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[dagreat1]

As things continue to progress and unravel I get more and more a sense that the ultimate goal of the UFC is to turn thier product into something in which appeals to a much broader fan base. Sounds logical and isn't such a negative, right? Well, the current fan base consists of the hardcore fans (very small percentage), the casual fans which consist of a slew of rednecks, farm boys, normal people, etc.

However, the UFC is trying to target EVERY male within the 18-34 demographic, this includes WRASTLIN' fans and boxing fans. With boxing fans, the way to get them to want your product is to impress them with fights, that's great. But the problem then lies with how you go about targeting those good ol wrastlin' fans... Apparently you need the following:

1) A former WWE superstar- CHECK
2) To give him a #1 contender fight in his UFC debut which was also his second ever MMA fight - CHECK
3) If he losses that fight, simply give him another #1 contender fight and to make it not look obvious, give the guy that beat him in teh #1 contender fight a title shot and convince people that he is world class and is a former HW champion who broke Sylvia's arm and whatever you do, DON"T EVER MENTION THE COMPOUND FRACTURE TO HIS LEG AND THAT HE WAS TOLD HE WOULD NEVER WALK AGAIN - CHECK
4) When he wins his #1 contender fight give him the matchup that is most favorable to him, a World Class JJ practioner with arguably the best subs in MMA and arguably the best chin in MMA, no, give him the 45 year old wrestler who is giving up 50lbs, has no ground game and has no answer to being put on his back - CHECK

OK so all of the pieces are seemingly in place.

The UFC is turning MMA into "REAL" fake fighting in the sense that Brock Lesner gets a #1 contender fight in his second ever MMA fight and his UFC debut. He loses that fight and somehow it earns him another #1 contender fight with Herring. K so a #1 contender fight with what was supposed to be Mark Coleman - a man who hasn't fought since late 06 when Fedor killed him, then that fell throgh so the next best available thing was Frank Mir. Lesner then loses to Mir and it earns him back to back #1 contender fights. This time with Herring.

Anyone else following trend here? An initial #1 contender fight with someone with notoriety, a former UFC champion who is WELL past his prime in Coleman. It falls through and the next best thign is Frank Mir, another former UFC champion who is past his prime in the sense that he's the 1 legged man who was never supposed to walk again. He went 2-2 in his past 4 fights leading up to the Lesner fight and looked like shit against Cruz, Dan and Vera.

Now Mir gets a title shot for winning a #1 contender fight (that was never even an official #1 contender fight) he had no business landing in the first place?

Something's wrong here. I thought the UFC was the promotion where fighters EARNED title shots and #1 contender shots?

Machida still hasn't received a title shot, Chuck vs Rashad for the #1 contender (not officially announced but cmon, it is the #1 contender fight) but Rashad did nothing to earn that fight.

The UFC is doing everything in their power to dictate who their champions are. The same thing they did when Anderson beat Franklin. They tried their best to get rid of Anderson immediately but to no avail. It took him winning 5 straight fights to gain a fanbase. Lesner already had a fan base so a loss followed by a win is all it took.

Now a title fight with Couture? Couture has struggled against what type of fighter in his career? Large fighters with a ground game (Barnett, Ricco)? This couldn't possibly have been a deciding factor in staging this fight... Of course not.

All of the signs are pointing towards UFC = WWE. It's only a matter of time.

The Jakks deal the UFC just landed to manufacture MMA fighter toys including all accessories, the McMahon esque demeanor of Dana, pulling strings to try and get Brock Lesner to be champion (hence, a fight with Couture instead of Nog because Lesner has a better chance against COuture than Nog and if Lesner beats Couture he will then be the UFC HW champion and there will be tons of time to market and cash in on it before he has to fight Nog).

The whole shit is turning into a circus act and once the owner's of the company have reached a net worth of $1.3 billion each (Fertitas) and certain head turning decisions are made to dictate as best they can who becomes champion (same shit happened with the Forrest vs Rampage fight in the sense that Forrest didn't earn the title shot but that is a far far cry from the Lesner situation since Forrest is actually a great fighter) it is no longer about success, it's about world domination and doing everything within their power to manipulate the situation in their favor.

Ultimately I think the UFC will become the laughing stock of MMA amoung fans who have followed it throughout its history.

The sport is in dyer need of a second successful promotion so great fighters have the option of staying in the circus or going elsewhere to a respected company that puts integrity alongside financial success and not on the back-burner.

It's a slap in the face to everyone when your champions consist of BJ Penn, GSP, Anderson, Forrest/Liddell/Machida, Nog and then Brock Lesner.

Is this just a drop-in-the-bucket in the grand scheme of things and the UFC is just trying to go global and picking up the masses that are wrastlin' fans will help them to achieve it and eventually enable MMA to become an Olympic sport? I think not, if wrastlin' was huge in the UK (maybe it is, I have no clue) then the Lesner of the UK will emerge and be fighting in the UFC soon enough. It's simply a marketing ploy to make as much money as humanly possible but is tearing down the integrity of the sport and there is no sense of regret or remorse from ZUFFA.

I'm a realist, Lesner will always remain within 1-2 fights of a title shot, mark my words.

Am I jumping the gun? Being too cynical? I dunno, I just hate where this seems to be headed.

Gimme your thoughts and read the whole shit you lazy bastards lol.

