UFC president Dana White has officially dubbed women’s MMA as the “Ronda Rousey Show.”With Rousey set to make her UFC debut in February, there are many questions surrounding the future of women’s MMA on the big stage.Is the UFC looking to promote women…
UFC president Dana White has officially dubbed women’s MMA as the “Ronda Rousey Show.”
With Rousey set to make her UFC debut in February, there are many questions surrounding the future of women’s MMA on the big stage.
Is the UFC looking to promote women’s MMA or just Ronda Rousey? What happens if Rousey loses?
I’m putting my toe in the water, and I’m checking it out. There’s no doubt, for people who say, ‘Oh, this is the Ronda Rousey show,’ [expletive] right it is. You’re absolutely right. I’m not trying to shy away from that and say, ‘Oh no, we’re getting into women’s MMA.’ This is the Ronda Rousey Show.
White has come a long way in embracing women’s MMA.
In 2011, he told TMZ that women would never fight in the UFC. Now, women won’t just be competing in the UFC, but Rousey’s bantamweight title fight against Liz Carmouche will serve as the headliner for the UFC 157 pay-per-view.
White’s concern has always been about the depth of talent in women’s MMA. While there are a few talented fighters, Rousey is in a class of her own when it comes to all-around talent and marketing power. White has already admitted himself as being a big fan of the Olympic judo bronze medalist.
Still, it’s dangerous to put your eggs into one basket, especially considering the unpredictable nature of MMA.
Rousey will be a heavy favorite over anyone she fights at 135 pounds, but there are some tough women in the division capable of pulling off an upset and derailing the UFC’s newfound hype machine.
If Rousey loses, White will give the new champ a chance to defend her title and see how everything plays out:
Ronda Rousey is a mean, nasty fighter, the type of fighters that I like. Now, whether she can win and whether she can keep it going, that’s up to her. I have nothing to do with that. Whether it’s Liz or any of these other women that beat her, then they’re the champ, and then they got to defend their belt.
I don’t know how long this is going to last. This could last a year. This could be forever. The 135-pound division could fill up with tons of talent, and we could have tons of great fights. I can’t honestly sit here and predict what’s going to happen, but don’t kid yourself, this is absolutely the only reason this is happening is because of Ronda Rousey.
The entire MMA world was buzzing when the announcement came, sudden as a heart attack, that the Ultimate Fighting Championship would soon make a huge leap forward into the mainstream. Media cheerleaders swooned, even as the promotion made it clear that…
The entire MMA world was buzzing when the announcement came, sudden as a heart attack, that the Ultimate Fighting Championship would soon make a huge leap forward into the mainstream. Media cheerleaders swooned, even as the promotion made it clear that just a single fight would air on television during this debut show. But that bout, according to owner Lorenzo Fertitta, was a chance to let the general public “know about the UFC and its fighters and understand the product.”
Sound familiar?
It should. It’s the story of the UFC’s debut on Fox last year.
The catch?
It’s also the story of the UFC’s original television debut, a June 25, 2002 broadcast of The Best Damn Sports Show, Period on Fox Sports Net.
For UFC fans in 2002, this was a seismic moment, shaking the entire sport of MMA to its very core. That sounds awfully dramatic, I know, but in 2002 MMA in America was still a very iffy venture. The UFC, the flag bearer of the sport since its 1993 debut, nearly went bankrupt at the turn of the century as owner Bob Meyrowitz fought a desperate battle, not to gain an audience, but rather against legislators and cable companies just for the right to exist.
From Puerto Rico to New York and most everywhere in between, Meyrowitz battled to escape the bed he had helped make for himself, trapped by early marketing that identified the sport as a bloody spectacle, death always looming just out of camera frame.
After eight years, he didn’t have any fight left in him, selling the company to Las Vegas casino moguls Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.
Under the Fertittas, and their consigliereDana White, there was progress at a breakneck pace. The hurdles, whether regulatory or cable, seemed to melt away as the two brothers flexed their bank book and their connections.
The UFC, in just months, was holding shows in the mecca of professional fisticuffs, Las Vegas, Nevada, and was widely available again on pay-per-view. But the Brinks trucks filled with cash, the ones that seemed inevitable at the time, never arrived. The promotion floundered and, like Meyrowitz before them, the Ferittas were soon swimming in a sea of red.
The solution, it soon became clear, was television.
Free television, not just PPV, which limited the audience to fans who were already diehards. The UFC was convinced that if they could only get their product in front of people, success would follow as a matter of course. The search for a broadcast partner became the company’s top priority—a last ditch effort to rescue the promotion and, by proxy, the entire sport.
It was this sense of desperation that led to UFC 37.5, so named because it wasn’t conceptualized and executed until after the company had already begun planning and promoting UFC 38 in London. It was not an ideal time for a show, but when Fox Sports Net said “jump” Fertitta and his team were happy to say “how high?”
It was too late in the game to book one of the major arenas around the country, so instead of the MGM Grand or the Mandalay Bay, the card was held in the swanky Bellagio, a casino on the strip that, lacking an arena of its own, had to make due with their spacious Grand Ballroom, a 45,000 square-foot site that was plenty big enough to comfortably fit both the UFC Octagon and 3,700 of the company’s most raucous fans.
To the dismay of many, the network didn’t want an entire fight card, just a single bout.
It was a challenge, then, to decide how best to utilize this opportunity, this one chance to show the world (or at least the 150,000 viewers tuning in to Fox Sports Net) exactly what this sport was all about.
UFC President White, however, had the perfect man in mind for the job.
It seems ludicrous to consider now, but Robbie Lawler, a man who hasn’t fought in the promotion since 2004 and seems to be on the tail end of his career at just 30 years of age, was once the UFC’s golden boy.
Just 19 when White personally signed him after an impressive showing at a minor show in Hawaii, Lawler was handsome, muscular and had hands of stone. Comparing him to a young Mike Tyson, Dana called the move “a Christmas present to myself.”
And so it was that Lawler, despite having fought a grueling bout with Aaron Riley barely a month earlier at UFC 37, found himself hand selected to represent his entire industry on national television for the first time.
Although the current UFC mythology claims Fox Sports and the UFC picked which bout to air only after the fights were in the can, reporting at the time in Full Contact Fighter makes it clear that Lawler‘s fight with Steve Berger had already been selected for broadcast “well before the opening bell.”
White himself acknowledged as much, telling reporters after the fight that “As I was sitting here when the fight started, I realized how much pressure I put on him when he was preparing for that fight.”
Luckily, the young man, then all of 20 years old, delivered in a big way. After a back-and-forth first round, one that showcased the breadth of technique that makes MMA, well, MMA, Lawler got the highlight-reel knockout the UFC desperately needed, dropping Berger with a series of punches and landing five more on the ground to force the stoppage.
For Fox Sports Net officials, the show was an eye-opener. Originally described by White as “standoffish,” the event’s success (drawing what White claimed was the second biggest audience in The Best Damn Sports Show, Period‘s history) led to a shift in attitudes—and other opportunities with the network.
They filled in for boxing on Sunday Night Fights broadcasts later that year with taped programming, doing, Fertitta said, double the numbers boxing did in the same slot. The Best Damn Sports Show, Period provided an outlet for Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock to hype their main event at UFC 40, an event that turned around the UFC’s PPV business in a major way.
Yet, a long term deal couldn’t be reached.
The Fox Sports Net deal, in the wake of what would follow on Spike TV and now Fox, is just a blip in the UFC’s television history, albeit an important one. Going forward, the company could show other TV executives exactly what the sport would look and feel like on mainstream television and also point to a track record of success.
It opened the door for everything that followed, both for the UFC and their myriad of competitors, helping create the boom that opened the door wide for the UFC to challenge boxing for the hearts and minds of the world’s fight fans.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click for full-size version.)
BJ Penn‘s 15-minute ass-kicking at the hands of Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 5 accomplished several things: Most importantly, it gave MacDonald a grand stage to introduce himself as one of the rulers of the welterweight division. (Established veterans and up-and-coming prospects alike are now calling him out to get attention for themselves.) The fight gave Penn the new record for total time spent in the Octagon — five hours, three minutes, and 51 seconds, surpassing Tito Ortiz — and helped sustain Penn’s own personal statistic of never being knocked down in the Octagon, a piece of trivia made even more astounding by the damage he was taking on Saturday.
Will Penn take this latest whooping as a sign that it’s time to hang up the gloves for good? Here’s Dana White’s take on the subject, following the event:
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click for full-size version.)
BJ Penn‘s 15-minute ass-kicking at the hands of Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 5 accomplished several things: Most importantly, it gave MacDonald a grand stage to introduce himself as one of the rulers of the welterweight division. (Established veterans and up-and-coming prospects alike are now calling him out to get attention for themselves.) The fight gave Penn the new record for total time spent in the Octagon — five hours, three minutes, and 51 seconds, surpassing Tito Ortiz — and helped sustain Penn’s own personal statistic of never being knocked down in the Octagon, a piece of trivia made even more astounding by the damage he was taking on Saturday.
Will Penn take this latest whooping as a sign that it’s time to hang up the gloves for good? Here’s Dana White’s take on the subject, following the event:
“He didn’t say it tonight but I think BJ is probably going to retire. I wouldn’t mind seeing that…B.J. is a warrior. Talk about a guy who doesn’t give up, doesn’t quit, and just keeps coming. I have so much respect for B.J. I always have, even through the good times and bad times. I‘d like to see him retire. He’s got plenty of money, he’s got a great family that loves him, he’s got babies, a beautiful wife…He has nothing left to prove to anybody, and everybody loves him. You heard the arena here tonight. I’d like to see B.J. retire.”
Keep in mind that Penn basically was retired until a simple call-out by Rory MacDonald changed his mind. If that’s all it takes to get Penn fired up, it’s possible that we haven’t seen the last of him. But I’m with Dana on this one — Penn can only hurt his legacy by returning to the cage against another top welterweight, and should step away from the sport before he crosses the line from beloved superstar to cautionary tale. (Just because a guy isn’t losing consciousness in every fight a la Chuck Liddell, doesn’t mean he’s safe from significant brain trauma. Penn’s freakish ability to remain upright and awake during his fights might actually be doing untold long-term damage to his health.)
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The UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz has a solid fight card that not only solidified lightweight title holder Benson Henderson as the elite 155 pound fighter in the world, but also represented a changing of the guard for two legendary fighters that helpe…
The UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz has a solid fight card that not only solidified lightweight title holder Benson Henderson as the elite 155 pound fighter in the world, but also represented a changing of the guard for two legendary fighters that helped shape the MMA landscape.
Rory MacDonald dominated B.J. Penn for three rounds and landed punches and kicks at will. At no point did Penn ever make the fight competitive. MacDonald looked quicker on his feet as he defended takedowns and battered the body of Penn with leg kicks that seemed to come from every angle and direction. MacDonald spoke prior to the fight about being a huge B.J. Penn fan, then went out and easily beat up a legend of the sport and one of his idols in front of a nationally televised audience.
Was it the best B.J. Penn in the octagon on Saturday night? Of course not, But when was the last time that fight fans have seen Penn at his best? The last several years in the UFC have not been kind to the former UFC lightweight and welterweight title holder. Since his loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 in 2009, Penn has compiled a 3-4-1 record with his last three bouts fought to a draw with Jon Fitch and lost two in a row to Nick Diaz and Rory MacDonald, respectively.
The B.J. Penn loss to Rory McDonald was painful to watch and left no question as to the future of “The Prodigy.” If he decides to keep fighting in the UFC he must consider dropping back down to lightweight where he will have a better opportunity for success. His decision to fight at the welterweight level will only lead to losses and further physical and mental punishment. Penn simply cannot keep fighting the larger welterweights who cut weight from 200 pounds. The older Penn gets the slower he becomes and the less effective his takedowns become, as was proven in the match against MacDonald. There is still plenty of punch left in the hands of B.J. Penn, but they would be more effective against the smaller fighters. Today’s welterweights are just too quick and too strong for Penn and they easily beat him to the punch.
If UFC President Dana White decides to retain the services of B.J. Penn, he could do so by requiring Penn to fight at lightweight. Who would be a possible matchup for Penn in the lightweight division? Jon Fitch who fought Penn to a draw at UFC 127. That fight could be Penn’s last at welterweight or a possible catch weight because there would be no title on the line. Or, a B.J. Penn vs. Nate Diaz matchup. Both fighters are coming off losses and stylistically would make for a crowd pleasing fight.
If B.J. Penn decides to keep fighting it will be against the wishes of UFC President Dana White, but ultimately it will be a decision that only Penn can make. No one would fault Penn for hanging up his gloves and moving on to a new stage of his life. The future for Penn is uncertain, but the mark that he left on the sport is undeniable.
After earning a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, Alexander Gustafsson said Saturday night that he won’t wait around for the winner of champion Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen to fight again. Jones and Sonnen are currently slated to face one another for Jones’ belt after the season of The Ultimate Fighter that they are currently coaching on finishes.
The Swedish contender put himself in line for a shot with a dominant unanimous decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at Saturday’s UFC on Fox card but at the post event press conference said that he would be happy to risk his title shot by fighting again in the interim. “I want to fight for the belt, and if they give me one before that, it doesn’t matter. I’ll fight whoever the UFC gives me,” he said.
“I want to stay active, and I want to fight.” The young kickboxer has no interest in waiting another half year or more to fight.
“I’ll fight whenever. I was away for a long time. The last time I fought was in April, and that was too long. To wait till summer again, that would be too long.”
UFC President Dana White seems to be in accordance with that thought. “If I was [Gustafsson], I’d want to get another fight in before taking on Jon Jones,” he said.
“He could fight again. I’m hearing Dan Henderson’s knee isn’t better, so maybe Gustafsson should fight Machida next,” White continued.
Henderson’s poor health status is evidentally news to the fighter himself. The former Pride champion was scheduled to fight Jon Jones earlier this year but pulled out after he injured his knee in training camp. He is now scheduled to take on former UFC champion Lyoto Machida in February at UFC 157: These Chicks Can Fight.
On his twitter account, Dan reacted incredulously to White’s supposed inside information on his knee. “Not sure where @danawhite thinks he’s hearing that my knee isn’t doing ok. It’s doing great. Slowly picking training up just like I do for every training camp,” he tweeted.
(Look Dana, if his knee was really still injured, would he be playing in a professional baseball winter league?)
After earning a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, Alexander Gustafsson said Saturday night that he won’t wait around for the winner of champion Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen to fight again. Jones and Sonnen are currently slated to face one another for Jones’ belt after the season of The Ultimate Fighter that they are currently coaching on finishes.
The Swedish contender put himself in line for a shot with a dominant unanimous decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at Saturday’s UFC on Fox card but at the post event press conference said that he would be happy to risk his title shot by fighting again in the interim. “I want to fight for the belt, and if they give me one before that, it doesn’t matter. I’ll fight whoever the UFC gives me,” he said.
“I want to stay active, and I want to fight.” The young kickboxer has no interest in waiting another half year or more to fight.
“I’ll fight whenever. I was away for a long time. The last time I fought was in April, and that was too long. To wait till summer again, that would be too long.”
UFC President Dana White seems to be in accordance with that thought. “If I was [Gustafsson], I’d want to get another fight in before taking on Jon Jones,” he said.
“He could fight again. I’m hearing Dan Henderson’s knee isn’t better, so maybe Gustafsson should fight Machida next,” White continued.
Henderson’s poor health status is evidentally news to the fighter himself. The former Pride champion was scheduled to fight Jon Jones earlier this year but pulled out after he injured his knee in training camp. He is now scheduled to take on former UFC champion Lyoto Machida in February at UFC 157: These Chicks Can Fight.
On his twitter account, Dan reacted incredulously to White’s supposed inside information on his knee. “Not sure where @danawhite thinks he’s hearing that my knee isn’t doing ok. It’s doing great. Slowly picking training up just like I do for every training camp,” he tweeted.
This latest disagreement on facts between fighter and promoter certainly won’t help Henderson’s paranoia and sense of entitlement when it comes to the light heavyweight title. He was given a shot at Jon Jones after a razor-thin, controversial decision win over Rua in 2011 that saw Hendo mounted and beaten on for the better part of the fight’s second half.
Then, he decided to pull out of the title fight after keeping his injury secret for just long enough to make it tough for the UFC to secure a viable, credible and deserving substitution. After Jones agreed to fight Henderson’s friend and long time training partner, Chael Sonnen, this coming spring, “Hollywood Dan” publicly said that Sonnen’s title shot was cheapening the sport while suggesting that somehow he should still be the next person in line to fight Jones.
Of course, Henderson would be justified in his frustration over White either making up “information” about his knee or sharing actual info about it that Henderson himself has not announced or made official. As it stands, the boss and fighter seem to be telling entirely different stories about whether or not Henderson will, in fact, be fighting in February.
BJ Penn could be stepping into the Octagon for the last time at UFC on Fox 5, according to Dana White.The former two-division champion will face Rory MacDonald in a highly anticipated welterweight showdown.White believes it’s all or nothing for Penn, w…
The former two-division champion will face Rory MacDonald in a highly anticipated welterweight showdown.
White believes it’s all or nothing for Penn, who initially retired a little over a year ago. The fight against MacDonald is a chance for Penn to prove his relevance in the sport. A win would open the doors for a plethora of intriguing match-ups, but a loss would be devastating.
“He probably will [retire]. He hasn’t said anything about that to me, but yeah, he’s taken a year off and reflecting about things.”
Penn announced his retirement in October 2011 after losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Nick Diaz. It was clearly a heartbreaking loss that pushed him into premature retirement talk.
Several months later, Penn was back in the fold, and MacDonald was named as his comeback opponent.
MacDonald, a protégé of UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, has been hailed as the sport’s future, while Penn is constantly being referred to in the past tense.
During the media conference call for UFC on Fox 5, Penn admitted to being upset that his name was no longer mentioned in the all-time great category with St-Pierre and Anderson Silva. The mere thought of people viewing him as irrelevant has lit a fire under him that won’t be ignored.
White believes fans could see the best BJ Penn ever. It only takes one look at Penn’s physique to see the amount of hard work he put into preparing for this fight.
While MacDonald is a clear favorite, White wouldn’t be shocked if Penn returns to form and stuns the young Canadian:
“You can see the difference in BJ Penn. First of all, he called Rory MacDonald out. He called him out, then he shows up in great shape, seems physically, mentally and emotionally ready for this fight…If [BJ] beats Rory on Saturday, wow, a lot of possibilities.”
UFC president Dana White has officially dubbed women’s MMA as the “Ronda Rousey Show.”
