CagePotato.com Presents: The 2014 Potato Awards


(We tried to give the Potato Awards a classier vibe this year. We failed.)

By the CagePotato Staff

Look, you already know how we feel about MMA awards ceremonies: They’re meaningless exercises tainted by personal bias and stupidity, in equal measures. The only thing that makes the Potato Awards different is that we’re completely honest about the fact that our awards are biased and stupid. But it’s the end of the year, and we have to acknowledge that somehow, right?

Putting together this year’s Potato Awards list was a harrowing experience. Honestly, 2014 was an awful year for mixed martial arts. It was the year that the UFC’s pay-per-view business tanked due to injured stars and general disinterest among fans — what else is new, amirite? — while competing promotions stooped to terrifying depths in order to get your attention. (Not that the UFC didn’t do some of that, too.) 2014 answered the question “Could the UFC survive an entire year without Anderson Silva and GSP?”, and that answer was “yes, but just barely.” It was also a year in which domestic violence incidents involving MMA fighters became a tragic recurring theme (see: War Machine, Thiago Silva, Josh Grispi, Anthony Johnson, Michael Johnson).

But years from now, we may look back at 2014 as an important turning point, thanks to some major developments that took place near the end of the year. Notably, the UFC’s Reebok uniform deal is poised to transform the sponsorship landscape, while the Le/Quarry/Fitch class-action lawsuit and the related suits that came out in its wake could drag out some long-hidden truths about the UFC’s finances. We don’t yet know if these developments will turn out to be good or bad overall, but MMA could be a lot more interesting in 2015.

As we enter a new year, let’s look back at the past 12 months that got us here — the highs, the lows, and the moments that were so “WTF?!” that they defy all judgment. Use the page links below to peruse our mostly-chronological list of 38 award categories, and thanks so much for sticking with CagePotato for another year.

Page 1: Comeback Fight of the Year, The Steve Nelmark Memorial “Is He Dead?” Award, MMA Screen-Caps of the Year, “Just Bleed” MMA Superfan of the Year Award

Page 2: Worst Performance in a Drug Test, The Cecil Peoples Shittiest Decision of the Year Award, Worst Event of the Year, Sponsor of the Year

Page 3: Submission of the Year, MMA GIF of the Year, Worst Fight of the Year, Most Embarrassing Knockout of the Year

Page 4: Greatest Unsanctioned Fight of the Year, Catchphrase of the Year, The Krazy Horse Bennett Arrest of the Year Award, Greatest Fight Canceled Due to Injury, Best Reference to Medieval Europe in MMA

Page 5: Knockout of the Year, Photo of the Year, Media Shill of the Year, Most Awkward Interview, Most Satisfying Beatdown

Page 6: The Gilbert Yvel Award for Outstanding Creativity in a Cheating Performance, Greatest Hype Inflation, Best Use of Social Media, Best MMA Personality Appearance in a Non-MMA Setting

Page 7: Most Bizarre News Story of the Year, The “Really? You’re Just Gonna Keep Doing That Shit That Gets You in All That Trouble?” Award a.k.a. “The Koppenhaver”, Best Event of the Year, The Minowaman Freak Show Hall of Fame Award

Page 8: Gnarliest Injury of the Year, Greatest Failed Propaganda of The Year, Worst Use of Social Media, MMA Fail of the Year

Page 9: Most Terrifying Game-Changer, Fight of the Year, “WTF?” Moment of the Year, Promotion of the Year


(We tried to give the Potato Awards a classier vibe this year. We failed.)

By the CagePotato Staff

Look, you already know how we feel about MMA awards ceremonies: They’re meaningless exercises tainted by personal bias and stupidity, in equal measures. The only thing that makes the Potato Awards different is that we’re completely honest about the fact that our awards are biased and stupid. But it’s the end of the year, and we have to acknowledge that somehow, right?

Putting together this year’s Potato Awards list was a harrowing experience. Honestly, 2014 was an awful year for mixed martial arts. It was the year that the UFC’s pay-per-view business tanked due to injured stars and general disinterest among fans — what else is new, amirite? — while competing promotions stooped to terrifying depths in order to get your attention. (Not that the UFC didn’t do some of that, too.) 2014 answered the question “Can the UFC survive an entire year without Anderson Silva and GSP?”, and that answer was “yes, but just barely.” It was also a year in which domestic violence incidents involving MMA fighters became a tragic recurring theme (see: War Machine, Thiago Silva, Josh Grispi, Anthony Johnson, Michael Johnson).

But years from now, we may look back at 2014 as an important turning point, thanks to some major developments that took place near the end of the year. Notably, the UFC’s Reebok uniform deal is poised to transform the sponsorship landscape, while the Le/Quarry/Fitch class-action lawsuit and the related suits that came out in its wake could drag out some long-hidden truths about the UFC’s finances. We don’t yet know if these developments will turn out to be positive or negative overall, but MMA could be a lot more interesting in 2015.

As we enter a new year, let’s look back at the past 12 months that got us here — the highs, the lows, and the moments that were so “WTF?!” that they defy all judgment. Use the page links below to peruse our mostly-chronological list of 38 award categories, and thanks so much for sticking with CagePotato for another year.

