Author: MattSaccaro

UFC Fight Night 36 Results: Does Bellator Have a Better Product Than the UFC?


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Fans didn’t think it could get worse than UFC 169. Then they watched UFC Fight Night 36—a night of fights so horrid even the technical artistry in the main event bout between Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi couldn’t save it.

The negativity ran deeper than the amount of decisions on the card—which was the most common criticism. A decision doesn’t necessarily equate to a bad fight. But a decision that lacks action and is fought between C and D level fighters who aren’t even known by everyone at their respective gyms, let alone the fans, does equate to a bad fight.

I discussed the recent plague of decisions at length after UFC 169. I concluded that the UFC faced three issues:

1. Fighters that are so evenly matched they negate one another.

2. Fighters have become risk-averse—fearful that one loss will send their contract to the paper shredder. Removing submission and knockout of the night bonuses probably didn’t help spur such fighters on to accomplish great in-cage feats.

3. The baseline quality of the average UFC fighter is far lower than it used to be. The days of elite athletes fighting in the “Super Bowl of MMA” are long gone. Welcome to the age of lowered standards; The UFC needs warm bodies to fill out a Fight Pass card in Djibouti. The term “UFC caliber” means nothing.

For the time being, the UFC seems content to ignore these problems to focus on “World Fucking Domination.” They don’t realize marketing what amounts to UFC-branded regional shows in other countries is losing them their fans in the United States. Just look at TUF’s most recent ratings. Fans simply don’t care about the UFC like they did in the halcyon days days of SpikeTV, Brock Lesnar, and PPVs that didn’t hearken to boxing’s age-old strategy of a good main event preceded by an army of no-names. Fans don’t care because what’s there to care about? The product is, to put it simply, lacking. The few remaining big names are islands in a sea of wiki-less, generic UFC fighters™.

This is the situation Bellator finds the MMA landscape in as the Viacom-0wned promotion starts its 10th season…


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Fans didn’t think it could get worse than UFC 169. Then they watched UFC Fight Night 36—a night of fights so horrid even the technical artistry in the main event bout between Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi couldn’t save it.

The negativity ran deeper than the amount of decisions on the card—which was the most common criticism. A decision doesn’t necessarily equate to a bad fight. But a decision that lacks action and is fought between C and D level fighters who aren’t even known by everyone at their respective gyms, let alone the fans, does equate to a bad fight.

I discussed the recent plague of decisions at length after UFC 169. I concluded that the UFC faced three issues:

1. Fighters that are so evenly matched they negate one another.

2. Fighters have become risk-averse—fearful that one loss will send their contract to the paper shredder. Removing submission and knockout of the night bonuses probably didn’t help spur such fighters on to accomplish great in-cage feats.

3. The baseline quality of the average UFC fighter is far lower than it used to be. The days of elite athletes fighting in the “Super Bowl of MMA” are long gone. Welcome to the age of lowered standards; The UFC needs warm bodies to fill out a Fight Pass card in Djibouti. The term “UFC caliber” means nothing.

For the time being, the UFC seems content to ignore these problems to focus on “World Fucking Domination.” They don’t realize marketing what amounts to UFC-branded regional shows in other countries is losing them their fans in the United States. Just look at TUF’s most recent ratings. Fans simply don’t care about the UFC like they did in the halcyon days days of SpikeTV, Brock Lesnar, and PPVs that didn’t hearken to boxing’s age-old strategy of a good main event preceded by an army of no-names. Fans don’t care because what’s there to care about? The product is, to put it simply, lacking. The few remaining big names are islands in a sea of wiki-less, generic UFC fighters™.

This is the situation Bellator finds the MMA landscape in as the Viacom-0wned promotion starts its 10th season—which features some pretty intriguing tournaments. In fact, I’m looking forward to these tournaments playing out more than I’m looking forward to the slew of upcoming UFC Fight Night cards. True, many of the Fight Night cards have more talent in their main events, but their undercards and prelims are lacking. I have more interest in watching Bellator hopefuls like Goiti Yamauchi, Marcin Held,  Liam McGeary and Bubba Jenkins than I do in watching many nameless fighters hired only to fill air time on prelims and on televised portions of UFC cards.

