Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from WSOF 21 and UFC Fight Night 68
Jun 10, 2015 - 12:30:02 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from WSOF 21 and UFC Fight Night 68

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

WSOF 21 and UFC Fight Night 68 were both this past weekend. Let's get right to the rundown.

WSOF 21

BAD/GOOD: Hakeem Dawodu stops Chuka Willis

This fight largely sucked until the finish, which was nice. It was just sloppy, and not very good. Dawodu pummeled Willis until the ref stepped in for the finish in the second round.


BAD/GOOD: Blagoy Ivanov submits Smealinho Rama

Just like the previous fight, the finish was pretty cool but the action preceding it wasn't all that great. It wasn't as sloppy as Dawodu-Willis, but it still wasn't all that good. Ivanov becomes the WSOF Heavyweight Champion with this win. It was a nice guillotine submission that gave Ivanov the win in the third round.


GOOD: Lance Palmer submits Chris Horodecki

Palmer retained his WSOF Featherweight Championship with this submission win with about thirty seconds to go in the first round. Palmer is just the better fighter. Horodecki did quite well at times, but Palmer just waited for an opening and capitalized on it when he got it. It's a nice way to end the evening.


UFC Fight Night 68

GOOD: Francisco Rivera stops Alex Caceres

Not much to this. Rivera dropped Caceres and pounced. He knocked him out and woke him up again before the ref could jump in. Strong win for Rivera.


GOOD: Anthony Birchak stops Joe Soto

Birchak dropped Soto, made him stand up, and then knocked Soto out cold. Damn impressive, as Soto is a tough guy. What makes it even more impressive is that Birchak did all that in the first minute and a half of the first round. Great win.


GOOD: Brian Ortega stops Thiago Tavares

This was a pretty entertaining fight. Tavares was bleeding a gusher all over Ortega. They were trading shots back and forth. It was a wild brawl. Tavares was doing well, but then got caught. Ortega finished the fight as he rained down blows from mount. Very entertaining fight.


GREAT: Dustin Poirier stops Yancy Medeiros

Poirier was just destroying Medeiros on the feet, but somehow Medeiros was able to stay up or get back up, depending on what was happening at the moment. Poirier dropped Medeiros a few times, but he kept getting back up. The reason I'm going GREAT with this is that Medeiros is a tough dude (obviously) and Poirier walked through him. This win sent a big message to the rest of the lightweight division. Poirier is a very dangerous man.


GOOD: Ben Rothwell submits Matt Mitrione

The fight started cautiously as neither guy wanted to get knocked out, but then Mitrione went for a takedown for some reason, got stuffed, and then got submitted. I don't know what Mitrione was thinking there. That's not really his game and it played into Rothwell's strengths. After the win Rothwell gave this weirdo promo and ended with a 80's super-villain laugh. It was weird but interesting. It made me and my friends laugh.


GOOD: Dan Henderson stops Tim Boetsch

Hendo landed a nice counter that dropped Boetsch, then he pounced and got the stoppage win. That took about thirty seconds. I overestimated Boetsch in this one. I still don't think that Henderson should keep fighting, but this was a good win for him. He caught Boetsch and forced the ref to jump in to stop the fight with some nice strikes. It's a nice way to end the evening, though it would be a great way if Hendo announced after the fight that he was retiring. I just don't want to see him get hurt. He's still got the power, but he doesn't have the speed or technique he used to have. Anyway, I'll just concentrate on the good for now.


UGLY: Bonus begging

A handful of fighters on the card came out and asked for one of the $50,000 bonuses that the UFC hands out after each event. Francisco Rivera was the most outright, begging in the cage after his win. I don't blame Rivera, or Joe Proctor, or Brian Ortega for asking for more money. They're doing what they have to to try to provide for their family. When it comes to providing for your family, you do whatever you have to, pride be damned.

I don't blame the fighters, I blame the UFC. It's absolutely ridiculous and makes them look so minor-league. You don't see guys in other big leagues having to beg for money. This is precisely why the fighters need to band together and form a union. They can't just collectively roll over and take it, they need to force the UFC to fork over some of that big money they've been making for years. Yeah, the Fertitta's and Dana White spent a lot of money and time and effort making the UFC what it is today, but you can't get caught up in the past. You got to look forward. Besides, those guys have already seen enormous returns on their investments.

The UFC wants to be seen as this global giant, but how the hell are they going to get there if they've got guys begging for money on national television? The UFC played with fire when they brought out this Reebok deal, it made most sponsors want to leave. Now, they're starting to get burned publicly by it after they straight torched all the fighters with the ridiculously low payouts. The UFC needs to pay these guys more. It makes them look horrible to have guys on television begging for bonuses, but more importantly, they risk an exodus of talent if they don't. A lot of the current big names for the UFC may stick around, but what about the next big names down the road? And the guys after that? And after that? The UFC needs to cut the head off of that snake before it grows, and it starts with paying the fighters more. The UFC has made some big moves to the fighters lately, with the Reebook deal and the increased drug testing. It's about time they start doing something for the fighters.


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