Tag: UFC 154

UFC: How Can the Promotion Recapture Straying Fans?

Many UFC fans haven’t been happy in 2012. Too many events, too many injuries, too much of an expectation from the company that their fans will follow them to the ends of the Earth. Sure, some are vehemently supporting the aggressive expansion of …

Many UFC fans haven’t been happy in 2012.

Too many events, too many injuries, too much of an expectation from the company that their fans will follow them to the ends of the Earth.

Sure, some are vehemently supporting the aggressive expansion of the promotion. They’ll say that real MMA fans just want more free fights, that fights every weekend – NO WAIT! EVERY NIGHT! – is the perfect world to live in.

And perhaps it is. When the UFC is able to do it properly.

But for a host of reasons they can’t do it properly just yet and they’re losing some fans as a result. They probably wouldn’t admit it, but they’re not stupid enough to be ignorant to it either.

So what can they do to recapture them?

The answer, surprisingly, is before us already. It just needs to go on a little bit longer and the ship will likely be righted be early 2013.

That answer? Less events, more fights that matter, and greater accessibility to them.

Jon Jones quickly became the most loathed man in MMA (a title he was in the running for anyway) when the cancellation of UFC 151 became official a couple of weeks back. He also inadvertently gave straying fans something to cheer about in the process: a UFC 152 worth the money being asked by Zuffa.

Sure his fight with Vitor Belfort is weird matchmaking and not exactly one that people were begging for, but is it not likely to be entertaining?

 

Jones doesn’t love getting hit, and Belfort loves to hit people.

Jones doesn’t get hit often, and Belfort hits people at his leisure.

Jones is the new breed, Belfort once was.

Add in the inaugural flyweight title bout and a middleweight title eliminator, and you have a card that harkens back to the promotion’s pay-per-view prime of 2008-2011.

A few weeks later Jose Aldo headlines another card in Brazil, UFC 153. Originally it was supposed to be Erik Koch donating his body for that one, but an injury saw Frankie Edgar replace him.

Wait. What? Frankie Edgar? Wasn’t that a fantasy superfight that people clamoured for like eight months ago?

Now you’ve got it. You’ve also got Rampage Jackson against hot prospect Glover Teixeira, Erick Silva and Jon Fitch, and names like Rick Story, Demian Maia, and Phil Davis rounding out the card.

Again, worth the money.

GSP returns to headline UFC 154 in a welterweight title unification bout against Carlos Condit, and only a couple of week after that UFC on FOX 5 will likely provide the greatest night of free MMA that television has ever seen.

Benson Henderson defends lightweight gold against Nate Diaz.

Rory MacDonald finally gets his fight with BJ Penn.

Shogun Rua welcomes Alexander Gustafsson to the top of the 205-pound division.

Brendan Schaub and Lavar Johnson will exchange shots for a few minutes until one (probably Schaub) is out cold.

They’re also using the UFC on FUEL TV  event series to expand globally with less relevant, free fights and are only holding one show on FX between now and the end of the year.

That’s a remarkable run for the company. A run that absolutely has to get the attention of fans who have suddenly been reminded how much they love baseball and video games in the time it’s taken the UFC to stumble from the annals of “must-watch” sports action.

What they’ve started to do – less events (though it was only one, and it was purely by circumstance) and a greater focus on smarter matchmaking, as well as more meaningful matchmaking, is how people will come back to them.

Putting big fights on free television – actual big fights, like title fights, instead of a regular free TV headliner with a lame, completely revocable “winner gets a title shot” caveat attached – is going to help as well.

The UFC is adapting to what fans want and what they want has developed from what they’ve come to expect from the promotion, which built its name on guaranteeing an entertaining night of action every time out.

For the first time in a long time, it looks like they’re able to make that claim again. Now that they can, look for them to also claim to be the fastest growing sport in the world again as well.

They’ll have the numbers to prove it.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 154 Picks Up Patrick Cote vs. Alessio Sakara

If you’re looking for a middleweight slugfest, a potential good one was booked today.MMAjunkie.com reports that UFC middleweight veterans Patrick Cote and Alessio Sakara will fight at UFC 154 in Montreal.Cote, who was briefly linked to a fight against …

If you’re looking for a middleweight slugfest, a potential good one was booked today.

MMAjunkie.com reports that UFC middleweight veterans Patrick Cote and Alessio Sakara will fight at UFC 154 in Montreal.

