Tag: nfl

Cutting Through The Bullsh*t: UFC 179 Edition

By Alex Giardini

UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.

With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic…


(Photo via Getty)

By Alex Giardini

UFC 179: “Aldo vs. Mendes 2” proved to be exactly what we expected it to be, and that was a one-fight boxing card with a scintillating main event for the ages. The “greatest featherweight fight in history” was nothing short of amazing, with Jose Aldo defeating Chad Mendes for the second time after knocking out “Money” at UFC 142 almost three years ago. The battle was full of wild punches, eye pokes, a lot of heavy breathing, and at times, flying shit that didn’t land.

With a certain “joker” sitting cageside, let’s examine UFC 179, and why it was great and equally pathetic:

Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes Was The Business

Aldo’s presence alone is like waiting to unwrap that PS4 your significant other bought you for Christmas. You’ve got to wait a while for it to happen, but when it does, you can bet your ass it was worth it. “Scarface” was met with a lot of criticism before this fight, seeing how he didn’t really sell the contest, and truth to be told, he’s not really one to generate great interest in the media when he fights. Say what you will about his output winding down, since it’s almost as if his battle against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 never happened, yet he’s the UFC’s most dominant champion right now.

You’ve got your Jon Jones and your Cain Velasquez, however, keep in mind the gold has been around Aldo’s waist since 2009, stemming from his WEC years. Last night, he was dragged into a dogfight and he delivered, with the whole of Brazil on his back to preserve the country’s identity in the fight world, since he’s the only champion left from a place that dominated the MMA landscape for so long. He’s pretty great, too.

As for Mendes, he certainly rocked the champion on multiple occasions and did the most damage anyone has done to his main event foe. The Team Alpha Male product’s striking has gotten much better, and it’s really depressing to say this, but he really cemented his status as the division’s number two guy. When he dropped Aldo in the first round after connecting with clean shots, it summoned the spirit of T.J. Dillashaw, yet things didn’t really go the Californian’s way. When he was hit with two shots after the horn in round one, it’s tough to say how much damage was done, and if Aldo truly had any bad intentions since he claimed he didn’t hear the buzzer.

This fight reminded us why MMA is truly awesome, much like the Dillashaw upset, and when Lyoto Machida took Chris Weidman to the deep waters at UFC 175. This featherweight tussle holds the pole position for “Fight of The Year,” and we can’t help but get that fuzzy feeling inside just thinking about it. At the same time, it’s not like we don’t have to put up our fair share of bullshit just to get to the center of the Tootsie Roll.

As for Conor McGregor, you might think UFC really missed an opportunity to have him enter the cage and do the dirty work to sell a fight against a champion that doesn’t care much about that stuff. After all, both the winner and the loser called him out. But maybe UFC isn’t jumping the gun after all, now that the Irishman is tied up with Dennis Siver, and that if you really had to look at it from a fair standpoint, the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson deserves the next crack at the belt. It’s not really the wisest option, based on McGregor’s hype train riding from coast to coast across the globe, yet one has to think UFC wants us to believe Siver has a chance to win.

“A Light Heavyweight Matchup With True Title Implications”

UFC broadcaster supreme Mike Goldberg says a lot of drunk-white-girl things, but this takes the freaking cake. Once Phil Davis vs. Glover Teixeira concluded, he spat out this gem, which is borderline scary. Davis was coming off a crushing loss to Anthony Johnson at UFC 172, while “Bones” dominated Teixeira in a 205-pound title fight on the same exact card.

As for the fight, all you need to know is that the wrestler did what wrestlers do, neutralizing the power-puncher’s offense, and bringing him down to the mat over and over again. Maybe we should give a bit more credit to “Mr. Wonderful,” because it was arguably his best performance in the Octagon thus far. The Brazilian had trouble finding his range with Davis on his bicycle, and that’s pretty much how the three-round scrap went.

Look, the light heavyweight division is pretty bad these days, and if you want proof of that, just listen to the Penn State alumnus calling out Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview. With Anthony Johnson’s uncertain future, along with the plans to have Alexander Gustafsson fight Rashad Evans, Davis kind of is “in the mix.” One more win, and the guy is inching closer to a title shot, as odd as that sounds. The promotion will most likely book Davis to fight Ryan Bader next, because frankly, nothing else really makes much sense.

