The UFC in 2008
Jake Rossen Jan 1, 2008
The UFC handled more money than the Federal Reserve in 2007,
dominating live gate and attendance figures in arenas
worldwide.
It nabbed the most viewers for a mixed-style event in U.S. history, scoring record ratings on SpikeTV for the Quinton Jackson (Pictures)-Dan Henderson (Pictures) bout. And on the promotion's worst day, it still garnered 200,000 buys, according to the Wrestling Observer, for the underwhelming Rich Franklin (Pictures)-Yushin Okami (Pictures) main event in the spring, far outdrawing boxing names like Holyfield and Jones, Jr.
It was, in short, a very good year to be in the hurt business …
providing you hold the trademark to the Octagon.
The UFC's dominance as the premier MMA banner in the industry looks set to continue unabated in 2008, with rivals hemorrhaging losses on quarterly financial reports and hedging bets on talent with questionable appeal.
My projected New Year's wish is for the UFC to use its power and status responsibly, continuing to offer meaningful bouts and substantial cards as though it were in danger of losing position in the industry -- even if that's far from the case.
In more easily digested form:
More Heavyweight Talent, Please
With Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) in flux and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) having joined the circus, the UFC's scale-tipping division went from promising to wheezing overnight.
As it stands, Tim Sylvia (Pictures) and Antonio Rodgrio Nogueira have no compelling opposition beyond themselves. When they meet to decide an interim champion on Feb. 2, the waiting list for challengers is spotty at best, blank at worst. Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) vs. the winner intrigues, but do we really need a rematch between Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)?
That Josh Barnett (Pictures) may be at odds with UFC management is a petty excuse for his absence. Is the sport about finding the best in the ring or the best at playing juvenile political games?
Mark Hunt (Pictures) remains a glaring omission, as does Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Alistair Overeem (Pictures) impressed in Strikeforce several weeks back, dispatching the durable Paul Buentello (Pictures). If he's locked into a contract, why not Roger Gracie (Pictures), who seems capable of picking up that family's baton? I'd even settle for an in-shape Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures), but unfortunately he doesn't seem equipped with the tools to challenge Sylvia, and a televised stint in a VH-1 rehab clinic won't do his career any favors.
Brock Lesnar (Pictures) could be the next great heavyweight hope, particularly if his adversaries are as sluggish as Eddie Sanchez and Soa Palelei (Pictures) were this weekend. But despite his NCAA credentials, we're still talking about a man with a 1-0 MMA record. If Lesnar isn't brought along slowly, he's going to collapse in a heap of hype.
Shelf Life of Stars
Despite his status as one of the top three welterweights in the division, Matt Hughes (Pictures) sat out the majority of 2007, fighting only once in March before a December bout against Georges St. Pierre (Pictures). Fresh off a huge win against Mauricio Rua (Pictures) in September, it will be nearly a year before Forrest Griffin (Pictures) steps back in the cage against Quinton Jackson (Pictures).
The sabbaticals come at the service of the UFC's "Ultimate Fighter," which essentially holds talent hostage until 12 weeks of promotion are complete. It's an eternity for fans, and the lack of steady competition doesn't do athletes any favors.
Why not switch to a format popularized by HBO earlier in the year, with barker shows shot and edited on the fly? Film Jackson and Griffin during the week, and air the series on weekends. The tactic helped HBO reach a record 2.4 million buys for the De La Hoya-Mayweather bout.
"TUF" is a needed vehicle for upcoming talent, but it shouldn't come at the expense of holding marquee guys on the bench for months at a time.
Ease Up on the Self-Aggrandizing
While it might be irresistible to refute the smug advances of fans that spent years anointing PRIDE as the Alec Baldwin to the UFC's Stephen, the backslapping is getting a little out of hand.
UFC President Dana White and owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were alleged to be openly ecstatic at cageside over Griffin's submission win over Rua in September. Matchmaker Joe Silva passed a note to announcer Joe Rogan during Lyoto Machida (Pictures)'s mauling of Sokoudjou on Saturday, saying the bout's outcome was indicative that "This ain't Japan."
Never mind the fact that Machida fought the majority of his career overseas, or that PRIDE alumni Quinton Jackson (Pictures) and Anderson Silva are doing just fine. The partisan commentary by UFC chairs is getting to be a little distracting, especially considering they already "won" the fabricated war created by fans with their acquisition -- and subsequent dismantling -- of PRIDE earlier in the year.
Why should organizers favor one fighter over another, even if done subversively? Can we get over it already?
Dissolve ‘Interim' Nonsense
Speaking as someone who considers boxing's myriad weight classes and alphabet champions an impenetrable mess, the UFC's recent reliance on murky "interim" titleholders is a sketchy proposition.
In addition to St. Pierre winning the interim welterweight title on Saturday, the winner of Nogueira and Sylvia will be awarded the interim heavyweight championship in February. At this rate, we'll be seeing interim ring girls crowned next.
Worse, the UFC broadcasts never define what "interim" champion means. Casual viewers can suspect that both Matt Serra (Pictures) and Randy Couture (Pictures) were either vaporized by visiting Martians or had to enter the Witness Protection Program.
It's confusing terminology, meant to satiate the ego of absentee champions while allowing an excuse for five-round bouts. Commendable goals, but not when the net result is turning off fans that abandoned boxing for the same reasons in the 1990s.
Please, enough of the buzzwords: one weight class, one champ. Otherwise, the promotion will likely create one unpleasant side effect of such an awkward strategy: interim fans.
For comments, e-mail [email protected]
It nabbed the most viewers for a mixed-style event in U.S. history, scoring record ratings on SpikeTV for the Quinton Jackson (Pictures)-Dan Henderson (Pictures) bout. And on the promotion's worst day, it still garnered 200,000 buys, according to the Wrestling Observer, for the underwhelming Rich Franklin (Pictures)-Yushin Okami (Pictures) main event in the spring, far outdrawing boxing names like Holyfield and Jones, Jr.
Advertisement
The UFC's dominance as the premier MMA banner in the industry looks set to continue unabated in 2008, with rivals hemorrhaging losses on quarterly financial reports and hedging bets on talent with questionable appeal.
That the UFC is engorged on market share has mixed consequences for
fans: Without competition forcing the company to consistently up
the ante, there's potential for the product to become stagnant and
diluted. Already the UFC is feeling bold enough to offer three
pay-per-view events within a one-month span. While two are sturdy
enough, the third, topped by B.J.
Penn (Pictures) vs. Joe Stevenson, is being mighty
presumptuous in reaching for your wallet.
My projected New Year's wish is for the UFC to use its power and status responsibly, continuing to offer meaningful bouts and substantial cards as though it were in danger of losing position in the industry -- even if that's far from the case.
In more easily digested form:
More Heavyweight Talent, Please
With Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) in flux and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) having joined the circus, the UFC's scale-tipping division went from promising to wheezing overnight.
As it stands, Tim Sylvia (Pictures) and Antonio Rodgrio Nogueira have no compelling opposition beyond themselves. When they meet to decide an interim champion on Feb. 2, the waiting list for challengers is spotty at best, blank at worst. Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) vs. the winner intrigues, but do we really need a rematch between Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum (Pictures)?
That Josh Barnett (Pictures) may be at odds with UFC management is a petty excuse for his absence. Is the sport about finding the best in the ring or the best at playing juvenile political games?
Mark Hunt (Pictures) remains a glaring omission, as does Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Alistair Overeem (Pictures) impressed in Strikeforce several weeks back, dispatching the durable Paul Buentello (Pictures). If he's locked into a contract, why not Roger Gracie (Pictures), who seems capable of picking up that family's baton? I'd even settle for an in-shape Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures), but unfortunately he doesn't seem equipped with the tools to challenge Sylvia, and a televised stint in a VH-1 rehab clinic won't do his career any favors.
Brock Lesnar (Pictures) could be the next great heavyweight hope, particularly if his adversaries are as sluggish as Eddie Sanchez and Soa Palelei (Pictures) were this weekend. But despite his NCAA credentials, we're still talking about a man with a 1-0 MMA record. If Lesnar isn't brought along slowly, he's going to collapse in a heap of hype.
Shelf Life of Stars
Despite his status as one of the top three welterweights in the division, Matt Hughes (Pictures) sat out the majority of 2007, fighting only once in March before a December bout against Georges St. Pierre (Pictures). Fresh off a huge win against Mauricio Rua (Pictures) in September, it will be nearly a year before Forrest Griffin (Pictures) steps back in the cage against Quinton Jackson (Pictures).
The sabbaticals come at the service of the UFC's "Ultimate Fighter," which essentially holds talent hostage until 12 weeks of promotion are complete. It's an eternity for fans, and the lack of steady competition doesn't do athletes any favors.
Why not switch to a format popularized by HBO earlier in the year, with barker shows shot and edited on the fly? Film Jackson and Griffin during the week, and air the series on weekends. The tactic helped HBO reach a record 2.4 million buys for the De La Hoya-Mayweather bout.
"TUF" is a needed vehicle for upcoming talent, but it shouldn't come at the expense of holding marquee guys on the bench for months at a time.
Ease Up on the Self-Aggrandizing
While it might be irresistible to refute the smug advances of fans that spent years anointing PRIDE as the Alec Baldwin to the UFC's Stephen, the backslapping is getting a little out of hand.
UFC President Dana White and owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were alleged to be openly ecstatic at cageside over Griffin's submission win over Rua in September. Matchmaker Joe Silva passed a note to announcer Joe Rogan during Lyoto Machida (Pictures)'s mauling of Sokoudjou on Saturday, saying the bout's outcome was indicative that "This ain't Japan."
Never mind the fact that Machida fought the majority of his career overseas, or that PRIDE alumni Quinton Jackson (Pictures) and Anderson Silva are doing just fine. The partisan commentary by UFC chairs is getting to be a little distracting, especially considering they already "won" the fabricated war created by fans with their acquisition -- and subsequent dismantling -- of PRIDE earlier in the year.
Why should organizers favor one fighter over another, even if done subversively? Can we get over it already?
Dissolve ‘Interim' Nonsense
Speaking as someone who considers boxing's myriad weight classes and alphabet champions an impenetrable mess, the UFC's recent reliance on murky "interim" titleholders is a sketchy proposition.
In addition to St. Pierre winning the interim welterweight title on Saturday, the winner of Nogueira and Sylvia will be awarded the interim heavyweight championship in February. At this rate, we'll be seeing interim ring girls crowned next.
Worse, the UFC broadcasts never define what "interim" champion means. Casual viewers can suspect that both Matt Serra (Pictures) and Randy Couture (Pictures) were either vaporized by visiting Martians or had to enter the Witness Protection Program.
It's confusing terminology, meant to satiate the ego of absentee champions while allowing an excuse for five-round bouts. Commendable goals, but not when the net result is turning off fans that abandoned boxing for the same reasons in the 1990s.
Please, enough of the buzzwords: one weight class, one champ. Otherwise, the promotion will likely create one unpleasant side effect of such an awkward strategy: interim fans.
For comments, e-mail [email protected]
Related Articles