Page 1: Comeback Fight of the Year, The Steve Nelmark Memorial “Is He Dead?” Award, MMA Screen-Caps of the Year, “Just Bleed” MMA Superfan of the Year Award

Page 2: Worst Performance in a Drug Test, The Cecil Peoples Shittiest Decision of the Year Award, Worst Event of the Year, Sponsor of the Year

Page 3: Submission of the Year, MMA GIF of the Year, Worst Fight of the Year, Most Embarrassing Knockout of the Year

Page 4: Greatest Unsanctioned Fight of the Year, Catchphrase of the Year, The Krazy Horse Bennett Arrest of the Year Award, Greatest Fight Canceled Due to Injury, Best Reference to Medieval Europe in MMA

Page 5: Knockout of the Year, Photo of the Year, Media Shill of the Year, Most Awkward Interview, Most Satisfying Beatdown

Page 6: The Gilbert Yvel Award for Outstanding Creativity in a Cheating Performance, Greatest Hype Inflation, Best Use of Social Media, Best MMA Personality Appearance in a Non-MMA Setting

Page 7: Most Bizarre News Story of the Year, The “Really? You’re Just Gonna Keep Doing That Shit That Gets You in All That Trouble?” Award a.k.a. “The Koppenhaver”, Best Event of the Year, The Minowaman Freak Show Hall of Fame Award

Page 8: Gnarliest Injury of the Year, Greatest Failed Propaganda of The Year, Worst Use of Social Media, MMA Fail of the Year

Page 9: Most Terrifying Game-Changer, Fight of the Year, “WTF?” Moment of the Year, Promotion of the Year

Comeback Fight of the Year: Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua 2 at UFC Fight Night 38 (3/23/14)


(Photo via Getty)

Three words: HENDO. VERSUS. CORMIER. (I jest, but Hendo was involved.)

Despite the fact that their first encounter resulted in one of the greatest fights in UFC, nay, MMA history, there weren’t many of us who were chomping at the bit for a Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua rematch when it was announced for Fight Night 38. Like Dumb and Dumber To, the bar had simply been set too high by the original for a sequel to ever live up to it, so fans approached the matchup with an overwhelming “meh.”

And through the first two rounds of the fight, our apathy seemed rightfully placed. Henderson looked every bit the 44 year-old fading legend that he was, getting flash KO’d by the 33 year-old Rua (who himself is approximately 85 in fight years) on no less than three separate occasions. We were watching a man’s career come to an end in real time, or so we thought, and the best thing that Henderson could do would be to just stay the f*ck down already and go out with some dignity.

But there’s a reason Dan Henderson is, well, Dan Henderson, and the rest of us are Lewis Skolnick in comparison. It’s called the H-Bomb — a fabled right hand that was bestowed upon Hendo by Thor himself according to the ancient texts — and it essentially acts as a failsafe should Henderson ever find his back against a wall. It is the great equalizer, and roughly one and a half minutes into the third round, Henderson used it to equalize Shogun’s nose into a million pieces.

It was an absolutely insane comeback for Henderson, a lightning strike TKO that snapped an unprecedented three-fight skid and earned him unanimous praise from fans, fighters, and critics alike.

“Dan Henderson has just surpassed John Wayne, Chuck Norris, and Tom Selleck as the most American man in history.” – Tim Kennedy

“What a fight! Tune into UFC on FOX for my objective analysis!” – Ariel Helwani

“A punch so powerful that it made my jaw hurt. My jaw.” – Roger Ebert from beyond the grave

In short, never count Dan Henderson out. Unless he’s fighting Daniel Cormier.

Jared Jones

Honorable mentions: Abel Trujillo vs. Jamie Varner, Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva

The Steve Nelmark Memorial “Is He Dead?” Award: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 39 (4/11/14)

I would say that watching Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Roy Nelson was like spotting a car accident moments before it was about to happen, but that doesn’t quite do it justice. Because even if you happen to…er…happen upon the scenario I just mentioned, chances are that you only get a few second buffer before everything gets all-

Really, Nog vs. Nelson was more like watching a Paranormal Activity movie. You walked into it with a stomach-turning sense of trepidation, and knew from the moment that the opening credits rolled rolling that something terrible was going to happen to at least of the people on screen. From there, it was just an endurance test — an agonizing, dread-filled slog toward death where everything is silent and time seems to stand still.

Roy Nelson is called “Big Country” for a multitude of reasons, the least of which being that he has never been considered the fastest man at 265 lbs. But compared to Nogueira — who appeared to have dipped his gloves and legs in concrete before stepping into the Octagon that night — Nelson was nothing short of Usain Bolt with a beer gut. For three and a half excruciating minutes, we were forced to watch a PRIDE legend and former interim champion serve as target practice to an IFL champion and TUF winner, until it inevitably happened.

Us Nogueira fans have witnessed some heartbreaking moments in recent years — the Velasquez fight, the Mir fights, the Werdum fight — but nothing quite compares to the night our hero was mummified by Rubeus Hagrid. And while it’s true that Big Nog may not have actually died that night, I sure as hell did. On the inside.

Jared Jones

Honorable mentions: The drooling tornado kick victim, Raquel Pennington drops Ashlee Evans-Smith’s broken corpse on the public square for all to see, Melvin Manhoef goes out on his sword (again) vs. Joe Schilling

MMA Screen-Caps of the Year: Gabi Garcia on TUF Brazil



Jesus Christ, take that thing back to Baltimore. By the time this surreal moment aired on TUF Brazil 3, BJJ champion Gabi Garcia had already failed a drug test for Clomiphene, confirming our suspicions that her 24-inch pythons were earned with a little hormonal help. A month later, Wanderlei Silva was surprised with a random drug test of his own and responded by fleeing out of the side door of his gym; as a result, he caught a lifetime ban from the NSAC. But here they are on the set of a reality show, having a conversation about drive, determination, and being a role model to women. And meanwhile, Gabi looks like she could crush an apple in either one of her hands. So yeah, it was a little ironic in retrospect.

Honorable mentions: Chris Nelson‘s incredible ongoing tribute to MMA faces; this classic, which has been our Facebook header image since August; the one they call Berz Dog

Ben Goldstein

“Just Bleed” MMA Superfan of the Year Award: Chuck Liddell Costume Guy (5/10/14)

It’s easy to be cynical about MMA. And it would be easy to be cynical about a guy who dresses up in a Chuck Liddell costume in an attempt to get on TV and meet Dana White and a bunch of fighters.

But look at that thing. It’s marvelous. And he times his Chuck Liddell victory pose perfectly with the crane camera that’s flying through.

Yeah, Greg Insco seems like a bit of a goober who sends the same photo to Jeff Probst and Mark Burnett over and over, but for one night he made MMA fun for a lot of people. You keep doing you, Greg.

Mike Fagan

Honorable mention: Drunk dancing doofus at UFC Halifax

Brock Lesnar Is Probably Coming Back to the UFC (But It Doesn’t Matter. Here’s Why)


(Brock Lesnar flashes a rare smile after being informed he’s the highest-paid 5-3 fighter of all time. / Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Brock Lesnar will likely return to the UFC in 2015, but it won’t usher in a new golden age for MMA.

The news of Lesnar’s UFC return came recently. Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that “within the [WWE], the belief is that he’s going back to the UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it.”

Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White expressed openness to a Lesnar return, and even claimed Lesnar was willing to return. “We have a great relationship with him,” said White. “We’ll see what happens.”

Furthermore, Lesnar’s longtime friend Paul Heyman noted this summer that Lesnar still has an intense drive to compete in the Octagon.

Unlike every other time Brock Lesnar’s name has been in the headlines over the last few years, this round of “Is Lesnar coming back” speculation isn’t a gimmick to drive up pageviews during a slow news week. This appears to be the real deal. Lesnar is coming back. However, unlike conventional wisdom would have you believe, it won’t do a damn thing to turn the UFC’s fortunes around.


(Brock Lesnar flashes a rare smile after being informed he’s the highest-paid 5-3 fighter of all time. / Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Brock Lesnar will likely return to the UFC in 2015, but it won’t usher in a new golden age for MMA.

The news of Lesnar’s UFC return came recently. Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that “within the [WWE], the belief is that he’s going back to the UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it.”

Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White expressed openness to a Lesnar return, and even claimed Lesnar was willing to return. “We have a great relationship with him,” said White. “We’ll see what happens.”

Furthermore, Lesnar’s longtime friend Paul Heyman noted this summer that Lesnar still has an intense drive to compete in the Octagon.

Unlike every other time Brock Lesnar’s name has been in the headlines over the last few years, this round of “Is Lesnar coming back” speculation isn’t a gimmick to drive up pageviews during a slow news week. This appears to be the real deal. Lesnar is coming back. However, unlike conventional wisdom would have you believe, it won’t do a damn thing to turn the UFC’s fortunes around.

The UFC’s PPV buys plummeted throughout 2014, hitting an estimated low of 115,000 for UFC 174. The 2014 yearly average for PPV buys was only 256,000 — about 200,000 lower than the previous three years. The UFC’s business soured so much Standard & Poor’s downgraded Zuffa’s credit rating and financial outlook.

MMA fans have problems interpreting numbers, so let me spell it out plainly: The UFC’s domestic popularity hasn’t been this low since before the Ultimate Fighter boom. The PPV market is collapsing. The FOX deal is not the UFC’s catapult to mainstream super-stardom we all thought it would be. Casual fans have fled MMA, only to return sparingly for free television shows and almost never for PPVs. The resolve of hardcore fans, tasked with keeping the sport alive during its dark times, is withering. These problems are a result of Zuffa’s oversaturation approach as well as the fading/retirement of old stars. I’ve discussed both these problems numerous times so I won’t repeat myself suffice it to say one man can’t fix the MMA marketplace in the United States.

Brock Lesnar last fought at UFC 141 in 2011 against Alistair Overeem. Care to guess the buyrate? A mediocre 535,000. UFC 91 in 2008 — the first event Lesnar headlined, this time against Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title — drew 1,010,000 buys.

Only half as many people cared to see Lesnar in 2011 compared to 2009. So how many people will care in 2015, four years and thousands of brand-killing, generic, unfit-for-television-and-PPV fights (that still made it onto television and PPV) later? Furthermore, Lesnar is 37 now. The last memories people have of him in the cage are Alistair Overeem liquefying his intestines with a body kick and Cain Velasquez punching him so hard he did a hilarious pirouette across the cage. Even if the UFC matches Lesnar up against the Brendan Schaubs of the heavyweight division, it’s not likely given Lesnar’s age that his second UFC run will be longer than his first.

Think about it this way, MMA is in such a state that if Lesnar’s first PPV back draws 500k buys it’ll be a tremendous success. Four plus years ago that same number would’ve been an abject failure for someone of Lesnar’s name value.

Brock Lesnar’s return is not the salvation of MMA. It’s not the restoration of MMA’s golden age. It’s Zuffa throwing two or three fight’s worth of kindling onto a dying fire — LIVE for $59.99.

The World MMA Awards Are a Goddamned Travesty


(Arianny Celeste, accepting her third-consecutive award for Journalist of the Year. / Photo via Getty)

By Mike Fagan

I sort of remember where I was when Fighters Only announced the first World MMA Awards. What a moment. I sat there at my desk in my two-bedroom apartment in beautiful Henderson, Nevada, reading the announcement and nominee list. I may have thought something like “This won’t last more than a year” or maybe I just finished reading and moved on with my life. December 2008 was a wild time, man.

Yet, here we are during the annual War on Christmas in 2014 and the World MMA Awards are going strong with their seventh annual edition. They proved the maybe-fictional version of my 2008 self wrong.

Fighters Only released this year’s nominee list on Monday, and I have some thoughts. Allow me to list them for you…


1. Someone ran the nominee photos through the “2003” filter. The World MMA Awards built itself a flashy website complete with a sweet animated countdown clock and high-res background video of last year’s awards and 2014 UFC highlights which I’m sure cost a lot of money to license (wink wink). Yet when you click through to vote, you find headshots of nominees that look like they were shot on a flip phone a decade ago.

