Non-threadworthy MMA Rumors/Quotes/Tweets/Etc., Vol. 4

[duppyy]

Yair released from UFC. Scared of Zabit.

Is this the new punishment for being scared and rejecting fights?

[Headliner]

Yair released from UFC. Scared of Zabit.

Is this the new punishment for being scared and rejecting fights?

I think I read this was the 2nd or 3rd fight he rejected.

I don't blame the UFC, they need to get a grip back on their match making.

[duppyy]

Yair released from UFC. Scared of Zabit.

Is this the new punishment for being scared and rejecting fights?

I think I read this was the 2nd or 3rd fight he rejected.

I don't blame the UFC, they need to get a grip back on their match making.

It's a rule that only applies to fighters not named Diaz.

[Duke4life831]

Yair released from UFC. Scared of Zabit.

Is this the new punishment for being scared and rejecting fights?

I think I read this was the 2nd or 3rd fight he rejected.

I don't blame the UFC, they need to get a grip back on their match making.

It's a rule that only applies to fighters not named Diaz.

Diaz brings in money, Yair doesn't. The stars and guys that are going to bring in money are of course going to get a longer leash, as they should.

By the way I love this move by Dana. Really cold blooded but funny with his tweet. But I think this was Dana basically saying, you want to be able to pick your fights you got to earn it. You cant be a guy that only hardcore UFC fans know that hasnt fought in a year and your last fight was a loss. Then go on to turn down two fights. Dana and the UFC has shown theyre willing to give some leeway and power to the fighters when they earn it. But you cant try to pull this crap when youre someone like Yair.

[Bernman]

It's the ruling with an iron fist type of thing that companies do when they have a virtual monopoly. Just move him up the title ladder slower if he wants to carefully manage who he fights since from a competitive standpoint he's taking the easy road or favoring feature fights.

That is Bellator's best weight class however, and looks like it did just get stronger. He's a guy with upside too where you can argue if he's your champ it's because he improved. If your top guys beat him it builds them up. Win-win for Bellator. Not that they still won't eventually go in the crapper like all the rest besides UFC.

[cowboyronnie]

It's the ruling with an iron fist type of thing that companies do when they have a virtual monopoly. Just move him up the title ladder slower if he wants to carefully manage who he fights since from a competitive standpoint he's taking the easy road or favoring feature fights.

That is Bellator's best weight class however, and looks like it did just get stronger. He's a guy with upside too where you can argue if he's your champ it's because he improved. If your top guys beat him it builds them up. Win-win for Bellator. Not that they still won't eventually go in the crapper like all the rest besides UFC.

It's also what just about every company without a monopoly does. I mean, who the **** gets to pick-and-choose the gigs to which they are assigned? "No, I don't want to go out on that job call today, it's not ideal for my career trajectory". "Mmmm, yeah that account really isn't for me. I'd rather the account with higher upside."

A company doesn't have to be a monopoly to take that stand. Also, no other sport allows it. Olympic athletes don't chose their match-ups, professional teams neither.

[NO-KG-AI]

It does say a lot about you when you're like "that's a hard fight for me to win, I don't want that." So why are you here?

[Jasen777]

It's also what just about every company without a monopoly does. I mean, who the **** gets to pick-and-choose the gigs to which they are assigned?

Independent contractors?

[Jasen777]

It does say a lot about you when you're like "that's a hard fight for me to win, I don't want that." So why are you here?

He fought Frankie (which was a dumb move on the UFC's part) so he's probably not opposed to all hard fights. No, I don't know what he's doing here, but I do know that it's pretty scummy of the UFC to announce fights that haven't been agreed to.

[REDDzone]

It's also what just about every company without a monopoly does. I mean, who the **** gets to pick-and-choose the gigs to which they are assigned? "No, I don't want to go out on that job call today, it's not ideal for my career trajectory". "Mmmm, yeah that account really isn't for me. I'd rather the account with higher upside."

A company doesn't have to be a monopoly to take that stand. Also, no other sport allows it. Olympic athletes don't chose their match-ups, professional teams neither.

What? Aren't you a boxing fan lol?

There are a lot of reasons why fighters are not comparable to olympians or nba players.

