Are you sitting down, Potato Nation? We hope so, because we just got word of a story so shocking, so unexpected, that it will rock you to your very core. We’re talking something bigger than the Reebok deal, the fighter lawsuit, and most certainly bigger than the “The Time Is Now” press conference. Are you ready?
I can’t. From now on, I will only fight at my weight or in a catchweight. I haven’t fought in a long time and that’s why I want to go back to my division.
We know, we know, nobody could have possibly seen this coming.
Are you sitting down, Potato Nation? We hope so, because we just got word of a story so shocking, so unexpected, that it will rock you to your very core. We’re talking something bigger than the Reebok deal, the fighter lawsuit, and most certainly bigger than the “The Time Is Now” press conference. Are you ready?
I can’t. From now on, I will only fight at my weight or in a catchweight. I haven’t fought in a long time and that’s why I want to go back to my division.
The news comes just weeks after Cyborg was forced to pull out of her expected bantamweight debut at Invicta 10 due to injury. Shortly thereafter, the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion declared that she would be “postponing” her drop to 135 in order to defend her Invicta featherweight title. In addition to her reasons listed above, Justino also stated a lack of effort on Ronda Rousey‘s part in making their superfight happen led to her decision to abandon the weight cut.
To call Cyborg’s long teased-at drop to bantamweight “ambitious” would be giving it a little too much credit. Justino has been declared physically unable to make the cut to 135 in the recent past, walks around at about two Frankie Edgars, and possesses the kind of muscle mass that makes her able to body slam 205 pound former UFC champions. The thought of Cyborg facing Rousey was an intriguing one for a small window of time, but between the former’s inactivity and the latter’s rapidly evolving skillset that time has all but passed. The matchup has lost all its heat, and it appears that even Cyborg has finally realized it.
The upside: Cyborg can continue smashing each and every challenger Invicta is able to find her, and now won’t have to feel guilty about eating that second sleeve of Oreos. Sounds like a win-win to me.
True to his word, Jamie Varner was more than holding his own against Drew Dober at UFC on FOX 13 last weekend until bad luck befell him. While attempting to slam Dober to the mat, Varner pulled a Maynard and unintentionally knocked himself out, only waking up to find himself in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
It was a particularly tough loss for Varner, being his fourth in as many contests and coming in front of his hometown crowd, and one that signaled that perhaps the game had passed by the former WEC champ. So for the second time, Varner called it quits in his post-fight interview, stating that it was a decision he had been planning to make for some time.
In an interview with media members after the fight, Varner expanded upon his reasons for retiring, what the future holds for him, and perhaps most importantly, the idea of starting a fighter’s union. Join us after the jump for the full interview.
(Photo via Getty.)
True to his word, Jamie Varner was more than holding his own against Drew Dober at UFC on FOX 13 last weekend until bad luck befell him. While attempting to slam Dober to the mat, Varner pulled a Maynard and unintentionally knocked himself out, only waking up to find himself in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
It was a particularly tough loss for Varner, being his fourth in as many contests and coming in front of his hometown crowd, and one that signaled that perhaps the game had passed by the former WEC champ. So for the second time, Varner called it quits in his post-fight interview, stating that it was a decision he had been planning to make for some time.
In an interview with media members after the fight, Varner expanded upon his reasons for retiring, what the future holds for him, and perhaps most importantly, the idea of starting a fighter’s union. Check out the full interview below.
I would love to start some type of union for fighters. I mean, the sport is growing, and we’re getting all these big-time endorsement deals, and a lot of us – we’re just fighters. We don’t think about the next step.
I think it’s something that needs to happen. We are a mainstream, major sport now, and if you look at all the mainstream, major sports, they all have unions, and they have league minimums and some sort of retirement (plan) and all that kind of stuff. I think that’s something that needs to happen for fighters because this is one of those careers that when it’s over, a lot of these guys don’t have something else.
And just like that, Varner has likely been blacklisted.
