Another week of downtime rolls by, and that could only mean one thing. We’re another step closer to the upcoming monster winter schedule and none of the major headliners got injured. Hallelujah. Keeping fingers crossed over here.
Now this is about the time where I usually tell you what to look out for over the weekend. That’s all well and good, except, well, other than tonight’s Bellator event, the next few days are looking pretty sparse. Who knows? Maybe this is just a sign to get some sunlight and do something productive this weekend. Or not. Either way is fine, really. But whichever way you choose, we’re not quite there yet. So instead, let get right to the goods and jump headfirst into some headlines.
6 MUST-READ STORIES
Overeem still won’t wait for title shot. Despite being declared the No. 1 contender of the UFC heavyweight division, sidelined Alistair Overeem would still prefer to fight “as soon as possible” once he gets licensed, regardless of whether or not it’s for the title, his manager Glenn Robinson told MMA Weekly.
Velasquez: Cormier want Jones. Former champ Cain Velasquez spoke about the likelihood of his AKA training partner, Daniel Cormier, dropping down to light heavyweight and Cormier’s chances against reigning UFC champion Jon Jones.
Barnett won’t defend Pancrase title. According to a report from Asian MMA, Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett had agreed to return to Japan to defend his Pancrase openweight title sometime in 2013, ten years after his last title defense. Barnett’s manager, however, refuted that claim, telling Sherdog, “There is nothing that we are planning on doing. I can’t imagine that happening.”
Jackson turned down TUF 17, Sonnen. Prior to Jon Jones’ selection for The Ultimate Fighter 17, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson turned down a coaching spot opposite Chael Sonnen, stating, “I don’t want to fight Chael. He’s the kind of fighter that I don’t want to fight. He’s a boring fighter that just wants to hump people.”
ONE FC scraps plans for December. Singapore-based promotion ONE FC scrapped plans for a December event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, due to a “lack of venue options and availability,” rather than any financial issues. ONE FC officials are currently planning a “big event” for February 2013, and expect to hold the announcement press conference in early December.
Halloween gallery. In anticipation of Halloween, the folks over at CagePotato put together a gallery featuring some of MMA’s weirdest walkout costumes. And yes, Genki Sudo made the list.
MEDIA STEW
Fun fact: These two men have spent a combined 27 months on the shelf awaiting this match-up.
The latest edition of Ultimate Answers sees Michael Bisping, Tito Ortiz and the gang discuss the explosion of MMA in Brazil.
New South Korean Octagon girl Kang Ye-bin is set to make her debut at UFC on FUEL 6, and according to Chosun, she’s coming out swinging: “I’d like to look sexier and hotter than Arianny Celeste.”
Somehow I had totally forgotten about the physical challenges on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. That the UFC ever thought that was a good idea is just weird to think about in retrospect.
I’ll let the uploaders describe this fascinating slice of history: “Twelve years ago, everyone wasn’t walking around with a video camera in their pocket, and even if they were, they probably wouldn’t have been interested in this. UFC 28, the first legally sanctioned UFC.” (Last note: Jeff Monson is the clear winner here.)
(Props to John Meem for the find.)
YOU HEARD THE MAN
@danawhite @seanshelby pa pa pa pleeeaaase let me fight in dec. I’m ready to go whenever you need!
— Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) October 25, 2012
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE PRIZE
No matter what I did the night b4 or how late I stayed out, The new me is gonna b n the gym n the morning. (Glover dig that!)
— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) October 25, 2012
PROBABLY WASN’T AS ADORABLE THOUGH
This is almost the exact reaction I had when I heard I may be curtain jerking UFC 155. #JustWinBaby twitter.com/mattmitrione/s…
— Phuckett (@mattmitrione) October 25, 2012
ALL THE BEST
Just landed in Toronto going to see @mauroranallo in the hospital. He is feeling much better. twitter.com/frankshamrock/…
— Frank Shamrock (@frankshamrock) October 24, 2012
AWWWW YEAAAH
You ARE the sweetest, hottest beaver I’ve ever tasted. I’d give you a gold medal too. instagr.am/p/RN__xKtxLv/
— Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) October 25, 2012
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Thursday, October 25, 2012):
- UFC 154: Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (6-1) out with injury opposite Besam Yousef (6-1)
- UFC on FX 6: Kyle Noke (20-6-1) out with injury oppsite Seth Baczynski (17-6)
- UFC on FUEL 6: David Mitchell (11-2) vs. Hyun Gyu Lim (10-3-1)
- Bellator 79: Eduardo Dantas (14-3) out opposite Marcos Galvao (13-5-1)
- Bellator 79: Paul Daley (30-12-2) out with visa issues opposite Kyle Baker (12-6)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day sees Josh Hall pose an honest question: Should Dana White Consider a Leave of Absence from the UFC?
