PHOENIX — Ben Saunders talks about his training camp before UFC on FOX 13, being disappointed with the outcome after Joe Riggs injured himself, not knowing that Riggs was hurt on the takedown, receiving support and motivation from the internet community, and more.
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The UFC declared its groundbreaking clothing contract with Reebok last week also it left many in the MMA community with more questions than answers.
UFC president Dana White said through the press conference the combatants would receive every last cent in the uniform deal. But just how much cash will each combatant really get? And will the athletes be compensated enough to replace the loss of preceding in-cage clothing sponsorships?
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When the Tulsa-based Battleground group decided to try pay-per-view based on the concept of going back in time with an eight-man one-night tournament, it was an interesting concept, but former UFC owner Bob Meyrowitz had done the same thing years ago with the one-and-done YAMMA promotion, using fighters with more name value.
So the hook for selling the show, for the first time in the history of MMA, was the announcers. It was the meeting of the minds between Jim Ross, the voice of the heyday of pro wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment, and Chael Sonnen, in his first televised appearance since drug test failures led to FOX releasing him from his contract.
The broadcast was a different approach. Whether it was correct is hard to ascertain because nobody knows who or what type of audience was watching on pay-per-view. The broadcast team was aimed more at a general audience with beginning knowledge of MMA. Sonnen did a lot of basic breakdown of moves at a level you wouldn’t see on a UFC broadcast, even though there is far more of a chance that a casual audience would watch a televised UFC event, or attend a gathering to watch a major pay-per-view.
This likely stems from Ross’ own experience watching major UFC shows in the past with his buddies who are part of the local college football community, sports fans who are older, liked MMA but didn’t really understand it or its strategies.
Ross seemed a little unsteady at first, but fell into his groove as the show went on. He was different than other MMA announcers, and completely different from his pro wrestling persona. For people who wanted to here Ross yell his various wrestling catch phrases on an MMA show, or for those watching who feared the same thing, they got something they didn’t expect.
Ross talked about non-fighting backgrounds of the participants extensively. It was a way to give a personality to the unknown fighters. We learned, for example, that Trey Houston works a regular job as a geophysicist for an oil company, and has to train before and after work. We also learned that former UFC featherweight Cody McKenzie, fighting two weight classes up in the welterweight tournament, and even then, missing weight on his first try, had actually drawn blood to get under 171 pounds, as crazy as that sounded.
McKenzie had been working the last two-and-a-half months on a salmon fishing boat in Alaska. He hadn’t trained, and, well, looked the part. And fought the part as well, being eliminated in his first match with Brock Larson.
The similarity of Larson’s name to that of Brock Lesnar, not to mention he came from Minnesota, was brought up several times. Ross nearly called Larson “Lesnar” at one point. At another time, Ross even tried once to mimic the slow, unique and almost guttural enunciation of Lesnar that pro wrestling manager Paul Heyman does on wrestling broadcasts.
Ross emphasized the storyline that these were fighters looking for a break, battling for $50,000. He even plugged the UFC December pay-per-view a couple of times when mentioning that Johny Hendricks was in the audience, although Hendricks wasn’t shown.
Sonnen was a natural, but that’s hardly a surprise because talking has always been his thing.
He was filled with one-liners, including what came across as a self-deprecating reference to his own troubles. When Ross brought up the heavily tattooed Luigi Fiorvanti, and noted Sonnen has no tattoos himself, Sonnen responded, “I was always afraid of needles, at least those with ink in them.”
At another point, when referencing fighter Niko Koliastasis, who was connected to Missouri Valley College, the small NAIA school that Bobby Lashley was a national champion for in the 90s, Ross mentioned Lashley’s name.
Sonnen responded, “Bobby Lashley, the cure for insomnia. I’m not sure we should thank him for that or hold that against him.”
At another time, before the Houston vs. Roan Carneiro semifinal, when an innocuous, “Let’s look at the tale of the tape,” line before the fight resulted in no tale of the tape being shown, Sonnen joked about how it’s dangerous to call one’s own shots.
