DaMarques Johnson confirms UFC release
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DaMarques Johnson confirms UFC release
BuffaloDave
10/9/12 12:00:53PM
Following a loss at the recent UFC on FUEL TV 5 event, DaMarques Johnson is a UFC fighter no longer.
The welterweight fighter and "The Ultimate Fighter 9" runner-up today confirmed his contractual release via Twitter.
His release follows a three-fight losing streak, though the latest defeat came on late notice with some peculiar details.
Johnson (16-12 MMA, 4-6 UFC), who never went to a decision in 10 career UFC fights, met Gunnar Nelson, and the fight took place at UFC on FUEL TV 5 on just 12 days' notice. The bout, which ended with a first-round loss via rear-naked choke, also came just 56 days after a violent knockout loss to Mike Swick.
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The welterweight fighter and "The Ultimate Fighter 9" runner-up today confirmed his contractual release via Twitter.
His release follows a three-fight losing streak, though the latest defeat came on late notice with some peculiar details.
Johnson (16-12 MMA, 4-6 UFC), who never went to a decision in 10 career UFC fights, met Gunnar Nelson, and the fight took place at UFC on FUEL TV 5 on just 12 days' notice. The bout, which ended with a first-round loss via rear-naked choke, also came just 56 days after a violent knockout loss to Mike Swick.
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voodoo-jitsu
10/9/12 1:02:55PM
This is a good call. I like the guy but he either needs to get serious about fighting or stay gone
frizzzlecake
10/9/12 2:41:42PM
Scumbag UFC, asks a guy to fight on two week's notice TWICE, and holds him accountable like fighters with full camps.
george112
10/9/12 2:53:51PM
Posted by frizzzlecake
Scumbag UFC, asks a guy to fight on two week's notice TWICE, and holds him accountable like fighters with full camps.
Yeah I don't like that.
But its the UFC. Unwarranted cuts are commonplace among legitimate ones
tcunningham
10/9/12 2:59:55PM
he did not look good in this last fight for sure. i think they should have given him one more chance but maybe this will be a wakeup call to get serious. i do think that bellator should jump on this opportunity though, i think he could be successful there.
Budgellism
10/9/12 3:03:32PM
Posted by frizzzlecake
Scumbag UFC, asks a guy to fight on two week's notice TWICE, and holds him accountable like fighters with full camps.
He set the catchweight specifically for him and then missed it by 8 pounds. It's also not the first time he's missed weight and he's 4-6 in the ufc (None of the guys he beat are still with the ufc), on a three fight losing streak where he was finished all three times. Spin it any way you'd like, the cut is justified imo.
BuffaloDave
10/9/12 3:10:25PM
Posted by Budgellism
Posted by frizzzlecake
Scumbag UFC, asks a guy to fight on two week's notice TWICE, and holds him accountable like fighters with full camps.
He set the catchweight specifically for him and then missed it by 8 pounds. It's also not the first time he's missed weight and he's 4-6 in the ufc (None of the guys he beat are still with the ufc), on a three fight losing streak where he was finished all three times. Spin it any way you'd like, the cut is justified imo.
It's not like he saved the card by taking the fight, so I also see the release justified as well.
airkerma
10/9/12 3:24:05PM
I don't like it. He isn't great and he did miss weight, but he offered to fill in. I think this sends a terrible message and Dana will soon find himself in his own shit that he bred. If you cut guys when they step up, win lose miss weight, whatever, you will soon find out that nobody will take those short notice fights. Then who suffers? The fans. Notice the steady increase in fighters playing it safe in order to win? Perhaps we will begin to witness more fights being scrapped altogether when replacements refuse to step up, as the risk vs reward is incredibly one sided.
Moves like this inherently damage the product.
Moves like this inherently damage the product.
george112
10/9/12 3:39:32PM
Posted by airkerma
I don't like it. He isn't great and he did miss weight, but he offered to fill in. I think this sends a terrible message and Dana will soon find himself in his own shit that he bred. If you cut guys when they step up, win lose miss weight, whatever, you will soon find out that nobody will take those short notice fights. Then who suffers? The fans. Notice the steady increase in fighters playing it safe in order to win? Perhaps we will begin to witness more fights being scrapped altogether when replacements refuse to step up, as the risk vs reward is incredibly one sided.
Moves like this inherently damage the product.
Exactly
Doesn't matter if it saves the card or not. As a fan I'd want to watch one more fight on a card then them scrapping the fight altogether.
It's not like Johnson missed weight on purpose. Personally if i got offered a fight on 2 weeks notice I would sure as hell take it thinking I could for sure make weight . That's a big payday that could be the last for a while considering Johnson isnt a big name and all. So why not take the fight???
