“Jake Shields has been released by the UFC. Jake appreciates the opportunities provided by the UFC and thanks Dana White and Lorenzo Fertita. Jake is an elite athlete who is one of the best welterweight fighters in the world with a long history of winning at a championship level. Jake and our team are already exploring options. I’m confident that Jake will have a new promotion to call home very soon. Jake thanks his fans for their support and looks forward to competing for them again soon.”
Not since Jon Fitch have we been this shocked and outraged over the firing of a fighter who we didn’t really care for in the first place. Shields was coming into the Lombard match on a two-fight win streak, with split-decision victories over Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley. And he would have been riding a four-fight win streak if not for the mysterious no-contest he caught after winning a decision against Ed Herman in a middleweight bout at UFC 150, then failing his drug test.
“Jake Shields has been released by the UFC. Jake appreciates the opportunities provided by the UFC and thanks Dana White and Lorenzo Fertita. Jake is an elite athlete who is one of the best welterweight fighters in the world with a long history of winning at a championship level. Jake and our team are already exploring options. I’m confident that Jake will have a new promotion to call home very soon. Jake thanks his fans for their support and looks forward to competing for them again soon.”
Not since Jon Fitch have we been this shocked and outraged over the firing of a fighter who we didn’t really care for in the first place. Shields was coming into the Lombard match on a two-fight win streak, with split-decision victories over Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley. And he would have been riding a four-fight win streak if not for the mysterious no-contest he caught after winning a decision against Ed Herman in a middleweight bout at UFC 150, then failing his drug test.
Still, Shields was unable to secure a single stoppage victory in eight attempts within the Octagon, and his blowout losses to Georges St-Pierre, Jake Ellenberger, and Lombard secured his “perennial contender” status. Unless there’s more to this story, it seems like the UFC simply fired Shields at its first opportunity because he was no longer of any use to the promotion. Perhaps Shields was too [expletive] expensive for the UFC to keep around; that’s the drawback of being a highly-ranked veteran without a real fanbase.
The question is, where does Shields go from here? Should he sign with the World Series of Fighting and join their deep roster of welterweight UFC castoffs? Should he go to OneFC and set up the superfight against Ben Askren that hardcore MMA fans have been begging for (just kidding)? Let us know what you think, and how you feel about Shields’s firing — is it bullcrap, or long overdue?
(Stout, seen here fighting off a beach bum who snuck his way past securi-what’s that? The man in basketball shorts *is* Cody McKenzie? My sincerest apologies. Photo via Getty.)
Aside from being one of the most unique people to ever pass through the TUF house, Cody McKenzie might be the least intimidating-looking guy to *ever* fight in the UFC, Fred Ettish excluded (all due respect to both men). With his mangy appearance and general “No fucks to give” attitude, McKenzie was a fighter who made his name as one of the most prolific one-trick ponies in the game, scoring 11 out of his 14 career wins by way of his patented McKenzietine choke.
Unfortunately, McKenzie was on borrowed time from the very moment he made the transition to the big leagues, and today brings word that he has been released by the UFC following his disastrous performance against Sam Stout at UFC on FOX 9. The announcement was made by none other than McKenzie himself via Twitter, and immediately followed up by a request to fight Shinya Aoki. Additionally, McKenzie informed us that he already has two fights lined up — one at 180 lbs and one at 170 — and would like to fight for the WSOF in the near future. Personally, I’m all for the idea of seeing McKenzie vs. Palhares with the stipulation that both men can attempt their signature submissions and nothing else for the entirety of the contest. Any takers?
Despite being shut down in the TUF 12 quarterfinals by Nam Phan, there’s no denying the resounding impact McKenzie had on the show, mainly thanks to his pair of McKenzietine wins over Amir Khillah and Marc Stevens and constant needling of Josh Koscheck. That’s what won him over in my eyes, at least.
(Stout, seen here fighting off a beach bum who snuck his way past securi-what’s that? The man in basketball shorts *is* Cody McKenzie? My sincerest apologies. Photo via Getty.)
Aside from being one of the most unique people to ever pass through the TUF house, Cody McKenzie might be the least intimidating-looking guy to *ever* fight in the UFC, Fred Ettish excluded (all due respect to both men). With his mangy appearance and general “No fucks to give” attitude, McKenzie was a fighter who made his name as one of the most prolific one-trick ponies in the game, scoring 11 out of his 14 career wins by way of his patented McKenzietine choke.