“But Bellator has a bunch of no-names too,” you say? Fair enough. Bellator’s shows and UFC Fight Night cards are, at the worst of times, both regional events with more pomp; the quality of fighter is, to make a tired reference, virtually identical. But I can watch Bellator’s prelims for free. They aren’t forcing me to buy a half-finished, poorly put together, potentially dangerous digital network to watch fights that belong in a strip club parking lot in Raleigh-Durham.  And, at the risk of dozens of CagePotato commenters calling me “Mat Sackofshit,” I think that free Bellator cards are in some ways more interesting to watch than free UFC cards. Sure, as I mentioned, the UFC’s free cards almost always have better main events than Bellator’s, but the undercard on Bellator’s free events are tournament bouts—and unlike many undercard matches on Fight Night cards, they actually have implications.

And now Bellator might have Gilbert Melendez, giving the organization some much-needed credibility.

Furthermore, Bellator actually encourages their fighters to stand out and develop personalities. Meanwhile, the UFC is trying to generify their fighters as much as possible—not letting them wear masks (unless you’re from a market the UFC wants to reach) and putting them all in uniforms. Case in point: David Rickels’ caveman-themed walkout would’ve never happened in the modern-day UFC.

This isn’t to say that Bellator doesn’t have problems. They have loads. They can’t sell tickets. Their reality show was a bust. Their PPV last year became one of MMA’s most cringeworthy failures, as was their acquisition of Tito Ortiz (signing Rampage Jackson was frowned upon too but at least he made it into the cage). It’s unlikely that any future Bellator PPV will reach any notable or even average heights. Their matchmaking doesn’t correspond with the supposedly sacrosanct tournament system, and they’ve pulled some pretty shady stuff in the past.

Still, Bellator isn’t out of the fight. They’re closer to the UFC’s level than they’ve ever been—and not necessarily because they upped their game, but because the UFC diluted and lowered theirs to the point where a Friday night SpikeTV Bellator card matched (and in some cases exceeded) the entertainment value of a UFC Fight Night card on Fox Sports 1 (or Fox Sports 2, or UFC Fight Pass).

Martial Arts Fail of the Week: Defeat Bullies by Slapping Their Balls (We’re Not Kidding)

(If you wear socks like the male instructor, you will ALWAYS be bullied)

Ever been bullied?

If so, how did you stop your grade-school foes? Did you beat them up with a hat? Stymie them with thousands of spaz punches? Use the force?

What about slapping them in the nuts? What, you’ve never done that!? According to this week’s martial arts fail, that’s one of the key techniques in the fight against bullying.

Seriously, you need to watch this video. Here’s just a short highlight reel of what it includes:

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
-The defense for the all-too-powerful “you’ve got something on your shirt” maneuver.
-“Stun techniques and dirty tricks.”
-Pulling someones hair and then doing absolutely nothing to follow it up.
-Groin-slapping.
-Throwing candy in someone’s face as a self-defense move (I wish I was making this part up).

Please watch the video, it’ll be worth it. We promise. This is the exact kind of horrific, “self-defense” advice that Ben Goldstein and I sought to destroy when we were storming dojos back in the 90s, testing our SAFTA. But as we got up there in years, we decided to purge martial chicanery with articles on a middling MMA website rather than with our fists.

Enjoy!

Thanks to CagePotato reader James Hays for sending us this video. If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected]


(If you wear socks like the male instructor, you will ALWAYS be bullied)

Ever been bullied?

If so, how did you stop your grade-school foes? Did you beat them up with a hat? Stymie them with thousands of spaz punches? Use the force?

What about slapping them in the nuts? What, you’ve never done that!? According to this week’s martial arts fail, that’s one of the key techniques in the fight against bullying.

