Author: Mike Chiappetta

‘The Grass Is Greener’: UFC-to-Bellator Signees Speak Out

For one UFC fighter, a conversation with one of the UFC’s top executives sealed his already-evolving decision to test free agency. 
The two sides had been engaged in a discussion regarding issues related to the Reebok sponsorship deal when the fig…

For one UFC fighter, a conversation with one of the UFC’s top executives sealed his already-evolving decision to test free agency. 

The two sides had been engaged in a discussion regarding issues related to the Reebok sponsorship deal when the fighter tried to punctuate his point by reminding the executive that the 500-plus fighters on the roster are the UFC’s product. As he recounts it, the executive looked at him quizzically before responding that, no, the production and show are what the company is selling. 

The fighter could not believe what he was hearing.

“Without us, all you have is a cage, cameras and lights,” he recalled saying, before the conversation continued in circles, ultimately ending in no resolution.

This is the type of story you sometimes hear behind the scenes or read reported through anonymous sources, but the shifting dynamics of MMA free agency have changed both the opportunities available to fighters, as well as the sport’s power structure. As a result, athletes now have alternative options and an increasing willingness to voice their collective concerns.

That conversation, which heavyweight star Matt Mitrione told Bleacher Report took place between him and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, was just one of many things that Mitrione said led to his decision to hit the open market, where he eventually signed a multifight deal with Bellator, the company that has firmly established itself as the UFC’s top rival for talent. 

Over the last 12 months, the movement of fighters from UFC to Bellator has not been a full exodus, but it may well qualify as a movement. Aside from Mitrione, Phil Davis, Josh Thomson and Benson Henderson are among the big names ranked within the Top 15 of their respective divisions who have bolted the Octagon for what they hope will be greener pastures, making free agency one of the key stories of 2016.

The motivations behind the shifting attitude are multitudinous. From sponsorship money losses in the wake of the Reebok deal to contract-exclusivity concerns to simple economics to athlete treatment, more and more athletes are citing reasons to fight out their contracts and test the market, something that was virtually unheard of just a few years ago.

“The MMA business is very similar to the NFL business,” said Mitrione, who played with the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants during a four-year pro football career. “There’s no promise of loyalty. If you’re not expecting the business aspect of things, you’ll get your feelings hurt. I guess I’m the same way. I’m hurt because I displayed loyalty and none was given back. I guess it’s just human nature to expect to give and to get back, but that’s not the case when it comes to sports. When you know you have a value and you’re worth something to them, you’ve got to monetize it. I’ve got to capitalize, and it’s not fair to be criticized because I want to capitalize on it.”

While free agency is as common as winning and losing in most major sports, mixed martial arts has had only one premier league over the last decade, and few have dared to stray from it, partially because of a dearth of available options but also because of fear. For the longest time, UFC has been No. 1, and few want to cross No. 1 and risk future earnings potential. It’s better to stay where you are and hope to work your way up the ladder toward the bigger money.

For Davis, whose signing last April opened the floodgates to Bellator, it was a simple, practical determination that spurred him to free agency.

He had just hit his 30th birthday and acknowledged the small window for being a professional athlete. And since at the time it had been so unusual to see a top free agent hit the market (he was then ranked No. 7 in the UFC’s rankings), he banked on the novelty of the situation playing into his favor as a complementary factor.

“That’s the thing with going first,” he said. “Even if there was no demand, because I was one of few guys to have ever really done that, the more talked about it was, the more it kind of created demand. But honestly, I think it’d be silly not to look into free agency. You need to make the most money while your body holds up and you’re sharp and in your prime. If there’s a competing market out there for yourself, it’s up to you.

“Supply and demand. It’s silly to limit yourself to only one marketplace.”

While that is literally Economics 101 stuff, it is often ignored in the world of fight sports, where ego often trumps objective thinking when it comes to career arcs. 

Consider, for example, how many fighters enter the UFC with just a handful of fights, often against the wishes of trainers who know they need more polish. Others take risky short-notice fights without requesting additional compensation or a guarantee they won’t be cut with a loss. 

“Some people are so brainwashed,” Mitrione said. “They say, ‘How dare you think about business like that?’ If you cite money, you’re a greedy pig. If you cite anything else, you’re a scared p—y. It’s crazy. The thing is, the UFC has become bigger than the sport, and what’s bad about that is so many people want to be in the UFC that everyone else is an afterthought. There are guys in smaller organizations that their only goal is ‘I want to go to the UFC.’ And I’ll tell them there might be more money in another place. And they’ll say, ‘It doesn’t really matter. That’s my goal.’ But once people get to the UFC, they might get the disenchantment of what’s going on. If you’re a veteran in the UFC, you’ll see it.”

“Being famous and being in the UFC doesn’t do you any good if you can’t capitalize on it and monetize it realistically,” he continued. “It’s not feasible for the most part. They took so much money from us and so much revenue-earning potential from us, it changed the entire landscape of everything. I don’t understand why anyone would re-up with the UFC unless they’re still caught up in the glamour of being in the UFC.” 

The glamour is one thing, but even those who have left acknowledge the earnings potential at the top of the roster is huge. Recently, though, hoping for the jackpot payday and abstract promises has not been enough for some. 

