By Ryan Young
The fight game is an interesting business.
While mixed martial arts is undoubtedly a sport, it’s unique because of the UFC’s pay-per-view format and the need to promote fighters as interesting characters outside of the fact they beat people up for a living.
Needless to say, when half of your job is selling tickets sometimes the things that come out of one’s mouth can have many intended purposes or meanings and could/should be interpreted with that in mind.
Knowing that, the intention of this article is to pull recent quotes from those engrained in the MMA community and break them down a little more in depth.
Obviously, these are my own opinions as I can’t speak on behalf the individuals who made these statements… but I can certainly try to read between the lines.
In our third installment we look Eddie Alvarez’s ongoing legal battle with Bellator, Diego “He Must Be Dreaming” Sanchez’s title aspirations, and Bruce Buffer’s love life.
Here’s what people are really saying…
1. Eddie Alvarez sent out a few tweets on Thursday in regards to his ongoing legal battle with Bellator that has kept him out of action since
What he said: “I want to see this thing through and Let the truth come out in the End”
“Ill be Training as if I have a fight No matter what the circumstances…Miami has Unsanctioned fights somewhere for Cash, Told my wife I might need to take the drive down there on the Weekend 2 stay sharp.”
What he’s really saying: “I want to be absolutely 100 per cent done competing for Bellator even if it means fighting Joe Schmo in the basement where they filmed Fight Club.”
What that means: Things are getting to get worse before they get better.
Alvarez seems convinced that Bellator isn’t giving him the deal he feels he deserves and, unsurprisingly, he’s willing to fight for it even if this time his battle is in a courtroom instead of a cage. Regardless of the case’s outcome, at this point it’s hard to envision a world in which Alvarez and Bjorn Rebney could return to their buddy-buddy relationship of the past and play nicely together moving forward.
The fact that Alvarez is even referencing fighting in an unsanctioned bout, which has to be heavily frowned upon despite hopefully being sarcastic, shows how truly fed up he is with the whole process and Bellator.
2. UFC veteran Diego Sanchez, who will fight at UFC 164 in August against an opponent yet to be determined, gave his thoughts on current UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson during an interview on MMAJunkie.com Radio on Tuesday.
What he said: “He’s strong, but in the Gilbert fight, he didn’t try to do one takedown the whole fight, which I think a champion would see, ‘I’m not dominating this fight in the stand-up, so let’s work for something else. Let’s try to change it up and at least get some points. At least try to win some rounds more convincingly, the way he did with Jim Miller. But he was just very content in his striking style and throwing the kicks. I saw it as a mediocre performance, and I think I can get in there and beat this guy.”
What he’s really saying: “I may have been around for a while but I’m back at lightweight and I still deserve some respect.”
What that means: It’s his “Dream”; let him have it.
While I have no issue with the 31-year-old’s confidence and right to speak his mind, questioning your division champion’s last performance after coming off a mediocre split-decision win over Takanori Gomi yourself doesn’t really hold that much weight.
I understand that Sanchez is self-promoting himself and to be fair he’s a one-time lightweight title challenger who still has a very respectable record, but I would have liked to have seen him possibly tone down the criticism of Henderson until he has another win or two under his belt back at 155 pounds.
Then again, if recent history tells us anything, calling out a champion can sometimes be more useful in securing a title shot then getting actual wins.
3. UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer spoke with Ariel Helwani on MMAFighting.com’s the MMA Hour on Monday about his love life stemming from a Fighters Only magazine article delving into the topic.
What he said: Buffer: “Well if you think all I do is walk into the octagon then walk out, go home and read a book you have a misconception of me. I have never said that I’m a playboy. You’ve never ever heard me talk about myself like that…”
Helwani: “But it oozes out of you.”
Buffer: “Well then maybe I’m a sensual guy, I don’t know what to tell you.”
What he’s really saying: “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”
What that means: Bruce Buffer probably deserves a high-five from every man walking the planet.
If you weren’t already jealous of Bruce, now the voice of Octagon has suddenly inherited the mystique of a man out poppin’ bottles and kissin’ models.
Obviously not all of his rumoured escapades can be confirmed but I’ll tell you this – his dining partner at the fighter’s hotel the night before UFC 158 in Montreal wasn’t too hard on the eyes.
… Still owe him that high-five.
Ryan Young is a regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s MMA section. Follow him on Twitter @YoungRyan4.
