Alexei Auld is back with a brand new book available 7 Secret Sources of Inspiration: A Snappy Guide for Creative Procrastinators to grill Eugene S. Robinson (who’s pushing a GoFundMe to pay for the new Oxbow album) and myself with some PR stumpers from the world of combat sports.
For the audio only version check us out on SoundCloud and be sure to subscribe to MMA NATION on iTunes and subscribe to MMA Nation on YouTube so you’ll never miss an episode. This week’s kerfuffles include:
- You’re Ronda Rousey’s coach Edmund Taverdyan. After your fighter Ronda Rousey’s forty-seven second destruction at the fists of UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes, and a veritable poop storm of mockery aimed at transcripts of your shouted advice from the corner….where do you go from here? – 1:52
- You’re UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt. You lost the pre-fight PR battle against Dominick Cruz, but dominated the Dominator with entertaining in-ring antics not seen since Anderson Silva. You followed that up with a tear-jerking tribute to Leukemia survivor Maddux Maple. And before the night was over, you won over more fans in the post fight presser. What PR moves must you make to maintain your momentum as the star you finally convinced the world you are? – 12:29
- You’re Tony Ferguson. Dana White told you, “Don’t you dare look at Mac, just keep your eyes on Khabib. You said “You’re holding back.” Khabib said, “Shut up and fight with me.” The difference? Is 200Gs. Khabib said “I’ll pay you Tone. Shut up and fight with me.” Are you bound to get together? – 28:57
- You’re Sports Agent Extraordinaire Jeff Borris. UFC Fighter Leslie Smith and labor lawyer Lucas Middlebrook resigned from your Professional Fighters Association, aka the PFA, in wake of a document, entitled “Top 10 PFA Goals” ending up on MMAJunkie.com. Weeks later, a rival organization called the Mixed Martial Artists Athletes Association, affectionately known as MMAAA, surfaced, featuring blue chip UFC fighters and a dick rider who challenged your spot before ending 2016 on a low note. So explain the PR behind your press release last Friday, defending the PFA and issuing the ultimatum, “Shortly after the holidays, I will be mailing solicitation cards of the PFA to all the fighters. If I don’t have the required number of solicitation cards in my mailbox by the time I return from spring training on April 2, 2017, I will hang up my collective bargaining gloves and stop all organizing efforts.” – 34:19
- You’re Don Lemon. On New Year’s Eve, live, and in public, if you will, you drank so much tequila, (1) Anderson Cooper had to talk you out of getting your nipple pierced on air; (2) You lamented your work-life balance and relationship status; and (3) CNN allegedly cut your mike after you declared “2016 was awful” but restored it in time for your on-air proposal to co-host Brooke Baldwin. Your reply to your sloppy state? “Yeah, I’m lit. Who cares?” Now that you are the rage of the Internet, should you embrace your steez as a “wild and crazy guy’? – 38:59
- You’re the producers of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”. After a disastrous performance of Auld Lang Syne by Mariah Carey, she tweeted, “Shit happens Have a happy and healthy new year everybody! Here’s to making more headlines in 2017 ”. Her team wasn’t as forgiving, telling Entertainment Weekly you sabotaged her performance by intentionally giving her broken equipment she told you wasn’t working and assuring her it would be fixed moments before the broadcast. “(T)hey wanted a viral moment at any expense. And that’s not a company with integrity for 50-something years. That’s not who Dick Clark was. He loved artists.” If you run your mouth and brag, she will hunt you down. So do you brings that levity? – 46:40
- You’re Josh Marshall, Editor and Publisher of Talking Points Memo. Last Friday, you posted a cryptic tweet, “They did say targeting close associates” along with a porn hub clip featuring two women named Angela and Strawberry. Instead of blaming Twitter hacks or Russians, you manned up and claimed it was intentional. Surprisingly, the media moved on. Have you? – 53:00
- TEACHABLE MOMENT: You’re an academic institution. The Washington Post reported that an unauthorized classroom recording of an Orange Coast College professor criticizing the 2016 election results set forth “a wave of violent threats that forced her to end her semester early and flee her home in suburban Orange County.” Walk us through your PR prep plan for preventing politicized terror from infecting your campus. – 56:55
- KID NATE’S HEEL TURN – 1:00:47
- EUGENE’S LOST BATTALION – 1:05:09
Enjoy!
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