WSSN Stories

Mixed martial arts can turn the best of friends into the fiercest of enemies if they meet in a cage. That scenario could take place in the finals of Combate Global’s “USA vs. Mexico” eight-man lightweight tournament tonight.

Enrique “Baby Bull” Gonzalez (9–4) originally from Laredo, Texas, is part of the four-man U.S. contingent, while Hugo “The Hooligan” Flores (9–3) of Guadalajara, Mexico, will fight for Mexico. Both train at Valle Flow Striking Academy outside Chicago and both are coached by Mike Valle. They are training partners, roommates and good friends.

“Couldn’t have better company,” Gonzalez wrote on his Facebook page under a photo of him, Flores and MMA fighter Ignacio “La Jaula” Bahamondes departing Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on their way to tonight’s bouts in Miami, Florida.

The Combate Global tournament format conceived by UFC co-founder and Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren has the four U.S. fighters paired against each other in two one-round, 5-minute fights. The winners face each other in another one-round, 5-minute semifinal to decide who represents the U.S. in the finals scheduled for three 5-minute rounds.  Same for the Mexico side, presenting the possibility of Gonzalez and Flores meeting in the title match.

“It makes it very interesting for us,” Piera Valle, Mike Valle’s wife and Gonzalez’s manager told Zenger. “We were thinking, ‘How is this going to work?”

The first order of business was to get the fighters to accept the possibility. The potential of fighting a friend isn’t a foreign concept in combat sports, especially if they compete in the same weight division on the professional level. Business is business.

“They have trained together every single day,” Valle said. “So the best possible scenario is that they fight each other in the finale because that means they both win.”

The contingency plan is that if both of his fighters reach the finals, Mike Valle will go from coach to a very conflicted spectator. Instead of selecting one fighter over the other, Mike Valle will leave the two fighters on their own with only someone to give them water between rounds. Bahamondes, who has fought for Combate, will be one of two water boys.

“We’ve made it very clear that when they make it to the finale there’s no coaching whatsoever,” Piera Valle said. “It would be an unfair advantage for the person that would be coached by Mike. So it’s no coaching, just water.”

Gonzalez didn’t want to forecast the potential finale, saying he was focused mainly on his own game. “May the best man win,” he told Zenger.

Still, it poses an intriguing ending to what could be the biggest night of each fighter’s life. Their journey is typical of those of many young men and women who want to attempt a professional career in MMA.

Gonzalez left his hometown of Laredo after graduating from high school in 2015 and moved to Chicago to train at Valle’s gym. Mike Valle and Enrique’s father were friends, and the younger Gonzalez had shown promise, having studied karate, boxing, jiu-jitsu and other forms of martial arts.

Flores made his way there from Guadalajara and has been in Chicago for about a year. It’s a dedicated lifestyle where dreams are big and opportunities to get noticed can be few.

“We sponsor athletes from all over the world and give them the opportunity to train with us and stay rent-free to see if they have promise,” Piera Valle said. “People are starting to understand that these athletes train all day long, and live a clean lifestyle. The sport is more legitimate and competitive than it was even three or four years ago.”

Gonzalez has been at this for six years and still shows plenty of potential. “He is very athletic, and is able to pick things up very quickly,” Valle said. “He has the will. When he’s on point, he’s unbeatable. He has a very bright future in front of him.”

Flores arrived in Chicago last October after leaving his friends and family in Mexico. “I’m happy with the decision I made a year ago, and I don’t regret it for a second,” he wrote on the Valle Flow Striking Facebook page. “I’m excited. For so long I waited on having opportunities that are now coming and even more so to know that I’m in the right place to develop and overcome every challenge.”

Gonzalez sees this tournament as a chance to prove he can contend for a title and have a long and successful career in MMA. “I’m focused on this,” Gonzalez told Zenger. “I want to make the company proud and get a couple of bucks out of them.”

Gonzalez and Flores must get past the first two rounds to reach the finals. The concept of a one-round, 5-minute fight is far different from the normal three-round fight, those involved say.

“What’s interesting about this is that anything can happen in one round,” Valle said. “Over three rounds, the person with the highest skill set is normally going to wind up the winner. But when it’s one round, anything can happen. And having to fight three times is a mental challenge that not a lot of people can endure. The mental game matters more in this type of competition.”

Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Stan Chrapowicki

By many accounts, access to capital has stunted the ability of minority business owners to maintain cash flow and cover operating costs. In fact, more than half of black business owners polled in a recent national survey cite lack of access to cash as the main hindrance to their ability to grow.