Dana White has been the face of the UFC since its purchase by the Fertitta brothers in January 2001. His brash attitude and constant use of profanity has made him an extremely polarizing figure in the MMA world. Love him or hate him, it is hard to argue with his results, as the UFC has become MMA in the eyes of most casual fans.
In the past few weeks, however, a lot has changed in the Zuffa world. Injuries have decimated card after card, finally culminating (hopefully) with the cancellation of UFC 151 when Jon Jones refused a replacement fight with top MW contender Chael Sonnen. The rest of the event was simply not strong enough to withstand losing its main event, and the UFC was forced to suffer its punishment for a growing number of boxing-esque weak cards surrounding the big name champions.
Dana did not react well to the events that transpired, choosing to throw his light heavyweight champion under the bus by blaming him for the cancellation of the event. In truth, there was more than enough blame to go around, but Dana’s only concern seemed to be deflecting blame to anyone other than himself. While this is a natural human defense mechanism, it is the worst thing a promoter can do. Business decisions must come before ego, and in this case Dana dropped the ball.
What no one could know was somehow things were going to get worse for the embattled figurehead of the UFC. Earlier in the week, the MMA world was rocked by two stunning announcements regarding the future of the two most prestigious titles in the sport. On the same day, fans received the news that Alistair Overeem would be granted an immediate title shot upon his suspension for a massively elevated T/E ratio, as well as the story that Jon Jones would coach TUF alongside Chael Sonnen and they would fight for the title at its conclusion.
To put it politely, these bookings looked to be straight out of the pro wrestling playbook. Sonnen, while the best trash talker in the sport, is coming off a loss at MW, and his last fight at 205 was a loss by submission to Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 55. While his personality will certainly help the abysmal TUF ratings, his title shot is frankly offensive to every fighter in the division that has worked their way toward the top. This will make back to back defenses of the 205 lb title against middleweights in a division with guys like Dan Henderson, Alexander Gustafsson, and Glover Teixeira making statements every time they step in the cage.
As ridiculous as the light heavyweight division has become, the decision to grant Alistair Overeem an immediate title shot tells the fans that the UFC no longer respects their titles. The man has literally run from drug tests in the past, finally failed one, and is being given a title shot as a result. In what world does this make sense? Whether you think PED’s should be legal or not, giving a title shot to a man that flagrantly violated the rules is the worst message to send to fighters as well as the fans.
You would think that would have to be it, but the cherry on top has to be his handling of the Jeremy Stephens situation. His unexpected arrest certainly put Dana and the UFC in a bad situation, but White’s insistence that the fight was 100% going to happen (even when he could not get Stephens out of jail and the event had started) sounded like delusional rantings, not exactly what the UFC needed then. The media was out to get him, and he more or less accused the police of conspiring to keep Stephens locked up so he couldn’t fight.
Now, I realized I have been rather hard on Dana here, but I don’t know that all of this is his fault. He has been a victim of a statistically improbable run of bad luck, and he has a rather serious medical condition he is dealing with. Dana’s Meniere’s disease has gotten bad enough to force him to miss his first event since Zuffa purchased the UFC 11 years ago. He was unable to fly out to Virginia for a UFC on Fuel event in May, and has surgery planned to hopefully combat the problem.
I have no medical background, but I do know a little about Meniere’s disease as my mother has suffered from it for many years. When it flares up, it can be totally debilitating, with symptoms including bad cases of vertigo, migraine headaches, and ringing ears. I used to suffer from chronic migraines, and they are enough to put even the strongest of people down for the count. Adding in dizziness and ringing ears has to be excruciating to the point of effecting rational decision making. This is why I am suggesting Dana take a brief leave of absence. He is making decisions that are hurting the credibility of their most prestigious titles and the UFC brand, and making himself look ridiculous in the process. He looks like a man that is struggling with a loss of control over his own body that is carrying over into his business life.
Now, I could be completely wrong about all this, but it is a heck of a coincidence if the disease getting worse and Dana making a number of rash decisions are totally unrelated. I honestly want the best for him and for the UFC, so I hope that he can get everything back on track regarding his health and professional life, even if that means stepping back for a little while.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in Monday’s column.