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UFC 2012 Injury Crisis: How to Prevent Big Fights from Falling Through

2012 has simply been a bad year for the UFC.The number of marquee fighters who’ve had to pull out of fights lately has been absurd. Every day, it seems like a new fight that fans were clamoring for has fallen through. Usually it’s replaced by something…

2012 has simply been a bad year for the UFC.

The number of marquee fighters who’ve had to pull out of fights lately has been absurd. Every day, it seems like a new fight that fans were clamoring for has fallen through. Usually it’s replaced by something that isn’t even half as interesting, or it’s just shelved until the fighter in question recovers.

It’s part of the sport that can’t be avoided. Every time it happens, Joe Silva has to scramble to find a fighter who is ready to step in on short notice. It seems like that’s never easy.

There is a potential solution, however.

In tournaments, there’s always reserve bouts, fights set aside in case any one of the fighters participating is incapable of going forward with the next fight.

The UFC should adopt the reserve fight.

It’s a simple idea that could make finding replacements that much easier. Simply schedule a reserve fight with the condition that one of the fighters can be pulled at any time to step in for an injured fighter.

Let’s take the recent UFC 151 debacle. Jon Jones fighting Dan Henderson would be the main event, obviously, but further down the card, perhaps the co-main event, would be another light heavyweight matchup. For the sake of the argument, let’s say that Chael Sonnen and Forrest Griffin were fighting at UFC 151 instead of in December.

When Dan Henderson was injured, Chael Sonnen, who was already training and in shape, could be pulled from his old fight and inserted to fight Jones.

Setting up the reserve fight would be easy as well. High-profile fights come with the following stipulation: “In case your opponent is injured, you will be fighting Fighter X.” The reserve bout would have the same condition, only stating that the fighter in question could be called up at any time.

And having a potential opponent as a reserve is helpful for everyone involved. Since they’d know who the replacement opponent would be in case of injury, they could set aside time to game-plan and train for them. Thus, we wouldn’t have the “well, he did poorly cause he didn’t plan for this guy” excuse.

Is this system without flaw? Certainly not, but what alternative is there? Just waiting for the main event to fall through and find someone, anyone, who is willing to fight and put them opposite the champ?

This is a contingency plan, and it’s possibly the best way to make good of a commonly-occurring bad situation.

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Strikeforce Is Dead: Just Fold the Promotion into the UFC Already

In what was a major surprise, Strikeforce cancelled its upcoming event after an injury left Gilbert Melendez unable to compete this past Sunday.Without a champion on the card, Showtime opted to pull the plug. Strikeforce had no option but to let the sh…

In what was a major surprise, Strikeforce cancelled its upcoming event after an injury left Gilbert Melendez unable to compete this past Sunday.

Without a champion on the card, Showtime opted to pull the plug. Strikeforce had no option but to let the show die.

How long will it be before the promotion itself goes belly-up?

As the months have ticked away since the purchase of Strikeforce by UFC parent company Zuffa, the promotion has been dying a slow and almost agonizing death.

Attendance numbers have dwindled to all-time lows, production values have plummeted and the talent has gotten restless of being locked into their contracts.

It’s obvious to everyone involved that the promotion is on its lest legs and yet, for some reason, it keeps putting together shows just for the sake of it.

Even the promotions top draw, Ronda Rousey, is fighting in a void.

The biggest start of the promotion, one made by the company and marketed heavily by Zuffa, only managed to pull in 3,502 people to watch her last fight live.

The live gate wasn’t even enough to cover the salaries of the fighters in the main and co-main events, let alone the rest of the fighters on the card.

Nobody cares about Strikeforce, and it’s painful to watch talented fighters waste their time when nobody is watching.

Strikeforce’s contract with Showtime is the only thing holding the promotion in this zombified state. Once that is up, expect the promotion to die an unceremonious death and its fighters to be quickly folded into the UFC.

And what of the women, especially the talented Rousey?

Well, Invicta FC seems to be interested in awarding titles these days. Maybe it’s time Zuffa put a little more stock in WMMA?

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UFC 152: After Vitor Belfort Who Will Challenge Jon Jones?

Come this Saturday, Jon Jones will be defending his title against Vitor Belfort. Make no mistake about it, Jones is going to beat Belfort just as he has every other former Champion placed in front of him.The question is, what comes next?There’s been a …

The question is, what comes next?

There’s been a huge shakeup in the light heavyweight division since Henderson pulled out of UFC 151. It seems like Henderson has lost his title shot because he failed to disclose the injury soon enough.

Machida too looks like he lost his number one contender spot when he refused to fight Jones on short notice.

So who is left to fight Jones for the title? The obvious answer emerges at UFC on Fox 5.

Shogun Rua is facing Alexander Gustafsson in what looks a lot like a number one contender fight. Rua is a former champion and obviously that gives him an edge in getting another shot to reclaim his title. Gustafsson on the other hand is a once-beaten fighter who has been steadily climbing the light heavyweight ranks.

