Aug 12, 2009 - 6:35:27 PM By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg will be upon us Saturday night and so far, this landmark card has experienced so many problems it's as if it is destined to fail. The main event is historic, as two females will headline a major card for once and not be duking it out in a child's swimming pool filled with gravy. The audience will still be guys in Affliction shirts and holding red cups, but these girls are fighting for real as athletes and will be fighting the full tilt boogie of five-five minute rounds.
This card has gone through more changes than colors on a Hypercolor shirt from the 1980's, and much like those shirts, this one sucks. It's a shame, because this card had some good bouts scheduled, including a Joe Riggs vs. Nick Diaz bout until Riggs had some drug problems. Not his usual, but some adverse reaction to a drug which we imagine was prescribed. Diaz was then set to face "Mr. Greenlight" Jay Hieron but then missed his drug test altogether and has now been replaced with Jesse "JT Money" Taylor in a bout which is just nothing special or interesting at all.
Josh Thomson was set to defend his belt against Gilbert Melendez but had to pull out due to injury and now Mitsuhiro Ishida takes his place in what is now a bout for the "interim" title. Alistair Overeem was set to defend his heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum but should have been doing so against Brett Rogers but now will not be defending his belt at all due to his hand still bothering him. So instead we get Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle in another bout we could probably not care less about for the most part. So, the bouts which were booked looked at least to be the best they could come up with, and for what they were, looked to be worth taking a look at. Things changed and for the worse.
The one bout which matters outside of the main event is Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship. These two men are outstanding fighters and are two positive reasons to watch Strikeforce and shining examples of how some of the world's better fighters are not signed to the UFC. These two are signed for the 'EA Sports MMA 2010' game and are also examples of how you really don't matter if you aren't signed to the UFC because most folks don't know either man. Those who do are likely to say they know "Babalu" and this is because he did compete in the UFC. At any rate, this is a solid fight and the one thing outside of the main event that will cause you to feel that perhaps it was worth your time to tune in.
The main event pitting Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos is the real deal in that it is one main event bout that Strikeforce has which no one else can match. The only reason is, of course, that the UFC does not employ women to do anything except carry cards with numbers on them and then wants us to believe they are celebrities but these are the only female fighters who matter and they are facing off in a match up most of us have been hoping for. We hope for it because it is the only women's bout which matters to us, and the problem with that is that there really is nowhere for either to go after Saturday night as there is no one for them to fight.
Erin Toughill?
Seriously?
The crazy lady who was on 'American Gladiators' and terrorized her ex-husband?
Yeah.
There are no fights after this one for either woman, and this truly is more of an exhibition than anything else. It is, however, important as neither woman is really being exploited at all and both are being treated as athletes. Carano sells based on her looks and Cyborg wears underwear with a fly but they are skilled and belong inside of a cage in terms of at least being capable athletes. This isn't a catfight at a bar or "foxy boxing" and is likely to be the one and only female MMA bout to ever have such significance. Because I do not see female MMA taking off and being a huge draw for the simple fact that most red-blooded young men do not enjoy seeing women getting beaten up. Even if it is being done by another woman. Now, put one woman in a black corset and give her a cat o' nine tails and maybe you can market it to some of the men but with gloves on and inside of a cage; it will be a hard sell to say the least.
We have firmly established Carano vs. Cyborg as an exhibition, but it is a legitimate athletic competition which matters more because of its taboo match up of women which draws in some sort of freak show aspect. It is a real fight, between two real martial artists but no one cares about this fight because they truly care about settling the debate once and for all as to who the best female mixed martial artist is today. If you truly do want to know who the best female mixed martial artist is, I apologize but I also want you to name me the other eight in your pound-for-pound list.
This card has been changed, altered and what was once a circus has turned into a crappy little sideshow with Carano vs. Cyborg and Sobral vs. Mousasi being the only reasons to tune in. Strikeforce has signed Fedor but they sure as hell haven't promoted this show and his signing does little to help unless he can physically force Joe Riggs, Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem to fight in bouts which could at least be somewhat compelling. For now, Fedor can sit cageside and smile. Because he can't speak English and he sure as hell can't fight for them yet; unless they have now changed the card to include a "Battle Royale" for an "interim" Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. Which, I could actually see happening given how this one has turned from promising into poor.
Yet, Dana White feels the need to counter this offering by broadcasting 'UFC 100' for free on Spike TV. Not the whole show, mind you, but here is the listing for what they will be airing at 10pm EST:
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping
Alan Belcher vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman
Shannon Gugerty vs. Matt Grice
Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien
Thanks, UFC.
Many folks still haven't even paid the cable bill for the purchase of the UFC 100 PPV and one month later the choice has been made to air the best parts of the show for free on Spike TV.
Look, this show did 1.71 million PPV buys and was covered on ESPN and yes, everyone has seen the aforementioned main card bouts. However, it is a true disservice to your fans when you told them how important it was to PAY for this show, when they could have watched it for FREE a month later and this time you will actually get to see Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien and Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman, which were two fights most of us actually wanted to see.
