UFC Update: All Quiet On The Western Front
UFC Update: All Quiet On The Western Front
For the first time in a decade the UFC schedule lacks a strong run of captivating events and title bouts.
The 2017 campaign has just begun, but an eerie quiet lingers across the MMA landscape.
We are a handful of days into the new year, and the passionate MMA fan base is looking to get excited for the road ahead, but things we've been conditioned to expect are strangely absent. No doubt spoiled by the greatness of battles past, fans and media alike have started to take notice of something different afoot, which could very well be a sign of things to come.
It may sound trite to clamor for our Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II or the heavy dose of visceral violence Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit provided at UFC 195, but the fact remains the biggest promotion in mixed martial arts has traditionally blasted into every new year packing heat. Granted, the second bout between the fighting pride of Toms River and the Las Vegas-born "Bully" became appreciated in the aftermath, as virtually no one pegged the rematch to unfold in the fashion it did, because why would they?
Putting two apex predators the likes of Lawler and Condit inside a cage together was insanity on tap, but two lightweights who had for the most part used their wrestling chops to climb the ladder didn't seem to be a recipe to create a legendary tilt. Nevertheless, Edgar and Maynard sure enough did the damn thing and only happened to save the relevancy of a post-B.J.-Penn lightweight division in the process.
While both bouts mentioned will be talked about for years to come, the element they share is a UFC title on the line. So far in 2017…the eerie quiet returns.
Jan 2, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Robbie Lawler (red gloves) competes against Carlos Condit (blue gloves) during UFC 195 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
For the past decade, the most prominent promotion in MMA has attacked the calendar with the tenacity of a fighter hungry for gold. Under the Zuffa regime, each year got bigger and bigger, with events hitting at a fast and furious pace. The Fertitta brothers and UFC President Dana White saw it best to keep a monthly pay-per-view event but then slung a mixed-bag offering at nearly every weekend around their tentpole shows.
The numbered PPV shows would set up to feature one, if not two, title bouts, while the cards that aired in the Fox Sports system were to showcase future contenders, surging talents and the occasional "just because it's a badass fight people want to see" main event. Time and time again, the formula worked to produce easy-to-follow narratives, and recently retired matchmaker Joe Silva did a remarkable job keeping fighters on similar trajectories in the same competitive windows.
If the UFC was a Ferrari, the powers behind it kept the gas pedal mashed to the floor, and the foresight to drive so aggressively made them the undisputed king of the road. Now and again, an occasional fiery-crash disaster card would materialize, but the UFC hit far more than they missed, and the promotion did so at an extraordinary clip.
Just the imagery alone and the effort it took to write those words feels like more than what's happening in the new UFC reality.
A quick look at the current docket in first full year of the WME/IMG era, and things are sparse. There are several shows currently marked on the schedule, but there's only one title fight to be found on the schedule, and it doesn't involve anyone currently holding a belt. Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie will clash for the inaugural women's featherweight title Feb. 11 in the main event at UFC 208 in Brooklyn.
Furthermore, fans would be hard-pressed to find five individual matchups they are dying to see, and that's a far cry from how things have gone at any point under Zuffa's care.
One big notch in the fan-appeal column is the noticeable lack of star power on the roster.
Nov 12, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Conor McGregor (blue gloves) celebrates with his two championship belts after defeating Eddie Alvarez (red gloves) in their lightweight title bout during UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Irish phenom Conor McGregor has taken time away, and rightfully so, as he and his fiancee are expecting their first child. With the "Notorious" one out of the picture, rival Nate Diaz sees no reason to remain active. The younger Diaz plans to chill out on the sidelines and spend some of the bread and cheddar accrued last year, and he'll continue to do so until the trilogy fight he so badly wants and White says will never happen happens.
Pound-for-pound great Jon Jones is still serving his suspension and can't return until the summer, and former crossover queen Ronda Rousey just took a beating so savage it's likely another year may pass before she returns--and that's if she ever does decide to fight again. Few would blame her for finding something else to do.
The state of the current picture reveals the UFC is working with fewer stars than it's had in years, but the kicker of it all comes in the realization there are plenty of marketable talents at the ready. They just aren't being booked for whatever reason. In some cases, flat-out nonsense (Interim titles for all!) is in play, where other scenarios simply lack explanation.
Jose Aldo thinking about an interim lightweight title fight instead of facing newly minted interim champion Max Holloway pretty much sums up the current state of things in that department.
Take a look at the list of current champions, and then a peek at the divisions they reign over, and you'll find a ton of potential for building. Newly crowned bantamweight king Cody Garbrandt hit the launchpad that was UFC 207 and rocketed to stardom on the strength of his virtuoso performance against 135-pound GOAT Dominick Cruz.
Granted, it will take a few more turns in the public eye for Garbrandt to come into full focus as a star in the fight game, but every necessary element required is there and visible.
December 30, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Cody Garbrandt is declared the winner and new champion following his victory against Dominick Cruz during UFC 207 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson and the rest of the elite welterweights will keep the 170-pound fold a must-watch dance in the new year, just as champion Michael Bisping and the pack of elite talent hunting his middleweight crown will keep things alive in that weight class as well.
Yet, rather than keep things moving in either one of those divisions, Woodley and Bisping are talking about fighting one another at catchweight with neither title on the line at all.
And while those two titleholders are far from being the only fighters talking at every turn about money fights, there is very little outside of that talk being put together in any form.
And therein lies the greater concern to the MMA world as we've known it.
The new owners of the UFC are not going to follow the same path as the Fertittas, and there is a reason for it...whatever that may be. A breakneck pace of event scheduling was needed to keep an overloaded roster active inside the cage, and the first-quarter schedule bears a resemblance to the old guard's way of business.
Next week's card in Phoenix kicks off a stretch of five events in five weeks, but none of those events holds up upon closer look. There are good fights to be found in that mix and a few established names such as Donald Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski are fitting to throw down, but most of the cards as they currently stand will be considered only passable by fight fans.
Jun 18, 2016; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Patrick Cote (blue gloves) fights Donald Cerrone (red gloves) in a welterweight bout during UFC Fight Night at TD Place Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
The only event with a bit of weight and stock is UFC 208, as it features the aforementioned bout between Holm and de Randamie for the inaugural women's featherweight crown and a solid mixture of matchups fans can get excited for.
Rising heavyweight star Derrick Lewis will step in against the ever-embattled Travis Browne, while Jim Miller and Dustin Poirier are all but guaranteed to bring that special flavor of lightweight ruckus we've come to know and love over the years.
Therefore it appears UFC 208 will be fans' best shot at seeing what they've come to expect, and there's no getting around how strange it all feels.
There's no doubt in my mind several of the cards in the next three months will deliver some memorable heat, and it's the lingering doubt that is the new element in the equation.
Why the UFC is choosing to sit on their current champions rather than keep the divisions moving is a mystery to me, but that's the business of those involved. This scribe is merely pointing out how much different things feel and how soon the mood has shifted.
Perhaps money fights and mega-cards are the way things will be in the none-too-distant future and divisional chases will go the way of the DoDo. Then again, maybe the batch of current champions is jockeying for more money and a larger piece of the pie, and that's what is keeping the UFC's star power on minimal display during the first quarter?
Perhaps it's Colonel Mustard, in the billiard room, with a candlestick?
We've clearly entered a new and interesting time in regard to the UFC, and it will be a pivotal year for both the promotion and the sport as a whole.
Bellator has long stood a distant second to the UFC in the realm of public perception, and the San Jose-based promotion's aggression in the free agency market could potentially close some of that ground at the top.
Business as usual has become the unusual, and that should make for an interesting year in MMA.
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We are a handful of days into the new year, and the passionate MMA fan base is looking to get excited for the road ahead, but things we've been conditioned to expect are strangely absent. No doubt spoiled by the greatness of battles past, fans and media alike have started to take notice of something different afoot, which could very well be a sign of things to come.
It may sound trite to clamor for our Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II or the heavy dose of visceral violence Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit provided at UFC 195, but the fact remains the biggest promotion in mixed martial arts has traditionally blasted into every new year packing heat. Granted, the second bout between the fighting pride of Toms River and the Las Vegas-born "Bully" became appreciated in the aftermath, as virtually no one pegged the rematch to unfold in the fashion it did, because why would they?
Putting two apex predators the likes of Lawler and Condit inside a cage together was insanity on tap, but two lightweights who had for the most part used their wrestling chops to climb the ladder didn't seem to be a recipe to create a legendary tilt. Nevertheless, Edgar and Maynard sure enough did the damn thing and only happened to save the relevancy of a post-B.J.-Penn lightweight division in the process.
While both bouts mentioned will be talked about for years to come, the element they share is a UFC title on the line. So far in 2017…the eerie quiet returns.
Jan 2, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Robbie Lawler (red gloves) competes against Carlos Condit (blue gloves) during UFC 195 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
For the past decade, the most prominent promotion in MMA has attacked the calendar with the tenacity of a fighter hungry for gold. Under the Zuffa regime, each year got bigger and bigger, with events hitting at a fast and furious pace. The Fertitta brothers and UFC President Dana White saw it best to keep a monthly pay-per-view event but then slung a mixed-bag offering at nearly every weekend around their tentpole shows.
The numbered PPV shows would set up to feature one, if not two, title bouts, while the cards that aired in the Fox Sports system were to showcase future contenders, surging talents and the occasional "just because it's a badass fight people want to see" main event. Time and time again, the formula worked to produce easy-to-follow narratives, and recently retired matchmaker Joe Silva did a remarkable job keeping fighters on similar trajectories in the same competitive windows.
If the UFC was a Ferrari, the powers behind it kept the gas pedal mashed to the floor, and the foresight to drive so aggressively made them the undisputed king of the road. Now and again, an occasional fiery-crash disaster card would materialize, but the UFC hit far more than they missed, and the promotion did so at an extraordinary clip.
Just the imagery alone and the effort it took to write those words feels like more than what's happening in the new UFC reality.
