Are We Too Negative?
Interesting question posed.
Mike Heck posed an interesting question here. Is the MMA media becoming way too negative? I think lately, yes. Here are the biggest stories of the last few weeks: Conor McGregor, the biggest star in the sports history, has been accused of sexual assault multiple times. Ali Abdelaziz, the most powerful manager in the history of MMA, assaults another manager again at a PFL event, and has his very own allegations lobbed at him as well. Oh, and lets not forget the UFC anti-trust lawsuit that is pulling the curtain back and exposing the dirty details of UFC business.
I have written a million times that the UFC should push more positive stories. Jared Gordon is a great one, which I wrote about extensively last year. Am I adding too some of this negativity lately? Guilty as charged. It’s hard not too write about the endless pile of garbage that has been swirling around our great sport lately. Honestly, those are the stories that interest me most though, you have to play your own personal hits, so to speak. These stories need to be written and exposed for the sport to grow, allowing certain people like Abdelaziz to operate with impunity hurts our sport. It’s just that simple.
One other point in the video that stuck with me is MMA media members criticizing each other publicly. I must say, I am guilty as charged there as well. I have criticized Kevin Iole more than a few times. Here’s why: If you are reading this and went to College and your degree focus was journalism, chances are you are going to understand what I am about to say. I was a shitty student, but my journalism professors emblazoned a few rules on my soul.
You are not friends with the people you cover
You are not a cheerleader for any organization
You take nothing from anyone. No if’s, no and’s, and certainly no but’s. You are uncompromising on your ethics.
Iole is a schill for the UFC. He is in direct violation of rule #2. Whether it be tweeting selfies out with Ali Abdelaziz, or writing this cringe - worthy story about how the latest Nate Diaz PED situation proved that the system is working. The UFC and Dana White want schills. They do not want legitimate coverage. They want cheerleaders like Kevin Iole. Josh Gross and Jon Snowden are shut out from UFC events because they will not wave pom-poms. Iole is basically an arm of the UFC public relations. Again, the UFC wants cheerleaders, someone to promote their message. Look no further than the UFC 200 controversy surrounding Ariel Helwani. Dana White had Helwani removed form UFC 199 for breaking the story that Brock Lesnar was set to return at the benchmark event. The UFC wanted to break the news themselves of course, but Helwani reported the news before the UFC had the chance.
Helwani was absolutely right in doing so. Helwani was simply adhering to Rule #2. His only obligation was to his fans and his employer, and he reported the news. I would have too, and I totally agreed with the decision. One more thing on Helwani. I have heard that Helwani signed on to anchor MMA coverage before the UFC deal was inked. Once the deal was done, I have heard Dana White tried to have Helwani removed from that position. If that is true, White is a shameful human being, who deserves criticism at every turn. Good on ESPN for standing tall and not caving in. Imagine threatening another man’s livelihood because you don’t like what he says? Petty. Speaks to White’s character.
This column is not about Helwani and that situation, I just wanted to be honest about my part in the negativity, and my issues with Iole. That is all. Kevin breaks every rule, outwardly. I cannot look the other way. Maybe it is a character flaw on me. You decide. One other thing on MMA media going at it on Twitter. There has been rumors floating around about a managing editor of a certain website accepting payments to cover events. She was rightfully called out on it last week. Listen, this situation has nothing to with being negative, it has to do with someone in a position of power completely abusing that power. Not only the power, but abusing employees by making them write about certain organizations, and certain fighters. So much more to come on this soon. Taking money to cover events, and making your writers insert fighters into their work is not just a rules violation, you are pissing on the rule book and flushing it to the sewer.
I will say this for the 10,456th time. We could all really benefit from a real, functioning MMA Journalist Association. If for nothing else, it would be an outlet for grunt, staff writers in the trenches to air out grievances they may have to an actual governing body. Like if an editor comes to you and says you have to insert a certain fighter into a story, because that editor is being paid to make sure that name gets in. It is not that we are too negative, it is just that there is a lot of negativity surrounding the game if that makes sense. There is also no oversight. No checks and balances. It is really kind of the wild west out here.
You have to kind of check yourself in this space. I am going to try and be more positive. It is going to be really tough, but I will try and ignore Kevin Iole’s tweets. No promises, though.