Author: Damon Martin

Dennis Bermudez Isn’t Gunning for a Post-Fight Bonus, but Keeps Racking Them Up

It’s next to impossible to top a classic fight. For UFC 160 fighter Dennis Bermudez, his next bout on paper will be an attempt to pick up his fourth straight win inside the Octagon.  In reality, however, fans will undoubtedly look at his bout agai…

It’s next to impossible to top a classic fight.

For UFC 160 fighter Dennis Bermudez, his next bout on paper will be an attempt to pick up his fourth straight win inside the Octagon.  In reality, however, fans will undoubtedly look at his bout against Max Holloway as a chance to produce another epic battle with fists meeting flesh in a 15-minute slugfest.

In Bermudez‘s last trip to the cage, he and opponent Matt Grice put on a Fight of the Year-worthy performance while attacking and countering each other for the better part of three full rounds.  The two featherweights were applauded loudly by the crowd in Anaheim, Calif. as part of UFC 157’s undercard and were rewarded with a Fight of the Night bonus by UFC President Dana White.

As spectacular a moment as it was for Bermudez, he admits as he comes back for his next fight there’s probably no way to try and top that performance, so it’s not worth pursuing that kind of perfection again.

“I mean ultimately the goal is to go in and get the win as fast as possible.  I do feel like that was such an epic battle that it would be super hard to beat.  It’s almost like I’m playing horse if you will against myself,” Bermudez explained when speaking to Bleacher Report ahead of UFC 160.  “I make an amazing shot and then I’m up again and I have to make another amazing shot again.”

The expectations to go out and put on another action-filled fight could weigh on the minds of many fighters, but not Bermudez.  With a new baby at home that he’s had to spend weeks away from to concentrate on preparing for this bout, Bermudez knows there are bigger things on the line now than ever before.

His goal is to go out and put on the best fight possible that earns him the win.  If it happens to be a knock-down, drag out classic, then that’s what it is. But Bermudez isn’t gunning for another fight like he had against Grice.

“I feel like a lot of my fights are exciting.  I’m not too worried about it.  I feel like if I go in there and do what I do, everything will turn out alright,” Bermudez said.  “There’s no secret. I go out into every single fight with the same mindset, the same mentality, with the same game plan.  To get in the guy’s face, put constant pressure on him and just make it so he can’t breathe.  He’ll be so tired he’ll either quit or he gets knocked out or just gives me a submission. Ultimately, just grinding guys out until they are nothing.”

Bermudez may not like to talk about surpassing his last performance because of how that fight will be remembered, but he’s capable of topping it even if it’s not the foremost thought on his mind.  Through four fights thus far in his UFC career, Bermudez has taken home three post-fight bonuses—an impressive feat for any fighter in the promotion.

The bonuses he’s won have allowed him to become a full-time fighter, provide for his new baby and allow him the financial breathing room to only think about the next opponent in his way.   

Still, as great as the monetary compensation has been, Bermudez only wants to acknowledge one factor that plays the biggest role in his fight career—get the victory at any cost necessary.

“It’s exciting to think about, and it’s great to have,” Bermudez said about the UFC bonuses he’s earned.  “It’s made it so I didn’t have to work a second job and if I head to the healthy store I don’t have to think about the price.  I don’t go crazy and buy fancy cars or anything like that. 

“Going into the fight I don’t think ‘oh I have to put on a show to get a bonus.’  It’s go out there and win—win ugly if I have to.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Dana White: Like Him or Not, Bryan Caraway ‘100 Percent’ Deserved the Bonus

It seemed no one in the MMA world (especially Nate Diaz) was too happy about Bryan Caraway being awarded a $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his fight at UFC 159 only after Pat Healy tested positive for marijuana. The UFC gave the money to Cara…

It seemed no one in the MMA world (especially Nate Diaz) was too happy about Bryan Caraway being awarded a $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his fight at UFC 159 only after Pat Healy tested positive for marijuana.

The UFC gave the money to Caraway, which conformed to their rule that no fighter can receive a discretionary post-fight bonus if they test positive for any banned substance after the fight is over.  Healy‘s test returned a positive result for marijuana and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board suspended him 90 days. His win over Jim Miller was changed to a no-contest.

