Twitter Mailbag: Best, worst moments of 2015 (and suggested resolution for 2016)

Robbie Lawler

In the last Twitter Mailbag of 2015, we look back at the best and worst MMA moments of the year – plus make a New Year’s resolution and discuss what just happened in Japan.

Got a question of your own? Tweet it to @BenFowlkesMMA.

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The short answer is: somewhere behind Georges St-Pierre. Of course, you could say the same thing about every welterweight who’s ever strapped on a pair of four-ounce gloves.

As of right now, Robbie Lawler’s championship history includes a narrow loss and then a narrow win over Johny Hendricks – plus a dramatic victory over Rory MacDonald in a grueling, amazing fight.

Beating Carlos Condit at UFC 195 would further bolster that resume. Finishing him would be even better. But it’s going to take a lot to dislodge GSP atop that list of welterweight greats.

With a couple more wins, however, especially in the vicious fashion with which Lawler is so familiar? He might just pull ahead of his old friend Matt Hughes.

It’s mostly an indication that media members would prefer to get their work done in advance and spend some time with family and friends over the holidays. But sure, you look at the Rizin Fight Federation lineup and you don’t see too many potential “Fighter of the Year” candidates who demand inclusion on year-end lists. (Although I guess Jaideep Singh could have, in theory, been in the running for “Upset of the Year.”)

Still, I think you might be applying an unfair metric here. Rizin is a brand new promotion trying to get a jump start from Japanese MMA’s past while also, or so it claims, building some sort of bridge to its future. And the stuff that plays well in Japan – elaborate opening ceremonies, Bob Sapp getting tired, Kazushi Sakuraba taking an unconscionable beating, Fedor Emelianenko beating up a tomato can – isn’t the same stuff that makes year-end lists over here.

In other words, yes, there’s some silly stuff going on in Rizin this week. Then again, a similar brand of silly stuff (though maybe in smaller doses) helped make PRIDE so unique.

That doesn’t mean Rizin is on its way to a PRIDE revival, but with all the good stuff from those days either locked in with other organizations or else aged past its expiration date, I can’t blame Rizin for doubling down on the available freak show elements while trying to gain a foothold.

Plus, from Muhammad Lawal to crazy light shows and grand executive entrances, I can’t say there weren’t some fun moments. I just wish I could have back the time I spent watching a team of people towel blood off Akebono.

How about a joint resolution for both the UFC and Reebok: Please, please, please come up with some greater variety in the gear that fighters wear into the cage.

You don’t have to work your designers overtime to come up with individualized designs for every single fighter, including “TUF” finalists and octagon newcomers (though, just saying, that is pretty much exactly what you originally led us to believe you would do). All we really need is some options aside from white-on-black and black-on-white. From certain angles, you can’t even tell the fighters are wearing different shorts. Depending on who the fighters are, you might not even be able to tell that they’re different people.

In a sport driven by individual flair and the charisma of a select few stars, bland uniformity is the enemy. It also just looks awful. Please change it. There are so many colors to choose from. Pick, I don’t know, four of them. And no, white doesn’t count.

Maybe this is just on my mind because Lawler is set to defend his UFC welterweight title this week, but I think my favorite single moment of 2015 might have come in his second fight with MacDonald at UFC 189.

It was the end of the fourth round. Both men had been beaten bloody, and both had seemed close to ending the fight at various points. They were clearly exhausted, but as the horn sounded to end the round and Lawler sprayed blood from his broken mouth, both just stood there. MacDonald, his face hidden behind a deep red mask, stared at Lawler. And Lawler, with a forced jack-o-lantern grin, stared right back.

We know how the fight would end a few minutes later, which brought its own beautiful, terrible moment in the immediate aftermath.

But you go back now and watch them, back before they knew how it would end, and you see them staring each other down instead of using the brief break between rounds to get some needed rest and medical care. You see them both refusing to back down or look away. You see this moment of almost childlike stubbornness in an epic clash of wills. That’s when you’re reminded that there’s more at stake than money and titles.

As for my least favorite moment, I have to go with the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s treatment of Nick Diaz. In a surprising twist, Diaz showed up with competent representation ready to make a compelling case in response to allegations of a failed drug test at UFC 183. Anyone who’s watched a few of these commission meetings knows how seldom that happens.

But what did the NSAC do, when confronted with someone who took his own defense seriously? It shrugged him off and ignored the evidence – at times literally laughing in response to valid objections – all before handing down a severe punishment that did not remotely fit the alleged infraction. It was an obvious abuse of power, and a clear indicator that some of this sport’s regulators are in need of some regulation themselves.

I can’t say it’s hurting the UFC’s image since no one outside the good old MMA bubble even seems to notice this stuff. Either they don’t care that the UFC President is spending his time making fun of people’s Twitter profile pics, or else they regard it as old news that is now too common to be interesting.

But you can’t compare Dana White to commissioners in major pro sports leagues for the same reasons you can’t compare MMA to professional baseball. Other pro sports commissioners are more like CEOs answerable to a variety of powerful shareholders. White is more like a carnival barker answerable only to his wealthy friends whose bottom line he’s tasked with looking after. His job is less to present an image of class and decorum than it is to shout loud enough that he can’t be ignored.

Plus, at this point I think anyone who’s been paying attention knows exactly what White and the UFC think of both fans and the media. As far as they’re concerned, fight fans are “real” or “true” only insofar as they give the UFC their money and keep their complaints to themselves.

And the media? UFC executives see it as a tool to promote their product. They think it’s good when it serves that function, and bad when it does anything else. Not that that should surprise us. Salesmen demanding media coverage that’s more conducive to sales is a very old story, and one that’s likely to continue.

I don’t think the tepid promotion of Andrei Arlovski vs. Stipe Miocic is a statement on the matchup or its importance. As you point out, it could very well decide the next UFC heavyweight title challenger, and it’ll probably be a lot of fun to watch for however long it lasts.

The problem is, we’re still caught in the wake of that UFC 194 hangover. It was such a blockbuster event, and so close to the holiday season and the year’s end, when people’s attention turns however briefly to things other than organized violence, that it’s tough to get them to remember two big guys who will soon fight for uncertain stakes. So there you go. There are some words about it.

The way Ronda Rousey has been talking, her proposed rematch with Holly Holm could be a make-or-break deal. But Rousey isn’t Gina Carano, and I have a hard time seeing her turn off that competitive drive all at once.

If she loses to Holm again, she might go away for a while. She might even believe that it’s goodbye forever. But then she’ll get an offer in another year or two, probably with a nice paycheck for an easier fight, and she’ll remember that she kind of liked beating people up for money.

Even without her, though, I don’t think the women’s 135-pound division is doomed. The women’s strawweight class has no one with Rousey’s star power. It’s still a lot of fun to watch, and only getting more so.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA. Twitter Mailbag appears every Thursday on MMAjunkie.