The Sunday Junkie: April 14 edition

MMAjunkie.com readers came out in full force this week for The Sunday Junkie while discussing everything from The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale to Cat Zingano‘s big win to Uriah Hall‘s disappointing loss to Matt Mitrione‘s recent suspension.

In fact, Mitrione’s suspension, which followed his comments about transgender fighter Fallon Fox, prompted a flood of entries, both in support and against Mitrione.

This week’s winner of our weekly reader-feedback feature, New York’s Timothy Gilbert, explained why Mitrione’s suspension wasn’t about a matter of opinion, but rather, about respect for a fellow human being.

For his winning entry, Timothy wins a free one-year subscription to “Fighters Only” magazine, the world’s leading MMA and lifestyle magazine.

Want to submit to next week’s edition of The Sunday Junkie? Scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions.

Also, as a reminder, please be sure to include your hometown and stick within the 150-word limit (and include your submission in the body of an email, not in an attachment). Many quality submissions this week didn’t meet those minimum guidelines and couldn’t be considered for publication.

(Pictured: Cat Zingano)

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MITRIONE’S SUSPENSION NOT A MATTER OF OPINION

There are many opinions surrounding transgender fighter Fallon Fox, and whether you support her cause or vehemently oppose it, the fight community needs to remember that Fox is still a human being. The statements made by Matt Mitrione weren’t simply matters of opinion; “Meathead” was attacking Fox on a personal level, using his recognition to call names and pass rumors on an international scale. When professional fighters speak to the press, they are also speaking for the company they fight for, a responsibility all athletes recognize. Mitrione’s comment that Fox is a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak” was nothing short of a verbal attack, and it very easily could have been avoided. It’s not about whether or not you think Fox should be allowed to fight women. It’s the idea that angry, hateful speech is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Timothy Gilbert
Long Island, N.Y.

FALLON FOX GETTING TOO MUCH ATTENTION

I applaud Fallon Fox for gathering attention for her 15 minutes of fame. I posted this on another blog, but I say ask a female who has undergone gender reassignment to compete against a male in any sport. There is a reason why we have not heard or seen this. I know a female who has undergone gender reassignment. He is clearly not on the level of a man who is a “man.” No offense to Fox, but has she ever competed in MMA as a man? If she loved the sport so much, why has she chosen to compete as a female and fight females after a transgender reassignment? I believe that we are giving this situation too much attention. She knows there is an advantage. We know there is an advantage. That is common sense. In today’s society we tend to favor the person who is being discriminated against. Sometimes it is true, sometimes it is not.

JC “Devarr”
Palm Bay, Fla.

MITRIONE ENDANGERS CAREER, UFC’S IMAGE WITH THOUGHTLESSNESS

There’s disagreeing with the fact that a person who was born male wants to compete in a female division, and then there’s calling a transgender a freak, a sociopath and refusing to recognize their legal gender. Matt Mitrione is an idiot, plain and simple. I don’t personally agree that Fox should be allowed to compete against women. The differences between male and female bone structure can’t be changed by hormone treatment. However, Mitrione is talking about things his brain can’t contemplate, that someone can be born with the brain makeup of the opposite sex. To call her “him” repeatedly is bad enough, but to continue with a list of slurs is hate speech. Mitrione’s comments endanger a lot of goodwill that the UFC has sown recently in the LGBT community and could affect the way media presents MMA as a whole. I believe he received an appropriate punishment.

Craig Speer
Central Coast, NSW, Australia

LET’S CUT THE CRAP WITH FALLON FOX

I find it insulting that we have to treat the Fallon Fox topic with kid gloves. It seems like everyone is more worried about being PC and not “offending” anyone than actually discussing how wrong it is what Fox is doing. I’m not going to be so crude as to call Fox a “he” since I know she wants to be a “she,” but as a Christian and a parent, I find it appalling that we would even pretend to condone such an immoral lifestyle. Rather than worrying about getting Fox a fight or infringing on her supposed rights, why don’t we just get her the mental help she obviously needs? Something is wrong with Fox on a fundamental level, and we just pretend that’s not the case. This whole sport has become way too liberal and PC for me. We’re letting the real men get run out of it.