2. International Fighter of the Year is still a thing. For the first two years, International Fighter of the Year was known as European Fighter of the Year, which, okay, Fighters Only is a UK publication or whatever. They renamed it for 2010, and fighters “outside the Americas” are eligible. Now I’m not sure of the point. Every winner of the award (including the original Euro winners) had a presence in the United States the year they won. Plus, MMA is a global sport, and international fighters aren’t disqualified or handicapped from winning Fighter of the Year proper. The first three winners were non-Americans Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre (who technically isn’t eligible for International Fighter of the Year anyway), and Jose Aldo. You could always present a non-UFC Fighter of the Year and prevent things like…

3. Emanuel Newton nominated for Fighter of the Year.


(Arianny Celeste, accepting her third-consecutive award for Journalist of the Year. / Photo via Getty)

By Mike Fagan

I sort of remember where I was when Fighters Only announced the first World MMA Awards. What a moment. I sat there at my desk in my two-bedroom apartment in beautiful Henderson, Nevada, reading the announcement and nominee list. I may have thought something like “This won’t last more than a year” or maybe I just finished reading and moved on with my life. December 2008 was a wild time, man.

Yet, here we are during the annual War on Christmas in 2014 and the World MMA Awards are going strong with their seventh annual edition. They proved the maybe-fictional version of my 2008 self wrong.

Fighters Only released this year’s nominee list on Monday, and I have some thoughts. Allow me to list them for you…


1. Someone ran the nominee photos through the “2003” filter. The World MMA Awards built itself a flashy website complete with a sweet animated countdown clock and high-res background video of last year’s awards and 2014 UFC highlights which I’m sure cost a lot of money to license (wink wink). Yet when you click through to vote, you find headshots of nominees that look like they were shot on a flip phone a decade ago.

2. International Fighter of the Year is still a thing. For the first two years, International Fighter of the Year was known as European Fighter of the Year, which, okay, Fighters Only is a UK publication or whatever. They renamed it for 2010, and fighters “outside the Americas” are eligible. Now I’m not sure of the point. Every winner of the award (including the original Euro winners) had a presence in the United States the year they won. Plus, MMA is a global sport, and international fighters aren’t disqualified or handicapped from winning Fighter of the Year proper. The first three winners were non-Americans Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre (who technically isn’t eligible for International Fighter of the Year anyway), and Jose Aldo. You could always present a non-UFC Fighter of the Year and prevent things like…

3. Emanuel Newton nominated for Fighter of the Year. Newton wasn’t nominated last year when he upset “King” Mo Lawal (and Bjorn Rebney) twice. So, he turns around in 2014 and rattles off wins against luminous names like Attila Vegh, Joey Beltran, and Linton Vassell and finds himself nominated. This is worse than Bloody Elbow readers voting Matt Brown as their fighter of the year in 2012.

4. Speaking of Bloody Elbow, Brent Brookhouse wasn’t nominated for journalist of the year. Bloody Elbow was given a token nomination for Media Source of the Year, so at least someone’s paying attention. Brookhouse gets left off despite a now-long history of investigative work AND breaking the biggest story of the year. If only he held a microphone, wore children’s shoes, and asked fighters about their beards…

5. Two nominees for Media Source of the Year have documented ties to the UFC. MMA Junkie belongs to USA Today, which has some sort of partnership deal with the UFC. Fightland is, in Tim Marchman’s words, a “joint UFC/Vice venture.” That same report also noted instances of Fightland editing pieces in order to appear more favorable to the promotion.

6. Mike Dolce found himself nominated for Trainer of the Year. Dolce’s claim to fame in 2014 is an ongoing feud with BJ Penn over Dolce’s work for Penn leading up to what turned out to be a disaster of a trilogy fight against Frankie Edgar. Penn isn’t the first fighter to complain about Dolce’s contributions, and both Phil Baroni and Tito Ortiz have chimed in with their thoughts on the Dolce Diet guru.

7. Someone or someones thought Brendan Schaub was worthy of a Personality of the Year nomination. Schaub co-hosts the Fighter and The Kid podcast with Bryan Callen and regularly appears on Joe Rogan’s podcast where Rogan occasionally Kano’s him in front of thousands of viewers. Schaub seems like a nice-enough and articulate-enough guy, but I couldn’t make it more than a minute into an episode of the Fighter and The Kid without feeling embarrassed for everyone involved.

8. Leading Man of the Year, a category sexist enough for the MMA community. Sorry, Shannon Knapp, no matter how many millions of streams Invicta tallies, you’ll never find yourself nominated for the de facto “promoter of the year” category. But hey, there’s a category for you if you wanna throw on a bikini and walk around with numbered signs.

9. Sponsored by Bodybuilding.com and RDX Sports. Nothing says classy gala affair like a store/forum pushing workout pills and unrealistic body expectations and a UK martial arts equipment provider with fewer Twitter followers than a certain tuber-themed MMA site.

10. Holy shit, they let the fans vote on this stuff. The World MMA Awards are determined by the Eddie Justbleeds of the world. Surely, said Justbleeds recognize the relative merits of Ray Longo’s and Duane Ludwig’s coaching techniques. Surely, they recognize such trainers as Doug Balzarini, Brian Blue, Jake Bonacci, and Joel Jamieson. Surely, Garry Cook and Victor Cui are household names. Surely, they understand the difference between “lifestyle” and “technical” clothing brands, and are familiar enough with the “technical equipment” to provide a fair and balanced ballot.

The World MMA Awards: The awards show that MMA deserves, but not the one it needs right now. Or ever.

Shill ‘Em All, Part 5: Good Night and Good Luck


(Sixty years ago, we had Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly. Now, we’ve got these guys.)

By Brian J. D’Souza

The class action lawsuit filed against the UFC by Cung Le, Nate Quarry and Jon Fitch has dramatically polarized the MMA sphere. Instead of debating the merits of the case, many are debating whether the lawsuit has a right to exist.

Chael Sonnen has characterized the lawsuit as a “shakedown”; others say that the plaintiffs are just bitter ex-fighters who have an axe to grind. It’s bizarre that so many are acting as if these events suddenly crept up quietly to ambush the UFC—and it’s also a symptom of the poor job done by the MMA media in reporting business concepts in a way fans can understand them.