Seriously, you need to watch this video. Here’s just a short highlight reel of what it includes:

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
-The defense for the all-too-powerful “you’ve got something on your shirt” maneuver.
-”Stun techniques and dirty tricks.”
-Pulling someones hair and then doing absolutely nothing to follow it up.
-Groin-slapping.
-Throwing candy in someone’s face as a self-defense move (I wish I was making this part up).

Please watch the video, it’ll be worth it. We promise. This is the exact kind of horrific, “self-defense” advice that Ben Goldstein and I sought to destroy when we were storming dojos back in the 90s, testing our SAFTA. But as we got up there in years, we decided to purge martial chicanery with articles on a middling MMA website rather than with our fists.

Enjoy!

Thanks to CagePotato reader James Hays for sending us this video. If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected]

Gilbert Melendez (Sorta) Signs With Bellator—But UFC Can Still Match Offer


(Photo via Getty)

Bellator has reached terms with top UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez, in what would be the Viacom-owned promotion’s highest profile signing to date if they can wrest “El Niño” from Zuffa.

Notice the word, “if.”

Find out what the deal is after the jump.

(Photo via Getty)

Bellator and top UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez have agreed to terms in what would be the Viacom-owned promotion’s highest profile signing to date—if they can wrest “El Niño” from Zuffa, that is.

While Bellator and Melendez have an agreement (rumored to be $200k per fight, PPV points, a $25k signing bonus, Spike TV show appearances, AND a role in a Viacom movie), the UFC still holds the rights to match Bellator’s offer. But if the whispers are true, that might be a tall order.

The schism between Melendez and the UFC was made apparent earlier this week when Dana White griped about Melendez’s contract renegotiation.

“It’s not going well,” White told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. “I couldn’t care less about it anymore. I like Gilbert Melendez, I don’t like his management.” White was referring to Rodolphe Beaulieu—Georges St-Pierre’s manager who also manages Melendez. White also advised Melendez to start looking for a job elsewhere. Apparently he heeded White’s counsel. Other Cesar Gracie fighters might start doing the same, if a tweet (which has since been deleted) by Gracie himself is anything to go by.

Melendez informed the world via twitter that he’d divulge more details as soon as plans were settled.

If Melendez finds himself in Bellator, it’ll be a landmark signing for MMA’s perennial runner-up—the first time they poached a relevant, top-10, still-in-his-prime fighter from the UFC. Bellator’s two previous biggest signings—Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz—elicited laughs from the media. Successfully bringing Melendez into the fold will do no such thing.

We’ll provide more updates as we get them.

MMA Fans “Don’t Give a Flying F*ck” About the MMA Media (and That’s a Bad Thing)


(“ARIEL!! ARIEL!! OMG HE TOTES JUST LOOKED IN OUR DIRECTION, YOU GUYS!!” *faints* Photo via Sherdog.)

By Matt Saccaro

A discussion about the MMA media surfaced on r/MMA recently, with the inflammatory title “Why do people on this subreddit refuse to acknowledge that the MMA media is bought and paid for?”

The OP (original poster for those unfamiliar with Internet lingo) linked our Shill ‘Em All series as proof of the media’s misdeeds, and also discussed Zach Arnold’s Fight Opinion piece about the connection between WSOF and Zuffa.

MMA fans responded with apathy and quips. Here three select comments:

1. “Sports journalism should be about the sport, they are covering UFC fighters and fights, you don’t need to be unbiased to write who won a fight and how it looked.

I personally don’t give a flying fuck about what did Dana White do today, so if someone is biased and reports only the good stuff that paints him in a good light or someone is shitting on him I don’t give a fuck either way.

My favorite writer is Jack Slack, and I don’t think he mentioned UFC-s promotional practice or what color DW-s shit is, I read him because he is very good at analyzing fights and fighters, if I wanted to know about contracts, pay and substance abuse I’d go read a real newspaper (or not, given the state of journalism in general).”

2. “Who the fuck cares? Mma media sucks because of blog spam and click baiting, not your bullshit.”

And my personal favorite:

3. “Cagepotato are only bitter because they had their credentials pulled.”