“theconductor”
San Antonio, Texas

MITRIONE NEEDS TO GET REAL

Never has a nickname been more appropriate than Matt Mitrione’s pseudonym of “Meathead.” He went on a bizarrely hate-filled tirade against transgender fighter Fallon Fox during an interview on The MMA Hour. His contract was rightly suspended after he called Fox a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak.” What did he think was the best-case scenario that could follow such prejudice? Whatever your opinion is on the participation of a transgender fighter competing against women doesn’t matter in the slightest. What matters is that the UFC is not a sleazy bar in which guys can just say what they want. It is an organization, a company with a code of conduct. Hopefully it was a lapse of judgement because I struggle to believe that somebody can be as dumb as to think that it was a good idea to do what Mitrione did.

Darragh Murphy
Cork, Ireland

WOMEN’S MMA IN BETTER STANDING THAN EVER BEFORE

Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate provided fans with an absolute thriller on Saturday night at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale. Ronda Rousey overcame adversity against Liz Carmouche in a thoroughly entertaining fight that introduced women inside the octagon. Shannon Knapp is putting on great fights over at Invicta FC, not to mention Rose Namajunas‘ incredible flying armbar on this past week’s card. And despite not getting a great deal of exposure in North America, Jewels MMA in Japan is another all-female promotion that puts on entertaining scraps. Many believed that the demise of Strikeforce would put WMMA in serious danger, but WMMA is in better standing than ever before. The first two female bantamweight fights in the UFC were spectacular, and it is safe to say a large percentage of the haters have disappeared. Pat Barry said on camera that women fights are usually the best one’s on the card; that statement couldn’t have been more accurate.

Alex Giardini
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

SEXIST PAY IN THE UFC?

I couldn’t help but notice the fighter salaries for TUF 17 Finale and saw that Cat Zingano made a base salary of $7,000 (with her bonus, $14,000). If this is an accurately reported number by MMAjunkie.com, it makes me wonder why a woman is making a $1,000 less than a man starting out in the UFC whose typical base pay is $8,000. Without all the facts, I don’t want to rush to judgment against the UFC. But I would hope that if the UFC is serious about women’s MMA, that it would treat both upstart men and women equally in terms of base pay. After all, they’re both doing the exact same job.

“Damian S.”
Los Angeles, Calif.

URIAH HALL’S FUTURE SUCCESS DEPENDS ON GROUND GAME

The Uriah Hall freight train came to a screeching halt on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale as Kelvin Gastelum exposed his weak takedown defense and ground game. Hall, who came into the fight a heavy favorite, seemed like he had trouble getting going. Gastelum working within the clinch and going for frequent takedowns made Hall hesitant and essentially neutralized his dangerous standup. Hall has the talent and athleticism to contend for the middleweight title but first has to work to stuff takedowns and mix it up by putting his opponents on their back from time to time. A Uriah Hall with a solid grappling game could be unstoppable.

“JJ”
New Rochelle, N.Y.

IT’S NOT ABOUT HALL’S SHORTCOMINGS; IT’S ABOUT GASTELUM’S STRENGTHS

Uriah Hall had the hype, but Kelvin Gastelum has the victory. The UFC has heavily hyped Hall as possibly the best fighter to ever come out of “The Ultimate Fighter” house, and his fan base has grown as much as the expectations of greatness. Hall may have come up short in his bid to become a “TUF” champ on Saturday night, but not because he was mentally broken or showboating too much. He was beaten by a man who wanted it more. Gastelum has shown in each fight that he not only has the raw athleticism to beat any man, but the determination to always improve and never give up. Hall’s loss was not about his shortcomings, but about an under-hyped underdog who has always delivered when called upon. The Uriah Hall hype train was not so much as derailed, but held aside so the Kelvin Gastelum hype train can finally get the steam it deserves.

Matt Sigers
Austin, Texas

URIAH HALL IS NO Anderson Silva

The comparisons between Anderson Silva and Uriah Hall before the TUF 17 Finale seemed a little too premature. But guess what: There are plenty of similarities. Hall came out just like Silva, dropped his hands, and withstood a barrage from the underdog and seemed to be coping with what Kevin Gastelum was throwing. He took shot after shot and still looked like the more dangerous of both the fighters, despite being on his back. However, the difference between Hall and Silva is that “Spider” is able to back up his cockiness. Despite dropping his hands, Silva pushes the pace and comes up big in future rounds. Hall thought he could, but he did not anticipate the great game plan from Gastelum. Hall seems like a gracious fighter outside the cage, but his actions yesterday shows that inside the cage that he was even on his own bandwagon. He is not Anderson Silva, nor will he be for a long time.

Sean Cowley
Hong Kong

WILL HALL ALSO FAIL TO LIVE UP TO THE HYPE?

