Coming into his bout with Chris Weidman in July of 2012, Mark Munoz was riding a four-fight win streak. He had conquered Chris Leben, Demian Maia, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson, and he was on the precipice of a title shot.
He was that close.  …
Coming into his bout with Chris Weidman in July of 2012, Mark Munoz was riding a four-fight win streak. He had conquered Chris Leben, Demian Maia, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson, and he was on the precipice of a title shot.
He was that close.
Then Chris Weidman handed him a brutal KO loss, and to make matters worse, he broke his foot and sat on the sidelines for nearly a year, watching the sport continue on without him.
In his return fight, he bested Tim Boetsch at UFC 162: the same card where his conqueror, Weidman, KO’d Anderson Silva to become the new middleweight champion.
In the combative sports, time is one of the most precious commodities a fighter can have. Losing time due to injury can not only lead to ring rust, but it can see a fighter on the rise turn into a fighter on the back burner, simmering out of the corner of the public eye.
Munoz is back on the winning track, but he needs to make some noise. With so much attention being afforded to the Weidman vs. Silva rematch, not to mention the rise of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and the drama surrounding the “rejuvenated” VitorBelfort, Munoz is a Top 10 fighter on the verge of being forgotten.
He can change all of that with a victory over the elusive LyotoMachida.
Sometimes the position of underdog is a good place to be. Nearly everyone is going to be looking at Machida, expecting him to make a serious impression at middleweight. If Munoz can defeat him, he can steal the spotlight for himself and in the process, reclaim some of the luster that was knocked off his name by the fists and elbows of Weidman.
But moreover, he can show the world just what kind of quality fighter he really is; that he has turned the corner from KO victim to title contender.
Defeating a former champion from a heavier weight division would be a nice feather in his cap and would go a long way toward proving he still has what it takes to be a serious threat in the division.
Now that Weidman is champion, the landscape of the division has changed. Of course, Silva may reclaim the title, but the world has been reminded that MMA is a sport of change.
In other words, it’s an exciting time to be a middleweight fighter just outside the Top 5 of the division. He holds his future in his hands, and thanks to the attention Machida brings their headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 30, there will be many eyes on his fight.
But will it be a story of a grand return for Munoz, or a coming-out party for Machida?
Most fans and pundits expect a cautious fight between them, just as they expect Machida to win thanks to his style and the size advantage that he should enjoy.
Machida will probably be the bigger man come fight night, and he has always been a hard fighter for wrestlers to deal with. Thus, Munoz has a chance to show he is much more than a wrestler with a high submission acumen.
Munoz has never had to deal with a fighter like Machida before; very few are as evasive and dangerous as “The Dragon” and on paper, Munoz has many obstacles to overcome if he wants to claim a victory.
Machida is very good at reading body movement, has excellent cage awareness/ring generalship, knows how to stop takedowns and is a deadly counter-striker. He has proven adept at getting opponents to follow him and blasting them as they rush in to close quarters.
But all of that hasn’t proven Machida to be invincible. He’s been knocked out before, and submitted and he’s coming off a disappointing and highly disputed loss to Phil Davis.
That, when coupled with the drop to a lower weight class, could mean Machida is out to make a statement. This would make things easier for Munoz if Machida wants to be the stalker in an attempt to prove himself a force to be reckoned with.
If Machida is aggressive, Munoz should, in theory, have more chances to make contact or catch him in transition from pursuing to striking. If he could snatch a takedown at those times, he could steal a round by implementing a heavy top-control strategy with controlled ground-and-pound.
There is a great deal of pressure on Machida in this fight to prove that a shot at the title is academic. While his decision to drop to middleweight doesn’t exactly equal a forced exodus from the land of 205, it does come with certain expectations.
UFC Fight Night 30 is the perfect time for Munoz to confound those expectations and remind everyone that the realities of the sport are far removed from paper.
After an excellent night of fights at UFC 166, Cain Velasquez dominated his closest rival, Junior dos Santos, much the same way he did in their last fight.
But this time he finished him.
Yes, many will say dos Santos was finished because of the way his…
After an excellent night of fights at UFC 166, Cain Velasquez dominated his closest rival, Junior dos Santos, much the same way he did in their last fight.
But this time he finished him.
Yes, many will say dos Santos was finished because of the way his head hit the canvas, but none of that can take away the work Velasquez did up to that point. Much like last time, Velasquez applied a great deal of pressure, crowded dos Santos and scored with numerous punches over all five rounds.
