I rarely do scripted videos, but I have had a few video essays on the shelf for years. I wrote this one in 2013. The next video essay is about the connection between J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel “The Hobbit” and professional fighting.
Do you ever read Orson Scott Card? I don't necessarily like his views but he writes great science fiction like Enders Game. I just finished a series called the Homecoming Saga which is supposed to be a science fiction version of the book of Mormon. I'd love to hear more about the stories and parables. You mentioned the guy who built the equivalent of submarines. The son of Jared I think? Just like when you talk about warfare and battle formations without telling people to join the army you could tell the most interesting or accessible parts of the book of Mormon without being preachy. I'm ignorant about the church of latter day saints and would love to know more. I don't know if the essay format would work but this format would be amazing for ancient combat lectures
I call the commentary bias "main character syndrome." It's the main character vs the other guy. Even if the main character is losing, the other guy isn't winning. The main character is just losing
"Commentators are training you how to think" Man, I have *definitely* watched some fights where it sounded like the commentators were watching an entirely different match.
Ryan Hall had a match where he was on the ground defensless. The comentator says the other guy is in big trouble. Then Ryan Hall got pounded in 10 seconds.
In the States at least, some areas require that judges come from local sport commissions, so you don't necessarily see consistency even within a single promotion like the UFC.
@@alfredthegreat5452 Or how the 2nd round between Jones and Reyes, Jones was advancing but getting hit and Reyes was using footwork and landed Big Shots. But Jones won that ROUND - which was the decisive one at the end. Yan vs Sterling 2 - Round 1, Yan was advancing but getting hit like Jon Jones was. Sterling was using footwork and landing insignificant strikes. Sterling won - doing what Reyes did but won THAT ROUND.
Wow, this was spot on. Especially the phenomenon of the UFC wanting fighters of certain ethnic/backgrounds to win and be champions because they want to use them to break into a particular international market. They do it big time with Izzy and Usman with Africa. They really want to break into the Mexican market and is even building a UFCPI there. And Wheli from China was a huge one, they really want to break into the Chinese market. Another thing that was spot on is they HATE when someone retires with the belt. I find this one strange at first, but after a while I finally understood it. That’s why to this day Dana HATES GSP, especially because he not only retired with the welterweight strap, but came back and took the middleweight belt, and then retired again which infuriated Dana. Great video!
abit biased here but you are right. Valentina, weili jones and many more. they are very good fighters but they opponents are cherrypicked if u really follow all the fighters you know they are ducking some of them. if they were really theese champions they had just said BRING IT to all of them! another thing i just found a 100% clear match mixed ufc fight from 2023 tell me if u want it. if i ever get the time i will make a video about it
There's been a history of refs fixing games in the NBA (look up Kings vs Lakers 2002). They too, did it for the money. Putting all your effort into something and it not being fair is a real spirit crusher.
I mean, even if the rules are followed exactly, it's still not fair. There is no sporting event ever in the history of sports that has ever been truly Fair. And the illusion that things can be there is more damaging to sports especially combat sports than anything else
@@davidpeters6743 well if sport were 100% fair A) everybody would win equal amount of times B) every event would be draw The better genetics, the privilege and the better training program and better conections, and finally luck win. Bunch of factors that are unequal
@@davidpeters6743 I don't think having a clean sport means it's unfair. Sure some people are physically superior that doesn't mean we should let them abuse PEDs or fight dirty with impunity. Nor should judges pick an choose when a fighter his landed effective strikes or take downs. Perfect example is Weili Zhang who should've lost to Joanna Jędrzejczyk but beaten Rose Namajuans both fights were scored wrong simply in favor of what was most financial beneficial. It's crazy to because Weili could've had a super fight with Valentina, but since having Zhang beat Jędrzejczyk made them better marketing choice at the time, and Namajuans winning was better at the moment Weili got screwed. Same thing happened to Joanna with them Rose fights.
@@tylerrobbins8311 Years of people trying to police PEDs has taught us one thing... no matter how obsessive or borderline insanely fascist your attempts to police people are... it doesn't work. There are Olympians being caught every year, there are entire countries with giant conspiracies. It's not like there's no rabbit punches in boxing, or sneaky headbutts. There is no fair in sports. In judged sports double no fair. But that's what you need to have a judged sport.
I don’t believe all fights are rigged, but many are, and it’s a recent issue in the UFC. For example: Nunes loss, Valentina’s loss, Nate tapping Tony with 2:09 left on clock (Tony NEVER taps!). It’s ALL about the gambling! The money from online and live betting brings in more money than everything else combined, so of course, why not “control” it??!!
Hi, Coach Dewey. I appreciate you putting this up. At around 19:00, you say Meisha Tate got an immediate rematch after losing to Rhonda Rousey. Their second match was actually over a year and a half after their first, and both had fought twice in the interim. Tate had recently lost a #1 contender match with Cat Zingano (stopped in the 3rd after winning two rounds), but after Zingano required knee surgery, Tate was tapped to coach TUF opposite Rousey. While your assessment that "sex sells" is pretty self-evident, it wasn't simply a matter of "pretty face vs. pretty face". Similarly, Chael Sonnen didn't get three consecutive title shots; after his first loss to SIlva, he fought his way back into contention with wins over Brian Stann and Michael Bisping before his second fight with Silva. Although there's no reason except for dollar signs why he got a shot against Jones, in a weight class he hadn't even fought in for years. Anyway, thanks for indulging my fact-checking; my brain wouldn't let me let it go. Here's to your channel's continued success.
I completely agree with all your points. I’m a life long martial artist who also tested himself in multiple combat sports. I think this video is critical to show how fight promotion manipulate their audience to believe false narratives. Once I fought at a ringed Kyokushin event (not a tournament, but a fight card). I was probably the smallest fighter on the card (5’6 135lbs) and I was fighting a guy who was 6’1 170lbs. I was actually okay with the size, but I was disturbed by how the announced me. I was a green belt in Enshin Kaikan at the time, and they had me fight the North American light weight champion. When they announced me they said “the world sabaki tournament champion” which isn’t true. The way I saw it was, they hyped my credentials to build the kyokushin fighter. I’ve been put in other shady situations like fighting a pro Muay Thai fighter when I was an ammy, but that tends to happen a lot in the states. Sorry I’m all over the place, I really appreciate this video.
Yeah, I think most people don't really see that this is an issue in all Combat Sports that are privately managed or promoted (it definitely happens less in official national or international events, like the Olympics, though these have their own issues). I have seen many people talk about this in regards to Boxing though, I just feel like they somehow can't connect the dots between fighters being padded massively in Boxing (where a good Boxer is going to fight mostly low level fighters until they get to a championship or contender bout) and similar things happening in other Combat Sports. Promotion is always going to be about maximizing money, and that means selling your fighters, but people seem to mistakenly believe in some sort of "honour" in regards to this, and that only the best will fight the best at all times. I would say that the UFC at least has good fighters fighting worthwhile opponents for the most part, but there's definitely manipulation going on behind the scenes to maximize entertainment value and build fighters up. I mean just look at the UFCs starchild, Conor McGregor, and how much favouritism he's been given in matchups. The commentators favour him, he's given championship shots right out of the door whenever he wants them, and he's been given much larger payouts than any other UFC fighter (relative to the card not just because of PPVs). The UFC isn't WWE, but it's still an entertainment sport, and honestly there's a serious amount of behind the scenes fixing going on that people don't see. The problem is that they claim to just be purely based on sporting competition, which clearly isn't true.
@@AveSicarius I'm almost positive most of the big fights in the UFC are fixed. The last fight between Usman and Edwards. The odds for that fight to end in the 5th round must have been outrageous.
I really liked this format. It is very useful to have a single video that sums up your thoughs on the subject. It is hard to hunt for every videos where you are talking about something when I want to hear you opinion about it again. And even more in a deep dive. Great work. Keep it up!