(“ARIEL!! ARIEL!! OMG HE TOTES JUST LOOKED IN OUR DIRECTION, YOU GUYS!!” *faints* Photo via Sherdog.)

By Matt Saccaro

A discussion about the MMA media surfaced on r/MMA recently, with the inflammatory title “Why do people on this subreddit refuse to acknowledge that the MMA media is bought and paid for?”

The OP (original poster for those unfamiliar with Internet lingo) linked our Shill ‘Em All series as proof of the media’s misdeeds, and also discussed Zach Arnold’s Fight Opinion piece about the connection between WSOF and Zuffa.

MMA fans responded with apathy and quips. Here three select comments:

1. “Sports journalism should be about the sport, they are covering UFC fighters and fights, you don’t need to be unbiased to write who won a fight and how it looked.

I personally don’t give a flying fuck about what did Dana White do today, so if someone is biased and reports only the good stuff that paints him in a good light or someone is shitting on him I don’t give a fuck either way.

My favorite writer is Jack Slack, and I don’t think he mentioned UFC-s promotional practice or what color DW-s shit is, I read him because he is very good at analyzing fights and fighters, if I wanted to know about contracts, pay and substance abuse I’d go read a real newspaper (or not, given the state of journalism in general).”

2. “Who the fuck cares? Mma media sucks because of blog spam and click baiting, not your bullshit.”

And my personal favorite:

3. “Cagepotato are only bitter because they had their credentials pulled.”

There were many other comments (and Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter made a guest appearance to dispel the whispers about the WSOF-Zuffa connection) but the three above—specifically the first two—summarize the general sentiment MMA fans had towards the MMA media. Some only care about what happens in the cage. Others really didn’t care much at all outside of maligning the copy + paste websites that litter the landscape.

Regarding the first comment about outside-the-cage stories not mattering: I’m tempted to call fight breakdowns a lost art in MMA, save for the fact that they’re everywhere come fight time. Extremely high quality ones, however, are harder to find. The Reddit commenter who mentioned Jack Slack is right. Slack is by far the greatest assessor of in-cage techniques that has graced the keyboard.

But most fans fail to realize that much of MMA takes place outside the Octagon. Contracts, fighter pay, fighter behavior, PEDs, and other matters have a tremendous impact on the sport. These issues need to be covered. If a fan doesn’t care about these problems, they’re viewing the sport through an Octagonal microscope. What happens during a fight simultaneously matters most and least and in MMA. The fight is the only reason for all the so-called trappings, yet the trappings have such an influence on the fight that they seemingly exceed it in importance and urgency. What’s a fight without promotion and marketing? What’s a fighter without a fair wage and a good contract? What’ll happen to the sport if the UFC doesn’t crack down on TRT? What if Dana White’s heavy-handedness backfires? Question like that matter. If the media isn’t objective about them, they won’t be answered properly, if at all. Abiding by a list of topics you’re not allowed to talk about doesn’t help anyone but Zuffa and the people who shill for them.

This isn’t to say that there’s no good MMA coverage. There’s lots. Recent examples include Brent Brookhouse’s work on the Jessica Eye drug test, as well as Luke Thomas’ criticism of poor fighter pay.

Fans not caring about this kind of stuff is disheartening. While some MMA fans are amazingly passionate and cool, the more vocal fans are awful. Look at their reaction to Tyler Manawaroa’s recent Instagram woes. As Bloody Elbow poster Nick Yidaris said, “the worst part of being an MMA fan is MMA fans”.

A sport’s perception reflects its fans. Is it any doubt then that when major news and culture websites finally give MMA some coverage, it’s usually negative.

Worshiping (or even liking) the media isn’t necessary. But paying attention to it, and reading about all the stories in MMA—not just fight breakdowns, live blogs, and post-event summaries—is crucial.

To harness my inner Dana White, DO YOU WANNA BE A FUCKIN’ MMA FAN? If so, you need to pay attention to everything that happens in MMA, including media matters.

