Conor McGregor thinks TJ Dillashaw is a snake in the grass, a child, and perhaps most importantly, a twerp. He’s been saying this for weeks now, and recent events seem to more or less confirm that he predicts deez tings. Why he’s been so persistent in pointing out Dillashaw’s disloyalty is a bit of a mystery, but personally, I think it’s because McGregor actually happens to like — and dare I say it, respect —Urijah Faber.
On last night’s (was it last night? Who gives a f*ck) episode of The Ultimate Fighter, McGregor’s constant needling of Team Alpha Male finally came to a head, by which I mean that it led to a rousing spat of pushy-shovsies filled with profanities, incredibly sexual threats, and laughter. The whole thing was just primo reality TV, really.
Conor McGregor thinks TJ Dillashaw is a snake in the grass, a child, and perhaps most importantly, a twerp. He’s been saying this for weeks now, and recent events seem to more or less confirm that he predicts deez tings. Why he’s been so persistent in pointing out Dillashaw’s disloyalty is a bit of a mystery, but personally, I think it’s because McGregor actually happens to like — and dare I say it, respect –Urijah Faber.
On last night’s (was it last night? Who gives a f*ck) episode of The Ultimate Fighter, McGregor’s constant needling of Team Alpha Male finally came to a head, by which I mean that it led to a rousing spat of pushy-shovsies filled with profanities, incredibly sexual threats, and laughter. The whole thing was just primo reality TV, really.
Video after the jump.
In case you were wondering, that’s Cody Garbrandt who stepped up to McGregor’s challenge. Apparently his version of “doing somethin’ about it” involves a little shoving, followed by absolute silence. It’s definitely a bold strategy, Cotton.
Perhaps the most damning evidence of the truths McGregor was spitting here is the fact that Faber said absolutely nothing in defense of Dillashaw, both while he was out of the room and once he had returned. Knowing what we do about Dillashaw and Faber’s relationship now, I dare say that Faber would’ve piled on even further.
In any case, the skirmish wasn’t exactly on the level of Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva’s TUF Brazil brawl. At least in that they had the common decency to exchange open-handed slaps and double legs takedowns like men.
Now preparing for what is surely a #1 contender bout against Yoel Romero at UFC 194 — a fight that has been rescheduled three times due to various injuries and illnesses on both ends — it appears that Souza has stepped up his striking game to an even more ferocious level. Just check out the video above, where “Jacare” channels his inner Bas Rutten and drops two of his sparring partners with vicious body shots while the rest of his gym just kind of looks on in horror.
Now preparing for what is surely a #1 contender bout against Yoel Romero at UFC 194 — a fight that has been rescheduled three times due to various injuries and illnesses on both ends — it appears that Souza has stepped up his striking game to an even more ferocious level. Just check out the video above, where “Jacare” channels his inner Bas Rutten and drops two of his sparring partners with vicious body shots while the rest of his gym just kind of looks on in horror.
Video after the jump.
Yowza. Souza has now won 8 straight fights dating back to his Strikeforce days, finishing all but one of them inside the distance. The lesson here: Don’t spar with Jacare if you appreciate having a functioning liver. Seems relatively simple to understand.
To describe both fan and fighter reaction to the UFC’s deal with Reebok as anything other than “hostile” would be a bridge too far for most MMA writers to cross. On the UFC side of things, dozens of fighters have publicly lamented the sad realities of the deal, legendary cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran was fired by the UFC after speaking up against it, and Brendan Schaub essentially retired because of it. (It’s honestly as if they don’t understand that matching spandex uniforms are the *one* thing keeping MMA from mainstream acceptance.)
To describe both fan and fighter reaction to the UFC’s deal with Reebok as anything other than “hostile” would be a bridge too far for most MMA writers to cross. On the UFC side of things, dozens of fighters have publicly lamented the sad realities of the deal, legendary cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran was fired by the UFC after speaking up against it, and Brendan Schaub essentially retired because of it. (It’s honestly as if they don’t understand that matching spandex uniforms are the *one* thing keeping MMA from mainstream acceptance.)
In an attempt to shill to Irish fans/promote this weekend’s Fight Night 76 in Dublin, Reebok released the “UFC Ireland Map Tee” pictured below.
Doesn’t seem too offensive at first glance, right? Well, the problem is that this “map of Ireland” doesn’t include Northern Ireland, a territory which — despite technically being aligned with the United Kingdom — has been the subject of a political and religious dispute for centuries. And not only that, but the shirt includes the tagline ”Show your UFC territorial allegiance”, which seems to imply that Northern Irish folk are neither Irish, worthy of even being considered in the debate, or somehow inferior to “actual” Irish.
Look, I know that we live in the era of manufactured outrage, and I won’t pretend to fully understand the scope of just how offensive this shirt is, so let’s get some perspective on this from someone who might. Say…John Kavanagh, aka Conor McGregor’s coach, a proud Irishman, and someone who just so happened to finalize a deal between Reebok and his SBG gymyesterday. Take it away, John!
Well, that was…um…ehh…not a good look.
Luckily for Kavanagh (or perhaps for Reebok), the shirt was quickly taken off Reebok.com. Speaking of which, a trip over to Reebok’s Fight Kits page reveals something else you might file under “concerning” — all of the fight kits have been removed, save a handful of the UFC’s biggest stars.
Now, this could be a simple glitch or have something to do with the massive series of firings expected to take place in the near future, but in any case, the hell is going on, Reebok?
Even as someone who follows the sports as closely as I do, I would be remiss to say that I could regularly identify more fighters on the average UFC card than I could not these days. With over 550 fighters on their roster, the UFC is becoming an increasingly sink-or-swim promotion with little room for error, which doesn’t exactly help fighters still in need of development upon being signed by the world’s premiere organization (ie. TUF stars, unheralded prospects, late replacement opponents, etc.). Nor does it help mid-level MMA bloggers keep track of who’s coming and going.
Earlier this month, the UFC released TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem along with Elias Silverio, Jorge Oliveira, and Nazareno Malegarie, which more or less proves my point (of those four, I only recognize the first two). Late last week, TUF 19 middleweight winner Eddie Gordon was cut following 3 straight losses, as was Christos Giagos (1-2), Matt Van Buren (0-2), and Roger Narvaez (1-2). The most interesting thing to come out of that bit of news was Giagos’ claim that he was released as a result of the UFC “over-booking” their roster and needing to make some cuts as a result, which coincided with an unconfirmed Swedish report that the UFC would be cutting a total of 50 fighters.
Marcus Brimage and Chris Clements announced their releases shortly thereafter, and today, UFCFIGHTERSINFO announced the deletion of some 17 more profiles from the UFC’s fighter database, meaning almost surely that said fighters are no longer under UFC contract. Those fighters are…
Even as someone who follows the sports as closely as I do, I would be remiss to say that I could regularly identify more fighters on the average UFC card than I could not these days. With over 550 fighters on their roster, the UFC is becoming an increasingly sink-or-swim promotion with little room for error, which doesn’t exactly help fighters still in need of development upon being signed by the world’s premiere organization (ie. TUF stars, unheralded prospects, late replacement opponents, etc.). Nor does it help mid-level MMA bloggers keep track of who’s coming and going.
Earlier this month, the UFC released TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem along with Elias Silverio, Jorge Oliveira, and Nazareno Malegarie, which more or less proves my point (of those four, I only recognize the first two). Late last week, TUF 19 middleweight winner Eddie Gordon was cut following 3 straight losses, as was Christos Giagos (1-2), Matt Van Buren (0-2), and Roger Narvaez (1-2). The most interesting thing to come out of that bit of news was Giagos’ claim that he was released as a result of the UFC “over-booking” their roster and needing to make some cuts as a result, which coincided with an unconfirmed Swedish report that the UFC would be cutting a total of 50 fighters.
Marcus Brimage and Chris Clements announced their releases shortly thereafter, and today, UFCFIGHTERSINFO announced the deletion of some 17 more profiles from the UFC’s fighter database, meaning almost surely that said fighters are no longer under UFC contract. Those fighters are…
Ivan Jorge: 2-2 UFC record, most recently submitted by Joseph Duffy at Fight Night 72
Pawel Pawlak: 1-2, last dropped a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards at Fight Night 72
Hernani Perpetuo: 0-2, last dropped a UD to Tim Means at UFC on FOX 12
Vagner Rocha: 0-1 in his second UFC stint, 1-4 overall, choked out by Jake Matthews at Fight Night 55
David Michaud: 1-2, last suffered a third round submission loss to Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC 186
Naoyuki Kotani: 0-3, with losses to Norman Parke, Yan Cabral, and Kajan Johnson
Amir Sadollah: The charismatic TUF7 has been sadly plagued by injuries for the majority of his career, which he has fought exclusively in the UFC. After returning from a two-year layoff in 2014, Sadollah dropped a unanimous decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama and has not competed since.
Luke Zachrich: 1-2, was last submitted by Daniel Kelly at Fight Night 55
TJ Waldburger: 1-3 in his last 4 (4-4 overall), has not competed since a TKO loss to Mike Pyle in February of last year
Lewis Gonzalez: 0-1, dropped a unanimous decision to Leandro Silva at Fight Night 70.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Soa Palelei also announced his retirement from the sport amidst the rash of firings. While I wouldn’t imagine that he was on the chopping block, having gone 4-2 in his second UFC stint with 4 finishes, he was on the heels of a tough loss to Bigfoot Silva, so who knows. Regardless, “The Hulk” took to Twitter to thank the UFC for the opportunities they gave him.
