A slow week in MMA? So what. Let’s decide what’s hot, what’s not, what is just a big ball of confusion.

Not — Costa Philippou: Remember how his fight with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza was listed as one of the best of the month? Too bad it’s off. A cut forced Phillippou off in training, and Chris Camozzi is stepping in to fight Souza at UFC on FX 8. Rafael Natal will now fight Joao Zeferino.

Hot — Jon Jones: He defended his title for the fifth time, tying the record set by Tito Ortiz in 2002. Sure, he jacked up his toe, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Not — Eyes: It’s been a tough week for eyes. Eye pokes were the reason behind two of the stoppages at UFC 159. But things are looking up as the UFC will try to change the rules behind eye pokes in the coming months.

Hot — Chael Sonnen: “But Maggie!” you say. “He lost his fight to Jon Jones. How can he be on the hot list?” Because the loss was completely expected, and the man didn’t miss a beat. He stayed in the spotlight by bringing out an old feud with Wanderlei Silva, and ripping him on Twitter.

Not, or maybe hot, or who knows — Cheick Kongo: After getting knocked out by Roy Nelson, Kongo’s profile disappeared from the UFC site. Then, two reputable MMA news outlets reported Kongo’s contract has run out, and that the UFC had no plans to re-sign the French fighter. But Kongo keeps insisting on his Twitter page that he has no plans to leave the UFC.

Thanks for sticking with Cagewriter this week. Follow CW on Twitter and Facebook.

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Spend some time this morning taking a behind-the-scenes look at Jon Jones’ win over Chael Sonnen on Saturday. You’ll see a Jones who is incredibly loose and relaxed before, during and after his fight. He seemed to enjoy this win more than his other ti…

After a busy run in April, May is a relatively slow month for MMA. You can spend the extra time and money you’re not spending on fights on a Mother’s Day gift. After you’ve taken your mother to brunch, check out these fights:
Mike Treadwell vs. Chris T…

There are plenty of fight highlight videos, but few give such a stark, behind-the-scenes look as this one. Some of the moments carry more weight when you know the story behind them. Melvin Guillard hugging Donald Cerrone and coach Greg Jackson is a be…

Chael Sonnen’s loss to Jon Jones at UFC 159 put his career in question. At 36 years old, and with title losses in two different divisions, would Sonnen consider retiring? He answered that question on Fuel’s “UFC Tonight,” and that answer is no.

“I have a lot of goals I want to achieve still, and retirement won’t help me get that done,” Sonnen said.

He said the weight class is up for debate, though he liked the switch to light heavyweight after years as a middleweight. He would also be happy to fight at a catchweight, like Rich Franklin did for a few fights when moving up in weight. But there’s no question about who he wants to fight.

“I’m not going anywhere until me and Wanderlei [Silva] straighten this thing out once and for all,”

Like Sonnen, Silva has moved between middleweight, light heavyweight and catchweights somewhere between. He is also 36, but the sensible match-up isn’t why Sonnen is interested in this bout. Sonnen has a problem with this video from 2010:

Here is how Sonnen viewed this video.

“Wanderlei pulled a really dirtbag move on me one time. We’re in a van, he mutters something at me, I can’t understand what he’s saying. He then puts it on YouTube with subtitles because he knows I can’t understand him. He puts in these subtitles and I don’t know if it’s what he’s said or not. Essentially, he tells me off, and it looks as though I’m conceding to him. That doesn’t fly. If he calls you out, whether it’s in a van or not, if you’re a fighter, you must respond. I’m ready to respond.”

Silva responded by tweeting this:

@sonnench?

— Wanderlei Silva (@wandfc) May 1, 2013

And then sharing the above video and saying, “Real men talk face to face.”

Is this a fight you want to see, Cagereaders? Speak up on Facebook or Twitter.

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During UFC 159, UFC commentator Joe Rogan interviewed Tommy Rowlands, a former world team member for USA Wrestling and a two-time national champion for Ohio State. Rowlands talked about wrestling’s big role in mixed martial arts and how the UFC was supporting the effort to keep Olympic wrestling alive. The sport, a mainstay of the Olympics since the ancient games, was not kept as a core sport for the 2020 Olympics and will have to fight to keep its spot after the 2016 Olympics.

The UFC and the Committee to Preserve Olympic Wrestling announced the start of a partnership weeks ago, and Rowlands’ appearance was part of that partnership. It turns out the whole discussion between the two groups started after a terse Twitter conversation between Rowlands and UFC president Dana White.

[Also: Chael Sonnen not retiring, eyes Wanderlei Silva]

Rowlands told Cagewriter he read the headline of a story that indicated White viewed the Olympics dropping wrestling as an opportunity. He tweeted White his disgust with this view, and White responded.

@tommyrowlands how is it an OP for me if it goes away!!! U have no idea what I have done for wrestling over the last 13 years.

— Dana White (@danawhite) February 15, 2013

This tense conversation turned as White and Rowlands decided to speak, and finished with this.

“@tommyrowlands: just got off phone w @danawhite let me tell u, not only is he behnd wrestling, he is 1 of our bigest fans. mor 2 come.

— Dana White (@danawhite) February 21, 2013

“For me to say I regretted it would be a lie, when I thought was I saw wrestling was boring, I felt the need to defend my sport,” Rowlands said.

“He admitted he was emotional, he was able to say I would never dis wrestling. I said if you’re up for it, give me a call and we can talk.”

Rowlands, White and members from CPOW met a week later in Las Vegas to discuss the ways they can support each other. Rowlands appearance on the UFC 159 telecast was the first step. Since the relationship is new, they are still developing their next steps.