“When you talk about backroom bonuses and discretionary bonuses, they’re awesome, they’re cool, but it’s not a steady salary, it’s not promised,” Henderson told Bleacher Report. “Some guys never get a bonus. It’s all at the whim of the higher-ups. And you shouldn’t have a problem paying your mortgage because of the whim of the higher-ups, because they didn’t feel your fight was worthy of a bonus.

“That struck me as wrong. It’s not right at all. Fighters are professional athletes. As much as we sacrifice, we shouldn’t have to live hoping that we get a bonus, hoping that we did enough to impress them.” 

“I can’t base my livelihood on how much you like me,” Thomson added. “You hear, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll take care of you.’ I can’t do that. When it comes down to paying bills and they say they’ll take care of you, you should be real careful in that situation. I needed to have it where I know I get this much money. I get that now. I know what the numbers are. Your bills don’t give a crap if you get a backroom bonus or not. Your bills are coming the same either way.”

Several fighters cited the restrictive sponsorship deal signed between the UFC and Reebok as a factor in their decisions to test the market. The deal, signed in December 2014, disallowed any personally acquired in-cage sponsorships for athletes, giving Reebok the prime real estate on athlete uniforms. 

While UFC fighters are still allowed to court sponsors, the inability to display those sponsorship logos on uniforms during fight week and fight night has caused many companies that formerly sponsored UFC fighters to either stop or funnel their ad dollars to fighters in other promotions, including Bellator, that don’t have such restrictions.

The disbursement of Reebok money has also ruffled some. The deal is valued at six years and $70 million, but that figure includes the cost of product given to fighters and their teams during fight week. So, for example, someone such as noted trainer Greg Jackson, who corners multiple fighters on many cards, will receive uniforms for each fighter he corners, with the cost coming out of the contract. In addition, the UFC hired an administrative team to oversee its uniform code, and the administrative fees are part of the cost of the contract.

All of those hidden costs take away from the actual cash dispensed to the athletes.

“Fighters are smart, and we know there’s only that limited time we can make money,” said Henderson, who makes his Bellator debut on April 22 against welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov. “If you have other options now where we can make good money and make sponsorship money—so not only are you going to make as much as you made in the other organization, but on top of that, you’ll make a good chunk of change in sponsorships once again—why would you not do that?”

Mitrione was more blunt regarding the deal the UFC made without athlete input.

“They steal from your left and your right pockets and you’re stuck there. Not to be incredibly crass—but you’re stuck there with your d–k in your hand. I was doing what was expected from me, and they okey-doked me. They pulled the chair out from underneath me.”

To be clear, fighters in the UFC have a significantly higher ceiling as far as earnings go, mostly due to the company’s many revenue streams and pay-per-view model. Most champions, for instance, receive a portion of pay-per-view revenue based on a sliding scale that increases as buys increase.  

At UFC’s last show—UFC 196—it is believed at least three fighters made seven-figure paydays: featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who received the first guaranteed $1 million show purse in UFC history, Holly Holm, who made a $500,000 show purse, and Nate Diaz, who also made a $500,000 show purse. Based on comments about total earnings, both McGregor and Holm receive pay-per-view points, which means their compensation was probably multiple times their reported pay. Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White told ESPN Radio’s Russillo and Kanell (h/t Fancy MMA) that Diaz also made “millions of dollars,” ostensibly on the strength of a bonus.

But those paychecks remain outliers. For most of the hundreds on the roster, their salaries depend on base pay, with a bonus paid out for a win as well as the possibility of the aforementioned, undocumented bonuses paid at management’s discretion. 

At least one fighter told Bleacher Report that the UFC uses those bonuses as leverage in regular contract negotiations.

“I couldn’t tell you what it was like to do business with the UFC, because there never was a business side of it as far as, there is no negotiation,” Thomson said. “There were times we’ve heard there’s talks and negotiations, but you really don’t need a manager because, ‘This is the deal you’re going to get.’ There’s been talks like, ‘Sure, you can negotiate for an extra two or three grand, but don’t expect to get any backroom bonuses.’ So then you question, is it really even worth negotiating that extra two or three grand?”

While Henderson said he was well taken care of when it came to UFC bonuses, particularly during his time as UFC lightweight champion, he said free agency was a way of ensuring organizations would bring their best offers to the table. That’s something that’s not nearly as likely to happen when an organization isn’t bidding against anyone.

He recalled, for example, the time around the end of 2010 when the UFC absorbed WEC.

“I don’t want to say I was strong-armed, but I wanted to fight out my WEC contract because it wasn’t as high as some of the UFC guys,” he said. “I wanted to fight that out and hopefully increase my value to my company and get a bigger payday, but I wasn’t really allowed to do that. It was like, ‘Nope, here’s your contract. You’ve got to sign it.'”

Because the vast majority of the roster exists in that kind of space with little leverage, there is little question that frustrations regarding contract status and salary information abound. 

Thomson, for example, said he decided to head for free agency when he deduced the UFC was no longer interested in pushing him as a lightweight title candidate. This was nothing explicitly told to him; he simply had to guess the thoughts of the higher-ups based upon their booking of him.

“If you want to be smart about decisions, every fighter should fight out their contract and see what the free market has to offer,” he said. “Even if one promotion doesn’t love you, another may promote the crap out of you and make you a superstar. We’ve heard for years from Dana White’s own mouth that Nate Diaz wasn’t a needle-mover. As we know now, that’s a bunch of B.S. At contract time, those are the kinds of things you’re going to hear. You can’t let that stuff distract you.”

Recently, No. 1-ranked welterweight Rory MacDonald became the latest to announce a willingness to test the free-agency waters, telling Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (h/t MMAFighting.com): “I really sacrificed, and I took a lot of chances. I did a lot of favors, I felt like, for the UFC, and I don’t think it got returned. So now it’s all about making money, and whoever wants to pay me the most is where I’ll go.”

Despite his lofty standing, in his last fight at UFC 189—a savage, five-round thriller largely considered the best fight of 2015—MacDonald earned a disclosed salary of just $59,000, per MMAFighting.com. 

With Bellator focused on international expansion in 2016, with shows already scheduled for Italy, Israel and the U.K., the promotion would almost certainly target him if he hits the open market. And given Canada’s strategic importance for the UFC as well as his age—he’s still just 26—MacDonald stands to be perhaps the most coveted free agent that MMA has yet seen.

But who knows who else will be right behind him?

Henderson told Bleacher Report that at least 15 current UFC fighters have already contacted him to hear his feedback on dealing with Bellator, including “a couple” of UFC champions. Davis said he gets questions all the time, sometimes through text or even Instagram.

“They ask me things like, ‘Hey, Phil, there’s nothing crazy on that side of the fence, right?'” he said. “They just want to make sure it’s straightforward business.”

For the most part, the fighters say it is. 

Through the years, Bellator President Scott Coker has gained a reputation as a straight-shooting, fighter-friendly promoter who both privately and publicly treats athletes with respect.  

“For me, dealing with Scott and [matchmaker] Rich [Chou] the first time, it was a little bit of a breath of fresh air,” Henderson said. “They were super up-front, transparent and honest about where they were coming from. With some other people, it’s like, ‘This is how it is, and this is how it’s going to be done.’ There’s no discussion. Scott, Rich and [consultant] Mike Kogan were super open to discussing things. They had openness, forthrightness, transparency. That’s not something you get in most negotiations, I suppose, but especially in MMA.” 

“UFC is run on a need-to-know basis,” said Thomson, who faces Michael Chandler at Bellator 154 on May 14. “It’s like, ‘You’re talent, we’re the promotion.’ For me, the grass is greener on the other side. Obviously, I have a relationship with Scott, but we were able to negotiate things.

“Can we have an extra hotel room for main events? Can we have one extra flight for main events? Can we increase our per diem? Those might sound like little things, but it wasn’t ‘This is what it is—take it or leave it.’ Those are important for fighters. You want to feel appreciated and taken care of. And when they say, ‘Let’s give you that because we believe in you,’ that makes you want to fight and perform so much better.”

Whether that ends up in a more exciting product is a matter of subjective observation, but there is no disputing the competition has been meaningful on several fronts. Most notably, Bellator has upgraded its roster, and fighters have a point of leverage for contract negotiations. But even for the UFC, it represents a chance to reassess many points, from contracts to sponsorships to talent.

No company has unlimited resources, but for a long time, the UFC’s power was mostly unchecked. Now, even it will have to face decisions with sharper focus as Bellator encroaches on its market share. For now, the UFC has been gracious to most of its departing free agents, chalking the losses up to business. But the market leader didn’t reach this point without a mile-wide competitive streak. How it manifests itself remains a question mark. Quite recently, it struck back by re-signing two major free agents, Alistair Overeem and Aljamain Sterling.

“Probably over the next couple years or so, there will be a lot of guys testing free agency and making the UFC offer good, upstanding contracts, making sure the UFC brings its best to the table,” Henderson said. “That’s all fighters really want. We want the best deal brought to the table, whether it’s Bellator, UFC, ONE or World Series of Fighting. UFC is a super-smart, multibillion-dollar business, and I imagine it will see the threat of not bringing its best to the table, so I imagine it will.”

If it doesn’t, the story of free agency is bound to continue taking twists and turns. 

“Each fighter has to be able to sit down and have some honest conversations regarding ‘Who am I, what skills do I bring to the table and what value do I have on the open market?'” said Davis, who fights Muhammed Lawal in a No. 1 contender’s fight on May 14. “Here’s the thing: You don’t want to risk an opportunity and stay where you are and be a disgruntled employee. There’s room to competitively market yourself in a way that makes you more valuable without ruffling too many feathers. That’s something I wish guys would explore just to, as a whole, raise the value of the fighter.”

“The reality of it, and this is going to sound kind of strange, is that fighters are not used to being professional athletes,” Henderson said. “Some of these guys are just enamored with being popular and famous. There are things that those guys have to start to think about more. Here’s what matters to me: doing the best I can for myself and my family, having a nice house, being able to retire. When fighters start thinking about those things, everything changes.”

For now, UFC still stands as the top promotion, which is not likely to change any time soon. It is too established and too steeped in not just the fight world but in pop culture. But even as the company stands atop the MMA landscape, Bellator sits one rung below the UFC, patiently chipping away. 

Prizefighting may be big business, but it’s a small world, and the athletes are talking. They say that free agency isn’t just fleeting chatter. It’s a deep, momentous, public conversation, and it’s only getting louder.