A “USEFUL IDIOT”

Last month, Chael Sonnen sounded off on Ariel Helwani on his podcast, saying “You’re not a journalist, you’re a parrot.” The message wasn’t coming from a warm, fuzzy place inside Sonnen’s heart—the Oregonian wrestler was irate at Helwani’s handling of the steroid scandal Sonnen had been embroiled in, which lead to Sonnen’s exit from MMA competition.

FrontRowBrian—a Twitter personality who has the ability to scoop news stories and rumors that the mainstream media either doesn’t know about or is too scared to touch—added his own insight into the Helwani-UFC relationship, which hit a snag when Helwani was reported to be on the outs at UFC partner FoxSports in January 2014.

With his typically cheerful ginger candor, FrontRowBrian tweeted (then later, deleted) that Helwani was a “useful idiot,” and said that the UFC had temporarily fired him because they “just wanted to show him who is the boss and how they can end a career.”

Ariel Helwani is an extreme case of someone with overt dependence on the UFC. Like many media members, he knows what the key issues are between MMA promoters and the fighters, but he makes a conscious effort to restrain himself from fully developing very specific ideas in his reporting.

For example, when Nate Diaz’s complaints about pay made headlines in April, Helwani wrote a very detailed article for MMAFighting.com outlining Diaz’s points, as well as a succinct reply from Dana White. Carefully omitted from the article is any analysis of the revenue Nate Diaz generates for the UFC versus what he’s paid.


(Sixty years ago, we had Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly. Now, we’ve got these guys.)

By Brian J. D’Souza

The class action lawsuit filed against the UFC by Cung Le, Nate Quarry and Jon Fitch has dramatically polarized the MMA sphere. Instead of debating the merits of the case, many are debating whether the lawsuit has a right to exist.

Chael Sonnen has characterized the lawsuit as a “shakedown”; others say that the plaintiffs are just bitter ex-fighters who have an axe to grind. It’s bizarre that so many are acting as if these events suddenly crept up quietly to ambush the UFC—and it’s also a symptom of the poor job done by the MMA media in reporting business concepts in a way fans can understand them.

A “USEFUL IDIOT”

Last month, Chael Sonnen sounded off on Ariel Helwani on his podcast, saying “You’re not a journalist, you’re a parrot.” The message wasn’t coming from a warm, fuzzy place inside Sonnen’s heart—the Oregonian wrestler was irate at Helwani’s handling of the steroid scandal Sonnen had been embroiled in, which lead to Sonnen’s exit from MMA competition.

FrontRowBrian—a Twitter personality who has the ability to scoop news stories and rumors that the mainstream media either doesn’t know about or is too scared to touch—added his own insight into the Helwani-UFC relationship, which hit a snag when Helwani was reported to be on the outs at UFC partner FoxSports in January 2014.

With his typically cheerful ginger candor, FrontRowBrian tweeted (then later, deleted) that Helwani was a “useful idiot,” and said that the UFC had temporarily fired him because they “just wanted to show him who is the boss and how they can end a career.”

Ariel Helwani is an extreme case of someone with overt dependence on the UFC. Like many media members, he knows what the key issues are between MMA promoters and the fighters, but he makes a conscious effort to restrain himself from fully developing very specific ideas in his reporting.

For example, when Nate Diaz’s complaints about pay made headlines in April, Helwani wrote a very detailed article for MMAFighting.com outlining Diaz’s points, as well as a succinct reply from Dana White. Carefully omitted from the article is any analysis of the revenue Nate Diaz generates for the UFC versus what he’s paid.

Then again, as Yahoo! reporter Kevin Iole carefully explained in a February column on the subject of whether fighter pay is fair, “No one can say with certainty because we don’t really know what [fighters] earn or how much the UFC makes.”

It’s a terrific alibi for adhering to the status quo that MMA journalists can cling to the way Ariel Helwani can cling to his four consecutive “MMA Journalist of the Year” awards (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) as evidence that he’s a journalist.

JOURNALISTS IN GLASS HOUSES

The “Shill of the Year” award clearly goes to Kenny Rice, host of AXS TV show Inside MMA, for abruptly cutting short an interview with undefeated welterweight Ben Askren back in September.

“The UFC has had quite the monopoly the last handful of years, but really, if they don’t change their tune, they’re gonna start losing some fans,” opined Askren in response to a statement (question?) by Kenny Rice about the UFC housing the world’s best fighters.

Rice quickly halted the interview midstream, but his methods caused more damage than if he’d simply allowed Askren to finish. Fans everywhere were outraged over the incident and sounded off all over Twitter, discussion forums and comments sections.

“Honestly, I think a lot of people were kind of happy that someone was finally speaking the truth,” Askren later told MMAJunkie Radio, “all of a sudden I get cut off and I get censored – they’re really mad about that.”

When AXS TV producer Andrew Simon offered an apology, Askren requested that he be able to return to the show to debate the topic of MMA economics with Kenny Rice. No debate ever materialized, but as a consolation, Rice’s Inside MMA co-host Bas Rutten posted a 1,200-word Facebook rant full of disjointed, tangential thoughts that absolved Rice from responsibility (at least from his viewpoint).

In completely unrelated news, Robert Joyner of MMAPayout.com reported that AXS TV chairman, CEO and president Mark Cuban became a UFC bondholder in 2009.

DOLLAR$ AND $EN$E

In 2005, George Clooney directed Good Night, and Good Luck., a film about CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow challenging anti-communist fear monger Senator Joseph McCarthy through accurate—and courageous—reporting.

Murrow makes a speech in the movie that cuts right to the heart of today’s media culture of self-interested info-tainment: “Unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.”

When Murrow and producer Fred Friendly attempt to cover a news story that evidences the arbitrary nature of the communist witch-hunt, key sponsors back out. Upper-management at CBS allows the controversial story to run, but in the end, the powers that be have their own ironclad rhetoric for paring down Murrow’s influence.

Sixty Four Thousand Dollar Question brings in over $80,000 in sponsors and it costs a third of what you do,” chief executive of CBS William Paley tells Murrow and Friendly.

So what incentive is there for an MMA website to fund an investigative reporter like John S. Nash to write a detailed analysis of MMA contracts when they can get more bang for their buck commissioning a series of stories about the usual “he said/she said” clickbait floating around the blogosphere?

Not to mention the clear links between MMA promotions’ advertising dollars and certain news outlets, like the UFC’s relationship with USA Today/MMAJunkie, as reported on in Shill ‘Em All, Part 4. I was directed to senior vice president of USA Today Leagues and Properties Merrill Squires to answer questions about the “USA Today UFC Group.” Although I contacted him for comment 11 months ago, I am sure that it will only be a matter of time before he gets back to me.

Meanwhile, MMAJunkie.com has provided excellent analysis of the UFC lawsuit including a story about perennial opportunist Tito Ortiz declining to participate in the suit, as well as a must-read piece on Travis Browne’s manager John Fosco calling the plaintiffs “a bunch of wimps.”

Are these stories relevant to the nature of the lawsuit, or are they just disinformation being pumped out to influence public opinion? Perhaps Browne’s side-gig as a marketing rep for several UFC-approved sponsors deftly answers that question.

SHADOWS OF OURSELVES

The reality of the UFC lawsuit is that it is being led by a group of fighters who are removed from their primes. They didn’t have the mechanisms, information, organization or leadership to stand up for themselves at the apex of their careers when it would have had the most impact. There’s also the reality of getting sucked into the game of corporate politics—sacrificing dignity and rights today for the promise of a paycheck and advancement tomorrow.

MMA journalists are in a similar juxtaposition with respect to their careers—there are incentives to toe the party line. But every time a reporter bends to the promoter’s whims, they endear less respect and credibility. Eventually, no matter how compliant or obedient a reporter is, they can find themselves unemployed and forgotten.

In the last year, many prominent names in the industry—among them Mike Chiapetta, Joe Ferraro, Mike Straka and Jim Casey—have moved on from full-time jobs covering the sport. Many part-time writers are also seeing their budgets slashed, and thus being further marginalized or rendered irrelevant.

One well-known former MMA media member penned (and recently deleted) a poem with this sad verse:

I didn’t know I would end up here,
No family, no money, no career.
Two girls who look up to me,
And a shadow of who I used to be.

All I can say to the survivors still committed to working in the media is that you need to carefully consider your objectives and the impact of your work. How do you want to be remembered? Will you be remembered?

The clock is ticking. What you produce will be your only answer.

***

Brian J. D’Souza is the author of the critically acclaimed book Pound for Pound: The Modern Gladiators of Mixed Martial Arts. You can check out an excerpt right here.

Crazy Enough to Be True: Ten Wild MMA Predictions for 2015


(Heading into 2015, these are the two most famous people associated with MMA. I’ve got nothing snarky to add to that.)

By Seth Falvo

With yet another year coming to an end, CagePotato.com is reviving an old holiday tradition: MMA predictions for the upcoming year that are so wild and outrageous that some of them might actually come to fruition. If you’re looking to read statements along the lines of “JOSE ALDO REMAINS DOMINANT AT FEATHERWEIGHT YOU GUYZZZ,” kindly move along; there are plenty of other two-bit MMA writers “brave” enough to state such obvious things for you. Still here? Then let’s grab some eggnog and see what 2015 has in store for us.

1. CM Punk‘s First UFC Opponent Won’t Even Have a Sherdog Profile When the Fight Is First Announced.

Look, the last thing that I want to do is get all high and mighty about the UFC’s decision to sign CM Punk; the UFC is a sports entertainment company, so why wouldn’t they sign the hottest free agent in sports entertainment? But at the same time, Punk’s qualifications to fight in the major leagues are non-existent. We’re dealing with a guy who, up to this point, has dabbled in jiu-jitsu and sparred a few times. Forget a UFC-caliber fighter — most people can’t even beat an experienced amateur fighter after less than a year of serious training. So let’s not even joke about whether or not CM Punk’s first UFC opponent will have his own Wikipedia page, because he obviously won’t. If the UFC expects any sane athletic commission to sanction a bout featuring Punk, they’re going to have to find somebody so obscure that not even the folks at Sherdog will know who he is.

2. A Member of the Official UFC Rankings Committee Is Accused of Partaking in a “Pay for Rankings” Scandal.


(Heading into 2015, these are the two most famous people associated with MMA. I’ve got nothing snarky to add to that.)

By Seth Falvo

With yet another year coming to an end, CagePotato.com is reviving an old holiday tradition: MMA predictions for the upcoming year that are so wild and outrageous that some of them might actually come to fruition. If you’re looking to read statements along the lines of “JOSE ALDO REMAINS DOMINANT AT FEATHERWEIGHT YOU GUYZZZ,” kindly move along; there are plenty of other two-bit MMA writers “brave” enough to state such obvious things for you. Still here? Then let’s grab some eggnog and see what 2015 has in store for us.

1. CM Punk‘s First UFC Opponent Won’t Even Have a Sherdog Profile When the Fight Is First Announced.

Look, the last thing that I want to do is get all high and mighty about the UFC’s decision to sign CM Punk; the UFC is a sports entertainment company, so why wouldn’t they sign the hottest free agent in sports entertainment? But at the same time, Punk’s qualifications to fight in the major leagues are non-existent. We’re dealing with a guy who, up to this point, has dabbled in jiu-jitsu and sparred a few times. Forget a UFC-caliber fighter — most people can’t even beat an experienced amateur fighter after less than a year of serious training. So let’s not even joke about whether or not CM Punk’s first UFC opponent will have his own Wikipedia page, because he obviously won’t. If the UFC expects any sane athletic commission to sanction a bout featuring Punk, they’re going to have to find somebody so obscure that not even the folks at Sherdog will know who he is.

