(Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction to this news.)
We’re not sure if this is a simple miscommunication or some Jon Jones-level troll job, but for some reason, heavyweight contender and PRIDE legend Mark Hunt recently took to Twitter to lament his apparent release from the UFC, stating:
Well I’m unemployed that sucks. Not my choice guys but going from being exited [sic] at the prospects of the future of fighting to being unemployed in a day lol this sucks.
This of course led to some public outcry, because nobody sweeps “The Super Samoan” under the rug like he’s just some…regular Samoan. Nobody. Enraged fans proceeded to put Daddy Dana on blast via the Twitter, which led to this concise yet somehow ridiculously hyperbolic response from the UFC prez…
(Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction to this news.)
We’re not sure if this is a simple miscommunication or some Jon Jones-level troll job, but for some reason, heavyweight contender and PRIDE legend Mark Hunt recently took to Twitter to lament his apparent release from the UFC, stating:
Well I’m unemployed that sucks. Not my choice guys but going from being exited [sic] at the prospects of the future of fighting to being unemployed in a day lol this sucks.
This of course led to some public outcry, because nobody sweeps “The Super Samoan” under the rug like he’s just some…regular Samoan. Nobody. Enraged fans proceeded to put Daddy Dana on blast via the Twitter, which led to this concise yet somehow ridiculously hyperbolic response from the UFC prez…
YOU HEAR THAT, AXEL? THE DUMBEST THING DANA WHITE HAS *EVER* HEARD. And this is a man who has had at least two — count ‘em, two – conversations with Tiki Ghosn. A man who for some fifteen years, employed the likes of Tito Ortiz. Who allowed Tim Sylvia, a legally retarded, morbidly obese troglodyte hailing from a state that has since been set adrift, to serve as the heavyweight champion of his promotion. And your inquiry about Hunt’s employment tops *all* of that.
Just get the fuck out of here, Axel. I can’t even look at you.
Hunt has not fought since drawing with Antonio Silva in a “Fight of the Decade” contender at Fight Night 33, and is scheduled to face the hard-hitting Roy Nelson at Fight Night 52 (a.k.a “The Japan Card“). I can only think of a couple reasons why Hunt could be suddenly dropped by the UFC, and one of them rhyme with “bailed hug rest.” But if the early, middle, and late career of Vitor Belfort has taught us anything, it’s that bailed hug rests are mere road bumps on the path to title contendership.
(Hate! Hate! Hate Hate Hate!!)
We’ll force our interns to keep an eye on Hunt’s Twitter until something pops up, but in the meantime, anyone care to speculate the cause of Hunt’s confusion? Like, do you think some “Bigfoot” fan who does a spot-on Dana White called up Hunt and tricked him? Or is this Hunt’s way of pulling some Nick Diaz-Nate Diaz powerplay? Do you really think that Axel’s question was the dumbest thing Dana White has *ever* heard? And can you imagine what a UFC contract negotiation with Tito Ortiz was like, especially toward the end?
“Good extranoon, Dana, uh, I’d just like to say that ‘The People’s Champ’ fights like no other, and, uh, that should be reflexive in my deal. Like no other.”
“Tito, you’re old, you haven’t won a fight in years, and you’re clearly drunk again.”
When a fighter finds his groove, it can be a beautiful thing to watch, and Ross Pearson believes he’s firing on all cylinders heading into Fight Night 30. While the journey has certainly come with a fair share of adversity, the former TUF winner is confident everything is falling into place at precisely the right […]
When a fighter finds his groove, it can be a beautiful thing to watch, and Ross Pearson believes he’s firing on all cylinders heading into Fight Night 30. While the journey has certainly come with a fair share of adversity, the former TUF winner is confident everything is falling into place at precisely the right […]
His back now against the wall, Daley has changed his tune in regards to his former promotion, thusly moving on to stage three of the five stages of grief: Bargaining. Daley first reached out to the UFC via his Facebook page:
Dana white “Paul Daley does not wanna be in the UFC”? Given the opportunity Dana , I would be right back in there, please just send me that contract.
