And we’re off again!
The UFC’s busy spring schedule continues this Saturday as Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson defends his flyweight championship against Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186.
The headlining bout will put Johnson’s title on the line for an impr…
And we’re off again!
The UFC’s busy spring schedule continues this Saturday as Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson defends his flyweight championship against KyojiHoriguchi at UFC 186.
The headlining bout will put Johnson’s title on the line for an impressive sixth straight time, while Horiguchi aims to improve his professional record to 16-1.
While this flyweight tilt should offer exciting action from bell to bell, it isn’t the only featured showdown worthy of an audience.
From middleweight contenders to former NHL goons, this weekend’s main card ain’t too shabby.
Here are five reasons to pay the price tag and tune in.
Michael Bisping has never been one to shy away from confrontation.
The brash Brit has made a career out of talking the talk in the lead up to fight night then backing up the bantering when the cage door closes on fight night. The 36-year-old’s unique a…
Michael Bisping has never been one to shy away from confrontation.
The brash Brit has made a career out of talking the talk in the lead up to fight night then backing up the bantering when the cage door closes on fight night. The 36-year-old’s unique approach has made him one of the most captivating fighters on the UFC roster for nearly a decade, and made The Ultimate Fighter season-three winner a popular target for call outs from his fellow fighters in the middleweight fold.
That particular trend continued last week when surging contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza‘s manager did an interview where he claimedBisping had turned down the chance to face the Brazilian grappling machine at UFC on Fox 15 in Newark, New Jersey. The former Strikeforce champion’s original opponent Yoel Romero was forced off the card with injury one week out from the event, which forced the promotion to scramble to find an 11th-hour replacement.
The UFC would go on to tap veteran Chris Camozzi to fill in for the American Top Team product, but Souza‘s manager suggested this only came to pass when Bisping—who is slated to face C.B. Dollaway at UFC 186 on April 25—declined the fight. Shortly after the news spread throughout the MMA community The Count took to social media to debunk the story and shared his thoughts on the matter at hand.
The perennial middleweight contender was sure to make clear that although his focus is and has always been on The Doberman in the lead-up to their tilt in Montreal, he would be more than happy to slate settling his business with Souza as the next item on his agenda.
“I found it kind of funny that here I am fighting C.B. Dollaway, and it’s been no secret that this card has taken its knocks,” Bisping told Bleacher Report. “Why would the UFC want to remove the co-main event from a card that has already endured its fair share of setbacks? The UFC never came to me. They never offered me the fight and I certainly never turned it down. I’m focused on C.B. Dollaway, but let’s be honest both Jacare and his manager did provide a little distraction.
“If they think for one second I’m intimidated by Jacare, they are crazy. I’m going to smoke C.B. Dollaway in Montreal and if the UFC wants to book it, I’m down for a quick turnaround and I’ll shut that Brazilian up.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
Absolutely nothing has gone right for this card. Injuries, lawsuits, drug-test failures and more have stripped this card of nearly all its intrigue. What’s left is a mess that carries a huge price tag. That said, a strong undercard gives fans a little something to look forward to, and it’s always nice to see Demetrious Johnson work.
So what are the hottest topics entering next week’s pay-per-view? Find out right here!
I can’t talk about me getting frustrated. I really don’t care if people are like, ‘He sucks. I’m not buying that card.’ I’m like, ‘Good for you. Go watch something else.’ That’s totally fine.
[…]
Now, if people don’t want to tune in, that’s their f—–g bad. But they’re going to miss a kick-ass fight between me and KyojiHoriguchi.
A Johnson-headlined card has suffered some of the lowest buy rates in UFC history. According to MMAPayout.com, his last two pay-per-view cards (174 and 178) brought in 115,000 and 205,000 buys, respectively.
UFC 186 was shaping up to be a good card with a TJ Dillashaw-Renan Barao rematch for the bantamweight title and the return of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. However, due to injuries and legal issues, many fans are left wondering whether the $60 will be worth it. There have even been questions about whether the card should be cancelled, as Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter and Jonathan Snowden discussed.
It is unfortunate that Johnson hasn’t caught on with MMA fans. He has the typical fighter story of a rough upbringing, and he defied all odds to be where he is now.
B/R’s JordyMcElroy makes a great point about how, unlike in other sports, those in combat sports are responsible for their own marketing efforts. McElroy also points out that while MMA purists are into the technical aspect of the sport, less hardcore fans are interested in the name value.
This may upset the hardcore fans of the sport, but our society is drawn to drama, as noted by our interest in reality TV. That’s what draws people to fighters who could be perceived as heels, such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. or ConorMcGregor.
Johnson doesn’t have that “bad guy” persona. In fact, fighters such as Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall called him a “nerd.”
Maybe all the smack talking by all the haters will bring out that fire in “Mighty Mouse.” He could create a spectacle by firing back at his doubters, but that doesn’t seem to be in his nature.
Johnson is an exciting fighter to watch, and combined with his persona, he could be the Manny Pacquiao of MMA. In order to achieve that, he will have to destroy fighters who have a higher marketing value. However, in the flyweight division, there is no one who could be his Mayweather.
Greetings, Nation. If you haven’t noticed by the all but complete lack of posts this week, I’ve been away from the office (and in fact out of the state) to deal with some legal issues pertaining to a…gambling snafu. Yeah, let’s go with that.
My recent absence aside, the cutbacks across the board here at Castle CP have forced us to severely limit the amount of posts we can put up per day. So I, in my infinite wisdom, figured a John Oliver-esque recap of the week’s events in a single post would be the best way to keep you in the know moving forward, should CP happen to be your lone source of MMA news. Which if it is…
But let us begin with perhaps the biggest story of the week…
Greetings, Nation. If you haven’t noticed by the all but complete lack of posts this week, I’ve been away from the office (and in fact out of the state) to deal with some legal issues pertaining to a…gambling snafu. Yeah, let’s go with that.
My recent absence aside, the cutbacks across the board here at Castle CP have forced us to severely limit the amount of posts we can put up per day. So I, in my infinite wisdom, figured a John Oliver-esque recap of the week’s events in a single post would be the best way to keep you in the know moving forward, should CP happen to be your lone source of MMA news. Which if it is…
But let us begin with perhaps the biggest story of the week…
-In news no one — I repeat, no one — could have seen coming (except us, like, a month ago), Rampage Jackson has been forced out of his UFC 186 co-main event matchup with Fabio Maldonado. OH THE SHOCK AND TERROR AND ALSO AWE. If you recall, Bellator filed a lawsuit against Jackson back in March following the news that he had re-signed with the UFC while still under one of those “crazy contracts” that the Rebney Era became infamous for.
On Tuesday, New Jersey judge Karen L. Suter granted Bellator an injunction that successfully blocked Rampage from fighting at UFC 186 at the end of the month. When asked why she backed Bellator in this case, Suter claimed that “Equities plaintiff legal talk legal talk peas and carrots.” I’m paraphrasing, but you can read the bullet points here.
-In a more positive story, the UFC announced the hiring of “anti-doping crusader” Jeff Novitzky as vice president of athlete health and performance, a huge step forward in light of the promotion’s newly-instated drug testing policies. Novitzky is the perhaps best known for leading the investigation against both Barry Bonds and BALCO back in 2002 and Lance Armstrong in 2010 while working for the FDA. Why Chael Sonnen, who called out Armstrong years before any of us were ready to hear it, has not yet been brought onto the UFC’s new anti-steroid A-team remains a complete mystery.
-Speaking of steroids, Jorge de Oliveira became the most recent UFC fighter to get nailed for stanozolol, following his loss to Christos Giagos at Fight Night 62. Oliveira has been suspended for a year retroactive to the March 21st event, and his name will likely never be spoken on our tongues again.
-Alexis Dufresne (relationship status to Andy Dufresne: Uncertain) was also caught by a pre-fight medical…for pregnancy! You see how I turned that around on you like that? Bow down to the master, bitches!!! (But seriously, pregnancy is a beautiful thing and should not be trivialized.) Following her 0-2 run in the UFC, Dufresne was set to make her Bellator debut at Bellator 137 in May until a pre-fight medical exam revealed that she was with child.
-In fight-booking news, Mike Swick has been greenlit to return to the octagon for the first time since his 1-1 run in the promotion back in 2012, which itself followed a two year absence due to injuries. The inventor of The Swickatine, Swicks Cheese, and The Swick-ffer will face off against dangerous striker Alex Garcia at UFC 189.
-For its first trip to Poland, the UFC has booked an absolutely abysmal card in Fight Night 64, as is tradition. Barring the main event rematch between Mirko Cro Cop and Gabriel Gonzaga, the four fight main card features three fighters without a Wikipedia page, one of whom is named Sheldon. Sheldon, you guys. UFC Krakow does feature the long-awaited debut of Alexandra Albu, however, which makes this a good a time as any to remind you that she is smokin’ hot…er…incredibly marketable.
-And finally, this photo. My God, this photo. (via r/mma)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson had his own little media day Tuesday, and it went exactly like you would expect: There were contentious allegations made, gloriously glaring typos committed, clarifications required, Internet memes misappropriated …
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson had his own little media day Tuesday, and it went exactly like you would expect: There were contentious allegations made, gloriously glaring typos committed, clarifications required, Internet memes misappropriated and, of course, very little substance to any of it.
The whole thing was hilarious—so long as your life and livelihood weren’t directly tied up in it.
At this point, there’s no way to know what any of the parties are actually thinking in this courtroom standoff between Jackson, BellatorMMA and the UFC. So far, everybody is playing their parts with Oscar-worthy conviction, though we can certainly read between the lines of this week’s flurry of prepared statements.
Monday began with a New Jersey judge granting Bellatora preliminary injunction against Jackson, barring him from fighting Fabio Maldonado this month at UFC 186.
That move made Bellator happy and Jackson unhappy. The fighter took to his Instagram account to post a reaction that not only included the obligatory social media typo but also suggested that Judge Karen L. Suter and Bellator had engaged in some sort of conspiracy.
In addition, he revealed that perhaps he doesn’t fully understand the popular Internet meme involving Kermit the Frog and Lipton tea.
“Smart move Bellator!” he wrote. “Go to a small town where your company knows the judge, to get a judgment to p— off your costumers (sic).”
If we can take anyone at their word in this situation, it’s most likely Jackson—he probably was legitimately surprised by this ruling. The idea that he could get out of his Bellator contract just because that’s what he wanted doubtless made perfect sense to him. It seems to fit his overall worldview, after all.
He also probably wholeheartedly believes it when he implies that Bellator should have just let him walk out on that contract, so that his fans—however many of them might be left—could enjoy watching him fight for the competition.
It probably never occurred to Jackson that, in the pending legal action against him, it might not be a great idea to accuse the judge of some vague misconduct. Just as it obviously didn’t occur to him to have somebody proofread his accusation, as he had to go back later to fix the misspelling.
For its part, the UFC also professed to be stunned by the injunction, but that notion—while believable from a professional fighter—seems unbecoming of a multimillion-dollar company. At least in the short term, there was never going to be any other outcome here. The UFC all but guaranteed that when it moved to book Jackson a bout before anybody had figured out if it was legally allowed to do so.
“The UFC organization was surprised about the ruling because Mr. Jackson represented to UFC on multiple occasions that he was free to negotiate and contract with UFC,” the promotion said in an emailed statement. “The UFC organization is also surprised that Bellator sat on its alleged rights for months before taking action.
“UFC understands that Mr. Jackson is considering an emergency appeal, and UFC is also considering action to protect its rights and minimize damages regarding this matter. UFC 186 in Montreal, Canada will proceed as planned, and UFC is currently evaluating its fight card options.”
If you are Rampage Jackson, a couple of those sentences should trouble you. Read a certain way, it sounds as though the UFC would consider filing its own suit against the fighter if it feels he misrepresented his situation.
Perhaps at this juncture, the organization has realized it was a bad idea to take Jackson’s own legal analysis as gospel—though surely it sought a second legal opinion, right? Right?!? Perhaps in retrospect it can admit to itself that booking Jackson for April 26 was a bit premature.
But surprised? Come on now.
For months, Bellator and Jackson have squabbled over the fighter’s employment status. In December, he announced he was heading back to the UFC after three fights in Bellator, alleging his new bosses had failed to live up to the bargain he’d made with the previous regime. Bellator President Scott Coker disagreed, saying if that was how Jackson wanted to play it, the promotion would see him in court.
Shortly thereafter, we got a look inside Jackson’s Bellator contract and it was—in a word—craaay. At some point, UFC President Dana Whitetweeted a smiley face, and then it was game on until this week…when Suter pulled the rug out.
It would have been fairly ostentatious for her to do anything else. Remember, this injunction doesn’t mean Bellator has won Jackson back. It just means the court is going to take more time deciding his fate and that Rampage isn’t allowed to fight until it does.
Even now, however, the UFC hasn’t fully backed down.
On Saturday afternoon, it had play-by-play announcer Jon Anik interview Jackson between fights at Fight Night 63. The interview made no mention of the possibility he might not compete—that, in fact, he might be legally barred from fighting. As of this writing, the UFC continues to list Jackson as a UFC 186 participant on its official website, and even after Suter’s ruling on Tuesday, it released a new highlight video for the event that still prominently features him.
It’s hard to tell where the company is going with all that. Perhaps it’s holding out hope that the “emergency appeal” Jackson is allegedly considering might prove successful? Or, considering the already depleted nature of the UFC 186 card, maybe it feels compelled to promote Jackson’s presence there as long as it possibly can?
As plaintiffs (and the winners here, so far), Bellator was a bit more judicious with its words this week, sending an official email to media members that said only: “We are pleased by the judge’s ruling and look forward to having Rampage fighting for Bellator again soon.”
It was short and sweet, but something rang untrue about that too.
First, because even though Bellator sent that statement as an exact quote (using quotation marks and everything) it didn’t attribute it to anyone specific. In fact, the email made sure to make clear that the quote didn’t come from Coker, after the words were wrongly credited to him in early media reactions.
Second, it’s impossible to believe Bellator is legitimately excited to having Jackson return. Sure, in MMA’s post Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar economy, he’s still a valuable commodity. He would certainly continue to be one of Bellator’s highest-profile employees, for better and worse.
But you think Bellator execs are really “looking forward” to booking Jackson for another fight? No way. This is a guy whose entire identity as a fighter is that he doesn’t handle adversity well. If he doesn’t want to be there, it’s probably best not to force it.
And so, here we are: stasis.
Jackson is going to go right on pretending he’s still fighting at UFC 186, and the two fight companies are just going to keep standing on opposite sides of him, giving each other the evil eye over his shoulder.
Eventually, the judge will come in and tell us where Jackson is allowed to fight next, and then the “winning” company will actually have to deal with the guy…but maybe that’s none of our business.