Cote, who was briefly linked to a fight against Wanderlei Silva, has lost four straight fights inside the Octagon. During a short stint outside the UFC, Cote won four fights in a row and was called to return to the Octagon on short notice against former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le at UFC 148. Le picked up the win in a highly contested bout.

Sakara was beginning to climb the ranks in the UFC middleweight division before being derailed by back-to-back losses to top contenders Chris Weidman and Brian Stann.

With both men having a tough go of late with the UFC, the loser of this bout may receive his walking papers unless both men just put on a heck of a fight, which both Cote and Sakara are known to do.

UFC 154 is scheduled to be headlined by the return of Georges St-Pierre in a unification Welterweight Championship bout against current interim champion Carlos Condit. The event will be co-headlined by a title eliminator fight between Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks.

The bout is likely to serve on the preliminary card scheduled to appear on FX.

UFC 154 is scheduled to take place on November 17th at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 154: Anderson Silva Wants GSP, Even If He Loses to Carlos Condit

With all the recent speculation over a possible superfight between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, fans are eagerly awaiting the winner of GSP vs. Carlos Condit at UFC 154. However, “The Sp…

With all the recent speculation over a possible superfight between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, fans are eagerly awaiting the winner of GSP vs. Carlos Condit at UFC 154. 

However, “The Spider” does not seem particularly interested in the outcome of that fight, recently telling Sport TV he wants St-Pierre even if he loses to “The Natural Born Killer.” Translation via Bloody Elbow:

“Regardless of who wins, even if St. Pierre loses, a fight with me can happen. A fight like this is above anything else. St. Pierre is one of the greatest of the UFC. Right now, a fight with Condit is meaningless.”

Last month, Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, said a superfight with the French-Canadian superstar was the one that made the most sense for Silva right now.

St-Pierre has fought all 24 of his professional fights at welterweight, leading to speculation that Silva may forego a catch weight in favor of dropping down to 170-pounds in hopes of making this fight happen.

Silva has competed at welterweight before, but not since the Rumble on the Rock 8 tournament in Jan. 2006. 

“Rush” has recently stated that he believes middleweight contender Chris Weidman may be able to dethrone Silva, in which case a bout between him and the Brazilian wouldn’t happen.

Widely considered the No. 1 and No. 2 respective pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Silva has successfully defended his title 10 times, while GSP has defended his belt seven times.

Condit is the current UFC interim title holder and the winner in 13 of his past 14 fights, but even with a win over his former Jackson’s MMA teammate, an outcry for a bout between Condit and Silva would be unlikely. 

Would a matchup between Silva and GSP still be intriguing even if Condit defeated St-Pierre at UFC 154 on Nov. 17?


Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Georges St. Pierre Medically Cleared, Will Face Carlos Condit at UFC 154

This summer has been filled with bad news and cards plagued by injury. Heck, it was the first summer that the UFC was forced to cancel an event because it was unable to put together a new main event. So when there’s good news, we need to really push it…

This summer has been filled with bad news and cards plagued by injury. Heck, it was the first summer that the UFC was forced to cancel an event because it was unable to put together a new main event. So when there’s good news, we need to really push it. 

And that’s what fans got today. 

Georges St. Pierre announced today on his Twitter that he has been medically cleared for his proposed bout with Carlos Condit at UFC 154.

 

 

This is the kind of news that I love to write about since it’s not super negative and depressing. St. Pierre went down with a knee injury that pulled him from a proposed bout with Nick Diaz. An MRI showed that he had a torn ACL and a smaller tear in his meniscus. 

With St. Pierre out of his bout with Diaz, Condit stepped up and, after some brilliant game planning, was able to capture the interim belt at UFC 143.

UFC 154 will be St. Pierre’s return to action after over a year. The last time that fans saw “Rush” in the cage was at UFC 129 against Jake Shields. The UFC has been planning on the St. Pierre/Condit bout at UFC 154 and with Georges cleared, that fight is all but official. 

It should also be noted that a win will set up a proposed bout with Anderson Silva for St. Pierre. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Georges St. Pierre: How Will He Fight at UFC 154?

We haven’t seen Georges St. Pierre fight since UFC 129 which took place April 30th 2011. St. Pierre later tore his ACL during training and need surgery to repair it, keeping him out of action since last year.Now fans have a reason to cheer as the domin…

We haven’t seen Georges St. Pierre fight since UFC 129 which took place April 30th 2011. St. Pierre later tore his ACL during training and need surgery to repair it, keeping him out of action since last year.

Now fans have a reason to cheer as the dominant welterweight champion will make his return to the octagon at UFC 154 in Montreal.

Standing across from him will be the ever dangerous Carlos Condit, who defeated Nick Diaz to win the interim welterweight championship. It is a great return of a champion, however there are many questions of how he will perform coming off such a debilitating injury.

St. Pierre has to answer many questions in his return fight. How will his knee hold up during the fight? Will the knee surgery take away the explosiveness he’s had in previous fights? Will ring rust play a factor, seeing as he hasn’t fought since last year? How will he fair against a dangerous well-rounded opponent in Carlos Condit?

I think St. Pierre’s knee will hold up just fine in this fight. He’s always working to be one of the best conditioned athletes so I assume his rehab and training were done at the highest level––his knee will hold up fine.

Another matter is the explosiveness and ring rust. The way St. Pierre trains he should retain the explosive power he had pre-surgery, but I think it will be a bit more measured until he’s had it properly tested by his opponent.

Concerning rustiness, I think that St. Pierre will not have to deal with much of that. He is a true veteran of the sport and I truly believe ring rust will not affect him.

The final question is how will he fair against Carlos Condit? Condit is dangerous wherever the fight goes.

We need to see St. Pierre come out strong and attempt to finish Condit. Condit has all the tools to dethrone St. Pierre but I believe we will see a GSP with a chip in his shoulder.  He will control Condit and attempt to finish the fight when he is presented with an opportunity.

We are going to see a GSP with a different mindset in this fight. He is going to take more risks and attempt to finish the fight and silence his doubters. I for one can’t wait to see a dangerous and motivated GSP fight again at UFC 154.

Shoot me a comment or check out my Twitter @FuscoNation16.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 154: Does Carlos Condit Have a Shot at GSP?

On November 17, Carlos Condit will be stepping into enemy territory in Montreal to face Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title.Both fighters have received their fair shares of criticism—Condit for implementing a predominantly defensive …

On November 17, Carlos Condit will be stepping into enemy territory in Montreal to face Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title.

Both fighters have received their fair shares of criticism—Condit for implementing a predominantly defensive game plan against Nick Diaz and for choosing to wait to fight GSP, and GSP for his history of fights ending by decision (five of last six) and his long layoff (last fought on April 30, 2011).

The criticism directed toward Condit is a bit unfair.

Against Nick Diaz, he stuck to the game plan that he felt gave him the best shot to win. The FightMetric report shows that he out-struck Diaz in both total strikes and significant strikes.

He didn’t fight the most fan-friendly fight, but it’s not as though the judges handed him the victory. He won the fight.

Most of the criticism directed towards him stem from this one fight. If you look at his record, you’ll see that he’s gone to decision an absurd four times in 33 fights.

His nickname is “The Natural Born Killer,” and for good reason.

GSP is the obvious favorite, as the defending champion. He is a great all-around fighter with superb conditioning. The questions surrounding him are how he will respond after so much time away from the cage and how his injuries have healed.

St-Pierre is criticized for not taking many risks in his fights. Now this is pure speculation, but perhaps this stems from UFC 69, where huge underdog Matt Serra stopped him in the first round by TKO. Maybe GSP took him lightly or found himself to be a little careless.

Regardless of the reason, St-Pierre has cruised through all of his opponents since. Why take needless risks when you have everything to lose? He wins decisively, though not spectacularly. 

Condit is a much different fighter than those that GSP has faced recently. Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch and Jake Shields are primarily grapplers, though of that bunch Koscheck poses a legitimate threat on the feet.

Dan Hardy and Thiago Alves are the strikers GSP has faced, and since losing to him, they have both hit major rough patches in their careers.

I feel that St-Pierre hasn’t really been challenged in quite a while. However, it may be a case of him clearing out the division and making his opponents look bad.

Condit is a very dangerous fighter, though the key for him will be his striking game. He is comfortable in all areas and will seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

Just to show you how well-rounded Condit is, he has 13 wins by KO/TKO and 13 by submission. He has lost only once in his last 14 fights (a split decision to top contender Martin Kampmann in 2009) and seems to have really found his stride.

Condit definitely has a shot, and it is a better one than any of GSP’s opponents have had in a long time.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com