Author: Michael David Smith

Max Bretos recently took over as the host of ESPN’s MMA Live, but he won’t be hosting that show — or any other — for the next 30 days, after he was suspended on Sunday morning for making a poor choice of words when referring to New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin.

Bretos, who became the MMA Live host after Jon Anik departed ESPN to work for the UFC, was interviewing former Knick Walt Frazier for an ESPNews segment about Lin when he said of Lin, “He’s handled everything very well — as you said, unflappable — but if there is a chink in the armor, where can Lin improve his game?”

The word “chink” as a racial slur is totally unacceptable. A powerful column from Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday articulates that. ESPN was right to fire an ESPN.com employee who used “Chink in the Armor” as the headline over a story about Lin after the Knicks lost for the first time since Lin entered their starting lineup. A headline needs to be thought over and carefully considered, and using such a phrase alongside an image of Lin is appallingly bad judgment.

But in my own opinion, Bretos did not deserve to be suspended. He made an unfortunate choice of words on live television, but I do not believe there was anything racially motivated in what he said. On that front, I agree with Bretos’s colleague Michael Kim, who defended Bretos in a series of messages on Twitter.

“There are thousands of fine, outstanding people at ESPN who I am proud to call colleagues, including Max Bretos,” Kim wrote. “I truly believe it was an unfortunate use of words but I KNOW there was no malice there. That came on live TV. But there’s a different thought process involved with scripts/copy and headlines. Am I disappointed this happened at ESPN? Yes. But…There is no finer place to work. It is a company that has made diversity in its workforce a priority. I am confident we’ll be better because of this in the future. . . . Now if you’ll excuse me, my son and I are going to enjoy rooting for the NBA role model I never had. #Linsanity.”

Shortly before his suspension was announced, Bretos took to Twitter to apologize.

“Wanted 2 apologize 2 all those I have upset. Not done with any racial reference. Despite intention,phrase was inappropriate in this context,” Bretos wrote. “My wife is Asian, would never intentionally say anything to disrespect her and that community. I have learned from this will make every effort to avoid something similar happening again.”

MMA Live is scheduled to return this week at 11 p.m. Eastern on Friday. On Sunday afternoon an ESPN spokesman told MMAFighting.com that the network is looking into the question of who will fill the host’s chair on MMA Live this week.

A fight between two middleweights in need of a win has been added to UFC 146, the annual Memorial Day weekend card in Las Vegas: Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway.

The fight was announced on Saturday evening by the UFC.

“Ultimate Fighter runner-up C.B. ‘The Doberman’ Dollaway has verbally agreed to face recent Ultimate Fighter coach Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller in a middleweight bout at UFC 146 this May in Las Vegas,” UFC President Dana White said in a statement at UFC.com.

Miller is coming off an ugly loss to his opposing Ultimate Fighter coach, Michael Bisping, in the Ultimate Fighter Finale. Miller looked so bad in that fight that White hinted it could be Miller’s last fight in the Octagon, but the UFC has decided to give him another chance. Dollaway went 0-2 in 2011, getting finished by both Jared Hamman and Mark Munoz. The loser of the Miller-Dollaway fight may be out of work afterward.

UFC 146 takes place May 26 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. No other fights have been announced for the card, but it is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem.

Referee Herb Dean was widely criticized after UFC 143 for two decisions he made in two separate fights: His decision to deduct two points from Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres after his second low blow of one fight, and his decision not to deduct any points from Josh Koscheck for an eye poke after being warned.

But the man who oversees Dean and the other referees in Nevada has no problem with Dean’s calls.

Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer told MMAFighting.com that he asked Dean why he took two points — rather than one point — away from Caceres for kicking Edwin Figueroa in the groin, and Kizer was satisfied that Dean had made a well-reasoned decision under the rules of MMA.

