For reasons that remain unknown, the UFC is holding a special news conference in Canada today. Lucky for you, we hijacked a feed of the conference for you guys, so the least you can do is join us at noon EST to see what the hell this is all about. Seriously, we don’t want to feel like we kidnapped the Canadian Prime Minister’s son for nothing. Again.
Early speculation seems to be that the press conference will serve as the official announcement of the TUF Nations Finale and/or the rumored bout between Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy expected to headline said finale on April 16th, but if history is any indication, it’s probably just to inform us that either Kyle Noke or Patrick Cote have been injured and replaced on the show. And just when that fight was starting to gain some real heat (*kicks can*).
For reasons that remain unknown, the UFC is holding a special news conference in Canada today. Lucky for you, we hijacked a feed of the conference for you guys, so the least you can do is join us at noon EST to see what the hell this is all about. Seriously, we don’t want to feel like we kidnapped the Canadian Prime Minister’s son for nothing. Again.
Early speculation seems to be that the press conference will serve as the official announcement of the TUF Nations Finale and/or the rumored bout between Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy expected to headline said finale on April 16th, but if history is any indication, it’s probably just to inform us that either Kyle Noke or Patrick Cote have been injured and replaced on the show. And just when that fight was starting to gain some real heat (*kicks can*).
(In a shocking turn of events, St. Pierre announces that he will be retiring from MMA to replace A.J. Pierzynski’s catcher’s mitt in the 2014 season. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.)
As it has been ever since UFC 167, the MMA blogosphere is currently abuzz with speculation regarding the future of welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre. Amidst (hopefully) false rumors pertaining to his father’s illness, an unplanned pregnancy, and a multi-million dollar lawsuit with his former manager, St. Pierre announced his semi-retirement from the sport immediately following his controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks, only to be buried by Dana White for having the gall to worry about his own health and personal life thereafter.
According to the Journal de Montreal, St. Pierre plans on holding a press conference this Friday to address his future in the UFC and clear the air regarding the multitude of rumors surrounding him. But being that sports journalism thrives on speculation, we’ve decided to go ahead and predict the four most likely reasons for GSP’s upcoming presser, as well as what the MMA world will be facing come Saturday morning.
Scenario #1: Retirement
(In a shocking turn of events, St. Pierre announces that he will be retiring from MMA to replace A.J. Pierzynski’s catcher’s mitt in the 2014 season. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.)
As it has been ever since UFC 167, the MMA blogosphere is currently abuzz with speculation regarding the future of welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre. Amidst (hopefully) false rumors pertaining to his father’s illness, an unplanned pregnancy, and a multi-million dollar lawsuit with his former manager, St. Pierre announced his semi-retirement from the sport immediately following his controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks, only to be buried by Dana White for having the gall to worry about his own health and personal life thereafter.
According to the Journal de Montreal, St. Pierre plans on holding a press conference this Friday to address his future in the UFC and clear the air regarding the multitude of rumors surrounding him. But being that sports journalism thrives on speculation, we’ve decided to go ahead and predict the four most likely reasons for GSP’s upcoming presser, as well as what the MMA world will be facing come Saturday morning.
Scenario #1: Retirement
Easily the biggest reason fans (and Dana White) turned against St. Pierre following UFC 167 was not due to the belief that he was ducking a Hendricks rematch, but rather that the champ was so ambiguous about the terms of his retirement. “I need to hang up my gloves for a little bit,” said St. Pierre during his post-fight interview, leading many of us to question just how long he planned on stepping away, and whether or not he planned on relinquishing his title in order to do so.
If St. Pierre simply needs a few months away from the public eye to remedy some personal issues, it would be hard to find anyone who would truly take him to task for his decision. But if St. Pierre needs a Dominick Cruz-length break from the sport without truly retiring, he would essentially be holding the welterweight division hostage until his return, a grim scenario especially in light of how controversial his final fight was.
Unfortunately for those of us expecting a rematch, the fact that St. Pierre is holding a non-UFC organized press conference in his native Canada seems to indicate that he has made up his mind regarding the length of his retirement: FOR-EV-ER.
Semi-related prediction: Following St. Pierre’s retirement, White will hold a press conference of his own in which he declares that St. Pierre was “always overrated” and “a cowardly champion” who “turned his back on the sport and its fans.” The camera will then pan 180 degrees, revealing that White is actually standing alone in his living room and shouting a GSP Fathead.
Scenario #2: A Hendricks Rematch
When speaking/spewing flames at the UFC 167 post-fight press conference, White stated the following about the likelihood of Hendricks receiving his much-deserved rematch:
As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks. I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and all is on track.
