After awhile, all these UFC events start running together. Did Jon Jones defend his belt at UFC 159 or 157? Was it in Newark or New Mexico? Yeah, he beat Chael Sonnen. When was that? In March? April?
Put it this way: There are loads of cards filling up the year. Shows on pay-per-view and FOX and FX and Fuel TV. Rarely does a week go by without some kind of UFC presence on the small screen. I’m not calling it saturation, I’m just calling it what it is – a whole lot of fights.
Saturday night felt different, though. It felt like a big deal.
UFC Fight Night from Boston wasn’t just another show, one that’ll fade from your memory by next week. No, this stood out. It was a new beginning, the start of something that has a chance to be significant.
Some of the credit there goes to FOX. The way UFC Fight Night was presented was fantastic. FOX Sports 1 made the fans feel like they were watching a big-time sporting event – like an NFL playoff game or the World Series. The new camera angle – with the camera on the same plane as the canvas – gave a whole new ingenious way to grasp the grappling aspect of MMA.
Of course, the UFC also delivered its deepest free TV card ever. Six fights with names like Sonnen, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Alistair Overeem and Urijah Faber graced the main card. Quality fights like Michael McDonald-Brad Pickett and Conor McGregor-Max Holloway highlighted the prelims, which also aired on FOX Sports 1.
UFC president Dana White probably could not have scripted it any better. The fights were so good, he gave out six “Of the Night” bonuses instead of three. Sonnen pulled off a stunning submission of “Shogun” in the main event. Travis Browne knocked Overeem out cold with a front kick – the perfect “holy #$%&” moment for new fans. Faber was dominant. Matt Brown wrecked Mike Pyle in seconds.
For pure entertainment value, this might have been the UFC’s best show of the year – and it was free.
Early ratings numbers, reported first by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, have UFC Fight Night averaging 1.71 million viewers for the main card. That’s more than UFC ever did on FX and a greater number in the organization’s key demographics than the big four networks.
It was a home run in every possible way. Critics were saying that fans of mainstream sports aren’t necessarily UFC fans. I don’t disagree with that. But the UFC being lumped in with the NFL, MLB, college football and college hoops is never a bad thing.
Maybe, once they start to appreciate the incredible athleticism and human drama, those mainstream sports fans will come for Johnny Football and stay put for Jonny “Bones” Jones, tune in for the Richmond Spiders and keep watching for Anderson “The Spider” Silva, turn the dial for the Chicago Cubs and pause to see Cub Swanson.
Yeah, you get it.
FOX Sports 1 has a chance to be huge for the UFC. Saturday night was only an excellent, Bruce Buffer-level introduction.
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Haters, have a seat. Chael Sonnen can still fight a little bit. No, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua isn’t elite anymore at light heavyweight. That’s OK, because Sonnen isn’t even a light heavyweight. He should move back to middleweight now, where he’s a top-five fighter. Wanderlei Silva is likely next. Then Vitor Belfort? There are plenty of fights left for “The Bad Guy.”
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In one single round, we got to see the ups and downs of Alistair Overeem. The talented Dutch kickboxer looked like a killer early on, dropping Travis Browne with a knee to the body and swarming for a finish. Except it didn’t come. Browne hung in – somehow – and ended up kicking a winded Overeem right in the jaw. Think a considerably more awkward version of Anderson Silva’s knockout of Vitor Belfort. Overeem’s awful cardio, which cost him against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, reared its ugly head again. Browne was the beneficiary this time.
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What year is this again? Urijah Faber was arguably in his prime back in 2007, finishing four fights in a row as WEC featherweight champion. He really hasn’t lost much – if any – since then. Faber, after a costly mistake early in the first round, dominated Iuri Alcantara on Saturday night, landing some filthy ground and pound for three rounds. Faber is 0-5 in his last five title fights. Against everyone else, he’s perfect. “The California Kid” has almost reached the Randy Couture level when it comes to longevity. And there’s no signs of him slowing down.
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If Matt Brown was a baseball player, there would be fans questioning whether or not he’s on performance-enhancing drugs. Since last year, the 32-year-old has won six straight fights with five finishes. Once a journeyman, Brown is very much in the conversation for a title shot against welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. He needs a top-five opponent next badly.
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Uriah Hall is one of the most physically talented fighters in the UFC. But man, it just doesn’t look like he wants to fight anyone. He and John Howard connected with high fives more than they connected with punches Saturday night. Hall is now 0-2 in the UFC after looking like a title contender on “The Ultimate Fighter.” I don’t think he’ll get cut, but Hall needs to look inward to see if this is really what he wants to be doing for a career.
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Which Michael was more impressive – Johnson or McDonald? Johnson destroyed the uber-tough Joe Lauzon for three full rounds. He looked like a new fighter and needed the victory with a two-fight losing streak coming in. McDonald absolutely obliterated the iron-chinned Brad Pickett and finished him with a triangle choke in the second round. If McDonald, still just 22, isn’t a UFC champion at some point in his career I’d be shocked.
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Conor McGregor is very good, there’s no doubting that. And if he dominated Max Holloway with a knee injury – he said he heard a pop – then it was an incredible performance. McGregor has gotten a lot of hype – most of it because he’s an electric personality – but most of it is actually warranted. That doesn’t happen too often. Let’s hope the injury isn’t too serious and the Irishman steps into the Octagon again soon.