UFC 124: What's It Worth To Ya?

UFC 124 is scheduled for Saturday, December 11th LIVE from Toronto Montreal. The main event is the long awaited rematch between Josh Koscheck and the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. This is one of the bigger main events of the year despite the belief of many in the media that the outcome is all but certain. There's a lot of buzz for the main event, but is the card really worth the 44.95 we're expected to shell out. Let's find out.

Thiago Alves vs John Howard - Will Thiago make weight? Assuming he does, he is coming off a loss to Jon Fitch. Meanwhile, "Doomsday" John Howard is coming off a swollen eye loss to Jake Ellenberger. Thiago Alves puts on good fights (when he makes weight and when he's not against wrestlers), so there should be some excitement in this. Howard is no chump either and even in losing has been exciting. This fight is, for all intents and purposes, a mismatch to rehab Alves who has not won in two years. Personally, I don't see the upside in an Alves win. He beats Howard, then a) that hurts Howard who has potential in the division and with Dana White running around with scissors, could get him cut and b) it does nothing for Alves who is currently ranked in the top 5 by most rankings while Howard isn't in the top 25 at WW. A Howard win build up Howard and gives the UFC justification to either cut Alves or force him to move to Middleweight. As for the fight, It's worth about $3.25 for the excitement possibility. 

Mac Danzig vs Joe Stevenson - I love this fight. Why? Because Mac Danzig will probably lose. Why is that important? I'm not a fan of Mac Danzig. Before you start your whining, that's no different from people wanting to see Koscheck lose. I can't support a man who doesn't eat meat. Like Omar Little said "You are not a man today". Both of these men are at a low in their careers, both have sub-.500 records in their last 6 fights. The loser of the fight will probably be cut. Therefore, it SHOULD be an exciting fight. Actually, I'm wrong, it should be a boring fight as both fighters will be super-cautious to not lose. Joe Daddy does train with Greg Jackson, but the flipside to that is he's had 3 FOTN awards in his last 4 fights. However, having your job be potentially on the line is a different thing. As the loser with a sub-.500 record, you aren't guaranteed to keep your job, even if you have an exciting fight. If Stevenson loses, it's 4 losses out of his last 6 and if Danzig loses, it's 5 out of his last 6. I expect a tentative fight and tentative usually equals boring. This fight also has no bearing on the immediate or even near lightweight future as both fighters are years away from title contention. $1.75 is what it's worth. 

Top 3 fights after the jump

Jim Miller vs Charles Oliveira - Do Bronx. You may remember him from the first (and only) Black Lesnar Pork Chop where he pulled out a Spiderman choke on Efrain Escudero and choked him out (of the UFC). My excitement for this fight is all based on Oliveira. He's on a two-fight Submission of the Night streak winning with an armbar and Spiderman choke in his last two fights. So he can bring it. Jim Miller is on a 5-fight winning streak  I can't remember a boring Jim Miller fight (can't really remember any Jim Miller fight). To me, this is going to be can Miller neutralize Oliveira on the ground. If Miller can keep it standing, it should be a nice fight, but it's a better fight on the ground. A war of submission attrition, if you will. While Miller has a great winning streak, he has no traction in the division. His biggest win is the one that started his win streak (Mac Danzig). This match could elevate Miller into the mix at 155 and get him some matches against higher profile lightweights. For do Bronx, it's a fight showcased on a PPV expected to do a lot of buys, so it's important for him to put on a show. I think both fighters will bring it and this fight does have implications in the division. This is a $4.50 fight for me. 

Stefan Struve vs Sean McCorkle - Wow. There's been a lot of flack about this fight. Some have called it the worst co-main of the year. I disagree. Couture/Toney was a much worse co-main. That was an embarrassment for the "sport" and added no buys. And it was boring. It was nothing more than a circle-jerk for UFC "fans". At least this fight is between two actual MMA fighters, despite their status in the business. That said, it's a bad co-main event. Personally, neither of these fighters capture my interest personality-wise. I find the internet battle between the two to be childish and corny. Struve, I can pretty much understand as he's college age, but McCorkle is 34 years old. I'm all for trash-talking to build up a fight, but this whole thing seems forced. If you're going to be forced, at least be consistently funny with it instead of a one hot joke for every ten joke average. That said, I haven't seen a boring Struve fight and the one McCorkle fight I saw was a short, yet exciting, fight. i don't think he'll be able to run through Struve quite the same way. I don't know how this fight will go, but on paper, I'd say it's $0.50.

Josh Koscheck vs Georges St. Pierre - This fight has been built up ever since Koscheck defeated Paul Daley in Georges St. Pierre's hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada and called out GSP and his fans. It then built up over a season of TUF (I didn't watch) as Koscheck antagonized GSP. You have a battle of "Good vs Evil". GSP, the consummate "good guy". Clean-cut. Never in any trouble. And then there's Koscheck, the "bad guy". Mean, cocky. Wild-eyed and wild haired. Fortunately, I don't see it that way. I find GSP bland. His fighting style kind of matches that. I mean, he has OK fights, there's no denying that, but he hasn't had a great fight in a long time. Koscheck, on the other hand, hasn't really had a not-so-exciting fight in quite a while until his last win over Daley. Josh usually brings it in the cage and mixes up his wrestling with striking. If this turns into a wrestling match with GSP dominating, prepare for 5 rounds of takedowns. If Koscheck can keep it standing, it has the potential to be exciting. This match is a title match, so the implications for the division are endless. If Josh wins, it reinvigorates the currently stale division with fresh match-ups. If GSP wins, there's only Jake Shields left as a viable contender. I'm pumped about the fight and am watching to see Koscheck win the title. $17.50's worth of excitement to me. 

Total PPV Price - $27.50

In my opinion, this is a one fight card. It's a strong fight, but it's still a one-fight card. The UFC seems to basically assume that people will buy any card headlined by Brock Lesnar or GSP and thus, don't "waste" draws and/or title implication fights on their PPVs. As long as GSP and Lesnar remain top draws, that seems to be a smart plan. However, it can lead to a backlash and potential PPV buys lost. There should be a happy medium. 

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SBN coverage of UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck