UFC 181 ended on an extremely contentious note. Robbie Lawler became the first team member of American Top Team to earn a UFC title, and much of the MMA community is questioning the validity of that victory.
With their second close fight to close out 2…
UFC 181 ended on an extremely contentious note. Robbie Lawler became the first team member of American Top Team to earn a UFC title, and much of the MMA community is questioning the validity of that victory.
With their second close fight to close out 2014 now in the books, the UFC could score big by booking a trilogy fight between these two men in 2015.
Hendricks and Lawler provided fight fans with two of the biggest moments of the year. UFC 171 and UFC 181 were two of the closest title fights in the sport this year. As a result of the bouts, both men have gained fans for their rousing performances.
Fans know that they will get a fight that is exciting in different ways each time these men face off within the Octagon. With that in mind, UFC President Dana White has already started leaning toward that third bout.
If the action presented in their first two bouts is any indication, then White is 100 percent correct.
The UFC 171 fight ended with 308 significant strikes landed (via Fight Metric). UFC 181 closed out with 228 significant strikes landed but much more of a wider MMA offering, as Hendricks brought more out of his wrestling background (via Fight Metric).
The action in both fights went back and forth as the fight community was given the opportunity to see each competitor shine. They were the exact type of fights that build the fanbase for fighters at this level, and the UFC can capitalize by putting them together for the third time.
But what about Rory MacDonald? The Canadian fighter has made a strong string of performances and White seemed to indicate that MacDonald was in a position to receive a title shot.
“It’s pretty impossible to deny Rory that,” White told the Canadian Press in October. “Whoever comes out of that Hendricks-Lawler fight, [MacDonald] is the next guy in line.”
But that message changed during Saturday’s press conference, as White answered with “I have no idea” when questioned if MacDonald would still get the shot (via MMA Junkie). If MacDonald’s title shot is put on the back burner, the UFC should immediately move toward the third fight between Lawler and Hendricks with MacDonald getting a shot at the winner.
From a business standpoint, the third fight would strengthen what is already a strong slate of events to start 2015. According to Fight Parrot, UFC 171 ended with 300,000 PPV buys at a time when the UFC is struggling to keep steady above that rate.
The numbers for UFC 181 are still weeks away from being revealed, but if there is an increase, then booking the third fight would be justified further. Giving the two men 25 more minutes to work would benefit both their stock and the UFC brand as a whole.
Mixed martial arts has a few examples of rivalries that ended in trilogy bouts. Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler should be added to that list in 2015.
As UFC 181 came to a close it is clear that these two men have unfinished business when it comes to that welterweight title. The UFC would benefit and both fighters would grow if they’re given the opportunity to face each other once again.
Fights happened at UFC 181. Titles were defended. Blood spilled. But all that went down in a very large shadow—deposed WWE wrestling kingpin CM Punk is coming, per an announcement during the pay-per-view Saturday night, to the UFC Octagon.
P…
Fights happened at UFC 181. Titles were defended. Blood spilled. But all that went down in a very large shadow—deposed WWE wrestling kingpin CM Punk is coming, per an announcement during the pay-per-view Saturday night, to the UFC Octagon.
Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, left the WWE on bad terms in January. He’s been the subject of whispers ever since, rumors of his eventual signing with the UFC swirling around for months before the company finally pulled the trigger Saturday.
Brooks, who will compete as either a middleweight or a welterweight, appeared on the UFC 181 broadcast to discuss his multi-fight deal with announcer Joe Rogan.
“I have a background in kempo, and I’ve been doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a long time,” Brooks said. “This is my new career, 100 percent I’m going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it’s going to be fun.
“I have nothing but respect for everybody here at the UFC, everybody who steps in the Octagon to fight. And when it’s all said and done, when I’m finished, everybody’s going to have to respect me because I have come here to fight.”
It was a move that shocked the combat-sports world, me included. To be honest I never gave a potential Punk signing much thought. It simply seemed too far-fetched to warrant much brain power. Sure, Punk was a noted MMA fan who trains with Rener Gracie. And, yes, he’s expressed some interest in giving MMA a try.
But in the UFC? The Super Bowl of mixed martial arts?
It just didn’t seem feasible. After all, this is a man with no history of athletic success, no track record in martial arts competition and a laundry list of injuries than made continuing his career as a wrestling showman untenable.
Giving fighting a shot is Punk’s choice. Putting him in the Octagon, where ostensibly the best cage fighters in the world compete, is White’s. And it’s nothing more than a sideshow, the kind of hucksterism the UFC was supposedly escaping when it ran towards respectability and away from its early reputation as human cockfighting.
