Size Matters
Jake Rossen Jun 21, 2007
Gas up the DeLorean and revisit 2002. The UFC (and by extension,
mixed martial arts) was watching its vital signs emit only the
occasional burp of vitality.
UFC's return to cable TV in Sept. 2001 had pirates calling and asked for their money back. Subsequent events struggled to garner interest.
So in a move that could be considered spectacularly optimistic for
its time, Zuffa brass opted to have UFC 35 headlined by two
lightweight fighters. Predictably, fans on the fence about their
heavier attractions couldn't have cared less. It was a pay-per-view
dud, which didn't differentiate it from the majority of
Zuffa-promoted UFC cards prior to Ken Shamrock (Pictures)'s first fight with Tito Ortiz (Pictures).
Back with Doc Brown to 2007, where the climate couldn't help endorse a better, more glaring example of dichotomy.
That's never traditionally been the case in combat sports. Casual fans gravitate toward cataclysmic showdowns between barrel-chested heavyweights, with only the occasional star (Oscar De La Hoya) emerging from lighter weight categories.
The knockouts that ripple cheeks like wind tunnels and push sweat and blood into the camera lens are a product of enormous athletes. It's unlikely Kenny Florian (Pictures) will ever send someone out on a stretcher, and the crowd knows it.
But it's equally unlikely the big men could ever equal the kind of furious pace and rat-a-tat attack of a Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) or Roger Huerta (Pictures). As the Las Vegas audiences have acclimated themselves to the intricacies of the sport, they've opened their minds to the possibility that the smaller men might produce some of the most entertaining fights.
Fair or not, Jens Pulver (Pictures) is partially to blame for the delayed reaction. As the UFC's first lightweight champion, he promoted some of the sleepiest bouts in the sport's short history. Against Dennis Hallman (Pictures), Joao Roque (Pictures), and Caol Uno (Pictures), Pulver opted for conservative attacks over the kind of explosive power that he displayed against John Lewis (Pictures).
"Little Evil" was a shepherd who lost lot of the flock.
The Pulver-B.J. Penn (Pictures) title bout of 2002 was therefore an anomaly, treated like the matchmaking equivalent of a venereal disease. Five years later the rematch, scheduled for Saturday evening on SpikeTV, is regarded as nothing unusual.
The most telling example of the attitude shift: The Zuffa-promoted WEC is pushing featherweight Urijah Faber (Pictures) as a major star. It wasn't long ago that Shooto was the exclusive home of 145-pound mixed martial artists, and the wheezy American market barely had patience for anyone smaller than "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy."
Fans of the class can thank television for the resurgence.
Limited to a few pay-per-view cards a year, the UFC shelved athletes under 155 pounds in 2004. Once cable became an outlet, an army of talented athletes fighting in Shooto, PRIDE or smaller events around the U.S. began to fill the UFC division.
As a result some of the year's most celebrated UFC-promoted bouts (Stout-Fisher II, Huerta-Garcia, Edgar-Griffin) have come courtesy of the outsized guys.
This year, SpikeTV built a fifth installment of their successful Ultimate Fighter franchise around lightweights. Now Pulver and Penn, who served as coaches on TUF 5, duel under vastly different circumstances, incited by fans that appreciate their abilities and no longer discriminate.
Lightweights, once treated as second-class citizens, may be on the verge of holding their own at the box office. And who better to lead the charge than Penn, possibly the world's best pound-for-pound fighter?
Competitive at 170 pounds, his excess mass has long been debated as a detriment. Hardly a Greek statue at that weight, Penn may find his glory at a class more suited to his frame. The coronation could start with a win over Pulver, an athlete who has had mixed success in recent years but remains a durable striker that puzzled the "Prodigy" five years ago.
If the Hawaiian succeeds at a title run, it'll have been well earned. Nowhere in the sport is there a division as rich with talent. Sean Sherk (Pictures) and Joe Stevenson (Pictures) are beasts in wrestling, while Hermes Franca (Pictures) and Tavares are jiu-jitsu wizards. Spencer Fisher (Pictures) can knock your block off. Roger Huerta (Pictures) is a star in waiting. And then there is the rest of the world: Gomi, Melendez, Kawajiri and whichever other imports find their way to the UFC.
It's endless.
Sherk (or his successor as UFC champ) has a rogue's gallery to last the next three years. It's not something that can be said for any other division, each of which may be lucky to have 5-6 elite athletes in circulation.
What the bigger men can brag about is star power.
The heavier classes have a surplus of characters that ignite an emotional investment in outcomes. Sherk, Florian, and others are almost regrettably polite. There's yet to be a lighter athlete who has captured the public's attention in the same way Ortiz or Randy Couture (Pictures) have.
Huerta, the Sports Illustrated cover subject who seems pre-groomed for the Latino market, is one possible solution, as is Penn, who could enjoy a Chuck Liddell (Pictures)-esque aura if he's able to conquer the division.
