Ground and Pound 04.11.08: Why The UFC Should Return to One Night Tournaments

Posted by John Curry on 04.11.2008

With some UFC fans complaining about the signing of fighters who immediately receive title shots and the continued call for a rankings system for fighters, 411's John Curry presents a solution to this problem that UFC already knows. Step inside and prepare for some Ground and Pound!

As of lately I have been reading and hearing many fans of the UFC complaining about the UFC signing fighters to a contract and immediately giving them a headline spot in a title fight. An example of one of these fighters was Dan Henderson. While Henderson is a well regarded and considered one of the top MMA fighters in the world, he returned to the UFC for the first time since 1998 and was immediately given, not one but, two title fights. His first title fight was against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 75 for the light heavyweight title, a fight in which he lost by decision after the fifth round. The second fight was against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, which he lost by rear naked choke in the second round.

While I am not saying that Dan Henderson has not paid his dues and was not qualified to fight in these title fights, I am saying that when the UFC makes decisions to sign someone to a contract and immediately cast them into a title fight it demoralizes the fighters in the division. Fighters who believe that if they continue to win fights, continue training, and wait patiently they will be rewarded with a shot at the title. The question is how does the UFC solve the problem of providing deserving fighters a title shot without affecting their pay-per-view sales or their ability to market a fight?

One of the solutions proposed is a ranking system. The ranking system would be determined by an independent group much in the same way boxing is determined by the IBO, WBC and other organizations. While this sounds like a good idea on paper, all fans who watch the UFC know Dana White would never hand over his authority to dictate matches based on popularity, nor would he allow some of the more technical fighters to have precedent over the more popular and "exciting" fighters. Another issue I see with the ranking system is exactly what standards will be used to determine who is ranked where. For example, if two fighters have the same identical record and both are coming off of a win, does one fighter become higher ranked if he won by submission while the other becomes ranked lower because he won a unanimous decision? What procedures and guidelines would be used to standardize these fighters' rankings would dictate whether or not these rankings would be fair and just.

The truth is there needs to be a combination of a rankings system and something the UFC used to do, the one night tournament. Here is what I propose. Go back to what you did at UFC 1. There will be eight fighters who will fight in three fights in order to win the championship. Every month a different weight division will fight. For example, the Lightweights would fight in January, Middleweights in February, Light Heavyweights in March, Heavyweights in April, and back to the Lightweights in May. This gives all fighters in each division four months to recuperate and train for the next tournament.

The fighters will be ranked by an independent group or even Zuffa and Dana White. The fighters will then fight in a bracket system much in the same way the NCAA basketball tournaments are. Let's take for example only, I state only as I have selected eight middleweight fighters currently under contract with the UFC in no real particular order, that the bracket would look something like this. The winners of the fights are simple predictions based on my decisions of who would be in the tournament while throwing in what could be perceived as an upset.

Note: The current champion will be given the number one seed. If the champion is defeated in the first round, the winner of the tournament will be crowned the new champion. There are no byes.


Middleweights (over 170lbs-185lbs)

Round One:

(1) Anderson Silva (21-4) vs. (8) Nate Quarry (14-2)
(2) Thales Leites (10-1) vs. (7) Ed Herman (15-4)
(3) Rich Franklin (24-3) vs. (6) Patrick Cote (13-4)
(4) Dan Henderson (22-7) vs. (5) Yushin Okami (23-4)

Round Two:

(1) Anderson Silva vs. (3) Rich Franklin
(2) Thales Leites vs. (4) Dan Henderson

Championship Fight:

(1) Anderson Silva vs. (2) Thales Leites

Champion: Anderson Silva


I believe that many, if not more, UFC fans would pay to see these tournaments as it would be exciting to see who wins in each of the matches as well as the potential for championships to change every four months. This also provides every UFC fighter incentive to train and work on their conditioning at top peak (I'm looking at you Karo). This also solves the problem of UFC workers not receiving a title shot. With this system, if you want a title shot, win that's all there is to it. This is something that will provide an increase in intensity into fights. I would not expect a fighter to want to take all three of his fights the distance simply because of the physical strain of three fights in one night.

Another reason I believe this is the best system to use is that it eliminates MOST of the issues discussed with providing anyone the chance to be the next Matt Serra. By providing the opportunity to eight fighters the chance to fight for the title in one night, no one can really complain about not having an opportunity to fight for a title.

The shift from the current PPV schedule would be minimal as the experience of throwing a tournament in one night is something the UFC has done before. The marketing would be simple. Just bill the fights as "Seven fights. One Night." This amount of fights is no more than the UFC normally has on a GOOD PPV event. The span of four months is plenty of time for fighters to recuperate barring severe injury. Not only does this bracket system help the UFC itself, it also helps the fans become more familiar with many of the fighters who are either often relegated to being pre-PPV tapings or pushed to the backseat as many of the so called name fighters from outside the UFC are pushed into the limelight of the octagon. The pushing of these name fighters has not worked all that well, with the exception of Rampage, as the shift from the ring to the cage is not always as simply as they think it is.

I understand that there are many arguments against this system. Arguments such as how will the pay scale be determined, how will the eight fighters be selected and seeded, what about alternates if someone is injured, is three fights in one night too much to subject a fighter to. Yes, I understand that with the introduction of any new system there is always someone who will come up with an argument as to why something should or shouldn't be done. But the fact of the matter is that the system that is in place right now does not really promote equity amongst the fighters in the UFC. If you don't believe that the tournament system is one of the best and most enjoyable styles of fighting systems the UFC could implement, get your hands on a copy of UFC 1: The Beginning and then comment on this article. Until then sit back, grab yourself a Guinness, and enjoy three rounds of pure unadulterated Ground and Pound.