(And to think, if the guy on the left had won, we’d have a new outright champion by now. Photo via Getty.)
October 1st will mark the two year anniversary (?) of the last time we saw bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz defend his title in the octagon. Multiple ACL tears and a rejected cadaver ligament transplant have seen the once dominant champion sidelined ever since his 2011 battle with now flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. As such, the bantamweight division has been stuck in a perpetual state of limbo, frustrating fans, fighters and most importantly, Dominick Cruz.
But perhaps the only person more frustrated by Cruz’s arduous road to recovery than the champ himself is interim title holder Renan Barao, who recently became the first fighter in UFC history to defend said title twice (via a second round KO of Eddie Wineland at UFC 165). Actually, Barao is the first fighter in UFC history to ever defend an interim belt. Unfortunately, the Brazilian isn’t seeing many benefits of being the closest thing to a champion his division has seen in a dog’s age.
That’s at least, according to Nova Uniao head trainer Andre Pederneiras, who recently appeared on MMAJunkie radio to discuss Barao’s current predicament:
He’s very frustrated because he needs to make money. So many sponsors here in Brazil are not sponsoring him because he’s not the real champion from the UFC. He’s the interim champion. He’s losing money every day.
The sponsors here want a real champion. A linear champion.
(And to think, if the guy on the left had won, we’d have a new outright champion by now. Photo via Getty.)
October 1st will mark the two year anniversary (?) of the last time we saw bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz defend his title in the octagon. Multiple ACL tears and a rejected cadaver ligament transplant have seen the once dominant champion sidelined ever since his 2011 battle with now flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. As such, the bantamweight division has been stuck in a perpetual state of limbo, frustrating fans, fighters and most importantly, Dominick Cruz.
But perhaps the only person more frustrated by Cruz’s arduous road to recovery than the champ himself is interim title holder Renan Barao, who recently became the first fighter in UFC history to defend said title twice (via a second round KO of Eddie Wineland at UFC 165). Actually, Barao is the first fighter in UFC history to ever defend an interim belt. Unfortunately, the Brazilian isn’t seeing many benefits of being the closest thing to a champion his division has seen in a dog’s age.
That’s at least, according to Nova Uniao head trainer Andre Pederneiras, who recently appeared on MMAJunkie radio to discuss Barao’s current predicament:
He’s very frustrated because he needs to make money. So many sponsors here in Brazil are not sponsoring him because he’s not the real champion from the UFC. He’s the interim champion. He’s losing money every day.
The sponsors here want a real champion. A linear champion.
We’ve seen several message boards around the MMA blogosphere making the case that, had Urijah Faber defeated Barao at UFC 149, he would have arguably been promoted to outright champion by now. Why? Because although Barao being champion would clearly be more profitable for Barao, a well known, *American* star like Faber being champion would be far more profitable for the UFC. It would fuel the already heated rivalry between Cruz and Faber, it would give the UFC an opportunity to promote a champion, etc. Cruz would have been able to cash in that lottery ticket he missed out on at UFC 148, so to speak.
Just an observation.
But there is hope, as “The Dominator” is currently eyeing a February 2014 return. It’s a timetable that Pederneiras and company are eager to see come to fruition. Otherwise, well…
I don’t want another opponent. I want to make the fight happen by February, or I need to talk to Dana to take his belt, because more than two-and-a-half years, I don’t understand. But he said he was probably going to be fighting in February.
I’ve been waiting for that and praying every day for it to happen. Renan wants to fight Dominick.
(Cruz, seen here showing off the results of his latest trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s. Those ball pits can be VICIOUS.)
For the past two years, the UFC’s bantamweight division has been an absolute ghost town, plagued by injury to the point that even its replacement champion hasn’t been able to come out unscathed. I can’t remember the last time I typed Dominick Cruz’s name into the CagePotato CMS, to be honest — as I do it now, a message asks me if I meant “Domino’s Crust” and that doesn’t even make any goddamn sense.
