The Doggy Bag: The Injury Edition

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I'm curious if you think there's a correlation between the increased number of injured fighters and them now receiving health insurance benefits. Do you feel that, psychologically, fighters are less cautious during training given that injuries will be covered by the UFC? If so, do you think providing comprehensive coverage will prove a mistake in terms of card quality? -- Dov from London

Lutfi Sariahmed, featured contributor: Your point makes sense, although I wouldn't necessarily describe it as being "less cautious." To be cautious in MMA often means not necessarily giving it your best effort; sometimes it doesn't compute when your job as a fighter is to knock off the other guy's head . However, providing comprehensive coverage isn't a mistake in terms of card quality. For me, the problem starts and ends with the amount of product the UFC is giving us.

Did June really need four separate cards? Can you name three bouts on each of those cards? Can you tell me how many of those bouts on each card really mattered? Unfortunately, it can't cut back on cards because it is contractually obligated to provide them across the three Fox platforms and for its own benefit on pay-per-view. When you talk about the injury issues facing all these events, the actual number of cards certainly plays a role.

Not that long ago, the UFC made its name because the majority of fights on every card were really "big" bouts. That's no longer the case. What does that have to do with your injury point? There are more than 300 fighters under Zuffa contract right now. So few of them can be dubbed genuine stars that they had to abandon their "stacked" card for UFC 148 and move Urijah Faber-Renan Barao to UFC 149.

"If you to rewind the clock five to eight years ago in this sport, there were four to six main events a year," Rich Franklin told USA Today last week. "Now there are all these shows, and it just increases the probability of something like that happening."

Also, with so many cards compared to the past, fighters aren't going to be left on the sidelines forever if they pull out of bout. More importantly, the potential damage in fighting hurt and losing when one win can mean so much is enough for fighters not to risk it.

How many legitimate stars are there in the UFC? Ten, maybe? You're being constantly exposed to a product now with the same 10 stars that used to suffice when the UFC only had 12 events a year. It is no wonder that it appears the quality has gone down.

We aren't going to get better fights or better cards out of injured fighters or those who didn't take care of their injuries properly. If card quality is your primary concern, having comprehensive coverage wasn't a mistake; it was the right thing to do.