Thanks to all of you who are subbing to this page. I appreciate you more than you know! Some random thoughts on this beautiful Tuesday in August … I love MMA. Truly. I have devoted my entire professional career to it, for heaven sake. And I respect fighters tremendously. The fighters — not necessarily the fights, but the fighters — are my favorite part of the sport. So when you continuously hear how the best fighters in the world are broke or struggling financially, like we heard from Jared Cannonier this past week, it hurts. It really bugs me. MMA is a lot more fun when you don’t know how the sausage is made. When you realize just how many of these great fighters are left with very little, it’s tough to hear. And as a media member I appreciate it very much when they open up to us about their struggles because we always want raw honesty from interviewees, but then I’m afraid they’ll get reprimanded for doing so. It’s a bummer. They are not ungrateful, they are not trouble makers. Also, we are not trouble makers. They just want security, like the rest of us. And when you consider what they do for a living, and how life can change for them in a flash, how can you blame them?
Nice summation of the weekend's events. Appreciate the frank discussion of the distasteful comments from Alistair Overeem and what you owe the audience when something like that is voiced on your show. I know from experience that it's a difficult position for a journalist to be placed in.
Hey Ariel, I have a possible solution to fixing the pay issue for fighters in combat sports. It comes from a crypto background but I think it could be the future, we will certainly see this method used in other industries.
I would love to share it with you in a private message, what would be the best way to send this idea over?
I think Masvidal said it best when he said that fighters are too individual to unionize. Plus, the way Dana practically turns red and chastises and insults people whenever they bring up the issue, rather than providing a fair argument for why the fighters are paid what they are. It’s practically a dictatorship. You can’t bring up the issue without being public ally humiliated or censored by the UFC. I think for it to truly change you would need a fighter universally liked and a good leader to really take charge, someone like DC, but he’s unfortunately way too close to Dana and a company man. (And I’m not blaming him, he shouldn’t have to throw away his career)
glad Aljo and Ariel are in good terms. It always upsets me when those positive relationships appear to go wrong. All I though and took away from that update was - “great, they’re talking!” I wasn’t sure after all the antics, post championship win.
One fighter from last weekend, Bea Malecki, took to IG explaining how she can’t afford coaches and doesn’t have a proper team. Add in Sweden taxes and she took home less than $3K USD. She’s young, competitive and needs guidance. Not sure if Ariel or anyone will read this, but I thought it was worth spotlighting and hope a team reaches out to her.
I would describe the current TUF season favourably. Good fighter stories, the matchups didn't go as expected (credit to TUF's editing), and some intense fights full of heart. It paid off. Ignore the coaches the fighters were the stars.
I really enjoy this format. Very similar to what Elliotte Friedman does for hockey and it's a good way to stay up to date with what's going on. Appreciate you saying what you did about Overeem's comments as well. Keep it up Ariel!
Ufc needs to invest in their fighters and hire coaches in several gyms to give fighters more financial freedom. It’s the least they could do if they won’t pay up when it’s time to fight
Nice summation of the weekend's events. Appreciate the frank discussion of the distasteful comments from Alistair Overeem and what you owe the audience when something like that is voiced on your show. I know from experience that it's a difficult position for a journalist to be placed in.
Hey Ariel, I have a possible solution to fixing the pay issue for fighters in combat sports. It comes from a crypto background but I think it could be the future, we will certainly see this method used in other industries.
I would love to share it with you in a private message, what would be the best way to send this idea over?
I think Masvidal said it best when he said that fighters are too individual to unionize. Plus, the way Dana practically turns red and chastises and insults people whenever they bring up the issue, rather than providing a fair argument for why the fighters are paid what they are. It’s practically a dictatorship. You can’t bring up the issue without being public ally humiliated or censored by the UFC. I think for it to truly change you would need a fighter universally liked and a good leader to really take charge, someone like DC, but he’s unfortunately way too close to Dana and a company man. (And I’m not blaming him, he shouldn’t have to throw away his career)
glad Aljo and Ariel are in good terms. It always upsets me when those positive relationships appear to go wrong. All I though and took away from that update was - “great, they’re talking!” I wasn’t sure after all the antics, post championship win.
One fighter from last weekend, Bea Malecki, took to IG explaining how she can’t afford coaches and doesn’t have a proper team. Add in Sweden taxes and she took home less than $3K USD. She’s young, competitive and needs guidance. Not sure if Ariel or anyone will read this, but I thought it was worth spotlighting and hope a team reaches out to her.
I would describe the current TUF season favourably. Good fighter stories, the matchups didn't go as expected (credit to TUF's editing), and some intense fights full of heart. It paid off. Ignore the coaches the fighters were the stars.
I really enjoy this format. Very similar to what Elliotte Friedman does for hockey and it's a good way to stay up to date with what's going on. Appreciate you saying what you did about Overeem's comments as well. Keep it up Ariel!
Ufc needs to invest in their fighters and hire coaches in several gyms to give fighters more financial freedom. It’s the least they could do if they won’t pay up when it’s time to fight