HT: Spike.com
"The Ultimate Fighter 10" Debut

"The Ultimate Fighter 10" Debut

BE community member Jonathan Snowden has an interesting piece at the Fight Network arguing that the good old spectacle is alive and well in today's MMA scene on BOTH sides of the Pacific:

It started as a spectacle, a gladiator contest in an octagon that promoters considered surrounding with a shark-filled moat rather than a steel-mesh fence. The first Ultimate Fighting Championship began with Gerard Gordeau kicking Teila Tuli's teeth across the arena and ended with the very same Dutchman trying to bite Royce Gracie's ear, Tyson style. In those early days, the event thrived on being a freakshow. With no television coverage and no online audience to cater to, the UFC counted on newspaper articles to spread the word. The early UFC had no intention of being a sport. They were a spectacle- and they loved it.

Eventually, attitudes had to change. The negative news stories were doing more than spreading the word. They were also attracting attention from politicians and cable company brass, attention that nearly killed the promotion. The UFC started to clean up its act, instituting additional weight classes, rules changes, and safety precautions. By the time the company got the stamp of approval from New Jersey it was a bonafide sport. Until now. The freakshow, the spectacle, is back. And not just in Japan. It's invading America too-and even the UFC isn't immune. Want proof? Just take a look at Tim Sylvia getting creamed in just under 10 seconds, falling to the brick-like hands of 48-year old boxer Ray Mercer. Here are two other recent train wrecks, and two still to come.

1. Kyle Maynard makes his MMA debut
2. Jose Canseco makes his MMA debut
3. Bobby Lashley vs Bob Sapp
4. Kimbo Slice on the Ultimate Fighter

I'd actually argue that spectacle has been a constant element of the MMA promotional mix, especially in the UFC. Let's not forget the key UFC matches of the Zuffa era:

1. Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz 1 UFC 40 - Vendetta 11/22/2002 -- A lifesaver for the struggling Zuffa. Massively increased PPV buys. Got Tito Ortiz over with the original UFC audience which had tuned out.
   
2. Matt Hughes vs Royce Gracie UFC 60 - Hughes vs. Gracie 5/27/2006  -- Part 2 of Zuffa's plan to cannibalize the old school cred of SEG's original stars. Capitalized on the surprise success of TUF to really get the second generation of UFC stars over with old school fans who had drifted away.
   
3. Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz 2 UFC 61 - Bitter Rivals 7/8/2006 -- An attempt to build up a card headlined by two heavyweights who just weren't doing it at the box office, Tim Sylva vs Andrei Arlovski. Sadly the Shamrock-Ortiz rematch was as big a bust as the main event, but was much faster than that 5 round snoozer.
   
4. Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir UFC 81 - Breaking Point 2/2/2008 -- It wasn't officially the headliner, but the marketing push was 100% behind a 1-0 fighter making his UFC debut. Lesnar succeeded in bringing his massive WWE audience to the UFC ppv. Mir succeeded in tapping him out.

One of the reasons that Dana White has been so successful as the head of the UFC has been his canny ability to get the mix of sport and spectacle just right.

I also think that the upcoming Gina Carano vs Christiane Cyborg Santos fight offers Strikeforce's Scott Coker a chance to engage in the kind of spectacle promoting that could get his promotion on CBS. Coker's had great luck pushing spectacles in the past: Frank Shamrock vs Cesar Gracie, Phil Baroni, Cung Le and Nick Diaz all spring to mind.

Poll

Where do you draw the line, how much spectacle is too much?

1%

Kimbo Slice on TUF, he hasn't earned it

38 votes

4%

Brock Lesnar's entire UFC career, keep the pro wrestlers out of MMA

82 votes

1%

Bobby Lashley vs Bob Sapp, one's unproven and the other is washed up

32 votes

50%

Kyle Maynard in MMA, please stop!

985 votes

39%

Hong Man Choi vs Jose Canseco

779 votes

2%

Women's MMA

49 votes

1965 votes | Poll has closed

In an interview with Steve Cofield, Rampage explains that it was a financial decision on his part to coach The Ultimate Fighter against Rashad Evans rather than taking an immediate title fight against Lyoto Machida.

Key quote:

Sure, Jackson respects the title belt. But he’s also trying to make a living and a Machida fight is small potatoes compared to the gains from a successful season on "The Ultimate Fighter." And now that crossover star Kimbo Slice is part of the show, Jackson has dollar signs in his eyes.

