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We’re back again with another Love/Hate to see it column from yours truly. A midweek digest of MMA news from around the internet, focused on the good, the bad, the thrilling and the terrifying.
The biggest news of the week comes from Conor McGregor who seems to suddenly be absolutely everywhere once again, making headlines for too many reasons to note. But we’ve got some interesting news on Michael Page’s next move and more aftermath from the PFL’s 2023 season finale and what it might mean for Cris Cyborg.
Love to see it
UFC plans Michael Page vs. Kevin Holland
This is a bit of an awkward admission for me, since I’m very much on the record saying that Michael Page should avoid the UFC if at all possible. I’m not backing down from that stance. Page in the UFC is very much a ‘hate to see it’ stance from me, given that the former kickboxer has a fun, unique style that I think could just get blanketed to oblivion by the Rinat Fakhretdinovs of the world.
And yet… if the UFC is going to sign Page, as is starting to feel more likely. Then I can’t argue with his potential introductory matchup. A recent Full Send podcast episode highlighted more footage from the UFC’s matchmaking ‘war room’. While these peaks behind the scenes have offered fans a lot of glimpses of ‘leaked’ upcoming bouts in the past, this time fans got a little something extra.
Given what we’ve seen out of Holland lately, against opponents like Jack Della Maddalena, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Stephen Thompson, the ‘Trailblazer’ has seemed more dedicated than ever to giving fans exactly the kind of fire fights they want to see. If I absolutely have to have Page in the Octagon, then this is about as well as the UFC could do by him to ensure a standup war.
As much as it pains me to say it, I’m actually excited about the possibility of seeing this one—even if I think MVP isn’t all that well suited to a consistently high level of mixed martial arts. And despite the fact that a win over Holland would definitely set him up for a potential crash back to reality.
Jon Anik gives shine to Laura Sanko
The UFC commentary booth has been a work in progress for years now. Once the purview of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg exclusively, the promotion unceremoniously kicked Goldy to the curb in 2016 and Rogan slowly whittled his hours down to about one PPV per-month (and sometimes not even that). In their wake have come an ever changing mix of former fighters and straight-man ad readers.
These days, fans can often depend on hearing Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik paired up with Paul Felder, Michael Bisping, or Dominick Cruz. Brendan Fitzgerald gets thrown in the mix for minor events as well. In that kind of company, Laura Sanko has been a breath of fresh air.
A former fighter herself, Sanko first got to ply her trade as a commentary voice with Invicta, working alongside Julie Kedzie to call the action. That background has made her something of a voice apart among her colleagues, most of whom fit only one of two roles: guy who went to journalism school, or guy who used to fight for a living. Sure Sanko used to be a fighter, but she’s spent a lot more time calling fights than she ever did participating in them at this point, and brings a lot more polish to the craft because of it.
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting Jon Anik talked up his new colleague and his hopes for bright future for her in the UFC booth.
“I’ve worked with probably 15, 16 different combinations and I always like to have an elite grappling analyst to my right, and more often than not on fight night, I have that,” Anik explained. “She’s comedic, she has good timing, she doesn’t have an ego.
“I don’t have enough high praise for Laura Sanko. She and I have been publicly and privately supporting each other for so long, and it was just very cool to see her in all her glory, and to be able to make a debut on a pay-per-view in Sydney in that atmosphere was pretty special. Hopefully, she’ll be looking back upon that with her family for years to come.”
Sanko feels exactly like the kind of talent the UFC should be hunting out. People with some solid fighting/training experience, who’ve invested a whole lot of time on the broadcast side of the cage before getting a chance to work at the top level of the sport. I get that former champs will always have an allure that’s tough to turn down, but it’s great to see someone calling fights whose chief qualification isn’t just that they were once a great fighter who loves the sound of their own voice.
Hate to see it
Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco made millions but Cris Cyborg is still the prize
I don’t stick this in the hater category as any kind of shade on Cris Cyborg’s legacy, she’s been a remarkable force for women’s MMA for years and it’s pretty amazing that she’s 38 and still fighting near the top of her game. 18 years of MMA, two losses (and one no-contest due to drug test failure)—and the woman is currently on a seven fight win streak against the best featherweights that Bellator could find to face her.