Dana questioned about me again, Ariel saying he’s gonna get in touch with me, as we rally for a UFC return. Weather it happens or not, it’s kinda cool, that my recent performances and attitude has caught the attention of the big dogs, despite being on smaller shows.
Got an interview with Ariel Helwani tomorrow, seems talk of a UFC come back has gathered pace. Very important interview, as good a speaking with Dana himself…..oohh what to say?…Kinda nervous now….UFC Manchester? Diaz re-match, Sorry, I’ve grown up, I make weight…I’ve got a little son now…please help me feed him…
(Oh, Paul, putting on nude puppet shows for strange old men? We never thought it would come to this. Photo via Esther Lin.)
His back now against the wall, Daley has changed his tune in regards to his former promotion, thusly moving on to stage three of the five stages of grief: Bargaining. Daley first reached out to the UFC via his Facebook page:
Dana white “Paul Daley does not wanna be in the UFC”? Given the opportunity Dana , I would be right back in there, please just send me that contract.
Dana questioned about me again, Ariel saying he’s gonna get in touch with me, as we rally for a UFC return. Weather it happens or not, it’s kinda cool, that my recent performances and attitude has caught the attention of the big dogs, despite being on smaller shows.
Got an interview with Ariel Helwani tomorrow, seems talk of a UFC come back has gathered pace. Very important interview, as good a speaking with Dana himself…..oohh what to say?…Kinda nervous now….UFC Manchester? Diaz re-match, Sorry, I’ve grown up, I make weight…I’ve got a little son now…please help me feed him…
I don’t know about you, but “Help me feed my son” is my favorite form of heartstring-pulling, right up there with “Being on enter reality show here is my destiny, you guys!” Now all Daley needs to do is videotape himself selling flowers on the freeway and his audition tape will be complete!
When questioned on the potential of a Daley UFC return during the UFC on FOX 8 media scrum, Dana White was shockingly pessimistic.
“I thought he hated this place,” said White. “I heard he couldn’t get a visa. And they’re real strict here now on visas. I thought he hated the UFC and said he’d never want to come back here and never wanted to fight here again. What changed?” ”I don’t know, man. I don’t think so.”
(Pictured: The man Maiquel Falcao should have never done f*cked with.)
Here’s some unsurprising news: Due to their ongoing personal/legal troubles, Paul Daley and Maiquel Falcao were officially released from their Bellator contracts yesterday. While there are many things to take away from this decision, we think the most important one is that someone finally figured out how to break a Bellator contract without being sued. QUICK, EDDIE, TAKE TO THE STREETS!
You might recall that we slightly jumped the gun on Daley’s release after it had been reported that he was involved in a bar brawl (or “pub pugilistic” as they are known in London), the legal repercussions of which prevented him from entering the U.S. and competing under the Bellator banner. But in hindsight, we’ll just chalk up that previous article to our keen sense of premonition, pat ourselves on the back and order another Glen Garioch neat.
Falcao, on the other hand, found his legal trouble in the form of a wild gas station brawl (or “Thursday” as they are known in Brazil) that left his friend and fellow MMA fighter Kaue Mena hospitalized to this day. Seriously, join us after the jump to hear the “good news” on how Mena’s recovery has been going.
(Pictured: The man Maiquel Falcao should have never done f*cked with.)
Here’s some unsurprising news: Due to their ongoing personal/legal troubles, Paul Daley and Maiquel Falcao were officially released from their Bellator contracts yesterday. While there are many things to take away from this decision, we think the most important one is that someone finally figured out how to break a Bellator contract without being sued. QUICK, EDDIE, TAKE TO THE STREETS!
You might recall that we slightly jumped the gun on Daley’s release after it had been reported that he was involved in a bar brawl (or “pub pugilistic” as they are known in London), the legal repercussions of which prevented him from entering the U.S. and competing under the Bellator banner. But in hindsight, we’ll just chalk up that previous article to our keen sense of premonition, pat ourselves on the back and order another Glen Garioch neat.
Falcao, on the other hand, found his legal trouble in the form of a wild gas station brawl (or “Thursday” as they are known in Brazil) that left his friend and fellow MMA fighter Kaue Mena hospitalized to this day. Seriously, join us after the jump to hear the “good news” on how Mena’s recovery has been going.