In the end, he was just too much for dos Santos, who looked as if he had made little to no adjustments since their last meeting. Once again, the challenger looked every inch a beaten fighter; his face was a bloody and swollen mess, but worst of all, he looked lost on more than one occasion during the bout.
Now that their trilogy has ended, it’s time to see what is next for Velasquez, who has defended his title two times now.
The top 10 in the heavyweight division is not exactly what you would call “deep,” especially when it is limited to fighters on the UFC roster. Men like Roy Nelson and Mark Hunt must be dismissed for obvious reasons—chief among them they lost their last fights.
Frank Mir is on a three-fight skid himself, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva has already been creamed by Velasquez twice and Alistair Overeem is one toe from being released from the organization after dropping two fights in a row.
Then, you have the perplexing situation of Daniel Cormier, who looked very good in his victory over Roy Nelson, and who is perhaps the only fighter in the division with the grappling needed to give Velasquez problems. Sadly, the teammate vs. teammate problem rears its ugly head and Cormier will not fight his friend in Velasquez and vice versa.
So, who is left?
Josh Barnett
Although not as dangerous a striker as dos Santos, Josh Barnett is probably the next in line as “the biggest threat” to Velasquez’s title. Of course, he must defeat Travis Browne in order to keep wearing those boots, but it will be hard for Browne to deal with Barnett’s overall game.
He’s easily one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division. He’s incredibly experienced and a proven finisher with the ability to end a fight at any time.
But perhaps one of his greatest strengths is his experience and adaptability. Dos Santos looked lost on many occasions during their rubber match, as if he didn’t expect the pressure-heavy strategy that Velasquez used. Barnett, on the other hand, wouldn’t be lost in such situations; he’s as crafty as they come and he knows how to survive bad situations.
Most people known Barnett as a kind of catch wrestler who has a knack for taking the fight to the floor and landing on top. But he’s much more than that; he’s a technician who knows the importance of movement and angles.
Should Velasquez take him down, Barnett knows how to keep things tight in order to minimize potential damage; this kind of close-quarter grappling from the bottom also allows him to mask his sweep or escape attempts.
Barnett would have his hands full against a high-level wrestler like Velasquez, but he’s not going to wilt under that pressure, and given his knowledge of the game as a whole, he needs just one small opening to turn the tables.
Should Velasquez defeat Barnett, it would be a serious feather in his cap, not to mention a learning experience.
There are not a lot of fighters in the heavyweight division that can exist inside the guard of Fabricio Werdum for an extended period of time; his submission skills are just that good.
His striking has improved greatly over the years, but in the end, it’s his ground game that is his most dangerous advantage. He’s one of the few submission artists at heavyweight who has the kind of overall grappling awareness to be a threat to Velasquez from his back.
Many fighters get chewed up by Velasquez because they are afraid of being taken down. Werdum figures to be one of the rare few so comfortable from their backs that they are able to commit to the striking exchanges without fear of being put on their backs.
He’s also much bigger than Velasquez and knows how to use his body very well in the area where most of this fight would take place: on the ground.
Obviously, Velasquez enjoys a cardio advantage over Werdum, but would that be enough to allow him to use his ground game consistently without being submitted? Or would his inexperience against such high-level submission artists see him rebuffed and forced to fight standing for most of the night?
Travis Browne
Should Travis Browne defeat Josh Barnett at UFC 168, setting him up for a title shot seems like a logical choice in a division that is thin on top-10 fighters.
Browne is a very big fighter with KO power to burn and he’s only had one loss on his record; sadly, that loss comes at the hands of a man Velasquez demolished (with ease) on two occasions: Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Still, a fighter is not the sum total of his losses, especially when he only has one “L” on his record. Given his spirited upset victory over Alistair Overeem, a fight between Browne and Velasquez would see him justly rewarded as a fighter who has won six fights in the UFC, five by way of stoppage.
Yet in spite of what Browne brings to the table—heart, power and desire—he looks like he’d be on the wrong side of a bad matchup against the champ. Everything Browne does dos Santos does better, and we’ve seen just how that style of fighting works against Velasquez.
But should he best Barnett, he should get that title shot, no question about it.
Earlier this year, Cain Velasquez managed to rip the heavyweight title from the grasp of Junior Dos Santos at UFC 155. Velasquez accomplished this via a five-round shellacking that left Dos Santos looking less than picturesque; his face was a swollen m…
Earlier this year, Cain Velasquez managed to rip the heavyweight title from the grasp of Junior Dos Santos at UFC 155. Velasquez accomplished this via a five-round shellacking that left Dos Santos looking less than picturesque; his face was a swollen mess.
