Does the UFC Need More Breaks Between Events?

Quick, when was the last time the UFC gave fans a six-week break in between pay-per-view events? You’re probably guessing sometime last year. After all, if fights were consistently being shown within six weeks of each other some would think that would …

Quick, when was the last time the UFC gave fans a six-week break in between pay-per-view events?

You’re probably guessing sometime last year. After all, if fights were consistently being shown within six weeks of each other some would think that would lead to fans being burned out.

If your answer was in fact “last year” then you are off by over half of a decade. The last time there was this long of a break was between UFC 52 and UFC 53. Those events took place on April 16, 2005 and June 4, 2005 respectively.

The current model of the UFC not only gives us on average a couple pay-per-view events per month, but there are now fight cards broadcasted on FOX, FX, FuelTV, and of course this is in addition to the weekly The Ultimate Fighter show that now includes live fights.

Technically speaking, if you are watching TUF then you aren’t getting any sort of UFC break.

This break has been looming for quite some time and it is giving other MMA writers the opportunity to step away from the UFC brand and publish content on lesser known promotions. It also serves as a chance for organizations such as Bellator to capture the undivided attention of UFC fans and gain more of an audience.

According to a current Bleacher Report poll, I’m in the minority with how I feel about the current break in the action. Currently, 65% of voters state they are going to soon be going through withdrawals. The remaining 35% are looking forward to the dead time.

Dana White has said on more than one occasion that he believes the UFC will be bigger than the NFL one day. If that is truly going to happen, then I believe the UFC needs to be careful with their schedule moving forward.

Imagine if the NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL didn’t have an offseason. How would that effect the fans? No matter how hardcore a fan claims to be, interest wouldn’t consistently be as good if there wasn’t that five-month break every year to recharge their batteries.

I’m not saying the UFC needs to have an offseason. This isn’t the IFL, and the time frame in which fighters are ready to compete will always vary throughout a calendar year.

There does, however, need to be a greater emphasis on allowing fans to “miss” the sport once in a while.

 

You can follow Joe Chacon on Twitter.

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Bellator’s Sean McCorkle Was Genuinely Afraid for Joe Warren

In today’s UFC Morning Update, I shared the video of the horrific beating that Joe Warren took at the hands of Pat Curran at Friday night’s Bellator 60 card. In reality, the beating wasn’t just issued by Curran, but also by referee Jeff Malott, who sho…

In today’s UFC Morning Update, I shared the video of the horrific beating that Joe Warren took at the hands of Pat Curran at Friday night’s Bellator 60 card. In reality, the beating wasn’t just issued by Curran, but also by referee Jeff Malott, who should be reprimanded and stripped of his license, never to referee another professional fight again.

And if you think I’m harping on Malott’s incompetence a bit too much, well, here’s Bellator heavyweight Sean McCorkle detailing the experience of standing backstage and watching Warren come back to his locker room after the fight:

I did not get a chance to see the Curran/Warren fight the other night because they were on right before me, but Warren did not look in good shape at all backstage after the fight. I’m not one to have my stomach easily turned either, but I was genuinely afraid for him when he passed by as they were practically carrying him. I keep hearing it was a late stoppage, and then that it wasn’t, back and forth. Either way, I genuinely hope that he is OK. That’s a scary thing to see.

It’s not a stretch to say that Warren’s career may have been prematurely ended by an incompetent referee on Friday night. I don’t have any kind of confirmation on Warren’s current condition, but I know he’s out of the hospital.

He almost certainly suffered at least one concussion and possibly two, and that’s the kind of thing that will make a 35 year old man think long and hard before stepping back in the cage for a fight.

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The Ultimate Fighter Brazil: Cast of 32 Revealed

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil makes history this month, becoming the first international version of the long-running reality show. Featuring featherweights and middleweights, Brazil has long been seen as a coveted pool of talent.This upcoming season has…

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil makes history this month, becoming the first international version of the long-running reality show. Featuring featherweights and middleweights, Brazil has long been seen as a coveted pool of talent.

This upcoming season has several familiar Brazilian fighters, as well as lesser-known Brazilian fighters, looking to get their names mainstream. This season will be coached by legendary Brazilians Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, who will fight a rematch at the conclusion of the season.