Sonnen also had a reference for judges (“Poindexters at ringside with a clipboard”), one of the ring card girls (“It’s an easy job if you’re a centerfold or a supermodel. It takes a little more confidence when you’re a six”) and even former boxing champion Leon Spinks (“The Cadillac, Leon Spinks referred to it as the Mercedes of automobiles.”)
He broke things down to a far more basic level than one would get watching a UFC, Bellator or AXS Fight broadcast.
For all the good and the bad that can be said about Sonnen, it’s a role he should be doing regularly. He clearly had done his homework on the fighters and knows the sport, even if at times he was in the middle of talking on a different subject as fighters were locking on fight ending submissions. On the flip side, when Roan Carneiro’s continuing in the tournament after winning his first fight was in question because of dehydration, Sonnen immediately speculated it could be a ruse to throw Houston, his next opponent, off.
Ross was more into the personalities than the technical aspects of the fight. He didn’t use any of his trademark pro wrestling phrases, although there were plenty of wrestling references sprinkled in. When talking about how Houston went to Bixby High School, not far from Tulsa, he noted it was the same school as Cowboy Bill Watts, the area’s pro wrestling hero of the 60s and 70s who was Ross’ mentor when he started in the business. Joe Ray being from Sarasota, Fla., brought references to pro wrestling personalities Randy Savage and “Mean” Gene Okerlund.
Once, when talking about the fighters backstage, said, “Fighters use a locker room, entertainers use a dressing room,” in reference to his wrestling past.
Perhaps the funniest moment to those who follow wrestling closely came when the championship belt that was being presented to the tournament winner was shown. Ross, in describing it, had a slight hesitation before calling it a belt. It may have been an instinctive reaction because in his old job, the world “belt” to describe a title belt was banned by WWE owner Vince McMahon. McMahon produces the wrestling announcers and is legendary for yelling and screaming at them when they say something not to his liking. It was almost as if instinct took over for a split second, before reality struck in that he wasn’t getting yelled at.
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If you saw the Nevada Athletic Commission hearing on Tuesday you realize that the press conference brawl doesn’t add as much as a smack in the wrist — as some anticipated — but more like a force to the economic teeth. And additionally that reality is clearly fiction, and so “reality.” Now, the NAC hearings are the success show of Fight Pass, the UFC’s digital streaming service for the fights and play. We are able to laugh and shout combined with cast, from the ever-forgiving grandpa figure Bill Brady to the no nonsense Anthony Marnell III to the recurring cameo role of Floyd Mayweather as Floyd Mayweather, whose lines are almost always hilarious. Mayweather again appeared prior to the commission, this time to sort of chat about affecting footage on Showtime’s “All Access” program, which aired before he fought Marcos Maidana on Sept. 13. In the event you presume Mayweather has elaborate footwork in the ring, you need to see him in the court. My buddies, he’s a vaporman. A totally untouchable hologram. Only a nine-amount mirage. Did I mention he understands the best way to make use of the Force? (SPOILER ALERT in the event you truly do not understand). (Because he does!)On this episode of the NAC’s on-going hearing set, he and CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, told the commission that everything they’d seen in the reality show was of course constructed fiction, from the 31-minute “dog house” rounds to the pot the remora smoke throughout the shark himself. Imitation, fake, and more imitation. Everybody understands that reality shows are only fiction and that fiction is wild in reality, anyhow, simply look around at all of the fake people doing imitation things — plus, there are editors bending reality into fiction that will be made conscious of, it is a slick gotdamb slope.”You Have acquitted yourself well,” harrumphed commissioner Skip Avansino, no slouch in regards to differentiating between B.S. and…well, I think non-B.S. I am suggesting, within the course of the season the banter involving the boxer as well as the Nevada commission edges on bonhomie! So great. Can not wait to see how these characters grow. That brought matters around to the instance of of the Daniel Cormier-Jon Jones UFC 178 press conference brawl, the one that occurred in early August and turned a rather powerful title fight right into a viral high fiving can not-miss mega-event. Jones went first. He asked for leniency in the issue. The NAC saw the footage of what went down in the MGM Grand foyer, subsequently deliberated on the UFC champ’s participation for over 48 minutes and change. Throughout that time they attempted to determine a suitable punishment for Jones — commissioner Pat Lundvall even went up to now as to inquire Jones what should be the punishment for Jones — before