Is There Anything of Interest on UFC 96?
by Michael Rome on Mar 3, 2009 9:56 PM EST
in MMA News
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You'd never know there was a UFC show this weekend if you didn't actively look information up about it. Spike TV relegated the countdown show to Thursday at 11pm, and the UFC is holding press conferences in Germany when their show this weekend is in columbus. There are no titles on the line, and much like UFC 93, it looks like the UFC will forego hyping this show in order to focus on the next two following it.
Despite the lack of hype, I am still interested in the top two fights. The main event should be competitive, and has a lot of stylistic intrigue. Jardine probably can't finish Jackson, but at his best he can effectively grind his way to decisions over seemingly superior fighters. Jackson has to be the favorite given his ability to finish and Jardine's chin, but it is an interesting fight between two excellent light heavyweights. The title ramifications are huge too, as it is essentially a number one contender's bout between Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson even though Machida isn't involved.
The co-main event is probably more interesting. Ever since his debut, we've been told endlessly how good Shane Carwin is, and for the most part he hasn't disappointed. However, his opponents have all been tomato cans, and it's not as if he's simply jumping a small level up in competition. Gabriel Gonzaga is not the natural progression after a fight with Neil Wain, it is a gigantic jump in quality of competition and a real trial by fire for Carwin.
Outside of the two main fights and Miller/Maynard, the card has little appeal to me. In tough economic times, skipping one like this makes a lot of sense, but I can also see why the UFC does well even given the economic collapse we're all enduring. It becomes one of the few things to look forward to every month, and as long as they're churning out a few interesting fights, most people will still be willing to split the costs of a PPV show with friends.
For those of you who buy virtually every UFC show, are you skipping 96?
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I’m not buying UFC 96. Aside from the three matches you mentioned, I don’t anything that I would consider main card PPV worthy. It’s just not worth the cash at this point.
On a side note, I wonder if this is an example of Zuffa testing the strength of the UFC brand. It’s a weak card that hasn’t been pushed at all. I’m curious to see how it draws, if only as a barometer of how dedicated the UFC audience is.
Normally we buy at the house and invite people over, however, this one hasn’t garnered much attention. We are going to call a babysitter and head over to Buffalo Wild Wings.
My interest in Carwin is enough to get me to watch it live.
I’ll be watching it but then I watch every show. I’m interested in Gonzaga vs Carwin and Jardine vs Jackson.
I’ve seen enough ‘weak’ shows to know that sometimes you get a diamond in the rough. I didn’t have to pay for 95 so I feel okay paying for 96.
I don’t have a lot of hobbies.. Gaming and MMA so I’m not hurting financially.
Same here
I watch every single fight I can and the first PPV I missed in 18 months was Franklin VS Henderson, but then got shafted on 94 and got stuck paying for it twice.
This card hasn’t garnered much attention from my casuals either, but I’m really only pushing two fights on this card and still expect a decent turn out.
RAMPAGE is an easy sell to most of the people who watch with me because I’m a huge PAGE fan, my miniature dachsund is named Rampage
all you gotta do is...
I’ve seen a lot of people write that they are looking forward to Maynard/Miller, and I can’t see why… every Maynard fight I’ve seen has been extremely dull.
I’m hoping the Boetsch fight will make the PPV, I like seeing him fight.
Maynard vs Edgar
was anything but dull. The dude is a tough tough challenge for any lightweight. I’m very interested to see if Miller can solve the riddle.
"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"
Maynard is a guy Joe Rogan would describe like this
“If the Guy can hold you down and molest you for five minutes at a time, then that’s MMA, I don’t believe in stand ups”
IMO- Maynard does use a little striking to mix it up in the Edgar fight
all you gotta do is...
My Top 5 Fights This Weekend:
5. Yoshiro Maeda vs. Micah Miller – Can Maeda handle the reach of Miller?
4. Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine – Can Rampage counter the kicks with a KO punch within three rounds? Can Jardine not get knocked out in 40 seconds?
