With another unfortunate knee injury to lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov, UFC president Dana White’s ‘stone age’ comments on the habits of certain camps are hitting even harder.
White ruffled some feathers amongst fighters in April when he criticized elite gyms, namely San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy.
Rather than hammering his point home even more, White is using the injury to undefeated lightweight contender to further his campaign to reduce training camp injuries, ultimately improving his bottom line.
“AKA is one of the biggest and best,” White told Laaficion (via MMAWeekly). “I call camps like [AKA] and Greg Jackson’s, ‘super camps.’ They have all the best guys in the world. That’s what I’m saying. You can’t have all the best guys in the world beating the living s**t out of each other every day. You can’t do it. These guys have to have camps built around them where guys are working with them, not trying to hurt them.”
AKA is, of course, the home to UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, the poster boy for reigning from the injured reserve.
Velasquez hasn’t fought since October of 2013 when he scored a TKO victory over former champion Junior dos Santos at UFC 166.
The champ was slated to return for the promotion’s debut event in Mexico at UFC 180, but withdrew just weeks out due to a torn MCL and meniscus.
“It’s very important to get this guy back,” White said of Velasquez. “He’s our heavyweight champion, he’s fun to to watch fight and he’s been out for a while. We need to keep him healthy. The conversation that I was having with Javier Mendez is that we’ve got to start training these guys differently in the gym. These guy have to start having a lot less contact when it comes to sparring.”
Speaking in response to White’s comments, Mendez showed support of the new initiatives, saying White only had the fighter’s best interests in mind.
“The response from the trainers has been good,” said White. “Listen, Javier Mendez said, ‘If Cain isn’t fighting, nobody’s getting paid. I’m not getting paid. Cain isn’t getting paid. The UFC isn’t making money to pay Cain. It’s not good for anybody.’ So it’s awesome that a guy like Javier gets it. There’s no ego involved. He wants to do what’s right by his fighters.”
White again mentioned the promotion’s upcoming construction of a new headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada with an adjoining facility for athlete rehab and therapy.
White says the promotion will work to reduce injuries, calling it ‘controlling the uncontrollable’ in April.
“Injuries are going to happen,” said White. “You’re going to have injuries but you have to be so careful. The question becomes with Khabib, did he do all his therapy that he was supposed to do on his knee after surgery? Did he do all the right things? We’re starting to get our ducks in a row and we’re going to start fixing this.”
White hopes to emulate the practices of the National Football League, which, along with NCAA football programs, has reduced the amount of full-contact hitting its teams do midweek ahead of weekend games.
“The NFL has proven it,” said White. “They’ve done these studies. The NFL isn’t hitting every day like they used to. They’re playing on Sunday. That’s it. You have to have some sparring in there, but these guys are doing way too much damage to their fighters inside the gym.”
White might not control the contact, but he can certainly affect the recovery process.
“Here’s what doesn’t happen in football: if DeMarco Murray blows his knee out for the Dallas Cowboys, they don’t just send him home and say, ‘Hey, good luck, call us when you’re healthy.’ They make sure he’s there doing his therapy, his rehab and everything else. That’s what we’re going to start doing with our fighters.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
‘That whole experience taught me a lot.’ Rashad Evans wishes things went down differently between him and Jon Jones.
Fightweets. Dave Doyle asks whether or not Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson is a real title fight.
‘Lets go fight.’ Cris Cyborg is still campaigning to fight UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. “I try 100 percent to make 135 so I can make the fight everybody wants to see. You know, it’s annoying. I hear everyday, ‘Ronda Rousey, Ronda Rousey'”
‘He wants people to talk about him.’ UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos discusses Bobby Green’s PED accusations.
‘Is it a plan? No.’ Stephanie McMahon says she doesn’t know if anything will happen with Ronda Rousey in WWE.
MEDIA STEW
Luke Thomas and Kevin Iole break down Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
Dana talking Floyd vs. Manny and a possible rematch. (via MMA Mania)
Georges St-Pierre talks return.
Matt Mitrione slams Jon Jones.
Free Fight: Anthony Johnson vs. Alexander Gustafsson.
Dumb MMA rules.
Long watches.
Submission Radio 3/5/15 Luke Rockhold, Demetrious Johnson, Soa Palelei, Karim Zidan + Jon Jones
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Shorty
TWEETS
See how the pros reacted to Mayweather vs. Pac
I will say this though a lot of ppl are sounding really dumb and saying you’re not the champ until you beat the champ. Well we know the story so no need to go into that. At the end of the day a new champ will be crowned and life will go on, Regardless of how you feel! So at the end of the day you say you like the sport and respect the fighters then show it by supporting not by saying something stupid. It is what it is! Nobody is denying Jon his credit at all.