Here are the 32 cast members:

 

Featherweights

Alexandre Ramos (5-0)
Rodrigo Damm (9-5)
Rony Mariano Bezerra (10-3)
Godofredo Pepey (8-0)
Marcos Vinicius Borges Pancini (19-3-1)
Medeiros Anistavio (12-7)
Johnny Goncalves (4-0)
Hugo Viana (5-0)
Fernando Duarte Guerra (10-1)
John Teixeira (13-0-1)
Rafael Bueno (7-1)
Wagner Campos (11-3)
Pedro Nobre (10-0-1)
Fabricio de Assis Costa da Silva (14-1)
Dileno Lopes (8-0)
Giovanni da Silva Santos Jr. (10-1)

 

 

Middleweights

Sergio Moraes (6-1)
Cezar Ferreira (4-2)
Leonardo Mafra Teixeira (5-0)
Daniel Sarafian  (7-2)
Gustavo Sampaio (5-1)
Richardson Moreira (3-0)
Fabio Luiz Vital da Costa (9-0-1)
Renee Forte (7-1)
Joao Paulo de Souza (8-4)
Francisco Drinaldo (10-1)
Thiago Rela (3-1)
Charles Maicon (8-1)
Gilberto Galvao (19-4-1)
Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo (8-1-1)
Samuel Trindade (6-1)
Delson Heleno (23-6)

 

This season looks to be exciting, just by the names of the fighters who will grace the show. Probably the most notable featherweight of the bunch is Rodrigo Damm, who is a Strikeforce, Sengoku and Jungle Fights veteran. Probably the most notable middleweight on the show is Delson Heleno, who has fought professionally since 2001. Heleno notably has defeated Jake Ellenberger earlier in his career.

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil premieres March 25th in Brazil and will be rebroadcast with subtitles on FUEL TV.

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Anderson Silva: What Would the Middleweight Division Be Like Without Him?

The UFC’s middleweight division may not be the strongest perceived division in the lineup of eight, but it certainly is home to one of the best MMA fighters of all time. Anderson Silva has reigned supreme over the 185-pound division since 2006. H…

The UFC’s middleweight division may not be the strongest perceived division in the lineup of eight, but it certainly is home to one of the best MMA fighters of all time.

Anderson Silva has reigned supreme over the 185-pound division since 2006. He has not lost in his two bouts at light heavyweight and has finished most of his opponents. However, having a fighter who is as dominant as he is makes the rest of the division seem like a shadow. 

Despite what many might say, the Middleweight division is not weak. It may be one of the “weakest” of the eight, but it is not weak in regards to talent and good fighters. While light heavyweight and lightweight have huge pools of talent, it does not mean that middleweight doesn’t have any talent at all aside from the champ.

The question to ask, though, is what would happen to the division if tomorrow there were no Silva? 

It has become second nature to think of “The Spider” when anyone mentions the middleweight division in MMA, but what if he disappeared or retired tomorrow? 

Probably the most predominant change, but one that would be realized over time, is the perception. The division is perceived as weak or “not as stacked” as others. This is due to every fan’s own personal criteria, but it also has to do with the fact that Silva has been so far beyond the talent of the rest in his division.

In essence, he is so good that he makes other good fighters look not as good as they really are.

If Silva were to vanish from the division, the division would start looking much more competitive. Not that it wasn’t before, but many people find a division more exciting when there is an arguable chance that any one of the top five contenders could give the champ a run for their money. With Silva, some people don’t see him challenged, minus Chael Sonnen. 

Without Silva at the helm, you have a great set of fighters vying for the title. Since most of the top contenders are well-matched amongst themselves, without Silva, the battle for the championship would be much more interesting.

Fighters like Michael Bisping, Chael Sonnen, Mark Munoz, Vitor Belfort, Rousimar Palhares, Brian Stann and others would suddenly get a jump in ratings and within a year’s time, these rankings would change drastically from what they have been these past years. 

You would have a new champ, with a bunch of talented fighters who could win on any given night. Within the names listed above, there are none that are as clear a bet as Silva is in his current position. This is not to make it sound like they are not consistent or talented, since they are clearly the opposite, but match any of these men up with each other, and the betting odds are closer than if you pitted them against Silva. 

