Twitter Mailbag: Matt Brown's perma-underdog status, NSAC hearing fallout, more

Between fight bookings, state athletic commission hearings, injury replacements, and – oh yeah – an actual barn-burner of a UFC on FOX event this weekend, there’s plenty to discuss in this week’s Twitter Mailbag.

Also in this week’s TMB, we’re giving away a free UFC magazine subscription to one lucky question-asker. How are we deciding who wins? I haven’t figured that part out yet, but I will. Keep reading to find out more.

You can ask a question of your own by tweeting @BenFowlkesMMA, or just follow along and enjoy the fun from the shadows, like a total creep.

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@benfowlkesMMA Brown is the underdog… again. When will people start believing in this guy, or is it better they underestimate him? #TMB—
Bill Lavoy (@RumpoPlays) July 23, 2014

Good question. I feel like, as much as I enjoy watching Matt Brown fight, and as much as my perception of him has changed in recent years, I’m also still guilty of underestimating the guy at times. Even in this fight, which I expect will be every bit as good as this fan-made fight poster suggests, I’m still picking Robbie Lawler to win.

Why? Do Brown’s past losses make it so impossible to believe that he’s an elite welterweight? Do we not believe in growth and development? As much as we like to talk about martial arts discipline and technique, are we just like any other sports fans who think you’re either born with the tools to be a great athlete or you aren’t?

I don’t know, but I do like the way Brown’s continued bucking of the odds makes us question all this. Thing is, though, imagine he beats Lawler. Imagine he comes in as a 3-1 underdog, wins via first-round knockout, then takes on champ Johny Hendricks for the welterweight strap. Wouldn’t he still be an underdog in that fight, too? Almost certainly. But say he beats Hendricks, too. Then say Georges St-Pierre returns to get his belt back. Guess what, Matt Brown? Underdog time again.

Maybe that’s just the role he’s doomed to play. There are worse ones, honestly.

@benfowlkesMMA what are your high and low points after today's NAC hearing?—
John-Jo Carter (@dreadhead1336) July 23, 2014

A high point was hearing Chael Sonnen admit that he is guilty and ashamed, this time without trying to muddy the issue with senseless excuses and obviously false claims. The low point was pretty much everything that happened with Vitor Belfort.

What bothered me about the Belfort situation was not so much that he got licensed in the end, but rather how the commissioners got there. Aside from his own written statement, there was virtually no mention of his previous positive steroid test in Nevada – which Belfort naturally attributed to either a tainted supplement or a medical treatment, because why offer one cliche excuse when you can offer two? The commissioners also seemed to gloss over the question of why Belfort was using synthetic testosterone in the first place, and how, if he’s supposedly suffering from naturally-occurring, chronically low testosterone, he’ll manage to safely fight the champion of the world in five months’ time.

Didn’t we just finish hearing, from UFC President Dana White and from Sonnen, that going cold turkey off TRT was dangerously unhealthy? So why didn’t they press Belfort to find out how he’s managed it, assuming he has? Why didn’t they ask what he’s doing to treat that dreaded hypogonadism disorder that’s afflicting him? Presumably it didn’t cure itself in the five months since he got off the juice.

If anything, injecting synthetic testosterone for years (sometimes at twice the normal dose, according to Belfort’s own testimony) would diminish a man’s capacity for normal, natural testosterone production. You’re telling me this guy used to have a legitimate medical issue that necessitated the use of powerful performance-enhancing drugs, but now that those are illegal, he’s totally fine? You’re telling me the commissioners weren’t even curious about these questions?

The one bright spot there was the decision to make Belfort pay for his own enhanced testing at the behest of the commission. Hopefully the NSAC makes good use of that and tests him often, and for everything from testosterone to HGH and EPO, between now and December. Ordering him to leave the building and go directly to a testing facility right then might have been a good step in that direction, but alas, the commissioners were more concerned with being Belfort’s new best friends. How encouraging.

@benfowlkesMMA How bad does it look to not even wait till Vitor's out of the building before announcing he's in a title fight?—
Logan Smith (@LoganasaurusRex) July 23, 2014

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that was weird. According to the timeline presented by Belfort and his attorney, he met with the UFC before this hearing and was verbally offered a title fight against Chris Weidman in Las Vegas this December. Kind of presumptuous, considering he’d been caught with elevated testosterone levels in the same state where he’d also once popped positive for steroids, so a suspension certainly didn’t seem out of the question, but whatever.

Then Belfort shows up at the hearing, faces a line of questioning that went from conciliatory to bizarrely friendly, and boom, he’s got a license and the UFC has a title fight.

Stuff like that only fuels speculation that the UFC knows how these hearings will end before they start. Whether that’s the case or not, it’s not a good look for the UFC. Just this past week White was saying he could envision a Belfort-Weidman title fight in Brazil. Now it’s changed to Las Vegas, where it’ll bring in a lot of money, and wouldn’t you know it, the commissioners there are all for it.

Meanwhile, when it comes to Sonnen, who is likely done fighting either way, the only thing for the commissioners to decide is whether to issue a two-year suspension or a lifetime ban. I agree with Brian Stann here: “ … when it comes to disciplinary measures, consistency is extremely important.”

What we saw from the NSAC on Wednesday was a brand of justice that was entirely inconsistent, favoring the guy who could still make them money while shunning the guy who probably won’t. Not a good look for them, either.

@benfowlkesMMA is it just me or it is way more exciting to see DC vs Jones than a rematch? can the chubby guy beat the bully? #tmb—
Edgar Lazo (@edgarlazo6) July 24, 2014

I don’t know if I’d say it’s way more exciting, and I certainly wouldn’t call Daniel Cormier chubby, at least to his face, but I can’t complain about either Cormier or Alexander Gustafsson as challengers for Jon Jones’ title. I understand why the rematch made sense. Jones and Gustafsson put on the fight of the year in 2013, and it was close. I’m all for doing that one again, brother. But if Gustafsson can’t go, man, it sure doesn’t hurt to have a guy like Cormier waiting in the wings.

Maybe it’d even be fitting if he won the UFC light heavyweight title as a replacement opponent. That’s how he got the Strikeforce belt, after subbing into the grand prix as an alternate and then beating up everyone in front of him.

Will that happen here? It’s a tough one to call, mainly because we don’t know how Cormier will deal with Jones’ size and reach. Cormier’s probably not going to be able to bull his way in and clinch with the champ at will, the way he did to Frank Mir. He’ll have to rely on quickness and footwork, and he’ll probably have to make Jones respect his takedowns just to avoid being picked apart at range on the feet.

If you ask me to call it now, I give the edge to Jones. Not by much, though, which is why this ought to be one hell of a title fight.

Also, congrats, Edgar. You win the UFC magazine subscription, mainly so you’ll have something to read while recovering in the hospital after Cormier beats you up for calling him chubby.

@benfowlkesMMA does ufc 181 appear to be the best rumoured card in a while. Weidman Belfort, Pettis Melendez and maybe rousey Carano.—
Alex Bruyere (@auggie85) July 23, 2014

You had me right up until the end. Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano? The more competitive match-up there would be Carano vs. the weight cut. That’s a money-grabber of a fight for the UFC, and nothing else.

Say Carano won that fight. What then? You think she’d stick around to defend her title for the foreseeable future? You think she sees herself five or three or even two years from now, fighting in the UFC several times a year? Not likely, my friend. She’s looking for a payday, as is the UFC, as is Rousey.

As for Weidman and Belfort, I can’t say I don’t want to see it, but I also can’t say I don’t still feel weird about how Belfort made it to this point. Only Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez is a totally guilt-free legitimate pleasure.

You want to talk about best upcoming fight cards, I think you need look no further than UFC 178. As it stands right now, you’ve got Jones and Cormier for the 205-pound title, the return of Dominick Cruz at bantamweight, Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero at middleweight, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier at featherweight, plus Amanda Nunes and Cat Zingano in the women’s bantamweight division. All legit fights, no doping weirdness (that we know of), and several interesting storylines coming together on one night. Now that’s worth getting excited about.

@benfowlkesMMA Josh Thompson stated he didn't think the heavier weight fighters are true MMA fighters, your thought??—
Aaron Pearson (@aaronpearson4) July 23, 2014

@benfowlkesMMA Are we (mma fans) the most jaded fans? Growing up I was lucky if I could catch a Pride or UFC recording. No one I knew. cont.—
Tyler Shennett (@spithridatesarm) July 23, 2014

@benfowlkesMMA knew who Chuck Liddell was. Now @kennyflorian is on big fox with the hair and Fight Night is on at my inlaws. Being an. cont.—
Tyler Shennett (@spithridatesarm) July 23, 2014

@benfowlkesMMA MMA fan has never ever been sweeter or more promising. Why do we only bitch? #tmb—
Tyler Shennett (@spithridatesarm) July 23, 2014

First of all, we don’t only bitch. We do lots of other things too, like making and sharing hilarious photoshops. Bitching is but one of our favorite activities.

Second of all, do you think this is somehow different from what fans of other sports do? I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to sports talk radio (or, in my experience, worked in an office with co-workers who insist on listening to it without headphones on), but it’s mostly bitching. It’s just that in other sports the complaining is usually limited to specific teams, their coaches and management, their trades/acquisitions or lack thereof, all that stuff. In MMA, we don’t have that. Instead we complain about the state of the sport, drug testing, watered down fight cards, TV ratings and pay-per-view buys, stuff like that.

Some of it is warranted, and some of it even makes a positive difference. I’d argue that all the complaining about the lack of meaningful drug testing in MMA has been the main driver in convincing state athletic commissions to get more serious about it. The complaining about the watered-down cards (and the lack of interest in them) has probably also convinced the UFC to beef up events like UFC 178.

Complaining works. Complaining is how you get what you want. That said, sometimes we can get too caught up in complaining for the sake of complaining. Or, more commonly, sometimes our discussions about real issues simply look like whiny complaining to people who don’t actually care about the issues we’re discussing.

I hear this last point from fans a lot, not surprisingly. They don’t want to think or hear about any of the things that might be wrong with the sport. They just want to turn on the TV and turn off their brains. I get that, but I don’t think the role of the media is to cater to the people who would like to remain blissfully ignorant. Those of us who talk to fighters and coaches and managers, we see the real impacts these issues have on people’s lives. It’s our responsibility to shine a light on it, even if some segment of the fan base would rather not be bothered.

As great as it is that MMA is available in many different forms on many different channels, that doesn’t mean we’re obliged to shut up and be grateful for every little morsel. Yes, it’s cool that the UFC is on FOX. It’s also cool that Lawler and Brown are going to throw down on live network TV this weekend. Back when I was a college student writing angry emails to ESPN, demanding to know why they’d show karate demonstrations and skateboarding tricks but not real, actual fight sports, I could only dream that this would happen.

But let’s not forget that the UFC is a business — a multi-billion dollar corporation, if its own claims are to be believed — and it isn’t doing this as a favor to us or the fighters. It’s doing it to make money. We’re its customers. If we don’t constantly demand that it offer up the best, least dirty and/or corrupt product it’s capable of, why would it ever feel compelled to do so?

@benfowlkesMMA The UFC shows licensing hearings of its athletes. Why they do that? Total transparency? No other program options? 4 fans?—
  (@joelsellsout) July 23, 2014

I’d like to think it’s about transparency, though it’s probably just as much about a need for interesting content on UFC Fight Pass.

The state of MMA is such that disciplinary hearings are as much a part of the landscape as weigh-ins and press conferences. The stuff that happens in those hearings has the ability to alter the arc of the sport. It also allows us to see for ourselves just who these people are who are supposed to be keeping an eye on things. If they’re going to sit there and talk about what good friends of theirs these fighters they’re supposed to be impassively examining are, that’s something we should know about.

@benfowlkesMMA With your great knowledge I have to ask, do you see Conor McGregor beating Poirier in December? #tmb—
Morgan Waltz (@MorganWaltzUFC) July 23, 2014

I’m going to pretend for the moment that the comment about my “great knowledge” was sincere and not a sarcastic dig at my fight-picking record (though I want it noted I’m now firmly out of last place in the MMAjunkie staff pool), so I’ll say: 1) That fight is currently slated for September, not December, and 2) As of right now, I’d have to take Dustin Poirier.

That’s not because I think Conor McGregor’s a bad fighter by any means. I just think Poirier is really, really tough. It ought to be a close fight, and probably a whole lot of fun in both the build-up and the execution. I also think the UFC deserves credit for making this fight and not trying to protect McGregor or milk his stardom before throwing him in against serious competition.

Barring injury, we’re going to find out what the Irishman can do. I couldn’t be any more excited about it.

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

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