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MMA journalist Luke Thomas is sounding off on the lack of comments made by both ESPN and Endeavor with regards to the Dana White slap situation.
Thomas joined the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, where he addressed the incident between White and his wife that took place on New Year's Eve. He mentioned that the UFC President's actions are indefensible and questioned how ESPN has covered the story, considering their TV rights deal with the promotion, saying:
"That's just chicken sh*t. That is indefensible. It's totally indefensible. And again one more time, ohh like everybody thinks UFC and ESPN are going to be aligned together. This means that there's going to be greater scrunity on UFC, it is the exact opposite, they've been enabled if anything."
The Morning Kombat host then added that it's been frustrating to see how Endeavor has handled the situation. He mentioned that they've been cowardly on their part, saying:
"How do you not say something especially when you have a lead time? Like again, TMZ kind of clearly in my view, in my opinion gave Dana {White} the heads up this was coming, like they knew this was coming. They had something they had to say about this and they haven't done anything. It just tells you what they think of the audience."
Thomas raised valid points as the coverage would look much different if the incident involved a commissioner from another major North American sports league such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL.
Luke Thomas praises Bellator for how they looked at Rizin 40
Luke Thomas was very impressed with Bellator for how they looked during their cross-promotional MMA event with Rizin.
During episode #192 of Morning Kombat, the MMA journalist talked about the results of the cross-promotion event that took place at Rizin 40, which saw Bellator's fighters win all their fights to complete the clean sweep at the Saitama Super Arena.
Thomas, who has covered Bellator for many years, praised the promotion for how their fighters were presented and how they performed, saying:
"I've been covering Bellator events long before he {Scott Coker} ever got there...I saw 'Rampage's {Jackson} debut against Joey Beltran...I mean I've been covering Bellator for a long time and I'll say this, this is the best...in terms of a show and how it looked. this was the best Bellator's ever looked, most elevated." {19:56 - 20:20}
Based on how well Bellator's fighters performed and the clean sweep against Rizin, it will be interesting to see whether they will gain a larger audience and if other promotions become more open to cross-promotion.
Check out the full video:
