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UFC Injuries: Would It Ever Be the Right Call to Postpone a Card?

UFC 149 was unquestionably the worst overall UFC pay-per-view viewer experience since UFC 33.And that’s saying something, because UFC 33 set a new low that I figured would never be equaled. If you remember, that was the card that went black nationwide …

UFC 149 was unquestionably the worst overall UFC pay-per-view viewer experience since UFC 33.

And that’s saying something, because UFC 33 set a new low that I figured would never be equaled. If you remember, that was the card that went black nationwide after the UFC used up its allotment of pay-per-view airtime, forcing cable stations to pull the plug before the main event between Tito Ortiz and Vladimir Matyushenko.

Of course, some of you veteran fans who were actually watching on pay-per-view when the broadcast was yanked were probably thankful, because the developing Ortiz/Matyushenko bout wasn’t exactly full of thrills and chills. Three championship bouts—all of which were boring—went to full 25-minute decisions.

For Dana White to compare UFC 149 to UFC 33—which he did during the post-fight press conference—well, you know you’re dealing with an all-time terrible card.

What’s to blame? Injuries, of course.

This wasn’t the card the UFC wanted to bring to Calgary. It was the card it gamely put together after being dealt injury blows to nearly all of the stars who were booked for the event.

In the lead-up to the fight, there were many stories written about the horrific state of the card, how it was uninteresting and clearly a show that fans could avoid. Most of these stories neglected to mention that, at one point or another, Jose Aldo, Michael Bisping, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Shogun Rua, Thiago Silva and Thiago Alves were all booked for the event.

There’s an easy fix for the injury issue: stop running so many events.

With a packed schedule, you’re constantly ripping stars from one event to feed another and the result is cards like the one you saw on Saturday night. But the UFC is adamant that it’s not overexposing the product, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

So why can’t the UFC cancel events, especially when it’s obvious that it’s not going to be able to fill out the event with the desired level of superstar fights? This seems like the most logical solution, right? Walk away with your head held high and promise to return in the future with an action-packed card.

The answer isn’t all that easy. For starters, what’s the guarantee that, when it finally does return to that market in the future, the card it schedules won’t be riddled with injuries? Unless the UFC decides to start running fewer events per month, it is still going to run into injury replacement issues.

There’s also the matter of committed pay-per-view dates. A source in the cable industry told me that once a date has been finalized with cable providers, it’s incredibly difficult and very costly to cancel.

But are the costs of canceling those injury-plagued events higher than the damage done by subpar events? I’m not sure they are. The UFC rarely has nights like the one it did on Saturday, but a continual string of poor events would create a lack of interest in the fans who typically buy pay-per-view events.

The good news coming out of Saturday night—and there isn’t all that much in the way of good news—is that UFC 149 was an aberration. Bad televised cards are very rare, at least in the way that UFC 149 was almost universally bad.

It’ll likely rebound with a string of great shows, from the fourth FOX broadcast in two weeks all the way through the Toronto show in September headlined by Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson.

But there are lessons to be learned from UFC 149, and they are important lessons indeed.

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UFC 149: Cheick Kongo Apparently Doesn’t Understand What a Gatekeeper Is

If we made a list of the top 5 scariest-looking dudes in the UFC, Cheick Kongo would be championship material. He’s actually one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, but he’s certainly an imposing and intimidating athlete.Unfortunately for Kongo, terri…

Unfortunately for Kongo, terrifying looks don’t win you fights. He hasn’t been able to string together three consecutive wins since 2008-2009. His last fight was a loss to Mark Hunt, and let’s be honest: Hunt isn’t exactly top-tier UFC material, despite a nice little winning streak that he’s in the midst of putting together.

Does that make Kongo a gatekeeper? He was asked about that very topic during today’s UFC 149 press conference in Calgary, and gave this very curious answer:

That’s pretty weird. Gatekeeper reminds me of some activity in France like me used to do. I am not wearing suit when I’m fighting. I’m no gatekeeper. I try my best, sometimes I make mistakes, and I got too much ego to pull out of fight, and I’m so proud, so I say yes. I used to do the right things; I got enough strength to do it. Not just because I’m black, I’m supposed to be a gatekeeper. I have a dream like everyone, and I am going to get it.

