Cintron: "I Accept Dana White's Challenge"

[1bad65]

What do you do when you've reached your peak of boxing and realized you're not very good? You learn how to wrestle a little and join the UFC. Cintron already knows how to wrestle and if he fought MMA he'd mangle anyone near his weight. Hopefully it doesn't happen just because it would bring that so-called sport more undeserved attention.

This is an ignorant statement. Sorry to have to be blunt. The ONLY mma fighter who I can say MIGHT even fit that mold is LaVerne Clark. His boxing record is 14-18. His mma record is 22-16-1. He was obviously a journyman in BOTH sports. I'm not sure who trains him in boxing, but he trains mma at an ELITE camp, Team Miletich. He did not totally quit boxing for mma though, at times he did both. He last boxed in '04, he was KO'd by Allan Green. He appears to still be active in mma.

[1bad65]

And for those of you saying that because Cintron was an 'amazing high school wrestler' he can outwrestle UFC guys, keep this in mind: say a guy is an amazing high school quarterback, but quits football after high school to play pro baseball for several years. Do you really think he could just suddenly go and be a succesful NFL level quarterback on a whim?

As I said earlier, Cintron will need to get the rust off of his wrestling skills and he SHOULD train some submission defense.

[sleepingtalon]

all around, boxers are far better athletes than MMA, our fights are longer, we're more disciplined, and an MMA guy wouldn't get close enough to get us on the groud.

And BTW Kermit was an amazing wrestler in high school, he's going to do just fine, like I said I might be going out to eat with Kermits brother soon, I'll see what I can find out.

Boxers are better athletes? How did you come to this brilliant deduction? That's simply NOT true. Each sport has great athletes. Boxing has longer fights, but not by some huge margin. MMA can go 25min in the US. Ever hear of Gracie and Sakuraba? That fight went an HOUR & a HALF! Please tell me the last time a boxing match went that long? More disciplined? What do you base this on? Oh, and as far as Kermit's wrestling skills, placing 10th in high school isn't some great accomplishment. I placed top 5, and my wrestling is average with the guys I train with. The best line you've said though is "an MMA guy wouldn't get close enough to get us on the ground" That's a ****ing laugh if I've ever heard one. Keep it coming, you come up with some entertaining stuff!

[sleepingtalon]

its true, when people realize that they are not gonna make it in boxing start doing MMA, learning to wrestle is easier than learning to box.
i would like to see cintron do it, with those gloves he could knock out anybody there, and if he has some wrestling bacground he could use it to stay on his feet.

More funny comments! Wrestling is easier than boxing? I assume you've got gold medals in both those sports to back that statement up? Cintron's wrestling backround is sub par, and based on the fact that he probably hasnt wrestled in 10yrs, his 10th place finish in high school is hardly gonna help him. Especially seeing how you've gotta adapt your wrestling to suit MMA.

[+= El Jefe=+]

More funny comments! Wrestling is easier than boxing? I assume you've got gold medals in both those sports to back that statement up? Cintron's wrestling backround is sub par, and based on the fact that he probably hasnt wrestled in 10yrs, his 10th place finish in high school is hardly gonna help him. Especially seeing how you've gotta adapt your wrestling to suit MMA.

as much as i agree that he Was a wrestler he is no more. i would not call being offered a full Ride to Ohio State is not sub-par. but as much as wrestling will help, wrestling does not have the kind of submissions that Jujitzu Judo or any other sports have.

[Benny Leonard]

Good post Benny. Well thought out and written.

About the Dana-Tito thing, its kinda like a 'he said-he said' thing. I myself think that Dana was wanting to do it. I also think Tito realized it was a no-win for him. If he won, he beat a guy with no pro fighting(mma or boxing) experience. If he lost, he lost to a guy with no fighting experience. I doubt Dana coordinated anything with Tito, they are known to have a very rocky business relationship. Tito was actually kinda 'blackballed' from UFC by Dana a few years ago and Tito has said publicly that he feels the UFC fighters are not paid enough.

Tito is right, MMA/UFC fighters are not paid enough. As the sport grows in popularity, more money should head their way. I do not know why anybody has anything against Tito in this regard (with his trash talk) since he became popular for such that reason, thus giving others the opportunity to make more money. Yes, there might have been others before him that boosted the economic value of the fighter, but Tito played a role.

