Earlier today, CagePotato contributor Trent Reinsmith asked us to consider whether perennial lightweight contender Nate Diaz might secretly be a hell of a lot more cunning than we give him credit for. The main takeaway from you readers seemed to be that the article was “retarded”, “fake”, and also “gay.” Quite the cunning linguists, you guys are. #wordplay #layers
While initially skeptical myself, I was at least willing to hear Trent out, as my own recent revelation about Tito Ortiz has forced me to reconsider that any and every MMA fighter might be some kind of evil genius beneath all the punch drunk slurs and mispronounced maxims.
Until about an hour ago, that was, at the UFC on FOX 13 weigh-ins. Scheduled to face Rafael Dos Anjos in a pivotal lightweight matchup, Diaz showed up a whopping 5.6 pounds overweight and, in a shocking twist, appeared to give less than zero fucks about it. I’m just saying, if I spent a year-long hiatus from my job complaining about not getting paid enough, I sure as hell wouldn’t force the athletic commission to deduct 20% of my paycheck upon my return. So let’s all just go ahead and put that debate to bed.
The rest of the UFC on FOX 13 weigh-in results are after the jump.
Earlier today, CagePotato contributor Trent Reinsmith asked us to consider whether perennial lightweight contender Nate Diaz might secretly be a hell of a lot more cunning than we give him credit for. The main takeaway from you readers seemed to be that the article was “retarded”, “fake”, and also “gay.” Quite the cunning linguists, you guys are. #wordplay #layers
While initially skeptical myself, I was at least willing to hear Trent out, as my own recent revelation about Tito Ortiz has forced me to reconsider that any and every MMA fighter might be some kind of evil genius beneath all the punch drunk slurs and mispronounced maxims.
Until about an hour ago, that was, at the UFC on FOX 13 weigh-ins. Scheduled to face Rafael Dos Anjos in a pivotal lightweight matchup, Diaz showed up a whopping 5.6 pounds overweight and, in a shocking twist, appeared to give less than zero fucks about it. I’m just saying, if I spent a year-long hiatus from my job complaining about not getting paid enough, I sure as hell wouldn’t force the athletic commission to deduct 20% of my paycheck upon my return. So let’s all just go ahead and put that debate to bed.
The rest of the UFC on FOX 13 weigh-in results are below.
Main card (FOX at 8 p.m. ET)
Junior dos Santos (242) vs. Stipe Miocic (243)
Rafael dos Anjos (156) vs. Nate Diaz (160.6)* 5.6 pounds overweight
Alistair Overeem (253) vs. Stefan Struve (254)
Gabriel Gonzaga (256) vs. Matt Mitrione (259)
Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 5 p.m. ET)
John Moraga (126) vs. Willie Gates (126)
Claudia Gadelha (116) vs. Joanna Jerdzejczyk (116)
Joe Riggs (171) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
Jamie Varner (156) vs. Drew Dober (156)
Derek Brunson (185) vs. Ed Herman (186)
Joe Ellenberger (156) vs. Bryan Barberena (155)
Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 3:30 p.m. ET)
David Michaud (155) vs. Garret Whiteley (156)
Henry Cejudo (136) vs. Dustin Kimura (136)
Anthony Birchak (136) vs. Ian Entwistle (136)
(“…and another thing, man, what’s up with these mothaf*ckin Grape Nuts, y’know, is it a grape, is it a nut, I don’t even know what the f*ck I’m eating homie, but it’s whatever.”)
UFC president Dana White once claimed that lightweight fighter Nate Diaz “doesn’t move the needle” with fight fans. Well, heading into his fight on Saturday night against Rafael dos Anjos, Diaz has buried the needle in the red. And you know what? I’m kind of digging it…a lot.
The 29-year-old Stockton, California-based fighter has pulled exactly zero punches leading into the co-main event of UFC on Fox 13. On December 2nd, in the wake of the announcement that the UFC had signed a uniform deal with Reebok, Diaz tweeted his uncensored feelings on the deal; he later said he was hacked, but didn’t bother to delete the tweet in question. Diaz followed that by missing his December 10th scheduled open workout for the UFC on Fox 13 show, claiming he “kind of slept in.” Most recently he blasted both recent UFC signee CM Punk and the UFC for signing the former WWE champion. Diaz’s exact words, “f-ck him, f-ck the whole situation.”
At first blush it seems as if Diaz is slowly pulling a knife across his own throat with these types of comments, but if you dig a little deeper, Diaz may actually be a lot more cunning than he is crazy.
Everyone knows White’s claim that Diaz doesn’t move the needle was total nonsense. Hell, the UFC went and booked Diaz in the co-main event of a Fox event after he sat out for more than a year, so even the people who work for White know that claim was a huge stretch. Diaz also knows that statement was made by White to attempt to put the fighter in check. As Diaz told me when I interviewed him for Fight! Magazine, “I think the moving the needle thing they were saying, and the way they were trying to downplay me was just a ridiculous statement.” Diaz followed that with what now seems like some foreshadowing, “I think that just upped the bar, and now I’m going to move the needle even more.”
Diaz’s recent comments and actions have done just what he promised – generated even more attention around him as a personality and a product. He’s taken his normal rebel stance and cranked it up into overdrive. He’s practically jutting his chin out and waving the UFC in with arms outstretched, asking the promotion to do their worst while knowing full well they can’t do anything but take what he is doling out.
(“…and another thing, man, what’s up with these mothaf*ckin Grape Nuts, y’know, is it a grape, is it a nut, I don’t even know what the f*ck I’m eating homie, but it’s whatever.”)
UFC president Dana White once claimed that lightweight fighter Nate Diaz “doesn’t move the needle” with fight fans. Well, heading into his fight on Saturday night against Rafael dos Anjos, Diaz has buried the needle in the red. And you know what? I’m kind of digging it…a lot.
The 29-year-old Stockton, California-based fighter has pulled exactly zero punches leading into the co-main event of UFC on Fox 13. On December 2nd, in the wake of the announcement that the UFC had signed a uniform deal with Reebok, Diaz tweeted his uncensored feelings on the deal; he later said he was hacked, but didn’t bother to delete the tweet in question. Diaz followed that by missing his December 10th scheduled open workout for the UFC on Fox 13 show, claiming he “kind of slept in.” Most recently he blasted both recent UFC signee CM Punk and the UFC for signing the former WWE champion. Diaz’s exact words, “f-ck him, f-ck the whole situation.”
At first blush it seems as if Diaz is slowly pulling a knife across his own throat with these types of comments, but if you dig a little deeper, Diaz may actually be a lot more cunning than he is crazy.
Everyone knows White’s claim that Diaz doesn’t move the needle was total nonsense. Hell, the UFC went and booked Diaz in the co-main event of a Fox event after he sat out for more than a year, so even the people who work for White know that claim was a huge stretch. Diaz also knows that statement was made by White to attempt to put the fighter in check. As Diaz told me when I interviewed him for Fight! Magazine, “I think the moving the needle thing they were saying, and the way they were trying to downplay me was just a ridiculous statement.” Diaz followed that with what now seems like some foreshadowing, “I think that just upped the bar, and now I’m going to move the needle even more.”
Diaz’s recent comments and actions have done just what he promised – generated even more attention around him as a personality and a product. He’s taken his normal rebel stance and cranked it up into overdrive. He’s practically jutting his chin out and waving the UFC in with arms outstretched, asking the promotion to do their worst while knowing full well they can’t do anything but take what he is doling out.
The UFC could react to Diaz, but the only way the promotion can silence him is to release him, and that would be a huge mistake on the UFC’s part. Diaz understands this, just as much as the UFC does.
Say Diaz loses to Dos Anjos on Saturday night; do you honestly think the UFC would release him? That’s not going to happen. The minute Diaz is released, Bellator would send a Brink’s truck over to his Stockton abode looking to sign him to a long-term deal. Diaz knows he has value, and right now he’s making sure the UFC knows that he knows that.
If Diaz does lose and is released by the UFC; Diaz and Bellator have a ready-made storyline to sell to the fans that tune into the Bellator fights on Spike TV. Nate Diaz — the rebel that was too much for the UFC to handle.
Another reason the UFC will not and more importantly cannot release Diaz is the fact that he is a known commodity with a rabid fan following who has fought in the UFC since 2007. The last time Diaz was not on a main card was 2011 when he fought Rory MacDonald on the Spike TV portion of UFC 129. When discussing this point with MMAFighting, Diaz said, “”Come on. I’ll lose this fight and they’ll bring me back and put me on another main event, co-main event. And then they probably won’t because I just said that. But it don’t matter, you’re still going to sell the card with me or somebody who’s been around long enough, because everyone’s new.”
So, what if Diaz wins on Saturday night? Will Joe Rogan approach Diaz in the Octagon with a live microphone and let him offer his thoughts on his fight, and his future with the UFC? My money says there’s not a chance that will occur after what’s gone down these last few days. However, if it does happen, I would like to see an iso cam on White’s face from the moment Rogan leaves his seat cageside to the last “Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu” shout out from Diaz.
Odds are that the broadcast will go to commercial and the next time we see Diaz will be at the post-fight presser where UFC brass will pray that no one asks Diaz a question, and if you have ever attended or watched a post-fight press conference after a Diaz fight, you know that is not going to happen.
The one drawback to this plan, and I’ll admit it is a big drawback, is that if Diaz is not released from his UFC deal he will be forced to toil under the contract he signed prior to facing Benson Henderson in 2012. Still, Diaz will continue to get paid, and best of all (at least for fans and media), he’ll continue to speak his mind for the duration of that contract, looking to see if he can find that magic UFC release button that will send him into the arms of a suitor with a wide open checkbook.
The UFC – scratch that, UFC fans — need more rebels like Diaz, fighters who are unafraid to say what they want. Fighters who know their value and are unafraid to make every attempt to get what they deserve. Sure the fans have their “UFC approved” badasses like Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor who wear the rebel’s uniform while winking at the UFC brass, but the real zero-f*cks-given rebels like Nate Diaz are few and far between. These are the fighters that will move the needle. These are the fighters that will call the UFC out when the feel they are getting the short end of the deal. These are the fighters that may or may not last too long with the UFC, but they’ll always be the fighters the fans will remember.
Keep moving that needle Mr. Diaz, keep moving that needle.
That’s how UFC lightweight Jamie Varner describes his trials and tribulations during the past year, in which he got knocked out by Abel Trujillo in a fight that he was winning, then suffered a TKO loss by ankle-injury against James Krause — in another fight that he was winning.
Varner’s back is against the wall as he returns to the Octagon at UFC on FOX 13, which takes place this Saturday, December 13th, in Varner’s hometown of Phoenix. In this candid interview with CagePotato.com, Jamie Varner opens up about the UFC’s controversial new partnership with Reebok, how he’s trying to rebound from a tough 2014, and his upcoming opponent, Drew Dober. (“I didn’t know anything about him. I still don’t.”) Enjoy, and follow Jamie on twitter and sqor.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Since it’s such a hot topicthese days, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the UFC’s uniform deal with Reebok. Overall, do you think it’s a good thing, a bad thing, or is it still too early to tell?
JAMIE VARNER: It’s a little too early to tell. The organization is becoming more mainstream, the overall operations are becoming more corporate, and I think it’s time to implement some sort of fighters’ union, just to make sure that everything is fair and evenly distributed among the fighters. Because for me personally, about 30-40% of my income comes from sponsorships, and with the way their tier system has been announced, it’s like, champions get the most, #1-5 [ranked UFC contenders] get the second-most, 6-10 the third-most, 11-15 the fourth-most, and then all non-ranked fighters are going to be on the same level.