ultimately framing a motion. Jones clarified that he had already been coping in the repercussions of the brawl, beginning with Nike drawing its endorsement deal with him. He seemed “contrite” for his part in the brawl, in the impact on down to the consequences, and Brady pointed out this display of contrition had “softened” his heart. If Fight Pass ever decides to play scripted sitcom laughter over these event, this could happen to be a nice spot to make use of it. A hug between Jones and Brady would happen to be a great “awwww” moment, but in this reality show the producers showed admirable restraint. Anyway, the verdict: Forty hours of community service in Vegas, as well as a $50,000 fine. Since a press conference brawl was (comparatively) new to the commission, they wished to create an impression to discourage copycats. “To permit it to go with no more than the usual smack to the hand will be an offense to those that run themselves gentlemanly,” said Avansino, a little overly 19th century because of this court. (But throw in certain situation comedy applause? That line could have been perfect!).Next they brought up the competition Cormier, who used the self defense shield, building a claim he was simply reacting to some hazard when Jones set his brow on him. Brady wished to understand if “Cormare” had “wrassled” in school, and Cormier said did he ever, boy, and he could tell you a few stories! And he did. After about an incident using a wrestler from Iran, and another having a man who poked his eye. Cormier was not as contrite as Jones, but he was not uncontrite either. He talked about having lost some of the children in his wrestling course, in addition to the humiliation the event had caused him elsewhere. “I do not enjoy people being disappointed in me,” he said. “It sucks.” Marnell wished to understand why he went on FOX later and said that he had do it the same way again, and Cormier talked about an “avocado room” in which chit chat amongst combatants takes place (or something similar to that), and this was a reasonable solution. He also spoke about an encounter with “Bigfoot” Silva, which a number of the commission settled in for like it was a campfire story. Turns out it was not. That component had really occurred. Because it had been decided that Jones was more culpable in the brawl for inciting the shove and for that reason inciting the brawl, Cormier was given a reduced sentence. For his part he got 20 hours of community service, which he can do in San Jose where he trains, and was fined $9,000, which is ten percent of his fight purse. As expected, the January 3 fight involving both remains on. Jones and Cormier were given fines and community service. Later on, the recently retired combatant Wanderlei Silva was banished forever from fighting in Nevada and socked with a $70,000 fine for the Houdini performance he pulled in May when presented with a random drug test. And Mayweather, who’s fast becoming a fan favorite with this reality show inside the reality show, made off along with his real life entourage after describing that fact is, actually, only “truth.” Is it? Hell if I understand, but after Tuesday’s hearing I can not help but believe he is onto something. Stay tuned.
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UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and undefeated challenger Daniel Cormier were fined 10 percent in their coming fight purses as an outcome of the brawl that happened involving both competitors at an August 4, 2014 press event to advertise UFC 178. Representatives of the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) unanimously approved the punishment at a Tuesday commission meeting in Vegas.
Jones is going to have to settle the commission $50,000 for his activities, while Cormier’s fee will be $9,000. Along with the fine, Jones will be required to complete 40 hours of community service in Vegas, while Cormier will be required to complete 20 hours of community service in his hometown of San Jose, Calif.
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The third Saturday in November will be a busy day for the mixed martial arts community.
Nov. 15, which already features UFC 180 and Bellator 131, is the new date for World Series of Fighting 15. WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz supported to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani the show, initially slated for Oct. 24, was transferred to Nov. 15. The place of the event has not yet been discovered.
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As with any polarizing figure in the fight game, a particular amount of revelry may be believed on the list of mixed martial arts community following Alistair Overeem’s astonishing first-round knockout loss to Ben Rothwell at last Friday’s UFC Fight Night 50 event in Connecticut.
The upset added another chapter to Overeem’s increasingly anticlimactic UFC tenure, a run which started with this much assurance, but amid three knockout losses in four efforts, and also a failed drug test to boot, has slowly devolved into somewhat of a running punch line for fight fans.
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