What kind of crowd should we expect at the UFC White House event? Who’s primed to become a star when the curiosity of the country brings some new viewers to this UFC event? Plus, what does Conor McGregor need to do to prepare for his comeback fight with Max Holloway?
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.
@jokesdriscoll: I’m interested in knowing who’s buying the $1.5 million dollar VIP experience tickets for UFC Freedom 250. Is it just going to be people wanting access to Trump?
What I’d like to know is what, exactly, these people are getting for their $1.5 million. I asked the UFC and was told “TKO is not selling tickets to attend UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House.” But I was also told that “TKO expects attendees at UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn to include members of the military, government personnel, White House invitees, and TKO invitees.” So could you hand over a cool $1.5 mill and then politely request to be among the TKO invitees? Let’s just say it’s not inconceivable.
As for why they’d want to be there, could be a mix of motives. Some might be hoping to get in President Trump’s ear. Others might just want to see and be seen. For some people, the more exclusive an event is and the harder it is to get in, the more they absolutely have to be there. Then again, there’s always the possibility that some people simply have too much bloody money and they can’t get rid of it fast enough.
@ewillcock: We gonna talk about the weirdness that followed that headbutt? Because I watched it live and it was WEIRD. I get that Joe was acting childish, but it was an intentional foul. Guess I see both sides. Thoughts?
For those unaware, he’s talking about the PFL bout between Joe Schilling and Donegi Abena over the weekend in Brussels. Early in the first round, Abena postured up in Schilling’s guard and threw a very obviously intentional headbutt, which missed Schilling’s face and instead connected with his shoulder. Referee Mike Beltran saw it and deducted a point from Abena, then asked Schilling where he wanted to restart the fight. Schilling chose to go back to the same position, but objected to how Abena was trying to position his arms prior to the restart. Before Beltran could get it sorted out, Schilling got up and announced he was done. Fight over. TKO win for Abena.
So yeah, that was weird. And a bummer. That could have been an exciting fight. But I’ve got to say, I don’t know what Schilling was thinking there. Yes, that was an egregious headbutt attempt and he was right to be mad. But it didn’t do anything to him and he had the option to restart on the feet. He didn’t even let Beltran handle it before he decided to get up and go home. Not a great look for anyone, honestly.
@Josephk_art: Are you also tired of talking in circles about certain topics? Sometimes I watch an mma program and they are like, “today we are gonna discuss our Top 5 fighters to watch!” Everyone then just says the same names everyone says, add nothing new, then move on. What’s the point?
The point is content, my friend. Sweet, sweet content. But sure, we all get caught in these whirlpools from time to time. Speculation about what the UFC White House card would look like was a big one for months, which is ironic now since the fighters themselves seem largely left out of the mainstream media conversation about the event. Speculation about Conor McGregor’s many theoretical returns was another, only for it to finally be announced on Instagram while most of the fight sports world was watching something else.
Sometimes I feel like the less we know about a specific topic, the more we like to talk about it. Maybe that’s why pound-for-pound debates are so popular. If the question is unanswerable, there’s no need to ever stop arguing about it.
@NoahSas23: What’s one realistic fight you’d like to booked before the year ends in the UFC?
Also three weeks in a row I’ve made the mailbag, are we best friends now? lol
Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria. Granted, that assumes Topuria beats Justin Gaethje at the White House. But come on. The only reason to think he won’t is because it’s exactly the kind of shock the MMA gods sometimes orchestrate for their own amusement. If Topuria comes out of that as the lightweight champ, it’s up to the UFC to get out the checkbook and make this superfight happen while it still can. We can’t let another one of these slip away through complacency and stinginess.
I’m also really, really hoping that we can get Tom Aspinall back in there to defend the actual UFC heavyweight title against the winner of this interim title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane this year. But that depends on a lot of variables, from Aspinall’s eyes to the notoriously slow pace of heavyweight title bookings.
Also yes, we are best friends now. Can I get a ride to the airport tomorrow? Flight leaves at 5:30 a.m. Thanks, BFF.
@EvilGregJackson: how does someone like McGregor train for a comeback? Away from the sport for a long time, rough lifestyle, looked bad last couple times out, presumably has a yes-man environment where getting wrecked by young fighters in sparring is not acceptable to him (see: Tate, Andrew)
Film and TV has taught me that the only way to do it is to go back to the basics. A dingy basement gym. Heavy bags held together by duct tape. Waking before dawn to drink something disgusting and then going to sleep on a wooden pallet in the back of the gym. Gotta tell you, it’s hard for me to picture Conor McGregor doing any of that right now.
The big question for me is, can he put on the white belt and start over? We all saw what happened in that second Dustin Poirier fight. He was surprised by those calf kicks because he hadn’t been in working fight gyms evolving along with the sport. Instead he was on yachts and in night clubs, then had to come back and train like a kid who skipped all the classes only to cram for the final. It didn’t go great.
If he’s not willing to spar with the kind of people who might beat him up in training, he’s going to have a bad night against Max Holloway. We all know that McGregor is dangerous early in a fight, and I expect that part to still be there. But if Holloway gets him into the second and third and fourth rounds, he’ll suffocate him with pure pressure and volume. McGregor needs to have a plan for that. He needs to be ready for it both physically and mentally. If he’s not in the gym suffering like the broke young fighters do now, it’ll be very apparent on fight night.
@joedaddy85: We talk about fighters/wrestlers having alternative places to work. Do you owe those alternatives the same coverage? Aew held a ppv sunday, and your outfit didn’t mention or highlight the show once that day. How is coverage decided on alternative companies?
We did though, is the thing. We did cover it. We covered AEW Double or Nothing before and after the event. Kind of extensively, actually. MJF was on “The Ariel Helwani Show” the week of the event. We did a recap and results story the day of the event. So I guess what I’m saying is, we accept your apology.
@NiftuCalrissian: Are there any current fighters that you could see as major stars (Liddel, Lesnar, McGregor, Rousey) if they were promoted as such?
I think the UFC White House card has two: Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira. They’re right there. Guys with exciting fighting styles and stories to tell. This should be their big breakout moment on a mainstream stage.
That’s why I was so disappointed when I heard Dana White’s interview with Steve Inskeep of NPR. Even when Inskeep asked specifically about Topuria’s background and story, the UFC CEO didn’t have much to say beyond the usual boilerplate stuff. That’s wild to me. If we’d just try to put the focus on these fighters rather than the executives who no one has ever paid to see, I can’t help but feel like it might make a difference. Seems worth a try, at least.
@ChrisKirk_ASP: Does $60mill actually get an MMA promotion anywhere these days? It’s been a running joke for years about how many hundreds of millions One Championship have blitzed through whilst getting smaller & going backwards. What can Scotty Cokes do differently with less?
I’m sure $60 million doesn’t go as far as it once did (feels ridiculous to even type out), but it’s probably enough to get you up and running if you’re a veteran promoter who knows what he’s doing, which Scott Coker is. My question is and remains: Where are the fighters going to come from? He’s got about six months to come up with enough of a roster to do regular events, and that’s not easy to do in this environment.
@braiiinnnnn: waffles or pancakes?
Waffles all day. Don’t even waste my time with pancakes. There’s a reason ice cream shops don’t sell pancake cones.