I’m sure it sounded like a great idea when UFC President Dana White and his lieutenants sat around and discussed it earlier this year: Hey, let’s put on 4 cards in a matter of 4 weeks and while we’re at it, we’ll throw in a WEC title card in there and debut the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, as well.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was excited when the lineup came together over the summer. As a mixed martial arts fan, how could you not be? Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson, Mauricio Rua making his UFC debut, Chuck Lidell back in action.
Like they say, be careful what you ask for because . . . well, because you just might have to decide if your love of everything UFC has its limits. Is it just me, or is anyone else out there feeling like they need a little break?
Two great cards in a row, three if you count the WEC title matches (which were better than a lot of the fights on UFC 74 & 75) and we’ve still got next week’s UFC Fight Night on Wednesday and UFC 76 on Saturday. And I’m not even counting the Art of War show a week and a half ago, the Elite XC card this Saturday and the IFL championships next Thurday.
We’re talking about some serious over saturation.
Before a typical UFC pay-per-view event, you get two weeks of soft build up, leading into a week of heavy promotion and coverage. By the time Saturday night rolls around, you’re frothing at the mouth and can’t wait for the fight to start.
Each UFC card is an EVENT. Something to anticipate and savor.
We’ve already seen a little of the malaise. The Jackson vs. Henderson match never reached the level of pre-fight hype that it deserved. MMA fans should have treated this fight like the Super Bowl.
I think the UFC made a serious blunder crowding all this action into such a short time. I’ll be shocked if the UFC 76 card featuring Lidell, Rua and Forrest Griffin pulls half the amount of betting action as the Couture – Gonzaga card.
What should have been the biggest month ever for the UFC has also been marred by controversy in both the UFC 74 and 75 shows. In UFC 74, it was Renato Sobral holding his choke well after David Heath tapped out and after the referee tried to intervene. In UFC 75, it was the outrage over the Michael Bisping split-decision robbery of Matt Hamill.
So, instead of putting all of its energies into promoting the next event, the UFC has had to play damage control.
News outlets and blogs that should have been looking ahead, spent much of the week after each event debating the controversies.
How many stories have you read so far about Rua’s debut? His entry into the UFC is a big deal, folks. He’s seen as many as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and he’s being buried behind the flame wars aimed at Bisping and the UFC.
The UFC will weather this month and life will go on. But if anything, the events of the past two weeks have shown that the UFC isn’t beyond its growing pains.
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