2. A Member of the Official UFC Rankings Committee Is Accused of Partaking in a “Pay for Rankings” Scandal.

You know what really warms my heart? When people say things like “The UFC Rankings wouldn’t be so awful if the UFC got REAL JOURNALISTS” and “There’s no REAL JOURNALISM in MMA.” Completely lost on these people is that sports journalism is inherently fanboy writing designed to tell people what they want to believe and avoid hard-hitting topics, and that real journalists tend to cover real topics where they can make (comparatively) real money and not have to work second jobs. What, you didn’t think that the overwhelming majority of MMA writers cover this sport as their only sources of income, did you? Oh man, aren’t you just precious!

This is all to say that the moment the UFC announced how the official rankings will directly affect fighter pay, there likely was a manager who sent every member of the rankings panel an envelope full of cash and a convenient list of every fighter he manages. If that hasn’t already happened, it almost assuredly will once the new system actually kicks in next year.

3. A UFC Champion Sells The Right to Select His/Her Walkout Music.

We’ve seen independent music labels sponsor fighters before, sometimes with hilarious results. But I’m not necessarily talking about that: I’m saying that with even champions starting to wonder how their money is going to be affected by the UFC/Reebok deal, don’t be surprised to see one of them offer up the right to select his or her walkout music to the highest bidder in 2015. If you’re the person who ends up paying for the right to select a fighter’s entrance theme, I have one request: More “Badstreet, USA,” please.

4.) Brandon Vera Holds Belts in Two Different Weight Classes Simultaneously.

…I mean, it’s not like ONE FC has an overabundance of competition for him.

5.) Ben Askren: UFC Welterweight.

“But Seth,” you may be thinking, “Dana White says that Askren will never fight in the UFC!” To which I reply, well, great point. Women will never fight in the Octagon, Kimbo Slice will get killed in the UFC [Ed. Note: *sigh* Damn it, Houston…], and Phillipe Nover is GSP 2.0.

6.) A Fight-Fixing Scandal Rocks a Major MMA Organization.

So, Bellator is serious about bringing in professional wrestlers to act out dramatic storylines before what they assure us will be totally legitimate fights? Yeeeaaahhh…this may end poorly. For further reading and as to not take the obvious route and single out Bellator — please refer to “Why I Fixed Fights” by Charles Farrell and “You Have Probably Watched a Fixed Fight in the UFC” by Mike Fagan.

7.) Rampage Jackson Goes Full Filho Mid-Fight.

Or perhaps more accurately, Rampage Jackson will go full “Mitch ‘Blood’ Green against Bruce Johnson.” Rampage has apparently re-signed with the UFC — despite the fact that he did nothing but whine about how awful the UFC was when he was last with the promotion — although Bellator seems prepared to battle the UFC in court for the right to keep booking him. There is no winner here. If Bellator actually thinks they’re getting one more legitimate fight out of ‘Page, they’re hopelessly delusional. And if the UFC actually thinks that a guy with Jackson’s persecution complex isn’t going to cause trouble this time around, well, I’m not sue that the English language has a word for that. I can see Rampage — frustrated by his position with the only two MMA companies who can afford to bring him in — allowing his next fight devolve into a certified catastrophe.

8.) Tito Ortiz: Bellator Light-Heavyweight Champion.

TITO IS BACK, BABY! Okay, so that’s a gigantic stretch. But seeing how easily the aforementioned Rampage Jackson effortlessly dispose of former Bellator champion Christian M’Pumbu, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to watch Tito Ortiz take home the second-most valuable Light-Heavyweight Championship in MMA.

9.) Matt Riddle: Professional Wrestling Champion.

You remember Matt Riddle, right? TUF castmember, UFC welterweight, likeable stoner? The one with the longish hair and the mushroom tattoo? Yeah, he’s training to be a professional wrestler now. I see no reason why an indie wrestling organization won’t put a title around his waist in 2015.

And now, let’s bring everything full-circle and end with another Phil Brooks prediction:

10.) CM Punk Walks Out on the UFC.

The guy who walked out on the WWE over mistreatment from both the WWE and the professional wrestling fans who’ve never wrestled a day in their lives, yet think they know everything about being a wrestler. He then signs with the UFC, seemingly convinced that the UFC isn’t exploitative at all whatsoever and that MMA fans are the most respectful people alive. Well, Mr. Brooks, to borrow a quote from one of your former colleagues, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…

Crazy or Cunning? Nate Diaz Might Be Smarter Than We Think He Is


(“…and another thing, man, what’s up with these mothaf*ckin Grape Nuts, y’know, is it a grape, is it a nut, I don’t even know what the f*ck I’m eating homie, but it’s whatever.”)

By Trent Reinsmith

UFC president Dana White once claimed that lightweight fighter Nate Diaz “doesn’t move the needle” with fight fans. Well, heading into his fight on Saturday night against Rafael dos Anjos, Diaz has buried the needle in the red. And you know what? I’m kind of digging it…a lot.

The 29-year-old Stockton, California-based fighter has pulled exactly zero punches leading into the co-main event of UFC on Fox 13. On December 2nd, in the wake of the announcement that the UFC had signed a uniform deal with Reebok, Diaz tweeted his uncensored feelings on the deal; he later said he was hacked, but didn’t bother to delete the tweet in question. Diaz followed that by missing his December 10th scheduled open workout for the UFC on Fox 13 show, claiming he “kind of slept in.” Most recently he blasted both recent UFC signee CM Punk and the UFC for signing the former WWE champion. Diaz’s exact words, “f-ck him, f-ck the whole situation.”

At first blush it seems as if Diaz is slowly pulling a knife across his own throat with these types of comments, but if you dig a little deeper, Diaz may actually be a lot more cunning than he is crazy.

