Will MMA Ever Have Its Own Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao?

The most striking thing about the hysteria surrounding Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night was the hunger it revealed.
People—millions of them, it seems—were starving for some boxing.
There was a whole wo…

The most striking thing about the hysteria surrounding Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night was the hunger it revealed.

People—millions of them, it seems—were starving for some boxing.

There was a whole world out there primed for the sweet science to make a comeback, or at the very least a world craving the glitz and guttural thrill of a single big-ticket fight night. By the time Mayweather accepted Pacquiao’s best shots and spent the rest of their time together scripting another of his patented unanimous decision wins, one thing was clear:

Maybe this didn’t turn out to be a “super” fight—but boxing can still turn out a superfight.

ESPN went on location for it. Hollywood dressed to the nines for it. All over the country, entire extended families so willingly forked over the pay-per-view’s inflated $100 asking price that broadcast providers literally couldn’t take their money fast enough.

As MMA fans, we stood on our tiptoes and gazed across the aisle with equal parts skepticism, longing and—if we’re being honest—jealousy. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao was a bona fide cultural phenomenon, dominating the mainstream news cycle with a ferocity that our own beloved little sport has yet to come close to matching.

As we watched Jamie Foxx stumble through the national anthem and heard the stories about Tom Brady hopping a midafternoon jet from Louisville to Las Vegas because this was a fight he simply couldn’t miss, we wondered: How is this possible? What about us? Will MMA ever hold a fight this big?

The answer to at least that last question seems short and clear enough.

Unfortunately, no, probably not—at least not for a long, long time.

For the astute MMA fan, there were lessons to be learned from last weekend’s extravaganza. As much as we all like to joke about boxing’s demise, when it comes to appealing to a huge, crossover audience, the venerable sport of traditional prizefighting still has a few major advantages over MMA.

For starters, there is history, plain and simple.

Boxing is perhaps our oldest professional sport. It’s as deeply entrenched in our cultural psyche as its modern stick-and-ball counterparts and has arguably been more socially important than any (besides, maybe, baseball). Viewed this way, it makes a certain bit of sense that boxing can still swoop in to set pay-per-view records when it has a matchup that feels halfway historic.

Even if Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is the only boxing match they watch this year, the sport feels familiar and comfortable to today’s fans. To the untrained eye, the whole thing is actually pretty simple. Just two guys trying to punch each other, is all. As long as you don’t spend much time dwelling on the actual physical damage inflicted or the character of the men inflicting it, perhaps there is a sort of cozy nostalgia to it.

By contrast, modern MMA is less than two-and-a-half decades old in America and is still very much finding its legs with the mainstream. If you live and work inside the so-called “MMA bubble,” it’s easy to forget there is a nation of people out there who continue to think of our sport as a weird sideshow.

There’s an entire generation of PPV buyers who still turn away from MMA because, for example, they think it’s wrong to “hit a guy when he’s down.”

The bad news for MMA is, it’s going to take some time for those biases to wear down. The good news—if the sport survives long enough—is that they will indeed wear down.

Yet history can’t be the only answer here. A good bit of boxing’s ongoing ability to stage the occasional megafight must also come down to pure aesthetics.

The UFC has always taken pains to cast itself as fairly lowbrow. While boxing embraces pomp and lavish spectacle, MMA is a stripped-down affair. Where boxing announcers go black-tie, MMA play-by-play guys only recently started wearing sport coats—and looking pretty uncomfortable in them, at that.

While boxing cultivates a sense of over-the-top pageantry, the UFC consciously cut out the smoke and pyrotechnics years ago. In many ways, that more spartan approach helped the sport during its formative stages. It made MMA feel young, hip, maybe a little bit dangerous. Those of us who considered ourselves savvy and cutting-edge enough to tune in were at the forefront of combat sports’ revolutionary new wave. We could feel it.

But today? It’s possible MMA’s lean-and-mean vibe has lost its utility. Maybe at some point we replaced the feeling of underground, DIY cool with just being small-time.

