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Are Super Fights a Bad Thing in the Long Run?

Penn_white_gsp_zuffa_400_medium

 

 

This is inspired by a previous fan post by Zack Gobie and a front page article by Michael Rome. I actually responded to Zack Gobie’s fan post with a point somewhat similar to this but as it was somewhat off topic, the same could be said for posting a comment on the Rome article, I decided to create a new fan post.

 

I would be interested in knowing all your views on the potential effects of these super fights (BJ-GSP, Mir-Lesnar, ect) on the MMA landscape long term? Obviously in the short term it means cash and publicity, both, by themselves, positives.

 

These massive fights may turn into a negative in the long run for the UFC and the sport. I feel there is a chance that fighters might out grow the brand and even the sport, like boxing at the moment (for example ODLH in the US, Hatton and Calzaghe in the UK etc).This could have a few long-term negative implications:

Mid tier fighters may find it hard to gain traction with fans as publicity will be overshadowed by larger fights
Fighters become too big for the UFC and demand greater freedom and start upsetting the applecart (wanting protection from certain fighters, more freedom with where they fight, fighting for the biggest money as opposed to the best competition and bigger pay checks which could prohibit a card having mid tear fighters for financial reasons)
Popularity in MMA overtakes the popularity of the UFC (only a negative for the UFC in my view).
Constant weight division jumping to create super fights between champions
Fights between popular fighters being marketed as important but having no relevance to a title or rankings overall.

Is the UFC growing the sport and fighters too quickly? Could they lose control of major fighters to upstarts the likes of WAMMA and Affliction that are willing to massage egos and overpay fighters? To give a hypothetical example, what if GSP could sell a PPV by himself? We would start seeing GSP vs a top 20 fighter for a "world championship" with no fights of note on the undercard as successful PPV. If this happens the UFC will have major competition in the future and may have to switch gears as a promoter to keep up. This will move the sport to a model similar to that of boxing, something I believe to be bad all round.

 

Is this just in the nature of capitalism or am I being too negative in my analysis? Will we all start sounding like elderly boxing enthusiasts in ten years time remembering the good old days? I personally don’t know what will happen. However, I think there could be negative implications to the sport growing to such a huge level. I’m playing devils advocate here, I have not heard this take on the popularity of the sport discussed before and I think it is a discussion worth having.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Well, they do tend to mess up the title landsscape a bit.

by lbk on Jan 20, 2009 2:27 PM EST reply actions  

BJ vs. GSP 2 bugs me, because Penn has nothing to lose…. don’t get me wrong, it’s a great fight. It’s just that if Penn wins… the LW or WW title defences will be affected and that sucks.

by Nick Thomas on Jan 20, 2009 2:28 PM EST reply actions  

It does mess up the landscape of the divisions for a little while but it also brings in more viewers to the sport. It also gives the hardcore/diehard fans what they want.

If BJ Penn wins, I could see the UFC doing somewhat of a tournament for (LW & WW)like they just did for the heavyweight division.

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on Jan 20, 2009 2:44 PM EST reply actions  

good thought. it is interesting. the ufc has huge brand recognition and that will make it hard for anyone else to compete. also we have seen what happens when you jump into big time promoting. (elitexc) personally i give the ufc my ppv coin because of the quality undercards and constant quality product. i will not pay for 1 big fight.

by nk on Jan 20, 2009 5:25 PM EST reply actions  

I don’t think super fights are bad in the long run, here’s why:

1) They don’t happen very often.
It takes time for a fighter to gain enough recognition to become “super fight” worthy. It’s not something that happens overnight, basically meaning that we see super fights a couple times a year (if we’re lucky), and when they do happen it’s a big deal.

2) They need to happen eventually.
When a fighter obtains “phenom” status, it is usually the case where the only logical step is to compete with a fighter of equal or greater status — and is usually, but not always, a title holder (or 10 pound-for-pounder) in an different weight class.

3) They help build up the sports popularity.
If we didn’t have super fights we would never see the likes of Penn vs. Sherk, Mir vs. Lesnar, Silva vs. GSP (the super fight of all super fights). I see GSP vs. Silva as front-page sports news material, in local and national newspapers.

These are the fights that go down in MMA history, albeit MMA history is constantly, and will continue to be, rewritten. These fights help promote the sport, but they also help each fighter make the climb up the pound-for-pound ladder.

On a side note, I do believe super fights should happen several times a year, however I don’t believe title holders from different weight classes should fight each other until it is a last resort type of thing, ie. there are no more worthy appointments in said weight class.

Admittedly, BJ vs GSP does nothing for me. If BJ wins it will be a total shocker, and then what? He holds two belts and defends two belts? and if GSP wins no one will be surprised and everything will go back to normal. In my opinion, GSP vs Silva is what I call a super fight.

Now having said that, Machida should fight Silva in the LHW division — after Silva kills Leites and Machida out-points Thiago.

by goodbones on Jan 28, 2009 12:56 AM EST reply actions  

what a stupid topic

why would you not want to see the best fight each other…regardless what affect it has on the divisions….unless you like to just argue you is the best and not actually see them fight. what a horrible post this it.

by jgersh on Jan 30, 2009 2:11 PM EST reply actions  

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