Although they have yet to officially announce plans on working together, star nutritionist Mike Dolce says he would have no problem safely getting UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier down to 205lbs.
“Daniel can be a world champion at heavyweight, but also at light heavyweight, 205,” said Dolce in a recent interview. “Unfortunately I was not working with him when he was training and competing in the Olympics. If I was, he would have made weight, had no problem, been healthy and he probably would have been an Olympic gold medalist.”
Dolce says he’s examined what went wrong for Cormier during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when kidney failure followed a dangerous weight cut. After making weight for the 211.5lbs weight class, Cormier was withdrawn from competition by USA Wrestling on the advice of doctors.
“I was speaking to Daniel and we went over the entire situation and again I saw the flaws in their methods,” Dolce tells Fight Hype. “According to his training and what his body weight is right now, we make the adjustments that I know that I have in my arsenal and I think 205 will be easy for Daniel to where I don’t know anybody in the world that would be able to stand up to him and compete against him in the wight class.”
After spending years helping infamously heavy fighters shed pounds for the scales, Dolce says Cormier’s case would be relatively painless.
“Johny Hendricks is 210lbs. He makes welterweight easily. He’s the No. 1 welterweight contender in the world right now. He’s 210lbs. He’s heavier than Hector Lombard is and he makes 170lbs no problem. With Daniel, it’s the same thing. Johny’s cutting 40lbs to make 170lbs where Daniel walks around at 240lbs. Easy. When Rampage was fighting at 205lbs, Rampage was weighting 250-260lbs.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Injuries galore. My god, did a lot of people get hurt at UFC 166. Give some credit to Junior dos Santos. Even in miserable defeat, he still may have brokenCain Velasquez‘ jaw.
Chael in Brazil. Chuck Mindenhall says the addition of Chael Sonnen to TUF Brazil instantly makes it must see TV. Will you watch?
The dude is a beast, he sort of reminds me of a mini-Mike Tyson. His judo background will help keep him standing. His hand speed, incredible power and overall athleticism and quickness is unparalleled in the division. I always enjoyed watching him dominate while fighting for Bellator. I think we can attribute some of his woes in his first couple losses in the UFC to stepping up to the big show with stiffer competition as well as being a full weight class above where he should be. The guy is 5′ 9″ tall.
I’d like to see him take on Maia / Shields to see how he fares against a ground expert at this lighter weight (that is if they can take him down). There are so many possibilities in this new division. Can anyone name a welterweight who gives Lombard any trouble on the feet (besides maybe Big Rig)? I’d like to hear your thoughts on who he should fight next (besides the champ – too soon) and why it would make an interesting match-up.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Although they have yet to officially announce plans on working together, star nutritionist Mike Dolce says he would have no problem safely getting UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier down to 205lbs.
“Daniel can be a world champion at heavyweight, but also at light heavyweight, 205,” said Dolce in a recent interview. “Unfortunately I was not working with him when he was training and competing in the Olympics. If I was, he would have made weight, had no problem, been healthy and he probably would have been an Olympic gold medalist.”
Dolce says he’s examined what went wrong for Cormier during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when kidney failure followed a dangerous weight cut. After making weight for the 211.5lbs weight class, Cormier was withdrawn from competition by USA Wrestling on the advice of doctors.
“I was speaking to Daniel and we went over the entire situation and again I saw the flaws in their methods,” Dolce tells Fight Hype. “According to his training and what his body weight is right now, we make the adjustments that I know that I have in my arsenal and I think 205 will be easy for Daniel to where I don’t know anybody in the world that would be able to stand up to him and compete against him in the wight class.”
After spending years helping infamously heavy fighters shed pounds for the scales, Dolce says Cormier’s case would be relatively painless.
“Johny Hendricks is 210lbs. He makes welterweight easily. He’s the No. 1 welterweight contender in the world right now. He’s 210lbs. He’s heavier than Hector Lombard is and he makes 170lbs no problem. With Daniel, it’s the same thing. Johny’s cutting 40lbs to make 170lbs where Daniel walks around at 240lbs. Easy. When Rampage was fighting at 205lbs, Rampage was weighting 250-260lbs.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Injuries galore. My god, did a lot of people get hurt at UFC 166. Give some credit to Junior dos Santos. Even in miserable defeat, he still may have brokenCain Velasquez‘ jaw.
Chael in Brazil. Chuck Mindenhall says the addition of Chael Sonnen to TUF Brazil instantly makes it must see TV. Will you watch?
