Of course, upon glancing over the TUF 18 salaries, one begins to understand why the Diaz brothers are constantly griping over fighter pay. While big bro Nick banked a cool 200k for his post-retirement, pre-re-retirement headlining title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 158, it seems that Nate — who is also a former title challenger, BTW — is barely making more to show than he did in his early post-TUF days (via MMAJunkie):
Despite hailing from the same season of TUF as Maynard (and actually submitting him in the semifinals), recently fighting for a title, and collecting 4 “Of the Night” bonuses in each of his past 4 wins, Diaz is somehow making 1/3rd as much as Maynard to show. What. the. fucking. fuck.
(Oh, *now* we understand why he’s pissed off all the time.)
Of course, upon glancing over the TUF 18 salaries, one begins to understand why the Diaz brothers are constantly griping over fighter pay. While big bro Nick banked a cool 200k for his post-retirement, pre-re-retirement headlining title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 158, it seems that Nate — who is also a former title challenger, BTW — is barely making more to show than he did in his early post-TUF days (via MMAJunkie):
Despite hailing from the same season of TUF as Maynard (and actually submitting him in the semifinals), recently fighting for a title, and collecting 4 “Of the Night” bonuses in each of his past 4 wins, Diaz is somehow making 1/3rd as much as Maynard to show. What. the. fucking. fuck.
It should be noted that Diaz has dropped 2 of his past 3 fights (although his base salary plummeted from $50k/$50k to his current rate prior to his fight with Josh Thomson). It should also be noted that Maynard has dropped 3 of his past 4 fights and has gone 2-3-1 in his past 6, having collected just 1 “Of the Night” bonus in that span.
The rest of the TUF 18 Finale salaries are the standard (also, horrendous) 8k/8k, but what could be the cause of Diaz’s sudden salary drop? His apathy toward his recent matchups? Further fallout from his homophobic tweet? Or was Diaz simply the latest fighter to fall victim to the “Choose Your Salary” wheel that Dana White has hanging in his office next to the photo of the Yakuza member fucking?
We sent an email to Diaz’s manager, Mike Kogan, earlier today that has not yet been returned, but we will keep you updated once we are made aware as to why the white man is so insistent on holding a Diaz down.
Update, 6:30 p.m. ET: Kogan’s e-mailed response to CagePotato is below. We swear, we are not making this up.
(First order of business? Getting “RYAN” tattooed on his chest. / Photo via Getty)
Despite getting choked out in the second-round by Josh Sampo, UFC first-timer Ryan Benoit was awarded $100,000 in Fight of the Night bonuses following Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Though the FOTN award would normally pocket each fighter $50,000 apiece, UFC president Dana White decided to give both bonuses to Benoit, because Sampo came in 2.5 pounds over his flyweight limit on Friday. As White put it at the post-fight press conference, “it pays to make weight.” (Sampo was fined 10% of his purse for missing weight, half of which went to his opponent, so that’s probably another $600-$800 for Benoit right there.)
Benoit’s hundred-grand windfall is even more surprising because, as the data shows, opening bouts are rarely remembered when it’s time to award bonuses. The Benoit vs. Sampo match had the curtain-jerking spot at the TUF 18 Finale, and was the only fight to be broadcast on Facebook instead of the FOX Sports network. Most likely, you didn’t see it. But in a card marked by underwhelming performances, one-sided beatings, and a brutal disqualification, the Benoit/Sampo fight was at least a competitive scrap.
Ryan Benoit isn’t the first UFC fighter to win two performance bonuses in his Octagon debut; James Krause did it earlier this year when he picked up the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night awards after coming in as an injury replacement against Sam Stout at UFC 161. But of course, Krause won that fight.
(First order of business? Getting “RYAN” tattooed on his chest. / Photo via Getty)
Despite getting choked out in the second-round by Josh Sampo, UFC first-timer Ryan Benoit was awarded $100,000 in Fight of the Night bonuses following Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Though the FOTN award would normally pocket each fighter $50,000 apiece, UFC president Dana White decided to give both bonuses to Benoit, because Sampo came in 2.5 pounds over his flyweight limit on Friday. As White put it at the post-fight press conference, “it pays to make weight.” (Sampo was fined 10% of his purse for missing weight, half of which went to his opponent, so that’s probably another $600-$800 for Benoit right there.)
Benoit’s hundred-grand windfall is even more surprising because, as the data shows, opening bouts are rarely remembered when it’s time to award bonuses. The Benoit vs. Sampo match had the curtain-jerking spot at the TUF 18 Finale, and was the only fight to be broadcast on Facebook instead of the FOX Sports network. Most likely, you didn’t see it. But in a card marked by underwhelming performances, one-sided beatings, and a brutal disqualification, the Benoit/Sampo fight was at least a competitive scrap.
Ryan Benoit isn’t the first UFC fighter to win two performance bonuses in his Octagon debut; James Krause did it earlier this year when he picked up the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night awards after coming in as an injury replacement against Sam Stout at UFC 161. But of course, Krause won that fight.
For the record, headliner Nate Diaz won the TUF 18 Finale’s $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for smoking Gray Maynard in half a round, and Chris Holdsworth earned the Submission of the Night for choking out David Grant in the men’s TUF final. Holdsworth’s submission was the only one on the card scored by a fighter who made weight.
In women’s MMA, as in men’s MMA, there are great matches and there are not-so-great matches. Claiming a men’s fight is sub-optimal doesn’t carry a negative stigma. Sure, some “YOU’RE NOT A FIGHTER, BRO” types will get upset, but generally it’s OK to call out the poor aspects of a contest — whether it pertains to the booking or the in-cage action — when two males are fighting.
We don’t hate women’s MMA. CagePotato is a proud sponsor of Invicta strawweight Rose Namajunas, and we’ll be sponsoring Angela “Overkill” Hill for her XFC debut later this month. However, just because we love WMMA doesn’t mean we’re not going to criticize a fight just because it’s between two women.
(Roxanne Modafferi, cruising to another bantamweight title-defense in the Ultimate Friendship Championship. / Photo via Getty)
In women’s MMA, as in men’s MMA, there are great matches and there are not-so-great matches. Claiming a men’s fight is sub-optimal doesn’t carry a negative stigma. Sure, some “YOU’RE NOT A FIGHTER, BRO” types will get upset, but generally it’s OK to call out the poor aspects of a contest — whether it pertains to the booking or the in-cage action — when two males are fighting.
We don’t hate women’s MMA. CagePotato is a proud sponsor of Invicta strawweight Rose Namajunas, and we’ll be sponsoring Angela “Overkill” Hill for her XFC debut later this month. However, just because we love WMMA doesn’t mean we’re not going to criticize a fight just because it’s between two women.
WMMA became popular because of the determination, dauntlessness, aggression, and outright ferocity of the contests throughout its history. Women often out-shined their XY-chromosomed counterparts whenever they were showcased on the MMA world stage. This is in large part due to the fact that, when WMMA was given airtime, we were generally seeing the best-of-the-best women fighting. As such, their performances were better — the kind that showed us what WMMA was all about and what made MMA fans fall in love with it.
There are still many female MMA fights that showcase these same traits — but not all. Some of the fights on last night’s TUF 18 Finale were just average, and there were moments from those fights that were certainly worthy of a few snarky tweets. Roxanne Modafferi is not a good striker, plain and simple, and Jessica Rakoczy’s terrible pro record can be partially explained by the massive holes in her ground game. As WMMA grows, it will fall prey to the same problems that men’s MMA has faced recently. Some fighters won’t be of the highest quality yet will still have a job in the world’s greatest MMA organization, if only to fill space in a frantic event schedule. Some fights will simply be lackluster.
Pointing these things out, as well as the apparently-controversial fact that not every fight between two women demonstrates “what women’s MMA is all about,” doesn’t mean you don’t like WMMA, because if you didn’t like it you wouldn’t care enough to watch. Supporting gender equality in sports means you should be able to criticize female athletes for bad performances just as quickly as you would with men. And if you follow CagePotato on Twitter and get upset when we express a harsh (but honest) opinion…what the hell are you doing following us in the first place?
(“Alright boys, this one’s for all the marbles. Well, maybe not *all* the marbles, but some of the marbles. There will definitely be marbles involved, that much I can promise you.” Photo via MMAJunkie)
After three months of an Ultimate Fighter season that we lost interest in around episode 10, we’re finally at the finish line. Tonight’s TUF 18 Finale card in Las Vegas is headlined by a quasi-rubber-match between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz — assuming that Nate’s high school reunion doesn’t run late. But the rest of the lineup shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the main card is 60% female, which is unprecedented for the UFC, and the winner of the women’s bantamweight final could theoretically wind up fighting her own TUF coach in the not-so-distant future.
Handling our liveblog of the FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your thoughts in the comments section.
(“Alright boys, this one’s for all the marbles. Well, maybe not *all* the marbles, but some of the marbles. There will definitely be marbles involved, that much I can promise you.” Photo via MMAJunkie)
After three months of an Ultimate Fighter season that we lost interest in around episode 10, we’re finally at the finish line. Tonight’s TUF 18 Finale card in Las Vegas is headlined by a quasi-rubber-match between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz — assuming that Nate’s high school reunion doesn’t run late. But the rest of the lineup shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the main card is 60% female, which is unprecedented for the UFC, and the winner of the women’s bantamweight final could theoretically wind up fighting her own TUF coach in the not-so-distant future.
Handling our liveblog of the FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your thoughts in the comments section.
Preliminary card results
– Akira Corassani def. Maximo Blanco via disqualification (intentional foul), :22 of round 1
– Tom Niinimaki def. Rani Yahya via unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
– Jared Rosholt def. Walt Harris via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Sean Spencer def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Joshua Sampo def. Ryan Benoit via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:31 of round 2
Hey now. So who else is ready for the fight card of the year? Possibly the decade. Oh snap, here come the fighting robots: “It’s tiiiiime!” Man, I feel it deep in m’ plums.
Chael Sonnel just said Jessica Rakoczy is the “eight-time world boxing champion.” Some part of that statement is wrong. I’m not going to look it up because he didn’t even seem to believe that.
Submission of the Season: Three rear naked chokes and one armbar. I like Sarah Moras in this one. Feel free to vote on my behalf.
Raquel Pennington vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Rd. 1: Both ladies work the jab early; Modafferi opens with some kicks to the lead leg of Pennington. Modafferi is a bit more actice, whereas Pennington seems to be waiting on that right hand. Good 1-2 from Modafferi. Pennington hasn’t thrown anything in combination just yet. There’s a good right from Pennington, right on cue. Modafferi is throwing in volume, but Pennington is blocking most of the shots and landing the right hand with some success. They clinch against the fence. Modafferi looks for the trip, but Pennington seems to have the strength advantage. Nice elbow from Pennington right there. Back to the center of the cage we go. Good jab from Pennington, who’s picked up momentum and lands a big right at the bell.
Rd 2: Pennington is busier and looks strong. Modafferi lands a good left to the jaw and rushes in for a takedown, but Pennington holds her off. Pennington lands some good short elbows as the two break from a clinch against the fence. 1-2 from Pennington. Big right hand from Pennington; Modafferi wants no part of the fisticuffs and drops for the takedown. Pennington stuffs it and lands in Modafferi’s guard. Modafferi landed some elbows from the bottom, but Pennington is up and starting to score with the right hand from above. Whoa. Modafferi may have Pennington’s left arm. Nope, she’s out and back to her feet. Modafferi is still down. And she’s up. Pennington takes the center of the cage and fires that right hand again. Pennington lands a big lead left hook before the round ends.
Rd. 3: Pennington is the better striker, and Modafferi’s chin is real high. This could end badly. Pennington stuffs a takedown and swats away Modafferi’s flicking jabs. Modafferi is taking shots to the jaw as she circles away. Pennington controls the brief clinch, muscling Modafferi around at will. Modafferi misses a spinning back kick, eats a 1-2, and is stuffed on her takedown attempt. Pennington drops ‘bows from side control, and now from the guard of Modafferi. Modafferi wants the arm, but Pennington is posturing her way to safety and doing damage from top position. They’re up. Pennington wants the guillotine. Deep. Deep deep. Not quite. The fight ends with Pennington on top of a flattened Modafferi, still working for that guillotine.
Raquel Pennington wins via unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28).
Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan
Rd. 1: Fists fly right away from both fighters. Duke lands a lead left. Morgan lands a left of her own now. Duke scores with a combo. Duke clinches as Morgan presses; Duke lands some knees. Duke works for an arm-in guillotine as she drops to her back. She’s squeezing as Morgan bridges forward. Morgan is in Duke’s guard. She pops up, but Duke wants the triangle. Duke elbows from the bottom. Morgan’s left arm is keeping her safe for now, but Duke is working from the bottom. Plenty of punches from Duke. Duke transitions to the triangle and lands some elbows. Duke elbows the neck and ears of Morgan. That looks unpleasant. Morgan just got battered.
Rd. 2: Again both fighters answer the bell with punch combinations, but it’s Duke who seems to have the striking advantage. Morgan jabs, but Duke comes over the top with the left hook. Duke just misses with the uppercut. Duke lands a right and then a left hook. Morgan is hanging in there, though. Morgan is landing her jab, but her head’s on a stick and she’s eating punches from Duke. Duke lands some knees to the body in the clinch. Right-left combination lands for Duke. More hooks from Duke. Morgan lands a jab; Duke counters with a right hook. That seems to be the story of this round. Duke lands a takedown at the bell.
Rd. 3: Morgan comes out aggressive, but Duke is the better counterpuncher and her head movement is superior. Duke kicks to the body, clinches, knees the body, and punches the face. Again Duke is landing her right hook-left hook tandem, and Morgan’s face shows it. Morgan wants a takedown. Duke does too apparently. Duke drags Morgan to the ground with a bulldog style headlock. Duke has the headlock, but Morgan is on Duke’s back. Morgan’s head is free, and Duke is flattened on her belly with Morgan working for the choke. Duke escapes and has Morgan in half guard. Morgan is punching, looking for a guard pass. Referee Lurch stands them – bad stand-up – and it’s Duke landing those hooks. And that’s that. Morgan’s face is jacked up.
Jessamyn Duke wins via unanimous decision (30-27 X 3).
Chris Holdsworth vs. Davey Grant
Rd. 1: Grant opens with some kicks to the outside of the lead leg of Holdsworth. Holdsworth misses with a huge overhand right. They clinch against the fence now, and it’s Grant with some good body shots. A big right from Holdsworth connects. Holdsworth wants Grant on the mat, but Grant is withstanding the attempt and looks for a takedown of his own. Good knee tot he body from Holdsworth. Grant lands a right hook to the body and misses the follow-up left hook upstairs. Holdsworth grabs a single leg, but Grant again holds him off. And it’s Grant now who goes for a slam. Holdsworth with a knee. Holdsworth’s jab is working for him. Fighters trade knees on the fence. Grant has the body lock, goes for a throw, but it’s Holdsworth who’s on top now. Holdsworth is in Grant’s guard as the round ends.
Rd. 2: Grant catches a head kick (after catching the shin to the face) and kicks the outside leg of the Californian. Grant with a body shot and a strong push kick. Holdsworth goes for the single leg, Grant counters with a choke, but Holdsworth escapes, takes down Grant, and is in side control. Grant’s nose is bleeding pretty badly. Holdsworth takes Grant’s back. Body triangle – check. Holdsworth gets under the chin, squeezes, ball game. Holdsworth proved to be the bigger, more proficient fighter tonight.
Chris Holdsworth wins via submission (rear naked choke), 2:50 of Rd. 2
Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy
Rd. 1: Rakoczy opens with a short lead hook, and Pena charges in, pressing her against the cage. Pena finds herself on top as the two take it to the canvas. Both fighters pop up, and Pena is again muscling Rakoczy against the fence. Rakoczy lands a knee to the body, but Pena drags her down. Pena is in half guard now, dropping bombs. Rakoczy tries to get up, but Pena ain’t having it. Uh-oh. Pena is mounted and throwing leather. Rakoczy is trying to push Pena off with those long legs, but Pena is too high. Big elbow from Pena. Punches are a plenty. Rakoczy is covering up sort of intelligently, but Mario Yamasaki calls it with about 3 seconds left.
Julianna Pena wins via TKO, 4: 59 of Rd. 1.
Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz:
Rd. 1: No glove touching (no surprise), and we’re off. Maynard takes the center of the cage. Diaz lands some early jabs and a nice hook. Maynard gets the takedown and settles into Diaz’s guard. Maynard muscles Diaz against the fence. They’re up. Nice throw from Diaz, but Maynard is up. A cut is opened above the left eye of Maynard. An overhand right from Maynard hits Diaz on the side of the head. Diaz landed some left hands and Maynard is hurt. Diaz is keeping his distance and teeing off. Big uppercuts, right crosses, left hook. Maynard looks to be in trouble, and Yves Levigne stops is. That was a shit ton of punches that landed flush by Nate Diaz. Wow.
In the replay, you can see that a short left started it all. Diaz stayed poised and landed flush shots on Maynard, who may have been out on his feet.
Nate Diaz wins via Rd. 1 TKO (2:38).
Hey now. Can Nate say “motherfuckers” on Fox Sports 1? If not, too late.
Nighty night.
Mk
(P.S. Ronda Rousey says of her friend Nate Diaz’s win, “It was great to end the night on a high note.” Weed reference?)
Check out the full TUF 18 Finale lineup after the jump, and come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.
(Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington full fight video, via TheUltimateFighterFX)
Check out the full TUF 18 Finale lineup after the jump, and come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.
FOX Sports 1 Main Card (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT)
Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz
Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy
Chris Holdsworth vs. David Grant
Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Raquel Pennington
FOX Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT)
Akira Corassini vs. Maximo Blanco
Rani Yahya vs. Tom Niinimaki
Jared Rosholt vs. Walt Harris
Sean Spencer vs. Drew Dober
Facebook Prelim (7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT)
Ryan Benoit vs. Joshua Sampo
Call me crazy, you guys, but I think the answer to the question I just posed in the title is a resounding “yes.”
Having briefly worked for a post-production company behind several of today’s more popular reality shows, I can tell you that the average episode of reality TV is often as hastily thrown together as the concept behind the show itself. The same goes double for 30-second promo spots. But while viewing the most recent promo for this weekend’s TUF 18 Finale, I happened to notice something a little…curious.
Skip ahead to the 21 second mark of the above video. You will see a montage that shows Raquel Pennington, Jessica Rakoczy and Julianna Pena individually squaring off. But if you pause the video just right at the 22 second mark, you can see the profile of the Pena’s opponent during the in-ring staredown that is typically saved for the finalists. Join us after the jump to see what I mean…
Call me crazy, you guys, but I think the answer to the question I just posed in the title is a resounding “yes.”
Having briefly worked for a post-production company behind several of today’s more popular reality shows, I can tell you that the average episode of reality TV is often as hastily thrown together as the concept behind the show itself. The same goes double for 30-second promo spots. But while viewing the most recent promo for this weekend’s TUF 18 Finale, I happened to notice something a little…curious.
Skip ahead to the 21 second mark of the above video. You will see a montage that shows Raquel Pennington, Jessica Rakoczy and Julianna Pena individually squaring off. But if you pause the video just right at the 22 second mark, you can see the profile of the Pena’s opponent during the in-ring staredown that is typically saved for the finalists. Join us after the jump to see what I mean…
As we all know, Pena already earned her spot in the finals with a second round submission of Sarah Moras two weeks ago, and this week’s battle between Rakoczy and Pennington will determine her opponent.
Again, call me crazy, but those skinny, white arms and cornrowed hair in the screengrab above appear to belong to Rakoczy. Although Jessica and Raquel are both listed as 5’7″ on their Sherdog profiles, there’s no denying that Raquel is the stockier built fighter of the two. Take a gander over this photo of Pennington and Rakoczy squaring off during last week’s episode and note the disparity between the shape of their wrists/hands to see what I mean.
As you can see, Rakoczy *clearly* has the more emaciated (defined?) arms of the two, and the contours of her right hand are a spot on match with the right hand captured in the Pena screengrab. It should also be noted that the video currently has around 600 views on its Youtube page and the top comment is as follows:
Welp, that’s all the confirmation I need. Start placing your friendly wagers on Rakoczy to win this week and thank me later.