I kid, but it is interesting to note how many fighters have felt comfortable discussing the potential of a fighter union in recent months, especially in light of the multi-million dollar lawsuit currently being filed against the UFC by some such fighters. Are the two directly related? Possibly, but it’s almost impossible to deny that the tide is starting to turn on the premiere organization in mixed martial arts. With guys like Brendan Schaub already coming forward to lament how badly the Reebok deal is screwing them over financially, it looks like the idea of a fighter union is starting to gain some steam. And it’s about f*cking time.
That’s how UFC lightweight Jamie Varner describes his trials and tribulations during the past year, in which he got knocked out by Abel Trujillo in a fight that he was winning, then suffered a TKO loss by ankle-injury against James Krause — in another fight that he was winning.
Varner’s back is against the wall as he returns to the Octagon at UFC on FOX 13, which takes place this Saturday, December 13th, in Varner’s hometown of Phoenix. In this candid interview with CagePotato.com, Jamie Varner opens up about the UFC’s controversial new partnership with Reebok, how he’s trying to rebound from a tough 2014, and his upcoming opponent, Drew Dober. (“I didn’t know anything about him. I still don’t.”) Enjoy, and follow Jamie on twitter and sqor.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Since it’s such a hot topicthese days, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the UFC’s uniform deal with Reebok. Overall, do you think it’s a good thing, a bad thing, or is it still too early to tell?
JAMIE VARNER: It’s a little too early to tell. The organization is becoming more mainstream, the overall operations are becoming more corporate, and I think it’s time to implement some sort of fighters’ union, just to make sure that everything is fair and evenly distributed among the fighters. Because for me personally, about 30-40% of my income comes from sponsorships, and with the way their tier system has been announced, it’s like, champions get the most, #1-5 [ranked UFC contenders] get the second-most, 6-10 the third-most, 11-15 the fourth-most, and then all non-ranked fighters are going to be on the same level.
For a guy like me, I’m not in the top 15, but I’ve beaten a couple guys who are — Edson Barboza is ranked like #11 [Ed. Note:He’s actually #6 now] Donald Cerrone is top 5. So I’ve beaten guys in the top 12. And I have a pretty good audience and presence when I fight, people like to tune in to watch me throw down, so I don’t think that I should be making the same amount as a guy who has never fought on a main card, never got a Fight of the Night bonus. I just don’t really understand how this is all going to work out. I can’t really comment on whether I’m upset or happy with the way everything is. I do like the fact that we are all going to look nice. I like the fact that there is going be a little more structure, and we’re going to be more mainstream by having the uniforms, but the fighters need to be appropriately compensated.
That’s how UFC lightweight Jamie Varner describes his trials and tribulations during the past year, in which he got knocked out by Abel Trujillo in a fight that he was winning, then suffered a TKO loss by ankle-injury against James Krause — in another fight that he was winning.
Varner’s back is against the wall as he returns to the Octagon at UFC on FOX 13, which takes place this Saturday, December 13th, in Varner’s hometown of Phoenix. In this candid interview with CagePotato.com, Jamie Varner opens up about the UFC’s controversial new partnership with Reebok, how he’s trying to rebound from a tough 2014, and his upcoming opponent, Drew Dober. (“I didn’t know anything about him. I still don’t.”) Enjoy, and follow Jamie on twitter and sqor.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Since it’s such a hot topicthese days, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the UFC’s uniform deal with Reebok. Overall, do you think it’s a good thing, a bad thing, or is it still too early to tell?
JAMIE VARNER: It’s a little too early to tell. The organization is becoming more mainstream, the overall operations are becoming more corporate, and I think it’s time to implement some sort of fighters’ union, just to make sure that everything is fair and evenly distributed among the fighters. Because for me personally, about 30-40% of my income comes from sponsorships, and with the way their tier system has been announced, it’s like, champions get the most, #1-5 [ranked UFC contenders] get the second-most, 6-10 the third-most, 11-15 the fourth-most, and then all non-ranked fighters are going to be on the same level.
