Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 36, plus Dana White gets unhinged
Feb 19, 2014 - 1:55:31 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 36, plus Dana White gets unhinged

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC Fight Night 36 hit Fox Sports 1 from Brazil last weekend. It was a fairly average show, but let's get to it.

GOOD: Charles Oliveira submits Andy Ogle

This is mainly for the finish, as Oliveira slapped on a slick triangle for the finish in the third round. Up until that point the fight was just okay.

BAD to UGLY: All the dull decisions

There were a lot of decisions on this card, most of them were really bad. The less said about them, the better. Once again, an event has ten decisions in total, just two weeks after it happened for the very first time.

GOOD: Erick Silva stops Takenori Sato

This was a total squash match, Silva is just a lot better than Sato. He proved it, as he finished the fight in 52 seconds.

GOOD: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Francis Carmont

I admit that I was disappointed with this fight going to decision because I was expecting Jacare to make a big statement. Carmont is a tough guy, but I thought Jacare would finish him and stake his claim to getting a title shot in the middleweight division. I can't complain about Jacare not getting the finish, though, because Carmont is getting better and better, but it was something he needed if he wanted to get a title shot.

BAD and GOOD: Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi

Once again, a Machida fight can be best described as "tentative action interspersed with moments of excitement that are too few and far in between." Mousasi had nothing for Machida, yet Machida didn't do enough to capitalize on that. I will give Machida a little credit as he was a bit more aggressive at times here, but by and large it was your typical Machida fight.

It's likely that Machida will get the next middleweight title shot, after UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman fights Vitor Belfort in a few months. Regardless of who wins that fight, whether it be Weidman or Belfort, I'll pick the champion to retain against Machida. To be quite honest, it won't surprise me if he gets wiped out of the cage against either of those guys. Weidman and Belfort are both guys who pounce of any advantage they get, while Machida is content to stay back and try to wait out a decision. That's not going to work here. I want to see Machida live up to his nickname of The Dragon, but I sure don't expect it.

*************

Last week Dana White had a meltdown while speaking with a bunch of reporters. He was reportedly screaming at them to give him names of guys to drug test, or else to never ask him about the UFC's garbage drug testing policies again. He even had his phone out, saying that he would call whomever they named and have them tested that day. It was an obvious bluff. None of the reporters there said a word, though, they all likely sat there staring at their phones or notes like a bunch of rubes. That sickens me to a degree that's hard to put into words. Dana needed to be called on his ridiculous actions.

It's far past time for him to grow up and mature a little. You're the public face for the UFC and you act like a lunatic? How many commissioners of a big-time sports league would act like this? Roger Goodell, Bud Selig, Adam Silver, etc. would never dare act like this. I don't just mean this incidence, I'm talking about his comments about Gilbert Melendez which might lead to Melendez and others jumping ship to Bellator, trashing Alistair Overeem for ducking a fight when he's not even healthy enough to fight, and most especially Georges St. Pierre.

Regardless of how you feel about GSP as a fighter, you have to respect him outside of the cage. I was one of the many who didn't like his safe style in the cage, but the guy was a true ambassador out of it. There's no doubt that GSP benefited greatly from the UFC hype machine, but there can also be no doubt that they benefited greatly from him as well. The way that GSP has been treated lately by the UFC, and specifically Dana White, is horrible. Whether it's Dana calling out GSP's manhood or saying he owes the company this or that, or any of the other things he's said, he's way out of line. Again, can you imagine someone in the big sports leagues talking like this? Is Roger Goodell going to call out Tom Brady or Peyton Manning for wanting time off or to retire? Is Adam Silver or the former commish David Stern going to trash Kobe Bryant or LeBron James? Of course not.

Dana White has made a habit of acting like a buffoon here lately. As the UFC continues to get bigger and bigger, he's going to have to step up and change the way he behaves himself. He can still be irreverent at times, but he's got to quit acting like some "dude bro" frat boy.

I haven't even brought up his dismissal of the rate hike for UFC 168 as no big deal, or his absurd claims that he used to beat the hell out of Tito Ortiz in sparring matches for their ill-fated boxing match. Or the hypocrisy shown towards Chael Sonnen getting a title shot in a division he hadn't fought in in years. It makes you wonder if Dana is trying to be the Mr. McMahon character from WWE years ago. A lot of this is eye-rolling material that, by itself, isn't that big a deal. Taken collectively, though, it's turning into a serious concern.


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