I want to preface this by saying the card was decimated by injuries. How bad? Of the 10 original fighters slated to appear on the main card....3 of them actually fought. The fights that were lost (Jose Aldo v Erik Koch [featherweight championship], Thiago Silva v Shogun Rua, Yoshihiro Akiyama v Thiago Alves) tended to have a little more "wow" factor and star power to them. So the UFC had to make due with what they could scrounge together. After watching the pre fight press conferences, and all the hype surrounding the card, it still looked like some exciting fights that may actually deliver.
But the fighters didn't deliver.
This is the gamble you take with watching mixed martial arts, or any sport for that matter....sometimes the athletes just don't deliver. It happens.
I am going to take a minute and say I thoroughly enjoyed the undercard though. Between Ryan Jimmo's record tieing 7 second KO, Francisco Rivera using crisp striking in his dismantling of Roland Delorme and Antonio Carvalho's devastating KO of Daniel Pinieda, I was entertained. I was amped up, I was ready for the main card. BRING IT ON!!
Matt Riddle and Chris Clement kick things off. Two guys known for putting on exciting striking battles. The fight may not have been the wild bomb-throwing affair many wanted, but it was still not a bad fight (the standing arm-triangle choke finish was pretty cool, I have to admit). Still pumped, bring on Brian Ebersole v James Head.
Admittedly this fight had zero interest for me. Ebersole fights real awkward which can be entertaining but I had low expectations.....yet the fight failed to even meet those low expectations. If awkward is what Ebersole wanted awkward was what he got. Lame takedown attempts followed by little to no striking. But hey that fight was the one I picked to be lame any ways. Heavyweights are next so we can get back to the fireworks.
Nope.
Cheick Kongo and Shawn Jordan put on one of the WORST fights I have ever seen. The two combined to throw less punches in 15 minutes than Rivera did in just over 4 minutes worth of work. I refuse to speak any more of this fight.
Kind of bummed now but I hear this Hector Lombard guy is a pretty mean dude, and his opponent Tim Boetsch throws bombs. With a possible title shot in the future for the winner this fight surely has to be the one to get us back on track....Wait, why is Lombard just standing there? OK I get it Boetsch you can kick from a distance. And another weak take down attempt stuffed. Is this over yet?
Well at least we are at the main event. Urijah Faber v Renan Barao for the Interim Bantamweight Title. I'm still awake so we can consider that a win.
This fight actually would have been a great fight had I not been so let down with the rest of the fights. By this point in the night these two men were asked to salvage a severely disappointing fight card. And although the fight itself was good, it failed to provide that memorable moment that will stick with us. Any other card that fight was great. Here....meh.
Where am I going with this? I am not saying I need finishes for a fight to be exciting (although it helps). I am not saying I want guys to jeopardize their game plan to amuse me. I want fighters to realize when they step into that cage, in a city the big show has never been to, on a card that has lost it's flair, that you bring your best and deliver entertainment.
Your average MMA fan has a short attention span. When you aren't exciting you're irrelevant. Nobody is going to get excited about the next Lombard or Kongo or Boetsch fight unless the guy on the other side of the ring has some sort of appeal. The saddest thing of all is an impressive win by any of those names could have meant big things for them.
A big Lombard win and he could very well have got a shot at the Middleweight Title. What more motivation do you need? If Boetsch wins in convincing fashion he could potentially end up in a #1 contenders match for the same Middleweight Title in the near future. Heck Kongo was fighting a man many considered well below his league. Make quick work and you are back in the mix of what has now become a deep heavyweight division. Perform like he did and the people that called him a "Gatekeeper" earlier in the week get to say "I told ya so".
It's not like there isn't a carrot dangling in front of you to keep you motivated. Each of these men (and I pick them because I feel they should shoulder most of the blame as the "names" on the card) had their chance in the spotlight and showed that they really aren't the marketable guys you can build fight cards around.
Potential title shots, chances to make big money as headliners on future cards, a chance to make a name for yourself in the business, a chance to be relevant again (Kongo).....and we get this?
I will give Boetsch a slight break (wait for it) because he did break (ahh see what I did there...) his foot in the second round of the fight. But what made me a Boetsch fan in the first place was him literally throwing it all on the line against Yushin Okami. He was beat up for two rounds and came out in the third absolutely determined to win, and eventually scored a TKO win in a fight he had surely lost. Where was that against Lombard? Sure you don't want to get reckless against a man with Lombards power but you can at least show you WANT the win that much more.
Here was a chance for these men to step up and say "You know what boss, I have been given a responsibility and an opportunity and I won't let you down. I know this isn't the way things were supposed to go but we will make sure that the fans aren't disappointed."
Unfortunately they were.
Not every fight or game or match or sport will be exciting every time, it's just frustrating watching athletes at the top level competing at levels below their capabilities. Athletes are human too and will at times be boring. It's just a shame that so many had to be so boring all at one time.
**I want everyone to know too that I think MMA athletes are some of the hardest working athletes on the planet. What these men go through for the fans puts my efforts to shame. They risk their bodies for my amusement, so although they don't deliver every time I am not saying I would be any better. Although seeing me curdled up in the fetal position before a punch is even thrown might have been more exciting than Kongo v Jordan**
1 comment:
MMA is not a sport.
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