Almost undoubtedly, this weekend marked a huge embarrassment for Mixed Martial Arts in the United States, a blight that might have set MMA back years in the public's eye. Or, it was a banner weekend with exciting, anticipated matches that more than lived up to the hype. Actually, it was probably both.
Confused? Let me explain.
CBS held its much-hyped first-ever network TV broadcast of an MMA fight on Saturday night. It wasn't from one of the established organizations, but from Elite XC, which is about like placing a AA baseball game on in primetime as someone's first exposure to baseball. And to make sure they put butts in the seats, they headlined with "Internet sensation" Kimbo Slice, a man who rose to fame by fighting people in alleys for money, and then having the videotaped results show up on YouTube.
(Which kind of undercut Frank Shamrock's point in the into that "these aren't guys fighting in bars or on the street.)
It was, in almost every way possible, a train wreck. Slice almost got beat by designated opponent James "Colossus" Thompson, who apparently didn't realize that he was getting paid to look frightening, then find a soft place to land as he had done in six of his previous eight fights.
(At least he had the "look frightening" part down, at least his disgusting cauliflower ear which then popped, spewing blood, pus and God knows what else all over the place. Truly a fine moment in the Tiffany Network's history.)
The co-headliner was a match featuring "the face of female MMA" and current American Gladiator Gina Carano, who distinguished herself by coming in four pounds overweight, and then blaming that on her Gladiators taping schedule, showing the commitment and dedication you want from one of our marquee athletes. She did manage to turn the face of her opponent into a modern art project, which is always nice to see.
The only thing CBS had going for it was that Mr. Excitement Gus Johnson was on the call. He showed his usual amount of restraint and perspective during his call of the fight, which is to say none. Actually, Screamin' Gus did a decent job, and the announcing was probably the best thing about the broadcast. Which isn't saying much, since it ran more than 30 minutes over, had lots of skanky cheerleaders, and generally looked like it was produced as a visual arts project in high school.
Contrast that with the WEC card that was on Versus last night. If you aren't aware, WEC is the sister organization of UFC (both owned by the same company), which runs live, free fights on Versus. They focus on the lighter divisions (which UFC doesn't have) and generally has some of the best talent available in those weight classes.
Last night's card was a showcase for the company, featuring featherweight champ Urijah Faber taking on Jens Pulver in a match-up between two of the best in that weight class in the world. And the fight matched expectations. Faber showed an unknown level of skill with his stand-up, pummeling Faber with hook after hook. And Faber took everything and kept pressing forward for all five rounds while delivering some bombs of his own, losing the decision but gaining a ton of respect in a total classic.
Throw in Miguel Torres' tougher-than-expected brawl with Yoshiro Maeda and you had a free card that rivaled anything that UFC has done on a PPV. If this had been the introduction that most casual viewers had to MMA, a lot of people would be checking out future matches. It was compelling for even the novice.
Of course it wasn't, and that's that. Dan Wetzel posted a column about it on Yahoo that sums up a lot of my feelings, which is worth checking out. The bottom line: this weekend didn't kill MMA's chances of mainstream acceptance in the US...but a major opportunity was botched.
