Tag: Dana White

UFC 165 Video Party: Highlights of Jones vs. Gustafsson, Barao vs. Wineland & Post Event Press Conference

(Jon Jones defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165)

UFC 165 wasn’t just better than most folks thought it would be, it featured one of the gutsiest, most grueling, surprising and just downright best main event that we’ve seen in awhile. The decision may be controversial, but Jon Jones managed to pull off a unanimous decision win over challenger Alexander Gustafsson despite being beaten up, taken down and out worked for most of the fight.

Jones refused to stop swinging despite apparent exhaustion and battered the Swede in the fourth and fifth rounds en route to his sixth successful title defense. For his part, Gustafsson pulled off a great strategy in almost flawless fashion, scoring early and often to the body and head of the champ with punches, stopping his take downs and becoming the first fighter to ever take Jones down himself.

Check out highlights of the fight above. After the break, see highlights of Renan Barao‘s exciting knockout interim bantamweight title defense against Eddie Wineland as well as the post-event press conference.

Spoiler alert – Dana White and many fighters made the presser but Jones and Gustafsson did not because they were both at hospitals. They truly left it in the ring Saturday night.


(Jon Jones defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165)

UFC 165 wasn’t just better than most folks thought it would be, it featured one of the gutsiest, most grueling, surprising and just downright best main event that we’ve seen in awhile. The decision may be controversial, but Jon Jones managed to pull off a unanimous decision win over challenger Alexander Gustafsson despite being beaten up, taken down and out worked for most of the fight.

Jones refused to stop swinging despite apparent exhaustion and battered the Swede in the fourth and fifth rounds en route to his sixth successful title defense. For his part, Gustafsson pulled off a great strategy in almost flawless fashion, scoring early and often to the body and head of the champ with punches, stopping his take downs and becoming the first fighter to ever take Jones down himself.

Check out highlights of the fight above. After the break, see highlights of Renan Barao‘s exciting knockout interim bantamweight title defense against Eddie Wineland as well as the post-event press conference.

Spoiler alert – Dana White and many fighters made the presser but Jones and Gustafsson did not because they were both at hospitals. They truly left it in the ring Saturday night.

Barao vs. Wineland Highlights:

Post UFC 165 Press Conference:

– Elias Cepeda

Friday Link Dump: Football Player Ejected for Nasty Uppercut, Epic UFC 168 Video Trailer, Mayweather Sets PPV Records + More

(Must-watch: “MMA Pay: Leverage & Power,” by CAINtheBULL)

Today’s Installment of “Football Players Using MMA Techniques”: Clemson Player Ejected for Devastating Lead Uppercut (BleacherReport)

EPIC video trailer for UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2, by the legendary NickTheFace (CagePotatoMMA Tumblr)

Tomato Can Blues: The True Story of the Michigan MMA Fighter Who Faked His Own Death (New York Times)

Following Chael Sonnen’s Rihanna Comments, Dana White Says ‘He’s Got to Knock That S**t Off’ (MMAFighting)

Golden Boy: Mayweather vs. Canelo PPV Sets Records With Reported 2.2 Million Buys, $150 Million in Revenue (MMAMania)

Angels of Anarchy – Jade Bryce (BabesofMMA)

Anthony Perosh Takes on Ryan Bader at December’s UFC Fight Night 33 in Australia (MMAJunkie)

Spoil TUF and the UFC Will Sue You for Five Million Dollars (Fightlinker)

Get Down And Stay Down: MMA Style (Break)

Interview: Andy Samberg Fires Up ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ (MadeMan)

20 Job Search Hacks That Will Get You Hired (Complex)

Russell Wilson: The Quarterback That Connects (MensFitness)

Insane Russian Flattens Nails With Bare Hands (EgoTV)

The 33 Most Influential Events Of The Last 10 Years: A Summary For Average Joes (DoubleViking)

Supercut: Before They Were Famous (ScreenJunkies)


(Must-watch: “MMA Pay: Leverage & Power,” by CAINtheBULL)

Today’s Installment of “Football Players Using MMA Techniques”: Clemson Player Ejected for Devastating Lead Uppercut (BleacherReport)

EPIC video trailer for UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2, by the legendary NickTheFace (CagePotatoMMA Tumblr)

Tomato Can Blues: The True Story of the Michigan MMA Fighter Who Faked His Own Death (New York Times)

Following Chael Sonnen’s Rihanna Comments, Dana White Says ‘He’s Got to Knock That S**t Off’ (MMAFighting)

Golden Boy: Mayweather vs. Canelo PPV Sets Records With Reported 2.2 Million Buys, $150 Million in Revenue (MMAMania)

Angels of Anarchy – Jade Bryce (BabesofMMA)

Anthony Perosh Takes on Ryan Bader at December’s UFC Fight Night 33 in Australia (MMAJunkie)

Spoil TUF and the UFC Will Sue You for Five Million Dollars (Fightlinker)

Get Down And Stay Down: MMA Style (Break)

Interview: Andy Samberg Fires Up ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ (MadeMan)

20 Job Search Hacks That Will Get You Hired (Complex)

Russell Wilson: The Quarterback That Connects (MensFitness)

Insane Russian Flattens Nails With Bare Hands (EgoTV)

The 33 Most Influential Events Of The Last 10 Years: A Summary For Average Joes (DoubleViking)

Supercut: Before They Were Famous (ScreenJunkies)

Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem Is Do or Die for Both Fighters

Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem are facing the worst runs in their extensive mixed martial arts careers. The two will be battling for their futures when they face each other at UFC 167 in November.
UFC president Dana White has spoken of how important th…

Frank Mir and Alistair Overeem are facing the worst runs in their extensive mixed martial arts careers. The two will be battling for their futures when they face each other at UFC 167 in November.

UFC president Dana White has spoken of how important the fight is for both heavyweights.

According to MMA Fighting, when asked whether the fight was “do or die” for both men, White answered, “Definitely.” 

Both fighters are riding career-threatening losing streaks, although Mir, with three straight losses to Overeem’s two, is in a much more precarious situation.

Mir has been fighting in the UFC since 2001 and is a former heavyweight champion. However, he hasn’t won a match since submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2011. The three losses he’s stacked up—to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett—amount to the worst streak of his career.

Overeem, by contrast, only joined the UFC two years ago, riding a formidable run in Strikeforce, Dream and the K1 kickboxing tournament. He quickly established himself in the promotion by finishing former champion Brock Lesnar in the first round. But after a failed drug test and two KO losses to Antonio Silva and Travis Browne, the Dutch fighter could become the biggest bust in UFC history.

Per Tom Ngo of 5th Round, Overeem made $264,285 (with about half coming from a win bonus) for beating Lesnar and $285,714 in his loss to Silva. Mir took home $200,000 in each of his last two fights. That’s enough for both fighters to buy a whole range of tv stands.

The pair will fight on the UFC 167 undercard taking place in Las Vegas on Nov. 16. The card will be headlined by a title fight between welterweights Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Floyd Mayweather: ‘I Want to Promote MMA Fighters’

It feels like just yesterday that boxing and MMA were the biggest enemies in sports, and Floyd Mayweather and his entourage always seemed to be somewhere close to the action. Now, though, that tune has changed in a massive way.
In an interview with Fig…

It feels like just yesterday that boxing and MMA were the biggest enemies in sports, and Floyd Mayweather and his entourage always seemed to be somewhere close to the action. Now, though, that tune has changed in a massive way.

In an interview with Fight Hype, Mayweather opened up on his interest in getting into the MMA business. 

I want to promote MMA fighters also. We lookin‘ to promote MMA fighters…You know, Al Haymon is looking to manage MMA fighters. Even though Al Haymon hasn’t came on record and said it, but I want Al to manage MMA fighters. I think I can take it to the next level.

If there’s one thing Floyd “Money” Mayweather knows (other than boxing), it’s dollar signs. What makes this such a surprise, though, is Mayweather’s famous anti-MMA quotes. Mayweather famously stated in a 2011 interview with CBS Sports that MMA was created out of a desire to see Caucasians succeed in combat sports due to their recent floundering in boxing. Earlier this year, leading into his fight with Robert Guerrero, he hinted during an interview with Showtime that his opponent’s dirty, unrefined style was better suited for MMA.

Mayweather hasn’t been the only one to fire shots, though, as UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently stated the pound-for-pound greatest boxer in the world “would get killed by an average college wrestler” in a street fight.

While Mayweather expressing his interest in MMA was a bit surprising on its own, that wasn’t even the craziest part of the interview. That came when Mayweather stated “You know, I don’t mind doing business with Dana White. Dana White’s a cool guy. I’ve been knowing Dana before he got involved with the MMA.”

The UFC’s president has been famously critical of Mayweather. He labeled the boxer a racist for comments he made on Jeremy Lin in 2012. White also criticized Mayweather for his refusal to fight fellow champion Manny Pacquiao over pay structure.

This, in turn, would set off a war of words with members of Mayweather’s entourage.

