UFC rise to legitimacy: Favoritism

 
Dana White and the Fertitas are like any other human being on this earth with all the same beautiful flaws as you or me. At the end of the day it is these three mens jobs to produce a money making machine that coats their pockets and employee pockets with cash.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is not in hard times, at all.

In a world where major sports teams like the historic Los Angeles Dodgers can't even afford to pay their players the UFC is doing just fine.

The problem with the UFC is what appears to be double standard practices and an overall favoritism to certain fighters. And as long as you 'WAR" you may have a job withe the biggest fight promotion for much longer then say a guy who is .500% with 2 decisions and 2 losses.

Join me after the jump and let's see who 'WAR" 's enough for Lorenzo Fertita

Some of the most famous post-fight drug failures of recent memory include Thiago Silva, Sean Sherk and Chael Sonnen. I would've included Nate Marquardt but he wasn't even able to piss prior to UFCon Versus 5. All had their excuse from TRT to supplements and Silva didn't record a human-like piss.

Of the four mentioned names one was canned in Marquardt who now will be competing in British promotion BAMMA at a date to be determined. Thiago Silva was suspended for a year and must re-apply to the commission for his licensese to fight.

Sean Sherk tested positive alongside his opponent that night, Hermes Franca and was stripped of the UFC lightweight title. In a weird twist though, Sherk was able to present new information before the commission to have his suspension reduced to six months.

Nate Marquardt was fired over twitter by Dana White but due to prior instances his track record didn't help him. Marqaurdt was also full aware prior to the event he was testing high but was not able to reduce his levels to meet the accepted testosterone level.  It is now known that 'Nate the Great' is less then great in producing testosterone as he is treated with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

Chael Sonnen had a horrible downfall and up until his win over Brian Stann at UFC 136 his career was in shambles. Sonnen, a year prior was the hottest star the promotion had as he berated Anderson Silva up to a middleweight title clash at UFC 117. After dominating Silva for 4 and a half rounds he was submitted by way of triangle choke.

He was submitted by more.

Sonnen would go on to fail his drug test as he had elevated testosterone levels and was a user of TRT which brought TRT and MMA into question. He then would be found guilty in real estate fraud which added fuel to the fire. The proverbial straw that broke this camel's back was accusing Nevada State Athletic Commission's Keith Kizer of allowing Sonnen to use TRT without proper documentation.

Check-Mate.

Facts are Sonnen was not fired from the UFC, Sonnen can no longer dabble in real estate, Sonnen isn't licensed in Nevada and he may be a number one contender in the UFC middleweight division after all this and one win though a very impressive win.

How?

Well following his submission win over Stann he did the smartest thing he may have done in a long time-grab a mic' and spit his rhyme.. Sonnen enacted his freedom of speech and tore into Anderson Silva (who was in attendance) and he got that Texas crowd eating every last word he spoke. It was professional wrestling with reality and Sonnen seemed to reverse a year of hate and bad headlines to a night in which everyone is demanding a rematch.

Chae Sonnen is money and he is also a very good mixed martial artist as well and there is no denying his skill. He showed he could submit,strike and wrestle as he gets well-rounded but, the greatest tool he has is that art of selling and even though he goes to extremes he brings eyes and ears.

He is as good for the sport as he is as bad.

The UFC has always looked for a fighter who is as captivating with his talent as he is with his personality. When Zuffa bought the company back in 2011 it tried to use old school fighters to get steam. Frank Mir fought Tank Abbott, Shamrock fought Kimo and it turned the ship based on a fued between Shamrock versus Tito Ortiz.

The UFC is a promotion and promoting is as big as the fight. The art of selling a fight sometimes means much more then what happens in the cage. Let's take UFC 114: 'Rampage vs. Evans' as a prime example for this statement. The hype leading up to 'black on black crime' was so much it carried over well after the the 'Ultimate Fighter" (TUF) season 10 concluded. Everyone wanted to see who was going to win between the PRIDE knockout artist in Quinton Jackson or the former UFC light heavyweight champion who was just as cocky in Rashad Evans.

The fight to most fans  was a 'bust'

We didn't get a knockout or submission and Evans used his wrestling to negate Rampage's punching. The bout had two exciting moments; Evans opened the bout with a huge overhand and Rampage catching Evans in the 2nd but could not finish his ground and pound.

