<![CDATA[Whizzered]]>https://www.whizzered.comhttps://www.whizzered.com/img/substack.pngWhizzeredhttps://www.whizzered.comSubstackSun, 03 May 2026 16:41:43 GMT<![CDATA[Thomas Gerbasi Was the Best of Us]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/thomas-gerbasihttps://www.whizzered.com/p/thomas-gerbasiThu, 18 Sep 2025 19:50:06 GMTA Personal Note

I realize it’s been a few years since you last heard from me—and I have no plans for Whizzered to ever resume normal operations—but I couldn’t let the passing of Thomas Gerbasi go by without writing about him.

What I’m Doing Now

In addition to my job as a senior AI prompt engineer at GDC Group, I spent the last year figuring out how normal…

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]]><![CDATA[We Should Talk About Dana]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/we-should-talk-about-danahttps://www.whizzered.com/p/we-should-talk-about-danaWed, 04 Jan 2023 15:59:29 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[UFC 276 Open Thread]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/ufc276https://www.whizzered.com/p/ufc276Fri, 01 Jul 2022 21:29:41 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Dana White vs. The Media]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/dana-white-vs-the-mediahttps://www.whizzered.com/p/dana-white-vs-the-mediaWed, 29 Apr 2020 04:35:18 GMT

DANA WHITE HAS ALWAYS MAINTAINED a weird relationship with those of us in the working media.

Publicly, he has always bashed the press. Not just because he knows it’s the sort of thing that reverberates with a subsection of his audience, or that it makes him look like the kind of Real Bad Ass Guy he wants to be. Both of those things are true, obviously, …

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]]><![CDATA[Open Thread: UFC 249 Cancelled]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/open-thread-how-do-you-feel-abouthttps://www.whizzered.com/p/open-thread-how-do-you-feel-aboutThu, 09 Apr 2020 16:17:39 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Dana White's Coronavirus Email to UFC Employees]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/dana-whites-coronavirus-email-tohttps://www.whizzered.com/p/dana-whites-coronavirus-email-toMon, 16 Mar 2020 22:09:08 GMT

Dana White sent the following email to all UFC staffers an hour or so ago.

I have annotated it with my own notes and thoughts.

My Crew,

This has been a crazy couple of weeks.

We’ve been doing everything possible to stick to our live events schedule because the fighters want to fight, our employees want to work, and the fans want to watch our sport.

The figh…

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]]><![CDATA[The UFC is a Public Health Threat]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/the-ufc-is-becoming-a-threat-to-publichttps://www.whizzered.com/p/the-ufc-is-becoming-a-threat-to-publicSun, 15 Mar 2020 19:55:13 GMT

SO, HERE’S WHAT I WROTE TO YOU on March 11.

This was only four days ago, but if you are like me, it feels like four years, so let me refresh your memory.

It is nearly impossible for me, at least at this juncture, to imagine UFC 249 taking place as planned. If you have tickets for that event, you’re probably out of luck. Hell, if you have tickets for any…

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]]><![CDATA[Coronavirus, UFC & WWE News: Latest on COVID-19 Fallout]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/coronavirus-mma-updateshttps://www.whizzered.com/p/coronavirus-mma-updatesWed, 11 Mar 2020 23:54:44 GMTShare this story with a friend by using this button:

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]]><![CDATA[How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Hurt MMA?]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/how-will-the-coronavirus-pandemichttps://www.whizzered.com/p/how-will-the-coronavirus-pandemicWed, 11 Mar 2020 20:18:31 GMTKeep updated on how the coronavirus is affecting the fight industry here.
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TODAY, THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION MADE it official: the COVID-19 coronavirus is a pandemic. Before we dive into the effects the virus will have on mixed martial arts, let’s take a second to recall exactly what a pandemic is.

From Merriam-Webster:

an outbreak of a disease that occ…

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]]><![CDATA[A Very Yoel Romero Fight]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/a-very-yoel-romero-fighthttps://www.whizzered.com/p/a-very-yoel-romero-fightMon, 09 Mar 2020 19:00:08 GMT

A friend and I were at a brewery in Houston (Eureka Heights, and I highly recommend it) on Saturday afternoon and the topic of conversation came around to the main event of UFC 248. He’d never heard of Israel Adensanya or Yoel Romero, so I tried to describe both men and their respective styles in as few words as possible because, quite frankly, I had be…

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]]><![CDATA[Some kind of nightmare, indeed.]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/some-kind-of-nightmare-indeedhttps://www.whizzered.com/p/some-kind-of-nightmare-indeedSun, 01 Mar 2020 11:51:07 GMT

IN THE SPIRIT OF FULL DISCLOSURE, let me share two things with you today.

