Author: McKinley Noble

Carlos Condit and 9 UFC Fighters Who Are Unfairly Criticized

Remember when Carlos Condit wasn’t a target?Before he beat up Nick Diaz and sat on the UFC welterweight title, Condit delighted fans and pundits alike with his aggressive style, flashy knockouts and never-say-die brawling style. Fast forward a handful …

Remember when Carlos Condit wasn’t a target?

Before he beat up Nick Diaz and sat on the UFC welterweight title, Condit delighted fans and pundits alike with his aggressive style, flashy knockouts and never-say-die brawling style. Fast forward a handful of months later, and his name is as good as mud with many more fans.

But even with all the gripes, Condit doesn’t deserve the backlash.

He waited for a big money fight with the sport’s biggest pay-per-view draw. Is it fair to fault Condit—a father and 10-year fight veteran—in looking out for his own interests?

No. It’s unfair.

As quickly as we MMA fans praise the fighters we love, we’re just as quick to crucify other fighters for perceived selfishness, egotism, or any other qualities we think we see.

But the matter of fact is simply this—they don’t deserve the hate.

Condit‘s on everyone’s radar simply because he’s competing this Saturday at UFC 154. But here’s nine other past-and-present UFC fighters who should be cut some slack.

Begin Slideshow

Gray Maynard Injured, Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon Set for UFC 155

Injuries, injuries and more injuries.Shortly after announcing that UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin had blown out his knee, the promotion has now revealed that lightweight Gray Maynard is sidelined from his UFC 155 bout with Joe Lauzon.However, this fight …

Injuries, injuries and more injuries.

Shortly after announcing that UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin had blown out his knee, the promotion has now revealed that lightweight Gray Maynard is sidelined from his UFC 155 bout with Joe Lauzon.

However, this fight has a ready replacement.

Jim Miller will be stepping in for Maynard against Lauzon, although it’s uncertain if this bout will remain a title eliminator situation.

Maynard last competed this past June as one-half of the main event at UFC on FX 4, winning a split decision against Clay Guida. Notably, the match was critically panned by fans and pundits alike, as Guida opted to use frantic footwork in order to avoid Maynard’s heavy hands.

Prior to that, Maynard came up short in two bids to take Frankie Edgar’s lightweight title, with a split draw decision at UFC 125 and a fourth-round KO loss at UFC 136.

Miller has also fallen on hard times lately, losing in violent fashion against Nate Diaz by guillotine submission at UFC on Fox 3. Miller’s sitting at 1-2 in his last three matches, with his other loss coming at the hands of current UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson.

UFC 155 will be the promotion’s last event in 2012, taking place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 29th.

It’s unknown what spot Miller vs. Lauzon will take on the card, which is planned to feature a heavyweight title fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez as the main event. Alistair Overeem was originally planned for the bout, but is serving suspension for elevated testosterone levels following a positive drug test.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Shane Carwin Injured, Out of TUF 16 Finale Fight with Roy Nelson

Well, it looks like our suspicions and worries about Shane Carwin have been confirmed.UFC president Dana White has announced that Carwin won’t be making his return at the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter season finale against Roy Nelson.White set things i…

Well, it looks like our suspicions and worries about Shane Carwin have been confirmed.

UFC president Dana White has announced that Carwin won’t be making his return at the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter season finale against Roy Nelson.

White set things in stone via Twitter, saying that the hunt’s officially on to find a new opponent for “Big Country” before the December 15th card:

WOW!! It never ends. Carwin blew his knee out. Looking for a new opponent for Roy on the TUF Finale on FX.

Carwin had actually reported himself injured earlier this year but planned to recover in time for his matchup with Nelson.

That won’t be the case anymore, as this injury will definitively sideline the 37-year-old Carwin for the rest of 2012 and most likely a large chunk of 2013. Carwin last stepped into the Octagon on June 11, 2011, losing a brutal one-sided striking match against current champion Junior dos Santos at UFC 131.

Pickings for a worthy headliner may be slim right now, as several other heavyweights are either injured or already have fights scheduled.

Currently, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale on FX also features a heavyweight bout between Shane del Rosario and Pat Barry. Both men are coming off hard losses, but it’s conceivable that one of them might get the call to step in for Carwin.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Champion GSP Talks About His Worst Jobs, First Time He Had Sex

Georges St-Pierre may be rich, famous and a favorite with the ladies, but his early life is actually full of relatable, miserable experiences.During an interview with AskMen, the returning UFC welterweight champion talked about some particularly uncool…

Georges St-Pierre may be rich, famous and a favorite with the ladies, but his early life is actually full of relatable, miserable experiences.

