Quote of the Day: Loretta Hunt Offers a Gina Carano Mea Culpa
by Luke Thomas on Aug 23, 2009 3:42 PM EDT
in MMA News
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"On my final thought, which stems from a comment I made in a previous Doggy Bag, I got a little flack for stating in June that Carano would "garner more press and media attention" than UFC 100.
I am happy to report I was dead wrong. I underestimated the sheer adrenaline shot UFC 100 would shoot into the sport’s arm. From their phenomenal two-day expo (the best I’ve ever attended) to the actual event, the UFC gave the media a lot to write about, which is great for them and the sport. What’s better is the community is still feeling the buzz from UFC 100. This event might truly be looked at as a milestone when all is said and done.
Please excuse my overzealousness. Sometimes it causes me to go out on a limb and make dubious predictions. That said, I do think Carano more than pulled her weight in the press department, and I look forward to seeing her, joined by Ms. Cyborg, gain much more in the future."
-- Loretta Hunt, News Editor of Sherdog.com.
The idea that Carano could pull the promotional yoke by herself and do so to the point where she was garnering more media attention than all of what the UFC machine can do at their quasi-centennial event would've been the ultimate John Henry story, but like Henry, it's all fantasy. The idea was never realistic to begin with and ultimately Hunt is correct when she says Carano "more than pulled her weight in the press department." This entire situation reveals that the expectations and demands heaped on Carano even by those who either admire her personally or believe in her tremendous abilities as a fighter and personality are all too often overwhelming.
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For Mrs. Hunt:
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Aug 23, 2009 3:53 PM EDT reply actions 9 recs
I’m still waiting for a lot of people in the comments to have their serving after they were dead wrong about CroCop, as opposed to “oh whatever, he was going to sign with Dream, but something came up so he came back to UFC. I wasn’t wrong.”
BOOSH
I get tired of hearing this- he DID sign with Dream. Then he got sick, had his fight cancelled, and the UFC called with a better offer. Why is that so hard to figure out?
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 8:46 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 2 recs
Right
He signed a huge contract with Dream. It was like 10 fights. Then he got sick and it nulled the whole deal. Happens all the time.
Next you’ll tell me Fedor’s next fight will be in the UFC.
BOOSH
Who is Fedro fighting next and when?
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Aug 23, 2009 8:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
There’s a 95% chance he fights Brock at 103.
Also, Crocop got Salmonella. This resulted in his 40-fight deal with Dream getting shredded and he jumped back to UFC.
BOOSH
I thought CroCop had a case of hysterical pregnancies.
Keep firing Assholes!
Romans, be it your duty to rule the nations with imperial sway … to impose the rule of peace, to spare the humbled and crush the proud.
After the Alistair fight, I’d wager he’ll never be able to have children.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
by capital L on Aug 23, 2009 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Who said anything about a ten fight or forty fight deal? Why couldn’t it have been a one fight deal like his last one with the UFC? I guess all those websites that reported he signed with Dream (including this one) were wrong.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 9:49 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I guess there is a lot of websites reporting stuff that is dead wrong:) everyone will sign with ufc at the end of the day or won’t have no one to fight:)
by UniversalSoul on Aug 24, 2009 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions
WARNING WARNING WARNING
If this turns into some moronic “shit on Loretta Hunt” comments discussion, I’ll lay the ban hammer down so fucking fast your head will spin. Not a threat; it’s a promise.
by Luke Thomas on Aug 23, 2009 3:56 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
The crow picture was supposed to be a bit of light-hearted fun and not a bash against her. I think she was letting her own bias and hopes color her commentary, but I would not really expect objectivity in editorial commentary; I would expect the opposite in fact. I applaud her for admitting she was wrong and then focusing on the positives.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Aug 23, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Personally...
I think part of the blame needs to fall on Strikeforce. They did such little promotion outside that presser in NYC. No ads on ESPN, no hyping of any other fights, etc. etc.
by Cory Braiterman on Aug 23, 2009 4:00 PM EDT reply actions
That’s true, but that’s something that should have been taken into account when making this prediction.
There’s no way Carano could do it on her own, Strikeforce has never shown the ability (or the desire) to generate the hype that would be needed to match any UFC PPV, never mind UFC 100. All that was known before, and she still made the prediction, that was silly.
That’s exactly the point.
