Tapout is one of the most prominent apparel brands in MMA, worn mainly by the sport’s in-crowd consisting of loyal, uber-cool and educated fans, many of whom who have either trained or competed in martial arts themselves.
In 2012, news broke of a major scandal involving the Tapout brand and Hitman Gear founder Dan Diaz. Diaz had sold Hitman to Tapout in 2007 in exchange for 1.25 million shares in the new company, a five-year employment contract and the promise of radical expansion of the Hitman brand.
What Diaz ended up getting was a raw deal, with Hitman being sold for zero dollars when Tapout was sold to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) in September 2010, thus making his shares worthless. His employment contract was also terminated with the sale to ABG, leaving him high and dry.
Rather than settling for chump change, Diaz opted to take his case to the courts. He’s not just suing for damages—Diaz wants the moral victory of exposing the corruption that robbed him of the personal pride he put into his company.
The trial between Dan Diaz and Tapout/Authentic Brands Group has been set for July 7 of this year. Beyond the damages Diaz is seeking, there are allegations that many MMA fighters who licensed their names for Tapout signature shirts like Chuck Liddell, Kenny Florian and Keith Jardine, have been defrauded of royalties.
(Diaz hanging with the Tapout crew, before it all fell apart. Photo via Dan Diaz/OC Weekly)
Tapout is one of the most prominent apparel brands in MMA, worn mainly by the sport’s in-crowd consisting of loyal, uber-cool and educated fans, many of whom who have either trained or competed in martial arts themselves.
In 2012, news broke of a major scandal involving the Tapout brand and Hitman Gear founder Dan Diaz. Diaz had sold Hitman to Tapout in 2007 in exchange for 1.25 million shares in the new company, a five-year employment contract and the promise of radical expansion of the Hitman brand.
What Diaz ended up getting was a raw deal, with Hitman being sold for zero dollars when Tapout was sold to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) in September 2010, thus making his shares worthless. His employment contract was also terminated with the sale to ABG, leaving him high and dry.
Rather than settling for chump change, Diaz opted to take his case to the courts. He’s not just suing for damages—Diaz wants the moral victory of exposing the corruption that robbed him of the personal pride he put into his company.
The trial between Dan Diaz and Tapout/Authentic Brands Group has been set for July 7 of this year. Beyond the damages Diaz is seeking, there are allegations that many MMA fighters who licensed their names for Tapout signature shirts like Chuck Liddell, Kenny Florian and Keith Jardine, have been defrauded of royalties.
Despite the implications of this news, outside of some mentions on smaller websites like FightOpinion and MMAPayout, larger MMA media outlets have been muted on the trial between Dan Diaz and Tapout. The last time MMA reporters showed this much disinterest in a scandal was in 2009 during the Xyience debacle between Rich Bergeron and Zuffa when Xyience went bankrupt, creditors were stiffed and Zuffa took over the assets.
Unfortunately for Rich Bergeron, the details of how Xyience went bust went over the heads of most people, especially those without the skills to decipher legal jargon. The Dan Diaz lawsuit poses similar problems, as it’s a story about how apparel manufacturers allegedly overcharged for their goods in exchange for various financial kickbacks—a messy, complicated series of underhanded maneuvers occurring in the shadows and crevices of accounting ledgers.
There might be more to the Dan Diaz/Tapout situation than meets the eye: Diaz alleged that UFC owners Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta and Dana White were minority of Tapout prior to the company’s sale to Authentic Brands Group.
“There’s no direct proof, but that is what Dan Caldwell (also known as “Punkass”) told me on at least three different occasions,” Diaz told CagePotato. “During one of the depositions, an Authentic Brands Group rep did say [Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta and Dana White] were still owners in the new Authentic Brands Group Tapout as well.”
Despite this, Diaz says that the Ferttita brothers and Dana White were non-managing members who had no knowledge of Tapout’s day-to-day operations. If that’s the case, then the owners of the UFC can hardly be held accountable for the charges leveled against Tapout.