Without the short notice fights his record could possibly be with 2 more W's in it
Budgellism
10/9/12 3:39:53PM
Posted by airkerma
I don't like it. He isn't great and he did miss weight, but he offered to fill in. I think this sends a terrible message and Dana will soon find himself in his own shit that he bred. If you cut guys when they step up, win lose miss weight, whatever, you will soon find out that nobody will take those short notice fights. Then who suffers? The fans. Notice the steady increase in fighters playing it safe in order to win? Perhaps we will begin to witness more fights being scrapped altogether when replacements refuse to step up, as the risk vs reward is incredibly one sided.
Moves like this inherently damage the product.
I see your point but he was 35 pounds over when he accepted the fight. There was no reason to take the fight if he couldn't make the weight in time. By doing so he screwed himself and made the company look bad by being well over the limit. We don't know if another guy would have filled in or not but either way he took the fight, said he could make 175 and then missed it by a lot and was completely dominated. For all we know there were a couple of guys that would have done it, but Johnson volunteered to do it so the UFC stopped looking for an opponent.
Guys will always offer to fill in because it means they get paid. The bigger fights may be a different story but there are 100s of guys out there that would accept any fight any time.
george112
10/9/12 3:49:35PM
Posted by Budgellism
Posted by airkerma
I don't like it. He isn't great and he did miss weight, but he offered to fill in. I think this sends a terrible message and Dana will soon find himself in his own shit that he bred. If you cut guys when they step up, win lose miss weight, whatever, you will soon find out that nobody will take those short notice fights. Then who suffers? The fans. Notice the steady increase in fighters playing it safe in order to win? Perhaps we will begin to witness more fights being scrapped altogether when replacements refuse to step up, as the risk vs reward is incredibly one sided.
Moves like this inherently damage the product.
I see your point but he was 35 pounds over when he accepted the fight. There was no reason to take the fight if he couldn't make the weight in time. By doing so he screwed himself and made the company look bad by being well over the limit. We don't know if another guy would have filled in or not but either way he took the fight, said he could make 175 and then missed it by a lot and was completely dominated. For all we know there were a couple of guys that would have done it, but Johnson volunteered to do it so the UFC stopped looking for an opponent.
Guys will always offer to fill in because it means they get paid. The bigger fights may be a different story but there are 100s of guys out there that would accept any fight any time.
On the same token . Why did the UFC give the fight to Johnson since he was so much over? I mean 35 pounds has to make a difference in a person's apperance.
Im gonna reiterate the fact that these fights are how these guys get paid. That I can guarantee is the deciding factor in stepping up for a short notice fight.
Anybody that isn't a bigger name would have stepped up your right because it could be a while before they fight again
Budgellism
10/9/12 4:08:19PM
Posted by george112
Posted by Budgellism
Posted by airkerma
I don't like it. He isn't great and he did miss weight, but he offered to fill in. I think this sends a terrible message and Dana will soon find himself in his own shit that he bred. If you cut guys when they step up, win lose miss weight, whatever, you will soon find out that nobody will take those short notice fights. Then who suffers? The fans. Notice the steady increase in fighters playing it safe in order to win? Perhaps we will begin to witness more fights being scrapped altogether when replacements refuse to step up, as the risk vs reward is incredibly one sided.
Moves like this inherently damage the product.
I see your point but he was 35 pounds over when he accepted the fight. There was no reason to take the fight if he couldn't make the weight in time. By doing so he screwed himself and made the company look bad by being well over the limit. We don't know if another guy would have filled in or not but either way he took the fight, said he could make 175 and then missed it by a lot and was completely dominated. For all we know there were a couple of guys that would have done it, but Johnson volunteered to do it so the UFC stopped looking for an opponent.
Guys will always offer to fill in because it means they get paid. The bigger fights may be a different story but there are 100s of guys out there that would accept any fight any time.
On the same token . Why did the UFC offer the fight to Johnson since he was so much over? I mean 35 pounds has to make a difference in a person's apperance.
Im gonna reiterate the fact that these fights are how these guys get paid. That I can guarantee is the deciding factor in stepping up for a short notice fight.
Anybody that isn't a bigger name would have stepped up your right because it could be a while before they fight again
They call fighters camps when they offer a fight, they don't go down and visit them personally to give them the fight. Dana and Sean Shelby probably didn't see Johnson until the day of the weigh ins. Also, do we know they reached out to him or he reached out to them? Because I don't know that and I'm assuming most people don't. If they reached out to him he can turn the fight down and tell them he's not going to make the weight but he'd like to fight as soon as possible. He's a name that fans are familiar with and he would get a fight sooner rather than later. If they didn't then he went in knowing he had to lose 35 pounds in two weeks . Not only is doing that highly unlikely, it's extremely damaging to his body in the long run.
At the end of the day though Damarques Johnson isn't ufc level and his fights show that. It was a matter of time before he got cut and this was the straw that broke the camel's back for the UFC I guess.
FlashyG
10/9/12 4:12:05PM
Posted by george112
On the same token . Why did the UFC give the fight to Johnson since he was so much over? I mean 35 pounds has to make a difference in a person's apperance.
Im gonna reiterate the fact that these fights are how these guys get paid. That I can guarantee is the deciding factor in stepping up for a short notice fight.
Anybody that isn't a bigger name would have stepped up your right because it could be a while before they fight again
I doubt the UFC sent any representatives to see Johnson in person so they wouldn't know how far overweight he was until he arrived for the event.
I also doubt he volunteered the information that he was 35lbs over, or they would have looked for someone else to fill in.
I think the cut was a justifiable one, Johnson wasn't having any success in the UFC, and was likely given a nice bonus for stepping up on short notice.
I don't believe that taking a fight on short notice should automatically save your job, if it was a close fight maybe, but that wasn't the case this time.
Budgellism
10/9/12 4:14:04PM
Posted by FlashyG
Posted by george112
On the same token . Why did the UFC give the fight to Johnson since he was so much over? I mean 35 pounds has to make a difference in a person's apperance.
Im gonna reiterate the fact that these fights are how these guys get paid. That I can guarantee is the deciding factor in stepping up for a short notice fight.
Anybody that isn't a bigger name would have stepped up your right because it could be a while before they fight again
I doubt the UFC sent any representatives to see Johnson in person so they wouldn't know how far overweight he was until he arrived for the event.
I also doubt he volunteered the information that he was 35lbs over, or they would have looked for someone else to fill in.
I think the cut was a justifiable one, Johnson wasn't having any success in the UFC, and was likely given a nice bonus for stepping up on short notice.
I don't believe that taking a fight on short notice should automatically save your job, if it was a close fight maybe, but that wasn't the case this time.
Bloodhound
10/9/12 4:18:34PM
This is gonna motivate fighters on the fringe of being cut to take a short notice fight...
MMAcca
10/9/12 4:41:47PM
Damarques could have just said no both times and still be a UFC fighter.
bjj1605
10/9/12 5:06:33PM
Posted by MMAcca
Damarques could have just said no both times and still be a UFC fighter.
I agree and this is the problem with the cut IMO.
If he hadn't taken those short notice fights he would have had a better chance to win his next 2 appearances. Does that mean he would have? Of course not.
But there's at least a chance that this cut is indirectly due to him taking fights on short notice. That sends the message: "Do us a favor and you just might get punished."
infestructure
10/9/12 5:09:03PM
Posted by Budgellism
Posted by frizzzlecake
Scumbag UFC, asks a guy to fight on two week's notice TWICE, and holds him accountable like fighters with full camps.
He set the catchweight specifically for him and then missed it by 8 pounds. It's also not the first time he's missed weight and he's 4-6 in the ufc (None of the guys he beat are still with the ufc), on a three fight losing streak where he was finished all three times. Spin it any way you'd like, the cut is justified imo.
Yup, they didn't cut him fast enough IMO. As with Brenneman, both guys were never going to be anything but gatekeepers/record padders, and I'm glad to see them both make way for new talent.
OnyxShadow
10/9/12 5:15:28PM
The guy is not a very good fighter...certainly not UFC caliber. This cut is long overdue. Johnson was 4-6 in the UFC and all the wins were against guys that got booted from the UFC even sooner. His striking is somewhat good albeit lacking power, but his wrestling and ground game in general are mediocre. There's only so long I wanna watch the top MMA org in the world show a guy that struggles to be competitive against anyone in the top 50 of the division.
george112
10/9/12 5:23:08PM
Posted by OnyxShadow
The guy is not a very good fighter...certainly not UFC caliber. This cut is long overdue. Johnson was 4-6 in the UFC and all the wins were against guys that got booted from the UFC even sooner. His striking is somewhat good albeit lacking power, but his wrestling and ground game in general are mediocre. There's only so long I wanna watch the top MMA org in the world show a guy that struggles to be competitive against anyone in the top 50 of the division.
The guy has had a submission of the night bonus and an honorable mention for fight of the year in 2009
Without the short notice fights he possibly could have 6-4 record. Which is a winning record. I'm not saying he would have won those fights but a full fight camp certainly helps.
