Tag: Leonard Garcia

Does Fighting for Entertainment in MMA Ruin Careers?

Successful strategy and entertaining fights are rarely heard in the same sentence when it comes to MMA. There may be exciting finishes, and there may even be some wars every once in a while. At the top level, however, most fighters aren’t that&nbs…

Successful strategy and entertaining fights are rarely heard in the same sentence when it comes to MMA. There may be exciting finishes, and there may even be some wars every once in a while. At the top level, however, most fighters aren’t that undisciplined. Some choose to let themselves get a little unruly with their techniques.

Leonard Garcia, Chan Sung Jung and even Chris Leben are all examples of fighters who have abandoned strategy at times just to have “fun” in a fight.

While a lot of fans get behind these fighters and enjoy their style of combat, it is a dangerous way of looking at things. Fans like both winners and exciting fighters, but when it comes down to it, fighters like Jon Fitch who are called boring can be employed longer and make more money than guys like Garcia.

While these fighters make great short money winning fight of the night, it doesn’t help their careers. Their win-loss record piles up, which gets them stuck on undercards or lower main cards and their pay scale doesn’t increase as much except for bonuses.

That isn’t their biggest danger though. While fighting in an exciting manner can shorten their UFC career, plenty of fighters never make it to the top league so that logic doesn’t apply.

The biggest danger for fighters who use a lack of technique is that they are shortchanging themselves the defense needed to protect their minds and bodies from the abuse that their opponents can dish out.

Part of what fans see as a “fun” fight is where both men trade blows, which usually means that both men walk away heavily damaged.

On a very rare basis, an exciting bout will consist of high-level striking and grappling with neither man being seriously hurt, but most times it ends up like Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick, with one or both of the competitors facing serious injury.

The body breaks down after injuries, but also from the stress from fights as well. Injuries happen in training camp and in everyday life and make people slower and weaker. That effect is multiplied in a fight.

Those fighters who throw caution to the wind are willing to limit their defense and their overall health because it is entertaining to the crowd.

In a sport like MMA that does matter, but it isn’t the be all and end all of the sport. Fans want entertainment, but their is no pension in fighting. The longer fighters decide to fight in an exciting manner, the faster their career deteriorates.

It is their choice if they want to do that, but one day they will have to wake up and realize that their best days are behind them.

And the longer those fighters decide to scrap, the sooner that day will come.

 

Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report.  He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.com that focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.

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Dana White Not Happy About Donald Cerrone-Nate Diaz Press Conference Scuffle

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Nate Diaz shoves Donald CerroneLAS VEGAS — Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz were playing so nicely together for most of Wednesday’s UFC 141 pre-fight press conference. Then they came face to face for the customary staredown photo op, and that’s when it all fell apart.

While the two posed for the cameras in one another’s personal space, Cerrone muttered something to Diaz that made the Stockton, Calif.-native slap Cerrone’s trademark cowboy hat off his head and then back him up with a shove before the two were separated.

And really, UFC president Dana White should have seen this one coming, but he too was taken in by their amicable demeanors up until that point, he said.

“I was expecting it,” said White, who chastised himself for being too slow to step in. “But they were being so cool today, I didn’t see it coming.”

According to White, “Cerrone said something like, ‘I’m getting in that [expletive] tomorrow’ or something. …That’s why [Diaz] did it.” But of course, this feud has deeper roots, and both men know it.


The story goes that, well before this fight was signed, Cerrone tried to introduce himself to Diaz when he saw him talking to longtime friend and teammate Leonard Garcia. Diaz slapped his hand away and swore at him before walking off, which didn’t exactly make Cerrone hesitant to accept a fight with Diaz when it was offered shortly thereafter, he told reporters at Tuesday’s open workouts.

But at Wednesday’s press conference, it seemed like even Cerrone had realized that, when it comes to one of the Diaz brothers, stuff like that isn’t personal — it’s just how they operate.

