General UFC Chit Chat/News

dave1982

Mellor wrote: »

Husabusha (GSPs sponsor and maker of the gi) have pulled it instantly and issued an apology. It was obviously a simple misunderstand if what the flag means outside Japan.

I highly doubt GSP or anyone would wear it knowing what it meant.

califano

No way yer man is from South Korea with that phraseology. Internerd assuming South Korean heritage for extra clout imo:)

Professey Chin

rounders123 wrote: »

No way yer man is from South Korea with that phraseology. Internerd assuming South Korean heritage for extra clout imo:)

The letter was written by the Korean Zombie. The fighter.... From south Korea...

MrStuffins

Good to see Urijah Faber's English Lessons are paying off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBK3Y1umnYc

El Guapo!

Nick Diaz's camp are to file an official complaint with the Quebec Boxing Commission.

LINK

Shortly after UFC 158, a video surfaced of the UFC's Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs Michael Mersh explaining Montreal's unusual weigh-in rules to Welterweight title challenger Nick Diaz. Mersh explained that the Quebec commission doesn't account for the decimal so a weight as high as 170.9 would be the same as 170.0. The awkward "off the record" exchange added a hint of controversy to Diaz's unanimous decision loss to Georges St. Pierre.

On Tuesday, Jonathan Tweedale, representing Diaz's camp, infored MMA Fighting that they'll be filing a complaint in regards to the weigh-in controversy as well as an issue with the drug testing procedure:

The Quebec Commission's statement is a disappointing admission that the March 16 event was not conducted under the rules applicable to a UFC title fight - or under the rules the fighters contractually agreed to, upon which rules Mr. Diaz was entitled to rely under his bout agreement.

"Further serious irregularities including, inter alia, the Quebec Commission's failure to supervise fighters' provision of samples in connection with testing for Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods (under sections 71.1 to 71.6 of the Regulation), will be set out in an official complaint that will be filed imminently,"

"Section 168 of the Regulation respecting combat sports provides that the maximum weight that a fighter must achieve at the official weigh-in shall be determined in advance by contract - and if the fighter does not make the contracted weight - in this case 170 pounds - then 20% of his purse or "the contestant's remuneration" will be deducted and paid to his opponent (subsections (7) and (8)). The contracted weight for this fight was 170 pounds. 170.9 is not 170, anywhere in the world, for a title fight. There is no question what "170 pounds" means, in the bout agreement, as a matter of contractual interpretation.

"The Quebec Commission deliberately relaxed the rule in this case and, by its own admission, allowed their home-town fighter to 'make weight' even if he weighed more than the contracted weight."

"In the circumstances, Mr. St-Pierre remains legally and ethically obligated to fight Mr. Diaz at 170 pounds or else vacate the belt in favor of those prepared to fight at welterweight."

Seems like Diaz is clutching at straws and moaning about something being not fair.....yet again.
Really sick of Diaz at this stage. He just can't accept that he was beaten by the better man. He says he won't make excuses when he loses but then he instantly goes and makes excuses.
The sooner we see the back of Nick Diaz, the better.

El Guapo!

Really good article /interview here with Cole Konrad.
He seems like an intelligent, down to earth guy. I wonder if he'd have been a big contender if he continued on.
Interesting read anyway.

For Cole Konrad, there is no living in the past. The Bellator heavyweight championship belt that he once won and proudly wore now sits collecting dust on a bookshelf in his basement. It is one of few remaining reminders of his past life, including only one single photo of him from his fighting days. In it, he stands alongside friend and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and coach Erik Paulson. At the time, both Konrad and Lesnar were on top of their respective promotions, and the duo had just finished a practice that ended with them putting on their belts and horsing around. It is still Konrad's favorite memory from his days as a pro fighter, which ended last fall.

Konrad's retirement came as a surprise to the sport's observers and his promotion. When he called it quits, he was just 28 years old, had an undefeated record and a world of potential in front of him. Yet he swapped it not for some other glamorous role, but to trade agricultural commodities.

With the heavyweight division arguably the weakest in MMA, Konrad's potential value if he reached free agency unbeaten was enormous. To see that, all he had to do was look at his friend Lesnar, who made eight figures during his seven-fight run in the UFC from 2008-'11. While Lesnar's cultural crossover from pro wrestling stardom to MMA made him a special case, no one disputes that heavyweight stars are among the best-paid talents in MMA. For evidence, just look at the recent guaranteed paydays of Junior dos Santos ($400,000) and Alistair Overeem ($285,714.29). Add in the pay-per-view cut received by several big men, and it's clear that seven-figure paydays are quite possible for heavyweights of the highest order.

At 9-0, and in Bellator, which has never produced a pay-per-view, Konrad was far from reaching millionaire status, but on the other hand, at the time of his decision, the promotion was about to re-launch under a massive marketing blitz from Spike that would bring the widest exposure yet for the brand and its fighters.

Despite surveying the landscape before him, Konrad could only see uncertainty. Fights were slow in coming, with only one bout in 2011 and another single fight in 2012, with each one earning him around $30,000, he said. So after being repeatedly approached about a full-time job in trading, he weighed the pros and cons of continuing on, and in the end, he says he could only see fighting as a "pretty dead-end job."

"I always knew it in the back of my mind," he told MMA Fighting in his first interview since retiring. "I did it because I was having fun. I think when it changed was when I got married. Perspective changed. We wanted to start a family and my job is to provide for them the best I can. I just reevaluated things and fighting wasn't my best opportunity to take care of them to the best of my ability."

While the sportsman in him had no questions about his talent and ability, the businessman in him innately understood something that is of almost no concern in the rest of the pro sports world, that his paunchy physique and quiet personality would hold him back from the giant paydays seen by others.

That an athlete would even have to make such considerations about surface characteristics is an unspoken reality of MMA. As many top fighters have discovered, it's always not enough to train hard and out-compete the opposition. Careers are often made and fizzle out based on perception.

"I'm a realist," Konrad said. "I see some fighters that probably aren't at the same talent level as some other fighters, but because they talk like a jackass in interviews and have some tattoos, and have a look, they seem to draw people in and draw checks. I guess it should to an extent. If you draw interest and get people to watch you, you should be rewarded."

Yet there were certain things Konrad was not willing or able to do. His big body had always been what it was, despite a grueling training schedule that made him a four-time collegiate All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota. It was, he acknowledged, an important part of the presentation, and in his words, "wasn't exactly what was being sought for a high-profile fighter."

His personality was not up for negotiation, either. Konrad said no dollar amount could have changed the way he presented himself, and even if it did, his father would have reined him back in quickly.

"There's great money there for top guys, but I don't look like Brock and I don't have that same personality," he said. "I'm not outspoken. My interviews are usually clean cut. My personality isn’t the type that would necessarily warrant that big paycheck. In my mind, I think that's just as important as being a good fighter, and I've seen it time and time again. I knew in the back of my mind, that's not me. I don't look that way, I don't act that way. I have two of the three [factors for success] holding me back. No excuses. In fighting, I eventually could have worked my way up there and done well but it wasn't going to be an overnight thing, that's for sure."

In a strange irony, it was Lesnar's example which paved the way for Konrad's exit. Just a few years earlier, it had been Lesnar serving the opposite role, sitting Konrad down and advising him to concentrate on fighting ahead of chasing his international wrestling aspirations.

For most of their careers, Lesnar and Konrad were regular training partners at Lesnar's DeathClutch gym in Minnesota. That association allowed him to leave the sport without any questions regarding his ability.

Lesnar, after all, makes for a pretty useful measuring stick when attempting to figure where exactly you fall in the divisional pecking order. A few fighters who trained at the DeathClutch gym with Lesnars and Konrad are on the record as saying that Konrad was the superior talent. One, UFC's Pat Barry, called him "Cain Velasquez at 300 pounds" and said that once Konrad gained complete confidence in his striking he would be the heavyweight champion of the world "in any organization."

Konrad also competed against many of the MMA world's best heavyweights during his wrestling days, including UFC champ Velasquez, who he beat in four of five matches. Because of all of those experiences, he feels that the questions he personally had have been answered.

"I know it’s totally different and people say, 'Yeah that was wrestling and this is fighting,' but the mentality and approach doesn't change," he said. "I would have continued to work and develop. I'm not saying that I would have been better than everyone because if I didn't fight them, I don't know. But in the back of my mind, I don't really question myself. I've had success at everything I've truly set my mind to. I’m completely content on how things shook out. I feel confident that had I gone on, I would have continued to develop. I won't look back with any regret. I don't have any regrets from wrestling, and I don't have any from fighting."

These days, Konrad lives in Minnesota with his wife, Carlissa. He says he's watched only a couple of fights since retiring, and only occasionally has the itch to compete in something. He says that urge is adequately addressed in his current job. By design, his firm recruits high-level athletes, with three other All-American wrestlers, several former Division I basketball and hockey players, and even a former NHL player on the payroll. Competition is in the company's DNA.

In the end, that's the thing that made Konrad successful in fighting, and it's also the thing that led him to leave when the competition was slow in coming.

"I didn't like the spotlight but liked the burden of having the win and loss determined strictly by my own performance," he said. "I wasn’t doing it so people were focusing in on me. I liked that type of combat. I liked the one on one. I liked that when it’s all said and done, I beat that guy, head's up, no excuses, no B.S. Just me vs. him, and I kicked his ass."

Mellor

El Guapo! wrote: »

Nick Diaz's camp are to file an official complaint with the Quebec Boxing Commission.

