Kimbo's Ripple Effect on UFC 114

by xDieseLx on May 29, 2010 2:37 PM EDT

This weekend, UFC 114 will be headlined by Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson, a battle between former champions and TUF 10 coaches. The bout is probably one of the most anticipated non-title fights in history, getting a lot of mainstream press coverage and "casual-fan" interest. Why is there so much fan interest for this fight? It is a number - one contender fight, but so was Hardy vs. Swick and no one really cared about that fight.

via urdirt.com

Coaches have fought many times following their stints on TUF, but never has there been so much build up like there is for Rampage and Evans. The season sucked, with almost every fight ending in unspectacular fashion and culminating in Roy Nelson winning the show which everyone knew was going to happen anyway. But the rating were amazing, and Kimbo Slice was the main attraction. On a show with some decent fighters, former NFL players, and 2 of the most interesting coaches yet, Kimbo Slice was by far the draw for the show and was prominently featured every week, whether he was doing anything or not. He lost his only fight on the show and then refused a fight due to his knee being shot.

At UFC 113, Kimbo comes out, looks good for about 15 seconds, and gets beat up by "Meathead" Matt Mitrione. He then gets cut, everyone thinks he sucks, and will probably end up as the second coming of Bob Sapp. No one really know what his effect on the PPV buys for UFC 113 was, but no one in the build up for this fight has discussed the impact his presence on TUF will have on the PPV buys for UFC 114. Without Kimbo, TUF 10 would have just been another boring Ultimate Fighter season and nothing really good to speak of. The coaches would have still hated each other, but no one would have watched. With Kimbo, everyone got to see months of Rampage and Rashad trash talking and really got alot of people excited for a grudge match.

Maybe I am crazy. Maybe he has nothing to do with it. But I think that the UFC chose there coaches for this season of TUF to get the most PPV buys he could from this fight. Dana White knew that Kimbo wasn't going to be a headlining draw for the UFC, but if he could relay his drawing power into something else, he could make out huge. This fight is a huge fight, and I think we have to thank Kimbo a little bit for making this fight even bigger.

What say you?

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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Comments

good observation

and they very shrewdly picked two African-American coaches on the season Kimbo appeared on TUF knowing that Rampage and Rashad would appeal to many Kimbo fans.

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by Nate Wilcox on May 29, 2010 2:41 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

because only black people

go on youtube?

by Hendo_One-Shot on May 29, 2010 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

That’s not what he’s saying.

Hard core MMA fan since UFC 99

by ChiCubs23 on May 29, 2010 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow.

Fail.

by Geno Mrosko on May 30, 2010 3:47 AM EDT up reply actions

It’s undoubtedly true…

by frosnt1 on May 30, 2010 8:20 AM EDT up reply actions

They have been trying to set this up for a while though

They originally tried to set this up for UFC 96 but since Rashad didnt want to fight that quickly(after winning the belt at 92) they made Rampage/Jardine.

After UFC 96 this match would have headlined UFC 100 but Frank Mir injured his knee and so Lesnar/Mir 2 was pushed back from UFC 98 to UFC 100. They then asked Rampage to fight for the title against Evans at UFC 98 but Rampage had torn ligaments in his jaw and so Evans/Machida happened instead.

Now did TUF add more hype? Did TUF with Kimbo add even more attention? Absolutely.

But, in my opinion, this fight has been a fight the fans have wanted to see since UFC 92 and in between the 17 months we have been waiting a lot of fuel has been added on this fire.

TUF, TUF with Kimbo, the Rampage retiring and then coming back, the beef between Dana and Rampage, The A-Team movie have all lead to this fight being as hyped as it is.

by bigdmmafan on May 29, 2010 5:13 PM EDT reply actions