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All Business - Carter ALL BUSINESS: Superfights By Any Other Name Are Still Superfights, But Title Fights Seem To Hold A Heavier Weight
Jun 6, 2010 - 5:35:16 PM
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By Alvin Benjamin Carter III, MMA Torch Specialist
UFC 114's estimated 925,000 pay-per-view buys comes as no surprise seeing how the hype and trash talk for the Rashad Evans vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson fight was classic to say the least. While the fight did not deliver the feud fueled knockout most were looking for, more than enough people watched Evans wrestle his way to a victory over a legend. This fight had the drawing power that is generally coupled with a title fight or a superfight. Some might question the superfight title that I am placing on the Evans vs. Jackson bout and choose to stick with the "grudge match" label used to promote the fight, but let's take a look at some qualifying factors.
Rashad Evans is one of the more successful Ultimate Fighter series winners, and he has fought a lot of tough competition in his career. Evans defeated a then relevant Stephan Bonnar, he gave Michael Bisping his first lost, he fought Tito Ortiz to a draw, he knocked out Chuck Liddell, and he took the Light Heavyweight Championship from Forrest Griffin via TKO. The only loss on Evans' record comes at the hands of recently blemished hot shot Lyoto Machida. I think it is fair to say that Evans is a notable force in MMA that he is in the realm of superstar after his TUF coaching exposure.
Now, Rampage, he is a legend. His greatest hits DVD was just released this past Tuesday. (We could stop there.) The former Pride legend, Rampage, unified the UFC Light Heavyweight and the Pride Middleweight titles by defeating another legend in Dan Henderson. He has also defeated Igor Vovchanchyn, Matt Lindland, Chuck Liddell (x2), and Wanderlei Silva. Also, his win over Ricardo Arona at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 came via a memorable knockout slam.
Both fighters have enough impressive history to call their UFC 114 performance a superfight. UFC 115 almost has the same scenario minus the trash talk factor. UFC Hall of Famer and former Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell is making his comeback against fan favorite (and as I like to call him, the catchweight champion) Rich "Ace" Franklin. Liddell has a knocked out a list of greats, and Franklin has fought the who's who of MMA with impressive but still mixed results. Both fighters are names that hold weight, but the only problem with this fight is that it does not have any real contender or title implications. This is a showcase fight, and seems to fit the superfight category mainly because it's a fight between two storied and highly successful fighters that fans can get behind even if a title is not on the line. It will be interesting to see how the buyrates of this card stack up to that of UFC 114's.
One of the most anticipated fights of the year is Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin at UFC 116. This fight is a title fight, both are incredibly popular, but with all the hype and the promised (and probable) fireworks, this fight is not a superfight. Lesnar is a phenom, and is seemingly unstoppable. Carwin, has knocked out all of his opponents in the first round. These factors are not enough to give it the superfight label because while Lesnar has fought a number of great competitors, Carwin has not faced a similar level competition until his last two fights. (Still there is no question that Carwin is for real.) But, if you ask any MMA fan, the superfight classification is not necessary to classify the importance of this bout. This UFC Heavyweight Championship fight could go down as one of the most important fights in MMA history. This fight has the potential to turn casual fans into avid fans. Both of these guys are physically impressive and ultra athletic fighters that young, and aspiring, mixed martial artists can look up to. Brock Lesnar, love him or hate him, is the marque of the organization. (He is even on the cover of the UFC Undisputed 2010 video game.) Every league needs it's Michael Jordan, and even though it seems as though George St. Pierre is the MJ of MMA, there is something about the title "heavyweight" that makes casual fans feel they are seeing a legitimate matchup at the highest level.
The buyrates for UFC 116 will not disappoint for that reason alone. The biggest guys are fighting for the highest honor. The only non-title superfight matchup that might be somewhat comparable would be Anderson Silva vs. George St. Pierre, and then who knows how big that pay-per-view would be if it is for a championship. Still, fantasy matches aside, Lesnar vs. Carwin is the type of matchup that fans who normally tune out after the Spike prelims are more likely to order the pay-per-view card because the main event is currently the definitive heavyweight title matchup in the sport since Strikeforce and M-1 cannot seem to get Fedor vs. Alistair Overeem to happen.
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Follow Alvin on Twitter: @AwwwSnap
Alvin Benjamin Carter III is an MMATorch Specialist columnist focusing on the business and statistic side of the sport of MMA. He trains in SanDa / Shan Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and MMA at Redline Fight Sports. He also has a business background in music production, management, and clothing. He has launched two companies which cater to niche markets, giving him experience in examining trends and attitudes that can affect a particular business model, which he applies in his weekly column for MMATorch to the sport of MMA.
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