“That’s something I asked him about afterward,” Kizer said. “We went through that at the post-fight meeting for UFC 143 and he explained himself from that point of view. It was a situation where [Caceres] had done it, [Dean] gave him a hard warning, the low blow wasn’t just an accident — it was gross negligence, to use a legal term. Sometimes accidental fouls happen, but he thought the fighter was being very negligent or very sloppy, so he gave him a very hard warning and then very soon afterward he did it again. This was a straight-on kick where the fighter had a lot of control over it, he kicked him very hard, the guy was very hurt, you could hear the kick, you could see his reaction when he landed the kick so you could see he was really hurt. The kick was one he could very easily control and the fighter didn’t seem to care.”

From Kizer’s perspective, the most important thing is that Dean had a clear rationale for taking two points away, which was that Caceres’s kick appeared to be either intentional or at the very least in complete disregard of the prior warning, and that Figueroa was hurt by it.

“What I liked from that was Herb’s thinking process makes sense,” Kizer said. “It caused injury — I didn’t know if it was intentional but it was as near as it could be without being intentional — either willful disregard or reckless disregard of the rules and the warning.”

Kizer said he routinely talks to referees after fights to find out what their rationale was for decisions they made in the cage, and the most important thing to Kizer is that the referees show they had a logical thought process, based on the rules of the sport, for what they did.

“It’s the same with a referee when I ask, ‘Why’d you stop a fight or why didn’t you stop a fight?’ I want them to be able to explain themselves in a way that makes sense,” Kizer said. “If Herb had only taken one point away I wouldn’t have had a problem with that, either. If he hadn’t even taken one point that’s a situation where I would have said, ‘Why didn’t you take a point away?’ The wrong answer would have been to ignore it, but the right answer could have been either one point or two points. Herb asked, How much damage was done? A lot. Was this something he could have controlled? Yes, it was a straight on kick. Had I given him a warning? Yes, and he didn’t seem to care.”

Kizer acknowledged that deducting two points in a three-round fight is an incredibly costly penalty, especially to Caceres in that fight: Caceres lost by split decision, with the two judges who ruled against him scoring it 28-27. If Dean had only deducted one point the fight would have been a draw, and if Dean hadn’t deducted any points Caceres would have won by unanimous decision. But Kizer stressed that while it is rare, the rules allow for a two-point deduction.

“If you want to take two points away you can as a ref, you have that discretion. It’s very rarely used — I think it was only Herb’s second time ever,” Kizer said.

As for not taking a point away from Koscheck, Kizer said that didn’t strike him as a bad call.

“I didn’t ask him about that,” Kizer said. “That wasn’t something where I thought to myself, ‘What’s Herb doing?’ Never in that round did I think Herb should take a point away.”

Seeing Dean deduct two points in one fight for a foul following a warning, and then not deduct any points in another fight for a foul following a warning seemed inconsistent, but Kizer said each fight needs to be refereed independently, and refs aren’t in the business of basing a point deduction in one fight on a decision they made in a previous fight.

“I don’t think that if a ref takes a point away in one fight he has to do it in another,” Kizer said. “That’s not the case.”

So while some fans didn’t like Dean’s work in either fight, the man who functions as Dean’s boss when he’s working in Nevada thinks Dean was right on.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and No. 1 contender Rashad Evans will both appear in Atlanta on Thursday afternoon to promote their upcoming UFC 145 title fight, and we’ll carry the live video right here at MMAFighting.com.

Jones and Evans are former friends and training partners who have become heated rivals, and the press conference is sure to contain plenty of heat. UFC President Dana White will also be on hand to oversee the festivities.

UFC 145 takes place on April 21 and marks the UFC’s first fight in Atlanta since UFC 88, when Evans knocked out Chuck Liddell in the main event. That fight established Evans as the No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight division (he would go on to take the title from Forrest Griffin), and at that point Jon Jones had only fought in the UFC once. Much has changed since then.

Thursday’s press conference begins at 1 p.m. Eastern. Check it out below.

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Jake Ellenberger’s UFC on FUEL victory over Diego Sanchez on Wednesday night was an entertaining battle, but it was more than that: It was a demonstration that Ellenberger is one of the best welterweights in the world, and a fighter who’s ready for a title shot.

