Yahoo sports - UFC discredits the sport.

[KillingJoke]

WTF is wrong with people? Comparing an individual sport to a team sport. Makes total sense...not. people follow teams more so than the players. You don't see fans stop rooting for their favorite team because X player is cut. In the ufc and in combat sports, people pay to see certain fighters perform. Big difference.

 

[Lappish Shaman]

Cutting Okami is a joke. Bullshit

 

[Charlie Sheen]

UFC Cuts Okami, Discredits Own Ranking System

Im not going to comment on too much on this one, because you know how i feel about it already.

All i will say, is look where we are now.

Dana "youre all fuckin idiots" White cut a top 6 fighter, and the mainstream media are now questioning MMAs legitimacy as a sport.

Dana might seem like a big man to some of you, but in the world of sport he is a blip.

Likewise MMA, which has been through the ringer to establish legitimacy is still essentially a cult sport, and cutting your top 6 guy or woman or team in any sport, exposes you to global ridicule across the non zuffa press, from anyone who has actually heard of you in the first place.

Heres the article. Im going to link the whole thing, as every word of it is important, and il properly credit the writer- Joe Napoli as well.

Source at the foot of the page.

RY | The UFC implemented a ranking system for its weight divisions in Jan. 2013, but that hasn't stopped the company from releasing fighters who were ranked highly in its own system. Yushin Okami became the second mixed martial artist, the first being Jon Fitch, to lose his job with the UFC despite being considered one of the company's ten best fighters in his weight class.
There are some important similarities between Fitch and Okami at the time of their releases. Both had a grinding style that many casual fans didn't appreciate; neither was a big draw; they each won fights at a high percentage rate; they had fallen to the champion of their weight class, and were unlikely to ever battle for the belt again.

Okami, a longtime middleweight standout, went 13-5 in his UFC run, and 3-1 in his last four fights with the company. UFC president Dana White explained the release as necessary due to a limited roster, and Okami's lack of a signature win.

The UFC middleweight division has never been viewed as particularly stacked, and the company's desire to part with a top ten fighter seems questionable for a number of reasons. This release directly contradicts its own ranking system, and is in opposition to the UFC gathering all of the best fighters in the world in one organization.

The reality is Okami, as well as Fitch, were not valuable enough to put in feature spots, where they would have the opportunity to eliminate potential title contenders. Their contracts were also probably a lot higher than other fighters who had stronger drawing power. Business is business, but MMA is also a sport.

No legitimate professional sports league would release top talent because they weren't marketable. This is essentially what the UFC did. It wasn't a cost cutting measure necessary like when an NFL veteran is cut by a cash strapped team. The move eliminated one of the company's better fighters pretty much because he wasn't best for business, with no regard for what was best for the sport. The UFC's own ranking system tells its fans that he deserves to be with the company.

The UFC has increasingly been blurring the line between sport and entertainment, Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen being the biggest recent example. Moves like this make one question why they even have a ranking system if they're not going to adhere to it when making decisions. There's a line between sports and entertainment, and the UFC sent a message with this move that they're willing to cross it.

Joe Napoli

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ufc-cuts-okami-discredits-own-ranking-system-140800943--mma.html

Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

Okami's cut is way worse than Fitch's, imo.

 

[justblaze717]

LOL
yeah, but are they 3-1 ???

Let me help you out. Here:

No he is not 3-1, WTF are you talking about. He is 6-4 in his last 10, and he has under performed in almost all of his step up fights. Lets be real, he came out with no energy at all against Jacare and looked like he didn't want to be there. He got hit once and turtled up. He did the same against his Silva in his last big fight. Why you guys are sticking up for Okami after that performance is mind boggling.

 

[MrKilroyT]

The UFC is sport in that it is trying to find THE BEST FIGHTER in the world in each weight class. There is ZERO chance that Yushin Okami would ever become the MW champ. NONE.

They are a business in that they are trying to make money.

So, when a fighter generates NO income for the company and has NO chance of becoming champion, what exactly is in it for the UFC to keep that guy around?

 

[Shaddows]

the ufc doesn't want to be a seasonal sports league like the nba or the nfl. of course.

the ufc wants to own the ufc. they can't own the sport and they obviously don't want to. they want to be the leader in the sport. they are.

there will always be reasons why the ufc doesn't have every single top fighter in the world. they don't own the sport.

yet they claim to be "the NFL of MMA"...

You fail, sorry.

...but then again, didn't expect much... zombies are not known for their brain power and good analogy. They are only known for being single-minded focused on one thing... and Zuffa Zombies are only looking on "how does that make sense FOR UFC"???

 

[Deleted member 245586]

It's ok, It's ok. Kevin Iole will be around to kiss some ass after Dana threatens Yahoo sports' press credentials.