A fight like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao can cast itself as family entertainment. Parents can plant their kids in front of the TV and tell them they are about to see history. Your grandmother can watch it, maybe even in the same room with a few of your college buddies.

Why? Presentation. Even if it isn’t, boxing strives to feel classy. Even if it isn’t, it feels safe.

On the other hand, MMA makes most of its money selling itself to young (mostly white) men. While boxing at its highest level at least makes a nod toward the champagne-and-cocktail crowd, the UFC only recently began asking us to embrace Harley Davidson, Monster Energy Drinks and the #BudLightLifestyle.

Where boxing occasionally manages to wake from its slumber, shake off the dust and adopt a kind of classic elegance, MMA feels forever mired in its own nu-metal roots. That look, frankly, is starting to feel as dated as barbed-wire tattoos and foil-skull T-shirts.

To this list of advantages you can add that boxing feels more inclusive and multicultural. In the moments before Mayweather and Pacquiao fought, there were performances of the American, Mexican and Pilipino national anthems (note: Remember what we said earlier about pageantry?).

The UFC doesn’t do any of this. It typically prefaces its live events with a video of its own highlights set to the music of The Who. The video is awesome, but it doesn’t set the same vibe or the same expectations.

In addition to that, boxing’s biggest stars feel like A-list celebrities. Why? They get paid a lot more, for starters, so they seem more like legitimate superstars. Mayweather may well be a despicable human being, but he turned himself into one of his sport’s most polarizing and profitable brands, basically by flaunting his own wealth.

In many ways, boxing’s lack of a strong, centralized power structure has worked against it, preventing the matchups fans wanted to see the most. If it has had any positive effect at all, however, it’s that fighters are left to promote themselves as the sport’s biggest attractions.

The UFC, on the other hand, has always promoted itself and its own brand above any of its athletes. This makes good sense, too, since—as we recently learned—fighters can fall out of the limelight at the drop of a hat, while the company and its executives are in it for the long haul.

But while the UFC has been undeniably effective in engendering a fair amount of brand loyalty, it’s clearly the athletes who drive PPV sales. If the fight company always insists on promoting its own logo above all else, it’s unlikely any UFC fighter will ever rise to the level of notoriety of a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather.

To date, the UFC—and, by extension, the sport it largely represents—has been successful in creating a niche for itself. It has, at the risk of exaggeration, changed combat sports forever. It could even be that some of the negative reaction to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight came from fans who’ve gotten used to the faster pace and highlight-reel finishes common inside the Octagon.

As MMA is currently presented, though, it’s tough to imagine it ever winning the kind of widespread appeal necessary to have a fight of such colossal magnitude. It’s difficult to foresee our sport becoming palatable enough that the Worldwide Leader puts it on par with the Superbowl, or that Robert DeNiro, Beyonce and Louis CK all want to be there. Not within our current identity, anyway.

Perhaps the most pertinent question, then, may be: Is that OK with us?

If it is, if we are happy with who we are and are too set in our ways to change; so be it. If we are not satisfied however, if we want to someday be considered capable of competing with the biggest nights in combat sports history, then perhaps we must realize that a few of the very things that made our sport popular now hold us back.

Maybe a bit more evolution is in order.

If that’s the case, here’s some more good news for you, MMA fans:

We’re young yet, and evolution is what we do best.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ronda Rousey Gives Surprise Visit to Manny Pacquiao Ahead of Mayweather Fight

Ronda Rousey was honored a few months ago when boxing legend Manny Pacquiao sent her a video message, wishing her luck ahead of her UFC 184 title bout against Cat Zingano.
Now ahead of one of the biggest fights in the history of combat sports, the reig…

Ronda Rousey was honored a few months ago when boxing legend Manny Pacquiao sent her a video message, wishing her luck ahead of her UFC 184 title bout against Cat Zingano.

Now ahead of one of the biggest fights in the history of combat sports, the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champ thought it would be a good time to return the favor.