For a guy like me, I’m not in the top 15, but I’ve beaten a couple guys who are — Edson Barboza is ranked like #11 [Ed. Note:He’s actually #6 now] Donald Cerrone is top 5. So I’ve beaten guys in the top 12. And I have a pretty good audience and presence when I fight, people like to tune in to watch me throw down, so I don’t think that I should be making the same amount as a guy who has never fought on a main card, never got a Fight of the Night bonus. I just don’t really understand how this is all going to work out. I can’t really comment on whether I’m upset or happy with the way everything is. I do like the fact that we are all going to look nice. I like the fact that there is going be a little more structure, and we’re going to be more mainstream by having the uniforms, but the fighters need to be appropriately compensated.
You mentioned that 30-40% of your income comes from sponsorships. Has that number held steady in recent years, or have you personally seen the market for sponsors in this sport dry up?
I was making more money, sponsorship-wise, back when I was in the WEC. That was also before you had to pay the [UFC sponsor] tax. But I was able to get big money from sponsors on fight night, and as soon as they implemented the sponsorship tax, money has definitely gone down. As well as the dilution of the sport — I mean there’s over 40 UFC events a year, so the sponsors aren’t paying as much money as they used to because there’s so many shows. So I’ve noticed that with the dilution [of events], the prices have kind of come down a little bit, but nevertheless, just because I’ve been a fan favorite and I’ve been around a long time and I have a great agent — Oren [Hodak] with KO Reps does right by me — I still have been able to make about 30-40% of my income from sponsors. So let’s say I make $20,000 in a fight, I can almost count on having $10,000-$15,000 in sponsorship money. At the end of the year, it totals out to be about 30-40% of my income, from sponsors.
I’d like to talk about the year you’ve had, which has been challenging at times, to say the least. That ankle break you suffered against James Krause looked terrible. In terms of the injury itself and the recovery, is it safe to call that the worst injury of your career?
No, it wasn’t the worst injury of my career. The worst injury of my career was definitely when I broke my hand and broke my foot against Donald Cerrone when I was in the WEC back in 2008 — but [the ankle injury] is #2. Yeah, this year’s been a tough year, man. I lost to Abel Trujillo in a fight that I was dominating. It was my first time ever being knocked out in my career. I’ve never even been dropped in training, in sparring, and I spar with monsters like Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway, Carlos Condit. I spar with some tough, tough guys, some pro boxers, and I’ve never gone down with a head shot.
To see the look in Abel’s eyes, to see that he had quit in that fight, that he had given up, that he had accepted defeat, and getting caught the way I got caught, with my hands down? It really sucked. Seriously, I looked into his eyes and he was done, and I was just waiting for the ref to come in and stop the fight. And the next thing I know I’m picking myself up. So kudos to Abel for toughing out the fight, but yeah, this year’s been a tough year. Breaking my ankle in the first minute of the first round with James Krause, and still being able to win the round, but losing that fight. Losing a tough split-decision to Gleison Tibau — I mean that fight I felt like I clearly won. Honestly, dude, I’m the best fighter with the worst luck, but I’m just gonna keep on fighting and keep on bringing it.
As you grow older in the sport, is there anything different you need to do in terms of physical preparation or recovery? Are you doing anything different lately to take better care of your body and prevent further injuries?
I’ve been doing this sport a long time, and plus I was wrestling and boxing in college, so I have a lot of wear and tear on my body. I took a different approach this training camp, which was a little bit longer than some of my past training camps. I used to do 6-8 weeks, and I did 8-10 weeks this time around, and I’ve only been doing two-a-days. I used to do three-a-days, Monday through Friday, and take Saturday and Sunday off. Now, I do two-a-days Monday through Thursday, one workout on Friday, and one workout on Saturday. But the Saturday workout is only an hour long, and I pretty much get the whole day to recover, then I get all day Sunday to recover. As far as being beat up and having injuries during training camp — because that’s when most of our injuries occur, is during training camp — I can’t tell you the last time I had a fight and I wasn’t injured going into it. Before I fought Ben Henderson, I had tore my MCL, I was just going off of cortisone shots in my knee just to survive the training camp and get through that fight, and then pretty much every fight since then I’ve had some sort of injury. From what I hear, most fighters are the same way. You go into almost every fight banged up, a little injured, and that’s the way it is. It’s such a hard sport on your body
You’ll be fighting at UFC on FOX 13 against Drew Dober, a guy who had floated around the regional promotions for a while before getting a UFC contract last year. Had he been on your radar before this fight was announced? Did you know much about him?
