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The fight game suffers from a similar paradox as politics. Just as winning elections and actually governing are two separate, possibly completely unrelated skill sets, so it is that the things that sell tickets to a fight aren’t the same things that make that fight great.

And this Saturday’s UFC main event between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier was great. It was notable not only for being a great fight, but for its decided lack of all the things a Conor McGregor fight usually sells. There was no big grudge match build up, no lengthy sizzle reels of the two guys trashing each other (or blurry TMZ videos of them throwing dollies through bus windows or whatever), and a notable dearth of politics, religion, xenophobia, water bottle chucking, and whatever else normally accompanies the Conor McGregor circus. McGregor and Poirier even genteelly touched gloves before the fight, before the ref even old them to.

When it was over, they congenially reminisced about all the great times they’d had punching and kicking each other.

Corny? Maybe, but it’s exactly the kind of corny I fall for every time. You probably don’t get into MMA training or serious MMA fandom if you don’t at least a little bit fall for the Fight Club ideal of two guys finding mutual spiritual fulfillment from having just beat the living piss out of each other.

I wish I could say that this fight was proof that a fight doesn’t need all the jawing and slurring and antics and post-fight brawls in order to be fun, but the truth is that I’m just as guilty of buying wolf tickets as anyone else. Hype is a necessary evil. If he wasn’t the best in the world at hyping up a fight, no one would’ve probably even seen Conor McGregor limping around afterwards acting strangely respectful. It wouldn’t have worked without star power. Whether a fight between two guys that hate each other makes a better fight than two guys who mostly sort of like each other is both a generalization and up for a debate. Mostly it just doesn’t matter once the opening bell rings. They’re two separate things.

These two had already fought once before, back in 2014, when McGregor knocked out Poirier in the first round. That was back when Conor was on the ascent, seemingly invincible and before the 13-second KO of Jose Aldo, who at that point had been undefeated for 10 years, forever cemented his legend.

Poirier earned his rematch in the time since by beating virtually ever other lightweight contender the UFC has — Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, Anthony Pettis. In that sense, it’s funny to say that Poirier was the one who had to earn the rematch, since Conor had spent much of the same time dabbling in boxing and getting arrested, his lone MMA win in the past four years coming against Donald Cerrone, who is fun to watch but not really a contender these days, and at welterweight, a class in which McGregor doesn’t really fight. Yet it’s all-but undeniable that it was Poirier who had to earn the fight, because Conor is the best in the game at selling fights, and that’s what matters in the ticket-selling business.

Losses to Floyd Mayweather and Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmogomedov notwithstanding (Nurmogomedov also holding Poirier’s only loss of the last four years, but now conveniently retired, supposedly), McGregor also came into the fight with that air of invincibility about him. There is the sense that McGregor doesn’t just beat people, he forever steals their confidence. Fighters like Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, and Eddie Alvarez — to say nothing of earlier stepping stones like Diego Brandao — seem like they’ve never been quite the same since losing to Conor McGregor. He stole their sense of invincibility and used it to build his own. And yes, McGregor baiting his opponents into having to back up months worth of bitter trash talk probably has something to do with this phenomenon. Part of the reason Poirier’s journey has been so rousing, in fact, is that a lot of us sort of expected him to wilt like that, to maybe lose his chin, after losing to Conor McGregor. Instead, he’s seemed better than ever.

Yet in the first round of their fight, McGregor still felt like he had Dustin Poirier’s number. McGregor fought like every punch he landed could be the fight ender, while Poirier came out tight, seeming like he’d have to slip and dodge and land twice as often if he wanted to win. McGregor had that aura of casual dominance about him. It only started to crumble towards the end of the first round, when, at some point, Poirier’s calf kicks began to feel like an offensive strategy rather than panicked defense. It seemed to coincide with the the moment when he stopped caring about whether Conor McGregor would embarrass him in front of millions of people and started worrying about the fists and shins flying towards his body.