He's really embarrassing himself.
The rules were the same for them both. How did it favour either?
That's been the rule in Montreal for a number of years.
Was GSP even over 170 by a fraction if a lb? Probably not.

DrPhilG

Mellor wrote: »

He's really embarrassing himself.
The rules were the same for them both. How did it favour either?
That's been the rule in Montreal for a number of years.
Was GSP even over 170 by a fraction if a lb? Probably not.

Diaz came in at 169 so he was definitely under the limit. GSP was 170 so could in theory have been 170.9.

Regardless, it has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the fight and as you say, Diaz is making an absolute tit of himself.

scudzilla

Diaz is just a troll, but i like that he's trolling GSP

MrStuffins

AMA with Joe Rogan

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1b4est/i_am_joe_rogan_ask_me_anything/

kearneybobs

Just watched this. Ridiculous stuff in there. Worst offences from Kim Winslow and Big John McCarthy with trigger happy Yves Lavigne coming in third I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9geuPAIFcD4

Mr. Manager

I actually agreed with 1 or 2 of the early stoppages

MrStuffins

Josh Neer released by the UFC.

I know he loses... a lot..... but his performances are always quality! Always loved watching him perform. The McGee fight was outstanding.

p to the e

MrStuffins wrote: »

Josh Neer released by the UFC.

I know he loses... a lot..... but his performances are always quality! Always loved watching him perform. The McGee fight was outstanding.

That's a shame. I like "The Dentist". Three losses in a row is serious danger town in the UFC these days though. I was actually only thinking the other day that a Neer - Diaz (either brother) rematch would be entertaining.

Joe24

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I actually agreed with 1 or 2 of the early stoppages

Who would be a referee?

It must be so difficult to judge some situations when you're right in there beside the fighters. My very untrained MMA eye can definitely understand some of the early stoppages.

Some of the late ones are pretty bad, especially the very clear tap out (at about 9.20) which the ref just seemed to ignore :eek:

Is it totally up to the referee? Does he/she have an ear piece or anything like that to communicate with someone outside the ring/cage who might be seeing it differently and could tell them whether to step in?

I'm new to the sport so sorry if it's a dumb question

El Guapo!

Joe24 wrote: »

Is it totally up to the referee? Does he/she have an ear piece or anything like that to communicate with someone outside the ring/cage who might be seeing it differently and could tell them whether to step in?

I'm new to the sport so sorry if it's a dumb question

No such thing as a dumb question.

There's no earpiece or anything for a ref. it's all up to him/her.
This is where they can run into trouble sometimes. 99% of the time, refs get it right. But, like anybody, they can make mistakes too. Or they might see something a bit late. And that happens. There's not a lot that can be done about it apart from ensuring the refs are top class and always on top of their game.
Herb Dean is an excellent ref in my opinion and he rarely gets it wrong.
Kim Winslow on the other hand.......well she's a disaster.

Refs should be cut a bit of slack and are allowed to make a mistake every now and then. But, in my opinion, if a ref is consistently making bad/late calls, then they should be removed until such a time as they improve. It's fighter safety we're talking about after all. And a poor call from a ref could result in serious injuries.

unknown13

El Guapo! wrote: »

Refs should be cut a bit of slack and are allowed to make a mistake every now and then. But, in my opinion, if a ref is consistently making bad/late calls, then they should be removed until such a time as they improve. It's fighter safety we're talking about after all. And a poor call from a ref could result in serious injuries.

I will never cut kim winslow slack because she is an absolute joke and shouldn't be allowed to step foot in a cage.

MrStuffins

I really dislike when people are quick to jump on refs for "early" stoppages.

We're talking about a job where one of your main responsibilities is to ensure the fighters don't end up with serious injuries, be they muscular, bone or brain injuries to name a few.

There have been a few which are blindingly early, but there are a lot of situations where the fighter is "out" but instantly comes back. The ref needs to make a snap decision.

How many times have we seen a fighter be "out", the ref move to stop it, and in the time it takes the ref to get there the fighter snap out of it and the ref let it go? Sometimes it can simply be the difference between the ref being stood a bit further away that he could be.

There was a situation at UFC 158 where Darren Elkins had pummeled Antonio Carvalho, had him out on his feet and ready to be finished but Yves Lavigne didn't quite step in.

Elkins went for the kill, Carvalho looked on his way out, Elkins smashed him with a big right hand and Carvalho went down like a sack of spuds. Lavigne jumped straight in and stopped the fight.

However, as Lavigne was stopping the fight, Carvalho had actually snaped back out of it and popped back up.



The .gif doesn't show what happened before it, but if you've seen the fight you'd know that Carvalho was on Robbie Lawler v Nick Daz style queer-street, just without the falling over part.

The amount of stick Lavigne got for this was unfair IMO because it was a split second decision to protect the fighter from being seriously hurt.

I'm not saying it wasn't an early stoppage, but to go after a ref because he did what he did, whilst not showing understanding for the circumstances, is wrong and so many people are way too quick to jump on refs when they shouldn't.

Unless it's Steve Mazagatti, jump on him all you want!

Mr. Manager

In fairness, they've all made some mistakes. I've always been a huge fan of Big John and Herb Dean but they've both made so bad mistakes. Nothing in comparison to Winslow. I'm sorry but she has absolutely no business inside the octagon.

Every time she is reffing you can almost hear Goldberg and Joe saying "oh great, what will she do this time".

Having said that, Joe made a good point when Antonio knocked out Overeem, Herb had to really pull him off, if that was Winslow she would have stood no chance. Not saying that Antonio was going to do anything he shouldn't have but the point is, he could have.

El Guapo!

Yeah I have to agree about Winslow. She shouldn't be reffing amateur matches never mind pro fights in the top organisation in the world.
I think refs should be of the same standard worldwide, whether its amateur or pro in the UFC. It's all to do with fighter safety. And Winslow has just made so many terrible mistakes that she really shouldn't be allowed step into a cage.

Mr. Loverman

unknown13 wrote: »

I will never cut kim winslow slack because she is an absolute joke and shouldn't be allowed to step foot in a cage.

If you like brutality, her fights are entertaining...

A part of me feels it is some sort of feminism thing: just because doesn't mean I'm a pussy about violence, or some **** like that.

p to the e

I watched the first few minutes of the video and didn't think some of them were the worst I've ever seen. Don't know if it's in there but Steve Mazzagatti's DQ decision in the Erik Silva fight was pretty terrible. But again it was a split second thing.

The worst refereeing decision I've seen in a long time was Mark Goddard asking Chris Leben if he could see through a busted eye to which he replied "no". The fight should have been stopped then and there but Goddard asks again "Can you see? If you say no I'll stop the fight" to which Leben then replied "I can see" which he actually couldn't. The fight was eventually stopped a few minutes later.

Mr. CooL ICE

kearneybobs wrote: »

Just watched this. Ridiculous stuff in there. Worst offences from Kim Winslow and Big John McCarthy with trigger happy Yves Lavigne coming in third I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9geuPAIFcD4

I knew the Jones-Hamill stoppage was ridiculous, but I didn't realise Mazzagatti asked a deaf guy a question and possibly based his decision on a lack of response

Steve O

I really feel for the refs in MMA, they stop too early they're criticised or if they stop too late, they put the fighters life in danger and get criticised.

I know which one I'd prefer.

adamski8

Steve O wrote: »

I really feel for the refs in MMA, they stop too early they're criticised or if they stop too late, they put the fighters life in danger and get criticised.

I know which one I'd prefer.

i agree, also i think the fighters corners should throw in the towel in certain fights, the maldonaldo fight springs to mind

nino1

adamski8 wrote: »

i agree, also i think the fighters corners should throw in the towel in certain fights

was thinking the same think while watching those late stopages.
disgraceful ref'ing but also how can the cornermen watch their guy take such a beating without throwing in the towel.

Can they even do that? I haven't seen it done since the very early UFC's

DrPhilG

nino1 wrote: »

disgraceful ref'ing but also how can the cornermen watch their guy take such a beating without throwing in the towel.

Can they even do that? I haven't seen it done since the very early UFC's

Fairly sure they can't do that. They can pull the fighter between rounds, but only the ref or doctor can call it mid round.

El Guapo!

Throwing in the towel was considered a foul and was punishable by disqualification or point deduction.
But I did a little bit of searching and found the following in the unified rules:

REMOVED AS A FOUL- Throwing in the towel during competition

A fighter's corner, at the Commission's discretion, should have the option to retire his fighter in the quickest and most efficient manner possible, during competition. A corner person having worked alongside a fighter may recognize and accept what their fighter's capabilities are from past experience. It makes sense from a safety perspective to allow a corner to retire the fighter. If there is consideration that debris in the form of a towel entering the ring or cage may contribute to a disruption or confusion in the contest, then colored towels or special towels might be a consideration to be used.

So it seems it is allowed by the unified rules and is left at the commissions discretion.

adamski8

El Guapo! wrote: »

Throwing in the towel was considered a foul and was punishable by disqualification or point deduction.
But I did a little bit of searching and found the following in the unified rules:



So it seems it is allowed by the unified rules and is left at the commissions discretion.

But it is a foul isnt it! Thats the point, it disqualifies the fighter and stops the fight.

El Guapo!

adamski8 wrote: »

But it is a foul isnt it! Thats the point, it disqualifies the fighter and stops the fight.

Yeah but the fight would go down as a disqualification rather than the fighter retiring. And the ref could just take a point rather than call a stop to the fight (although I doubt any ref would just take a point.)