For a guy like me, I’m not in the top 15, but I’ve beaten a couple guys who are — Edson Barboza is ranked like #11 [Ed. Note:He’s actually #6 now] Donald Cerrone is top 5. So I’ve beaten guys in the top 12. And I have a pretty good audience and presence when I fight, people like to tune in to watch me throw down, so I don’t think that I should be making the same amount as a guy who has never fought on a main card, never got a Fight of the Night bonus. I just don’t really understand how this is all going to work out. I can’t really comment on whether I’m upset or happy with the way everything is. I do like the fact that we are all going to look nice. I like the fact that there is going be a little more structure, and we’re going to be more mainstream by having the uniforms, but the fighters need to be appropriately compensated.
That’s how UFC lightweight Jamie Varner describes his trials and tribulations during the past year, in which he got knocked out by Abel Trujillo in a fight that he was winning, then suffered a TKO loss by ankle-injury against James Krause — in another fight that he was winning.
Varner’s back is against the wall as he returns to the Octagon at UFC on FOX 13, which takes place this Saturday, December 13th, in Varner’s hometown of Phoenix. In this candid interview with CagePotato.com, Jamie Varner opens up about the UFC’s controversial new partnership with Reebok, how he’s trying to rebound from a tough 2014, and his upcoming opponent, Drew Dober. (“I didn’t know anything about him. I still don’t.”) Enjoy, and follow Jamie on twitter and sqor.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Since it’s such a hot topicthese days, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the UFC’s uniform deal with Reebok. Overall, do you think it’s a good thing, a bad thing, or is it still too early to tell?
JAMIE VARNER: It’s a little too early to tell. The organization is becoming more mainstream, the overall operations are becoming more corporate, and I think it’s time to implement some sort of fighters’ union, just to make sure that everything is fair and evenly distributed among the fighters. Because for me personally, about 30-40% of my income comes from sponsorships, and with the way their tier system has been announced, it’s like, champions get the most, #1-5 [ranked UFC contenders] get the second-most, 6-10 the third-most, 11-15 the fourth-most, and then all non-ranked fighters are going to be on the same level.
For a guy like me, I’m not in the top 15, but I’ve beaten a couple guys who are — Edson Barboza is ranked like #11 [Ed. Note:He’s actually #6 now] Donald Cerrone is top 5. So I’ve beaten guys in the top 12. And I have a pretty good audience and presence when I fight, people like to tune in to watch me throw down, so I don’t think that I should be making the same amount as a guy who has never fought on a main card, never got a Fight of the Night bonus. I just don’t really understand how this is all going to work out. I can’t really comment on whether I’m upset or happy with the way everything is. I do like the fact that we are all going to look nice. I like the fact that there is going be a little more structure, and we’re going to be more mainstream by having the uniforms, but the fighters need to be appropriately compensated.
You mentioned that 30-40% of your income comes from sponsorships. Has that number held steady in recent years, or have you personally seen the market for sponsors in this sport dry up?
I was making more money, sponsorship-wise, back when I was in the WEC. That was also before you had to pay the [UFC sponsor] tax. But I was able to get big money from sponsors on fight night, and as soon as they implemented the sponsorship tax, money has definitely gone down. As well as the dilution of the sport — I mean there’s over 40 UFC events a year, so the sponsors aren’t paying as much money as they used to because there’s so many shows. So I’ve noticed that with the dilution [of events], the prices have kind of come down a little bit, but nevertheless, just because I’ve been a fan favorite and I’ve been around a long time and I have a great agent — Oren [Hodak] with KO Reps does right by me — I still have been able to make about 30-40% of my income from sponsors. So let’s say I make $20,000 in a fight, I can almost count on having $10,000-$15,000 in sponsorship money. At the end of the year, it totals out to be about 30-40% of my income, from sponsors.
I’d like to talk about the year you’ve had, which has been challenging at times, to say the least. That ankle break you suffered against James Krause looked terrible. In terms of the injury itself and the recovery, is it safe to call that the worst injury of your career?
