The Weight Debate

I was listening to Brendan Schaub’s podcast ‘Below the Belt’ during my evening run around my local park yesterday. I use the term ‘run’ loosely. I could see an old lady walking around the same track in the distance and I never once overtook her. It was more of a light saunter. Anyway, one of the guests on the podcast was none other than dietitian, nutritionist, body transformation specialist and the Guru of how to not be a fat ba$tard, Mike Dolce. Remember him?

There was a time in MMA where you would see Dolce stood behind at least one fighter, holding a bottle full of a peculiar coloured fluid during weigh-ins, on every fight card. The fighter would strip down to their boxers / matching knickers and bra set (depending on gender), stand nervously on a weighing scale and breathe a huge sigh of relief if the numbers on the scale were within the tolerance of their chosen weight class. Dolce would then scream a few Americanised words of encouragement like “Let’s get it” or “Eeeeeeeaaasssy money”, handover the bottle full of the peculiar coloured fluid to the fighter, and then station himself in a spot with a good view of the pending stare down.

I actually recently wondered why we had seen so little of Dolce recently. Had fighters turned their back on good ol’ Mike? Well, if you’ve been doing the same, listen to the podcast because this piece isn’t about that.

What I want to discuss is the current hot topic in MMA, what I like to call ‘The Weight Debate’. On one side we have the president of the UFC, Dana White. On the other, we have what seems to be every single fighter on the UFC roster. The bone of contention? Should weigh-ins remain in the current morning slot or be moved back to the old 4pm start time?

It’s not often the consensus amongst fighters on any given issue is universal. Weigh-ins remaining in the current morning time slot happens to be one. During the podcast, Dolce defended this position passionately. He mapped out how a fighter typically negotiates weigh-in day using the two scenarios, (morning weigh-ins Vs 4pm weigh-ins). Dolce spoke in detail about the rehydration process a fighter goes through once they’ve weighed in, highlighting the health benefits of remaining in the current slot. Echoing a sentiment many fighters have shared via social media. If you like to be entertained, Al Iaquinta’s take on the “MMA Hour” is a must watch.

After Yoel Romero missed weight for his fight at UFC 225, Dana White seemed to point the finger of blame at the early weigh-in time, arguing it gives fighters less time to cut weight before stepping on the scales. There is some credence to this outlook. Since the introduction of the early weigh-ins, missing weight has become a more regular occurrence, putting scheduled fights in jeopardy.

White went on to say he had spoken to ‘many’ fighters about the situation and they all want to go back to the old protocol. Only Dana knows which fighters he actually discussed this with because we haven’t seen a single one of them publicly come out in favour of the decision.

This got me thinking, has Dana White actually discussed this with anyone? I’m not just talking fighters. I’m talking the athletic commissions. I’m talking doctors. I’m talking physicians. I’m talking the Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance for UFC, Jeff Novitzky.

Novitzky was brought onboard to oversee the implementation of a year-round drug testing policy. Something that has been largely successful in combating the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the UFC. I may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but his job title alone tells me this is a matter Novitzky should not only have a vested interest in but should be at the forefront of the decision-making process.

Unfortunately, I don’t have his phone number or email address so I did a quick google search on whether Novitzky had commented on the matter. Nope. Nothing. Being the super geek that I am, I remembered Novitzky appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast a few months ago and vaguely recalled a brief discussion they had about weigh-ins. So, obviously, I opened the Youtube app on my phone and watched the episode.

As I listened to him speak, I got the sense Novitzky takes his job seriously. He comes across as a highly intelligent individual. If I’m right, it means the absolute priority for him as the VP of Athlete Health and Performance, is to ensure fighters are as fit and healthy as possible so they can perform at their optimum. When Rogan touched on the subject of weight-cutting, I can’t say I was surprised when I saw Novitzky speak about the health benefits of fighters weighing-in earlier in the day. He too seemed to be in favour of the morning weigh-ins.

It’ll be interesting to see how all of this plays out. It’s the first time since joining the UFC Novitzky has been put in a compromising position. Will he stick to his principals and be vocal about the dangers of moving weigh-ins? Or, will he simply tow the company line to appease his boss?

Right now it seems Dana White is on a collision course with the fighters on the UFC roster. The question is, will the real Jeff Novitzky standup?

20 Jun 2018 0

Confession: I’m a Colby Covington Fan

The title kind of gives what this piece is about away and I feel all the better for it. I admit it. I’m a fan.