3. Chase Beebe vs. Joe Warren – The most hated bantamweight on Bloody Elbow against mystery man Warren, making his debut at 31 with the 2006 Greco Roman world title under his belt.
2. Jim Miller vs. Gray Maynard – Hopefully Miller can make it 6-0 for the Miller brothers in as many months by submitting the fighter affectionately dubbed “Lay Praynard”.
1. Daisuke Nakamura vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida – Two of the best fighters in world when it comes to trading positions and submissions. Expect to see plenty of switches, hammerlocks, reversals, dipsy-doos, and maybe even a Hughesifix or a reverse pecker wrecker.
Oh, and no, I will not buy this cruddy PPV. Gonzaga vs. Carwin is such a flawed fight; one guy who has no heart or guts after the first round, and some old guy who popped out of nowhere that has never even been that far.
Lets admit it, this is a card they slapped together to keep the one PPV per month goal on track. Considering all the ways UFC could be delivering their content, it would be wise of the fans to say “no thanks” to second rate events like this one and send a message.
I'm fine with this event...
as long as the UFC is cool with not doing a lot of buys. It’s a Spike worthy card for me but I’ll still be watching, because…it’s what I do.
It’s not a great card and the push has sucked. But again, I think the UFC knows when they put it together that they weren’t going to pull a million again or anything.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 3, 2009 9:43 PM EST up reply actions
Its not that bad of a card
Its just not that good, definitely skipping this one. Just out of curiosity what happens if Jardine wins as well as Liddell, and further can they really deny Machida a shot this year?
Just FYI, The Countdown to UFC 96 is showing up on Thursday night at 11pm on my channel guide.
http://www.mmaforreal.com
I’m actually interested to see how Carwin fares against Gonzaga, and if Gonzaga can reemerge as a heavyweight contender. Jardine/Jackson is interesting just to see if Jardine can do what he does – spoil the evening for the favorite. Miller/Maynard is being overlooked by many, in my opinion. Granted, Maynard has taken to winning in a less than dynamic fashion, but he has a lot of potential as does Miller. I love to watch Jim Miller, he could certainly pull something off from the bottom if need be.
a number one contender’s bout between Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson even though Machida isn’t involved
-insert Machida is so elusive joke-
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
I will continue to buy every card. I don’t really care about MEGA fights etc, I enjoy the fights themselves.
Anytime 2 men enter a ring to hurt each other crazy things happen. If you watch all the cards you get to see the start of promising careers and the end of others. Its all about the entertainment value and $50 isn’t much to pay for a night of fights (cost more to take my kids to the movies).
Page vs Teckno – We will learn a lot about both fighters careers. I still think Page is the #1 205er. And I have always like Jardine but he is a gate keeper imo.
Carwin vs Gonz – I have no idea about this fight. I am thinking of Dos vs Verdum but you never know. Remember the head kick? I know Crocop does but I like HUGE HWs.
Miller Vs Maynerd – I like the Miller boys, call me a wierdo.
Hamill vs Munoz – meh who cares. Hamill has heart and I dont know crap about Munoz.
Vera vs Pratt – Which Vera will show up? Is this his last UFC fight if he tanks? I know they want him for the Asian market but c’mon.
Riley vs Nelson – Will Riley ever turn the corner?
i hardly ever order pay perviews anymore…last ones i got were 91 and 92 cuz they were special cards…i just watch for free on the internet…i gave up on ordering them cuz i can never get anyone to come over and watch them…i guess not many ppl i know care about the mma anymore…i always pay and ppl still dont show up….maybe i should wash my ass once in awhile!!! lol
I'm looking forward to it.