The dude is a beast, he sort of reminds me of a mini-Mike Tyson. His judo background will help keep him standing. His hand speed, incredible power and overall athleticism and quickness is unparalleled in the division. I always enjoyed watching him dominate while fighting for Bellator. I think we can attribute some of his woes in his first couple losses in the UFC to stepping up to the big show with stiffer competition as well as being a full weight class above where he should be. The guy is 5′ 9″ tall.
I’d like to see him take on Maia / Shields to see how he fares against a ground expert at this lighter weight (that is if they can take him down). There are so many possibilities in this new division. Can anyone name a welterweight who gives Lombard any trouble on the feet (besides maybe Big Rig)? I’d like to hear your thoughts on who he should fight next (besides the champ – too soon) and why it would make an interesting match-up.
Following a second unsuccessful challenge of UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez’ crown, Junior dos Santos may have revealed some unsettling news regarding the sort of damage he absorbed for five rounds. According to areport via…
Following a second unsuccessful challenge of UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez‘ crown, Junior dos Santos may have revealed some unsettling news regarding the sort of damage he absorbed for five rounds. According to areport via Combate, ‘Cigano’ was said to have thought he was actually knocked out sometime during the second round. Dos Santos, of course, was stopped after a failed submission attempt resulted in his head striking the Octagon mat 3:09 into the fifth and final round in the main event at UFC 166.
The report also claims dos Santos couldn’t recall being interviewed by UFC commentator Joe Rogan following the bout and that his team believed he fought rounds three through five ‘on autopilot.’
“I’m feeling good. I came to the hospital to have some stitches in the cut I had. The pain is only in the heart, because I didn’t manage to give a good performance in the Octagon,” he said in a message relayed via Combate.com
“Now it’s time to go back to the gym and train, dedicate myself to come back stronger than ever and, who knows, some day dispute the championship again and be able to honor the support from everybody who believed in me.”
Dos Santos received standard post-fight medical treatment on-scene at Houston’s Toyota Center before being sent to a hospital to undergo more thorough cranial and brain scans. Following the event, UFC president Dana White remarked that he believed dos Santos suffered unnecessary damage in a fight that should have been stopped much sooner. “I just don’t think he needed to take any more punishment,” said White. “I always like to say that if anybody in his f**king corner cares about him, please, throw in that towel.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
DC vs. Gus? AKA head trainer Javi Mendez says a victory over Alexander Gustafsson makes Daniel Cormier the top contender at light heavyweight. “I’m 100-percent sure that it’s going to be a hell of a fight and it’s going to be the biggest challenge of [Jones’] life. That I’m 100-percent sure of.”
Signal to Noise. Luke Thomas dolls out his post-fight awards for all that was at UFC 166. “UFC 166 was the event where you experience the meta moment of understanding why you’re there and why you’re watching. You aren’t merely entranced by what you’re seeing. The ritualization of the experience is part of who you are, be you fan, media, fighter or other participant. You’re there not because you wouldn’t be anywhere else, but because you couldn’t possibly imagine anywhere else to be.”
Unintentional harm. Rousimar Palhares tells Ariel Helwani he never meant to harmMike Pierce, but admits he should have released his submission sooner. “I did not want to hurt him,” Palhares said through his manager/interpreter, Alex Davis. “In the heat of the fight, I didn’t feel him tap. Afterwards, when I watched the fight, I’d realized that I’d held on too long. But I really didn’t mean to hurt him, you know? He’s a fighter like I am, and I know that he does this for a living, and I’d never want to hurt him.”
The heavyweight division returns to ‘meh.’ Chuck Mindenhall explains that while it’s great to see a champion stand out, the rest of the division is still looking for a spark. “The truth of the matter is, there’s Fabricio Werdum, who has exercised the patience of a yogi waiting for his title shot…then there’s the sea of distant thirds. You can literally roll up your pant legs and wade right across.”
Fitch would take Cain over Cormier. Insisting Cormier isn’t a true heavyweight, Jon Fitch says he’d put his money on Velasquez if the two ever got in the Octagon. “Just based on size, you have two guys who are equally skilled, equal work ethic, equal punching power, equal everything, you’re going to put your money on the guy who weighs more.”
Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez fought a three-round instant classic at UFC 166 this past weekend.
In a fight that produced two knockdowns, countless flurries and copious amounts of blood, both men displayed indelible heart and courage.
Just to watch was to witness something special.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan called the fight the “new greatest fight of all-time” during the pay-per-view broadcast.
UFC President Dana White, a well-known talkative character, was nearly left speechless at the UFC post-fight press conference, calling it “the fight of the friggin’ I don’t know what.”
The MMA community exploded with youthful exuberance, smattering Twitter, Facebook and forums with every imaginable metaphor and hyperbole.
