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From http://www.mmaringreport.com
By Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
The always very vocal fans of MMA are letting it be known that they are unhappy. Why are the fans unhappy you ask? Because in the minds of many a fan, the UFC is doing a disservice to their loyal fans by leaving the superstars at home and trying to grow the sport with new faces and lesser known fighters. Does the UFC owe it to the fans to put on a superstar laden extravaganza every time out? Maybe the more important question is whether the UFC CAN push out a super show every time out. The UFC cannot please every fan out there, that much is obvious to any sensible fan, fickle or otherwise, there will always be someone out there that thinks the sky is too blue or the Octagon too round. Where does the common ground lie?
Pride Held a show on June 4, 2000 appropriately called "New Blood", that show seemingly did not feature any popular names on the card, there was no Sakuraba or Takada or any Gracies to sell the show to the Japanese fans, but when one looked closely at the card, we see that the smaller show served a higher purpose. The very first fight of that evening was a fighter named Willie Peeters facing off against an unknown Texan named Heath Herring. Heath Herring fought his very first Pride bout that night annihilating, and eventually choking out the overmatched Peeters. Today, he is one of the best Heavyweights in the world. On the same card that same night, another unknown American fighter named Ricco Rodriguez got his first shot at the big show and grounded and pounded his way to victory in the Pride ring. Before he was the Heavyweight champion of the UFC Rodriguez was an unassuming, unknown, fighter on what was considered the "B" show of a big organization. Look where he is now. Having said all that, showcasing predominantly new faces on a single card in a brand new area without a big name attached to card as a foundation isn't necessarily what I would consider the best strategy. A card with established stars mixed in with some newer talent would seem ideal, but remember the two biggest names mentioned in this article, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell were originally meant to meet on this card. The cards obviously did not fall the way everyone would have liked, but I don't imagine anyone would be complaining about the card if the Headliner was Chuck Liddell Vs Tito Ortiz with a co main events of Matt Hughes vs Sean Sherk and the same undercard, the difference is only one fight on the card. One fight out of eight or nine fights on a card. A little bad luck and everyone is riding this UFC as the worst ever. Remember UFC 33? That card had a handful of legitimate headliners such as Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Jens Pulver, and Murilo Bustamante fighting, and was supposed to be the second coming, remember how that UFC turned out? Hmmm….wasn't that one of the worst UFC's ever too?
Any and all sports organizations have to grow a measure of talent from within, as great as it is sounds, snatching a high priced Mega star from the grasp of an opposing team is not always the best answer. It would be great for the UFC to pick up a great fighter like Rodrigo Nogueira or someone else with a hefty price tag but would that actually help the UFC in terms of fan base and fan support? The UFC's primary competition, the Pride Fighting Championships groomed Nogueira, he started his Pride career against Gary Goodridge, then on to Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Enson Inoue, and eventually Bob Sapp. He did not just appear on the horizon and command respect, he earned it through his growth as a fighter. Sakuraba and others are the same. At the UFC 37 show a last May an unknown fighter named Robbie Lawler fought as a Preliminary bout and captivated the audience with his exciting style and boundless energy. One year and a handful of fights later he is now the semi-main event on the UFC 42 card and one of the best young fighters in America. A good example of growing strong talent is UFC 17. At that show an unknown pasty white kickboxer with a Mohawk named Chuck Liddell fought his very first fight in the UFC, at UFC 43 Liddell will be fighting for the interm Lightheavyweight crown. On that very same card, UFC 17 Redemtion, featured the very first UFC fights of fellow unknown en****** named Carlos Newton, Dan Henderson and Jeremy Horn. Chuck Liddell was the very first Prelim on the card. Those four names alone are among the biggest in the sport today, yet they too started out as Preliminaries and nonames. Another well known fighter that is taking a bit of a brow beating from the same Internet forums is a guy named Tito Ortiz. He started out in the UFC as an alternate in the very first alternate bout of the evening. He wouldn't of even been on the main card had Enson Inoue not dropped out of his bout with Guy Mezger due to an injury. Tito Ortiz is now the Light heavyweight
champion of the UFC. Remember he started out his career as an alternate without a guarantee of even fighting on the main card...
To look at card for what it can offer in terms of "Big"Fights right here right now is not neccesarily the only way to judge a card. Look out for these fighters, and many other lesser known but very exciting fighters at the upcoming UFC 42, look up and down the card, remember a couple of names and see where those names are a year from now, that is the only way to truly gauge how successful or unsuccessful a show like UFC 42 will have been. They will all come to fight at UFC 42, and much more importantly they will also be fighting at many many, more UFC's in the near future. Support the Sport.
