I Paid for UFC 80, here’s why.

Brandt put together an article that I am sure a lot of disenfranchised fans would agree with. Another card full of “go-nowhere” fights that the fans are forced to pay for if they want to continue to enjoy MMA’s Juggernaut. Yes, aside from the night’s top two fights, UFC 80: Rapid Fire, was littered with fighters who were not really going to make any impact in their respective divisions anytime soon. Yes, we had to pay for it. However, I challenge all fans of the sport to embrace shows with lesser names filling up the card because an event (even one put on by the sport’s biggest promotion) doesn’t have to be UFC 73: Stacked!

I use “Stacked” to make a point; big names don’t always produce results worth the money. At UFC 73 we had the always dynamic and rising legend Anderson Silva dismantle the very game Nate Marquardt. It almost seems impossible for Silva to disappoint these days. Aside from Anderson (and for some, Sherk), “Stacked” did not deliver. Sean Sherk gave us the visual definition of grinding out a decision. Ortiz vs. Evans was a snooze fest that ended in a Draw. “Minotauro” Nogueira made the most lackluster debut in a long time. So much for the big names making it worth my money. There wasn’t a person I spoke with who didn’t think that “Stacked” lacked the energy that those fighters were expected to bring.

Many fans were frustrated with the pointless fights that filled the UFC 80 card this past weekend. I am sure Jess Liaudin’s Uncle would take offense to that. I for one am a big fan of undercard status fights. In fact, I often find the rare swing bout to be one of the most entertaining fights of a pay-per view. It usually features two lesser-known fighters. Lesser-known almost always equals hungry. Hungry usually makes for an exciting fight. Sometimes it is not always about what a fight will lead to. Sometimes it is just about a good old fashion fight.

Since we’re in the vicinity of Jess Liaudin, we’ll start with his fight. Who wouldn’t want to watch a guy who has finished his last five fights by submission or (T)Ko go up against a 10 fight-win streak and battle-ready Marcus Davis? The prospect of seeing these two go at it had me chomping at the bit to see the results (really, it did)! I was not disappointed with a KO finish, I only wished it had lasted a little longer. That’s not Dana’s fault, can’t get mad at him for a KO.

Now lets get back in fight order. We opened with Grove vs. Rivera. One of the great things about The Ultimate Fighter reality show is it allows you to give a damn about a fighter, be it positive or negative. I for one, found season 3 winner, Kendal Grove, to be a little annoying. Season 4 loser, Jorge Rivera, was meant to be a lamb sent to slaughter. With absolutely no expectations for this fight, I was pleasantly surprised to see Jorge “The Sacrificial” Rivera absolutely maul the Team Dagger co-founder (lame reference, I know). Nothing sets off a night like that kind of upset. Damn you Dana! That’s what you get for trying to hand feed your fighters! And I reap the benefits!

Next, was Gouveia vs. Lambert. “The Punisher” showed a frantic pace in the first frame that kept everyone I watched the fight with wondering when the TKO was coming. A second round KO out of nowhere from Gouveia had the group at my house cheering. I believe this was a fight that had ramifications for either in the division. Gouveia will soon find out what 205 is really about. Win or lose for him in the future, this will probably produce a decent fight with some hype around it. 205 just excites me as a fan right now and this fight was an important part of the Light Heavy Weight long haul for the UFC.

Then we got the treat of seeing Paul Taylor fight. After watching him at UFC 75, I couldn’t wait to see him again. He did not disappoint the crowd (maybe his ground coaches were a little perturbed). Another great part of that fight was the rugged newcomer Paul Kelly. Nothing like an unexpected fight popping up during the pay-per view to make that $40 stretch a little farther.

On to the main card. Two big Brazilians go at it. This is what paying for a fight was all about. Gonzaga looked as mean as he ever did and almost crumpled Werdum. Werdum turns the second round into a heavyweight pounding of the former threat to the division. Turns out this fight will put Werdum in the number one contender slot. Blame his contender status on an always shaky division… that’s an article for another day.

And of course BJ Penn. We all saw it coming, we just had to tune in to make sure it happened. I think more people bought this to see if BJ really did train and really took himself seriously this time instead of blowing another big shot. Well he looks to be very determined and I think his prediction for Sherk is Kreskin-esque. If he gets past Sherk, the Light Weight division will be praying Penn has aspirations to fight at Super Heavy Weight.

So my $40 went far. I even got a couple of more fights out of it. They weren’t stellar, but they ended with a finish- and from that crop of fighters it is all you can hope for.

So all in all, I got 8 fights for $40. Not bad considering I am unemployed most of the month. I go without the extra fast food or lame movie in theaters and it all evens out.

I hope that the numbers for UFC 80 are great because the more success for this sport the better. The expansion into Europe means more fighters for more cards. I see nothing wrong with more variety especially since the Welterweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions need more talent.

Brandt wanted more hype and excitement. Tito is great at hype and he put together a lot of it for “Stacked.” Don’t believe the hype – believe in hungry fighters.

If anything I just want to add my opinion to the mix, not discredit Brandt’s, or many of the other well-educated fans out there. Taste is subjective. I merely ask that we give every card a chance. If I based my fight purchases on who was on the card, I would have missed out on what I thought was a night of fights worth watching. And I wish bigger and better success on the UFC so that future cards with a lineup similar to UFC 80 and 78 can be had for free. They gave us Rampage vs. Henderson for free. It’s no question they lost money to give us that fight and promote the hell out of their product. We are the ones who will reap the benefits. We must be patient and support all the fights and promotions we can afford to.