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Loretta Hunt: UFC has created a climate of fear that has killed real reporting

By Zach Arnold | May 6, 2011

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I was listening to a few different audio interviews the past couple of days and one interview stuck out to me. It was an interview that Loretta Hunt did with Sportstown Chicago about the politics of MMA writing. To set the stage for the quotes you will read from that conversation, here is how the interview played out. Loretta was asked to give her thoughts about what Randy Couture’s future looks like now that he has retired from active competition. The hosts obviously asked her about this because she worked with Randy Couture on his book, Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage. She talked about the fact that she ended up watching the fight on a television at a bar in Anaheim after spending time at a comic book convention/meeting of sorts. This obviously led to the segue about her not being at the UFC event in Toronto and media credentials.

“I think with the media ban, you know, I think it’s becoming aware now, slowly but surely that a lot of the media’s kind of afraid to talk about this for fear that they’ll lose their credentials as well and I guess I made the decision not too long ago that I’m not just going to be quiet about it any more, it’s not going to do anything to change the situation. If people want to find out more about it, you know, I’ll put the information out there so people can understand that there is no valid reason that they’re denying me and others like Josh Gross & Sherdog credentials, no matter what (Dana White) says.

“A couple of weeks ago he alluded to me and Josh (writing) some dirty things in the past or whatever and there is nothing. I’d love to hear what that is, you know, he said when he has the time some day he’ll sit down and talk about it and I hope he does because I obviously need to hear what it is that I did that was so dirty. The rest of the MMA community remembers me sitting in the press section with Josh many times and maybe a couple more people and that was it covering the sport when no one was really interested in it and I’ve always tried to be as professional as I can and I guess I’ll just continue to do that. So, there’s not much else I can do right now other than speak honestly about what’s happening and try & keep doing a professional job. I’m not just speaking up for myself but I’m speaking up for other people, you know, other smaller outlets and people that are just starting out in this business. I don’t want people to invest all this time in their lives into this sport as journalists, you know, only to be silenced and made to feel intimidated to not write what’s really going on. I want the history of this sport to be documented truthfully, not what we’ve got going on right now where people are just kind of afraid to talk about things. It’s not what journalism is about. And it’s not like this in any other sport.”

That set the stage for discussion about Dana White’s remark from a couple of weeks ago that media outlets need to be careful in who they hire as far as who they send to UFC events.

(Remember the situation with CBS Sports hiring Loretta Hunt only for UFC to not credential her and CBS in returning not covering the Strikeforce event in San Diego?)

“Well, I think Josh Gross was hired by ESPN.com. I’ve been hired by SI.com and others, The Los Angeles Times, and I do my books. I think our body of work speaks for itself and there’s reasons why these outlets have hired us, despite Dana White’s efforts to not get us hired and make sure that we kind of just float away in the sport and never come back. You know, for Dana to say that ESPN and SI needs to be careful about who they hire, you know, that’s… that’s an interesting remark to make, you know, to top news sports outlets in the world that have a super-stringent hiring process and, you know, pride themselves on only hiring the best in each of the sports. So, um… you know, but I don’t suspect this will be the last time he says something like that.”

What was addressed next is why Dana White is mad at her and Josh Gross. Remember this Sherdog article about managers/agents getting credentials (or not) backstage for UFC events? That was the article that caused Dana White to flip out and do his infamous Youtube video rant that drew tons of heat.

“I think with me in particular, I wasn’t giving my opinion when I wrote that story two years ago that got him all upset. I was reporting fact. I was reporting facts based on numerous on-and-off the record sourcing, so I haven’t even brought my personal opinion not so much. I don’t really like to write that way. In fact, it’s very rare that you’ll see me write an opinion piece, it’s not something that I do too much in the sport in the past. Maybe it’s something that I’ll do in the future because I am being asked actually for some opinion-based work. But, um… yeah, no, it’s not even about writing opinions. It’s presenting the facts of a story in a true and honest manner and I overwhelmingly did that and I think we need to go back to that story that he freaked out over. It bothered him so much and obviously it had something to do with the content of the story, about him denying backstage managers and picking who he gave credentials to and who he doesn’t. Which, ironically, where are we experienced that in the sport as well? We’re experiencing it IN THE MEDIA! So, it was a very ironic story for me to write.

