MMA NEWS
**Not surprisingly, the biggest news in the industry is Conor McGregor’s retirement tweet and telling ESPN that there isn’t anything that excites him now. It’s such a mess right now for the UFC and it felt like Dana White was mentally exhausted and spent during Saturday’s post-fight press conference. The current scenario has Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal, and Conor McGregor all having issues with the promotion. Jones has stepped away from any intention of fighting Dominick Reyes or Jan Blachowicz after talks to move to heavyweight and fight Francis Ngannou were iced and led to a back-and-forth between Jones and White in public. Jorge Masvidal is stating that he’s being offered far less to fight champion Kamaru Usman than he made for fighting Nate Diaz last November while White is sticking to the point that Masvidal just signed a new deal recently and he needs to stick to those terms. With McGregor, ESPN reports that the issue is more about the opponent rather than money, although for UFC’s side the financial side is tricky.
Throughout UFC’s history, they have been reliant on stars fighting and drawing on pay-per-view. It was their lifeblood but today their lifeblood is guaranteed money from ESPN and a fixed amount they receive for every pay-per-view valued at just under $17 million per card. This means UFC is paid the same for UFC 249 last month that did 700,000 buys or this past Saturday’s card with Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer. There is less incentive to have Jon Jones fight Francis Ngannou right now or for Conor McGregor to fight without a live gate. That is where ESPN finds itself in an interesting role because it is a major incentive for them to have Jones, Masvidal, and McGregor fight because they reap the benefits when a pay-per-view does monstrous business. If ESPN were ever to become a co-promoter that could represent found money for the top stars to pay them above and beyond their UFC purse but why is ESPN going to voluntarily pay more than what the have agreed to pay UFC, who serves as the promoter?
The fighters do have leverage but only if it was as a collective. The UFC has to deliver a certain number of cards in 2020 and that’s where the fighters have leverage but unifying together as a concerted group has never happened because there will always be fighters willing to break rank and fight for the UFC.
White seemed very annoyed and fatigued by the state of the world and the red tape he is encountering to run shows. During the UFC 250 broadcast, they didn’t run ads for the July pay-per-view and the promotion has not officially announced the date or any fights for that pay-per-view. It is expected they will run July 11th with fights involving Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas and Frankie Edgar vs. Pedro Munhoz but this is late for UFC to not be promoting their next pay-per-view.
**Jon Jones sent out the following tweets on Monday regarding his ongoing situation with the UFC:
Everything was good until I asked for a piece of the pie.. ufc totally comfortable with me taking concussions for over a decade but asking for generational wealth. Get the fuck out of here. When I was in my prime, the Ufc‘s way of not paying me was telling me I wasn’t a star. Had me grateful for a new car meanwhile making tens of millions without my knowing. Impressed a young kid with a Bentley to fight Lyoto Machida while they collected millions. I’m not even asking for backpay for ripping me off throughout my entire 20s. Just wanted to be treated fair moving forward.
Advice while you Young fighters, if you’re hot right now. Get paid. As much as the Ufc is building your brand, you are building their’s. If you think your biggest paydays will come after being with the company for a while. You are wrong.
If me sitting from fighting somehow helps some fighters in the future get taken care of better, well I did my job. You’re welcome.
**Jorge Masvidal speaks to Kenny Mayne of ESPN about the holdup in fighting Kamaru Usman:
**On Monday, the Nevada Athletic Commission approved the UFC to run events at the Apex for this Saturday, June 20th, and June 27th. This comes after the promotion has run two events at the venue in Las Vegas with the Fight Night card on May 30th and the UFC 250 pay-per-view this past weekend.
**One month after announcing his retirement, former dual champion Henry Cejudo tells TMZ a fight with featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski would bring him back. He said Volkanovski holding the title and the prospect of winning a championship in a third weight division would entice him to fight again. Cejudo defended the UFC bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz last month at UFC 249 and announced his retirement after his win. Since then, the bantamweight title has been vacated and it’s expected that Petr Yan and Jose Aldo will fight for the vacant title.
**UFC handed out four Performance of the Night bonuses after UFC 250 with $50,000 handed out to Cody Garbrandt, Aljamain Sterling, Sean O’Malley, and Alex Perez. Therefore, there was no Fight of the Night bonus. The knockouts by Garbrandt and O’Malley were two of the best of the year.
