Sherdog – Soriano was one of two competitors to get job offers from the UFC. Regiment Training Center export Yorgan De Castro was the other, as he kept his perfect professional record intact and put away Sanford Alton Meeks with a leg kick and follow-up punches in the first round of their heavyweight showcase. A former linebacker at Iowa State University, Meeks (1-1) bowed out 4:45 into Round 1.
Correction: This blog was updated to correct Yorgan De Castro’s current gym as Regiment Training Center.
“We want to be able to say, ‘I come from New England MMA, we’re some of the baddest motherfuckers in the country’.”
Those were the words of Peter Barrett when I interviewed him before Cage Titans XLIV last week. One might say Yorgan De Castro’s victory last night might be the icing on the cake for that sentiment. We saw what fighters from the local scene could do to each other on Saturday. Last night, De Castro showed what they could to everyone else.
De Castro came into this fight not only highly ranked in MA and New England at Heavyweight, but at Light Heavyweight as well. Although he weighed in at 253lbs for this bout, I wouldn’t be shocked if eventually he cut back down. With that said it is HARD to see him doing that any time soon after a performance like this one.
His opponent, Alton Meeks, is actually a former D1 linebacker at Iowa State, so you know he’s an athlete. He was able to take De Casto down a couple of times but the Regiment Training Center product kept getting back up, frustrating the hell out of Meeks. From there it was only a matter of time before De Castro showed how devastating he could be on the feet, earning his fourth KO/TKO in five fights and keeping his perfect record in tact.
So click clack, I think they hear us coming. The rest of the MMA world is surely aware of NE MMA now. Our little local scene boasts Lauzon, Powell, Kattar, and Font in the big time with De Castro now joining them. Congrats to Yorgan De Castro, a big win for a whole community.
Let’s GOOOOOO! As you probably saw Red worked some magic and your boy gets to live his MMA blogger dream Saturday when we get to sit cageside at Cage Titans, a premier New England MMA promotion.
This week I’ll be speaking with a few of the fighters competing this Saturday to get their thoughts on everything from the their upcoming bouts to the fight game in general.
Yesterday afternoon I got to chop it up with one of the baddest men at 155lbs in the commonwealth and The Ultimate Fighter 27 finalist Joe Giannetti. Looking to send the crowd home happy Saturday as the hometown headliner against D’Juan Owens, “Skeletor” gave us a peak into his training, goals, and how he sees this fight playing out.
The 300s: So it’s been awhile since we’ve seen you in there, what have you been up to, what have you been working on, what have you been doing during the layoff?
Gianetti: Well actually I’ve fought a couple times. November and in January. I actually wanted to fight in April but it didn’t work out.
The 300s: O ok I got ya, bad internet information (Note: Fucking Sherdog). In terms of your opponent D’Juan, he has a ton of experience. And unlike a lot of these guys with long records on the regional scene he has a winning record and clearly has some game. Does that change the way you prepare?
Giannetti: No, not really. I’ve been to the show, I know what I can do. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and just want to get this win and get back there.
The 300s: Absolutely, and I noticed he also goes after submissions, I think he has six to his credit. Going up against another grappler, do you see this as a big way to prove yourself.
Giannetti: No, not really man. I don’t need to prove myself. If his necks there I’ll take it, but I know what I can do on the mat. I’ve gone up against some really good guys on the ground. I’ve got up against brown belts and done well. I think my grappling for MMA stacks up with just about anyone. But I can do it on the ground and striking.
The 300s: Ya I was going to mention I was rewatching some of your fights and in particular your fight again Allan Zuniga. He like D’Juan is a shorter guy compared to you and you were doing this cool little thing where you were setting up a head kick to right hand or right hand to head kick upstairs. Really showing off your striking especially up top since you’re a taller guy. Is your striking something you are going to really try and show off?
Giannetti: Ya man absolutely. You know D’Juan does not stop coming forward. There have been guys who thought they could get him out of there and he just keeps coming. But he’s the kind of guy to take two to give one. And I’m not sure you want to take two from me. I don’t know if you’ll still be there.
The 300s: And how’s training been in general? How’s it been and how ready are you? Are you rested and ready for battle?
Giannetti: It’s been been awesome man. Trainings been great, weight cut has been really easy this time around. I was out at AKA (in San Jose, CA) and got some awesome training out there and just got home and I just feel great. I have so much more energy than I normally do and am not really worried about weight or anything. I feel great.
The 300s: Nice, you mentioned weight cut being easier this time. If you don’t mind me asking is it something you changed nutritionally or is just growing as a fighter and sort of things just getting easier?
Giannetti: You know it’s a combination of things. Nutritional, timing, how I work my camp out timing-wise. I’m just really at peace this time around. It’s weird. I never had a problem with the weight but I was always worried about it. This time I’m at peace. Again I’m where I’m supposed to be and everything is going right.
The 300s: Switching gears, I’m sure everyone you talk to this week is going to be saying “UFC, UFC, UFC” since you’re coming off the show, but you’re obviously still a younger guy, one year, two years, a few fights down the road where do you see yourself? A few more with Cage Titans? Do you see maybe testing out one of these other promotions like ONE? Where do you see yourself going?
Giannetti: The UFC man, I’m going back to the show. That’s my only goal. Like I said it’s where I belong and it’s my time. I’m getting back and I’m not going anywhere.
The 300s: One last fun one before I let you go. I saw a couple fights into your career you fought a guy with 63 wins at the time? I think he now has 88? How did that come together?
Giannetti:Ya ya, Jay Ellis. Basically I just had an opponent drop out and Jay took the fight to fill in. Honestly? I think I got the best Jay Ellis there’s been, at least recently. He gave me a really hard fight. Jay came to fight that night and really brought it. You know those fights are tricky man. We planned for a different opponent and then get a different one we’re just expected to beat. It can come back to bite you.
The 300s: Sure, happened with T.J vs. Soto, Khabib vs. Darrell Horcher, they didn’t have the easiest nights. Sorry going down my sheet I do have another: I know you’ve been on the big stage under the bright light of the UFC now but you are the headliner of the home town card this weekend, you are definitely “the guy” on this card. Does that give you any extra motivation? Does that feel pretty cool that when people show up Saturday they’re probably there to see you?
Giannetti: You know what, ya man it does. I really do feel like it’s my time. I feel better than I have in a long time and I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. That’s why the top welterweight in North Carolina is coming up here to fight me at 155lbs. I’m just looking forward to fighting and winning this Saturday and getting back to the big time. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.
The 300s: Awesome man, well look we know you can submit people, we know you can strike, any kind of prediction for Saturday?
Giannetti: Ya! I think it’s going to be a quick one. A short one. I like to throw crazy shit, D’Juan like to throw crazy shit. I think someones checking out early.
Joe “Skeletor” Giannetti vs. D’Juan “Dirty South” Owens HEADLINES Cage Titans Titans XLIV. June 15, 2019 at 6:00pm at Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth. MA.
There’s a lot going on in the world of #sports and #entertainment that we can discuss here for #content but that I can’t really draw out into a full blog. So let’s fuck around and touch a lot of bases, shall we?
-A few really interesting fights have been announced lately that I never blogged (woooops).
Nate Diaz returns to fight Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 in August. Hooo baby. That is going to be something. They’ll duel at 170lbs, where Pettis recently arrived and found success, knocking out Stephen Thompson. I’d prefer to see Diaz stick to 155 as his run wayyyy back in the day at 170 didn’t go so well and he simply lacks the strength and power to deal with the bigger and stronger fighters of the welterweight division. On top of that, I still think both are contenders at 155 when they have their heads on straight. And when Nate, you know, fights. As for the match up, if Diaz can set an early pace moving forward, Pettis will likely wilt moving backward as he always has. Likewise if “Showtime” can find a rhythm with his kicks and movement early, it could be a long night for Nate. An x-factor could be if Diaz calls on what happened in his first fight with Conor McGregor and gets the fight to the ground. Pettis is no slouch in the submission department but he’s not a 209 black belt.
Secondly, it would appear Khabib and Dustin Poirier are going to unify the 155lb strap at UFC 242 in Dubai. The card would kick off at 2:00pm EST so it is a PRIME day drinking event. Khabib, in my opinion, is going to maul anyone he faces but at this point in his career you can never count Poirier out, so looking forward to this one.