Pacquiao is currently preparing for his long-awaited showdown with undefeated, five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The iconic title fight has brought a whirlwind of hype to the fight community. Rousey is just one in a long line of celebrity visits to Pacquiao, who was also visited by American actor Mark Wahlberg and former NFL star Tim Tebow.

During an appearance on ESPN’s His & Hers, Pacquiao sided with Rousey in the oft-mentioned fantasy MMA matchup between her and Mayweather. He claimed the UFC women’s champ was a strong fighter, and in the cage, he believes she would be strong enough to defeat “Money.”

Rousey immediately threw support behind Pacquiao after defeating Zingano in record time. The former Olympian continued to treat challengers in the bantamweight division like a McDonald’s drive-thru by locking up another armbar only 14 seconds into the first round.

A few weeks after the fight, she was a guest on ESPN’s First Take, where she picked Pacquiao to defeat Mayweather on May 2 in Las Vegas.

“It’s a very, very close fight, but Manny is a friend of mine,” she said. “Hey, I got to stick up for my friends. It’s not just that, but I really believe if Manny doesn’t jump in and if he’s just really relentless pressure and uses all of his speed, I think he’s going to give Floyd an extremely hard time.”

We are less than a month away from finding out if Rousey’s prediction comes true. Meanwhile, she is eyeing her sixth consecutive UFC title defense. Rousey faces Bethe Correia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 1.

 

Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Pacquiao Is Preparing for Mayweather by Sparring with a Former UFC Fighter

To even diehard MMA and boxing fans, the name Dashon Johnson may seem obscure or even irrelevant. 
But name recognition apparently holds little weight with WBO welterweight boxing champ Manny Pacquiao, who, according to a repor…

To even diehard MMA and boxing fans, the name Dashon Johnson may seem obscure or even irrelevant. 

But name recognition apparently holds little weight with WBO welterweight boxing champ Manny Pacquiao, who, according to a report from EsNews, as transcribed by MMA Mania, has enlisted Johnson’s help in preparation for the most significant fight of his storied career.

We’re less than a month away from Pac-Man’s long-awaited bout with WBA (super), WBC and The Ring welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Johnson represents one of Pacquiao’s few sparring partners.

Johnson talked about how his connection with Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles enabled him to land the coveted gig.

I used to train at Wild Card, obviously for a few years, and me and Freddie have a pretty good relationship, and I actually came to him and offered my assistance. At first it was a little shaky, but after actually going in there a few times he saw what I could bring to the table, and that’s when he decided to keep me in camp, and that’s why I’m here.

After winning his first nine pro MMA fights in the Xplode Fight Series organization, Johnson suffered back-to-back submission losses to Jake Matthews and Godofredo “Pepey” Castro in his only two appearances in the UFC.

Three weeks before his fight with Castro, Johnson violated his contract by accepting a pro boxing fight on two days’ notice. Johnson lost that fight via unanimous decision to Louis Rose and was subsequently released from the UFC less than two months later.

A 27-year-old California native, Johnson hasn’t competed in MMA since getting his walking papers from the UFC last October. He has dropped each of his last six pro boxing matches and holds a career boxing mark of 15-19-3.

“Honestly, it’s a dream come true,” Johnson said. “Watching Manny over the years and seeing him progress and him actually having me in camp for arguably the biggest fight in history, it’s honestly a blessing, and I couldn’t be more happy to be here.”

Johnson may have racked up nine straight wins in the Xplode Fight Series organization, but his experience there certainly didn’t prepare him for the UFC. None of his Xplode Fight Series opponents currently hold a winning record, and three of those foes were making their pro debuts against Johnson and haven’t competed since. His eight opponents from the Xplode Fight Series have compiled a combined record of 15-50, with 12 of those wins coming from one opponent, Brady Harrison.

Pacquiao, boxing’s first and only eight-division world champ, has amassed a career record of 57-5-2, with 38 knockouts. Mayweather, a five-division world champ, has piled up a career mark of 47-0 with 26 knockouts.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Manny Pacquiao Thinks Ronda Rousey Could Beat Floyd Mayweather in MMA Fight

 
Manny Pacquiao has officially joined the Ronda Rousey discussion. 
Speaking on a recent episode of ESPN’s His & Hers to promote his upcoming fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., on May 2, Pacquiao was asked about Rousey, and…

 

Manny Pacquiao has officially joined the Ronda Rousey discussion. 