It's true. The coolie kisser is probably already applying his lip gloss:icon_chee

Reminds me of the Vinny Mac kiss my ass club

 

[Dockoch123]

My two cents:

I have always like Okami and I'm sort of sad to see him go. I am excited at the prospect of seeing him beef up the WSOF roster or maybe see what he can do at Bellator. I also think he has one of the best walk out songs as mentioned before.

Now as for the article: Alot of people have already brought up good example of cutting players like Manning cause he is getting old, or any other player because they cost too much. The point is it's the team owner's BUSSINESS choice. They may not be the best choice for that paticular sport, the fans of that team, or maybe not even for team itself. It's the owner making a bussiness choice. I personally hate the fact that the Steelers released Harrison, who now plays for the rival Bengals. But I am not discrediting the steelers owners and staff for letting one of my favorite players go. I know someone is going to say Harrison wasn't in the top ten at his position, I am just using that as an example.

Ultimately: Cutting top 10 fighters to save money, to lighten the roster, or because they are boring doesn't bother me nor do I think it discredit's the sport. I do agree that something should be done to fix title shots. Sonnen vs Jones and Rousey vs Tate II are the prime examples. I am also really tired of the immediate rematchs, but that's another topic entirely.

 

[XgenTapOut]

will be good fighters that aren't employed by the ufc.

Aye, the biggest problem with the UFC is this... It's a sports promotion not a sports organization.

To solve this problem, fighters need to be independent and not employed by the UFC. A fight card should be built based on established rankings and the purse pre-determined based on ranking with bonuses paid by gate and PPV so the fighters on the card all equally benefit from their marketability.

The UFC has no interest in allowing MMA promoted by them to be a legitimate sport because they lose control of the image and to some degree their brand.

 

[rorydaboss]

The move eliminated one of the company's better fighters pretty much because he wasn't best for business, with no regard for what was best for the sport.

Why the fuck would the UFC care about what is better for the "sport" as opposed to the business. They are a fucking business after all. They are trying to make as much money as possible.

 

[Trollgrappler]

Cutting Okami made no sense. I don't think the situation deserve all the hyperbole. It was a bad cut and that's that. The sport isn't irrevocably damaged or anything and I still know that the best fighters are in the UFC that can't be denied.

That said it's the worst cut I've seen in the UFC and if such a stupid cut becomes a trend THEN the sports legitimacy will be in trouble.

 

[kflo]

Aye, the biggest problem with the UFC is this... It's a sports promotion not a sports organization.

To solve this problem, fighters need to be independent and not employed by the UFC. A fight card should be built based on established rankings and the purse pre-determined based on ranking with bonuses paid by gate and PPV so the fighters on the card all equally benefit from their marketability.

The UFC has no interest in allowing MMA promoted by them to be a legitimate sport because they lose control of the image and to some degree their brand.

yes, the solution to making mma more credible is to get rid of the ufc! watch the sport flourish!

 

[memling]

Okami wasn't cut because he was one of the 6 best in the world. He was cut because he was NEVER going to be champion.

Do you remember how badly Anderson embarrassed Okami? Putting his hands behind his back and waiting for Okami to punch first and then dropping him anyways?

The top middleweights have Okami's number, it doesn't matter how much he trains, he isn't ever getting there. To top that off, he has a reputation for not being entertaining. To make it worse, he's only useful right now as a gatekeeper against exciting prospects who might get smothered by Okami's wet blanket style before they're able to develop the skills to beat a fighter like him.

The UFC's policy is pretty clear at this point, I don't know why anyone acts like it's this really fuzzy line that Dana basically changes on a whim. If you want to have a job in the UFC, you need to be on some kind of path towards becoming a champion eventually. If you're not on that path and won't ever be, you need to have been a champion at some point and still be a legitimate threat to most fighters who don't have a belt. If you've never been a champion then you need to be really entertaining. And if you're none of those 3 things and you're never going to be either than you can proceed directly to Bellator or World Series of Fighting.

Cutting Okami lets the UFC bring in a couple prospects who can actually develop into entertaining contenders, and allows them to actually start dealing with the "boring and shallow middleweight division" which has been a problem for them for awhile. You can't shake up a division without actually shaking up the division.

 

[Shaddows]

No he is not 3-1, WTF are you talking about. He is 6-4 in his last 10, and he has under performed in almost all of his step up fights. Lets be real, he came out with no energy at all against Jacare and looked like he didn't want to be there. He got hit once and turtled up. He did the same against his Silva in his last big fight. Why you guys are sticking up for Okami after that performance is mind boggling.

You need to stop. You sound dumber and dumber.

