In the world of mixed martial arts, many fighters become consumed with the busy lifestyle that comes along with the sport. They become so attached to the sport that they rarely get time away from their everyday training. Not UFC welterweight, Jake Hech…
In the world of mixed martial arts, many fighters become consumed with the busy lifestyle that comes along with the sport. They become so attached to the sport that they rarely get time away from their everyday training. Not UFC welterweight, Jake Hecht. Instead, Hecht is rarely seen as he thoroughly enjoys traveling the world, […]
Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be one of the richest prizefighters ever. But the unbeaten five-division champion who goes by the nickname “Money” is about to trade life in a posh five-bedroom Las Vegas home for almost three months in a cell about one-third the size of a small boxing ring…
As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather, 35, probably will serve most of his time in a small solo cell. There is floor space for sit-ups and push-ups. But Mayweather’s stint in the high-rise Clark County Detention Center is expected to limit his ability to train for another fight.
At least for the first week, Mayweather will be segregated for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility, police Officer Bill Cassell said this week…
Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be one of the richest prizefighters ever. But the unbeaten five-division champion who goes by the nickname “Money” is about to trade life in a posh five-bedroom Las Vegas home for almost three months in a cell about one-third the size of a small boxing ring…
As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather, 35, probably will serve most of his time in a small solo cell. There is floor space for sit-ups and push-ups. But Mayweather’s stint in the high-rise Clark County Detention Center is expected to limit his ability to train for another fight.
At least for the first week, Mayweather will be segregated for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility, police Officer Bill Cassell said this week…
[Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa] Saragosa said when she sentenced Mayweather that she was particularly troubled that he threatened and hit ex-girlfriend Josie Harris while their two sons watched. The boys were 10 and 8 at the time. The older boy ran out a back door to fetch a security guard in the gated community.
However, the judge accepted the deal that had Mayweather plead guilty to misdemeanor domestic battery and no contest to two harassment charges. Prosecutors dropped felony and misdemeanor charges that could have gotten Mayweather 34 years in prison if he had been convicted on all counts.
Mayweather’s jail stay will be capped at 87 days, because the judge gave him credit for three days previously served. It could be reduced by several weeks for good behavior, Cassell said Thursday. Mayweather also was ordered to complete a yearlong domestic violence counseling program, 100 hours of community service and pay a $2,500 fine…
Mayweather will be housed in a standard administrative segregation cell no larger than 7-by-12 feet, with a bunk, stainless steel toilet and sink, a steel and wood desk with a permanently bolted stool and two small vertical windows with opaque safety glass…
Mayweather could have about an hour a day out of his cell with access to an exercise yard, Cassell said. Depending on his behavior, the boxer could later get several hours a day for exercise with other inmates also being held in protective custody.
He’ll get a standard-issue blue jail jumpsuit with the letters CCDC and orange slippers.
Mayweather will be able to deposit money into a jail account to purchase snacks, soap and personal hygiene items from the jail commissary.
Damn it…this place already sounds better than my apartment complex. Anybody want to take bets on how many days he actually serves? Related question: This Timothy Bradley dude is going to get royally ass-dug, right?
I am a massive fan of MMA and the UFC. I have watched every UFC event and attended live shows. I substantiate Dana’s claim that a live UFC show is the greatest sporting event on the planet. Dana and his organization—and others—are doin…
I am a massive fan of MMA and the UFC. I have watched every UFC event and attended live shows. I substantiate Dana’s claim that a live UFC show is the greatest sporting event on the planet.
Dana and his organization—and others—are doing excellent work and deserve a lot of credit. The UFC deserves to be in the upper echelon of all mainstream sports.
However, people are trespassing beyond absurdity in their claims as to how far the sport has come. UFC Central, an excellent program broadcast on Sportsnet, recently claimed in the Mir-JDS preview that the UFC heavyweight crown is the most prestigious title in all of combat sports.
This seemed worth analysis.
The UFC heavyweight division adorned their first champion on February 7, 1997. Mark Coleman became the inaugural winner that night and to date, 15 other occasions have transpired where the title has been won.
In many cases, the winner was a previous champion. Considering a division that has only existed for fifteen years as the most prestigious of combat sports appears at the very least hyperbolic.
The 16 occasions when the title was won have never produced a truly dominant champion. No champion has ever reigned for two consecutive years. One would think the owner of such a heralded title would be able to maintain their lofty status.
The title has been won by defeating dubious challengers such as Tank Abbott, Gan McGee, Justin Eilers, Pedro Rizzo, Jeff Monson and Paul Buentello. Defeating this calibre of opponents, who had less-than-glorious MMA careers and fell into relative obscurity, does not warrant the achievement to be exalted as the greatest in the combat sport universe.
The title winners who themselves had pedestrian career achievements in MMA are numerous: Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovksi and Brock Lesnar.
These were tremendous athletes that usually excelled in one skill set and were far from true mixed martial artists. They benefited from the fact that they competed in a fledgling sport that had few high-level competitors. The argument for parity being the reason for the high turnover rate is nullified by the subsequent careers of challengers and champions.
