Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Chris Leben, Footstomps, and More Dana White Talk
Nov 30, 2011 - 9:15:41 AM HYDEN BLOG: Chris Leben, Footstomps, and More Dana White Talk

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Chris Leben has been suspended for a year after testing positive in a drug test. I'm not exactly surprised. Leben is the ultimate everyman. He prefers to stand right in front of his opponent, trading punches, and he's always ready to fight on a moment's notice. The problem is that this extends to his other activities, including drug use. Leben knows he's getting tested, yet he still uses. He's also a multiple offender. That means he's an addict, and needs help. Dana White has said the UFC will help Leben in any way they can. I like that Leben loves to brawl, but I've always had a problem with guys who use footstomps.

To me, footstomps are like flopping in basketball or soccer. Unfortunately, this has also permeated the NFL as well. Flopping in these sports can give you a strategic advantage, but at what cost? If you flop, you turn in your man card, no question about it. That's not to let women off the hook for flopping, they sacrifice their pride as well. Flopping is a stain on a sport, and on those who do it.

I view footstomps the same way. Those who use footstomps turn in their man card, or their pride. I realize Jon Jones has used footstomps, and that sucks because I like Jones. However, I do lose respect for him when he uses them. Footstomps can help you win a fight, but you also lose pride and respect.

I see no difference between footstomps and hair-pulling, or small digit manipulation, or fish-hooking, or any other lowdown tactic. I consider footstomps as egregious as groin shots. I want footstomps outlawed in their entirety. Are they effective? Yeah, they can be, but that doesn't mean they should be legal.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua did an interview with ESPN in June in which he said that the UFC should allow stomps. By that, I'm assuming he meant all stomps, including footstomps. That's ridiculous. There has to be rules that are abided by, or else a sport becomes anarchy. No one can say with a straight face that stomps to the head should be made legal, not if they care about the longterm health of MMA. Can you imagine the uproar if headstomps were legal? The UFC wouldn't be allowed on pretty much any channel in the U.S. Headstomps are effective, of course, but so are groin shots and hair-pulling, etc. Just because something can help you win doesn't mean it should be legal.

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I received all positive responses about my blog last week, the one calling Dana White out on his comments regarding hardcore MMA fans. My point was that it's fine if Dana feels that way, he just shouldn't vocalize it. Telling your hardcore, base fans to "shut up" and that you don't care what they think is incredibly dumb and harmful to business. It's ok to want to court new fans, but not at the expense of fans that have been with you for a long time. Dana may have just been shooting from the hip, as he always does. He may have just been frustrated with a vocal minority, but that's no excuse to call out an entire fan base.

If Dana had clarified his statements, that would have been a lot better. People say things they don't mean all the time, this would have gone away if Dana had explained what he meant. It's all about perception, and the perception is that Dana was turning his back on those who had been there from the beginning.

On a side note, I also find it insulting that casual fans wouldn't "get" the Shogun vs. Henderson fight and that they wouldn't be able to appreciate it fully. I know plenty of people who aren't hardcore MMA fans, people who have only watched a few minutes here and there. I also know plenty of people who don't watch MMA at all. To say that they wouldn't get that fight is just wrong, that was a great slugfest. Anyone who has watched boxing, or any boxing movie throughout time, would be more than capable of appreciating Shogun and Henderson fighting it out like two warriors on the battlefield.

To say that casual fans wouldn't have got a fight like that is like equating them to 2 year olds. I know several people who got interested in the UFC after watching Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar slug it out on the The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. They weren't even MMA fans at all before watching that fight, but after watching that classic, they were sold.

Fights like the ones I mentioned transcend fanhood. That's why they become instant classics. Even non-fans have to stop and watch because of what's happening before you. A deep knowledge of the sport isn't needed to appreciate what's going on. If anything, fights like Griffin-Bonnar or Shogun-Henderson will make more fans than fights like Velasquez-Dos Santos. I would go so far as to guarantee that Shogun-Henderson would have drawn many more viewers than Velasquez-Dos Santos did. I would bet anyone any amount of money on that bet. The human drama playing out before us would have captivated viewers to a much larger degree.

The ratings for Griffin-Bonnar 1 went up as the fight played out. This is very similar to what happens when a great football, baseball, etc. game is happening. More and more people start tuning in, because they either were channel-surfing and stopped, or they had someone tell them to start watching. If Twitter starts blowing up because of a fight, you can bet your ass that more and more people are going to start watching. That alone tells you that these are casual fans, or even non-fans interested in what the hubbub is about. Hardcore fans watch from the beginning and don't stray. Casual fans are drawn in by the excitement. I'm pretty sure that they would have "got" it, had this happened.

If Velasquez-Dos Santos had been a longer fight, and had been as good as Shogun-Henderson, the ratings would have been even higher than they were. That's a fact that apparently eludes Dana, who said he wouldn't change a thing about the way UFC On FOX 1 went. We can only hope Dana doesn't actually feel this way, and was just putting some spin on the situation.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com