This seems to get at the idea of employee vs independent contractors to me, but I'm not really super educated about labor law so I'll just STFU before I say something ignorant.

[Jasen777]

I just don't like when someone gets cut for reasons other than they aren't good enough.

[Duke4life831]

I just don't like when someone gets cut for reasons other than they aren't good enough.

What is Dana supposed to do though? They offered him a guy ranked above him in Lamas and he said no, so then they turn around and offer him a guy ranked below him in Zabit and he said no. Is Dana and the UFC just supposed to sit back and wait for him to pick his opponent? He hasnt fought for a year now and its not like he was injured or anything, he just didnt want to fight anyone. So Im sure Dana and the UFC just thought Yair wasnt worth the headache so they let him go, I got no problem with it.

You can get to a point in the UFC where you can turn down fight after fight and basically pick your opponent, like Nate Diaz for example. But Nate has 13 performance bonuses, Nate has been a big name with MMA fans for a long time and is now a big name in general because of the Conor fights. Nate has earned it in Dana's eyes where he can sit back and pick his fights. But if youre this up and comer and you dont fight for a year and you keep turning down fights when your job is to fight, dont be surprised when you get cut.

[Jasen777]

What is Dana supposed to do though?

I don't know it's hard to say without knowing Yair's reasoning. Rodriguez isn't Nate, but he had value to the company, the reason the UFC is this upset with him is because they really wanted him on the Mexico card.

It's just in (my) ideal world the UFC would be more like a sports league than a promoter. Where merit is what gets you in and keeps you from getting cut. There'd also be agreements between league and a union regarding how often they had to fight, etc.

[Duke4life831]

What is Dana supposed to do though?

I don't know it's hard to say without knowing Yair's reasoning. Rodriguez isn't Nate, but he had value to the company, the reason the UFC is this upset with him is because they really wanted him on the Mexico card.

It's just in (my) ideal world the UFC would be more like a sports league than a promoter. Where merit is what gets you in and keeps you from getting cut. There'd also be agreements between league and a union regarding how often they had to fight, etc.

I just think it comes down to weighing value vs headache. The UFC has shown they're more than willing to put up with headaches as long as the value out does it. UFC clearly felt Yair was a bigger headache than the value he brought. I know they wanted him to be the young face to really start to bring in the Mexican audience, the dude clearly just wasn't playing ball. We've seen this with sports leagues as well. Talent alone, a guy like Kaepernick or Tebow would've still been in the NFL. Both guys though brought/bring so much headache for owners and teams, that the value they bring doesn't out weigh the headache.

Sometimes you just gotta play ball in your career long enough until you get some individual power. I don't know what the UFC was supposed to do here. They've been waiting for a year for this guy to fight, they offer him someone ranked ahead of him and he says no. They probably went fine, how bout we offer someone ranked lower than him and he said no. Are they supposed to just sit around for him to decide who he's fighting?

[cowboyronnie]

It's also what just about every company without a monopoly does. I mean, who the **** gets to pick-and-choose the gigs to which they are assigned? "No, I don't want to go out on that job call today, it's not ideal for my career trajectory". "Mmmm, yeah that account really isn't for me. I'd rather the account with higher upside."

A company doesn't have to be a monopoly to take that stand. Also, no other sport allows it. Olympic athletes don't chose their match-ups, professional teams neither.

What? Aren't you a boxing fan lol?

There are a lot of reasons why fighters are not comparable to olympians or nba players.

This seems to get at the idea of employee vs independent contractors to me, but I'm not really super educated about labor law so I'll just STFU before I say something ignorant.

Obviously boxing is the closest to an exception. Because there is no single umbrella organization. But, also, you lose a belt if you don't fight mandatories and you don't become a mandatory opponent without a strength of opponent. You become an Adonis Stevenson, whom no one respects.

The UFC is an umbrella organization. It's not unreasonable for them to clamp down on fighters who will only accept maximally valuable opponents.

What I don't like is when they punish guys for not making a crazy jump. I think it was Pete Spratt waaaay back who turned down a fight against Hughes for the title, and Dana totally blackballed him as a result. But if it's a chronic thing where you are not going to take fights unless they are perfect, I don't think it's effed up for the UFC to make an example of the behaviour.