To state the obvious, it has been nearly a month since this claim was made and we have yet to hear a word from Dana White or anyone in the UFC regarding said rematch. That Lorenzo Ferttita has publicly walked back White’s criticism of GSP further indicates the possibility of the champ retiring over accepting a Hendricks rematch.
But then again, the UFC is nothing if not a shady crafty organization. Perhaps by getting St. Pierre to personally announce his interest in a rematch, the UFC is hoping to shed the idea that it is somehow forcing his hand in the matter. If that turns out to be the case, look for St. Pierre to half-heartedly remind us of how “dark” he is and how he will use his recent personal troubles as motivation to finish Hendricks in the rematch. Neither will ever come to fruition.
Speaking of dark places, there isn’t a fighter out there who managed to bring out the dark side of GSP more than Nick Diaz. Or so we were told.
Georges St. Pierre is loved by fans far and wide for his humility, class, and poise both inside and outside of the octagon. Nick Diaz is loved by fans for being the anti-bullshit superhero and not knowing what three of the four qualities I just listed even mean. St. Pierre vs. Diaz is the kind of good vs. evil matchup that fans of the sport simply cannot turn away from, no matter how contrived or unnecessary it may be. While being the corn-husking, dip-spitting American answer to GSP’s fine wine-sipping, poutine-eating Canadian self, Johny Hendricks simply does not hold up to the evil archetype created by Diaz. And by that, I mean he has never chased St. Pierre around a hotel looking for a fight.
Some of you might counter, “But St. Pierre totally dominated Diaz, so why would we be interested in a rematch?” Well, did you honestly expect Diaz to go in and dominate GSP before? And have his chances of KOing St. Pierre with a miracle shot decreased since then? Diaz had no business being in the octagon with St. Pierre in the first place, but over a million of us purchased those wolf tickets. Fans will come in droves for the chance to see Diaz give St. Pierre another Stockton Heybuddy; it’s as simple as that. St. Pierre knows this, and is looking for one last big paycheck (and a winnable fight) before he truly retires.
Scenario #4: St. Pierre Joins Season 18 of Dancing With the Stars
We all know that Dancing With the Stars has become a haven for post-prime athletes in any sport, but none have failed more spectacularly on the reality competition show than Chuck Liddell and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Angered by the stereotype that all fighters are bad dancers, St. Pierre will announce that he is joining season 18 of DWtS to put an end to these hurtful beliefs once and for all. He will be joined by: Scott Bakula, Paula Deen, Chelsea Handler, Wesley Warren Jr. (a.k.a the guy with 140-pound testicles), Dan Marino, and Bobby Kimball of Toto among others. Upon winning the Mirror Ball trophy, St. Pierre will return to the UFC and defeat interim champ Johny Hendricks via Paso-Doble-Foxtrot-Whiskey-Sour KO.
Come to think of it, this scenario is far more likely to happen than a GSP-Hendricks rematch. Start setting your DVRs, Nation.
Which brings us to today’s press conference, an hour-long suckfest in which Bjorn Rebney dutifully tried to convince us that he was both a tried and true MMA fan and honestly excited about the prospect of watching the two half-asleep gentlemen sitting on either side of him fight in the near future. He tried, dammit.
Being that your time is way too valuable to spend an hour of it watching Rebney stroke two former champions egos to full completion while they both push their newfound love of the sport on us like a Ronco Rotisserie, we’ve recapped some most notable moments from yesterday’s press conference after the jump.
(Our favorite moment? The six seconds of lead-in music that was apparently played on a phonograph. Bellator truly spared no expense.)
Which brings us to today’s press conference, an hour-long suckfest in which Bjorn Rebney dutifully tried to convince us that he was both a tried and true MMA fan and honestly excited about the prospect of watching the two half-asleep gentlemen sitting on either side of him fight in the near future. He tried, dammit.
Being that your time is way too valuable to spend an hour of it watching Rebney stroke two former champions egos to full completion while they both push their newfound love of the sport on us like a Ronco Rotisserie, we’ve recapped some most notable moments from yesterday’s press conference after the jump.
Bjorn Rebney: MMA Superfan
Perhaps the most earnest moments from the Jackson vs. Ortiz press conference (or at least attempts at being earnest) came from that of Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, who really, truly wanted to convince us that he was just as diehard an MMA fan as the rest of us. At one point during the aforementioned suckfest, he discussed Rampage vs. Liddell 2 down to the exact second that Rampage KO’d “The Iceman,” as if he didn’t just look that stat up two minutes before the press conference began. We get it, Bjorn, you’re just one of the guys. But you’re starting to sound like Lois Griffin on the softball field.
Maybe it was jet lag, maybe everyone involved had just rolled out of bed, but the utter lack of energy or anything resembling enthusiasm was noticeable from the very start of this press conference. “I’m really excited to be fighting for…uhh…Bellator,” started Ortiz (to be fair, at least he got the promotion’s name right). “I got an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he continued, which is odd considering that Ortiz has been discussing his un-retirement from pretty much the exact moment that he retired.
Jackson, on the other hand, sounded about as lethargic as he did when we forced Danga to talk to him about smartphone apps. He repeatedly stated how upset he was that his previously rumored fight with Roy Jones Jr. was off and alluded that the reason he agreed to fight Tito was because Bellator “made his dream come true of being a pro wrestler.” I really don’t know what world I am living in anymore, but I fucking hate it.
“The way to be great again is not to fight chumps.”
While this is undoubtedly true, it also does not apply in any way, shape or form to the career of Ortiz. In fact, the only “chump” you could argue that Tito has fought in the past ten years was Ken Shamrock (twice) back in 2006. You know, back when Tito was winning.
Rampage Jackson’s Reasons for Moving His Training Camp to Mexico
Moments after describing “how serious” he was about his comeback, Jackson told reporters that he would be moving the latter half of his training camp to Rosarito, Mexico. When asked why he would be doing that and whether or not there was someone down there he planned on training with, Jackson gave the following response:
I like Mexico. I bring whoever I want to come train anywhere in the world with me…this time I chose Rosarito, Mexico. It’s right on the beach. The people are really nice. They got quads you can ride right on the beach, right on the street. There’s senoritas walking around. They got burritos everywhere and taco stands. I’m trying to learn my Spanish.
I like Mexico. I got a condo right on the beach. I can look out the window butt naked and look at the ocean and nobody can see me…I can do a little penis smack, pap, pap, pap.
It’s just good to know that all of Mike Dolce’s hard work has paid off. Where the old, careless Rampage would just hide candy bars under his bed, the new, focused Rampage will be stuffing entire gorditas and taco supremes into his pillowcase each night. Progress!
As for Jackson’s next training camp? You guessed it, Passages Malibu.
Bellator is *the* Promotion to Bring MMA Out of the Dark Ages
For every compliment Rebney threw Jackson’s or Ortiz’s way, the two former champions returned the favor tenfold. It could not have sounded any less authentic.
“They’re not about the brand, they’re about making stars!” chimed in Ortiz, obviously referring to bang-up job Bellator has done in making Michael Chandler, Attila Vegh, Ben Askren, Alexander Shlemenko, Pat Curran, and Eduardo Dantas the household names that they are today.
Tito Ortiz is Still Bitter Over the Third Griffin Fight
Stating almost verbatim what we’ve been hearing since the moment he retired, Ortiz made sure to inform us once again that he dropped Forrest Griffintwice and took him down four times yet somehow lost a decision at UFC 148. TRAVESTY, THY NAME IS PEOPLES. Also, Ortiz uses the phrase “like no other”a lot (you might say he uses it like no other). He entertains like no other, he fights like no other, he is even in a better mental place like no other. Sorry Tito, but Deepak Chopra you are not.
Ortiz: “How do you feed your children or your family?” *silence*
Reporter:“Well, yeah, you gotta get paid.”
Ortiz: “OK, well, mysthethatsthe…that’s really not a problem, my kids are going to get paid either way (?). I was smart enough to save my money. I mean, I invest. And the biggest thing that you can invest that some people, they don’t make much of, it’s called land. And I own a lot of it.”
Other notable quotes/moments:
(33:25) “I’m putting my poker face on and Rampage better shuffle the right cards.” – Tito Ortiz.
(55:40) – ”I don’t know, I guess if you poke the pitbull so many times…” -Tito Ortiz, who was mercifully cut off by a technical issue before he could finish murdering another common euphemism.
(56:19) – Rampage getting so bored by Tito’s self-inflated yammering that he fakes throwing what appears to be a CD case at a reporter. If only Bjorn had provided straws and paper, we could have seen Page hawk a spitball at Tito’s monstrous dome.
-Rampage asking if he can fight Darrill “Titties” Schoonover on pay-per-view in the future. We’d LOVE to see this fight, but only with the stipulation that Titties gets trounced by Aleksander Emelianenko in August. Otherwise, pairing a heavyweight on a four-fight win streak against a light heavyweight on a three (or possibly four) fight losing streak would just be cruel and unfair.
Okay…my name is Tito Ortiz…my name is Tito Ortiz…*clears throat* “Good afterday. My name is Ito Tortiz.”