Unfortunately, McKenzie was on borrowed time from the very moment he made the transition to the big leagues, and today brings word that he has been released by the UFC following his disastrous performance against Sam Stout at UFC on FOX 9. The announcement was made by none other than McKenzie himself via Twitter, and immediately followed up by a request to fight Shinya Aoki. Additionally, McKenzie informed us that he already has two fights lined up — one at 180 lbs and one at 170 — and would like to fight for the WSOF in the near future. Personally, I’m all for the idea of seeing McKenzie vs. Palhares with the stipulation that both men can attempt their signature submissions and nothing else for the entirety of the contest. Any takers?
Despite being shut down in the TUF 12 quarterfinals by Nam Phan, there’s no denying the resounding impact McKenzie had on the show, mainly thanks to his pair of McKenzietine wins over Amir Khillah and Marc Stevens and constant needling of Josh Koscheck. That’s what won him over in my eyes, at least. After making the leap to the UFC and scoring a debut win over fellow TUF 12 castmate Aaron Wilkinson, McKenzie would drop a pair of submission losses to Yves Edwards and Wagner Rocha, leading many to believe that he would receive his walking papers right then and there.
Luckily, McKenzie was given another shot against four-time NCAA Division III championship wrestler Marcus LeVesseur at UFC on FUEL (remember those?) 3: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. Clearly at a strength disadvantage, the “AK Kid” was outmuscled and outgunned by Levesseur in the early going, but only needed the smallest of windows to latch onto his signature guillotine and force the tap at just over 3 minutes into the first round.
McKenzie would make the drop to featherweight for his next fight. In what would become known as one of the most cruel matchmaking decisions in UFC History, McKenzie would be paired off against Chad Mendes, who had just challenged Jose Aldo for the featherweight title in his previous contest, at UFC 148. The fight lasted 31 seconds and saw McKenzie defeated via a brutal body shot TKO. Years later, matchmaker Sean Shelby would attempt to explain the circumstances that led to the booking of that slaughter, but has yet to outright apologize for it. A decision win over Leonard Garcia at UFC 159 would follow; the last of McKenzie’s UFC career.
Perhaps it’s appropriate that McKenzie’s final UFC fight would become memorable for all the wrong (also, bizarre) reasons — he was after all, one of the most peculiar, least “fightery” guys to ever step foot in the octagon. And although McKenzie may never rise to the level of a UFC or even a WSOF contender, he always came off as a friendly, heartfelt, and truly genuine guy at his core. And like we said, it’s hard to hate someone who never backed down from a fight, especially when that fight was with a loofah-haired, angry lip balm-applying, dickhead coach of a reality show competition.
We would like to wish Cody the best of luck wherever the road takes him, and to honor his equally memorable and improbable run in the UFC, we will pay tribute the only way we know how: With a grainy TV-recording of his TUF 12 fight against Team Koscheck’s #1 pick, Marc Stevens. We don’t think he’d want it any other way.
UFC Fight Night 38 is only hours away but it’s already causing quite a stir in the headlines. The reason? Will Chope was fired from the UFC this morning after an article from Bleacher Report exposed the fighter’s sordid past.
Chope was discharged from the Air Force in 2009 due to repeated instances of domestic abuse. The final straw was assaulting his wife in that same year, and threatening her with a knife. Here are some of the details from the official Air Force Court of Appeals documents:
(Photo via Getty)
UFC Fight Night 38 is only hours away but it’s already causing quite a stir in the headlines. The reason? Will Chope was fired from the UFC this morning after an article from Bleacher Report exposed the fighter’s sordid past.
Chope was discharged from the Air Force in 2009 due to repeated instances of domestic abuse. The final straw was assaulting his wife in that same year, and threatening her with a knife. Here are some of the details from the official Air Force Court of Appeals documents:
During the phone call, the appellant [Chope] and AW [his then wife] got into an argument concerning a joint credit card. he then asked AW to pick him up so that he could visit their daughter. AW hesitantly agreed…During the visit, the appellant resumed the argument concerning the credit card. The argument escalated and he told AW that if she did not give him the credit card, he would hurt her. When AW refused, the appellant told her that he had noting to lose and that he was going back to Florida. He then went to the kitchen, retrieved a paring knife, and threatened AW with it. He grabbed her, slammed her head onto the floor, and hit her on top of her head with both the knife handle and his hand. When AW screamed for help, the appellant took her onto the ground and used a ‘pillow or blanket’ to silence her screams. Thea appellant continued demanding that she return the credit card, and she continued refusing. At one point, he pointed the handle of the knife at her thigh. When AW tried to escape, he kicked her leg with his foot, but she never gave him the credit card.
Depressing stuff. The court rejected Chope’s appeal and is discharge was upheld.