Without Silva in the division, you might also see a few others return/show up to the division. Dan Henderson would be a candidate if he isn’t LHW champ or something by then, or some welterweights may want to move up.

It would certainly make an easier road for GSP to attempt to get to the top. If the UFC acquires Hector Lombard, Tim Kennedy, Ronaldo Souza, etc, they would also be adding to the pool and the middleweight division would be revolutionized. 

Of course, other fighters already in the UFC 185 division would have their chance to climb back up, if Silva were gone. Leben, Okami and Maia are a few, and if the UFC ever gets back Nate Marquardt, the division becomes a stacked place of great fighters where each of them has a significant chance to win the title. 

Silva may not drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, but time is certainly working against him at this point in his career. He does not have many years left, and being 36 and starting in MMA in 1997, one can only speculate as to when he will go downhill. Either he will begin to show wear, tear and age, or he will retire.

After the Sonnen fight, not many are sure what lies in front of him if he beats Sonnen again. There is always someone coming up in the ranks, but Silva will only be taking on challengers for so long. 

For now, we are honored to watch such an athlete perform, despite our own personal feelings about him. We are fortunate to be able to look back years later and say that we got to watch a man become of the greatest of all time in this sport. Every generation has its “Jordan” or “Ali”; Silva is ours.

If he ends up training Jon Jones, as the LHW champ has expressed interest in, it makes for a great story of passing the torch. 

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Top 10 MMA Fights That Almost Happened, Plus One

The business of making fights cannot be as easy as one thinks. It’s more than just a simple matter of that which is most basic: logistics and timing.It’s also about imagining a fight so totally that the matchmaker can see real drama in the …

The business of making fights cannot be as easy as one thinks. It’s more than just a simple matter of that which is most basic: logistics and timing.

It’s also about imagining a fight so totally that the matchmaker can see real drama in the destruction, and then make a fight that delivers on the promise of his imagination.

In other words, it’s about the business of predicting those fights that will yield the greatest fireworks show, time and time again.

But as anyone who has followed the sport for even a short amount of time knows, many is the fight that was not made, no matter how great it promised to be.

So here is a list of the fights that could have been. Let your imagination wander…

Begin Slideshow

MMA: Tim Boetsch Interested in Fighting Michael Bisping

After his huge upset win over former title challenger Yushin Okami at UFC 144 in Japan, UFC middleweight contender Tim Boetsch (15-4) has no plans of stopping his win streak, while merging closer to a title shot with possibly the best fighter of all ti…

After his huge upset win over former title challenger Yushin Okami at UFC 144 in Japan, UFC middleweight contender Tim Boetsch (15-4) has no plans of stopping his win streak, while merging closer to a title shot with possibly the best fighter of all time.

“The Barbarian” moved to the middleweight division in 2011, after a loss to Phil Davis at light-heavyweight, and has now knocked off three fighters, including Okami, Nick Ring and Kendall Grove.

In a recent interview with Full Contact Fighter, Boetsch claims he feels like he hits harder at middleweight than he did at 205 pounds. With only two knockout wins in his last nine fights, Boetsch believes fans forgot just how capable he is of knocking his opponents out.

His power was evident in the Okami fight, and after being dominated for the better part of the first two rounds, he pressured the Japanese fighter in the third and stopped him with less than a minute into the round with a brutal barrage of uppercuts.

Now, it’s just a question of who’s next.

“I’d like to think my next fight will be against whoever’s next in line to determine who will face the winner of the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen fight,” Boetsch said. “Definitely, I’d like to take on a top-three fighter.”

“Bisping’s name has been on my agenda for a long time,” he continued. “Even back when we were at light heavyweight, he was someone I wanted to fight.”

Bisping recently dropped a unanimous decision to consensus No. 2 middleweight fighter Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2. It was a fight that many people thought the British fighter had won, but the judges went the other way and set up arguably the biggest rematch in UFC history between Sonnen and Silva.

“I think he did a heck of a job against Chael and he’s certainly up there as a contender,” Boetsch said. “It will be interesting to see who they come with, and whoever they do, I’ll be ready.”

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