In spite of this, Dos Santos went on to say that Velasquez “hits like a girl,” via John Joe O’Regan of Fighters Only. His rationale was based on the fact that Velasquez did not open any cuts on his face.
Obviously, this was a bit of post-fight bitterness. He called the swelling of his face “bloating,” which is as modest a description one could think of after seeing Velasquez hammer him from pillar-to-post over five full rounds.
Of Velasquez’s 12 victories, 10 have come via KO/TKO, yet only one was really what could be described as an honest knockout. When Velasquez fought Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110, he landed a series of short, quick punches that dropped the iron-chinned Brazilian flat on his back. He followed up with punches on the ground, but Nogueira looked to have been finished beforehand.
But does having only one “true” KO on his record make him a weak puncher?
The style of Velasquez is not that of a pure stand-up fighter. He opens with punches while standing, and if he’s landing well, he’ll keep throwing. He’s a man who loves to fight, and he’s willing to attack at any level.
But above all else, he’s a smart fighter. He may not be starching opponents with punches every time, but he’s knocking people down and finishing them from there with strikes.
His main strengths are his takedowns and his top-control—both elements of a high-level wrestling attack that has proven terribly hard to deal with in the division. He mixes his stand-up with takedowns seamlessly. Fear of this aspect of his game has seen him capitalize on openings while standing.
It was because of this that he was able to knock Dos Santos all over the ring in their rematch at UFC 155. Velasquez was more than happy to stand with Dos Santos, knowing the takedown was there for him more often than not.
Additionally, Velasquez knocked Dos Santos down when both men were trading on their feet. After that brutal right hand, Dos Santos looked like he was sleepwalking through the rest of the fight.
Velasquez might not be throwing bombs like Dos Santos, but he knows how to deliver force with his punches—that cannot be denied.
While Dos Santos may honestly feel like Velasquez is a weak puncher, his face told another tale, and it was not that of a man who had simply walked home from work in a mild rain.
He looked like he’d been caught in a storm, losing the belt along the way.
Watching Rousimar Palhares attack with his jiu-jitsu skills is an educational experience to be sure, but what goes on in his head is God’s own private mystery. Now that he has been banned from the UFC for life, one wonders if he is looking at his…
Watching Rousimar Palhares attack with his jiu-jitsu skills is an educational experience to be sure, but what goes on in his head is God’s own private mystery. Now that he has been banned from the UFC for life, one wonders if he is looking at his past actions with the same kind of bewilderment as the rest of us.
There has always been something about him—an edge that clearly cuts both ways. On one hand, his aggression toward ending the fight speaks directly to the heart of combative sport, which is good.
On the other hand, his ownership of those moments, when he has the finish, has always seemed unpredictable. It is almost as if he is locking on a submission for the very first time; ignorant of anything around him save executing the move to the fullest.
And therein lies the problem; a fundamental truth to combative sport is that it is sport, nothing more and nothing less. As a professional fighter, the goal is to secure victory, not injure.
Amid all the hype, intensity and adrenaline, there is a trust involved; a safeguard based upon the assumption that both combatants will recognize surrender and cease their aggression. Call it fair play, chivalry, code or whatever suits you, in the end, it’s known as something else—adhering to the rules.
It’s easy to dismiss the actions of Palhares. To wave them off as nothing more than a byproduct of adrenaline and the heat of the moment.
When looking at the submission in question, the time from the moment of the referee intervention to his release of the hold is approximately 1.4 seconds. Additionally, from the moment of the first tap to time of release is approximately 2.3 seconds; when broken down like this, it doesn’t seem all the unforgivable.
But the problem is that it is unforgivable.
Palhares is a guardian of a very special kind of knowledge. The ability to do serious harm is ideally only given to individuals who have mastered themselves to the fullest. Their application of such knowledge is supposed to be weighed in equal opposition to their understanding of their immediate situation.
The skills Palhares has are akin to a very sharp knife: It started off as dull steel, but it was placed in his hands and honed to a razor’s edge because he’s trusted to know what he is doing. In many ways it’s a terrible responsibility, but it is one he took upon himself willingly.
If surgeons employed their skills the same way Palhares does, they would be engaging in exploratory vivisection when only minor surgery was needed.
Martial arts are great, but fighters don’t magically receive the moral convictions needed to master themselves when they’re handed a black belt. Indeed, such an accomplishment is usually a sign that they have (ideally) discovered these convictions along the way—they were instilled in them, lesson after lesson, year after year.