Main Card Woes And The Need For Change

Credit the fighters on the prelims for bringing it, since five out of six fights were over before the final horn. With that said, the three other main card contests almost put everyone to sleep, with takedown-heavy game plans and fighters that just don’t cut the mustard on the big stage.

Fabio Maldonado’s comeback win over Hans Stringer seemed like a shot in the dark, but more so for the event in general. It was like a Hail Mary thrown to save the interest of the main card, after witnessing Darren Elkins vs. Lucas Martins and Beneil Dariush vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira stink up the joint. Maybe every fighter deserves his or her chance to shine on the big stage, but we’re also in the entertainment business, or even better, the $50 to $60 price-tag business.

Before you accuse us of hating the UFC and being these snotty historians that wish it was 2006 all over again, please understand what is happening. More MMA isn’t a bad thing at all. Hell, I’d watch live MMA every night if I had to, or at least be content with the fact that it’s available in those circumstances. On the flip side, the quality just isn’t there anymore, and there’s a reason why you don’t want to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars against the New York Jets every single weekend. This card is a perfect example of what Dana White criticized for so long, and that’s a boxing event with one high-profile fight on it. The UFC needs to change its PPV and television model fast.

Nobody is forcing you to watch the prelims, or the fights outside the main and co-main events on the main card. We get that. Although how exactly is this sport supposed to grow, and shouldn’t we at least be concerned with the lack of thereof? You’ll have an event like UFC Fight Night 46, followed by UFC on FOX 12, and observers will come out in full force and trash the oversaturation bit. But in terms of consistency, UFC just doesn’t have it anymore. Injuries are one thing, but it can’t be the basis of an argument, either.

If a tree falls a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Maybe. If a main event is described as one of the best fights of the year, but only 200,000 people saw it because nobody really gave it the time of day, was it still as great as it was? Yes, but we’ll definitely need to put time aside to convince those that didn’t watch. One of the best fights of the year was on one of the worst PPV’s of the year, period. If you need to any further convincing, please refer to this.

At the end of the day, it’s no skin off our backs. That title fight was a prime example of why we need to put up with some dry stuff to have a good time. But UFC needs to think of something to get the casual fan’s interest back, because The Ultimate Fighter and celebrity tweets aren’t doing it anymore. If not, the “bubble” is going to get smaller and smaller, with limited selling points.

The UFC Is Making the Same Mistakes The NFL Has Made Regarding Domestic Violence

By Seth Falvo

Watching Dana White’s recent appearance on “Fox Sports Live” paints a very clear picture: Dana White does not want you to compare him to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I can tell you this, I wouldn’t want to be Roger Goodell,” White says, after being asked about his reaction to the video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out then-fiancee Janay Palmer. No surprises there, given that the NFL is in the middle of a domestic violence crisis built on the foundation of years of denial and reframing the issue. What is surprising is that he follows up his statement by resorting to the same strategies that the NFL employed to downplay Ray Rice’s assault in order to justify the UFC’s decision to resign Thiago Silva.

You don’t even have to wait for the parallels between how the UFC is choosing to handle Thiago Silva and how the NFL has attempted to cover up domestic violence to become apparent, they’re observable in the very first sentence White speaks once Silva’s name comes up:

“If you believe in the legal process, they came, they arrested him, and he wasn’t brought up on any charges.”

Let’s take a look at the actual documents detailing why the prosecutors decided to drop the charges against Thiago Silva…

By Seth Falvo

Watching Dana White’s recent appearance on “Fox Sports Live” paints a very clear picture: Dana White does not want you to compare him to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I can tell you this, I wouldn’t want to be Roger Goodell,” White says, after being asked about his reaction to the video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out then-fiancee Janay Palmer. No surprises there, given that the NFL is in the middle of a domestic violence crisis built on the foundation of years of denial and reframing the issue. What is surprising is that he follows up his statement by resorting to the same strategies that the NFL employed to downplay Ray Rice’s assault in order to justify the UFC’s decision to resign Thiago Silva.

You don’t even have to wait for the parallels between how the UFC is choosing to handle Thiago Silva and how the NFL has attempted to cover up domestic violence to become apparent, they’re observable in the very first sentence White speaks once Silva’s name comes up:

“If you believe in the legal process, they came, they arrested him, and he wasn’t brought up on any charges.”

