The second season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil will see a pair of elite heavyweights take to the coaching positions. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum will coach their respective teams and meet inside the Octagon at season’s end.Werdum co…
The second season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil will see a pair of elite heavyweights take to the coaching positions. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum will coach their respective teams and meet inside the Octagon at season’s end.
Werdum could be on the brink of challenging for the UFC heavyweight championship, while Nogueira will try to put himself back in the top five with a victory.
This will be a rematch of their 2006 meeting at PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute. Nogueira won a unanimous decision on that night.
Who has the advantage this time around? Let’s take a look at the head-to-toe breakdown.
The World Series of Fighting began their foray into the world of promotion on Saturday night with a four-fight main card on NBC Sports Network.The main event of the evening saw former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski defeat Devin Cole via a fir…
The World Series of Fighting began their foray into the world of promotion on Saturday night with a four-fight main card on NBC Sports Network.
The main event of the evening saw former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski defeat Devin Cole via a first round technical knockout.
It was a card littered with UFC and Strikeforce veterans and several interesting match-ups—mostly on the undercard.
But who really came out on top Saturday night? Here are the winners and losers from the first ever World Series of Fighting event.
UFC 153 was a big night for welterweights.Jon Fitch returned to the Octagon for the first time since December 2011 and picked up an important victory. He earned Fight of the Night honors alongside Erick Silva.In the opening bout of the pay-per-view, De…
UFC 153 was a big night for welterweights.
Jon Fitch returned to the Octagon for the first time since December 2011 and picked up an important victory. He earned Fight of the Night honors alongside Erick Silva.
In the opening bout of the pay-per-view, Demian Maia moved to 2-0 in the division with a complete destruction of Rick Story.
Both men proved that they are still at the top of their game and are ready to move into title contention. A good way to find out who should get that opportunity would be to pit the UFC 153 winners against one another.
The UFC is a business. Sports are a part of the entertainment industry.Those are the two biggest reasons why winning is not everything for the UFC. And why that’s okay. Many in the hardcore MMA fanbase would love the sport to be based on wins and…
The UFC is a business. Sports are a part of the entertainment industry.
Those are the two biggest reasons why winning is not everything for the UFC.
And why that’s okay.
Many in the hardcore MMA fanbase would love the sport to be based on wins and losses solely. In an ideal world, that would be how title shots are determined.
We do not live in an ideal world.
The UFC has to sell tickets and pay-per-views, and wins alone do not translate to sells. That is the harsh reality.
The shining example of this is Jon Fitch. The longtime world No. 2 in the welterweight division could not get a shot at the championship.
Why? Because MMA fans, in general, were not excited by his grinding style.
Fitch’s decision-laden road did not make him a household name. He was not a draw that fans wanted to spend money on a pay-per-view to see fight.
The other side of the coin is a fighter receiving a title shot that he may not have earned.
Look no further for proof than ChaelSonnen receiving a title shot against Jon Jones. Why did he get the title shot against Jones? Not because he talked his way in to it, but because when Jon Jones turned the fight down for UFC 151, the fan reaction was loud.
The uproar over Jones turning down the fight against Sonnen showed the UFC that there was significant interest in this matchup. If there has been one thing the UFC has always tried to do, it’s to give fans the fights they want to see.
They have to protect their bottom line because they are a business. If a fight, no matter how lopsided, is demanded by the fans, then they have to find a way to try and make it work.
That is why it is important for fighters to step out of their comfort zones in the cage and connect with the fans.They have to sell themselves to the audience, as well as win.
The UFC has to sell tickets and pay-per-views. They need fighters at the top of the card to help. It’s just basic business.
Was Randy Couture the top contender in the heavyweight division at UFC 68? No, but his value to the UFC and the card could not be overstated. Sometimes the challenger will not be the top contender.
The entertainment business is all about the consumer.
Fans want interesting matchups just as much as they want fights between the top two in a division.
That is what the UFC brings to the table the vast majority of the time. Come April 2013, that will be what they bring with Jones versus Sonnen.
No matter which way you slice it, that fight will be interesting and fans will buy it.
Winning has never been everything in combat sports, and it never will be.
The UFC has to perform a balancing act between sport and entertainment. It is just the business they are in.
Daniel Cormier and Fabricio Werdum are two of the growing number of heavyweight contenders in MMA. A once laughed at division has become one of the sport’s most interesting and exciting over the past couple of years.Cormier was set to meet Frank Mir in…
Daniel Cormier and Fabricio Werdum are two of the growing number of heavyweight contenders in MMA. A once laughed at division has become one of the sport’s most interesting and exciting over the past couple of years.
Cormier was set to meet Frank Mir in November until an injury forced the former UFC Heavyweight Champion out of the fight, and the decision was made to cancel the entire fight card.
Now the search is on for a heavyweight to meet Cormier on Strikeforce’s January card.
Werdum would be an excellent choice to take on Cormier in a potential title elimination bout.
How do these two match-up against one another? Lets take a look.
UFC 153 has come and gone. The event held at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil delivered an action-packed night of fights.Anderson Silva continued to showcase his incredible skills with a first round humiliation of Stephan Bonnar in th…
UFC 153 has come and gone. The event held at the HSBC Arena in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil delivered an action-packed night of fights.
Anderson Silva continued to showcase his incredible skills with a first round humiliation of Stephan Bonnar in the main event.
In the co-main event of the evening Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira returned from injury to get a submission win over Dave Herman.
Twelve fights in total went down in Rio. This is how the 24 fighters stacked up to one another at UFC 153.
The UFC is a business. Sports are a part of the entertainment industry.