I want to take an opportunity to officially announce my retirement from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Thank you to the UFC, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Joe Silva for giving me a second chance to fight for the organization. I’ve had a great time, but feel it’s time to focus on my family and other career interests. After several months of thought and discussion with my family and my team, we realize our future includes many things in MMA, but active competition in the sport is no longer one of them. This isn’t goodbye, as I will still be very much involved in the sport but just not as a fighter. I want to help further MMA around the world and give my contribution to the sport. I know that I have, and will continue to contribute much to the growth of our sport outside of the Octagon. Stay tuned guys as there is still so much more to come from “The Hulk” ?#?WatchThisSpace? ?#?MuchLove
It’s been a hell of a journey for WSOF lightweight, Proving Grounds winner, and friend of the Potato, Nick Newell — one wrought with obstacles to overcome, occasional setbacks, and triumphs that most of us could only hope to achieve. Chief among those triumphs, this picture. I mean, seriously, how awesome is this thing? Sure, all the awards and titles and recognition and all that stuff is great, but how many people get to take a free shot at Danny Trejo and live to talk about it? The answer: Nick Newell, and *only* Nick Newell.
An inspirational figure in more ways than one, Newell kicked off his professional MMA career with 9 straight victories (8 of them finishes), capturing the XFC lightweight title in the process and signing with the World Series of Fighting shortly thereafter. While Newell would suffer his first (and last) professional defeat to lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in 2014, he would spend the next two years getting himself back on the path to a title shot.
At WSOF 24 last weekend, Newell took on Tom Marcellino (a local fighter from where I grew up, coincidentally) in a back-and-forth battle that saw “Notorious” awarded a unanimous decision victory. In a shocking moment immediately following the decision, however, Newell announced his retirement from the sport, stating his desire to go out with his wits still about him. It was a selfless, sobering moment that words simply fall short of describing.
It’s been a hell of a journey for WSOF lightweight, Proving Grounds winner, and friend of the Potato, Nick Newell — one wrought with obstacles to overcome, occasional setbacks, and triumphs that most of us could only hope to achieve. Chief among those triumphs, this picture. I mean, seriously, how awesome is this thing? Sure, all the awards and titles and recognition and all that stuff is great, but how many people get to take a free shot at Danny Trejo and live to talk about it? The answer: Nick Newell, and *only* Nick Newell.
An inspirational figure in more ways than one, Newell kicked off his professional MMA career with 9 straight victories (8 of them finishes), capturing the XFC lightweight title in the process and signing with the World Series of Fighting shortly thereafter. While Newell would suffer his first (and last) professional defeat to lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in 2014, he would spend the next two years getting himself back on the path to a title shot.
At WSOF 24 last weekend, Newell took on Tom Marcellino (a local fighter from where I grew up, coincidentally) in a back-and-forth battle that saw “Notorious” awarded a unanimous decision victory. In a shocking moment immediately following the decision, however, Newell announced his retirement from the sport, stating his desire to go out with his wits still about him. It was a selfless, sobering moment that words simply fall short of describing.
Video after the jump.
Newell’s emotional post-fight interview was posted to the WSOF Facebook page yesterday evening.
You know, I’m only 29-years-old, but I want to have a future, I want to be able to have a good body when I get older. One day, I’d like to have kids and be able to play with them. I know that’s kind of an extreme thing, but I didn’t get to where I am today by just being a natural. I’m sorry, this is very emotional for me. I got to where I am from hard work, and that takes a toll on your body. These past couple training camps have been really hard for me, and just really hard on my body. It’s just…it’s just my time.
I don’t want to be a guy that just fights for a…for a paycheck [obviously overcome with emotion at this point]. I want to be a guy that fights because he loves it. I don’t want to cheat myself of my best performances, and I don’t feel like I’m the fighter I could be, because my body is just not reacting the same way it used to. I just don’t have it in me anymore, so this is my last one, a hometown fight that I won. It wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world, but I didn’t really get to train much for this fight. It was injury after injury. I had terrible luck, and uh, it’s time.I’ve done this for my past three camps, with injuries all through the whole camp. I came in 20 pounds over the day before weigh-ins and had to lose it all because I couldn’t train. It’s just very rough on my body. I want to have a good life when I get older, and I can’t be fighting anymore.
Thank you to everyone that’s supported me. I don’t want to give you guys a second rate Nick Newell. I want the best Nick Newell there is and his days are over. It’s time to move on and do something new and share my knowledge with other people.
It really puts the toll a sport like MMA takes on someone into perspective when a 29-year-old with just over a dozen professional bouts is already expressing concern for his future well being. So on behalf of everyone that once worked here at CagePotato — ones who knew Nick far better than I did — I’d like to wish Newell for all of his contributions both inside and out of this often great, often heartbreaking sport. It takes a truly humble and intelligent man to know when he can fight no more, and I can’t think of a better way for Newell to have gone out.