Let’s take a look at the actual documents detailing why the prosecutors decided to drop the charges against Thiago Silva. As Deadspin puts it, “The memo outlines how in this case, as in so many domestic violence cases, the key witness went from working with investigators to uncooperative to eventually abandoning the legal process, instead getting physically as far away from her alleged attacker as she could.” This wasn’t an issue of the police believing that Thiago Silva was innocent – if that were so, this case would have never made it past the pre-arrest investigation. This was the police acknowledging that without cooperation from the alleged victim, there isn’t enough evidence to press charges at this time; as Sydnie pointed out, the announcement of a nolle prosequi makes it possible for the police to re-indict him if Thaysa Silva decides to cooperate with them.

Of course, the assault charge against Ray Rice will also be dropped upon the completion of a pretrial intervention program. Roger Goodell first landed in hot water for taking a “charges will be dropped, so let’s not make a big deal out of this” approach to Rice’s original two-game suspension. It’s very odd that a person trying to distance himself from comparisons to Goodell would take a virtually identical stance.

White’s justification gets much uglier from there:

“Plus, I know a lot more of the story and what went on. You take his side of the story, her side of the story and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. But he went through the process and he wasn’t charged with anything. The guy should have the ability to make a living.”

This statement on Thaysa Silva’s accusations is the exact same strategy that the Baltimore Ravens used in an attempt to undermine Janay Rice: Toe the line of “Don’t trust what you’ve seen,” but don’t explicitly say that the alleged victim is lying. The police reports make Thiago Silva look like some kind of monster, but Dana White knows a lot more about what really happened. And Thaysa isn’t lying, but the whole truth lies somewhere between her version of the events and Thiago’s proclamation of innocence. By that logic, Thiago only kind-of held a gun in Thaysa’s mouth, and what kind of hot-head bans someone from the UFC over that?

The “make a living” remark at the end is equal parts misdirection and gaslighting. Nobody is trying to say that Thiago Silva shouldn’t be able to make a living, but a lot of fans are questioning whether it’s really appropriate for an alleged domestic abuser whose charges were dropped on a technicality to be punching people for money. White wants the offended parties to ask themselves how they can let a human being starve, while those opposed to his decision are wondering when “UFC fighter” became the only occupation on the planet.

And how did White’s justification end? With perhaps the most Goodellian stance possible:

“And obviously if some tape surfaced [Silva would be fired] but the police have already investigated this entire thing, and they let the guy go.”

This is exactly the line of thought that has brought so much criticism upon Roger Goodell – the unwillingness to recognize an obvious instance of domestic violence until a video surfaces that forces him to. The restraining order that Thaysa filed? That whole armed standoff Thiago had with police? That stuff is all fine and dandy, so long as there isn’t a video of him assaulting her.

And once again, Dana White remains willfully ignorant towards the fact that the decision to drop charges does not mean that the police believe Thiago Silva is innocent. The police aren’t questioning whether he held a gun in her mouth on January 30, or whether he sent her a text message on February 5 saying “I am gonna fuck you up and you are going to die. I am going to hire someone to kill you and I am gonna move my girlfriend in.” Rather, the dropped charges are a sign that the prosecutor doesn’t think that the evidence without Thaysa Silva’s testimony is strong enough to result in a conviction.

Then again, perhaps he isn’t ignorant towards this – notice how he never directly says that he believes that Thiago Silva is an innocent man, like he did for Sean Sherk when Sherk failed a drug test following UFC 73? He’s not so much telling you that Silva has never been abusive towards Thaysa as he’s telling you that the charges were dropped, so move past it.

Perhaps the most disturbing correlations between the UFC and the NFL come while observing how the UFC plans on strengthening their domestic violence policy going forward. The organization takes a page directly out of the NFL’s playbook: Deny that there’s any problems with the current policy. [Author Note: The NFL’s “new” policy of suspending players for six games is nothing more than a slight re-wording of the old policy. “Mitigating factors” can still shorten the suspension as the NFL sees fit.] White kicked off the process:

“We have a track record of getting rid of many people that have done bad things, and we’ve been human beings in letting other guys make up for things and come back. There’s one thing you never bounce back from, and that’s putting your hands on a woman. It’s been that way in the UFC since we started here. You don’t bounce back from putting your hands on a woman.”

