Dominick Cruz may have re-won his UFC bantamweight title last night, but that doesn’t mean he was going to let suspended broadcast partner Kenny Florian off the hook…. Newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz regained the championship he never lost by defeating TJ Dillashaw in the main event of last night’s (January 17, 2016) UFC
Dominick Cruz may have re-won his UFC bantamweight title last night, but that doesn’t mean he was going to let suspended broadcast partner Kenny Florian off the hook….
Newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz regained the championship he never lost by defeating TJ Dillashaw in the main event of last night’s (January 17, 2016) UFC Fight Night 81 from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, but Cruz return from the most harrowing injury layoff in MMA history was more about the belt.
It was the culmination of four years of heartache, hard work, and perseverance that culminated in the highly emotional return to the mountaintop for Cruz. ‘The Dominator’ had to topple one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters in Dillashaw to do it, but that doesn’t mean that Cruz was going to take it all seriously.
Apparently Cruz was in a joking mood, and used his post-fight mic time to call out fellow UFC analyst Kenny Florian. Read on to watch his hilarious callout on the next page…
Kenny Florian was briefly suspended for the plagiarism documented in the below editorial published six years ago. Today, he works as a commentator for The Professional Fighters League and is also the co-host of the Anik and Florian podcast.
On This…
Kenny Florian was briefly suspended for the plagiarism documented in the below editorial published six years ago. Today, he works as a commentator for The Professional Fighters League and is also the co-host of the Anik and Florian podcast.
On This Day Six Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 16, 2016, 8:31 PM]
Headline:Kenny Florian & Why The Cover-Up Is Worse Than The Crime
Author: David Bixenspan
As noted earlier, former three-time UFC championship challenger turned UFC and Fox Sports analyst/color commentator has been suspended by the latter entity. His crime? He plagiarized large portions of his technical breakdown of T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz from boxing analyst Lee Wylie’s video breaking down 1040s boxer Willie Pep. Twitter personality The Naked Gambler deserves credit for pointing out exactly what Florian did:
Florian then decided to have a chat with Naked Gambler via direct message, where he explained that it was all a simple misunderstanding…or at least in his head it was:
This introduced us to Florian’s defense, which he later used in his public “apology;” That he keeps a running list of notes on martial arts technique, has for years, and it’s very jumbled with little effort to keep track of what he got where or which thoughts were his own. In and of itself, that would be fine, and it’s totally believable that he keeps those kinds of notes. But…then he went on to say that he must have forgotten that the notes on footwork taken from Wylie weren’t his own.
There are a few problems with this. The first is that even if he knew that even if he genuinely didn’t remember that the footwork notes weren’t his, since he did remember that not all of the notes were his, he’s still knowingly plagiarizing. Even if he didn’t know that those specific notes weren’t his, he knew there was a reasonable likelihood that it was the case.
However, in this specific instance, that doesn’t pass the smell test, either. Why? Wylie’s breakdown only went up on December 3rd, just last month. In addition, being a video (with Wylie’s notes contained in the video as on-screen graphics) as opposed to text in an article, Florian couldn’t have just absent-mindedly copied and pasted it without giving much thought to it. He would have devoted a good bit of time to transcribing the text by hand in the weeks leading up to the article, where he says that he “forgot” that the words weren’t his own.
Soon enough, the story hit Deadspin. At that point, it was probably just a matter of time that the story would really blow up (if it already happened), so Florian issued what he termed an apology:
Note the wording: Florian said that he was ““referenc[ing] perspectives on [something], which were originally articulated by [someone else],” when he was outright lifting Wylie’s analysis word for word. He was deliberately mischaracterizing what he did to obfuscate as well as minimize what he did. Worse, according to twotweets from Naked Gambler, he had attempted to defuse the situation by promising to try to get Wylie a job at Fox Sports.
Does this sound like someone who made a genuine mistake he was sorry for? Or does sound like someone who, for reasons known only to him, knowingly plagiarized large portions of an article and scrambled to cover it up when he got caught? He buried himself deeper every time he addressed the situation, and it’s a miracle that so far, he’s just suspended.
As for Lee Wylie? The poor guy who donates his time to creating cool analysis videos, who had his work stolen by a well-compensated television personality, has been made to feel like a jerk for no good reason:
Feeling pretty shitty right now. Kenny is a good guy.
(“I’m deeply saddened by this whole situation. I’ll be honest, though … that beard trimmer I bought yesterday was more expensive than this fine.”/Photo via Getty)
The UFC announced via its website today that current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been fined $25,000 for violating the promotion’s Athlete Code of Conduct policy.