Those kinds of moments, when there’s some palpable shift in the arena, and we get to watch some previously-dominant fighter’s indefinable mental edge crumble before our eyes, is why, for all its obvious faults, I still love MMA. I remember watching it happen to Ronda Rousey (twice), I remember it happening when GSP kicked Matt Hughes in the forehead (I literally jumped on my couch), when Gonzaga deactivated Cro Cop with his own head kick, when Verdum submitted Fedor, and on and on. As much as I enjoy the technical discussions of why an elbow here and not there will make the difference between nuisance and bodily deactivation, or why Poirier’s calf kicks are the perfect counter to Conor’s wide base, it’s that mystical shit that gets me every time. When something ineffable yet totally palpable changes in two fighters’ essential dynamic. It allows me to believe for a second in a world beyond the physical.

We got to watch that Saturday night. It was as beautiful as ever. Now, I know I wouldn’t root for Dustin Poirier so hard if Conor McGregor hadn’t given him the early gift of allowing him to be the unassuming babyface to Conor’s arrogant heel. That we wouldn’t have cared so much about this fight in the first place if Conor hadn’t talked himself into relevance over and over again by being such a perfectly infuriating little prick.

Even still, that we could watch a fight that was just a great fight, and not a grudge match or a bully battle or a clash of cultures and ideologies was the icing on the cake. Few things feel quite so refreshing in 2021 as not having to exploit people’s essential differences in order to make us care.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

Amanda Bynes loves rappers, but now it seems she would like to be one — and she’s got at least one major co-sign should she pursue a serious career. The former Nickelodeon star shared a snippet of her first, bass-heavy attempt, titled “Diamonds,” on Instagram last week, and it seems to have impressed Lil Uzi Vert, who tweeted this morning, “I wanna work with Amanda Bynes.” Just in case anyone thought he might be joking, he added, “SHE BETTER HIT THAT AMANDA PLEASEEEEEEE.”

In 2013, Bynes drew attention for expressing her major thirst for Drake. When she tweeted, “I want Drake to murder my vagina,” the responses ranged from amused to concerned to just plain confused. She later explained that when she tweeted it she was “on drugs and trying to be hilarious,” but she still had a lengthy break from the spotlight as she seemingly recovered, despite an optimistic profile in Paper magazine in 2018. Although she announced her intention to return to television at the time, she has yet to accumulate any new credits on her IMDB page, which still lists Easy A‘s conservative Christian bully Marianne as her last role.

Meanwhile, Lil Uzi Vert’s most recent collaboration was a bit more conventional. Despite releasing two albums’ worth of material in early 2020, he managed to close out the year with one last big project, Pluto X Baby Pluto, a collaborative mixtape with Future.

Leonardo DiCaprio was one of dozens of celebrities, politicians, scholars, and CEOs who signed an open letter to President Joe Biden asking him to take the threat of climate change seriously. “Congratulations! Your inauguration marks a turning point in history for the United States of America and for the world. The task ahead is enormous: the need to tackle the devastating global health and economic crises, and the need to unite Americans in doing so, is urgent,” it reads, adding that the 2020s is “the most decisive decade in human history to confront the climate crisis.”

Biden can be remembered as the “climate president,” the letter continues, while describing him as possibly transforming “the world’s energy systems from fossil fuels to clean energy, while also creating an abundance of jobs, reducing harmful pollution, and tackling economic, racial, and health inequality in the process.” Rejoining the Paris Agreement, which he did on his first day in office, was a good start, but “as you have stated, it is simply not enough”:

You’ve famously said: “When I hear the words climate change, I hear jobs.” We agree. While the climate crisis presents incredible challenges, it is also the greatest economic opportunity for innovation, job creation, new businesses, and investment in our communities. It goes hand in hand with restoring justice and building an equitable, inclusive, and just future for all.

Other actors actors who signed the letter include Zooey Deschanel, Rosanna Arquette, Connie Britton, Natalie Portman, and Mark Ruffalo. DiCaprio has been a long-time climate change activist, and his The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation “brings attention and needed funding to six program areas: Wildlands Conservation, Oceans Conservation, Climate Change, Indigenous Rights, Transforming California, and Innovative Solutions.”

You can read the entire letter below.

For the past five years, metal band Deftones have worked on more than just music. They’ve also partnered with California brewery Belching Beaver for several craft beers named after their music, like the Phantom Bride and White Pony IPAs. After picking up critical acclaim for their 2020 album Ohms, Deftones have once again tapped Belching Beaver for a signature brew.

The band officially unveiled their newest craft beer Ohms Pale Ale on Monday. Boasting 5.5 percent ABV, it’s slated for release on January 29 across Belching Beavers’ four locations. Announcing the new draft on Instagram, the brewery described its tasting notes:

“The first thing you’ll notice is the bright, citrusy aromas. There’s plenty of lemon peel, grapefruit, and pineapple aromas with a blend of some light pine to give a more nuanced and complex tableau that isn’t found in a lot of pale ales. The finish is nice, light, and very refreshing. Hands down, one of the best thirst-quenching and flavorful beers we’ve ever brewed for you all.”

Ahead of announcing their Ohms beer, Deftones’ Chino Moreno spoke with Uproxx about how their album Ohms was one of their “heaviest” yet. “I think that is attributed to everybody being engaged completely,” Moreno said. “Everybody firing on all cylinders. There’s not one of us individually that was sort of sitting back just going along. Everybody was very present physically and emotionally, ready to work and to put the work in.”

Check out product photos for Deftones’ Ohms beer above.

Ohms is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.

Deftones are a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

9-1-1 (FOX, 8:00pm) — The flagship series of this gloriously chaotic franchise begins the evening’s mayhem with mudslides that follow last week’s dam break in Los Angeles. Amid the action, an agoraphobic woman refuses to leave her home, which (as one might imagine) greatly complicates matters.

9-1-1: Lone Star (FOX, 9:00pm) — Meanwhile in Austin, there’s some sort of volcanic eruption afoot, which prompts frantic action for someone trapped in a food truck as well as a college pool party and a mini-golf joint. Thank god Rob Lowe is here to rescue everyone with his handsomeness after a week of roller-derby and military-tank madness.

30 Coins (HBO, 9:00pm) — Elena’s husband somehow surfaces in Rome in this Spanish horror series, which is directed and co-written by Álex de la Iglesia (The Day of the Beast, The Last Circus). Dude has been gone two years, so god only knows what’s going on. Meanwhile, Santoro offers unimaginable power to Vergara.

The Good Doctor (ABC, 10:00pm) — A teenage gymnast’s intensive training leads to complications and visits to the team, and Shaun’s now meeting the parents. Oh boy.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Serena Williams

Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Dax Shepard, John Wilson, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Jared Leto, Jane Lynch, Jade Bird

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Halsey, Penn and Teller

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Gillian Anderson, Kate Flanery, Bartees Strange

In case you missed these recent picks:

Flack: Season 1 (PopTV series moving to Amazon Prime) — Flack came out two years ago on Pop TV, presumably as a limited series, but all that has changed now. Amazon picked up the Anna Paquin-starring show for an unexpected second season, which will arrive later this year. If you are in need of some guilty-pleasure escapism, consider giving this series a whirl. It’s voyeuristic and at times thrilling to watch. Flack also feels like an amalgamation of many shows and movies you’ve seen before, including The Devil Wears Prada, Scandal, and Sex and the City.

Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix series) — Based upon the Italian cartoon Winx Club (by Iginio Straffi), this live-action reimagining serves as a coming-of-age tale set in the Otherworld, at a magical boarding school. It’s essentially a journey for five young fairies at the Alfea school, and those with human parents don’t even know that this school doesn’t exist in the “real” world. Expect a lot of teenage drama as the young women hone their powers while dealing with all the usual stuff, like love, rivalries, and monsters.

The Sister: Season 1 (Hulu series) — ITV commissioned this series with Hulu, and it’s already a hit in the U.K. The show’s based upon Burial, a best selling novel by Neil Cross (Luther) and involves a family’s life being rocked into oblivion when a presence from the past literally shows up on the porch with some unwelcome and shocking news. This development, of course, transforms into catastrophic decisions and long-lasting effects that aren’t so desirable.