I didn’t know anything about him. I still don’t. I’ve seen three fights of his. One of them was against a southpaw so I just turned that fight off after a little while. Another one was against a guy at 170 pounds who was about six inches taller than me, so that fight doesn’t really make any sense. The only fight that really made any sense was a fight that he did about a year ago in a regional promotion that I watched. It went three rounds and he ended up winning the decision, but he got dropped twice in the first round with punches and was put full on into a triangle choke, completely locked up, and was still able to fight his way out and come back and win that fight. So he’s a tough, durable dude that’s gonna be another tough test for me, but I also expect this to be Fight of the Night. It’s gonna be like “Clash of the Titans,” we both like to move forward, we like to throw punches and kicks, we both like to command the center of the ring.
Alright Jamie, it’s lightning-round time. At this point, what do you consider to be the greatest fight of your career?
Rob McCullough and Edson Barboza, those two were the best fights of my career.
That was UFC 68, and no I have not about bringing that back.
I’ve seen photos on social media of the “green drink” that you make. What exactly goes into that, and are there any special tricks to making it taste good?
There are no tricks into making it taste good. It’s Lacinato kale, a half a Granny Smith green apple, and a half a cucumber, and that’s it. The Granny Smith apple sweetens it up enough to just make it bearable.
Is there anything else you’d like to say before I let you go?
Yeah, I just want to give Body Fortress a shout-out, they’re my main sponsor, and they’re not even allowed in the UFC. They’ve been sponsoring me for two years now — I’m going into my third year with them — and they’re a great company to work for. I use all of their products, off-season and when I’m training for a fight. Their whey isolate and their glutamine are my top two that I use in training camp, and then out of training camp I use their advanced whey protein, their creatine, and their NOS.
Anderson Silva was about as soft-spoken a champion — both figuratively and quite literally — as the UFC has ever had (except for maybe the guy who replaced him). He rarely used his words as a marketing tool, he refrained from trash talk even in the face of extreme duress, and he spoke through manager Ed Soares more often than not. On the rare occasions Silva did speak, it was usually to troll the MMA media with talks of a superfight, his retirement, etc., which is hard to blame him for when you realize just how misinformed the average MMA journalist is.
In a recent interview with Trip magazine (via Fightland), however, Silva spoke candidly about such topics as the racism he experienced growing up in Curitiba, homosexuality in MMA, and the wave of police brutality against minorities that has struck his native Brazil (among other places). While we’ve always know Anderson to be an incredibly intelligent man, the interview shed some major light on his much concealed past and how it has shaped him as a forward-thinking martial artist today.
Just take the answer he gave when asked whether racism was worse in Brazil or the United States, for instance:
Racism is bad anywhere on the planet…I tend to say that conflict is inevitable in man, that color is just an excuse to unleash that madness, that lack of respect people have for one another. I’m very well set on this racism thing. We’re living in a moment in which racism does not fit in the world.
For the record, my vote is that it’s worse in America. (*dodges beer bottle from man screaming “Giiiit out!”*)
After the jump: Silva drops some equally brilliant truth bombs on police brutality in Brazil, and waxes poetic about whether or not he might wake up gay one day.
Anderson Silva was about as soft-spoken a champion — both figuratively and quite literally — as the UFC has ever had (except for maybe the guy who replaced him). He rarely used his words as a marketing tool, he refrained from trash talk even in the face of extreme duress, and he spoke through manager Ed Soares more often than not. On the rare occasions Silva did speak, it was usually to troll the MMA media with talks of a superfight, his retirement, etc., which is hard to blame him for when you realize just how misinformed the average MMA journalist is.
In a recent interview with Trip magazine (via Fightland), however, Silva spoke candidly about such topics as the racism he experienced growing up in Curitiba, homosexuality in MMA, and the wave of police brutality against minorities that has struck his native Brazil (among other places). While we’ve always know Anderson to be an incredibly intelligent man, the interview shed some major light on his much concealed past and how it has shaped him as a forward-thinking martial artist today.
