Punch Drunk Love 05.28.07: Hangover Edition
Posted by Bren Oliver on 05.28.2007
Monday has arrived and with it comes the newest installment of the PUNCH DRUNK LOVE: HANGOVER EDITION. This week features my response to comments/questions on Rampage's mainstream potential sprinkled with fallout from Saturday night, Dana White's responsibility in the TUF backyard brawl, and a fan who is actually EXCITED about UFC 72!!! Always attempting to deliver a more palatable concoction than raw eggs and tabasco sauce, Bren Oliver offers up a "hair of the Nog" to anyone needing a quick MMA fix from the after-effects of this past weekend.
Happy Memorial Day to those of you sitting around in your sweatpants, soaking up the holiday's benefits, as well as to all my fellow Monday-Morning Warriors who enjoyed the sparse traffic on their way into work! I'm not one to get political in my column, as beatdowns are bi-partisan, but I think we can all agree sending our heartfelt gratitude to military members past and present has nothing to do with party leanings so much as basic appreciation for a brave service.
Moving on to combat of a less-serious nature than that of a battlefield, wasn't UFC 71 a howling good time? Michael Wilbon posed the question about which was the bigger event, Jackson vs. Liddell or the Indy 500, Friday on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption". Well I think it's safe to say it wasn't the rain-shortened race, though Ashley Judd's elation in the downpour was quite a sight to behold. Then again, so was Mandy Moore, a newfound celebrity sighting at the UFC event. Maybe a good toss-up topic for this week, eh P.T.I.?
I enjoyed every single fight on the televised card. I know Leben vs. Starnes has caught some internet flack, but I felt it was a nice warm-up that could have ended at any time. I would have personally given "The Crippler" the win simply because I felt the two were evenly matched throughout with the one difference being Chris pressing the fight moreso than Kalib. Then again, with Leben's jaw-jacking after the fight while Rogan awkwardly exchanged looks with Starnes, you would have thought he had won the fight. Din Thomas' post-fight homage to Dana White's favorite word was entertaining, as was Karo's judo-praising national anthem of Kazhikstan. And Rampage? What else can be said about Rampage? Read ahead and see...
End of the Ice Age From Nemmy "Rampage could be BIG! What I mean by that is "Michael Jordan" big which is one person who personifies the company and draws in a massive audience. Maybe Hulk Hogan would be a better example if you consider, as I do, professional wrestling to be a sport. Wrestling was small time like the UFC is currently. Then Hogan and his unbelievable charisma came on the scene and WWF drew in millions of new fans."
Now it's time to connect with the public...
I agree with you to a certain extent. First off, my support for the "whoop dat ass" practitioner from Memphis is no secret. He is charismatic in every sense of the word, both a fighter who is physically gifted and possesses the gift of gab. The timing of his win could not have been better. The spotlight was on UFC and Jackson is the perfect representative for the masses. He is well-spoken, witty, and seems to light up any room he enters, so he should also do well with his newfound mainstream spotlight. And, where Chuck might appeal to blue-collar folks, Rampage can potentially draw in an entire new demographic to UFC in terms of the urban market. So yes, the potential to be a crossover success who pulls in new fans is absolutely there.
I want to mention I'm glad you explained your comment referring to basketball icon Michael Jordan. There will NEVER be an MMA fighter who achieves MJ's level of success simply because of the violence involved as compared to basketball, and I personally question if another professional athlete will ever be as transcendent on a global level as Jordan is/was. However, I also disagree with your comparison to Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster drew most of his money and success from being a household name who was appealing to adults, but primarily adored by children across the world. "Say your prayers, eat your vitamins..." is not "whoop dat ass". What I'm saying is that Hogan made movies for kids, where Rampage's capacity for success is limited to a different group. Parents are not going to buy their five-year old an "Affliction" T-Shirt....well, outside of perhaps in a rundown trailor park or two. Mom and Dad aren't going to take Junior to see his first legitimate knockout or choke. Is "rundown trailor park" redundant by the way? Nevermind. My point is, that while I agree Rampage will draw in new fans and has the makings of a crossover star, I wouldn't expect his impact to create any tsunamis...or Suburban Commandos.