Fans have questioned the status of Griselda Records in recent months as a result of some cryptic messages on social media, believing Conway the Machine may be leaving the Buffalo-based indie label as well as splitting from Shady Records. However, some fans’ comments have gotten way out of pocket as far as the label’s founder Westside Gunn is concerned. When one commenter on his recent Instagram post tried to warn, “Don’t let Conway ride on you,” Gunn vented that “I hate u internet n****s” after explaining what should be obvious: Conway and Gunn are blood brothers.

Meanwhile, Gunn already announced the end of his own deal with Shady on the Joe Budden Podcast in November, which may possibly extend to the Griselda label as a whole. The group released eight projects in 2020, with only Gunn’s Who Made the Sunshine bearing the Shady Records imprint. Shortly after the album was released, Gunn laughed off its lack of promotion from Shady founder Eminem, and in 2021, it doesn’t seem like things have changed too much for the label in the wake of the split. Griselda released its first feature film, Conflicted, this month, and while Conway’s absence from both the film and its soundtrack fueled fans’ speculation, Gunn’s confirmation seems to indicate that all is still well between the brothers — at least, personally.

Back in 2010, Ryan Reynolds guest starred on an episode of Sesame Street where he played the letter “A” and encouraged Elmo, Abby, and Telly to join his, you guessed it, “A-Team.” The four friends then got to work solving problems by using words that start with “A.” Unless you have kids, you probably missed the amusing cameo at the time, but it recently came to the attention of one new parent who tagged Reynolds with his appreciation for the sketch.

“Watching a little @sesamestreet with the kiddo, and its an episode with @VancityReynolds and the gang doing an A-Team gag,” the Twitter user wrote. “Its a delight, for both me and the kiddo.”

Being the social media junkie that he is, Reynolds actually saw the tweet and responded with his trademark raunchy humor despite tweeting about one of the most beloved children’s programs of all time: “I remember how challenging it was to sing because the A-hole was so tight,” Reynolds joked. “But I pushed through because kids all over the country were counting on me.”

Reynolds making a butthole joke about Sesame Street immediately went viral, which caught the attention of his one-time Scrubs co-star Zach Braff who couldn’t help but share his love for the tweet: “You had me at A-hole was so tight.” Again, probably not the best word choice while talking about a kid’s show, but that’s Twitter for you.

Naturally, all of this is par for the course for Reynolds, who’s rocketed to fame thanks to the Deadpool movies where pairing a-hole jokes with Elmo would fit right in. The actor recently confirmed that Deadpool 3 is on the way, which will formally introduce the Merc with the Mouth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as soon as Reynolds can find time in his busy schedule full of Netflix movies and butthole gags.

(Via Ryan Reynolds on Twitter)

In December of 2020 the musician FKA Twigs, Tahliah Barnett, sued her former boyfriend, actor Shia LaBeouf, for sexual battery, assault, and abuse. In a lengthy New York Times report she opened up about the coercive dynamics and violent altercations that led up to her decision to leave, and eventually pursue legal action against LaBeouf.

Barnett has been very open about the impact of the relationship on her mental and emotional health, and recently spoke with Louis Theroux of the BBC for his show Grounded about more specifics of what she dealt with. In her interview with Theroux, Barnett details the confusion and pain of getting the strength to leave the relationship, and the lasting impact it had on her.

She told Theroux that she was struggling with PTSD symptoms after leaving the relationship, another element of abuse that isn’t discussed when it comes to the healing process.”I was left with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] from that, which again is just something that I don’t think we really talk about as a society just in terms of the healing when leaving, and how much work that has to be done to recover, to get back to the person that you were before,” she said.

Listen to the full interview here, and watch a clip about her realizing she needed to leave the relationship in the video above.

