Tag: Dana White

Dr. Johnny Benjamin: 25-Year-Old Heavyweight Stefan Struve Should Retire

Spinal and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Johnny Benjamin is a big mixed martial arts fan who consistently gives his feedback on controversial medical issues such as concussions, testosterone replacement therapy and drug testing. In a recent interview wit…

Spinal and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Johnny Benjamin is a big mixed martial arts fan who consistently gives his feedback on controversial medical issues such as concussions, testosterone replacement therapy and drug testing. 

In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow’s Steph Daniels, Benjamin named a couple fighters whom he felt should retire.

The most surprising name he mentioned was Stefan Struve, who boasts a 25-6 mixed martial arts record and is currently ranked the No. 10 heavyweight in the UFC’s official rankings. 

“How many times has he been knocked out? I know he’s a young man, but he’s been knocked out more than a few times … At some point, someone really needs to ask the question, should he still be fighting? That many concussions, so quickly, and at this young age … a person has two types of age, chronological and physiologic age. Stefan’s license may say he’s 25, but in physiologic years, he’s much, much older than that, with all the concussive force that he’s sustained … I’m sure nobody will like to hear this, but Stefan Struve really needs to think about retiring.”

While the “Skyscraper” is a tough opponent for anyone at heavyweight, five of his six losses have come by way of (technical) knockout and the majority of those have been undeniably pretty brutal. 

Look no further than his most recent KO loss to Mark Hunt at UFC on FUEL 8 earlier this month, where Struve suffered a broken jaw, to see the type of knockouts the young fighter has suffered in his career.

Despite his penchant for coming up short against strikers with serious power, few pundits have called for Struve‘s retirement, after all, he just turned 25 years old last month. 

Nevertheless, Benjamin said that the damage the brain suffers each time a concussion is sustained is enough reason for the Dutchman to consider hanging the gloves up.

“If it’s not him that will make that decision, then Dana White needs to start talking to him about retiring. The question out there is how many sustained concussions is too many, and according to the latest literature that’s coming out, the answer is starting to look like it’s somewhere between two and three. That’s where you start having permanent changes.”

Additionally, despite looking impressive in a knockout victory over Brian Stann at UFC on FUEL 8, Benjamin also believes that PRIDE legend Wanderlei Silva should call it a career after 49 professional fights. 

Like Struve, he believes “The Axe Murderer” has suffered too many (six) brutal knockouts throughout the course of his long career, which could lead to permanent side effects.

Does Benjamin bring up a legitimate new concern in the sport of mixed martial arts here?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Fitch Refutes Dana White, Says He’s Nowhere Near the Downside of His Career

The dust has barely settled on the reality that Jon Fitch is no longer in the UFC, but the former title contender is moving on from the negativity of being released to the happiness of signing his new deal with World Series of Fighting. The MMA world w…

The dust has barely settled on the reality that Jon Fitch is no longer in the UFC, but the former title contender is moving on from the negativity of being released to the happiness of signing his new deal with World Series of Fighting.

The MMA world was left with their collective jaws on the floor when the announcement was made at the time that Fitch, along with 15 other fighters, were being dropped from the promotion.  The shock surrounding Fitch happened because at the time he was still the No. 9 ranked welterweight in the world and had been a perennial top-10 fighter for most of his UFC career.

When UFC president Dana White explained his reasoning for releasing Fitch, he said the Indiana native was on the “downside” of his career after a recent run left him at 1-2-1 over his last four fights.  While the door wasn’t closed on Fitch coming back to the UFC, his current run was coming to an end.

Now a few weeks removed from the situation, Fitch has moved on and isn’t looking for revenge on the UFC for handing him his release.  He does say, however, that he’s nowhere near the “downside” of his career as White suggested.

“I think that’s a good point to make.  I’m finally making breakthroughs with my game and I’m getting to a new level with my training.  I don’t think I’m anywhere near the down turn of my career,” Fitch told Bleacher Report on Monday.   “I still think there’s a lot of great fights left in me and I think having a new opportunity and a new showcase to put myself out there, it’s going to be a better second half of my career.”

The second half of his career begins with his new home at World Series of Fighting in June when he makes his debut for the fledgling promotion. Leaving the UFC was just closing the chapter on one part of his life, and this is a new piece that will be written as he begins the next stage of his career.

“I still have a lot left to do in this sport.  I’m still healthy, I still love what I do, I have a great team around me, a great support system around me.  I’ve got a mouth to feed at home so there’s plenty going into the positive column for me in this next move,” said Fitch.

When Fitch left the UFC he was just a few months away from celebrating eight years with the promotion. During that time he racked up 14 wins, a championship bout and consistently stayed near the top of the welterweight rankings. 

Despite all those accolades and top-level fights, did Fitch get stuck in a rut while fighting with the UFC?

“It’s definitely geared an attitude change in me.  Maybe I was getting complacent before, a little bit.  All around I think this is going to work out the best for my career,” Fitch stated about his exit from the UFC.

The next stage of Fitch’s career kicks off in June when he headlines the third-ever World Series of Fight card that’s expected to take place in Las Vegas.  Fitch hopes to fight at least three or four times by the end of the year, and he’s excited that World Series of Fighting will keep him busy.

As far as the UFC goes, White said weeks ago that Fitch could definitely earn his way back to the promotion with the right kind of resume outside the Octagon, but the former Purdue wrestler isn’t even thinking about that avenue. Fitch is a World Series of Fighting fighter, and that’s who he’s loyal to now.

“Right now I don’t even have to worry about (the UFC) because I’ve got a nice contract, a four-fight deal, and I’ll be there for at least a year, maybe more,” said Fitch.   “So I don’t have to worry about that for at least a year.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ratings Report: Ultimate Fighter Picture of Consistency, Bellator Down Slightly

Consistency has been the key for the Ultimate Fighter in terms of ratings for season 17, while Bellator’s ebb and flow continues as their transition to Spike TV builds to what they hope are much greater heights in 2013. Ultimate Fighter Season 17 Pictu…

Consistency has been the key for the Ultimate Fighter in terms of ratings for season 17, while Bellator‘s ebb and flow continues as their transition to Spike TV builds to what they hope are much greater heights in 2013.

Ultimate Fighter Season 17 Picture of Consistency

When the Ultimate Fighter moved to Tuesday nights for this latest season, everyone knew that the ratings for the long running reality show were all but a sure thing to improve after being placed on what is a traditionally very tough Friday night time slot.

So far all the predictions have been correct, and while season 17 hasn’t been breaking all time records, the show has returned to its old form in terms of consistency.

Episode 7 of the Ultimate Fighter that aired last Thursday pulled in an average of 1.259 million viewers according to a report from the Nielsen TV ratings with a .7 ratings share in the coveted 18-49 demographic.

Those numbers are an indication that the Ultimate Fighter seems to have found its groove for the latest season featuring coaches Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, along with a new night and time slot ahead of the FX hit show Justified, which airs directly after TUF 17.

Here are the ratings for the Ultimate Fighter so far to this point in the season:

Episode 1: 1.51 million average

Episode 2: 1.30 million average

Episode 3: 1.20 million average

Episode 4: 1.25 million average

Episode 5: 1.13 million average

Episode 6: 1.14 million average

Episode 7: 1.259 million average

UFC president Dana White was also happy with the latest ratings, and has continued to rave about the show and the accolades they’ve received from FX as well.  This season is a dramatic improvement over last year when the show aired on Friday nights at 10pm with coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin.

Season 16 of the reality show averaged well below 1 million viewers per episode and routinely dropped below the 700,000 viewer average.  The new season has been a hit in comparison with other FX programs.

FX Senior Vice President of Public Relations John Solberg also raved about the improvements of the Ultimate Fighter after episode six aired two weeks ago.

This week will mark the final preliminary bout of the season when Zak Cummings takes on Dylan Andrews as the show moves past the halfway point for the season, and starts heading towards the home stretch and the finale in mid-April.

Bellator Ratings Up and Down Again

Bellator has a new home at Spike TV and so far this season there have definitely been a lot more eyeballs on their product that past years when they ran shows on much smaller networks like MTV2. 