Until then, the class is likely to be more appreciated for its frenetic approach to fights than its big personalities. Watching two talented lightweights is like taking a graduate course in combat. Forced to rely on skill over mass, they're the most complete athletes in the game.
For comments, email [email protected]
UFC's return to cable TV in Sept. 2001 had pirates calling and asked for their money back. Subsequent events struggled to garner interest.
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Back with Doc Brown to 2007, where the climate couldn't help endorse a better, more glaring example of dichotomy.
This year alone, 155-pound athletes have topped three basic cable
cards, and the lightweight division -- once scrapped in the UFC due
to meager resources and lack of interest -- seems to be on the
verge of becoming a viable attraction.
That's never traditionally been the case in combat sports. Casual fans gravitate toward cataclysmic showdowns between barrel-chested heavyweights, with only the occasional star (Oscar De La Hoya) emerging from lighter weight categories.
The knockouts that ripple cheeks like wind tunnels and push sweat and blood into the camera lens are a product of enormous athletes. It's unlikely Kenny Florian (Pictures) will ever send someone out on a stretcher, and the crowd knows it.
But it's equally unlikely the big men could ever equal the kind of furious pace and rat-a-tat attack of a Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) or Roger Huerta (Pictures). As the Las Vegas audiences have acclimated themselves to the intricacies of the sport, they've opened their minds to the possibility that the smaller men might produce some of the most entertaining fights.
Fair or not, Jens Pulver (Pictures) is partially to blame for the delayed reaction. As the UFC's first lightweight champion, he promoted some of the sleepiest bouts in the sport's short history. Against Dennis Hallman (Pictures), Joao Roque (Pictures), and Caol Uno (Pictures), Pulver opted for conservative attacks over the kind of explosive power that he displayed against John Lewis (Pictures).
"Little Evil" was a shepherd who lost lot of the flock.
The Pulver-B.J. Penn (Pictures) title bout of 2002 was therefore an anomaly, treated like the matchmaking equivalent of a venereal disease. Five years later the rematch, scheduled for Saturday evening on SpikeTV, is regarded as nothing unusual.
The most telling example of the attitude shift: The Zuffa-promoted WEC is pushing featherweight Urijah Faber (Pictures) as a major star. It wasn't long ago that Shooto was the exclusive home of 145-pound mixed martial artists, and the wheezy American market barely had patience for anyone smaller than "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy."
Fans of the class can thank television for the resurgence.
Limited to a few pay-per-view cards a year, the UFC shelved athletes under 155 pounds in 2004. Once cable became an outlet, an army of talented athletes fighting in Shooto, PRIDE or smaller events around the U.S. began to fill the UFC division.
As a result some of the year's most celebrated UFC-promoted bouts (Stout-Fisher II, Huerta-Garcia, Edgar-Griffin) have come courtesy of the outsized guys.
This year, SpikeTV built a fifth installment of their successful Ultimate Fighter franchise around lightweights. Now Pulver and Penn, who served as coaches on TUF 5, duel under vastly different circumstances, incited by fans that appreciate their abilities and no longer discriminate.
Lightweights, once treated as second-class citizens, may be on the verge of holding their own at the box office. And who better to lead the charge than Penn, possibly the world's best pound-for-pound fighter?
Competitive at 170 pounds, his excess mass has long been debated as a detriment. Hardly a Greek statue at that weight, Penn may find his glory at a class more suited to his frame. The coronation could start with a win over Pulver, an athlete who has had mixed success in recent years but remains a durable striker that puzzled the "Prodigy" five years ago.
If the Hawaiian succeeds at a title run, it'll have been well earned. Nowhere in the sport is there a division as rich with talent. Sean Sherk (Pictures) and Joe Stevenson (Pictures) are beasts in wrestling, while Hermes Franca (Pictures) and Tavares are jiu-jitsu wizards. Spencer Fisher (Pictures) can knock your block off. Roger Huerta (Pictures) is a star in waiting. And then there is the rest of the world: Gomi, Melendez, Kawajiri and whichever other imports find their way to the UFC.
It's endless.
Sherk (or his successor as UFC champ) has a rogue's gallery to last the next three years. It's not something that can be said for any other division, each of which may be lucky to have 5-6 elite athletes in circulation.
What the bigger men can brag about is star power.
The heavier classes have a surplus of characters that ignite an emotional investment in outcomes. Sherk, Florian, and others are almost regrettably polite. There's yet to be a lighter athlete who has captured the public's attention in the same way Ortiz or Randy Couture (Pictures) have.
Huerta, the Sports Illustrated cover subject who seems pre-groomed for the Latino market, is one possible solution, as is Penn, who could enjoy a Chuck Liddell (Pictures)-esque aura if he's able to conquer the division.
Until then, the class is likely to be more appreciated for its frenetic approach to fights than its big personalities. Watching two talented lightweights is like taking a graduate course in combat. Forced to rely on skill over mass, they're the most complete athletes in the game.
For comments, email [email protected]
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