So let’s not wait. Let’s see that title shot right away. Let’s see Carlos Condit defend the UFC interim welterweight title against Ellenberger as soon as possible.

It’s not so much that Ellenberger is the clear No. 1 contender as that it’s just the right fight to make right now. It makes sense based on timing — Ellenberger and Condit should both be ready to take the fight by the summer — and it also makes sense because Condit and Ellenberger have already fought once, in 2009, and it was a split decision. Condit and Ellenberger had a close 15-minute fight last time. Let’s see if one of them can finish it within 25 minutes this time.

UFC President Dana White said after the fight that he sees Condit waiting to fight until champion Georges St. Pierre is healthy. But Condit said that if GSP won’t be ready to go until November or later he’d be up for fighting again in the meantime, and GSP has said he thinks November is as soon as he’ll be ready. There’s no reason for Condit to be sitting on the sidelines just because St. Pierre is hurt. (Ask Rashad Evans how that usually works out.)

Ellenberger was classy after his victory on Wednesday night, praising Sanchez as a tough opponent. But I wish he had also called out Condit and asked for a rematch. The fans in his native Nebraska would have roared for that, and when the fans ask for a fight, the UFC usually delivers.

Even if Ellenberger isn’t demanding the fight, this is the fight the UFC should book. The UFC has a whole lot of fight cards it needs to fill up on pay-per-view, FOX, FX and FUEL, so it can’t afford to pass up booking great fights. And a great fight is just what an Ellenberger-Condit rematch would be. This is the fight that needs to happen.

UFC on FUEL notes

–I continue to be impressed by the UFC fighters who are commenting on the FUEL, FOX and FX broadcasts. Although Kenny Florian isn’t quite as smooth in his delivery as Joe Rogan, he makes up for that by drawing on his experiences as a professional fighter. As UFC newcomer Bernardo Magalhaes walked out to the Octagon before the first fight, Florian talked about the jitters he felt when he made his own UFC debut at the first Ultimate Fighter Finale. And Brian Stann was outstanding as the studio analyst next to Jay Glazer. In other pro sports leagues we’re accustomed to former athletes offering those types of perspectives on TV broadcasts, but the UFC has rarely had that. Florian and Stann bring something new to the table.

–The planned preliminary fight between UFC newcomers Buddy Roberts and Sean Loeffler was called off at the very last minute when Loeffler suffered an ankle injury while warming up. It’s disappointing for both guys, but it happens. The list of fighters who have pulled out on fight day include Ken Shamrock before his fight with Kimbo Slice, Kevin Randleman before his fight with Pedro Rizzo, Matt Riddle before his fight with Luis Ramos and Alessio Sakara before his fight with Jorge Rivera. Not a list Roberts and Loeffler were hoping to join.

—Jonathan Brookins had every reason to be excited after knocking out Vagner Rocha, but I wish Brookins would have tempered his celebration: Brookins did a backflip in the Octagon, and when he landed the canvas shook while the referee was trying to check on Rocha. It’s not a good idea for one fighter to be jumping around inside the Octagon while another fighter is unconscious, and the UFC should urge fighters to restrain themselves when fallen opponents are being attended to.

UFC on FUEL quotes

–“I was thinking about Sakuraba and just like, ‘What would Sakuraba do in this moment?’ And I did it.”–Ivan Menjivar on how he withstood a barrage of punches from John Albert. Perhaps “What Would Sakuraba Do” will replace “What Would Jesus Do” in the MMA lexicon.

–“Three weeks after the Martin Kampmann fight [Diego Sanchez] was back in sparring. He still had the stitches in his face. The coaches had to tell him, ‘Diego, this probably isn’t a good idea.'”–Brian Stann, discussing how quickly his teammate Diego Sanchez got back to work after his brutal fight with Martin Kampmann last year. Sanchez was under medical suspension and should not have been sparring three weeks after that fight. The coaches were right to tell him not to spar.

