By almost all accounts, UFC 146 was a great success. Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos defended his title, former champ Cain Velasquez showed how dangerous he can be, and the rest of the card exceeded expectations.
Well, for most people it did.
“UFC was a bit disappointing with quick bouts.”
That’s the opening line from a comment left on a previous column by “turbodewd”. As I promised him in responding to the comment, I’m using his initial reaction to last week’s fights as the inspiration for my latest effort.
Simply put, some UFC fans are never satisfied.
No matter how an event plays out, there is always a small minority who take issue with the way things unfolded.
For the majority of fans, this last event was an entertaining, action-packed good time, with five heavyweight fights ending in finishes on the main card, and a great deal of excitement taking place on the preliminary portion as well.
And then there are those like “turbodewd” who look at a five-fight main card that delivered a slick submission, and four quality stoppages, and want to pick holes in the performances.
If the bouts all went to decisions, chances are that wouldn’t have been satisfactory either. Nothing ever seems to be good enough for a small sub-section of fans, and I find it frustrating.
I know we’re all different when it comes to what we like in a fight, and not everyone is going to be over-the-moon about a great 15-minute grappling match the way I am, but I genuinely wonder what it would take to meet the desires of fans like “turbodewd” who didn’t come away from Sunday’s fights satisfied with what they saw transpire in the cage?
What makes a fight or a fight card good enough? I honestly feel that if UFC 146 didn’t fit the bill, nothing will because that show had all the major elements most people look for:
– Big names.
– Meaningful fights.
– Lots of action.
– None of those stupid judges decisions on the main card.
Not every event is going to hit all the marks, and not every fight is going to be deserving of universal praise, but the overwhelming consensus within the MMA community was that UFC 146 was a home run. Unfortunately, some still weren’t satisfied, and my guess is that they never will be.
Some fans just have to have something to bitch about, even when it means clutching at straws.
The perfect example of this is the assessment “turbodewd” offered of the Shane Del Rosario-Stipe Miocic bout: Stiopic (sic) v Rosario was okay and at least reached the 2nd round.
Okay? That fight was great!
Del Rosario showed off his Muay Thai in the first round, and had me thinking about how much better he can be in the future, now that he’s healthy, and has a fight under his belt. As for Miocic, he answered a few questions I had about his ability to absorb punishment, and his Fight IQ, along with adding to his win total and establishing himself as the top prospect in the heavyweight ranks.
They paired for just over eight minutes of action, with the only extended break coming between rounds, but still only registered a “just okay” rating, and that was only because it lasted beyond the first frame.
Un. Be. Lievable.
Fight cards that exceed expectations like the event prior to UFC 146 never get a chance because there aren’t enough big names or big fights, and events like Sunday’s show still get picked apart even though they hit all the marks.
You can’t win for losing; some folks are just never satisfied.
E. Spencer Kyte is the author of Keyboard Kimura, the MMA blog of Vancouver’s leading newspaper, The Province. Follow him on Twitter (@spencerkyte), or Facebook.
TOnio
Guest
haha good one, yes in your opinion that is true, but realistically who isn't a conditional fan? everybody has their conditions that need to for something to be of value to them; for casuals it's "entertainment" or knockouts for hardcores it's skill and technique, there is not one person who has such a vested interest in the sport that they would support it no matter what conditions are present. I mean even Dana white and the fertittas would stop supporting it if it stopped being profitable. So your clever little invention of the conditional fan, although it is a nice play on words, is just redundant.
Seriously, Who says Oi?
Guest
You sound like conditional fans. In my opinion, conditional fans aren't true fans.
TOnio
Guest
I was refering to the pace of the fight not the length. and Both and Dan henderson vs mauricio Rua and stephan bonnar vs forrest griffin we're light heavyweight fights, I was refering to the heavyweight division exclusively. Yes stephan bonnar vs Forrest griffin is often touted as one of the "great" fights by casual fans, but to be entirely honest I thought that was a boring fight; nothing really technical or flashy except for the wheel kicks of bonnar but those we're thrown so poorly that they only managed to slightly peak my interest in the fight, and the rest imo was boring pointless brawling). I realize the heavyweight the division is what gets the casuals going but for the hardcores the insane speed and cardio and technique and the ability to constantly throw bombs in the lighter weight division will always keep our interest.
TOnio
Guest
nah, if I wanted to watch people get Knocked Out I would watch a street fight or a kungfu movie not a professional sport. For me The only reason to watch a professional sport, is to appreciate the skill and technique, to understand the beauty of someone achieving a level mastery that few people in the entire history of the earth will be able to parralel; that to me is the true value of sport anything other than that is a waste of my time.
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
Man, great insight. I had never thought about it that much before. I mean I knew guys weren't making elementary mistakes and litterally putting themselves into BJJ submissions like in the original UFC tournaments but I never thought about how that gave the balance back to the genetically gifted athletes. I think guys like Jon Jones or Jose Aldo exemplify that theory that genetically gufted dudes are rising to the top in this world where only total UFC newbies don't train more or less full time.
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
It is a toss up. Knockouts are fun but personally I love the back and forth battles where both fighters get to show off their full range of skills and it is a tense to-and-fro. My fav fight of all time is Guida v Griffin at UFC 72. That said, nothing instantly brings everyone to their feet like a knockout.
ErinT
Roar Guru
There was nothing snails pace about the UFC 146 card, there were only 2 fights on the entire card that went to decision and in the PPV card, the fight time was a little under 22 minutes. It's a given that entertaining fights differ, we all like the Heavyweight knockouts but then the five round back-and-forth battle between Dan Henderson and Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua was one of the best, as was the TUF 1 finale fight between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin (although only 3 rounds).
TOnio
Guest
boo!!! all heavyweight card, they should have a all lightweight or below card, after seeing guys like jose aldo, donald cerrone, frankie edgar etc. it's just not fun watching the heavyweights fight at a snails pace.
Stumpy
Roar Rookie
I loved the last card it was a great TV. Like any professional sport the more professional it gets the more sameness you gets. A huge part of the attraction of the sport in it's infancy was the style v style aspect, we still have a bit of that now but on the whole the fighting styles and training ethos have homogenized as you would expect. If something is successful everyone will in time adapt to a new method or leave themselves at a disadvantage. Any fighter worth there salt now has great take-down defense, few fighters get caught in a triangle anymore (looking at you Mr Sonnen) etc etc. The list of techniques that have largely been nullified due to the base level of training and understanding of what works and how to stop what works is now vast. As a result of this the balance of advantages sways back to the natural,, genetically gifted fighter because all things being equal in terms of training, technique and professionalism the more naturally gifted fighter should have the advantage. Thankfully there are those who are less gifted that hate to lose, it's these guys that drive innovation and bring something different to the game and excitement with it as it usually means they have defeated an established champion in the process. I think we are on the edge of something special there sre already signs from a few fighters that they are trying something different from the norm. I'd love to see some training camps bring people like Marcos Ruas, or some standup grappling exponents. I know Tyrone Spong is working with at least one camp Nathan Corbett would also be another worth considering. I love the sport I've been follow the sport from it's infancy, times change styles change and the great fighters almost always rise to the top.
E. Spencer Kyte
Roar Guru
I'm talking about the Ultimate Fighter Finale, which airs on Saturday morning on FUEL TV. UFC 146, on the other hand, aired on Sunday.
E. Spencer Kyte
Roar Guru
I agree that in an ideal world, we get quality back-and-forth contest all night long, but since that rarely happens, I'd take a night of quick, exciting finishes over a drawn out collection of "who will run out of gas first" matches any day. I hope for your sake Silva-Sonnen II doesn't go the way I think it will or else you might be disappointed again. Thanks for the original comment, and this last one too... keep'em coming!
E. Spencer Kyte
Roar Guru
I'll reply to anyone — I appreciate everyone that takes the time to comment, and his views prompted a column, so I'm grateful. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I understand that was his, that doesn't mean, however, that I have to agree with it or even think it logical. I'll never tell someone they can't state their opinions, but I'm also not going to ignore an opportunity to write a criticism of a small sub-set of the MMA fan population that really never seems to be satisfied either. Plus, I like those kinds of issues — what constitutes a good fight card? how do you rate an event? — and I think pieces like this can open up those lines of discussion and debate.
Mike
Guest
The fights were televised on Sunday morning in Australia.
turbodewd
Guest
I was moderately satisfied. I think most sports fans would like any contest to be a close see-sawing affair between the best 2 teams/individuals. Or closely matched combatants... Im hanging out for Silva v Sonnen II in a few mths!
E. Spencer Kyte
Roar Guru
Depends where you're watching Mh — in Australia, the event is on Saturday morning.
soMEONE
Guest
You replied to someone named "turbodewd", which sounds like the screen name of a 12 year old. On top of that, people are entitled their opinions no matter how off they may seem. Any real fight fan knew UFC 146 was probably the best of 2012 so far....or Aldo/Mendez
Mh
Guest
you mean fridays fight....ha ps ppv was awesome and exciting
E. Spencer Kyte
Roar Guru
Thanks Tom — and keep an eye out for even more UFC content moving forward. Erin T, Sam Brown, and I are plugging away to bring you as much UFC coverage as we can, including a couple of interviews with the headliners for Saturday's TUF 15 Finale. We appreciate the support!
tom moses
Guest
Great to read a ufc article on the roar. Great writing. UFC 146 was excellent, not a bad fight on the ppv (including the prelims they showed to fill in time) and miocic vs del rosario was great. I honestly thought del rosario was going to control the fight before finishing later on, but the way miocic hung in there, adapted and moved in for the kill shows that he is a thinking fighter. You cant please them all though I guess. Excellent article!