They should have done more. She predicted they would do more and they didn’t. She was wrong.
by Phildo on Aug 23, 2009 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
you know – they definitely should have done more. But regardless of what they would do, they would never ever even remotely touch UFC 100. There is more – they have absolutely no chance whatsoever to touch any of the future UFC events, but they’ll have to pay top guys same wages as the UFC. This is very funny part. It’s actually a lot of fun to watch it – is Donald Trump going to help them? Or maybe thre is a different economic conditions applying to SF then UFC>? They want to pay the same money to the guys from their live gate + 0.5 mil they get from someone? What’s their live gate? 0.8 mil? with .5 on top of it – so what’s that? 1.3 mil? And you compare it to goddam 1,7 million buys for UFC? (about 80 million bucks with live gate minus commission for ppv agents like yahoo sports) It’s laughable.The difference between UFC resources to promote fights is so damn huge that any comparisons are crazy.
by UniversalSoul on Aug 24, 2009 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions
“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” draws 576,000 viewers, UFC 100 replay nabs two million
Aug 18, 2009 at 12:15 pm ET (mmajunkie.com)
plus I see I was too optimistic about SF. Read below:
“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” draws 13,976 spectators for $736K live gate
Aug 18, 2009 at 4:30 pm ET (mmajunkie)
“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” official salaries: Carano and “Babalu” top $468K payroll
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out, that it’s 288k left + 500k from the sponsor.After paying the venue, staff, it’s probably no more then 300-400k left for promotion comparedo to UFC’s 20-25 million (if they wanted to of course – no one will pay that much for promotion. They simply don’t have to)
by UniversalSoul on Aug 24, 2009 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions
First, don’t try to do math on this shit, because we don’t know nearly enough information. Your salary numbers include 2,000 for Mousasi, and if they paid 2,000 for Mousasi, I’d eat my hat.
That said, it doesn’t matter. It’s obvious that they couldn’t beat UFC 100, that was my entire point. That’s why it was a bad prediction by Loretta. Blaming it on Showtime is stupid, it seems obvious going in that they don’t have the money or the means to top UFC 100, I really don’t know what you’re going on about.
by Phildo on Aug 24, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
nothing really – it was maybe a way around of saying that no matter what this girls (Hunt) couldn’t be right to begin with. Didn’t want to criticize her openly, because she appologized.
I accidentally started to “anwser” your post instead of starting a new one.
But of course – when I’m on it – the salaries are underestimated big time, but these are official. Itąs the same situation with people mambling about UFC salaries. It’s all “official”.
But again – I souldn’t start this as an answer to your post. My apologies
by UniversalSoul on Aug 24, 2009 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m going to take Loretta Hunt out to a nice seafood dinner, and NEVER CALL HER AGAIN.
by Zack Gobie on Aug 23, 2009 4:03 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Yeah, like she’d go out with you….
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 4:11 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Anchorman
and Ron Burgandy is a legend.
by Screwface on Aug 23, 2009 5:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
He has many leather-bound books
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 7:16 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
And his apartment smells of rich mahogany.
by Screwface on Aug 23, 2009 7:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
At least that Hunt admitted that she was wrong
Had Strikeforce done a better job at promoting Carano vs Cyborg, I still don’t think that it would have done the media frenzy that was UFC 100 (especially after Brock’s actions and comments after his fight). However, Strikeforce could have easily reached out to different media like Women’s magazines and heavily strengthen a new demographic especially since Strikeforce seems to be really serious about pushing Women’s MMA.
by chrisbboy82 on Aug 23, 2009 4:11 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Hmmm...
For someone that doesn’t actually mean anything to the sport, she sure does garner alot of attention.
Why exactly does anyone care what she has to say?
by Miketsi on Aug 23, 2009 4:24 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
What Was Not Mentioned...
Was that Strikeforce took a lot of the focus away from Gina vs Cyborg with the Fedor signing and the whole Strikeforce vs UFC drama that everyone was so eager to ignite. Affliction folding and the after math of UFC 100, Fedor vs Brock frenzy also garnered a good amount of attention from the MMA fans. The constant re-arranging of the card and the injuries also took away from the card.
A main event that was supposed to get more attention then UFC 100 shouldn’t really care how many times the card changed or what other news is out there.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Aug 23, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
And far more importantly than that was Strikeforce advertising this like every other regional promotion they have been doing for years.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Aug 23, 2009 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Actually Showtime did most of the advertising.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Aug 23, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Lack thereof.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Aug 23, 2009 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
You point being that both Strikeforce and Showtime dropped the ball and did a horrible job of promoting the fight card? Cause that is the point I am making. They did a great job marketing to the Bay area, like they do every single fight card, but beyond that nothing.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
There is another way of looking at the situation....
To some degree what you said here is a bit like saying: “o lot of focus taken away from Madonna’s new album’s by another scandal involving Madonna”:) For me this situation might have worked exactly opposite way, and brought people’s attention to Strike Force. It’s a bit how marketing sometimes works – some people were brought to Strike Force, and aknowledged their existence, due to the fact of Affliction fallout and Fedor signing, and once they did they might as well watched Carano fight.
by UniversalSoul on Aug 25, 2009 7:11 AM EDT up reply actions
This isn’t bashing…. Just some analysis….
Loretta making such a bold prediction was a combination of her bias against Dana White and her constant favortism for female fighting. It created the perfect receipe for outlandish prediction…. Which had really zero basis in reality.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Aug 23, 2009 5:08 PM EDT reply actions 8 recs
Agreed
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 5:12 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed,
Then below that:
“walla walla walla I’m an idiot.”
Cracked me up.
Keep firing Assholes!
Romans, be it your duty to rule the nations with imperial sway … to impose the rule of peace, to spare the humbled and crush the proud.
I don’t believe your opinion was asked.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 9:52 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I’d love to see some examples of what you consider her “bias against Dana White” and her “constant favoritsm for female fighting.”
She’s been covering this sport for a long time, and in a variety of media, and she hasn’t has such a successful career by being a bad journalist.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
The guy called her everyname in the book through an online YouTube clip…. And that’s after she wrote a one sided negative article on the UFC. The article that started the rant wasn’t good at all.
And I’m trying my hardest not to turn this into a bashing here…. So I will say this as nicely as possible….. From her days at FCFighter to The Fight Network to Sherdog…. She has never been very good. She has contacts make her sometimes a good source of breaking news…. But she has never been very good at being a journalist. Even when she does interviews, she often throws softball questions and doesn’t follow up when the person is obviously just giving her BS.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Aug 23, 2009 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well I certainly can’t disagree with the idea that she’s not the best journalist. I simply object in the strongest terms to the idea that she is bad journalist or a biased journalist.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
she’s a bad journalist and the prove is what she wrote about Carano fight. You need to have no connection to reality to write something like that. I don’t care about the rest of her writing – this one piece is enough, because it’s actually very very bad. This is not like: “he was a good boy, and than accidentally killed an old lady, cos’ he was short on cash”. It’s either you’re good or not good.
by UniversalSoul on Aug 25, 2009 7:16 AM EDT up reply actions
“I’m not going to bash her, but she sucks at her job.”
BOOSH
by Farthammer on Aug 23, 2009 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I’m a fan of Sherdog and a lot of Loretta’s writing, but since you asked for an example and nobody has thrown out the obvious: their participation in the Matt Lindland documentary was really disappointing.
No surprise that she jumped right back on the UFC bandwagon as soon as the sherdog/dana problems were finished.
All he needs to do now is get Supremacy on his side.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
Such a limiting mindset that seems to plague fans of MMA to a degree like those of no other sport. Every piece of critical commentary or reporting regarding the UFC is not an attack on the UFC. Every piece of positive commentary or reporting regarding the UFC is not bandwagon jumping or ‘nut-hugging.’
Replace “UFC” with practically any figure or organization in the the sport and the statement still stands.
Hunt has been highly consistent throughout—and she didn’t make a big deal out of the “problems” in the first place.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
by capital L on Aug 23, 2009 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Its true she has been consistently anti UFC, until now.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
by MonkeyCHops on Aug 23, 2009 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Maybe I have not read enough of her stuff. Everything I have read has come across as pretty biased and I have never really cared for it.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
She has, at times, praised the actions of the UFC. I don’t think she has an anti-UFC bias; I do occasionally fundamentally disagree with her and think her analysis is wrong. Considering that the UFC dominates the market at the moment, and that her job is largely to write pieces that get attention (in other words, controversy), she ends up writing about them a lot, and in my opinion, being wrong about them a lot. But that’s a difference of opinion and analysis rather than fundamental bias.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Aug 23, 2009 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Another thread where the all powerful BE gods like to throw around their power. Good to see ghost of subo, in fact the original should still be here.
Loretta has never been really an elite mma writer, sherdog or not. There are a lot of guys that I would prefer reading with a ton of more insight from smaller sites. Her credibility comes from the sherdog espn partnership.
