Official Women's Division Discussion #25

[Askafan]

People need to get over the 100k, doubt the UFC would have re-signed Leslie if she'd asked for 5/5. The only reason for dumping her was Project Spearhead.

I've always argued that UFC pay is reasonable for the bulk of the roster and certainly Leslie will get nowhere near 31/31 anywhere else, even if a promotion - other than IFC - was willing to sign her. For women Bellator money is Invicta level anyway.

At the same time it's naive to think that there was any reason for getting rid of Smith other than her union activities. Not the contract negotiations, not her record, not her drawing power, just the union. Leslie did the right thing taking the money and refusing the fight.

 

[executionermma]

Thanks for the Melly Martinez clips. She looks a phenomenal prospect!



"Haha, you're fucked! Pay me this astronomical figure if you want me to sign."

"But we don't care if you sign."

"Oh, then how about this reasonable figure?"

Obviously Leslie is unpopular with the UFC for other reasons, but that was never a negotiation tactic that was going to work. What she doesn't seem to understand is that for the UFC, and for 99.95% of the fanbase, it makes no difference whether it's L. Smith or A.N. Other on the card.

I'm a fan, but even in an alternate reality where the UFC is broken up and promotions are competing to pay millions to guys like Cerrone, Leslie Smith was never going to get a much sweeter deal than she had in the UFC.

I'll be very interested to see what Bellator's willing to offer given there's no competition for her signature now

I totally disagree. UFC is already getting bad PR for letting her walk away under these conditions, where she refused to fight a 1-0 prospect overweight by 2 lbs, imagine if she had won, probably by TKO, she would be 5-2 at 135 lbs, a division that URGENTLY needs fighters, and she is one of the most exciting to watch.. i doubt she wouldn't get a new contract with something similar to 60/60 if wasn't for Project Spearhead. Would be her third contract with UFC, and she fought Cyborg coming of a win! A favor for them!

UFC was very smart because they took advantage of the fact the UFC idiot fanbase is now against her because she refused to fight, when she shouldn't fight. A quick look at heavies in the threads about her will show that.

 

[WingsLax9042]

UFC was very smart because they took advantage of the fact the UFC idiot fanbase is now against her because she refused to fight, when she shouldn't fight. A quick look at heavies in the threads about her will show that.

Yup... why keep someone around who's intending on stirring shit up? Especially with the way the UFC is run these days. They get to distance themselves from a problem, AND since she decided not to fight... the UFC doesn't even look bad.



Unless Leslie, KNOWING this was a possibility, realized she wasn't getting any younger, and she can try to turn around and make the UFC look bad from the situation, and really get the ball rolling on the union stuff. She is a chick..... and chicks are sneaky. It's a brilliant plan, actually.

 

[executionermma]

Man i'm so upset with UFC that i will always hate at Aspen Ladd for her entire MMA career if Leslie Smith ends out of UFC forever, the way she handled herself was fucking absurd and unprofessional, but then she is 23 years old... anyway, fuck her, she is a can now.

 

[Mittens]

At the same time it's naive to think that there was any reason for getting rid of Smith other than her union activities. Not the contract negotiations, not her record, not her drawing power, just the union. Leslie did the right thing taking the money and refusing the fight.

While it I believe taking the Ladd fight hostage (and eventually killing it) also gave her exit some momentum.

It would have been a fun fight

Leslie did the right thing taking the money and refusing the fight.

Probably, she was quite fucked contractwise at this point, so this was likely the most dollar she would have gotten out of UFC's wallet no matter what (especially as I think she would have lost the fight against Ladd).

Still, would have been a fun fight

 

[Rizz]

Its a new day so I am past all this Leslie Smith drama. I don't care about it enough either way to continue the conversation. Lost in all that crap was the real news! Cat Zingano will not be taking 2 years between fights this time. Cats match up vs Marion means that Ketlyn is probably the number 1 contender. This makes me sad because its very rare that I am not fans of a WMMA fighter but Ketlyn happens to be one of those I am not a fan of. She has not done anything wrong but she has just never clicked with me since I seen her debut. I think this is a good matchup for both fighters. This is the best match up Cat could have got in the top 10 fight style-wise. This can be the big name that Marion needs on her resume to make a case for the title shot after Ketlyn probably gets hers. I want both to win but I am very interested to see how this turns out.

 

[thatdude21601]

Atomweights doing stuff yesterday -

Irene Rivera at Combate Americas.


Gina Iniong vs Jenny Huang at ONE (timestamped at 42:43).

 

[executionermma]

I highly recommend Leslie Smith's interview with John Gordan at MMAJunkie, i can't just "get over it", i'm a fan and this situation is toxic, absurd and UFC should be receiving more criticism.

 

[Automata]

I highly recommend Leslie Smith's interview with John Gordan at MMAJunkie, i can't just "get over it", i'm a fan and this situation is toxic, absurd and UFC should be receiving more criticism.

And keep in mind time wise, this interview takes place before the Smith interview.

 

[executionermma]

Ladd is a can.
"The other person didn't wanted to keep going"
GTFO, blame the UFC, not L. Smith ffs stupid fattie

 

[Koniradi98]

Not a fan of Smiths point of view of this whole situation.
But Ladd is really annoying, she started this all with being unprofessional and being again unable to cut weight proberly. And now she is talking shit, like she isn't the one to blame.

 

[curryjunkie]

Thanks for the Melly Martinez clips. She looks a phenomenal prospect!



"Haha, you're fucked! Pay me this astronomical figure if you want me to sign."

"But we don't care if you sign."

"Oh, then how about this reasonable figure?"

