Dominick Cruz defeated Casey Kenny via Split Decision at UFC 259, and then called out Hans Molenkamp. Casual MMA were baffled as to why the arguably bantamweight GOAT was calling out out a relative of Johnny Cougar. Hardcore MMA fans were baffled as to why Cruz was calling out the owner of the combat sports gear company Triumph United, a BJJ black belt under Dean Lister and Jocko Willink, who works with UFC sponsor Monster Energy.
Cruz alleged that Molenakamp was using the prospect of continued Monster sponsorship money as leverage to get fighter involvement in content on the social network that cast him in a good light. Some of it allegedly included goofy pranks, like this one.
The most recent fighter to back up Cruz is UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, on his popular Believe You Me podcast.
“Alright, f*** it, I’m gonna talk. I am gonna say it,” said Bisping, as transcribed by Rajneesh Suhas Reddy for SportsKeeda. “I’m driving out of Vegas one night after commentating and he calls me up and he is going, ‘Mike, we’re friends, we’re friends, aren’t we?’ And I say, ‘No we’re not, okay. I’ve known you for a long time but we never hung out. We’re business associates and that’s okay.’ Do you know what I mean?”
“Stop dangling this friend card. We’re not friends, we’re business associates. That’s it. That’s all we need to be. We don’t get together, our families don’t hang out. Shortly after that, I wasn’t with a certain company anymore. All of a sudden I am f***ing broke, okay? Thank you Hans.”
“The Count” also commented on Molenkamp’s pranks.
“This is like his thing by the way. This is what he does to a lot of fighters,” alleged Bisping. “There is so many of them. He pretends like he just goes there and messes with them but it is all set up, it’s all staged. But you see, you’ve gotta kinda play along… Being a company man you’ve gotta go along but it is all kinda cringe,”
Top manager Ali Abdelaziz was more blunt still in a message on his social network.
“Cruz shined a light on a very sad situation in MMA,” said Abdulaziz. “This Monster sponsorship guy is like a modern-day slave master. Making Hall of Famers, UFC champion, and some people I really respect kiss his ass. He tried to get some of my champions to play his game but they did not do it. So for that reason, he never gave them a sponsor[ship]. He tried to have other managers steal Henry Cejudo from me to offer a Monster deal to leave me. But we already know that I bodybag them, and we already know what kind of guy Henry really is – loyal as they come. Also, we’ve had a situation with Cody, Kamaru and they refused to sell their soul like Henry didn’t. Monster is a great brand and is great for the sport but this individual deserves an ass whopping.”
