UFC 146

[LWPD]

Tomorrow night, 10 PM EST on PPV. A B-level show loaded with heavyweights. Struve is a notorious late starter, while Lavar has very heavy hands, lacks stamina and needs to finish early. I'd like to see Big Country get a win over Herman. Tough fight back for Cain. Silva has size, but I have to go with the former Champ. At this point, JDS is on another level from Mir, who I can't see getting the takedown. If Dos Santos keeps it standing, its just a matter of time. Hardy/Ludwig is on the undercard, this may be Hardy's UFC swan song!



Main card

Stefan Struve vs Lavar Johnson
Stipe Miočić vs Shane del Rosario
Roy Nelson vs Dave Herman
Cain Velasquez vs Antonio Silva
Junior dos Santos (c) vs Frank Mir

[havoc]

A b-level show my ass. The heavyweight title. Two more solid heavyweight match ups. One of the better under cards on paper in recent memory. If you're this cynical, why bother even posting the card.

I can only assume this is OK since I didn't get a warning about my content before I posted my reply. Without an advance warning, I never know what to post. I'm just stupid like that.

[swarm]

Good card for what it was, but I continue to feel like UFC is on a down slope. The heavyweight division is so boring now. Neither Dos Santos or Velasquez has enough star power to reach beyond UFC hardcore fans. Neither of them is a Coture, Fedor, Silvia or Lesnar. Mir has been recycled so many times you just can't expect enough from him to take him seriously. It was time for him to retire after Brock beat him up. Struve is cool as hell but he's a side show fighter, like Symbiosis. Roy Nelson has a fun personality, but he's more like your tough redneck neighbor than a serious MMA star.

Any fight league needs a strong heavyweight division or it's destined to fail. It's what drives the whole sport. That's what killed boxing. When was the last time anyone really cared? Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are fantastic athletes but they aren't the larger than life figures able to carry the sport like Tyson, Foreman, Ali, and others were. And they aren't Sugar Ray and Hagler. Probably the last guys who weren't heavyweights with the ability to become superstars.

Dan Hardy remains one of my favorites, but every time I see hm fight I remember how UFC stole 65 dollars from me with Hardy vs. GSP.

UFC is a lot like WWE right now. They have enough fire power to keep the hardcore fans coming back, but lack the wow factor to get fans on the fence (like me) to pay for their shows, while doing nothing really to pull in new fans. I'm willing to bet the majority of new UFC fans range in the ages of 11-14, kids just getting to the age where things like fighting and sports come natural. But if you aren't some kid, you are well aware of UFC and you either watch it or you don't.

[Shon Maxx]

Does boxing even have a heavyweight champion, or rather one who defends the title more than once every 4 years?

[LWPD]

May 27, 2012 9:19:41 GMT -5 Swarm said:

Good card for what it was, but I continue to feel like UFC is on a down slope. The heavyweight division is so boring now. Neither Dos Santos or Velasquez has enough star power to reach beyond UFC hardcore fans. Neither of them is a Coture, Fedor, Silvia or Lesnar. Mir has been recycled so many times you just can't expect enough from him to take him seriously. It was time for him to retire after Brock beat him up.

Originally, the card was headlined by JDS/Overeem, then Reem got popped for failing a drug test (out nine months). Plan B was Frank Mir (former champion, was on a winning streak). In terms of appealing to fans, UFC 145 (Jones/Evans) did 700k PPV buys. If this show pulls half of that number, I'm sure Zuffa would take it as a win. The current support level is 225k (UFC 136: Edgar/Maynard 3; UFC 142 from Brazil). With JDS headlining and Cain on the undercard, we're going to find out if the two 'best' active heavyweights can put up numbers. If they can't, its going to be a big problem, because these are the most likely heavyweight champions going forward.

May 27, 2012 9:19:41 GMT -5 Swarm said:

Struve is cool as hell but he's a side show fighter, like Symbiosis.

I have a kid who interns for me who is the spitting image of Stefan Struve. 6'10, sick racquetball player. That armbar from guard was wicked!

[LWPD]

May 27, 2012 15:01:34 GMT -5 Shon Maxx said:

Does boxing even have a heavyweight champion, or rather one who defends the title more than once every 4 years?

There are a few. The Klitschko Brothers (Ukrainian) both keep a pace of defending twice a year. Wladimir unified five of the major titles. Vitali has another one. They don't fight each other, so that's your Top 2 in the world. Alexander Povetkin (Russian) is the current WBA Champion, an absolute beast. Olympic gold medalist, 26-0 with 16 by KO. Invoking nationalism, a fight between him and either of the Klitschko brothers would be a huge in that part of the world. Here in America, probably not so much.

In the glory days of the 60s, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were both world class amateurs who won Olympic Gold at Heavyweight. Muhammad Ali won Olympic Gold at LHW. The last American HW to win gold was Ray Mercer in '88. At Super-Heavyweight, an American hasn't even placed in years. The U.S. has lost control of the heavyweight boxing scene. Today, our best athletes who have size seek opportunities in other sports that are more lucrative than they were in the past.