I've been an mma fan since the early 00's, pick UFC fights every weekend since Tapology started. You have a unique perspective on mma being a well traveled fighter and i'm thankful that youtube gives people like you with so much to share a platform. I love the original content
It's hard for me to imagine GSP was carrying guys for the UFC. He never had a great relationship with the company. He left with their belt twice and even recently they were blocking him from boxing because he's still under contract. Seems to me that if he was doing underhanded favors like that for the company they wouldn't be stifling him and risking him coming forward with allegations. As for Chael, it's true that charisma matters, but he didn't get 3 title fights in a row. He lost in the final round of a title fight he was clearly up on the cards in. Then he beat Stann and Bisping. After that he fought for the belt twice in a row, losing both but he did have two wins over ranked opponents in between the first and 2nd title fight
No, bud, GSP wouldn't come forward with anything because then he would be blackballed and unable to make a living for the rest of his years on earth. He still needs the fight community, you speak 🗣️ you're out
@@yeeerrrrrrr I don't follow you. GSP hasn't made money directly from fighting since 2017. His current net worth is about 30 million. He's a national hero in Canada and he makes money independent of the UFC. I doubt he would be destroyed by allegations against the company. The fight community is much bigger than just the UFC. Ariel Helwani was blackballed and completely banned by the company but he's still the most successful MMA journalist on the planet
@@justinkennedy3004 lol yea he could have bet on it going the distance but you can Google that. You're not going to find any big odds on Dan going 5 rounds. We are talking about 12 years ago. Odds makers weren't doing a variety of odds on MMA back then. Their popularity was really just expanding. UFC 100 that happened just a year before was the first event they had that was extensively covered by sports media. GSP closed -700 for that fight and he wasn't someone who was finishing every opponent. There just simply wasn't a bunch of money in betting Dan goes the distance. If he really wanted to make money betting that fight he would have needed to lose
When Ramsey Dewey said "he throws a lot of punches, and the commentator says he's a good boxer", I was thinking "somebody give this man a shield!"👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Seeing legends mostly or completely past it tempted back into the sport just to get destroyed by a current upcoming fighter is one of the most depressing sights in pro combat sports.
For every Mcgregor there's at least a dozen guys with his ability if not better. But you never hear about them because they don't draw in the casuals with their brand persona. People love a fighter who can talk a lot of good shit and back it up. Mcgregor gets title shots in multiple weight classes and water cuts 20-30 lbs so he can bully guys smaller and lighter than him. On the other hand you got guys like Tony Ferguson who win like 12 matches straight and get no title shots. UFC will bend over backwards and bend and flex the rules as much as they need to accommodate the big names who rake in the cash and all Dana white will do is wag his finger at them whenever they break the rules or beat up random people / T-bone pregnant women.
@@messithegoat4111 mcgregor is a casual he never defended he only has one win at lightweight every one are not in the ufc the only 2 relevant fighters he beat were poirier and holloway and they would murk him now he only fought midgets and barely beat a unranked nate diaz who got beat up by masvidal
Your right. They promote fighters casuals wanna see, because MMA marketing is all about knocking someone out. Heres a thought go watch boxing or kickboxing for knockouts. Reminds me. Griffin bonnar one of the greatest fights, decision. Most of the greatest fights are not one hit knockout fights
Though pro wrestling be scripted, that takes nothing away from how impressive the athletes themselves are. To repeatedly pull off those moves without causing each other severe injuries is fairly awe-inspiring.
@@ausreir for sure. Some people talk shit about pro wrestlers because they aren't real fights but when you really think about it, they are stunt-men. Stunt-men that do everything live in front of an audience. That is fucking CRAZY. It can't be easy
I watched some highlights from Rousey fights. Many times, from my point of view, Rousey wouldn't even have the armbar locked in and the ref would call the fight. Rumors are Dana White was furious that Nunes won the fight against Rousey. Also, The Karate Nerd did an interview, still on RUclips, with Bill Wallace. The interview reveals some interesting things from behind the scenes of UFC 1. Great content.
Please advise which of the "many times" of Ronda's 9 submission wins were called by the ref without her "having the armbar locked in"... (Hint - there aren't any) The ref will stop for a verbal or physical tap, or severe injury (eg dislocation or breakage).
Maybe u showed watch her 9 arm bar or sub wins and watch carefully she was known for breaking ur arm ince its locked in so alot of her opponent would tap soon as it was sunk in so they didnt get there arm broke
That one where the ref called it wasn't in the UFC and Rousey told the ref she said she tapped. But when you replay it you can't see the other girls mouth because Rhondas legs are wrapped around her face.
Fantastic, enlightening video! Boxing ended up following the money also. Moving away from the 8 weight class, one champ per weight class model. Adding more weight classes and more belts to make more money. “Boxing as a SPORT and SPECTACLE has led to the regression of boxing as a form or art and self defense” -Wylies Art and Science of Boxing
yep. and because it's not an honest sport, the interest X factor that can't be scripted or controlled waned, and people stopped watching boxing, when all they care about is knowing who is the unambiguous, unified *best*. meanwhile ... tennis, TENNIS!, the most boring goddam sport on the planet, pulls in billions of dollars because it's run properly-ish. everyone on the planet knows who's best for a given tournament, or over the course of a season. and everyone can dream about their local hero emerging from the qualifiers to win a slam, because they know that if he's actually best, like a story book, he will win. and they watch the boring match because they're watching the story unfold of the player-personality [and, admittedly, because of a genius scoring system that would make rock-scissors-paper exciting if you were invested in the players.] the UFC sucks because it doesn't understand how much people love freak outcomes that are at the mercy of unbreakable rules. they effing *love* it when someone points out that nothing in the rules says a dog can't play basketball.
One of the things that made Bill "Superfoot" Wallace retire from Kickboxing was when he was to good for the sport. I remember a story he talked about where before a fight the promoter pulled him aside and basically asked him to go easy on his opponent in the early rounds so that it looks competitive. In the first round Bill drops his opponent with a side kick and the referee proceeds to start counting one of the slowest 10 counts you have ever heard. Just hoping the fighter gets back up.
There’s a cool video of GSP and Dan talking about their fight. From how they talked about it, especially in regards to the arm bar early on it doesn’t sound like a fix or a carry on GSP’s part. It’s fun to watch I think you’ll like it.
To be fair to Dan Hardy, he had just beat Mike Swick for the title shot and the only people ahead of him in the rankings were people George had already beaten. I'm sure they wanted to break into the UK market but there was also good timing on Dan's end as well. Also, Chael had to fight and beat Michael Bisping and Brian Stann before he got his rematch against Silva. You make some good points but he definitely didn't just get 3 title shots in a row. He did get 2 though.
So that line from "Gladiator" was true: "I wasn't the best because I killed quickly, I was the best because I gave them something they had never seen before."
Actually that may ring truer than any of Gladiator's depiction of Gladiator life, Gladiator games are very expensive so the Gladiators are trained, prepared and for slaves at the time were very well off given baths and healthy diet, the promoters (the Governor, Senator or maybe even the Emperor himself) will want the biggest show they can get so Gladiators typically didn't die, they even have Unions where if one of them dies in combat they are buried for free by their fellow Gladiators.
Great video! Regarding the GSP-Hardy fight, I remember at the time feeling that GSP chose not to break Dan Hardy’s arm during the several opportunities he had. We know how strong GSP is!
He wasnt doing the arm bar properly there's actually video of his locker room right after where hes asking Danaher what he was doing wrong right after the fight
Gotta squeeze your knees so the fulcrum for the leverage on the arm starts below the elbow joint and not at the shoulder, splitting the breaking force. Charles Oliveira made this same mistake against Tony, allowing him to reach what seemed like an absurd amount of hyperextension. Delivering an armbar in this way can deliver breaking force but not devastatingly breaking force.
It is not illegal for the nfl to fix games, according to the rules, it’s not illegal to fix games….sports haven’t been real for decades.!. Great video, thank you
Same goes for the NFL, I love it, but I understand that they have underhanded means of skewing outcome of any competition they reside over. It’s not technically illegal either.
If it's clear the league makes more money when this team or that team is winning, it's not too much of a stretch to maybe the league keeps that team in the winner's circle.
For me it's amazing the UFC has become as big as it has. I understand the need & drive to make money, it's an absolute necessity if a business wants to exist. For the most part I buy in to what the UFC is doing, even though I've plainly seen some of the points made here.
There was a fight between Kevin Holland and Kyle Daukaus where there was a clash of heads but the fight continued and Daukaus won by submission. The referee Dan Mirgiliotta was stamding firm that Daukaus will be awarded the win via submission. Mirgiliotta was called to the aisleway where Herb Dean and a matchmaker Sean Shelby would change his stance in the biggest mockery filmed. A matchmaker having any say is ludicrous since he has nothing to do with judging or reffing because they are hired and sanctioned by the state athletic commission . If you watch, you'll see.
