UFC’s King Kong: The Age of UFC’s Spectacle Begins
Posted by Dave Walsh on July 12th, 2009
Let’s face facts here, the discussion of Sport of Spectacle is one that has raged when it comes to the UFC for years now, and as we saw last night at UFC 100, it shows no signs of slowing down. Dana White has long been an advocate of Mixed Martial Arts being promoted as a “sport.” Scathing critiques of K-1 and formerly PRIDE for their affliction for freakshow fights to fill up cards, attract media attention and fill up arenas. Unleashing a beast in the theater only meant it would soon go berserk and nobody would love it anymore, or love the carny promoter. The shine wears off.
Brock Lesnar made sense; he was an incredible wrestling talent in college, has size and strength that are nearly impossible to match and he knows how to make a name for himself and promote a fight. Even after suffering an embarrassing loss at the skilled hands of Frank Mir, the potential for Lesnar to make UFC money was incredible. This guy could be the biggest star they ever imagined. The only thing is, Dana White has spent a good portion of his time since the Zuffa purchase talking down pro wrestling and how Japanese promoters will book giant freaks and pro wrestlers to garner quick and dirty attention. The excuse has been that Lesnar is a real athlete, pro wrestling was just something he did when he was young and dumb.
Kimbo Slice was a street brawler fresh out of prison who made a living by tough guys emailing his friend’s Yahoo! email address and asking for a fight in somebody’s back yard. People in attendance would throw down money and it would be taped and tossed up on YouTube. This is how his legend was born. When Gary Shaw decided to promote Kimbo as a Mixed Martial Artist, feeding him a steady diet of has-beens and cans, Dana White scoffed at this. This was a mockery to the sport that he had helped build into a real sport, a sport covered by Sports Illustrated and ESPN, a sport that could get promoted in a positive light in the New York Times. This was a real sport and Gary Shaw was ruining it by promoting Kimbo Slice as a top level talent. White laughed when Kimbo fell to Seth Petruzelli’s jab and sent out an insulting offer to Slice; you want to be a fucking fighter? Come on my reality show and earn it.
It was a joke offer if there ever was one; first of all, Dana White would only want Slice if he could embarrass him and finally bury EliteXC once and for all for what it was; garbage, a thorn in his side. For Slice it was a no-win situation, in Japan he would make millions by simply being a big black man with a giant beard and incredibly heavy hands — a freakshow. So it came as a surprise when Kimbo Slice decided to take up the challenge. So much of a surprise that White and Co. scrambled to reorganize the entire season of The Ultimate Fighter they were working on to accommodate Kimbo Slice as the star. The promotion of the show went from Rashad Evans, the educated, intelligent, well-spoken and humble Mixed Martial Artist against the rabid, wild dog Rampage Jackson in a “black on black crime” season was put on the back-burner — it was Kimbo Slice time.
At UFC 100 a few things happened, some of which were in awful taste, sure. Dan Henderson’s late strike on an already unconscious Michael Bisping should turn the stomach of any fan of the sport, but it isn’t, people are loving it. Alan Belcher is proof that some of the judges employed by NSAC are absolutely clueless about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as well as some very famous MMA Bloggers being complete morons/marks for Japanese fighters. On a positive note, Georges St. Pierre is living proof that there are intelligent and scarily talented fighters in the world. GSP’s domination of his toughest challenger just shows you how hard he is willing to work and how graceful he will always be — to himself, to the fans, to his opponent, to the media, to his company and to his country.
The biggest story, though, is the main event. Brock Lesnar proved quite a few things, the first being that he is willing to put in the time and effort to train in Mixed Martial Arts to help him win fights. His technique against Frank Mir was exactly what it should have been — to keep him pinned down, to not stay in Mir’s guard and keep himself as close to Mir as possible so he can rain down punishment without having to worry about an appendage being caught in a submission. He also proved that he is a savage beast of a man in every aspect. Some feel his treatment towards the crowd is justified, and that the fans hate him because he is a pro wrestler who is sullying the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. If anything, flipping off the crowd can be justified, and really, it isn’t a huge deal. It was the antics like getting into the face of Frank Mir and needing security to peel him away from a man he just rendered unconscious that doesn’t sit well with me. Then insulting one of UFC’s much-vaunted major sponsors that they worked so hard for and then implying he was going for forcibly penetrate his wife who has a history of domestic violence in her past (including calling off her engagement to Brock for claims of domestic abuse originally).