HBO Max’s release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League cut will arrive in March 2021. In the meantime, Snyder hasn’t shied away from all manner of revelations regarding the movie (and its position relative to the DCEU), and he’s opening up more about his decision to leave the movie a few months prior to its theatrical release. By now, most comic-book fans are aware that Snyder’s daughter, Autumn, took her own life in 2017, and Joss Whedon was hired to complete the movie. There’s plenty of controversy swirling around how Whedon allegedly handled the production, and there’s no telling if there will be a resolution there, but Snyder’s not concerned with that. Instead, he’s opening up about the thought process that led him to step away.

As Snyder tells CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell, his mindset was all about family and no longer possessing the energy to deal with what he describes as the customary “fight” between director and studio to bring a production home:

“I just was kind of done with it. I was in this place of [knowing] my family needs me more than this bullsh*t, and I just need to honor them and do the best I can to heal that world. I had no energy to fight [the studio], and fight for [the movie]. Literally, zero energy for that. I really think that’s the main thing. I think there’s a different world where I stayed and kind of tried. And I’m sure I could have… because every movie is a fight, right? I was used to that. But I just did not have the [energy]. There was no fight in me. I had been beaten by what was going on in my life and I just didn’t want to, I didn’t care to… that was kind of where I was.”

In the years since Autumn’s death, fans have rallied to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the cause that’s understandably close to Snyder’s heart, and he has expressed gratitude for the continued gesture.

Back on the subject of Justice League, it appears that we still don’t definitively know whether this will be a four-part miniseries, as originally described, or if the project has transformed back into one feature length production. Whatever the case, Snyder has revealed that fans can expect around two-and-a-half hours of new footage in around four hours of total runtime. IGN also reports that Snyder told a fan that “one shot” is how it’s happening, although it remains unclear whether Snyder actually means, “Yeah, it’s a movie,” or “Yeah, it’s a miniseries that you will definitely bingewatch in one sitting.” Mysterious!

(Via CinemaBlend & IGN)

“You have to put your heart into the things you love or we would just be producing products. I think of Rhude as a family and I want everyone to feel as close to the brand as I do.”

You can learn a lot about Rhuigi Villaseñor, the young designer at the heart of Rhude, by looking at the work he’s produced since the brand’s founding in 2013. Fueled by little more than a dream and the desire to infuse the streetwear world with timeless, long-lasting pieces that blur the line between luxury clothing and ready-to-wear fashion,Villaseñor has managed to take his brand from a raw idea to one of the hottest and most beloved fashion labels on the scene. These days, the brand gets serious celebrity shine — rocked by the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Justin Bieber, Nick Jonas, Kendrick Lamar, LeBron James, Kelly Oubre Jr, and even Ellen DeGeneres.

Part of Rhude’s insanely wide appeal comes from the fact that unlike other streetwear labels, Villaseñor isn’t so much concerned with the trends of the day but rather where his head is at during any given moment. He follows his own compass.

“My goal when designing is not to create barriers or distinctions, but opportunity for freedom of expression,” Villaseñor says. “Rhude offers something for everyone regardless of gender or style and I think people appreciate that.”

This isn’t just brand speak. From the jump, the designer has had Rhude in a state of continual evolution. It’s gone from a t-shirt label to a full-blown design house, with everything from dope clothing to next-level furniture.

Now, Rhude is kicking off 2021 with the launch of their latest Autumn/Winter collection — featuring pieces inspired by Formula One racing made in partnership with McLaren Racing, and the debut of Villaseñor’s first womenswear line. We linked up with the designer just before the launch to talk about how his upbringing inspired the brand, how Rhude will continue to evolve in the year to come, and what he hopes to see change in the fashion world as we enter a new decade of streetwear.

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Los Angeles is such a hot spot for great streetwear and design labels right now, what is it about the city that you think is resulting in such a high concentration of great designers?

LA culture is unlike anything else in the world, there is such a mix of creatives — from celebrities to artists — and somehow it all works. For me, I find such inspiration in the nature and the atmosphere that LA offers. There really isn’t another city that I have visited that offers as much as Los Angeles.

Since Rhude’s beginnings, the brand has expanded to offering sneakers, furniture, and now a womenswear-focused collection. Is there anything you don’t have an interest in designing? What’s your dream Rhude product?