One potential solution is invoice factoring, in which a company “sells” its invoices to a third party for collections. Such factoring gives businesses near-immediate access to cash for expenses like contract ramp-ups, staffing or paying suppliers.

“With a traditional line of credit, the bank is giving you money that you can draw from, and it doesn’t pay too much attention to it beyond that. There’s an interest rate, and its gets paid back over time,” said Chas Justice, business development officer for altLINE, the commercial financing division of The Southern Bank Co. based in Birmingham, Ala. “With factoring, clients actually submit individual invoices to us for funding. If they have a $1,000 invoice, they submit it to us, and we typically forward 80 to 90 percent of that invoice to their operating account immediately.”

Factoring Pros and Cons

The typical factoring customer is a rapidly growing but cash-strapped company challenged by meeting payroll or other operating costs, and tend to come from the staffing, consulting, manufacturing and distribution industries that generally bill customers at an hourly rate or sell products on 30- or 60-day terms.

“For staffing and consulting companies, our financing is helping them speed up their cash flow to meet payroll,” Justice said. “For manufacturing and distribution companies, we help them pay their suppliers or buy more raw materials.”

Early in the growth of her Washington, D.C. area-based social marketing firm, Wendy Campbell had to demonstrate her capacity to purchase a $500,000 media buy as part of her certification application for a U.S. Small Business Administration set-aside program. On the advice of a colleague, she was able to connect with a factoring company that provided the funds to satisfy the SBA requirements.

“If you need funding to ramp up for a contract, this is the way to do it, and if it’s government work, it’s practically guaranteed,” said Campbell, president of Campbell & Co. Communications. “The good news is that you can use it when you want to cover out-of-pocket costs, or if you need to hire additional consultants.”

But while invoice factoring enables companies to get cash quickly, it’s not cheap, generally averaging between 1 percent and 5 percent of the principal amount.

“The pros of invoice factoring are it gets cash into the hands of companies that can qualify for a bank loan, and the application process is quicker than that of an accounts receivable loan,” said Saji George, business development officer for InterNex Capital, based in Harrison, New York “The cons are the higher costs of funds and the greater degree of lender management.”

“It works mainly for [my] government contracting clients because payment …is slow, and they need to pay employees, but I recommend clients stay away because interest rates are too high,” said Sharif J. Small, a Baltimore-based tax accountant and chief executive officer of SJS Financial.

Justice at altLINE counters that a lack of transparency among factoring companies has been to blame for the industry’s bad public relations.

“Most of the lenders in our industry are not federally-regulated banks like we are,” he said. “They basically do what they want.”

Unlike other factoring companies, Justice said altLINE does not engage in so-called “float days,” a practice that has hurt factoring’s reputation.

“Let’s say we have a rate of 2 percent per 30 days that we’re funding an invoice, and then it goes up by 1 percent every 15 days after that,” he said. “If the invoice is paid on day 28, 29 or 30, we stop the interest rate clock on the day the invoice is paid, and we charge the borrower the 2 percent for the 30 days; that’s our fee.

“With the vast majority of the other factoring companies, they’ll take three to five days to clear the payment, so the payment on day 28 is not cleared until day 32 or 33. Now, the borrower is paying 3 percent, and their financing costs just went up by 50 percent. If they’re told one rate and pay a higher rate, all of a sudden they’ve mispriced all of their customers, and find themselves behind the eight-ball. [Factoring] is always going to be more expensive than traditional bank financing, which is fine if people know what they’re paying for.”

What to Look For

There are two types of factoring: recourse and non-recourse.

In a recourse arrangement, businesses are required to buy back the invoices and repay the factoring company in the event of its customer’s default on an invoice payment. In a non-recourse situation, businesses are not required to pay back the funding if bankruptcy is the cause of the default. However, factoring companies that offer a non-recourse arrangement are playing a game of smoke and mirrors, according to altLINE”s Justice.

“As a full-recourse bank, we tell our customers to purchase trade credit insurance, which is a policy that pays out in the event of non-payment due to financial difficulties on the part of the customer,” he said. “That’s really all the non-recourse companies do; they buy insurance policies. You can do the same with us, except you’re in control of the policy, not the non-recourse company. So, we’re not going to mark up the rate of your policy and mask it in our fees. It’s more cost-effective to the borrower in the long run.”

Surveys Detail Scope of the Funding Woes

Whatever the funding mechanism sought, two major recent surveys make it clear access to capital is still a major problem for black entrepreneurs.

The 2021 Black Business Owner Spotlight survey conducted by Bank of America reflects a general sense of optimism among its respondents, with nearly half (48 percent) expecting their revenue to increase this year. Yet, almost six out of 10 cited the challenges accessing capital as a barrier to their business’ growth.