In addition, Healy lost out on $130,000 in bonuses for Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night.

Caraway was given the bonus but then proceeded to state in an interview with MMAJunkie.com that he had “zero remorse or guilt” for taking the bonus after Healy tested positive and that he has “zero tolerance” for people that smoke marijuana.

Regardless of Caraway’s comments being in good taste or not when it seemed he was somehow gloating while Healy was left $130,000 poorer, UFC President Dana White says the decision to strip the bonuses from one fighter and give to another was absolutely the right move to make.

“He wasn’t eligible for that bonus. I know nobody likes Bryan Caraway.  Bryan Caraway followed the rules. He had a submission that night and he followed the rules,” White said on Thursday about the decision when speaking to the media at UFC 160. “He absolutely, 100 percent deserves that bonus.”

The use of marijuana in sports continues to be a controversial and much-debated subject, but for now it is still deemed illegal and White says Healy knew that going into his fight at UFC 159. Whether he believes the drug should be banned or not doesn’t matter.  Marijuana is illegal right now, and Healy tested positive for the drug and thus becomes ineligible for the bonuses.

“It’s illegal.  You can’t do it, it’s a banned substance,” White said.  “Should it be? I necessarily don’t think so. It doesn’t matter. It’s a banned substance. Every fighter knows you go in and you use marijuana and you get caught, you’re busted.”

White also points out that the rule affects any fighter on the UFC roster who fails a post-fight drug test no matter what substance they used. It also counts for fighters who miss weight; they are no longer eligible to win post-fight bonuses, either.

Whether marijuana usage should land in the same category as a serious performance-enhancing drug like steroids remains a subject worth discussing, but White believes there is no grey area on this matter when it comes to UFC policy.

Cheating is cheating and cheaters will not be rewarded.

“Imagine what it would say if I gave that kid $130,000 for not following the rules?” White said in closing.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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Vitor Belfort Could Fight for Title Next but TRT Use Won’t Determine Location

Vitor Belfort is stuck in the crosshairs of controversy surrounding his use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), but it doesn’t mean he won’t get the next shot at the UFC middleweight title. Last weekend, Belfort knocked out former Strikeforce mi…

Vitor Belfort is stuck in the crosshairs of controversy surrounding his use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), but it doesn’t mean he won’t get the next shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Last weekend, Belfort knocked out former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold with a spectacular spinning heel kick, which marked his second head kick finish in a row.  The previous knockout was over top-five middleweight Michael Bisping, and it put Belfort back at the top of the division where he remains undefeated at 185 pounds outside of a lone loss to champion Anderson Silva.

The discussion surrounding Belfort‘s next fight hasn’t started yet, but UFC President Dana White didn’t rule out the possibility of a title shot against the winner of Silva and current top contender Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

“There’s no plans right now with Vitor.  He just fought so we’ll see what happens.  It would make sense for those two (Silva and Weidman) to fight and that’s not far away, and then those two fight or Vitor could fight again,” White said when speaking to the media on Thursday.  “He could fight either one of those guys.”

The biggest question that continues to swirl around Belfort‘s involvement in a potential title fight is his continued use of TRT.  While the treatment is not illegal by any means, Belfort‘s 2006 suspension after testing positive for steroids still haunts the middleweight contender.

For Belfort to continue on his TRT treatments he must receive a therapeutic use exemption from whatever state commission his fight is taking place in, and because of his past steroid trouble it could cause an issue.

“Vitor doesn’t want this, he’s aggravated and pissed off about this stuff. He doesn’t want his name to be smeared,” White said about Belfort‘s TRT usage.  “I don’t like TRT, I’m not a fan of it, I don’t like it at all. I said a while ago these guys are going to be tested and Vitor was tested.  Vitor followed the rules and did what he was supposed to do.”

As far as a location for the fight, White doesn’t see Belfort having any trouble receiving his fight license, but a use exemption for TRT is another story all together.  White leaves that up to the commissions, but promises that the UFC isn’t putting Belfort in places like Brazil where he is allowed to use TRT just so he can continue to fight while using the treatment.

“That’s up to them.  They’ll have to do a hearing or however they want to do it,” White said about Belfort being approved by another commission.  “We’re not keeping Vitor out of fighting from anywhere.  We had Vitor fight in Brazil because Vitor sells out in Brazil.  It’s all a bunch of conspiracy, f—king crock of s—t.”

