Count Kenny Florian as a card-carrying member of the anti-Steve Mazzagatti fan club. Echoing sentiments made by UFC President Dana White on Saturday, Florian took to Twitter to blast the MMA referee’s performance during WSOF 3’s main event, which saw Josh Burkman choke Jon Fitch unconscious then stand over his foe’s fallen body well before Mazzagatti swooped in.
“Mazzagatti has been a ref for so long yet still doesn’t know the sport & now (NSAC executive director Keith) Kizer is defending him,” Florian wrote. “Unfortunate. He should be reprimanded. Reality is @danawhite is 100% correct on Mazzagatti. Bad refereeing hurts fighters, fight orgs & can cause irreversible damage to a fighter. As a fighter you can train for almost anything that can happen in a cage EXCEPT FOR bad refereeing & bad judging.
“For those who don’t know what Mazzagatti fight I’m referring to, it’s Burkman/Fitch fight in WSOF. Burkman both won & reffed the fight. Anyone on my team knew that if Mazzagatti was going to ref one of my fights, we were to protest immediately & request another ref. #Truth”
Florian went on to extol the virtues “Big” John McCarthy, Herb Dean and Marc Goddard, three referees who he felt “consistently do an amazing job,” before deriding Kizer’s assertion that the strength of Burkman’s choke was difficult to see.
“It was clear as day,” Florian said in closing. “1 way to help you see it as a ref tho is understanding what side the choke is on. Mazzagatti = on wrong side.”
And with that, ladies and gentlemen, let’s jump into some headlines — one of which, if accurate, could potentially spell trouble for the UFC.
6 MUST-READ STORIES
UFC Boston. According to a report by Dave Wedge of the Boston Herald, the UFC’s August 17 event at the Boston Garden could be in jeopardy due to government officials “refusing the UFC’s request to relax rules barring foreign-born fighters from hitting the octagon without Social Security numbers.” According to Department of Public Safety spokesman Terrell Harris, “This law has been in existence since we legalized mixed martial arts in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. … It’s been brought to the attention of the UFC more than a few times since we legalized the fighting here. But they’ve chosen basically to ignore the law and hope that they could skirt it somehow.”
Pettis considers options. Injured and out of yet another title shot, Anthony Pettis reflected on his current situation: “I can’t believe it happened, man. I missed another title shot that slipped out of my fingers. I felt fine, I’m a couple weeks out from the fight, probably the best I’ve ever felt. I felt invincible in training, I was so on point. For this to happen, it’s unfortunate. I couldn’t sleep the last couple days thinking about what was going to happen.”
The MMA Hour. Ariel Helwani and The MMA Hour return to your life with another star-studded show featuring Randy Couture, Anthony Pettis, Josh Burkman, Muhammed Lawal, Ed Soares, and MMAFighting.com’s own Dave Meltzer.
UFC 161 suspensions. Rashad Evans headlined a list of seven fighters to receive indefinite medical suspensions in the wake of UFC 161. Main card fighters Ryan Jimmo and Pat Barry, and double bonus winner James Krause also received indefinite suspensions.
WSOF 3 salaries. Josh Burkman pocketed $32,000 to lead the disclosed payroll at WSOF 3. Former UFC welterweight Jon Fitch earned $30,000 in a losing effort.
Swick teases 185. Welterweight veteran Mike “Quick” Swick posted this tweet in response to a fan question about his UFC return: “I wanna come back at a big and healthy 185. No more sickly 170 for me! ;)”
MEDIA STEW
Remember folks, Bellator kicks back into high gear tomorrow with its 2013 Summer Series.
I’m not really sure what’s going on here, but does it really matter? Yay, Russia!
If you watch only one Japanese brawl today, make it this one. For those that don’t know, South Korea’s Doo Ho Choi is one of the top-ranked featherweights in Asia, and this, my friends, is a wild fight.
(HT: MiddleEasy)
So, this is a video of Cat Zingano getting her knee drained by that big syringe, if you’re into this sort of thing.
If you expected a Dubai-themed version of MMA Ridez to be lavish and excessive, then yep, you’re right.
The latest from EA Sports’ UFC video game:
This new B.J. Penn highlight by Machinemen is both heartbreaking and brilliant. Tremendous work.
