The UFC’s journey to Australia this weekend comes with a start time in the wee morning hours, so what’s our strategy for taking in some fights from the other side of the world? Plus, what are Jack Della Maddalena’s chances to get back on the winning side after his title loss — and what happens if Carlos Prates stops him?
All that and more in this week’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.
@shadore66: You getting up at 4am to watch the ufc this weekend?
Absolutely not, but I’m very glad the UFC is doing it this way. Allow me to explain.
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For too long our Australian brothers and sisters have been asked to wake up and watch UFC fights — even those in their own backyard — early on a Sunday morning. I know, because I did it with them in Melbourne the day (morning) that Israel Adesanya knocked out Robert Whittaker to become middleweight champ.
There was a novelty factor for me. I stopped and got a coffee on the way to the arena. The media dinner was a breakfast. After it was all over, I went to the press conference and wrote my post-fight column and it was still light out. I had a nice, leisurely lunch. I even had the time and energy to go out and socialize that night. (Shouts out to the blonde French teacher in Melbourne; I will never forget you.)
But the Aussies don’t want to do that every time. They deserve an occasional Saturday night event, don’t they? Let them enjoy these fights the way we do for a chance.
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That doesn’t mean I’m going to wake up for it, though. As a gentleman of a certain age, my sleep schedule is very important to me. And right now? Brother it is dialed in. I’m not messing that up just to watch the same four ads over and over again on Paramount+ just so I can get the jolt of seeing the fights live. I would much rather wake up at my usual time, pour a cup of coffee, then watch the action at my own pace.
The best part is, since the fights will be waiting for me right when I wake up, I can easily avoid spoilers by just not opening social media. Plus I can skip through all the filler — and there is A TON of it on UFC Fight Night broadcasts — and get straight to the good stuff. It’s a win for everybody.
@ewillcock: Young hotness vs former champ. Odds say it’s a coin flip. Who do you got this weekend?
I’m leaning Jack Della Maddalena, but just barely. This is a tough, tough spot for him to be in. Almost exactly one year ago he was headed into a UFC welterweight title fight as the underdog backup option. Now he’s suddenly a former champ who needs a win on home ground to prove he wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Standing in the way is a contender with serious finishing ability and a lot more to gain than to lose with this one. The pressure is on JDM here.
@ProFightsInfo: As a respected long time MMA media member and writer, what do you think of the “influencer” media that has became so normal? What were your thoughts when you first started seeing them pop up and now that they’ve became Dana’s go to interviews?
It’s not for me. Which is fine. There’s plenty of content out there for which I am not the target audience. I think it’s a little gross how some of it is designed to seem organic even when it is paid marketing that companies like the UFC essentially commissioned themselves, for the benefit of themselves. But some people genuinely seem to prefer advertising over journalism, and that’s their deal.
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I can’t really blame the influencers themselves too much, especially the young ones. What were they supposed to do, go the traditional sports journalism route? Get a job at a newspaper? That world just doesn’t exist for them, so they followed the path that they could actually see. Doesn’t make me want to watch it, though.
@Salvatorestan1: What’s your opinion on historical deep dive pieces?
For example, Drake Riggs did a deep dive on the Smack girl promotion and rousimar palhares.
I’ve also seen your historical deep dive pieces on wrestling and boxing as well. Why is that type of content important in todays mma?
First of all, I’m glad to know people are reading and enjoying those. (I’ve got another boxing history story coming up here very shortly, so keep an eye out.) I think they’re important for two reasons.
One is that combat sports are notoriously bad at remembering their own history. There’s no money in history. Except in rare cases, promoters can’t resell it to us, so they have no incentive to care. For them, the whole ballgame is the next fight. And the next one. Each one bigger than the last. Add in the fact that sometimes an honest accounting of the past makes promoters look bad, and that’s just one more reason to stay focused on the future.
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The second reason I think those history pieces matter is because a lot of stuff isn’t clear to us until we have a chance to look back on it. We have a very limited ability to understand the present. It’s all just … happening. We don’t always know what it means or why it happened or how it all fits into a larger context until later. And we won’t know unless we take that time to reflect and research it.
@NoahSas23: Other than people letting politics interfere with their feelings, I don’t see why everyone is so pessimistic about the White House card. Topuria And Poatan on the same card is wild, and fun fights to fill out the card. Can you separate the two and be excited about the card?
Yes and no. I see your point. If we hadn’t been so gassed up by promises that this would be the biggest and most important UFC event in history, I think it would have been a lot easier to appreciate those top two matchups. (Though, even then, let’s be honest and admit that Justin Gaethje and Cyril Gane were not the two top names we would have picked to face Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira, respectively.) They should be good, exciting fights. By the time the leather starts flying, I know I will be right there on the edge of my couch cushions.
As for separating the athletic element from the political one, I don’t see how we’re supposed to do that. The UFC clearly hasn’t. It won’t even be honest about what it’s doing here. This is being billed as a celebration of America, but it’s not even the same month as America’s 250th birthday. It is, quite notably, the exact same day as Donald Trump’s 80th birthday — even though that means a rare UFC event on a Sunday. (The Fourth of July happens to be on a Saturday this year, and still the UFC didn’t choose it. What does that tell you?)
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I wish the UFC owners would just come out and say that they’re doing a birthday party for Trump because he’s their guy and they’ve hitched their wagon to him, wherever it takes them. They have obviously chosen a political side and are using this brand and this platform to promote that side. So just admit that. It would at least be honest. But it just feels like they don’t respect their fans enough to be straight with them, and that’s hard to ignore.
@LCombatsports: What motivated you to start covering MMA and combat sports?
Pretty much the entire time I was in college, I only cared about two things: writing and jiu-jitsu. (OK, beer and girls also made the list, but that’s probably a given.) I started training at Fabio Santos’ BJJ gym shortly after enrolling at San Diego State University, mostly because I’d seen the early UFC events and felt I needed to learn whatever it was Royce Gracie knew. I also threw myself into writing and literature, mostly because I read “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and felt I needed to learn whatever it was Ernest Hemingway knew.
Both would turn out to be flawed role models, but that’s what happens when you’re young and don’t know better. Jiu-jitsu was a gateway drug to MMA, just as fiction was a gateway drug to journalism. Back then it felt like an entirely unrealistic dream to combine those two passions into one actual career. Somehow it’s worked out. I still can’t believe it most days, but I am grateful for it.