**The UFC will return on Saturday with another Fight Night show from the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada with the following card:
MAIN CARD (9 pm Eastern)
*Cynthia Calvillo vs. Jessica Eye
*Karl Roberson vs. Marvin Vettori
*Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ray Borg
*Charles Jourdain vs. Andre Fili
*Mark De La Rosa vs. Jordan Espinosa
PRELIMINARY CARD (6 pm ET)
*Charles Rosa vs. Kevin Aguilar
*Gina Mazany vs. Julia Avila
*Ryan Benoit vs. Tyson Nam
*Jordan Griffin vs. Darrick Minner
*Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina
*Mariya Agapova vs. Hannah Cifers
*Christian Aguilera vs. Anthony Ivy
**Jim Rome interviews Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports for CBS Sports Radio.
**Robin Black joined Michael Landsberg and Dave Feschuk on TSN’s First Up to discuss the news involving Conor McGregor and what the future holds for the fighter.
**Aaron Bronsteter of TSN reported that Devin Clark suffered a broken orbital bone during the first round of his fight with Alonzo Menifield this past Saturday at UFC 250. Clark was hit with some powerful strikes in the first round but rebounded to win the second and third round and won the fight.
ON THIS DATE
*****
NXT TakeOver: In Your House POST Show
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman return with a review of NXT TakeOver: In Your House! The lads run down the entire card including Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women’s Championship and Velveteen Dream vs. Adam Cole in a “Backlot Brawl” match for the NXT Championship.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/08/nxt-takeover-in-your-house-post-show/
*****
The Long & Winding Road #0: Origin of the Triple Crown
WH Park starts his new series about All Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s with a special prelude episode looking at the creation of AJPW’s top title, The Triple Crown. Joining him is wrestling video essayist Joseph Montecillo.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/07/the-long-winding-royal-road-0-origin-of-the-triple-crown-w-joseph-montecillo/
*****
UFC 250 POST SHOW: Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer
John Pollock is joined by Phil Chertok for their UFC 250 POST Show covering Saturday’s card from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/07/ufc-250-post-show-amanda-nunes-vs-felicia-spencer/
*****
TOTAL RECALL: Total Bellas Season 5, Ep. 9 & 10
Wai Ting and Pauline are back to review Total Bellas Season 5, Episode 9 “Sweat It Out” & Episode 10 “The Proposal”.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/06/total-recall-total-bellas-season-5-ep-9-10/
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN 6/5/20: New Champions, TakeOver Preview
John Pollock and Wai Ting review SmackDown where Braun Strowman conquered a van. Plus, Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defend their tag titles against Bayley & Sasha Banks, today’s news, our NXT TakeOver preview, and your calls.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/06/rewind-a-smackdown-6-5-20-new-champions-takeover-preview-your-calls/
*****
UFC 250 Preview with Mike Bohn
John Pollock chats with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie & USA Today about the UFC 250 card, Dana White vs. Jon Jones & covering the sport during the pandemic.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/04/ufc-250-preview-with-mike-bohn-of-mma-junkie-usa-today/
*****
upNXT 5/3/20: You Can Thank Me Now
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review the June 3rd, 2020 edition of WWE NXT featuring Drake Maverick vs. El Hijo del Fantasma in the finals for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. The BDE start the show off with an important discussion about Black Lives Matter.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/04/upnxt-5-3-20-you-can-thank-me-now/
*****
REWIND-A-DYNAMITE 6/3/20: “Welcome to the Jungle”, Fyter Fest dates
John Pollock and Wai Ting review AEW Dynamite featuring the start of Cody’s TNT Championship Open Challenge as he defends against Jungle Boy. Plus, Page & Omega defend their tag titles against Sabian & Havoc.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/04/rewind-a-dynamite-6-3-20-welcome-to-the-jungle-fyter-fest-dates/
*****
POST INTERVIEW: Damian Abraham remembers Grant Berkland
John Pollock speaks with Damian Abraham on the passing of Grant Berkland a.k.a. Danny Havoc, who died this past week at the age of 34.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/03/post-interview-damian-abraham-remembers-grant-berkland/
*****
POST INTERVIEW: Damian Abraham remembers Grant Berkland
John Pollock speaks with Damian Abraham on the passing of Grant Berkland a.k.a. Danny Havoc, who died this past week at the age of 34.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/03/post-interview-damian-abraham-remembers-grant-berkland/
*****
ASK-A-WAI: Ask Us Anything! (June 2020)
John Pollock and Wai Ting answer their patrons’ questions from the POST Wrestling Forum in the June 2020 edition of Ask-A-Wai.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/06/03/ask-a-wai-ask-us-anything-june-2020/
*****
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