-Let’s leave MMA town now. I posted something to Facespace about this last night but I’ll leave it here as well. “Game Of Thrones” is the best TV of our lifetime. A true spectacle and something that if I was a douchie Hollywood-type I’d refer to as an achievement. So just because this season hasn’t gone according to YOUR plan and just because there are plot holes that YOU don’t like because they need to wrap the show up, it doesn’t change the fact that there won’t be anything like this ever again and it is still fantastic. It also doesn’t make you cool to publicly scream that opinion off a rooftop.
(O and if you’re trying to turn Khaleesi’s rampage into some sort of anti-feminist slight, please seek some fucking help. Where were you when Cersei did the same fuckin thing?)
-Red and I, once accompanied by Papa G, have kicked off the 2019 golf season, thus far with mixed results. Papa G actually hit the longest tee ball these eyes have ever seen. Not in any sort of productive direction but man I’ll tell ya, it was a bomb. I actually could see all of us making a little leap in ability this year if we keep playing consistently. Either way nice to be out there considering it’s usually been 45 and rainy for the past three months.
–Mattes wrote a great blog on the Jamie Collins signing so go there for a full breakdown. My only divergence from what he wrote is that I’m seeing a few #footballguys note that data points to Van Noy being more productive in our defense than Collins was. Collins just had more flashy plays and pure, visual athleticism. Still, I still love the signing and whenever you can sign a Jamie Collins it is going to make your defense better. As a matter of fact I think the Pats’ LB corps is now sneaky-stacked with Collins, Van Noy, Hightower, forgotten stud Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Roberts.
-I posed this to Red yesterday and I don’t think he’s feeling it but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the B’s didn’t sweep tonight because they’ve been the only reason I’ve been leaving my house on Saturdays. Having to regress to going out and then socialize would be miserable at this point. So as much as I’m rooting for a B’s victory, it wouldn’t crush me if they didn’t get it.
-The Celtics find themselves in the lottery despite getting to the second round this year. Shouts to Danny Ainge for being able to get us picks but not banners. Pretty cool bud. Anyway there will be a few guys floating around at 14 we could snag and I’m sure someone here will get into it in depth. Looking at the board KZ Okpala from Stanford has an ever improving shot at 6’8 and, if he falls into our lap, Rui Hachimura (Zags) would bring a great skill-set into our locker room and through the season before we bow out before the ECF again.
-I guess some survey came out and the Boston accent won sexiest in America. I’ve lived here 99.9% of my life (2 short stints in Jersey) and I can honestly tell you that if someone comes at me with a hard Boston accent I assume they can’t read. To be honest I think it’s because a lot of people my age fake it to sound hard and if you fake an accent to sound cool or hard you probably are indeed illiterate. Bad beat.
-Lastly, John Wick 3 comes out soon/came out (I don’t fuckin know bro) and LET’SSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I’m a noted avoider of most pure action, boom boom bang pow movies but I love John Wick. It’s Keanu as Bourne pretty much. What’s not to like?
I’ll be introducing a new weekly/bi-weekly feature tomorrow that I’ve had brewing for awhile so we’ll see how that goes. We only have a couple more until the weekend, folks.
Ben Askren vs. Jordan Burroughs is officially signed, according to sources. First time ever. 79 kg. MSG Theater. May 6. Proceeds go to https://t.co/Lukcr5zbSR. (📷 @geoffriccio) pic.twitter.com/vyXBkNPADp
So I’m not going to waste a shit ton of ink on this but this is a pretty big deal to anyone that follows amateur wrestling or MMA.
Ben Askren, easily top-5 biggest dbag in MMA but vaunted and decorated wrestler all the same will go up against Jordan Burroughs, long considered one of the better mat men our country has to offer, for the first time ever in May. They will be face off as part of a bigger, Madison Square Garden-centered event for Beat The Streets, an org aimed at directing urban youth towards wrestling. The rest of the event will feature various members of Team USA vs. Various NCAA Champions. Pretty cool stuff all around.
As for this match up, which will definitely be the most marquee, it is an interesting one. Askren, known as a downright confounding grappler in MMA, is actually the less decorated of the two. Using his “funk” style of flow and physical momentum-based wrestling, he was indeed a four-time All American and two-time NCAA champion at Missouri. He also qualified but did not medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. After the 08′ games, Askren by and large stopped competing in wrestling, aside from an occasional tournament, to pursue MMA.
