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Well, for a forgettable APEX card, UFC Vegas 110 sure brought about something major. Isaac Dulgarian lost in a fight that quickly became the talking point of the weekend, and maybe the year. Let’s discuss that, plus a smattering of other questions from you wonderful readers. Fix fights What do you think about this Dulgarian situation? His silence looks like a confession, but did anyone (from MMA Fighting, for example) try to reach him to hear his side? Could it be that he’s just overloaded by this shitstorm? And in general: honestly, I don’t understand the betting business, but if you try to set something up, wouldn’t it be smarter to place the best possible bet on the favorite (for example, a knockout in the second round) and make a deal with the underdog to ensure it happens? That should raise far fewer suspicions, shouldn’t it? I have a hot take on this situation: I don’t believe Isaac Dulgarian threw the fight. Now, I have a couple of reasons for this thought. The first is that, upon watching the fight, it didn’t look like a man taking a dive to me. Did he look like he was fighting his best? No (more on that in a moment), but if Dulgarian was throwing the fight, he had ample opportunity to do so before the finish came. For as much as Dulgarian got ripped for his defense, it took Yadier del Valle a good chunk of time to actually get the submission, which means either del Valle is totally buns, because he struggled to stop a dude who was helping him win (he’s not, he’s good), or Dulgarian wasn’t just giving him the choke. On top of that, the suggestion that Dulgarian took a dive means you think he’s a pretty decent actor, which I doubt. If he were trying to throw the fight, he’d have just tapped the first time the choke got on, but instead he peeled hands and fought for a bit. So was this all an act to throw people off the scent? I don’t think so. I am, however, open to the idea that Dulgarian may have entered the fight with a serious injury of some kind. He certainly didn’t appear to have the same explosiveness and urgency that he normally brings to the table, which could be explained by him entering the fight compromised. And while that would still not be good, it also has less nefarious explanations than taking a dive has. Dulgarian isn’t exactly making a king’s ransom, and fighter medicals are contingent on fights. It would not be the first time a fighter fought compromised because they needed the money or the insurance. And that’s one of the glaring concerns about this whole thing: MMA is more prone to this sort of thing than other sports because of the pay. I mentioned this last month on a show (which is now looking prescient), but if fights are going to be fixed in MMA, it’s unlikely to be at the top of the sport. Guys in the mix to fight for a title already make a decent living, and the downsides to throwing a fight (and losing in general) are much more significant. But a guy on a minimum contract who is probably never going to fight for a title? The economics of that one are much different. A guy making a minimum salary in the NBA makes $1 million. A guy on a base UFC contract makes $10,000 and $10,000. Who is more likely to get involved in something like this? You know the answer. The truth is, there’s no way to entirely prevent this alleged sort of thing from happening in any sport, and even if the UFC dramatically increased its pay, that wouldn’t remove the possibility of it entirely. Heck, this same thing is happening in the NBA right now. But I think this is a bigger problem in MMA, not necessarily because of the volume of alleged incidents (though maybe that, too) but because of the history of combat sports. There’s a wide and pervasive belief that boxing is corrupt (something the sport does not do a great job of mitigating), and I think that absolutely hurts the integrity and marketability of it. It’s simply not good for the health of a sport if fans think the product is rigged (unless it’s professional wrestling), and it would take a lot more for people to feel that way about basketball than fist fighting. Which, I think, is partly why the UFC and TKO are going to do a full-court press on this thing. You’ve gotta nip this in the bud as quickly and thoroughly as possible. And, as news keeps coming out, it could be a pretty big bud. Nothing is remotely confirmed at this point, so I won’t carry on with rumors, but this appears like it could be a tip of the iceberg sort of situation. Then again, I thought the same thing about the Darrick Minner snafu, and that sort of fizzled out. Maybe the same thing happens here. I guess we’ll see, but this is very possibly the biggest story in the sport in recent memory. Buckle up. As for Dulgarian, he should not say a single thing. As a former attorney, the answer in just about every situation is “shut the eff up,” and he appears to be, correctly, doing just that. Let your lawyers speak for you. And on the final point? That is a way to approach it, but the nature of gambling means