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First statement: The strategy for the FOX shows has not changed. People don't understand that the first show was a kickoff.
This one is a mixed bag. People understand just fine that the first show was a kickoff. That's what you said before the show happened. What we don't understand is how you go from a heavyweight title fight to Evans vs. Davis, to Diaz vs. Miller, to Shogun vs. Vera. I'm not putting down any of those fights, mind you. Evans vs. Davis wasn't great, but had name value and got a little bit of promotion, though not as much as the first event. Diaz vs. Miller was very good but had no name value and got very little promotion. Shogun vs. Vera has the makings of a quick beatdown with whatever name value Shogun provides (marginal) and it feels like a bigger event than the last one. So saying that people don't understand that the first show was a kickoff is a copout, basically saying that everything is going according to plan. But really the plan was to have big fights. Shogun-Vera and Miller-Diaz are not big fights if you define that term by how attractive it is to potential casual fans. They're title eliminators, but in the case of Shogun-Vera, it's a title eliminator because it's on FOX. Not the other way around. Sure, the goals are the same, but the events aren't reflecting the same strategy.
BS Meter Reading: Truthy-BS
Second statement: Tim Sylvia wasn't brought in to fight Daniel Cormier because he hasn't beaten anyone.
Tim Sylvia wasn't brought in because Ray Mercer knocked him out three years ago, and that's the enduring image in Dana White's mind. That's it. Whom exactly is there for Tim Sylvia to beat outside of the UFC that would convince Dana White to bring him in? By that logic, no heavyweight outside the UFC belongs in the UFC, because there's no one out there who's any good. Sylvia is 7-1 since the Mercer fight. His wins have come over opponents with a combined 91-52 record (.636 win percentage.) World beaters? No. But what else are you going to find on the regional circuit?
BS Meter Reading: Total BS
Third statement: This is a sport where you'd better be cocky. (Regarding a question about Brandon Vera's cockiness.)
Sometimes I feel like the only one with this opinion. People love to hate Jon Jones because he's cocky. What kind of person do you think it takes to get into a cage and try to beat someone up? A guy who thinks he's alright? A guy who's not sure how it's gonna go, but he may end up on the right side of things? No. It takes someone who knows he can beat anyone.
BS Meter Reading: No BS
Fourth statement (Caesar Gracie Interlude): Nick Diaz should fight Anderson Silva, and he should have a fight overseas while his suspension is still active in Nevada.
In case you didn't get it from the parenthetical insertion, this one comes from Caesar Gracie. He made the claim about Silva in Diaz's "unretirement" announcement, and apparently he's scheduled to meet with White next week to talk about Nate Diaz, at which point he hopes to ask Dana to set up an overseas fight for Nick. The Silva fight, while it would be awesome, makes no sense for a guy who just came off a title loss of his own, and a fight overseas with an active NSAC suspension is just dumb. And for the record, White shot down both of these notions already.
BS Meter Reading: Total BS
Fifth Statement: The athletic commission does the drug testing. These guys who want to go through VADA or whatever can do what they want, but it's up to the athletic commissions to get the testing done.
We've been down this road before. Throwing your hands up at the problem and saying it's up to the commissions is a total copout that no one believes.
BS Meter Reading: Total BS
Sixth Statement: The Mir-Cormier fight should be for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title, and if it's not, that's ridiculous.
What would be ridiculous is if the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title still existed. The champion defected to the UFC without losing the title, and it was announced during the heavyweight tournament (in which the heavyweight champion was participating but not defending his title) that the division would be dissolved shortly after the tournament's conclusion. So the heavyweight tournament ends, with no title on the line and no heavyweight champion, and this fight should be for the vacant Strikeforce Heavyweight Title?
BS Meter Reading: Total BS (and you can apply this to any statement White ever makes to having any involvement with Strikeforce. Though he probably won't make any claims like that since he admitted when he said this that he didn't know what was going on over there)
Seventh Statement: Matt Hughes and Forrest Griffin should both retire. Neither of them has anything left to prove, and if you're not shooting for a title or getting "in the mix," why keep going?
Actually yeah, this one makes a lot of sense. Griffin hasn't shown any kind of enthusiasm towards fighting for a while now, and Hughes is a shell of a shell of his former self. So why keep taking the risk? Both guys are well enough off financially, or at least it's reasonable to assume so, and you know the UFC is going to take care of them with gigs of some sort if they need it.
BS Meter Reading: No BS
That's about it for this edition of the BS Meter. If you want to see the meter brought out of the case again, let me know via email (ennistorch(at)gmail(dot)com) or twitter (@shawnennis,) or just leave a note in the comments.
Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko
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