Author: Matt Saccaro

Nick Diaz: What Nick Diaz and Tim Tebow Have in Common

Nick Diaz and Tim Tebow are doppelgangers of one another.Before you start writing a scathing rebuttal, let me explain. Tim Tebow is an athlete whose presence in the NFL created a tremendous amount of controversy.Some of this controversy was over h…

Nick Diaz and Tim Tebow are doppelgangers of one another.

Before you start writing a scathing rebuttal, let me explain. 

Tim Tebow is an athlete whose presence in the NFL created a tremendous amount of controversy.

Some of this controversy was over his religious beliefs, while some was over his actual abilities (overyhped vs. not overhyped).

Despite the arguments, he’s still popular and even a sort of hero.

Nick Diaz is an athlete whose presence in the UFC created a tremendous amount of controversy.

Some of this controversy was over his thuggish attitude and his beliefs about marijuana while some was over his actual abilities (overhyped vs. not overhyped).

Despite the arguments, he’s still popular and even a sort of (cult) hero.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Diaz and Tebow, though they may be complete and total opposites on the personality spectrum, actually occupy the exact same roles in their respective sports—the role of the overhyped, over-marketed, hero. 

When Tim Tebow threw the touchdown pass that defeated the Steelers in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs, it generated over 9000 tweets per second, a new record. Tebowmania was sweeping the nation and Tebow became something of a hero. 

No longer did kids have to look up to sordid men who shot themselves in the leg or tortured dogs— they had a religious, clean-cut, polite athlete to look up to.

Despite the fame and admiration, Tebow was still a controversial figure. Much of the debate around him was centered over whether he was actually an elite quarterback. 

To some, the questions was answered with an emphatic “no” once the Broncos were trounced by the Patriots. However, the debate still rages. 

Diaz’s story is a little different, but that reflects the sport that he partakes in. 

The Stockton, Calif. native was always controversial since he comes off as crass and disrespectful. However, as his fame increased, he became more and more controversial—in part because people started to like him.

Diaz’s brash persona and thrilling fighting style earned him many fans, as did his advocacy of marijuana use (since it’s the most popular “drug” in the country). People felt that Diaz was “real” so he developed a following. 

Diaz’s name would trend on Twitter (although he wouldn’t do nearly what Tebow would do because of MMA‘s relatively niche appeal) whenever a significant news story would erupt around him. 

The most recent stories being Diaz’s disputed loss to Carlos Condit (that has the MMA community fractured) and his subsequent drug test failure in which he tested positive for marijuana. 

Still, much of the debate is about whether or not Diaz is an elite welterweight worthy of being placed near the top of the division.

Some say he is, some say he’s not. 

MMA fans became split over Diaz’s abilities and ideals, as football fans did with Tebow’s. The main difference was that they were arguing over lewd antics and cannabis use rather than religious fanaticism. 

Nevertheless, both men occupy the same role in their respective sports and fulfill the same functions.

They have the role of the quintessential overrated athlete with questionable, contentious aspects about them that get the fans arguing and ultimately make money.

Controversy creates cash.

They may go about it different ways, but Diaz and Tebow do the same thing; they are cut from the same cloth in a strange way.

What causes over 9,000 tweets per second in the NFL world causes thousands of forum threads and articles in the MMA world. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Is Heavyweight the Least Talented Division in MMA?

When people see heavyweight fighters with less-than-chiseled physiques such as Mike Russow and Christian Morecraft, forgive them if they don’t think the heavyweight division is the epitome of athleticism in the UFC.In fact, many divisions don’t seem to…

When people see heavyweight fighters with less-than-chiseled physiques such as Mike Russow and Christian Morecraft, forgive them if they don’t think the heavyweight division is the epitome of athleticism in the UFC.

In fact, many divisions don’t seem to have the problem of fighters who look kind of, well, doughy. 

Does this mean that heavyweight is therefore the least-talented division in MMA?

Hardly. 

It means two things. 

First, it means that heavyweight has the biggest skill disparity in talent between the guys at the top and the guys at the bottom. 

UFC heavyweight champions Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem are some of the most skilled fighters on the planet, but they’re in the same division as journeymen like Russow and Morecraft as well as the modern-day Tank Abbotts you’ll find at heavyweight in smaller promotions.

This fact is caused by a very important truth concerning heavyweight athletes: The most athletic big men in the world can make far more money playing football or some other sport than in mixed martial arts. 

This causes the amount of pure athletes in the heavyweight talent pool to decrease relative to the other weight classes (what massively popular sport can an athletic, scrappy 135-pounder become rich and famous playing?).

So, in a literal sense, heavyweight is the least-talented division because it has less natural athletes, but this doesn’t definitively mean that the best heavyweights are somehow less talented than the best fighters from other weight classes.

After all, which lighter-weight fighters have more technical boxing than Dos Santos or better kickboxing and Muay Thai than Overeem?

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 145 Fight Card: Is Jon Jones a Complete and Total Fraud?

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is one of the most talked about fighters in the sport—but not all of that talk is positive. There is a considerable group of MMA fans (and perhaps a jaded pundit or two) who harbor a dislike for the U…

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is one of the most talked about fighters in the sport—but not all of that talk is positive. 

There is a considerable group of MMA fans (and perhaps a jaded pundit or two) who harbor a dislike for the UFC’s youngest champion. Some of these people would even go as far as to say that Jon Jones isn’t legitimate—that he’s naught but a fraud.

The talk of Jones being “fake” in the sense that his pious, humble shtick is just that—a shtick (that poorly mirrors that of Hulk Hogan’s “eat your vitamins, say your prayers” gimmick)—has been around since Jones began to rise to prominence. 

But is it true?

The only people who know for sure are Jones, his friends and his family. 

However, that doesn’t stop us from speculating. 

In truth, much of the talk about Jon Jones not being humble and actually being conceited and “evil” in real life are likely exaggerations fueled by one of three sordid motivations. 

First, many MMA fans have a favorite fighter and live vicariously through them. It’s possible that many people hate Jones because he destroyed or is set to destroy their favorite fighter. So the only way these people can have a victory over Jones is to have a moral victory over him; “at least my fighter is real.”

Second, people may see Jones, his accomplishments and his young age and become jealous of his success.

Why would they be jealous? Delving into the anti-Jones psychology would be far too boring and complicated, suffice to say that they are miserable cretins who probably regret the fact that they didn’t train earlier in their lives or wrestle or have certain opportunities.

Jones might be the ugly “what if” that follows these sad people to their death beds: “What if I trained? What if I had the athleticism of Jones?” But “what ifs” can never defeat Jones, so these people have to find some way to tear the man down. Since he can’t be beaten physically, they attack his character. 

Third, Jones is religious. People hate being preached to and overly religious athletes in general.

So, is Jones a fraud?

It doesn’t matter when it’s all said and done; occupying an imaginary moral high ground can’t take away Jon Jones’ title. Love him or hate him, Jones will be around for a long time, so you better get used to him, accusations of being “fake” notwithstanding.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Pioneer Gary Goodridge Talks New Book, UFC 144, and More in BR Exclusive

To many, UFC veteran Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge is known only for being a journeyman with a dubious fourth-degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won whose only claim to fame is an eight-second dismantling of Paul Herrera at UFC 8.Nothing could be further from …

To many, UFC veteran Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge is known only for being a journeyman with a dubious fourth-degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won whose only claim to fame is an eight-second dismantling of Paul Herrera at UFC 8.

Nothing could be further from the truth. 

In his newly released autobiography titled Gatekeeper: The Fighting Life of Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge, Goodridge shows the MMA world that he was much more than that. 

He was an immigrant, a kid who was picked on, an arm-wrestling world champion, an amateur boxer, a father and much more.

The recently published book has been on the drawing board for over two years according to Goodridge. 

“It took two and a half years to write the book,” he said.

Two and a half years to recap a 14-year career that saw Goodridge start off in the UFC and eventually move to Pride Fighting Championships, which he adored. 

“I felt the safest place for me to fight was Japan,” Goodridge said. “The other places I wasn’t too sure I was going to make it out if I beat their guy…I felt secure in Japan. The other places I wasn’t so sure.”

From Pride and MMA, Goodridge moved to the famed kickboxing promotion K-1. Unfortunately, his stint there wasn’t successful and it would ultimately impact Goodridge for life. 

“That’s where I got most of the damage. Because now I suffer from brain injury,” he said. Goodridge’s in-your-face fighting style pleased fans but it lead to many knockouts throughout his career. These knockouts ended up permanently damaging his brain. 

It’s an unfortunate tale but one that MMA fans, pundits, and fighters need to be made aware of, especially in the light of Carlos Condit’s decision victory over Nick Diaz at UFC 143. 

People wanted a stand-up “war” between the two men. Instead, they got a tactical point-fight. If the fans always got what they wanted (read: a brawl) then cases like Goodridge’s would be commonplace and the fighters we know and love would have a sad end. 

But fortunately for Goodridge, he was still able to write a book that told his story. And even better, feedback was entirely positive. 

Well, almost…

In the more personal sphere of his life, the book wasn’t exactly a hit.

“[Feedback was] nothing but good except from my oldest daughter’s mother. ‘I know it’s the truth but you didn’t have to put it in there!'” Goodridge said. “It’s a book about my life. It’s a book about what I had to go through in order to do what I did.”

The controversy over what’s said in the book (you’ll have to purchase it to find out the details) has seemingly hurt the former arm-wrestler’s personal life, but was there a silver-lining? Goodridge remains doubtful.

“I don’t think it was a therapeutic experience. It just helped me bring things out of the closet. It got me in a lot of fights, a lot of arguments. I’m not seeing one of my daughters right now because her mother didn’t like how I wrote the book; I shouldn’t have told the truth,” he said.

“It’s the raw truth, and that’s what makes it different from all the other books. When you’re writing an autobiography, it should be the raw truth.” 

Goodridge’s allegiance to the truth is present in his personal life and also in his views about modern MMA. 

He’s elated that the UFC is finally heading back to Japan with UFC 144 and feels that the promotion will be just the thing to bring Japanese MMA out of its current rut. 

“They will be able to revive [Japanese MMA], absolutely,” he said.

“MMA is a huge thing in Japan. It’s on the rise all over the world and it’s only going to get bigger in Japan as well. “

Goodridge didn’t stop there. Not only did he think MMA would grow in Japan, he thinks it could even get bigger on a global scale than the NFL or soccer.

“That’s only a thought of mine. I would hope it does. I believe it will be beigger on a big scale. It’s definitely the next boxing. The million dollar pay-days are around the corner. Will it be bigger than soccer? Who knows. Is it gonna be bigger than football? I don’t know.”

Regardless of what happens, the Canadian is just happy to have been along for the ride. “I’m so happy from when I started when it was illegal to do this anywhere in the world to where its at now,” he said. 

While the UFC will be blaring its trumpets that it’s finally conquered Japan, men like Goodridge who helped build the sport both here and in Japan will have been forgotten by Zuffa, stricken from its official history in favor of other fighters. 

We would all do well to remember men like Goodridge. He wasn’t the greatest of all time but he was a man sacrificed his body and the quality of his life just so that people could be entertained, could watch the fights and take a break from all their worries. 

For that alone, Goodridge is a hero of MMA. He fought for us—not for accolades, not for his ego, but for fans, for average guys like he was at one time. And it cost him the full use of his brain. 

Men like Goodridge, the pre-Zuffa pioneers and legends, deserve to be remembered. The first draft of MMA history is written by their experiences. 

At the end of it all, Goodrige proves that he is a true fighter at heart.

When asked if after experiencing fleeting glory that ended in only defeat, pain, and terrible suffering, if he would do it all over again, Goodrige immediately had an answer. 

“Absolutely, the same way, I would not change a thing,”

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

B/R MMA Official Pound-for-Pound Rankings for February

Much has changed in the MMA world after the events of January and the first few days of February. Axiomatic truths about certain fighters were dispelled as lies, questionable decisions were had, and relatively unknown fighters rose to prominence.T…

Much has changed in the MMA world after the events of January and the first few days of February. 

Axiomatic truths about certain fighters were dispelled as lies, questionable decisions were had, and relatively unknown fighters rose to prominence.

Thus, Bleacher Report MMA has accordingly altered its pound-for-pound rankings to reflect what has happened since January. 

So who has gone up and who has gone down? Read and find out!

 

These rankings are the combined effort of some of Bleacher Report MMA’s best writers, as we continue to try to provide you with the best content on the web.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 143 Results: What Roy Nelson’s Loss Reveals About the Future of MMA

Roy Nelson’s UFC 143 loss to Fabricio Werdum will probably be forgotten in the long-term history of MMA, but it shouldn’t be. Why?It actually showed that the era of the “tough guy” is dead; being a hard-working, tough individual just isn’t good en…

Roy Nelson’s UFC 143 loss to Fabricio Werdum will probably be forgotten in the long-term history of MMA, but it shouldn’t be. 

Why?

It actually showed that the era of the “tough guy” is dead; being a hard-working, tough individual just isn’t good enough anymore. 

In order to succeed at the highest level in modern MMA, you need to be an athlete as well as a tough guy.

Roy Nelson’s popularity was in large part due to his rotund shape. Nelson looked (and acted like) the everyman, and this resonated with the fans. “Big Country” was a beloved fan favorite.

Nelson had some success early in his UFC run by winning the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter, and then picking up two victories over Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve. 

But since those wins, Nelson has just one win to go with three losses, including the most recent loss to Werdum. 

Nelson just wasn’t athletic enough to compete with the changing MMA world. This trend—the  tough guys who lack athletic ability losing—will only continue as MMA and the UFC grow.

The UFC is becoming more and more visible and popular. As this happens, more athletes who otherwise would’ve entered other sports will enter MMA, and they’ll succeed due to their physical abilities. 

This success will come at the expense of the tough guys with no natural gifts to speak, of such as Forrest Griffin or Stephan Bonnar. Ten years from now, fighters like Griffin, Bonnar, or Nelson won’t make it to the UFC because they aren’t athletic enough. 

The UFC will be packed with natural athletes like UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

While some may malign this change, the sport will be better for it. The fights will be better and because of that, there will be higher ratings and more pay-per-view buys, which will only entice better athletes to join the sport, thus continuing the cycle.

And it all became clear thanks to Roy Nelson’s loss.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com