A quick look at the current docket in first full year of the WME/IMG era, and things are sparse. There are several shows currently marked on the schedule, but there's only one title fight to be found on the schedule, and it doesn't involve anyone currently holding a belt. Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie will clash for the inaugural women's featherweight title Feb. 11 in the main event at UFC 208 in Brooklyn.
Furthermore, fans would be hard-pressed to find five individual matchups they are dying to see, and that's a far cry from how things have gone at any point under Zuffa's care.
One big notch in the fan-appeal column is the noticeable lack of star power on the roster.
Nov 12, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Conor McGregor (blue gloves) celebrates with his two championship belts after defeating Eddie Alvarez (red gloves) in their lightweight title bout during UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Irish phenom Conor McGregor has taken time away, and rightfully so, as he and his fiancee are expecting their first child. With the "Notorious" one out of the picture, rival Nate Diaz sees no reason to remain active. The younger Diaz plans to chill out on the sidelines and spend some of the bread and cheddar accrued last year, and he'll continue to do so until the trilogy fight he so badly wants and White says will never happen happens.
Pound-for-pound great Jon Jones is still serving his suspension and can't return until the summer, and former crossover queen Ronda Rousey just took a beating so savage it's likely another year may pass before she returns--and that's if she ever does decide to fight again. Few would blame her for finding something else to do.
The state of the current picture reveals the UFC is working with fewer stars than it's had in years, but the kicker of it all comes in the realization there are plenty of marketable talents at the ready. They just aren't being booked for whatever reason. In some cases, flat-out nonsense (Interim titles for all!) is in play, where other scenarios simply lack explanation.
Jose Aldo thinking about an interim lightweight title fight instead of facing newly minted interim champion Max Holloway pretty much sums up the current state of things in that department.
Take a look at the list of current champions, and then a peek at the divisions they reign over, and you'll find a ton of potential for building. Newly crowned bantamweight king Cody Garbrandt hit the launchpad that was UFC 207 and rocketed to stardom on the strength of his virtuoso performance against 135-pound GOAT Dominick Cruz.
Granted, it will take a few more turns in the public eye for Garbrandt to come into full focus as a star in the fight game, but every necessary element required is there and visible.
December 30, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Cody Garbrandt is declared the winner and new champion following his victory against Dominick Cruz during UFC 207 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson and the rest of the elite welterweights will keep the 170-pound fold a must-watch dance in the new year, just as champion Michael Bisping and the pack of elite talent hunting his middleweight crown will keep things alive in that weight class as well.
Yet, rather than keep things moving in either one of those divisions, Woodley and Bisping are talking about fighting one another at catchweight with neither title on the line at all.
And while those two titleholders are far from being the only fighters talking at every turn about money fights, there is very little outside of that talk being put together in any form.
And therein lies the greater concern to the MMA world as we've known it.
The new owners of the UFC are not going to follow the same path as the Fertittas, and there is a reason for it...whatever that may be. A breakneck pace of event scheduling was needed to keep an overloaded roster active inside the cage, and the first-quarter schedule bears a resemblance to the old guard's way of business.
Next week's card in Phoenix kicks off a stretch of five events in five weeks, but none of those events holds up upon closer look. There are good fights to be found in that mix and a few established names such as Donald Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski are fitting to throw down, but most of the cards as they currently stand will be considered only passable by fight fans.
Jun 18, 2016; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Patrick Cote (blue gloves) fights Donald Cerrone (red gloves) in a welterweight bout during UFC Fight Night at TD Place Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
The only event with a bit of weight and stock is UFC 208, as it features the aforementioned bout between Holm and de Randamie for the inaugural women's featherweight crown and a solid mixture of matchups fans can get excited for.
Rising heavyweight star Derrick Lewis will step in against the ever-embattled Travis Browne, while Jim Miller and Dustin Poirier are all but guaranteed to bring that special flavor of lightweight ruckus we've come to know and love over the years.
Therefore it appears UFC 208 will be fans' best shot at seeing what they've come to expect, and there's no getting around how strange it all feels.
There's no doubt in my mind several of the cards in the next three months will deliver some memorable heat, and it's the lingering doubt that is the new element in the equation.
Why the UFC is choosing to sit on their current champions rather than keep the divisions moving is a mystery to me, but that's the business of those involved. This scribe is merely pointing out how much different things feel and how soon the mood has shifted.
Perhaps money fights and mega-cards are the way things will be in the none-too-distant future and divisional chases will go the way of the DoDo. Then again, maybe the batch of current champions is jockeying for more money and a larger piece of the pie, and that's what is keeping the UFC's star power on minimal display during the first quarter?
Perhaps it's Colonel Mustard, in the billiard room, with a candlestick?
We've clearly entered a new and interesting time in regard to the UFC, and it will be a pivotal year for both the promotion and the sport as a whole.
Bellator has long stood a distant second to the UFC in the realm of public perception, and the San Jose-based promotion's aggression in the free agency market could potentially close some of that ground at the top.
Business as usual has become the unusual, and that should make for an interesting year in MMA.
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