A fighter is getting overlooked by his promotion, the UFC is making unsubstantiated claims about major professional sports leagues, and the craziest MMA story of 2020 has arrived. Huh?
Finding the proper response to much of the news finding its way into our social media feeds is becoming a tougher task every day. Nothing is surprising anymore, and there’s always more to the story. Leaving us with one reply: “huh?”
Last week, Gerald Meerschaert shared his feelings on the UFC pre-scheduling his current opponent’s next bout, Dana White unnecessarily lied about the COVID policies of the NBA and MLB, and a job offer at a UFC gym in Pakistan turned into a rescue mission. Huh.
The reason “huh?”, in its various forms, is such a quality reply is simple. The word is as versatile as a response gets, and while it may require some explanation, “huh?” is sometimes the only way to react to the news of today. Defined by Merriam-Webster as an interjection that’s “used to express surprise, disbelief, or confusion, or as an inquiry inviting affirmative reply”, “huh” or “huh?” can mean a lot of different things.
Despite some of the follies of evolution (see: Skip Bayless), the development and growth of “huh” is something we should embrace. To be the change we want to see in the world, here are a few MMA stories last week that made us go “huh?”
Job offer turns into rescue mission at UFC gym in Pakistan
The crew over at MiddleEasy shared one of the craziest MMA stories of 2020 last week, which is still developing. As they put it, “Here is the story of how a potential head coaching job at a UFC Gym in Pakistan, led to a dangerous escape mission from an alleged ‘shady, dangerous, and powerful’ man named Shazad.” Huh?
The story is a must read, and must follow, as it continues to develop. From following promises of good work to being spied on and held hostage, there’s no shortage of surprises.
“This is when things began to spin out of control. Shazad called for a surprise meeting after the free labor conflict. Robinson then stated that the home became guarded with custom AK-47 assault rifles and surveillance gear to assure that nobody left the location of the home.” – via MiddleEasy
There’s really not much else to add to the story MiddleEasy put together. It’s just insane and worth sharing as much as possible. Here’s hoping there’s some sort of safe resolution to the situation soon.
Dana White lied about NBA and MLB COVID protocols for no reason
While defending the UFC’s protocols surrounding COVID, Dana White unnecessarily accused the NBA and MLB of allowing athletes who test positive for COVID-19 to play. Huh?
“Look at the history here,” White told the assembled media. “Look at what we’ve done, look at how it’s all worked out. One of the things that we’re not doing that the other sports are doing is there’s people that keep testing positive, right? Positive, positive, positive, but they have no symptoms and they’re not contagious. They’re letting those guys play if it’s in the NBA or Major League Baseball. We’re not. I mean that’s the difference.” – via Bloody Elbow
As pointed out in the article from Bloody Elbow, what White is saying isn’t true. On top of that, it’s completely unnecessary. What the UFC, and White, have accomplished by seemingly safely putting on these events throughout 2020 is worthy of praise.
Why White feels the need to attempt to bash other leagues when defending the UFC’s practices, rather than acknowledging the difficult circumstances everyone is working through and the promotion’s relative success given those circumstances, is anyone’s guess. Then again, given his social circle, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.
Gerald Meerschaert is annoyed with the UFC
Gerald Meerschaert is annoyed that the UFC is already scheduling Khamzat Chimaev’s next bout, despite the duo still needing to fight. Huh.
“Yeah, I keep saying it every time someone asks me. I find it disrespectful. I find it disrespectful that the promotion thinks that they can just line this up and put out there in public. And I think it’s disrespectful that Chimaev, like completely OK with, like, ‘Oh yeah, line this guy up, I’ll beat him, I don’t got to cut a lot of weight and then I’ll go fight somebody else.’” – via Bloody Elbow
He’s got a point. Nobody would be surprised to find out that this kind of thing happens more often than the average fan thinks. But for it to be public and used for promotion, is tacky.
In addition to being tacky, a move like this is sure to get the attention of the MMA Gods. A group of deities who get a kick out of ruining the sport’s best-laid plans in creative and vengeful ways, the MMA Gods could take time out of setting up another Khabib-Ferguson letdown to mess with the promotion’s plans for Chimaev.
The craziest MMA story of 2020 came to light last week, and we’ll be following to see how it develops. Just like we’ll be following the career of Khamzat Chimaev, and seeing if his route to Demian Maia gets interrupted by Gerald Meerschaert (or the MMA Gods). What we can’t follow is Dana White’s logic, but that’s nothing new. Huh.
Huh? for the road
🙂 @KevinCroom_mma #UFCVegas10 pic.twitter.com/nAH06YqNkY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 11, 2020
