Conor McGregor, Death of a Sportsman
The old Conor was a poor kid from the streets of Dublin who just wanted his piece of the pie. The new Conor is a wealthy man with his own whiskey label willing to go corporate for anyone.
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The UFC isn't a star-making vehicle, it's an acquisition factory
In the sport of MMA, the biggest stars come from the UFC. Or do they? A closer look may reveal that the UFC corporate side has actually driven the product more than we may realize. Because the UFC doesn't build stars so much as it acquires them.
Read MoreLuke Rockhold, Yoel Romero, and How Everybody Got Guns
Too often the hype for a fight is about the weapons. The hype for Luke Rockhold versus Yoel Romero was no different, with a lot of lip service paid to the things we love about Rockhold and Romero’s game – the athleticism, technical ability, and vicious finishing ability. But that hype blinded us to their shortcomings and ultiamtely the reason the fight went the way it did.
Read MoreThe UFC needs to let their freak fight fly
In July, Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic will square off for the heavyweight title. Depending on how it goes down this July, maybe the UFC should think about making this kind of matchup a regularity – all over its roster.
Read MoreWhy Is Stipe Miocic The Heavyweight GOAT We Don't Want?
As heavyweights go, Stipe Miocic is the anti-fantasy. He's big by normal standards, but he isn't a hulk. He doesn't have a terrifying, imposing physicality. He just wins. In spite of that simple measuring stick for greatness, fight fans struggle to appoint him as a star.
Read MoreRearview Mirror: The Middleweight Plot Was the Worst - But It Wrote The Best Character Arc of 2017
The UFC Middleweight quagmire of 2017 wasn't all that bad. It allowed to enter the conversation not only the man who would prove its top fighter but maybe pound-for-pound best fighter in the game: Robert Whitaker.
Read MoreGSP, Namujunas, and How UFC 217 Saved The UFC
Georges St. Pierre and Michael Bisping were supposed to show up old and slow. Joanna Jędrzejczyk was supposed to be just too much and skate passed Rose Namajunas. Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw were doing their best to make the focus everything but fighting in the lead-up to their grudge match. As they say, though, that’s why fights aren’t done on paper.
Read MoreA McGregor vs Diaz Trilogy Fight Is The Unimaginative Play
Just reflect for a moment that there was a time when a Conor McGregor versus Nate Diaz trilogy was the punchline to a joke. ‘Those two are going to fight three times!’ said no one ever. But we’re likely heading to that point. It just shouldn’t be now.
Read MoreThe UFC Problem Is Like Oxygen - It's Everywhere
In the depths of UFC 215, somewhere between rounds three and five of Amanda Nunes and Valentina Schevchenko's dance-off headliner, I caught myself on a rant. In less than a week, I found my mind going from one delighted by the UFC product to one frustrated by it.
Read MoreStuck In The Middle With You: Women's MMA Has a Middle Class Problem
In Women’s MMA, Mount Rushmore is still being carved. Cris Justino, Ronda Rousey, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are there. However, the fighters trying to ascend there dance dangerously close to a steep cliff, a long drop, fifty feet of crap and everyone else.
Read MoreThey Talked, They Fought, They Got Rich - We Bought It
Some two years ago, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather must have decided to play a game, a zero sum game. They would fight. One man would get credit for doing better than expected and the other would get credit for not being in a boring fight. They would both get rich doing it. They knew this would work, because they knew we would buy it.
Read MoreShh! Quit The Talk, It's Time To Speculate
When it comes to the biggest boxing match (er, spectacle) of all time, the devil is in the details. Just where the hell are those details, anyways? How we can't possibly begin to predict how Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor will match up until the ring of the bell on Saturday night.
Read MoreThere’s only one Conor McGregor, but a million opinions
How do you feel about Conor McGregor? Love him? Hate him? As the saying goes, the truth is somewhere in between. It’s finding that middle that McGregor has kept us guessing at.
Read MoreWild Things: Robbie Lawler vs Donald Cerrone
"I never saw a wild thing / sorry for itself." If you are the kind of human being that can step into a cage knowing your consciousness (or a limb) will be the likely consequence, you have little time for self-pity. No two fighters embody that trait better than Donald Cerrone and Robbie Lawler.
Read MoreMayweather/McGregor: Is It A Cinch In The Clinch?
Despite what the hype may say, Conor McGregor will find the footing slippery and margins narrow in his fight against Floyd Mayweather. But there is a way. It's a cinch! It's all about that clinch.
Read MoreRequiem For A Featherweight: How Jose Aldo Was Built To Destroy An Era…And That Era Has Passed
Over a week ago, Jose Aldo saw his legendary streak as UFC Featherweight champion end, ushering in the reign of a new champion, Max Holloway. It appeared to the MMA world that Aldo was now a thing of the past. In truth, it was Aldo’s dominance of a past era is what brought about his demise.
Read MoreIn The Mind of TJ Dillashaw
Demetrious Johnson is on the offensive against the UFC. TJ DiIlashaw is not impressed. But why? We bore into the mind of the Bantamweight contender and look to unravel the wires.
Read MoreBest ever? It's not that simple when no two wins are equal.
In sports, everything is subject to good timing. If the measure of champion is the measure of their opposition, that measurement depends on who they beat and when. So then, who had stiffer tests? Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, or Georges St. Pierre?
Read MoreNew York, New York, A State So Nice They Put A UFC Card In *shudder* Buffalo
Someone famous once sang of New York, “If you could make it there, you could make it anywhere." Apparently, the New York State Athletic Commission decided to put that one to the test in a wild, bizarre few days at UFC 210.
Read MoreStephen Thompson v. Tyron Woodley, Better Than We Wanted
In MMA, we don't want puzzles. We want Jenga. Yet the true tension of that game comes in the slow and methodical attempts at pulling out a piece to stack. The tension is in the anticipation of collapse at any given moment. It does not matter how high the tower goes when the stakes are always higher.
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