It’s not always easy being a pro wrestling fan. Even in 2012, decades after Vince McMahon let the cat out of the bag, the most common retort to any mention of wrestling fandom is the tried and true classic—”You know it’s all fake right?”How to re…
It’s not always easy being a pro wrestling fan. Even in 2012, decades after Vince McMahon let the cat out of the bag, the most common retort to any mention of wrestling fandom is the tried and true classic—”You know it’s all fake right?”
How to respond to that nugget of wisdom? Of course it’s all fake! That’s a big part of the fun. We love wrestling because it is so over-the-top, campy and outrageous.
Even “serious” wrestlers like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk do things in the ring that defy the laws of physics and rational thought. That’s okay. It’s all part of the show.
Despite these obvious truths, we still feel the need to defend the business. The wrestlers do it too. That’s why Mick Foley likes to run down his laundry list of injuries. Sure, they all happened as a human cartoon, but they lend realism to the absurd.
It’s the same reason Jim Ross points out a wrestler’s amateur background. It somehow makes it easier to ignore the utter possibility of a hurricanrana when the performer was once a special teams player at the University of Oklahoma.
And it’s why we love it when one of our own goes on to succeed in mixed martial arts. See? Those guys pretending to be tough on television? Maybe there’s something to that act after all.
Everyone knows Brock Lesnar. But he’s not the first and he won’t be the last pro wrestler to excel in MMA. Here’s ten other wrestling stars who went on to MMA fame and fortune.
On Saturday, April 21st, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans finally meet to end their rivalry. The fight has been a year in the making and at this point both fighters are done with talking and just want to fight. Jones has been on an absolute tear since making…
On Saturday, April 21st, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans finally meet to end their rivalry. The fight has been a year in the making and at this point both fighters are done with talking and just want to fight. Jones has been on an absolute tear since making his UFC debut and many are already crowning him as the best light heavyweight of all time. Rashad looks to end the hype and regain his light heavyweight title.
The card is rounded out with some fantastic match ups between young fighters which will have long term affects on the UFC’s divisions.
Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has made plenty of news lately.First, there was last week’s infamous fight challenge to Ariel Helwani after the reporter expressed his (very valid) opinion that Askren’s title defense victory over Douglas Lima …
Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has made plenty of news lately.
First, there was last week’s infamous fight challenge to Ariel Helwani after the reporter expressed his (very valid) opinion that Askren’s title defense victory over Douglas Lima was boring.
And now, Askren has decided that getting into a Twitter war with UFC President Dana White sounds like a great idea. Askren fired the first shot, claiming that White is lying about the UFC’s inability to issue random drug tests to the 375-plus fighters on its roster.
@BenAskren: The USOC random tests Olympic athletes in all sports. Dana saying testing his fighters would be impossible is a bold faced lie.
@BenAskren: @danawhite glad you know my name now. Before I was just the bushy haired wrestler.
I respect Askren’s decision to air his true thoughts without any worry of the repercussions. It’s one of the things that makes him one of the more intriguing fighters in the sport.
But unless Askren wants to spend his entire career in Bellator—and he’s previously noted that he’d like to eventually fight in the UFC—he’ll want to be very careful about getting into Twitter battles with the president of the company.
White’s the kind of guy who can hold a grudge for a long time, and pissing him off will virtually ensure that you’re never going to receive a UFC contract offer. He’s already stated publicly that he’s no fan of your fighting style. Why add extra animosity on top of that?
Askren is a good fighter and a fantastic wrestler. I’d love to see him face off against some of the top guys in the UFC’s welterweight division. But that’s never going to happen unless Askren starts thinking about the future instead of saying what he’s feeling at the moment.
What’s one of the more interesting aspects of Saturday’s long-awaited fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans? The fact that Jones will go into the cage with the UFC itself as his sole sponsor.Make no mistake about it: This is a landmark deal, for the…
What’s one of the more interesting aspects of Saturday’s long-awaited fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans? The fact that Jones will go into the cage with the UFC itself as his sole sponsor.
Make no mistake about it: This is a landmark deal, for the promotion and for Jones. Never before has the UFC actually sponsored one of its own fighters. Never before has it invested so much financially in a fighter, at least beyond the standard contract and pay-per-view bonuses it doles out.
It’s a tricky subject. The UFC is obviously promoting Jones as one of its biggest superstars, and now it’s associating its brand even more deeply with the light heavyweight champ.
How does this news make Evans feel? He’s going into the cage for the biggest fight of his career, and his opponent is carrying the UFC’s brand. And it isn’t simply paying Jones to wear the UFC logo on his shorts—it’s created an entire clothing line, from fight shorts to track suits to hats. Jones will be covered head to toe in UFC gear for the entire fight week.