While there’s not much than anyone can do to speed up Cruz’s recovery time — the man is coming off double knee surgery (including a botched cadaver-ACL transplant), for Christ’s sake — there comes a time when a champion’s inability to defend his own belt should come at a cost. Paul Taylor was recently released by the UFC simply because he has been plagued by injury and incredibly bad luck since 2011. Not that he and Cruz are exactly comparable in terms of their standings in the promotion, but at what point should the UFC step in and force Cruz to hand over his baseball to the kids who can actually play with it? It’s a question that the champ himself cannot answer, but if you think he is even worried about it, think again:
I can’t worry about the belt. It’s really not my position to decide whether I keep it because I’ve been injured or whether Dana takes it or whether Barao has it. The belt is there. The bottom line is me getting healthy so I can go out there and do what I do best which is prove why I am where I am today.
(Cruz, seen here showing off the results of his latest trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s. Those ball pits can be VICIOUS.)
For the past two years, the UFC’s bantamweight division has been an absolute ghost town, plagued by injury to the point that even its replacement champion hasn’t been able to come out unscathed. I can’t remember the last time I typed Dominick Cruz’s name into the CagePotato CMS, to be honest — as I do it now, a message asks me if I meant “Domino’s Crust” and that doesn’t even make any goddamn sense.
While there’s not much than anyone can do to speed up Cruz’s recovery time — the man is coming off double knee surgery (including a botched cadaver-ACL transplant), for Christ’s sake — there comes a time when a champion’s inability to defend his own belt should come at a cost. Paul Taylor was recently released by the UFC simply because he has been plagued by injury and incredibly bad luck since 2011. Not that he and Cruz are exactly comparable in terms of their standings in the promotion, but at what point should the UFC step in and force Cruz to hand over his baseball to the kids who can actually play with it? It’s a question that the champ himself cannot answer, but if you think he is even worried about it, think again:
I can’t worry about the belt. It’s really not my position to decide whether I keep it because I’ve been injured or whether Dana takes it or whether Barao has it. The belt is there. The bottom line is me getting healthy so I can go out there and do what I do best which is prove why I am where I am today. I’m not here by accident. I work hard to be there I’m at and I’m working hard in therapy to make sure I return to form as soon as possible. That’s the goal. It’s been a very tedious, tough process…. Nobody wants to wait including me. I don’t want to have to wait but I don’t really have a choice at this point other than to take my time and come back strong.
We’d never want a fighter put the needs of his job over those of his own personal health, but at the same time, if Cruz isn’t going to be back in fighting form for the rest of the year (his last surgery was in December 2012, with a 6-to-9 month recovery time), shouldn’t the UFC feel obligated to some degree to strip his title? The bantamweight division might not be the most stacked one in the world right now, but there are still a few matchups to be had that could make for excellent title fights. To essentially deny that opportunity to the rest of the division (and the payday that comes with it) for a champion who has been M.I.A. since 2011 seems a little absurd, does it not?
Though the UFC has been messing around with interim titles since 2003, Barao vs. McDonald will be just the second third time that a UFC interim champion will fight another contender while the actual champ remains sidelined. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was the last to do so, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against Tim Sylvia in February 2008, then lost it in an interim title defense against Frank Mir later that year. (Update: Andrei Arlovski did it before Nog, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against, yes, Tim Sylvia in February 2005, then defended it successfully against Justin Eilers four months later. Arlovski was declared the UFC’s official heavyweight champion after that fight.)
Barao, who originally planned to wait out Cruz’s injury to ensure a shot at the unified belt, won his interim title in a decision against Urijah Faber in July, extending his career win streak to 19 (!), the last four of which have come inside the Octagon. McDonald is also 4-0 in the UFC, and is coming off first-round knockouts of Miguel Torres and Alex Soto. As MMAFighting points out, McDonald has the opportunity to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history should he find a way to beat the Brazilian juggernaut.
After the jump: Dominick Cruz shares more details about his recent re-injury, and how he’s dealing with the setback.
Though the UFC has been messing around with interim titles since 2003, Barao vs. McDonald will be just the second third time that a UFC interim champion will fight another contender while the actual champ remains sidelined. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was the last to do so, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against Tim Sylvia in February 2008, then lost it in an interim title defense against Frank Mir later that year. (Update: Andrei Arlovski did it before Nog, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against, yes, Tim Sylvia in February 2005, then defended it successfully against Justin Eilers four months later. Arlovski was declared the UFC’s official heavyweight champion after that fight.)