The Small Business Credit Survey: 2021 Report on Firms Owned by People of Color, conducted by the U.S. Federal Reserve System, supports this assertion. This report found that across all owner groups by ethnicity, black-owned firms that applied for traditional forms of financing were least likely to receive all the financing they sought. Hispanic- and Asian-owned firms (20 percent and 31 percent, respectively) were also less likely than white-owned firms (40 percent) to receive all the financing for which they applied.

Even among firms with good credit scores, black-owned firms were half as likely as white-owned firms to receive all the financing they sought (24 percent versus 48 percent).

AltLINE’s Justice estimated his minority invoice factoring customer base at “around 50 to 60 percent,” but, as of this posting, was unable to provide numbers on the total dollar amount provided to his minority customers.

“If you’re an early-stage company, and you get this great contract, but they’re paying you in 60 days, and you’ve got to pay your payroll on a weekly or biweekly basis, or you have to pay your suppliers in 30 days, 15 days, or cash on demand, [invoice financing] gives you the ability to grow the business without having to sell equity or give up ownership in your company.”

Edited by Matthew B. Hall and Bryan Wilkes

Oh, now we’re talking about Nikola Jokic?

This is what it took? Taking an elbow to the ribs, then sending a forearm shiver to the back of the pain-disher?

Now, his brothers are involved, and everyone is brushing off their AP World History knowledge. Alright, man. Y’all got it.

I’ve given my thoughts on the ordeal. I don’t think Markieff Morris should’ve made that kind of contact. There are take-fouls, and then there are take-that fouls. The Morris shot was the latter.

Jokic certainly didn’t have to respond the way that he did. Frustration over the foul is one thing; putting dude on a stretcher is another. Add in the context of the Nuggets already missing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. due to injury, and the Jokic retaliation becomes even more inexcusable. He’s too important to put himself at risk of suspension.

And to that point, it feels like the lede is being buried: Jokic is important. Too important for nonsense. But he’s that important because of a fact — a conversation, at least — we (collectively) are seemingly afraid to acknowledge or discuss: He’s the best player in the world right now.

Some may read that and roll their eyes, might even call it controversial.

Do you know how absurd it is for the reigning MVP — a guy playing better than he did last season, in which he won MVP — to be considered an unpopular choice in the “best player in the world” discussion? It is insane (in the membrane!) to me.

Let’s start with this: Jokic is leading his team in everything right now.

I don’t mean virtually everything. I don’t mean all of the important stuff.

Scoring (25.4 points), rebounding (13.6), assists (5.7), steals (1.6), blocks (1.0), three-point percentage (40% on 4.0 attempts), free throws attempted (5.3) and made (4.2). He’s flirting with a 69% True Shooting percentage, which, come on. That’s pretty darn cool.

Jokic’s credentials offensively should be well-known by now. He’s a legitimate three-level threat. In addition to his gaudy three-point percentage, he’s also converting nearly 68% of his two-point shots.

He’s done this despite being uncharacteristically off as a putback machine; per Synergy, he’s converting 44.4% of his shots after offensive rebounds this season, a mark 20 percentage points lower than last sesaon (64.4%).

It helps that he’s shooting 60% on post-ups. His combination of dizzying footwork, brute force and superb touch makes him nearly impossible to deal with. On any given possession, he can activate Backdown Punisher to get to his spots, Post-Hook Specialist to infuriate try-hards or Fade Ace to demoralize his foes.

Honestly, it’s unfair to be this kind of scorer. The paint dominance is there, as is the proficiency from the mid-range area (59.1% from 8-16 feet) and three-point shooting. You can’t give Jokic a sliver of space, which allows him to tap into his actual best skill: his passing.

Don’t let the assist numbers from this year fool you; he’s every bit of the elite passer he’s always been. He gets some freebies as a handoff hub — his chemistry with Porter, in particular, has grown tremendously over the past year-and-a-half.

But the fun comes when Jokic gets to read or manipulate defenses. There aren’t many players in league history — and none from the center position — that map out the floor as quickly as Jokic does. He doesn’t just hit open teammates; he creates passing windows that don’t exist to most elite passers.

He threads the needle to cutters, makes live-dribble reads and can manipulate weak-side helpers whenever he wants. Cheat a step too far, and Jokic will capitalize.

This is all amazing. No player in the league is slapping up 25-14-6 like Jokic is; Giannis Antetokounmpo (27-11-6) is really the only guy that comes close. Considering the gap in scoring versatility and passing ability between the two, I think it’s more than fair to dub Jokic as a deadlier offensive threat.

