Issue 108
December 2013
A great live MMA show can stand the test of time and live with fans for years, but why? Is it location, anticipation, provocation or simply aspiration that transforms a simple night of fights into a slice of history?
When it comes to putting on events, the UFC had its most productive year, so far, in 2012. Fight cards from across the globe were beamed to TV screens worldwide on average a little more than every 11 days. Only a few years ago, fans would sit around, often for months, anticipating the next UFC fight events, but that’s no longer the case and 2013 looks destined to be even busier than the one before.
However, as this abundance of top-class action increases it also runs the risk of diminishing the spectacle that is the world’s best fighters colliding inside the Octagon. Fans, whose lofty expectations are unrealistic yet totally understandable, now expect to see the highest caliber athletes on stacked cards two or three times every month. But achieving such drama and entertainment every time Bruce Buffer clears his throat is anything but assured.
So what are the key ingredients for a truly special UFC card? One that not only has the sort of appeal likely to catch the eye of audiences around the world, but also has memorable moments that stick with fans long into the future?
To truly create an event that has a lasting effect on its audience there are a lot of elements that come into play. One of the most important cogs in the machine is to have a stellar main event that has fighters who are compelling enough that fans actually care about who wins and who loses when they eventually collide.
THE MAIN EVENT
Unlike boxing, where it’s always been about the headliners, and just filling the undercard with up-and-coming prospects against journeymen has been par for the course for decades, the UFC has promoted its brand first and its fighters second. How often have you heard casual fans ask when the next UFC card is, rather than asking when one fighter is fighting the other?
This model has worked incredibly for the UFC over the years. However, with less disposable income these days, fans are now picking and choosing when they pony up as they want to guarantee they’re getting their money’s worth. And that usually requires big-name pulling power.
A study published in the 2009 edition of the Journal of Sports Media asked 3,500 fans what drew them to the sport of MMA. When asked who their favorite UFC fighter was, welterweight champ Georges St Pierre topped the poll with 19.4%. And considering St Pierre is the UFC’s biggest pay per view draw, that makes sense.
When GSP headlines a card the attention of mainstream media follows, and with them come fans in huge numbers. When star quality and notoriety steps into the Octagon, people are going to watch – and from the edge of their seats. Success.
PRIMETIME VIEW
The hype around fights involving the likes of GSP, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva is also helped by shows like Primetime, the series that follows the fighters in camp up to three weeks before the fight. Even though the Primetime specials are only 30 minutes in length their ability to create a captivating story around the fighters can help drive PPV buys through the roof.
The first Primetime special showcased the intense rivalry between Georges St Pierre and BJ Penn before their big rematch at UFC 94 and was watched by 1.4 million viewers combined during its first and second airing. And the success of the series clearly translated into pay-per-view buys too, as it went over the one million-buy mark, and helped make St Pierre and Penn into the stars they are today.
But Primetime specials only happen every so often, so what about the cards that don’t have a TV docu-soap to promote them? How are they able to get the attention of fans?
LEADING MEN
The fight between St Pierre and Nick Diaz had no Primetime exposure as all it needed was Diaz to trash talk for a year to keep fans salivating at the prospect of he and GSP squaring off once and for all. Trash talk is something that interests us all, and according to FO’s resident sports psychologist, Joe Bell, our love is something that comes naturally.
“As humans we like to think we are a complex, civilized and sophisticated organism, but in truth we’re actually quite primitive,” Bell explains. “As spectators when bad blood exists between two fighters our reptilian brain lights up like a Christmas tree and our behavior regresses to a more primal state.
“When two fighters compete in the Octagon it’s competition, but when two rivals ‘fight’ in the Octagon, well that’s real entertainment. The more real it is, the more the spectator benefits from it psychologically.”
SUPPORTING CAST
While boxing promotions rarely give any attention to fights going on underneath the main event, the UFC and other MMA organizations make sure everybody in action gets a share of the limelight in some capacity. The UFC understands that in some cases an undercard fight can be so thrilling it sets the tone for the rest of the show, and a cracking prelim fight can lift the crowd long before the main card gets underway.
Look at Irish import Conor McGregor, a man who was largely unknown in the US before he stepped foot inside the Octagon during April’s UFC on Fuel TV undercard. The first three fights of the night drifted by with out much reaction from the sold-out Stockholm crowd, however, after McGregor destroyed Marcus Brimage inside 67 seconds of his debut it felt like the rest of the fighters took a cue and upped their game. His performance flipped the event from average to awesome – and he needed just over a minute to do so.
