We here at Undercard Superstar would like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year as we bring in 2016. 2015 brought us some highs and lows in the world of fighting, so let’s grab a glass and find a seat.
What were your highs and lows for combat sports in 2015?
Nolan Howell: In 2015, I got to see what will be our generation’s “Fight of the Century” or something similar. Boxing had been on the rebound for the past few years and they finally cooked up the golden goose for fight fans to eat in May with Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. While MMA performed well this year, specifically the UFC, nothing will be able to touch this event for years to come. Even with both coming in as sort of damaged goods in different ways, it was surreal watching a true superfight come to fruition after years of failed promises from the UFC. The fight itself was disappointing, but not all that bad. Regardless of the fight itself, it was an event that may hold up as the biggest fight combat sports can put together for decades.
The biggest low had to be the UFC-Reebok deal. While the company continued to maintain their high numbers with stars hitting the mainstream, it became apparent that the culture of MMA will not be changing as numerous Reebok shirts leaked with typos of names, heritage, and whatever else you can think of. The deal had a funky stench when it was announced, what with Reebok being a company treading water against the likes of Nike and Under Armour. Still, it was hope that MMA had finally reached a new level with a reputable brand like other sports organizations. That quickly went out the window with fuck-ups like “Giblert Melendez,” Northern Ireland disconnecting from the British Isles and falling into the sea like California, and fighters getting their kits pulled for speaking ill of the deal. MMA will continue to grow, but the culture of unprofessionalism is not going to go away under the thumb of Dana White.
Luke Irwin: RONDA LOST!!
…oh, I suppose you want more than that, don’t you?
The high for me is Ronda Rousey being headkicked to the future in her title fight against Holly Holm. It’s so, so rare in this business that karma actually collects. There are a lot of despicable people in this business and 97% of the time, they’re able to stroll in and out without getting the comeuppance they truly deserve and the humiliation that sends them barreling back into Earth’s atmosphere like Apollo 13.
Ronda Rousey had eschewed every drop of good will over the years by saying and doing things that ranged from annoying to abhorrent, showed her colors as a bully, a hypocrite, and a petulant child to everyone that she felt wasn’t on her wavelength or level. To make things worse, she was rammed down the fans’ throats mercilessly and constantly by the UFC and her red-faced hypeman Dana White. In Dana’s mind, there wasn’t any room for anyone else (save Conor McGregor), because despite being a promoter with hundreds of fighters on his roster, he was only interesting in promoting Rousey, while fighters like Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and Rafael dos Anjos received not a word of praise and he wondered why the public didn’t watch them. It was too much, it had reached a boiling point where many of the fans wanted her and Dana crushed and embarrassed. On November 15, in front the entire world on Pay-Per-View and in front of 56,214 in attendance in Australia, Ronda finally got hers.
Nolan already touched on the sham that was the Reebok deal, so I’d say the low for me was Glory not taking a bigger step forward in 2015. I really thought they were poised to break out and make kickboxing mainstream in America, but …they ….just …didn’t feel like putting on shows …I guess. Reportedly, Spike TV wanted Glory to put out monthly events, or as close to monthly as they could. That shouldn’t have been a big deal. Premier Boxing Champions can usually go weekly, often times putting out multiple shows a week, same with the UFC. Bellator goes monthly and used to go weekly, even bigger regional promotions like Legacy usually puts on shows monthly on AXS.
But by the time April rolled around, they had put on one show. Months would go by without shows or even any information on the next ones. When you’re fighting for relevance with a new product, you can’t afford to pull disappearing acts like that and be forgotten. They got tossed a liferaft from ESPN and seem to be at least trying to make the most of it, and what’s more frustrating is that the product is great. I mean, it’s outstanding. The production, the action, the pacing, the format. It’s a fantastic product and hopefully they’ll find their footing.
What resolutions would you like to see made in 2016 in combat sports?
Nolan Howell: I would firstly like to see Premier Boxing Champions get their shit together. Quality fights can only go so far when marred by shitty matchmaking and putting yourself on an island in the world of boxing. I don’t really know what can be done, but it would be nice to see some effort in what has been a colossal failure for boxing on cable.
I would like alternative products in MMA to challenge or at least push the UFC to improve/make changes. We know what we are going to see when we watch UFC cards and that’s all well and good. It is the NFL of MMA and there is no doubt that you are seeing the best of the best. Still, the UFC feels like the same organization I’ve been watching the last six or seven years, just with new faces. Alternatives and competition bring out the best in a sport. The AFL and USFL vs. the NFL, WCW vs. WWF/E come to mind. In 2016, I would like to see Scott Coker use his freakshows to showcase some fun and some real talent in Bellator, just as he did in Strikeforce. I’d like to see Rizin FF continue to bring back some of the production value in JMMA, making every event seem like a unique spectacle, no matter the oddballs stepping into the ring. Competition is good for fans and fighters and hopefully we at least get fun alternatives in 2016.
Finally, I’d like for Glory Kickboxing to find a good spot for them on the ESPN networks and perhaps carve a small niche in American sporting culture like the likes of Dennis Alexio, Don Wilson, and Bill Wallace did during the 70s and 80s.
Luke Irwin: I always pull for the secondary option. The backup, the underdog, the second-thought.
I was never a Hulk Hogan guy, I cheered for The Ultimate Warrior. I found Stone Cold Steve Austin reductive and boring, I wanted to hear from The Rock. When my beloved Penguins won the Cup, my adoration wasn’t for Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, but the shutdown defensive pair of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi. I could list a hundred of these, but for whatever the reason, I cheer for the undervalued, the under-utilized, and the overlooked. That’s why I was always a Strikeforce and Scott Coker guy.
There was a time when I looked forward to Strikeforce events more than UFC events. Strikeforce appealed to me more than the UFC ever did, because I could relate to Strikeforce. Growing up in a lower-middle-class family in the rust belt, we had to nickel-and-dime our way through a lot of situations in life and find new ways to get things done. It’s easy to be the Dodgers. It’s easy to be the Yankees, the Red Sox. It’s harder to succeed when you’re the Pirates, or the A’s, or the Rays.
That’s why I’ve always gravitated to companies that have to be creative to succeed. I loved Strikeforce because it was an oasis for fighters who weren’t allowed in the UFC (women, lighter-weights), fighters who wanted more freedom than the UFC would give them (Nick Diaz, Fedor, Overeem, Cung Le), international stars that didn’t want to be exclusive (Sergei Kharitonov, Shinya Aoki, Jason Miller, Melvin Manhoef), as well as undiscovered talent (Cormier, Rockhold, Melendez, Souza, Lawal, Bigfoot), and fighters that the UFC didn’t have time for on the rebound (Werdum, Arlovski, Lawler). It was different. The production was different, the entrances were different, the matchmaking was different, but they did everything they could to put together an outstanding fight promotion and they succeeded, becoming the #2 promotion in the world.
Strikeforce is no more, bought by the UFC, but Bellator lives, and Scott Coker, who wasn’t content to cash in on Strikeforce’s sale and kick his feet up, is in charge of Bellator. According to the dirt sheets, now that Spike has dropped TNA and Glory, they’re going all-in on Bellator and are making it their top priority. I want to see BellaForce succeed and become a welcome home to the misfits that made Strikeforce so special in the first place.
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