"Those people don’t walk in my shoes," Jackson said in response to claims that he fears Machida. "They don’t put food on my table. They don’t set up college funds for my kids. I’m not afraid of nobody. If they use their common sense, they can see what my game plan is."

Jackson said Machida will be around after he beats Rashad Evans. And frankly, Machida isn’t a big enough name to draw monster pay-per-view numbers right now. Oh, that doesn’t matter? It does when most of your money comes from the back end of the pay-per-view.

"I make most of my money off of pay-per-view. When you do 'The Ultimate Fighter,' it’s going to help your pay-per-view numbers."

You can't really fault Rampage's reasoning here, coaching TUF, particularly with Kimbo Slice on the show will definitely raise his profile. Plus he's already started developing a heated feud with Rashad Evans -- himself a former TUF winner.

Meanwhile Machida will either consolidate his reign against Shogun Rua or lose the title and allow Rampage a revenge match against another hated Chute Boxe star.

The only snag in Rampage's plan is named Rashad Evans. Its by no means a given that Rampage will be able to beat the dangerous Rashad -- himself a skilled wrestler with KO power as a kickboxer and considerable quickness. If Rampage loses to Rashad and Machida KO's Shogun, the entire division will be in a mess as no one will want to see a quick rematch of Machida and Evans.

Zach Arnold laments the situation:

Don’t get me wrong, Dana White made himself a no-lose business deal here. He got exactly what he wanted. However, to watch the upcoming charade that a lot of UFC water carriers in the media are going to parade is going to be completely nauseating to watch. Time after time, I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why someone should be justified in associating with questionable figures. "It’s the fight business!" So, be prepared over the next several months in dealing with Kimbo Slice hype and media writers who so desperately want to curry favor with UFC to make every lame, pathetic, intellectually lazy excuse in the book to try to come up with different justifications for Kimbo Slice and UFC working together as being ‘good for the sport.’ It’s good for UFC’s pocket books, but is it ‘good’ for the sport? Depends on what you mean by that.

...

The great irony in watching Dana White six months talk about how Kimbo Slice is bad for MMA is that now he’s Kimbo’s biggest pusher in the business. All the guys who tried to work with Kimbo Slice to make him into something in MMA (I’m looking at you, Bas Rutten) have to be shaking their heads and laughing at what is going on. Furthermore, what message is being sent by Zuffa to young, up-and-coming MMA fighters? For all the talk about how UFC is a real sport while PRIDE and other promotions were carnival acts, it sure feels like Dana White pulled a page right out of PRIDE’s playbook here to help bring some much-needed energy for his reality TV show.

There really is something to this. White's hypocrisy on the issue of Slice - namely, the invitation to try out for the UFC via TUF was partly a mocking and degrading gesture, White's clear record of belittling Slice's MMA abilities and White's suggestion that ElliteXC's use of false image pretense blended with street violence glorification via Slice's YouTube infamy was harmful to mixed martial arts - is on clear display.  And no matter what strategic brilliance the decision to enlist Slice in the TUF army demonstrates, there is something unsavory and overly opportunistic about the entire affair.

Arnold's mistake, though, is that he is trying to draw parallels between Shaw's use of Slice with White's to ultimately suggest there is a distinction between what the two did, but not much difference. Arnold is confusing a difference in degrees with a difference in kind. "Signing Kimbo Slice" is not a static concept locked in time that means that same things just for a new party. There are two key critical considerations to keep in mind here.

First, for all of White's hypocrisy (and there is plenty), the UFC is still running Slice through a rigorous vetting process. While Gary Shaw relied on one amateur bout with a financially and athletically desperate Ray Mercer in Cage Fury Fighting Championship and the judgement-free world of YouTube, White & Co. are relying on all of that plus Slice's experience in professional MMA plus (ostensibly) a record of success against other young prospects on the show. Of course, White is using Slice to bring the circus to town, but he is not doing so without screens in place to test the mettle of Slice while he protects the UFC brand. Unless matters change later, this is a vetting process. Additionally, White is spinning a storyline when he says Slice can prove he legitimately belongs among the ranks of heavyweight professional high-caliber fighters with success on the show, but he's also correct. There is a redemptive opportunity here for Slice that should not be denied him even if it's manufactured.

Second, there is nothing wrong with using Slice's popularity to promote the product. And here's where difference in type and difference in kind shows up the most prominently: Slice's popularity is impossible to ignore, but his baggage and dubious future make the packaging and use of it a delicate task. Even top-shelf promoters face serious dilemmas as giving him enough of the right kind of exposure without being fraudulently soft is almost too delicate a balancing act. But not for the UFC and for a very obvious reason. In this case, White doesn't need to pair Slice up with another fighter who can both sell tickets and provide some kind of respectable scrap. White has married Slice to the television show itself. Slice is able to be legitimately tested with opponents of commensurate abilities while turning in ratings without White having to worry about a financial bottom line for live gate attendance or pay-per-view draw.

And that is what I mean when I say this decision by the UFC to use Slice on the reality show proves the power of the brand. Whereas other promoters are awkwardly trying to find the right balance of how to use Kimbo Slice without destroying him and the company on main card fights, White is able to use the apparatus of a reality television show that's something of a crude developmental UFC program. White has created drama, but he isn't trying to manufacture a completely unsustainable reality because of financial pressures. In short, no other promotion or MMA organization has that capability to navigate this problem correctly. Honestly, who else in the MMA universe has those tools and leverage to make the situation operable? Who else has the vehicles? No one and it isn't even close. Were it not for the UFC machine's vast set of resources, the situation would be virtually untenable for others, at least in North America.

Let's also not forget that the longer the UFC holds onto Slice, the more White robs his competition of the opportunity to utilize a non-UFC fighter with legitimate, financially-lucrative celebrity.

We should be mindful this can all change. We afford White some language leeway because, while regrettable, his status as a promoter does give him license to exaggerate and backpedal. But it doesn't give him license to white wash (no pun intended) everything he has said or professed that he stood for. White and the UFC brass are viewed by many as the only reliable corporate executives in MMA who both understand the need to infuse drama and the spectacle of raw entertainment into their sport while preserving it's integrity. For them to use Slice in pay-per-view events should the former EliteXC star be throttled early and often on the reality show would be a major reneging of what the UFC management claim is a central tenet in their business practices. But for now, the decision to use Slice in this format is not worthy of lamentations. This is a reason for excitement.

For something as simple as a hopeful MMA fighter appearing on The Ultimate Fighter  with the intention of winning a UFC contract, the Kimbo Slice/UFC( or Dana White) story is one filled with angles of all kinds.  The situation can be analyzed and re-analyzed to death.  Some wonder why Kimbo would risk embarrassment against fighters with virtually no profile instead of taking large sums of money to fight in Japan or boxing under the guidance of Gary Shaw.  He would likely receive some level of protection against dangerous opponents were Kimbo to go with any of the "likely" scenarios.  Others question Dana White and his intentions since he's been Kimbo's most vocal detractor.  Many see the arrangement as an act on pure genius by Kimbo, or maybe it's another beautifully orchestrated business move by the Dana, himself.  Hell, maybe everyone is just smarter today than they were a few days ago.  Of course, everybody could be much dumber; it depends on your perspective.

For this piece, I'll stick with the simple, because simple is what I do.  The last time we saw Kimbo Slice in the cage, he was unceremoniously embarrassed by a light-heavyweight with pink hair, a UFC washout if you will.  Seth Petruzelli was a man who took the fight with EliteXC's biggest star on extremely short notice and proceeded to take the $500,000 man out in just seconds in front of millions of onlookers on CBS.  The dilemma which followed helped fuel the disintegration of the terribly run promotion that had been the first MMA concern to score a primetime network TV deal.  As quickly as Kimbo hit the canvas, so too did ProElite.

The never timid Dana White was there through it all to point out the holes in ProElite's and Kimbo's respective games.  As most know, he even offered Kimbo a shot at the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter.  All the smart money said that Kimbo would never take such a raw deal when his still huge name could score substantial paydays elsewhere.  What most of us may have discounted was Kimbo Slice's pride.  It never occurred to many that he may, in fact, want to redeem himself.  Maybe, he wasn't comfortable taking a paycheck with the cloud of Seth Petruzelli and the ProElite debacle hanging over his head.  Boxing cans handpicked by Gary Shaw would be the proverbial path of least resistance.

However, if Kimbo was seeking the medicine that is redemption, how could he best do so?  I think we know the answer.  Kimbo has decided to take the UFC president up on his offer and fight his way into the world's most successful MMA promotion.  Yes, he'll make big money if he succeeds.  Matter of fact, White admitted that, if Kimbo wins, he'll receive a contract much sweeter than the standard fare for TUF champions.  Kimbo is a fighter with a huge name.  He's certainly not one of the top mixed martial artists, but he offers much as a result of his high public profile.  But, don't let Kimbo's potentially big payoff become a distraction.  He's engaging in a competition where the odds of him running the table and winning are extremely slim.  All the talk of what he could make is nothing more than talk if he is unable to prove himself inside the cage.  Kimbo Slice has abandoned the safety net of carefully chosen opponents for a shot at MMA legitimacy.  For all the criticisms I and others have heaped on Kimbo in the past, he deserves a lot of respect for not just cashing a paycheck but playing to win.