Judging by this answer, I’m going to assume Kongo doesn’t actually know what a gatekeeper is. A gatekeeper, as I’m sure you know, is typically an aging fighter who has very little championship hopes remaining but can still provide a stern test for fighters looking to make their way into the title picture.

I don’t know what wearing a suit would have to do with being a gatekeeper, unless Kongo is referring to someone like a bellhop that opens doors at hotels.

But the larger point is this: Kongo is not a gatekeeper because he’s never gotten to the point where he could have been considered a title contender. Not even remotely. You have to be a contender, at least at some point along the way, to be considered a gatekeeper in the truest sense of the word.

That being said, a win over Kongo would do wonders for LSU alum Shawn Jordan. It won’t launch him into the title picture or even put him in the top 10, but the former Strikeforce heavyweight is making a case for himself as a guy to keep your eye on in the future.

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UFC 149: 3 Things to Watch for at Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao

Okay, so the version of UFC 149 that we’re getting on Saturday night isn’t what we thought we were getting when the card was announced.It’s the most injury-decimated card in UFC history, at least in terms of name value. We thought we were going to see …

Okay, so the version of UFC 149 that we’re getting on Saturday night isn’t what we thought we were getting when the card was announced.

It’s the most injury-decimated card in UFC history, at least in terms of name value. We thought we were going to see Jose Aldo, Michael Bisping, Shogun Rua, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Thiago Alves.

Instead, we’re getting Urijah Faber, Hector Lombard and a bunch of dudes. And I’m OK with that, mostly because I’m a degenerate fight fan. I’ll watch anything. But I understand if your wallet is feeling the pinch and you choose to take a pass.

Just remember one thing: these UFC cards with a bunch of no-name fighters are usually the ones that deliver the most action. If you’re a true fight fan, like me, you don’t care how many pay-per-views the UFC will sell on Saturday night. You just want to see some fighting.

Let’s take a look at three questions I have regarding UFC 149 in Calgary.

1. Can Urijah Faber capture one more magic moment?

Time is running out on the “California Kid.” Or maybe it’s not.

History tells us that Faber is 0-4 in his last four title bouts. Two fights with Mike Brown, one with Jose Aldo and one with Dominick Cruz. This is all public record.

What folks don’t always consider—and what I tried to relay in a piece I wrote yesterday—is just what Faber has meant to the lighter weight classes in mixed martial arts. He’s been the standard-bearer for fighters that fall under 155 pounds, and he’s carried the torch admirably.

I realize it outrages a lot of fans, but that’s why he’s still getting title fights—because he’s the most popular guy in all three of the UFC’s lowest weight classes, and by a wide margin. And, like I noted yesterday, you could include lightweight in that description and be fairly accurate, too.

There’s also Faber’s overall record. He’s 25-5 over an extraordinary career. That’s nothing to scoff at, and there are times when he comes up big when you least expect him to. Remember his win over Brian Bowles? That was pure, utter domination, finished with a fury. It was a statement.

Will Faber have that kind of statement on Saturday night? It’s hard to say. Renan Barao, despite his unknown status amongst UFC fans, is a threat. He’s dangerous in every area, and he’s the favorite in the fight for a reason.

Can Faber win the fight and stay in the title picture? Absolutely. And I think he will. But it’s going to be a tough test.

2. Will Hector Lombard fare well under the bright lights of the UFC?

Hector Lombard is a good fighter. You have to be, in order to build up the kind of winning streak he has. Those wins may have come against sub-par competition, but mixed martial arts is a sport where one glancing punch behind the ear can send a big underdog hurtling to victory. What Lombard has accomplished takes skill.

But he’s going from Bellator to the UFC. Not only that, he’s going from Bellator into a pay-per-view spotlight bout where, if he beats Tim Boetsch, he’ll jump right into a title fight with Anderson Silva.

That’s what I’d call pressure.

But perhaps this kind of thing doesn’t really affect Lombard. He’s a bit on the crazy side, after all. He may not have even considered the fact that he’s jumping straight into the frying pan with a chance to move into the fire if he wins.

Lombard has one other thing going for him: he’s been competing his entire life. If he treats this like just another day at the office, well, things could get really bad for Boetsch. In a hurry, too.

3. Will Brian Ebersole go 5-0 at welterweight?

Remember that time when Brian Ebersole was going to finish up his UFC welterweight career at 4-0 and make the move down to lightweight? Ebersole wanted to be healthy and keep his body in shape to emulate guys like Randy Couture and Dan Henderson, so he planned on following their lead and dropping a weight class to finish out his career.

That didn’t last long. Four weeks, to be exact. Ebersole tossed the move to lightweight out the window in order to replace Claude Patrick at UFC 149, where he’ll face James Head.

Ebersole is one of my absolute favorite stories in MMA right now. Two years ago, he had very little chance of even getting in the UFC, much less ripping off a winning streak. But he took a chance as a late-notice injury replacement underdog and won his first fight, and he’s been going ever since.

He’s once again a late-notice injury replacement. But this time, he’s the favorite, and for good reason. Head hasn’t proven that he has the skills to compete with Ebersole, and this should be another solid win for the man with the Hairrow on his chest.

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UFC 149’s Hector Lombard: Forget Anderson Silva, I Want Mark Munoz

Hector Lombard has never been the most rational person in the world.You know this. I know this. The guy goes bull versus matador at the slightest provocation. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but then again, Lombard has never cared much for sense.He get…

Hector Lombard has never been the most rational person in the world.

You know this. I know this. The guy goes bull versus matador at the slightest provocation. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but then again, Lombard has never cared much for sense.

He gets angry at someone and then he decides he wants to fight them, even if they’re Mark Munoz and coming off a bad loss to Chris Weidman.

Belts? Forget about belts. Lombard is angry, and he’s not going to take it anymore:

He’s been talking a lot of trash about me. I’m one of those fighters that I don’t like to talk about any fighter. I’m focused on myself. When I see people that do the wrong things, I have to do something about it (via MMAjunkie).

I know what you’re thinking. Mark Munoz, the legendary trash talker, probably unleashed a stream of hateful vitriol in Lombard’s direction.

It’s very, very frustrating. I know he’s a good fighter. I know that he has a good record, but he was in another organization. To be in the best organization – which is the UFC – and for me to be in the UFC, and to have the best fighters in the UFC that are ranked in the world, and for me to fight them for as long as I’ve been in there and then a new guy coming in who has been fighting cans… (via MMAFighting).

That sure sounds like “talking a lot of trash,” doesn’t it? What an ingrate Munoz is, saying that Lombard is a good fighter and has a good record. That’s the height of athletic insults, isn’t it?

If Lombard was upset by Munoz saying he was fighting in another organization and competing against cans, well, he shouldn’t be. Because that’s the truth.

Lombard owns zero wins over top 10 middleweights. Actually, most of his victories came over guys who barely cracked the top 25 even at the time Lombard defeated them.

But we’ve been through this before. His record is impressive.

Any kind of athletic streak of that nature is impressive, regardless of who he beat. And Munoz was kind enough to point out that record. But he was also honest enough to point out that Lombard hasn’t been facing the kind of talent he has.

I wouldn’t call that trash talking. I’d call it the truth.

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UFC 149: Urijah Faber’s Historic Career Means He Isn’t Done with Title Shots

Saturday night marks an important moment in the career of Urijah Faber.Of course, his is a career full of important moments. He’s the first-ever true lighter-weight superstar—and by that I mean dudes under 155 pounds, of course—and is prett…

Saturday night marks an important moment in the career of Urijah Faber.

Of course, his is a career full of important moments. He’s the first-ever true lighter-weight superstar—and by that I mean dudes under 155 pounds, of course—and is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the success that fighters such as Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz are currently enjoying.