You compared him to Mir and AO. Both guys who are on LOSING their last fights.

Mir lost his last 3, AO his last 2.
Moreover, AO was supposed to be this #1 HW, and is probably paid as such.
Mir has been a top contender so many times, besides being ex-champ, that I am SURE he makes good money when he fights.

That is why both are in danger of being cut.

Okami is still on positive record EVEN when you try to pick his last 10 fights.

But 29-8 is still way better than 16-8 or 36-13... if you want to compare overall career-wise.

So even then you are wrong.

And just because you hate him, it doesn't make him a bad fighter. :redface:


Besides, even if I'd agree with your stupid points, he is still top 10 according to UFC's own ranking system.

If they want to make room for better fighters, than they should take the REAL underperformers. the BOTTOM of their own list. Then add the new guys, and if the new guys are better than Okami, they would push him further down. THEN you could cut him.

Not when he is on your own top 10

 

[awymore]

The UFC is in the business of putting on title fights. To their credit, they will give a boring fighter like Okami or Fitch a title fight if they've earned it. If it is obvious, however, that they will never get another shot at the title, how does it benefit the UFC to keep them. It simply limits the number of other title contenders from which they can pull.

 

[Bigj383]

Aye, the biggest problem with the UFC is this... It's a sports promotion not a sports organization.

To solve this problem, fighters need to be independent and not employed by the UFC. A fight card should be built based on established rankings and the purse pre-determined based on ranking with bonuses paid by gate and PPV so the fighters on the card all equally benefit from their marketability.

The UFC has no interest in allowing MMA promoted by them to be a legitimate sport because they lose control of the image and to some degree their brand.

So you are saying MMA should be more like boxing? A clusterfuck of titles across half a dozen sanctioning bodies in like 30 weightclasses. Where fighters are protected and hand pick opponents giving fans a real interesting fight maybe once a year and an interesting cards are even more rare.

Being cut is the best thing to happen to Okami and Fitch because when UFC had them nobody gave half a shit about either one. Now they are the big fish in what ever small pond they go to not in the ocean surrounded by sharks.

 

[kflo]

yet they claim to be "the NFL of MMA"...

You fail, sorry.

...but then again, didn't expect much... zombies are not known for their brain power and good analogy. They are only known for being single-minded focused on one thing... and Zuffa Zombies are only looking on "how does that make sense FOR UFC"???

try making sense.

the ufc is the premier mma org. they are not a league like the nfl, and don't claim to be a league like the nfl.

now, i'm sure you won't be capable of processing this so you will instead respond by completely not addressing it again.

maybe your brain should start asking what makes sense for the ufc when trying to understand the things the ufc does. is it just more fun to simply get mad all the time instead?

 

[XgenTapOut]

yes, the solution to making mma more credible is to get rid of the ufc! watch the sport flourish!

I didn't mean it that way at all. They just need to modify their model and stop trying to own a fighters image and contract. Essentially Dana has taken the Don King sports promotion model to an entire sport not just a group of fighters.

The UFC has been good for the sport but they control to much IMO.

 

[XgenTapOut]

So you are saying MMA should be more like boxing? A clusterfuck of titles across half a dozen sanctioning bodies in like 30 weightclasses. Where fighters are protected and hand pick opponents giving fans a real interesting fight maybe once a year and an interesting cards are even more rare.

Being cut is the best thing to happen to Okami and Fitch because when UFC had them nobody gave half a shit about either one. Now they are the big fish in what ever small pond they go to not in the ocean surrounded by sharks.

No... See my comment above.

 

[Face Stab]

Ridiculous counter point.

What has happened here isnt akin to a team releasing a player.

Its akin to the NFL releasing the Philadelphia Eagles.

Do you say shit this unbelievably stupid every day, or is it a special occasion and you're trying extra hard? I suggest thinking before you type. Pounding on the keyboard and hoping for the best isn't working out for you.


A team in the NFL isn't replaceable. The Jaguars are hopelessly awful this season. But what is the NFL going to replace the Jaguars with? An especially promising Arena Football team?

Not you fucking idiot.

That's because there is no NFL level entity in MMA, that is the higher level organization for a group of organizations. The UFC is its own team. It has its players. It just turns out that its players play against eachother instead of together. It is the direct employer of its players. Like I said, and I'll say it again in the vain hope that there's a break in your stupid storm and this message makes it through, the NFL does not employ any players. It does not choose the rosters. The teams do. The NFL simply sets up the games, dictates the rules, and assists with promotion. If you can find an organization in MMA that tells the MMA organizations what fights to make and what fighters to employ, and then helps to promote those fights, let the rest of us know.

Until then, your best bet is to shut the fuck up. You'll sound smarter that way.