“I never met the kid. I went up to shake his hand. I understand where he comes from. He doesn’t want to be friends. He doesn’t want any kind of interaction with any guys who he fights, and that’s just how he approaches his fights. At the time, I didn’t realize that. …Words were exchanged. The fight’s signed, and Friday we’re going to dance.”

Diaz remarked that the incident had been made “into more than it really was,” and Cerrone seemed to accept that explanation, saying, “I didn’t understand at first, but if that’s the way he approaches it. …If that’s what he has to do to get ready to fight, hey, hate me, love me, I don’t care. We’re fighting.”

Maybe they weren’t quite on the path to becoming best friends, but at least it was something resembling professional courtesy. Then came the staredown, the muttered comment, and the hat slap. While it might seem like good pre-fight build-up, White is not a fan, he explained later.

“There’s going to be times when heated stuff happens,” he said. “I’m not happy that Nate slapped Cerrone’s hat off today. I don’t like the guys touching each other [before the fight]. That’s why I’m standing there. I’m not there to mug up into the camera. I’m there to make sure that [expletive] doesn’t happen. I didn’t do my job today, apparently.”

White said he wasn’t “overly concerned about it,” but the negative appearance created by two fighters laying hands on one another in public days before they’re actually supposed to is still “something that I think about, no doubt about it,” the UFC president remarked.

Fortunately, this incident amounted to little more than an exciting few seconds in the lobby of the MGM Grand. And after all, it’s not like they won’t get a chance to settle their differences very soon, White pointed out, and in a fashion they both understand.

“Everybody knows how nasty the Diaz brothers are,” said White. “But Donald Cerrone’s not the nicest guy in the world either, you know what I mean?”

 

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Nate Diaz shoves Donald CerroneLAS VEGAS — Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz were playing so nicely together for most of Wednesday’s UFC 141 pre-fight press conference. Then they came face to face for the customary staredown photo op, and that’s when it all fell apart.

While the two posed for the cameras in one another’s personal space, Cerrone muttered something to Diaz that made the Stockton, Calif.-native slap Cerrone’s trademark cowboy hat off his head and then back him up with a shove before the two were separated.

And really, UFC president Dana White should have seen this one coming, but he too was taken in by their amicable demeanors up until that point, he said.

“I was expecting it,” said White, who chastised himself for being too slow to step in. “But they were being so cool today, I didn’t see it coming.”

According to White, “Cerrone said something like, ‘I’m getting in that [expletive] tomorrow’ or something. …That’s why [Diaz] did it.” But of course, this feud has deeper roots, and both men know it.


The story goes that, well before this fight was signed, Cerrone tried to introduce himself to Diaz when he saw him talking to longtime friend and teammate Leonard Garcia. Diaz slapped his hand away and swore at him before walking off, which didn’t exactly make Cerrone hesitant to accept a fight with Diaz when it was offered shortly thereafter, he told reporters at Tuesday’s open workouts.

But at Wednesday’s press conference, it seemed like even Cerrone had realized that, when it comes to one of the Diaz brothers, stuff like that isn’t personal — it’s just how they operate.

“I never met the kid. I went up to shake his hand. I understand where he comes from. He doesn’t want to be friends. He doesn’t want any kind of interaction with any guys who he fights, and that’s just how he approaches his fights. At the time, I didn’t realize that. …Words were exchanged. The fight’s signed, and Friday we’re going to dance.”

Diaz remarked that the incident had been made “into more than it really was,” and Cerrone seemed to accept that explanation, saying, “I didn’t understand at first, but if that’s the way he approaches it. …If that’s what he has to do to get ready to fight, hey, hate me, love me, I don’t care. We’re fighting.”

Maybe they weren’t quite on the path to becoming best friends, but at least it was something resembling professional courtesy. Then came the staredown, the muttered comment, and the hat slap. While it might seem like good pre-fight build-up, White is not a fan, he explained later.

“There’s going to be times when heated stuff happens,” he said. “I’m not happy that Nate slapped Cerrone’s hat off today. I don’t like the guys touching each other [before the fight]. That’s why I’m standing there. I’m not there to mug up into the camera. I’m there to make sure that [expletive] doesn’t happen. I didn’t do my job today, apparently.”

