It’s been a minute since Daniel Cormier made his successful UFC debut with a unanimous decision win over former champ Frank Mir. This week, DC engaged in the personal fan press conference exercise that is the UFC Fan Club Q&A when he fielded questions from folks in Las Vegas to see UFC 160.
During the Q&A, Cormier discusses dissapointing himself in the Mir fight, UFC jitters, teammate Luke Rockhold‘s recent loss, facing Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and what changes he’s planning to make in his lifestyle in order to one day fight at 205 pounds. It’s an at-length, fun and sometimes intimate session with “DC” so enjoy.
It’s been a minute since Daniel Cormier made his successful UFC debut with a unanimous decision win over former champ Frank Mir. This week, DC engaged in the personal fan press conference exercise that is the UFC Fan Club Q&A when he fielded questions from folks in Las Vegas to see UFC 160.
During the Q&A, Cormier discusses dissapointing himself in the Mir fight, UFC jitters, teammate Luke Rockhold‘s recent loss, facing Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and what changes he’s planning to make in his lifestyle in order to one day fight at 205 pounds. It’s an at-length, fun and sometimes intimate session with “DC” so enjoy.
(Thursday’s media scrum with Dana White, via MMA Heat)
Just a couple days after floating the possibility that middleweight champion Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight king Jon Jonescould meet in a super fight within the year, UFC President Dana White gave the media another tantalizingly qualified statement pertaining to the matchup.
“[Jones and I] talked [Wednesday],” White told assembled media during a scrum Thursday after the UFC 160 press conference. “His thing is, he says he feels great and the toe’s healing good. But the problem was that ligament. That ligament popped. Anywhere you tear a ligament, blood flow helps the thing repair itself and heal, and you don’t get a lot of blood flow at the toe.”
Jones injured his toe in his successful title defense over Chael Sonnen last month. He is currently in Russia but White says that when Jones returns, he’ll get an MRI to get a sense of how soon his toe might be ready for training and fighting again.
“Who knows – this thing could be six weeks, or it could be six months,” White said. “It’s a pain in the ass. It’s always some crazy little thing. He’s in Russia, and when he gets back he’s getting an MRI done on his toe again.”
(Thursday’s media scrum with Dana White, via MMA Heat)
Just a couple days after floating the possibility that middleweight champion Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight king Jon Jonescould meet in a super fight within the year, UFC President Dana White gave the media another tantalizingly qualified statement pertaining to the matchup.
“[Jones and I] talked [Wednesday],” White told assembled media during a scrum Thursday after the UFC 160 press conference. ”His thing is, he says he feels great and the toe’s healing good. But the problem was that ligament. That ligament popped. Anywhere you tear a ligament, blood flow helps the thing repair itself and heal, and you don’t get a lot of blood flow at the toe.”
Jones injured his toe in his successful title defense over Chael Sonnen last month. He is currently in Russia but White says that when Jones returns, he’ll get an MRI to get a sense of how soon his toe might be ready for training and fighting again.
“Who knows – this thing could be six weeks, or it could be six months,” White said. “It’s a pain in the ass. It’s always some crazy little thing. He’s in Russia, and when he gets back he’s getting an MRI done on his toe again.”
So there you have it, ‘taters: Anderson Silva and Jon Jones will totally, maybe, fight each other this year. Silva just has to beat Chris Weidman in July and Jones’ mangled toe has to heal very quickly. Then all that will be left is for the two to want to fight each other which, you know, they haven’t shown any particular interest in doing for the past couple years.
So close.
Damn it, elusive super fights. Why can’t we quit you?
The elfin warrior tells AboveAndBeyondMMA.com that he didn’t deserve to be cut and is now on a mission to expose what he sees as the UFC’s unfair treatment of fighters.
“Well, I didn’t realize there was that much politics in martial arts, especially in the UFC. That was kind of frustrating. It’s not who is the best; it’s more of a political kind of BS,” he said.
“I was released after a loss against Bobby Green, which I should’ve never lost. It was kind of a fluke loss, going into the fight sick. I lost and then after that, they cut me. I was 6-2 at lightweight and they still cut me.
