Issue 097

January 2013

Nick Peet Fighters Only magazine editor gets in a spin about catchweight matchups

Dana White often says, ‘We give the fans what they want to see.’ And that’s undoubtedly one of the main ingredients that’s made mixed martial arts a global sporting phenomenon. The ‘records are for DJs’ approach to the fight game, pairing the two best-matched fighters available in their respective weight classes at all times, is completely justified every time the UFC roadshow rolls into sold-out venues in cities across the planet most weekends.

The UFC has done in MMA something that boxing would never allow: eliminated the politics by becoming the dominant promotion in the sport – in some regions almost bigger than the sport, in fact – and then creating action-packed cards from the first fight to the last.

But, this very same policy of having the best face the best – of matching guys evenly throughout every event – has ultimately led to a somewhat detrimental effect on the very cusp of the sport. After all, there are no true superfights in mixed martial arts any more…

Just five years ago, MMA was much more like boxing in one way at least, as forums were ablaze with discussions about each weight division’s true number one. Who really was the best in heavyweight in the world? Was he in the UFC, Pride, or even one of a number of other organizations? MMA as an industry had a handful of promotions putting on strong international cards, all with their own roster of champions and contenders.

Not only did this allow fans the opportunity to debate who was the best, but it also allowed fighters the chance to build reputations – much like in boxing – away from perhaps their most capable opponents. Thus solidifying title reigns whilst also enhancing cross-promotion rivalries.

Boxing history is littered with great rivalries – and superfights – and all of them came when the words ‘world title unification’ were thrown together. Superfights are when two seemingly unbeatable world champions collide to see who is the legitimate world number one. That’s the key ingredient for a superfight, and with it huge PPV numbers and cash.

From Ali-Fraser, to Hagler-Hearns and Barrera-Morales, these are some of boxing’s highlights that generated interest way beyond the call of the ropes. It’s events like these that made boxing great. But the UFC, the undisputed leader in MMA promotion, has built its success on a model that doesn’t pertain itself to superfights. And that’s a fact. Don’t get me wrong, the last thing anybody wants to see is Joe Silva putting together a UFC fight card littered with ‘filler’ fights and mismatches like pretty much every boxing card out there.

But, let’s be honest, the last true superfight in MMA was when Chuck Liddell, the biggest star in the UFC, fought Wanderlei Silva, Pride’s living legend, and even that fight came a couple of years too late! Everything since, and on offer today, has been nothing more than two champions from differing weight divisions meeting in a size and weight mismatch.

Today the UFC boasts at least four title holders who most fans would unequivocally state are the undisputed champions of their respective weight classes and only a shocking defeat is going to knock them off their perch.

By snapping up all of its legitimate rivals the UFC has eradicated the politics of boxing, that so often get in the way of the best fights ever happening – take Mayweather-Pacquiao for instance. But it’s also taken away the opportunity to build genuine superfights.

Georges St Pierre vs Anderson Silva is the most likely UFC ‘superfight’ for 2013. But it’s a mismatch, plain and simple, despite GSP’s achievements at 170lb. And likewise, Silva, the GOAT himself, recently half-joked about the ridiculous amounts of cash he’d want to step up to light heavy and challenge Jon Jones, even though that contest makes far more sense than GSP. And it’s because Silva knows he’s handing Jones an unfair advantage and risks tarnishing his legacy. 

As a fight promotion, the UFC has reinvented the wheel with startling results, as record-breaking ticket sales and surging global TV viewership proves. But with only one promotion at the top of the tree, the word superfights should be left to the promoters and the politics of the squared circle.