Barao, who originally planned to wait out Cruz’s injury to ensure a shot at the unified belt, won his interim title in a decision against Urijah Faber in July, extending his career win streak to 19 (!), the last four of which have come inside the Octagon. McDonald is also 4-0 in the UFC, and is coming off first-round knockouts of Miguel Torres and Alex Soto. As MMAFighting points out, McDonald has the opportunity to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history should he find a way to beat the Brazilian juggernaut.
After the jump: Dominick Cruz shares more details about his recent re-injury, and how he’s dealing with the setback.
If you’re like us, you’re probably sick to death of watching interim champions all but refuse to defend their titles while the actual champions remain on the shelf. So when Renan Barao’s camp announced that he would be taking the Carlos Condit approach to the interim title, we here at the CP offices let out a collective groan before pouring another round of Johnnie Walker Blue Label on the rocks — also known as our HR department — and prepared for a long winter of semi-meaningful-but-not-really bantamweight fights. Thankfully, Dana White is a Johnnie Walker man, and after he smashed a bottle of it over Danga’s head, we managed to come to an agreement regarding the UFC’s last remaining interim champ.
White recently told MMAWeekly that Barao will likely be defending his belt before champion Dominick Cruz is back in action, and his potential opponent should come as a surprise to no one.
(Don’t fart…don’t fart…don’t fart…don’t fart…)
Well here’s a bit of good news for once.
If you’re like us, you’re probably sick to death of watching interim champions all but refuse to defend their titles while the actual champions remain on the shelf. So when Renan Barao’s camp announced that he would be taking the Carlos Condit approach to the interim title, we here at the CP offices let out a collective groan before pouring another round of Johnnie Walker Blue Label on the rocks — also known as our HR department — and prepared for a long winter of semi-meaningful-but-not-really bantamweight fights. Thankfully, Dana White is a Johnnie Walker man, and after he smashed a bottle of it over Danga’s head, we managed to come to an agreement regarding the UFC’s last remaining interim champ.
White recently told MMAWeekly that Barao will likely be defending his belt before champion Dominick Cruz is back in action, and his potential opponent should come as a surprise to no one:
We were talking about Barão defending his title now,” revealed White. “Whether he wants to wait or not, we’re going to go back to him probably soon here and have him defend it.”
Although nothing is on the books just yet, White indicated that the likely challenger to Barão’s interim belt would be Michael McDonald.
We haven’t seen McDonald since he knocked Miguel Torres right out of the UFC at 145, but the kid has been on an absolute killing spree since entering the UFC — picking up four straight victories and two end of the night bonuses in just over a year — so it makes all kinds of sense to have him and Barao square off to see who the true top dog of the division is.
We will keep you informed as details are made available, but in the mean time, who do you like for this potential showdown, Potato Nation?
(“OK guys, the winner gets an interim belt, the loser has to purchase a replica from Wal-Mart. I assure you that they both carry the exact same value.”)
In a recent interview with Latin American online news network, UOL, bantamweight interim champion Renan Barao‘s coach, Andre Pederneiras, declared that Barao would not be defending his interim strap and instead would wait for Dominick Cruz to recover from the ACL injury that set up Barao vs. Urijah Faber at UFC 149. And before the MMA media could even begin to make the comparison to Carlos Condit, Pederneiras did it for us, stating:
[Barao] just won the title, he just fought. We will wait. Look how long the wait was for Condit and GSP to unify the belt?
Where Pederneiras was attempting to use the Condit comparison as a justification for Barao’s decision to essentially put the bantamweight division on hold for the time being, he unknowingly summed up the inherent pointlessness of the interim title in the first place.
As you are all aware, the interim title essentially serves as a placeholder for the division’s number one contender (at the time) in the absence of a champion. The problem being that, by declaring the number one contender to be “a champion” when they are anything but — and I mean this with all due respect to Condit and Barao — you are basically giving a contender a power that they have not rightfully earned: the power to pick and choose who they fight.
(“OK guys, the winner gets an interim belt, the loser has to purchase a replica from Wal-Mart. I assure you that they both carry the exact same value.”)
In a recent interview with Latin American online news network, UOL, bantamweight interim champion Renan Barao‘s coach, Andre Pederneiras, declared that Barao would not be defending his interim strap and instead would wait for Dominick Cruz to recover from the ACL injury that set up Barao vs. Urijah Faber at UFC 149. And before the MMA media could even begin to make the comparison to Carlos Condit, Pederneiras did it for us, stating:
[Barao] just won the title, he just fought. We will wait. Look how long the wait was for Condit and GSP to unify the belt?
Where Pederneiras was attempting to use the Condit comparison as a justification for Barao’s decision to essentially put the bantamweight division on hold for the time being, he unknowingly summed up the inherent pointlessness of the interim title in the first place.
As you are all aware, the interim title essentially serves as a placeholder for the division’s number one contender (at the time) in the absence of a champion. The problem being that, by declaring the number one contender to be “a champion” when they are anything but — and I mean this with all due respect to Condit and Barao — you are basically giving a contender a power that they have not rightfully earned: the power to pick and choose who they fight.
Whether you agree with or not, there are certain perks that come with being the alpha male of your division. One of them (although this fluctuates from division to division) is the ability to turn down potential matchups. Jon Jones has done it, Anderson Silva has done it, and even Captain America has done it. Is it fair? Well, we’re really not going to get into that, but when the UFC gives a power normally reserved for champions to an interim champ, not only does it 1) clog up the division indefinitely, but 2) cripples your promotion’s ability to hype any other top-level matchup in the division until the champion/interim situation is resolved and 3) cheapens the value of the actual title.
If you’re looking for an example of this, look no further than the welterweight division. It was first reported that Georges St. Pierrehad blown out his ACL back in December of last year. Using a combination of freakish genetics and determination, St. Pierre is on schedule to defend his title on November 19th at UFC 154, nearly a year after he was struck with the injury. And that’s a speedy recovery, folks.
Meanwhile, Dana White and the UFC have declared Martin Kampmann vs. Jake Ellenberger, Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks (for “Bigg Rigg” at least) and now Martin Kampmann vs. Johny Hendricks to be “number one contender” bouts. The problem being that the division already has a number one contender; his name is Carlos Condit, and he has apparently been able to hold his status as such despite the fact that he hasn’t fought since February. It would be no leap in logic to declare that Condit could have fought either Hendricks or Kampmann while GSP was away, which would have 1) helped clear up a division that is rife with contenders 2) kept Condit fresh and in fighting mode and 3) kept Condit’s name fresh on the tongues of the fans.
Instead, we’ve been forced to sit on our thumbs and wait on a division that has not one but two champions that have been out of action for the better part of 2012. From both a business standpoint and a fan’s standpoint, this makes absolutely no sense. If the UFC wants to declare Condit “the champion,” then he better be willing to defend his title against however many contenders arise in the actual champion’s absence. When you take the belt out of the picture, the number one contender is usually determinedby the man who has scored the most impressive wins recently. MMA is a “what have you done lately” sport, and allowing one of your top contenders to take a year-long hiatus for his shot while other title-worthy contenders wait in line, risk injury, or risk getting upset in one of the less meaningful matches they are forced to take because of the wait is a backwards policy to say the least.
Barao can almost get a pass in his case because the bantamweight division does not have nearly the amount of potential contenders waiting in line as the welterweight division does. But who knows who could emerge as a potential contender before Cruz actually returns to action? Cruz tore his ACL back in May. Given a minimum recovery time of 9 months, we’re looking at a tentative return for the champ of February 2013. Elsewhere in the division, Michael McDonald has gone a perfect 5-0 in the UFC and just knocked out one of the division’s most dominant champions in his last appearance. Rather than having Barao sit around staring at the clock for the next 4 months, why not have these two square off for the right to face Cruz? Again, it would keep both men fresh, as well as set up a clear contender that fans might actually recognize when it’s time to start hyping up the Cruz match.
With St. Pierre, Cruz, and now Aldo out of action yet again, their respective divisions have become ghost towns, due in part to the UFC’s decision to crown interim champions (with the exception of featherweight) who seem content to do anything but reassert the fact that they are the true top contender in said divisions in the first place. And because of this, we’re stuck with a bunch of number two contender bouts being passed off as something more than they are.
Don’t get us wrong, Kampmann vs. Hendricks is a great pairing, and a lot of these matchups, or lack thereof, can be attributed to the great injury curse of 2012. But what if Hendricks/Kampmann is a lackluster, tedious affair ala Cote vs. Almeida at UFC 86, or ends in a controversial decision? You’ve essentially eliminated the credibility of two top contenders in order to ensure the credibility of one (your interim champ), who should have fought at least one of these two gentlemen to begin with. And God help us if Condit and St. Pierre fight to a draw or a controversial decision themselves, or get injured after doing so, because then we’ll be seeing Nick Diaz vs. Kampmann/Hendricks, or Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald (if he gets past Penn), or Kampmann vs. Macdonald for the new interim title and this mind-numbing process will start all over again.
It’s time to put an end to this “interim champion” business, because it is costing the UFC a ton of meaningful fights in a time where they are coming fewer and farther between. But above all, it is costing the UFC money. And to quote the man himself, “It doesn’t make sense.”
I have purchased pay per views from the Ultimate Fighting Championship since 1994, where I was welcomed to the sport with Pat Smith turning the face of Scott Morris into a Manwich at UFC 2: No Way Out. It was like heroin after that – I was addicted. Since then, I estimate that I have shelled out well over $5000 on PPVs alone, much less another sizeable chunk of change on tickets to live events and the obligatory UFC merchandise (who can live without the life-sized GSP cardboard cut-out – NOT ME).
Throughout that time I have been an advocate of MMA to the uninformed masses that I’ve encountered at watering holes across this great land. For every, “That UFC shit is just a legalized bar fight” comment, I would swoop in like Dogwelder to defend the UFC and its competitors. It was almost a grass roots effort by the early UFC supporters to educate the ignorant and let them know that this is a real sport filled with unbelievably talented athletes. The edification continues today as many intelligent fans try to shun the perceived stigma that we are a bunch of tatted-up dudes wearing flat-billed TAPOUT hats and driving small-penis-compensating monster trucks while applying ring worm ointment to our wounds.
Then there was the figure-head, the fearless leader that was taking all the media scrutiny head-on and paving the way while holding up his middle finger to the man. After the ZUFFA purchase, Dana White was a perfect fit during the infancy of the UFC’s push towards legitimacy. Adopting rules and weight classes and marketing the shit out of the product culminated in a 7 year deal with FOX and its affiliates. Now the UFC is on the precipice of its fourth nationally televised FOX card and the ratings have plummeted from 5.7 million during UFC on FOX 1 (Cain Velasquez VS Junior Dos Santos) to 2.4 million during UFC on FOX 3 (Nate Diaz VS Jim Miller).
I don’t think it is a coincidence that viewership and PPV buys are down. I have always been a staunch supporter of the brand and even I, a die hard fan, am starting to see chinks in the UFC armor. The reasons have been dissected on CP with various posts but I believe that this is just the beginning of problems for the UFC unless some changes are made pronto. I am not saying that the UFC is in the toilet but as the organization has grown in stature from eviscerating the competition, a standard evolution needs to happen.
So with that in mind, here are five ways that the UFC can move from their current plateau all the way to the mountain top.
(When Zuffa purchased the UFC, Dana White actually had hair. There is no punchline, just a fact worth mentioning.)
I have purchased pay per views from the Ultimate Fighting Championship since 1994, where I was welcomed to the sport with Pat Smith turning the face of Scott Morris into a Manwich at UFC 2: No Way Out. It was like heroin after that – I was addicted. Since then, I estimate that I have shelled out well over $5000 on PPVs alone, much less another sizeable chunk of change on tickets to live events and the obligatory UFC merchandise (who can live without the life-sized GSP cardboard cut-out – NOT ME).
Throughout that time I have been an advocate of MMA to the uninformed masses that I’ve encountered at watering holes across this great land. For every, “That UFC shit is just a legalized bar fight” comment, I would swoop in like Dogwelder to defend the UFC and its competitors. It was almost a grass roots effort by the early UFC supporters to educate the ignorant and let them know that this is a real sport filled with unbelievably talented athletes. The edification continues today as many intelligent fans try to shun the perceived stigma that we are a bunch of tatted-up dudes wearing flat-billed TAPOUT hats and driving small-penis-compensating monster trucks while applying ring worm ointment to our wounds.