Everyone knows White’s claim that Diaz doesn’t move the needle was total nonsense. Hell, the UFC went and booked Diaz in the co-main event of a Fox event after he sat out for more than a year, so even the people who work for White know that claim was a huge stretch. Diaz also knows that statement was made by White to attempt to put the fighter in check. As Diaz told me when I interviewed him for Fight! Magazine, “I think the moving the needle thing they were saying, and the way they were trying to downplay me was just a ridiculous statement.” Diaz followed that with what now seems like some foreshadowing, “I think that just upped the bar, and now I’m going to move the needle even more.”

Diaz’s recent comments and actions have done just what he promised ­– generated even more attention around him as a personality and a product. He’s taken his normal rebel stance and cranked it up into overdrive. He’s practically jutting his chin out and waving the UFC in with arms outstretched, asking the promotion to do their worst while knowing full well they can’t do anything but take what he is doling out.


(“…and another thing, man, what’s up with these mothaf*ckin Grape Nuts, y’know, is it a grape, is it a nut, I don’t even know what the f*ck I’m eating homie, but it’s whatever.”)

By Trent Reinsmith

UFC president Dana White once claimed that lightweight fighter Nate Diaz “doesn’t move the needle” with fight fans. Well, heading into his fight on Saturday night against Rafael dos Anjos, Diaz has buried the needle in the red. And you know what? I’m kind of digging it…a lot.

The 29-year-old Stockton, California-based fighter has pulled exactly zero punches leading into the co-main event of UFC on Fox 13. On December 2nd, in the wake of the announcement that the UFC had signed a uniform deal with Reebok, Diaz tweeted his uncensored feelings on the deal; he later said he was hacked, but didn’t bother to delete the tweet in question. Diaz followed that by missing his December 10th scheduled open workout for the UFC on Fox 13 show, claiming he “kind of slept in.” Most recently he blasted both recent UFC signee CM Punk and the UFC for signing the former WWE champion. Diaz’s exact words, “f-ck him, f-ck the whole situation.”

At first blush it seems as if Diaz is slowly pulling a knife across his own throat with these types of comments, but if you dig a little deeper, Diaz may actually be a lot more cunning than he is crazy.

Everyone knows White’s claim that Diaz doesn’t move the needle was total nonsense. Hell, the UFC went and booked Diaz in the co-main event of a Fox event after he sat out for more than a year, so even the people who work for White know that claim was a huge stretch. Diaz also knows that statement was made by White to attempt to put the fighter in check. As Diaz told me when I interviewed him for Fight! Magazine, “I think the moving the needle thing they were saying, and the way they were trying to downplay me was just a ridiculous statement.” Diaz followed that with what now seems like some foreshadowing, “I think that just upped the bar, and now I’m going to move the needle even more.”

Diaz’s recent comments and actions have done just what he promised ­– generated even more attention around him as a personality and a product. He’s taken his normal rebel stance and cranked it up into overdrive. He’s practically jutting his chin out and waving the UFC in with arms outstretched, asking the promotion to do their worst while knowing full well they can’t do anything but take what he is doling out.

The UFC could react to Diaz, but the only way the promotion can silence him is to release him, and that would be a huge mistake on the UFC’s part. Diaz understands this, just as much as the UFC does.

Say Diaz loses to Dos Anjos on Saturday night; do you honestly think the UFC would release him? That’s not going to happen. The minute Diaz is released, Bellator would send a Brink’s truck over to his Stockton abode looking to sign him to a long-term deal. Diaz knows he has value, and right now he’s making sure the UFC knows that he knows that.

If Diaz does lose and is released by the UFC; Diaz and Bellator have a ready-made storyline to sell to the fans that tune into the Bellator fights on Spike TV. Nate Diaz — the rebel that was too much for the UFC to handle.

Another reason the UFC will not and more importantly cannot release Diaz is the fact that he is a known commodity with a rabid fan following who has fought in the UFC since 2007. The last time Diaz was not on a main card was 2011 when he fought Rory MacDonald on the Spike TV portion of UFC 129.  When discussing this point with MMAFighting, Diaz said, “”Come on. I’ll lose this fight and they’ll bring me back and put me on another main event, co-main event. And then they probably won’t because I just said that. But it don’t matter, you’re still going to sell the card with me or somebody who’s been around long enough, because everyone’s new.”

So, what if Diaz wins on Saturday night? Will Joe Rogan approach Diaz in the Octagon with a live microphone and let him offer his thoughts on his fight, and his future with the UFC? My money says there’s not a chance that will occur after what’s gone down these last few days. However, if it does happen, I would like to see an iso cam on White’s face from the moment Rogan leaves his seat cageside to the last “Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu” shout out from Diaz.

Odds are that the broadcast will go to commercial and the next time we see Diaz will be at the post-fight presser where UFC brass will pray that no one asks Diaz a question, and if you have ever attended or watched a post-fight press conference after a Diaz fight, you know that is not going to happen.

The one drawback to this plan, and I’ll admit it is a big drawback, is that if Diaz is not released from his UFC deal he will be forced to toil under the contract he signed prior to facing Benson Henderson in 2012. Still, Diaz will continue to get paid, and best of all (at least for fans and media), he’ll continue to speak his mind for the duration of that contract, looking to see if he can find that magic UFC release button that will send him into the arms of a suitor with a wide open checkbook.

The UFC – scratch that, UFC fans — need more rebels like Diaz, fighters who are unafraid to say what they want. Fighters who know their value and are unafraid to make every attempt to get what they deserve. Sure the fans have their “UFC approved” badasses like Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor who wear the rebel’s uniform while winking at the UFC brass, but the real zero-f*cks-given rebels like Nate Diaz are few and far between. These are the fighters that will move the needle. These are the fighters that will call the UFC out when the feel they are getting the short end of the deal. These are the fighters that may or may not last too long with the UFC, but they’ll always be the fighters the fans will remember.

Keep moving that needle Mr. Diaz, keep moving that needle.