 

Mike Chiappetta is a Senior MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has covered the sport for a decade. He can be found on Twitter at @MikeChiappetta.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Benson Henderson Prepares for Bellator Debut with Weight of Expectations

Of all the names that have bolted to Bellator from the UFC, Benson Henderson is the one that most surprised the mixed martial arts establishment. On a win streak, and upon increasing his value by fighting up a division, the former UFC lightweight champ…

Of all the names that have bolted to Bellator from the UFC, Benson Henderson is the one that most surprised the mixed martial arts establishment. On a win streak, and upon increasing his value by fighting up a division, the former UFC lightweight champion jumped ship to claim more job security and more guaranteed money, confirming that, yes, Bellator could indeed compete for any major free agent the market might deliver.

If his departure didn’t send a seismic shockwave down the dividing lines of the sport, it clearly signaled that Bellator is the most serious competitor the UFC has faced since the demise of Strikeforce.

Next up: proving he was worth the investment. Bellator‘s three non-tentpole shows thus far in 2016 have averaged 689,000 viewers, according to MMA Report statistics—a number it no doubt hopes to improve upon when Henderson takes on reigning welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 153 on April 22.

And this is where things get tricky for Henderson. He is supposed to win now. Coming from the UFC as a former champ, he is expected to steamroll the competition, even if that expectation mostly stems from either an unfamiliarity with Bellator talent or a predisposed bias toward the UFC.

Pressure? It’s on.

“I’ve envisioned that first walkout to the Bellator cage 300 or 400 times already in my head,” he told Bleacher Report. “I do a lot of visualization, so I’ve already done that. I think it will be a little bit different, but I think afterward is when it will really strike me. I think during the thing, I’m so into the moment, so focused on what I need to do and getting myself prepared, I don’t think it will have so much effect on me walking out. But afterward, I think I’ll look back on the experience and I’ll have a different feeling.”

After a lengthy stretch of fighting the biggest names in the smaller weight classes—Nate Diaz, Frankie Edgar, Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis, just to name a few—Henderson (23-5) is used to facing down and excelling in the toughest moments. But his future battles may require a bit of a perspective shift for both him and the fans.

The days of the marquee-name opponents may have to wait a bit; instead, he gets a foe short on name value but long on toughness. 

“I did not know about him,” Henderson admitted of Koreshkov. “The first I heard about him was when he beat Douglas Lima and he won the belt [last July]. So being a fan of MMA, I heard about him then. But not a super well-known individual. [A record of] 18-1 with his only loss to Ben Askren, who’s about as tough as they come. So for Andrey Koreshkov to have only that one loss speaks a lot. 

“He lost to Askren because he got out-grappled,” he continued. “I feel he beat Douglas Lima because he out-grappled him. That’s super smart. That’s super hard to do and shows how young he is in the sport and how much he’s growing in a short time period. He’s been able to adapt and grow. It shows how tough and smart he is.”

In some ways, Henderson’s life is setting up perfectly for this kind of shift. Most of the last few months, for instance, have been about new beginnings. First, a son, Kyung, was born last August. Then, he got a new employer, moving from the UFC to Bellator. And even now, he is in the process of signing a new management deal with KHI Management, the firm started by NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick.

Mostly, this all-around renaissance is all related. As anyone with children knows, becoming a parent for the first time has a way of changing your worldview.

“For sure, absolutely 100 percent,” he said. “The way I looked at it as a father and an athlete,  I asked myself, ‘What would all these high-end athletes and business people do?’ They hold themselves to the highest standard. They value themselves to the utmost. So you have to do what’s best for your family. Having a son, I had to think, ‘What’s best for him? How am I going to take care of him 20 years down the line?’ I’m only going to be fighting for a handful more years, so I definitely have to take advantage of this window.”

Bellator is likely to give him every opportunity to do so. While Koreshkov and the welterweight belt are his current target, he has proven his ability to be successful at either 170 or 155 pounds. So theoretically, he could attempt to capture two belts at once in a major promotion, an accomplishment not seen since Dan Henderson held the 183- and 205-pound belts in PRIDE almost a decade ago.

“I’m not too worried about that,” he said. “My focus is Koreshkov at 170. I’m not thinking about 155. I’m not thinking about two belts. Of course I have my long-term goals, but first things first, and that’s getting my hand raised the next fight. I have to make sure that happens. That needs to happen. I have to make sure that happens.”

Press a little, though, and Henderson acknowledges that he would be willing and able to fight at either weight; that he might be open to that elusive chase.

“I think I can do a decent job with that,” he said. “I’m definitely going to be either a smaller 170-pounder or bigger 155-pounder. I need to hang around at my natural weight. I have to be on point. It can be a bit of a drag, but it’s doable.”

But first things first, he reminds again. The expectations are already coming, and he knows he can’t stop everyone’s projections and predictions. They are big and bold, but in the most meaningful way, and that is: Henderson’s arrival means so many different things. For Bellator, it’s a new look. For Henderson, it’s a new start. For the fight world, the landscape is shifting, and suddenly, anything is possible.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Trials of Jon Jones: Is He in Danger of Losing the Prime of Career?

Jon Jones dodged another major career hurdle Thursday, when a New Mexico Judicial District Court judge added new provisions to his existing court probation but declined any harsher conditions including jail time.
Still, Judge Michael E. Martinez didn&r…

Jon Jones dodged another major career hurdle Thursday, when a New Mexico Judicial District Court judge added new provisions to his existing court probation but declined any harsher conditions including jail time.

