Last week, TUF Brazil 1 winner Rony Jason made dumbass headlines when he elbowed a wall backstage following his UFC Fight Night 32 loss to Jeremy Stephens, subsequently injuring himself and catching a suspension from the Brazilian MMA commission for unsportsmanlike conduct. It turns out that the incident was actually captured on video by Dana White’s personal cameraman, and included in the new UFC 167 Danavlog, which you can watch above.
“Elbowed a wall” is putting it lightly — Jason obliterates the damn thing with the kind of strike that would have been nice to land during the actual fight. The event staff immediately notices that he’s cut, and lead him away to tend to his wound.
Other than that, this installment of the Danavlog is filled with the kind of emotional post-fight moments and Baldfather hijnix you’ve come to expect from these things, although there is one more very notable scene. If you were among the people who thought that the Belfort vs. Henderson fight was stopped early — and Dan Henderson himself was one of those people — please skip to the 8:49 mark to see Hendo’s leg convulsing against the cage. Yeah. That’s a knockout, guys.
I’m actually a little surprised that the UFC would include such a grisly, unflattering moment in one of their official videos, but I commend them for it. This is the sport we love, and we all need to deal with the consequences.
Last week, TUF Brazil 1 winner Rony Jason made dumbass headlines when he elbowed a wall backstage following his UFC Fight Night 32 loss to Jeremy Stephens, subsequently injuring himself and catching a suspension from the Brazilian MMA commission for unsportsmanlike conduct. It turns out that the incident was actually captured on video by Dana White’s personal cameraman, and included in the new UFC 167 Danavlog, which you can watch above.
“Elbowed a wall” is putting it lightly — Jason obliterates the damn thing with the kind of strike that would have been nice to land during the actual fight. The event staff immediately notices that he’s cut, and lead him away to tend to his wound.
Other than that, this installment of the Danavlog is filled with the kind of emotional post-fight moments and Baldfather hijnix you’ve come to expect from these things, although there is one more very notable scene. If you were among the people who thought that the Belfort vs. Henderson fight was stopped early — and Dan Henderson himself was one of those people — please skip to the 8:49 mark to see Hendo’s leg convulsing against the cage. Yeah. That’s a knockout, guys.
I’m actually a little surprised that the UFC would include such a grisly, unflattering moment in one of their official videos, but I commend them for it. This is the sport we love, and we all need to deal with the consequences.
Cards like UFC Fight Night 32 are contributing to the death of MMA’s popularity in the US.
In case you haven’t noticed, the UFC’s numbers have been atrocious lately. UFC 165, a card headlined by the light heavyweight champion of the world and future of the company Jon Jones, drew a paltry 325,000 buys. Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos III—the finale to the greatest trilogy in UFC heavyweight history—drew a slightly higher number at UFC 166.
Cards like UFC Fight Night 32 are contributing to the death of MMA’s popularity in the US.
In case you haven’t noticed, the UFC’s numbers have been atrocious lately. UFC 165, a card headlined by the light heavyweight champion of the world and future of the company Jon Jones, drew a paltry 325,000 buys. Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos III—the finale to the greatest trilogy in UFC heavyweight history—drew a slightly higher number at UFC 166.
UFC Fight Night 30, the lone Fight Night that’s been featured on FOX Sports 2, only drew 122,000 viewers and was outdrawn by World Series of Fighting 6, which scored 161,000 viewers.
What about that event stood out? What about that event made people say, “I need to keep watching the UFC”?
The card was stacked with middling Brazilian fighters and prospects only the hardcore fans and journalists knew or cared about. Fans will say that the card was great because there were finishes, but that’s a short-sighted and extremely myopic view. Yes, four of the six bouts on the main card were finishes, but what’s a finish worth when nobody is watching?
The casual fan, the group on which the UFC’s growth and popularity in the United States is dependent, doesn’t care about finishes. The casual fan cares about names, about stars. The guy who wears tapout and does bicep curls in the squat rack talks about Kimbo Slice and Brock Lesnar, not about the intricacies of a setup for an armbar or a triangle.
Ask yourself this: What did UFC Fight Night 32 do to regain the swaths of casual fans who have tuned out of MMA since 2013?
Obviously, the UFC can’t put all the good stuff on free television because they make money on their PPVs. Still, that brings up another question. What “good stuff” do they have left to put on free TV that’ll draw what they were drawing on Spike?
Their stars are fading. Instead of creating new ones, they’re vomiting a stream of generic, EA sports create-a-fighters onto television screens across America. They’re expecting the casual fan to watch because it’s the UFC and the UFC is a good brand and they’re fights and fights are exciting. Everyone loves fights, right? It’s in our blood to love fighting. Or so the tired MMA-triumphalist rhetoric goes.
But it’s become apparent that that logic isn’t true. People aren’t tuning in for the novelty of “this UFC thing” anymore. They’ve moved on either because they’re waiting for Chuck Liddell’s or Kimbo Slice’s or Brock Lesnar’s next fight, or because the sport is too hard to follow, or because they never see it on TV because they don’t watch FS1, or because they see cards like UFC Fight Night 32 and just don’t care anymore.
This issue becomes even more complicated when you consider the question of overseas expansion. UFC Fight Night 32 was, obviously, a Brazil-centric card. The UFC is also eyeing expansionin many other countries. But is the UFC pursuing this goal because the US market is drying up, or is the US market drying up because of the UFC’s obsession with international growth?
The answer, for now, is elusive. When we see how the UFC closes out the year, we’ll know the bubble has burst if we see the UFC’s popularity in the US continue to wither.
If the UFC is going to put such little effort into a fight card, then we’re going to put an equal amount of effort into covering it. After the jump, Elias Cepeda will be jotting down quick results from the event, and then he’ll give Belfort vs. Henderson the full liveblog treatment whenever it begins. (The main card broadcast starts at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, by the way.)
Let us know if you’re here by typing some gibberish into the comments section. Fanks, God.
If the UFC is going to put such little effort into a fight card, then we’re going to put an equal amount of effort into covering it. After the jump, Elias Cepeda will be jotting down quick results from the event, and then he’ll give Belfort vs. Henderson the full liveblog treatment whenever it begins. (The main card broadcast starts at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, by the way.)
Let us know if you’re here by typing some gibberish into the comments section. Fanks, God.
MAIN CARD RESULTS
Cezar Ferreira def. Daniel Sarafian via unanimous decision
Rafael Cavalcante wins via TKO over Igor Pokrajac at 1:18 of round 1
Brandon Thatch knocks out Paulo Thiago at 2:10 of round 1
Ryan LaFlare wins a unanimous decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio
Jeremy Stephens KO’s Rony Jason via head kick at :40 of round 1
PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Sam Sicilia TKO’s Godofredo Pepey with punches at 1:42 of round 1
Omari Akhmedov KO’s Thiago Perpetuo at 3:31 of round 1
Thiago Tavares submits Justin Salas with a rear naked choke at 2:38 of round 1
Adriano Martins submits Daron Cruickshank at 2:49 of round 2 with a kimura shoulder lock
Dustin Ortiz def. Jose Maria at 3:19 of round 3 via TKO (punches)
Vitor Belfort vs. Dan Henderson
We’re live with the fight you haven’t been asking for since 2006 – Vitor Belfort vs. Dan Henderson II. Vitor comes out to the Octagon and his hideous hair cut keeps getting better.
Round 1:
Both men moving laterally, stalking one another without a single strike feinted or thrown for the first minute before Belfort lands with a left uppercut punch to the jaw, dropping Henderson to the mat. Henderson appears to recover off of his back and gets back to his feet.
Belfort does not let up for a moment and connects with a left head kick, dropping Hendo again and finishing the fight!
No need for rounds two through five, people. Belfort wins his third straight fight and avenges his 2006 decision loss to Henderson.
Thanks for joining us for this abbreviated Liveblog. Fun while it lasted, ‘taters.
