Cardio Freak MMA News Report 08.21.08: Bigger Than The World Cup

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 08.21.2008

Cardio Freak is back with a look at how the UFC can be on the level of the NFL, MLB, and NBA. What do they need to add? What do they need to change? Plus a look at some updated UFC cards, EXC's problem with Noons vs. Diaz, and Affliction spending more money. All that and the latest news around the MMA world. It's hotter than Rachelle Leah in Playboy, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘ECU' Lambert.

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"Bigger Than The Fucking World Cup"

That was a quote by Dana White on the day he announced that Lorenzo Fertitta would be helping with the day-to-day UFC operations. It's a pipe dream by the UFC president but can it happen? Eh, probably not. The World Cup is watched by millions of people every four years and despite only knowing the names Beckham and Adu, I watch the World Cup. But can MMA and more specifically the UFC become an equal to the likes of the NFL, the MLB, and the NBA? Possibly. Before that can happen though, they need to do some things differently. Obviously they need to travel to other countries but they know that. I'm talking about some smaller things that may not look like a big deal but are.

*Merchandising: UFC has really failed to capitalizing on merchandising since they've hit this boom. They've been taking steps in the right direction (the video game and action figures) but they're still missing the boat on a lot of things. The first being t-shirts. Outside of UFC and event shirts, there are no other shirts, which means there are no fighter shirts. When wrestling was hot, you couldn't walk down the street without seeing an Austin 3:16 or NWO t-shirt. Now if I see a MMA shirt, it's either Affliction or Tapout, neither of which benefits the UFC or their fighters. It can only benefit UFC to release fighter specific shirts. I know I'd buy a Chuck Liddell shirt that had Chuck knocking someone out on the front and "The after party is at…" on the back. Or a Forrest Griffin t-shirt with the line, "I'm not the prettiest, but I make every moment exciting". Tell me the ladies wouldn't be all over you asking, "every moment huh?" And that's just scratching the t-shirt surface. Maybe I need to follow Derek Burgan and do a special Cardio Freak Gimmick Table with all my ideas.

The other area UFC has really missed the boat is DVDs. Yes they release every event on DVD but it takes about three months for them to get released compared to WWE and even TNA who take around a month and a half and two months to release event DVDs. UFC has also failed to capitalize on specialty and biography DVDs, both of which are big sellers for WWE. Ultimate Knockouts is nice although they're about two years behind and the Chuck Liddell "Ultimate Iceman" DVD was bare bones. I'd love if UFC released a "Best of Title Fights" DVD. I heard they were releasing an "Ultimate Comebacks" DVD so at least that's a start. I'd also like to see UFC be more consistent in releasing older events on DVD. Right now they're up to UFC 8 with 9 and 10 coming out soon but who knows when the rest will be out.

*ESPN Coverage: Like it or not ESPN is the measuring stick when it comes to how big your sport is in America. The NHL was considered the fourth largest sport in America but without the backing of ESPN, they've fallen off the face of the sports planet. Based on viewership, you can make a strong case that MMA is the fourth largest sport in America behind football, baseball, and basketball. If you want to get technical then you can consider it the sixth largest sport behind football, baseball, basketball, college football, and college basketball. It's not treated like the fourth/sixth biggest sport though. Fighters get minimal interview time in the days leading up to the event on Sportscenter, results get a mention in passing, and only the main fights get a section on the bottom line. Although the numbers tell a different story, UFC is really no bigger than the NHL when it comes to attention. At least when Sidney Crosby is going to miss 2 weeks, we know about it on Sportscenter. When Chuck Liddell has to pull out of a fight, you don't know unless you head to the Internet. MMALive on ESPN.com is a nice start and hopefully the show makes its way to the TV in the near future. The day UFC/MMA will be considered the fourth biggest sport in America is the day when I can watch Sportscenter to know the latest fight added to a certain event.

*Make Your Fighters Stars: Georges St. Pierre could be one of the biggest sports stars in the World if UFC would market him. Obviously his star is dependent on the UFCs star but he has all the tools to be on the level of a Tom Brady or Derek Jeter. He wins, he's got all the skills, he comes off well spoken and respectful, he's the most dapper man in MMA, and he's already got actresses crushing on him. UFC really does nothing to market GSP to the mainstream audience though. I'm baffled that there isn't a UFC guest on those late night talk shows in the week leading up to an event. How can a host not love a guy who is getting paid to beat up people? The lame jokes practically write themselves; "Can I take you?" "If I catch anyone not laughing, Brock is going punch you" "That triangle choke looks like a good move to use in the bedroom." UFC has a sponsorship with Bud Light. Why haven't I seen a Bud Light commercial featuring Chuck Liddell? There are a lot of opportunities for UFC to get their fighters out there and they don't seem to be capitalizing on them. Hosting SNL, commercials, talk shows, cameos, ect…. While St. Pierre is likely never going to reach the level of the Derek Jeter's and Tom Brady's, it can't hurt to try.

*Better Use of SpikeTV: UFC on Spike has been a great thing but I can't help but feel that more can be done. UFC Unleashed seems to be running its course, which seems impossible considering how many fights they have in their tape library. It just seems like it's the same UFC Unleashed episodes over and over again. Obviously the smart thing would be to feature fighters who are fighting on the coming up card and while UFC tries, I'm not sure how well they're succeeding. I'm not sure how much longer FSN has a hold of the PRIDE library but hopefully UFC can start airing PRIDE fights as I'm sure fans would like to see Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Anotnio Nogueira, and others in some of their finest moments. The Ultimate Fighter is still a good show although there are not many unknown fighters out there anymore. The show is still a good tool in order to build up a big fight if done correctly. I don't believe Inside The UFC did great numbers ratings wise but that was a good show for the fans. We got some news, some videos, some interviews, and I always enjoyed it. Hopefully UFC and Spike can put together another show like that, almost like a 30 minute UFC Sportscenter.

Those are just some things UFC can do to gain more fans and possibly reach the level of the other big sports. If you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Playing to Your Strengths

BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre may not take place in December after all. If the fight is pushed back to February for Super Bowl Weekend, UFC is looking to add BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian, Chuck Liddell vs. Anderson Silva, or Wanderlei Silva vs. Forrest Griffin to the card

The only fight that makes sense on that list is Penn vs. Florian but I'm not sure that's going to happen because if Penn loses, his rematch with St. Pierre takes a huge hit in value and even if Penn wins, he could get injured. The other two fights make no sense and I'd be shocked if they happen. Silva vs. Liddell would be a big fight but there's just no point in doing it. Anderson Silva has already stated that he would rather fight at 185 and if Liddell beats Evans they should match him up against Griffin since there's more money to be made in Liddell vs. Griffin than Liddell vs. Silva. Wanderlei vs. Forrest makes the least sense of all because Silva is 1-3 in his last four fights and 1-1 in the UFC. Sure it's a big money fight and it would certainly draw better than say Griffin vs. the winner of Thiago Silva vs. Lyoto Machida but shouldn't winning mean something?

If UFC wants to protect the Penn vs. St. Pierre fight, put on a money fight, and put on a logical fight then there's only one answer: Liddell vs. Griffin. If he beats Evans and comes out injury free then there's no reason why he can't fight again in December. Liddell would only be 3-2 in his last five fights but that was good enough to earn Forrest Griffin a title shot and the drawing power of that fight couldn't be questioned. Plus we all know that it's the direction UFC is trying to go anyway.

Kenny Florian will take on Joe Stevenson at UFC 91 in November

If Florian wins, there's no doubt that he's the top contender to BJ Penn. If he loses, my guess is that the winner of Sherk vs. Griffin will get the next title fight or they'll match up the two winners to determine the top contender. This fight will likely be the semi-main event on the show because I don't think Florian vs. Stevenson is something you can headline a PPV with.

This should be a really good fight. Both guys will probably come out very hungry since they both know what it's like to fight for the title and lose. Florian is the more technical striker although Stevenson's hands have come a long way since the days of TUF2. We've seen Stevenson cut and cut bad so he's obviously got to watch out for the elbows of Florian. This has the potential to be a really good grappling contest as both fighters are well versed on the ground. Florian is once again technically better on the ground but you can never doubt Joe Stevenson and his guillotine choke.

Jason Day has pulled out of his UFC 88 fight with Jason Lambert. Jason MacDonald will replace Jason Day

So Jason replaces Jason against Jason. Got it?

Props to Jason MacDonald for fighting on short notice. I think MacDonald was more than happy to step up after Day went down with an injury considering he wants to get back to fighting after a disappointing loss, Lambert is a good match up for him, and he's catching a guy cutting to 185 for the first time in his UFC tenure. Things aren't looking so good for my brother from another mother on September 6th.

Rachelle Leah will be on the cover of the November 2008 Playboy. Inside will be a pictorial of the former UFC Octagon Girl and she will be nude

I'm glad to see that Bren released Rachelle from his basement and talked her in to doing Playboy. Fine man that Bren Oliver.

While I'm obviously excited at this announcement, I'm not getting too worked up. WWE Diva Maria in Playboy was supposed to be the second coming of God and while the pictures were fine they weren't what everyone expected. I read Playboy for the articles anyway.

