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An exciting featherweight showdown is on the horizon, as UFC 152 plays host to a potential contenders bout between Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson. Both men have looked great in the UFC’s featherweight division. Other than one setback against Ric…
An exciting featherweight showdown is on the horizon, as UFC 152 plays host to a potential contenders bout between Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson.
Both men have looked great in the UFC’s featherweight division. Other than one setback against Ricardo Lamas, Swanson has looked like a world-beater. Oliveira‘s 145-lb. record remains in tact, so this is another important stepping stone for the Brazilian.
Here is a head-to-toe breakdown of the fight set to take place over the weekend.
Most in this world believe Vitor Belfort is in an impossible situation going into his fight on Saturday night with Jon Jones.He’s a decided underdog, and Jones is expected to make quick work of him in the cage on Saturday. But Belfort still believes, a…
Most in this world believe Vitor Belfort is in an impossible situation going into his fight on Saturday night with Jon Jones.
He’s a decided underdog, and Jones is expected to make quick work of him in the cage on Saturday. But Belfort still believes, and he says he’s more ready than ever to go in the cage and shock the world at UFC 152.
Bleacher Report caught up with Belfort this week in Toronto to discuss the fight. Check out the video above.
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The biggest stars in the sport of boxing loom large only at the box office. Floyd Mayweather Junior is a tiny man. Paired with the WWE’s Big Show at WrestleMania a few years ago, he looked like somebody’s kid brother, like Booker T had lost track of hi…
The biggest stars in the sport of boxing loom large only at the box office. Floyd Mayweather Junior is a tiny man. Paired with the WWE’s Big Show at WrestleMania a few years ago, he looked like somebody’s kid brother, like Booker T had lost track of his oldest son, who proceeded to sneak down into the ring.
Manny Pacquiao is almost three inches shorter than the average American male. He weighs nearly fifty pounds less than a typical American man, a shocking 19 pounds less the typical American woman. Yet, fans don’t seem to hold his munchin-esque size against him, worshiping him like a deity in his home country and paying millions to watch him fight here.
Boxing is a little man’s sport. But the same trend hasn’t taken hold in the world of mixed martial arts. Smaller fighters have traditionally been a bust in the Octagon, with only B.J. Penn and Urijah Faber standing out in the UFC’s 18-year history.
Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson, despite fighting for a UFC title, will not headline UFC 152. They aren’t even in the second biggest fight of the night. The perception is that the UFC simply can’t sell the public on 125-pound men.
But why?
Why aren’t they buying into the smaller weight classes? In boxing, fans have embraced diminutive fighters, making Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao kings of their sport. UFC fans have had the same opportunity with Edgar, but have made the choice to save their bucks for scraps with bigger men, and presumably in their minds, bigger stakes.
I’m not sure why that is. It seems there is a divide between how fans view their respective sports. In boxing, fans identify with artistry. When you order a big boxing show, you expect to settle in for a night of action. The story inside the ring builds as the night goes on, with commentators like HBO’s Jim Lampley doing their best to make even the most boring fight seem like a Homerian epic.
In mixed martial arts, fans have been trained to expect the opposite. The violence is quick, arriving like a bolt of lightning and evaporating just as quickly. As a kid, I remember how furious my dad’s friends were when Mike Tyson’s fight with Michael Spinks ended so quickly. They wanted more than a brutal knockout. In MMA, the quick KO will suffice for most fans, thank you very much.
Recent research by the essential folks at Fight Metric and Fightnomics shows that facts back up my theory that fans want, and will pay for, fight-ending violence. The bigger guys, the ones that move pay per views and ratings, are also statistically better finishers:
The conclusion: Size matters. Stoppages increase steadily by weight class; but while striking finish rates correlate strongly with increasing weight, submissions have a weaker, negative correlation. Keep in mind that bantamweights and featherweights have a short history in the UFC so far, so expect some possible smoothing out of those division trends over the next year.
Big men equal big knockouts. And that, it seems, more than any other factor, establishes the light heavyweight and heavyweight classes at the top of the UFC pecking order. It doesn’t just seem like the big boys provide that satisfying jolt of pure violence, that “V” we all crave as MMA fans—they actually do and the numbers back it up.
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Demetrious Johnson enters UFC 152 as the underdog in the UFC flyweight tournament finals against Joseph Benavidez.The former UFC bantamweight title contender brings a 15-2-1 overall record to the Octagon.Johnson battled to a draw against Ian McCall in …
Demetrious Johnson enters UFC 152 as the underdog in the UFC flyweight tournament finals against Joseph Benavidez.
The former UFC bantamweight title contender brings a 15-2-1 overall record to the Octagon.
Johnson battled to a draw against Ian McCall in March, but defeated him in a rematch in June to advance to the finals. It was a much more grueling path to the flyweight championship match than Benavidez had to endure.
The quick flyweight is one of the most well-rounded in mixed martial arts today. He brings a complete tool kit to the Octagon.
The co-main event will crown the UFC’s first ever 125-pound champion. Here are three keys to victory for Johnson.
The only reason UFC 152 is better than its predecessor is because UFC 151 never took place.This obviously makes the upcoming fight card infinitely better and fans are excited to finally see some of the best athletes in the world compete in some high pr…
The only reason UFC 152 is better than its predecessor is because UFC 151 never took place.
This obviously makes the upcoming fight card infinitely better and fans are excited to finally see some of the best athletes in the world compete in some high profile bouts. However, this event will not be one for the ages.
UFC 152 features two co-main events. The first of the two is the final for the inaugural flyweight championship between Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson. Each competitor had to win a semifinal round to reach this point.
Unfortunately, these are two marginally successful fighters who moved to the lighter class because they failed at bantamweight, both losing to Dominick Cruz.
In the more high-profile main event, Jon Jones will defend his light heavyweight title against Vitor Belfort. This is where the fight card comes up short.
Jones has proven in his short time in UFC that he is already one of the best ever to compete. Belfort has shown a lot throughout his career, but he will not last long in this title shot.
Oddsmaker Joey Oddessa told MMAjunkie.com, “You can’t make the line high enough for Jones vs. Belfort.” He set an opening line at -1300, although it has dropped to -800, according to Bovada. This is still enough to consider the champ an overwhelming favorite.
Even Belfort himself knows that it will be an uphill battle. He told UFC Tonight (via MMAJunkie.com), “Here I am with 35 years old, 17 years into my career, fighting the best fighter of all-time, in the history of the UFC.”
He goes on to say that he will “put up a fight,” but it seems more like admiration of his opponent, rather than someone who he expects to win in the coming days.
Jones was initially scheduled to face Dan Henderson at UFC 151, but an injury forced Henderson out of the fight. When the champion refused to face Chael Sonnen, the entire event was canceled.
Either of these competitors would be a step up from Belfort. The former light heavyweight champ struggled after he lost his rematch against Randy Couture. This forced him into the middleweight division, where he has had some success, but it will not continue once he moves back up a weight class.
It is possible there is no one available that would present a real challenge to Jon Jones. Almost everyone who has tried has been knocked out or was forced to submit. Still, this is about providing fans with the best possible show.
Belfort is an all-or-nothing fighter, so the match should end quickly. Meanwhile, fans that spend the money on the pay-per-view will be left waiting until the next great UFC match.
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“There’s no way I’m paying 45 bucks to watch that idiot.”If that sounds like a statement you made after hearing Jon Jones had been moved to the UFC 152 fight card, you’re not alone.After all, “Bones” ruined a weekend in Las Vegas for lots of people, tu…
“There’s no way I’m paying 45 bucks to watch that idiot.”
If that sounds like a statement you made after hearing Jon Jones had been moved to the UFC 152 fight card, you’re not alone.
After all, “Bones” ruined a weekend in Las Vegas for lots of people, turning down a fight with Chael Sonnen after Dan Henderson got injured. As a result, those fans were left with non-refundable plane tickets and hotel rooms for an event that wasn’t happening.
If you’re like me and happen to work on the weekends, you probably made plans and shifted commitments in advance, only to find yourself without a UFC event to watch on September 1st.
It makes one wonder—when UFC 152 is in the books, will we find that Jones’ star is still on the rise, or have hardcore fans been pushed to the point where they won’t pay to watch him fight?
That’s been an interesting question since the fallout of UFC 151, where Jones drew the ire of everyone in the “MMA bubble” of the Internet. However, that bubble doesn’t represent the entire audience of the sport, as seen by public reaction to Jones during open workouts and open Q&A sessions.
As most MMA media has reported, all seems forgiven—to a point.
Yes, some fans are booing Jones in Canada, but the majority are still cheering, perhaps glad that their main event doesn’t rest of the backs of two tiny flyweights.
So far, it seems like MMA fans who hate Jon Jones for any multitude of reasons (hypocritical public statements, general cockiness, that horrible “homeless man’s” beard) will still put down money for his fights. Just a glance at the reported estimates leaves no doubt.
Ever since winning the UFC light heavyweight title, the young champion has been a bright spot in the promotion’s disappointing pay-per-view numbers with an average of 548,750 buys per event. Considering that he’s had four title fights since March 2011, Jones’ impressive work rate alone makes him incredibly valuable.
But if hardcore fans want to “stick it” to the champion by boycotting UFC 152, catching it somewhere for free, or watching it through illegal Internet streams, “Bones” won’t look so good when the estimates come in, win or lose.
Every numbered UFC event has those die-hard fans that’ll buy every card they can afford. Those are the fans talking about Jones on forum boards, the ones betting on fantasy MMA games, the one who drive up website traffic, and the ones who form the baseline for many pay-per-view buys.
But will those people—the “real” fans, according to Dana White—support Jon Jones?
Maybe we’ll get that piece of the puzzle after the fact.
Jones’ lowest draw as a headliner is 485,000 buys from UFC 140, where he fought Lyoto Machida on top of a decent fight card. If he draws even less on his second tour in Canada, the UFC could be facing a whole new problem that almost no amount of marketing can fix.
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