Now dropping back-to-back fights, Roy Nelson isn’t getting cut much slack by UFC president Dana White, not that he ever was. Nelson, who struggled against Daniel Cormier in the co-main event of UFC 166, attributed his frustrating appearance to a tentative dance partner. Out-struck 74-17 (3-0 on takedowns) by Cormier, Nelson didn’t garner much sympathy from White.
“It’s stuff like that,” said White during his post-fight media scrum. “He said Cormier wasn’t engaging enough. [Cormier] outwrestled him, and he punched the living s–t out of him. How much more does he want to be engaged? Huh? He says some dumb s**t and he’s very delusional.
“He says we’ve never given him a title shot when we should have got a title shot. Every time you get that close to a title shot, you get beat by the best in the world. That’s why you’ve never had a title shot.”
“Contrary to popular belief, I try so hard to like Roy Nelson. It’s like, I saw him backstage before I came out to talk to you guys. ‘What’s up Roy? You looked good. You lost weight,’ this and that. Then I come out and hear the stupid s**t he said to you guys right before I walk out there. The guy says the dumbest s**t I’ve ever heard in my life and he’s very delusional.
“That being said, I think he’s an incredibly tough guy, with his physique and everything. I’m blown away he can compete at this level. How talented he is and what a great chin he has. But every time he gets above No. 5, he looks like he doesn’t belong in the top 10. You get him in there with some guys that aren’t and he looks like a world beater. Everybody starts yelling ‘He should get a title shot!’ Then you see him fight guys that are athletic and talented and he looks like he doesn’t belong in the top 10.”
Under contract for eight more and looking slimmer than ever, we’ll have to see if Nelson follows Cormier’s move to 205lbs.
UFC 166 Aftermath. Another dominating performance over Junior dos Santos behind him, Cain Velasquezstill has plenty to prove before earning the moniker of ‘best ever.’ Dave Doyle breaks down the event’s big stories.
Fortunes change for five. Dave Metlzer examines what happens next for UFC 166’s biggest winners and losers.
The Purge. With Dana saying the UFC roster is too bloated as is, could we see leashes tighten across divisions to make way for new talent?
The Female Conor McGregor? See who fans are begging Dana and Co. to bring into a blossoming UFC women’s bantamweight division.
MEDIA STEW
Cain retains the belt.
One for the ages.
Weekend edition of the Tommy Toe Hold Show.
One FC 11 Total Domination highlights.
Behind the scenes at Glory 11.
Video blog with Bas Rutten. Bas coaches his fighters at an amateur MMA event.
Quick Brazilian KO.
TWEETS
As always, make sure to check out our extensive Pro React piece to see what fighters had to say during the fights.
Ok, ok I know what you are thinking – wtf dude, he just mauled JDS AGAIN for five rounds. Hear me out. I just watched the fight and I listened to Joe Rogan (I love him as an announcer btw) wax on about Cain’s amazing cardio, talk at length about his work ethic and wrestling prowess. Cain is impressive as hell with those attributes. I was left somewhat dissatisfied by this performance though. Taking nothing away from Cain; I saw a fighter who is capable of absolutely smothering his opponent with constant movement and a relentless pace. I believe 95% of those 25 minutes were spent with Cain pressing JDS against the fence. When they broke either because of the rare occasion when JDS was able to create space or Cain just decided to grant space, JDS looked much better. Whenever they had space, JDS was clearly the more dangerous, dynamic and skilled fighter.
The old saying, just because you can doesn’t mean you should – to me that rings true in a weird way here. If Cain doesn’t possess great finishing skills, punching power or submissions – he should thank God every night he was blessed with 4 gas tanks when the average HW has 1/2 of one. He certainly is using the tools in his belt to the best of his ability. But to me that fight didn’t seem fair in a weird way. It was like Cain was thinking, “I know you can beat me standing, so let me hold you here against this wall for 22 minutes of the next 25 and pitter pat you until you wear out.”
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Now dropping back-to-back fights, Roy Nelson isn’t getting cut much slack by UFC president Dana White, not that he ever was. Nelson, who struggled against Daniel Cormier in the co-main event of UFC 166, attributed his frustrating appearance to a tentative dance partner. Out-struck 74-17 (3-0 on takedowns) by Cormier, Nelson didn’t garner much sympathy from White.
“It’s stuff like that,” said White during his post-fight media scrum. “He said Cormier wasn’t engaging enough. [Cormier] outwrestled him, and he punched the living s–t out of him. How much more does he want to be engaged? Huh? He says some dumb s**t and he’s very delusional.
“He says we’ve never given him a title shot when we should have got a title shot. Every time you get that close to a title shot, you get beat by the best in the world. That’s why you’ve never had a title shot.”
