Mighty Mouse on refusing to fight TJ - 綜合格鬥 Mixed Martial Arts

原訂UFC 213 co-main event的TJ Dillashaw vs Cody Garbrandt因為Cody的背傷而取消

目前副賽已改成Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker for interim MW title

TJ和Cody兩人吵了老半天也沒打 想必也多少會連累TUF的收視率

這幾天UFC官方開始積極地撮合TJ vs Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson

而且賽事會訂在Flyweight (125lb) 也就是TJ會減重來跟Mighty Mouse打一場

時間可能會訂在8/19的UFC 215 地點則會在Seattle, Washington

Mighty Mouse不久前才降伏了Wilson Reis @UFC on Fox 24

追平了Anderson 'The Spider' Silva的title defense紀錄(10)

原訂下一場對上FW#3的Ray Borg 若再奪下勝利則可達到史無前例的11次成功捍衛腰帶

但想也知道 UFC官方對這個賽事可說是興趣缺缺 Mmoney fight才是他們要的阿!

而TJ vs Mighty Mouse這種跨量級的比賽相較之下才是比較有搞頭的

而且也有比較多話題可以吵 舉例來說 新聞標題可以下:

"Can TJ stop p4p#1 Mighty Mouse from breaking title defense record?"之類的

雖然UFC官方和Dana不斷對外'宣傳'這場賽事

但Mighty Mouse則表示他尚未接受與TJ一戰 目前還是暫訂下一戰是和Ray Borg打

Dana聽到大為光火 在採訪中還用'insanity'來形容Mighty Mouse拒絕與TJ一戰之事

甚至還說"You (Mighty Mouse) don’t make the fights around here, I do."

網路上也不少輿論在說Mighty Mouse之所以不接受是因為擔心怕輸 只想挑簡單的打

畢竟TJ實力明顯比Ray Borg高了一個檔次 而且一旦輸了還連帶失去了破紀錄的機會

也有人反諷說Mighty Mouse不願增重去挑戰其他量級的選手 (其實之前有和Dom打過)

現在前BW冠軍都願意減重和你打了你還不要 這樣還有甚麼資格自稱p4p#1?

甚至有人說Mighty Mouse平常一直靠腰薪水拿太少 現在有這個大好機會又不好好把握

這樣還有甚麼資格要money fight? 還是一輩子待在FW自爽吧!

諸如此類的言論不勝枚舉 風向基本上都是對Mighty Mouse不利

不過今天一向不愛放話的Mighty Mouse似乎也忍受不住了 發表了一段言論解釋一切緣由

包括他和UFC官方的對談以及他為何不願接受這場賽事安排

相關新聞連結如下:

https://goo.gl/2nYUBx

https://goo.gl/Cnonjx

https://goo.gl/W5e8xJ

這篇截錄幾段翻大意 大家有空可以看全文~
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"UFC Matchmaker Mick Maynard called and offered the fight vs. Ray Borg. I
thought [Sergio] Pettis was a more marketable name and on a longer winning
streak. Mick went back to Dana, then came back and told us that I had no
choice, it was going to be Ray Borg, not Pettis, and there were no other
options. That was the command from Dana and company. This would mean that my
only chance at PPV points at flyweight was vs. Ray Borg. I said OK, but it’s
not fair to make that my only chance at PPV points, when Cody Garbrandt is
saying he wants to come down and fight me at flyweight, which was the fight I
wanted. We told Mick that to be fair we would take the fight, but [we] want
PPV points for future fights at flyweight. Mick agreed and said it was fair
and didn’t see any problem with that situation. Mick spoke to Dana and [UFC
matchmaker] Sean Shelby, who then told him to deny giving me any future PPV
points for all of my future flyweight fights. Further, I still had to fight
Ray Borg and they were giving me no other choice."

大力鼠好不容易有PPV的機會 因此偏好Sergio Pettis over Ray Borg

在被Dana拒絕後 改問若他接受此賽事 是否他之後FW能有PPV機會 結果再次被打槍

"I wanted a reason for not being allowed any future PPV points. Sean Shelby
called and told us how smaller fighters don’t sell, that UFC can’t make
stars of anyone, and that a fight between Cody and I wouldn’t be a sellable
fight. We disagreed. I think a fight between Cody and I would be popular if
it was even given a small serving of the marketing efforts put into other big
fights.

UFC has failed to market and promote me appropriately. Prior to my last
fight, where I tied the record for the most consecutive successful title
defenses, we waited to re-post UFC’s social media posts about me from their
Facebook page. There weren't any posts until a few days into fight week,
then, there were a total of two posts. In comparison to others who they
promote across their social media platforms, they failed to do their job in
promoting me and that monumental event. In my recent conversations, Sean and
Dana have confirmed UFC’s lack of desire to put any effort into promoting us."

大力鼠覺得FW之所以關注度這麼低不是因為單純沒人想看矮個子們對戰

而是UFC根本就沒有好好宣傳這個量級 就連先前他追平蜘蛛10 title defenses的紀錄時

官方竟然等了好幾天才發了兩篇文章提到這項創舉 很明顯他們根本對這個量級沒興趣

"With me, the UFC chooses not to market the best fighter in the world and
arguably the greatest fighter of all time. I can’t think of any other sports
organization in the world that has the best player in the sport where the
league, or the organization, doesn’t market that player to their loyal fan
base to sell more of their product. Look at my track record for showing up to
fights. Look at my track record of finishing fights. Look at my track record
of getting fight night bonuses. Ask yourself if you think that if the UFC
decided to truly put marketing dollars behind me that they couldn’t sell me
or my fights."

