(sports) UFC: Is Ronda Rousey's MMA career over?

After falling victim to another crushing and comprehensive striking clinic this time at the hands of  UFC women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, much lip service and keyboard pressing has been donated to the question whether her career was over and the consensus was overwhelmingly yes. 

On the face, it seems a fool's errand to argue otherwise given questions about Rousey's commitment to MMA given the myriad of  opportunities available to her outside the sport and the fact that Rousey has been severely outclassed twice in her last two bouts with both Holm and Nunes exploiting Rousey's bad footwork and poor head movement which would make promoting Rousey's next fight a real tough sell for the UFC. 

However, the only  argument that has any credence is that Rousey is now part of an improving women's bantamweight division at a time when her skillset has stagnated which. No one (and I mean no one) thought Rousey could compete with Nunes on the feet as Nunes is by far the superior striker and showed as much last night as Rousey seems unable to adjust or weather the barrage of strikes thrown her way by a ferocious Nunes. 

What was worrying however is that Rousey was making the same  technical mistakes (poor head movement, poor guard, bad footwork etc) she made during her crushing defeat to Holly Holm in Australia a year ago. Many have rightly pointed the finger at her much maligned coach Edmund Taverdyan who has been accused by many, including Rousey's mother, of being a terrible coach. 

Rousey looked like she was going lose the fight from the first clean punch she took and as the fight continued, it was painfully clear that she had neither tools or ability to avoid or stop the onslaught unleashed by Nunes.When a fighter has a gaping hole in their skillset, it's the coach's job to either fill the hole with or add another skillset to their fighter's game that at offsets the downsides associated with the weakness and this clearly didn't happen within the year Taverdyan had with Rousey to make sure his charge wasn't embarrassed so publicly again. 

   

Rousey may well quit MMA but if she plans to make another comeback, she has to make it without Taverdyan or face the ignomy and ridicule of three very embarrassing losses at the highest level. There is no shortage of world class coaches who could help Rousey at the very least address weaknesses in her striking such as the brilliant Rafael Cordeiro or Mark Henry or gyms that can help her become a more complete martial artist such as Tristar in Canada headed by the much respected Firas Zahabi or the Jackson Wink Academy headed by two excellent coaches in Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in New Mexico. 

Such a move would be a step in the right direction and would show that Rousey is looking to learn from her mistakes but given Rousey's stated premium on loyalty and propensity to take losses personally rather than learn from them, such a move looks unlikely to say the least.   

In sum, despite the industry wide consensus, Rousey can definitely comeback though her star power diminished but to so she may have to make changes, changes that elude her and leave what was once the brightest star in UFC's vast constellation a dimmer and less intriguing version of herself.

(Sports) MMA: Congratulations UFC, you played yourself

Every organization suffers self inflicted wounds once in a while but no company in the world cuts its nose to spite its face more than the $4 billion MMA behemoth that is the UFC. 

The UFC can largely get away with these self inflicted wounds because they're far and away the biggest MMA promotion on face of the earth, have the best talent in the sport on their books, and with the recent sale to WME/IMG, are the most valuable sports franchise in American sports. 

However, with the recent formation of the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete Association that sports Georges St Pierre, former chairman and CEO of Bellator Bjorn Rebney, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and former bantamweight king TJ Dillashaw as its members, the UFC may have to contend with possibly the strongest bid yet to bring collective bargaining into MMA. 

The nascent association also includes fan favorite Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Army Veteran Tim Kennedy which rounds up an impressive cast of elite level fighters in their prime. One of the big problems other organizations such as the Professional Fighters Association had in bringing collective bargaining into MMA was their inability to get prominent UFC fighters on board but with the MMAAA already attracting championship and top ten level fighters among its ranks out the gate suggests that this obstacle won't be much of a problem for MMAAA going forward. 

While the MMAAA hasn't revealed much in the way of a strategy or gameplan to take on the might of the UFC, MMAAA has two things going for it, Bjorn Rebney, a lawyer by trade and who knows MMA inside out and GSP, a much respected and admired former champion who could help recruit more fighters and possibly played a part in attracting the names the organization already has as members. 

However, MMAAA are hamstrung by the simple but crucial fact that the UFC have all the cards in their favour. They're by far the biggest promotion in the sport and have the best talent which means the UFC can and almost certainly will act as if MMAAA doesn't exist despite MMAAA already enjoying the backing of some of their best fighters.        

Despite this, there are plenty of chinks in the UFC's impressive armor, most troublingly its relationship with its fighters. Because the UFC is by far the biggest promotion in MMA, the UFC tends use its dominant position to undermine its fighters or make decisions that impact fighters directly without their input. The most flagrant example of this was the UFC's apparel deal with Reebok which was clearly hammered out without the input of their fighters. Because of Reebok deal, fighters lost thousands in sponsorship money which in some cases outstripped their show and prize money combined. 

The UFC wouldn't have been able to do this if fighters were represented by a strong union who could hold the UFC's feet to the fire which is why you'll have a hard time finding a member of MMA community who isn't in favour of fighters unionizing.  

While there are some concerns about MMAAA intentions particularly surrounding the involvement of Bjorn Rebney and his history in dealing with fighters, the MMAAA is possibly the best positioned effort so far to unionize the fighters though it remains to be seen how they plan to proceed. 

In sum, The UFC hasn't been shy about putting its interest first over it fighters but with the recent sale to WME/IMG and recent exit from one of its biggest market suggest the MMAAA has picked the right time strike the UFC as it may have played itself into a corner. 

(Sports) Nick Diaz v NSAC: Diaz Ban Shows How Arbitrary Sport Regulatory Bodies Really Are

There’s nothing more terrifying than a public body out for blood and when the Nevada State Athletic Commission basically did a hit job on Nick Diaz’s career for the heinous crime of smoking pot and showing little to no remorse about it, MMA fighters and fans got a whiff of how arbitrary sports law really is.

Nick Diaz losing his career for smoking pot is bad enough but Diaz getting five years for weed when his last opponent (Anderson Silva no less) popped positive for steroids and only got one year when he should got three really shows how bad NSAC suck at sticking to their own rules. Diaz’s ban is so egregious that he will be banned longer than first and second time PED users, those who submit fake tests, wife batterers and animal abusers.

Diaz has paid a hefty price not for smoking weed but getting under the skin of NSAC as he tested positive for weed use three times and the commission, taking Diaz’s customary lack of remorse for breaking their rules to heart, sought to effectively end his career which could have been even worse if the other commissioners members followed commissioner Pat Lundvall’s suggestion to ban him for life.

However one can’t really be surprised as the NSAC v Diaz debacle is another example of why sports fans across the board hate the organizations that regulate and/or run their sport and the people who run them from the NFL’s Roger Goddell to FIFA’s Sepp Blatter as their power and the rules they impose on sports appear to be arbitrary and grossly unjust. Nick Diaz will likely see his 5 year ban whittled down to maybe 2 or 3 years after a lengthy and costly legal battle or even overturned completely due to NSAC’s decision drawing the wrath of the entire MMA community.

The NSAC were clearly out to get Diaz as they ignored two clean tests carried out to WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) certified procedures and chose to bury Diaz based on a positive test not carried out under WADA’s standards. It’s bad enough that the NSAC was banned for years but the reason is why Diaz being tested for and punished for using cannabis is the real concern at heart as there’s no advantage to be gained over a clean opponent when smoking marijuana at least in comparison to anabolic steroids which promotes faster recovery times, greater muscle mass and endurance.

With this in mind, it’s hard to fathom why fighters could spend up to five years or even the rest of their lives banned from the sport they chose because state athletic commissions and/or fight promotions have seriously prudish attitude to recreational drugs which puts them on the wrong side of the growing trend in the US of a more relaxed attitude toward drugs, cannabis especially.

Nothing hurt fans and brought the sport in disrepute than when Anderson Silva, arguably the greatest MMA fighter ever, tested positive for steroids leaving the whole of MMA in a state of depression but no one battled an eyelid when Nick Diaz, a real fan favorite, tested positive for marijuana not because Anderson Silva has a greater standing in the sport (although it was part of it) but nobody cared except the UFC and NSAC.

In sum, Nick Diaz may have paid the price for the NSAC taking his defiance personally but the real question is why it was possible he could get banned in the first place.