Herb Dean was in charge of review. That whole submission sequence happened because of that headbutt. Holland was out cold when he fell forward. You could see Dan running in to call it because of the headbutt, but Holland was quick to react and try to fight off his back. In the end, he didn't get up off the mat until he tapped. Holland was fine with taking the L in the way that it happened. But the sequence warranted the review. Personally, I think going straight to no contest for headbutts is overkill. I think the affected fighter or both fighters should be given up to two minutes to regain composure, just like with accidental groin shots. If and when they feel they can continue, fight resumes. So the fight should have been restarted where they were standing once Holland or both of them felt ready after the 2 minutes or less. If one or both feel they can't continue because of the headbutt, then yeah, no contest. Accidental or not, it's still an illegal move and Dan should've stopped it when he intially was going to, which is what Herb Dean was telling him. Doesn't matter if Holland was quick to come to and resume. Point is he was now in a position of disadvantage because of the headbutt. So it was the correct call and really one that was more about the ref trusting his gut instead of reacting to what the fighters are doing. But like I said, I think headbutts like that should be given the same timeout as a groin shot.
Does anyone remember the GSP vs. Johnny Hendrix? Another way MMA fights can be "fixed" is with poor or incompetent judging or corrupt athletic commissions. GSP clearly lost that fight, but the judges decided to give it to him anyway. This wasn't the UFC's fault, because if the fans aren't satisfied then the UFC looks bad, but still, something smelled really bad in that decision for whatever reason.
I love this video. We need more open minded people that’s not scared to bring these antics to light! Thank you so much for your time and efforts for this video bro it’s amazing.
i remember hearing an interview long ago about that GSP fight shortly after i watched it. one of his friends asked him why he took so long to finish him off and his response was basically he never felt like he was going to lose that fight and he did not want to finish Dan off with strikes in front of his family and make them worried and that he really does not like hurting people if he does not have to, lmao. i wish i could find it but i laughed my ass off cuz anyone who watched that fight and was familiar with GSP knew he was taking it easy on Hardy the whole time
A fighter like GSP not finishing Dan Hardy could also be explained by them having bet on themselves to win a decision. I honestly think thats what happened with Chito Vera vs Font recently... Chito had every opportunity to finish and never pulled the trigger...
Interesting video. Any time there is money involved in sport, there's incentive to pull strings. It's a simple fact of human greed. The only thing we can hope for is we see a diversification of talent across MMA promotions. This keep promoters honest and not trying to string money above fighters' heads for particular "outcomes" and promotions focus more on quality, high profile fights over entertainment value.
My coach quit Lumpinee when he had a gun pulled on him on the way to the ring and told to throw the fight. He just kept walking ...right out the stadium and never fought again. I'm thise people who only watch college sports and amateurs for the purity of the sport and not the business of fighting.
"Give that guy the title shot! Who cares? Give em the title shot" hahaha. Commentators can make a fight actually seem totally different. Some fights are surprising to rewatch without the commentary. Great video 👍
Great video Ramsey! One correction in the description is needed "In his book "Beyond the Lion's Den", former UFC champ and pro wrestler, Frank Shamrock" It's actually his brother Ken Shamrock as you said in the video at 1:10
"Carrying fights" is the only point I disagree with. As you said, even if it's happening, it's hard to proof. And for a fighter there has to be an incentive to carry a fight. If I was GSP and the UFC told me to carry Hardy through 5 rounds, I'd ask them: "Why would I? You pay me boni for finishes, which additionally look great in highlight reels, will get me more fans and also I have to spend less time in a cage with someone who wants to take my head off. What do you pay me to do this?" The few times we know of, when fighters were asked to do this (affliction *cough*), they often didn't do it and just smashed their opponent. And there are a lot of fights, that would have been lucrative and easy to carry. F.e.: Mickey Gall obliterated CM Punk in seconds, although the UFC invested heavily in Punk and would have benefited from a longer fight. So, it's possible that this is happening at the high level, but if so, there are probably bribes or threats involved. And proving that is nearly impossible without whistleblowers. So until we know this for a fact, it's a hard statement to make.
They couldn’t pay me extra to do nothin lol this ain’t wrestling this a FIGHT. I’m not carrying shit lol within those 5 rounds he could take me out and I’m supposed to essentially go easier on him yea ok😂
@@Tazmanian_mma exactly. Tbf one thing I didn't mention are b- to c-league fights. In those I have seen this happening first hand. Usually in combination with paddening a record. Meaning, they brought a newbie to be slaughtered by an upcoming talent in a regional main event. Sometimes they tell the guy they're building up, to go easy for a couple of minutes to gain experience and drag out the show. But they also offer them a couple of bucks under the table for that.
GSP is an MKUltra victim. He talks about about not remembering things for hours and being abducted by “aliens”. These are both common things spoken about by MKUltra victims except some will say demons instead of aliens and it represents their handlers as well.
The Undertaker is an old soul carnie-type, as pro wrestlers go. He WANTED to retire on a loss, at Wrestlemania no less, to give an up and comer some buzz for breaking his streak, and pass the torch to the next generation. Mark Calloway wanted the guy who beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania to become as big as The Undertaker. Instead, Brock Lesnar (whose pro wrestling gimmick is basically his complete and utter disdain for pro wrestling) got it. Dude gave thirty plus years of his life as an utterly loyal company man to Vince (he was one of the few wrestlers to remain with the WWE during the entirety of the Monday Night Wars, and was basically Sergeant Major of the Army for the roster of talent, presiding over Wrestler's Court and ending The Miz's locker room ban despite The Code dictating only the wrestler who placed it could lift it, because Chris Benoit was the guy who banned him before his murder-suicide), and that was his reward. And he lost the match, clean, because he was an utterly loyal company man.
Salam again roach ramsey, I have 2 questions if you don't mind me asking, first what did you think Malakhra(the Sindhi Pakistani folk wrestling style that looks rather odd) Second are you at all familiar with the story of Choki Motobu, an Okinawan karateka who defeated some of thr biggest karate masters of his day but never even found 1/10th of their success, mostly because the karate he taught was just the basics with no specfic kata and had them do just full contact sparring matches and exercise, which scared away many students despite his fame
Malakhra is pretty famous in Sindhi villages and I think it's just pure straight but I also never saw a fite looking guy in it ( I only watched 3 of the fights cuz they end pretty quickly and take a lot of time to start)
@@ShahNawaz-uj9gy Its folk wrestling, not a lot of techniques involved, just grappling in the dirt and sand and the man with superior strength and stamine wins, pretty much every culture in Africa, Europe and Asia has some variation of this type of folk wrestling
had me laughing showing that footage of the predator and yoshihiro. What an epic war, one for the ages. No better way to illustrate a point about someone taking more than one shot 😂😂 btw brother I hope you're managing in shanghai.
This doesn't just apply to MMA, it's also prevalent in boxing and in most mainstream sports. Football is filled with matches being won not by questionable last minutes pentalities or disallowed goals. Competitive sports are becoming more and more scripted.
According to dudes like Frank Shamrock, Josh Barnett, and Bas Rutten, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki were so notorious and skilled at carrying their opponents opponents in early Pancrase that some of his opponents had absolutely no clue they were doing it and would go on to say their fights in Pancrase were totally clean without realizing there was a bit of a work to them. Because it was their promotion, they would regularly give their opponents chances to work to make their fights more exciting, almost like coaches sparring with their students, before flipping the switch and destroying them, and as far as I know, they never had opponents throw their fights make themselves look good personally (though there were definitely fixed fights in Pancrase in those days, and some of the dudes on their records had no place being in that ring). Frankly, I doubt they needed to. They were some legitimately scary dudes back in the mid-nineties, and it's no surprise that their losses were to dudes like Rutten (who famously outright refused to do any sort of working in MMA) or the Shamrocks. Hell, Suzuki is still pretty damn intimidating in his pro wrestling career. His presence still exudes that killer instinct, even if his body isn't quite up to the task of it.
