Kim Couture/Miesha Tate off, Irresponsible Reporting and WAMMA
by Tim Burke on Apr 29, 2009 3:31 PM EDT
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PrintPromoted from the FanPosts by KidNate.
Kim Couture is out of her fight against Miesha Tate on May 15th. Strikeforce didn't give a reason, but Miesha sure did (which she's since deleted from her MySpace), and it's pretty funny:
So Kim 'Sugar Free' Couture is pulling out of the fight supposedly cuz her and Randy are getting a divorce... I'm so pissed right now... Sugar Free my ass!!
The hilarity doesn't end there. Guess who's got the scoop on the Couture family fallout? The COO of WAMMA, Sam Caplan! You know, that guy who said he was taking a leave of absence from his website because of his WAMMA commitments? The guy who now works with a conglomeration of competitors to the UFC? Yes, that Sam:
It is uncertain whether Tate's claims are valid, however, sources have informed Five Ounces of Pain in recent weeks that the Coutures have been living separately as of late.
I think the funniest part of the whole thing is that, as stated on another recent fanpost, Sam is in Japan right now working on a co-promotional event between some WAMMA members. Do you see the problem here? A guy, in the middle of putting together a huge event involving multiple UFC competitors, is fanning the flames on the marital problems of one of the UFC's biggest stars? And a Strikeforce fighter with whom WAMMA has a relationship? And no one is talking about WHY he's writing this?
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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All of this so-called news is gossip until it's proven first hand.
It’s a shame that Sam Caplan has resorted to this kind of reporting. I’m glad I didn’t sign up for membership when he created a user account system for his website.
It’s Piss poor journalism at its best.
You Say A Conglomeration of UFC Competitors...
I say MMA.
Plus, Strikeforce hasn’t necessarily said they were working with WAMMA yet…
Also,
I think its silly to think that Caplan is somehow attacking the UFC or one of it’s star.
Hes just doing his job which is reporting and filling in as an interim for Lynch’s departure.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 29, 2009 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I take more of an issue with...
the gossip type reporting of “kim and randy aren’t living together” than with any attack on the UFC or it’s fighters.
I have all kinds of problems with WAMMA but don’t see anything too out of bounds by Sam here
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 29, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Aside from the fact that he shouldn’t be (and said that he wouldn’t be) breaking news on his blog while acting as the chief operating officer of an alleged sanctioning body for mixed martial arts?
by Chris Nelson on Apr 29, 2009 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, I think there’s a gray area here and we don’t really know what’s going on here.
He may be obligated to still produce some stories for them, although 5OzOfPain and MMAJunkie are known to be on friendly terms with WAMMA, so who knows.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 29, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
He owns 5Ounces, does he not? Wouldn’t he be the one deciding what his own obligations were?
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
According to the press release...
Caplan is the founding owner and president of Combat Sports Media, LLC., the parent company of the popular MMA web site FiveOuncesOfPain.com
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
So what you’re saying is he has no excuse.
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, so I’ll assume you meant this. Yes, it would appear that he has no excuse for writing when he said he wouldn’t.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
I did
Should I start adding disclaimers when I’m fucking around?
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ve had trouble detecting your sarcasm in the past, that’s why I said it.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
Whenever you think I’m wrong, I’m being sarcastic ;-)
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions
That is a fair point
I don’t know…Sam has become a bit of a parody of himself so…whatever
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 29, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Pretty much. I don’t even read 5oz., so I don’t know why this even bothers me. :P
by Chris Nelson on Apr 29, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Because it’s corrupt, and that shit rubs you (and most decent people) the wrong way
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I actually don’t check out the site, either.
by Cannon Jacques on Apr 29, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions
I stopped going when my comments kept getting deleted. What’s the point of having a comments section for articles if you are going to delete people’s comments?
I posted a comment on that article regarding Sam writing again and the conflict of interest. It was worded very nicely, no bashing at all. Obviously a mod had to okay it for it to make the page.
It was deleted within 5 minutes.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
I had a couple of post disappear that weren’t about the site I was just commenting on the article and didn’t agree with all their points. I also had one disappear because I posted a link to another article that corrected a mistake in what they wrote which I thought was funny. I just had some odd experiences there that made them seem less trustworthy to me.