A year ago, I don’t think I’d ever heard or seen a Covington interview. If I had, you can’t blame me for the fact I can’t recall it. I mean, it is an interview at the end of the day. However, the fact I don’t remember any of his fights before he faced ‘The Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim tells a story of its own.

As the decisions made by the judges were read out, the referee raised Covington’s hand, I remember sitting there thinking; “Here we go, what’s this idiot going to say this time?” It turns out Covington didn’t really say anything too outlandish. He demanded Dana White give him a title shot and thanked the Singapore crowd in his own unique way. The fact is though, for the first time, I actually cared about Colby Covington.

Much like the rest of the MMA Twitterverse, during the year between the fight with Kim and the lead up to the Rafael Dos Anjos fight, I despised Covington. I despised everything about him. His demeanour at press conferences, his behaviour on Twitter, his words during interviews and his posts on Instagram. To borrow a phrase from Stone Cold Steve Austin, I just couldn’t wait to see RDA ‘stomp a mudhole in his ass and walk it dry’.

And then something happened. It clicked. We live in a world where there is a UFC event around three times a month. If you add big Bellator and boxing shows to this, there’s basically something happening every weekend that grabs the attention of combat sports fans like myself. This basically means if a fighter fights say three times in a year, they have three opportunities to take the limelight.

Covington had managed to weave himself into the MMA zeitgeist to a point where he’s either talking or being talked about on a weekly basis. As UFC 225 approached, it dawned on me, Covington Vs RDA was the fight I was emotionally invested in the most.

There’s an old adage in pro-wrestling that I’ll try to convey without screwing up. As a wrestler enters the ring, he’s succeeding if the crowd are either booing or cheering. He needs to worry if they’re indifferent or without an opinion. Unfortunately, the majority of the UFC roster fall into the camp that “need to worry” in this context. Covington had managed to navigate his way from this group of fighters and into the small minority that manages to garner an emotional reaction.

One of the things that irked me about Covington was the fact it was plain to see he was playing a character. During the road to the RDA fight, I remember watching Covington in interviews and I noticed moments where Covington let his ‘heel’ persona slip. A wry smile here, or a stutter there, I could tell Covington wasn’t “keeping it real”. It annoyed me that Covington had essentially talked his way into an interim title fight and I didn’t believe he deserved it.

All that disappeared when I watched the ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC 225. As Covington approached the scales, he got the biggest reaction from the crowd that day, albeit a chorus of boos. What actually changed my mind about Covington was what happened next. As RDA approached the stage, he received the biggest ovation I’ve ever heard any crowd give him. RDA, who in my opinion, falls in the “needs to worry” camp had entered the realm which Covington occupies and become a “face” by proxy. Covington had actually elevated RDA’s profile just because of the sheer hate people have for him. I was impressed.

Covington eventually won the fight and I watched his post-fight interview and press conference with interest. He seemed more familiar with the character he was playing and smoother on the mic. He exuded the kind of brash confidence all good “bad guys” need and had backed it up with his performance earlier that night.

As the conversation turned to a unification bout with Woodley, Covington dismissed him as a challenger to his belt…and I got to thinking. Thinking about how excited I am to watch this fight and how much I want Woodley to win. Which is when the penny finally dropped. When Covington was calling for a title fight six months prior, I really didn’t care to see this fight happen. Now though, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the fights I’m anticipating the most. Why? Because of Colby “Chaos” Covington.

It’s a big ask trying to make people like you. Woodley and Cormier have had their fair share of troubles in this pursuit. Covington however, went a completely different route. By playing a pantomime villain, he’s made the MMA community universally hate him. He’s made us all want to see someone beat him which means we all will be tuning into his next fight. And for that reason, I’m a fan.

12 Jun 2018 1

UFC 225 – The Aftermath

It’s a beautifully sunny Monday morning here in London. The kind of morning that makes you want to jump out of bed and do stuff. Sadly, the stuff I’m due to be doing at work today isn’t quite the kind of thing you’d want to be doing on a beautiful, sunny morning…I’m sure you know the feeling. Anyway, I’m in the office early, there’s no-one about, so I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts about UFC 225.

If someone told me every fight on a main card went to a decision, I’d probably respond with “Fuck, sounds like a boring night”. In the case of UFC 225, my assumption would be wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the event from top to bottom.

In my opinion, the standout performance came from Curtis Blaydes. If you read my pre UFC225 blog, you’ll know I completely underestimated young ‘Razor’ Blaydes. I felt Blaydes’ stand-up skillset was way behind Overeem’s. Because of this, I thought Blaydes would struggle to get in close and secure takedowns. I assumed Blaydes’ only route to victory would be to get Overeem on his back and work off top position. Boy was I wrong. Blaydes won most of the stand-up exchanges. He was quick and tenacious whilst displaying smooth boxing skills with seamless transitions into grappling positions. Blaydes was able to take Overeem down at will and eventually secure a finish with some vicious elbows from the top.

After the fight, Blaydes took the opportunity to “shoot his shot” as he demanded a crack at the title. It’s hard to argue against him. Looking at the rankings there isn’t really anyone in pole position for a title fight. I personally think Blaydes needs one more fight. Provided both Junior Dos Santos and Francis Ngannou win their scheduled fights in the coming weeks, I believe either of them will be great options for Blaydes. JDS is a former champion and a big name. Apart from also being a big name, a fight with Ngannou comes with the added incentive of avenging a 2016 defeat. A win in the main event slot on a Fox card against either of them will raise Blaydes profile exponentially.

The other big heavyweight fight between Arlovski and Tuivasa went as expected. It was a fun fight with Tuivasa getting his hand raised. Speaking of fun, how fun is Bam Bam Tuivasa? He’s a real character outside the Octagon. The number of people I saw celebrating his victory by partaking in ‘shoeeys’ (I’m not even sure if I’ve spelt that right) on Instagram was crazy. Bam Bam is unapologetically himself and I really think UFC know they have something special here.

I don’t want to see Bam Bam pushed into a fight with a top-five contender just yet. There is nothing wrong with a slow build and I’d be all for giving Tuivasa an opponent ranked outside the top 15. If, however, this isn’t a viable option, Marcin Tybura and Stefan Struve are scheduled to fight in July. The winner of this fight would be a good test for Tuivasa.

One thing I was right about in my pre-fight blog was Colby fucking Covington. Probably the only internet troll on the face of the planet who can actually fight, he really took it to RDA. Going into the fight, I felt whoever got the better of the grappling exchanges would have the advantage, which tuned out to be the case. What surprised me a little was the pressure Covington put on RDA. Covington was able to back RDA up with a mixture of strikes and takedown attempts. He’s a well-rounded fighter who will give Tyrone Woodley something to think about when they eventually get it on.

RDA seemed to struggle with Covington’s presence – his size and ability to apply pressure at close range. It’s a style of fighting I noted RDA hadn’t faced since moving up to 170lbs and unfortunately for him, he came up short on this occasion.

This loss by no means ends RDA’s title ambitions. The welterweight division has a host of names in the top 10 that make sense for RDA next and I fully expect him to return in a meaningful fight against one of them.

The main event, Robert Whittaker Vs Yoel Romero was a cracker. As I surmised during fight week, the weight cut was indeed an issue for Romero. He managed to get down to 185.2lbs before being told he was not allowed to continue his weight cut by the commission. The noise coming from his camp suggests he was fine and able to continue, the commission just stuck their nose in where it didn’t belong, not the first time that’s happened. I do feel for Romero. To miss weight by 0.2lbs and lose the opportunity to fight for the tile seems harsh, but them be the rules.

Come fight night, both these guys put on a show. What a display of heart, grit and determination. These two are by far the best middleweights in the division and they deserve all the plaudits they received after the fight. Not only was this the fight of the night but they also delivered a candidate for the round of the year. I was a fan of the first fight between them and I think this one was better.

Both Whittaker and Romero sustained a load of injuries. Whittaker broke a hand and Romero was bruised and bloodied. I think they will both be out for a while which is fine as I can’t really see a legit challenger for the middleweight title right now.

Right, that’s your lot for now. People have started to trickle into the office so it’s time for me to put my headphones in and stare intently at my screen in what will surely be a failed attempt at avoiding conversations with colleagues about their weekend. Joy.

11 Jun 2018 0

Pre UFC 225 Thoughts

It’s Fight WEEK!!!!! And what a stacked card UFC 225 is. Majority of the prelim fights are worthy of a PPV slot and likely would have been had they been booked on a show not called UFC 225. Actually, add UFC 226 to the list too as it’s shaping up to be equally as good. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, and let’s focus on this week’s event.

