WEC 45: Cerrone vs Ratcliff Fan Buzz - Overshadowed by Strikeforce
by GregS123 on Dec 17, 2009 12:00 PM EST
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Donald “The Cowboy” Cerrone takes on WEC veteran Ed Ratcliff Saturday night from the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas. With just three weight classes the WEC has a limited number of high-profile title fights that it can schedule, and this card was left without one. The fan buzz surrounding the event is somewhat low for the WEC, and sensing an opportunity, competitor Strikeforce has decided to go head to head with an event of its own. While several compelling matchups will be held including the anticipated debut of IFL standout Chris Horodecki, limited fan awareness of the event and its participants will likely result in a quiet night of ratings for the WEC.
The buzz rankings take into account the level of activity for people searching and reading about each MMA fighter online. The more online buzz, the greater the ranking.
The average buzz rank for WEC 45’s main and co-main event fighters is 417, and while Donald Cerrone has individually climbed as high as 52nd earlier this year, it will be a tall task to build an entire event around “The Cowboy.” In comparison, the average buzz rank for Strikeforce’s main and co-main event fighters this weekend at the “Evolution” card is 226, nearly twice as healthy.
The obvious prediction is this will spell trouble for the ratings of the WEC card. More importantly, it represents a new Strikeforce strategy of antagonizing the much larger UFC/WEC empire by cherry-picking weak events to go head to head against. Strikeforce may end up winning the battle on Saturday, but with Zuffa’s history of aggressiveness towards other promotions, the fireworks may just be getting started.
| Fighter | Latest Buzz Rank | Peak Buzz Rank | Peak Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Cerrone | 360 | 52 | Jan 2009 |
| Chris Horodecki | 381 | 122 | Jan 2009 |
| Anthony Njokuani | 532 | 170 | Apr 2009 |
| Ed Ratcliff | 396 | 344 | Aug 2009 |
| Average | 417 | 172 |
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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i don't know if it's just me
but i don’t really see cerrone as a main event without a title at stake
I think my big problem is that its headlined by the LW division. In the WEC, the FW and BW divisions consist of world class fighters competiting on one of the highest if not the highest stage for their division. At LW? Its a bunch of guys that at best are prospects and some of them dont even deserve that status. Its hard for me to show the same level of interest for both of those.
Very good point. I don’t think many will argue that the WEC’s FW and BW classes are equivalent to the UFC in terms of top-ten fighters, but the LW division seems more like the AAA arena for upcoming prospects looking to break into some level of mainstream recognition before making their UFC debuts in a few years.
by Steven T. Kelliher on Dec 17, 2009 2:18 PM EST up reply actions
This card is stacked
and it has alot of fighters who we will know where they stand after this. As a fight fan I’d rather see more cards like this title fights are not always the most exciting fights on the card. If you have versus and you don’t watch it, then just wait for Brown Faber 3 and shut up.
The SF card has nothing for me of interest while this WEC has several good matchups and they consistantly put on better shows there is no question what people should be watching on Saturday.
by Raker on Dec 17, 2009 3:24 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
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