Obviously Leslie is unpopular with the UFC for other reasons, but that was never a negotiation tactic that was going to work. What she doesn't seem to understand is that for the UFC, and for 99.95% of the fanbase, it makes no difference whether it's L. Smith or A.N. Other on the card.

I'm a fan, but even in an alternate reality where the UFC is broken up and promotions are competing to pay millions to guys like Cerrone, Leslie Smith was never going to get a much sweeter deal than she had in the UFC.

I'll be very interested to see what Bellator's willing to offer given there's no competition for her signature now

if they paid her what she wanted she'd be all over social media bigging up her union project and encouraging others to ask for 100 grand a fight, the UFC werent gonna put up with that,
invicta aint gonna be payin anywhere near that amount for half the card.

 

[PurpleStorm]

I highly recommend Leslie Smith's interview with John Gordan at MMAJunkie, i can't just "get over it", i'm a fan and this situation is toxic, absurd and UFC should be receiving more criticism.

Agree with you. Sadly many identify with the richest of the rich more than with workers / fighters. I've read many comments that are plain ignorant and full of hatred for those on the lowest scales of pay. For example, posts saying the UFC can't afford negotiating with workers who have a collective bargaining agreement. Ignoring that most all major sports have athletes with collective bargaining rights, and thrive.

For reasons I can't fathom a lot of people would rather see more money line the pockets of Dana or individuals at Endeavor than with the fighters sharing a slightly larger percentage of revenue. One comment even said something like 'WME can't afford to deal with people who are in a union.' Haha! Endeavor made its money dealing all the time with guilds and unions - Screen Actors Guild, IATSE, Teamsters Union, Directors Guild, Producers Guild, Camera Unions etc.

 

[Dat Dare Shrdog]

Does anyone know when Kayla Harrison plans on making her debut?

 

[Dsfdandan]

Does anyone know when Kayla Harrison plans on making her debut?

I'm wondering at what weight. A saw a picture of her and Nunes recently and Amanda looked much bigger than her.

 

[SugarKrok]

Agree with you. Sadly many identify with the richest of the rich more than with workers / fighters. I've read many comments that are plain ignorant and full of hatred for those on the lowest scales of pay. For example, posts saying the UFC can't afford negotiating with workers who have a collective bargaining agreement. Ignoring that most all major sports have athletes with collective bargaining rights, and thrive.

For reasons I can't fathom a lot of people would rather see more money line the pockets of Dana or individuals at Endeavor than with the fighters sharing a slightly larger percentage of revenue. One comment even said something like 'WME can't afford to deal with people who are in a union.' Haha! Endeavor made its money dealing all the time with guilds and unions - Screen Actors Guild, IATSE, Teamsters Union, Directors Guild, Producers Guild, Camera Unions etc.

*Many* Americans hate people who get an easier ride more so then the rest in the same relative standing, if they perceive the person to not have exceptional talent or wtv. They will rarely be happy or have a sense of raising up all. Its why so many are against free healthcare, although such a thing isn't really sustainable in the same Canadian sense for a population ten times bigger.

Imagine Shev as 125 champ and her sister as number 1 contender. Lol. Who would they train with to prepare to fight each other when they always train together? The promo would be fun.

 

[Dsfdandan]

*Many* Americans hate people who get an easier ride more so then the rest in the same relative standing, if they perceive the person to not have exceptional talent or wtv. They will rarely be happy or have a sense of raising up all. Its why so many are against free healthcare, although such a thing isn't really sustainable in the same Canadian sense for a population ten times bigger.

Imagine Shev as 125 champ and her sister as number 1 contender. Lol. Who would they train with to prepare to fight each other when they always train together? The promo would be fun.

Antonia made it seem like it wouldn't be an issue because it'll take a long time for her to climb up the ranks. She does know that women's flyweight isn't very deep in the UFC right? Like it wouldn't take that long if she kept winning fights lol

 

[Askafan]

Antonia made it seem like it wouldn't be an issue because it'll take a long time for her to climb up the ranks. She does know that women's flyweight isn't very deep in the UFC right? Like it wouldn't take that long if she kept winning fights lol

I'd say the flyweight division is a lot deeper than bantamweight at the moment.

Anyway I can't figure out why the UFC haven't just signed Antonina. She's pretty much a point fighter like her sister and that Contenders series seems to favor the ko or the slick submission, no guarantee she's going to get promoted to the big show from a 30-27.

 

[WingsLax9042]

Anyway I can't figure out why the UFC haven't just signed Antonina. She's pretty much a point fighter like her sister and that Contenders series seems to favor the ko or the slick submission, no guarantee she's going to get promoted to the big show from a 30-27.

I feel like they pretty much have signed her, she could look like crap in her fight and still come back for another.... I think its a smart move, she's got a bit of name recognition.... more then anybody else who'll be fighting on the Snoop and Faber show.

 

[PurpleStorm]

*Many* Americans hate people who get an easier ride more so then the rest in the same relative standing, if they perceive the person to not have exceptional talent or wtv. They will rarely be happy or have a sense of raising up all. Its why so many are against free healthcare, although such a thing isn't really sustainable in the same Canadian sense for a population ten times bigger.

Imagine Shev as 125 champ and her sister as number 1 contender. Lol. Who would they train with to prepare to fight each other when they always train together? The promo would be fun.

I'd prefer to see the UFC provide all its fighters better health coverage and higher minimum salaries. To your points, it's probably unlikely until bigger stars promote collective bargaining and there's stronger competition from other mma organizations.

Yeah, I wonder how the Shev sisters might handle being ranked one and two. Wonder if anyone's asked them if they'd fight each other. I kind of doubt it but stranger things have happened in the whacky world of mma.