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Stephen A. Smith is fed up with Jake Paul’s selection of opponents thus far in his burgeoning career as a professional boxer. Stephen A. Smith is known as one of the most outspoken members in sports media and is widely considered to be the face of ESPN…
Stephen A. Smith is fed up with Jake Paul’s selection of opponents thus far in his burgeoning career as a professional boxer. Stephen A. Smith is known as one of the most outspoken members in sports media and is widely considered to be the face of ESPN. As such a prominent member of a network […]
Continue Reading Jake Paul Kills Stephen A. Smith With Kindness After Smith’s Criticism at MMA News.
Happy Friday and welcome back to TGIFighting . We’ll get you set for this weekend’s MMA action and react to the news of the day. Let’s get it on. Stephen A…
Happy Friday and welcome back to TGIFighting . We’ll get you set for this weekend’s MMA action and react to the news of the day. Let’s get it on. Stephen A…
Stephen A. Smith has decided to respond to his critics and address why fans should appreciate his presence in the sport of MMA. If you were to see Stephen A. Smith’s name in an MMA news outlet’s headline, very little if any good seems to ever come from…
Stephen A. Smith has decided to respond to his critics and address why fans should appreciate his presence in the sport of MMA. If you were to see Stephen A. Smith’s name in an MMA news outlet’s headline, very little if any good seems to ever come from it. Smith is usually hit with a […]
Stephen A. Smith is not a UFC expert. That should be known to most in the combat sport world as the ESPN commentator has become somewhat of a meme for his controversial opinions when it comes to mixed martial arts. The most famous one, of course, was his opinion that Donald Cerrone gave up against […]
Stephen A. Smith is not a UFC expert.
That should be known to most in the combat sport world as the ESPN commentator has become somewhat of a meme for his controversial opinions when it comes to mixed martial arts.
The most famous one, of course, was his opinion that Donald Cerrone gave up against Conor McGregor while there have been plenty of others along the way.
And while discussing who he thought was the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport following Kamaru Usman’s win at UFC 261, Smith acknowledged he was far from an expert.
Right after botching Colby Covington‘s last name.
“I still think it’s Jon Jones,” Smith said on “First Take” (via MMA Junkie). “I still think it’s Jon Jones. Listen, I saw Colby ‘Co-vin-ton’ talking a lot of junk about [Jorge] Masvidal after the fight, and obviously he lost to Usman in five rounds, but that brother can fight. When he talked about Masvidal and his record had 14 losses coming into the fight, I got more respect for Masvidal than he does, but then again I’m not a UFC fighter like he is, so his opinion is more qualified than mine.
“Plus, I’m not an expert like idiots out there try to accuse me of pretending that I’m being just because I’m commenting. No, I’m a fan. I’m not an expert on the UFC. I didn’t start watching until a few years ago.”
You can watch that moment below:
Megan Olivi has been a recognized presence in MMA broadcasts for years; especially during the UFC’s transition from Fox to ESPN. Despite being recognized by fans and colleagues alike, she was disappointed to be left out by one particular ESPN broadcaster: Stephen A. Smith. Following UFC 260 last month, Smith put out a tweet giving […]
Megan Olivi has been a recognized presence in MMA broadcasts for years; especially during the UFC’s transition from Fox to ESPN.
Despite being recognized by fans and colleagues alike, she was disappointed to be left out by one particular ESPN broadcaster: Stephen A. Smith.
Following UFC 260 last month, Smith put out a tweet giving credit to the UFC’s on-air personalities; including Joe Rogan, Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier. But directly following the tweet, Olivi noticed that the famous ESPN broadcaster left out a name: her own.
“Ummm hey there – you’re forgetting someone [smile emoji],” Olivi replied to Smith’s tweet.
During a recent Question-and-Answer session between her fellow reporters and Olivi, she was asked about being left out by Smith and how it has impacted her for the past few weeks leading up to Saturday’s UFC 261 card.
“That was actually tough for me,” Olivi said. “I’ve worked to be here. I wasn’t handed this. I’ve done everything the right way to get here, and to not get the acknowledgment as my male colleagues got, I genuinely was so hurt.”
This isn’t the first time that Smith has been criticized by a UFC on ESPN colleague. Following Conor McGregor’s first-round knockout of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, color commentator Joe Rogan had an awkward moment with Smith when the ESPN loudmouth essentially accused Cerrone of quitting, to which Rogan took immediate exception.
Ummm hey there – you’re forgetting someone
— Megan Olivi (@MeganOlivi) March 28, 2021
Smith has been one of the most recognized broadcasters on ESPN’s radio and television airwaves for years, and Olivi has accumulated arguably the same amount of success during her time covering the UFC. Smith hasn’t provided a reaction to Olivi’s comments yet regarding the apparent Twitter snub last month.
Fight fans can catch Olivi providing analysis and coverage Saturday night for UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida; in the promotion’s return to full-capacity events.
What did you make of Megan Olivi’s comments regarding fellow ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith?
Last March, Stephen A. Smith shared his belief that the best thing to ever happen in UFC history took place when Francis Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic to become the heavyweight champion.
The following article published last year explains how he…
Last March, Stephen A. Smith shared his belief that the best thing to ever happen in UFC history took place when Francis Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic to become the heavyweight champion.
The following article published last year explains how he came to that conclusion. Tonight, Ngannou’s follow-up performance to this KO will come when he takes on Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 to unify the UFC undisputed heavyweight championship.
The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 31, 2021, 10:00 AM]
Headline: Stephen A: Ngannou’s KO The Greatest Thing To Ever Happen To UFC
The First Take crew is showering new UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou with the ultimate praise.
Francis Ngannou made history as the first man from Cameroon to become a UFC champion when he knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260. In doing so, the continent of Africa now has three current champions on the UFC roster. The feeling of joy Ngannou had for achieving those two things has been articulated by Ngannou in the aftermath of the event, and he has already been commended far and wide for his improvements, his approach, and his achievement.
In an appearance on ESPN’s First Take on Monday, host Stephen A. Smith threw one more massive heap of praise Ngannou’s way.
“I caught your knockout on Saturday. I called it the greatest thing that’s ever happened to the UFC,” Smith told Ngannou. “Because when you’re the heavyweight champion of the world and you come into the Octagon with bad intentions like Mike Tyson did in boxing, like George Foreman did before him, that’s the greatest thing for a pugilistic sport.”
There’s been some big things to happen in the nearly 30-year history of the UFC: becoming sanctioned by state athletic commissions after being viewed as a bloodsport, women finally being allowed to compete in the promotion after 20 years, Conor McGregor’s rise to fame, the partnership with ESPN, just to name a few. But Smith’s argument comes with the premise that nothing can match the impact of a mainstream heavyweight destroyer.
As someone with a great amount of experience covering the pugilistic sport of boxing, Smith’s co-host Max Kellerman co-signed Smith’s statement to a degree but seemed to stop at the “potential” Ngannou’s win carries as opposed to proclaiming it the greatest thing in UFC history full stop.
“I agree with Stephen A,” Kellerman began. “This has a chance to be, what you did now, a turning point in the history of the UFC in the sense that light heavy was always the glamor division. Brock Lesnar looked for a second, like, ‘Can he be that guy at heavyweight?’ But he couldn’t consistently stay at that level. You now have a fight maybe lined up with Jon Jones.
“Because the UFC champion would beat the heavyweight champion in boxing in an actual fight, that guy’s the baddest man on the planet, especially if he’s a guy that fights like you. So this could be a turning point in the history of your sport. That’s a tremendous achievement.”
Ever the gracious giant, Ngannou took his praise in stride. During the interview, he noted the impact that Kamaru Usman had on his victory and discussed what it means to him to be a champion for his countrymen and his family. Ngannou’s story and UFC 260 achievement is certainly mainstream news now, and only time will tell if he will be able to carry the heavyweight torch to the places Smith and Kellerman believe he could.
What are your thoughts on Stephen A. Smith’s and Max Kellerman’s level of praise for new UFC champion Francis Ngannou?
Continue Reading (Archives) Stephen A: Ngannou KO The Best Thing In UFC History (2021) at MMA News.