The doctor of Balneário Camboriú, Hugo Sérgio Pretto did some exams on the MMA fighter Kauê Mena that remains hospitalized since the street fight in a gas station. Stimulated, the fighter responded by squeezing the doctors hand and moving his eyes. … Despite the responses, the situation of Kauê remains critical. According to Pretto’s research, the fighter have internal bleeding and lost a lot of brain mass. It was needed to remove the top of his head through surgery, due to his brain’s swelling.
And all this because Mena chose to be friends with a piece of human trash like Falcao. Truly a sad day for the mediator friend, indeed.
Whether or not the mystery men involved in the brawl have been apprehended/charged yet remains to be seen — the same goes for Falcao. We will continue to update you on the situation as information is made available.
(Pictured: The man Maiquel Falcao should have never done f*cked with.)
Here’s some unsurprising news: Due to their ongoing personal/legal troubles, Paul Daley and Maiquel Falcao were officially released from their Bellator contracts yesterday. While there are many things to take away from this decision, we think the most important one is that someone finally figured out how to break a Bellator contract without being sued. QUICK, EDDIE, TAKE TO THE STREETS!
You might recall that we slightly jumped the gun on Daley’s release after it had been reported that he was involved in a bar brawl (or “pub pugilistic” as they are known in London), the legal repercussions of which prevented him from entering the U.S. and competing under the Bellator banner. But in hindsight, we’ll just chalk up that previous article to our keen sense of premonition, pat ourselves on the back and order another Glen Garioch neat.
Falcao, on the other hand, found his legal trouble in the form of a wild gas station brawl (or “Thursday” as they are known in Brazil) that left his friend and fellow MMA fighter Kaue Mena hospitalized to this day. Seriously, join us after the jump to hear the “good news” on how Mena’s recovery has been going.
(Pictured: The man Maiquel Falcao should have never done f*cked with.)
Here’s some unsurprising news: Due to their ongoing personal/legal troubles, Paul Daley and Maiquel Falcao were officially released from their Bellator contracts yesterday. While there are many things to take away from this decision, we think the most important one is that someone finally figured out how to break a Bellator contract without being sued. QUICK, EDDIE, TAKE TO THE STREETS!
You might recall that we slightly jumped the gun on Daley’s release after it had been reported that he was involved in a bar brawl (or “pub pugilistic” as they are known in London), the legal repercussions of which prevented him from entering the U.S. and competing under the Bellator banner. But in hindsight, we’ll just chalk up that previous article to our keen sense of premonition, pat ourselves on the back and order another Glen Garioch neat.
Falcao, on the other hand, found his legal trouble in the form of a wild gas station brawl (or “Thursday” as they are known in Brazil) that left his friend and fellow MMA fighter Kaue Mena hospitalized to this day. Seriously, join us after the jump to hear the “good news” on how Mena’s recovery has been going.
The doctor of Balneário Camboriú, Hugo Sérgio Pretto did some exams on the MMA fighter Kauê Mena that remains hospitalized since the street fight in a gas station. Stimulated, the fighter responded by squeezing the doctors hand and moving his eyes. … Despite the responses, the situation of Kauê remains critical. According to Pretto’s research, the fighter have internal bleeding and lost a lot of brain mass. It was needed to remove the top of his head through surgery, due to his brain’s swelling.
And all this because Mena chose to be friends with a piece of human trash like Falcao. Truly a sad day for the mediator friend, indeed.
Whether or not the mystery men involved in the brawl have been apprehended/charged yet remains to be seen — the same goes for Falcao. We will continue to update you on the situation as information is made available.
(And this is the face he will make after he does.)
Since being released from the UFC following his second positive test for marijuana in his past three fights, TUF 7 alum Matt Riddle has been doing his damnedest to burn every last bridge that might possibly connect him to the organization he has literally built his entire professional MMA career in. And while Riddle succeeded in raising some interesting questions regarding the UFC’s policy of hiring and firing fighters during his recent interview on The MMA Hour, he also succeeded in completely sabotaging any potential of a return trip to the sport’s highest promotion, which according to him, is something he would prefer:
What I see happening is, a year or two from now the UFC calls me back after I’ve won probably like five or six fights, hopefully. And I’ll probably, at the time, say, ‘No.’ Because I really don’t like the direction they’re taking the company. They’re firing high-level talent so they can have lower level talent just scrap, and they’d rather have a brawl than a good technical fight. I think that’s going to be their downfall, because the fans are getting more educated. They’re getting smarter, and they don’t want to just see a slugfest and two retarded guys with brain damage bleeding everywhere.