The question of why MMA fighters who have had signature shirts made through Tapout would not seek legal action is also a prickly pear. Managers with multiple fighters under contract are not going to be eager to kick up a shitstorm with a company like Tapout that might sponsor other fighters they manage. Other fighters might simply not want to deal with the hassle of dealing with the legal system. Without any action from the fighters, however, it’s a license to steal from them—basically par for the course in the MMA game.
It will be interesting to see what the fallout of the trial is—if Dan Diaz is successful, it may inspire other MMA fighters to seek damages, generating further negative publicity for Tapout in the future.
The UFC said “Hey, did you hear there’s UFC FIGHTS™ on tonight? The finest athletes in the world are facing off and it’ll be action packed. Watch it!”
So we took their word for it, and watched. The athletes faced off, but they weren’t the finest in the world, and it wasn’t action packed. The athletes were green, regional-caliber competitors and there was more labored breathing and bouts of stalling than action.
Then the next event came. “It’s FIGHT WEEEEEEK! UFC FIGHTS™ are on again. The finest athletes in the world are doing battle in the Octagon™. Be sure to watch!”
We were skeptical, but being loyal MMA fans, we watched again. We were let down again. We voiced our concerns, only to be told we weren’t Real Fans if we didn’t appreciate the fights the UFC gave us. Not wanting to lose our MMA streed cred, we watched the next event that promised the top 1% of fighters battling in the Superbowl of MMA only to be disappointed.
This is what being an MMA fan has been like for the past year or two–especially since the UFC went full “World Fucking Domination” on us.
Fight cards are tougher to sit through because the talent levels are lower. Sometimes there’s two of these regional-level, star-sparse cards on the same day! And I’m not ragging on UFC Fight Night 42 specifically; on paper the card was pretty decent for a free Fight Night Card. I’m referring to the general lowering of the bar in terms of card quality that’s become undeniable as of late. The most insulting part is all these events are, for the most part, marketed the same way: Here’s awesome UFC Fights. They’ll be good. Watch them or you’re not an MMA fan.
And judging by the decline in interest (and PPV buys), lots of viewers decided they weren’t fans. And I’m not going to go on for much longer because I’ve written about the issue of over-saturation extensivelyon CagePotato, but the UFC can learn an important lesson from Bellator regarding how it promotes less-than-stellar fights: Be honest.
The UFC said “Hey, did you hear there’s UFC FIGHTS™ on tonight? The finest athletes in the world are facing off and it’ll be action packed. Watch it!”
So we took their word for it, and watched. The athletes faced off, but they weren’t the finest in the world, and it wasn’t action packed. The athletes were green, regional-caliber competitors and there was more labored breathing and bouts of stalling than action.
Then the next event came. “It’s FIGHT WEEEEEEK! UFC FIGHTS™ are on again. The finest athletes in the world are doing battle in the Octagon™. Be sure to watch!”
We were skeptical, but being loyal MMA fans, we watched again. We were let down again. We voiced our concerns, only to be told we weren’t Real Fans if we didn’t appreciate the fights the UFC gave us. Not wanting to lose our MMA streed cred, we watched the next event that promised the top 1% of fighters battling in the Superbowl of MMA only to be disappointed.
This is what being an MMA fan has been like for the past year or two–especially since the UFC went full “World Fucking Domination” on us.
Fight cards are tougher to sit through because the talent levels are lower. Sometimes there’s two of these regional-level, star-sparse cards on the same day! And I’m not ragging on UFC Fight Night 42 specifically; on paper the card was pretty decent for a free Fight Night Card. I’m referring to the general lowering of the bar in terms of card quality that’s become undeniable as of late. The most insulting part is all these events are, for the most part, marketed the same way: Here’s awesome UFC Fights. They’ll be good. Watch them or you’re not an MMA fan.
And judging by the decline in interest (and PPV buys), lots of viewers decided they weren’t fans. And I’m not going to go on for much longer because I’ve written about the issue of over-saturation extensivelyon CagePotato, but the UFC can learn an important lesson from Bellator regarding how it promotes less-than-stellar fights: Be honest.