It's funny that Roga s commentating was mentioned I remember a fight between Rashad Evans and some other dude years back the fight was BORING!!! Hardly a pinch thrown by any fighter and my dad said it was fixed because they kept hammering about the speed of Rashad Evans and the inexperience of the other guy We both thought the other guy won the fight just based on activity and initiative The judges gave Rashad and once again in the interview Rogan was raving about Rashads speed I guess trying to convince the fans present and those watching that it was a good decision
I apologize for writing three comments, but I promise I'm done after this. One aspect of the sport is that there is too much intermingling at the commission in regards to MMA and boxing. They are two very different sports. A decade ago, we moved to a new state due to my wife's job. I was staying at home with the kids, but wanted to find a gig that could work around my wife's schedule. So, I contacted the states boxing and MMA commission about judging MMA fights. They sent me to my first card. I didn't judge, but instead inspected gloves. During downtime, I realized that every member of the commission that worked that night were former boxers (amateur or military). I was the only wrestler there. One of the old guys even said "finally, someone with a wrestling background to work with us." I'm not sure why MMA cards are judged, reffed, inspected, and have oversight by boxing people. It's not unlike basketball refs working as baseball umpires.
You don’t need to apologize for leaving comments. More comments helps the channel grow. It’s not just that though, a boxing commission literally wrote the rules of the UFC. For some reason, boxing commissions in the US were given the final authority over the sport of MMA since the year 2000.
Your getting enlightened ,rare thing for someone who started in tkd, A+,you should do more of these,the world is starved for authentic journalism,and that's what this was.
Gorgeous George was a huge inspiration behind Muhammad Ali's persona with the whole "I'm so pretty.." Good video, nice to see somebody with a platform challenging the status quo rather than feeding into their sycophants delusions like a UFC Commentator
Thanks for making this video. The thorough breakdown help us understand that we aren't just imagining things in doubt 😂. I don't want to ruin the entertainment for future references but sometimes bouts look like a good demonstration, then others it's light sparing mixed in with some stiff sparing.
A relatively recent match in the UFC that I felt was fixed was Ngannou vs Miocic. Miocic was an incredible fighter, but he wasn't making the UFC any money, so they wanted him to lose. They made them fight in a much smaller cage to give Ngannou a large advantage.
That is not true Daniel Cormier also fought stipe prior in the same small sized octagon and lost, ngannou was just better that night with no crowd, he was patient and took him apart.
I know this has been posted a little while ago, but I finally got to see this video. Coach, half of what you mentioned here, my teacher had told me about 4 years ago. Specially about Rhonda. “If it wasn’t because she was pretty she would be an unknown and not get manny fights.” Or, “Some of these fights they get nobodies and hype them up in order to get the champion to have an amazing record by putting him to fight people the champion can beat.” Keep it up coach.
In reality TV they purposely select the most volitile ones out of the bunch so yeah they are real people but the situation is artificial, though I don't think that the UFC has reached that level of deliberate "fakeness" at least in the US.
Ronda is a great example of a fighter who had their record padded by punching bags for the sole purpose of generating revenue. As soon as she went up against somebody with solid striking she immediately crumbled.
I'll never forget watching Khabib/Iaquinta and joe rogan absolutely dogging Khabib for standing up with Al and saying "If he fights Conor like this he's going to get knocked out" or something like that. And saying Khabibs wrestling was "failing" when he would let go of takedown attempts.
People dont realize how often sports NEED the right people to win. You look at boxing for instance, when the Klitschkos were on top, boxing was in a huge slump. Boxers were like Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder started coming in and boxing's popularity was again on the rise. Fury had that feel good story of a fighter lost to drugs and depression, but making an amazing comeback to become heavyweight champ, Deontay had that knockout right fist, but a mostly padded record. Both had charisma and could talk your ass into buying a ticket. Even under scripted circumstances people need that feel good moment. Thats why for most of its history, the WWE always has the main event of Wrestlemania go off the air with the face or good guy winning. Its the culmination of the feud and the crowd needs to go home happy, or else it can taint how they felt about the whole show in general and hence whether they buy it again next time. There is SO much of this stuff, and stuff like Ramsey said, in our sports. I love watching MMA, but I've been bitching for a while how there is no real ranking system and people seem to get title shots willy nilly. I've even heard Dana White say stuff like "Who is his next fight? Oh I dont know Ill have to go back and we'll have to figure out who the best person to match him up against is" and the media asking the questions never says anything about it.
I rarely do scripted videos, but I have had a few video essays on the shelf for years. I wrote this one in 2013. The next video essay is about the connection between J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel “The Hobbit” and professional fighting.
😂. Excellent video Coach 💪
Lmao,it's primordial also to clarify the role of Tom bombadil in the rise and decline of the vale tudo 🤣
Wow, even though we love when you improvise as you go, sometimes a script helps, specially when you have 9 different items to cover. Great work!
I’m here for it !!
Do you ever read Orson Scott Card? I don't necessarily like his views but he writes great science fiction like Enders Game. I just finished a series called the Homecoming Saga which is supposed to be a science fiction version of the book of Mormon. I'd love to hear more about the stories and parables. You mentioned the guy who built the equivalent of submarines. The son of Jared I think? Just like when you talk about warfare and battle formations without telling people to join the army you could tell the most interesting or accessible parts of the book of Mormon without being preachy. I'm ignorant about the church of latter day saints and would love to know more. I don't know if the essay format would work but this format would be amazing for ancient combat lectures
I call the commentary bias "main character syndrome." It's the main character vs the other guy. Even if the main character is losing, the other guy isn't winning. The main character is just losing
Facts
Great way to put it too
Israel adesanya: the "main character" of the whole UFC
You know that a lot of UFC fighters complain about how some commentators show bias for a fighter they know personally? It's a BIG ISSUE right now.
Also known now as the 'max holloway' effect xD
"Commentators are training you how to think"
Man, I have *definitely* watched some fights where it sounded like the commentators were watching an entirely different match.
Ryan Hall had a match where he was on the ground defensless.
The comentator says the other guy is in big trouble.
Then Ryan Hall got pounded in 10 seconds.
Conors trying to tire khabib out by getting punched in the face is still my Favorite.
" he hurt him, he hurt him bad" still walking around just fine.
I felt like I was being gaslit during Ian Garry's last fight
Izzy vs Blacowitz with Joe and DC commentary and Mike Goldbergs "Next level Muay thai" on everbody that kicks"
There's definitely dodgy judging in the ufc. In one fight takedowns and grappling score high and the next fight it means nothing. Judges abuse this
In the States at least, some areas require that judges come from local sport commissions, so you don't necessarily see consistency even within a single promotion like the UFC.
Also volume striking over damage seems to change match to match
Yeah like how when khabib beat Tibau aggression was everything but when Marvin fought izzy aggression meant nothing.
@@alfredthegreat5452 Or how the 2nd round between Jones and Reyes, Jones was advancing but getting hit and Reyes was using footwork and landed Big Shots. But Jones won that ROUND - which was the decisive one at the end.
Yan vs Sterling 2 - Round 1, Yan was advancing but getting hit like Jon Jones was. Sterling was using footwork and landing insignificant strikes. Sterling won - doing what Reyes did but won THAT ROUND.
The officials are on the payroll, they probably get bribe money or threats to deliver the most convenient outcome that benefits the ufc
"who's popular on youtube? Give him a fight!!!"
Ramsey predicted the rise of Jake Paul
I made a video four years ago saying that he would fight in the UFC.
@@RamseyDewey curious how you knew that would happen
Wow, this was spot on. Especially the phenomenon of the UFC wanting fighters of certain ethnic/backgrounds to win and be champions because they want to use them to break into a particular international market. They do it big time with Izzy and Usman with Africa. They really want to break into the Mexican market and is even building a UFCPI there. And Wheli from China was a huge one, they really want to break into the Chinese market.
Another thing that was spot on is they HATE when someone retires with the belt. I find this one strange at first, but after a while I finally understood it. That’s why to this day Dana HATES GSP, especially because he not only retired with the welterweight strap, but came back and took the middleweight belt, and then retired again which infuriated Dana. Great video!
abit biased here but you are right. Valentina, weili jones and many more. they are very good fighters but they opponents are cherrypicked if u really follow all the fighters you know they are ducking some of them. if they were really theese champions they had just said BRING IT to all of them!
another thing i just found a 100% clear match mixed ufc fight from 2023 tell me if u want it. if i ever get the time i will make a video about it
There's been a history of refs fixing games in the NBA (look up Kings vs Lakers 2002). They too, did it for the money. Putting all your effort into something and it not being fair is a real spirit crusher.