Burroughs, as I mentioned, is one of the bigger names in USA Wrestling point blank period. His collegiate accolades are similar to Askren’s as he was a three time All American and two-time, undefeated NCAA Champion at Nebraska. However their paths diverge post-college. Since graduating from Lincoln, Burroughs has earned one Olympic gold medal as well as four World Championships, with three 3rd place finishes in the Worlds to boot. He also has collected four golds across various Pan-American tournaments as well. I guess it’s important to note that he has a few confusing results, such as his 9th place finish in Rio, but shit happens.
The outlying factor in all of this, really what makes this so interesting, is that Askren is bigger. Burroughs wrestles at 74kg, which is roughly 165 lb. Askren wrestled at 84kg, which is roughly 185lb, so ya. That said, Askren fights at 170lb so maybe he’s slimmed down over the years, but he is used to fighting, and moving. much larger men. Their match will be wrestled at a sort of catchweight of 79kg, or ~174lb. I don’t think this really matters except for the fact that Burroughs might be able to pack on some muscle or, at least, not have to cut down so much.
All in all it’s a cool and intriguing match up for what seems to be a growing sport in wrestling. Hopefully some people catch wind of it and gain some interest.
ESPN – The United States Anti-Doping Agency has suspended former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw for two years for testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) before a flyweight title fight against Henry Cejudo on Jan. 19 in New York.
Thus ends T.J Dillashaw’s run of Michael Scott-ing this story. He is no longer in front of it. As a matter of fact, as much as I respect Dillashaw for relinquishing his title ahead of time, this story is still steamrolling him.
It would seem he tested positive for one of the most, for lack of a better word, sinister kinds of PEDs. To paraphrase Jeff Novitsky himself, EPO isn’t something you find in a tainted supplement or something. It’s a red blood cell picker upper you inject into yourself, and sort of have to be aware you’re doing it. That’s that. Novitsky may have recently compromised himself by putting over Jon Jones’ “cleanliness”, but he still knows his stuff.
To my knowledge Dillashaw has not come out and made a statement since this suspension was announced (he got a year, concurrent, from New York). However it has been already stated he won’t fight it, which is a statement in and of itself. It’s fair enough, I suppose to speculate on his career now, both past, present, and of course, future.
After he big brother’d Renan Barao, the longtime Bantamweight king, in two consecutive fights with an immaculate and to be honest surprising displaying of world class kickboxing, I honestly thought Dillashaw had a shot at becoming one of the GOATs. That sounds ridiculous but I’m not kidding. His display of MMA was truly an “art” form, pun intended. Now he’s been knocked out by Cejudo and may have been one of the MOST performance enhancing substances when he beat Cody Garbrandt as well. Soooo what then? How do we look at his accomplishments? Furthermore, let’s say he pisses clean for the next two years and then comes back. He’ll be 35 then. The years aren’t as kind to the smaller guys as they are to the bigger ones. Sure there are fighters like Assuncao that solider on, but you can bet even he wishes he was getting the chances he is now when he was younger. Dillashaw’s own ex-teammate Chad Mendes came back two years after testing positive, a very similar situation, fought once and retired quietly. Given Mendes was on a bit of a slide already, but you can’t help but see the comparison.
So we’ll see what happens next. Maybe T.J Dillashaw stays quiet for a couple of years and tries to make a come back. Maybe he asks for his release and goes and fights abroad. Maybe he and Duane Bang open a head shop. Not too sure. Stay tuned.
Hey guys quick announcement, I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as “Mixed Martial Art” today. I wish all my old colleagues well going forward in competition. I now join my former partners on this venture, already in retirement. Proper Pina Coladas on me fellas!
So at 1:18am Eastern Standard Time Conor Anthony McGregor “broke the internet” with this tweet, his second of such a message. Remember, almost three years ago he dropped a very similar bombshell.
I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later.
So is that it? Is “The Notorious” done fighting? It wouldn’t not make sense. He’s made boatloads of money and turned himself into an international brand in the process. If he is smart in his business ventures, which he seems to be, he can continue to grow his vast fortune without getting punched in the face.
But that’s where people get it a little twisted. You see, not many people enter a career where their source of income is to get punched in the face unless they enjoy the carnage, competition, and blast of adrenaline that comes with it. Sure, there are the Derrick Lewis-types who just have big, heavy hands, and see fighting as a much more lucrative alternative to changing tires. But for a lot of fighters, McGregor included, this is in their blood. Especially when, although he now has financial pursuits outside of the cage, he indeed can still make a hell of lot inside of it too.
Conor McGregor is not done fighting. It just isn’t in the cards, yet.
So what is he on about here? Why is he dropping this and what is he trying to accomplish? Well, I think the first question is simple enough to answer and the second could have a few possible explanations.
The problem with Conor the Fighter now is that the illusion of Conor the Fighter is gone. He was a Goddam world beater. For a time he was unstoppable. Mystic Mac. He knocked out one of the most dominant fighters of his generation in Jose Aldo, and he did it in mere seconds. But then came Chad Mendes, and some holes were exposed in an eventual victory. Then came Nate Diaz, and he got beat. Then came Nate Diaz again, and he slinked by. Then came Khabib Nurmagodmedov and he got steamrolled. So instead of being a Demigod with two belts Conor McGregor is now a very talented, ultra charismatic lightweight with no belts. It is to the point where Dana White did not want McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone, a very popular fighter in his own right, to headline an event. Coming off a loss and without a belt McGregor may just have not been that kind of draw anymore.
So to answer the first question of “why?”, he is quite literally leaving us wanting more. He wants the fans and media to remember the good times and beg for him back. And when he does come back it will be with a heroes welcome and a roar of the crowd. He may have even seen the reaction to Gronk’s recent retirement and said, “hey, look at that.”
But what is his end game? Ultimately what does he seek in his return? Well, there’s a few possibilities.
1.) He wants a share in the UFC Conor said, I’m pretty sure last week, that he really doesn’t care if he fights in the ME or on the pre-lims as long as he is paid what he is worth, which includes a partnership in the company. It makes sense in a way. Even if he is not the ME, a large number of those PPV buys will be for Conor McGregor, so he should get a cut of that. But this scenario is simply not going to happen in my opinion. For Dana White, this would just open way too much of a floodgate.
2.) He is luring out Nate Diaz Even though Diaz vs. McGregor III would be the most financially lucrative fight for both men right now, Diaz has actually sounded like he is not as interested as of late. He tweeted/IG’d out something recently that he beat Conor’s ass twice already and that Dustin Poirier was, in fact, a pussy (Remember Poirier dropped out of a recent Diaz-Poirier match up. Beyond that I am not sure why he was caught in Nate’s cross-hairs. O well). So maybe Conor is walking away to get Nate’s attention? Maybe this sets off a patented Diaz social media attack and gets the fighters, the fans, the media, and the UFC bought into this third match up? It wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world and one that comes with a big pay day.
3.) He is taking a page out of Nate Diaz’s book and simply shelving himself until they desperately need him to save a card This is 100% what Nate Diaz is doing by the way. The nixed Poirier fight aside, Nate Diaz is keeping in shape, talking some occasional shit, and waiting for a main or co-main to fall through on short notice so that the UFC needs a big name to save it and is willing to cut a big check to get them to do so. To that end, Conor is kind of back-dooring his old nemesis here. 9/10 if the 155lb division needs someone to step in the Irishman would be the first choice. Not always, however. If the Fight Gods smile on the upcoming Poirier-Holloway Interim Lightweight Title Fight in April, then the winner ostensibly fights Khabib when he returns in the fall for the real belt. This is a huge if by the way as both fighters have pulled out of past fights. Anyway, should Dagestan’s favorite son’s challenger fall out of the unification bout, I can’t see them giving Conor another crack after the mauling he took. Not before he wins again. So Nate could get that fight, although his dormancy is becoming more and more of an issue.
But that fight itself? Poirier-Holloway? Giving one of those guys a rematch against the phenom who slowed their ascent when they wore a younger man’s clothes? Sure. What about the Iaquinta-Cerrone fight? Imagine Conor saying “fuck it” and fighting on a Fox card to earn his possible, eventual rematch with Khabib?
Whichever way you spin it, I see either reason 2 or 3 as the most plausible for McGregor’s random tweet. Sure, he could have accomplished either end without tweeting out his retirement but this makes it all that much more dramatic.
If Jordan never came back with the 45, would it have been such a come back?
ESPN – TJ Dillashaw is no longer the UFC bantamweight champion.
Dillashaw (16-4) announced Wednesday morning that he has “voluntarily relinquished” the UFC’s 135-pound title after he was informed by the New York State Athletic Commission and the United States Anti-Doping Agency of an “adverse finding in a test taken for my last fight.” ESPN confirmed the validity of the statement via multiple sources.