Speaking on a recent episode of ESPN’s His & Hers to promote his upcoming fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., on May 2, Pacquiao was asked about Rousey, and the boxing legend didn’t mince his words. 

He spoke highly of the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, confidently stating she’s “strong enough” to take care of Mayweather inside the MMA cage. 

Pacquiao even took his support of Rousey a step further, offering her a ticket to his marquee showdown for good measure. 

Maybe he’s hoping if the fight doesn’t go his way, Rousey can tag in and slap her signature armbar on Mayweather for revenge. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Myth of the MMA “Super Fight”

By Ryan Anderson

When I was a kid, my favorite video game was Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. What I loved most about the game was progressing through the rogue’s gallery of fighters and finally becoming champion, because it was only after you became champion that you got to greatest aspect of Punch-Out: The “Dream Fight” with Iron Mike himself. It was the original superfight before the term superfight ever existed.

The recent announcement of the boxing “Super/Dream Fight” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather finally happening (albeit 5 years too late) has once again gotten us MMA fans talking about what our equivalent could be, and on top of that, what actually makes a fight a “Super Fight” and not just a big fight, championship fight or other random main event.

By Ryan Anderson

When I was a kid, my favorite video game was Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. What I loved most about the game was progressing through the rogue’s gallery of fighters and finally becoming champion, because it was only after you became champion that you got to greatest aspect of Punch-Out: The “Dream Fight” with Iron Mike himself. It was the original superfight before the term superfight ever existed.

The recent announcement of the boxing “Super/Dream Fight” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather finally happening (albeit 5 years too late) has once again gotten us MMA fans talking about what our equivalent could be, and on top of that, what actually makes a fight a “Super Fight” and not just a big fight, championship fight or other random main event.

In our modern take on the English language, we love to over use the adjectives and super is one of the common offenders. But it may help to understand the actual dictionary definition of the word super when applying it to our definition of the Super Fight. According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, super is defined as anything “exhibiting the characteristics of its type to an extreme or excessive degree.” This means it has to be rare and noticeably superior to your everyday example — think of Superman, the Super-Bowl and of course the Superplex. In MMA terms, a “Super Fight” has to be a greater spectacle than a Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso flyweight title main event.

Unlike Dana White, who believes that the next PPV’s main event is the greatest fight in MMA/UFC history, I believe that there are certain criteria to be meet for a fight to be considered a Super Fight.

The first criteria is that the fighter’s involved must be at their peak or at least very close to the prime of their greatness, as fighters and preferably be a champion at the time. Placing two former champions in a fight, 5 years after either one was a champion does not count. The idea is that you have two fighters on the current and coveted pound-for-pound list, either in separate divisions or in rival organizations, square off and see who is the better fighter.

The second criteria for a Super Fight would be that the fighters involved need to have some name recognition. Casual fans of MMA should have some basic knowledge of the fighters involved, and a champion vs. champion fight between Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is not going to resonate with casual fans. (Sorry if it seems like I am picking on “Mighty Mouse” again.)

The third and final criteria in making a Super Fight is that there has to be some novelty to the fight. It has to be a fight that takes some work to setup — getting two champions in line for a showdown or working out politics between two organizations. It has to be a fight that you have real doubts would ever happen, a fight between two fighters in the same division and in the same organization does not have the same obstacles as our criteria. The fight has to be special and make fans discuss it freely.

With the criteria set for what makes a fight a “Super Fight” I feel that there has only been one true “Super Fight” in MMA history. But first I want to recall a few near misses.

The first near miss would be the failed attempt of Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva in the Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. Though Chuck was not champion at the time, he was one of the UFC’s biggest stars and the UFC’s official representative at the Grand Prix. At this time, Silva was the Pride Middleweight Champion and one of the most feared fighters in the world. But alas, the Super Fight was not meant to be thanks to Rampage Jackson knocking out Liddell in the semi-finals. When Chuck and Wanderlei finally met at UFC 79, it was an entertaining match no doubt, but lacked the specialness of a Super Fight. We got two former champions, past their prime, slugging it out. It was a good fight but 4 years too late.

The second near miss that comes to mind is the proposed fight between Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko in 2008. Unfortunately, the UFC decided that if the could not exclusively promote this fight and reap all the profits for themselves, then no one could and promptly sued Couture. Eventually, Randy rejoined the UFC and was fed to Dana White’s cash cow, Brock Lesnar. If Dana could have let go of a little bit of control for once in his life kept his ego in check, he could have had his Super Fight in 2008.

No list of missed Super Fight opportunities would be complete without mentioning Anderson Silva. There was hardly a Silva fight that went by without the question of a proposed fight with then-welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre being mentioned, although it seemed like Anderson Silva and the fans were far more interested in this fight than GSP or the UFC ever were. With the semi-retirement of GSP and the recent PED issues of Silva, sadly this fight looks off the table.

For all of Anderson Silva’s zeal to fight GSP he showed great restraint for another proposed Super Fight involving himself and Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Anderson Silva flirted with the Light-Heavyweight division 3 times. Of those 3 fights, the best fight and closest to a super fight we got was his one-sided beat down of former Light-Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin in 2009.

So this leaves us with just one example of a Super Fight in modern MMA history, the 2009 Welterweight title fight between champion GSP and then Lightweight champion B.J. Penn. This fight meets all the criteria of a Super Fight, two champions from separate divisions, known fighters to casual fans and the novelty factor. The fact that these two fighters fought a close split decision, going to GSP, three years earlier; helped build intrigue for this fight and make it a Super Fight.

Enough about missed opportunities, what are 3 potential Super Fights that can be made today? And how do they rank on likeliness to happening before we are old and gray?

The “Keep Dreaming Super Fight” goes to Ronda Rousey vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino
This potential Super Fight has two champions from rival organizations in the primes of their careers. Rousey and Justino are without a doubt the two biggest stars in women’s MMA, and to top it off, we have lots of bad blood and a stated desire to fight. Yet it appears that this fight will never happen, with the biggest obstacle coming from Cris Cyborg’s camp. Cyborg’s inability to make the 135-pound bantamweight limit alone will likely keep this fight from ever happening.

The “Maybe if the Stars Align Super Fight” goes to Jon Jones vs. Cain Velasquez
Here we have two dominate champions who have seemingly cleaned out their respective divisions. On top of that, we also have Jon Jones’ repeated flirtations with moving up to the Heavyweight division at some point. Again, we have two champions and two regulars on the pound-for-pound list.

But I fear this fight will never happen. The only real obstacle preventing Jon Jones finally moving to the Heavyweight division is Rumble Johnson, who will get his shot at the title at UFC 187 on Memorial Day weekend. For Velasquez, the biggest obstacle is his own health. It appears that Cain Velasquez will never be able to string a series of fights together without some serious injury occurring.

The “It Better Happen or I am Going to Quit Watching MMA Super Fight” goes to Anthony Pettis vs. Jose Aldo
What this Super Fight has going for it above all the rest is that for a brief moment in 2013, this fight was actually booked. Now that Pettis has won the lightweight title, this sets up a champion vs. champion Super Fight scenario. All we currently need for this fight to finally happen is for Pettis to defeat Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 and for Aldo to defeat “the twinkle in Dana White’s eye” Conor McGregor at UFC 189. This fight would possess arguably the UFC’s two most gifted athletes and the UFC’s two most creative and dynamic strikers, so what’s not to love? The biggest obstacle for this Super Fight ever happening is the ever-present danger of injury. While both of these fighters are not as injury prone as Velasquez, you won’t ever see them fighting more than twice a year at the very most. Unfortunately, neither of these fighters is built with Donald Cerrone’s durability.