Whether or not Belfort sits out to face the winner of Silva vs. Weidman remains to be seen.  Depending on who wins that fight and what kind of time off they will require after the early-July title bout could determine Belfort‘s next course of action.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Dana White: ‘Fed Up with the Bulls—t,’ Not Playing Around with Code of Conduct

UFC lightweight Nate Diaz found out the hard way that the promotion isn’t playing around with their newly instituted code of conduct, and a recent Twitter message that contained a homophobic slur cost him $20,000 as a result. The message was Diaz’s res…

UFC lightweight Nate Diaz found out the hard way that the promotion isn’t playing around with their newly instituted code of conduct, and a recent Twitter message that contained a homophobic slur cost him $20,000 as a result.

The message was Diaz‘s response to bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway receiving a post-fight bonus for Submission of the Night at UFC 159 only after Pat Healy tested positive for marijuana.  Diaz used a homophobic slur as part of the message blasted out on the social media site, and it didn’t take long for the UFC to take action.

Diaz was suspended for 90-days and faced a stiff penalty for the use of the word.

It marked the third such fine the UFC has handed down since instituting the fighter code of conduct policy (Matt Mitrione was fined an unstated amount for comments about transgender fighter Fallon Fox and Anderson Silva was fined $50,000 for missing a media obligation), and UFC president Dana White wants all of his fighters to know that they will not be easing up so long as misconduct is happening.

“I am fed up with the bulls—t,” White said when speaking with the media on Thursday.  “Money makes people f—king react real quick.  Sorry’s great—I love a sorry here and there, sorry’s are always good.  But when you’ve got to start forking out some cash, you start remembering a lot more.”

Since the fine was handed down, Diaz hasn’t responded much outside of another Twitter message aimed at Caraway, this time without the use of a homophobic slur. 

White says he’s also heard from many fans and critics reminding him that he said the same word that Diaz used when ranting about a reporter in an infamous video blog from 2009.  The UFC president says his verbal slip cost him plenty as well because it’s something that continues to haunt him to this day.

“Do you think that I didn’t pay in a million different ways for saying that word?  The difference is I’m really sorry for saying it,” White stated.  “I am not a homophobe whatsoever.  When I said it, I have people that work for us that are gay, I have friends that are gay, it is a word that bothers them and it’s a word that shouldn’t have been said.  I had the same argument that Nate had, and I don’t disagree with that argument.”

The argument actually comes from Diaz‘s manager Mike Kogan who spoke to Bleacher Report about the incident just hours after it happened.

“That one word did not mean homosexual, it was not intended to be homosexual,” Kogan stated.  “It was not meant to have a homophobic connotation at all.  The word for years and years and years also means b—ch, little punk, little whiny, little f—kers.  That’s what he meant with what he said.”

White said that he has no doubt that Diaz probably used the word in that exact context, but it doesn’t matter because it’s still offensive and it’s not an excuse to use it.

“I grew up in the 80’s and that was a word you used,” White explained.  “If you go back and watch Sixteen Candles, that word is in Sixteen Candles.  Molly Ringwald says it to Anthony Michael Hall.  I was watching another 80’s movie the other day where these little kids are saying it.  That’s the way it was. 

“It’s not that way anymore.  It’s an offensive word that they don’t like and people want to call it oh we’re bowing down to political correctness.  No we’re not, we’re being civil human beings.”

Kogan‘s defense of Diaz was also brought up to White when he was asked if the manager’s statement actually did more harm that good in the long run.  It prompted White to then detail his opinion of managers in mixed martial arts and the job they provide the fighters.

“Managers are scared s—tless of their clients.  No manager wants to come out and say “he was stupid for saying that.”  You’re one phone call away from not working for that guy anymore,” White said.  “Managers don’t matter. Let me put that one out there.  I don’t give a s—t what they have to say or what they think or whatever.  They’re puppets.”

White had no problem pointing the finger back at himself as well because at one time before he was the president of the UFC he also represented fighters like Chuck Liddell as a manager.

“I was a puppet, too,” White said about himself.

When it’s all said and done, Diaz will walk away from the situation $20,000 lighter in the wallet whether he likes the fine or not. 