If any one actually believed carano would out draw ufc 100 then it was there very own fault for not having logic
"What do you want from me?..... A Slap?"
by xtremecouture on Aug 23, 2009 5:39 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Loretta Hunt’s career and reputation in MMA far predates her work with Sherdog.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
I believe I have read pretty much all of her stuff, I mean I follow mma pretty hardcore being an actual fighter its fun to have the non fighter points of views.
"What do you want from me?..... A Slap?"
by xtremecouture on Aug 23, 2009 5:42 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
“Her credibility comes from the sherdog espn partnership.”
So helping Couture write a book, editing FCF, contributing to countless other publications and newspapers, conducting numerous interviews regarding the sport via print, radio, and TV, and doing a ton of simple results reporting from ringside, press conferences, and other associated MMA events… you read pretty much all of that stuff over years and judged it non-credible?
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
“Another thread where the all powerful BE gods like to throw around their power. Good to see ghost of subo, in fact the original should still be here.”
It’s our site, not yours. That means it’s our rules, not yours.
We pay the piper, so we call the tune. Deal? Deal.
oh damn, i just read the thread where he got banned..
why in the world would you joke about someone’s family subo??
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 24, 2009 12:18 AM EDT up reply actions
what happened?
i didn’t see anything. haha.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 24, 2009 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions
I never said she was or wasn’t credible. I said most of her credibility comes from the sherdog espn partnership. BE aside how many people who know Loretta know her back story. A lot of people have short term memories and her claim to fame was a muct heated feud vs Dana. Not that its the truth but we for the most part our die hard fans, the casual fan who reads up a bit on mma catches a few shows and watches ufc unleashed to catch up might not know anything else. So yes most of her credibility comes from there and yes I have read much of her work
"What do you want from me?..... A Slap?"
by xtremecouture on Aug 23, 2009 6:13 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
The credibility of a journalist has jack-all to do with how well the casual fan of what they report on knows their “back story.”
I don’t actually tend to agree with a lot of her opinions and analysis, but she’s entirely credible to me because she has a lot of knowledge regarding a sport and a whole lot of experience covering the sport.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
I can’t disagree there, never once did I personally say me, I, disliked her I’m just saying in the general masses which is what matters knew predicting carano to out draw Brock was pretty crazy let alone all of ufc 100. Loretta just in my eyes has never been in elite company in my opinion. I will read a judo chop anyday. Much more informative. Ha ha
"What do you want from me?..... A Slap?"
by xtremecouture on Aug 23, 2009 6:24 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
She writes for Sherdog, nuff said.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Aug 23, 2009 9:55 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Why single out them?
Dana White running a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars
Gina Carano being considered a sex symbol
Jeff Sherwood starting the most popular MMA website
Josh Gross writing for Sports Illustrated
Forest Griffin being a top ranked athlete in a sport
Mask being the face of Tapout
Mauro Ranallo giving commentary on CBS
Most of these people are really awesome, but when I look at them I don’t think “wow, the cream really rises to the top”; I think of the value of hard work, not taking no for an answer and getting in on the ground floor. This sport wasn’t exactly built by anybody I’d call “Elite,” which is one of the things I find charming about MMA.
“Most of these people are really awesome, but when I look at them I don’t think "wow, the cream really rises to the top"”
You should. If you think elbow grease got them into their position you’re dreaming. They are all exceptionally talented.
by Luke Thomas on Aug 23, 2009 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
i told you so... :)
although, lots of people called me a UFC nut hugger for posting that Gina vs UFC 100 wasn’t even gonna be competitive.. lolz.
Reality nuthuggs Zuffa.
Keep firing Assholes!
Romans, be it your duty to rule the nations with imperial sway … to impose the rule of peace, to spare the humbled and crush the proud.
by Ubernoober on Aug 23, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
I really wish I could rec comments from my phone...
by Screwface on Aug 23, 2009 11:40 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I really wish people would stop bragging about their phones…
hits “post” on phone
by N. Rodriguez on Aug 24, 2009 5:07 AM EDT up reply actions
Loretta
Is passionate for MMA, seems to have her heart in the right place, and probably does more good than bad in the long run.
But she’s not cut out to be a news reporter. Look no further than the piece “agents banned from locker room” piece that kicked off the whole Dana diatribe for proof.
by andherewego on Aug 24, 2009 3:22 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
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