Welcome, welcome to the first edition of my new weekly “Back Talk” Q&A column on MixedMartialArts.com. Each week I will answer the colorful inquiries from our forum mob on topics clean enough to discuss in this space. For the inaugural edition, we’ll talk Ronda Rousey, the most hype and skill-filled fights left in 2021, and the lack of openly gay male fighters in MMA. Let’s get to this week’s questions.
King_of_the_North asks: What’s the biggest fight of 2021 hype-wise? As well as technique/skill wise?
Firstly King, I am glad in your original inquiry in the forums suggested AJ McKee and Patricio Freire as an example. He-spect to you sir, because meaningful fights happen outside the UFC all the time. With that said, let’s talk biggest fights in hype first. And that question starts and ends, point blank and period, with Dustin Poirier versus Conor McGregor part tres. There really is no other option in 2021 besides the rematch at UFC 257. McGregor, win or lose, is a giant magnet for diehard and casual fan interest. Especially, when he is in there with a great opponent, which Diamond is, and then some. Unless a super-fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones gets booked (which is still possible) nothing will come close in hype and interest to the Poirier and McGregor combo bouts of 2021. That’s just the nature of rematches and trilogies with superstars and elite talent involved.
https://twitter.com/btsportufc/status/1384523797454376961
Now, away from fights for casuals, there is actually a boatload of scraps in the coming months that will get fight fans salivating. This weekend, Zhang Weili versus Rose Namajunas is a banger of a bout and strikers delight, that may be the fight I am most looking forward to at UFC 261. Next month, we’ll get two fantastic back-to-back headliners. First, TJ Dillashaw returns from a two-year USADA suspension to prove his greatness wasn’t PED fueled when he faces the bantamweight division’s must-watch in Corey Sandhagen. Then the next week, Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira go to war for the vacant lightweight title. In a fight between two absurdly underappreciated 155 pounders.
In June, we are spoiled again with two outstanding title fights. The first being the UFC flyweight title rematch between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. If there are fans not excited for that rematch, after an awesome first fight at UFC 256 then they need to go watch some Triller fights and leave us alone. Also, Bellator 260 has the return of the best welterweight not in the UFC in Douglas Lima, taking on elite-level prospect Yaroslav Amosov. I actually wrote about how this fight needed to happen next, back in January. Nostra-burgos has arrived.
In addition, there’s the aforementioned Pitbull versus McKee fight, which is one of the most important in Bellator history. As you have the greatest fighter in promotion history, past and present, facing the guy who has everything necessary to take over the now, and be the future of the organization.
Chris (CEO of MMA, LLC and Forum Overlord) asks: Will we ever see another woman in the UFC reach Ronda-level fame?
My brain says no, my heart says yes, so maybe. It’s a difficult question to answer because Ronda Rousey does not get enough credit for putting the ladies side of the sport into the mainstream in a way no one before or after her ever did. So, what made her different from other great fighters of the past and present? Three specific things: finishing ability, promotional savvy, and she speaks English pretty good.
Every fight fan loves a knockout artist and finisher. Mike Tyson continues to be an all-time fan favorite, 30-years removed from his prime, because he was a human wrecking machine. Iron Mike had an aura the intimidated his foes before fights, and if that didn’t work he detached opponents from their consciousness quickly on a regular basis. Rousey had a similar vibe to much of her career and that’s what drew so many fans to her. Granted, she was not known as a knockout artist, but everyone knew if you watched a Rousey fight, it would end in the first round, and her unwitting opponent was getting judo-thrown into oblivion. And that reputation was well earned, since she had a 100% finish rate, and all but one of her 12 victories ended in the first.
Detractors will probably yell out, Well, what about Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko, and Zhang Weili? They finish a whole bunch of fights? That response is totally fair. Both Nunes and Zhang have stopped opponents in 80% of their wins and did it more times than Rousey has fights. While equally talented, Shevchenko has only ended a poultry 65% of her fights within the distance. The elements those outstanding fighters seem to lack, however, are being fluent in English and having the innate ability to build a fight. Those are characteristics the UFC has always shown are a prerequisite if they ever plan to put their marketing might behind a talent.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk can trash talk, and her English is probably stronger than the previously mentioned athletes, but for all her gifts as a striker, JJ has only finished opponents in 5 of her 16 wins. A finishing rate of 31%.
So in review, Ronda Rousey may not have been the best female fighter of all-time, but she often stands above the rest in fans—and Dana White’s—eyes because of being able to blend three specific qualities. The gift of gab in English, the nohow to build fan interest on purpose or not, and the ability to back it all up with fast highlight-reel finishes. It’s a difficult combination to find in any athlete, but definitely not impossible.
JumpKick asks: In the era of acceptance, why are little to no male pro MMA fighters openly gay?
In my time doing mailbag columns, this is probably the best question yet because it’s socially relevant. What’s great about mixed martial arts, is it really is one of the most global sports on the planet. It pulls talent from all corners of the globe in ways most other sports do not. What other sport is able to produce talented competitors from all over Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and now even the African continent? The fighter community consists of individuals from a wide variety of cultures, religions, and societies.
https://twitter.com/hourlygaybts/status/1384377473987661826
Firstly, I’m not sure if the majority of our world is as progressive and accepting as we think or want. At least not in terms of the LGBTQ community. It’s why legalized marriage and other rights for same-sex couples are still far from universal. While some international regions are progressive on social issues like women’s rights, immigration, or even religion, there are still many countries around the world that lean traditional when it comes to sexual orientation. In Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia masculinity and machismo are still held in high regard over improving gender equality. Athletes from those nations are inherently more likely to hide their homosexuality and avoid issues back home. So they are out.
As a journalist who has spoken to many fighters, I am pretty sure there are homosexual male athletes in the sport. In addition, I think their colleagues would be supportive if they went public with their sexual orientation. However, If you look at some of the biggest names in the industry, their personas are all about bravado and machismo. Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, and Colby Covington being major stars in the sport says a lot about the MMA fan base and what they are into. The MMA audience is a male-dominated group, where many still have not fully embraced female fighters and their amazing talents. Those fans who boo minutes into a fight because there isn’t enough face pummeling don’t give off a vibe of acceptance. Over the last decade Just bleed guys have not really turned into just believe in love fans.
For me, the real question is less about male fighter’s willingness to be openly gay, and more about if the current fan base is ready to accept a homosexual man fighting in a cage? I don’t think they are yet, and if fighters think the same, and feel it could effect the little money they already make, I can’t see one boldly stepping forward. Michael Sam was brave to make his homosexuality public while in the NFL, however, not much has changed in that league, the NBA, NHL, MLB or boxing since, and you can bet their are gay athletes in those sports.