I mean, even if the rules are followed exactly, it's still not fair. There is no sporting event ever in the history of sports that has ever been truly Fair. And the illusion that things can be there is more damaging to sports especially combat sports than anything else
@@davidpeters6743 well if sport were 100% fair
A) everybody would win equal amount of times
B) every event would be draw
The better genetics, the privilege and the better training program and better conections, and finally luck win.
Bunch of factors that are unequal
@@davidpeters6743 I don't think having a clean sport means it's unfair. Sure some people are physically superior that doesn't mean we should let them abuse PEDs or fight dirty with impunity.
Nor should judges pick an choose when a fighter his landed effective strikes or take downs. Perfect example is Weili Zhang who should've lost to Joanna Jędrzejczyk but beaten Rose Namajuans both fights were scored wrong simply in favor of what was most financial beneficial.
It's crazy to because Weili could've had a super fight with Valentina, but since having Zhang beat Jędrzejczyk made them better marketing choice at the time, and Namajuans winning was better at the moment Weili got screwed. Same thing happened to Joanna with them Rose fights.
@@tylerrobbins8311 Years of people trying to police PEDs has taught us one thing... no matter how obsessive or borderline insanely fascist your attempts to police people are... it doesn't work. There are Olympians being caught every year, there are entire countries with giant conspiracies. It's not like there's no rabbit punches in boxing, or sneaky headbutts. There is no fair in sports. In judged sports double no fair. But that's what you need to have a judged sport.
@@davidpeters6743 It's not hard to clean the sports up just cost money. Really it comes down to the promoters and organizations are greedy
Its crazy a year later, now WWE and UFC are merging
😂😂😂😂
I don’t believe all fights are rigged, but many are, and it’s a recent issue in the UFC. For example: Nunes loss, Valentina’s loss, Nate tapping Tony with 2:09 left on clock (Tony NEVER taps!).
It’s ALL about the gambling! The money from online and live betting brings in more money than everything else combined, so of course, why not “control” it??!!
Hi, Coach Dewey. I appreciate you putting this up.
At around 19:00, you say Meisha Tate got an immediate rematch after losing to Rhonda Rousey. Their second match was actually over a year and a half after their first, and both had fought twice in the interim. Tate had recently lost a #1 contender match with Cat Zingano (stopped in the 3rd after winning two rounds), but after Zingano required knee surgery, Tate was tapped to coach TUF opposite Rousey. While your assessment that "sex sells" is pretty self-evident, it wasn't simply a matter of "pretty face vs. pretty face".
Similarly, Chael Sonnen didn't get three consecutive title shots; after his first loss to SIlva, he fought his way back into contention with wins over Brian Stann and Michael Bisping before his second fight with Silva.
Although there's no reason except for dollar signs why he got a shot against Jones, in a weight class he hadn't even fought in for years.
Anyway, thanks for indulging my fact-checking; my brain wouldn't let me let it go. Here's to your channel's continued success.
No surprise he didn't like this comment
@@bartholomew1608 I get it. Nobody likes the "Well, actually" guy 😄
I completely agree with all your points. I’m a life long martial artist who also tested himself in multiple combat sports. I think this video is critical to show how fight promotion manipulate their audience to believe false narratives. Once I fought at a ringed Kyokushin event (not a tournament, but a fight card). I was probably the smallest fighter on the card (5’6 135lbs) and I was fighting a guy who was 6’1 170lbs. I was actually okay with the size, but I was disturbed by how the announced me. I was a green belt in Enshin Kaikan at the time, and they had me fight the North American light weight champion. When they announced me they said “the world sabaki tournament champion” which isn’t true. The way I saw it was, they hyped my credentials to build the kyokushin fighter. I’ve been put in other shady situations like fighting a pro Muay Thai fighter when I was an ammy, but that tends to happen a lot in the states. Sorry I’m all over the place, I really appreciate this video.
Yeah, I think most people don't really see that this is an issue in all Combat Sports that are privately managed or promoted (it definitely happens less in official national or international events, like the Olympics, though these have their own issues). I have seen many people talk about this in regards to Boxing though, I just feel like they somehow can't connect the dots between fighters being padded massively in Boxing (where a good Boxer is going to fight mostly low level fighters until they get to a championship or contender bout) and similar things happening in other Combat Sports. Promotion is always going to be about maximizing money, and that means selling your fighters, but people seem to mistakenly believe in some sort of "honour" in regards to this, and that only the best will fight the best at all times.
I would say that the UFC at least has good fighters fighting worthwhile opponents for the most part, but there's definitely manipulation going on behind the scenes to maximize entertainment value and build fighters up. I mean just look at the UFCs starchild, Conor McGregor, and how much favouritism he's been given in matchups. The commentators favour him, he's given championship shots right out of the door whenever he wants them, and he's been given much larger payouts than any other UFC fighter (relative to the card not just because of PPVs).
The UFC isn't WWE, but it's still an entertainment sport, and honestly there's a serious amount of behind the scenes fixing going on that people don't see. The problem is that they claim to just be purely based on sporting competition, which clearly isn't true.
fighting a pro muay thai fighter as an amateur is so dangerous lol
@@ram42193 preach bro. Muay Thai and kickboxing didn’t have much regulation in the US till recently.
@@AveSicarius I'm almost positive most of the big fights in the UFC are fixed. The last fight between Usman and Edwards. The odds for that fight to end in the 5th round must have been outrageous.
Tank Abbott has been calling ufc out since the beginning, now I believe him and think he was most likely the best complete ufc/mma fighter ever.
I really liked this format. It is very useful to have a single video that sums up your thoughs on the subject. It is hard to hunt for every videos where you are talking about something when I want to hear you opinion about it again. And even more in a deep dive. Great work. Keep it up!
I've been an mma fan since the early 00's, pick UFC fights every weekend since Tapology started. You have a unique perspective on mma being a well traveled fighter and i'm thankful that youtube gives people like you with so much to share a platform. I love the original content
It's hard for me to imagine GSP was carrying guys for the UFC. He never had a great relationship with the company. He left with their belt twice and even recently they were blocking him from boxing because he's still under contract. Seems to me that if he was doing underhanded favors like that for the company they wouldn't be stifling him and risking him coming forward with allegations. As for Chael, it's true that charisma matters, but he didn't get 3 title fights in a row. He lost in the final round of a title fight he was clearly up on the cards in. Then he beat Stann and Bisping. After that he fought for the belt twice in a row, losing both but he did have two wins over ranked opponents in between the first and 2nd title fight
I'm with you! This guy's selling wolf tickets.
No, bud, GSP wouldn't come forward with anything because then he would be blackballed and unable to make a living for the rest of his years on earth. He still needs the fight community, you speak 🗣️ you're out
@@yeeerrrrrrr I don't follow you. GSP hasn't made money directly from fighting since 2017. His current net worth is about 30 million. He's a national hero in Canada and he makes money independent of the UFC. I doubt he would be destroyed by allegations against the company. The fight community is much bigger than just the UFC. Ariel Helwani was blackballed and completely banned by the company but he's still the most successful MMA journalist on the planet
GSP could have bet on the fight going the distance. More reasons to carry someone than company man.
@@justinkennedy3004 lol yea he could have bet on it going the distance but you can Google that. You're not going to find any big odds on Dan going 5 rounds. We are talking about 12 years ago. Odds makers weren't doing a variety of odds on MMA back then. Their popularity was really just expanding. UFC 100 that happened just a year before was the first event they had that was extensively covered by sports media. GSP closed -700 for that fight and he wasn't someone who was finishing every opponent. There just simply wasn't a bunch of money in betting Dan goes the distance. If he really wanted to make money betting that fight he would have needed to lose
When Ramsey Dewey said "he throws a lot of punches, and the commentator says he's a good boxer", I was thinking "somebody give this man a shield!"👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Seeing legends mostly or completely past it tempted back into the sport just to get destroyed by a current upcoming fighter is one of the most depressing sights in pro combat sports.
That's what desperate people to do.
@@jordandennis6794 desperate or greedy
For every Mcgregor there's at least a dozen guys with his ability if not better. But you never hear about them because they don't draw in the casuals with their brand persona. People love a fighter who can talk a lot of good shit and back it up. Mcgregor gets title shots in multiple weight classes and water cuts 20-30 lbs so he can bully guys smaller and lighter than him. On the other hand you got guys like Tony Ferguson who win like 12 matches straight and get no title shots. UFC will bend over backwards and bend and flex the rules as much as they need to accommodate the big names who rake in the cash and all Dana white will do is wag his finger at them whenever they break the rules or beat up random people / T-bone pregnant women.