You could almost see this happening before the fight even started. Dana White has hyped up and praised Uriah Hall for weeks now, calling him the “scariest guy” in “The Ultimate Fighter” history. I watched that fight, and Hall looked anything but scary. I believe that Hall has finally bought into all the hype that everyone had been feeding him all season long, and it finally caught up with him. He was a different fighter in this fight. Hall seemed to have lost his “killer” instinct and was interested in acting more like Anderson Silva than going out and winning. Dana White has done this twice now with guys from “TUF,” and it has not worked out so well in the past. I believe it was Phillipe Nover who was touted by White to be the “next Anderson Silva” a few seasons ago, and Nover was exposed and completely washed out of the UFC. The problem with hype is that fighters can very rarely live up to it. Nover, Hector Lombard, even Brock Lesnar – very few fighters ever live up to the hype and oftentimes fall completely short. Is Hall next on the list?

“TheProdigy8199?
Worcester, Mass.

WHITE’S OPINIONS SHOULDN’T INFLUENCE HONEST EVALUATIONS

Dana White and the UFC should be more honest in the evaluations of fighters. For weeks Uriah Hall has been hailed as a future middleweight champion and as already having a contender status. However, his past two fights, the “TUF 17? semifinals and final, have emphasized that he does not possess an adequate grappling or ground game to compete with top contenders in the middleweight division. While his striking obviously appeals to the fans of the “exciting fight,” such as White, it is clear that top level grapplers in the division would have no problem holding Hall down and grinding out a submission or TKO victory. The UFC is the highest level of MMA a fighter can hope to reach, and its president and promoters should be more honest and rounded in their evaluation of a fighter instead of focusing on what makes Dana go “Sh#* this guys nasty.”

Sam Jackson
Croydon, England

“TUF 17? BROUGHT BACK WHAT’S IMPORTANT: GOOD FIGHTING

Over the past five or so seasons, “The Ultimate Fighter” has been condemned for having a stale format lacking fresh entertainment value. However after Season 17, the fire has been ignited again, and the talk stopped for now, yet the show’s format has remained the same. So why the sudden change in attitude? Clearly the main difference is the fights we have been watching both in the show and at the finale every season, with Season 17 giving us the fresh take on the show that we really needed. It`s not a live fight each week or more drama in the house that makes a good show about fighting. Clearly all that is needed is good fighting.

Dan Bolarinho
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Travis Browne RIGHT BACK IN THE MIX

With his impressive KO of a legit challenger in Gabriel Gonzaga, Travis Browne should be recognized as a contender once again. He was on a fast track before being stopped by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. In that fight he injured his leg while attempting to land a kick, and that no doubt contributed to his defeat. He stopped Gonzaga with nasty elbows up against the cage. Yes, a few were to the back of the head, and I agree those are dangerous blows, but sometimes in a fight your opponent moves his head, and it cannot be avoided. Right now the big dogs at heavyweight are Cain Velasquez, “Bigfoot”, Mark Hunt, Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier and Fabricio Werdum. I see no reason why “Hapa” should not be included in the conversation with the top guys in the world at heavyweight. He is a perfect example of someone who is quiet but dangerous. I’m excited to see who is up next for the big Hawaiian.

Randy “RANBX” Neidich
Mt. Vernon, N.Y.

UFC SHOULD AWARD BONUSES FOR ALL FINISHES

The UFC should follow the example it set for itself on “The Ultimate Fighter” and award bonuses for all finishes on fight nights. Just like on the most recent season of “TUF,” the UFC should give out $5,000 bonuses for every stoppage. The UFC wants a more exciting product? Then offer more than just one KO and Submission of the Night bonus. Keep the bonuses they already have but up the stakes. Some fighters don’t go for the kill because they only see it ending badly. Competing against almost a dozen other fighters, some don’t like their chances at a finish and don’t “go for it.” People complain about lay-and-pray fighters, but we would see fewer of them if they knew they had a better chance at some cash money. The UFC can afford it. They should do it.

Russ Jones
Rockaway, N.J.

HOW TO SUBMIT: Do you have an idea for next week’s edition of “The Sunday Junkie?” Send your submission of 150 words or fewer (no attachments please) to sundayjunkie @ mmajunkie.com with your full name or nickname, your hometown (city and state), a valid email address and a phone number (not to be published). Incomplete submissions will not be considered for publication. Only one submission per week is suggested, but we’ll consider multiple entries if they’re submitted separately. All submissions must be received by Sunday at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT).