Saku’s career had exceeded its expiration date when it was announced in October that he had to cancel a fight after being hospitalized due to blood flow issues with his brain.
Some fighters may have more KO losses on their record, but has any one fighter been subject to the kind of repetitive, bone-snapping damage he’s had to endure over the years? Pummeled against Igor Vovchanchyn (Pictures); broken orbital against Cro Cop; three stoppage losses to Silva, one of which broke his shoulder; mauled by Ricardo Arona (Pictures). Nearing 40, his body is a walking piece of scar tissue.
Yet he’s scheduled to compete on New Year’s Eve, against the extremely formidable Akiyama.
When will Japan get a conscience?
4. Female MMAers need love, too
First things first: the BoDog Fight series, which is currently airing on the Men’s Health Channel, is insipid. Full of noxious scripted segments and the bizarre persona of self-satisfied billionaire Calvin Ayre, it’s to be avoided by anyone with a healthy interest in maintaining brain cells.
Yet Ayre and his fledging promotion have done one thing right: they’ve introduced the concept of female MMA into a relatively unsuspecting North American demographic.
In week three of the series, Tara Larosa (Pictures) and Amanda Buckner (Pictures) waged a three-round war that displayed just how far the ladies have come in comparison to their male peers. Far from the sloppy displays of yesteryear, these two outworked the slovenly heavyweights showcased in later installments. Their athleticism even shamed some of the sport’s bigger names.
The UFC and other majors should be cautious they don’t emulate the persecution they suffered in the 1990s from people who “didn’t get it”: females deserve a shot in the spotlight. Crowds that can acknowledge triangle choke attempts are sophisticated enough to give women like Buckner and Larosa their proper due.
3) Knees on the ground need to be reinstated
You can all blame Gan McGee (Pictures) for this one. After New Jersey State Athletic Control Board Commissioner Larry Hazzard Sr. viewed a fight in 2000 in which McGee demolished an opponent with knees, the tactic was effectively outlawed in U.S. events.
Knees are no more damaging on the mat than they are standing from the Thai clinch; just ask Rich Franklin (Pictures). (Actually, don’t: give him some time.) But their threat increases the chance that fighters will stay more alert and active on the canvas. It’ll also dissuade wrestlers from taking lazy shots and leaving their face exposed for a cap to the grill.
Soccer kicks should remain verboten, however. There’s something intrinsically sickening about watching someone defenseless get their head punted like a Wilson.
2) Ticket prices need to come back down to earth
Want a front-row seat for Chuck Liddell (Pictures)’s next slugfest? Be prepared to dish out $1,000 for the privilege. $700 would’ve bought you a close look at Fedor in PRIDE’s first Vegas jaunt. Want to enjoy all 12 UFC pay-per-view events in 2007? That’ll be $500 — and an extra $250 if you want them on DVD later.
Being an MMA fan practically demands a part-time job just to fund the hobby. If people are buying, the UFC would be foolish to curtail its pricing structure. But the think tank at Zuffa may want to consider making a portion of those events more reasonably priced, especially when not all main events are created equal. (Is anyone going to pay $40 to see Travis Lutter (Pictures) take on Anderson Silva)?
There’s some sort of oft-referenced “psychology” behind pricing events at $40 and up, the idea being that people won’t bother with a cheaper event because it lacks cache. All well and good, but I think McDonald’s sells more $1 cheeseburgers than Wolfgang Puck sells $40 filets.
It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to give their DVD “Fight Club” members the opportunity to send in a cable bill for a discount on the eventual disc release of the same show.
With the surplus of promotions springing up in the next year, fans are going to start becoming very selective about what they choose to spend their hard-earned funds on.
1) Rematches need to be curtailed … seriously
I know, I know. It’s a broken record in this space. But consider: December’s bout with Tito Ortiz (Pictures) will mark Chuck Liddell (Pictures)’s fifth rematch in as many fights. The biggest star in North American MMA has yet to fight a fresh opponent since August of 2004. (Prior to his second encounter with Couture, Liddell had pummeled a new face in 18 straight bouts.)
Fights are about suspense. (Otherwise, we’d all be as content to watch events on a month’s delay.) Here’s some fun math: of the 10 rematches and rubber matches to take place in the UFC this year, seven of them had the same outcome as the first bout. If there’s a 70 percent chance of rain, I’m not planning a picnic … nor am I going to be glued to my TV set.
Zuffa has enough of a television presence that they can sell virtually any fight they can conceive of; all it takes is one SpikeTV special. The suffocating number of repeats in the promotion is indicative of only one thing: an absolutely anemic depth of talent. And it’s not going to change until fans start voicing their boredom.
Remember, only you can prevent Forrest-Bonnar III.
Got an addendum to the list? Email it to jrossen@sherdog.com.