Well, it's been a rough past day or so for UFC welterweight Matt Brown. Following his now infamous comments on women's MMA, Brown and the UFC have released statements on the matter. Per FOX Sports:

"Matt Brown has apologized for the comments made on his podcast, and we have addressed the matter with him. His comments don't reflect the views of the UFC. There's no place for discrimination within our organization at any level. The UFC is built on principles of respect, and any statements to the contrary are not acceptable." "I have spoken with the UFC about the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and what is required and expected of me as a professional athlete under the terms of my promotion agreement," Brown said. "The UFC has a policy of inclusion and respect for all people and I understand the importance of being more aware of my actions and words."

Given the UFC's investment in women's MMA, it's not surprising Brown's statements weren't appreciated. To have a notable employee/contractor not promote, but rather discourage fans from enjoying your product, while also offending people, is likely not ideal for the UFC. Brown has also taken down the podcast where he made his comments.

Among several fighters who commented on the situation, women's bantamweight No. 1 contender Sara McMann turned the tables on Brown with some suggestions of her own.

"I want to make it absolutely clear ... I do not care if somebody wants to be a fan or not," McMann said Thursday. "Don't pay $60 then. Nobody's taking their top off. I don't even know him. Why would I give a crap what he thinks about my fight? You know what, Matt Brown fight in a Speedo."

While we're left to hold our breath for topless cage fighting, we have, unfortunately, gone down the Speedo path before. No need to revisit that unpleasantness.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

Respect over drama. With the winter Olympics right around the corner, Ronda Rousey says two Olympians fighting each other will help propel MMA into the mainstream even further. "Two undefeated fighters, both not just Olympians but medalists, all those factors combined."

Opponents TBA. More details on when we'll be seeing Yushin Okami and Rousimar Palhares making their WSOF debuts.

'Burned out.' Martin Kampmann says he's taking a break from fighting to properly recover from past concussions.

'I would fight her 100 times.' Miesha Tate says she had an adrenaline dump before fighting Ronda Rousey at UFC 168. "I felt like s**t, to put it quite frankly."

New year, new weight class. After a brutal knockout loss to Mauricio Rua, James Te Huna is headed to middleweight.

MEDIA STEW

Make sure to check out our media scrums with Ronda Rousey, Sara McMann and Daniel Cormier.

New TTHS.

Part 2 of a video from yesterday, Frank Mir on MMA judging and ideas on a new point system.

Local news update on Matt Grice.

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

A lot of chatter on the two-point deduction from Steve Perceval at UFC Fight Night 34, but another instance happened just days before at Cage Warriors. (5:30)

Bruce Buffer has a kickstarter for some sort of MMA game where 'training' earns you prizes. I've been training since 2005, where do I collect?

Likely the first and last time U2 will grace the MR. Get well, Anderson.

TWEETS

MMA reacts to Brown.

@officialSyndee @InvictaFights everyone is entitled 2 their own opinion. I don't argue opinions, I believe in working to prove them wrong. — Shannon Knapp (@shanknapp) January 9, 2014

RT @FrontRowSteve: Mike Brown has stated he would like see female mma fighters fight topless! Genius or crude sexism? <<< keep them clothed — Tom Kong Watson (@TomKongWatson) January 9, 2014

For those asking, Women's Bantamweights finished 6 of 16 fights in 2013 by TKO in the #UFC. That 38% rate was higher than 5 men's divisions. — Fightnomics Reed (@Fightnomics) January 9, 2014

Matt Brown said women should fight topless? *FACEPALM* — Marcelino Evil (@KCBanditMMA) January 9, 2014

Liiiisten, @ComplexMag at least name the dude. Don't put - "A UFC Fighter" that applies to us all. — Marcelino Evil (@KCBanditMMA) January 9, 2014

Whatever it takes.

Pretty good.

Looks like No. 44.

Get well.

Sorry to hear.

@FuryJury looks like we're off the main card :(.. O well lets throw down for the people who can't afford PPV @danawhite #ibringexcitment rt — Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) January 10, 2014

Ready for Lone Survivor.

Thank you to all the Navy Seals for their commitment to this nation especially friends from San Diego, California pic.twitter.com/plp7PNpmkw — Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson) January 10, 2014

Ken Shamrock doing some bodyguard work for 50 Cent.

Working for some talented, great men. @TheVinceNeil @50cent - god bless and much respect gentlemen. KEN SHAMROCK pic.twitter.com/RsdgxY0N4G — KEN SHAMROCK (@ShamrockKen) January 10, 2014

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Jan. 9 2014)

Eduardo Dantas vs. Rafael Silva at Bellator 111

added Lavar Johnson vs. Ryan Martinez at Bellator 111

added Peter Graham vs. Siala Siliga at Bellator 111

added Mark Holata vs. Alexander Volkov at Bellator 111

added Rich Hale vs. Blagoi Ivanov at Bellator 111

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via MikeMorganMMA.

BACK TO THE FUTURE?

2013 was an incredible year for mixed martial arts and with interest in the sport gathering pace, coupled with some astonishing advancements in technology, this has all the makings of taking the sport onto that all important next level. I'm not professing to be Nostradamus, (or should that be NostradaMMAs), but I feel this year will have some interesting developments for the MMA enthusiast. Here are my predictions for what will be a game changing 2014. The Rise of the MMA App: Whilst apps and their use have been around for what seems like an age, never before has their creation and affordability been so easily within the grasp of MMA media outlets. Just a cursory glance at #WHOATV's website analytics reveals the devices used to access news, views and interviews are predominantly mobiles. I imagine this is also the case for media outlets with a similar focus. Given the fickleness of the MMA consumer, it's not exactly rocket science to suggest that in order to retain interest from the viewing public and add value to the news gathering experience, outlets will undoubtably look to craft a user experience that best reflects where their content is being observed. The killer addition to the app will be the clever use of it's 'push technology' that will enable those with the feature enabled on their app to react even faster than they do at present to breaking and emerging stories in MMA. ...

Check out the rest of the post here.

Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.