For MMAringreport this was "The Sushiboy" Arnold Lim
Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to Email me at
sushiboy-x@shaw.ca
By Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
The always very vocal fans of MMA are letting it be known that they are unhappy. Why are the fans unhappy you ask? Because in the minds of many a fan, the UFC is doing a disservice to their loyal fans by leaving the superstars at home and trying to grow the sport with new faces and lesser known fighters. Does the UFC owe it to the fans to put on a superstar laden extravaganza every time out? Maybe the more important question is whether the UFC CAN push out a super show every time out. The UFC cannot please every fan out there, that much is obvious to any sensible fan, fickle or otherwise, there will always be someone out there that thinks the sky is too blue or the Octagon too round. Where does the common ground lie?
Pride Held a show on June 4, 2000 appropriately called "New Blood", that show seemingly did not feature any popular names on the card, there was no Sakuraba or Takada or any Gracies to sell the show to the Japanese fans, but when one looked closely at the card, we see that the smaller show served a higher purpose. The very first fight of that evening was a fighter named Willie Peeters facing off against an unknown Texan named Heath Herring. Heath Herring fought his very first Pride bout that night annihilating, and eventually choking out the overmatched Peeters. Today, he is one of the best Heavyweights in the world. On the same card that same night, another unknown American fighter named Ricco Rodriguez got his first shot at the big show and grounded and pounded his way to victory in the Pride ring. Before he was the Heavyweight champion of the UFC Rodriguez was an unassuming, unknown, fighter on what was considered the "B" show of a big organization. Look where he is now. Having said all that, showcasing predominantly new faces on a single card in a brand new area without a big name attached to card as a foundation isn't necessarily what I would consider the best strategy. A card with established stars mixed in with some newer talent would seem ideal, but remember the two biggest names mentioned in this article, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell were originally meant to meet on this card. The cards obviously did not fall the way everyone would have liked, but I don't imagine anyone would be complaining about the card if the Headliner was Chuck Liddell Vs Tito Ortiz with a co main events of Matt Hughes vs Sean Sherk and the same undercard, the difference is only one fight on the card. One fight out of eight or nine fights on a card. A little bad luck and everyone is riding this UFC as the worst ever. Remember UFC 33? That card had a handful of legitimate headliners such as Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Jens Pulver, and Murilo Bustamante fighting, and was supposed to be the second coming, remember how that UFC turned out? Hmmm….wasn't that one of the worst UFC's ever too?
Any and all sports organizations have to grow a measure of talent from within, as great as it is sounds, snatching a high priced Mega star from the grasp of an opposing team is not always the best answer. It would be great for the UFC to pick up a great fighter like Rodrigo Nogueira or someone else with a hefty price tag but would that actually help the UFC in terms of fan base and fan support? The UFC's primary competition, the Pride Fighting Championships groomed Nogueira, he started his Pride career against Gary Goodridge, then on to Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Enson Inoue, and eventually Bob Sapp. He did not just appear on the horizon and command respect, he earned it through his growth as a fighter. Sakuraba and others are the same. At the UFC 37 show a last May an unknown fighter named Robbie Lawler fought as a Preliminary bout and captivated the audience with his exciting style and boundless energy. One year and a handful of fights later he is now the semi-main event on the UFC 42 card and one of the best young fighters in America. A good example of growing strong talent is UFC 17. At that show an unknown pasty white kickboxer with a Mohawk named Chuck Liddell fought his very first fight in the UFC, at UFC 43 Liddell will be fighting for the interm Lightheavyweight crown. On that very same card, UFC 17 Redemtion, featured the very first UFC fights of fellow unknown en****** named Carlos Newton, Dan Henderson and Jeremy Horn. Chuck Liddell was the very first Prelim on the card. Those four names alone are among the biggest in the sport today, yet they too started out as Preliminaries and nonames. Another well known fighter that is taking a bit of a brow beating from the same Internet forums is a guy named Tito Ortiz. He started out in the UFC as an alternate in the very first alternate bout of the evening. He wouldn't of even been on the main card had Enson Inoue not dropped out of his bout with Guy Mezger due to an injury. Tito Ortiz is now the Light heavyweight
champion of the UFC. Remember he started out his career as an alternate without a guarantee of even fighting on the main card...
To look at card for what it can offer in terms of "Big"Fights right here right now is not neccesarily the only way to judge a card. Look out for these fighters, and many other lesser known but very exciting fighters at the upcoming UFC 42, look up and down the card, remember a couple of names and see where those names are a year from now, that is the only way to truly gauge how successful or unsuccessful a show like UFC 42 will have been. They will all come to fight at UFC 42, and much more importantly they will also be fighting at many many, more UFC's in the near future. Support the Sport.
For MMAringreport this was "The Sushiboy" Arnold Lim
Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to Email me at
sushiboy-x@shaw.ca