Week in MMA & Boxing - 2/3/17
Ronda May Be Done
Dana White said for the first time this past week what many have thought was most likely, and this is Ronda Rousey is likely never fighting again.
White said in an appearance on UFC’s podcast, “UFC Unfiltered.” “In the conversations I had with her, if I had to say right here right now, and again, I don’t like saying right here right now because it’s up to her, but I wouldn’t say she fights again. I think she’s probably done. She’s going to ride off into the sunset and start living life outside of fighting.”
If that’s the case, Rousey will go down as one of the most historical figures in MMA history and a significant sports star. Her record of quick wins and even her PPV numbers are only part of the long-term picture, as her legacy will likely more be about putting women’s fighting on the map.
White said in an appearance on UFC’s podcast, “UFC Unfiltered.” “In the conversations I had with her, if I had to say right here right now, and again, I don’t like saying right here right now because it’s up to her, but I wouldn’t say she fights again. I think she’s probably done. She’s going to ride off into the sunset and start living life outside of fighting.”
If that’s the case, Rousey will go down as one of the most historical figures in MMA history and a significant sports star. Her record of quick wins and even her PPV numbers are only part of the long-term picture, as her legacy will likely more be about putting women’s fighting on the map.
White indicated that everything changed when Rousey lost to Holly Holm. She was clearly never the same, and no fighter in UFC history ever seemed to change as much based on one loss.
“It’s just that she’s so competitive that her career end record meant everything to her. And then once she lost, she started to say to herself, `What the f*** am I doing? This is my whole life. This is it. I want to experience and start doing other things.’ And I think that’s what she started to do. And she’s got a lot of money. She’s never going to need money again.”
White said he thought Rousey would move out of Los Angeles to a more desolate place, out of the spotlight.
“It’s just that she’s so competitive that her career end record meant everything to her. And then once she lost, she started to say to herself, `What the f*** am I doing? This is my whole life. This is it. I want to experience and start doing other things.’ And I think that’s what she started to do. And she’s got a lot of money. She’s never going to need money again.”
White said he thought Rousey would move out of Los Angeles to a more desolate place, out of the spotlight.
McGregor Makes Power Play on His PPV
UFC’s huge financial success in 2016 was largely built on the back of Conor McGregor. And with a huge debt to service, no special events like UFC 200, and a good chance of no more Ronda Rousey, McGregor is even more valuable to the company today. Basically he's got them by the balls.
And he’s playing that leverage for all its worth. On 1/28, McGregor did another first, a self-promoted iPPV where he was interviewed by Ariel Helwani in Manchester, England, before a crowd of thousands, which he (lied) bragged would be more people than would attend the UFC’s show in Denver that day.
The first thing you have to realize about McGregor is that he’s basically the improved version of Chael Sonnen. He talks largely to get people talking. Sometimes what he says is true, but most of the time it’s trying to get attention. Essentially, he’s entertaining to listen to what he says, but the rule of thumb is to not take it too seriously, which really showed in his last dispute with the UFC which ended with taken off the UFC 200 show.
And he’s playing that leverage for all its worth. On 1/28, McGregor did another first, a self-promoted iPPV where he was interviewed by Ariel Helwani in Manchester, England, before a crowd of thousands, which he (lied) bragged would be more people than would attend the UFC’s show in Denver that day.
The first thing you have to realize about McGregor is that he’s basically the improved version of Chael Sonnen. He talks largely to get people talking. Sometimes what he says is true, but most of the time it’s trying to get attention. Essentially, he’s entertaining to listen to what he says, but the rule of thumb is to not take it too seriously, which really showed in his last dispute with the UFC which ended with taken off the UFC 200 show.
Sitting Out for the Mayweather Fight
However, this next power play is more intriguing. McGregor once again started pushing doing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather is the greatest boxer of this generation, and from a pure tactical and skill standpoint, among the greatest there’s ever been. He would beat Conor handedly.