Let’s be real for a second: If not for Faber, there would have still been guys like Cruz and Benavidez and Aldo making their way over to the UFC. Eventually.

But because of Faber, it happened much sooner than it would’ve. Faber’s run for the title at the first-ever WEC pay per view convinced the powers that be at Zuffa that smaller fighters could have success in main-eventing pay per view events. Because of Faber, they were a sellable commodity.

Those sellable commodities are starting to appear more and more frequently on top of UFC pay-per-views. In addition to the Faber vs. Renan Barao fight on Saturday’s UFC 149 card, we also now know that Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson will headline the UFC’s next foray into Toronto this September.

Those dudes are flyweights, the smallest of the small, and they’re on top of a PPV that features Brian Stann vs. Michael Bisping and Rory MacDonald vs. B.J. Penn. That’s quite an accomplishment. And they owe it all to Faber.

MMAFighting’s Luke Thomas weighed in with his own take, and I wanted to include it here because it’s quite accurate:

But bantamweight is thin and the UFC needs all the stars it can get right now. A strong victory over Brian Bowles was all the UFC needed to put Faber and Cruz on The Ultimate Fighter. The reality is the Faber vs. Cruz rivalry is the UFC’s best chance at elevating bantamweight’s profile. If Dominick Cruz is to remain champion, it’s also his best hope for getting over on audiences.

To answer the question, then, I doubt this is Faber’s last shot. if this were lightweight or welterweight I’d say Faber’s window has closed. But as long as Faber is reasonably healthy, competitive and can string together consecutive victories, he’ll get another opportunity. I don’t think he’ll get an endless supply of opportunities, but is it really outlandish to think two more (Saturday’s included) title opportunities are unrealistic? I don’t see it.

This is the truth of the matter. Out of the three smallest weight classes in the UFC, Faber is the biggest star. Actually, Faber’s the biggest star of all of them even if you include lightweight. He’s more popular than Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz or any other top lightweight.

Simply put, he’s the biggest smaller-weight draw they have and until fans start treating Aldo and Cruz and Benavidez as true draws—the kind they feel inclined to throw down $60 of their hard-earned money to see—Faber will continue to get as many title shots as he earns.

That means that all he’ll ever really need to do is string together 1-2 big wins, and he’ll always be in championship contention.

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Alistair Overeem Wants to Get Licensed by Nevada Sooner Than You’d Think

Alistair Overeem isn’t due back in the Octagon until, at the very earliest, the end of this year. That’s because his suspension from failing a drug test earlier this year won’t end until December, and the UFC obviously isn’t going to use him—in Nevada or any other state or country, for that matter—until his legal issues with the Nevada commission are resolved.

But Overeem has a plan, and that plan includes attempting to get licensed before his suspension is actually over:

That’s my goal. I know that the UFC will not promote me on their card as long as I’m not licensed. That being said, we’re going to try to get licensed sooner and I’m confident that I will succeed.

The beautiful part about this news? He’ll probably succeed.

After all, the Nevada commission proved back in April that they’re really, really grateful for Overeem’s decision to fight in their state. They practically begged him to consider fighting in December on the UFC’s big year-end card, and they only gave him a 9-month suspension instead of the regular full year doled out to other offenders such as Cris Cyborg.

If Overeem can get licensed before his scheduled date in December, there’s little doubt in my mind that he’ll be involved on the UFC’s final event of the year. The biggest question: who would he fight?

With Cain and Junior dos Santos not scheduled to square off until October at the very earliest, I can’t imagine either of them surviving without taking much punishment. That would require the winner to sit on the shelf for a little bit in order to recuperate, which means Overeem would need to face a different opponent.

Who’s the best candidate? My vote, and you knew this was coming, goes to Daniel Cormier. He fights for the final time in Strikeforce in September. Assuming he wins that fight—against an opponent completely unknown at this point—Cormier should be ready to make his UFC debut in December, providing he doesn’t break either of his hands again.

Overeem vs. Cormier? That’s a fight I could get behind.

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