Former Strikeforce fighter Tim Kennedy will make his long-awaited UFC debut this Saturday, but the week the event falls on also happens to overlap the 4th of July.Kennedy is a decorated Army Ranger who proudly served his country in multiple tours of du…
Former Strikeforce fighter Tim Kennedy will make his long-awaited UFC debut this Saturday, but the week the event falls on also happens to overlap the 4th of July.
Kennedy is a decorated Army Ranger who proudly served his country in multiple tours of duty, and he continues to speak out as a veteran today.
In this interview, Kennedy talks about his outspoken nature and why he is so boisterous in giving his opinions on any number of topics. Kennedy routinely takes to his Twitter account to talk about fighting, gun rights and a number of other political subjects.
For Kennedy, it all comes down to his freedom of speech, and he believes more people—whether it’s fans or fighters—should embrace that.
“I say things people don’t agree with and it makes people really mad.They lash out and attack and say horrible things, or do horrible things. That’s the wrong idea,” Kennedy said. “I want people to say things that I totally disagree with, that makes my blood boil, that is so awful, but I want them to have that right.Just like I should be able to say anything I want. That’s the reason that I went to war to fight for these rights.”
Kennedy also talks about his upcoming fight this weekend against Roger Gracie, which will be a featured fight on the UFC 162 main card on pay-per-view.
Chris Leben has been with the UFC since the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. Leben has had his share of personal and professional ups and downs during his tenure during that run. Right now he’s on the downside, losing two straight. Ent…
Chris Leben has been with the UFC since the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.Leben has had his share of personal and professional ups and downs during his tenure during that run. Right now he’s on the downside, losing two straight. Entering UFC 162 he will look to get his career back on the upswing.
Leben last fought at UFC 155, losing via unanimous decision to Derek Brunson. The fight was not one of Leben’s better performances. He looked out of sorts, rusty and frustrated. Some of that may have been due to the fact that it was his first fight after serving a year-long drug related suspension.
UFC president Dana White spoke about Leben’s performance in that loss, “He looked like a guy that hadn’t fought in a long time.” As for Saturday, White is hopeful that he will see the Chris Leben of old inside the Octagon, “Leben is a f****** warhorse. This guy comes in and he’s either going to kill or be killed. He’s either going to knock you out or get knocked out, that’s just his style.”
When the subject of Leben’s future with the promotion was brought up, we caught a glimpse of the side of White that isn’t displayed often in public, “Let’s see what happens on Saturday. He’s a kid that, no matter what he’s doing, I want to keep him motivated, and make it so that every day when he gets out of bed he’s a part of society, and has to have something to achieve or some goals. I always want that there for him. I don’t even want to talk about cutting Chris Leben.”
A Leben win over Andrew Craig will grant White his wish. A loss on Saturday, and Leben will have three consecutive defeats, and warhorse or not, the UFC will have a decision to make about his status with the promotion.”
*All quotes obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report.
Roy Nelson’s status with the UFC is up in the air. The 19-8 heavyweight recently closed out his contract with the promotion, losing via unanimous decision to Stipe Miocic at UFC 161. Losing that fight did not put Nelson in the driver’s seat…
Roy Nelson’s status with the UFC is up in the air. The 19-8 heavyweight recently closed out his contract with the promotion, losing via unanimous decision to StipeMiocic at UFC 161.
Losing that fight did not put Nelson in the driver’s seat when it came to negotiating a new deal with the promotion, but if the words and tone of UFC president Dana White are indicative of anything, don’t be surprised to see Nelson back with the UFC.
One of the final questions White was asked during his media scrum on Thursday concerned Nelson and what White thought about Nelson fighting outside of his “natural weight class.”
White replied, “The guy’s on a 12-fight winning streak by knockout. He’s a heavyweight. He’s a heavy, heavyweight. My thing is not as much fighting out of his weight class, but if he took himself seriously and got in great shape, what would Roy Nelson be able to accomplish?”
The loss to Miocic dropped Nelson from the fifth-ranked heavyweight in the UFC to the seventh-ranked heavyweight. White’s opinion is that if Nelson did get in better shape, he could possibly get over that hump, and compete with the best in the division, “Maybe he would get over that No. 4 or 5 hump in the rankings. When you get to the top four guys in the world, you’re dealing with the four nastiest dudes.”
The UFC president then ran down the attributes that make Nelson a threat, “He’s a great wrestler, he’s got heavy hands, and he’s got an unbelievable fucking chin, and great Jiu-Jitsu.”
In closing, White continued to praise Nelson, but couldn’t resist getting one jab in on the fighter that he has had his share of battles with in the past, “He’s as well-rounded as you can get, and he’s as well-rounded as you can get.”
*All quotes obtained first hand by Bleacher Report
Roy Nelson’s status with the UFC is up in the air. The 19-8 heavyweight recently closed out his contract with the promotion, losing via unanimous decision to Stipe Miocic at UFC 161. Losing that fight did not put Nelson in the driver’s seat…
Roy Nelson’s status with the UFC is up in the air. The 19-8 heavyweight recently closed out his contract with the promotion, losing via unanimous decision to StipeMiocic at UFC 161.
Losing that fight did not put Nelson in the driver’s seat when it came to negotiating a new deal with the promotion, but if the words and tone of UFC president Dana White are indicative of anything, don’t be surprised to see Nelson back with the UFC.
One of the final questions White was asked during his media scrum on Thursday concerned Nelson and what White thought about Nelson fighting outside of his “natural weight class.”
White replied, “The guy’s on a 12-fight winning streak by knockout. He’s a heavyweight. He’s a heavy, heavyweight. My thing is not as much fighting out of his weight class, but if he took himself seriously and got in great shape, what would Roy Nelson be able to accomplish?”
The loss to Miocic dropped Nelson from the fifth-ranked heavyweight in the UFC to the seventh-ranked heavyweight. White’s opinion is that if Nelson did get in better shape, he could possibly get over that hump, and compete with the best in the division, “Maybe he would get over that No. 4 or 5 hump in the rankings. When you get to the top four guys in the world, you’re dealing with the four nastiest dudes.”
The UFC president then ran down the attributes that make Nelson a threat, “He’s a great wrestler, he’s got heavy hands, and he’s got an unbelievable fucking chin, and great Jiu-Jitsu.”
In closing, White continued to praise Nelson, but couldn’t resist getting one jab in on the fighter that he has had his share of battles with in the past, “He’s as well-rounded as you can get, and he’s as well-rounded as you can get.”
*All quotes obtained first hand by Bleacher Report
Fresh off a win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June, Fabricio Werdum was contemplating sitting and waiting for a chance at the UFC heavyweight gold, but he’s tired of being on the sidelines. Werdum made a convincing case that he should be near a titl…
Fresh off a win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June, Fabricio Werdum was contemplating sitting and waiting for a chance at the UFC heavyweight gold, but he’s tired of being on the sidelines.
Werdum made a convincing case that he should be near a title shot when he submitted Nogueira in the headline bout of UFC on Fuel 10, marking his third win in a row since returning to the UFC in 2012.
The only problem for Werdum is that he sat out for almost a year waiting for the Nogueira bout because the two fighters served as coaches on Ultimate Fighter Brasil season 2.In addition to that, the next heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos is already set for October.
That means Werdum would probably end up sitting out for another eight or nine months at least by the time he could even potentially get a title shot.Plus the UFC hasn’t even named him as the clear-cut choice as No. 1 contender.
So instead of sitting out and watching the division move on without him, Werdum recently met with UFC president Dana White to discuss his options.
In that meeting, Werdum had one name on his mind for who he wanted to face later this year inside the Octagon—former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier.
“Werdum was in my office two days ago, that’s probably where the rumor came from. That’s who he wants to fight,” White answered on Thursday when asked about a potential fight against Cormier.“So we’ll see what happens.”
Cormier is currently in the process of cutting weight to eventually make it down to light heavyweight, but in the interim he wants to stay busy and take another fight in the heavyweight division.
There may not be a bigger fight amongst the contenders right now than Cormier against Werdum.
A former two-time Olympian, Cormier is still undefeated in his MMA career.He made his UFC debut earlier this year when he picked up a unanimous decision victory over former heavyweight champion Frank Mir at UFC on Fox 7 in April.
White made it clear that Werdum asked for the fight, but as of yet there has been no official word if the promotion is interested in making it happen.
