Cardio Freak MMA News Report 10.05.09: Bigger Than The World Cup Revisited

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 10.05.2009

This week in Cardio Freak: Over a year ago Dana White claimed that MMA would be, "bigger than the World Cup." After a year to build the sport, how close is Dana and Co. to fulfilling this claim? Plus thoughts on Nogueira vs. Gonzaga, Silva vs. Evans, and quick previews of WEC 43 and DREAM 11. It's smarter than Joe Silva, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Headline News



Over a year a go Dana White said that UFC and MMA would become, "bigger than the world cup." Now I assume Dana is on a 10 year plan like Sid from Big Daddy because as big as MMA has grown in the past year, it's still not bigger than the World Cup. Ok. We all know UFC isn't going to be bigger than the World Cup because 500 million people worldwide tune in to watch World Cup matches and UFC just isn't going to reach that number. But there's still hope that UFC replaces NHL as the fourth major sport in America. Actually that's probably already happened.

Around the time of that quote I wrote a column with minor but useful ideas that would help UFC reach the level of the World Cup. The column and can found here. With over a year to discover said column, has UFC taken my advice? Lets find out.



Then: Make better use of the merchandising department.

Now: UFC has actually done a decent job here. They created fighter specific t-shirts like I suggested and then even signed sponsorship deals with a lot of top sponsors including Tapout, Silverstar, Cage Fighter, Affliction, and others. This allows UFC and fighters to bring in more income and gives fans easier access to support their favorite fighters.

The DVD department still sucks though. Most DVDs are now two discs, which is good but it still takes three months from the event to get the DVD in stores. I've found a positive in this though and that's the fact that most DVDs come out a month or so before the DVD headliners are fighting again. For example, UFC 100 comes out on October 20th. Brock Lesnar fights on November 24th. I'm sure it's not something UFC plans but I'm sure some fans like that they can buy a DVD headlined by a certain fighter, see that guy win, think "when is this guy fighting a again?" check out the schedule, and see that he's fighting again in a month or so. It would still be nice if UFC could get the DVDs out quicker though.



Then: Get more ESPN coverage.

Now: Slowly but surely the ESPN exposure is increasing. A lot of the major news and results are being shown on the ESPN bottomline but unfortunately they're only shown every other time through while something like A-Rod marrying Kate Hudson is mentioned every time through. MMALive seems to be a big part of ESPN.com with Jon Anik and the crew traveling to many of the UFC shows and doing pre and post event shows. Now if only we could get that show on TV and of course get rid of Franklin McNeil.

ESPN does a good job covering the major UFC shows but that's really a disservice to UFC and even putting them in the same category as boxing. With boxing everyone flips out when someone like Floyd Mayweather fights but no one really cares about the WBCSA Welterweight Champion because they don't know who it is or what WBCSA stands for. With UFC, every show is essentially a big show whether there's a title on the line or not because you can always find something intriguing about the major fights. ESPN needs to realize that even though there are no belts on the line, every UFC event is important in some way.

(Note: Google WBCSA and tell me what comes up.)



Then: Get UFC stars appearing regularly on mainstream talk shows or in commercials.

Now: Outside of Chuck Liddell appearing of Dancing With The Stars, there hasn't been much done in this area. Kimbo Slice has appeared on a talk show or two since the start of TUF10 but Kimbo Slice isn't someone who hasn't a lot of shelf life as a mainstream star because he's just not a good fighter. I still contend that Georges St. Pierre could be a major mainstream star if UFC promoted him better because he just has that "it" factor that you need to be a star. Plus he's a damn good fighter.



Then: Make better use of SpikeTV.

Now: The countdown shows have been excellent, they debuted Primetime in January (and haven't done it since), UFC Unleashed is still going strong, and TUF10 has been the highest rated season ever. I still think they're failing when it comes to utilizing UFC Unleashed though. I remember there was an Unleashed marathon on before UFC 101 and fights that were featured were Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn 1 and Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn 2. That's just not smart use of your television when BJ Penn was scheduled to fight later that night.

While UFC hasn't fully embraced my ideas, they've still grown as a company. Think about where they were this time last year and think about where they are now. Since October 2008, UFC has had five shows that reportedly topped one million buys. Before October 2008 they had one. So obviously the viewership is increasing. They could still do more of the little things to help their company and the sport but it's tough to argue with the current success of Dana White and Co.

Major UFC/WEC News



On October 3 Tatame reported that Antontio Rodrigo Nogueira could face Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 107. UFC 107 is scheduled for December 12.

This might be the dumbest fight in UFC history if it actually happens.

Personally, I don't think Nogueira should fight again and that the win over Couture earned him a title shot because we all know had Couture won he would have gotten a title shot so it should go both ways.

Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo is also scheduled for UFC 107 so if they're going to have Nogueira fight before he gets a title shot, he should fight Frank Mir. That fight makes 100% more sense because of how the circumstances surrounding the first fight, the shit talking that's taken place since then, and the winner could credibly challenge for the title since Nog would be coming off back to back wins and if Lesnar is still the champion you can sell the Mir vs. Lesnar rubber match.

Nogueira vs. Gonzaga just makes sense because the risk is greater than the reward. If Nogueira wins nothing really changes because people buy him as a contender right now so he doesn't really need another win although wins never hurt anyone. A Nogueira loss is killer though because it eliminates him from the title picture for the time being and it elevates Gabriel Gonzaga of all people who breaks every time he fights a top fighter. Plus if Carwin beats Lesnar, there's no way of selling a Carwin vs. Gonzaga rematch. I'd like to think that Nogueira would easily win this fight because he has better technical boxing and better jiu-jitsu but Gonzaga has plenty of power in his hands to spoil Nogueira's title dreams.

There's just no point in risking Nogueria's current momentum against a guy who isn't ready for a title shot. If Nogueira is going to fight anyone before fighting for the title it should be against someone who is also ready for a title shot. Right now those choices are Frank Mir because it's always easy to sell a guy who only wins once after losing to the champion (depending on who he beats of course) or the winner of Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell, especially if Cain wins.

I really hope this fight doesn't happen and if it does then I'm going to send my resume to Zuffa to try and get Joe Silva's job with, "I wouldn't be stupid enough to book Nogueira coming off a victory over Couture against Gonzaga coming off a victory over a scrub instead of Nogueira vs. Mir 2 but put Mir and Nogueira on the same card" listed as one of my credentials.



On October 2 multiple outlets reported that Thiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans is possible for UFC 108 on January 2nd.

I have no problem with this fight as I suggested it after news broke that Jackson was accepting the role in the A-Team movie but before news broke that Jackson was retiring.

What I do have a problem with is Rashad Evans. Last week I gave him credit for being smart and making the Nelson vs. Slice fight and possibly looking at it from more angles than just, "Roy will win." It's now clear that Greg Jackson or more likely Dana White looked at it from the angles I explored last week because there's no way Evans thought of Nelson vs. Slice and concluded that it was smart because it would help protect Kimbo. My biggest problem with Evans lack of sense is that he turned down a fight against Randy Couture so he could take this fight against Thiago Silva. I'm honestly fine with him doing that although I do think that he would have an easier time with Couture because of his speed advantage.

My problem is his reason for turning down Couture. He stated that he didn't want to fight Couture because he's coming off two losses (at Heavyweight) and that a win over Thiago Silva would do more for him. Really? A win over Thiago Silva who is a good fighter (possibly overrated) with little name value would do more for you than a win over Randy Couture who is a good fighter (clearly on the decline) but is easily one of the top five names in the sport? Plus the fight would be on SpikeTV in the middle of TUF 10 and would likely be the highest rated UFC PPV on Spike event in company history.

Honestly, the real reason Evans turned down the Couture fight probably had something to do with not being able to get in a full training camp and having too much respect for Couture. But instead of just saying that he has to keep on playing this "cocky guy who feels disrespected" role and mention that he wants to fight Silva because he beat his friend Jardine (fair enough) and because when he went to congratulate him on beating Jardine (I have my doubts that this happened) he said that Silva gave him, "a mean look." I don't know if Evans has ever seen Silva outside of UFC 102 weekend but here's a fun fact: THIAGO SILVA JUST LOOKS MEAN! He can't help it. He was born that way or something. The guy just doesn't smile and always has this look of, "I want to kill you" on his face. Don't tell that to Rashad Evans though, he needs to feel disrespected.

All that said, I'm still looking forward to this fight and it will be a true test of where Thiago Silva is in the division. Beating Jardine certainly helped shed him the "overrated" tag but we all know that Jardine is as inconsistent as they come and if you catch him early, he'll go to sleep. Evans is a legit Top 5 Light Heavyweight with one loss on his record (against Lyoto Machida, the same guy who dented Silva's perfect record.) If Silva wins then it proves that maybe he is a threat in the division and just had a bad night against Machida. It also puts a damper on the possible Jackson vs. Evans fight that I believe will happen sometime in 2010. An Evans victory keeps him right at the top at 205.



WEC 43 is this Saturday, October 10. Here is the card:

-Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson
-Rich Crunkilton vs. Dave Jansen
-Damacio Page vs. Will Campuzano
-Raphael Assuncao vs. Yves Jabouin

It's WEC so it's going to be good but I can't imagine many people tuning in to watch this event.

I love Donald Cerrone because he's an exciting fighter with a funny personality but he's not an established name in WEC and his opponent, Benson Henderson, might as well be unknown. Both guys are well rounded but I just feel that Cerrone is the better of the two fighters and he's been in the spotlight before while this is new territory for Henderson. The thing that worries me about Cerrone is that he might overlook Henderson because all he's talked about since January is a rematch against Jamie Varner. If he's overlooking Henderson, he'll get KO'd.

Jansen will upset Crunkilton because Jansen has been on those M-1 Challenge shows and we all know M-1 fighters are the best fighters in the world.

Page vs. Campuzano will likely be a stand up war until someone gets knocked out. Hopefully it's Campuzano getting knocked out because Damacio Page is awesome.