Dana seems to want to control UFC/MMA to a point where fighters are either under-paid and feel they need to sign longer contracts in order to make money, or tries to prevent fighters from making enough money where they are well-off/their own man.

Think about it: how many UFC fighters are making what the top boxers are making? Maybe I am wrong, maybe fighters like Chuck and Tito are making $10 million+ like Floyd, but I read/hear different.

If I were the fighters, I would form a Union as quick as possible if they do not have one already. Nobody needs DANA, DANA needs the fighters. The line goes like this: Fans, Fighters, media/television/, others, others, others, then the Promoter (which is really not needed if the fighters workout a deal with the fans and networks themselves).


Tito may get a bad reputation, might even be a **** in real life (I don't know}, but the man is right about fighters are entitled to more money based on the numbers.

[..........]

Boxers are better athletes? How did you come to this brilliant deduction? That's simply NOT true. Each sport has great athletes. Boxing has longer fights, but not by some huge margin. MMA can go 25min in the US. Ever hear of Gracie and Sakuraba? That fight went an HOUR & a HALF! Please tell me the last time a boxing match went that long? More disciplined? What do you base this on? Oh, and as far as Kermit's wrestling skills, placing 10th in high school isn't some great accomplishment. I placed top 5, and my wrestling is average with the guys I train with. The best line you've said though is "an MMA guy wouldn't get close enough to get us on the ground" That's a ****ing laugh if I've ever heard one. Keep it coming, you come up with some entertaining stuff!

Dude your a self proven ******* who knows absolutely nothign about the sport of boxing, go put on your tights and roll around with your boys, this is brawler country, we don't need mohawks and tattoos to be badass. MMA is a joke in the eys of boxing.

[sleepingtalon]

Dude your a self proven ******* who knows absolutely nothign about the sport of boxing, go put on your tights and roll around with your boys, this is brawler country, we don't need mohawks and tattoos to be badass. MMA is a joke in the eys of boxing.

A "brawler country"? Spoken like a true ****in' idiot. Boxing is ONE, and only ONE element of a real fight. Like it or not, it's the truth. MMA is a joke in the eyes of boxing, huh? I guess that's why DLH's camp has been training Diego Sanchez, a top MMA fighter, right? I guess that's why many boxers can be found in the front row of UFC fights in Vegas, right? Get off your little ****ing high horse, and just swallow the reality pill. BTW, you're right, you don't need tattoos on your body and mohawks to be badass, you get to prove that with tattoos on your face and ear biting!

[Benny Leonard]

as much as i agree that he Was a wrestler he is no more. i would not call being offered a full Ride to Ohio State is not sub-par. but as much as wrestling will help, wrestling does not have the kind of submissions that Jujitzu Judo or any other sports have.

I cannot rememer the fighter's name (but he is a bald looking wrestler type build) that does the telecast for Pride (in some of the episodes I watched), but he said that a good striker can counter what the Brazilians do.

With some training, and a bit of time, a top athlete in a fighting sport should be able to become more well-rounded.

I trained with someone that started Karate around 18, and within a few years was actually beating an Olympic fighter. I know he is not the norm, but neither are the "elite" fighters of Pro sports.

I have also heard that the reaction time from a boxer "may" be better than that of other fighting forms because fists are faster, and the training is specific to build reflexes.


That said, boxers should learn to be more well rounded if they are going to compete in UFC. It might be unpleasant taking leg shots if you can't make up the distance quick enough. Takedowns are also a major concern.

[1bad65]

Another good one Benny. While there is a big gap in what top-level boxers make compared to top-level mma guys, there are some other factors at play. As MMA is a sport that is growing fast and is kinda an 'in' thing right now, a good number of MMA guys have pretty good sponsorships and endorsement deals. And not just the big name UFC guys either. One of the guys at my gym has a sponsor right now and he has not even fought in the UFC. He is an FFC champ and a K-1 vet though. But if you ask a rabid UFC-only fan who he is they won't know him, yet he has a good (and generous) sponsor. A 2nd guy is looking into getting one too. He also has not fought in the UFC, he is an IFL vet though. And all the money they earn through these deals is all theirs to keep (minus taxes). They do not have to give their trainers or managers a cut like they would a fight purse. I would be willing to bet that guys like Couture and Liddell probably make high 6 or even 7 figure deals to endorse products.

And this in no way means I think it's ok to pay any fighter less than what he is worth, be it in boxing or MMA.