MMA Managers And Handlers Need To Step Their Game Up
by Kelvin Hunt on Apr 7, 2009 1:37 PM EDT
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No. This has nothing to do with the whole Dana White/Loretta Hunt(no relation to me) stuff from last week. I'm just piggybacking the John Howard post I just made about him not taking the Anthony Johnson fight. My comments in that piece were basically in support of his managers/handlers looking out for Howard's best interest. A couple of MMA4Real readers have criticized fighters for taking certain fights that are simply lose/lose situations. You know what, they are absolutely right. In particular we discussed Josh Koscheck and his camps decision to fight Paulo Thiago and most recently Chris Wilson(even though that fight is off). These fights put money in Koscheck's pocket, but don't really help him move closer to a title shot. We all witnessed what happened to Koscheck at UFC 95 against Paulo Thiago as he lost in devastating fashion. If Koscheck had won that fight, well he was supposed to win.
I'm not saying managers need to protect their fighters, but they simply need to put them in situations that benefit them moreso than just getting paid. Indeed, I know there are more aspects to managing a fighter, but this is one aspect they really need to improve on.
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1 factor could be that alot of the ww’s and their managers, like kos and his, dont believe they can win the title with gsp around and are just buying time (and padding their wallets). not saying that is right or that it’s a fact, but i don’t discount it as a possibility.
by bdw on Apr 7, 2009 3:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Right, in that case I wouldn’t even fight in a division where I didn’t think I could beat the champ…lol
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by Kelvin Hunt on Apr 7, 2009 3:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
there’s been alot of jumping around wieght classes with fighters for this exact reason imo, but there’s no where to run. how bad do you think fighters like koscheck, fitch and hughes want a rematch with gsp. i think they would rather have gsp move up to mw and try on a.silva for size and then they could go for another title shot at ww. kos had mentioned before about moving down to lw to fight bj a few different times and diego sanchez did just that. bj seems more beatable now, so i would not be surprised if kos soon follows. as soon as brock won the title alot of hw’s moved to lhw and if he demolishes mir, i could see alot more doing the same, but in the mw, ww and lw divisions it seems that the current dominant champ may not be in that division too much longer (bj has talked of retirement, gsp is always being mentioned as fighting a.silva at mw and silva himself talks quite a bit about retirement moving up to lhw) i agree that a fighter shouldn’t just fight for the money and that winning the title should be their main goal, but it does not always work out that way. i especially feel this way about fighter managers/handlers, it is always in their own best interest for them to have their fighter make as much money as possible with the least amount of risk. sorry if i got too off subject.
by bdw on Apr 7, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No Problem
Some good points in there….I guess I’m speaking moreso from a perspective of fighters finally making the big show so to speak…I just used Koscheck as an example of taking lose/lose fights. Like John Howard needs to take fights that will help him get to the next level right now…moreso than taking a big fight(for him) that could possibly see him lose and get sent back to the drawing board. If a fighter puts together 2-3 wins in a row…then takes a L…it gives them a little more room to work in the grand scheme of things…nahmean?
http://www.mmaforreal.com
by Kelvin Hunt on Apr 7, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
silva talking about retirement AND moving up to lhw and boxing etc
by bdw on Apr 7, 2009 4:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
So what you’re saying is that they shouldn’t be like Ken Pavia and feed their guys to the sharks in hopes of a comeback match!
I think this is an interesting topic because often times all we hear about is the fighter, and not management. How do we even know whether it’s up to the fighter or manager? We’ve heard about Anderson Silva retiring, but then Ed Soares comes back and says not really. Who do you believe?
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by -Neil- on Apr 7, 2009 4:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
lol
Don’t even get me started about feeding their guys….Ultimately, the fighter and manager should talk about these type of things before signing papers with one another(unless you are Monte Cox)…to see if their philosophies about bringing a fighter up mesh well. Therefore, there will be no confusion when the time comes to accept or decline certain fights.
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by Kelvin Hunt on Apr 7, 2009 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t know, I also think they need to be able to put together compelling fights that won’t necessarily move people towards a title shot.
Read an article about it on sherdog, Diaz vs. Shamrock being the case in point.
With that being said, these fights set up to bolster records are pretty redundant – if you have a pretty good clue as to where a person stands in the division you should set up fights at that level – and you should NEVER go down in the level of competition when you’re on a win streak. Loss columns don’t matter as much in MMA as in other combat sports.
Bloody hell.
by 3PA on Apr 7, 2009 10:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
diaz and shamrock won’t get cut from the UFC roster if they lose one fight (hypothetically). Paulo Thiago will get his ass cut if he loses the Fitch fight, and if not, they’ll overmatch him to build up some TUF guy then cut his ass. when you’re new to the organization, taking a tough fight to get your foot in the door is one thing. maintaining your place after being the stingray to a guy who was supposed to showcase against you….you gotta be careful about losing after that. as “personal” and as favoring as the Fertitas and D. White can be about things, you’re kidding yourself to think that a fighter should just take whatever fight, or take bad fights.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Apr 8, 2009 11:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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