Ever heard the one about the guy who went to New York to claim two title belts and came away with none? Holyyyy shit. To quote one of my favorite movies – because I have an intimate knowledge of movies despite not being featured in movie-related podcasts – “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels” (1997): “A minute ago this was the safest job in the world. Now it’s turning into a bad day in Bosnia.”
The plan for “Killashaw” was to drop into the City That Never Sleeps, woop Henry Cejudo for the Flyweight Championship, and go go back back to Cali with both the 125lb and 135 lb belt around his waist. Not only did he get stopped by Cejudo that night in January, but the NYSAC has suspended him for a year retroactive to his fight in January and (twitter tells me) fined him $10,000.00 for testing positive for something illegal. Not a fantastic look. Taking a page out of the Michael Scott School of Getting Ahead of the Story, Dillashaw has chosen to relinquish his title rather than be stripped. After thinking on it I like that move. I could have seen him forcing the UFC to strip him or watch other 135ers battle for the interim title, belittling them from the interwebs as they do so. He went the high road here.
As for his legacy, well it’s complicated, as it always is nowadays. Cody Garbrandt once claimed Dillashaw was “on everything” and one look at Tyler James’ own posted photos of all the supplements he takes and it suddenly is not a surprise GNC Icarus flew too close to the sun. I mean at what point does whether or not you knew you were taking something quote on quote “illegal” not matter when you are shoving everything possible down your gullet to improve your performance past your natural skills and abilities, born with and learned? And this is not meant to be an argument for or against ‘roids, I’m just saying, as another one of my favorite movie quotes goes – because I really do enjoy movies – from “Four Brothers” (2004), “You keep knocking on the devil’s door long enough and sooner or later someone’s gonna answer you.” Basically Dillashaw burned the candle at both ends.
The division itself is now without its biggest star but is STACKED with talent. You have Marlon Moraes and Aljo Sterling, a rematch between the two of whom should be the next title fight. Behind them you have guys like Pedro Munhoz, fresh off a KO of former champ Garbrandt, and phenom Petr Yan ready to ascend. Hell, with the King out of the way maybe there still is a chance for longtime bridesmaid Rafael Assuncao, just off a wayyyyyyyy too long awaited No. 1 Contender’s fight loss to Moraes, to rise up and get the title shot he’s so sorely waited for.
The long and the short of it is that Dillashaw definitely screwed up here and that is both bad for his career and the UFC, with its perpetually yo-yo’ng number of bankable stars. However in a sport that waits for no one and where timing is everything, the always exciting bantamweight division is ready to pick up the slack.
CNN – A fan just wanted a picture with Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor, but Miami police say McGregor wasn’t having it.
The fan and McGregor were leaving the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel Monday morning when the fan tried to take a picture with the fighter with a cell phone, according to a police report. McGregor then slapped the phone out of the fan’s hand and stomped on the phone several times.
Police say McGregor picked up the phone and walked away with it. The fan said the phone was valued at $1,000.
Buh buh buh bullshit. Erroneous. Erroneous on all counts. I cannot imagine this ending with anything more than Conor McGregor paying for the phone and court costs. Maybe, and I mean maybe, a small fine or a small out of court settlement for something like “emotional pain” or something like that.
Look, I know we look up to pro athletes as Demigods but really they’re people. I get why someone would see one of their favorite athletes and entertainers and want to impulsively run up to them and take a picture. But maybe that’s just not totally cool. I mean maybe ask first? Furthermore, Conor McGregor has himself said that he is no “celebrity.” He’s a guy who “smashes orbital bones”. You aren’t running up to an NBA player or the star of “Silving Linings Playbook,” you’re approaching a trained killer. And I’m not absolving Conor McGregor. What he did was wrong and probably a bit overkill. He also has had enough of these little dust ups with overeager fans to know by now he can’t just go strolling through public. Whether or not that’s fair can be debated all day. But he can’t.
For me at least, there is an X factor here. And that is the fact that he’s been seen on vacation in Florida this week with his longtime girlfriend and at least his oldest kid. His youngest could have been with them as well. For me all bets are off if family is involved. If this guy ran up to Conor when his whole family is around, at worst putting them in some kind of danger and at best taking their picture when they just don’t want it taken, sorry bud that’s on you. Again, you just ran up to a breaker of face bones when he is with his young family and they don’t know who you are or what you intend to do with that picture.
Again, I’m not saying McGregor isn’t at fault here. He can’t keep acting this brashly. He has to control his impulses. It’s just irritating at this point he’s turning himself into a Jon-Jones (minus the roids) type of problem where it’s not injury that’s keeping him out of competition but getting into shit.
ESPN – The NSAC voted to suspend Nurmagomedov (27-0) for nine months and fined him $500,000 of a disclosed $2 million purse. The suspension is dated retroactively to Oct. 6, the date of UFC 229, meaning he is eligible to return July 6. Additionally, the NSAC offered to reduce the suspension to as little as six months if Nurmagomedov participates in a local anti-bullying campaign…..McGregor (21-4) received a six-month suspension and was fined $50,000. He will be eligible to return to competition as soon as April 6…..Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Professional Fighters League lightweight Abubakar Nurmagomedov, and teammate Zubaira Tukhugov each received a one-year suspension and $25,000 fine, which Abdelaziz told ESPN that Khabib Nurmagomedov would pay.
Intro
There is a ton to dissect and discuss here so what better time to do it than when you’re dying for anything at all to think about it other than the week at hand.
To lay these punishments out next to each other in an easily digestible fashion:
(All suspensions retroactive to date of the melee, which was 10/6/18)
Conor McGregor: 6 month suspension, 50k fine
Khabib Nurmagomedov: 9 month suspension, 500k fine
Nurmagomedov’s two teammates: 12 month suspension, 25k fine each
Briefly, I want to touch on the NSAC. Between this and the recent bizarre hearing with Jon Jones, it is clear that there is no rhyme or reason to anything they do. Every time I think they have some sort of method to their madness, BOOM a week like this happens. It always reminds me of this:
What I’m saying that is that to an extent I feel like the NSAC is an arbitrary entity and they are only there to give people quasi-important jobs. Kind of harsh, Joe.
Part I
Khabib and Dana are both varying degrees of flummoxed that Khabib got such harsh punishment, with “The Eagle” even stating he will never fight in Nevada again. But…bruh. You jumped out of the cage throwing some sort of crane kick at McGregor’s crew and caused absolute CHAOS. Yes, after some video review, Conor did due some jawing to cause his arena of UFC War I, but there’s a difference between some instigating and jumping out of the fucking cage for the sole purpose of assault.
Fight game-wise, there are a quite a few repercussions coming out of this. More and more it has become apparent the MMA game is basically dominoes, where one fairly straight forward event like a suspension being handed down means career implications for a number of people not even remotely involved.
First and foremost, Khabib has come out and said he will not fight until his teammates suspensions are up as well. This means he will not return to the cage any sooner than October 6th. If you remember, he actually threatened to never fight again if the UFC cut the one who fights under their banner. He is deadly serious about this as well, loyalty above all us for our favorite Dagestani. The Lightweight division is currently stacked with talent so there is no way they can wait that long for some movement at the top of the division. With that said, I’ve seen some calls for Khabib to get stripped which is Goddam ridiculous. Not only have a lot of other champs not been stripped during much longer absences, but Khabib is the surefire, no questions asked numero uno in that division. Why would you strip him?
Now an interim fight? That is a much more serviceable idea. This is a biased take as I don’t vehemently despise interim titles nearly as much as some people. There is nothing morally reprehensible, however, about staging a fight between Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier sometime this spring for the interm belt with the winner fighting Khabib in the fall in NYC. Who loses there? Hell, I saw a tweet with someone proposing a grand prix at lightweight featuring Ferguson, Poirier, Kevin Lee, Edson Barbosa, Justin Gaethje, Al Iaquinta, Cowboy, and McGregor. Absolutely batshit but how fun would that be? Also, if Ferguson vs. Poirier is sooner than later and Cowboy-McGregor, which both fighters are jockeying for, happens soon as well, the winners could fight this summer to determine who fights Khabib. The bottom line is I don’t see a reason why the 155lb division, one of the most exciting in the UFC, has to be put on hold while the Champ waits to return.
Part II
The most riveting, fascinating part of this story, what truly set twitter ablaze with a cacophony of pitches, storyboards, and yes, memes, was the stipulation that Khabib could get a reduced sentenced if he participates in an anti-bullying PSA. Like what in the actual fuck? How is the melee after UFC 229 REMOTELY related to bullying?
But can you imagine the wealth of ways this PSA could be the most amazing thing your five senses ever came into contact with? ”
“Bullying is the #1 bullshit?” “You have bully? I smash bully. Send me location.”
If you didn’t know, Khabib Nurmagomedov has a Pedro Martinez way with the English language. He is about 99% fluent, something he worked hard at by the way, but does have an odd, sort of simple way of phrasing things and the structure of his sentences do sometimes come with a degree of disorder. But like K-dro, you get the sense he knows this. He knows that he has a sort of cult following partially based on how he delivers his ideas. We hang on every word he says because the very strategy he takes in delivering it could turn it into an absolute humdinger of a quote. And again, I think to an extent he is fully aware of this phenomenon. So you imagine him taking these talents to an anti-bullying add….
Scene: A bully pushes a kid against his locker and takes his lunch. He calls him a nerd as he walks away. The bully looks over his shoulder to sneer and laugh at the kid one last time. When he turns back around BAM Khabib double legs him halfway to Kingdom Come. The bully turns and gives up his back trying to army crawl away, whimpering, and ends up getting rear naked choked by Khabib. As he turns purple, Khabib looks into the camera and says. “Bullying not cool. I stop bullying. Choke, kimura, smash it don’t matter. Bullies: they send me location.”
SCENE.
Imagine something like that? Fucking gold. Khabib was made for this. It’s Khabib time, roll out that red carpet baby.
Conclusion
What we have here is an ultra-talented division whose champion is refusing to fight for ten months. There is a desperate need for direction there and the UFC needs to formulate a plan how to proceed before the fans and fighters alike stage a coup. There is also the matter of the Champ, maybe now the third most popular fighter PPV-wise behind McGregor and Jon Jones, refusing to ever again fight in Vegas, the fight capital of the world. All in all however, we could see this result in a number of fun fights in that division and a LEGENDARY anti-bullying PSA from Khabib. The next few weeks should provide a lot of the answers we’re looking for.
HUUUUUUUUUGE weekend of fights this week so enjoy.
This is sort of kind of the “Monday” of this week since a lot of people had Monday off and unless you work for commies, yesterday off was a given.
That said let’s grab bag it up a bit ya?
-In case you missed it, Amanda Nunes defied odds, physics, and whatever lab that went into creating Cris Cyroid’s bloodstream when she not only knocked out, but ran over the long-time Women’s Featherweight #1/UFC Champion. It was an absolute beat-down that no one saw coming. I love Amanda Nunes and was afraid to even watch. Tsk tsk to me.
-Jon Jones won as well. I personally am over the DC-Jones rivalry so I hope Jones fights a few contenders at 205 and DC fights Stipe and then Brock and calls it a career. There is just nothing to learn from a third match up between the longtime rivals.
-I know beating the Jets isn’t exactly a giant deal, but lest the rest of the NFL not understand that really what happened was the Jets continued to let the Pats get hot. Brady looked better than he has in weeks. Our backs got going. We were winning in the trenches on both sides of the ball and on the D side, getting great pressure. Stephon Gilmore looks unbeatable at this point. I’m not saying the Pats are going to get far, but they are heading into the playoffs on a roll and fairly healthy, with two weeks to heal up on top of that.
-I haven’t watched “Bird Box” or the “Black Mirror” movie and I don’t intend to. I know it seems like typical Joey B cynicism, but really I just don’t enjoy the “mind bending” stuff all that much. Just tell me a good story. Plus, I heard “Bird Box” is just a rip off of “A Quiet Place” plus a couple more recent thriller/horror movies.
-July 4, 2019 has been announced the release date for S3 of “Stranger Things”. As much as I am a gigantic fan of that show I wish they’d either release it more consistently or end it. It is just getting more annoying than anything else to have these long delays.
-Current ‘flix recommendations: “Frontier”, “Bodyguard”, “The Five”, “Redemption”. Currently watching “Bad Blood” and jury is out. Slow but ok mob story about real gangsters in Montreal.
-I’m going to start a weekly/bi-weekly blog on solid twitter account follows from the knowledgeable to the bizarre (mostly bizarre). Feel free to hit me @300sJoeyB with suggestions.
The 300s 