Five Questions in the Wake of UFC 81
Jake Rossen Feb 5, 2008
The UFC's media campaign has repeatedly stressed that the spectacle
of MMA -- those bygone days when fighters showed up in wife beaters
and singlets, listing Tae Bo as a discipline -- is ancient
history.
Yet that weird buzz in one's central nervous system, the one you used to get when watching athletes of unknown origin and ability, was present during Saturday's UFC 81 card. Observing Brock Lesnar (Pictures), a human being of formidable proportions, rain hammer fists down on Frank Mir (Pictures) helped recapture some of the early knot-in-stomach jitters of the cruder, single-digit events. (Lesnar's knife tattoo, so ignobly displayed on his mammoth chest, might as well have been a giant question mark.)
We got at least one answer: Lesnar, while seemingly the most
athletic 265-pound man ever to step into a cage, has a ways to go
before promoters need to resize the heavyweight strap.
Five questions that are still pending …
A: The UFC spared little expense in making sure fans of professional wrestling were aware that one of their conquering heroes was going to try his hand in an unscripted bout: Spike's TNA wrestling programs featured color commentary from Kurt Angle, and WWE programming was gracious enough to lend (or sell) footage of Lesnar to fill out advertising spots.
This is all in spite of Dana White's repeated assertions that he wanted nothing to do with wrestling -- did not, in fact, want Angle to wrestle for TNA if he signed with the UFC back when those negotiations still had a pulse. But White (or his advisors) relented, perhaps realizing that MMA possesses the most demographically diverse potential of any major sport in the world. There's no reason fans of fake athletics wouldn't want to see the real thing at least once.
But is there life in that sect after Lesnar? Personalities sell, and aside from the potential in new converts wanting to see more of the durable Mir, there were few charismatic participants on the card -- certainly no one like the braying, flexing attractions in a WWE event.
A majority of wrestling fans have likely already sampled the UFC via snowy VHS tapes, or during Spike's free events. Worse, they didn't seem to particularly care about Lesnar when he competed during last June's K-1 Dynamite show. While there's likely to be a surge in business due to the UFC's promotional strength, recruited viewers used to losers eating dog food or getting their head shaved won't be perpetual customers of the comparatively sterile Octagon.
Q: Is the "old" Frank Mir (Pictures) back?
A: In a critique that left me with third-degree burns from readers, I had once called for the self-imposed retirement of Frank Mir (Pictures). After a motorcycle accident left him looking slack and in a pot-bellied carb coma against Marcio Cruz (Pictures), Dan Christison (Pictures) and Brandon Vera (Pictures), I was left with the impression that the hobbled Mir was simply collecting residuals on goodwill in exchange for a few pints of his blood. It made me nervous.
While it's difficult to proclaim the smooth, agile Mir of old has returned, he looked far better than he has in recent bouts. Defying observer criticism that he dislikes getting hit (who likes to get hit?), Mir weathered a torrential early storm from Lesnar before applying a textbook kneebar.
Pre-accident, I considered Mir to have potential as the Mike Tyson of grappling, someone so violent and effective that losers would not only collect the minority share of the purse, but also put a portion back into medical expenses.
Time will tell whether he's regained that kind of mobility, but Mir certainly bought himself the benefit of the doubt on Saturday.
Q: Will Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) be taken seriously as a world champion?
A: Two rounds into Tim Sylvia (Pictures) hammering away at Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) for the "interim" title, I was reminded of Rocky tenderizing a gigantic slab of meat in lieu of a heavy bag. (Balboa, while borderline retarded, was nothing if not resourceful.) Not that Sylvia resembled the 5-foot-8 Italian, but rather that "Minotauro's" face looked like a rotting animal hide that would never pass USDA inspection.
With Nogueira's hematomas growing by the second, it was easy to imagine White's inevitable spin on the sport's chaotic heavyweight division: Sylvia stopped Nogueira, and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) couldn't. Ergo, E = mc nyah, nyah, M-1.