Still, Judge Michael E. Martinez didn’t let Jones out of his sight without firing off a final warning. Should the former UFC light heavyweight champion return to his courtroom before the end of his probation, “it won’t go well” for him.

With that, Jones is a free man and can return to the business of attempting to recapture the belt that was stripped from him last April. But is it really that simple?

Bleacher Report colleagues Jonathan Snowden and Chad Dundas join me to discuss Jones’ ongoing problems, why he can’t seem to get out his own way and whether we should be concerned he is going to flush away his prime.

 

Mike Chiappetta: Over the years, I have probably written as glowingly about Jones as anybody has, and though I generally don’t care how anyone conducts their private lives, I acknowledge that his continual ability to find trouble does not portend well for him.

Since January 2009, which is roughly when he first came into public consciousness, he has had multiple run-ins with the law, including two arrests. But in the last 18 months alone, he’s failed a drug test for cocaine, did one day in rehab, fled the scene of a hit-and-run and then, after avoiding jail time, been cited for driving violations on two separate occasions.

At this point, we can say his behavior fits a pattern. He has spoken repeatedly about changing and improving himself, but his actions don’t match his words. The video (warning: NFSW language) of his most recent trouble is all you need to know. Regardless of the police officer’s antagonistic comments, Jones has to understand he is under the microscope and act accordingly, but he can’t seem to help himself. Regardless of what’s at stake, he’s been unable to make and maintain the positive changes necessary to keep his career and life in order. Even if you’re rooting for him to succeed as I am, those aren’t good signs.

 

Chad Dundas: Indeed, all three of the writers in this piece could most accurately be described as pro Jones—I know I have been throughout his career. At times it has seemed like he couldn’t win with a certain subset of MMA fans, who simultaneously charged him with being “fake” and “arrogant” and then blamed him for the cancellation of UFC 151 despite the fact that the UFC should have shouldered most of the criticism. For a long time—and for lack of a better word—I felt bad for Jones.

At this point, though, he’s given his detractors plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike him. Even though the Albuquerque courts are content for now to continue letting him off easy, it does feel like we’re treading into dangerous territory here. One more slip-up and Jones could lose a good chunk of the prime of his career to another suspension, jail time or worse.

And look, I’m not a person who needs Jones to be “likable” or “relatable.” I just need him to be free and to be an active UFC fighter. To lose a guy this talented to personal demons would be a tragedy. I can’t imagine it, even though the continuing and perhaps escalating chaos in Jones’ personal life does make it seem like it’s only a matter of time before he gets himself in trouble again.  

 

Jonathan Snowden: I understand there is reason for concern here. This isn’t an isolated incident, and maybe, at least when behind the wheel of a car, Jones doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

At the same time, this latest brouhaha is nothing more than a traffic ticket. Most of us have had the displeasure of seeing those ominous flashing lights behind us and ultimately been forced to write a hefty check to help fund some local government initiative or police barbecue.

But we aren’t remotely famous. When we get a ticket, even if we smart off to the cop, it doesn’t become national news. In this, at least, Jones is a victim, both of his success and his past.

In a bad movie there would be scary music playing. Jones, like all troubled celebrities on celluloid, would be approaching that moment of reckoning. Lessons, finally, would be learned.

In real life, however, some men just don’t want to change. Since Jack Johnson inflamed America’s passions in and out of the ring, plenty of fighters have been attracted to fast cars and faster women.

It’s what makes them fighters and not accountants. That thing inside of them, that little voice encouraging them to test limits and boundaries, is the same set of impulses that leads them into the cage against the baddest men on the planet.

Perhaps Jones is who we thought he was—and maybe that’s exactly who he needs to be to succeed.

 

Chiappetta: Maybe you’re right, Jonathan. Maybe he simply can’t turn off the boldness and risk-taking when the lights go down. As you mentioned, he wouldn’t be the first. After all, it’s hard for men who find their best selves in chaos to live in quiet. Still, it’s difficult to accept that as an excuse for sometimes bad and occasionally dangerous behavior.

He’s a grown man, 28 years old, a father and a successful athlete. He has a lot to lose, and much of it is on the line. 

Behind the headlines, Jones is smarter and more sensitive than most people know. I cannot imagine he is proud of this recent stretch of his life. I can imagine he wants to do better. For so long, he’s proved himself capable of reaching new levels inside the professional arena. Here’s hoping he can do the same in his personal life.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

As MMA Celebrates Long-Awaited New York Passage, a Word of Caution

With one last showing of absurdity, the New York State Assembly finally passed a bill that will pave the way for legalizing mixed martial arts within the state. Only the governor’s signature and the adoption of rules stands in the way of cagefighting i…

With one last showing of absurdity, the New York State Assembly finally passed a bill that will pave the way for legalizing mixed martial arts within the state. Only the governor’s signature and the adoption of rules stands in the way of cagefighting in Madison Square Garden.

No lie, during this official government meeting, one Assemblyman described MMA as “gay porn with a different ending.” Another compared the spectacle with public hangings. Yet another saw parallels to slavery.

I’ll be the first to admit that MMA‘s overt violence is not for everyone, but this Assembly hearing made me feel far more uneasy than any of the hundreds of combat sports events I’ve attended. All across America, government is broken, with few functional bodies.