White said he wasn’t “overly concerned about it,” but the negative appearance created by two fighters laying hands on one another in public days before they’re actually supposed to is still “something that I think about, no doubt about it,” the UFC president remarked.

Fortunately, this incident amounted to little more than an exciting few seconds in the lobby of the MGM Grand. And after all, it’s not like they won’t get a chance to settle their differences very soon, White pointed out, and in a fashion they both understand.

“Everybody knows how nasty the Diaz brothers are,” said White. “But Donald Cerrone’s not the nicest guy in the world either, you know what I mean?”

 

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How Will Donald Cerrone Respond to ‘Maniac’ Nate Diaz? Even He Isn’t Sure

Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — By now you’ve probably heard about the run-in Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone had well before their fight at UFC 141 was ever agreed to, but if you haven’t, here’s the short version: Cerrone saw Diaz talking with his best frie…

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Donald CerroneLAS VEGAS — By now you’ve probably heard about the run-in Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone had well before their fight at UFC 141 was ever agreed to, but if you haven’t, here’s the short version: Cerrone saw Diaz talking with his best friend and training partner Leonard Garcia one day in the Ultimate Fighter gym, so he figured he’d go up and say hello.

“I see Leonard talking to him and I’m like, maybe he’s a cool dude,” Cerrone told reporters on Tuesday. “I never met him before.”

Cerrone introduced himself and offered his hand, which Diaz slapped away with a muttering curse or two, then walked off. Again, both men agree they hadn’t encountered one another before this moment, and neither had given the other a specific reason to dislike the other. So what gives?

Allow Diaz to explain it in the form of a helpful hypothetical.

“Let’s just say for a second you’re fighting some maniac from the street who’s killed 20 people and they’re just like crazy as hell, but you get a fair fight with him,” Diaz said on Tuesday. “And he’s just like, biting his arm off and talking crazy [expletive]. And then, you’re going to fight this nice guy who goes to church and comes up and [says], ‘Hey, nice to meet you, it’s going to be a good fight.’ Who are you going to feel more comfortable fighting?”

And before you ask, yes, Diaz does realize that, at least in this imagined scenario, he’s the babbling, murderous maniac. But still, you have to admit that he kind of has a point.

For years Diaz has bristled at any attempt by the UFC, which he sees as intentional, to put him in contact with people he may fight at some point. From overlapping open workout schedules that force him to catch a glimpse of other fighters, to rides to and from the airport, everywhere Diaz looks he sees this subtle brand of sabotage. Why it seems to bother him so much more than other fighters is a question for another day, but you have to admit that he’s come up with an effective way of shutting down any camaraderie before it starts.

By maintaining open hostility toward all potential opponents, Diaz said he prevents other fighters from feeling comfortable around him, which is true. From lightweights to welterweights (and probably a few guys both higher and lower on the scale), very few UFC fighters would tell you that being around either of the Diaz brothers is a comfortable experience.

The way Diaz sees it is pretty simple: “You stay on your side, I’ll stay on my side.”

Fortunately for him — or perhaps unfortunately, depending on how you think about it — Cerrone is just fine with that philosophy.

“Whatever he has to do in his mind to justify his fighting tactics, that’s what he does,” Cerrone said. “I don’t care. I could fight Leonard, you know. That’s my best friend, we’ll go in there and get paid. That’s what we do for a living. So what he has to do to get ready, whether that’s talk [expletive] or not [be] friends with people, I understand where he’s coming from.”

The question for Cerrone is, what do you do with that? While “Cowboy” said he was expecting plenty of expletives and middle fingers when he gets in the cage with Diaz, he admitted he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d react to it. After all, he’s not exactly the wholesome choir boy from Diaz’s hypothetical. Will it help him to give the vitriol right back to Diaz, or would that be playing right into his opponent’s hands?

“And that is what I’m working on,” Cerrone said. “I don’t know. Do I get mad at him? Do I use what he’s been doing all week, slapping my hand, against [him]? I’ve got to figure that out.”