Assuncao will probably tap Jabouin pretty quickly, which will pave the way for Wagney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier to make air. In that fight Fabiano will tap Semerzier quickly, leading to WEC smartly booking Assuncao vs. Fabiano in a battle of guys who are really good on the ground but can't beat Jeff Curran.

I feel bad for those of you that don't have DirectTV because you're going to miss this show and even though I shortchanged it in the preview, you know it's going to be good. Everyone should check out the MMA Zone live coverage of the show.

Major Japan News



DREAM 11 is on Tuesday, October 6. Here is the card:

Dream Lightweight Championship:
-Shinya Aoki vs. Joachim Hansen ©

Dream Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals:
-Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joe Warren
-Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro

Dream Featherweight Grand Prix Reserve Match:
-Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata vs. Kazuyuki Miyata

Dream Featherweight Grand Prix Finals:
-Fernandes/Warren winner vs. Takaya/Tokoro winner

Dream Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Finals (Open Weight):
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Bob Sapp
-Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong Man Choi

Single Bouts:
-Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Rubin Williams
-Andrews Nakahara vs. Zelg Galesic

I'm looking forward to Aoki vs. Hansen although I worry about Hansen's performance given the extend layoff and the reasons for his layoff. If he shows up ready to fight like he did in the DREAM Lightweight tournament then I think he'll beat Aoki simply because he hits hard and Aoki doesn't like getting hit. At the very least it should be a really fun fight because Hansen always brings it and Aoki is one of the best pure grapplers in MMA.

After upsetting "Kid" Yamamoto, Joe Warren is the favorite in the Featherweight Grand Prix. I don't think he'll have too much trouble with Bibiano Fernandes because his striking is better and Fernandes' main strength is jiu-jitsu but if Warren doesn't want to go to the ground, he won't. Even if Warren decides to take him down I think his strength will allow him to avoid most submission attempts. Takaya vs. Tokoro is a striker vs. grappler battle and in this situation I favor Tokoro but I hope Takaya wins just because Warren vs. Takaya seems like the more fun final.

The Super Hulk tournament is what it is. A lot of people like it, a lot of people dislike it. Personally I enjoy it because I'm a fan of the freak show fights but I also realize winning it doesn't mean much. Gegard Mousasi was the favorite to win the whole thing but thanks to that stupid exhibition fight with Fedor Presented by M-1 Global, he got injured and now he's out. I'm sure this theory has already been thrown out there but allow me to repeat it or possibly state it for the first time: M-1 Global pulled Mousasi out of the tournament because they were afraid he would lose to Sokoudjou (who is a threat to KO anyone in 30 seconds) and they want to protect him because their other prized possession could get KO'd in 30 seconds a month from now. Either way I blame M-1 Global for Mousasi no longer being in this tournament. I hope Hong Man Choi wins the whole thing. He won't. But that's who I'm pulling for.

Kazushi Sakuraba was a late (as in less than a week) addition to this card and I have no idea why. I'm a fan of Sakuraba but it's just sad to see what he's become over the years. He's 40 years old and he's had wars with guys like Mirko "Cro Cop", Wanderlei Silva, Quinton Jackson, and other. Rubin Williams is a boxer who has lost his last six boxing fights. It's going to be really sad when this guy knocks out a true legend in MMA.

It should be a fun show although DREAM is cursed so something bad is bound to happen. I know I'll be up early to watch it.



On September 29 DREAM announced that they would be using a hexagonal cage as the fighting environment for DREAM 12. They will also switch round formats to three five minute rounds. DREAM is scheduled for October 25.

I guess this rules out the DREAM return of Mirko "Cro Cop".

DREAM is making this move in conjuction with their Strikeforce partnership in order to get the Japan fighters acclimated to the cage when they go to Strikeforce and to bring over Strikeforce fighters to fight in Japan. I thought my idea of Jason Miller vs. "Jacare" Souza 4 taking place in a cage to prevent interference (a bully, Gegard Mousasi, or a gator would run in during Miller vs. Souza 3, ruling it a no contest) was a far better idea and actually made more sense but DREAM hasn't gotten back to me about my inquiry of the head booking position.

I think this is going to lead to something bigger though. It's going to lead to Strikeforce switching to the ring for an event in the near future. I think that event will be the November 7 Strikeforce event. The same event that Fedor Presented by M-1 Global headlines. Ok, so that's probably not happening but I know M-1 executives read this column and I have no doubt that they're calling Strikeforce officials right now to pitch my idea.

It'll be interesting to see fighters so used to the ring fight in a cage and how they adapt and it will also be interesting to see how the Japanese fans react to something new and different. I think DREAM should use the cage once a year but build towards it. The show should feature all Japanese fighters vs. all Strikeforce so the Japanese fighters get the home crowd on their side but the Strikeforce fighters have the cage advantage. Then Strikeforce should build towards a big show where they use all American fighters vs. all DREAM fighters and they fight in the ring. If you're going to do cross promotion, you might as well really go all out with it instead of just loaning fighters out and possibly screwing yourself in the process.

No More News

That does it for me folks. I'll be back next week with something new. Take care everyone.

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