And not to rain on anyone’s parade, but while MMA celebrates this long-anticipated passage, we must stop for a second to recognize that some of these same uninformed voices who shoot the sport down in ignorant ways will be the same ones to sanction it.

That is how we end up with the problems that are so prevalent in athletic commissions around the country and the world.

These days, almost every event delivers some bizarre judges’ decision or refereeing error that leaves careers irrevocably harmed. And in most cases, there is little accountability or transparency. 

You don’t even have to go back very far in time to find events that simply boggle the mind.

Just last month, the Colorado Boxing Commission approved 68-year-old Ann Perez de Tejada to fight a 24-year-old opponent. Not surprisingly, she lost via TKO in less than 90 seconds. 

Around the same time, down in Texas, the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulation that oversees MMA saw fit to sanction a Bellator main event matchup between legends Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, combined age: 101.

And it licensed a featured combatant, Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris, who was 38 years old, had only two pro fights in his career, had not fought in five years and had never before competed in a major promotion. 

While Bellator scored with monster ratings, it was not exactly a shining example of regulatory diligence from Texas. Harris nearly died after suffering cardiac arrest immediately following the fight, according to documentary filmmaker Billy Corben; meanwhile, Shamrock flunked a drug test, testing positive for nandrolone and methadone, according to MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi.

While Colorado might be excused as relatively inexperienced due to a light-slate events—even though, really, how hard is it to tell a near-septuagenarian that no, she cannot continue to professionally fistfight forever?—and Texas is widely regarded as the wild west of “regulation,” even many far more established state commissions make terrifically poor decisions.

Take, for instance, Nevada, the state that is supposed to set the gold standard for athletic commissions due its long history in combat sports. Even within the last few months, you can examine its treatment of Nick Diaz and Wanderlei Silva to see that.

Last September, the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) banned Diaz for five years for a third positive marijuana test, a penalty that surpassed its own rules and guidelines. A few months later, threatened by a possible lawsuit, NAC relented, reducing the penalty to 18 months without comment, apology or explanation.

Silva, meanwhile, nearly saw his career ended after NAC hit him with a lifetime ban for evading a drug test, a penalty later reduced to three years after a lawsuit. While Silva’s crime was far more serious and egregious than Diaz‘s, again, NAC showed its power-hungry streak while overhauling its penalty guidelines, determining that avoiding a test would be a more serious offense than testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

For your first offense of avoiding a test, you might say goodbye to as much as four years of your career; for shooting up with steroids, your first offense will cost you three years at most. The recommended penalty is 33 percent greater for the former than the latter. 

By comparison, World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines have the same penalty—four years—for both. Ostensibly, NAC‘s message is that messing with them is worse than messing with PEDs.

All this is not to say that New York sanctioning is a bad thing. The sport deserves to be in every market, and this opens up the biggest media market in the world. It should be a boon for several athletes who have worked so hard to carve out a living.

But we must be prepared to take the bad with the good. State-by-state sanctioning has helped legitimize the sport, but it has also offered innumerable headaches. Judging and refereeing are uneven. Rule sets and regulations differ. Oversight ranges from virtually nonexistent to overbearing. Enforcement and penalties are often scattershot. 

There’s a reason that after years of Dana White offering “We’re tested by the government!” as the UFC’s official stance on fighting PEDs, the promotion dug into its pockets to hire USADA to implement random year-round testing. And that reason is that time after time, commissions have proven they are not good enough. Yes, they are hamstrung by budgets—but often by incompetence, too. 

Where New York stands on the spectrum of effectiveness remains to be seen, but if its Assembly hearing is any indication of what is to come, expect the best, but prepare for plenty of absurdity.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Question: Does Conor McGregor Owe His Division More Than a Diaz Rematch?

Conor McGregor won the UFC featherweight title in December, so he’s three months into his reign, and yet there is little clarity on whether he has any intention of returning there to defend the belt.
His coach is on record as not wanting him …

Conor McGregor won the UFC featherweight title in December, so he’s three months into his reign, and yet there is little clarity on whether he has any intention of returning there to defend the belt.

His coach is on record as not wanting him to continue making the hellacious weight cut, and even UFC President Dana White has voiced doubts about it. More recently, a rumor from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani suggested that McGregor would move straight to a welterweight rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 200.

To which we respond, “…interesting.” The two undoubtedly put on a great show—and generated a monster buyrate—the first time around, but what exactly does McGregor owe his division? That is the question my colleague Jonathan Snowden and I discuss.

 

Mike Chiappetta: Frankie Edgar’s frustration is palpable, and Jose Aldo‘s anger is intensifying, but they are hardly the only ones to object to what is happening, and for good reason: Until McGregor makes a decision, the division is simply spinning its wheels.

McGregor‘s focus has been in designing the biggest-money fight, which is great business, but there are other careers in play, too.

While selfishness is actually a necessary trait in a sport like MMA, with its few guarantees, it must also be understood that there is an implicit agreement in winning the belt that you will defend it.

At this moment, McGregor doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing that. He’s made barely a mention of Edgar or Aldo and seems to wield his shiny gold belt as just another accoutrement to pair with his collection of finely tailored suits.

For him, it’s essentially a prop, but for the featherweights, it remains a symbol of frustration as an object within sight but beyond grasp.

 

Jonathan Snowden: The 24-hour news cycle has changed the way we consider the world around us. Things move so quickly that essential truths can be lost in the churn.