Chope issued a statement on the domestic abuse allegations, but this was before the UFC made their final decision on the issue:
I fight today. But I just want to make a small post about what has been brought up last night. I made some mistakes in my past. The incidents happened 5 years ago and I will live with them for the rest of my life. But I just want everyone to know the articles are being sensationalized right now and me and my ex wife have spoken about this and we would like everyone to know that we are friends now and have moved on and are different people and are just trying to be good parents to our daughter. She also made a post on her personal page she is allowing me to share. I will make a formal address to this issue after the fight, but I hope this is suffice until then.
When all this came to light, the UFC’s reaction was swift. Chope’s fight against Diego Brandao at tonight’s UFC Fight Night 38 was scrapped, and Chope’s contract was terminated. Brandao will receive both show and win money. As for Chope, we likely won’t be seeing him in the UFC again. He was 19-6 in MMA but 0-1 in the UFC, losing to Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 34.
After the fight was canceled, Chope issued yet another statement:
My fight has been canceled for a 5 yaer old mistake I made. I am truly sorry to all the fans and will do everything I can to make this right. I have spoken with my ex-wife on the phone and she supports what I am doing and together we will make a formal press release as soon as I get back to the USA on Wednesday.
(Nearly a decade later, Guillard’s shit-talking abilities and penchant for poor hairstyle choices remain among the best in all of MMA. Never change, Melvin. Never change.)
I remember the first time I saw a Melvin Guillard fight. I was watching one of those Ultimate Knockouts compilations — you know, the ones hosted by Kerri Kasem (mmm…) that aired on Spike every now and again — and one of the featured fights was Guillard vs. Rick Davis at UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie. It was Guillard’s third fight in the UFC following his stint on The Ultimate Fighter 2 in 2005, although at just 21 years of age, Guillard had already built up a wealth of fight experience unmatched by some of the most tested veterans of the game, his older opponent included. It was also the most violent knockout I had ever witnessed at the time, a Laprise vs. Johnson-esque, “Did he died?” moment if there ever was one, made all the more horrifying by my misunderstanding that the “Thong Song” dude was responsible for it.
Some eight years, ten wins, and a UFC record eight TKO’s later, Guillard remains a terror for any poor soul unfortunate enough to draw him for their promotional debut. The problem is, as Guillard’s level of competition gradually rose, his win percentage began to steadily decline. After stringing together a five fight winning streak between 2010-11 (the longest of his UFC career), Guillard would be quickly submitted by Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller, knocked out by Donald Cerrone, and upended by Jamie Varner and Michael Johnson in a pair of lackluster decisions, only scoring wins over Fabricio Camoes and the now-retired Mac Danzig in between.
Dana White was especially critical of Guillard’s most recent performance against Johnson, telling reporters, “There’s no doubt Melvin ran the entire fight and was incredibly passive, the complete opposite of how he used to fight.” And today, MMAFighting passed along word that after nine years with the promotion, Guillard has been released by the UFC. His official octagon record stands at 12-9.
(Nearly a decade later, Guillard’s shit-talking abilities and penchant for poor hairstyle choices remain among the best in all of MMA. Never change, Melvin. Never change.)
I remember the first time I saw a Melvin Guillard fight. I was watching one of those Ultimate Knockouts compilations — you know, the ones hosted by Kerri Kasem (mmm…) that aired on Spike every now and again — and one of the featured fights was Guillard vs. Rick Davis at UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie. It was Guillard’s third fight in the UFC following his stint on The Ultimate Fighter 2 in 2005, although at just 21 years of age, Guillard had already built up a wealth of fight experience unmatched by some of the most tested veterans of the game, his older opponent included. It was also the most violent knockout I had ever witnessed at the time, a Laprise vs. Johnson-esque, “Did he died?” moment if there ever was one, made all the more horrifying by my misunderstanding that the “Thong Song” dude was responsible for it.
Some eight years, ten wins, and a UFC record eight TKO’s later, Guillard remains a terror for any poor soul unfortunate enough to draw him for their promotional debut. The problem is, as Guillard’s level of competition gradually rose, his win percentage began to steadily decline. After stringing together a five fight winning streak between 2010-11 (the longest of his UFC career), Guillard would be quickly submitted by Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller, knocked out by Donald Cerrone, and upended by Jamie Varner and Michael Johnson in a pair of lackluster decisions, only scoring wins over Fabricio Camoes and the now-retired Mac Danzig in between.
Dana White was especially critical of Guillard’s most recent performance against Johnson, telling reporters, “There’s no doubt Melvin ran the entire fight and was incredibly passive, the complete opposite of how he used to fight.” And today, MMAFighting passed along word that after nine years with the promotion, Guillard has been released by the UFC. His official octagon record stands at 12-9.
It’s been a long, arduous road for the oft troubled, always entertaining (save the Varner and Johnson fights) lightweight, one that has included the highs of headlining a UFC event (four, actually) and the lows of testing positive for cocaine after being quickly defeated in one of those headlining events. In many respects, Guillard was the lightweight version of Chris Leben: a hard-hitting, fearless TUF veteran (when it mattered) who turned to MMA not only out of natural ability, but to escape some personal demons of his own.
Regardless of how you feel about Guillard on a personal level, “The Young Assassin” deserves his due credit for being one of the UFC’s most battle-ready, not to mention memorable staples of the lightweight division. That he remained employed longer than 90% of his peers in a business as cutthroat as MMA, seeing countless alums from countless incarnations of the show that launched his career come and go in the process, truly speaks to his abilities as a fighter and an entertainer.
We’re confident that a brash, exciting fighter like Guillard will quickly be swooped up by either Bellator or WSOF, but on behalf of everyone at CagePotato, I’d like to personally thank Guillard for the years of sacrifice, bravado, and brutal, just absolutely terrifying knockouts he turned in while under the UFC banner. Here’s to you, Melvin.
Unfortunately for Riddle, it looks like he will have to start looking for a “real job” once again (I hear Josh Rosenthal is seeking an understudy/mule), as he has now been released from his Bellator contract after pulling out of his second straight fight. Said Bellator Director of Communications Anthony Mazzuca in a prepared statement (via MMAFighting):
Matt was a guy we had high hopes for coming into Bellator. After Matt suffered his rib injury and withdrew from our tournament, we went back to the drawing board and got Matt another fight on November 22nd.
Unfortunately, Matt very recently informed us he would not be fighting on November 22nd from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and at that point we decided to release Matt from Bellator. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Further muddying the “Deep Waters” (I’m so sorry, you guys) is the fact that no solid reasoning has been given for Riddle’s withdrawal from the card. As you might expect, Riddle’s scheduled opponent, Nathan Coy, is understandably pissed…
(Funny how this moment more or less serves as a metaphor for the past two years of Riddle’s life.)
Unfortunately for Riddle, it looks like he will have to start looking for a “real job” once again (I hear Josh Rosenthal is seeking an understudy/mule), as he has now been released from his Bellator contract after pulling out of his second straight fight. Said Bellator Director of Communications Anthony Mazzuca in a prepared statement (via MMAFighting):
Matt was a guy we had high hopes for coming into Bellator. After Matt suffered his rib injury and withdrew from our tournament, we went back to the drawing board and got Matt another fight on November 22nd.
Unfortunately, Matt very recently informed us he would not be fighting on November 22nd from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and at that point we decided to release Matt from Bellator. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Further muddying the “Deep Waters” (I’m so sorry, you guys) is the fact that no solid reasoning has been given for Riddle’s withdrawal from the card. As you might expect, Riddle’s scheduled opponent, Nathan Coy, is understandably pissed (via BloodyElbow):
He bailed out. I’m not happy about it.
As far as I know, maybe he was sick and didn’t get the proper training in. I’d love to have him in the first round of the tournament and smash him up. Maybe he wants to put it off. I’ll fight him no problem. If he wants to wait until he can be better another day, I’m fine with that. Just make sure you man up and fight that day. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish here by playing games. This is my livelihood. I’m supporting my family by doing this. I needed this opportunity like he needed this opportunity. It’s his hometown. What the hell’s going on? He should be thrilled to fight on that card. Apparently not. Apparently he doesn’t want that.
Let’s fight, you’re a fighter. This is what we got into the sport for, to test ourselves.
For whatever reason, I am only reminded of that awesome Little Caesar’s Pizza commercial when reading Coy’s reaction. You know the one…
Dammit, now I just want to get super high and eat five dollar pizza until my intestines explode. Does that count as walking a mile in Riddle’s shoes?
(Who saw this coming? We did, that’s who. Photo via Getty.)
Until his initial retirement back in August of 2011, Matt Hamill was considered by most to be a perennial contender at 205 lbs., a fierce grappler with ever-improving striking and a positively inspirational member of the deaf community. While the latter accolade still remains true two years and one unretirement later, the former have seemingly (and sadly) all but vanished in Hamill’s recent octagon appearances.
I was ready to make this decision after UFC 130 but my friends, family coaches and most importantly my daughter encouraged me to give it one last chance. My career has been plagued by injuries starting with The Ultimate Fighter and disrupted my training ever since.
