The Fall Guy and the Consequences
By Brandt DeLorenzo on May 31, 2008
Dana White should be a very happy man right now. As he sits on top of the largest MMA organization, his competitor, Gary Shaw of EliteXC, is risking his neck to produce a show to air live on CBS tonight. This show, featuring some of EliteXC’s most popular fighters, is not just what Gary Shaw needs. It’s just what Dana White needs.
Pass or fail, the UFC gets recognition from casual fans or interested viewers looking up “ultimate fighting” on Google during commercial breaks. If Gina Carano flakes and loses to Kaitlyn Young, fans will still be looking for ways to learn more about women fighters. While they won’t fight female fighting in the UFC, they’ll naturally begin to watch mens fighting. Too bad White doesn’t think women belong in the UFC. They certainly have the potential to grab a broader audience.
As for the main event, everyone knows Kimbo Slice has a great chance of gaining more mainstream recognition with a knockout win over James Thompson. Talk about Kimbo typically turns into talk about how Dana White thinks Kimbo is a washed up boatyard brawler who couldn’t beat any of his UFC heavyweights.
So the UFC president should just sit back, relax, and watch the casual fans roll on over to the UFC in the new few months. Too bad the next PPV is in England. But who knows, they may still grab a share of viewers who aren’t aware of the delay. Money is money and MMA is a business like any other professional sport.
EliteXC made a risky move, but as long as the show goes smoothly tonight, we should see the sport explode with an influx of potential enthusiasts along with the obvious herd of casual fans. But at this point, who care who is watching? As long as there is genuine interest in watching the sport for entertainment, MMA will roll strongly through 2008. Right now, it’s all that matters.
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dana white and the fertittas have “stuck their necks out there” before. they were losing the same type of money that elite is now, when they came up with the idea for tuf. zuffa spent 10 mil of its OWN money to produce this show at first, then it took off. the ufc isnt on cbs right now, because it was a junk deal and they dont have to pay people to be shown or give up anything, mainly production. it might end up being a smart move for elite in the long run, just like the ufc, but at the time tuf took off, the ufc already had a boatload of talent, not so much foe elite xc.
Speaking of CBS and TUF in the same paragraph, what will CBS name their fighter reality show? Elite Fighter? You know its coming if this show pulls a decent rating.
brandt. i agree. that name sounds pretty good to me. it makes you wonder why others havent tried it since the 3 years tuf has been on. maybee dream should try it, ive read that thier ratings werent so hot, wich is hard to fathom because they have had some sick-ass fights and cards all together.and its on free(cable) to them. the japanese are wierd, maybee they should have the fighters compete in some mxc type events and then have them fight.ha!. maybee a reality show would fit the bill.
Interesting point, Brandt. Personally, I think that this show is going to be a disaster, because they didn’t really put fighters on here who are GOOD, the put fighters on here who are KNOWN, and there’s a difference.
I like the Lawler/Smith fight and I’ll be happy to see Gina kick the crap out of her opponent. Still, I think that this could be a really good card for the sport or a really bad card for the sport, and I wish I had some garuntees that some really big name fighters would be on this card.
Man, if they aired UFC 85 live on CBS, I would be much less skeptical and much less worried, but this card is a serious gimmick card, and so I’m stressing about it a little.
Sorry, that last bit should say “UFC 84″
It’s like MTV. They don’t want shows or music videos that are good, they just want what sells. I’m hoping the EliteXC performers (the fighters) show they are dimensional and talented, unlike we would see on that terrible music channel. Gary Shaw is only a half of a liar. He wants the fighters to do well, but more importantly and as a promoter, HE wants to do well.