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Despite the new main event, is there enough left on the UFC 130 card worth the price of the pay-per-view this month?
RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Well obviously it depends who you're asking. If you're poor, have no friends, and don't like to watch combat sports, the answer is 'no'. If you're Dana White, the answer is 'yes' (probably). Now that I've got all the hedging out of the way...
Even I am a little touch and go on this one. I write about the sport, host a weekly radio show on the sport, as well as a call-in show after every PPV, and even I, under those constraints, will only order the PPV if I can get enough people to come over to the house to make it a social gathering as opposed to a sporting event. The fact that Santiago vs. Stann (along with Mir vs. Nelson, and Alves vs. Story) is on this card is enough to guarantee that I at least catch the event at a bar, though.
The real question is if 131 is deep enough to pay $47.20 for...
ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
The one thing about the UFC that always seems to work is that they can lose a main fight and most times have something in the co-main event to take its place. A couple of years back, Brock Lesnar had to bow out of his fight, and was replaced by the co-main event of Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. It's still worth the price of admission with both Rampage Jackson and Matt Hamill at the top. Rampage is Rampage which makes it automatically watchable, and Hamill continues to be a source of inspiration that makes this card still able to stand on its own.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Everyone of the fights on the new UFC 130 card has the potential to be a memorable and exciting fight. The headline fight between Jackson and Hamill is not a "Main Event Worthy" fight. To me, this is barely a co-main event, and unless Rampage can catch Hamill with one of his power shots while standing, this one could be boring. The Mir vs. Nelson fight should be an excellent and exciting fight. Stefan Struve and Brian Stann are good fighters so I am looking forward to their fights as well. This fight card would make a great free TV fight card, but I am over all disappointed with the event and don't think it will be worth the price of the pay-per-view.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Not really. I don't think there's enough purposeful fights on here to justify the price. There are no title fights, no number one contender's fights, and while there are a bunch of decent fights there's no surplus of great ones. The fight I'm most looking forward to now is one that will be on Spike TV during the prelims, and tha''s Miguel Torres vs. Demetrious Johnson. I want to see if Torres can continue to get himself back on track after suffering a few losses last year. Torres has won two in a row, I want to see if he can make it three in a row. The other fights look okay, but not enough to want to pay to see them.
ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Hell no. Rampage Jackson vs. Matt Hamill and Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson are not bad fights, but jokes as the selling points for a $55 pay-per-view. This is a good litmus test: anyone who thinks that this event is worth that amount has very different ideas of value with regard to MMA than I do.
CHRIS PARK, MMATORCH UK SPECIALIST
As far as potentially good fights are concerned this card has some serious candidates.
Rick Story and Thiago Alves is the clash I am most looking forward to, but I anticipate several memorable moments from this event.
Is it worth the $45 that viewers in America will pay? Probably not on paper, but with so many fighters, the training they put their bodies through, and the volume of events on TV, sometimes the chips will fall this way.
Someone will take their opportunity to be the standout on this card, and we might even get a few upsets along the way.
ALVIN CARTER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
The main card is still pretty good. I am interested in seeing Rampage in a bout that he is supposed to win. This puts the pressure on Matt Hamill to really execute a tight game plan. The fight I actually am the most interested in is Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson. I am a fan of both these guys, and I am eager to see if Roy Nelson can get the upset. Stefan Struve has also become an exciting heavyweight, and his match up with Travis Browne could prove to be exciting. Even the opening fight on the PPV portion of the card is interesting as Brian Stann and Jorge Santiago will most likely have an exciting fight. That fight has a pretty good chance at being "Fight of the Night."
JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Losing the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard fight definitely hurt, but I think there is enough left on the card that, if it's not a financial burden to you, it's still worth the price of the pay-per-view. Especially if you can get a group together to help split the cost, or make your way to a bar to catch the fights. While the main event is certainly one of the weakest the UFC has put on in a long time and one of the weakest they'll put on for some time after, the rest of the pay-per-view card is filled with very interesting fights. Mir vs. Nelson, Santiago vs. Stann and Alves vs. Story should all be fantastic fights for their respective divisions, and considering the entire undercard will be available for free before the main card I think fans will find they're getting their money's worth regardless of how the main card plays out. As we saw with UFC 129 last month, even a bad or disappointing main event doesn't have to ruin what is overall a very good card.
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