The fight made millions in box office and pay per view revenue so the promotion did not care for the result and is also why they may never do the fight again. The fight was exposed and people overall were disappointed so the lust for seconds was gone.

Chael Sonnen all 'roided up' beat up Silva for four and half rounds and still got stopped. The people in a majority do not care about that triangle but focus on the ass-whooping from the four and half rounds prior. Sonnen has made Silva seem human and unhuman in the same fight. So, wrestling fans (yes you know who you are) don't you remember Wrestlemania 13 in Chicago when 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin fought Bret Hart?.

It's eerie similar

For weeks leading up to Wrestlemania 13 Austin berated and beat up the 'Hitman' and the fans started to think he was the bad guy all along. People thought Bret Hart was going to beat the shit out of Austin and prove he was a mere pretender. Well 20+ minutes later and Austin laid an ass whooping all over Hart but Hart was able to lock in the famous Sharpshooter and Austin never tapped-i know Chael did.

Austin walked away with the admiration and everyone started to trun on Bret Hart. The 'Hitman' had his die-hards but the vast majority chanted for Austin following the titanic clash.

Chael Sonnen like Steve Austin did everything like a 'steak and potatoes" kinda guy woulddo.Nothing special but bringing your hard hat to work and putting in your hours. Give them a microphone and you can't stop but listen to every word.

"Sonnen 3:16 says i just whooped you ass!"

Another blatant act of favoritism is the unspoken rule of "3 and you're out" that seems to exist. We've seen countless guys get cut after three straight losses some exceptions include if it wasa title fight then two extra losses.

British slugger Dan Hardy is a fun and exciting fighter who doesn't mean anyone harm. He comes to fight and wears his heart on his sleeve. He generally loves what he is doing and you see that when he soaks up his pre-fight introduction with Bruce Buffer.

Hardy is by no means a world beater and i'm not going to deny he has a major whole in his wrestling. He's a decent striker with undeniable toughness and being one of the few notable English fighters helps aswell. He comes sporting a red mohawk, a bandana and a fang decked out mouthguard. He embodies punk rock and is just a fun spirit in the sport.

Hardy has now lost four straight which includes a loss at UFC 111 to UFC welterweight champion Georges St.Pierre. He would then continue his losing ways to Carlos Condit, Anthony Johnson and now-retired Chris Lytle. He hasn't shown improved wrestling and when he went for a shot Chris Lytle he ended up being choked out in the final minute of the final round in Lytle's fighting career.

Lorenzo Fertita tweeted shortly after the Lytle lost that he likes guys that 'WAR' so 'stand and bang' essentially. This came off like your misinformed buddy who thinks the ground game is 'gay'. I myself love guys who leave it all in the cage but at a point watching a guy lose four in a row is too much to justify him a spot.

In the heavyweight division their version of 'Dan Hardy' is none other the funny kicking man, Pat Barry. Pat Barry was a stud prospect who somewhere during the Mirko Cro Cop fight at UFC 115 let it all crumble. From the get-go he dropped and beat up Cro Cop in every exchange. He ended up getting submitted by Cro Cop which in itself is  a statement based on Cro Cop's body of work. Barry is 1-3 in his last four and was stopped in each loss and his one win was decision over Joey Beltran.He hasn't shown any improvement and just seems to care more about laughs then wins.

Now you'd like an example of possible wrongful release-Gerald Harris. Harris, a contestant on season 8 of the 'Ultimate Fighter' was cut after one loss. Now if he was one and done i'd say fine but here's the thing; he was on a three fight win strea prior to losing to Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123.

The oddest part was that 2 of his 3 wins prior to his Falcao loss was that he earned "knockout of the nigh" honors in them.

I don't have an issue if a legend like Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture were shown favoritism after all the years of grind one another put in the sport. When a fighter like Fedor can be cut after three losses then anyone can be i guess making 'Fedor money' doesn't help you either. I just feel the sport has a lot of issues in it's legitimacy that i am starting to believe will never come to be righted.

The fight game is not ran like the NFL as their is much more interest in it's investors. Promoting a fight isn't as easy as promoting a game. The city of New England will unite under the Patriots but to gather everyone to unite under a fighter for 50$ is a harder task.

The facts are evident.

 So what do you think Maniacs' are we seeing Brass having favoritism? or is the ugly side of the fight game?