Author: Jeremy Botter

Why Isn’t Cris Cyborg the Huge Star She Should Be?

Cris Cyborg fights Holly Holm on Saturday night, and there’s zero hype for it.
You know Cyborg. The most dangerous woman in the world? That’s her. Always has been, despite the UFC’s best efforts over the years to convince us that it was Ronda Rousey.
C…

Cris Cyborg fights Holly Holm on Saturday night, and there’s zero hype for it.

You know Cyborg. The most dangerous woman in the world? That’s her. Always has been, despite the UFC’s best efforts over the years to convince us that it was Ronda Rousey.

Cyborg’s marketing lies not in glossy marketing or appearances on Ellen or awkward Hollywood red carpet photo ops. She never had Dana White talking up her sex appeal.

Instead, White said Justino was “jacked up on steroids beyond belief” and that she looks like “Wanderlei Silva in a dress.” And then, as if to reinforce his point to the giggling media surrounding him, clomped around on stage in an impersonation that, even for White, was a low point in a career filled with low points.

The thing about all those mindless and offensive comments from White? They had an impact. Today, White is viewed by MMA fans as something of a joke who never speaks the truth in public; if he says something isn’t going to happen, you can pretty much count on it happening.

But there was a time, back before fans caught on, that White was a real influencer. And all of those things he said about Justino over the years, all the times he badmouthed her and used her as a crutch to prop up Rousey, all of it had an effect on the way Justino was viewed and continues to be viewed to this day.

So let’s talk about the steroid thing. Here are the facts: Justino has tested positive for a banned substance twice in her career, but only one of them actually led to a suspension—her positive test for stanozolol in 2011 that put her on the sidelines for a year.

Yes, she tested positive for an unspecified substance used in weight-cut recovery in late 2016, but she received a retroactive therapeutic use exemption from the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the agency that oversees and manages the UFC’s anti-doping program. Her temporary suspension was lifted and she was immediately restored to active competition. The only thing Justino was guilty of was forgetting to do her paperwork.

But news like this has a funny way of going right over our heads. There are still people out there who will claim she’s been banned twice for steroids, conveniently leaving out the fact it wasn’t actually steroids both times and how the second time ended up being a big nothingburger. Justino has passed thirteen random USADA screenings in 2017. She passed 11 tests in 2016.

But we’re in a place where facts don’t matter. What matters is the way we feel about people or events. if our gut tells us something, we think it’s the truth, often in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Even if Justino hadn’t failed a single test, many fans would view her as a cheat just because she looks a certain way. White spent years reinforcing that notion. With his words and actions, he made it acceptable for fans to feel the way they do.

What’s really unfortunate about how White and the UFC have shaped public perception of Justino is just how easy she would be to market on performances alone (not to mention the fact she’s just about the nicest person you’ll meet in MMA).

She made Gina Carano decide that perhaps a career in Hollywood was a better option than stepping into the cage again. Erin Toughill also opted for retirement when faced with the prospect of seeing Justino standing across from her in a fight.

Moments after Germaine de Randamie became the UFC’s first featherweight champion, she was asked by Joe Rogan about facing Justino and suddenly remembered a nagging hand injury that needed surgery. De Randamie later opted to vacate the championship and change divisions rather than defend the belt against Justino. 

After spending years insulting Cyborg in order to build her own reputation, Rousey decided Justino needed to undergo an even more drastic weight cut than usual in order to attain the privilege of facing her. Rousey wasn’t running away, per se, she was just making the meeting an impossibility.

But who can blame her? This is a woman who strikes fear in the hearts of her opponents. Holly Holm probably isn’t scared of Justino, but surely there’s a nagging little feeling somewhere in her gut that says Saturday’s fight may go quite poorly for her.

Justino is a destructive force of nature. A one-person wrecking ball. The best female fighter in the history of mixed martial arts. She is literally a promoter’s dream. But the promoter in question spent years tearing her down, and now they’re trying to use her to promote a traditional big year-end show.

If it fails spectacularly, they’ll only have one person to blame.

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Bellator Fighter Daniel Straus Hospitalized in Near-Fatal Motorcycle Accident

An early Sunday morning motorcycle accident left Bellator MMA fighter Daniel Straus confined to a Florida hospital.
Straus’ manager, Matt Aptaker of JanusSports, confirmed the news to Bleacher Report in a phone call on Tuesday night. 
Aptaker said…

An early Sunday morning motorcycle accident left Bellator MMA fighter Daniel Straus confined to a Florida hospital.

Straus’ manager, Matt Aptaker of JanusSports, confirmed the news to Bleacher Report in a phone call on Tuesday night. 

Aptaker said Straus has full movement of his legs and arms and is awake and able to talk, but that the full extent of his injuries is unknown as of yet. “It’s just too early to tell,” Aptaker said.

Straus also has no recollection of the accident whatsoever, and Aptaker told Bleacher Report that outside of the location where Straus was picked up by emergency services, they have no other information or details.

Straus provided Bleacher Report with the following statement regarding the accident: “On early Sunday morning, I was involved in a motorcycle accident. I’m currently recovering and will hopefully be returning to the Bellator cage sometime soon. I appreciate all the well wishes and ask that people respect my family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

Straus, a former two-time Bellator featherweight champion, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and wrestled in high school. He was incarcerated in 2004 after an attempted robbery and was released in 2007.

He was introduced to mixed martial arts after his release by a former high school wrestling opponent, and he began training and made his debut in 2009.

Two years later, Straus made his way to the finals of the Bellator featherweight tournament, losing to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. He entered the next featherweight tournament, this time winning in the finals over Marlon Sandro. The win earned him a title shot against Pat Curran which Straus won by decision to wrest away the championship.

He last competed in October, losing to Emmanuel Sanchez by triangle choke at Bellator 184. The loss was Straus’ second in a row. It was the first time he’s lost back to back fights since beginning his career.

This report will be updated with additional information once it becomes available.

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Cub Swanson’s Career Gamble Backfires in Fresno

Not that long ago, the notion of a top-tier UFC fighter coming to the expiration of his contract was a silly one.
Fighters didn’t have much choice in the matter. After the death of PRIDE and then Strikeforce, the UFC had no competition. There was no pl…

Not that long ago, the notion of a top-tier UFC fighter coming to the expiration of his contract was a silly one.

Fighters didn’t have much choice in the matter. After the death of PRIDE and then Strikeforce, the UFC had no competition. There was no place for a fighter dissatisfied with his UFC tenure to go. Athletes mostly sucked it up and kept hoping for a breakthrough that would help catapult them into the land of riches and gold.

Times have changed. Fighters have seen that Scott Coker happens to be growing some mighty green grass over in Bellator, and it has given them options. They don’t think you are paid highly enough? Unhappy when you’re bypassed by lesser talents with bigger mouths? Fine. Fight out your contract, gamble on yourself and see where the chips fall. Do what Rory MacDonald and Ryan Bader and other former UFC stars have done.

You could win big. But you might lose big too.

Cub Swanson is the latest to allow himself to see the expiration of a UFC contract. Having negotiated with the UFC brass over the past six months, Swanson was unhappy with the offers being pushed across the table. And when the UFC opted to give Frankie Edgar a title shot over Swanson (likely because of Swanson’s refusal to sign a new contract), Swanson took the road less traveled.

Who could blame him? Swanson is 10-2 since 2012 and has long since become more than just the guy being double-kneed in the face in that World Extreme Cagefighting highlight.

Swanson went into his UFC Fight Night 123 bout against Brian Ortega with a gamble; with a big win, he would enter the free-agent market on a high, with multiple suitors likely attempting to wrest him away from the UFC.

He lost.

Swanson dominated him on the feet, peppering Ortega with gorgeous hooks to the body and powerful blows to the head. But Ortega discovered Swanson’s weakness at the end of the first round, nearly submitting Swanson with a D’Arce choke.

Slow-motion replays of the moment showed a clearly panicked Swanson, his eyes bulging, looking frantically for the arena clock above his head to see whether he had enough time to hold on and escape the round. He did.

But once Ortega grabbed him in the second round, pressing Swanson up against the cage, it was as good as over. T-City deftly wrapped Swanson in a guillotine, used his legs to press off the cage and hung off his opponent’s frame, applying ungodly pressure to his neck.

When Swanson tried to escape, Ortega quickly adjusted his grip to make it tighter—all without dropping from his position, hanging on Swanson’s body. With that adjustment, it was over; Swanson quickly tapped.

With the submission loss, Swanson loses an entire world of opportunity that was ripe for the taking. Bellator may still be interested in securing his services, but it will be at a far lower pay scale than it would have been had he won. And the UFC? Well, one can imagine Sean Shelby smugly grinning, at least internally; Swanson gave up his place in the driver’s seat.

If Swanson wants to stick around the UFC, he will have to do so on the UFC’s terms. And those terms are surely going to be far lower than the offers Swanson has already turned down.

This is another thing that separates mixed martial arts from every other sport. In other sports, athletes have entire seasons to make their contract-year statement. Fortunes are not usually decided in an instant. But that’s the way it goes in combat sports.

The advent of true mixed martial arts free agency is a great thing and a boon for the sport, its athletes and its fans. But it also leads to the sort of high-pressure, high-stakes scenario Swanson faced Saturday night. You can put your money where your mouth is and try to prove you are worth what you believe. More power to you; it is your right to do so.

But if that’s the route you take, you should understand that everything can backfire in the blink of an eye. And then, if you’re lucky, you will end up back where you started. But more likely, you will find yourself on a hill, trying to figure out a way just to get back to where you were before your big gamble failed to pay off.

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Inside Conor McGregor’s UFC Future

It was television that led William Morris Endeavor to purchase the Ultimate Fighting Championship. They believed there would be a wild bidding war for the UFC’s television rights package that would lead to an improvement of anywhere from $250 million t…

It was television that led William Morris Endeavor to purchase the Ultimate Fighting Championship. They believed there would be a wild bidding war for the UFC’s television rights package that would lead to an improvement of anywhere from $250 million to $300 million per year over the current deal.

The engine powering that new contract, and perhaps the reason WME-IMG spent such an exorbitant amount with such confidence, was the presence of two galactic superstars: Ronda Rousey (a WME client for her nascent Hollywood career) and Conor McGregor, the brash and talented Irishman who forced his way to the top through visualization, hard work and a willingness to say and do just about anything in service of promoting himself.

At the time of the sale, McGregor was less than a month away from facing Nate Diaz in a rematch of his loss earlier in 2016. Rousey was a few months removed from her long-awaited return (which, of course, didn’t go so well). To WME-IMG executives, it must have felt like one hell of a package deal: a sporting brand on the rise, a rich new television deal on the horizon and two athletes who had accomplished the feat of crossing from blood sport into the mainstream.

Now, less than 18 months later, one wonders if William Morris Endeavor could end up suffering from buyer’s remorse.

I have long written, bolstered by speaking with sources close to him, that McGregor’s days in the UFC were numbered. But as the distance between today and the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight grows ever larger, there is still no indication that McGregor will return to the company he used as a launching pad. Dana White‘s promises that McGregor would return to fight in the UFC by the end-of-year December 30 card have proved to be as empty as any of his other recent guarantees.

The UFC has made attempts to return McGregor to the Octagon. According to sources close to both sides, the promotion began negotiations after the Mayweather bout with McGregor’s side regarding a fight on the UFC 219 card. McGregor’s side made unspecified contractual requests; they were described as the sort of demands that would have caused the old ownership group to place you on their version of Santa’s naughty list. Most of them were “non-starters” under the old regime. But times have changed, and McGregor is perhaps the most vital piece of the UFC’s puzzle in 2017 and beyond.

And so the UFC agreed to meet McGregor’s demands. But after agreeing to the demands, McGregor’s camp added more demands. One source said it “moved the goalposts” and that it appeared McGregor had no intention of fighting in December. After McGregor’s outburst at a Bellator event in Dublin in November, the UFC decided to quell its efforts to squeeze him onto the December card, figuring it would be a bad public relations look to feature him so prominently after his actions that night.

And now, White has shifted the public narrative. He’s publicly acknowledging for the first time what those close to McGregor have said for months: that the Irish superstar may never return to the UFC.

“Money changes everything,” White said. “He may never fight again. He has got $100 million in the bank. It’s tough to get punched in the face every day when you’ve got $100 million.” White even shut down McGregor’s demand for ownership in the UFC despite saying in August that he was open to the idea of giving McGregor points.

All this is leading somewhere, and if you’ve been paying close enough attention, none of it will surprise you. Back in January 2016, I reported on McGregor’s eventual intention to venture out as either a co-promoter with the UFC or a promoter standing on his own.

I have been told by multiple credible sources close to the featherweight champion that McGregor’s ultimate goal is to strike out on his own, to start his own promotion company and to either promote events on his own or perhaps co-promote with the UFC. It is not more McGregor bluster. He actually wants to do it.

McGregor’s career path has been easy to read. Since signing with the UFC, every step he’s taken has been one with upward momentum. And not just minimal upward momentum; most of his moves have involved giant leaps that confound logic and crash against the notion of fairness. The idea that McGregor, after making $100 million in a single night, would return to the UFC even for a quarter of that price (and at least a nominal ownership stake in his own fight) is a silly one.

