PunchDrunkPanda: Is this where we spend 40 comments arguing about whether MMA is better than boxing? If so, I'll start cutting and pasting YouTube comments now...

I was going to post some pics but sometimes the mods get uppity about softcore gay porn.

GQueue
I'm really not sure why they waited so long to start the HW fight and always had locked themselves into showing only the one fight no matter what. They could easily have had the Bendo/Guida fight in the can ready to show to fill some time in the event of an quick KO in the HW fight if they started the HW fight at about 20-25 after (still plenty of time for pre-fight commentary), instead they spent 30 minutes before they even got to ring entrances. I know the plan was always only the one fight but the other fight was pretty much a perfect "this is why MMA is great to watch" kind of fight, with the full complement of striking, wrestling, submission attempts, and near non-stop action. And everyone was pretty sure that fight was going to be awesome when it was announced.

This. I also expected the first 30 minutes to be an introduction for first time viewers, since this whole shindig was setup for new fans. Then, what we get is 30 minutes of a handful of people talking about how awesome Cain is and why he'll win the fight because he's a more complete fighter blah blah blah. Having a half hour before the fight isn't a waste of time if you do it right, but it was a waste of time the way they did. And of course the Henderson-Guida fight would have been a huge hit, but that was Fox's decision. They were adament they only wanted one fight that night. However, most other countries the fights were shown in did get to see that fight, so its mostly just us Yanks who got the short end of the stick.

Also, Dana's post fight biatchfest about JDS only winning because Cain didn't fight the way he should have is idiotic. He needs to get some sleep and let it go. Cain losing doesn't necessarily mean you can't get all those Hispanic fans you want, it will just take a little bit longer, that's all.

Oh, and did anyone like the feel of the show? The Fox Sports music had me thinking football the whole time and having a half dozen or so of "analysts" was annoying.

Klippoklondike: This. I also expected the first 30 minutes to be an introduction for first time viewers, since this whole shindig was setup for new fans. Then, what we get is 30 minutes of a handful of people talking about how awesome Cain is and why he'll win the fight because he's a more complete fighter blah blah blah. Having a half hour before the fight isn't a waste of time if you do it right, but it was a waste of time the way they did. And of course the Henderson-Guida fight would have been a huge hit, but that was Fox's decision. They were adament they only wanted one fight that night. However, most other countries the fights were shown in did get to see that fight, so its mostly just us Yanks who got the short end of the stick.

Sounds to me like they should have gone with the professional wrestling tactic for the FOX audiences: Send out two guys that the home audience doesn't have to know anything about who are going to put on a great match and warm up the audience. Based on what I briefly know, it sounds to me like Dana is upset because his organization relies on an exceptional, nearly-anal amount of control and Dana had to defer to FOX executives on what turned out to be a colossal mistake (only having one fight on the cable card) and will ultimately take heat from those executives if UFC ratings don't pan out. In other words, "WHY DID YOU LET ME SMASH THAT VASE ON THE GROUND!?!"

Moopy Mac: They aren't creating new marketable superstars. Will Jon Jones sell many PPVs? We know that Aldo, Edgar and Silva (without Chael) can't sell. It is doubtful that JDS will be a big seller if he fights Overeem. They are in a bit of a tight place because they have to rely on a former professional wrestler with a history of illness and GSP to provide the major bumps in sales. You know that Dana is praying that Sonnen wins his rematch with Silva because Sonnen will sell as long as they match him with non-war heroes.

Jones, St. Pierre, and Silva are all dominant, incredibly-skilled champions who take the sport to a higher level. The sad truth of the matter is that the average casual fan doesn't want that. They want mediocre action where anyone can win on any given night. The NFL has conditioned American sports fans that mediocrity in the name of volatility is good. Apparently, performing your sport at a level beyond that which mortals dare is boring.

bhcompy: Not exactly. Silva and Machida are boring to watch. They're counter-strikers. Pair up a counter-striker with a ground fighter and you get boring ass fights. I don't care that Silva wins, I care that it's boring. Fedor had an epic fight streak, but people watched because Fedor was ridiculously entertaining. Same goes for Randleman, Crocop, etc.

Ultimately, if the UFC wants to improve watchability, they need to implement the same system Pride had. Purse penalties for non-aggression and 10 minute first rounds go a long way towards making matches more entertaining.

