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After UFC 187, Chris Weidman says MSG is next goal after “putting Shelly Silver into jail”

By Zach Arnold | May 23, 2015

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Luca Fury has long argued that fighters who are testosterone users don’t really end up with a winning edge over their opponents. He’s right. Vitor Belfort’s performance at UFC 187 was proof positive. After a spirited flurry of punches, Chris Weidman dispatched of Vitor with relative ease. The whole fight seemed to have an odd hype dynamic heading into the encounter. Weidman went the Randy Orton legend killer route by stating that a win over Belfort would finish off all the Middleweights from the Brazilian-dominated era. Meanwhile, it was ixnay on discussing why Belfort has had trouble fighting in Nevada (read: testosterone). Throw into the mix the tough article by Patrick Wyman on Weidman, Frank Mir, and Fabricio Werdum <"http://www.deadspin.com/why-are-ufc-champions-hanging-out-with-an-accused-russi-1705763244">hanging out with an alleged Russian war criminal and you ended up with a nuttier-than-usual public relations battle on Saturday.

Truth be told, there wasn’t much drama to be expected from Weidman’s title fight. The real interest was in the main event and whether Rumble Johnson would knock out Daniel Cormier. He couldn’t but not for a lack of trying. And Rumble was summarily taken apart. He’s still a very scary man.

The fight result now leads us to a rematch between Cormier and Jon Jones and I’m not sure there are as many fans this time who think Cormier has a chance of winning as there were for the first encounter. It will sell a lot of tickets, however…

Andrei Arlovski took care of Travis Browne. I suppose Tim Sylvia could come out of retirement. Given UFC’s Heavyweight division in 2015, why not? Where does Arlovski rank in terms of Greg Jackson’s most successful rehabilitation projects?

The highlight of 187 was Uriah Hall getting psyched out over Rafael Natal only for Natal to immediately kick Hall in the nuts within a couple of seconds. Hall not only got kicked in the nuts at the beginning of the fight, he got kicked in the nuts after the score cards were read and he lost.

Both John Dodson and Zach Makovsky are tough, smart fighters. However, if Dodson is going to prove that he’s a title contender, you have to finish opponents and make a statement. The wrong kind of statement was made.

There was a touch of irony seeing how a fight card that UFC thought would captivate the masses ended up doing the opposite. This turned out to be a card for the hardcores. It had a little bit of everything. And yet the hardcores online were blown away by Mariusz Pudzianowski knocking out Rolles “Flair Flop” Gracie.

I actually thought that what was happening outside of the cage was more interesting & newsworthy than the show itself. The Reebok deal is unfolding the way UFC wants it to:

You have fighters ripping on a lack of quality managers in MMA (which is true). You have fighters like Joe Benavidez ditching managers because, hey, he can save a few bucks and why do you need a manager now when UFC controls everything?

Meanwhile, I’ve yet to see a cohesive argument explaining why sponsoring UFC gives an advertiser any bang for their buck. Other than pushing their own pet project in Xyience or Mickey’s, what brands have been built off the back of UFC advertising campaigns? Dynamic Fastener? Reebok can’t be happy with all the negative PR campaigns against their sponsorship with UFC due to what UFC is paying fighters, but UFC is getting exactly what they want in busting fighter/manager relationships.

And to put the cherry on top of that sundae, the $30,000 they have spent lobbying for a California senate bill to change the way costs are distributed for athletic commission arbitration hearings means indigent fighters who had no recourse to break free from adhesive contracts without an attorney will find themsevles priced out of paying attorney fees to the state’s AG office. Ho hum.

Dominick Cruz said “I think the rankings are crap.” And yet those rankings now are financially important to the fighters under contract.

Joe Rogan said Andrei Arlovski had a serious injury heading into his fight with Travis Browne. Donald Cerrone claims he had two serious injuries (including his ribs) and nearly pulled out of his fight. This coming off of Nevada’s athletic commission drawing huge heat for Manny Pacquiao and his torn rotator cuff. Rashad Evans said he had fractured three ribs before his fight with Phil Davis.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

15 Responses to “After UFC 187, Chris Weidman says MSG is next goal after “putting Shelly Silver into jail””

  1. David m says:

    Why would you say there wasn’t much drama to be expected in Weidman fight? Do you not recall how badly Vitor massacred all of his recent opponents? I think that is a bit of hindsight bias on your part.

    • rst says:

      “Do you not recall how badly Vitor massacred all of his recent opponents?”

      They should have called the cops on him. It was assault with a weapon.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      Weidman was a bigger favorite over Vitor as compared to Floyd over Manny.

      I didn’t see a path to victory for Vitor when the fight was first announced and it pretty much played out the way most fans expected.

  2. DIAZ'S PACKED BOWL says:

    Arlovski vs Mir anyone?

    DCs disrespectful ranting at the press conference has removed what little respect I had for him. loud mouth prima donna, fried chicken eating uncle tom, or lucky douche bag?

    • Mark says:

      $$$$$$$$$$$$

      They need a draw, Cormier cut a promo to draw money. How else would a Ryan Bader fight sell if somebody wasn’t heeling it up? On PPV, Cormier and Bader just having a “I respect him” fight build wouldn’t draw a dime. It would just be an above average ratings FX show because Cormier is a name.