Michael David Smith of AOL FanHouse gets the first crack at him and most notably (and he's probably on to something), Shaw thinks Slice is likely being handsomely compensated:

Michael David Smith: What's your reaction to Kimbo going on The Ultimate Fighter?
Gary Shaw: It shocked me when I heard, especially after Dana dissing him for two years and saying the nastiest things about him. So it surprised me, knowing who Kimbo is, that he would succumb to working with Dana. It shows that whatever comes out of Dana's mouth is not always the truth.

Are you disappointed on a personal level? You put a lot into promoting and marketing Kimbo.
Sure. I just don't think it's a big enough platform for him. I think it's a step back. I think he's bigger than that.

...

Are you angry with him?
No. No. Not at all. Not at all. Whatever Kimbo wants to do, I'm happy for him. I don't know what they paid Kimbo -- maybe they paid him a boatload of money -- and in that case he's doing the right thing. Kimbo is one of those people that comes along every once in ages who has what I call the "it factor" as a promoter. I have a lot of fighters who come to me and are great talents but don't have the it factor. And then you have someone who comes along and has the it factor. Manny Pacquiao has the it factor. He's a star. He reeks of stardom. People gravitate to him. Kimbo is that way. When he walks into a room, he lights up the room. People yell "Kimbo! Kimbo!" It doesn't have anything to do with how he did in his last fight. It has to do with the it factor. When Tyson walks into an arena, everyone stands up. He's Mike Tyson, of course, but he's got that it factor. When you're at a basketball game and they show Jack Nicholson on the big screen, the place erupts. He has that it factor. And then they might show someone else who's also a great actor, but he'll just get a little hand. It's that special it factor that people have, even if they're not the greatest athletes in their sport.

So if Kimbo has that it factor, wasn't it smart of Dana White to sign him for The Ultimate Fighter?
For sure. I give Dana credit. I'm not anti-Dana or anti-UFC or anti-MMA. I give him credit. He did the right thing. I would have done it a little differently: I would have said, early on, "Kimbo is an asset and I'd love to have Kimbo." I don't see that as a sign of weakness. I would say that in boxing, if you ask me what I think of Manny Pacquaio, I'd say, "I hope some day he'll fight for me."

Are you disappointed that Kimbo won't be boxing?
Yes. Because I really believe that I could make him the heavyweight champ.

White and Shaw likely share similar views regarding the level and fervor of Slice's popularity, but differ in their willingness to make him justify it with legitimate athletic accomplishment. And that's a critical, critical difference.

Carmichael Dave got an exclusive interview with Dana White and most notably, White claims Slice isn't financially getting his palms greased because he's Kimbo Slice:

There are so many ways to unpack this situation that we can't possibly get to them in a single post. However, it's worth contextualizing the matter. At every strange or notable interval, one should remind themselves of why matters have unfolded the way they have and what it tells us about the various players. For me, I cannot help but marvel at the UFC muscle and allure. Think about this: the one fighter who has been a part of "the No. 1 and No. 3 most-watched fights in U.S. history, topping off at 7.3 million viewers" is now living in bunk beds in a group home on a reality television show with other up-and-coming fighters for a chance at a UFC contract. That is the power of the UFC brand. 

This is by no means a long-term fix for the ailing TUF format, but it's a more than suitable shot of adrenailne that will only bolster the ranks of the already committed audience for this season and perhaps the next two or even three. I also suspect the mainstream media will be closely watching, so while everyone is toasting champagne glasses on the unequivocally intelligent move by Zuffa, we must also be mindful the "Lord of the Flies" antics so common on TUF could be more closely scrutinized with Slice's inclusion on the program.

So much more to come.

Now this came out of nowhere.  According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Kimbo Slice is going to be a contestant on TUF 10:

The UFC president has repeatedly insisted he would not allow Slice to compete in the UFC unless he won his way onto the show by competing on "The Ultimate Fighter."

Slice has called White’s bluff and will appear on Season 10 of the highly rated Spike TV series, White has confirmed. Fighters live in the same house and train together, and then fight during the show in a bid to earn a UFC contract.

This will likely be a ratings bonanza for the UFC on Spike.  Good move?  Bad move?  I lean towards good, I have no problem giving him a chance on the reality show, it's much less offensive than bringing him in to lose to Chuck.