Mainstream MMA and 2008: Make or Break
Posted by Dave Walsh on January 10th, 2008
I love MMA, and I have loved MMA from the day I rented my first UFC event as a kid, picked up on some shelf in a video store next to an array of WWF videos. It never stopped for me, sometimes it would delve into casual fandom, but MMA has, since that day, been something I’ve been a fan of. It has led to countless purchases of tapes of SHOOTO, Pancrase, DEEP, PRIDE and anything I could get my hands on, even as far as me taking jiu-jitsu (even if it was for a brief amount of time). Over the years I always tried to get my friends to watch with me; I’d invite them over to watch PPVs, I’d show them practical holds they could use if they ever got into any trouble, I explained the differences between it and pro-wrestling, even tried playing the old UFC videogames against them to get them into it. Nothing worked, so the only place I could really turn was the internet. Then, one day there was a reality show following a rash of decent PPVs, and everybody knew what I was talking about.
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Upon reading this article, one thing really hit home for me, and it was that the stars that UFC established in the first ‘Ultimate Fighter’ season are not going to be a force in the UFC this year, which could greatly impact how UFC fares in 2008. TUF Season 1 coaches Liddell and Couture are leading much different paths now; Couture is sitting out his contract with hopes of becoming a journeyman hunting for top competition (ie: Fedor), and Chuck is just coming off of two rather embarrassing losses and a not-so-impressive win over Wanderlei Silva. While I really did love the Silva/Chuck fight, it wasn’t the Chuck Liddell that fans grew to love that was in there with Wanderlei Silva, it was a hesitant, slower, simply looking for a decision win Chuck when he figured he wasn’t going to knock Silva out.The second seasons Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin are another story altogether, as it has gotten to the point where both have waned in popularity, and recent losses have underscored any sort of stardom they have. Hughes, the bigger star of the two (easily) failed to recapture the Welterweight Title that he felt he was a lock for, due to the thrusting abilities of GSP, and the fact that he spent the past few months making fun of Matt Serra and expecting to just be able to plow through Serra. Whoops. Franklin, well, Franklin got murdered by Anderson Silva not once but twice. Franklin was the most fallible of the bunch, and honestly, its hard to see Silva/Franklin 3 as being a viable bout for UFC to push as Silva has completely dumbfounded and annihilated Franklin two times now. Franklin was given a hometown advantage, and really, his hometown didn’t treat him like a superstar like UFC would have wanted.
Last year was a solid year for UFC, but it wasn’t spectacular. If anything, it was the lack of build for the fights, and the lack of heat. The biggest fights of the year were easily Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia and Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. The outcomes to both of these fights were huge; with Rampage destroying UFC’s cash cow, and Couture just amazing everybody and making non-believers into believers. The only problem with both of these cases is that UFC dropped the ball. Jackson’s win over Liddell should have been a lot bigger than it turned into, but the truth is, Dana White is still marketing Chuck as the star, the freight train monster that helped build UFC’s popularity over the past few years. And with his fist, Rampage derailed it. This should have made him an instant star, and in a way, it did. But UFC still doesn’t treat Rampage like he is the star in town, instead, Chuck Liddell is still the banner fighter that Dana White pushes to be their mainstream face. If anything, Rampage should be more marketable than Liddell, as his charisma is through the roof, his interviews are smart and funny, never mind that he is extremely dangerous inside of the cage.
Then there was Randy. Randy’s emotional win over Tim Sylvia, coming back from retirement, solidified him as a true legend in the brief history of the sport. Randy continued to overcome the odds as he felled Gonzanga in another spectacle of a fight. It is hard not to argue that Randy is the top heavyweight fighter around, with a possible exception to Fedor, but for some reason UFC felt the need to tell one of their biggest stars that he doesn’t deserve more money. The reality is, Randy wasn’t asking for anything too extreme, simply compensation for being possibly their biggest star, eclipsing a much higher-paid Liddell (never mind the contract supposedly offered to Fedor). In turn, UFC denied that and played hardball with him, and now the most eloquent public face for the company is publicly stating how unhappy he is with the company.
It’s clear that 2008 is not going to be the year where star power alone is going to bring in the buys. It is also clear that there aren’t any big rematches on the horizon like there were for past years. To look at the success from past years, the best way for them to go is either using a heated build like they did for Ortiz vs. Shamrock, or grab two high-level fighters and build up a fight between them with as much of their hype machine as they can. The fight between Rampage and Forrest Griffin is going to be their money match this year, and they are going to wait many months to run them as opposing coaches on TUF, leaving the next few events looking rather empty, with the usual UFC Super Saturday show with the debut of former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar against Frank Mir as their big draw, with Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the Interim Heavyweight Title as the other big fight.
We also have to take into account that BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson is a mere 3 weeks before, on PPV as well. If anything, UFC’s biggest opponent this year is going to be it, as the near endless events and the lack of important fights might prove to be a bad thing for the UFC. With their big money fight between Rampage and Griffin on hold waiting for this season of the Ultimate Fighter to air, their most popular title is going to be on hold. This year for UFC could be a big for UFC if they play their cards right and build up some new stars and make some marketable feuds. What UFC faces is not an enviable task, as they must satisfy both the newer, TUF-era fans and the fans who have been watching for years and would watch even if a PPV wasn’t being headlined by reality TV stars.
I’m hoping things pan out, as its a lot more fun being able to go out to a packed bar or have a group of friends over to watch a MMA show than it is to have to watch it alone, like its some sort of underground fight club or a low-rent porno. We all know what happened with the fight industry in Japan after a huge boom; lets just hope we don’t see the same brightly burning bulb burn out as quickly.