Randy Couture is a legend. One of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. He held the title three times and collectively for over 1000 days. He is a truly great champion. Frank Mir is a successful former champion as well. However, do their achievements speak so loudly that their crown should be recognized as the greatest of them all?
Frankly, I would suggest that GSP and Anderson Silva deserve more stature as champions for their dominance in their divisions than the big fellas in the over-205-pound category. The welterweight and middleweight divisions are more respected and competitive than the mercurial heavyweight division.
Becoming a champion is a laudable accolade, and these gentlemen deserve praise for what they accomplished. However, in these instances, it is difficult to surmise that their actions merited their place on the throne as the most illustrious athlete in the martial arts dimension.
In delving into this claim assiduously, one sees a division that is but 15 years young with a penchant for a rapid change of winners with limited longevity in the UFC. Furthermore, title challengers are difficult to grade as elite, and the division is the most anemic of all in the history of the flagship MMA organization.
Realistically, would one have been able to produce a legitimate top-ten MMA heavyweight list five years ago? How thin would a top-20 list be today?
When we suggest that the UFC heavyweight belt is more prestigious than all others, which titles are being subjugated?
Is Ali’s WBC world heavyweight boxing title is less important? The same title worn by Frazier, Foreman and Holmes and defended against the best in the world is realistically not beneath the UFC title, which represents a sport not even sanctioned in many countries.
That is simply an irrational assessment void of logic and sound reasoning.
In a more modern context, many aficionados would grant the authority to Ring Magazine and their pound-for-pound greatest list to pass the sceptre.
Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and the Klitschko brothers have been more consistent against better competition in a more legitimate sport for over a decade. Their claims to be the king of combat sports carry far greater validity.
Floyd is undefeated in a career that began before the UFC heavyweight division had ever named a champion; His amateur career culminated with a bronze Olympic medal. Manny has lost once since 1999. Vitali has one loss since 2001, and his brother Wladimir has been undefeated from 2005 to the present date.
These are examples of dominating a sport. It would sincerely perplex me for one to purport these accomplishments as inferior to winning the UFC heavyweight title.
I am very excited to see the Mir-JDS bout. These are two high-level athletes rich in skill and amazing capabilities. It would be JDS’s first defense if he wins. Regardless of the winner, they, along with every fighter that competes, demand the respect and admiration of the public.
Yet the one strapped with the coveted UFC belt will not be the greatest champion in combat sports. The sport is too young, the division too weak, the champions too ephemeral and the tradition of boxing too glorious to yield to over-enthusiastic absurdity.
In the future, this may very well come true. Today, in 2012, the UFC heavyweight title is not even in the conversation for the most prestigious title in combat sports.
Speaking of things that happened last night that were laughably predictable, Kimbo Slice is still earning his bread as a professional boxer. Well, perhaps “earning” is the wrong word. Earning implies that he is making it by winning competitive matches against reasonably credible opponents. Really, $kala is just giving Kimbo his bread at this point. Or, if you’re cheesy enough to go there, Shaw is just feeding the guy.
Speaking of things that happened last night that were laughably predictable, Kimbo Slice is still earning his bread as a professional boxer. Well, perhaps “earning” is the wrong word. Earning implies that he is making it by winning competitive matches against reasonably credible opponents. Really, $kala is just giving Kimbo his bread at this point. Or, if you’re cheesy enough to go there, Shaw is just feeding the guy.
His opponent last night was a Lamar, Arkansas pugilist named Jesse Porter*, who entered the bout with a 3-4 professional boxing record. Porter had never gone the distance in his boxing career, with all seven fights ending by knockout. Furthermore, he was coming off of a knockout loss to Lee Bagan forty two seconds into the second round of their bout, which marked the longest that Porter had lasted in a fight he lost.
Kimbo Slice is now 5-0 as a professional boxer, while Jesse Porter gets to drift back into obscurity where he belongs. But look on the bright side: It was a quick fight that delivered a knockout, and both fighters got paid more for this bout than I got paid to mock it. There’s (something resembling) dignity in knowing that.
* There’s actually some confusion as to who the hapless can was. A lot of sites are reporting that 1-0 boxer Richard Dawson was his opponent last night instead of Jesse Porter. AllTheBestFights.com’s review of the bout sums up the confusion with the unintentionally hilarious ”at the moment we don’t know exactly who is his opponent”. In a way, that’s probably for the best.
Frank Mir is relishing the opportunity to challenge for a UFC heavyweight title once again. The 12-year veteran previously held the heavyweight strap in 2004, before vacating the title after a motorcycle accident nearly cost him his career. After earni…
Frank Mir is relishing the opportunity to challenge for a UFC heavyweight title once again. The 12-year veteran previously held the heavyweight strap in 2004, before vacating the title after a motorcycle accident nearly cost him his career. After earning three consecutive victories, Mir now finds himself facing current UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos […]
Fans of combat sports were treated to a memorable evening on Saturday night as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto battled it out on pay-per-view following an entertaining fight card put on by the UFC on FOX. The ratings aren’t in quite yet for…
Fans of combat sports were treated to a memorable evening on Saturday night as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto battled it out on pay-per-view following an entertaining fight card put on by the UFC on FOX. The ratings aren’t in quite yet for these events, but judging by trends on both Google and Twitter, […]
