Surging UFC featherweight contender Dennis Bermudez has quietly put together seven straight victories, so it’s tough to blame him for not being on board the Conor McGregor hype train.
Speaking on Submission Radio yesterday, The Menace said h…
Surging UFC featherweight contender Dennis Bermudez has quietly put together seven straight victories, so it’s tough to blame him for not being on board the ConorMcGregor hype train.
Speaking on Submission Radio yesterday, The Menace said he’s overdue for a title shot, especially if he scores a win over former title challenger Ricardo Lamas at UFC 180.
In the meantime, Bermudez feels McGregor should wait his turn before they share the Octagon someday soon.
I mean it’s b——t, yeah, but I mean I’m just trying to stick with what I’m good at, you know. And right now it’s focusing on the guy in front of me and just worrying about this one win. If I keep winning, the belt is gonna land right across my lap. … But I’m working on getting a little bit more vocal…where I’ll be unfazed by that, and I mean if someone was talking to me in the ring and trying to clown me in the ring; like I’m gonna put my head in the middle of your chest and f—–g give you some air miles to the other side of the cage.
Bermudez, the No. 8 featherweight in the world according to the UFC’s official rankings, last competed at UFC on Fox 12 in July, scoring the biggest win of his career when he submitted ex-Strikeforce champ Clay Guida with a rear-naked choke.
While Bermudez has went the distance four times during his current win streak, he has been awarded an equal number of post-fight bonuses during that 17-month span.
Most recently, he has earned consecutive “Performance of the Night” awards for his TKO over JimyHettes and submission over Guida.
Meanwhile, McGregor, the No. 5 featherweight in the world, is riding a solid 12-fight win streak, including four straight inside the Octagon.
While many debated if Notorious was legit or not, his quick TKO over perennial contender Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 late last month silenced a good portion of his critics.
McGregor is currently awaiting an assignment for his next matchup, but it would be awfully difficult to deny Bermudez a crack at championship gold after eight wins in a row.
However, UFC President Dana White has already entertained the notion of giving McGregor the next title shot after Jose Aldo defends his belt against Chad Mendes at UFC 179, per Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting.
If Bermudez makes it past a very tough opponent in Lamas, should he receive a featherweight title shot before McGregor does?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
(Roman Salazar is a cable guy, but in his spare time he’s a main card fighter for the most powerful MMA promotion in the world. Isn’t the sport supposed to have evolved past this point by now? / Photo via Getty)
I know this is as close to a mortal sin as you can get in the eyes of UFC president Dana White, but hey, he seems okay with putting his fighter’s business in the street, so I figure the door is open to talk about the subject.
White recently saw one of his most popular fighters, Wanderlei Silva, release a video that put the UFC on blast for the way it treats fighters and compensates them. During the video, Silva said, “They (UFC) always hold on to the money so they underpay the athletes.” He also added, “If you’re not going to give the fighters money the minimum you can give him is respect. They use us to make rivers of money, because this event is making money. They don’t give anything to the athletes, only crumbs. They don’t respect us as athletes, they don’t respect us at all. They try to turn the public against us.”
Shortly after the Silva video surfaced, White did exactly what Silva accused him of, attempting to turn public perception against the fighter by portraying him as a spoiled millionaire that had no business complaining about the money he made during his employ with the UFC. The UFC president told Globo, “You know how much money Wanderlei Silva has made since he’s been with the UFC? $9.7 million So Silva says everybody’s getting rich except the fighters. What does Wanderlei considers rich? $9.7 million isn’t rich? A lot of people would consider that rich. Let me [tell] you what: Wanderlei Silva has fought six times in the last five years. He’s fought six times in five years. If being overworked is fighting one time a year, I don’t know what to tell you.”
I’m not going to lie, $9.7 million is a lot of money relative to what most MMA fighters earn, and Silva will still take home a healthy chunk of change after paying taxes, management and gym fees, food and (ahem) supplements from that $9.7 million. However, coming from the guy that travels around the world in a private jet and brags about taking casinos for $5,000,000 on a given night, White’s argument over riches is almost comical, especially when those riches are quite literally gained off the blood and sweat of fighters like Silva.
The other thing that I find bothersome about White’s claim that Silva pulled in $9.7 million is that there is zero proof that the number is real. The UFC, a privately owned company, is not required to provide full compensation numbers for its fighters, and it famously does not release those numbers. The only proof we have that Silva earned $9.7 million is the word of a man whose job description is fight promoter, an occupation that has always had a rather loose relationship with the truth.
(Roman Salazar is a cable guy, but in his spare time he’s a main card fighter for the most powerful MMA promotion in the world. Isn’t the sport supposed to have evolved past this point by now? / Photo via Getty)
I know this is as close to a mortal sin as you can get in the eyes of UFC president Dana White, but hey, he seems okay with putting his fighter’s business in the street, so I figure the door is open to talk about the subject.
White recently saw one of his most popular fighters, Wanderlei Silva, release a video that put the UFC on blast for the way it treats fighters and compensates them. During the video, Silva said, “They (UFC) always hold on to the money so they underpay the athletes.” He also added, “If you’re not going to give the fighters money the minimum you can give him is respect. They use us to make rivers of money, because this event is making money. They don’t give anything to the athletes, only crumbs. They don’t respect us as athletes, they don’t respect us at all. They try to turn the public against us.”
Shortly after the Silva video surfaced, White did exactly what Silva accused him of, attempting to turn public perception against the fighter by portraying him as a spoiled millionaire that had no business complaining about the money he made during his employ with the UFC. The UFC president told Globo, “You know how much money Wanderlei Silva has made since he’s been with the UFC? $9.7 million So Silva says everybody’s getting rich except the fighters. What does Wanderlei considers rich? $9.7 million isn’t rich? A lot of people would consider that rich. Let me [tell] you what: Wanderlei Silva has fought six times in the last five years. He’s fought six times in five years. If being overworked is fighting one time a year, I don’t know what to tell you.”
I’m not going to lie, $9.7 million is a lot of money relative to what most MMA fighters earn, and Silva will still take home a healthy chunk of change after paying taxes, management and gym fees, food and (ahem) supplements from that $9.7 million. However, coming from the guy that travels around the world in a private jet and brags about taking casinos for $5,000,000 on a given night, White’s argument over riches is almost comical, especially when those riches are quite literally gained off the blood and sweat of fighters like Silva.
The other thing that I find bothersome about White’s claim that Silva pulled in $9.7 million is that there is zero proof that the number is real. The UFC, a privately owned company, is not required to provide full compensation numbers for its fighters, and it famously does not release those numbers. The only proof we have that Silva earned $9.7 million is the word of a man whose job description is fight promoter, an occupation that has always had a rather loose relationship with the truth.
This isn’t the first time White has gone down this road. When former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was on the outs with the promotion, White proclaimed that Jackson made $15.2 million during his UFC run. As with Silva’s $9.7 million, that number was entirely unverified.
On the flipside of White’s talk of how the UFC handed out millions to these crybabies that are complaining about pay, there are fighters like Nina Ansaroff and Roman Salazar.
Salazar made his UFC debut on Saturday night, fighting Mitch Gagnon on the main card of the UFC Fight Night card from Halifax. If you watched the event, you heard the UFC commentators comment multiple times how Salazar, in addition to being a professional mixed martial artist on the UFC’s payroll, is also a cable guy. A cable guy with a family that works that day job six days a week while also competing on the biggest stage in the sport he pursues.
You know what you never hear from other professional sports these days? How an athlete competing in the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB has to work a job prior to practice in order to make ends meet. Sadly, it’s an all too common occurrence for the UFC and other major MMA promotions.
As for Ansaroff, she is set to make her UFC debut on November 8th, facing Juliana Lima on a Fight Night card in Brazil. Well, maybe she is set to make her UFC debut on that date. You see, Ansaroff seems to be a little short of cash in the weeks leading up to the fight. And how do we know that? Well, she’s taken to Go Fund Me to attempt to raise $5,000 to pay for her medicals, as well as get a plane ticket for her cornerman for the Brazil based event.
That’s another bad look for the promotion that is quick to tell you that their sport is bigger than the NFL or soccer. You don’t see NFL players on crowdfunding sites trying to raise money to pay for preseason medical exams, do you?
A Google search for “UFC Fighter Go Fund Me” revealed that Ansaroff is not the only UFC fighter that has had to go to the public with hat in hand in advance of stepping into the Octagon. Zak Cummings, James Krause and Lauren Murphy have had to take to Go Fund Me in order to get cornermen and training partners to their UFC debut fights.
It’s funny that White is so quick to put financial details out there when a fighter leaves the UFC with a grievance over money, while at the same time withholding most of the pay information for fighters on the active UFC roster. Well, it’s not literally funny, to borrow a word that White misuses often — it’s sad.
Ideally, White will stop with the childish and transparent attempts to paint former fighters as whining ingrates, while other fighters on the UFC roster are more or less begging for help or working full time jobs to make ends meet. If he can’t manage that, maybe it’s time for the UFC, and other fight promotions, to open up the books and show us all exactly what the fighters are getting paid. After all, that’s something that the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL all manage to do without the world coming to an end.
UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman feels that good ol’ fashioned American patriotism is dwindling in mixed martial arts, and that’s something that needs to change as soon as possible.
“The All-American” voiced his opinion during last week’s …
UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman feels that good ol’ fashioned American patriotism is dwindling in mixed martial arts, and that’s something that needs to change as soon as possible.
“The All-American” voiced his opinion during last week’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour (h/t MMA Fighting).
I feel like smaller countries, other countries, they cheer, they support their people no matter what. We need to get a little bit more supportive of our people … So America is the one country that, they don’t cheer for their own. They won’t just stick with Americans. I feel like Americans need to get better with that … We have a lot of great stars and so many different things, some of the other countries don’t have that.
Weidman seemed particularly peeved over the fact that many American fans decided to cheer for Irish sensation Conor McGregor when he faced off with Louisiana’s own Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 eight days ago.
McGregor won the bout in under two minutes via TKO.
Out of the UFC’s nine current titleholders, seven are American (Ronda Rousey, Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, Anthony Pettis, Johny Hendricks, Weidman and Jon Jones), with Rousey and Jones arguably having the largest fanbases.
Weidman, a native of Baldwin, New York, is currently unbeaten (12-0) and has faced little opposition inside the Octagon outside of his most recent contest against Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 in July.
The 185-pound champ won the fight via unanimous decision after a hard-fought, 25-minute battle.
The Serra-Longo Fight Team standout will defend his title against Brazilian slugger Vitor Belfort in February after their UFC 181 matchup was postponed after Weidman recently broke his hand in training, per UFC president Dana White.
Does Weidman make a solid point that American fans aren’t as vocal as fans of other nationalities when it comes to seeing their countrymen leave it all in the cage?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
The weekend is in the books, and although many of you were indulging in baseball playoffs and college football madness, there was plenty of MMA to equally boast and complain about. Apart from the always-vibrant regional circuit, which included MFC 41 and SFL 35 last Saturday night (watch a dude go through the cage door looking like he was on the wrong end of a Stone Cold Stunner right here), there were four major MMA shows taking place in 48 hours, two of which came from the same promotion that may or may not be ruining the sport with its inflated and overstressed schedule.
To top it all off, there were also a handful of stories outside the cage to boast about, some amusing and some downright miserable.
Here is the Cage Potato “Weekend Roundup,” and quite frankly, the only recap you need:
The weekend is in the books, and although many of you were indulging in baseball playoffs and college football madness, there was plenty of MMA to equally boast and complain about. Apart from the always-vibrant regional circuit, which included MFC 41 and SFL 35 last Saturday night (watch a dude go through the cage door looking like he was on the wrong end of a Stone Cold Stunner right here), there were four major MMA shows taking place in 48 hours, two of which came from the same promotion that may or may not be ruining the sport with its inflated and overstressed schedule.
To top it all off, there were also a handful of stories outside the cage to boast about, some amusing and some downright miserable.
Here is the Cage Potato “Weekend Roundup,” and quite frankly, the only recap you need:
Bellator vs. Battlegrounds MMA
It wasn’t exactly the showdown anyone anticipated, yet Bellator 127 went head-to-head against the hopeful Battlegrounds MMA, the upstart group that hired WWE legend Jim Ross and former UFC trash-talking guru Chael Sonnen to lead the way in the commentary booth for the return of the epic one-night tournament.
First, let’s get Bellator out of the way. These weekly Bellator shows will thankfully come to an end, and we can’t wait for Scott Coker to put on monthly shows better than the five UFC shows Zuffa runs per month, even though season 11 has owned so far.
In the main event, Daniel Straus blitzed past Justin Wilcox in under a minute, returning to winning ways after dropping his featherweight strap to Pat Curran back in March. Karo Parisyan’s comeback came to a stop at the hands of Fernando Gonzalez in a catchweight bout, after the latter dropped him and continued to deck him into oblivion. Another catchweight fight saw Rafael Silva defeat another UFC veteran, Rob Emerson, and Kendall Grove surprised the majority of his naysayers by choking out Christian M’Pumbu. Check out the highlights here.
As for Battlegrounds MMA, it was the perfect mix of sensation and shit show. The tournament format made a return, but we can sort of see why MMA can do without it. The show was a little long (not nearly as long as you-know-who), and with all due respect to the combatants participating, it would be hard to say the event would have acquired the same intrigue had it not been a one-night, eight-man welterweight tournament.
Since most of you care about the commentary team, they were a lot better than Mike Goldberg & Joe Rogan, Jon Anik & Brian Stann/Kenny Florian, generic English guy & Dan Hardy, and even Michael Schiavello & Pat Miletech. Both Ross and Sonnen offered something different in the booth, ranging from the “American Gangster’s” steroid jokes and ranking a ring girl, to Ross’ dry humor and still intact punch lines.