The problem Bellator seems to be having is finding out exactly when and where their audience is going to tune in week-to-week.

The latest Bellator show that took place last Thursday March 7 airing at 10pm featuring middleweight and featherweight tournament semifinals drew an average rating of 741,000 viewers for the two-hour broadcast.

While the star power on the latest show wasn’t as big, the previous week that featured a lackluster title bout between Christian M’Pumbu and Attila Vegh actually pulled in the second highest ratings since the promotion debuted on the network. Bellator 91 averaged 901,000 viewers and actually peaked at 1.05 million viewers during the title fight.

That show actually landed Bellator at No. 5 amongst basic cable networks in the male 18-49 demographic.

The previous week, which featured the finals of the Bellator featherweight tournament as well as the second fight for “King” Mo Lawal under the promotion’s banner drew in 791,000 viewers.

The season average for Bellator this year is still over 800,000 per episode, which is a rousing success compared the average viewers they were able to draw while on MTV2 or any other network they’ve been at prior to Spike TV.

The average viewers have spiked and fallen on a few occasions, but overall through eight weeks on Spike TV, Bellator has increased their viewership massively and their hope has to be to reach towards the one million viewer average by the close of 2013.  Bellator will also launch their first reality show later this year with Fight Master debuting sometime in the summer before the next season of fights begins on Spike TV.

The next Bellator show takes place on Thursday night, March 21 with lightweights Dave Jansen taking on Marcin Held as well as heavyweight action on the card.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fighters in Fear of Being Released, Is That a Good or Bad Thing?

If a fighter who’s never gone on a losing skid like Jon Fitch receives walking papers without ever experiencing a personal problem, then few in the UFC can claim the luxury of job security.A former welterweight title challenger, Fit…

If a fighter who’s never gone on a losing skid like Jon Fitch receives walking papers without ever experiencing a personal problem, then few in the UFC can claim the luxury of job security.

A former welterweight title challenger, Fitch went 14-3-1 in nearly eight years with the UFC. In that span, Fitch, unlike many contracted UFC fighters, never got arrested, failed a drug test, missed a press conference or showed up overweight for a fight.

Fifteen additional fighters with clean records got axed alongside Fitch, including UFC mainstays Jacob Volkmann and Vladimir Matyushenko.

So with the exception of attempting to win consistently, which Fitch obviously did for almost eight years, what measures must a UFC fighter take once inside the Octagon to preserve his or her contract?

Furthermore, what, if any, advantages or detriments accompany a fighter who’s competing on the brink of dismissal?

Although an exact criteria for maintaining long-term career stability doesn’t exist, UFC president Dana White tried to offer a blunt explanation on the subject while talking with reporters after the pre-fight press conference for UFC 157.

“Any guy out there. Let me tell you what you better do—you better fight your f***ing ass off and make it good and win. That’s the only way people want to see you.”

In the wake of the unceremonious firing of Fitch, White also admitted that more promotional staples will soon get their pink slips.

“We have 470-something guys under contract. We have over 100 guys too many on the roster right now. The blood has not all been spilled yet. There’s more coming.”

However, White’s colorful remarks shouldn’t discourage fighters on the cusp of expulsion.

If anything, White’s advice should serve as an unofficial black-and-white blueprint for those who are confused about the organization’s lofty expectations.

White has made it quite evident both in interviews and through pertinent personnel decisions that enthralling fighters typically take precedence over the conservative variety. So self-aware fighters should always recognize instances when they’re on the chopping block, and in those situations, they should perform accordingly.

Thus, if wins and losses come secondary to entertainment value, then a fighter who gets backed into a corner shouldn’t feel as much pressure to execute a specific game plan or score a win.

Rather than fretting over prevailing, desperate fighters can simply concentrate on pleasing the UFC’s brass, which obviously just entails putting on an action-packed brawl.

As for the fans, they’re also in line to benefit from the desperation of bubble fighters. UFC fans seldom yearn to see a cerebral chess match, and if White gets his wish, they’ll rarely have to witness one in these cases.