No, it wasn’t the worst injury of my career. The worst injury of my career was definitely when I broke my hand and broke my foot against Donald Cerrone when I was in the WEC back in 2008 — but [the ankle injury] is #2. Yeah, this year’s been a tough year, man. I lost to Abel Trujillo in a fight that I was dominating. It was my first time ever being knocked out in my career. I’ve never even been dropped in training, in sparring, and I spar with monsters like Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway, Carlos Condit. I spar with some tough, tough guys, some pro boxers, and I’ve never gone down with a head shot.
To see the look in Abel’s eyes, to see that he had quit in that fight, that he had given up, that he had accepted defeat, and getting caught the way I got caught, with my hands down? It really sucked. Seriously, I looked into his eyes and he was done, and I was just waiting for the ref to come in and stop the fight. And the next thing I know I’m picking myself up. So kudos to Abel for toughing out the fight, but yeah, this year’s been a tough year. Breaking my ankle in the first minute of the first round with James Krause, and still being able to win the round, but losing that fight. Losing a tough split-decision to Gleison Tibau — I mean that fight I felt like I clearly won. Honestly, dude, I’m the best fighter with the worst luck, but I’m just gonna keep on fighting and keep on bringing it.
As you grow older in the sport, is there anything different you need to do in terms of physical preparation or recovery? Are you doing anything different lately to take better care of your body and prevent further injuries?
I’ve been doing this sport a long time, and plus I was wrestling and boxing in college, so I have a lot of wear and tear on my body. I took a different approach this training camp, which was a little bit longer than some of my past training camps. I used to do 6-8 weeks, and I did 8-10 weeks this time around, and I’ve only been doing two-a-days. I used to do three-a-days, Monday through Friday, and take Saturday and Sunday off. Now, I do two-a-days Monday through Thursday, one workout on Friday, and one workout on Saturday. But the Saturday workout is only an hour long, and I pretty much get the whole day to recover, then I get all day Sunday to recover. As far as being beat up and having injuries during training camp — because that’s when most of our injuries occur, is during training camp — I can’t tell you the last time I had a fight and I wasn’t injured going into it. Before I fought Ben Henderson, I had tore my MCL, I was just going off of cortisone shots in my knee just to survive the training camp and get through that fight, and then pretty much every fight since then I’ve had some sort of injury. From what I hear, most fighters are the same way. You go into almost every fight banged up, a little injured, and that’s the way it is. It’s such a hard sport on your body
You’ll be fighting at UFC on FOX 13 against Drew Dober, a guy who had floated around the regional promotions for a while before getting a UFC contract last year. Had he been on your radar before this fight was announced? Did you know much about him?
I didn’t know anything about him. I still don’t. I’ve seen three fights of his. One of them was against a southpaw so I just turned that fight off after a little while. Another one was against a guy at 170 pounds who was about six inches taller than me, so that fight doesn’t really make any sense. The only fight that really made any sense was a fight that he did about a year ago in a regional promotion that I watched. It went three rounds and he ended up winning the decision, but he got dropped twice in the first round with punches and was put full on into a triangle choke, completely locked up, and was still able to fight his way out and come back and win that fight. So he’s a tough, durable dude that’s gonna be another tough test for me, but I also expect this to be Fight of the Night. It’s gonna be like “Clash of the Titans,” we both like to move forward, we like to throw punches and kicks, we both like to command the center of the ring.
Alright Jamie, it’s lightning-round time. At this point, what do you consider to be the greatest fight of your career?
Rob McCullough and Edson Barboza, those two were the best fights of my career.
That was UFC 68, and no I have not about bringing that back.
I’ve seen photos on social media of the “green drink” that you make. What exactly goes into that, and are there any special tricks to making it taste good?
There are no tricks into making it taste good. It’s Lacinato kale, a half a Granny Smith green apple, and a half a cucumber, and that’s it. The Granny Smith apple sweetens it up enough to just make it bearable.
Is there anything else you’d like to say before I let you go?