[Jasen777]

We've seen this with sports leagues as well. Talent alone, a guy like Kaepernick or Tebow would've still been in the NFL. Both guys though brought/bring so much headache for owners and teams, that the value they bring doesn't out weigh the headache.

Those cases are quite rare in team sports (the Askrens and Okamis of the NFL aren't going to be unsigned or cut because they are boring, Embid won't get a title shot because of his twitter game). And AFAIK it is basically non-existent in individual sports such as tennis and golf, where spots in the competition are by merit with a clear system in place to determine such and they can't get rid of someone just for being a headache even if they wanted to.

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Is there ANY traction on ANY of the efforts on getting the fighters labeled as independent contractors or any of the union efforts?

[Jasen777]

Is there ANY traction on ANY of the efforts on getting the fighters labeled as independent contractors or any of the union efforts?

Don't think so. There's no MMA Curt Flood willing to take the hit.

[Bernman]

The UFC can cut a fighter at any time but the athlete can't force an immediate release. That's a level of imbalance that seldom exists in the real world, even though there is still a major amount of favoritism toward management these days (in the States). But at least termination or retention (w/ a contract) is seldom not a mutual option. What allows this treatment is indeed the virtual monopoly.

Sport-wise, the Olympics and team sports are false equivalences. Almost their sole objective is to win. Thus they don't sign/include the equivalent to Gokhan Saki, let alone CM Punk. It's an individual sport (like golf and tennis, who do have sponsor exemptions) with entertainment as a facet and within those separate match-ups they can more emphasize that facet. You are also not paying them weekly like in most pro sports but rather per job. If they're not right for that job let them sit until you find one where they are. This is done to send a message to others to fall in line.

[Duke4life831]

It's also what just about every company without a monopoly does. I mean, who the **** gets to pick-and-choose the gigs to which they are assigned? "No, I don't want to go out on that job call today, it's not ideal for my career trajectory". "Mmmm, yeah that account really isn't for me. I'd rather the account with higher upside."

A company doesn't have to be a monopoly to take that stand. Also, no other sport allows it. Olympic athletes don't chose their match-ups, professional teams neither.

What? Aren't you a boxing fan lol?

There are a lot of reasons why fighters are not comparable to olympians or nba players.

This seems to get at the idea of employee vs independent contractors to me, but I'm not really super educated about labor law so I'll just STFU before I say something ignorant.

Obviously boxing is the closest to an exception. Because there is no single umbrella organization. But, also, you lose a belt if you don't fight mandatories and you don't become a mandatory opponent without a strength of opponent. You become an Adonis Stevenson, whom no one respects.

The UFC is an umbrella organization. It's not unreasonable for them to clamp down on fighters who will only accept maximally valuable opponents.

What I don't like is when they punish guys for not making a crazy jump. I think it was Pete Spratt waaaay back who turned down a fight against Hughes for the title, and Dana totally blackballed him as a result. But if it's a chronic thing where you are not going to take fights unless they are perfect, I don't think it's effed up for the UFC to make an example of the behaviour.

Ya Im defending Dana and the UFC on this one, but Im not always a Dana defender. When they cut or punish a fighter because they decide to not accept a fight after their opponent misses weight, I think that's unbelievably stupid. I think Dana has done plenty of stupid things over the years with the UFC.

I just dont see this as one of the times he and the UFC got it wrong. Its been a year since he last fought, he has dealt with no injuries to keep him out, they have offered him a fight against a guy ranked lower than him and a guy ranked higher than him. Both were met with a no. And its not like the UFC has been shafting Yair the whole time hes been with them. Theyve been trying promote him by putting him as a headliner for 2 cards and on the main card against a big name in Frankie, on one of their bigger cards of last year. I can see why Dana and the UFC just said screw it, this dude is not worth the hassle, we have young promising guys lined up in that division who are willing to fight whoever whenever, those are the dudes we're choosing to do business with.

Hell at least he is releasing him so he can go sign with Bellator, if Dana wanted to be a dick he couldve kept him on contract, offer 3 fights a year that the contract says, but 3 fights that he knows Yair would never accept or crappy fights on undercards so his prime years get wasted away.