There hasn’t been even one training camp where I’ve been able to train without training around an injury. I have not been kind to my body and it has nothing left after 28 years of non stop competition. It’s time to finally give it a rest.
I have fallen in love with the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and I will continue to coach at our gym Mohawk Valley MMA along side my teammates and help the next generation of fighters make it to the UFC.
You see, that’s the thing that has irked us most about Hamill’s decision to unretire (and we’ve mentioned this before) — his retirement, this statement, was just so, appropriate. Hamill seemed self-aware, he seemed content, and most of all, he seemed comfortable with the legacy he had left behind while understanding that his time — as a fighter, at least — had come and gone. It was a mature, thoughtful decision not often reached by most combat sports athletes, let alone MMA fighters. It was closure.
Less than a year after making said decision, Hamill recanted on it. And now, rather than retire with the aforementioned sense of closure, it appears that Hamill has been released by the UFC following his disheartening loss to Thiago Silva at Fight Night 29. God only knows what lies in store for “The Hammer” now.
(Who saw this coming? We did, that’s who. Photo via Getty.)
Until his initial retirement back in August of 2011, Matt Hamill was considered by most to be a perennial contender at 205 lbs., a fierce grappler with ever-improving striking and a positively inspirational member of the deaf community. While the latter accolade still remains true two years and one unretirement later, the former have seemingly (and sadly) all but vanished in Hamill’s recent octagon appearances.
I was ready to make this decision after UFC 130 but my friends, family coaches and most importantly my daughter encouraged me to give it one last chance. My career has been plagued by injuries starting with The Ultimate Fighter and disrupted my training ever since.
There hasn’t been even one training camp where I’ve been able to train without training around an injury. I have not been kind to my body and it has nothing left after 28 years of non stop competition. It’s time to finally give it a rest.
I have fallen in love with the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and I will continue to coach at our gym Mohawk Valley MMA along side my teammates and help the next generation of fighters make it to the UFC.
You see, that’s the thing that has irked us most about Hamill’s decision to unretire (and we’ve mentioned this before) — his retirement, this statement, was just so, appropriate. Hamill seemed self-aware, he seemed content, and most of all, he seemed comfortable with the legacy he had left behind while understanding that his time — as a fighter, at least — had come and gone. It was a mature, thoughtful decision not often reached by most combat sports athletes, let alone MMA fighters. It was closure.
Less than a year after making said decision, Hamill recanted on it. And now, rather than retire with the aforementioned sense of closure, it appears that Hamill has been released by the UFC following his disheartening loss to Thiago Silva at Fight Night 29. God only knows what lies in store for “The Hammer” now.
Although Hamill insisted that he had *finally* recovered from the nagging training injuries that had affected him for years upon returning to the sport in early 2012 (sound familiar?), his “comeback” performance against Roger Hollett — who holds the distinct honor of being brought in as a late-notice injury replacement for himself — at UFC 152 spoke quite to the contrary. The fight was tough to watch for a multitude of reasons, the most damning of which being Hamill’s sloppy, tired performance against a similarly gassed fighter he would have rolled through less than a year prior.
We tried writing off Hamill’s performance as the result of ring rust, but don’t we always with guys we generally wish the best for? When he was paired with Thiago Silva at Fight Night 29, however, we reacted with legitimate fear. To borrow a much-overused phrase, Hamill had nothing left to prove. Likewise, the beating he was surely set to endure would only tarnish the legacy he had worked so hard to build.
It was by the grace of God that Silva showed up in as poor of shape as he did, because we can only imagine what he would have done to Hamill had he put a good training camp in. Within two rounds, Hamill was literally staggering around the octagon as a result of Silva’s leg kicks, his hands on his hips, too tired to even return fire. While happening upon a replay of the fight at a bar some two days later, my father could only muster to me that “the white guy looks like he just stumbled out of here and into that ring.” It was a surprisingly accurate assessment.
Of course, the obvious counter to my long-winded lament is, “Who are you to decide when a fighter should retire?” And I have no counter for your counter, other than to simply ask, ”Have Hamill’s past two fights done anything to *improve* your image of him?” Were the last couple paychecks he received worth the abuse and humiliation?
I write this as a fan, Matt. I write this as someone who has followed your MMA career from the beginning. Hell, I write this as a fellow human being. Please, see this as a sign. See this as a sign to be the exception to the rule, as you have been your entire career, and retire (again) before you inflict anymore unnecessary punishment on yourself. Because the last thing this sport needs is another fighter who simply refuses to accept his mortality.
Oh yeah, and it looks like David Mitchell and Nandor Guelmino have been fired as well. Their career eulogies are forthcoming.