      • DIAZ'S PACKED BOWL says:

        Yes, ufc is selling wolf tickets for DC vs Bader.
        When the king is away, the little punks will play. Squabbling over a belt they didn’t earn.

  3. Tradition Rules says:

    A few comments:

    1) I enjoy this card, found most fights to be either competitive or a great deal of action.

    2) I also thought the decision in the Hall vs Natal fight was a second low blow Uriah had to take,…unless I missed something. He seemed to control the action more, seemed to land more significant strikes and seemed to be the aggressor.

    3) Belfort seemed SKINNY compared to his recent prior fights…still seemed to have the great speed, and SOME power,….but NOT the same.

    3) The comment about comparing Arlovski’s injury to Pacquiao’s is this: an MMA fighter has more then just punches…he can knee, kick throw/slam, take down and use submissions. A boxer only punches in his fights, and he had a rotator cuff injury, which to a boxer is much more limiting. AND the whole Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight card was sold on that fight alone,billed as “The Fight of the Century”, was considered boring by many who watched it… and all at a price tag of $100.00…this is why I stick to MMA (and Muay Thay and grappling/Judo/BJJ) over Boxing.

    And was Happy to see Arlovski win. His striking seemed impressive again,…but he STILL was a bit sloppy in protecting was seemes to be a somewhat suspect chin.

    4) LOVED Rumble’s post fight interview. Was pulling for DC, but how can you not admire Johnson for what he said and for placing the belt around the waist of the man who beat him for the championship?

    Personally hoping for a long reign of DC as UFC Light Heavyweight Champ. THAT said,…

    5)I was disappointed in seeing the post fight, pro wrestling promo cut by DC on Ryan Bader. There are good “pro wrestling” style promos to cut to build up a fight that are not obnoxious,….this was not one of them.

    I really don’t believe that DC believed any of what he said to and about Bader, but I’m sure Dana White LOVES the fact that he did this. With major PPV draws, Lesnar & GSP gone, as well as the next tire PPV draws, like Jones gone, Danae is probably happy to see anything colorful to hype up a fight, especially a championship fight on PPV.

    • Mark says:

      Cormier is still new to the role. He got to play off of Jon Jones being the villain for his first big hype. Being the villain insulting the guy who has nothing going for him is hard not to come off like a complete jackass if you don’t know what you’re doing. So all of the internet hate of DC is uncalled for IMO. If he pissed you off, great, you’ll probably buy the show hoping he gets his comeuppance.

  4. rst says:

    “…an alleged Russian war criminal…”

    Well it seems to me, after watching the fury road and being beaten about the head with the feminism, that you need war mongers sometimes.

    You need the potential to go to war. To establish a civilization. What would liberals do without the police? They’d be eaten alive by their own constituents.

    • Mark says:

      I can’t fully support Ramzan, since he is a terrorist sympathizer. But ISIS want to kill him, and put a $5 million bounty on him, so an enemy of ISIS deserves some respect. But he’s also a torturer. Not as bad as Putin (Google “Phone Call to Putin slang”), but he’s not a guy people should be hanging out with. He’s one of those gray-area people America doesn’t want anything to do with, but since he’s an enemy of enemies don’t want to damage either. But then again, Fedor never took any criticism for being close to Pooty Poot. I think he even worked in his cabinet didn’t he?

      And BTW, I’m not a liberal. I hate sissy progressives. But leaders who torture their own people are far worse.

    • DIAZ'S PACKED BOWL says:

      Civilization is a personal realization.

    • Megatherium says:

      War criminals are a dime a dozen these days. We’re governed by them ourselves. War – it how a nation eat.

  5. Mark says:

    Zach, please don’t wish Tim Sylvia back into the UFC. I know time has erased how harsh the public’s feelings on him were. But I still remember the 2006-onward Sylvia who stopped being a fighter who looked to finish once he won the title and bored the hell out of everybody in safe fighting-for-a-decision fights. He’s the last person I want back in the UFC. Even though he probably wouldn’t beat any of the younger guys even if he was in shape, we can’t take that risk.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      If the UFC is going to continue booking fights like Stipe Miocic vs. Mark Hunt, then they’re already down the slippery slope in 2015 of bringing back the old-timers for a final curtain call.

  6. Tradition Rules says:

    “…When the king is away, the little punks will play. Squabbling over a belt they didn’t earn…..”

    Well, like everyone else, I would have loved to see Jones fight/defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Johnson. *AND* I do think he was probably the “Pound for Pound” top fighter in the sport, like almost everyone else.

    HOWEVER….it was the *UFC* Light Heavyweight title he held: he no longer holds it. The UFC stripped him of THEIR title (due to HIS OWN poor choices) and the UFC held a bout to fill the vacant title.

    It was not the fight I was originally looking forward to, but make no mistake about it: Daniel Cormier *IS* the UFC Champion, because the *UFC* recognizes him as the champion.

    I’m disappointed we didn’t get to see Bones vs Rumble as well, but that doesn’t matter.

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