Those on the bubble have many reasons to adhere to White’s sentiments and scrap with utter urgency, regardless of the bout’s outcome. Truth be told, the UFC seems exponentially more inclined to stick with exciting losers than to part with dull winners.

After all, it’s much easier to just try and put on a captivating fight than it is to win one.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Mark Hunt to Fight Junior dos Santos at UFC 160

Better late than never. Props: @ZeusJupiterMMAO

It may have taken a year to come about, but a fight between Mark Hunt and Junior dos Santos has been booked for UFC 160.

When a quadriceps injury to Alistair Overeem left Junior dos Santos without an opponent for UFC 160, Hunt immediately organized a Twitter assault in an effort to get the fight. Despite White’s initial insistence on postponing Overeem vs. dos Santos, a phone call from “The Super Samoan” last night was enough to change his mind. See, sometimes persistence doesn’t result in a restraining order.

Mark Hunt is currently riding a four fight win streak, coming off of a brutal, jaw-breaking knockout over Stefan Struve at last Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 8. Meanwhile, dos Santos is coming off of a gutsy, yet lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.

Better late than never. Props: @ZeusJupiterMMAO

It may have taken a year to come about, but a fight between Mark Hunt and Junior dos Santos has been booked for UFC 160.

When a quadriceps injury to Alistair Overeem left Junior dos Santos without an opponent for UFC 160, Hunt immediately organized a Twitter assault in an effort to get the fight. Despite White’s initial insistence on postponing Overeem vs. dos Santos, a phone call from “The Super Samoan” last night was enough to change his mind. See, sometimes persistence doesn’t result in a restraining order.

Mark Hunt is currently riding a four fight win streak, coming off of a brutal, jaw-breaking knockout over Stefan Struve at last Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 8. Meanwhile, dos Santos is coming off of a gutsy, yet lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.

Will Hunt continue his unlikely rise through the UFC heavyweight division, or will Junior dos Santos prove to be too much for him? Let us know your early predictions in the comments.

@SethFalvo

UFC 160: Mark Hunt Rallies for Shot at Junior dos Santos

The rallying can now cease for Mark Hunt, as he will indeed get his shot at Junior dos Santos at UFC 160. Dana White confirmed the fight to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com Saturday morning. The original co-main event for UFC 160 was scheduled to be Al…

The rallying can now cease for Mark Hunt, as he will indeed get his shot at Junior dos Santos at UFC 160.

Dana White confirmed the fight to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com Saturday morning.

The original co-main event for UFC 160 was scheduled to be Alistair Overeem vs. Dos Santos, but Overeem had to drop out of the bout due to injury. Hunt immediately threw his name out there as a potential replacement.

White tweeted to fans who were asking about the possibility of Hunt vs. Dos Santos that it was unlikely. White claimed the company was seeking a summer date for the originally scheduled bout between Overeem and Dos Santos. It seemed like the hope for Hunt’s biggest fight to date was dead.

Then a late-night tweet on Thursday cracked the door open to shine a glimmer of hope back on this exciting fight.

Dos Santos will indeed fight the former K-1 world champion at UFC 160.

Hunt has had a hell of a ride to get this marquee bout.

From 2006 to 2010 Hunt suffered six straight losses. Five of those six losses came by submission. Now, Hunt is riding a four-fight win streak, with three KO/TKO finishes, into the Octagon on May 25 to battle the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the official UFC rankings.

Hunt’s most recent TKO win (over Stefan Struve) moved him to No. 9 in the rankings.

Dos Santos is coming off his first UFC loss. At UFC 155 he dropped the UFC Heavyweight Championship to Cain Velasquez by unanimous decision.

The winner of Hunt vs. Dos Santos will have the best claim to the next title shot against the winner of Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. That UFC Heavyweight Championship tilt is the main event of UFC 160.

Hunt vs. Dos Santos looks like heavyweight fireworks on paper and will serve as the perfect lead-in to the main event of the evening. The top of the card will almost surely give us two exciting contests and determine the next heavyweight title matchup.

UFC 160 takes place on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on pay-per-view.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com