“You’ve got to know the right person, have the right manager in there. And your style determines if you stay in, too. The guys that stand and bang are the ones who are still fighting for the UFC. The ones that take the fights to the ground and focus more on the technique on the ground, they’re not in there because apparently the fans don’t like that.”
The elfin warrior tells AboveAndBeyondMMA.com that he didn’t deserve to be cut and is now on a mission to expose what he sees as the UFC’s unfair treatment of fighters.
“Well, I didn’t realize there was that much politics in martial arts, especially in the UFC. That was kind of frustrating. It’s not who is the best; it’s more of a political kind of BS,” he said.
“I was released after a loss against Bobby Green, which I should’ve never lost. It was kind of a fluke loss, going into the fight sick. I lost and then after that, they cut me. I was 6-2 at lightweight and they still cut me.
“You’ve got to know the right person, have the right manager in there. And your style determines if you stay in, too. The guys that stand and bang are the ones who are still fighting for the UFC. The ones that take the fights to the ground and focus more on the technique on the ground, they’re not in there because apparently the fans don’t like that.”
Volkmann is dead-on in saying that the UFC and the sport of MMA as a whole favors striking and strikers, and he goes on to include some interesting details about the UFC’s health coverage, but his whining tone probably distracts from any good points he has. No one begrudges someone for being upset at being fired, but excuse-making isn’t very sympathetic — especially from a boot-straps kind of conservative like Volkmann.
Volkmann has clearly shown that he’s a UFC-caliber fighter over the years, but he’s unfortunately not the first such guy to be cut after he goes on a downturn. First off, as we mentioned, Volkmann has been finished in two out of his last three bouts. Sure, maybe he was sick and injured in the last one but no one really ever cares about that. Also, he is 6-4 in the UFC — impressive for sure, but when half of those losses have come recently, he shouldn’t have been too shocked at being released.
Volkmann admits to being “very bitter,” over the firing but then displays a poor understanding of what poverty is.
“People always tell me, ‘You’re rich — you’re on TV!’ Are you kidding me? I made $54,000 two years ago, paid $9,000 in taxes, so that leaves me with $45,000. This last year, I made $50,000 and paid $8,000 in taxes. That leaves me with $42,000 — that’s barely above poverty. I have three kids and a wife I’m supporting.”
We’ve never gotten a crystal clear look at the UFC’s health care plans ever since they implemented one a few years ago, so tidbits of information are always great to get from fighters. Volkmann, now a lover scorned, claims that the coverage is too costly for fighters to do much good.
“They always claim that they treat the fighters so well. Yeah, they treat the top five per cent of the fighters well — the ones that are on the main card all the time. They don’t treat the rest of them very well. The healthcare plan is horrible, with a $1,500 deductible per injury — the catastrophic-injury insurance is not even really good insurance. There’s no retirement fund, there’s no signing bonus. You start off at six-and-six, you’re really not making too much money because you’re self-employed, so you’re paying the self-employment tax and you’re paying the regular tax and income tax. So you’re paying twice as much in tax. They claim they’re treating the fighters well, but they’re not, realistically.”
Rough sauce indeed. Many fighters get paid less than six and six to start, however, and lots of those are presumably in the World Series of Fighting.
What do you say, nation? Is Volkmann just mad because a black man is President and a white bald dude fired him? Or should his voice be heard on the matters of fighter compensation and job security?
I won’t go into more than has been written on this site on the subject of Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender MMA fighter, who was born a man and then underwent (and continues to undergo) hormone treatments and surgery to change her sex, but you definitely need to watch the video above.
AXS TV Fights recently interviewed Fox. During that conversation, Fox was asked if she felt she had an advantage over her opponents in Women’s MMA who were, you know, born women. Fallon went further than saying that she and her opponents were equally matched — she assured that she was, in fact, at a disadvantage.
If I know anything about the CagePotato audience, you probably stopped reading right there, so I will see you and your outrage in the comments section.
No, really. She said that.
I won’t go into more than has been written on this site on the subject of Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender MMA fighter, who was born a man and then underwent (and continues to undergo) hormone treatments and surgery to change her sex, but you definitely need to watch the video above.