This is a publicity stunt and a naked cash grab. The UFC is eschewing sport for spectacle, walking the opposite path it followed to grow the “sport” to this point. But there’s no underestimating the levels Dana White and company will sink to in the name of American capitalism.
The UFC is struggling in the American market. Television numbers are down. Pay-per-view numbers are reportedly at the lowest levels since the dawn of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005. It’s, no doubt, pretty scary to ponder the future these days. They’ve bet it all, everything White and his partners have built over more than a decade, on successful foreign expansion.
And that’s a bet that will be slow paying off—if it does at all. In the meantime, with it’s top stars either in decline like Anderson Silva, pondering a movie career like Ronda Rousey or in an extended public spat with the promotion over drug testing and other issues like George St-Pierre, the UFC is desperate for something to click with their fans.
Enter CM Punk.
The UFC has seen the potential power of a professional wrestler at the box office before. When former (and current) WWE champion Brock Lesnar signed with the company in 2008, it lit a fire that burned hot and fast. The promotion broke box-office records behind Lesnar, riding his success to unthinkable heights.
It’s tempting to compare the two men because of their WWE backgrounds. But Lesnar was an athletic marvel, a former NCAA champion wrestler who once tried out for the Minnesota Vikings on a whim and impressed even NFL scouts with his raw ability.
Comparing Punk to Lesnar rings hollow. At best it’s naive. At worst it’s manipulative and dishonest. Punk has no athletic credentials. He never even played sports in high school. And, while he’s had some training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he’s never competed at a high level in that art either. He’s a complete unknown.
If he wants to fight—fine. But putting him in the hallowed UFC Octagon, once meant only for the best of the best, turns a sport into a carnival show, especially if he’s fighting in a high-profile bout. Is this athletics? Or is it celebrity fantasy camp?
Even worse, from a moral standpoint, is Punk’s age and history of injuries. The 36-year-old entertainer, though not a sportsman, did travel the world with the WWE, sacrificing his health and well-being in thousands of televised wrestling collisions and slams.
They took their toll. In a revealing podcast interview, Punk said not only had he torn his meniscus, PCL, MCL and injured his ACL, he also had serious troubles with his elbow. Worse still, he had suffered more than a dozen concussions in his career, and it was affecting him nightly (transcribed by Cageside Seats):
I worked Luke Harper in a match and I got hit with something and it f——g rung my bell and I got a concussion. But we were leaving for Europe the next day. So Doc was leaning on me going ‘do you want me to… do you have a concussion or can you go to Europe’ kind of thing. And I was just like ‘you f—–g… you pigs.
I’ll go to Europe. Whatever.’ That’s on me. That’s my fault. I probably shouldn’t have.
After the European tour, the whole European tour, I’m dry heaving after every match. I mean, luckily I was in tags.
It was me and Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatts and they were awesome, and they were fun — the parts I remember — but I’m on all fours after every match and I’m either puking for real or I’m just dry heaving because I don’t have anything in my stomach. I have no appetite. I don’t know what is up and what is down. I can’t sleep. I can’t f—–g train. It’s like a bus, a hotel, a cold building.
This doesn’t sound like a man who needs to be competing in a brutal sport like mixed martial arts. This sounds like a man who should be taking measures to protect his brain for what will hopefully be a long and productive life.
It will ultimately be an athletic commission’s job to decide whether Punk is fit to fight. Of course athletic commissions let Muhammad Ali fight into the 1980s, long after it was clear he was doing himself irreparable harm. If there’s money to be made with CM Punk, the UFC will find a way to get him in the cage.
Will CM Punk make the UFC money? In the short term, I have no doubt. While he wasn’t a great box-office PPV attraction for WWE, no one was giving up on him, which is how they ended up creating the WWE Network, he is a significant star to an audience of several million wrestling fans.
People will watch CM Punk, at least once or twice. The question, then, is whether his signing will further degrade MMA’s standing in the broader sports mainstream.
No other sport would even consider signing a celebrity to compete at the highest level or try to pass one off as an equal to their hardworking professionals. Even Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest athlete of his era, was forced to give baseball a try in the minor leagues, not for the Chicago White Sox.
Jordan, famously, failed. So, too, will this. The UFC will cash in on Punk at the cost of their hard-earned credibility.
UFC President Dana White thinks highly of his promotion’s lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis.
During a recent appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” White laid down his famous superlative for whatever champion happens to be fighting that Saturday, …
UFC President Dana White thinks highly of his promotion’s lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis.
During a recent appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” White laid down his famous superlative for whatever champion happens to be fighting that Saturday, calling Pettis the “pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”
This distinction only holds true, of course, if Pettis can stay healthy (transcription via MMAJunkie.com’s Mike Bohn).
“Honestly, I think Pettis is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, if the kid can stay healthy,” White told Rome. “This kid is able to do things to people that other people can’t do. The famous run-off-the-cage kick, he bounces off the cage and hits people with knees.”
In particular, White commended Pettis‘ lethal kicks, saying they’re different and more powerful than anything his counterparts can whip at their opponents.
“The thing is with him, he’s so powerful with his kicks, that once he kicks you he hurts you immediately,” White said. “Human beings can’t take the kicks to the body that this kid throws.”
If this praise sounds familiar, it should. If you’re a champion with a fight on the horizon, there’s a good chance White is going to call you the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world (unless you’re flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. More on that later.). It sells tickets. It generates interest. It sounds nice. And it gets us talking.
But it’s ridiculous.
After Anderson “The Spider” Silva lost his UFC middleweight title to Chris Weidman at UFC 162, a clear-cut choice for the pound-for-pound throne emerged: UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
At that time, Jones was 18-1 (the only loss coming via disqualification) and he had defended his light heavyweight strap five times, finishing his opponent in four of those bouts.
Clearly, he was the pound-for-pound king, and White made that fact known at the UFC 162 post-fight media scrum.
But just months later, at the UFC Fight Night 35 post-fight press conference, White said if then-bantamweight champion RenanBarao successfully defended his title against Urijah Faber at UFC 169 in February of 2014, he’d be the pound-for-pound king.
That fight was slated to go down in less than a month from the time of White’s proclamation.
Jones had won once more in a classic five-round battle against Alexander Gustafsson in the meantime, but that didn’t matter, apparently. Barao was up to bat, and he was the best now.
The Brazilian retained his title on Feb. 1 in Newark, New Jersey, defeating Faber via first-round TKO and cementing himself as the pound-for-pound best in White’s eyes.
…Or not.
Just days after saying Barao would claim the pound-for-pound title with a victory (and before Barao‘s actual victory), White reversed course and hopped on board with Weidman. With one more big win, White said, the New York native would earn that title.
At that time, Weidman was slated to face VitorBelfort at UFC 173, but LyotoMachida would later replace him and the bout would be moved to UFC 175 on July 5. Despite all the shake-ups, Weidman stayed focused and turned in arguably his most complete performance to date, winning a unanimous decision over Machida.
During the same time period Weidman was shuffling dates and opponents, Barao lost at UFC 173 to Team Alpha Male’s T.J. Dillashaw, reopening the door for Jones.
White told the Albuquerque Journal after Barao‘s loss Jones was definitely the pound-for-pound best (again).
Noticeably absent from this conversation is Johnson, the UFC’s flyweight champ. Here’s what Mighty Mouse has done since White first called Jones the pound-for-pound greatest after Silva got knocked out at UFC 162:
Not bad, huh? Johnson stayed active and put down contender after contender, barely facing any adversity in the process. He’s an animal in all aspects of the game, and only he and featherweight champ Jose Aldo belong anywhere near Jones in the pound-for-pound conversation.
Still, White claims that title should be Pettis‘. Here’s what Pettis has done in the same post-UFC 162 time frame:
It doesn’t make sense, friends, and White’s waffling attitude toward this particular distinction highlights its absurdity. Is there even a place for “pound-for-pound best” in a sport as volatile as mixed martial arts? The more we dive into the conversation, the murkier it gets. The more you dig around for a clear-cut winner, the more mud you stir up and the more you lose your focus and any of the logic that goes with it.
Maybe we need to just forget about “pound-for-pound” as a thing at all, accept weight classes exist and rank fighters as they compare to their divisional peers.
White, obviously, doesn’t agree. He’ll continue to pump up the hottest kid in town before a fight.
“I believe that kid (Pettis) is the pound-for-pound best,” White told Rome. “He’s an incredible athlete and has this style that’s very hard to defend against. That’s why I’m so excited.”
I’m sure you are, Mr. White. And I’m sure you believe that, too.
Over the past 24 hours, many words have been written about the UFC’s new “athlete outfitting policy.” Many words will be written in the future, as athletes, managers and the UFC figure out how to tread this rocky new ground.
I don’t know what the UFC’s…
Over the past 24 hours, many words have been written about the UFC’s new “athlete outfitting policy.” Many words will be written in the future, as athletes, managers and the UFC figure out how to tread this rocky new ground.