But McGregor and Mayweather are huge draws. Dana White, when he talked about being willing to promote such an event, said he’d be disappointed with anything under 2.3 million to 2.5 million buys. McGregor was throwing around a 4 million buy prediction.
“The fight is more than just being explored,” McGregor said. “That fight has been in the works awhile now. Look, there’s a lot of steps to get through to get the fight going, but it’s the fight to make. It’s the fight people want. It’s the fight I want.”
“I’ve got the reach. I’ve got youth. I’ve got the confidence. I’ve got the unpredictable style. You can’t prepare for a style like me.”
But McGregor and Mayweather are huge draws. Dana White, when he talked about being willing to promote such an event, said he’d be disappointed with anything under 2.3 million to 2.5 million buys. McGregor was throwing around a 4 million buy prediction.
“The fight is more than just being explored,” McGregor said. “That fight has been in the works awhile now. Look, there’s a lot of steps to get through to get the fight going, but it’s the fight to make. It’s the fight people want. It’s the fight I want.”
“I’ve got the reach. I’ve got youth. I’ve got the confidence. I’ve got the unpredictable style. You can’t prepare for a style like me.”
McGregor noted that he has formed a company, McGregor Promotions, and would like to co-promote the fight with Mayweather Promotions. He said he’d like the UFC involved as well, but also claimed he didn’t need the UFC to put this together.
There are a lot of major ramifications to the UFC with McGregor’s plans.
There are a lot of major ramifications to the UFC with McGregor’s plans.
- The first is McGregor is under contract to the UFC for what is believed to be five more fights, and the contract is exclusive, meaning he can’t fight for anyone else.
- McGregor is claiming that since UFC has allowed its contracted fighters to compete outside the promotion in submissions competition, than he should be allowed to compete with another in a different sport.
- I thought it was surprising UFC was allowing its contracted stars to compete on iPPV shows with other promotions in submission competitions, but the reality is those were shows didn’t involve their fighters having a high risk of injury or missing scheduled UFC fights.
- McGregor’s claim is that because this is boxing, the Ali Act applies, and as a boxer the UFC’s long-term contracts wouldn’t hold up.
- That’s one of the reasons a number of current and ex-fighters are pushing for the Ali Act to be expanded to include MMA, with the idea that it would change the contract situation for the top fighters and open the door for more promoters to get into the game because the top talent wouldn’t be in such restrictive UFC contracts.
- It’s also why a lot of fighters are talking now about getting boxing licenses (Nate Diaz has applied for one, Jose Aldo said he’s looking to become a boxer) the loophole could get them free of their UFC contracts.
- There’s also the question of the marketability of big name MMA fighters going into boxing and losing. It’s one of the things UFC contracts are meant to guard against. Trump as President hurts the odds of expansion.
The key to this is McGregor said that he believes his next fight would be with Mayweather. “100 percent,” he said. “I believe the next time I step into a combat arena will be through the ropes wearing 10-ounce or eight-ounce gloves. I believe so.”
McGregor made it clear that if it takes until 2018 to work out the rights, that he’s very willing to sit out this year. If he believes he can make $100 million or more on a four million buy show, and whether those numbers are viable, it’s impossible to say at this point other than Mayweather did draw that with Pacquiao, and McGregor is tremendous at promoting fights, he noted it’s not a hard decision to sit out a year.
McGregor now claims that he shouldn’t have been stripped of the featherweight title, and all UFC would have had to have done was asked, and he’d have headlined the 3/4 show in Las Vegas against either Aldo or Max Holloway in a title defense, but instead they stripped him of the title.
McGregor made it clear that if it takes until 2018 to work out the rights, that he’s very willing to sit out this year. If he believes he can make $100 million or more on a four million buy show, and whether those numbers are viable, it’s impossible to say at this point other than Mayweather did draw that with Pacquiao, and McGregor is tremendous at promoting fights, he noted it’s not a hard decision to sit out a year.
