Media had it all wrong: Commissioner wasn?t racist and Lawal got what he deserved

LAS VEGAS -- It's beyond stunning that anyone has tried to rationalize the behavior of former Strikeforce light heavyweight contender Muhammed Lawal and his manager, Mike Kogan, in light of their actions during and after Tuesday's disciplinary hearing in front of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Lawal's situation is so vastly different from those of Miguel Torres, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin and innumerable others who made, ahem, unwise public comments.

On Jan. 17, Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada commission, announced that Lawal had flunked a post-fight urinalysis following a Jan. 7 victory over Lorenz Larkin at the Hard Rock. Test results indicated he'd tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone.

On Tuesday, the commission heard from Lawal and Kogan and then suspended Lawal for nine months and fined him $39,000. Afterward, Lawal went to Twitter and ripped commissioner Pat Lundvall, calling her in a now-deleted tweet, "a racist [expletive]." Lundvall is white and Lawal is black. Lawal wrote:

I honestly feel like Lundvall was a racist [expletive] asking me if I can read or speak english

Not long after Lawal's tweet, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced the promotion had released Lawal.

Suddenly, it seemed, the MMA media was outraged. Specifically, many in the MMA media were apparently angered that Lawal was released by responding on Twitter to what he felt was an offensive question from Lundvall, who had asked him if he could read and understand English.

In a roundtable discussion on MMA Fighting, veteran journalist Mike Chiappetta said:

I can understand his anger for being asked such a degrading question.

Luke Thomas, who was doing the roundtable with Chiappetta, said Lundvall had been "patronizing" toward Lawal.

The very talented columnist Ben Fowlkes also took issue with Lundvall in his column on Sports Illustrated.com:

The old "Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?" routine is not a rhetorical device one employs in respectful conversation with an equal. It's something you do only when you know the other person has to sit there and take it.

And my colleague at Cagewriter, Maggie Hendricks, attempted to compare Lawal's situation to that of Torres and Evans, among others. There were many others, but all missed the mark badly in their assessment of the situation.

Finally, Kogan railed against Lundvall's line of questioning in a piece on MMA Junkie on Wednesday. Kogan told reporter Steven Marrocco that Lundvall's manner of questioning was inappropriate.

There are ways to establish if a fighter understands what's going on or not. It was already done before the hearing even started. The very first thing they asked him was, 'Do you understand what's going on? Do you understand the charges against you? Do you understand you can be represented by [counsel]?' And he said yes. So to come back 20 minutes later and ask the man if he speaks and understands English is very offensive.

Lundvall is a very prominent litigator in Nevada, a highly respected attorney at one of the state's top firms. She's hardly the "idiot" that she was made out to be by many of my media brethren who were all too quick to try to run to Lawal's rescue without considering what happened.

First, Lundvall was doing what any legal questioner does. She was laying a foundation. She believed that Lawal had been dishonest. On a questionnaire he filled out at the weigh-in on Jan. 6, Lawal denied he had been injured or had taken any prescription or over-the-counter medications in the last two weeks. To the question that asked, "Have you had any injury to your knees, ankles, or feet that needed special evaluation/exam," Lawal checked no.

Kogan had told Christopher Eccles, the Nevada deputy attorney general who represents the athletic commission, on Jan. 18 that Lawal took no supplements. In an email to Eccles the next day, Kogan reversed course and said Lawal had taken supplements.

In his email to Eccles on Jan. 19, Kogan wrote:

I guess I misspoke on the supplements that Mo takes my bad on that, I never seen him take any so I assumed he does not. We made a list of all the supplements and meds that he has taken some of them on regular bases as supplement, some temporality or intermittently and some were administered by the doctor that was taking care of his knee.

Lundvall's reason for asking Lawal if he read and understood English is what lawyers do when they're building a case during questioning. She was boxing him in and leaving him no room. When he said yes, she asked about why he didn't disclose the knee injury on the questionnaire he filled out at the weigh-in and why he didn't mention he was taking something for it.

It had zero racist intent. She was trying to expose that Lawal hadn't been forthcoming with the commission until he was forced to do so.

It's also interesting to note that Lundvall uses the line of questioning frequently with fighters. On March 23,  2011, boxer Michael Shane Steele tested positive for an anabolic steroid. Steele, who is white, appeared before the commission on May 20, 2011, and underwent rigorous questioning from Lundvall.