The unlikely winner of the whole shebang was Roan Corneiro, defeating three men in one night (including two finishes), and then stripped of $15,000 by the Oklahoma Athletic Commission for “showing up late” to a medical. Since the grand prize was a whopping $50,000, earning just $35,000 to topple three foes in one night is pretty atrocious. Other notable tournament highlights include Cody McKenzie making weight by donating a pint of blood and then losing to Brock Larson by submission, Joe Ray mauled Luigi Fioravanti, and Trey Houston upset Jesse Taylor with a slick first-round armbar.
UFC Sweden Actually Turned Out To Be A Good Show
UFC in the afternoon is a little odd. Depending on which coast you reside on, you have limited time when waking up in someone’s bed that you don’t recognize, and realize you’re about three ferry rides away from your home. Some of us would just keep chilling, but you know, their partner can turn out to be Leo Johnson.
Anyway, Twitter, the best social media app on the fucking planet, blew up with so-called MMA journalists and enthusiasts making fun of those watching the UFC Sweden prelims around noon without being paid for it. We tend to agree.
The UFC Fight Night 53 main card was pretty damn entertaining, mainly because all the Swedes and their affiliates lost. Rick Story shocked by emphatically defeating the overhyped Gunnar Nelson, and then completely blew his post-fight interview by not calling someone out. The co-main event saw Max Holloway knock out Akira Corassani, and the Wiki-less Ilir Latifi also fell to Jan Blachowicz due to a mean kick to the body. The action opened up with Mike Wilkinson upsetting Niklas Backstrom with a nasty knockout. The best part was when the latter walked up to Dan Hardy in the midst of talking to the Englishman and simply said, “that’s fucked up, man …(something else)…”
Donald Cerrone & Hapless Canuck Get Inked
After promising his boss he wouldn’t wakeboard or commit to other crazy shit on fight week, UFC lightweight Donald Cerrone got some pretty interesting ink on his foot. To be honest, there should be more instances of a blonde Bettie Page riding a rocket-penis in the sport.
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WoW the feet hurt!! Would way rather take 30 unanswered uppercuts to the face lol @benguntattoo
If you thought that was bad, check out this moronic UFC-loving sap getting UFC Halifax inked on his freaking forearm, complete with the iconic Chuck Liddell pose.
UFC made its debut in Nova Scotia this past Saturday night with UFC Fight Night 54, showcasing the fight card on multiple backup platforms after FOX Sports 1 flipped them the bird and said, “we’re finishing baseball first, Mitch Gagnon.”
The event was pretty lackluster in general, minus Rory MacDonald’s official coming out party as the real Patrick Bateman. He finished Tarec Saffiedine in the third round via knockout, and there’s a good chance he’s next in line for the welterweight championship. Also on the card, Miesha Tate’s boyfriend lost to Raphael Assuncao in the co-main event.
As for the rest of the main card, check Wikipedia. If Dana isn’t doing post-fight scrums anymore, we aren’t either.
War Machine Is Back On Twitter
War Machine, real name John … you know what? Fuck War Machine. Up next …
UFC Newcomer Creates Go Fund Me Page
Every time the fighter pay issue is brought up in the media, the UFC brass (primarily) completely shuts down the remarks, citing backstage bonuses, unknown contract clauses, and general media stupidity to fight their cause.
In this instance, Nina Ansaroff, who makes her Octagon debut against Juliana Lima in a women’s strawweight bout at UFC Fight Night 56 in Brazil, has created a “Go Fund Me” page upon entering her first fight for the promotion hopeful of “world fucking domination.”
This has to be one of the saddest instances of fighter pay in the goddamn world. Not only did Cat Zingano’s paycheck raise a few eyebrows last week, but also that’s just another example of how flawed the pay system is. Ansaroff is an Invicta FC veteran, riding a five-fight winning streak, and fought both Carla Esparza and Barb Honchak early on in her career. As it stands, the fighter has raised $960, with a projected goal of $5,000.
The “People’s Warrior” claimed he threw his welterweight title fight against Steve Carl back in October 2012, just to get back into the UFC’s grace. It was a little hard to believe since the scrap was a back-and-forth battle that saw Burkman go out due to a triangle choke.
After some back-and-forth clowning with Ben Askren on Twitter, Burkman reiterated that he would never throw a fight, and was simply tooling the current One FC welterweight champion (as per his chat with MMA Fighting).