I got turned off with Caplan’s analysis regarding EliteXC. He sort of advocated promotions staying private so they could avoid the “junior business analyst” bloggers. I wasn’t a staff member here at the time although I wrote a FanPost about that particular article. He was cozy with ProElite, and I thought it showed. That’s my take.
by Cannon Jacques on Apr 29, 2009 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes.
He was the lead writer and editor of ProElite.com.
by Chris Nelson on Apr 29, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions
I thank Fightlinker for this – once I heard the site referred to as ‘5 Oz of Vagina’ (mind you, this was well before the WAMMA whatnot), it was hard to disagree.
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Personally, I don’t care for the “separation” angle. I suppose it’s interesting, but that’s all it is. I just hate to get all in people’s personal lives, but that’s just my take. It’s a slippery slope toward really shallow issues.
by Cannon Jacques on Apr 29, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Strikeforce is listed on WAMMA’s page under “promoters”, so even if they’re haven’t officially worked together yet, they’re promoting a relationship between the 2.
My point is that his two jobs directly interfere with each other. How can we expect him to be an objective writer when he has a job that is somewhat influential in non-UFC MMA? This isn’t about him attacking either Couture – it’s about him doing what he said he’d do and stepping aside from writing. Especially gossip writing.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
I agree With You...
But objective writing is pretty much something ideal that is pretty much impossible to accomplish since fan boys will disagree with the writer depending what their views are and will label that writer as siding with the other party.
Reference ESPN and Boston, Yankees, Cubs, etc.
Reference FOX News and Republicans, etc.
Reference Yahoo and UFC, etc.
Sam, in my opinion, is one of the best MMA writers that breaks news all the time.
Although he is not perfect and has pretty murky associations which may skew his perspective, he is still one of the best for MMA.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 29, 2009 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions
I think Sam’s jumped the shark. Everything he now produces is tainted by bias.
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions
According to a Tuesday MySpace bulletin posted by Tate, Couture may be pulling out of the fight due to marital problems with her husband, UFC heavyweight Randy Couture. However, on Wednesday, Tate issued an apology and said she received the information second-hand.
“I forget how famous they are and didn’t even think how that might [affect] them and their personal life, which was immature,” Tate wrote in a subsequent bulletin. “[I] stress my apology to them and who ever else it may concern”
http://mmajunkie.com/news/14722/meisha-tate-kim-couture-out-of-may-15-strikeforcesho-mma-fight.mma
No denial
just an apology that she said it. Thats a damn shame, I hate to see them break up. Just the romantic in me I guess.
by Nick Travaglini on Apr 29, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Rec'd
Good Article. Everyone gets in a tizzy when the UFC smears Randy, Lindland, and other fighters that leave the organization, and they should. But where are the people when Sam Caplen is running a “legit” MMA News site while setting up fights in Japan that are compettiors to the UFC? What is stopping Mr. Caplen from producing more TMZ reporting that smears UFC stars? He should either step down from Wamma or seperate himself completely from his former website.
I don't know if we should come down that hard on Sam ...
… given that we’re on a Web site whose proprietor also does work for a promotion.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:00 PM EDT reply actions
Sam doesn’t work for a promotion. He works for a sanctioning body that does a lot of work with promotions. They’re entirely different.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
Yeah, but if it’s true and it benefits him in some way top pipe up about it… then he’s just using the truth to his advantage. And that should happen more often. It beats the alternative, anyway.
That sounds pretty immoral to me. Especially in a field (actually 2 fields) where character and credibility are important.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
I don’t follow. Could you elaborate on why it appears immoral? And character is always important, I think.
In what ways is that different, in terms of conflict of interest?
The subtlety seems to be lost on me.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Does Luke run UWC? Does he make business decisions for UWC? Sam Caplan is the COO of WAMMA a sanctioning body that’s stated goal is to oversea and regulate all MMA promotions. Sam Caplan has worked for WAMMA for a long time as the head of the ranking committee and people didn’t say a lot about it but now he is in charge of WAMMA and that does make a difference.
"Does he make business decisions for UWC?"
My understanding was he made marketing and PR decisions for them. Is that not correct? Does that somehow not count?
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Its not a fair comparison either, if Luke were to break a story about a fighter who fights for a rival Washington promotion having personal problems then you could at least make a comparison.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
And – I will probably never do any original reporting on the UWC again. I did it when Chase Beebe no showed for the weigh-ins, but I only want to do color commentary for the UWC. That’s it. I want out of the reporting business personally. It’s extremely important for me to keep BE separate from what Luke Thomas does with the UWC or anyone else for that matter. I’ll talk about upcoming shows and link up press releases, but that’s all you’re going to see from me.
As for competitors to the UWC, I’d be happy to talk about more MMA in DC. And if I don’t, others are free to as well. I honestly don’t care about that stuff at all.
Besides, you guys do a pretty good job of keeping us honest. So, keep on doing it.
by Luke Thomas on Apr 29, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
Spoken like someone more interested in aggrandizing the sport than himself. Rec’d all the way.
by Derek Suboticki on Apr 29, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions
"I want out of the reporting business personally."
Me too. Doesn’t seem to be much of a future in it, especially in print.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions
and Luke discloses
the problem isn’t interest its conflict of interest.
As in Sam has a conflict of interest between what’s best for WAMMA and what’s best for 50z as a “reputable” news site.
There’s no conflict between Luke’s interest in UWC and Bloody Elbow covering the event — especially when he discloses his employment.
"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"
I've more than made my peace with Luke's arrangement.
Obviously, since I’m still reading the news here. I’m just saying I don’t know how you can get all incensed about Caplan if you don’t get incensed about Luke. Seems comparable.
What’s the WAMMA/5oz. conflict?
Again, I’m a devoted BE reader and pretty much hate 5 Oz. I’m just saying.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Sam Caplan is running WAMMA (a group that wants to regulate the entire sport) and reporting on the sport, it would be like the president writing and reporting his own news coverage.
Then Luke covering UWC would be like Robert Gibbs writing his own news coverage.
Is that somehow less partial?
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Correct. I did a post that was a wrap-up, but I do not go in as credentialed media. I go in as Luke Thomas. That’s all.
Sorry for misunderstanding.
Apologies. Thought you were PR/Marketing Director there.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions
It seems like Luke is more worried about it than anyone else. He goes out of his way to disclose it anytime UWC comes up. Besides, Luke bumping UWC at every opportunity is only going to help the small, good quality shows that they put on the and fighters involved. UWC is not in direct competition with most of the organizations that are reported on by this site.
Its a totally different story than a guy who works for a shady group like WAMMA taking a dig at the personal life of one of the biggest stars of their biggest competitor. The UFC is not just a competitor of WAMMA’s, they are in fact the single largest reason that WAMMA is ridiculous sham.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
I agree with all of these points.
That’s why I say I don’t have a problem with it.
I also don’t have a problem with Caplan’s sitch. I just don’t understand the outrage over the one and the serene calm with the other. I feel like it’s not consistent.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Everyone has a problem with this because WAMMA is a shady organization. They set themselves up with the premise of offering unbiased rankings then exclude many of the consensus top fighters. It seems like they are desperate to make themselves and their titles seem legitimate. It doesn’t seem like a big leap to spreading negative stories about the competition’s fighters.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
My problem is really with the fact that Caplan stated he was taking a leave of absence from the site when he got on board as COO of WAMMA less than two weeks ago. The fact that he’s reporting gossip from unnamed sources about whether or not the Coutures are living together is secondary.
by Chris Nelson on Apr 29, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Fair enough.
Does seem a bit tawdry that he’ll only stop in when he’s got really tawdry, juicy personal stuff on fighters.
Pick a job and stick with it.
I’ll buy that.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Apr 29, 2009 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Then I wouldn’t give a shit because I don’t care whether or not the Coutures are living apart. :)
by Chris Nelson on Apr 29, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, one can make the argument that a fighter’s personal life is newsworthy in and of itself, but I’ll take it a step further:
Randy Couture’s split from Team Quest was due to personal issues, the nature of which has been speculated, but not confirmed. This split led to him creating a brand new gym, fight camp, and business venture, with his wife, who eventually became a fighter herself. Assuming a divorce is forthcoming, that has ramifications not just for Kim Couture’s fighting career (could she continue to be trained and cornered by a soon-to-be ex?), but for the future of Xtreme Couture.
Sorry if that puts it on the level of “TMZ-level” reporting for some, but it is as important as anything else we discuss in the MMA Blogosphere.
It’s still rumor mongering, this is based on hearsay. If the Couture’s announced they were getting a divorce it would make things different from the TMZ-level.
by who me on Apr 29, 2009 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
If there is any conflict of interest here it is between Caplans involvement in both Wamma and 5Oz……in any capacity, not just that he is posting. I mean, even if he were to never post at 5Oz again, he could influence what goes up or even have others post on his behalf. Do we really want to have him disassociate himself from 5Oz? Force Caplan to post news stories on a Wamma blog or something or perhaps have him be an anonymous source to other writers at 5Oz. Seems like a lot of messing around for not a whole lot of gain.
The piece on the Coutures was pretty benign. Better it be written directly by Caplan on 5Oz than have it come to us from him through various other avenues.
You would think that with him running WAMMA he wouldn’t have the free time to be calling sources to check on Randy Couture’s home life and writing stories on it. I don’t think this story is specifically a problem it’s just that it points to the potential of future problems. One would hope that Sam would be above a conflict of interest but it is something that should be noted.
Perhaps being the COO of Wamma doesnt take as much time as one would think. A few weeks back, just days before he announced his resignationg, Michael Lynch offered to phone me up in response to an email I sent him!?!?! wtf?!?!
My take is, the conflict of interest, albeit a relatively minor one in the greater scheme of things, has been disclosed and Sam is putting his name to things he writes not anonymously getting his views into the public arena by other means. Short of completely separating himself from 5Oz, I dont know what more he could do? And hey, if he has time to chase stories and make comments on issues, more power to him. His comments will be scrutinized more now with his position at Wamma so it just increases the pressure on him to provide legitimate, credible, accurate pieces.
This piece is a perfect example. I dont think he made any crazy claims or slammed anybody or anything yet the suggestion is that he is somehow pushing his Wamma agenda. If he wanted to push a Wamma agenda, he could just pick a pseudonym and run around the web spewing as much pro Wamma stuff as he could. Nobody would be the wiser and he would get his messages across without the criticism.
Do people have a problem with Caplan expressing his opinion or just that he expresses his opinion on 5Oz?
I don’t think he was pushing the WAMMA agenda with this, with the exception of checking sources to find out about Couture marital problems TMZ style and the fact that he said he wasn’t going to be doing reporting when he took the WAMMA job I didn’t see a lot wrong with it. It does raise the question about future conflict of interest problems though and people should pay attention to that issue. I mean I thought that was why he was taking a sabatical from 5oz to start with.
Exactly. The sabbatical was to avoid these kinds of issues, but he’s gone back on his own word.
http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com
Gone back on his word? All I read was that he was taking a “leave of absence from his editorial duties”. I never read anything that said he was never going to post at 5Oz again.
Plus, at this stage, his position as COO may only be temporary. Hasnt he said that he will make a decision in 3 months as to whether or not he accepts the COO role moving forward??
Surely we can at least let him decide whether or not he wants to accept the role before we start throwing all these conflict of interest accusations at him.
A female fighter at my gym has contacted Strikeforce to offer to step in against Tate; they hope to hear back soon. Either way, Tate should have a new opponent inside the week from what I hear.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Perhaps, someone who was set to fight for Elite before they went kaput? If I’m correct in my speculation, that would be a much better match than the proposed Tate/Couture bout.
by Cannon Jacques on Apr 29, 2009 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Does anyone really go on that site that much?
I find that its way behind on information and has the same articles up for days at a time. Plus, him ignoring his duties as a reporter to remain somewhat bias went out the window when he went with Wamma
I just dislike the two sections of “Breaking News” and “5 Oz. Exclusive”. Everything just seems like a pissing contest with them now. It started for me with that whole Brett Rogers manager releasing an exclusive statement thing where Sam was after the head of anyone who quoted anything from it.
Come Christmas time there will be “Merry Christmas from Five Ounces Of Pain!” under the 5 Oz. Pain Exclusive
It started for me with that whole Brett Rogers manager releasing an exclusive statement thing where Sam was after the head of anyone who quoted anything from it.
Now that you mention it, that’s right around when I stopped looking at the site. Man was that silly.
by Chris Nelson on Apr 29, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions
It was a punk move...
especially considering the site started out as a blog.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 30, 2009 12:03 AM EDT up reply actions
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