Who can blame the guy for wanting to get paid?
george112
10/9/12 5:25:27PM
Posted by george112
Posted by OnyxShadow
The guy is not a very good fighter...certainly not UFC caliber. This cut is long overdue. Johnson was 4-6 in the UFC and all the wins were against guys that got booted from the UFC even sooner. His striking is somewhat good albeit lacking power, but his wrestling and ground game in general are mediocre. There's only so long I wanna watch the top MMA org in the world show a guy that struggles to be competitive against anyone in the top 50 of the division.
The guy has had a submission and knockout of the night bonus and an honorable mention for fight of the year in 2009
Without the short notice fights he possibly could have 6-4 record. Which is a winning record. I'm not saying he would have won those fights but a full fight camp certainly helps.
Who can blame the guy for wanting to get paid?
BillsNewAccount
10/9/12 6:11:50PM
I'm surprised more people aren't talking about the fact they threw him to Gunnar. I know it was Gunnar's debut but the dude is a manimal.
You'd have to imagine if DW wanted to keep him around he wouldn't have had him fight Gunnar. If that is the case it's just one more slimy move for the always hypocritical bald father.
Tell Matt Mitrione to fight the best wrestler in mma when he got taken down by a gassed Morecraft.
I imagine Meatrione googled Cormier, saw him body slam Barnett and declined the fight. Which is what D-Zilla should have done.
You'd have to imagine if DW wanted to keep him around he wouldn't have had him fight Gunnar. If that is the case it's just one more slimy move for the always hypocritical bald father.
Tell Matt Mitrione to fight the best wrestler in mma when he got taken down by a gassed Morecraft.
I imagine Meatrione googled Cormier, saw him body slam Barnett and declined the fight. Which is what D-Zilla should have done.
sparky
10/9/12 6:31:03PM
I personally think its his own fault. If your a fighter and you tell the boss yes ill take the fight then you better make the weight especially when the fight has been made into a catch weight bout to help you out.
voodoo-jitsu
10/9/12 7:19:14PM
Posted by sparky
I personally think its his own fault. If your a fighter and you tell the boss yes ill take the fight then you better make the weight especially when the fight has been made into a catch weight bout to help you out.
This post is on the money
bjj1605
10/9/12 8:07:10PM
Even though I think the cut sends a bad message, I will say that I'm not going to miss Johnson.
He came and trained with us at Curran Martial Arts for a bit. I got a chance to meet him and roll with him and I really didn't like his attitude.
He had a definite "holier than thou" attitude. Like he was hot shit because he's a UFC fighter. Maybe this will humble him a bit.
PS.
I'm not trying to fighter bash here. This is my personal opinion of the guy informed by personal experiences.
He came and trained with us at Curran Martial Arts for a bit. I got a chance to meet him and roll with him and I really didn't like his attitude.
He had a definite "holier than thou" attitude. Like he was hot shit because he's a UFC fighter. Maybe this will humble him a bit.
PS.
I'm not trying to fighter bash here. This is my personal opinion of the guy informed by personal experiences.
OnyxShadow
10/9/12 9:04:18PM
Posted by george112
The guy has had a submission of the night bonus and an honorable mention for fight of the year in 2009
Without the short notice fights he possibly could have 6-4 record. Which is a winning record. I'm not saying he would have won those fights but a full fight camp certainly helps.
A full training camp doesn't get him a win over any of the last three guys that beat him...and none of them with the potential exception of Nelson is particularly impressive. Getting nifty subs and being in fun fights is nice and all, but there's only so long that's relevant in the big leagues. Its not like any of his last 6 losses were even close. In all cases he was subbed or KO'd.
frizzzlecake
10/9/12 9:35:22PM
Scumbag Dana cut's Damarques a guy willing to fight anytime for his company, but calls out Meathead and Jones who weren't willing to step in for injured fighters.
okay i'm done now, to me this has nothing to do with DaMarques and everything to do with the philosophy of the UFC. All the injury's that are accruing and your cutting guys who are willing to step in with one phone call? I won't be surprised or angry when fighter's tell Dana Hell No!
Fighter's Union anyone?
Manak
10/9/12 10:57:57PM
I have no problem with cut, don't miss weight. you can say all you want about short notice but you have requirements you still have to meet. A job is a job no matter the situation and if you don't meet the standards than tough shit. That is life and professional sports is one of the toughest life's in the sense that it chews people up and spits them out without missing a beat.
prozacnation1978
10/10/12 8:48:51AM
Missing weight didn't help