It’s just that, it’s been nearly five years since the Brazilian left the UFC, and she is still THE woman to beat over 125 lbs (even if she can’t make 135). Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco have had their rise in the PFL, almost entirely as a result of facing one another—alongside Harrison’s ability to lean on her remarkable Judo credentials. But neither woman has been able to turn a clear corner from very good fighter to must-see star attraction.
In fact, with Amanda Nunes’ recent retirement, it feels a bit like we’ve watched an entire era of WMMA stars reach the end of their careers without pushing any new talent to the forefront. Holly Holm is in her 40s, Miesha Tate already has one retirement under her belt, Ronda Rousey is long gone; the fighters on the rise behind them—Julianna Pena, Irene Aldana, Ketlen Vieira, Yana Santos—all struggled to find any of the footing or dominance as headlining attractions that made the old guard so popular.
It’s that kind of atmosphere that means, even after collecting big wins at PFL 10, this past week, champion Larissa Pacheco and former champ Kayla Harrison both had Cyborg square in their sights.
“I’ve never once doubted the PFL’s desire and ambition to bring the best fights inside the Smart Cage,” Harrison said in an interview with MMA Junkie. “I’ve never once thought PFL’s messing with me or playing me wrong or anything like that. They’ve always tried to the best of their ability to put on great fights and to get me great fighters.
“It really has to do with, do I think Cyborg is going to fight me or not? Is she going to? That’s what it has to do with. I’m hopeful now that we’re under the same banner that it’s possible. But never once have I doubted the PFL’s ambition—it’s about she who must not be named.”
If the PFL is going to make those fights (Davis claims Cyborg vs. Pacheco is first in line), I’ll watch them. Cyborg is the biggest challenge that either woman will have faced in the cage, including one another. But, after so many years of dominance, for that to still be the truth feels like more of a shame than anything.
Dana White still putting the brakes on Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
At this point, everything involving Conor McGregor is bad news. When the man isn’t pouring money into his terrible alcohol brands/pub, it seems he’s taking to stoking fear and hatred for Ireland’s migrant population. All things considered, I suppose he does know a few things about traveling abroad to commit crimes—fair play on that front.
As it stands, the only thing it feels like McGregor has left to offer longtime fans is his ability to be an exciting performer inside the Octagon. Only, he doesn’t even seem to have that any more either.
First it was injury, then it was drug testing, now it seems the UFC is hell bent on stalling the ‘Notorious’ Irishman’s return as long as possible. Ariel Helwani recently raised the red flag on this one, telling Sean O’Malley that he was getting word McGregor wouldn’t be headlining UFC 300, as everyone had assumed.
In his recent Full Send podcast appearance, White added a little fire to that smoke, telling the hosts “we’ll see” when asked if McGregor vs. Chandler was definitely going to happen, while also pointing out that Chandler has the money to just sit and wait as long as needed.
“The good thing for guys like Chandler, and you know there’s a lot of **** talk about fighter pay and all that other ***—you don’t see these guys hurrying up to fight,” White explained. “Jon Jones takes off for ****ing years. Chandler can hang out and wait for ****ing Conor. When you think about Chandler, Chandler was fighting for ****ing Bellator, right? Now Chandler can just sit around and take his time and wait for Conor however long it takes, so these guys are all in good positions where they can wait for the right time, the right fight.”
Nevermind that, upon signing with the UFC, Chandler revealed that he wasn’t actually making more money to compete in his new promotion than he was in Bellator, or that the move was really more about prestige than getting paid for him. At the moment, fighter pay is useful weapon to wield against fans tired of waiting for a promised thriller.
To his credit, Dana White did guarantee that fans would see the SBG Ireland super star at some point in 2024, but then again, back in July he also guaranteed that the 35-year-old would be fighting this year too. I’d say I honestly don’t even care anymore if McGregor vs. Chandler ever happens, but it seems obvious that he’s too much of a menace to have the free time he’s been given by this latest layoff. Get this man back in the gym and off the streets.
culturesink 