Unless, of course, you’re a winning fighter who fans have heard of. In that case, feel free to smack your ex-girlfriend (Johnson) or the mother of your children (Trujillo) around as many times as you’d like. The UFC won’t just forgive you for your past, they’ll do so as quickly and quietly as possible; how many of you even knew that Alexander Gustafsson assaulted a woman when he was a teenager?

And if you have a problem with the fact that the UFC isn’t nearly as hard on domestic violence as they claim to be? UFC Senior Vice President Jackie Poriadjian attempted to avoid that issue in an article published by Businessweek:

“We are no different than any other sport,” she says. “Some individuals will do things that don’t reflect well on our organization.” She pointed to recent domestic violence cases involving NFL players as evidence the issue is not specific to the UFC or MMA.

For the sake of this argument, let’s assume that the NFL in fact has a worse problem than the UFC does with athletes committing domestic violence. What does that have anything to do with the UFC’s stance on domestic violence? How does downplaying the issue as a whole – it happens in football, too, you guys! – change the fact that it’s still happening in your organization? How does “at least we’re not the NFL” change the fact that the UFC claims to ban all offenders, yet only does so when they’re disposable commodities? Why is “don’t change until we’re as bad as the worst organization” a good strategy moving forward?

The answers, of course, are: Nothing, It doesn’t, It definitely doesn’t, and It isn’t.

You wonder why people say our sport has a sexist, toxic culture? It’s because the UFC’s current policy on domestic violence depends on how many fans know who the abuser is, and White’s biggest concern about male fighters beating women revolves around the usage of “Ex-UFC Fighter” in the headlines. You can’t even have a discussion about fixing the problem, because that requires acknowledging that a problem even exists. The UFC has been hard on domestic violence since Zuffa took over, pay no attention to the man assaulting his wife behind the curtain.

A culture of denial in regard to athletes and domestic violence is exactly what created the scandal that the NFL is currently facing, and it’s hardly unreasonable to worry that the UFC’s similar approach will lead to an equally tragic result. The decision to resign Thiago Silva is troubling for a number of reasons, chief among them being that the UFC – like the NFL before them – is choosing to ignore the problem and pretend that they’re tougher on domestic violence than they are. Given how compliant the MMA media is with pushing the UFC narrative at all costs, the organization may very well be able to do this for as long as it wants to.

“If Roger Goodell saw that video, knew that’s what happened, knew Ray Rice did that to his fiancee, he should just get up and leave on his own,” White says at the end of his segment on “Fox Sports Live.” He seems offended that the NFL chose to deny that a problem existed, then chose to cover it up once they were forced to confront it. If only he felt that way about the UFC.

SportsPotato: Joint Practice Between the Cowboys and Raiders Ends in Bench-Clearing Brawl

There must be something in the air, Nation.

For whatever reason, the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders decided to host a joint practice in California yesterday. It did not end well.

The skirmish above is apparently one of several that broke out during the joint practice, which at one point saw Dallas cornerback B.W. Webb struck in the back of the head by a fan brandishing a helmet and respond by taking a swing of his own. To be fair, that fan probably should have known that a cowardice will never go unpunished in these post-Malice in the Palace times.

After the jump: A different angle of the brawl, via Instagram user sc_spitta.

There must be something in the air, Nation.

For whatever reason, the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders decided to host a joint practice in California yesterday. It did not end well.

The skirmish above is apparently one of several that broke out during the joint practice, which at one point saw Dallas cornerback B.W. Webb struck in the back of the head by a fan brandishing a helmet and respond by taking a swing of his own. To be fair, that fan probably should have known that a cowardice will never go unpunished in these post-Malice in the Palace times.

After the jump: A different angle of the brawl, via Instagram user sc_spitta.

As of this write-up, the NFL has yet to issue an obligatory hand-wringing statement regarding the incident or disclose any possible fines or suspensions that may be levied. Who am I kidding? There won’t be.

One final thing of note, via ESPN:

“That passion, that’s mostly what I’d hoped what we would get out of getting these teams together,” said Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who half-jokingly praised the remarkable power of Raiders offensive lineman Austin Howard’s uppercut punches.

(What we refer to as) Professional sports, everybody.