“Contrary to popular belief, I try so hard to like Roy Nelson. It’s like, I saw him backstage before I came out to talk to you guys. ‘What’s up Roy? You looked good. You lost weight,’ this and that. Then I come out and hear the stupid s**t he said to you guys right before I walk out there. The guy says the dumbest s**t I’ve ever heard in my life and he’s very delusional.
“That being said, I think he’s an incredibly tough guy, with his physique and everything. I’m blown away he can compete at this level. How talented he is and what a great chin he has. But every time he gets above No. 5, he looks like he doesn’t belong in the top 10. You get him in there with some guys that aren’t and he looks like a world beater. Everybody starts yelling ‘He should get a title shot!’ Then you see him fight guys that are athletic and talented and he looks like he doesn’t belong in the top 10.”
Under contract for eight more and looking slimmer than ever, we’ll have to see if Nelson follows Cormier’s move to 205lbs.
UFC 166 Aftermath. Another dominating performance over Junior dos Santos behind him, Cain Velasquezstill has plenty to prove before earning the moniker of ‘best ever.’ Dave Doyle breaks down the event’s big stories.
Fortunes change for five. Dave Metlzer examines what happens next for UFC 166’s biggest winners and losers.
The Purge. With Dana saying the UFC roster is too bloated as is, could we see leashes tighten across divisions to make way for new talent?
The Female Conor McGregor? See who fans are begging Dana and Co. to bring into a blossoming UFC women’s bantamweight division.
MEDIA STEW
Cain retains the belt.
One for the ages.
Weekend edition of the Tommy Toe Hold Show.
One FC 11 Total Domination highlights.
Behind the scenes at Glory 11.
Video blog with Bas Rutten. Bas coaches his fighters at an amateur MMA event.
Quick Brazilian KO.
TWEETS
As always, make sure to check out our extensive Pro React piece to see what fighters had to say during the fights.
Ok, ok I know what you are thinking – wtf dude, he just mauled JDS AGAIN for five rounds. Hear me out. I just watched the fight and I listened to Joe Rogan (I love him as an announcer btw) wax on about Cain’s amazing cardio, talk at length about his work ethic and wrestling prowess. Cain is impressive as hell with those attributes. I was left somewhat dissatisfied by this performance though. Taking nothing away from Cain; I saw a fighter who is capable of absolutely smothering his opponent with constant movement and a relentless pace. I believe 95% of those 25 minutes were spent with Cain pressing JDS against the fence. When they broke either because of the rare occasion when JDS was able to create space or Cain just decided to grant space, JDS looked much better. Whenever they had space, JDS was clearly the more dangerous, dynamic and skilled fighter.
The old saying, just because you can doesn’t mean you should – to me that rings true in a weird way here. If Cain doesn’t possess great finishing skills, punching power or submissions – he should thank God every night he was blessed with 4 gas tanks when the average HW has 1/2 of one. He certainly is using the tools in his belt to the best of his ability. But to me that fight didn’t seem fair in a weird way. It was like Cain was thinking, “I know you can beat me standing, so let me hold you here against this wall for 22 minutes of the next 25 and pitter pat you until you wear out.”
It’s no secret UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and fellow Ultimate Fighter coach Miesha Tate don’t share much love for one another, but Tate just stepped up her admonishment for her long-time rival. In a blog post with Yahoo!, Tate attacks Rousey’s MMA fanhood while accusing her of using the sport simply as a springboard to acting.
While I find it interesting that this was really the first time the producers showed Ronda flipping me off, I really think the viewers are getting to see the real Ronda this season – and it’s not pretty. She’s got a great skillset and as an athlete she’s awesome. But she’s not interested in building female MMA, she’s interested in building Ronda MMA and then leaving for movies or something else.
She isn’t an MMA fan at heart. Shayna was the only fighter out of the 16 women who fought to get in the house that Ronda had heard of. The other girls, Ronda had no clue who they were, what they had done, where they had fought, nothing.
While Tate has been active on social media promoting The Ultimate Fighter, Rousey has been largely absent while in Bulgaria filming for The Expendables 3, even admitting she likely wouldn’t be watching the show herself.
There’s a responsibility to represent female MMA that comes with being the champion, just as there’s a responsibility to represent and promote the show when you coach TUF. It grates on my nerves that Ronda isn’t promoting this season, which fans are saying is the best for a while, because that’s what we as established fighters signed on to do: to share the spotlight with these fighters who desperately want to join us in the UFC.