FLORIAN’S TWO CENTS
Mazzagatti has been a ref for so long yet still doesn’t know the sport & now Kizer is defending him. Unfortunate. He should be reprimanded.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
Reality is @danawhite is 100% correct on Mazzagatti. Bad refereeing hurts fighters, fight orgs & can cause irreversible damage to a fighter.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
As a fighter you can train for almost anything that can happen in a cage EXCEPT FOR bad refereeing & bad judging.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
For those who don’t know what Mazzagatti fight I’m referring to, it’s Burkman/Fitch fight in WSOF. Burkman both won & reffed the fight.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
Anyone on my team knew that if Mazzagatti was going to ref one of my fights, we were to protest immediately & request another ref. #Truth
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
To be positive now, @JohnMcCarthyMMA & @HerbDeanMMA are two exemplary referees in the sport of #mma who consistently do an amazing job.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
Yes Marc is excellent & consistent! 👍 “@Official_Maters: @kennyflorian Best Ref in your opinion ? @marcgoddard_uk for me.”
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
@marlerjm it was clear as day. 1 way to help you see it as a ref tho is understanding what side the choke is on. Mazzagatti 👉 on wrong side
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) June 17, 2013
SHOTS FIRED
@danawhite “Vitor Belfort has been ‘unjustly beat down for the TRT thing” My opinion. Dana is full of bull crap http://t.co/RglxgLNe9x
— Victor Conte (@VictorConte) June 17, 2013
EBAY IS AN MMA FAN, APPARENTLY
@RH1026 Nice! I got one last week. There’s a rare one on eBay, but it’s costing 36 bucks at the moment, not sure if I want to pay that much
— Vinny Magalhaes (@VinnyMMA) June 15, 2013
@eBay the auction already ended. I can’t find the link.
— Vinny Magalhaes (@VinnyMMA) June 17, 2013
@eBay I’ve just become a blue star on eBay. I’ve bought a lot of action figures for my son on eBay this month. Lol and few of my Topps cards
— Vinny Magalhaes (@VinnyMMA) June 18, 2013
LIFE OF A CHAMP
Heading to William Morris office to meet with my agent Ari and brad… Interviewing all day with… http://t.co/ylpWJaPJmy
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) June 17, 2013
Arthur and Chandler should definitely be at these meetings with me today.. I foresee a Jones brother show in the future
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) June 17, 2013
Today went phenomenal met some really extraordinary producers.These guys had all types of ideas, I cant wait to see which comes to life
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) June 18, 2013
MR. CHAEL P. SONNEN
Hey @jimmyfallon, your enormous teeth must be growing into your brain. Learn how to pronounce names of celebrities more famous than you.
— chael sonnen (@sonnench) June 18, 2013
BOOM
Which round is Rory getting melted? #YouChoose #UFConFox8
— Jake Ellenberger (@EllenbergerMMA) June 17, 2013
@EllenbergerMMA 4some1 with such a week jaw u sure use it alot 2 talk shit when ur done buildin ur self up ill b there 2send u back 2reality
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) June 17, 2013
@rory_macdonald McDummy.. Unless you are using a unit of time as an adjective, the word is “weak”, not “week”, Stupid.
— Jake Ellenberger (@EllenbergerMMA) June 17, 2013
@rory_macdonald Let me proof-read your inane comments from now on, y’idiot
— Jake Ellenberger (@EllenbergerMMA) June 17, 2013
@EllenbergerMMA emotionally struggling knowing inside he is inferior 2 me
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) June 17, 2013
@EllenbergerMMA Dont fool yourself jacob correcting internet spelling wont change your fate #ufconfox8 @ufc
— Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) June 17, 2013
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Monday, June 17, 2013):
- UFC 164: Derek Brunson (10-2) vs. Yoel Romero (5-1)
- UFC 164: Magnus Cedenblad (10-4) vs. Jared Hamman (13-5)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day is an experiment from our own heavyfl0w, which didn’t really turn out as anticipated: UFC Unleashed: The First Thought You Have
I enjoy watching reruns of UFC Unleashed. This is due to the fact that, for whatever reason, the DVR description of the episodes no longer informs us what fights we will be watching. You never know what you’re going to get. You might get something deplorable (“Cooooming up next, it’s the Ortiz-Shamrock trilogy! With ALL of the prefight promo packages!”) or something awesome (any fight where Brock Lesnar turtles up and gets pummeled). It’s a roll of the dice.
Bear in mind, I despise listening to the radio. Not only that, but with the present internet culture that is ripe with podcasts and programs that allow you to listen to whatever music you want, whenever you want, I’m baffled as to how terrestrial radio is even still in existence. Why would I allow someone to dictate what I listen to?
However, I love pretty much all MMA. Terrible MMA is great, as long as it isn’t being perceived as good. So my spectrum of taste is pretty broad. To give you an example, I recently watched 620 pound Manny Yarborough (the guy best known for being walloped by the immortal Keith Hackney at UFC 2) record his first and only MMA victory, taking out pudgy, mulleted self parody Tatsuaki Nakano by “smother”. It was just as delightful as you could possibly imagine. The fact that I sincerely believe that it was delightful is a cry for help. I’m aware of this.
