UFC on Fox 3 was the UFC on Fox event fans were hoping for, but it might’ve been at the cost of the MMA‘s soul!
Pat Barry versus Lavar Johnson was likely the most exciting fight that’s been on a Fox card. However, when you examine that fight more closely, it wasn’t the best example of MMA—it was largely a brawl.
Don’t get me wrong, a good brawl every now and then is great but not at the expense of the MMA product as a whole.
It’s no secret that a lot of casual fans aren’t fond of grappling or of technical striking matches (derided as “point-fighting” by some). If people who are somewhat familiar with the sport don’t like such fights, what about people who are watching the sport for the very first time on Fox?
Obviously, a fight the likes of Barry versus Johnson was chosen intentionally to appeal to such fans and that’s fine for this instance. It was after two Fox events that some considered it to be lackluster. The first because it ended in a minute with Junior dos Santos knocking out Cain Velasquez, the second because the fights themselves weren’t anything to write home about.
Thus, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva had no choice but to throw together a card where the fights had a high chance of producing fireworks.
That’s all well and good but what happens when the new fans of the Fox era see fights like Barry versus Johnson and end up expecting a fight like that for every fight they see?
It could develop into a worrying epidemic for the sport of mixed martial arts!
Think about it.
If there were fans who were viewing MMA for the very first time tonight, the fight that will burn most brightly in their memory is no doubt Barry versus Johnson.
Yes, it did have some limited groundwork, but the marquis moments of the fight were the back-and-forth exchanges between the two fighters as well as the barrage of lethal punches from Johnson that floored Barry, ending the fight in dramatic fashion.
If the UFC gets an influx of new, casual, Fox era fans off the back of fights like this, they’ll either lose those fans since not all fights can be that exciting or fighters, in an attempt to become popular, will mimic the Pier six brawl that was Barry versus Johnson!
Even before this fight, the trend of fighters opting to “stand and bang” rather than showcase the full depth of the fight game was growing. Fighters like Leonard Garcia, Joey Beltran, Chris Leben and Dan Hardy were idolized for forsaking the “mixed” in mixed martial arts.
Hardy is an extreme example, since he was even kept in the UFC despite losing four fights in a row! He was kept because he was a “stand and bang” fighter who rejected grappling. Or in the words of part owner of the UFC Lorenzo Fertitta, “I like guys that WAR!!!”
MMA is not brawling. MMA is not kickboxing with smaller gloves.
For an enjoyable, technical mixed martial arts fight, fans need to look no further than Louis Gaudinot versus John Lineker—the fight that earned fight of the night honors.
Unfortunately, Gaudinot versus Lineker was on the Fuel TV preliminaries. New and casual fans (as well as hardcore fans who are without Fuel) most likely didn’t see it.
Nevertheless, they got to see the art of MMA showcased to its true potential.
Nate Diaz versus Jim Miller was an amazing technical battle and an entertaining fight—Diaz gave an incredible performance.
Rousimar Palhares versus Alan Belcher was another incredible MMA bout. Both men demonstrated wizardry on the mat and Belcher lived up to his “The Talent” moniker by proving that he was far more talented than many in the MMA world gave him credit for.
Josh Koscheck versus Johny Hendricks, too, was a good fight that was multifaceted, having striking and wrestling.
Ultimately, “stand and bang” is fine in moderation. It’s nice to see every once in a while but the fans and the UFC cannot let the sport become a glorified tough-man contest! Skill and technique must always trump haymakers and looping punches, even if it means a few letdowns and a few “boring” fights every now and then.
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