According to a commission transcript, the following exchange took place between Lundvall and Steele:

Lundvall: Do you have any other information that you are willing to share with the Commission to explain why you tested positive for banned substances?

Steele: None. Only the supplements I took and what I was trying to accomplish in taking them.

Lundvall: Do you read English?

Steele: Yes, ma'am.

Lundvall: Do you understand the written word?

Steele: Yes, I believe so.

Lundvall used nearly identical language in speaking to Steele, who is white, as she did to Lawal, who is black. The point is, Lundvall wasn't talking down to Lawal or taunting him because of his race. She was trying to establish why he hadn't answered the questions truthfully.

Lawal's case is different from the others because the others, such as Torres, Evans, Griffin and, yes, UFC president Dana White, only said or wrote something stupid.

Lawal scored a hat trick of errors:

? He flunked a drug test, which Torres, Evans and Griffin did not do.

? He was untruthful on his questionnaire.

? He made an outrageous and ill-advised comment on social media, attacking a prominent regulator. The move could come back to haunt the company.

Lawal, I believe, is a good guy. He's quick with a quip and extraordinarily accessible to the media, which is why he's so beloved.

But it doesn't matter if you're a good guy or not. The facts are the facts. Lundvall was only doing her job and White and the folks at Zuffa were only doing theirs when they cut Lawal.

Hopefully, he'll be brought back at some point, like has happened to Torres, Nate Marquardt and so many others in the past.

Let's get over this Mo was mistreated nonsense, though. He got what he deserved.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/media-had-wrong-commissioner-wasn-t-racist-lawal-223324740.html

Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni Don Barr

Is Jon Jones what ?Greatness Is??

In hyping up the UFC 145 championship bout between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, the UFC has started a campaign called, "Greatness Is." You may have seen their ad with Evans talking about why he pushes himself to fight. Now, they released this video of Jones showing what greatness is.

Note: Lyoto Machida and Quinton Jackson both defended the light heavyweight belt since Chuck Liddell. Nonetheless, Jones' quick ascent to the top of the 205-lb. heap has been impressive. Will Evans stop him on Apr. 21? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jon-jones-greatness-185331160.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Hector Lombard Offered UFC Contract

Reigning Bellator middleweight champ Hector Lombard (Pictured) quietly became MMA’s hottest free agent earlier this year. As expected, the UFC has made the 34-year-old an offer that is leaving Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney contemplating his next move.   If we were to use NFL lingo, Lombard is a restricted free agent and Bellator has the [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/112361/hector-lombard-offered-ufc-contract/

Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao 

Alexander Gustafsson picks apart Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel 2 (VIDEO)

Fighting in front of a large home crowd during the UFC's first event in Sweden, Alexander Gustafsson gave the Swedes just what they wanted. He picked apart Thiago Silva on the way to a unanimous decision win at UFC on Fuel 2 on Saturday.

According to Compustrike, Gustafsson had an 83-47 edge in total strikes landed. The win gave Gustafsson his fifth win in a row. His lone loss was to Phil Davis in April of 2010.

Who should Gustafsson face next? Speak up in the comments, on Twitter or on Facebook.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/alexander-gustafsson-picks-apart-thiago-silva-ufc-fuel-131936457.html

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans

Mo Lawal?s dismissal emphasizes need for Zuffa policy on Twitter

"King" Mo Lawal was cut from Strikeforce yesterday. He received a suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission for testing positive for a banned substance after his January win over Lorenz Larkin. Shortly after his hearing with the NAC, Lawal called a commissioner a racist b**** over Twitter. According to Strikeforce's Scott Coker, Lawal's reaction was to blame for the dismissal.

Calling a woman the b-word is wrong, no matter the circumstances, which is exactly what I told Lawal yesterday. He's been a friend of mine since long before either of us were involved in MMA, so I told him what I would tell any friend of mine. If you don't want it said about your mother, you shouldn't say it about any woman. Though I don't know if I influenced his decision, he deleted the tweet not long after.

