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NORMAN: On the fall of UFC 177; UFC nixing Rockhold-Bisping
Aug 29, 2014 - 9:15:53 PM NORMAN: On the fall of UFC 177; UFC nixing Rockhold-Bisping

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By: Cash Norman, MMATorch Contributor

Where have we come in the sport of mixed martial arts, when the number one promotion is scraping together pay-per-view main event fights with virtual unknowns? Well, if you've been following the UFC for the past two years during their global expansion, this had started to become the rule rather than the exception.

All news is not bad news for the UFC faithful. Why? Now the UFC may finally understand they cannot sell MMA fans second tier fights and still expect them to pay a premium price. Tomorrow night, the headlining fight of a pay-per-view will feature a fighter in Joe Soto who most tuning in have never heard of. Say what? Most people have never heard of the guy, and his official UFC debut will be in a championship fight. In sports, crazier things may have happened, but you'd be hard pressed to come up with many examples off the top of your head.

Outside of UFC 175 last month, the UFC has had a string of pay-per-views that have underperformed. 173 (Barao vs Dillashaw) had just over 200k pay-per-view buys in May, and 174 (Johnson vs Bagautinov) had barely 100K pay-per-view buys. Then there was the cancellation of UFC 176 (Aldo vs Mendes II) and the fall out of the main event for UFC 177 (Dillashaw vs Barao), which more than likely will not reach 100k buys.

While it's unfortunate Renan Barao had problems during the weight cut and had to be hospitalized, it's the UFC's fault in forming such a shallow card to begin with. Initially 177 was billed as featuring two championship fights, but was wrought with problems from the beginning. Demetrious Johnson was brought in to co-headline a card just a couple months after Canadian fans walked out during his headlining effort at UFC 174 (Side Note: Canadians are often considered to be very polite, well, walking out during the main event isn't very polite). In the UFC's infinite wisdom, they felt it would be wise to bring Johnson to America, a country not known for its social graces, to be a part of yet another shallow card. In the next startling move, they named an opponent in Chris Cariaso who was outside of the top three in the flyweight division, a move that was so surprising it stunned even Caraiso.

Coupled with the fact the main event was going to feature a rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao just three months after Barao was so thoroughly dominated at UFC 173, fans weren't exactly clamoring to see this show to begin with. In fact, many hardcore fans were upset, and thought Barao didn't deserve the rematch. As strong of a card as 178 (Jones vs Cormier) would have been, the main event was the glue holding that card together.

The lesson which should be learned in these consecutive calamitous pay per view cards is to give the fans what they are paying for. If you want fans to consume your product at over $60 per event, often multiple times within a month or over the course of several months, the cards needs to be stacked with top tier talent. No fan wants to pay premium money to see a virtually unknown fighter make their UFC debut, ever.


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In a statement released by the UFC on Thursday, August 28, Dana White said that they wanted to book a fight between Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida in Brazil, thus nixing the simmering feud between Rockhold and Michael Bisping, and thank goodness. While this may not be the most popular opinion, as some fan sentiment had begun jumping on the Rockhold vs Bisping train, this fight just simply did not make sense.

Luke Rockhold is a possible contender in the middleweight division, and no matter what Bisping fans think, or how the man feels himself, he likely will never seriously be in that discussion. Therefore, what sense would it make for the UFC to book a fight between Bisping - who is on the tail end of his career - and a fighter rising to prominence in their career in Luke Rockhold?

I agree with the UFC's decision to focus on a matchup between Rockhold and Machida. If Rockhold seriously wants to be a title contender, a victory over Machida will provide a more direct path. Machida is coming off an exciting five round fight with current Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman, and still poses a threat to any opponent within the division. If Rockhod wants to be considered a viable contender, he needs to defeat a credible opponent, and unfortunately with Bisping's inability to beat opponents in the top five of the division, he's not that guy.

On September 5 at UFC Fight Night 50 in Connecticut, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Gegard Mousasi will face one another, and more than likely the victor of this matchup will face the winner of Rockhold vs Machida. I foresee whomever comes out victorious in these matchups will be the next opponent for Chris Weidman, should he remain the Middleweight Champion after December.