AXS TV Fights recently interviewed Fox. During that conversation, Fox was asked if she felt she had an advantage over her opponents in Women’s MMA who were, you know, born women. Fallon went further than saying that she and her opponents were equally matched — she assured that she was, in fact, at a disadvantage.
If I know anything about the CagePotato audience, you probably stopped reading right there, so I will see you and your outrage in the comments section.
Should you decide to keep reading, however, you should know that that claim wasn’t specifically followed up on or supported, per se, but AXS did bring a medical doctor on the show to discuss Fox and others that undergo similar treatments and surgeries. It is fascinating to learn that at least some medical minds maintain with absolute certainty that someone like Fox not only will have about the same or less amount of testosterone in her system than the women she fights, but also that her very bone structure and muscle mass should also be about the same as theirs.
Things like bone density and muscle mass have been some of the main criticisms of Fox being allowed to compete against fighters born as women so it is noteworthy that critics’ taken-for-granted “facts” are at least quite open to debate.
What do you think, Nation? Is Fox pushing it a bit saying that she’s at a disadvantage? OR HAS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE CRAZY?!
Diaz’s new managerMike Kogan, however, just can’t seem to shut up about it all — and he’s making his client look even worse in the process.
Immediately following Diaz’s tweet, Kogan issued a ridiculous justification to MMA Junkie that showcased a stunning lack of self-awareness.
“Guess what? The word faggot, at least in Northern California, and where Nate is from, means bitch,” Kogan said. “It means you’re a little punk. It has nothing to do with homosexuals at all. So when Nate made the comment that he made, he didn’t make it in reference to homosexuals or calling Caraway a homosexual. He just said it was a bitch move.”
Separating the word “faggot” from its many historical applications for insulting gay people, as Kogan tried to do, is a stretch. But let’s say that it was possible to separate them. We’d still be left with Diaz publicly calling someone a “bitch” — another word commonly used to insinuate homosexuality, and far more often used to insult women — and Kogan defending the usage of that word just as strongly.
Even if we recognize the obvious fact that Diaz’s tweet was insensitive, few people would crucify him simply for using those slurs in a moment of frustration. All we’re asking for is a little reflection, and some recognition of the fact that, though you may not be a bad dude deep down, that was an insensitive thing to say and a sincere apology is warranted. Or, again, to at least shut up about it all.
Kogan seems far too dense to do that. The manager was recently on MMA Fighting’s MMA Hour and went out of his way to insist that both he and Diaz are offering no apologies.
Diaz’s new managerMike Kogan, however, just can’t seem to shut up about it all — and he’s making his client look even worse in the process.
Immediately following Diaz’s tweet, Kogan issued a ridiculous justification to MMA Junkie that showcased a stunning lack of self-awareness.
“Guess what? The word faggot, at least in Northern California, and where Nate is from, means bitch,” Kogan said. “It means you’re a little punk. It has nothing to do with homosexuals at all. So when Nate made the comment that he made, he didn’t make it in reference to homosexuals or calling Caraway a homosexual. He just said it was a bitch move.”
Separating the word “faggot” from its many historical applications for insulting gay people, as Kogan tried to do, is a stretch. But let’s say that it was possible to separate them. We’d still be left with Diaz publicly calling someone a “bitch” — another word commonly used to insinuate homosexuality, and far more often used to insult women — and Kogan defending the usage of that word just as strongly.
Even if we recognize the obvious fact that Diaz’s tweet was insensitive, few people would crucify him simply for using those slurs in a moment of frustration. All we’re asking for is a little reflection, and some recognition of the fact that, though you may not be a bad dude deep down, that was an insensitive thing to say and a sincere apology is warranted. Or, again, to at least shut up about it all.
Kogan seems far too dense to do that. The manager was recently on MMA Fighting’s MMA Hour and went out of his way to insist that both he and Diaz are offering no apologies.
“Nate doesn’t feel remorse for what he said,” Kogan told MMA Fighting.”I don’t feel remorse for what he said. I don’t feel remorse for defending what [Diaz] said or elaborating on what he said. Because it was not a homophobic statement. It was not intended to offend homosexuals. We weren’t even talking about homosexuals. One can debate the multiple uses of this term. We can sit here and debate in the English language, there’s a lot of words that mean a lot of different things, but whatever. As it is, it wasn’t intended to be used the way people tried to twist the way it was being used. So therefore, what does he have to feel bad about?”
