(Warmup)
(The Bullhorn)
The old adage goes, "Competition breeds excellence". Time and time again, this has been proven by the giants of industry, and the very notion of competition is ingrained into the American psyche. In fact, we actually have laws that ensure that one company does not control all of one single industry, and these regulations date all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt. When you think of computers, it used to be that you thought of Windows, with a small smattering of people using Linux or some other platform. Now, a growing portion of people are accessing the web on Macs, and even their Iphones. Without competition, we most likely would have never had that wondrous device that allows us to Google "101 Ways to Kill Miley Cyrus" while we wait for whatever is it we are waiting for. But is competition good for all of business? Sure, it may be good for the consumer, as competition usually forces companies to make their product cheaper and better. But it must be a certain type of competition, specifically, good competition. Looking at the aforementioned Windows/Mac example, Apple has created an excellent product that people wish to use, forcing Microsoft to become creative again.
Now to bring this all home to you, an MMA fan. For the past several years, the UFC has been the dominant force in MMA. Sure, they have had adversaries in Affliction and EliteXC, but the two companies were laughably run, even if they put on entertaining card. Affliction, with its affinity for putting on excellent cards with an extremely heavy price tag, and EliteXC with its horrible decision to rely on Kimbo Slice, were bad competition for the UFC. They did nothing but hurt the sport by keeping good fighters from the big show. Sure, there were those who needed to prove themselves worthy, but then there were others who were not in the top organization for seemingly petty reasons (here's looking at you Fedor). In the end, those two companies flopped, and now a new contender has risen to the challenge. Strikeforce had a solid business plan, using lesser-known fighters to anchor entertaining cards, all without the pricetag. But with the signing of Fedor Emelianenko, this solid business plan has gone down the tubes. Sure Scott Coker and co. get the rub from the name of Fedor among the hardcore fans such as myself, but to the casual fan, Fedor is still an unknown compared to the Brock Lesnars and Anderson Silvas of the world.
In all sports leagues, there is one dominant force ,whether it be the NFL, MLB, or NBA. The good thing about this monopoly is that we get to see all those we wish to see, in one convenient place. In MMA, we nearly have this scenario, and thanks to the marketing genius of Dana White, we, the fans, get to see who we want to see, with some notable exceptions. Not all top level fighters are in the same place, and thus we get to see Fedor, who some say is the top Pound-for-Pound fighter in the world, fight against old veterans who may or may not be past their prime. But, never fear, I have a solution to this problem. If the UFC were to aquire Strikeforce as a sort of minor league, they could absorb the top fighters, while still cultivating the next crop of fighters. This would give us, the fans, what we want, and we would avoid the horrible fate that has befallen boxing, what with the multiple champions that no one even cares about any more. Like a quote I found today says, "competition creates a better product, alliances create better companies." The UFC already has a fantastic company, and competition does nothing but prevent fans from enjoying the highest caliber fights that we can. It's time for Strikeforce to be folded into the Zuffa empire, and help create an even better company for years to come.
(Soundbytes)
1. Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg airs tomorrow at
Here's the deal. If Carano loses, will anybody really care about WMMA (Women's MMA) any more? She is the shining face of the women's division, and the only viable spokesperson for it. This is really make or break for WMMA, and hopefully it won't break.
2. UFC 101: What the heck?
The title pretty much says it all. I don't know if it was the Philly air, but the card was weird all not long, apparently from the unaired undercard to the main card bouts. It was unfortunately one of the worst cards I'd seen in a while, save for Silva showing us who's boss again, and BJ showing why he should stay at 155.
2.9. Miguel Torres KO'd at WEC 42.
So much for your pound for pound rankings, eh?
(Closing Thoughts)
Well, this wraps up my second edition. I guess since this is finally out, it means that I haven't just abandoned this after one post. I'll be doing some different things in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Again, you can check out my twitter at http://twitter.com/Evan_C
Peace out, and rock on.
-Evan
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