Ben Fowlkes Uncrowned Thu, November 5, 2026 at 6:59 PM UTC · 6 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is it only getting harder out here for a grappling-based fighter whose focus is winning fights on the mat? Plus, will the results of the U.S. midterm elections affect the UFC's own right-wing push?
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.
@SeanSheehanBA: When will people be ready to have the conversation that jiu-jitsu doesn't work in MMA
First of all, how dare you. Second of all, how much of a chance are we giving it these days? And yes, I'm thinking specifically about last weekend's headliner between Tom Nolan and Renato Moicano.
Moicano had the better jiu-jitsu in that fight, and for the first round and a half it allowed him to control the fight. He was on Nolan's back, body triangle locked up, peppering him with punches while looking for the opening to slide in a choke. Then he got stood up by referee Dan Miragliotta. His whole strategy for the fight was essentially nullified by referee intervention — and up until then it was working!
I'm not saying Miragliotta cost Moicano the fight. Nolan was doing a good job defending against the submission, plus every round starts standing and he was clearly the better fighter there. Maybe he would have eventually got to Moicano on the feet. Or … maybe Moicano would have just kept taking his back — a dominant position that you can't really "improve" upon — every round until he won a decision. But he didn't get that chance, because Miragliotta stopped him.
Renato Moicano had Tom Nolan right where he wanted him, until a controversial referee stand-up changed the course of their fight at UFC Vegas 123 on Saturday.
Obviously, jiu-jitsu works best on people who don't know its tricks and traps. It's easier to develop a basic competency at submission defense than it is to become a good wrestler or slick striker. Those who know they don't want to mess with the ground game at all can just focus on shutting it down and stalling the action, especially if they know that refs will only give a grappler so much time to do his thing.
This sport started as a proving ground for all martial arts styles, with a rule-set intentionally left wide open to find out who would win a "real" fight. Ironically, this promotion started as a marketing machine for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, only for the rules and rewards to gradually favor every other style over that one. Seems to me there are artificial forces at work making it harder and harder for grapplers to succeed in MMA.
@TitansOdysseyXS: In light of these midterms, does the UFC continue to cozy up to Trump or begin to distance themselves?
I never got the sense that the UFC became so vehemently and visibly pro-Trump due to any careful calculations regarding the American electorate. It always seemed like the main factors were: 1) Dana White is a longtime personal friend of Donald Trump, and 2) Trump was in a position to help the UFC out here and there — and vice versa.
None of that has changed. Even if the election may have showed that the American people are generally turning against the Trump agenda and its effects on their daily lives (personally I never knew my car could even hold $85 worth of gas), Trump is still White's friend and he still has enormous executive power for another two years.
I am slightly hopeful, though, that the UFC's Trump support might get a little less obnoxious and a little easier to ignore now, simply because there's nothing to try to sell us on. The midterms are over. Trump can't run for president again. There's just nothing imminently Trump-related for the UFC to push right now. Hopefully that means we can go back to watching the fights in (relative) peace.
@pal20755694: Usyk wants to go back to cruiserweight to fight Benavidez. He is almost 40 and looked bad against Verhoeven. Is this a good fight for him or just the same old story of an old champion staying too long?
The version of Oleksandr Usyk who fought Rico Verhoeven in the shadow of the Pyramids of Giza (still can't believe that actually happened) did not look like someone I'd advise to drop down in weight and fight a champion 10 years younger. But then again, it was one fight. In a non-traditional setting. Against an unconventional opponent who, let's be honest, Usyk may have taken too lightly.
Still, my big question is why? If you go back down to cruiserweight and win that title back one more time, what does that do for your legacy that wasn't already done by becoming an undefeated heavyweight champ? If it was just about money, there are more lucrative options. This feels like an attempt to prove a point that doesn't really need proving.
@Beastin364: Dana saying that they might do Justin vs. Volk next. Arman is never ever getting that title shot is he?
It doesn't look great. According to what White told Jim Rome this week, he's just waiting to see what Justin Gaethje wants to do. He said he would "pretty much do anything for" Alexander Volkanovski, including giving him a crack at Gaethje, but it's not even clear if Gaethje wants to fight again.
That's bad news for Arman Tsarukyan, man. He doesn't even seem to enter into the UFC's calculations. And what else could he possibly do to change that? He's won all the fights that were supposed to make him a top contender. He's made himself into a big name who people recognize and talk about even when he doesn't have anything booked. He's done all the things! And still it's like the UFC is looking for reasons to pass him over.
The good news is that Volkanovski has talked about this Gaethje fight as a last dance for both of them. So regardless of what happens, this can only go on for so long. Eventually Tsarukyan might be the only top lightweight left. Then you just hope he didn't spend his best years waiting.
@Screenplaya: Ref pay! Make good! How? Who? Fire!!!
The money is obviously there to pay referees better. Know how I know? Because every time TKO releases a quarterly earnings report the big takeaway is that the UFC is essentially an ATM on the parent company's front lawn, and it's spitting out cash at an increasing rate.
Refereeing MMA fights, even at the very highest level, is a part-time gig right now. If we want the people doing it to act like full-time professionals who do nothing but focus on this incredibly difficult job, maybe it's in the promoters' best interests to cough up the money that would make that possible.
Source: Sports
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