UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes said if he were a different nationality, he would likely get a bigger push from his company.
Blaydes is set to fight for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 304 against interim-champion Tom Aspinall and was a bit of a surprise booking for the promotion given the lingering fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic for what is considered the true heavyweight belt.
The Illinois native appeared on "The MMA Hour" with Ariel Helwani to discuss the details on how the fight came to be.
"I knew I was an option," Blaydes said regarding his potential at getting a title shot. The fighter recognized that there were other options for the UFC, though, saying "you never know."
Blaydes cited other fighters like Jones, Alex Pereira, and even seemingly retired fighter and WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar as possible options for the UFC.
Then, Helwani brought up the No. 2-ranked fighter Cyril Gane, a former champion who apparently turned down the fight offer to act in a movie.
"What about Cyril Gane?"Helwani asked. "It comes out that they asked him too, right? So, how do you feel about them asking him and apparently he turned it down because he had a movie."
'I highly doubt they pay him what you're gonna get for a title shot.'
"I'm not surprised," Blaydes replied. "I've been saying for two years now he gets what he gets because he's French. He brings in all the French. If I was a Jamaican or German or just anything but just your standard American, I would be getting more push," he claimed.
Gane is the only UFC titleholder to come from France and has headlined the only two UFC events to take place in the country.
In September 2022, he beat Tai Tuivasa at Accor Arena in Paris, then in September 2023, he beat Sergei Spivac in the same arena.
"I don't mind it. It's business," Blaydes continued. He added that he didn't understand the reason why Gane would take less pay to appear in a movie.
"It's the marketing and that's fine, I'm happy he turned it down. I have no idea why he would turn it down even if he is in a movie, I highly doubt they pay him what you're gonna get for a title shot, but whatever. I'm just happy that I get this opportunity."
The heavyweight went on to say that he feels Aspinall is the legitimate champion, and although it may upset Jones to hear, he said that he believed Aspinall to be the best heavyweight in the world right now.
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Back in 2008, Disney released the movie “WALL-E.” In the film, humans, who have departed Earth on a galactic cruise ship, are so engulfed in their screens that they don’t even know what a real tree looks like any more. Their pathetic lives have become entirely virtual.
Although undoubtedly exaggerated, “WALL-E,” in some sense, was oddly clairvoyant.
Our heavily digital world will likely become even more digital, as VR has been named the answer to many questions around sustainability.
With new “green” initiatives, travel and adventure – things that once made someone interesting and enviable – have been rebranded as selfish and myopic.
Why? Because airplanes and cars allegedly emit harmful emissions and pollutants into the air, and that certainly isn’t in line with the various environmental protection movements gaining momentum across the United States and Europe especially.
“They are trying to get you to now look at traveling the world or the country as a bad thing,” Glenn Becks explains.
He then tells the hypothetical story of Johnny, a boy who was born with wanderlust coursing through his veins. By the time Johnny turned 16, he was already making plans to venture to the moon, much to the dismay of his mother, who had been busy forming plans of her own.
One night, “she sneaks into her son’s bedroom while he’s asleep,” Beck says, “and straps [a VR] headset to him.”
“When he wakes up, he finds himself on the moon, and he never leaves his room again. … Johnny is safe.”
“Isn’t that what adventuring and exploring is all about? Safety?” Glenn mockingly asks.
“Now this sounds insane, but this is exactly where we’re headed.”
This theory can’t be chalked up to mere speculation, either. There are seeds being planted to villainize travel right now.
In response to the Titan submersible tragedy, MSNBC released an article that read: “I think this tragic incident affords us an opportunity–in fact, gives us a mandate–to devise safe ways for people to satisfy their adventurous spirits and educational urges.”
[...]
“As people consider safer ways to explore, I can’t help but think this terrifying scenario is precisely why the concept of the Metaverse, that is a virtual world reachable through a wearable device, will never die.”
“This is where we’re headed,” Glenn responds. “The death of adventure, the death of exploration in exchange for safety.”
“Just put your kid behind a screen or in glasses until they become the people of ‘Wall-E,’” he criticizes.
Glenn wants us all to ask ourselves these questions this July Fourth:
“Are giant corporations in charge? Is government in charge?”
“Are we going to be told what to do and how to do it at all times?”
“How do we have human experiences when we’re in a world of VR?”
“What are we willing to allow tech to replace in our lives?”
“We as America should be asking ourselves this coming holiday: Who are we, where did we come from, and more importantly, where is it we are headed? Is that where we want to go? If not, we should chart a different course,” he concludes.
To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Glenn Beck has been up to something since 2008, and now, it’s finally culminated into a truly one-of-a-kind experience.
In St. George, Utah, Glenn is sharing his collection of artifacts with the public.
The “American museum of our history — the good, bad, and ugly,” he calls it.
A truly fitting name, as the museum features everything from an original Superman costume to a harrowing Klan outfit to the glasses and leather case that stopped a bullet from killing Theodore Roosevelt.
Beck says that he created this museum “because we are losing our history” and “if we don’t learn from the past, then we’re going to repeat all of the mistakes that we’ve made.”
Back in 2008, when he first began collecting historical artifacts, Glenn had the distinct feeling that he needed to “protect and preserve our American founding documents.”
When you see this impressive accumulation of relics, it’s clear he has more than achieved that endeavor.
What Glenn has essentially done is piece together “the entire story of America and the stories that we’ve put out in movies and the other things that the rest of the world knows us for.”
Follow along as Glenn recounts the tragic story of a 16-year-old girl who survived the sinking of the Titanic — the story he believes inspired James Cameron’s cinematic masterpiece.
Listen in horror as Glenn describes the origins of the lobotomy and gender-transition surgery.
Observe as Glenn showcases a blood-curdling German medical book that was nearly destroyed due to the knowledge it contained but instead became the foundation of the medical field.
But that only scratches the surface. Marvels and horrors abound by the hundreds at Glenn’s American Journey museum.
Learn the real history of the United States — the one the far left wants to destroy. Embrace our country’s victories and its downfalls and never forget the TRUTH.
Watch the full clip here:
To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Today, displaying the flag makes you a right-wing extremist, white supremacist, or any number of false stereotypes. Why is that?
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