Yes, Mike, we can sit here and “debate in the English language,” which makes sense because that’s the language we’re using, and it is true that there are “lots of words that mean a lot of different things.” None of that seems relevant in any way to the discussion at hand, though.
“If we would have made a homophobic statement, or a statement that was clearly intended to insult homosexuals, that’s one thing,” Kogan went on, unbelievably.
“You come out and say, ‘Hey, you know what, I’m really sorry it hurt people. We didn’t mean to do that.’ But to me, and this is just my philosophy, and I’m sure it’s going to be disagreed with by many people. This is how I think, and how Nate thinks. The mere fact that there is a protocol to deal with these crisis situation implies its lack of sincerity.”
Like all of Kogan’s statements, the above one deserves a second read-through, if only for how unintentionally funny it is. Kogan actually says that, if you say something that is “clearly intended to insult homosexuals,” then you should go out and disingenuously apologize for hurting people, lying by saying, “we didn’t mean to do that.”
Kogan misses a couple key points — if you hurt people, it doesn’t matter much if you intended to or not. Also, no one is asking for false apologies from Diaz or, now, Kogan.
Mike, you aren’t waging some continued war against b.s. What folks are hoping for is some recognition that, intended or not, Diaz insulted and hurt people, and some basic consideration of that fact.
You know, because he’s an adult and all.
From his public statements thus far, it seems unlikely that Kogan will change his mind about the need for reflection and apologies. For the sake of Diaz’s career, however, we hope that he changes his approach to managing the public relations of his clients.
Maybe we’re judging Kogan prematurely. Mike, if you want to come here and, “in the English language,” actually discuss these issues with folks willing to ask you serious questions, we’ll welcome it.
If you’re interested in saying something different or better explaining yourself and your client, we’re interested. Because, lashing out at others and not taking responsibility for hurtful actions is kind of a bitch move, you know?
(Photo courtesy of Kinya Hashimoto via MMAFighting)
[Ed. note: This is the third in a series of interviews with the fighters and promoters behind Metamoris II: Gracie vs. Aoki, which goes down June 9th in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more, and follow Metamoris on Facebook and Twitter for important event updates. You can purchase tickets right here.]
Ryan Hall burst onto the public submission grappling scene much faster than most. As a young blue and purple belt, Hall was thrust into the public eye by a former coach when he starred in for-sale instructional videos, espousing him as already an expert. In competition, which Hall took part in with feverish frequency, the Jiu Jitsu player often used complicated-looking inverted, upside-down techniques.
To be honest, it was difficult for this writer to warm up to Hall as a spectator due to all this. Sure, he was good, real good. But, what is this kid doing selling instructional videos in a world filled with black belt legends trying to make a living? What was all this spinning, upside-down crap he did? Surely he was a BJJ practitioner of the least compelling variety — the ones who focus on parlor trick positions and techniques that would get you in a whole lot of trouble in a real fight.
Of course, Ryan Hall the person and Jiu Jitsu practitioner deserved a more thoughtful look than my initial and judgmental cursory one. Hall separated himself from that former instructor, opened up his own academy, 50/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and began to add major international titles to his resume.
Around the time he medaled at the 2009 ADCC (the Olympics of submission wrestling), it became crystal clear even to the most closed-minded, like myself, that Hall was the real deal. He wasn’t some kid winning regional tournaments with inverted triangle chokes, anymore. The techniques Hall used to win world titles were far from gimmicks and interviews showed him to be thoughtful, bright and humble.
“For better or for worse I was put out there in public when I was younger, a lower belt,” Hall tells CagePotato on a recent Saturday afternoon.
(Photo courtesy of Kinya Hashimoto via MMAFighting)
[Ed. note: This is the third in a series of interviews with the fighters and promoters behind Metamoris II: Gracie vs. Aoki, which goes down June 9th in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more, and follow Metamoris on Facebook and Twitter for important event updates. You can purchase tickets right here.]