Bellator 121 was easily the worst card (on paper) the Viacom-owned promotion had put together in a while. The best fight it offered was a match between James Thompson and Eric freakin’ Prindle. Fans and media didn’t care about Bellator 121 unless they were mocking it. “Oh, James Thompson is in the so-called #2 promotion in 2014. LOL.”
But then this trailer came out:
Yes, it’s a little cheesy at times but in some ways it’s unabashedly honest. There’s never been a better trailer for a worse fight.
Am I saying the UFC should promote all their Fight Night cards as “OMG BACON AND PIZZA FIGHTS AMAZEBALLS”? No. What I’m saying is that the UFC’s current method of promoting low-level fights is factually bankrupt and without substance.
Remember the Strikeforce: Challengers series? It was Strikeforce’s low-level show devoted to their lesser-known fighters and prospects. Perhaps the UFC should start promoting their Fight Night cards as something similar rather than a generic night of UFC action. Saying a barista is a world-beater when he clearly isn’t makes your word meaningless. Saying the pound-for-pound best fighter alive is whoever’s headlining the next card makes your word meaningless. Strikeforce never tried to pass off a Challengers as one of it’s A-level events. The UFC does the opposite. All of its shows are presented as equal in quality because they all have the UFC brand attached. This is a mistake because it teaches the viewer to associate the brand with an inferior product (poor fighters and poor fights). Sometimes a jobber is just a jobber. The UFC would do well to remember that.
Though current bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will not be a playable character in EA Sports UFC when it hits the shelves two weeks from now, Bruce Lee will be. Perhaps equally ridiculous is that Bruce Lee isn’t being treated as a novelty addition to the roster, but rather as “the father of Mixed Martial Arts,” something Dana White has also called him. Giving credit to only one person for the creation of MMA is absurd enough, but painting Bruce Lee as that person is just preposterous.
Then again, it really isn’t hard to understand why Zuffa would want to make someone like Bruce Lee an ambassador for our sport. Lee was — and still is — an instantly recognizable celebrity. His body was ripped and athletic. He knew how to wrestle, sure, but also understood that most people would rather watch him throw flashy kicks. His affirmations were deep enough to look good on playing cards and posters, but not too profound for the bros curling in the squat rack to comprehend. In other words, he appeals to a much larger audience than Edward William Barton-Wright and Tommy Tanaka do.
Even with all that in mind, there are figures in combat sports history who not only did more to mold modern MMA than Bruce Lee, but can also be worked into the charmingly revisionist Zuffa account of history just as well. The following list will focus on the accomplishments of these individuals, as well as the arguments for why they should be repackaged as the fathers of MMA. Let’s start with the oldest candidate, and work our way towards the modern era…
Though current bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will not be a playable character in EA Sports UFC when it hits the shelves two weeks from now, Bruce Lee will be. Perhaps equally ridiculous is that Bruce Lee isn’t being treated as a novelty addition to the roster, but rather as “the father of Mixed Martial Arts,” something Dana White has also called him. Giving credit to only one person for the creation of MMA is absurd enough, but painting Bruce Lee as that person is just preposterous.
Then again, it really isn’t hard to understand why Zuffa would want to make someone like Bruce Lee an ambassador for our sport. Lee was — and still is — an instantly recognizable celebrity. His body was ripped and athletic. He knew how to wrestle, sure, but also understood that most people would rather watch him throw flashy kicks. His affirmations were deep enough to look good on playing cards and posters, but not too profound for the bros curling in the squat rack to comprehend. In other words, he appeals to a much larger audience than Edward William Barton-Wright and Tommy Tanaka do.
Even with all that in mind, there are figures in combat sports history who not only did more to mold modern MMA than Bruce Lee, but can also be worked into the charmingly revisionist Zuffa account of history just as well. The following list will focus on the accomplishments of these individuals, as well as the arguments for why they should be repackaged as the fathers of MMA. Let’s start with the oldest candidate, and work our way towards the modern era…
Dioxippus
(Not Dioxippus, but I know how much you all love this thing…)
Martial Art:Pankration, an Ancient Greek combat sport that allowed punches, kicks, takedowns, joint locks and chokeholds (sound familiar?). Notable Achievements: Dioxippus of Athens was not only the toughest fighter in Ancient Greece, but arguably the toughest fighter to ever live. In his prime, he was so famous for taking out all challengers that he won an Olympic championship by default (akoniti) because nobody was willing to fight him; he’s the only person to ever win an Olympic wreath in pankration this way. He famously defeated one of Alexander the Great’s best soldiers, Coragus, despite the fact that Coragus wore full armor and had several weapons to use against the naked Dioxippus; you read that correctly, he showed up naked to a fight against a guy in full body armor and won. After the bout, Dioxippus was framed for theft, and chose to take his own life rather than be punished for a crime he did not commit. Why It Makes Sense: Dana White and Joe Rogan like to remind us that “fighting is in our DNA.” Dioxippus is proof of this.
Bill “The Butcher” Poole
(Again, not Bill “The Butcher” Poole, but rather a character he inspired: Bill “The Butcher” Cutting from Gangs of New York.)
Martial Arts: Bare-knuckle Boxing, Rough & Tumble (aka “Gouging”) Notable Achievements: Let’s be perfectly clear: Bill “The Butcher” Poole was not an honorable man. The leader of both The Bowery Boys and the Know Nothing political movement, Poole terrorized the streets of New York City while spreading anti-Irish, anti-Catholic hate-speech throughout the mid-nineteenth century. He took part in Rough & Tumble — more accurately called “gouging” due to the fact that eye-gouging was not only allowed, but encouraged — contests as well as bare-knuckle boxing matches. Poole beat up heavyweight boxing champion John Morrissey so badly that The New York Daily Times wrote “[Morrissey] presented a shocking spectacle, and scarcely could any of his friends recognize him.” Though Morrissey’s men would shoot Poole in the chest over the incident, “The Butcher” lived for fourteen days with a bullet lodged in his heart. According to legend, his final words were “Good-bye, boys, I die a true American.” Why It Makes Sense: Was Bill “The Butcher” Poole a total scumbag? Yes — and that’s the entire point. Since Zuffa history depicts MMA as something that only the most vile, deplorable people took part in until Dana White invented rules (obviously not true, but history is written by the winners), painting Poole as the original MMA fighter actually makes sense.
Evan “Strangler” Lewis
Martial Art:Catch Wrestling Notable Achievements: Back when professional wrestling was actually a legitimate competition, Evan “Strangler” Lewis was one of the most feared men to lace up the boots. “Strangler” ran through his competition with frightening ease, masterfully utilizing the stranglehold — a technique you more than likely recognize as the rear-naked choke — to secure victory. His win over Ernest Roeber in a best-of-five match on March 2, 1893 made him the first American to become a world champion wrestler. Lewis would defend the title for two years before losing it to Martin “Farmer” Burns, and was inducted into The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009. That he wasn’t exactly known for his sportsmanship is another story for another time, as is the way that many wrestling fans confuse him with Ed “Strangler” Lewis. Why It Makes Sense: He was the blueprint for every freakishly athletic wrestler to ever fight inside the Octagon, from Ken Shamrock to Cain Velasquez and all points in between.
Hit that “Next Page” button for a trio of fighters whose battles against each other made them all legends of the pre-Zuffa era.
Five under-the-radar stories you may have missed last week…
BEN ASKREN WINS…NOW WHAT?
Exiled from Bellator, refused a contract with the UFC, and having rejected an offer from the World Series of Fighting, undefeated welterweight and 2008 Olympian Ben Askren chose to seek his fortunes in Singapore-based ONE FC.
Last Friday, Askren improved his record to 13-0 in his promotional debut against Bakhtiyar Abbasov (now 11-3), winning in the first round via arm-triangle choke. This marks the third opponent in a row that Askren has finished. Where does this leave the American wrestler?
Askren spoke to CagePotato.com earlier this year and said that he believed he was the best welterweight in the world, with a caveat: “I definitely agree that [Johny Hendricks] should be ranked number one because I haven’t had the ability to prove I’m number one.”
Askren pointed to bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes and lightweight Mike Chandler as top fighters outside the UFC who could give a good challenge to the UFC’s champions at their respective divisions, but he was adamant that the bulk of the sport’s top talent lies within the UFC.
Unfortunately for Askren, there is no reason why the UFC—or any other MMA promotion—has to sign top contenders like himself. Combat sports have always been a business, with the promoter’s mandate being to maximize revenue.
Unlike the organizational titles in place in MMA, there are world titles sanctioned by third parties in boxing. This means that contenders can climb the ladder with each win against ranked opposition, earning leverage towards a title shot. The system is wide-open to corruption—managers and promoters often pay cold hard cash to advance their boxers in the rankings, evidenced by the 1999 IBF rankings scandal. However, with the right backers, fighters can have more career traction in boxing than currently exists in MMA.
Five under-the-radar stories you may have missed last week…
BEN ASKREN WINS…NOW WHAT?
Exiled from Bellator, refused a contract with the UFC, and having rejected an offer from the World Series of Fighting, undefeated welterweight and 2008 Olympian Ben Askren chose to seek his fortunes in Singapore-based ONE FC.
Last Friday, Askren improved his record to 13-0 in his promotional debut against Bakhtiyar Abbasov (now 11-3), winning in the first round via arm-triangle choke. This marks the third opponent in a row that Askren has finished. Where does this leave the American wrestler?
Askren spoke to CagePotato.com earlier this year and said that he believed he was the best welterweight in the world, with a caveat: “I definitely agree that [Johny Hendricks] should be ranked number one because I haven’t had the ability to prove I’m number one.”
Askren pointed to bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes and lightweight Mike Chandler as top fighters outside the UFC who could give a good challenge to the UFC’s champions at their respective divisions, but he was adamant that the bulk of the sport’s top talent lies within the UFC.
Unfortunately for Askren, there is no reason why the UFC—or any other MMA promotion—has to sign top contenders like himself. Combat sports have always been a business, with the promoter’s mandate being to maximize revenue.
Unlike the organizational titles in place in MMA, there are world titles sanctioned by third parties in boxing. This means that contenders can climb the ladder with each win against ranked opposition, earning leverage towards a title shot. The system is wide-open to corruption—managers and promoters often pay cold hard cash to advance their boxers in the rankings, evidenced by the 1999 IBF rankings scandal. However, with the right backers, fighters can have more career traction in boxing than currently exists in MMA.
Those signed to the UFC have their own grievances—title shots are often assigned based on expedience, with marketable challengers at the front of the line.
Where does all of this leave Ben Askren? As he continues to win fights, curiosity will arise over how he matches up with top UFC welterweights.
BELLATOR ON UPSWING
The industry got a shot in the arm with Bellator 120—the promotion’s debut pay-per-view show—getting over 100,000 buys, according to a report broken on Sherdog.com. Additionally, the Sherdog report stated that the buy rate would be confirmed by Viacom’s SEC filings later this year.
Competition in the pay-per-view market could be a game-changer. UFC fighters renegotiating their contracts have more options and the biggest stars may have even more leverage if they threaten to quit for a competing promotion.
The 100,000 buy rate figure also raises questions about the UFC marketing machine: If Jon Jones or Chris Weidman appeared on a Bellator PPV — yes, this is purely hypothetical — would the buy rate be similar to what those fighters have pulled in the UFC? And would Bellator sweeten the deal by offering them a better contract, with a bigger cut of pay-per-view revenue?
On the downside, Bellator contracts are among the most constrictive in the MMA industry, according to a gripping investigative feature on BloodyElbow.com by John S. Nash. Winning a tournament and a title can lead to multiple extensions of a fighter’s contract.
“The original 6-fights agreement could turn into one for 17-fights or even more, lasting for years,” writes Nash.
Bellator caught widespread flack from fans and media for choosing to exercise the promotion’s right to match the contract offer Eddie Alvarez received from the UFC. Bellator’s new strategy appears to be holding the reigns even tighter in retaining homegrown talent.
“BITCHES IN A BEAUTY SALON”
Despite Randy Couture’s last UFC fight occurring over three years ago at UFC 129, tensions between the former two-division UFC champion and UFC president Dana White continue to simmer.
“Randy Couture looks like a great guy on paper. The reality of it is he’s not. He’s not a good guy. You can ask everybody that’s ever dealt with him,” White told the assembled press after the UFC Fight Night Berlin weigh-ins last Friday.
The roots of the falling out between Couture and Dana White go back to 2007, when Couture attempted to leave the UFC. Couture was chasing a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, and believed he would be free and clear of his contract—where two fights remained—after nine months.
Explains lawyer Rob Maysey, “HDNet on behalf of Couture, believing that Couture had satisfied his promotional obligations under his contract with Zuffa by waiting for the term to expire, filed suit in Texas to obtain a declaratory ruling that its promotional agreement with Couture was valid and that the Zuffa promotional agreement with Couture was no longer in force. In response, Zuffa filed for a motion to stay the HDNet litigation and compel arbitration in Nevada. The stay was granted, and the dispute regarding the enforceability of Couture’s promotional agreement was pushed into arbitration then pending in Nevada.”
At 45 years of age, time was not on Randy Couture’s side. The matter was settled out of court in 2008 with Couture returning to the UFC—but that does not mean the courts or arbitrator would have ruled unfavorably on Couture’s position.
Dana White was quoted in a Yahoo! article saying UFC fighters were “like bitches in a beauty salon. They pass along rumors and gossip, which has no basis in reality.”
Without disclosure of accurate financial numbers however, gossip and rumors will continue to circulate throughout the industry in the foreseeable future.
TITO ORTIZ IS DANA WHITE’S EX-GIRLFRIEND
Former UFC fighter Tito Ortiz gave a video interview to Rick J. Lee where he likened his situation with the UFC president to that of an old flame, “I’m like his ex-girlfriend or something. I’m like his ex-wife, the guy just doesn’t leave me alone.”
Ortiz bears some responsibility for the situation, as he himself plays into the continuation of the toxic love affair, like when Ortiz demanded to be removed from the UFC’s Hall of Fame after beating Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 120.
“Take me off your Hall of Fame, each and everyone one of these people will remember this the rest of their MMA life,” said Ortiz post-fight.
We can only await the next episode of the soap opera between White and Ortiz—perhaps it will occur during the marketing and promotion preceding Bellator’s next pay-per-view show?
JOSE ALDO WANTS MORE MONEY
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo became the latest to speak out on UFC fighter pay to ESPN Brazil in an article translated by BloodyElbow.com:
“I do feel devalued, for sure. Every fighter dreams to reach a level where he will make good money. I have other thoughts nowadays — I’ve been around the world, I have a big wide vision about that. At the same time that they give us our business, they could improve it (payment). We bring millions for the company, I’m a very sellable fighter and everybody wants to watch my fights.”
Aldo is hardly alone in his criticism; his Nova Uniao teammate UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao went on the record before UFC 173 to talk about his salary, saying “I’m very happy being a UFC champion. But I would like to improve my contract.”
Throughout the debate concerning Jose Aldo’s contract, the one question that remains unanswered has to do with how his pay as a fighter is calculated against the revenue the UFC earns from events he fights in.
Until legislation appears that allows greater financial transparency of profits in MMA, fighters will continue to be treated like mushrooms by promoters—kept in the dark, and fed lots of shit.
This will be a milestone in Bisping career. One way or the other.
On April 16th, at the TUF Nations Finale, Bisping made his long-delayed return to the Octagon against top middleweight prospect Tim Kennedy. The confrontation between the two men had been a long time in the making, with Kennedy making a proper pest of himself leading up to the fight, constantly goading his British counterpart.
The implications of this fight for the middleweight division were huge. “The Count,” while traditionally one of the UFC’s top middleweights, has never fought for the UFC middleweight title. He has reached title eliminator fights twice, losing both times: once to Dan Henderson, who left him as stiff as the proverbial British upper lip, and once to Chael Sonnen who earned a unanimous decision victory. Still, the list of Bisping’s victims is impressive. He has wins over Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Brian Stann, and Matt Hamill, and has proven himself to be the derail-er of many a title run.
(I have no idea what this is, but it was too awesome not to share. Props: @bisping)
This will be a milestone in Bisping career. One way or the other.
On April 16th, at the TUF Nations Finale, Bisping made his long-delayed return to the Octagon against top middleweight prospect Tim Kennedy. The confrontation between the two men had been a long time in the making, with Kennedy making a proper pest of himself leading up to the fight, constantly goading his British counterpart.
The implications of this fight for the middleweight division were huge. “The Count,” while traditionally one of the UFC’s top middleweights, has never fought for the UFC middleweight title. He has reached title eliminator fights twice, losing both times: once to Dan Henderson, who left him as stiff as the proverbial British upper lip, and once to Chael Sonnen who earned a unanimous decision victory. Still, the list of Bisping’s victims is impressive. He has wins over Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Brian Stann, and Matt Hamill, and has proven himself to be the derail-er of many a title run.
Despite being a good-to-great fighter, Michael Bisping has never defeated any of the truly elite middleweights in the UFC. He blamed his most recent losses to Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen on a detached retina in his right eye, claiming that the damaged eye kept him from defending his right side effectively. After surgically repairing his eye, he said he was confident that he would be better than ever and make a immediate run for the title.
Tim Kennedy, on the other hand, has been touted as one of the top middleweight prospects in the UFC and top imports from Strikeforce. He cruised through his first two UFC fights against Roger Gracie and Rafael Natal, and on April 16thhe lived up to his hype and trash-talk be defeating Michael Bisping in a five-round unanimous decision.
The loss marked the first time Bisping has been defeated by an opponent who was ranked lower than he was. While Kennedy took one step forward in the rankings, Bisping took a step backwards. This shakes up the entire division. With Belfort’s return date still uncertain while he kicks TRT, Anderson Silva suddenly an unquantifiable entity, and Chris Weidman‘s staying power as champion somewhat untested, the middleweight division is in a state of upheaval.
Sure, it’s possible that we we’re seeing Tim Kennedy march toward becoming the greatest 185′er in the sport. More likely, Michael Bisping has declined from consistent title contender to permanent gatekeeper of the middleweight division. Every division needs a gatekeeper. The heavyweights have Roy Nelson, welterweight has Demian Maia and Jake Ellenberger, lightweight has Diego Sanchez — it’s an important position to occupy within a division.
Bisping has reached that crossroads in his career. Something which doesn’t seem to sit that well with “The Count.”
Immediately after his loss to Tim Kennedy at the TUF Nations Finale, Bisping took to twitter to find himself another opponent and a measure of redemption. The target of his twitter attack? Luke Rockhold, the man who Bisping had been tied with as the UFC’s #6 ranked middleweight (Bisping is now #8 and Rockhold is now #5) and former Strikeforce middleweight champion.
However, after his dominant victory over Tim Boetsch at UFC 172 via arm lock/kimura/pretzel/jaws of life, Rockhold called out Vitor Belfort (the last man to beat him) instead. He seemed uninterested in a potential bout with Bisping. So, now Bisping will face Cung Le, who has been inactive for so long that he is no longer even ranked in the division.
This could be an interesting fight, as both men have sustained long layoffs recently. Prior to his loss to Kennedy, Bisping was out for a year due to his eye injury, and Cung Le — who (oddly) was never among Bisping’s twitter antagonists — has been inactive since 2012 apart from his stint as couch for TUF China. A win over Bisping would prove the unranked Le’s relevance in a division that has changed dramatically since he last fought. (Anderson Silva was still untouchable in 2012, don’t forget.)
It’s a logical fight for Bisping, as he could knock off another well-known name and confirm his relevance in the division — not as a title contender at the moment, but as the invaluable gatekeeper of the middleweight division. For Bisping, who has lost three of his last four fights, ensuring his job security in a deep division is the best outcome he can hope for at this point.
But this match-up is a good one for Le as well. His last fight in Macau in 2012 was a win over former champ Rich Franklin. The two year break has killed his momentum as a fighter. A win over Bisping could get Le’s train rolling again. (Although at 42 years old, Le’s competitive future is limited.)
This fight is make or break for Bisping’s career. A loss will see him spiraling to the periphery of a very tough division. A win will perhaps make Michael “The Count” Bisping capitalize on his great worth as a gatekeeper of the middleweights. Who better than the “The Count” to stand in the Octagon and say, “You shall not pass”?
Despite the UFC’s legal team being among CagePotato’s most avid readers, we can’t convince them to give us any insights into the UFC’s PPV business. We can only judge a card’s interest by the PPV estimates that circulate a few weeks after an event has passed.
There’s another way to judge fans’ interest in a particular fight card though: Web traffic.
In between discussions about which IFL team was the best (I’m a huge Quad City Silverbacks fan), we at CagePotato headquarters started opining about how Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo would compare to a low-level UFC PPV. Some of us said it’d bury an event like UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw in terms of traffic, some of us said it would get buried.
Now that fight week(end) is over, we can jump into AnalyticsPotato mode and see which fight card wowed the web more. And to be clear, I’m using unique page views as the primary metric to judge interest. And by “coverage” we mean articles before/during/after the card that are about the card. Seems obvious but it’s important to be clear.
Earlier in the week, we reported on the CagePotato twitter that Bellator 120 received about 34% more traffic, but that calculation was made in error. There were a couple of articles in our UFC 173 coverage that I forgot to include in the tally. However, even with these pieces added, Bellator 120 still wins out. Bellator 120’s coverage, on the whole, received 11% more traffic than UFC 173’s.
Despite the UFC’s legal team being among CagePotato’s most avid readers, we can’t convince them to give us any insights into the UFC’s PPV business. We can only judge a card’s interest by the PPV estimates that circulate a few weeks after an event has passed.
There’s another way to judge fans’ interest in a particular fight card though: Web traffic.
In between discussions about which IFL team was the best (I’m a huge Quad City Silverbacks fan), we at CagePotato headquarters started opining about how Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo would compare to a low-level UFC PPV. Some of us said it’d bury an event like UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw in terms of traffic, some of us said it would get buried.
Now that fight week(end) is over, we can jump into AnalyticsPotato mode and see which fight card wowed the web more. And to be clear, I’m using unique page views as the primary metric to judge interest. And by “coverage” we mean articles before/during/after the card that are about the card. Seems obvious but it’s important to be clear.
Earlier in the week, we reported on the CagePotato twitter that Bellator 120 received about 34% more traffic, but that calculation was made in error. There were a couple of articles in our UFC 173 coverage that I forgot to include in the tally. However, even with these pieces added, Bellator 120 still wins out. Bellator 120′s coverage, on the whole, received 11% more traffic than UFC 173′s.
Other random insights:
The time spent on page, an important and overlooked metric, was “virtually identical” for both Bellator 120 and UFC 173. Referral sources, too, were identical, with much of the traffic coming from search (Google) and social (Facebook and a bit from Twitter). This isn’t terribly surprising.
What does all of this mean, then?
At a glance, people are probably saying “The best Bellator has to offer only barely edges out a lower-level UFC card!” And that’s fair to an extent. But it’s worth noting that before the card, most of our UFC 173-related content wasn’t doing too well. There was very little hype around the event. Fans had a “how dare the UFC charge us for this crap” attitude about it. Even the live-blog was sub-par during the event. Once it was updated to reflect the huge upset that was TJ Dillashaw defeating Renan Barao, however, traffic on it exploded. The massive upset could’ve definitely helped UFC 173.
Alas, web traffic means little in terms of PPV buys. It’s highly likely that many people who read our post-fight Bellator coverage wanted to see if the event was a train wreck without having to pay for it. Furthermore, we’re just one website. A sample size of one isn’t much to go on. When asked on Twitter, some sites reported that their Bellator 120 traffic was far below expectations.
So, to get a clearer picture, we ran a Google trends comparison:
Interestingly, the search term “Bellator 120″ peaked the day after the PPV, indicating our theory above about most of the traffic coming from people who didn’t watch the PPV. And UFC 173′s peak was slightly higher than Bellator 120′s.
If anything is to be taken from this, it’s that Bellator is capable of generating at least as much Internet-interest (even if it derives from schadenfreude) from the fans as the UFC. Whether that’ll hold true for their future PPV outings is impossible to tell.
