Issue 088

May 2012

There are 34 UFC events planned for this year as the schedule continues to grow at an exponential rate. Dana White, the UFC president, revealed at the start of 2012, this year there would be an increase on 2011 of almost 25%, up from 27 live events last year.

But are there too many events side-by side now in UFC programming? Does it preclude the tradition of discussing, enthusing and developing excitement over weeks as the big night, and the big fight, approaches? Isn’t part of our attraction to fight sports our debate and conversation, the back-and-forth, as we agree to disagree on how the styles will match, and how the fights themselves will play out? Then we pick. It’s all part of the ritual.

Granted, there has been a five-week break before the inaugural appearance of the UFC in Sweden. Yet between the battle of the bulge on December 30th – Alistair Overeem against Brock Lesnar in Las Vegas – through to the last event in Sydney, Australia, with Thiago Alves facing Martin Kampmann as the main event, there were 10 events in 12 weeks. I’d argue that less is more.

That five-week hiatus was a much-needed breather: for the fighters themselves, the fans, and I’d even venture, to Zuffa. Even Dana, who has an indefatigable energy and missionary zeal for the sport, will eventually start to feel the strain.

Too many events run the risk of burnout on several fronts. Little wonder the UFC had a run of 20 consecutive days in January-February with 22 fighters pulling out. Three to four fights a year for each fighter at elite level are the optimum number, according to most leading trainers. 

Look at the stats. The acceleration in the sum total of events has grown exponentially. The last UFC event, in Australia, marked the 200th event in the history of the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization. Incredibly, the centenary UFC event was UFC 78 Validation, in Newark, where Michael Bisping and Rashad Evans headlined. That was November 2007, four and a half years ago.

The positive side is that it reflects the marketability of the sport, and its growing appeal to fans. But will the casual fan feel overexposed? 

The increased programming has been instigated by television deals, of course. The deal with network TV, with Fox and Fuel in the US, satellite TUF series, and the plan to host live Friday fight nights in the upcoming series of The Ultimate Fighter, plus the inclusion of a new flyweight division, has heralded the growth in the number 

of UFC cards.

Network television events running side by side with a pay-per-view element work neatly. Both are staple in the success of a fight organization: mainstream exposure and reaping the reward financially through pay TV. But surely the events will have to be capped, and we are reaching saturation point.

One answer for the exponential growth in events could be to sign more fighters to the roster. But the power of the UFC has always been that it presents an elite group to showcase. In the long term that reputation of the strength in depth will dilute. 

An off-season could be a possible solution, but with the 34 events to be held in just 52 weeks, fight fans aren’t going to get much of a break. 

The upside is that the increased number of shows will enable the organization to visit other countries, plus there is the prospect, mooted by White, that there could be dual productions hosted at the same time. We will have to take a rain check as the year pans out. But for me, 34 events is too many.

Sweden set to light up

The UFC’s debut in Sweden sold out the Stockholm venue in three hours, and for good reason. The sport is huge there, made even more popular by the fact professional boxing has been banned for over 40 years.

George Sallfeldt, president of the Swedish MMA federation, even admitted to me recently that he was surprised that the event had sold out quite so quickly, though tickets were very affordable. One novel aspect is that there is even a glass-fronted restaurant in the arena, which overlooks the event. 

“MMA is massive in Sweden and is growing rapidly. It started with the early pioneers in Pancrase days, and then in the 90s and 2000s, K-1 was very popular here. But in the last five years MMA has really taken over and is one of the fastest growing sports,” Sallfeldt said.

“What I don’t expect is the crowd to be as noisy as it is in Brazil. The fans can be quite passionate, but they are very knowledgeable, as they’ve seen a lot of MMA events here. But I certainly don’t expect Alex Gustafsson to go leaping out of the Octagon and into the crowd like José Aldo in Brazil.” 

More reserved lot, the Swedes. Just as long as no one does their ring walk to the strains of ABBA... The Winner Takes It All, just wouldn’t cut it!