Should we pity the poor Australian fans who almost never get to watch UFC events in prime time, or do they have it better than most of us realize? Plus, why is it so hard to get more movement at or near the top in todays lightweight division?
All that and more in this weeks mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @benfowlkesmma.
First of all, I covered a UFC event in Melbourne and had the experience of waking up early on a Sunday morning to go watch some fights with a bunch of other crazies and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Enjoyed a coffee on the way there. Lost all track of time inside the huge Australian Rules Football arena. Wrote my post-fight stories and emerged into a glorious Sunday afternoon with plenty of time to eat lunch and enjoy a pint before my flight out the following morning. All in all, a fantastic experience.
But I do agree that the Aussies should get to have a Saturday night event every now and then, just so they can see how the rest of us live. And why not do it with a UFC Fight Night card like Saturday’s, which has a lot of local interest bouts but nothing that absolutely demands the attention of a prime time audience here in North America? If we can air Shanghai fight cards in the middle of the night and Paris fight cards in the early afternoon, we can let Australia have the same sort of fun here and there.
Im sure you wrote this before the UFC did, in fact, find someone willing to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC Rio next month. That someone is Mateusz Gamrot, who is honestly kind of a nightmare opponent to have to face on a short-notice change. Thats going to be a tricky one for Oliveira, who was already in a weird position after that flatline knockout loss to Ilia Topuria.
As for why others werent rushing to take this gig, put yourself in the shoes of a lightweight ranked somewhere in the top 10. You fought hard to get here, and now you think maybe youre one win away from a title shot if you can get the right opponent on the right stage at the right time.
But heres Oliveira, who just got his lights shut off by the champ. Hes still a tough out, always. Youd have to go beat him in enemy territory, where you could easily lose a close decision. Even if you win, will people just say that Oliveira should have taken more time off after the knockout? Will you even get full credit? Plus, is this what you fought your way into the rankings for, just to still have to take fights on a couple weeks notice?
I can see why a lot of fighters wouldnt want it. And those who would might be too far down the list for the UFC to want them. Fortunately, Gamrot stepped up. And that presents its own problem for Do Bronx.
The big homie John Nash, who has done excellent work on these class-action lawsuits against the UFC for years now, explained it all much better than I can in this article a few months ago. The short answer is, the cases deal with different groups of UFC fighters at different times and under different contract provisions.
[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]
The judge in this original case, Richard Boulware, rejected an initial settlement that would have ended two of the cases at once. Instead he allowed a revised settlement in the Cung Le (among others) case, while separating out the case brought by Kajan Johnson and C.B. Dolloway (among others) to proceed separately. Theres also been new cases filed by other fighters challenging different contract provisions.
Thats important because, while fighters in this initial class-action case are now starting to receive their settlement money, they did not affect any change at all in UFC fighter contracts. That change could still be forthcoming, though, depending on what happens with these other cases.
I have lived my entire life on this one principle: You can never go wrong with nachos. You can, however, go wrong with aggressively spicy wings, as I discovered along with my pal Chad Dundas back when the BMF title was still a brand-new novelty.
You know what sucks about downhill skiing? All the other people. The traffic. The lines. The money you have to pay to enjoy the outdoors in winter. I hate it. You know what gives you a lot of the same pleasures with almost none of those headaches? Cross-country skiing, which I happen to love.
Im not talking about the classical variety that feels more or less like awkward walking. Im talking about skate skiing, which feels more or less like exhausting jogging punctuated by occasional moments of wheeeeee when you hit a downhill slope. Theres nothing like burning out your legs going up a hill and then coasting down the backside in a quiet Montana forest with no one else around.
Plus I can bring my dog, at least in some places, and its the only reliable way to wear him out in winter. Together we have had some truly magical moments out there, just the two of us, panting our hot breath in a lightly falling snow. You dont get that same peace surrounded by dozens of yammering strangers with their lift tickets stuck to their bright puffy coats.