Ryan Hall burst onto the public submission grappling scene much faster than most. As a young blue and purple belt, Hall was thrust into the public eye by a former coach when he starred in for-sale instructional videos, espousing him as already an expert. In competition, which Hall took part in with feverish frequency, the Jiu Jitsu player often used complicated-looking inverted, upside-down techniques.
To be honest, it was difficult for this writer to warm up to Hall as a spectator due to all this. Sure, he was good, real good. But, what is this kid doing selling instructional videos in a world filled with black belt legends trying to make a living? What was all this spinning, upside-down crap he did? Surely he was a BJJ practitioner of the least compelling variety — the ones who focus on parlor trick positions and techniques that would get you in a whole lot of trouble in a real fight.
Of course, Ryan Hall the person and Jiu Jitsu practitioner deserved a more thoughtful look than my initial and judgmental cursory one. Hall separated himself from that former instructor, opened up his own academy, 50/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and began to add major international titles to his resume.
Around the time he medaled at the 2009 ADCC (the Olympics of submission wrestling), it became crystal clear even to the most closed-minded, like myself, that Hall was the real deal. He wasn’t some kid winning regional tournaments with inverted triangle chokes, anymore. The techniques Hall used to win world titles were far from gimmicks and interviews showed him to be thoughtful, bright and humble.
“For better or for worse I was put out there in public when I was younger, a lower belt,” Hall tells CagePotato on a recent Saturday afternoon.
As for the sometimes esoteric-seeming techniques that Hall became notorious for in his youth, he says it was just about finding something to work for him against more experienced opponents. “Of course the best way to win is to take someone down, mount them and cross choke them,” Hall says.
“But I started competing against black belts, high level black belts, as a blue and purple belt. There was no way I was going to go in there and dominate in every facet against those guys. The only chance I had was to surprise them with an unexpected transition or an angle they didn’t see from others too often.”
Hall’s intelligence, savvy and flexibility allow him to do some cool and creative looking things out on the mats, but to him, the mat is not just a canvas for artistic expression, it is the training grounds for war. “Jiu Jitsu is about fighting, about learning to defend yourself against someone who is trying to hurt you in real life,” Hall says.
Towards that end, Ryan doesn’t rule out any technique, as long as it proves the right tool for the moment. “People in Jiu Jitsu talk about techniques in ways people don’t in other fight styles,” Hall says.
“Someone asks, ‘oh what do you think of x-guard, or this or that guard?’ Imagine if you asked Oscar De La Hoya or Manny Pacquiao a question like, ‘what do you think of the left hook or right cross?’ They’d look at you like you were crazy and say, ‘well, when the situation calls for the left hook, I use the left hook and when the situation calls for a right cross, I use the right cross.’ Techniques are not magic tricks, they are for different situations. If a situation on the ground calls for a certain guard, use that guard.”
Simple as that sounds coming out his mouth, Hall’s lack of dogma and open-mindedness makes him a bit of an iconoclast. Lately, the 50/50 Academy head has focused his own training on Mixed Martial Arts.
Hall has a 2-1 MMA record and has joined Georges St. Pierre in training at Firas Zahabi’s TriStar gym in Montreal. Hall had promised Zahabi that he would focus one hundred percent of his competitive energy on MMA and so had taken a leave from submission grappling competition.
A call from Metamoris head Ralek Gracie temporarily changed Hall’s plans, however. “I got a call and was shocked when they offered me a match against [three-time BJJ world champion] Rafael Mendes,” Hall remembers.
“It was such a great opportunity that I spoke with Firas and he understood why I wanted to take it.”
Ryan was disappointed when that originally-planned match against Mendes fell through, but couldn’t say no to facing the man he is now set to compete against at Metamoris II, June 9th in Los Angeles, CA, Bill “The Grill” Cooper.
“I think Cooper is good enough to beat absolutely anybody in the world on any given day,” Hall says.
“He also sets such a fast pace and goes hard. I think that goes well with my style. The fact that he’s a bigger guy than me also makes it an even tougher challenge. Facing someone like Bill in a match twice as long as we usually get [twenty minutes] where the only way to win is by submission, that’s something I’m very excited about.”