I never want to limit my own design capabilities or the future of the brand. Every season I work on pushing boundaries and my personal limits. I want to try everything. There are so many things that are just waiting to be brought to life and I will continue to strive to bring something new and fresh every year.

There really is no limit with Rhude.

What made you want to expand into the world of designer furniture?

Furniture isn’t much different than clothing – you’re still creating a piece that will ultimately be very personal to someone. When I design I am already thinking of the person I am designing for. What car are they driving? Where do they find comfort? What’s their aesthetic? So why not go a step further and create furniture for this person.

A lot of Rhude designs are rooted in classic American iconography, and I read that you studied art history briefly, how does that influence the brand’s aesthetic and what about the past do you find so resonant?

Everything that I’ve learned in some way goes into the Rhude aesthetic. The brand is a continuation of my journey, a merge of the cultures that shape who I am. American Iconography plays a huge part in the Rhude design because it’s important to pay homage and celebrate the past.

When I’m designing, I find that I reach into the past often, both what I’ve been taught classically and my personal history, to gain inspiration. Within that, there are certain symbols that stand out to me.

I read that after you moved from Manila to Los Angeles at age nine you learned English through watching basketball and steeping yourself in the LA culture. How did that experience influence Rhude?

You can find references to basketball and many other American sports throughout the brand. When I was growing up, these are the things that I was introduced to and was immediately obsessed with. With sports, it’s not just what they are wearing while they are playing, but before and after the game as well. Basketball specifically, in my mind, is one of those sports that allows players to have their own style on and off the court, through the skills they’ve mastered and their sportsmanship.

This idea of dressing for this occasion is definitely planted in the Rhude brand.

In my opinion, Rhude is redefining what luxury clothing looks like in real-time. What do you want to see as we enter this next decade of fashion?

With everything that has happened this year, the word “luxury” in regards to fashion has changed. My goal has always been to create a new view on luxury fashion and by building on my streetwear design roots, I feel I have formed this kind of new genre for fashion. So my hope for the future is that we, as creatives, begin to create timeless pieces that are innovative but also practical.

For the next decade of Fashion, I want to see brands really focus on the consumer’s needs. We are in a time in our lives where needs outshine temporary wants. Pieces should be timeless and speak to the consumer now. Most are working from home so what does the new suit look like and how can we create product that is functional for our present situation? What are things that we can look forward to in the next era, and what can we create now to bring with us?

In 2019 you linked up with Courvoisier Cognac and the National Urban League and spoke at the Small Business Entrepreneurship Summit. How did that partnership form and what insight did you bring?

Without a doubt, this year has been tough on everyone – but minority small business owners have been hit the hardest by COVID. Courvoisier acknowledged that this community needed help and partnered with the National Urban League to provide support directly to those who need it most. Courvoisier is a brand that values action, and that’s really important to me when choosing a partner.

Courvoisier kicked off the partnership by sponsoring National Urban League’s virtual Small Business Entrepreneurship Summit, and I participated as a panelist in a roundtable discussion about the importance of pivoting marketing and social media strategies during COVID to navigate a new business reality. That was a really humbling experience for me because I was able to share the challenges I’ve faced while building and growing Rhude, and how we’ve had to adapt like everyone else this year. I also spoke about how important it is to have passion for what you do and stay true to your vision as a creator and entrepreneur – that’s been my guiding principle throughout the last few years.

You put a lot of your own personality, strife, and hardships into Rhude, more so than other young designers I’ve spoken to. Why do you feel like fashion is such a powerful medium of expression for you and what are the strengths you’ve found approaching fashion as an art form more than a consumer good?

The Rhude brand is an extension of my personal story and much of what I design comes from my past and the mixing of the cultures I have experienced. You have to put your heart into the things you love or we would just be producing products.

I think of Rhude as a family and I want everyone to feel as close to the brand as I do.

What can we expect from Rhude in 2021?

Last year has definitely been a learning and growing experience for the Rhude team and I think that will show in the collections to come. We are learning to be more conscious of our environmental footprint as we continue to produce, and switching gears as the need for comfort in clothing is in higher demand.