So, Dana White comes out the bigger bitch on a night which will be topped off by two women fighting inside of a cage. If Strikeforce does not matter, why then, is he countering their programming with Brock Lesnar, who is the UFC's biggest star at this moment? Why not go ahead and show Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida from UFC 98 and use that to set up some talk about Evans on 'The Ultimate Fighter'? Using Brock means he is going for the jugular and most fans who paid to see Brock do it to Mir once will gladly flip over and watch the replay of it for free. It was an awesome performance. Getting to see some undercard fights along with it, makes it amazing.
It just is wrong to the fans who paid for this show and it shows that while Dana is going for the jugular, that he feels the need to compete against Strikeforce. If your competition truly does not matter, then let them fail on their own. If you truly believe they are incompetent and their efforts are futile, why then would you want to smack them around?
Beating up on other MMA promotions is akin to the varsity football team jumping into the gym to play dodgeball with the special education kids. Is there really a need to slam them with the ball and will this make you look better to others? Probably not, but it will make those meatheads feel better about themselves and Dana White certainly seems to need a lot of self-affirmation.
The UFC is the only MMA promotion that matters and is to MMA what the NFL is to football. Period. End of discussion.
There is however other places for you to watch football, such as the CFL and last I checked, the NFL was not bumrushing into Canada with exclusive footage from last year's Super Bowl game to entice viewers away from CFL programming.
Dana White, accept that you are the President of the biggest company in the world and come to the realization that there is no competition. Carano vs. Cyborg is going to get the hardcore viewers but these guys will DVR your Spike show and watch both. Carano vs. Cyborg is not drawing casual fans and is on Showtime, so that lessens their audience as well.
Strikeforce recently signed Fedor and this is ultimately what pissed off Dana White. Yes, the UFC did not need Fedor and were right to not acquiesce and hand over the store, but the UFC wanted Fedor and Dana White feels a little embarrassed that this "best heavyweight in the world" has now signed with a group such as Strikeforce.
Scott Coker and Strikeforce were no competition to the UFC before and signing Fedor does little to make them a player at all. The problem is that signing Fedor has caused the UFC to put them on their radar and is now looking to kill them.
Fedor will do little to cement his legacy by beating up on guys like Fabricio Werdum and so too will the UFC by beating up on Strikeforce.
I don't blame them for wanting to stomp a mudhole in the opposition as they did to 'Affliction' and Elite XC but it has come to a point where everyone knows that no one can compete with the UFC. Strikeforce knows they can't compete with the UFC and are just trying to offer an alternative and eke out a living in the MMA world on a decidedly lower rung of the ladder.
Either Strikeforce is no competition and doesn't matter to you or they are and they do. By airing UFC 100 so soon and for free to counter Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg it says that Strikeforce is competition and that the UFC views them as such. I personally do not believe the UFC would have countered Carano vs. Cyborg had Fedor not signed with Strikeforce.
This is what I think it is all about and why Dana White wishes to kill Strikeforce.
However, is it really impressive to beat up on Strikeforce this weekend when their recent problems surrounding this card show they are more than capable of doing it by themselves?
This move is just unnecessary and it is wrong to freely give away something you told everyone to buy just one month ago. This could set a precedent where some casual fans do not buy the PPV and expect them to be aired on Spike at a later date. HBO boxing shows their PPV bouts for free the following week and this tactic has actually hurt their PPV numbers but in the end it helps as they are feeding themselves by adding more subscribers.
The UFC is doing no such thing with Spike and are giving away something huge to counter the programming of something which is decidedly small.
Dana White has felt the need to come to a knife fight with an AK-47 and it simply makes him look more paranoid and very much like the football players picking on the kids in special education classes.
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I am waiting for the part where you tell us why this isn't a good move for
the UFC?
They're countering another promotion. Honestly, why wouldn't the UFC want
to put them into the ground? Now that the M-1 leech has shown itself
biting into the neck of Strikeforce this seems to be the best time to try
and run them aground.
To be honest, this just makes me wonder what you're trying to do here.
Whatever it is, it isn't helping the sport in any way. I still smell the
stink of your last opinion piece on this article.
It smells even worse actually.
Do us a favor and write about something useful and informative instead of
bashing your hands into the table and claiming "THE UFC IS EVIL!!!".
Thanks,
DM
Nepal
12 Aug 2009, 22:34
Daryn Mitchel summed it up well.
HAHA
12 Aug 2009, 22:50
What a useless piece of journalistic crap. I think it's a great move to
counter with a replay of UFC100. Most people still haven't seen it. Also,
who cares about who paid for it a month before and yada yada yada. People
who love MMA will PAY for it no matter what. They want to see it live, not
wait a month later so they can watch it for free. Obviously those who pay
$40 can afford to and aren't bitching about it, unless you are a BITCH.
John Black
12 Aug 2009, 22:58
Why would UFC do that with their PPVs?
Maybe because there is no one who doesn't live under a rock, who doesn't
know the results of the show, a month after the fact. What else are they
going to do with it?
