Larry Ellison's cash may run out sooner than later, we'll see. I have to believe that there are a good number of former granite core fans like me, never missed an event from 1995 up until 2018 or so, then watched less, now cherry pick to the point of rarely watching a fight night except for maybe the main or co-main and not often buying a PPV unless the card is 3 bouts deep for me. I do enjoy bare knuckle (raw feel) and ONE (sense of entertainment) at times. I always enjoy the Nate/Zach writing though !!
From a Bluesky comment by old school Bloody Elbow reader Pud 333 in response to posting this piece:
"I didn't know this show was happening in Vancouver and I live here. Between volume booking and value extraction, I have largely stopped watching the events and I can't remember a time I paid for one it's been so long. It's just slop. I don't understand who is still paying for these ridiculous events" https://bsky.app/profile/pud333.bsky.social/post/3m3kpsfgl5c2d
No one in the UFC gets booked into five fights within 11 months unless they volunteer themselves for that kind of booking. De Ridder (old-ish former champion from another org) tried cutting in line for a title fight through hype, likeability and activity and paid the price. So what? Combat sport history is made of risky gambles like these, the division will be fine, there's already credible title challengers lined up and others ready to step into that role with one more win.
Also this is insane to write:
"These are low-to-midcard UFC talents with lots of wins on their resumes" when talking about ROBERT WHITTAKER.
"Talent development as it relates to the current state of affairs with MMA agents and managers, is a separate conversation. UFC is not a bystander in this process."
Who is Reinier de Ridder's manager? Ali Abdelaziz.
Yes, fighters want to fight. It's also the responsibility of the manager to help develop prospects rather than serve them up in disadvantageous high-risk, low-reward scenarios.
UFC booking de Ridder five times in a year is preposterous. They had a choice to pull him from Vancouver but couldn't -- or wouldn't -- because of their schedule, government contracts, and everything tied up in this process.
""These are low-to-midcard UFC talents with lots of wins on their resumes" when talking about ROBERT WHITTAKER."
At the time de Ridder and Whittaker fought in late July in Abu Dhabi, was Robert Whittaker a championship contender? 16+ months removed from his last win. Currently ranked #8 within UFC's own system. Look at the record over the last three years.
""Yes, fighters want to fight. It's also the responsibility of the manager to help develop prospects rather than serve them up in disadvantageous high-risk, low-reward scenarios.""
De Ridder is not a prospect, he is a 35 years old former ONE FC champion with an already quite long career behind him and he knows it very well. There is no "devellopment" to be done here, if he wants to actually reach the top of his division while still in relatively good physical shape it is now or never. He has said as much. He is not the hostage of his evil manager Voldemort, I mean Ali Abdelaziz, forcing him to be extremely active against his will.
""UFC booking de Ridder five times in a year is preposterous. They had a choice to pull him from Vancouver but couldn't -- or wouldn't -- because of their schedule, government contracts, and everything tied up in this process.""
Switching from Fluffy (with a full camp) to Allen (who did not have a full camp) was completely advantageous for De Ridder because he was fighting a worse opponent without a full camp, so why would have they pulled him from the event? His reward for winning would have almost certainly been the same either way - a title shot over the actual deserving number one contender in Imavov. I do not disagree that the UFC's matchmaking can often be based more on hype and likeability than actual deservedness in sports terms, but that's a completely different debate.
""At the time de Ridder and Whittaker fought in late July in Abu Dhabi, was Robert Whittaker a championship contender? 16+ months removed from his last win. Currently ranked #8 within UFC's own system. Look at the record over the last three years.""
By the UFC's own rankings Whittaker was #5 when he fought De Ridder so very much an elite opponent.
Larry Ellison's cash may run out sooner than later, we'll see. I have to believe that there are a good number of former granite core fans like me, never missed an event from 1995 up until 2018 or so, then watched less, now cherry pick to the point of rarely watching a fight night except for maybe the main or co-main and not often buying a PPV unless the card is 3 bouts deep for me. I do enjoy bare knuckle (raw feel) and ONE (sense of entertainment) at times. I always enjoy the Nate/Zach writing though !!
and re: Ellison's cash -- at this rate he may be betting everything on AI "Oracle Assures Investors on AI Cloud Margins as It Struggles to Profit From Older Nvidia Chips" https://www.theinformation.com/articles/oracle-assures-investors-ai-cloud-margins-struggles-profit-older-nvidia-chips https://archive.ph/2ZuPP
thanks for sticking with us!
From a Bluesky comment by old school Bloody Elbow reader Pud 333 in response to posting this piece:
"I didn't know this show was happening in Vancouver and I live here. Between volume booking and value extraction, I have largely stopped watching the events and I can't remember a time I paid for one it's been so long. It's just slop. I don't understand who is still paying for these ridiculous events" https://bsky.app/profile/pud333.bsky.social/post/3m3kpsfgl5c2d
No one in the UFC gets booked into five fights within 11 months unless they volunteer themselves for that kind of booking. De Ridder (old-ish former champion from another org) tried cutting in line for a title fight through hype, likeability and activity and paid the price. So what? Combat sport history is made of risky gambles like these, the division will be fine, there's already credible title challengers lined up and others ready to step into that role with one more win.
Also this is insane to write:
"These are low-to-midcard UFC talents with lots of wins on their resumes" when talking about ROBERT WHITTAKER.
"Talent development as it relates to the current state of affairs with MMA agents and managers, is a separate conversation. UFC is not a bystander in this process."
Who is Reinier de Ridder's manager? Ali Abdelaziz.
Yes, fighters want to fight. It's also the responsibility of the manager to help develop prospects rather than serve them up in disadvantageous high-risk, low-reward scenarios.
UFC booking de Ridder five times in a year is preposterous. They had a choice to pull him from Vancouver but couldn't -- or wouldn't -- because of their schedule, government contracts, and everything tied up in this process.
""These are low-to-midcard UFC talents with lots of wins on their resumes" when talking about ROBERT WHITTAKER."
At the time de Ridder and Whittaker fought in late July in Abu Dhabi, was Robert Whittaker a championship contender? 16+ months removed from his last win. Currently ranked #8 within UFC's own system. Look at the record over the last three years.
""Yes, fighters want to fight. It's also the responsibility of the manager to help develop prospects rather than serve them up in disadvantageous high-risk, low-reward scenarios.""
De Ridder is not a prospect, he is a 35 years old former ONE FC champion with an already quite long career behind him and he knows it very well. There is no "devellopment" to be done here, if he wants to actually reach the top of his division while still in relatively good physical shape it is now or never. He has said as much. He is not the hostage of his evil manager Voldemort, I mean Ali Abdelaziz, forcing him to be extremely active against his will.
""UFC booking de Ridder five times in a year is preposterous. They had a choice to pull him from Vancouver but couldn't -- or wouldn't -- because of their schedule, government contracts, and everything tied up in this process.""
Switching from Fluffy (with a full camp) to Allen (who did not have a full camp) was completely advantageous for De Ridder because he was fighting a worse opponent without a full camp, so why would have they pulled him from the event? His reward for winning would have almost certainly been the same either way - a title shot over the actual deserving number one contender in Imavov. I do not disagree that the UFC's matchmaking can often be based more on hype and likeability than actual deservedness in sports terms, but that's a completely different debate.
""At the time de Ridder and Whittaker fought in late July in Abu Dhabi, was Robert Whittaker a championship contender? 16+ months removed from his last win. Currently ranked #8 within UFC's own system. Look at the record over the last three years.""
By the UFC's own rankings Whittaker was #5 when he fought De Ridder so very much an elite opponent.
Whittaker was shot at the point he faced RDR