under contract with Reebok, but the contract was heavily dependent on an Ortiz vs. Rampage bout in Bellator, something that unfortunately fell through. Since the failed bout, Reebok has declined to include him in promotional materials.
.Korean fighter Tommy Yang has accused ONE FC of being run by ‘a bunch of gangsters and thugs.’ This was in response to contractual problems, specifically forcing him to sign a new contract or ONE FC will not offer him anymore fights on his existing contract (which I believe is for one more year).
