Banned Questions - UFC 294 edition
Staph infections, Khamzat Chimaev, cageside doctor, flags, possible drug testing conflict of interest and more.
UFC CEO Dana White spoke to the UFC access media following Saturday's UFC 294 pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi. The concept behind the column is twofold. The first idea is to present questions I would ask if I was among the hand-selected media allowed to attend UFC events. The second idea behind "Banned Questions" is to give the media members who the UFC taps to attend its events some ideas on providing their readers, fight fans, and, in some cases, the UFC fighters, with more information.
Now, on to UFC 294 banned questions.
Staph infections
White was asked about the two fighters who revealed, after their UFC 294 fights, that they competed with staph infections (Mike Breeden and Victoria Dudakova), and his answer was somewhat surprising, as was the lack of follow-up from the media in attendance.
The question: "There were two fighters in the early prelims that revealed that they came into their fights with staph infections, pretty bad staph infections, and they got through medicals, and they still fought. Do you have to do anything or change anything so that doesn't happen moving forward?"
First, that's a good question. It puts the UFC on the spot because they serve as their own commission in some places (like Abu Dhabi), and they are the ones who have the authority and responsibility to oversee fighter health and safety in these situations. So, this question 100 percent should have been asked.
The problem isn't so much with the question, but that White didn't answer it, he skated around it, and that no one followed up.
"No, White said. "If you look at how many fights we do… we basically do fights every single Saturday. And here's one of the things: if you're gonna lie and hide injuries like that, lie all the way home. Why are you gonna lie and do that and sit up here and say, 'I had staph infection.'
"It's a very f—ng weird thing to do, to be honest with you. Very weird."
To say that the UFC doesn't have to change anything was a surprise. If there is a way fighters can endanger others fighting with staph, then the UFC and athletic commissions should explore ways to prevent it from happening again. The Nevada State Commission set a precedent by suspending and fining Ilir Latifi for this lie of omission in November 2022. That's the minimum step the UFC should take in this case.
One could read White's statement of "lie all the way home" as him inferring the fighters will be released, but if the UFC was going to do that, the time to do so was right then and there. That gets everyone's attention. What White did was provide a tough-sounding video clip for social media. If there's no action behind those words, they are empty.
I understand fighters are hurt going into fights and a lie of omission on a tweak or sprain is expected and par for the course, but a staph infection puts EVERYONE in danger after that fight took place. That's a big deal and something the media should have pressed White on.
The other question would have been to ask White specifically what the UFC will do about the fighters who fought with staph. Anything short of a noteworthy suspension, fine, or release will only encourage fighters to keep lying about things like this. Short of that, the only thing they learned at UFC 294 was to keep their mouths shut.
The above is an example of one of the biggest areas for improvement of media who cover UFC. They seem to not listen to the "answers" White gives and examine them for what they are and for opportunities to dig deeper. White never answered the question, and the media was happy with that. That is something White and the UFC count on.
Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev scored a decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. The fight was Chimaev's first trip to the Octagon since he submitted Kevin Holland at UFC 279 in September 2022. With that, White was asked "What has been the issue with keeping Khamzat busy..."
White replied, "Well, there's been issues in the past, hopefully there's not issues now. Hopefully his hand's not broken. Hopefully we can do the title fight."
That's not an answer. In fact, White left the door open for a follow-up question when he said "There's been issues in the past." No one in attendance thought to press White on what those issues were. That was a mistake.
UFC 294 cageside doctor
White cut this question off before it got fully asked, and again, this was a situation where the media should have pushed or at least followed up.
The question was, "We also had some weird doctor decisions this evening...
Jumping in, White said, "The guy's inexperienced. I think there's a lot of things that probably happened. I guess he asked [Johnny Walker], 'Where are you right now?' And his response was, 'I'm in the desert.' He's not wrong. I think there's a big language barrier in there between the two of them. Inexperience, and you know, it sucks. It's one of those things that happens sometimes, and we'll make it right, and we'll fix it."
That's fine, but the more egregious situation came when the doctor came in to look at Victor Henry after Henry suffered a groin kick from Javid Basharat on the prelims and told Henry, "No, it wasn't your ball. He didn't kick your ball." That a doctor would accuse a fighter of faking an injury is a step beyond inexperience. That's grounds for never having the doctor oversee a fight again. White not addressing that issue and the media not asking about it was another shortcoming.
Henry ended up in the hospital undergoing something I hope never to have to endure: an ultrasound on his testicles.
Unasked questions
Flags?
In early October, White said of the "UFC flag ban,” “Flags are back. I was on vacation during the Mexican Independence Day, and the no flag thing drove me crazy. So I was like, ‘Yeah, f*ck that. We’re bringing flags back.’ It drove me crazy.”
Flags were not back at UFC 294 and no one bothered to ask White about it.