@@messithegoat4111 mcgregor is a casual he never defended he only has one win at lightweight every one are not in the ufc the only 2 relevant fighters he beat were poirier and holloway and they would murk him now he only fought midgets and barely beat a unranked nate diaz who got beat up by masvidal
Your right. They promote fighters casuals wanna see, because MMA marketing is all about knocking someone out. Heres a thought go watch boxing or kickboxing for knockouts.
Reminds me. Griffin bonnar one of the greatest fights, decision. Most of the greatest fights are not one hit knockout fights
@@skipper4126 wrestling rules mma don't let the fool you!
@RAYSANTANA It’s certainly the key stone of the mma arch. It lets you keep the fight on the feet and bring the person down for submissions
You think there are a dozen guys that could pull off a Jose Aldo level win like that!?
Though pro wrestling be scripted, that takes nothing away from how impressive the athletes themselves are. To repeatedly pull off those moves without causing each other severe injuries is fairly awe-inspiring.
Not getting hurt doing all that is simply amazing.
Too bad WWE is boring as shit
@@ausreir for sure. Some people talk shit about pro wrestlers because they aren't real fights but when you really think about it, they are stunt-men. Stunt-men that do everything live in front of an audience. That is fucking CRAZY. It can't be easy
Yeah, pro wrestling, should be considered the same as gimnastic, dance and ice skating in terms of athletic performance.
@@adoniscastro3648 interesting thought
I watched some highlights from Rousey fights. Many times, from my point of view, Rousey wouldn't even have the armbar locked in and the ref would call the fight. Rumors are Dana White was furious that Nunes won the fight against Rousey. Also, The Karate Nerd did an interview, still on RUclips, with Bill Wallace. The interview reveals some interesting things from behind the scenes of UFC 1. Great content.
Please advise which of the "many times" of Ronda's 9 submission wins were called by the ref without her "having the armbar locked in"... (Hint - there aren't any)
The ref will stop for a verbal or physical tap, or severe injury (eg dislocation or breakage).
What should the ref do, let her break some arms? Lmao my elbow is still sore from practice and that's nowhere near what happened to her opponents.
@@badxradxandy uhh, yea, that's actually exactly what they're supposed to do.
Maybe u showed watch her 9 arm bar or sub wins and watch carefully she was known for breaking ur arm ince its locked in so alot of her opponent would tap soon as it was sunk in so they didnt get there arm broke
That one where the ref called it wasn't in the UFC and Rousey told the ref she said she tapped. But when you replay it you can't see the other girls mouth because Rhondas legs are wrapped around her face.
Fantastic, enlightening video! Boxing ended up following the money also. Moving away from the 8 weight class, one champ per weight class model. Adding more weight classes and more belts to make more money.
“Boxing as a SPORT and SPECTACLE has led to the regression of boxing as a form or art and self defense” -Wylies Art and Science of Boxing
yep. and because it's not an honest sport, the interest X factor that can't be scripted or controlled waned, and people stopped watching boxing, when all they care about is knowing who is the unambiguous, unified *best*. meanwhile ... tennis, TENNIS!, the most boring goddam sport on the planet, pulls in billions of dollars because it's run properly-ish. everyone on the planet knows who's best for a given tournament, or over the course of a season. and everyone can dream about their local hero emerging from the qualifiers to win a slam, because they know that if he's actually best, like a story book, he will win. and they watch the boring match because they're watching the story unfold of the player-personality [and, admittedly, because of a genius scoring system that would make rock-scissors-paper exciting if you were invested in the players.]
the UFC sucks because it doesn't understand how much people love freak outcomes that are at the mercy of unbreakable rules. they effing *love* it when someone points out that nothing in the rules says a dog can't play basketball.
One of the things that made Bill "Superfoot" Wallace retire from Kickboxing was when he was to good for the sport. I remember a story he talked about where before a fight the promoter pulled him aside and basically asked him to go easy on his opponent in the early rounds so that it looks competitive. In the first round Bill drops his opponent with a side kick and the referee proceeds to start counting one of the slowest 10 counts you have ever heard. Just hoping the fighter gets back up.
There’s a cool video of GSP and Dan talking about their fight. From how they talked about it, especially in regards to the arm bar early on it doesn’t sound like a fix or a carry on GSP’s part.
It’s fun to watch I think you’ll like it.
I’ve seen it.
I never understood the obsession with being "undefeated". I mean, is there ever a tennis great that went undefeated? This needs to change.
To be fair to Dan Hardy, he had just beat Mike Swick for the title shot and the only people ahead of him in the rankings were people George had already beaten. I'm sure they wanted to break into the UK market but there was also good timing on Dan's end as well. Also, Chael had to fight and beat Michael Bisping and Brian Stann before he got his rematch against Silva. You make some good points but he definitely didn't just get 3 title shots in a row. He did get 2 though.
So that line from "Gladiator" was true: "I wasn't the best because I killed quickly, I was the best because I gave them something they had never seen before."
Actually that may ring truer than any of Gladiator's depiction of Gladiator life, Gladiator games are very expensive so the Gladiators are trained, prepared and for slaves at the time were very well off given baths and healthy diet, the promoters (the Governor, Senator or maybe even the Emperor himself) will want the biggest show they can get so Gladiators typically didn't die, they even have Unions where if one of them dies in combat they are buried for free by their fellow Gladiators.
Great video!
Regarding the GSP-Hardy fight, I remember at the time feeling that GSP chose not to break Dan Hardy’s arm during the several opportunities he had. We know how strong GSP is!
He wasnt doing the arm bar properly there's actually video of his locker room right after where hes asking Danaher what he was doing wrong right after the fight
Gotta squeeze your knees so the fulcrum for the leverage on the arm starts below the elbow joint and not at the shoulder, splitting the breaking force.
Charles Oliveira made this same mistake against Tony, allowing him to reach what seemed like an absurd amount of hyperextension.
Delivering an armbar in this way can deliver breaking force but not devastatingly breaking force.
I hate it when someone says that someone is the GOAT because they’re undefeated. Usually those fighters have padded records
#8 is so cool! They hyped you up 🙂 It's rare, but I love when it happens; it lets you know that you're facing a crowd favorite
It is not illegal for the nfl to fix games, according to the rules, it’s not illegal to fix games….sports haven’t been real for decades.!. Great video, thank you
Same goes for the NFL, I love it, but I understand that they have underhanded means of skewing outcome of any competition they reside over. It’s not technically illegal either.
Rams vs. Saints was clearly rigged. Most obviously rigged game in a whole
@@jordandennis6794 Rams Bengals too
If it's clear the league makes more money when this team or that team is winning, it's not too much of a stretch to maybe the league keeps that team in the winner's circle.
@@tomfoolery5844 true. Bucks Chiefs was rigged too but KC played like shit
For me it's amazing the UFC has become as big as it has. I understand the need & drive to make money, it's an absolute necessity if a business wants to exist. For the most part I buy in to what the UFC is doing, even though I've plainly seen some of the points made here.
There was a fight between Kevin Holland and Kyle Daukaus where there was a clash of heads but the fight continued and Daukaus won by submission. The referee Dan Mirgiliotta was stamding firm that Daukaus will be awarded the win via submission. Mirgiliotta was called to the aisleway where Herb Dean and a matchmaker Sean Shelby would change his stance in the biggest mockery filmed. A matchmaker having any say is ludicrous since he has nothing to do with judging or reffing because they are hired and sanctioned by the state athletic commission . If you watch, you'll see.
Herb Dean was in charge of review. That whole submission sequence happened because of that headbutt. Holland was out cold when he fell forward. You could see Dan running in to call it because of the headbutt, but Holland was quick to react and try to fight off his back. In the end, he didn't get up off the mat until he tapped.