  • I have known Joe Benavidez for a very long time. He is one of my favorite people on this planet. When I lived in Vegas, Joe and I were movie-watching buddies. He was, and has been, a good friend. I grew close with his wife when we worked together. I attended Thanksgiving in their h…

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]]><![CDATA[UFC 247 is here, and people are being dumb again. ]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/ufc-247-is-here-and-people-are-beinghttps://www.whizzered.com/p/ufc-247-is-here-and-people-are-beingSat, 08 Feb 2020 22:09:36 GMTThis is shorter than my usual newsletter, and for good reason.

  • I’ve talked with a lot of our subscribers—and also gone through email analytics until my eyes bled—about the kinds of content they want to see from us in their inbox. In a world where Twitter and Facebook are hurtling us towards our end days, the email inbox has somehow become a sacred retre…

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]]><![CDATA[Conor McGregor's PR Strategy is a Short and Long Term Play]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/conor-mcgregors-pr-strategy-is-ahttps://www.whizzered.com/p/conor-mcgregors-pr-strategy-is-aSun, 19 Jan 2020 21:09:40 GMT

UFC 246 fight week felt a lot like the old days, back during McGregor’s heady rise to become the biggest star in the history of the sport.

It was intentional.

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]]><![CDATA["Your special offer for UFC 246..."]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/your-special-offer-for-ufc-246https://www.whizzered.com/p/your-special-offer-for-ufc-246Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:28:56 GMT

Hi folks. It’s UFC 246 day! And, well, I guess you probably expected me to write something about this week, given how momentous it is when held up to almost every other UFC event during the calendar year.

Truth is, I just haven’t been able to get up for this one. You know what I mean?

This is the kind of main event I used to get alllll rocked up for. My…

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]]><![CDATA[Here's What Happens When the UFC Can't Control You]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/heres-what-happens-when-the-ufc-canthttps://www.whizzered.com/p/heres-what-happens-when-the-ufc-cantSat, 21 Dec 2019 00:19:12 GMT

Earlier this week, Chad Dundas published a story for The Athletic on Whizzered and the resurgence of a very old medium: email newsletters. Ant Evans’ Ultimate Insider and Trent Reinsmith’s C’mon Now were also featured.

I’ve done countless radio and television spots during my career, but I think this was the first time I have ever been interviewed, and ce…

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]]><![CDATA[It’s Always Fight Week. Literally.]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/its-always-fight-week-literallyhttps://www.whizzered.com/p/its-always-fight-week-literallyFri, 20 Dec 2019 02:34:25 GMT

There are times—and by “times” I mean “at least five times per year”—that I look at the UFC’s calendar to see if there’s a fight card incoming that I wasn’t aware of. This happens all the time, because I decided long ago that I could either:

  1. Feign interest in every UFC event for the sake of staying “on top” of the entirety of the sport while slowly dying…

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]]><![CDATA[UFC 245 Open Thread]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/ufc-245-open-threadhttps://www.whizzered.com/p/ufc-245-open-threadFri, 13 Dec 2019 21:20:23 GMT Read more

]]><![CDATA[Fight Week: Covington's Gimmick, McGregor's Title Shot, Cejudo Threatens Retirement]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/fight-week-covingtons-gimmick-mcgregorshttps://www.whizzered.com/p/fight-week-covingtons-gimmick-mcgregorsFri, 13 Dec 2019 21:05:00 GMT

Hello, reader. Welcome to Fight Week.

When we began development on this newsletter in August, we had one goal: We wanted a newsletter for people who want to follow the sport of MMA, but lack the time required to do so. The UFC’s event calendar and swollen roster is daunting even to the most ardent fan or full time journalist. And that’s just one promotio…

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]]><![CDATA[Flashback: The Obsessions of Jon Jones]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/flashback-the-obsessions-of-jon-joneshttps://www.whizzered.com/p/flashback-the-obsessions-of-jon-jonesTue, 03 Dec 2019 01:49:21 GMT

Originally published April 23, 2014 - Bleacher Report

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It's 8:45 in the morning, and I'm standing in the lobby of the famed Jackson/Winkeljohn Mixed Martial Arts gym. Photos of the gym's fighters through the years line the walls, and the gray reception desk is covered with boxes and mail. 

Jackson/Winkeljohn is not what you expect a fam…

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]]><![CDATA[Flashback: Last Man Standing]]>https://www.whizzered.com/p/flashback-last-man-standinghttps://www.whizzered.com/p/flashback-last-man-standingSat, 30 Nov 2019 22:43:02 GMTIn Flashback, I dig into my archives to share some of the fighter profiles I’ve written over the past 12 years.

I’ve published several Flashback entries this year. They were all straight copy and paste jobs, with an occasional bit of formatting. They offered nothing new, nor did they add anything of value. I will admit to you, right now, that I viewed t…

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