The UFC had this to say about the fine (via UFC.com):
(“I’m deeply saddened by this whole situation. I’ll be honest, though … that beard trimmer I bought yesterday was more expensive than this fine.”/Photo via Getty)
The UFC announced via its website today that current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been fined $25,000 for violating the promotion’s Athlete Code of Conduct policy.
The UFC had this to say about the fine (via UFC.com):
“The UFC announced today that it has fined light heavyweight champion Jon Jones $25,000 for violating the organization’s Athlete Code of Conduct policy. Jones tested positive for cocaine during an out-of-competition drug test conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission on Dec. 4, 2014. The $25,000 will be donated to a substance abuse prevention program.
The UFC came to this decision after reviewing the facts surrounding the issue, and after receiving confirmation from the Nevada Athletic Commission that Jones passed all required drug tests following his bout at UFC 182 on Jan. 3.”
Also, as per a tweet from MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas, it should be noted that “Bones” will be fined the 25 grand out of his disclosed $500,000 payout he made from his unanimous decision win over “D.C.” (which tallies at a whopping 5%).
Lastly, for what it’s worth, FOX Sports announced today Jones will be sitting down with Charissa Thompson to “break his silence” on this whole ordeal in a segment airing at 11 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 this upcoming Monday night. Considering FOX is in bed with the UFC, serving as the promotion’s mouthpiece more often than not, it’s hard to believe this is going to be a tell-all interview, and that the reigning champ would be grilled in Bob Costas fashion.
Never in my life have I felt more like a failure than after watching this video. In my history of drunken dart-throwing (I can’t honestly recall if I’ve ever played darts sober), I have nailed a bullseye approximately three or four times. Yes, the viewing audience exploded with raucous applause in each instance, but to see Tyson so nonchalantly pull off such a feat — while completely blind, no less — just confirms that I was never meant to become a professional athlete. It’s a fate I finally accepted after throwing a dart through my roommate’s hand while trying to attempt this insanity.
Never in my life have I felt more like a failure than after watching this video. In my history of drunken dart-throwing (I can’t honestly recall if I’ve ever played darts sober), I have nailed a bullseye approximately three or four times. Yes, the viewing audience exploded with raucous applause in each instance, but to see Tyson so nonchalantly pull off such a feat — while completely blind, no less — just confirms that I was never meant to become a professional athlete. It’s a fate I finally accepted after throwing a dart through my roommate’s hand while trying to attempt this insanity.
So, it makes perfect sense that the UFC and Fox Sports chose “The California Kid” as the host of it’s new Fight Stories YouTube series, in which Faber sits down with a real fan who tells a hilarious (and hopefully true) story of having to throw down in a street fight — and then, the whole interaction is animated. The first installment is above; we don’t want to completely spoil it for you, but it does involve alcohol and copious ball punching. Enjoy.
So, it makes perfect sense that the UFC and Fox Sports chose “The California Kid” as the host of it’s new Fight Stories YouTube series, in which Faber sits down with a real fan who tells a hilarious (and hopefully true) story of having to throw down in a street fight — and then, the whole interaction is animated. The first installment is above; we don’t want to completely spoil it for you, but it does involve alcohol and copious ball punching. Enjoy.
Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, NewsThe UFC’s first foray into network television won’t take long. During Thursday’s announcement of a newly signed seven-year deal with FOX, UFC president Dana White also announced that the first event on the broadca…
The UFC‘s first foray into network television won’t take long. During Thursday’s announcement of a newly signed seven-year deal with FOX, UFC president Dana White also announced that the first event on the broadcast network will come on Nov. 12.
The event will likely take place in Anaheim, California, White said.
The card itself is still being worked on.
Under the terms of the deal, FOX will broadcast four events per calendar year, while FX while host six “Fight Night” events.
The FOX shows are expected to be higher caliber offerings than “Fight Night” events, according to UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta.
“You may not have championships on every card,” he said. “There may be championships on some of the time. But I can tell you that we’re going to deliver big fights on broadcast network, that’s for sure. Fights that matter, that mean something, and there’s a lot hanging on the line.”
The Nov. 12 event will give UFC a stretch of four straight Saturdays with a major show. It kicks off October 29, when Nick Diaz tries to wrest the UFC welterweight title from Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137. The next weekend, the UFC flies to the UK, where Chris Leben and Mark Munoz will tangle in the main event of UFC 138. Then, it’s back to the U.S. for the UFC on FOX debut, followed by a trip to nearby San Jose, California for UFC 139, with heavyweight king Cain Velasquez defending the belt against Junior dos Santos.
The