True to his word, Jamie Varner was more than holding his own against Drew Dober at UFC on FOX 13 last weekend until bad luck befell him. While attempting to slam Dober to the mat, Varner pulled a Maynard and unintentionally knocked himself out, only waking up to find himself in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
It was a particularly tough loss for Varner, being his fourth in as many contests and coming in front of his hometown crowd, and one that signaled that perhaps the game had passed by the former WEC champ. So for the second time, Varner called it quits in his post-fight interview, stating that it was a decision he had been planning to make for some time.
In an interview with media members after the fight, Varner expanded upon his reasons for retiring, what the future holds for him, and perhaps most importantly, the idea of starting a fighter’s union. Join us after the jump for the full interview.
(Photo via Getty.)
True to his word, Jamie Varner was more than holding his own against Drew Dober at UFC on FOX 13 last weekend until bad luck befell him. While attempting to slam Dober to the mat, Varner pulled a Maynard and unintentionally knocked himself out, only waking up to find himself in a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
It was a particularly tough loss for Varner, being his fourth in as many contests and coming in front of his hometown crowd, and one that signaled that perhaps the game had passed by the former WEC champ. So for the second time, Varner called it quits in his post-fight interview, stating that it was a decision he had been planning to make for some time.
In an interview with media members after the fight, Varner expanded upon his reasons for retiring, what the future holds for him, and perhaps most importantly, the idea of starting a fighter’s union. Check out the full interview below.
I would love to start some type of union for fighters. I mean, the sport is growing, and we’re getting all these big-time endorsement deals, and a lot of us – we’re just fighters. We don’t think about the next step.
I think it’s something that needs to happen. We are a mainstream, major sport now, and if you look at all the mainstream, major sports, they all have unions, and they have league minimums and some sort of retirement (plan) and all that kind of stuff. I think that’s something that needs to happen for fighters because this is one of those careers that when it’s over, a lot of these guys don’t have something else.
And just like that, Varner has likely been blacklisted.
I kid, but it is interesting to note how many fighters have felt comfortable discussing the potential of a fighter union in recent months, especially in light of the multi-million dollar lawsuit currently being filed against the UFC by some such fighters. Are the two directly related? Possibly, but it’s almost impossible to deny that the tide is starting to turn on the premiere organization in mixed martial arts. With guys like Brendan Schaub already coming forward to lament how badly the Reebok deal is screwing them over financially, it looks like the idea of a fighter union is starting to gain some steam. And it’s about f*cking time.
The incident played out in a way that was very similar to the late punch that Paul Daley threw at Josh Koscheck after their UFC 113 fight had come to its conclusion. White wasted little time firing Daley from the UFC after his late strike, telling those at the post-fight press conference: “He’s done. I don’t give a shit if he’s the best 170-pounder in the world. He’ll never come back here again…I’m probably the most lenient guy in sports. And this is probably one of the most lenient organizations. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, things happen. There’s no excuse for that. These guys are professional athletes. You don’t ever hit a guy blatantly after the bell like that whether you’re frustrated or not. It was probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen…I don’t care if he fights in every show all over the world and becomes the best and everybody thinks he’s the pound-for-pound best in the world. He will never fight in the UFC ever again.”
I guess you could argue that due to the nature of the sport (basically punching another individual in the head), Daley should have gotten off with a strong warning, but White went with the nuclear option and permabanned Daley on the spot.
So, when Gadelha did pretty much the exact same thing after her fight with Jedrzejczyk had come to a close, the expectation would have been for White to appear at the UFC on Fox 13 post-fight press conference red-faced with anger. He didn’t — White more or less just shrugged it off.
(“You can’t put the slap back in the jar.” — Traditional Italian proverb that I just made up. / Photo via Getty)
The incident played out in a way that was very similar to the late punch that Paul Daley threw at Josh Koscheck after their UFC 113 fight had come to its conclusion. White wasted little time firing Daley from the UFC after his late strike, telling those at the post-fight press conference: “He’s done. I don’t give a shit if he’s the best 170-pounder in the world. He’ll never come back here again…I’m probably the most lenient guy in sports. And this is probably one of the most lenient organizations. We’re all human, we all make mistakes, things happen. There’s no excuse for that. These guys are professional athletes. You don’t ever hit a guy blatantly after the bell like that whether you’re frustrated or not. It was probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen…I don’t care if he fights in every show all over the world and becomes the best and everybody thinks he’s the pound-for-pound best in the world. He will never fight in the UFC ever again.”
I guess you could argue that due to the nature of the sport (basically punching another individual in the head), Daley should have gotten off with a strong warning, but White went with the nuclear option and permabanned Daley on the spot.
So, when Gadelha did pretty much the exact same thing after her fight with Jedrzejczyk had come to a close, the expectation would have been for White to appear at the UFC on Fox 13 post-fight press conference red-faced with anger. He didn’t — White more or less just shrugged it off.
The UFC president said of Gadelha’s actions, “People were going crazy on that one. She hit her after the bell, she did this, she did that.’ And then of course everybody goes back to Daley. ‘You kicked Daley out for that.’ The difference is this: when Daley did it to Koscheck, I was in there, and I went up to Daley because he was getting pulled around, and he didn’t care. He didn’t give a s–t. He looked right at me and said he didn’t care. As soon as (Gadelha) did it to (Jedrzejczyk), she reached her hand out and she apologized to her. She said ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ She apologized.” White then added, “Those two had a war. They’re in the heat of a battle. She landed a kick and then the bell rang, and then she hit her with a punch. And then she completely apologized for doing it. Totally different scenario.”
Yeah, no. It’s the same thing. She punched her opponent after the horn had sounded to end the fight. The only difference is that prior to this fight Gadelha was being touted as a potential title contender in a very thin weight class. In other words, the UFC needs to keep her around for the sake of the strawweight division. Daley was more or less expendable at the time he committed his foul.
White’s “she completely apologized” excuse for not punishing Gadelha for the illegal strike is almost as laughable as UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s claim of, “I don’t think she was trying to hit her there, I think she was trying to like high five her or something.”
Remorse or lack of remorse should have nothing to do with how these things are dealt with because there’s no way to tell if the remorse is legitimate or feigned. When someone is caught red-handed doing something they shouldn’t, of course they’re going to go through some sort of calculation as to how they can get out of trouble or at least minimize the punishment. (For the record, Daley apologized the next day after cheap-shotting Koscheck.)
How White can discern the level of real remorse that Gadelha had after the late punch is beyond me. Yet there he was proclaiming that he knew that Gadelha was sorry for her actions because, you know, she acted like she was sorry. If that’s all it takes to get out of trouble with White, one can only imagine the havoc that his children get away with.
The bottom line is Gadelha broke the same rule that Daley did in pretty much the same way Daley did, and she walked away from it without even getting a stern look from the UFC boss.
In other words, hypocritical business as usual for the UFC’s head honcho.
Before the main card action was underway this past Saturday night, we had a pretty eventful weekend already.
The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale saw a new women’s strawweight champion crowned, as Carla Esparza submitted Rose Namajunas in the final, after a string of pretty decent fights.
Then came UFC on FOX 13, headlined by a heavyweight fight featuring Junior dos Santos against Stipe Miocic. The prelims were strange but sufficient, Henry Cejudo winning his debut, younger-than-he-looks Joe Riggs suffering an injury in his Bellator superfight against Ben Saunders, John Moraga being dropped by Willie Gates after complaining about a low blow to the official, last-minute food poisoning for Derek Brunson, Jamie Varner retiring after a loss with hopes of starting a fighter union, Ryan Jimmo’s terrible seats, Phil Baroni’s shlong, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk outpointing Claudia Gadelha (who pulled a Paul Daley in the heat of the moment, but apologized right away) to go on to face Esparza in the near future.
Before the main card action got underway this past Saturday night at UFC on FOX 13, we had seen a pretty eventful weekend already.
The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale saw a new women’s strawweight champion crowned, as Carla Esparza submitted Rose Namajunas in the final, after a string of pretty decent fights.
Then came UFC on FOX 13, headlined by a heavyweight fight featuring Junior dos Santos against Stipe Miocic. The prelims were strange but sufficient, with Henry Cejudo winning his debut, younger-than-he-looks Joe Riggs suffering an injury in his Bellator superfight against Ben Saunders, John Moraga being dropped by Willie Gates after complaining about a low blow to the official, last-minute food poisoning for Derek Brunson, Jamie Varner retiring after a loss with hopes of starting a fighter union, Ryan Jimmo’s terrible seats, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk outpointing Claudia Gadelha (who pulled a Paul Daley in the heat of the moment, but apologized right away) to go on to face Esparza in the near future.
All those happenings revolved around a huge story that broke in the afternoon courtesy of Bloody Elbow, but don’t worry, we’ll get to that in a bit.
The stage was set for the remaining four fights on prime time television, featuring three heavyweight battles and a lightweight battle consisting of one dude that apparently makes heavyweights shit their pants.
Speaking of which, Nate Diaz was buried by the UFC as soon as the show got underway, with footage of the Stockton fighter walking out on his pre-fight interview. And frankly, we can’t blame him, because who wouldn’t get sick of answering how you’re going to topple your foe for the past seven years?
Let’s get the two opening fights out of the way, as Matt Mitrione excelled in somewhat of a crossroads fight, knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga in two minutes. Mitrione’s performance couldn’t have been any better, as he clocked Gonzaga and followed up with fight-ending blows, and even had to deliver the last kiss when referee Herb Dean failed to stop the fight and allowed Gonzaga to take one last brutal shot that clearly knocked him out.
It was great to see a healthy Stefan Struve compete again after his fainting spell at UFC 175, and it’s safe to say nearly everyone that was familiar with that story felt a little nervous about the “Skyscraper” stepping inside the cage again. There were no conditioning issues, but unfortunately, Struve suffered his fifth knockout loss in the UFC at just 26 years old. Alistair Overeem brutalized his fellow Dutchman with ground-and-pound, leaving his younger opponent on the receiving end of a beatdown.
It’s hard to say where this leaves the “Demolition Man,” but at least the K-1 Grand Prix champion isn’t in hot water, and will most likely take on Mark Hunt or the night’s main event winner.
Back to Diaz, he came in nearly five pounds overweight for his lightweight tussle against Rafael dos Anjos, meaning the battle was contested at a catchweight. It was as one-sided as they get, with the Brazilian brutalizing Diaz’s lead leg, forcing the former 155-pound title challenger to limp early. In the end, dos Anjos was better than Diaz everywhere, and even mauled him on the ground for what it’s worth.
At the post-fight presser, UFC President Dana White, who was already not fond of his fighter’s actions, expressed his concerns about Diaz’s future, citing he gets serious or retires. We don’t have crystal balls, but chances are Diaz won’t retire, and that thought is laughable, since White is more or less suggesting the younger Diaz brother — who always “played the game” unlike his older brother — doesn’t have options elsewhere. His manager Mike Kogan is buddies with Bellator boss Scott Coker, not to mention the promotion’s new matchmaker. The case of Diaz will presumably develop in the coming days, yet if there were ever a time for a fighter to lash out after his company tried to put a suit and tie on him, it’s now.
The main event saw Junior dos Santos defeat Stipe Miocic by unanimous decision, although the two 49-46 scorecards were downright terrible. The firefighter clearly won the opening two rounds, clocking the Brazilian with his crisp boxing and had the former heavyweight champion in a bit of trouble. The Brazilian came on strong for the remainder of the fight, dropping his foe, but took the same amount of damage in the five-round slugfest.
It was one of those fights where you can’t have a problem with JDS winning, or losing, for that matter. It was a close fight, and although MMA blowhards are susceptible to call robbery every time they don’t agree with the judges, this was one of those “either/or” cases. The criteria to be a judge must be a high school degree and 48 hours of community service working at a Salvation Army, yet we already knew that. However, the fight wasn’t exactly an instant classic, as some journalists would have called it. It was damn good, and maybe one that needs a rewatch on Monday morning with a few slices of leftover pizza for breakfast. But please, refrain from saying it was “one for the ages” and all that jazz.
Who knows where this leaves JDS, though, if Cain Velasquez beats Fabricio Werdum in the next few months. Werdum has a loss to dos Santos, so that’s compelling, but Velasquez mauled the Brazilian twice, so it’s kind of senseless. It’s a question that will be relevant until his next fight is announced (which could be against a former rival in Overeem), so let’s not dwell on specifics and let the chips fall where they may. Still, there’s a growing concern for how much damage dos Santos takes. Some bust and bleed easy, however, he’s starting look a tad like Miss Piggy.
So, all in all, UFC on FOX 13 proved to be a damn good night of fights, capping off a weekend where the promotion crowned a new champ and Rousimar Palhares held on to Jon Fitch’s leg for too long elsewhere. Credit the UFC for the latter half of 2014 being relatively awesome, as they are currently on a good run of exciting fights these past few months minus a crop of fights being canned due to injuries.
With a new sponsorship deal and controversies like failed drug tests, a rankings overhaul done by “proper” media, and domestic abuse not far away, 2015 can’t come any sooner, with news breaking yesterday about a class action lawsuit against UFC officials, with their own fighters (and managers) challenging them in the court. Apparently, it’s for $100s of millions of dollars, stemming from the promotion “abusing their market power to intentionally and systematically cripple the free market,” and cites the Reebok deal, too.
There have been plenty of game changers in the past, but this one is huge. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, with the UFC inching closer to dominating the whole landscape of fighting, while the fans and observers have to resort to keeping up with over 40 events a year. Just when we thought this carnival sport had stolen our souls (let’s face it, it did), there’s actually hope for the future.
Junior Dos Santos earned a questionable decision over Stipe Miocic at UFC on Fox 13. The fight main-evented one of the more “stacked” (please forgive the cliche) Fox cards in recent memory.
How did these matches play out? Check out the video highlight packages below and see for yourself after the jump.
Junior Dos Santos earned a questionable decision over Stipe Miocic at UFC on Fox 13. The fight main-evented one of the more “stacked” (please forgive the cliche) Fox cards in recent memory.
How did these matches play out? Check out the video highlight packages below and see for yourself.