In a distressing turn of events, though, Nogueira managed to retain control of his rapidly swelling eyelids long enough to get Sylvia to the ground and submit him. Now White is faced with the prospect of undermining Fedor's stature in the sport while simultaneously promoting Nogueira as a peerless champion. Hard to bleat about the mediocrity of the competition's star attraction when he trounced your top dog on 2.5 separate occasions.
The lesson is simple. Just because you fail to sign elite talent doesn't mean they should be victim to a disingenuous rant that labels them a "farce."
Q: Is Brock Lesnar (Pictures) the next big thing?
A: As the UFC was quick to remind you, debuting UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar (Pictures) needed 3XL gloves to fit his oversized paws. (I would've been more concerned about arming Steve Mazzagatti with a cattle prod in the event he had to physically stop the fight.)
Lesnar lost his heavily-hyped bout, of course, but the 90 seconds he was active has managed to convince the industry that he has unlimited potential in the sport. In addition to being physically overpowering, he's incredibly quick, a combination that should make any opponent and ringside EMT nervous.
Stylistically, Mir was the worst possible choice for him. The very place where Lesnar is expected to be most comfortable is exactly where Mir is most dangerous. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, nothing if not perceptive, might have speculated that the best way to deliver a wakeup call to fans with limited knowledge of MMA was to have Lesnar slapping the canvas. If so, it was an I-told-you-so with a $250,000 price tag attached.
Lesnar's future in the sport will be determined by how motivated he can remain even after being suffocated, and how the UFC chooses to develop his talent. I like his chances against strikers, not so much against athletes who have lived on the mat as long as Mir has.
I have little doubt that if the UFC opened up its super heavyweight division, Lesnar would go on a tear against its cardio-depleted, sloth-like opposition. But as a heavyweight, and like anyone who meets elite competition on a regular basis, Lesnar will win some and lose some. Whether he has interest in that kind of learning curve remains to be seen.
Q: Will Tyson Griffin live on in YouTube infamy forever?
A: Immediately prior to stepping in the ring with Gleison Tibau (Pictures), UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin went spelunking up his nose, digging so deep (in both nostrils) that I thought he was mining for something.
I'm ashamed to say it also made my list as the most-TiVo-ed moment of Super Bowl weekend.
For comments, e-mail [email protected]
Yet that weird buzz in one's central nervous system, the one you used to get when watching athletes of unknown origin and ability, was present during Saturday's UFC 81 card. Observing Brock Lesnar (Pictures), a human being of formidable proportions, rain hammer fists down on Frank Mir (Pictures) helped recapture some of the early knot-in-stomach jitters of the cruder, single-digit events. (Lesnar's knife tattoo, so ignobly displayed on his mammoth chest, might as well have been a giant question mark.)
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Five questions that are still pending …
Q: Will pro wrestling fans stick around for
more MMA?
A: The UFC spared little expense in making sure fans of professional wrestling were aware that one of their conquering heroes was going to try his hand in an unscripted bout: Spike's TNA wrestling programs featured color commentary from Kurt Angle, and WWE programming was gracious enough to lend (or sell) footage of Lesnar to fill out advertising spots.
This is all in spite of Dana White's repeated assertions that he wanted nothing to do with wrestling -- did not, in fact, want Angle to wrestle for TNA if he signed with the UFC back when those negotiations still had a pulse. But White (or his advisors) relented, perhaps realizing that MMA possesses the most demographically diverse potential of any major sport in the world. There's no reason fans of fake athletics wouldn't want to see the real thing at least once.
But is there life in that sect after Lesnar? Personalities sell, and aside from the potential in new converts wanting to see more of the durable Mir, there were few charismatic participants on the card -- certainly no one like the braying, flexing attractions in a WWE event.
A majority of wrestling fans have likely already sampled the UFC via snowy VHS tapes, or during Spike's free events. Worse, they didn't seem to particularly care about Lesnar when he competed during last June's K-1 Dynamite show. While there's likely to be a surge in business due to the UFC's promotional strength, recruited viewers used to losers eating dog food or getting their head shaved won't be perpetual customers of the comparatively sterile Octagon.