Yeah, I just want to give Body Fortress a shout-out, they’re my main sponsor, and they’re not even allowed in the UFC. They’ve been sponsoring me for two years now — I’m going into my third year with them — and they’re a great company to work for. I use all of their products, off-season and when I’m training for a fight. Their whey isolate and their glutamine are my top two that I use in training camp, and then out of training camp I use their advanced whey protein, their creatine, and their NOS.
The point is, Overeem has something of a habit of overlooking his opponents, and just once, I wish that he would refrain from making such lofty predictions for an upcoming fight and all but condemning himself to underperform, or worse, get KTFO. Scheduled to face Stefan Struve at UFC on FOX 13: Miocic vs. Dos Santos this weekend, Overeem has once again fallen back on old habits, claiming that he will finish Stefan Struve inside the first minute of the fight on the UFC on FOX 13 “Road to the Octagon” special:
I’m really not that impressed by him. I’m a striker, and I like to knock people out. I’m going to knock him out in the first 30 seconds. I’m a mean motherf-cker, and it’s going to come out in the fight.
The point is, Overeem has something of a habit of overlooking his opponents, and just once, I wish that he would refrain from making such lofty predictions for an upcoming fight and all but condemning himself to underperform, or worse, get KTFO. Scheduled to face Stefan Struve at UFC on FOX 13: Miocic vs. Dos Santos this weekend, Overeem has once again fallen back on old habits, claiming that he will finish Stefan Struve inside the first minute of the fight on the UFC on FOX 13 “Road to the Octagon” special:
I’m really not that impressed by him. I’m a striker, and I like to knock people out. I’m going to knock him out in the first 30 seconds. I’m a mean motherf-cker, and it’s going to come out in the fight.
Look, I like Alistair Overeem. I find him to be a genuinely intriguing individual in the sea of blandness that is the heavyweight division. When he’s on his game (or fighting a tomato can), he can be one of the most devastating fighters on the planet — a 250 pound wrecking machine who will kick your diverticulitis so hard that your children will be born with IBS. And I get that in order to be a fighter of his level, one must have supreme confidence in their abilities no matter how many setbacks they suffer.
But seriously, Alistair? 30 seconds? THAT LIP, YOU SHOULD BUTTON IT.
While Overeem was also quick to mention his recent setbacks at the hands of Rothwell among others, history dictates that his prediction can only result in a “Skyscraper” TKO win in the first 15 seconds. So take notice, gamblers, Overeem is going down in the first. It’s practically a Brick Top guarantee.
Diaz hasn’t competed since his first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at the TUF 18 Finale last November, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Rafael Dos Anjos is coming off the biggest win of his career — a first-round knockout of Benson Henderson last month — and has won seven of his last eight fights. Your predictions, please.
Diaz hasn’t competed since his first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at the TUF 18 Finale last November, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Rafael Dos Anjos is coming off the biggest win of his career — a first-round knockout of Benson Henderson last month — and has won seven of his last eight fights. Your predictions, please.
Saunders was successful in his own UFC return in August, submitting Chris Heatherly with an omoplata — the first such finish in the promotion’s history — after a 7-3 run in Bellator. Riggs has yet to compete this year, but is riding a six-fight win streak. And in case you missed it, Joe Riggs says his recent near-death experience started when he brought a gun to his gym and his friend cocked it. To which we can only respond: Joe, that “friend” of yours is trying to kill you.
Saunders was successful in his own UFC return in August, submitting Chris Heatherly with an omoplata — the first such finish in the promotion’s history — after a 7-3 run in Bellator. Riggs has yet to compete this year, but is riding a six-fight win streak. And in case you missed it, Joe Riggs says his recent near-death experience started when he brought a gun to his gym and his friend cocked it. To which we can only respond: Joe, that “friend” of yours is trying to kill you.
In other UFC on FOX 13 booking news, former flyweight title challenger John Moraga will face contender Jussier “Formiga” da Silva, who has scored back-to-back wins against Scott Jorgensen and Zach Makovsky. Moraga is coming off a guillotine choke victory against Justin Scoggins at UFC Fight Night 50 earlier this month.