McGregor now claims that he shouldn’t have been stripped of the featherweight title, and all UFC would have had to have done was asked, and he’d have headlined the 3/4 show in Las Vegas against either Aldo or Max Holloway in a title defense, but instead they stripped him of the title.
F*CK EVERYBODY!!!!!
McGregor wasn’t negative on the UFC in his interview, but before the interview, perhaps to try and drum up like minute interest for his personal iPPV, he put out an Instagram message that said, “F*** the UFC. F*** Floyd. F*** boxing. F*** the WWE. F*** Hollywood.”
Given that McGregor would make far more for a boxing match with Mayweather than he’s made for any MMA fight, or could make for any MMA fight, one understands his motivation. McGregor claimed this would be the first billion dollar fight in history, which, in fact, is ridiculous, as you’d have to do 8.5 million buys at $100 a head to be within shooting distance of that number given sponsorships, foreign rights, live gates and sports bar revenue.
Dana White has said he was willing to promote the fight, although Mayweather laughed off his $25 million guarantee plus points, saying he’s doing nothing for less than $100 million. As noted before, UFC is not historically into promoting huge events with tiny profit margins, with all the money going to the fighters.
Given that McGregor would make far more for a boxing match with Mayweather than he’s made for any MMA fight, or could make for any MMA fight, one understands his motivation. McGregor claimed this would be the first billion dollar fight in history, which, in fact, is ridiculous, as you’d have to do 8.5 million buys at $100 a head to be within shooting distance of that number given sponsorships, foreign rights, live gates and sports bar revenue.
Dana White has said he was willing to promote the fight, although Mayweather laughed off his $25 million guarantee plus points, saying he’s doing nothing for less than $100 million. As noted before, UFC is not historically into promoting huge events with tiny profit margins, with all the money going to the fighters.
So.... What About the UFC Lightweight Title?
He’s lightweight champion, arguably the deepest division when it comes to talent in the company. Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who fight on 3/4 for the interim title, are both more than deserving contenders. If he doesn’t fight, sure the winner can and would defend the interim title, but that title would be devalued at a time when UFC titles are already being devalued. But more importantly, a year without a McGregor fight would be devastating to the company economically. And he’s fully aware of this.
McGregor blew off Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, but did talk up the idea of him defending his lightweight title against Nate Diaz, cutting a promo on Diaz while telling people he and Diaz would 100 percent fight again, hopefully for the championship. But the bottomline is, he has all the leverage because the UFC has shown that they need him for big business. Nobody moves the needle like him, and if he sits out the year, they are in deep trouble.
McGregor blew off Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, but did talk up the idea of him defending his lightweight title against Nate Diaz, cutting a promo on Diaz while telling people he and Diaz would 100 percent fight again, hopefully for the championship. But the bottomline is, he has all the leverage because the UFC has shown that they need him for big business. Nobody moves the needle like him, and if he sits out the year, they are in deep trouble.
UFC on FOX Review
Valentina Shevchenko established herself as undisputedly the top contender for the UFC women’s bantamweight title with a second round submission win over Julianna Pena on 1/28 in Denver on the first FOX show of the year.
In the second round, Pena told her corner that she hurt her shoulder between rounds. Pena went for a takedown but couldn’t get it. She again got the clinch and was throwing a lot of knees. Pena almost got a takedown but Shevchenko quicky got up. Finally Pena took her down and was landing punches and elbows, when Shevchenko got the armbar from her back for the submission.
The negative of the show was the rating, as the show did 1.31 rating and 2,189,000 viewers, making it the second lowest rated FOX special to date.
In the second round, Pena told her corner that she hurt her shoulder between rounds. Pena went for a takedown but couldn’t get it. She again got the clinch and was throwing a lot of knees. Pena almost got a takedown but Shevchenko quicky got up. Finally Pena took her down and was landing punches and elbows, when Shevchenko got the armbar from her back for the submission.
The negative of the show was the rating, as the show did 1.31 rating and 2,189,000 viewers, making it the second lowest rated FOX special to date.
After the main event, UFC brought champion Amanda Nunes into the cage for a face-off. The big take was just how much of a size difference there was between the two of them. Shevchenko lost to Nunes on 3/5 in the opening match of the UFC 196 PPV, and came back to headline two FOX shows and beat Holly Holm and Pena to make herself the top contender.
In their first meeting, Nunes won the first round close and pretty much destroyed Shevchenko in the second round. But Nunes looked tired in the third round. The argument is that Nunes was done by the end of the third round and Shevchenko may have won the last two rounds had it have been a five round fight, and possibly finished her. But Nunes didn’t fight like it was a five-round fight. Every fight is different, but if such a fight happens, the key would be if Nunes could finish her early vs. how quickly she tires and Shevchenko can start taking over.
And when such a fight happens, it will be the single least anticipated title fight in the history of the four-year-old division–a division which may have drawn more money for title fights than any division during that period.
In their first meeting, Nunes won the first round close and pretty much destroyed Shevchenko in the second round. But Nunes looked tired in the third round. The argument is that Nunes was done by the end of the third round and Shevchenko may have won the last two rounds had it have been a five round fight, and possibly finished her. But Nunes didn’t fight like it was a five-round fight. Every fight is different, but if such a fight happens, the key would be if Nunes could finish her early vs. how quickly she tires and Shevchenko can start taking over.
And when such a fight happens, it will be the single least anticipated title fight in the history of the four-year-old division–a division which may have drawn more money for title fights than any division during that period.
Cowboy Gets Destroyed
Jorge Masvidal knocked Donald Cerrone out of the elite in the welterweight division by stopping him in the second round. Cerrone was pretty well finished after the first round. It appeared the fight had been stopped before the buzzer sounded, but the ruling was the buzzer sounded first. But Cerrone had not recovered when the second round started and was quickly finished.
Cerrone was on the verge of several UFC records, and not far from a title shot in the division. Masvidal was a bad risk fight due to the way the styles matched up and that Cerrone would gain little from the win. But Cerrone, who had just fought on 12/10 (although that’s not really an excuse here since Masvidal fought on 12/3) is always looking for a fight and paycheck, and since he was from Denver, wanted to be on this show.
Cerrone was on the verge of several UFC records, and not far from a title shot in the division. Masvidal was a bad risk fight due to the way the styles matched up and that Cerrone would gain little from the win. But Cerrone, who had just fought on 12/10 (although that’s not really an excuse here since Masvidal fought on 12/3) is always looking for a fight and paycheck, and since he was from Denver, wanted to be on this show.
Ngannou is the real Deal
Francis Ngannou, who had never even seen MMA until a few years ago, stopped former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in 1:32. In an aging heavyweight division, Ngannou has a lot going for him. He’s taken few beatings, is tall at 6-foot-4, and has long reach for his height and power in both hands.
This was quick and destructive. Ngannou landed an uppercut and finished Arlovski with five hard punches on the ground. Arlovski can get knocked out and beating Arlovski doesn’t necessarily establish you as a top contender, but Ngannou is ready to be booked against the big names as a test. He’s issued a challenge to Cain Velasquez.
This was quick and destructive. Ngannou landed an uppercut and finished Arlovski with five hard punches on the ground. Arlovski can get knocked out and beating Arlovski doesn’t necessarily establish you as a top contender, but Ngannou is ready to be booked against the big names as a test. He’s issued a challenge to Cain Velasquez.
Bisping Ducking Romero
Michael Bisping hasn’t agreed to face Yoel Romero, and said he was looking for the biggest money fight. Due to injuries, Bisping probably won’t be available to fight until May. Bisping said he still needs a necessary knee operation. Bisping said he’s looking for the biggest money fight. The belief is that Bisping, if he could choose things, would love to be on a show with Conor McGregor, so his points on the PPV would be a big payday, like Joanna Jedrzejczyk got working on McGregor and Ronda Rousey PPVs and like Dominick Cruz got for the 12/30 show working underneath Rousey.