None of this is to say that Palhares is some kind of wanton thug with no appreciation of the skills he has and no value of his fellow man. Outside of competition, he is probably a very good man with friends and family that would swear by his good nature and personal honor.
But within the world of combative sport, he is simply lacking that which is necessary to uphold the rules and the virtue of good sportsmanship. As an experienced fighter in the sport, not to mention an accomplished practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he knows exactly what he is doing, at least on a technical level.
Yet outside of the technical, something is wrong. He is either willfully ignoring the rules or he is simply not up to the task of complying with them in a sport that has always been about mere inches and split-seconds.
Even though there are other organizations that would be happy to sign him, one has to wonder just how hard it will be to get him fights. No one likes the thought of fighting a man who cannot seem to abide by the rules. Given that his signature move—the heel hook—is one of the most potentially damaging lower body submissions in the game, fighting Palhares is a great risk to a fighter’s career.
If he wants to continue fighting, he is going to have to do some serious soul searching in addition to coming up with an explanation for his actions. Given that his actions at UFC Fight Night 29 make him a repeat offender of this kind of behavior, anything less than an open admission of wrongdoing and full acceptance of responsibility are not going to cut it.
Odds are he will never fight in the UFC again; the fighters under the Zuffa banner would be well within their rights to refuse a fight against a man who cannot control himself at such a high level. In addition, if they did bring him back and he did it again, they would look like fools who have no true concern for the well-being of their fighters.
But all of these consequences are to be expected when a fighter violates the trust intrinsic to the system of honest competition. Until he finds a way to prove otherwise, Palhares is going to be seen as a man who can be expected to uphold the lowest of expectations—looking in from the outside.
I remember watching Josh Barnett back at UFC 34, outworking, outmaneuvering and outfighting Bobby Hoffman. He looked less like a monster and more like a man in touch with his inner child, and that boy was covered in blood and having a blast in the cage…
I remember watching Josh Barnett back at UFC 34, outworking, outmaneuvering and outfighting Bobby Hoffman. He looked less like a monster and more like a man in touch with his inner child, and that boy was covered in blood and having a blast in the cage.
Hard to believe that was nearly 26 fights and 12 years ago.
Throughout his storied career, Barnett has gathered unto himself a record of 33-6, with eight wins coming via KO/TKO and 20 wins by submission.
He’s defeated Randy Couture, SemmySchilt, Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, HidehikoYoshida, Sergei Kharitonov and now, Frank Mir.
Just seeing Barnett back in the Octagon is oddly fulfilling.
He left the UFC at a time that was very exciting for the fans; Dana White and Zuffa were really making a strong push, the events were available on PPV and the sport didn’t actually look like it was going to die tomorrow.
It was a promising time, and Barnett was a promising fighter; as optimistic about his future as we were about the sport.
And now he’s back.
Barnett always seemed to be building toward something during his time as a MMA’s most notable nomad; a reckoning of sorts. He may be the closest thing the sport has to a Rhodes Scholar, having fought in the UFC, Pancrase, Pride FC, Affliction, Dream and Strikeforce, and now back to the UFC.
Given the current landscape of the UFC’s heavyweight division, his return is not only interesting, it’s exciting.
Alistair Overeem looks to be one step from imploding, and Frank Mir is tumbling down the rankings. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is faltering, and Antonio “Big Foot” Silva is looking more and more like a gatekeeper every day.
Roy Nelson is still viable, and Travis Browne looks promising, but the true stars of the division are former champ Junior dos Santos and reigning king Cain Velasquez.
With dos Santos and Velasquez scheduled to fight a third bout for the title, whoever wins is going to need a serious contender.
And Barnett is really only one win away from a title shot.
Many are going to scoff at the notion due to Barnett’s documented problems with testing free and clean of banned substances, and they have a point.
But there is a seriousness about Barnett now; a wisdom that comes with experience that makes me think those days are behind him.
At 35 years of age, Barnett is one of those rare fighters that knows how to win; he’s incredibly cunning and savvy, adaptable and dangerous almost anywhere.
When you add to this the fact that the top of the UFC heavyweight food chain is comprised of fighters who use predictable styles, Barnett could be well-rounded enough to beat them.
But he might not, which makes his return all the more poignant.
As great as Barnett is, he was never able to defeat Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic. They fought three times and Barnett was defeated three times.
In Junior dos Santos, Barnett will be facing another dynamic striker with KO power and good takedown defense.