The failed introduction was still fresh in Cerrone’s mind when he was offered a fight with Diaz, he said. He hadn’t yet returned to his locker room when a UFC official mentioned Diaz’s name as a possible next opponent, and his reaction was immediate: “Cool, let’s go.”

Only now that the simmering hostilities are about to give way to the sanctioned brutality they both get paid for, what is Cerrone supposed to do about Diaz’s unique approach to relationships with colleagues? Even if you don’t want to be the guy’s friend, does that mean you have to give him what he wants and be his enemy? Is it smart? Is it helpful?

At that, even “Cowboy” shrugged.

“I do not have an answer for it yet,” he said.

Maybe it’s the kind of thing you have to find out for yourself on fight night. Maybe once it starts, how you react to it isn’t even entirely up to you.

 

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GSP ‘Like a Girl When It Comes to Heights,’ Says Garcia

During the course of everyone’s life, they learn which people they can trust to keep a secret and which people will reveal things that were told to them in confidence without a second thought.  Recently, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-…

During the course of everyone’s life, they learn which people they can trust to keep a secret and which people will reveal things that were told to them in confidence without a second thought.  Recently, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre added a fellow fighter to his “don’t tell this guy anything” list.

It seems that when Leonard Garcia first met St-Pierre, he found something out about the champion that he was asked to not reveal to anyone—his fear of heights. 

“The first time I met Georges, we went on a run in the mountain and Georges is afraid of heights,” Garcia told FightHubTV.com.  “Nobody knows this, he’s like a girl when it comes to heights.” 

It seems that the run up that mountain took them past a spot where there was a dropoff that made St-Pierre somewhat uncomfortable and he asked Garcia if he could hold his shirt as they ran past that drop.  At the end of the run, Garcia said that St-Pierre asked him not to tell anyone about the incident.

Well, so much for that request.

St-Pierre is currently rehabbing after undergoing surgery to repair his ACL.  The ligament was damaged while training to face Nick Diaz at UFC 143, necessitating his removal from the card.  Carlos Condit was then slotted in to replace St-Pierre. 

The length of time that St-Pierre is expected to be away from the Octagon is significant enough that the bout between Diaz and Condit will be for the interim UFC welterweight title.

UFC 143 will take place on February 4 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

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Video: Leonard Garcia Says GSP is ‘Like a Girl When it Comes to Heights’

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV)

When fans criticize fighters for shoddy performances, they often forget that the men and women who compete in the cage and often display superhuman feats of strength and resilience are human beings and not just machines that are packed away in the closet between fights. They have problems just like everyone else.

Even though some of us realize this, it’s always surprising to hear stories about things these tough guys (and girls) can’t do or are afraid of.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV)

When fans criticize fighters for shoddy performances, they often forget that the men and women who compete in the cage and often display superhuman feats of strength and resilience are human beings and not just machines that are packed away in the closet between fights. They have problems just like everyone else.

Even though some of us realize this, it’s always surprising to hear stories about things these tough guys (and girls) can’t do or are afraid of.

Case in point, Georges St-Pierre is afraid of heights according to Leonard Garcia, who breaks the first rule of training: You don’t talk about what happens in training.

“You know what was crazy is the first time I met Georges we went on a run in the mountain and Georges is afraid of heights. Nobody knows this. He’s like a girl when it comes to heights. And part of the run takes us on the edge of the mountain where you can safely run, but right off that edge right there it’s a drop. He’s behind me and he’s runnin’ and hes callin’ my name. I was like, ‘What?! Georges is callin’…why is he callin’ me?’ And he’s like, ‘Hey man, can I grab the back of your shirt when we’re running?’ I was like, ‘What?! Why would you want to grab the back of my shirt when we’re runnin’?”Garcia recalls with a chuckle. “And he was tryin’ to tell me, ‘The height…The height.’ I was like, ‘The height? You’re afraid of heights.’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ It’s a funny story. He was like holdin’ onto the back of my shirt and we finished out the run and he’s like, ‘Don’t tell nobody about this.’ And here I am doin’ an interview about it.”