The world of professional sports is marred by a situation that doesn’t involve action within the realm of play. Domestic violence allegations have swarmed the National Football League and other professional organizations. Ultimate Fighting Champi…
The world of professional sports is marred by a situation that doesn’t involve action within the realm of play. Domestic violence allegations have swarmed the National Football League and other professional organizations. Ultimate Fighting Championship has not been able to escape criticism as it has been mentioned in multiple incidents as well. Whether it is the allegations surrounding Anthony Johnson, Thiago Silva or Will Chope, UFC has shown a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to domestic violence.
The stigma surrounding professional athletes and heinous situations such as domestic violence is that the alleged individuals are given a “pass” because of their celebrity status. The NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice situation caused a firestorm that led to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitting to making a mistake in how he punished him. Since then, the league has had the opportunity to retrace its steps and suspend him indefinitely due to the release of videotaped evidence (via NFL.com).
Still, UFC can learn much about how that situation was handled and seems to have started with steps in the right direction.
Johnson was recently suspended amid reports of a restraining order filed against him by the mother of two of his children (via Sherdog). According to UFC President Dana White, the issue is not a positive one for the developing star.
“He’s not in a good position right now,” White said in a report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “(An indefinite suspension) doesn’t mean he’s definitely going to fight here. Even if (the latest allegations) go his way. We’ll see what happens.”
This article also mentions UFC and its zero-tolerance policy toward domestic violence. In recent months, the organization has had the opportunity to flex that muscle. For example, Chope was released mere hours before a scheduled fight in the Octagon when it was revealed he was discharged from the military in 2011 due to charges of assault (via MMA Mania).
Unfortunately, the question will still arise as to what will happen if a big-name fighter is caught up in these allegations. Silva, who is far from being a mainstream headliner, was recently welcomed back to the organization once the criminal charges he faced were dropped. However, the UFC re-released him as more evidence was made public (via MMA Fighting).
The company should still go forth and make its policy public for fans and media alike to show that the organization is transparent in a time when most major promotions are not. If a situation arises in which a major star, such as a current champion, is caught in a similar situation, UFC will have to respond with the same severity that it has in the cases of Johnson, Chope or Silva. At the same time, the company has to be careful in allowing due process to proceed before making any concluding moves.
It is often forgotten that the athletes who make up the professional sports world are human beings who make mistakes. When their names cross the police blotters, many media members and fans want to see them dealt with in a harsh manner. The UFC has stepped up and created a zero-tolerance policy for its fighters when it comes to domestic violence. Here is to hoping the company will not have to enforce it at any point in the future.
UFC 178 represented a notorious coming out party for Conor McGregor, who Dana White now calls the biggest star in UFC history.
Yes, you read that correctly.
After just four fights, the UFC president has conceded that the Irish featherweight is bigger t…
UFC 178 represented a notorious coming out party for ConorMcGregor, who Dana White now calls the biggest star in UFC history.
Yes, you read that correctly.
After just four fights, the UFC president has conceded that the Irish featherweight is bigger than Georges St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar.
When speaking with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on Fox Sports 1’s UFC 178 post-fight show, White uttered the grand proclamation that the hype and excitement behind McGregor was “bigger than any of the fighters” the UFC has ever had, including St-Pierre and Lesnar.
“ConorMcGregor is the real deal – he is legit,” White said, according to MMAjunkie. “He is a force that I have never seen ever. Bigger than Brock Lesnar when he was here. Bigger than any of the fighters we’ve ever had. Yes, [he’s bigger than Georges St-Pierre]. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
McGregor proved skeptics wrong on Saturday night by effortlessly dispatching of top-five ranked featherweight contender Dustin Poirier. He even managed to finish the fight in the fashion and round he predicted weeks in advance, a first-round knockout.
The prospect of McGregor being a major star for the UFC is glaringly obvious, considering the reception he received over the weekend in Las Vegas. But it still remains to be seen whether he can move a pay-per-view needle to the effect of top-earning fighters in the past.
However, it’s tough to doubt a man with an entire country behind him.
During the live UFC 178 broadcast, per MMAWeekly, White claimed that “ten percent of ticket sales came from Ireland” just to see McGregor. It’s a kind of star power that is at least comparable to St-Pierre’s influence in Canada, if not greater.
Though the St-Pierre and Lesnar comparisons might seem a bit premature, there is something to be said about the myriad of intrigue surrounding the 26-year-old McGregor so early in his UFC career.
It has been a tough year for the UFC with St-Pierre going on indefinite hiatus and Anderson Silva being sidelined with an injury.
Perhaps the long and arduous journey of finding the next breakout star led the UFC to a large pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and his name is ConorMcGregor.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