“But, um, the managers came to me, a bunch of them came to me and they were upset and they were fearful. They felt that not only, you know, they would have to either take one of the corner men’s credentials to get backstage with their fighters or they would have to sit out, you know, and not go backstage and that worried them on a whole level of reasons. And even a reason I didn’t talk about too much in the article was, you know, how do you think the fighter feels when their manager can’t get backstage? So, they know now that Zuffa doesn’t like or Dana White doesn’t like their manager, you know what I mean? It really puts a strain, it can put a strain on the fighter and manager’s relationship and I don’t think that necessarily is a great thing, either, that comes out of this.

“But, um, yeah, I want people to remember that I don’t go around writing sensational stories or anything like that and I think he’s trying to categorize me as that lately, I don’t really know. But, you know, I see people saying, ‘she’s built her career on writing sensational stories.’ If you guys look at my body of work and, at this point, I’ve written I don’t even know how many articles I’ve written about MMA, I never counted, I never thought I would be doing this for 10 years-plus but it’s got to be at least 3,000, maybe 4,000, maybe 5,000. The majority of them are positive about this sport. I was obviously a proponent of this sport very early on, so, you know, I just find it kind of funny that, you know, I guess people that have come into the sport recently and don’t really understand and didn’t bother to read the article or don’t care and that’s their prerogative, you know, some people don’t want to get into the politics of this sport and they just want to enjoy the fights. Believe me, if I could do that, I would but, you know, in reality when Dana White doesn’t want me to come to UFC events, you know, get credentialed and he doesn’t allow me to come to Strikeforce events, that effects my ability to make a living and that’s what we’re getting down to.”

When it comes to big MMA media sites writing controversial or heavy-hitting stories, there are plenty of politics involved in what gets published and what gets spiked.

(Ask MMA Supremacy and Robert Joyner for more discussion about this topic.)

Loretta says the reason she is choosing to be more vocal about the politics between Zuffa and the media is because people are afraid to discuss it publicly in fear of losing their credentials and, in turn, not being able to make a living covering the MMA industry.

“Yeah! I’ve had people tell me! I’ve had people, you know, my peers tell me. I’ve had outlets say to me, you know, ‘we’re just trying to fly under the radar so Dana doesn’t get mad at us.’ Like, these are out major outlets and, you know, like when Jeff Wagenheim did the story for SI.com, he did a mailbag a couple of days later and when I talked to him about the original story, I said, “Jeff, you know, they are media that have told me that they’re afraid to write about this media ban. Like, you’re being brave to do this.’ And he was just like, oh, okay, like Jeff told me later, he said he was like, “okay, Loretta,’ you know. But when he wrote the story he said all these media people contacted him, thanking him for writing the story but then saying they wouldn’t dare write the story ourselves and he said, you know, ‘Loretta, now I believe you, I believe there is some kind of ear and intimidation going on in this sport.’ And it’s not just writers afraid about to write about the media ban, there’s ton of other subjects in the sport that could potentially ruffle Zuffa’s feathers or not that media just don’t even touch, you know, our sport, the media in the sport… there’s a lot of stories out there that they could be hunting and when they tell me, God, you know, thanks for doing that story, and it’s been said to me, too, I can’t help but think there’s people that are, media that are intimidated by Zuffa and the UFC and particularly Dana White.”

If you want to check out the full interview Loretta did with Sportstown Chicago, click here to download the audio.

Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 61 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

61 Responses to “Loretta Hunt: UFC has created a climate of fear that has killed real reporting”

  1. Jason Harris says:

    Loretta Hunt is discussing this publicly because it’s the only reason anyone mentions her name. Nobody has ever said “Check out this great article by Loretta Hunt!” so she decides to play victim and every website running a “Dana White is a bad guy!” narrative eats it up.

    If there’s such a culture of fear in MMA reporting, why does almost every major MMA site run articles criticizing Dana White on a regular basis? It’s a load of shit.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      You do know I was accused of being on the UFC payroll during PRIDE’s collapse and then during the shaky times of Strikeforce before Zuffa bought them out, right?

      My personal opinion on the subject is rather tepid, but if anyone says something that is worthy of discussion I’m more than happy to transcribe or interview.

      My opinion is what I’ve said before elsewhere — until someone independently can prove that they can be financially successful without needing UFC’s help, then UFC has no incentive to change what they are doing.

      • Rob Maysey says:

        Bloody Elbow has proven they can be successful and profitable, and they don’t get help from the UFC. They also follow a certain model. . . and it works.

        I’ve discussed this with others before.

        We no longer shop at the dairy store, the meat market, and the independent bakery. We don’t gravitate towards janetsgaragesale.com. . .

        Yet. . .

        • Steve says:

          Having no original content does keep the costs down.

        • Steve4192 says:

          Bloody Elbow has lots of original content, from technique breakdowns to prospect profiles to in depth interviews to op-ed pieces. They do their fair share of aggregation, like everyone else in the blogosphere, but they provide plenty of value-added.

      • Jason Harris says:

        This is a few days late, but to be clear, I don’t think this site is running that sort of narrative. This site is one of the few running thorough, objective MMA news, which is why it’s one of my favorites. But the number of sites out there who write “Dana White = Bad” stories for pageviews is a lot higher than the ones that don’t.

    • Keith Harris says:

      There is a culture of fear and or willing compliance when people who should know better give some credence to obviously BS rumors like Fedor Emelienenko was offered a guaranteed $5 million per fight contract. Or fails to report that Dana White is lying over the Lidell vs. Ortiz fight still happening when everyone behind the scenes was saying that he was lying.

      • Chris says:

        How do people not understand the Chuck/Tito TUF shit?

        He has a contract with Spike, he cant say what happened, and he wouldnt want to spoil it.

        Amazing people still talk about that.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        A MMA reporter spoiling Chuck/Tito or TUF finalists results is like a television reviewer posting the plot of the LOST Finale before it airs. It will ensure they don’t get any more access anymore.

        Everybody watching the show knows it is tapes. It is obnoxious for anybody to ruin the show.

    • Ken Foss says:

      Loretta Hunt was the news director for Sherdog.com until 2010. The vast majority of MMA’s biggest news from came from her byline. (Fedor to Strikeforce jumps immediately to mind)

      To summarize, Jason. Here’s a tissue, you have some white stuff on your chin.

      • Steve4192 says:

        LOL at using her time as an editor at Sherdog as a positive.

        While under her watch, Sherdog published numerous stories that were later shown to be false, all in an effort to ‘scoop’ rival MMA websites like MMAJunkie who do their due diligence before publishing. She also got Crave Entertainment sued for plagiarism after ripping off an article from Rob Maysey and not crediting him for his work. Not to mention that shady way she got the job in the first place, backstabbing Brad McCray and getting Sherwood to shit-can him five weeks after he was lured away from a job where he had 14 years of tenure.

        Loretta’s tenure at Sherdog was hardly a shining beacon of journalistic integrity. If anything, it was one of the low-points in the history of the website.

        • Ken Foss says:

          Besides the Brad McCray incident, which I lay more at the feet of Jeff Sherwood. I think the results she’s gotten were fantastic. Perfect, no. However, if Loretta Hunt was such a terrible journalist, as you claim, I severely doubt the LA Times would have ever considered employing her.

          Print Press, like most work these days are always looking for excuses not to hire people. The LA Times is one of the printed press running Bleacher Report articles to save on overhead, for god-sakes. I’ll trust their opinion on proper journalism above yours, Dana White’s or even my own opinion of her.

          There’s more smoke around Hunt then there has ever been fire. And most of it stems largely because Dana White got knuckle-rasped for using “faggot” on a vblog chewing her out for an ultimately meaningless piece about backstage politics.

          This is nothing more than Dana White falling down, getting a boo-boo and then blaming asphalt for his injuries. Same with the Josh Gross situation, who is banned for you know, reporting results. You know, his job. Scandalous I know!

          His fans, and UFC-only fans, are always quick to defend him. To forgive his arrogance, his misogyny, and to credit him for every accomplishment MMA has ever had. I just wish history would stop being rewritten to suit it.

        • edub says:

          Cute, The conversations about Loretta Hunt yet almost half of your post is about Dana White and his fans.

          BTW you quote LA Times using Bleacher Report articles, and then say you trust their opinions. Even cuter.

        • Ken Foss says:

          @edub Glad you read the article. It’s basically a block quote where Loretta whines about not having credentials. Then sprinkles in an interesting, obvious, point about MMA websites not discussing the topic out of fear. What did you think she was “Um, yeahing” about? Her hair?