Tate will face Rousey in a rematch of their 2012 Strikeforce title bout when they meet in the co-main event of UFC 168 for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
JDS cut. Ahead of his 166 heavyweight title bout with Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos says he suffered a cut three weeks ago which required stitches.
Roy’s bad camp. After losing his boxing coach early on, Roy Nelson says his camp leading up to UFC 166 hasn’t been great. “I lost (training partner Muhammed ‘King) Mo’ Lawal. I lost Ryan Martinez, because in Bellator he broke his hand. It was just one of those camps where anything possibly that could’ve happened, happened.”
Lil’ Pettis. At just 20, Sergio Pettis says he’s already living the dream. “Now that I’m where I am, right now I’m very confident in myself and I feel I can throw whatever I want in there. It’s my playground.”
Jack Brown Interview #94 – Keith Kizer – October, 2013
This is number ninety-four in my series of interviews with MMA fighters and personalities, and for this particular interview, I’m pleased to feature the longtime Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer. Kizer has held his current position since 2006, and he has worked with the Commission since the mid-1990s after he first moved to Las Vegas. Kizer grew up a fan of combat sports, and that, combined with his experience as an attorney, led to his current role. As Executive Director, Kizer has been ringside for some of the greatest moments in recent combat sports’ history. He has also been at the center of some of the sports’ most recent controversies as well. Please enjoy the conversation below.
Jack Brown: You have been the Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission since 2006, when you took over the position after former Executive Director, Marc Ratner, moved on to working for the UFC. Prior to that, you were the lead attorney for the Nevada Gaming Commission and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. How did your education and your work experience prior to 1997, the year you started working for the Commission, lead you to a career in this particular area of law?
Keith Kizer: I’m not sure that there is any direct or perfect or even preferred avenue to get to this type of position. It’s not just with respect to Nevada, but also with other states’ commissions or larger tribal commissions. There are a lot of different executive directors or executive officers throughout the United States and they probably have very different backgrounds from one another because it is such a unique position. You are first and foremost a government administrator, but then you are also the head of that jurisdiction’s day-to-day operations for some pretty important sports – boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. With respect to myself, I was always a fan of all three of those sports and had gone to many of the kickboxing and boxing events that had taken place in Las Vegas between 1992, when I first came to town, and 1997, when I first started working with the Commission as one of their legal counsels. So it was something where I was very much interested as a fan, and I also had watched several of the UFCs when they were available on TV or by getting them from Blockbuster back then to watch the events that had already occurred, especially the first ten or so UFCs. So it was actually one of the reasons that I had moved to Las Vegas, the ability to go and watch live fights. Back then it was limited to boxing and kickboxing, but there were still some pretty important events that took place in both those sports in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. I think that helped. I think having the attorney’s knowledge, of course, to be the attorney, but also having the knowledge of following all three sports, but especially back then the boxing and the kickboxing, helped a lot for me to come aboard and not just give proper legal advice, but to also be a sounding board for some things that might not be considered legal issues but were on the periphery.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
It’s no secret UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and fellow Ultimate Fighter coach Miesha Tate don’t share much love for one another, but Tate just stepped up her admonishment for her long-time rival. In a blog post with Yahoo!, Tate attacks Rousey’s MMA fanhood while accusing her of using the sport simply as a springboard to acting.
While I find it interesting that this was really the first time the producers showed Ronda flipping me off, I really think the viewers are getting to see the real Ronda this season – and it’s not pretty. She’s got a great skillset and as an athlete she’s awesome. But she’s not interested in building female MMA, she’s interested in building Ronda MMA and then leaving for movies or something else.
She isn’t an MMA fan at heart. Shayna was the only fighter out of the 16 women who fought to get in the house that Ronda had heard of. The other girls, Ronda had no clue who they were, what they had done, where they had fought, nothing.
While Tate has been active on social media promoting The Ultimate Fighter, Rousey has been largely absent while in Bulgaria filming for The Expendables 3, even admitting she likely wouldn’t be watching the show herself.
There’s a responsibility to represent female MMA that comes with being the champion, just as there’s a responsibility to represent and promote the show when you coach TUF. It grates on my nerves that Ronda isn’t promoting this season, which fans are saying is the best for a while, because that’s what we as established fighters signed on to do: to share the spotlight with these fighters who desperately want to join us in the UFC.
Tate will face Rousey in a rematch of their 2012 Strikeforce title bout when they meet in the co-main event of UFC 168 for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
JDS cut. Ahead of his 166 heavyweight title bout with Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos says he suffered a cut three weeks ago which required stitches.