Then, there is the tale of his most recent loss against Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision. Should Barnett end up facing Cormier’s teammate Velasquez, he will be up against another great grappler who has nearly unlimited cardio and is aggressive as the day is long.
If Barnett’s return really is akin to a reckoning, it’s a reckoning of styles.
Has Barnett found an answer to beat men like these? Dos Santos and Velasquez implement both styles better than anyone else in the sport right now, and they’re young and bold.
With Barnett, it’s hard to assume, one way or another. He dismantled Mir and made it look shockingly easy. When he’s focused, all he needs is one little opening to turn the tide and win any fight, be it against dos Santos or Velasquez.
If either dos Santos or Velasquez face Barnett, a loss for either man seems predicated on the fact that anyone can lose in MMA because there are so many ways to do so. It really is a chess game, and Barnett is a very good player.
Will his experience and unflinching confidence see him reclaim the title that was stripped from him so many years ago?
I’m not so sure, but I do know that anyone who faces Barnett has to be at their very best, taking nothing for granted. If not, then they don’t really realize who they’re fighting.
And when Barnett steps into the cage, he fights like a man with nothing to lose.
When a man fights like that, anything is possible.
It’s simply amazing how quickly the world of combative sports can change; how suddenly juxtapositions in opinion and position can come.
Not all that long ago, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (along with many other big names in boxing) had nothing but contem…
It’s simply amazing how quickly the world of combative sports can change; how suddenly juxtapositions in opinion and position can come.
Not all that long ago, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (along with many other big names in boxing) had nothing but contempt for the sport of MMA. It was a place for men who couldn’t make it in the world of professional boxing, they said.
Of course, MMA advocates fired back and both sides have taken potshots at the other off and on for years now.
But all the while, both sports continue to conduct business side-by-side, and now it seems that a change is coming.
While each sport has its purists, it really is of no surprise that both audiences are beginning to appreciate the other, and in some cases slowly merge. Both are combative sports and thus share many of the same unfortunate misconceptions in the general public.
But when Floyd Mayweather made mention of his interest to promote MMA fighters (h/t Ben Thompson at FightHype.com), it was a sudden and surprising reversal of position. What was once a less-than-credible combat sport was suddenly worth the time, energy and money needed to promote or manage on any level.
However, it’s important to note that other notable names from the world of boxing have tried to promote MMA.
Gary Shaw started off in the world of boxing in 1971 when he was named inspector for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Commission (NJSAC). In 1999, he became Chief Operating Officer for MainEvents, and then in 2002 he formed Gary Shaw Productions.
For those interested, one of the greatest fights in boxing in recent years was a Gary Shaw Production: Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo.
Shaw was involved with Elite Xtreme Combat for a short amount of time, but he always seemed as if he was simply babysitting. It was as if he were standing watch on the off chance that something worth while began to happen in this crazy sport of MMA. Or perhaps he was just killing time on the off-chance that maybe he would see the next big star and try to bring him into the fold.
Either way, it didn’t seem like Shaw was trying to make something at Elite XC; rather it was as if he was simply waiting to see if something could be made with minimal effort and attention.
Of course, Elite XC didn’t last but a few years and we honestly don’t know what, if any, impact Shaw had on the organization. We do know that he certainly didn’t mourn its passing.
We all accept that the world of MMA is vastly different from the world of professional boxing, but that will only remain the case for as long as that which is accepted goes unchallenged. Change happens when someone wants to make it happen and believes that their way of business can be different and successful.
Right now, the UFC is the biggest monster roaming the countryside, and to be honest it’s a beautiful thing. Twelve years ago I was daydreaming about a future where MMA fans would get one UFC event per month; now, that is a very slow month for the company.
But much of the way the UFC does business only succeeds because they have no rival. What works during peace time usually doesn’t work at a time of war and the UFC has not been at war for a while. The last time they had a viable threat to their dominance of the sport was when Pride FC was still alive and kicking, back in the early 2000s.
In 2012, if there had been a rival promotion that had the money and experience needed to compete with the UFC, chances are very high that we wouldn’t have seen Dana White blame the UFC 151 fiasco on Jon Jones. To do so would have been to needlessly risk losing him to the competition.
Now, we ponder how Floyd Mayweather Jr. could impact the world of MMA, via promotion or fighter management.
And it doesn’t take very long to figure that, if they are serious, their greatest success will be in the promotion of fighters and events rather than managing fighters. Doing business with Dana White, as Mayweather talked about, is usually a one-way street. If they restrict themselves to fighter management, their fighters will only make what the UFC is willing to pay, which would make a Mayweather fighter not unlike many others.