The sport is still very new, so we don't quite know the answer to an important question: Does the sport become less entertaining to watch as the skill level of the combatants improves? There's a discussion in the basketball book The Rivalry about the first night that Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain played against each other and how a lot of viewers genuinely believed the matchup foreshadowed the complete destruction of any skill required to play the sport, that the game would be taken over by seven-footers. (It was only half-true; it was taken over by incredibly athletic and talented seven-footers.) I remember seeing a mixed martial arts web site that presented the percentage of outcomes (submission, decision, knockout) on a year-by-year basis and the number of decisions has continued to rise. Are counter-strikers like Silva, Machida, and so forth the natural outcome of the current rules in the sport? Are wrestlers like St. Pierre and Jones the natural outcome of the current rules in the sport? Are fighters who go for decisions the natural outcome of the sport? Are so-called "boring fighters" the natural outcome of the rules in the sport? The skills used by the best fighters appeal mostly to people who know the sport and not the mainstream that wants guys to stand up and crack each other's skulls. If buyrates continue to fall, does Dana White do what you suggest he should do? Does he take a sport sold to the public as a peer review process for martial arts and try to manipulate those rules in order to balance the rule set for aggressive strikers? It's a curious predicament. Fortunately for Dana, he owns the sport. He has the ability to fix things whichever way he thinks is more beneficial to continued interest.

protectyourlimbs: as for all the MMA is gay porn I get it.. your all just too tough and straight to bother doing it much less seeing it as a real sport...

StarCraft players would dominate in mixed martial arts with their superior Actions Per Minute. It's just that Flash and MVP and Jaedong know proving it would be a waste of time.

Muffin'sTop: MMA is gonna medivac-drop you from behind

DAMMIT I MISSED THE OBVIOUS NAME-DROP

GAHHHHH

Muffin'sTop: This is Fark son, the aficionados here tend to be ubernerds and know they shiat very well, if you miss you pay dearly

Well, I name-dropped Brood War players, so consider it more of a lapse in "go for the easy answer" than a lapse in knowledge. ^^

bhcompy: The sport becomes less entertaining to watch as the stakes from losing rise. Japan valued entertainment more than wins and losses, so fighters that lose too often were not dropped from organizations as long as they provide a good fight. This is different than the behavior generally seen in the UFC, where someone like Keith Jardine can get dropped because of losses despite putting on great, entertaining fights and winning Fight of the Night(generally the most entertaining fight) multiple times.

Ultimately, if the fighters are at risk from losing their paycheck, they will take a more timid approach to fighting. Level of skill doesn't play into it.

I don't like the idea of giving leeway to fighters who constantly lose because their fighting style is entertaining or because they sell tickets. God knows how many more Tito Ortiz co-main-events the world can put up with. The fighters should fight to win. The onus should not be on them to deliver an entertaining match within a boring rule set. If the rule set lends itself to boring matches, then the rule set needs to be fixed. Incentives ("You put on a good match and we'll keep you onboard", "You knock this dude out and you get a bonus") are band-aids. Rule changes are ultimately what fix the problem.

Muffin'sTop: I do acknowledge dropping BW names gives you more SC creed.

I would like to ask you, have you notice there hasn't been a backlash against the new SC fans due to WoL and people like Day9, HD, and especially Husky (whose commentary personally can't stand) promoting the shiat out of SCII.

I am surprised by the lack of nerd rage as you generally got to see with examples like new MMA and Lord of the Rings fans. With SC, besides a more immature audience it just comes to whether or not you can at least make it to Diamond. However with LotR, it probably comes with people who are more likely to be mature to see how ridiculous is to attack new fans because it went "mainstream" and get all hipster about it.

I'll go ahead and toss you a response in a little bit. Tying up some real-world stuff here. ^^

Skyrmion: Not sure I believe that "60 million viewers in Brazil" statement that keeps getting tossed around.

Maybe they meant to say that the Brazilians combined to watch 60 million minutes of MMA on Saturday night.

Oh, wait...

bhcompy: Which is why I suggested adopting the Pride ruleset. 10 minute first rounds leads to many more first round finishes and the inactivity purse penalties leads to fighters being forced to engage or losing their pay.

Going with a ten-minute first round is perfectly fine with me. Just keep in mind that I don't care much for rules that rely on judgment calls, i.e. "Is he being inactive?" The more human input you can get out of a sport (particularly one where humans have to judge the performance), the better. That's where I'm coming from.