Lefko on UFC on FOX: A work in progress
Posted January 29, 2012 4:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The expected fireworks for UFC on FOX 2 fizzled into little more than a light show with sparklers.
So much hype went into the second sampling of the UFC on primetime television on Saturday night with various forms of verbal warfare leading up to the event you would have sworn this was a Vince McMahon production for Wrestlemania. But there was no rage in the cage. It was the equivalent of passive aggression.
The people who paid to watch the event at the United Centre in Chicago started booing because the lack of action during the first of the three fights shown live on FOX. Who would have known it would be a precursor of what would happen – or didn’t happen – in the final two fights. It was almost like the fighters were trying harder not to lose by not taking chances than to push the pace for a win, and anytime there was an attempt by one fighter to submit the other, it didn’t happen. It was long and tedious.
Yes, the hardcore fans had to be happy that Rashad Evans beat Phil Davis to set up a showdown with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and Chael Sonnen scored a decision over Michael Bisping to earn himself another crack at middleweight champion Anderson Silva. But if the UFC is hoping to build its brand with new fans by telecasting its product for free on mainstream TV during primetime hours, it has been snakebitten so far.
When the UFC on FOX debuted back in November with a one-hour show, it featured only one live fight (although the Sportsnet broadcast aired two for its audience). But the fight ended after only 64 seconds when challenger Junior dos Santos pummeled heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, forcing the referee to end the contest. The exact opposite happened on UFC on FOX 2 because the scheduled two-hour telecast extended by about 20 minutes longer because the three televised fights all went the distance – and it actually felt a lot longer.
In the fifth and final round of the Evans-Davis fight, announcer Mike Goldberg made the comment about Evans’ grueling style and added, “it’s not the most pretty but it’s absolutely taxing.”
He could have been talking about all three fights, all of which lacked greatness or even a defining moment. Even Evans admitted he was disappointed he couldn’t force Davis to submit, though he made various attempts by forcing his opponent to the ground. It could best be said the elder Evans, a onetime UFC champion, won on experience. Davis came into the contest with only seven fights in the UFC.
Purely from an entertainment aspect, the highlight came when Goldberg’s broadcast partner, Joe Rogan, stepped up to Sonnen after his victory and asked him how it felt. To which the warrior with the arsenal of words replied: “I want you to know how do you feel being inches away from greatness?”
Sonnen talked loudly and proudly leading up to his fight and backed it up, putting Bisping on his back many times, including almost all of the five minutes in the third and final round. Bisping, the striker, had Sonnen in a vulnerable position in the final 10 seconds, but it was too little, too late. He wildly missed earlier attempts in the match to kick Sonnen and never really connected with his fists. Whether Bisping was sapped from having fought less than two months before may have played a factor, even though stamina is one of his strongpoints. Bisping had been scheduled to fight Damian Maia in the first of the three televised fight. But following an injury to Mark Munoz, he was elevated to the fight against Sonnen only a couple weeks ago. Bisping took the fight because it meant a win would earn him a shot against Silva, but Sonnen was certainly the fresher of the two.
Sonnen is not a champion and never has been in the UFC, but he fancies himself as one, even with a phony belt. But if nothing, it’s an interesting act and if Bisping considered Sonnen a jester leading up to the fight, well, the joker has had the last laugh. To his credit, Bisping showed his class by applauding Sonnen upon his win.
More people were intrigued by the Sonnen-Bisping match because of the implications towards a possible Sonnen-Silva rematch. Bisping proudly proclaimed before his battle with Sonnen that it would be the fight of the night and likely the fight of the year. It will not be remembered as either. It might have been the most entertaining drama leading up to a fight, though.
And here’s another thing: why wasn’t Silva in the crowd, or at least somewhere where an interview could have been done with him, even if by satellite? When Sonnen won his last fight he turned to Silva, sitting in the crowd, and said: “Anderson Silva, you suck.” The camera quickly captured Silva’s bemused look.
With Sonnen having moved one step closer to the fight, it would have been great to get a comment or reaction from Silva, even if the Brazilian’s English is not great and would have required a translator, which is often provided. Given that Jones was on the broadcast panel, in particular because he was fighting the winner of the Evans-Davis fight, surely Silva could have been there, too. Silva was quite active on Twitter after the fight and perhaps some of his comments could have been translated to English and passed along.
Sonnen has been obsessed with Silva since losing the middleweight championship to him in October 2010 and then having his life and career come undone. The two are scheduled to fight in a card later this year, almost certainly in Brazil in the summer in what could be the biggest event in UFC history, potentially in an outdoor stadium with 70,000-100,000 people. So much could have been used in the UFC FOX 2 broadcast to promote that, but it was barely even mentioned, at least not nearly enough.
Sonnen has relished the role of the villain, but the crowd at the United Centre embraced him as a hero, cheering, “USA, USA.” Fans were reaching out to congratulate him after he exited the octagon and returned to his dressing room. You can be sure this won’t be the case if he fights Silva in Brazil.
A good portion of the telecast touched upon the upcoming Nick Diaz-Carlos Condit welterweight championship fight this Saturday on pay-per-view. It seemed that it took time away from promoting the card in progress, which you know is designed to extend both the UFC and FOX brands to the mainstream public. Too much of the UFC entertainment was sacrificed, much of it with too many commercials, which is understandable because someone had to pay for the free telecast. The dramatic walks the fighters take to the cage, with mind-bending music blaring from the speakers and a light show received scant coverage. That is a key part of the package, but was barely part of the production.
The panel of Curt Menefee, acclaimed Hall of Famer Randy Couture and future Hall of Famer Jones combined to produce far too much sweetness. It desperately needed some grit.
When asked about facing Evans in the future, Jones grinned: “I’m so pumped. I’ve got goosebumps. I’m so excited about fighting Rashad I can’t wait to get past this chapter in my life. I’m so happy. It’s going to drive me harder than I ever have in my life.”
That was the equivalent of putting six cubes of sugar in your coffee.
Jay Glazer and Kenny Florian did a great job discussing the lead-up to the live coverage. Why not keep them as part of the whole broadcast? They really work well as a tandem.
Where was UFC president Dana White, who was part of the panel for the first FOX show but was absent from this telecast? He has singlehandedly raised the profile of the UFC with his understanding of promotion and the media and is skilled enough to break down the fights from a technical standpoint. Can you imagine how much he would have been pumping up the future Sonnen-Silva fight? He guaranteed it would happen if Sonnen won, despite Sonnen saying Silva wouldn’t fight him or anyone else in the future. To use a White word, that fight is going to be “crazy,” and you know he would have done a much better job of selling that than Menefee and the others.
Clearly the UFC on FOX is a work in progress and no matter how much thought goes into the pre-production there are no guarantees what will happen inside the cage. No one knows how this year’s Super Bowl will unfold. There will be reams and reams of coverage leading up it, but the advanced promotion and hype won’t mean the game will be great.
With only two shows so far as part of a seven-year agreement, there is plenty of time to work on things outside of the cage and hope the product inside of it completes the entertainment package.