Let’s roll the dice with a column. I recorded a rerun of Unleashed, and I’m going to write about whatever fights happen to be on it. I have no idea what I’m about to see. Think of it as an exercise … that I’m inexplicably sharing with the internet. Ready, internet? Let’s see what’s behind Door Number 1 …
Our first fight is … *drumroll* …
Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher
Alright. A fight I haven’t seen in awhile. This is what I was hoping for. Stevenson begins the fight by smiling and bouncing around like he just got laid. Joe Daddy was always pretty smooth on the feet with his footwork and feints, but he’s one of those guys that just never quite had enough output to be considered a dangerous striker. Then he got T-Boned by a Mac Danzig left hook and hasn’t been right since.
Before the start of this fight, Spencer waves off the “lets touch gloves” offer by Joe at least 3 times, as though Joe had AIDS and Spencer mistakenly thought it could be transmitted through UFC gloves. You sure made your point, Spencer. You don’t want to touch gloves. Anyway, Joe is taking the occasional Fisher leg kick while boxing nicely and takes the 1st round after taking the back towards the end. Spencer is cut, just like always. We’ve got a bleeder!
Both men come out boxing to start the second frame, and Stevenson changes levels for the takedown when he sees fit. Spencer looks old, and this fight happened almost 4 years ago. Stevenson works on top for awhile before securing the feared mounted crucifix position. He proceeds to drop 11 rapid fire elbows onto the already sliced up dome of Fisher, and that’s the fight. Fisher appeared to tap with his leg.
Fights like this pose an interesting question (at least, to a clown like me): When you think of a fighter, what is the first mental image that your brain conjures up about that fighter? I mean, Stevenson and Fisher are both guys that haven’t existed in the part of my MMA fan brain that thinks about relevant MMA topics and fighters in a long time. Stevenson’s octagon glory days are long gone, and Fisher is hanging on by a thread of a thread. They exist only in my memory. So what pops into your head, dear reader?
When I think of Stevenson, I think of him getting beaten by Danzig, and I think of him bathing in his own blood and tears against BJ Penn. When I think of Fisher, I think of the flying knee knockout against Wiman. And yet, I wouldn’t say that I respected Fisher or even enjoyed watching him fight more than Joe Stevenson. Goes to show that different parts of our brains don’t always agree with each other. An interesting thought.
Which brings us to fight number two …
Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin II
Oh geez. Look, I’m not opposed to writing about this fight, even though these two are far from being the fighters I most revere. But did they have to show the entire prefight promo package? Talk about a column killer. Here I was, thinking that this would be a good writing exercise, with the potential to force me into writing about multiple fights I never would have written about otherwise. And what do I get? A lightweight fight that wasn’t even that relevant four years ago and 5 minutes of two awkward weirdos saying tough guy things into the camera, followed by a lengthy commercial break. At least at the end of the commercial break, I’ll get to watch a great fight! Hey, wait …
Snarkiness aside, this 2nd installment in the money grubbing trilogy was pretty much a microcosm of Tito Ortiz. Get a takedown, ground and pound from guard, get tired, stiffen up, stiffen up some more, stiffen up to the point that you stop doing anything, and lose a decision.
I remember watching this fight at a Buffalo Wild Wings with a bunch of people who invited me out to watch some fights. Cool, right? Think again. This was one of those evenings consisting of people chilling out on their respective phones and resisting any actual human interaction. I think I actually fell asleep during the 3rd round. I stopped hanging out with people like that. It’s just incredibly boring.
I’ve always been fascinated by the rabid fanbase of Tito Ortiz. Nobody did more with flame shorts and bleached hair. In the midst of multiple fight losing streaks where he often got tired and didn’t do anything, his fans would still come out in droves. “That guy is a badass”, they’d tell you. My theory is that Tito became popular right around the whole nu metal era of the UFC, where every fighter would come out to Stemm or Limp Bizkit, where tons of UFC fans were also pro wrestling fans, and what better poster boy for that sort of foolishness than a brash, blond meanie who flipped the bird and had a wrestling base?
My favorite part of this fight was right after it was over. Griffin and Ortiz embraced, and Goldberg said “great show of respect by both men”. Based on the personalities of these two, what are the odds that they were actually saying something respectful? 50 to 1? 100 to 1? Come on. They were saying some prison yard s–t to each other. You all know it.
I will be writing and opining about things that matter soon. Calories burned. Exercise over.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.