I think the only uninteresting fight is Vera/Patt.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
its sad how vera came from being one of the most exciting fighters to one of the most boring ones...
but in fairness, id rather watch that than grove vs day or brown/sell.. (or maybe thats just cause im still hoping for the old vera to come back? haha)
http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/
by Anton Tabuena on Mar 4, 2009 1:15 AM EST up reply actions
I like watching Brown and am interested to see how Sell looks at 170. Grove/Day isn’t terribly interesting, either, I guess. Oh well, two fights I’m not looking forward to.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
To answer the article, I order almost every PPV whether I’m home or not (PVR is sweet) but I will be skipping this one as it is missing any real compelling/ title fights. Jackson is the favorite, if he wins he gets a title shot. If he loses Jardine gets…. SQUAT. What will the outcome of Gonzaga / Carwin get? MAYBE a title shot? Has Dana ever said this fight will have any consequence on the heavyweight picture? I’m usually never a pessimist but this card is the first in over a year will be not buying because I do not believe these fights are worth my money… and I bought Franklin vs Henderson!
“Oh, and no, I will not buy this cruddy PPV. Gonzaga vs. Carwin is such a flawed fight; one guy who has no heart or guts after the first round,”-Smoogy
Strong words bashing Gonzaga im even ignoring the Carwin comment, I take it you must compete at a high level right? UFC, DREAM, SENGOKU? Where do you fight?
This is the worst kind of complaint about someone’s criticism. I thought Smoogy was being very fair in his assessment even if I disagre w/some of it. Gonzaga folded against Werdum & didn’t show the heart that makes me a fan. But I do happen to be a fan of a naturally, big strong heavyweight w/very good skills. And Carwin is very overhyped considering his resume of sub-par opposition. That doesn’t mean he won’t beat better comp, just that he’s unproven & very unknown to casual fans.
A pro athlete’s job is to entertain people! Just like actors, comedians, etc. Therefore, we are allowed to give feedback even if we are not their peer. We are their “customer” & how will their professional career flourish if they don’t know what we want? Please go watch (or re-watch) Hopkins last fight & listen to what he said in the post-interview. People want to see him go for the kill & he acknowledged that. He didn’t say “all my jerk fans don’t box for a living so I don’t care if I’m not entertaining”.
And I will watch the card although I watch it @ a friend’s house for free. There isn’t a lot of major impact w/in the divisions but the unpredictable nature of fights means there will definitely be serious entertainment for a real fight fan. Carwin / Gonzaga, Miller / Maynard & Rampage alone are worth the price of admission for me anyway.
I’m only leaving this non-sense up because of the response to it.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Napao vs. Carwin
Miller vs. Maynard
Rampage vs. Jardine
those 3 fights for me are more than enough to make me shell out money to get the PPV, plus you never know what other fights could end up being good. UFC PPV’s are an event to me I can’t really see how anyone who loves MMA wouldn’t call up a few buddies and enjoy some fights on Saturday but whatever.
Wouldn't be prudent
I usually buy every ufc ppv. But this card has got me shaking me head. Personally, I have Rampage Jackson fatigue. I hope he loses so that Machida gets his shot at Rashad Evans.
Gonzaga v. I don’t remember his name: don’t care.
Rest of card: don’t care.
I’m so ambivalent about this card, I may not even bother to listent to a pirate cast on the internet!
I’m not skipping it. Fight cards are never predictable and therefore you never know what you’re going to get. UFC 94 was supposed to be awesome and except for the two main events it sucked balls. UFC 95 was amazing even though it was supposed to suck balls.
I love watching high level fights and even though 96 isn’t a great card it is still the major leagues of MMA and that in itself makes any UFC card worth a look. When all the fighters are that good, you never know how a card will turn out.
All for one and one for all!
by Mixed Martial Adam on Mar 4, 2009 9:29 AM EST reply actions
Definitely ordering this one, and watching with the same group of fans as usual.
I think there are several interesting fights on the card. And as UFC 94 showed, other than the 2 main events, the rest of the matchups didn’t lead to very exciting fights. People are sleeping on the Miller-Maynard fight.
i am a major homer
so my number one fight this weekend probably ownt be shown aaron riley v shane nelson
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