Plus you have to keep in mind Mixed Martial Arts is a tricky thing. It's not easy to stay champion, especially when the melding of PRIDE and UFC continues on a monthly basis. It seems to only be a matter of time before Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Wanderlei Silva end up inside the Octagon and both men have left Jackson in a heap before. Plus there's his upcoming match against Dan Henderson, which not only is a serious test of ability, but acts as a nice segway into my next reader's question(s)...
Road to Redemption From iceman9901 in SoCal "ive never really followed Pride so i was wondering if dan henderson is legit? seems like he has to be if he has two of their championships. chuck will be back though! who will he fight next? I think maybe evans if he beats tito or possibly forrest griffin if he wins. what do you think?"
Dan Henderson has a lot to smile about!
Might be a good time to check out some old PRIDE fights if you can find them (or in this day and age, look to DVR one of the re-cap shows they have on FoxSports). According to some post-event comments by Dana White it seems as though Liddell's next opponent could be Wanderlei Silva. I have my reservations about this match because, while it will benefit one man and pull in PPV buys, it seems to seriously setback the other individual. Let's say Chuck wins. Silva would have then lost three fights in a row, presumably by another knockout in losing to Liddell, so where does that leave him? Where does that leave his mental state? And on the flipside of the coin where Wandy wins, Liddell will have lost twice in a row, again with the presumption of a KO's involvement, so how good is that from a business standpoint given the Iceman's "posterboy" status? I'm hoping the Zuffa hierarchy understands the benefit of letting both men re-establish themselves before throwing away such a promising fight. Likewise I think a fight with Shogun would be a waste without a proper build.
Speaking of which, and this ties into your quesiton about Dan Henderson, how horrible has UFC been at debuting big names thus far? I doubt it's intentional, but even going back to the Silva/Liddell staredown, which seems ages ago, there has been a lackluster approach to what should be major announcements. Take Hendo's appearance Saturday night. He is a double-division champion with a career full of highlights. What do they do? Spoil it before a single fight is shown, yet without a hype package, and then bring him out of the crowd like he's anybody. UFC knows how to make awesome promotional videos when it comes to current fighters or events, yet in the case of something like Dan Henderson being brought in (which Dana knew about on Thursday according to his conference call) they couldn't muster up something more? Very confusing strategy in my opinion.
As far as potential opponets for Liddell other than the Chute Box boys, I think there's a slight chance he may consider the Heavyweight division. He knows he can beat the current champion and it might interest him to test his lullaby-singing fists in a new weightclass. I think Rashad Evans is a solid choice for Liddell if he beats Tito Ortiz, which is not necessarily likely but certainly possible. That would be an excellent #1 Contenders' affair.
Yes, Henderson is definitely "legit". He'll be 37 by the time he fights Rampage, but age won't be a factor as far as I'm concerned. He is a two-time Olympic Greco-Roman representative from the U.S.A. He holds wins over Carlos Newton and Allan Goes in the same night in his single UFC appearance. He beat Gilbert Yvel, "Minotauro" Nogueira, and Renato "Babalu" Sobral on the same night in 2000. And he flattened Wanderlei Silva, an opponent who far outweighed him, while fighting with a broken hand. From that description you'd almost expect him to be half-machine. Still, he's not an unstoppable force, so I think Rampage has a very real chance of retaining and adding a second oversized beltbuckle to his wardrobe.
Them's Fightin' Words! From Seth M. "...Noah (Thomas) is worthless and has no talent. I would take Weems over Noah and that isn't saying a lot. Marlon (Sims) however, I would like to see fight again. His style looked good in his first fight but it ended way quick. I hope he is on the finals card so I can check out his kickboxing again. Dana was correct but OOOOZED hypocrisy in throwing them out. He chastised them on how their actions were horrible and didn't represent MMA. Then he hyped the streetfight for two weeks promoting the show and based the entire show around it.
Yeah, right Dana if you really cared you would have edited it completely out of the show.
Hypocrite."
An exclusive sneak peek at the cast of TUF 6!