Likewise is the notion that he would return to the UFC after serving as a co-promoter of one of the largest boxing matches in history, only to allow himself to be relegated back to the position of mere role player. Sources close to McGregor have told me for years that the fighter’s dream is to promote his fights at the historic Croke Park in Dublin. It was assumed that it would need to be in conjunction with the UFC, which made it seem impossible given the UFC’s need to time its broadcasts for a more convenient airing time in North America.

But now it appears McGregor’s foray into boxing is just another step he is taking to put the UFC in his rearview mirror, to finally be the ultimate boss and the one calling all the shots. McGregor as both boxer and promoter of his own bouts (and perhaps the bouts of other hand-picked fighters) in the style of Mayweather is closer to reality than one might think.

McGregor would almost certainly be challenged in court were he to attempt to promote his own mixed martial arts fights outside of the auspices of the UFC. But as a now-professional boxer, he is covered under the auspices of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, a piece of legislation the UFC is not chomping at the bit to combat, particularly since it is facing the prospect of the Ali Act being extended to mixed martial arts. For now, it’s only a theory, but if McGregor has decided that he solely wants to pursue professional boxing and leave mixed martial arts, there does not appear to be much the UFC can do about it.

And for a man consumed with the idea of money and power, it is the only option. No more being forced to follow a schedule created by others. Nobody calling the shots and telling you what to do. And perhaps most importantly, no sharing the wealth with others who use your name to vault and keep the lion’s share of the resulting enormous financial success.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

With Win at UFC 218, Max Holloway Proves It’s His Era in Featherweight Division

In terms of pure skill and technical wizardry, Friday night’s fight between Nicco Montano and Roxanne Modafferi was possibly the worst title bout in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But at least the card itself improved on the previou…

In terms of pure skill and technical wizardry, Friday night’s fight between Nicco Montano and Roxanne Modafferi was possibly the worst title bout in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But at least the card itself improved on the previous weekend’s atrocious Shanghai offering; that was an event so terrible it was nearly unanimously declared one of the worst, and most insufferable, in promotional history.

Thankfully, Saturday’s UFC 218 in Detroit was the opposite.

On both counts.

And then some.

Mere hours after Yancy Medeiros defeated Alex Oliveira in one of the greatest fights we’ve ever seen, Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje topped it by upping the violence quota in a third-round TKO victory for Alvarez. Oh, and Francis Ngannou sent Alistair Overeem rocketing from this mortal coil with one of the most brutal knockouts in UFC history.

And then Jose Aldo and Max Holloway capped off a scintillating evening of violence with a fight that was both predictable and the official changing of the featherweight guard.

Thanks to a third-round TKO, Holloway retained his 145-pound title in much the same way he wrested control from Aldo in the first place: by luring him into a sprinting, pace-laden brawl that the former pound-for-pound great could not maintain. It’s not that Aldo is not a great fighter. The former champion might still be one of the best featherweights on the planet and capable of beating the best the division has to offer on any night.

It’s just that Holloway is the future and the present.

Aldo couldn’t keep up. His trademark leg kicks were there, wobbling Holloway upon landing. His staunch defense and his excellent head movement were there. But his gas tank wasn’t. He faded quickly upon the beginning of the third round. Holloway, a man built for such moments, swarmed. One gets the feeling while watching Holloway do his brand of work that the Hawaiian doesn’t start kicking things into a higher gear until the third round begins; Aldo had nothing left in his reserve tank. Holloway overwhelmed him.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan was quick in his attempt to anoint Holloway as the greatest featherweight in the history of the sport. Such a notion is absurd. Aldo reigned as the divisional champion for years across the changing landscapes of two separate mixed martial arts promotions.

Aldo won the WEC featherweight championship in 2009 and defended it even as it became the UFC featherweight championship. Aldo essentially ended the contending careers of multiple fighters, including Mike Brown and Urijah Faber. Counting both WEC and UFC, he defended that championship nine times.

To his credit, Holloway instantly shut down Rogan’s fawning by noting he has a long way to go before he can assume the mantle of the best ever.

“At the end of the day, it is what it is! All due respect to Aldo. He is a hell of a technician, but this is the blessed era,” Holloway told Rogan after the fight. “This is something new. He kicks very hard, but I think we passed the test.”

These are all true statements.

What is also true is this: Holloway has ended Aldo’s time on top of the featherweight division, and a changing of the guard has indeed taken place.

Here is another true statement: It is hard to look at the featherweight landscape and imagine anyone with the style and vigor to put an end to Holloway’s reign. Frankie Edgar was supposed to be in Detroit on Saturday, standing there where Aldo stood, but he was forced to pull out due to a facial injury. I can’t say I’d have given the Jersey native a better chance than Aldo had. Ricardo Lamas? Cub Swanson? Brian Ortega? None of them would’ve given me much confidence in an upset.

“All of these guys are cupcakes, and I love cupcakes,” Holloway said in the post-fight interview. “I look forward to the new flavor, but I’m going to eat them all.”

Dessert references aside, Holloway’s sublime, darting, dashing style makes it all the more sad that we’ll never see the one fight that truly offers any kind of intrigue: a bout against former champion Conor McGregor. The Irishman already owns a win over Holloway, but it was so long ago and against such a different Holloway that we’d go into the fight labeling it a toss-up.

But McGregor will never return to featherweight, if he returns to the UFC at all. Which means Holloway will likely line up next against Edgar, and then perhaps Swanson (if he can come to terms on a new contract with the UFC).

And all of that means Holloway will likely keep that big gold belt sitting around his waist for a long time.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Fabricio Werdum’s Win Caps Off Just Another Saturday UFC Night

I don’t know if you heard, but Fabricio Werdum had a pretty interesting week in Australia. 
First, there was the whole thing with Colby Covington and the boomerang. Trust me, it’s just as funny as it sounds. 
The short version: Covington…

I don’t know if you heard, but Fabricio Werdum had a pretty interesting week in Australia. 

First, there was the whole thing with Colby Covington and the boomerang. Trust me, it’s just as funny as it sounds. 

The short version: Covington is trying hard to be what would happen if Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor were able to make a baby, except not as smart and with a heaping helping of xenophobia.

Anyway, Covington cut a promo after his last win wherein he called all Brazilians “filthy animals,” which was pretty revolting, all things considered.

Werdum, being Brazilian, didn’t think this was funny. I know, right? What a surprise to find this out. 

So when he came face-to-face with Covington in Australia during fight week, Werdum chucked a boomerang at Covington’s head. Yes, a boomerang. The thing you throw to yourself on a sandy beach. 

I told you it was an interesting week in Australia.

Unfortunately, the interesting bits were all finished before the UFC card started on Saturday night.

Werdum capped off his week by going in the Octagon and participating in a lackluster sparring match with Marcin Tybura on a lackluster card.

Werdum was a late replacement for Mark Hunt, who was pulled from the fight for—depending on whose account you believe—writing about how his chosen career path has affected his brain or because he’s suing the UFC and the promotion’s president, Dana White, hates him. Take your pick. Either option is fair and logical. 

The Brazilian, fresh off his win over Walt Harris at UFC 216, sauntered in the cage sporting his best dad bod and essentially cruised to an easy decision win over five insufferable rounds. For all the problematic things Werdum does outside the cage (his liberal usage of homophobic slurs in both real life and in his Instagram trolling and his penchant for finding himself in scuffles with much smaller men than himself), he is still a special athlete inside it.

Truth be told, he probably deserves serious consideration as one of the best heavyweights in the history of the sport, if not the best. He was the first man to truly beat Fedor Emelianenko, and he did it back when it was surprising and not just a thing that happened on a random Saturday night with regularity.

Werdum clearly remains a threat to any heavyweight on the planet—as long as he’s motivated. But on Saturday in Australia (well, Saturday in the U.S. and Sunday in Australia because of the time difference), Werdum collected a paycheck, fighting down to the lower half of the heavyweight division’s farcical top 10 rankings.

He went through the motions.

But that’s par for the course at events like this one, where it seems the UFC is promoting an event just because it is supposed to be promoting an event. Nights like this one, with hours upon hours of fight time and a maddeningly never-ending television broadcast, are one of the top complaints fans have about the sport. There’s just too much product.

Who can be expected to keep up with all of this? Even the most hardcore of those of a hardcore persuasion becomes jaded after being subjected to endless waves of fight cards that are filled to overflowing with mediocre talent.

Saturday’s co-main event featured Bec Rawlings taking on UFC debutant Jessica-Rose Clark. This was a bona fide contender for worst UFC co-main event of all time. And it gets worse with UFC Shanghai on Nov. 25, which might be the worst UFC card in history and is headlined by Michael Bisping despite Bisping being battered and finished by Georges St-Pierre as recently as Nov. 4.

Just as it’s time for Werdum to stop finding himself in squabbles with men he outweighs by 75 pounds, so too is it time for the UFC to take a step back. It’s time to trim the roster and to start making the product feel special again. It’s time to space things out, to give the fans time to anticipate and miss the product.

Because there was a time when I looked forward to seeing Fabricio Werdum in the Octagon.

Now?

It’s just another Saturday night.

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