As the title of this article makes quite apparent, I’m not too enthused about this Saturday’s UFC 119 card. In fact, it just might be the worst UFC PPV card (on paper) of 2010. When you scan the main fight card, it is full of “has-been” fighters well past their prime. In fact, four out of the 10 guys on the main card have their best days in their rearview mirrors.
Headliner Frank Mir has only beaten an over-the-hill, sick Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and a limited Cheick Kongo in the past two years, while getting totally annihilated in his last fight against Shane Carwin. His opponent, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic is 36-years-old and, while he is on a two-fight win streak, he hasn’t beaten a top-rated opponent since Josh Barnett in 2006. What’s more, his motto “right leg: hospital; left leg: cemetery” is laughable now, as he hasn’t won via head kick in two years. The only fighter Matt Serra has beaten in the past three years is Frank Trigg and Serra could be one loss away from being released from the UFC. Sean Sherk is 37-years-old, has won once in three years and could also be close to being cut. While the card might be big on “name” fighters, it is not big on fighters who are still relevant. The only match with any real ramifications or meaning at UFC 119 is the co-main event between Antonio Rogerio Nogueria and Ryan Bader. The winner of that one will be thick in the chase for a light heavyweight title shot.
So is UFC 119 the worst UFC PPV card of 2010? It does have some serious competition from a few events. UFC 109 had the horrendous Randy Couture-Mark Coleman main event, after which Coleman got released from the UFC. If one of your main event participants is immediately released after the event, that’s a pretty good sign that your card was weak and you’ve cheated your fans by hyping the match and expecting them to pay for it. The main card also featured Matt Serra vs Frank Trigg, after which Trigg got cut. The card was saved by a solid middle trio of matches featuring Nate Marquardt vs Chael Sonnen, Mike Swick vs Paulo Thiago and Demian Maia vs Dan Miller. These matches save this card and make it better than UFC 119. The other card worthy of “worst of the year” consideration is UFC 115, headlined by Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin – just like UFC 119, a couple of big name fighters past their primes. It’s co-main event of Cro Cop vs Pat Barry was real weak also, as was the Ben Rothwell-Gilbert Yvel matchup. The only quality matches on paper heading in to the event in Vancouver was Paulo Thiago vs Martin Kampmann and Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald. When you take those matches in to account, it is probably safe to say that, yes, UFC 119 is the worst PPV card of the year.
And considering UFC 109 only drew 275000 PPV buys (UFC 115 did 520000), UFC 119 might be hardpressed to crack the 300000 buyrate level, which is about half of what a normal UFC PPV does. But don’t tell any of this to Dana White – he loves this card and all it’s matchups. Let’s remind him of that fact once the dust settles Saturday night and he starts cutting some of the washed up guys that only a few hours earlier he was hyping up to his customers.
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