–“Anton’s a bad dude. … He’s a tough, physical, guy, hard to take down and hits hard, but once I get in my flow of fighting I’ll be going all day long.”– Justin Salas after his unanimous decision victory over Anton Kuivanen. Salas looked good in his UFC debut.

Good Call

I was glad that two judges gave Tim Means a 10-8 round in his unanimous decision victory over Bernardo Magalhaes, and that all three judges gave T.J. Dillashaw at least one 10-8 round in his unanimous decision victory over Walel Watson, with two judges giving Dillashaw two 10-8 rounds. Judges should award 10-8 rounds more often.

Bad Call

1. Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to see more 10-8 rounds, I can’t imagine how one judge scored a 10-8 round in the Salas-Kuivanen fight. All three rounds were close, and yet one judge scored the fight 29-27, which would mean that judge scored a round 10-8. Hard to understand.

2. Nebraska referee Bo Nesslein was trying a little too hard to create his own catch phrase by starting every round by saying, “Let’s make it hot!” Refs shouldn’t try to make it about themselves, and Nesslein should simply tell the fighters to start fighting.

Stock Up

Lightweight Tim Means looked very good in his UFC debut. Means has great height and reach for a lightweight and was able to use it effectively to keep Magalhaes at bay and batter him with jabs, and I particularly like the way Means uses punches to the head to set up punches to the body. Means had 20 pro fights before making his UFC debut, mostly in King of the Cage, and he looked very comfortable and ready to do big things inside the Octagon.

Stock Down

Aaron Simpson landed one hard uppercut in the first round of his split decision loss to Ronny Markes, but after that Simpson didn’t impress me at all: Simpson has a good wrestling pedigree, but it was Markes who was controlling Simpson in the clinch and on the ground. After going 3-0 in 2011, Simpson is off to an unimpressive start in 2012.

Fight I Want to See Next

Ellenberger-Condit 2. When they fought last time, two judges scored it 29-28 for Condit, and one judge scored it 29-28 for Ellenberger. Condit is 4-0 since then and Ellenberger is 6-0 since then. The time for the rematch has come.

A back-and-forth 15-minute main event on Wednesday night ended in Jake Ellenberger taking a decision over Diego Sanchez in the first UFC on FUEL card.

It was an excellent fight featuring two of the sport’s top welterweights, and it was a good display of both Ellenberger’s great skill and Sanchez’s tremendous heart. Ellenberger was the better fighter in the Octagon, but Sanchez deserves credit for making it through 15 minutes.

In the end, the judges all agreed that Ellenberger had won the first two rounds and Sanchez had won the third, and the scorecards were unanimous, 29-28.

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Ellenberger had the crowd on his side in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and they carried him through a close first round in which both men had their share of effective strikes. Ellenberger knocked Sanchez down with a punch, and that knockdown may have been the difference in a close round.

In the second round Sanchez appeared to grow more frustrated as Ellenberger continued landing punches and then moving out of Sanchez’s range. With a minute left in the round, Ellenberger ducked under a Sanchez punch and executed a takedown, and he landed some big elbows from the top, clearly winning the second round.

Sanchez wouldn’t go down without a fight, and in the third round he did some damage to Ellenberger in the striking exchanges. Ellenberger took Sanchez down with just over a minute to go in the round and appeared to be in good position to ride out the victory, but Sanchez did a sensational job of transitioning into a dominant position and pounding away on Ellenberger. Sanchez had Ellenberger in big trouble as the third round drew to a close, but he wasn’t able to finish the fight, and Ellenberger held on for the decision.

“Diego’s known for that — he’s the toughest guy I’ve ever fought and he’s a true warrior,” Ellenberger said. “It’s an honor to fight him.”

It’s an honor for UFC fans to watch Ellenberger. He’s a future title contender, but he demurred when asked if he wanted to call out interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit.

“I’m not sure, that’s up to the UFC,” Ellenberger said.

Ellenberger is willing to wait for his title shot, but he won’t have to wait too long. Ellenberger has the talent and the toughness to be a champion.