Evidently, though, any sort of bad blood has been set aside. Dana White was photographed alongside UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, as well as The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 contestants Jessamyn Duke and Raquel Pennington at Mayweather’s latest fight, opposite Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

It will be interesting to see how all this pans out.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ken Shamrock Rips Dana White on Twitter over Fighter Pay

Ken Shamrock voiced his displeasure about fighter treatment and pay Monday evening on Twitter, calling out UFC President Dana White in the process. 
After receiving the above YouTube video in a tweet (h/t MMAjunkie.com) from a concerned fan, Shamr…

Ken Shamrock voiced his displeasure about fighter treatment and pay Monday evening on Twitter, calling out UFC President Dana White in the process. 

After receiving the above YouTube video in a tweet (h/t MMAjunkie.com) from a concerned fan, Shamrock and UFC Hall of Fame inductee Randy Couture chimed in on the topic, echoing the video’s sentiments about fighter pay. 

 

 

While Couture sounded off first, Shamrock promptly took the mic and commanded it for the remainder of the set, as he touched upon fighter pay and the overall lack of respect fighters receive from White. 

So what [you’re] saying is that the fighters did not make the ufc what it is today, that disrespectful promoter did all of that. Wow, what a smart guy you are. Why didn’t I think of that? Who needs fighters when you can just disrespect the guys who made your promotion and talk trash and make loads of money and not give what is partially the fighters money.

This is not uncharted land for Shamrock. 

In an April 2013 video filmed for The FightNetwork, Shamrock used firsthand experience and observations to make these claims: 

I don’t like to see people get taken advantage of, and I speak my mind when I see something wrong and other people are being hurt…I’ve seen things that are wrong. I see the lies that are being told. I know the money that is being made, and I know that people are being lied to…There’s more money being made there, and they’re lying to people about the money being made. 

A 2012 ESPN article detailed fighters’ reluctance to discuss fighter pay, saying that the topic activates their “flight instincts.” 

On the other hand, legends like Chuck Liddell have spoken candidly on the subject, concluding that the pay scale is more than fair for fighters, while White himself consistently tosses positive metrics back in the faces of critics. 

The fact that fighter pay is a recurring theme—one that we’ve seen discussed for years—tells me that the situation is not perfect.

While Shamrock and Couture are not exactly UFC advocates at this point in their respective careers, ex-UFC fighters like Jon Fitch, Jacob Volkmann and John Cholish have also expressed their discontent with the organization’s pay scale. 

There is no doubt that the top fighters enjoy significantly steeper pay grades than undercard inhabitants, but, as Liddell points out, those who continue to win impressively will reap the rewards. 

Shamrock, still displeased by the video and the ensuing conversation it spawned, capped off his tirade by reminding White where to direct the credit for his successes: 

 

 

Whose corner do you find yourself backing? Does each side make a relevant point concerning fighter treatment and pay? 

Sound off, and we’ll discuss this ever-burning issue. 

 

Like MMA, heavy metal and life’s absurdities? 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Fight Booking Alert: Pat Barry vs. Soa Palelei on for UFC Dec. 7 Australia Card


(UFC Heavyweight Pat Barry | Photo by Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

The UFC Fight Night 33 card taking place this December in Brisbane, Australia has just picked up its third match up as heavyweights Pat Barry and Soa Palelei are now set to face one another. Barry is coming off a TKO loss to Shawn Jordan at UFC 161 this past June and Palelei off a UFC debut win just over two weeks ago at UFC 164.

Palelei’s win is almost being treated like a loss by some, notably UFC President Dana White who, after UFC 164, criticized Palelei’s bout with Nikita Krylov saying that the fight was a poor representation of what UFC-level fighting is, calling the fight “sloppy” and the fighters poorly conditioned. We can’t yet know what kind of shape Barry and Palelei will come in to their fight in but we can make an educated guess that at least Barry will make the bout exciting.

Also already booked on the Brisbane card is Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. James Te Huna and Antonio Silva vs. Mark Hunt.

– Elias Cepeda


(UFC Heavyweight Pat Barry | Photo by Esther Lin/MMAFighting)

The UFC Fight Night 33 card taking place this December in Brisbane, Australia has just picked up its third match up as heavyweights Pat Barry and Soa Palelei are now set to face one another. Barry is coming off a TKO loss to Shawn Jordan at UFC 161 this past June and Palelei off a UFC debut win just over two weeks ago at UFC 164.

Palelei’s win is almost being treated like a loss by some, notably UFC President Dana White who, after UFC 164, criticized Palelei’s bout with Nikita Krylov saying that the fight was a poor representation of what UFC-level fighting is, calling the fight “sloppy” and the fighters poorly conditioned. We can’t yet know what kind of shape Barry and Palelei will come in to their fight in but we can make an educated guess that at least Barry will make the bout exciting.

Also already booked on the Brisbane card is Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. James Te Huna and Antonio Silva vs. Mark Hunt.

– Elias Cepeda