Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Matt Brown's comments, Khabib Nurmagomedov's next fight, and Martin Kampmann's time off
Jan 15, 2014 - 10:55:29 AM HYDEN BLOG: Matt Brown's comments, Khabib Nurmagomedov's next fight, and Martin Kampmann's time off

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Another week, another set of dumb comments from a fighter. The fighter this week is Matt Brown, who said on his podcast recently that if he's going to pay $60 to watch women fight, they should at least be topless. It's pretty obvious that what happened here was Brown got caught up in the moment of trying to be cool and edgy and trying to appeal to the dudebro crowd. There's nothing wrong with that, I enjoy that kind of stuff sometimes, but Brown went way too far here.

Brown also trashed the women's division as well as the UFC flyweight division, saying that you don't see many knockouts or exciting fights in either division. First off, that's just categorically wrong from a numbers standpoint. Secondly, what's wrong with submissions? Those that know me know that I love finishes, but they don't just have to be knockouts. I can enjoy a good submission as well as the next guy.

I think that Brown was trying to create buzz around his podcast, which is called "Legit Man S***" by being controversial. It's the stupid idea that there's no such thing as bad publicity, which is # 2 on my list of dumb sayings or expressions. It's absolute garbage that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Miley Cyrus may have gained some fans by becoming the newest celebrity to try to shock everyone, but she's lost many more fans, or just plain turned off any potential fans. Brown showed some really bad judgement with his comments, quite frankly they make him sound like an uneducated dullard.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov can't seem to find an opponent in the UFC's lightweight division. First, he was tied to Gilbert Melendez but that fight never came to life. Teammate Jake Shields said that Melendez just wasn't ready to return yet. Then, Dana White said that Nate Diaz turned down a fight with Nurmagomedov. Diaz vehemently denies this, saying that White is full of it. Smells like miscommunication here, folks.

The good news, though, is that Michael Johnson has thrown his name into the mix, saying that he'd fight Nurmagomedov. I would like to see Nurmagomedov fight a bigger name, but I can't fault Johnson for wanting this fight. I say if they're both down to do it, the UFC should put it together as quick as possible. I think it'd be an interesting fight.

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Martin Kampmann says he's in no hurry to fight again, that he needed a break. First off, good for him. I'm glad he's taking time away if that's what he needs. This does bring up a dilemma, though. I always feel really weird saying stuff like that in times like this. The reason is because regular people can't do the same. You can't just say, "Well, I'm going to take a few months off to recharge." so it always brings up mixed feelings for me. I don't want to slight people who aren't so fortunate. It's much the same way that I sometimes think about if I should use expressions like "going to war" or things of that nature. I catch myself saying this stuff and I sometimes think I shouldn't. Expressions like that have become such a part of the vernacular surrounding sports that you say them without even thinking. I guess the best we can hope for is that no one takes offense to them, and that they understand that we all know the difference between sports and real life.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank