UFC DOESN’T SHY AWAY FROM CONTROVERSY
MMA organization opens things up at session for fans before Ottawa show
Picture this, if you will.
On the eve of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL trots out several of its most outspoken players — maybe they’re injured, perhaps their teams didn’t qualify for the playoffs — and opens the door to the arena for fans to ask questions.
There is a league public relations officer in place, but nothing is off-limits, including the outspoken players’ reactions to the dirty hits of another player or what a rival player is really like away from the rink. Many of the fans, by the way, have been nourished with beer or energy drinks.
After all that, the players in the next day’s game are introduced to the crowd. It would never happen, right? Well, it does happen in the UFC. Friday at TD Place, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman (not to be confused with Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Wideman) was joined onstage by PR rep Jon Anik and fellow engaging fighters Aljamain Sterling and Stevie Ray, doing their part to promote Saturday’s UFC card.
Then came the weigh-in, one six-pack followed by another, in front of the equally scantily clad octagon girls.
The UFC is not everybody’s cup of tea. It’s raw. It’s bloody. It’s full of broken noses, kicks to the head and, sometimes, disjointed and dangling body parts. It taps into base instincts and brings to mind old school, win-at-all-costs gladiator fighting.
UFC mega boss Dana White is a control freak, and it’s sometimes hard to see past the tattoos. (What exactly is that work of art on the chest of Sean O’Connell?)
It is, however, a sporting entity that understands how to sell to its base.
Consider Friday’s Q-and-A, which could carry an R rating for language. For instance, Weidman, part promoter, part comedian, part Everyman, used the same unsuitable-for-newspaper language as the fan asking the question, left no doubt about his disgust for fellow middleweight foes Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold. Hint: The word begins with D and ends with “bag.”
The fighter panel also weighed into other controversial topics, including concussions, financial security for fighters and drugs in the sport.
“I still think there are a lot of guys cheating,” said Sterling.
Asked about his saying-how-itis approach, which rubs some the wrong way, Sterling shrugged his shoulders.
“I have fun with it. I guess I express my passion for sport in different avenues,” he said. “As for being opinionated, I’m going to be me. It’s kind of a love-it-or-hate-it thing.”
That’s kind of UFC in a nutshell, isn’t it?
The sport is full of diehards, but it’s a sport that many can’t — and won’t ever — stomach.
SUNNY DAY FOR UFC
UFC fans basked in the sunshine for the fan village outside the Aberdeen Pavilion on Friday, given a chance to hit punching bags and test their cardio skills relative to UFC fighters. Shocking revelation: the conditioning of most fans is a tad different from Saturday’s competitors.
Fans also lined up for autographs and selfies with Weidman, Sterling, Ray and Octagon girl Chrissy Blair.
“I’ve been a fan since UFC 1,” said Joe Tenn, who checked out the action with his brother, Gilbert.
“It’s cool Ottawa is putting on a show. Usually you have to go to Toronto or Montreal to see something like this.” “Or Vegas,” added Gilbert. The Tenn brothers also relished the opportunity to pose with the calendar girl Blair.
“My next girlfriend,” said Gilbert.
We would have loved the opportunity to talk to Blair about doing her part to promote the sport, but that was a no-go, according to the UFC police on hand. Then again, the over-thetop media control shouldn’t be all that surprising. This is the same organization that suspended famed reporter Ariel Helwani for daring to break the news that Brock Lesnar was returning to the UFC and for speculating that fighters might leave for other MMA organizations as free agents.
After much public outcry, the suspension was overturned last week.
OCTAGON BOYS, ANYONE?
Caroline Chapman, visiting from Brackley in the United Kingdom, is a huge fight fan and trains at home as a kick-boxer.
As much as she enjoys the action, she has a suggestion about those who hold the cards between rounds.
“I’m a bit of a feminist, I guess,” she said. “Maybe we should have some guys up there once in a while.”