When these two square off, we will have an obvious candidate to take a fight with Jones. If Rua wins, he’ll have amassed a three fight win streak and beaten a top prospect. If Gustafsson wins he’ll have worked his way through increasingly difficult opposition and beaten a former champion. Either man will be an easy sell as a number one contender.

And what about Jones and Machida? Supposedly the two will be fighting before years end. Both men are known to have no objection of taking some time off after their fights.

Given the frequency with which Jones fights, in December we could have two contenders ready for an early- to mid-year fight with the champ.

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Strikeforce Heavyweights Will Have a Huge Impact on the UFC

By now, it is well known that the UFC is adopting all of Strikeforce’s heavyweight talent.And even more importantly, it’s well known that the UFC really needs these fighters to fill out its roster.What’s strange, though, is the perception that many peo…

By now, it is well known that the UFC is adopting all of Strikeforce’s heavyweight talent.

And even more importantly, it’s well known that the UFC really needs these fighters to fill out its roster.

What’s strange, though, is the perception that many people have. Looking around online, it’s easy to see that people are writing off Strikeforce’s heavyweights as cans that will be crushed to bolster the careers of “proper” UFC heavyweights.

This is absolute nonsense.

While it is true that Strikeforce is a much smaller promotion than the UFC, that doesn’t mean that it’s inferior.

Strikeforce has put on some great fights in the heavyweight division and has showcased some great fighters really giving it their all. Not to mention that these fighters are all entering a division that was pretty well split between the two promotions.

With the success of Alistair Overeem in the UFC, expect many of other Strikeforce fighters to begin to make waves in the heavyweight division. Names like Werdum, Cromier and Silva will soon become staples in the UFC and will rise to prominence in the division.

Still not convinced? Think back to last year when everyone was writing off the WEC lightweights. People claimed that, coming from the small show, they wouldn’t stand a chance in the UFC.

Isn’t it a bit surprising how well they’re doing now?

It’s only a matter of time until we see the Strikeforce heavyweights gain traction and many of them rise to the top of the division.

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UFC on Fox 2 Will Be the Most-Watched Event in Company History

Last year was a banner year for Dana White and the UFC.They hosted their biggest show to date at UFC 129, acquired Strikeforce, bolstered their weak heavyweight division and landed a long term deal with FOX. How could things get better?Easily.An astron…

Last year was a banner year for Dana White and the UFC.

They hosted their biggest show to date at UFC 129, acquired Strikeforce, bolstered their weak heavyweight division and landed a long term deal with FOX. How could things get better?

Easily.

An astronomical 8.8 million viewers were tuned in to the UFC on Fox debut, pitting Cain Velasquez against Junior Dos Santos. That’s eight times the best buy-rate any pay-per-view has ever done.

Now the general public is growing to know more about MMA than they ever have. It’s on broadcast television where everyone can see it.

What is even better for the UFC is now there are more people who want to see it.

By putting on a teaser show and having a short fight on television, the UFC has started to pique people’s curiosity. Those who never watched the sport before are curious to see what it has to offer, and those who liked what they saw will be want to see more and invest in the more regular pay-per-views.

Not to mention all the people who will stumble across the two-hour broadcast. A longer show brings with it the opportunity for more people to flip on the television, find a fight and stick with it.

White and co. are playing their cards very well with the new Fox deal and it will certainly pay off. More people can view their product, and with each show they will continue to spark curiosity in new audiences.

Don’t be surprised if UFC on Fox 2 becomes the most viewed event in MMA history.

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Rashad Evans Is UFC’s Unluckiest Fighter

The story of Rashad Evans’ quest for a second crack at UFC gold is well documented.After losing the title to Lyoto Machida, Evans took decisions over Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson to earn another shot at the title.But then champion Mauricio “Shogun”…

The story of Rashad Evans‘ quest for a second crack at UFC gold is well documented.

After losing the title to Lyoto Machida, Evans took decisions over Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson to earn another shot at the title.

But then champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua injured his knee, and Evans decided to wait it out.

When fight night was right around the corner, Evans ironically hurt his knee, opening the door for Jon “Bones” Jones to have a shot.

Jones blasted Rua to take the title inside of three rounds.

One messy feud later, Evans and Jones were set to square off. Jones injure his hand before it could happen.

Evans would then face Tito Ortiz in a rematch, and Jones went on to face Quinton Jackson.

Once again, certain to face off, Evans injured his hand and was leapfrogged by Lyoto Machida.

Now, Evans is set to face Phil Davis. Jones however, is anxious to get back in the cage and needs an opponent.

Enter Dan Henderson.

With all this mess, it seems almost as if the UFC is trying to keep these two fighters apart. It’s like they don’t want to cash in on what has been a very well documented and very public feud. This is simply not the case.

Bad blood sells.

It’s all a matter of circumstance. Evans just simply can’t get in the cage at the same time as Jones, either due to injury or poor timing.

Every time Jones or Evans are ready to fight, the other is either already booked or already injured.

It’s a simple lesson to fighters—if the champ is hurt, don’t wait it out.

You may lose your number one contender status, but that’s a whole lot better than floating around in limbo for nearly two years.

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