Studying Tape



Professional Hot Chicks

Sparring Session

Jared Shaw called out KJ Noons in a recent interview, stating that Noons should step up and fight Nick Diaz

Hey look it's Gary Shaw-lite, which is pretty bad considering Gary Shaw is nothing more than Dana White-lite. This fight should be such a big deal with the controversial stop in the first fight, the brawl in Hawaii, and people claiming that Noons is ducking Diaz but I'm bitter and I can't get over the fact that they did nothing to build this fight on the second CBS show. It appears that Noons wants more money for the fight than his contract calls for and that's a whole separate situation. Personally, I think fighters should be able to negotiate on a fight-to-fight basis but that's when things can turn sour. Keith Jardine would be the perfect example of this. He's not making much on his current contract but if he were allowed to negotiate a new contract after his win over Liddell or Griffin then he'd easily be asking for six figures. After the losses to Silva and Alexander though, UFC would want him back to five figures and who knows how Jardine and his management would take that. Of course I'm going based on what the commission shows as Dana White has claimed many times that he hands out locker room bonuses and you would have to think that Jardine gets more than his reported $10,000. With the current contract structure your best deal is to sign for 3-4 fights, win, and then ask for more money.

Underwater Ice Bath

EliteXC has cancelled their September 20th event that was scheduled to take place in New Mexico

What do you expect when you headline a show with Joey Villasenor? The show wasn't selling, they had to save their stars for the CBS event, and it was being held on the same night as Strikeforce. This is probably a good thing for EliteXC because they can't afford to lose any more money than they already are. It's believed that Showtime made the call to cancel the event, which isn't good news for EXC. If they get kicked off Showtime then CBS probably isn't too far behind and then they'll be no better than Affliction.

Rumor has it that they are now going to try and load up the November show although with Kimbo and Gina fighting in October, "load up" means the same people we saw on the 2nd CBS show. EXC only has two big fights at their disposal and for some reason they seem hesitant on pulling the trigger on both of them. Carano vs. Santos and Diaz vs. Noons are the only fights that they've really built into something big. If Diaz vs. Noons doesn't headline the November card and both guys are on the show then it just goes to prove that this company knows less than I already thought.

Vitor Belfort is off the October 11th Affliction show. It is rumored that Jake Shields will take his place in a fight against Matt Lindland

It's not looking so hot for the second Affliction show. Belfort being off the card isn't a huge loss as I don't think his name means all that much right now and Jake Shields could come at a cheaper price (although if I'm Shields, I want more than Belfort for obvious reasons). Shields would obviously need EliteXC to sign off on him competing for Affliction and my guess is that they're not going to do that. If they do allow Shields to compete on Affliction then I might as well give up on EliteXC because it would show that they REALLY have no clue what they're doing. If Shields doesn't take the spot of Belfort then I'm not sure who Affliction will get to fight Lindland but hopefully it's someone exciting.

The problem with this Affliction show is that their two biggest draws aren't likely going to be on the show. Fedor isn't fight because of an injury and Tito Ortiz has yet to officially sign with the company. Without those two I'm just not sure how well this show is going to do. They'll obviously save money with the fighter payroll although it's likely that it will still be over two million dollars. Arlovski vs. Barnett isn't the fight that everyone wanted to see after the first show and I don't think it's going to draw all that well with no TV build. Honestly, I'm not sure how much longer Affliction has left if this show does lose a lot of money. They haven't signed Tito Ortiz yet and I'm not sure that they're going to at this point, they're over-paying for fighters, they have no TV deal, Couture vs. Fedor isn't going to happen under their banner, and I'm not even sure if Fedor is going to even fight for them again.

Ozzy Osbourne will perform at the Affliction: Day of Reckoning show

I didn't like the idea of Megadeath performing at the first show so I'm obviously not a big fan of Ozzy performing at the second show. That said, Megadeath was a nice treat for the fans during the intermissions of a very long show and I expect the same from Ozzy. Not a fan of the particular style of music but I know that it has an audience and Affliction could draw some rock-heads to the show. In the end though, it's still another high money, low draw situation for the company.

Taking Time Off

I'm back at ECU; apartment life is great, going to classes still suck.

UFC 88 IS COMING~!

Training Partners

Adam Tool and Wendell Mitchell bring the news.

John Curry lists the top UFC/WEC fighters with the most potential. Luken Weaver gives delayed reactions to UFC 87. Larry Csonka gives his thoughts on ShowXC. Adam Tool profiles Lyoto Machida. BREN~! presents Fact or Fiction featuring Adam Tool and Michael Huckaby. Ryan Seymour talks TUF8.

Matt McEwen reviews UFC 48 featuring the broken arm of Tim Sylvia. Adam Tool reviews PRIDE Bushido 9 (part 1) aka one of the all time great shows. Jonathan Solomon reviews UFC Wired featuring Griffin, Shogun, Rampage, and Liddell.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

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

Cardio Freak Sources: Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer, Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly, MMAWeekly, and MMAMania