At least he recognizes that what he’s doing is offside. Garcia did have some praise for the UFC welterweight champ after throwing him under the bus for being a pussy.

“Georges is a good dude. He’s a big time superstar. Not only because he held the back of my shirt when we ran, but afterwards he was like, ‘All you guys, I’m gonna take you out. We’ll all go out to eat and stuff. He’s just an all-around good person. He’s real, real cool and he doesn’t make you feel like it’s Georges St-Pierre. He’s a superstar. He’s just a regular guy and you get in there and you watch him train and you see it’s the stuff that he can do as well,” Garcia explains. “He just takes it to a whole other level even in training. Just being around guys like that makes you want to be a lot better. That’s what he’s good at. He’s good at bringing that to the gym. He wants everybody to do as good as he’s doin’, so he’s a great guy to have around.”

It probably also isn’t terrible to have him around at the club, since he probably turns down more women than all of the guys at Jackson’s have dated and they have to rebound from the rejection with someone, right?

 

Cerrone: Diaz Done F*cked With the Wrong Cowboy


(“You got a pretty mouth, Nate.”)

During Steve Cofield’s Vegas-based ESPN Radio show today, Donald Cerrone recalled an incident he had recently with Nate Diaz,  and to put it lightly, he isn’t impressed with the level of disrespect his UFC 141 opponent showed him.

According to Cerrone, the confrontation happened at the open workouts for UFC 137 and he had no warning that it was going to go south quickly when he approached his teammate and friend Leonard Garcia who happened to be talking to Nate at the time.


(“You got a pretty mouth, Nate.”)

During Steve Cofield’s Vegas-based ESPN Radio show today, Donald Cerrone recalled an incident he had recently with Nate Diaz,  and to put it lightly, he isn’t impressed with the level of disrespect his UFC 141 opponent showed him.

According to Cerrone, the confrontation happened at the open workouts for UFC 137 and he had no warning that it was going to go south quickly when he approached his teammate and friend Leonard Garcia who happened to be talking to Nate at the time.

Here’s what “Cowboy” says went down:

 ”Leonard’s my best friend; he’s my brother and he was over there talkin’ to the dude — if someone doesn’t like you, you’re not gonna talk to their best friend, you know what I’m sayin’…. you’re not gonna hang out with them — so Leonard’s over there talking with the dude, and I said, ‘Oh shit, I’ll go over there.’ They were laughing and joking around so when I go over and introduce myself and go, ‘What’s up Nate? I’m ‘Cowboy,’” Cerrone explained. “He fuckin’ slapped my hand away and called me a punk-ass motherfucker and told me to ‘get on.’ I was like, ‘Shit, alright.’ I don’t know what to say to the dude. I don’t know what his point… I guess he doesn’t want to be cordial. He just wanted to be a punk and… go ahead.”

He says that he was so taken aback by Diaz that he found himself at a loss for words at the time and that Diaz quickly exited the room after the incident happened, but points out that when they’re locked in the cage together December 30, there’s nowhere Nate can run.

“I was getting ready to fight Dennis Siver and then he walked away. He just took off after that. It kind of caught me by surprise. I don’t know anything about the guy. I just know that [he and Nick] just wake up pissed off all the time for no reason. It just seems like they’re always mad. Whatever he does to get his mind ready for the fight, it must be it.”

As Cofield points out, Cerrone has used the experience as motivation to train hard for the fight and he affirmed it during the countdown show.

“If you want to talk shit to me, you’re just gonna enrage me and piss me off,” said Cerrone. “So feed my fucking flame. That’s what I say. Let’s go!”

As far as Nate’s older brother goes, Cerrone couldn’t resist taking a jab at Nick’s incoherent ramblings at the press conference following his fight with BJ Penn.

“I was exploding into laughter on some of the comments,” he said. “I was waiting for someone to take the mic away from him, like, ‘That’s enough before you completely ruin yourself. That’ll be enough out of you.’ I was just surprised he kept going on about compensation and no one knew what the fuck he was talking about.”

Diaz video rebuttal in 3…2…1…