Then there was the figure-head, the fearless leader that was taking all the media scrutiny head-on and paving the way while holding up his middle finger to the man. After the ZUFFA purchase, Dana White was a perfect fit during the infancy of the UFC’s push towards legitimacy. Adopting rules and weight classes and marketing the shit out of the product culminated in a 7 year deal with FOX and its affiliates. Now the UFC is on the precipice of its fourth nationally televised FOX card and the ratings have plummeted from 5.7 million during UFC on FOX 1 (Cain Velasquez VS Junior Dos Santos) to 2.4 million during UFC on FOX 3 (Nate Diaz VS Jim Miller).
I don’t think it is a coincidence that viewership and PPV buys are down. I have always been a staunch supporter of the brand and even I, a die hard fan, am starting to see chinks in the UFC armor. The reasons have been dissected on CP with various posts but I believe that this is just the beginning of problems for the UFC unless some changes are made pronto. I am not saying that the UFC is in the toilet but as the organization has grown in stature from eviscerating the competition, a standard evolution needs to happen.
So with that in mind, here are five ways that the UFC can move from their current plateau all the way to the mountain top.
1. DEAL WITH OVERSATURATION (Example A: Deeming matchups like these headliner-worthy.)
There are (and I can’t believe I am saying this) an overabundance of fights provided (both free or PPVs) throughout the Zuffa calendar year, and the fans have been inundated with this variety of contests. The fact that there are three Zuffa-run cards (UFC on FOX 4, UFC 150 and a Strikeforce event) over the course of the next three weeks illustrates my point exactly. Great, right? Well, seeing how it has been a thoroughly mixed bag of good and bad fight cards, it is not all roses. UFC on FOX 2 showcased every fight going to a decision, TUF LIVE tanked, and who could forget the turd in the swimming pool that was UFC 149.
Sure, it is easy to pick on the bad cards, but there is a mammoth quantity of MEDIO-CORE fighters on the roster due to Zuffa buying most of the competition. So the UFC has gone from 19 fight cards (12 PPV mixed with 7 Fight Night/TUF Finales) in 2007 to holding somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 this year (and that is UFC only events). Yes, we all get to see more fights, but I remember when a UFC card was an event in and of itself. It was a special, once-a-month occasion, and now (with the exception of the occasional championship fight) it seems to have grown a bit monotonous. The UFC needs to trim the herd or start a lower level organization for up-and-comers or wash-outs while keeping the cream of the crop for the main cards. I vaguely recall an organization that accomplished this perfectly (Wicked Exciting Cagefighting?). Wonder what happened to those guys.
2. BOOK THE MARQUEE MATCHUPS
Dana White has said on numerous occasions that the difference between the UFC and boxing has a lot to do with promoters as well as the UFC’s ability to put the big fights together. That used to be true. The Potato Nation was fairly vocal about an Anderson Silva vs. GSP bout not that long ago. It never happened. The new flavor of the week is Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. That is another fight that is more than likely not going to happen, because as we all know, Bones doesn’t want to risk ruining “his greatness.” Hubris, Jon, it has its pratfalls.
When the UFC brass announcing that the most exciting winner on the UFC on FOX 4 card will be next in line for a LHW title shot, we were all a bit confused. Two things MUST happen for this announcement to hold any credence. First off, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has to turn Brandon Vera’s nose into Cung Le’s toe and earn the #1 contender status. Secondly, Dan Henderson must land his H-Bomb on the chin of Bones and put him to sleep. Then we get Hendo VS Shogun II for the LHW championship of the world, a notion that has already given me (and all of you people) a half-chub. Let’s be perfectly honest, although it is possible for these scenarios to play out, the likelihood of both materializing is a stretch. The UFC used to make the real main event fights happen. The BJ Penn vs Matt Hughes and GSP fights and the Chuck Liddell vs Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz fights were all must-see TV and the ratings proved it.
Click the “next” tab to learn yourself three more ways the UFC can turn things around…