During an interview with AskMen, the returning UFC welterweight champion talked about some particularly uncool moments in his life, ranging from getting bullied in school to the jobs he used to do in order to pay his university bills.

A lot of the jobs I used to do were terrible. I used to work security in a nightclub, in a hip-hop night club. It was a lot of [fighting], a terrible job. It was a depressing job. I used to work in a grocery store—it was bad. ‘Garbageman! To pay my university [bills], I worked as a garbage man for six months. That was not so bad, actually. That was actually one of my most fun jobs.

But fans of “Rush” likely know those stories very well from several previous interviews and many features about the long-reigning UFC star.

However, AskMen threw GSP a bit of a curveball when the conversation steered towards what he remembered about the first time he ever had sex. True to form, the shy welterweight champion didn’t divulge many details about it, acknowledging it was an awkward affair.

First time I had sex was, uh… (Laughs) I was awesome! (Laughs) I gave the girl five orgasms! No, no, no, I’m kidding. It was like… it was… I would rather not remember it. That’s how bad it was. (Laughs)

Expect the upcoming days to feature many more media rounds as St-Pierre’s return at UFC 154 gains increased interest from the mainstream crowd. After more than 18 months away from the Octagon, the lineal champion will face off against interim champion Carlos Condit in a highly-anticipated title unification match on Saturday, November 17 on pay-per-view.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fuel TV 8 Will Take Place March 2 in Saitama, Japan

Dana White and the UFC are going to be doing a lot of flying this spring.In a rush of announcements from Tuesday’s broadcast of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, the promotion confirmed that their previously revealed Japan card would indeed be a Fuel TV sho…

Dana White and the UFC are going to be doing a lot of flying this spring.

In a rush of announcements from Tuesday’s broadcast of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, the promotion confirmed that their previously revealed Japan card would indeed be a Fuel TV show.

As such, UFC on Fuel TV 8 will take place March 2 at the Saitama Super Arena, just north of Tokyo.

In addition to UFC 157—also announced on Tuesday’s edition of UFC Tonight—that makes six events during a seven-week stretch for the promotion. Only two of them will be pay-per-view, however, giving fight fans’ wallets a brief respite.

Here’s how the busy fight calendar looks for January and February 2013 so far:

  • UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping—January 19, 2013 (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
  • UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson—January 26, 2013 (United Center, Chicago)
  • UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar—February 2, 2013 (Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas)
  • UFC on Fuel TV 7—February 16, 2013 (TBA)
  • UFC 157—February 23, 2013 (Honda Center, Anaheim)
  • UFC on Fuel TV 8 —March 3, 2013 (Saitama Super Arena, Japan)

Like UFC 144, the live UFC on Fuel TV 8 event takes place on a Sunday in Japan, which makes it a Saturday night show for North American audiences. That seemed to work out well enough, as UFC’s first Japan event in over a decade drew an attendance of 20,000.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 157 Booked for February 23 in Anaheim, California

After a year away from Anaheim, the UFC has announced its return to the Honda Center.As confirmed during Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight on Tuesday, UFC 157 will be taking place at the California venue on February 23. No fighters were confirmed for the card…

After a year away from Anaheim, the UFC has announced its return to the Honda Center.

As confirmed during Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight on Tuesday, UFC 157 will be taking place at the California venue on February 23. No fighters were confirmed for the card, although the UFC’s last event in Anaheim featured a heavyweight title fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.

Anaheim is a memorable location for the UFC, as the broadcast for its first network TV title fight averaged 5.7 million viewers with an 8.8 million peak.

UFC 157 will be the second pay-per-view event on Zuffa’s 2013 calendar, following UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar earlier that same month.

Historically, the UFC has seen diminishing returns on hosting events at the Honda Center, with UFC on Fox 1 in particular drawing a record-low attendance for the promotion.

Hence, the numbers for the Honda Center have been a bit spotty over the years.

UFC 121 has been the biggest draw for the Honda Center so far, with a heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez drawing a near-sellout 14,856 attendees and a $2,237,000 live gate. In addition to stellar live-gate numbers, the PPV did over a million buys.

Adjusted for inflation, the highest grossing card would be UFC 59: Reality Check, which drew a crowd of 13,814 and $2,191,450 in ticket sales ($2,515,461 at a 2012 value).

Notably, that card also featured two UFC championship bouts featuring four of the company’s most prominent fighters: Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia and Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com