        • edub says:

          Oh I did. I wasn’t commenting on the article. I was commenting on your post(s).

          Steve points out why Loretta is being a hypocrite, by citing the erroneous articles, the plagiarizing fiasco, and the way whe got her position.

          You didn’t disprove (or even disagree) with those claims. All you did was say that the way she got her position was more on Sherwood than her, and that The LA Times hired her anyway (her and Bleacher report). Like the hiring completely nullified all that crap that was part of her tenure at Sherdog (which coincidentally saw Sherdog go from probably the most popular MMA website, to one that is laughed at).

          I think you miss the main points of Steve, me, and a few others on here. It’s not that we agree with Dana or his policy (because I don’t). It’s that Loretta Hunt is not this vurtuous/amazing/genius reporter/writer that is being shunned, which a lot of sites and people are trying to turn this into. SHe wroter an article that had some correct points and incorrect points, that got her on the shit list of Zuffa. Which in turn is getting her barred from Zuffa events, nothing more, nothing less.

        • Precious says:

          she’s not an employee of the la times or anywhere else. She’s a freelancer.

          Someones who has plagiarized someone else work has no business calling themselves a journalist. She’s crying about the media not talking about her being blacklisted but why isnt the media reporting that she has plagiarized work which her previous employer was sued for and had to settle?

          Where’s the media regarding these shenanigans? these idiots want to be taken seriously yet they allow drivel like this to represent them.

  2. TomK says:

    What’s funny is she claims her article on backstage credentials was based on facts but it was merely opinions of unnamed sources. She admitted in the article that the UFC gave no reason for revoking credentials, but then went ahead and printed a bunch of opinions as to why that was. Technically they weren’t hers, but managers who had a reason to be pissed at the UFC were allowed a forum to trash the UFC and Dana White without having to state who they were. Even if it was true, it’s hackey journalism.

    “Others say Zuffa is making a reasonable attempt to control unnecessary backstage traffic and lighten overcrowded dressing rooms of freeloaders.” This is pretty much the only part of her article that saw the issue in a positive light for the UFC. The rest of the article attacks them based on unnamed sources who clearly had an axe to grind. She can whine all she wants, but she made her bed.

    • The Gaijin says:

      Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t she proven to be 100% correct?

      They were cutting down on credentials and limiting access of teams/managers/agents to fighters. They were in fact trying to cut out agents/managers and deal directly with the fighters.

      I don’t think anything she said was false, and no one wanted to go on the record with her because they feared repercussions (not to mention that it is completely in line with any type of reporting to protect your sources). That kind of illustrates the “climate of fear” that they like to keep whether it be for fighters, managers/agents, reporters, etc. doesn’t it.

      • Steve4192 says:

        “Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t she proven to be 100% correct?”

        Not really.

        Zuffa didn’t cut the amount of ‘seconds’ they allowed backstage, they just tightened up their security by switching from lanyards to wristbands. People could no longer pass around a single lanyard to get multiple people backstage. It was a decision made to clean up backstage logistics, not to exclude anyone in particular. Zuffa’s stage managers wanted to know exactly who was backstage and not have unauthorized people running around willy-nilly. All managers had to do was declare themselves as an official ‘second’ rather than sneaking backstage with someone else’s lanyard and the problem was solved.

        Also, her only named source in the article (Ken Pavia) claims that his statements were misrepresented. He never called her in a panic (she called him), and he never claimed that Dana had banned him or anyone else. Pavia was one of the guys who had a habit of swapping lanyards rather than declaring himself as an official ‘second’, so he got burned when they switched to wristbands. He knew it wasn’t directed at him specifically, and he simply declared himself as a second at the next event and got backstage no problem.

        • Chris says:

          So her article was shit, she was trying to make it seem like something it wasnt, that te UFC was cutting people out and not allowing people backstage when in reality they were just tightening up the backstage so people couldnt do exactly what you said.

          And Gross spoiled the TUF 4 season thats why he is banned, and isnt Sherdog banned for UFC DVD’s or something if I remember?

          anyway someone said it, Sundog said it she is trying to get attention so others rally around her but what hurts is that mma isnt a mainstream sport, if this was football or baseball she could have a case but its mma and most dont care about mma writers.

