Author: Trent Reinsmith

NBA and MLB have comprehensive policies on domestic violence and abuse.

MMA promotions lag behind most other major sports when it comes to domestic violence policies for athletes. It’s time for that to change.

The NBA and the NBA Players Association (NBPA) have a “joint policy on domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.” MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association(MLBPA) have a similar policy. The NFL does not have a specific domestic violence policy. Still, it has a personal conduct policy that addresses “actual or threatened physical violence against another person, including dating violence, domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of family violence.”

Each of these policies is detailed in its coverage. Some of the topics covered in the documents — in addition to the expected potential punishment — are training and education, treatment and intervention, investigation of incidents, family resources and how athletes can return to active status following a suspension.

In the aftermath of UFC president Dana White slapping his wife on New Year’s Eve while on a family vacation in Mexico, the UFC and other MMA promotions need to take steps to catch up to the NBA and MLB in getting a written in policy in place regarding domestic violence.

The UFC Fighter Code of Conduct mentions domestic violence, but it only does so in passing. That document states:

“Discipline may be imposed for misconduct, which includes without limitation the following examples:

“Criminal offenses including, but not limited to, those involving: the use or threat of violence; domestic violence and other forms of partner abuse; theft and other property crimes; sex offenses; obstruction or resisting arrest; disorderly conduct; fraud; racketeering; and money laundering.”

In the first month of 2023 alone, there were multiple cases of violence against women involving current and former UFC fighters and personalities:

January 1: UFC vet Cain Carrizosa was arrested after another domestic violence incident, with the victim suffering repeated seizures likely from head trauma.

January 2: Footage is released of Dana White slapping his wife during NYE.

January 2: UFC vet Phil Baroni was arrested for allegedly murdering his girlfriend in Mexico.

January 10: Police reports came to light showing UFC vet Tony Martin being arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman.

January 23: UFC vet Raulian Paiva was arrested for domestic violence.

January 24: Reports came out that Conor McGregor was sued for allegedly assaulting another woman. The accuser’s car was then also set on fire in Dublin in a suspected arson.

Even in the years prior, there’s been a long and concerning history of domestic violence cases, with the UFC having mixed results in dealing with those incidents.

As for White’s case, the UFC president has faced zero repercussions from the UFC’s owners —Endeavor — or its broadcast partners at Disney/ESPN and TBS. White’s punishment, at least according to him, is “I have to walk around for however long I live… and this is how I’m labeled now. The punishment is that I did it, and now I have to deal with it.”

White followed that claim by saying that punishing him would only hurt the UFC, its fighters and its employees, which was a stunningly narcissistic response from anyone, even someone as self-important as White, who once described himself as a “fight genius” and “promotion genius.”

If the UFC — and the other major MMA promotions — put together and published comprehensive and detailed domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policies that cover fighters and employees, it would go a long way toward showing that the promotion is more than just an organization that takes the by now debunked stance that it has a “zero-tolerance” policy and that “no one bounces back from putting their hands on a woman.”

The MLB policy is a lengthy 13 pages. That document is a good blueprint for the UFC and other MMA promotions to follow, as it states early on:

takes an absolute stand against domestic violence, sexual assault and child

abuse;

– protects the legal and procedural rights of Players;

– provides assistance to victims and families, especially information and referrals

to available resources;

– recognizes that Players may also be the victims in intimate relationships;

– focuses on education and prevention, including training on this policy;

– utilizes the most effective methods and resources for therapeutic intervention

for abusers and those abused; and

– allows for therapeutic programs for Players and for the imposition of

appropriate discipline on Players.

It’s not just about White, who will likely emerge without facing any repercussions, as there’s been a concerning history of people in the sport being violent towards women and their partners.

The UFC, along with the other MMA promotions, truly needs to shore up its weak and ineffective policies and make a statement. That includes taking steps as far as education and training. Anything short of that will be business as usual for the organization and from what we’ve seen over the years, that’s not good enough.

Bloody Elbow reached out to UFC, Bellator and PFL regarding their specific domestic violence policies. None of the promotions responded to our request.

There’s plenty to dispute about the current UFC light heavyweight and future heavyweight titles

The MMA world willingly suspends disbelief whenever the UFC calls one of its titles the “undisputed” world championship.

The term “undisputed” champion was originally picked up from boxing, where it holds a more specific meaning and rare accomplishment, when a fighter simultaneously holds every single major belt in his division (WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO).

In MMA, the UFC belt is one of many promotional titles, and at the end of the day, it’s “simply an award they bestow on the best fighter that night.”

In the earlier years, PRIDE, and to some extent Strikeforce, had clear say on having some of MMA’s best champions. These days, many of us have been guilty of just accepting whenever the UFC uses the undisputed descriptor. The logic behind this is with the UFC now being by far the most prominent MMA organization in the world, often — but not always — it has the top fighters under its banner, and usually the “best” fighter in the division holding their belt.

Although in 2023, when the UFC tries to promote its current light heavyweight champ and future heavyweight titleholder as “undisputed,” it should give us all pause.

It didn’t take the UFC long to tag Jamahal Hill as the “undisputed light heavyweight champion” after he defeated Glover Teixeira at UFC 283. I won’t denigrate what Hill did that night in Rio de Janeiro. He put a beating on Teixeira that became uncomfortable to watch as the fight wore on. The contest was so one-sided that Teixeira’s longtime coach John Hackleman tried to end the carnage that was unfolding in the octagon and throw in the towel before the start of the final round.

Hill won the fight cleanly and without dispute, but to call him the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion is a stretch. Remember, the Teixeira vs. Hill fight only came to be because the UFC 282 light heavyweight title fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev ended in a draw that bored UFC president Dana White so severely that he disqualified either man for competing for that vacant title.

The titles vacancy is another reason to question the UFC’s proclamation that Hill is the undisputed champ. The man who vacated that belt, Jiri Prochazka, relinquished the UFC light heavyweight title because of a shoulder injury that prevented him from defending the title as he was originally scheduled to do — against Teixeira — at UFC 282.

If one wants to look deeper at the situation at light heavyweight, there are also those of the opinion — and I count myself among that group — that Hill isn’t even the second-best light heavyweight in the world.

So yes, Jamahal Hill is the UFC light heavyweight champion, but undisputed? Not at this time. At the very least, Hill has to beat Prochazka and even then, there will be some doubt to his undisputed status with Bellator light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov competing in the 205-pound weight division.

The idea that the UFC is trying to sell the winner of the upcoming UFC 285 heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane as “UNDISPUTED” is, frankly, laughable.

That belt is vacant because the UFC could not come to contractual terms with Francis Ngannou, the man who won the title in March 2021 and then defended it in January 2022. When the UFC stripped the free-agent fighter of the title in January 2023, Ngannou had won six straight fights — five by knockout — and was coming off a decision win over Gane.

There’s no way that the winner of the Jones vs. Gane fight will be the undisputed heavyweight champ, as the actual “undisputed” champion never lost his belt. If Gane wins, fans will point to his loss to Ngannou. If Jones claims victory at UFC 285, the win will be his first at heavyweight, and only beating the number two (or three) heavyweight. Either way, the shadow of Ngannou will rightfully hang over the victor of that fight.

What I’m getting at here is that now is the time we stop suspending disbelief when the UFC makes a sweeping, patently untrue declaration and start seeing things more dispassionately. And objectively speaking, the current UFC light heavyweight champion and the soon-to-be UFC heavyweight titleholder are not undisputed — even if the promotion wants to proclaim them to be in bold and all caps.

Tony Martin is requesting removal of GPS monitor as he awaits trial for assault on a law enforcement officer charge

Tony Martin (aka Anthony Rocco Martin), who fought for the UFC between 2014-2020, and last competed under the CES banner, was arrested on December 21, 2022, in Bonita Springs, Florida. Deputies charged Martin with one count of misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer.

Martin was arrested and booked into the Lee County Justice Center at 5:16 am. He was later bonded out of custody, with a bail set at $5,000. During Martin’s bail hearing, the judge gave the former UFC fighter two addresses in Bonita Springs, Florida to stay away from. Martin was also fitted with a GPS monitoring device and told to have no contact with one of the Deputies involved with his arrest.

A hearing on the misdemeanor charge was scheduled for January 10, 2023, but Martin’s lawyer filed a request for a jury trial on a not-guilty plea. As a result, Martin remains free on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on February 22, 2023.

On January 14, Martin’s lawyer requested that the GPS monitor Martin was fitted with when he was bonded out be removed. According to his lawyer’s filing, the address where Martin was staying in Bonita Springs was an Airbnb rental and the fighter is not a threat to the Deputy. Martin’s lawyer also wrote that her client, whose permanent address is in Minnesota, owns a construction company in that state where he works. She wrote of the GPS monitoring unit, “it interferes with him wearing steal [sic] toe boots. Additionally, the GPS monitor digs into the Defendant’s skin, causing major discomfort while working construction.”

The motion to modify Martin’s pre-trial release and remove his GPS monitor will be heard by a judge in Lee County, Florida, on February 6, 2023.

The UFC’s unwritten mission statement these days seems to be ‘ignore it, it will go away’

Before Conor McGregor announced he was in the running for a coaching spot on the Ultimate Fighter and that he had been hit by a car while riding his bike, news broke that the former two-division UFC champion was once again under investigation for assault of a woman.

During a birthday party in July 2022, McGregor reportedly invited a woman he recognized from his Dublin, Ireland neighborhood into the VIP area of the Ocean Beach Club in Ibiza, where he was celebrating his 34th birthday. After exiting the club, the woman joined a group of people on McGregor’s yacht.

Once on the yacht, the woman said McGregor insulted her appearance. The UFC fighter then reportedly kicked her in the stomach, punched her in the face and threatened to drown her. To escape McGregor, who the woman said looked “possessed,” she jumped from the yacht, where a Red Cross boat rescued her. She also said of McGregor, “I think he would have killed me if I hadn’t left the yacht.”

No charges were filed at the time of the incident because the woman was reportedly in shock. While speaking to authorities, she was reportedly wearing nothing but her bikini and had no money or phone and wanted to return to her hotel as soon as possible.

Authorities in Ibiza opened the investigation into McGregor after they learned that the woman had reported the assault to a Garda Station in Crumlin, Ireland.

Bloody Elbow reached out to the UFC for comment on the most recent investigation of McGregor, but received no response.

The silence from the UFC is reminiscent of the quiet from the promotion after UFC president Dana White was caught on video slapping his wife, Anne, on New Year’s Eve during a family vacation.

With McGregor’s history and the seriousness of these recent allegations, it was a shock that the UFC didn’t acknowledge the investigation that has been launched regarding McGregor.

At the very least, the promotion could have easily offered a statement acknowledging their awareness of the investigation and that they are monitoring the outcome. If the promotion was feeling generous, it could have even included language, such as, “the organization does not tolerate behavior of this nature from any athletes under contract with the UFC.” The UFC could have gone so far as to even mention its “UFC Fighter Code of Conduct,” which states:

“Fighters shall conduct themselves in accordance with commonly accepted standards of decency, social convention, and morals, and fighters will not commit any act or become involved in any situation or occurrence or make any statement which will reflect negatively upon or bring disrepute, contempt, scandal, ridicule or disdain to the fighter or the UFC.”

Instead, the UFC remained silent. For those who hoped the UFC would take matters of reported violence against women more seriously in the wake of White’s incident, the lack of a response to the report on McGregor has to be disconcerting.

I’m not saying McGregor should face repercussions from the promotion before the case gets sorted. But to not acknowledge that the promotion’s second biggest star—outside of White himself—is under investigation for another act of violence again shows the UFC’s priority is to keep the machine chugging along and to ignore any obstacle that interferes with that forward momentum.

If the UFC has an unwritten mission statement these days, it might just be: If we ignore it, it will eventually go away.

McGregor’s reps told MMA Mania, “Mr. McGregor is steadfast in his denial of all the accusations made by a guest on his boat”

Bloody Elbow reached out to 50 companies that advertised at UFC 283 for comment on Dana White – three responded

After TMZ released the video of UFC president Dana White slapping his wife, on New Year’s Eve while the White family was on vacation in Mexico, the MMA world waited for the UFC, Endeavor, ESPN, Disney and TBS to release statements on the matter.

The UFC was silent. The UFC’s owners at Endeavor did not make a statement. ESPN told Bloody Elbow to ask the UFC because they only handle “distribution” for the fight promotion. Disney, who owns ESPN, offered nothing. TBS, the broadcast home of White’s Power Slap League, didn’t make a statement. Nearly a month since TMZ published the video, those entities have remained silent.

On Saturday, January 21, the UFC presented its first pay-per-view card of the calendar year, UFC 283. Following that event, Bloody Elbow reached out to 50 different companies/brands who advertised during the event in some way.

There were several options for advertisers during the UFC 283 broadcast. They ranged from a spot in or around the octagon to commercial time on ESPN, ESPN+ and ABC. Of the 50 companies Bloody Elbow contacted, only three responded: Kia, Hershey (Payday) and FanDuel.

Kia: “We are monitoring the situation and as such have no updates to share at this time.”

Hershey: “We would like to assure you that our company’s goal is to place our advertising in programming of high quality. With this in mind, please be assured that we monitor programs closely, and that our agencies are sensitive to Hershey’s strict programming guidelines.”

FanDuel: “FanDuel has no comment in regards to Mr. White.”

The following brands did not comment:

Jimmy Johns, Stake, EasyPost, Universal (Knock at the Cabin), Vechain, Howler Head, Crypto.com, Manscaped, Monster Energy, telecall, Grupo Souza Lima, Raid – Shadow Legends, Hudson Shipping, Peacock, Ricola, Meta, Allstate, Draft Kings, Phillips, Dominos, Starbucks, BetRiver, Gatorade, Hilton, DoorDash, Marines, Buffalo Wild Wings, Popeyes, Hyundai, Capella.edu, Peloton, T Mobile, Home Depot, Pizza Hut, Discover, Playstation, Geico, Little Caesars, Safelite, Toyo Tires, Pepperidge Farms (Goldfish), Verbo, Burger King, Frog Tape, Xfinity, Kellogg’s and Marvel.

UFC 283 was the second event for the promotion in 2023. Bloody Elbow also reached out to the sponsors of the first UFC fight card of the new year, UFC Vegas 67. The sponsors we contacted after that event were limited to those that appeared on the octagon fight surface: Manscaped, Sweet Sweat / Sports Research, Draft Kings, Crypto.com, Universal, Toyo Tires, Vechain, Monster Energy and EasyPost. None of those sponsors responded to our request for comment.

White once said, “There’s one thing that you never bounce back from, and that’s putting your hands on a woman. Been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don’t bounce back from putting your hands on a woman.”

The UFC President wouldn’t even need to bounce back, as he never faced professional repercussions for his actions. Unless something unexpected happens, it appears everything will simply be business as usual for White, the UFC and Endeavor in 2023.

The Power Slap ratings jumped in week 2, even as the broadcast lost 590,000 AEW viewers.

Dana White’s Power Slap League saw its viewership and ratings improve fairly dramatically in its second week on TBS. In part thanks to an even bigger lead in from AEW, from which the show still lost a majority of the pro-wrestling promotion’s viewers for their broadcast on Wednesday, January 25.

According to ShowBuzzDaily, AEW Wrestling had 1.003 million viewers in the 8 p.m. slot. AEW had a .31 rating in the 18-49 demographic and a .27 rating with 18-34-year-old viewers. With those numbers, AEW trailed only the two ESPN NBA games for the night’s overall cable ratings on Wednesday.

Power Slap finished in the No. 30 position this week with 413,000 viewers. The 10 p.m. broadcast had a .13 rating among 18-49-year-old viewers and .008 in the 18-34 demographic. Power Slap’s numbers were 590,000 viewers less than AEW’s.

Last week’s debut episode of Power Slap—which TBS delayed a week after White was caught on video slapping his wife, while on a family vacation in Mexico—was No. 45 in the top 50 cable telecasts for Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The debut episode pulled a reported 295,000 viewers and a 0.10 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The show finished at No. 50 for the night.

The January 18 AEW broadcast, which like this week, was No. 3 for the night behind ESPN’s NBA games, had 969,000 viewers and a .31 share in the 18-49 demographic. As for 18-34- year-old viewers, AEW had an 0.22 rating in that age bracket.

Power Slap finished second to BET’s Kingdom Business when considering cable shows with a 10 p.m. start time. Kingdom Business drew 639,000 viewers and a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 age range. The third highest rated 10 p.m. cable show on Wednesday was ID’s Homicide Hunter: American with 737,000 viewers and a rating of 0.11 for viewers between 18 and 49.

TBS initially scheduled Power Slap to debut on Wednesday, December 11. White addressed the delay of the show’s first episode at the UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference saying, “We pushed it back a week because I was supposed to come back (from vacation) and do this whole media tour, which obviously wasn’t going to happen when I got back.”

Ahead of Power Slap’s debut, White told potential viewers who were critical of the competitive slapping showcase that, “Nobody’s asking you to watch this! Oh, you’re disgusted by it? Watch The Voice.”