that betting on favorites gives you less of a payout. If you’re going to engage in a criminal enterprise, you are likely doing so under the belief that you will not get caught, and so the target is to maximize gains, not mitigate risk. Plus, in your scenario, you’re bringing more people into the conspiracy, which never works. Remember, two people can keep a secret when one of them is dead. The fewer co-conspirators you have, the better. But the best way to do it is to not do it at all. Remember, kids, crime doesn’t pay. Best MMA talents ever Who do you think are the best MMA pure talents ever? For example, BJ Penn. I consider him one of the most talented ever even if he’s not in the conversation for greatest ever anymore. This is a really great question because there’s no “right” answer. Talent is such a nebulous term, and it’s hard to figure out where talent ends and skill begins. Basically, every all-time great fighter was super talented, because to be an ATG, you have to be. Georges St-Pierre was incredibly talented but also an insane worker, which sort of outshone his natural ability. Same for Khabib Nurmagomedov. Alexander Volkanovski is in the GSP mold. Anderson Silva never learned to wrestle, but would any human alive say he wasn’t insanely talented? Of course not. If you are in those “greatest X fighter of all time” conversations, you had a ton of natural ability. But for me, three men stand clear above the field when it comes to the greatest talents in the history of the sport. One you named, in B.J. Penn. Newer fans will not understand how great Penn was because the end of his career was such a catastrophe, and his personal life has become a tragedy, but there’s only one “Prodigy” in MMA history, and it’s him. He was probably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport for nearly a decade, all while not being, like, a professional athlete. He was some combination of Jon Jones and Conor McGregor before either existed, and there’s a reason that B.J. was every fighter’s favorite fighter for years and years. Next is the aforementioned Jon Jones. Many people consider Jones the greatest fighter of all time, and there’s plenty of reason to think so, especially considering the sad reality that all of his success, Jones probably could be even greater if he wasn’t constantly getting in his own way. I mean, jeez, Jones won the title when he was teaching himself how to fight by watching YouTube videos. He’s probably the only fighter in history who got worse by training (I will forever believe that Jackson-Wink neutered the best parts of Jones’ game to make him a boring, barely effective range kickboxer, when he’s at his best as an in-fighter and top-control demon) instead of just fighting off vibes. And last but not least is Jose Aldo. While Jones is technically the youngest UFC champion, Aldo should hold that distinction, as he was the WEC champion (then Zuffa owned) about five months younger than when Jones won the UFC title. This man was slaughtering great fighters when he was barely of drinking age, icing them out with double-tap jump knees. Aldo is the greatest defensive wrestler (and the greatest defensive fighter) in the history of MMA and he was supposed to be a BJJ guy! Penn, Jones, and Aldo were all genuine prodigies who learned everything almost instantaneously and pushed the sport forward significantly. That’s my top three. VR MMA Will I ever be able to live out my childhood fantasy of watching UFC cards in the Metaverse with “Mean Mark” Zuckerberg? I didn’t buy a 300 dollar VR headset for nothing. Man, I forgot all about that! Dang, y’all, remember when VR was the future of everything? Now it seems like every tech company has pinned all their hopes on LLMs. *Sidebar: I refuse to call them “AI” because they aren’t intelligent, they’re computer algorithms. Incidentally, highly recommend checking this piece about the impending bubble, if you’re so inclined. Anyway, I’ve heard neither hide nor hair about MMA in the Metaverse, which is weird since Dana White is on the board now. So sadly, I think you will have to find other uses for your Oculus Rift. Actually, scratch that. I would bet a goodly sum that there will be some sort of Meta tie-in with the UFC White House card, so you can watch fights from your home on a digital White House lawn. That seems likely, doesn’t it? Jiri Prochazka, my GOAT I’m too late for this but thought you would dig the fact that Jiri Prochazka said his favorite mma movie is the OG “Never Back Down” on Bisping & Felder BYM podcast last night lol....makes me dig Jiri even more lol I did not see this, but my response is simple: Hell yeah. Real heads know that Never Back Down is the true APEX of MMA films; The Karate Kid for the Gen Z. This is just further proof that underneath all the total lunacy, Jiri knows ball. I love him so much. Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who sent in Tweets. Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I will answer my favorite ones! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.