To most, the defensive side of the ball is where Jokic has fallen short in “best player” conversations. A player with Jokic’s, uh, limitations, are difficult to value on that end.

(Well, it is if you don’t actually watch him.)

We know Jokic isn’t a “Gobertian” rim-protector. He doesn’t have the vertical pop to challenge drivers above the rim. Fine. That isn’t the only way to get it done.

Throughout Jokic’s career, the Nuggets (read: head coach Michael Malone) have opted to play him higher in pick-and-roll. Instead of dropping Jokic and giving drivers a pocket to attack, they play him at (or above) the level of the screen to make life more difficult.

Jokic has three things working for him. He’s incredibly large, has quick and active hands and has a keen understanding of angles. Those factors work together to create havoc.

What’s been interesting to watch is Jokic’s growing comfort in drop coverage. His vertical limitations persist, but he’s playing the gap with more purpose. There’s a little more activity, stronger contests. He’s flipping his hips a little better, allowing him to track ball-handlers in a smoother fashion.

Jokic is contesting more shots than last season (6.8 to 7.2), and is allowing 59.7% shooting at the rim. That isn’t an elite clip, but it’s much lower than last year’s mark (66.8%).

Oh, and here’s a fun one:

• Jokic: 7.2 shots defended, 59.7% FG allowed
• Anthony Davis: 6.6 shots defended, 67.1% FG allowed

(No, Jokic isn’t a better defender than Brow, but you have to admit you didn’t see that one coming.)

Here’s more fun for ya: the Nuggets have the second-best defense in the NBA (100.4 defensive rating). With Jokic on the floor, that number drops to 94.1. Per Cleaning The Glass, opponents are getting to the rim much less, and shooting a ton more from mid-range with Jokic on the floor.

In fact, teams have gotten to the rim less with Jokic on the floor in every season of his career; the difference (-7.1%) has never been more stark than it has been this year.

It is virtually impossible to have a good defense — more so a no-questions-asked elite D — with a bad defender at the 5. You just can’t do it. They’re too important to a team’s base. Unless you want to argue that Jokic has the 2018-19 Raptors around him 1-through-4, you have to attribute at least some of that success to him.

Jokic isn’t just holding his own — he’s actually been darn good while being asked to do multiple things. That doesn’t mean he’s without his flaws; it simply means his flaws aren’t as pronounced as some would have you believe.

If a player is a top-three offensive talent (at worst), is an above-average defender and his team is nearly [checks notes] 34 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor, shouldn’t that guy be in strong contention for being the league’s best player?

That checks out to me.

Produced in association with BasketballNews.com.

Edited by Kristen Butler

Carlyle Riche Jr. is a passionate advocate for mental health and an active agent of the change he envisions.

The 30-year-old crisis intervention police officer in Baltimore County, Maryland, aims “to help and protect those who can’t protect themselves.”

Named Baltimore County’s Crisis Intervention Officer of the Year for 2021, Riche hopes to create a nonprofit for black teen boys “as a safe space for them to express themselves and feel supported, accepted and not judged.”

Riche, who is pursuing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at Liberty University in Virginia, earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland in 2017 and a master’s degree in behavioral management from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in 2018.

He is targeting a doctorate in studies related to mental health and the police response to mental health crises.

As a crisis intervention trainer in Baltimore County, Riche attends police-community events, such as National Night Out. He sees the importance of fostering a positive relationship with community members and shares his thoughts on altruism, advocacy and healing with Zenger.

Let’s start by detailing your philanthropic endeavors.

For the past 12 years, I have been a volunteer youth counselor and diversity, equity and inclusion co-adviser for the American Legion Jersey Boys State program in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. This program is geared toward high school juniors. It is a selective, week-long, college-preparatory leadership seminar that can prepare its participants for careers in politics, military, business and law, among many others. I am a lead youth counselor and senior staff member that manages the day-to-day instruction of a group of young men for that week, along with my assistant counselors.

I am also a volunteer for the Big Brothers Big Sisters – Greater Chesapeake Chapter of the YMCA in Baltimore City, and the Baltimore County Police Youth Leadership Academy.

Why do you do all thos things?

My “why” is to give back and to be a support for others.

I attended the American Legion Jersey Boys State program when I was in high school and had been returning on staff ever since my time in it. I learned so much about networking and public speaking during my time [there]. I enjoy helping mold young men into the future leaders of America.