Roy’s bad camp. After losing his boxing coach early on, Roy Nelson says his camp leading up to UFC 166 hasn’t been great. “I lost (training partner Muhammed ‘King) Mo’ Lawal. I lost Ryan Martinez, because in Bellator he broke his hand. It was just one of those camps where anything possibly that could’ve happened, happened.”
Lil’ Pettis. At just 20, Sergio Pettis says he’s already living the dream. “Now that I’m where I am, right now I’m very confident in myself and I feel I can throw whatever I want in there. It’s my playground.”
Jack Brown Interview #94 – Keith Kizer – October, 2013
This is number ninety-four in my series of interviews with MMA fighters and personalities, and for this particular interview, I’m pleased to feature the longtime Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer. Kizer has held his current position since 2006, and he has worked with the Commission since the mid-1990s after he first moved to Las Vegas. Kizer grew up a fan of combat sports, and that, combined with his experience as an attorney, led to his current role. As Executive Director, Kizer has been ringside for some of the greatest moments in recent combat sports’ history. He has also been at the center of some of the sports’ most recent controversies as well. Please enjoy the conversation below.
Jack Brown: You have been the Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission since 2006, when you took over the position after former Executive Director, Marc Ratner, moved on to working for the UFC. Prior to that, you were the lead attorney for the Nevada Gaming Commission and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. How did your education and your work experience prior to 1997, the year you started working for the Commission, lead you to a career in this particular area of law?
Keith Kizer: I’m not sure that there is any direct or perfect or even preferred avenue to get to this type of position. It’s not just with respect to Nevada, but also with other states’ commissions or larger tribal commissions. There are a lot of different executive directors or executive officers throughout the United States and they probably have very different backgrounds from one another because it is such a unique position. You are first and foremost a government administrator, but then you are also the head of that jurisdiction’s day-to-day operations for some pretty important sports – boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. With respect to myself, I was always a fan of all three of those sports and had gone to many of the kickboxing and boxing events that had taken place in Las Vegas between 1992, when I first came to town, and 1997, when I first started working with the Commission as one of their legal counsels. So it was something where I was very much interested as a fan, and I also had watched several of the UFCs when they were available on TV or by getting them from Blockbuster back then to watch the events that had already occurred, especially the first ten or so UFCs. So it was actually one of the reasons that I had moved to Las Vegas, the ability to go and watch live fights. Back then it was limited to boxing and kickboxing, but there were still some pretty important events that took place in both those sports in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. I think that helped. I think having the attorney’s knowledge, of course, to be the attorney, but also having the knowledge of following all three sports, but especially back then the boxing and the kickboxing, helped a lot for me to come aboard and not just give proper legal advice, but to also be a sounding board for some things that might not be considered legal issues but were on the periphery.
On the mend from a nagging eye injury, Michael Bisping tells Bloody Elbow he’d be more than happy to face Nick Diaz should he make the move to middleweight.
“I didn’t really mean any disrespect to him, but I heard a rumor off a coup…
“I didn’t really mean any disrespect to him, but I heard a rumor off a couple people that he said that he was interested in fighting me, and I know he was talking about maybe coming up to middleweight. He was also talking about retirement; the guy is pretty crazy so you never know what’s true and what’s not.
A reporter from Fighter’s Only told me he had been talking to one of the members from Nick’s camp, and he had said that a fight with Michael Bisping might interest him (Diaz), so I just tweeted that if he wanted to come up to 185, I’d quite happily welcome him to the division.”
Diaz, who announced a tentative retirement in July following back-to-back losses to Carlos Condit and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, recently explained to Fighter’s Only that he’s only interested in marquee matchups at this point. “I don’t mind taking fights if its a big fight that people are going to make a big deal out of,’ said Diaz. “If not then its not really worth it to me.”
The pawn. Duke Roufus says Ben Askren is being used in some sort of strange political game between Bellator and the UFC. “I feel like at times [Askren]’s being used as a pawn from one promotion to the other, personally,” Roufus said. “I mean, if [Bellator] doesn’t want him, let him go. I would love to see that fight happen, for sure.
Ratner. UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner defends the 10-point must system but admits it has its issues. “Every once in a while, you’re going to get one [decision] that certainly goes against public opinion, but MMA is harder to judge than boxing, in my opinion, because you have to know what’s going on on the ground.”
Cutting. Dave Metlzer warns that the recent death of a Brazilian fighter is not the first, not likely the last, to be attributed to weight cutting. “Everyone does it because everyone else does it. Some are trying to get an advantage. Others are trying to negate the advantage by of their opponent. It’s an endless chicken-and-egg game, whose effects are all negative, but the game will never stop. So then, when both guys do it, they are both miserable the last week, and getting nothing positive out of it.”