What he tweeted was wrong, but he should not have lost his job, just like Miguel Torres should not have lost his job late last year. I didn't think Torres should have lost his job then, nor did I think Forrest Griffin should have lost his job over a tweet about rape, or Rashad Evans over his comment about child abuse, or Joe Rogan for calling me the c-word, or White for calling MMA reporter Loretta Hunt the b-word.

What every one of these cases called for is punitive action. Some combination of a reprimand, a fine that will benefit the aggrieved parties, a public apology, a suspension, and corrective action like sensitivity training would be more appropriate than being fired. The offender would be more likely to learn something from their offenses than if they suddenly have to look for a job, or if there had been little done about the offense.

The problem, once again, is that Zuffa has no policy on fighter (and commentator) behavior. A fighter doesn't know if he's crossed the line until he's crossed it. Fighters can't even learn from each other's actions because there is no consistency on how incidents are treated. Considering how White called Hunt the same word that Lawal to describe the commissioner and then never apologized for it (he only apologized for using a slur against homosexuals), how could Lawal know Zuffa would have a problem with it?

The UFC usually holds their fighters' summit in June. It's the end of March. They have a few months to formulate a policy that is clear and fair to fighters.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mo-lawal-dismissal-emphasizes-zuffa-policy-twitter-130830350.html

Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono

Reader Rants: Cagereaders take on the Olympics, Jon Jones/Muhammad Ali comparisons and advice for Rashad Evans

After you had plenty to say about Brock Lesnar, Brock Lesnar and Brock Lesnar last week, Cagereaders were a bit quieter this week. However, you still had plenty of opinions to share. Read on for the latest Reader Rants. If you want to join in, like Cagewriter on Facebook and comment on stories. Also, we still are looking for your picks on the UFC 145 main card, so go like the page and tell us who you're picking and why.

MMA fans look at the idea of the sport in the Olympics with a bit of skepticism.

That would be very cool, but the Olympics is very heavy on safety. Probably it would be like combat sambo with the headgear and shin guards, and maybe an elbow pad. -- Gab'bo Hofileña Delgado

I can't see it happening. If all the title holders decided to fight in the Olympics that would mean 3-4 months with no title fights. It's hard to sell PPVs without title fights. -- Kevin Dailey

The UFC made another Jon Jones/Muhammad Ali comparison in a video posted on Cagewriter's Facebook page. Readers felt the comparison was a bit too early in Bones' career.

Purely fighting, okay, the comparison is fine. Young, talented, seemingly unstoppable. But Ali was culturally so much more than a boxer, and I like Jones but I don't see him as a cultural icon forty years after he stops fighting. -- John Wilcox

No offense to Bones, but that comparison doesn't fit as much to me as Ali to Anderson Silva. Same attitude, same long-term domination, not nearly the same cultural impact... but I think Silva would be the closest MMA fighter to compare to Ali. -- Jason Zachary

After hearing advice from Rashad Evans' mother on how to handle Jones, several Cagereaders offered their advice to Evans. Much of it is not very nice.

Fake an injury before the fight cuz jones is going to crush him. -- Doug Martin

The night before the fight, you pull a Tonya Harding! -- William Corral

Use plenty of ice for the swelling and lots of Kleenex to wipe your tears. -- Jimbo Thompson

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/reader-rants-cagereaders-olympics-jon-jones-muhammad-ali-182541690.html

Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund

Report: Frank Trigg out at HD Net because of abuse and affair

Former UFC fighter Frank Trigg was a popular commentator for several MMA promotions on HDNet, so his absence from their broadcasts was surprising. The gossip website "The Dirty" reports his dismissal was not for business reasons.

MMA fighter Frank Trigg choked out his wife in front of his children on October 17th, 2011. They are now going through a VERY messy divorce and the children who saw the carnage are right in the middle of it. He no longer is employed at HDnet because he was sleeping with a co-worker, assistant producer, 23 year old Amy Vaughn. The company does not approve of the affair and abuse that they were made aware of soon after the incident and have chosen not to utilize his services as a commentator anymore.

HDNet did not respond to requests for comment. Trigg said he does not comment on personal business.

Trigg was 21-9 as a fighter and had a memorable loss to Matt Hughes. He fought in the UFC, Pride, Rumble on the Rock and BAMMA.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/report-frank-trigg-hd-net-because-abuse-affair-195545960.html

Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr   Phil Cardella