I literally don’t know where to start. Usually, there are a handful of fights where I haven’t even heard of the combatants as they are young, up and coming prospects or the fighters are ranked outside the top 15 so the result is largely non-consequential for the division. This is different. I feel like this card has been booked really well. All the fights matter and the result will have a big impact on what’s next for the winners and losers.

Unfortunately, as I have a day job, I don’t really have the time to research styles of fighters and how they match-up with one another enabling me to give you meaningful predictions. So rather than breaking down the entire card, I thought I’d share my opinion on the fights that intrigue me the most.

The Old Guard

The veterans Arlovski and Overeem have been booked against younger opponents that are yet to hit their peak. A loss will provide the biggest name on the résumés of Tuivasa and Blaydes. It will also continue the trend started by Volkov’s victory over Werdum with new names and faces moving closer to the title picture pushing the older guys out. Arlovski and Overeem will want to prove worthy of their current standings by winning.

I like the fight for both Arlovski and Tuivasa. Both men prefer to strike so it’s the kind of fight where Arlovski can deploy his stand-up skills without having to worry too much about defending takedown attempts. Arlovski also provides Tuivasa with exactly the kind of step-up he needs to see how far he’s come along in his short career. Having finished all his previous opponents in the first round, I think Arlovski will test Bam Bam in ways he hasn’t been previously. I’m interested to see if the hype is real.

Overeem Vs Blaydes is a fight that has more relevance to the heavyweight title. I was a little surprised to see Blaydes is a heavy favourite with the bookies. I haven’t seen a lot of him, but from what I have seen, I can’t see him outstriking Overeem. Blaydes strength is his wrestling. The question is, will he be able to successfully negotiate The Reem’s takedown defence? I’m not so sure, which is why I’ve had a cheeky punt on Overeem winning.

One of my all-time favourites Rashad Evans is back at 205lbs. he looked horrible during his 185lb experiment so I’m glad he has chosen to come back to the division where he made his name. Let’s face it, Anthony Smith is a decent test but he’s someone that has never operated to the level we’ve seen Evans perform. I really hope Evans wins and promptly calls it a day.

CM Punk

I was a fan of CM Punk in his WWE days. I thought it was absurd when he randomly popped up in a really nice suit during a UFC event to announce he had signed to the organisation. I was disappointed with his debut fight and surprised when he was given a second chance. I suppose his fight with Mike Jackson interests me because we got to see so little of what Punk can do during his fight will Gall. I know nothing about Jackson apart from the fact he has some kickboxing and boxing experience. Conventional logic suggests Jackson should win, but I’m curious to see what (if any) improvements Punk has made.

The Title Fights

I really enjoyed the first fight between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero and I think this will be more of the same. Whittaker displayed amazing takedown defence in the first fight so I think Romero will have made adjustments to the game plan he tried to implement. A couple of things to take into account – Whittaker fought the majority of the first fight with a knee injury so you’d have to say if he’s fully fit, he should perform at a higher level than previously. Also, Romero is a big guy who cuts a lot of weight to make the 185lbs limit. He failed to make weight in his previous fight which suggests it’s not something he is able to do easily. As Romero gets older, the cutting process may be taking more out of him which may then have an impact on his cardio and strength on fight night.

The fight I’m looking forward to the most is the Welterweight Interim Title bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington. Let’s ignore the fact it makes zero sense they are fighting for an interim title. I look at this as a fight between two legitimate fighters for the number one contender spot.

Covington has been talking a load of shit over the last year or so and to be fair to him, it’s worked. Although he had a decent record, his name was nowhere near title challenger conversations before he revealed this new persona of his. I wasn’t ever too impressed with him but that changed when I saw the way he performed against Demian Maia. Like it or lump it, Covington is a legit contender.

RDA, on the other hand, has beaten some big names since his move up in weight. What’s impressed me is he’s been able to carry his strength into the heavier division whilst maintaining his speed. Having said this, I do feel the opponents he’s had at 170lbs so far suit his style well. None of them are the strongest of grapplers, something RDA relies heavily on.

I’m really interested to see if RDA can deliver a dominant performance against Covington. I see this as a genuine 50/50 fight so I’m surprised to see so many people picking RDA for the win. I feel like both men have similar styles so whoever is able to impose their will during grappling exchanges will make it a very long night for his opponent.

It should be a really exciting night of fights and I cannot wait!!

7 Jun 2018 0

Tag: #UFC225 #UFC #MMA

The Weight Debate

Confession: I’m a Colby Covington Fan

UFC 225 – The Aftermath

Pre UFC 225 Thoughts

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