UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping II - Sat., June 4th (Los Angeles)
- Thread starter Madrox
- Start date
Bisping called him and "pussy" and a "faggot." The first one might slide, but the second will get him hemmed up. Dana's not trying to tangle with the gays, especially not over a slur. Bisping better hope mainstream media doesn't pick up on this.
Yeah - gonna be interesting to see what type of fall-out happens. The message boards, sites & some of the podcasters have mentioned it.
Still in disbelief that Bisping KO'd Luke in the first 3 minutes. People that bet on a KO for Bisping must have made serious bank. Thought for sure Rockhold was gonna highlight-reel him.
MFH - It was an interesting weekend, no doubt.
- Bisping with the upset & the potential fallout here
- Ariel, Esther & Casey getting escorted out of the building & their credentials pulled
- McG-Diaz II set for UFC 202
- The supposed return of Brock Lesnar for UFC 200 next month
Dana is a bitch for this one....
My brother texted me yesterday with some talking points on the event. I mentioned the Ariel stuff and he said it wasn't a good look at all. We were talking about the missteps made in the past year or two ...
- Ariel and Fox
- Ariel & MMAFighting colleagues escorted out and credentials pulled (for apparently getting the jump on the Brock Lesnar news leak)
- The Reebok issues with sponsorship money & uniforms
- Stitch Duran
- Burt Watson
- No longer being able to use IV rehydration methods
Yeah definitely some misteps..... and isn't Ariel the one who originally reported the impending sale? If so I wonder if that's the real reason he is trying to fuck him over
Dana wanted Ariel to act as PR, a UFC company guy, not as an actual sports journalist, in exchange for so much inside access. Ariel basically got punished for doing his job.
Yeah - it's one of those things wherein you can't be fucking over the integral parts of the product, as the fan backlash is fire and wide. Burt Watson was the one calling the shots behind the scenes at live events. Making sure fighters and their teams were where they were supposed to be and ready to go. Stitch Duran is the foremost cutman in the business, and fortunately he's been able to continue picking up work with Bellator, WSOF, and pro boxing. Ariel Helwani's been MMA Journalist/Media member of the year for a number of years, and one of the key faces with UFC on Fox, and of course the MMA Hour (podcast) and MMAFighting.com. His colleagues Esther Lin (photographer) and her husband E. Casey Leydon (her husband, and Ariel's videographer) are also integral parts of the game. Esther herself is widely seen as one of the best photographers in the sport. The Reebok deal wasn't beneficial to fighters in that they weren't consulted first, and many fighters were making an additional $20 - 100k per fight on their own beforehand, and don't want to be dealing with the shitty tier(ed) system the Reebok/UFC have employed. The IV rehydration ban was put in place to help counterattack people who may have been wanting to mask detectable agents when having bloodwork done, but shit ... weight cutting is already a drastic part of combat sports, and many fighters still aren't doing it safely, but at least it was a healthier way for them to replenish their systems aside from water-loading again, eating garbage food, or overdoing it with pedialyte, Gatorade, etc.
As for who initially broke the UFC's embedding sales news? I can't quite recall the specific source or sources ... but I know a number of media members have been hinting at that in recent years, especially given the huge revenue generated in 2015 with the PPVs. They had massive numbers with the Ronda Rousey cards in Feb, August, and November ... and Conor in July and December ... and look like a more "professional" league now to potential buyer(s). As for the media members who have been hinting ... believe it was Jeremy Botter, Jonathan Snowden, Ariel Helwani, etc.
Ariel himself initially got in trouble earlier this year (with Fox) when he had Rory MacDonald on his show, and he was asking him to talk about his pending free agendy. He fights Stephen Thompson in that main card spot on the UFC Ottawa show in 2 weeks, and wants to renegotiate afterward. They didn't like hearing him give the platform for the fighter to speak freely of free agency. Ariel said he got a hasty, shitty quick phone call from them about being let go ... after putting in years of work for them.
I hope Hunt can get another walk off K.O.. Lesnar should stick to WWE and stay out of the octagon. Get that safe money.
Most likely Lesnar will try to take Hunt down and go for the g&p.
Most likely Lesnar will try to take Hunt down and go for the g&p.
Hunt is going to be hunting for Brock's gut. It will be an interesting fight because of the height difference. I know Hunt KO'ed Struve @ 7', but Struve ain't built like Brock. I give the advantage to Lesnar.
I could see Brock getting the belt again if he wanted to continue past one fight.
Imo that division is wide open.
Imo that division is wide open.