New drug testing czar and possible conflict of interest
The UFC will have a new drug testing program as of January 1, 2024. The main in charge of that program, who the UFC has said will have complete control, is George Piro. Piro, as UFC fighter Matt Brown pointed out, has or had a relationship with one of the biggest MMA gyms in the world, American Top Team. That relationship needs to be questioned by the UFC media and the UFC needs to address it, especially with the amount of power Piro will have come January 1.
Brown made some good points that also need to be addressed.
“What I watched of that press conference, that was probably the one thing that turned me off the most,” Brown said. “So the UFC decides George Piro’s in charge. Nobody else has any say. The UFC decides this. Then when they ask about his credibility and integrity and everything, their answer is basically, ‘Trust me, bro.’ I just didn’t like that.”
Questions that remain unanswered
What happened to Stephen Thompson's UFC 291 pay situation?
What's changed with UFC Fight Night Bonuses?
For years, the UFC refused to allow a fighter who missed weight to be eligible for a fight-night bonus. In fact, there have been times when, after a UFC fighter missed weight and put on a "Fight of the Night" bonus-worthy performance, the fighter who made weight received both shares of the bonus. One example was UFC 225 when Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero won "Fight of the Night" after Romero came in heavy, and Whittaker pocketed $100,000.
However, the promotion's stance on that subject has seemed to soften. At UFC 285, White awarded Geoff Neal his $50,000 share of the "Fight of the Night" bonus despite Neal coming in at 175 pounds for his welterweight scrap against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
DWCS contracts?
In Season 1 of the DWCS, a total of 16 contracts were awarded over eight weeks. By Season 6 that number had jumped to 43 contracts. In the current season, Season 7, 26 contracts have been awarded in si
x weeks, which puts the number of signings on pace with last season. So, what's changed? Why has the number of DWCS signings increased so much? Also, why were on the subject, why is the starting purse for a DWCS contract less than the "normal" starting purse of $12,000?
Most of us know the answer to the question regarding the number of signings, but that doesn't mean it's not something to ask. Getting the person in charge to admit to what we know is sometimes worth the ask because it can lead to other questions or changes in the structure of contracts.
Dricus Du Plessis and the entire UFC roster
Dana White: “When opportunities arise, you jump on them, and you take them. You should never turn down fights when you get the call. Especially if it’s for a world title.”
TR: This seemed like a thinly veiled reference to Dricus Du Plessis and a clear message to all fighters on the UFC roster.
I understand this from the UFC's point of view. Of course, they want to make one call and have their first choice to fight for a title accept that fight. However, what if the fighter is injured? What if the potential title challenger can't get a full camp in? What if the fighter's coach is already training another client for a just as significant contest? There is a long list of reasons an athlete might know that turning down a world title fight is right for them at the moment the UFC offers the "opportunity."
So the question becomes, what if the fighter who turned down the chance to fight for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 293, in this case, Dricus Du Plessis, is the No. 1 competitor in the division and one, or more, of the above reasons prevented him from taking the fight? Should he put faith in his "official UFC ranking" because there is no such thing as "Dana White privilege" in the UFC and have faith that when he is healthy and can put together a full camp, the fight will materialize? Or should he accept the UFC's offer, knowing he'll be compromised and that a loss will set him back in the rankings and give him a long path back to another title fight?
The UFC is in the UFC business where the date on the calendar is more important than the fighter who could compete. The promotion must be more flexible on this front if it wants to present the best fights possible.
Where’s the line?
Two fighters used homophobic slurs during their UFC 293 post-fight interviews.
White summed this up as "mistakes" being made, but what's the line on "mistakes?" If a fighter makes a "mistake" and says something racist, is that acceptable for White and the UFC? How about religion? Why is homophobia okay with the UFC?
UFC back on the road?
White said the UFC is going to go "everywhere" soon following UFC 293.
When will this start happening? I ask because White said the same thing in October 2021, "We've got to get back on the road. We've got to start going to places like Oklahoma and all these other small towns that we do Fight Nights in. We eventually have to get back to work. I'm looking forward to it. Sooner than later."
That was nearly two years ago, and still, the UFC relies on the UFC Apex for many of what would typically be "Fight Night" events somewhere other than Las Vegas. Glancing at the UFC's schedule for the next few months, four of the UFC's nine booked events will take place at the UFC Apex.
Power Slap getting sanctioned?
This one came up following Tuesday’s Dana White Contender Series card when a member of the access media, perhaps looking to ingratiate themself with White, decided to ask about Power Slap.
In reply, White said that "all these states" are going to start sanctioning Power Slap.
That response went unchallenged, despite the fact that when I asked when Power Slap first launched, most states responded to the question of sanctioning White’s latest pet project with a resounding "no." The easy question that went unasked on this subject is what states are in the process of sanctioning, and when will that take place?