Here’s a very small smattering of what’s been going on: Pound-for-pound king
Anderson Silva was recently grumbling about the way he was treated after stepping in on short notice to fight
Daniel Cormier.
Jose Aldo asked to be released from the UFC after being strung along in the
Conor McGregorsweepstakes.
Rory MacDonald bolted for Bellator, and spoke of his decision like he escaped some form of Siberia. Benson Henderson, ditto.
Derrick Lewis said he’d show up at
Dana White’s door to collect his show money for the cancelled card in Manila, and he did so without fear.
It goes on.
Chael Sonnen stretched out a loophole in his contract and then disappeared through it.
Nate Diaz’s biggest year in the sport coincided with him carving the UFC up at every turn. After expressing his displeasure with the UFC,
Al Iaquinta just kind of up and quit.
Cris Cyborg? Disgruntled. McGregor and the UFC are now two behemoths clashing whenever it’s time to book. All he needs to do is tweet "beg me" and we understand immediately the wielding of power and leverage, all packed so neatly into those two words. Even
Frankie Edgar, perhaps the most reasonable person to ever step foot in the Octagon, has made it clear (on numerous occasions) that he’s had just about enough.
There are craters to walk around in Vegas, too. No more
Lorenzo Fertitta. Dave Sholler is gone after
UFC 205, to the Philadelphia 76ers. Matchmaker
Joe Silva is retiring at the end of the year, and Burt Watson’s voice now haunts the corridors at every arena at the live event. Zuffa headquarters has the feel of a "morgue." Nobody’s sure what’s going on with the new ownership, who will be around in 2017 and who won’t. Overseas, UFC employees are being made redundant. Dana White himself right now feels like a hologram of himself. A very rich hologram, drained of vital color.
The new owners, WME-IMG? Mutes.
Nobody’s talking. It’s uncharted territory.
Then of course there’s
Georges St-Pierre. Normally tight-lipped, GSP announced he was a free agent on
The MMA Hour on Monday, detailing the situation as he understood it. In short, he believes his UFC contract has been terminated after the deadline passed for the promotion to offer him a fight.
GSP situation the latest in UFC’s topsy-turvy year