Strong opinions! I likey! You make some good points and I understand where you're coming from. Well, at least in regards to hyping the non-sanctioned fight, as no match involving retarded people should EVER be allowed by an athletic commission. Perhaps others saw more in Marlon than I did in his stint on the Ultimate Fighter, but even against a tepidly talented Noah Thomas he almost got caught in a few submissions. In the Octagon there is no rock garden or concrete patio to drive your opponent into. Regardless of whatever ability of his we don't see eye to eye on, I still think he doesn't deserve to ever grace a UFC card again. I have a feeling Dana White agrees with me on the subject, especially given Sims' comments on TUF about the necessity of street fighting.
In terms of the afore mentioned UFC President using the footage to his advantage, I am more inclined to agree with you, except I don't see it as being for a sinister reason which is where our opinions go their seperate ways. I tend to believe White has a lot of influence into what goes on the air, but doing a quick look on IMDB shows he is not credited as the TUF's executive producer. It makes sense given his busy schedule. Editing takes a lot of time. And let's face it. The street fight made "good television". I wouldn't be surprised at all if the people who crop down the footage into hour-long episodes were more than happy to try and pull in ratings using it.
If anything I think it was important to show the fight for a few reasons. The UFC needed to show the public exactly why the people who were kicked off received the boot. Not giving an open, honest look at the situation would have been a mistake in my opinion. Why cover up something or create unnecessary speculation? I also think it was a service to MMA, because I personally got a much different feeling from watching the blood-letting douchebaggery as compared to any of the fights from this past Saturday night. White summed it up perfectly. Disgusting. I think by showing the world how idiotic Sims and Thomas looked the UFC took a bad situation and made it good through swift reprisal and a war of attrition between Cole Miller and Joe Lauzon (an elbow-free rematch I bet we'll see in the next 18 months).
Will UFC 72 Need the Luck of the Irish? From BJ "Ok, so it's (UFC 72) not quite as STACKED as UFC 73, but I for one am looking forward to the main event, since Rich Franklin is one of my favorite fighters and I want to see him get his Middleweight Title rematch against Anderson Silva (if he is able to hold off Nathan Marquart at UFC 73, which would be an added bonus. But nonetheless, a title shot is a title shot regardless). It was hard to see him at UFC 64 all staggered from the muay thai clinch knee strikes and it took me a while to get over it. That in itself, is enough incentive for me to order this Pay Per View. Not taking anything away from Yushin Okami cause he's a very talented competitor, but a Silva vs. Franklin rematch for the Middleweight strap smells money."
Forrest Griffin may save the day at UFC 72!
It's good to hear from a fan who is actually excited about the upcoming UFC event in Belfast. A good deal of criticism has been directed towards the event as a whole. And I can certain see both points of view. It's not necesarily very attractive in terms of name value, but I personally think people get too wrapped up in starpower, which I see as one of the less important aspects to a fight or card in general. We've all seen superstars stink it up and no-names burn down the house.
I like the Franklin vs. Okami match-up moreso than I did the original bout with Kampmann's involvement. Okami is more seasoned and poses a greater challenge in my opinion. I question how "Ace" will deal with the Japanese fighter's strength, something which past competitors have mentioned in regards to Okami. Images of Franklin being locked in a Muay Thai Clinch still dance in my head. Either man is deserving of a title shot, though I think it's clear Franklin is the more attractive choice from a business standpoint. I'm not sure why people aren't more excited about the undercard either. I think there are a handful of fights with real potential for entertainment including Ed Herman vs. Scott Smith, Clay Guida vs. Tyson Griffin, and the always affable Forrest Griffin in a bout against Hector Ramirez (who has a non-UFC win over another former TUF champion - Kendall Grove). The time difference doesn't matter to me. I watch football at 3:00 in the afternoon. Why wouldn't I want to watch UFC at the same time?
I also ask skeptics keep in mind we're getting a free event a few days earlier in the form of Fight Night X. Stout vs. Fisher and John Fitch, plus whatever else makes the televised portion of the night, will make a nice lead in that could make you feel better about spending money on UFC 72.
Again, thanks to all the troops and a Happy Memorial Day!
Remember, if you're interested in serving up your own frothy mug of personal opinion, send your questions/comments to:
