UFC Having More Events in 2012 Equals Weaker Main Events

The UFC is not equipped with an adequate enough roster to handle the amount of events they are going to put on in 2012. They are quickly outpacing the amount of talent they have under contract with the schedule they have.The new deal that the UFC made …

The UFC is not equipped with an adequate enough roster to handle the amount of events they are going to put on in 2012. They are quickly outpacing the amount of talent they have under contract with the schedule they have.

The new deal that the UFC made with FOX means that not only will the promotion see fights on network TV, but on cable channels such as FX and Fuel as well. That isn’t including all the pay-per-views that the UFC will put on or the Ultimate Fighter Finale cards.

The UFC is reaching a point where their brand is MMA and without any changes made to it, it is going to get stale fast. Part of that is the fact that only so many fighters can be popular in the organization at one time.

Fans can see only so many dominant fighters and exciting, but limited brawlers in one year. Injuries, layoffs and medical suspensions limit how many times a year they can fight. After those times have been exhausted, the UFC is going to put on some lackluster events.

It has happened a few times in the match where the card was less then exciting. A great example is UFC 122. Luckily, the card was free on Spike TV, but the main event was Yushin Okami versus Nate Marquardt. The match was an important one for the middleweight division just not an exciting one.

While there was supposed to be a decent fight between Alessio Sakara and Jorge Rivera, it got cancelled because Sakara got sick right before the match up.

The rest of the card underwhelmed and while part of it was a lack of names, the skill level of most of the participants just didn’t seem to rival that of basic cable cards in the past. The UFC had finally faced a new problem.

Having TV time while not having the talent to deliver the expectations became real.

Dana White can make all the claims he wants about fans not judging fights before they take place, but there is merit to this. Sometimes the fans are right and they should have a say and an impact in which fights get made. They pay to see certain fighters and few else.

When those fighters recover for a certain time, the UFC needs to keep putting on cards, but can’t do so without the help. They need marketable and exciting fighters that fans recognize if they want to sell the product effectively.

When cards like UFC 122 occur, that marketing strategy takes a hit.

The UFC may be making incredible strides and increasing their presence in today’s global sports culture, but they need to make sure they have fighters for the events they are going to be putting on.

Without the quality talent to make the events as entertaining as they have been in the past, the UFC will not only slow down their ascent to the top, but will also end up damaging themselves in the long run.

The UFC may want to move as fast as they can in solidifying their place at the top, but even they have to keep in mind that without the depth of talent, it won’t matter anyway.

 

Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report.  He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.com that focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.


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The 5 Worst Main Events Since UFC 100

Originally this list was supposed to be The Worst Main Events in UFC History, but as soon as I started going back and doing some research I realized that the quality of main events has gotten worse and worse.To be honest, none of these fights was quite…

Originally this list was supposed to be The Worst Main Events in UFC History, but as soon as I started going back and doing some research I realized that the quality of main events has gotten worse and worse.

To be honest, none of these fights was quite as bad as Arlovski-Sylvia 3 or Shamrock-Severn 2, but the percentage of big fights that are underperforming is astounding. 

So before we get into the list, I’m going to ask the million-dollar question: Is MMA less entertaining than it used to be? 

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Greg Jackson too Safe? Well, He Does Wear Rubber Gloves…

Dana White recently targeted beloved coach, Greg Jackson of Jackson’s MMA as a contributor to boring fights in the UFC. Though Jackson holds prestige as the trainer to names like Georges St. Pierre, Jon “Bones” Jones, Rashad Evans, Clay Guida and Carlos Condit to name a few, White believes that Jackson’s lead-with-caution approach is […]

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Dana White recently targeted beloved coach, Greg Jackson of Jackson’s MMA as a contributor to boring fights in the UFC. Though Jackson holds prestige as the trainer to names like Georges St. Pierre, Jon “Bones” Jones, Rashad Evans, Clay Guida and Carlos Condit to name a few, White believes that Jackson’s lead-with-caution approach is hindering the excitement that the fighters should be bringing into the octagon that helps the viewers feel their $49.95 pay-per-view was money well spent. White had a mouthful to say in regard to Greg Jackson’s training methods including that he has respect for Jackson yet his game plans and corner work are “weird”. White summed up his thoughts by saying:

You’ll see guys who are traditionally exciting fighters, but when they go to the Greg Jackson camp they become safety first fighters. Why wouldn’t you tell him ‘go for broke in this third round? This is a close fight.

Greg Jackson had an opportunity to fire back to White’s criticisms earlier today via a phone interview with MMAFighting’s Ben Fowlkes:

Here’s a quick stat for you. So there’s been 22 [UFC events] this year? We had 12 bonuses so far this year, so one out of every two, one of my fighters got Submission of the Night, Knockout of the Night, or Fight of the Night.

Jackson went on to list that Jon Jones had finished every single fight under the Jackson training camp save for a Disqualification against Matt Hamill for an illegal elbow. He also mention’s Carlos Condit’s recent Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night honors with his victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 120.

The comments made by White were after a disappointing performance by Nate Marquardt who lost via Unanimous Decision to Yushin Okami earlier this month at UFC 122. White felt Marquardt had ample opportunity to try and finish Okami in the 3rd round but didn’t feel his corner was urging Marquardt to go for it.

Despite criticism, Greg Jackson remains a favorite MMA coach and is up for Coach of the Year at the 2010 World MMA Awards this Wednesday night. Jackson took top honors last year, so it doesn’t look like you, the fans would have agreed with White in 2009. We’ll see if you’ve had a change of heart this year.

Greg Jackson Fires Back at Dana White Over Recent Criticism

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsMMA trainer Greg Jackson isn’t pleased with some of the recent comments coming from UFC president Dana White, so he decided to do something about it. With White criticizing the Jackson camp for what he describe…

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MMA trainer Greg Jackson isn’t pleased with some of the recent comments coming from UFC president Dana White, so he decided to do something about it. With White criticizing the Jackson camp for what he describes as a boring, conservative approach to fights, Jackson is firing back with a weapon of his own: statistical analysis.

On Monday night Jackson sent MMA Fighting an email listing all the bonus awards and finishes tallied by his fighters in Zuffa events in 2010. The list includes the names of 20 Jackson camp fighters who competed in the UFC or WEC in 2010, but perhaps the most telling figure is the distribution of UFC’s bonuses after each event, Jackson explained.

“Here’s a quick stat for you. So there’s been 22 [UFC events] this year? We had 12 bonuses so far this year,” Jackson said in a phone interview. “So one out of every two, one of my fighters got Submission of the Night, Knockout of the Night, or Fight of the Night.”

And Now He’s Fired: Seth Petruzelli

  (You’ll still always be "The Kimbo Killer" to me, Seth.)
It looks like the post-UFC 122 cuts just keep coming.  Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that Seth Petruzelli has been dropped by the UFC after being finished for the secon…

 
(You’ll still always be "The Kimbo Killer" to me, Seth.)

It looks like the post-UFC 122 cuts just keep coming. 

Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that Seth Petruzelli has been dropped by the UFC after being finished for the second time in as many fights in his most recent stint in the Octagon.

30-year-old Petruzelli (12-6 MMA, 0-4 UFC), who lost by TKO to Karlos Vemola at the event in Oberhausen, Germany 10 days ago and was also submitted  by Ricardo Romera at UFC 116 in July in his first fight back since being dropped by the promotion originally in 2007 joins fellow UFC 122 losers Peter Sobotta and Goran Reljic on the unemployement line. Both fighters were also given their pink slips by the promotion because of their respective three-fight losing skids.

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Alessio Sakara’s ‘Flu-Like Symptoms’ Could Have Been Weight-Cut Related

(If you can’t laugh at Jorge’s smiley-face-tie-tuxedo underwear, something’s definitely wrong with you. Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)
Alessio Sakara has been conspicuously silent about his health since dropping out of UFC 122’s co-main event. The Am…

Jorge Rivera Alessio Sakara UFC 122 weigh-ins
(If you can’t laugh at Jorge’s smiley-face-tie-tuxedo underwear, something’s definitely wrong with you. Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

Alessio Sakara has been conspicuously silent about his health since dropping out of UFC 122’s co-main event. The American Top Team fighter was slated to take on Jorge Rivera, but instead pulled out just hours before the match due to "flu-like symptoms." So what was really going on with him? British MMA journalist Gareth Davies has a theory, which he shared on MMA Live:

"I have it on good authority that 8 or 9 days before bout was due to take place; Alessio Sakara was walking around at 220 pounds. He failed to show for the fighter workouts on the Thursday in Italy. He was walking around the fight hotel looking very gaunt and ghostlike. When you take that much weigh off, that quickly, it does bring on illness sometimes and I do fear this may have happened here with Alessio Sakara. And it doesn’t do him any favors with the UFC, I can guarantee you that."

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