Available in | English, Spanish |
---|---|
Owner | Vice Media |
URL | fightland |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Yes |
Launched | 2012 |
Current status | Defunct |
Fightland is a website covering mixed martial arts (MMA). [1] Launched in September 2012, it is part of Vice Media, Inc. network channels. [2] Vice Media states that Fightland is a joint venture with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). [3] The New Yorker describes it as a vertical in which the UFC is sponsoring the whole website, and in general, concludes that "Vice's sponsored material can feel like a strange beast, neither advertising nor regular content but something in between." [4]
Fightland has been criticized by Cagepotato and Deadspin for not being transparent to their readers that it is funded by the UFC, and that it is operating as a marketing arm or acting as a shill. [5] [6] The UFC, Vice Media and Fightland refused to comment on the subject when asked. [7] At UFC 164 weigh-ins, UFC president Dana White wore an official Fightland T-shirt. [8] [9]
Fightland editor-in-chief is Michael Hresko. [10] A notable writer for the website is MMA analyst Jack Slack. [11] Other notable writers include Peter Carroll [12] and Tom Taylor. [13]
Fightland was a 2014 World MMA Awards nominee for the "MMA media source of the year" award. [14]
On May 15, 2023, Vice Media formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as part of a possible sale to a consortium of lenders including Fortress Investment Group, which will, alongside Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, invest $225 million as a credit bid for nearly all of its assets. [15]
John Michael McCarthy is a retired American mixed martial arts referee best known for officiating numerous bouts promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), dating back to UFC 2. He is credited as being one of the greatest and most recognizable referees in combat sports history and an important figure in the mixed martial arts world, helping create the Unified Rules of MMA after initially creating the original rule book of the UFC. He is currently a commentator for Bellator MMA and co-hosts the combat sports-based podcast "Weighing In" with former fighter Josh Thomson.
Clay Guida is an American professional mixed martial artist, currently signed to the UFC competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Guida also formerly competed for Strikeforce, the WEC, King of the Cage, and Shooto. Guida was the inaugural Strikeforce Lightweight Champion.
Gregory Jackson is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer who co-owns Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, widely considered one of the top MMA training centers in the world. Jackson has trained many successful fighters, including current UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm, former Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans, and a roster of other UFC contenders and World Extreme Cagefighting champions.
Roy Nelson is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division. As a professional, he has competed for the UFC, EliteXC, the IFL, BodogFIGHT, and most recently for Bellator MMA. In the UFC, Nelson was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights and achieved success as a top 10 UFC Heavyweight. Nelson is also the former IFL Heavyweight Champion, competing under Ken Shamrock and the Lion's Den. He holds notable victories over Mirko Cro Cop, Cheick Kongo, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Dominick Cruz is an American professional mixed martial artist, sports analyst and commentator. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz has also competed for World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), and was the final WEC Bantamweight Champion. As of April 16, 2024, he is #11 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
Gunnar Lúðvík Nelson is an Icelandic professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which was awarded by Renzo Gracie after impressive results at the 2009 IBJJF Pan-Ams and the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. Nelson is a member of Mjölnir MMA in Iceland, and SBG Ireland.
Reza Madadi (Persian: رضا مددی, is a retired Iranian-Swedish mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. A professional mixed martial artist from 2006 to 2019, Madadi is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Cagepotato was a news/entertainment website focusing on the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). The site was owned by Defy Media.
Kron Gracie is a Brazilian and American mixed martial artist, submission grappler, and instructor.
Dustin Glenn Poirier is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion. As of April 16, 2024, he is #4 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
WFA: King of the Streets was a mixed martial arts event held by World Fighting Alliance on July 22, 2006 at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, California, USA. This would be the last event held by the World Fighting Alliance. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States via iN DEMAND, and is the only fight in the 21st century to feature former UFC champion Bas Rutten. Rutten's win over Warpath capped a 22 fight win streak, dating back to 1995, to end his career.
While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. For instance, Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as DEEP Jewels. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Valkyrie, and Smackgirl. Professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete are industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Legacy Fighting Championship. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Strikeforce and EliteXC. There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Amanda Nunes, Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm and Joanna Jędrzejczyk and among others. Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events. This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators.
Li Jingliang is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes as a welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Neil Seery is a retired Irish professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the flyweight division of the UFC. Beginning his career in 2005, Seery also competed for BAMMA, Cage Warriors, and RINGS. He was the Cage Warriors Flyweight Champion.
Joanna Jędrzejczyk is a Polish former professional mixed martial artist and Muay Thai kickboxer. She has been called the greatest female strawweight mixed martial artist of all time, including by Daniel Cormier, who credited her with putting the weight class "on the map". Jędrzejczyk holds several records in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is a former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion, including most successful strawweight title defenses (5), most consecutive wins at strawweight (8), and is the first Polish champion and first female European champion.
Makwan Amirkhani is a Finnish retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division. He is most notable for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Thomas Almeida is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, who currently competes in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2011, Almeida formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Legacy FC, where he became the Legacy FC Bantamweight Champion, vacating the title shortly after signing with the UFC.
Jack Slack is a pen name of an anonymous British freelance writer, podcaster, analyst and amateur historian of combat sport; most notable as a mixed martial arts (MMA) striking analyst, writing detailed, analytical breakdowns of fighters, fighting techniques and strategies, using videos, photos and animated GIFs.
Tom Phillipe Duquesnoy is a retired French mixed martial artist. He is the former undisputed BAMMA Featherweight Champion and undisputed BAMMA Bantamweight Champion, and fought in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Bloody Elbow is a news website that covers the sports of mixed martial arts (MMA), boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, and other traditional martial arts and combat sports. Founded in 2007, the site has been notable for its investigative reporting, breaking news coverage, opinion and analysis. Bloody Elbow operated as part of the SB Nation network of sports blogging sites owned by Vox Media until January 2023, when the blog separated from Vox and was acquired as an independent publication by its founding editor. One year later in March 2024 the website was sold to GRV Media. The website is a part of the growing collection of MMA focused media outlets and provides analysis as well as commentary of multiple aspects of MMA.