Here is one: It’s only been three months since McGregor won the featherweight title from Aldo in such epic fashion, a 13-second knockout for the ages. It feels like eons ago, but only two UFC pay-per-views have gone by since McGregor shook up the sport—one of them headlined by the Irishman himself.

The premise at work here, that McGregor is somehow paralyzing the featherweight division, doesn’t hold up to any reasonable level of scrutiny. In the six years in which Aldo was Zuffa’s champion, he never defended his title more than two times per annum. Twice he fought just once in a calendar year.

There’s no reason to think McGregor can’t meet that standard. So why not run the Diaz fight back while it is still fresh in people’s minds and blowing up their search engines?

Thanks to his win over McGregor, people care about Diaz in a way they’ve never cared about Frankie Edgar. Isn’t that more important, when creating a spectacle like UFC 200 is bound to be, than the sanctity of a championship belt that has never caught the public’s eye?

 

Chiappetta: In a normal situation, it is true that three months is not so long into a reign that we should be demanding some activity, but this is no normal situation. In this one, McGregor hasn’t even signaled his intent to fight at 145.

To go macro for a moment, whatever mini-backlash McGregor is facing is also an indirect smack at the UFC. The problem is not that McGregor is taking control of his destiny. It is that nearly everyone else has such little say in directing their own futures.

In nearly every other sport, the participants know exactly what they need to do to reach a championship. The path, while arduous, is defined.

But in the UFC, there is no clear road.

Edgar, for example, has won five straight fights. And by the way, in the last of those, he knocked out Chad Mendes faster than even McGregor did. But what does Edgar need to do to challenge for the belt? Win one more fight? Two? Just wait a few months? He has no idea, and with such short career windows, who can’t understand his frustration? 

It is true that McGregor has time to get in a title defense by the end of the year if he so chooses, but if he wants to do it, what is stopping the UFC from offering him a bout agreement for a fight later this year and him from signing it?

Nothing. Instead, he wants to keep his options open, and the UFC does, too. 

I fully admit that the McGregor-Diaz rematch would be bigger than a bout with Edgar or Aldo. But we can acknowledge that and even schedule it while offering the athletes in the featherweight division the respect of some clarity.

 

Snowden: In the old days, there was a definitive route to MMA glory. Each event featured a one-night tournament. The winner walked away with an oversized check and a place in history.

That era, as you rightly point out, is long gone. In 2016, a title shot is determined by some strange alchemy, a mixture of business and sporting considerations only the UFC inner circle can truly understand. 

Edgar, who twice fought for a UFC title immediately following a loss in the Octagon, is a man who has seen both sides of this coin. He’s been the beneficiary of questionable title shots and, here, a potential victim of circumstance.

It’s hard to feel too sorry for him, specifically, even while recognizing a potential institutional problem.

But, to me at least, MMA has never been about title belts or baubles. It’s about two athletes proving something to themselves—and each other. The joy is in the competition. The stakes, including health and wealth, are bigger than a place in the agate print of history.

This is prizefighting. If a championship makes the prize a little larger, good for the fighters. That’s literally the name of the game. If not? Well, maybe that title means less than we think it does.

As an athlete, and as a man, a Diaz fight has to be McGregor‘s priority. Diaz took something from him in the second round of their first fight: The swagger that defined McGregor‘s public persona disappeared in the time it took to tap out. 

McGregor may go through the motions in future fights. If he did fight Edgar, he’d do his best to be “Conor McGregor.” But he needs to prove something to himself for it to resonate in a way fans will recognize as authentic.

A championship belt matters. But dignity and pride matter more.

 

Chiappetta: And what if he loses again? Does he go back for a third fight and continue keeping his division on eternal hold?

The thing is the championship does make the prize a little larger. Titleholders are almost exclusively the only ones on the roster who can contractually demand a piece of the pay-per-view revenue. As long as the featherweight belt remains in McGregor‘s possession, the rest of the division’s contenders have no chance of earning and playing that bargaining chip.

That’s something. That’s significant. And as long as McGregor is noncommittal toward his featherweight obligations, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is removed.

And that’s the thing. This is prizefighting. Those big paydays almost exclusively run parallel to championship fights, but when the titleholder is missing in action, what exactly is the target for the rest of the men in the division?

The title’s importance is fluid. It changes within the context of the division. And now it matters more than ever. McGregor is easily the most famous man to hold it. So who’s to say that he couldn’t help make Edgar or Aldo a star, too? He just had a huge buyrate with Aldo a few months ago, so he could do it again.

He doesn’t have to fight again at 145 pounds, but if—as he claimed before UFC 196—belts don’t matter to him, he should give it up and let the division move on and find its way without him.

McGregor‘s conundrum is whether he should meet the champion’s obligation to defend the belt or continue seeking bigger-money fights above 145. He doesn’t owe the division a defense, but he does owe it a decision (and soon): Either defend or vacate.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dana White’s Criticism of Holly Holm’s Gamble Misses the Mark

Last Saturday night at UFC 196, two champions rolled the dice and lost. According to UFC President Dana White, one of them is fit for praise, the other for criticism.
For one person to reach contradictory conclusions on similar topics isn’t unusual; ju…

Last Saturday night at UFC 196, two champions rolled the dice and lost. According to UFC President Dana White, one of them is fit for praise, the other for criticism.