Q: Is the "old" Frank Mir (Pictures) back?
A: In a critique that left me with third-degree burns from readers, I had once called for the self-imposed retirement of Frank Mir (Pictures). After a motorcycle accident left him looking slack and in a pot-bellied carb coma against Marcio Cruz (Pictures), Dan Christison (Pictures) and Brandon Vera (Pictures), I was left with the impression that the hobbled Mir was simply collecting residuals on goodwill in exchange for a few pints of his blood. It made me nervous.
While it's difficult to proclaim the smooth, agile Mir of old has returned, he looked far better than he has in recent bouts. Defying observer criticism that he dislikes getting hit (who likes to get hit?), Mir weathered a torrential early storm from Lesnar before applying a textbook kneebar.
Pre-accident, I considered Mir to have potential as the Mike Tyson of grappling, someone so violent and effective that losers would not only collect the minority share of the purse, but also put a portion back into medical expenses.
Time will tell whether he's regained that kind of mobility, but Mir certainly bought himself the benefit of the doubt on Saturday.
Q: Will Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) be taken seriously as a world champion?
A: Two rounds into Tim Sylvia (Pictures) hammering away at Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) for the "interim" title, I was reminded of Rocky tenderizing a gigantic slab of meat in lieu of a heavy bag. (Balboa, while borderline retarded, was nothing if not resourceful.) Not that Sylvia resembled the 5-foot-8 Italian, but rather that "Minotauro's" face looked like a rotting animal hide that would never pass USDA inspection.
With Nogueira's hematomas growing by the second, it was easy to imagine White's inevitable spin on the sport's chaotic heavyweight division: Sylvia stopped Nogueira, and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) couldn't. Ergo, E = mc nyah, nyah, M-1.
In a distressing turn of events, though, Nogueira managed to retain control of his rapidly swelling eyelids long enough to get Sylvia to the ground and submit him. Now White is faced with the prospect of undermining Fedor's stature in the sport while simultaneously promoting Nogueira as a peerless champion. Hard to bleat about the mediocrity of the competition's star attraction when he trounced your top dog on 2.5 separate occasions.
The lesson is simple. Just because you fail to sign elite talent doesn't mean they should be victim to a disingenuous rant that labels them a "farce."
Q: Is Brock Lesnar (Pictures) the next big thing?
A: As the UFC was quick to remind you, debuting UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar (Pictures) needed 3XL gloves to fit his oversized paws. (I would've been more concerned about arming Steve Mazzagatti with a cattle prod in the event he had to physically stop the fight.)
Lesnar lost his heavily-hyped bout, of course, but the 90 seconds he was active has managed to convince the industry that he has unlimited potential in the sport. In addition to being physically overpowering, he's incredibly quick, a combination that should make any opponent and ringside EMT nervous.
Stylistically, Mir was the worst possible choice for him. The very place where Lesnar is expected to be most comfortable is exactly where Mir is most dangerous. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, nothing if not perceptive, might have speculated that the best way to deliver a wakeup call to fans with limited knowledge of MMA was to have Lesnar slapping the canvas. If so, it was an I-told-you-so with a $250,000 price tag attached.
Lesnar's future in the sport will be determined by how motivated he can remain even after being suffocated, and how the UFC chooses to develop his talent. I like his chances against strikers, not so much against athletes who have lived on the mat as long as Mir has.
I have little doubt that if the UFC opened up its super heavyweight division, Lesnar would go on a tear against its cardio-depleted, sloth-like opposition. But as a heavyweight, and like anyone who meets elite competition on a regular basis, Lesnar will win some and lose some. Whether he has interest in that kind of learning curve remains to be seen.
Q: Will Tyson Griffin live on in YouTube infamy forever?
A: Immediately prior to stepping in the ring with Gleison Tibau (Pictures), UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin went spelunking up his nose, digging so deep (in both nostrils) that I thought he was mining for something.
I'm ashamed to say it also made my list as the most-TiVo-ed moment of Super Bowl weekend.
For comments, e-mail [email protected]
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