Green Ranger wants some. Jason David Frank, best known for his role on TV’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, says he’d like to tango with Anderson Silva and WWE star CM Punk. “I love CM Punk, he’s a really nice guy. But he did say in his panel that he would fight me and you can’t say that in the fighting world if you don’t mean that you’d fight me. Let’s get a contract going!”
MEDIA STEW
Free Fight: Dodson vs. Dillashaw.
Johnny Hendricks plans on knocking out GSP.
Holly Holm’s destruction of Nikki Knudsen at Legacy 24.
So, a lot of you have probably seen the news that Bellator’s upcoming HISTORIC pay-per-view super-event has only sold 1700 tickets.
This prompted one BE user to respond by simply posting this:
Titanic-sinking_medium
Now, I’m not sure what nautical vessels and seamanship have to do with MMA, but if the argument this user was trying to make was that this Bellator event WOULDN’T be vastly improved by holding it on a giant cruise ship in international waters, I would have to firmly disagree.
This made me realize though that, yeah, the outlook for the event, commercially, isn’t great. It needs to be improved. Bellator needs to crank that notch to 11. They need to up the ante. They need to make the event truly HISTORIC. They already did this by involving TNA. Well you know what? Fuck that. They didn’t go far enough. Here’s my list of reasons why the event isn’t selling and potential solutions to those problems.
1. Not enough Roy Jones Jr.
Bellator was extremely effective in their hyping their main event….by promoting a completely DIFFERENT, completely fabricated main event for MONTHS prior to the main event announcement. And it worked really well. So clearly, people want more Roy Jones Jr.
Solution: Rampage vs. Tito not big enough? How about Rampage vs. Tito vs. Roy Jones Jr.? That’s right, motherfuckers. Triple threat match.
Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones Jr? Rampage vs. Roy Jones Jr? The people just want Roy Jones Jr!
During an impromptu Twitter Q&A session Monday, UFC featherweight Conor McGregor gave an off-color response to a question regarding a hypothetical sexual scenario involving UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and fellow Ultimate Fighter coach Miesha Tate. Rather than choose who he’d prefer spending a night alone with, McGregor took the political route by involving them both.
I would like to personally apologize to both Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. This morning I quoted a song on Twitter in an attempt to make a joke, which I now I see was totally unacceptable and offensive. I have infinite respect for Miesha and Ronda as individuals and as athletes. I have always been a big fan of women’s MMA and the incredible talented athletes that compete in the sport. I regret making this offensive comment and I sincerely apologize to anyone whom I offended, but especially Ronda and Miesha.
No word yet from Rousey on the matter, but Tate seems to have chalked it up to just a poor take on humor.
@TheNotoriousMMA its all good, appreciate the apology but I knew you were just joking!
JDS vs. Klitschko? Just ahead oh his rubber match with heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos says he’s interested in possible future action with the Klitschko brothers. “I think if they give me four months to get prepared, I can beat them,” he said. “In the beginning of my all my camps, I do just boxing. I love to train boxing and I think I have enough skills in boxing. I know how to see a good fight. Four months, that’s what I need.”
Snaps and pops. Mike Pierce has an MRI scheduled Tuesday morning to determine what damage may have been caused in his bout with Rousimar Palhares. “I felt it pop a couple of times, once in my ankle, and once in my knee, but the MRI is going to be the determining factor,” Pierce told Ariel Helwani. “I felt it [pop] after the ref was already on top of us and I was tapping the ref. So it was long after the fact.”
Gil on Nick. Gilbert Melendez tells Dave Dolye he believes Nick Diaz could be lured out of retirement given the right challenge. “I think with the right opportunity, for the right thing, he’ll come out,” Melendez said. “Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s kickboxing, whether it’s whatever, some sort of challenge would be great.”
Glory for Rico. Glory’s Rico Verhoeven explains why he believes he’s the No. 1 heavyweight in the world following back to back upset wins over Gokhan Saki and Daniel Ghita. “Hard work… I’ve been boxing a lot with one of the top competitors in the world, Tyson Fury, and his trainer took me on the pads and showed me small stuff I can fix. It dropped in my head like ‘yeah, I can do this.’ First people just said ‘oh, he has big legs, he can kick’, now it’s ‘he can kick AND he can punch.'”
Moar Chael. In part two of MMA Mania’s exclusive with Chael Sonnen, ‘The American Gangster’ is picking Georges St-Pierre against a very tough Johny Hendricks. “I think GSP is going to win that fight. I will tell you, he’s in the toughest fight he’s ever had. Johny Hendricks is not only the number one contender, but there’s a pretty good margin between Johny Hendricks and the next best guy.” (see part one here)
MEDIA STEW
Joe Rogan ranks the greatest heavyweight KO’s in UFC history.