大力鼠深信以他的成就絕對有行銷的空間 但UFC就是不想把時間花在他身上

"Cody Garbradt injured his back and TJ Dillashaw said he wanted to fight me.
Dana told me he wanted me to fight TJ, which I disagreed with for multiple
reasons. First, TJ has never fought at flyweight and is unlikely to make the
weight, which would then eliminate the possibility of breaking the title
defense record. Second, they have already told me that a fight between Cody
and I wouldn’t be sellable, so fighting TJ would have no monetary upside.
Third, TJ is not a flyweight or a current champion in another weight class
and was KO’ed by the flyweight whom I beat twice already. Last, Ray Borg and
I already agreed to the fight, which UFC tyrannically demanded, while denying
me any future PPV points."

大力鼠給出了拒絕TJ一戰的四個理由:

1. TJ生涯從未在FW出戰過 能成功減重的機率微乎其微

如果TJ不幸減重失敗 大力鼠還因此失去破title defense的機會

2. 官方都說和Cody一戰賣不了PPV了 憑甚麼和TJ打就可以?

3. TJ不僅不在FW 現在也不是任何一個量級的冠軍

而且還被一個他擊敗過兩次的John Dodson給KO過

到底憑甚麼有資格和他打?

4. UFC先前霸道地要求他出戰Ray Borg不得有異議 而且還不保證他之後有PPV機會

現在又再次強行逼他出戰TJ 未免也太不近人情

"After telling Dana my reasons, Dana angrily told me that I am fighting TJ,
once again, with no other option or say in my career, and against the plans
we had previously laid out. He went on further to say that if I didn’t take
the fight against TJ, and drop Borg as the opponent, he would get rid of the
entire flyweight division. He said, this is for TJ and I’m taking away TJ’s
opportunity. That fact that he feels that what I should do in my career is
for TJ, tells where his priority lies."

Dana脅迫大力鼠如果不接受與TJ一戰 他會直接砍掉整個FW division

"We ended by disagreeing and left it there. The next day, Dana went to the
media and announced that I was fighting TJ Dillashaw, in an obvious attempt
to bully me in the media and tarnish my reputation. I posted a short
statement letting people know that I had not agreed to the TJ fight, but had
already agreed to fight Ray Borg, as demanded by UFC.

Dana put up an interview stating that it was “insane” that I didn’t want
to fight TJ, that “he makes the matches and that is the match he is making,”
and, “You tell me why DJ doesn’t want to fight TJ,” trying to make it as
though I am scared or ducking TJ Dillashaw."

這邊提到Dana利用媒體界對他進行輿論霸凌 營造出他'懼戰'的形象

"We told him that since it was guaranteed by TJ and UFC was demanding and
putting me in a bad circumstance, then it is fair that if TJ didn’t make
weight, the fight would be off and I would still get my guarantee, plus TJ’s
guaranteed pay. Mick said that Ray would be on the card and he could fill in
if TJ didn’t make weight. We said, oh, then which one do I train for? I
thought TJ guaranteed he was making weight. Is it a world championship with
the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on earth, or an amateur tournament where I
don’t know who I’m fighting until I get there. Obviously there was no
guarantee and they just wanted to push me to do something that they knew wasn
’t a good choice for my career."

大力鼠提到如果真的要和TJ打 而且官方一直向他保證TJ可以減到125lb

那如果TJ減重失敗 他應該要拿到他自己和TJ那份出場費 不然他的犧牲不就毫無意義了?

結果官方說Ray Borg可以當備胎 如果這種情況發生他可以隨時遞補

大力鼠覺得莫名其妙

那他到底要針對誰做訓練阿?而且這樣不就代表他們根本不敢保證TJ能成功減重嗎?

"This is typical of the unfulfilled promises and bullying that has gone on
through my UFC career."

幫大力鼠QQ
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大力鼠在UFC被虧待也不是一兩天的事了

不少人覺得是因為在這個量級缺少能與大力鼠匹敵的選手

況且也不容易找到體重如此輕的男性選手 分母本來就小 能出現頂尖選手的機率當然也低

FW量級的top contenders大力鼠幾乎都打過了 好幾次的選手都是應擠出來的

(Ian McCall*2, Joseph Benavidez*2, John Dodson*2, Henry Cejudo*1, etc)

此外這個量級也沒有太多話題可以炒作

稍重一點的BW量級 還可以炒一下Dominick Cruz/TJ Dillashaw <---> Team Alpha Male

而且光是Dominick Cruz或是TJ Dillashaw本身都有比較多故事可以講

更重一點的量級就不更不用說了 即便一堆老面孔打來打去觀眾也還是會買單

相較之下 擁有無數成就的大力鼠反而幾乎沒有討論熱度

而且大力鼠本身又不喜歡trash talk 觀眾連想看你輸的動力都沒有

頂多偶爾上網查一查看看大力鼠又成功捍衛腰帶幾次了

觀眾對選手們討論度低 → 沒人想花費看比賽 → 官方沒錢賺 → 官方不願花心力宣傳
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惡性循環下FW的存在度就更低了

UFC覺得大力鼠不能為他們創造收益 凹你也只是剛好而已

以前大力鼠似乎也自知沒本錢和UFC討價還價 所有委屈也只能往肚裡吞

但一切的不滿似乎終於在這次事件之後爆發出來了

大力鼠是不是UFC最被虧待的冠軍呢?這賽事安排合理嗎?以及FW的未來到底在哪裡?

大家討論看看吧~

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