MMA Red Ass Jan. 31 Edition
or these are some small things that have been on my mind
Welcome to the latest C’mon Now newsletter. This is the place where I’ll share my thoughts on all the goings-on in MMA. Those thoughts could range from media criticism to advice for folks looking to get into MMA writing to why certain fighters or managers are not good for the sport.
This post is another edition of “MMA Red Ass,” where I share some items that have raised my blood pressure this week, which might not warrant a full column, but still deserve to be talked about.
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Dumb, really dumb, hold my beer dumb, but which is which?
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is lucky the UFC does not take its code of conduct into account these days. If it did, the ex-strawweight champion might have faced some repercussions for some social media posts. Jedrzejczyk having all the awareness of well, your typical MMA fighter, posted what might, if I’m being kind, be called an insensitive image regarding her UFC 248 matchup against current strawweight titleholder Weili Zhang, who hails from China.
Zhang politely tried to make Jedrzejczyk see the stupidity of her ways in reply.
That measured and maybe even educational note, fell short, as the ex-champ offered a non-apology before more or less calling her opponent a snowflake for taking offense to Jedrzejczyk’s offensive post.
This photo also made the rounds:
It’s hard to judge which one of these moments ranks as dumb, dumber and dumbest. Also, let’s not forget that this is not the first time Jedrzejczyk has leaped over the line into saying dumb shit.
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That’s not a comparison anyone should make
Speaking of saying dumb things, former UFC champion Cris Cyborg dropped the following gem in regard to the UFC after she won the Bellator women’s featherweight title on January 25.
“I feel like everything happen for a reason. If I not lost that belt that day, I was not here now champion in Bellator. Here I’m happy. There I was not happy. I was working, I feel I was a slave, and I was not happy. Here I’m happy, something I choose to be.”
That’s a hard no on the slavery simile.
Cyborg is not the first person to say they felt like a slave and she won’t be the last. There’s a lot of reasons this is wrong, but the biggest one is that it’s gross and exaggerated. No one forced Cyborg to sign with UFC. She earned a disclosed $500K in her most recent fight where pay was disclosed. If she decided she didn’t want to fight for the UFC, she wouldn’t have been hunted down and faced bodily harm or death. She wasn’t unwillingly separated from family and friends, and biggest, if she hated it so much she could have walked away. Would she have been able to fight again? Not while under UFC contract, but, again, that’s not slavery, that’s someone who agreed to contractual terms.
Look, I know what Cyborg meant with the comment, but to use slavery as a comparison; that’s always a non-starter.
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I’m pretty sure this isn’t allowed
Josh Gross can’t get UFC credentials. Jonathan Snowden can’t get UFC credentials. Loretta Hunt can’t get UFC credentials, I can’t get UFC credentials, but Robbie Fox from Barstool Sports can get credentials and then act like this on press row.
Yeah, that breaks the rules of accepting UFC credentials, but I’m 99 percent sure this will not keep Barstool from showing up at the next event it requests free cageside tickets to. Maybe they’ll just plop down with some beer and nachos for that one.
Me? I couldn’t care less about the credentials because I don’t need them, but I have to admit that it irks me that this is the media the UFC accepts and wants.
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Dana White and Barstool
Speaking of Barstool, UFC president Dana White was going to do commentary for them for the below event, which, man, what the hell goes through White’s corpulent cranium when he agrees to some of these things? I’m guessing not much at all.
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Free tires ya’ll
The UFC has had a “partnership” (that’s a sponsorship to me and you) deal with Toyo Tires for a few years. The amount of money that deal drops into the UFC coffers annually is not disclosed, but we know the UFC does not have a revenue sharing deal with its fighters, so it’s likely most of that cash, if not all of it, goes directly into the UFC’s account and stays there. However, this year, UFC fighters got a chance to share in some of the Toyo spoils.
If a fighter won a “UFC Honors, presented by Toyo Tires” award, they received a trophy and a set of tires.
Isn’t that wonderful? A handful of fighters get some tires and a trophy, while the UFC collects cold, hard cash from a sponsor.
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The forecast is cloudy with zero visibility
The official UFC rankings have been a not so funny joke for years, but recently — I’m guessing it was recently, but I rarely dig too deep into those rankings — the promotion removed the option to see how each member of the MMA media voted. With the rankings already being questionable, this change removed any transparency from the process. I’m not saying the UFC is juking the rankings, but with no transparency, I also can’t say with 100 percent certainty that it isn’t.
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Now, about Stephen A. Smith
I have nothing to say here, just wanted to see if you were paying attention.
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