Main Event Madness

Main Event Madness
Posted by: Marcus

You've been following the rumours of a big MMA bout for a month. You try and do the math in your head of who has what advantages where. You wonder who has the better ground game, stand up, chin, heart, and so forth. You compare credentials of NCAA accolades or belt ranks in martial arts. The excitement for the coming title fight couldn't be higher in your mind, and then you wake up the next day to find out that someone is out with an injury. It's an instantaneous buzzkill. However, after the initial frustration, most fans are able to deal with it and look forward to whatever new main event is set up. However, sometimes it's difficult to understand exactly how an MMA promotion figures out exactly what matchup should take the place of the original main event.

Truth be told, one can't get too upset over the injury of a top fighter. More often than not, a fighter who comes into a fight that isn't in top health pays the price more often than not. For example, Minotauro Nogeuira coming off of a rough staph infection before his bout with Frank Mir, an opponent that proved to Minotauro that he shouldn't be taken lightly. Other fights have been put on hold as of late, such as Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort, and Machida vs Shogun 2. In these circumstances, someone can understand why they do not fight with nagging injuries. However, there are times when the UFC doesn't seem to be able to follow up with a substitue main event that has a similar impact.

The most glaring exampe of this is the main event of UFC 106, Forrest Griffin's rematch with Tito Ortiz. Though many people see that fight as Forrest's first foray into the top of his division, the issue remained that the fight did not serve as a good main event. Neither fighter, at that point, was in line for a title shot, and both were on losing streaks. Also, Ortiz's recent eighteen month layoff didn't help matters either. Though the "hardcore" fan may be drawn to a main event like this, many of the new fans that had been drawn in since UFC 100 may have been put off by such a main event.

However, another part of the problem may simply be in the match that is being substituted. The original main event of UFC 106 was the highly anticipated return of Brock Lesnar to face off against rising heavyweight knockout artist Shane Carwin. Both men came from similar wrestling backgrounds, and were known for their immense size and brutal strength. However, Lesnar's current condition put this match on an indefinite hold, and an interim bout between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin may be in the works. From the standpoint of someone on the outside looking in, a fight between Griffin and Ortiz makes a good co-main event, but not many people truly want to pay good money to watch it as the main event. The difference here is that neither fighter has much of a legend behind them, neither of them is at the top of the division, and for either fighter, a victory does not mean a title shot. Truthfully, it has no real consequences, and MMA fans don't seem to enjoy fan service as a main event, unless you're seeing two legendary fighters face one another, a la Couture vs Nogeiura.

So, what does it seem best for the UFC to do in these scenarios? One would think that they should structure a card according to a model of what would work best were the main event to fall through. For example, having a number one contender bout in the Lightweight division as the co-main event for UFC 106 may have been a bettter choice. It may be a better idea to keep fan service bouts to the cable TV events, like UFC 105 was. UFC 105 and UFC 106 seemed to be structured similarly, in which the cards themselves were better suited for cable viewing rather than a fourty five dollar price point. Hopefully the UFC will find more efficient ways to structure the fight cards to bring in a better revenue despite injuries suffered by champions. Only time will tell.