This is a spectacle. Many people are going the “Meltzer Route” and proclaiming this great entertainment, with Brock as a great character and being a great “heel.” By all reports, this is not a character Lesnar is portraying. This is who Brock Lesnar is, and Brock Lesnar is a freakshow. The summation of Brock Lesnar was the slow motion replay they showed of Lesnar after his win, slobbering into the camera and screaming.
This leaves Dana White in a situation; to give in to the temptation with Lesnar and go full force promoting the freakshow that is Lesnar (and of course don’t forget Kimbo Slice!). Short term, Lesnar will do monster business. People (note I’m not using the word fans) will tune in, purchase PPVs and fill up bars across the country in hopes of seeing what will probably be Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira attempt to beat Brock Lesnar, and most likely fail. People will pay money to see King Kong in the grand theater, just to marvel at him as he slobbers on himself and using his “lunchboxes” as Joe Rogan put it to pummel the well-respected martial artists faces in.
The only problem is, after the beast has fallen, the crowds are no longer there and the people who weren’t watching for the beast and were there for the show have moved on, grown tired of the freakshow.
July 12th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Fightmetric who are impartial as they come gave the fight to Akiyama. Their analysis seems spot on with what I thought saw went on in the fight.
http://fightmetric.com/fights/Akiyama-Belcher.html
July 12th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Honestly, I feel like R1 was Belcher. While the striking numbers were close, the fact that there was a knockdown should decide that round. They are relying too heavily on Akiyama having top position, too. That means nothing when Belcher was the one working and came close to an omoplata or worse.
July 12th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
It comes down to the first round in which Akiyama I thought got the better of the exchanges and was far enough away to weather the knockdown. Akiyama hit him with a bunch of stuff throughout the round. All kinds of combos including his own knockdown off a leg catch and punch and I just didn’t think the one moment of offense from Belcher was enough to turn the tide in an otherwise all Akiyama round.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Bro, I honestly think comparing “climb on top of my wife” with rape is a bit of a reach. Other than that, everything you said about Brock is the truth and cannot be denied. He is the typical meat head asshole jock who has never been held accountable for his actions or behavior. I always thought Matt Hughes was a complete and total dick head but he never went out of his way to alienate the fans and always did right by the company. Having said that, I really don’t think Brock did any long term damage to the company or the sport. I don’t know how long he’s going to hold the belt for. He’s kind of in uncharted waters. A guy with hardly any experience sitting on top of his weight class. We still don’t know what his weaknesses are (other than heel hooks). Maybe he’ll smash 2-3 more 2nd tier heavyweights and then get subbed by a Gonzaga-type guy. Maybe he’ll clean out the division. Who knows? The thing that sets Brock apart from Tito Ortiz is the fact that 99% of the things Tito said and did were schtick whereas Brock is just a legit dip shit. A legit dip shit whose fights I will still order from now until he fails to be entertaining. There’s probably a bunch of people who agree with me on that.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Get over yourself. The Belcher-Akiyama fight was close. Stop being stupid and saying Belcher was robbed of victory. Your initial defense of that position is without any merit, blaming stupidity of judging and some mythical bias for Japanese fighters. Zero substance.
Then you make a case in the comments where you say Belcher was close to an omoplata… or worse. What, was he about to murder Akiyama or something? The omoplata was never ever close, he never achieved any control of Akiyama’s posture, wasn’t controlling the hips, Akiyama’s weight was on him, he couldn’t pull out. The gogoplata wasn’t there either as Akiyama was defending properly with wrist control. All evidenced by no submission… or worse… happening.
So you and the NSAC have your own individual deficiencies.
July 13th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Oh c’mon dude, I’ve been working the straw man argument for years now, you can’t just bust in here like that and think you have some moral victory.
Akiyama did what, offensively, on the ground? The fact is, Belcher was doing offensive moves while he was on the bottom and looking for submissions. If anything, it can nullify the fact that Akiayama got him on the ground.
Are you going to tell me that fight was 3 round to none with a straight face?