Maybe one day, Dana White will actually come through on his promise of giving the fans fights they ask for and not just stating that every PPV main event is a fan demanded fight. UFC 183 was a good start, but we all know how that turned out. But what do you think, Nation, are there any other *true* Super Fights out there?

Friday Links: Rockhold vs. Machida in the Works, TUF: Latin America Episode 1, Funniest ‘Final Destination’ Death-GIFs + More

(WEC NEVA DIE. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Dana White: Luke Rockhold Will Probably Fight Lyoto Machida, Not Michael Bisping (BleacherReport)

TUF Latin America: Episode 1 (MMAShare)

Nevada Attorney General Goes After Wanderlei Silva, Wants NSAC to Deny Brazilian’s Motion for Drug Test Dismissal (MMAMania)

Stunning New Visions from Brit Bliss (Babes of MMA)

Matt Wiman Returns From 22 Month Layoff to Face Isaac Vallie-Flagg @ UFC Fight Night Austin (UFC.com)

“Big” John McCarthy’s Son Will Be a Judge at UFC 177 (Sherdog)

Here’s a GIF of Michael Chandler Dancing Like a Goof and King Mo Shaking His Head at Him (twitter)

Manny Pacquiao Selected 11th Pick in Philippines Basketball Draft (TerezOwens)

Megan Fox’s First Pitch at a Korean Baseball Game Was a Little Low and Inside (DrunkenStepfather)

Is Ultimate Dodgeball on the Verge of Becoming the Next Cool Sport? (AskMen)

Shadow of Mordor Hands-On Preview: Natural Enemies (GameFront)

Madden 15: An Interview With Creative Director Mike Young (MiddleEasy)

17 of the Funniest Deaths From the Final Destination Series (ScreenJunkies)

Playboy Releases “When It’s Okay to Catcall Her” Flowchart (PopHangover)

Police Accidentally Kill ‘Cops’ Crewman During Shootout (EveryJoe)

39 Sexy Pics of ‘Glee’ Stunner Dianna Agron (Radass)

Best Cult Classic Ever – From Evil Dead to Rocky Horror (EscapistMagazine)

The 20 Funniest Moments In Sorority Girl History (WorldWideInterweb)

What I Learned Working on Every Simpsons Ever (MadeMan)


(WEC NEVA DIE. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Dana White: Luke Rockhold Will Probably Fight Lyoto Machida, Not Michael Bisping (BleacherReport)

TUF Latin America: Episode 1 (MMAShare)

Nevada Attorney General Goes After Wanderlei Silva, Wants NSAC to Deny Brazilian’s Motion for Drug Test Dismissal (MMAMania)

Stunning New Visions from Brit Bliss (Babes of MMA)

Matt Wiman Returns From 22 Month Layoff to Face Isaac Vallie-Flagg @ UFC Fight Night Austin (UFC.com)

“Big” John McCarthy’s Son Will Be a Judge at UFC 177 (Sherdog)

Here’s a GIF of Michael Chandler Dancing Like a Goof and King Mo Shaking His Head at Him (twitter)

Manny Pacquiao Selected 11th Pick in Philippines Basketball Draft (TerezOwens)

Megan Fox’s First Pitch at a Korean Baseball Game Was a Little Low and Inside (DrunkenStepfather)

Is Ultimate Dodgeball on the Verge of Becoming the Next Cool Sport? (AskMen)

Shadow of Mordor Hands-On Preview: Natural Enemies (GameFront)

Madden 15: An Interview With Creative Director Mike Young (MiddleEasy)

17 of the Funniest Deaths From the Final Destination Series (ScreenJunkies)

Playboy Releases “When It’s Okay to Catcall Her” Flowchart (PopHangover)

Police Accidentally Kill ‘Cops’ Crewman During Shootout (EveryJoe)

39 Sexy Pics of ‘Glee’ Stunner Dianna Agron (Radass)

Best Cult Classic Ever – From Evil Dead to Rocky Horror (EscapistMagazine)

The 20 Funniest Moments In Sorority Girl History (WorldWideInterweb)

What I Learned Working on Every Simpsons Ever (MadeMan)