I have no idea how Evans views the entire situation, but doesn’t it seem just a little bit disrespectful?
For Jones, it’s the perfect situation. He explained his reasoning behind seeking the deal in a recent conference call:
I’ve had a goal of being sponsored by Nike for many, many years. Part of our strategy to try and make that happen one day is not be a billboard – not be sponsored by TapouT one week, and Affliction one week, Muscle Pharm next week and all these random companies. I try to look for long-lasting relationships with companies. So, a part of my brand is to keep it clean. Less is more, in my opinion. So, once FORM Athletics went down, pretty much every company in the business was looking for an opportunity to work with me. I thought it was a real honor, it was awesome, but we came up with a strategy to keep it clean and be sponsored by the UFC itself.
I’m a big fan of fighters who prefer to keep their image clean. When Jones was sponsored by the now-defunct Form Athletics, he went into the cage with one logo on his shorts: Form Athletics and nothing else. That’s a big departure from your typical fighter, who often displays anywhere between six and 10 different logos on his shorts.
This isn’t the last time the UFC will sponsor one of its own fighters. I think this is just the first of many future stars the UFC will throw its weight behind. You’ll see more and more fighters going this route as long as the UFC makes it financially viable for them to drop their current sponsors.
Kudos to Jones and his manager Malki Kawa for venturing into entirely new territory with this deal. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the ethical side of the deal, but it’s safe to say that it adds yet another interesting aspect to one of the brightest young stars in the sport.
The build up to UFC 145 seems like it has taken forever. The reality though is that Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have been on a collision course since Jones received a shot at Mauricio Rua’s light heavyweight title. For over a year, the two fighters…
The build up to UFC 145 seems like it has taken forever. The reality though is that Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have been on a collision course since Jones received a shot at Mauricio Rua’s light heavyweight title.
For over a year, the two fighters took shots at each other in the media and at one point even had to be separated at a night club by Georges St. Pierre. With the fights just a week away, the time for talk is over.
Don’t expect the pre-fight trash talk to shake Jones’ confidence. He’s already had to deal with more controversy before the fight with Quinton Jackson.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s been the most exhausting lead up to a fight. It kind of reminds me of the Rampage (Jackson) fight. We had smack talking, controversy. It was drama in the Rampage fight too,” said Jones.
“Someone calling me fake or cocky, that does nothing to me, it’s like alright. I really believe only God can judge me. But somebody calling me a cheater, that really got to me. So I wouldn’t say this was the most exhausting build up to a fight, not at all.”
Jon Jones has settled in as UFC champion. After successful title defenses against Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida, Jones is poised to become the face of the UFC. There’s been recent discussion about the UFC’s decision to sponsor Jones for his fight with Evans.
“I’ve had a goal of being sponsored by Nike for many, many years and a part of our strategy to try to make that happen one day is to not be a billboard, and not just be sponsored by TapOut one week and Affliction one week and then MusclePharm next week and then all of these random companies.”
He added “But we came up with a strategy to keep it clean and be sponsored by the UFC itself and I’m glad the UFC wanted to work with me as well and I think they trust that I’ll never make them look bad.”
Jones views the fight with Evans as not just the most important of his MMA career but also as the biggest fight in the history of the light heavyweight division. He may be right. Based on media attention, the fight with Evans should be one of the most financially successful in the history of the UFC.
“This fight it has been referred to on several occasions as the Ali vs. Frazier of our sport and of our time,” Jones said. “I think that this fight would sell out in Madison Square Garden the first day that tickets went on sale and that’s amazing. I think it would sell out the Yankee Stadium. It would sell out anything.”
While he may be over-exaggerating about the reach of this fight, there is one thing that everyone can agree upon, the fight between Jones and Evans will be the fight to decide who reigns supreme in the light heavyweight division. The time for talk is over and now it’s time to put up or shut up.
With UFC on Fuel 2 in the books, let’s take the time to look at the current pound-for-pound rankings in MMA. While none of the fights had a huge impact on the rankings, they did affect the landscape in every division. This weekend Jon Jones and Ra…
With UFC on Fuel 2 in the books, let’s take the time to look at the current pound-for-pound rankings in MMA. While none of the fights had a huge impact on the rankings, they did affect the landscape in every division.
This weekend Jon Jones and Rashad Evans square off in the main event of UFC 145. The fight will not only decide the champion of the light heavyweight division, but it will also have an enormous impact on both of their legacies.
The build up to