Holland was fine with taking the L in the way that it happened. But the sequence warranted the review. Personally, I think going straight to no contest for headbutts is overkill. I think the affected fighter or both fighters should be given up to two minutes to regain composure, just like with accidental groin shots. If and when they feel they can continue, fight resumes. So the fight should have been restarted where they were standing once Holland or both of them felt ready after the 2 minutes or less. If one or both feel they can't continue because of the headbutt, then yeah, no contest. Accidental or not, it's still an illegal move and Dan should've stopped it when he intially was going to, which is what Herb Dean was telling him. Doesn't matter if Holland was quick to come to and resume. Point is he was now in a position of disadvantage because of the headbutt.
So it was the correct call and really one that was more about the ref trusting his gut instead of reacting to what the fighters are doing. But like I said, I think headbutts like that should be given the same timeout as a groin shot.
Does anyone remember the GSP vs. Johnny Hendrix? Another way MMA fights can be "fixed" is with poor or incompetent judging or corrupt athletic commissions. GSP clearly lost that fight, but the judges decided to give it to him anyway. This wasn't the UFC's fault, because if the fans aren't satisfied then the UFC looks bad, but still, something smelled really bad in that decision for whatever reason.
Always thought GSP was the most boring fighter ever and never bought the hype
That's what fight comes to my mind also! The golden boy gsp.. 🥱
Lol, jks he's pretty great.. But Hendricks certainly won that fight!
@@presidentcomacho3816 because he was boring?
Every topic was explained spot on. Perception is a strong sense to control
I love this video. We need more open minded people that’s not scared to bring these antics to light! Thank you so much for your time and efforts for this video bro it’s amazing.
The UFC can legally fix fights, so if you think they aren’t taking advantage of that to make millions more then you’re as naive as a small child
i remember hearing an interview long ago about that GSP fight shortly after i watched it. one of his friends asked him why he took so long to finish him off and his response was basically he never felt like he was going to lose that fight and he did not want to finish Dan off with strikes in front of his family and make them worried and that he really does not like hurting people if he does not have to, lmao. i wish i could find it but i laughed my ass off cuz anyone who watched that fight and was familiar with GSP knew he was taking it easy on Hardy the whole time
For the record-I’d pay money to see Bieber or Cyrus fight someone who knew how to fight. 🤷♂️
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video essay. Thank you coach. Informative as always!🙏
Wherever GAMBLING is involved... you can bet it's scripted.
A fighter like GSP not finishing Dan Hardy could also be explained by them having bet on themselves to win a decision. I honestly think thats what happened with Chito Vera vs Font recently... Chito had every opportunity to finish and never pulled the trigger...
Just ask Tank Abbott, he's been calling out the ufc since the beginning
Cerrone vs McGregor is the best example of a fixed fight.
Why and how do you think that fight was fixed?
It’s all SCRIPTED
Interesting video. Any time there is money involved in sport, there's incentive to pull strings. It's a simple fact of human greed. The only thing we can hope for is we see a diversification of talent across MMA promotions. This keep promoters honest and not trying to string money above fighters' heads for particular "outcomes" and promotions focus more on quality, high profile fights over entertainment value.
My coach quit Lumpinee when he had a gun pulled on him on the way to the ring and told to throw the fight. He just kept walking ...right out the stadium and never fought again.
I'm thise people who only watch college sports and amateurs for the purity of the sport and not the business of fighting.
Joe Rogan said that Ronda Rousey could beat any guy of her weightclass in the World and could box Floyd...
Maybe he is stupid.
He is told to say that. That’s his job. But yes. Very misleading
"Give that guy the title shot! Who cares? Give em the title shot" hahaha. Commentators can make a fight actually seem totally different. Some fights are surprising to rewatch without the commentary. Great video 👍
Great video Ramsey! One correction in the description is needed "In his book "Beyond the Lion's Den", former UFC champ and pro wrestler, Frank Shamrock" It's actually his brother Ken Shamrock as you said in the video at 1:10
I know that, and I thought I had corrected that. I specifically re-recorded that line because I said it wrong the first time. Weird.
I swear it's weird how, despite not being biologically related, Ken and Frank Shamrock IMO look kinda similar.
@@seanseanston I have noticed that too!
@@seanseanston I thought they were brothers
@@meisterproper8304 not blood.
When they say, "He sure can take a lot of punishment," I think that's the last person I want to be, lol
"Carrying fights" is the only point I disagree with. As you said, even if it's happening, it's hard to proof. And for a fighter there has to be an incentive to carry a fight. If I was GSP and the UFC told me to carry Hardy through 5 rounds, I'd ask them: "Why would I? You pay me boni for finishes, which additionally look great in highlight reels, will get me more fans and also I have to spend less time in a cage with someone who wants to take my head off. What do you pay me to do this?" The few times we know of, when fighters were asked to do this (affliction *cough*), they often didn't do it and just smashed their opponent. And there are a lot of fights, that would have been lucrative and easy to carry. F.e.: Mickey Gall obliterated CM Punk in seconds, although the UFC invested heavily in Punk and would have benefited from a longer fight.
So, it's possible that this is happening at the high level, but if so, there are probably bribes or threats involved. And proving that is nearly impossible without whistleblowers. So until we know this for a fact, it's a hard statement to make.
They couldn’t pay me extra to do nothin lol this ain’t wrestling this a FIGHT. I’m not carrying shit lol within those 5 rounds he could take me out and I’m supposed to essentially go easier on him yea ok😂
@@Tazmanian_mma exactly. Tbf one thing I didn't mention are b- to c-league fights. In those I have seen this happening first hand. Usually in combination with paddening a record. Meaning, they brought a newbie to be slaughtered by an upcoming talent in a regional main event. Sometimes they tell the guy they're building up, to go easy for a couple of minutes to gain experience and drag out the show. But they also offer them a couple of bucks under the table for that.
McNuggets vs Cowboy is the prime example 🤷🏻♂️
@@FFS33 You dont know shit about fighting lmao
GSP is an MKUltra victim. He talks about about not remembering things for hours and being abducted by “aliens”. These are both common things spoken about by MKUltra victims except some will say demons instead of aliens and it represents their handlers as well.
Its amazing how many mma fanboys dont realize the overlapping history of professional fighting and "pro wrestling "
This explains why Masvidal even got a title shot, let alone two in a row.
The Undertaker is an old soul carnie-type, as pro wrestlers go. He WANTED to retire on a loss, at Wrestlemania no less, to give an up and comer some buzz for breaking his streak, and pass the torch to the next generation. Mark Calloway wanted the guy who beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania to become as big as The Undertaker.
Instead, Brock Lesnar (whose pro wrestling gimmick is basically his complete and utter disdain for pro wrestling) got it.
Dude gave thirty plus years of his life as an utterly loyal company man to Vince (he was one of the few wrestlers to remain with the WWE during the entirety of the Monday Night Wars, and was basically Sergeant Major of the Army for the roster of talent, presiding over Wrestler's Court and ending The Miz's locker room ban despite The Code dictating only the wrestler who placed it could lift it, because Chris Benoit was the guy who banned him before his murder-suicide), and that was his reward. And he lost the match, clean, because he was an utterly loyal company man.
Undertaker turned out fine. So
The goat of pro wrestling imo
Salam again roach ramsey, I have 2 questions if you don't mind me asking, first what did you think Malakhra(the Sindhi Pakistani folk wrestling style that looks rather odd)
Second are you at all familiar with the story of Choki Motobu, an Okinawan karateka who defeated some of thr biggest karate masters of his day but never even found 1/10th of their success, mostly because the karate he taught was just the basics with no specfic kata and had them do just full contact sparring matches and exercise, which scared away many students despite his fame
Malakhra is pretty famous in Sindhi villages and I think it's just pure straight but I also never saw a fite looking guy in it ( I only watched 3 of the fights cuz they end pretty quickly and take a lot of time to start)
@@ShahNawaz-uj9gy Its folk wrestling, not a lot of techniques involved, just grappling in the dirt and sand and the man with superior strength and stamine wins, pretty much every culture in Africa, Europe and Asia has some variation of this type of folk wrestling
If you don't leave it in the hands of the judge, you have the power to change the said script.
Ramsey! Your fighters are getting the best counsel offered. Thank you for the Lesson(s). Pure respect.
Who’s here after the jones fight
Me. I find it hard to believe Gane purposely didn't fight the hands when Jones put on the guillotine.
had me laughing showing that footage of the predator and yoshihiro. What an epic war, one for the ages. No better way to illustrate a point about someone taking more than one shot 😂😂
btw brother I hope you're managing in shanghai.