If you’re unfamiliar with our “Unsupportable Opinion/Counterpoint” columns, they’re our attempts at taking an issue that most MMA fans are in agreement on and arguing for the other side, even if we don’t necessarily believe anything we’re writing. Sometimes, they’re actually right. Hell, sometimes they’re downright prophetic. Usually, they’re even more wrong than we imagined. Regardless, they’re usually just a way to argue against popular opinion, so try not to call me too many mean names over this column, okay? I’m sensitive, you guys.
Anyways, the general consensus on the latest attempt at public speaking by Tito Ortiz – the press conference he held to announce that Cyborg had signed with Invicta FC – is that it ended predictably. He did fairly well until the part where he had to open his mouth, and then…tragedy.
Video is After the Jump
Okay…my name is Tito Ortiz…my name is Tito Ortiz…*clears throat* “Good afterday. My name is Ito Tortiz.”
If you’re unfamiliar with our “Unsupportable Opinion/Counterpoiunt” columns, they’re our attempts at taking an issue that most MMA fans are in agreement on and arguing for the other side, even if we don’t necessarily believe anything we’re writing. Sometimes, they’re actually right. Hell, sometimes they’re downright prophetic. Usually, they’re even more wrong than we imagined. Regardless, they’re usually just a way to argue against popular opinion, so try not to call me too many mean names over this column, okay? I’m sensitive, you guys.
Anyways, the general consensus on the latest attempt at public speaking by Tito Ortiz – the press conference he held to announce that Cyborg had signed with Invicta FC – is that it ended predictably. He did fairly well until the part where he had to open his mouth, and then…tragedy.
Tito Ortiz immediately botches the name of his own client, calling her Cristiane “Santos” Cyborg, before delivering the non-sequiturs and mispronunciations you’ve come to expect from Tito Ortiz. Needless to say, everyone has been busy talking about this press conference, and everyone agrees that it was terrible.
Well, hear me out: Maybe Tito Ortiz didn’t completely ruin the press conference with his usual nonsense. After all, we’re still talking about it, even though absolutely nothing about Cyborg signing with Invicta has been surprising. We knew she was going there. We knew that Cyborg wasn’t going to try to cut to 135 pounds just to fight Ronda Rousey. Frankly, if Saturday wasn’t a slow news day, we may not have been talking about her decision to sign with Invicta in the first place. If Tito’s job at the press conference was to get us talking about Cris Cyborg, then did he fail?
Okay, counterpoint over. Yes. He failed. It was terrible. Move along, there’s nothing to see here.
(One of these guys will likely get the winner of Showtime-Bendo II)
The UFC held a press conference in New York City today for the May 5 UFC on Fox 3 show, which we would have covered live, had they not rejected our credential application AGAIN. Thankfully we still have access to these things via YouTube.
Probably the most interesting tidbit to come out of the event was Dana White’s assertion that the winner of the Jim Miller-Nate Diaz bout would likely be the next in line for a title shot after Anthony Pettis.
It makes sense, even though Nate is only 2-0 in his current run as a lightweight and Jim lost his last bout against Ben Henderson. When you look at the fact that Diaz beat Melvin Guillard and Donald Cerrone as a lightweight, has only lost to Gray Maynard, Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson in the Octagon at 155 and he has never been finished and that prior to losing to the current champ, Miller had only ever been defeated by Frankie Edgar and Maynard, it makes sense.
Really, besides giving Edgar another shot — which he really should have to earn, considering he lost fair and square to Henderson — who else deserves a crack at the belt?
Tickets for the May 5 event, that takes place in New Jersey at the Izod Center, go on sale tomorrow.
Check out the full vid of the presser after the jump.
(One of these guys will likely get the winner of Showtime-Bendo II)
The UFC held a press conference in New York City today for the May 5 UFC on Fox 3 show, which we would have covered live, had they not rejected our credential application AGAIN. Thankfully we still have access to these things via YouTube.
Probably the most interesting tidbit to come out of the event was Dana White’s assertion that the winner of the Jim Miller-Nate Diaz bout would likely be the next in line for a title shot after Anthony Pettis.
It makes sense, even though Nate is only 2-0 in his current run as a lightweight and Jim lost his last bout against Ben Henderson. When you look at the fact that Diaz beat Melvin Guillard and Donald Cerrone as a lightweight, has only lost to Gray Maynard, Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson in the Octagon at 155 and he has never been finished and that prior to losing to the current champ, Miller had only ever been defeated by Frankie Edgar and Maynard, it makes sense.
Really, besides giving Edgar another shot — which he really should have to earn, considering he lost fair and square to Henderson — who else deserves a crack at the belt?
Tickets for the May 5 event, that takes place in New Jersey at the Izod Center, go on sale tomorrow.