In the opening bout, Matt Mitrione out-hustled a plodding Gabe Gonzaga, scoring an early TKO. Mitrione even did a bit of meta-gaming by backing off when Herb Dean moved closer to Gonzaga would think the fight was stopped. Once Gonzaga rose to his feet, defenseless, Mitrione pounced in and unloaded with even more punches. A shrewd move.
Alistair Overeem took on Stefan Struve in the next fight. The contest was as one-sided as people thought it would be, though it did feature more takedowns than anyone expected. Overeem dragged Struve to the mat, and proceeded to bash his head in Gregor Clegane style until “Big” John McCarthy stopped the fight.
Nate Diaz and Rafael Dos Anjos fought in the night’s co-main event. Diaz looked flat and uninterested. Meanwhile, Dos Anjos looked more fierce than the raptors in that Gatorade Fierce commercial from 1999. This proved to be a recipe for an extremely one-sided affair. Dos Anjos battered a hobbling Diaz with leg kicks. Dos Anjos likely could’ve finished Diaz with leg kicks but instead he opted for the tired MMA trope of taking your opponent down and smothering them when they’re in danger of being TKOd. Dos Anjos won a unanimous decision victory. Diaz blamed his loss (and failure to make weight for the fight) on an injury.
And, as we stated above, JDS and Stipe Miocic faced off in the main event. JDS didn’t look like himself. About 1,000 people on Twitter claimed Cain Velasquez had taken his soul, and while it’s a cliched expression, it looked pretty accurate last night. JDS ate lots of punches, wasn’t as accurate as he has been in the past, and was slower. The JDS of 2-3 years ago would’ve knocked out Stipe Miocic in a round. Today’s JDS couldn’t even finish him.
The entire fight card’s results are below:
Main Card
Junior Dos Santos def. Stipe Miocic via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46).
Rafael dos Anjos def. Nate Diaz via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27).
Alistair Overeem def. Stefan Struve via knockout (punches) (R1, 4:13).
Matt Mitrione def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (punches) (R1, 1:59).
Preliminary Card
Joanna Jerdzejczyk def. Claudia Gadelha via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
John Moraga def. Willie Gates via submission (rear-naked choke) (R3, 4:06).
Ben Saunders def. Joe Riggs via submission (injury tapout) (1, 0:57).
Drew Dober def. Jamie Varner via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 1:52).
Bryan Barberena def. Joe Ellenberger via TKO (strikes) (R3, 3:24).
David Michaud def. Garret Whiteley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Henry Cejudo def. Dustin Kimura via unanimous decision (30-27 x3).
Ian Entwistle def. Anthony Birchak via submission (heel hook) (R1, 1:04).
Our friend Alex Giardini will be furiously typing out round-by-round results from the “Dos Santos vs. Miocic” main card after the jump, beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and tell us how you’re feeling on twitter @cagepotatomma. Cheers!
(“Someday *I’ll* be big, and you’ll have to listen to *me*!” — That kid in the background. / Photo via Getty)
Our friend Alex Giardini will be furiously typing out round-by-round results from the “Dos Santos vs. Miocic” main card after the jump, beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and tell us how you’re feeling on twitter @cagepotatomma. Cheers!
Preliminary Card Results
– Joanna Jedrzejczyk def. Claudia Gadelha via split decision (28-29, 29-28×2)
– John Moraga def. Willie Gates via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:06 of R3
– Ben Saunders def. Joe Riggs via submission (injury) at 0:57 of R1
– Drew Dober def. Jamie Varner via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:52 of R1
– Derek Brunson vs. Ed Herman (Canceled due to Brunson suffering from food poisoning)
– Bryan Barberena def. Joe Ellenberger via TKO (strikes) at 3:24 of R3
– David Michaud def. Garett Whiteley via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
– Henry Cejudo def. Dustin Kimura via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
– Ian Entwistle def. Anthony Birchak via submission (heel hook) at 1:04 of R1
Welcome to the UFC on FOX 13 liveblog. Stay a while, share some laughs, and pray for some saucy scraps. It’s been a pretty eventful evening thus far to say the least, so let’s hope the trend continues.
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Matt Mitrione
Round 1: Mitrione declines to touch gloves, and starts talking to him. Mitrione is bouncy on the feet, but gets caught by a right hand from Gonzaga. Mitrione lands a sharp jab, keeping up with his footwork. Gonzaga steps on Mitrione’s foot, and the latter starts to back up. Gonzaga starting to walk him down. Both heavyweights are swinging wildly, but missing most of their punches. Mitrione staggers Gonzaga with a brutal left hand, and the Brazilian goes down on all fours. Mitrione lacing him with shots, and Gonzaga tries to get up but is brought down again. It’s all over, and the man formerly known as “Meathead” gets the job done.
Matt Mitrione def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (strikes) at 1:59 of R1