I don’t know what the UFC’s move to a standard uniform means for the athletes who compete under its banner. When I first began reporting on the uniform story in February, I was conflicted. I remain so today.
On one hand, it makes the sport look more professional, and that is a good thing. I have every confidence that Reebok will design clean, inspired clothes for UFC fighters to wear in and out of the Octagon. The design nerd in me thinks that is a much better option than what we have currently, which is a mishmash of logos and brands splayed across the cage and television screen.
Instead of looking like NASCAR, the UFC will look more like the NFL, NBA or English Premier League.
But we don’t want everybody to look the same. Fans already have a difficult time differentiating between the hundreds of fighters appearing on many UFC cards around the world. Putting them in the same clothing makes that task even more difficult.
But again, I have faith that Reebok’s design team will come up with plenty of options for UFC fighters to choose from. So we’ll set aside that worry for now and focus on the one alarming thing from Tuesday’s press conference in New York City: sponsor pay being determined by media rankings.
Here’s how it will work: Fighters will be paid in a tiered system based on their position in the official UFC rankings on the day they weigh in before their fight. UFC champions will make the largest amount. Fighters ranked 1-5 will receive the next largest amount, followed by 6-10, 11-15 and unranked fighters.
That’s all fine and good. A tiered system makes the most sense when trying to figure out how to divide up the money. Champions should earn the most, and preliminary/unranked fighters should earn the least.
The problem lies in how the rankings are created. For a journalist who wants to do the right thing, there are several major conflicts with participating in the official rankings.
The first is that we, as media, should not have any sort of influence over how much a fighter is paid. In giving the media that much control, you’re opening up the entire system to corruption. And while the idea of an MMA manager bribing a media member to change his or her vote may sound ridiculous on the surface, the idea that it could happen is a problem.
I don’t know a large majority of the media members who make up the UFC’s ranking panel. I’ve never heard of them. I know the guys who do this full time. I see them at events, and I know they maintain high standards when it comes to ethics. But I can’t say the same for the folks who vote in the rankings. I don’t know if they are susceptible to a sweet-talking manager. I don’t know if they’d be willing to bump a certain fighter up the rankings in exchange for an exclusive interview.
The second problem is that any rankings system overseen and controlled by the UFC cannot be seen as independent and without fault.
I used to take part in the rankings. I didn’t feel like there was a conflict of interest because Dana White repeatedly noted that the rankings didn’t mean anything. They were for television viewers. They helped add context to broadcasts.
But on May 7, without warning, the UFC removed Nate Diaz from its rankings. He was no longer available to be ranked on my ballot. The UFC said the reason was that Diaz refused to accept fights. In reality, it felt like a negotiating power play by the UFC. I immediately submitted my resignation from the rankings panel. I was fine participating in the program when it didn’t really mean anything outside of a television broadcast. But when it started becoming a tool used during negotiations, I had to step aside.
Now, the rankings mean even more. We don’t know the monetary levels for each tier of Reebok money, but we do know that fighters ranked 6-10 will make more than fighters ranked 11-15. When Diaz was removed from the ballots, he was ranked sixth; today, he is ranked 12th. Diaz dropped six places solely due to the UFC’s decision to drop him from the rankings, and those six places will cost Diaz money.
You can see the problems. They are glaring, and there are no easy solutions. My colleague Jonathan Snowdenproposed having a smaller independent media group establish the rankings, without oversight from the UFC. That might work, but I think you’ll find it difficult to get credible media members to participate, because most of us believe we should have no direct effect on the amount of money fighters make.
Another solution is having matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby create the rankings. Both men already have an idea of how they rank each division, even if they do not write it down. Publishing their rankings makes a lot of sense. But as with every other option, it will only work if they are allowed to do the rankings without oversight or input from White or anyone else.
There is also the option of opening up voting to fans. Both hardcore and casual fans have a good idea of what they like to see. It is not a perfect system, but it is better than the current proposal.
There are no easy answers to this problem. But one thing is certain: Allowing the current media rankings panel to essentially determine how much each UFC fighter earns from this Reebok deal is a terrible idea. It needs to be fixed, and it needs to be fixed long before the Reebok deal goes into effect next July. And if it isn’t fixed, the UFC will find itself with a lot of angry fighters to deal with.
At last, the time is finally now.
After months of speculation and at least one high-profile delay, the UFC and Reebok held a joint press conference on Tuesday to announce a partnership deal to outfit the fight company’s roster of fighters inside the ca…
At last, the time is finally now.
After months of speculation and at least one high-profile delay, the UFC and Reebok held a joint press conference on Tuesday to announce a partnership deal to outfit the fight company’s roster of fighters inside the cage and at UFC events for the next six years.
So as of this week, at least the organization’s new hashtag isn’t so ironic anymore.
The deal means the end of independent sponsorship deals in the UFC as we know them. UFC co-owners Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta appeared alongside Reebok president Matt O’Toole at the event, proclaiming a new day for both companies.
The rest of the details are still a little bit foggy. As speculation continues to run rampantonline, Bleacher Report lead writers Chad Dundas and Jonathan Snowden break down the pros and cons as they see them.
If you thought Wanderlei Silva would go quietly into that good night after finishing his career with the human equivalent of a dumpster fire, well, you’ve got another thing coming.
To recap: Silva, one of the most beloved fighters in the history of the…
If you thought Wanderlei Silva would go quietly into that good night after finishing his career with the human equivalent of a dumpster fire, well, you’ve got another thing coming.
To recap: Silva, one of the most beloved fighters in the history of the sport, ran from a random drug test last summer. That was enough for the Nevada Athletic Commission to issue Silva the equivalent of a lifetime ban, effectively ending Silva’s career (at least when it comes to fighting for any reputable organization). Oh, and Silva retired a few days before the NAC tossed him out the door.
And then Silva suddenly became an anti-UFC crusader, because perhaps he was under the mistaken impression that the UFC was the evil organization pulling the strings, scheduling random drug tests and banning him from the sport. He began publishing black-and-white videos talking about all sorts of issues ranging from fighter pay to the ability of those who compete to control their own likeness.
Silva is back with another video, and this time he’s grown a mustache. He talks about being prevented from signing autographs at a recent Bellator fan event at Dave and Busters in San Diego. Silva claims that Bellator was going to pay him $10,000 for two hours of signing autographs. The UFC put the kibosh on that one since Silva is still under a UFC contract and can’t make appearances for a competing organization.
First thing’s first: The UFC had every right, contractually speaking, to bar Silva from participating in the Bellator event. If they allowed him to sign autographs for Bellator, they’d have a hard time preventing him from appearing on Bellator TV. Sure, he can’t fight, but he has name value. There is a reason Bellator has signed Randy Couture, Royce Gracie and others: They have recognizable names. Putting them on TV and having them associated with the Bellator brand still means something, even if they aren’t fighting.
The UFC must also protect its contracts. If it doesn’t, those contracts become worthless. So you can’t blame the UFC for enforcing its rights.
It is easy to dismiss Silva’s rantings. His shameful exit from the sport makes it difficult to take him seriously. He still hasn’t explained (logically, anyway) why he ran from the drug test in the first place, and his attempts to shift blame away from himself are easy to see through. And he is perhaps not the best person to discuss the pathetic state of fighter pay, given that the UFC made him a very rich man.
But underneath the mustache and the rambling, Silva is giving voice to concerns that have existed in mixed martial arts for years.
Are fighters paid enough? No, they are not. When compared to the UFC’s total intake, the fighters receive a fraction of the pie. Yes, the UFC takes on financial responsibility for promotion and production and all other costs. That is not cheap. But they also take the lion’s share of the profits. A bigger slice of the pie could be shared with the fighters, and the UFC would still make a profit.
Should the UFC have the right to own a fighter’s likeness until the end of time? No, it should not. The company does need to secure rights in order to promote and to sell merchandise and DVD’s and video games. But those rights should expire upon expiration or termination of a fighter’s contract, plain and simple.
Silva’s concerns are nothing new. Fighter pay and image rights have been an ongoing concern for years. But outside of Randy Couture, Silva is the highest-profile athlete to speak out.
The problem here is that it is difficult to take Silva seriously. He can make all the valid points he wants, but who is listening? He severely damaged his own credibility over the past eight months. If another fighter stepped up and expressed the same concerns, we’d listen. With Silva, it just comes off as blame-shifting and an attempt to take the spotlight off himself.
These issues aren’t going away any time soon. The UFC won’t change its business practices until it is forced to do so, and it won’t be forced to change until a top, non-retired fighter steps up and starts making noise.
If Jon Jones or Ronda Rousey or Chris Weidman start talking about fighter pay and image rights and other concerns, they’ll be taken a whole lot more seriously than a man who exited the sport under a cloud of suspicion and shame.
Fights happened at UFC 181. Titles were defended. Blood spilled. But all that went down in a very large shadow—deposed WWE wrestling kingpin