[johnbutcher]

I think the whole thing is entertaining and that is what sells. Although i do not agree with Lesnar getting a title shot i still think the majority of fans will want to see it. I know ill be watching and isnt that the point? I think the ufc is being smart in the end all sports organisations and atheltes are there to make money, any other company in the same position as the ufc would do the same thing.

What happens if Lesnar goes straight through Randy and Big Nog, im guessing him getting a title shot this soon will be justifed?

I dont think you can complain to much when your champions are BJ Penn, GSP and Anderson Silva. There hardly unjust champions.

[Dave_44]

I think a big part of it is that Dana does feel a bit threatened by some of these other orgs and the heavyweight division is a joke if you look back there's lots of fighters who got title shots without earning them. I think in a few years where there's no other orgs around and not real threats to the ufc and a little more depth in the division we wont see these kind of things happening. With all that said I dont care how many fights Brock has had and who's ranked ahead of him, Randy and Brock is a huge money fight and it will answer alot of questions about both fights and I m very excited and I think it will be a very entertaining fight. And last the ufc want Randy to lose and they think this is a bad fight for him that will make Brock look like the real deal

[crosshearttat]

It's so cutthroat in America with these types of money hungry organizations that I'm sure the UFC or any other show for that matter would sacrifice the purity of the sport for money. I'm realizing that that shit goes for almost everything now that I live in Vegas.

Oh Dagreat1, that's fuckin dedication.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by Dave_44

I think a big part of it is that Dana does feel a bit threatened by some of these other orgs and the heavyweight division is a joke if you look back there's lots of fighters who got title shots without earning them. I think in a few years where there's no other orgs around and not real threats to the ufc and a little more depth in the division we wont see these kind of things happening. With all that said I dont care how many fights Brock has had and who's ranked ahead of him, Randy and Brock is a huge money fight and it will answer alot of questions about both fights and I m very excited and I think it will be a very entertaining fight. And last the ufc want Randy to lose and they think this is a bad fight for him that will make Brock look like the real deal

It's obvious he's threatened. That's why he did whatever it took to get Randy back. He'll do anything he can to make sure Affliction fails. It's common sense in business.

Just don't want to hear anything about he's concerned about the sport because that's clearly not the case.

[Supe]

I think you are jumpin the gun a bit. This whole thing comes down to two factors: 1.) Randy left and with him went the only draw the UFC had at HW for the common fan. 2.) Brock fills that gap and then some, so putting him up against Randy will be a record selling PPV. Now i do agree that of the top 10 HW in the UFC Brock will by far give Randy the hardest fight but we have to remember what a hell Randy put the UFC through by holding out and Im sure Dana would like to see Randy 0-3 in the last fights of his career.

I really dont see the problem with Lesnar getting Randy. The HW division is sooooo thin and everyone has beat/lost to everyone else. Everyone thought Werdum should have gotten a title shot after beating Vera and he was 2-1 in the UFC. There just isnt anyone with an established record to be an obvious choice for contenders so they are giving the shots to people that can become big name stars. The way i see it, Big Nog is the UFC champ right now. Randy left and IMO dodged him. So if lesnar beats Herring and Couture back to back, id say he more than earned a title shot with Nog. And if for some reason Nog loses to Mir, then id say Mir was more than deserving of his chance at the belt.

[captonion]

Originally Posted by dagreat1

Something's wrong here. hought the UFC was the promotion where fighters EARNED title shots and #1 contender shots?

AGREE!

It's getting to be more about the money than who is more deserving of a title fight.
Things in the UFC are starting to be run more,and more like boxing,which IMO is not a good thing.

[Viper2076]

I think you've had too much caffeine this morning. It takes me at least 3 cups to start thinking that quick.

All joking aside, I do agree that Lesnar doesn't necessarily deserve a title shot....yet. He did lose to Mir (more an experience lose than a fighting lose), but he destroyed Herring. You have to give him credit for that.

I really see that the trend in the MMA world is not to setup a line of successively tougher fights until there is a clear cut #1 guy. It has turned into putting the best guys against each other and however wins is the #1 contender. Look at A. Silva/Leben (great fighter but not next in line), Coulture/Liddell 1, Fedor/Silvia (Silvia was hardly the top HW at that event). All were solid fights that set up a title match (or was a title match) yet A. Silva didn't move up the ranks, neither did Coulture. Silvia lost 2 fights in a row then got demolished by Fedor.

All I'm saying is that the trend of seeing fighter work their way to the top is starting to be over. Although some fighters still seem to be doing it (Machida/Evans), business dictates that you not let your best/highest paid fighters simmer to a slow boil. You get them out there and let them show they are the best.

[SickNasty]

As long as the fights themselves aren't fixed I am going to be happy. Sure it isn't right the Lesnar gets a title shot against Grandpa Couture. Although, it is going to sell a buttload of ppv's.

[CanaanCreed]

I don't think Brock DESERVES a title shot right now however, I understand what's happening. It's a win-win situation for Dana and the UFC.

Brock wins; Huge PPV #s, Randy gets a loss (embarrassed), they have a marquee name with massive drawing power as their champ.

Randy wins: Huge PPV buys, Brock has an excuse (he lost against one of the greatest HW's of all time in his 3rd UFC fight), Randy then figts Big Nog and then they put together the Fedor fight.

It's money in the bank. ANY fight promotion would kill for this opportunity.