Clearly Bent is being intentionally dense here. No one buys a PPV because
they believe that'll be the only chance to see those fights. They do it, to
see them live, and be apart of that moment and enjoy it. If I came on a
site like this one, the night of the PPV, and saw the results, I wouldn't
put down big bucks to see it.
UFC gives enough for free to their fans to keep them up on how good their
athletes are, and crush the competition on PPV.
EB
12 Aug 2009, 23:12
Just out of curiosity, how do you figure this will upset the people who
actually paid to watch UFC 100 live?
The entire reason that these people shelled out the money was to watch the
show LIVE!
Any single person with internet, and that pretty much means every single
person, could easily have gone to numerous MMA video sites the day after
UFC 100 and watched all the fights for free.
Your reasoning here, much like your insinuation that Forrest took a dive,
makes no sense.
ginrog
13 Aug 2009, 03:06
Actually the owner of the Bills wants to move the team to Canada and they
are doing certain matches in Toronto to see how much interest there is.
Obviously if there is the NFL in town then the Argos might not last to long
in town.
Even your analogies suck lately...
Bent is a Douche
13 Aug 2009, 03:18
People pay to see the fights LIVE. HBO shows their PPV events a week after
they were live. I don't see anyone fuming about that, do you? Or maybe you
will put that under your conspiracy theories. Here is an analogy for you
Bent, you are like that little turd that refuses to be flushed down the
toilet.
Spike
13 Aug 2009, 09:58
This is also a chance for Spike TV to get another ratings boost. Dana White
doesn't need to do stuff like this, but there are millions of MMA fans that
are glad he does. I saw the fight live and I can't wait to see it again.
And Spike will enjoy the increase in ratings. I don't see how anyone
(except Strikeforce of course) loses.
As long as Dana doesn't do this every time he has a big PPV, fans will keep
buying the big ones live.
1.71 million buys. Is that an official figure? WOW!
Just my take
13 Aug 2009, 12:04
This is nothing new. I believe that HBO will replay PPV boxing matches a
mere week after the fight takes place. It’s a common practice. Nobody
bitches about that.
Second of all, Strikeforce may be a minor organization with no chance of
competing with the UFC right now, but why wait or take the chance on them
getting their legs under them. It’s better to kill a weakened enemy than
to leave them alone and allow them to heal up and grow stronger. It’s
good business.
SladeKain
13 Aug 2009, 17:43
No one should be suprized here that the UFC is counter-programming
Strikeforce. With all the success Dana White has had building the UFC into
what it is today and to come out of Fedor negotiations empty handed only to
see Strikeforce sign him a week later must have seemed like a slap in the
face. Now, the UFC gets the chance to fire back. It's good business. Now,
like mentioned above, the hardcore fans will DVR UFC 100 and watch
Strikeforce live if they have Showtime. I paid for UFC 100 but I don't care
it's being aired for free a month later. I wish they would air UFC 98 or
even 99 cause I missed those ones but hey, I'm looking forward to seeing
those prelims from 100 plus COX Cable in my area doesn't have PPV in HD yet
so it'll be nice seeing Lesnar pound Mir's face into Sloppy Joe in HD.
Boles
13 Aug 2009, 18:27
If you ever are on the fence, and wish to know which side of an issue to
take, read a Bent column and select the opposite.
The fact that a GREAT site like bloodyelbow would devote any space to this
drivel makes small children cry.
Agreed
14 Aug 2009, 05:52
Bent looks like a Kevin Smith reject. One of those guys that just hangs out
in front of the quickie marts all day.
RR
14 Aug 2009, 11:12
I would almost feel bad for Bent for the amount of flack he has taken over
the past 3 pieces / opinions he has provided. But then I re-read what he
has to say, and completely understand.
Bent, you're a complete joke.
Dmitri
15 Aug 2009, 13:11
Funny how all these people who hate Bent take the time to read his columns.
Why do you bother?
Same goes for Wade. Everyone loves to hate Wade, so why the hell do you
spend your time reading his pieces and bitching about him?
Why are people on the internet such a bunch of douches?
BENT IS AN EXCELLENT COLUMNNIST.
Every day, I read mmajunkie, sherdog, si, and yahoo, as well as mmatorch
(usually on my iphone while walking around town bumping into walls), to
sate my twitchy, bottomless pit jonesin' for an mma fix, and Bent has more
imagination at work, more principles and morals, and more sheer writing
ability than anything else I read.
I don't always agree with everything he says, but good lord, that doesn't
mean I need to take the time to write nasty things about him on his own
website.
I am a thinking adult, and I actually *enjoy* reading about views that are
not my own.
I'm guessing you're all 13 years old, enjoy putting cats in microwaves for
sport, and are already hooked on crystal meth and are the proud father of
your sister's child in whatever backwoods hovel you call home. Grow up.
There. That was fun. Now I know why you all enjoy being nasty on the
interwebs.
You dumb teenagers (the typical UFC fanboy age) are obviously too young to
understand what an EDITORIAL is. Now go take some estrogen pills so you
can calm down, 'roid freaks!