If Mayweather is truly serious about throwing his proverbial hat into the promotional ring, he has many advantages that most others don’t: money, connections, near-global name recognition, popularity, partnerships and experience.
Make no mistake about it: Floyd Mayweather could build an MMA promotion that could succeed in the pay-per-view market and if he enjoyed what he was creating, he could build an MMA promotion that would be making the UFC very uncomfortable in less than three years.
Of course, many wave their hands dismissively at such a notion, but that doesn’t matter. The UFC built something incredible and in doing so they fought battles no one need fight again. In truth, those successes may have quite possibly paved a very easy road for their next rival.
His connections with Showtime and Golden Boy Promotions alone could see a Mayweather owned and operated MMA show pushed forward with the same level of enthusiasm and hype that is normally afforded the UFC alone.
Don’t think so?
Since 2008, Mayweather has been involved in the top two highest grossing pay-per-view events in combative sport history. His bad boy act has polarized and inflamed the buying public and his biggest opponent to date, Oscar De La Hoya, couldn’t defeat him in the ring yet now co-promotes with him.
Then, we have the work the UFC has done in order to expose the sport to mass markets via cable television. The movers and shakers no longer look at MMA with any fear of the unknown; the UFC proved MMA was a sport that appealed to many more fans than anyone felt comfortable imagining just four years ago.
There’s water in that well; they all know it, they’re just waiting for someone to come to them and show them the mechanism by which they can get everyone to use their bucket.
Should Mayweather really commit to the endeavor, he need only reach out to Showtime and Golden Boy, both of which have experience in the world of MMA promotion, albeit hesitantly.
Also, Golden Boy shares some real estate with the UFC: Fox Sports 1. Zuffa may have made the biggest splash by signing with Fox, but Golden Boy was doing work as well and that could help set up future deals for MMA.
Of course, it tends to reason that part of the deal Fox has with the UFC would prohibit the network from promoting any rival MMA promotion, but the Golden Boy name would continue to be recognized by the viewing public, which would help any MMA promotion they worked with.
The UFC has a long history of being firmly against co-promoting on any level, but a Mayweather-Golden Boy joint venture could prove to be the quickest and most viable route to seeing a successful entrance into the world of mixed-martial-arts promotion.
Of course, one major hurdle any new promotion is going to have to face is the fact that the UFC has nearly all the best fighters and the biggest names.
But even this obstacle is not permanent. Should Mayweather and Golden Boy be willing to put their money where their mouth is, they can quickly establish themselves as a place were fighters get paid—quite possibly at a much higher rate than the UFC.
Secondly, their presence on pay-per-view and Fox could be used to lure in bigger sponsors for those fighters, which is especially important given how many fighters have taken exception to the UFC sponsor tax.
Should fighters make a higher base wage and have an unrestricted flow of money from sponsors, not to mention a large spotlight, then the UFC wouldn’t be the only show in town anymore.
With lower tier fighters getting big exposure and higher paydays, other big name fighters with the UFC could be lured away once their contracts end. At the end of the day, the “hurt business” is also the money business and fighters want to get paid as much as they can.
It really gets interesting when you try and guess how the UFC would wage war against such a new promotion. They like to sit back and say that there is nothing to worry about because most new promotions don’t really know what they are doing. That wouldn’t be the case if Mayweather and Golden Boy were really committed to gaining a strong position in the MMA world.
Would the UFC try a counter-program? Probably, but it’s hard to imagine them having nearly as much success as they have had in the past. Add to that the fact that counter-programming goes both ways and you could see UFC PPV events going toe-to-toe with big boxing cards.
If the UFC has proven anything over the years, it is that they can adapt, but they haven’t had to really change the way they do business in a very long time. That could change (for the better of the fighters and the sport) if their position as “the biggest, best and only show in town” was challenged by a promotion that was financially savvy and committed to making a permanent place, but would they? Doing so might be too close to admitting that a rival was really a rival—an admittance that elevates the competition.
Yet for all this speculation, we just have no idea how serious Mayweather is, or what his long term plans are. They could be grand or nothing more than talk.
But if he ever does get serious about MMA, Mayweather has the means to become a true contender in a realm that needs one badly.
This is MMA, after all, where it takes two to fight, and the UFC has been standing alone in the cage for too long now.
Coming into his bout with Chris Weidman in July of 2012, Mark Munoz was riding a four-fight win streak. He had conquered Chris Leben, Demian Maia, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson, and he was on the precipice of a title shot.