Bisping vs. Dan Henderson didn’t do big numbers to he didn’t get a huge bonus. He wants to face someone like GSP or Anderson Silva if possible.
Dana White said that Romero was going to be Bisping’s next opponent.
Bisping vs. Dan Henderson didn’t do big numbers to he didn’t get a huge bonus. He wants to face someone like GSP or Anderson Silva if possible.
Dana White said that Romero was going to be Bisping’s next opponent.
Dana Drops News in Interview
Dana White, on the UFC Unfiltered podcast, said that most likely, Jon Jones would get the next shot at the light heavyweight title after the Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Rumble Johnson fight on 4/8. White had previously said that he couldn’t trust Jones to headline a show and build around him because of all the problems in the past in falling out of heavily advertised main events. The reality is there is nobody else there as a contender, especially if Johnson wins.
C.M. Punk this past week said that he’s been pitching different names as prospective opponents to Dana White and is itching for another fight. He said if he doesn’t get it, he’d be looking to fight in another promotion. Bellator would clearly be wide open for him and UFC will have to make a choice soon of either offering him a fight or letting him go.
C.M. Punk this past week said that he’s been pitching different names as prospective opponents to Dana White and is itching for another fight. He said if he doesn’t get it, he’d be looking to fight in another promotion. Bellator would clearly be wide open for him and UFC will have to make a choice soon of either offering him a fight or letting him go.
Other Headlines
- There are questions regarding Gegard Mousasi’s ability to fight in the U.S. due to Donald Trump’s temporary ban from certain Muslim country citizens from entering the U.S. Mousasi, who was born in Iran, although lives in The Netherlands, is scheduled to face Chris Weidman in the No. 2 fight on the 4/8 PPV show in Buffalo.
- The UFC made a statement regarding Mousasi, saying, “We are aware of the federal travel ban. We are monitoring and will be affirmatively engaged to ensure that our fighters and employees are able to go where they need to compete and do their jobs.
- Jimi Manuwa vs. Corey Anderson will be the main event for a 3/18 show in London at the O2 Arena. That will be a complete Fight Pass show, the first of those in a long time.
This Weekends Show
This week’s show is the night before the Super Bowl in Super Bowl City, Houston, at the Toyota Center. FOX, which has the Super Bowl broadcast, wanted a UFC tie-in. It would be cool if this was a major show, but it’s not.
FS 1 starting at 8 p.m. with Bec Rawlings (7-5) vs. Tecia Torres (7-1), Ricardo Lucas Ramos (9-1) vs. Michinori Tanaka (11-2), Chris Gruetzemacher (13-1) vs. Chas Skelly (16-2), Curtis Blaydes (6-1) vs. Adam Milstead (8-1), Jessica Andrade (15-5) vs. Angela Hill (6-2), Marcel Fortuna (8-1) vs. Anthony Hamilton (15-6), Ovince Saint Preux (19-9) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (12-1), Abel Trujillo (15-6) vs. James Vick (9-1), Alexa Grasso (9-0) vs. Felice Herrig (11-6) and a main event of Chan Sung Jung (13-4) vs. Dennis Bermudez (16-5).
FS 1 starting at 8 p.m. with Bec Rawlings (7-5) vs. Tecia Torres (7-1), Ricardo Lucas Ramos (9-1) vs. Michinori Tanaka (11-2), Chris Gruetzemacher (13-1) vs. Chas Skelly (16-2), Curtis Blaydes (6-1) vs. Adam Milstead (8-1), Jessica Andrade (15-5) vs. Angela Hill (6-2), Marcel Fortuna (8-1) vs. Anthony Hamilton (15-6), Ovince Saint Preux (19-9) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (12-1), Abel Trujillo (15-6) vs. James Vick (9-1), Alexa Grasso (9-0) vs. Felice Herrig (11-6) and a main event of Chan Sung Jung (13-4) vs. Dennis Bermudez (16-5).