I am passionate about the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. I have been a mentor in this program for about three years now and have been matched with my “little brother” for the same time. Words cannot describe the sense of pride I get from supporting my mentee. I don’t personally have a little brother, so it is great to be in a position to positively impact my mentee. We were matched well and have similar interests, as well.

He’s an introvert just like me, and I get to show him what was helpful for me at his age to help him traverse obstacles in his life. It has been wonderful seeing him grow and overcome many challenges in our short time thus far being matched.

Can you discuss how substance use, trauma, racial issues or anything from your lived experiences has influenced your decision to become a police officer?

My decision to be a police officer was influenced by seeing my parents in their corrections officer uniform and my desire to want to help and protect others who can’t protect themselves. At a young age, I realized that I was a protector and that there were individuals with ill-intentions out in the world.

I have always been interested in learning what made people tick and motivations behind their behaviors, which is why I enjoy what I do as a crisis intervention officer. I am in a position to serve those with mental health challenges, and I love what I do.

As a police officer, it was never about arrests, or the persona of being a police officer. For me, it was about finding real solutions for problems and building relationships between law enforcement and community.

What is your earliest experience with racism?

The first encounter with racism that I’ve had was when I moved out of Camden [New Jersey] into a house in a suburban area of southern New Jersey. When I was in high school, I dated a young lady in my class that happened to be white. Her father was a white police officer in our town, a small, predominately white town.

One day, we were sitting on her front steps, and he had pulled up to the home. It would have been the first time he and I would have met. As he approached the house and I stood up to extend my hand for a handshake (like my father taught me), he walked right by me as if I were not there.

It was even more difficult to process because he was a police officer — the very thing that I aspired to be. At that time, I was taken aback, hurt and confused, because little did he (her father) know I wanted to occupy the same position, wear the same uniform, uphold the same oath and honorably wear the same badge.

But all he saw that day was a black boy trying to date his daughter. He didn’t see the insightful, well-spoken and respectful young man that stood before him. I felt invisible; I internalized that experience and would move on to carry that with me for many years.

How are you an agent of change regarding police and existing negative cultures about them?

It’s crucial to aid in changing the narrative for police officers. To do the vital work of building relationships with the community must be an unwritten rule for every police officer. A police officer can be effective at their job without being demeaning, curt or abusive.

I recall when individuals I have had to arrest or cite during traffic violations have thanked me for treating them with respect and like human beings. My main goal as a police officer was best said by Gandhi, to “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

There are undoubtedly individuals with negative intentions in the profession. However, many more intend to do great things for their community — many of which I have served alongside. I enjoy policing and working with the community.

Some of the highlights of my career have been working National Night Out events, Shop with a Cop, and Trunk or Treat events at local churches in my patrol areas. Times when I can stop and get out with kids in the area to start building relationships and helping to change that narrative are essential to me.

In some of my interactions, it was apparent that some of our youth could benefit from having positive role models in their lives — just another level of support. Having many conversations with young teens about being in their position when I was their age can help to change their perspective. If their perspective doesn’t change, at least they can feel heard and not judged.

What is your role in the crisis response unit?

A crisis intervention officer is trained to effectively respond to crisis events and be knowledgeable of the various avenues to guide an individual toward additional support. The topic of police response to mental health calls has been under intense scrutiny lately, and for the right reasons.

I take pride in being a first responder who can vibrantly and effectively respond to mental health and/or crisis situations. I believe it takes a particular person to be able to serve someone in that capacity. I believe that unique quality is enhanced when you have lived experience with mental health challenges.

That individual can listen more intently, display empathy and walk with that individual through their experience — a great example of the support that is necessary in these intense situations. I am passionate about mental health crisis response and adding to the narrative that some officers can effectively respond to mental health calls for service.

I assist with crisis intervention training for my department, where I co-teach de-escalation, a self-developed course for police officers — a topic I feel strongly about. I was recently named Baltimore County’s Crisis Intervention Officer of 2021 — a highlight of my career thus far and an honor that I do not take lightly. I take pride in being a CIT officer and passionate mental health advocate.

What are your goals?

I aim to continue serving those with mental health challenges as a crisis intervention officer, continue my efforts in bolstering the police response to crisis events, and to eventually increase my footprint in the mental health field as a practicing mental health clinician.

During crisis calls, I often self-disclose that I am in therapy and am still working through challenges. There is light at the end of the tunnel. My hopes are to normalize addressing mental health concerns, especially among people of color.

We have been told to suck it up, “man up,” and not express ourselves, which is killing us. We must talk, we must pay attention to our mental health.

Edited by Judith Isacoff and Matthew B. Hall