Dana White’s response was expectantly blunt. Get it? Blunt? Be honest, that pun is so great you’d probably beat your kids in a fit of jealous rage if you weren’t so goddamn stoned.
Much more from this interview after the jump.
(And this is the face he will make after he does it.)
Since being released from the UFC following his second positive test for marijuana in his past three fights, TUF 7 alum Matt Riddle has been doing his damnedest to burn every last bridge that might possibly connect him to the organization he has literally built his entire professional MMA career in. And while Riddle succeeded in raising some interesting questions regarding the UFC’s policy of hiring and firing fighters during his recent interview on The MMA Hour, he also succeeded in completely sabotaging any potential of a return trip to the sport’s highest promotion, which according to him, is something he would prefer:
What I see happening is, a year or two from now the UFC calls me back after I’ve won probably like five or six fights, hopefully. And I’ll probably, at the time, say, ‘No.’ Because I really don’t like the direction they’re taking the company. They’re firing high-level talent so they can have lower level talent just scrap, and they’d rather have a brawl than a good technical fight. I think that’s going to be their downfall, because the fans are getting more educated. They’re getting smarter, and they don’t want to just see a slugfest and two retarded guys with brain damage bleeding everywhere.
Dana White’s response was expectantly blunt. Get it? Blunt? Be honest, that pun is so great you’d probably beat your kids in a fit of jealous rage if you weren’t so goddamn stoned.
Self-sabotage aside, Riddle did raise some interesting points about the UFC’s non-existent policy when it comes to releasing fighters. Most notably, that of fellow stoner marijuana enthusiast Dave Herman:
But you’ve got to look at guys like Dave Herman. Three fight losing streak, gets knocked out like three times in a row, fails two drug tests for weed, and he’s still in the UFC. And I don’t take anything from Herman, I’m sure he’s a great guy. But I don’t know. I think that’s very hypocritical, and those are politics right there. That’s not good business. That’s you guys getting together, doing a little pow-wow, and being like, ‘Let’s get rid of Riddle. He’s fighting more conservative. He’s going out there for wins. He’s fighting more educated. And I’d rather hire a couple guys from Australia or the U.K. that just brawl, and pay them half as much.
Obviously, we’re not going to retread the same sub-arguments that inevitably come hand-in-hand with the topic of marijuana in MMA (marijuana vs. TRT, the legality of marijuana in America, etc.). While Riddle points out some obvious flaws in the UFC’s policy of firing and hiring fighters, he fails to realize (or just neglects to mention) that until the fighters of the UFC form some sort of union, DW and friends will continue to hire and fire whoever the hell they want, when they want.
Of course, no bridge-burning ceremony would be complete without a conspiracy theory or two, and thankfully Riddle has us covered there:
A lot of lawyers think I have a lawsuit for wrongful termination. And, you know, I’m not really trying to go that route, because I like to fight and I’m not really trying to bellyache about it. But at the same time, if didn’t fail a drug test, and something was added to my urine, like Creatine and THC, or something like that, then I would like to know. Because I just think it was just really convenient.
Then even after my fight, Dana White was making comments, ‘Oh, maybe if people started fighting more exciting, unlike Riddle lately.’ He did a couple interviews and mentioned how I haven’t been fighting exciting, and then just so happens, a couple days later I fail a drug test and I get fired. There’s just a couple variables, it just seems really fishy.
Perhaps the most hilarious thing to take away from this statement is the idea that Matt Riddle talks to not one, but multiple lawyers in between bong hits — lawyers that we should probably assume received their degree from the same law school as Frito and Charlie Kelly. But his Rafael Cavalcante-esque conspiracy aside, does anyone agree with the inconsistencies in the UFC’s mentality regarding releasing fighters as pointed out by Riddle?