Bill Scherr, the chairman of CPOW, said White’s open relationship with MMA fans is what allowed this relationship to begin.

“To his credit, Dana has an open door policy with fans, and Tommy was able to walk right through,” Scherr said. “We’re still figuring out what we can offer them and what we can learn from them.”

To learn more about CPOW’s efforts to keep Olympic wrestling thriving, check out their website and follow them on Twitter.

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Eye pokes are one of the problems facing MMA commissions as they try to evolve and keep up with the sport’s explosive growth. Since eye pokes happen often, some rules are already in place, but more ideas need to be implemented to help the problem.
But …

UFC president Dana White is proud of his Boston roots. He openly cheers for the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins on Twitter, and he was downright giddy when he announced the UFC would return to Boston on Aug. 17. The Boston Marathon bombing affected him, and he and the UFC responded to the tragedy.

White called the act cowardly:

“How cowardly and disgusting that these people, who lived in the city as long as they did, did that. To put the bag right next to kids, I don’t even like talking about it. It’s just disgusting.

He told the Boston Globe that he and the Fertitta brothers donated personally to the One Fund, which will help the people most affected by the bombings. The UFC and Fox also gave money.

The UFC also did something on a smaller scale that still gave some smiles to Boston UFC fans. The days after UFC 159, they conducted their #Hunt4UFC in Boston. Usually, the UFC only does their Twitter-based scavenger hunt in fight cities. White tweeted locations where Bostonians could find UFC gear. On Monday, Red Sox player and friend of the UFC Shane Victorino participated.

Be near Fenway in 1 hr RT @shanevictorino: Signing some @redsox gear for the next #Hunt4UFC. Get ready Boston!!! twitter.com/ShaneVictorino…

— Dana White (@danawhite) April 29, 2013

White and the UFC’s actions won’t erase what happened to Boston, but it can help some of its citizens on the way to recovery.

Alan Belcher. Gian Villante. Anthony Johnson. Wagner Prado. Waachiim Spiritwolf. Constantinos Phillippou. These fighters have all been on the wrong end of an inadvertent eye poke and the inadequate set of rules that accompany eye pokes. What can be done in a sport where open-fingered gloves are used and strikes to any part of the face are allowed?

The UFC’s vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner has one idea that he thinks will help situations like the one that arose during Villante’s loss. Ovince St-Preux inadvertently poked Villante in the eye. Referee Kevin Mulhall didn’t see the poke, but Villante stepped back and said he was poked in the eye. Mulhall asked Villante if he could see, Villante responded he couldn’t, and in accordance with MMA rules, the fight was stopped.

What Ratner wants to do is take the referee out of the decision to stop the fight. Since it’s a medical decision, let the fight doctor make it. It will also give fighters time to recover as they wait for the doctor to come into the cage.

“I think by bringing the doctor in, just the whole operation will take a couple of minutes, and I think that should alleviate most of the pain and give us enough time to make sure the guy can fight,” Ratner said.

Ratner will introduce this change to the Association of Boxing Commissions, the national oversight group of state MMA and boxing associations.

Referee John McCarthy also favors this approach:

From the eye poke. U can use the doctor 2 help in giving the fighter time 2 clear their vision.There is no need to rush in this situation

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) April 28, 2013

A change to allow some extra time would also keep fighters out of the weird position of possibly lying to officials. Villante honestly answered the question, “Can you see?” He didn’t think Mulhall would stop the fight because of it. This situation could make fighters think twice about how they answer the question, which could put their health in danger.

The open-fingered gloves don’t help. Fighters use sparring gloves that are smaller than boxing gloves in training, but the gloves’ size would get in the way during ground fighting and submission attempts. UFC commentator Joe Rogan has spoken during many fights about the need for a better design for fight gloves, but none have surfaced among high-level fighting.

How can MMA fix this problem? Great ideas don’t have to come from executives or state commissioners. If you have an idea to combat eye pokes, share it on Cagewriter’s Facebook page. We’ll feature the best ones in a post.

Jones’ fluke near-loss at UFC 159 further illustrates just how impressive Silva’s streak has been.

UFC 159 had a run of some odd injuries. How are the fighters feeling now?

First up, Alan Belcher, whose eye gushed blood after Michael Bisping accidentally poked him. Belcher’s career went on hiatus in 2010 and 2011 when he had to undergo emergency eye surgery to save his vision. The sight of a doctor checking out Belcher’s vision was worrisome. Luckily, he just needed stitches on his eyelid.

I’m ok.. Just got back from e.r.8 stitches in eyelid. Disappointed. To my real supporters, I’m sorry, thank you once again.

— alan belcher(@alanbelcherufc) April 28, 2013

Here’s a closer pic twitter.com/alanbelcherufc…

— alan belcher(@alanbelcherufc) April 28, 2013

Bisping beat Belcher on Saturday, but is facing some medical issues of his own. He is suffering from nerve damage that requires surgery.

“I have stenosis, which is a trapped nerve that causes atrophy and numbness in my right arm,” Bisping said on Fuel TV after his fight at UFC 159. “It’s progressively getting worse and worse. I saw a surgeon about six weeks before this fight and they told me I needed surgery (but) there was no way I was going to pull out of this fight.”

He said that he will head home and sort everything out when he decides his next steps are.

Finally, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ toe nearly tore off during his fight with Chael Sonnen. Doctors fixed it up, and here’s his update:

Got my big toe back intact twitter.com/JonnyBones/sta…

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) April 28, 2013

Thankfully, bone is no longer sticking out of his body.

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