It was the manliest fight of all time!
@@RamseyDewey indeed, no contest.
This doesn't just apply to MMA, it's also prevalent in boxing and in most mainstream sports. Football is filled with matches being won not by questionable last minutes pentalities or disallowed goals. Competitive sports are becoming more and more scripted.
It applies to every controlled mainstream sport dude it's all corrupt follow the money.
Actual top 9 starts at 4:45
This was really eye opening. I look forward to your future scripted video essays.
All sports are fixed. ALL SPORTS ARE FIXED
According to dudes like Frank Shamrock, Josh Barnett, and Bas Rutten, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki were so notorious and skilled at carrying their opponents opponents in early Pancrase that some of his opponents had absolutely no clue they were doing it and would go on to say their fights in Pancrase were totally clean without realizing there was a bit of a work to them.
Because it was their promotion, they would regularly give their opponents chances to work to make their fights more exciting, almost like coaches sparring with their students, before flipping the switch and destroying them, and as far as I know, they never had opponents throw their fights make themselves look good personally (though there were definitely fixed fights in Pancrase in those days, and some of the dudes on their records had no place being in that ring).
Frankly, I doubt they needed to. They were some legitimately scary dudes back in the mid-nineties, and it's no surprise that their losses were to dudes like Rutten (who famously outright refused to do any sort of working in MMA) or the Shamrocks. Hell, Suzuki is still pretty damn intimidating in his pro wrestling career. His presence still exudes that killer instinct, even if his body isn't quite up to the task of it.
If you can bet on a sport- you can guarantee it's fixed in some form or another.
sorry but meisha deserved the title shot in a shallow division. she had the talent and the toughness.
It's funny that Roga s commentating was mentioned
I remember a fight between Rashad Evans and some other dude years back the fight was BORING!!! Hardly a pinch thrown by any fighter and my dad said it was fixed because they kept hammering about the speed of Rashad Evans and the inexperience of the other guy
We both thought the other guy won the fight just based on activity and initiative
The judges gave Rashad and once again in the interview Rogan was raving about Rashads speed I guess trying to convince the fans present and those watching that it was a good decision
I apologize for writing three comments, but I promise I'm done after this.
One aspect of the sport is that there is too much intermingling at the commission in regards to MMA and boxing. They are two very different sports.
A decade ago, we moved to a new state due to my wife's job. I was staying at home with the kids, but wanted to find a gig that could work around my wife's schedule. So, I contacted the states boxing and MMA commission about judging MMA fights.
They sent me to my first card. I didn't judge, but instead inspected gloves.
During downtime, I realized that every member of the commission that worked that night were former boxers (amateur or military). I was the only wrestler there. One of the old guys even said "finally, someone with a wrestling background to work with us."
I'm not sure why MMA cards are judged, reffed, inspected, and have oversight by boxing people.
It's not unlike basketball refs working as baseball umpires.
You don’t need to apologize for leaving comments. More comments helps the channel grow.
It’s not just that though, a boxing commission literally wrote the rules of the UFC. For some reason, boxing commissions in the US were given the final authority over the sport of MMA since the year 2000.
Boxing does this too. People can't conceive the idea that it happens in mma
Your getting enlightened ,rare thing for someone who started in tkd, A+,you should do more of these,the world is starved for authentic journalism,and that's what this was.
Gorgeous George was a huge inspiration behind Muhammad Ali's persona with the whole "I'm so pretty.."
Good video, nice to see somebody with a platform challenging the status quo rather than feeding into their sycophants delusions like a UFC Commentator
3:20-3:22 the guy on the right is Josh Koschecks Father. Lmfao. 🤣
Loved it, the fact that it is unfair is what makes it one of the biggest combat sports behind boxing
Thanks for making this video. The thorough breakdown help us understand that we aren't just imagining things in doubt 😂. I don't want to ruin the entertainment for future references but sometimes bouts look like a good demonstration, then others it's light sparing mixed in with some stiff sparing.
A relatively recent match in the UFC that I felt was fixed was Ngannou vs Miocic. Miocic was an incredible fighter, but he wasn't making the UFC any money, so they wanted him to lose. They made them fight in a much smaller cage to give Ngannou a large advantage.
That is not true Daniel Cormier also fought stipe prior in the same small sized octagon and lost, ngannou was just better that night with no crowd, he was patient and took him apart.
I know this has been posted a little while ago, but I finally got to see this video. Coach, half of what you mentioned here, my teacher had told me about 4 years ago. Specially about Rhonda. “If it wasn’t because she was pretty she would be an unknown and not get manny fights.”
Or, “Some of these fights they get nobodies and hype them up in order to get the champion to have an amazing record by putting him to fight people the champion can beat.”
Keep it up coach.
WWE is like a movie then UFC is like "reality TV", sure the fights are real but everything around it is produced
In reality TV they purposely select the most volitile ones out of the bunch so yeah they are real people but the situation is artificial, though I don't think that the UFC has reached that level of deliberate "fakeness" at least in the US.
I love MMA and boxing, but God pro wrestling is so much fun
9:54 agreed.. they said RONDA ROUSY was done after she beat Everybody in the world.. only lost once.. SHES DONE.. I’m like???
About Charl Sonnen: 3 consecutive title shots AND a failed drug test in between.
Amazing.
Ronda is a great example of a fighter who had their record padded by punching bags for the sole purpose of generating revenue. As soon as she went up against somebody with solid striking she immediately crumbled.
Wrong. She fought good punchers and beat them. She only had a problem when she tried to punch back.
@@titianarasputin
I mean she tried to clinch / takedown Nunez multiple times during their fight and she still got TKO'd.
Well they weren't really punching bags, more throwing and submitting bags...
@@fellowtraveler2251 only when she got in trouble. she went into that fight with a stand-up game plan (and no stand-up skills to back it up).
Plenty of fixed fights out there. Money is everything in the fight world. Legacy doesn’t pay the bills.
Nick Diaz vs robbie Lawler 2 is a perfect example of a "carry"
Sonnen followed A local pro wrasslin and learned his patter.
absolutely spot on. ive been watching fight records for years and realized it all hype
This dude narrates his video like a pro-wrestling commentator trying to shout and whisper at the same time.
I laughed too hard when Ramsey synced "Does he have any fights under his belt" with Master Wong
I honestly hope Khabib doesn't come back to mma because I love the man
the bag work though
Rigging fights is how big money is made, whether through betting or creating a superstar. Its a business at the end of the day.
As a life-long martial artist and retired pro fighter you never disappoint!
If you can bet on it, it's fixed.
I hope there's more to come for this type of scripted format videos, Coach Ramsey 👍🏻 It brings a different perspective to how i view an MMA fight now.
I was a Marine and I'm a bit of a scrapper but I dont have the balls for MMA, those dudes hurt eachother really bad
Actually, Chael won 2 fights between his first 2 title shots.
"That's fucking illegal!"
- Dana White
I'll never forget watching Khabib/Iaquinta and joe rogan absolutely dogging Khabib for standing up with Al and saying "If he fights Conor like this he's going to get knocked out" or something like that. And saying Khabibs wrestling was "failing" when he would let go of takedown attempts.
What a well thought out, well put together and...TRUE video! Pride FC comes to mind, and I loved Pride! Good job, Ramsey! 👊
That mechanical scale is some mafia sh**
People dont realize how often sports NEED the right people to win. You look at boxing for instance, when the Klitschkos were on top, boxing was in a huge slump. Boxers were like Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder started coming in and boxing's popularity was again on the rise. Fury had that feel good story of a fighter lost to drugs and depression, but making an amazing comeback to become heavyweight champ, Deontay had that knockout right fist, but a mostly padded record. Both had charisma and could talk your ass into buying a ticket.
Even under scripted circumstances people need that feel good moment. Thats why for most of its history, the WWE always has the main event of Wrestlemania go off the air with the face or good guy winning. Its the culmination of the feud and the crowd needs to go home happy, or else it can taint how they felt about the whole show in general and hence whether they buy it again next time.
There is SO much of this stuff, and stuff like Ramsey said, in our sports. I love watching MMA, but I've been bitching for a while how there is no real ranking system and people seem to get title shots willy nilly. I've even heard Dana White say stuff like "Who is his next fight? Oh I dont know Ill have to go back and we'll have to figure out who the best person to match him up against is" and the media asking the questions never says anything about it.