I saw Dana White answer a question about this in an interview shortly after he was at the convention. He said that after they bought the company and no one would host their events, Trump would call and offer support and encouragement and would host events in Atlantic City. White said Trump saw huge (yuuuge) potential in MMA and supported the UFC at the start when no one else would.
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"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
Yeah, Joanna Jedreczyk (sp?) is the queen of trash talk among the ladies from what I've seen. "Bitch, I'm going to cut your head", "Why are you smiling? I'm going to wipe that smile on Saturday", "I'm going to send you back to the jungle" (to Brazilian Claudia Gahdella).
I haven't seen much of Nunes but have watched several Schevchenko fights. I think she's underrated and a highly dedicated athlete. I think she has a good chance in this rematch.
Brutal heavyweight injury tonight. Blaydes is just too strong; he threw Adam around like a rag doll. Too bad Adam's knee gave out -- he's got a long road to recovery.
Apparently, Jessica Andrade was offered a matchup against Joanna but wanted one additional fight before a championship bout. She wanted the additional funds from last night's fight in order to hire Joanna's old Polish coaches in preparation.
Andrade is very strong (lots of people online suspect the Brazilians regularly juice). I think her way to victory is go Mike Tyson and try for a first-round knockout or submission. If that doesn't work, it'll be over because Joanna's stamina and work rate is unmatched.
I've been reading a lot about weight cutting and it seems to be the dark secret about which most casual fans are unaware.
I naively thought that the official weight of the "weigh-in" was the weight the fighter was at when entering the ring. For those unaware, this is not the case.
What generally happens is that the fighter trains at an increased weight. I've read two coaches recommend 10-15 lbs heavier than the weight class, although there have been reports of fighters being up to 30 lbs heavier. Then, about a week before the official weigh-in, they go on a "weight cut" which involves dehydrating the body to flush excess water, lowering carbs, etc. It's a painful process, involving hard cardio in 100 degree temps, along with hot baths with salt, some people use saunas and other techniques.
In the UFC, if the fighter fails to make weight, he or she forfeits 20-30% of his or her "show" pay to the other fighter. The official weigh-in used to take place the morning of the fight but this has since changed to the Friday morning before the fight, giving fighters more time to replenish.
Here's a quick video of Joanna Jedrzejcyk in the midst of weight cutting:
Here's a longer account of Cyborg's much more drastic weight cut, needing to shed 26 pounds two days before the fight:
It seems that the only reason to weight cut is to take advantage of opponents with your size because at your natural weight, you'd likely be too small to be successful. I can't see any other reason why weight cutting would be necessary. In Cyborg's case, she'd be too heavy to find any competition.
It also seems disingenuous to claim fighters are fighting at a certain weight when we all know they are heavier come the fight. I've read of a fighter entering the ring at 170 lbs after a 155 weigh-in.
I've read of a Brazilian fighter's death due to an extreme weight cut, along with horror stories of the agony before the fight. Putting your body through this repeatedly is just asking for long term health problems.
Yes, weight cutting is a serious issue. It's usually the wrestlers who are the best at it, as they've been doing it since there were just kids.
Fighters will take any advantage that they can, if it means making weight at 170, then entering the cage at 200, so be it. This has been going on for years and years. It's mostly water weight as they dehydrate themselves down to extreme levels.
I would love to see the actual weight of the fighters before they step into the ring.
The athletic commissions and the UFC are very aware of the health risks involved, but at this point I'm not too sure what can be done to stop it. Last year they banned the use of using an IV during weight cutting.
Yes, weight cutting is a serious issue. It's usually the wrestlers who are the best at it, as they've been doing it since there were just kids.
Fighters will take any advantage that they can, if it means making weight at 170, then entering the cage at 200, so be it. This has been going on for years and years. It's mostly water weight as they dehydrate themselves down to extreme levels.
I would love to see the actual weight of the fighters before they step into the ring.
The athletic commissions and the UFC are very aware of the health risks involved, but at this point I'm not too sure what can be done to stop it. Last year they banned the use of using an IV during weight cutting.
Really the only thing that can be done is that they have to get weighed right before the fight and still make weight.
Means you are just fighting at your walking around weight then - get weighed once the day before and once on the right before the fight and you have to be on weight each time.
Yes, weight cutting is a serious issue. It's usually the wrestlers who are the best at it, as they've been doing it since there were just kids.
Fighters will take any advantage that they can, if it means making weight at 170, then entering the cage at 200, so be it. This has been going on for years and years. It's mostly water weight as they dehydrate themselves down to extreme levels.
I would love to see the actual weight of the fighters before they step into the ring.
The athletic commissions and the UFC are very aware of the health risks involved, but at this point I'm not too sure what can be done to stop it. Last year they banned the use of using an IV during weight cutting.
Sometimes in boxing they have the fighters step on a scale that night, but its voluntary. It is interesting to see the difference between the weigh-in the day prior and their weight that night.
Controversy in the main event... Dana White not happy... GDR now needs surgery so Cyborg likely won't fight her for a while... no women available to fight in the division... seems like a pretty brutal event for the UFC.
Should have created a female 125 lb division instead...
Canadian Georges St-Pierre and UFC have agreed to terms on a new deal and are close to finalizing a new contract according to a report by Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com.
The former welterweight champion vacated his title and left the sport following a title defence victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November of 2013.