Tag: UFC

Conor McGregor Has Tweeted He’s Retired. Is He Really Though?

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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.

 

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?

-Joey B.

T.J. Dillashaw Suspended by NYSAC, Relinquishes UFC Bantamweight Title

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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.

-Joey B.

 

 

 

 

 

Conor McGregor Arrested Again

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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.

-Joey B.

Adieu à Un Roi – Georges St. Pierre Announces Retirement

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Sherdog – The era of Georges St. Pierre has officially come to a close

At a press conference in Montreal, Quebec on Thursday morning, St. Pierre sat down in front of cameras with two Ultimate Fighting Championship belts flanking him at his table. Without any notes or written statements other than the contents of his cell phone, St. Pierre stated that he did not want to have to keep referring to a piece of paper because it could get “boring.”

Starting the press conference purely in French, St. Pierre (26-2) went on to apologize for having to do this in multiple languages, and then translated his remarks into English for the audience.

He opened, saying, “It takes a lot of discipline to retire on top….”

Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, “farewell to a King.” To, in my mind, the best to ever do it. A truly vicious, technical Muay Thai striker who transformed himself into one of if not the most effective functional wrestler in UFC history. Seriously, in a world of NCAA Champions and Olympians GSP came to MMA with no wrestling background and became THE take-down artist. On top of all that, he is indeed a BJJ blackbelt and a master positional control. The fight always occurred where GSP wanted it to.

St. Pierre started out as great, wanting to be great. Then he suffered his 2nd career loss, to Matt Serra, and a switch inside him got flipped. He was embarrassed. A true martial artist who was always disciplined when it came to his training, GSP became as focused as one could in all other aspect of his career as an MMA fighter – he quit partying, went on a diet that would make TB12 blush, and dedicated himself to not being great, but the best. The slick, cocky striker became a brick shithouse of a kickboxing wrestler who mauled every opponent he faced from then on out. Sure, there weren’t many finishes to come by, but this more had to do with “Rush” being more of competitor, a champion, than a fighter. He always hated hurting people.

Now he sails off into the sunset, having beat some of the best. Hughes, Koscheck, and Sherk. Penn, Diaz, and Bisping. He won titles in two weight classes, leaving as, technically, the linear Welterweight Champion. GSP wanted to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov as his final bow, one last great challenge against a fighter with a similar style. It’s not crazy to think he maybe saw a younger version of himself in “The Eagle”. It wasn’t to be though, for who knows how many bureaucratic reasons, Instead, St. Pierre retires still fairly young (37), financially secure for life, and free of the crushing anxiety he always felt leading up to a fight – his least favorite part of the job, ironically.

Between his intelligent, classy way of addressing the media and fans (admittedly subsidized by his French-Canadian accent), his preference to wear a suit to press conferences, his chiseled physique, his work ethic, and his utter fucking dominance, I don’t think we’ll see another like Georges St. Pierre. How can you ever have another of the first? So “Rush,” “GSP,” our favorite fighting Quebecois, we now say “a plus tard.” It’s been a hell of a ride.

Joey B’s Wednesday Morning Grab Bag

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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 Situation With the UFC’s First ESPN+ Card is Officially Nuts

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Yesterday morning, I sat down at this very keyboard and wrote out what I thought was a solid blog regarding the next UFC Fight Night in Brooklyn, which also happens to be the UFC’s first card on ESPN+ as part of the new UFC-ESPN deal. Well, that blog got deleted instead of being sent to Red for publishing. Fuck. Fate seems to have intervened, as it does however, and a whirlwind of announcements have been made since. Hard to tell where to begin.

What I wrote about yesterday was the UFC insensitively booking Greg Hardy’s debut for the Brooklyn card when the only other fight scheduled (at.the.time) was Paige Van Zant vs. Rachel Ostovich. Ostovich, if you don’t know, is the fighter who came into the public consciousness recently for the worst reasons, having been the victim of a brutal attack at the hands of her husband, a fellow MMA fighter. I mean, he broke her orbital bone. Ghastly stuff. But she’s a fighter, and fighters fight, and she decided to stay on the card, So what does the UFC do? O, only books a guy convicted of beating, strangling, and tossing, onto a bed laden with guns no less, his girlfriend. Best case scenario this was just a massive missed communication – not a misspelling by the way, I don’t mean signals crossed, I mean signals missed altogether. Worst case the UFC went too far with their “everybody deserves a second chance” stance on Hardy and this being a big event, decided it shouldn’t matter who he fights alongside. What I think they might do, given the backlash, is move his fight to a different card. Make the guy wait and excuse yourself with an “aw shucks” shrug. That will be enough. No need for a gigantic, phony public apology. If Ostovich raises hell however they are going to be in quite the spot with the press and fans alike.

That was supposed to be it. The Hardy-Ostovich story. But noooope. This card curiously lacked a headliner. What did the UFC do? They only moved the biggest fight they currently have booked, the Champ vs. Champ 125lb Title Fight between Henry Cejudo and T.J Dillashaw, to the top of this card, taking it from an uncomfortable spectacle on paper to the makings of a barn-burner. I mean this fight is not getting 1/100 the attention it deserves. In Cejudo you have a guy that should be getting all the love in the world; someone who has been the best in the world at every stage in the game, from Olympic gold medalist to UFC Champion after dethroning long-time, immovable champion Demetrious Johnson. In T.J Dillashaw you have a true blue nightmare at 135lbs; another excellent wrestler who under the tutelage of Duane Ludwig has rebuilt himself into a shape-shifting, ultra slick, world-class kickboxer that just simply freezes people. This fight is going to be insane. (Side Note: This leave UFC 233 without a headliner. Cormier-Lesn……?)

To round out yesterday’s announcement The UFC shifted a pivotal  women’s flyweight division fight from UFC 233 to the Brooklyn card. This one pits Arianne “Violence Queen” Lipski, who has only met a couple of opponents she couldn’t finish, against fan favorite Joanne Calderwood, who has only met a couple coaches she couldn’t fuck. The winner of this one is probably neck-and-neck with or just below Jessica Andrade for a shot at Cashmeouside for the Women’s Flyweight Championship.

When all is said and done this Brooklyn/ESPN+ card has gone from kind of bizarre to almost a real UFC MMA card. It still, in my opinion, needs a solid fight or two to make it worth tuning into for more than Cejudo-Killashaw, but they are this close. Wild night indeed.

This is an INSANE Weekend for Combat Sports

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For those of us that love the world of MMA, there occasionally comes a weekend like this where there are multiple cards on multiple days and you can kind of just plan a lazy weekend around watching a steady stream of violent athleticism on both the feet and the ground.

Even rarer still comes the Friday-Sunday run of both MMA and a boxing match that even a casual fan wants to tune into. And we have just that this weekend. Not one but two UFC cards and the hotly anticipated heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. Sure, The Saturday UFC card goes head to head with Fury vs. Wilder, but one can always rig up a stream of the FS1 card card. Plus I doubt the boxing goes off until like, 1 or 2 in the morning because boxing is batshit like that (Note: Red is seething reading through this because we once stayed at a bar until 3:00am to watch Ronda Rousey only to have her knock out her opponent in like, 15 seconds).

To get into the nitty gritty, we kick off our weekend of pugilistic omnipresence with the finale of the most recent, and possibly last (???????) rendition of “The Ultimate Fighter”. I honestly haven’t seen an episode which always makes me sad. As much hate as it gets I do think it’s a pretty enjoyable show. This season they had heavyweights on which makes it even more intriguing as it puts the “big brawler vs. talented martial artists/athletes” question under the microscope. Did I mention the other weight class they had was women’s featherweights? The seemingly non-existent weight class occupied by Cyroid? So ya, bit of a circus this one.

The HW final is between Justin Frazier, 29, from Alaska who brings a 3-fight win streak into the contest. His opponent is a Spaniard with a long-ass name (Juan being the first part) who is 38 but only has one loss to his credit. It looks to be striker vs. grappler so I am going to just guess the Alaskan clubs him with one. The women’s final is Pannie Kinzad, a known quantity in Women’s MMA vs. Macy Chiasson, a slightly more unknown fighter. I have Kinzad, who I believe held an Invicta belt at one point. The Main Event of this one pits Rafael dos Anjos against Kamaru Usman in a pivotal 170lb clash. After what happened against Colby Covington I just can’t take RDA, who I fucking love. Usman by UD.

Wake up, watch some college football, and then it is on to UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs. Tuivasa. The first notable fight is what the man himself has said will be Mark Hunt’s last MMA fight. He fights AKA prospect Justin “Big Pretty” Willis and honestly I don’t think the Super Samoan has anything left at this point. Willis by KO in RD2. Next is Shogun against Tyson Pedro. I LOVE Pedro as a prospect, mostly for his size and penchant for violence, but he keeps stumbling and seems to not have much in the grappling department. Shogun, while a blackbelt in BJJ, won’t really go after a sub. He is, however, a world class kickboxer and I think gets the UD here over the greener Pedro. The main event, as mentioned pits Junior dos Santos against Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa. I think this one goes like any other “Cigano” fight against someone not named Velasquez, Miocic, or Overeem. Basically, unless you have technical assets better than JDS’, he is a very hard out. JDS by UD.

Finally, we have Fury vs. Wilder. Not only is this a long awaited fight, but it is so in part due to a complete mental breakdown/run of addiction on Fury’s parts that saw him weigh 400lbs and have most folks just figure his career was over. And all of this after just beating Klitschko. I will preface anything else I say with the fact that I DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT BOXING I AM JUST TRYING MY BEST. To beat Klitchsko you have to have some great technical ability and from I’ve read Fury is indeed an excellent technician and can change his approach based on opponent. I’ve watched Wilder fight and he pretty much just tries to take you’re fucking head off. something which he is VERY good at doing. That said, I don’t think Fury engages in a brawl and I think Wilder fails to clip him. Fury by UD.

At this point it will be Sunday and you will be hungover and exhausted and wondering what happened but hey, that’s the price of the clash of many titans. So whether you like it when they just bleed or fail to protect they neck, this should be a fun few days.

Enjoy,

-Joey B

 

 

The UFC’s Solution To Eye Pokes Just Might Be Kitten Mittens

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Image result for kitten mittens

Sherdog – Glove design has been a topic of controversy in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for years, with the organization’s current design receiving blame for the prevalence of inadvertent eye pokes….

……”That’s a real problem, man, and there is a solution in the works,” Rogan said. “I can’t talk about it. I’m sworn to secrecy. They have a better glove design that they’re working on right now. I’ve already said too much. I’m sworn to secrecy.”

So there is obviously a serious fight fan piece of this as well as a kind of humorous piece where they can’t seem to figure out how to stop adults in a fist fight from poking each other in the eyes.

The major first step they took fairly recently is having points deducted for extending the arm with the fingers open. I thought this was a great changing where it still allowed fighters to measure distance and keep an opponent at bay while not putting that same opponent at risk. The problem with that is that, like a lot of things that happens within the cage, it is up to the referee’s discretion and most if not all refs just don’t want to take points away from a fighter, which is understandable and to a point commendable. To that end something has to be done because eye pokes are still a gigantic issue that affect not only the immediate fight, but the income and near and long-term career of the fighter.

So what now? KITTEN MITTENS, THAT’S WHAT. The very same genius creation that allows evil felines to go about their business quietly are also pliable enough to allow for grappling while keeping the fingers closed and covered. The Diaz Brothers will be throwing the quietest Stockton Slaps ever when they get their hands into a pair of American-made kitten mittens.

In all seriousness a mitten-like design is what we are probably looking at, if not one that holds groups of fingers together like the Star Trek “v”. It’ll be interesting to see what they come up with.

-Joey B

BossLogic Swoops in With a Moving Tribute To Stan Lee

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I’m late to the parade on this, I know. I’m also notably not the biggest fan of the comic book movies, although I’ve enjoyed “Deadpool”, the first couple Spider-Man movies, etc. Either way, Stan Lee clearly made a huge difference in pop culture as a whole. I mean, even if you don’t like what he directly created, you like Kevin Smith movies right?

As for BossLogic, he is an indy artist who has become very well known for making his own version of UFC PPV/fight posters. His are so preferred by the fans to the ones the UFC come up with on their own that I believe they’ve started using his creations. Anyway, see below. Some day, hopefully in the very, very distant future, someone is going to do something like this for J.K Rowling and I’m going to bawl my eyes for 2 weeks. Note: I can’t fucking find Spider-Man, who I most associate Stan Lee with (Internet: O YOU FUCKIN LOSER POSER ASSHOLE SPIDERMAN? WHAT ABOUT….), if you see him let the kid know?

The MMA Apocalypse is Upon Us

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MMAFighting.com –  MMA history is about to be made with a shocking talent exchange.

ESPN reported Wednesday that the UFC and ONE Championship are in talks to trade former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson for recently retired ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren.

Straight off the top, what is basically happening if you don’t feel like reading is that the two organizations are going to release their respective fighters so that the fighters can sign with the other organization. So it’s not really a true, blue trade, but it is the kind of thing that quasi-happens on occasion in the NBA around the trade deadline.

This makes the most sense for ONE and DJ. “Mighty Mouse” has never been able to break through popularity-wise as his PPVs have sold poorly and Fight Night cards have had low ratings compared to other headliners. In ONE, he’ll have the benefit of a fanbase that loves smaller, quicker, more dynamic fighters and will be able to reap the rewards of sponsorship opportunities

I can’t rate the UFC’s side of the deal without bias unfortunately. I hate Ben Askren. He is entitled and big-headed without, in my mind, deserving to be. Don’t get it twisted, he has been completely dominant throughout his career. But he has fought literally no one of note. His first fight in ONE was against an unknown career middleweight with I think 8 fights. Woopdy do. The UFC seems to be desperate to add another marquee name in the wake of another McGregor loss and Daniel Cormier retiring imminently.  Like a baseball team that doesn’t build its farm system, the UFC did not do a good enough job building future stars.

Either way, this is the most batshit thing I can possibly think of happening in combat sports. Shipping two fighters across the world in opposite directions is laugh out loud funny especially when you consider this is being done because neither organization knows what the hell to do with the fighter they have under contract. Stupefying stuff.

-Joey B.