While White did apologize for his use of the homophobic slur back in 2009, Diaz has done no such thing since he tweeted out that particular message. While Diaz did eventually delete that particular Twitter message, White says he’s not going to force the lightweight fighter to apologize for something he’s not sorry about.

“I’m not going to tell grown men to apologize if they’re really not sorry,” White stated.

Sorry or not, Diaz is still left with a hefty fine to pay and a three month suspension for his actions.

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.

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Jacare Souza Faces Yushin Okami Next in the UFC, No Date for the Fight Yet

It didn’t take long for former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to make his impact felt in the Octagon when he submitted Chris Camozzi in the first round of their bout at UFC on FX 8 in Brazil. Now the Brazilian submission machi…

It didn’t take long for former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to make his impact felt in the Octagon when he submitted Chris Camozzi in the first round of their bout at UFC on FX 8 in Brazil.

Now the Brazilian submission machine will take a sizeable step up in competition when faces perennial UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami later this year.

UFC President Dana White stated on Thursday during the UFC 160 media day that plans are in place for Jacare vs. Okami to take place later this year, although no date or card have been determined for the middleweight showdown.

“That fight will happen,” White said about Okami vs. Jacare.  “That’s the fight we’re going to make.”

Following a long and fruitful career fighting in promotions in Japan and then eventually Strikeforce, Jacare finally made his UFC debut less than a week ago and it didn’t take long for the rest of his division to take notice.

Jacare literally put Camozzi to sleep with an arm triangle choke just minutes into their fight, but now he will face one of the middleweight division’s toughest challengers.

Throughout his UFC career, Yushin Okami has been a top contender although he’s only fought for the belt one time in a losing effort to Anderson Silva at UFC 134 in 2011.

A wrestling-first powerhouse, Okami has stifled and suffocated opponents as he’s continued to climb up the middleweight ladder time and time again. Following the loss to Silva, Okami actually dropped his next fight to Tim Boetsch by knockout, but then reeled off three wins in a row.

Among those victories was a dominating performance over Alan Belcher, and a win over former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard.

Okami can potentially add yet another big-name win to his resume if he can get past Jacare later this year.

White did not hint around at a timeline for when they could announce the fight with Okami and Jacare, but the promotion is currently still filling up cards through August.  One of those cards happens to be UFC 163, which takes place in Jacare’s home country of Brazil.

It could be the perfect landing spot for the top ten middleweight tilt, but only time will tell what the UFC ultimately decides to do with the newly created fight.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. 

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MMA’s Great Debate Radio: UFC 160 Preview & Predictions Plus Noons & Wonderboy

It’s all UFC 160 talk on today’s MMA’s Great Debate Radio show with picks and predictions for the upcoming card as well as guests including K.J. Noons and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. On today’s show as well, we welcome in special guest co-host from t…

It’s all UFC 160 talk on today’s MMA‘s Great Debate Radio show with picks and predictions for the upcoming card as well as guests including K.J. Noons and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

On today’s show as well, we welcome in special guest co-host from the Talking Brawls podcast in Ireland Naill McGrath, as he takes a turn at the debate desk breaking down UFC 160.

K.J. Noons also stops by to preview his fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrene, and to document his long trip to finally land in the UFC.

After a year away from the sport, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson drops by as well to talk about the long layoff he had dealing with an injury to close out 2012 and the expectations he faced after a spectacular knockout to start his UFC career.

Finally, debate is what we do best, and today’s topics all surround the upcoming card at UFC 160, including our picks and predictions for the show.

Today’s debate topics include:

—Who is in the biggest must win situation at UFC 160?

—Fight Pick: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. K.J. Noons?

—Who is better equipped to beat Benson Henderson – Gray Maynard or T.J. Grant?

—Fight Pick: Gray Maynard vs. T.J. Grant?

—Fight Pick: Glover Teixeira vs. James Te Huna?

—Should the winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt get the next title shot?

—Fight Pick: Junior Dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt?

—Fight Pick: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva?

This is MMA’s Great Debate Radio for Thursday, May 23, 2012

(If the embeddable player does not work please click HERE to listen to the show. Don’t forget to subscribe to the show via iTunes or listen via Stitcher Radio)

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