Just take the answer he gave when asked whether racism was worse in Brazil or the United States, for instance:
Racism is bad anywhere on the planet…I tend to say that conflict is inevitable in man, that color is just an excuse to unleash that madness, that lack of respect people have for one another. I’m very well set on this racism thing. We’re living in a moment in which racism does not fit in the world.
For the record, my vote is that it’s worse in America. (*dodges beer bottle from man screaming “Giiiit out!”*)
You can check out the majority of the interview over at Fightland, but here are the major highlights:
– On news of police violence upon black people, specifically Claudia Silva Ferreira, who was dragged on asphalt by a police wagon in Rio de Janeiro
It was a horrible episode. As I’m from a military family, I think there was a lack of preparation from the police. What we can do is open our eyes and pay attention to the things that are happening every day and try to change that. Protests get us nowhere, we get Carnaval soon after, and then everything’s all right. There’s no point in protesting, if we’re going to have a holiday for the World Cup, and then everything’s all right. We’re entering an era in which we have the opportunity to make changes. It’s important for people to have the conscience to exercise their rights, to protest without violence and aggression, to have objectives. It appears very vague when people are victims of something, they make a fuss in the media and then let it go. Other cases of violence and racism get passed over. I think it’s more important for people to stop, take a step back and observe how much they can change the country, laws—how much better of a country we can have.
– On prejudice towards homosexuals in mixed martial arts
I don’t think there’s prejudice, but there’s a lot of homosexuals in mixed martial arts. There are a lot of them who haven’t yet come out.
[If they were to come out,] nowadays it’s so silly to not express your feelings. As long as you respect people’s spaces, and respect their limits. You have to live your life in peace and no one has anything to do with that.
I would train with a gay man. As long as he respected me, it’s all right. I don’t think much of it. The fact that guy is gay doesn’t mean he’s going to accost you. He can be gay, have a relationship, live among guys who aren’t gay. He can do whatever he wants with his private life.
– On vanity and getting picked on in the gym:
They tease me. Sometimes people think I’m gay. A lot of people have asked me if I’m gay. I answer, “Look, not to my knowledge. But I’m still young, it could be that in the future I’ll find out that I’m gay. I take good care of my things, I put everything in a bag, I use soap, I put on a cream after training. People think it’s capricious. To each his own. Doesn’t mean you’re more man or less man, more gay or less gay.
A doff of the cap to you, Anderson, for your progressive and well-balanced views on such controversial issues — although I must disagree that using cream after training makes you anything other than a gay. That’s right, A GAY.
Now that we’ve gotten all that positivity and insightfulness out of the way, I’d like you Taters to answers these questions as if it was Nick Diaz being interviewed. Funniest comment gets a somethingsomething.
UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes was doing a segment for BT Sport yesterday, just trying to hype his title fight rematch against Jose Aldo this Saturday at UFC 179. Then, disaster struck. Host Gareth A. Davies asked him if he had a message for Conor McGregor, who was conveniently in the studio at the time. In retrospect, Mendes should have declined the offer.
First, Mendes argues that he is in fact only three inches shorter than McGregor. Then, Mendes asks if the Irishman knows what wrestling is. “I can rest my balls on your forehead,” McGregor says, causing pandemonium among the partisans in the building. It’s the kind of diss you’d hear from a middle-schooler, but when delivered from the smoothie in the suit, it’s OMG THE MOST EPIC BURN EVER #SHOTSFIRED #GAMERGATE. McGregor goes on to brag that he’ll be bunking up with the Fertittas in their suite this weekend.
Poor Chad. I’m sure he’d much rather talk about the actual fight that’s happening three days from now, instead of hypothetical grudge matches against cereal mascots. But unfortunately, his opponent is pretty much M.I.A. from the promotional trail, except for random interviews about how he deserves more money.
Yes, there is a UFC PPV this weekend. The card looks like this. Who’s watching?
UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes was doing a segment for BT Sport yesterday, just trying to hype his title fight rematch against Jose Aldo this Saturday at UFC 179. Then, disaster struck. Host Gareth A. Davies asked him if he had a message for Conor McGregor, who was conveniently in the studio at the time. In retrospect, Mendes should have declined the offer.