For one person to reach contradictory conclusions on similar topics isn’t unusual; just a few minutes of any current presidential debate will yield any number of them. However, White’s condemnation of Holm’s decision amid his admiration for McGregor is far off the mark.

First, the particulars. On a Tuesday edition of ESPN’s Russillo & Kanell, White called McGregor’s move to face Nate Diaz in a non-title bout “so much fun,” praising his willingness to gamble by fighting up two weight divisions in a bout he lost by second-round submission.

Literally seconds earlier, he had soberly discussed Holm’s failed bantamweight title defense against Miesha Tate. As transcribed by ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, White said:

The sad part about that whole thing is, listen, [Holm manager Lenny Fresquez is] an old boxing guy who thinks he’s smart, and he is not. It’s one of those things. I feel bad about it. I feel bad for Holly because I don’t know if Holly really knows what she lost. I think she has so much faith in the people that surround her, she feels like, ‘Well, they got me here.’

We had this meeting, and Holly wasn’t even in it. Holly, that’s your life. You should be in that meeting. Don’t leave it to these people. Anyway, listen, Holly made a lot of money. She accomplished great things, she beat Ronda Rousey. But it could have been so much bigger for her, and the sad part is, I don’t even think she knows it.

These are completely contrary viewpoints on very similar situations, but a closer inspection shows a few key differences that are magnified given the source of criticism.

In the case of McGregor, he had been scheduled to fight lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos. For McGregor, who just captured the undisputed featherweight crown in December, the bout was seen as a risk, but a calculated one. If he emerged the victor, he would be the first man ever to concurrently hold two UFC belts. If he lost, he could take credit for attempting to make history but return to his division with his reputation mostly intact. 

Instead, Dos Anjos fell injured. McGregor, who has always been willing to step up on short notice, never seriously considered withdrawing from the event even though his quest for history was over. 

If there was ever a moment the UFC should step in to protect the image of a belt-holder, this would have been it. This wasn’t a champion defending on short notice; this was a champ going out of his way for the sake of an event. But the UFC didn’t do that, because they had a show to sell and McGregor was the one selling the tickets.

As a pure business decision, it is understandable, perhaps even defensible. The show must go on, after all. But if White was so quick to talk about money left on the table for Holm—more on that later—how can he dismiss the money the UFC left on the table here?

If they had sidelined McGregor, they could have moved forward with the Dos Anjos fight when he was healthy or moved straight to McGregor vs. Robbie Lawler at UFC 200 in July. Instead, McGregor will return to a division where his interest was already waning and where he does not feel at his healthiest. 

Let’s remember, in December, only moments after McGregor won the featherweight belt, his coach John Kavanagh told White in the cage that McGregor would never fight at 145 pounds again, according to MMA Junkie‘s Mike Bohn.

That plan held straight through to last weekend. Only a day before the fight, as MMA Fighting reported, White noted again that McGregor would probably never again fight at 145 pounds. 

So in the end, McGregor risked his shot at both Dos Anjos and Lawler for little reward. Sure, he got a huge paycheck, but that was coming against whichever opponent he faced. The UFC was fine with the Diaz match mostly because it plugged a main event hole. That has always been the UFC’s first concern.

If Holm had done the same thing, White would have praised her just the same.

In reality, Holm’s gamble was far more reasonable. For one thing, there was never a concrete timeline for the UFC’s preferred option—an immediate rematch with Ronda Rousey. For a short time, a July 2016 date seemed like a good landing spot, but that date quickly fell by the wayside. 

As Holm weighed her future, she had to consider the news that Rousey would go forward with a break from MMA and commitments to major roles in films Road House and Mile 22. With that in mind, Holm was well within reason to weigh her options.

Soon after, a November Rousey return became the rumor du jour. For Holm, that was a significant consideration, as November would mark a year between fights.

At 34 years old, a year of activity cannot be seen as a positive. On top of that, she would have to be willing to assume Rousey (or the UFC) would not change the timeline again, and that both of them could get through a healthy camp and show up on fight night. In effect, she would be taking a passive role in her own career—a wait-and-hope-for-the-best approach.

With those complicated factors rattling around her head, it’s no surprise she took the sure payday—a guaranteed $500,000 purse, according to figures the Nevada Athletic Commission sent Bleacher Report, as well as a pay-per-view bonus that will take her total pay well into seven figures—and rolled the dice. She took it knowing full well that even if she lost, the UFC will eventually see a rematch with her and Rousey as a viable direction. 

The relatively shallow pool of top-level talent in the women’s bantamweight division virtually ensures Holm and Rousey will meet again. So at worst, Holm risked her title knowing she will probably have another shot at Rousey if Rousey comes back and beats Tate for the third time. In short, she has a realistic chance of getting back to where she would have been in the first place.

McGregor can’t say the same. While he still wields sizable power within the organization due to his popularity and drawing ability, he has lost a bit of aura, and he has no clear path back to chasing multiple titles as he planned. And really, he risked it all for a single paycheck.

With all those zeroes, that’s no small thing, but if he wasn’t doing the UFC a huge favor in the process, do you really think White would be so pragmatic about it? Most likely not. Most likely, he would be the subject of the same criticism Holm and her team faced. 

Holm made a simple decision: She put her career wants before the company needs. At a time when fighter’s rights are eroding, her decision is personal and meaningful, and, most importantly, it’s justified.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com