          Frankly Dana doesnt ever have to let her in.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          This is correct. Pavia has said that Hunt wasrepresented him.

          She is a hack “journalist”. She plays dumb like she has no clue what has happened to her. Or that she is some type of super journalist that has been penalized for being too good.

          The reality is that she is a hack who has done a lot of things wrong and pissed off a lot of people.

        • The Gaijin says:

          Ok thanks for the clarification. I thought I had read that she was ultimately proven correct, but my mistake.

  3. Jonathan says:

    I recommend that you close comments now before Loretta gets torn to pieces.

    I’m not defending her, just the opposite…I just see a great big wave of Hunt-bashing heading this way…..

    • Sundog says:

      She kind of encourages it with all the “I can’t IMAGINE what he’s ANGRY about…” schtick. You can argue about whether Dana is being fair or not, but despite her bravado, Loretta realizes that the UFC’s consolidation will likely mean the end of her career in the sport. Her only hope is to try to rally the broader world of sports journalism to her defense, which is why every time she’s near a mic she comes back to harping on the credentials issue.

      Is it fair? Probably not, but as the UFC tries to move up in the world, it seems like they’re committed to pushing Josh, Loretta, and anyone else they perceive to be “bush-league” out of the picture.

    • edub says:

      Jonathan has a point. Loretta made her bed, and now she has to deal with to repercussions of her actions:

      However, there is some unwarranted backlash online about her as a writer now (and that’s coming from a guy who thinks she is very low class as a reporter/writer). So I see where Jonathan’s opinion is coming from.

      But, I don’t think comments should get closed down. This is the internet, sometimes people get overly bashed places. It’s nothing new.

    • Jonathan says:

      I was half joking when I made that statement. It was more of me predicting all of the negative comments that were commenting.

      No, I do not think that the comments should be closed.

  4. Jon says:

    It’s hilarious to think that Loretta Hunt thinks of herself as a “real” reporter.

  5. Steve4192 says:

    Let’s not forget that this is the same Loretta Hunt who once got Crave entertainment sued for plagiarizing articles while acting as an editor at Sherdog.

    She is hardly a paragon of virtue.

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    Oh Loretta…. Did your parents not give you enough attention as a child? Why must you try and make yourself the story all of the time?

    This woman is a bad “reporter”. That is the most important thing first and foremost. She took sides AGAINST the UFC for a long time. And now that the UFC is basically the sport, she us butt hurt at the fact that they won’t let her have access.

    Perhaps there is an issue. I can’t say. I’m not on the ground level to know if it’s true or not. But Loretta is absolutely the wrong person to be saying it as she lacks any sort of credibility.

    **********

    What I do know is that a lot of the MMA “reporters” or “journalists” are 3rd rate. They are fanboys with an ax to grind dating back to the Pride days. And there are other ones who might not have an ax to grind but are “Doom & Gloom” with basically all of their writing pieces. If you actually take away the bad ones, we are left with very few good ones.

    And think about it from Dana White’s perspective for a moment. When there are so many bad journalists out there, of course he is going to be over protective. He’s going to only trust a few reporters and that’s about it. The bad reporters have forced a naturally controlling person to be even more overly controlling when it comes to the handling of credentials.

    Then there is the other part of it. MLB can take a lot of slack. It’s the nations past time. It will recover. The UFC is still trying to grow. Having reporters trying to just rip it apart ALL OF THE TIME will ensure that the sport never grows. I’m not saying reporters should ignore everything. But there are too many of these bad reporters out there that would just hurt the sport more then anything else. And that’s a dangerous thing for a sport still trying to gain traction in America.

  7. Zack says:

    Link us to some of these articles that are curbing the growth of the sport.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      I don’t think it’s one specific article ever. It’s the overbearing onslaught of articles that have a negative effect.

      Hunt’s article about backstage access is a great example though. It was a hit piece. And poorly written and with a total agenda. Not to mention proven to be inaccurate.

      • Zack says:

        Sweet. The one example that everyone knows of. Anything else? And how was it proven inaccurate?

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Read above comments on how it was found inaccurate.

          Like I said, it’s just the constant negative comments that can pile up. People want sports to be entertained. Not to worry about all the issues that should be talked about in private.

