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Nick "The Tooth" Gullo is an interesting character in the world of MMA. A childhood friend of Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, The Tooth first came to prominence in the video blog series White used to do in the lead up to UFC events. In the UFC 155 leadup, Gullo engaged in a grappling session with veteran lightweight Joe Lauzon who proceeded to completely hustle him, submitting him several times. Now, it appears another similar such session may spell the end of Gullo's time in the MMA limelight.
Recently, Gullo had become an even more notable figure in the MMA sphere; for the past year he has been one of the three co-hosts for the video series "Looking For a Fight" alongside White and former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra. The series documents the three traveling the country, looking to find young up and coming prospects to sign to the UFC. The show's pilot episode discovered current UFC lightweight star Sage Northcutt and the inaugural episode found CM Punk batterer, Mickey Gall. But the show also diverges into social situations between the three hosts and it was one of these situations which led to Gullo's removal from the show going forward.
In the second episode of the series, Gullo and Serra engage in a grappling match in which Serra trounces Gullo. This was apparently the genesis of the tension which caused Gullo's removal from the show, and last week on Bruce Buffer's podcast It's Time!, Serra explained his side of the story. This week, Buffer had Gullo on to respond, who verified that the grappling match was the start of the issues but had his own characterization of things.
"No, I could give a shit who beats me. I don't care. One thing I've learned in life as I've gotten older is that you have to be able to laugh at yourself. That to me is the biggest lesson that I've learned.
"When we filmed that right there, when he and I were gonna roll, I was told that we were just gonna go in there and he was gonna give a seminar, and then we were just gonna do some flow rolling or whatever it is. And if you go back, and you watch the video, the first thing I said - and they actually kept it in there - was me going, ‘dude, I'm not even warmed up yet.'
"But the real reason I was upset was because one, I wasn't told what was gonna happen and everybody else knew it was gonna happen and I'm not cool with that and I wasn't cool with that. And number two, I was wearing the rash guard - and that was the first thing I said to Matt - from my school, the Art of Jiu-Jitsu."
Gullo is a purple belt under the highly esteemed Mendes brothers. He won the IBJJF World No Gi Championships in 2012 in the blue belt category in the men's seniors division at lightweight. Serra received his black belt in 2000 from Renzo Gracie and has numerous grappling accolades including a silver medal at the ADCC's in 2001 and a bronze at the Mundials in 1999 in the brown belt category. Considering this, it's not surprising that Serra manhandled Gullo. But it wasn't just the public dismantling that bothered him, it was the effect it would have on his school's reputation.
"Now, you have to understand that in Jiu-Jitsu culture and also in MMA culture, camps and teams are a big f----ng deal. I didn't start it, I didn't make it up, and my biggest concern was that people were gonna see me in an Art of Jiu-Jitsu rash guard, and they were gonna take that video, and they were gonna cut it up, and it was gonna go around the web with clickbaits saying ‘Look! Serra Jiu-Jitsu is better than the Mendes Jiu-Jitsu.' And guess what, it happened. You can go online and search it."
"You have to keep in mind, that's not my school. That is my professors' school, Rafa and Guilherme Mendes. These guys have worked for the past four years. They get to the gym every morning at eight, and they're there until nine at night, doing everything they can do to build that brand. And in one fell swoop, Art of Jiu-Jitsu is seen more around the world for me getting smoked by Matt, than anything else."
"If they would've told me ‘hey, you're going against Matt, and you guys are gonna have a hard match and it's gonna be crazy,' I would've been stoked and I'd had taken off the freakin' rash guard and put on a T-shirt or whatever it was, and I would've rolled like that...If that exact same thing happened and I was rolling in a Renzo Gracie [rash guard] and I was representing his academy, I'd have been just as pissed off."
After Gullo left the show, Din Thomas was called in to fill in on the latest episode of "Looking For a Fight" but it is unclear whether this was just a one-off. It's also important to note that this entire thing happened several months ago and is only just now coming into the limelight because of the timing with which episodes are released. Gullo is now having to react to something that happened almost six months ago instead of as recently as it appears
Ultimately, Gullo doesn't seem to harbor any ill will towards Serra or White but places his leaving the show on the shoulders of producers who were intent on manufacturing drama and unsettling the group dynamic, often at his expense.
"For me, the issue was, don't do this again. Don't put me in a situation where I'm not aware of what we're getting into. If we're going to ride a bull, I'm game... But just treat me with the dignity to tell me what everyone else in the room knows. You have to set up boundaries in life...If I'm put in a situation that I'm not comfortable with and I talk to my superiors a number of times and nothing changes, you've got to walk. Just cut ties and walk away."
The full interview is below.
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EXTRA CREDIT READING
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MEDIA STEW
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LISTEN UP
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TWEETS
I like it.
#5 got pulled away to fight #7 what's up with #6 ? Where you at @JohnyHendricks ? Let's run one
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) September 14, 2016
Then I want the winner of @Cowboycerrone and @KelvinGastelum #plp pa la pinga! @ufc
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) September 14, 2016
I wonder if I told them after I signed a bout agreement " nah I don't like this fight " if I get cut or nah https://t.co/7tVXU2t0un
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) September 14, 2016
Bold strategy. Let's see how it works out.
Fight better than him. https://t.co/GHOra7JJBZ
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) September 14, 2016
The UFC should turn 205 into a 200 like weekend with multiple cards. Only way to get everybody who wants to fight in New York in.
Injury free boss @danawhite @ufc #hawaiian would love to fight #ufc205 #bucketlist #NYC
— Yancy Medeiros (@ymedeiros) September 14, 2016
My scars tell a story ... They are reminders of when life tried to break me, but failed. #ufc #recoverymonth pic.twitter.com/s4Hf8cXF2K
— Court McGee (@Court_McGee) September 14, 2016
Nate should start saying "another 30 seconds and you would have crumbled, I was just inefficient with my energy."
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hacran Dias (23-4-1) vs. Andre Fili (15-4-0); UFC Fight Night 96, October 1.
Sam Alvey (28-8-0) vs. Nicholson (7-2-0); UFC Fight Night 97, October 15.
Jenel Lausa (6-2-0) vs. Yao Zhikui (2-3-0); UFC Fight Night 97, October 15.
Marco Beltran (8-3-0) vs. Guido Cannetti (7-2-0); UFC TUF Latin America 3 Finale, November 5.
Donald Cerrone (31-7-0) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (12-2-0); UFC 205, November 12.
Gray Maynard (12-5-1) vs. Ryan Hall (5-1-0); UFC TUF 24 Finale, December 3.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
2006: Hitomi Akano won the vacant Smackgirl middleweight championship (128 lbs.) by submitting Molly Helsel with an armbar at Smackgirl: Women Hold Their Ground.
2010: Nate Marquardt defeated Paul Harris by first round TKO in the main event of UFC Fight Night 22. There was some minor controversy to the ending when, during a scramble, Palhares complained to the referee that Marquardt was greased, during which time Marquardt jumped in and pounded Palhares out. Afterwards, Marquardt explained that he did a vigorous workout before fighting to work up a sweat.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Have the best day you possibly can today, and I'll catch y'all tomorrow.
If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.
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