“The one-upmanship mentality is always a high risk venture because of the Russian roulette nature of the sport and most fighters err on the side of caution and hence we rarely get to witness their true ability,” Bell explains. “However, for the more brash and confident fighters among the pride, they strive for greatness and just as the demi-god Achilles understood, if you want history to remember your name, you have to do something worth remembering and stealing the show is just one of them. These fighters are born performers and we’ll always hear them before we see them.”
WHERE and WHEN?
Besides from what the fighters bring to the table, the location of a fight can also be the difference between a boring card and an event of the year contender. Who could forget watching UFC 129, when almost 56,000 screaming Canadians packed out the Rogers Centre in Toronto to see national hero St Pierre face off against Jake Shields.
Or how about the UFC’s return to Brazil after a 13-year absence? With the likes of Anderson Silva, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira all included. The card was always destined to be something special, but no one could truly fathom the energy it would have. The crowd’s response to their compatriots walking to the Octagon was deafening, and their screams and chants only got louder once those three Brazilians decimated their opponents.
According to a number of psychological studies, statistically fighters are more likely to win a fight in their hometown than anywhere else. Bell says: “A home crowd can have an incredibly positive psychological influence on a local fighter and it has the power to raise their overall performance. But a home crowd can also have an adverse effect on the state of mind of the opponent through heckling, jeering and taunting which diminishes their performance carry over.”
Buying a ticket to the UFC – either at the live gate or via pay-per-view – gives you the best opportunity there is to see the world’s great fighters in action, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be treated to a moment in history, as lightning, unfortunately, never strikes twice.
However, if Toronto ever hosts a Fan Expo with Joe Lauzon headlining the card in a title fight then don’t hesitate to get your money down. According to our reasoning, he’s one spinning back-kick knockout away from adding the cherry to the greatest night in MMA history.
ASSURANCE OF GREATNESS
JOE LAUZON
Put Joe Lauzon on any card and you’re near enough assured something exciting will happen. The Bostonian has 12 ‘... of the Night’ bonuses to his name and is the all-or-nothing type of fighter fans will always pay to watch.
UFC FAN EXPO
There’s always a build-up in any city the UFC goes to, but when the Fan Expo comes to town events have a habit of becoming a frenzy. With so many fan favorites all under one roof, smiles are guaranteed for weeks.
IN A SPIN
Landing a rotational rocket to your opponent’s cranium is a sure-fire way to get the crowd off their feet and talking about the event months and years later. See Dennis Siver and Edson Barboza for two undercard favorites armed with this killer technique.
CANUCKS, EH?
The most effective way to ensure a wild night of fights is by enlisting the atmosphere provided by a sell-out crowd with a bar-room mentality – and they just don’t get more rowdy than fans from the north. Canadians love fighting and it’s rare for the UFC to suffer a stinker under the Maple Leaf.
AND THE NEW…
When a title belt changes hands – especially in the UFC – something pretty special has usually gone down. When you’re ringside and a champion is ejected you truly feel you’ve been apart of history in the making.
FIVE MEMORABLE MMA EVENTS
UFC 100, July 11th 2009
Still the biggest drawing MMA event of all time, the spectacle and the hype around UFC 100 was magnificent for all who were there and for those who watched at home. The bad blood between interim UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar finally came to head at this event with both of them creating a hype that to this day hasn’t quite been repeated.
WEC 53, December 16th 2010
From top to bottom the last WEC card was fantastic. Of course, people still talk about the fantastic fight between then WEC champion Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis, but WEC 53 also had a KO slam, brawls for the ages, plus a certain off-the-wall ‘Showtime’ kick as the icing on the cake.
Bellator 85, January 17th 2013
Bellator’s season eight debut was everything an MMA fan could ever dream of. A ‘Fight of the Year’ contender between Pat Curran and Patricio Freire, two brutal knockout wins for Mikhail Zayats and Jacob Noe, and a dominating performance from Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler.
Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley, April 9th 2011
Even though this was one of the best Strikeforce cards in history with the likes of Shinya Aoki, Gilbert Melendez and Gegard Mousasi all showcasing their talents it was the 4:57 of brawling between Nick Diaz and Paul Daley in the main event that changed this card from very good to truly great.
Pride 33, February 24th 2007
One of the best Pride cards to ever grace the US, there was only one decision out of nine fights. Not only did it have an epic brawl between Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva, but it will always be seen as the coming-out party of Nick Diaz after he caught lightweight legend Takanori Gomi in one of the first gogoplatas in MMA history.