          One of the reasons why it hasn’t gotten as bad as it should is because of how the UFC restricts the access. It keeps a muzzle on the “journalists” who really just have it out for the organization. Fertitta knows what he is doing….

  8. edub says:

    Junkie is reporting that Nick Diaz has a contract in place to box Jeff Lacy in the fall. Cesar Gracie said that should the UFC offer GSP they would cancel the match and take the GSP fight. I really hope it doesn’t happen.

    My thing is this: Nick Diaz vs. GSP would be a great fight (maybe). But this whole thought on Nick being the only test left is baffling, and it seems that it’s sending the news outlets into overdrive to make the fight happen. Carlos Condit is getting absolutely no push, and it’s sad. I have Nick ahead of Carlos in my personal rankings, but Carlos has faced and beaten fighters that resemble GSP a hell of a lot more than Nick has. He would also be ranked higher everywhere had he been given the decision that went to Kampman a few fights back.

    I truly hope the UFC doesn’t jump at this to make a Diz-GSP fight. It will set (or continue) a terrible trend of fighters getting shots at titles when they haven’t earned them.

    • The Gaijin says:

      I hope they don’t either so we can see this absolute circus/abortion of Nick Diaz fighting Jeff Lacy. It is going to be a fucking trainwreck disaster.

      No one is going to look good, no one is going to make any money and no one is going to ultimately treat it seriously. The sad thing is, it’s still not as big of a joke as Randy Couture vs. James Toney in an mma fight.

      • edub says:

        All true, except I actually think Lacy is an opponent Diaz can look good against. He’s completely shot, and even the bum they brought in to fight him in his hometown last year beat him.

        Gracie said Diaz is going to make “a lot more money” for this fight. I really don’t see how unless Showtime is overpaying, because I can’t see how it sells well on PPV.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I say call his bluff and let him box. He will devalue himself so bad that it might kill his MMA career. If he gets beat up real bad sometimes guys are never the same after.

          He doesn’t deserve GSP right now. And he might not be able to go to the UFC right now anyways.

  9. Simon Cason says:

    My feeling is this. Write about mma all you want, if you have an article that is critical or negative towards something about MMA, then by all means write it.

    Thats part of your job, to cover all aspects of mma. But no where in that job description does it say to be an absolute negative asshole about certain things.
    There are so many writers in mma that feel like the only way to get their point across is by writing shit they know will ruffle feathers, but doing it in a way that makes them come off as bitter. And for what? Page hits?

    Zach does an excellent job at not giving a shit about who gets pissed about what article. Mainly because he writes in a way that, while it might come off negative, there’s substance there and theres a point being made. He’s wrote both negative and positive pieces on not just UFC, but all of mma.
    How many writers who on a consistent basis attack the UFC, do you see going after Bjorn and how his corrupt way of doing business got him ran out of boxing, or going after any of the many shady practices of the smaller promotions?

    All I’m saying is, cover the sport how ever you want, but whether or not you get paid for it or you do it out of love and passion for mma, don’t try to bury this sport just because you don’t like the people running it or the practices those people use to run the sport the way they do.

    I’ve wrote on several sites, pieces going after how unprofessional the media can be sometimes, the most recent being a BloodyElbow fanpost. And wouldn’t you know it, the responses I got had nothing to do with the point I tried to make about media coming off as insecure assholes with a vendetta, but instead they addressed what I said about being a lifelong fan and how newer fans should try to get a little better acquainted, educated even, about how this sport works.
    Not one response, so far, addressed how the media gets a pass for being subversive in their ways.

    There’s so much more that pisses me off, I could spend the rest of the day talking about it. I’ll leave it at this.
    Cover MMA however you want, Dana and the UFC do things both good and bad for the sport. But they aren’t the only ones and covering it in a way that is just overtly negative and critical, to the point that it seems you are coming off as someone trying to push your agenda does not make you a great writer, nor does it do much to help the sport grow.

    I made another point about how some writers in the media actually have some influence on how the sport is perceived. Definitely not as much as some would hope for, but its there. And all of them would say they love mma, otherwise why cover mma.
    So if that’s the case, and they can’t be ignorant to that fact, why even go that route?
    Why come off as a negative asshole to the point of burying someone or something about mma? Again, no one mentioned those points.

    • Simon Cason says:

      just to be clear, this was not an attack on Zach Arnold. It wasn’t even an attack on the majority of writers. It was aimed at those few writers, and every site has at least one, that on a consistent basis get away with writing stories most of know are untrue, or at the least the point is overdrawn and reaching. The problem being casual fans stumbling upon these sites, these articles, and getting a sense that whatever the issue, mma is full of corruption, Dana White likes to burn little children in sacrifice to ensure his sport remains untouchable, or some high profile fighter is so dominate he’s boring.

      I’ve read comments after stories like this were wrote that some random new fan actually took the story to mean that a fighter like GSP must be in worked fights, since he’s so dominate an all. How does that help mma’s image? There are better examples out there, but I’m on a crappy Desktop until I get my portable fixed.

      • Chris says:

        Snowden

        All the guy does is bash shit. Always negative. Whatever the popular opinion is he goes against it to get attention.

        Thats all he does. Literally think it was after 129 on bloodyelbow at the bottom of the page you see the headline and you cant see who wrote it as soon as I saw the headline I said Snowden wrote it, and of course he did.

        You can spot his articles a mile away.

        • Billings says:

          lol. That guy has to be the dumbest guy around. He’s now the official stenographer for m1 global. lol at being Evgeni Kogans lap dancer.

        • The Gaijin says:

          You mean full-time salaried writer for SBNation Jon Snowden?

        • Nottheface says:

          You mean writer of “Total MMA”, the definitive history of MMA, Jonathan Snowden?

          I like Snowden. He’s an iconoclast and I think we need those. Sure he drives me nuts when he cheers on shit like Bisping “showing emotion” at UFC 128 or his defense of all things of Nick Diaz, but he’s:
          a) opinionated
          b) willing to defend his positions
          c) and entertaining.
          People also tend to skip over the fact that he is often right. He got it right that the $30 million offer to Fedor was false. He got it right that Carwin was complaining about only being guaranteed $50k (ok it was $40/$40 close enough), and in hindsight he was right that neither Carwin or Lesnar’s performance was anything to write home about no matter what Subo says.. Some may find his style abrasive I find it spirited.

        • Steve says:

          You mean one of Britain’s premier solo flautists Jonathan Snowden?

          Mr. Snowden was named Principal Flute of the English National Opera North Orchestra at age 21. He was appointed to the same post with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsequently held the Principal Flautist position in the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

          His thrilling sound and technical virtuosity are admired here and abroad. Journalist Edward Greenfield has described Mr. Snowden in The Guardian as “one of the most brilliant flautists of his generation.”

  10. Simon Cason says:

    “You know, for Dana to say that ESPN and SI needs to be careful about who they hire, you know, that’s… that’s an interesting remark to make, you know, to top news sports outlets in the world that have a super-stringent hiring process and, you know, pride themselves on only hiring the best in each of the sports.”

    Nice to know she has such a high opinion of herself. Look, I don’t know Loretta personally. But some of the above posters are correct in that she probably isn’t the one to take up this “cause”. SI and ESPN hired her because there aren’t a whole lot of highly opinionated professional journalist in a sport that is just now getting mainstream attention. I don’t know her credentials, where she went to college, what she majored in, but I do know there are way too many “bloggers”, hacks I call them, in not just MMA media, but in mainstream media that consider themselves professional journalist on the basis that people pay attention to their ill-informed opinions. I’d like to know when and in what other sport this is considered acceptable. I know NFL turn to bloggers for breaking news, but I doubt their editors allow bloggers to write major articles, front page stuff or allowed to attend media events to cover the sport shoulder to shoulder with professional journalist.

  11. Rob Maysey says:

    The hypocrisy of those statements is truly amazing.

    Speaking up for the little sites? The so-called “nothings?”

    The Guest–By Albert Camus comes to mind. . .

  12. Sundog says:

    Let’s call a turd a turd here: Backstage access is not in Josh and Loretta’s future. Whether their writing was taking sides against the UFC or not, they got scoops that Dana didn’t want them to have, and consequently, he has denied them access. This isn’t Congress – they have no right to be there. They bet on the wrong pony, and they’re going to have to live with that. “Journalists” can be so whiny sometimes.

    If I get caught caught badmouthing Bob Inc, I’m not going to turn around and apply for a job there, or rather a prestigious 3rd party job that is predicated on my relationship with Bob Inc. In fact, considering I know Bob doesn’t trust me and will interfere with my ability to report on Bob Inc, I might tell Sports Illustrated or ESPN that, due to my history with the organization, they might be better off hiring someone else who can get the coverage they’re paying for.

  13. Dave says:

    My main issue with this whole thing is the journos end up being the source of discussion/debate/news in the MMA circle and it all comes across as very meta and unprofessional.

    The MMA world is really, really insular and incestuous, as is proof that you see so much talk by bloggers and journalists about CREDENTIALS. When you read about other sports, you don’t see as much “credential whining” as you do in the MMA world and it really sets it apart from other sports in a bad way.

    Hell, I heard some Jordan Breen show on Sherdog called “Inside Press Row” once and my eyes almost rolled back into my head. I can’t imagine this having any value anywhere else. Hell, the intro talking about “grab your credentials and go inside press row.” All so very, very meta, the writers shouldn’t be the news.

    I think that Luke Thomas kind of said it best a few weeks ago (albeit, he was a “credential whiner” at BloodyElbow who is now credentialed for SBNation) when he talked about attending events as credentialed media and how cliquey it was. I believe he called it a “traveling party scene” where everyone just meets up at these events and party together, making it just seem cheap. This is from a guy that spent a few years just wanting those credentials so badly, finally getting them and realizing it’s all full of shit.

    Are those people really the best at what they do or did they just say the right things and fall into the right spot with the right publisher?

  14. Fedorfunions says:

    This is kind of silly. MMA reporting isn’t recovering secrets in a war zone.

    It’s just sports writing.

    You might get a steroid story, or maybe some mob ties or something.. but come on.

    Real reporting?

    Just tell me what the guys weigh, how they want to beat each other up, and show me the fight.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    I’m done with Bellator. The Hawn/Hieron decision was the final straw.

    There is no way Hieron could have on that fight. At best he lost 29-28. He ran the ENTIRE fight and did nothing during the last 2 rounds.

    When people were discussing if it was corrpution before, I said I wasn’t ready to say that. Now I absolutely believe there is some corruption going on.

    I’m done with Bellator….

    • The Gaijin says:

      After seeing that fight everyone that said Diaz was ducking Hieron should feel embarassed. I don’t even like Diaz and I think he’d ghetto stomp Hieron.

    • manapua says:

      Heiron won the first two rounds pretty clearly.

  16. EJ says:

    For what it’s worth I scored the fight for Hieron I thought he stole it with the last second takedown. But if the result went the other way I wouldn’t have been angry about it.

    It’s incredibily frustrating to see a well rounded and talented guy like Jay devolve into this crappy boxeritis version that has showed up in the last 2 fights in Bellator. He’s going to get worked by Askren if he doesn’t wake up and go back to his roots, he simply isn’t good enough standing of cardio wise to pull of a Frankie Edgar style of fighting.

  17. edub says:

    The Hieron fight was 50-50 at the end. The decision could literally have gone either way. I had Hawn winning, but plenty of other people had Hieron winning. Hawn was the aggressor for most of the fight, but he got countered in parts.

    The only thing I disagree with is Hieron acting like he won the lottery when it was a 50-50 decision after the fight was over.

  18. 45 Huddle says:

    What fight were you 2 watching?

    Hieron literally ran for the last two rounds. Made no attempt to really engage. Got hit with the harder shots.

    It was a clear cut 29-28 for Hawn….

    • EJ says:

      Kalib Starnes ran, Hieron was following a gameplan a dumb one but still it was clear what he was doing was countering and staying away from exchanges. The second round was razor close and could have gone either way that’s the difference in who won the fight. Hawn was hardly impressive either he’s a very limited fighter that if Hieron would have fought his normal style would have beaten soundly.

  19. june says:

    Dana needs to learn to be respectful to people, at least in public. If he took Hunt or anyone else aside and went into his tirad fine. Dana does run the Ufc thru intimidation and not just with reporters but with fighters and employees and even people he calls friends. This is more about Dana portraying just the least little bit of character. He needs to grow up.

  20. […] of the UFC Kool-Aid over the years that he has now become so blinded by his own need to suck-up for fear of losing his press credentials, or he genuinely has his nose shoved so far up the UFC’s ass, that he can’t see the truth for […]

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