Before I get into this current article, I feel the need to say something in regards to some of the comments I made on Saturday’s show. I won’t go into specifics, but at some point in the show I made some negative comments about a couple of professional fighters and even went as far as to say one or more of those fighters “sucked.” After thinking back on those comments I realized that saying something like that about those fighters was completely inappropriate and unprofessional. It’s one thing to acknowledge the weaknesses in a particular fighters skill set in a civilized and objective manner, but to make those comments in the way that I did showed a complete lack of respect and I want to apologize. With that being said, let’s get back to the article.
With the recent deal between the UFC and FOX, it seemed like the sport’s popularity was at an all time high, but currently we are seeing significant drop in PPV buys as well as some questionable decision-making from the Zuffa brass. For quite some time it seemed like Zuffa could do no wrong and was on a meteoric rise, but while the UFC has finally made their deal with a major network it seems that the most popular fight company in the world could potentially be topping out in popularity and allowing the pressure to affect the choices they are making. Let’s examine some of those most recent questionable decisions.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez on FUEL TV: First of all, I could not be more excited for this fight. Jake Ellenberger is well on his way to becoming a challenger for the welterweight title, while Diego Sanchez has enjoyed a resurgence in his career (despite his last win being fairly controversial). On top of the recent success both fighters have been enjoying, both men are known for putting on exciting fights. With that being said, it makes absolutely no sense to put this fight on a FUEL TV broadcast. With Ellenberger being on the verge of earning title contention he needs as much as exposure as he can get so that people will actually buy into the fact that he can be a true challenge to whoever happens to be champion at the time, exposure he is NOT going to get on FUEL TV. I have Verizon Fios and I just recently discovered that I have the channel and I also saw it on one of the TVs at a local sports bar. What I was greeted with was several Jackass wannabes castrating a horse while I tried to have my dinner. Unless cable providers start carrying the channel or a huge influx of fans purchase the channel for the sole reason of getting the fightsl, I can’t see these shows doing well at all. A fight like this should at least been granted a spot on a FX card, but instead we’re getting a great quality fight on a low rent channel that few people have, or like me, don’t even know they have.
Davis/Evans and Sonnen/Munoz for UFC on FOX 2: The first UFC broadcast on FOX featured the heavyweight title fight between Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. The first broadcast ended quickly due to a Dos Santos finish, leaving the show with nothing left to show but filler. For the second show, the UFC has smartened up and has decided to show two fights instead of only one. The co-headliners of the show will be Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis and Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz. Now had this been the line up for a Spike TV show, I would be ecstatic, but for a FOX show, I’m left feeling a little less than enthused for a number of reasons. One reason is that I don’t feel that these two fights hold the necessary star power to pull in big numbers and ratings, which is something the UFC is going to need to do in order to justify FOX putting them on. This is especially true with Phil Davis and Mark Munoz. Davis hasn’t fought since his less than exciting win over Little Nog and Munoz’s biggest win came on a foreign card with little support over Chris Leben, who is obviously suffering from personal problems. I had the same issue with Dos Santos/Velasquez, but at least that particular fight had the allure of being a heavyweight title fight. On top of that both of these fights have the potential to be less than exciting. All four fighters are decorated wrestlers, which as we all know can lead to a lot of stalling and lay and pray. All four of these men are very talented and are completely capable of finishing these fights, but the danger of having two very less than exciting fights is quite high.
Booking Keith Jardine vs. Luke Rockhold: Newly crowned Strikeforce middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold ,was set to defend his title against former title contender Tim Kennedy. Unfortunately, Kennedy was forced to back out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. With five weeks remaining to find a replacement, many were shocked when it was announced that former UFC fighter, Keith Jardine, would be getting the title shot in his debut fight at 185 pounds. Jardine is 3-6-1 in his last ten fights and at one point had lost five fights in a row. When Jardine bounced back from the losing streak with two consecutive wins, he was brought back into the Zuffa fold as a late replacement to face Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi went on to batter Jardine for three rounds, but the fight was ruled a draw despite many feeling Mousasi has easily taken the fight. Since the draw Jardine expressed interest in dropping down to middleweight, but he has not fought once since then. Meanwhile, Luke Rockhold is coming off of the biggest win of his career in a fight that saw him defeat Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, Jacare Souza, in five round war. I’m not entirely sure who originally came up with the idea to bring in Jardine as the replacement for this title fight as the decision makes little to no sense. Jardine has not once fought once at 185, nor are we even sure he can make the weight without sacrificing conditioning. Rockhold’s fight with Jacare was very close and on top of that, Jacare has recently complained that he wants to fight and is tired of sitting around with nothing to do. The first fight was very close and competitive and could have easily warranted a rematch. Also, it has been rumored that some UFC fighters will be moved over to Strikeforce to give the roster some legitimacy as Strikeforce may actually be sticking around longer than expected. Guys like Alan Belcher, Demian Maia, Yushin Okami, Rousimar Palhares, etc. could all be moved over to breathe some immediate life into a stagnant Strikeforce 185 pound division. Also, by bringing some UFC talent over, it gives guys like Derek Brunson time to develop before getting pushed into bigger fights. I think my main point is that there had to be a better option than Keith Jardine. While I appreciate his accomplishments in the sport Jardine has done nothing to earn the shot and giving him that shot devalues the title. If Strikeforce is really going to being sticking around for some time then the roster needs to be bolstered to prevent issues like this.
Are questionable decisions like these a sign of things to come? Has the Zuffa freight train finally started to slow down, or is this just a phase that will eventually work itself out? Either way, with the economic downturn, people are only going to be spending their money on what they perceive to have value, and with decisions like these, it seems that Zuffa could be trying to sell a product that people simply won’t be buying.