jimufctna24 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Bloody Elbow's expose of One FC: Part 1 - https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2020/12/9/22158239/threats-gag-orders-and-more-fighters-and-employees-throw-serious-allegations-at-one-championship Part 2 - https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2021/1/6/21355267/blatant-mismatches-questionable-claims-fighters-employees-serious-allegations-one-championship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted January 7, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted January 7, 2021 Very interesting reads there Jim. There's been a stink coming off of ONE for a long time now, and these claims throw extra shit onto the top of the heap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 7, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted January 7, 2021 (edited) Yeesh. It's always interesting seeing corruption like this come out. There's often a cultural distinctiveness as to how corruption manifests itself, and this is very East Asian, sort of an evil Confucianism: an entire structure of paternalistic, patron/client relationships that requires deference and respect with an implicit understanding of obligation to each other, except in this case the relationships are artificially constructed, deference is enforced to the point of bondage (including silence of criticism), and the patron doesn't reciprocate with the benefits he's supposed to bestow in exchange for allegiance. Reminds me of the Johnny Kitagawa boy-group system scandal in Japan - very similar (although the Kitagawa affair was a whole lot nastier). That said, there are a couple of bits in those reports that have me thinking that, if it was the UFC or any Western promotion doing the same, nobody would bat an eyelid. Exaggerating or flat-out lying about figures, presence, market-share, etc. is straight out of the old-school American salesman's playbook. We as wrestling fans know about all that. McMahon gets an eye-roll and a "What is he like?" chuckle when he does that. I'd be willing to bet White and the Fertittas have done the same at some point. Also, the "only hiring fighters in markets they've an interest in expanding into" - isn't that what the UFC does? It's the only reason Royston Wee was ever hired, surely? Obviously, the big difference is that the UFC, for the most part, tended to hire people with experience of whom it was reasonable to assume that they would provide a competitive challenge to established UFC talent. The rest of it, though, is genuinely disappointing. I was rather excited by the idea that the world of MMA might have an alternate hemisphere in Asia, a huge emerging market, and the birthplace of a lot of the martial arts that are practiced not just in MMA, but around the world. That their promoters are almost as bad as the yaks that ran PRIDE isn't surprising, but I'd so hoped that it wouldn't be the case. Edited January 7, 2021 by Carbomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 MMA Fighting article about Spencer Fisher's medical problems - https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/1/12/21554602/the-cost-of-being-the-king-spencer-fisher-ufc It's a long and depressing read. But at the same time, very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 12, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted January 12, 2021 That’s a rough read. Always liked Spencer Fisher. He was a fixture in the days where the Lightweight division was being revived in 2006/07 and those fights were a breath of fresh air at that time. His fights with Sam Stout were a real highlight of that period, as was his flying knee knockout over Matt Wiman. The second Stout fight in 2007 really should’ve made my Top 50 thread now I think back on it. I loved that fight at the time. It’s so sad to hear how he’s struggling these days. I had no idea how bad things had gotten for him. Like the article says, I think we’re all guilty of just not always really thinking about what goes on after the show’s over and then years down the line. He’s only 44. For him to be so messed up now is frightening. And he won’t be the only one. You can bet there’s a load of fighters from that era who are in a similar position now. The article touches on Dana always banging the ‘there’s never been a death or serious injury in the UFC’ drum but the sport hasn’t been around that long in comparison with Boxing or even Kickboxing. While, thankfully, nobody has actually died in the Octagon (yet, although sadly it’s probably inevitable it’ll happen one day) there was always going to come a time when we’d start to see the long term effects of the accumulation of damage showing itself. Those guys from the early to mid 2000s are mostly done fighting now and that’s the era Fisher is from. I dread to think what a guy like Big Nog deals with day to day, for example. He’ll have done better financially than Fisher but it’s still depressing to think about. Same with Diego Sanchez and Shogun. It’s why I love when guys like GSP or Khabib ‘beat the system’ and get out on their terms and, on the face of it at least, relatively healthy and financially secure. No surprise to read Dana coming off as a cold, uncaring prick in that piece. And again, just this week he’s been quoted as saying he’s going to press Khabib to fight again. They never got done using him and they hate that he’s got out on his own terms. As much as Khabib obviously could fight again and clearly has more to give, I really, really hope he sticks to his retirement if that’s what he wants. Usually I’d be gutted seeing such a great fighter retire at the absolute peak of his prime but something about that whole thing just felt perfect. It was a shock at the time and unexpected but with each week and month that’s passed I think he couldn’t really have went out any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 6 hours ago, jimufctna24 said: MMA Fighting article about Spencer Fisher's medical problems - https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/1/12/21554602/the-cost-of-being-the-king-spencer-fisher-ufc It's a long and depressing read. But at the same time, very interesting. Interesting read and sad read. I'm very familiar with the town of Sylva, NC that gets mentioned a lot in the article, the place he used to live and train in. I studied there for a couple of months a long time ago. I had no idea the town had any MMA connections, that was pretty cool to read despite the rest of the sad story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 14, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2021 Short video by MMA Fighting on the Spencer Fisher story above; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 14, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 14, 2021 When Jim posted that link, Fishers name sadly didn't ring a bell. Wasn't until i clicked on the link that it triggered who it was. Bit of a sign of how these guys give everything and still end up forgotten, and thats coming from someone who probably saw every one of Fishers UFC fights 🙁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 7 hours ago, Egg Shen said: When Jim posted that link, Fishers name sadly didn't ring a bell. Wasn't until i clicked on the link that it triggered who it was. I remembered who he was immediately. But sadly, I remembered very little about his UFC career. I didn't even know that he beat Thiago Alves in his UFC debut until a read the article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 4, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 A video for anyone who has an interest in 90s Pancrase: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 A Jack Slack article on Anderson Silva's striking - https://www.fightprimer.com/andy-silva-spooder It's really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Great article by Thomas Hauser on the Antonio Margarito hand-wrap scandal- https://web.archive.org/web/20100815073034/https://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/antonio-margarito-and-the-handwrap-issue-- It was published in the summer of 2010 just before Margarito fought Pacquiao. It covers all of the nuances surrounding the scandal. As someone who only knew superficial details of the scandal, I found it very informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) Wrong thread. Anyway, here is a brief article detailing what a wanker Mike Tyson was in the early 2000s - https://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/the-new-mike-tyson Edited June 20, 2021 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted June 21, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 21, 2021 12 hours ago, jimufctna24 said: Wrong thread. Anyway, here is a brief article detailing what a wanker Mike Tyson was in the early 2000s - https://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/the-new-mike-tyson Completely unsurprising - you don't change a lifetime of being a shitbag just because you got caught and went to jail for shorter than most rapists. That writer seems a bit of a dick, though - that bit about Laila Ali and Jacqui Frazier turning over a new leaf and saying "No boxing for us, no ripping off people any more" is a really snide dig, not to mention seems misogynistic as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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