First, Mendes argues that he is in fact only three inches shorter than McGregor. Then, Mendes asks if the Irishman knows what wrestling is. “I can rest my balls on your forehead,” McGregor says, causing pandemonium among the partisans in the building. It’s the kind of diss you’d hear from a middle-schooler, but when delivered from the smoothie in the suit, it’s OMG THE MOST EPIC BURN EVER #SHOTSFIRED #GAMERGATE. McGregor goes on to brag that he’ll be bunking up with the Fertittas in their suite this weekend.
Poor Chad. I’m sure he’d much rather talk about the actual fight that’s happening three days from now, instead of hypothetical grudge matches against cereal mascots. But unfortunately, his opponent is pretty much M.I.A. from the promotional trail, except for random interviews about how he deserves more money.
Yes, there is a UFC PPV this weekend. The card looks like this. Who’s watching?
Floyd Mayweather and MMA: a duo as complementary and universally beloved as peanut butter and motor oil. It seems as if “Money” has been teasing a crossover to mixed martial arts (in one capacity or another) for close to a decade now, with MMA fans and media members lapping up his every word like it was a dog dish full of Beyonce’s booty sweat. Because surely, a man who earns a greater payday in one boxing match than the UFC’s entire roster does in a year (exaggeration?) needs “the world’s fastest growing sport” to get dat premo Fight Pass dough.
But like I said, us MMA bloggers love to talk about old Floyd, no matter how obvious, apparent, or a third synonym it is that he’s trolling us. Take his recent interview with Fight Hype magazine, for instance, in which Mayweather discusses how he is, like, totally going to host an MMA event soon. For realz. Third person narrative abounds:
We believe in treating our boxers and our MMA fighters fair. I want a lot of MMA fighters to get in touch with you because Mayweather Promotions, I look forward to putting on my first MMA show also and having me some MMA champions. Like I said before, Floyd Mayweather loves to think outside the box. We’re not just one-dimensional. We’re very versatile, and we have an open mind. When I get into the MMA game, I want them to make more money than they’re making because from what I hear, they’re not being treated fair.
Floyd Mayweather and MMA: a duo as complementary and universally beloved as peanut butter and motor oil. It seems as if “Money” has been teasing a crossover to mixed martial arts (in one capacity or another) for close to a decade now, with MMA fans and media members lapping up his every word like it was a dog dish full of Beyonce’s booty sweat. Because surely, a man who earns a greater payday in one boxing match than the UFC’s entire roster does in a year (exaggeration?) needs “the world’s fastest growing sport” to get dat premo Fight Pass dough.
But like I said, us MMA bloggers love to talk about old Floyd, no matter how obvious, apparent, or a third synonym it is that he’s trolling us. Take his recent interview with Fight Hype magazine, for instance, in which Mayweather discusses how he is, like, totally going to host an MMA event soon. For realz. Third person narrative abounds:
We believe in treating our boxers and our MMA fighters fair. I want a lot of MMA fighters to get in touch with you because Mayweather Promotions, I look forward to putting on my first MMA show also and having me some MMA champions. Like I said before, Floyd Mayweather loves to think outside the box. We’re not just one-dimensional. We’re very versatile, and we have an open mind. When I get into the MMA game, I want them to make more money than they’re making because from what I hear, they’re not being treated fair.
You hear that, broke fighters and MMA agents? Floyd Mayweather will treat you fairly, because Floyd Mayweather is a kind, compassionate human being (exceptions: former employees, security guards, the mother of his children). Floyd Mayweather is versatile. Floyd Mayweather likes peanut butter, and Floyd Mayweather’s never been afraid to admit that. Bob. Dole. Floyd. Mayweather.
I don’t know about you, but Floyd Mayweather seems pretty serious here, and we should probably all start treating this half-committed aside as a serious news item. I shall wait on baited breath for Floyd Mayweather’s foray into our fine sport, as it will surely be the next evolution of MMA promotion when it totally happens in TBD, two thousand something or other.
