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The art of trash talking & drug testing in today’s MMA climate

By Zach Arnold | November 1, 2012

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Fox says the UFC show in Seattle (set for December 8th) is sold out. UFC is working with Ticketmaster to create a secondary ticket site for those re-selling tickets.

An article by Dave Deibert in The Calgary Herald says that ticket sales for the Georges St. Pierre/Carlos Condit UFC 154 show in Montreal at the Bell Centre are sluggish. Deibert reports that around 14,000 tickets have been sold so far.

AsiaOne has an article about One FC & MMA in Singapore, featuring comments from Dan Henderson. AsiaOne also has an article on Evolve MMA.

Speaking of Dan Henderson, his opinion on Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen is that it is bad for MMA’s integrity. Jeff Wagenheim at Sports Illustrated says the MMA circuit is suddenly all talk, talk, talk. Jonathan Snowden sees no problem with this development.

Loretta Hunt has a new article about Dr. Margaret Goodman and the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency. The focus of the article is the mixed reaction amongst fighters about VADA’s role in increased drug-testing in MMA. Rory MacDonald says that the extra drug testing is a pain in the ass and a waste of his time. This is a really important article to read. It’s interesting to note that Jason Genet, Shane Carwin’s manager, is a vocal critic of VADA because Genet is not exactly the guy I would want as a public face on the situation (given his issues with the Securities & Exchange Commission). Brent Brookhouse has a great article about Genet’s blow-up with VADA and how it’s an example of poor MMA fighter management.

Gerald Harris says he wants VADA drug testing for his future MMA fights.

Speaking of drug testing, UFC says they will test the fighters on the Macau show. Who is performing the drug testing? Who makes the call regarding the positive/negative results and do the fighters get a copy of the results? What happens with the results — are they used against the fighters for more than just drug-related suspensions? UFC is in a no-win situation by running events in areas without competent regulation, but as we’ve seen with California and other states it’s hard for MMA fans to expect much good governance right now on these kinds of issues.

Injured Cung Le represents a catch-22 for Zuffa’s desperate China Macao debut. Franklin remains a 3-to-1 favorite. If the injury news is true, I suspect the line on the fight will bump up to Rich being a 4-to-1 if not 5-to-1 favorite.

MMA fictional book author Jill Easter has been accused of attempting to plant marijuana & drugs on a PTA president.

Two interesting fight cards in Las Vegas coming up this weekend…

Resurrection Fighting Alliance 4 (11/2 Texas Station)

World Series of Fighting (Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas)
TV: Sherdog.com undercard, NBC Sports Network/Versus for main card

Here’s a preview article by Tristen Critchfield about this weekend’s WSOF 1 event. Smoogy says that the target audience WSOF 1 needs to get for their debut event on NBC SN is around 250,000 viewers. Can they pull it off?

Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 21 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

21 Responses to “The art of trash talking & drug testing in today’s MMA climate”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    Long term…. taking away the value of the belts will hurt Zuffa. They are looking at the now for the expense of the future.

  2. nottheface says:

    Something i noticed the other day when comparing Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen’s credentials for LHW contender – Since Chael Sonnen had his last LHW fight in 2005 against Babalu (a fight he lost) Dan Henderson has had 8 fights at 205 or more, losing only once in a close decision to Rampage Jackson.

  3. Megatherium says:

    UFC is begging not to be taken seriously anymore with the ridiculous Jones vs Sonnen match (but only after a degrading several month stint on a really bad reality tv series). If they didn`t fly under the radar with this nonsense they would be buried in shit. I am still having a hard time believing that they are really going ahead with this farce.

    It`s embarrassing to be a fan.

  4. RST says:

    Lol @ snowden.

    So snowden in in support of drama over content?

    Say it isn’t so.

    I understand and enjoy the isht talking facet of entertainment,
    but seeing as this is supposed to also be a sport and not the honey booboo show it should be taken for what it is and have its place.

    And its place IS NOT in earning title shots!

    That just stupid.

    But lol @ hendo too.

    I’m still convinced that he was in on the whole chael/jones debacle.

    BTW: If Hendo needs a significant fight one of these years before he retires,
    and 205 is on hold now so that dana can prove that no one can stop him from getting his way eventually,
    why doesn’t he head down to 185 and finish his bussiness with flamderson?

    If flamderson can fight bonner for no good reason (he didn’t save that card, that was the worst fight on it) then Hendo seems plenty worthy of an instant title shot.

    But then again I suppose he just doesn’t have title shot worthy isht talking skills does he.

    • Jonathan Snowden says:

      I don’t even know what you mean by “drama over content.” So I’m guessing I’m not in support of it.

  5. Weezy02 says:

    I don’t think that even those that are fine with Jones vs. Sonnen are arguing that it’s a bout Sonnen earned at all. Arguing Sonnen hasn’t earned the shot is pointless because most advocates of the fight aren’t claiming otherwise. The argument is that it’s a fight that a lot of people want to see and they’re okay with doing those on occasion. Most folks I know that want to see the fight wouldn’t want this to become a regular thing with titles being held up indefinitely. But on occasion it’s okay to do a fight that sells tickets even when the title shot isn’t earned. Boxing has seen this phenomenon as well. As one example, Zab Judah received an immediate world title shot after coming off of two consecutive world title losses. The bout sold tickets and moved the needle, though. Shane Mosley was winless in his last three fights (two of them title fight losses) before getting a world title shot at the champion in a higher weigh class. There are other examples. At the end of the day, combat sports exist in a realm that is heavily driven by live gates PPV revenue. Although television contracts have become lucrative for the UFC their bread and butter is still dependent on a degree of matchmaking that will appeal to very casual fans. To some, that is unacceptable. To others, it’s a smart way to move the needle. We’ll see how the buyrate does.

    • RST says:

      “…most advocates of the fight aren’t claiming otherwise.”

      What possible claim could “advocates” of this fight have?
      That people “want to see it”?

      Thats not a good enough reason at the belt holding level IMO.

      If this was 2 midcarders then sure.

      “Boxing has seen this phenomenon as well.”

      Isn’t it widely accepted that that has been one of the major contributors to the increasing irrelevance of boxing today?

      Pre-twitter dana seemed to think so and said as much more then a few times…
      back in the good ole days.

      “Most folks I know that want to see the fight wouldn’t want this to become a regular thing…”

      But it has been becoming so.

      How many times has dana announced a top contender in the last year, only to change it the next day after being on twitter all night.

      Hmmm…

      the shogun/vera and lyoto fights
      (that ended up going nowhere for either of them),

      The condit/GSP/Diaz trainwreck,

      the “reem” instant title shot flat tire,

      Those are just the most recent ones that I can recall,
      but all examples of what an embarrassing mess dana’s twitter whim matchmaking is turning the UFC into.

      Oh yeah, one more.

      Remember that time when dana forced his 205 champ to fight on short notice against an irrelevant contender, just to prove that he can get his way,
      and his champ got injured?

      dana was good for the sport,
      but now he only seems to be good for dana.

      • Weezy02 says:

        Fair enough. You raise some good points. Let’s see how it works out for the company.

        “……but now he only seems to be good for dana.”

        Absolutely. Make no mistake, none of the Zuffa ownership are in this thing due to altruism. They are in the event/programming selling business.

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    Bonnar got busted for steroids. Isn’t this his second offense? He was looking very ripped before the fight.

    Zuffa seems better at catching fighters fir illegal substances then the AC’s do. I wonder if Bonnar retired because he got word of the failed test.

    This sport is getting sadder by the second.

  7. Jonathan says:

    Per Sherdog, both Herman and Bonnar got popped, and it was the second offense for each of them.

    • RST says:

      To be fair,
      Herman got busted for pot again.

      Not exactly the same as steroids IMO.

      BTW: What is the revenge agenda dana and joel have got for peewee with their masochistic matchmaking?!

      Is dana still getting revenge for the black hair dye?

  8. david m says:

    Dave Herman fought like he literally had never trained a day of striking in his life. What a waste of physical talent that guy is. Moron.

    I am looking forward to Chael vs Jon Jones. Did you all say the sport was doomed when Anderson fought Thales Laites and Patrick Cote and (almost lost to) Travis Lutter? What about when Paul Buentello had a world title shot?

    You guys are making a mountain out of a molehill; get over it.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Have you seen the TV ratings? Have you seen the PPV Buys?

      • david m says:

        yes i have. what exactly is your argument? we are talking about sonnen v jj being the apocalypse for the sport, and now you are changing the argument to say that ufc is doing poorly. you can’t have it both ways. either the ufc is doing poorly (relatively), or chael v jj means the ufc is doomed.

        • RST says:

          “…sonnen v jj being the apocalypse for the sport…”

          I’m not sure that all of that is true,
          or that all of that isn’t.

          But I’m sincere that it is an insult nto the guys that fight their way up!

          And another grotesque example of danawana “gone wild”!

    • RST says:

      “Dave Herman fought like he literally had never trained a day of striking in his life.”

      This is true.

      I wont deny it.

      He hasn’t.

      But he has a trove of potential.

      It seems like some guys get to soft ball through a career for the last four years,
      and some guys just get thrown to the wolves.

      Some times the ufc doesn’t seem equal more then deliberately forgiving or cruel.

    • RST says:

      “Did you all say the sport was doomed when Anderson fought Thales Laites and Patrick Cote and (almost lost to) Travis Lutter? What about when Paul Buentello had a world title shot?”

      4-5 years ago?

      At the time it was acceptable.

      The same schtick 4-5 years later starts to seem sinister…

  9. 45 Huddle says:

    A few fights into the prelims on the WSOF…. And it is already better then Bellator which is like 80 shows in.

    And that is even with The Voice & Rutten, who I do not like.

    The lighting is better. The color of the mat is better. The camera work is better. The interviewer after the fights is better. The level of competition is better.

    Would be nice as a monthly show if they allow their talent to go off the UFC afterwards instead of becoming a black hole like Bellator.

    And actually, that is probably why they have better talent already then Bellator. The lack of restrictive contracts means more fighters willing to sign on.

    • RST says:

      Gosh!
      I’m not familiar with WSOF?!
      But they have dragged “the voice” into it already?!

      MMA is doomed!

      Call me when I wake up from this nightmare…

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