Since October had many fights, I decided to recap two weeks into the month
This is where I separate what’s relevant in WMMA from what isn’t. Lets take a look, there is video for every single fight today. woo! … hoo!
135lbs: Amanda Kelly def. Hannah Stephens via round 1 KO
Stephens had no business being in the cage with Kelly. I thought striking from range, they were sort of equal, but once it got into clinch Stephen’s got her Frank Mir on and wilted. Elbows and knees for days.
Kelly says she cuts from 145lbs but she still looks frail. Being a Muay Thai Champion at bantamweight, I have to make the comparison with Miriam Nakamoto. Nakamoto looks much bigger, thicker, and her strikes look a lot more vicious. Kelly has this Martin Kampmann feel to her attack. Nonetheless, it was a decent MMA debut, but my expectations are moderate.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
During an impromptu Twitter Q&A session Monday, UFC featherweight Conor McGregor gave an off-color response to a question regarding a hypothetical sexual scenario involving UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and fellow Ultimate Fighter coach Miesha Tate. Rather than choose who he’d prefer spending a night alone with, McGregor took the political route by involving them both.
I would like to personally apologize to both Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. This morning I quoted a song on Twitter in an attempt to make a joke, which I now I see was totally unacceptable and offensive. I have infinite respect for Miesha and Ronda as individuals and as athletes. I have always been a big fan of women’s MMA and the incredible talented athletes that compete in the sport. I regret making this offensive comment and I sincerely apologize to anyone whom I offended, but especially Ronda and Miesha.
No word yet from Rousey on the matter, but Tate seems to have chalked it up to just a poor take on humor.
@TheNotoriousMMA its all good, appreciate the apology but I knew you were just joking!
JDS vs. Klitschko? Just ahead oh his rubber match with heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos says he’s interested in possible future action with the Klitschko brothers. “I think if they give me four months to get prepared, I can beat them,” he said. “In the beginning of my all my camps, I do just boxing. I love to train boxing and I think I have enough skills in boxing. I know how to see a good fight. Four months, that’s what I need.”
Snaps and pops. Mike Pierce has an MRI scheduled Tuesday morning to determine what damage may have been caused in his bout with Rousimar Palhares. “I felt it pop a couple of times, once in my ankle, and once in my knee, but the MRI is going to be the determining factor,” Pierce told Ariel Helwani. “I felt it [pop] after the ref was already on top of us and I was tapping the ref. So it was long after the fact.”
Gil on Nick. Gilbert Melendez tells Dave Dolye he believes Nick Diaz could be lured out of retirement given the right challenge. “I think with the right opportunity, for the right thing, he’ll come out,” Melendez said. “Whether it’s boxing, whether it’s kickboxing, whether it’s whatever, some sort of challenge would be great.”
Glory for Rico. Glory’s Rico Verhoeven explains why he believes he’s the No. 1 heavyweight in the world following back to back upset wins over Gokhan Saki and Daniel Ghita. “Hard work… I’ve been boxing a lot with one of the top competitors in the world, Tyson Fury, and his trainer took me on the pads and showed me small stuff I can fix. It dropped in my head like ‘yeah, I can do this.’ First people just said ‘oh, he has big legs, he can kick’, now it’s ‘he can kick AND he can punch.'”
Moar Chael. In part two of MMA Mania’s exclusive with Chael Sonnen, ‘The American Gangster’ is picking Georges St-Pierre against a very tough Johny Hendricks. “I think GSP is going to win that fight. I will tell you, he’s in the toughest fight he’s ever had. Johny Hendricks is not only the number one contender, but there’s a pretty good margin between Johny Hendricks and the next best guy.” (see part one here)
MEDIA STEW
Joe Rogan ranks the greatest heavyweight KO’s in UFC history.
Since October had many fights, I decided to recap two weeks into the month
This is where I separate what’s relevant in WMMA from what isn’t. Lets take a look, there is video for every single fight today. woo! … hoo!
135lbs: Amanda Kelly def. Hannah Stephens via round 1 KO
Stephens had no business being in the cage with Kelly. I thought striking from range, they were sort of equal, but once it got into clinch Stephen’s got her Frank Mir on and wilted. Elbows and knees for days.
Kelly says she cuts from 145lbs but she still looks frail. Being a Muay Thai Champion at bantamweight, I have to make the comparison with Miriam Nakamoto. Nakamoto looks much bigger, thicker, and her strikes look a lot more vicious. Kelly has this Martin Kampmann feel to her attack. Nonetheless, it was a decent MMA debut, but my expectations are moderate.