Currently, neither fighter has anything scheduled, and a showdown between Cormier and Werdum could be a perfect co-main event for the UFC 166 card that will be headlined by the heavyweight title bout between Velasquez and Dos Santos.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted
The hot topic of the moment in mixed martial arts, fighter pay, got a little hotter Thursday when fired-up UFC president Dana White sat down to discuss the topic with the media following the UFC 162 pre-fight press conference. Many feel that for a comp…
The hot topic of the moment in mixed martial arts, fighter pay, got a little hotter Thursday when fired-up UFC president Dana White sat down to discuss the topic with the media following the UFC 162 pre-fight press conference.
Many feel that for a company allegedly worth as much as it claims, the UFC is underpaying the majority of its athletes. In a 2011 story in the New York Times, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said, “I feel pretty comfortable saying we’re the most valuable sports franchise on the planet, more than Manchester United, more than the New York Yankees, more than the Dallas Cowboys.”
Forbes recently put Manchester United’s worth at $2.23 billion, the Yankees at $1.85 billion and the Cowboys at the same value.
The UFC is a privately held company and it doesn’t disclose financials, so it’s hard to tell if Fertitta’s statement is accurate.
One way White said the UFC could change the pay scale is to get rid of fighter bonuses.
“It wasn’t just the fight of the night bonuses, it was all bonuses. There are a lot of bonuses that fly around this company, and the reality is that the bonuses that are given are bonuses that are deserved,” White said.
White then blasted those that he sees as complainers:
The guys that are complaining about this are the guys that don’t matter. That might sound [expletive] mean and harsh and ‘Why would nobody matter, everybody matters.’ We’re in a society now where everyone should win a trophy. No, everybody shouldn’t win a [expletive] trophy. The guys who stand out and the guys who deserve bonuses, the guys that make it exciting, and the guys that rise to the top are the guys that deserve the money.
White proceeded to point to two fighters he feels the system has really worked for, Joe Lauzon and Sam Stout. Fighters that White feels fans want to see and make a good living in the middle of the pack, delivering the type of exciting action that benefits them via bonuses. He had some harsh words for those that do not fit that description:
If you’re not that guy, and boo [expletive] hoo, you don’t matter. I’m sure that [expletive] sucks, and I’m sure that hurts. I’m sure you want to scream that from the rooftops. ‘I’m pissed, and this isn’t fair, and this isn’t right.’ This is [expletive] life, dude, get ready, because every day life is standing right there to kick you in the [expletive] face and you better be ready to do something about it.
White’s speech, while interesting, missed the point. White took the question of fighter pay and made it about the bonus aspect of the UFC pay structure. No one is saying that they aren’t thankful for the bonuses, but they are saying the base pay is low, a subject that was not addressed.
By threatening to remove bonuses, White is looking to create a rift between the fighters. As someone who has sat on both sides of the table during collective-bargaining sessions, I can tell you that White’s statement on removing the bonuses is one of the oldest tricks in the book from the management side. There’s always the implication (or is that a threat?) that a certain benefit will disappear for all when higher wages are sought. In this case, that threat is the removal of the bonus program.
Every sport has gone through this growth period, where the ink turns from red to very, very black. At that point, the owners have been forced to loosen the purse strings a bit. Most of the time, it was done very reluctantly through collective bargaining. The NHL is the most recent example of this growth. Between the 1984-85 and 2010-11 seasons, the average player salary grew from $149,000 to $1.93 million.
No one is saying the UFC salaries should reflect those of the NHL, NFL or MLB, or that the fighters will unionize, but for what the promotion asks of these fighters, the salaries do need to increase. This has zero to do with bonuses, and everything to do with base pay.
The pay issue is not going away for the UFC, and it will be interesting to see how the promotion handles things. Putting down the fighters and trying to create tension between the haves and have-nots in the UFC isn’t the solution.
When you keep telling everyone that will listen that the promotion you represent is bigger than the NFL, well, don’t be surprised when the fighters hear that and wonder when they will get their share of that growing pie.
*All quotes obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report unless otherwise noted.
The hot topic of the moment in mixed martial arts, fighter pay, got a little hotter Thursday when fired-up UFC president