More Floyd-Manny reactions.
— Hector Lombard (@HectorLombard) May 3, 2015
The fight last night SUCKED! It was boring. I understand the awesome technical skill that #Mayweather has but he still never really fights.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) May 3, 2015
Just watch the full fight and it was what I saw . Acabei de assistir a luta e foi isso que eu… https://t.co/IFFEJz2fX7
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) May 4, 2015
Was last nights fight the death of boxing? After a match up the world was waiting years to see, where does it go from here? Not a rematch?
— Brad Pickett (@One_Punch) May 3, 2015
Well I thought the fight last night was a and the prelims were who? I think now boxing is over it’s time for @ufc to complete the takeover
— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) May 3, 2015
More exciting than last nights fight. #teeball with the little ones. https://t.co/ZpUBhNiBac
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) May 3, 2015
I admire anyone like @MannyPacquiao that live their life like a champion in & out of the ring. #PacMan did great, I’m a fan! #TrueChamp
— Myles Jury (@FuryJury) May 3, 2015
You can’t tell me 2 boxers just made 100+ million each in one fight and then in the next sentence say boxing is done! #MayPac
— James Krause (@TheJamesKrause) May 4, 2015
MayPac gate was 74 million. Biggest UFC gate at MGM was 6.9 million. Same venue. Same amount of seats. Boxing IS NOT dead. #MayPac
— James Krause (@TheJamesKrause) May 4, 2015
Floyd Money Mayweather thanks for the money! Don’t ever bet against Mayweather,for all the doubters its boxing not fighting @FloydMayweather
— Danny Trejo (@officialDannyT) May 3, 2015
Manny’s movement is his biggest weapon and he didn’t move. He actually tried to box Floyd. No one can out box Floyd. He needed to fight him
— Rashad Evans (@SugaRashadEvans) May 3, 2015
I believe Manny won the fight. I know it was a very close fight. Many disagree with me, and I respect… https://t.co/zn6Aqg1oUX
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) May 3, 2015
Probably the last boxing fight i would purchase. Unless Cotto and Canelo were to happen.
— Boom Boom (@BostonSalmon) May 3, 2015
And the winner is………….@ufc #MayweatherPacquiao
— Theo Rossi (@Theorossi) May 3, 2015
Manny embarrassed himself at the end of the fight… not only do you lose the fight but you make it worse by saying you think you won
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 3, 2015
I’m glad I watched Mayweather / Pacquiao because it reminded me of how much I’d rather be watching the UFC.
— Jim Norton (@JimNorton) May 3, 2015
Get well soon.
Thank you! I’m happy to be part of the ACL Recovery Club #WillNeverQuit https://t.co/2fP5ExVtnK
— Georgi Karakhanyan (@georgimma) May 3, 2015
When I came to my room today I founded this from you.Thank you guys for your big support @danawhite @lorenzofertitta pic.twitter.com/WSglWeUT37
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) May 4, 2015
Congrats.
I only work with multi-national companies at the top of their game. Welcome to McGregor Inc. @MonsterEnergy pic.twitter.com/ptpbfj5fhq
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 4, 2015
Soon.
Começou a contagem regressiva. Estou mais determinado como nunca estive antes. The countdown has started. #UFC pic.twitter.com/XIkqqJsEs7
— Vitor Belfort (@vitorbelfort) May 3, 2015
Damn.
Take advantage of people & no morals/values? YOU’RE TRASH. Much love to the genuine people out there like @DeeZeeMfg. pic.twitter.com/GCp3QoK3GV
— Myles Jury (@FuryJury) May 1, 2015
Happy holidays.
Back to the future day! https://t.co/x3gRWzZnRH
— michael (@bisping) May 4, 2015
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced this weekend (May 1-3 2015)
cancelled Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Jessica Penne at UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne
Renato Carneiro out, Mirsad Bektic vs. Lucas Martins at UFC Fight Night: Alves vs. Condit
Sean Spencer out, Colby Covington vs. Mike Pyle at UFC 187
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via Michael Shulski.
Poll: What is ‘Bad for the Sport’?
Google “bad for the sport” in quotation marks. Every result on the first page, aside from one, mentions the UFC. The second page is also all UFC except for one. In both cases, the other sport mentioned is football. There are certain linguistic trends that people follow. Oftentimes, this is fun and brings insight into situations. Sayings like “that’s not how it works” and “this is why we can’t have nice things” come into general use. The saying “bad for the sport”, though, seems to be a slippery concept.
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Check out the rest of the post here.
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