Brydon on MMA: Rio or Tebow?
Posted January 12, 2012 5:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Saturday’s UFC 142 card in Rio de Janeiro is a great one on paper:
— There’s a championship bout featuring one of the most explosive champions (Jose Aldo) and an undefeated challenger (Chad Mendes).
— A matchup between a legend of the sport (Vitor Belfort) and a future legend of the sport (Anthony Johnson)
— A whole slate of underrated and talented Brazilians with very few losses, both on the main card (Erick Silva, Edson Barboza) and the undercard (Thiago Tavares, Yuri Alcantara) as well as some Brazilian veterans (Rousimar Palhares, Gabriel Gonzaga)
— And for Canadian fans, we’ve got the always entertaining Sam Stout from London, Ont., and another Ontarian from the other side of Toronto, Antonio Carvalho, who’s making his debut.
The trouble is, the card isn’t generating much buzz (at least not outside Brazil).
It doesn’t help that Rio is a few hours ahead of most of North America. Thursday’s pre-fight press conference went off at 10 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. on the West Coast.
It also isn’t great that very few of the fighters are terribly quotable.
But the biggest obstacle to the card’s success, especially from a pay-per-view perspective, could come from someone outside MMA.
One Tim Tebow.
The exciting yet perplexing starting quarterback of the National Football League’s Denver Broncos, a tremendous athlete and devout Christian who is certainly not short on buzz. He pulled off the improbable last Sunday by knocking off the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in a thrilling wild-card playoff game.
With it, the team earned a Saturday night date with the equally popular (and sometimes polarizing) Tom Brady and his New England Patriots, one of the NFL’s dynasty teams of the past decade and this year’s top team in the AFC. And kickoff for their gridiron clash is just about the same time that the Sportsnet broadcast of the UFC 142 preliminary card will take begin: 8 p.m. ET.
According to the NFL, last Sunday’s Broncos win had 42 million viewers, making it the most-watched wild-card game ever and most-watched television program since last year’s Super Bowl. So it’s safe to say many TVs will be tuned to that game on Saturday night, rather than UFC 142 (also known as UFC RIO).
Hardcore UFC fans of course will choose the fights. And there is also chance the NFL game will be over before the main event takes place at about 11:30 p.m. ET. But by then, the decision to buy the pay-per-view will be long gone.
So while the growth of MMA is huge in Brazil and has been here for some time, it’s always hard to compete with the big, bad NFL, especially in the U.S. Even more so when it’s riding Tebowmania.
I can tell you right now, I’ll have my eye on both on Saturday night.
GENUINE FAITH
The other question is, which, if any, MMA fighters will be Tebowing on Saturday night?
One who might actually get on one knee and pray will be Vitor Belfort, though just like Tebow, his act will be of the sincere variety. He too is a vocal Christian, but don’t count on him to look heavenward for any dramatic rallies.
“I don’t look for God to help me with wins,” Belfort said. “I look for God in my daily life. I live my life for Jesus, I try to live by example.”
MORE QUOTES
Okay, so there was the odd nice line at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference. On the two-inch height and size advantage held by Anthony Johnson, who used to compete at welterweight but walks around about 40 pounds heavier, Belfort said: “Anthony is certainly a big fighter, but size isn’t everything. The king of the jungle is the lion, not the elephant.”
Johnson’s response: “Before my granddad passed, he told me to always look across the cage as if there was a lion staring at me. When Vitor said he was the lion, I loved it. It’s provided the type of motivation I’m looking for … I’m not scared of him. Let me fight the lion.”
On the subject of his debut at middleweight, he added: “At 170, I guess you can say I looked like ‘Skeletor.’ At middleweight, I guess you should call me ‘Big Foot.'”
Finally, on the subject of Belfort’s jiu-jitsu skill, Johnson said: “It’s always interesting fighting a jiu-jitsu black belt, but we don’t fight in Gis in UFC anymore. You can’t judge a black belt in the cage until the punches start flying.”
GETTING TUF IN BRAZIL
Speaking of Belfort, after Saturday he will take on the role as coach of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, which will feature featherweights and middleweights, it was announced on Thursday. Filming begins next month and the finals will take place on the same card that the coaches, Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, face each other.
In addition, it seems said event could be the next one in Brazil, which may be in June and possibly in a soccer stadium. If so, Anderson Silva is expected to headline in a rematch against Chael Sonnen, should the latter beat Mark Munoz later this month.
Call me crazy, but having the long-rumoured Silva vs. Sonnen rematch there could end up being less than desirable. It would be fantastic from a promotional point-of-view, especially with Sonnen’s penchant for selling fights, and with the Brazilian hero, they could easily fill a 100,000-seat venue.
But it will most likely end up being a disappointment from a fight point-of-view. It will likely either be a quick finish by Silva, or another five rounds of wrestling dominance by Sonnen (like their first meeting); either way, it would be anti-climactic.
And if he should win, it would be a disaster. Can you imagine a soccer-type crowd in the six digits utterly silent? Or worse? Sonnen already got death threats from Brazilians when he was considering coming to Rio to corner Yushin Okami at the last show in August. If he upset the champ, he might not get out of the country alive.
I’m definitely not saying the fight shouldn’t take place — it has to happen — it just might not end up with the result they want for their record-breaking show in the birthplace of MMA.
WELCOMING BRAZILIANS
Both Americans in Saturday’s featured fights said they’ve received a warm welcome from the fans in Rio, despite the fact they’re looking to upset the local heroes.
Funny, the fans didn’t quite have the same response to Sonnen.
MICROSOFT OFFER
Here’s another thing that won’t help the PPV numbers (but is certainly good for fans). If you have an Xbox Live account and had technical issues while trying to watch last month’s UFC 141 on their app, you’ll have the opportunity to watch UFC 142 for free this Saturday.
SPORTSNET OFFER
Our network is also providing you the chance to watch four fights for free, provided you have access to Sportsnet ONE. As part of the UFC’s new deal with FOX, almost all undercard fights will now air in the States on FUEL TV (aside from this one, which will air on FX). The only fight on Saturday that won’t be televised will be C
arvalho’s bout against Felipe Arantes, which fans will be able to watch on the UFC’s Facebook page. Stout’s bout vs. Thiago Tavares will cap off the four free fights on Sportsnet ONE.