Dear MMA Fans, Tyler Manawaroa’s Racist Instagram Photo Is Not Excusable


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

The comments on any article or message board post about Tyler Manawaroa’s racist Instagram post are an example of why MMA is where it is in terms of the sport’s public perception.

Manawaroa, a fighter on TUF Nations, posted the racist image macro on his Instagram 18 months ago. It was brought to light just recently when fellow TUF Nations member Kajan Johnson tweeted it to his coach, Patrick Cote.

Some fans are responding with apt disgust, while others are showing why society thinks MMA is a crass, sordid sport followed only by skinheads and low-class morons—the kinds of white, suburban idiots who believe in Reptilians, hoard bitcoins in case the shit hits the fan, worship Ron Paul, and think reverse racism is a real thing.

Here are a handful of highlights from the Bloody Elbow article about Manawaroa’s photo, as well as the post about it on r/MMA—Reddit’s MMA locale that’s replaced the UG as the web’s premier destination for MMA discussion and content—as well as the Instagram photo itself:


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

The comments on any article or message board post about Tyler Manawaroa’s racist Instagram post are an example of why MMA is where it is in terms of the sport’s public perception.

Manawaroa, a fighter on TUF Nations, posted the racist image macro on his Instagram 18 months ago. It was brought to light just recently when fellow TUF Nations member Kajan Johnson tweeted it to his coach, Patrick Cote.

Some fans are responding with apt disgust, while others are showing why society thinks MMA is a crass “sport” followed only by skinheads and low-class morons—the kinds of white, suburban idiots who believe in Reptilians, hoard bitcoins in case the shit hits the fan, worship Ron Paul, and think reverse racism is a real thing.

Here are a handful of highlights from the Bloody Elbow article about Manawaroa’s photo, as well as the post about it on r/MMA—Reddit’s MMA locale that’s replaced the UG as the web’s premier destination for MMA discussion and content—as well as the Instagram photo itself:

“So? People can’t be racist at 18?”

“Its [sic] been up for weeks and some attention whore happen [sic] to see it and wants to be noticed. Funny how its [sic] just Americans whinging [sic] and complaining.”

“Haha, sounds like you know everything about this kid based off one picture he posted.”

“It was 18 months ago. Not saying it’s right… but it was 18 months ago.”

“Yeah, lets burn him at the stake!!! Because I am positive that myself or anyone else posting in this thread have never done anything wrong or made an insensitive comment in their lives. Downvote away hypocrites!”

“Oh look an opportunity for all you perfect model citizens to get up on your high horses and act like you never did anything stupid when you were a teenager.”

And my favorite:

“BREAKING NEWS: Teenager posts something stupid on social media!

Seriously, who gives a fuck?”

A guy posts overtly racist pictures (yes, there were more than one) on his Instagram (along with correspondingly racist hashtags) and MMA fans shrug. But who gives a fuck? Fighters are awesome for BEING REAL. Racism is OK because we’re all racist. And besides, he’s JUST A TEENAGER! It’s not like growing up racist will have any impact on his opinions on other groups of people later in life, right? Anyone who gets mad is just a reverse-racist who’s a victim of the pussification of America. And anyone who disagrees with this assessment is just a high-horse, ivory tower, white knight and liar since it’s impossible for someone to not be racist.

This isn’t the first time MMA fans showed their proclivity towards the sordid. Joe Rogan used the slur “faggot” to describe MMA writer Tomas Rios in 2010, an act for which he issued a sarcastic non-apology. A year later, when Rampage Jackson infamously motorboated Karyn Bryant and Yahoo’s Maggie Hendricks called him out, Rogan labeled her “cunty” to the support of MMA fans. And let’s not forget Ronda Rousey tweeting the Sandy Hook conspiracy video and Dana White’s pathetic reaction to it.

Look, other sports have race problems as well as other issues like sexual harassment. But other sports don’t have the historical, “human cockfighting” baggage that MMA does. Football is still esteemed and respected despite players blowing their hearts out to preserve their traumatic brains. Baseball is plagued with PED problems, but it’s still America’s favorite past time.

MMA, at the best of times, is “that UFC shit with the guys rolling around on the floor.” Bad athlete conduct hurts MMA worse than other sports. We can’t tolerate it, nor should we even try to defend it when it’s as egregiously horrific as Tyler Manawaora’s—but I’m sure the UFC’s head of fighter conduct Matt Hughes will deal with the situation accordingly.

Cue people in the comments calling me a liberal pussy.

Update:

Manawaroa has since apologized, saying the following on his Facebook page:

I posted a pic on instagram that has offended people..im very sorry !! As you can imagine that was never the intention. .as a dark skinned person myself who has delt with racism all my life ,I was making fun of the stereotype that all dark people go to jail..which is obviously not true….hence the irony…but I will remove it and I apologize for offending you.

Why Does MMA Care About CM Punk?


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Did you hear? CM Punk might be headed to MMA.

Don’t worry if you haven’t heard until just now, it’s not as if MMA news outlets have been talking about it at all recently.

So, in case you missed it, here’s what happened:

In an interview with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, famed straight edge pro wrestler and former WWE champ CM Punk expressed an interest in taking an MMA fight, as well as thoughts about his doubtful future with the WWE. Punk left the WWE not long after this interview.

To MMA fans and pundits, the urge to connect the dots was too great. Punk departed the WWE shortly after he mentioned MMA. Therefore, he MUST have left the WWE to start fighting.

Cue the insanity.


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Did you hear? CM Punk might be headed to MMA.

Don’t worry if you haven’t heard until just now, it’s not as if MMA news outlets have been talking about it at all recently.

So, in case you missed it, here’s what happened:

In an interview with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, famed straight edge pro wrestler and former WWE champ CM Punk expressed an interest in taking an MMA fight, as well as thoughts about his doubtful future with the WWE. Punk left the WWE not long after this interview.

To MMA fans and pundits, the urge to connect the dots was too great. Punk departed the WWE shortly after he mentioned MMA. Therefore, he MUST have left the WWE to start fighting.

Cue the insanity.

Rampant speculation about CM Punk, his MMA abilities, his MMA “career” and his potential opponent—which many slated as former Power Ranger Jason David Frank since Frank issued a public challenge to Punk—polluted MMA headlines across the Internet.

You know what’s worse? Legit MMA promotions took this seriously. Bellator “expressed at least preliminary interest” in the weather-beaten 35-year-old professional wrestler. WSOF’s bombastic vice president and matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz, too, boarded the CM Punk hype train.

A whole lot of hype for something we knew for years already. In December 2012, Punk admitted that he’d tangle with the Green Ranger in an MMA fight if the opportunity arose. Earlier that year the former WWE superstar discussed potentially entering the MMA landscape.

Where was the egregious amount of hype then?

MMA didn’t need it quite as much when CM Punk first announced that an MMA fight was on his bucket list. There’s just not a whole lot of interest in the day-to-day affairs of MMA like there was in the past. Look at the numbers for the most recent TUF season—they’re horrific. Fans don’t care about low/mid-level UFC fighters and even some high level UFC fighters. We live in an era where one of the only ways to draw big interest (and big traffic) is to tease Brock Lesnar’s UFC return for the umpteenth time. GSP is gone and Zuffa is apparently going to bury him sooner rather than later. Rousey can always generate buzz, but Hollywood is poaching that cash cow. Talking grand about CM Punk fighting for real is one of the only ways to brighten the drudgery of “Two C-level guys got added to some UFC fight pass card in who cares where. Please donate your click” articles.

And regarding Punk’s actual future in MMA, he doesn’t have one. He’s a 35-year-old ex-pro wrestler with no combat sports experience (he’s trained, yes, but hasn’t competed). At best, he’ll participate in a handful of fights that get lots of hype and then retire from competition after fulfilling yet another goal in life while MMA media members roast him, a novice MMA fighter, for looking like a novice MMA fighter.