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Did the UFC do too much in hyping up the "grudge match" nature of the Rashad Evans vs. Quinton Jackson fight considering the actual fight itself didn't live up to the "grudge match" billing, or do the pay-per-view buy numbers justify their decision?
ALVIN CARTER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
The numbers justify the "grudge match" title perfectly, and despite the shape the bout it took... it really was a grudge match. These two guys did not like each other one bit. There is no way we can be sure how a fight will go, so I say bill it the way the hype suggests. You are naming the fight based on proven information (i.e Grudge Macth because of bad blood; Superfight because of skill and notoriety). There is nothing we can do if the fight does not live up to the title. The only other option would be to not give fights a brand and then name it after we see what happens, but that would not be fun.
ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
The pay-per-view numbers justify their decision. I predicted last go-around that Rashad Evans would repeatedly take Quinton Jackson down en route to a decision. However, I was not supremely confident that that was how the match would unfold. Both men have been in exciting fights and it truly appeared that they didn't like each other. The UFC would have been foolish to not sell the storyline.
MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
No, fighters talking trash does not mean that the fight is going to turn into an all out brawl, especially since that would most likely not have worked in Rashad's favor this fight. So you can't blame a fighter for using a good strategy and trying to win.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I think the UFC is justified in doing a great job of hyping up this fight. It may not have been the greatest fight ever, but you can't guarantee that in MMA. Sometimes fights just don't live up to the hype. That's an unfortunate side effect of the competitive nature of sports, sometimes things don't live up to the billing. My answer would be different if it were a bad fight, but it was a good fight.
MATT PELKEY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Let's just say they'd like to chalk this up as the odd fight card that didn't so much deliver. For the most part, the UFC has done a fantastic job of building up goodwill with its fans. They always try to cram more fights than they promised into the broadcast, and when there's a clunker, they usually acknowledge it and make amends. With Liddell-Franklin (which was fun, just not a "return to glory" for either aging pugilist), Lesnar-Carwin, Silva-Sonnen, and the Edgar-Penn rematch on the horizon, this should just be a minor speed bump. And hey, when they try to convince us that Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin want to kill each other, it might not actually be hype.
RELATED STORY: Part one of this roundtable with responses from Sutcliffe, Hansen, Perez, Hobaugh and Amadi: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
UPCOMING ROUNDTABLE QUESTIONS
• If Frank Mir drops to light-heavyweight, name the three most intriguing even match-ups for him and predict how the fight would go.
• Which of the upcoming summer fight cards are you most excited for and why between UFC 116, 117 and 118?
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STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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