–J. Jones

UFC 169 Will Be Moved to Sunday If Super Bowl Changes Time Slot

News that Super Bowl XLVIII might be moved from its usual Sunday time slot to Saturday night has turned the sports world upside down, and the UFC is not immune to that phenomenon. At the UFC on Fox 10 post-fight press conference, though, they announced…

News that Super Bowl XLVIII might be moved from its usual Sunday time slot to Saturday night has turned the sports world upside down, and the UFC is not immune to that phenomenon. At the UFC on Fox 10 post-fight press conference, though, they announced their contingency plan. 

Per Fox Sports’ Mike Chiappetta:

For those who missed it, Super Bowl XLVIII, which features a showdown of the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, may end up getting moved to Saturday due to the brutal cold that has been battering the northeast.

This story comes after Miami’s Sun Life Stadium was indefinitely denied the opportunity to host the Super Bowl…due to concerns that its lack of a roof may let rain impact games. Before you ask, no MetLife Stadium doesn’t have a roof either.

The UFC has always preferred to have their pay-per-view events on Saturday night, making this a serious departure from the MMA promotion’s norm. However, as UFC President Dana White discussed, contending directly with the Super Bowl is a seriously unwise idea. 

Potentially moving to Sunday allows the promotion to maintain a weekend time slot (White initially hinted the event may be moved to Monday), while keeping it a safe distance away from interfering with football. 

Of course, this may be much ado about nothing. Weather.com is predicting a wintry mix on Sunday and the NFL, as it so often does, is likely to be more willing to sacrifice the integrity of its game than inconvenience promoters. 

Unless the weather prediction shifts in the direction of a blizzard (which, of course, is always possible in New Jersey), expect fight fans to be able to look forward to two title bouts, directly followed by the Big Game.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Super Bowl XLVIII Could Spell Doom for UFC 169, If Moved to Saturday

Bad weather might force the NFL to move the most watched sporting event in the world, Super Bowl Sunday, to the same night as UFC 169.
The backdrop for the big game this year is MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, an area that could be unde…

Bad weather might force the NFL to move the most watched sporting event in the world, Super Bowl Sunday, to the same night as UFC 169.

The backdrop for the big game this year is MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, an area that could be under the gun for a serious snow storm.

On Wednesday, FoxSports writer Marc Raimondi tweeted that he had learned from an NFL executive that the game could indeed be moved to Saturday, if a snow storm is scheduled to hit on Sunday.

 

After speaking with NFL senior vice president of events Frank Supovitz back in December, ESPN New York’s Jane McManus reported that the league had plans in place to move the game up to Saturday or delay it until Monday night if needed.

A move to Saturday, February 1 would be bad news for MMA fans. UFC 169 is scheduled to take place that same night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event features the bantamweight title fight between Renan Barao and Urijah Faber and the featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas.

Former heavyweight champs Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir are also scheduled to compete that night. It’s a solid fight card thrown together by the UFC, hoping to serve as a lead-in to Sunday’s big game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. 

Unfortunately, Mother Nature may have other plans.

If Super Bowl XLVIII coincides with UFC 169, it would be a devastating blow to the UFC’s pay-per-view buys. It would also hurt the live attendance, as many fans and celebrities would likely opt out of the event to enjoy all of the glitz and glamour of the Super Bowl.

There’s certainly no reason to panic yet. We are still over a week away from the big game, and the weather could change between now and then.

Be sure to stay tuned into Bleacher Report as more news becomes available on this developing story.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

If MMA Is About Respect, Why Have We Turned Against Georges St. Pierre?


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

By Seth Falvo

My first thought following the main event of UFC 167 was that Georges St. Pierre had a concussion. Granted, “hack journalist” is a far cry from doctor, but he was displaying symptoms that should make any sports fan concerned. He lost track of what round it was, he had trouble forming words, and the completely vacant look in his eyes was disturbing — even for a guy as stoic as GSP.

If this thought occurred to Dana White and the media members in attendance, they did a damn fine job of hiding it. You know what happened by now: White claimed St. Pierre “owed” everyone an immediate rematch, the media attempted to steer Georges St. Pierre away from talking about the signs of brain damage he has been experiencing — despite St. Pierre’s best attempts to do otherwise — and White eventually talked to the champ in private before downplaying everything that St. Pierre admitted to experiencing as much as possible.

As Stand and Bang accurately wrote, “White’s behavior [was] so transparently morally repugnant that there’s no reason to spend time pedantically analyzing it.” He wanted to pressure GSP back into the cage as quickly as possible, because the longer the champion has to reflect upon the damage that he’s done to himself, the less likely he is to return to the sport. Yet there are actually fans — and plenty of them — who managed to take the bait. There are fans who buy the ideas that St. Pierre somehow “owes” it to anyone to accept a rematch against Johny Hendricks, that he’s obligated to return to the cage immediately, that Dana White’s dangerously-capitalistic treatment of his most influential champion is completely acceptable.

And let’s not forget the most disgusting part about this: These fans are delusional enough to say with a straight face that MMA is about “respect.”


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

By Seth Falvo

My first thought following the main event of UFC 167 was that Georges St. Pierre had a concussion. Granted, “hack journalist” is a far cry from doctor, but he was displaying symptoms that should make any sports fan concerned. He lost track of what round it was, he had trouble forming words, and the completely vacant look in his eyes was disturbing — even for a guy as stoic as GSP.

If this thought occurred to Dana White and the media members in attendance, they did a damn fine job of hiding it. You know what happened by now: White claimed St. Pierre “owed” everyone an immediate rematch, the media attempted to steer Georges St. Pierre away from talking about the signs of brain damage he has been experiencing — despite St. Pierre’s best attempts to do otherwise — and White eventually talked to the champ in private before downplaying everything that St. Pierre admitted to experiencing as much as possible.

As Stand and Bang accurately wrote, “White’s behavior [was] so transparently morally repugnant that there’s no reason to spend time pedantically analyzing it.” He wanted to pressure GSP back into the cage as quickly as possible, because the longer the champion has to reflect upon the damage that he’s done to himself, the less likely he is to return to the sport. Yet there are actually fans — and plenty of them — who managed to take the bait. There are fans who buy the ideas that St. Pierre somehow “owes” it to anyone to accept a rematch against Johny Hendricks, that he’s obligated to return to the cage immediately, that Dana White’s dangerously-capitalistic treatment of his most influential champion is completely acceptable.

And let’s not forget the most disgusting part about this: These fans are delusional enough to say with a straight face that MMA is about “respect.”

I’m really not sure how we ever managed to accept the “mixed martial arts is about respect” fallacy in the first place; pretending that the earliest MMA events were complex rituals of respect — as opposed to sporting events and entertainment — is adorably delusional. Perhaps it caught on due to the revisionist history that all martial arts suffer from, perhaps due to a misunderstanding of Bushido. Or perhaps it’s just reframing caused by the cognitive dissonance required to care about the people you enjoy watching injure themselves. Regardless of how it got here, it’s at the point where even fighters like Houston Alexander believe that MMA is about respect, which is laughable on its own, and downright dangerous in the aftermath of UFC 167.

No human being “owes” someone harm to their own mind and body. That I have to explain this to people who claim that their sport is built around respect is more than a little disturbing, and their rationalizations only paint a scarier picture. There’s the argument that Georges St. Pierre “chose to be a fighter,” as if he also chose to give up his right to retire whenever he wants (which he was hinting at well before Saturday night) and his right to look out for his own health when he made that decision. Others are slightly more humane, and instead argue that he simply “owes” it to us to get back in the cage within the next few months, because second-impact syndrome and brain damage are things that should be taken as lightly as possible. I’m sure the medical community will be thrilled to learn that.

Respect does not come with conditions. You can’t only respect someone when they do what you want them to. If you do, you aren’t “respecting” them, you’re manipulating them, and that’s exactly what abusive spouses do to their victims. “Georges, you know I respect you, baby. It’s just that I love watching you fight soooo much and you made me soooo mad by wanting to take time off that I didn’t have a choice but to publicly humiliate you like that. Please don’t leave me, please give me (or in this case, Johny) one more chance.”

I’m not saying that I don’t think Hendricks was robbed on Saturday night. And I’m also not saying that I wouldn’t watch a rematch. But I am saying that if Georges St. Pierre decides to stick around for one more fight, I want him to do so only after he feels he’s had enough time to recover from Saturday night and make an educated decision. He’s built his entire life around being the ideal Zuffa employee and perfect ambassador for our sport, despite never needing us as much as we’ve needed him. If you think this sport is about respect, you’ll wait patiently, too.